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In the early dawn

When the mists on Uji River

Slowly lift and clear,

From the shallows to the deep,

The stakes of fishing nets appear.

- Fujiwara no Sadayori (64/100百人一首)

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Kaga Province | Kyoto - 8th Month, Keichō Year 15

The missive from the lord of Kaga arrived in late summer, appointing his father as caretaker of the Maeda manor in Kyoto. Since the new shogun declared Edo to be the defacto capital, the daimyo had started building their new family mansions in Edo for the sankin kōtai. The old mansions in Kyoto were either sold to the rich merchant class or given to the daimyo's vassals to manage.

The entire Fuwa household was busy for the rest of the month preparing for the move. His father made arrangements for the family and their two guests to travel by boat; he reasoned that they were less likely to encounter bandits that way. Some of the household servants were sent a week early to clean and prepare the manor in advance.

They sailed towards Echizen and reached port in less than two days. The family visited the nearby buddhist temple to pray for their trip before continuing to Nagahama, a castle town famous for its teppô and gunsmiths. His father bought a matchlock for himself and had commissioned a decorative pistol to be made and delivered to their lord as a gift. From Nagahama, they boarded a boat that crossed the length of the Sea of Biwa, all the way to Otsu.

"Ne, Sho-kun. We've travelled really far in the past week," Kyoko said, looking across the calm waters and towards the land they left behind, "Do you not miss Kaga?"

"What's there to miss? The entire household is moving to Kyoto anyway."

The leaves had started to turn when they started down the legendary water route of Setagawa to Ujigawa. Not everyone could say that they sailed down a river until they reached a point where it changed its name. It was quite an experience to watch as the mountain ranges and forested wilderness gave way to the well-maintained gardens, stately temples and palaces of Uji located on the southern part of the capital.

"Look Sho-chan! It's the Hōō-dō!" Kyoko exclaimed, pointing towards the west bank of the river where a grand temple was set against a colorful backdrop of golden ginko and the blazing momiji trees.

"Would you believe that buddhist temple is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the capital?" His father said as he joined them at the wooden railing of the boat to watch the scenery, "The Phoenix Hall is almost 500 years old and dates back to the Heian era."

"Chichi-ue, why is it named after the firebird?" Sho asked.

"Well, they said it was because of the building's likeness to a phoenix with outstretched wings and a tail when viewed from above."

The phoenix statue, perched atop the tiled roof of the temple, seemed to be watching the boats that were sailing pass. Sho leaned his chin against the railing and thought that being welcomed by a 500 year old firebird into the ancient capital of Kyoto was indeed a sign of good fortune.

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Kyoto - 9th Month, Keichō Year 15

Sho just finished his second dango when he saw Kyoko exit the kimono shop carrying a package wrapped in green cloth. She made her way across the street to the tea house where they agreed to meet. It was a good enough compromise since there was no way he would be caught dead entering a kimono shop, even though he did volunteer to accompany her to town for the errand.

"I got the kimono, Sho-chan!" Kyoko smiled as she set the box on the bench beside her, "Chiyo-basan was quite insistent that I wear the new obi she made for me. Did you happen to wait long?"

He noticed a few male heads turned towards their table, covertly checking out the sweetly smiling girl who was oblivious to the attention she was getting. The kimono shop owner seemed overly fond of Kyoko; he once overheard the woman saying that Kyoko has the perfect figure for a kimono: chest flat as a plank and a spine straight as a spear. He on the other hand, could only fervently hope that Kyoko would grow into her curves with age.

"Not really," he replied before asking, "How about you - would you like to have a snack before we head back?"

Kyoko seemed to consider his question, biting her lip as she gazed at the last dango on the stick he was holding. "I-I'm fine," she finally said after much deliberation, "Besides, it'll be lunchtime by the time we get home, no?"

He would have wanted to point out that it was a good half-hour walk back home. That she was sure to be famished on the way since she skipped breakfast to put in more hours practicing kyudō. But he was also sure that all his arguments would have fallen on deaf ears simply because Kyoko was too stubborn for her own good sometimes.

"Alright," he casually dropped the sweet he was eating on the plate before him and stood up, "We best be on our way, then."

"But Sho-chan, you haven't finished your dango," she said, looking down at the leftover snack.

He simply shook his head and reached for the package containing the kimono his mother ordered. "No, I'm done eating. I don't want it anymore."

Kyoko glowered at him, "With the harvest being bad this year, it's not good to waste food, Shotaro."

He had to raise his eyebrow at that one. Kyoko almost never calls him by his given name unless she was very much displeased with him. "Well, you're welcome to it if you want," he returned, pushing the plate across the table to her side.

Kyoko grabbed the stick and bit off a piece of the sticky rice morsel. She chewed carefully, before finishing the rest in two quick bites.

"So, was it good?" he asked, trying his hardest not to laugh at her puffed cheeks which made her like an irate fugu.

With her mouth full, Kyoko could only nod her head. He took the liberty of ordering a fresh cup of green tea for her. She drank the tea the moment it was placed on the table, washing down the sweet sticky rice paste.

"Ah! That was delicious!" Kyoko sighed in happiness. She looked at her childhood friend, a reluctant smile playing at the corner of her lips, "Arigatou, Sho-chan. I-I didn't think I was that hungry."

"Well, it wasn't much. But it should tide you over till we reach home." Sho stood up and threw a few copper coins on the table for the tea and dango. He slung the green cloth package over his shoulder before addressing the girl next to him, "Ikimashou, Kyoko."

"H-hai!" she happily replied, her hand taking hold of the edge of his kimono sleeve as she is wont to do whenever they walked together.

They managed to cross the street and reached the bridge where they halted to let a daimyo procession pass. Sho supposed that even though the new capital and the shogun were in Edo, the daimyos would still pass by Kyoto and pay their respects to the emperor if they happened to be in the Kansai region.

The group was fairly small, no more than twenty people, including the four on horseback who comprised the front and rear guards. The procession was halfway through the bridge when the four ashigaru carrying the kago stopped. A scruffy looking man was called forth and given orders by the person inside. The man met his gaze and was soon making his way towards them.

The stranger shifted the stick he was chewing on to the corner of his mouth and asked arrogantly without preamble, "Boy, would you happen to know where the Maeda manor is?"

Sho felt Kyoko's hand tightened its grip on his sleeve as she shifted closer behind him. He deliberately slanted his gaze towards the kago before meeting the uncouth man's gaze with a glower of his own. "Who wants to know?"

"Quite a tight-lipped brat, ain't cha?" he sneered, looking over Sho's shoulder to leer at Kyoko, "Maybe I should just ask your cute little friend here instead."

"Maybe you should just fuck off," Sho snapped back, earning him a pair of raised eyebrows and a snort from the man towering over him.

"You're either brave... or just really really stupid." The scruffy man unfurled his spine from its lazy slouch, his thumb flicked at the tsuba of the katana resting at his hip, "Care to find out?"

"Ushi-no-Baka! What the hell is taking you so damn long to ask for directions?"

They both turned towards the voice to see a distinguished looking man stepping out of the kago. The lord was obviously annoyed at the delay, but his anger flared upon seeing the man's hand on the hilt of his katana. "What-?! You're drawing your sword against children now?!"

The 'Stupid Cow' just rolled his eyes at the accusation and let his katana slip back into its sheath. "The brat's got quite a mouth on him, Mogami-dono. Let's see you try to get anything out of him, ne?"

"M-Mogami?" Sho's eyes flickered over Kyoko in reflex only to find that she has left his side and was walking towards the handsome lord.

"Ojisan?" she whispered, her voice trembled with hope and longing, "C-Chika-ojisan, is that really you?"

.oOo..oOo..oOo.

A/N:

The glossary part at the end of each chapter was bound to have some redundant entries. Hence the decision to create a separate page to make it cleaner. The original ch01-02 got bunched a single chapter and decided to throw in a new chapter as well. (^.^)v

Note: Translation for the 64nd waka by Fun'ya no Yasuhide from the Hyakunin Isshu was lifted from Japanese Text Initiative Electronic Text Center | University of Virginia Library