Retribution
Chapter 10: From Peasant to Warrior
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Author: Jun-I
Pairing: Kambei/Kyuzo (later)
Warnings and Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

Synopsis: Kyuuzou's perspective on Kikuchiyo's peasant status, Kyuuzou's childhood before S7.

Kyuuzou POV:

There was a big commotion as Heihachi dragged the traitor Manzou to the village square. Manzou was whining about the potential destruction of his home and fields, crying that we samurai were no different from the bandits. Some of the villagers were in agreement with him. Too many. Heihachi wanted to execute Manzou right away. Shichiroji said we should wait for Kanbei. I seconded Heihachi's opinion. But Shichi restrained Hei. So we were stuck in a deadlock until Kanbei showed up. Not that Kanbei got to be of any use in the matter, for Kikuchiyo arrived mere seconds later and stole the whole show. He first pointed out the two-faced and manipulative behavior of the peasants. Then he blamed us samurai for creating the very situations that force the peasants to develop the despicable behavior that we now take issue with. We were speechless. Then Kanbei stepped forward and asked, "Kikuchiyo, were you born a peasant?"

Oh, it was as clear as the day. I wonder why we did not see it earlier. Others may despise the peasant for changing his body so that he could elevate his status. But I did not. I too had changed myself so that I could gain access to privilege previously denied to me. As did my second sister Mizuho.

Then again, would my fellow samurai have guessed that besides Kikuchiyo, there was another peasant among them? I don't think even Kiku could guess. My tan had long faded. I had long tried not to remember the time I spent as a peasant, but it was not quite possible to forget…

Flashback: 15 years earlier

Kyuuzou bent over the rice stalks. He had to do more farm chores after school ever since Aunt Rumi became sick and bedridden. Mother had said it had to do with exposure to chemical warfare agents. As to the how and the why of the matter, she did not tell Kyuuzou. Now Aunty spent most of her time in her bedroom. Kyuuzou still went to visit the gentle black-skinned woman everyday. He noticed Rumi kept a dagger under her pillow. She called it "a woman's last resort." The child did not understand what she meant.

Out of the corner of his eye Kyuuzou saw his schoolteacher come up to the door of his house. Mother answered the door. The child returned his attention to planting the rice. He could already guess what the teacher was talking to Mother about.

Not too long later, the peasant boy heard approaching footsteps. It was Mother. He knew her step. An odd sight Mother was, a peasant woman always carrying two swords. The villagers laughed at her. More than once, Kyuuzou had implored her to not carry them just so that she could look like other women for a change, but Mother always said, "A woman must always be ready to defend herself. Such is the state of our world. But perhaps you, my child, will live to see better times."

The child knew his mother was standing right behind him but he pretended not to notice. The woman spoke. "I am not going to teach you more of the combat arts until you prove you will not abuse what I've already taught you."

Kyuuzou did not answer. His mother continued, "I did not teach you to fight so that you could fight for the sake of fighting."

No, he was not fighting for the sake of fighting. But how could he explain that the village children mocked her and Aunty behind their backs? Said they were bad women with no husbands; women who stole other people's children because they couldn't have their own. Said they were samurai who had to be peasants because they did something shameful and had fled from their clans. On top of that, his classmates had taunted him, calling the crimson-eyed boy "Kyuuzou-with-the-four-grandmothers." But Kyuuzou kept his silence and never told Aunt or Mother.

The woman sighed at the child's silent defiance. "If only you were a daughter. Then maybe you would not be so difficult. Maybe you would not fight for no reason."

Kyuuzou finally stood up and faced his mother. "If you wanted a daughter, then WHY did you pick me up when you found me in that destroyed peasant village? Better that you left me there to die!" he spat. The child turned sharply so that the woman could not see the tears that were starting to sting his eyes. He started walking briskly back to the house. When Mother was harsh, he could always count on Aunty for some sympathy.

Shizuka was already regretting her earlier words. But well, since when did a mother apologize to her child? "Come back here! Right now!" she commanded. Kyuuzou stopped moving. His mother was not someone to be argued with. But he would not turn around and face her, at least not until he had forced his tears away. She would berate him for crying. "I'll run away!" the 10-year-old said sullenly.

"When you are sixteen you can go find your own way in the world, but until then, you will stay here and listen to me, as a child should. We have only six more years to go together, we can make them six miserable years, or we can make them six good years. So it is in your interest to change your attitude." The voice behind him was calm. Sometimes Mother was so practical and rational it was almost annoying.

Kyuuzou racked his brains for a clever retort, but just then, he heard a strange humming sound overhead. He looked up and saw a military aircraft flying in the direction of their house. Then he looked to Shizuka. Mother had turned paler than he had ever seen her. She took one of the swords she was wearing and threw it over to Kyuuzou. "Hurry! Go in by the back door!" she ordered as the child deftly caught the sword in his hands, "Find your aunt and leave the house! I will enter from the front gate. If I do not catch up with you, do not wait for me!"

Kyuuzou raced towards their home, clutching the sword tightly. The plane had landed next to the farmhouse. He saw soldiers entering the front gate. No! He must get to Aunty first. He ran around to the back entry. It was clear. He dashed up the stairs and down the corridor to his aunt's room. There he saw her. He was too late! The dark, silver-haired woman had fallen on her side and was lying motionless in a pool of blood. Her right hand was still closed around the hilt of the dagger buried in her gut. Four soldiers stood over her.

Kyuuzou's hair stood up on end and he felt as if his heart had stopped beating. Without thinking, the child threw himself upon the intruders. Despite his small size, he had the advantage of surprise. He attacked the nearest soldier whose back was to him, slitting the man's throat while preventing his opponent from drawing by pushing the soldier's sword back into its sheath. Before the first man had hit the ground, Kyuuzou was onto the other three. It seemed that everything that his mother taught him fell into place without him needing to think about it. He heard a blood curdling battle yell, then he realized it had come from himself. The child looked down. Four dead men lay at his feet. It was the first time he had killed.

Mother climbed in through a window and took everything in with a glance. The color drained from her face when she saw Aunt's fallen form. But there was no time to weep. Footsteps echoed down the hall. The dark woman pushed Kyuuzou into the closet, slid the door shut, and hissed, "Whatever happens, don't make a sound. And don't come out!" Then she turned to face her pursuers.

The child peeped through the small hole in the paper screen of the closet door. A tall young officer strode into the room, followed by more samurai. The officer was quite handsome, with the same warm brown skin tone as his mother and the same dark hair. Kyuuzou thought the stranger looked more like his mother than he did.

When the officer saw the fallen bodies of his men, his eyes narrowed. "You have really changed. The Major Shimada I knew would rather die than raise her sword against her comrades."

Mother said nothing. The striking young samurai continued speaking as he assessed the damage done to the fallen men, "Then I see that this is not the only thing that has changed. Your technique has become sloppy. You used to do a much cleaner job, or so I've heard."

"I have been out of training." Mother replied humbly. Kyuuzou thought of rushing out of the closet to tell the samurai that his mother did not kill those four men, that he did. But he could not move. He was frozen with fear.

"Let's end it here, between you and me alone." The dark young samurai said, "I don't desire that any more of my men should die. You do understand that I have orders to bring back the head of our highest ranking deserter. You can do me the favor of handing it over yourself, or I can take it from you."

Mother did not respond. The man's hand moved to his sword hilt, "I would prefer the latter though. I've always wanted to fight a legend."

"Please, cousin," Kyuuzou's mother finally spoke. "No matter who wins this duel, we will both be losers."

"Do NOT speak of our kinship." The young man said severely. "You were no longer part of our family the day you made the choice to desert and flee with an enemy officer. You have shamed us beyond measure."

"I know you have to do your duty," Shizuka replied calmly, "but before you kill me, there is something I have to finish no matter what."

He regarded her coolly. "And what may that be?"

"Something that will take another six years," the tall woman pleaded. "If you could excuse me, please let me live until then."

Kyuuzou had never heard his mother beg until that day. But the young man was unmoved. He said only one word, "Draw."

For years after, Kyuuzou tried to banish the memories of what happened next. He stumbled out of the closet long after the soldiers had left only to be hit by the sickening smell of stale blood – the blood of the soldiers he had killed, the blood of his dead aunt, and the blood of the killer mixed with the blood of Mother. The child fell to his knees and found himself gazing into his aunt's eyes – the same blue eyes that had once looked upon him fondly were now staring vacantly at Death. Then the child raised his head and saw the mocking sight of his mother's headless, handless body.

Everything before Kyuuzou's eyes turned red. Then the peasant boy fell to the bloody floor in a dead faint.

Later, he would blame himself for everything. He should have been quick enough to save Aunt. He should have rushed out of the closet to save Mother. But would that have changed anything? Haruko said it would be a wasted move. That young officer would have killed them both. Shizuka would not have wanted that. At least Kyuuzou was still alive. He could always seek vengeance later. But then, Big Sister was probably saying those words just to console him. Kyuuzou alone had to live the rest of his life with the knowledge that he let his mother take the blame for his deeds, and then stood by as she was cut into pieces.

The orphan grew into the silent warrior whom others called a heartless killer. Perhaps they were right, he thought. The young fighter's heart had died a long time ago. Cut into a hundred pieces by the sword of that dark samurai.

Kyuuzou hated that man. But he despised himself even more.

Author's Note:

I was not drawing from any world inspirations for this chapter, but after I wrote it, I remembered I did read an interview of a Cambodian refugee who had the bad luck to be twice orphaned. His first parents were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. New parents adopted him as their own. He came to love his second family very much, then they were also killed. Talk about double misfortune! Needless to say, the man was devastated. When he grew up and got married, he had a big family. He said in a way it made up for the ones he lost, if I remember the details of the interview correctly.