The Chrysanthemum and the Rose
by DJ Clawson
This is story 9 in the series that started with "A Bit of Advice." You might want to click on my author profile and start with the first one at this point. Otherwise, enjoy!
Check the Flicker account for frequent updates based on things described in the chapters. Updates bi-weekly or so.
www . flickr . com / photos / 25734638 (at) N03 / sets / 72157605063518073 /
Chapter 36 – Man of Stone
Geoffrey and Danny's homecoming was welcomed with enthusiastic cheers from Alison Darcy.
"How's my little girl?" Geoffrey said as he picked her up. "Not so little anymore, are you?" He kissed his wife. "Georgie."
"Geoffrey. Danny. Welcome home." She watched the magistrate retreat to his own side of the complex. "How did it go?"
"The daimyo wants to raise taxes, but I managed to put it off a bit with a technicality."
"I think he's come too much to rely on you," Danny said. "Though it does mean we're forever in his good graces."
"I did find out he's taxing the merchants and not reporting it to the daimyo, but I don't want to make any enemies with him," Geoffrey said. "How are you?"
"A little lonely, but I'm getting over it." She also wondered how fast her cut would heal. It was hidden beneath her heavy kimono as it was. "Mugen wants to see you."
"What'd he do?"
"He says it's not about that."
"The fact that I don't know what 'that' is referring to is a bad enough sign," he said, setting Alison down against her own protests.
He found Mugen in his room, sitting very contemplatively until he saw him enter. "Oi. Jeffrey-san." He stood and beckoned Geoffrey to sit on the cushion. "Thank you. How is the daimyo?"
"Corrupt, but so is the magistrate. What else is new?"
"Always the same." Mugen sat back down. "I need money."
They were already housing him, feeding him, and picking up his tabs. "How deep are you in?"
"The gambling you know about. Besides, I win."
"Because you cheat."
Mugen shrugged.
"And then you spend it on whores."
"A man has to keep busy," he said. "I need a thousand ryo, and I can't pay you back. Not without robbing a lot of people, and that won't be good for you, okappiki."
"A thousand ryo? For what?"
"I need to buy a sword."
Geoffrey was not laughing anymore. "There are plenty around. Sanjuro will give you his, will he not? And we have those from Tanaka's gang and the ones from the caravan."
"I need this sword, to kill Kogi."
"I thought you didn't believe in magic swords and all that crap."
Mugen, for once, was perfectly serious about something other than Georgiana. "It's from China. I had to order it months ago. He won't be expecting it."
Geoffrey frowned. Mugen, of course, could have gone to Georgie and gotten the money easily, but he had taken the hard route to avoid telling her the truth. And he made Georgie happy. How could he be refused anything? "I have to dig it up. When do you need it?"
"By next week. Maybe a few days before, so I can make it there on time, to meet the merchant."
"I can do it, just not today." He buried his money as he'd been instructed to by Brian, so the magistrate couldn't steal it from him. He didn't want to dig in the daylight. "Tomorrow."
He bowed. Mugen actually bowed to him. "Thank you, Jeffrey-san."
Geoffrey smiled uneasily. "Whatever I can do."
"Now," Mugen said, raising the wooden sword. "Defend! Correctly now!"
Georgie set back in her stance. She had to imagine it with her eyes open, unlike during meditation, when she could fully concentrate. She had learned that lesson already. She wasn't ready when he swung for her. She had to block normally. It would be perfectly acceptable to another sensei, but he was not teaching her normal sword fighting techniques.
"Wrong!" he shouted, and swung again. He was relentless. She didn't want to tell him to slow down, so maybe she could focus, because he wanted her to do it this fast, or he wouldn't be hitting her so hard and so fast. "Still wrong!"
She was blocking him. She lowered her sword and got him in a lock, running across the room and taking him with her. "I need time."
"You need to concentrate."
"I need time to do that!"
"This is a fight! You don't have it!"
He pulled back and struck her in the chest. If it was a real sword, it would have cut her open. Either way, it hurt. She stepped back. "I yield."
"No! No yielding, Jorgi-san."
Out of instinct, she swung, and he blocked easily and struck her back, hitting her in the head. She toppled right over, and would have hit the wooden floor if he hadn't caught her and helped her up. His expression was concerned, but he didn't have to explain why he was being so hard on her. She got back to her feet and raised her sword. He gave her the time to get her bearings again. The throbbing in her head made it hard to focus, and she wouldn't have the strength for another hard block, nor was she sure she could duck out of the way in time. She couldn't use her skills. He swung and she just absorbed it, because she wasn't ready. She let it hit her hands. It was a bad idea, because she dropped her sword, and he kept advancing. She picked up the sword and retreated.
"No retreat!"
"Hit me," she said. There could be nothing worse than continuing this fight. If that was fate, so be it, but he would hit her, and she would let it pass. That was her decision, and when he came at her, she let it come. No, she wouldn't let it hit her. She might be hurt. She couldn't let that happen. She pushed it off to the side instead. She hadn't even realized she hadn't moved until it was done, and she was in the same position, and Mugen was knocked to the side.
"Sa!" he said. "I yield."
She didn't understand.
"Jorgi."
She dropped to her knees.
"You did it."
Geoffrey was not eager to celebrate. He did not attempt to hide his concern as she returned from the bath, her robe wrapped tight around her. The side of her face was swollen and already turning black-and-blue. She grunted as she sat down on the mattress.
"Let me see," he said, as she changed into her bed robe. She had more bruising on her stomach, just below her chest, and she flinched when he held her hands because they were so stiff. "I'm calling for the doctor."
"No!" She retracted from him. "No, it's just bruising."
"He might give you something for pain."
"I can take it."
"Georgie, you don't have to suffer. More to the point, I won't let you." He stood up and opened the door, only to find Mugen standing on the other side, holding a tray with steaming tea and a small wooden box. He bowed. "Mugen." He let him enter.
"Jorgi-chan," Mugen said, kneeling next to her. "Drink this. You'll hate it."
She took the tea and swallowed, trying not to spit it back up immediately. "Thanks for the warning."
He opened the box to reveal tiny disks of metal. "Magnets. I don't know how to do acupuncture, so this can be just as good. Lie down."
She did so, and he went about carefully setting the magnets over her bruised areas with a bit of paste. "Don't move." She could recall the chart of ki lines he made her draw over and over, but not how they matched where he was placing the magnets. "There." He neatly picked up his things. "You did very well today."
"Should we call Dr. Ogata?" Geoffrey asked.
"He wouldn't do anything else," Mugen said. He bowed and left, taking his things with him, but leaving the magnets stuck to her face and stomach.
"How do you feel?"
"I have the most disgusting taste in my mouth and I'm covered in glue and metal balls, but otherwise, the same. What do I have to complain about?"
He sat down beside her. "At least you haven't lost your sense of humor." He stroked her chin, which wasn't bruised. "I can't watch you do this."
"Then you have no esteem of your own abilities."
Geoffrey kissed her cheek before slipping under the covers with her.
As Georgie healed and her training was restricted to meditation, Mugen abruptly announced he was going on a journey to meet a merchant, and would be back in a week.
"You can have him come here, if you like," Georgie said, eager for him not to go.
"No, I must meet him there. He has already traveled a long way. I will be back soon."
She slid her sword forward. "You can have the sword back, if you need one so badly."
"Oi, you know it's not like that." He gave her a parting smile and left.
"Does he have enough money?" she wondered as they watched him disappear down the road.
"As long as he doesn't spend it all on sake before he gets there," Geoffrey said, and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.
She was notably restless in her sensei's absence, but they found ways to pass the time. Spring had come to the Bizen province, and the shops were open and the streets crowded. Hachiro was very busy preparing to open his shop, but he kept to their agreement and made time for Danny. Georgie watched, but did not step in.
"How is he?" she asked Hachiro in private, referring to her cousin.
"He is a dedicated student and a fast learner, but like me, he lacks the ruthlessness required to take a life. Fortunately, we are not at war."
"You also renounced your status."
"There were many things involved in that decision. Poverty, boredom, and the entire culture of loyalty and death. The only reason I could see myself being asked to commit hara-kiri would be over an administrative error. And yet, I didn't want to do it for the real reason, either. Life always appealed to me, more than death."
She could not say the same. She knew she was ruthless, and she knew at least part of her was a killer. "Have you spoken to Danny about this?"
"He will have the moment to decide whether he wants to play samurai and become a killer, or whether it's not his path. Whichever it is, I hope he chooses wisely. He's so intelligent."
"As is his father." She smiled. "This is all, I think, somehow about him going blind. Like he has to prove himself before he does it."
"With all due respect, Jorgi-san, who here is not trying to prove themselves in some way?"
She nodded. "Thank you for your time, Hachiro-san. Will you bring your wife for dinner tomorrow night?"
"I would love to, but I cannot drink the night away. It is a busy time for us."
"We understand. We would love to have you anyway."
He bowed and left, leaving her to her own thoughts as she sat in the empty dojo, ticking off the prayer beads in her hands.
Several days' journey north, Mugen sat in the private room of the teahouse, one hand playing with his beaded bracelet as the merchant entered. "I am sorry it took so long, but it is so hard to get things from the mainland."
Mugen responded by raising his dish to him.
The merchant opened his case, and began to unroll the item wrapped in silk. It fell away to reveal a Chinese sword with a traditional brass hilt. "It is a very ancient blade, forged at the great monastery of – "
"You don't have to make up a history," Mugen said, grabbing the handle and swinging so close that the merchant doubled-back. Mugen wouldn't have hit him anyway, but it would have been close. He stood, and pressed down with his heel on the middle of the blade, to see how it bent. Only Chinese swords were like that. From the lack of wear, it could not be more than twenty years old, but it was still a fine weapon. "It's not a master blade." He ran his thumb around it entirely. These swords were double-sided, and he drew blood on both edges.
"It is very high quality! The best I could get in six months."
He wasn't interested in conversing further with this man. He removed the box in front of him, revealing the piles of coin, stacked up neatly on a piece of paper, which he slid over to the merchant. "One thousand ryo." While the merchant salivated, Mugen put the blade in its scabbard, and wound his own cloth around the very distinctive hilt and tied it. He did not give him time to haggle over the price. "Our business is concluded." He stood, bowed to the merchant, and left, dropping some coins on the bar for the tab.
It was not his last stop. This was a much larger town than anything in the area of Imbe, and it had a shrine of appropriate size, part Shinto and part Buddhist. He ascended the steps and walked under the red gates, passing villagers and pilgrims who were praying or tying their prayers to the tree outside the building.
The priest he approached was Shinto. "I want to pay tribute to my ancestors."
"An offering can be arranged. Where are you from?"
"I was born on the Ryūkyū Islands. I don't know which one. I didn't know my mother or my father, but one of them was an islander and the other Japanese," he said. "I don't have time for a pilgrimage. In fact, I don't know where their graves are and I wouldn't go back there if I did."
The priest must have been used to odd stories. "What is the occasion for this tribute?"
"I'm about to join them, and I'd rather get on their good side now."
With the last of his travel money, he paid for the most extravagant ceremony he could afford. He didn't understand the liturgy, or even feel comfortable bowing his head and raising his arms in prayer as if he was devout. He watched the priest light the incense, and wave his flag back and forth over them to help the smoke drift up.
"Do you know the names of your parents?"
"No."
"What is your name?"
It seemed so strange for him to say it. "Gen."
He watched the smoke rise. How was this different from any other fire, or the incense they put out to ward off bad smells? What meaning did it have now, after so many years of avoiding any hint of it?
"It weighs heavy on your heart," said the Buddhist priest, also working in the temple. "I can see it in you. Take refuge – "
" – in the three jewels: The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Shangha, until I attain Enlightenment. Yes, I know. I have never taken refuge, and there is no time now."
"There is always time."
He didn't know why he was saying this so openly, to a man he didn't even know from a religion he wasn't part of. "I've never hid behind the gods for anything in my life. Is it wrong to ask for their compassion in getting to the next one?"
"It is very important to you."
"Not for me. For someone else. I have to reincarnate for someone else." He sighed. His heart was heavy, almost literally. "Will I have to choose between heaven in Nirai Kanai, and returning to the earth, or can it be both, like everything else in this country? Two priests for one temple. It doesn't make sense, but it seems fair."
The priest smiled at him. "If you have strength, the path will appear before you to guide you, but you must open yourself to the possibility. You have hardened yourself. Man is not made of stone. Man is ever-changing, and stone is not."
Hmang Shin, the failed student of Master Hyuu, was made of stone. They made a statue of him and put it in the monastery. He was so confused. He shook his head.
The Shinto priest returned from his ritual duties, until the incense burned down and the next prayers would begin. "You need not be alone, Gen-san. You have appealed to your ancestors. You have all those who have come before you, and as long as any living thing draws breath, there are gods to help you."
"You make it sound so simple!" he shouted. He hadn't meant to be mean. "Gomen nasai. I don't know what I'm saying."
"You have time to decide."
"I don't."
"You have a little. That is enough. There is always enough time for something like this."
The Shinto priest returned to the ritual Mugen had paid for, and Mugen watched, waiting for something. He looked to the Buddhist priest, who had returned to his own prayers, ticking off his prayer beads as he went. He had a long set of beads, like Master Hyuu.
Mugen put his hands together. "I take refuge in Kwan Yin, goddess of compassion, until I attain enlightenment." His next words came out as stifled sobs. "Please help me."
The Buddhist priest must have noticed him crying. "Gen-san, it is normal to fear death."
"I don't fear death," he said. "I've never feared death. I fear for the people I'm leaving behind."
"Child," the old priest said, "that is the reason compassionate people fear death."
"I am not a compassionate person."
"I would disagree with you."
Mugen wiped his eyes. "I've been called many things in my life, but never that."
The priest repeated, "There is always time for things like this."
"Mugen-san! Mugen-san!"
Alison Darcy was the first to reach him as he approached their side of the magistrate's house. She bounded out the door and down the steps still barefoot and clamped herself around one of his legs.
"Oi, what's this? Little brat!" But he didn't succeed his shaking her from him with just his foot.
"Alison, you're getting your feet dirty. What would Papa say?" Georgie said, emerging from the house. "And stop assaulting Mugen-sensei."
"Sa, I can handle her," he said, looking down at the attached child, and back up at the parent. Georgie's wounds, which he had inflicted, were healing, but she still looked a bit like a battered wife on one side of her face. He lifted Alison up. "Bad child! Go wash!" Then he set her down, and she went running, not out of fear but of excitement. "She's a good kid."
"If she's anything like me, we won't be able to keep a single maid. Did I tell you how I made my last governess quit?"
He chuckled. "That was a good one." He was relieved; she didn't seem affected by her wounds at all. "You look good."
"Mention that around Geoffrey and he'll have words with you."
"He can't still be mad at me! Doesn't he have anything better to do?"
"He makes it a priority to worry about his wife."
"That's one of the reasons I never had a wife. Also, there were some others. They're not cheap, I hear." They began walking slowly back towards the house. "You did very well, the last time we fought. You have to be careful now, or you might kill someone. And that someone might be me."
"Sensei – "
"You're a fast learner. Very fast. I almost don't know what to do with you." He was fairly sure he didn't hit her in that shoulder, so he put his arm around her. "Sometimes I think you learn too fast."
"Sometimes I think that, too."
...Next Chapter - Notes from Home