Let's hope 2017 will be a better year for all of us!
Sometimes, lists are easier to write and understand
The officials rose and bowed from their cushions as Sadasada and Shigeshige entered.
Shigeshige could detect the slight change in their demeanor. It was the same old greediness in their eyes—coveting the all powerful seat of the Shogun—but there was delight mixed in it today.
Delight in watching the Shogun fall from his high pedestal. Starting from Aikake's promotion.
Their impatience wasn't buried as deep under their respectful mask today as well.
Shinpachi and the others were peeping in again through the secret room. The servants were told to keep it a secret after some bribing yesterday, and today was no exception. They even offered to help cook up some lies and distractions to prevent other servants from finding out and reporting them to the Shogun.
"Rise." Shigeshige commanded, taking his seat. The officials lifted their heads then took their seats after the Shogun settled down.
Without further ado, the Shogun waved at the Head Minister of the Board of Civil Appointments, who eagerly passed the scroll over to a servant. Maizou took the scroll from the servant, unwinding the string binding it.
Aikake's gray eyes shifted from the scroll to Sadasada and the Shogun, the hint of a smirk pulling up the corners of his lips.
Today was his day.
Maizou began reading out the edict, but Aikake was lost in his own world, already imagining the scene where the Shogun would bow down to him, the grand sight of all the court officials under his feet—and most importantly, the head of Sadasada being tossed to the guard dogs.
"...let us welcome—" Aikake began to lift himself up, "—our new roju, Lady Kagura of the Yato Clan."
Aikake froze.
An official went out of his way to dig his ear, flicking off the ear wax off his little finger, wondering whether he had heard wrongly.
Sadasada's fist was clenched so tight his knuckled turned white.
Matsudaira's sunglasses almost fell off from its perch on his nose.
Kagura swept in, finery and all, looking like a real noble lady of the court.
She had already received the edict earlier in the morning, lest she get mobbed by the officials and dragged out if she was to accept it in the front of the Court.
"Good morning to y'all." Kagura grinned, the kanzashi (hair ornaments) on her head clinking softly as she inclined her head ever so slightly.
Despite her grandiose appearance, all Kagura wanted to was throw off her accessories and rip the silk apart. The shoes were pinching her toes, the elephantine headdress felt like a shark chomping down on her head, with its teeth acting in the place of all the pins burrowing into her scalp. She vaguely wondered how human women could stand wearing all the finery if she, a Yato, was already straining under the weight.
Lady Kagura was guided to her seat and seconds right after she made herself comfortable, the Court went off in a verbal 'KABLOOM'.
"SHOGUN-SAMA! T-THIS—"
"SHE IS A CHILD! A GIRL! IMPOSSIBLE!"
"SHOGUN-SAMA! PLEASE RETRACT YOUR EDICT! A MERE GIRL! SHE—"
They abandoned all manners, scrambling up front with their shaku* waving wildly in the air like madmen.
Kagura resisted the urge to pick her nose and sprawl her legs out on the cushion.
"Shigeshige-san. This is not a funny joke. What are you doing?" Sadasada whispered agitatedly. He had dropped even the honorific title of addressing his nephew as the Shogun in the presence of the Court. His beady eyes were arrowing the fidgeting Kagura; disgust, anger and shock all rolled into one threatening glare.
"It is what it is. Lady Kagura is our new roju, and we will welcome her with what is expected of us." Shigeshige answered his uncle and the officials together, his booming voice silencing the Court.
"B-but—Shogun-sama! You cannot be serious!" Lord Mitsubishi protested.
"Shogun-sama." Aikake shoved his way to the front, bowing politely as he spoke. His voice contorted with anger, contempt flashing in his eyes for a brief second. "May I know the reason behind your appointment of Lady Kagura?"
"The author wanted to."
Everyone decided to treat his words as air rushing past their ears. Kagura cackled softly under her breath.
Before the Shogun could elaborate on his statement, Kagura spoke up—or rather, yelled, to grab the attention of the rowdy officials starting up again.
"SHUT UP! LOOK HERE-ARU!"
The officials turned before realising they were being commanded by a "mere girl".
"If you continue yapping away like this, I'm going to bash—uh—I'm going to do something drastic to you! It's grating my sensitive ears-aru."
An old official with a salt-and-pepper beard clutched his chest, seeming about to act out another one of those korean dramas' cardiac arrest scene. "Y-You impertinent little brat! Who...who gave you the right...to speak?" He wheezed.
"The Shogun and I did. She can speak, as the new roju." Sadasada came to Kagura's defense, earning a small smile from said lady.
The officials paused for a second in disbelief before they started babbling again. Sadasada was the last person they expected to go along with this controversial appointment of the roju.
"Calm yourselves down. Please take your seats, then I will explain." Shigeshige motioned to the empty cushion seats thrown haphazardly around the hall in the great stampede to reach the Shogun and express their displeasure.
An order was an order. As unhappy as they might be, there was still a hierarchy to follow.
"Lady Kagura's father is Umibozu. The strongest sweeper of the universe. I believe it is in Edo's best interests to garner him over to our side." As the Shogun spoke, a screen was wheeled out along with a projector. "As proof, we have contacted Umibozu-dono."
The screen flickered to life and a fuzzy projection of Umibozu appeared. "The signal is horrible...morning...almost night here..." His voice crackled from a speaker that was wheeled in along. Kagura stood up and gave the projector a few taps.
The image became sharper and clearer, and so did Umibozu's voice. "Kagura! Tell papi if anyone bullies you! I'll destroy their house." On the screen, the worried father brandished his umbrella aggressively.
"Papi!" Kagura grinned. She missed her father dearly. Next time she'll get Soyo-chan to get her another one of these projectors thingamajig. The highest government of each sovereign nation was given the means of contacting important figures of the world, one such as Umibozu himself.
"Ooh! My daughter is looking very pretty today!" Umibozu returned the smile.
He peered closer at the screen, noticing the court officials gathered behind his daughter, their mouths opening and closing like dumb fishes. "If any of you balding old potatoes dare touch my daughter," Umibozu raised the device he was holding, so the camera angle showed the pile of smoking, decapitated aliens behind him, "I'll make sure that you will join them." Umibozu fired a bullet into the pile.
An alien head twitched under the impact of the bullet. Seconds later, the pile combusted into flames.
The officials paled under Umibozu's glower; the shadows thrown over his face by the sizzling fire made it even more menancing. Aikake felt a nerve pop out under his temple.
He was irritated. Irritatedly livid. The shaku in his hand snapped clean into two, falling to the floor.
"Rest assured, Umibozu-dono, your daughter is in safe hands." The Shogun diverted the worried father's attention over to him. "Thank you for cooperating."
"S—" The screen became distorted and pixelated suddenly, and Umibozu's voice got cut off. "...going now...Kagura...bye..."
Before the image completely disappeared, he was last seen waving a goodbye. Kagura's smile melted off her face as the screen turned blank. The conversation was so short. She wanted to see more of her father.
Kagura returned to her seat, tuning out the rest of the court session where it was mostly vicious arguments between the supporting officials of the Shogun and ones who had defected to Aikake's side.
"Newly appointed members can only be terminated after 2 months of duty!"
"But this is impossible for a little brat like—"
"Watch your mouth, Lord Casio!"
"We need the Yato clan's help! Umibozu is an influential figure...maybe we can get them to help us against—"
"You know that defeating them is inconceivable!"
"Shogun-sama! I will not assent to this preposterous decision! Please reconsider it!"
"Sadasada-sama! Please convince Shogun-sama to retract his edict!"
"The Shogun is always right."
"Shogun-sama! The position was promised to Lord Aikake!"
Kagura patted the spot behind her, comforted by the familiar bulge underneath her cushion. Weapons were not allowed in the company of the Shogun, but he made an exception for her and her umbrella.
Kagura stared at the shiny heads before her tiredly, pasting googly eyes over her eyelids as she took a nap.
Sadasada sank into the soft floor seat in his room, a courtesan attaching herself almost immediately to him.
"My Lord~ how was your day?" The courtesan asked simperingly, dragging a finger lightly up Sadasada's clothed chest.
Sadasada's expression didn't change, but his grip on the courtesan's waist turned excruciating. The fragile woman gave a yelp, pushing herself off the chest of the Advisor.
She cowered into the corner, afraid that her wrong question had angered the man. She pulled her kimono collar closer together in a futile effort to keep Sadasada's incoming bruising slaps from hurting her.
Thankfully, the old Lord only ordered her to get out, sparing her from the beating she expected. The courtesan picked up her skirts and almost stumbled over her feet in her haste to exit the room.
He should have known when the Court's head seamstress was called in yesterday. It had been made by his niece so he didn't suspect a single thing. What a clever move. He was old, but he wasn't stupid. His own nephew actually dared to scheme against him. Not only that, his nephew was using him—manipulating him to go along with his plan. He dared! Sadasada felt a sudden loss of control over the court he had been ruling for half of his lifetime—and he didn't like this feeling. In fact, he hated it.
Deep under, he was rather proud that his soft, useless nephew was able to think of such a plan. He never expected that nephew of his to possess such a brain. Nevertheless, the matter at hand was to get rid of the girl and that Aikake brat.
It was definitely easier than getting rid of Aikake if he had been promoted. No one would miss a powerless little girl if she just disappeared one day—with the exception of her troublesome father. Her father...hmph...he'll think of an excuse to pacify that Yato after he eliminated his target first.
Sadasada was forced to play along to Shigeshige after he had weighed the pros and cons in that short amount of time during the Morning Court session.
Pro 1: The officials will be more hesitant in their attempt to try and get rid of Kagura. Sadasada still holds a significant amount of power which can screw them up and over a hundred times if they dare touch a person working under Sadasada's protection. The threat by Umibozu helped a little as well.
Pro 2: A newly appointed member can only be reconsidered and terminated after 2 months of duty, and Aikake clearly knows that he cannot wait this long. 2 months is long enough for Sadasada to wipe out his whole family tree.
Pro 3: Due to Sadasada's protection of the little brat, Aikake and Hitotsubashi will not be able to throw Kagura off the position easily. Aikake will be caught between a rock and a hard place. However if Sadasada had made his stand clear that he did not agree to this appointment, Kagura would be sure to 'mysteriously disappear' in the next few days.
Pro 4: Letting Kagura take the position meant that Aikake was still stuck as a Daimyo, and still will have lesser resources and power to use to his advantage. An easier prey for Sadasada.
Pro 5: After Aikake is taken care of, pushing the little girl off the roju seat will be less taxing than using all sorts of trickery and underhanded methods to kill Aikake off. And after that, "draining the swamp" of the defected officials will be a piece of cake too.
Considering all of that, it would be absolute idiotic of Sadasada to not agree to Kagura's appointment. Shigeshige had really thought through this. He had played right into his nephew's hands.
Sadasada leaned back further into the cushion, gesturing at a servant to hand him a steaming cup of tea. A slow sneer spread over his face.
His nephew was still too green if he thought he could stop Aikake.