Ahh, I'm so sorry it took so long for me to come back to this! But I promise it won't be like that again. I'll be posting a chapter every Sunday until this thing's completed. All I have to do now is a few parts at the very end, and to go back and change one, teeny tiny little thing in the first half of this. No, I'm not going to say what, but I'll applaud anyone who spots it.
Again, thank you to anyone still reading this, and I hope it was worth the wait.
The odds of me escaping a lecture when I opened my eyes were not optimistic and sure enough, Mizu was waiting there, arms folded, and a scowl firmly in place. "Two. Fucking. Days."
"Is that how long I was out for?" I asked weakly, squinting against the sun entering the room.
"You wish, it's only been about an hour. No, that's how long Ranmaru and Itsuki say it's been since you last ate." Why was she shaking? "Two days, Sayomi! We thought you were wounded or something! Instead it was because you can't look after yourself properly!"
I stared as Mizu in disbelief as the tears started running down her cheeks. She must've heard the news, I realised, cursing my own stupidity. "I'm sorry."
"You say that, but the question is this: What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that I had an act I had to practise for. That if I didn't get this right I'd look stupid in front of all of our friends. I can honestly say an attack never factored into my plans!"
As Mizu opened her mouth to deliver another verbal blow, I re-evaluated our positions.
She was older, and had always been the one in control, the one to tell us when we were being stupid. But she'd frozen right up when it mattered, and Chihiro had died, right after Asuka had fallen next to her.
Whereas I had been given the luxury of being blinded to my family's death, Mizu had probably seen hers die first hand. I had spent my fighting days as a general of an army, but she wouldn't have stayed in one place for too long, just enough time to steal or kill as much as was needed.
You may be the only active ninja from this village left…
Taking my silence as repentance, Mizu cleared her throat and gave a hard rub at her eyes, "Now that that's sorted, I'll see if the kitchens would mind making you a quick something."
"Thanks." Waving her arm carelessly, she stepped outside, closing the door with a soft tap. Left alone, I began to wonder about her words again, curious as to whether the purge of the ninja villages was to blame for her no longer being an active shinobi, or if there was something deeper at play here.
The days passed at a snail's pace, with the only notable event coming from the return of the guards sent to escort Mariko and Shiro to their families, carrying small notes from the pair for us to remember them by. Masamune had begun an investigation into who had attacked the village, but whoever it was had been crafty enough to leave no evidence on their soldiers or provide them with banners to identify them. Every day that came with a dead end sent us further away from hope.
We successfully managed to pin Itsuki and Ranmaru down for haircuts, and Hotaru was kept thankfully busy by Master Katakura, who began teaching her about the different blooms. Only Kotone was left with nothing to do, and it began to show in her eyes, which slowly developed low bags the longer she went without sleeping. She tried hard to hide it, but as the poor sod sleeping next to her, Hotaru had no qualms about complaining to one of us about the kicks and crying she had to endure each night.
The others were avoiding the same problem by throwing themselves into work or training, Mizu by learning how to ride and Hanzo by training harder than ever. I once found him doing push ups with Itsuki sitting cross legged on his back while Ranmaru watched, ready to help hold her if his stance shifted even slightly. Finally though, Kotone found her own little niche, right next to mine.
Sword in hand, I was moving through the early tamiya katas before adding my jigen to the mix when a low gasp and whine of pain caught my attention. Sliding the katana back into its sheath, I turned on the spot, whacking my head with my hand at the sight of Kotone kneeling behind me, the wakizashi lying in the grass next to her. Recovering just as fast, I crouched down next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Slowly, she looked up, only to drop again, focusing on her hand. Taking it, I slowly uncurled the fingers, exposing the cut to the air. "Sharper than you thought, eh?"
"A little." Tutting softly, I picked the short sword up with my spare hand, flicking and sheathing it before helping her to her feet. Making sure she kept her palm to the air, we walked to where the nearest well was, my cloth dipping into the water and moving onto the cut. Whimpering softly again, Kotone managed to stay relatively still, her other fist turning white from the effort. Finally though, I was able to tie the material around her palm, settling back on my heels when I was finished.
"I want you to teach me how to fight." She whispered, looking through her fringe at me.
It's not fair Daddy! I want to learn too!
My own voice echoed throughout my head, the sound bouncing against another that told me to refuse her request. Sighing quietly, I bent slightly, putting myself at the same height, "What's with the sudden interest?"
"I just want to learn, that's all."
"Kotone."
She flinched at my tone, her voice starting to jump about, "I-I-I just don't want to be scared again!" Throwing her head back up, Kotone put on her bravest face, ignoring her wobbling bottom lip, "I can't be that scared again! What if it happens again? I can't just do nothing!"
Oh for the love of Bishamonten…She was serious. Groaning to myself, I bit down on my lip, trying hard to find the words. "Kotone, it's a tough thing to try and learn, are you sure you really want to try?"
"Please Sayomi, please!" She grabbed onto my sleeve, looking up pleadingly.
Mizu was going to kill me. "Alright, I'll teach you." I heard myself say, Kotone cheering happily when I did. "On one condition."
"Name it."
I held up her bound hand meaningfully, "I'm not teaching you with a proper blade until it's safe. Until then, we're both using a bokken, got it?"
Nodding determinedly, Kotone let her hand drop and then charged to hug me, only pulling away when Hanzo came around the corner, his towel wrapped around his neck, and his face drenched in sweat. Catching our less than impressed looks, he quickly dipped the towel in the water and ran it over his skin, "Better?"
"Much. Itsuki's been working you hard?" Perching on the edge of the well, Hanzo watched Kotone run off to go get the bokkens, looking to me with a raised brow,
"Yeah she has. What was all that about?"
"Kotone's got it into her head that I can teach her how to use a sword."
"And you said yes."
"Of course I did, I'm an idiot, aren't I?" Laughing, Hanzo wrapped the towel back around his neck, waving goodbye as he headed back to his training. Folding my arms while I waited, I looked towards the house, wondering not for the first time what we were going to do in the future.
The next day, I was woken up by someone fiercely shaking my shoulder, lifting my head from the pillow warily, "Wha- Kotone, is that you?"
"Yeah." She whispered, too shadowed for me to see properly, which told me one thing.
"It's not even light out yet, what's up?"
"You said we have to train before breakfast."
"I meant when we could actually see what we were doing." Flopping my head back on my borrowed pillow, I groaned quietly, realising she hadn't moved yet, "Alright, go get the practise swords." There was a quiet squeal, and then Kotone left, nearly tripping on my outstretched leg while she did. Wondering what I'd gotten myself into, I blew my bangs off my face, beginning to sit up in bed. A quick look into the gloom only proved Kotone's quiet footwork, because Mizu was still snoring softly next to me, and Hotaru had yet to budge from her and Kotone's shared spot on the floor. Not even Yori seemed to notice there was an active body in the room, a fact I happily praised as I left Itsuki's side and started tying my hair back.
When I finally stumbled into the cool air, the sun was trying its hardest to climb higher, but the fact remained: It was still dark out. Rolling my eyes to myself, I slipped my sandals on, giving Kotone a hard look, "I don't know why you decided to pull me out of bed, we established yesterday that you can't hold the sword properly."
"I can too!" Kotone whisper-yelled, holding her bokken out so I could see her grip on it. Raising an eyebrow, I plucked my practise stick from where it was leaning, calmly appraising it for a second. Then without warning I brought it around to clatter with Kotone's the sudden shock breaking her fragile grip and making it fly to the floor, her fingers immediately going into her mouth while she glared at me. "That hurt."
"I said I'd teach you. I never said I'd go easy on you." Inside, I knew I was being unfair. Her hand was still tender from her great idea of using a real sword before she was ready, and she would've altered her grip to go easy on it. But it was going to get harder before it got easier, a simple fact she would have to learn. With any luck, it would convince her to stop learning and go back to her childhood.
Dropping the wooden stick back to my side, I knelt down, looking through her bangs to her eyes, my finger pointing at them before she could step away, "You had another nightmare, didn't you?"
"None of your business." She murmured, just before she yawned.
"It is. As your fool of a teacher, I have to be responsible for you. That includes making sure you sleep properly." Brushing her hair away from her face, I took proper stock of how it looked, my heart breaking to see the tears coming to her lashes again. "I'm going to tell you something, I still get scared."
"You do?"
"Of course I do. Only idiots don't get scared."
"But what do you have to be scared of?" Kotone asked thoughtfully, rubbing at her eyes while she did. Tucking her fringe to the side so she could see me clearly, I gave a wane smile,
"I'm scared that one day I won't win. I get scared that one of you is going to get hurt. But most importantly…"
"What?"
"I'm scared of what Mizu will do if we wake her up." Blinking in confusion, Kotone saw the funny side of it, and broke into peals of laughter, just as another voice broke into our circle.
"Too late, samurai." Mizu scoffed, scratching the back of her head. "Breakfast is in half an hour. Don't be late or I'm dragging you myself."
Waiting for her to go back inside, I grinned, gently tapping Kotone on her back, leading the way back inside. Yori was still snoozing, but Itsuki and Hotaru were sitting together, the younger girl getting her hair tied into a braid for the day. Our rooms were located in the guest wing of the Date manor, but we all took a certain pride in operating independently of its inner workings, tidying our spaces by ourselves.
Once the girls had finished getting ready, we trooped into the room next to ours, where Mizu was already setting out the breakfast the kitchen had brought along, and Hanzo and Ranmaru were trying not to fall back asleep in their water. "I don't see why you're so tired." Mizu lectured, "It was us who had Yori last night."
"Doesn't mean we couldn't hear him." Hanzo yawned, taking his hashi up when his bowl was in front of him, "And thanks to your rule about privacy, we couldn't exactly help you out."
Our being in the guest quarters may also have been so we didn't disturb anybody else with Yori. "He misses his parents." Itsuki excused, taking her first mouthful of food, "Besides, it's your turn to have him tonight."
"We're looking forwards to the honour with bated breath." Ranmaru drawled. Waiting for Mizu to pass me my bowl, I was shocked when she paused slightly, licking her lips as she thought,
"There's been a lead."
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Hanzo half demanded, setting his food down while he listened. Even Hotaru stopped chewing, all eyes on Mizu while she spoke,
"Apparently Masamune's uncle was attacked around about the same time we were, and it looks like it could be the same guy."
"Who told you this?" I asked, tilting my head,
"The maid, she was called out late last night to deal with Mogami."
Humming thoughtfully, Ranmaru gave a slow nod, "That would explain why there was no commander. He'd be needed where the greater problem was. So who attacked the uncle?"
"That's the part you won't believe." Mizu provided, passing the water down to Kotone when her face started turning red from an overstuffed mouth. While she struggled to swallow and Hanzo rubbed her throat to encourage it, the huntress carried on, "Apparently it was just one guy, but he was fast enough to take out most of the main force and give a warning to the rest of them. They didn't even chase him off, he left on his own when he realised Masamune was elsewhere."
"Sounds like he has a real problem with your boyfriend."
"Exactly what I thou- Hey!"
"What's his name?" Hanzo quickly called over, the noise of his sister wrapping one hand around my throat, while the other toted the pan threateningly apparently getting his attention again.
Glaring at me for good measure, Mizu stood down again, "He announced himself as Ishida Mitsunari, the most loyal Toyotomi retainer."
"Oh no…" I breathed, setting my drink down so I could rest my head in my hands. "Why didn't I think of it sooner?"
The others split a look of concern, Ranmaru speaking up, "Who is he?"
Slowly raising my head, I gave it a quick shake, swearing quietly, "He was a general for Toyotomi, both respected and feared by the common soldiers, for his skill at iaijutsu. That's why he was so fast, that's why it was Masamune and Master Katakura the sniper was aiming for, and that's why I nearly had my head blown off. Because he's more loyal to Toyotomi than I used to be to Oda."
"Of course, Masamune killed Toyotomi, and Master Katakura took care of Takenaka. And you kept running." Hanzo surmised, the flush under his freckles disappearing rapidly, "And then I went and stole Takenaka's sword as a trophy. Oh shit…"
"Hey, not in front of Hotaru!" Itsuki scolded, beaning him on the head.
"Yeah, she's impressionable!" His fear forgotten, Hanzo soon found himself on the defence, eventually falling backwards from Ranmaru's last jab. Watching the scene with a raised eyebrow, Mizu returned to her food with a light shrug, deeming it none of her business.
"You should tell Master Katakura what you just told us." Kotone advised, setting her hand on mine, "It could help."
"I wasn't going to keep it to myself." I said defensively.
"No-one said you were." Hanzo gasped from the floor, his third attempt at rising yielding better results than the first two. "Wait until after you've eaten, they'll be in the war room then."
It was just as I'd nodded that a loud whine filled the air above us, the noise setting off Yori before I could even think about identifying it. The loud groan that went around the room was far from unexpected, even when I untucked my legs, silently volunteering.
If it hadn't been for a certain someone (Mizu) turning near enough violent when it had been suggested, Yori would've found a home that was more suited to looking after him, taking the weight off of our shoulders. But because that certain someone had, then we were somewhat stuck with him. Not that we were particularly fussed about it.
When I got into the room, Yori was furiously kicking his legs about, tossing the blanket about until his big eyes fell on me and he settled easily, his fist flying into his mouth so he could gurgle around it. Fixing a smile onto my face, I edged closer, nearly crying when I saw how damp his blanket was. Instead I kept the sickly expression on, collecting the wash pan and bringing it closer so I could start cleaning him up. By the time he was fully sorted and gumming happily on my shoulder, there was movement from next door, the others sounding like they were clearing up. Holding his head securely as I walked, I bumped into Master Katakura when I tried to get back in, nearly dropping Yori when I realised we had an uninvited guest. The Dragons I could understand considering the subject we had literally just been discussing, but Ieyasu?
It wouldn't be a great stretch of the imagination to say my greeting was less than polite, "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"We had just asked the same question." Ranmaru snarled, glaring hard at our visitor. Not getting the problem, the others looked between our trio, waiting for someone to say something. Since Hanzo had our recipe for baby food in front of him, I passed Yori down to him, crooking my finger at Ieyasu.
"Outside, now."
