Fox Under Maple
Chapter Two
Kenji looked around the room curiously, but his face quickly changed to a muted confusion. Kenji's attention first shifted to the crying Ikoma, and gave a questioning glance to the other two samurai. Togashi whispered "Ikoma" across the room, as Kenji gave an understanding nod before kneeling down by Kyou.
"What's wrong Ikoma-san?" Kenji said softly.
"You really think I'm an Ikoma?" Kyou asked pleadingly; wiping away her tears.
"Only an Ikoma could portray such powerful emotions. To mesmerize a world of stoicism with the raw feelings that live within us all. Is that not why the Ikoma are allowed to break the tradition of masking among samurai?" encouraged Kenji.
"Exactly." spoke Kyou as she sniffled. "These other samurai have been disrespectful, and now I'm overwhelmed."
"Do you need anything?" asked Kenji.
"Just a moment to calm down." sobbed Kyou quietly.
Kenji gave a slow nod and walked over to the fallen screen door. He bent the door around Kyou to block line of sight to her. Satisfied that the crying samurai was no longer visible, Kenji turned his attention to the remaining two samurai. Kenji spoke in a quiet tone.
"Greetings, it is an honor to meet you Kuni-san; Great shugenja of earth, and slayer of demons." Kenji bowed to Kuni. "And you...Togashi-san?" Kenji guessed.
"It's not super important, but Togashi works." replied Togashi.
"But you are a tattooed monk. Blessed to wield the magic tattoos passed down by Togashi himself!" Kenji said enthusiastically, which made Togashi smile a little.
The exchange was interrupted by a quivering voice, "One order of noodles" The hostess cautiously walked back into the room, carrying a bowl of noodles that shook in her hands as her eyes swept the room.
Kazumo tried to shrink back further into the corner, but the movement caught the woman's attention. She made a beeline towards him, quickly setting the bowl on the table in front of him. She then gave a fearful bow to the gathered samurai before quickly shuffling out of the room.
His heart sank as he lifted his gaze from the noodles in front of him and to the samurai, whose eyes were now fixed on him.
"Kazumo-kun!" Kenji cheered excitedly as he broke off from the group to approach him. "I did not think we would meet again so soon."
"It is good to see you again, Daidoji-sama." Kazumo replied sheepishly; placing his noodles on the tables next to him. Kazumo took another look at Kenji's red hair, and his curiosity was too much for him. "May I ask what brings you to this part of the capital?" Kazumo was not sure if he should be asking someone above his station such questions, but his suspicions had grown too much. Five people meeting at a tavern, all with the same crimson hair. There had to be a reason behind this, but the most obvious answer terrified Kazumo.
Kenji nodded solemnly before responding. "I am searching for my family. I was given a letter that my mother would be here at this inn. I had hoped one of you had seen her. Her name is Chiharu, and she has vibrant … red … hair" Kenji trailed off as he took another look around the room, examining Kazumo's and Togashi's hair. Kyou suddenly burst out from behind the screen door.
"Did you just say Chiharu?" Kyou fumbled through her robes before pulling out a letter with red trimmings. Kenji looked dumbfounded as he pulled out his own letter and examined it. Kazumo, too excited to hold back, slammed his letter down on the table.
"Well would you look at that!" He exclaimed, "They're exactly the same!"
Togashi moved up beside the samurai and reached into his own robe, before pulling a letter of his own, laying it down on the table beside the others…
The four of them were silent as they all examined the letters; the message and name of the receiver were different of course. However, the style was the same… and moreover, they all shared the same image… that of a fox resting under a maple tree.
Kazumo looked up to see that only Kuni had remained where she had stood, staring at them all from behind her mask. He cleared his throat, "Kuni-sama, by any chance is…"
"What!" interrupted Kuni.
Kazumo bowed his head before replying. "Is your hair also red?" The other three samurai turned their attention in anticipation. Kuni stared back at all of them, as if challenging them to say more, before sighing. She dropped her tetsubo against the wall before pulling her hood back, revealing a long braid of crimson hair. Kuni quietly pulled a matching letter from her robes before tossing it on the table. She then walked to a corner of the room to watch from afar. The five of them remained silent as they gazed in disbelief. Eventually, Togashi spoke up.
"So everyone here is a child of Chiharu?" Togashi looked at the others for confirmation. One by one, they each nodded to Togashi. Togashi stood up and rubbed his beard. "Which makes all of us, siblings." Togashi said, as if testing the concept in his mind. Everyone in the room was solemn and confused by this revelation. Everyone except Kenij, who was beaming at the concept of his new family.
"Or it's a trap." grumbled Kuni.
"Perhaps, but if so, it is one that shares the same bait for all of us." mused Togashi.
"But where is Chiharu then? The letter said she would be here." Kyou stated.
"Technically she said we would see our long lost family, so..." Togashi corrected her as he gestured to those in the room. "The letter wasn't wrong."
"It was definitely implied!" Kyou snapped angrily.
Kazumo was lost in thought as the others discussed. If his mother had him, there was no reason to believe should not have more. Him being the only peasant definitely made things difficult, but there was something about all of this that made him feel hopeful. There has to be more to this meeting. Chiharu wanted us to meet; wanted us to find her, but how?
Kazumo's eyes shifted to the letters on the table. He scanned them thoroughly for some hidden piece of information. He remembered a strange kanji at the top right of the letter. By itself it meant nothing, but Kazumo noticed that the other kanji had different writings on them. Maybe reading it in the right order would mean something. Kazumo bowed deeply before speaking again.
"If I may have your attention honored samurai. I noticed something on the letters."
"Shut it, peasant!" Kyou growled.
"I think we should hear what he has to say." Kenji rebutted calmly.
"You would trust this peasant?" Stammered out Kyou.
"I trust him with my life." Stated Kenji.
Togashi lifted an eyebrow, "Indeed? I was not aware you knew each other so well."
Kenji nodded solemnly, "We met yesterday."
Togashi blinked and Kuni let out a hoarse laugh, "Truly a life-long companion then."
"Regardless," Togashi argued, " if he has noticed something, we should hear it out."
All of the samurais' attention turned to Kazumo, who couldn't help but feel intimidated by the weight of their gazes.
"There are kanji written into the corners of the letters, maybe they mean something when put together." explained Kazumo.
"A great idea!" Kenji exclaimed as he started putting the letters side by side before pausing. "Uh, in what order?"
"Perhaps the order is based on how we would be ordered?" conjectured Togashi.
"What about age? We all would have to be different ages." replied Kazumo.
"Perfect! We just need everyone's age and then order them from oldest to youngest." said Kenji, proud to contribute to the puzzle. "I'll go first, I'm twenty-three years old."
"Eighteen." said Kazumo quietly.
"I have no idea." answered Togashi.
"I am... What do you mean you don't have an idea?" Kyou asked in disbelief as she turned to face Togashi.
"Age is a case of mind over matter… if you do not mind it, it does not matter." replied Togashi in a casual tone.
Kyou folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man, "Well, I am seventeen." She said dryly.
He sighed "Ok, I think I'm around twenty or something, so just slot me in between Kenji-san and Kazumo-kun."
Kyou sighed and placed the four letters in order before saying "So we just need Kuni-san's age." Kyou turned to Kuni and looked at her expectantly.
There was a pause, "I'm the eldest." She finally muttered.
Kyrou rolled her eyes and put the last letter into place. The four glanced at each other nervously before turning back to the letters and their voices rang in unison with the weight of destiny:
"Ring Iron tide slow tuna."
There was a pause, and then Togashi cleared his throat and quickly reversed the order.
"Flower of the Slow Tide's Iron Ring." There was another pause and they all turned to each other in confusion.
"So we are looking for an iron ring?" Kyou questioned.
"How much danger are you in mother, that you must hide yourself behind such riddles?" Kenji whispered to himself.
"Ooohhh!" Said Togashi with a grin on his face. He started stroking his beard and nodding to himself, the others turned to him, in anticipation, but he simply continued to nod.
"Well?!" Kyou blurted out in frustration.
Togashi blinked owlishly as he remembered his present company, "Oh right, you see, Slow Tide must refer to Slow Tide Harbor, a port city north of here. A city known for a very particular type of flower."
"Poppy." Said Kazumo grimly.
"The source of opium. Which means we are looking for an iron ring in the opium dens of Slow Tide Harbor." Togashi said confidently.
"Have foul ne'erdowells of the opium trade kidnapped our mother? Then we must go to her aid at once!" Kenji spoke with a rising anger.
"Although it is not my place to question, is it really safe to go challenging some criminal gangs on a chance our mother might be there?" Kazumo asked meekly.
"Once again, sounds like a trap." Kuni said dryly. "And even if she has been kidnapped, we don't owe her anything."
"I mean, do we have anything better to do?" Togashi said with a half smile. "Besides, if there was a trap, I would notice … the 10 or so men approaching the inn." Togashi's face suddenly turned serious as he checked one of his tattoos.
"Are you serious Togashi-san?" Kyou asked.
"The void tattoo makes me aware of all living creatures around me, and it is never wrong." Togashi explained, his voice growing slightly frantic.
"Who are they?" Kyou asked
They could be more brothers and sisters Kazumo thought wildly, but knew it was unlikely.
"Maybe they just want to talk?" Kenji proposed. "I'm sure they're all respectful people just looking to rest. Let's have a chat with them."
You're going to be the death of me, Kenji. Kazumo thought.
"Well it's not so bad." Togashi said while stretching his arms. "That leaves two for each of us"
"I doubt the peasant can fight much." Kuni remarked while picking up her tetsubo.
Kazumo wished he could argue, but considering that he knew that he could probably barely lift the weapon that Kuni was now casually resting on her shoulder; any words he could say would ring rather hollow.
"I'm actually going to agree with Kenji," said Kyou.
Please kami why!
"We shouldn't just assume these men are hostile." Continued Kyou.
"I shall do what every honorable samurai does, and assume the best in people," Kyou added happily before turning to face the entrance.
Kuni merely shrugged before placing her tetsubo back in the corner of the room.
Kazumo wished that they would do what smart samurai should do, but he watched as the other appeared to follow Kenji's example. He silently swore to himself as he searched for an escape. Before he could find one, the door opened and a gaggle of men in plain clothing poured into the dining area. All of them fixing their attention squarely on the samurai.
The man leading them was a grizzled looking man with a katana at his side, marking him as a ronin.
A pudgy man followed close behind him and as he saw the group nodded "That's them boss," he said, pointing, "The freaks with the red hair." The ronin gave each of the siblings a glare before Kenji spoke up.
"Greetings!" Kenji spoke before striking a stoic face.
"In this nightly hour
What brings weary patrons
To such humble estates "
Kenji bowed to the group of men as he completed his poetry. Who were gazing at him in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
"We're here to kick your ass!" The leader responded aggressively, trying to intimidate Kenji.
"Well that's rude, I had hoped to get along." Kenji replied seriously.
The continued nonchalance of the samurai seemed to confuse the leader further, his eyebrows furrowing, "We are going to kick your ass, then drag you through the streets!"
"It's only polite to at least explain why." Kyou spoke up.
The leader of the men's frown deepened, "What?"
"I said, it's only polite to explain why you want to kick our ass and drag us around."
"I don't have to explain anything." The leader tried to argue.
"Is that how you operate? Going around attacking people with no rhyme or reason; no sense of purpose? You are a man, and only dogs attack without some meaning to what they are doing. Is there some master behind this, have you some grand grudge, or noble thought in your mind to justify this assault." Kyou dictated to the group as she berated them. The ronin tried to interrupt Kyou, but could not get a word in on her tirade. The men behind the ronin began to trade sidelong glances as they questioned whether this was a good idea to begin with. Eventually the Ronin shook his head and yelled out.
"FINE! You want an explanation? We are looking for a woman with red hair."
"Us as well." Kenji blurted out, as the ronin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"And we were paid to capture and bring her and anybody she knew with us."
"Then why wait until all of us arrived, why not attack one of us when we were alone?" Togashi questioned. The portly man behind the ronin spoke up.
"Well we tried that. First I saw the masked lady, and noticed she had red hair under the hood, so I went to grab a guy to help get her. By the time we got back though, there was the tatted looking one, so we figured we better grab two more. Then we came back with four guys, and now there was the other lady. So then we went and grabbed the boss." gesturing to the ronin.
"Couldn't count higher than four?", asked Kazumo, a little louder than he had intended.
The portly man seemed to see Kazumo for the first time and his eyes narrowed at him as he saw the peasant's hair, "Well, I'll be… boss? Looks like we need-Hey wait a minute" he muttered.
"Shut up!" the ronin spat out to his underling, and turned his attention to the group. "No more of these distractions, you all can either surrender and come quietly, or this is going to get messy." The tension in the room suddenly turned serious, as everyone tensed up for a fight. Everyone except Kenji who replied.
"Let's settle this with a duel then." Kenji replied calmly, as if there was no threat to his life.
"Ohhh, you want a duel pretty boy?" The ronin replied sarcastically as he approached Kenji. Kenji nodded with a light smile. "Like you're at home in your dojo, with your cute little bokken?"
Kenji's eyes glazed over and he gave a faint nod as he lifted his hand to his chin...the nostalgia from his youth returned to him, "Oh those were great times," He murmured, "We would-
"Well this is the real world." The ronin spat out as he threw a sucker punch at the samurai's face. Kenij's whole body leaned back in response, his foot stepping out behind him. With a quick flick of his palm, he parried the punch to glance off his shoulder, causing the ronin to lose a bit of balance. As the ronin recovered, Kenji's whole body surged forward like the ocean tide; his full weight crashing down as he punched the ronin across the face. The ronin stumbled back until he was caught by the rest of his men, dazed by the blow to his head, and his ego.
"Oh." Kenji lifted a hand to his mouth, his eyes wide, "I'm so sorry about that. I was trained a little too well by my dojo it seems"
The leader lifted a hand to his bleeding nose, "Oh you're sorry are you?" He spluttered, then he turned to his men, "Make them sorry!"
The thugs chuckled, seemingly relieved that things were now back down in familiar territory, no more fancy talking and poetry… just beating up some outnumbered ronin brought up his fists and stared down Kenji.
"Does this mean the duel's starting now?" Kenji asked him innocently.
"That's right you dogs." Kyou snarled as she stepped up beside her brother, "Come and get it."
Kuni strode forth like a giant leaving her arms resting at her sides, muttering prayers to the kami. Togashi sighed, and muttered to himself. Togashi appeared disinterested in the fight. And Kazumo … Kazumo thought long and hard about what a terrible mess he was in. He had hoped and prayed to avoid any confrontation, and now he was about to be in the middle of a brawl. All he had was a small knife in his bag, which had gotten kicked to the other side of the room at some point, probably by Kyou. He searched around him for anything he could use to protect himself, before noticing the bowl of noodles next to him. He reluctantly picked up what was supposed to be his dinner and decided hiding behind a table was a better option.
The thugs led out a shout before charging the siblings. Despite Kazumo's fear, he decided to pop his head above the table to take a look at what was going on. He watched his newfound siblings defend themselves, and could not help but analyse how each of them fought.
Kyou screamed as she charged ahead, her rage igniting like a wildfire. Before the thugs could react, Kyou leaped forward and slammed her knee into one of them, while grabbing two beside him by their faces. The three went tumbling down and hit the floor. Kyou violently trashed, kicked, and bit the three as they wailed in pain.
Kazumo turned his attention to Kuni, as three of the thugs surrounded her. The three sneered at Kuni and walked around her casually. One of them struck a punch straight into her stomach. As the hit connected, Kuni was unmoved by the attack, and opted to stare down at her attacker. Worry spread over the man's face, as he desperately tried to strike again. Before he could, Kuni grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him into the air. Kuni threw him into his companion, and turned to the third. The third started jabbing at Kuni, but his attacks had no effect. Kazumo allowed himself to grin as he noticed the armor hidden under her robes. How very crab of her to be fully armored while traveling. As the third thug desperately tried to land a solid hit, Kuni raised her fists above her head and dropped them like a stone onto the thug's head. The thug stood there stunned for a moment before collapsing to the floor. Kuni, silent as a gravestone, turned to the other two thugs who shivered in fear.
Seeing that Kuni was fine, he turned to search for Togashi. Togashi was still standing where he was debating to himself, as two thugs tried to beat him down. However, each punch they threw out was deflected by a quick snap of Togashi's arm. His stance was empty, showing no signs of being in combat, even as his arms whirled to block and deflect the attacks surrounding him. Togashi muttered to himself while casually defending against the increasingly erratic blows.
"I mean, I don't really want to fight you two. Can you just go fight someone else?" Togashi sighed. One of the thugs threw his whole weight behind a punch, which Togashi slapped away, causing it to travel right into the face of the other thug. As the thug yelled into his hand in pain, Togashi turned to the other.
"Heh, that works!" Togashi said, relieved. The thug roared in a fury as he renewed his assault once more. Togashi just sighed before popping the thug in the face, causing him to recoil. "I guess I'll help" togashi said as he started striking the man with swift blows. One blow to the stomach caused the thug to bend over and barf onto the floor. As that thug voided his stomach, the other recovered in time to be struck in the face by Togashi, sending him backwards.
Lastly, Kazumo turned his attention to Kenji, who was squaring off against the ronin. The two clashed and traded blows with each other. Making up for his earlier blunder, the ronin struck with speed and precision unlike his fellow goons. The two were a blur of fists, elbows and kicks, as the two clashed. Kenji's body flowed like a river around the ronin's attacks. The punches would slide off of Kenji. Kenji's own strikes would snake their way around the ronin and strike hard. Kenji would step in and out of the ronin's reach like a wave, allowing enough time to strike, but not enough for the ronin to strike solidly. Although the ronin was no amateur, the strikes from Kenji wore him down as his face became increasingly more bloodied. However, the ronin threw in a fainted punch, causing Kenji to raise his hands to protect his face. As he did, the ronin landed a solid kick into Kenji's side, and followed it with a punch straight to his jaw. Kenji staggered back as the ronin mocked him.
"Just another spoiled kid thinking the whole universe revolves around him. How does it feel to be in a real fight now?"
"This is fantastic!" Kenji smiled as he wiped his hand across his mouth. "We should spar more often."
The ronin growled as he and Kenji went at each other again. As the two renewed their fight once more, Kazumo felt a chill run down his neck. As he counted the thugs, he realized only nine of them were actually engaged with the samurai. He had counted ten of them at the start. As he looked around for the tenth thug, he spotted him searching around the tables until the thug locked eyes with Kazumo. The pudgy man, who had found the siblings, grinned as he approached Kazumo.
"Found you, you little runt." The thug jeered as he cracked his knuckles. Kazumo was many things, but an experienced brawler was not one of them. As the thug rushed over to him, he grabbed his bowl of noodles and hid under the table. The thug giggled as he leaned to reach under the table.
"Who's dumb now you little rat?" The thug said as he leaned under the table. Kazumo responded by splashing the man with his bowl of soup. The thug flailed around blindly trying to grab Kazumo, before wiping the soup from his face to see again. Kazumo rewarded the man's efforts by poking him in the eye with a wooden spoon. The man reared back in frustration before grabbing the table and lifting to his side. When he looked back however, Kazumo had disappeared. The thug spun his head around looking for him, but could not spot the peasant. The thug scratched his head until he heard the clatter of a wooden spoon behind him. A grin spread across his face as he dropped the table he was holding.
"I wonder where he could have gone?" The thug sneered, before turning around and diving onto the table, crushing it beneath him. The thug laughed as the table exploded out from under him. He grasped around the wreckage, but Kazumo was nowhere to be found. The man's attention then turned to the wooden spoon lying underneath the rubble. As he examined the spoon, the sound of rushing wind came down as a table leg cracked against his skull. Kazumo stood over his victim, smiling like a demon. He gently wiped the smile off his face before turning to survey the rest of the fight.
Kyou stood triumphantly over the three thugs, who lay unconscious on the floor. She chanted out loud, daring them to get back up to fight some more. Although she was bruised, and her mouth was bloodied, her spirit had only risen.
Togashi had knocked out one thug, and was playing a game of "stop hitting yourself" with the remaining thug. After the thug began crying in frustration, Togashi was repulsed and decided to knock him out with one last blow.
Kuni had piled the three thugs on top of each other, and was using them as a seat.
The only one left standing was the ronin who was pacing around Kenji. Kenji had taken some hits, but was not nearly as damaged as the ronin. The ronin looked around and noticed he was alone. The five siblings looked to each other and then to the ronin, as they began to close in on him.
"Wait!" Cried out the ronin before glaring at Kenji. "I demand a duel. If I win, you all let me go and the crane comes with me. Or have the samurai forgotten their honor" As he pointed at Kenji desperately.
Only an idiot would accept that duel Kazumo thought to himself.
"I accept!" Kenji said. The other siblings turn to Kenji with concern. Kazumo wanted to scream. The ronin smiled maliciously.
"How honorable of you."
Kenji merely nodded and reached for his katana. He spread out his legs and crouched slightly, before looking at the ronin. The ronin placed his hands on his katana as well. The two stared off for a moment as the room fell silent.
"Well if we are going to do this, let's at least make it official. I'll judge the match." Said Kyou exasperated as she walked over. She stopped by Kenji and whispered "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"There's nothing to worry about." Kenji replied, letting a soft smile show through his stoic face.
Kyou sighed and raised her hand to prepare for the duel. Kenji and the ronin stared each other down. Kyou took one look at both duelists and then brought down her arm.
"Begin!"
The two duelists drew their blades and lunged forward. Their katanas clashed and scraped by each other as they both struggled to control their opponents blade. The ronin forced his blade into a stab, as Kenji flowed around the strike. With a clear shot, Kenji delivered a final line of poetry.
"A single strike,
To cut into one's soul,
And send him to the heavens."
Kenji drew his blade back into a cut, slashing it across the man's body. The two stood motionless for a second.
However, the strike had missed entirely. Unsure of what had happened, the two remained still. A realization came across both of them, as they stopped to examine what had happened.
The ronin raised his sword to attack, but Kenji cut across his hand, severing it from his arm. The ronin stared at the stump of a hand for a moment before he started screaming. Blood splattered around him as he yelled in horror and stumbled around the room. The man shouted at the siblings incoherently as he wrapped his arm in his robe and ran out the inn.
"Why didn't you stop him?" Kyou asked Kenji.
"My mother made this robe. I didn't want any blood on it." replied Kenji as he wiped the blood off on an unconscious goon before sheathing it.
Kazumo felt relief wash over him as the fighting had come to an end. Now cleared of danger, his mind turned to examine the fallen thug before him. He crouched down to get a better look.
The ronin was sent after us? Kazumo contemplated. He searched through the man's robes for clues, and came across a small wooden case. Kazumo heard his siblings congratulate each other on a victory well fought, but his focus was narrowed down to this new object. He popped the top off of the case to find a white clay like substance. Opium, Kazumo thought as he placed the lid back on.
"So why were they going after us?" Togashi wondered out loud.
"I am not sure, but I believe Togashi-san's interpretation was correct." replied Kazumo as he tossed the case of opium to Togashi. Togashi caught the box with a snap of his hands and opened the box. He smiled as he realized its contents.
"Opium! It feels good to be right."
"The fiends after our mother were sent to capture us then!" Kenji said dramatically.
"Which could on mean…" Togashi started but was interrupted by some soft muttering. The siblings turned back towards the entrance to find the innkeeper looking over her inn in horror. She shivered in fear as she muttered incoherently.
"My..my...my inn, how will..." the innkeeper trailed off as she looked at the samurai pleadingly. Most of the siblings averted their eyes in shame, but Kuni walked over to the Innkeeper. Her presence caused the innkeept to kneel down and shiver in fear.
"Please...I meant no disrespect" The innkeeper raised her hands to cover her face, as the giant that is Kuni glowered over her. Kuni reached into her pockets, and pulled out two gold koku, and placed them into the innkeeper's hand. The innkeeper blinked at the new fortune in her palms before turning to the group with a smile.
"Would any of you like some tea?"
15