A shard in Kyoto chapter 14: crime and Punishment 101
Graphic violence you are warned.
"Your duties, especially today, are going to be to help me."
Kagome nods.
"Later today, the lord wishes me to stage a public display. He wishes the city to know that the house of Yuki is a strong house and should you disobey it, you will be punished, severely."
Kagome grimaces, but nods.
"So, your duties will be to help me drag the prisoners out of their cells, take them to the public square and help me torture and execute them."
"Torture?" Kagome, almost says in a ladylike squeak, but she manages to get the word out in a low, man-type voice.
"Of course. In order to be effective, the public most know what will happen to them, should they disobey. And the only way to do that is to put on a show for them." Nejiru smiles. "The people of the city love to watch criminals being punished."
Kagome pales as she swallows hard and nods.
"Hmm." Nejiru rubs his chin. He says, "You haven't done anything like this before, have you?"
Kagome shakes her head.
Nejiru looks down at the paperwork on the floor in front of him. "Well, let's walk through the cells and such, then I'll give you a couple of simple tasks to do, while I finish up this paperwork. So, just stand there until I'm ready."
Kagome, not trusting her voice, nods.
A couple of minutes later as Nejiru leaves the room, Kagome follows behind him. Her bow and arrows have been left behind in the room. They are both wearing their swords.
Nejiru introduces 'Hojo' to the other guards at the top of the stairs that go down into the ground. 'Hojo', Kagome, responds in monosyllables.
After walking down the stairs, the corridor branches into two hallways. One of them goes left and one of them goes right. Nejiru points down the left hallway, "that's underground storage. Saki, rice, spare cloth and other shit. A lot of the kitchen servants come up and down this stairway as well." He heads down the right hallway.
He sighs, "I keep telling them we need a second entrance, but," he shakes his head, "they won't do it. No doubt if one of the princes of the family ever came down here a lot, they'd change their minds, but . . . what can you do?"
Kagome nods, and in a friendly tone, "what can you do when your boss isn't listening."
There is a locked door a few feet into the hallway. "Open up." Nejiru orders. The guards inside open up the reinforced wooden door. "This is someone, that'll be helping us, today, boys. His name is Hojo." He says as he enters.
Kagome follows him, nodding to the guards in the room. It's not much of a room. It's basically big enough for about half-a-dozen men to lounge around. Kagome can see some dice in one corner, where the guards had been killing time by betting. There is a couple of jars of, perhaps water, or more likely, from the smell, saki along the wall.
Most of the guards are just wearing simple cotton clothes, red in color, and wearing a sword. There is also a line of wooden staves, they look like baseball bats, many of them have reddish ends. Nejiru picks up one and says, "grab one, Hojo."
Kagome nods and picks up one of the staves.
Nejiru orders the guards to open another locked reinforced wooden door on the other side of the chamber.
Beyond that door is a long corridor lined with more wooden doors, perhaps ten on either side. At the end of the corridor is another wooden door. Standing in front of it, is a guard, armed with a sword and stave. There are a couple of torches on the walls for light. The corridor is lined with wood, from floor to ceiling.
In the corridor are a couple of older women. One of them has a large open- mouthed jar on her back. The other woman has a long handled large ladle spoon.
The words, "Thank you!" comes out of the cell that the old women are standing in front of. A pair of skinny arms slides a bowl through an opening at the bottom of the door. The old woman slops a ladle for food into the bowl. As the bowl is pulled into the cell, a second bowl is shoved under the door.
"How many per cell?" Kagome whispers.
"It varies, there are a couple are hard cases and they're alone, but we can put a dozen or more in each cell if we have to." Nejiru replies, in a normal voice. "Since we are going to have a public punishment today, over the last month, they've been bringing in more prisoners than normal, so we can have a large exhibition this afternoon. Right now, we're overfull, but we won't be by tonight."
Kagome conceals her shudder.
The old women move down the corridor to the next cell.
"Hojo." Nejiru says, as the door closes behind them, "we'll be taking everyone out of the cells today and leading them in a parade out of a nearby field."
Kagome nods.
"At the field, some of them will be killed, some of them will be tortured and some are simply lead there and back to make an impression on the city folk."
"What do you want me to do?" Kagome asks.
Nejiru smiles, "You'll help as we take them out of the cells and guard them as we travel to the field and back. There is a couple of specific tasks I'll give you." He smiles, "neither task is difficult."
Kagome looks around and asks, "what are they in here for?"
Nejiru shrugs. "They broke the law. I don't care, nor control, who gets shoved down here."
"Oh." Kagome looks around, "I don't suppose they get out soon."
Nejiru grunts, "you mean other than today?"
Kagome grunts, "yes."
Nejiru replies, "Some of them will get out, permanently, since they'll be dead. Most will be released to their families, after they've been punished for their crimes. And a few will be returning to these cells." He sighs, "Then, no doubt, tomorrow, I'll get a new batch of prisoners shipped to me from one of the other castles." He shakes his head, "more paperwork." He looks at 'Hojo' "Can you read and write?" he asks.
Kagome nods. "Yes."
Nejiru purses his lips, as he thinks, 'we'll see. He doesn't really strike me as a person who'll enjoy today, but, if I can get someone that can help me with the paperwork . . . he might be really useful.'
They walk down the corridor. As they walk down the corridor, the prisoners do recognize Nejiru's voice and they all beg, beseech, plead for mercy, as they walk pass.
"I suppose that you think that I've tortured them, don't you?" Nejiru asks as they slowly stroll down the corridor.
Kagome nods, "they are . . . " She waves at the doors.
Nejiru shakes his head, "no. I don't come down here and beat up the prisoners for fun. Neither, does my men and neither will you. Now, if a prisoner does not obey an order, then, yes, they are to be beaten until they obey."
Kagome nods.
"They beg because we control them and if they can play upon your sympathy, you'll go easy on them." Nejiru growls, "so, I'll promise you this, Hojo, if I see that you are buying into their lies and flattery, you'll join them."
Kagome nods, "I will not listen to their lies, sir." She says in as manlike voice as she can.
Nejiru nods. He purses his lips, "You are not a huge man, and your face is feminine, so if I catch you forcing one of the men in here to suck you off, you'll join them."
Kagome blushes, 'he thinks I'm homosexual.'
"Not because I hate that getting my manhood sucked on, I don't. But, because you'll probably try to do it alone and that means the prisoner has a better chance than normal to escape or to try to con you into doing something stupid." He explains.
Nejiru's eyebrow raises at 'Hojo' blush. 'Like I thought, he's been a boy toy to a samurai in the Hojo family and took the name.' "The cells will be clean." Nejiru states in a loud voice, "If, when you take the prisoners out of the cells and it is not clean, all the individuals in the cell will be beaten."
The begging, and beseeching that the prisoners were doing stop, suddenly. Kagome can hear scratching in the cells.
"Why clean?" Kagome asks, 'All the movies have prisons and torture chambers as dirty places.'
"Because I want them to be clean." Nejiru replies. He whispers, so only Kagome can hear, "And because, a cell can never be too clean, which gives me the excuse to punish the prisoners whenever I need to."
"Oh . . . " Kagome whispers.
They stop at the far door. "Behind this door are some special store rooms. You do not have permission to enter." Nejiru says in a loud voice. Kagome and the guard nod at each other.
'I can feel it.' Kagome thinks. 'But . . . there is no way I can get it. Are there more guards behind this door? And can I kill Nejiru and this guard and then kill all the other guards, which are watching from the first room? No. But, this is a simple floor plan. All we have to do, now, is to get the boys inside the compound and we should be able to get it and get out, I think.'
Nejiru points to the last door. The guard, standing in front of the door, smiles, nastily. Kagome can smell something rotten in it. "Your first job, and, I will be sending someone to help you, if you don't throw up, is to carry what's in there up and out of the building."
"What's in there?" Kagome asks.
Nejiru pauses, "in the last couple of weeks, we had an escape attempt. Both the men were scheduled to die today, so, I suppose I can understand why they tried, but. They failed." He hefts the wooden stave and Kagome's eyes are drawn to the dried blood on one end. "And they were killed."
He points at the cell, "their bodies on in there. We boxed them up. You'll carry the boxes' up."
"For burial?" Kagome's voice shakes as she speaks, but her tone is still manlike.
He shakes his head, "My orders are to remove their heads, today. That is what we will do."
"But, they're dead?"
He shrugs, "my orders are my orders. For one of them, we'll also cut off his arms and legs, his family has paid me the money to send the body parts to various temples through the city. They're hoping that by burying him in multiple locations, some god, will feel pity for the family and remove the bad luck that his family is suffering under."
Kagome nods.
"Go ahead and open up the door." Nejiru orders.
Kagome slowly walks to the door, as she does this, she notices that the door to where the other guards are at has opened and they are staring at her. 'They want me to throw up. So, they can have some fun.' She thinks.
She growls as she opens the door. Once it opens the stench of the rotting flesh floats through the doorway and into the corridor. Kagome breathes through her mouth, trying to cut the odor, but, she still almost gags. She does, however, not throw up.
"Go in. Open up one of the boxes." Nejiru orders.
Kagome takes a deep breath, still breathing through her mouth and enters the room. One of the boxes is sealed, but the other is still unsealed. 'He had this planned. I'm sure. This is a test, if I fail, who knows what nasty job I'll have to do next?' Kagome thinks. She suppresses a shudder, 'I'm not going to think about a nastier job.'
She opens the box. It is a one meter by one meter by one meter box. The body inside it is folded up like a fan. His eye sockets are staring up at Kagome. She can see grubs, worms and other insects on and in the body.
She looks at Nejiru and asks in a calm, if low, voice, "Did I pass the test?"
He nods. "You'll do. Akio, come on in and help Hojo!" He calls. Akio, one of the guards in the first room hurries down the corridor. Akio is his second in command.
"Yes, sir!" He says as stops in front of the open doorway.
"Help Hojo with the boxes." Nejiru points. "Then grab a couple of prisoners and have them clean up the cell. After that, get with me and we'll start opening up the cells and bringing up the prisoners."
"Yes, sir!" Akio nods.
Nejiru, in a quiet voice, "remember the lords of the family will be watching and so will be the city folk."
Akio nods. A predatory smile begins to grow on his face.
"And they'll expect the prisoners to be tortured and to have some bruises and cuts." Nejiru continues, "So, as you open up the cells, remember that they are dirty and put some visible bruises on the prisoners."
Akio rubs his wooden stave in a suggestive manner. "Not a problem, boss. A couple of the new fish in here were acting up anyway."
Nejiru nods. "Just remember that they will have to walk to the field and having a prisoner die or too badly hurt to walk today will not look good."
Akio replies, "The boys and I have talked it over, boss. Some of them are new," He nods to 'Hojo', "but most remember last time and everything will go smoothly."
"See to it, Akio." Nejiru sighs, "I've got to get the paperwork finished, so I can figure out who gets what type of punishment today."
Akio nods, and smiles, "It'll be fine, boss. I can handle it."
Nejiru nods and walks away.
"Why not have a couple of the prisoner's lug this up?" Kagome asks. 'Anything to get anyway from the stench.'
Akio shakes his head, "Nope. They're still our prisoners, so we got to handle them." He grimaces, "at least it's on two this time. Last time it was half-a-dozen."
"Oh." Kagome sighs
Akio says, "Well, put the lid on." He holds up some wooden spikes, "I'll spike it down and we'll get started."
Later . . . after Kagome and Akio have brought up the boxes . . .
Kagome stops suddenly as she enters the room with the cells. The guards are opening a cell and bringing out the prisoners.
As the prisoner comes out he (or she, there are a few females and a couple of children, as well) is hit across the face with one of the wooden staves and shoved down to the floor. On the floor his arms are wrenched behind his back and tied together with rope. Most of the prisoners are only wearing a loincloth, so, they are given a plain, linen robe to wear as they walk through town.
Each prisoner is hauled to his feet and marched out of the cell area. As all this is going on, the guards are cursing the prisoners, and if, say, a prisoner has problems walking and stumbles, they laugh as they hit him and scream at him to walk straight. All the time prodding and hitting him with their staves.
To prevent the prisoners from attacking when the cells are opened, guards with their swords drawn and guards with bows and arrows, are protecting the guards nearest the door.
"Come on, Hojo!" Akio orders, as he waves at Kagome to enter the room.
"Sir, I'm really good with a bow." Kagome volunteers in a helpful tone.
Akio shakes his head. "Nope. Come over here and help us, drag these assholes out of their cells."
Kagome thinks, 'I've got to decide now. If I follow his orders, he'll have me hit them, I'm sure. But, can I hit them? And if I don't, I know that he'll give me a very nasty job. And maybe throw me out of the compound, and I need this job, so I can smuggle Inu-yasha and Miroku in tomorrow.'
"Sir. Please." Kagome asks.
Akio glares at 'Hojo.' He purses his lips. "Very well." He spits out in a disgusted tone. He moves to a different cell.
"Come here, Hojo!" he orders.
Kagome swallows hard, but approaches him.
Akio throws a length of rope at Kagome. "Since you don't want to do the easy job, you get a hard one." He slams his hand against the door. "You awake in there, fuckface!"
"Rot in hell! Asshole!" a man yells back in rage.
"The bastard in here is a quarter-demon. He got a little bit drunk and ripped up a tavern." He sighs, "he might have gotten away with that, but he killed a samurai."
Akio smiles at Hojo. "And since he's scheduled to die today, I'm sure that he'll fight." He pauses, "So, your choice, Hojo. You can help us with the other cells," he waves at the knot of the guards that are watching them. "And we'll help you to subdue this bastard."
He knocks on the cell door again. "Or I can open the door, now, and you can do it now, by yourself."
'I can feel his demon side.' Kagome thinks. 'And . . . if I purify that, quickly, then . . . ' she nods.
"Open the door." She growls out. She spreads her feet, ready to fight. She holds her wooden stave in one hand and the rope in the other.
"Give me your sword. I'm not going to give him a real weapon." Akio orders. Kagome nods and hands him her sword.
"I'm going to open it up and then close it. You'll either yell that you've got him or you'll die." Akio grins.
'And . . . I've watched Inu-yasha often enough in combat to know, that I've got to attack, first.' Kagome thinks. With a grim look on her face, Kagome nods and says, "I understand, open it up."
The door opens and Kagome charges into the room.
Inside is a huge man, obviously, one quarter demon-bear snarls at her. He is only wearing a loincloth.
The door closes . . .
A flash of light shows around the edges of the door and noises of combat crashes through the door.
A minute passes . . . the sound of fighting fades.
"Open it!" Kagome yells.
Akio cautiously opens the door, then throws it open.
All the guards rush to the open door and look into the cell.
The huge man is laying face-down on the floor, unconscious, his hands tied behind his back. Blood is leaking from his jaw . . .
Kagome is sitting on top of him. Her wooden stave is broken in two. In a couple of hours the shiner around her right eye, will close that eye. She smiles, "I've fought worse foes."
'Purified his demon part, which confused and weakened him. Then I got in a couple of good hits across his head. Then he hit me. So . . . I smashed his nuts with my club, breaking it in two.' She thinks.
Akio purses his lips and slowly nods. "Very well Hojo, You can still see, right?"
Kagome nods.
"Grab a bow."
Kagome suppresses her natural smile and simply nods her head in thanks.
Later . . .
Kagome is holding a bow and arrow protecting the guards as they haul the prisoners out of the cells.
"This is the other hard case, guys. So, watch yourselves." Akio warns just before he opens the door.
"You disgusting animal!" Akio yells as he opens door.
The young and handsome man inside is nude and jacking off, right next to the door. HE smiles as he points his manhood at Akio and releases his control, spurting his semen on Akio. "Lovely," He purrs, "you bastards might kill me today, but lets see you live that one down."
Akio and a couple of the guards raise their staves and charge the man. The sound of wood hitting flesh is heard.
Kagome whispers to the guard next to her, "What did he do?"
The guard whispers back, "got caught in the wrong bedroom at the wrong time, I think. Officially he's in here for disturbing the peace, but one of the lords of the family is taking a lot of interest in him. He is the reason this idiot is going to die today, otherwise, we'd whip him, say ten or twenty times, then let him go."
Kagome nods.
Later . . .
Outside in the courtyard of the Yuki family compound.
The guards, including Kagome, are lining up the prisoners, and getting them ready to march out of the compound.
Nejiru, who has been inside his office during all this time, finally comes out of his office. He stuffs a roll of paper into his kimono and walks up and down the prisoners. He notices a few prisoners don't have bruises and orders them hit to give them the proper battered appearance for the nobles and the crowd. He nods, "good enough. Pass out the hoods and red kimonos." Akio begins to pass out red hoods and red kimonos for the jail guards.
"Hoods?" Kagome asks.
"Sometimes, even these idiots have families," Nejiru replies, "so, we'll wear hoods to prevent them from knowing exactly who we are." HE smiles, "And the hoods are intimidating."
Kagome slowly nods.
Each of the hoods is marked with numbers, so the guards can refer to each other by number and know who and who. Nejiru is number one, of course, Akio is number two. Kagome is number eleven.
Later . . .
At an open field near the Yuki family compound.
A newly made platform has been built, during the morning, at one end. The prisoners are lined up in front of the platform. Surrounding and guarding them are the jail guards.
There is also a company of Yuki family soldiers in the field. They are lined up, separating the platform and prisoners from the normal citizens of Kyoto.
A large crowd of people has gathered in the field to watch the punishments. Mixed in the crowd are food and drink sellers, which circulate through the crowd providing refreshment. The crowd is in a good mood, laughing and joking. To some of them, this is their entertainment.
Next to the right-hand side of the platform is another company of Yuki family soldiers, they are guarding a group of family nobles, as they watch the punishments. Yuki Shiba is among the nobles, watching and making sure that everything is going smoothly.
Kagome is standing next to Nejiru on the platform. "What do you want me to do?" she whispers.
"Just stand there, for now, Hojo." He replies in an undertone. "Once we start, I'll want you to whip a couple of prisoners, then, I'll want you to help me with a special punishment."
Kagome swallows as she looks around, 'In public . . . He's going to have me whip some in public.' She slowly nods, 'I can see why . . . Once I've done that, then, I become part of the group. And that gives him more control over me.'
Nejiru walks off, directing the finishing touches, before the ceremony begins.
'Can I refuse?' Kagome thinks. 'No. In public like this, if I refuse to follow orders, I'm sure that I'll suddenly become a prisoner. There is no way, in public like this, that he'll accept anything other that instant obedience.'
Akio comes up to Kagome, "he wants you." He points to Nejiru. Nejiru is standing in front of the platform. Several prisoners are lined up and tied to posts that have been planted in the ground.
A prisoner is screaming as another guard is whipping him, as punishment for theft.
Nejiru hands Kagome a whip. "He gets a dozen lashes." He points to the male prisoner he is standing next to. The prisoner has been striped down to his loincloth.
Kagome swallows but accepts the whip.
Nejiru takes out his scroll and begins to read from it. "Goro. Is found guilty of drunk and disorderly behavior. His punishment is one dozen whiplashes, then he will be released." He nods to Kagome. "Begin."
Kagome takes a deep breath and swings the whip, hitting Goro across the back.
"Harder!" Nejiru yells, which Kagome was prepared for. But . . . the crowd also yells, "Harder!" "Give it to him!"
Kagome looks at the crowd and she can see the excitement on some of the faces. 'Why?' she thinks as she pauses for a second. 'What other entertainment do they have?'
She looks around at the soldiers and the Yuki family nobles that are watching, 'and, if the city folk are not happy with the punishments? Perhaps the soldiers with arrest them? Maybe. So they yell in support of the punishment, so they don't get arrested?'
"Now! Harder!" Nejiru yells again.
Kagome grimaces and hits Goro again, harder.
And again . . .
Later . . .
Kagome watches, as she stands near the crowd, Goro is being released to his family his punishment is over. She thinks, 'Will I be able to look myself in the mirror, tonight?' she bites her lips.
Kagome is close enough that she can hear one of Goro's friends yells at him, "Party tonight?"
Goro yells back, "Hell! Yes! I need to do something to make the pain go away!"
She nods as she thinks, 'well, maybe he deserved that, then. Not that it taught him anything, apparently.'
Kagome helps move more of the prisoners as they are punished for small scale crimes. Most of the punishment is whipping or some other from of public abuse. A couple of the women are shaved bald as punishment. Then the prisoners are released to the families.
"Most of these have only been captured recently?" She whispers to another guard.
"Yes. Feeding and guarding prisoners is expensive, so most crimes are punished with a couple days or weeks in prison then a public punishment, like this." The guard shrugs. "Sometimes it teaches them to behave, sometimes it doesn't."
"All right." Kagome whispers. 'Nowadays we keep everyone in jail, and you still hear about people that will not change their behavior. Hmmm . . . I suppose, if a person is going to be weak and commit crimes . . . he's not going to be strong enough to change his behavior and correct it. So it doesn't matter what you do, he is still going to commit more crimes. Maybe?' she mentally shrugs as she thinks.
"Pssss. Number Eleven!" Kagome hears from the crowd. An older woman is standing at the edge of the crowd waving for Kagome to approach her.
Kagome looks around, she grimaces, 'it looks like one the women are next. And, I don't like, the look of what their doing, so walking over there while they are preparing the next punishment might be a good thing.' She thinks. She walks over to the woman.
"Yes?" Kagome asks in as manlike voice as she can.
The woman reaches out and grabs Kagome's hands and places a heavy bag in them. "This is for my son, Isamu, please see that he is well fed and not beaten, please." The woman whispers as she vanishes into the crowd, leaving Kagome standing there with a heavy leather pouch in her hands.
Kagome steps back away from the crowd and walks behind the platform. Everyone else's attention is centered on the punishment being prepared there, so no one pays attention to her.
Kagome opens the bag. It is full of silver coins. She closes the bag. Kagome, with a very pained expression on her face, thinks, 'For perhaps the first time, I think I can understand people like Naraku . . . ' she shakes her head, just a little bit.
'The temptation . . . No one knows about this. There is plenty of silver here, enough to feed a family for a long time, I'm sure. And, I'm sure, that Isamu, would tell me where the family lives, and all it would take is a note, asking for more money. And they'd probably do it.' She thinks. 'And no one knows. I don't have to do anything, and this is mine.'
She fingers her red hood. 'And this . . . when I was hitting that man . . . No one knows that I did it. I don't have to tell anyone. Also the fear in the people's eyes, when I walked next to the crowd . . . most of the people flinched away from me. The anonymous power of fear that this hood brings . . . '
Kagome shivers, 'Yes, perhaps I see why people might like this. All you have to do is follow orders and good things can happen to you. Money' she shakes the bag. 'I'm sure that since Nejiru warned me specifically, and some of the comments I heard as we were bringing the prisoners here, that sex with the prisoners is possible. Just as part of a group, not individually.'
Kagome takes a deep breath, "No, I will not be tempted. What do I do with the money, then?"
She shakes the bag again, 'Give it to Nejiru, along with that request? It might help, but then Nejiru might do something else with it. Find out where the family lives and give it back? But . . . then, won't they just bribe another guard? Give it to a monastery, so they can use it to feed the poor?' Kagome sighs and puts the pouch in her red robe. 'I'll think about it later.'
Kagome looks around. Nobody is paying much attention to her. 'I can remove the hood and robe and walk away. I've got the floor plan and if, necessary we can smash in and grab it. Sango and I don't absolutely have to able to enter.' She thinks.
'But . . . if I leave. What would Inu-yasha say? That I chickened out? Sure. He wouldn't understand why I left. The pain I feel for these people, he's never been that type of a person. And, he'll feel that if I leave, that I've wasted last night and today.' She shakes her head.
'I haven't. But . . . ' she sighs. 'If I leave it still feels like I gave up. So . . . I'll stick around, surely it can't get worse.'
A cheer raises from the crowd. 'They must have started on the next person.' She thinks.
"Eleven!" Akio yells, as he turns the corner. "Come on." His eyes flick down at the ground, "I thought that you had come back here to throw up. I see that you didn't, so why?"
"No. I just wanted to get a breath of air." 'Hojo' replies, "I've seen worse than this, Number two."
Akio shrugs, "come on."
They both walk around the platform and see that a crucifixion has begun.
A woman, nude, in her mid-thirties is tied, hanging to the cross.
Kagome swallows hard. "I thought . . . No. I've seen it done before with nails in the wrists, why not with her?" she asks, trying to be the tough man that she's supposed to be.
"Nails cost money. Rope is cheaper." Akio replies quickly.
"Why?" Kagome asks. "What did she do to deserve this?"
"She killed the prince of the family's hunting falcon. Which is another reason why we're using ropes. They cause less bleeding and sometimes a person might bleed to death when you spike them. And the prince wants her to be on that cross for a long time." Akio replies.
'Falcon? She killed his pet falcon and she's going to die, a long and horrible death, for that?' Kagome thinks in shock.
"How did it happen?" she asks.
"Her husband brought the dead bird to the prince and told him the story. She was throwing a rock at a squirrel and it hit the falcon, as the bird dived on the squirrel."
"Why did the husband tell anyone?" Kagome instantly asks. 'If the bird just vanishes, how will the prince know what happened?' she thinks.
Akio turns and looks at 'Hojo.' "Because he is supposed to report things like that, Hojo." He states. "That falcon was worth many gold pieces, far more than one peasant woman." He points to the crowd. He is pointing at an older man, early fifties, perhaps. Next to him is a young, a very young, looking woman/girl.
"The prince rewarded the husband for informing on his wife, and the man used that money to marry into a better family."
Kagome looks at the man, "I wonder . . . did the husband kill the falcon, then lied to get that reward?"
Akio looks at Kagome, suspicion in his gaze. "The police investigated the woman and the man. They believed the man. Which is, of course, what they're supposed to do. Who's going to believe a woman? And after they did the water torture on her, she confessed." His tone tells Kagome that he is absolutely sure about his statement.
Kagome opens her mouth, then closes it with a snap. "What if they're wrong?"
Akio shakes his head in pity, "You really have lead a sheltered life haven't you? That samurai lover of yours must have been something."
Kagome blushes.
Akio continues, his tone is that of a person talking to an idiot, a low grade idiot . . .
"The emperor is a god and can't make a mistake. He appoints the shogun to rule Japan, so the Emperor doesn't have to deal with minor nobles and commoners. The Shogun rules through the daiymo, the warlord families." He nods his head at the Yuki family nobles that are watching the punishment.
"The families appoint the local police. When the police locate a crime and they solve it, they are operating under the authority and power of the emperor. So . . . if the police make a mistake and the family approves it." He waves at the woman being crucixified.
"Then, if a mistake is made, the police, the family, the shogun and the emperor all lose face. And since the emperor can't make a mistake or lose face . . . the police can't make a mistake. So, if they solve the crime . . . their solution must be correct."
Kagome whispers, "The government is always correct, in other words."
Akio nods. "Ah, you do get it. You're not as stupid as I thought you were." He smiles, "besides, if the peasants started thinking that the police and/or the samurai could make mistakes, then they might think that laws need to be changed and that'll lead to upraising and revolts. And since the peasants aren't warriors, they can't win, so they'll just be killed, which of course wastes money, food and lives. It's better if everyone knows that the emperor and his Shogun are always correct and nobody questions that."
He pauses, "Do you understand?" He growls at 'Hojo.'
Kagome nods. "I understand."
(Author's note here: even in modern japan, some defensive lawyers will tell you, "Look the gov. has a case. So, since they wouldn't charge you, if they didn't know that they would win, let's make things easier and simply say 'I'm guilty.'")
Kagome looks at the woman, who is slowly strangling on the cross.
The woman is pushing herself, using her feet against the wood of the cross and raising herself up to avoid her arms being stretched out of their sockets.
But, as her arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push herself upward.
Hanging by her arms, the chest muscles paralyzed by cramps, the stomach muscles are unable to act. She gulps air into the lungs, but the air cannot be exhaled. She fights to raise herself in order to get even one short breath. The carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside.
But . . . the fluids in and around the lungs build up. Fluid builds around the woman's heart, causing it to beat irregularly and harder. The blood thickens and breathing becomes harder and harder . . .
And the woman, finally, doesn't have the strength to raise up and gulp more air into her lungs.
She dies of suffocation, drowning in her own fluids . . .
After her death, her punishment continues, as her body is too be left on the cross for three days, exposed so the birds and animals can eat of it, before she can be removed and buried.
"Eleven!" Nejiru cries from the platform. "I need you up here!"
Kagome takes her eyes off the woman and goes up onto the platform.
A wooden chopping block has been placed on it. A stack of woven baskets is next to it.
A group of prisoners is lined up behind the chopping block. The group includes two small boys, one about eight and the other about twelve, a woman, and a couple of men.
Nejiru motions Kagome to him, "Your job will be to grab the served head and show it to the crowd, then drop it in a basket."
Kagome grimaces under her hood, but nods. "Yes, sir."
"The man Kazuo and his family are to be executed for treason. He lead a revolt in the village of Nagoya. His wife and children are to be executed because it was their responsibility to stop him, and failing to stop their husband and father, they should have warned the Lord of the Yuki's servants so those servants could have stopped the revolt." Nejiru declares in a loud voice to the crowd.
One of the guards brings up the smallest boy. The boy follows without any trouble. He kneels down and rests his head on the block. He asks, "Sir. I have a sore on my right shoulder: please cut off my head from the left shoulder, lest you should hurt me. Alas! I know not how to die, nor what I should do."
(Author's note: quote from Tales of Old Japan. Pg 194)
Everyone pauses. And whispers sweep through the crowd as people pass along what the boy said.
Nejiru, after what even Kagome can tell is a long pause, "Yes, boy, that is fine. Close your eyes and everything will be over, quickly."
The boy closes his eyes and says, "thank you, sir."
Nejiru draws his sword and in a flash of light cuts the boys head off.
He hisses, "Show them the head, eleven."
Kagome, unfreezes from the paralysis that the boy's speech caused, bends down and shows the crowd the boys head.
Another whispering shush of sound sweeps the crowd.
Kagome quickly bends down and gently places the head of the boy in the basket. "I hate this." She hisses, just loud enough for Nejiru to hear.
"Yes. So did I, but, there was no way out of it, now." Nejiru replies. "I think the family is not going to like the reaction to this."
Kagome glances at the crowd. "Yes. I think so, too."
The older boy, also calmly and quietly is lead to the block and his head is removed.
Their mother and finally the man Kazuo are killed. All die calmly and with dignity.
The crowd's mood change, while they never get rowdy or really noisy, the party atmosphere of earlier vanished when the boys head was cut off and it never returned.
Not even the burning alive of an arsonist, which normally is a popular punishment, fails to change the atmosphere.
(Author's note: remember all the wooden houses in Kyoto? Because of that, arsonists were burned to death . . . )
The soldiers guarding the nobles quickly arrest a couple of commoners and they are quickly added to the schedule. The charge is petty theft and they are given a dozen lashes and released.
'Wrong.' Kagome thinks as everyone is preparing to return to the Yuki family compound. 'At first, the crowd loved this, but later. I think the Yuki family just made some enemies today.' The crowd is slowly dispersing.
'And grabbing those two loudmouths and instantly charging and whipping them. That might have quieted the crowd, but it did not change their minds.' She thinks, 'the wrong thing to do.'
She pauses, 'does this help us or hurt us? I think . . . it helps, in case something goes wrong, and they end up chasing us down the street. I think that we might get some help. Like someone trips them, a door might suddenly open for us. Someone might cover for us, if only for a few seconds.'
Later . . .
Back at the compound . . .
It's almost nightfall.
Kagome and Sango meet in the courtyard. They both glance around, and notice that there are people paying attention to them.
"How did your day go?" 'Hojo' asks.
"Nothing special." 'Hajake', Sango replies.
"Same here." 'Hojo' replies.
Outside the compound as they walk to the inn where they are renting the room where the boys have been all day.
"How was it, really, Kagome?" Sango asks, in a whisper, as they walk down the crowded streets. "Your eyes look strange?"
A pause, as Kagome thinks. "It's not something that I want to do again, that much I'm sure of, Sango." She shakes her head. "But, I did get a basic floor plan, so once we get the boys inside, I'll know where to go."
Sango nods. "And I managed to study the protection scrolls around the front entrance. Once Miroku looks at them, we should know what we'll be fighting." She pauses, "unless something comes up, I'd say we dress them up as girls, to get them inside the compound and see what happens."
"Smash in, grab the shard and run?" Kagome asks.
Sango shrugs. "It should work, I think. The timing will be critical, but, I think if we ask for a room inside the compound, then bring in the Monk and Inu-yasha, dressed as women, then tomorrow night . . . "
Kagome nods. "That should work."
A pause. Kagome asks, "how was your day, really, Sango?"
Sango pauses, she thinks, 'I did not like killing that peasant, but, he knew what the penalty would be and he accepted it fearlessly. I've known samurai that would have begged. He just bowed and exposed his neck, so I could cleanly cut his head off.'
"Like you, Kagome, it wasn't something that I'd want to do again." Sango replies.
Kagome nods.
They walk the rest of the way to the inn in silence . . .
At the inn . . .
Kagome frowns as she walks down the corridor to the room. 'My senses are feeling something. Like someone I've felt before?'
Sango, noticing as Kagome missing a step, "Kagome?"
Kagome shakes her head, "nothing, Sango."
Sango nods and opens the sliding door.
"Come on in, girls." Kagura announces from inside the room. "I've been waiting for you, two."
She smiles behind her fan . . .
The end chapter 14.
Authors' notes:
Kagome might seem a little OOC, but, I do have her in a very unusual position, so please take that into account.
Part of this chapter is from "Everyday Life in Traditional japan" by Charles Dunn. And Tales of Old Japan by A. B. Mitford.
The punishment as entertainment for the crowd. This was common, even in the US. (Hangings in the west were entertainment and did attract large crowds on occasion.) Sigh . . . this pretty much ends the historical parts of the story. After this, starting with chapter 15, I'm planning on the action to start. (There's still some army command and control issues, I'd like to show, but the action I'm planning should do that.)
Chapter 15 . . . when? I'm not sure. Normally I'd say early June, but, I'm planning on attending project a-kon then, so, we'll see what happens.
Thank you for reading. Jeff shelton