Chapter Five
Forwarding Address
>>>Midday - May 1, 1583
"So then," Takashi continued, making emphatic arm motions as he went along. "The vampire rushed at Noriko with an ear-splitting roar!" The ronin crossed his arms akimbo and thrust out his chin. "Being the former samurai that I am, I couldn't just abandon a girl in peril, so I drew the gleaming blade of holy might that is The Greatness and dove into the fray!" Takashi made sure to add several slashing motions to his arm movements to further impress his captive audience.
Takashi, Megumi, and Fuji all seemed to be sharing a meal made out of last night's leftovers while the two Jeffy-Yaen trainees listened to a version of Takashi and Noriko's first meeting that was thoroughly impressive, if only for its thorough inaccuracy. However, in truth they were simply wasting time while Jeffy and Noriko hunted down whatever had been following them south along the Tokaido Road. Each of the three candidates who had been left out of the search party due either to their excessive noisiness or combat inexperience had been chosen instead as a decent distraction for whoever their pursuer happened to be. Indeed, the three looked as if they were sharing an ordinary meal, except for the fact that none of them had yet eaten a single bite. Takashi was too busy with his storytelling to indulge in such things, and Fuji and Megumi, exhausted from their earlier activities, had decided to occupy their time by nearly draining the party's supply of fresh water.
"That's so incredible, Takashi-san!" Megumi exclaimed, her eyes practically aglitter. "What happened next?"
Fuji couldn't help but smile. Even he could tell that Takashi had seriously altered the account of what had taken place on that day, but the extent to which that remained true was a mystery to the apprentice. He made a mental note to acquire Noriko's side of this particular story when he got the chance to do so.
Takashi made a fierce stabbing motion as a response to Megumi's enthusiasm, adding an extra dose of bravado to his voice for effect. "Whoosh! With a single stab to the head, the monster fell dead at my feet and disintegrated into dust."
Several harrowing motions accompanied the next part of the tale which Fuji took great care not to burst out laughing at.
"I smoothly sheathed The Greatness and turned to the damsel in distress as the mortal terror began to dissipate from her young and inexperienced eyes."
The ronin assumed an oddly feminine kneeling pose and clasped his hands upon his kimono-clad chest. Fuji quickly determined that Takashi had assumed the role of the "damsel in distress".
"Oh brave samurai," Takashi exclaimed with a voice that in no other situation would have passed for feminine. "I am eternally in thy debt! Wouldst thou accompany me on my quest so that I might reward you along the way with copious amounts of food and possibly my virginity as well?"
Megumi adopted an extremely confused look upon that statement, which Fuji was grateful for since it allowed the red flush that had temporarily overtaken his facial area to go unnoticed.
Takashi once again adopted his extremely masculine standing pose before answering himself. "Why yes, young Noriko; I shall travel with you to the ends of the very earth to thwart whatever evils stand in your way!" Getting slightly carried away with himself, Takashi leaned over in a lascivious manner, moving his story into the realm of pure fantasy. "Now, about this virginity thing, I think I can help you there . . ."
Fuji suddenly burst out laughing, which snapped Takashi out of his daydream and brought an even more confused look to Megumi's face. The ronin scratched his head with mock embarrassment as the apprentice began to calm down.
"Okay," he admitted. "So I made the 'virginity' part up, but the rest is pretty much what happened."
"Pretty much, huh?" Fuji managed as he quelled the hilarity that had so suddenly exploded from within. "So, what is it exactly that Noriko-san is after?"
"Well," Takashi began to answer. "Supposedly, her father was murdered while she was away at training. She's looking for the guy that did it."
Fuji was none too surprised. He recalled that something similar had been said by the ronin during last night's discussion.
"So how will she know who it is, and why is she heading for Mt. Gozaisho like Jeffy-sensei and I?" the apprentice queried.
"We've been tracking the guy using the one piece of information we do know about him." Takashi replied. "The only thing missing from Noriko's father when she found him was a simple string necklace with a bright blue triangular jewel attached to the end of it. The thing is really recognizable when worn out in the open, and the guy we've been following seems to love showing it off." Takashi sighed before continuing. "The last thing we heard was that the culprit was headed south along the Tokaido Road toward Komo Town, so here we are."
"Okay," Fuji mused, digesting the information. "So how does Megumi fit into all this?"
Takashi chuckled. "I was wondering when you'd ask that. Get this: she's an Iga Ninja."
Fuji almost recoiled in shock. "An Iga!" The fact that Megumi was a former ninja was nothing new to the apprentice, but would never have guessed her to be from the clan widely reputed to be the most dangerous and vicious of them all. "Megumi is from the Iga Clan!"
Megumi looked distressed before Takashi attempted to calm Fuji.
"Yeah, I know; that's what Noriko and I were thinking when she attacked us in black clothes during the daytime and totally screwed up." the ronin commented while shaking his head. "I mean, we didn't even notice her until she landed face-first on the ground in front of us. If it had been any other ninja on the face of this earth, we would have been dead before we knew what hit us."
Megumi's expression of distress turned into an almost comical pout. "You don't have to put it that way."
"Oh, I do have to put it that way." Takashi shot back. "If I didn't say it that way, I couldn't express to the newbie here just how unskilled you are compared to the Iga ninja that came after me before you."
Fuji paused for a moment before figuring out what bothered him about that statement. "Before?"
"Yeah," Takashi sighed. "There was a ninja from the Iga clan who tried to assassinate me before Megumi, and let me tell you, those encounters were like night and day, even literally. Never got the first one's name, but I must have miffed someone bad enough for them to send every ninja in the clan after my head when I defeated her."
Fuji looked suspicious. "You have no idea who it is that hired the Iga?"
"Hell if I know." the ronin answered. "Could be a relative of someone I killed during my service as a samurai, could be someone I offended during one of those episodes I was too drunk to remember, or it could be that the Iga Clan itself has a grudge against former servants of Lord Nobunaga for decimating their province." Takashi looked very serious for a moment. "The only thing I know for sure is that whoever hired the Iga has got some deep pockets. It's not exactly cheap to keep hiring ninja after ninja to kill one guy."
"You think there's a third ninja already out there?" Fuji wondered aloud.
Takashi pointed a conclusive thumb in the direction that Noriko and Jeffy had gone. "That's probably who's following us."
Fuji took a moment to grasp what had just been said before posing his next question. "Okay, so what did you guys do about Megumi? I mean, she attacked you, messed up, and then what? You just let her join you?"
Takashi made a dismissing wave with his right hand. "Actually, I tied her up and left her by the roadside to die of exposure."
"Which wasn't very nice." Megumi added.
Fuji waited for Takashi to continue in the face of such an obvious cliffhanger, but the ronin seemed unfazed.
"And what happened after that?" the apprentice queried.
Takashi covered his eyes with his hand as if remembering something painful. "And she came back. Noriko and I couldn't seem to get rid of her, so we let her tag along."
Fuji was confused. "How did Megumi get out of the ropes?"
The ronin sighed. "Don't ask me, and she doesn't seem to know either."
"That's right!" Megumi chimed in. "I have absolutely no idea how I escaped!"
Fuji gave the girl a withering look. "You say that a little too proudly."
"So," Takashi commented while leaning back into a conveniently sloped patch of grass. "That's the story of how this group came together, except for the part about you of course."
"What about Jeffy-sensei?" Fuji asked.
"Oh, him." the ronin responded. "We ran into each other after Noriko and I left Tado Town to the north. Don't ask me how he caught up to us and all, but he was heading the same way and I'm not sure even Noriko would have refused the legendary Anakouji Jeffery."
"Seems simple enough." Fuji commented. "So what about you, Takashi? I know that you served under Nobunaga Oda, and before that you trained under Jeffy-sensei, but what about before that? I mean, where did you come from?"
Takashi seemed about to answer when a surprisingly cheerful voice answered for him.
"He's from what's now called Old Komo Town, just southwest of the New Komo Town."
The ronin in question froze visibly, his eyes widened to the bursting point and staring straight through Fuji. The unsuspecting apprentice turned around slowly just in time for Noriko to speak up.
"I think we found something of yours, Takashi."
Between the stoic Noriko and the seemingly exhausted Jeffy stood what Fuji normally would have assumed to be a young teenage girl, perhaps 12 or 13 years old and standing fully two heads shorter than the swordswoman to her right. However, several things about the girl seemed a bit . . . off. It could have been the oddly revealing white gi with black fringes that this particular child had chosen to wear that irked the Shinto apprentice. It could have been the stark white hair that fell just short of the girl's shoulders that made her seem otherworldly. It could have been the disturbingly yellow eyes with strangely narrow pupils that so disturbed the young Yamamoto Fuji. But none of these could compare to the almost adorable pair of white-furred cat ears that sprung from just above where a normal set of human ears would be.
A grin almost stretched from ear to ear on the strange creature as she let out a cry of happiness and dove straight at the petrified Takashi, fiercely hugging his still-frozen form.
"I found you!" she exclaimed. "I finally, finally found you!"
Fuji couldn't seem to stop his left eyebrow from twitching. "Could someone please explain what the heck is going on here?"
>>>Night - May 1, 1583
The explanation Fuji sought after would have to wait until later that night, when the group made camp near a lake to replenish the water supply. It had been an uncomfortable trek on the way. No one even attempted to pry the newfound catgirl off of Takashi, who just seemed to be continually spacing out and not responding to anything or anyone. Noriko and Jeffy both remained pretty quiet, and even Megumi seemed to give up on the prospect of conversation after repeated attempts to get Takashi to answer her questions remained unheard.
A campfire had been set up, and Noriko had gone to fetch water from the lake. The tree cover was too thin here to really be called a forest, but it was dense enough to denote the space where the group currently sat as a circular clearing. Takashi still appeared zombified by the recent turn of events, and the cat-like newcomer seemed physically attached to his left arm. Megumi and Jeffy sat wordlessly by Fuji on the opposite side of the campfire. They had finished off the rest of the boar just a few minutes earlier, and the Shinto apprentice was beginning to find the silence unbearable when Jeffy suddenly spoke.
"It is good to see you again, Yuki."
The catgirl looked up from her self-appointed task of snuggling the petrified ronin for the first time that day. "Oh, of course it is, Jeffy-san! I'm just so glad I found this bum!" She looked around at the unusually morose group before continuing. "So, just who are all you people? And what have you done to Taka-kun? He hasn't said a word to me even though-"
Yuki was cut off in midsentence as Takashi suddenly snapped back to reality and yanked his arm away from the girl forcibly. "Why can't you just get off me for one second!"
The catgirl looked as if she were about to cry. "It's been eight years since we last saw each other, Taka-kun! I'm happy that I found you, but you aren't happy to see me. Why?"
"Excuse me," Fuji interrupted. "I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly is your connection with Takashi and Jeffy-sensei?"
Yuki looked genuinely stunned for a moment. "Wow, you other people talk too. What's your name?"
"Yamamoto Fuji," the apprentice crisply answered.
"I'm Anakouji Yuki!" the catgirl announced before Fuji could utter another word. "I'm Anakouji Jeffy's surrogate daughter and Ueda Takashi's childhood friend."
"Oh, so that's how you knew where Takashi was from." Megumi realized aloud as Noriko returned to the campsite with water in tow.
"That's right, Ms. Ninja." Yuki said proudly.
Megumi's cheeks flared up. "The name's Megumi, Ms. Catgirl."
"Ah, gomen." Yuki apologized. "Just didn't know your real name, that's all. So really, what are you all doing with Taka-kun?"
Fuji noticed that Takashi shuddered visibly every time the "Taka-kun" nickname was used by the catgirl.
"Actually," Noriko corrected with a slight grin. "The situation is more along the lines of what 'Taka-kun' is doing with us."
"Don't you start." Takashi quietly grumbled.
"Yuki," Jeffy began to explain. "Takashi has promised his services to that swordswoman, Noriko, in her quest to hunt down her father's killer." He pointed towards Fuji and Megumi. "Megumi is a former Iga ninja who joined their group, and Fuji here is helping me in my mission to purify this cursed blade on my back."
Yuki's eyes widened involuntarily for a moment at the mention of the gigantic western broadsword before she regained control over her expressions. Fuji was getting quicker at noticing these things. This obviously suggested that the girl had seen that sword before.
"So Yuki," Noriko queried. "What's your story? You said that you 'finally' found Takashi. How long have you been searching, and why?"
Yuki assumed a calmer, more serious attitude as she answered. "Taka-kun disappeared from Old Komo Town eight years ago. We were best friends, so I started looking for him. Along the way, I got really tired and fainted. That's when Jeffy-san found me and took care of me." She took a deep breath before continuing. "When I was healthy enough, I continued looking for Takashi, and now I finally found him again."
"Wait a minute," Fuji speculated. "We're talking about eight years here, right? That would mean you wandered around in the wilderness for . . ."
"About four years." Jeffy volunteered.
"Yeah," Fuji responded. "How did you survive that long on your own?"
Yuki pointed directly toward her ears. "I'm a raiju demon; it's not really that hard."
Fuji still looked suspicious. "Fair enough, but how about after that? Jeffy must have known that Takashi was serving under Nobunaga Oda. Why did it take you so much longer to find him, and what about that 'surrogate daughter' part?"
"That's also easily understood." Jeffy stated. "Takashi was probably moved around a lot within the service, and Yuki wouldn't have had access to information regarding his location. It could conceivably take years to track a specific person down based on personal accounts alone. As for her inheritance of my last name, I did that to protect her on her journey. According to what she told me four years ago, Yuki had been attacked many times because of her raiju blood. With a clear relation to me, however, one would think twice before attacking her again."
"Yep!" Yuki confirmed. "And here I am, back where I belong with Taka-kun again!"
Takashi didn't seem particularly happy about the situation. In fact, his gaze was fixed straight at the ground, his headband and thick black hair obscuring his face.
Noriko turned to the downcast ronin. "So what's the deal, Takashi? You two were good friends?"
Several moments passed before Takashi's simplistic answer came forth. "I've never met the girl. She's freakin' crazy if you ask me."
"Taka-kun!" Yuki gasped in astonishment. "What are you talking about? Don't you remember me?"
"Hell no!" Takashi almost yelled. "And quit with the stupid nickname! You think you can call me something like that after knowing me for less than a day? That'll be 'Takashi-san' from now on, thank you very much."
Yuki looked to be on the verge of tears for the second time that evening. "That-that's cruel, Taka-kun. Hidoi desu . . ."
"Okay!" Noriko commented rather noisily upon standing up. "I think that's enough talk for tonight. The lake I got the water from is really warm from the weather earlier today, and I think all of us could use a good bath." The swordswoman removed her weapons and beckoned to the other girls in the party with uncharacteristic kindness. "Yuki, Megumi, I say we take advantage of this before the boys stink it up. Coming?"
Fuji smiled. Was Noriko trying to cheer the newcomer up?
"Hai!" Megumi chirped without missing a beat, quickly discarding her weapons belt and headband.
"I-I guess." Yuki responded less than cheerfully as she got up to accompany the other two girls. She gave one last look towards the withdrawn Takashi before she was pulled into the foliage beyond the campsite by Noriko.
"Come on, the water will be cold again by the time you get there!"
Silence pervaded over the campsite once again, broken only by the ever more distant sounds of the girls laughing as they made their way towards the lake. It was Fuji who spoke first.
"What's the matter with you, Takashi-san?"
The ronin looked at the apprentice morosely. "What?"
"You know what I mean." Fuji fumed. "It's obvious that you know that girl! Why did you lie and make her sad? She's been looking for you for eight years!"
Takashi rose from his position on the ground, walked across the campfire, and planted his face less than an inch from Fuji's. Pure anger shone in his dark eyes.
"Keep this in mind, newb." the ronin growled. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I think it'd be smart for you to shut up and stay out of other people's business."
"Still," Jeffy interrupted on Fuji's behalf. "It is confusing. You most definitely know her, and she knows you as well. What reason is there to be hostile towards Yuki? She has spent much of her life searching you out, after all."
Takashi calmly walked over to his side of the fire and laid down with a yawn. "I'm getting some shuteye. Wake me when it's our turn to use the lake."
Once Fuji heard snores coming from Takashi, he turned to face Jeffy who was about to adopt the napping strategy of his student.
"This really stinks." the apprentice huffed. "Up until now, things seemed to be going well. What are we going to do? We can't just let these two bicker all the way to Mt. Gozaisho, can we?"
Jeffy smiled. "Sometimes, you just have to take a problem and sleep on it; it usually helps clear your view of the situation. This, I would say, is one of those cases. Wake me when it's time, Fuji."
The apprentice stared into the night sky as the two swordsmen fell into deep sleep and began to snore loudly. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that he was now likely to be traveling with a lightning cat-demon. It had barely been a week since Fuji had started out on this journey, and already it had gotten so complex.
Did any of these people have anything to do with the visions from Amaterasu? Not likely. Fuji was beginning to feel as if swept along by a tide of events that he couldn't stop. No one in this group even knew what he was truly after, or even what he truly believed in. What had started as a safe way to travel to Mt. Gozaisho had not taken long at all to turn into . . . something else.
As his hand began to toy with the black leather book in his travel sack, Fuji mentally kicked himself. He always made this mistake around other people. The apprentice had always found it incredibly hard to detach himself from the problems and concerns of other people, and this group was proving no exception. What needed to be done here was for Fuji to simply stop caring. Yes, it was that simple. That's all that needed to be done for this mission to go smoothly. If you don't care, you can't be hurt.
That was the last thing to cross the apprentice's mind before he faded into a peaceful slumber.
(End Chapter Five)
Japanese Dialogue and Terms (in order of appearance):
gomen - translates as "sorry".
kun - the male version of -chan. Unlike -chan, however, almost never used outside of childhood or very close relationships.
raiju - a Japanese cat demon of the lighting element. The Yuki's appearance does not fit the traditional description of a raiju, but since no one has a photo of one . . . hehe
hidoi - translates as "cruel".
desu - the Japanese "to be" verb. For instance, when paired with "hidoi", it translates as "that is cruel".
