The Hundred Item List
A Man of God
By Leishe
Hiroko leaned down to fan the face of her sleeping child, who was lying on the makeshift hammock that her husband had put up inside the Aburakoji sword shop. It was a sweltering hot day once again, and she was left to keep watch over their small business.
She sighed, and her eyes wandered out the window, watching the sun-bathed streets for the crooked form of her father and his walking stick. The woman frowned.
Shinichi had decided to shut down the shop, a month after the last customer, when two officials had paid them a visit. According to her husband, they had given the Aburakoji patriarch two weeks to pack up the swords for confiscation, and then to close up the business.
It seemed that her father hadn't known that swords were outlawed now.
"Don't worry," Goro, her uncle, had said a few days before, "Shinichi's a crafty old louse…I'm sure he'll figure out a way to survive. Besides, he wouldn't let your sisters down, would he?"
"Sure," Hiroko muttered to herself sarcastically, her eyes flitting to her son, who was beginning to stir. Ichiro was a bright-eyed little boy, and his mother feared for his future. Already, it was beginning to look bleak, just because of his grandfather's doings…or lack thereof.
The woman sighed again, this time looking at the swords, which were already packed into bundles and piled on top of each other, lying on the floor. Hiroko thought of the last person who had come into the shop, seeking to find a sword...the polite young man who kept bowing…Seta-san.
She wondered what happened to him, wondered why he'd wanted a weapon no better than a kitchen knife. The sakabattou didn't appear to be very useful, and in her father's eyes was something very worthless. Why, he'd been more than happy to trade it with the Kikuichimonji-norimune that Seta-san had brought with him.
Ichiro woke up, rubbing his eyes, and yawning widely.
"Hahaue…" he said, in his small adorable voice, "It's very hot."
Hiroko smiled and began fanning his face again, flicking her wrist a bit quicker this time. "I know, I know. But maybe when ojisan comes back, he'll bring you some candy."
The toddler shifted his position, scowling. "I don't want candy…'Sides, ojisan never brings me nothin'."
She looked at her son carefully. "I suppose you're right, Ichiro. Some things never do change."
.0o0.
He was walking away from the storm, and the storm away from him.
Soujiro did not look back as the city of Kyoto shrank slowly into the horizon. A smile was painted on his face as he left, and his step was easy and relaxed, as always. But that was a month and a half ago
Now, he was lying in the middle of a forest, nestled comfortably on a bed of dry grass. It was late morning, and he had just woken up from a dreamless sleep. His eyelids fluttered open, gaze meeting the blue sky.
There were no clouds today.
Instinctively, a smile crossed his features, and he stretched leisurely, getting up. Letting out a small yawn, the young man stood, inhaling the refreshing smell of morning. Soujiro smoothed his clothes, getting the grass off; and when he was done, he began walking.
According to the group of farmers that he had met the other day, the next town was about fourteen miles from where he was—a relatively short distance. It was a small, ordinary community…so small that it had failed to appear on some maps.
He was now padding down, through the trees and the shadows cast by their leaves, towards the small clear brook that he had found yesterday. There were no creatures living there, save for a bunch of small tadpoles wriggling in the water. He knelt down.
Soujiro cupped his hands, lowering them into the water. It was very cold. He splashed some onto his face, blinking the liquid away from his eyes. The feeling was absolutely wonderful. Closing his eyes, the boy breathed deeply, listening to the comforting silence of the forest, grateful for the thick leaves blocking the blasts of sunlight.
Rustle.
Somewhere, something moved. It was not an animal. His body froze reflexively, his ears perking up at the sound of another voice.
"…Father, please cleanse me of my sin…forgive me of my transgressions, O Lord…dwell in my heart once more…"
It was low, speaking the words in a rhythmic, heavy manner. Soujiro looked up, wondering where the voice was coming from.
"….Prince of Peace, Mighty King…"
The forest surrounded him; there were trees on every side. The young man stood up, narrowing his eyes. Whoever was chanting those words was a good distance away from him, and probably harmless.
He took a step forward, and the leaves crumpled under his foot.
The chanting stopped. Soujiro's eyes darted to his left, where he sensed a slight movement. Words were coming from that direction, and he heard a faint, scuffling noise. He walked towards the spot, slowly, quietly.
Beyond the cluster of trees that blocked his view was a small clearing, glimmering with dew-laden, fresh grass that smelled of water. In the middle of the clearing was a small brown lump with what looked like two stubby legs poking out of it. He squinted.
"…in your mighty name, Amen."
Soujiro watched as the lump unfolded itself, and as the legs stood up, revealing themselves as a small bald man with small eyes and a short black beard. He was wearing what looked like a servant's tunic, with a small mark emblazoned on the right sleeve.
The man didn't notice the stranger watching him from the trees at first, but when he turned around, the wanderer was the first thing that he saw. His eyes widened, and the man took a step back.
Despite himself, Soujiro cocked his head to one side.
"What were you doing?" he asked.
The small man gave him a blank stare. "I-I was…I was praying."
Praying. He had never heard this kind of prayer before, one that used the word 'Amen', or one that was recited in the free, awkward manner in which this man had said his. The young man had seen the Buddhist monks before, and also, the Shinto priests, and from what he could see, this small man was neither monk nor priest.
"W-who are you?" the man asked, his eyes wandering to the hilt of the sakabattou.
"Oh. Seta Soujiro. I'm a wanderer here." He spoke nonchalantly, apparently more interested in the nature of this new religion the man was practicing.
"Are you a Buddhist?" Soujiro asked, looking at the stranger curiously.
He shook his head. "I'm a Christian."
"I thought they killed all the Christians."
"Not me…" the man hesitated, "You won't tell them…will you?"
"Tell who?"
"My masters. They'd refuse to let me work for them, if they found out. They'd kill me. That's why I go all the way here to pray."
"…oh."
The wanderer looked at him with what could be called a sympathetic expression, but Soujiro didn't really know how to express sympathy that well. He didn't really know what it was like to be persecuted for his belief, and he doubted if he was going to be, at any rate.
"Do you have a god?"
He jerked up at that question, looking at the man in surprise.
"What?"
"I said, do you have a god?"
Soujiro stared at him for a moment, as if wondering what the question really meant. He did believe there was a God, but whether it was his god or not—he wasn't sure of that just yet. The man waited, but the boy did not say anything.
A slight smile formed on his lips. It seemed that the man had decided that Soujiro wasn't going to kill him for being a Christian, and was actually quite harmless.
"Maybe…you are still looking for Him?" He had been like this before, when he was still young, searching for himself, for his purpose in life, and for the truth. This wanderer was probably the same.
The young man looked him in the eye. "Perhaps."
"I am Kanzaki Saburo," he replied, "A manservant of the Lord Akira."
Soujiro smiled, and he looked at the sky, now bright, because the sun was above them both. The grass grew green, and the leaves made a light, quiet noise. Kanzaki looked at him, his eyes settling on the young man's mouth, and he noted how the smile—it seemed to come unnaturally.
"Have you always been like this?"
"What do you mean?" Soujiro was puzzled at his question.
"You know what I mean."
The young man thought for a moment. "Yes." No. But that was a long time ago.
The man shook his head. "You can change." Two blue eyes looked at him curiously, examining, questioning, observing.
"Maybe."
A sigh escaped Kanzaki's lips, and he let out a short chuckle of his own, his eyes crinkling. He rubbed the back of his head absently, and began brushing the grass off the lower part of his tunic.
"Well, I think I'd better get back now. It's noontime already."
Soujiro nodded. "You know, once they find out about you, you're as good as dead."
"I know that."
"Then give up. You don't have to believe if you don't want to."
Kanzaki laughed once more, and for some reason, the wanderer found himself getting irritated. Kind brown eyes settled on him, and the young man felt them probing into his very soul. It was a feeling that he didn't find pleasant.
"The Lord is my shepherd. He will keep me safe from harm."
One brow rose. "And how would you know? Where is this Lord of yours?"
The man made a wide, circular motion with his hands. "He is everywhere."
Silence.
Soujiro took one last, long look at the strange, trusting, Christian man that was Kanzaki Saburo, who was, at the same time, annoying and yet, awfully thought-provoking. His presence was a disturbing one.
"I have to go now," the man said, raising his hand in a gesture of farewell. "Take care, wanderer. God bless you."
He nodded curtly, and watched with a hawk's gaze, as the man turned around and walked straight into the cluster of trees, soon disappearing from sight. Soujiro let out a breath that he did not know was there.
He was alone again.
.0o0.
The garden was a quiet, sunny, place, filled with hundreds of beautiful flowers blooming colourfully. Trees loomed over the wall, shading a portion of the wide expanse of greenery, and two stone benches stood directly below them.
Sitting on one of the benches was a young man in his early twenties. He was staring off into space—one of his less productive hobbies—once again, just to while his time away, since he had nothing else to do.
After ten minutes, the man sighed, and took a silver bell out of one of the folds of his upper tunic. He rang it softly, and immediately, two servants appeared, each one bearing a silver tray in his hand. Both walked slowly towards the young man, who yawned lazily, and stretched out into a leisurely position on the bench.
The two servants bowed. "Lord Takeshi, we are at your service," they recited.
The man on the bench nodded absently. "Anything from the capital?" he asked, examining his fingers, "Anything…interesting?" The servants looked at each other uncertainly.
"W-well," stammered one, "Nothing, unless you would like to hear about the local happenings."
Lord Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Do enlighten me, Sho."
The servant Sho nodded, as his co-worker presented the silver tray piled with fruits to the young man, who took it and promptly began eating.
"The eastern part of Kyoto," Sho recited, "Near the area where the river runs, there has been a report of a single man who took out nearly fifty in one blow. He is said to have supernatural speed, and although the victims claim that the person in question is only a kid, we have reasons to believe otherwise."
That bit of news seemed to interest the young man greatly, because he stopped munching on his grapes for a moment, and eyed Sho carefully.
"Where did you hear this?" he asked, "The authorities?"
The servant shook his head. "No, sir, I overheard some old men talking the matter over in the marketplace a few weeks ago, when Lady Mitsuko, your mother, sent me to pick up some paintings that were being delivered from Tokyo."
Lord Takeshi grinned, a gesture which normally sent chills running down the back of people's spines. Both servants shuddered.
"I like this piece of news, Sho. Bring me more about this so-called 'supernatural man'. I would like to…test his powers, so to speak."
Sho couldn't help but shoot the young man a look of complete incredulity. "But master! This is only a bit of gossip I heard…only a rumor—" he stopped, as the young man waved him away, with a savage look in his eyes.
"Silence, dog. You know the consequences. I'd like more news about him, and by tomorrow, if you please." He turned to the other servant. "Nobu, more fruits. I don't like these." He pushed the silver tray to the floor, and it fell, clattering.
Both servants bowed hastily, with the one called Nobu picking up the tray, and exited. They left him there, the Lord Takeshi, sitting down in a cross-legged position, twining his fingers around each other in a sinister way.
"Gossip, maybe, but it is an interesting piece of gossip."
Yasuda Takeshi was a man who had it all. His father, Yasuda Zenjiro, was the founder of the Yasuda zaibatsu, one of the wealthy business families that popped out at the end of the Tokugawa era. Being the heir to an enormous fortune, the young man was faced with huge responsibilities…all of which he promptly ignored.
"Something tells me…that I'm going to see blood again." He licked his lips.
"…wonderful."
.0o0.
Aoshi couldn't fly. Could Aoshi fly? Misao wrinkled her brow, before crossing number thirty-three of off the list. She had been working on it for a few days now, carefully scanning the whole scroll for anything that Aoshi couldn't qualify for anymore, as well as things that weren't unique to the former okashira alone.
So far, the weasel girl had been making good progress. She was healing fast. Actually, she was already perfectly healthy. Not a trace of the injuries were to be seen, thanks to the painstaking work of the Oniwabanshu.
The brush and ink set were being put to good use, and so were her writing skills, as Okon was happy to observe. Even the curious Okina had tried to take a peek at the list, only to have five dozen kunai and three shuriken (where did she get those?) fly out at him, and nearly nail him to the wall.
"Burn that list, Omasu." The old man croaked, "It's making her evil."
The woman just laughed at him, walking past. "It's not that, Jiya. You're just getting old."
Misao, for her part, had taken out a good twenty items, or more, off the list, and had added some new ones, some of which applied to Aoshi, and surprisingly, some of which did not.
The girl put a neat line over 'First name starts with 'A' as well as 'Last name starts with 'S'. Way too specific, she told herself. Besides, there were a lot of people who's names fitted those requirements. Misao shuddered. And some were none too decent.
"Must…like…mushrooms." She wrote it quickly, in small characters, over the line that covered the original numbers sixteen and seventeen. Misao didn't know why she wrote that, but it just occurred to her that people who liked mushrooms seemed a bit friendlier than people who hated them.
"It's just an observation," she told Omasu, who was looking at the list one day. The older ninja woman just smiled at her understandingly. "I know, Misao-chan…" she sighed. "It's going to be absolutely wonderful preparing the menu for your wedding…I'll be sure to put in LOTS and lots of delicious sautéed mushrooms."
"Er…okay." Misao shot her a weary glance, getting the scroll and rolling it up neatly. She tucked it into its usual place, at her side, preparing to leap precariously out the dining room once more.
"I'll be at the riverside…Be back home in time for dinner!"
Omasu was incredulous. "But Misao—!"
Too late. She was already gone.
.0o0.
Hi everyone:) Sorry for the late update…I don't think I'm going to be able to update much very soon, since we start school on Monday. :( I know it's summer break for all you guys out there…you're sooo lucky! Hehe…anyway, I hope you liked this chapter—I introduced some new characters, by the way. A bit shorter than the usual. :D. More Sou than Mi this time. Thanks a gazillion to all the kind reviewers! XD Your words are greatly appreciated.
Oh, before I forget, here's a bit of information : During the Meiji Era, any other religion besides Buddhism and Shinto was taboo, Christianity included. If I'm not mistaken, foreigners were feared and hated, so there were very few or no missionaries at that time. The man Sou meets in this story, Kanzaki, is one of the few people who were able to make contact with a missionary, and revealing his faith would result to the loss of his life. :D
This note is getting extremely long, but no matter! There's still room for review responses:)
Whisper of the Wind: a piñata is paper Mache party treat, filled with candy, which is hung from the ceiling. :) The celebrant beats it up with a stick until it cracks and all the candy comes falling out for the guests to collect. :D
sangPakko: Yay! Thank you! I wonder who that writer is… :) Thanks for the review!
Bando-Eido no Megami-sama: Wahaa? Why? SouMi stories are great! You should read the stuff here…good quality, yup. Thank you! I shall try to update soon, if my schedule allows. :)
Andrea is cute: heh, you're not the first one who's told me that. :D A friend of mine pointed that out, but I didn't pay attention to him. :D Thanks for the bit of information, though… :-) I'm glad you like my story! Thank you very much for the review!
(the psychic): Er…I'm not sure who you are… XD but thanks for liking it! Sou has some adventures coming, of course, but we'll just have to wait and see if they have anything to do with Misao. :P Angst and Romace? Sure, why not? I'll try! ;)
mataka: uhm…maybe…sometime mid-June, or something. It depends on my schedule. Thank you for the review!
Lau: whoo…do you write long ones! XD Thanks a lot, though, I really enjoyed reading this one. :D I don't have it pre-written (I wish!) but when a jolt of inspiration hits me, I begin typing like crazy. :P Our dear Sou shall return, don't worry:) I just didn't want to put him in the Aoiya, like you said, so…yeah. ;D Aoshi wearing that coat of his reminded me of Neo… XD it's really amusing, imagining him like that. I put the snowball in because I wanted an Aoshi part, and his hair never really gets messed up, does it? ;D I wonder what kind of gel he uses…
I guess Misao thought of Soujiro, because he was the last male that made an impact on her, or something. I dunno…but then again, I suppose you're right. Any normal warm-blooded female would think twice about Sou once meeting him. :D Anyway, thanks a lot for your review!
MellowyelloW2007: wow. Thanks so much:D I'm really glad you like this story. You just made my day a little bit brighter:) In truth, it's reviews like these that get me typing, although constructive things help as well. I won't abandon this story (I hope), and I'll try to update when I can. Thank yoouuuuuuuuuuuuuu:D
Spork111: Thanks! Haha… ;D
Noname: Thank you, and you're right. Misao's gotta think out of the box a bit more, when it comes to men. Heehee:)
Smiling Blue-Clad Wanderer's 0bsessor: thanks! For what a piñata is, please see my response to 'Whisper of the Wind'. Will Sou come back? Maaayyybeee….XD
Love Chronicle: thank you! Writing in character is one of my tougher challenges, though. :D hum…Sou will return…in time. :-) Meanwhile, keep reading!
Babygirl: Yup, he's leaving…at least he doesn't stay at the Aoiya, right? Hehe…anyway, thanks for the review!
Wicked Enough: hey there:D so glad you like this! You're reviews really help me. XD About updating quickly…I try, I guess…but summer here in my place is ending…nooooo:( and the ink…well…ink comes in many forms, I guess…so there's nothing wrong with using ink in a bottle, is there? ;P Thank you for your review…and update, will you! Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaseee:D
Flying weasel- Yay. Actually, Misao didn't fly. Well, not in this chapter, anyway. :D
Autumn Willow- Ei! Yup, halatang pinoy nga. :D But who cares? 'Tik-tilaok' fitted better than 'cockadoodle-doo' did. XD
.0o0.