Chapter 1: Memories of Childhood
I was never very close to my brother. Besides the fact that in age there was a vast gap of nineteen years between us, our genders segregated our duties. He trained to be a soldier--a man--while I spent my time idly at play. We rarely saw one another, and I admit that at age five I found his colossal presence intimidating. I'm not sure if in those days I completely understood him to be my brother. In truth, I barely knew him. He was a mystery to me. A stranger.
The only peace I recall is in our home, in the time spent with my mother. My father spoke of war, but what does a little girl know of such things? I simply ignored it. I only knew that I had the devoted attention of my mother, and I was happy. Occasionally, however, I would think I saw my mother crying, and this frightened me. But she would smile and stroke my cheek, and say, "Don't worry, little one; it is only the sun shining in my eyes!" I loved my mother dearly, but she never once opened up to me. Still, I could always tell when something was hurting her, and she would always have a smile just for me.
My father passed away when I was six. Mother seemed much as she had always been, but I would catch her staring at nothing every now and then, and had to wonder what she was thinking. I hadn't been at all close to my father; I'd seen little more of him than I did of Nobunaga. I was furious with him for leaving us, all the same, but for selfish reasons. More of my mother's time had to be devoted to responsibilities, and less to her increasingly self-sufficient children. She would rise before the sun each morning to oversee the servants' work, and she completely took over the affairs of finances and business for the entire household.
I longed for the nighttime, when I would have her all to myself, for she never failed to brush my hair before bed. My mother had a beautiful bronze comb studded with pearls. She always wore it in her silken bun, but at night she would come to me and let her hair down, and share that special comb with me. I remember she forgot it in my room one night. After she had gone to bed and I discovered it still lying on my blanket, I held it tightly to me all night while I slept. My tiny fingers caressed the smooth stones and plucked the comb's teeth with a feeling of safety and comfort I have never known since.
The period of the feuding warlords was a confusing time for everyone, but especially for me, being a child. The night Nobunaga left us for the final time was one filled with uncertainty and a sense of dread. My gentle mother, who never spoke a harsh word, lashed out at my brother for reasons I did not understand. Shouting had roused me from sleep and beckoned me downstairs. My brother was towering over my small mother, his face cold and hard. He was in full battle gear, preparing to depart. My mother was wild, frantic--I'd never seen her like that. She was pleading with my brother at first, begging him not to go out that night, but he looked right through her. Then she warned him against tempting fate, and demanded he take off his armor, and he knocked her to the floor with a blow to the side of her head.
It had been a year since my father's death, and I had not once seen even him lay a firm hand on my mother. I was enraged beyond measure to see the way her fragile form crumpled to the wooden floor. I rushed to defend her, my small hands clenched into fists and tears of anger stinging my eyes as I shouted up at Nobunaga from my mother's side, "Leave her alone!"
At first he seemed startled to see me standing there so suddenly, then amused. "You're a bit too young to be of any use to me right now," he said.
I was still too blinded by anger to pay his words any heed. "You'll be sorry you touched her!" I warned him.
He pushed me out of his path on his way out the door.
The rest, as I said before, is legend. At the time I knew nothing of the battle that was occurring on the plains of Okehazama; of what happened to my brother that night I was oblivious. My mother became withdrawn from everyone. She wrote frantically, but what she was writing and to whom I had no idea. The servants went away one by one, and mother herself was soon preparing our daily meals. Men came to the house. Sometimes they were family friends who would try and soothe my mother's worries with sympathy and advice. Sometimes they were strangers who came and took away our possessions. When there was almost nothing left with which to furbish our home--or pay the bills, as I finally came to understand--they took the kitchen table.
There was one man who came with fair frequency. He always came after sundown when it was past my bedtime, but I hadn't slept well since I'd had to give up my bed and rarely found rest until late in the night. I did not know this man, but even the sound of his voice as he whispered to my mother frightened me and filled me with a sense of dread. The relief I felt each time he left was like the lifting of some black and deadly fog. Why he came, I did not know. I couldn't hear what he said to my mother, but it seemed he was asking her a favor. Each time she would refuse, no matter how long it took to get rid of him. But he was relentless in his quest and would return, with more frequency as our large house grew more and more barren.
When there was nothing left to sell but our home, I knew we were in trouble. By the time I was eight only my mother and I were left of the once-flourishing Oda family manor. The strange tales I mentioned earlier were being whispered in every corner of the village, and I received many a strange look. People in fact seemed to be repelled from me. At the time I had thought it was because I was poor. I had never known the indignation the poor have to endure until then, but my mother was by then sickly and too weak to go to the market, so the task had fallen to me. The confusing part of their treatment was that few of the villagers were better off than my family during those times. It was as if a shadow had been cast on the Oda clan, and everything we touched withered away.
I discovered my assumptions were incorrect when they came for us. One day while Mother and I were doing the laundry we heard the sound of the hooves of quickly approaching horses.
"Stay here," my mother ordered me, rolling her sleeves down as she trudged outside to greet the riders. But I disobeyed and eagerly left my chore to see what the fuss was all about.
I still recall what a pitiable sight it was. Where once had been an estate adorned with ornate fountains and where gardens had once flourished was now a desolate desert wasteland. Still, my tiny mother exuded all the nobility and beauty of an empress as she faced the dusty riders.
"You haven't paid your taxes," I heard the man in the front say. He sounded bold, but did not come too close to the house and he was followed by a small troop of armored soldiers.
"What have you left to tax?" my mother demanded, equally passionate. I longed to run to her, but I didn't dare disrupt whatever magic was giving her fragile body this renewed strength, so instead I stood silent and watched, clinging to the doorframe for some strength of my own.
"You were notified of the consequences, as I understand it."
"I have given your master everything I have ever owned. I will not give him my soul."
The soldiers on the horses began to back away, their eyes roving wildly across the estate. Even the courier seemed shaken. I recalled the stories of wandering spirits and fiendish demons, and grew frightened. I clung to the wood of the doorframe so hard I split a nail.
"No one is asking that of you," the man choked. "But... Well, you were notified."
Mother's head drooped and she appeared defeated. "I have nothing left to pay you with," she said, her voice weak. Her arms fell limply to her sides. I thought she looked like a wilted rose, and I began to cry silently. "How much time will you give me to vacate?"
"You have until tomorrow."
Mother sighed. "Well, then... until tomorrow." She didn't sound as if she were looking forward to the meeting.
The messenger gave a slight bow, refusing to meet my mother's sad eyes. He turned his back on her slowly and then kicked his horse into a gallop, and the soldiers followed him in a tight group.
My mother turned slowly once more toward our home, utterly broken. Her eyes widened when she saw me standing there, and she came to me and put her arms around me, and wiped my dirty tear-streaked cheeks with her sleeve. "Everything is going to be all right. Ssh... No tears, little one."
I sniffled. "Don't worry, mother; it is only the sun shining in my eyes!"
For a moment she was silent. Then she laughed. It was such a beautiful sound, one I had yearned for, one I longed to capture in a paper box and listen to it whenever I wished. But for some reason now it made me cry all that much harder.
That night my mother asked me to gather my things. I did not have much, just a few clothes and my sandals. We folded them together, and mother wrapped them up in a small bundle she made from my blanket. She made me walk around the empty house with it on my back to see how well I could carry it. I made a show of looking strong though my back ached and the whole exercise exhausted me. But I think my mother must have known, or she never would have done what she did that night.
He came again--the man I feared. We heard riders for the second time that day as we were preparing for our last night in our family's home. But this time they came right up to the door, bearing strange torches. I ran to the window, gaping in awe at the blue light.
"No, Oichi--!" Mother cried, grabbing my arm and giving it a tug. "Come away from there this instant!"
I was hypnotized, mesmerized, spellbound. Some magic held me there at the window, unblinking, and my mother's voice seemed distant. But then she pulled me hard, and we fell to the hardwood floor together.
"...Mother?"
"Oichi!"
Before I could ask her what was happening, the door burst open and a blue fog rolled in to carpet the floor. Standing in the doorway was the little man I had grown to loathe.
Mother gasped. "Tokichiro!"
The demon man grinned like a fiend. "It's good to see you again, Fuyuka. May I come in?"
Mother climbed to her feet and pulled me behind her, clinging so tightly it hurt."
"I've given you my answer! Be gone from this place. You have no right to be here!"
Tokichiro came into the room anyway. "Oh, but I have every right," he countered. "Our lord has already defeated and banished the would-be savior of humanity, Samanosuke Akechi! Soon demons will own this land and it will be you--" he pointed at us--"who have no right."
I began trembling with fear. "Mother...!"
She pulled me closer. "You're frightening her!"
"How do you think she will feel wandering the world with you? She will know hardships she has never faced." He glared at me menacingly. "She will know all the horrors that already pollute your world: starvation, disease, murder, rape..."
"How dare you--!"
"But my master offers a simple solution," Tokichiro added quickly, holding his hands up to ward off further protest. "It won't cost you anything. You have everything to gain and absolutely nothing of value to lose." His toothy grin widened. "What more can I say to persuade you? I offer you the chance to give your daughter every luxury she could ever hope for."
"In exchange for her soul!"
"Now, Mrs. Oda, you know I can ask no such thing of her. Besides, what would I do with her soul?" He laughed. "She will be well cared for in exchange for her allegiance. That is all my master wishes."
"For her to train to be one of you?"
"Well... she could never be one of us." He appeared smug. "But she could live in luxury and be treated like a goddess."
My mother turned to look down at me, her expression troubled.
"Or," Tokichiro persisted, "you can leave here together and, if you're fortunate, she might live to see another birthday."
I felt my mother's grip on me relax. I clung to her all the more tightly, afraid that something horrible was about to happen. She looked down at me sadly, then gave me one of her special smiles. It was then that I realized that those smiles had all been a masquerade to hide what she felt inside. And that terrified me.
"Oichi." Mother fell to her knees beside me, hugging me close for a silent moment before releasing me. She turned to Tokichiro. "Give us a moment."
His smirk was gruesome. "Of course." He bowed exaggeratedly, leaving the house and closing the door. I had the horrible feeling he'd be back again soon.
Mother shook me out of my stupor. "Oichi." She looked into my eyes desperately. "Oichi, don't be afraid."
"Mother!"
She kissed me. "You'll be a brave girl for mother, won't you, darling?"
"Mother..." My eyes welled with tears.
"Everything's all right, little one. Look here; I have something for you." She pulled her bronze comb from her glossy hair, pressing it insistently into my little hand.
"But, Mother..."
"Take care of it for me, won't you?" She kissed my forehead and stood, taking my hand. She led me across the room and lifted my little bundle from where we had left it, handing it to me to carry with my free arm. She opened the door and we walked outside together where Tokichiro stood waiting with his hoard of demons. He raised his head to look at us as we approached. My mother walked tall and proud, holding firmly to my hand.
"Is everything ready, then?"
Mother nodded, then let go of my hand and clenched both of hers into fists.
I stared up at her, my eyes wide with terror. "Mother!" Tokichiro grabbed my shoulder none too gently, dragging me toward the demon riders. I struggled but my resistance was useless against him. He raised his free hand, and a large ball of light burst into existence just behind the demons. It blazed an unearthly shade of green as the demons one by one walked their horses into the portal. I screamed, fighting with all my might to get away.
My mother watched, her eyes full of sorrow but vacant of tears; I suppose that by that time she hadn't any tears left to cry.
"Mother!" I screamed miserably.
"I love you, Oichi," she said softly as she watched me being taken from her. "I'll always love you."
She pressed her fingertips gently to her lips in a final farewell kiss as Tokichiro pulled me into the realm of the demons, and that was the last time I saw her face.