Chapter 10: Suspicions
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Author: Jun-I
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo, Kanbei x Shichiroji (in the past)
Warnings:
- mention of traditional form of Japanese homosexuality – wakashudo – which was practiced by the samurai
- For additional warnings, see Chapter 1
Notes:
-Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.
-In this fic, Kanbei is 40, Shichiroji is 34, Kyuuzou is 30, and Katsushiro is 15. (I'm pushing Shichiroji's age up to make the wakashudo relationship between him and Kanbei more palatable – and 'legal' by modern standards. For the purposes of this story, it started when Shichiroji was 18 and Kanbei was 24. And ended when Shichiroji was 25 and Kanbei was 31.)
-I am not a fan of wakashudo. It is, IMHO, an archaic tradition that has no place in modern egalitarian relationship models. But I'm trying to be culturally/historically accurate. ;-)
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1
As Kyuuzou sliced up one robot after another, she felt the Nobuseri's floating base lean and lurch before it crashed into the mountain. Heihachi must have succeeded in his mission, she thought. Moments later, the red-headed samurai reappeared, yelling at his comrades to leave the ship. Kikuchiyo opened the ship's door – it was just a few yards from the mountain side. Shichiroji pulled a tree down to bridge the gap between the base and the rock face.
There was no time to waste. Kyuuzou felt tremors in the floor of the dying ship. She was not sure how long the floating base could keep floating after the damage done by Heihachi. Quickly, the samurai woman led the others out, swiftly crossing the log bridge and clambering up the steep mountain face. Right after they made it out, the ship fell away, scraping against the rocks as it crashed into the dark chasm below.
Kyuuzou nimbly led the way up to a wide ledge on the mountainside. Kanbei climbed up after her. Then he turned and offered his hand to the peasant girl who was making her way up the rocks with a little more difficulty. Kirara was about to take the dark man's hand, then she blushed and turned away shyly. Kyuuzou's sharp eyes took all of that in.
The peasant priestess rested her eyes on the wound on Kanbei's arm, hastily bound up with a piece of cloth. "This is no good," she declared as she tried to remove the blood-soaked cloth.
"A mere scratch," the dark man had answered. "Do not bother."
Kirara's response was to concentrate fully on dressing the commander's wound with a fresh bandage.
"So she loves him," Kyuuzou thought. The slender warrior had suspected as much when she first met the priestess face to face. The girl had hated her then, because she saw the crimson samurai as a danger to Kanbei. Watching Kirara's gentle fingers on Kanbei's arm, Kyuuzou felt irritated. But she did not quite know why.
But there was no time for introspection. A few Nobuseri flew up from below and attacked the samurai. Trapped between the deep chasm and the steep mountain face, the samurai fought back, slicing through metal with a vengeance. Kanbei had taken it upon himself to protect Kirara, steering her out of harm's way even as he battled their attackers.
At long last, Kikuchiyo put his big sword through the last Yakan and kicked it over the edge. Kyuuzou thought their troubles were over at least for the moment. But then Kikuchiyo fell backwards. The robot had been hit in the head by a gunshot from the chasm below.
Kikuchiyo was slightly stunned, but otherwise unscathed. Since Kikuchiyo was a mecha, the bullet had merely ricocheted off his metallic head. Kanbei breathed a sigh of relief. Had it been one of the flesh-and-blood samurai, getting shot in the head would have been no laughing matter.
But by now it was apparent that the Nobuseri they just killed still had living comrades down below. The commander wondered how many functioning mecha were left in the chasm.
"We need a scout." Shimada said. "We have to assess the enemy's remaining strength."
"I'll go!" Katsushiro volunteered.
"You'll die," Kyuuzou declared quietly. The red warrior stood up and walked to the edge. Then she turned and looked down at Kanbei. The white-clad warrior gazed up at her. There was a look of concern and question in his dark eyes.
Kyuuzou felt vaguely annoyed at her commander's intense gaze. Did he think she could not handle the mission? Then she noticed that Kanbei's hand was still on the shoulder of the peasant girl beside him.
The crimson warrior gave the dark samurai a wry smile. "It is so typical of a man to hold on to one woman while eyeing another," she thought. Then Kyuuzou was not sure if Shimada knew she was a woman. But did it matter?
"No," she decided. The haughty red samurai stepped over the edge of the ledge and skidded skillfully down the face of the mountain.
When Kyuuzou volunteered to scout the enemy, Shichiroji noticed how Kanbei looked up at the quiet samurai with concern in his dark eyes. Seeing that look on Kanbei's face surprised him. Shichiroji could understand the concern if Katsushiro had been the one to go. But of all the samurai, Kyuuzou was the most likely to survive this dangerous mission. Why was Kanbei so worried?
Then, as the red figure descended the cliff and vanished into the fog, Kanbei spoke, more to himself than to anyone else, "He will surely return. He will return to finish things with me."
Shichiroji frowned slightly. This did not make sense. Kanbei was always a practical leader. He never allowed himself to attach too strongly to anything, even to his comrades. If it was in the interests of the living that the dead should be abandoned, Shimada did so without any sentimentality. If one soldier had to risk his life for the benefit of all, the commander never had any qualms about it. Yet looking at Kanbei now, Shichiroji almost came to the conclusion that his friend had become emotionally invested in their scout. But the aide knew better. This was not something his old commander would do! Or was it?
The blond warrior heard his old friend speak again. "For someone like him, the fog may actually be a help rather than a hindrance."
"Is Kanbei trying to convince the rest of the samurai, or is he trying to convince himself?" The question entered Shichiroji's mind almost instantly. The blond warrior had once overheard Gorobei and Rikichi joking about Kanbei being 'in love with' Kyuuzou, but that was just a jest, was it?
The dark man was still staring in the direction in which Kyuuzou had gone. Ever since Kyuuzou joined the team, Shichiroji had observed how Kanbei's eyes followed the red figure. He assumed that his friend was studying this formidable opponent with their future death duel in mind. Now the aide wondered if there were other reasons.
Shichiroji thought he knew all there was to know about his former commander, but now he was not sure anymore. Years ago, Kanbei had been both his mentor and lover, after the samurai tradition of wakashudo – the way of the youth. As tradition dictated, their relationship ended after Shichiroji grew from a youth into a man. By then Kanbei was in his early thirties, the age at which a man was expected to start outgrowing his tastes for wakashu and look towards settling down with a wife. Both the samurai men moved on with their lives while maintaining a deep friendship.
When the years passed and Shimada turned down one female suitor after another, people started to whisper. Some said the older samurai was not quite willing to abandon the way of youths for the way of women. Shichiroji did not take the gossip seriously. After all, Kanbei did not take any lovers after him, male or female. The commander had more pressing matters to be concerned about in the final years of the war. But Shichiroji always told his friend it was a sin to break so many hearts.
Now Shichiroji was wondering if the gossips were right. Then again, Kyuuzou was too old to be a wakashu. The aide could not quite figure out how Kanbei viewed the strange samurai.