Chapter 3: horrid laugh and grin...

Daigo Kagemitsu's estate had not been limited to the now ruined Palace, he also owned a villa and stables on the outskirts of Ishikawa, and it was at this villa where his wife and two sons now stayed. From her seat on the porch, Lady Nui watched fondly as her two sons now rode away on their horses. Tahomaru had been teaching Hyakkimaru how to ride, and an elated Hyakkimaru who loved horses was learning very quickly. Nui had now been happily busy making up for lost time with both of her boys, and now the time when the two of them were spent together was the only time she really had to herself, she smiled thinking of how things had turned out. As her two sons disappeared over the horizon, a man approached her from the shadows.

"Please forgive me, My lady," said Daigo Kakemitsu bowing "I was wrong all along… and now I've ruined everything that was ours"

"Please rise, my Lord," she replied, "and come and sit by me"

Lord Daigo did as she asked, although with unease. Kagemitsu was an arrogant man, he rarely acknowledged his mistakes, even now, he still mourned for his unfulfilled ambitions more than anything else, but the seeds of remorse had been placed within him, and now it was up to his conscience to allow them to grow.

He and Lady Nui had not been brought together by love, nor was it love that held him together, but despite the cold and stubborn man he was; they had been together for years and she had not hated him, in her calm way, she had faith in him.

"Hyakkimaru came to see me a few days ago," he told her

"I know"

"He did not tell me that you and Tahomaru were still alive..."

"I know my lord, I asked him personally not to do so"

"I see, well, I don't really blame you for not wanting to see me again," he said with a defeated tone.

"That was not the reason my Lord," said lady Nui….

"I wanted that boy to kill me, I wanted him to end me right there in the Hall of the Demons!" Kagemitsu's fist shook "nothing! There was not even a hint of anger or hatred for me from that boy" he grimaced as he recounted this.

"Of course not, Hyakkimaru does not hate you, and neither does Tahomaru, our boys understand you"

"I do not understand that!" he retorted.

"But it is true my lord"

Kagemitsu sighed, he stood up and looked up at the sky, "maybe your right" he said, but it's not the way it used to be, Hyakkimaru… that boy! He looks down on the way of the Samurai!.. And he looks down on me… and Tahomaru...:" he turned to Lady Nui with defeated eyes, "even if he doesn't hate me… I know that he doesn't love me anymore"

But Lady Nui just smiled. "Being a parent is complicated" she said, "it is different from politics" She realized long ago, that Tahomaru had resigned himself to this after accepting his father's decision to sacrifice Hyakkimaru to restore his domain, but back then, Kagemitsu did not notice or even seem to care, but now he had noticed, and while it seemed such a small thing, it made her happy. "My lord," she said, "It is not too late for you to see your sons"

"No… it is too late for me..."

He sat back down next to her, "even though you say that they don't hate me, I will forever be a stranger to those boys, but until one of them succeeds me…" he trailed off, and put his hand over his forehead and breathed.

"By the way Lady Nui" he said moving on to the next topic, "Isn't it almost the time for the boys to go through their * Genpuku ?"

"No my lord, Tahomaru already explained it to Hyakkimaru, but Hyakkimaru says he does not want to change his name"

"He wants to be called by that strange name for the rest of his life?" Lord Daigo asked incredulously.

"Dr. Jukai gave him that name since we did not name him..." she stopped, she did not mean to open up that old wound.

"Dr. Jukai is the one who raised him huh?"

"Yes my lord" she answered a bit gravely.

A cold wind blew around them as they sat in a moment of silence…

"I didn't tell him this" Kagemitsu finally said… "I wanted to tell him as he left the Hall of Hell…"

"What was it?"

"I wanted to tell him… no. I won't tell you either."

Kagemitsu got up and turned to walk away.

"Where are you going!?" she called after him,

"I am going back to the temple where I am staying," he said, "but do not worry, I will be back to see you"

…

"Lady Nui..." he began again, "Thank you for being by my side... After all these years." and with that, he continued on his way.

"I wanted to tell Hyakkimaru, that perhaps had I never made the deal with those demons, and kept him as my son, then perhaps he would have been the one to save Daigo… how I regret it now..."

Hyakkimaru and Tahomaru had rode to a pond where they stopped to let their horses drink and rest, by the water, the two of them sat, the sun was now beginning to set, it cast an orange light over them, and over the rippling blue water, the air was tranquil and calming, so for Tahomaru, it was this kind of setting where his mind ran freely; though they still kept secrets from one another, the times of awkwardness had passed, Hyakkimaru had not spoken of Mio, but he had told Tahomaru of every other adventure that he shared with Dororo before this, which his younger brother was eager to hear, while Hyakkimaru was eager to learn from Tahomaru, not just the complexities of statehood, and the culture of the Japanese nobility which their family was from, but even basic things…

Still, the loss of Mutsu and Hyogo weighed heavily on him, as Tahomaru bonded with his brother, part of him feared that the love he now felt for Hyakkimaru would make him forget them, though he shook the feeling as best he could. Hyakkimaru was innocent, he did not kill those two, and would he himself have done any differently in his position? Besides, Hyakkimaru needed guidance, he had been in the dark all of his life, he was only just mastering basic Japanese, and could not read or write beyond his own name, and the names of people he knew, he was like a toddler in that regard, intelligent, but undeveloped… but more than the feeling of responsibility to guide his brother; Tahomaru felt guilt and pity, and the feelings of resentment still lingered, was Hyakkimaru his long-lost older brother? Or now an overgrown baby whom he had been saddled with, after taking away from him Mutsu and Hyogo, his real family!...

Tahomaru winced as this thought passed through his head, he did not want to succumb to his own mental shadow again, he knew he had a dark side, and he knew he had to keep it in check, and then he noticed his brother's eyes, looking at him with concern. Tahomaru hung his head in shame,

" Right, my brother can see souls" He thought, " He can see how corrupted mine is " his lip quivered, "Why do I have such shameful thoughts?" but Hyakkimaru merely put his hand on Tahomaru's back and asked him;

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Tahomaru sat up straight in surprise, Hyakkimaru had always just called him by his given name,

"You just called me... 'brother'..."

"What's wrong?" repeated Hyakkimaru

"What… what do you mean?" asked Tahomaru?

"The color of your aura," said Hyakkimaru, "you looked sad… like something is wrong…"

And as Tahomaru looked into his brother's eyes, he felt some of the weight from his conscience being lifted, Hyakkimaru's eyes were looking at him with concern, they weren't judging him at all… they were the same color as their mother's eyes, in fact, it was actually a bit crazy how much Hyakkimaru looked like their mother.

Tahomaru's lips quivered into the shape of a smile, "It's… it's nothing brother" he said wiping a tear away from his eye.

"But brother, you..." Hyakkimaru stopped, Tahomaru was still smiling, but he was struggling, and failing to hold back more tears…

The sun was seting, and Tahomaru resigned himself, he hung his head, and cried freely, Hyakkimaru slowly put his arms around his brother's shoulders, that piece that Tahomaru had felt missing his entire life… he had it now, their bond of blood had been reconnected...

Deeper in the woods, Nimuru stood against a tree, arms crossed, watching this scene. "Mfufufufu, Those two are just so adorable," he thought maliciously, he turned to Chijoku no Jō, who was reclining against a log; "Wake up Jō" He said to him. It is time.

Jō was a beast who did not need much of a reason, once swayed by an entity like Nimuru, he would follow it completely for the short term, He lumbered after Nimuru with his own sadistic smirk.

Nimuru reached into his Yukata, and pulled out a small sack, he walked ahead, dangling it in front of him, he knew it would get Hyakkimaru's attention.

On the bank of the pond, the tranquil moment between the brothers was interrupted, Hyakkimaru sat up and jerked his face into the direction of the forest, he had felt it, and now he was looking straight at it Tahomaru did not sense what he had sensed, but he sensed that his brother was disturbed.

"Brother! What's the matt… Brother" Tahomaru noticed the look on Hyakkimaru's face go from shocked and confused, to mad to angry… now it was starting to become crazed… Hyakkimaru jumped to his feet and ran into the forest!

"Wait! Brother!..." and Tahomaru was on his feet and after him, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw where Hyakkimaru's senses had lead them; standing in a clearing was two men, one very large, and the other average, though it was almost dark, Tahomaru could see the smirk on the larger mans face, and the grin on the face of the other, his white teeth reflecting hideously in the orange glow of the twilight, his left arm was outstretched, and in his left hand, he held a small sack.

This was all that Tahomaru saw, but what Hyakkimaru saw was the threatening aura of a large man, Hyakkimaru could tell that this man had done many horrible things, and besides him, the deep red aura of a demon, only in the shape of a man, but what he saw in the sack made his blood boil…

"THOSE ARE MY EYES!"

Tahomaru gasped.

"No" corrected Nimuru, "they are my eyes now, you gave them to me remember?"

"What!?"

"You traded them to me… for your brother," he said the word 'brother' mockingly. "But you still have those eyes, they can't see like normal eyes but they are still your real eyes; These on the other hand..." he said tightening his grip around the sack "these are mine, and I can do what I want with them" and with that… He crushed the eyes in his hand!

Hyakkimaru screamed! He fell to his knees as Jō giggled stupidly in the background, and Tahomaru took in the horror that he was seeing.

"What a shame" the demon chastised, "you'll never see all the colors of this world, you'll never see what a pretty sky we have over our heads right now… you'll never see the pretty face of little Dororo or the sweet face of your Mama… ahahahahahaha!"

The demon's laughter went on, as Hyakkimaru absorbed the blow, his eyes were gone forever now… and he never would see the sky, he would never know their faces…

Nimuru's laughter was drowned out by the sound of Hyakkimaru's livid battle cry! As he drew his dual swords and charged at the demon, Hyakkimaru was now running towards Nimuru, thinking of nothing else but his anger, his swords were ready, he had the demon in his sight, Numuru took out no weapons or made any defensive or evasive stance whatsoever, he just stood there as Hyakkimaru charged in screaming with indignation, closing in on him, "ORRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he drew back his swords over his left and swung them both at Nimuru's neck.

-CLASH!

Chijoku no Jō towered next to Nimuru now, holding his large ōdachi In one hand, he had blocked Hyakkimaru's attack.

All of this had happened before a stunned Tahomaru had had time to draw his own sword.

"Fufufufufuf…" Nimuru's chuckle sounded worse than ever, and his grin still sent chills down Tahomaru's spine, he held his open palms out and tilted his head to the sky… "and so the fun begins"

Notes: *Genpuku is a Japanese naming Ceremony. in feudal Japan, a Japanese boy of Noble Birth would change his name, usually while in his mid-late teens, replacing the name he was born with with a new "adult" name. in this time Period, boys from Samurai clans would usually undergo their Genpuku at the time their father or male elders decided they were old enough to participate in battle.