Retribution
Chapter 2: Red Warrior
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Author: Jun-I
Pairing: Kan/Kyuu

Synopsis: Gorobei exercises his astute powers of observation on Kanbei/Kyuuzou.
Warning: Emphasis on Kyuuzou's androgyny. Anyone too attached to Kyuuzou's 'masculinity' probably should not read much further. ;-)

Disclaimers:
- The opinions expressed by Gorobei or any other character do not necessarily reflect the writer's opinions.
- I do not own Kyuuzou, Kanbei or any of the characters from Gonzo's S7. Am not making a profit off this fic.

Notes:
- OC: Shimada Shizuka. She is female, but like all female characters who appear in my fic, she has no love interest role to play in relation to men. She is a good many years older than Kanbei and Gorobei.

Gorobei watched the red-clad warrior depart. What a strange person. His deep voice didn't quite fit with his almost feminine appearance. Watching him speak was like watching an identity theft awareness ad on TV. But this was not the only strange thing. The other strange thing was that Kyuuzou was the second person in a week to remind Gorobei of Major Shimada Shizuka, the first one being Shimada Kanbei. Kanbei had a vague resemblance to Shizuka; and since they shared a family name, Gorobei suspected they might be related. But Gorobei did not want to pose private questions to a man he had only recently met. And there was something forbidding in Kanbei's demeanor that discouraged casual conversation.

Kyuuzou, on the other hand, looked nothing like dark Shizuka, but the way he moved reminded Gorobei of the Major when she was in battle. The woman was built more like Kanbei, taller and heavier, and Kyuuzou was slimmer and more graceful, but they used similar techniques and had the same deadly relentlessness. As far as Gorobei knew, Shizuka had never been defeated in single combat. Major Shimada had the kind of charisma that inspired a fierce loyalty in those who followed her. Gorobei counted himself fortunate to have worked as her aide. Even if Kanbei turned out to be just half the leader the Major was, Gorobei would be glad to follow him to the end. It was a pity that Major Shimada disappeared. Deserted, some said.

It was more than 20 years ago. They had returned from a battle one day when the Major said to him, "Gorobei, do you enjoy killing?"

Gorobei was young then, little more than a child. He was still giddy with the delicious rush that came from a good fight. The young soldier answered the commander, "But don't you enjoy killing too, Major? You're so good at it. In fact, you're more skilled at it than anyone I know!"

The Major looked at him dubiously, then she said, "Well, just because I'm good at something does not mean I have to like it."

She paused and added, "Think about it, Gorobei. We're out there killing ourselves. And who gets to benefit the most? Arms dealers and weapon makers, not to mention a large sector of the manufacturing industry."

"Are you well, Major? Did anything unusual happened today?" Gorobei was getting concerned. His commander had never talked like this before.

"Nothing, I just ran into an old friend on the battlefield."

"Old boyfriend?" Gorobei ventured.

"No," the woman replied, "A childhood friend. We used to play 'house' and dolls together. Now we're playing with swords and cannons. Strange how time changes things."

They never spoke of the matter again. A ceasefire was negotiated sometime later, and Major Shimada asked for leave to go home to see her parents. That was the last Gorobei saw of her. The Major never returned to the base, and her parents claimed she never went home. Then the conflict flared again, and Gorobei no longer had time to think of anything other than how to stay alive.

Kanbei's voice transported Gorobei back to the present. "I want him!" the long-haired warrior declared in a tone that sounded almost ... lustful, if Gorobei did not know better. Gorobei's eyebrows raised right up to the heavens. Did he hear that right? Good thing Kyuuzou was already out of earshot. The angry androgyne would have gotten a heart attack. Either that, or Kanbei would be in mortal danger... again.

Gorobei turned to Kanbei. Seeing that the other samurai was still gazing after the distant figure of Kyuuzou as if entranced, Gorobei chuckled. He would never have guessed that Kanbei had this side to him, but then he hasn't known the man for all that long. Gorobei didn't think Kyuuzou was particularly pleasant-looking - that was a sourpuss face if Gorobei had ever seen one - but he supposed Shimada Kanbei had other priorities besides 'beauty'.

"I can see why Shimada has fallen hard," Gorobei mused, "That red samurai has all the deadliness, grace and flexibility of a female fighter, and could almost pass for one too, if not for his voice and the lack of certain assets."

He sidled up to Kanbei. "If that scarlet samurai wasn't a man, I would think that he is a member of the 'sisterhood'. With the double katana and the red dress..."

Gorobei's sudden appearance snapped Kanbei out of his state of enchantment. "The 'sisterhood'? You mean the Red Wolves, that illegal warrior organization outside of the samurai class?"

Gorobei chuckled. This was most amusing. In normal circumstances, it would be impossible for him to sneak up on Shimada Kanbei unnoticed. "I guess Kanbei's mind was really occupied." Gorobei thought. Then he noticed that the other samurai was still dreamily caressing the neck wound Kyuuzou had given him. Gorobei suppressed the urge to explode into loud laughter. He could be having so much fun with this, but he knew better than to tease Shimada Kanbei.

"Yes," Gorobei said, keeping a straight face with some effort, "I'm talking about the Red Wolves. As for them being outside of the samurai class, one should note that there was some overlap between the Wolves and the samurai, not to mention other social classes. Membership in the Wolves was by choice, not by birth. Daughters of samurai, merchants and peasants were all found among the 'wolf-sisters'."

Kanbei looked at him quizzically, "You have quite an imagination, Gorobei. Even if Kyuuzou is really a woman, it is not possible for him/her to be a 'wolf-sister'. There are no Red Wolves left today. That organization was banned two hundred years ago when the Imperial Court decided that the class-mixing in the 'sisterhood' disturbed the social order."

Gorobei said, "Ah, but the ban simply drove the organization underground. There is a rumor that some remote all-female dojos today are really 'sisterhood' fronts. The women would never admit it though... but back to that strange warrior. He reminded me of a 'wolf-sister' because double katanas were popular with the ladies. This trend started centuries, if not millennia ago. When women took up arms in the past, they were usually facing multiple opponents. The double swords helped them against numerical odds. They were a practical bunch, those Red Wolves. Like the warrior we just saw, they wore no jewelry whatsoever - no rings, earrings, or necklaces. They considered unnecessary adornments to be liabilities in combat. The female fighters of old also favored black or dark red dresses because they could not stop to replace sanitary pads or tampons in the middle of combat. And if there was anything the Red Wolves couldn't stand, they couldn't stand their enemies laughing at their asses..."

With that, Gorobei burst out laughing. Kanbei frowned at him. "You know a lot about this illegal organization, don't you?"

Gorobei countered, "Judging by the events of the last few days, it seems that we samurai are going the way of the Red Wolves - outlawed and on the brink of extinction. And as to why I know a few things about this 'illegal' organization, I have some interest in women, so I make it a point to study their history and their methods. But I understand that not everyone shares my interests." He blinked innocently at Kanbei. It was only too obvious to the sharp-eyed and quick-witted veteran that his leader was drooling over the delicious ambiguity of that willowy androgyne.

A small smile came to Kanbei's lips. He could play along with Gorobei. "Well, I still don't think that strange samurai, be he male or female, is a Red Wolf. A REAL wolf-sister would NEVER work for Ayamaro and his son..."

Gorobei chuckled, "You do have a point."

Then Gorobei had an idea. "Let's play a game," he said, "I'll bet you that red samurai will take up your offer. If I win, you'll have to buy me dinner."

"Very well, "said Kanbei, "The bet is on. But I think you will lose. He seems every bit the sort of person whose 'no' means 'NO!'"

Gorobei grinned. He would win this one. If he read the signs correctly, that Kyuuzou was definitely playing hard-to-get; telling Kanbei he "wasn't interested", and yet leaving the door open for the besotted samurai with a parting line like, "We'll be seeing each other again, anyway."

Author's Notes:

- Kanbei's attraction to Kyuzo's androgyny is in line with traditional East Asian preferences. Here are some quotes from pp 174-175 of "Male Colors - The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan":

"... the scientist Sugita Genpaku (1733-1817) declared that eight out of ten retainers of the shogunate 'look like women and think like merchants.'... Androgyny was not even necessarily thought incompatible with samurai virtues. Saikaku, writing of a daimyo's retainer 'famed as one of the most beautiful youths of the time,' describes him as 'soft and yielding in manner'; he might at first glance be taken for a girl, 'but he possessed the stalwart heart of a warrior.' ... The fascination with gender bending had ancient roots."

Similar preferences existed in China and Korea but in the interest of space, I won't cover them here.

- The Red Wolf 'sisterhood' is in part inspired by the Golden Orchid Sisterhood, a late-Imperial era organization in Guangdong, China. Not a fighter organization. They have been termed 'marriage-resisters' but they are NOT manhaters. They have been known to enlist the help of men in achieving their goals, that is, to spend their lives living with female friends. A member of the organization would get a man to marry her in name to keep her parents happy, and then live apart from her 'husband' with the female collective. Not surprisingly, the Sisterhood attracted many women who were into 'yuri'.

The League of Righteous Harmony (Yihetuan) - the organization behind the Boxer Rebellion – had an all female unit called the Red Lantern Unit. Through Chinese history, many rebel armies/organizations, although predominantly male, had all female units under the leadership of a female officer.

Think of the Red Wolves as something like Golden-Orchid-Sisterhood-meets-Yihetuan. ;-)

- As for the idea that the adaptation of double swords resulted from numerical pressures on the battlefield, I got that from reading about the Siamese army under General (later King) Tak Sin. At that time, Thai territory was occupied by the numerically superior Burmese army. Tak Sin trained his soldiers to use double swords so that one Thai could (potentially) fight two Burmese. He actually succeeded in driving the Burmese back.