Retribution
Chapter 6: The New 'Girl'
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Author: Jun-I
Pairing: Kambei/Kyuzo (later)
Synopsis: Kyuuzou's early training as a fighter recalled.
Warnings: See Chapter 1
Disclaimers:
- The opinions expressed by Kyuuzou or any other character are NOT intended to reflect the writer's opinions.
- I do not own the seven samurai or any of the characters from Gonzo's S7. Am not writing this for profit, just for fun.
Flashback: 15 years earlier
Ayame jumped onto the large boulder and squinted as she peered down into the valley. A peasant girl of about 10 was making her way up the mountain path. The strange girl had overly thick, stubborn straw-colored hair which stuck out in all directions. Ayame proudly stroked her own dark hair, neatly dreaded into many slender locks. She studied the approaching stranger. The younger girl was carrying a traveling bag on her back, one 'real' sword and twin wooden swords. She also carried a dagger in her belt.
The younger girl came closer. Ayame saw that her weary face was streaked with dirt. "Sure as the sun rises, this girl cannot come close to matching my prettiness," Ayame confirmed her initial impression of the new arrival. The younger child was probably not very bright either, if she could not detect a watcher's presence. When the blond girl passed right under her rock, Ayame barked, "Hey you!"
Kyuuzou looked up, surprised. Until then, he had not noticed the sturdy girl standing on the rock above. The girl was darkly handsome and carried twin swords – one in her sword belt and the other across her back. Kyuuzou guessed she was probably about three years older than him.
He addressed her politely. "Older sister, is this the way to the house of Aikawa Sensei?"
The golden-eyed girl looked down at him, unsmiling. "And what business may you have with Aikawa Sensei?"
"I am Kyuuzou, daughter of Shizuka, who used to be a student of Aikawa Sensei. I would like to study with Aikawa Sensei, as my mother had done."
Ayame made no answer, but bounded away over the boulders. Kyuuzou gazed after the dark girl with some admiration. He wished he could move like that older girl, so lightly and so effortlessly. "That must be one of the Sensei's students," he thought. "I'll just follow her."
But he realized that she was already nowhere to be seen. He shrugged, and continued his slow ascent up the path. He reached a large house and was shown in by an even older girl with wavy hair and chestnut brown skin. She introduced herself as Mizuho. Mizuho had a warm, friendly face. Kyuuzou liked her already.
Mizuho led Kyuuzou past the training hall. He peered in and saw the golden-eyed girl he had met earlier. If the strange girl had been practicing her sword fighting a moment before, she probably stopped before Mizuho and Kyuuzou came into view. She was standing casually, swords sheathed, observing him with not-too-friendly eyes. "That's Ayame," Mizuho said. Kyuuzou gave Ayame his best friendly, submissive smile. He of course could not imagine that the older girl was at that moment mentally compiling a catalog of his physical imperfections – "irises too small, weak profile, crooked lower teeth, mismatch in size between upper and lower jaw" etc etc.
Mizuho led him to a sparsely decorated study. Inside, an old woman sat, reading a book. She was neither fat nor thin, tall nor short. On her right was a young woman, broad- shouldered with blue-black hair.
"That's Sensei," the girl said to Kyuuzou. "And the young woman is Haruko, our senior student. I'll go in and announce you." She left him kneeling by the door while she went ahead.
Mizuho came back out and ushered him into the room. Kyuuzou bowed before the old woman, while following Mizuho's departing figure out of the corner of his eye. He would have felt better if she had stayed. The old lady looked stern, but not cruel. What made him nervous was how she seemed to be reading him with her sharp eyes while remaining unreadable herself. "You are Shizuka's daughter, you say. How is your mother?"
"She... she passed away last month," he forced the words out as his vision clouded with the memory of the reed floor mat soaking up that ever-widening pool of blood. Kyuuzou heard a sharp intake of breath from the tall young woman. But if the old woman was saddened or surprised, she did not show it.
"My condolences to you, daughter," the Sensei said evenly.
"I wish to return my mother's sword to your keeping." Kyuuzou said, offering up Shizuka's sword with both hands.
"Only one sword?" Sensei asked. "Where is the other one?"
"It was stolen," Kyuuzou replied with downcast eyes.
Haruko received the sword from the child and brought it over to the old lady. Kyuuzou continued, "Mother told me before, if anything ever happened to her and Aunty, that I should come to look for you."
"You have an aunt?" the old lady inquired slowly.
"Aunty Rumi. She's my mother's friend. She lived with us. She was like a second mother to me."
The tall woman with the blue-black hair bent and spoke to the old sword mistress, "Sensei, Shizuka-san had mentioned Rumi-san to me. They were friends from their youth, before Shizuka-san joined the army."
"Where is your aunt?" The old lady asked the child.
"She is dead too." Kyuuzou bit his lip to stop the tears from forming in his eyes. This past month, every time he thought he had no tears left to cry, he would still surprise himself. But he never let the tears fall. His mother would not have wanted that. Shizuka's son does not cry.
"I see... How old are you?"
"10, I think. Mother said I looked about two when she and Aunt Rumi found me."
"Where did you come from?"
"I was found in Tamatani Village or what was left of it. I grew up in Shirase Village, over the West Mountains. That's where I came from."
"It is quite a long way for a child to travel alone."
"The neighbors were kind. They gave me food for the journey."
"Well, you can stay with us for a while," the old woman said slowly. "Do not expect to learn anything until you show yourself to be worth teaching. You will start with doing chores. You will bring water, fetch firewood, wash the laundry, and scrub the floors. If you can do that well, maybe we will teach you the use of the sword. If you misbehave, you will be asked to leave."
Kyuuzou prostrated himself. "I am in your debt."
Kyuuzou was determined to be the best house servant Sensei ever had. He worked diligently at his chores, and when he was done with the housework, he practiced his sword forms by himself. Unknown to him, the old sword mistress and Haruko observed him from afar. Another pair of eyes watched him with envy. Ayame knew raw talent when she saw it, and Kyuuzou had already been well-taught by the peerless Shizuka.
With Kyuuzou around, Ayame had fewer chores. But everyone was nice to Kyuuzou, because she was an orphan and the daughter of Shizuka. "What's the big deal about Shizuka anyway?" Ayame wondered. The girl did not know that woman. Haruko was the only student here who was old enough to have met Shizuka while Shizuka was still at Sensei's. Sensei wasn't training Kyuuzou yet, but Ayame had overheard Senior Student and Sensei discussing her 'great potential.' It would only be a matter of time before Kyuuzou joined them in the training hall.
Kyuuzou noticed very quickly that Ayame did not like him. Sometimes, right after he had drawn water from the well, she would happen to walk by and kick the bucket over 'by accident'. Or he would find dirt on freshly cleaned laundry and have to wash it again. He tolerated this and all the other tiny torments she needled him with for the chance of continuing with his training. Ayame was the closest to him in age among Sensei's three students, but it was just as well that she had no desire for his friendship. The more distance he could maintain from the girls, the less likely they were to find out that he was not what he claimed to be.
But Ayame was never one to give up, a trait that she could apply for both good and ill, as he was to find out time and again ...