Note:
See "Crimson Blindness" chapter of companion fic Unforgiven for the story behind the significance of this moment for Kyuuzou.
The day before Summer Solstice, Genna 15
Yasue and Kazumi were in a festive mood. Sensei had declared the next day a holiday. It was last year when Ayame senpai and Kyuuzou senpai agreed to return to visit Mount Kei'an Dojo on Summer Solstice. But due to the vagaries of travel conditions, their arrival might be a little late – or a little early. Ayame's timing would be more predictable since the transportation routes between Hokuhei and Nankai were tolerably well-maintained. But for Kyuuzou and Kanbei who were coming from the western state of Akashima, the roads would be more rough.
At any rate, the two students of Mount Kei'an Dojo had already prepared Kyuuzou's old bedchamber for the arrival of the visitors, clearing out the junk that they stored there during the rest of the year. Since Ayame and Mizuho's old room was now the room of Kazumi and Yasue, their female senpai would stay in Haruko's old room, which the tall warrior occupied before she became Sensei and moved into the instructor's quarters.
The dojo pantry had been reasonably well-stocked with food that the two disciples harvested from the vegetable garden, but the sword maidens wanted to add flair to their cuisine by seeking out the flavors of forest – ferns and mushrooms.
It was mid afternoon when Kazumi and Yasue rode a fast turtle to a lush pine forest halfway down the mountain. This evergreen wood bordered Morning Cloud Meadow on the east side of Mount Kei'an. Morning Cloud Meadow was so named not just because people could watch the sunrise from this scenic spot, but also because the colors of the summer flowers that grew here were as rich and as deep as the colors of the morning sky.
The wildflowers were now in full season, but the maidens paid the nearby meadow no heed. Their eyes sought only the delicious matsutake mushrooms that grew under the shadow of the pines and the crisp ear mushrooms that sprouted from tree trunks.
The duo seemed fully focused on their mundane task until the fast turtle they had tethered to a pine sapling lowed lightly. Kazumi's right hand casually went to her sword hilt while her left hand picked up her half-full basket of ear mushrooms.
Some yards away, foraging for matsutake near the roots of a large pine, Yasue spoke calmly. "Another fast turtle is approaching. I felt its vibrations through the ground. I would guess it is carrying two people or one very heavy person from the sound of its tread."
"It can't be either of our senpai. Kyuuzou should be taking the west road and Ayame would arrive from the north." Kazumi quickly untied their own fast turtle. She led the animal deeper into the woods and hid it.
Yasue dropped to the ground and pressed her ear against the earth, listening to the footsteps of the approaching animal until her dark-haired junior returned to her side. "The pace of the beast is not hasty," The pale-haired warrior said as she stood up. "I sense no sakki. Let us see. Perhaps it is not an enemy."
At that, the two sword students climbed swiftly up the tall pine, each finding her perch on a firm branch.
Minutes passed before the riders that Yasue spoke of came into sight. A single land turtle carrying two people was walking at a leisurely pace up the trail to Morning Cloud Meadow.
"It's Kyuuzou senpai and Kanbei-dono!" Kazumi said in a hushed voice, recognizing the new arrivals. "They're early! And why did they take the east road?"
"I do not know," Yasue whispered back, peering at the distant figures from their hiding place among the leaves of the large evergreen.
The fast turtle came closer.
"Hey, Kyuuzou senpai is…" Kazumi observed the crimson samurai seated in front of the broad-shouldered dark-haired man.
"… blindfolded." Yasue finished her sentence, raising her eyebrows at the sight of her senior with a handkerchief bound around his eyes and Kanbei's strong arm coiled around his slim waist.
The turtle came to a halt at the edge of the blooming meadow. The two hidden watchers saw Kanbei dismount first. The tall samurai then cautiously helped Kyuuzou down from the beast's saddle.
Under Yasue and Kazumi's puzzled gaze, Kanbei took the blindfolded Kyuuzou by the hand and led him into the field of flowers.
"There are flowers in front of us." The young man said as Kanbei steered him forward. The dark samurai turned to look at him, probably to make sure that Kyuuzou had not already removed his blindfold.
"I can smell them," the pale samurai stated flatly in response to Kanbei's questioning gaze which he could not see but could sense. The older man gave a wolfish smile in return. Then he led Kyuuzou towards the part of the meadow where the blooms were the thickest. The crimson warrior kept a strangely passionless face as he let the slender fingers of his free hand trail over the tops of the wildflowers.
"What's going on?" Yasue wondered.
"I have no idea…" Kazumi answered in a low, cautious voice.
The two men finally came to a halt in the middle of the meadow where the reds, the pinks, the whites, the yellows, the oranges, the blues and the purples grew in a mad blaze of glory.
"All right, you can open your eyes now!" The dark-haired ronin declared triumphantly to his companion. The blond pulled his blindfold off. For a moment, no emotion broke the surface of his impassive face. Then the vaguest hint of a smile started playing about Kyuuzou's lips as he took in the breathtaking sight of wildflowers of every hue spiraling away from him, spreading across the meadow as far as the eye could see. 16 years ago, Ayame had tried to console the 11 year old Kyuuzou by taking him to this place of wondrous colors, but at that time, Kyuuzou's senpai had not yet realized that the only color the boy saw was red. "What a waste of her time and energy to bring me here!" The young Kyuuzou had thought. And knowing that he could not see what Third Sister wanted him to see had only hurt him more.
Now the crimson warrior was looking at the full beauty of what Ayame wanted him to see all those years ago.
The scarlet samurai turned towards Kanbei, who held his gaze with smoldering dark eyes.
"My crimson cloud of the glorious morning!" The wavy-haired samurai declared. "I hereby give to you all the colors of the heavens and the earth, the seas and the mountains! For when I look at you I am reminded of the beauty of the sky at sunrise!"
Now even the usually uptight Kazumi was trying to stifle a snicker. "What awful lines men come up with!" She shook her head. "Kyuuzou senpai is not vain enough to imagine himself handsome, nor does he put his trust in physical beauty, for senpai is one who already knows that his true worth lies elsewhere. That poor Kanbei isn't going to get anywhere with this flattery."
Yasue chuckled. "Ah, but the gallant warrior might be sincere. After all, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."
If Kyuuzou sensed the presence of his two kouhai or heard their distant talk, he did not show it. The crimson samurai was now pouting at Kanbei. "Don't pretend that this is your idea." The young man tried to keep himself from smiling. "Now I know what Third Sister wrote about in her 'secret' letter to you. She asked you to do this, right?"
"But the speech, the speech is completely mine. I put much thought into those lines." Kanbei protested, trying to put on an injured expression. Yet the middle-aged man could not help breaking into a grin when Kyuuzou, still pouting, turned his face away.
Amidst the fragrance of a thousand blooms, the dark man stepped forward boldly and wrapped his arms around Kyuuzou's slim waist. The slender samurai still kept his face turned away from his older companion but Kanbei bent and pressed a gentle kiss to that blond head. He could not see the passions written on the younger man's face, but he suspected that Kyuuzou was, at this moment, smiling at the swaying summer flowers.
THE END
Author's Comments:
Dear Readers,
After more than a year, Retribution is finally completed! Many thanks to those who followed this tale to its conclusion! I very much appreciate your patience and support!
The written fic has come to an end but still, my work on Retribution will continue for some time to come:
I am planning to illustrate all the chapters of Retribution eventually. At the moment, illustrated chapters 1-15, 17, 21, 28 are hosted on my S7 fansite. I hope to illustrate Ch 16 at some point in the near future. Illustrated chapters 30, 32 - 34 will be up sooner, thanks to Sin who did some cool fanart for me. You can either subscribe to a feed on my fansite (link available on my profile page) or watch my livejournal (fic illustrations and WIPs generally go there first before the final pieces appear on my site) for Retribution illustration updates.
I am still in the process of releasing illustrated chapters for Retribution's pre-series companion fics "Wolf Warriors", "Happy Endings", "Edge of Alienation", "One Life, One Love", "Price of Mercy, Cost of Honor", "Unforgiven", etc. Subscribe to a feed on my site, or check the site's update log regularly for news.
Retribution might have a sequel with an M rating, eventually. I've already started work on the first two chapters. Obviously, stuff happened in between the time Kan and Kyuu left Mount Kei'an in the previous chapter and their return visit a year later in this chapter. And life goes on after this chapter too. The question is how will the survivors of Kanbei's clan react to Kyuuzou? Aside from the fact that he is a former enemy soldier and the son of the disgraced deserter Shizuka (which probably no one will know as long as neither Kanbei nor Kyuuzou says a word about it) , there is the issue of the customs of Akashima Province being very different from those of Yoshin Prefecture or Nankai Prefecture (places where Kyuuzou grew up).
If Haruko and Ayame knew more about the Akashiman customs, they might not have so lightly let Kyuuzou leave with Kanbei. In Akashima, the legal division between kyunin (higher samurai) and kachi (lower samurai) is practically the distinction between two castes. (similar to kyunin/kachi divisions during the Tokugawa era) Higher and lower samurai cannot intermarry with each other. The kachi can marry commoners but this is out of the question for kyunin. In Akashima, anyone from among the kyunin can rise to become daimyo if he has the might. But such an advancement is legally prohibited to kachi. While Kanbei was born a kyunin, Kyuuzou was a commoner who managed to become a kachi. In Haruko's Nankai Prefecture, class distinctions are not as rigid. The samurai clan of Nankai is more like a non-hereditary military government (although children tend to stay in their parents' professions and it's not that easy to join the warrior class), the hierarchy of the samurai clan is flatter, and marriage between classes, while not extremely widespread, is not considered taboo.
And there are not just social obstacles, but also personal ones. Is it realistic for someone with Kyuuzou's history of peer relationships (or rather, lack of them) to suddenly turn into a loving partner? Ayame and Kyuuzou's siblinghood can hardly be considered a healthy 'peer relationship' – on its worst days, it's more like a kid brother tolerating a barely tolerable older sister whom he feels obligated to be loyal to but secretly wants to surpass. Mizuho and Haruko are also not his peers, they are his seniors.
The only peer Kyuuzou was recorded as having some (NON-romantic) regard for in this ficverse is minor OC Akira (See companion Wolf Warriors and Unspoken) but Kyuuzou never expressed his feelings. Akira died without ever knowing that Kyuuzou went beyond tolerating him but actually appreciated and respected him. Kyuuzou seemed to get along with minor OC Masahiko (whom he calls "Masa-kun") who appears in Wolf Warriors and Happy Endings but it is doubtful if their relationship went beyond comrade/acquaintance level. In short, Kyuuzou never had a real peer relationship, even a friendly one. It would be interesting to see how he would get along with Kanbei.
And to complicate things, Kanbei's ex might make her reappearance. (Kanbei has two sort-of exs. The first one, Chihiro, doesn't really count cos' she was an arranged marriage candidate. And she is conveniently dead. But as for the second so-called ex, things get a little complicated.)
So before I can start the sequel, I need to finish (or at least get a lot more traction on) the pre-series fics "Edge of Alienation" and "Mandate of Heaven", because they will flesh out the history and character of Kanbei's sort-of ex Michiyo, whose existence Kyuuzou certainly won't be happy to know about. ;-)
But "Edge of Alienation" and "Mandate of Heaven" aren't my top priority right now cos' there are a few other fics – both one shots and multi-chapters - outside the Retribution universe that I finished way back but am yet to edit and/or upload. So my main focus will be on getting these out first. One thing at a time.
At any rate, those who still want a Retribution fix can still get new stuff in the form of Retribution art! Drop by my site from time to time.