First arc: a play from the past

Chapter one

There were days when Naoe told himself that without Nagahide life would be so boring... But as he preferred boredom to the unexpected, he often cursed his fellow traveller, just like that morning. "You have planed what?"

Carefree as usual, Nagahide just waved his hand. "Come on, it will change us from the daily routine," he said in a pacifying tone. "Plus, they are head in the same direction as us!"

Naoe was about to explode. He liked to be alone and quiet... "A repertory company!" He spat. "Why would they want to take us with them?"

"They are worried about bandits on the road. The more we are, the less risks we have to be attacked."

Naoe gazed sharply at him. "I hope they don't believe we are warriors. Don't forget we can't kill!"

Nagahide became serious. "I remember perfectly well, mind you, but you know as well that we have other ways to defend ourselves and without killing anyone."

Naoe's lips tighten into a thin line. Indeed, they had already been ambushed by marauders but they had managed to escaped without hurting anyone, just by using their powers. Even the bravest bandit would run for his life when he saw pebbles levitate in front of his nose or arrows skittering on invisible walls. They could use their powers because they were alone, but otherwise... "You want us to use our powers before them?" Naoe insisted. "We mustn't draw attention to us."

"Don't worry, if it really comes to it, I will simply use my power of hypnosis on the bandits. It won't be spectacular but effective." Hypnosis... Indeed, it was Nagahide's forte. The possessor didn't use it anymore to chisel some poor innkeeper but just for their mission. They had sometimes to enter places forbidden to low caste.

Naoe couldn't argue anymore but he didn't like it. "I don't understand why you want so much to go with those actors," he asked. "Don't tell me that you miss the people's company!"

Naoe chuckled. "No, I don't. It just that I have always wondered how lived these people. It must be exciting to give performances from village to village."

"Sometimes, you way of thinking really throws me for a loop," Naoe sighed.

Nagahide's gaze was unreadable. "I could say the same for you, friend."

Naoe looked back at him but said nothing. He didn't want to know what his fellow traveller was talking about, even if deep inside of him he knew too well.

"Very well," he finally gave in. "We will go with your role-players."

Nagahide smiled. "Believe me, you won't regret it."

But Naoe was sure of the contrary.

XxX

The company consisted of twenty persons and three carts pulled by oxen (indeed, horses were only for the nobility so peasants and travellers were using work oxen). Nagahide seemed to be well acquainted with the head of the troop, Ryousuke. Naoe learned that they had spent the previous evening drinking and that was when the two men had decided to share a bit of the road. While Ryousuke presented them, Naoe cast a glance to the other actors. It seemed their presence didn't please everyone. A few of the players didn't look like they would like to travel with strangers. "Well," Naoe thought, "I don't like this too."

The small troop didn't waste time and immediately got going. Naoe didn't get on one of the carts but rather walked after the convoy. The oxen were not very fast so he wasn't likely to be outstripped. The idea was appealing though and he was tempted to stay back. Unfortunately, Nagahide walked alongside as if he had sensed his urge to flee. "Well," he asked with a bemused smile, "what do you think of this?"

Naoe held back a sigh. "It has only been one hour and you already ask me my opinion?"

"It was just to start the conversation."

Nagahide could sometimes behave like a child. Naoe tried to change the subject. "Where are we going?" He asked.

"Oh, normally toward the village of Sada."

"Normally?"

"Ryousuke is the one to decide and he can quickly change his mind."

"An unstable leader. Great, it's really what we need. I just hope he will change his mind about our presence here."

"Don't mope!" Nagahide scolded him gently. "It will be very exciting, you will see!"

"It remains to be seen," grumbled Naoe between his teeth.

The troop was taking a break for lunch. Naoe was surprised and annoyed to see that everyone was takingits sweet time. It was true that travellers had their own pace and they were not in a hurry to reach their destination, because they didn't have a true destination, just short-stops in they lifetime long journey. For Naoe who always thought as a warrior, it was an unbelievable waste of time. He himself wouldn't have stopped in the middle of the day. He would have munched a piece of dried meat but only if he was hungry. Thus he sat back against a tree and waited while everyone around was going about their business.

The troop was really a small world of its own, he noticed while watching the organisation. Everyone knew what he had to do, even the children who were collecting firewood. In this well-established order, Naoe didn't see how strangers could mingle in and yet Nagahide had naturally blend in with the troop and was even charming some women. He smiled softly: Nagahide would never change. He has always that desire to reach out to others, to share some of their lives. In that way, he looked a bit like Kagetora, the only difference was that their lord didn't need to reach out to others: people naturally came to him, attracted by his natural charisma. They felt that he wanted to help and protect them. Naoe wasn't like that. He performed his duties as a Yashashuu like simple duties. If he hadn't be obliged by his oath to Kenshin-kou, he would have probably stay back, observing the world but without acting.

Naoe sighed. In his first life, he had been taught to act only with his own interests at heart. As a result, he always had a certain contempt for people who acted on whims or by idealism. Kagetora was a perfect example. Even during the Otate no Ran, Naoe had noticed that he never seriously counterattacked, as thought he still believed that Kagekatsu would stop the war. Such idiots ended up dead and didn't deserve any respect. That had been Kagetora's fate. And yet... After spending several decades with him, after having seen him acting according to his feelings and beliefs... Naoe couldn't despise him. Reluctantly, he was feeling a certain admiration for Kagetora who never had doubts about the path to take. While Naoe would have remained at a cross-road, weighing the pros and cons, Kagetora walked straight ahead without ever looking back. Yes, such an attitude was remarkable even if it went against everything Naoe was taught.

A shadow fell upon him and he looked up, disturbed from his daydreaming. "You seem troubled," a gentle and warm voice said. The shadow moved a bit and Naoe got a better view: it was one of the troop's women. The black hair drawn into a neat chignon, the oval and maybe a bit long face, the bright and shiny eyes... Naoe narrowed his eyes: those eyes almost reminded him of Kagetora's, but without reaching the same blazing intensity.

"I was just lost in my thoughts," he said with a smile. Normally, a well-brought-up woman wouldn't have talked to a man she didn't know, but those players seemed to live according to their own rules.

"I just wanted to tell you the meal is ready."

Naoe thanked her and stood up. He found Nagahide who seemed quite amused. "I see that your devastating allure has strike once again," he whispered on his ear.

"Huh?" Naoe was astonished. Nagahide pointed a woman who had sat higher on the table. The fact that she was sitting next to the head of the troop indicated she was important among them.

"It's Hisako," Nagahide told him. "She's the top actress of the troop."

"So what?"

Naoe didn't understand what his friend wanted to say. Nagahide only rolled his eyes. "Nothing," he said exasperated. "You will see later."

Naoe lift an eyebrow but didn't press the matter. Nagahide could be strange sometimes, it was just his nature.

XxX

They didn't meet any highwayman during the five days it took them to reach their destination. With a murderous tone, Naoe pointed out to Nagahide that it would have taken them half that time had they been travelling alone. Nagahide only smiled. "The more, the merrier," he said. "Besides, we are going to see their play tonight!"

Naoe sighed. "It's the only good prospect," he conceded. "It has been a long time since I saw a good Noh play." (a sort of Japanese theatre) Nagahide's uptight smile made him frown. He could smell a rat.

"Er... They play kabuki style."

"What style?"

"Kabuki. It's only a little different."

"Only a little?"

"Well, it's still theatre!" That didn't reassure Naoe at all.

He was even less reassured when he saw the construction of the scene. That didn't look like a Noh scene, no matter how you looked at it. But he would wait to see the piece before making his own idea. However, he had a bad surprise from the beginning: a member of the troop stood on the stage and, after bowing, he began to reel off: "Honourable spectators, the play you are going to see will tell you of the sad life of Uesugi Kagetora, son of the valiant Uesugi Soushin (Kenshin's posthumous name). After the death of the great Soushin, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, his two sons, have struggled with each other to become his heir. Here are the last moments of Kagetora at Samegao Castle... and his revenge from beyond the grave!"

An excited whisper strided over the crowd of villagers. Only Naoe was shocked beyond words. He turned to Nagahide and his smug smile convinced him that Nagahide had known since the beginning. "A play about Kagetora-sama!" He hissed. "Don't tell you're the one who gave them the idea!"

"No!" The other possessor protested. "I heard Ryousuke talking about it at the inn the other night and that's why I befriended him. This is the first time they play this. They haven't even written the script, it's a man who came to offer it to them."

"What man?"

"Not one of us," Nagahide assured him. "In any case, the coincidence is troubling but you shouldn't be so surprised. The Uesugis are legendary heroes, it's normal people write plays about them."

Naoe frowned. It didn't bode well. In any case, Kagetora-sama mustn't hear about that play.

However, Naoe was not finished being surprised when he saw the actor who would interpret Kagetora's part on the stage. At first, Naoe had a blank: under the makeup, he didn't recognise the young man. Then he nearly jumped up but Nagahide hold his arm. "It's that woman, Hisako!" He said widening his eyes. Nagahide hid a laugh. Indignant, Naoe insisted: "They dare to choose a woman for his part! It's true that his beauty was renowned, but to chose a woman!"

"This is not a woman."

Naoe reacted slowly. "Huh?"

"Hisako isn't a woman," Nagahide explained patiently. "Women hadn't been allowed to play kabuki for years (like in England, women excited too much the crowd. Moreover, they were selling themselves after plays), you see. All parts are played by men."

"But she... He... It also dresses as a woman outside the stage!"

"This is what all the great onnagatas (men who played women parts) do. Hisako dreams of playing a big part in Edo, at the Nakamura-za Theatre (the most important kabuki theatre from that time) so he practices being a woman on a daily basis."

Naoe frowned. It all seemed... too strange, almost unhealthy. A man was a man and a woman was a woman. You couldn't mix the two genders. It was... against the law of nature. "But in this case," he said suddenly, "why does he play Kagetora's part? It's a man's part!"

Nagahide gave a hint of smile. "It's because no other man of the troop is pretty enough for this part. Ryousuke had to beg Hisako for days, for him to accept. But he only plays during the first act."

"What?"

"Shh, you will see."

Naoe cast him a dark look but Nagahide seemed fascinated by the play. With a heavy sigh, the possessor resigned himself to see the play. Nothing worse could happen to him.

XxX

The first arc of the play didn't reveal anything new. Naoe was just offended to see a Kagetora played so... feminine and seductive. Of course Kagetora-sama had attracted a lot of bushis but he had never, ever used his charm to impose his ideas or to get allies. Naoe nearly stood up when he saw Kagetora ready to offer himself to Kagekatsu, only to save his life. Nagahide had to use all his strength to hold him back and he reminded him it was only a play. That part of the play was only for Hisako to open partway his kimono and to offer the spectacle of his fragile shoulder. The audience really liked that and proved it loudly. Besides, people were talking non-stop and their comments were at the edge of outrageousness.

"I will kill them all," Naoe fumed, forgetting for a moment he wasn't allowed to.

"Come on, it's not like it's really Kagetora-sama on stage," chastened Nagahide. It's just a... a representation of Kagetora, not the true one so don't worry."

But Naoe didn't seem ready to calm down. Nagahide sighed mentally. He could never change his friend and he knew that Naoe was sometimes... ticklish about the matter of their lord.

The second part of the play related Kagetora's revenge as a wandering spirit. Hisako no longer played that part; it was another actor of the troop. He had donned for the occasion a demon mask and often took terrifying poses. In the audience, children shouted for each of his mie (when the actor freezes in a certain position for a length of time). Naoe remained stoical while the demon Kagetora was getting a perverse pleasure out of take revenge on all the men who had denied him. Only a vein pounding on his forehead revealed his anger, and he was frowning so much that you could wonder if his eyebrows would ever look normal again. Apart from that, the actor who played Kagetora was much less mannered and enticing, so Naoe calmed down a little. Besides, he should confess that the enthusiasm with which the actor was hunting down his enemies on the stage was reminding him of the true Kagetora. However, it was still far from the original. Naoe thought disdainfully that the villagers would leave believing they knew all of Kagetora's life. Such a band of idiots. Even several lives weren't enough for Naoe to know everything about his lord. It was not for lack of trying however, but Kagetora still didn't trust him to that extent. It irritated Naoe even if he understood his reaction. "The old allegiances are no longer," he thought. "I even died several times for him so why does he still think I'm his enemy?" The problem lay perhaps somewhere else. If Naoe had taken the time to look at the others, he would have realised that Kagetora remained distant with all the other Yashashuu, even Haruie. But narrow as he was, he only saw his own situation and believed to be the only one excluded.

During his thinking, the play was quickly approaching its climax. Kagetora was about to strike down his last enemy before facing his brother, when a wandering priest stood on his path. The human and the spirit fought. Naoe lifted an eyebrow and leaned to Nagahide. "Did it really happen like this?" He asked.

Nagahide smiled mockingly. "How could I know? I wasn't at Echigo at that time so I just hear some rumours about Kagetora's vengeful spirit. If you are so curious, you could ask him directly."

Naoe ignored the last comment as ridiculous. Kagetora barely talked to him so why would he told him about his exorcism? "I don't recall being exorcised," Naoe whispered. "A moment I was a vengeful spirit and, the moment after, I was in front of Kenshin-kou."

"You were a vengeful spirit?" His friend was astonished. "This doesn't look like you."

Naoe wanted to bite his tongue. He had promised himself to never talk about his death or the fact he had succumbed to his anger, and he had just betrayed himself! "I... I didn't have a right death." He vaguely said.

"Ah? And what's a right death for you?"

Naoe turned to him to see if he wasn't laughing at him. Come on, everyone knew what a right death meant, didn't they? "I didn't do all the things I wanted to do," he said, "and the way I died... wasn't very glorious." There was no way he would reveal that he had died for a stupid argument over a reward.

"So there are glorious reasons to die?"

Naoe would have expected a mocking tone, Nagahide's speciality, but the other man's eyes were clouded and his smile a little bitter. "For instance when you die in a battle," replied Naoe, feeling like he was reciting. "There is nothing more glorious than to die for his lord."

"I don't know." Nagahide surprised him. "A lord begins a war on a whim or because the grass is greener on the other side. And men die for them. I don't see anything glorious about that."

"I hope you're not talking about Kenshin-kou," Naoe warned him.

Nagahide shook his head. "Kenshin-kou fought for his religious beliefs. He thought he was the chosen one to unify Japan. But he didn't complete his purpose despite all the blood shed for him and by him." Naoe frowned. It seemed Nagahide was criticising Kenshin, but so ambiguously that you could believe he was praising him. He wasn't very certain. "And he didn't name an heir, thus the Otate no Ran," Nagahide went on.

"He didn't have the time," Naoe said. "His illness was faster." (Despite all the rumours about assassinations, historians believe that Kenshin die from a stomach cancer)

"And think about Kagekatsu..."

"Nagahide!" Naoe was shocked by his lack of respect. (Nagahide didn't use any honorific)

"Oh please, he has been dead for two hundred years. Well, regarding Kagekatsu, a few people claimed that he just wanted to take revenge on his brother who refused himself to him."

"I never heard such nonsense!"

"Oh, no one sensible would have said that to you. But the rumour was there. In short, I just want to say that even serving our lord doesn't make our death more honourable. Nothing makes a death honourable."

Stubborn, Naoe was not ready to give up on his resentment. "But still, there are more preferable ways to die, aren't there?" He said, short of arguments.

Bemused, Nagahide smiled. "When you die, you die. The way it happens has nothing to do with the outcome. And the outcome is the same for everyone."

Naoe cast him a surprised look. "You talk like a holy man," he noticed. "I don't remember you were so... spiritual about these things."

"I had a lot of time to think about it," Nagahide said. "And it also in our nature to question everything, don't you think so?"

"There are some limits."

"Only the limits we ourselves set."

"Then you are also going to question your loyalty to Kagetora-sama?"

Naoe's tone had become dangerous. Had he his sword -- but it had been forbidden to people of their status for a long time -- Nagahide knew Naoe would have lift his hand to it, ready to draw it to punish his insolence. He shook wearily his head. Trust Naoe to take everything back to Kagetora. It was becoming increasingly difficult to talk normally to him. "No," he finally answered. "I'm pleased to obey Kagetora-sama and continue our mission."

"For the moment," Naoe added.

Nagahide shrugged. "Who knows what will come tomorrow?"

"Some things are always sure."

"Not always. When you were still serving Kagekatsu, if someone has told you that one day you would almost kill me only because you believed-- and just believed-- that I could betray Kagetora, would you have believed it?"

Naoe frowned. He didn't like to be reminded he had once decided to take side with Kagekatsu. It was a part of his past he deeply regretted now that he knew their lord better. He wasn't ashamed but he had since questioned his past allegiance. To question... Naoe relaxed. Nagahide was right on that point; they had all changed since their first existence's. "There is one thing I'm sure of," Naoe said. "Two hundred years ago, I pledged my loyalty to Kagetora-sama and since that time, I had not regretted my decision even once. I already died for him but I'll never think it was for one of its whims. I will remain loyal to him as long as I will live."

Nagahide nodded but his thoughts were dark. "It's the first time he has found someone worthy of his respect and loyalty," he thought, "but like all the first times, he's doing too much. He has no restraint. I'm afraid he's going to be disappointed because he asks too much of our lord." He kept his thoughts for him. Naoe wouldn't understand, or he would understand wrongly.

XxX

During that time, the play was quickly coming to its end. Kagetora's spirit had been banned in the afterworld where he would receive his punishment, because no mortal man should defy death to take revenge. Demons came near a frightened Kagetora, once again played by Hisako to show he had no more power. A strong wind suddenly rose. A hanging was taken down and it fell on a part of the crowd who shouted of fright. Naoe and Nagahide, who weren't a that place, jumped on their feet. "Is it also a part of the play?" Naoe asked.

"I don't think so." Nagahide focused and felt a small spiritual energy, too diffused for him to be able to pinpoint it. He only could guess it came from the stage, nothing more.

A badly nailed plank came off and hit Hisako at his shoulder. The actor cried of pain and fell down. From behind the scene, Ryousuke rushed on the stage to shelter him and shouted to the other actors to take refuge. The mysterious wind smashed some materials then it slacked off as quickly as it had appeared. After a moment of stupor, the crowd hurried to leave the place. In a daze, the actors were contemplating the ruined stage. "What was it?" Hisako whispered, with Ryousuke's arm around his shoulder to support him. But no one could answer his question. All the actors were as shocked as him. Naoe and Nagahide, the only remaining spectators, looked at each other with a meaningful glance. That incident was clearly supernatural. They had to find the cause. So was their mission.

The break was over.

To be continued...

And so begins a new adventure for our Yashashuu. No Kagetora for this chapter. Well, not the true one. I wanted to develop a little more the relationship between Nagahide and Naoe. And Naoe thinks more clearly when Kagetora is not near!

Thanks to everyone who send me comments, it eggs me on to keep on writing.