Chapter 34
"Noko!"
Jin fought to keep his body as low to the ground as possible as he crawled through the house. The heat was getting intense and he knew he couldn't stay very long. Inching his way forward through the smoke Jin's hand made contact with something.
"Noko…," he tried to say but ended up coughing from the smoke.
Grabbing the person's arm Jin quickly backed out of the house, dragging whoever he had found. The apothecary was outside, waiting for him.
"Yoshiro…," Jin choked out as he pulled the person away from the flames.
The apothecary, Yoshiro, hurried over to where Jin was and helped the young man pull the person out into the courtyard.
"I told you not to go in there," Yoshiro said sternly as he rolled the person that Jin had pulled from the fire onto their back.
Jin sat on the ground, bent over, head between his legs, coughing.
"I had to get Noko out," Jin finally coughed out, "I couldn't see her burned again."
"You never listen to me," Yoshiro muttered as he reached into the sleeve of his kimono, "You go off and do your own thing."
"But Noko would have died," Jin shot back.
"This isn't Noko," Yoshiro said as he raised the woman into a sitting position. "It's Mai."
Jin raised his head up to see an older woman with jet black hair. He shook his head to clear it. He was sure that Noko had been in the house. Wasn't that where she was going when she left before the sun came up this morning?
Jin watched as neighbors rushed to put out the house fire and Yoshiro attended to the woman. Soon Mai was coughing and sitting up on her own.
"Arigato," Mai's husband said as he took over caring for his wife from the apothecary.
Jin didn't understand. Noko should have been inside the house. She came here often to help Mai. Yoshiro crossed to where Jin sat and proceeded to make sure that the young man was fine.
"Drink," the apothecary stated as he handed Jin a small jug.
Jin did as he was told and handed the now empty jug back to Yoshiro. The drink had a bitter taste to it and Jin tried not to gag. Yoshiro sat down by Jin's side as the two men watched in silence as the neighbors finally put out the fire. Showing their gratitude by bowing to Jin and Yoshiro the neighbors left. Only Mai and her husband were left with the two men.
"Arigato Takeda Jin," Mai said softly as she stood before him supported by her husband on her right side.
Jin dipped his head to Mai, "Your welcome," Jin replied as he raised his head back up.
"Where will you stay for the night?" Yoshiro asked.
"My parents," Mai's husband replied as he turned and helped Mai down the path and away from the house.
When they had gone Yoshiro turned to Jin.
"When are you going to listen to me?" he asked. "When someone dies?"
"Iie," Jin replied.
Jin had had this conversation with the apothecary before. He knew what he had to do and yet he was afraid to do so, fearing that Yoshiro or Noko would get hurt. The house fire just strengthened his fear.
"Fine," Yoshiro stated angrily, "then when?"
"I don't know," Jin replied back.
Yoshiro got up and started pacing the courtyard. He was upset that the young man wouldn't listen to his advice. He had a feeling that in the end, if Jin didn't listen to him, the young man would end up dead. Yoshiro stopped pacing and pointed towards the burnt house.
"You do realize that this is the third fire they have set this month."
"Hai," Jin replied dropping his head to the ground.
"You do know that they will find you," Yoshiro said softly as he dropped his hand back down to his side, "and kill you."
"Hai," Jin replied again, only softly this time.
Yoshiro bent down and lifted Jin's face up so that he could look into the young man's eyes.
"You have to leave this place," the apothecary said. "You have to take Noko and flee before they come back."
"Iie," Jin replied, "if I leave you to their mercy you will be killed because of me."
"Buddha will protect me," Yoshiro said as he released Jin's face and stood back up.
"Come," the apothecary said as he reached out and took Jin by his arm, helping the young man to stand up, "let's go get Noko."
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Nokomis stood on the bow of the small sailing vessel watching as the shore of Numazu came closer into view. It had been a good day of fishing for her. From her helping with the fishing for the day Jin, Yoshiro, and her would be able to eat for at least a couple of days without having to worry about where the next meal would be coming from.
Nokomis had figured this out the second week she had been back. When she had passed through the town of Numazu on her way with Jin to Mount Ashitaka she had seen the men boarding the small sailing vessels early each morning. As she sat in the hot springs on Mount Ashitaka, overlooking Suruga Bay, Nokomis could see the men tossing their nets into the water. After a couple of hours she saw them bring their nets back in full of fish, white shrimp, eels, crabs, and sometimes squid. At the end of the day, with Jin by her side, they would walk back home. At the market in Numazu they would stop and either trade or buy fish for their supper that night.
Nokomis noticed that some days they would pass by the open air market and not buy anything at all. It was on those days that she knew they would only be eating vegetables and a small amount of rice, if they even had that. Those were the days that Jin and Yoshiro had not been able to find any work.
Most of the time the two men would be paid in trade. A small bag of rice here or a couple of fish there. One day a traveling musician traded a piece of silk material; that was 1.5 meters long and 36 centimeters wide; for an evening meal. Jin had taken the silk material into the town of Numazu and traded it for a small boat.
That boat had started her and Jin going out and fishing together each night after dark. Jin would hang a paper lantern, on a wooden stick, on the back of the boat so that they could see what they were doing. She like the time spent with Jin catching fish, but the pair was only able to catch enough for the next day. They needed a bigger boat, a fishing net, and more people to help them. Nokomis knew that they couldn't afford that.
She grew tired of not being able to have enough food each day and decided to do something about it.
"Fisher woman Noko!"
Nokomis was pulled out of her thoughts and turned her head towards the direction of the voice.
"Hai," she replied.
"Koko ni kinasai," the man said beckoning with his hand for her to join him.
"Hai," she answered back in Japanese. "Kore wa nan desu ka?"
"It is time for you to pick the fish you want to take home," the man replied back in Japanese.
"Watashi ga kite iru," Noko replied as she turned away from the bow and towards the other man on the boat.
She wished she knew all of what the man had just said to her. Nokomis knew nanji was time, sakana was fish, and le was house, but she was just guessing at the rest.
She had been back for twenty-seven days and her Japanese was coming along better than the first time she had been here.
"The best thing that can happen to someone learning another language is to be immersed in it 24/7," Melody told her daughter one day. "The more time you spend with the language, the faster you will learn it. Listen to it, read it, write it, speak it, and study it. If you sit in class and stare out the window you will not become proficient in it."
"That's why I learned Mandarin so fast," Nokomis said to herself, "Mom was always dragging me to every dig site."
Nokomis had used the first two weeks back becoming reacquainted with the language. The first two weeks had been spent in the hot springs at the base of Mount Ashitaka with either Jin or Yoshiro. Most of the day she had sat in the warm water and soaked while Jin or Yoshiro had washed down her arms, legs, and face with a white powder. After awhile Nokomis started to notice that the dime sized white scaring from her small pox was starting to fade on her arms and legs. She could only hope that the marks on her face were too, but she didn't have a mirror to know for sure.
"They will never totally go away," Yoshiro had told her one evening as they sat around the low table on tatami mats having their evening meal.
"Sori," she had replied still learning the language.
"Noko," Jin had said as he took his left arm and raised it straight up into the air.
Nokomis had watched as the sleeve of Jin's indigo blue silk kimono had fallen down to reveal his bare arm. He held his arm next to hers and took his right hand, pushing back the sleeve of her kimono.
"Miru," Jin had said holding his arm still so that she could compare the two.
As Nokomis approached the fishing net she remembered how she had taken her left hand and tenderly traced the white scars on Jin's arm, stopping when she reached the string of green jade beads on his wrist.
She had pulled her hand back in fright. The jade beads were new to her and for a split second she thought that she had recognized them, but from where?
"It's going to be okay Noko," Yoshiro had said as he too pulled back the sleeve of his black kimono, "hososhin is gone. This is all that remains."
Just like Jin's arm, Yoshiro's arm had the same dime sized white scaring as hers. It was then that she understood. Both men had contacted small pox at some point in their lives and had lived to tell about it, just like her.
Nokomis stopped before her fishing partner.
"Noko," the man said in Japanese sweeping his hand over the rope net, "you first."
"Arigato," Nokomis replied looking out over the net.
Suruga Bay never ceased to amaze her. Numerous rivers emptied into the bay and depending upon where she and the men fished would determine what they would catch for the day. If they stayed close to Numazu, where the Kano River emptied into the bay, the water was transparent and the beaches were sandy. They would catch shrimp and crabs here. But if they were at the eastern or northeastern stretches the bay was deep, cold, and the coastline generally rocky. They would get tuna if they fished there.
Today Nokomis and her fellow fishermen had gone southwest to a placed called "senoumi" and they had caught a variety of fish and other animals.
Nokomis bent down to the level of the gillnet. Basically a gillnet was a series of panels of meshes with a weighted 'foot rope' along the bottom and a 'headline' on top where floats were attached. By altering the floats and weights Nokomis and the other men could fish at any depth.
Fish smaller than the mesh of the net would pass through unhindered while those too large to push their heads through the meshes, as far as their gills, were caught. Sometimes the mesh would catch around the body of an animal and hold it so it couldn't escape. Or the animal would become tangled by its teeth, spines, maxillaries, or other protrusions and held tight.
That had been the case today as Nokomis saw several sharks caught in the net along with sea breams and gnome fishes. A very funny looking dark brown shark with an eel-like body, it had dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins placed far back on it's body. The shark also had six pairs of gill slits instead of the usual two as normal sharks did.
"Another nuisance," Nokomis' fishing partner said pointing at the creatures, "do you want them?"
"Hai," Nokomis replied as she reached out to carefully untangle a single shark from the net.
The frilled shark reminded her of a living fossil at 6.6 feet in length. In America the shark was near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because of its low reproductive rate, but here it was just a nuisance because it always damaged the gillnets.
As Nokomis pulled the frilled shark from the net she could see a bright red squid underneath caught up in the gillnet. Normally light sandy colored when calm Nokomis knew that the squid would turn bright red when they felt threatened or tried to ward off competitors. She surmised this one had been threatened by running into the gillnet. She also knew that sixty percent of the diet of the frilled shark was squid. Setting her shark on the deck of the sailing vessel to her right side, she lifted up the net to get at the squid.
As Nokomis pulled the net up and flung it to her left she could see tons of squid.
"Banzai!" Nokomis' fishing partner shouted raising both arms into the air.
The other men picked up the cry and raised their arms up into the air to celebrate.
"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" was repeated three times before the other men rushed the gillnet for their portion of the squid.
Squid was a popular item at the market and Nokomis noticed that everything was used except the beak and gladius. She knew Yoshiro used the hard internal body part of the gladius, composed primarily of chitin, as a surgical thread. She had seen him carefully cut the gladius down into heavy almost fishing like thread. He had then used this to close an open wound on one of the town's people. Nokomis also knew that Yoshiro would use the creatures ink for his writings.
"Save some for me," Nokomis shouted above the men's excited cries.
"Hai," they shouted back as they tossed some squid her way.
Tonight they would have stuffed squid, shark, and sea breams as Nokomis gathered her share of today's catch.
Placing her share into a burlap bag Nokomis heaved it over her shoulder, walked off the sailing vessel, and onto the wooden pier where they had docked.
"See you tomorrow?" her fishing partner asked as he carried a wooden crate in his hands.
"Iie," Nokomis replied back. "I have to help Mai. I should have been there today but…," Nokomis trailed off.
"But you went fishing instead," the man finished for her as he stopped to set his crate down on the ground at the end of the pier.
"Hai," Nokomis said stopping too.
Waving her left hand above her head Nokomis went on, "On days like today I don't want to be inside the house."
Nokomis' fishing partner nodded his head in agreement.
"I understand," he said picking up his crate once again, "Sayonara."
"Until we meet again," Nokomis replied walking away from the man.
Heading towards the open air market Nokomis stopped at the end of the road, on the way out of town, and set her bag onto the ground. As she prepared to set out her extra catch to sell she remembered back to the first time she had tried to do this.
Nokomis had gone into the middle of the market to claim her spot, but had been chased out. Apparently there was some unwritten law or code about where she was allowed to sell her extra catch. The same had been true about the men she fished with. Each sailing vessel only fished in a certain spot in Suruga Bay each day. If she wanted something different, besides shrimp and crabs, she had to fish on a different boat each time.
Nokomis had found herself at the end of the market the first time with only her burlap bag as a ground cover. After awhile she found that the best place for her was at the end of the road.
Those that lived in Numazu would buy their fish at the stands closest to where they lived, but those who lived outside of Numazu would pass her fist. Since it was another two miles into town the people would buy from her and then turn around and go home.
Nokomis knew that since there was no refrigeration you ate what you had right away, before it spoiled, or smoked it to preserve it for a few days. Not everyone had access to a smoke shed and she knew that Jin had built one, with the left over bamboo from the house, when she had begun to bring home extra fish.
She was lucky to have Jin in her life. He was kind to her and had even provided her with a small knife so that she could gut her fish before she sold them. This brought her a little bit more money.
As she sat down on the ground, with a piece of burlap laid out in front of her, she pondered what Jin meant to her.
"Nothing like Scott," Nokomis said to herself as she started to gut her first fish to sell.
Jin was the very opposite of what Scott had been. Scott had been rude, overbearing, jealous, and physical to her, yet she had known nothing better at the time.
Nokomis had meet Scott in High School, in the Bronx, before he moved to Queens after graduation. He often ignored her during school hours. Claiming he was just too busy, but would make up for it after school.
After school Scott would keep Nokomis close to his side and would get extremely jealous is she even talked to another boy.
"You're mine!" Scott told her over and over again, often pulling her roughly away, "Don't forget that."
Nokomis had come to accept that this was the way a boyfriend treated you when they loved you. She knew no other family to compare to but hers. The nights she heard her parents fighting behind closed doors, yet in the morning they were civil to each other. That was the way it was with her and Scott; big fight, make up.
If truth be told she liked making out with Scott. Nokomis had started when she was sixteen and a half years old with kissing. That led to petting, but nothing had gone beyond that until she had run away from home that one night when she turned seventeen.
Ending up at Scott's house, in Queens, he had let her stay for the week until he had physically hurt her one night.
Nokomis placed a third sea bream onto the burlap cloth and closed her eyes tight. She couldn't rid her mind of that night no mater how hard she tried.
After Scott had ripped her top off she had screamed for him to stop. The only answer she had received was a slap in the face.
"Shut up bitch!" Scott hissed at her placing his hand down her pants.
The more she screamed or struggled to get away the more Scott would slap her and pin her down to the floor.
Tears fell down Nokomis' face as she remembered when Scott had finished with her. He was holding her hair in one hand and her arm in another, pinned up against a wall in his bedroom.
"That's what I think of our relationship," Scott spat out as he released her, slapped her bear buttocks, and threw her to the floor.
Nokomis lay crying, naked, in a heap on Scott's bedroom floor as he walked away. Stopping at the door, on his way out, he turned back to her.
"Don't go anywhere slut," he said with a crude smile on his face, "I'm coming back in an hour for more."
For ten minutes Nokomis had laid there crying until she decided she didn't want a repeat of earlier. She got up and rushed for the door. Pulling on it she found it locked from the outside.
"I told you," Scott's voice got louder as he approached the door.
Nokomis was caught unprepared as Scott opened the door and the door hit her on the side of her head.
"I want more in an hour," Scott's voice came to her dizzy brain as Nokomis could only see stars before her eyes.
Nokomis opened her eyes and quickly wiped them on the sleeve of her kimono. No Jin was in no way like Scott.
Jin cared for her gently, carefully, even when she pulled away out of fear thinking that it was Scott coming after her, Jin did nothing.
"Sori," Jin would say dropping his head to the ground.
When Nokomis realized that Jin only wanted to bathe her arm or leg, she would apologize and hold out the appropriate body part to him.
During the day, if there was trouble, Jin always placed himself in front of her. His left hand on her left arm, right hand on his katana slightly pulled out from its scabbard. No one fought with him after he stared them down. Jin had them apologize for calling her a 'gaijin' even though she didn't know what the word meant. Yes, she was glad that Jin had been there those times. Even at night he was protective of her.
One night she had had a dream about Scott. Jin and Yoshiro had rushed into her room wearing their jubans as she screamed for Scott to stop hurting her.
"Noko," Yoshiro spoke loudly to her trying to wake her up by holding her arms and shaking her.
That had only caused Nokomis to panic more in the dark room thinking Scott was going to hurt her again.
In the end it had been Jin's gentle voice and soft touch on her face that had brought her around. Nokomis, once she realized that she was safe, had let Jin gather her up into his arms. She cried into his shoulder as he carried her back to where he slept. She welcomed the peace that radiated from him as he carefully sat her down on the futon.
"I wonder what she was dreaming of?" Yoshiro said handing Jin the thin sheet to place over her.
"I believe it was her former husband," Jin replied softly watching Noko sleep. "I saw him when Noko came back," he continued. "He wasn't very pleasant looking."
"Ugly?" Yoshiro questioned.
"Iie," Jin replied taking the man's arm and leading him out of the room, "more like controlling."
Nokomis laid a squid out next completely lost in thought and jumped when someone called her name.
"Konbanwa Noko," the voice said in front of her, "How is your husband Takeda Jin?"
Nokomis raised her face up to see a young man standing before her. He was younger than Jin, about her age, but his dreamer reminded her of Scott's. The young man had long black hair worn high on his head in a ponytail. He wore a deep, forest green kimono and black split hakamas. There were three triangle emblem designs on his kimono. One white one on his left chest, one on each of his sleeves, and a large one on the man's back was strikingly similar to Jin's. As was the set of daisho's that the young man carried. Jin's set of swords had a handle that was wrapped with a blue braided rope with a diamond pattern showing through. The young man's daisho's were the same blue braided rope and white diamond pattern, only the tsuba was different. The man's was plain in design while Jin's set had a pair of eyes and a set of lightening bolts forged into the tsuba.
Nokomis wished that Jin or Yoshiro would come soon. She didn't like to be alone with this young man.
Ever since she had started fishing, and selling the extra ones, he had come and bought something from her. She needed the money and so had not thought about it at first, but now she was becoming uncomfortable with the young man. He also asked a lot of questions each time he came. The first one being how was otto Takeda Jin. Nokomis wished she knew what 'otto' was, but when she had asked Yoshiro he had pointed at an older man and repeated 'otto'. That hadn't helped any.
"Fine Yukimaru," Nokomis replied hoping to make the exchange quick today.
"And how is Mai?" Yukimaru asked bending down to look at Nokomis' items for sale.
"Good," Nokomis replied.
"Looks like it is not going to be short and sweet today," Nokomis thought to herself.
"I hear her daughter is getting married soon," Yukimaru stated as he reached out and picked up the squid she had just laid out.
"Hai," she replied trying to sound casual, "in two days."
Everyone in Numazu knew that Mai's daughter was marring someone that she hadn't met. It was an arranged marriage and Nokomis had been helping Mai to get ready for the wedding day.
Yukimaru handed Nokomis a small round holed coin, known as a ryo, as he continued to talk to her.
"I hear that you are helping with Mia's daughter as her attendant. Assisting the bride with her kimono's," he said.
"Hai," Nokomis replied back as she placed the ryo into the left sleeve of her kimono.
She was now one step closer to buying Jin that water stone so that he could sharpen his swords on. She hoped that Yukimaru was done and would leave now, but that wasn't the case.
"I hope I'll see you at the wedding ceremony," Yukimaru said as he stood up.
Nokomis looked up at Yukimaru. She had a bad feeling and didn't like the way that he was looking down on her either. She felt uneasy and all of a sudden she saw Scott standing over her, threatening her, and she dropped her head to the ground to rid her mind of the image.
"Sayonara," Nokomis said hoping that the young man would go away and someone would come to save her.
As if Jin had heard her silent plea for help, she was relieved to hear his voice calling to her.
"Noko!"
Nokomis looked up to see Jin and Yoshiro walking down the road to where she sat. When she looked back to where Yukimaru had been standing he was gone. Confused and scared she stood up. Looking down the road that led into town she saw no one. Jin and Yoshiro came to a stop before her as she turned her head and looked behind the two men.
"I see you had a good day fishing," Yoshiro said.
"Hai," Nokomis replied automatically still wondering where Yukimaru had disappeared too.
"No man could move that fast," she thought.
Jin saw that Nokomis was troubled by something. She was looking around her and her body was trembling. Something had just happened to her, but what? Jin gently reached out, across the burlap cloth, and touched her hand. The moment she felt his touch she jumped backwards, as if he had just hurt her physically.
"Sori," Jin said softly as he stepped over the burlap cloth to get closer to Noko.
Nokomis stood trembling, holding her hand to her chest. Her eyes were full of fear, her head turning, looking all around her for something that he couldn't see.
"Noko," Jin tried again standing next to her, but not touching her this time, "it's me, Jin."
"Where did he go?" Nokomis questioned to no one.
"Where did who go?" Jin asked afraid that Noko was going to turn and run at any moment.
"Yukimaru," she replied looking ahead of her, past Jin, and into the trees on the side of the road.
Yoshiro had just finished placing Noko's extra fish back into her burlap bag when she had spoken the name Yukimaru.
"Is he a regular customer…," Yoshiro started to say but trailed off when he heard the sound of Jin's sword being pulled from its scabbard.
Yoshiro looked up to see Jin standing in front of a frightened, trembling, Noko with his sword drawn ready to do battle with an unseen foe.
"Get behind me Yoshiro," Jin hissed at the apothecary.
"What is it good son?" Yoshiro questioned as he did what he was told.
"Now I know who has been setting the fires around here," Jin replied stepping forward looking for an unseen assassin.
Assured that there was no one around Jin turned around to face Noko and Yoshiro.
"You were right Good Father," Jin said as he placed his katana back into its scabbard, "we have to go now!"
Gently Jin placed his left hand onto Nokomis' right arm and slowly turned her towards home. Yoshiro, carrying the burlap bag, fell in behind them. Jin helped Nokomis along, as she started to openly cry. Yoshiro quickened his pace and caught up to the young man when they were a mile from the house.
"Good son," Yoshiro said walking next to Jin, "do you know Yukimaru?"
"Hai," Jin replied as Noko placed her head onto his left shoulder, clearly spent from the ordeal.
"Who is he?" Yoshiro questioned.
Jin stopped walking and turned to face the old man. Yoshiro could see Jin's mouth was set firmly with his teeth clenched tightly together. Bitterness and repressed anger radiated from him, and the apothecary took a step back, frightened.
"Trouble," was all that Jin said.
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Yukimaru bowed to the samurai who was standing guard, before he approached the black and gold norimono. The wheelless vehicle sat on the ground while the four men who carried it sat nearby.
The sedan chair used by the high class shogun was beautifully done with gold urushi; a lacquer; and silver plated brass fittings. The crest of the shogun, three hollyhock leaves inside a circle, was on the side of the sliding door as well as the center of the pole which ran through the top of the norimono.
Yukimaru fell to his knees as the sliding door opened up. He knew who was inside and looked to the ground avoiding the roju's eyes.
"Ah Hojo Yukimaru," the roju said, "I hope you bring me good news."
"Councilor Kariya Kagetoki," Yukimaru replied never looking up at the man, "I do not."
"How is it that you can't bring me the head of the ronin?" Kariya spat at the young man before him.
"He is never alone," Yukimaru replied, "his wife or the apothecary are always nearby."
"Wife?"
"Hai," Yukimaru said, "The town's folk have told me that the ronin came here three years ago. He built a house and cleared the surrounding land to farm about five miles to the east of Numazu. He left in January leaving Mai's daughter in charge of the house."
"When he returned in July he had the apothecary with him and soon thereafter his young 'gaijin' bride."
"Where did she come from?" Kariya questioned. "Foreign ships are only allowed to dock at Nagasaki."
"There has been rumors that she came from the mainland," Yukimaru replied. "She crossed the East China Sea, through the Ryukyu Islands, and then traveled north in a junk. She speaks the mainland language very well, while she struggles with our language."
"You have heard her speak the mainland language?" Kariya questioned narrowing his eyes at the man before him.
"Iie," Yukimaru said lowering his head even further to the ground, "the men that she goes out to fish with, from time to time, have heard her use the mainland profanity. The men say she knows her way around a boat very well. That's why it is said she came through the Ryukyu Islands."
"I see," Kariya said stroking his chin with his right hand, "that is something we don't use here in Japan, profanity. That, in and of itself, has given her away."
Dropping his hand to his side Kariya reached for the sliding door to his norimono calling out orders to the four men who carried him.
Yukimaru listened as the four pole bearers ran to the norimono and lifted the vehicle up onto their shoulders. Yukimaru looked up in time to see a man in his early thirties wearing a brown kataginu over a mossy green kimono with split black hakamas. Kariya wore a conical straw hat, called a sugegasa, on his head and Yukimaru quickly looked away.
Yukimaru was not allowed to look upon the roju's face. Councilor Kariya Kagetoki was a senior member of the shogunate and reported back to the shogun personally. While he, Yukimaru, was considered an metsuke in charge of discovering any threat to the shogunate itself. As such he did not have the right to ask for an audience with the shogun himself.
Yukimaru often wondered if his side of the story was being told truthfully to the shogun, or if Kariya was just making up something so that the councilor wouldn't get into trouble.
"I want the ronin's head!" Kariya roared at Yukimaru.
Yukimaru had been pressed into service by the shogun when he was a young teenage boy. After his master had died he had no where to go. The shogun had given him a purpose at first, and he had never asked why the shogun did what they did.
When he had been given this recent assignment he had not been told why the shogun wanted him to assassinate the ronin, but today he had to know.
"Why?" Yukimaru finally found the courage to ask.
"For killing your master Mariya Enshirou," Kariya said as he closed the sliding door to his norimono.
Ever so softly so that no one could hear him Kariya continued, "And for causing me to lose the mujuushin kenjutsu way."
But Yukimaru had heard him and froze, terrified at what he had been doing for the shogun. Yukimaru suddenly realized that he was the shogunate's puppet.
"You have two days," Kariya said sharply as his norimono started to move away.
Yukimaru never looked up as Kariya's men walked out of sight.
"Bring me the ronin's head, along with his wife, and any other colleagues he has," Kariya's voice rang out to Yukimaru, "Or don't come back to me at all!"
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Jin paced around the outside of the house. He was upset and rightly so but he wasn't going to blame Noko. It wasn't her fault that they were still here. Jin and her should have left after the second fire on the sailing vessel that she had been on the day before.
"Thank Buddha Noko doesn't do the same thing each day," Jin said out loud as he stopped and looked out over Suruga Bay.
Now that Jin knew that Yukimaru was close by, he had linked what the town's folk were calling accidental fires, to him.
"So," the apothecary said when the trio had arrived back home, "tell me how you know this man named Yukimaru."
"First off he's a samurai belonging to the Hojo family," Jin replied softly as he slid the shoji shut to where Noko was sleeping.
She had finally cried herself to sleep as Jin held her in his arms. Nokomis had converted back to her first language, when he had met her outside of Enkiri Dera Temple. He didn't understand her, but that didn't mater to him. She was hurting inside and he was going to protect her from any more such ordeals.
Jin beckoned with his right hand for Yoshiro to follow him. Walking towards the front of the house the two men stopped when they reached the genkan. Jin sat down on the edge as Yoshiro followed suit. From this vantage point Jin could see the waters of Suruga Bay lapping at the sandy beach that was about half a mile from them. He had picked this spot well. Shino would have approved. Shaking his head to clear it of Shino's memory Jin continued.
"I first met Yukimaru when I was ten years old," Jin said looking out to the water.
"I was with my master Mariya Enshirou. We were sitting along the Yana River. Across the river was a woman with her small child washing clothes. Eventually her husband came along and started yelling at her about how his supper wasn't ready."
Jin closed his eyes and balled his fists up, but continued with his story.
"I saw the woman trembling, cowering really, before her husband as she tried to talk to him. Her husband didn't listen to her and backhanded her across the face. He then dragged her off by her hair, her child fearfully following behind."
"You saw all this when you were ten?" Yoshiro asked.
"Hai," Jin replied opening his eyes and turning to face the apothecary. "That's why I know Noko has been hurt before, by her former husband."
"How do you know that Noko was married? You've mentioned that to me before."
Jin smiled and relaxed his fists, "Celestial Buddha Shino told me."
Jin furrowed his brows thinking back to what Shino had said to him. Shino had called Noko a different name, but he couldn't remember what she had said to him. And Shino had said something about Noko's husband.
"So what happened after this woman's husband dragged her away?" Yoshiro asked drawing Jin out of his thoughts.
Jin stifled a laugh.
"I tried to go after him with my bokken," Jin replied. "Me, this scrawny little ten year old grasshopper, tried to go after someone twice my size."
"You still are scrawny," Yoshiro teased back poking Jin in the ribs, "at least your heart was in the right place."
"Hai," Jin said softly looking back out over the water. "In the end my master gave me his daisho's and went after the man. Although I wish that he hadn't."
"Why?"
Jin sighed before he continued his story.
"Mariya found the man, but he was too late to save the woman."
"She died?" Yoshiro asked as he watched Jin's face turn to sorrow.
A tear fell from Jin's eye but the young man made no effort to wipe it away.
"Hai," Jin whispered, "But Mariya never told me how. It wasn't until Yukimaru had turned ten that I learned the story."
"You see Yukimaru was the woman's child I saw that day. When Mariya approached the house he heard screaming and rushed inside to help."
"The man was standing over the dead woman's body while her child cowered in the corner. Mariya watched as the man went after the child, wakizashi drawn. Mariya ran in front of the child and blocked the blow with his right arm."
"Mariya suffered a severe blow that damaged the muscles in his arm. He wasn't able to hold a sword right handed after that. He had to learn to wield a katana left handed. It took him many years, but Mariya finally did learn how."
"He gave me his daisho's the next day after he brought Yukimaru back to the dojo."
"So your master was killed by his own sword," Yoshiro said quietly.
"As was Yukimaru's father," Jin went on.
"Yukimaru's father raised his wakizashi up to charge Mariya and his own son, but when he went to step forward he tripped on the tatami mat."
"Mariya pulled Yukimaru aside as his father fell through the shoji and impaled himself on his own sword."
"It was because of Yukimaru's father that I was able to beat my master that dreadful night. Mariya never became lightening fast again and that weakness was his downfall."
"So you blame Yukimaru?" Yoshiro asked.
"At first I did," Jin replied, "but he was only five at the time. I learned to forgive him. It wasn't his fault that my master got hurt. Mariya should have taken his swords with him that day, but he was going on a peaceful mission. Mariya wasn't out for revenge, yet…," Jin trailed off.
"Yet if he had," Yoshiro finished, "we wouldn't be sitting here today."
"Hai."
Silence fell between the two men before Yoshiro broke it.
"So," the apothecary said breaking the silence, "that tells me who Yukimaru is, but why is he here?"
"Yukimaru works for the shogunate now Good Father," Jin stated bitterly.
"The people that want you dead for killing your master," Yoshiro said out loud to himself.
"And what better way to do so then to send your best friend from the dojo after you. You would never expect him to kill you in cold blood and your guard would be down. Clever. Very clever."
"Yukimaru is more than my friend," Jin said turning to face the apothecary once again, "he is my younger brother."
"You see Mariya Enshirou adopted us both. Yukimaru first and then after my great-grandmother Sanjo's passing; me."
"It wasn't until we took our samurai names that we reverted back to our real family."
"So you were known as Enshirou Jin?"
"Hai, until I turned eighteen."
"That's probably why the shogunate has not found you until now. They had to find someone who knew your history. They had to find your brother."
"Hai."
"So," Yoshiro said, "why are you angry at Yukimaru? I saw your face turn into hatred and your sword drawn, ready to cut him down the moment he appeared."
Jin turned to look out over the water again.
"When the shogunate had wanted to turn Mariya Enshirou's dojo into a training ground for assassins they approached all the students."
"Let me guess," Yoshiro interrupted, "you were the only one who wouldn't turn."
"Hai."
"Jin," Yoshiro said excitedly, "this proves it wasn't your fault for killing your master. You didn't betray anyone. The shogunate wanted you out of the way."
"They forced Mariya, for whatever reason, and now they are trying to do it again with Yukimaru. So now what can we do?"
Jin had been pondering that very question for two days now. He had wanted to leave the next morning but Noko wouldn't go.
"I can't leave until after the wedding," Noko said to Jin the next morning over a breakfast of fish. "I promised Mai I'd help her daughter change her kimono's."
"We have to go," Jin replied dropping his chopsticks from his mouth, "Yukimaru wants us both dead."
"If Yukimaru wanted us dead," Noko replied pointing her chopsticks at Jin, "he could have killed me weeks ago when he was buying fish from me, but he didn't."
"Noko has a point Jin," Yoshiro said, "Yukimaru could have very easily assassinated you," he said pointing at Noko, "and left no trace."
"Why didn't he?" Nokomis asked Jin.
"I have no idea," Jin replied, "once the shogunate gives you an assignment most samurai would follow it without question."
"That's it Jin!" Yoshiro said excitedly snapping his fingers together.
Jin and Nokomis looked towards the apothecary, confused.
"Don't you see," the old man said clearly excited, "Yukimaru can't kill you. Not personally at least. That's why he set the fires."
"The first one," Yoshiro continued, "was intended for you Jin. Once you died in the fire I'm sure Yukimaru would have had no trouble taking your head from your corpse."
"The second and third ones were for Noko."
"But why not just confront me?" Jin asked. "That's what any samurai would have done."
"Yes," Yoshiro replied, "but Yukimaru isn't like any samurai. Remember he grew up with you, sparred many times with you."
The apothecary glanced at Jin and studied the young man before he continued.
"Was he ever able to beat you?" Yoshiro finally asked.
Surprised Jin sat there realizing what the old man was telling him.
"No Good Father," Jin replied.
Jin sighed and looked back to the house where Noko and Yoshiro lie asleep.
What Yoshiro had said to Jin rang true in his heart. Not once while Jin and Yukimaru were growing up had Yukimaru been able to beat him at sword play. Yukimaru and Jin were brothers, Yoshiro had said to him. Just because they were not of the same blood made no difference. Mariya saw both boys as his sons. The eldest Jin and the youngest Yukimaru. As such Yukimaru would have been jealous of Jin, and when the shogunate approached him Yukimaru saw a way out of being trapped in Jin's shadow, Yoshiro had told him.
It wasn't until Enshirou's death that the shogunate set Yukimaru after Jin. No one from the dojo knew what had happened. Jin had gathered his daisho's and fled into the night. It wouldn't be until sometime later that the dojo would notice his disappearance and blame him. Jin could have very easily stayed and denied the charges, but the death had occurred in his room late at night. There would have been no way for Jin to have talked his way out of that.
"You see Good Son," Yoshiro had told Jin, "Yukimaru can't kill family. It would leave his soul tormented."
Jin started on his circle around the outside of the house again. Even though he had wanted to leave he was glad that they had stayed.
"Otto Takeda Jin," he said to himself smiling.
"No wonder everyone is respectful of me," Jin said out loud.
It had been at Mai's daughter's wedding that Jin had found out the truth.
Nokomis was in charge of helping the bride change her kimono's between the different parts of the wedding ceremony. During the ceremony, at the Shinto shrine, Noko had stood by his side. When the priest had finished with the ceremony and they were walking back to town, following the happy couple, Nokomis had asked Jin what the couple were now called.
"They aren't man and woman anymore," Nokomis said to Jin. "What do I call them now?"
Jin turned to his right to pass along the side of the house. He had told Noko that the couple were husband and wife now. These were two new words for Noko to learn and she always repeated them back to Jin. But instead of repeating the Japanese word for husband Noko only repeated the one for wife.
"Noko," Jin asked as they walked into town, "don't you want to repeat the word for husband? Did you hear it correctly?"
"Hai, I heard it correctly," she replied, "and no I don't need to repeat it."
"Why?"
"Because," she replied as Mai's daughter beckoned for her and she hurried towards the bride, "I've heard the word before."
"Where?" Jin called out after her.
"From your friend," she yelled back joining Mai's daughter.
Jin turned to walk along the back of the house and stopped when he reached the furo. If truth be told he liked the idea of Noko as his wife.
"It makes perfect sense," Yoshiro told Jin at the reception, called a kekkon hiroen, after the ceremony.
"But we are not married Good Father," Jin replied.
"The town folk think you are."
"How?" Jin questioned.
"Remember you told Mai's daughter that you were leaving to go and fetch your wife? When you came back with me the whole town thought that you had brought back your nakodo."
"You," Jin snorted, "a matchmaker."
"Yes me," Yoshiro said elbowing Jin. "As a samurai having a marriage arranged by someone else is necessary, because if you were of the upper ranks you would have few opportunities to meet a female. The marriage would be of equal or greater status than you."
"That's true," Jin replied nodding his head in agreement.
"But for those samurai of the lower rank," Yoshiro said softly, "marriages with commoners are permitted."
Jin had been grateful that Yoshiro hadn't called him a ronin.
"So, the town thinks I'm married?" Jin asked.
Yoshiro stifled a laugh. "Haven't you paid attention to anything that the town folk have been saying?"
Jin just shook his head, "I don't get into the local gossip of other people."
"Well then," Yoshiro said leaning close to whisper into Jin's ear, "let me fill you in. The folks around here all believe that you have a wife from the mainland."
"A wife from the mainland?" Jin narrowed his eyes at Yoshiro.
"Yes. A wife from the mainland," Yoshiro stated. "You really don't pay attention to anyone but Noko."
Jin just smiled as Yoshiro continued on.
"We had only been here a couple of days before that Chinese junk showed up in Suruga Bay, remember?"
"Hai," Jin replied as he watched the bride and groom reappear in yet another colorful kimono.
Jin listened but only had eyes for Noko as she appeared shortly after the bride to slowly make her way to where he was sitting with Yoshiro.
"That was the same day that Celestial Buddha Shino returned Noko to you."
"Hai," Jin replied mesmerized by the kimono that Noko was wearing.
Nokomis had changed her clothes as well. She had worn a plain kimono at the wedding ceremony. Now she wore a homongi kimono that was flamboyant and colorful with a pattern of the mountains of Japan running continuously over the seams. The sleeves of the kimono were short in length. Her hair was pulled back from her face and done up in a thick bun at the crown of her head. When Noko turned, to bow to the bride and groom, Jin could see that the back was also pulled up into the same bun and there were two silver flower pins placed on each side, right above her ears.
Noko was stunning and Jin's heart beat fast within his chest.
"Not everyone was happy with your arranged marriage to Noko at first. They believed that I should never had found you a 'gaijin' bride. But they are now please with the way you protect her when someone tries to harm her. They call you a true samurai, not one of the shogunate's puppets. You should be proud my son."
And proud Jin had remained for the rest of the day. If the town folk believed that he was married, then so be it. He had loved Noko in the way she was dressed that day.
Jin started forward on his walk again. He remembered how he had taken Noko's hand when the party was done and had held it as they walked home together. Noko had seemed in an equally good mood and had squeezed his hand back as they walked along. But still he was upset. Mainly at himself.
"I wish I had seen this sooner," Jin said to himself as he turned once again to walk down the side of the house.
Stopping at the corner where he had started from, Jin once again looked out over Suruga Bay. There were two things that were bothering him. One, that they needed to leave because of Yukimaru and two that Noko didn't know how to protect herself from Yukimaru.
If the town folk believed that Noko was his wife, then as the wife of a samurai her main duty would be to maintain the household. Noko was skilled at caring for people, especially elderly Yoshiro, and because of Jin's low standing rank as a ronin she had never complained when she had to work alongside him to survive.
Jin knew that samurai women were often left alone when their husbands went traveling or engaged in clan battles. The wife would be left to manage all the household affairs, care for the children (if the couple had any), and even defend the home forcibly.
That was one thing that Noko didn't know how to do. She had relied on Jin to protect her. Noko didn't know how to wield a polearm called a naginata, or how to use a kaiken; a special knife; in the art of tantojutsu.
Jin sighed looking towards the house, "I guess I'll have to teach her," he said out loud before he noticed a shadow out of the corner of his right eye.
Pulling his katana from its scabbard Jin turned in the direction of where he had seen something and slowly moved forward.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Yukimaru moved slowly through the trees biding his time. He didn't want to do this and tried to think of a way out, but the only thing that came to his mind was his mother being beaten to death by his father.
Yukimaru shook his head to clear it. He couldn't bring that image up, not now, and yet his mind wandered back to his days with his adoptive brother Jin.
"He killed our master," Yukimaru said to himself, "Jin deserves to die."
But saying the words didn't make it any better. He was just trying to convince himself that this was the right thing to do. Yukimaru was troubled over what councilor Kariya Kagetoki had said.
The mujuushin kenjutsu was a style of shimpo kenjutsu meaning 'sword skills of the mind' and was founded by Sekiun Harigaya. By analogy, the name implies a precognitive or instinctual method of sword fighting, sometimes translated as 'the sword of no abiding mind'.
At the time that Yukimaru was growing up with Jin most of the other schools prided themselves on a distinctive style of fighting. The schools taught their students how to conquer an opponent by strategy, swift response, strength, or shrewd foresight.
However, Master Mariya Enshirou taught his students differently. He taught that one should not even react to one's opponent. That to treat the art of sword fighting as a mode of combat was a corruption of its purity, a descent into crude bestiality.
Yukimaru stifled a laugh. That had been his way out, but because he had turned away from his master's teaching, and followed the shogunate, he had descended into Avici, or endless suffering. But Jin hadn't turned. Jin had followed in Enshirou's footsteps, even after their master's death.
As Yukimaru bent down into the brush to watch Jin walk past the back of the house, he thought back to the dojo.
"Remember my sons," Mariya said as the young boys sat in front of him, "the mujuushin kenjutsu style is not at all about winning and losing, beating, or being beaten."
"In fact it is not about conflict at all. It's about a flowing movement of breath, spirit, and power."
Yukimaru waited for Jin to round the edge of the house before he silently snuck forward towards the furo, Mariya's voice still ringing in his head.
"There are three things that you must forget completely to fight in the true mujuushin kenjutsu form."
Yukimaru approached the furo and ducked down to hide along its wooden side that faced the house. There was still water left inside from the days bath, most likely to be recycled for washing clothes the next day.
"One; his own body."
Yukimaru waited while Jin stopped in his survey of the house.
"Move!" Yukimaru mouthed silently.
He had been watching Jin for awhile now and knew that Jin always stopped at the front of the house, not here.
Yukimaru breathed a silent sigh of relief when Jin walked on. Making sure the young samurai had rounded the corner first, Yukimaru then stepped up onto the roka. He drew his wakizashi as he reached for the shoji and slid it aside.
"Two; his sword."
Yukimaru stepped inside the house and closed the shoji, letting his eyes become accustomed to the dark. He creped softly towards the kitchen as Mariya's final words resounded inside his head.
"And Three; the existence of his adversary."
Stopping by the sunken hearth in the center of the room Yukimaru bent down and used his wakizashi to pierce a burning log sitting on the fine sand. Picking it up, out of the hearth, he sat it onto the wooden floor and pulled his sword out. He watched as the wooden floor slowly started to smoke and then catch on fire. Only after a small portion of the kitchen was on fire did Yukimaru go in search of where the old man and Noko slept.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I could have killed you!" Jin shouted at the apothecary as he lowered his sword from above his head.
"Thank Buddha you didn't," Yoshiro said trying to stay upright on his feet.
"What are you doing up?" Jin asked.
"I had to go," Yoshiro said pointing over his shoulder. "Why are you up?"
"Couldn't sleep," the young samurai replied.
Jin replaced his katana into his scabbard and reached out to help the old man stay on his feet. He helped Yoshiro stumble back from the pit toilet to the house.
"You're drunk," Jin stated as Yoshiro tripped and almost fell forward on his face.
"Hum," Yoshiro slurred out stopping, "too much sake."
"But," he continued, slapping Jin on the arm, "it was a beautiful ceremony and kekkon hiroen."
Jin stopped also and looked Yoshiro in the eye before he spoke.
"Yes it was, and did you see how beautiful Noko looked."
The old man narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at Jin. A sly smile coming to his face.
"Yes," Yoshiro said at least, "I noticed. So when are you going to ask her?"
"Ask her?" Jin questioned, taken back by the old man's comment. "Ask her what?"
"Ask Noko to marry you. The whole town of Numazu thinks you're married. Tell them you want to renew your vows and invite them all to see if they ask."
Jin went to drop his head to the ground, but Yoshiro had anticipated the move. He removed his hand from Jin's arm and placed it on the man's chin raising the young man's head back up so that he could look into his eyes.
"Jin?" Yoshiro questioned looking intensely into the young samaruri's face.
"I can't," Jin finally replied turning his head away. "It's too soon after Shino and Sanjo."
"Jin," Yoshiro said softly, "just tell me one thing. Do you love Noko?"
"I…," Jin started to say, took a deep breath, and trailed off.
Turning his head back to Yoshiro Jin saw the light of red and orange flames starting to devour the house that he had sweated over to build for his lover.
"Fire!" Jin yelled leaving Yoshiro and running towards the house.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nokomis stirred in her sleep. Something bothered her and she coughed before she opened her eyes. She could see black smoke starting to fill the room and rolled over onto her right side to wake Jin up. Noticing that he wasn't on the futon next to her she saw his black split hakama's and white tabi socks before her.
"What was he doing up and dressed for in the middle of the night?" Nokomis wondered as she pushed the sheet off of her.
"Maybe he knew about the smoke and had come to get me," Nokomis' brain thought as she raised her eyes to look upon Jin's face.
What she saw frightened her. Standing before her was a young man in a deep forest green kimono with a sword raised above his head.
Nokomis screamed as the man she had recognized as Yukimaru swung his sword down upon her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Jin jumped up onto the roka and ran for the shoji pushing it aside roughly. Flames shot out at him and he took a step back, right hand raised to his face, to avoid being burnt. He wasn't going to get into the house that way and turned to his right, heading for the living space. The shoji had been left open here and Jin quickly crossed the space heading for where Noko was sleeping.
Stopping at the open shoji, to the room where Jin had left her sleeping, he saw Nokomis cowering on the futon. Yukimaru stood over her, his wakizashi raised above his head. As Noko screamed Jin sprang into action. Taking his left hand, that was on his katana, he turned the scabbard over so that the blade was facing down. Jin then took his right hand to point the top of the scabbard down towards the ground while he jumped over Noko, to straddle her, right foot in front and left foot behind. As he drew his katana out he raised himself up from his jump, his blade coming up and blocking Yukimaru's strike.
Jin knew that he couldn't stay this way, with Noko under him, and he quickly took his left foot, placing his weight on his right foot, stepped forward, and brought it behind Yukimaru's knee. Sweeping his left foot back towards his body Jin knocked Yukimaru off balance.
As Yukimaru fell backwards onto the floor Jin stepped back over Noko and grabbed her left arm, pulling her up roughly.
"Sori," he said pushing her behind him with his left hand as Yukimaru scrambled to his feet.
Placing two hands on his sword, the right one near the tsuba and the left one on the end, Jin raised it over his head, on his left side, as Yukimaru approached him. Bringing his katana down at a slight angle, that was levered by his left hand, Jin made contact with Yukimaru's left forearm. Carrying through he heard Yukimaru scream in pain as blood flowed freely from his opponent's arm.
Jin stepped back in retreat keeping his feet shoulder width apart and accessed the situation. He had to get Noko out of the burning house and soon. He knew that Yukimaru was wounded, possibly with a broken left arm, as he had heard the crack when he had brought his katana down on his former friend.
Lowering his sword and taking a step back Jin said, "I have no desire to kill you."
"You can't kill me," Yukimaru shouted at Jin and charged him.
Jin blocked Yukimaru's charge and ran his sword down the length of the blade until the two swords met at the tsuba. Holding Yukimaru where he was at, Jin pushed forward looking for an opening. Jin was trying to find the flow of the battle and attempt to control it.
Yukimaru pushed Jin backwards and broke off his attack.
"I'm not the same little boy I use to be," he spit angrily at Jin, "I'm afraid that your time is over!"
Yukimaru rushed Jin, but Jin blocked him effortlessly, one-handed, open-eyed, and calm. As Yukimaru retreated and stood there breathing heavily Jin knew what he had to do.
Jin had a way of directly influencing this entire fight and turn the outcome his way, but he had to act fast. He reached backwards for Noko's hand and was glad to feel her take his left hand into hers. Slowly, calmly, trying to unsettle Yukimaru, Jin walked sideways towards the shoji, making sure Noko was behind him ever step of the way. He kept his sword pointed at his opponent's throat as he moved.
"What's wrong?" Jin questioned when he reached the opened door trying to throw Yukimaru off his guard. "Are you afraid of going to Yomi together?"
Yukimaru could only stare at Jin as his former friend released his bride's hand and pushed her out the open doorway, lowering his katana as he did so.
"Are you trying to be reborn?" Jin asked Yukimaru trying to buy time for Noko to get away.
Yukimaru saw his chance and took it.
"Did you think you could deceive me?" he shouted at Jin as he raised his sword into the air.
Jin braced for an attack that never came. Instead of rushing Jin with his sword Yukimaru threw it his way instead. Jin turned his shoulder to the left to avoid the sword and then realized too late that he was not the intended target. He heard Noko's surprised cry behind him. She had been in the way.
For a brief moment Jin took his attention away from Yukimaru to look behind him. He saw Noko, with Yukimaru's wakizashi sword in her abdomen region, fall backwards through the rice paper and out into the darkened night.
"Noko!" Jin cried out as he saw Yukimaru charge him out of the corner of his eye.
Turning around quickly, Jin pulled his wakizashi left handed out of its scabbard raising its blade to block Yukimaru's katana. With his right hand Jin brought his katana forward to cut across Yukimaru's chest.
Yukimaru's body slumped forward, blood oozing from his new wound as Jin took his right foot and swept Yukimaru's left foot out from under him. As Yukimaru fell to the ground Jin brought his wakizashi forward to slice off his opponents right ear.
Jin retreated back to the open door watching his former friend, in pain on the ground, in front of him. He didn't want to do this and placed his wakizashi back into its scabbard.
Slowly, painfully, Yukimaru rose to his feet. Black smoke billowed all around him and Jin knew that the pair didn't have much time left before the whole house would come down on them both. Jin had heard other parts of the house giving away and he slowly lowered his katana.
"Are you sure you want this?" Jin asked as Yukimaru got ready to charge him yet again.
Apprehension showed in Yukimaru's eyes, but he couldn't back down. He had been given an order by the shogunate that he had to fulfill or die trying. There was no other way out. He loved Jin like a brother and on the night that Mariya had been killed Jin had fled. Left him to fend for himself. To be at the mercy of the shogunate. Hatred boiled inside Yukimaru and he shouted at Jin.
"You left me behind!" Yukimaru spat out, "I can not let you live!"
Yukimaru rushed at Jin katana raised over his right shoulder.
Jin stood his ground, motionless, listening to his own heart beating inside his chest. So Yukimaru had felt betrayed when he, Jin, had killed their master and fled into the night. The smoke was thick now and Jin couldn't see Yukimaru very well. Closing his eyes Jin listened for Yukimaru as he approached. Ever so gently Jin simply brought the blade of his katana up when he heard Yukimaru in front of him. Yukimaru's momentum impaled the young samurai's abdomen on his former master's sword.
Surprise registered on Yukimaru's face as he simply, lovingly, leaned forward to embrace his brother dropping his sword as he did so.
"Jin," Yukimaru softly said as blood rose to his throat and flowed out the side of his mouth.
Yukimaru knew that he was dying and yet he needed to say the words to Jin once more. Reaching up he grabbed the right side of Jin's kimono and pulled himself up straighter. By doing so this caused Mariya's katana to slice downwards into Yukimaru's abdomen, finishing what Jin couldn't do himself. Yukimaru stifled a cry and leaned into Jin's face, placing his mouth next to his brother's ear. He only had moments left.
"I…love…you…," Yukimaru softly slurred out and went limp into Jin's arms.
Jin let a tear flow from his closed eye as he reverently pulled his katana from his brother's abdomen, catching the dead man's body as he fell towards the ground. Carefully falling to his knees Jin supported Yukimaru's dead weight and gently let the body slide down his left side to the ground.
"Sori Yukimaru," Jin said opening his eyes to finally look upon his dead brother.
Jin would have liked to stay longer, but Yoshiro calling him from outside of the house caused Jin to get up and quickly exit the burning house.
Stepping through the rice paper Jin jumped down to the ground. He saw blood pooled on the ground next to his feet, but Nokomis wasn't there. Looking beyond the burning house he saw a trail of blood leading towards Suruga Bay. Flicking his katana sword twice in the air, to rid it of Yukimaru's blood, he placed it back into its scabbard as he loped towards the shore following Noko's trail of where she had pulled herself forward. Blood was seen on the ground, through out his travel, and just before he reached the small sand dune, that led down to the water, he saw two shadows under the full moon and quickened his pace.
Coming to a stop he saw Yoshiro holding Noko's right hand as she wreathed in pain, trying to pull the wakizashi from her side. Jin dropped to his knees, on Nokomis' left side, as Yoshiro looked up at the samurai. Yoshiro saw blood splattered across Jin's kimono, arms, and face. He saw that Jin's daisho's were both there by the man's left side. Quickly he demised what had happened and turned his attention back to Noko.
"So," Yoshiro said as he pulled Nokomis' right hand away from the sword that protruded from her left side, "Yukimaru is dead."
"Hai," Jin said reverently, quietly, as he reached for the handle of the wakizashi.
"Iie!" Yoshiro shouted at Jin stopping the young man with his left hand before Jin could touch the sword.
"It needs to come out," Jin said as Noko painfully reached out for his hand.
Jin took Nokomis' left hand in his and grasped it tightly as she cried out in pain.
"Can't you do something?" Jin questioned getting scared, "Don't you have anything up the sleeves of your kimono?"
"Iie," the apothecary said waving his left hand towards the house that was now burnt down to the foundation, "all my supplies are gone and this is my juban."
"If I pull the wakizashi out without being able to stop the flow of blood Noko will die. We need help."
"What can I do?" Jin asked as he touched Noko's bloodied face, trying to calm her.
"We need to get Noko into town…," the apothecary started to say.
"I can do that," Jin interrupted as he went to pick up Noko in his bare, bloodied, arms.
"Iie!" Yoshiro shouted once again stopping the young samurai, "If we move Noko the wakizashi might dislodge and she could die instantly."
"She is already bleeding to death as we speak."
Jin nodded his head remembering back to when Yukimaru ended his life on Jin's sword by pulling himself up.
"You said we needed to get Noko into town," Jin sternly said not wanting the same thing to happen to her that had just happened to Yukimaru. "Now you're telling me we can't move her."
Yoshiro just shook his head at Jin. Jin was angry and rightly so. His best friend, his brother, lay dead inside the burnt house and now his new ward lie dying before his feet.
"There are only two things that we can do now good son," Yoshiro said.
"What are they Good Father?" Jin asked lowering his head towards Noko's face.
Jin knew he didn't have much time left with her.
"One," Yoshiro said softly, "help her commit jigai. Let her go with honor."
"Dame desu!" Jin screamed at Yoshiro bringing his head up sharply to stare the old man down.
"There has to be another way. Please Good Father," Jin pleaded with the apothecary, "I…," Jin trailed off.
Jin dropped his head, with tears in his eyes, to press his forehead up against Noko's forehead. He couldn't let her go. Not after all he had gone through to protect her. It wasn't fair.
"What's the second thing we can do?" Jin quietly asked Yoshiro knowing that he probably wasn't going to like the answer.
Jin was already preparing himself mentally for the ritual of seppuku when Noko died. He wasn't going to let Shino stop him this time and he was surprised when the old man called out her name.
"Two, you can call upon Celestial Buddha Shino. Maybe she can help us. She has before."
Jin raised his head up and looked at Yoshiro. Noko wasn't moving. She was growing cold under his touch. She was going to die at any moment. Shino had placed him in charge of Noko. Shino had told him that her role was to protect him. Did that include those that he…
Jin shook his head. He couldn't say the word and looked up into the darkened night with a full moon high overhead.
"Celestial Buddha Shino," Jin pleaded to heaven, "please help me."
From the direction of Suruga Bay a wind started blowing towards the two men. Night became day as a bright light appeared. Jin brought his head down and turned around to see a round glimmering picture of another place before him. He had seen this place before and turned back to look at Yoshiro, scared.
"It's the only way," the old man told Jin releasing his hold on Noko's right hand and carefully sliding backwards on his knees in the sand.
As Yoshiro bowed his head to the Celestial Buddha that appeared dressed in a white kimono, Jin quickly stood up and stepped over Noko's body. Turning around he carefully picked her up and walked down the dune to where Shino stood.
As Jin walked up to Shino he could see that the sun was high in the sky where Noko came from. A woman wearing a white straight gown that hung off of one shoulder was waiting for him with outstretched arms. Behind the woman were large towering buildings and Jin heard loud scary noises. He stopped before the woman with outstretched arms and gently transferred Noko into her arms.
"Arigato," Jin said bowing to the woman who stepped backwards with Nokomis.
Jin watched as the round picture slowly closed. He wished that he could have gone with Noko, but he knew that he couldn't cross the ring. "Would he ever see her again?" Jin wondered to himself. Shino's voice pulled him away from staring where Noko had been.
"Hai Jin," Shino replied answering his unspoken thought. "Nokomis will come back."
Jin turned to look at his lover and started to bow his head to the ground. Shino reached out and cupped his chin in her right hand, bringing it up so she could peer into his eyes.
"Jin," Shino asked, "you do love her don't you?"
"I…," Jin started to say and trailed off.
Leaning forward Shino gently kissed Jin on his lips. Taking her hand away from his face she stepped backwards.
"Jin," Shino said as she faded from view, "I give you permission to love again."
Jin stood still for a long time looking out over Suruga Bay. It was dark again and the moon had started its downward course. Eventually he sighed and turned his tired body around. Before him stood Yoshiro. The old man had been waiting for him to take whatever time that he needed to greave. Now that Jin was turned around Yoshiro quickly closed the gap between the two and gathered the young samurai into his arms.
"Jin," Yoshiro said letting the young man break down and cry on his shoulder, "nothing haunts us like the things we don't say."
Jin raised his head up from Yoshiro's shoulder. He hadn't told Yukimaru that he loved him and his heart broke. Jin let the old man lead him along the sandy beach towards the town of Numazu. As they walked Jin let his mind wander back.
He had just killed his best friend, his brother, that he loved. He had also lost his Noko that, dare he say the word, loved.
The pair walked in silence until near dawn they reached the bridge over the Kano River that led into the town. Stopping before they crossed the bridge Yoshiro placed his arm around Jin.
"Jin," Yoshiro said, "Good friends care for each other like us. Close friends understand each other like Yukimaru."
"But," the apothecary carried on, "true friends, like Noko, stay forever, beyond words, beyond distance, beyond time."
"Noko will return to you Jin."
Jin nodded his head in agreement. "Hai," he said simply.