Disclaimer: I do not have any claim to Usagi Yojimbo compared to Stan Sakai and those he entrusts it to.
[CPC]
Consequences of a Prompted Concern
[CPC]
As the sunlight of a beautiful spring day dawned on the Itsuki Sword School, where many in the local province learned the art of swordsmanship, Yamamoto Yukichi was too inspired by the outside tranquility to bother with practicing his bokken usage within the dojo itself, and instead, went about his routine in the surrounding garden while his sensei rested for a time. While he still had years to go before becoming an instructor of the school, let alone head instructor, Yukichi was nonetheless committed to improving his techniques with each passing day.
His swordsmanship display was cut off, however, when Yukichi noticed a group of three entering the school grounds, a family if he was not mistaken.
The man who reminded Yukichi somewhat of himself wore blue and black clothing which was adorned with the mon of the late Lord Mifune and was undoubtedly a wandering samurai judging by said mon and the long and short swords he carried. While Yukichi was uncertain of ronin himself, he had no intention of being rude when the man had his presumed wife and son by his side.
To the man's right, a lovely woman with black hair and attired in a pink kimono looked at Yukichi with a respectful, yet no less kind, smile that bright a certain color to his face, and in her left right hand, she held close to a young boy who smiled at Yukichi earnestly. An odd assortment of people, but Yukichi did not have a bad feeling about them.
"Can I help you," Yukichi ultimately asked the three after an unsure moment.
The long-eared ronin led a respectful bow to Yukichi as he said, "I am Miyamoto Usagi, and I am here to pay my respects to Swordmaster Itsuki." Gesturing to the woman and youth, he added, "This is my wife, Mariko, and our son, Jotaro."
Returning the bow in greeting, Yukichi replied respectfully, yet cautiously, "I bid you welcome, Usagi-san, but please forgive my doubtful nature. Is Master Itsuki expecting you?"
Reacting awkwardly, which prompted his wife and son to show amused looks at the expression, Usagi admitted, "Well, no. But I respect his reputation, and that of his school's, and since my family and I were traveling in the area, I had hope that he wouldn't be inconvenienced by our presence."
Under different circumstances, Yukichi would have told Usagi off for seemingly seeking to waste his sensei's importance. However, seeing that the latter was attended to by his family, Yukichi chose to be more diplomatic about the situation. "Master Itsuki is currently resting, Usagi-san," he said at last before showing a tolerant smile, "but you and your family are welcome to wait until he rises."
Exchanging bows, Yukichi then led the three to a spot in the garden where a mat was later laid out for everyone to be seated cross-legged on. Over the following hour, while Itsuki was still resting, Yukichi, when not sparring with either the experienced Usagi, or the enthusiastic Jotaro, engaged in conversation with the both of them and Mariko on how and why the three of them were on the warrior's pilgrimage in spite of being a family.
The sudden uneasiness that exuded from both Usagi and Mariko's expressions instantly made Yukichi regret asking, but Jotaro, with pride in his voice, interjected, "Traveling isn't too bad, sir! My father himself says we learn much about the world more than what we would've had if we stayed in one place!"
"Jotaro," the boy's parents softly reprimanded him for his outburst, which quieted him down.
Mariko then showed a non-offended, if melancholic, look to Yukichi as she explained, "It is not a pleasant story, Yukichi-san, but when Lord Mifune was slain by Lord Hikiji in battle, it has been hard for the three of us to find a place to truly settle down." Seeing her husband's guilty look, she then added with a good-natured tease, "But I do not regret who I chose to marry, even if his proposal was built on an immediate concern."
The embarrassment and disgust that Usagi and Jotaro respectively shown on their faces was clear enough evidence to Yukichi that the latter's conceiving was not after the former became a married man. Clearing his throat to move away from that topic, Yukichi then bowed his head, saying with genuine regret, "Please forgive my asking. Truth be told, my uncle on my mother's side of the family was a loyal supporter of Lord Mifune himself until Lord Hikiji personally slayed him for defying him in the North Village."
While the family of three showed sympathetic expressions, Mariko's eyes dawned with curiosity as she said, "The North Village, Yukichi-san? That is where my husband and I hail from."
Apparently having an idea what his wife was getting at, Usagi turned to Yukichi, asking, "Please forgive my presuming, Yukichi-san, but do you know if your uncle was the Headman of the North Village?"
Surprised by the sudden question, Yukichi answered, "Well, yes, he was. Did you both know him?"
While the parents looked at each other in sheer shock, Jotaro was the first to respond to Yukichi's own words with a tight hug as he exclaimed, "That makes you my uncle," his own words then fumbled as he corrected himself, no less excitably. "Wait, not uncle, but second cousin!"
"What," was all Yukichi could say in absolute confusion at the boy's action and words.
At the odd sight, Usagi and Mariko let out meaningful laughs before calmly separating their son from grasping the aspiring instructor with the former explaining to the latter, "Apologies, cousin, but what Jotaro means is that your late uncle was my father!"
Absorbing the explanation entirely and seeing the complete honesty on all three faces, Yukichi quickly shared in their good merriment. "Of all the strange coincidences!"
"Indeed," Mariko agreed with a soft giggle.
In time, Itsuki finally awoke, and upon kindly greeting Yukichi and welcoming his relatives, asked Usagi for a demonstration of his swordsmanship. With a gracious nod, Usagi used his katana to cut the branch of a nearby tree, which Itsuki was quick to examine with keen interest much to Yukichi's concern for his previously unknown cousin's talents.
"Not a traditional stroke, Usagi-san," Itsuki admitted with a seemingly serious tone in his voice before he showed a wide smile of approval in the ronin's direction, "but no less proficient I dare say!" Letting out a pleased laugh, he then turned to Yukichi as much as Usagi as he said, "I believe your cousin as much as myself would be honored if you stayed on to become an instructor of my sword school, should you desire to."
Seeing Usagi initially be taken aback by the employment offer, Yukichi showed his cousin an approving smile as the man's wife and son gave him encouraging looks themselves. While Yukichi could understand any reluctance on Usagi's part in choosing a new master after the loss of Lord Mifune, and he himself did not know what tomorrow would potentially bring, the younger samurai nonetheless wanted his newfound family members to be cared for close by.
Soon enough, with his family giving him strength, Usagi finally showed Itsuki a humble smile and bowed his head as he unhesitatingly gave his answer. "It would be my honor to accept your kind offer, Itsuki-sensei."
[CPC]
Having read all the available Usagi Yojimbo issues thus far, I decided to take a try at writing fanfiction about it myself. And without crossing it over with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, too! I somewhat regret not writing the part about Usagi proposing to Mariko as described above, but I suppose I just wanted to get this done sooner rather than later.
I also commissioned a fan art depiction of Usagi's happy marriage with Mariko, which includes Jotaro, by the DeviantArtist, Eshbaal, that should be finished before the end of 2023 if lucky. I gladly recommend his artwork.
While the "traveling with your family" route might work for the Lone Goat and Kid Assassins, I can well imagine that Usagi would travel with his family for a time until he decides to finally serve under Lord Noriyuki of the Geishu Clan, where Jotaro would surely find a stepmother in Tomoe Ame if Mariko is already long deceased before then, takes a permanent job working alongside Inspector Ishida in law enforcement, becomes a sword instructor alongside Yukichi like in this one-shot, or some other path I have not considered yet.
Should anything require Usagi's presence, and he is not there, perhaps Yukichi should take the ronin path much earlier for that purpose. It would be a curious swapping of characters, but I wonder if things would be as good, even better, or far worser if that was the case.
All in all, as much as I enjoy good ship content, I think I should depict more general relationships for the sake of argument, like the true friendship between Usagi and Ishida that Stan Sakai often depicts in his comic, the father and son dynamic between Usagi and Jotaro, or even another three-men team up between Usagi, Stray Dog, and Gen since the last one in the comics was pretty funny. It is something to consider.
I apologize if I made some missteps in my writing of "animal people in Feudal Japan," but to be fair, I cannot recall if the animal species thing is discussed in the comics often enough, considering Usagi, a rabbit bodyguard, is often compared to a tiger. The most anyone brings up to calling him a rabbit in words is their pointing out of him having long ears. There is also Gen's horn, but that's a different story.
Still, can I just ask why the people of Ancient Japan apparently did not know about kissing as a concept? I understand that things always mean differently from culture to culture, but to me, kissing between two people is as natural as lovemaking, marriage, and childbearing, even if there is usually a process for those things.