Have lockpick, will travel…

Francisco was not home, and his building locked and closed up as if he expected to be gone for a while. Another opportunity to put the lock picks to good use. Now that I understood the trick to it all, it took me mere seconds to open the lock. No wonder these locks are not used very often - they're terrible.

It took only a few more minutes to break into the desk and retrieve my money. After considering the matter further, I also confirmed there were no false bottoms and hidden drawers in his desk. Though Francisco said he didn't have any information that could help me find Aki now, I also wanted to find out who Aki had been in the past. Aki then, the Aki my mother knew, he too was someone I needed to know, even if it was just the memory of who he used to be.

All I found was one more drawing. Francisco could have become an artist if he had not gone into a time traveling career. He'd sketched a large group of people sitting in a room full of books. I recognized Aki and my mother, but the others... wait... was that a toddler Sasuke? The serious expression seemed familiar, even if the mochi patterned onesie did not. I debated taking this with me too - when I found Sasuke again he'd be sure to find it amusing - but these were Francisco's memories and I couldn't steal them.

Another thing I couldn't find? Tea. So with a pot of terrible coffee at my side, I picked up my old life, and after too many weeks, I settled down to finally, finally, finish decoding and reading Aki's letter. Cloud city moment… Sasuke… bank numbers. I skimmed past the old news, trying to find the point where I'd stopped.

However, just as Francisco has his reasons, I am requesting that you stay here. There is an important mission, a vital one that could mean the difference between the future of your timeline, of all timelines, and chaos. There is a young boy by the name of Hikosane. That is all I know about him in this timeline. Soon after you arrived in this era, a cataclysmic event splintered the timeline, and Hikosane (or sometimes Hiko) was sent onto very different paths. It is vital that this boy survives past his tenth birthday.

Hiko? Sho's brother Hiko? It was not an uncommon name – there were probably dozens of Hikos scattered across the land. I read further, but Aki was not of any help.

Who is he? Unfortunately, that depends upon the timeline.

Great. I suppose I could proceed upon the fact that the Hiko I knew was about the correct age, and that he'd already nearly been killed. Why was he important, though? Was he someone special to the future? Someone's father or grandfather? Oooh, what if he was my great, great x20 grandfather?

WHO is he, you are probably asking me now. As I once told Master Mikumo, he's not anyone specific, but he is the butterfly. In every timeline, he will do something important to protect the future. It might be as simple as giving a warlord a mouthful of water at the right moment. Or it might be as complicated as growing up to be an important Daimyo himself. The event that threw his alternates onto different paths, didn't erase his importance to the future… only his role.

Therefore, in every timeline, Iekane is trying to kill him. I once told you that I thought Iekane's antipathy to you was simple jealousy. That was not a lie, but it was not the entire story. And it is not a story that I am able to share.

Thanks Aki.

Katsuko, I am certain you believe I have given you few choices in this era, but in this, I have no other recourse but to tell you that what you do next is your decision. You may choose to reject everything I have told you, but I hope you do not. More than that, I hope that you never have to read this letter and that I have managed to give you this information in person. But if I have not, know that I am proud of you, and the life you have made for yourself here.

Aki

The sun was already at its highpoint when I finally put the decoded letter down. Not because it had been that difficult to decode, but because I'd had a hard time believing everything he had told me in his typical far too cryptic Aki way.

Of course because either he was in a hurry, or because he didn't want to segue into science, Aki didn't bother wasting time (time which he clearly had a lot of given due to the whole time travel thing) explaining. Why? How did he know these things, or how he knew that Hiko was important to the future? Why was Iekane trying to kill him?

Iekane.

There he was again. All roads led back to him.

Gunshot? Shojumaru and I both immediately alerted and looked around. There … a man, just in profile, slipping around the corner of the restaurant. The profile was enough though – it was Iekane.

Was I imagining that, inserting a memory of him at the scene because Aki's letter had suggested it to me?

I am not careless – I was pushed.

"It won't matter if he runs." Iekane made a fist, and I rolled away from the punch before it connected. "No matter how many timelines you try to save in him, we'll always be waiting for you."

Those, those were not my memories, and yet, they were clearer than the memory of the accident. What was happening to me?

"Hikosane – on the count of three, Okatsu will throw her knife behind and to the left of the snake. As soon as it turns to look at the knife, you are to roll to the right."

My fingers were becoming numb, but there was no way I was going to let the boy or the branch slip away from me. Mentally, I chanted instructions to myself. Don't let go of the branch…. Don't let go of the boy… keep your mouth closed when you're underwater. The last one was a difficult mantra to follow when all I wanted to do was cough up the water that I'd already swallowed.

I rubbed my eyes, hoping to find a path through these familiar-unfamiliar images. Was this the Hiko I would or had saved?

Should I retrieve Hiko and keep him with me? I couldn't watch over him every minute of the day, and at some point Motonari would return. If he found me with Hiko, then he'd probably kill me on the spot.

Could I take Hiko to the Mountain for safety? Would he go with me if I asked?

What if he was the wrong Hiko?

Cursing Aki for giving me so few identifying details, I wondered if I should find Iekane and take care of him before he could get to Hiko? It seemed that he was the key to finding Aki. And possibly finding the right Hiko.

And to find out where Iekane was, I'd have to go back to the last place I had gotten any word about him - de Sousa's.

Thankfully my breaking and entering skills were far better these days, thanks to... Mitsuhide.

That decided, I went through Francisco's office looking for tools that might help me next. An extra dagger, a few small trinkets that could be traded for food or other weapons, and some loose coins I found in the desk. What wasn't in the office, and still missing, was my bravado. I hopefully hadn't left that at Mitsuhide's. I was going to need that the most.

What, or who, I wasn't going to need was Kyubei, but he was waiting outside Francisco's when I left the building. He was leaning against the wall of a restaurant, his expression as inscrutable as always. "Did he ask you to follow me, or is this a side gig?"

"He asked, but I would have followed you anyway. He only wishes to assure himself that you are safe, and know where to find you if he-" Kyubei paused, seemed to be choosing his wording, "Realizes he made a mistake letting you go."

"I am sure he didn't say all that." While I had seen Mitsuhide beat himself up over imagined mistakes, this, my voluntary exit from his life, wasn't the kind of thing that would torture him. Not unless my leaving eventually affected the Oda as a whole.

"No. He only said he wanted to make sure of your direction in case he located Aki." Kyubei handed me some coins. "I was paraphrasing."

Was this money from Mitsuhide… or Kyubei? Knowing that he would not take them back, even if I refused them, I put them in my coin purse. "Thank you. I haven't found him, although I have more information that suggests the person involved in his disappearance is one of Aki's old couriers. I'm going to follow that thread next."

When Kyubei relayed that to Mitsuhide, as I knew he would, Mitsuhide would understand who I meant.

"I wish you a good journey then." Kyubei bowed and there seemed to be a few more unsaid words in that bow. Then he walked away. I watched until he disappeared from view. He was totally going to double back and follow me - but it was always nice to have back-up.

Not wanting to have to sneak into de Sousa's house in daylight, I decided to check up on my horse. I had hoped that Francisco might have managed to stop by and pet her, but given her mood when I arrived at the posting inn where I'd been boarding her, such visits had been few or not at all. To say she was annoyed at being cooped up for weeks would be an understatement. It took me most of the rest of the afternoon to ride the sulks out of her, and she nearly bit a chunk out of my shoulder in the process. Nor was she pleased that when the ride ended, I reluctantly returned her to the inn.

It was faster to walk to de Sousa's, and had I brought her with me, I would have had to find a place to hide her.

As before, the lights on the second floor were bright, and I could see the shadows of men and women walking past. Another dinner or banquet? He certainly had an active social calendar.

After careful consideration of my options, I took the oilskin that I used when I was delivering messages, wrapped it around a blank piece of paper, and walked in the machiya as if I were simply making a delivery (it's not as if I hadn't delivered hundreds of messages in the past). Once inside the door, it was simple enough to peel off into the office unnoticed.

Good to know that several weeks with Mitsuhide had not dimmed my ability to blend into the scenery as if I were invisible.

It was quiet. No rain this ti—no. I refused to reminisce about the last time I'd been in here. The time when Mitsuhide had nearly desk-a-doned me to cover up our search. You are indeed remembering it. After mentally slapping myself in the face, I made my way to the desk that I totally wasn't reminiscing about, and opened the (still unlocked) drawer.

It seemed that de Sousa never had discovered that Mitsuhide and I had gone through his desk. Having pinpointed the date of de Sousa's betrayal previously, it was a simple task to go through the subsequent correspondence in search of any clues to Iekane's current whereabouts.

Again, I flipped past personal looking missives, random business lists… there fewer letters to go through, and nothing at all from Portugal. Ok, that did make sense, as it wasn't as if the big Portuguese ships were docking even on a monthly basis. He probably heard from Europe no more than one or two times a year.

At last, I found correspondence from Iekane himself. Unfortunately, it had limited information and was, in itself simply asking for where de Sousa would like balance of the funds delivered and noting that he had received the weapons, they met with approval, and would de Sousa be interested in a business proposition?

It was typical of Iekane's half-lies and insinuations, and I got the impression he was feeling out de Sousa as to how far and how much he'd be willing to deal. I got it. The Nanban merchant had already reneged on a contract with Nobunaga, but that took little effort. He'd then slipped further into crime by looking the other way when Motonari had taken Hideyoshi and Mai prisoners (maybe he hadn't even known about that, or at least refused to know). Perhaps he had convinced himself that he'd done nothing to cause their disappearance.

So here was Iekane asking, nudging, him further down the path of evil. Offering more business propositions… gauging interest.

Unfortunately, this missive neither spelled out what he wanted de Sousa to do, nor gave any specific clues as to where he was currently located.

Ugh.

Frustrated, I started to reorganize the correspondence and -

Oh you've got to be kidding me.

Lying on top, (on top!) of the desk was another letter. It must have recently arrived. Clearly de Sousa was not an evil genius... no, just a man tempted down the slope into money and power who had not yet learned to lock his evil plans in a drawer! I'd given him too much credit and not even bothered to look on top of the desk.

If Mitsuhide had been here, he would have teased me for not thinking about that first… or, just waved the letter at me with a smug grin.

Cursing myself for the delay, I opened the letter, it was longer, but from context, de Sousa must have previously responded to Iekane's feeler letter and professed himself willing to help. Iekane's response? As long as you can supply muskets, I expect this to be a long and profitable partnership. Before the first snow falls, a representative from Ashikaga Yoshiaki will deliver a partial payment of silver for the next shipment of weapons.

Yoshiaki? The deposed Shogun? Where had I last heard his named mentioned? I attempted the twin memory tasks of putting everything back where I had found it, while I tried to recall exactly who had mentioned him before. Because the name had come up over the summer.

But standing around the office wouldn't help me remember things, and it would increase the danger of discovery, so I gave the room one last double check, then slipped out, leaving the town house just as stealthily as I had entered it. Right on time, too. The current party seemed to be breaking up, as I heard the thumping of footsteps from the top floor.

Sticking close to the shadow of the building, I turned to make my way back toward the center of the city. Just as I reached the corner, I paused. What if that letter from Iekane had been delivered by a messenger who stayed for dinner? After all, the letter had been on top of the desk, which indicated a recent arrival. For that matter, what if it had been delivered by lekane himself?

Ok, that last bit was unlikely. If Iekane brought the letter in person, well, then he would have had no need to write it down. Even so, it was worth watching those who departed the building. I couldn't follow all of them, but it was worth making a note of who was there and checking them out later. Ducking behind an ornamental shrub, I crouched lower and smaller to observe the guests.

Tadayo, the fabric merchant, ok, he was a possible messenger, given his prior connection with Motonari. A trader who was also a member of the Kaigoshu. I couldn't figure an obvious interest there. If I recalled correctly, his primary business was exporting local ceramics in trade for Chinese and Indian art. Then a tall graceful man who I had no problem identifying, as there was no mistaking the elegant profile of Yoshimoto.

"I've little experience with him, though I once saw him conversing with an agent of Yoshiaki, which does not speak well of him." Yoshimoto folded up the handkerchief as neatly, more neatly in fact, than it had been and picked up another.

Ah ha! Yoshimoto was the one who mentioned seeing 'Shojumaru' with Yoshiaki.

Congratulations Yoshimoto… you've just become a person of interest.

While I watched from my stakeout shrub, Yoshimoto climbed into a waiting palanquin. Had he even left Sakai in the past month? Either way, it was likely that he was at the same inn as before.

By the time Yoshimoto drifted into his room, I was waiting there for him. Not to be mistaken for an intruder (ok, I was an intruder, but not one with nefarious intentions), I had left a few lanterns burning. As intended, he saw me as soon as he entered, and without appearing to be startled, he simply bowed. "Katsu, you're looking well. I'd heard you'd been in an accident, but when I inquired if I could stop by, Mitsuhide said you were too ill."

Really? Mitsuhide hadn't mentioned that. So much had happened since the accident that it felt like it had occurred a year ago, instead of merely weeks. "There were a few days where I would not have been suitable for visitors." And I doubted that even Yoshimoto's benign affection for me would have survived if I had thrown up on him. "Anyway, I've recovered."

Without acknowledging that I had broken into his rooms (after all this breaking and entering I'd been doing, the color of my parachute was probably larceny), Yoshimoto treated me like an invited guest, offering me sake, then when I turned that down, called for a tea maid to come and make us a fresh pot.

In the meanwhile, he, without any modesty, changed into his night kimono, pressing the tea maid into service as a valet of sorts. I allowed Yoshimoto the time. While it was true I wanted answers to my questions, it seemed impolite to interrogate him while he was changing clothes. Plus, even though I was getting used to Yoshimoto's casual indifference to nudity, the naked Yoshimoto was a bit distracting.

Finally once the (slightly overcome) tea maid had departed (after receiving an elegant kiss on the back of her hand), Yoshimoto settled in. He didn't exactly say, 'to what do I owe the honor of your call' but instead, with a graceful wave Yoshimoto indicated that I had the floor.

"Yoshiaki." Would Yoshimoto look guilty if he heard the name?

To the contrary, he simply closed his eyes for a moment, but when they reopened, he looked like he was in pain. "What have you discovered?"

"As far as I know, you're the last person who has seen him, or at least the last person I'm aware has seen him." Well aside from Motonari and - "wait, did you know that Shojumaru is Motonari Mouri?" Yoshimoto could have saved us a lot of time had he mentioned that before, and I finally felt a belated wave of sympathy for Mitsuhide, for if I had given up Kennyo's name in the early summer, I likely would have saved him some time as well.

"I did not. I only saw the man in passing as I was leaving." Yoshimoto pulled the tie out of his hair, and rubbed his scalp. His fine dark hair flew everywhere, puffing out, creating a nimbus in the lantern light. "In retrospect, it makes much sense... and I wish I had stayed to learn that. Yoshiaki meeting with someone with access to an army and a navy has far more ramifications than if he were meeting with a merchant. What else have you learned?"

To his credit, Yoshimoto dropped the lazy attitude and gave me his full attention.

Though I didn't want to waste the time, I went ahead and summarized what had occurred over the past month. The rescue of Mai and Hideyoshi was a tangent to this and possibly not as important to someone tied to Kasugayama, but it had been the hoarding of information that had left both Yoshimoto and Mitsuhide with missing puzzle pieces, "Iekane was brokering a deal between Yoshiaki and de Sousa for more weapons. Personally, I'm interested in finding Iekane, and it seems if I am to do that, I need to find Yoshiaki." Luckily Yoshimoto was already aware of the time travel aspect, or this would be a much longer conversation. "Do you know where he is?" I left unspoken a question of why Yoshimoto knew.

Yoshimoto rubbed his arm, almost as if he were reaching for a phantom limb. "I do. He wishes for the Imagawa to join him. I have been able to hold off my vassals by pointing out that alone, with our limited resources, such a campaign would lead to the slaughter of what little remains of our clan, but clearly the situation has changed."

"Is this a fight you wish to join?" Was I even now sitting down with an enemy of the Oda? Sure, I had always known that Sasuke worked for Kenshin, but I had never got the sense that his personal interest was to prolong the wars. Then again that had all been easier before I got to know the Oda better. Aki had always struck me as a lawful neutral (a clarification that was rapidly being reassessed to chaotic neutral), and I had figured that the information we were collecting was in the service of trying to help people out of the way of danger.

"In truth, what I wish to do and what I must do are on opposite sides of my being." Yoshimoto looked out the window, where the waning moon bathed him in an unearthly glow – it was as if he was fading in front of me. "If my vassals desire this battle, I am powerless to stop them, and my only chance is to join them to mitigate the loss of life." He looked back at me, "I imagine though, that the information you seek is only Yoshiaki's direction."

I nodded, whatever emotion Yoshimoto was feeling, it was so thick it clogged the air in the room, invading my throat.

"You won't get anywhere near him. Though he has no army, he does have a large contingent of personal guards, and he is the guest of a daimyo who will protect his life and privacy." Yoshimoto sighed, and before I could point out that I didn't need to get to Yoshiaki, only Iekane, he said, "I will take you there."