Title: Unity
Author: Jordanna Morgan
Archive Rights: Please request the author's consent.
Rating/Warnings: G.
Characters: Ayame, Kurusu, glimpses of various characters.
Setting: General.
Summary: Aboard the Kotetsujo, Ayame's people were building something special.
Disclaimer: They belong to Kabaneri Committee and other relevant parties. I'm just playing with them.
Notes: Submitted for the prompts of "Train" at Fan Flashworks, and "Partnership" at Genprompt Bingo.


Ayame might never have said it in so many words, but her favorite part of the day was her morning inspection walk down the length of the Kotetsujo.

This routine was established quickly after the fall of Aragane Station, once the passengers were finally able to settle into life on a train. It was something her father would never have done. Back home, Lord Kensho preferred to govern at a distance from the people, basing decisions on the reports of Chiefs and elders who dealt more directly with the citizens; but now he and many of those trusted advisors were gone, along with hundreds of other men, women, and children. Among the survivors, there were few families that had not lost at least one person. With such grief and trauma so recently behind them, Ayame's gentle heart had yearned for a more personal view into the people's recovery and morale.

Kurusu protested at first, albeit rather halfheartedly. Even so, at her insistence he dutifully escorted her through the train cars, his eyes watchful and his hand resting with deceptive leisure upon the hilt of his katana. He behaved as if Ayame was a young fawn walking innocently through a forest of wolves. Although the fall of Aragane was no one's fault—its root cause was simply a freak accident, not any mistake in procedure or judgment—the warrior seemed to feel that some grieving and frightened people would need no reason to lash out at the surviving leadership. If only one soul was embittered enough to blame Lord Kensho for not foreseeing the unforeseeable, and transfer that blame from the dead man to his daughter, her inspections made her an easy target in the close quarters of the train. The flash of a blade could end her life before even Kurusu had the chance to react.

And that was aside from her leniency towards the Kabaneri, which caused some true unrest and distrust among the passengers.

Still, although not without further tragedy, the survivors of Aragane had weathered those terrible early days of their journey. The Kabaneri proved themselves as invaluable defenders, more than worthy of the offerings of blood they required to survive in turn. Ayame gained the respect of the people, and even more crucially, that of the remaining Chiefs who were used to Kensho's iron hand. The once sharply divided social classes who now found themselves thrust into tight confines together were learning to coexist…

If not something much more extraordinary than that.


"Hello, Miss Ayame!" a gray-haired noblewoman called out as Ayame and Kurusu entered the second train car. The widow of Lord Kensho's personal physician who also died in Aragane's fall, Lady Yuka had learned much from her late husband over the years. At the moment she was occupied by her efforts to examine a farmer's squirming young son.

"Good morning, Lady Yuka," Ayame replied cheerfully. "And how is Akio doing today?"

"Well, you can certainly see he has no shortage of energy!" Yuka chuckled, wrestling the boy into her arms. "You'll be glad to know his cough is sounding much better. I don't think there's any need to worry about contagion. All the same, I'd welcome a chance to gather some medicine soon."

Ayame smiled, reaching out to ruffle Akio's unruly hair. "I'm sure we can arrange that in the next few days. I'll ask the Kabaneri to be alert for any safe areas where we might find what you need." She hesitated. "But even if they don't sense any Kabane nearby, it's dangerous to leave the train for long outside of a station. Are you really sure you want to keep taking that risk?"

"Nobody can identify medicinal plants from descriptions better than I can spot them with my own two eyes," Yuka retorted wryly. Her expression softened as she turned her gaze to Akio, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, I've lived a good long time. What matters now is making sure the young ones like him can grow up healthy… Now, you go along back to your lessons, Akio."

With a dismayed sigh, the boy trudged off toward the rear of the train car, where Kajika was giving a writing lesson to her orphan wards and a handful of other children. Ayame followed, receiving happy greetings from the steamsmith girl and her little students as she passed.


In the next car, a very different lesson was taking place. Kibito was instructing Ikoma in hand-to-hand combat—while Mumei looked on from the sidelines with her mouth quirked in a frown, as if rather skeptical of the bushi's fighting style that was more studied and methodical than her own.

"Good morning," Ayame said warmly to the train's Kabaneri guardians, following up the greeting with the same careful question she asked them each day. "How are you both feeling?"

"I'm good—ah!" Ikoma gasped, swiftly ducking beneath the unexpected strike Kibito aimed at him while he was distracted. Seizing Kibito's arm, he pivoted sharply on his heel—and the much bigger man was plainly surprised to find himself thrown across the entire cleared space at the end of the train car.

Kurusu stepped forward, reaching out to offer the wincing Kibito a hand. "It serves you right for using dishonorable tactics," he chided his best friend, but there was the faintest suggestion of a rare teasing smirk on his lips.

"Aren't you the one who likes smacking people in the face during training?" Mumei retorted.

Ikoma rolled his eyes. "Not nearly as much as you do…"

"I'm sure being prepared for the unexpected is important," Ayame observed with a chuckle. "By the way—Ikoma, Mumei? Lady Yuka is hoping to gather medicine soon. I'd appreciate your help in finding a safe area to leave the train."

"Will do," Ikoma agreed with a nod. "I'll check with her and find out what kinds of plants she wants. Once we know that, Mumei and I can watch out for the right habitat that's clear of Kabane."

"Thank you both," Ayame replied sincerely, and left the Kabaneri to their exercise with Kibito.


Farther down the train, she came to the steamsmiths' workshop. There she found Takumi and Sukari in the process of coating a katana with Kabane heart cage metal, while the weapon's bushi owner Hatori observed intently.

"It's good to see that we're continuing to upgrade our weapons," Ayame noted with approval.

Takumi grinned. "Yeah, thanks to Ikoma. He's making sure we get the chance to harvest the heart cages—even though Mumei complained about the extra work of fighting more Kabane."

Kurusu studied the newly coated blade as Sukari brought it up hissing and steaming from a bucket of water, fiery red-gold veins now gleaming along its black length. "It's a worthy weapon for you, Hatori."

"I'm honored to have it." Hatori ducked his head. "I don't think I could ever put it to such effective use as yours, but I promise I'll do my best to make the most of it."


In the last car of the train, townswomen were busy cooking the passengers' food for the day, filling the air with enticing aromas. As Ayame had come to expect, she was eagerly greeted, and samples of the day's rations were quickly pressed upon her. It was almost an escape when she and Kurusu retreated to the outer deck, taking a moment to refresh themselves in the sunshine and open air.

"It's remarkable," mused Ayame, still savoring the taste of the sweet dried berries a smiling old woman had given her. "The Kotetsujo is so different from what we knew in Aragane."

"Living aboard a train could never be easy," Kurusu responded dryly.

"That's not what I meant." Ayame frowned, struggling to put her thoughts into words. "Although Father educated me very well, and even let me train in archery, he really did keep me sheltered in many ways. I never got to watch the townspeople and steamsmiths going about their daily lives like this. Watching firsthand what they do for us is eye-opening… and I don't think we're the only ones gaining new perspectives. Everyone on board has come together in ways that never could have happened at Aragane, or any other station." She ticked off the morning's examples on her fingers. "The widow of my family's doctor is making medicine for commoners. A steamsmith girl is giving lessons to orphans of townsfolk and nobles alike—and bushi are even working directly with steamsmiths to help strengthen our defenses." She smiled ruefully. "We've all been forced to see how little difference there is between us after all."

"Everyone is doing what they must out of necessity, in order to survive." The neutral expression on Kurusu's face grew more pensive. "But you're not wrong. In the close quarters of this train, we can no longer take for granted those who have different strengths we may lack in ourselves."

"If there's some way for our people to remain together as a community when this journey is over…" Ayame raised violet eyes to Kurusu, her heart skipping a beat in faint uncertainty of how he would respond to her next words. "Then I hope this is one thing that won't change. As much as I regret the losses we've suffered, it led the survivors of Aragane to learn from each other, and form bonds we never could have before. We've become stronger together… and I want it to stay that way."

Kurusu was silent for a long moment before he replied. When at last he did, his deep voice was quieted to an unexpectedly soft near-whisper.

"…I think that wish is a noble one, Miss Ayame."

The affirmation made the young leader's heart swell with hope and gladness. Kurusu was in her eyes the very image of what it meant to be a bushi, steeped in rigid concepts of tradition and duty that were instilled in his soul since birth; but if even he could see the value in change, it reassured her that this new dream of hers was good and right.

Ayame promised herself then that she would pursue it. Wherever they managed to find a home in the future, she would encourage cooperation and understanding among all who followed her—and she would show those principles to the rest of Hinomoto. Stodgy nobles and elders of other stations could be as shocked as they liked, but they would never be able to argue with the strength of the united and close-knit survivors Ayame watched over.

For all the Kabane had taken from them, those monsters had not succeeded in destroying Aragane. It was still very much alive—because its heart lived within its people.


2023 Jordanna Morgan