Since Kanji was in recovery, Yukiko thought it was in her best interest to visit him. She got together a few gifts, talismans, and herbs thought to foster good health and luck, wrapped them up in a basket carefully, and walked across the way, bowing when Tomiko opened the door.
"Good day my lady, how's Sir Kanji doing? I brought him this basket to wish him well!" She motioned to it in her hands.
"Odd. Setsuko-san tried to bring him tea yesterday and came out looking like she got hit by lightning. Odd, that's how he's doing." She took the basket from her.
"Oh!" Yukiko gasped as she remembered her own fever and molton nightmares. Could this be the same thing? "Could I see him?"
"Whatever,"
Yukiko carefully stepped inside and headed into Kanji's room, leaning against the doorframe and letting her kimono spill over it, just as she did when she was younger. "Sir Kanji?"
"I ain't sick, you can come over," He was sitting up on his cot, wearing a simple robe. Yukiko walked in and looked around, never having been in someone else's room before. He had a low desk on the floor and assorted paintings on the wall of the seasons, but not much else. A chest was placed in the other corner of the small room, but Yukiko didn't pry there. She kneeled beside his bed, not feeling heat radiate off him.
"We haven't properly talked, have we?" She started. "And I just want to see how you were doing after all that."
"I'm still workin' through that myself. So many thoughts swirling around in my head, it's confusing!"
"What happened? You used to be so different growing up."
"What happened to Inaba? To Japan? I tried to fit in, I ain't like that, but so much happened at once. Nobody likes me, us, anymore. Our way of life is gone. It's bullshit," Kanji grumbled. "We had to throw it all away with no thanks! You're a chick, so you wouldn't get this. Chicks never did. They don't like guys like me. All that pressure just built on me."
She nodded.
"And I appreciate ya comin' here, Yukiko-dono. Thought nobody would after….that."
He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to. Yukiko felt the same way, saddened that she awoke to no friends by her side after her rescue and fever. She figured the others wouldn't do that for Kanji, and she couldn't blame them. They didn't know him after all, not like her, so she would be the one to visit him. His Shadow complicated things, but she knew that ultimately, it was still Kanji.
"Let's let him rest. Why don't you have some tea with us?" Setsuko appeared in the doorway, ushering Yukiko out.
"Ma! Don't interrupt us!" Kanji shouted, but she just giggled.
"We haven't seen you in ages! Now that things have calmed down a bit, let's spend more time together." She called Tomiko over and the two began setting up the tea ceremony, Yukiko helping where she was able.
"Yeah, we have to know about our future daughter-in-law!" Tomiko started boiling the water for the tea. Yukiko awkwardly played with her sleeves.
"Are we having a true tea ceremony? I'm sorry, I'm not dressed for the occasion." She only had on her usual peony furisode, which would soon be swapped out for something more summery. It was nice and could be formal in the right situation, but not for a tea ceremony.
"Nonsense, relax! It's just some women having tea together, you don't need to be fancy for that," Tomiko shushed her. Setsuko ran around, setting out plates of wagashi sweets and mixing up the tea, stirring the green matcha rapidly with a whisk. It was thin and light, perfect for a casual chat. Yukiko took the wagashi she wanted from the plate, ending up with an array of namagashi, higashi, and yokan. The namagashi were pink and shaped like small flowers, made from mochi. The higashi were rounded and made from flour, stamped with kanji and shimmering. The yokan were brown rectangles, shining in the light. Yukiko ate a yokan piece first, surprised at the sharp sweetness of the brown sugar filling her mouth. The tea was poured and served to her, and she took a sip gratefully.
"How's your mother, Sakura-san?" Setsuko asked nicely.
"She's doing good," Yukiko wasn't really sure what to say if the conversation switched to being about her own family. She loved her parents, but there wasn't much to tell. Her mother lived in the town and so had the Amagi family for centuries. In a rare twist, her mother chose a husband from the Inaba residents and married Kenshiro. Then they had Yukiko and raised her to be the perfect Japanese maiden. That's all there was to it. Yukiko kept eating, polishing off the rest of her yokan.
"I'm shocked anyone can be doing good. With all these kidnappings and killings and whatever else, how can they?!" Tomiko huffed. She slurped her tea down and put her cup away. "I'm off to bed."
"Don't mind her," Setsuko smiled politely. "Miyamoto-san had an odd taste, that was for sure." She sipped her tea. "And once Kanji-kun is feeling better, we can discuss the engagement further!"
"Right!" Yukiko put a pink namagashi in her mouth, holding the petals on her tongue. "The engagement."
"You two would be perfect for each other! But there's still plenty of time to worry about that. My son is getting all kinds of attention lately! Just a few days ago, he yanked open the door and dropped a feverish boy on the ground. The two of us, Tomiko-san and I, nearly lost our wits. We hadn't ever seen a disease like it before!"
She paused. "A new disease? Was it contagious?"
"We don't know. Never put a name to it and the boy just had a strong fever. Maybe it was something he caught from the port."
"Maybe…" Yukiko refilled her cup, but could only sip. The talk of disease upset her and she had a quickening stomach. She finished her food and thanked Setsuko for having her.
"It's my honor. I hope to make you feel welcome in this house. It will one day be yours!"
The two bowed and Yukiko ran back to her house, feeling disoriented. She wouldn't be able to marry Kanji, she was certain of that. She was less certain about whether she wanted to keep the inn. She was definitely not certain about all the weird events that kept plaguing her and Chie and the boys. Her stomach twisted into a sudden knot and she slid onto her bedroom floor, burying her face in her knees.
The next morning, she awoke and felt damp. Cold and damp, which made her sit up in a panic. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she opened her legs and beheld the dried scarlet blood on her thighs there. A similar pattern had pooled onto her futon. Knowing what was next, she dressed in a very simple kimono in a tan color made from light fabric and kept her hair down, dragging her futon outside and hanging it out to dry in the sun. She clutched her stomach and disappeared into the shed the inn kept for that very purpose, closing the door and sitting with her back against the wall.
It was dark and very cramped, forcing her to sit with her knees pressed against her chest. She blinked a few times to get used to the dark and shuffled around, smelling the earthly dirt on the floor. Her parents would know once they couldn't find her.
Or would they? What if they assumed she got kidnapped again? She couldn't go out and tell them though, not yet. She had to stay inside for a week. She just had to pray they would come to that conclusion themselves.
Hours passed. Yukiko dozed off a few times, listening to her stomach growl. Her blood flowed freely, though she tried her best to contain it to one corner, letting it dribble upon the dirt. She was glad she had kimono like that for that very purpose.
The worst part was the boredom. She couldn't bring anything with her, so she was alone with her thoughts. Even her mind couldn't conjure up an interesting story or funny joke to entertain her for a week. The first two days, she kept herself busy mentally anyway, but come the third day, she'd be drained and irritable and not willing to think of anything else.
Her food came on a tray pushed through the door and she gratefully ate her breakfast when it came, noticing it was her usual. Rice, tsukemono, and miso soup with tea. She pushed the tray back out once she was done and curled up, closing her eyes. She felt the coarseness of the dirt underneath her and shifted around.
More hours passed, then days. The shed had no windows, and the door was locked tight so there was no sunlight or moonlight streaming in, so she had no idea how long it had been. She alternated between sitting and laying against the wall, staring blankly at nothing. The only other thing in the room was a metal bucket in another corner used for excretion purposes.
At the end of the week, light flooded into the room and she winced, trembling at the sensation. Her cycle had stopped and she felt hands softly pull her out, out of the room that stank of blood and body odor and diarrhea, hanging over the room in a rank cloud of iron and sour sweat and waste. She thought it was her mother until she squinted and her eyes adjusted, seeing Chie dragging her back into the inn into the hot springs.
"What are you doing here?!" Yukiko asked in surprise, her voice weak. Chie huffed and stripped Yukiko down, sitting her on a stool.
"I don't get why you keep doing that to yourself. It's unnecessary and hurts you." Chie worked a lather of suds onto her sponge and ran it along Yukiko's body, taking care to be gentle yet thorough with her thighs and genital areas. Yukiko kept staring at herself in the mirror. She only spread her legs or shifted her position when Chie told her to, otherwise she remained still and silent. "Nobody else does it anymore."
"I have to." Yukiko felt bad that she had to be so strict with Chie, but it was a lot like the meat. She just didn't get it and Yukiko couldn't explain it very well. Chie ran her hands through Yukiko's hair, rubbing oil through it, making tingles run up her spine. The two then settled in the water, Yukiko pulling her knees up to her chest. Chie sighed.
"I'm not mad, you know. I just get worried that you might get really sick from doing that!" She explained. The steam made her hair stick to her cheek.
"I'm fine, really." She smiled to reassure her. "I meant what I said to Marie back then. About wanting to get a comb for her." Yukiko hadn't ever seen a girl who just let her hair flow like that. Even the Western girls weren't that brave and kept their locks as pinned and hidden as Japanese girls did. "She needs one and I want to give her a super pretty one,"
"Would she even go for that? She seems very…prickly." Chie said. "Even Yu-kun can't figure her out."
"Maybe she's just lonely!" Yukiko felt the life return to her suddenly and swam around a bit. "Sir Kanji's much the same, I think. Even when he was kinder, he still struggled with making friends."
"How's he doing?"
"Better."
"I'm….worried about him." Chie admitted as they got out to dry themselves.
"Just give him a few more days," She reassured Chie as Chie helped her redress and bowed to her, leaving the inn. Yukiko joined her parents for dinner that night, not having any other obligations.
They spoke of very little, not even asking Yukiko how she fared after her week in the shed. Others might think that cruel of them, but Yukiko was used to it. For three years she had been visiting the shed and knew exactly what was expected of her. Thus, they no longer felt the need to ask how it went every time anymore.
After dinner, Yukiko retired to her study room to practice more of her dancing. She wished Chie would stop bothering her over the shed. It was her duty as a daughter, as a woman, to protect the inn from being soiled with blood. She knew her mother did it too when it came her time to, and most of the time Yukiko would bring her her meals, pushing the tray through the tiny opening only usable for that one purpose.
Yukiko picked up her fan and spun around with it, holding her arms away from her body and letting her sleeves flow, twirling around her body like a fleeting petal falling to the ground. She kept her steps light and jumped across the room, barely letting her toes touch as she spun around faster, still holding onto her fan. She passed her fan from both hands as she paused, posing dainty. She started doing rhythmic steps, doing half-spins and fanning herself.
To her, her fan was one of her strengths and one of the things she liked holding in her hands most for support. She was glad that it somehow served as a weapon in the Other Realm, as she knew she'd otherwise be useless if she had to use any sword or knife or gun. She spun around again, posing.
"Mother!" She gasped, seeing her in the doorway. She quickly returned to her normal position.
"You're getting better by the day." She lifted Yukiko's head up. "And I'm very proud of you."
"Yes." Yukiko nodded and folded up her fan. She wished her mother wasn't like this. Almost…understanding. Especially because she knew her mother wouldn't support her when it came to things that mattered, like the inn or Marie.
She started playing the koto briefly before bed, humming to herself.
The roof of the school was certainly unexpected, Kanji had to give them that. Why'd they even decide on that, was it just because three of them went to school? That wasn't very fair to him or Mistress Yukiko. She introduced him that day, bathed in the golden sunset. The other three wore school uniforms, and he thought Chie looked bizarre in hakama. What sort of girl would willingly wear those?
"Hello there, Yukiko-dono, Chie-dono, Yosuke-dono, Yu-dono," He bowed formally, making Chie snicker.
"Why're you so polite?!"
"Because it's the right thing to do!"
"Just don't call me Master Yosuke. That's weird." Yosuke sighed.
"We have some questions for you," Yukiko interrupted, her hands folded in front of her. He nodded, appreciating a familiar face taking the lead. "Who's the boy you were with?"
"What boy?" Did they maybe mean….? Wait. Oh. Shit. "Why do you want to know?!" His face burned and he sincerely hoped he wasn't blushing. "He just asked me some stuff like if I've seen anything strange lately. I got nervous and blurted out I wanted to see him again."
"But he's a guy." Chie deadpanned.
"Yeah. I've just never really thought much of girls, they're loud and hard to handle, guys are just easier," He sighed. "Everything just rolled around in my mind after that. I'm not even sure what I like anymore."
And really, was it so bad if he turned out to like men, either also or only? His own father was incredibly open about his male partners growing up before he got married. Kanji could've done that too, except no he couldn't, because only heathens did that now and he was to be a respected gentleman.
"Are you okay?" Yu asked politely, and Kanji nodded.
"It's all in my head." He looked from Yukiko to the other three, realizing she knew much about him but the other three barely knew him at all. "Uh, my dad's a samurai. Was a samurai. Him and his wives have owned that textile shop for years because samurai need to sew and mend. It's an important skill to have. They taught me how to do it too so I never found it weird. Until I got older. Then everyone treated it like a disease."
"Hold on, your dad's got two wives?!" Yosuke asked in disbelief. "I'm jealous! Do they kiss?"
Chie shoved him. "Can you not be creepy for five seconds?"
Kanji sighed. "That's all I got to say. I guess I just kinda lost myself after not having anyone to talk to. It's not girls, but just people I'm scared of." He blushed. "I'm not too good with being open,"
"I think you're doing a great job!" Yukiko assured him.
"Do you remember anything after you chased us off?" Yu asked.
He chased them off once, but nothing happened that was noteworthy. He thought of the days Naoto got sick and how he slept a whole day away after, stressed and worried. "Uh, someone came to me, I think." Or was that just a dream, an image caught partway between slumber and waking, fleeting and hazy like butterfly wings? "Some dark entrance…then I woke up in the sauna."
"Like a painting, picture, or camera?" Yukiko asked. "The dark entrance,"
"Maybe? We don't got that stuff at home. Just wallscrolls,"
The four shared a look before Yukiko kept talking. "Did the police talk to you?"
"Yeah, Ma called them. I told them all that and they just looked at me like I lost my mind." When didn't they though? Just walking around, he felt their eyes on him, and Tomiko could never decide whether she wanted to box his ears or theirs. "You guys playin' detective?"
"Something like that," Chie toyed with her braid.
"Can I help?" Kanji huffed. "I wanna make pay whoever did this to me!"
"Sure, you'll be a great help," Yu smiled. "Welcome to the team!" He held out his hand, much like Naoto did, but Kanji returned with a bow. Yu put his hand down.
"Since we have a new member, you know what that means!" Yosuke winked.
"Junes!" Yukiko smiled.
Junes was the huge sprawling outdoor market that just sprung up out of nowhere, owned by a merchant family. Kanji was always told to stay away, but he couldn't help being curious by the place. Yosuke offered to buy him food, of course he did, he was surely loaded, and listed off a bunch of meat dishes.
"Oh, Sir Kanji doesn't eat meat," Yukiko stated.
"Right, uh, well, we have some rice dishes too!" Yosuke rattled some off too. He was good at this. Kanji got several dishes of rice topped with eggs and vegetables, picking the first seat he saw and wolfing his food down, having missed breakfast. As he ate, the others tried to explain the situation to him.
"Hey, are you even listening?" Yosuke snapped. "You've just been eating this whole time!"
Kanji looked up from his bowl. "Yeah, I was listenin,'" He spoke with his mouth full, letting some egg drip out of his mouth. How charming.
"Where's your manners?!"
Kanji swallowed his food. "I got it. He's beating people up with a camera, right?!"
"No!"
"I'm sure he'll understand once we take him to the place," Yu said gently. "It's hard to grasp at first,"
Kanji had no clue what to think about this 'other world' they kept mentioning. He had images of a dark underground tomb, accessible by a rock, almost like Yomi. He would've died had they not rescued him. Maybe it really was the Underworld.
"Did you read the news the other day?"
"Yeah, yeah, I love it! Always excited to see who's going to show up next!" Two preteens snickered loudly as they walked past. "Especially that thug guy. He made such a fool of himself!"
Kanji felt his muscles stiffen and knuckles turn white as he spun around to face them. "That guy wasn't a thug. He beat up all those other pansy thugs! And his name's Tatsumi Kanji! Remember that! Want to be next on his list?!" He raised his fist at them and the two scattered in terror. He sat back down with a sigh and continued eating.
"I don't understand how they can be so mean." Chie sighed.
"And what's worse, we're back at square one concerning the victims." Yu sighed and rubbed his temples. The four conversed about that, bouncing ideas around, before Kanji sat up.
"Wait! I think I might have something!" He fished around in the folds of his kimono before he pulled out a sheet of paper. "Some kid at the store dropped this when I chased 'em out for bein' creepy. Is it useful?" Kanji set the paper down on the table and the four all leaned in, gasping.
"It's the dates everyone appeared in the tabloids!" Yu said. "Look!"
"I'm here! April 15th!" Yukiko widened her eyes. "And you were in the news shortly before you got kidnapped too!"
"So the killer's targeting people he sees in the tabloids?" Chie said.
"But why? We still have no motivation!" Yosuke grumbled in frustration, pulling on his hair and tapping his foot. "Why can't I be smarter?"
Kanji just laughed. "I think you guys are pretty cool," He offered. "You guys saved me at the risk of your own lives. Not many others would." Especially not for someone like him.
"And you saved me too. Rescuing two people is no small feat." Despite her smile, Yukiko shifted uncomfortably on the wooden bench. "We were right about Sir Kanji being targeted."
"You knew?! Then why didn't you rescue me sooner?!" Kanji said, trying to be dead serious but cracking a bit. Yu began laughing, which set Yukiko off, and then all of them were laughing hard, shaking in their seats and slapping the table.
"Let keep reading though. Maybe Kanji-kun was the last victim, maybe not," Yosuke said.
"Speaking of which, next week our school's going camping! I hope it won't rain!" Chie gushed, bouncing in her seat.
"A field trip? Maybe my parents will let me go too! And also yours!" Yukiko addressed him with a smile. He slurped down more food.
"Maybe, maybe not," School, the sort they went to, seemed annoying. Rituals and rules and an ill-fitting uniform. He had tutors growing up, from all over Japan, touted as being the very best in their subjects. Despite losing their status, his father still wished for him to receive a samurai education, with Tomiko and Ma continuing it after his death. He knew how to read, obviously, but also how to read and understand the teachings of Confucius. That was a huge part of his studies and what he spent the most time with, as well as studying Buddhism. He also learned to compose poetry from Chinese classics and took medicine for a year or two, as well as weapons training. Even though he preferred his fists, he was trained in using actual weapons if need be, even including old-fashioned firearms. He also knew classical Chinese and if he was a bit younger he likely would've added Western studies to his repertoire because a lot of other noble boys did, but he was at an age where tutoring was no longer much of a thing.
He knew the others wouldn't really understand any of that though. His education was yet another relic from a past that was never coming back. Every part of him was, it seemed. Even his full name wasn't simply Kanji Tatsumi as so many believed. Actually, his real, full name's Kanji Miyamoto Yasoinaba Tatsumi. Named for his father and the domain they reigned in, with Kanji being his parents' choice for what to name him. That was the samurai way.
That was who he was, and he couldn't apologize for it.
After he finished eating, the four took him into the Other Realm, a dizzying trip that left him uneasy on his feet and more queasy than he was willing to admit. A giant fluffy tanuki hurried over to them, asking if they were okay. Kanji cleared his throat and stood up, not about to admit how wobbly he felt. "Hey, I remember seeing somethin' like this! Kinda. But why are you a tanuki? With huge balls?"
Chie facepalmed.
"I don't know! I've wondered that myself," Raccoon put his hands behind his back. "I've looked like this for as long as I can remember."
Kanji stared at the long brown fur and giant belly with flecks of white on it and the big bushy tail. He blushed a bit. "C-Can I pet you? You seem soft."
"Hands off!" Raccoon grinned.
"Hey! Don't give me backtalk!" He snapped instead. Yukiko laughed. Oh, right, she was still there too. He turned around. "You got kidnapped too, right Mistress Yukiko?"
She nodded. "Shortly before you,"
"I just wondered…did you come out to everyone too? Actin' all weird?"
"Huh?!"
"Like mine, you know. What was yours-"
There was a loud crack and a burning in his jaw as Yukiko delivered an open-palm slap right on his cheek, stepping away. She had the grace to look shocked a second afterwards, her eyes wide she her mouth open.
"I didn't mean to hit you so hard!"
He groaned and tried to move it back into place.
"Next time, I'll be gentle." She all but purred, making his face heat up.
"Gentle with…me?" He stared at her.
"You two are dumb yet somehow so perfect for each other," Chie sighed.
"Chie! Don't say that!" Yukiko blushed as well, covering her face.
"And as a welcome to the team, here!" Raccoon held out a pair of glasses with a wax expression on it. Kanji held the spectacles gingerly, very slowly putting them on. He looked around and Yukiko burst out laughing. "Sorry, but she was insistent on these!"
"They're gag glasses!" She slapped her knee.
"Haha, real funny!" Kanji tossed the glasses at Raccoon and put on the other pair. "This isn't a time to be-"
Yukiko laughed harder, Chie joining in. "It's just so funny!" She gasped for air.
"They look perfect on you!" Yosuke teased.
"They really do," Yu smirked.
Kanji threw the glasses into the ether with all his strength, groaning as he did so. "Shut up! Why would you even make spare junk like this?!" He slipped on his own black pair.
The four kept laughing as Kanji looked at each of them. Even though they were clearly laughing at his expense, it…was a nice sound. He hadn't really ever heard anyone laugh in such a merry way before. Was this what it felt like to have friends? It was…nice. Nicer than he thought.
He went home mulling those thoughts over in his head. All his life, he had been kept inside and limited to a few things. He didn't really make friends or hung out with anyone in a meaningful way. He wasn't even sure if the others saw themselves as his friends, but…he wanted to hope. He wanted to have friends, real friends, who would accept him for who he was.
A lone cherry blossom wasn't much to look at. Only when the tree was full of budding blossoms did it finally become noteworthy and memorable.
-Westernization in Japan was primarily associated with masculinity. Men were expected to wear suits, work, join the military, cut their hair, and throw away all aspects of a traditional life. Women didn't work and were rarely seen, so they could keep wearing kimono. Not to mention, the big bustles of skirts in the 1870's and 1880's made kneeling on tatami mats awkward while the huge boots with dozens of buttons made taking them on and off to go in or out cumbersome. Kimono became associated with women and men who wore them publicly were touted as being feminine and 'unmanly', 'barbaric and backwards'.
-Wagashi are traditional small sweets served during tea or at festivals or used for a light snack or dessert. Some are recognizable to the West like mochi or daifuku, while others are more unfamiliar.
-Shinto has a lot of rites to ritual purity and cleanliness, one of the biggest ones being the taboo on bodily fluids, especially blood. Blood may not be spilled in a temple or shrine and even today in some areas women are forbidden from climbing sacred mountains. They're also not allowed in temples or other holy buildings or areas while menstruating for fear of polluting the sacred ground. This is where some sources get vague. Half of the accounts I read said up until the 1960's, especially in rural areas, Japan would separate women on their periods in a special shed to keep them from polluting the home, while other sources simply make no mention of this. Still, I imagined it'd fit Yukiko the most regardless because of how deeply tied to Shintoism she is.
-'dono' is a super archaic honorific not used anymore that many people can't agree on a solid explanation or translation for. The most common usage is similar to 'my lord' in English when two titled people address each other and don't really outrank the other. Kanji is ranked far above his peers except maybe debatably Naoto so here he refers to them as '-dono' which could roughly translate as Mistress/Master i.e. Mistress Yukiko, Master Yosuke.
-A lot of people nowadays are familiar with the fact many samurai were bi or gay. They thought women were more for procreation and only men could truly forge a strong bond and understand each other's emotional needs. Therefore, male homosexual love was not seen as odd until Westerners treated it as such. There's not enough space here to fully dive into sexuality and sex as the Japanese saw it before the Meiji period so I implore you to do further research yourself if that sounds fascinating to you. Also, for those wondering about Yukiko...female homosexuality was not taken seriously and seen more as something for men to pleasure themselves to, as women were seen as sexless beings.
-Samurai had naming customs where the son would be named something the parents liked, the name of their father or grandfather, domain they lived under, the lord they served, and the family name. When they came of age, they'd give themselves an 'adult' name added on, while most changed their first and last names entirely.