Chapter 08.
Just a dumb kid

Kazuha was beginning to realize that, perhaps, there were more unconscious reasons behind his reluctance to stand by Inazuma City all those years. Meeting two important people from his past on the same day seemed so unlikely that it could only happen there, like a bad joke from Archon Electro, taunting him from her throne above. Although, of course, he knew that he was an insignificant being among thousands in reality. A deity wouldn't lay its eyes on him and, on top of that, bother to annoy him.

That must have been just bad luck...

He couldn't remember precisely the last time he had seen Katsumoto, his former teacher, bodyguard, and, in a way, friend. His firm and commanding voice was still the same, but much about his appearance had changed. Who was always a proud, neat, and disciplined samurai, had in those moments a rough and unkempt appearance, not very different from the rest of the ronin that surrounded them in those moments.

But what impressed and intimidated Kazuha the most were his eyes. Katsumoto had always had an intense and deep gaze that inspired fear among his enemies and respect among his friends. But the eyes of the man before him had become darker and more aggressive. The kindness that Kazuha recognized so much in him, and that little eight-year-old Ayaka had also perceived on her first day of training, had simply disappeared completely.

"I see you at least still carry a sword with you," Katsumoto pointed out, lowering his gaze to Kazuha's side. Though his grip was no longer quite firm, the young man still had his hand placed against the hilt. "But if you had even a hint of honor, you would have used it long ago to end your own life. Or were you just too cowardly to even do that?"

"Katsumoto, what does this mean?" mumbled Kazuha seriously. "Why are you here? Why are you with these…?"

"With these, what?" settled Kastumoto sharply. "Ronin? Burglars? Bad guys? How do you plan to describe them, master Kazuha? Look at them, look at them well!" He then extended his arms to his companions. "Don't you recognize them? We were all once proud and honorable samurai at your service. We were all brave men you turned your back on, forcing us to become this."

Kazuha jumped, stupefied at hearing this. He swept his gaze over the dirty, shadowed faces. The darkness prevented him from fully appreciating them, but he did recognize some familiar traits in several of them.

Were they all…former samurai of the Kaedehara clan?

"Are you... the men the Tenryou Commission is looking for?" Kazuha questioned scathingly. "The assailants who have been targeting travelers?"

No one said anything, but silence proved to be answer enough.

"Why?!" Kazuha snapped, taking a step forward. "You all were honorable swordsmen and good people! How could you end up like this…?"

"And you still dare to ask?" snapped Katsumoto with irritation. "What other path do you think we could have taken? Marked with shame, fallen in disgrace, and forsaken by our lord..."

Kazuha felt that direct and sharp accusation, like a blow to the neck.

"I didn't want that to happen," the young wanderer murmured slowly. "But I could do nothing to fix things after what my father and uncle did. I was just a kid, and I really thought that going and freeing you would be the right thing to do. I didn't want you to be bound to serve a dead clan just by a simple old oath..."

"A simple old oath?" mumbled Katsumoto, almost as if those words were stuck in his throat. "I see it's been so many years, but you're still just a dumb kid, aren't you? The money, the properties, the prestige; all of that can be recovered with time and effort if you have the will to do so. But you ran away from all that; you ran away from your responsibilities and decided to take the easy way out without thinking about the consequences. Or is it that you have come back to rebuild your clan again? Are you here to make up for all the damage you and your family have caused?"

Now it was Kazuha's turn to be silent. And, again, that was enough as an answer.

Katsumoto hissed, turning to the side in annoyance.

"Was expected. Before, I was convinced that you would be a very different man from your father or uncle. It is now completely clear that all Kaedehara's are the same. Their blood was always dirty and corrupt..."

"I don't…!" Kazuha exclaimed, trying to answer, but couldn't say anything more than that. Was there really anything else he could say?

"Okay, okay, I think this has been distorted a bit," Tomo's carefree voice was suddenly heard murmuring, intervening after having listened to everything in silence up to that moment. The wandering samurai advanced a little leisurely until he stood in front of Kazuha. "I don't quite understand what you're saying, nor do I know what kind of business you think you have against Kazuha. But the person you describe, cowardly, corrupt, and without will… I don't know who you're talking about, but he's definitely not my friend." He waved a hand in the air disdainfully. "I think you got the wrong person, so you'd better go and find him somewhere else."

"Who exactly are you?" Katsumoto questioned aggressively.

The blond-haired samurai smiled broadly with calmness and replied simply:

"My friends call me Tomo… And I'm just a wandering swordsman."

"Whoever you are, let me inform you that you chose the worst lord you could offer your sword to."

"My sword is not in the service of any lord," Tomo clarified, resting his hand on the hilt of his weapon. "But it will always be for my friends..."

"Enough sentimental talk," another of the ronin snapped suddenly. "We know very well that the man you met in the tea shop is a middleman for illicit transactions. So give us the merchandise you bought from him or the money he gave you. Do it nicely, and maybe you'll get out of this alive."

"Huh? So you're really looking for the money?" Tomo murmured, visibly surprised. "Wow, and I thought you were more interesting people..."

"Is this really what you want to do, Katsumoto?" Kazuha exclaimed, advancing. "I met you, and I know you are a good man. Hurting people and stripping them of their belongings, that's not you!"

The former samurai stared at them, his face hard and unchanging as a rock.

"The man you knew no longer exists, Master Kazuha," Katsumoto stated, taking his sword at that moment and slowly beginning to unsheathe it. "Now I'm just a ronin, who will do whatever it takes to survive; whatever..."

Katsumoto finished drawing his sword and waved it swiftly in the air in front of him. The blade gleamed, reflecting the moonlight. Then he held the weapon firmly in front of him, taking up a battle stance. The rest of the ronin who had yet not drawn their weapons did so at that very moment.

The intentions were clear.

Kazuha didn't want to do it, but apparently, they left him no choice. So he returned his hand to his hilt and planted his feet firmly, making it clear that he was willing to fight too.

Tama chose that precise moment to get out of Tomo's kimono again, but Tomo managed to stop her.

"Trust me, my little friend, you don't want to go out right now," Tomo murmured, turning a little more serious. And seeing that his friend was willing to fight these guys, even if they were old acquaintances, he got ready to support him without even hesitation.

The ronin charged at them all at once, though not in a disorganized fashion but rather in a coordinated manner. Tomo and Kazuha began to move quickly, dodging their sword attacks quite accurately. This was not as simple as they may have thought at first. And not only because of the number of enemies, but because they could see immediately from how they took up their weapons and moved that it was not a group of amateurs. At some point, they were indeed some of the best swordsmen in Inazuma.

But that had already been several years. And the lack of proper training, food, and rest used to diminish the abilities of even the best.

Tomo and Kazuha used this to their advantage, each moving quickly to a different side, forcing them to chase them and approach them one by one. Tomo did not draw his sword, and instead, he merely removed it from his belt, complete with sheath, and slashed at those who reached him with the weapon still sheathed. Despite that, a good blow from his sheath was enough to disarm a couple of them and even knocked two others to the ground with a good blow to their neck and head, respectively.

"Aren't you going to draw your sword?" one of the ronin questioned, annoyed. "Are you underestimating us?"

"Nothing of that," Tomo replied in a relaxed tone. "I fully respect any man or woman willing to wield a sword, and their readiness to die for it. But the causes of this fight seem absurd to me, so I would prefer not to have to stain each other with blood if it is not so necessary."

"Absurd?! You bastard!" another of them snapped furiously, launching himself to attack him fiercely. Tomo, however, dodged it again with a swift movement, and with a twist of his weapon, he managed to sweep the ronin's feet and make him fall to the ground face first.

The way the wandering samurai fought was strange. He seemed erratic, even careless as if his mind was totally elsewhere. But the results said the opposite. None of these men could touch him, and instead, he dealt only the right blows. Either he was perhaps one of the most skilled swordsmen they had ever seen... or just a lucky idiot.

Kazuha was also dealing with only those who went after him. He had certainly drawn his sword and moved between his opponents like agility, having more minor qualms about attacking them directly. Although, as long as he could avoid it, he opted for non-lethal attacks or instead broke their blades with quick and precise movements. The strategy worked well until one of his opponents made things more difficult...

Katsumoto appeared out of nowhere just to Kazuha's right hand, as if born from the very shadows, and brought his heavy sword down hard on him. Kazuha jumped to the side, barely managing to dodge the massive attack that hit the ground with incredible force. His former teacher did not leave him a second to rest, and a second attack came; and another, and another, and another.

Katsumoto's moves were much faster, more intense, and more deadly than the others, and Kazuha certainly had trouble dodging them. In one of these, he even saw the blade pass so close to his face that it cut some hair from his fringe.

They weren't warning attacks or intended only to hurt him.

His former teacher was going with all the determination to kill him…

Kazuha kept backing up until he noticed that his feet were perilously on the edge of the cliff. He reflexively glanced back, watching for only a few moments as it fell straight toward the sea. That distraction was enough for Katsumoto to lunge at him, his sword going directly for Kazuha's head. It would be utterly impossible for him to move fast enough to avoid it...

Unless…

A turquoise glow enveloped the young Kaedehara, and from one moment to another, a strong gust of wind blew from below to above. His entire body rose several meters into the air. And Katsumoto's sword, again, struck out at nothing.

Kazuha rose high above everyone. And still suspended in the air, he could see that the combat had been suspended. Now, Katsumoto and the other ronin had their attention only on him, completely flustered. Some even took a step back, almost afraid.

"He... has a vision!" exclaimed one of them with alarm, and similar murmurs were heard among the others.

Kazuha sighed. His plan to keep his vision inconspicuous had apparently not paid off.

As he was falling again, he spun quickly in the air and, with another blast, heaved himself to one side, now falling gently to the ground near where Tomo stood.

"You really know how to show off," Tomo commented at his side, although his attention was still fixed on his opponents.

Through the crowd, the imposing figure of Katsumoto pushed through.

"Do you have a vision?" The samurai questioned, although the answer was more than evident. "How is it that someone with as little… honor as you could have been blessed by the Archons in such a way?"

The anger and contempt were evident in Katsumoto's voice, even greater than what he had shown before.

"I'm not the one to say how or why," Kazuha explained, trying to hold his ground. "Just happened…"

Katsumoto hissed in annoyance again, and his fingers tightened on his hilt.

"It doesn't matter," the former samurai snapped. "In Riden Shogun's Eternal Inazuma, having a vision is a worse crime than stealing or assault. Sooner or later, it will be taken from you, along with all your wishes and desires. And maybe then you can come to understand us, as well as the feeling that surrounds us of just existing... without living..."

That threat struck deep into Kazuha's chest, squeezing him so tight that he was once again unable to respond.

Then the distinctive alarm whistles of the guards began to be heard nearby. As they turned down the path, they could see the lights of some approaching lanterns.

"Hey, y'all!" shouted one of the guards who were approaching, and apparently, there were many more. "Don't move!"

That was the signal to retreat for Katsumoto and his group. One by one, they began to move stealthily into the shadows, none of them having to give the instruction. Kastumoto stayed until the end.

"I hope we never see each other again, Master Kazuha," the former samurai blurted out with a snub, but perhaps also a little sadly. And at once, he hurried to catch up with his other companions.

Kazuha just watched in silence as his old teacher disappeared again.

"We have to go too," Tomo warned him hurriedly at his side, shaking him a little out of his astonishment.

Although, in theory, they were the victims of the event, that would not prevent the guards from checking them out or even taking them with them for questioning. And in the process of either of those two options, they would soon discover their visions.

So before the guards got to that point, both travelers began moving quickly too, albeit in a different direction than their attackers had gone. A couple of guards tried to follow them but managed to lose them after a few minutes in the woods. Still, they didn't stop until they were sure.

When they finally stopped running, Kazuha and Tomo sat down on their backs, breathing hard. The forest was completely calm, and the presence of no other being was perceived, beyond some small animals that were prowling, but none of danger. And, most importantly, there didn't seem to be any guards or ronin around.

"I don't think they're following us anymore," Tomo pointed out, wiping some sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "But it will be better to stay here and watch until it is more night."

Turning towards his companion, he saw him sitting on the root of a tree a few meters from him. He looked downcast, but Tomo realized that it wasn't precisely exhaustion from running away.

The wandering samurai made himself more comfortable, removing his sword from his belt and placing it at his side. He also finally let Tama out of her hiding place; she jumped, jerked, and began to spin on the ground and stretch out her legs.

"What a day, isn't it?" Tomo suddenly exclaimed in a cheerfully optimistic tone. It seems that it is true, after all: no matter how much you flee from the past, it always reaches you somehow. Don't you believe it?"

He turned back to his friend, looking for some reaction. This was more in the form of a rugged look, though not annoyed.

Kazuha then heaved a heavy sigh of weariness. He also withdrew his sword and went to sit directly on the ground, with his back against the protruding root of the tree.

"I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore," he muttered under his breath with resignation, but also with embarrassment. "My full name is Kaedehara Kazuha, former successor to the now-disgraced Kaedehara clan. And those men who attacked us… used to be samurai in the service of my family and me until we went bankrupt due to the mismanagement of my father and uncle. We lost all our possessions and name, and I..."

He fell silent, letting the last sentence hang in the air. However, he didn't need to complete it; his listener could already get an idea.

"And you ended up traveling as a wanderer for Inazuma, right?" Tomo muttered slowly, to which Kazuha simply nodded.

The samurai turned his attention for a few moments to Tama, still on the ground in front of him. He then took a branch from the ground and brought it closer to the kitten, beginning to shake it from side to side. Tama extended her claws, trying to reach the object, having her back against the grass on the ground.

"I must confess I'm not entirely surprised," Tomo muttered rather calmly. "From the way you spoke and behaved, it was clear that you had been born into a noble family. Why did you live this way now, well… my theory was that, in effect, your family had ceased to be, or you decided to run away from home."

"You could say it was a bit of both..."

For a few minutes, there was silence between the two. What was going through their heads, only each of them knew. Perhaps they were trying in their own way to digest everything that had happened that day and all the new information that had fallen to them.

After Tama apparently got bored playing with the branch and walked a few steps away, Tomo spoke again. And of all the questions that Kazuha supposed he would ask when he found out about his past, the wanderer didn't expect that the first one his friend asked would be precisely that:

"And the girl you said you and your family hurt… Do you owe her money, and that's why you ran away from her?"

Kazuha even felt the reflex to laugh a little. Despite everything, Tomo's most significant interest was still wanting to know what was happening with the "unknown woman" that afternoon. At least he had his priorities straight.

"She is Kamisato Ayaka," Kazuha blurted out without giving the matter any more thought.

"Did you say... Kamisato?" Tomo muttered, visibly amazed. Of course, the name of one of Inazuma's most powerful clans had to resonate strongly in his memory. But if that surprised him, the following totally blew him away:

"And I was going to marry her..."

"Huh?!" Tomo exclaimed loudly, and he thought that a guard might have heard him for a moment. Luckily it was not so.

Ignoring his friend's reaction a bit, Kazuha continued to explain.

"My uncle arranged the engagement when we were children. It was all part of his plan to use the Kamisato's wealth and his name as an assurance to settle the clan's debts, deliberately hiding the actual situation from everyone, including the Kamisato. That, or maybe it was always his idea to get as many moras as possible before everything exploded and ran away, which is what he ended up doing. Ayaka's older brother, leader of the Kamisato clan, eventually found out about his true intentions, so he canceled the engagement and cut us off completely."

"And I guess that was the last nail in the coffin for the Kaedehara clan, right?" Tomo pointed out by way of deduction, although the truth was that he was still a little stunned by the revelation that his friend had almost married the now famous and beloved Heron Princess. "And you haven't seen her since?"

"No," Kazuha replied, also slowly shaking his head. "I guess she must be mad at me for what happened, just like Katsumoto and the others."

"I don't know," Tomo muttered, shrugging. "She didn't exactly seem mad when she was chasing you."

Kazuha turned his gaze to the side thoughtfully. Yeah, she didn't seem angry to him either; she even seemed disappointed that she hadn't found him. If she remained the person who still lived in his memories, maybe it would be impossible for her to get angry with him, even if he deserved it.

"As I said before, I dare not face her," he concluded after a while. "And even if she's not angry, her life must be so much better without me in it messing it up. Perhaps even… she already married someone much more deserving of being by her side."

"Who is more deserving of enjoying love than you, my friend?"

That sudden declaration visibly unsettled Kazuha, who started and turned to look at him, clearly surprised. A slight blush appeared on his usually pale cheeks, and he instinctively tried to hide it with his kasa.

"I… didn't say I loved her," he muttered slowly, forcing himself to sound calm. "It was all my uncle's idea."

"So you didn't feel anything for her?"

There was a moment of silence in which Tomo guessed his partner was thinking about how to respond. Perhaps not even he himself was very clear in reality...

"We were just kids back then," Kazuha muttered after a few moments.

"That doesn't answer my question… but, well, I won't insist anymore. But we'll still have to spend a few days around here until we get the false visions. Until then, we'll have to watch out for your old ronin friends. And who knows? Maybe you'll change your mind and catch up with that young Kamisato girl again."

"You're really getting too heavy with this…" Kazuha muttered, apparently a bit irritated at the time.

He stood up in those moments and walked a few steps away, perhaps looking to be alone for a few moments. Tomo respected his wish; he definitely had a lot to think about tonight.

Author's Notes:

I don't have much to clarify in this chapter, except that, as you may have intuited, I am taking the liberty of imagining in a little more detail how the Kaedehara Clan fell, based on the little they had told in the game. I also want to play a little with the guilt that Kazuha might feel, not only for Ayaka but also for others. But hey, these are issues that we will continue to address in the future.