"Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?
Sure... but your man has to answer for his words, Burr
With his life? We both know that's absurd, sir,
Hang on, how many men died because Lee was inexperienced and ruinous?
Okay, so we're doing this."
"Ten Duel Commandments" Hamilton.
Kaoru awoke to Megumi shaking her by the shoulders. It was still dark outside, perhaps the Hour of the Ox. Too early for Kaoru to think straight. But, her sister-in-law continued to shake her and say, "get up… it's Akira-san… I'll explain later…"
Megumi used her lamp to light the one on Kaoru's bedside table. While Kaoru knelt on her futon, yawning and rubbing her eyes, Megumi rummaged through a chest for Kaoru's riding clothes.
"Get dressed," Megumi said. "And meet me in the hallway."
Curiosity jolted Kaoru awake. The sooner she was dressed, the sooner she would know why she'd been dragged from her warm bed at this hour.
Megumi, now also clad in riding dress, was waiting in the hallway when Kaoru left her room. "Akira-san had an early meeting across the river..." she said. The banks of the Kurokawa, which flowed through Mibu, were a popular dueling ground. "...with that betrothed of yours."
Kaoru pouted. Megumi knew perfectly well that Uncle Saito only humored Yukishiro Enishi's outrageous demand that Kaoru be given to him as a bride to lure him into a false sense of security. Also, Sano had vowed to kill Enishi if he came anywhere near Kaoru, and Megumi would be the last to try to stop him.
Knowing this brought Kaoru comfort. If Enishi were the last man on earth, she would have to die a virgin.
"I almost feel bad for Tomoe-san," Kaoru said.
This duel would settle a score between Enishi and Kaoru's cousin, Akira. The cause of this rift was Akira's elopement with Enishi's older sister, Tomoe. Enishi adored Tomoe to an unnatural degree, and it was said that something in him snapped when she ran off. Tomoe certainly had a gift for turning men into monsters.
Just look at what happened with Hitoriki Battousai.
Megumi wrinkled her nose. "Don't. She brought this all on herself."
Kaoru nodded. She wasn't going to argue with Megumi there.
They weren't the only ones who'd risen early because of the duel. The news had spread through Wolf's Castle like a fire and drew the entire household from their beds. Megumi stopped to chat with Lady Tae, Aunt Tokio's chief lady-in-waiting.
"We're riding out to watch the duel," Megumi told Lady Tae. She elbowed Kaoru in the shoulder. "Poor little Kaoru-chan is pining for her dear Enishi-sama."
Kaoru scowled. Telling Megumi about her brief childhood crush on Enishi had been a mistake.
Five years ago, Kaoru and her brothers stayed at the estate of Tomoe and Enishi's uncle, Lord Takeda, and Kaoru fell for Enishi as only a twelve-year-old girl can fall for a beautiful older boy who treated her like dirt. A part of Kaoru looked forward to seeing Enishi again if only to show him what a fine young woman she'd become, then publically snub him.
"Won't Lord Sanosuke not like that?" Lady Tae said.
Megumi laughed. "I told Lord Sanosuke if we're going to have a happy marriage, he wasn't to tell me what to do."
"And if Sano complains, I can always blame Megumi," Kaoru added. "He'll forgive me if I tell him that the big mean fox dragged me along."
"Why do the two of you always have to gang up on me?"
Kaoru shrugged. If she and Sano did gang up on Megumi, then Megumi brought it on herself.
Megumi was a good sort, but there was a reason Sano gave her the nickname Kitsune after the trouble-making fox demon. She always had to stick her nose into everything, and if you showed her a sore spot, she couldn't help poking it. And once she got started, she wouldn't stop. Only Sano could put her in her place with his "shut up, Fox." If true love meant finding a worthy opponent, then Sano and Megumi were perfect for each other.
"...And if we run into any trouble, I'm prepared." Kaoru patted the wooden bokken at her side, then the tanto blade hidden in her sash.
A groom brought out Kitsune, Megumi's sleek chestnut gelding, saddled and ready to ride. Megumi took the reigns in one hand and stroked the horse's velvety reddish-brown neck with the other.
Kaoru smiled. Kitsune had been a gift from Sano, and Megumi doted on the animal like a favorite child.
"I'm afraid this might be our last ride for a while, my darling," Megumi said. "But I promise, I'll make it up to you. How about you help Sano and me teach the little one how to ride when the time comes."
"Are you certain?" Kaoru said. Megumi consumed medical texts the way other women devoured romance novels, so she would understand pregnancy symptoms.
Megumi's smiling face was as radiant as the moon. "It's a bit too early to be sure, but I didn't bleed last month, and I keep craving pickled daikon radishes. I haven't been sick in the mornings, though. In fact, I've never felt better."
Kaoru hugged her sister-in-law. "Please be careful. Don't do anything reckless today." She hoped to soon have a little niece or nephew to spoil; a daredevil jump or sudden spook might prevent that from happening.
"You're one to talk, Tanuki."
Another groom led Kaoru's beloved dapple-grey mare, Kaguya, out of the stables.
"Good morning, my celestial beauty," Kaoru said. She took the reigns from the groom. "How lovely you look today."
Kaguya tossed her pretty head and accepted Kaoru's compliments as her due.
"Good morning." A tall, pale woman with a coldly beautiful face like the mask worn by Yuki-onna in the Noh plays entered the stable yard. She tucked a notebook into the front of her kimono.
Megumi rolled her eyes. "Here comes Lady Murasaki," she whispered to Kaoru. Her voice dripped with the contempt that only a Takani, wealthy as royalty but untitled, can have for a Yukishiro, titled but dirt poor.
Kaoru snorted. She and Megumi often laughed about how Tomoe always seemed to keep to herself and scribble in her journal. They named her Lady Murasaki after the famous Heian-period diarist to mock her pretensions. But Lady Murasaki had at least been content to record the drama around her; Tomoe had to create that drama.
"She isn't riding with us, is she?" Kaoru said.
Tomoe was, in fact, riding with them. She had dressed similarly to Kaoru and Megumi, in hakama, gaiters, and a warm haori with her hair arranged in a topknot and a cloth band tied around her forehead. Wearing men's clothing and adopting masculine affectations had become fashionable with the more daring women in Mibu, especially when participating in activities such as riding. But Tomoe couldn't move with the boyish swagger necessary to pull off the look. Instead, she took prim, mincing steps more appropriate for junihito than hakama.
Megumi turned up her nose at Tomoe's flat stomach. "I doubt she'll have to be careful."
If Megumi were pregnant, the joys of motherhood would come second to the pleasure of flaunting her fertility in front of the baren Tomoe. Five years and Tomoe hadn't so much as been late for one of her periods. Even Aunt Tokio, Tomoe and Akira's staunchest supporter at the beginning had cooled toward her. Kaoru could offer little sympathy. After all the trouble she'd caused them, Tomoe could have at least given Uncle Saito and Aunt Tokio a grandchild. Instead, all she'd brought into the marriage was her famous beauty and much good it did everyone.
Kaoru had every right to look down on Tomoe. Her father was one of the most prominent daimyos in the Kanto region, while Tomoe was the daughter of a penniless, insignificant samurai. The oh-so-poised and perfect Tomoe and that vicious tiger she called a brother would be nothing if it weren't for their uncle, Lord Takeda.
"Come, Tanuki," said Megumi, now gracefully perched on Kitsune's back. "We're going to miss all the fun."
"I wanna dance and sing...
Politics... not my thing."
"Don't Lose Ur Head" Six: The Musical
Kaoru expected Akira and Enishi to start slashing at each other right away. But they just stood there while Aoishi and another Choshu samurai talked.
From atop their horses, she and Megumi had a good view of the dueling ground, but Kaoru still had to crane her neck to see Aoishi and Enishi's second. Unfortunately, Enishi's second wasn't Hitoriki Battousai, the fiance Tomoe jilted for Akira. The man was tall, dark-haired, and smooth-faced and didn't have the diminutive build, reddish hair, and distinctive scars that Battousai was known to have.
The same impulse to see the boogie man for herself that made Kaoru dream of finding a tengu in the forest made her curious about Battousai.
Kaoru pulled up closer to Megumi. "What's going on?" she said.
"They're discussing terms," Megumi replied. Then, she turned away from Kaoru to focus on what was happening on the river bank and probably to find Sano.
"What is there to discuss? Enishi has bad blood with Akira, and Akira doesn't want to die?" Though he tried, bless him, Akira wasn't much of a swordsman. He wouldn't stand a chance against Enishi. Damn it. Her poor cousin could die because of the cold-hearted bitch he'd married.
Megumi shrugged. "It's just how things are done."
The two women reined in their horses at the top of a hill that sloped down to the river bank, close enough to watch the action but still a safe distance away.
Enishi stood in the shade of an ancient oak tree. You couldn't miss him with that white hair. Kaoru had thought Enishi's hair, which supposedly went white from the shock of Tomoe's elopement, was just a legend, like how Battousai's red tresses were dyed with the blood of his countless victims. Battousai could be a peasant with a sharpened stick for all Kaoru knew, but Enishi had the terrifying beauty of the demon prince everyone said he was.
When Enishi glanced in Kaoru's direction, she responded by turning up her nose at him. Let him look. Hakama suited her marvelously, and she had the best seat on a horse of any woman in Mibu. But, if he came any closer, she would happily clobber him with her bokken.
Akira stood, shaking like a leaf, with his sword in readiness. With a blank expression, Enishi drew his weapon and ran toward Akira. His blade slashed Akira across the stomach.
Megumi gasped and Kaoru winced.
Enishi turned to walk away; the duel finished almost as soon as it began. But Akira staggered back onto his feet.
"I can't die," Akira said. He repeated the words like a mantra as Enishi spun around to face him again.
Akira tried to land a blow, but Enishi blocked him with his sword. His blade sliced open Akira's sword arm. Akira fell to the ground, howling with pain.
Kaoru looked over her shoulder to check on Megumi, who was pale and wide-eyed. Stupid fox. Why did she come out to watch this in her condition?
"I can't die," Akira muttered. Then, though he could hardly stand up and hold his weapon, he tried to get up a second time. "I won't die."
Enishi raised his sword to strike the coup de grace across Akira's throat.
"Enishi..." Tomoe pushed and shoved her way through the Mibu ranks to reach her brother.
Megumi and Kaoru shared a look. They'd almost forgotten about Tomoe.
"What does she think she's doing?" Megumi said.
Tomoe threw herself between Akira and Enishi, who drew back. She cradled her bleeding husband in her arms and looked up at her brother. Enishi drew back and lowered his weapon.
Akira's colorless lips formed the words "I can't die..." Tomoe stroked his hair and kissed his forehead. "... I won't die."
Enishi kicked Akira in the side. "Take this worthless coward with you," he said. Then, while Sano helped Aoshi, Akira's older brother, lift Akira onto a waiting stretcher, Enishi watched Kaoru with his tiger's eyes.
Kaoru grabbed the hilt of her bokken. Why was he looking at her like that?
"A bride for a bride," Enishi said. He pulled a rag from his kimono and cleaned Akira's blood from his sword. "We'll take Lady Kaoru as recompense."
Three Choshu men approached Kaoru. She scowled. The bastards. How dare they call themselves samurai?
"I'd rather marry a demon." Kaoru reached into her sash for her tanto. She would kill herself before she let them take her.
The three Choshu men laughed.
"Mouthy little whore!"
"The tanuki has bigger balls than that cousin of hers."
"Maybe Enishi-san will share once he's finished."
Sano, who'd left Akira's side, cracked his knuckles. "You shut your fucking mouth." He slammed his fist into the sneering face of the nearest Choshu man.
The Choshu man spat blood and punched Sano in the stomach. His wide, swinging blows left him open for Sano to kick him in the ribs and knock him to the ground. The two other Choshu men charged at Sano, but he socked both in the jaw.
"Kamiya Sanosuke," Megumi shouted. "You bust up your hand again, I'm not going to fix it."
Kaoru dismounted her horse. Why should her big brother have all the fun? "Hey Yukishiro, if you want me, come and claim me." She gave her suitor a wicked grin and drew her bokken.
But Enishi stayed where he was, cleaning his sword.
"What? Are you afraid of some real competition? Come take me, you coward."
Kaoru knew her shortcomings. She was good at whacking her brothers around but didn't stand a chance against a renowned swordsman like Yukishiro Enishi. Still, giving up without a fight went against all her instincts. If he killed her, she would have died fighting; if he took her alive, she would save her honor by slitting her throat.
Enishi gained upon Kaoru, his freshly-cleaned blade glinting in the sun. Kaoru swung at him from both sides when he came close enough.
"A woman armed with only a wooden sword," Enishi said. He blocked Kaoru and grabbed the bokken from her hands. "How could you be any competition?"
The bokken smacked Kaoru in the chest, and her back hit the ground with a painful crunch. Enishi tossed the bokken aside.
"What good is your toy now?" he said. His eyes raked over Kaoru's body.
Kaoru's kimono had come loose and left her sarashi-bound breasts exposed. Enishi pointed the tip of his blade between them. His men offered crude suggestions about what he should do to teach her a lesson.
Kaoru groped around for her bokken. Before she could reach for it, Enishi swung his sword and sliced her right arm. She couldn't use her arms, but she could use her legs.
Enishi had left his groin open for Kaoru to kick.
While Enishi clutched his wounded crotch, Aoshi swept in and rescued Kaoru. Sano grabbed Enishi by the hair and slammed his face into the oak tree.
"You touch my sister again," Sano said. "You're fucking dead."