ELEVENTH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH, YEAR ONE THOUSAND TEN OF THE REIGN OF THE ICHIYA DYNASTY

Himari

Himari’s eyes opened slowly as she was struck by the Sun’s morning rays. With a pained groan, she forced herself up to a sitting position, a hand reaching to her throbbing head. Did someone strike her in the head? She remembered seeing her father mouth ‘run,’ but then…

That’s right. He was gone. Himari took a slow breath and closed her eyes again. Tears stung her cheek. The thought that she was never going to see him again hit her like a slap. Her breathing started to accelerate. Her heart raced.

Before she could fall too deep into her feelings, a voice to her right pulled her back into the room. “Tenth?” Her eyes darted to see who spoke to her, and her hand reached to her katana that she only belatedly realized wouldn’t be at her side if she was sleeping. Shizuku stood at the door to what she now recognized as a small peasant’s hut. A kitchenette at the far edge, and a low table sat almost uncomfortably close to her. “Tenth, it’s good to see you awake.”

“What… happened?” Himari still felt groggy as she asked. But having someone to talk to at least kept her present.

Shizuku let out a sigh. “Seventh and I never made it into the city. All of the secret entrances we knew were completely covered. By the time we had even found one that was lightly guarded, the city guard had already surrendered to Makoto’s army.” She paused. “We returned to the rendezvous point assuming that you had similar luck. But you weren’t there when we arrived. We started to fear the worst, until Maiko-san appeared with your unconscious body in tow.”

A shot of electricity fired through Himari’s synapses at the mention of Maiko. She was starting to remember now. Maiko had tried to persuade her to retreat. Then when Himari was so close to maybe being able to stop Makoto… something hit her. Did Maiko do that? “I know what happened to the Captain,” she said shakily. “What about the Emperor?”

“He’s… gone,” Shizuku explained quietly. She walked to the kitchenette, setting out a pot to make tea with. “A missive went out late last night. By order of Empress Takahashi I. She claimed that she had taken Seifu by right of arms, and that the line of the Ichiya is no more.”

Himari’s mouth dried at Shizuku’s words. It didn’t make sense. Even if her father did fall, the other Chosen should have stopped this. That was their whole job, after all. “Where is everyone else?”

While the pot boiled, she began measuring out leaves from a small bowl. “We don’t know. Scattered. Maybe dead. The three of us were the only ones I know of who weren’t in the city when the attack started. It might well be we’re the only three left.” Shizuku looked out towards the door to the hut briefly, but became distracted as the pot started to hiss. She lifted it and poured out two cups.

As Himari accepted her cup, she was quiet. Her mind raced for answers, but none seemed forthcoming. “Then… what do we do?”

“I’m unsure yet,” Shizuku admitted, which surprised Himari. The older woman took a long sip of her tea before she continued. “Maiko-san and the Seventh are collecting food from the village so we can have breakfast. Apparently Maiko-san has a connection to this village.”

Himari finished her tea with a quick gulp and shook her head. “I’m not hungry.” Her eyes scanned around again and, seeing Shugojin sitting at the foot of the bed, she took it in her right hand and started for the door.

“Himari-san, what are you doing?” Shizuku’s eyes widened, and she rushed to put herself between Himari and the door.

“I’m going to go kill Takahashi Makoto.” Himari stated resolutely.

“Tenth, no,” Shizuku grit her teeth. “You’ll just get yourself killed. She has absolute control of the city and an army between you and her.”

“And? Am I supposed to stay here and rot? Hide like a coward while an usurper sits on the throne having murdered my Emperor and my Father?”

“No, of course not,” Shizuku said, her stern tone becoming more pleading.

“Then what? Pray for a miracle? Hope that Makoto just falls down dead?”

Another voice interrupted from behind Shizuku. “We need to plan, Himari-sama.” As Shizuku stepped aside to turn and see her, Himari’s eyes caught Maiko, leaning against the frame of the door. “Whatever we decide to do, we cannot go into this without help.”

Himari’s eyes saw red. Before she could take even a moment to think, her body had taken action, and she leapt at Maiko, throwing her shoulder into the other woman’s chest. She drove Maiko to the ground, satisfied as she heard a slight cracking of ribs. “You!” Her fist reared back, striking down at Maiko’s cheek. “This is all your fault! You delayed me! You stopped me from fighting!” Her left hand matched her right, striking the cheek opposite. “If it weren’t for you, I could have saved them!”

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Maiko, for her part, didn’t bother trying to guard. Himari punched again. And again. It didn’t take long for her to lose count, not that she cared about the number. No number of punches would forgive what she had lost. As she reared back for another strike, however, a hand grasped at her right hand. “Tenth. That’s enough.” The voice that chastised her this time belonged to Misao. She looked up at them, her face contorted in grief. She couldn’t stop the tears anymore. Not after what she had lost, and not after Maiko had the temerity to still be alive after all of this.

“What do you mean, that’s enough? Do you want me to just accept that she stole my father, stole my DUTY, from me?” Her left hand moved to strike again, but this time it was Shizuku who stopped her. The two Chosen lifted her off of Maiko, pulling her back towards the bed.

Maiko rose calmly, brushing the dust off her hakama as she looked at Himari. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, barely loud enough for Himari to hear. “It was my duty to ensure your survival. I did what had to be done, same as you attempted to do. I am sorry that our duties were so at odds.”

“You’re sorry? As if that will just wipe away all that I’ve lost? Is it ok now that the Empire has been thrown into turmoil because you’re sorry?!” Himari pulled against the two Chosen holding her, trying everything she could to get to Maiko through her two fellows.

Only to be stopped entirely in her tracks by a sharp slap to her face. Her eyes widened and she looked to the source of that slap: Misao. “Himari-chan,” they spoke, chastising her as if she were a child. “You are being incredibly selfish right now. I understand that you have reasons to be upset with Maiko-san. We all feel the weight of your Father’s loss and that of the Emperor. But we do not have the luxury to be able to fight amongst each other. If you cannot put your personal feelings aside, then I invite you to return to Kyūsoku Toshi and submit yourself to your death. The rest of us, in the meantime, will be making a plan to move forward.”

Himari was quiet for several moments, but nodded a defeated nod. The fire extinguished from the initial moment of seeing Maiko, a deep sense of numbness cooled her to her bones. She didn’t know what she wanted right now. The two other Chosen released her arms, and she quietly moved to sit at the low table.

Maiko moved to reset the pot and make tea as Misao and Shizuku sat across from her. Shizuku cleared her throat and spoke. “Now then. If we are all ready to act as Chosen?” Himari looked up to her. She wiped a stray tear from her face and nodded. “Excellent. We need a plan. And we are critically low on information. The usurper will doubtless try to secure her reign in any way she can. This means that she will be working to eliminate elements that could cast doubt on her reign. We should operate as if we are targets, of course. But we should consider who else might be at risk.”

Maiko moved to the table, setting tea out for everyone before she sat down next to Himari. “The Emperor’s eldest no doubt will be killed in the next few days, if he has not already been. I would think that she would aim to remove all traces of the Ichiya name from Seifu as swiftly as possible.”

Himari shot Maiko a look, but couldn’t muster up half the venom that she had when she initially saw her ‘friend.’ “Did Masashi-sama suggest that to you, too?”

Maiko flinched, but shook her head. “Only indirectly. I should be candid with you all.” She sipped her tea and set it down. “For as long as I can remember, I was under the employ of Masashi-san in some form or fashion. The last ten of those years, I served as an assassin.” Himari’s eyes widened, but Maiko continued before she could comment. “My orders were never to hurt Himari-san, or even to stop her from attempting to save her Father. But I was ordered to keep her alive.”

“And so you determined an attempt on Makoto's life was an unacceptable risk,” Misao spoke up, nodding.

Himari stared at her tea quietly. “So. It was all a lie, then? We were never friends?” The question stabbed at her harder than she thought it might.

“Himari-san…” Maiko hesitated, then continued. “I don’t expect you to trust me in this instance. But I truly have enjoyed our time together. I have considered you a friend all this time. It made it easier, even, to make the decision I did. If you turned out to be awful, I might have let you charge in and ruin Masashi-san’s plans out of spite.”

Somehow, it did make Himari feel a little better. But she chose to leave it alone for now and focus back on the matter at hand. “So there is little we can do about the Emperor’s family in the Capital. What about outside of it? If we can’t protect them, there still might be cousins or similar that we can safeguard while we prepare a counter.”

Shizuku smiled, giving her an affirming nod. “As it happens, three years ago I escorted Ichiya XL’s youngest son, Ichiya Morobe, to a school in Takasu. It’s remote, well west of anywhere terribly populated.” She considered. “We’ll need allies otherwise. In the direct wake of the coup, few are going to be eager to stand against Makoto, but I highly doubt this was a popular decision.

“So we split into two,” Misao suggested. “Tenth and I will work to gather allies. Shizuku-san, you and Maiko-san travel to Takasu to find Morobe-sama, if he is still alive. Given the distance of travel, I propose that we meet back here in two weeks time with whatever information we can provide.”

Himari felt relief when Misao suggested that the two of them travel, instead of her having to travel with Maiko. She wanted to trust the other woman, but the wound was still too fresh. She at least could acknowledge that. She took a breath. “Where should we go first, then?”

“I’m not sure, yet. Makoto’s forces will no doubt be looking for us, and you specifically as the daughter of the late Captain.” Misao tapped their chin thoughtfully.

Himari took a sip of her tea, looking around. As her eyes settled on Maiko, she briefly remembered something. A hard swallow, and she cleared her throat. “Maiko-san, where is the Black Forest?”

Maiko blinked in surprise. “It’s the forest shadowing the village. Why?”

“I need to fulfill a promise.”