Twenty-Third Day of the First Month, Year One Thousand Ten of the Reign of the Ichiya Dynasty

Maiko

After several long minutes of calling for Sakura and receiving no response, Maiko was forced to accept what Himari had told her. Sakura, her fox friend of the last year, was gone. She didn’t know how Himari had noticed while being damn near comatose, but she had desperately wished that she was wrong. So, with a defeated sigh, she returned to the small hut she had borrowed to care for Himari with.

Himari, for her part, was already standing… well, supine. Of all things, she was exercising. Less than one day after an infection that could have killed her. Maiko let out a frustrated grunt. “Kami, if you make the infection worse again, I will tie you to that bed.”

Himari pushed to her feet and shook her head. “I’m fine now, really Maiko-san. Sakura-chan helped heal me, the poison’s fully gone.”

The mention of Sakura almost made Maiko explode in confusion and anger. “Heal you? How did a fox heal you? I know she’s different, but she’s still a fox. And what do you mean poison, the wound was just infected?”

Himari sighed, and recounted everything that had happened. Passing out, the dream, learning about Aura and how to manifest it… sort of. When she got to the Guardian of the Forest, Maiko blanched. “I’d heard of the Guardian, but I never thought she really existed.”

“Afraid so,” Himari sighs. “Listen, I’m so very sorry about Sakura-chan. But I don’t have time to dwell right now. I’ll understand if you don’t wish to speak to me again, but if our paths do cross, know that I hold no will.”

Maiko crossed her arms. “So that’s your plan? Act like it never happened and trudge on your duty like a good little Chosen?”

“What other choice do I have?” She made towards the door.

“You could take five minutes to be sad about losing your friend. I know she’s not dead, at least not according to your understanding of the situation, but for our purposes she might as well be.”

Himari stopped at that suggestion. She took a moment, then turned towards Maiko. “I am sad. Horribly so. Infinitely more that it’s my fault that she’s gone. But sitting here and crying about it doesn’t bring her back. Until I can figure out where in the Black Forest this Guardian is so that I can force her to give my friend back to me, the only thing I have to do is to keep going.”

Maiko’s eyebrows rose briefly. And she let out a breath. “I’m… sorry. I thought you were being callous. Let’s… let’s find the Yamura blacksmith, ok?”

“Us?” Himari’s eyebrow raised. “Don’t you need to leave for Nagata soon?”

“Right now, I don’t think it’s good for either of us to be alone. Masashi-san can wait.” There was an awkward pause. But before Himari could walk out the door, Maiko suddenly gave her a hug. “Hey. We’ll find her together, right?” She manages after a few seconds.

“Yeah. We’ll figure it out,” Himari promised. Maiko didn’t believe her. She hardly believed that what happened to Sakura was real. But for a moment at least, her heart felt a bit lighter.

After letting out so much emotion, the walk to Yamura’s lone smithy felt like an eternity. Maiko couldn’t help but look over her shoulder every few minutes or so, expecting Sakura to be behind her. That really set it into her head that her friend was gone. She supposed that Himari served as a good enough surrogate, but she knew that in only a few weeks that friendship would be severed too. Perhaps destiny demanded that she be alone. It certainly would explain why she couldn’t even keep her friendship with a fox for longer than a year without losing her.

Her self reflection was interrupted as she was blasted with the warmth of the smith’s fire. Inside was a simple forge: anvil, forge, and several tongs, hammers, and other implements. The scent of coal in the air burned at Maiko’s nostrils, bringing her back into the moment. Sakura would have to wait. As Himari stepped forward, she moved against the wall to watch.

Yamura’s smith was a tower of a man, a big bushy beard being the only hair on an aged and scarred head. He stood at the anvil, pounding at steel in a steady rhythm that rang pleasant in the ear. To her credit, Maiko thought Himari was rather patient as she tapped the stone wall and waited. It took several minutes before the man set the steel to cool and turned to the Chosen and her ‘merchant’ friend.

“Ah, hello!” He took a moment to study the two with bright brown eyes. He bowed politely enough, but Maiko would have to admit surprise that he didn’t drop to his knees for a Samurai wearing the tell tale kimono of a Chosen. “I am honored to host such an august presence! Please, how might I be of assistance?!”

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Himari allowed a smirk as she replied. “Ah, if I am not wrong, you are Yamura Gosei, the Forgemaster?” Himari’s stance relaxed visibly, and Maiko couldn’t help but feel jealous at how swiftly she seemed to compartmentalize her feelings. “I am Sato Himari, Tenth Chosen of the Emperor. I have some questions, if you have time. Perhaps I might treat you to some tea? Or perhaps sake would be more to your liking?”

“Apologies, Chosen,” his tone didn’t change, but Maiko sensed an edge to that voice. Her brow furrowed. “I’m afraid my business will not allow me the break until tonight. But whatever questions you might have, you can ask them here and I shall answer as best as I am able.”

“Thank you,” if Himari detected that same edge, she was much better at hiding it. “For context, I am tracking a rather large shipment of yari that recently showed up on a ship in the docks of Kōtei no kyūsoku. A large number of Yari with your maker’s mark were among the crates. Rest assured, I’ve made no assumptions of guilt. But I must ask if you have received such a large commission recently?”

Gosei, despite having started jovial, seemed to have turned inward a bit. The changes were subtle, and he tried to keep his tone conversational, but Maiko could tell that he was discomforted rather suddenly by Himari’s presence. “I can’t say that I have, Sato-sama. If there’s nothing else, I’ve got a lot of work to do and don’t have time for baseless assumptions about my character.”

“I’m afraid I must insist that we continue this line of questioning,” Himari stated tersely. Maiko could see her left arm flex towards her saya. Not the best sign. “I assure you I have made no assumptions about your character, Yamura-san. I am not here making assumptions about why those weapons arrived there. I only care that they are there, and I need to know why.”

“I assure you, Chosen, that you are wasting your time. Now please stop wasting mine.” His voice had gotten an edge to it that Maiko was sure would come to blows.

It was then that she saw Himari’s right arm twitch towards her blade. Maiko pushed off and stepped in front of Himari quickly, hands in the air. “Yamura-sama, please. Sato-sama truly does mean well, but she doesn’t always know how to… converse in these matters. Perhaps a gift could help jog your memory of your recent commissions?”

“Hm? A gift, you say?” To her relief, he seemed to soften at the idea.

“Oh yes. As it happens, I have a patron in Nagata who has a need for high quality kama for the Fall Harvest. As it happens, I have an incentive for arranging such a commission.” She reached into her obi and produced a small satchel with ten koku held inside. “I am quite certain that we can come to an understanding, yes?”

Gosei took the satchel. He examined it for a moment, held it aloft to test its weight, then slid it in his apron. “Okay. I want it to be clear, I have never been knowingly involved in anything illegal. I don’t want this to become ‘oh, old Gosei-san did something wrong,’ go it?”

“Rest assured, Yamura-sama, neither of us assumed anything.”

“Your friend’s twitchy hands, I’m not sure that’s true.” He shook his head, grabbing a set of tongs to prepare to get back to work. “About a year ago, I was commissioned to make one hundred Yari. I was told that they were intended for General Takahashi Makoto. Naturally, I completed them, and I had only sent them off to Nagata two months ago, per the agreement that was made.”

“Really?” Maiko hummed curiously. “And was Takahashi-sama the one you made the agreement with?”

“Ah, no, of course not. One of his Santōhei brought the order in. It would be ludicrous to expect someone as busy as Takahashi-sama to perform the work herself.”

Maiko feigned a giggle. “Of course, forgive my ignorance on military structure. Do you happen to remember the Santōhei’s name?”

“Ah, one moment, I have it somewhere.” He set the tongs down and ran over to a small box. Opening it up, he hunted for a few moments before he pulled out a small scroll. “Here we are. I had him sign for the steel when he came back to collect it. Name was… Tomo. No family name I’m afraid. I hope that helps.”

Maiko bowed, surreptitiously motioning for Himari to follow the gesture. “It was very helpful, Yamura-sama. Thank you, we will be on our way.” Maiko turned and walked away, offering a reassuring smile to Himari as she followed just behind.

As the two left earshot of the smithy, Himari let out a sigh. “Thank you, Maiko-san. I don’t know why he became so combative when I mentioned being Chosen. But I would not have been able to get that information alone.”

Maiko chuckled. “If I am being honest, I don’t know that the problem was that you were Chosen. His brow furrowed when he heard your family name. You might ask your father if your family has a history in Yamura. If he sent you out here without telling you important history like that, it is his failing and not yours.”

“Well…” Himari flushed, which surprised Maiko. In the short time they’d been ‘friends,’ she’d never thought Himari capable of embarrassment. “That’s sort of… the thing. I did not entreat my Father to pursue this line of inquiry.”

That quirked an eyebrow. “That is surprising. I would think you would need the Captain of the Chosen’s permission to be away from the capital?”

“Well, when I worked out that this was a line of inquiry I should pursue, I meant to find him. But truth be told, I found Masashi-sama first. He advised me to go and pursue the inquiry. I believe his exact words were ‘Kosuke-san will admire the initiative.’ He assured me he will tell Father, so I made haste.”

Well, that explained why Masashi-san knew that Himari was leaving the capital. But still, it surprised her that Himari would even consider it. She seemed so dedicated to her Father. “Well,” she settled into a smile. “If Masashi-san encouraged it, I am certain that he knows best,” for his own goals was the unspoken end to that sentence she wouldn’t say to Himari directly.

“Certainly so! In any case, I am glad that we get to travel together some more. I enjoy your company greatly, and the fact that we are now headed to the same city is just the most fantastic of coincidences.” She smiled brightly, but Maiko still recognized that sense of sorrow in her eyes. The next leg of their journey wouldn’t be the same without Sakura.

“Yes, a wonderful coincidence it is,” she lied. If there was one thing she was certain of now, it’s that there were no coincidences when Gojo Masashi was involved.