Sixteenth Day of the Second Month, Year One Thousand Ten of the Reign of the Ichiya Dynasty

Horobei

The dawn had not yet risen, but that hadn’t stopped Ichiya Horobei from starting his daily chores. This was his habit, to wake up before the Dojo servants and complete any task they would need to do for him. The servants had long given up protesting this behavior, but despite his Royal birth, Horobei never quite got used to the idea that others were intended to wait on his every whim. They had defeated him in matters of breakfast, he had been determined not to lose on this particular front.

Once his room was swept, he collected his bokken and made his way to the dojo floor. It was quiet. Empty, as it always was this time of morning. In his four years of training here in the Takasu Dojo, he never once had someone beat him here. So of course, it wasn’t strange that in his first hour of practice, he hadn’t seen anyone. As the sun pierced over the treetops that stood watch over the village, though, he thought it was strange that he still heard no sounds of other students, no signal that the instructors had woken to start morning lessons. Determined to figure out the cause, Horobei set his bokken back and walked out towards the instructor rooms.

He noticed fairly quickly that both of the instructor doors were open. Peering inside, he could see a clear sign that someone had left, but no indications of where they had gone. He continued on. Perhaps they were in the mess hall? He followed the path to the dining hall, only to notice that the door had been knocked off its track. He held his breath, concern pooling in his gut. And slowly he looked to see what had caused the problem.

His eyes widened as he saw bodies littered across the ground. He could quickly identify the instructors at one of the corner tables, and servants all around. One of the servants had made it to the door before her apparent death, and he noted that her body running into it is what knocked it off the track. The fact that it didn’t break would have been a marvel if not for the horrific context.

He backed up slowly, his heart racing through his chest, and he almost screamed as he bumped into something behind him. As he turned, he saw a young woman wearing a grey kimono. Her eyes were a light green, almost grey, and she stared down at him with an expression that filled him with terror in the moment. He fell backwards onto his rear, and slowly he backed away. “Was it you?” His voice tried to project confidence he in no way felt. “Are you the one who killed them?”

“People are dead?” Her eyebrow quirked. The eyes softened, and her hand reached out to him. “I’m afraid not, but I am quite sure that you are in no small amount of-” she stopped, and her hand flashed. He winced, but a thud behind him informed him that whatever she was doing was not intended for him. He dared peek behind him, and saw a masked figure on the ground, a knife having sprouted in their chest where the heart would be. “-danger,” she finished her thought in that moment, taking a breath as she offered her hand again. “My name’s Maiko. Come along, my Lord, I’ll get you out nice and safe.”

“H-how can I trust you?” He wasn’t sure he meant it, but the words escaped his lips anyway.

“Fair point. I am some stranger. But I would point out that you have now seen I am quite proficient in a knife, and I had the advantage of surprise on you. If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

There were, of course, other reasons that she could want him alive. But at that moment, Horobei took the woman’s hand and let her help him to his feet. “Apologies,” he whispered. “I am not exactly in my element here. What’s the plan?”

“The plan is, I will take you to Shizuku-sama, and we will determine the best course from there.” Her voice was sharp and quiet, brokering no room from argument.

But he recognized that name, and shuddered at the implication. “Shizuku-san’s here? Shouldn’t she be with Father?” A tinge of worry caught his throat.

“Horobei-sama, I assure you that I am absolutely not the person to have that conversation. Come. When you are safe, we will worry about the implications.” She pulled on his hand as she stalked low to the ground, and with little other choice he followed.

Their path took them back through the dining hall that was now so carnaged. Maiko had retrieved her knife from the dead… assassin? He paused for a moment to let that sink in. Why would anyone kill a dojo full of people? Why was this person here? The pull from Maiko’s hand didn’t afford him the opportunity to dwell further. If one assassin was here, that meant there were likely more. Especially with the carnage that had been wrought.

“What about the other students?” He whispered. “Are they…”

“I don’t know. But we don’t have time to search right now. With respect, Horobei-sama, my only duty is to protect you.”

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“Yeah, but-”

“No buts.” She pulled his hand to guide him forward, keeping him close to the wall and away from sight as much as possible. “Horobei-sama, we don’t know how deep this goes. Any person right now, outside of myself and Shizuku-sama, has to be assumed to potentially want you dead. The more people we run into, the more danger you are in. If that’s uncomfortable, I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be right now.”

Horobei quieted, his face contorting in the face of that truth. But he nodded, finally. “You’re right, Maiko-san. Please, lead the way.” Somewhere, deep in his heart, he felt something break, and all he could do was pray that his friends would be alright.

As they prepared to round a corner, Maiko’s hand pressed tight into Horobei’s chest. She let out a quiet curse that made Horobei blush lightly, then she turned to him. “How are you at climbing?” She hissed quickly.

“I’ve climbed a tree or two in my day,” his answer betrayed his lack of confidence. “Why?”

“Entrance is guarded. Three soldiers, too risky to take them both out at once. So we’re going to find out very quickly how well those two trees treated you.” She waited for a moment, watching the guards as they turned their heads back and forth, before pulling him along towards the estate wall.

To watch Maiko hook her rope at the top of the wall and start climbing was impressive. The way her feet touched the wall and pushed off, it was as if she hadn’t ever touched it. She looked down and motioned for him to follow. WIth a deep breath, he grasped the rope and started to climb. Every step was agonizingly slow as he tried at first to mimic her steps. He held his breath and pushed himself up towards the wall. And then he heard the clatter on the ground under him.

Maiko’s eyes stared in horror under him, and despite himself he looked back to see. A small tile had fallen to the ground and cracked. And the three guards at the gate entrance had turned and were staring right at him. “That’s… bad,” he said, too stunned to move.

“Yeah, no shit. Come on!” Maiko grabbed his collar and pulled hard. As the two tumbled over the other side, a trio of shuriken flew just over his head. As the two tumbled into the bushes, he let out a grunt of pain. Before he could complain, however, Maiko pulled hard on his arm, physically yanking him to his feet. “Hurry! We have to keep moving!”

He hesitated a moment. There was pain through his back and leg from the fall. But sensing her urgency, he pushed off his good leg and followed as best he could.

As they rushed through the forest, the sound of footsteps behind the pair alerted Horobei that they were indeed being followed. Another curse escaped Maiko’s lips and she shoved him behind a tree before hopping over herself. “I don’t suppose you know how to use a sword, do you?”

Horobei’s nod was tentative at best. “Y-yes. But I’ve never had to use one to-”

“Great.” She slipped a short, straight blade from out of the fold of her kimono. Even for its length, he had to be impressed that she was able to move like she did with it hidden there. “Hold this, be ready to defend yourself if you have to. And stay quiet. I’ll be back shortly.” She jumped and grabbed a nearby branch, pulling herself up with a smooth motion.

As he watched her climb, for a moment he couldn’t help but be impressed. But as she leapt from branch to branch, the truth of what she was about to do made his stomach roil. As the assassins closed on him, he caught a glimpse of a knife flying down from the trees. The leftmost assassin fell immediately, and the other two stopped to find their new target.

As she landed next to the assassin she’d felled, Maiko grabbed the knife she killed him with and threw it at the next assassin. She let out another curse as her enemy leapt out of the way, a pair of shuriken launching at her the moment after. Maiko rolled out of the way, and the two star shaped weapons struck next to the tree. Her path took her in his direction, and she threw her knee straight into his gut. The man doubled over in pain and she lifted her arms to hammer into his chest, only to be forced to back off as a blade came precariously close to her throat. As she fell back, she grabbed the assassin under her and pulled him down with her. As the two sprawled, the third assassin swung their blade down at her.

And as the blade came down, Horobei leapt out at him, thrusting the borrowed blade straight into his chest. As his blade fell, Maiko tilted her head just out of its path. She grabbed the weapon and stabbed it into the man on top of her. As he slacked, she pushed him off with a cough. “I thought I told you to stay hidden,” she groused.

He fell to his knees, a racking cough pushing through his chest. At first, he thought he might lose his breakfast. It was a small mercy that he hadn’t eaten any today. He felt a pat on his back, and Maiko gave him a sympathetic glance now that she was free of her opponent and standing. “You weren’t kidding. You really haven’t killed anyone before.”

“Thank you for noticing,” he grumbled. “I suppose we need to keep going?”

“Take a moment. They seemed more interested in chasing us than alerting their fellows. You should get a hold of yourself before we move on. I’ll keep watch.” She moved away, taking the time to hide the bodies in nearby bushes.

Horobei pushed himself back against a nearby tree, taking slow, careful breaths. The slow realization that he had killed someone really started to sink in. His eyes looked to the bush where he saw her take his body, and he pulled his legs into his chest. He looked around, realizing that he’d lost sight of Maiko. For a brief moment, he felt heavy panic.Only for relief to wash over him when he heard her voice behind the tree. “It’s rough the first time. I killed my first person when I was six. I’d tell you that it gets easier but, well. It’s more that you just get numb to it.”

“I hope that never happens,” he stated, his voice calming as he speaks. “No offense to what you do, of course. I just detest this feeling.”

“I do, too,” she said, taking his hand to lead him again. “Come on. Shizuku-sama is waiting for us.”