Twenty-Seventh Day of the Second Month, Year One Thousand Ten of the Reign of the Ichiya Dynasty

Kimika

It had been far too many years since Kimika’d had cause to wear clothes intended for travel instead of going to Court or entertaining guests. While she likely could have gotten away with it as the wife of Sato Kosuke, she had a certain preference for maintaining his image with how she presented in public. This was proving now to have its advantages. As she made sure that Jiro was dressed properly for the journey they would be taking, the boy let out a whine.

“Mama,” he complained. “Why can’t I wear my normal clothes? These clothes are so itchy.”

“It’s a part of the game, my dear Willful Boy. This will be a fun game, I promise, but we must play it according to the rules. And those rules require this clothing.” She pulled a hood over her son’s face, keeping her smile placid and easy as best she could. It was a risk to try and move Jiro in this way, but what other choice did she have?

“Okay,” he nodded eagerly. At the least, framing it as a game kept his focus on it.

But she had to make sure that he would keep that focus. “Now then, do you remember who all are playing the game?”

“All the guards! And Masashi-sama, and Daddy’s Chosen!”

She smiled sadly. Were those men ever her husband’s? “That’s right. You stay close to Mama, and we are going to play with the guards. Remember, if you talk to anyone, you lose and have to stay in your room all day tomorrow. But if you win, we get to play out in the woods all day!”

Jiro looked at Kimika with a childlike determination. “Okay, Mama! Don’t worry, we’re going to win this game!”

“I believe in you,” she said with a forced grin, pulling her own hood over her head. “Now, hold Mama’s hand and don’t let go.” She took the young child’s hand, and they left his room quietly. She had dismissed the staff with a handsome vacation stipend earlier this morning, but even still she was determined to keep the two of them hidden. Just in case.

Fortunately, none of the servants and guards had stayed in the estate. The two were able to make their way outside with little issue, even as her eyes kept watching for the spies and assassins that she didn’t doubt were watching. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing she had any capacity to manipulate Aura. She felt defenseless, with no real weapon’s training and no ability to summon whatever element might flow in her veins to back it up. If someone did see them and decide to cause them a problem, she worried that they would be helpless.

So they stuck to the main roads, hidden in plain sight within the crowds. She could feel her son pulling against her arm, and quickly she looked down at him. “Jiro-kun, please,” she hissed. “We have to stay focused on the game, remember?”

“But Mama,” he moaned loudly, “they have mochi over there! I want some!”

She put her finger gently to his lips. “Jiro-kun, my willful boy,” she whispered as she knelt down to his level. “I understand that this game must feel terribly slow and boring for you. But believe me, it is going to get very exciting very soon. Be patient for just a little bit longer, won’t you? For your mother?”

Jiro looked at her, looking like he might have a tantrum. His cheeks puffed, and her hand started to lift to stop it, but his words were quiet. “When we get home, we can have mochi then?”

Kimika giggled at her son’s ever shifting attention. Even in the midst of all this tension, all he really wanted was a treat. “Yes, of course. When we get home, I will make sure you get a big plate of Tempura, and all the mochi you can eat. As long as you behave for the remainder of the game, understand?”

Jiro’s eyes lit up and he nodded. He put his index finger on his lips and nodded in understanding. She took his hand again, and slowly they made their way towards the northern gate.

A short line of merchants still stood just on this side of the gate, waiting for the guards to approve their departure. It had been this way since the coup; merchants had been double and triple checked for contraband that might be used in any sort of attempt at reprisal against Makoto’s reign.

Being a pair of simple travelers meant that Kimika and Jiro could simply keep walking. Kimika kept them towards the center of the road, hoping that sticking between the wagons going both ways would allow them to largely escape the notice of the guards. As they walked under the enormous gate that invited travelers in and said goodbye to those leaving its safety, for a moment she allowed herself to believe that it was going to be easy to slip out.

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“Excuse me, miss!” The sound of a guard coming her way killed any hope of it being so easy. For a moment, she thought of just running, but Jiro’s presence killed any plan to take that risk.

She looked down at Jiro and whispered, “leave this to me, ok? This one might not know we are playing.” She winked, and the child let out an eager giggle as she turned to face the guard. He was a slight man who almost looked like his bamboo armor was wearing him, as opposed to him wearing it. She realized he couldn’t have been more than seventeen years old, and that realization caused her to double take briefly.

“Pardon me, Miss. I don’t mean to cause you problems, but I just need to ask you some questions.” Relief welled in Kimika’s bosom as she nodded in agreement. She answered the boy’s questions calmly, keeping Jiro behind her while she went through the usual answers about where she was going, why she was leaving, when she would be coming back. Fortunately, he seemed to quickly accept her answers without complaint, and soon they were on their way again.

Jiro pulled on her hakama several times as they made their way down the road, but it wasn’t until they were far enough away that she could feel confident that they were alone. “Apologies, Jiro-kun. What do you need?”

Jiro shifted on his feet uncomfortably. “Um, Mama. You told that man so many lies. But you always told me lying is bad! So why did you lie to him?”

Kimika let out a heavy sigh. What better was there than children to point out your little hypocrisies? “You are correct, dear Jiro-kun. But you see! It was part of the game. We couldn’t be sure that he wasn’t part of the other team!” She paused as she saw the disappointed, disbelieving face on Jiro’s face. And as she decided they were safe enough, she lifted him into her arms and gave him a hug.

“I’m sorry, Jiro-kun,” she said quietly. “You are right. It is not good to lie most of the time. But sometimes, when it is a special occasion to protect the people you love, it is alright to lie. If we had told them who we were, we would have been stopped, and then bad things could have happened to you. I tried to protect you from that, of course, but perhaps I did not need to.” She squeezed her son tight. “I’m sorry for lying to you, Jiro-kun. Could you please forgive me?”

“Okay!” His forgiveness was announced more than stated, with that innocent eagerness that spoke to the child that she was raising. She smiled very briefly. One day, she hoped that this boy would grow to be a good man.

But they could not stand in the middle of the road for hours still. So Kimika set him down and took his hand again. They had a lot of ground to cover before it became too dark to travel.

The two traveled in relative silence for the rest of the afternoon. To keep him entertained, Kimika kept him practicing little word games. As they had entered the forests just north of the city, she had him practicing a little haiku game. But before they could get to him finishing the haiku, she hushed him.

“What’s going-” she pressed her palm to his mouth before he could finish the question.

“Shhh,” she whispered. “Please be quiet. I think I heard something. It was probably just a dog, but we should be cautious regardless.” She picked up Jiro and held him close before she began to slowly walk forward.

It wasn’t long before she heard a rustling in the nearby lines of bushes. She held her son tight, wishing she had something a bit more useful than nothing to defend them with. She held back a scream as something leapt out of the bushes. Only to blanch in surprise as she made a realization. “Misao-san?!”

The androgynous form of Haga Misao stepped out of the bushes, looking just as bewildered as Kimika felt. “Kimika-sama! What are you - why aren’t you in the capital? It’s not that I’m not upset to see you, I just thought-”

“A lot has happened,” she said with a relieved sigh. “And I cannot let my child sit in the middle of where there is threatened danger. Maiko-san told me what was preparing to transpire. I know there is not much I can do to help, but…” Her hand ran over Jiro’s hair affectionately. "The least I could do is protect the last of my family that I’ve any control over.”

Misao nodded, then made a motion with their hand. On his cue, five more scouts slipped out of the bushes, all coming in various shapes and sizes. “It’s ok,” Misao stated to them. “This is Sato Kimika, the mother of Himari-sama. Please, consider her a priority asset and get her to camp as swiftly as possible.” They looked over to Kimika and nodded. “These are good men. They’ll get you to safety.” They gave Kimika a soft smile. “It really is good to see that you are well.”

She nodded in agreement. “You as well.” She set down Jiro and gave him a reassuring smile. “These are good men, Jiro-kun. They are going to take us somewhere safe!” Jiro nodded, though how much he really understood she couldn’t quite tell. But still, she rose and looked to the soldiers with a calm nod. “Alright. Please, lead the way my friends.”

The soldiers led her and her son for a few hours, before they finally found their way to an impressive sight. A tent city of at least two and a half thousand soldiers sat nestled in the quiet valley on the north eastern edge of the forest. She marveled for a long moment as she eyed soldiers practicing drills in a makeshift training field, getting rations arranged for the coming march that was supposedly only two days away, and patrol groups entering and exiting a hastily put together guard house.

“We have orders to take you to the command tent, ma’am.” One of her accompanying scouts said to her, saluting respectfully. “If you will follow me, please.”

She had to keep a tight grip on Jiro as they walked through the camp. With every step, he kept pulling to try and get over to some soldier that he found fascinating, or to the blacksmith who was working hard on making the yari that would keep them alive in the battle to come. But soon they made it to the center of camp, where a large command tent had been erected. Even she couldn’t help but marvel, but this time as she was pulled by Jiro, it was towards the tent. “Mama, come on! I want to meet the general!”

Given they were invited, this time she could simply smile and push him inside. But as the tent flapped open she heard the gasp before she saw who it came from. And her heart leapt in joy as she heard a single word.

“Mother?!”