Kosuke

It wasn’t often that Kosuke used humor to hide his nerves. Following his only daughter, his eldest child as she embarked on her first ever mission, certainly hit his nerves in a way he wasn’t expecting. He’d been stern with her for most of the last ten years, only showing praise when he thought it was truly deserved. He had thought that that a cold demeanor would keep her humble, help her develop into a calm, effective Chosen. Instead, she seemed every bit as head strong as when she was a twelve year old girl. Eager to please, but surprisingly bull headed in places he never would have expected. Had he been too hard on her?

This thought was interrupted as she finally spoke as she considered the note in her hand. “The Ningyo’s Breath. A seafaring analogy suggests somewhere around the docks. A tavern or a ship, perhaps?”

“Good instincts,” he said with a nod. Perhaps a more encouraging route was worth pursuing. She responded fairly well to it this morning. “How would you go to confirm?”

“Hmmm. Looking for every tavern in the docks would be inefficient. Same as looking at the name on every ship in the docks. A dock master’s manifest would be swifter, but walking up to him might attract undue attention.” She looked like her mother when she let herself get lost in thought, he reflected. “But. If the dock master is worth his salt, he would remember any ships coming into his harbor. We could ask him if he recognizes the name. Say that we’re Ronin looking for work, and the ship came recommended.”

“A good idea,” He nods his head. “This is your mission now, Himari-chan. Lead the way.”

“Yes, Kosuke-Taichou,” she gave him a teasing grin. Maybe being too light with her was not the right call after all.

“Eyes on task, Chosen,” was all he said, falling into his usual sternness. Despite a protesting grouse from her, she led the way towards the dock district.

As Himari had predicted, the Ningyo’s Breath was a ship. The dock master motioned them to a single large merchant’s ship at the edge of the dock. The kanji of the ship were dully written and would have been easily missed if not first pointed out to them. Intentional, no doubt. As the two walked, he considered how exactly he would play the situation. They needed confirmation that something was amiss before they could take aggressive action, of course.

As they reached the gangplank, a scarred, muscular man held his hand up. “Ronin-sans. This boat ain’t hiring. Move along.” It was Kosuke’s turn to play the mute now, and he nodded to Himari to speak this time around.

“Ah, forgive me, -sama,” she bowed her head low, and he cursed inside his head. She was overacting terribly. “But you see, we were told that there was work to be had, and we are desperate for anything. We’re not so proud that we can’t help carry boxes or man the sails!”

“Didn’t ya hear me girlie!” The man grabbed the hem of Himari’s kimono. Kosuke steeled himself against the motion, eyes instead going to Himari’s hands. Fortunately, her self control prevailed, and he needn’t worry about her cutting him down in an instant. “We aren’t. Fuckin’. Hiring.”

“Ah, that is a shame then,” she said calmly. “I will have to tell Mimi-chan that she should find more reliable crews to send Ronin to. I’m sure she’d love to know that your crew cannot be trusted to hire when it promises to.”

Kosuke’s eyebrow rose. How did she know to drop that name? But it did work on the sailor, who let go of her and stepped aside. “Go on. The captain’ll make a call on ya.”

The two walked up the gangplank, and Kosuke leaned in to whisper to her. “How did you know that Mimi’s name was good for the sailors themselves?”

“Educated guess,” she admitted in a sharp whisper. “She has to get her information from somewhere.”

Another chuckle was stifled. He was loath to express pride in her again, lest she get clumsy again, but at the least he could let some of the warmth fill his own chest.The two walked to the room where the ship captain would no doubt be. How would his daughter play this, now?

The captain was a portly man, mid thirties by his estimation. On his own, he didn’t present the impression of a threat. The Samurai to his right, though? He definitely carried himself like an experienced warrior.

“Ah, new Ronin? I didn’t think we needed more,” the portly man said in the sort of voice that grated on Kosuke. “Standard contract for new Ronin. One Koku per month, meals and board included. No shore leave for the first year. Any questions?”

“None, Sir,” Himari said rather calmly. She began to step forward, as if she was going to sign the contract. Then quickly stepped back as an arrow flew past the path she had been walking. Kosuke’s eyes widened, less out of surprise of potential betrayal and more for the sudden moment of danger that Himari found herself in. Both of them moved into a defensive posture as three more Ronin stepped out from the shadows.

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“Come now,” the man said with a laugh that demanded a violent reaction. “Do you really think that the famous daughter of the Captain of the Chosen would not stick out? A brown kimono? If you get a next life, girl. Try harder.” He was going to die for that, Kosuke decided at that moment. “Kill them,” the merchant said, waving a hand.

It should not have surprised Kosuke that Himari would not be the sort to wait for them to come to her. She leapt into an immediate roll under the second arrow that came in her direction, rising and drawing her blade in the same action. A line of blood covered the wall behind the Ronin as he fell, separating into two halves from shoulder to hip.

The reminder that riff raff like this wouldn’t be much to worry about made Kosuke smile as his first opponent came to meet him. He carried a yari, and immediately lunged at the older Samurai. Kosuke simply stepped to the side almost thoughtlessly, hand grabbing and pulling at the spear. The ill-fated Ronin instinctively released the weapon, and lost his head the moment after as Kosuke’s sword left its Saya and removed it. A second man with a bow watched the display, his eyes widened with hesitation. A poor choice against an experienced Samurai. Kosuke hefted the Yari and threw it through the archer’s chest, impaling him to the wall.

This only left Himari with an opponent. Kosuke had noted that the captain’s personal guard might have some skill. And to his credit, Himari seemed to be struggling with him. He struck with several merciless strikes, and Himari was left only to block each blow. Kosuke walked calmly behind the man and cleared his throat. As the guard turned to acknowledge who stood behind him and prepared even to block, Himari lunged forward in the moment of distraction, her blade piercing his heart.

“I had him where I wanted him,” she groused.

“You are on duty, don’t play with your food,” he chastised. “Now then,” he smiled, looking over to the horrified merchant with eyes that might cause him to immolate on the spot. “Why don’t you tell the Captain of the Chosen why you threatened his daughter so?”

The merchant sputtered, hands raising in surrender. “C-Captain?! I didn’t know, you were so-”

“Different, I know. How about you explain what you are doing that is so important that you would kill two of the Chosen of the Emperor to keep it secret, hm? And maybe instead of executing you in this room, we might consider simply taking you to prison for the rest of your miserable life for attempted murder?”

The merchant’s hands shook as he reached under his desk and set down the shipping manifest. “Sm-smuggling, my Lord. We didn’t have a contact name, but we were to be paid handsomely to ship weapons into the capital. The weapons are still in the hold!”

Kosuke let out a sigh. “And you know nothing else?”

“Nothing else, my Lord! I promise.”

“A shame. A name might have saved your life.” Kosuke’s sword flashed before the merchant could even protest, and the portly man’s head neatly hit the desk.

Himari’s head tilted. “How do we know that he didn’t know anything else? Couldn’t we have had the torturers squeeze more out of him?”

“Torture is beneath even us,” he replied calmly. “And besides. Most who are subjected to torture only say what they want you to hear. Let’s go see these weapons, hm?”

She nodded, and the two walked out the door. To Kosuke’s surprise, the crew members were running away from the ship instead of preparing to fight. He’d expected them to hear the noise of the battle, but perhaps expected a bit more loyalty and courage from the sailors than he should have. Nevertheless, the two made their way towards the lower deck.

What Kosuke saw down there surprised even him. Crates upon crates, with maker’s marks from weaponsmiths all over the Empire. Himari approached one and pulled the lid open, eyes wide. Inside the box was about a dozen yari, all freshly crafted and sharpened. “Father, there must be hundreds of these blades. It’s as if someone is attempting to outfit an army right here in the city.”

“Maybe thousands,” he stated, lifting one of the yari. “We need to check all of these crates. If these are all yari… this might be the start of another peasant rebellion.”

It took the pair the better part of an hour to open every crate. As he had feared, every crate was filled with yari. Easy to train a peasant to stab at a Samurai with… or to put into a skilled Ronin’s hand to kill nearly a dozen.

As they prepared to leave, Himari took a moment to collect the different papers with maker’s marks. Kosuke quirked an eyebrow, but Himari gave him a solemn nod. “Some of these forges might be close enough to the city to visit. If I can identify them, I can visit. I’m the most disposable for such a task, in any case.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her following a logical train of thought and coming up with next steps. In a way, it reminded him of when he stopped a coup oh so many years ago. Which then made him frown. Would this end the same way?

The two finally left the ship and made their way circuitously back to their estate. Even if she was still somewhat recognizable, he still needed to teach the value of not being easily trackable. He gave her a smile as she returned to her room to begin her examinations. “Well done today,” he said, allowing a hint of warmth.

“Thanks, Father,” she bowed her head, carefully neutral. Was he still too harsh?

He didn’t take much time to dwell on it. Instead of returning to his shared quarters with his wife, he made his way to his personal quarters. He rarely slept here, preferring to sleep with Kimika. But it was where he kept his formal garb. He switched to clothes more suited to walking the castle, then left the estate again.

Following the winding halls of Kōtei no kyūsoku, he eventually found himself to a set of chambers two floors down from the Emperor’s private chambers. He knew this area well from many years of service as Captain of the Chosen.

The door opened, and the familiar hawkish face of Masashi peered through. He looked surprised, though Kosuke was quite sure this was a ruse. Nothing ever seemed to actually surprise Masashi.

“Ah, Kosuke-san. How might I be of assistance to the Emperor’s Chosen?”

Kosuke set his jaw, ready to say the most distasteful words he’s ever said in his life.

“We need to talk.”