It was late in the afternoon. Despite a heavily overcast sky, it was oppressively hot. My gray mourning robes were dark with sweat and stuck to my skin, peeling away unpleasantly every time I moved. The saké house was open for business again and full of gossiping customers. I had not been deemed good enough at Benkon’s “moving meditation” to work inside yet, so I stood at the gate, bowing in greeting to the customers as they came in and helping keep the undesirables out.

Behind me, I heard Cook barking orders. I turned to see her limping along the corridor at half of her usual pace. She had a cane in one hand.

Dimples trailed behind wailing, “Mama, you are supposed to be resting!”

I grinned.

It takes more than a mere mujina to slow Cook down.

An armed troop of bushi came down the street and stopped in front of the gate.

“Yoshi-ojisan!” the sound of excited young voices came to me as Yoshi-kun and Aoi-chan came dashing out of a gyusha in the middle of the soldiers.

“We came back!” Yoshi-kun exclaimed as they reached me.

I hugged them. “So I see. Have you been good for Mayumi-obasan?”

“Of course,” Aoi-chan answered in a superior voice, “Where’s Surei-obasan?”

“She is somewhere around the Spring Palace. Go to the guesthouse, and we’ll send someone to tell her you are here.”

The children dashed off with Sachiko trailing behind calling for them to slow down.

Governor Abé inspected the Spring Palace. “Things look pretty good. You mustn’t have had all the problems you were expecting.”

I shook my head. “Actually, it was worse than we had feared. Shirakawa Palace caught fire, and the flames spread to the northeastern section of the city. Almost a quarter of the capital burned. It took them days to put it out. Here at the Spring Palace, we were attacked by a troop of bushi, as well as the onmyouji and mujina. It was a close thing. We are still repairing the place.”

“You’ll have to tell me the whole story.”

“When we have some time,” I agreed.

I opened the gate wide to permit the gyusha entry. Mayumi stepped out and stretched. I signaled another yojimbo to take my place at the gate as she walked over to me.

“We have been hearing all kinds of rumors about what happened,” she said. “Have they found Retired Emperor Sutoku yet?”

I led the way to the guest house. “Yes, he was discovered almost immediately. He has already renounced the world and will be sent into exile. His oldest son did the same. Minister of the Left Yorinaga was killed by an arrow while trying to escape Shirakawa Palace.”

Governor Abé shook his head. “It all seems so unbelievable. What about the rumors of executions? They haven’t actually killed dozens of high ranking officials, have they?”

“They have. I have never heard of anything like it. You would think we were out in the provinces.”

Governor Abé seemed pensive as we walked in silence. I could tell there was another question he wanted to ask but was hesitating. I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

“And the rumors about Minamoto no Yoshitomo are true as well,” I continued. “After leading Go-Shirakawa’s forces against his father and brothers, he was told to have them executed. Even the children. He stood there and watched the execution of his own father and did nothing.”

“I am sorry,” Mayumi said softly. “I know that is your clan.”

“No,” I said, more harshly than I intended. “I no longer have a clan.”

*****

Yoshi-kun’s hand was slick with sweat as he held mine. Despite the heat, he couldn’t keep still.

We were gathered for Akiko’s forty-nine-day remembrance ceremony. This marked the end of the official mourning period and was the last opportunity for Akiko’s spirit to move on to the next world. Since the battle at the Spring Palace days before, neither Surei nor I had seen any indication of Akiko’s presence, so we hoped she had found peace.

Lord Buddha, please let her shade be satisfied with what happened to Ikeda so she can make her peace and leave this fallen world.

I glanced impatiently at the cemetery gate. I thought I had seen someone behind us as we walked out to the site of her memorial. I was right. Junior Recorder Watanabe from the Minbushou came hurrying down the road, out of breath and face flushed from the heat.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

I glanced at Surei. Although I couldn’t see her expression because the veil attached to the uchikatsugi hat she was wearing mostly obscured her face, I could tell her attention was also focused on his approach.

Yoshi-kun leaned way over to the side and hung onto my hand. I yanked him upright and gave him a warning glance. While it had been good to see him again, we had stressed this was an important ceremony and he needed to behave. Apparently, our lectures hadn’t made much of an impression on him.

Of course, it was hard to blame him. The priest droned on endlessly. His voice kept making me sleepy. Every time we gathered to honor Akiko and earn her merit to enter the next world, I missed Benkon more. He had put real feeling into his sermons.

Junior Recorder Watanabe came puffing up behind us. Governor Abé and Mayumi looked at him curiously, but no one spoke. They didn’t want to interrupt the service. Watanabe seemed grateful for the chance to stand there and catch his breath.

Finally, the priest ended his homily and the four nuns behind him began chanting selections from the Lotus Sutra. We turned around.

Watanabe gave a deep bow to Governor Abé, then to me. With a look of triumph, he announced, “It is official. The investigation has concluded and the estate in question does indeed belong to the widow of the late Fujiwara Minbukyou. Ikeda Minbukyou and District Magistrate Taira have been found guilty of attempting to defraud the widow. Appropriate reparations have been assessed.” He bowed and offered the documents to Governor Abé.

He took the scrolls, opened them, and scanned their contents. When he got to one part, he looked up, his face grave. “It pains me to say this, but I am going to have to confiscate many of District Magistrate Taira’s properties and sell them to pay this assessment.” He sighed heavily, the very picture of a man forced by circumstances to perform an unpleasant duty. Mayumi averted her face and covered her mouth and coughed. I had a hard time keeping a straight face myself. Governor Abé had lost none of his sense of humor.

I sighed in relief and looked at Akiko’s gorintō. Her carved stone monument stood next to that of her husband.

Akiko, did you hear that? Ikeda Minbukyou has been revealed for the scoundrel he was, your property has been restored, and the children will have the income from the shouen. We’ve accomplished everything you desired.

Beside me, I heard Surei take a quick indrawn breath. Then, she began unobtrusively moving her hands, and I felt the tingle of magic. My vision blurred and when it cleared, I faintly saw Akiko standing next to her memorial. She smiled at Surei and me and gazed longingly at the children. Surei sobbed. Something above us caught Akiko’s attention. The clouds broke open and a pure shaft of sunlight beamed down and struck her. In the middle of the light stood a man dressed as a high government official. Akiko’s face lit with joy at the sight of him. He gazed at the children, then at her and smiled, holding out both hands. She stepped into his embrace. They both gave the children one long, last look, then the sunlight flashed again, blinding us. When our vision cleared, the two of them had faded from sight. I couldn’t see through the film of my tears, and I could hear Surei sobbing in joy and relief beside me.

Yoshi-kun was hanging sideways again.

Finally, the nuns finished chanting and the ceremony ended. Governor Abé announced, “Dinner has been prepared at the Spring Palace. All present are invited to join us there.”

The priest and the nuns looked excited at the prospect of eating at such a prestigious establishment. Everyone walked out of the graveyard. Yoshi-kun let go of my hand and ran through the gate. Surei and I stood there alone.

She fanned the veil attached to her hat, then finally lifted it in irritation. “These stupid things are hot.” She smiled at me. “Thank you, Yoshi. I could not possibly have done this alone.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m glad you came back.”

I smiled back at her, too overcome with emotion to say anything.

She reached into her robe. “I have something for you.” She handed me a sheaf of papers.

I glanced through them. They appeared to be the minutes of the meeting of some imperial council or another. “What is this?”

“These are the notes of the final meeting your father attended before he left to deal with the pirates. It includes a complete list of attendees.”

My hands began shaking. “Surei, I…” I was too choked up to speak. Finally, I said, “You didn’t have to do this. It must have cost a fortune.”

Surei smiled and turned to the gate. “I was glad to help. He was like a father to me too, Yoshi. It was the least I could do for him.”

She took a few steps. “Besides, it didn’t actually cost anything. I just suggested to the high priestess that she might write her uncle the Emperor and ask him nicely for the information. She did owe you for all that you did for her.”

My jaw dropped. “You have been corresponding with the high priestess?”

“Oh yes, she is an amazing girl. You know how I feel about the nobility, but she is an absolute delight. Besides, I really wanted to ask her why she gave you the mirror.” She walked along, not saying anything.

Finally, I could control my curiosity no longer. “Well, what did she say?”

“Hmmm? Oh, she told me she had a dream the night of the kidnapping attempt and she saw herself giving you the mirror. At first, she couldn’t believe it, but she had the same dream twice the next night, so she decided that was Amaterasu’s will. And who was she to go against the wishes of the Sun Goddess?”

I groaned. “I had hoped that everything we saw in the mirror was just a fluke, but Amaterasu really is interfering in our lives. Why am I not reassured?”

Surei seemed to have nothing to say to that.

We started back to the capital.

After some time, she said, “What do you plan to do now, Yoshi?”

In an offhanded tone, I said, “Oh, I have a friend with a saké house. She seems to get into a lot of trouble, so I thought I would stick around Kyoto for a while to help her out.”

Surei sniffed. “I would certainly think so. You still owe me for paying off your debt to Stone. If we take off the time you were recovering from the trip to Isé, you still owe me twenty-four months’ work as a yojimbo.”

I blurted out, “What do you mean ‘twenty-four months??’ And why are you taking off the time I took to recover? It was your errand I was running when they tried to kill me.”

She answered hotly, “But that was all your own fault. If you hadn’t been so besotted with that girl and blurted out the secret to District Manager Taira…”

THE END (for now)