After I finished the story, I took one last deep drink, emptying the cup of saké in front of me. It had become clear just a little way into the story that I couldn’t tell it without some kind of help, so Akiko got me some saké and kept my cup filled as I talked.
I just sat there. Although sunk in my own self-pity, it eventually dawned on me that Akiko was quiet. I looked over at her, and I saw her shoulders were shaking. She was crying. Deep, silent sobs of sorrow and loss for the story I told.
Akiko reached out and wrapped her arms around me, tears running down her face. “Oh, Yoshi,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion, “how horrible for you.” I had been drinking saké steadily while I told my tale, my bowl kept full by Akiko. I started to stand up but was wobbly enough from the saké I got only part way before I had to sit down again.
Akiko wiped her face and stood. “I have a place for you to sleep. I’ll go get some bedding and sleeping robes for you. You just wait here and rest.”
Akiko led me over to a corner where she made up a sleeping pallet and put some screens to give me privacy. After I lay down, she covered me with sleeping robes. “I will see you tomorrow, Yoshi. Sleep well.”
When I woke the next morning, it tasted as though some small animal had crawled into my mouth, defecated, and then died. I tried to sit up, and there was a loud thunderclap. The top of my head fell off and then bounced around on the floor.
Akiko came in. I had a hard time focusing on her at first. The sunlight stabbing into my eyes like two steel needles made it very difficult to see. Eventually, my eyes adjusted. There was something different about her this morning. It took me awhile, but I finally worked it out.
“Your robes,” I croaked at her, in my best morning-after voice. “You’ve changed your robes.” And she had. The only clothes I had ever seen her wearing were muted affairs in gray, brown and tan. They were of excellent workmanship and the finest materials, as befitted a lady of her status, but they were mourning robes, clothing worn by those grieving for loved ones who had died.
This morning, she wore a set of thin colored robes. Instead of grays, browns, and blacks, her outfit consisted of a pink inner robe, three layers of green robe, going from dark to light green, the whole thing topped off with an outer jacket of deep maroon. She wore a muted scarlet hakama underneath.
She turned away, embarrassed. “Oh, I thought I should wear something different. Those mourning robes were getting shabby anyway.” She looked at me over her shoulder. “Do you like it?”
With complete honesty, I told her, “You look beautiful. The colored robes make you seem like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, beautiful and splendid in the clear light of a spring morning.”
That earned me a big smile.
Looking at her, it occurred to me again just how beautiful she was. Peace and serenity radiated from her. While in her presence, I felt more relaxed than I had in years. I searched for a way to express how I felt.
Just then, the children came racing into the room. “Mama! Mama! Can we play now?”
I cringed as their high-pitched voices stabbed into my ears. Their heavy footfalls made my head feel like it was going to fall off again.
Seeing my reaction, Akiko said, “Children, speak calmly, please.” They quieted down. “Now, have you finished your studies today?” The three girls all nodded their heads, but the two boys looked down at the ground. Akiko went to a cabinet on the side wall and opened it to reveal a large selection of scrolls. I recognized the cabinet. It had belonged to Surei’s father. She pointed at the scrolls. “You need to study these first.”
Yoshi-kun burst out, “Mama, I hate Chinese. It’s boring and too hard to understand!”
I winced at the noise.
She told him, sternly, “Quietly. You have to study your Chinese so you can be an important man, like your father.”
He clenched his jaws. “I don’t want to. It’s boring. I want to be a bushi.”
Does the cabinet still contain the scrolls of Surei’s father?
I walked over to Akiko. “May I?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Go ahead.”
I rummaged through the scrolls. As I had hoped, it still contained most of the scrolls that Surei’s father owned, including several of my favorites. I quickly found what I was looking for. Removing the scroll from the cabinet, I started unrolling it, looking for a particular passage. When I located the section I wanted, I cleared my throat and began reading.
“The tax collector came into the town with his usual group of thugs. He called all the people together, including the kindly old headman.
“With an evil smile, the tax collector said, ‘There is a new tax levy. I am going to need the standard payment.’
“The headman stood in front of the tax collector. Stooped with age and wearing a torn-up old robe, it was hard to make out his features in the deep shadow cast by his hood in the bright noon-day sun.
“In a reedy voice, he said, ‘You took all the money we had last month. What little we have left, we need for food and seed for planting next season.’
“The tax collector laughed. ‘That is not my problem, old man. Your Emperor demands his taxes. Now pay them!’
“The old man protested, ‘Have you no heart? No consideration for our children? Our wives?’
“Pointing at the headman, the tax collector told his two biggest thugs, ‘Make an example of him.’
“They laughed and started for the frail old man.
“When the two thugs had nearly reached him, the ‘aged’ headman straightened up and threw off his robe. Instead of an elderly cripple, the two lackeys faced the handsome young yóuxiá, Li Po. He drew his sword and said, ‘Let us see if you are as eager to “make an example” of me as you were of the old man.’
“The two thugs took one look at his flashing blade and ran for their lives.
“The tax collector was furious. ‘How dare you interfere with me. I am the Emperor’s representative, and I will see you—’
“Li Po raised his sword to strike…”
All five children were sitting on the floor staring at me, eyes wide and mouths open. I stopped reading and raised my hand to my forehead, feigning weakness. “I think I’m getting tired. That’s all I can do today. Perhaps we can read a little more tomorrow.”
Youthful voices protested. I said, “Well, you could always read it yourselves. But you will need to learn Chinese to do it.”
I looked at the boys. “That was a rough translation from the biography of Li Po. He was a famous Chinese poet, but when he was a young man, he went all over China righting wrongs, battling corrupt officials, and helping the helpless. The Chinese call it yóuxiá, which means a person who fights for what is right. This is only one of the many stories in this work. However, no one has translated it from the Chinese, so if you want to read it, you are going to need to learn to read Chinese for yourself.” I looked at Yoshi-kun. “Even bushi need an education.”
I held out the scroll to him. He started to take it, but the older boy snatched it out of my hand and went running off.
Yoshi-kun tore after him, yelling, “Hey, that’s mine, I’m the one who should be studying it! Give it back.” The three girls ran after them, shouting, “We want to hear it, too!”
Akiko laughed as she watched the children run off, fighting over the scroll. “How did you ever think of that?”
“When I was Yoshi-kun’s age, I hated studying Chinese. Only after Surei’s older brother Koremitsu showed me the stories of Li Po did I start really working at it.”
“Well, your command of Chinese is truly impressive. You must have studied hard.”
I shook my head. “No, my Chinese is terrible. However, I read the Li Po stories so many times I have them memorized. It did wonders for my study of the Chinese of the Li Po stories, but I still have trouble with anything else.” We both laughed.
I gave Akiko a long look. “So, why the change in wardrobe? I really like it, but what prompted it?”
Akiko didn’t answer for a moment. “Last night, I was thinking about when we were children. Most of the times I remember, we were either out wandering the city or at your house. Do you remember, we rarely spent much time at Surei’s house? We thought it was boring there because uncle was always reading some dumb book or writing something in Chinese. After my aunt died, he nearly became a hermit, keeping only as many servants as he absolutely needed to run the house.” She shook her head. “It was no place for children. I think he knew that, which was one reason why he never tried very hard to keep Surei from spending time with you. Your house was a much better place to grow up.”
Akiko sighed and looked out the door at the children playing. “I realized I have become just like Surei’s father. I loved my husband, and when he died, I deeply mourned his loss. As time went on, I grew comfortable with the mourning robes and the quiet. But, it’s not healthy for the children. If it were up to me, I would be happy to renounce all my ties to the world and become a nun. But what would become of the children? They need to have a house with light, happiness, and life in it. I haven’t been giving them that. Last night, I decided I’d make things better for them. The change of robes was a way for me to start.”
I saw how excited and happy she was and said, “I welcome the change.”
She sat up straighter and said, “Oh, I forgot. Surei sent me another message last night. She explained you needed to have your bandages changed at least once a day. And Benkon sent over something for you to drink instead of saké. Get your jacket off.” She called to Sachiko. “Bring us some clean rags.”
While Sachiko went for the rags, Akiko came over and started to open my robes.
I was a little taken aback, so I grabbed her hands as she untied my belt. “Wait, I can do this myself, I don’t need any help.”
Akiko shook her head firmly. “Surei warned me you might say that. She insisted I make sure the bandage is fastened correctly. We also need to apply this to your wound.” She pointed to a small jar of some green paste. I relaxed, deciding it wasn’t worth fighting Akiko and Surei both.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Akiko went ahead and stripped off my upper robes, leaving me in just my hakama. Her hands were gentle as she undid the bandages on my shoulder. She made a small sound of distress as she saw the wounds in my shoulder for the first time. I craned my neck to see. The incision from the arrowhead had mostly healed. There was only a slight oozing of yellowish fluid in the middle where the wound hadn’t quite closed yet. My shoulder looked much better than it had, but the skin on my upper arm was an evil-looking combination of angry yellow and ugly purple patches. It was quite impressive.
Akiko chattered away while she replaced the bandages. “It’s a comfort to know you and Surei are taking care of these problems for me. I have no ambition for myself, but I am worried about the children. Without the income from the shouen, it will be impossible to repair the manor. Given the shape it’s in now, no young man would consider marrying Aoi-chan and living here. An older man might consider marrying her if he had a house of his own to move her to, but I really don’t want Aoi to become someone’s second or third wife. Much as I learned to love my husband, I used to wish he didn’t have to spend time with his first wife and other children.” She looked outside and smiled softly. “I wondered what it would have been like to learn about love and life together, just the two of us.”
She shook her head in frustration. “But that was foolishness. I made us both miserable with my jealousy. Now, I think of all the time I wasted sulking and wish I had spent it loving him.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “We didn’t have as much time as I wanted.”
She finished stripping away the old bandages and started cleaning around the wound. Her hands were soft and gentle, although I couldn’t keep from jerking a couple of times when her fingers touched my shoulder.
With that finished, she applied the green paste and then fastened fresh bandages in place. She said, “I’ve been worried I would need to marry again to provide for the children. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I’ll do what I have to.”
She nodded in satisfaction. “There, all done.”
Her touch had been quite pleasant. Still, it was a relief when I put my robes back on. It felt awkward to be unclothed around Akiko. I felt a certain reluctance to have her see me undressed. I tried to suppress the thoughts that kept drifting through my mind of seeing her equally undressed. She was far above me socially, and I had nothing to offer her.
Akiko had been upbeat as she discussed her various options for the children, but I could sense an undercurrent of unease in her. I told her, “Surei and I believe we know who is responsible for your problems in Isé. However, there are probably some other people involved here in the capital. I am going to the Minbushou today and see what I can discover.” It was already past noon. “As a matter of fact, I’ll go do that right now.”
“Good. While you are gone, I will move your things out of the main room here into the guest wing.”
*****
On my trip to the Minbushou, I took a detour around my father’s old estate. There was nothing visible but the outer wall. At least the wall was in good repair.
The trip to the Daidairi, the greater imperial compound, was uneventful. After arriving, however, I had trouble finding the Minbushou. I had to get directions from several passersby before I found myself outside the Ministry of Public Affairs building.
A pair of large double doors led to a spacious entryway with several counters. However, no one sat behind them. I heard some voices in the back, so I went around and headed to the rear of the building.
A group of several officials clustered around a desk. As I approached them, one saw me and came over. “I am Junior Recorder Watanabe. What can I help you with?”
I said, “I want to inspect some of the documents for property in the Suzuka district in Isé.”
“On what authority are you requesting these documents?”
“I am acting on behalf of the recipient of the income from one of the shouen in question. I want to see the paperwork on that shouen and some neighboring properties.”
Recorder Watanabe said, “I will need to see your authorization. Then, you will need to provide three copies of the request, all marked with the requestor’s seal. These must be signed by the Minister. If he approves, two copies of your application will be forwarded to the appropriate department, where they will be checked to ensure the authorization is genuine. Assuming no problems, you will be notified when you petition has been approved. Then, one copy will be passed to the records section, which will convey the documents here to the Ministry. At that point, the papers will be available for your inspection. Of course, you will have to come here to see the documents, as they can’t leave the premises of the Minbushou.”
I was amazed at how difficult it was to view a simple document. I asked, “How long does this take?”
“Oh, not very long at all. We can usually have the documents available for your viewing within thirty to forty-five days of your initial request.”
“Thirty to forty-five days? Just to look at a stupid document?”
He frowned. “These documents are vital. They form the basis for our entire governmental and taxation system. We hold a sacred trust. All of these precautions are needed to keep things ordered and the government functioning properly.”
I managed to stifle my irritation. “Is there a form I need to use for the request?”
The recorder handed me a paper. “You need to fill out three of these.”
“Can I send the completed forms over by messenger?”
“Yes, but be sure to indicate where to send notifications. We will give your messenger a receipt for the completed forms.”
As I walked back to Akiko’s, I pondered the stupidity of the government. Three forms and forty-five days to see a simple document. No wonder the government never got anything done.
Akiko was alone in her room. I told her about my experience at the ministry and showed her the form that needed to be filled out. We sat down and got three copies written out and filled in with her seal. She called Masanori to arrange for his grandson to take the forms to the Ministry of Public Affairs. She cautioned him to ensure the boy got a receipt for the documents.
*****
At supper that evening, Akiko was in high spirits. The walk must have tired me. I found myself drifting off barely as the sun was setting.
I came wide awake as a young imperial guardsman approached the house unannounced. I rose quickly to my feet.
“Surei,” Akiko called out, “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”
I stared at the guardsman. It was Surei. She had disguised herself in the uniform of a lieutenant in the Imperial Guards Regiment. If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn she was a lad of fourteen or so. It was a clever disguise. The Imperial Guards Regiment was a ceremonial unit that existed primarily to provide the younger sons of noble houses with a sinecure until they found more substantial appointments. There were hundreds of young men in the unit, and turnover was high. No imperial guardsman would find it strange that he didn’t recognize Surei, so she avoided awkward questions.
Professor followed behind her.
Surei came in and sat down while Professor waited outside. “Akiko, I wanted to talk to you about Yoshi. Someone tried to assassinate him in Isé. The people who did it have friends here. It would be safer if no one knew he was here.”
Akiko smiled. “No one ever comes here other than you, Benkon, and Ikeda Minbukyou. I am sure you and Benkon are not assassins and Ikeda Minbukyou is a friend.”
Surei leaned forward, her tone very serious. “Ikeda Minbukyou must not find out Yoshi is here, Akiko. This is necessary for Yoshi’s safety. He is too badly hurt to defend himself right now.”
Akiko looked flustered. “I can’t lie to the Minbukyou.”
Surei rubbed the side of her nose. “Tell him you are ritually defiled by blood. That will allow you to put him off for four or five days.”
I grew tired of Surei talking about me as if I weren’t there. “Surei, this is ridiculous. I am not a helpless child. Anyone who tries to kill me will still find me a capable opponent. However, I am tired, so I’m going to bed. The two of you can settle this between yourselves, but I am not going to ask Akiko to lie. Good night.”
I walked back to the guest wing where I was staying. It was so like Surei to jump in and start ordering Akiko and me around. I was still fuming as I approached the door to my room.
A creak from the floorboard snapped me out of my reveries. Was there someone in my room? I drew my kodachi and silently slid the door open, alert for any movement. A shadow moved in the corner. Instinctively, I struck.
With a whoosh, something flew into my eyes. They immediately started watering and burning. My weapon connected and I was rewarded with a bubbling cry of pain and then something hit the floor.
Someone grabbed my left arm and twisted. I shouted in pain and swung the kodachi back over my shoulder. I missed, but I heard someone take a quick step back and then tumble down the stairs behind me into the garden.
“Grab him!” a voice yelled.
Someone else grabbed both my arms from behind. I threw my weight backwards, and we slammed into the wall. Throwing myself forward, I tried to overbalance my assailant, but he wrapped one arm across my throat to choke me and the other around my waist, trapping my arms behind my back. I dimly saw someone framed in the doorway, but he suddenly stumbled and fell at my feet.
With a curse, my assailant twisted around, allowing me to work my right hand and kodachi loose. I thrust backwards with all my strength. I felt the blade scrape against bone and a high-pitched scream rang in my right ear.
“Yoshi!”
It was Surei’s voice. I heard a swish of a blade cutting air, then another scream in my ear and both hands were free. I spun around, swinging my kodachi, but my blade passed through empty air.
“Yoshi? Are you all right?” I felt her soft hands grab my right wrist and ease my weapon to my side.
I could see nothing but shapeless blotches of dark and light. “They’ve blinded me. What’s happening?”
“You got one and Professor and I took out two, but there might be more. Let’s get out of here and see to your eyes.”
I heard the sound of heavy steps on the stairs.
“See if you can discover anything, Professor,” Surei said.
She led me to a stream and called for a lamp. I still couldn’t make out anything more than indistinct shapes. I heard light footsteps behind us, then Akiko asked, “What happened? Is anyone hurt?”
“I need some rags,” Surei answered.
My eyes were still burning, and I reached up to wipe them.
Surei batted my hand away. “Don’t touch your eyes!”
Someone else came up behind us. Then, a wet cloth wiped across my forehead and cheek. Surei rinsed the cloth out in the stream then wiped my eyes again. After the third or fourth application, my eyes started feeling a little better.
“Here,” she said, thrusting the rag into my hand, “keep rinsing your eyes and make sure you get it off your hands as well.”
Akiko moved in to help. “All right, Surei, I’m convinced Yoshi is in danger. I promise I won’t tell anyone he is here.”
“It might be too late for that. But I don’t see how anyone could have known I was here,” I said. “Maybe they were just burglars.”
“Burglars don’t use metsubushi. The blinding powder is an assassin’s tool,” Surei responded.
“Maybe…” She had a point, but I couldn’t imagine why someone would have come after me.
My eyes still burned, but I could see more clearly now. Akiko helped me to remove my metsubushi covered robes. Surei went to confer with Professor.
She returned shortly. “All dead. We won’t get anything out of them.”
Akiko dropped the rag and raised her hand to her mouth.
I walked back to my room. I killed the assassin who blew the powder in my eyes. Professor split open the head of the man holding my arms. The body on the steps had a kodachi deeply buried in his back. I studied the angle of entry.
I turned to Surei in surprise. “You know how to throw a kodachi?”
Surei smiled as she pulled the weapon from the body, wiping its blade on the corpse’s robes. “You’re not the only one who has learned some new tricks, Yoshi.”
I watched her uneasily, surprised at how little she was affected by having just killed a man. I wondered what had happened in the years after I left.
The floor was soaked in blood and my gear was scattered everywhere. “Did you make this mess in the fight, or were they searching for something?” Surei asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t remember stumbling over my pack, but one of them might have. Or they may have been searching through it when I came in.”
“They had nothing interesting on them. We may as well get rid of the bodies,” Professor added.
Surei gave Professor some coins, “Take them to a temple for a proper funeral. We don’t want their spirits haunting us.”
Awakened by the commotion, Masanori, the old bushi, had come limping up after the fight, and he helped Professor drag the corpses off.
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll sleep somewhere else tonight,” I told Akiko.
“Well, there is one good thing about this,” Surei said to Akiko, looking at the red staining the bottom of Akiko’s robes.
“What?”
“You won’t be lying when you tell Ikeda Minbukyou you’ve been ritually defiled by blood.”