Filial piety and fraternal respect are practiced in the family. Only then are true goodness and love extended to other things.

—Zhu Xi, Reading of the Analects

Sai

The rising sun painted the bottom of the early morning clouds a vibrant pink, but I was in no mood to enjoy it. I was doing my warm-up, but I couldn’t focus. I ended it with a handstand going into a walk-over, but I didn’t attempt any flips. Today, I would see the Tiger in the Shadows in action. It was a great chance to learn something of his techniques. But, there was something I had to do first, and I didn’t know how. Every scenario I played through my mind ended with me in serious trouble. I suppose it was deserved, but I still wanted to avoid it. Unable to think of a way to delay things further, I finally gave up and went downstairs to the shop.

“I am quite capable of doing these accounts myself, Kaguya. Now, go help Hanae in the shop. We need those kimono on display now,” Akiyo-sensei snapped.

Kaguya threw me a pleading glance as she hurried into the front of the shop.

I sighed. If Akiyo-sensei did the accounts, Kaguya would be finding and correcting errors for days. Akiyo-sensei’s eyes were failing her, and she could no longer read the numbers well, but she didn’t want to admit it.

“Good morning, Sensei,” I said. “Why don’t you let me read the numbers for you? Emiko-sensei at the Academy says I am learning quickly, but I still need to practice more.”

Akiyo-sensei’s face creased with a smile. “You are learning? That is good. Don’t you have to be at the Academy soon? Maeda-sama told you to continue as if nothing had happened, you will recall.”

I have to keep going to school? Kanji makes my head spin.

I forced a smile. “It’s not time to leave yet.”

“Very well then. Sit here and read the numbers to me.”

I sat beside her. Reading accounts was not my idea of fun, but it gave me some time alone with Akiyo-sensei. Right now, I needed that.

We got through the shop accounts quickly. Sensei had to help me with some of the names, but I knew my numbers.

“You are doing very well at your lessons, Sai. Keep working at it.”

Well, now that she is in a good mood, I had better take advantage of it.

I had not told her about the White Hilt gang with the metsubushi powder, but there was no avoiding it if we were looking for renegade shinobi. I should have told her that night. She had saved my life and taught me how to survive. The least I owed her was the truth.

“Sensei, I saw something a few nights ago that might help us find this shinobi that killed Maeda-sensei.”

She put the scrolls down and looked at me.

I took a deep breath. How to phrase this without making it obvious that I had withheld important information? “I saw a fight between a chonin gang and some White Hilts. The White Hilt leader had some metsubushi powder. He made a comment about an old shinobi teaching him to use it.”

Her eyes widened. “What? You know that is against clan rules. Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”

“I…” I desperately searched for anything plausible to tell her. “I thought the male shinobi were supposed to take care of these things.”

“And how did you expect them to find out if you told no one? That is ridiculous.” She stood glared down at me. “Shinobi don’t rely on others to deal with their problems. We take care of things ourselves.”

I felt like a worm crawling in the mud. This was no way to repay her for her faith in me. “I was afraid, Sensei. I didn’t think I could defeat another shinobi.”

“You? Do you think I would send you out to fight alone?”

“I know you wouldn’t, Sensei.”

“Then?”

“What if there are a bunch of them? More than you and I could handle?”

That is the stupidest excuse you have come up with yet, Sai.

She glared at me angrily. “Do you not see this is a danger to all of us? How much clearer did Maeda-sama have to be? What could possibly prompt you—”

Suddenly she gave a little laugh and sat down by the desk.

“The only one I am fooling is myself, aren’t I?” she said softly. “That is why you and Kaguya keep trying to help me with the accounts. You know I can’t see well. You think I am a blind, helpless old woman who would be no use in a fight.”

It hurt me to see her looking so old and sad. “No, Sensei. I don’t think that.” But I knew she would come with me, and I would somehow have to protect her and battle the shinobi. I knew I would fail. I couldn’t stand that.

“Don’t lie to me, girl,” she said harshly. “Kaguya, Hanae, come in here.”

The other girls hurried in, shooting me questioning glances.

“Sai has made me aware of a problem within this group, one that weakens and divides us,” Akiyo-sensei said as the girls sat down.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I stared at the floor in front of me.

“I have been a fool. I refused to face my own weakness, and so endangered the group and our missions. You allowed this to happen.”

I risked a glance to see how angry she was. She was crying.

“I love you all for this.” She wiped her eyes. “But it cannot continue.”

A great sense of relief flowed over me.

Akiyo-sensei stood and walked toward the butsudan. “Yes, I cannot see as well as you can. I can’t read very well. I don’t see well in the dark.”

She turned and glared at us. “But I am not blind. I am not helpless. From now on, we will be honest with each other. And I will be honest with myself. If I am not, tell me.”

We bowed and chorused, “Hai.”

Her face hardened. “Now, Sai, tell the others about this White Hilt gang.”

I told them all I knew about the White Hilts.

Akiyo-sensei said, “Kaguya, I want you to go to the Sakura teahouse where the White Hilts gather and find out everything you can about the man with the metsubushi powder, but be careful.”

“Perhaps, I should do it,” I offered. Kaguya was sent on jobs to work in samurai households and fancy teahouses. She was a skilled seductress, but not much of a fighter. I sometimes wished I could get the role of beautiful serving-girl instead of playing an adolescent boy. But those White Hilts were scum. I was afraid they would hurt her.

“You already have a job, Sai. Two, actually. We need to learn all that we can quickly. Maeda-sama was not making idle threats about sending the secret police after the shinobi.”

“He wouldn’t do that, would he?” I protested. “He is still quite fond of you. We could all see that.”

The other girls nodded in agreement.

Akiyo-sensei chuckled. “Ahh, still the romantic Sai? He had two of his sons sentenced to death when they took part in the Keian uprising.”

She looked at our shocked faces. “It cost him more than you can know, but he is a man of unbending principle.”

I looked at the other girls. They looked as worried as I felt.

I should not have questioned Akiyo-sensei’s belief that the spirits were predicting hard times.

Akiyo-sensei smiled even wider. “You are right that he is fond of me, but he ordered me killed once. I managed to flee the city before the secret police could catch me, but I have no doubt he would do it again if he felt he had to.”

“Why would he do that?” I asked, shocked.

“Oh, I poisoned him.” She laughed at our expressions of horror. “It was business. He survived, and I survived, so there were no hard feelings. But never underestimate his ruthlessness.”

She glanced outside. “It is getting late, Sai. You need to leave for the Academy.”

“Hai.” I rose, bowed again and hurried out the door.

As I left, I heard her say, “Kaguya, you had better look over those accounts again. There is no telling what kind of a state they were in after Sai and I finished with them.”

*****

I was late for class. I raced down the roads dodging carts and peddlers. I ran through the gate of the Edo Worker’s Association. Through the door of the Confucius Academy, I could see that Emiko-sensei already had everyone sitting down as she spoke at the front of the class. I was almost to the door when someone hiding near the door grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. I swept his feet from underneath him with a kick, bringing him to the ground, but he had a good grip on my kimono and pulled me down with him. We landed in a tumble. I had my hand on my knife when I finally saw his face. It was Hitoshi.

We must honor our older brothers. Especially if you want them to remain family. It isn’t right to attack them, and knifing them would be really disrespectful.

I stopped struggling, and Hitoshi rolled me onto my back and sat on top of me.

“What are you doing here, Sai?” he said. “Where is Matsura-sensei?”

“I am just trying to go to class. And Matsura-sensei is fine. Or should I call him ‘Maeda-sensei’?”

Hitoshi froze, a look of shock on his face, but he quickly recovered, and his anger returned. He shook me.

“Are you planning to try killing him again?”

“No, the order has been revoked. Thank you for stopping me. If I had succeeded in killing him, it would have been bad.”

He relaxed a bit. He leaned forward and asked, “So why are you still here? Who are you spying on now?”

I tried to push him off me, but he wouldn’t budge. “Why? What could I be spying on? Do you have something to hide, Hitoshi?”

His face went white. “What do you mean?”

I tried to kick him, but that was completely ineffective. “Get off me!”

I felt the heat rising to my face as I struggled harder to throw him off me. The techniques I had been taught would maim or seriously hurt him, so I was left with pitting my strength against his. That wasn’t working.

“Hitoshi. What are you doing to that child? Let him up immediately.” Emiko-sensei stood above us.

Hitoshi’s eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet. “Emiko, this isn’t what it looks like. She—I mean he—”

“What it looks like is that it is time for Seiji to be in class and you are keeping him from it. I don’t know what you think you are doing, but I can’t believe that you are attacking children. I am shocked at you.” Emiko-sensei glared at him. I stepped over by her and joined my glare to hers.

Hitoshi looked panicked. “Emiko, I didn’t hurt him. I just—”

She ignored him and turned her back. Taking me by the arm, she said, “Come with me, Seiji.” Together, we went towards the classroom.

Hitoshi really likes Emiko.

I giggled. The thought of my brother in love amused me for some reason.

Perhaps I should try to explain to Emiko-sensei?

I didn’t want to get Hitoshi into trouble with her. But how could I explain what Emiko-sensei had seen? I had no idea of what she knew or what she should know.

So many secrets.

My amusement melted away as my anger at Hitoshi mounted. Did he really think I was going to try to murder Matsura-sensei after he had seen me at the school? Didn’t he trust me to keep his secrets? I was too upset to pay attention in class. I wasn’t sure what the lesson was even about. I was just angry at my brother. I couldn’t decide what to do about him.

I sighed. Tempting as it was, I couldn’t just wait for him in a dark alley and beat him up. He was my older brother. You were supposed to treat your older siblings with respect. I remembered Emiko-sensei talking about Confucius’ teachings about the relations between siblings. However, I wasn’t sure he had ever written about what to do when your older brother was an idiot.

I wasn’t just angry about Hitoshi. I was also worried about Inspector Asano. I had worked for him about a dozen times over the previous four years. Unlike any of the other secret police I had reported to over that time, he was never rude or threatened me. He even showed some consideration for me, which was more than any other secret policeman else ever had done. He seemed convinced that I wasn’t getting enough food and often offered me part of his meal. I hoped the Tiger in the Shadows wasn’t going to kill him.