Blade Of The Immortal Fan Fiction ❯ Abstinence Education ❯ Part Thirty-Three ( Chapter 33 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Blood tells all tales...

The characters and universe of Blade of the Immortal/Mugen no Junin are copyright by Hiroaki Samura and do not belong to me. Not one sen will come into my hands in consequence of this story.

Warnings for sex in various forms, including quasi-incestuous themes and a sixteen-year-old female paired with an adult male. Violence and dismemberment are legally required in any BotI fic... and here it is. Let me state that without ambiguity: it's going to get even nastier as we proceed. Be suitably warned. :D

On my Livejournal: Big glossary for the entire story, plus various historical and manga trivia. If anything's unfamiliar, check here!


Abstinence Education
by Madame Manga

Part Thirty-Three



Six men against one?

Rin had seen Manji attack against worse odds. Such as a few weeks ago, when he had found her in the hands of an entire sword school. However, she didn’t think bandits were going to worry about fighting according to bushido...

The paunchy bandit and the boy seemed to be gauging their distance as Manji’s whirling sickle tore the air on the end of its chain. The threadbare ronin circled, looking for an opportunity. Tsukue Ryonosuke carefully drew his long tachi and struck a martial pose near the tethered horse. The small rider kept his seat, shivering slightly with his head lowered.

The two Itto-ryu men who had captured Rin stood shoulder to shoulder a little distance in front of the tree where she was tied, watching the opening maneuvers of the fight. She’d seen Hebi’s sword work already, but what kind of fighter was Mado? Rin looked at the big blocky outline of the red-haired foreigner’s shoulder muscles. The barbed head of his iron harpoon protruded behind him, the shaft resting at the base of his neck. If he could drive that ugly weapon into the heart of a giant whale, what kind of damage could it inflict on a man?

Although the harpoon looked heavy enough to strike past the shield Manji had made of his moving chain, Mado didn’t raise his weapon to throw. He looked from side to side at the other fighters and then glanced back at Rin. He spoke low to his companion; Hebi nodded and moved to the right. Blotches of late-afternoon sunlight ventured through the oak leaves and crawled over the snake tattoos on his arms. Mado followed suit to the left.

The ronin cautiously approached Manji from behind, sword held out in an attack stance. Manji didn’t seem to be watching him, but when the man kept coming he abruptly released a loop of the chain. The sickle leaped outwards. The ronin jumped back to avoid losing his head; the blade skimmed his hairline. In silence, he clapped a hand to his face and quickly retreated. Blood welled from a long cut on his scalp and stained his fingers. Manji chuckled.

Opposite the ronin, the paunchy bandit crouched low. Behind him, the boy whirled a leather sling, yelled loudly and shot a stone at Manji. At the same moment, the bandit charged.

Manji’s head whipped around at the shout. He ducked the missile, then cocked his wrist and changed the sickle’s angle of rotation. Grass flew, sliced off at the ground, but with the aid of the boy’s distraction the bandit had already slipped under Manji’s guard. He lunged with his short sword, his yellowed teeth clenched.

Manji ran a few steps backwards, grabbed the chain with his left hand and yanked the blade at his attacker from behind. Rin heard a hoarse scream.

The sickle sailed on and snapped into another trajectory when Manji yanked on it again. Something that had snagged on its point flew free. It flopped into the grass near Hebi’s foot. He glanced down and moved a step away. Curious, Rin craned forward to see.

Most of a hairy ear and a long strip of unshaven flesh, the skin sliced clean away from the side of the skull and jaw. “Eww... ” She clenched her teeth and turned her head, both disgusted and exulting in her yojimbo‘s prowess.

The bandit howled and stumbled away from Manji, bleeding like an overturned jug. The boy gaped, then frantically tried to stanch the flow with the bandit’s grubby vest while the man yelped and gobbled and waved his arms. The ronin cleared blood from his eyes and kept his distance. Manji turned away from them and glared at the Itto-ryu men. Still holding their stations near Rin, Hebi and Mado stood ready but made no move.

“Any takers? C’mon, little Ryo. Want to give yer roasting spit a try?” Manji continued his turn, now swinging the sickle in a smaller tilted arc. It sang a low, sibilant note through the air. Ryonosuke paled and switched to a different stance with the tachi.

Manji smirked at the enormous sword. “That thing don’t impress me, little boy. Too damn long for anything but swinging from horseback... and don’t get me started on the subject of riding. Anyone with a brain prefers to keep his feet on the ground!”

“Ha! You’ve probably never even sat a horse, you m-miserable beggar!”

“Sorry, No Nose, you got that one wrong.” Manji whistled tunelessly and swung the sickle in a double-looping path, then reversed its direction and made another figure in the air. Ryonosuke’s eyes followed it; sweat ran down his forehead.

Manji kept talking in a jocular tone. “God, I hated riding drills – saddles give me almost as big a pain in the ass as you do. Stick to two legs and you’ll get a lot farther.” He grinned. “Not that you’ll need that advice where you’re heading to, you little prick!”

The sickle shot straight at Ryonosuke. He dove to the ground with a cry and covered his head. The weapon flew over him and hit the tree where the horse was tethered. It fell to the ground with a noisy clatter of chain.

The animal whinnied and reared in fright. It yanked the reins from the branch where Ryonosuke had draped them and broke free. The youth in the saddle cried out and slid sideways as the horse backed into the forest and wheeled around. Rin caught a glimpse of a white face and open mouth under the basket hat.

Ryonosuke struggled to his feet, hampered by his heavy armor, and left his sword lying where he had dropped it. He dashed to the horse’s side, heedless of its plunges. With a leap he caught it by the bridle, just avoiding its flying hoofs as it shied again. Rin’s eyes opened wider; he might be braver than she had thought. While the young man tried to quiet the horse and steady the panicked rider, the ronin called out.

“The outlaw! He’s escaped!”

Rin looked back into the clearing and gasped. Manji had vanished. The only trace of him was the abandoned sickle and the row of weapons still stuck points-down in the earth. The bandit spluttered, his neck and chest soaked with blood from his severed ear. He shook his sword at the Itto-ryu men while the boy bound his head in a cloth.

“You gaijin asshole! You let the bastard get away! Didn’t you have your eye on him?”

Mado snarled at the bandit. “Right up until he pulled that stunt, just like the rest of us! C’mon, idiot, he’s not gone far.” He turned and peered into the open glade of oaks behind Rin. “Sure as hell he hasn’t run!”

Of course Manji hadn’t run – he meant to take full advantage of the available cover. What was he going to do? Rin bit her lips in feverish excitement. Her heart beat so hard that the men’s voices seemed muffled.

Her shoulder bag and sword lay on the ground a little way from her tree, beyond reach of her outstretched foot. If only she could have drawn her blade and fought beside her yojimbo! Rin clenched her fists and yanked at her securely knotted bonds. She’d like to have a chance to duel with Ryonosuke again, and this time she wouldn’t spare him for any pleading!

A bush shook at the far end of the clearing. The boy shouted and and slung a stone. It disappeared into the undergrowth; he reloaded his sling from a pouch at his waist and let fly.

He reached into the pouch again, but before he could fire off a third missile, a glint streaked into the sunlight. Rin glimpsed a flash of black and white as Manji slipped deeper into the forest. The dagger he had thrown impaled the boy’s upraised hand; he shrieked and dropped his sling. Then a stone zipped from somewhere in the trees farther to the left and struck the approaching ronin in the eye. He let out a cry and bent double.

The earless bandit yelled, turning from side to side. “Ahhgh! Shit! Which way was that? Where is the bastard?”

Ryonosuke jittered at the edge of the clearing, holding the horse’s head. The youth half fell from the saddle, crawled away from the horse and huddled on the ground as if his big hat could conceal him. Mado and Hebi still looked alert and focused. Each looked closely at the trees and thick brush around the clearing and kept checking the open grove, keeping on opposite sides of Rin.

“Hey, you idiots, don’t group up!” Hebi pointed at the other three hirelings, who had drawn together near the center of the clearing to get away from the trees. “You’ll just make a bigger – ” Another stone cracked the earless bandit on the chin.

“OWW! Get him!” The man practically wept in fury, holding his arm over his bandaged head. “Get him, you useless pieces of crap!”

The boy tried to pull the dagger from his palm, weeping in pain. The ronin’s injured eye rapidly swelled and purpled, but he drew himself up straight and firmly gripped his sword. He shouted to the Itto-ryu men.

“Do you see any sign of him? The smallest indication – ”

A sudden noise in the bushes to the right made the ronin spin around to look. Disturbed leaves were still shaking. “Come! Let’s attack him together!” He gestured and made a dash into the trees. The wounded bandit followed with unsteady gait; the Itto-ryu men kept their stations. The ronin led with his sword and stabbed his way into the bushes. The bandit jogged into the forest to join him and vanished behind the brush. Almost immediately Rin heard a loud cry. Someone had been wounded, but who?

That question was almost immediately answered by the reappearance of the ronin. He stumbled into the clearing, bleeding from a slash across the shoulders. “Imbecile!”

The bandit emerged, looking glassy-eyed and woozy. “Uh... sorry about – ”

“He tricked us – he threw a branch into the woods!” The ronin arched his back and tried to examine his wound. “Aid me, fool!”

The bandit gaped at his accidental victim and yelled at the Itto-ryu men. “Oh, you’re such hot shit? You claimed we’d never get it done without you? Then DO something!” The wounded hirelings all seemed shaken and disorganized, almost as if they were the ones badly outnumbered. Rin hunched her shoulders to avoid laughing out loud.

“Take it easy,” replied Mado. “There’s still only one of him!”

Rin sensed a movement off to her left and quickly closed her eyes to avoid giving Manji’s position away. Her bodyguard was making a wide circle of the clearing under cover of the commotion, crouching low in the bushes. What did he mean to do? Free her as soon as he saw a chance, probably, and then guard her retreat. She’d have to be prepared to make a dash for it when he appeared to cut her bonds. She opened one eye to check, but he had vanished again.

No one else seemed to have spotted him. Strange glee bubbled up in her chest. Who did these idiots think they were, trying to take on her Manji? He’d toyed with them a little just to demonstrate who was boss, and once he had rescued her he’d show no mercy. These men were doomed!

Ryonosuke, panting, managed to coax the horse over to a tree again and tied it securely. He fumbled something out of a saddlebag, and dropped it on the ground. When he bent to retrieve it, the youth crawled over to help him. They crouched together near the horse; Ryonosuke flipped open the lid of a charcoal holder and blew into it to revive the glow.

Rin’s skin suddenly prickled. Surely he wasn’t going to smoke his pipe in the middle of a –

She noticed for the first time that behind the horse’s saddle was strapped a long gun sheath, empty. She smelled a familiar chemical stench.

Ryonosuke stood up, wound the free end of the lit slow match around the stock of the reloaded teppo and raised the musket to his cheek. He advanced into the clearing, his bold swagger returning.

“Outlaw!” He spun around in a movement reminiscent of Manji’s, the trail of smoke from the smoldering match following him in a rising spiral. “You cannot escape!”

His hirelings looked at each other, then ducked when he swept the muzzle of the gun in their direction. “Hey! Watch where you’re pointing that damn thing!”

“Show yourself, miscreant, or I shoot!”

“Shoot at... what?” muttered the ronin, nursing his black eye.

Ryonosuke looked blank for a moment, then his young face darkened. He completed his turn and sighted down the long barrel, ostentatiously curled his finger over the trigger and leveled the musket directly at Rin’s chest. He was no more than ten paces away from her; the worst marksman in the world couldn’t miss. A horrible coldness buzzed through her and her ears began to ring.

“Surrender! Or your little sister pays the price!”

“Hey! That’s our salary!”

“Shit – ” Mado and Hebi moved in closer, keeping out of the line of fire, and Mado held up his hand. “Boss, watch it there! This ain’t what you were – ”

“Show yourself!” screamed Ryonosuke. His finger jumped on the trigger, and Rin distantly wondered if she were going to faint. The glow of the burning match, in the grip of the brass serpentine, hovered over the gunpowder-filled priming pan like a little golden snake with a red eye. “Show yourself and give up your weapons! Now!”

“Manji-san... oh, God, please, no... “ She turned her face away and cringed down as small as she could, shrinking away from the teppo. What could even Manji do against a bullet? Was she going to die?

“Hey, you little prick!”

Rin startled upright. Manji sounded furious, with a raw edge of fear in his voice.

“Naw, that gun’s what you got instead of a prick – hey, point it at a man for a change, dickwad! I already know you like fighting little girls, but I sure as hell won’t stop at busting your freakin’ sword!”

Ryonosuke went red. His aim wavered, sweeping over the trees behind Rin, then snapped back to her. Mado ran farther to the left to get out of range. “S-surrender!”

“Man, you’re just stupid enough to pull that trigger, aren’t you?”

The young man’s jaw quivered with fury. “Have you any idea what a musket ball does to the human body, outlaw? Show yourself!”

Rin heard Manji stalk into the open grove of oaks right behind her, his footfalls heavy on the dead leaves. “Here I am, you little piece of shit.” He stopped after a few paces; she couldn’t see him yet, though she craned around the tree trunk as far as she could. “Go on, fire it at me. It’ll take you a frickin’ week to reload, and in two seconds, your head will be bouncing in the dirt!”

“Lay down your weapons!” Still Ryonosuke’s aim wavered, the muzzle swinging through irregular arcs.

“What if I don’t want to? Better shoot me right now – you ain’t getting another chance.” Manji’s footfalls approached again and he walked up abreast of Rin, several strides to her left. He drew his split-bladed short sword and beckoned. Mado moved stealthily towards him, though he had put his harpoon back into its sheath. Manji threw him a glare and he stopped, warily dangling a looped cord from his hand. “Hey, you can’t miss from here. Show me what you got, tough guy!”

Ryonosuke swung his aim to Rin once more, then back to Manji. “Drop... your... weapons!”

Manji grinned and sprang at Ryonosuke.

The youth in the hat screamed with a shrill girlish note. Ryonosuke gasped as he stumbled backwards, his grip convulsing on the wobbling musket. Mado dropped to the ground and lay flat with his hands shielding his ears. The little snake struck. Powder flashed. In the instant before the main charge ignited in the barrel, Manji flung himself violently to the right.

So close to her, the roar of the gun seemed to blot out the entire world. Sound, light, feeling – Rin was deaf and numb for long moments. Hit? Her heart still pounded, pumping blood hard enough to choke her. She must be alive...

“Manji-san?” she whispered. The clearing seemed utterly silent, as if the noise of the shot had blown away all other sounds. “Manji-san?” Smoke stung her nostrils.

After a second or two she heard panting, and the sound of someone sitting hard on the ground. The hirelings cursed in low voices and began to gather at her end of the clearing.

“Wow,” said someone, perhaps the boy. “Uh... wow, that’s sick.”

Rin opened her eyes, which focused only gradually. What was that warmish wetness partly soaking through her clothes? Someone’s movements blurred the cloud of white smoke that obscured her vision – Hebi. He knelt down and examined something with his tattooed back to her. The snakes seemed to coil and squirm in the clearing smoke.

“Whoa... I never saw what a gunshot looked like. ”

“I have,” said Mado, who had risen and moved to Rin’s tree. “Plenty.”

“Man. So why’s it so damn big?” Hebi sounded like a child with a fascinating new toy he wasn't quite sure how to use.

“The lead splatters when it hits, see? Like a ripe plum against a brick wall... only it kinda blows a hole through the wall at the same time.” He examined Rin’s face, quickly ran his hands along her arms and legs, let out a long sigh of apparent relief and leaned against the tree. “She ain’t hurt, no thanks to this fine young gentleman... ”

Rin tried to peer around his arm to see what Hebi was looking at. Mado grimaced and moved in front of her, entirely blocking her view. “Kid... you don’t want to see.”

“See... what? Manji?” She looked down at her damp-feeling furisode and almost screamed. Dark and wet from knees to breast, and spattered with grayish-pink clumps and sharp splinters of white. “Where is Manji-san?”

Hebi rose and shook his head, then poked at something on the ground with the toe of his sandal.

“He’s... he’s...?” Ryonosuke sounded ill, but struggled to his feet using the gun as a stick. “He’s not... dead?”

“Hell, boss, there he is... and there’s a pretty good chunk of his innards, if you add up all the bits.” Hebi gestured and nudged another object with his foot. “Don’t seem too likely he’s breathing, ‘cause he sure ain’t got much left to do it with.”

Rin's eyes dilated. “Let... let me see him! Please!” Mado ignored her.

“Oh... no! The banshu wanted him alive!” Ryonosuke dropped the gun and put a hand to his mouth. “I told you specifically – we had to bring him in alive!”

“Don’t look at us, boss – you’re the one who shot him.” Mado rolled his pale eyes and turned around, still standing in front of Rin.

“I... I... he startled me! I only touched the trigger to show that I meant what I said, and... and... ”

“And the gun ended up aimin’ straight at the girl when it went off, so he took the bullet. Bodyguard? Heh – try ‘dumbshit’.” Mado chuckled. “Nice reflexes, though.”

Rin breathed faster, her heart racing. For all the duels she'd witnessed, she had never seen a gunshot wound before either. From the sound of it, the kessen-chu would be hard pressed at the least. Could they even repair that sort of damage...?

“M... my... my father! He said last week that the shogun’s bangashira wanted to speak to the k-killer of a hundred! No one had been able to arrest the man in f-four years, but his description... I knew who he was and where he had g-gone! I wanted to accomplish that mission and bring him in... then my father would allow me to rejoin the family and even p-p-pay for... ” Ryonosuke sobbed like an infant. “Everything’s – ruined!”

“Well, shit... we still get paid, don’t we?”

Someone groaned softly. The earless bandit looked down and blinked his glassy eyes. The groan repeated; Rin’s hyperventilations stopped as she forcibly held her breath.

“What the... fuck...?” Hebi looked down as well and took a step backwards. Mado suddenly moved forward and away from Rin.

“Holy shit!”

“Incredible!” The ronin stooped. “He... he has a pulse!”

“What?” Ryonosuke seemed dazed. Rin sagged a little and drew in a deep sigh of relief.

“Ugh!” said the boy. “That’s sick – he’s moving!”

Mado bent over and lifted a limp hand from the ground. The fingers twitched slightly. With nothing blocking her view now, Rin spotted the top of Manji’s head, and then his outflung arms; he lay sprawled in the long grass in front of her. Nearly all the white of his clothing had turned red. “Well, blow me down! Must’ve just grazed him.”

“Grazed him? I saw daylight through his frickin’ ribcage!” Hebi sounded almost triumphant. “See, that wasn’t no fairy tale – he’s really, honest to hell – ”

“Shut the fuck up, Hebi.” Mado stripped down the sleeves of Manji’s tattered, blood-soaked kosode, checked him all over and relieved him of his remaining weapons: his folding spear, his wakizashi and a small knife. He put Manji’s bared arm over his shoulders and heaved. “Gimme a hand. He’s coming to.”

“How the hell can he be alive?” gasped the earless bandit. His face turned so white that his pockmarks stood out like red beans in rice. “That’s fucking nuts! The bullet hit him square!” He pointed frantically around on the ground and at Rin’s clothes. “Look at all the meat!”

“Use your own nut, you dumb Jappo.” Mado dragged Rin’s limp, half-naked bodyguard to a tree near her. Hebi helped lean him up against the bole and held him; Mado got out cords and started to bind him in place. “If he’d been hit square, he’d be dead. He ain’t dead, so it just grazed him! You see any daylight there?”

He slapped Manji’s chest and looked at the murmuring hirelings with raised brows. “Simple logic, right?” The ronin shook his head and seemed perplexed, but didn’t offer a rebuttal.

Manji grunted and slowly raised his head, then made a feeble attempt to struggle. His arms were already secured to a pair of outstretched branches as if he had been lashed to a crosstrees for execution. Mado took a few turns around his waist and knotted the cord. He squatted and tried to tie Manji’s legs to the tree as well, but a knee thrust to his head landed him on his backside. Hebi grabbed Manji’s left ankle and the two men threw a loop over it. Manji growled and kicked harder, bloodying Hebi’s nose.

“Get... the hell off me...!”

“Tie him! Hand and foot! Make him secure!”

The Itto-ryu men jumped back to avoid another kick. “That’s as good as it gets, boss. All yours now.” Hebi wiped his face.

Ryonosuke ventured closer, staring. “Really... alive?”

“Fucking little prick... “ Manji hawked and spat blood at him. He yanked at his bonds, making the branches creak slightly. Ryonosuke flinched.

An irregular pinkish splotch centered on Manji’s upper chest, obviously just healed over. Blood was drying on his stomach and arms. Rin stared at him, immeasurably grateful that he had revived from such a destructive wound, but with fear surging over her relief. Manji was captured!

He turned his head and gave a half-grin at the sight of her bloodied clothes and his own bone and lung tissue scattered over them. “Hey there, woman.” He looked pale and his voice seemed faded, as if he were still slowly healing. How much blood and flesh had he lost? “Sorry ‘bout the mess… ”

“Oh, Manji-san!” Tears ran down her cheeks. “You s-saved my life!”

He shrugged slightly, all he could manage while bound, and looked away. “I was only tryin’ to knock the barrel aside, if you want to know. ”

“Are you all right? Don’t you dare hurt him, you dirty cowards!”

Manji clenched his jaw; a shadow passed over his face. Catching Rin’s gaze again, he jerked his chin at their captors, then set his mouth and shook his head. He seemed to mean that he would never let them harm her, no matter what their situation. Rin’s tears renewed.

Manji took a deep breath and looked at Ryonosuke, who had regained a semblance of poise and stood with fists on his hips and shoulder shields sticking almost straight out. “You got something to say, dickless?”

“Uh... you are under arrest! Consider yourself apprehended for the crime of murder! I will deliver you to the authorities in Edo... but first, there is a question of honor between us.”

“Oh... that.” Manji yawned.

“You... you spoke disrespectfully to me... and spitefully injured me!” Ryonosuke gestured at his bandaged nose. “Such an insult to a samurai cannot go unpunished, you dog!” He puffed out his chest. “You... will... apologize!”

“Hanh?”

“You will humble yourself before me, and beg my pardon on your knees!” He pointed dramatically at the ground.

Manji rolled his eye. “I’m tied to a tree, idiot. How am I supposed to knock my forehead, even if I gave a shit?”

“Miscreant! Th-that is not the end of your foul crimes! You insulted a woman under my protection, and called her by – ”

“You mean the greedy little bitch?” Manji laughed. “Samurai cuts both ways, pissant. You think I’m gonna ask your pardon for dissing a whore?”

“No, you will ask HER pardon!” Ryonosuke turned and beckoned to the youth with the large hat. “Please, my lady, come forward. Rejoice in his humiliation!”

The girl in man’s clothes, as Rin finally realized she was, ventured a trembling step in Manji’s direction. She moved no farther. Ryonosuke immediately went to her and took her hand. “I am at your side, my lady. You are safe.” Gently he urged her forward.

“Oh, yeah – that’s right!” Manji displayed a scornful grin, though the girl still hid her face under her hat and wouldn’t look at him. “You kidnapped your bitch with that frickin’ gun! So you think Daddy’s gonna reimburse her owner if you haul me in?” He laughed. “Won’t put him much out of purse if he does – she ain’t worth more than what I’m carrying in my sleeve right now. Worst lay I ever had in my goddamn life!”

Ryonosuke advanced and struck him across the face. Manji didn't even blink or move his head; he grinned wider. “You got nothin’, boy. Guess you two are a match made in heaven.”

The girl’s head jerked up. Rin saw a pale, delicate face with flushed cheeks. Her pink lips trembled, not wholly with fear. Her eyes flashed and dilated.

“How dare you, scum! Hold your foul tongue!” Ryonosuke returned to his lover's side. “You may accuse him now, if you wish. I will humble him before you, O-Hama-dono!”

With shaking hands, the girl untied the chin strap of her hat. Slowly she removed it, and her long hair slipped down her back.

Rin stared. O-Hama’s beauty was like that of a perfect cherry blossom, though slightly marred at this moment with a drawn look around the mouth. She had a lovely oval contour to her cheeks and little chin, and shy, soft eyes like a fawn’s. Though it was untidy and tied in a simple tail, her hair shone, falling well below her waist. No wonder she had been the most expensive courtesan in the village’s best brothel. An unbidden mental image of Manji making love to this beautiful girl, not much older than herself but exquisite in her youth, put a sour lump in Rin’s throat. She recalled his dismissive words and swallowed the tightness away.

“Damn,” said the bandit in a low voice. “That’s what she had hidin’ under the hat? Crap, wish I’d seen that before we set off on this freakin’ enterprise.” He gingerly fingered the bruise on his chin and poked the ronin in the ribs with a suggestive leer. "Might’ve saved ourselves the walk, hey?"

“A pleasure woman?” The ronin sniffed and folded his arms. “I prefer to savor the fleeting fragrance of the unplucked flower.” He glanced at Rin from under his brows.

O-Hama dropped the hat and half turned away. Ryonosuke guided her a little closer to Manji. “You see? He is bound and disarmed. He cannot possibly harm you, my lady.”

She was still trembling when she finally looked Manji in the face. He made a mocking grimace at her. She cried out in terror and hid her eyes.

“My lady, have courage – ”

“Sheesh, what’s this kid’s problem?” Manji sneered. “Harm? All I did was buy her for a poke, and my money’s good! What’s a few discourtesies to a damn whore?”

O-Hama suddenly took her hands from her face. “You... ” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You’re the one-hundred-man murderer!”

“Didn’t we cover that already?”

“She was the person who deduced your identity, miscreant! What do you say to that, eh?” Ryonosuke shook a triumphant finger in Manji’s face.

“So freakin’ what?” Manji looked annoyed. “I never sliced up a whore in my life – unlike one sadistic asshole I used to know. All I ever whacked were cops and kenshi – and one stinkin’ hatamoto.” His gaze switched to Ryonosuke. “Oh, that’s it? You got a grudge against the guy who offed one of yours? Horii was your third cousin once removed on your mama’s side?”

“Lord Horii Shigenobu was no relation of mine, assassin. My lady’s grievances against you are of a more intimate – ”

“Shit! Now I gotta stand here with an audience and listen to a broad criticize my performance? Look, you puny cunt kisser – ”

“You murdered my father,” O-Hama whispered. “He and my eldest brother were Edo constables... who tried to arrest you.”

The girl’s soft, high-pitched words fell through the suddenly quiet clearing like a handful of dropped bullets.

Rin’s heart seemed to plunge into her belly. Manji said nothing, but his scornful expression sagged away.

Ryonosuke looked greatly startled. “My lady – ?”

“They encountered you behind a tavern in Shiba-machi, on a rainy night in the sixth month of the tenth year of An’ei. You stabbed my father through the body. You hacked off my brother’s leg and right hand and left him for dead.” The girl wept out loud.

Her insides twisting, Rin looked at Manji. He stared at the girl, though he didn’t seem to see her; his mind had traveled to much darker places. His unfocused gaze scanned back and forth as if he tried to search out a memory.

“For more than three years my honored brother has lain crippled in bed, unable to perform his duties or do any other work. His family... my family... ” She broke down completely and buried her face in her sleeve.

Manji's lips worked; his color changed from pale to almost gray.

“My beautiful darling! Please... this vile felon is not worthy to receive the precious jewels of your tears!”

The girl breathed hard and composed herself with an obvious effort, then uncovered her face.

“My brother’s pain drove him to drink and opium. All the compensation money was spent... our furniture and clothing sold... there was nothing for us to live on but my brother’s stipend, and all of that and more went into his cup and his pipe.” O-Hama’s soft voice strengthened a little with a suppressed throb of anger. “Of course, my brother had no right to dispose of me without my consent. Instead he suggested… again and again… that I had the ability to help my mother and redeem his debts. So... one year and three months ago... I sold myself to a zegen.”

Manji’s bound fists clenched; he lowered his head.

“O-Hama-dono! Why did you never speak of this?”

“I am a samurai’s daughter, my lord! I do not bewail my fate – I resolved to uphold my family’s honor with my silence while I remained a courtesan. Even if that should be the rest of my life!”

“Of course… forgive me.” Ryonosuke bowed. “Your honor shall be duly avenged – ”

O-Hama looked back at Manji; an indescribable hardness faintly skinned her beautiful features. “I knew that my face and feminine accomplishments were valuable. I negotiated a good sum to be paid to my mother. My patrons were generous, and I sent all the money I could to my family. I knew they were free from want, and that made me happy. I felt humble gratitude for the vow of love my lord Tsukue-dono pledged to me. I had become reconciled to the life of the floating world... I had done my duty as a daughter and as a sister. I didn’t care that I had surrendered my chastity and was obliged to yield my body... to many men... ” Again she broke down in sobs.

Rin bit down on her lips to keep from crying as well; she struggled not to picture what might come next. Her valiant bodyguard – her beloved Manji – had committed scores of killings. She had always known that. Into her mind stabbed a glimpse of the true depths of his punishments, and why he almost seemed to welcome their agonies...

The girl’s tone sharpened when she spoke again, though her voice still quivered. “My honored brother talks constantly of the criminal who robbed him of his health and ended our beloved father’s life. The man he describes didn’t have a disfigured face or a blinded eye. But he says that the murderer was a young man... no more than five and twenty... with a cruel and desperate look. Lean and strong and heavy-browed. Who moved... like a whirlwind of steel... wielding strange weapons in both hands.”

Manji tilted his head back as if to let O-Hama see his face. The bleakness of his expression told Rin little more than she already realized.

“When my maid brought you to my chamber, seven days ago... I didn’t know you immediately. I felt an odd instinct when I saw you, but I concealed my shrinking and tried to behave as I should. You were impatient and brusque... you seemed tormented by some guilty thought.”

Manji closed his eye for a moment and set his teeth on edge.

“Because I wanted you to finish your pillowing and leave quickly, I gladly dispensed with formalities. I loosed my hair and untied my obi. I reclined... and invited you to take me... ” O-Hama took a gasping breath. “My brother speaks... of a mark on the murderer’s breast. One slash crossed over the other – so.” She gestured at Manji’s bared chest, then at his scattered weapons.

“You opened your clothing... you showed me the scars over your heart... and before you drove your weapon into my body, you placed beside my futon... twelve strange and hideous blades.”



Continued...