Blade Of The Immortal Fan Fiction ❯ Abstinence Education ❯ Part Forty-Five [2/3] ( Chapter 46 )

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

I need to quit researching and keep posting, but that's nothing new. :) Here's a nice long chunk of chapterdom -- let me know how it strikes you!

Crossroads and cross-purposes; travelers on the same routes will meet again...

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, though right now everyone's trying to give peace a chance...

My great thanks for Amberguesa's time, patience and expertise in guiding my research into martial arts. *kowtows, knocks forehead* All expressionist extravagances are mine alone.

mara: A Buddhist term meaning an obstacle to piety; a common expression for an erect penis. [Love this one.]

kesa: The Japanese Buddhist religious vestment. It comes in many variations, but is ideally patched together from donated pieces of cloth.

shakujo: The Buddhist priest's or monk's staff, usually carrying six loose metal rings at the top. The sound of the rings announces the approach of a traveling priest and warns small creatures to avoid his step, and may symbolize the six states of existence or the six perfections of the bodhisattva. Special versions of the jingling shakujo are used ceremonially. Joben's prayer is a free adaptation of one of the 'Nine Verses of the Shakujo', daily chants that address all living beings.

Buddhist practices and doctrines vary widely over time and between places and sects; I'm synthesizing some typically Japanese traditions for story purposes. Flexibility and clarity are my priorities rather than historical accuracy, so I'm avoiding close identification with any particular sects or schools.


Abstinence Education
by Madame Manga

Part Forty-Five [2/3]




"Hey, Rin!" A high voice startled her. "Whatcha doing?"

Rin looked up to see Toto's grinning face through the leaves. "Oh, nothing... I just w-wanted to sit here again... "

"Had to go check in with the parentals, huh? Come meet my sensei!"

"They're not my parents." She wiped the last angry tears from her face. "They're just some people who helped me." Saved her life, that was... and she'd run away from their extraordinary generosity as if she thought they meant to put her in chains. Rin took a couple of deep breaths and grimaced at a pang of guilt; she still felt rebellious, but she must have grieved Yoritawa and O-Chiyo very much. At the very least she had to return to the lodgings to apologize and ask their forgiveness.

Not yet, but in a while. When she'd managed to calm down a little more...

Toto cocked his head, obviously not caring much about the distinction. "Whatever. Look, I got my staff!" He showed her a battered length of bamboo about as long as he was tall.

"I thought you were busted." Rin got up from her seat on the ornamental boulder and put a hand to her hot face, then followed the little monk down the slope to the path. He leaped and slid ahead of her while she picked her way with greater care.

"Ha! Not yet." Toto stuck out his tongue. "Master Saicho'll nail me sooner or later. But I'm free as a bird until then!" He spun the staff over his head like a dragonfly toy as he ran along the path ahead of Rin. "Woohoo! I'm flying!"

In a little paved courtyard ringed by bare planting beds, a bulky saffron-robed monk sat bowed over a scroll in his lap, softly chanting a sutra. Although he seemed lost in meditation, Toto scampered right up to him. "I'm back, sensei. I brought that nice girl with me, see? Isn't she cute?"

"Hnn?" The monk looked up and squinted into the sun; Rin had the impression he was short-sighted, though his large calm eyes were clear. He wasn't old: somewhere between thirty-five and forty. "Ahh, already collecting girls at your age? I thought you wanted your lesson, kiddo."

"Yeah! She can watch – uhm, if that's okay with you, sensei?"

"Why not?" The monk yawned and stood up. And up; he rose so high that Rin had to crane her neck to look into his face. He'd seemed wide and stocky sitting down, but his legs were long and under his faded robes his shoulders spread in a solid wedge of muscle. He had a long jaw and a big nose to match his height, his features overlarge for his face, and great slabs of calloused hands swung from his heavy arms, with palms spanning twice the width of Rin's. She gazed at him in fascination as he tucked his scroll into a pouch hanging from his belt; how could any bandit have had the temerity to accost him on the road?

"Ahh... I'm Joben, of that disreputable monk crowd." Joben flashed a set of animal-white teeth in response to Rin's impolite stare. "And you, curious one? I stand six shaku nine bu, to get your first question out of the way."

Rin stammered and bowed. "A-Asano Rin no Takayoshi..." That was her name – her father's name. Of course she was still samurai... even if the law might say otherwise. She spoke a little louder than she'd meant to. "Mutenichi-ryu."

Joben's brows rose. "Ahh... a sword school?" He cocked his head and looked at her a little differently. A queer tinge of irony entered his voice, as if he thought she meant to boast. "How many students has the Mutenichi-ryu, Asano Rin-dono?"

"M-my parents are both dead, Master Joben. The school..."

"Namu Amida Butsu." He put his hands together; Rin bowed again. She had a sense that he meant to apologize for an unfounded suspicion. "Are you a practitioner of the sword, maiden of the bushi?"

"Yes." Rin stood very straight, feeling self-conscious. "My father's students once gave me instruction in the long sword. And for the last few months I've been training with... uh, another person. Also in the long sword... though I guess I've used throwing knives more than anything else, when I needed to..." She glanced sideways at Toto, who gazed at her with an open-mouthed smile of awe.

"See? I said she was cool."

"Indeed." Joben smiled without breaking eye contact with Rin. "If the Mutenichi-ryu is in abeyance, then what school is your sensei?"

"Sort of his own. Um, he usually fights two-handed, with a lot of different blades. Of course, I haven't really gotten to the two-handed part..."

"Hmm. I don't know if the Chinese forms will interest you – I'll tell you up front they're not much like sword kata." Joben made a fluid gesture through the air, punctuated with a sharp flick of his huge hand. Rin suppressed a flinch as if at a silent thunderclap. "The flow of energy and the beauty of the movement is the main point, so don't knock it if it doesn't look like it's workable in a duel." He flashed his animal smile again and scratched the back of his neck. "Ahh, don't mind me – I get that a lot from the dojo types. But you're welcome to watch Toto-chan go through his drills if you like."

"Oh, of course... thank you." Rin nodded politely.

"Throwing knives, you said? That sounds more practical than classical. You weren't taught that at the dojo?"

"No, Master Joben... actually, the Mutenichi-ryu was always very strict about weapons. I had to break the rules in order to... err, yes, for someone like me it's a practical technique. Though it needs backup."

"Backup? From a swordsman, I assume." Joben looked concerned and faintly frustrated, as if he'd noticed a small child playing with a sharp blade but didn't believe it was his place to take it away.

Rin nodded and looked down, not wanting to encourage his questions and beginning to wonder at a monk taking such interest in a young woman's martial training. Though not for any crass reason, it seemed – Rin read nothing of the kind in Joben's manner, which was a relief. Toto had apparently been chattering about his new friend; perhaps his sensei was simply curious?

Joben waited a moment as if expecting her to say more, then blew out a breath. "Ehh, this child's often more interested in learning to mow down hordes of attackers than he is in achieving a well-grounded stance, but I hope he'll never need backup, as you put it." He bent and picked up his own staff, which had lain on the ground beside him as he read. "This... is not a weapon."

Rin's eyes widened as Joben planted the staff by one huge bare foot and rose up again to his full height. Not a weapon? The shaft looked about seven shaku long, the wood dark and smooth from long use, and both head and foot were shod with steel. A set of jangling rings hung from the hefty conical knob at the upper end, reaching a little above Joben's similarly high-peaked shaven skull. "Um... wow. That looks heavy."

"Even heavier than that, point of fact." He hefted the staff and held it as if to display it, then smiled when Rin curiously reached out. "Two hands, maiden. Grasp it higher up – and move your feet from under."

Rin gripped the staff firmly above the middle section, but when Joben let go of it her arms seemed to yank downwards. The metal tip hit the pavement between her sandals with a loud crack. The knob's startling weight pulled the staff over at an angle, and Rin struggled to right it while the tip skidded on the stones. "Eeek!" She tried to brace the toppling thing with one leg and lurched dangerously to the side. Joben caught the knob and took the staff again while Toto clapped and laughed.

"It's all steel on the inside! Fooled ya, huh?"

Rin shot a look at Joben; he didn't return her gaze, but turned the shaft and ran a finger down the spine. A thin strip of metal reached from end to end, so deeply stained from weather and handling that it was almost indistinguishable from the wood except near the ends. He turned the shaft again to show her another strip opposite; apparently the steel went all the way through."That's the core of it. Sorry, I did warn you."

"Yes..." A test of her strength and reflexes, just maybe? "Did you make that?"

"A friend forged it to my direction and I carved the grips. A monk has no possessions... but he still needs his tools."

That 'tool' could dash out a man's brains when wielded in such hands; Rin looked at the ropy muscles in Joben's long arms, realizing how strong he must be to carry a staff like that everywhere he traveled. "Tool... for what?"

He made a noncommittal face. "Climbing mountain paths, vaulting streams without a footbridge... whatever comes up. Anything less sturdy would splinter the moment I put my weight on it." Joben shook his head in what might have been mock regret. "In this life, I've shattered too many things to skip precautions now."

Rin blinked and smiled. His explanation made sense, but left her a little uneasy for no reason she could define.

"I want a staff JUST like that when I'm bigger..." Toto ventured out a hand to touch it, but stopped when Joben looked down at him. "Uh... I like this one, though!" He held up his length of green bamboo for inspection; Joben took it in one hand and gave it a quick critical spin. It looked like a twig in his grip.

"This isn't the one we made last visit." Joben squinted down the length and rotated it. "Confiscated again?"

"Yeah... Master Saicho sniffed out where I stashed it, so I cut this from the grove near the wall. I kept up my drills anyhow, sensei. Every day!"

"Good for you; that's persistence in the face of adversity. I'd try speaking to the abbot about your training, but that might only call too much attention to it. Better to ask forgiveness than permission." He handed the staff back to Toto. "All right, it balances well enough. Show me."

"Yeah!" The boy grinned widely. "Lesson time!"

Joben straightened up and made a gesture, defining an invisible line across the courtyard. The little monk also straightened, hands to his sides and his staff aligned with his body. He bowed low, took a broad stride forward to cross the unseen line and bowed again. Joben acknowledged him with a nod and another gesture, hands laid together before his chest. But not now in a prayerful way with fingertips touching; he tucked his great staff in the crook of his elbow and placed his left palm firmly against his clenched right fist. Like a demonstration of power held under restraint.

"Welcome, young disciple." He glanced at Rin. "Honored guest, welcome. Better move back a bit further, though. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."

Rin jumped a little – but that must be only a random joke, if an odd one. She backed up and found a seat out of the way near an inner corner of the walls.

"Warm-ups?" Joben addressed Toto again. "Have you had a chance?"

"Yes, sensei! I ran all the way up and down the steps to the Amida Hall six times. Got some dirty looks from the pilgrims, but my blood's pumping." He made a muscle pose with one skinny arm.

"Good, good... you need to be creative with your strength training, considering."

"Ah, everybody yells at me even if I'm sitting still." Toto stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes. "Fat ol' lumps... I could outrun 'em all if it wasn't for the walls and gates getting in my way!"

"Then it's good there are many walls to contain your untrammelled energies, young disciple." Joben raised one hand in a solemn Buddha-like teaching gesture, then grinned at Toto. "Fifty spins, two-handed."

Toto's face fell. "Aww, just spins? Can't we skip the boring part this time, sensei? I wanna show Rin some real moves!"

"Patience, Junior. Every move builds on the one before. A firm foundation holds up the entire structure; a weak one will collapse with the slightest weight." Joben adjusted Toto's grip on his staff. "Not too fast – focus on correct form."

"Yes, sensei..." Toto whirled the staff to left and right, biting his lower lip and creasing his forehead in concentration. "Ten, 'leven, twelve..."

"Technique, technique..." Joben moved back and looked over at Rin. The skin around his eyes creased as he focused on her. "I got an earful about you a little while ago, young mistress. You've made an admirer."

Rin blushed and looked at her hands for a moment. "Toto's been very kind to me."

"He returns the kindness shown to him... in his own way." Joben cocked his head and squinted again to watch his student. He raised his voice. "Hah... a little less tight than last time. That's good, but keep it focused."

Toto glanced up and grinned, and promptly whacked himself on the back of the head. "Ow!" He made a face, rubbed his cropped scalp and looked at his fingers. Possibly disappointed that he hadn't drawn blood, he continued with his prescribed spins.

"You're here with Yoritawa the math instructor, aren't you? In the private lodgings?"

Watching Toto with interest, Rin started at Joben's question. "Yes..."

"He praised an excellent doctor who treated a guest of his. You're recovering from illness?"

"Oh, I'm feeling much better now. I'm grateful to my hosts for everything..." Rin flushed and fidgeted with her feet, uneasy again. Kindness for kindness...

Probably she even ought to thank Yoritawa-san for offering to arrange her marriage. From his point of view, getting her a respectable husband would be a pious act of rescue and redemption as well as good business. Even a dowry, for a hastily adopted daughter? He and O-Chiyo must be pretty serious about catching that money-lender's heir as a son-in-law...

Rin started to ask Joben a question, but he abruptly pointed at Toto. "Hey!" The boy was performing one-handed flourishes over his head and darting looks over at them, apparently hoping to make up for his flub and attract Rin's admiration. She couldn't help smiling at his eagerness, though she knew she was encouraging disobedience.

Toto tossed the staff in the air and tried to catch it again, but missed. The bamboo rattled on the pavement and the staff rolled away. He hopped and scrambled for it. "Now what did I just say about maintaining your focus?" Joben sounded mildly irritated. "Twenty more, if you've got that much vinegar today." Toto groaned, but returned to his two-handed spins.

Joben looked back at Rin. "He's always full of life, but I think he's a little too aware of his audience today." She wondered if he meant to ask her to leave, but then he winked. "Good practice for later use if he has to work on disciplining his thoughts, so don't worry about that. He's only going to get more interested in pretty girls, not less."

Rin blinked at Joben; surely all monks didn't speak so casually about the allurements of women? Especially when she could detect in him neither an underhanded interest nor an affected contempt for her sex. The longer she talked with him, the less he seemed to fit what she'd heard about so-called holy men. "Uh... excuse me, how do you know Yoritawa-san?"

"Hnn? Oh, he's been on pilgrimage many times. I've met him at this temple before, and here and there – you don't often find such a devout layman. Though perhaps he just enjoys getting out of town once in a while." The monk laughed. "He likes to talk politics, which is something a wise man does away from home."

"Yes, I noticed..."

"Fourteen, fifteen... Master Joben!"

"Yes, Toto?"

"Can't I go with you when you leave this time? Help you deliver the letters and stuff... nineteen, twenty! There, I finished – wasn't that good, sensei? I'm not even tired!" Toto took off running and dashed around the perimeter of the planting beds, using his staff to push off from the walls and take a sharp turn at each corner. He stopped in front of Rin with a final bound, slapped his staff under his armpit, flourished a hand in the air and struck a slightly wobbly one-legged pose.

"The answer's the same, kiddo."

"Aww!" Toto's smile faltered; he dropped the pose and put both feet on the ground. "I'd work really hard! I wouldn't steal anything! Even food."

Joben compressed his lips for a moment; Rin sensed frustration, confirmed when he spoke with resigned weariness. "That's not the reason, and you know it."

"My dad's a big fat jerk! What does he care where I go, as long as I'm outta his hair?" Toto spun around with both hands on one end of the staff and took a huge sweeping strike as if cutting swaths of burning grass. Rin flinched when the staff whistled within an arm's reach of her face, but Toto didn't seem to notice, his childish face crumpled in anger. "Outta his stupid wife's hair! She's such a tight-ass bi – "

"Watch your mouth, Junior. And stop trying to beat the air to death." Joben walked forward and stopped the flying end of the staff in one huge hand. Rin winced at the loud crack it made against his palm, but Joben's expression didn't flicker. His words took on a sterner tone, though he didn't raise his voice. "Toto-chan, this is supposed to help you steer the right path, not encourage you to violence every time you get frustrated. If you're going to treat this staff like a drunk gambler stomping a dice-loader in a back alley..."

"I'm sorry, sensei." Toto promptly snapped his staff along his side and bowed very low. "Please forgive me."

Joben sighed and cupped the top of the boy's cropped head, like a fuzzy plum cradled in his calloused palm. "The love and holy benevolence of the blessed Amida is without bounds, you little terror. Other people may not cut you a whole lot of slack, so take that teakettle off the fire before it boils dry."

"Yes, sensei. I understand, sensei." Toto's mouth trembled. "I'm sorry. That was really dumb... please don't..."

"You have been practicing, I see. The transitions are a lot cleaner. Good work."

Toto looked up with a smile like the sun; Rin felt a pang. She couldn't remember hearing such encouraging kindness and praise from Manji, no matter how diligently she worked at her sword strokes. Of course, her life might depend on her martial training – it wasn't a philosophical discipline nor a means of channeling excess youthful energy, which struck her as a luxury for the sheltered life of a monastery.

Kill, or be killed. A simple question for Manji, and in their situation, maybe he was correct. He didn't give a damn about the beauty of her kata, only their force and accuracy. But would it have hurt him to acknowledge once in a while how hard she was trying to improve? Rin's lips clenched; she covered her mouth and fought a knot of grief in her throat, a little embittered. Her horny sensei had been ready enough to praise her in the futon!

Though not really at first, she admitted to herself a moment later. He'd been just as sharp and sarcastic as in any other circumstances, until –

Until he'd started to lose his footing? Rin's heart contracted. Like enticing a monk to forget his vows, Anotsu Kagehisa had suggested. Perhaps with more justice than she wanted to think about.

"You son of a bitch..." she muttered into her concealing hand.

She realized that Joben and Toto hadn't said a word for the last couple of minutes, and glanced up into two curious pairs of eyes. Rin tried to disarm the awkward moment with a smile, but both averted their gazes from her a little too quickly and left it hanging. Joben cleared his throat. "I think we can move on to the sixth element of the form."

"Thank you, sensei! Oh, man..." Toto bounced up and down on his heels. "Am I really doing that much better?"

"I wouldn't give you more than you can chew on, kiddo. Trust me on that."

"Yes, sensei!"

"And of course we have a guest today, so this is a special occasion. I'll demonstrate the extended form this time rather than the basic version. Once at normal speed, then slower to have you follow along."

"Cool!" Toto scrambled over to stand near Rin. "Sensei kicks total butt – you're gonna love this."

Joben slightly rolled his eyes, but acknowledged his audience with a bow and slowly sank to an angular pose. He lifted his staff in the crooks of his elbows; one long leg bent and the other extended to the side until he crouched only a little way off the ground. The staff held steady at the horizontal, Joben's hands joined palm to palm before him, not even touching the shaft.

"I pray: that the sound of the shakujo may enter all ears;
that the idle become active;
that the transgressor become virtuous;
that the untrustworthy become reliable;
that the miser become generous;
that the furious become merciful.
May the foolish gain wisdom,
the arrogant gain humility,
the complacent gain awareness.
By skill and true practice
free the self from all obstacles;
by means of true faith
take heart and gain enlightenment."

He closed his eyes. All movement ceased for the space of several breaths, his control and stillness seeming to root his feet into the earth. When he twisted his torso and whipped the staff into his grip, Rin felt almost startled, as if she witnessed one of the great temple cedars coming to life.

Low, powerful stance, high swings and whirling reversals, quick sliding stabs into the spaces before and behind him. Joben's expression remained calm and meditative, and each precisely placed lunge and block was punctuated with controlled flourishes and spins of his staff that set the six steel rings jingling in rhythm. When he made one-armed moves, his free hand rested on his chest in a prayerful gesture, upright against the small patchwork kesa he wore over his heart. His saffron robes swished back and forth over his leggings, showing numerous worn and mended spots.

Rin couldn't judge the fine points of his unfamiliar technique, but she recognized Joben's mastery – he made what must have been the diligent work of years look clean and simple, a natural mode of movement only a little elaborated and formalized for show. Joben's strikes never seemed aggressive or over-extended, but Rin flinched slightly every time he rapped the ground or sliced the sky. Though she sat far beyond the actual reach of the staff, she fancied she felt the vibrations of his focused energy through both earth and air. In its master's hands the great staff soared and darted like a swallow, whipping a low-pitched song from the air when its spin blurred into repeated looping circles and curves around his body.

The monk was right, his technique wasn't much like combat nor did it convey any feeling of violence; he might have been performing a ritual to cast out evils, creating a shield against immaterial demons rather than demonstrating his skill with a lethal weapon. Toto watched his teacher with his mouth slightly open and a look of transcendent worship on his face.

It seemed like nothing could touch such a master nor slip through his guard, not even a mosquito. Rin thought of her own bodyguard, whirling wicked blades on a long chain while enemies approached him from every direction. He'd always seemed confident of eventual victory, and usually he could prevail. But a few moments' lapse, a badly timed slip, and the most formidable defenses might shatter against what seemed like a soft and harmless target...

Joben rose from a final bent-kneed stance, set his staff along his side and bowed again. He held the pose for a moment, almost visibly pulling his energies back into himself. A newly created element seemed to twine around him, like thin fibers doubled and redoubled, spinning together into a stronger rope. Something he'd drawn out of the void with his great conjuring tool of steel and wood. Joben took a deep breath and laid the edge of his hand to his forehead, briefly closing his eyes again.

Rin's heart pounded. Where had she seen this before? That unconcerned yet tightly controlled power, that tremendous will and elegance of movement? A weapon like the natural extension of an arm... and an explosion of lifeblood every time it hit. She jolted again. Like this monk's mastery of his staff, and utterly unlike it as well – Anotsu Kagehisa's axe; Otonotachibana Makie's pike. If he ever turned his skill against opponents the way they had – but even while watching him demonstrate that skill, Rin could barely visualize him using it for harm. If only in defense of an ideal...

"I'm gonna be just like that..." whispered Toto. "Just as good as him, see? I don't care how many times I get punished for sneaking off to practice. They could tie me hand and foot to a post and I could still do forms in my head... and think about whacking a few jerks in the kneecaps while I'm at it!" His voice rose. "Before I blow this cruddy joint, they're gonna be really sorry they messed with – "

"Toto."

"Sorry, Master Joben!" Toto snapped straight and bowed in apology once more.

Rin watched Joben work with Toto on the first few moves of the form he'd demonstrated, turning and gesturing in slow motion and patiently repeating each element until he was satisfied with the boy's performance. She began to understand a little more about the individual parts of the sequence, something that had confused her when the moves all flowed together. The monk struck her as an informal sensei; he wasn't exactly indulgent, giving constant corrections and enforcing repetitions of botched moves, but he seemed the opposite of a stern and distant disciplinarian. Although Toto seemed to have every motivation to persevere, Rin wondered how effective this training could really turn out in the long run. Wouldn't he be spoiled by so much attention... and such obvious affection?

"All right, that's where I wanted to put you today. Your impressions, student of the sword?" Joben directed Toto to bow towards Rin.

"Ah... oh, that was very interesting to watch. Though I really don't know much about it! Toto seems to have studied hard... how long have you been teaching him?" Toto beamed at her.

"Seven months," replied Joben. "He came here nearly a year ago, and yes, I think he's made some progress... considering that I don't see him every week. One has to take each lesson in turn, however, and contemplate its – "

"Hey, Rin, lookit this!" Toto ran past Joben with his staff aiming forward, parallel to the courtyard wall. He jammed the end against the ground and vaulted upwards, one foot shooting higher than his head as if to kick a mounted man from the saddle. "Flying Phoenix – "

The tip of the bamboo pole sank deep into the freshly dug earth of a planting bed and split apart at ground level. Toto's trajectory changed from outward leap to abrupt fall.

"Oh!" Rin covered her eyes and heard the crash an instant later. She hoped he'd landed in the bed instead of on the unforgiving paving stones.

When she peeked out, the boy sprawled like an overturned turtle in the dirt, wheezing and flailing his limbs. "Hyaarrh... hwheech... haah..."

Joben cast his gaze to the heavens, obviously having witnessed performances like this all too often. "You're reaching high, Junior. On your feet."

Toto rolled over and tried to get up, his scalp splotched with damp dirt and his robes in no better state. He grabbed his midsection with both arms and remained on his knees. Rin watched for a moment, debating whether offering help would only humiliate the boy, but then rose and gave him a hand up. "Gaah..." She patted Toto's back as he painfully refilled his lungs. "Aw, man... I gotta cut another staff now..."

"Later, kiddo." Joben nodded at one of the passageways that opened onto the courtyard.. "I hear Master Saicho coming."

"Master... Saicho?" Toto's eyes popped wide and he staggered out of Rin's arms. "I gotta hide..."

"He's only going be angrier with you for evading your punishment. I'd advocate a peaceful surrender to the inevitable." Joben picked up Toto's broken staff. "Take your lumps, when you deserve 'em."

"Aw, man..."

A thin, upright Buddhist priest of middle age walked stiffly into the courtyard. His gait was slow and his skin pale, as if he rarely rose from his meditations to walk in the sunlight, but his face was graven with so many deep, dry wrinkles that he looked almost like a living version of the mummified monks' bodies preserved in some temples. Obviously he bore high rank in his order, since he wore an elaborate high-peaked headdress ornamented with gold. Toto backed up and edged behind Joben.

The priest raised a wizened arm from his immaculate crimson robes and ground-sweeping brocaded kesa vestment. "Brother Joben."

"Master Saicho." Joben bowed low from the waist; the priest slightly dipped his chin.

"I have a packet of urgent official documents for the Castle, messenger. When you are ready to continue your delayed journey."

Rin shivered a little at the innocuous words; Master Saicho managed to convey as much coldness and disdain through them as if he'd cursed the man. Joben seemed entirely unaffected, and merely bowed again in acknowledgement. "I see you are demonstrating martial techniques to the boy again," said the priest, as if he'd caught Joben committing a crime. "You're aware that his father has given specific instructions that he not be allowed to engage in combat?"

"I am aware of that, Master Saicho."

"Then why do you choose to defy his wishes? Perhaps the abbot would care to hear...?"

"Forgive me for my stupidity, honored master, but this ignorant servant strives to honor those instructions in the only way he knows." Joben inclined his head and spoke in formal flourishes, his humility over-polite but without a trace of surface sarcasm. "With my irregular and inadequate teachings, I do not school the boy to fight, but to control and guide his unruly spirit. Were the illustrious scholar to offer another interpretation of his ultimate aims in the boy's education, these dull ears would eagerly await his wisdom."

The bright little eyes sunk in the network of wrinkles flashed and narrowed. Rin felt a sensation like strong vinegar in the back of her mouth, even though Master Saicho's anger wasn't aimed at her. How could two holy men despise each other so much? She uneasily shifted her stance, and the bright gaze shot a glance her way. His wasn't the sort of face she could look at for long; she assumed a deferential bow and held the pose.

"This is a female, Brother Joben. In the monks' private sanctuary."

'Female' sounded like an anathema in that lipless mouth. Rin wondered if she should apologize for her unauthorized invasion, but quickly decided she'd better not speak at all.

"I will show her back to her lodgings, Master Saicho."

"Ho! Alone, Brother Joben? Don't you fear that may expose you to temptation?"

"Her company may indeed expose me to temptation, honored master. Temptations abound in this world, as of course you know... and not all of them take the form of young women." Joben slightly turned his head and gave Toto an enigmatic look: the faintest of sympathetic smiles coupled with an admonition to endure. "Seclusion and study inform the mind, but for lack of exercise, the sturdiest defenses against worldly corruptions may waste to nothing. In my rude and simple way, I often test my ability to resist the devils of the flesh, and believe that I grow stronger for the struggle."

Master Saicho made a scornful hiss in the back of his throat. "You care nothing for the purity of your soul, I know, and consort with the all the filth of the roads on your indiscriminate wanderings. Kindly refrain from tracking in the dirt."

"Those who don't wash their own feet shouldn't talk too much about the state of the floors." Rin's eyes widened, but she kept her head down. "Have I your leave to depart?"

"You have. Child." The priest addressed Toto, who stood silent and staring at the ground. "It seems that I must again strive to exorcise the evils of greed and selfishness from your unfortunate nature. Come." He turned and left the courtyard.

Although she felt great relief that such an exchange was over, Rin's heart ached for Toto; all of his joyous and wild enthusiasm had buried itself under a glum slouch. She tried to catch his eye as he dragged after Master Saicho, but the boy didn't look up.

Joben looked grim as he watched Toto go. He gave the broken staff an absent-minded spin and abrupt snap into the space before him, as if he would have liked to apply it to Master Saicho's meager hind end. Rin had an inkling why the monk so openly demonstrated his fondness for his young pupil; possibly he was the only person who dared show Toto any kindness at all. Everyone who lived at the temple was probably either exasperated with the boy or terrified of Master Saicho's displeasure.

Joben picked up his great staff, nodded to Rin and indicated that she should follow him through another passageway and down a flight of broad stone stairs. On the way they met several groups of monks and priests climbing the weathered and crumbling steps, some of the men silent and some in conversation. The rings on their slim walking staves tinkled light and musical notes in contrast to the steely clang of Joben's. About half of them wore crimson, with several in gray, black or the warm saffron of Joben's robes. This must be a meeting place for several monastic sects; Rin wondered if all of them rejected training in the martial arts.

Most of the clergymen greeted Joben with a word or a nod. Though many of them ignored Rin, a few made a point of averting their eyes from her or frowning in disdain, and several gave her obviously evaluatory glances. One man, thick-necked and built like an ox, but a crimson-robed priest like Master Saicho, stared at Rin in such a naked way that the back of her shoulders prickled even after he passed up the steps and out of sight.

Once Joben had taken Rin to a path that went into a wooded area, the monk looked at the broken bamboo in his hand. He stopped at a turn in the path and hurled the ruined staff like a spear; it shot out of sight into the trees and Rin heard a distant crack and rustle as it struck an obstacle and fell to earth.

"Master Joben, may I ask you a question?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm just humble Brother Joben, Rin-dono. As you heard." He cleared his throat and continued down the path.

"Err..."

"Speak, maiden. What would you like to know?" She'd already observed that his most formal speeches were usually made with a twinkle in the eye. The exchange with Master Saicho had been so different from his manner with her and with Toto that he'd almost seemed like another person.

"I'm sorry to be inquisitive, but..."

"You want to know what it was that you just saw. Sorry, that couldn't have been comfortable to watch." Rin blushed and looked down. "A philosophical difference in educational methods, to put it simply. And the kid gets both ends of the stick, if you'll forgive the really bad pun."

"He can't go with you? Why not?" A high fence barricaded the path, and Joben turned his steps aside to a roofed gatehouse with a worn stone floor.

"His father dedicated him to this temple when the boy's mother died. He pays Master Saicho a hefty sum in gold to educate him... and to purge him of that unruly spirit. He believes that uncompromising discipline and a sparse diet are the boy's only hope. That's the reason Toto's head is shaved, although at his age he's officially an acolyte rather than a full-fledged monk. It's to teach him humility." He sprung a strong latch and shoved the heavy gate open for Rin to pass. "Dad means well."

"Oh." Rin swallowed hard. Purge his spirit? "But Toto can leave when he's sixteen?"

Joben paused in the act of closing the gate behind them. "Sixteen? Who told you that?"

"Toto did... oh, no."

"I'm afraid so. The dedication is for life." Joben shook his head and latched the gate. "I don't know where he got that idea, unless... oh, I see. My fault." He paused and leaned on his staff as if he were grateful for its support. "Well... drat."

"Yours?"

He blew a breath through his nose. "A little while ago, Toto-chan got so upset that he couldn't leave with me that he began to cry. I told him that there are some troubles in life that can't be removed by simple means, or even at all. I can help him find ways to cope, but first he has to resign himself to karma – an angry and rebellious spirit won't find solace even in paradise."

Rin cast her gaze to the ground. Brother Joben sounded rather like Yoritawa, she thought, even if he might have a point.

"He talked about jumping the wall at night and running away. I was afraid he might actually do it, and I warned him that a little guy might find the world a dangerous place – heck, I find it a dangerous place. So he wanted to know when he'd be big enough to manage on his own. I said that would take at least five years." Joben gave a rueful chuckle and looked into the treetops. "I didn't realize he'd interpret it so literally."

"Oh." Did his own philosophical resignation blur his view of a child's black and white world? Perhaps he trusted too much weight to the strength of an ideal...

"Thanks for telling me, Rin-dono. I'll have to be more careful..."

"Really?"

"I believe in justice, even for the smallest... and that's hard to come by. Still, teaching him discontent or telling him he can run away isn't the answer." Joben creased his forehead and shaven scalp. For a moment Rin saw a shadow of deep-rooted anger pass under his big features and felt a pang almost of fear. No wonder he studied to control his passions. "When there's nothing you can do about it, dwelling on injustice will bore into your spirit like a worm, from the inside."

"Nothing you can do about it? Why are you so sure of that?"

Joben started slightly and looked at her with raised brows. "Ah... such as what?"

"You'd know that better than I do, wouldn't you?" Rin flushed and broke eye contact. "I'm sorry."

"No, no..." Curious, analytical; she felt self-conscious again under that scrutiny. "Everyone needs his assumptions challenged once in a while, if only to learn better how to defend them." He smiled slightly. "You're an interesting girl, Asano Rin-dono. You've done your share of trying to remedy wrongs, eh?"

"Oh... um..."

Joben didn't wait for her response; he took his weight off his staff and looked around. "I hope that by sixteen years of age little Toto will have gained better self-control, anyway. I can't help but think it's going to have to come from within... unlike Master Saicho. He's pretty sold on enforcing top-down authority."

Rin's stomach twisted. "Who is Master Saicho?"

"The deputy abbot. And the eyes, ears and fingers of the bakufu within this temple. I haul a lot of letters to Edo Castle and back... and no, I don't peek." He smiled at Rin and led her to another wooded path past the gate. They seemed to be paralleling the long, high wall that rose to the south of the temple compound, since Rin glimpsed its tiled top between the trees. Was this really the most direct route back to the guest lodgings?

"The bakufu...?"

Joben's long face settled into a slightly satirical stoicism. "The great general Hideyoshi-sama established the law – all families must register with a Buddhist temple, and all temple records are subject to regular inspection. This is mighty handy both for keeping tabs on the population and for discouraging the practice of foreign religions. Two hundred years of hand in purse with the military government..." He grunted. "Did I say it was unusual to meet a truly devout layman?"

Even within the walls the pious were scarce? "Do you like talking politics too?"

"I've been known to argue a few points." He cracked an off-center smile that showed his sharp white teeth. "How did you happen to lodge with our didactic Yoritawa-san? He wasn't too clear on that – his wife knows you?"

"Uh... yes, we met before. I had an accident a few days after that, and they brought me here."

"Ah... the short version." Joben's smile widened for a moment. "He mentioned your shady companion, by the way."

"Oh." Rin flushed hot and put her fingertips to her lips.

"That man couldn't find help for you himself, I gathered, though my friend didn't say just why." He looked away, made a slight grimace and looked back at Rin with a serious expression. "But this afternoon Toto let something slip..."

Rin didn't answer; she was starting to feel a little shaky. Why hadn't she gone obediently back to bed instead of running away from her guardians? She stumbled on the path and caught a branch for support. Joben immediately stopped.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to frighten you. But I thought I should warn you that this won't remain a secret for long. Er... looks like you'd better take the weight off..." He scanned around and indicated a log seat that faced a little shrine they had just passed. Rin backed up and sat down hard, then put her face in her hands. "Are you all right, Rin-dono? You're as pale as a peeled egg."

"I'm... just... fine." She breathed through her fingers for a few moments, her whole head throbbing.

Joben stood a couple of paces away, leaning on his staff with a look of concern. "I assure you Yoritawa-san didn't betray him, though I think he didn't have much reason to protect your companion's identity other than his care for you. However, I can add up a few sums myself. And read a notice when I see it posted on every signboard."

Rin stared at him, her throat closing painfully.

"It's all right. I'm not an agent of the bakufu... not by any means." He raised a hand and dipped his head. "I confess that I had a pretty definite idea of who you had to be even before Toto obligingly introduced us."

"...Definite?" She swayed and bent double from the waist. Was she going to faint? Or throw up? How embarrassing... Rin pressed her forehead to her knees and tried to summon the blood back to her brain. Joben crouched down and one of his huge arms curved in front of her, though he seemed careful not to touch her. Rin rolled her neck to the side and glared up at him, his big head blurring and wobbling in her vision. "Who... WHO told you about me?"

"I won't say his name." Joben glanced over his shoulder and back again as a knot of chattering pilgrims passed on an intersecting path. "He arrived this morning... and apparently asked after a horse he'd loaned to someone."

"Only the horse?" She managed a weak laugh.

Joben smiled slightly. "After he left the stables at a dead run, he collared me for scuttlebutt, since I'm the go-to guy. He seemed pretty worried – for him."

"You know him!"

"I know a lot of people. There aren't many I respect and honor as much as I do him... even if our opinions aren't exactly in lockstep. It's actually easier to recognize a truly fine mind when someone disagrees with me... "

"Y-you're one of THEM!" Rin cast a horrified glance at Joben's huge steel-bound staff. She shifted backwards on the log seat, feeling so sick and dizzy that she thought she might have to escape him at a crawl. "Oh, God, I should have known... with a crazy weapon like that – !"

"No. I am not one of his followers!" Joben abruptly stood up, making Rin gasp. He looked almost angry, though not directly with her. "I may not be as orthodox a Buddhist as Master Saicho, but I don't hold with killing in any form. I've told our mutal friend before – a man of his intelligence and talent should be able to do much more with peaceful methods than with mayhem."

Rin looked at him with wide eyes and held her stomach. "...Him?"

"Reform and renewal – what man with a brain could seriously turn that aside? But by violence? I fear the corruption even of a new ideal, if it comes about through doing evil to enemies. That would be worse than this sink of ancient senility we call a government... well, I'm forgetting to whom I'm speaking." He rubbed his chin.

"N-no... I'm hearing a lot about this kind of thing lately." Rin's throbbing head quieted somewhat; the connections began to draw themselves for her as well. Like smoke from a smoldering blaze, she thought. Hovering, traveling from place to place. "You'd agree with his aims, if he'd carry them out peacefully?"

"Actually, I have some hopes now... well, as I say, he was burning for news. Of you." Joben gave a quiet laugh. "If I didn't know him as well as I do, I'd have assumed he was in love."

Rin sat speechless.

"I asked him, why the big intensity? He mentioned a wanted outlaw who had been seen on horseback, carrying a girl who looked near death. This girl's fate was of the highest importance. I couldn't tell him much right then, but I started to draw the connections pretty soon afterwards."

"Oh, good for you," Rin muttered. Her shock subsiding, she sat upright again, her face damp with sweat. Joben peered at her.

"He'll be relieved to know you're well... ah, almost well. May I tell him so?"

"Fine, go take a load off his mind. Or just... go away."

"I think you're probably not able to return to the lodgings yet... unless someone helps you to walk." The monk grimaced and looked uncertain. "I've made a slightly inconvenient vow against putting my hands on a woman, which is nevertheless worth taking seriously, and not just because I've always liked women and am nearly resigned to never entirely subduing the urge. Will you wait here? I'll be back in a few. "

"Sure... no problem." She gave him a jaundiced smile.

Joben bowed and left the way they had come. Rin remained in her seat until he turned a corner of the path, then tottered to her feet and fled. She didn't have much idea where she was going, other than someplace else than this. If she had been with Toto, he could probably have shown her all sorts of good hiding places, but she was on her own now.

She took the intersecting path, which almost immediately carried her out into a wide, sunny area thronged with people. Rin's eyes hurt in the bright light and she put her hands over her forehead to shield her vision. Maybe to hide her face too; she felt exposed and hunted. She gathered a number of curious looks as she pushed through crowds of pilgrims in the central entrance courtyard and past the busy stalls selling food and offerings. Though her head ached and her stomach roiled, she didn't stop to rest. She left the more populated parts of the grounds behind and struggled uphill.

Soon Rin found a path she hadn't seen before, one that went deep into the trees and veered towards the western wall. The ground was uneven and invaded by roots, so she couldn't go very fast, and her panicked energy began to flag. When she came to a switchback turn with a stone lantern placed beside it, she stopped to rest, panting. An unplastered section of the temple wall loomed behind a row of small thin trees, the bulwark built of brick and rubble to easily twice her height and topped with sharp broken tiles set in the mortar. No escape in that direction.

Rin abruptly turned her head to listen; someone was coming up the path from below. Two people? Hasty, purposeful strides – they must be following her! Breathless, Rin ran on. A little side track led off to the right, almost invisible between encroaching stalks of bamboo, and she took it, crouching to pass under the dense sprays of leaves. She emerged into a tiny open area, shadowed and green, occupied by a little stone shrine so weathered and lichen-encrusted that she couldn't even tell to which deity it was dedicated. Near the shrine was a stone seat, and nearly spent, she headed over to sit down before her shaky knees collapsed beneath her.

The two people stopped on the main path and one said something to the other. Then she heard them moving through the bamboo and along the little track towards her.

It wasn't fair – she couldn't evade him anywhere she went! Rin staggered past the stone seat, pushed aside some stalks and sank to the ground behind a rhododendron bush. There at least she might be concealed for a little while... though her heavy panting was probably going to betray her to anyone who listened through the sound of the wind in the leaves.

A voice again, a man's, low and smooth... but a woman answered him. Rin huddled on the ground, bamboo stubs poking her from every direction, and tried to discern what they were saying. She didn't know either voice, so maybe they weren't chasing her after all. But she felt almost too exhausted even to stand up, and it would be embarrassing to emerge all disheveled and dusty as if she'd been playing children's games in the woods.

The two reached the stone seat and halted. The woman made a brief comment, her voice refined but a little shaky, and the man answered in reassuring tones. A brocade kesa draped over a substantial paunch glowed in a stray bit of sunlight – a priest was giving private religious instruction to a visitor? Then his voice turned on a note that Rin suddenly found reminiscent, the woman let out a flirtatious giggle, and she heard unmistakable sounds of ruffled clothing and passionate moans.

Oh, good grief... it was an assignation! Rin rolled her eyes and folded her arms. She hoped they wouldn't take too long at it – her legs were cramped in an awkward position and one braid kept catching on a twig, tugging a few hairs painfully taut. She concentrated on un-snagging it, determined not to listen to the couple making love a few steps away.

"Oh, holy father!" the woman gasped. Between the screening rhododendron leaves Rin glimpsed her face; she sat astride the priest's lap and clasped his neck as he sat on the stone seat with his back to Rin's hiding place. The woman's bared thighs hugged his sides, her lower legs still clad in traveling gaiters and tabi. "Ohh... your tremendous mara..."

He grunted in a distinctly unholy way and arched his back; the woman hissed and tossed her head. Rin flushed and tried to look away from the lovers, but her glances kept returning to the woman's ecstatic expression, her perspiring face crossed with escaping strands of her hair, and the odd contrast of the priest's blank bald head. Thick creases pulled the skin across the back of his neck and loosened it again, over and over. He whispered to the woman while he kissed and nuzzled her throat.

Shame and unwilling arousal heated Rin's cheeks and pressed on her chest. She knew those sounds much too well – did every man breathe the same way? When his pleasure grew almost unbearable and his face darkened and his surging seed threatened to overtop his control but he tensed every muscle to hold it back a little longer so that his partner might reach her crisis first? And then those constricted groans torn from his tight throat, his head arched hard backwards before his shoulders relaxed and he gave out his long, regretful sigh of relief...

Tears ran down Rin's face and she quivered, hand clamped over her mouth. The woman still writhed in the priest's lap, his elbow working back and forth in rhythm with her cries, and in a few moments she sagged against his chest and both his arms went around her. He lifted her face and greedily kissed her on the mouth. Rin didn't even notice when the two left the grove; she looked up with burning, blurry eyes to realize the place was abandoned and quiet. She extricated herself from the bamboo, dusted her clothes and went back to the pilgrims' lodgings.

Joben's staff leaned against the gate just outside the garden. Voices inside Yoritawa's room: a low, serious-sounding conversation. The door slid open as Rin approached down the interior hallway, and Joben's tall figure appeared. He looked at Rin without apparent surprise, then nodded when she came nearer. "I was setting out to look for you again, Rin-dono, but I see you've saved us the trouble."

"Who's... us?"

"Everyone here who's concerned for your welfare, of course." Joben turned out his palms. "I'm sorry for your distress. But I'd recommend dealing with the uncomfortable rather than hiding from it."

"You would, wouldn't you?"

He inclined his head with a slight smile and moved away down the corridor on silent bare feet.

Rin paused, looking at the partly open door. A man's voice issued through it, deep-pitched and nuanced, that cut her like a stone blade. For a few moments she took slow, deliberate breaths. Then she stepped forward with determination, knelt just inside the door and shut it. The conversation halted. She briefly closed her eyes, then turned around.

"...I'm glad to see you well, Asano Rin-dono." Anotsu Kagehisa bowed from his seat on a floor cushion. "I heard some reports that implied otherwise."

"Thanks so much." She gave him a stiff nod, and lower bows to Yoritawa and O-Chiyo. The three sat in an intimate circle with teacups before them and the remains of a platter of sweets; obviously he'd been introduced as a friend and they were all on the best of terms. Anotsu wore his gold earrings and his long hair tied back in his usual fashion, though his clothing was dark and conservative, rather like Yoritawa's. With his refined features and his elegant hands and his restrained demeanor, he matched the setting perfectly.

Meeting Rin's gaze, Anotsu slightly raised his brows and carefully examined her face. To an observer, his open interest might have looked like concern for her health, or even a suitor's yearning. Yoritawa and O-Chiyo pretended not to watch, though they must be waiting for a sign from her. So what sign did Anotsu really want to read? If it hadn't already been plain as writing...

Rin compressed her lips; it was impossible to denounce her enemy and make a scene in her hosts' presence, not when they greeted her with such mild reproofs in their kind, open faces. She wondered what alias Joben had given them for the fugitive head of the Itto-ryu, but it was too late to ask. "Came around for your horse, I hear? And that kosode you lent to Manji? Sorry it got SO filthy and disgusting and probably no good at all any more."

He made a slight purse of the lips. "I admit I was wondering what the wearer could have been doing... especially since he'd apparently acquired another mount since I saw him last."

"He didn't want it. He doesn't like horses. It just came in handy right then." She was practically spitting at him now, so she subsided before she could say anything too direct.

Yoritawa looked a little confused. "Well... ah... this gentleman... I understand his family was associated with the Asano dojo? He's had some things of great interest to tell us."

"I'll bet he has."

Yoritawa exchanged glances with Anotsu. "We've also told him what we told you earlier."

Rin jumped in startlement. That they wanted to marry her off to a merchant's son?

"That we think you may no longer have official samurai caste, that is. He's concerned for your family's name."

"I am." Anotsu met her eyes again; to her surprise, faint lines furrowed his high forehead, as if this had been a genuinely unwelcome idea. "That Asano should vanish... that's not right." Rin stared at him without answering – was he making fun of her? "I'll have to look into this matter personally, and I promise you I will as soon as I can."

"Oh? Like when the bakufu gets tired of chasing – " Rin bit her tongue and flushed. Anotsu smiled in a cautionary way, as if assessing her anger for recklessness. "Uh... gee, that's way too much trouble for you to take, really. I'll deal with it."

"Mm." He took a sip of tea.

"My request for ada-uchi shinan-jo is still on file, I'm sure." She showed him the barest edge of her teeth. "They never throw away paperwork in those government offices."

"You didn't get one?" He put down his cup and looked honestly surprised. "Your official pardon for revenge?"

"Nope, I didn't." Rin sat down hard next to O-Chiyo and glared at Anotsu. "But I've always acted as if it were just sort of pending for more than two years instead of, oh, getting accidentally misplaced or held up on purpose by somebody, and as if it still mattered whether or not I carried it out. I've done it all according to the rules, which means as far as I'm concerned I'm still samurai, just the way I was born and brought up."

"Who could doubt – hah, I really will have to look into this soon." Anotsu stroked his chin.

"Bastard," she said under her breath.

"I wish we'd realized..." said O-Chiyo softly. Rin looked at her, but the men turned away and Yoritawa began to hold forth about bureaucratic snafus.

"Err... realized what, O-Chiyo-san?"

"That your bodyguard couldn't be the only man interested in your... protection." Rin flushed and gulped; O-Chiyo also turned a little pink. "I'm sorry – of course you wouldn't take our presumption well, not when you value your caste and family name as highly as you do. I apologize for having given you offense, Rin-chan."

"Y-you're apologizing to me? But – " Rin's voice rose, and the men stopped talking for a moment. Yoritawa made a loud observation on the specialized kanji required in filing certain types of business applications, which she couldn't imagine Anotsu having the slightest interest in hearing about, but he nodded and seemed to be listening attentively. With an expressive glance, O-Chiyo indicated the folding screens that divided the room and concealed Rin's futon. Rin nodded, glad of any excuse to leave Anotsu's presence, and both women bowed to the men and shuffled towards the screens on their knees.

"A moment," said Anotsu in a quiet tone. "I realize you must need rest, Rin-dono, but it's important that I speak to you before you retire."

"What?"

"Of course, of course." Yoritawa immediately got up and beckoned to his wife. "We'll go into the garden." O-Chiyo obeyed after a moment's hesitation; she followed Yoritawa through the door to the hallway and closed it.

As quickly as that, Rin was alone with Anotsu Kagehisa. She made a face at him and sprang to her feet. Anotsu held up a hand, but she dodged for the nearest screen and hunkered down on the mats behind it.

He sighed, probably fighting exasperation. Rin suppressed a giggle and hugged herself. "Rin-dono. I have some advice to – "

"No kidding? Well, guess what – I don't need your advice, or that monk's, or anyone's." She got up on all fours and peeped around the side of the screen to stick out her tongue at him. "So you can just keep it to yourself, Anotsu Kagehisa!"

He frowned at her. "Don't repeat my name to anyone other than Joben-dono, or there could be trouble for you and your hosts as well as for me. If you'll only listen for a – "

"I bet they wouldn't even believe who you really are, not after that performance. Gee, how slick a tongue do YOU have? Only got here this morning, and already you're making fools out of some really nice people!"

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment. "Let me get out two sentences in a row, woman."

"Why should I? Will you go away if I do? Maybe even never come back?"

"It's about..." Anotsu made an almost inaudible sound in his throat. "About... your bodyguard."

"Ohh? You've heard something about Manji-san?" Rin scooted out from behind the screen, mouth open and eyes wide. Obviously he was reluctant to mention Manji, but this sounded genuine. "Tell me! Now!"

Anotsu looked a little crestfallen at her eagerness, and shrugged. "I was afraid that his taking you along on the pursuit was going to prove a dangerous mistake, as I told him at the time. Apparently I was right... though I'd much rather have been wrong."

"He didn't have much choice!"

"No." Anotsu sounded neutral, but she detected annoyance in the fine lines between his brows; he'd almost succeeded in prying her from her bodyguard when Magatsu Taito had thrown her on the back of Manji's horse. That must have rankled; Rin noted that Magatsu didn't seem to have arrived at the Hasu-ji with his boss. "I thought of a woman's dagger when I was told you'd been poisoned. But Yoritawa-san says that you were injured when someone tried to arrest Manji."

Rin clasped her bandaged wrist and tucked it deeper into her lap. "I guess you could say it was bounty hunters. Indirectly."

"So you nearly died because of a manhunt for him. Again."

"Not like that's Manji's fault! So what have you heard? Do you know why the government's hunting him now?"

"Other than the obvious, I have no idea." Anotsu shook his head. "Even Joben-dono can't tell me anything, and there's hardly a piece of news he doesn't acquire one way or another. But if I were to find out, perhaps you'd like to...?"

Rin looked away, not wanting to seem grateful for the offer. "I just wish I knew where he was..."

"Where he is at this exact moment, I don't know." Anotsu adjusted one earring and examined his fingernails. "But he was seen in Edo only a day ago."

"In Edo?" Rin's jaw dropped open and she lurched slightly, catching herself with her hands on the tatami. "But then he'd be going straight into – those notices are from the Castle!"

"True enough. He didn't tell you his errand?"

"No." Rin pushed herself to sit upright and folded her arms. "I was sort of unconscious when he left."

"That was fortunate," said Anotsu unexpectedly. "It's better that you don't know."

"Better? But I don't even know if he's going to come for – " She broke off, her throat feeling thick.

"I doubt that he will, Rin-dono. Showing his face here would be extremely dangerous... for both of you."

"How the heck do you know that? For that matter, how do you even know he's been to Edo?"

"A temple is a crossroads for all directions of travel. For now – please don't dismiss this, even though it comes from me." Anotsu got up on one knee and leaned closer; Rin shifted her hips to withdraw from him. "If anyone at this temple asks you about your bodyguard, even the most casual question, you should behave as if you had been his unwilling captive. Imply that you were cruelly dishonored and that your shame is unbearable, and refuse to answer any questions at all. Cry as much as possible." She could have sworn he winked at her.

"Haah?"

"I think your solicitous hosts will gladly confirm the wildest story you could invent..." Anotsu suppressed a laugh; he must have heard some colorful descriptions of Yoritawa's encounters with Manji. "Well – I have a great deal more to say to you, but perhaps it should wait for a more auspicious moment." He smiled, rose and bowed. "I offer you my best wishes for a quick and full recovery, though I see that illness has not diminished your spirit... nor stolen one petal from the blossom of youth. Good day, Rin-dono." He left her.



Continued...