InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Shard in Kyoto ❯ the first night Kagome and Sango part 1 ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Shard 5 first night.


Kagome and Sango’s first night in Kyoto.




Authors’ note: In the interest of saving some dialog. I’m going to reduce the amount of customary polite phrases in the dialog. “Thank you, honorable sir. Pardon me, sir, etc.” Sango and Kagome are normally polite girls and those phases are part of their normal speech pattern and as such, are included automatically. (Now, Inu-yasha on the other hand . . . ) I’m just ignoring them, in the interest of keeping the dialog as minimal as possible.


Hmmm. I tried to find some info on inns. Most times they were mentioned, at this time period, it was in a negative way. But, a full description as to why they were bad, is never explained, shrugs. (Money hungry. Bad conditions, fleas, rats, etc., are mentioned, but that’s it . . . so. what’s in this part of the story is basically my invention.)



___________________________________


In a monastery know as Higashi-Honganji. (This temple wasn’t made until post 1600, but with that name, I had to use it.)

“Sir. Earlier today, while in the city, I came upon two odd women.” A monk says to his Abbott.

“Odd Women?”

“Yes, sir. One of the women had a very strange aura. Very powerful.”

“Someone important?”

“No, sir. She appeared to be a normal peasant girl. No guards, just a female companion.”

“Hmmm . . . an unknown woman, with a powerful and strange aura in the city.” The Abbott nods his head. “The rumors of the jewel of four souls. There are rumors of a powerful evil miko. Describe the woman.”

The monk gives an accurate description of Kagome and Sango, although his description is more accurate on their clothes, then their faces.

“The clothes do not match, but the description of the face does.” The Abbott raises his voice. “Scribe!”

“Sir!” the scribe enters the room.

“Take down the description he will give you.” The Abbott points to the monk. “Add to it a warning that this woman is an evil miko. A reward will be posted for her.”

He pauses, “I want her alive.” As the monk begins his description, the Abbott interrupts saying, “Make copies and have them posted around the city.”

“Sir, the aura I felt was strange, not evil.” The monk brings up.

“If she had been good, then she would have stopped and talked to you. She vanished instead. She’s evil, she’s just trying to hide her aura, you will be rewarded to seeing the truth.” The Abbott says dismissing the correction.

‘She’ll have knowledge of the jewel, at least, if not pieces of it in her possession.’ He thinks. He smiles, ‘That knowledge and power can be used to improve my position.’

“Sir, lord Abbott, what name should I use?” the scribe asks.

The Abbott looks at the monk. “Sir, I am sorry, sir, but I did not hear a name.”

‘What is the name attached to those rumors?’ the Abbott thinks.

“Use Kikyo” the Abbott orders.

*********************

In the Gion shrine in the city of Kyoto.

“I need a scribe.” The high priest of Ise orders. He is an old man easily into his seventh or eighth decade of life.

“Sir. What do you wish me to write?” The scribe asks. His face on the floor, when he arrives.

“Write a letter to my cousin. Tell him the bastard son of the great white dog demon is in the city.”

“Sess . . . ” the scribe hesitantly begins to ask.

“No, Inu-yasha. I felt him on my way into the city.” The high priest of Ise declares. ‘It’s been decades, but I remember that night of chaos when he burned the palace down.’ He thinks.

“Sir. Lord, Which cousin should I address this to?” The scribe asks.

“My cousin, the Emperor.” The high priest says, then he continues, “To be polite, make copies and send it to the shogun and my cousin Hosokawa”


‘Hmmm, I wonder, who . . . that monk and old man. I felt something odd there, myself.’ One of the assistant priests thinks. ‘If I can track them from there. Killing Inu-yasha would be a great way to get noticed and promoted. I’ll gather up a group of guards and see what I can do.’ He thinks, as he overhears the High Priest and the scribe talk.

Later . . .

The assistant priest leaves the building with a group of a couple of dozen guards.

**************************


The girl’s location: Omiya and Nakamikado, near the old palace ground.


The girls are staring at the compound where Kagome senses the shard.

The compound is surrounded by wooden walls. It’s a square compound is perhaps 50 meters to a side. Inside the compound they can see a couple of small trees above the wall. The walls are four to five meters high. There is also a small pagoda inside the compound. They can only see the top of it, so it’s probably only three, maybe four stories high. The front gate has a sign that reads Yuki family

“Well, Kagome. What next?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing, Sango. I assume walking up to the front door and asking for the shard would be a bad idea?”

Sango looks at Kagome closely. Kagome’s mouth twitches as she tries to hide a smile.

“You know, Kagome, joking about this . . . ” Sango starts, but . . .

“Is better than being so serious all the time.” Kagome finishes the smile is, now, fully formed.

Sango sighs, “you might be correct. Still though, what do we do?” she thinks, ‘I’m beginning to see why Inu-yasha can get upset with her. She refuses to take this seriously.’
“Move it, girls!” one of the passing men calls to them as they stand in the busy street.

“Ask for jobs?” Kagome looks around, “But first, let’s get off the street.”

“Yes, lets.” They move over to one side of the street. They find a quiet niche between a couple of buildings and they talk.

“Well, Kagome. Asking for jobs, hmmmm. You know it’ll be cleaning and other dirty jobs.”

Kagome raises an eyebrow and replies, “How else can we get in?”

Sango leans out of the niche and looks at the walls of the compound. The wooden walls of the compound are thick enough that she can see guards walking along the top. “Hmmmm. Tonight, perhaps, I can sneak in.”

“Or better yet, Kirara, Sango.”

“Yes, if possible. Although . . . ”

“Communicating with Kirara is something we need to learn to do anyway, Sango.”

“We need to find other information as well, Kagome. Hmmm . . . a nearby bathhouse, or inn, perhaps?”

“It is getting late.” Kagome looks at the sky. Sunset will occur in less than an hour. “An inn would be best, I think. We’ll need a room for the night, anyway.”

“An inn, though” Sango sighs, “You do remember what the monk said on the way here . . . ”

********************

Flashback to a few days previously as Miroku is talking about Kyoto . . .

It’s nighttime. The group is sitting around a campfire, it’s just after they have finished eating.

“Staying overnight in Kyoto . . . we will probably have to do that, so. Let’s talk about it.” Miroku says in a musing voice.

“First, most people visiting Kyoto will stay with family or friends. So, do we know anybody in Kyoto?” He looks around at the group.

“Hell, No.” Inu-yasha growls out.

Shippo quietly speaks up, “Umm, my mom and dad mentioned someone, but . . . I don’t remember them saying anything but Fukuyemon”
“Fukuyemon, and they said nothing else, Shippo?” Miroku asks.

Shippo shrugs, “they only mentioned it in passing. Something about a wedding . . . ” he shakes his head, “I forget.”

‘The Aoyama Clan. Do I mention them? No. They would want the shard to purify it themselves. I remember father mentioning a disagreement with them over which clan would purify the shard. Even though the jewel was formed in my village. They thought we had been trying for hundreds of years, and someone new should try, since we, in their view, could not do it.’ Sango thinks.

She shakes her head. “No, monk. I do not have any friends or relatives in Kyoto.” She says in a brittle voice. Kagome reaches over, grabs her hand, and squeezes the hand for support. Miroku grimaces, he knows that is the wrong type of question to ask Sango.

“Of course, Lady Kagome, the question does not apply to you, so . . . ” Miroku begins, but Kagome interrupts.

“Well, Miroku. It does, then again it doesn’t” Kagome shyly says.

“Could you explain?”

Kagome swallows, “My family, at this time, is part of one of the shrines in Kyoto. After Edo starts to grow, my part of the family moves to Edo and sets up the shrine, where I live. So, technically speaking I do have family here, but.”

“But they don’t know it, so, they are not going to be able to help.” Inu-yasha sneers as he speaks. Kagome nods her head yes.

“What about you, monk.” Inu-yasha growls. “There was that friend from Kyoto that brought told us about the shard. Do you have more friends in Kyoto?”

“Yes, I do, Inu-yasha. And I will give you their names and addresses. But.” Miroku holds up his hand in a stop sign motion. “But, I only want to visit them in an emergency.”

“Why?” at least a couple in the group say at the same time.

“Because, in all likelihood, when we leave Kyoto, we’ll leave it in a hurry and we’ll leave a mess behind.” He looks at Inu-yasha. Inu-yasha acts as if he has no idea what the monk is trying to say . . .

“I don’t think we can plan on leaving Kyoto without some sort of fight. If we mention my friends, after we leave, people who will be upset with us, and they will go after my friends. So, out of my concern for their safety, I will greatly prefer that we only contact them in an emergency.” He looks at the group. The group nods their heads, yes.

“What sort of emergency, Monk?” Sango asks.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure, Lady Sango. If we get injured, they could get a doctor faster than we could. Perhaps, a loan of some money, if we need it. Though, given Lady Kagome mothers’ generosity, I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

“How about if we get separated? That’s happened to us in other adventures.” Shippo pipes up.

“Yes, Shippo. That would also be a good reason.”

“Ok, stupid monk, since you’re so smart, where else do we sleep?” Inu-yasha asks.

“Well, there are three other types of places to sleep in Kyoto. Most monasteries and temples will have space available for people to sleep. There are travelers inns in Kyoto. And finally, since Kyoto is always recovering from some sort of battle, there normally is some old ruined building that can be slept in.” Miroku says. “Now, each one of those has its own special problems and benefits.” He pauses . . .

“Which are?” Kagome asks. ‘If he wants a straight man, I’ll do it. I just wish he’d tell us, without the lecture, but, oh well . . . ’ she thinks.

“The problem with staying at a monastery is, of course, the demons in our group.” All three demons growl. “It is very unlikely they would be able to enter, much less stay any length of time inside most religious grounds.”

Miroku nods at Inu-yasha, “there are shrines devoted to various dog, cat and fox deities in Kyoto. But whither or not one would be close by when needed? That cannot be planned on. And even if there is a temple nearby. It would only help one of us, not all three.”

“Inns, then.” Kagome prompts.

“Remember, Kagome, that if you are rich, you already have friends and family in Kyoto, and if you don’t have friends, well, you normally give a donation to one of the monasteries and sleep in nice quarters, and the next morning, you will have people that will want to be your friends waiting for you when you wake up. The only people that use inns are poor farmers, wandering craftsmen, merchants and other minor people, so the conditions are not pleasant.” He pauses, then he continues.

“Inns . . . inns have a couple of benefits, but have problems as well. First the benefits: Inns are places where various people gathers and as such, they are places where people gossip. So, we can find out rumors there. Second, a mixed group of men and women, like us, wouldn’t cause that much of a concern. Third, innkeepers like money. Which could be useful in many ways.”

“The problems?”

“There will people in the inns that gather rumors and gossip for money. So, if, say Inu-yasha’s ears peak out.” Inu-yasha growls loudly enough to interrupt the monk.

‘Did I miss something important?’ he thinks. He was trying to ignore the long-winded monk.

“As I saying, if his ears peak out, the rumors mongers will see and spread the tale. So, we will have to watch what we say and do. Second, IF we’re right in assuming that tensions are building in Kyoto, then there will be samurai out looking to release some of that tension. They do that by drinking sake and having fights. And, well, if you’re staying in an inn, then they will assume you have no family or friends in Kyoto. Without any family or friends, they’ll consider you fair game for the fun they want to have.” He nods at Kagome.

Kagome pales and Sango grits her teeth. Inu-yasha pulls back his lips and grinds his teeth together. “However, since Inu-yasha and I will be with you two girls, that shouldn’t be a problem. The third problem is, of course, that innkeepers like money.”

“Huh, you said that was a benefit?” Shippo asks.

“It’s a benefit only when we pay more money than anybody else pays him.” Miroku replies.

Inu-yasha stretches out his clawed right hand, “Or we frighten the bastard into silence.” Miroku rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“What about finding an abandoned building, then, Miroku?” Sango asks.

“The problem with abandoned buildings is that if your sleeping in them, you’re too poor to sleep elsewhere. So, thieves and other criminals will attack you, or if some samurai finds you and want some fun.” Miroku pauses, “They’ll assume anybody sleeping in ruins are lowly scum and attack.”

“So, all we have to do is act like we do in the wild. You weaklings can sleep and I’ll watch.” Inu-yasha says, “We’ll sleep in abandoned buildings, then.”

End flashback . . .

**********************


“I do wish that the boys were here.” Kagome says.

“Yes, we’ll just have to be careful.” Sango looks around. “Now where would an inn be . . . ”

“We are close to the northern edge of the city, I’d say, if we go north, we’ll find one, Sango. Since most of the travelers, will be at the edges of the city.”

“Let’s go, then.”

As they go north, they look around for an inn. Before they found the compound, Sango had been paying attention to Kagome and Kagome had been paying attention to her mystic senses, so they are, just now, noticing details that they missed earlier.

There are parades of richly dressed men, with guards, going about their business on the streets. Everyone, of course, moves out of his way, and he, of course, ignores the lowly people that have the good fortune to see him.

Lining the streets are shops full of drapers, clothes makers, druggists (A man out front of one is yelling “Men! If you need help with your companion!” he waves a small bamboo vial “This will keep you up all night, up to seven times a night!” this attracts their attention. “Miroku’s friend, I assume.” Kagome nudges Sango and giggles. “Yes” Sango giggles.), scroll and booksellers, fast food shops and more.

Most street corners have some sort of entertainer occupying it. A storyteller, sometimes with puppets to act out the story is on one corner. A juggler, musician and/or chanter, a man yelling about Sumo contest, which will be held at a local temple the next day could be on another corner. An old woman doing horoscopes for people walking by is on yet another corner.


Kagome nudges Sango and whispers, “Do you know why that man over there has a piece of paper marked ‘taboo’ on his forehead?” She subtly points to a man wearing a dark fancy kimono, but attached to the small hat he’s wearing is a white strip of paper with the word ‘taboo’ written on it. People move away from him and avoid looking at him directly.

“He must be under some sort of taboo. Probably a death in the family, judging by his kimono. I’d say he’s got some sort of important business he has to do, so he put that on his forehead to tell everyone that he’s still taboo to be with. He doesn’t want the contamination from the death in his family to spread to other family’s. It’s just good manners, Kagome.” Sango whispers back.

“Hmmm . . . ok.”

Off in the distance they hear a young boy’s voice cry, “Oji Inn! Great place! Cheap sake!”

Kagome looks a little startled. Sango whispers, “How else can he attract people, Kagome. He’ll hire young boys to wander the streets and cry out the inn’s name to drum up business.” She glances at the sky, “it’s getting dark, so this when most of them will be out. I was sure we’d hear one.”

“How much does he pay them?”

“The boys?” Kagome nods, “food, perhaps a couple of copper pieces, maybe something more. Depends on how many people the boy brings into the inn.”
They follow the sound of the boy’s voice. The boy is standing on a crate by the side of the street as he calls out. As the girls approach the boy, they can see a family of five talking to the boy. Judging by the head nodding and pointing the boy is telling them were to go. The girls, glance at each other, and follow the family. As they pass the young boy, Kagome tosses him a couple of coins.

Near the corner of Omiya and Ogimachi, the family enters a building. On the outside is a banner marked Oji Inn. They pause outside, look at each. “We have to go in sometime.” Sango whispers and goes into the inn, Kagome follows her. Both are wishing that the boys were with them. The plan had been to follow Miroku’s lead, but . . .

The main room of the inn is a large room. There are a half-dozen, perhaps more, low tables with cushions around them scattered in the room. Off to the right side of the room is the large cooking area. On the left side of the room, and on the back side of the room are doorways into other parts of the inn. A couple of the tables are full of people sitting down. The family that just entered the building is finishing talking to a large older, late forties, man.

He glances at the girls, but seeing no men with them, ignores them. After a couple of minutes one of the girls that are waiting on the tables, come over to the girls and starts to talk to them. “Can I help?”

“We’re looking for a room for the night.” Sango replies.

The young woman looks to be in her early twenties. She has on a silk kimono that looks a bit worn. Her face has been dusted with a white power. She looks around and asks, “no men?” As she speaks, the girls can see that her teeth have been painted black, somehow.

“They got separated earlier, but they are supposed to be here.” Kagome quickly says, continuing with the story from earlier.

“Hmmmm, well, do you know how soon?”

Sango and Kagome shake their heads. The hostess thins her lips and says, “It’s best if you just get food now and when your men arrive, they can get the room.”

Sango licks her lips, “Ahh, If they don’t arrive?”

“I can handle the room.”

Kagome looks around, and she says, “Go ahead and give us the price for food and a room. Just in case.” The hostess’s eyebrow rises. (Which causes Kagome to notice that the hostess’s real eyebrows are shaved off, and she’s painted fake eyebrows above where they should be.)

“Very well . . . ”

Sango and the hostess negotiate the cost. It’s a quick discussion. As she goes to the owner with the money, the hostess thinks, ‘Something’s up. They look and try to act like peasant girls, but . . . No men, if they were really waiting, they would have delayed in asking for a room. And that girls bargaining skills. For a peasant girl that was bad, she could have gotten the room for less.’

The hostess comes back, tells them which room is theirs and directs them to one of the tables. The girls take off their backpacks and lay them beside them. “Everything is fine. But when your men arrive. They’ll have to make a new deal with the owner.” She pauses, “I’ll have bowls of food and tea ready in short while.”

As night falls, the inn fills up, which causes more delays in Kagome’s and Sango’s food and drink to arrive. They are obviously last on the hostess’s list of customers. Kagome does, on occasion, give the hostess pointed looks, but is ignored.

Most of the customers of the inn, judging by the conversions Sango and Kagome overhear, are local men. The inn has cheap sake and it is a place for them to gather and talk and entertain themselves. There are some new comers, like the girls, but most of them tend to go to their rooms quickly. Traveling can be arduous and getting rest afterward is important.

Before their food arrives, some of the men have already finished eating. The men, after eating, start to drink sake and swap stories, mainly dirty stories. Some of the men move a couple of the tables around and start throwing dice and gambling. An old lady comes in and starts to cast horoscopes for the men inside the inn.

The few women and children in the inn go to their rooms after they finish eating. (Most of the women take the food uneaten to their room. They’ll eat it away from the men. It’s not customary to eat with men.)

Finally the girl’s food arrives.

Kagome sips her tea and purses her lips. “I wish I could get into my pack and get some sugar. This is terrible.”

“Look around, Kagome, these are peasants, lowly craftsmen, other poor folk. Fancy food and drink, aren’t going to be here.” Sango sips, “Though, you’re right. This tastes like the bastard peed in it.”

“Sigh, and complaining . . . ”

“Would get us thrown out and he’d keep the money.”

Kagome and Sango sighs, and start to eat and drink, cautiously. The bowl of gruel is a mix of barley, oats and beans, with just enough brown rice on top to look nice. About halfway through Sango puts down her bowl and stares at it. ‘IF I don’t finish the bowl that hostess will want to know why.’
She glances at the hostess, who looks away from Sango once she notices Sango’s attention. ‘And that not the first time, I’ve noticed her looking at me. Think training Sango. Father told you that there would be times when I’d have to eat things I disliked.’ She thinks.

Sango stares the insect leg in her bowl and then deliberately eats it. “Kagome, do yourself a great favor and don’t look at the food and just swallow it.” She whispers.

Kagome pales, “Ok, Sango. Umm . . . Do I want to know why?”

“No”

“Ok” Kagome quickly shovels the rest of the bowl into her mouth. Sango does the same.

“Do we go to our room?” Kagome whispers as they finish. Some of the looks and comments she’s overhearing are making her nervous.

“No. We want to hear the gossip, remember?”

“Yes.” Kagome looks over the room nervously.

“Nervous, Kagome?”

“Yes, you?”

“Yes, I really wish the boys were here. Even the monk.” Sango whispers. Normally the only women in this room are the hostesses and the men in the inn don’t know how to react to the two girls. Most of the men are ignoring them, but a few of the men are giving them dirty looks.

It is night outside now. The room is lit only by oil lamps and candles. A couple of paper lanterns, near the entrances to the room, give the entrances a touch of class, but not much. To Kagome’s modern eyes, the dim light makes a tremendous amount of shadows in the room. The shadows conceal the features of the men and hostess’s as they move about. She can hear some of the men telling stories. Some of the stories are horror stories about various demons.

She shivers, ‘the way the shadows move as people pass in front of the lamps, combined with those stories. That makes the stories come alive and . . . ’ she shivers again. ‘I’ve wondered on occasion why people would believe some of those old legends. But, now, hearing them in this spooky setting, the right question is how could they not believe in them.’

More men enter the inn. They go over the table where Kagome and Sango have been eating. “Move it. This is our table.” They order. The way they are talking and acting, tells the girls that they are already drunk. Kagome and Sango stand up with their bags. Sango grabs Kagome’s sleeve and they sit down, next the wall, near the dice and gambling are going on.

Sango whispers, “hopefully they’ll say something more interesting than old stories.”
As the girls listen, they do hear rumors about the shard and other things of interest. But, the only piece of information about the Yuki family they hear is a dirty story about how a geisha has got the heir of the family wrapped around her little finger. (That’s not the exact term they used, that term was related to a different body part . . . )

Three more men enter the inn. These men are not the common laborers and peasants that have been filling the inn. These men have long swords and fancy kimonos on. “Sake! Innkeeper!” they order.

The owner bows and scrapes in front of the samurai, instead of being bossy and demanding he’s been all evening. The noise level in the inn temporarily deadens. When the noise level increases, it has a different tone. There is a nasty undertone to the conversions now.

“Won’t they get into trouble for being in a low class place like this?” Kagome whispers as she asks Sango.

“Only if their superior finds out about it. But he’s going to ignore any complaints from simple peasants, or the innkeeper. Only if another samurai mentions it to their superior will they get into trouble.” Sango whispers as she replies. “And, Kagome, they can do anything they want.”

They sit down by a table, after the men that were sitting there quickly bow and leave. “Girl! Come here!” The hostess, the one that has been watching Sango and Kagome, goes to the men. She bows. “Sit down! I need some companionship.” The largest of the three says as he pats the matt next to him. He looks at the owner as says, “Put her on my tab.” The hostess sighs in resignation.

The other hostesses quickly make sure that they are being very busy helping other people. Some of the other men in the inn, also, quickly start asking for help.

The hostess thinks, ‘I hate him. Always coming in and trying to act like an important samurai. Especially when all he and his friends are just barely samurai. But, he has to have someone to bully, I suppose.’

Her glance falls on Sango and Kagome sitting next to the wall. She glances around the room again. ‘Yes, as I thought. All the other women have gone to their rooms, and it’s just the men.’ She looks at the other two samurai.

‘I wonder, the way those two girls have acted . . . especially that other girl. Some of the looks she gave me as I was properly serving men before them, she was angry about that for some reason. I don’t think they are what they appear to be . . . perhaps, they will be odd enough, that I can distract him. I really don’t feel like being his bed partner tonight’ she thinks.

She whispers, “your friends look lonely, sir. There are two other girls in the room.” She subtly points to Kagome and Sango.

The three samurai looks at Sango and Kagome. Even in the dim light, a gleam appears in their eyes. “Get them.” The hostess gets up and goes to the two girls.

The hostess bows to the girls saying, “The lord samurai Kuranosuke would like to speak with you.” Sango grimaces.

“And if we don’t want to speak with them?” Kagome softly asks.

The hostesses’ eyes widen. “How could you even think that?!” she softly exclaims.

Sango gets up and whispers to Kagome, “just follow my lead.” Kagome gets up and nods. They bring their bags with them.

“Sit” the girls are ordered.

Sango and Kagome sit down next to each other and opposite the samurai. One of them smiles, as he orders, “Come closer, girls, we’re not going to hurt you.” This close the girls can tell that the three men are already drunk.

The two girls minutely shrug and move slightly closer to the samurai. “Sit! Here!” the third orders Sango as he points to the spot right next to him. He reaches out and grabs her arm.

Sango stares at his face, “I’m not that type of girl, sir.” She grits out. ‘I don’t even let the monk touch me. I’m not going to let some drunk samurai do it.’ She thinks. She twists her arm out of the grasp of the samurai.

‘Women are not supposed to do that.’ The shocked thought goes through the mind of the hostess, who is watching this with great interest.

“You are tonight, peasant girl.” The samurai orders as he stares back at Sango. He minutely shakes his head, there is something in Sango’s gaze that disturbs him.

“Please, sirs, we’re just saying here for the night. Please, leave us alone.” Kagome asks in a low voice.

“No”

‘There is something about these two, but . . . I cannot change my mind in front of the scum in this room. I’m not going to be embarrassed like that.’ The samurai named Kuranosuke thinks.

Kuranosuke says. “You two will come with us, to our rooms, now!” He stands up, reaches down to grab Kagome’s arm.

He doesn’t succeed. Sango has also stood up and has grabbed his wrist. She stares him in the eyes and whispers, “It was a misunderstanding. If you ignore it, nothing bad will happen.”
‘I’m not going to be ordered about by a peasant girl.’ He angrily thinks. The samurai swings his arm using his open palm to strike at Sango.

End chapter 5.

Now that the girls are in the city, let’s get some action going . . .

Oh, yes, I know Sango and Kagome could have handled it better, but, they’re young and in a strange situation. Mistakes happen . . . (they’ll realize it, but it’ll be too late . . . )

Also, there are some similarities between this chapter and my story “what to do about evil” Unfortunately, Samurai expect and demand that peasants obey them. End of story. If you disobey them, samurai tends to act in the same way, with violence. That is how they were trained and what was expected of them.

The inn and the descriptions I used are basically of a fancier teahouse with rooms attached. Compared to a real teahouse, this is very poor quality. A true teahouse would have separate rooms for each group of men, not one big room.

I wanted to put this in the story, but haven’t found a way . . . so . . . the clothes the ordinary people are wearing is made of cotton or hemp-based clothes. Not silk. (Some of the very poor will have paper clothes, Ok) So, the worn silk and the make-up on the hostess is a way to make the inn look better. To a person that has been in a fancy teahouse the attempt is laughable, but to the poor people in the inn, it’s a way to pretend that they’re in a fancy place. Cotton wasn’t introduced in a large scale in Japan until late fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries. (1350 to 1450) and growing it wasn’t easy in Japan, ok. (Moreover no cotton gin. The wives of the farmers that grew the cotton would have to pick the seeds out of the cotton by hand.)

The gruel . . . some insects, properly prepared and served correctly are delicacies. But that does not apply to a cockroach in your gruel . . .

As a reminder I am using various place names and such from Kyoto. I may, and probably will, make a mistake in using, say a Buddhist temple as a Shinto Shrine. But as long as I stay consistent within this story that is all I’m after.

An interesting link. The diary of a noble woman. It’s well before the time of this story. 1009-1059, not 1550. But, Kyoto always tried to carry on with the traditions of the past. The nobles of Kyoto tried never to change, so what is in this diary is what the nobles of Kyoto would like life to be like.


http://history.hanover.edu/texts/diaries/diaryall.htm


Also for those interested . . .
The books I’m using . . . Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan by Lafcadio Hearn. Everyday life in Traditional Japan by Charles Dunn. Everyday things in pre modern japan by Susan Hanley. (Most of these are more concerned with 1600-1850, but life in Japan tended to be stays the same, so...)

The world of the shining Prince by ivan morris (court life in ancient japan. About Japanese culture in 1000ad) This is the culture that Kyoto always tried to follow.

thank you for reading.
Jeff shelton