Session Seven; Suspicion Sets In

Katsumi had been running through scenario after scenario in her head. Every possible outcome of the situation with Kitsuki played out with her choosing a side between her duty to her family and her duty to her ward. She wasn’t in the business of breaking promises, but Kitsuki was just making it so very difficult to keep him alive and to uphold her loyalty to her clan. She stared at the floor, not wanting to look him in the eye. She didn’t want him pushing her into a decision she would regret, like he had attempted with the note. He volunteered her to help him, and then told her she had to do something. He didn’t get to direct her actions, and he sure as Jigoku didn’t get to pit her against her family.

“Asahina-sama,” a voice said from the other side of the door, which promptly slid open to reveal a rather irate Asahina. He entered in a huff and stared down Kitsuki. Apparently, Asahina took the ‘threat’ to his life a lot more personally than Katsumi had imagined he would. Granted, he wasn’t aware that Negisa had orchestrated the whole ordeal so Asahina faced little to no possibility of being harmed. That was information he wasn’t going to learn either. Nevertheless, Katsumi hadn’t expected Asahina to be so worked up about such a small attempt on this life.

Session Seven; A Grand Affair

Anjin noted Asahina’s door was closed when he walked by late in the morning, having slept in after last night’s journey. He had woken to a house that was much quieter than usual; it seemed nearly everyone slept in late. Everyone but Daigotsu, who was carving some small object at the dining table, and Matsu who was having her hair done up by Negisa. Anjin made certain to take a seat where he wouldn’t have to look at Negisa, or have her see him. He was uneasy about the deal he had struck with Negisa, and although his legs continued to feel better each day, he took heed of Daigotsu Katsumi’s warning that he was in over his head. Katsumi didn’t scare easy, as far as he could tell, and something about Negisa scared her. Something about Negisa scared him.

When Asahina’s door finally opened, Anjin was dismayed to see that he was busy being surrounded by attendants who were readying him for the wedding. He needed a moment of Asahina’s time, just a moment to express the dread he had been feeling ever since yesterday morning. He had made a mistake. Fallen victim in a moment of weakness. Dreams of being like everyone else had clouded his judgment, and now he had to let someone know who could do something about it. Katsumi had proven to be useless, refusing to take part in the conversation. Yes, it was taboo, but when had Katsumi ever flinched at what was not allowed? The only other person he trusted to handle things, including whatever would befall Anjin, was Asahina. So Anjin waited, not so patiently, for a lull in the activity to have a word with Asahina.

Finally, the opportunity presented itself. Asahina stepped out of his room, about to disembark for the ceremony when Anjin blocked his way as politely as one can block someone’s way.

“Asahina-sama, will you walk with me?” He glanced around nervously, knowing the rumors that had been spread from this house. “We must talk and one cannot be too weary of lingering ears.”

Asahina gave a slow nod and a weary look about him as well. “Of course, Kitsuki-san.”

They paced several feet from the house, closer to the bathhouse than any other building, but making sure even to avoid that. Anjin didn’t want to make the mistake of being too close to any place a living soul would be. He didn’t want anyone but Asahina hearing his confession of blasphemous intent.

“Some things have come to my attention, and I cannot tell you everything within these walls,” Anjin nodded his head towards the house. “The mightiest grove has trees whose branches will not reach towards the heavens. I’m afraid there’s someone among us whose goal, it seems, is to drag us into chaos. And I worry of her plots. I’m afraid at a moment of indiscretion, I fell into one of Negisa’s traps, and I’m not sure how to handle the situation, but I may need to call upon your help. We also need to keep this absolutely secret.”

Session Seven; Midnight Meetings

It had gotten dark a while ago, though Mikoto knew the sun was still up. It was just that the trees blotted it from view as it slowly sank below the horizon, a horizon she couldn’t see because she had gone so far into the forest she no longer knew where it actually ended. Hikaru and Hinata had led her there. It was on her orders, but originally she had believed they were just going to wander around town. Even after they had entered the woods, she had believed it would be just a short trek. Now, after several hours of tramping through bushes that pulled at her kimono, sinking into soft ground, and tirelessly following her lions, she had to find Katsumi or else she might not ever make it out of here. She was lost.

She wasn’t just lost she was also hungry. She was tired. And, most of all, she was angry. She was getting married tomorrow and not one of those she lived with was going to be there if they were all gallivanting in the woods. They probably didn’t even care, too busy with their stupid hunting trips and their stupid group outings that she wasn’t even invited to. Tsuruchi invited Shiba right in front of her, but did he think to even offer Mikoto the chance to decline? No, no he did not.

And what was Katsumi thinking? She was most obviously out here; otherwise, Mikoto wouldn’t be out here. Hikaru and Hinata were following Katsumi’s scent, so she had to be out here with everyone else, hunting and foregoing the wedding. Mikoto’s anger melted into sadness. Katsumi didn’t want to come to her wedding. She could empathize with that. If Katsumi were getting married, Mikoto knew she wouldn’t want to be there seeing Katsumi promise herself to someone else. It would be too hard to bare witness to, especially with the way she felt. Mikoto knew she was teetering on the edge of adoration for Katsumi, with the long drop to love lying below her, and Katsumi was like a weight pulling her off the cliff. Mikoto wondered why she hadn’t seen it before. Katsumi was already at the bottom, or at least in the same precarious situation Mikoto was. She probably felt the same way as Mikoto did for her. In addition, Mikoto was marrying Katsumi’s brother, that could make things more complicated for Katsumi’s feelings, she reasoned.

Hinata ran ahead, bounding through the trees and out of sight. Hikaru chased after her and Mikoto followed suit. They must be getting close; her lions hadn’t raced off like that the entire trip. Then Mikoto smelled it, something savory and warm, something was cooking. Her mouth began to water, it was past dinner and she was starving. She had skipped breakfast, and only eaten a small amount for lunch, too nervous about tomorrow and too preoccupied with where Katsumi was. Her stomach gurgled in response, as if agreeing that whatever it was that smelled so delicious needed to be consumed right away.

Session Six; Through the Woods

Katsumi sat cross-legged in the family room of Negisa’s house, silently waiting for the time to pass. Kitsuki sat across from her, not so rigid; he was lounging but also silent. He never seemed to have much to say to Katsumi, but that was alright, she didn’t like talking much and preferred if he didn’t hold a one-sided conversation. Not that she had known Kitsuki ever to hold a one-sided conversation. Besides, she wasn’t much in the mood for conversation either, all the things that had happened today, the things that no one should know outside of her family, those would be the things brought up by Kitsuki, and he wasn’t family. So, they sat with only Negisa’s shuffling around the house to fill the air.

He was looking at her, she knew even though her eyes were downcast. The way Kitsuki looked at her when he believed her to be lying. She knew the look because she could feel the weight of his gaze. It amused Katsumi at times because she hadn’t lied to Kitsuki since the one time in his tent, the morning after he learned about her curse, and he had caught her in it. Since then, it seemed like there was no point to lie. She wasn’t good at lying in the first place, and the fact that Kitsuki had seen through her first and only lie to him proved it was futile. There was a reason Katsumi didn’t enjoy conversation, besides being a bore most of the time, she didn’t trust herself to answer delicate questions in a matter that was acceptable to others, others like Kitsuki.

Session Six; Learning About Each Other

Katsumi dropped her bones into the bowl, savoring the sound as she always did. It calmed her mind, it was her center, and it pushed out all the uncertainties. When she was young and saw visions in bowls of water, and whispers spoke to her from tealeaves at the bottom of cups, it was that sound of the bones that promised to keep it at bay. It was her control over the sometimes-frightening answers to questions she had not asked. And every time she dropped the bones into her bowl, she was reminded about how confusing life was, and how it would all be all right.

She set the bowl down and opened the pouch she had brought back from the woods. After the conversation with Negisa, Katsumi had decided she needed more answers to the questions that still remained at large. So she had trekked back through the forest to where they had burned the bodies of the tainted Naga, grabbed a handful of ash from under the skeletal remains, and came back to see what the Realm would offer. Katsumi dumped the dust on top of her bones, she was hoping for any sort of information really. Where this taint came from? How it affected the Naga that Negisa swore couldn’t be tainted? Who was behind it? Anything that could shed some sort of light on what they were working against out here.

Session Six; A Warm Welcome

The first leg of the trip was silent as the grave. Kyuzo was deep in thought trying to figure out what to do with the new friend of theirs. She obviously was coming to town with them, but after that, what would they do? And why was she out in the woods? And even further, what was she doing awake? The Naga were supposed to be sleeping, at least, that’s what he believed. Yet here one was, being hunted by her kinsmen, triumphing, and now attached to his side and following them back to the city he was running. Not to mention whatever happened in the woods with the spirit that turned her Naga friends against her. That was also something he would have to worry about. First, what he was going to do with her needed to be worked out.

“We…” Shiba was the first to say something in over an hour, “Should probably not be walking into town with a… Naga.”

Her timid voice floated effortlessly across the space between them. She was behind Daigotsu, who was behind the Naga, which was behind him, and Tsuruchi took the lead.

“Honestly, I’ve thought about that, and the thing is… I don’t want to…” How could he say this in a way that others could understand? “For lack of better words, I don’t want to hurt her feelings because I don’t want to make her mad.”

Session Six; Little Secrets

There was a break in the trees up ahead, a break the Naga’s trail led directly into. Morasahi was not a skilled hunter, she had actually never been hunting before, but she had no difficulty finding these tracks and following them. Naga weren’t exactly small creatures, if the stories were to be believed. Judging from the shuffled dirt, this one was no exception. When the creature had begun bleeding, the trail was only made all the easier to follow, and follow they did, their hunting mission now turning into a rescue mission. Or at least an investigation if the creature turned out to be dead. She thought back to what Tsuruchi had said about eating the snake, visions of Tsuruchi and Daigotsu tearing into the mangled corpse of the Naga filled her head, green blood caking their faces and hands. Her stomach turned. Morasahi felt sick. Breakfast had been a poor choice for trying something unique to the Spider diet. For the very little she had eaten, it weighed heavily like several stones knocking together in her stomach.

The air changed as they entered the small clearing hidden amongst the thick woods and underbrush. Morasahi could feel it. Like everyone and everything was holding their breath. Some sort of unnatural silence where she was suddenly aware of every twig breaking under their feet, every scuff of their sandals, and every ruffle of their clothes from every movement. The world was charged and perched on the edge of some unseen cliff, waiting for some unknown action to take place before everything would go careening out of control.

Session Six; Morning Plans

Kyuzo was up at dawn, always rising just before sunrise. A routine that had become so ingrained in his being he had long ago stopped being surprised that it was nearly the same moment everyday when he opened his eyes. Today was another day he wasn’t looking forward to. He was restless. It had been a long month of training in order for him to accompany the Scorpion scouting party on a mission. A long month of little improvement on his part, he just wasn’t getting how one could make themselves lighter than they were. Maybe he just wasn’t suited for the art of silence. He’d keep at it, at least. Nevertheless, that didn’t solve how much he desired to be out of this small town where everyone bowed and addressed him as their lord. Just for a few hours. It wasn’t as if he wanted to run away, he just wanted a break. Even when he was painting, he didn’t really get that break. It was the same four walls, the same scenery, and the same people constantly interrupting him.

Kyuzo took a deep breath before leaving his room. He had dressed and was ready to begin another day of solving menial problems, if there were even problems to solve. The town seemed to function rather well on its own. The only issue that had been brought to Kyuzo’s attention so far was the unfortunate business with Tsuruchi Airo. A business he would rather put out of his mind than use as an example of his brilliant leadership. He was still uncomfortable about the way everything happened. Seeing the ghostly Airo following Negisa around town after she had taken him to enact ‘justice’ was even more discomforting. Then he had simply disappeared shortly after the new Mantis delegate, Airo’s brother, Tsuruchi Meintaro, had arrived. Kyuzo had decided he wasn’t going to postulate on what happened to Airo, he truly didn’t want to know, and so he didn’t ask.

Session Five; Secrets in the Night

The sky was getting darker as the sun began to sink past the horizon. It wouldn’t be long now before the moon filled the night sky, and for once Katsumi wasn’t afraid of what this full moon would bring. She had spent the last two nights shackled and tied in Kitsuki’s room, as had been prearranged from the last month. However, the last two nights she remembered being shackled and tied, and bored out of her mind as well. He still didn’t trust her it would seem, and even though she had kept her sanity after nightfall, there was no convincing him that she need not be tied any longer. If she had gone both previous nights this month without an issue, she certainly wasn’t going to subject herself to another long and tediously slow night of watching Kitsuki read. She was gaining a hold of her curse, and she believed she could easily maintain control tonight as well.

Katsumi walked through the house to the dining area where Asahina was taking his meal. Katsumi ate much earlier, especially when this time of the month came around and she was usually tied up somewhere by dinner. She stood there, just watching Asahina for a few minutes. She wanted to wait until he was done, or at least close to it so she didn’t interrupt his meal.

He put his bowl down and sighed. “Yes, Daigotsu? What do you want?”

Session Five; New Additions

Tsuruchi Meintaro rode into town, the same town his brother had ventured into only two weeks prior, and would never leave. Meintaro grimaced at the thought of his brother; Airo had created a mess of their family name and Meintaro was here to make up for it. Not only was he here to retake the position of Mantis consult and restore honor to the Tsuruchi family, but he needed to retrieve a specific heirloom Airo had been gifted with, one he no longer deserved. He dismounted from his horse and allowed the heimin to take it and stable it while a short man quickly came to greet him. Undoubtedly the mayor of the town.

“I’m here to see Asahina-sama,” Meintaro said sternly.

“Of course, samurai-sama, right this way.” The mayor bowed graciously and scurried to the large house not far from where they were standing. Meintaro followed, once entering the house he was asked to wait while Asahina was fetched from the backyard. Asahina was doing some sort of exercises with a rather unusual obstacle course. Asahina hustled inside and bowed to Meintaro.

Session Five; Negisa's Help

“What is it you wanted, Little Sister?” Negisa walked away from the door leaving Katsumi to close it on her own. Katsumi looked around the house Negisa was residing in. It was decently built, not paper walls and mockingbird floors like hers, and not large either, but it had a living area and two rooms, along with a small kitchen. Negisa had done well for herself when claiming her residence until the kyuden was built. However, she wasn’t here to take in the construction of the house, she had come to Negisa with a problem Katsumi had very little experience with.

“Asahina said something to me… I don’t know what to do about it,” Katsumi sat in the middle of the floor and pulled off her mask. “He’s just so peculiar.”

“Did he say he loves you?” Negisa asked, her boredom clearly showing.

“No. Oh, no. No. He said I hurt his feelings. What does that even mean?” Katsumi couldn’t wrap her head around it. Obviously, she knew what feelings were, she had them as much as anyone else, but how did you hurt them? You could hurt because of them, which wasn’t the same thing. Like feeling sorrow, or lonely, or even dishonored, those feelings could hurt you, but someone couldn’t hurt them.

Session Five; Life Marches On

Today had been the most trying day in Kyuzo’s life. He couldn’t remember another day when his word weighed so heavily, and with it his conscience. He hadn’t wanted to let Tsuruchi go to the Spider, he hadn’t wanted Tsuruchi dead at all, but when it came down to it, it was the only option. Everything pointed in the direction that Tsuruchi was guilty of the crimes he was charged with, even Kitsuki had informed Kyuzo that Tsuruchi was lying with his last words uttered. And when he had opted to lock Tsuruchi up, to keep him alive because he hadn’t actually succeeded in burning down the distillery, he was forced to overturn that ruling. Daigotsu Negisa, though not the head of the Spider clan in the area she definitely pulled some weight with those in attendance, had made a request, something so simple and yet laden with so many consequences if he refused. After weighing what he believed to be the result of each decision, it came down to pleasing the Spider. After all it was to be their town in the not so distant future and if he started by insulting their way of life by refusing to let them deal with a criminal, they might see fit to start problems of their own before Kyuzo had finished his duty in the area.

It frustrated him to be backed in a corner. It frustrated him that as the lord of the town his word was not final this time. It frustrated him that Tsuruchi had done this unreasonable act. And it frustrated him that he just sentenced a friend to death. He may not have known Tsuruchi for very long, but it was long enough to have made a positive impression on Kyuzo. He thought about it for a moment, really, it frustrated him that he had to make the decision at all. Things like this shouldn’t happen, especially from a samurai, especially from someone sent to protect this town. Now that it was over, he knew business had to continue on as usual, and frustrated or not his sensei would be waiting for him to continue his training.

Session Five; Trial and Consequences

Airo quietly slid his shoji wall open and crept out the backdoor of their shared home. It was sometime in the early morning, just past the witching hour, a time when everyone was in bed and he was the only person to walk the streets. Even with that being the case, Airo was careful to stick to the shadows and not rouse any of the houses he passed. He didn’t want anyone to wake and ruin his fun. It was a silent and uneventful walk to the distillery. He peeked inside the distillery and listened, the waterwheel churning through the steady stream was the only noise in the night besides the natural sounds of bugs and nocturnal things.

Airo cracked the door of the building and slipped inside. He allowed his eyes to grow accustomed to the lightless barn, the windows only allowing pale moonlight to fall in sparse silhouettes away from corners exposing the center walkway and nothing more. He had a good look around earlier today when he toured the facility this morning and once he could make out shapes he headed towards where he remembered the pile of dry burlap sacks was stacked. They were still there. Airo ran his hand over them to make sure they hadn’t been used since he last saw them. Perfect, dry as tinder, which is what they were about to become. He pulled out the flint and steel from his pocket and sparked the coarse material to life, a small flame like the light at the end of a wick, which quickly grew as it spread across the airy, dry bags.