KATANAGATARI 2

■　■

If Shichika bested Azekura in the duel─as goes without saying, things would go as Togame had envisioned. The Armor would be theirs, and for the time being, they would be safe. And while the execution was slightly different from what she had in mind, this was basically the essence of her scheme, the single complication being Shichika battling Azekura at the Basket, the pirate captain’s home turf.

Conversely, if Shichika lost the fight at the Basket, or went down to defeat in any manner, that is, even if Azekura was the victor in the duel, Togame would be fine─or so he claimed.

No, he made his opinion even clearer.

“Honestly, you’re better off that way.”

Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, had been hired by Togame on this Sword Hunt as her bodyguard─his job was to win every fight. Losing was not an option.

Losing was grounds for dismissal.

Azekura pointed a proud finger at himself.

“Yet it won’t be any loss for you. Not if you’re my girl─of course, that means that I’ll be taking over.”

Taking over.

As her bodyguard.

“But why settle for just being your bodyguard? By now I’ve done plenty, more than plenty to assure you of the power of the Armored Pirates’ intelligence network. Who could be more useful to you on your Sword Hunt?”

He had no intention of deferring1 to the bakufu.

But there was no greater pleasure in life than working hard for your baby2─Azekura certainly felt this way.

“Frankly, this whole thing about wanting to fight the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─while not exactly an excuse, is no more than a justification. When I heard the posse3 hunting for the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki had come to town, I was of a mind to show them who was boss, but when I set my eyes on you, I had a change of heart. I felt driven to serve you.”

With his help, she would have the other seven swords in no time, Azekura went so far as to claim.

“Don’t expect me to hand over the Armor─but if you’re my woman, you can consider yourself its owner. I’ll just be borrowing it. How’s that for an arrangement? In all of Japan, who other than Kanara Azekura is big enough to fit inside?”

When Togame declined to gratify this with an answer, he added this flourish: “As a strategist, surely you understand how sweet a deal this is?”

■　■

In the room they had taken at the hot spring inn.

The two travelers stood quite close, facing each other. Togame was fully dressed in a luxurious kimono (having packed such an extensive wardrobe she had nary worn the same thing twice─although Shichika was the one who bore the burden). Hands clasped behind her head, feet together, she stood up straight, looking uneasy. Shichika stood right in front of her, bent deep at the knees, to lower his enormous body. His feet faced to the side─he twisted his torso so extremely that he nearly turned his back on Togame, who stood motionless before him.

One hand made a fist.

His far hand, from Togame’s perspective.

The other hand was open, spread over the fist─indeed.

In Kyotoryu Form Four, the Asagao.

“Hup.”

After holding this position for some time, suddenly.

Shichika moved─his body moved.

In a single motion, he unspun from the twist, without changing the position of his feet! As if launching a cannonball, he hurled his fist straight for Togame’s stomach─a move similar to Fatal Orchid One, Kyoka Suigetsu, the secret move playing off Form One, the Suzuran, deployed at Triad Shrine against Meisai Tsuruga, then owner of Sento the Legion. But in this secret move, he made a fist.

“Fatal Orchid Four─Ryuryoku Kako!”

His fist smashed into Togame’s obi.

But not through it─his fist halted where it made contact, even as his torso glided in the opposite direction as a result. This wasn’t stopping an inch short4─his fist did press into the middle of her obi.

And that was all, apparently.

Togame registered no reaction, but for a rapid inhalation─phew─and a cold sweat.

“Did it work?”

“Not sure… I’ll have to check.”

When Shichika asked the question, Togame unclasped her hands and reached around her back to pull out the little mirror she had stashed at the knot of her obi. The woman was surprisingly dexterous and flexible.

At any rate─

“Hmm…see for yourself.”

Togame held the mirror out to Shichika.

The glass5 was cracked, and the handle had bent.

“Impressive─also a shame, although I guess it’s too late for that. This mirror cost me a fortune… Oh well.”

Shichika, who until this moment had been frozen with his fist pressed into her stomach, seemed relieved. His face was just below eye level with Togame, but when he stood up straight, he towered over her.

“I barely ever get a chance to use the Ryuryoku Kako… The secret move only makes sense when you’re fighting someone wearing armor. I’d hate to think I’ve gotten rusty. I just never have a chance to practice it. Sorry for practicing on you.”

“I can take it… I dunno though. How does this work? Does this mean you can concentrate the damage wherever you like?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I can stop at the skin, or the muscle, or the organs, or the bones─or even go through to the other side. My dad always said the hardest part about this secret move was transmitting6 the impact. I have to use my intuition.”

“Intuition? That’s all that stood between me and your fist?!”

Togame was irate.

If she had known better, she would not have been so helpful.

No surprise from a woman who prided herself on being weak as shoji paper.

This time, however, she owed a compliment to Shichika and the secrets of the Kyotoryu. The shoji paper was unscathed; nothing damaged but the little mirror stashed behind her obi.

“Ugh, I feel like there’s pieces of the mirror in my obi. We’ll have to untie it… Go on, Shichika.”

She turned her back to him and raised her arms. As proven a moment ago, she was more than flexible enough to undo her own kimono, but lately she delegated tasks like this to Shichika. At first it took him time, but with practice, he had grasped the fundamentals7 of attiring kimono─though there was plenty left for him to learn.

Time to change her obi.

Shichika started to undo the knot.

“…”

Once it was undone, he tugged with all his might.

“Waah?”

When Shichika tugged at the obi wrapped around her waist, Togame spun forth at great speed like a top. Swept off her feet, she fell face down on the tatami.

“What the hell?!”

“Sorry…for some reason I felt like teasing you.”

“Shichika!” Togame came to her feet unsteadily. “With your superhuman strength, a little teasing is enough to do me in.” Since her obi was undone, her clothing was in disarray, but she paid it no need. She seemed awfully dizzy.

“Honestly…what on earth were you thinking?”

“Togame.”

“Yes?”

“That offer the guy made yesterday─how do you feel about it?”

Kanara Azekura’s offer.

Togame hadn’t accepted─or refused him outright.

Here is what she had told the man:

“Tomorrow is out of the question. That’s far too soon, I need some time to think. I mistrust negotiations that proceed at a clip,8 whether I like the sound of it or not─give me a day to think it over. Come back tomorrow night. By then, I’ll have an answer.”

Dread Captain Azekura and Shichika would need to wait another day before they dueled─

Togame had cut off the talks, and Azekura wasn’t one to overstay his welcome in that case. He did tell her, “I’m too busy to come back tomorrow, so I’ll send one of my underlings instead,” before departing from the hot spring inn.

Since then, the day had broken, and a few hours had passed.

She would need to have an answer by tonight.

“It’s your job to do the thinking─you were thinking all night. Haven’t you come to a conclusion?”

“Sure. You might even say that I made my decision when he asked me. I slept so well last night I didn’t even dream.”

Shichika kicked Togame’s feet out from under her.

Defenseless, she fell flat out all over again.

“What the hell?!”

“Huh, that’s weird…” Shichika was puzzled, his own behavior a mystery to him. “I dunno, for some reason I felt like teasing you a bit.”

“You’re beating the crap out of me! Why did you just kick me?”

“You whack9 me all the time. Now we’re even.”

“Ugh, what’s made you so cheeky?” Togame stood herself up yet again, her look suggesting that it wasn’t her second tumble so much as Shichika’s behavior that disturbed her.

“Well? What did you decide?”

“Needless to say, his offer is a life raft10─even if this place weren’t a harbor, we’d still have to get onboard. But there’s no point to negotiations if you hop aboard right away, so I was stalling him.”

“I see…”

“What’s wrong? You seem distraught. Don’t tell me that you’re too scared of Azekura─if you are, why use me as a punching bag to practice your secret move?”

“Hold on. I’m not worried about the duel… Whether or not it happens at the Basket, I know I have to fight him somewhere, sometime. Still, I mean,” Shichika stammered, “what if I lose?”

“If you lose? Azekura spelled that out for me, but fixating on losing won’t do you any good.”

“That’s neither here nor there, I want to hear your take on this. You think Kanara Azekura─would do a good job as your bodyguard?”

“Huh?” Unsure what would happen if she asked Shichika for help again, Togame tied her obi by herself for the first time in months. “Hmm, I wonder,” she said, directing her gaze pensively at the ceiling. “I guess─something about his offer did ring false to me. It’s hard to tell how much to believe. The likelihood of some ulterior motive is all too real.”

“Right.” Shichika nodded. “I mean, imagine the captain of a band of pirates working under you, a person from the bakufu─”

“No, that would be fine. You’re not exactly in the most desirable position yourself. The Kyotoryu is the school of a banished criminal─lest you forget, one purpose of our journey is to clear your father’s name.”

“Ah, yeah, that slipped my mind…”

Shichika was playing with her, acting like he’d actually forgotten.

Something was wrong, and getting worse, but Togame continued. “This pirate network of his is a force to be reckoned with. Aside from Zokuto the Armor here in Dakuon, and the Shikizaki blades already in our hands, there’s only one sword left whose whereabouts and owner we have verified─to round up all of the Twelve Possessed, information will be crucial. The might of the bakufu is one thing, but the underground intelligence of this pirate network─”

Shichika’s hand yanked Togame’s hair of white.

Seizing on her scalp like talons, without restraint.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“I dunno…my hands just got away from me.”

“You can’t just touch a woman’s hair!”

“Seems a bit too late for that…”

For a time, after all, she’d been wrapping his body in her hair every night. Their Sword Hunt had gone on long enough for Shichika to recognize her, which made their nocturnal ritual unnecessary; yet only the night before, she’d asked him to stomp her white hair with his foot.

“Look, if that’s the way you feel─me and Azekura may as well not fight at all.”

“Huh?”

“I could be wrong, but aren’t you trying to minimize the amount of fighting on the Sword Hunt? Diplomacy first, right? In that case, why not just skip the duel and have him help you on the Sword Hunt? And why limit yourself to a single bodyguard? You could have the Armored Pirates working on your side, behind the scenes, while you and I hunt down the other swords.”

“I doubt Azekura would comply. He wants to fight the Strongest Swordsman in Japan─but if the rest of what he said is true, his motives are more personal. Shichika, I think he sees you as a nuisance.”

“Me?”

“Sounds like he wants to have his woman to himself…”

Love at first sight.

Be my girl.

That was how he put it.

He could care less about the Shikizaki blades─and had no intention of deferring to the bakufu. For his woman, however, he would put all his energy into the Sword Hunt─

“Well, I guess…you could do worse,” Shichika muttered like he had a bit jammed in his molars. Evidently, his remark went against his true emotions.

“No, I’m not so sure. Who knows what prompted his proposal. I can’t take him at his word─after all, he is a pirate.”

“But Togame,” said Shichika. “I thought you said you could trust a man who works for love?”

What Azekura promised her the night before─echoed what Shichika had said to her on Haphazard Island.

Which is why he couldn’t ignore this.

Shichika was having second thoughts─about a duel.

“True, I can’t trust someone who works for money─I can’t trust someone who works for honor. But I can trust someone who works for love… That’s what I said.”

Then Togame paused, as if something had occurred to her.

Perhaps the keen11 schemer realized why Shichika had been bullying her in a peculiar manner. Realized rather belatedly for a keen woman. For his part, Shichika must have been allowing impulse to guide his actions without realizing what he was doing…

“You know, big as you are…you sure are acting like a baby.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Alright. How would it make you feel? To have that man take over as my bodyguard?”

“What would happen to me?”

“Depends on the duel. If he kills you, then it’s over, but if you managed to survive─I guess you would go home to your sister, on Haphazard Island.”

“That’s…”

Shichika thought over what she said.

Indisposed to thinking as he was.

“That’s…not okay with me.”

“No?”

“But if you think─that it would help you in your Sword Hunt─I’m sure you can find someone to replace me.”

“Cheerio!”

Togame saw her chance and stomped his toes.

With all her weight, as payback for the teasing.

And lately she was being very generous12 with her Cheerios.

“My toes! That really hurt.”

“Shichika.” Disregarding his complaint (of course), Togame asked him, “Am I to understand you’re that attached to me?”

“Me? Attached? I’m not so sure I’d…”

Togame stepped right up to Shichika, as if she were ready to grab him by the collar and shake some sense into him.

“Listen, Shichika. I’m─”

Before she could go on.

“Madam,” a voice came through the shoji.

The same voice as the night before─the inn worker. Shichika was so absorbed in his argument with Togame he had failed to hear any footsteps coming down the hallway.

It was like a splash of water in the face, but perhaps the timing was a blessing given that Togame was getting fairly heated.

What did they want?

Azekura’s henchman was not supposed to come by for an answer until evening, and it was barely noon.

“What is it?” Togame asked through the shuttered door.

“I have a letter here addressed to you.”

“A letter? From whom?”

The inn worker’s vague wording suggested that it wasn’t from Kanara Azekura, and the voice verified this through the door. “I’m not too sure─but he had long hair, and he was wearing an extremely…unconventional ninja outfit.”

■　■

A place blanketed in short grass, where any rendezvous would stand out from afar, and seemingly unfit for a secret meeting13 with a ninja, but on the other hand, anyone attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation would immediately be seen─the landscape offered nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.

In the middle of this meadow.

He sat atop a sizable boulder.

A man with youthful features.

Slim build, black hair spilling over his shoulders. Expressionless, but with a glimmer in his eyes.

Sleeveless ninja garb.

Chains wrapped around his body. A strange man.

“…”

Munching on a skewer of chadango.14

Intently, as if to ignore the arrival of Togame and Shichika─he seemed to be delighting in his snack, though his face barely betrayed any emotion. When he had eaten the dango down to the skewer, he snapped it in half and tossed it down his gullet, swallowing it too.

Then finally─he looked their way and stood up from the boulder.

“I am Hohoh15 Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Clan,” he declared, bowing his head deeply. “As one of the Twelve Bosses, I have had the pleasure of serving you on multiple occasions, but this would be our first time meeting in person, Miss Togame─excuse me, Madame Schemer.”

“Ah.”

Togame nodded cautiously.

Not exactly nervous─so much as holding back her anger. This sentiment was understandable, since the Maniwa had double-crossed Togame─and yet her voice had taken on a weight requiring further explanation.

Shichika picked up on this immediately.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t faced a living member of the Maniwa in some time─the last had been Komori Maniwa, from whom they prized Zetto the Leveler. When they encountered Shirasagi Maniwa in Inaba Desert, he was already decaying; and when Kuizame Maniwa descended upon Shichika at Triad Shrine, Togame was occupied with other matters.

Hohoh Maniwa.

“This may be our first meeting, but I have heard so much about you,” she said. “Distinguished among the Twelve Bosses as Captain of the Bird Unit─effectively the head of the entire ninja clan. Isn’t that right, Hohoh…Sir Hohoh.”

“I wouldn’t call myself the head─you overestimate me. The Bosses have a reputation for being unique individuals, which sounds admirable, but the reality is that most of us are weirdos who have a hard time functioning in society. Since I have a modicum of common sense, I volunteered as interim director─drawing the short straw,16 on account of being the most sociable.”

“…”

Togame kept quiet.

Meanwhile, Shichika did not know a great deal about the Maniwa’s relationship with Togame, much less the extent of their past involvement17 with the bakufu, so this was no time for him to be butting into the conversation. He simply kept his eyes peeled, making sure the coast was clear, lest a dozen ninjas spring upon them out of nowhere.

The head of the Maniwa Clan had something to discuss with Togame.

The letter he left at the inn was to the point.