Funaho

Funaho

 

“…And that was how I went to Jurai.”

“I see. But calling her ‘old bat’…” Funaho chuckled, yet the smile seemed sad somehow.

“Now I am on a training journey. Though not restricted by the Imperial Family, if I languished here too long, there’s no knowing what she would say to me,” Azusa joked, but gave Funaho a serious look. “I plan to leave in a few days.”

“I see…” Looking at Funaho’s face in profile, as she cast her eyes downward, wrung Azusa’s heart.

I can’t stay here forever… This is for the best, he told himself. He was forced to feel the distance between them as he spoke of his past, and he agreed with Asumi’s warning. But that was a conclusion made from logic, and the emotions locked within were resisting wildly. This is for the best, he told himself over and over, but then he saw Funaho’s lonesome face. He wanted to at least make her feel better.

“Here, take this…” As thanks for her care, he held out a comb, carved from a Royal Tree, with marbled purple amber jewels.

“It’s so beautiful… But I can’t accept something so expensive…”

“It’s really not much. I carved it myself, and it’s a common material where I’m from. Don’t concern yourself about it. That’s the only thing I could give as a token of my gratitude, so if it’s to your liking…” He did not try to continue further and handed the comb to Funaho. He might not be able to hold back his emotions if he kept on talking. Just looking at Funaho, clutching the comb with both hands as if it was precious to her, made him feel that way. He could imagine the old bat, laughing mockingly with a sidelong glance at his immaturity.

Just then, a white-feathered arrow whizzed through the air and struck a shrine 30 meters away. “Don’t move!” Azusa looked around, shielding Funaho, but there were no more arrows, and the village resumed its peace and quiet. Except for the shivering shoulders of Funaho staring at the arrow.

 

“Azusa-sama, please leave this village at once.” were Asumi’s first words to Azusa as he waited for him in the shrine office. His expression was foreboding, and Funaho looked the same as her grandfather.

“Wasn’t that arrow from the men who were assaulting her?”

“Yes. But they’re not just bandits…”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s better that you don’t know. It’s for your own good.”

“Please, tell me about it.”

Pressed by Azusa’s enthusiasm, Asumi finally and reluctantly began their tale.

In summary, Asumi’s story was thus: About a year ago, a giant eight-forked serpent appeared deep in the mountains. The bandits, its messengers, started making demands for treasures and young women. Of course the villagers resisted at first, and the village warriors sent a subjugation squad into the mountains, but they never returned. The people who feared the curse of the Orochi serpent left the village one by one. Asumi remained to protect the shrine.

Asumi lived with his son and two granddaughters, including Funaho, but his son—Funaho’s father—never returned from the quest to vanquish the serpent. Funaho’s three-year-old sister went to stay with Funaho’s aunt and uncle. Asumi admonished her to go join her, but she insisted on staying out of concern for her grandfather, and refused to go.

Once the village was devoid of people, the serpent stopped making demands, and peaceful days continued for a while. Since Funaho was attacked, Asumi had known that this day would come. The white-feathered arrow was the signal that Orochi sought the girl of that household as a sacrifice.

Pausing, Asumi quietly hugged Funaho. On the note was written that Funaho must be offered as a sacrifice that night. The time for farewells was growing ever nigh.

“All right, I shall go and vanquish this Orochi,” Azusa proposed to the grief-stricken duo. The serpent and the bandits were space pirates here to plunder treasures and slaves from undeveloped planets. The wounds he received from Kagato were almost all healed, thanks to his Master Key’s support, although Azusa liked to think that the herb tinctures Funaho brought him worked wonders.

Asumi and Funaho, since they did not know Azusa’s origins, could only be shocked at his proposal. “Please don’t, Azusa-sama.”

“Yes, you’ll be killed by the serpent!”

“I’m well versed in the martial arts. Won’t you leave it to me?”

“I saw how powerful you were when you saved me. But…” Funaho looked upon him with tears in her eyes. She wanted to believe in Azusa, but more than that, she feared losing him. She was the kind of person who would rather sacrifice herself so that Azusa-sama would be saved. However, Azusa was resolute in his decision. The thought of his concern for her made her feel happy and sad at the same time.

A few hours later, the three of them ate a meal together as a sort of last supper. Azusa kept trying over and over to reassure the dejected Asumi and Funaho…but then suddenly became drowsy and toppled asleep onto the table. Asumi and Funaho had drugged his food to detain him.

“I’m so sorry, Azusa-sama…” A teardrop from Funaho’s eyes fell on Azusa’s cheek. Azusa felt the warmth of her hand as she wiped it away.

I feel like this has happened before… Yes… The memories were from eight years ago. He had crept into the garden to sneak out with Mitsuki, and Seto knocked him out cold. Just like with Funaho today, he heard Mitsuki’s stifled sobs and felt a warm hand on his cheek. She’s just like her…

Asumi made sure that Azusa was asleep, took the sword adorning the alcove, and looked at his beloved granddaughter. “Funaho, I will go to the serpent. Azusa-sama will wake up in about an hour. Then take him and get as far away as you can. Do you understand?”

Funaho realized that Asumi intended to die. She leapt up from Azusa’s side and clung to him. “No. Please don’t go, Grand­father! I should be the sacrifice. If I go, then…” Funaho did not get a chance to finish as Asumi stunned her with a blow. He held her close as she crumpled, laid her down beside Azusa, and brushed the hair from her face.

“I’m sorry, Funaho…” He looked at her a while, stood up, and said to the sleeping Azusa, “Azusa-sama, please look after my granddaughter…”

After Asumi quietly left, Azusa slowly opened his eyes. Drugs to induce sleep did not work on Juraian warriors. He pretended to be asleep because he felt grateful that the two cared about him, and because he felt that he, an outsider, should not interfere during the grandfather and granddaughter’s moment of farewell.

If I just take Funaho-dono with me, as Asumi-dono wishes… The fleeting thought crossed his mind as he regarded Funaho sleeping beside him, but he shook it off in a hurry. Don’t be ridiculous! Why did I leave my parents and come to Jurai? Was it because I wanted to be Emperor? No. Remember how I felt when the pirates pointed a gun at me? Yes, the desire to become stronger to protect people he cared about. Now, I can do that! He leapt up, left Funaho a simple note, and went after Asumi.

He ran through game trails at superhuman speed and took out the Master Key from his inside pocket. “Jijii, can you hear me?” he said as he focused, releasing Jijii’s actual body, and a message came back.

“Young Master! What have you been…?”

“You can lecture me later.” Azusa cut Jijii off and explained the gist of the situation while he hurried on.

“I cannot believe it… Leave it to me. Kirito-dono has already broken through the jamming and detected the enemy vessel. We shall teach those scum a lesson.”

Around midnight, Asumi reached the location specified in the letter tied to the arrow. A hush fell all around, with no signs of living things. Actually, the absence of animal sounds meant something they feared was lurking close by. Just as Asumi sensed this, a number of red eyes flashed in the forest and grew slowly closer. They belonged to the eight-headed serpent. There were occasional eerie mechanical sounds, but being born in this era, Asumi had no chance of recognizing what they were. His eyes only saw the mythical monster.

The serpent spoke, the eight heads weaving in the air. “Where is the sacrifice? Where is she?”

An ordinary human being would be petrified with terror, but the courageous man who had dared to defend the village all by himself smiled and declared, “Hah, my granddaughter has left with Azusa-sama to where you will never reach her. Too bad.” He then drew his sword and attacked.

With a roar of rage, the serpent also lunged at Asumi, who dodged the attacks with an agility that defied his age and swung at one of the serpent’s heads! A high-pitched clang of metal on metal rang out, and Asumi’s sword snapped at the hilt. It should have been able to sever living flesh, but for the price of the sword, all he got was a glimpse of dull metal behind the scales around the serpent’s neck.

“Monster!” Without a target, Asumi retreated from the serpent. Realistically speaking, a serpent would only use close-range attacks. Asumi wanted to see them coming. But the serpent’s true identity was a robot built by space pirates. It did not try to chase Asumi, but turned its head and opened its large mouth, which was fitted with a beam cannon. It locked on to its target and the beam fired!

“What the…?!” Unable to even finish his utterance, Asumi was enveloped in the beam. Or rather, the beam had dispersed. The serpent’s roar echoed as if surprised. In front of Asumi were wings of light—the Light Hawk Wings!!

“What is that light?!” yelled the leader of the pirates controlling the serpent from its cockpit.

All the pirates monitoring from the mothership in orbit were also in a panic, witnessing technology that should not exist on this undeveloped planet. “What’s going on?!” Before the pirates could figure it out, a flash of light severed one of the serpent’s heads.

The pirate leader had no idea who had done it and tried to use the sensors to find a target, to no avail. “Does he have a small jamming device?! Dammit!” When he picked up a slight reading, he focused the laser beam on it. But the effort was fruitless, as more heads were chopped off. “Am I reading the afterimage?!”

Azusa, holding the Master Key sword of light, was attacking the serpent, moving at high-speed through the forest. This was easy for him, as trees densely covered the planet of Jurai. Indeed, martial arts on Jurai showed their true essence in combat among obstacles, weaving between thick trees. Even with the serpent’s high-performance sensors, they could only detect Azusa’s afterimage due to how fast Azusa was moving.

Azusa wielded the sword of light extending from his Master Key and destroyed the serpent’s heads one by one. The robot, down to one head and its body, thrashed and writhed like a real serpent, and then stopped moving.

Asumi stood and stared, stunned, and Azusa stepped before him. “A-Azusa-sama!”

“I apologize for breaking my promise, Asumi-dono,” Azusa smiled.

“Who are you?”

“I’m just a traveler. Yes, that’s all I am…” But the battle was not over. From deep in the woods, he heard a girl scream. Only Azusa, with the heightened perception of a Jurai warrior, could hear her. “Funaho-dono!”

“What’s the matter, Azusa-sama?”

“I apologize. It seems I was thoughtless again. They’ve taken Funaho-dono…”

“What?!”

They saw the pirates, dressed as bandits, beside the serpent, pointing a gun at Funaho. “Come on out if you value her life!” One of them must have been using a loudspeaker, as his voice rang through the woods.

Azusa heard Funaho’s muffled cries, struggling to endure her pain. “Funaho-dono!” Unable to contain himself, Azusa headed towards the pirates, but Asumi stayed him.

“You’ll be killed if you go.”

“No, I will protect her. If I don’t do this here, there’s no reason for me to have ever gone to Jurai!” Shaking Asumi off, Azusa revealed himself to the pirates.

“Azusa-sama!” Funaho cried, overcome with emotion, and Azusa smiled gently.

The pirates were flabbergasted. They had assumed a soldier in a motorized combat suit or a war machine had defeated their robot serpent. They could not believe that someone of flesh and blood could have pulled it off! Alone among them, the pirate leader calmly accepted the facts. He saw Azusa’s attire and inferred that he was from Jurai. The shield used when they first tried to kill Asumi was the Light Hawk Wings, which only the Jurai Imperial Family could use. If so, it would make sense that he could have pulled off such a feat. Looking sidelong at the frightened Funaho, he asked Azusa, “Are you someone with a connection to the Jurai Imperial Family?”

“Indeed, I am Masaki Azusa, Crown Prince of Jurai.”

The pirates were ecstatic upon hearing Azusa’s identity. If they could capture him, they could command not just an enormous ransom, but Jurai’s biggest secret, a Royal Tree. “Hah, hah, we’ve found the most wonderful treasure in this neck of the woods. Prince, how about we exchange you for this girl and the hostages we have on our ship?” One of the pirates yanked Funaho’s hair to make a display for Azusa.

Seeing Funaho grimace in pain, Azusa glowered at him. “This young lady must not be sullied by your filthy hands.” He realized after he uttered the words that this was similar to the time the pirates attacked the colony and placed him in the same predicament. Now he was playing the old bat’s role. I was a child who could do nothing back then… Funny how people like them are always doing the same thing, Azusa thought wryly.

“Run, Azusa-sama!” Funaho’s heart-rending cry resounded in the air.

Azusa smiled at her, just like Seto once did. “Are you worried about me? Thank you, Funaho-dono.” This time, he consciously said similar words and glowered at the pirates. He wondered if his aura was as threatening as the old bat’s. “Surrender.”

The pirates were indignant that Azusa did not understand the position he was in, and closed in, jeering at him. They were the ones who did not understand. The moment one of the pirates reached Azusa, the sky flashed! For a few seconds, it was as bright as day.

“Wh-what happened?!” When the leader yelled, his visual field blurred from being blinded by the bright light, he received a call on his communicator.

“Your ship has been subjugated by Kirito-dono, the esteemed ship belonging to the Crown Prince of Jurai. I recommend you surrender, according to Galactic Law…” It was Jijii’s voice. He and Kirito had subdued the orbiting pirate ship. He sent a different message through the Master Key. “Young Master, I’ve rescued Funaho-sama’s father.”

“Good…”

The pirate leader had just learned his own ship was taken over in a span of a few minutes. In a panic, he tried to use his last hostage, Funaho, as a shield. But in the brief interval when his mind was occupied by his ship, all the minions who were supposed to have had a hold of Funaho were knocked out cold, and the hostage was nowhere to be seen. “What’s going on?!” He looked around and saw Azusa and Funaho, hand in hand, with their backs to him.

“I-I’m sorry I caused trouble for you, Azusa-sama.”

“You can be surprisingly reckless, coming after us by yourself.”

“I read the note you left behind, and I couldn’t contain myself. If I were to lose both my grandfather and Azusa-sama, I…”

“I’m sorry I caused you sadness again. But please be happy; your father is safe.”

“I-Is that true?”

“There’s no doubt about it.”

“Th-thank you…Azusa-sama!” In tears, she leapt into his arms. She had become overcome by emotion at learning that her father and grandfather were alive, but for a fourteen-year-old girl in the Kamakura Period [1185-1333], she might as well have professed her love out loud. Knowing this, Azusa hesitated at her bravery but put an arm around her…

The pirate leader, stunned at the situation that seemed to have resolved itself of all danger, realized that Azusa was inattentive. Beside himself with rage, he broke into a run, transforming the serpent’s body and the last head into a giant ogre-robot. “H-how dare you!” The robot stood up and started to walk towards Azusa.

Embracing Funaho, Azusa chuckled. Just like Seto that day. The moment the robot took its next step, it fell apart, and the pirate leader riding within gasped and tumbled towards Azusa. Azusa gave the man, practically soiling himself with fear, an icy stare. He told him he spared him because Funaho-dono’s father was still alive.

 

The people he rescued from the pirate ship had been put into stasis, so luckily, they lacked memories of their capture. However, to undo all the various effects of mind control, they needed treatment for a while on board the occupied ship. Azusa intended to continue his journey once they were all home safe and sound. However, after several days, he still remained at Asumi’s residence.

“Young Master, we should depart soon. You know about needless contact with a primitive society…”

“I know. But I cannot leave this place until Funaho-dono’s father has finished treatment.”

“That’s true, but…”

Azusa justified remaining on Earth, not as an excuse to give Jijii, but to rationalize it to himself. He had pretended to have gotten over her, but he could not deny his emotions. Needless to say, having embraced Funaho during the battle with the pirates made it worse.

However, he knew that he could not stay here forever. He could not separate the newly reunited family and take Funaho to Jurai. For Earthlings, who could only live for several decades, a life cycle in space was far too long. He could take Funaho to Jurai and have her receive physical enhancement and lifespan-prolonging procedures, but it was impossible to offer that to her family remaining on Earth. That meant Funaho would never see her family again.

“Mitsuki, what should I do…?” Azusa had no answers.

 

It was then that an incident took place.

Azusa was walking along a mountain trail alone, when a pirate soldier appeared before him. “Crown Prince of Jurai, Azusa-dono, I presume?”

“One of the remnants of the pirates? You people never learn.”

“I apologize.”

“Are we doing this here, now?” Azusa grasped his Master Key in his inside pocket.

“Of course not. I would be no match against the Crown Prince of Jurai. But we have taken someone precious to you.”

“What?!”

“You know our demands.”

“All right… I surrender.” They continued their matter-of-fact conversation while Azusa felt profound shame. There were more pirates. He thought he had become strong enough to protect those he loved, but reality was harsh. His inexperience had been driven home to him.

The pirate approached Azusa and extended his hand. “Now, your Master Key, if you please… I know that you can use the ship’s power through it.”

Handing the Master Key over, Azusa said, “If you were able to send spies to Jurai… Are you from the Shank Guild?”

“Yes, you’re right. Now that we’ve cleared that up, can you come with me?”

It would have been simple to defeat a pirate, but he could do nothing in a hostage situation. As directed by the pirate, Azusa transported on board their shuttle, and they took off towards the pirate fleet. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Realistically, we’ll use you to negotiate with Jurai.”

“I am in training. My life or death is none of their concern right now.”

“Is that so? But they might change their mind with this kind of negotiation, don’t you think? Jurai is a society supported by blood relations. I doubt they would leave you to rot.”

“Family doesn’t mean we all get along,” Azusa replied. “There are a few I’d like to punch in the face.”

“Enough talking for now. Even without the ship’s power, you’re still enough of a threat to us.”

Under heavy guard, the pirate soldier gestured with his hand, and the gate opened to show a capsule.

“This must be the time-stasis system for captives.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t use any mind control on you. We know it won’t work on the biologically-fortified Juraian Imperial Family. Please wait in here until negotiations have finished.”

Azusa settled into the capsule without resistance. “The next time you wake up, you’ll be on Jurai. Please be patient…” The capsule shutters closed, and time stopped for Azusa. He laid prone, eyes open, looking like an exquisite work of art.

The pirates sealed the Master Key and severed the connection between Azusa and his ship. The pirates had complete control over Azusa and Kirito. “Hah hah, the invincible Crown Prince of Jurai. What could you do now?” one of the pirates spoke to the capsule. Of course, there was no reaction from Azusa. However…

Hmph… The ship where the former hostages are being treated has been left alone. They must be in high spirits, having gotten their hands on me and Kirito. Time was supposed to be standing still for Azusa, but he had maintained his consciousness in real-time. His link to Kirito still existed even without the Master Key. The Master Key was only a supplement to his link to a Royal Tree, since the contract itself was between the minds of the tree and the person. Even so, there were limitations to a link without a Master Key. With the connection severed so thoroughly, he should not have been able to establish a link. But something other than the Master Key connected Azusa to Kirito.

Azusa opened his eyes wide. “I’ll show you pirates how Juraians make their escape!” First, Azusa verified where Funaho was being held. The comb he had given her was carved from a Juraian Royal Tree. It was easy to specify her location via Kirito. Kirito immediately came back with an answer: Funaho was being kept in an adjacent pirate spaceship.

Not good… Funaho-dono is too close. The Unit with the exterior hull removed is too powerful, and she might be caught up in the attack. But if I hesitate any longer, they’ll reclaim the people we recovered.

“Heh… Shall I help you?” someone interrupted his thoughts.

Who’s there?!

“You’re running out of time, right? Come on.” At the same moment, a violent shock rocked the spaceship carrying Azusa.

 

The pirates received an emergency signal from the spaceship seized by Kirito and summoned all their fellows from relatively nearby star systems. A fleet of eighteen ships were now in the solar system: numerous for pirates, but small for the Shank Guild, said to be the largest pirate force. The interim fleet commander was trembling with joy over taking possession of the Crown Prince of Jurai and a Royal Ship. There was no greater achievement. Who could blame him for falling under the illusion that status and honor within the Guild was all his?

“Hurry with that Juraian ship!” he charged, but could not wipe the smile from his face. Just then, a tremendous beam fired on the fleet.

“What’s going on?!” the commander yelled on the shaking bridge, to which one of the operators answered with a status report.

“An attack from a satellite. Its origin is unknown!”

“Well, fire back! Focus fire from every ship!” Fortunately they weren’t in close formation, and the ships came about at once, and opened fire. The beams sucked into space were aimed at something at a distance too far for the naked eye. The main computer on the console reported on the results of the attack.

“It’s no use. All blocked by a shield!”

“Impossible! Nothing could block… Could it be?!”

“There’s no energy reading of enemy shields!”

The commander knew the invisible enemy. “Light Hawk Wings! Are there other Juraian ships?! Impossible! We have the Crown Prince as hostage. Inform the attacking ship at once!!” The commander was close to screaming.

“Th-the ship the Crown Prince was held captive on…has been destroyed.” The operator murmured, dumbfounded, and the commander was truly speechless.

 

A few hours later, something shone among the debris of the annihilated pirate fleet. It was Azusa and Funaho, enveloped in the Light Hawk Wings. This was Azusa’s plan: protected by the Light Hawk Wings, he attacked the ship he was on, on purpose, and destroyed it. With Kirito’s help, he transported towards the reading of the comb held by Funaho. After that, protected by the Light Hawk Wings, he simply waited with Funaho until all the ships were destroyed. It was a rather in-your-face escape maneuver, only possible as a Juraian Warrior with Light Hawk Wings.

Azusa held Funaho close as they drifted through space. “I’m so sorry. You must’ve been so frightened.”

“No, I knew you would come rescue me…” Funaho cast her eyes down, blushing.

Since secrets could no longer be kept under these circumstances, Azusa explained everything to the best of his abilities. Funaho was very flexible in her thinking, did not panic, and accepted the facts. There were parts she could not process, but having understood to an extent, she nestled against Azusa and looked down upon Earth.

“I feel like I’m in a dream… That we’re so far beyond the clouds, and that blue sphere is where I live?”

“It’s so large that it’s hard to recognize it as a sphere while you’re standing on the surface.”

“It’s beautiful. But the moon is prettier from down there.” From where they were, the moon was merely a round rock full of craters.

“Perhaps… But I’m glad you’re safe. I would never be able to face Asumi-dono or your father if anything had happened to you.”

“Azusa-sama, all this risk-taking will make your family sad. Your parents and…Mitsuki-sama. I’ve long wanted to ask…is Mitsuki-sama…your sister? Or your wife…? But if she’s family, she must be worried about you. I think so… Don’t you?” She must have been flustered in her excitement, as she asked questions she would otherwise never have been able to.

In Funaho’s ears, Azusa’s voice rang full of sadness. “Mitsuki…is dead.”

“What…?!”

“It’s been eight years…”

“Um, I… I’m sorry.” Funaho, suddenly snapped awake, noticed that Azusa’s right eye was faintly glistening.

Azusa held her shoulder and smiled at her. “There’s still time until Jijii comes to get us. Will you listen to a little story?”

Funaho quietly nodded at Azusa’s kind words.