His heart said war.
His lips pressed into a thin line, but he shook those thoughts away as he looked up, admiring the way the noonday sun gleamed on the red paint of the pagoda. He had returned.
The clearing around the castle was empty, so Shichiro carefully snuck his way through the clearing, using all the skills his brother had taught him and stealthily ascended the tower. Finally he reached the level with an actual door, and with a sigh of relief he climbed over the railing and knelt on the engawa, tapping politely on the shoji door.
There was a long moment of silence, before her heard the gentle padding of someone’s footsteps within, and with a soft sound the door slid open. He looked up to see a bright smile cross Hanako’s face, lighting up her bright blue eyes—something ticked in Shichiro’s mind at that, but he dismissed it.
“Ronin-san! How nice of you to come again.”
Shichiro bowed politely, and said, “I am delighted to accept the honor of the hospitality you extended, as long as it is no burden for you, Hanako-hime-sama.”
Hanako smiled and tilted her head to one side. “It is no burden, Shichiro-san. I rarely get company, after all. Come inside, and I’ll make some tea.”
Shichiro rose and bowed again. “Thank you very much, Hanako-hime-sama.”
He followed her into the room and knelt on the cushion she proffered, and she disappeared to prepare the tea. When she appeared again, Shichiro watched with silent appreciation as she set everything out. She poured his tea, and he smiled, thanking her, before taking a sip.
It was very good tea. He hadn’t had tea this good for… hmm, when had he last visited Isao’s castle? He couldn’t quite remember. He took another sip and smiled again, savoring the taste.
Hanako eyed him thoughtfully as she set the plate of snacks before him. There it was again, that smile… but this time she looked at his eyes, and blinked in confusion at what she saw there. As bright and happy his smile was, his eyes were deep and… sorrowful? How strange, Hanako thought. His expressions… if his face is like the sun, his eyes are like the moon—a face of true contradictions.
“You are a very strange man.” Hanako said, taking a sip of her tea.
Shichiro raised both his eyebrows at her. “Excuse me?” He didn’t sound offended. Extremely amused, Hanako guessed. He was a very strange man indeed.
“Your smile.” The Princess said. The Ronin stared at her blankly. Hanako smiled at his bemusement and said, “It is very bright and full of happiness, but your eyes are sad. But even though your eyes are filled with sadness, your smile does not seem like a lie.”
Shichiro stared at her, chopsticks hanging limply from his fingers. He didn’t think he’d ever been more confused in his life. Finally he marshalled his mental faculties and shrugged. “I know I’m pretty strange, but I think you’re both prettier and stranger than me.”
The princess stared at him, hand frozen in reaching for her cup. He smirked. Score one for the Ronin.
Hanako’s hand darted upwards, to shield her mouth with her sleeve, but she could feel the flush darting across her cheeks. How undignified! She thought. I should have more poise, not to be discombobulated by mere words!
Still… no one has ever said anything of the sort to me before. It was… nice. She thought, and forced herself to move smoothly, as if the ronin’s words had not disturbed her.
She did a very good job, she thought, but she knew he was not fooled.
Shichiro saw the princess’s discomfort, and had pity, quickly changing the subject. “Hanako-hime-sama… you called yourself Princess Hanako of the Dragons, but who is your mother, and what is your clan? And how did you come to live in this… rather isolated pagoda, if you do not mind me asking?”
The princess smiled at him and set down her cup. “Of course I do not mind, Ronin-san! I am afraid I have no clan, or if I do, I am not aware of it.”
Shichiro blinded at her in confusion. A clanless princess? It was all but unheard-of!
Hanako lifted a hand to politely cover her wider smile and explained, “You see, my mother is Princess Fujioka Katsumi, the Princess of Akiyama.”
The ronin rather felt like fainting at the moment.
Of course, he thought, just my luck. It couldn’t be just ANY princess, oh no. It had to be the daughter of the Ruler of Akiyama of all things!
He valiantly gathered his mental faculties and asked, “Ah, but I was unaware that Princess Katsumi had any children.”
Hanako tinkled a slight laugh. “Not many do, Shichiro-san. Mother does not spread rumor of my existence, for my safety. Besides, it matters little, for I am not her heir.”
Shichiro felt like he was being buffeted back and forth by the rainy winds of summer. “But… Princess Katsumi has no other children…”
“You see, Ronin-san, I am merely Mother’s ward, not her blooded daughter of Mother’s Honored Husband That Was, Shogun Fujioka Kiyotaka. He died, I believe, a year before my birth, after all.”
The ronin was still confused, however, which reminded him why he usually tried to avoid Akiyama. Everything was so complicated here!
“Ah, but still, even if you are adopted, you could still be her heir. After all, it is the usual practice for a childless couple to adopt an heir. Of course, you would probably have to marry a suitable member of the Fujioka clan, but it’s not that uncommon.” The ronin shifted uncomfortably as he said it. After all, it wasn’t very nice to remind the girl of her eventual fate, even if almost all marriages among the noble and samurai class were arranged. And for some reason Shichiro felt… angry? He wrinkled his nose slightly at the realization. Why, after all, should he be angry? Must be because she’s going to get manipulated by machinations of the Fujioka and the rest of the nobility and samurai of Akiyama. Scheming, conniving rats, the whole lot of ‘em. Yeah, that’s probably it.
Hanako-hime shook her head. “No, Mother has not adopted me into her clan, nor am I her heir. She has other plans for me, you see, though I am not sure what they are.”
Of course she has plans, she’s Princess Fujioka Katsumi. Her plans have plans. Shichiro thought sourly, but he nodded. “Ah, yes, that makes sense.”
“As to your second question—Mother took me here when I was but a small child, so small that I do not even remember the world outside. Mother said that someone had tried to kidnap me to hurt her, so I must be protected at all costs.”
She’s never been outside the tower as far as she can remember? Shichiro repressed a shudder. Never wandering… never smelling the change in the wind… I don’t know how I could live that way! “But why this pagoda? True, it’s isolated and… strange, but it’s not exactly a stronghold.”
“No one comes here,” Hanako responded, sipping from her tea. “No one outside of Mother’s trusted entourage and you have stepped on this mountain three hundred years and more.”
The ronin felt his eyes widening. “Three hundred years? Why?...”
“You see, the rumor is that this mountain and this pagoda is haunted.” Her face was unnaturally grave as she looked around her. “Three hundred years ago this pagoda was a place for the Imperial Family would come at times. A refuge, either from stress or from enemies. Alas…” Her eyes brimmed suddenly with tears, and she bowed her head. “It was not as successful as they hoped.”
Shichiro gulped. “You mean…?”
The princess nodded solemnly. “Yes. The Last Emperor, Emperor Miyatatsu Hanshin and his wife, the Empress Nohime, were treacherously murdered in this very pagoda, three floors below us.” She stared into her tea cup intently and sighed. “My servants still do all they can to avoid entering that room.”
“Not surprising.” Shichiro said, and shuddered slightly.
“But, enough of this dreary subject, if you do not mind,” Hanako ventured cautiously, uncertain of her way now that she was conversing with someone other than her Mother. “I am curious, what are you doing in this area of the world so soon after you left?”
“Ah, that.” Shichi
ro smiled brightly and sipped his tea. “It is strange for me, I suppose. I normally travel wherever the wind leads me. However… the reason I am, and will continue to remain in the area, is because my brother has me… running an errand for him.”
Hanako’s eyes widened, and she quickly pounced on this tidbit of information. “You have a brother, Ronin-san?”
For a second, Shichiro looked uncomfortable, but he quickly smoothed out his expression before anyone noticed. “Yes, I do. An older brother. His name’s Isao.”
Hanako smiled brightly at that thought, wondering whatever Shicihro’s older brother would be like. “Do you have any other family?”
Shichiro smiled fondly, examining the swirls of tea in his mug. “A little sister, Manami. But that’s it, just the three of us.”
Hanako blinked in Great Confusion at this. It was strange for a man to have only two members of his clan. Perhaps it was just a very small one?
“What is your clan’s name?” Hanako asked.
Shichiro twitched, just for a moment, and Hanako did not notice. “Ah, there isn’t one.”
Hanako blinked. “You… don’t have a clan?”
The ronin shook his head, once, sharply, like a broken icicle.
“Oh,” The princess murmured, hands and sleeves flying to her mouth to cover up her shame. But she couldn’t keep her mind from wondering where Shichiro came from. She was convinced he was of noble or at least the samurai class, but if he was… how did he not have a clan?
It was all very curious. But, despite how intriguing it might be, it was Shiciro’s secret, and he alone could choose when to share it.
She glanced over at him, and felt her heart clench as if it were suddenly grasped in a great vise. Shichiro’s eyes were darkened, and his bright, warm, real smile had all but dropped from his face. And it’s all my fault, she thought miserably
Hanako saw his sadness, and decided that that would not do—his face was meant to smile, she could tell. So she bowed and said, “I am sorry for bringing up terrible memories, but I.. I think that we clanless ones should be close friends. That way, we can be clanless together!”
Shichiro blinked at her, before his lips slowly curved and lifted into a warm smile. “Yeah, that sounds nice. I… appreciate it.”
Hanako smiled, hoping beyond hope that when Shichiro looked at her smile, he could see that it was real and true too. “Oh good! Are we friends then?”
Shichiro smiled and bowed his head, and her heart jumped happily at the sound, like a young chick hopping about. She had succeeded, and brought the smile back! Today was indeed a very lovely day.
“Princess Hanako-hime, would you like to be my friend? I’ll warn you, friends are very important to me. If you come my friend now, you won’t be able to get rid of me.”
Hanako smiled back at him, covering her mouth to hide the indecency of her wide smile and said, “Don’t worry, Shichiro-san, I do not have any plans to get rid of you.”
And as the two of them sat happily there, in Hanako’s dragon-bedecked tea room, something began that was a long time in coming. Perhaps, even three hundred years in the making.
---
Hanako was watching her guest with careful, narrowed eyes, obviously sensing something was amiss. Shichiro caught her (remarkably gentle) glare and blinked in confusion, wondering what on earth he might have done to gain the perpetually sweet Hanako’s ire.
“You are injured, Ronin-san.” She said gently, and blinked at her.
How on earth did she know? He was trying to hide it after all. “Ah, don’t worry, Hanako-hime. It’s barely a scratch, I’ll be fine soon enough. There’s no need to worry your pretty little head over it.”
Hanako paused and a faint pink twinge spread across her cheekbones, and Shichiro found himself idly admiring the effect, and congratulated himself on his genius strategy working. As he suspected, compliments had flustered her (for some unknown reason, couldn’t she tell how pretty she was?), and her state of fluster would make her lose the train of thought which included ‘the ronin is injured, does he need help’. It was just as he thought this that the faint blush faded and Hanako turned to the ronin with renewed concern.
“If you are injured, Ronin-san, do you need help?”
Drat it. Shichiro thought unhappily. “It’s nothing, hime-sama, I’ll be fine soon enough.”
Her eyes narrowed again and she straightened her shoulders in determination. “My mother is quite talented with medicine, Ronin-san, and has taught me much. As your hostess, I would be remiss in honoring the laws of hospitality if I did not see to your comfort.”
Shichiro opened his mouth to protest again, but he caught the resolute glint in her pretty blue eyes, and he snapped it shut, holding back the irritated grumbles in his chest.
“I believe it is your shoulder, correct?” She said, and his eyes widened. How did she know? Well, at least she doesn’t know about the ribs—
“And your breathing seems irregular…” She mused quietly. “So perhaps there is damage there, on your ribs, as well?”
Dog’s tail, she’s good.
“Please, remove your gi, so I can take a look,” She said primly, and looked down, shielding her gaze politely with her fan. Shichiro thought it was a rather pointless gesture, considering that the whole purpose of taking off his gi was so that she could look at his chest, but he complied silently.
Hanako pursed her lips gently and moved forward to examine the bandage on his upper arm. She nodded to herself and then rose, leaving the room. She returned several minutes later with many supplies, which she carefully arranged on the floor besides her before setting to work. She carefully cut away the old bandages Shichiro had tied on and looked over the injury.
“What happened here?” Hanako asked, fixing her curious gaze on the ronin. The wound appeared to be little more than a graze, but it appeared to have been inflicted by the teeth of some sort of animal. It had been well tended to, however, and would have eventually healed well enough on its own. Still, why wait throw days or weeks of pain when she could help?
Shichiro frowned and averted his eyes. “Didn’t dodge fast enough.” He grumbled.
“Dodge what?” She said, carefully beginning to clean the wounds with some kind of herb-steeped water. Shichiro grimaced at the sensation but answered. “It was a wolf. It apparently took offense to my appearance near its den and it attacked me.”
“Oh?” Hanako said, looking over the wound now that it was cleaned. It wasn’t too deep, and it would be taken care of soon enough. She carefully selected herbs and began mashing them into a paste with her pestle. “I assume you got out well enough?” She asked absent-mindedly.
Shichiro grinned slyly. “Nope! The Wolf killed me and chewed on my bones.” He announced cheerfully. The princess hummed absentmindedly in acknowledgement as she continued to mash herbs, before his sentence finally filtered through her mind.
She jumped, let out a truly adorable eep sound, and spun around, her eyes wide. “What?”
Shichiro stared at her for a long moment, feeling the familiar twitching sensation in his chest as he took in the wide whites of her eyes and her mouth parted his shock. Then he couldn’t hold out any longer, and he burst out laughing.
Hanako felt her eyes widen then narrow as she realized what had just happened. With a delicate sniff of distaste, she turned back to her work, quickly finishing up the poultice.
“Ah, are you done?” Shichiro asked lazily as she set her pestle aside. She didn’t answer, instead picked up the slim knife she’d used to cut his bandages free, and to Shichiro’s utter horror, cut a slice across the tip of her finger.
The ronin yelped in surprise, but the princess ignored him, and calmly plunged her finger into the poultice and stirred it around, watching as it was stained a burnt orange color.
Hanako quickly wrapped a scrap of bandage around her still-bleeding finger and then folded her hands together, sending a prayer of thanks to the Emperor of Heaven for his gift and asking for
his blessing upon the poultice. Then she turned and silently spread it over Shichiro’s wound and wrapped it up tightly, ignoring his wide, curious eyes.
Hanako then turned to examine the ronin’s chest, and the faded, faint mottling of the skin around his ribs. She reached out and pressed gently, listening to the faintest hiss of his breath as she did so. “How much did that hurt?” She asked quietly.
“Not as much as it did two weeks ago.” The ronin replied, and Hanako felt herself smile faintly at his reply.
“And how did this happen?” She asked, selecting another bowl and a small selection of different herbs, begin to mash them as well.
“Ahahahhh… that’s an interesting story,” The ronin said, his voice faintly strained. Hanako used all of her effort to keep her face reserved.
“I would be very interested in hearing it,” She replied.
Shichirio fought the urge to scowl, but obliged. “So, two weeks ago, I was wondering in the mountains and I miiight have accidentally knocked over a hollow tree while trying to find a place to sleep?”
Princess Hanako paused in her work and stared at him, surprised. “If a hollow tree fell on top of you, I’d think you’d have a bit more than several bruised ribs.”
Shichiro shifted uncomfortably. “Ah, the tree didn’t fall on me.”
“Then what happened?” The princess asked, confused.
“Well, there was a sleeping Ussuri black bear inside the tree, and it decided on vengeance once I woke it up from its nap.”
Hanako gasped. “What did you do?”
“Ran.” Shichiro grinned. “I might be a good swordsman, but there’s no way I was going up against that, even if they’re supposed to mainly eat plants.”
“How did you escape?” The princess asked, breathless.
“Well, my brother always told me that if I ever went up against an Ussuri bear, the only thing I could do would be to climb a tree as fast as I could. He says they can’t climb to save their life, so I did what he said and scrambled up the first high tree I could find. Then I waited until it got tired and went away to find someplace new to nap.”
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