The Pain Of Those That Suffer

(Time: 1683 Satsuki, nijūni-nichi, kayōbi (May,22,Tuesday) (Gogo: Afternoon)

(Location: The city of Ebisu) (Hitsuji province)

As the sun set Tamari and Ko arrived in the city of Ebisu; home of one of the five Shogun.

The city itself was large, supporting a population of two million five hundred and fifty thousand, with many incoming trade routes.

Ebisu was known for its thriving commerce and lively population. Many would come here in search of work and a new life; however even with an area of a hundred square miles the city was crowded; causing many of its inhabitants to make their homes on the streets.

"What are we doing here?" Asked Ko.

Tamari turned to him, a red tengu mask on his face.

"Oh, nothing much, just came to visit an old friend."

Ko tilted his head in confusion. "An old friend? The city is huge, where could they be?"

"Someplace very special." Grinned Tamari.

"Really? Where!?" Asked Ko excitedly.

"The Red Light district!" Shouted Tamari happily.

Ko paused, staring at Tamari with a blank expression. "What."

--------

As they entered the district Ko looked around; noticing many stores with dazzling signs: "Pleasure Paradise", "Little Dragon" or "The golden Lotus". As they walked, many women wearing eccentric clothing called out to them.

"Come here boys!" Said a woman wearing an extravagant red kimono.

"I'll treat you well...," Said another.

"Wanna have some fun with me tonight?"

Ko was too embarrassed to look at the women, so he shied away, but Tamari…

"I may be a miserable nobody, but love shouldn't be bound by money and status."

/Smack!/ Tamari walked up to another woman.

"Ay, I'm the most famous guy in town! I wear this mask, so I don't get swamped with fans!"

/Smack!/ "Get away from me you masked freak!"

He crawled over to another woman, tugging at her kimono.

"Pleeeeease... Go out with me! I'm so lonely!!" He said crying.

She looked down at him, turning away. "Hmf!"

Ko watched as Tamari hit on practically every woman in sight. "Sigh..."

He walked over to Tamari, who was curled up, holding himself.

"Am I not handsome? Why does nobody love me!?" He said as he bawled his eyes out.

"You'll find someone someday...Scumbag." Said Ko morbidly.

Tamari stood up, wiping his nose. "What's wrong? Can't I just enjoy the scenery. " /Sniff/

"Why are we even in a place like this!?" Yelled Ko.

Tamari straightened himself out; "Recently I've been running low on talismans and supplies. I have a friend here that'll sell them to us." Replied Tamari.

"Who would have something like talismans?" Asked Ko.

"She's the heir to the noble Hisui household; but it's not much to speak of nowadays. So, she runs a shop in the Red-light district."

--------

They walked for a short while, finally arriving at a store called: "The Starved Monk".

"Welp, this is it." Said Tamari.

As they walked in there was a young lady manning the front counter.

"Hello and welcome to the Starved Monk. How may I help you gentlemen this evening?" The woman asked.

Tamari walked up to the counter. "I'd like to ask for Tenshu."

"Oh! Right this way please."

She guided them down a long hallway with many closed sliding paper doors. Ko could hear people behind them but couldn't make out what they were saying.

At the end of the hall there was a large black dog with the appearance of a wolf; it wore a jade collar. It had only one eye left, that being a turquoise blue. The skin on the right side of its mouth was gone, exposing its fangs.

It stood in front of a gold encrusted door with a jade turtle on it. The desk clerk walked over to the dog, bending down.

"Hi Ryōken, there are customers here to see Tenshu; can you let them in?" She asked.

The desk clerk reached out her hand to pet Ryōken, but he growled at her.

A disheartened frown crossed her face. "Oh… Alright. Well, she's right in there, please go on ahead."

She turned and walked down the hall back to the front.

"Hey Ryōken, Long time no see. Is Tenshu in?" Asked Tamari.

The dog sighed, pushing the door open.

Inside was a large room covered in an assortment of different items: Weapons, armor, talismans, masks, etc.

At the back of the room was a small old lady; she looked to be about sixty-four. Her eyes were a yale blue, with gray hair.

She wore a green and gold furisode kimono. She sat on a large mat with a Hisui Kiseru* in hand. Ryōken walked over, sitting down next to her. (Smoking pipe)*

The woman took a puff of her pipe. "Ahhh, Tamari. I see you've come back for more of my fine merchandise?"

Tamari lifted up his mask. "Yeah, I've been running low lately. Been working much too hard."

"Hm, then let me show you some of my wares; we just had a new shipment of masks, if you're interested." Asked Tenshu.

"Heh, you know I am." He replied eagerly.

They talked and did business, Tenshu handed him different talismans and items; Ko could barely understand what they were talking about.

"Say, did you get what I asked for?" Said Tamari.

"Yes, here it is." Tenshu handed Tamari a small bag. He pulled out a tiny red ball.

Tamari grinned, putting away the bag. "Heh, thanks."

He handed her some Gin hansatsu*. (Silver currency) *

"If I may ask, who is this boy?" She asked, pointing at Ko.

"Ah he's just some stray I picked up." Replied Tamari, "You know how it is-"

"Wha- Stray!?" Shouted Ko.

"Hm, it's unlike you to be accompanied by anyone..." She said starring questioningly at Tamari.

Tamari scratched his head, "Ah well..." He leaned in, "Kid's kinda grown on me..." He whispered.

Tenshu smiled, "Hm, it is pleasing to see you beginning to open up again." She spoke. "A vast improvement from when I found you that night..."

"...Yeah, I suppose so..." Spoke Tamari, his tone serious and stern.

Tenshu tucked the money away into her sleeve. "By the way, there's also someone here to see you."

Tamari looked at her with a confused expression. "Huh, see me? Wait- who could…"

As Ko examined the room, he could have sworn he heard the sound of someone running.

Suddenly the door burst open as a young woman drop-kicked Tamari into the wall, knocking him unconscious. "Yo Tamari!!" She yelled.

The young woman was brimming with confidence.

She crossed her arms, keeping her chin up with pride. "Did ya miss me!? ...Huh? Tamari?"

--------

Tamari slowly woke up, opening his eyes to the blaring light of the shop.

"Ugh... Ko, I had the weirdest dream. Senshi showed up, and she kicked me into the wall..."

Senshi held Tamari's head on her lap as he woke up.

"Silly Tamari, that wasn't a dream..."

Tamari's eyes widened, almost popping out of his skull. "Gah! Senshi!"

He immediately sprang up from his position, jumping back up against the wall.

"Wha- what are you doing here!?" He asked.

"I came to see you-" she said, cocking her head. "What else? Hey, what's with the mask?"

"She came here about a month ago, she's been a big help around the shop." Said Tenshu.

Senshi walked over, squatting down, petting Ryōken's head. "It's a lot of fun helping Tenshu, especially playing with Ryōken."

Ryōken started licking Senshi's face in affection.

"Hey, so...how do you know Tamari?" Asked Ko.

Senshi turned around facing Ko. "Whaaaaa!?"

She raced over to him, giving him a tight squeeze.

"What's your name!? How do you know Tamari?" She asked excitedly.

Ko could barely breathe as she squeezed him. "Uh my name's Ko...I'm his friend? We met about a week or two ago."

"Well, it's about time! Hmf! Tamari needed some more friends..."

She looked over at Tamari grinning, he looked away grumpy.

"So... who are you?" Asked Ko.

"I'm Tamari's "best" friend." She replied.

"And?"

She let go of him. "Oops, my bad! Senshi Yōkina-yūki, nice to meet cha!"

Ko looked at the girl standing before him.

She was five foot eight; wearing a black training Gi with red lotus designs; it had magenta pink linings around the sleeves and shirt neck as well; complimenting her eyes. The sleeves and pants legs were cut short for more movement of the limbs.

She had an athletic body which was slightly tanned and looked like it must have gone through years of training.

Her eyes were a soft shade of light green, she had two small black dots on the southwest and southeast side of her eyes. Her hair was short and black, streaks of violet resembling claw marks running through it.

"He's always embarrassed to see me because he's never beaten me in a fight; or anything else for that matter." She said jokingly.

"Really?" Asked Ko.

Tamari moaned. "That was when we were "kids" when'd you learn to fight?"

She looked up at the ceiling, "I picked some stuff up here and there..."

"She's one of the only practitioners of Shishigami." Tenshu said, taking a puff of her pipe, looking at Tamari.

"You should consider yourself lucky to have such a friend. She's a genius of Martial Arts."

"Uhuh, figured she would with her wild personality." Said Tamari sarcastically.

He got up and started running for the door.

"Anyway, thanks again Tenshu! It was nice seeing you Senshi, but I have to go now, bye!"

Senshi tried to run after him. "Tamari come back here!"

"Ugh...youngsters…" Groaned Tenshu.

As Tamari ran through the entrance of the building, he bumped into a boy stumbling around outside, knocking him over. The boy fell to the ground.

"Gah!"

But he didn't have the strength to stand back up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Asked Tamari.

The boy looked up at him faintly; he was breathing heavily, he looked starved. "Help…"

Tamari picked him up, running back into the building, opening the door to the shop.

Senshi greeted him with a smug look. "Back already I see... Did ya really miss me that badly?"

Tamari frowned, exposing the boy.

"Wha? Is he okay!?" She asked, shocked.

"We need to give him medical treatment!" Said Ko.

Tenshu held out her arms, beckoning Tamari over. "Bring the boy here, I have something."

They watched Tenshu brew medicine, using tea leaves and roots in a small bowl, pouring it in the boy's mouth.

He was not much older than Ko, about a year or so; reddish brown hair, he was covered in blood and dirt, his clothes were torn, he wore a blue yin necklace.

You could see a glimpse of long jagged scars on his arms and legs. After a time, he finally awoke.

"Ugh...ahh..."

The boy opened his eyes slowly, blinking; then shock took hold.

"ahhhHHHH...AHHHHH!!"

Tamari tried to calm the boy down. "It's okay! It's fine, you're safe now…"

The boy backed up, holding himself as he quivered. "Where is this!? Who are you people!?"

"My names Senshi and this is Ko, Tamari too, also Tenshu! Plus Ryōken." Said Senshi abruptly.

The boy looked at all of them, taciturn in his anxiety. "..."

"Will you tell us your name?" Asked Tamari calmly.

"M-My name is Maketa. I live here in this city."

"All by yourself?" Asked Ko.

"Um...No..I lived with my little brother. But…H- he..." Maketa started to cry.

Tamari placed his hands on Maketa's shoulders. "It's fine, tell us, maybe we can help."

Maketa gulped, positioning himself.

"Before me and my brother lived on the streets, surviving off doing small jobs. But one day a messenger came from the palace; he said the Shogun had a place we could stay. So, we went with him to one of the Shogun's private minkas*. (Houses)*

There were a lot of families and people there, all like us... off the streets. We were given food, shelter and clothing; it seemed like our life was starting to turn around. But then we noticed that at some point people would be taken away and wouldn't come back. We didn't think anything of it as long as we got food, until it was finally our turn…

The same man that brought us to the minka took us to the Shogun's shiro. We were really excited to meet him; they gave us something to drink before we met the shogun, but then we felt drowsy and all of a sudden everything went black.

When I came to, I was strapped to some sort of chair, my clothes had been taken off. I looked around seeing only a dark dungeon with blood-stained walls and the echoes of screams coming from down the halls.

I was scared, too scared. I wanted to leave more than anything. I heard footsteps and chains that followed. A large obese man wearing an expensive looking kimono came down the corridor dragging a boy by the leg. I saw that it was my brother, he had burn marks on his neck, feet, stomach and his face. I shouted out to him, but he didn't respond, he only stared lifelessly at the ceiling.

The man placed my brother in a cell.

Then he walked over to me, he held a jagged knife to my arm grinning; I watched as he slowly carved my arms open prying the skin apart exposing more raw flesh and bone. Every time I screamed, he laughed, it seemed to give him some sickening pleasure.

He then took a white-hot piece of metal and stabbed it into my wounds, I screamed so loud I felt my eardrums burst, I then passed out from the pain.

For five long weeks I endured that man's hell; surviving off of rats and dead pieces of flesh that fell off my body. I prayed that he would kill me, and it would be over.

But that wasn't the worst part, at times he didn't... he didn't even look human! He was this grotesque monstrosity that had no mercy, no humanity!"

Maketa held himself, shivering.

"Finally, after so long I faked a suicide, I made it look like I had slit my throat. I made a shallow cut in my neck and covered it in blood from my other wounds."

"Gasp! But wouldn't that be incredibly painful?" Asked Senshi.

"No... My nerve endings have been scorched, I no longer feel anything…," Said Maketa.

Senshi covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

"I was then thrown out with the rest of the corpses. I was carried away in the wagon ready to be disposed of; but I could hear my brother screaming, I couldn't do anything...

I dared not go back in fear of my own life! So, I left him! I left him there with that... that thing! He should have been the one to escape, not me!

He clenched his fists tightly causing blood to trickle down from his palms.

He got up and began to run.

"Wait!" Shouted Tamari.

Before he could get out the door, Tamari caught him, pulling off his shirt in the act.

Tamari stood back in utter horror. "My God…"

Maketa's back alone was covered in scars, lacerations, burn marks and black bruises. There were holes in his upper and lower back where a drill was used. Along with metal nails that had been driven into his shoulder blades.

He was a walking cadaver; the very action of running made his skin tear.

As Maketa ran through the hall, blood poured from every orifice down onto the floor; he collapsed from blood loss at the door. Tamari and Ko ran to him.

Maketa cried weakly as he looked up to them.

"Plea-please...save my...brother. And give him this…"

He held up his blue yin necklace placing it in Tamari's hand.

"Tell him...that his big brother's sorry..." He said weakly.

"Will find him, I'll get this to him. You can rest now...," Said Tamari.

"Don't worry! Me and Tamari will find your brother! It'll be okay!" Said Ko cheerfully.

Maketa looked at them with a heartfelt smile and finally breathed his last…

Tamari closed the boy's eyes, a grim look on his face.

He carried Maketa's body back to the shop and laid him down on the floor.

"He passed…"

Tenshu took a puff from her Kiseru. "You can't blame the boy; his body was falling apart.

If his nerves still worked, he would have killed himself from the pain."

"What are you going to do Tamari?" Asked Senshi.

"I'm going to look for his brother." He said.

"But where could he be?" Asked Ko.

Everyone looked over at Ko with a stupid expression.

"Are you serious?" Asked Tamari sternly.

Ko stared at him with a confused look. "What?"

"He's at the shiro! We need to find the Shogun."

" The Shogun!? But he's got the "Asahi"* protecting him!" Shouted Ko. (Japanese military)*

"That's why we're going to storm the place." Replied Tamari.

Tamari slowly looked over to Tenshu nervously.

"Could we uh...maybe...have some more talismans and equipment...please?"

She sighed. "Fine...It's the least I can do for you, after all you've done for me. But take Ryōken, he'll come in handy."

"Ryōken? He's just a dog. What's he gonna do?" Asked Ko jokingly.

"I'd watch your tongue, Ryōken's liable to bite it off. He's an Inugami; demon dogs that are created to protect specific families." Said Tamari.

Tamari pushed some of Ryōken's fur back, revealing a crescent moon mask.

Ko stared, a spooked look in his eyes. "Oh…"

Ryōken yawned, moving to the door with Tamari.

"Hey wait!" Yelled Senshi.

Tamari looked back "What is it?"

"I'm going with you." She demanded.

"No, Senshi, you need to stay here." He said.

"I'm not gonna let you do this alone; I'm coming to help."

/Wham!/ She slammed her fist into the wall creating a large hole.

"Hey! You're ruining my shop!" Yelled Tenshu.

Senshi apologized to Tenshu, bowing her head. "Oops, sorry Tenshu! I'll pay for it later."

"Ha ha ha! Alright alright, you can come; but if there's trouble you know what to do." Agreed Tamari.

"Aw yeah! Let's go!" Cheered Senshi.

"Heh… Time to head out." Said Tamari.

Tamari slapped Ko on the back. /Slap!/

Ko stared forward, a hopeless expression on his face. "We're gonna die."

Ryōken howled, heading out the door. "Aroo!"

Tenshu watched them leave as they walked out of the shop.

She let out a puff of smoke, a smile touching her lips. "Haaaaah… I wish I was still as lively as them… Be safe kids."