Chapter 14: Forgotten People

I stripped my orange haori off and tossed it to the ground. It was a sweat-stained heap of unnecessary clothing I didn't want on me anymore. This was something I wanted to do ever since I entered the stagnant Lion Temple, where the air stood still and humid. There was no longer a need to maintain my appearance with Emperor-sama gone.

But when he left all the adrenaline I had went with him. Fatigue fell over me like a barbed net—my body wanted me to believe that keeping still was the safest move. It wasn't. The morning sun began to peek into the bell-shaped windows—whose frame cast a shadow of bars over me.

It reminded me of a jail cell. A luxury I doubted the Yamato City Watch would spare me after our last encounter. I did cause one of theirs to lose an arm after all. The 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' brand of justice was popular in Hyuga, but not for folks like me. If you didn't have a family name they wouldn't ever bother with the customary last meal.

I couldn't even recall the name of that little girl in the pink kimono, whose neck I pressed against my blade as I negotiated for a safe departure. It worked splendidly back then, but I knew better than to think that her father had forgiven the incident. Fathers—proud, samurai fathers—were always more loyal to their sons and daughters than they ever were to their daimyo or shogun.

Masami and I needed to get out of this deathtrap of a capital city. After that we could worry about hunting Satsuma's spirits. I wasn't sure that they even existed, and I was even less sure of the kunoichi who was staring me down.

That's right, Toshie and I needed to talk.

"I don't appreciate that test you gave me."

Among many other things, I hated playing the fool for someone else's schemes. Double-cross me? Sure, I could understand the idea behind keeping the assassin quiet. But to trick me into believing I was saving a fiancé from a human trafficking ploy? When someone took advantage of my rarely revealed good nature, I couldn't help but get rubbed the wrong way.

The masked kunoichi nodded. "You caught on quickly. I had researched Masami Hashimoto thoroughly, though I couldn't find any records on you." She looked me over from top to bottom, inspecting me like an animal she had never seen before. "I had to see for myself, before I let you meet the Emperor."

That was great and all, but it didn't address my original concern. "Yeah well, my 'research' on you doesn't show anything either. And I don't like what I've seen so far." I took a moment to crack my neck, mostly because it tends to intimidate people. "You've already lied to me once before."

Perhaps worst of all, this fake bride-to-be ruined a perfectly good evening of drinking saké. All I had to worry about back then was Masami's endless stream of complaints—a far cry from this vast, spiritual undertaking. It didn't matter how pleasant the Emperor was about it, or how noble the cause was. It was still a pirate fleet full of trouble.

If I thought that my words would get Toshie to back down, I was wrong. She raised a clenched fist and took a step forward. But it was what she said that made my blood boil.

"What I do know is that you're a ronin, a masterless swordsman expertly trained. I saw you bash a man's head into a table, and smash another man's jaw into pieces." A look of anger, or perhaps even fear flashed across the ninja's face. "No hesitation. I don't know what you are, but I know you're dangerous. Both to yourself and the girl."

An unpleasant pain jolted down my spine. She said I was endangering the kid. The words cut me like hunger did a fat man—it hurt deeper than it showed. The reason it stung so bad wasn't because it was bullshit, but just the opposite. The truth in her remark shook me to the core.

I sprinted up to her in heartbeat. Faster than ever considering how rapidly my blood was pumping. I had expected her to dodge or counter attack, given her ninja training, but neither occurred. My hands wrapped around the neck folds of her tightly-fit keikogi uniform. My gaze pierced into hers. I saw the reflection of my own eyes, and the fire held within them.

"I'm dangerous to you, too."