Chapter 15: The Game Of Kingdoms

In a graceful voice but with a graceless anger, the kid intervened. "Quiet, the both of you! His Imperial Majesty has entrusted all of us with this divine quest!" Masami planted her hands at her sides, and looked like a disgusted parent chastising a couple of brats. Talk about a role reversal. "Can't you act civilized for once?!"

I released my grip and let Toshie out of it. My feelings hadn't changed, but the kid had a point. Now just wasn't the time.

"My first job is still your protection."

It didn't matter what sort of epic journey the Emperor had dreamed up—I was still the kid's bodyguard. That hadn't changed. "And..." I added, "...fighting spiritual ghosts in a cataclysmic affair, well." I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it all. "Sounds a bit counter-productive to keeping you safe."

Bringing Masami along with me on this quest was akin to cramming her into a hay barrel, drenching her in lamp oil, and rolling her down the inner slopes of Mount Yoshinori—an active volcano up north. The imagery may be a bit overdone, but the points stands. A point Masami deflected with her personal brand of unyielding stubbornness.

"Well I'm undertaking this quest regardless. So I suppose you'll have no choice but to accompany me." Even in this meager candlelight, I could have sworn I spotted a miniature smirk cross the shugenja's face. Just what she was so pleased about was another matter. I felt like I was wrapped around her delicate little finger. Great.

I could hear the kunoichi sigh, even beneath that mask she was wearing. Her body relaxed into almost a slump. "Let's set aside our differences for now. We should be on the Eastern Pass by noon if we aren't impeded." Toshie nodded to me in a respectful gesture. "It's important that we start this out on the right foot."

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Yeah...about that."

*Cccc-RAacK!*

The front entrance to the Lion Temple roared open with the screeching of broken wood. Nearly a dozen men decked in armor flooded in like a rancorous stampede. Spear in one hand and lantern in the other. The Yamato City Watch had arrived.

Heavy breathing and the stench of sweat permeated throughout the once peaceful chamber of the Lion Temple. These men had sprinted their way across half the capital to get here, wearing half a hundred pounds of gear apiece. No easy task—especially for stationary guards in what had to be the most peaceful place in Hyuga.

If they were smart they'd have this place surrounded. But if they were smart they'd have waited to catch their breath before entering. I looked over towards Masami who was frozen in place, and then to Toshie who was...nowhere to be found. She had probably cloaked herself into the darkness upstairs, leaving the two of us to face this peril.

Damn, I hate working with ninjas.

I could hear a murmuring in the crowd of guardsmen, between the heart-pounding gasps for air. "Ronin." Apparently my presence had caused quite a stir, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Rumors of my reputation kept them a respectful distance away.

The silence was starting to make me uncomfortable. Atop of that, my wrist itched something awful. Part of me was just waiting for an excuse to let loose; the other wanted to give them a warning.

"No one needs to die here."