by Rick Scott
“Just the training dummies,” Kenji said. “If we both immediately head to the common hall afterwards we should have enough time. I’ll go to the office and collect the rope. You go fetch the officer and lead him outside away from Olja’s cage.”
“Me?” She pointed to herself with her chopsticks.
“Why not? I think the lieutenant would take more readily to assisting a young girl than the likes of me,” Kenji said. “Besides, you’re very good at manipulating people.”
Shinoto furrowed her brow in mock offense. “I am not!”
Kenji laughed. “Well, your brother, at least.”
She giggled as she slurped her noodles. “Okay, so maybe I’ve had a bit of practice.”
Just the mention of her brother got him thinking about Chet Fai again and what he’d said. Curse him for being so right about him. But if he was going to start proving him wrong then he needed to start with perhaps the most basic of his reasons for doing anything—Shinoto.
“Can I ask you something?”
“No, I’m not going to start the fire too,” she said.
He laughed. “No, not that.”
“What is it?” she asked.
He steeled his nerves. If he was going to pursue his desires, he needed to be completely honest about them first. “If I had asked you to the spring festival last winter, would you have said yes?”
She stopped eating mid-slurp, her face flushing brightly. “Why would you ask me that?”
His heart sped a little. Perhaps he had misread their relationship all along. Was she not interested in him like that? “You’re asking me why I would ask you to the festival?”
“No,” she said. “I’m asking you, why would you ask if I would have said yes if you would have asked!”
He chuckled at the slightly ridiculous sentence. “That was a mouthful. And I don’t mean the noodles.”
Her eyes fixed on him crossly. “I’m serious, Kenji! Why ask me something like that?”
He sensed the irritation in her tone and dropped all mirth from his own as he replied. “I suppose I just…need to know.”
“Need to know?” She tossed her chopsticks in her bowl. “I can’t believe this. You’re truly asking me this now?”
He shrugged. “Better late than never?”
She released a sigh. “Kenji. Every day I’m more and more convinced that you truly are a dullard.”
“What?”
“Of course I would have said yes, you idiot!” She slammed her small palms on the small table. “Why in the hells didn’t you?”
His heart warmed a little at hearing that, but shame came with it as well, his stomach uneasy. “I guess because… I knew you might have said yes?”
Her brow furrowed with confusion. “What?”
“I don’t mean to sound presumptuous about it…I knew you were close to 8th tier. I didn’t want to get in the way of your progress.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… I couldn’t rightly ask a seven-year-old to the festival now, could I?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “I really wished you would have said something. By the heavens, Kenji! Look at me now! I thought you were only interested in me as a friend!”
He blinked. “Really?”
“Yes!” she said. “And I still thought that. Right up until what you said just now.” She then shook her head, muttering to herself. “I can’t believe this.”
“Wow…” Kenji said. “Bad timing perhaps.”
“Bad timing?” Her eyes narrowed and there was no playfulness to her tone. “You stupid idiot! I would have waited for you, Kenji, no matter how long it took. But look at us now!” Tears pooled in her eyes. “We’ve both lost everything. We have nothing left stopping us, besides ourselves and I’m stuck a little girl!”
He didn’t expect a turn like this. “Shinoto…”
“Damn you, Kenji. Damn you for even telling me this!” She hopped off the small wooden stool and began to walk way, but Kenji quickly grabbed her arm. She tried to pull away from him, but he held her firm. “Shinoto, please wait!”
“What?” she spat, turning about to him.
Time seemed to pause as he stared at her, the woman he loved now trapped in the body of a little girl. And just as she’d said…it was perhaps all his fault.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t bold enough to ask you,” he said. “That I wasn’t man enough to know my own desires and go after them. To let you know the truth in my heart, despite what I feared it might have cost.”
She didn’t say anything, but she wasn’t trying to run away from him anymore either.
“I guess deep down,” he pressed on, “I knew I wasn’t truly worthy of you. But that will all change now. You’ve always made me feel special, Shinoto, even before I realized I was. But I’m going to live up to it now. I’m going to earn the trust and faith you’ve always put in me.”
“Kenji, you don’t need to—”
“Yes, I do. I’m going to prove to both you and your brother that I am worthy of your love.”
She squinted at him. “My brother?”
Kenji chuckled. “He’s not as thick-headed as he seems. But I’m not saying this to talk about him. I want to talk about us.”
She frowned then, pulling away from him.
His heart sunk. “What’s wrong?”
“How can there even be an us now?” she said, shaking her head. “Gods, I wish you wouldn’t have said anything now, Kenji. I was content to just be your friend, but now I feel like I’ve made a huge mistake!”
“No,” he said, taking her small hands within his own. “I was the one who made the mistake, Shinoto… I was the one who didn’t act when I should have. Who used being a dullard as an excuse to do nothing at all. But I’m going to make up for it now.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were willing to wait for me, Shinoto,” he said. “And so am I willing to wait for you.”
“Wait for me?” Her eyes softened and shimmered. “I’m seven years old, Kenji… you’re going to wait another ten years for me to grow up?”
His heart stirred. For better or worse, he was finally making his own decisions now. “Or longer if need be. You’re the only girl I’ve ever loved, and even if I have to wait ten years to see you blossom all over again, it will be time well worth waiting.”
She didn’t say anything as she continued to stare at him. Then finally she spoke, “Do you really mean that?”
Kenji smiled. “Of course I do.”
Her eyes melted and she choked back a sob. She ran forward and threw her arms around him in a hug. “You big idiot.” She squeezed him tighter. “I can’t even kiss you now.”
Kenji laughed as he returned her embrace. “There’s no rush, Shinoto. I’m a thousand years old or something, remember? I think I’m perhaps used to waiting for things.”
She laughed through her tears as she pulled away from him, a huge smile on her face. “It’s so strange to hear you say something like that.”
He shrugged. “I’m a strange person, I suppose.”
They both laughed then and Shinoto wiped the tears from her eyes. “The strangest. But I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
They continued their simple meal together, feasting on noodles and chili oil, finally something more than just friends. A huge weight felt as if it had been lifted off his chest as they laughed and talked like never before. He was finally living for himself and no one else.
He had taken his first step along his own path.
* * *
The tranquility of the afternoon was interrupted by a sudden change in atmosphere. As Kenji finished his second bowl of noodles he sensed it, a sudden sickness that emanated from his doma. He grimaced as his gut tightened and he feared he might see his lunch for a second time.
“Are you all right?” Shinoto said with concern on her brow.
He shook his head. “I feel strange.”
It was almost like sensing Dark Qi…but this felt
distinctly different somehow.
The crowd around them began migrating towards the village paifang.
“What’s going on?” Shinoto asked one of the villagers as he passed by.
The middle-aged man gave her a wide-eyed smile. “More visitors from the capital. They say it’s General Amikazu himself!”
A general? Kenji’s heart sped. Were they too late? Had the interrogator arrived already?
“Who is General Amikazu?” Shinoto asked.
The man smiled at her with a grandfatherly glee. “A very important man, little one. We should be honored for someone of such high rank to visit our village.”
The name sounded familiar. He’d heard it before. But he couldn’t recall where.
“Let’s go, Shinoto.”
Grasping her hand, they traversed through the thickening crowd headed towards the paifang. When they reached about halfway, Kenji saw all three of the army lieutenants now gathered together around a fourth figure in elaborate military dress. He stood quite tall, with long hair, bound in a topknot, the sides of which were streaked with gray as was his short beard. At his side was a straight scabbard, a jian perhaps, and about his neck an odd silver box hung on a thick chain.
As Kenji looked at him, his doma pulsed with sickness and the general paused for a moment. He scanned the crowd, the lieutenants looking with him bewilderedly. Finally one of them asked him something and the general finally shook his head and continued on, heading towards the steps of the mystic school.
Curse the fates…
Whatever plan they had had before was all for naught now. “He’s come for Olja…”
Shinoto’s hand flexed nervously within his own. “What do we do?”
He looked about in a panic, the crowd seeming to press in about him.
“We need a new plan,” he said. “And fast.”
Chapter 38 – A promise and a plan
General Amikazu returned the bow of the school master, a wiry, white-bearded man he already knew as Hu Dong.
“It is very good to see you again, general,” Hu Dong said. “I had no idea they would send one such as you for this matter.”
“It’s not insignificant,” Amikazu said. “Our nation has suffered a serious attack. It is not every day one loses a village.”
Upon the square, the entire mystic school was gathered together—a cadre of perhaps twenty students. A sense of nostalgia passed through him as he looked upon the purple robes of the sect. He had been an Emerald Green, but the colors alone brought back that old sense of rivalry and competition. He grinned at Hu Dong. Although the man looked older, he was perhaps just a junior when Amikazu was a sempai within the schools.
Never reached a tier high enough to slow his age, Amikazu thought. The old adage was perhaps true. Those who could not do, taught.
“The prisoner is being held within, General,” one of the lieutenants said, ushering with his palm.
“It is a shame your visit is under such circumstances, General,” Hu Dong said. “I’m sure the students would have loved a further opportunity to meet with you.”
Amikazu smiled at them. They were all sat in seiza position with their hands on their knees, backs straight. He recalled spending hours in such a position. One of the hardest lessons to ever master—the art of simply remaining still.
“General, General!”
Amikazu glanced over his shoulder at the call. Ascending the steps behind him was a pair of 2nd-Dan students, hefting a sedan chair made of bamboo. Even with the Qi they exerted, they were both sweating and soaked to the bone. Atop the chair sat a fat, round-faced man, that Amikazu immediately recognized as one of the emperor’s former eunuchs.
Just the sight of him caused Amikazu’s stomach to sour. “Ah…Chief Jubie.”
The students lowered the sedan chair and Jubie stepped out ostentatiously, waving himself with a fan.
“My sincere apologies for not meeting you in the village,” he said in his high-pitched voice. “Had I known you were coming I would have made more suitable arrangements for your visit.”
“Think naught of it,” Amikazu answered formally. “While I welcome your hospitality, this is a matter that will soon fall within the hands of the military. I thank both your village and the Lavender Sect for taking responsibility thus far.”
Jubie bowed. “Whatever we can do to aid the central government, of course.”
As he said it, Amikazu’s own patience began to ebb, yielding to his eagerness. He wanted to find the boy above all, but he was in the midst of hierarchy and protocol now. He needed to choose his words with care. “I heard, Chief Jubie, that some survivors of the Han attack made it safely here. Is that so?”
Jubie blinked. “Why yes. Although sadly one of them has succumbed to injuries. He was funeralized yesterday.”
His doma stirred. “Funeralized?”
“Yes,” Jubie said. “A victim of the demon attack, much like the Xjian prisoner you’re about to see. I understand from our head doctor that he was elderly with an incompetent doma. His wounds were also quite severe.”
Relief overcame him. That didn’t sound like the boy. “Who else was saved?”
“Three children,” Hu Dong said. “They all reside here now. At the mystic school.”
His heartbeat sped as his eyes gazed hungrily over the assembly of youngsters. “Really? Where are they?”
Hu Dong stammered for a moment, looking over his shoulder. “I…I ah…”
“Just I am here to represent Han Village, great general,” a boy of perhaps twelve said as he touched his forehead to the ground. “I am Chet Fai, the current chief of Han Village.”
Amikazu suppressed an urge to grimace at the boy. This was not the one he wanted. “I see. And where are the others?”
“They were sent on an errand to the village,” Hu Dong said with a smile. “I’ll be sure they present themselves to you when they return.”
Nerves itched at his skull. He wanted to enquire further, to ensure the boy was one of them. But such would no doubt seem an odd question right now. He had to feign his interest in his official reason for coming. At least until it was time.
“Such can wait,” he said. “I have more urgent business with the prisoner.”
It wasn’t completely a lie. He was curious as to how this Xjian woman became involved.
But at the moment it was purely secondary.
The sooner he got it over with…the sooner he could search for the boy.
* * *
Kenji ran with Shinoto at his side. They entered the healing house and he was relieved to find Mei Ling standing within. The woman spun on her high sandals as they ran to her and her initial smile faded to a frown of concern as she saw them.
“Kenji? Is something the matter?”
He almost didn’t want to say it, but they were out of options now. He bowed deeply. “Forgive me, Master Mei Ling, but I have a further favor to ask you.”
She regarded him apprehensively while darting a glance at Shinoto. “What is it?”
He thought of concocting a lie, but such didn’t sit right within him. He held too much respect for Master Mei Ling to resort to something like that. “What I am asking of you is completely unreasonable. And for your own sake I dare not tell you the reason why. But I need your help in ringing the village bell.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“We’re very sorry,” Shinoto said, falling to her knees as well. “Only someone with the proper authority ringing it will have the effect we need.”
Her brow furrowed with even more concern. “What is this all about? One cannot simply ring the bell. It’s a very serious matter.”
“I realize that,” Kenji said. “And so is our reason for asking this.”
Mei Ling cocked her head. “I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on. Are you two in some kind of trouble?”
Looking to start some, perhaps, Kenji thought. But her response was not a complete ‘no’. He would need to entrust her wi
th something, perhaps. He was asking for far too much after all. He released a sigh. “You have done so much for me already, Master Mei Ling. I would not want to entangle you in the confusion we’re about to make, but Shinoto and I desperately need to leave the village…and with the Xjian woman who was with us.”
He clenched his teeth after adding the last part and looked pleadingly at Mei Ling.
The doctor frowned again. She turned on her sandals and dropped into a crouch to collect some equipment off her low desk. “And I suppose this has something to do with the general arriving?”
Kenji blanched. She was indeed a quick one. “I’m sorry. I truly didn’t want to involve you, but I can see no other way.”
“Why do you seek to rescue her? Who is she to you?”
Shinoto looked at him and shrugged.
“To be totally honest,” he said. “I do not know.”
Mei Ling raised a brow.
“All I know is that she nearly died saving me from that demon. I know only her name, but if I ever want to learn any more than that, I can’t let her be taken to the capital. They already think her a criminal, perhaps even responsible for Han Village. But she’s not.”
“And you’re sure of that?” Mei Ling asked.
Kenji swallowed. He knew very well who was responsible. “I know for certain. Will you help us?”
Shinoto bowed again. “We’re very sorry to ask this. Please…”
Mei Ling released a sigh. “I’m very sorry as well. Your friend is already in the custody of the military. Ringing the bell for something like that would be tantamount to treason. I couldn’t risk that.”
Kenji’s stomach sank as he stared into the ground. Perhaps he was indeed asking far too much of her. “Forgive me. I should not have come—”
“Although I suppose...” Mei Ling said, cutting him off as she tossed something to him. “I could ring the bell to alert the village of a fleeing thief.”
