* * * *
Tamazusa
That Mason was asking me for a home was astonishing to me. I was silent for a moment before asking, “And what do McGann and Wolf think about this?"
"I haven't run it by them,” he admitted. “I know that I might be blowing smoke up your skirts with this, but shit, I think that we aren't going back, ‘cause it should have happened by now. And I don't know if I want to go back."
"And why is that?"
"I don't trust them not to fuck me over again,” Mason said bluntly. “I know that you're up to your ass in alligators right now, so this is just one more thing that's being dumped on you. I'm sorry about that."
"If I had thought that you were going to be trouble, I wouldn't have talked to you,” I said gently. “I am very willing to continue with being your patron."
"That was just to save me from that bitch Helga,” Mason muttered. “Not giving me a place to live. But shit, it's that I trust you more than anyone else here."
"I thank you for that,” I said formally. “And I will be willing to have McGann and Wolf as part of my household also."
"I'll tell them. I don't know about Wolf wanting to move in with the folks, but it seems that Dousetsu isn't a lord for some reason.” That had come out last time as well: Wolf was also an avatar of one of the brothers. “So that means that there's no place for them to move into. And Wolf's going to be hooking up with McGann real soon now, or he's dumber than I thought, ‘cause he's had the hots for her for a long time."
"Inukai-sama and Inuyama-sama have chosen not to hold the reins of power. I feel that Inukai-sama is much like yourself, one who is not interested in the responsibility of leadership. But Inuyama-sama is a bit more responsible, just not one who is interested in ruling a kuni.” I laughed for a moment, thinking about how all this began. “I fear that Fuse-hime has gotten her wish. I seem to be in an alliance with one of her sons."
"I don't get it,” Mason said, sounding totally lost.
He thought that I wouldn't say yes. He actually probably hadn't thought beyond asking me for a place. “Iida-sama's interest in me seems to have started when the rumors went around that Fuse-hime was trying to arrange an alliance with me through one of her unmarried sons. It was done to explain how friendly we seemed after centuries of frigid politeness. It was an excuse so that her family could spend more time with Keno without letting outsiders guess who he really is."
"You people are weird,” Mason remarked, shaking his head. “You okay?” he asked, frowning faintly at me for some reason
"Why wouldn't I be?” I smiled, serene and in control. On the outside at least.
"'Cause the shitstorm that's happening out there, you think that it's your fault,” he said bluntly.
"It is."
He shook head. “This Iida guy would have managed to grab someone for this, and Nippon would still be fucked. Shit, from what Logan told us, the Trustees had planned this double cross with us from the beginning. I just want to see the look on that fucker Iida's face when he realizes that he's going to get screwed by the Trustees, just like the rest of us."
"But I would have my kuni,” I said. “Keno... Keno would be safe. I don't want him in a war."
"Why?” Mason asked. He was naturally curious and a bit confused about why Samojirou and I felt the need to shelter Keno so much.
"I met his ancestor."
"Most of these guys are mean fuckers,” Mason said. “Anyone here, really. So what makes Keno so different?"
"The Sengoku Jidai was a time of a betrayal.” I spoke as if I was telling a tale of someone else, the soothing tones of a storyteller, calm and disinterested. Mason wouldn't understand that era; no one born in the modern world really could, for all they claimed that they did. It had been decades of civil war in Japan, even if the emperor hadn't been involved in the fighting. It had been a fight to see who would control him.
"The land was soaked with blood as all tried to rule it. Brother betrayed brother, the capitol was in shambles, and one could rise from a lowly samurai to a lord by the strength of your arm. Satomi did so."
"Who's that?” Mason asked.
"The Hakkenshi's grandfather.” I paused for second, trying to keep the hate that I felt for the man out of my voice. It wasn't that he had killed me, though betraying his word to me had much to do with it. It was that he had executed me as common criminal and hadn't allowed me the dignity of committing suicide, and the fact that I had truly been innocent of Aboshi's plot to murder Jin-yo. My guilt in it was that I had taken advantage of the fact that I had a patron who had been willing to keep me for my mind and not my body. So I hadn't informed anyone of the crime. It wasn't like it was an isolated happening. Nippon was drenched in blood from such things. “Fuse-hime's father, the man that broke his word to Yatsufusa-sama and myself. He had been a minor lord that rose to rule Awa. I think that it's a prefecture of Tokyo now. It was a powerful kuni then. It is part of the kuni that Yatsufusa holds now. He gained more power when his grandsons allied with him."
"Fuse-hime told me a bit about that,” Mason said. “That she had been dead by the time that her kids were born."
"Magic is a wonderful thing,” I said with a strained smile.
"You know that you can tell me to stay the fuck out of your business too,” Mason said unexpectedly. “But I notice that Satomi ain't here and you are. So that just shows what a shit the man was."
"He was thought to be a good lord,” I told him stiffly.
"Even with the shit that he pulled?” Mason asked, sounding outraged. “Assholes. And speaking of that, what's the deal with Keno? How come his family seems to be getting upset when we call him by his name and not Sakura?"
"Because it is not well-known that Inuzaka Keno has been found by his family. He had been missing in the Dreamlands for centuries. While you think that we call him Sakura because it amuses us, it really is to protect him. I do not want him to become the killer that his ancestor was."
"Most everyone here's swung a sword and shit like that,” Mason said. “Your people were all fighters in a time that meant hacking the crap out of the other guy with a sword."
"Only you have such a technique,” I teased, trying to lighten his mood.
Mason laughed. “Wolf wasn't much better when he was goin’ nuts.” He sobered, though. “And you haven't answered the question."
"Hamaji has a lovely strolling garden,” I said abruptly. “Let's explore it."
Mason looked at me strangely but must have realized that I didn't want to be overheard. He followed me out to the garden I had mentioned, before repeating his question. “Why are you worried about people finding out about Keno?"
I hesitated for a moment, studying the landscape, the gardenias and the hydrangeas that were blooming. “The first Inuzaka Keno vowed when he was a child, around six or seven, to avenge his father's death. When he was seventeen, he fulfilled that vow."
"Seventeen?” Mason repeated with a stunned look on his face. “How?"
"He slaughtered the entire Makuwari clan in a single night. They had gathered to celebrate in their main stronghold. Inuzaka turned it into a slaughterhouse."
"Why?” Mason asked, looking confused. “What had they done to him?"
"Makuwari Dai, the leader of that clan, was the one who slaughtered most of Inuzaka's family. He was raised in hiding after that, in disguise really, which was the only reason that he survived, from what I pieced together."
"So he kills everyone, and then what?” Mason asked.
"Inuzaka discovered that he was one of the Hakkenshi,” I answered. “And his grandfather took advantage of the training he had undertaken for his vow and used him as his own personal assassin."
"Keno was a ninja?” Mason asked.
"In a manner of speaking,” I said, drifting up the path.
Mason followed me, curious. “Ninja” was a term mostly used in the West in modern times. What Keno had become for his grandfather was an assassin who, by the end of the fighting,
was nothing more than a doll for the man, after he had banished Aboshi.
"So what was bad about that?” Mason asked.
"Satomi rose to power on the backs of others,” I said scathingly. “Inuzaka killed and killed for the man in the shadows for years before the war ended. He was broken by that time."
"How did the war end?” Mason asked, suddenly suspicious. “What is so great about all these guys that they're here? That you're here?"
"Japan didn't really know peace until the Tokugawa ruled, which was roughly a hundred years after the deaths of the Hakkenshi, after they had achieved some sort of peace, keeping the Kanto area of Japan under their control,” I explained, wondering how much I could really tell him.
"Whatever,” Mason dismissed, not caring about the history lesson. “What I give a shit about in this is Keno."
"Aboshi-sama and myself want to protect Keno from those who would try to make their reputation by fighting and killing him for being Inuzaka Keno. He would have to face challenges or worse for his entire life here. He might turn into the bitter man that he had been because of that, if it didn't kill him."
"You're not going to get Wolf to believe this,” Mason said seriously. He stared into the pond we stopped by. “He's gonna think that's a reason to take Keno back with us."
"Keno will not go,” I stated firmly. “And Wolf has to believe that or what friendship they have will be ruined."
"I'll talk to him,” Mason promised. “Are you doin’ all right?"
"I am fine,” I repeated, lying through my teeth again.
"And I'll believe that eventually,” he said. “Shit, if you need someone to talk to, grab me. I may not know shit about what's going on, but I can be someone to talk to."
"I know that,” I murmured. “But I have a question for you, even if you don't want to give me an answer. When were you supposed to return to the real world?"
Mason looked at me in shock before he started back to the castle at a run. I followed at a more leisurely pace. He finally knew there was something wrong. Not that Logan hadn't told him that before, but in his heart, I knew he hadn't wanted to believe it was happening to him. He was going to have to believe it now.
* * * *
Mason
I was kind of confused about what Tamazusa was telling me. I knew all the players, mostly, but trying to wrap my head around the thought of Keno being a ninja killing machine was kind of hard. I couldn't picture it. I had a hard time thinking of him as an adult, never mind someone who was a cold-blooded killer. That Samojirou had fallen in love with someone like that showed me that the man was either bugfuck insane or someone who tried to save kittens from being drowned. Or both. I was going with both.
But what was bothering me was the last thing Tamazusa had mentioned: when we were supposed to get back to the Trustees. Tell the truth, I hadn't really been paying attention to the time. But thinking about it and counting the days on my fingers and toes—don't fucking laugh—I figured out that we had been there eighteen days. I was stunned, but that might be why Wolf was looking so pissed. Things weren't working like they told him that they were supposed to. Big surprise there. So I'm racing back to figure out what the fuck up was and who do I run into but Samojirou. My luck was sucking at the moment.
"I want to thank you for caring for my lord and my consort,” Samojirou said formally.
I looked at him and thought about what Tamazusa and I had been talking about. “Um... she did all the work. And Keno can take care of himself, but you knew that."
"He can now,” Samojirou said, polite but with this look in his eye.
He was pissed about something. Crap, he probably thought I had taken advantage of Tamazusa in the Northlands. Shit, I wasn't that stupid on my worst day
"And where is he?” I asked, trying to distract him. I knew that he'd kill me and not give it a second thought. Keno was the only thing that stopped him from doing that. And I was going have to thank him for that real soon.
"Sleeping,” Samojirou said. “I have a matter to discuss with my lord, and I was informed that she was with you."
I got uncomfortable when I realized Keno was probably passed out after being nailed to the floor a couple of times. I had been told how the two of them had been looking at each other, and I didn't know what had stopped them from jumping each other right then and there when Samojirou had shown up. I was surprised Samojirou had been able to tear himself away from Keno long enough to check on Tamazusa. “She's in the strolling garden. She wanted to talk to me out there."
"That's interesting,” Samojirou said, looking like he had just swallowed something bitter.
He was really pissed, and I didn't think Keno would be able to save my ass unless I explained shit to him. I shrugged, trying to act casual, hoping my explanation didn't piss him off more. “I was offering her someone to either bitch at or cry on."
"So you seek to be her counselor?” Samojirou asked, not sounding very happy.
I shook my head. “Shit no. But you and Keno are off with each other, and I noticed that she doesn't seem to have too many friends here.” I waited a second before adding, “And she was nice enough to explain things to me. What a shit that Satomi asshole was."
"You are talking about Keno's grandfather,” Samojirou cautioned with a smile. I guessed he realized I wasn't after his job. Shit, I wasn't going to tell him that if I was working for Tamazusa, I'd be her court jester or something like that, ‘cause he'd find it too fucking funny. Tamazusa liked me, but she also knew I was the worst person to give her any sort of advice.
"And you know what? He's still an asshole. Fuck, Yatsufusa didn't deserve that shit from him, either, about Fuse-hime,” I said.
"You are not disgusted with their relationship?” Samojirou asked slyly.
"I don't want to know about you and Keno, not because of who you are, but because he's always gonna be fifteen to me, so I can ignore what those two are doing in their spare time too,” I told him. I actually hadn't really thought about it. And I wasn't going to start to, either. Some shit I wasn't meant to know about, and that was one of them. “But I need to talk to Wolf about something, so I got to run."
Samojirou practically hissed. “Wolf...."
"I'll keep him off your ass,” I promised.
"I don't know if I should be overjoyed or frightened at that statement,” Samojirou muttered. I laughed. I knew we wouldn't be drinking buddies, but he was good for Keno, so I wouldn't give him too much shit.
* * * *
When I got back to the rooms Hamaji had given us, I wasn't surprised to see Wolf and McGann having tea together in the living room. Me, Wolf, and Tholf had one room, Helga and McGann were sharing another, and we had a third room as some sort of living room.
I stopped at the edge of the porch and was proud that I remembered to take my shoes off before I walked in on them. “So when were you going to tell me?” I asked, not bothering to beat around the bush. I didn't know where either Tholf or Helga was and didn't care. This was something we couldn't really hide from them.
Both of them looked at me, but at least neither one of them did the “Tell you what?” routine. And they both looked a little guilty, so I was okay with that. They weren't being assholes about it; it was just like with McGann and the pregnancy thing, there really hadn't been a time or place to tell me about this, just like the fact I still hadn't told Wolf about Logan's confession. I guessed this was the time that I had to do it, even if I really didn't want to tell him. Logan had been right: Wolf was a good man. Good men don't expect to be backstabbed by their boss, even in our line of business. And there was the small fact that if those assholes were willing to do this to us, I didn't think that they'd hesitate throwing an old man like Wolf's grandfather under a bus or something, either, to make sure he didn't ask questions, even if he was a Trustee. He probably was going apeshit wondering what the other Trustees were pulling with his grandson. I wondered for a second if Mrs. Adams was in on this or if they had gotten rid of her too.
"I think that I was willing to let you figure it out on your own,” McGann admitted calmly. “There was a lot that was going on, and it could have been a simple miscalculation."
"After a while, getting back wasn't something I was going to worry about,” Wolf said. “I was worried about it happening on the ship. But once we got to land... then I realized it wasn't working for some reason. By then, there really wasn't anyplace I felt comfortable telling you what had happened."
"Tamazusa was the one that had to point it out to me,” I said, just realizing that we could have screwed the others badly by disappearing in the middle of the ocean. That was the only saving grace in this entire mess. Seven people hadn't been really enough to sail that ship, four would have been a disaster. And I didn't trust Helga not to try something stupid to either Keno or Tamazusa, like push them out of the boat. “I'm such a dumb fuck that I didn't notice that the hoodoo wasn't working like it should."
"Mason, you aren't dumb,” Wolf told me, trying not to sound too pissed, since he hated when I talked like that about myself. “You don't always think, but you aren't stupid. You had your hands full playing mother hen to Tamazusa-sama and Keno."
"So when was the recall supposed to happen?” I asked.
"About twelve days ago,” Wolf said. “I gave it a couple of more days, just in case something happened to the time when we crossed the barrier between territories. When the recall didn't happen, I talked to Caitlynn about it."
"So your pillow talk wasn't just sweet nothings,” I said sarcastically. Well, mine hadn't been, either, since I stuck close to Tamazusa to protect myself from Helga.
Wolf practically blushed like a schoolgirl when I said that. McGann gave me a look that promised me we were going to have a very long talk about that comment. I bet she was also going to give me shit about how I'd been acting with Tamazusa too. She could if she wanted to, because she really wasn't my boss anymore. As weird as it sounded, I was thinking about Tamazusa like that now. Wasn't that a weird and scary thought.
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