"Nippon is embroiled in chaos, posed both on the brink of a civil war and an invasion from the Southerners,” she said passionately. “And I don't doubt that there will be others who come to see what they can pick from the ruins."
We both looked up when one of Inusuka's pages came running toward us. His eyes were wild, and we could tell he had heard something that had caused him a great shock. He stopped in front of us, panting slightly, his eyes wide and panicky. “Kyushu has fallen to the Southerners."
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Chapter Eleven
Keno
We all gathered in Shino's war room. I didn't know what else to call it. There was a table that looked like it was set up for some sort of wargaming, and we sat in the other half of the room. “We” was all my brothers, whom Samojirou had shadow walked so that they could be here, Tamazusa, Samojirou, Wolf, Mason, and McGann, along with my father Yatsufusa. The scary thing was that he didn't really look like a dog anymore. You could tell that he was one, but he looked more like the Wolfman than his usual self. He was dressed in a dark brown kimono and hakama, sitting comfortably with the rest of us. Everyone looked a little stunned by his change, and I didn't think my brothers knew Yatsufusa could do something like this.
"Kyushu has fallen,” Shino announced. We all knew it. It was just that most of my brothers looked a little stunned at the news still. “And that means that Tamazusa-sama must regain control of her kuni as soon as possible and drive Iida from it!” He took a deep breath. “And that also means that I wish to send Hamaji and Mother to Edo for their own safety."
"I will go with them,” Genpachi said. He shrugged. “I'm not a lord. And I want to see what the rumors are in Yoshiwara and the rest of Edo."
"I wager you do,” Shinbee sniggered. I wasn't surprised that Konbungo hit him on the back of his head for saying that.
"Will it be acceptable to send Wolf and his companions to Edo with them as part of their protection?” Tamazusa asked. “They are competent fighters, but not familiar with our ways. As well as Tholf and Helga for the same reason, besides the fact that Helga seems to be a protege of Fuse-hime at the moment."
Wolf looked a little confused. “We have betrayed you in the past,” he protested. “Why are we here? Why are you willing to trust us now?"
Shino glanced around the room before replying. “My brother has always spoken highly of you, that you all had treated him honorably during his captivity. Our mother has said the same thing of her time in the real world with you. It is obvious to us that you have been betrayed by your own people. Tamazusa-sama has taken you into her household, and she is no fool. We all feel that you will add to our councils, which is why you are here."
"I do not know if I can accept that trust,” Wolf said. “These people, they may use my own family against me. I do not know if I can honor your trust if that happens."
Shino nodded. “We understand that."
Mason shifted, looking a little restless, even though the entire conversation had been in English for his benefit. “Let's get it straight,” he said. “Wolf's the competent fighter. I barely know much beyond ‘pointy end at enemy'. I'll take care of your Hamaji-sama and Fuse-hime, but I ain't no legendary hero or some sh—something like that."
"Your honestly is refreshing,” Sousuke said with a smile.
"And I assure you that I am no fierce fighter either,” Daikaku said with a smile.
Mason looked confused for a moment before he must have remembered that Daikaku was his avatar. He grinned. “I hate to tell you this, but I'm better with a knife than a sword. But I mean it, I'll look after them."
Shinbee opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. “Smart move, kid,” Mason said. “Mouthing off ain't always a good thing, trust me."
"I also think sending Keno with them would be a good idea,” Samojirou said.
I was a little stunned. We really hadn't talked about it. We hadn't talked about much at all when we were alone. I knew there was no place for me in Tamazusa's Hatamoto or anyone else's.
While a Hatamoto was a household organization, that was only in peacetime. During the time of war, the Hatamoto were the men you needed to organize your troops, your supplies, and your support staff. Tamazusa's samurai had all worked with her for centuries, so I wasn't going to replace any of them. In fact, I was kind of surprised that none of her samurai had decided they wanted to go independent when she lost her power. I had a sneaking suspicion that Okita and a handful of others were powerful enough to rule their own kuni. Not as strong as Tamazusa, but powerful enough. Plus, she'd not lost any of the daimyo who owed her fealty, either. I didn't know if she had been lucky or if she was that good a lord.
"Keno?” Shino asked, correctly interpreting my confused look.
Both Sousuke and Shinbee glared at Samojirou. He stared back at them coolly. He had made his decision, and they would accept it. I just had to accept that decision also. And my question to myself was: did I want to? I had never argued with him about his decisions before, but it sort of bothered me that he had made this one without asking me about it, even though it was the right one and we both knew it. I didn't think I could go into battle with them, and I knew they knew that also. My one battle on that beach showed me that I wasn't a warrior. I couldn't kill someone. I was too scared that I'd start and never stop. Plus Tamazusa and I had talked about it after that fight on the beach. I wasn't going to battle with her, so why should Aboshi's announcement surprise me?
The silence was uncomfortable as everyone waited for my answer.
"I think that it would be logical if Sakura were to be sent to Edo with the rest of the noncombatants,” I said slowly, knowing I had to say something.
Samojirou silently let out the breath he had been holding. He had to realize by my silence that he had stepped over the line. We would talk about that later. But I had a sneaking suspicion Hamaji didn't know she was being sent away. Mother probably told Father that Hamaji was going, and that was it. But it was a smart decision. Iida had some connection with the sea, and Awa was a peninsula. Edo would be much more secure for us than Shino's castle, and from what I had learned in the Dreamlands, Edo was considered neutral territory, where one could send their women and children in times of trouble, as rare as that was. While it was not the power it had been under Tokugawa or later as the new capital, there was lively trade with the Northerners and some of the countries to our east. Daikaku's wife was already there.
Tamazusa nodded. “I hadn't thought of that, Keno-chan. A wise move to make. I don't think it would be a good idea for Inuzaka Keno to be anywhere near the fighting. Too many people would be distracted."
"That would be true,” Dousetsu added thoughtfully when Sousuke opened his mouth to argue with Tamazusa. A look from Shino silenced him, and I wondered again what they were hiding from me. But then, they might not know what Samojirou was hiding from me either. “There is much that the lords of Honshu and Shikoku have to worry about without that."
With that line, I guessed that Dousetsu knew my ancestor's secret, even if the others didn't. And it sounded like it was something nasty to make the daimyo react that badly to my name.
"Then we are agreed?” Tamazusa asked rhetorically. “I will go back to my kuni to reclaim it. After that, we will bring the fight to the Southerners and drive them from our land."
"Sazuki-sama and his retainers are dead,” Shino said. “As well as any of the other daimyo who were on Kyushu and most of their families. Their troops are scattered, but some of them, as well as the fisher folk, managed to get to Honshu or Shikoku."
I bowed my head, remembering Sazuki from the beginning of the cherry blossom festivals. I hoped that his wife and his companion were safe at least.
"And half of those that lived in Kyushu are reported to be dead also,” Yatsufusa added. I wasn't surprised to hear that his actual voice was a deep growl. “There are rumors that there was something in the wind that killed them."
Wolf frowned. “Th
at could be anything,” he said slowly, but it looked to me that he was trying not to get angry. That someone had used chemical warfare here made him scarily angry, because he was so controlled about it. And chemical warfare would be about the only thing that would cause that much damage. “There are a number of toxins that have been used in the past to do such things, but I don't know what they could be."
"You know that those fuckers don't believe in the Geneva Convention,” Mason said, abandoning any attempt to watch his language. “It could have been fucking anything."
"Not something that would stay around,” McGann said with a thoughtful look on her face. She was used to how he talked. I just had the stray thought that Mason had been trying to behave in front of Tamazusa-sama. That felt odd to me, and I made a mental note to talk about it later with him. “And how could it be introduced into the environment? Most of those toxins were delivered through some sort of artillery shell, something that doesn't really work here."
"Trebuchet or some sort of siege engine,” Wolf said. “All you need is a package that would shatter upon impact and a good wind in the right direction."
"And a crew that had shit for brains to deal with that crap,” Mason added sarcastically. “Fuck, if they're going this route, then we're screwed, because these fuckers are insane. How many people did they kill?"
"Probably hundreds, if not more,” Shino said quietly.
"I think that they might have done so to get rid of the monsters that were there more so than the population,” McGann said. “But it isn't a good sign. These people have shown that they are more ruthless than I want to even think about."
"These fuckers want slaves as well as real estate,” Mason said. “Why do this shit?"
"The Egyptians and others want growing room,” Wolf said, his fists clenched at his sides. He looked like he wanted to punch out a wall but was too polite to do it. “Plus, doing something like this will clear out your foothold real fast. They need a base of operations quickly, so I think that they're willing to clean it out fast and dirty. I don't think they'll do something like this with the rest of Nippon. That is going to be mostly combat, unless they think of Okinawa."
I was glad Wolf wasn't mentioning the Allies dropping nuclear bombs on my homeland to get them to stop fighting, because Okinawa showed them that we were never going to surrender to them unless they did that. I didn't know if he was being polite or just remembering that the Allies had bombed his country too.
"They're fucking pulling a Congo here,” Mason snarled, ignoring what Wolf was trying to imply. Or it might have been that he didn't get the references. Mason would be the first to admit that he didn't know much history, but I would have thought that he would know those references, as opposed to the Battle of Nagashino or Kawanakajima. I had no idea what he was referring to with that comment about the Congo. “You know that and I know that. And soon they're gonna dump a shitload of their mercs here to finish the job, because remember what's the other company that these assholes have access to. You willing to deal with them?"
"I assure you that we are not innocent babes in the woods,” Daikaku said. “We are the Hakkenshi, the beasts that—"
"—I cursed you to be,” Tamazusa whispered, blinking her eyes rapidly. “You are the result of the hate that your grandfather caused me to feel. You are innocents in this."
"Does that mean that I get to call you grandmother?” Genpachi asked her seriously, after a long moment, breaking the tension in the room. I just knew that Shinbee had wanted to say something nasty to Tamazusa, but one glare from Konbungo stopped that, along with a preemptive strike on the back of his head.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Mason muttered, before adding in a louder voice. “But shit, these fuckers will be pulling shit that was invented after you guys were around. And what about your troops? Does this shit affect them? If those fuckers slaughter your armies, how the fuck do you people get replacements?"
"For now, we can all absorb the ronin who have survived,” Shino said.
He wasn't going to answer Mason, and I didn't want him to. I knew that when you died here in the Dreamlands, it was permanent. That was one of the reasons Nippon had been at peace for so long. The other was that anyone who wanted to work out their aggressions could do so by hunting the monsters that roamed the lands. But I was curious about how one became a citizen of the Dreamlands. Helga wasn't someone who was noble, and Tholf was a man who seemed to want nothing more than a good fight.
"We need to move out in the morning,” Shino said. “Sousuke and I can escort you to the edge of your kuni, Tamazusa-sama, but you know that you must go on alone from there."
"At least with only myself and a guard of her samurai,” Samojirou said smoothly. “She will not be unescorted during this. While I trust my lord and her strength, I do not trust Iida."
"Do you think that Aboshi would let me go alone?” Tamazusa asked with a smile. “And he was with me the first time that I claimed my kuni. He is as much a part of it as I am."
Shino nodded, accepting her decision. I realized that I would have very little time with my lover, and we were going to be wasting part of that with an argument.
* * * *
Mason
The meeting broke up soon after Samojirou decided to accompany Tamazusa to her kuni. I felt better knowing that he was going with her, but Wolf still was looking like he wanted to rip someone a new one. He was muttering to himself in German, one word over and over again, “Lebensraum."
"Wolf, this isn't your fault,” McGann finally told him.
"They are using gas attacks on innocent people,” Wolf practically snarled at her. “It could be anything!"
"It could be,” she said softly.
"You want to know what my grandmother teaches?” Wolf demanded.
"What?” I asked him when McGann didn't open her mouth. She probably knew, but she wanted me to be the straight man for this.
"History,” he said. “Germany during the thirties and forties, to be exact. Not too popular a topic when she started her career, which was shortly after the war was over."
"Fuck,” was the only thing that came to mind. “But, shit, ain't she Norwegian or Swedish?"
"Norwegian,” Wolf said. “And my grandfather's German."
I knew that. And I knew that his grandparents raised him after his father had killed himself and Wolf's mother in a drunk-driving accident. The only thing that had saved him was that he had been with his grandparents for the summer.
"I don't get it,” I told him. I really didn't. I knew I should have, that I was missing what was pissing him off about this, aside from the fact that he was a nice guy and didn't understand people who killed a shitload of people for kicks over some stupid land. And I hoped he never did. “Tell me."
"My grandfather was in the army when he was younger, but then, everyone was at that time."
It clicked then that he was telling me that his grandfather had been a Nazi. That surprised me for some reason. And you know what the surprise was to me? It was that his grandparents were so old. I did some quick math and realized that his grandfather was in his eighties, at the least.
"So he had to work for that asshole. I don't blame him for that,” I said.
"My grandfather believed in the cause,” Wolf said.
"Trust me,” I told him with a chuckle, “kids are stupid at that age."
"It isn't funny!” Wolf barked. “He saw what happened then. My grandmother was very unpopular because of what she did, but it taught me that you can't forget what happened even if no one wanted you to remember it. My grandfather always admitted what he had been, even if it wasn't the wisest thing to do. So how can the Trustees do something like this? How can they kill people with poisons that make most of our world cringe in horror to hear about them?"
"Because the fuckers don't give a fuck,” I said. “Shit, how many people do you think they killed to get their fucking army here?"
"What do you mean?” Wolf asked.
&
nbsp; That scared me. He sounded too calm. McGann's eyes widened, and she looked at him in shock. “You didn't know,” she whispered. “I thought that...."
"Know what?” Wolf asked.
I just tried to figure out what it was he wouldn't know, and after a couple of frantic seconds of thinking—or actually just listening to my brain gibber—I realized the only thing she could be referring to was the hoodoo that got us here.
"You really didn't believe me when I said that someone got carved up for us to get here?” I asked after my own stunned silence.
"I don't understand,” Wolf said.
McGann frowned and looked at me. “I think that—"
"Shit!” I knew what she was hinting at. She thought someone had tweaked his brain a bit. I hadn't known you could do that to someone. But thinking back, that might have been why Wolf looked like shit when I saw him in Mrs. Adams's office. That asshole over at Waltham must have been doing a number on him in more ways than one.
"What's wrong with you two?” Wolf asked us.
"I'll tell him,” McGann said.
I shook my head, “I'll do it. Good thing that I skipped out on those stupid shrink sessions."
"Tell me what?” Wolf demanded.
"What do you remember about our first time here?” I asked him.
"We were captured by Tamazusa,” Wolf said slowly. “But... but why don't I remember that clearly?"
"Because someone has been examining your memories,” McGann said gently. “And I don't think that they were either doing a good job or were too careful about what they were doing when they were doing it."
"That's impossible!” Wolf exclaimed. “I'd remember something like that!"
"What do you remember about your sessions with the psychiatrist in Waltham?” she asked calmly.
Wolf frowned, thinking hard from the expression on his face. “I don't like him."
"And why is that?” she asked, almost coaxing the information out.
"I don't feel any better, and I always have a headache after I see him, even if I can't remember what we talked about. I always felt like it was my fault that Keno was gone. That I didn't know that he had a crush on me. Things like that."
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