Mantis

by India Millar

  He stopped and sipped his tea, looking at me over the top of his cup.

  “Ah, I see.” I was amazed, and I also felt very foolish. I thought I had been so very clever, slipping away from Hana unnoticed, and now it appeared everybody was talking about it! In the future, I would remember that and be even more careful. “And you believed this bit of nonsense?” I said lightly.

  “I thought the rumors were exaggerated at first. Anybody who knows Hana also knows how very clever and ruthless she is. But the gossip persisted, and in the end, I asked Hana if it was true. I have never seen her as angry as she was when I spoke to her then. She was very reluctant to tell me about it. When I got the whole story from her, I was even angrier than she was. I told her she had been a fool. That even if she had succeeded, she would have put herself in jeopardy as your family would never rest until they had taken revenge on her. That you were samurai, not some woman she had plucked from the streets.

  “That is one of the reasons I am so pleased that you came to see me today. It gives me the opportunity to ask your forgiveness for Hana’s actions, and to apologize on her behalf. Hana’s an extraordinary woman, and one of the few ever to be successful in a man’s world. Because of that, she sometimes forgets that there are limits, even for her.”

  “I have no family,” I said stonily. Although I heard everything Akira had said, only the mention of my family really mattered to me. I was bewildered by the sudden access of grief that threatened to overwhelm me. I had not cried for my brother or father since I had found them dead. I had no idea why my emotions threatened to betray me now, but I felt it would be deeply inappropriate to show my grief to this stranger. “I am the last of my line, and that line is samurai. Hana mistook me for nothing more than a spoiled noblewoman. I am not. I’m as much a warrior as my father and brother were. You have no need to apologize for Hana. She saved my life. If she had not kept me prisoner, I would have died fighting at the side of my men.”

  Akira surprised me when he spoke. “I understand that. I only wish I had returned earlier. If I had, I could have spared you much pain. Things would have been very different if I had been here when Hana took you.”

  The arrogance of his words was beyond my understanding.

  “You think so?” I said incredulously. “You think you could have saved my father and my brother? I doubt it.”

  “Of course I could,” he said calmly. “You have no idea how much power I have. If I had been here, I would have heard of how desperate your peasants were.”

  “And would you have done anything about it?” I jeered. “Why should you? I would have thought that you would have been amused to think that a high and mighty samurai family was in danger from their own peasants.”

  “If I had met you, then I would have kept you and your family safe from danger,” he insisted. “Whatever it took, I would have done it. As it was, it would have been simple. I would have given the peasants enough rice to feed them and to allow them to plant for next year. They would have paid me back—with interest, of course—when times were better. But there should have been no need for my help. What was your father thinking of, letting them starve?”

  I took a deep breath, trying to control my anger. This yakuza dared to question my noble father’s actions?

  “You did not know my father,” I grated. “He did what he thought was right. We did not need any help from the likes of you and would never have accepted it if it were offered. My father and brother were samurai. I am samurai. It’s impossible for you to understand what that means.”

  The words were a calculated insult. I might just as well have called him a riverbed beggar to his face. When he started to laugh, I was bewildered.

  “I apologize again, Kamakiri-chan,” he said with exaggerated politeness. “Of course the honorable samurai would never have accepted help from a mere yakuza. And naturally, a warrior woman such as you doesn’t need my help either.”

  I put my cup down carefully—it was made of very fine porcelain so transparent that I could see the tea inside, and even in the depth of my fury I had no wish to break such a lovely thing—and sprang to my feet. A second later, my hand dealt Akira a smart smack across his face.

  I wear only one ring. It is rather heavy for my hand, being a large and ornate shakudo piece that Emiko became bored with and passed on to me. I realized I must have caught Akira’s lip with it as a spurt of blood splashed across his cheek. It must have hurt him, but his expression of amusement didn’t waver. I knew I should apologize, but I was determined not to.

  “Kamakiri-san,” he said politely, “I must apologize to you once again. To have aroused such anger in an honorable samurai must have involved the most terrible discourtesy on my behalf. But of course, a mere yakuza dog such as me would never understand how to speak to a noble with the necessary courtesy.”

  I was horrified as he bowed deeply, his hands clasped humbly in front of his chest. Of course he had no idea how deeply he had insulted my father’s memory. How could he? As he had said himself, he was nothing but a yakuza. I was deeply ashamed; I should have made allowances for him.

  And then he raised his head and I saw the laughter in his eyes. I stared at him in disbelief as I realized that this low-life gangster had outwitted me. Suddenly, I saw the funny side of it and I began to laugh myself. No polite giggle, this, but rather a full-throated shout of amusement. Akira joined in with me.

  “We are far more alike than you want to think, Kamakiri,” he said finally. “We both know exactly what we want, and we would do anything to get it.”

  His words sobered me instantly. He was right, and I knew it. But could I put aside centuries of tradition? Throw away everything I had been taught was right and acknowledge him as my equal?

  “I’m sorry,” I said finally.

  Akira nodded and stared at me. I felt as if he was looking straight into my mind.

  “So am I,” he said gently.

  I paused and then spoke quickly, recalling what had brought me here. “I will be leaving Edo very shortly, and I will be gone for some time. That’s why I came to see you today. I wonder, do you remember a man from Osaka who came to Edo to work for your father? I think you must have been very young at the time, so perhaps you don’t recollect him.”

  Akira’s face was wiped clean of laughter abruptly. His eyes narrowed and I saw the man that the Floating World feared. Unexpectedly, I found myself grateful that I had no reason to be afraid of him.

  “I remember such a man very well. He betrayed my father. These things are not forgotten. What do you know about him?” I noticed Akira’s voice had changed. Suddenly, he was intensely focused on my words.

  “I have no idea what he called himself then, but I believe he’s back in the Floating World. He calls himself Hara-san now. He appears to be a rich and successful merchant who trades with the gaijin.”

  “I know him.” Akira paused, ordering his thoughts. “Or at least, I know of him. The man who betrayed my father called himself Iwo. How do you know it’s the same man?”

  “He boasted to me about his past,” I explained.

  Akira shrugged. “As would any man who wanted to impress the lovely oiran,” he said politely. “If he is yakuza, he would have irezumi tattoos. Did Kamakiri the oiran see such tattoos?”

  I was deeply grateful for the tactful way he had phrased the question. I nodded. “He had two carp on his chest. A red one on his left breast and a blue on his right. Here.” I reached forward and touched Akira’s chest, right and left. My fingers tingled. “On his back, he had a large oni mask. Snakes on both legs.” I had a sudden, inexplicable urge to justify myself. “He insisted we play rock/paper/scissors, with an item of clothing being removed for each forfeit. I beat him,” I added.

  “That is Iwo. He had the carp tattooed here in the Floating World in honor of my father. The carp were his mark. I thank you for giving him to me after all these years.”

  The air sizzled with his anger. I felt a pang of pity for Hara, and then I
remembered how he had tried to buy me. Not once, but twice. How he had been prepared to cheat and lie to keep me. The man had no honor. He deserved all he got.

  “It’s my pleasure,” I said. And I meant it. Akira was looking at me intently.

  “Hana told me that there were three men finally left in the bidding for you. I assume Iwo was one of them. And the other two? What about them?” he demanded bluntly.

  “I believe that one will be dealt with very quickly. The other is proving more difficult, but I assure you he will be found and dealt with.”

  “I hardly dare offer my help again, Kamakiri. But should you need me, then I am here.”

  His face was serious. I smiled my thanks as I stood up.

  “As I said, I will be leaving the Floating World for a while. Thank you for your hospitality, Akira-san.” His name tasted pleasant in my mouth. “Should I find I need your help to finish matters, then I will be pleased to accept your offer.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said briefly. I was about to call for Niko, but he put his hand on my arm in a gesture that said “wait.” “Now I am even more indebted to you, Kamakiri-chan. Not only have you given me my father’s enemy, but you have also given me the chance to right the wrongs inflicted on you by Hana.” He paused delicately. Once again, he had surprised me. This yakuza had far more subtlety than I had expected. I answered the unspoken question behind his words.

  “Hana did what she felt she had to do.” I frowned as I searched for the right words to explain to him. “I have already forgotten Hana’s actions.”

  I would seek no revenge on Hana, but neither would I explain why. Would Akira be puzzled if I told him that had I been in Hana’s place I would probably have taken the same chances? The gods had dictated that our paths in life should be very different. But I saw the same determination in Hana as I knew to be in my own soul. It would be too much to say I admired her, but I admitted to myself that I understood her. Besides, the wrongs that the samurai had visited on her family made me deeply uncomfortable.

  I had become lost in my thoughts. Akira’s voice recalled me to the present.

  “Thank you. By the way,” he said casually, “I wonder if you have ever come across your namesake? A blind anma who is also called Kamakiri?”

  “I believe I have heard of her,” I said carefully. “I understand she is very skilled.”

  “Yes. I heard that as well,” Akira said delicately. “She seems to have disappeared from the Floating World. That’s all to the good. Rumors are circulating that Lord Akafumu’s family want to see her very urgently.”

  My lips felt parched. I licked them with a tongue that almost equally dry. My voice was scratchy when I spoke.

  “Really? Is Lord Akafumu in need of her services?”

  “No, not now. I have heard that the anma was treating him for his pains and that he was very pleased with her. Unfortunately, his family is now insisting that she’s a witch and that she was in the pay of Akafumu’s enemies. They claim that she gave him something that caused him to lose his wits and then disappeared. Ever since she vanished, it’s said that he wants nothing but an opium pipe and can’t live without it. He cannot make any decisions. He isn’t even able to say what he wants to eat. I have been told that unless he is roused and taken by the hand like a child, he doesn’t even notice when he needs to pass water, among other things.”

  “How strange! Surely an anma cures pain, not inflicts it?” I said innocently.

  “Oh, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” Akira said. “Nothing to do with the anma at all. But unfortunately, Akafumu’s eldest son decided to petition the shogun to inherit his father’s title and estates on the grounds that his father is no longer capable of managing them. But the eldest son is not a great favorite with the shogun. Some trifling matter of a concubine, I believe.

  “In any event, the shogun in his great wisdom has agreed that Akafumu should be put aside and has also decided that the estate should not pass to the eldest son. As the next son is very young, and his other brothers even younger, the shogun has decided that the title and estate should revert to the shogunate, at least until the younger son is of an age to inherit. But who knows what will happen before then. In any event, it would be very bad for the anma if Akafumu’s eldest son found her.”

  He pursed his lips and nodded wisely. My heart was beating in a slow drum roll. I felt triumph, but there was a dreadful bitterness mixed with it. I had done this terrible thing to a once noble lord. He had surely deserved it; still, a small voice deep inside my mind nagged and soured my pleasure.

  “Probably it’s as well that the anma has disappeared,” I said neutrally. “If the gossip is true, that is.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it is. The Floating World hears everything. And this has caused a great stir. Not just amongst the ordinary people, either. I believe that even many nobles are unhappy about Akafumu’s recent behavior regarding a certain samurai lady.” He paused and I raised my eyebrows in polite question.

  “Really? And what would that be?” I asked. My voice trembled with eagerness; I hoped he had not noticed.

  “I’ve heard it said that Akafumu was too greedy. The samurai lady petitioned him to allow her to keep her family estate when her men were murdered by insurgents.” I closed my eyes with remembered pain. Akira paused and waited until I was looking at him before he continued. When he spoke, his voice was very gentle. “She was refused, of course. Akafumu insisted she marry the man her father had already selected for her. All well and good. But Akafumu should have gone further. Her new husband should have inherited her father’s estate. It’s said that as the samurai lady was of slightly higher caste than he was, he was willing to adopt the Hakuseki family name.”

  I let out my pent up breath in a gasp of disappointment. Was that all? Even if Tadatomo had taken my family name, it would only have postponed the inevitable. He had no male children. Was it at all likely at his advanced age that he could have fathered a boy? It was clutching at reeds to hope for it.

  “I see,” I said dully. “I hadn’t heard that.”

  “I thought not,” Akira said quietly. “In that case, I don’t suppose you heard the rest of the tale, either. Tadatomo was not only willing to take the Hakuseki name, he was happy to join both his estate and the larger Hakuseki lands together. What’s more, he was so delighted by his sudden good fortune that he told Akafumu that he would be happy to adopt a boy from within his own family to ensure that the Hakuseki name was carried on. Not being a noble samurai, I don’t understand such things. But I believe that would be the traditional way to deal with the situation.”

  My mouth opened and closed but no words came out. The boy child would not be mine, of course, but was that the important thing? Of course it wasn’t. The thing I had fought for, the thing I had humbled myself before Akafumu for, was that our great family name would survive. And now it appeared that I had thrown it all away by my own actions. All I had to do was wait and everything would have been well again. Instead, I had condemned Akafumu to a living death. Destroyed a great noble for nothing. I felt sick with horror.

  My voice was an unlovely croak when I managed to speak. “Akafumu was willing to do that?”

  “Oh, no. That was the trouble. Quite correctly, Tadatomo-san petitioned Akafumu with his plans. But Akafumu turned him down. Apparently, he said that he felt it was better for the Hakuseki title to revert to him at once. He used the civil unrest as an excuse, saying it was essential that the peasants shouldn’t be given any more time to rebel. Tadatomo was turned away empty-handed. And of course, if there was no land or no title involved, he was no longer interested in marrying the samurai lady. Oddly enough, she’s disappeared as well. Many think she committed suicide in despair.”

  Akira was smiling gently. Relief filled me in a rush.

  “The general opinion is that Akafumu deserved all he’s got. He’s always been an arrogant, selfish man who cared for nothing but his own comfort. But this was too much. Many say it’s simply the
gods punishing him for his pride. And if they chose to use a poor, blind anma to be their instrument, then so be it.”

  “Thank you. If the rumors about Lord Akafumu are true, I think you’re right. He got no more than he deserved.” My voice was bitter, and I went on quickly, hoping to distract him. “In any event, I am delighted we have met at last, Akira-san. Thank you for your hospitality.”

  “It was my pleasure to meet you, Kamakiri-san.” He was equally polite. “Will you be gone for long?”

  “I don’t know. It depends on how things go.” I shrugged and smiled.

  “Then take care. I look forward to seeing you when you return.”

  I called for Niko and Matsuo and walked away. I had no need to look back to know that Akira was watching us.

  Twenty-Eight

  Why do you ask my

  Opinion when you know I

  Change my mind each hour?

  “Do I really have to go back to stay in the temple house?” Niko was sulky. “I like it here, in the center of things. Why can’t I come with you? Who’s going to look after you if I’m not with you?”

  “I’ll look after myself,” I said patiently. “I need you to stay here to care for Matsuo. Besides, if word comes from Yo, you must be here to take the message.”

  Niko brightened immediately. “I can do that. Will he be back soon?” She glanced sideways at me. “I can’t imagine what he’d say if he knew you’d been to see that dreadful yakuza Akira.”

  “Didn’t you like Akira?” Why, I wondered, should it matter to me whether Niko had liked him or not?

  “No. I don’t like him at all,” she said firmly. “He frightened me. You haven’t been here long enough to hear about his reputation. He’s ruthless. Anybody who gets in his way just disappears. Or worse,” she added darkly.

  “Well, he didn’t frighten me,” I said firmly. “And anyway, it’s nothing to do with Yo who I choose to visit.”