Removed – Chapter 33

I’m plagued by nightmares all night long. It’s the first time I ever dream of the colonization. I’m on a ship, backed into a corner by Miura, his sword held high, and I have nothing to defend myself. A door closes, and the air in the room is sucked out around me. Stars. It’s night, and I’m in a field of tall grass that sways and swirls at my feet, alive. I try to move and get out but the grass claws at my clothes, pulling me and pushing me so I can’t run anywhere, can’t lift my feet, can’t move. I strip off my pants and shirt so the grass has nothing to hold on to, but it climbs up my skin. I scream but my voice is silent.

“Sanaa, wake up.”

“No, no! Get it off of me. Get it off!” I jump up out of bed, sweating and panting but unable to see anything in the pitch black.

It takes a moment to properly wake up and realize I’m out of bed in my apartment, Jiro’s profile lit by the numbers from the clock face, and not being dragged to my death by living grass.

“Come back to bed,” Jiro says, his arm extended out for me. “It was just a dream.”

I stand and blink my eyes at the bed a few times to make sure nothing is there, nothing but Jiro. I climb back in bed next to him half asleep.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Jiro asks as he puts his arm around me. Looking at the clock, the time is three-thirty-five.

I shake my head. “No. I just remember grass. That’s it.” I blow out a deep breath. “I haven’t had nightmares in weeks. Sorry. Sorry I woke you.”

“It’s fine. I doubt you’ll remember anything in the morning.”

I’ll be thankful for that. I’m becoming increasingly afraid of what’s going to happen to me in the colonization. Too many things could go wrong.

“Jiro, what scares you? It seems like nothing does.” I pull at his shirt and let the fabric snap back against his body.

“Of course I get scared.” He hugs me, yawning at the same time. “What scares me most is losing my family, losing the people I love. So when I do family business and I’m close to drawing my sword to defend myself, you, or anyone else, the first thing I think about is losing the fight and how I can’t, but I set the fear aside and not let it control me.”

I’ve got to figure out how to make it easy for me, as well. Right now, I try to control my fear in so many different ways: physical exercising, pacing, talking, even sex. I should pick something and stick with it.

Jiro swipes away the hair on my neck and kisses me there. “With time, you can get better at managing fear. The fear you can control, at least. We’ll have to work on the other things.”

Someday he’s going to make me go back outside again. I’m not looking forward to it.

Our door chimes early in the morning, just half past eight, so I slip from bed, grab my robe, twist up my hair, and find Jiro is sitting at the table drinking tea.

The readout on the door panel says Sakai and Usagi are waiting in the hallway

I’m glad Jiro and I are the only people authorized to this apartment.

“Koichi and I have been talking about this all morning,” he says, coming straight in with no greeting. Hello, Sakai. Nice to see you too. “We think Matsuda is too much of a wild card to trust right now. We’ve called a meeting of all three heads of the clans, and we’re going to out ourselves to them. Tonight.”

“What?” Jiro and I ask at the same time.

“You heard me. Tonight, as in…” He looks at the wall clock. “Twelve hours from now. Do whatever you need to do to get ready for this. We’re meeting in the general assembly room on the first floor of the Ame Okiya, and Usagi will brief you on all the exits and escape routes.”

“I have everything set, Sakai.” Usagi gestures to the tablet in his hand.

“Sanaa, how do you want to do this?” Sakai asks.

“What? What do you mean how do I want to do this? You don’t have a plan?” Panic. I’m panicking and spurred into pacing the room, back and forth. “Aren’t I a little under-qualified for this sort of thing?”

“I spoke with Jiro about what happened in the alley behind Izakaya Tanaka,” Sakai says, and my head snaps to Jiro. Jiro quickly looks at the ceiling. I narrow my eyes at him. “He said you were quick to think on your feet and performed well under pressure.”

I sigh and look at the ceiling. This is madness.

Okay. Deep breath. I work best when I fly by the seat of my pants.

I just need a little forethought, that’s all.

I sit down on the couch and begin to form a plan.

We stride into the Ame Okiya eight people deep. Sakai and Koichi followed by a guard in front, Jiro and me together, and Usagi brings up the rear with two other men. Paper screens are moved aside for us, but no one dares to speak or direct us.

I have the escape routes mapped out in my head, and Kazenoho on my back. Actually, everyone but Sakai and Koichi carry weapons. I wonder if Sakai has ever held a katana. He must have. I can imagine one in his hand. It’s not a stretch.

As we approach the okiya meeting room, a rush of adrenaline comes coursing into my veins with every heartbeat. I take a deep breath and smooth out the front of my butter yellow kimono, glancing at Sakai, Koichi, and Jiro all next to me. I hope I don’t regret anything I say tonight. I’m usually pretty good about holding my tongue, but I cannot be held accountable when there is this much anxiety in me, addling my brain and causing my stomach to clench. I spent most of the afternoon pacing the apartment.

We stop and form up outside of the last screen door to the meeting room, and two okiya staff members slide them open for us. Sakai and Koichi are blocking my view but they immediately walk in and to the right. I enter forward and stand at the table, Jiro beside me. Several men on the other side sit seiza. They all distanced themselves from each other, and I smile lightly. When was the last time Yoshinori Minamoto, Tomio Miura, and Noburo Maeda were in the same room together? Probably never.

I let everyone file into the room and sit seiza first before I take the center position. I look at each of these men in the eye as dispassionately as I can. I’ve watched them for so long, and now they are in front of me.

Don’t blow it, Sanaa.

I’m not surprised Matsuda is hanging back behind Miura. His eyes are steady on me behind the hair falling over his face, no doubt thinking of our meeting last night. Things are not going according to his plan. He leans forward to whisper in Miura’s ear. Surprise hits Miura’s face, and he is about to speak out and try to get the first word in. Not happening.

“You would do best to listen to Mark Sakai before you make a very… big… mistake.” The words are out of my mouth before I can even check myself.

Sakai lightly clears his throat.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice. I know scheduling is difficult when we all have important business to attend to.” He stops to bow. You’re so diplomatic, Sakai.

“We are less than a year away from the launch of our first ship to Yūsei, and it’s time you heard the truth.”

Maeda huffs. “The truth of what, Sakai? Who is this little girl?”

“This little girl,” I say, meeting his cold, hard glare, “is your empress. You will not refer to me in such a manner again.” I may be a small, twenty year old girl, but I can command a man now. I need to believe I’m in control, even if I feel very far from it. Maeda will not respect me if I don’t command respect. “If you know what’s best for you, you will bow to me now.”

Minamoto, the smartest of the bunch, is already making his way to the floor, forehead touched to the tatami.

Koichi whistles low. “I’d bow if I were you. Sanaa does not take kindly to this sort of insubordination.”

I take the index finger of my right hand and point it directly at Maeda, moving it slowly to the mat. I hold my breath as Miura and Matsuda bow. Maeda is the last to touch his forehead to the mat, and I will not forget it. I have a limited amount of time to gain this man’s respect before he tries to kill me because I just insulted his status in front of everyone. I better give a lot of thought as to how to win him over.

“Thank you, gentleman. I am Sanaa Itami, last in the Kiku line, and rightful heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne.” Sakai eyes me out of my peripheral vision. I had been thinking about my name in the back of my head since I found out the truth of my family. I love my first name, but I want to carry my mother’s name now. Griffin doesn’t sound right to me anymore.

“If you need proof, we will provide it. I am not as dead as you once thought I was. My mother, Junko Itami, was prepared to take the throne, and in her absence, it is my duty to unite us all on Yūsei. Before colonization, I will ask each of you to support me in my rule of New Japan. I am prepared to take us there together, as one nation, and I will not tolerate war amongst the clans or against non-Japanese. We must work together or all hope will be lost.”

Miura is the first to interrupt. “What makes you think…”

I raise my hand to silence him, and Jiro’s hand flashes to Oninoten. The motion is not lost on Miura. He settles back on his feet and Jiro relaxes.

“I’m supported by Sakai clan currently. I’m giving each of you five days to think this over carefully. You will either support me along with Sakai or you will be against me. I have the best wishes of Nishikyō and Yūsei at heart. You will concede if you want what’s best for your people.”

I turn to Sakai and nod my head. He looks at each of them. “Minamoto, Miura, and Maeda, you will deliver your answers to me within five days.”

“If you have business with me, you take it up with Sakai. No one else but him speaks for me. Understood?”

They all nod to me.

“Very well.” I rise to go and am happy each man bows immediately as I stand. The doors open, and I walk out with everyone at my rear.

That’s how I like it. Short, sweet, and to the point. Now we wait.