Reunited – Chapter 18

My only reaction to this news is to drink. Heavily.

Once we’re at the ryokan and the men are gone, Mariko, Beni, and I sit out on the front porch, drink saké, and eat chocolates for a good long time without saying anything. I let them sit in the two lounge chairs and perch myself on the edge of the deck, my feet on the ground below with Kazenoho behind me. The ryokan owners have gone home, and it’s just us here. Bugs buzz in the garden, but the birds are all asleep. The two restaurants on this block are busy, but the street traffic is petering out as curfew draws near.

“Are you all right?” Beni asks, breaking off a square of chocolate.

I throw back my head with a shot of saké. Numb everything. Numb away the doubts and fears. I wish I were alone with Jiro. I’d jump into bed with him and have him melt away my stress. He’s so terribly good at that. But I shouldn’t be bitter with Mariko and Beni.

“Where did you all go for dinner?” I ask, dodging her question.

“An izakaya,” Mariko responds. “It was excellent. A fusion Japanese Thai place. I had a curry that was spicy.”

“I love spicy food. Oyama’s green curry is pretty darn good.”

“Anything Oyama makes is pretty darn good,” Mariko says with a laugh, and we both say, “The best dokumiyaku in all of Nishikyō,” together. I’ll never forget the first lunch I had with Mariko when she told me of what happened with her and Tadao, and Jiro. I learned so many secrets that day, and yet still so many have been kept from me since then.

“Kentaro’s curry was so hot he was sweating and drinking all the water on the table.” Beni laughs and shakes her head. “Hopefully he sweat out the last of his hangover.”

I sigh and lean back, resting my hands behind me past Kazenoho. “I think it’s going to rain soon. I can smell it.” The air is rich with water, the breeze soft on my skin. Looking up at the sky past the ryokan’s overhang, the stars are still visible but patchy clouds zip by at a fast pace.

“Oyama used to cook curries all the time for me and Risa back in Nishikyō. It was my favorite part of having him live down the hall.” Beni sighs and leans back into her chair.

“I wonder what the hell happened to Risa. I never saw her again after I almost strangled her.”

“She’s asleep or should be. I know she was due to wake up any time now.” Mariko leans forward as Beni fills up her cup.

“Oh, I didn’t realize she was on first wave with us.” I had hoped I would never run into her again.

“Until we left Yamato yesterday, I kept track of them via the ship’s captain. Risa, Nobu, and Yukio Yamamoto. Kazuo and Sachi Uchiyama. All of Clan Taira including Tomio Miura, his wife, Chie, and his two daughters. Emiko Matsuda. I don’t feel safe… I don’t feel like my family’s safe unless I know where they are at all times.”

I pour myself another small cupful of saké and slam it back. Is the world fuzzy yet? Nope. Close though.

“Sanaa, take it easy on the saké,” Beni says. “Have more chocolate.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll do that.”

Both Beni and Mariko break into laughter, and I open the chocolate as the sound of men’s voices come around the house next door and into our little garden.

“See? I told you new women were staying here.”

“And look! There are three of them. Perfect. We’ll have our choice.”

My body freezes as one of three men enters the gate to the ryokan and steps up the path to the house. I jump to my feet and hold Kazenoho behind my back. My heart starts to race and endorphins rush through me pushing aside the alcohol haze I just started to enjoy.

“Beni, Mariko, get inside.”

They start to stand up but stop as one of the men vaults the small hedge and beelines straight for Beni and Mariko’s chairs.

“Stop!” I yell, in my best, most stern Japanese voice. Must remember to speak in Japanese though all my cells are soaked in saké. “Don’t come any closer. Who do you think you are, trespassing on private property?”

The man in front steps towards me. With his face in the light from the porch, his eyes are glazed over and bloodshot, his upper lip dotted with perspiration. “You’re out past ten and at a ryokan. Surely, you’re looking for a trick.”

The back of my neck starts to sweat. Maybe we should have gone inside earlier. “We’re not prostitutes. We’re guests and having a drink before turning in. You will leave.”

“I don’t think sssssso,” he slurs, swaying. Another breeze kicks up and a rumble of thunder purrs up the street from the coast.

From behind him, one of the other men lurches forward. “Come on. Only whores stay out past ten, and my wife isn’t home for another two days. Oi,” he says, punching the man in front of him in the shoulder, “I’ll take the small one. She can’t be more than seventeen or eighteen.”

What? I know I’m small, but I’m pretty sure I look over twenty now. The booze these men drank is making them stupid.

“You men will leave before I call the police.” Beni steps forward and pushes the man in front backwards. “Go on. Don’t cause trouble.”

He reels back to smack her across the face. Beni blocks him with her left hand and jabs him in the throat with her right. Nice move, Beni!

“Ow!” He doubles over, coughing, and then pukes into the bushes.

The two men behind him rush forward to grab Beni, anger and violence seeping from their pores. She backs up, stumbling over the porch and crashing into Mariko. This is out of hand way too quickly. If they had just left, everything would be fine.

I step in front of Beni and Mariko and draw Kazenoho. Yes, I’m drunk, but adrenaline rushes through me at full force.

I take the tip of Kazenoho and bring it straight to the neck of the second man, the man who thought I looked young. He freezes. Everything freezes, even the first guy puking in the bushes. I’m the only one able to move.

“How does small and seventeen or eighteen look now, huh? Thought you were getting some weak little virgin? Thought maybe you’d try your luck with some ladies staying at the local ryokan instead of checking out the love hotels? Thought you’d get a bargain?”

Silence.

“Speak! I just asked at least four questions in a row!”

Oops, I switched to English. Too late now.

“N-n-n-n-no.” His knees actually shake. Good. His other companion on his feet backs all the way to the fence.

I inch Kazenoho forward so the blade touches the skin of his neck. “Stupid men always think with their dicks instead of their brains. You want a prostitute for the night, get one properly. I could shave your neck with this sword, I’m that good. Is that what you want? One more gram of pressure, and I’ll draw blood. Back up. Now,” I growl. This anonymous man is getting a taste of what it’s like to piss me off when I’m drunk and I have a sword. Bet he didn’t bargain on that tonight.

He takes one step back, and without taking my eyes from him, I kick the man in the bushes. “Get up!” He scrambles to his feet and runs for the road without looking back.

“Keep going,” I command the man I have under Kazenoho, and he backs up another step, and another, and I follow him until he’s at the street.

“Go home. Never come back to this ryokan again.”

Before I can back away from him to let him go, he thinks better of his deal and tries to duck and lunge for me. I twitch Kazenoho and lightly graze his cheek, drawing blood.

“Ouch! Bitch!” His hand pulls away from his face blood red. I move Kazenoho to his chest in a ready stance, both hands on the grip but the blade turned up and the tip curving down. One thrust and he’s dead.

We’re watching each other closely. He’s got size and strength on me, but I have the sword, and I’m not injured. Blood pours off his face.

I laugh bitterly. Really, this is not how I wanted to spend the evening.

“And I’ve been drinking saké all night! Yet my reflexes are still better than yours. Shame on you for not letting women carry swords.”

“What’s going on here?” From off to the left, a man approaches, sees me with the sword, and this drunk, insolent bastard at my mercy, and stops.

“This man and his friends thought they would accost women drinking at home on private property because they were looking for sex.”

The man at Kazenoho’s tip takes a hesitant step backward, and when I don’t follow, he breaks off in a run, his friend following him. Another rumble of thunder peals through the sky as dark clouds rich with lightning settle upon the city.

“Don’t even think about coming back here ever!” I yell after him. Shit. I’ve had too much to drink, and I’ve drawn my sword in public. Mariko and Beni run up behind me and look down the road after them before we all turn to the man who stepped in.

“I know you,” he says, stepping into the light of a street lamp above us, a smile on his face. It’s Kazuki’s rider, the man who winked and flirted with me. “My horse hasn’t been the same since he caught wind of you. I suspect he’s in love.”

“I like your horse. I never see horses.”

He frowns, cocking his head, as Beni whispers, “Shhh, Sanaa!” from behind me.

I rest Kazenoho down at my side, and his eyes follow it but otherwise he stays where he is, one hand stroking his short beard, and the other in his pocket.

“Your English is perfect, and with an accent I’ve not heard before. It’s not every day I come upon a woman wielding a sword in the streets at night. And doing it so well, I might add.”

“He had it coming.” I’m suddenly really, really drunk. The adrenaline is gone. Now my lips are numb, and I can’t stand up straight.

He smiles at me and nods. “I imagine he did. In this part of town, you definitely shouldn’t be out past ten. Even on your own porch. If you were staying in the southern quarters, there would be bars you could go to at all hours, but not here.”

Hmmm, that’s good to know. Maybe we’re just in the wrong part of town.

“And to whom do I owe gratitude for such cultural wisdom?”

“Sanaa,” Mariko whispers harshly under her breath, but the man laughs, and steps closer to me. We’re now both directly under a street light, and even in my drunken state, I can tell from his eyes that he’s trustworthy.

“If you don’t know who I am then you must not be from around here. I’m Arata Sasaki. And you’re from?” He gazes into my face, confusion crossing his features. The last time he saw me, I hid behind Jiro. Now he can see my half-blood features up close.

I smile up at him sweetly and bat my eyelashes. “Guess.”

I look up at the stars and sigh. That’s where I’m from. If only I could go back there.

Mariko grabs my arm and pulls me towards the gate. “Come, Sanaa. You should rest.”

“Oh shit. What the hell happened here?” Is that Kentaro? My head snaps around, and when it stops, the world still spins. Woo! It’s a party in the street! Yes, it’s Kentaro! He’s holding my flushed cheeks in his hands, and his eyes sweep over my face, down my body, to Kazenoho. “Why is she wasted with Kazenoho out? Sanaa, what happened?”

“Wait.” Arata Sasaki walks forward with his arm out. “There’s no way those men will leave and go home. They’re bound to go to the hospital and the police. Only men wildly looking for sex with anyone would be the conservative type. They’ll not let this go, especially a woman with a sword. You should leave tonight.”

“Leave?” Kentaro pales, and I smile drunkenly at him. “What happened? Did someone try something with you?”

“Pshaw! It was nothing. You and Jiro taught me well.”

“Shhh…” He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and puts his forehead against mine briefly. Aw, Kentaro. “Thank you. We’ll leave.” Kentaro nods at Arata, and Arata smiles and raises his shoulders at me.

“Until next time,” he says, walking off into the dark beyond the circle of lamplight. The street brightens with a bolt of lightning, I blink my eyes, but he’s already gone.