Reunited – Chapter 19

Back home in Yamato after a few days rest, it’s time to go climbing together despite how tired I always am.

Jiro, Usagi, Kentaro, and I hit the unoccupied areas of town in the late morning, and it’s the most fun I have outside the dōjō in a long time. We spend the whole time lobbing challenges at each other, laughing and joking.

The Yamato buildings are more difficult to climb than the ones in Nishikyō. Jiro and Usagi show me how to open windows with my knife, and Kentaro offers to be my climbing partner. I bring along the wakizashi and wedge the blade in the plaster cracks to create an extra foothold when needed, a new skill Jiro teaches me on the fly.

I run across a roof and almost fall off when a few clay tiles give way, but Kentaro reaches out and grabs my shirt before I can tumble off. We make it down the beach, skip stones onto the water, and walk home. I wish we could do this every day. It’s nice to do things that feel normal.

Hoofing it up the hill to the estate, a feeling of dread washes over me when I see a few men standing guard outside. They’re not our usual guards. They step aside to let us pass, and Kentaro eyes them warily.

“Mugen, what are you doing here?” he asks, his eyes searching past the man to the house.

The front door slides open. Mariko, Beni, and Tamiko Minamoto, Kentaro’s mom, stand in the doorway. I wonder how I must look to Tamiko now, swords on my back, my wild hair and my face flushed.

Kentaro’s face falls when he sees his mother. “I’ve come to talk. Your father has left, and I don’t know if he’s coming back.”

“What?” Kentaro’s voice climbs, but Mariko hushes him and waves us all inside.

“Meet us in the dining room as soon as you’re ready,” she says to Jiro, looking me up and down with a critical eye. “You should both get changed.”

I hold back my sigh as they retreat and Jiro and I head for our room.

We towel off and get dressed quickly, and when we arrive in the dining room, Mariko and Tamiko are chatting about the estate with Sakai, Lucy, and Kentaro. Oyama set out a plate of cookies and tea, but they sit untouched on the table.

Tamiko compliments the beauty of the house and remarks on how different it is from the Minamoto estate north of the city. Minamoto separated himself from us and Maeda. Maeda chose to live in the center of town close to his new casinos, but he strikes me as a city man, not wanting to commune with nature. Nature is too unpredictable for a man who knows the odds on everything.

“This is very difficult for me, Miss Itami,” Tamiko whispers, her eyes focused on her hands. “I’ve always been close to Sakai clan. Mariko and I grew up together, and Jiro is like another son. Kentaro likes you a lot…”

Her voice tapers off, and I swallow, reaching forward for some tea to wet my dry throat. All of this preamble means big news is coming. My passive face falls over my expression of dismay, and I wait.

“Yoshinori packed a bag four days ago. He said he had business to attend to on the East Coast, and he would be gone for a few weeks.”

Oh no.

“I was confused at first. I kept asking him how he would get there and who he was going to talk to, but he refused to answer me. Then a few hours later, he was gone along with five other men in our employ.”

I calm my breathing and think passive thoughts. When I look at Kentaro, he’s fuming, his neck red and jaw clenched.

“What does this mean?” Tamiko’s eyes are wide and distressed. I want to slap her. How can she be so naive?

Kentaro snorts a bitter laugh. “It means he’s hedging his bets.”

I cannot sit still, so I rise up from my cushion.

“Lucy, Mark, get on your tablets right now and check in on ship number three. I would bet everything I own that Miura is awake and already in the capital.”

Mariko and I lock eyes with each other. She was just saying how she checks up on our enemies. Some sick instinct in my stomach tells me she’s been fed the wrong information.

Sakai and Lucy reach under the table, grab their tablets, and start tapping away.

Tamiko rises from her seat and slams her hands on the table, all the tea cups jumping with a clang. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re implying, Miss Itami…”

“It’s a race,” I respond, pointing my finger at her chair. She sinks back into it. “People are still waking up from hibernation, and while we’re at a disadvantage numbers-wise, Miura and Taira clan are going to do their damnedest to align themselves with Fujiwara before Minamoto can. Because through all of history, the battles have always been Fujiwara versus Minamoto versus Taira, right?”

Silence blankets the room and suffocates me because I’m right. Everyone knows I’m right.

“So who’s going to get to Fujiwara first?” I ask, looking up. If only the gods could tell me.

“Yoshinori would never do anything like that,” she cries, a sob bubbling up from her throat. Mariko slips her fingers into her obi and pulls out a handkerchief for Tamiko.

Kentaro laughs again and shakes his head. “You’re blind, Mother. I knew something was up. When he heard Fujiwara clan settled here, he clammed up and refused to speak to me. He’s kept me out of all the business affairs because he knows I back Sanaa one hundred percent, even over him. Minamoto and Fujiwara have been enemies and allies a million times, and even though he promised he would support Sanaa and Sakai clan, Fujiwara is the bigger prize.”

“No, Kentaro.” I shake my finger at him. “No. I am the biggest prize.”

The statement is completely asinine and presumptuous coming out of my mouth, but it’s the truth.

“Miura knows who I am, has no doubt swayed Nobu and her family to his side, and the Uchiyama twins. He holds a lot of cards, but Minamoto knows my location. Fujiwara will have to decide between Minamoto and Taira, but regardless of who he chooses, they all will be coming for me.”

I was supposed to be the next empress on this world, and Fujiwara’s position is in danger. The shrine is the key to my future.

Ping! Lucy grabs her tablet and reads over her correspondence, her eyes narrowing to slits.

“Miura has been on the East Coast now for a week. His shuttle landed south of the capital and hasn’t returned back to space.” She turns off her tablet and sighs. “He’s probably adjusting to the gravity before heading into the city. He wouldn’t want to appear weak to his future allies.”

“And Minamoto left Yamato here four days ago via shuttle,” Sakai reports, setting his tablet aside. “He landed west of the city before the mountains, and he and his crew plan to make the trip in on foot.”

This is happening so fast! I’m not ready. I’m barely back in shape, and I’m tired all of the time. I’m still somewhat afraid of the sky. I reach up and adjust the hair at the back of my head. I’m still not used to the weight of my hair on my head.

“Recall the shuttles. They don’t own them and should never have convinced the pilots to take them anywhere. We can’t leave them for Fujiwara.”

I want to pace, but I can’t let Tamiko see me anxious. Pacing makes me appear weak, and it’s bad enough I’m standing and barking orders at Sakai and Lucy who are receiving them gracefully but nonetheless are both my senior in age if not rank.

I sink into the seat next to Jiro and put my head in my hands. His arm pulls me to him across my waist, and I laugh. Wasn’t I just thinking of death in the dōjō?

“It’s a close race. Within a few days, Minamoto and Taira clan will converge on the capital. They’ll throw our anonymity away.” I suck in a breath and lift my face, rubbing my cheeks and eyes to keep from crying. “It’ll take a while to convince Fujiwara they’re not lying about coming from Earth, and once he believes them, the negotiations will begin. They’ll both offer me up on a platter, and Fujiwara will pick one. It’s only a matter of time before they make their way here.”

This is the path the rest of my life is going to take, and the rocky strip of dirt bends way to the left around a corner I can’t see beyond.

“Without access to shuttles, Fujiwara only has, what? Ships that sail on the water? Crossing the land on foot or horse? I know nothing about them, and this is happening much quicker than I expected.”

Lucy reaches across the table, grabs my hand, and tugs. “We have a few weeks, maybe three? There are high-powered telescopes on the ship. We’ll get them tasked to look at the capital before they leave orbit.”

“When will that be?”

“Less than fifteen hundred people still to wake up and bring down? Five days and then they’re gone for good. We get two shuttles until second wave gets here.”

I stare at the wood grain in the table. I’ve been betrayed, and no one saw this coming. I thought Minamoto’s hesitation was due to his family, not because he was going to give me up.

Placing both of my hands flat on the table to steady them, I count to ten in my head slowly before rising. “Tamiko, thank you for coming today. Though I’m saddened you waited so long, your obvious support will be remembered.”

Tamiko’s face pales. She’s just come to understand she’s gone against her husband by coming to me, but I have no sympathy for her or him. I always suspected Minamoto was a bastard, and I should have done something about it ages ago. Now it’s too late.