Himari

  “For the Ichiya!” Himari’s voice rang almost hoarse with her first declaration. “For Seifu!” She screamed the second words so loud she thought she might actually damage her throat. As her blade pointed at the enemy, Chikao’s signal was called, and dozens upon dozens of soldiers charged past her, moving into their formations and engaging the enemy.

  Her last words before she charged were for her ears only. “For my Father.” She set her blade at her side and ran. She had to be deliberate in her pace, especially as she felt Shugojin’s presence start to weave its way through her muscles. It would be easy for her to charge ahead of the vanguard column, and even she would not fare well alone against dozens of soldiers. But when the lines met, she leapt into the air, pushing her Aura into her legs to will herself to leap over the first rank. Spears lifted to meet her, but Shugojin instinctually batted them away to allow herself a safe landing.

  Two men immediately turned to meet her. One found a yari speared into his chest before he could attack. As her forces started to overwhelm the first rank, she thrust her weapon into the second man almost thoughtlessly, her attention on the second rank that she was to crash through before he’d even hit the ground. Spears lanced out at her, but Shugojin pushed her body towards the direction she needed to go to best evade. She followed his guidance quickly, stepping into a soldier’s guard and cutting him shoulder to hip before spinning around to jump over a thrust aimed for her chest and kick the offending guard in the face. The tactic worked incredibly well: with the first and second ranks distracted by Himari’s initial attack, her own army’s ranks were able to charge through with little resistance.

  As her forces kept pushing forward, however, Himari stayed back, allowing herself to be forgotten in the chaos of the initial melee. The fields would be stained with blood, but not hers. Her destiny lay in the forests, and in that path she traveled a mere nineteen days ago. Unfortunately, unlike that first battle, she did not have the advantage of not being expected. Even though proper lines could not form, the forest was still crawling with soldiers. She kept to the upper branches, leaping over them to avoid conflict as best as she could. To her fortune, most of the Samurai below had little way to actually pursue her. Really it was all she could do to not chuckle as some tried to follow from under her and others tried to climb the tree.

  That moment of amusement was almost cut off forever as a pull from Shugojin brought her head down just before an arrow struck the place that it had been only a moment before. She followed the shaft of the arrow down its most likely path, and her eyes narrowed as she saw Akashi. She had to dodge her head to the left again as another arrow embedded itself into the tree beside her. Just like her, he was standing on one of the thicker tree branches. Unlike her, he had a yumi and a quiver full of arrows for it to fire. As their eyes met, she let out a sigh.

  “I don’t suppose that I could ask for an explanation to why you are doing all this?” She doubted that question would go anywhere, and it was confirmed when she was forced to dodge another arrow. Her eyes darted around quickly, and she leapt to a nearby branch whose tree allowed her to take a moment out of the path of his arrows. At least until she felt a twinge from Shugojin, and ducked down just before an arrow pierced through the tree and embedded itself into one a distance away.

  “Well that’s just not fair,” she muttered as she abandoned her useless cover. She resolved for the moment to keep her path as far out of his line of sight as she could manage while also continuing to move towards her goal. With Shugojin’s help, she was able to avoid his arrows, though she noted that they were getting worryingly more difficult to dodge.

  As she reached the clearing that led to the tunnels, that worry was made manifest. As she reached the edge of the treeline, Shugojin’s warning pushed her right; but as the first arrow passed by, a second struck her left shoulder hard. She tumbled off the branch, rotating herself to land on her feet and reinforcing them with her Aura so as not to hurt herself. She didn’t have time to think about the fact that there were no soldiers directly guarding the tunnel entrance. She found Akashi quickly, but as she prepared to dodge again she realized he wasn’t firing.

  Instead, Akashi dropped down from the tree and set down his bow. “There is a reason your Father was never reliant on Shugojin’s power,” he explained dully. “Its senses are rather unfortunately fallible. A useful tool, but not one that should be overly relied on. Still, I must commend you, Sato Himari. That arrow should have pierced clean through your shoulder, and yet it only knocked you from the trees. You have developed your Aura greatly in a short time.”

  Akashi drew his sword, and Himari did the same. Her eyes searched, but neither she nor Shugojin could find any hints of others. For the moment, at least, it seemed they were alone. “Before we begin, let me ask you something,” Himari said with a breath. “Why did you betray my father?”

  “I didn’t. My loyalty to Sato Kosuke is absolute, even now. He would hurt to see you still fighting on their behalf, Himari-san.”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Liar!” Himari felt a moment of rage as she dashed forward, her katana striking directly for his neck. As he raised his weapon to block, she slashed down instead, cutting the tendons in his right wrist. But instead of a scream of pain, his left hand struck her in the face, sending her sprawling.

  As she spun back to her feet, she prepared for his counter attack, but none came. To her surprise, he took a traditional kenjutsu stance, the damage to his tendons not seeming to bother him at all. As she looked at him closer, she realized that the tendon had already healed.

  “How-”

  “Fire Aura,” he said simply, answering the question before she could complete it. “I forget that your father neglected to teach you about your Aura. That you can handle it at all, I would admit, is impressive. Who was your teacher?”

  “As if I am about to admit anything to you,” she said, taking a breath to return herself to calm. “Apologies, but I don’t have time to moralize with you.” She took position two, closing the distance on him more slowly this time. He brought his weapon up to block almost casually, and as she struck for his shoulder he simply blocked with his arm, letting her blade cut him then close.

  “Well,” his head tilted. He looked almost… bored. “I hope this is not the energy you plan to bring against Takahashi Makoto. You will not last long if so.”

  “Shut up!” She gripped Shugojin tightly. This time, as she swung for his neck, she responded to his block by kicking him in the stomach. He doubled over with a surprised cough. “I’m not here to listen to you lecture me. I’m here to kill Takahashi Makoto, and anyone who stands between her and I. So hurry up and die!” She slashed down at his neck again, but her blade was caught by a quick thrust of his palm to her hands. She backed up again, eyes squinting.

  “Why aren’t you attacking with your Aura?” He asked impassively. “With your strength, you should have killed me by now. Why are you holding your Aura back?”

  She grimaced. She had been holding it back, not wanting to stretch herself too hard before her battle with Makoto. But he was too good for her not to go harder. That much was true. Still, something about this was bothering her. “Since you put down your bow, you’ve only defended yourself. Why?”

  “Answers must be earned, Himari-san. Show me that you deserve to take the next step forward.” This time, it was his turn to take position two. As he held his blade high above his head, she adjusted into position four, keeping her blade close to her chest as she studied him carefully. As he shifted down into a very relaxed position one, she shifted as well. This time, she moved to position five: Her right foot slid in line behind her left, and her blade pointed back and away from her.

  This time, as he adjusted back to position two, she kept her position even. The two stared for a long moment. And it was Akashi who charged forward, bringing his blade down. She pushed her Aura into her legs and spun around the slash, her blade coming up with her spin and striking into his heart.

  Realization set in swiftly for Akashi. As he slumped to the ground, he let out a cough, blood splattering from his mouth and onto his clothes. “Impressive,” he managed weakly. “Kosuke-sama would be proud…”

  Her blade slipped out of him, and she dropped to a kneel as she sheathed it. “I have more questions,” she hissed. “Put yourself back together.”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” he coughed. “Fire can heal wounds, sure. Cauterizing a severed vein is a neat trick, no? But I can’t fix my heart.”

  She let out a frustrated grunt. “Why did you side with her?”

  “Because your father ordered me to,” he let out a cough. Shakily, he reached his hand into his obi and pulled out a simple letter. “He wanted me to make sure to live long enough to see this handed to you. Only read it after you have defeated Takahashi Makoto.” Another cough full of blood. He was fading. “I… wish I could have been there to guide you, Himari-san. I am glad to see that Misao-san did a good job.”

  “No, wait,” Himari took the letter, but panic set in. “Why did he order you to do that? Akashi-san, what was my father’s goal, I don’t understand!”

  But by the time she had begun asking the questions, it was far too late. Akashi’s eyes had closed, and his lips only moved long enough to say. “I am thankful that he found a place for me…”

  Himari watched him for a moment, just to make sure this was no trick. But Akashi was well and truly dead. She bowed low to him, her face set carefully neutral. “Thank you for the lesson, Akashi-san.”

  Himari made her way to the old entrance and took a deep breath. Memories of the last time she was here began to flood back. She wasn’t alone then. Even through her distrust, Maiko had been there. She took a deep breath and prayed that Maiko would be there this time.

  A crackle of wood alerted Himari that she wasn’t fully alone. She turned around, hand on her blade, only to see Horobei and Sakura appear from the tree line. She blinked in surprise, tilting her head to express a ‘why’ she couldn’t quite verbalize in the moment.

  Sakura, meanwhile, gave a grim smile. “Horobei-san insisted that you not do this alone. When I tried to talk him out of it, he ran into the forest. And, well… I assumed he wouldn’t know how to find you, so I chased after to make sure he didn’t get himself killed.”

  “My Emperor-” Himari began, before a sudden lift of Horobei’s hand cut her off.

  “Himari-san. You must realize that I need to be part of this confrontation. If I am to sit on the throne, I must answer Takahashi Makoto’s challenges. We both know this to be true so please. Do not fight me on this.”

  Himari opened her mouth to speak, but the glare he gave her told her that there was nothing that she could do. She shook her head and laughed, but eventually acquiesced. “Fine. Stay behind me, and leave the fighting to me. Let’s go.”

  The three made their way into the tunnel system. The pull of destiny calling Himari ever forward.