#hatsumode

Something didn’t quite add up, Yahiko Myojin mused while wearing Masahiro Takae’s straw hat, an eye of his peering through a single slit of the headgear while he remembered the threat leveled at him by Takae’s vengeful son, Kaita Takae.

If the Sanada Ninja Clan had ties to the Brigands Guild via Masahiro Takae, why was Takae’s son working for the Minakatas and helping Kinta against them?

Was there no honor among thieves, er, mercenaries? Was Takae’s allegiance with the Brigands unrelated to his allegiance to his ninja clan? Were the Sanadas allies or enemies of the Brigands?

Then again, that vengeful ninja was the least of his worries and he was already running out of time. Should he even serve as interloper over business he’d otherwise have nothing to do with?

In any case, Kaita’s revenge was just one of the many things Yahiko had to worry about. He had a lot on his plate.

Myojin had gone through much in his wandering trip from Tokyo to Nagano to Naouetsu to Hakata to Fukuoka to his “little detour” in Yokohama instead of going straight to Kyoto.

(It wasn’t really a detour. He could get a ship or train straight to Kyoto at any time to meet with Kenshin’s master, Hiko Seijuro XIII, from there.)

In fairness, he got a lot of training done all the way to Fukuoka City before deciding to investigate the Brigands Guild incident that had ties with the Sakaguchis of Shinshu.

He also learned a lot training at the Sakaguchi Dojo alongside the students of Musou Madden Ryu, even though Kamiya Kasshin Ryu kendo didn’t involve as much iaido or battoujutsu as, say, even Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu did.

To be quite frank, him witnessing Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu battoujutsu in-person allowed him to counter most of their iaido forms, strikes, and variations.

New-school iaido offered nothing Yahiko hadn’t already seen from old-school battoujutsu, especially the superhuman version of the school that Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu practitioners used.

The only technique comparable to the sheer speed of the Sou Ryu Sen (Double Dragon Flash) or even the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash) was probably Kinta’s Full Moon Slash or Blue Moon Slash.

Yahiko wasn’t sure he’d count the riposte known as the Tsubame Gaeshi (Swallow Return) as a point of comparison. That wasn’t even a Musou Madden Ryu technique, much less an iaido one.

However, from a certain point of view, that ancient technique of the legendary swordsman Kojiro Sasaki was probably more comparable to the Hirameki than the Blue Moon Slash (since Hiten Mtisurugi Ryu was around at least since the Sengoku Era, after all).

He was getting sidetracked again. He didn’t wish to become an interloper in some rich samurai family’s business, but their ties to the Battousai Group and the prospect of dealing with the formidable Brigands Guild drew him in.

It couldn’t be a coincidence how even the Battousai of Speed knew about the Mimawarigumi Battousai. Or why there was a sudden rise of people claiming to be Battousai since the Hiruma Brothers did so in Tokyo all those years ago.

Also, the Minakatas were directly involved with his new friends from Shinshu, the Sakaguchis, who were also friends with the Akahoris.

Besides, why did he undergo this warrior’s pilgrimage in the first place? Of course, to somehow live up to the examples of Sanosuke Sagara and Kenshin Himura.

By reflex, Yahiko gripped the cloth-bound sakabatou tight, wondering what Kenshin’s capabilities were when he was his age.

‘I have to catch up to Kenshin,’ he realized. ‘I’m already this old and I still have a lot of growing up to do. Kenshin was already helping change Japan as the Battousai by the time I was his age!’

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

You know who Soujiro Seta reminds me of? He reminds me of Xellos from the “Slayers” universe. He even serves the same function here in the story, aside from being the Rukawa to Yahiko’s Sakuragi.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 62: Hatsumode

***

Among East Asian nations, Japan was among the first to begin using the Gregorian Calendar in 1873, followed by Korea in 1896 and China in 1912.

They used it instead of the more traditional Lunar Calendar as the standard for official and international matters.

The world had left behind Isolationist Japan, and now a new Globalist Japan was playing catchup to it.

To be more specific, Japan officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on January 1, 1873 as part of broader modernization efforts during the Meiji Era.

Currently, in the middle of December 1884 in Yokohama, they were in the midst of celebrating another Gregorian New Year with the rest of the “civilized” world.

And indeed, they were a week or so away from January 1, 1885 of the Gregorian Calendar. In Japanese terms, they were on the cusp of the 18th Year of the Meiji Era.

The first sunrise of the year (Hatsu-Hinode) was fast approaching in the advent of 1884 or the 17th Year of the Meiji Era.

Thusly, the impatient Kinta Minakata willed his battered and bruised body to heal even though its damage was more self-inflicted due to him using Musou Madden Ryu’s deadliest techniques than any damage his bastard brother Lucas had done to him.

In Shinto, the traditional Japanese religion, people believed that the toshigami (New Year gods) appeared at the first sunrise to bless their followers with good health, good fortune, and prosperity.

He wished to witness the first sunrise of 1885 or the 18th Year of the Meiji Era to bring blessings and good tidings for the coming year.

To save his cursed family from self-destruction and upcoming karma from a half-brother who had every right to vengeance.

Kinta could not let Lucas massacre his family because it could undo what he worked for as a Mimawarigumi member during the Bakumatsu. He brought honor back to the Minakata name.

After witnessing the first sunrise, many people visited shrines or temples for the first time of the year, a practice called hatsumode or hatsumōde.

He wished to visit the shrine in peace with the Sakaguchis to protect them from becoming collateral damage from the sins of his father and grandfather. The sins of the Seiryu Clan.

The last thing he wanted was for the loyal samurai family that had been under their hatamoto samurai masters for years to take accountability for crimes they didn’t commit on behalf of the Minakatas.

The wish he wanted in his heart of hearts was the unlikeliest wish to come true.

That his surviving family members—his grandmother Mieko and his two uncles, Tatsuya and Kaneda—would turn a new leaf and take responsibility for all their dishonorable behavior in the past.

They’d besmirched the Minakata Family name far more with what they’d been doing in the dark than what his disgraced mother Aoi did in the light.

Kinta shook his head while he kept staring at the ceiling of his private hospital room quarters, a sleeping Abelia serving as his nursemaid and liaison to the actual nurses.

With him alone with his thoughts, unable to do anything else but wait and heal.

Unbelievable. Had it been 18 years already? 18 years since the End of the Shogunate. The End of the Civil War. The End of the Samurai Class.

Time flew by without him noticing. He was roughly Kyoko’s age by the time the Bakumatsu drew to a close.

She, like her friend Yahiko Myojin, were born right after the revolution.

There was a whole entire generation who never witnessed the bloodshed and death that transpired to build the peaceful era they currently enjoyed.

It was for them and the generations beyond them that moved Kinta to act even against his bastard brother he’d otherwise have no grudge against.

He also fought for the sake of the Shidai Nikuya (Four Butchers) who, despite being the bakufu’s enemies, he considered his most worthy opponents.

The Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu: Shinbei Tanaka. Izo Okada. Toshiaki Kirino. And Gensai Kawakami.

***

With the confidence that the Oniwaban or Niwaban had his back (technically—they at least had common goals), Yahiko Myojin set forth to do some investigating of his own.

The Seiryu Clan was one of the Shitennou Ichizoku (Clans of the Four Heavenly Kings) who kept a Black Book of Tokugawa and Ishin Shishi secret documents for their own nefarious purposes.

The volumes contained records of names, plans, and crimes that the government whitewashed because history was rewritten by the winners. The logs even had links to people in high places, like Hirobumi Ito or Count Kiyotaka Kuroda.

Kinta somehow uncovered the secret logs and with the help of the Sanada Ninja Clan, searched for the rest of the chapters of the Black Book as covered by the Seiryu Clan.

They could use the information contained from such files to black mail or manipulate the current administration or create a scandal that rocked the foundations of the government.

The Seiryu Clan’s Minakatas had already used their copies of the Black Book documents to blackmail the Meiji Government to giving them government influence as oligarchs themselves even though the same government abolished the samurai class.

According to Aoshi Shinomori, the hit against the entire Minakata Family might be a move done by one of the four clans to take sole control of this library of national security secrets.

This encyclopedia of espionage, betrayals, and war crimes documented everything known and unknown in the history books, such as the mysterious circumstances behind the death of Ryoma Sakamoto or even Toshimichi Okubo’s assassination.

It could even reveal who hired the Yaminobu to take out Kenshin Himura as well as the masterminds behind the betrayal of the Sekihoutai that led to the death of Sanosuke’s beloved Captain Sozo Sagara.

It even recorded the existence of the Ishin Shishi shadow assassin Makoto Shishio and his own faction of misfits, the Juppon Gatana.

This was the dreaded paper trail that both the Ishin Shishi and the Tokugawa thought they’d burn to ashes once either emerged as the ultimate victors and rewrote history as the winners of the war.

These fat cat Meiji politicians and oligarchs had no carte blanche with every decision, action, and atrocity they committed in the name of Japan’s future now that there were receipts included.

Neither side was completely faultless. As with any war where everything was “fair”, they each did dishonorable things to survive and win by any means necessary.

What did all this have to do with the rumors of a rebel Battousai Group that was also formed to topple the Meiji Government?

Apparently, several members of the group were rumored to be part of the clans or were somehow involved with them.

This was the case of Shogo Amakusa and Kaede Morinaga attempting to assassinate Tetsuo Akahori, whose brother was Kinta Minakata’s disgraced father Azuma Minakata (nee Akahori).

Since this was the only clue Yahiko had so far (aside from having the Battousai of Speed as a dormant traveling companion in the form of her alter ego, Munenori Minoe), he decided to stick around a little while longer in Yokohama.

Something was bound to come to a head if he kept pushing and prodding this case that was otherwise unrelated to him involving odious oligarchs cut from the same cloth as Jusanro Tani.

Besides which, regardless of Yahiko’s lack of a dog in this fight for national secrets and links to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Black Book remained… concerning.

Some of its most vital information was so sensitive that they were also a matter of national security. It was downright treasonous for these spy clans to harbor such secrets, especially with a government seeking to establish itself on the global scene.

If this information were to fall in the wrong hands, like any of the current worldwide superpowers, it could spell doom and gloom for not only the Meiji Government but for the Empire of Japan.

Anyone who had the complete volumes could put all oligarchs of the Meiji Oligarchy under their thumb because many of those politicians weren’t clean and had career-ending sins.

The potential for political upheaval, another civil war, revolution, foreign interference, or even invasion by the more expansionist countries was too great for Myojin to ignore the Black Book regardless of its link to corrupt politicians.

He’d normally be all for draining the swamp and getting rid of the crocs underneath, but like Kenshin, he was more concerned of its impact on normal folk.

He probably should be more concerned about this Four Clans business as much as (if not more than) the terrorist assassination group named after Kenshin.

It was a time bomb waiting to explode, with each of the clans (as far as he knew)—Seiryu, Byakko, Genbu, and Suzaku—serving as the four lit fuses to the explosive exposé.

Sooner or later, he himself might need to defuse that bomb too. Otherwise, the upcoming 18th Year of the Meiji might become its last.

***

As Yahiko did his morning jog in Yokohama, he saw someone familiar. Two someones, actually.

To his surprise, he could’ve sworn he just saw Kenshin pass him by, which prompted him to wield his wrapped-up sakabatou inheritance at a familiar face.

An eye blink later, he realized he’d been pointing his weapon at a surprised (and bandaged) Munenori Minoe. Minoe was traveling alongside their thuggish brute of a friend, the Great Gan.

The eye-patched person with the purple wig blinked at him in return. “Yahiko-chi…?”

Myojin relaxed his tense body and slung his blade over his shoulder again. ‘I really do have lots more to work on if I’m getting spooked by Minoe of all people.’

Inwardly, a voice inside Yahiko chided him for thinking that way. What was he even talking about? Without the wig and eyepatch, Minoe was the spirit and image of Kenshin Himura!

Kaede Morinaga. The Battousai of Speed. The assassin that almost took a minister’s life. Tetsuo Akahori’s life.

Meanwhile, in contrast, Yahiko was attempting to save another Battousai—the Mimawarigumi Battousai—and his rich family from harm against mercenaries overseas.

Was he still supposed to pretend Minoe wasn’t Kaede after everything they’d been through? Should he continue the charade that neither of them believed in?

To this day, they had to keep pretending to be comrades, waiting for the other shoe to drop where they couldn’t deny their allegiances any longer and draw swords against each other.

Minoe belonged with the Hidden Christian terrorists. Yahiko promised to defend the peace established by Kenshin Himura and the Meiji Government. Their objectives were at odds with one another.

Still, Yahiko couldn’t help but say, “Thank you,” to the disguised Kaede.

“For what, Yahiko-chi?” Minoe asked, tilting his head to the side.

“For helping me save Minakata Tatsuya even though you and Kinta don’t seem to see eye-to-eye,” Yahiko blurted out without thinking, uncertain of how Munenori would react. Would he say the same thing as his alter ego Kaede would?

The adorable Minoe cutely linked his two pointer fingers together and said, “Mochiron, Yahiko-chi! It was nothing. We had to beat up those Chinese thugs too, you were in trouble. Both me and Gan-chi chipped in to help.”

“Oh. OH! Yeah, thanks for helping too, Gan,” said Yahiko while scratching the back of his neck, embarrassed at how their companion became an afterthought. “I couldn’t have dealt with those lion mascot bastards alone.”

“BWAHAHAHA! Don’t mention it, Yoshi-boy!” bellowed the Boisterous Gan, who towered over them with his muscly frame, swarthy smell, and barrel chest.

Oh. And before he forgot, Yahiko punched Gan on the nose. Right on the schnoz.

“AUUGHH! What was that for?!” Gan demanded.

“Our mutual acquaintance Misao told me to punch you for her sake for being such a tattle-tale Peeping Tom.”

“You talked to WEASEL-CHAN? She was here? Huh!” said Gan, adding, “She’s flattering herself. I don’t peep on kids like her! I was peeping on older, more voluptuous women in the bathhouse instead!”

“Spoken like a true Pervert King.” Yahiko wondered why he hung out with a hooligan like him? Didn’t he pursue him originally because he wanted to dine and dash on the Sakaguchis like he was Sanosuke Sagara?

“Hey, that’s Soba King to you! Also, is Weasel-chan still obsessing about that tall, dark, and gruesome crush of hers? Something-sama or another…?” probed Gan with a scratch of his chinny chin-chin.

“You mean Shinomori Aoshi-“sama”? Yeah, they still hang out,” Yahiko put things rather bluntly with a chortle and an eye roll.

He vaguely had the inkling notion of needing to refer to those two Oniwabanshu members with more respect and veneration in light of their status and capabilities, but as always, it quickly went over his impertinent head.

Not the kunai that suddenly dug itself at the base of his skull though. That didn’t miss his head at all.

Indeed, their thoughtless remarks earned the ire of a certain irate patrolling onmitsu kunoichi, who shot kunai at the back of their heads.

“Eeehhh?” said Minoe, surprised at how his two companions suddenly had knives stuck in their skulls. “What just happened?”

Meanwhile, the shadow of a pigtailed girl in short shorts as ninja gear leaped away in a huff, taking a brief break during her patrol to teach Yahiko and his lumbering ox of a traveling companion a lesson.

***

“…Anyway, you’re quite welcome, Yoshi-boy!” Gan said after recovering from the dagger to the skull, plucking the bloody weapon out.

Yahiko chuckled as he himself removed Misao’s kunai from his head.

They’d better be careful with their words and of what they said about her or Aoshi. She was still apparently doing reconnaissance around the area. ‘Could’ve sworn she already left.’

The two knew better than to call further attention to the weaselly girl on patrol.

“Can’t believe I’d ever miss you calling me ‘Yoshi-boy’, come to think of it. But it has been a while. Or it felt like it.”

The Grinning Gan’s smile gleamed so much it made a “ping” sound. “Ya know it, Yoshi-boy!”

Before Yahiko even realized it, the Goofy Gan had become like his own personal Sanosuke Sagara. Wait, didn’t he just compare Minoe to Kenshin? And what about Kinta to Aoshi?

Then again, the very first thing in his mind when he first saw Chizuru Raikouji was that she resembled his kendo master, Kaoru Kamiya.

He’d been looking for substitutes for his Tokyo family all this time.

He couldn’t help but associate the unfamiliar with the familiar. Maybe it was his way to cope after leaving the place he considered home, the Kamiya Dojo in Tokyo.

“Where’d you even come up with a silly name like that?” Yahiko asked Gan.

“I dunno. You always looked like a Yoshi to me, you know?” answered Gan. “Patches is Patches, and Yoshi is Yoshi.”

‘Patches is Patches, huh…?’ thought Yahiko while taking a perfunctory look at the eye-patched, wig-wearing weirdo that was Munenori Minoe. Also known as Kaede Morinaga. Also known as Patches.

Also known as the Battousai of Speed of the Battousai Group.

Talk about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. They might have to clash swords again like back in Shinshu, but for now they were allies.

Time had passed in the blink of an eye, but Yahiko still remembered that unforgettable night.

Come to think of it, the month was almost over and hatsumode was nearing. Hatsumode always reminded Yahiko of Megumi Takani’s birthday because they celebrated it a month before hatsumode.

Hatsumode, the first shrine or temple visit of the New Year, was a significant tradition in Japan.

It involved visiting Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to express gratitude for the past year and seek blessings for the coming one.

This practice typically occurred on the first, second, or third day of the year, though some prefer to visit later to avoid crowds.

Oh, that was right. Megumi’s birthday was every December or just a few weeks away before the New Year and the Kenshingumi’s annual tradition of visiting the temple for good luck.

Her birthday was also close to Yahiko’s own birthday late in January, come to think about it.

Around this time, the Kenshingumi—Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sanosuke (before he went wandering in America), and Megumi—would visit the nearest shrine in Tokyo to bring in new tidings.

“Say, a new year’s about to arrive,” Yahiko brought up to his traveling companions. “Why don’t we do hatsumode together this coming new year? It’s just us ‘Three Stooges’, together. Whaddya say?”

***

On the first of January, Yahiko had a dream. Or maybe a nightmare? It wasn’t scary. Just weird.

He dreamed about Kenshin Kamiya (nee Himura) last night.

Or was he Kaede Morinaga instead? Kaede looked like a younger version of Kenshin, like Kenshin before he received his cross scar (but Kaede had a cross scar near her eye).

The two became one person, a giant, that grabbed Yahiko by the palm of his/her hand, crushing him. Either that or he shrunk to the size of Kenshin’s/Kaede’s hand.

Afterwards, the next thing he knew, his hand got grabbed by Gan as they ran away from the titanic Kaede or Kenshin lumbering after them with earth-shattering feet.

Maybe it was Kenshin because beside Gan was Minoe (who was otherwise just Kaede in a wig and eye patch disguise).

They ran towards a tori gate, on its other end a long outdoor stone staircase, which made Yahiko realize they’d been inside a temple or shrine this whole time.

They then ended up face-to-face with the other Battousai, a giant Kinta Minakata, who clashed swords with the Kenshin or Kaede giant, the Sanbaka stuck in the middle in a shower of sparks that looked like late evening fireworks.

From there, Yahiko woke up, wondering what his first dream of the new year was supposed to symbolize.

***

The Sanbaka had their temple visit on the 2nd of January. They went to the Iseyama Kotai Jingu Shrine.

Known as the Ise Jingu of the Kanto region, the Shinto shrine relocated to Yokohama in 1870. It was a central shrine in both the Shinto religion and Yokohama, with its picturesque surroundings popular for weddings.

The shrine was said to be a symbol of the city's unity after its relocation and the subsequent festival.

In contrast, Yahiko learned from Satsuki that the whole entourage of the Minakatas and Sakaguchis went instead to the Gumyoji Temple.

Gumyoji was the oldest temple in Yokohama, founded in 721. It had been a significant site for Buddhist scholars and teachers. The temple featured an 11-headed Kannon statue, a National Treasure of Japan.

But of course, the hatamoto-class Minakatas would want to attend hatsumode at such an ancient and revered temple. It presented them with better optics and a temple visit worthy of their previous social standing (even though the samurai class was already abolished by then).

Yahiko decided to go to a different temple on a whim because he, an outsider, didn’t feel comfortable in attending hatsumode with such a large gathering of two families together.

He also went to a separate shrine on behalf of Minoe because of his issues with Kinta Minakata.

Apparently, Kinta betrayed the Hidden Christians to the government six years ago, around the same time the Kenshingumi faced off against Shishio’s faction, acting as the government mole that destroyed the rebels from within.

A pool of nostalgia filled Yahiko’s heart, remembering all the times he and the Kamiya Family visited the shrine along with Tsubame Sanjo and Tae Sekihara from the Akabeko during the first few days of the new year.

Maybe that was why he avoided doing the shrine visit with the Sakaguchis and Minakatas. On one hand, the traditional was an intimate thing done with your true family rather than a bunch of strangers and acquaintances.

On the other hand, even though he just as recently met the Sanbaka, he felt closer with them than he did those two families. They also followed a different group dynamic.

Yahiko just felt weird “betraying” the Kamiya Family and friends by going to the temple with strangers. At least with the Sanbaka, it merely felt like he was going out with new friends while away from Tokyo and his real family.

It was illogical to feel that way when he gave the notion a second or third thought, but that was just how he felt.

The Sanbaka thusly did the whole shebang of ringing bells, offering coins as donations to increase their good luck, and praying for good health, success, and happiness for the coming year.

They did the tradition where they threw coins at the coin altar, bowed deeply twice, clapped their hands at chest level twice, then bowed deeply once afterwards.

The three then proceeded to get their omikuji, the traditional paper lottery of luck sold at temples.

From there, one could get extremely good luck, moderate luck, or bad luck. They just need to give a donation to get a random folded piece of paper containing their luck for the year.

Both Yahiko and Minoe received moderately good luck om paper, which bode well for their immediate future for the year 1885 or the 18th Year of the Meiji Era in Japan (even though their relationship was a bit of a ticking time bomb as it was).

However, apparently, Gan received some bad luck from his omikuji. Terrible luck, actually.

“ACK! What am I going to do, Patches?! Yoshi-boy?!” asked a profusely sweating Gan, who treated the piece of paper like an arrest warrant. “I don’t want to have bad luck for the rest of the year! Should I tie it to a tree?”

“I've heard that if you tie that to a tree, the bad luck will be purified and disappear,” said Minoe.

“But I've also heard that tying it to a tree will make the fortune come true,” said Yahiko, which only confused Gan further.

“Which one is it? What should I do?” said the Worried Gan.

“I bet you’re screwed either way,” remarked Yahiko with a shrug.

They tied the paper anyway and Myojin lent the hooligan some money for a good luck charm. He actually paid good luck charms for all of them from money he got from odd jobs.

They were about to leave to eat at some nearby restaurant when they chanced upon some unlikely visitors to the temple.

It was the pale, bespectacled Rin Akahori accompanied by her bodyguard, the forever smiling Soujiro Seta who was clad in his signature blue kimono with purple linings mixed together a western button-up long-sleeved shirt underneath.

“Psycho-Kid,” murmured Yahiko under his breath. He was the last person he expected to be there.

***

The spiky-haired Yahiko exchanged glances with the technically older yet somehow youthful Soujiro. The two looked about the same age though.

“Ah. Yahiko-san,” said Soujiro. “It’s been a long time since we last crossed swords. How are you?”

“That’s my line!” said Yahiko by reflex. He didn’t really care about how Psycho-Kid was doing. He did have enough wherewithal to give a bow of acknowledgement to the Oyakata’s little princess, Rin.

The milky-skinned young woman Rin bowed in return. Then, after adjusting her tinted glasses, she asked Soujiro, “Who are these people, Seta-kun? Friends of yours?”

“Oh, have you forgotten? They were Akahori-san’s bodyguards, remember?” said Seta, eyeing all three. “You’ve met Myojin Yahiko-san, correct? He saved your father’s life.”

“Myojin-kun,” said Rin, smacking an open palm. “I remember now. Thank you again for saving Father’s life. And Seta-kun’s life. I’m eternally grateful.”

Yahiko scratched the back of his head, stating, “It’s not a big deal. I was just doing my job. I did what I was paid to do.”

Rin nodded. “I respect that. You did superbly, even though you weren’t in Father’s payroll like Seta-kun was. You’ve earned your keep.”

The Great Gan guffawed, puffing up his chest. “Well, what about me, little princess? I risked my life taken on that Kumamoto Amakusa scoundrel too! I should’ve gotten as big of a reward instead of being paid peanuts!”

Rin shrugged. “You didn’t save Father or Seta-kun, so you were paid thusly,” which made the boisterous thug deflate.

Yahiko and Soujiro both patted the poor lug’s back over Rin’s matter-of-fact bluntness.

The twenty-something swordsman then spared a glance at Minoe and chuckled. “And here’s one of Akahori-san’s Togakudan spies for good measure. Minoe Munenori is your name, I believe.”

Yahiko then gulped, unsure of whether or not Soujiro had figured out Minoe’s true identity as the Battousai of Speed or if they were also keeping up charades like he was.

Wishing to change the subject, Yahiko brought up, “We wouldn’t want to keep you two from missing out on hatsumode or anything. It was nice meeting you again, Psycho-Kid… I mean, Seta Soujiro. And you too, Akahori Rin.”

Gan guffawed at the “Psycho-Kid” nickname while Soujiro paid the sobriquet no mind. Meanwhile, Rin mouthed the words.

‘Real smooth, Yahiko,’ the samurai kid thought to himself. ‘Go ahead. Eat that foot.’

“We already went to the Tomioka Hachimangu yesterday,” countered Soujiro as smoothly as he countered Yahiko’s Jodan-no-Kamae slash when they first dueled. “We’re through with hatsumode.”

The Tomioka Hachiman Shrine was believed to have been built by Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1191 and was a significant place of worship during the Kamakura period, thus making it a heritage site.

The Akahori bodyguard then said, “Saay, Minoe-san,” with an inquisitive head tilt. “Whatever happened to your short sword. The one that’s reverse-edged like Yahiko-san’s?

Minoe gripped and hid the sheathed blade in his obi, turning away from Soujiro’s peering eyes and his own eyes darted around.

He’d used that same short sword against Soujiro when he fought him as the Battousai of Speed.

Hesitant, he answered, “I’ve hidden the blade into this sheathe that makes it look like a cane stick.”

Gan then interposed himself between Soujiro and Minoe, sensing something was amiss. “W-ell, Yoshi-boy and Patches are birds of a feather, y’see! They both don’t strike to kill. They just beat up people but haven’t killed anyone!”

Soujiro eyes became small slits as his slight, knowing smile widened, with him leaning forward, his gaze affixed on Minoe. “That’s pretty nifty! Stick fighting that can turn into blade fighting in an instant, huh? I’d love to spar with you sometime.”

“I-I’m good,” said Minoe. “I’m certainly no match against Oyakata-chi’s top bodyguard!”

Yahiko’s eyes bugged out as he gulped. Soujiro technically already did cross blades with Minoe. He then remembered what Soujiro said earlier.

“Wait a minute. What are you doing here at the Iseyama Shrine if you two already did hatsumode yesterday at Tomioka Shrine?”

Soujiro shrugged and raised his arms up in surrender. “You got us. We’re actually here to keep tabs on the Minakatas on Akahori-san’s behalf.”

“What? You’re in the wrong shrine, Mister Psycho-Kid!” exclaimed Gan, unable to help himself in calling Soujiro by Yahiko’s nickname of him. “I heard they’re at the fancy Gumyoji Temple instead!”

“No, they’re not,” Rin corrected. “We were informed the Minakatas and Sakaguchis decided to split up and some of them went here to this shrine instead.”

As if on cue, the Three Stooges and the pair of Soujiro and Rin saw a certain someone arrive and about to exit the tori gate.

For a second, Yahiko thought he saw Aoshi Shinomori and Misao Makimachi together in the same shrine as the Sanbaka, only for him to realize an eye blink later that he was actually looking at the figures of Kinta Minakata and Kyoko Sakaguchi instead.

Speak of the devil.

Wait. What were they doing there? Weren’t they supposed to gather at the much older Gumyoji Temple?

From behind them followed a very concerned and very blonde Satsuki “May Brooks” Sakaguchi, which made her stand out like a sore thumb.

She looked like she belonged in the pockets of Yokohama tourists here and there also partaking in Japanese traditions instead of a fellow local.

Soujiro broke the ice, greeting Kinta with, “Minakata-san! Fancy meeting you here.”

Kinta’s eyes narrowed upon seeing Soujiro, his silence speaking volumes. He didn’t wish to face off with the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword) on Hatsumode, especially after their duel went to a draw.

The English teacher’s eyes met with Yahiko’s, which prompted her to explain, “We decided to come here instead. Hatsumode at Gumyoji was… too stuffy for Kinta-sama’s tastes. We three went here instead and left the rest of the party behind.”

And so Yahiko’s first dream of the new year came true. The Sanbaka were sandwiched between a rock and a hard place—between Soujiro’s group and Kinta’s group.

Kyoko, who had just finished getting her fortune at the lottery of luck with Kinta, asked Soujiro, “Seta-kun, what is the meaning of this?”

Kinta answered for Soujiro, “He’s here to spy on me on behalf of his boss.”

Wishing to do some reconnaissance himself, Yahiko asked Soujiro, “What does the Oyakata have to do with the Minakatas? Who is Akahori Tetsuo to the Minakata Family?”

“Akahori-san is Minakata-san’s uncle,” said Soujiro.

“Minakata Azuma was originally Akahori Azuma,” chimed in Rin.

Yahiko partly knew that answer already thanks to the Oniwabanshu’s revelations.

However, even though they were relatives, Tetsuo snooping around seemed suspicious in light of the civil war between Shitennou Ichizoku.

Aloud, Yahiko asked, “Does the Oyakata, I mean, Akahori Tetsuo belong to the Seiryu Clan?”

This shook all three parties—the Sanbaka, Soujiro’s group, and Kinta’s.

“What do you know about the Seiryu Clan?” demanded Kinta while Kyoko and Satsuki held him back.

“Something about government secrets that could lead to civil war if they came out,” said Yahiko. “Yes, I also overheard about how your family used the info to get government cloud and positions as blackmail.”

Soujiro, for his part, laughed out loud. “I knew you were an interesting fellow, Yahiko-san. Where did you get your info?” He tilted his head. “Are you sure you want to get involved with the Black Book and the Four Clans?”

“I have my sources,” said Yahiko defensively.

Soujiro smacked his palm with a fist. “I get it. The Oniwabanshu told you! Himura-san’s old rival Shinomori Aoshi helped you out.”

Yahiko stared at Soujiro. ‘Damn, he figured it out immediately.’

Meanwhile, Kinta said, “My Uncle Tetsuo isn’t from the Seiryu Clan. He and my father are from the Genbu Clan. They intermarried with the Seiryu Clan to get an alliance with them.”

Soujiro sighed. “Aw, you spoiled the surprise.”

Another thing occurred to Yahiko. “Is the Oyakata responsible for the Brigands Guild attacking the Minakatas to get control of the Black Book? He seems the manipulative type.”

Kinta glared at Yahiko, but then looked at Soujiro. “I was wondering about that myself. Is this Uncle Tetsuo’s doing?”

Soujiro giggled. “I don’t know myself.”

Minoe cleared his throat and glared at Kinta. “I’ve heard that your Uncle Tetsuo masterminded your infiltration of the Hidden Christians, Minakata-chi.”

Kinta glared at Minoe as well, but he couldn’t answer him back. What would he even say? It was true. Tetsuo was the one who ordered him to become a mole for the Meiji Government to destabilize the Hidden Christians from within. Divide and conquer.

Speaking of which, Yahiko gave Minoe a sidelong glance. He hadn’t quite figured out how involved with the Black Book were Amakusa’s faction. Also, the eye-patched spy’s face was unreadable.

Were Amakusa’s faction after the Black Book too in order to plunge Japan into another civil war? Would Yahiko be forced to take him on as Kaede again come what may.

Kinta expected as much from Soujiro. He then asked Yahiko, “What’s your angle here?”

Yahiko shrugged.  “Protecting innocents is my angle here. I take no side whether it’s the Seiryu or Genbu Clan. Your volumes of the Black Book should not be used to incite civil war, regardless of who uses them.”

Soujiro then said, “Oh, you don’t know, do you, Kinta-san? Yahiko-san is Himura-san’s prodigy. Himura Battousai-san, that is. Your namesake.”

Kinta regarded Yahiko in a new light. “The Ishin Shishi continues to be the bane of my existence.”

Yahiko then said, “I’m no fan of the Ishin Shishi myself, but as Himura Kenshin’s follower, I will protect those under their rule.”

“Don’t worry so much, Cousin Kinta,” said Rin, “My father always says that each man must live in the pursuit of their own happiness and follow his own rational self-interest. As long as you keep this in mind, you’ll get what you want.”

***

After returning from an eventful hatsumode, Kyoko went back to business.

Kyoko had no idea what this Black Book business was, but she had heard about the rift between Kinta and his uncle, Tetsuo Akahori.

According to rumors, although Kinta did as Tetsuo ordered, he actually didn’t want the Hidden Christians to be annihilated by the Imperial Army. The two hadn’t been on speaking terms since then.

However, this Black Book business was quite a lot to wrap her head around. Sure, the Minakata Family save for Kinta had always been a bit cutthroat as businessmen. However, to engage in blackmail and extortion to get what they wanted was a bit much.

Regardless, as both an instructor of Musou Madden Ryu and her grandfather’s caretaker, Kyoko Sakaguchi had her hands full already. She didn’t want to add this Black Book business on her proverbial plate.

She was responsible for the beginners’ class of iaido while her adoptive sister, the gaijin bombshell Satsuki Sakaguchi, handled all the more advanced classes along with their father, Satoru.

Only two known Brigands Guild members remained at large, so the Sakaguchi School didn’t need to brace themselves as much against their attacks.

Most importantly, once this Brigands Guild business was done, it was back to normal for their family.

She can go back to Shinshushin and occasionally visit their grandfather in Yokohama during the holidays.

As grumpy as Grandpa Genzo was, Kyoko owed a lot to her grandfather. He gave her back her agency and self-confidence by teaching her self-defense using the family’s iaido school.

However, there were times when she worried about him. Like now.

Genzo Sakaguchi went back to work with his day job, which was blacksmithing. He had many orders for everyday objects like kitchen knives, cleavers, and whatnot.

He was a blacksmith by trade on top of teaching swordsmanship. He mostly made household tools in the Meiji Era, but from time to time he indulged in forging classic katanas as a hobby. Nevertheless, what he was forging now went beyond hobbies.

Obsessed, he pounded hard on the blackened katana over and over, putting layer after layer over it on top of powdered carbon to create the thick steel.

“There you go again with that sword, Grandpa,” said Kyoko as she assisted him with the procedure. “You’re going to break your back pounding on that thing,”

“Ah, leave me alone, child,” Genzo harrumphed. “It’s still not perfect. I have to keep refining it to perfection. Layer by layer. Bit by bit.”

He had informed her that he’d been working on this particular sword for months now. Off and on, he’d obsessively pound and refine the sword for around eighty days.

The sword he made now looked unlike any other sword he made before. The blade was completely black and somehow porous for some reason. It sizzled and smoked with noxious fumes that made Kyoko wonder what it was made of.

Genzo had actually collected swords from master swordsmiths like Goro Nyudo Masamune, Kotetsu Nagasone, and Shakku Arai. He then reverse-engineered their works by making imitation swords during the Bakumatsu.

He learned swordsmithing by making forgeries and he supplied cheap katanas by the bucketload during a time when they were in high demand.

However, tragedy struck the Sakaguchis. Kyoko’s grandmother and Genzo’s wife was killed by bandits who snuck in and stole Genzo’s collection of swords.

Although Genzo was able to defend his home and kill the bandits, he failed to save his wife in time. Despite knowing Musou Madden Ryu, the imitation sword he made broke and shattered against the ones made by Shakku Arai.

If only he were a better swordsman. If only he could match the creations of the likes of Masamune and Nagasone, then maybe his wife would still be alive.

Ever since, he’d been refining his swordsmanship even long after the samurai rank was abolished and an edict banning swords came to pass. He wouldn’t even sell his creations to foreign buyers despite the possibility of making huge money off of them.

He kept making them because of his persistent passion as well as in memory of his beloved Tamaki.

Kyoko knew the impassioned smithing of her grandfather won’t bring back her Grandma Tamaki. However, she understood why he kept on doing it. It was all in honor of her.  

***

Satsuki Sakaguchi couldn’t find him anymore.

Takuto the Minakata bodyguard was missing.

The tall bodyguard who told her all about England.

Who the people were like there. What they ate. How they spoke. The nuances of the English language that was lost in translation in Japanese.

The raven-haired, pony-tailed man with blue eyes claimed to be half-Japanese and half-gaijin.

This what drew her to him. Thanks to orders from the Minakatas, the Sakaguchis had to gather their best students and prepare them for a war against invaders known as the Brigands.

This gathering was what led to Satsuki to meet Takuto in the first place. He stood out from the rest of the security detail of the Minakatas with his half-foreign looks.

He wouldn’t fess up about why he became a bodyguard, how did he get hired, who trained him—nothing. However, he did keep talking about his travels.

He talked about the London Bridge, the Clock of Westminster and the Great Bell inside it nicknamed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square with Nelson's Column, and the National Gallery.

He also complained about the foggy weather, the bland food, and the districts of immense wealth cutting themselves off from the pockets of poverty, thus resulting in a gulf between rich and poor.

It didn’t matter to Satsuki. She needed to know more.

His stories fascinated Satsuki to no end. She wanted to learn more about forks and spoons and top hats and curtsies.

He in turn got an earful about cherry blossoms, geisha, sumo wrestlers, sushi, sukiyaki, Mt. Fuji, and samurai (or what was left of them) as Japan itself became more Westernized.

It was a cultural exchange between the two warriors.

She then heard some disturbing news. The bodyguard named Takuto was with Kinta around the time the Brigands attacked. Moreover, he wasn’t who he claimed he was to her.

Takuto was actually Takuto Minakata. The Prodigal Son. The man who sicced the Brigands Guild on Kinta.

She didn’t realize the blond devil who tried to kill her beloved Kinta was actually Takuto. Or rather, Lucas Grant. He was wearing a black wig that hid his blond hair.

He was now behind bars, but Satsuki had half the mind to serve as his executioner herself.

‘They better execute that terrorist or else I will.’

However, half of her wished it weren’t true. That Takuto would appear, reassure her it was all a lie, and talk to her about London again like before.

***

Genzo had visitors as he worked on the sword he’d been refining for the better part of almost three months.

The Sanbaka arrived at Genzo’s blacksmith shop, which was near the dojo.

“Hey, old man! Is training over for today?” asked Yahiko. “I wanted to get some reps in with Satsuki.”

“They eased up on the training schedule because they caught the mastermind of the Brigands Guild,” said Genzo. “Who knew it was the bastard son of Kinta-kun’s mother out for revenge? I didn’t see that coming.”

“Man, these rich people sure have endless problems galore. More money, more problems, am I right?” said the Stout Gan, who attempted to pick his nose but thought better of it when he saw the scary gaze Grandpa Genzo gave him.

The old man then stared at Minoe and asked, “Have we met before? You look familiar.”

Minoe shrugged. “I don’t think so, uh, Genzo-chi-sama?”

The spiky-haired Yahiko scratched his chin and deliberated. Maybe Genzo had met Minoe before, but as Kaede the Battousai of Skill. Aloud, he wondered, “Do you remember having old man Genzo work on your blade?”

Minoe’s one eye widened at what Yahiko said, which prompted him to say in return, “Yahiko-chi has Arai Shakku’s last creation! A reverse-edged blade!”

Genzo nodded sagely. “A reverse-edged blade, you say. Now I remember you. You were the one who requested I turn a broken reverse-edged blade into a wakizashi.”

Yahiko and Minoe exchanged glances. They then unsheathed their swords for comparison.

While Yahiko wielded Shakku Arai’s true sakabatou, the replica sakabatou ended up in Minoe’s hands.

“They’re both heroes who’ve sworn not to kill,” said the Proud Gan. “Bludgeoning people with their play swords should be enough to teach the bad guys a lesson, methinks.”

Genzo smirked, remarking, “Shakku Arai went soft in his old age, I see.”

Quietly, Yahiko asked Minoe, “Where did you get that reverse-edged blade?”

Minoe answered, “I got it from Shingetsu Village. Himura Kenshin left it behind after the Heaven Sword broke the sword apart.”

Yahiko whistled. “It was Psycho-Kid again who was responsible, huh?” Another thought occurred to him. “What were you doing in Shingetsu Village?”

The waif Minoe cleared his throat and murmured, “I was one of many spies for the Shishio Faction. I joined them before I joined Amakusa-chi’s faction.”

“Huh. That’s interesting. Why’d you steal it?” asked Yahiko.

“I don’t know,” Minoe said while tracing the flat side of the sword with his finger. “You have to ask her why. Maybe it’s because they look alike. You know?”

“Her?” asked Yahiko.

“Kaede-chi,” answered the pensive Minoe.

“Oh,” said Yahiko.

Minoe sheathed the blade. Yahiko was about to do the same with his but Genzo stopped him.

“I’m a sword collector myself. Can I trade that original Arai Shakku for a Nagasone Kotetsu?”

Yahiko took the blade from the hands of the old man. “It’s not for sale!”

***

After Sho Kojima, the samurai with the bouffant hairdo and lackadaisical demeanor, got his update on Kinta’s condition from Abelia La Cerca herself from within the Sakaguchi Dojo, he felt the unwelcome presence of a certain someone as he left the premises.

He’d been feeling eyes behind him all morning, in fact.

“And who the hell are you?” Sho told off the smiling Soujiro Seta, who had been tailing the “Sword of Life” and “Drunken Fist” samurai all this time.

“Oh wait. Kinta warned me about you. You’re the kid who dueled him to a draw and exposed the secrets of the Seiryu Clan. And the right-hand man of some rabble rouser. Seta Soujiro.”

“Aw. But Minakata Kinta-san never told me about you,” said Soujiro, his face as idyllic as ever. “Who are you to Minakata-san and why are you keeping tabs with him?”

“A better question is what your handler Akahori Tetsuo wants with Kinta. Why did he reveal the secret of the Black Book to him? Is it to distract him while the Brigands picked him apart?”

Soujiro smirked. “That’s a secret.”

Li’l Abelia tugged at Sho’s clothes as she hid behind him. “Is it true what Señor Kinta said about his uncle from his father’s side? He never attacks directly. He just moves people around like chess pieces?”

“And we’re looking at one of his pawns,” said Sho. Although to be honest, Soujiro was more like the knight or even the queen, the strongest piece, to Akahori’s king, the most important piece.

“Aw. Everyone’s suspicious of poor Akahori-san,” said Soujiro. “Are you going to try and interfere with his plans though?”

Sho smirked in turn. “He can’t control everything. I’ve learned from firsthand experience that life will always spoil the best-laid plans of mice and men.”

“We’ll see,” said Soujiro. “According to Akahori-san, people are very predictable. He does wonder whose pawn you are, Kojima-san.”

***

The Yokohama Police already had Lucas Grant in custody. However, they jailed him instead of sent directly to prison.

Caged in a wooden holding cell while awaiting trial, his cohorts Cain Merrick (the gloomy gaijin dressed in black and uses a poison blade that Kinta cut apart) and Hugo Lentz (the mountain of a man wearing lumberjack clothes and uses a gigantic ax as a weapon) had long ago been transferred to Yokohama prison.

He was also practically bandaged like Makoto Shishio thanks to the rough fights he endured against Zan with the devil mask, the bat-themed Baku, and Mimawarigumi Battousai Kinta himself.

He’d also been interrogated to give out the location of his other cohorts known to the police—the enigmatic disguise chameleon Faceless and the acrobatic, gas-mask-wearing Kai Hidaka—but he wouldn’t say.

None of that mattered though as the Faceless and Hidaka broke into Luke’s holding cell by cooperating with the discontented Gunma officers Yogi Takahashi and Hiroshi Hosokawa as well as Kanagawa officer Shuichi Hasegawa.

They were all the deserters who survived the Shinshu affair.

The same Shinshu affair where an attempt on Tetsuo Akahori’s life took place care of Shogo Amakusa and his other assassin, Kaede Morinaga, had led to a lot of death and demotions, especially since Amakusa cleaved through those officers like a one-man army.

The Faceless got into contact with them, they pulled some strings, and now, disguised as officers themselves, the Brigands was able to free the troublesome Prodigal Son.

One down, two to go.

Luke curled to a smirk upon seeing his fellow mercenaries. “You know, we have a way to kill two birds with one stone, right? Hand them chaos on a platter.”

The Faceless heaved a heavy sigh.

He was about to reunite with his son Cain again, the Gaijin Battousai, whom he had a rift with because of their little family reunion back at the Eastern-Western fusion mansion of Kaneda Minakata.

Cain distracted Kinta by killing his dogs, but the Faceless didn’t approve of such barbarism and turned on him. Only for him to now have to spring his son out of jail regardless.

Oh well. Luke needed the Foreigner Battousai for his revenge regardless of how twisted and cruel he was.

***

To Be Continued...

 I kind of wondered what sort of role Soujiro would fulfill following his encounter with and defeat against Kenshin at Mount Hiei.

Then I remembered the enigmatic trickster known as Xellos from “Slayers” who was such a fun character to watch and write about. They’re both mysterious young men who always smiled like they knew something you didn’t.

Also, the joke about omikuji was taken from Azumanga Daioh.