Kill the Shogun (16 page)

With a knowing look, the little girl stood up and started removing her fancy kimono. “Keep your inner kimono on,” Kaze said. Kiku-chan looked puzzled, but did as she was ordered. When she was done removing the elaborate obi, the fancy kimono, and the decorative pins from her hair, Kaze said, “Now sleep. Don’t worry. No one is going to touch or harm you tonight.”

Like an automaton, the young girl got under the futon cover, with her head on the small wooden pillow-block that was placed next to a full-sized, adult pillow block. Kaze could see a tension in her neck and shoulders, and from her breathing he could tell she was not really asleep. He wondered if she expected him to fondle and molest her in her sleep, and also wondered what manner of man would do such a thing. Eventually, as Kaze stood vigil watching her, Kiku-chan’s breathing became more regular, and the child finally fell into slumber.

Once, during the night, the child woke with a cry, her arms flailing, as if she were trying to beat someone back. Kaze, who had not slept, decided it would be best for him to stay where he was and not to try to touch or comfort her. She sat up and looked around, and upon seeing Kaze, fear briefly flashed across her face, until she remembered who he was. Then she regained her icy composure. Without a word, she lay down and closed her eyes again.

In the morning, the child awoke and sat up, looking at Kaze again with those wide, distrustful eyes. In his years of wandering, Kaze had concentrated his thoughts on his search for the child. He had not given consideration to what would happen when he found her. Partly this was because he was not sure he would find her. He could easily imagine wandering the length and breadth of Japan without finding her, until he became too enfeebled by age or he was killed. Partly it was because it was simply not in his nature to worry about endless possibilities that might not come
to pass. He did think about future strategy, but in the context of a warrior planning a campaign, not as a man enumerating the possibilities of the future. Now that he had found the child, Kaze realized that the unfolding possibilities of the future could become a reality, and he would have to cope with the novel burden of protecting and healing a damaged child.

The sound of footsteps came from the veranda, and Kaze moved to the futon and messed up his side, so it would look like he slept there. There was a discreet call from the door,
“Sumimasen! Ohayo gozaimasu!
Good morning! Can we enter?”

“Come,” Kaze said.

Jitotenno and a maid were at the door. The maid was holding a tray with a hearty breakfast on it; miso soup, rice, and a small grilled fish.

“I hope you had a marvelous night,” Jitotenno said.

“It was very satisfactory,” Kaze replied.

“Excellent,” Jitotenno said. “The maid will serve you breakfast. I will take Kiku-chan now, then return when your breakfast is over.”

Kaze looked at the Lady’s daughter, loath to let her disappear from his sight now that he had finally found her. Jitotenno interpreted this look as one a lover might give to a paramour, and took Kiku-chan by the hand and led her out of the room. Kaze sat down and ate the breakfast, thoughtfully considering what would happen next.

After he was done, Jitotenno returned to the room and announced, “Now, if the esteemed guest would like to settle the bill…”

“Of course,” Kaze said, handing Jitotenno a cloth pouch of coins.

Jitotenno took the money with a bow and left the room. Kaze did not get up to go. In minutes, Jitotenno returned to the room, a dark cloud across her painted face.

“There must be some mistake,” she said. “Most of the coins in this pouch are copper. There are only three gold coins. You said you would pay double for Kiku-chan’s services, and the money in this pouch doesn’t even cover her regular fee.”

“I’m very sorry,” Kaze said. “That is all the money I have.”

“Come in here,” Jitotenno said. Two thugs entered the room. They were muscular and evil looking.

“Beat this dog,” Jitotenno said sharply. “And when you’re done beating him, throw him out into the street. If he ever returns here, kill him.”

She left as the two thugs commenced to kick and hit Kaze. Kaze protected his face, but made no effort to defend himself. The thugs were strong but not very skilled, and Kaze knew he would come out of this with no more than bad bruises, so he simply sat on the mat and endured a beating he knew he could stop, even without his sword.

When the thugs finally tired of punching and kicking him, they yanked Kaze to his feet and dragged him from the room to the front of the house. They continued dragging him right out into the street, administering another round of kicks and punches while shopkeepers and people walking on the street stopped to watch the show. When they were done, the thugs looked at the gathered crowd and announced, “This man didn’t have enough to pay his bill!” They walked back into the Little Flower, one thug pausing to pick up Kaze’s sandals and throw them out the door. They hit Kaze as he picked himself off the dusty street.

Kaze put on his sandals and a large crowd milled about, waiting to see if there was going to be more entertainment. When he was ready to go, Kaze stood and said in a loud voice, “Despite this rude parting, I thank Jitotenno for her hospitality! It was useful to a man in my circumstances, even if she threw me out when my money ran dry!”

Then he pushed his way through the crowd and started walking away. Near the edge of the crowd, he stopped to adjust his sandals. As he did so, he spoke to the large man standing in the doorway of a shop. It was Nobu.

“The child is there. Her name is Kiku-chan.”

Then Kaze continued walking, trying to work out the soreness he felt from the beating.

I
should be put in charge!” Honda was never one to mince words. Ieyasu, Okubo, Toyama, Honda, and Yoshida were in council again, to hear a progress report on the search for the man who had tried to assassinate Ieyasu.

“Yoshida-san has tried to find one man for days, with no success. He even searched the entire Ningyo-cho district, using hundreds of men, with no success. That very next morning, five ninja were found dead in Ningyo-cho, proving the assassin must have a large gang there, but Yoshida-san couldn’t discover them. No one man could kill five ninja. It’s time to let someone else try. As long as that man is free, Ieyasu is in danger. Yoshida-san tried. He failed. Now let me do it, Ieyasu-sama.”

Before Ieyasu could make a decision, Niiya appeared in the doorway of the room, bowing on one knee, in proper military fashion. Ieyasu looked surprised.

“This man is Niiya,” Yoshida said. “He is my chief captain. What is it, Niiya?”

“I beg forgiveness for interrupting such an important conference,” Niiya said, “but I have a report that I know you will want to hear immediately. The ronin, Matsuyama Kaze, has been spotted. We know where he’s been hiding!”

“Where?” Yoshida asked, excited.

“In Ningyo-cho, as you suspected, Yoshida-sama,” Niiya said. Yoshida gave Honda a look of triumph.

“The dog was in hiding in a whorehouse that specializes in providing children.”

“A pervert as well as an assassin,” Honda grumped.

“Evidently he ran out of money, so they threw him out this morning,” Niiya continued. “We have already closed down the whorehouse and arrested everyone in it.”

“Good, good! Ieyasu-sama, please excuse me. I would like to go see abut this development, and personally supervise as we question the inhabitants of the whorehouse.”

Ieyasu waved his hand, dismissing Yoshida. He and Niiya left the room. As they walked down the halls of the Shogun’s villa, Niiya said, “I’m sorry for interrupting you, Yoshida-sama.”

“It couldn’t be better timed. Honda was about to take over the investigation. After all our careful planning, it would be a shame if that old dog snatched the victory from us at the last moment. Okubo is remaining strangely silent on this, especially since he has a personal grudge against this Matsuyama, and Toyama is a fool. Only Honda is a threat to make me look bad in this, especially since we’re so close to capturing this Matsuyama. When did he leave the whorehouse?”

“This morning. The fools in the whorehouse made a spectacle of throwing him out. Countless people saw it, and all confirm that the man matched the description of Matsuyama.”

“How did you find out about it?”

“One of our informers told me. A gambler. He used to work for the gambler that told us that Matsuyama was staying at that vegetable merchant’s house. His boss had an accident, so he’s taken over the gang. He wants to get back into good standing so we’ll leave his gambling house alone.”

“What do the people at the whorehouse say?”

“They claim that Matsuyama was only a guest for one night, and that he didn’t pay his bill, which is why they beat him up and threw him out.”

“Do you believe them?”

“No. Matsuyama has been hiding for days. He needs a place to hide in the city, and that whorehouse would be perfect.”

“Have you started torturing them yet, to see if they change their story?”

“No, Yoshida-sama. I thought I’d wait for you.”

“Good. I’ll make those dogs tell me the truth, or kill them in the process. I must find that Matsuyama, or Honda will end up as the most important daimyo in Ieyasu’s new government!”

I
thought I’d save you a walk.”

Nobu started, then spun around to see a komuso walking just behind him, the basketlike headgear just inches from his face. The komuso lifted the basket to reveal his face. It was Kaze.

“You! You’re always sneaking around to surprise me. Why do you do that?” Nobu demanded.

Kaze grinned. “Gomen nasai. I’m sorry. I was born in the year of the Monkey, and liking mischief is a fault of mine. I even enjoy sitting in trees. I can’t help it. I also enjoy seeing you jump. It’s amazing to see a man as big as you who is also light on his feet.” He dropped the basket back into place to mask his face.

Kaze looked at the small figure walking next to Nobu. She had on a bright blue kimono, although her hair was a bit disheveled, because no one had prepared it that morning.

“Hello, Kiku-chan. I said I would get you out of that place.”

Kiku-chan viewed the strange figure with suspicious eyes and gave no greeting.

“I thought we were going to meet at the temple?” Nobu said.

“Yes. As I said, I thought I’d save you some walking.” By meeting Nobu unexpectedly on the route to the temple, Kaze also thought it would make it harder for Nobu to spring an ambush,
just in case the lure of the reward on his head was too great.

“As you can see, here she is.”

“Good. Did you have any trouble?”

“No. Yoshida’s men were so happy to get the report that you were at the Little Flower that they would have given me all the children, if I had asked. They were happy to hand Kiku-chan over to me. Now they probably think that I’m a pervert,” Nobu sniffed.

“And the other children?”

“They’ve been given to monasteries and nunneries to raise. They’ll be safe enough there.”

“And the rest?”

“Well, they let the servants go, but Jitotenno and her thugs are going to have a hard time of it. They’ll be lucky if they escape with their lives.”

Kaze nodded his satisfaction. Everything had worked out exactly as he had planned, including the rescue of all the children from the whorehouse. “Then I suppose this ends our business, Boss Nobu.”

Nobu scratched his head with a large hand. “I suppose so. You’re a devil and a troublemaker, but somehow I think I’ll miss you. If you manage to survive and ever get back to Edo, come say hello. We’ll drink together.”

“I’ll do that. Now that I’ve got Kiku-chan, I intend to take steps to see I’m not as hunted as I am now. I don’t mind it, but it will make it hard for me to find a suitable home for Kiku-chan if every Tokugawa samurai thinks my head is worth ten thousand ryo.”

“What do you intend to do?”

“You know that information you got for me?”

“The question I asked the guard captain?”

“Yes.”

“How will that help you? I just thought you were curious.”

“I am curious, but that’s not the reason I wanted to know.”

“You can’t mean that he’s involved in the attempt to assassinate Ieyasu-sama!”

“No, he wasn’t involved in an attempt to kill the Shogun.”

“But—”

Kaze took Kiku-chan’s hand and started walking down the street, leaving a puzzled Nobu looking after him. Nobu shouted, “You are a devil! Now I’ll be puzzling about what you meant all day!”

Kaze looked over his shoulder, lifted the komuso headgear, and gave the big man a grin.

As they walked together, Kaze, who was used to years of walking roads alone, made no attempt to make conversation with the child. Kiku-chan wore the tall, black lacquered geta that were favored by courtesans and prostitutes, so she almost came up to Kaze’s shoulder. She watched the ronin warily as they made their way through the crooked streets of Edo, which were not laid out on a grid, Chinese style, like Kyoto. The twisting streets were designed to confuse invaders, making assaults on Edo Castle, found in the heart of the city, difficult.

Even though the streets were confusing, Kiku-chan slowly understood where the strange man was taking her. Suddenly, Kiku-chan slipped out of the stiltlike geta and started running. Without a second’s hesitation, Kaze pursued her, shouting, “Kiku-chan! What’s the matter? Come back!”

The young girl didn’t heed the words of the man. Instead, she used her small body to slip past people on the street, weaving between pedestrians as she gradually pulled farther and farther away. Kiku-chan had learned that the words of men were not to be trusted. Even when they spoke honeyed phrases, they eventually
ended up hurting you and using you for their pleasure.

She risked a quick glance over her shoulder, but the man was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t slacken her pace until she had run past several streets. Then she stopped and looked behind her, searching the crowded streets of Edo to see if the man was approaching.

“Why did you run?”

Kiku-chan spun around and saw the man with the basket mask was right behind her. The big man had called him a devil. Maybe he was. She started to run again, but his hand quickly reached out and held her arm. It was a gentle grip, but one that would not be broken, no matter how much Kiku-chan twisted or struggled.