Chapter Nine: Girl Talk - Gossip session, assassination attempt, and nudity, oh my...
Shingen x OC; Kenshin x MC (Mai)
Logline - Disguised as a boy, Katsuko finds herself working for Shingen, but her dangerous masquerade becomes difficult to sustain when she falls for the man with a fatal secret.
Shingen’s early morning visit had ruined any hope I had of getting any quality sleep. While I managed to doze off once, my sleep was fitful, and filled with dreams that began with a promise of continuing what Shingen and I had started at the lake, then slid into the inevitable nightmare of being trapped in a small dark space. Eventually I gave up on sleep, and decided to get an early start on delivering Shingen’s messages, rather than spending another hour staring at the window, waiting for dawn.
The sun was rising when I got into the town, and most shops were not yet open. Still there were plenty of people out and about, travelers wanting to get an early start, shop keepers setting up their stalls for the day, and …
Had that been Kyubei who disappeared between buildings? What was Mitsuhide’s courier doing here? The Oda and the Uesugi-Takeda forces were in an uneasy peace, brokered by both sides’ mutual affection for Mai. If Kyubei was here on Mitsuhide’s reconnaissance, I wanted to know why. Maybe it had something to do with the attack a couple weeks ago?
Abruptly changing directions, I hurried to catch up, but when I got to the alley, the only person there was the owner of the adjacent restaurant, who was tossing scraps of fish to a muddle of homeless cats. “Good morning, Katsu,” he said to me. “You’re out and about early.”
Making friends with the local shopkeepers had paid off. “Good morning, Susumu. My lord had some urgent messages to go out.” I leaned over to scritch the top of the head of a calico as she gnawed on a fish skin. “By chance did you see anyone run through here a moment ago?”
Susumu shook his head. “I stepped outside right before you got here.” He paused in thought. “I did hear something up above though.”
“Thank you.” I bowed to him, then climbed up to the roof. There were some scuff marks on the roof – I followed them across the roof where they dead ended. From here, whoever had made the marks could have either jumped to the next roof or climbed back into the street. I picked rooftop as my best guess, but the trail was already cold. I wasn’t even certain that it had been Kyubei; it had been a blink or you’ll miss it sighting, so maybe I had imagined him? Still – Kyubei would be a very random figure for my imagination to produce. Sure, I occasionally thought I saw Iekane lurking around – but that was understandable, since he still haunted my nightmares. Kyubei hadn’t played nearly that large of a role in my life.
I resolved to pay more attention, to be ready to follow, in case I saw him again.
After returning to the castle, I headed for Shingen’s quarters with the incoming messages. I knocked softly on the door, but there was neither a “come in” nor a “go away” response. I slid the door open wide enough to check if he was there (alone or otherwise).
Of course, he was still asleep, peacefully – after all the disquiet he’d caused me (both as myself and as Katsu) this past night – and (!) under the fabric he had taken from me. For one very brief moment, I was tempted to steal it back, but dismissed that immediately as a very bad idea. Instead, I simply dropped his messages off on his desk, then tiptoed away, pausing at the doorway to look back. He didn’t even snore or drool. Unfair.
Before heading out to the archery grounds, I detoured into the room I had meant to investigate the previous night. Yes, it was a storage room, full of fabric that I presumed Mai had been holding for some project or other. Maybe she’d be willing to inventory it and let me know if anything was missing. Since I was due to meet her soo – whoops, now, and would be late if I didn’t pick up the pace- I stuck that request in the front of my mind.
Inspired by my archery exhibition, Mai was determined to master the skill as well. For a complete beginner, she wasn’t terrible, by which I mean that her arrows at least went in the same general direction as the target. But she was impatient with her progress. “Why can’t I do this?”
“It takes time. When I first started learning, my shots went so far left that I kept hitting the stables.” I sent another arrow to the center of the target. “I’ve been practicing for nearly seven years. How long did it take you to learn how to make clothes like you do?”
“Several years,” she admitted.
She started to say something else, but I wanted to ask about the storeroom before I forgot. “That room by the south garden, where you keep your fabrics. Would you be able to tell if something was missing?”
“Maybe? The expensive and rarer pieces sure. The cottons or hemps, unlikely. Why?” She lifted the bow for another go at the target.
“Don’t keep your elbows locked, or your muscles will be sore later.” I demonstrated the correct stance, before answering her question. “I think there was someone messing around in there last night.”
Mai shrugged. “Probably one of the maids and a vassal having a tryst. Speaking of-”
Oh no, we’re not going there. I gave her a different piece of information to distract her. “Could be. Although I used to be a maid, and by the end of the day I was usually too tired to do anything except sleep.”
Bait taken. “You were a maid before you were a courier?” Mai aimed another arrow and stared at the target until she almost looked cross-eyed.
“Relax your shoulders a little, you’re thinking too hard.” I stepped back and eyed her stance. It otherwise looked fine. “Mostly I helped in the kitchen… though I scrubbed a lot of floors too. It was the most boring existence I could have possibly imagined, so I was really motivated to acquire other skills.”
“Makes sense.” She gave me a sly look out of the corner of her eye. “By the way, did you enjoy your bath?”
Aaaaand she’s not going to let this go. While I was figuring out how to answer that, she sent another arrow in the general direction of the target.
“Closer. Except you don’t need to stick your tongue out when you aim.” I handed her another arrow. “I mean, you can if it helps, but it does tend to ruin the aesthetics.”
“Noted.” She aimed again, keeping her mouth firmly shut until she sent the arrow… well, nowhere. “So. The lake?”
I got the feeling she already knew what had happened. “It was cold. Very cold.”
Mai giggled. “You wouldn’t have happened to have noticed someone else there, would you? A tall, muscular, flirtatious someone else there?”
Oh, I noticed. I didn’t realize my hand had crept up to touch my lips until Mai giggled again.
“You wouldn’t be asking if you didn’t already know the answer to that.” I figured she was more interested in gossip than a lesson, so I picked up my own bow, aimed and tried to shut out the fact that the mere act of touching my lips and thinking of Shingen had sent a residual buzz through my body.
“Well, it might be possible that a tall, muscular and flirtatious person stopped in to the banquet last night to lecture Sasuke about keeping better track of his ground spikes, and he might also, possibly have mentioned that he sustained the ground spike injury in pursuit of a Moon Goddess.” She wasn’t even pretending to work at this point. “So…?”
Is this what I missed by not having close female friends? “So, Sasuke needs a better ground spike bag. You should get on that, seamstress.” I shut out her words and sent five arrows straight and true to the furthest targets.
“Katsuko, there are hardly any other women around to talk to. I miss hearing details.” She gave me puppy eyes, which was a skill I was unaware she possessed. “I’d be happy to tell you details about Kenshin. Like the fact that he can keep it going all-“
I put my hands over my ears. TMI, Mai. “I don’t need to hear details.”
Mai nodded sagely. “Because it would give you another sex shiver, like the one you had a moment ago when you touched your lips.”
“I did not have a-” realizing I was yelling, I lowered my voice. “Sex shiver.”
I totally had a sex shiver.
I sighed. Fine. Apparently, we were not going to be able to have a conversation that would pass the Bechdel test. “He stole the fabric, bargained for a kiss and I ended up naked in a tree. Can we move on now?”
“Yes.” She aimed, then paused, turning toward me again. “No. At least tell me how the kiss was.”
“It nearly burned my eyebrows off.”
Mai sighed, fanned herself, then asked. “What are you going to do next?”
“Nothing.” I had had a close call, learned my lesson, and Katsuko would never again be seen anywhere near here. There was too much to lose… and nothing to gain. “He thinks she’s a spy.”
“She? You mean you?” Mai turned back to her practice and sent her arrow toward the target. The wind was going to grab it in a second though. “Oh I’m going to … not hit the target. I thought had that one.”
“It was the wind. I could tell you some advice on how to shoot with the wind, but let’s first learn the basics.” I trotted out to retrieve my arrows from the target and pick hers up from the grounds.
“You’re avoiding the subject on purpose!” she called after me.
I returned and handed her back her arrows. “It’s easier if you focus and concentrate on what you’re doing.”
I took aim for another shot.
Mai perfectly timed her next question. “You mean you haven’t even considered repeating that experience … or taking it further?”
My shot didn’t get anywhere near the target. Mai smirked at me. “You should focus and concentrate on what you’re doing.”
“Katsu, I’ve never seen you miss a shot that badly,” Yoshimoto said, as he emerged from around the castle carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows.
“Mai distracted me,” I muttered as I set up another shot, concentrated on the wind, and sent the arrow true to the center of the target. There.
Yoshimoto set himself up on the other side of Mai. “How is the lesson going?”
“I haven’t hit the target yet.” Mai sighed, then sent me an evil look. “But I’m learning all kinds of interesting things.”
Luckily, Yoshimoto was too busy setting up his shot to ask for further details. He sent an arrow zipping into the target, although not dead center.
“The wind is terrible,” Mai noted. Then apparently realizing she’d teased me more than enough, she added, “Katsuhira was telling me how he accounts for the wind.”
“It’s not anything magic,” I said. “I just listen. You can hear a shift in direction through the leaves and the grass.”
For a moment we were all quiet. I lined up another shot, my attention fully on the sound of the air and the rustle of the leaves, and it was quiet enough to hear something else – the twang of another bow string in the distance.
I didn’t need to look to know there would be an arrow heading for us, and I was yelling a warning even before I turned to see Yoshimoto move faster than I had ever seen him move, grab Mai’s arm and dive left, covering her with his body, while I somersaulted to the right, landing hard on a rock, as –
The arrow thudded into the ground right past Mai had been standing. If Yoshimoto hadn’t pulled her out of its path, it would have buried itself in her heart.
For a long moment, none of use moved, listening, waiting for another arrow to come zipping out of the sky, but the archer must have decided that now we were on alert, further attempts were too risky.
Then I was running toward the wall, hoping that when I cleared it, I would still have some hope of finding the attacker. But once again, I was too late. All I saw was the cover of trees. There wasn’t even a swaying of branches or broken underbrush to give a hint of a hiding place. Likely whoever had shot at Mai was long gone.
When I returned to the grounds, Mai and Yoshimoto were arguing about whether or not to tell Kenshin. “It’s too soon – I can’t put him through that again,” Mai said. “Maybe it was an accident.”
Yoshimoto and I looked at each other. His mouth was set in a grim, stern line. Not an accident.
No, I didn’t agree with her decision. But I couldn’t overrule her either. Except now, I was the only one with the knowledge that there had been two assassination attempts on someone within Kenshin’s orbit.
The conflict must have shown on my face, because Mai said, “Please, don’t tell anyone, Katsu.”
“It’s not my call.” I sighed. Mai had kept my secret, and I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I didn’t keep hers. “But he needs to know.”
I yanked the assassin’s arrow out of the ground and examined it to see if it had any distinctive markings. The feathers were Sea Eagle – no help, as those were found on practically every coastline. I didn’t immediately notice any other identifiable features. I passed it to Yoshimoto. “Does this look familiar?”
Yoshimoto looked it over, then shook his head. “There’s nothing unusual about it. But even if there were, I doubt I would notice.” Right. Unless Leonardo Da Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa on the shaft, Yoshimoto would be oblivious. He continued. “I agree someone needs to be told though. If not Kenshin, tell Shingen. He’s got resources at his disposal.”
“If you must tell someone.” Mai agreed to this compromise, then elected me to be the bearer of ill tidings. “You work for him anyway.”
So for the second time that morning, I returned to Shingen’s quarters.
I did knock. I did identify myself. He did say enter.
Arrow in hand, I hurried in, the froze in place.
I’d been awake for hours, but even that was not fortification enough to process the sight of full frontal Shingen.
