"What Is Best In Life?" - A Shogun II Hojo AAR [Updated: 27/07/2015]

[McScottish]

Chapter I, Part V ~ Ichigatsu, Tenbun 20 (January, 1551), Kōfu Castle, Province of Kai – Changes... (Interlude)

It would be three years before I saw Ujimasa again, his father lying to me - not for the last time - so that I might serve him more obediently due to such an incentive as the friendship between his son and I; in that time there occurred many things, some of great consequence and some of lesser concern, but all would prove to have there influence over me one way or another in those years and the years to come.

Let me begin with the north, a land which had once belonged to numerous clans and yet now was home to only one master - Date Harumune, the Dragon of the North. For the last few years, as Ujiyasu-tono spread the influence of the Hojo throughout the Kanto by way of diplomacy or conquest, Harumune-sama had proceeded along a parallel path of his own. Those daimyo that had once lorded over provinces of their own now swore fealty to the Dragon, giving him their oaths, the lives of their warriors and that of themselves...truly, if there were a danger to Ujiyasu-sama, a threat which even this terror among men would fear, it was the Date and their ever hungry warlord.

Meanwhile, in Musashi Province, the Hojo had been visited by outsiders from across the seas - the aptly named Nanban - strangers of excessive hair on their bodies and face, of rude manners and rough customs, and unwashed and coarse to the point of dishonour.

Not only this, but they bought with them their foreign ways of worship, their strange God and his apparent son Iesu Kirisuto, claiming that only by worship of these deities would our immortal souls be saved! They could not have known that most bushi had not the education nor the imagination to grasp such concepts, happy to serve their lords and to die good deaths, the farmers and commoners were easily swayed however, and very soon these gaijin had made a nuisance of themselves and found converts among some of the lower folk of Musashi. Ujiyasu-tono began the construction of many Buddhist temples within Hojo domains in order to counter this perceived threat, as well as resisting what the outsiders called 'conversion' himself - if their daimyo did not care for such a farce, then surely the people would follow.

All that mattered in the end was what the Nanban, these men who called themselves 'Portuguese' - but who we named Porutogaru hito - were carrying aboard their ships; with them they bought weapons capable of killing a man from a distance, weapons that used the powder of the Chūgokujin to send balls of lead flying at an enemy, weapons that even the lowliest ashigaru could load and fire; many of the Hojo retainers, my lord Inomata counted among them, saw this as a dishonourable and unfair way of defeating ones enemy, but, reminded Ujiyasu-tono sternly as a 'gun' was bought all the way to Kai for his personal viewing, the Hojo had grown strong and now had more enemies than they had had before in their history. It was time, he said without ever blinking, that we embrace their methods of war - not their faith, nor their language, and surely not their habits - but these weapons, these weapons he saw as the key to eventually defeating the Date and all other rivals, in them he saw entire armies capable of decimating others in a storm of thunder, fire and death. I was not so convinced but, as I have said before, curiosity is not something enforced in a samurai and I was a most curious young man.

Our world, my world, was changing and that much was clear; it was either a world in which you would adapt or one in which you would die. With the investment of Hitachi Province into Hojo lands, and the marriage of some of our greatest retainers - including the younger brother of Kasahara Ujitane - to women of the Date, Chosokabe and Matsuda, we were no longer a small and insignificant clan with nothing but a great name. There were those in Kyoto who whispered of our expanding power, who secretly dealt with our Date allies, and who would stab us in our backs if we ever let them. Many were not willing to accept change, but I was not one of them.

The year of bought with it my joyous and grateful reunification with Ujimasa-sama, with him came Ueda-sensei and his Chūgokujin protector, as well as a whole trail of samurai that were to keep him safe in the mountains and forests of Kai until he safely reached Kōfu and the current residence of his father.

I remember seeing him again for the first time, sat as he was upon a grey mount and surrounded by guards - thirteen years old but already as tall as I, strong and handsome with clean limbs, and with an air about him that already caused the utmost obedience in others - he seemed not to notice me, or gave a feigned lack of observation at least, but Ueda-sensei saw me nearly immediately and came striding toward me on his trunk-like legs.

"Ah, Hitegawa-kun!" He bellowed across the courtyard, some turning to look at me, but Ujimasa-sama dismounting his horse with practised ease and simply walking toward the nearest gate surrounded by his retinue of attendants and bodyguards, going further into Kōfu Castle.

A look of disappointment must have shown on my face, for Ueda-sensei twisted his head to follow my eyes, a rare smile splitting his gruff features, "you shall get plenty of time to see the young lord, after all, you will be training alongside him and the Inomata twins now that I am here."

I bent my body into a deep bow then, forgetting Ujimasa for the present, intent on speaking with the oddly talkative teacher of the arts of war; so curious was I that I blurted out my thoughts, and to my relief Ueda-sensei gave a great laugh form his belly, looking much like a mountain would if it could laugh, "oh Ichirou-kun, when you are a teacher of the killing arts as I am, then all times of war are good times - does it not follow that during these times I should be happy and speak more to those I teach?"

"You are right, sensei, it does follow that you should take pleasure in such things."

"Is that a scar I see?" He said in feigned astonishment, a finger reaching out to trace the fading pink line across my cheek, "a scar for the slayer of a traitor, neh?" His serious expression had returned, and with it a look of respect which I had not seen there during my time in Odawara Castle.

"Yes, sensei. I very nearly lost my head."

"Hush, Ichirou," he urged me with a wave of his hand, "a warrior does not admit such things, unless drunk with his closest companions," his eyes moved over me then, as if judging me, able to tell what sort of man I had become in his absence just with a sweep of his eyes, "you shall serve..." one hand rubbed across his cheek, the other hanging loosely but in readiness at his side, "come to me tomorrow, to the compound through the second gate, and we shall see what you have learnt. Until then."

Another exchange of bowing between us and he too had gone, leaving me along with groups of chattering ashigaru and one or two lower samurai mingling with them, my feet wishing to carry to me to Ujimasa and his chambers but my mind swaying me from such a sudden and ill-thought course of action.

“No”, I thought silently, “better to return to my studies.”

[Merchant of Venice]

The wider picture was helpful indeed and also provided an interesting side to our protagonist. But I am a bit confused. Are the Date allies or enemies? Or allies only for now?

I look forward to how protagonist finally meeting Ujimasa again.

[McScottish]

The wider picture was helpful indeed and also provided an interesting side to our protagonist. But I am a bit confused. Are the Date allies or enemies? Or allies only for now?

I look forward to how protagonist finally meeting Ujimasa again.

Ah, therein lies the difficulty!

The Date are currently allied to the Hojo, in fact one of the retainers is married to a Date noblewoman, but Harumunue has been eating up every other clan around his dominion...and if you want peace you must prepare for war.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Three years? Hojo Ujiyasu made him wait three years? I think I'd have stopped feeling it was an incentive after much less time than that!

Anyway, I really like the complicated relationships between the characters, and it was good to hear a broader view of events.

[McScottish]

Chapter I, Part VI ~ Ichigatsu, Tenbun 20 (January, 1551), Kōfu Castle, Province of Kai – Male Colour (Interlude)

Another strike sent a shiver through the wood and up through my arm, my grip on the wooden naginata never loosening though, my return stroke sending my training partner skittering back across the floor of the Kofu training hall in retreat; at this time it was Inomata Harumi, a perfect example of feminine beauty and grace, her own skills with a naginata having been drilled into her since she could walk and far outmatching my own. If there was any evidence needed - and there was none in my opinion, her technique well known by all - the bruises left on my arms, legs and neck by her blows which were as swift as the striking of lightning spoke for themselves.

From the side of the dōjō Ueda-sensei watched impassively, an expression of disinterest in either of us not moving from his face, while Liu Jian lurked at the doorway of the erstwhile Takeda training hall. Upon entering the building, larger than that in Odawara and consisting even of a number of separated halls, I had noticed a number of Takeda mon remained carved into the wood - as well as that famous slogan of the now subdued horse masters written in strokes of gold above the door; Swift as the wind... Quiet as a forest... Fierce as fire... Immovable as a mountain.

It saddened me that the once mighty Takeda, friends and allies of the Hojo since before I came to Kai, were now no more than petty vassals of another, lesser, clan. The Satomi had taken Kōfu and struck them a fearsome blow, yet it was the Date and Uesugi that had finished them. Now the Date, though just as much our favoured ally, swallowed the north and marched ever south to the kami knew where next.

Such musings were taken from me when Harumi-san lunged at my face, the smooth and curved wood of the training weapon missing my face only by an inch; had I not stepped to the side, or stepped too far, then it would have struck me right in the nose and no doubt broken it. As it was I had developed myself during my years in Kai, gaining strength and endurance in the mountains and forests, speed from chasing and running from others across the plains, and the ability to be struck and survive from a man who no longer had a head.

For this last deed I was scorned by many older samurai, men who thought my actions rash and impulsive, but who I knew merely had jealousies that ran deep.

Releasing my own weapon, allowing it to drop to the wooden floor with a clattering echo, I lunged forward and gripped the shaft of the attacking naginata, turning outward as I did so and tossing Harumi-san over my shoulder to where she joined my own weapon in a crumbled heap. Fortunately she was hardened to such punishment, landing correctly enough to save herself from damage to her bones, getting up at quickly as he had fallen and giving me a flash of a smile; that was before Ueda-sensei struck me across the head with one firm hand.

"What was that, Ichirou-kun?"

"A technique, sensei. A winning technique."

I will admit that defeating an enemy had made me somewhat arrogant, puffed up like a peacock who strutted around with too much pride in his plumage, and each time I was victorious in something it only made my pride swell...until that day.

"No, boy, it was not." His tone punctured any thought of pride I may have had, like a blade severing a nerve or spinal column, a killing blow, "it may well be fine if your enemy is one man, or woman, but on the battlefield you would have been killed. Have you learnt so little from your experience? Did not seeing all those men crawling in the mud, screaming for their mothers, cause you to realise that throwing away your weapon is an ignorant and foolish mistake in the midst of war?" Oh yes, you may have won, but only because Harumi-san let you."

My face must have reddened then, my eyes seeking her own blushing features, clearly my teacher saw far more than I. As to the battle, I had tried to forget the rest of it, forget the flashing of spears and the groans of the dead and dying, concentrating now on the face of Harumi-san in order to subdue memories of that day that had caused me to weep for weeks after.

"Yes...I see that you remember, and that you were stupid enough to think one as skilled as she would have been defeated by such a simple trick." The voice of my teacher pricked at me, like a thousand small cuts, whittling me down and returning me to nothing more than the young man I was, "baka..."

We were about to begin once more, and I with a more humble mind, when Liu Jian stepped into the hall and spoke in his heavily accented Japanese, "my master does not like to be kept waiting," he said, his voice like a feather on the breeze, "I request that Hitegawa-san accompany me to the gardens."

For what seemed like an age these two exponents of war - for I knew as well as anyone else that this foreigner was no teacher of just books and poetry, all knew him to be as much a warrior as any man of the clan - stared at one another, Ueda-sensei as unmoving as rock and Liu Jian as calm and patient as a quiet stream.

"Very well," came the grunted response, "take him."

After placing my weapon back on the rack I turned to follow the outsider, Ueda-sensei glaring at me like some angry beast, nothing of the man I had spoken to days before existing there at that moment, my steps carrying me away from the training hall and my mind and aching body both thankful for it.

************

It was said that the great Shingen himself had designed the gardens of Kōfu Castle, had them formed and grown within the walls of the inner precinct for his personal use in meditation and relaxation; as one who knew of Shingen-tono and his aptitude and some would say lust for war, I could imagine such a man sitting himself among the many blossoming sakura trees, or resting by the small stream that ran through the garden, perhaps standing on one of the several bridges connecting one side of the garden to the other and forming his next campaign in his mind?

All this and more entered my head as I entered the garden, moving under a torii arch and following Liu Jian along a path wide enough for three men abreast, trees lining the avenue on either side and shading us from that days particularly heated sun, the path opening into the main garden.

For a moment my breath was taken from me, for I had never seen such a garden - a place for the daimyo and his family, or the monks in their grand temples, but not a place for one so low born as I - and standing there on the threshold I feel no shame in saying that I nearly wept at such beauty. Truly the kami bless and guide whomever creates such a place.

"Follow," instructed the willowy outsider, moving with ease, familiar no doubt with such sights from in his own homeland, "here."

Once the Chūgokujin had moved aside and taken a place some steps back, I was presented with the view of a bubbling pool surrounded by rocks and flowering plants, a scene of complete peace and serenity in a land of bloodshed and war, and sitting in the very centre of that pool was none other than Ujimasa-sama.

What I felt at that moment would be too hard to describe, although to me it was a perfect blend of elation, relief and tinged with a seed of bitterness and anger. We had been apart for nearly five years, five long years, and when I had wished to see him before departing I had been turned away like a common brigand! Then his father, a man seemingly without emotion, had promised a reuniting had only come in the last moment. There was enough anger in me that I could have lost face, could have bellowed like a wounded cow or fled from the garden, I could even have spat in his eye and left...but I did none of this, for I valued too much my life and my friendship - although which one I valued more I never could tell, to me they seemed one and the same - and so I simply stood there in my sweat-stained kimono and waited.

"Ichirou-kun," he said to me, coming toward the edge of the pool where I stood and gazing up at me with those knowing eyes, his voice just as I remembered it, "join me, please."

"Is that a demand, tono?"

I could see that that hurt him, his mask slipping from his face for one moment, but he did not back off or even allow his expression to change for longer than a second, he simply repeated his request and only then did he move back to the centre of the pool.

"As you wish," I recall sighing, "Ujimasa-sama."

Hurriedly I slipped from my clothing, piling it neatly beside me and feeling the cool breeze of the spring wind against my exposed flesh, closing my eyes and allowing myself to feel it completely. How long I stood there I am not certain, but on opening my eyes I saw Ujimasa redden in his cheeks and look away; maybe it was at that moment, as I climbed in the pool and let out a short gasp as the warm waters touched my protesting limbs, that I realised why I was there...why he had warmed to me all those years ago...and why only now he had decided to invite me to meet him in this place.

"I am...sorry, Ichirou-kun. Sorry that my father used me as you would a piece in a game of Go, and sorry that I did not come to meet you when you left," his eyes looked to the scar on my cheek, still visible but fading, "it hurt, neh?" I knew that he was asking because he needed something to say, but I gave a small nod of my own, "I did not feel it, not until I had taken the head of my enemy...then it hurt!" He smiled at that, and I could not help but smile back.

"Please, forgive me, my actions have haunted me since we parted an- and I would not like any bad feeling between us."

Tempting as it may have been to see him suffer for what I believed was a wrong action, I was and remain a man who abhors cruelty. No, I told him that all was forgiven and that, should he wish to renew out friendship, I would be honoured to do so. This seemed to please him greatly.

"I-"

He began to stutter then, something I had never thought possible for Ujimasa, but he swallowed deeply and looked me straight in the eye; this was the Ujimasa I knew, the Ujimasa who was afraid of nothing and talked as directly to me as he would to his father, a farmer or any other man.

"I have something to ask you," he began quietly, his voice rising as he continued, "it has plagued my mind since the day we met, and I would have an honest answer, yes?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but I gave another nod, "of course, what is this request?"

He came forward in a disturbance of water, turning to make sure that no one was watching, motioning for me to lean closer so that he may impart the request in secrecy. I did as he asked, meeting him in the middle of the pool and leaning forward so that he might tell me as he wished; what I did not think was that one pale hand would emerge from the water and guide my face toward his own until, in a flash of utter surprise, I found my lips pressed to his own.

Immediately I jerked away from him, the feeling of his lips against mine still lingering, and turned my back on him with a hiss - it was not a hiss of displeasure, but more that I had been duped and did not rightly know how to react.

No sooner had I turned than I felt one of those soft hands on my shoulder, and his voice from behind me - pain evident as well as futile rage - the sound of tears stinging his eyes mingled with it.

"You would reject me?" It said, "I know that my father once told you I loved you-"

"As a friend!" Came my response, perhaps a bit too forceful, and without turning to look at him, "I thought you loved me as a friend, Ujimasa. Not...not like this."

Now it was his turn to take a sharp intake of breath, a sniff only confirming that he was holding back tears, "as a friend, yes. Yet as time went by I realised-" the flood of words I knew he wished to say were kept in check, samurai and the sons of daimyo as tight lipped as a good and loyal wife, "I realised that I felt more."

Now I turned, seeing the red about his eyes and beginning to feel numb inside; he, as the heir to my daimyo, and as a boy making his decision of lover, had every right to pick me. Indeed, it was customary for one to study a potential lover and teacher for five years before approaching them, and this he had surely done, and I could not fault him for my own blindness in this matter.

"I am the lowly son of a ji-samurai," I tried to say, but he knew it was an excuse, "it would not be fitting, not for me to- to be as you want."

"Must I order it of you, Ichirou? Must I use the bond between Lord and vassal to guide you to what I believe to be the right choice?" His face was soft now, pitying even, my own eyes looking away from his, "do not force me to command it of you, for it would be selfish and allow you no free choice of your own." Now his voice was almost pleading, pleading for me and my right to choose rather than himself.

"Your father?"

"My father knows, and understand that his son will make his own choices; as ferocious as he is in battle, he is a father beloved of the Gods and one that I could never abandon. He is a good man."

To this day I do not know why I yielded, why I moved closer to him and embraced him, pressing him to my chest but gazing around the garden in an effort to still conjure an excuse from the air about us. I could find none.

"So be it," I whispered in defeat and submission, "I accept your request of my own choice."

"Suki da yo*," he whispered in reply, his voice vibrating through my chest.

"Hai," I said with a half-smile, "soshite, watashi wa anata ni hijō ni ōku no ga sukidesu."




[The Japanese are not known to love in the Western manner, as should be obvious. They rarely do so in public, and therefore there is not really any direct translation for 'I love you', therefore I've used 'suki dayo' which is closest but in the West would mean something more along the lines of to 'like' another. So...there you go.]

[Merchant of Venice]

Wow, that was unexpected. That really turns the tables. I don't know whether I like Ujimasa more or less now I know his motives but also after he made Ichirou submit. Powerful stuff.

[McScottish]

Chapter I, Part VII ~ Ichigatsu, Tenbun 20 (January, 1551), Kōfu Castle, Province of Kai – The Beginning of an End

We spent every blissful moment together after that, the vanishings and seclusions of Ujimasa-san being replaced by my almost never leaving his side; more than once I believe I caught Liu Jian shaking his head from a secluded corner or doorway, although whether in disapproval or simply in reluctant acceptance I could not tell.*

I had worried or even feared what Inomata-sama might do when he discovered our relationship, I was still his page and student after all, but I needn't have worried as I did - I was now a joined older brother of Ujimasa-san, and any hold that Inomata may have had over me was swiftly brushed aside by the boy that would eventually replace his father as Daimyo of the Odawara Hojo.

Would that I had been a more ambitious man - or one of a more vicious character - I could most simply have used my hold over Ujimasa-san to receive for my own vast swathes of land, complete with taxes from the farmers, or pleaded for a position as a minor lord, or even asked that Inamoto-sama be...well, it does not matter now, I have never been of such a mind and was more than content to love Ujimasa-san with his fathers permission.

One cold evening in Kai, the cutting winds whipping down from the mountains and the gate guards shivering as I passed, swaddled as I was in my own clothes and a thick cloak, I made my way to the chambers of Ujimasa-san - not yet completely ingratiated enough with his family to be allowed to bed together - and was surprised to find him waiting for me as I slid back the shōji; he was knelt on the floor, a brush in his hand and a scroll spread out before him, and there was nothing unusual about this as much as how he looked.

"Ichirou-kun!" He blurted out when he saw me, giving me a smile that made my whole body lighten, "my forebear Hojo Soun always insisted that one should hold the art of literature in his left hand, and the martial pursuits in his right."

"He was correct," I said with a curt nod, kneeling to close the shōji and moving forward until I knelt on the other side of the scroll, "is it true that he wrote a number of articles for the head of the clan to follow?" Often I had heard tell of the twenty-one articles of Hojo Soun, but I had never thought of asking about them until that moment.

"Hai, twenty-one articles set down that he followed for his entire life," he agreed with a small smile, his brush tracing characters across the scroll even as he spoke, "the scroll is kept by my father, but it mostly relates to living a humble life, respecting ones elders, and balancing oneself between the art of war and that of other pursuits," a thoughtful look came over him for a moment, "he also advised that a book be kept at all times," a small shrug of those slender but powerful shoulders, "what can one expect from a man who founded a line and became a monk?"

"Ujimasa-"

"Why am I clothed like this?"

"Yes..."

He was knelt, more lounging, in a formal kimono - long sleeves swept back so to avoid ruining it with ink, and all manner of colours adorning it, mostly blues and silvers with a white obi barely holding it together - his long black hair gathered up and pinned in a bun as was the fashion of women, and his already delicate features emphasised with touches of cosmetics and powder. How can I say that I did not find him alluring, I can not! I was confused and asked for an answer.

"Do you not like it?" Came the challenge, his hand placing the brush down in its place, the sound of fabric rubbing against the tatami as he moved around to sit an arms length away from me like the pounding of thunder in my ears, "do you disapprove?" I do not think I could have even spoken, not when he was so close, and remained silent until a moment later.

"What would your father say?"

"Hah! My father? You really are a fool if you think he does not know everything that happens in his domains, what every person - most of all his son and heir - is doing from day-to-day. Have no fear, Ichirou-kun, there will be no questions asked of you or I or what we decide to do; many of those lords and great warriors are similarly amused themselves...you just happened to catch my eye, how fortunate."

My mouth moved into a smile, I could not help it, my mind easing into a more relaxed state - although I could not entirely forget that, although my lover, Ujimasa-san was nevertheless my superior - and I took this chance for a short glance at the neatly curved characters nearby. Now it was his turn to laugh, "it is a record of my early life, for posterity. Who knows, one day others may be interested in my life? You are included of course," I could see my name among the writing and let out a calm sigh, "I have been thinking, would a contract of our love offend you?" I could see he was a little taken aback, but more curious I think, and after a minute he laughed again - a sound as beautiful as a nightingales chorus - and waved a hand through the air, "Inomata-san?" He knew me well, "hai, I still worry that he may desire to see us separated A contract would ease both my mind and our path together."

My proposal was accepted, the great Takeda Shingen having made a similar pact with his own favourite lover, so they say, and the very next day we had produced a contract that pledged me to Ujimasa and he to me for as long as our feelings may last. If, and I was not certain that he would, if Inomata-sama prevailed upon Ujiyasu-tono or others then he would be most unhappy with the result.

************

Three days past until it appeared I had been most presumptuous, for no sooner had my mind began to ease before there was a summons ordering me to attend upon Inomata-sama and a number of other great retainers. There was nothing contained within the summons to speak of the purpose of this council, but to refuse on the grounds of his presence there and my own displeasure would seem both petty and unnecessary therefore I had reluctantly to go.

His own displeasure was clear from the moment of my arrival, that once friendly and open face now bitter and closed to me, his eyes watching me with an intense dislike as I took my place next to one Toyama Masahide; this bushi at least was courteous to me, allowing me to sit and even offering to poor my tea, an act which I readily accepted - the tea was delicious.

The purpose of the gathering soon became clear when Daidoji Kouta, the head of the most loyal and long-serving Hojo vassals, began to explain. He was true to his name, meaning 'thick' or robust, a man built in body like a suit of armour, and with a look nearly matching that of his liege lord in the way it could move a man to purpose.

"The Imigawa-shi are failing," he began with a long sigh, "such a venerable and respected clan, a clan which have been our allies for many years, are now in possession of Mikawa alone. This, their heartland and homeland, is threatened by Hatekeyama Yoshikuni." It all started to become clearer now, "Imagawa Hisako is a stubborn old boar, but he must be persuaded to bend to us and accept Hojo protection as a vassal to our lord Ujiyasu-tono. If he does not, then surely he, his heir Ujizane-san, and his entire clan will face extinction and having their name scattered to the four winds."

There were many quick words, grumbles and sharp breathes from those around me, and I could feel a great weight building like a heavy cloud over us all.

"We must send this generous offer in person, a simple messenger will not do," only now did I realise what was about to happen, when Kouta-sama turned to my former lord and gave a small bow, "Inomata-san has volunteered his services, taking his page Hitegawa-kun and forty men as an escort; this has been accepted by our lord and they shall leave as soon as they are prepared for the journey."

A low bow was given to both he and I, everyone smiling and advising us both in our duties, but behind the amicable expressions I knew that each and every one knew what was likely to happen during our journey...and could not care less. My face almost matched that of Inomata-san as I left the chamber of the keep, my steps swift as I returned to Ujimasa-san and told him of all that had happened.

"Do not worry," came the reassuring words that felt almost useless to me, "come," he commanded with a smile and a gesture of one hand, "I have something to show you."

[Merchant of Venice]

This gets more and complex with each chapter. I wonder what Ujimasa is going to show him. Eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

[McScottish]

Chapter I, Part VIII ~ Ichigatsu, Tenbun 20 (January, 1551), Kōfu Castle, Province of Kai –
The Beginning of an End, Part II

"This," I managed to whisper, after stepping into the next room and coming across a previously empty armour stand - two pieces of wood in the shape of a cross - that was now not so empty, "this is for me? All of it?"

"Yes my love," purred Ujimasa, one slender hand resting on my shoulder, the other waving across my vision at the pieces of both defensive and offensive equipment that he had had forged personally for my use, "it is all for you. Please, take a closer look."

Hesitantly I moved forward to take a closer look; first going to one knee to inspect the nanban dô gusoku that formed the protection for ones torso - clearly traded from those southern barbarians who now thrived in their enclave in Musashi harbour - being made of front and rear sections of solid iron armour, the pieces connected together by sturdy and adjustable straps of leather at the waist and shoulders. Down the centre of the breastplate ran a ridge from the sternum, ending in a protruding point at the belly, and at the top of it had been gracefully hammered the familiar triangular shape of the Hojo mon. For a moment I leant forward and pressed a hand to the cold metal, running my naked fingers over the indented symbol of my lords clan reverently, trying to imagine how it would feel to have this sitting on my hips as I rode and fought.

"Interesting, neh?" Came the voice of Ujimasa-san from behind me, "you can not know how much I had to pay to the barbarian, then to the smith, but from your expression I can see that it was worth the expense."

I moved my hand and gaze upward as my head nodded in silent agreement, my eyes coming to rest on a finely crafted momonari kabuto, taking its name from being shaped like a peace, an iron menpô resting beneath it, and the snarling features leaving only the eyes visible beneath the helmet.

With expertly crafted kote sleeves to protect my arms, tekkô to defend against a blow to my hand, kusazuri hanging from the bottom of the foreigners breastplate, and the customary pairing of haidate and suneate to protect my legs in battle, it was truly a magnificient labour of love that had been undertaken in my abscence.

I could feel tears coming to my eyes, but I help them back with an iron will, standing up from my kneeling position and embracing Ujimasa-san in a moment that I both thought and hoped would never end. There we stood for many minutes, both basking in the delight of the other - I in his delight at my joy, and he in my acceptance and even love of his gift to me.

The moment was only broken when a voice called from beyond the doorway of the chamber, "Inomata-tono is prepared to leave, he requests that Hitegawa-san join him with all haste outside the castle gates."

Heartbeats later and footsteps signalled the speakers leaving, I looking Ujimasa-san in his eyes and giving a rare smile, "I shall return, do not fret, and when I do it shall be to the most exquisite creature on this Earth."

"Hitegawa-sama," he replied mockingly, "tell them to leave you for me!"

In a moment of my own mischeviousness I looked back to the armour, unravelling myself from Ujimasa, and my smile grew even wider.

"Time to change."

************

When I rode from the castle gates, my naginata in one hand and two swords thrust through my belt, the armour gifted to me sitting easily on my body - all except my snarling menpô, its white moustache bristling with anger, which was concealed for the moment in a bag carried by a nameless boy who had become my own servant - I could not have imagined the look of utter horror on the face of my lord; Inomata-sama sat astride his own horse, his own armour looking cheap and coarse in comparison to my own, and his face, through quickly bought back under control, betraying his true feelings about my newfound position as a favourite of the daimyo, or at least his heir.

"Hitegawa-kun...Ichirou..."

"We are leaving, hai?"

I gestured to the forty or so warriors milling about on the road before us, Inomata-sama and I at the rear of the column bound for Mikawa Province, three quarters of them being the swift ashigaru and the last ten or so being samurai of noble birth and bearing. They were all volunteers, looking to earn some form of glory from this trip, whether it was a success or not I doubt had even crossed their minds...but it had surely crossed my own.

"Hai," he agreed with a grimace, wishing to say more but realising it was best to keep quiet around me, outside of my usual duties of cleaning his armour and dressing him, "let us proceed then, with all speed."

"To Mikawa!" He bellowed like a bullock, the whole line echoing the call, inlcuding myself, and like some great shivering insect the entire line began the march forward into the unknown.

[Tigellinus]

Ha! You updated on my birthday

This is fitting, I have a new chapter to read!

Thanks

Tigellinus

[McScottish]

Ha! You updated on my birthday

This is fitting, I have a new chapter to read!

Thanks

Tigellinus

Ah, the prodigal son comments at last...mu-ha-ha-har!

Well, happy birthday, bro; hope you have/had an amazing one and get everything you want/wanted.

More chapters to follow soon...

[Merchant of Venice]

I hope this new, expensive armour will protect our protagonist from harm in the upcoming battle. Brilliant as always, my friend.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I hope this new, expensive armour will protect our protagonist from harm in the upcoming battle. Brilliant as always, my friend.

Somehow, I find myself less worried about the battle than I am about jealous nobles...

[McScottish]

I hope this new, expensive armour will protect our protagonist from harm in the upcoming battle. Brilliant as always, my friend.

European made, has to be good! Thank you for your kind words, as always.

Somehow, I find myself less worried about the battle than I am about jealous nobles...

[McScottish]

Chapter I, Part VIIII ~ Ichigatsu, Tenbun 20 (January, 1551), On the Road to Mikawa – The End of a Life

I had known what would happen, and I had also known what was to be done, but I had never expected it to happen so soon...so soon; we were barely two days away from Kai Province, travelling with all haste toward Mikawa and the domain of Imagawa Hisako - a daimyo of a venerable line, possibly to be the last! - when we came to a halt in a small village of numerous small huts and very little else. There was however a roadside inn not too far from the village, only a short ride away, that Inomata-sama proposed should be where I and a small group of retainers would rest. It was here that I should have politely declined, remained with the lower samurai and the ashigaru, and found myself a peasant dwelling in which I could sleep, yet I did not.

The inn was a simple affair, a two floored building with numerous separated rooms, run by a family that had lived in the area for many years or so they said. There were a number of other patrons, but most of the rooms were otherwise empty, the inn keeper and his wife only too happy to bow and scrape to my lord and those that were with him and, as such, Inomata-sama was given a private chamber on the lower floor away from the commoners and his social juniors.

It was a simple room, as were all the rooms to be had, a large bed placed on the floor and a fire-pit simmering away in the centre. The sheets of the bed were more luxurious than those given to the usual patrons, the fire-pit larger and already with a small cauldron of broth bubbling merrily over it.

As the page of my lord I was required to arrange everything, and did my best to do so; I bought in his various chests, assembled the stand for his armour, and - even though I shivered inside to do so - stripped him of his armour and dressed him in an exquisite kimono for the evening. He tried not to show it, but I knew that he enjoyed every moment of it, seeing me caught between my duties to him and my own knowledge that he hated me and my relationship with Ujimasa-kun.

"Stay and clean my armour, Ichirou-kun," he commanded me as he moved toward the sliding door, an undisguised smile on his features, "I shall return later." With that he was gone, away to the Kami knew where!

I did not see him for many hours, but proceeded with my work in a silent and orderly manner, cleaning each piece of his armour and oiling his tachi thoroughly; when the broth had finished boiling, the stew of vegetables and fish smelling too good to waste, I asked the inn keepers wife for two bowls and filled them to the brim.

My own bowl was empty, and my lords still full, when he finally returned.

Hours had passed, and I had sat in contemplative silence as they did, wanting urgently to be anywhere but where I now found myself. To be anyone but who I was. For as I have written, I knew what was going to happen, and there could only be one outcome...

When he did return it was reeking of sake, his hair dishevelled and his kimono loose, the man that I had once believed could be one of the greatest samurai now stumbled into the room, knocking the cold bowl of stew over the tatami and laughing loudly as he did so; I had nearly fallen asleep, but on his entrance I leapt to my feet with all the speed I could muster, and the change in his expression was almost instantaneous with my own movements.

Like an enraged animal he snarled at me, his lips pulling back to reveal his teeth, and a pained sound of anguish escaping his lips.

"Why?" He muttered as he stumbled closer, flinging his arms wide, "why...why...why..." those eyes looked at me accusingly, never wavering in there gaze, each step bringing him closer to me and I to his reach, "why did you do it, Ichirou?" Came a pleading voice that I could never have expected from him, "why did you choose him, when you could have had me?!"

My own feet moved now, both he and I naked but for our kimonos, Inomata-sama following my movements and shifting surprisingly fast to block any chance of escape I may have had.

"Inomata-sama, please," I found myself saying in as soothing a voice as I could, "you are not yourself, please go to sleep my lord."

"Why!"

"I love him!" I finally snapped, moving now not to avoid him but straight at him, the drunken fool shaking his head from one side to the other as he backed away.

"I love him, not you my lord, no matter how much you might wish it. Please, allow us to be happy."

The sound that came from his throat then was worse than any wounded beast I have ever heard, a cry of pure pain that shocked me into silence and caused me to stop where I was, Inomata-sama fixing me once more with his gaze, but a gaze filled with madness and lust, and it dawned on me that the time had finally come; his intentions of lunging at me could not have been more clear, the sodden lord throwing himself at me once, twice, three times and more, each time I stepped or leapt aside to avoid him but each time he would try again.

Everything formed into a perfect circle when, just a moment too slow in my avoidances, he grasped a hem of my kimono sleeve in one strong wrist and threw me roughly to the floor. Before I knew it he was on me once again, tearing at me with grunts of unbridled fury, his fingers fumbling for my obi while he tried to keep me pinned down with his thighs and the considerable weight of his body.

"I beg you, my lord, please! Do not do this...do not...do this!"

By the time he finally managed to untie my kimono, throwing it open like some victorious finder of a wondrous treasure, I had prepared myself to take his life; I did not wish to, and I could never have had the situation been different, but as he tried to force me onto my stomach I vowed in my mind that I could not allow him to defile me, and if it meant ending his life in order to save my honour and my body from his ravages then so be it.

Could I have restrained myself? Restrained him, rather than fight until his demise? I often ask myself these questions, and always I come to the same conclusion, that is that he would not have stopped and would have tried all he could to fulfill his base desires using me as his victim.

Amidst his struggles to open my kimono, his legs wrapped around my ribs and squeezing tight, he had forgotten to find a way to hold my arms in place...this would be his undoing, for when he began to shift himself that he might turn me onto my front, my left arm shot out like an arrow and grasped his genitals through his underclothes. Without thinking I gripped tighter and tighter, his intoxicated state no doubt dulling a lot of the pain any other would have felt, but immobilising him long enough for me to swing my right fist up and strike him in the temple with my closed hand.

Again I struck him, twisting his genitals in my hand and savouring the clear look of pain on his face, striking the side of his head until he slumped to the floor and began to vomit, only releasing him once I knew he was too dazed and weakened to try attack me again. My blood was still hot though, still pounding in my ears, and I had not yet finished.

No hesitation came as I snatched one of the pillows from the nearby bed, keeping him within sight of my eyes at all times, taking my turn to place myself on his chest and laugh at him as he flailed to dislodge me - the pillow I placed over his face...the rest I shall leave to ones own imagination.

I had killed him, extinguished his life, and what I had done would haunt me forever.

[waveman]

Wow. Quite the event. I desperately want to know what happens next

Where's the fancy armor when you really need it?

[Merchant of Venice]

That was quite a nasty turn of events and quite an imaginative way of getting out of it. Absolutely amazing writing as always and I fear the aftermath of this won't be good.

[McScottish]

Chapter I, Part VIIII ~ Ichigatsu, Tenbun 20 (January, 1551), On the Road to Mikawa – The Aftermath of The End of a Life

I had but a matter of minutes to decide what to do next, kneeling over the now motionless body of my erstwhile lord, the clothing of both he and I torn by the others hand and the pillow still in my strangely unshaken hand, and it was in this small wave of time that I resolved firmly and without hesitation what had to be done...

After a couple of minutes I emerged from our chamber as if the Oni were after me, my arms up in the air and my voice as clear as a serene pool of water, "the lord is dead! Inomata-tono is dead! Someone help, help me!" Looking as shaken as I could, knowing what I knew and caring so little, I grabbed the first samurai that emerged half-clothed from his own room and his wakazashi drawn.

"Togaka-sama, I awoke and...and..." I flung an arm toward the room, "he does not move and I cannot awaken him, please, come!"

When we slid back the door the scene was little changed from how it had been when I left, except for two crucial points; the first was that Inomata-san had been moved closer to the entrance of the room, his clothing still dishevelled and the stench of sake clinging to him like insects on a rotting corpse, his own corpse positioned as if he had fallen and struck his head on the second thing, his chest, that had found its way a lot closer to the door. Lastly, and most importantly, was the serving jug of sake that had smashed at his feet as 'he' entered the room and caused him to slip and strike the side of his head, scattering the bowl of stew I had left for him.

Togaka-san saw this, looked to me, then back - only after studying my face for what seemed like a thousand years, each cut of his own eyes to mine like that of a sword in my gut, did he lower his weapon and kneel to get a better look. Had I not changed my clothing before fleeing into the corridor, allowing my fear to control me, I may have given myself away and ended my life on the road to Mikawa. Others soon arrived, their eyes showing the same look as their comrade, each casting the same suspicious glance in my direction but all unable to prove that anything untoward had happened.

"I was sleeping when he entered," I answered when questioned, keeping as close to the truth as I could, "then I heard a loud noise, and awoke to see him laying next to his chest with sake at his feet and a deep wound in his head. I tried to revive him, tried to call to him, but he...he did not stir."

How had I managed to take his head and pummel it against the corner of the chest? Well, that was the easiest part, and the false tears that I cried as I recalled the false incident came only because I thought of what might happen to Ujimasa-kun if I were to be arrested or slain by the minor lords that had escorted us here.

It was not to be so, bless the Kami!

A meeting was held in the early hours of the morning, every noble of any importance having a say, and there two more things were decided that would help me on my way. Firstly, that Inomata-san had fallen and died as an accident, that, as his page, I should have been observing him all along, but that I could not be punished for something that I could not have foreseen. Secondly, it was decided that, even with his death, we must carry on with the task we had been set by Ujiyasu-tono and seek to save the Imagawa from their fate; to this end the body of Inomata-san was sent back with an escort toward Kai, while I and the remainder would continue East into Imagawa lands - the very last Imigawa province - to speak with their daimyo and convince him to become a vassal of the Hojo and accept our protection.

I was numb as I mounted my horse the next morning, watching the procession take away the body of a man I had murdered like a common bandit, an assassin, and whose children would, in time, become two of my bitterest enemies.

[Alwyn]

So the page becomes an assassin (at least, this one time). I like your similes - 'my voice as clear as a serene pool of water, 'each cut of his eyes like a sword in my gut', which help to make your writing powerful and immersive. I wonder how the mission into Imagawa lands will go.

[Merchant of Venice]

Tricky Ichirou, lying like that. And what's this about becoming bitter enemies with Inomata's children. They were cool, I don't want them to be enemies!