The General's Daughter

a/n . . .I can’t think of anything. . .

Chapter 7

The next morning, I woke to a flurry of activity. I sat up to find the shoji door opened—I had closed it last night. I got up to close it, when I heard a voice. “MAXI!”

A tall man, nearing Mitsurugi’s height, with coal black eyes and shining jet black hair was standing in the middle of the courtyard—at least he was before Taki tackled him to the ground. The man, a pirate by dress and action, pulled her face down to his and kissed her passionately. “Missed you, too, sweets.”

It was a beautiful scene, giving happiness to the dreary day. Dark clouds were overhead, threatening rain at the slightest instant.

Curious, I opened the door to see Mitsurugi chuckling. “Okay, you two; we don’t have time for any fun and games.” He folded some papers and stuck them inside a bag, then turned to go somewhere. “Let me check on—hello!”

Both of us jumped back, startled. “Check on who?” I asked naively.

“You, to see if you changed your mind. It’ll be one hell of a trip with those two. . .” Mitsurugi turned to face Taki and the pirate Maxi, who had stood up and were just holding each other. “They’ve been together for nearly six months. . .”

“Jealous, are we?” I teased.

“Mildly.”

“At least you’re honest.”

“So. . .you change your mind?”

I shook my head. “I have to go home, even if it means my death. I. . .” About this time, I noticed him moving closer. I turned away, knowing what he was going to do. “I. . .I can’t. . .no.”

He backed off, an air of disappointment around him. Smoothing a strand of hair away from my face, he turned it so I was looking into his brown eyes. “I wish you the best of luck; may Daibutsu smile on you.”

“A-hem. . .” We both turned to see the merry grins on Taki’s and Maxi’s faces. “You two are so busted. Hei-san, you never told me--!” The playful ‘shock’ on Maxi’s face was evident. “You finally settling down?”

I nearly laughed out loud when Mitsurugi turned beet red. “No, we’re not together, we’re just traveling.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you’re coming?”

I shook my head solemnly. “No. . .”

“I see. . .Best of luck to you, then; take care of yourself.” Mitsurugi turned around and headed to the group of travelers.

My, that was awkward.

Around midday, they left. Mitsurugi, Taki, and Maxi rose out on horseback, one of the horses pulling a small cart. I watched them leave with a heavy heart through a window in the main house.

“You care for him, don’t you.” It was a statement, not a question. I turned to see Uncle Takeshi standing in the shoji doorway, thumbs looped through his belt. He gave me a benign and knowing smile as only an uncle could.

He was not the master then, but an older relative familiar to the ways of young people. The man came over to my side and rested a hand on my shoulder. “We leave in an hour; think about your future. Once we get home, you know what’s going to happen. I’ll not deny that and I cannot save you from it, but I will say this: it doesn’t have to be that way. You can still have your honor and live.” He left me there in the doorway, befuddled.

An hour later, I mounted the horse and was given my swords. Uncle led theemn emn train out of the stronghold, followed by myself. I was flanked by two samurai and followed by a third, the last living member of the party. The body of the fourth was wrapped up and placed on a cart, which was attached to the horse that the last one was riding.

We rode in silence for nearly two hours. A light drizzle began to come down and Takeshi stopped the caravan. “We camp here for the night.”

I distanced myself away from the men, who gathered around a campfire, discussing my fate. I heard snatches of their conversation: “. . .dishonored. . .seppuku?. . .no tolerance.”

So that was it. My fate was sealed.

I do reg regret my decision to come home instead of going with Mitsurugi.

Takeshi stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder. “It is time.”

I stood, head held high and followed him to a clearing. I removed my armor and swords, save for the tanto, and placed to the side. Underneath the armor, I was wearing a white haori under a black hakama. I kneeled on the ground with Takeshi by my side. He helped me pull my hair back into a long tail.

“Matsudaira Miyuki, consider this an order on the behalf of your general, Matsudaira Gendo: You are hereby ordered to commit seppuku. Based on your military record, we have decided to honor you with this decision rather than killing you outright.”

Takeshi handed me the tanto and placed his finger on the part of the neck it was supposed to go in. The soft part of the neck, where it joined the underside of the chin. The blade would sever the windpipe, then the spine, causing me to choke on my own blood. I would asphyxiate, then die in a matter of seconds.

I refused to look at him. If I did, he would see my eyes getting red.

I held the tanto in my hand, ready to lift it up and drive it into my neck when the order was given.

Takeshi must have sensed my mental anguish, because he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t fear, my student; it will be over shortly.”

I nodded, still facing the other three samurai. The eldest had a look of pained pride on his face, while the other two just sat there, watching me. “I’m ready.”

"Put down the tanto, Matsudaira." It was the oldest samurai who spoke.

I looked up at Takeshi, surprised. “Huh?”

The eldest samurai gave me a benign look. “When you were taken, you were renounced from the clan by your father.”

My head drooped.

“This means you are no longer in the clan nor are you under any obligation to him military wise. Therefore, we cannot order you to commit seppuku.”

Confused, I looked back at Takeshi, then the oldest samurai. “Uh. . .I’m confused.”

“Your father knew what he was doing when he renounced you. He wanted you to live with your disgrace, so he removed you from the clan. You are ronin, now.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but was silenced by an upraised hand. “We discussed this before we were to leave and this is what we decided. Since you are ronin, you will not be allowed to come back with us, nor will you be allowed to publicly appear in the clan’s cities on the penalty of death on sight.”

So this was it. I was stripped of my rank, my title, and my family.

“We allow you to keep your armor and your swords. Your father sends word that he loves you and wishes you the best. We will give you a horse, three days rations and our prayers for a safe journey.”

I could scarcely believe my ears. Not only was I allowed to live, but they had PLANNED it!

“Go now. And remember your roots.” Takeshi pulled me to my feet and handed me my armor. He helped me put it on and handed me my swords. Then he wrapped his arms around me. “Look in on us some time; your father misses you.”

“We have to leave now, Matsudaira; ’Yuki, you’d best leave now, before the forest eyes find you.” The three samurai stood up and left the clearing, followed by Uncle seconds later.

I stood there for a full minute, trying to piece together what had just happened.

What the hell just happened?

Without answering my own question, I quickly mounted the horse that had been left for me and took off galloping in the direction I knew Mitsurugi and his party had gone.

~~~

I rode for two days straight before I caught their trail. It was fresh. . .

It stopped suddenly and I noticed the cart on its side and the horses nowhere in sight. Thinking the worst, I stopped and circled the cart.

Me and my paranoid mind. . .In the shade of the cart was Mitsurugi, either reading some of the papers in his lap or dozing. I tiptoed over, careful not to disturb the foliage, and poked him in the shoulder. He started and went for the katana at his side.

“Easy, it’s just me!”

“Miyuki?! . . .the hell?!” He shook his head as if he had been dreaming. Upon rubbing his eyes, he turned back to me and smiled. “What made you change your mind?”

My face fell. “Father cast me out of the clan.” I told him everything that had happened after he had left the castle. “. . .then I remembered where you where headed and followed you.”

He leaned back against the cart. “I’m sorry about your father renouncing you. What will you do now?”

I shrugged. “I’ll go wherever the wind takes me.” Then I glanced around; two people where missing. “Where are Taki and the pirate guy?”

“Maxi? They went to get some water for the horses. Knowing them. . .”

I chuckled with him. “Okay, so what happened to the cart?”

“A wheel broke. They went to find some dry wood. I think we’ll be waiting here for a while.” He nudged me and laughed. “So how have you been?”

I stifled a yawn. “I’ve been riding for days, my butt hurts, I’m exhausted and I’m starved because I ate all my rice and sushi.”

Laughing out loud, Mitsurugi responded by slapping a hand on my back. He reached into the cart and pulled out a rice ball and gave it to me.

I promptly devoured it. “Mmmph--thank you.”

“Like I said, I think we’re going to be here awhile; you may as well take a nap now.”

“True.” I removed my armor and used the chest plate as a pillow, then fell asleep against it.