Chapter 2

"These are all from my memories of four years ago, so don't be surprised if they look a little different now." Harukaze lectured, holding the paper up in front of his face as they walked. This was definitely dangerous. What if the dirt road still had a rock or two propping up and he stumbled over it? For a beloved husband, he didn't feel like he was getting the care he deserved.

"Now, the one on the far left is Vaj. He's a foreigner from beyond the seas, with white hair. He's still young so I guess he had a traumatic event in his past, or maybe they're just born that way overseas. Anyway, you can't miss him. He doesn't wield a katana, or fight like we do. He has this weird combo called a rapier and a maine gauche for duels. Since criminal types don't wear armor he doesn't need anything thicker than his little pointy thingie to kill with. He'll parry with his maine gauche and attack with the rapier, but sometimes it's the opposite!"

"Got it, Vaj has white hair and his weapons have weird names." Jin nodded.

"Do you even have a tactic or strategy to beat him yet? We're almost there." Harukaze pleaded. She knew Jin was strong, but his blase attitude about everything was so undermining. How could she have confidence in someone who never cared about anything, even his own impending doom?

"Tactic? The better swordsman will win. That's how it's always been." Jin rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine. I'm only asking because I love you so much and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Do you understand? Don't make me cry over your grave as your bereaved widow."

"You're really getting into this, huh?" Jin laughed.

"Getting into what?" Harukaze pouted. Jin could never concentrate on anything.

"Nothing, go on. By the way, I can't see the road ahead. Are you trying to make me trip?"

"There's nothing to trip on. It's dirt from here to tomorrow. Our next target is a shorter walk than this one." A gust of wind attacked her paper and she had to let go of one half for fear it would rip. She carefully spread it out again when the wind was gone, shivering. Hoaido was colder than the rest of Niron. It was a miserable place to live that no civilized Nironjin would bother with. She couldn't wait to get back south again to the main island.

"He's the man on the far right. It's hard to tell what his face looks like because of that giant beard, but he has this characteristic walk where he only swings one arm. I'm sure he never got over that, so just watch for the one arm swing." Harukaze lectured.

"Are you cold?" Jin asked worriedly.

"Of course I'm cold. It's freezing out here. Why aren't you cold?" Harukaze complained.

"This is nothing. The real north is the island after this, Futo. I'll admit I don't like it there, but this is kind of refreshing. It's too muggy on the main island."

"What on Earth sent you to a howling wilderness like Futo?" Harukaze shivered just thinking of the next island up.

"I think he was some sort of renegade monk who had made off with the temple donations. Monks are a hardy breed, he figured no one would chase him there. But, well, then there's people like me who are even harder. Too bad." Jin commiserated, thinking back.

"So you're okay with killing defenseless monks?" Harukaze complained.

"Heck, it's the death penalty for theft in this country, even if you're a doe-eyed girl. A man's got to make a living." Jin said, chewing on a stalk of grass he'd found somewhere on the road. Was his stomach made of iron? Mutant herbivore.

"The bearded man's name is Masato Kuchiida. He uses a naginata, it's really huge, and holds it in a lazy boy style. At least he did four years ago. If you can just dodge his first swing you should be able to kill him from there, but don't try to block it, your weapon will snap like a twig!"

"Got it, the one armed man is strong." Jin nodded to himself.

"All of these men are stronger than Vaj!" Harukaze reminded him. "And he isn't one armed, he just swings one arm when he walks. His other arm is always carrying that naginata around propped on his shoulder, okay?"

"Make up your mind, is he one armed or lazy?" Jin complained.

"You never listen to me." Harukaze whined.

"You just never make any sense." Jin retorted.

"Yes, husband." Harukaze sighed. She had to get control of her emotions. Lovers didn't nag their partners, even when they deserved it. This was the basics of the basics. He just made such a snarl of them. Why was he attracted to every single girl on Earth besides her? It was so insulting. Every single night, it's not like she locked the door or anything, but he was always laying with some other girl just one rice-paper-wall over.

"The third man's name is Gero." Harukaze finally said calmly and pleasantly, like a proper wife.

"What kind of name is 'Frog?'" Jin complained.

"It's the name he chose for himself, okay? Take it up with Gero." Harukaze pushed her description forward hurriedly. "He has a lot of knives, but he's also good with other weapons. Watch out for chains with weights and blades at the end, shuriken, you name it."

"Hmm. Sounds like you." Jin mused.

"We're nothing alike." Harukaze bit her cheek angrily. "Gero has fine silky black hair, red cherry lips, long eyelashes, and basically is prettier than a girl. You'd love him."

"Nothing wrong with a good looking boy now and then." Jin agreed.

"Really?" Harukaze squeaked.

"Why are you acting offended when you're the one who brought it up?" Jin laughed. Harukaze didn't know if he'd trapped her in another prank again or whether he was just a shameless libertine. Maybe it was better to just not know these things.

"The fourth target is second to the left. See how his face is all smushed flat? You can't miss a face like that, it's like his nose is just drawn on instead of actually three dimensional. He doesn't have a weapon, he prefers martial arts. But I think that has to be a lie. He probably just keeps a weapon hidden somewhere and all his kicks and punches are just feints to distract you. People have seen spear points stab right into him and instead of piercing his skin, the shaft of the spear just splinters and breaks though. Also, he's been sliced by a katana and it snapped off at the haft instead of going in. He's perfected the iron skin technique. Maybe you could stab for his eyes or something." Harukaze offered. She was really out of her depths when dealing with freaks like that. She was out of her depths with Vaj from the very start.

"Got it, the fourth opponent is invincible. So I guess there's no real point introducing the fifth, huh?" Jin suggested. Harukaze ignored his defeatism and ploughed on.

"The fifth is the boss of the gang, though it's been four years, and it looks like the gang has broken up and the men work in all different places now. The point is he's the strongest, so I wanted you to live at least up until him by taking care of the small fry first."

"So the invincible guy without a nose has already been demoted to small fry?" Jin sighed. He felt sorry for the guy.

"Never mind no-nose. By the way, his name is Sasato Taiji. And the leader's name is Yahiko Nomura. Got that? Yahiko doesn't use any tricks. He's a samurai from a distinguished clan. He has tons of money and is the greatest swordsman in Niron. Whatever he says goes and even the government steps around him. It's said that his blade has cut down a thousand men but is still blue with dew from its first quenching."

"A magic sword? Now we're really in trouble." Jin laughed.

"It's not magic! It's just a turn of phrase, okay? He's so good with his sword it's uncanny, okay? If you want to be the greatest swordsmen in Niron, if you want history to record your name, all you have to do is beat Yahiko Nomura. You can take his sword and give it to your sons as an heirloom. That's a reason for being, right? Samurai love taking beautiful swords from defeated foes, and here's the greatest foe with the greatest sword, just waiting for the taking."

"I told you I'm not samurai anymore. And despite the no doubt hundreds of sons I must have sired, I don't especially want to track one down and give him a blue sword as a reason for being." Jin retorted.

"You walk like a samurai. If you were nin, you'd realize the difference. Vagabond or not, poor or not, outlaws or not, bushi all keep their pride. We don't know how to stop." Harukaze encouraged him.

"A fine inheritance. Here son, I don't have any land, but this sword is blue." Jin laughed.

"Never mind about the sword's color!" Harukaze snapped. "What matters is your son will be proud of you. He'll be proud to be your son, because you defeated the great Yahiko Nomura. Don't you realize how wonderful that makes you, husband? No one has ever beaten Yahiko, not even in a practice duel, not even when he was ten years old. He's a genius beyond geniuses. His sword sings through the air and plays the music of the gods. And you don't have to go searching for one of your slut's kids, who are probably just nin stock anyway. You have a proper bushi wife right here."

"Bushi? When all your land was impounded to pay for a debt? A bushi bar maid?" Jin shook his head.

"My father's blood is bushi blood, and so is my mother's, and so is mine." Harukaze clenched her fists until they were white for lack of blood. "And so is my sister's. I'll kill anyone who says otherwise."

"You'd better let me handle that, Haru. You'd probably trip on your knife and land on the tip or something." Jin reasoned.

Haru? Was he simply too lazy to call her by her full name anymore? Actually, had he ever called her by her name before, even once? Wasn't it just 'you' or 'hey' or 'wife' at best? Haru. Was that good or bad? She couldn't tell. Jin was never serious about anything. It was probably just an accident anyway.

"Plus I never thought your blood was bushi quality from the start. The way you hold your head, I wouldn't stop short of the Empress of Niron. From the way you look at me, forget a lowly bushi, you're clearly a direct descendant of the Sun God." Jin grinned.

"You've just associated with the wrong people. All bushi care about their appearance and honor and manners." Harukaze blushed. She wasn't sure if he was praising her or insulting her. She couldn't understand Jin. He was slippery, like a fox.

"The important thing isn't me. It's Yahiko Nomura. Before we fight Yahiko, you have to get much stronger. The strongest in Niron. Nothing short of a god can beat a god. Yahiko is the god of swordsmen, okay? So before dawn or something, train and train and train. We can't die until we cut off the serpent's head. If he survives, then it's like only his henchmen have to pay for his crime, and when has any crime boss cared about his henchmen? For the sake of my vengeance, he has to learn the penalty for his crimes with his own head."

"If he's the strongest in Niron, training before dawn isn't going to make any difference." Jin sighed, discarding his previous chewed stalk and snapping off another from off the road. Apparently the taste of fresh juicy weeds was better than sake. Well, being around drunks wasn't enjoyable anyway, so she was all for it. Not that it stopped him from drinking sake every night at the inn, drinking her precious savings away as quickly and voluminously as he could, without a single assassination to show for it.

"Besides, aren't you worried about Nonose? He's invincible! Freaking invincible! How am I supposed to reach Yahiko in the first place?" Jin asked.

"It's not Nonose, it's Sasato. . .oh never mind. Are you going to just run away now that you know your enemies? I can give you a reason for being, but I must tell you that it starts with you not running away. It starts at this very moment. Cowards don't have any reason to live. They should just go rot somewhere in a ditch." Harukaze sneered. Bushi should meet their deaths bravely, even if said deaths were certain. Had he forgotten everything he was ever taught?

"A deal's a deal. No one's ever had reason to call me dishonest." Jin said stiffly.

"I know." Harukaze said, a wash of relief flooding through her. "Everyone at the pub loved that about you."

"Do you love it about me?" Jin asked.

"Of course, husband. I love everything about you." Harukaze said, a little confused.

* * *

Harukaze stared at the ceiling of their inn, glad to be under two layers of covers and still cold from the Hoaido evening road. Even after her hot bath, it was like the cold had gone on so long and so deep that it just wouldn't come out again. Her next target was also in Hoaido. But after that it was all south. She'd return to blessed civilization soon enough. The problem tonight was something else. It was their last night before his fight with Vaj, who was a prominent gambling den master of the town. He was only a few blocks from where they were staying. And yet here she was, alone, again, and on the other side of the wall some girl was making moaning sounds like she was slowly dying. It had to be fake. Why couldn't Jin see it was all fake? None of these women were real. She was real, but he wanted them over her anyway. Even though it was their last night together, and by all indications he was going to die tomorrow. She'd given him some olan, but from what she could discern, he'd earned much more much faster from other clients. It simply wasn't enough. She had somehow failed him. Failed him so miserably that she hadn't been able to give him any happiness at all, to the point that he rejected her entirely. He kept to his side of the deal, but had she kept to hers? The gods knew she had tried. But had she tried hard enough? Was this really okay?

There was some sort of crazy pip pip breathing through the wall and before she knew it Harukaze was standing up and cold again in her light kimono. This was ridiculous. She could at least tell the whore/slut to quiet down. Surely she was bothering the whole inn like this. Her padded socks were silent as she tiptoed out of her room's door and got on her hands and knees before knocking on the sliding door to the room next door. The whore/slut went thankfully silent, and then there was a great deal of rustling before the door slid open.

"Haru? What are you doing?" Jin looked at her kneeling form in consternation.

"Please, just this night. . .I know you don't have any appetite for me. . .but maybe if. . .it were a threesome. . . I could be of some use to you. . ." Harukaze begged, tears of humiliation welling into her eyes.

Jin sighed. "Go to bed, Haru. I'll see you in the morning."

"Tomorrow you'll almost certainly die." Harukaze whispered fiercely. "Just this night. Just this night, let me fulfill my duty."

"And I'm telling you I have no need of you. You're fulfilling your duty perfectly. Have I ever once complained?" Jin asked sternly.

"Your complaints are like daggers to my heart, precisely because you never say them." Harukaze sobbed. "I know I'm not loving, I'm just a spider full of poisonous hate, but, if it were a threesome, if we could just pretend. . .I know I could be of use!"

"You're being a real bother now. Be an obedient wife and don't make me repeat myself another time. Go. To. Bed."

Harukaze nodded, a clamp of iron around her heart. She had failed, and he wouldn't forgive her for it.

"Good night, husband." Harukaze pushed her forehead to the tatami-mat floor before slinking away from the door.

When she settled back under her covers in her room, glad to be warm at least in one sense again, she heard Jin's angry voice through the door.

"Forget it! I'm not in the mood. Just go. Never mind. Phwaw." There were a few apologies rushed by the girl and then the opening and closing of the door next door. Strangely enough, Harukaze thought she heard the ring of a coin next. But she finally managed to close her eyes and sleep peacefully, now that the awful noises had stopped. She met her dreams with a tiny smile on her lips.

* * *

"Grasseater Jin." Vaj said, his opponent being escorted freely to an audience chamber. They both had their hands casually close to their weapons, and there was very wide space between the two, but Vaj hadn't stood up yet. Harukaze, of course, had stayed at the inn. She couldn't reveal herself, or else hiring new assassins one after the other wouldn't work very well. If only she'd been a man, she could have just fought the duel herself. But the other men would never have stood for it, and it's not like she could cut her way through an entire organized crime group. Besides, she would have lost. Miserably. In any case, he wouldn't have any audience to show off his grisly end or his glorious victory. She'd just have to take it on faith that he'd won when he got back.

"What on Earth brings you here? Is it about your friend Kuro? I assure you he challenged me out of the blue. He was drunk, so I told him to cool off for a day, but he just wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept insisting he would put foreigners like me in their place. It really wasn't my fault." Vaj defended himself.

"Hah! So he died drunk, huh? I guess he had no regrets, then. And Grasseater? It's Ukizake Jin. Ukizake's a fine name as is." Jin complained. People in Hoaido didn't have any respect. Attaching nicknames no one had ever asked for. He felt a little self-conscious that he was chewing on a two leafed reed on one side of his mouth at the moment.

"See? So you understand, no hard feelings. Here, how about I give you a free roll of the dice down the hall, and we'll call it even?" Vaj proffered.

"I'm not sure I was friends with Kuro anyway. But I'm glad you treated him fairly. No, sorry to say, this is about something else. One of us has to die before we leave the room. Unless you're sick or something?" Jin taunted.

Vaj's foreign face colored brilliantly. "I don't run away from duels. Nironjin don't know when to quit, do they? I beat him, and I can beat you too. If you want to die, fine, I'll be your partner." The white haired man stood up out of his chair and grabbed both of his swords, long and short, in his right and left hands respectively, from the wall they were hung on.

"Before we begin, ask these attendants to leave the room. If they value their lives at least." Jin begged a favor.

"What, you don't trust them not to join in? If you were worried about my honor, how did you survive to walk this far into my own home?" Vaj became even angrier.

"I'm sorry to imply anything about your honor." Jin quickly apologized. "It's not that. It's the Kensui school of swords. We're pledged to never reveal our secret techniques to the outside world. I have to kill anyone who sees, and it's just a total diversion and waste when I have to concentrate on stuff like that."

"Kuro did say something about the Kensui succession technique's secrets. Not that his secret move worked anyway. Actually, why do Nironjin have to name every single swing like it's some unique miracle anyway? Never mind. We are both honorable men. I accept your terms. Men, leave the room." Vaj motioned with his sword carrying hand like swatting at a fly.

"It's a shame." Jin sighed, drawing his katana out of its sheathe. It was a beautiful sword, that had once belonged to his father, and his grandfather before his father, worth at least ten thousand olan. It had been made by the master swordsmith Muriama, whose works had never been paralleled before or since. The Emperor did not have a finer blade. It hadn't failed him yet.

"What now? Another condition?" Vaj called from across the room, limbering up his muscles on his limbs and checking his footwork.

"You just don't come off as evil, no matter how you look at it." Jin said.

"Barging into my place of business and demanding I die, no matter how I look at it, you're the one at fault here, Ukizake." Vaj agreed.

"See, there you go again, listening to my opinion and being respectful by changing my name back. Not evil to the very end. Sorry, Vaj. The gods must be playing some sort of joke on you. Are you ready?" Jin spat out his reed to the side and stepped into a normal defensive overhead stance, like his instructors had taught him so many years ago.

"Begin." Vaj agreed. He slid forward, one foot in front of the other, and stabbed for Jin's eye. Jin had already measured the distance. The rapier wouldn't reach, even if he didn't move. It was a feint to bring Jin's sword out of position.

Vaj kept his balance and stopped, inching forward one slide at a time. Then he lunged for Jin's face again. Jin backed up, testing the speed of the man's stab. Swordplay was footwork. The faster feet would win. If Vaj's second feint was at half his total speed, which was the normal practice, Jin was going to die. No wonder Kuro didn't stand a chance.

Vaj's face was a calm concentration, his eyes darting constantly to Jin's overhead sword and his elbows and his knees, looking for the one strike he absolutely had to avoid. He bent his knees and plunged forward again with his rapier, but then shifted his weight and pivoted back away, sure that the katana would plunge this time, his maine gauche surging forward in his left hand to block the blow.

Vaj had guessed right. Jin had already lunged forward at the same time with his killing blow. The maine gauche slid in between Jin's curving blow to the neck in a perfect parrying position. Vaj wasted no time and recovered his weight to finish Jin off with one more stab with the rapier. Neither party had ended up moving to the side even once.

And then Jin's katana was cutting through Vaj's waist with unbearable sharpness and strength. His eyes glassed over with a look of utter confusion. His lips bubbled with the blood of one angry protest.

"How?"

Jin didn't mind answering him, not anymore. But Vaj was dead. Even if he took the time to explain now, it was too late for anyone to make use of it. He put his foot on the corpse and with a heave pulled his katana out from whatever bones it was buried deep in. Then he shook his blade free of most of the blood onto the tatami-mat floor. Lastly he took a thin white cloth and slid it along his blade, until it was spotlessly beautiful steel again. He sheathed his blade and opened the door a little sheepishly.

"Sorry, guys. I guess this gambling den goes to the second in command from here." Jin apologized. He had tried gambling off and on, when he had the money. It wasn't especially fun. But certainly nobody deserved to die just for providing a place for men to enjoy themselves. Harukaze was going to hell after this life, no matter how you looked at it.