Moon and Star: Book One (12 page)

Most people in Kyotomo assumed the Tsenzu and Yoritomo to be one and the same, but they were as different as the northern and southern courts. One could argue they were a third entity in their own right.

Thinking back to her conversation with Lord Kasaju moments before, she couldn’t shake the feeling the Lord was insinuating something. Did he know more about Jin’s death than he was letting on? If that were true, why ask her to investigate? Could it be he wanted to learn more about the Tsenzu and was using her to get to them? It was a cutthroat tactic, but certainly not beneath him. The man was regarded as both ruthless on the battlefield and cunning off of it. No man dared cross him.

Except for Yuri, apparently. By withholding information about an uprising wasn’t she going against Lord Kasaju’s will. Yuri swallowed, trying removing the images of torture from her mind.

All she managed to do was think about it even more.

Chapter Thirteen

All through the night, Yuri’s body kept waking up in a fit of terror and sweat. There was no use trying go back to sleep. She was already awake.

Yuri rubbed her temples and groaned. Tomorrow she promised the Tsenzu she’d participate in one of their ceremonies. What it would involve, she could only guess at, but the prospect still frightened her.

Of course, disobeying Lord Kasaju was on the top of her priorities of things
not to do
as well
.
If he’d asked her to spy on the meetings, that would’ve been one thing, but he made no mention of such motives.

She wondered whether he was using her, and knew about the Tsenzu inside the city in order to bide some time for … what? It's not like he had many friends outside the city. His closest friend was Shinobu.

Yuri walked the halls at what she assumed could only be close to sunrise. The horizon was a golden red color and growing darker in brightness and contrast.
Jin would’ve loved this,
she thought with a sigh.

Over a month with no evidence of foul play–like Sesshu and the other Tsenzu believed—had been found. The rumors themselves were beginning to die down. Whoever committed the deed—assuming it wasn’t Jin himself—covered their tracks well. A perfect assassination by any stretch of the imagination.

The morning staff stirred as the sun’s light penetrated the insides of their rooms, forcing them to awake. Most were surprised to see Yuri up and about. As Kanrei she would’ve been the one being waited on by the servants. She still was, but now things were different. She was the servant, rather than a high ranking official in the bakufu.

Things weren’t the same now that Kaito was gone.
What was Mayumi thinking? He was much safer here.
Yuri didn’t want to delve into that particular rabbit hole of “what ifs” and speculation, so she dismissed it.

There were many other things to worry about, however. She’d barely begun searching for nitsu seiba and the thief who now possessed it.

If things continued to drag on in this way, Lord Kasaju would find out and she'd be dead. Assuming he didn’t kill her for becoming a member of the Tsenzu first. Both were crimes more than permissible for the punishment of death. One was subjective: Lord Kasaju himself hated the Tsenzu, but for what reason she did not know. The other crime affected Jakai itself. If someone were to activate nitsu seiba’s ability, the entire world would be shrouded in darkness. Even the brightest candlelight stood no chance against the lack of illumination it produced when used for ill intent.

She slid the door open and entered Jin’s study. Lord Kasaju stood in the middle of the floor, as if looking for something. Yuri closed the door, hoping he didn’t know she was outside. W
hat is he doing here?

Yuri was the one person allowed here after the place was scrubbed clean. Those orders came from Lord Kasaju himself. Why would he be visiting his son’s room? Did he not trust Yuri to perform her duties?

At this point Yuri didn’t trust herself. What she did bordered on treason. Helping the Tsenzu find out about Jin’s murderer while backstabbing the Shogun’s own father? It was despicable. Sooner or later she needed to make a decision on who to confide in and trust.

She was getting ahead of herself. There wasn’t anything to report and she doubted the possibility of murder every day gone by since meeting Sesshu.

That was before today. Lord Kasaju was looking for something, but what?
No, that doesn't make any sense.
Why ask her to investigate if he were the killer. His sense of superiority couldn’t be that bloated, could it?

Yuri walked away from the room, her pace getting faster until she was out of immediate danger. She heard the door to Jin’s room slide closed and latch as Lord Kasaju locked it behind him. His footsteps sounded away from her position.

She’d check on the room at a later date. Right now her intuition told her to follow the Lord. He knew more than he was letting on, and he did ask her to investigate. This was a part of it.

She followed Kasaju to the garden. Two guards got up and left upon seeing him enter. No one was allowed in the gardens after sunset. It was an unspoken truth about the palace. No one knew why, not even Yuri. The decree was issued before Jin was even born, during the time Lord Kasaju’s wife went missing.
They never did find a body, did they?

Yuri kept several paces behind him, only moving when other noises occurred to mask her own. She wasn’t as good as Mayumi, but she knew a thing or two about stealth. She never thought she’d have to use it and on a man she feared.

She blocked the fear from her mind, staying focused on her task. Lord Kasaju stopped in front of a tree. The largest one in the garden, if she wasn’t mistaken. He knelt down on both knees and muttered a few words; too quiet and muffled for Yuri to listen. She’d have to wait for him to leave.

The Lord spent a good time kneeling by the tree, speaking to it as if it were a person.

When Lord Kasaju left, she approached the tree. She looked down at the base where the Lord had stared for what seemed like hours. It looked like any other tree. What was special about this particular one, other than its size? Someone must have died in his past.

It wasn’t Jin. His body was buried shortly after his death. Besides, they were never that close. When Kasaju found out his son had died, he acted calm. She didn’t think a man like Kasaju had attachments to anyone. It was what made him ruthless and … alone.

For the first time, Yuri no longer felt afraid of the man. In fact she pitied him. For what reason she did not know, but she was certain her hunch was right about Lord Kasaju, someone did die in his past.

His wife?

It was the most logical conclusion, based on what little facts she knew. Of course, she had never met Lord Kasaju’s wife. Yuri was sent with Kaito
after
the ladies' disappearance. The suspects of her kidnapping were the Yoritomo. At the time, they were at war. Kaito’s delivery to the young Jin was what prevented more bloodshed on both sides. Seemed whoever was behind these attacks wanted that war to resume. Lord Kasaju was certainly an advocate for continuing the war. Everyone knew he thought the negotiation to be dishonorable. Would he have his own son killed just to prove a point? There was no way to be certain, but Yuri decided it best to err on the side of caution.

If she truly wanted to bring Jin’s murderer to justice, she needed help. The Tsenzu, limited though their resources may be, knew things about Jin no one else did.

Someone who may have wanted to hurt him.

***

The moon glowed in the sky. It was about to become full again. Yuri wondered how Kaito was faring with Mayumi. Seemed she was right to take him from the capital. Things were complicated here and she didn’t know who to trust.

She approached the door to the inn, looking both ways before tapping on the wooden frame. The door opened and she walked inside the inn. Murmured voices filled the main hall. People pointed and stared at her with worried looks on their faces.

Sesshu approached. “Good to see you, Yuri. Tell me, what can we do for you?”

He wore the same robes from a few nights ago, though there was more ink than cloth showing on the light grey fabric. His face was also covered in soot. Yuri bowed in respect.

“Master Sesshu. I was wondering if you could tell me if anyone would want Jin dead? A group that hates the Tsenzu, perhaps.”

“Not enough to do something as drastic as killing the Shogun.”

Yuri sighed. Another dead end. The entire room focused their attention on her. The conversations stopped and Yuri darted her eyes to each group of people as they stared back at her, angry expressions on every last one of their faces.

She whispered in Sesshu's ear, "Is there a reason everyone is staring at me?"

"You mean, you don't know?" Sesshu asked.

Yuri shook her head.

"Lord Kasaju issued a bounty on some of our brethren's heads. Almost everyone in this room thinks you are a spy."

"And you?"

"I still think you're on the right side," he said with a smile.

"Well, if you don't know anything, I'll just continue my investigation elsewhere."

She made her way to the door at a faster rate than normal. Several of the men blocked her from the exit. Their arms were folded across their chest as they scowled at her.

"Sesshu?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Yuri looked behind for any sign of Sesshu. All she saw were the ink on his robes and a door sliding closed. She swallowed hard, trying to think her way out of the situation.

"I'm not a spy. I had nothing to do with this, I swear."

The men came several steps closer. Yuri backed away and found herself encircled by everyone in the room. She could taste their malice and resentment towards her in the air. Even the gossiping inn keeper's daughter showed signs of hostility towards her.

Several of the men unsheathed their tachis. Nitsu seiba would've really come in handy right about now. Even if she did have the sun saber on her person, its power would be useless in the dead of night. Thinking of other ways to stay alive proved pointless as they jumped her and began beating her body until she felt nothing but pain.

She didn't have a choice. It was time to use
that.

Yuri shouted and raised her arms in the air. Every single one of the Tsenzu went flying backwards in all directions with her body acting as the epicenter.

The technique she'd used was only to be used for quick getaways. It wasn't meant to take on a small army. Everyone inside her blinding solar field clawed at the air, grabbing onto anything solid — even if that something was another Tsenzu. The room erupted into chaos. Fists flew and blades danced as everyone fought each other, giving Yuri time to slip away.

She didn't bother closing the door. The spell would last for a few more seconds and those who could still follow her would find it impossible to see her. She ran for a nearby building, out of sight from the inn's vantage point in the center of town.

Her heart rate slowed, signaling the end of the spell. It was the first time she needed to use such a power. Only wielders of nitsu seiba knew how to use it. The knowledge of the spell was passed down through the sword itself like a master to an apprentice.

Yuri took a deep breath and readied her self for the long sprint to the castle. The Tsenzu wouldn't dare try attacking the castle with their numbers and lack of weaponry. All she had to do was lay low and hope this whole thing blew over.

Lord Kasaju's face entered her mind and she froze mid-sprint. Right now, she was more afraid of the Tsenzu than she was of Kasaju. Besides, the former Shogun didn't know anything. The bounties had to be a coincidence. She could hide in her quarters, go about her daily business and never set foot inside the city. It wasn't like the Kanrei needed to visit the city of Kyotomo.

Yuri slowed her breathing and walked the rest of the way to the castle wall, looking behind her every so often to see if anyone followed. No one did.

***

The interior of the boat leaked out of several freshly made holes from the storm raging outside. They hadn't heard from Eiji in a while. Kaito wondered how he was faring against the storm. The man knew what to do, but doing it all himself? That was crazy.

Mayumi didn't appear the least bit worried about the storm, which made Kaito suspicious. Was she using tsuki no ha-ken? A storm lasting this long was anything but normal. The moon was out, now which made the prospect of her manipulating the boat all that more convincing.

He couldn't remember what the moon looked like, or see it from his current location, but very little light was coming in from the windows below deck. If the moon was close to full, then this storm would make sense. The last time Mayumi used the lunar blade's power the moon was in the process of getting larger. The storm happening now was much bigger and a lot more frightening.

Jets of water burst from several leaking cracks along the walls. Mayumi payed it no mind. Now Kaito was curious. Why would she risk drowning everyone aboard? The room below deck started filling up with water at a high rate. Soon they were knee deep in water.

"Mayumi, if you're doing this. Please, stop."

The water reached his belt area and continued to rise.

Mayumi said nothing.

Was this her plan all along? To kill him and dispose of the body. To get rid of any evidence. The longer he thought about her motives, the more worried be felt.
I'm going to die,
he thought.
And no one will even know.

Mayumi stood up. The water now reaching below her breasts. She unsheathed tsuki no ha-ken and transformed it into the crescent-shaped blade Kaito knew was the tachi's true form. She raised the sword and spun it over her head with her one hand, circling it from right to left.

Water inched to their chin.

She spun the blade faster. Kaito couldn't believe how she was doing this, and with one hand no less. He watched her, forgetting that in a few seconds the room would fill with water. Some of the salted liquid entered his mouth, snapping him back into the present.

The water level stopped. Kaito kept himself afloat, barely. He swam for the hatch and opened it. The sun shined above his head, blinding him for a moment. He shielded his eyes and walked on to the deck. There was no sign of Eiji.