The Sword of Kaigen

by M.L. Wang

His meaning was clear. She could abandon her betrothal. She could go to Carytha with Robin, but she would do so in defiance of her father. The realization twisted like physical pain in her chest. Why? Gods, why would he do this to her?

“I…” Misaki couldn’t deny the observation, but neither could she voice the deeper problem. I’m attracted to danger. “Yes, Tou-sama,” she said quietly.

“I was raised on the glorious stories of the Keleba and the days before it, when our people sank ships and battled invaders. As I trained, I thirsted for a chance to flex my skill in battle like the heroes from our legends. I dreamed of the Ranganese or some as-yet-unknown enemy sailing against our Stormfort, just so I could slake that thirst. Then one day, the thirst disappeared. Do you know what day that was?” Misaki shook her head. “It was the day you were born, Misaki. Since I started building something better and more beautiful than a fighter’s glory, the idea of war has made me sick.

I would not see you or your brothers in danger for all the glory in the world.”

Ironic

“A life of dangerous adventures might seem worth it now, when you are young and seemingly invincible, but one day, you will have children, and you will not want that life for them.”

“Matsuda Takeru has all the capabilities of a warrior, but he also has the good sense to give you and your future children a stable, peaceful life,” Tou-sama said. “He is not the sort of person who will seek out trouble and bring it down on you. He will keep you safe.”

Irony

“I had to make sure you were okay, and help you get away if you weren’t.”

“You’re no one’s prisoner. You’re Sirawu, the Shadow. You can go anywhere.”

For years, she had used that to support him, filling in the gaps his temperament left in his work. Now she would use it to hurt him.

This hurts my feelings

“I humored you, Thundyil,” she said, “out of respect for the experiences we shared in Carytha, but you should have known this couldn’t happen. Did you really think I would marry a Disanka orphan? A boy who grew up on the street?”

What??!!

“Did you ever consider,” she said, “that I just didn’t feel like talking to you?”

“How dare you claim to respect my choices and then deny them because you don’t agree with them? How dare you claim to respect my autonomy and then deny it because it means you don’t get to keep me.”

“You presume to understand me because we went to school together for a few years?” She hardened herself against the tears. “Who do you think you are?” “Your friend,” Robin said earnestly—and

“You assume your uncivilized little alleyway brawls were ever more than a hobby to me? You really expected me to stay there, in that dirty, adyn-ridden city?” That struck a nerve, sending the first flicker of genuine anger through Robin’s expression. “Don’t say that.”

She's mean

But Misaki couldn’t explain honestly. To do so, she would have to admit that she still loved him. And she couldn’t do that. Not to him. Not to herself. Not to anyone.

Takeru’s jiya had crushed the temperature down to a shivering degree. He and Robin didn’t speak the same language, but the glares they exchanged needed no translation. Both said plainly that someone was about to die.

??

Misaki opened her mouth to call after him—Come back! Come back! Please, Robin! Take me with you! But no sound came out. The breath had frozen in her chest.

Why did he walk away? an agonized voice screamed through Misaki. He’s Robin. Robin saves everyone. Robin never leaves a friend behind. Why did he walk away?

Why had she expected him to read her and react like a man? The answer lurked, unwelcome: because you’re too afraid to do it yourself. You are a coward, Misaki.

How could she expect him to save her when she wasn’t willing to lift a finger to save herself? What had she thought Robin was going to do anyway? Fight the Whispering Blades and the rest of the mountain and then whisk her away? That wasn’t within his ability. He had never had any power to change this situation… only she had. And she had been too weak to make it happen.

A coward like her had no right to someone like Robin, no right to the future she had let herself imagine with him.

It was not until the next day that Misaki found the bag Robin had left her, tucked into a corner of the front deck. It contained only one thing: the sword that had been her companion through all their adventures—one last plea to remember everything they had been together.

For so many years, Misaki had thought she would never belong in Takayubi, but somehow, while she hadn’t been paying attention, this place had become home.

But the first aid to arrive didn’t come from the government. It came from the surrounding villages. Fishermen, farmers, and smiths,

“It was like Nami was so happy to see them that she cleared the coast of waves and sharks and sharp rocks just for them. I barely caught any fish that day, but the Goddess filled my girls’ hands with pearls.”

The first time Misaki had held Mamoru, as a tiny baby, she had hated the feel of his jiya simply because it reminded her of his father’s. It had made her want to retch and recoil. Now she reached for it, her fingers grasping and senses straining for the smallest trace—but of course, there was nothing. The life force that had made him Mamoru had departed, on its way to a different realm of existence.

“Do you remember that morning, Mamoru? After you had that fight with Kwang Chul-hee and asked for my help? You asked me if one day I would tell you about my school days, about my life before Takayubi. “It made me so happy to hear you ask that, and I was looking forward to telling you those stories. They were going to be fun stories, adventure stories. I’m sure you would have liked them, but now I think… maybe those stories about Tsusano Misaki—Sirawu, the Shadow—didn’t have as much value as I put on them. Maybe they weren’t worth retelling or holding onto the way I did.

“I never loved you the way I should have.”

Tears rolled down Misaki’s cheeks. For the first time since coming to Takayubi—perhaps the first time in her life—she knew she was human. Acutely, unbearably human. Now that it was too late.

“I won’t deny that. I’ve lived my life unable to let go of all the ‘what if’s, the ‘if only’s. For my husband, I couldn’t let go of them. For the love of my life, I couldn’t let go of them, and we’ve all suffered for it.

“The thing is, you’re more important than all of them. So, what I couldn’t do for my parents, or Robin, or Takeru, or my unborn babies, I’ll do it for you. My son, I’ll do it for you.

Finawu said it was not good for a woman to touch the dead, but Takayubi’s finawu had all been lost in the tornado with their temple. There was no one to judge Misaki as she gathered her boy into her arms and settled down to hold him for the last time.

And that’s my Setsuko, Misaki thought as she clutched her sister-in-law’s hands, vibrant, unbroken, even in the face of the unthinkable.

Her eyes fell immediately on her father’s blue and silver haori, but when the Tsusano leader turned to face her, it was not her father. “Kazu-kun!” Gods in the Deep, she had never been so happy to see her dumb baby brother, and she found herself lurching toward him.

He smelled like salt and sea wind, like a home that no longer existed.

Misaki nodded and took a moment to look her brother up and down. At thirty-two, this Kazu was far removed from the giggly, hyperactive boy who had cried at the sound of thunder. To Misaki’s surprise, he looked… well… lordly, with his benevolent gaze and his shoulders filling out the haori that had once belonged to their father. The Tsusanos’ massive ancestral sword, Anryuu—the Riptide—was tied to his back, marking him not only as the head of his house but Ishihama’s foremost warrior.

As the men took up position in the snow, Misaki had the feeling that her suspicions were about to be confirmed. This attack and whatever had taken place in Ishihama were connected, and the government was going to considerable trouble to hide it.

Takeru nodded as if he had suspected this the whole time, as if he hadn’t slapped his son around the dojo for suggesting it.

“The Yammankalu are conducting an important forensic investigation for our Emperor,” Song said. “You and everyone in this village are to give them your full cooperation.” “Of course, General,” Takeru said, though this was the first order that seemed to give him pause.

What investigation?

Kazu laughed. “I don’t know why I thought you’d be nicer to me when I became the head of the house.” “Neither do I,” Misaki said lightly. “What a silly thing to think.”

Siblings...

If a man could slice and spin with Anryuu in hand, he was unstoppable with a regular sword. It was a simple matter of conditioning for maximum speed and strength, much like training with weights on one’s wrists and ankles. Anryuu was a glorified training tool.

He said that, in order to wield Anryuu, ‘a man must be bigger than himself,’ which never really made sense to me. He said I might understand when I grew up. Then, when the Ranganese attacked, suddenly it made sense. I fought them, Nee-san. I fought them with Anryuu.”

I realized that if I let myself fall there that Ishihama would fall with me. I felt my jiya rise like it never had before. Not broader, but deeper, stronger inside me. I unsheathed Anryuu, and suddenly, I just wasn’t hurt anymore. The sword’s weight didn’t matter anymore. I was faster than I ever had been, faster than any of the Ranganese. I did things that a man just can’t do—cut through five fonyakalu in one stroke, punched one so hard my fist came out of his back. One of my men got his leg pinned under a boulder the size of a small house, and I lifted it off him like it weighed nothing. It was like the kind of thing that happens in legends.”

Fighter's adrenaline

“How?” she said. “Blood, Nee-san.” He turned to her with an excited look in his eyes. “We can manipulate blood. It’s so simple! When I used Anryuu against those fonyakalu, it wasn’t the work of my muscles. It was the blood in my veins—all of it, moving in direct response to my will.”

So, that was how Tou-sama had always gotten his body to do the impossible and continued to do so into his old age. He wasn’t just physically strong. He turned his blood into a direct extension of his will. With the flow of blood moving his body for him, his aging bones and muscles didn’t have to bear the strain.

Kazu nodded. “Like Tou-sama compensates for his aging body. This power… I might not understand it completely, but I know that it comes from my will to protect the people I love. I could do it for you, Nee-san. I know it’s not my place, but I will protect you if you need it.”

“You shouldn’t get involved in another lord’s marriage.” “I know,” Kazu said resolutely, “but you say the word, and I will.”

“But you always knew what to say to calm me down. Actually, remembering that—remembering the way you used to talk to me—was a big help, when I needed to comfort my wife.” “Seriously?” Misaki said in surprise. She recalled being vaguely impatient with Kazu when he would cry.

“Once Aicha stopped being scared we were all going to fall off the cliff side, she actually turned out to be a really calm person—smart too. She balances me when I’m…” “Overexcited?” Misaki suggested. “They really did make me a good match.” “Hmm,” Misaki said thoughtfully.

“I don’t think it was quite that simple. He also seemed to think Takeru was more level-headed and responsible. He said, ‘We can’t marry our smart girl to a big dumb flake.’” Misaki felt a laugh burst from her and didn’t even care that it shot needles of pain through her lungs.

The irony of big dumb Takeru