Someone looking at the northern outer rim from the Five Peaks of Aso might well forget they were still in Japan.
The top of the northern outer rim was mostly grassland. It was flat in every respect, and in its winter desolation, it looked like the bare rock of a precipice from a small distance away. It had the appearance of the Grand Canyon, Japanese edition.
At the circumference was a circle of mountains—but this was no mountain range. It had been formed by a cave-in, and was more like the border of a pond. That was why the height of the crater’s northern outer rim was almost entirely constant.
Did this man even know about the Grand Canyon?
Nezu Kouichi—aka Katou Kiyomasa turned when he sensed the door opening.
“Did you sleep well?”
A man and woman in casual jeans inquired as they entered— two of the bird-people who had helped them at Katou Shrine
yesterday. Kiyomasa answered indignantly, “Oh, very well indeed, thanks to the drugs you forced on me.”
“We’re glad to hear it.”
“Why are you holding me prisoner?” Kiyomasa pressed a hand against his left shoulder. “How dare you inject foreign substances into my body? You think you can use such things to hold me?”
“There are disadvantages to being kanshousha, it appears,” said a slightly older woman with long hair who entered behind the two others. She was one of the pair who had attended Takaya in the hospital, the woman in the cherry suit. “Inside your body is a magical stone called the luminous flame stone. We used the same to disperse our enemies yesterday. It is a substance crystallized by the spiritual power of the volcano. It will either heat or cool at my command. You cannot remove it yourself.”
Kiyomasa glared with loathing at the woman as she explained in calm tones.
“What happened to Uesugi-dono? Is he alive?”
“...Our patron wishes to speak with you.”
“What?”
The woman made a signal toward the door, and a much older man entered. —He was not one of the bird-people.
(This man...) Kiyomasa recognized immediately: this man was like him.
“Katou Kiyomasa-dono, I assume,” The man addressed him by his true name.
“Who the hell are you?” Kiyomasa demanded, very much on his guard. “You’re an onshou. Which clan do you belong to? State your name.”
The man smiled softly at Kiyomasa’s harsh demanding tone. “Kagetora-dono would know immediately.”
“What?”
The man had the bird-people leave the room. Once they’d quietly exited, leaving the two of them alone, the man spoke. “Yesterday’s events were quite the calamity. Such a battle, alas... I’m glad we were able to make him withdraw, damn that Rairyuu. What folly, to act on his personal enmity. Even Shimazu-dono must feel quite uneasy to have such a ticking time-bomb for an ally.”
“Who the hell are you?! One of Shimazu’s commanders?!”
“Kiyomasa-dono, you trained from an early age to serve as one of His Excellency the Taikou’s commanders, I believe. I retired at the same time you entered Toyotomi’s service and so never met you face-to-face, but I’m sure my younger brother met you many times at Osaka Castle as a member of the Council of Five Elders... ”
“Council of Five Elders?”
At Kiyomasa’s amazement the man said mildly, “It appears you have chosen to side with Oda in the «Yami-Sengoku». ...Which is only reasonable, of course. The Taikou himself was originally one of Oda’s commanders.”
“Exactly! Lord Nobunaga was the Taikou’s lord. I must serve Lord Nobunaga in order to repay the Taikou’s debt of gratitude. Besides, Kumamoto is where I was raised, and it is precious to me!” Kiyomasa answered emphatically. “I had to be resurrected in order to protect the people of Kumamoto, who have idolized me and built shrines in my honor. I could not allow the onryou to run amok in my city!”
“Yet you are now in our hands.”
“...!”
The man thrust his hands into his trouser pockets and walked toward Kiyomasa. “We decide whether you live or die.”
“...What do you plan to do with me?”
“The Itsuku Island debt has not yet been repaid. Oda invaded our homeland along with Sue Harukata. You are an enemy general. Under ordinary circumstances you should have been eliminated immediately. However.”
“!”
“There is much information I must extract from you regarding Oda. Kiyomasa-dono, you are our prisoner of war.”
“You bastard!”
The man repelled Kiyomasa with his will as Kiyomasa lunged toward him.
“!” Kiyomasa’s back slammed into a wall, and he crumbled to the floor. “Curse you!” Kiyomasa pressed against his left shoulder and bared his teeth in bitter rage. “What happened to Uesugi-dono?! Does he yet live?!”
“Are you concerned for him?”
“I’m going to capture that great tiger and present him to Lord Nobunaga!”
“Then I shall tell you that he is dead.” As he walked out, the man looked over his shoulder. “You’ll have to escape your own cage if you wish to exterminate tigers.”
With those words the man disappeared through the door. Kiyomasa slammed his fists into the wall in frustration. “Damn it...!”
The man hadn’t given his name. Who was he?
(His brother was one of the Council of Five Elders? Itsuku Island’s debt? Sue Harukata...?)
“!” Kiyomasa turned. All the keywords lead to a single conclusion. “Was that...!”
Their hideaway was located halfway up one of the Five Peaks of Aso, Eboushi Peak. It had been built within the mountain forest in the style of a deserted lodge. From there a narrow path led up to a small ‘detached’ log-house a short distance away.
A light snow danced on the air outside.
As the man walked up the narrow path, a woman emerged from the log-house: one of the bird-people from earlier—and one of those who had accompanied Takaya to the hospital...
The woman bowed slightly to the man.
“How is he?”
“He finally regained consciousness a moment ago. He’s still out of it, but he is capable of speech.”
“He’s awake? What is his condition?”
“He’s stable. Much recovered compared to last night.”
A look of relief softened the man’s expression. “I see.”
“He’s still a little feverish, but with rest it should come down before long. His body has adjusted to the embedded luminous flame stone. The stone’s power should be aiding in his recovery. I believe he’s able travel if necessary, but it would be better not to move him for the time being. ...Also,” the woman lowered her voice, “his emotional strength is somewhat low. A decline in vigor influences his power of recovery, so it would be best if you were careful with him.”
“... I see,” the man sighed, shoulders sagging, before finally nodding lightly. “I understand. I’ll go see him in a moment. You have a budding physician among you, I believe. Thank you. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.”
“To be of assistance to you is our privilege. ...We have laid a suggestion on the hospital staff, so there is no need to worry about loose ends. The dirty school uniforms have been sent out for cleaning. If there is anything else we can do, please do not hesitate to ask.”
“I will.”
“In that case,” the woman bowed and was about to turn back when the man stopped her. “...Yes...?”
The man looked as if he were searching for words. After a moment he smiled wryly and said, “Thank you...for saving him.”
The bird-woman smiled and bowed slightly.
Perhaps their scrupulous tact was due to their upbringing. The bird-people, with the exception of their leader, never inquired deeply into anything even in conversation. Their restraint and work ethic made them excellent partners.
The man entered the log house.
“...”
The curtains were drawn, and the interior was dark save for a floor lamp dim enough that it did not disturb a sleeper. Lying on a bed in the back, attached to a complete set of medical first-aid equipment, including an IV and simple ventilator, was Ougi Takaya. He open vacant eyes. He did not yet seem in possession of all his senses, and he peered up at the ceiling with his eyes only half-open.
He didn’t react to a person entering the room. The man came to his bedside and gazed down at Takaya for a while, but Takaya didn’t acknowledge him by so much as a flicker of his eyes. He only gazed up at the ceiling with his lips slightly parted. The man slowly bent and said, leaning over Takaya, “Kagetora-dono. ...Do you know who I am, Kagetora-dono?”
“...”
“It’s me, Kikkawa Motoharu. Kagetora-dono.”
Takaya’s eyes opened a little and shifted a tiny amount. After a moment, he repeated in small hoarse voice, “Kikka...wa Motoharu...?”
Motoharu nodded.
Son of Mouri Motonari and one of the ‘Two Rivers’, this man, Mouri general Kikkawa Motoharu, had fought Takaya and the Uesugi two years ago at Itsuku Island.
But Takaya’s reaction was dull. He gazed at Motoharu as if in a dream. His lack of recognition was not without reason, for Motoharu was now wearing another face; he had switched vessels.
“You’ve been through hell, Kagetora-dono. You’re safe here. You can put your mind at ease and rest.”
“... Ah...” Takaya slowly closed fever-wet eyes.
He was painful to look at.
The wounds he’d sustained in his defeat against Shimozuma Rairyuu were more serious than expected, but quick medical care had at least preserved his life. He’d suffered blunt-force trauma over the entire length of his body...his ribs had been fractured. His other wounds had required many stitches...
(Saving you took some doing.) Perhaps anyone who still had his limbs attached after suffering an attack from that rabid dog of the Ikkou Sect, the infamous Rairyuu, should count himself lucky. Takaya’s lids fell as if they were too heavy for him to hold up any longer. Motoharu gazed at his face, first with sympathy, then with something like loneliness, (...How gaunt and haggard you look.)
He seemed to have lost weight since Motoharu had last seen him.
How had Kagetora lived through these two years?
Kikkawa Motoharu had not been «exorcised» during the battle at Itsuku Island. After the ‘Yamato’ had sunk, he managed to escape Takaya’s «barrier exorcism» thanks entirely to his retainers. During Nobunaga’s attack, Kuchiba Michiyoshi had sacrificed himself to protect Motoharu.
He recalled all of them as he looked at Takaya. Kuchiba had literally been his shield. When they’d been thrown into the ocean, Kodama Narikata and the others had aided him without heed for themselves. His memory had cut short in the midst of chaos.
By the time he came to, Motoharu had found himself alone on a ship belonging to a certain general in the ocean west of Itsuku Island.
“...”
Motoharu’s mouth tightened. Everyone had probably pooled their strength to save him. But they themselves had all been caught in the light of the «barrier exorcism» and gone to the place they belonged.
And Motoharu alone had been left behind.
(Yet—...)
Motoharu had not been the only one left behind in that battle...
“... Kagetora-dono,” Motoharu addressed him again. He quietly called to him several times. “How are you feeling? Do you feel pain anywhere?”
“...”
“Are you cold? Do you want anything?”
“Water...” Takaya begged in a light gasp. “I want water...”
Motoharu picked up the glass pitcher designed for nursing sitting on the bedside table. He placed its narrow elongated spout against Takaya’s slightly parted lips and gently tilted it so that water slowly flowed forth. Takaya took two, three swallows. Motoharu lightly mopped away the drops which had spilled from the corners of Takaya’s mouth with a towel, and a hot breath sighed from Takaya’s moist lips.
Takaya’s eyes were still only half open; he didn’t seem to comprehend the situation he was in. Motoharu threw some fresh logs into the fireplace and stood.
“Naoe—...”
Motoharu turned. “What?”
“Is Naoe not here...?”
“...”
Takaya sluggishly brought the back of his hand to his forehead.
“I keep hearing his voice. Until just a moment ago...”
“In a dream?”
“...No—...” He closed his eyes and exhaled another hot breath. “If he wasn’t speaking to me in person, then it was by telepathy... I’m sure...of it...”
“Kagetora-dono.”
He’d been dreaming, Motoharu interpreted.
He’d heard from a certain source that Naoe was dead. Certainly his decline had already been precipitous, his spiritual powers below that of an ordinary person. He’d been in no condition at all to perform kanshou. He’d been purified—there was no doubt of that.
(He even dreams of his voice...)
Motoharu pitied Takaya.
“Where...am I?”
“Our house. We’re in the mountains of Aso.”
“Aso...”
“Yes. This is a safe place. You can recover here without fear until your injuries have healed. They’ve driven Rairyuu off,” Motoharu said, sitting down in a plain wood chair. “You recall the people who came down out of the sky, I think? They saved you—they’re the Himuka. They possess the ability of flight.”
“Himuka...”
It sounded familiar, but his mind was still hazy, and he couldn’t recall clearly. Takaya slowly moved vague eyes to him. “Kikkawa...Motoharu...”
“Hmm?”
“...Is it really...you?”
“As you see. I exchanged vessels, but I’m sure you can tell, Kagetora-dono. Or do you have so many enemies you no longer remember me?”
“You weren’t...«exorcised»...?”
Motoharu confirmed this. Takaya either didn’t quite believe in the reality of the situation or simply couldn’t muster the energy for wariness; he only gazed vacantly at Motoharu.
“Why did you...save me...?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“...I am...the chief architect...of Mouri’s destruction.”
“Nobunaga was the one who sank the ‘Yamato’. Though you were probably the one who killed Takakage and Terumoto.” Motoharu looked down and sighed heavily. “But for some reason I don’t feel any hatred towards you. Though at the time I was mad with hatred and rage...”
“...”
“I wondered...” Takaya opened his eyes fully. “...how you survived.” Motoharu looked at Takaya with deep emotion. “How did you live these past two years?”
“Two years...”
“Has the pain of losing Naoe eased to some extent?”
Takaya stopped breathing.
“?” Motoharu seemed rather nonplussed by Takaya’s reaction, which was a little different from what he’d imagined. “What is it?”
“What did you just...”
“Ah, my apologies. True, it would be best if you didn’t talk too much at the moment. There are many things I would like to speak with you about, but they can wait until you’re a little better.”
“What do you mean by ‘losing Naoe’...?” Takaya asked very seriously. “What are you talking about?”
Motoharu stilled. He realized his suspicions had not been his imagination. “Kagetora-dono?”
“Two years...” Takaya looked directly at him. “Two years from what?”
“The battle at Itsuku Island, obviously. I regretted Naoe very much. Though Uesugi and Mouri were enemies, I grieved his death.”
“His death?” Takaya’s expression grew stranger and stranger. “You said Naoe died?”
Motoharu’s eyes widened. Takaya dropped his eyes a little and smiled.
“...I don’t know where you heard that, but you’re wrong. Naoe...isn’t dead.”
“Kagetora-dono.”
“You’re saying Naoe died on Itsuku Island? Who told you that...?”
“At Hagi, Kagetora-dono,” Motoharu stated firmly. “At Hagi Castle. You don’t remember?”
“Remember? What...am I supposed to remember?”
“Do you remember conversing with me? When you sealed your written oath to obey the Mouri with your blood? You revoked it in order to recover Naoe and burned down the castle with firedrakes. Then, I believe, you went to save him—I’m talking about what happened after that.”
Takaya suddenly froze. He finally looked slowly up at Motoharu. Motoharu looked seriously back at him with eyebrows raised. Takaya...suddenly touched by a sense of unease, averted his eyes.
“Look at me, Uesugi-dono.” Motoharu gripped Takaya’s shoulder and raised his voice. “What’s wrong? You look strange. Do you not remember what happened thereafter?”
Takaya shook his head repeatedly.
“You and he must have met Terumoto. Naoe was shot trying to shield you from Terumoto’s gun, wasn’t he? You raised a blazing tornado. I heard your scream. I know that fearsome power that destroyed Hagi Castle belonged to you.”
“I don’t know anything...!”
“Kagetora-dono!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Blazing tornado? Scream? Destroy Hagi Castle? Naoe was...shot?” Takaya violently shook his head. “None of that happened.”
“Kagetora-dono, you—”
“None of it...!” Takaya began to say, but an image of the horrible scars on Rairyuu’s face flashed into his mind.
“I had it from you in Hagi, from the blaze created by your monstrous power!”
“None...of...!”
“Kagetora-dono!” Motoharu pressed the unraveling Takaya, “Could it be that you really don’t know?! You don’t remember?!”
“Blaze... Blaze...!” Takaya muttered, a dark red rapidly clouding his retinas. His shut his eyes tightly. Motoharu gripped his shoulder harder.
“Is it because of this injury? Or was it like this before? You said earlier that Naoe is alive. In that case, where is he?!”
“I met him yesterday...no, the day before...at the hotel...!”
“That’s impossible!” Motoharu contradicted him without hesitation. “Whom do you think of as Naoe? Since Itsuku Island, Naoe Nobutsuna has been nowhere on the Uesugi front lines—that’s been unanimously confirmed by multiple sources!”
“That’s not true! We’ve fought together! We’re always together.”
Motoharu’s expression was stiff, and in his amazement he looked at Takaya as if he were something quite bizarre.
(He...)
Motoharu thought over what he knew of this person.
As he’d guessed, this was not someone who could go on living as if nothing had happened.
Not after suddenly losing Naoe, whom he’d clung to to a pathological degree.
(Has he...gone mad?) Motoharu swallowed. (Is madness what has kept him alive?)
“Kagetora-dono. How much do you remember of what happened at Hagi?”
“How much...? Everything.”
“Let’s trace your memories back one more time. After you left me, firedrakes were burning down the estate, and you went to save Naoe. After that...”
“After that—” Takaya pressed against his temples, trying to remember. He’d seen Naoe within the flames. He’d seen Naoe...and then.
(And then...)
“Do you not remember, Kagetora-dono?”
“I...re...mem...!” His hands pressed against his temples, Takaya shook his head violently in anguish. “Nnn!...Nnn!”
“Kagetora-dono!”
“Nnn... Aaah!” Takaya screamed, unable to bear it any longer. It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember. Simply recalling the preceding events oppressed him with apprehension and unease, and the sweat poured from his entire body. His heart pounded an alarm, and the fear was so overwhelming that he felt like he was about to go mad.
“I’m afraid...!” Takaya cried out in a voice full of tears. “No! It’s too scary...!”
“Kagetora-dono!”
“Aaaaah!”
Unable to stand the sight any longer, Motoharu wildly seized Takaya’s shoulders. “All right! Calm down, you don’t have to think about it any more. We’ll save this talk for when you’re better.”
“...Ungh... Uuungh...” Takaya didn’t hear him. He was still shaking his head, his eyes bulging almost out of their sockets and his hands pressed against his face. Motoharu shivered as the shoulders beneath his hands quaked.
(Heavens above...)
Takaya let out a moan. His jaws spasmed as he gritted his teeth.
(This is Kagetora?)
Motoharu was stunned.
“I’m the only one qualified to say whether he lives or dies. Nobody else has that right!”
That Kagetora...
“I won’t allow anyone else to encroach on that existence!”
(Is this your answer?)
Motoharu covered his mouth with his hand, feeling as if he were looking upon that which should not be seen. What was this?
Kagetora’s words and actions of that day, which had so overwhelmed Motoharu, revived one by one in his mind. Was this the continuation?
(Is this your culmination—yours and his?)
The conviction of ownership and ostentatious monopolization Kagetora had displayed had been overpowering. To have all of another human being’s feelings directed toward himself, to possess the entirety of another’s existence: was that madness?
Was it because he had wanted what ‘a person can never want from another person?’
Takaya trembled violently and audibly. He had sunk himself into a state of turmoil. Even now he seemed about to cry out at the impact of seeing something he didn’t understand.
(What was that just now...?) Takaya himself could not identify its true nature. (At Hagi...!)
Motoharu looked at Takaya with harsh eyes. (Is this just punishment...?)
Was this ‘the debris of lunacy’?
Motoharu shuddered as he stared silently at Takaya.
Powdery snow fell ceaselessly.
Upon leaving the cottage, Kikkawa Motoharu noticed a man in a white coat loitering in the shadows of a tree. The man, who had jet-black hair and almost feminine clear white skin, lightly snorted a laugh as Motoharu stepped out.
“Things have gotten interesting, don’t you think, Kikkawa-dono?” his red lips murmured. “Uesugi Kagetora—I had not thought he was such a foolish man.”
“You heard our conversation inside?” Motoharu looked worn. He addressed the other man: “Kousaka-dono.”
Kousaka Masanobu’s seductive lips curved upward as he turned his usual bold smile on Motoharu.
“Rairyuu, that cursed fool. He was told to kidnap the girl, but nobody asked him to attack Kagetora. An ostensible ally like him makes me worried about our future.”
“...Truly. To put Kagetora-dono through such suffering...”
“Oh...?” Kousaka tilted his head. “You take his part quite readily. Has our lord of the Two Rivers transferred his feelings to Kagetora-dono?”
“Of course not.”
“Hum. Kagetora-dono is quite disturbed. The rumors are true, it appears. The ones that say he thinks of the man of Fuuma as Naoe now that Naoe himself is dead.”
“What?” Motoharu looked sharply at Kousaka. “Can this be true?”
“Oh, aye. Kikkawa-dono has been with Shimazu all this while, so you have not heard, but it is quite true. It’s quite shocking. Foolish beyond belief, of course. It practically screams ‘make use of me’ to his enemies.”
“...”
“Well, so Naoe was replaceable to Kagetora-dono after all. How childish of him.”
As usual, he did not mince his words. His whereabouts had been a mystery for a while, but to no one’s surprise he had not died at the naval castle. Neither had he switched hosts; his wicked tongue was as lively as ever.
“What do you intend to do with Kagetora-dono, Kousaka-dono?”
“This and that. ...Certainly one would not release a tiger one took such trouble to cage. Does Shimazu-dono not desire such a gem? He would make a fine vessel or display piece. Please do your best to up-sell this masterpiece.”
Kikkawa Motoharu was currently a guest commander of Shimazu Yoshihiro. A Shimazu ship had saved him after the naval battle at Itsuku Island. Afterwards he had stayed with the four Shimazu brothers and led what remained of Mouri into battle in Buzen.
“You called him a vessel just now.”
“Oh yes. Quite. He is a vessel.” Kousaka’s smile was pregnant with significance. “Don’t you think this tiger is the perfect vessel Shimazu-dono is seeking?”
“...But—”
“At any rate, Kagetora-dono will return to the Houjou. In that case he will be our ally and all problems are resolved.”
“You mean to persuade him? I do not think Kagetora-dono will submit so easily. Even at Hagi his trust in Kenshin remained unshakable, and he rejected our proposal. He is not to be underestimated.”
“Pooh-pooh. There is no need for concern. I have a wonderful idea.”
“Idea?”
“This is too good an opportunity to miss. Let us make use of the Fuuma. He doesn’t think Naoe is dead: good. With conditions as they are, it should be simple to entrap Kagetora-dono. This is the perfect chance to lure him away from the Uesugi.” The beautiful strategist raised a long finger and caught a gently falling snowflake on its tip. “Our profession calls for us to exploit the enemy’s weakness. We bring everything on ourselves. Kagetora-dono will have no cause for complaint.”
“You mean to allow him to get wind of that rumor?” Motoharu demanded sharply. “But ’tis still only a rumor. How much will Kagetora-dono believe it, I wonder?”
“He’ll believe it. Besides, it’s not baseless.”
“What?”
Kousaka chuckled. “Kagetora-dono said there was a ‘voice calling him’ in his dreams, I believe? There certainly was. While he was in a coma, someone was trying again and again to reach him by telepathy.”
“Really? Who?”
Kousaka would not tell him the source. But the discovery seemed to amuse him deeply, and he gloated with private delight.
“Well, that’s as it may be. Let’s turn to business. After the Himuka devotees bring back Kihachi’s head, all that’s left is to await Asara’s arrival,” The beautiful strategist said, narrowing his eyes. “We’ll be able to see a specular show soon here in Aso.”
Motoharu glared at Kousaka, expression tense. “We have not had another super-weapon since the ‘Yamato’. Do you really think we’ll be able to handle it, Kousaka-dono?”
“We have a reliable sensitive in the person of Kagetora-dono. Demon King Nobunaga won’t stand a chance this time. Let’s destroy him, Motoharu-dono.” Kousaka laughed. “Or maybe Kenshin and his dogs.”
Snow filled their vision as Aso’s mountains clad themselves in their robes of white.