When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a dark godown.
Dank, chill air. A musty smell in his nostrils. Moonlight flowing through a single tiny window set high in the wall.
Both of his arms hung suspended over his head. He looked up to see his wrists chained by manacles to a beam above him. He’d been captured, it seemed.
(Trounced, huh?)
Clicking his tongue slightly, Naoe concentrated his will on breaking the shackles around his wrists. «Nendouryoku» should have easily cut through the cuffs, but—
(?)
There was no response.
Naoe looked up. There was nothing extraordinary about the chains. Naoe focused his will once more. But he did not feel the shackles loosening. He couldn’t feel anything happening at all. He impatiently changed his focus to a pile of boxes in front of him. He concentrated his will on breaking them, but the boxes didn’t even quiver. Naoe was stunned.
He could no longer use his «powers».
Had shock from the lightning done something to him? Or—was it something else? Was something was absorbing his «power», effecting pretty much the same outcome as a lack thereof? Then...!
(A «kyuuryoku-kekkai»?)
The unique barrier that Mori Ranmaru had used just recently in Matsumoto
. It was not something that could be built without considerable power—impossible for anyone who was not a «Yami-Sengoku» onshou with first-class powers. Was there someone within the Mogami who had the ability to create this «kyuuryoku-kekkai»? Or could it be...
A horrible thought occurred to him.
(Could it be—Mori Ranmaru?)
Naoe inhaled sharply.
(Which means—Oda is the one behind Mogami?)
If that was the case, then this battle was not just between Mogami and Date. If Oda had already approached the onshou of the Northeast, then it was clear as day that the Date were outmatched in numbers. And Oda, using Mogami as a pretext for wiping out Date, would probably then sideswipe Sendai.
Mogami and Ashina, who had possessed prominent politicians.
And Oda attaching himself to them like a shadow.
(This matter won’t be resolved so simply.)
He struggled to free himself, but the chains held firm. He squirmed and thrashed in vain, succeeding only in digging the shackles deeper into his wrists. His frustration mounted.
(Goddammit...!) he groaned silently, gnashing his teeth. The sound of the heavy godown door sliding open startled him, and he looked in its direction. The warehouse’s naked light bulb came on.
A young man appeared. He had an intelligent face and was about the same age as Takaya. A glance was enough to show him the two souls within his body.
(He’s possessed?)
“Kojirou. The rat hath evidently awakened.”
A woman’s voice came from behind the young man. The next glance showed him a man and a woman, both middle-aged.
Naoe leveled a sharp glare at the three. The stern-looking woman was the first to speak.
“So thou art truly held immobile. Thou of the Uesugi. How dost thou feel to be captured?”
“—”
“A commander such as thee resorting to such poor ploys. If thou shouldst wish to strike at thine enemy, thou shouldst do so openly.”
“Sayest not so, Yoshi. The gathering of intelligence is, too, one of war’s skills. ’Tis we who needs must be more aware of such devices. Well said the adage that the walls have ears,” the well-built middle-aged man—Mogami Yoshiaki within Diet Representative Ueshima—said to soothe Yoshihime.
“Yet annoyed am I that he hath heard us.”
“What are you bastards plotting?” Naoe demanded in a tightly-controlled voice. “What are you hoping to accomplish by possessing politicians like Ueshima and Hirabayashi?”
“Even if thou shouldst know, what then? What canst thou do with that information?”
Naoe choked down his retort as Yoshiaki came towards him.
“Thou canst do naught. Kanshousha thou art, yet kanshousha who cannot use their «powers» are no more than thus after all. Or wilt thou end thy own life here and steal some other body?”
“—”
“Marry, but we would capture thee before that should happen and with spirit-suggestion turn thee into one of our «nue»,” Yoshiaki added, placing his hand on Naoe’s chin. “The onshou of the «Yami-Sengoku» have heard much of Uesugi’s Yasha-shuu. Your choubuku already hath sent Asano and Shibata to that other world, hath it not? I know not your purpose, but well are ye named the Yasha.”
Naoe glared at Yoshiaki fiercely.
“Thou art called Naoe Nobutsuna? The adopted brother of Uesugi Kagekatsu’s chief advisor, Naoe Kanetsugu? We are much obliged to him. He was an even match for us in the Northeast Sekigahara, the Battle of Dewa. Though he was our enemy, he did battle in splendid fashion. Fortunate was Kagekatsu-dono to have such a wise commander as his right arm.” There was a hawk’s smile in Yoshiaki’s eyes. “Yet ’tis not a name we much wish to hear.”
“What are you planning to do with me?”
“’Twould be a simple matter to make you forget, but we have a use for thy «power».”
“Why don’t you just spill it out? What are you bastards scheming? That bizarre set-up in Sendai is yours, isn’t it? What is it for? What are you planning to do with Sendai?”
Yoshiaki looked at Naoe contemptuously.
“So thou hast taken note? Ah, yes. If thou wouldst know, then I shall tell thee.”
“Aniue!”
“It matters not, Yoshi. He shall not be allowed to return to his comrades.”
“!”
Naoe’s face stiffened. Looking at him, Yoshiaki stated quite composedly, “In these three years since we awoke from our eternal sleep, we have exerted a tremendous effort to examine the current form of the world. What we have seen, what we have heard, have wholly, shockingly passed beyond the limits of our language. People live in overflowing bounty. Goods multitudinous are made from neither ceramics nor iron, but from that unlike anything we have ever seen before. All technologies utilize fearful sorcery. The more we learn, the more we have come to see the magnificence of this society, a glorious reign we could never have imagined in the era in which we lived. Such a country, I think, could not be subdued by less than the gods.”
“—”
“I wished to know more of this world. For that purpose have I possessed assorted vessels, and learned much of this society in the span of three short years. Yet even afore I came to a deeper understanding of the structure of this world, I knew betimes this country was not the Pure Land of the gods.”
True, it was a society in which people had gained equal, carefully-protected rights and guarantees. To even compare it to the world of the Sengoku, in which reality consisted of battles day after day, was foolish. ‘Death’ was far from the average lifestyle. Yet why would these people who should have recognized the intrinsic value of life be so buried beneath its weight that they were able to see nothing else?
“’Tis an enormous animal, this society in existence today. It hath purpose and moves with our power. Why, then, do so many within the ranks of those who govern dance so closely to the whims of others that they cannot see the movement of their own feet?”
Yoshiaki’s stern gaze was fixed in midair.
“If thou shouldst open the lid, thou wouldst see nothing save for a lust for endless pleasure. In this world where one can live at last without the constant shadow of ‘death’...I wish not to think that this is its result.”
Naoe stared at Yoshiaki.
Yoshiaki smiled at him faintly.
“The capital of this country is the former Edo—now called Tokyo, is’t not?”
“?”
“All are currently focused in that capital, and methinks ’tis on the verge of explosion. There are those of the opinion that the capital should be changed.”
(A plan to transfer the capital?)
It was a recent proposal vigorously championed by government intellectuals to remove the barriers placed on government administration and finance by overcrowding resulting from the concentration of all government functions in Tokyo. Various opinions had been proffered, including the “transfer of the capital argument”, which proposed moving the entire capital elsewhere, the “segmented capital argument”, suggesting the transfer of capital functions into multiple districts, and the “new capital argument”, advocating the relocation of only core institutions such as the National Diet—Yoshiaki appeared to be speaking of this.
“’Tis quite true that everything is too centered in that city; it shall soon become a city without a future. ’Tis a place festering with drifters and vagrants where change comes not, a place that sullies «spirits». A government seated in such a place will pervert these peaceful times.”
“!”
“Soon shall Tokyo be tossed away, and the capital immediately transferred. No one but we can bring about this change. We the Mogami shall grasp the real power of the government and reshape the Japanese islands to correct the distortion in this society with our own hands.”
“Th...!”
Naoe was speechless. Mogami Yoshiaki continued, “And dost thou know the city most suitable for the new capital? A city unlikely to fall prey to disaster and one with an abundance of water and open land of low price, situated but an hour from Tokyo with transportation facilities such as we have now, a city with its own international airport: there exists but one city which fulfills these requirements—Sendai!”
“! Is that why—!”
Mogami Yoshiaki smiled calmly.
“Ay, that is why we will take Sendai. Once we have it, we will make it the new capital of this country. Yamagata shall become its new urban subcenter. Sendai hath sufficient foundation already as the center of the Northeast; by its meed it can bear the transfer of the capital even if such should begin immediately.”
“So that’s why—so that’s why you’ve possessed Ueshima and the others! You’re planning to use their political influence to make the transfer of the capital a reality!”
Ambition gleamed in Yoshiaki’s eyes.
“Why, yes. This man’s origins in the Northeast shall work well to our advantage. He will gain even more power by promoting the transfer of the capital. The knowledge and power of our vessels will allow us to move Japan. Sendai is our castle. To make our castle the capital is to rule over all the country!”
“...!”
“For that reason must I capture Sendai, oust Masamune and the Date and hold that city in the palm of my hand. Six months and no more shall we require to make it the capital. We shall show its inhabitants their true master. The capital must be a place virtuous in both holiness and spirituality. I shall not show mercy to those onryou who oppose me!”
“Did you create the barrier in Sendai for the purification of the earth?”
“Yea, that as well, but more than that—” Yoshiaki’s eyes narrowed. “’Twill manipulate the consciousness of Sendai’s inhabitants. There needs must be an unparalleled effort if the capital be transferred there. However influential one’s position, the power of a few politicians cannot hope to sway public opinion. Located in Sendai are branch offices for most large enterprises. Many are assigned to positions there, forming a complete network connected to all parts of the country. For the sake of Mogami’s country will I make every man, woman, and child mighty combatants in the battle for the transfer of the capital!”
“You’re planning to brainwash them...?!”
“That is the purpose of the «jike-kekkai».”
It was Yoshihime who so candidly replied from behind.
“The «energies» of both people and spirits within the barrier shall be artificially manipulated by us, and all shall be brainwashed at the same time. We shall imprint a suggestion upon the «energy» of the earth, the «jike», to hypnotize a large number of people over a large area at once. Those are the foundations we build even now in Sendai.”
“Are you bastards serious?!”
Yoshiaki snorted mockingly.
“Wherefore would we go to such lengths if we were not serious?”
“...!”
“This man called Ueshima consented to aid from me in a bargain for the murder of a bribe-giver. Marry, if I had made him my vessel before this, he would belike have demanded of me the position of the next Prime Minister.”
“...”
“I have left the arrangements in Sendai to my son Yoshiyasu. He is limited as a commander, but he doth excel in spiritual abilities. He commands the ‘kinrin no hou’—Dakiniten-hou spells of hypnotic suggestion!”
(Dakiniten-hou...!)
They were potent spells which used spirit foxes with the power to induce hypnotic suggestion, and there existed no spells more powerful for brainwashing on a large scale. Performed at full power, they could cast hypnotic suggestion on a city—or, in the worst case, even on a country!
Naoe clamped his jaws down hard. Yoshiaki seemed to be enjoying Naoe’s vexation.
“Our foxes shall tear those who oppose us limb from limb, as they did that cullion earlier. Grind thy teeth as thou wishest. There is naught that thou canst do. We the Mogami shall take the «Yami-Sengoku» along with this world; I advise thee to stay still and watch.”
“You...”
“This cellar lies within a «kyuuryoku-kekkai». Date Kojirou here shall maintain the barrier. No hope hast thou of equaling his powers; therefore abandon all dreams of escape.”
Naoe stared at the youth in shock. The young man looked down at the ground silently.
(He’s Date Kojirou...?)
“Well and good. Eventually thou shalt join us in capturing Sendai,” Yoshiaki said with a sinister smile. “Thou shalt be made one of our commanders.”
Laughing loudly, Yoshiaki pressed Yoshihime and Kojirou out of the godown. As he left, Naoe had the feeling that Kojirou had wanted to say something, but...
Darkness returned to the cellar.
Naoe was dumbfounded.
They were planning to slip into the nucleus of the current country, to seize real power within the current government and control the country.
Rather than entering the «Yami-Sengoku» to fulfill the unsatisfied ambitions of their previous lives, they wished to do so by ruling this modern society of four hundred years later.
(What foolishness...)
The process of brainwashing the residents of Sendai en masse would probably begin immediately upon completion of the barrier. They would worship Mogami Yoshiaki as their lord without even being conscious that anything was amiss, exactly as he had said. They would kill or rampage or unquestioningly do whatever else he asked for the transfer of the capital. If he should expand his reach by using more spiritual vessels possessed by onryou—
(If we’re not careful, all of Japan will fall into Mogami’s hands!)
They could not allow such idiocy to take place. The takeover of the country by four-hundred-year-old onryou would be no joke. They had to prevent the «Yami-Sengoku» from surfacing into the outer world at any cost!
He strained with all his might to free himself from the manacles, but it was no use at all. Still he continued to struggle. His wrists were rubbed raw, but he didn’t stop. He had to escape. If he didn’t warn the others—
(What should I do...!)
Naoe cried out in his mind—
(Kagetora-sama!)
Someone had observed the entire sequence of events from the thick shrubbery at the back of the godown.
Mori Ranmaru smiled coldly and murmured, “It’s getting interesting.”
He turned on his heels. The moonlight shining upon his skin lent it an even paler cast.
This moonlit night in Dewa Yamagata, pregnant with malevolence, was ominously chill.
She had not heard from Naoe in two days.
Ayako had gotten increasingly worried. On the night Takaya returned from Masamune’s mansion, Ayako finally gave in to her disquiet and entered Yamagata on a probe. Her face paled to a ghastly shade of white when she heard the disturbance over what looked like Naoe’s Cefiro mysteriously exploding in a residential district within Yamagata City.
It was almost a certainty that something had happened to Naoe.
But Ayako could not abandon her own responsibilities to search for him.
She had become aware of Mogami’s barrier, and for the time being had poured all her effort into dispersing the spirits who were drawn to the ‘platforms’. Even choubuku was not enough; the scattered spirits soon gathered again, and she could only keep doing the same thing over and over again. To make matters worse, souls were not the only things attracted to the sites; tsukumogami capable of forming monstrous soul clumps were also pulled in.
Though she asked, Kagetora still gave no sign at all of regaining his «powers», and Ayako exhausted herself holding the spirits at bay alone.
Unable to stand by, Kokuryou exclaimed, “If you’re tired, I’ll help you starting from tomorrow.”
“Ah...it’s okay. I’m fine.”
“If you push yourself too hard you’ll poison your body.”
Kokuryou sat down in the tatami room and poured barley tea.
“You should call upon your remaining colleague.”
“No! No way! I can’t do that!”
Kokuryou looked askance at Ayako’s adamant refusal.
Ayako said irritably, “I can’t manage a selfish, capricious guy like Nagahide. So don’t tell me to ask him for help!”
“You do not have a strong position to stand on. Even through this show of vanity you know as well as I that it can’t be helped.”
Ayako, thoroughly exposed, had no reply. She sulked. “... I’ll give it one try.”
“Well, since you have scattered the spirits, the power gathering at the barrier point has been checked and the curse impeded. The curse itself does not seem to be working with its power-source dispersed.”
“It looks like the curse uses the power of spirits as its energy source. So it must be fragmented?”
The «jike-kekkai» currently erected around Sendai was a type of curse-barrier (a barrier used to actualize some special effect), also called a hypnotic barrier. It could brainwash the people enclosed within by manipulating the «jike», but a spiritual sensing had told them that the actual scope of the barrier was four or five times larger; somehow by means of the ‘platforms’ at the center of Sendai this circular barrier itself served as a ‘platform’ for «jike»-manipulation.
Ayako muttered grimly, “If it was really Date who made contact with Kagetora, then I think we can believe that the master of the barrier is Mogami. There are signs that the Date are working to prevent the invocations of the dead, and for now they’ve taken an entirely defensive position. But then again, I don’t know if they’ll remain that way if they knew we’re getting involved.”
“Did Date allow that young monk to go without knowing his true identity?”
“That’s...probably right. What I’m worried about is that Kagetora said he met Kousaka, too.”
Kokuryou’s eyebrows drew together.
“Kousaka Danjou of the Takeda? The general who was master of Kaidu Castle at Kawanakajima? It really does give one a strange feeling. Well, to claim that we are living at the same time as Lord Masamune is also an extraordinary story. If I didn’t know any of this, I would truly have loved to chat with him just once.”
“Kousaka should’ve totally recognized the «jike-kekkai» curse a long time ago. But I don’t know what he’s planning to do about it...” Ayako’s tone grew more emphatic. “Anyway, we have to find a way to dispel it. On its own, my power is not enough to neutralize the curse. If only Kagetora could use his «powers» like that time in Matsumoto...”
She trailed off and cast a glance at the inner chambers were Takaya evidently was. Kokuryou folded his arms in deep thought.
“So that young monk’s mother lives in Sendai... It’s understandable that he is troubled,” Kokuryou, whose aid Naoe had solicited, mused. “Well then. Let’s see if I can put in a word.”
Takaya was in the main temple building.
He was gazing up absently at the statue of Dainichi Nyorai seated on the altar, absorbed in solitary thought.
Mom... That word, breathed in silence in the space of his mind, would not reach Sawako. The Sawako who, catching sight of the son who should have been in Matsumoto, had run up to him in shock and bewilderment.
“When did you get here? I would have come to see you if you’d told me.”
“...”
Takaya didn’t respond. A slight, quiet smile of relief had lit Sawako’s round face upon seeing her transformed, full-grown son.
“You look great.”
Sawako gazed wistfully up at Takaya. The difference in their heights meant that he now had to look down at her, and he was startled again, staring at the bun at the back of her head, to notice his own height for the first time.
He had never realized before that his mother was such a tiny person...
But that smile was, without a doubt, Sawako’s. It had not changed at all. It was the same smile he had seen as a little boy in that moss rose garden.
“Is Miya also doing well? She must be a second-year junior high student now. I wonder if she would like being an older sister?”
Takaya gazed at Sawako silently.
“Let me hear your voice, Takaya.”
His name from his mother’s lips. Said in that way so unlike anyone else’s, the way which belonged to her alone, the way no other person could: more tenderly, more gently, and...
“Takaya?”
Takaya’s fists clenched. The puzzled child at Sawako’s side tugged at her clothes.
“Mom, who’s that?”
Taken aback, Sawako shifted her gaze from Takaya to the child.
“Shunsuke. This young man is...”
“Nobody you know.”
Sawako stared blankly at Takaya. Ayako and Kokuryou looked at Takaya in surprise as well.
“I’m just someone passing by. We’re complete strangers. We don’t know each other at all.”
“Takaya...”
“You’re the one who cut ties with us. You’re the one who ran away by yourself.”
“!”
Her son’s words pierced her chest.
Takaya couldn’t quite believe the idiotic things coming out of his mouth either, but the words just slipped out.
“What are you making such a fuss over? It’s not like I came here to see you or anything. You don’t have to pretend. You’re actually pretty annoyed, aren’t you? Even though you’re smiling, you’re really thinking: what the hell is he doing here? You don’t want to look at the child you threw away, do you?”
Ayako tugged at his arm warningly, but—
“Because I’m the son of that good-for-nothing who made you so unhappy!” Takaya flung at her, and turned to walk into the crowd of passersby without looking back. Ayako followed him, but.
Takaya plowed into the counter-flow of pedestrians, feeling Sawako’s hurt eyes on his back.
He was the one making a fuss.
Why had he said those things? Even though he truly didn’t feel bitter towards Sawako...
He hadn’t thought of himself as being abandoned by her. She had endured enough. She had borne enough, so he didn’t blame her for running away. He couldn’t condemn her.
No one could rob her of her right to be happy. Not even the son of her own flesh and blood.
(I understand...)
He understood, so why had he blurted out those things?
(What right do I have to blame her at all at this late date!)
Sitting cross-legged on the tatami mats in the main temple, Takaya looked up at the ceiling.
He should have been glad to see his mother’s happy face. How could a child wish for anything other than happiness for his own mother?
(I’m nothing but a brat.)
Just a stupid brat, Takaya thought, and sighed deeply.
(And if I were Kagetora?)
“A wonderful moonlit night, is it not?”
He turned in surprise at the voice. The door slid open, and Kokuryou appeared.
“Look. The moon is just above the persimmon trees. Sendai’s Festival of the Weaver is approaching.”
Takaya glared at Kokuryou fiercely.
“Did you come to preach at me?”
“You appear to have taken up susokukan. Well done, well done. Have you been able to converse a little with your inner universe?”
“As if I could do something like that. I’m not a Taoist mountain sage or anything.”
“That is where you do not give yourself enough credit. You do not yet seem to have realized your own power, have you?”
“?”
Kokuryou walked heavily over and pressed his hands together in front of Dainichi Nyorai.
“The Power of Virtue, you see, is what we call the power that a pilgrim equips to complete a journey. It is complement to the Power of Prayer, which is the divine protection of the Buddhas. The power of the Buddhas and your power, and power from all dimensions contained therein, are inseparably attached to one another; this power, the Power of the Universe, when acting in mutual balance, gives rise to the great Power of the Divine. Yet, though you have not completed any journey, you seem already equipped with this Power of Virtue.”
Takaya frowned attentively.
“Shall we speak of the other you? That being carries the great Power of Virtue, and lies concealed deep within your soul. If you wish to draw it out, then you should be able to do so. But you are shutting it out.”
“I’m not shutting it out!” Takaya retorted angrily. “I am trying to draw it out. But I can’t even use it at the crucial moment. It’s not my fault! Kagetora’s the one who’s blocking me from using it!”
“No, it’s you, Ougi Takaya!”
The words slammed into Takaya, stunning him.
“I will allow for your inexperience, but you have sealed your own powers. Because you pretend to perceive, yet turn your eyes away from your own heart. Because you pretend to understand without truly understanding! That is why you hurt those you do not need to hurt. Those who truly understand do not injure others so carelessly. You only pretend to know yourself. In truth you understand nothing. You know not one thing!”
“So I’m just a kid! So I don’t understand anything, so what!”
“I wouldn’t know about that! You’re convinced that you know yourself, and since that satisfies you, you forgive yourself for your failings. You behave like a spoiled child! You misconstrue yourself more and more to do so. When you truly know yourself, you would not find it so easy to simply forgive yourself!”
“Shut up!” Takaya yelled, the sound echoing within the temple. “How the hell would I know?! I don’t give a damn about not knowing! The real me or whatever...if I knew that, I would... What the hell are you saying I should do?!”
The crease disappeared from between Kokuryou’s brows. Takaya seemed to have layered additional meaning onto his words.
“Are you saying that Kagetora is the real me? That Kagetora is wearing Ougi Takaya’s face? That I’m not myself? I don’t have the memories so matter how much I try to call them up!”
“You have given me a chance.”
“I can’t be a substitute for Kagetora. It’s impossible—it’s impossible for me to carry their four hundred years on my shoulders!”
“Young monk...”
Takaya bowed his head, shoulders trembling. Kokuryou gazed at Tayaka’s clenched fists.
Seeing his mother again seemed to have broken something within him. All that he had kept bottled up within him was spilling out.
“Because I...I’m not her son—...” he muttered, the words wrung out of him. “I’m a stranger who stole her son’s body. The ‘parents’ of kanshousha change again and again—anyone’s fine as long as they can take another body. Even though the parents unquestioningly give birth to what they think are their children.”
“...”
“We’re the ones who betray them. We’re the ones who lie to them...” Takaya moaned. “‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I’m sorry for leaving you, forgive me’—I have no right to want an apology from her. No right at all!”
Kokuryou’s eyes widened.
“I’m the one who should apologize... Because I’m the one who’s deceived her since she gave birth to me! But then why do I feel like this! Why does it have to hurt so much! Why did you have to leave us and go looking for only your own happiness...! Why do I feel so bitter towards my own mother!”
“Young monk...”
Takaya bit his lips hard. He drew in thin breaths, fists clenched against these unbearable thoughts, face twisted with distress.
“If there’s nothing I can do but admit to being Kagetora. If there’s nothing I can do but become Kagetora for their sake... Then I’ll do it.”
“...”
“But instead I’ll probably become just another stranger to my mom, won’t I?”
His shoulders trembled.
“At least...if I had Kagetora’s memories... I probably won’t have to feel like this...” he muttered, and shut his eyes tightly. Kokuryou, looking at Takaya, closed his mouth.
The moon hung above the persimmon trees.
A cool wind rose.
(Uesugi Kagetora...)
In the shadows of the garden the woman from last night kept watch on the two in the main temple.
(Hah, so that’s the Uesugi Yasha-shuu that Father spoke of...) the woman snickered unpleasantly, controlled by a consciousness not her own.
(If I stop him, then even Father must admit my qualifications as a general.)
Mogami Yoshiyasu, the spirit in possession of the body, bared his teeth at Uesugi Kagetora.