Samurai Panic! Volume 1 Chapter 1

It was the home of the crow ogres.
All the old fathers knew the stories. An errant charcoal burner or some pilgrim who had strayed from the road would disappear. A few days later and a new body would be seen hanging from the trees. It was a warning. Do not trespass into the domain of the crow ogres or you will pay the price. It was in one such place on a night when the summer storms had passed and the stars were bright that a dozen dark-robed figures met. They were waiting.
"It doesn't do to wait. We all know the rules." There was no one leader amongst them, but at times such as these there was always one who was impatient.
"Nor does it become you to be so impatient."
The first speaker shifted irritably. "The time and place is known. There is no excuse. Shall we begin?"
"Wait... I hear something..."
The last speaker had the sharpest ears of the group and they each tilted their heads. It was a familiar tread. The latecomer padded nearer to the clearing and a dozen red faces with long, bright noses and dark, unseeing eyes turned toward him.
"You smell like blood," said the impatient one. She had the best sense of smell and each of those gathered shifted a little. The one with the keenest ears detected the faint clink of hidden blades. The latecomer was untroubled.
"We were not alone."
A dozen pair of ears listened keenly.
"The Yellow Eye Cult has been searching for our meetings, I am certain of it," he continued.
"Can you be sure?"
"I have left two of their agents in the trees where I found them hiding. We will need to make this quick."
"Very well. You have heard that Lord Taira thinks to make his move?" She took their silence as acknowledgement. "A baby has been born to his daughter... Prince Antoku will be the next emperor."
"He will force Takakura to abdicate?"
"Almost certainly. The Taira look to usurp the Nakatomi Clan as regents."
There was a thoughtful silence as the others considered this.
"A hundred years we have prepared. If the Nakatomi are supplanted before heaven's justice is delivered, it will be for naught."
The long noses bobbed in agreement. "The opportunity for retribution is passing. It is as we feared."
"Your thoughts?"
"The return will need to be hastened." She sighed. "This is what we've been preparing for."
"What about the Great Seal?" asked the latecomer.
All of the other figures fell quiet. Each face turned him.
"Brother, you must have a short memory..."
Were it possible that someone was watching that meeting, they would have been surprised at how quickly the gathering moved. In a heartbeat weapons glittered beneath the half moon. The latecomer did not delay even so long. In the flutter of an eyelid he struck the nearest of the robed figures, who doubled over in pain. On the other side a jab to the throat made the second nearest sink to the ground. He caught the hand holding a knife as it slashed at his face. A heartbeat later and the knife was his. So it continued until the latecomer was the last standing, a bloodied sword in one hand and a knife in the other. After a few moments footsteps approached. Two figures appeared.
"Kitano, that you?" asked one.
The other laughed to see the destruction. "I take it the meeting went well?"
Kitano nodded.
"Ha! Aniki, that mask suits you!"
Kitano ignored him. "They did not reveal how they would hasten the return," he said.
"Hmmm... then Mistress is going to be angry with you, aniki..."
"Doki, don't call her that," said Kitano. There was no hint of threat in his voice, but Doki knew better.
"Hey, Toki, did you hear? Aniki might finally be warming to her," he said.
The one called Toki grunted.
Toki and Doki, the 'Sometimes Twins'. Both were undoubtedly mad, but even to Kitano it seemed madness was inevitable. That said, there would come a time when the Sometimes Twins would need to be sacrificed. She would not like it. The question then was how to hide it?
"Hoi! Aniki, what now then?"
"We go to the Great Gate."
"Excellent! And what then?"
"We wait," said Kitano. This news was not well received, but there was nothing to be done for it. They would wait and they would prepare. Then, when the time was right, everything would happen as it should. Heaven would have its revenge and Kitano would be the tip of the spear. "Come on then, let us finish our work here."
Ten days later a peddler was making his annual pilgrimage to the temples up the mountain. The journey was hard going, but he and his wife relied on the little money they made from selling the trinkets that he made. He was half-way to his lunch stop when he saw the bodies.
"Merciful Goddess..." he said, and made a sign against ill fortune.
Ten dark figures or maybe more hung from the trees. It was a chilling sight, but such was the fate of the foolhardy who trespassed on the domain of the crow ogres. Driven by curiosity and against his better judgement, the old peddler looked closer. He caught one glimpse of the red face and long nose. Then he fled. For generations after the stories would be told of the night the crow ogres had fought and murdered their own.

***

Hikaru groaned.
"You're annoying, go away," he said. He counted to ten under his breath and then reached over his shoulder for another arrow. Akari said nothing, but he could feel her watching him. Focus, he thought. But try as he did he could not put his irritation to one side. Hikaru notched the arrow to string overhead and lowered the bow, string drawn, until the feather rested against his cheek. Another breath. This time there was only the straw target at the end of the range and the doubt in his mind. The string dug against the skin on his fingers. He let it roll from his fingertips and the arrow flew. It clattered against the back wall of the range.
"You lifted your right shoulder," said Akari.
"Argh!" groaned Hikaru. "Haven't you got something else you can do?" Being angry had failed and as a last effort he tried pleading. Neither had any effect on Akari. She sat watching from atop a stack of boxes, swinging her legs impatiently. She dropped to the ground.
"I told you," she said. "Big sister sent me to find you."
"She said 'find someone,' that's what you said before, 'find someone to help'... she didn't ask for me."
"She said 'find someone that doesn't have anything better to do' and tell them to come," said Akari.
That sounded like Maki, thought Hikaru. 'Fetch someone, anyone' and as usual he was the unlucky 'someone.' It had already been a bad day, the last thing he wanted was to get caught up shifting boxes or sweeping out the shrine. "I told you, I'm busy," he said. With that he adjusted his stance and reached for another arrow. He could feel Akari watching and waiting. Hikaru drew again, held the shot for a heartbeat, and then let the arrow fly. Somehow the shot was worse than the last. It was unbearable.
"How many do you have left?" asked Akari.
Nine strikes on target he had decided before he would sleep that night. "Seven," he replied. Embarrassment burned the tips of his ears. He focused on the opposite end of the practice range, careful to avoid her eyes.
"Is this something Nagano-dono told you to do?"
"No, it's something that I decided." In his mind that should have been enough. Akari, however, had other ideas.
"Well then, don't keep sis waiting." Taking hold of his arm she nearly pulled him off his feet.
"Akari-chan... you're too old to be acting like this, you're not a kid anymore. She certainly was not, he thought. Akari was in her fifteenth summer and she had already started to change from a child to a girl. It was something that Akari seemed to have no awareness of, but it was certainly something that the boys of the castle had noticed. For Hikaru however, she had always been little more than a mild annoyance. When they were growing up she had trailed after the boys and slowed down their games. Now that annoyance was mixing with other feelings and, at seventeen, Hikaru had enough on his mind already.
Hikaru was conscious of the looks of the villagers as they passed. Akari clung to him the entire time, telling him to hurry and leading him between the narrow tenement houses. Two of the old mothers leaned against their brooms, taking in the last of the afternoon light. Their eyes followed Hikaru and his ears burned as he heard them titter. It was too much.
"Enough!" he said, pulling his arm free. "Akari, you're not a child anymore. Don't you have any sense of self?"
"It's just Hikaru," she replied.
"Please, don't be so familiar."
Akari groaned. "You're annoying," she said.
"That's my line..."
"Well you were wrong before, sis didn't just ask for anyone, she told me to find Hikaru."
This gave Hikaru pause. "Really?"
She nodded. "She said it was something only you could help with." On seeing Hikaru's expression she laughed. "You're having indecent thoughts about sis, aren't you?"
Hikaru's face burned, making her laugh more. Hikaru drew up his pride, taking a haughty air. "You underestimate me," he said. "I don't have time for such th-"
"Come on already!" Latching onto his arm she nearly pulled him off his feet. "Sis is waiting!"
What awaited Hikaru at the shrine however was not what he was promised. It had turned out that the task only Hikaru could perform was to empty one of the shrine's storehouses. Hikaru spent the last of the afternoon's light carrying crates and casks past the grove that sheltered the cemetery, up stairs beneath the bright orange fox gates to the main halls at the top of the rise. Ahead of him climbed the fifty or so stairs to the shrine. With each step his legs burned and the cask on his back shifted, forcing him to wriggle it back between his shoulders. Between the leaves of the ginkgo branches glittered the first stars of the night.
"Damn that brat..." he cursed.
The priest turned back. "Are you alright, Hikaru-dono?" he asked.
'Dono', thought Hikaru. The priest had known him since he was first born, but that was the first time that he had ever called Hikaru by a warrior's title. He hesitated.
"Ah... it's nothing, Master."
The priest smiled and continued his climb to the main buildings. Hikaru bounced the cask back into place and then trudged up the stairs behind him. "Over there," said the priest once Hikaru had reached the top. He pointed to one of the storehouses across the courtyard. It might have been all the way to the moon. "That will be the last one. Thank-you for your help. "
"It's no problem," said Hikaru.
"Good good..." said the priest, nodding. "How goes your training?"
"It keeps me busy." It was the last thing he wanted to discuss.
"Good. Do your best."
There was a certain look in the priest's eyes that Hikaru recognised. Damn, he thought, word of the day's misfortunes had already reached the priest's ears. Gossip travelled fast in the castle. That meant it had surely reached his father's ears as well. Of course it had, he thought. With a sigh, Hikaru bid the priest good-bye. When he reached the storehouse Hikaru dumped the cask inside, waved the dust away from his face and then made toward the door.
"Ah! Hikaru-kun..."
He stopped short. "Maki-san..."
She bowed her head. "Thank-you for your help today."
"Ahh.... it's nothing at all, really..."
"You helped us a lot. Akari-chan said you were training, I hope she didn't disturb you."
"No no... not at all..."
She smiled. Maki of the Kitahara was well known by all in the castle. she had always been popular. She had an easy smile and bright eyes, making her a target of adulation amongst Hikaru's friends. In her nineteenth summer, she had joined the shrine at the beginning of spring the previous year. She served as a priestess and come the new year festival Hikaru's friends had clamoured to receive their fortune from her.
Maki stepped from the doorway, letting Hikaru through. He worried she would notice his face was red and turned away, busying himself with the door. Maki of the Kitahara, he thought. She even smelled good. He fumbled at the door, dropping the locking board into place and nearly pinching his finger in the bracket.
"It's late, have you already missed the evening meal?" asked Maki
Like the other warriors his age, Hikaru was garrisoned in the gatehouse barracks on the outer walls of the castle. Meal times were strict. Sunrise, midday and sunset. The meals were the most anticipated events in his day and the thought of going to bed without something in his stomach made it grumble. "It is no trouble at all, really..." he said, offering a smile.
"Oh..." said Maki. She blinked. "Master Uchida sent me to fetch you, he thought you might want to share the shrine's meal. But he will understand that you're eager to get back to barracks..." She started to turn away.
"It would be a pleasure!" Hikaru said, a little too quickly.
Maki stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Are you certain?"
"Of course. It would be rude of me to refuse his offer."
She laughed. "He wouldn't know," she said. She started to walk and Hikaru fell into step beside her. "Master has been called to the castle. One of the old mothers has taken ill."
Hikaru frowned. "Taken ill? Why wouldn't she call for a physician?"
She shrugged. The lanterns of the shrine grounds were bright and the light gave her face a golden glow. She looked up at him. "Some of the old mothers prefer a priest. They blame spirits for certain illnesses," she said. Her eyes met his. "You've grown tall..."
Hikaru chuckled a little nervously. "Too tall, I think. It means I'm awkward in the saddle."
"Is that what Nagano said?"
"Yes... how did you guess?"
"It sounds like something he would say." Nagano was a hard instructor and his reputation was well known.
"He is not so bad..." said Hikaru, trying to convince himself.
As they were talking they passed between the main hall and the offering hall. Behind the two buildings were the residences of the shrine's members and servants. There were perhaps a dozen living at the shrine in all. Lanterns lit the screen doors of the buildings and girlish laughter reached Hikaru's ears. As they neared the kitchens the image of Maki serving him floated past his mind's eye, making him more nervous. Impossible, he thought, he could never be so lucky. That did not stop him relishing the thought however and he imagined boasting to his friends once he returned to the barracks. He could almost hear their jealousy. The day's mishaps might almost be worth it for that alone.
In front of the kitchen door Maki stopped suddenly. She bowed. "Please go through and help yourself. There is no need to be reserved," she said.
"You're not coming?"
"What? Oh no!" She laughed. "I ate some time ago, I'm sorry. I have to go meet with Master Uchida. But please help yourself." Hikaru's dreams shattered.
"Ah! Akari-chan..." Maki had noticed her sister. She was sitting beneath the awning in the shadows, so still that Hikaru had paid her no mind. Akari stood and stretched. "Why aren't you inside?" asked Maki.
"I was watching Hikaru making lewd faces at sis," she replied. Her words hit Hikaru like a fistful of snow. Maki's smile, however, never wavered.
"Now Akari-chan, that's not right, is it?" Despite her cool composure her eyes hinted something different.
"Ho ho!" Akari chortled. "How typical of sis. She's so used to boys staring at her she doesn't realise anymore..."
Hikaru was stunned. Maki might have served as a shrine maiden, but she was still a warrior's daughter and her father had earned a fearsome reputation in his lifetime. Maki moved fast. In a heartbeat she had Akari's head locked under her arm, making her younger sister squeal in panic.
"Get off me you wench!"
"Have some manners you monkey!"
Hikaru did not know where to look. When they were finished Akari was left sitting in a crumpled heap on the ground. Maki smiled like nothing had happened, her hands demurely folded in front of her. "Please help yourself," she told Hikaru, gesturing to the kitchen door. "And thank-you for suffering my idiot sister's company." With the last she shot a dark look that could have punched a hole through iron.
"It's really no trouble at all..." said Hikaru. He watched her leave, waiting until she was safely out of hearing before turning on Akari. "Idiot... why are you always causing so much trouble?"
Akari was sulking. "Sis is scary..." she muttered.