Survivors of the battle told Kaze that the night before, it had rained heavily, and during the early morning, the entire valley was covered with a dense fog. It was impossible to see either friend or foe. Kaze had been in several battles, and he could imagine what it must have been like.
Through the cold, damp fog, the thunder of the taiko war drums was heard. The deep sound of the drums, some as tall as a man, shook the earth if you stood next to them. Some of the drums had arrowheads inside them, to give them the mystic power to penetrate men’s souls. The powerful drumming quickened the blood and put men into the mood to kill or be killed.
The battle was desperate, with both sides winning alternating advantage as the fighting surged back and forth. The opposing general, Ishida Mitsunari, was neither skilled nor a great leader, but he should have prevailed, based on sheer numbers and superior position. Instead, lord after lord refused his orders to attack Ieyasu’s forces. At first, Kobayakawa simply refused to fight, too, but Ieyasu had a warning volley of musket fire sent his way, and Kobayakawa fell on the flank of his own army. By early afternoon, the hour of the Ram, the battle was lost.
And afterward?
Many committed suicide, because their cause was lost. Some fought to the last man. That’s what Kaze’s Lord did, along with his men. It is what Kaze would have done, had he been at Sekigahara. Others fled.
After Ieyasu won, it was time to count fallen comrades and view the severed heads of the enemy. At Sekigahara, Ieyasu viewed heads for hours, commenting on the various foes he had defeated. He knew most of them. Some were former allies, and others were longtime enemies.
Ishida ran from the battlefield, but after three days of starving and exposure in the area around Mount Ibuki, he was captured and handed over to Ieyasu. When he was given food and medicine, Ishida declared he would put Ieyasu to the trouble of killing him, instead of committing suicide. Ieyasu obliged.
While on his way to the execution grounds, Ishida was offered a persimmon, which he refused, he said, because it might upset his digestion. When someone expressed surprise at Ishida’s concern for his digestion, considering the circumstances, Ishida said, “That shows how little you understand. You can’t know how things will turn out, so while you are still breathing, you should take care of your body!” Ishida should have enjoyed the persimmon, Kaze thought, because his head was detached from his body just minutes later.
Kaze knew his Lord had died leading a suicide charge near the end of the battle. His Lord saw the traitors defecting to Ieyasu’s side, and he knew the battle was lost. He took the samurai of Kaze’s clan and plunged into the midst of the traitors, killing many of them before he was cut down himself. Kaze could imagine his Lord at Sekigahara, wearing his best suit of armor, the one with the blue silk cords, leading the doomed charge.
Sitting in the ofuro with his eyes closed, Kaze could picture that charge. He told himself that the drops running down his face were sweat, not tears. But they tasted like tears when they reached his lips.
Creak.
One of the floorboards outside the bathhouse made a sound. Kaze remained motionless. If it was someone coming to the bathhouse normally, then it would be easy to hear their steps as they approached. Instead, one or more people were trying to sneak up to the door.
The door was suddenly slid back, and a man charged into the bathhouse, his sword at the ready. Kaze instantly stood, reaching down and drawing his sword as he did so. All in one motion, he extracted his sword from its scabbard and swept it forward. The tip of the sword caught the man in the sternum and his own forward motion drove the blade in.
Surprised, the man crumpled at the edge of the tub, dying, as a second man entered the bathhouse. Kaze rolled out of the tub, landing on his feet with his back to the new assailant. As his feet hit the floor, he pivoted, with his sword cutting a flat arc that came around and caught the second attacker across the neck and shoulder. With a groan of pain, this man hit the floor, to join his companion.
Kaze stood, naked, and facing the door with his sword in the aimed-at-the-eye position. In the doorway, a third man stood, one foot on the threshold of the bathhouse, with the other still in the hall. He held his sword in one hand, his other hand on the edge of the door.
“Well?” Kaze said.
After a second’s hesitation, the man slammed the door shut and started running down the hall for reinforcements.
Boss Akinari and a dozen of his men burst into the bathhouse a minute later. The two men on the floor were obviously dead, their dark blood covering the wet boards of the bathhouse.
“Where is he?” Akinari asked.
“He was here a minute ago,” the third assassin said.
Akinari quickly looked at the room, his gaze alighting on the stool that had Kaze’s kimono still folded on it, and the sandals next to them.
“He’s run outside,” Akinari said. “Fan out and find him!”
“But what does he look like?” one of his men asked.
“Look! His kimono is still here. He’ll be naked and barefoot. How many naked men are you going to find on the street? Just find him and kill him! Scatter!”
Akinari and his men tumbled down the hallway, looking for a naked man trying to escape them.
In the silent bath, the echoes of their pounding feet dissipated and died. The glow of the paper lanterns cast deep shadows and made wavy orange streaks on the black surface of the water. Suddenly, from the middle of the ofuro, the surface of the water was disturbed. A head of black hair appeared, with the silver ribbon of a sword blade next to it. Kaze surfaced from the black water holding his katana.
He stood in the ofuro and listened, seeing if the hallway was clear.
CHAPTER 10
Look at how he walks.
Is it the walk of a ghost?
Does the toe touch first?
Nobu entered his room. The shutters on the window were closed and the single candle he held hardly penetrated the gloomy darkness.
He sighed. He was tired. Like the rest of Boss Akinari’s men, he had spent most of the night looking for the ronin. Unsuccessfully.
His futon was already spread on the floor. He lived in Boss Akinari’s house, just like all the high-ranking members of the gang, and the servants would take out the bedding from a shelf every night and spread it on the floor of the plain room, ready for sleep.
Nobu was debating about going to get a bath before flopping down on the futon when a voice said, “Why did your Boss want to kill me?”
Nobu was a man not easily startled, but the voice coming from the dark corners of his own room made him jump. He held the candle up, so the light could penetrate the gloom. In the darkest corner, Nobu saw the dim outline of a man sitting. The figure moved his arm and into the yellow light of the candle the tip of an unsheathed sword appeared. The ronin!
“Why did your boss want to kill me?” Kaze repeated, letting his naked sword add urgency to the question.
“How did you get in here?” Nobu asked.
“I never left,” Kaze replied.
“How did you know this was my room?”
Kaze pointed with his sword. “After the maids laid out the futons, it was easy to tell which one was yours. It’s twice the size of a normal one.”
“But-”
“I’m the one who stayed just so I could ask you a few questions,” Kaze interrupted. “It is most impolite to ignore my questions as I answer yours. Now, why did Boss Akinari want me killed?”