hakai | gabimaru

八

"A writ of pardon?" Riku repeats, blinking his eyes as he looks back at Shugen. "What is that?" He asks, blinking his eyes twice once more. "Can I eat that?" Hearing his question, Shugen jumped then shook his head.

"You can't eat an important piece of paper." He says, handing the scroll to him. "This writ of pardon right here is the ultimatum to pardon one's crimes in exchange of a life of freedom." He explains for the most part. "It sounds incredibly easy, but to get that full fledged freedom a criminal seeks, they have to set out to embark a journey for us, the shoguns." He finishes, his eyebrows furrowing.

Looking at the scroll in his hand, Riku's eyes slightly widened in surprise. "I didn't know such a place exists." He spoke to him, examining the exterior of the paper before unfolding it. To his surprise, the words being used in the paper were nothing different to him. In fact, the more he catches the words being used, the more he understood that this writ of pardon right here in his very hands is the key for the two of them to return back to the island. Though that may be the case, he wouldn't want to go there without his sister.

Where she goes is where he goes too.

"The mission is simple. A batch of criminal and executioner will go there as a pair to find and retrieve the so called elixir of life. Not only that, we've given a bunch of other criminals the same writ of pardon so expect a lot of hardened killers wanting to get their hands on that goal." Shugen draws on. "Also, you'll be needing to memorize the bushido code."

"The what?" Riku inquires, raising both of his eyebrows at the ravenette.

"The bushido code." Shugen repeats. "It's the way of the warrior. You have to memorize all eight virtues. Not only do you have to memorize it, but you have to embody it too." He adds, a small smile painting his lips as he continues to explain it to the white haired male. "There is also the seven codes which are of equal importance. It's more than just a code that we have to embody and memorize, it's now our way of life." The more Shugen draws on to explain about it, the more uneasy Riku becomes.

"-Honor, courage, mastery of martial arts and-" Shugen halts from speaking as he turns his head to look at Riku. The white haired male already passed out on the wooden floor. Hurrying to his side and picking his upper body in his arms.

"Oi! Don't pass out on me!"

"Is the painting to your liking?"

Clad in a dark blue kimono with dark blue border lining the opening at the top, Rika pairs it with a red colored obi tied in the front. Her white hair with yellow tips tied into a date-hyogo style with numerous golden colored kanzashi pins, and a koma geta* shoes. Peering her face a little closer into the painting, she felt rather pleased at how it turned out. A painting of her stood in the middle of the paper with pear blossoms atop of her head. Rika smiles with her eyes closed, humming softly to herself.

"It is more than to my liking! Thank you so much for working with me! I'm glad to have you have my portrait for my very debut!" She beams to the middle aged man who blushed at her choice of words.

"I-It's not a problem!" The man stammers, waving his hands dismissively. His uneasy facial expression softening afterwards. "If anything, I'm glad that your portrait is my final work before I retire." He admits to Rika. The younger girl widening her eyes slight at his revelation.

"Why is that?" She asks him, blinking her eyes twice.

"I get to see pear blossoms blossoming one last time before I leave Yoshiwara." He lets out a hearty chuckle under his breath. "In some legends, the pear tree is a meeting place of the gods and goddesses. They symbolize the transience of life and the ephemeral beauty of nature. Similarly, they represent a lot of yin energy." He explains to her. Of course, his words made sense. Rien didn't just picked out their names on a whim. They're birth after all, reflected in their names.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?" Rika offers, tilting her head to the side. "It would be as my repayment for the wonderful work you've done for me."

The middle aged man beams, cleaning up his materials. "I most certainly would love to."

Later that night, the portrait of Rika was posted for everyone to see. Most men clad in their suit and ties marveled at her beauty. They are only seeing her portrait for the first time, what more if they see her in the flesh? Not only were they are quick to move but some have began to seek mediators in various tea houses, wanting to catch themselves a time and a day with the oiran. Some wagered with victory and others perished with defeat. Her name being the most talked about that night.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"You don't look bad at your new appearance...Yamada Asaemon Riku."

Stood before Rika is her twin brother Riku sporting the the standard Asaemon attire which consisted of a white robe with red lining running down the collars, a hakama with a single red band at the left gusset holding together a red corset and a funerary bell on his right. A small smile paints Rika's red colored lips as she fixes the loosened ribbon around his chest for him. Taking a step closer to do so.

"I'm proud of you." She spoke to him, beaming to him afterwards. "Do you want me to tie your hair for you? I have a spare tie with me." She offers to him. Despite the offer, Riku shook his head no in response. 

"I heard your are to make a debut tonight." Riku begins to say, looking down at his sister. "Good luck on your performance tonight. It is a shame that I will not be there to witness it." He tells her. For tonight, he is grounded by Shugen to memorize the bushido code.

"Which reminds me" Riku says, clearing his throat. "I've got my first assignment!" He beams to her, handing to her the same scroll Shugen had given to him the other day. "The shogun plans to gather a lot of heavy banded criminals to retrieve the Tao from Horai." He says.

Upon hearing these words, Rika's eyes widened in surprise. Slowly, she hung her head low, enough for Riku not to see the face she is making.

"Rika?"

"You've done more than a good job, Riku." Rika replies, grinning widely as her hands held onto the paper tightly, crumpling it a little. "I don't care if you're going to miss my debut tonight at the tea house. There will be no debut happening tonight, the fact that I'm being talked about by everyone is enough to have my popularity soar. I'm sure your fellow Asaemon's are still looking for a criminal for you to look after."

Riku's face darkened, his eyes narrowing down at Rika's figure. "What are you going to do?"

Lifting her head up, the twisted expression Rika made is now replaced with a sweet and beaming expression. "I told you before, didn't I?" She says. "Leave everything to your older sister."

"There's my favorite twin duo!"

Both Rika's and Riku's are immediately head locked around Jikka's arms. The Head of the Yamada Clan turning around as he beams to his other comrades. "It wouldn't be a problem if I invited Rika to have lunch with us right?" He asks, particularly looking at Riku afterwards.

"Not at all, Sir Jikka!" Riku responded.

"Can she stay with us for dinner too?"

"CAN SHE STAY WITH US FOREVER?!- Ow!"