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It had been 2 years since Jubei died. Today was his birthday.
Saito’s ronin gradually disappeared from Ezo as the months passed since their lord had died. For about a year now, the island had been at peace, and it would continue to many years after this humble day.
Kiku, Atsu’s niece and Jubei’s daughter, were sitting next to each other outside, at Atsu’s family home. Atsu played her mother’s song, and Kiku practiced kanji.
“Which one are you on now?” She asked her niece.
The girl held up her paper, with the character ‘弟’ written on it. It was a character that Atsu had cried looking at. “It means little brother,” she told her niece.
Kiku went back to scribbling, and Atsu went back to her music. She thought of Jubei, how he would be proud of his daughter. She knew how to read, she knew how to hunt, how to defend herself with a katana, how to play, how to laugh, how to smile. It was all you really needed to know in Ezo, as Jubei had told Atsu shortly before he passed.
She got up, putting her shamisen away and grabbing a table they used to play Zeni Hajiki.
“What are you doing?” Asked Kiku.
“You’ve practiced enough for one sitting,” Atsu said, grunting from the table’s weight. “Let’s play a little, like me and my brother used to.”
So she arranged some pottery to form some obstacles, got out some coins, and they started a round.
Kiku started with her usual move: hit one coin, if you can hit another then hit another, and then instead of hitting one, try to position the coin somewhere where when you play next, you can hit another. Getting stuck in one area of the table wouldn’t help Kiku, and the corner she started in didn’t have enough coins to get her through the game.
It was a move Jubei had taught Kiku, and Atsu recognized that fact the very first time she saw the girl try it. It required a bit of brain power to truly understand, but once you did you wouldn’t use any other starting move. Thankfully, Atsu knew just how to counter it.
She flicked the coin that Kiku positioned into another coin, stealing Kiku’s point. Then she scored another, and another, and the color drained from Kiku’s face as Atsu gradually earned six coins and won.
“I’ve countered that move a million times from you,” Atsu said teasingly, “Don’t you ever think of trying to change it up?”
Kiku shook her head. “It’s the strategy that dad taught me. What could possibly be better than that?”
Atsu laughed. “You have Jubei’s sense of tradition, I’ll pay respect to that.”
That was when Kiku heard a growling behind her.
She got up, scared, and before her stood a wolf.
“I-it’s that wolf again,” Kiku jittered. “Ever since I moved here, I’ve kept seeing it around here. Must like the mushrooms…maybe it can smell the ones we got yesterday?”
Atsu was a little surprised that she had never introduced her niece to her wolf companion. “You mean Shunen?” Atsu asked. “That wolf has been following me ever since I started my quest for revenge. He’s a friend, don’t worry. I can’t believe I never introduced you to him.”
She went over to scratch behind his ears. Kiku followed slowly, reaching out to pet it. Shunen wasn’t provoked.
“Well, since everyone is here, I’ll get mushrooms for dinner, everyone’s favorite.”
It was also her brother’s favorite, when it was cold out. They would be inside together, them and mom and dad. Eating, talking. Being a family.
And then Lord Saito painted it all red and black.
But once Lord Saito died, Atsu found her peace. Her hunt was over, and so were her days of revenge and violence. Had she continued down the warpath, had she not stopped and raised her niece, she would’ve starved, and Atsu would’ve continued being a mindless killing machine.
She thought Jubei was dead, but he survived so that he would see his sister turn into something monstrous and be able to tell her, “no, sister. We let go of our hate, so we can make room for loving others. For loving life! We will bring justice to Ezo by slaying Saito, but then we must be peacekeepers! Look what revenge has turned you into, you’re soaked with blood. You need to find peace, and do better!”
That was just a bit before Saito killed him in combat.
Time passed, and dinner came. Mushrooms on skewers over a fire, Shunen chewing down like an animal, Kiku chewing methodically, and Atsu…shedding a tear, looking at the rising moon.
Kiku looked over at her aunt, concerned. “What’s wrong, Atsu?”
Atsu shed a second tear.
“Happy birthday, brother.”