Chapter 144

Back again

“Sesshomaru!” Mai gasped, bringing her trembling hand to her mouth. 

This horrible feeling… Had it something to do with him? She abruptly stood up, searching for the clothes to put on.

“Let him be alive, let him be okay…” she was whispering frantically to herself, scared to death, that Sesshomaru could be in a grave danger. 

She didn’t even know if he was alive. What if he was terribly wounded or worse… dying? Mai had to see him again, just to make sure everything is all right, as she hoped. She just had to. It didn’t matter if he would tell her to get out, she had one desire left – to see Sesshomaru.

The girl made her choice – she would ride to Inuyasha’s village to meet him one, last time. Surely his own brother would be able to sniff him out. She grabbed some warmer clothes and put on the shoes. She ran towards the closet, where she kept scrolls and manuscripts and fished out a map of Japan. According to it, she would need at least five days to cover the distance on horseback. Therefore, she needed supplies. Mai grabbed an empty bag and rushed to the kitchen.

 

She was creeping silently towards the kitchens, careful not to wake any servants up. If she got caught, she would never be able to set off on her journey. Mai slipped into the kitchens and stuffed into the bag as much food as she could, before heading to the stables.

The girl made it without much trouble, as there were no guards along the way. Suddenly, she realized, that she didn’t take one thing into consideration – how the hell would she get past the gates. They were heavily guarded, not to mention closed. She would be immediately recognized! Swiftly, she looked around and locked her target on – the armory. Maybe if she was clad like a guard, she would manage to slip through somehow. The armory was guarded by one man, but luckily he was soundly asleep, most probably drunken as a pig. 

Carefully not to make any noise, Mai opened the door, glancing at the guard all the time, and went in. It was so dark in there, that it took a while for her eyes to accustom. Somehow she managed to find regular male kimonos, worn usually under the armor. She quickly undressed and put the manly outfit on. She tied her hair up in a traditional ponytail, like young men did, and hid her colorful kimonos somewhere in the corner, stuffing them with her leg. Then she picked up quite a big armor, that could conceal her breasts. Mai cursed, that she was not flat-chested, for it would be useful in a situation like this. She fastened the leader straps expertly – she saw Sesshomaru doing it numerous times and put a hat on. The girl grabbed a naginata, because it would look strange if a soldier was without any weapon. The naginata was heavier than she thought. Cursing under her nose, she slipped out of the armory, without waking the man at the entrance.

Mai was just heading to the stables to steal a horse, when some commotion began. Mai peeked to see what was happening, when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

Mai flinched, as she felt a heavy hand falling on her shoulder.

“Here you are, boy.” A deep voice bellowed behind her. “Judging by your armor, you must be Kakiya Katsuo, is that right?”

The girl refrained from shrieking from surprise with all her willpower. Damn, she got caught! But the man took her for some soldier, so maybe hope was not lost. If she was able to pretend to be a princess, a demoness, so she could also pretend to be a soldier. She turned around, doing her best to cover her face.

“Yes, that’s right!” she said, lowering her voice on purpose. The man released her shoulder and looked at her strictly.

“It looks like you lost weight recently, you have thinner arms. Better get yourself a new armor once we return from Urawa.” He said.

“Urawa?” Mai repeated, startled, that the man wanted her to go somewhere in the first place.

The man, she figured out, that he was a commander, arched his eyebrow.

“

Honestly, Kakiya, you should eat less and use your ears a little. Probably you’re just too excited about your first assignment. Come, we need to leave.”

Mai opened her eyes wider. Crap! She got herself into some mess again! The commander put his hand back on his shoulder and pushed her towards the group of mounted samurai. Two horses were without riders and, apparently, the man took her for one of his subordinates and wanted  her to embark on some journey. She couldn’t refuse without blowing her cover. Besides, it was quite a good idea to slip out of the castle on a horse. She decided to play along and then part the ways with the samurai.

The girl ran to her horse and, not without difficulties, she managed to crawl onto the horseback, careful not to lose the horribly heavy Naginata. The gates opened.

“Onwards!” the commander bellowed and thirty riders set off in the middle of the night. Mai had some practice in horse riding, so it wasn’t a first for her. However, after several hours of galloping her butt hurt terribly, but the group was rushing forward, riding through the snow. During the day they made only one brief stop and rode till midnight. Finally, the commander ordered to set a camp.

The girl unsaddled her horse and, after a short visit in the forest, sat in the camp, as far from other samurai as possible. She took her bag from hiding place under her armor – as it was too big for her, she had barely enough space for her breast, but plenty where her belly was. She fished the map out and unrolled it, studying it. Where were they heading? The man said Urawa… she searched with her eyes and nearly exclaimed with happiness, as she found it. It was in the vicinity of Kaede’s village. The samurais knew the way, were armed, so she wouldn’t have to worry about the bandits and they kept a good, yet murderous pace. It was a smile of fate, after all. She would just ride with them and then leave near Urawa. Contented, she hid the map.

“I noticed, that you’re sitting here alone. You should eat something!” a cheerful male voice said. 

Mai’s head snapped up and she saw a young samurai standing before her with two bowls of hot stew, smiling friendly. He was just a boy, not older than fifteen years old. “Here, take it. My name is Hiroyoshi Keiji, what’s yours?”

The girl hesitantly took the bowl from him and struggled to remember, how the commander called her.

“Kakiya Katsuo.” She finally remembered. 

Mai hoped, that the overly talkative boy would go away, but she saw with horror in her eyes, that he sat next to her instead. Damn, the less contact with her new companions, the better.

“It’s my first assignment. Is it yours as well?” he asked. She nodded. Keiji’s face brightened, the wide smile spreading across his face. “Great! We’re the only newbies here, so we should get along!”

Mai moaned, horrified by the perspective of the kid clinging to her, while she was doing everything not to blow her cover. She glared at him.

“Look, tomorrow we have to get up early, so let me sleep!” she snapped at the boy. 

It was a little rude, but with the people like that you just have to be straightforward. Keiji shut up, as expected. Mai leaned on the saddle and closed her eyes. Unfortunately, the silence didn’t last long.

“Hey, Kakiya, did you fight before?” the boy asked in a hushed voice, as though he didn’t want the other samurai’s to hear. Mai opened one eye and glanced at her unwelcomed companion. Keiji was laying with his head on the saddle, but kept stirring from uneasiness.

“Mhm.” The girl muttered something, what was supposed to be a positive response. 

But, it was technically a lie – usually Sesshomaru did all the fighting and she was a damsel in distress, who needed saving. Occasionally she had the chance to whack somebody on the head, but it couldn’t be called true fighting.

“I didn’t.” Keiji spoke again, this time whispering. “I just practiced on the sticks, but never did the real thing.”

Mai rolled her eyes. It was really “interesting”, that the boy found himself somebody to share his fears with, but she had her own problems.

“I’m sure you’ll do good, when the time comes. Goodnight.” The girl ended the conversation and closed her eyes. The moment of silence was a blessing. The sounds of chatting soldiers and neighing horses were making her sleepy. Mai readjusted herself and began falling asleep.

“Kakiya,” her eyes snapped open at Keiji’s voice. “Were you ever wounded?”

“No.” the girl snapped, annoyed. “Goodnight. Sleep well.”

Unfortunately the boy didn’t grasp the suggestion and kept bugging her.

“It must hurt a lot.” He shared his thoughts again. “Kakiya…”

This time Mai had enough. If Keiji went on like that, he would keep her awake till dawn. She sat up abruptly and sent him her best poisonous glare.

“Stop talking already and go to sleep.” She said slowly, so that even an imbecile coud grasp the message.

“Goodnight.” Keiji muttered unhappily, that his new friend was unwilling to talk with himself more. Thankfully, this time silence was permanent and Mai was able to get her sleep tonight.

“Get up, you lazy sons of the bitches!” Mai’s eyes snapped open at the yell. 

She looked around and saw grinning Keiji standing over her, offering his hand to help her up. She tried to do it by herself, but the damn armor prevented her from moving freely. After the night with this wretched thing on everything hurt, especially her poor squished tits. She accepted the boy’s help.

“You sleep with your armor on? Whoa, you must be tough.” He stated. 

Mai mumbled something in response and went to saddle her horse. Soon their squad was on its way, her butt bumping on the horseback. The girl hated the military drill – everything hurt, she lacked sleep and it was overall horrible, but it was the quickest way to Sesshomaru. She hoped to see him alive…

The first day on the road had been blissfully uneventful, but the same couldn’t be said about the second. Keeping her identity and sex secret turned out to be more of a challenge, than she though before. Around noon the commander ordered a short break to feed the horses and the soldiers, as well to relieve the bladders. When Mai dismounted her horse, she crossed her legs and looked around helplessly. On the previous day it was a piece of cake, since they were riding through the woods, but now only bare land was everywhere, with a river snaking across the rocky ground. Mai whined in her mind, seeing no place, which could grant her some privacy – everything was covered with a thin layer of snow and hopelessly flat. There was no tree, no bush, no boulder, nothing. The girl crossed her legs tighter, feeling the pressure of nature.

“Crap.” She muttered, glancing at the fellow soldiers, who shamelessly were relieving themselves, standing next to each other and chatting to themselves. 

She clenched her teeth, knowing, that she had to hold it till the nightfall. Dear god, how something so simple could complicate the things so much?!

“Hey, you!” she heard a voice calling and saw one of the older samurai looking her way. Mai glanced sideways, but no one was standing near her. He was talking to her. The samurai rolled his eyes. “Yes, you, dumb boy! Come here.”

The girl bit her lower lip. Were they suspecting something? Nevertheless, she had to act till the end. Feeling, that her legs were horribly stiff, she made her way towards the men, trying to stomp like she was one of them. Once she joined the group, having all the worst hunches possible, one of the samurai patted her back energetically. Mai swayed on her feet, as her lungs got nearly separated from her spine from the forceful pat. The man laughed jovially.

“Don’t be such a wimp, lad!” he scolded the girl and the other samurais joined the fun. The samurai patted her hat. “No use being shy. Pee, if you must. We’re all men here.”

Mai froze, mortified. The men were looking at her expectantly. She gulped. Crap, now they’d know, that she was a girl. She waved her hands in defense.

“I don’t need to pee.” She protested, but the samurai arched his eyebrow.

“And your legs just naturally entwine each other?” he mocked her. 

Mai opened her mouth, but she wasn’t able to come up with a good retort. He got her there. To her horror, the other samurai began lining up and relieving their bladders, ignoring her and returning to chatting with each other. The girl did everything not to look their way. The samurai, who kept nagging, let out an amused snort.

“What, are you hiding something, lad?” he asked, making Mai beginning to sweat from tension. 

Actually, she was hiding a lot. 

“No, of course not.” She mumbled, noticing with bewilderment, that now all the eyes were on her.

“I bet he has nothing to hide!” someone laughed. “His manhood must be tiny as a child’s finger!”

The other samurais joined in the laughter. Mai clenched her fists, as she was standing in the middle of commotion, surrounded by bullies.

“Maybe it’s crooked!” someone suggested, adding to the general happiness. The girl shrank in herself.

“Or his balls are like rice grains!” another samurai coughed out, bending in half from the laughter. 

Mai made a face-palm, hearing everyone insulting the manhood, she didn’t even have.

The commander was standing among the soldiers all the time, his arms folded. He was smiling under his nose, observing Mai’s misery. Finally, he decided, that the things went too far and his soldiers needed someone to cool their heads. He stepped in the middle and put his hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“All right, that’s enough! On your horses!” he exclaimed, ending the fun. 

Mai let out a relieved breath, while the samurai began muttering, not happy, that the show ended. The commanded led the girl towards her horse, not taking his hand off her shoulder.

“They’re only having fun. It happens always to the new ones. Happened to me too.” The older samurai said, winking encouragingly. “A true samurai must be as brave as a tiger and have a scaled butt like a dragon. Remember that, lad. Now on your horse.”

Mai nodded thankfully, glad, that the commander saved her from the whole bullying. He was rather kind, like a good teacher. Her horse neighed and darted forward.

After the whole day of harsh ride, Mai was finally able to slide of the saddle. She was plainly exhausted, not being accustomed to such exercise. Okay, only three days to go. The further westwards they rode the warmer it got. The girl felt, that she got some serious abrasions from the damn armor and it would be good to take a look at them. She scanned her companions and dashed to the forest. When she was deep enough in the woods, she unfastened the leather straps and took the armor off. Carefully, she unglued the fabric of kimono from her body. She cursed, seeing blood. Mai took water and cleaned the abrasions as much as possible. She regretted not having any sticking plasters. The girl sighed, deciding, that she would have to endure somehow.

Mai reached for her armor, when she heard a snapping of a twig. Instinctively she grabbed her weapon – this time it was something really useful, the naginata, and whirled around to face the danger.

“Holy Bishamonten!” exclaimed Keiji, who was standing between the trees, staring at Mai with shock in her eyes. The girl glanced down to see what startled the boy so.

“Shit!” she cursed, noticing, that she had quite a cleavage, enough not to leave any doubts about her sex.

“You… you’re a woman!” Keiji uttered. 

Mai narrowed her eyes at him. Crap, if he told the commander, her trip would be over and the chance to meet Sesshomaru lost.

“Keiji, if you tell anyone, I’ll slash your balls off.” She threatened, sending him her most scary glare. 

The boy gulped, apparently worrying about the safety of his testicles and nodded enthusiastically.

“I’ll keep this a secret! I promise!” he exclaimed. 

Mai let out a relieved breath and noted to herself, that she would have to keep an eye on the boy. She grabbed her armor and put it on. Once all the straps were fastened, she grabbed her naginata and set off to the camp, with Keiji trotting by her side.

“Whoa, I thought, that the women who pretend to be men exist only in legends.” He whispered, excitement in his voice.

“Mhm.” Mai mumbled, hoping to end the unwanted conversation. Unfortunately, the kid was persistent.

“Why did you join army?” he kept asking. “For glory?”

“No.” Mai answered dryly.

“To avenge your father and brothers?” he kept asking.

“No.” She thought, that the boy was reading too much samurai romance stories.

“To find your beloved man, who went to war?” Keiji hit the jackpot this time. The girl blushed slightly.

“Um… actually yes.” She replied. 

The boy’s smile widened.

“

That’s amazing!” he exclaimed. “Whoa, to think it happens in reality… You must love him a lot, to do such a thing.”

Mai’s cheeks flushed.

“Kind of… yes…” she mumbled.

“I wish, that the woman, I love, could do such a thing for me.” Keiji sighed. Mai glanced at him.

“So you have a girl you like?” she asked him, hoping to avert his attention from her personal affairs. 

The boy smiled dreamily.

“I love her, but I’ve never met her.” He stated. Mai arched her eyebrow.

“That’s weird.” She commented. 

Keiji abruptly shook his head.

“No, it’s not!” he protested fervently. “She is the most beautiful woman in the world! Unfortunately my cousin will be marrying her next year.”

“Poor you. So she’s a looker?” Mai laughed at the boy’s first unrequited love. That was kind of cute. 

Keiji pouted.

“She is not simply pretty - no other woman could match her grace and charm! Her beauty even enchanted a fearsome demon, who defeated the whole army to win her hand and marriage.” he continued.

Mai turned her head abruptly to look at the boy. The story was much exaggerated, but sounded somewhat familiar… 

“A beauty, huh?” she grinned to herself, pleased by the silly gossip. Sounded nice. She narrowed her eyes at the boy. “Your family name is Hiroyoshi, right? Are you by the chance a cousin of Hiroyoshi Shinji?”

Keiji nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! How did you know?” he exclaimed. Mai smiled quizzically.

“Just a lucky guess.”

Luckily, Keiji managed to keep Mai’s secret. The next day passed somehow without any incidents – Keiji turned out to be an useful accomplice, who was skillfully helping her avoid the situations like yesterday. The sun was already low on the sky, when they reached a bridge. Precisely, that, what remained of it. The commander scowled, seeing the broken planks, that probably rot from the old age and the nature did the rest.

“What now?” one of the samurai asked, looking at the commander with the anticipation.

The older soldier furrowed his brows, deep in thought.

“There is another way.” He said slowly. “Two hours from here is a ford. We could cross the river there.”

One of the younger men exhaled with relief.

“It’s good to hear. I was afraid for a moment, that we’d have to lose more time, but it’s fine with two hours.” He sighed, smiling.

“Especially, that we can’t be late. It’s really lucky.” Another samurai joined in.

The commander’s face darkened.

“Fools!” he berated his subordinated. “The ford is near, but we’ll have to take a mountain path. It’s steep and treacherous. Many lives has been lost there. We’ll have to be cautious and then ride like devils.”

After the commander’s words grim silence fell. Mai and Keiji exchanged glances. The girl had bad feelings about this detour. The samurais hurried the horses and they galloped northwards along the river. The soldiers’ pace was murderous, as the commander had no intensions of crossing the ford in the darkness.

Finally they approached the place, where the water level wasn’t that high. A thin layer of ice was covering the river, so it was hard to tell, where exactly the ford was. Foolish people could try to walk on the ice, but it was very thin.

“Where’s that ford?” Mai heard a voice, which sounded a bit familiar. 

She craned her neck, so that she could see something, as she and Keiji were at the back of the column.

She saw two cloaked figures standing at the riverbank. Probably they were just travelers, who wanted to cross the river too.

“You can’t find the ford?” the commander asked the taller of the travelers. Mai narrowed her eyes, but she could see only a beard sticking out of the hood, which covered the stranger’s face.

“We would be glad, if you could help us.” He said, bowing his head and leaning on the walking stick. 

The girl noticed, that his hand lacked one finger.

The commander nodded.

“The ford and the mountain path are dangerous. There are wild animals, waiting to devour the defenseless travelers. We’ll bring you safely to the nearest village.” The soldier declared.

The bearded man nodded.

“We would be grateful.” He said, while his shorted companion didn’t utter a word, but kept sending the samurais distrustful and hostile looks.

The commander cleared his throat, after glancing at the travelers’ shaggy clothes and the ice on the river.

“We don’t have any spare horses, but you can share a steed with the lightest of my men. Hiroyoshi! Kakiya!” the old soldier yelled.

Both Mai and Keiji stiffened, hearing their names. They exchanged nervous glances and rode forward, like the commander demanded. The samurai sent them a meaningful look and gestured the travelers to get on. When the two people looked up, Mai’s eyes widened, just as theirs. The three of them were staring at each for a while, when the samurais began already crossing the ford. Then, Mai reached out her hand towards the shorter of the travelers, who rejected her help and gracefully jumped onto her horse, seating himself behind her. The other one rode with Keiji. The girl’s steed stayed a little back, keeping a slower pace than the rest of the group.

“So, you’re undercover?” a familiar voice asked.

“You too, Akira?” Mai retorted.

The boy laughed.

“So it seems.” He replied.

During the break for the night and later while slowly riding along the narrow, horribly dangerous mountain path, the girl managed to speak with Akira and master Sekiguchi and hear their tale. 

Unfortunately, it turned out, that the fate wasn’t merciful for young Maeda. Vile Sasaki managed to send a messenger to Akira’s uncle the moment the ship landed on the beach, so that it became known, that the old scholar and the successor of the clan were siding with the enemy from Echizen. Once the boy and his teacher reached the uncle’s household, they miraculously eluded capture. Disowned and marked as a traitor of his own province, Maeda Akira and his teacher were on the run, hiding their identity. However, it didn’t break the boy’s spirit. Quite the opposite – he wasn’t a spoiled brat anymore, but a dependable and tough young man, just as Sesshomaru taught him to be.

Mai was a little sad, when they had to part, but she knew, that there was nothing to fear – Akira would surely grow up to be a splendid young man. Once he and master Sekiguchi left, Keiji rode to her.

“Your friends?” he asked.

“Yes, you can call them that.” She replied with a smile.

“GALLOP!” the commander yelled and the whole column picked up the speed in an attempt to make up for the lost time.

Mai was growing restless, as the group of samurai was approaching their destination. The girl was now in quite horrible shape, the abrasions blooded and her bottom and thighs were covered in painful bruises. Even though Keiji tried to help her all the time, she was so exhausted, that she barely managed to sit straight in the saddle and hold the horribly heavy naginata. However, her determination was strong as never before. She would endure everything to find out, whether Sesshomaru was safe and sound.

Meanwhile in the Asakura castle…

The general Hiroyoshi Shinji rode through the castle gates in high spirits, for he would see his beloved Amayami today. The young man smiled. The samurai saw a familiar face of a plump boy, he knew and called out to him.

“Katsuo!” he shouted. “You’re the youngest son of Kakiya Mitsunari, right?”

The short boy nodded.

“Yes. Welcome home, general Hiroyoshi!” he called back, coming closer and holding the horse’s reins, while Shinji dismounted. 

The samurai furrowed his brows.

“I believe, I heard, that you were to depart to Urawa with general Wakabe. My cousin was supposed to go as well.” He said.

Katsuo blushed and set his gaze at his feet.

“I was supposed to, but… I overslept and everyone left. Someone must have taken my place. Oh, and my armor was stolen too…” the boy admitted with shame. 

Shinji shook his head. Katsuo sure had bad luck.

“Lead my horse to the stables.” The samurai ordered and set off towards the armory to get rid of the annoying breastplate. 

He went in and unfastened the straps of his armor. He took the heavy thing off and cursed, as his lucky rabbit paw fell on the floor. Shinji bent to pick up the small item, when he noticed something colorful tucked in the corner, behind old and unused  breastplates. Curious he reached for it – it was silk fabric. He tucked it and with surprise discovered, that he was holding several female kimonos of the finest silk. What were they doing in the armory? Baffled, he decided to return them to the maidservants.

Once he stepped out of the building, someone came bothering him again.

“Hiroyoshi-san!” Aiko was jogging in his direction, panting. “Hiroyoshi-san, thank gods, that I found you!”

“What is it?” Shinji asked, wondering what made the stern woman look so scared.

“Amayami-hime is missing.” Aiko breathed out. The samurai’s eyes widened.

“What?!” He exclaimed. “How? When?”

“

I’m not sure.” The older woman shook her head. “I last saw her four days ago. She ran to her chambers, saddened. I thought, that she needed some time alone, so I did not bother her. In the morning I went into her room, worried if she was fine, but there was no sign of her!”

Shinji furrowed his brows at the news. Something told him, that Amayami’s disappearance was a part of a bigger puzzle. He stared at the kimonos he held in his hand.

“Aiko-san, do you recognize these?” he asked, passing her the clothes. The woman looked closer and gasped.

“These belong to Amayami-hime!” she exclaimed.

The samurai scratched his chin. Suddenly it all hopped into the right place – Amayami’s disappearance, her clothes in the armory, Akira’s missing armor. The boy said, that someone took his place. Shinji had an idea, who could that be, for he knew only one woman capable of such a risky yet courageous act.

“I know, where Amayami-hime is.” The samurai said after a while. “I will bring her back.”

Hm… at last something, that wasn’t romance… I guess, that I like adventure too much.

Please review, okay?

I’m sure, that if you all join forces, you could be able to read the entire story today. Just comment.