Upon his return to Nikkou
that evening, Tooyama Yasuhide immediately proceeded to his master Houjou Ujimasa’s chambers to apprise him of Ujiteru’s acquiescence to the sacrifice of Kagetora. Ujimasa thanked him with a ‘well done.’
“And how did you obtain his agreement? Well do I know Ujiteru, and it would surprise me much if he did not object to such a plan with vehemence.”
Ujimasa’s chosen spirit vessel was a tall bespectacled man in his mid-forties whose oval face and narrow eyes bore more than a passing resemblance to the Ujimasa of four hundred years ago.
Houjou Ujimasa’s residence, which doubled as his base in Nikkou, was located in the Narusawa villa region near Kirifuri Falls. It was a relatively large structure for the area, and might easily be mistaken for a resort hotel. His vessel, already serving as the managing director of the board of a major hotel chain despite his youth, had obtained it about five years ago. The back of the house dropped away slightly into a small valley out of which the soothing murmur of a brook could be heard.
Ujimasa received Tooyama’s report now in the second-floor study.
“And...did you meet Saburou?”
“N-no... I did not think it wise...”
“Hmm...”
In their previous lives, the polar opposite personalities of Ujimasa, eldest of the Houjou brothers, with his brilliant intellect and foresight and Ujiteru, with his hot-blooded belligerence, had combined into a superb partnership in both governance and war.
“I suppose the lie regarding knowledge of Father’s whereabouts was an unfortunate necessity, since Ujiteru would not have given in otherwise,” Ujimasa muttered to himself as he gazed at the woods outside the window. “He, unlike me, still bears ‘brotherly feelings’ for Saburou.”
“Ujimasa-sama, might I inquire about the progress of the ‘Nikkou Offering?’”
“He was successfully acquired through the efforts of our allies, and is now watched o’er with care by my servants. We may make the offering as soon as the drawing out of the ‘great power’ is complete.”
“He is to be bound to the master tree at Futarasan Shrine?”
“Quite so. We do not, however, have enough tree-bound souls at Mt. Nikkou; as I predicted, the massed power of the unpurified spirits in this area is insufficient. We must obtain additional life force from living people. Yet the tsutsuga are already devouring souls as quickly as they can.”
Ujimasa brought a cigarette to his lips, and Tooyama immediately presented him with a lit lighter.
“My brothers are making steady progress with the ‘lightning rods’ at Hakone, Mt. Kunou, and Mt. Tate. But if we cannot complete preparations for the main stage, this play will end a farce. We must move quickly and carefully, for we are surrounded by Takeda and Oda, and we cannot allow our enemies to perceive our plans.”
"What are your commands for me, my lord?
“I have more work for you in the role of messenger: I will entrust you with word toUjinori at Mt. Kunou and Ujikuni at Mt. Tate. Like your father Tooyama Yasumitsu, who was an excellent diplomat, you will act as my emissary. I put every faith in you. You have my thanks for your work.”
“Yes, my lord!” Tooyama responded just as a knock came at the door.
“Enter.”
The door opened to admit one of Ujimasa’s aides. “My lord. Date-dono requests an audience. He awaits in the reception room.”
“It’s all right, show him in. —Tooyama, you may retire.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Tooyama and the aide left the room. Ujimasa turned back to the map of the entire Kantou region spread across his desk. His gaze traced the notes inscribed in red marker. An intricate tapestry of plans was already woven in his mind.
(It must be Saburou.)
The strategist’s eye.
(Our clan is blessed with much talent.)
A smile tilted the corners of Ujimasa’s lips. There was a knock from the door, and at his invitation a short young man who appeared to be around high school age entered.
“Well met, Kojirou-dono.” Ujimasa stood and stepped forward to greet him with a smile. “I trust your accommodations here have been tolerable?”
Kojirou took Ujimasa’s proffered seat on the sofa. “Did I see your messenger to Hakone just now? I trust the question of Kagetora-dono has been satisfactorily resolved?” he inquired, intelligent eyes attentive. “I witnessed Kagetora-dono’s powers of «choubuku» at Sendai. It is as terrible as the rumors suggest. ...I, too, agree that he is most suitable as the Hakone Offering, if for no other purpose than to ensure that his powers can never be turned against us.”
“I am pleased you agree, Kojirou-dono,” Ujimasa responded as he folded the map. “Your offer of aid surprised me, for I never imagined I might receive such an overture from the brother of Masamune-dono himself. Our plans are progressing nicely, with your assistance.”
“...”
“I could only dream of an alliance with Date-dono in the east four hundred years ago. I am much delighted to have the aid of his brother now.” Ujimasa suddenly fixed Kojirou with hawk-like eyes. “...You will be a chief vassal of the Houjou Clan. I honor my promises.”
“...”
Kojirou looked down and nodded once. “May I ask, Ujimasa-dono, if you have ascertained Lord Ujiyasu’s location?”
A hint of wariness entered Ujimasa’s eyes. “Ah, indeed, Ujiteru was told Saburou’s fate is our father’s command, though I do not yet have knowledge of his precise whereabouts. The lie was necessary, for he would not have agreed otherwise.”
“...”
“But I am certain of his existence, of the fact that he watches over us still. He has saved us from crisis many times since we brothers were resurrected into this age. Yet where he might be found...”
“Then Lord Ujiyasu himself does not intend to go to battle in the «Yami-Sengoku»?”
“I know not what Father intends. In our previous lives he stood behind us always, and I believe he is doing the same now. Though he retired and yielded the position of clan head to me when he was yet in his prime, he watched over us in our wars and in the administration of our lands, sometimes offering counsel and guidance. I remember that time...” Ujimasa smiled. “But now he will see the Houjou become the conquers of the Kantou. That is the moment when he will be resurrected—no, when he must be resurrected. I will make make him ruler of the country, for he is worthy to assume the mantle of absolute power...” A light kindled deep in Ujimasa’s intelligent eyes. “If Father had lived, neither the Taikou nor Ieyasu would have taken the country. I will show the world that Houjou Ujiyasu is the true ‘supreme ruler.’”
“... Ujimasa-dono. The Offering has regained consciousness... Do you wish to meet him?”
“Ah, so he is awake? He is in good health, I trust?”
“He is physically unharmed. Will you see him?”
“Very well,” Ujimasa said, rising calmly.
Kojirou’s so-called “Offering” was confined to the basement of the mansion. The estate overlooked a valley, and a small brook could be seen from the basement window. Iron bars had been fitted over those same windows to prevent any chance of escape.
Ujimasa came to the door after walking down a long corridor. Standing in front of it was a young man unfamiliar to him.
“Kojirou-dono, who is this?”
“My vassal. One who knows how to draw out the Offering’s «power».”
“I see...”
The young man, a beautiful, fair-skinned youth with light brown hair and hazel eyes, raised his head slightly and gave Ujimasa a quick sidelong glance. His coloring and the shape of his face declared him a half-blood. His dainty red lips quirked in a smile, but both Ujimasa, who was already entering the room, and his aide missed it. Neither did they notice the look he and Kojirou exchanged.
At first glance, the white-themed interior appeared completely normal, simple yet clean. The only ornamentation consisted of small paintings on the walls. The room held a bed, table, and unit bath. If not for the bars on the windows, it would be a very pleasant and ordinary guest room.
The ‘Offering’ was seated on the bed. As Ujimasa and the others entered, his large eyes fixed on them angrily.
“You look well.”
“...Who are you people?” Narita Yuzuru demanded harshly. He had briefly regained consciousness from the blow he’d received during his kidnapping, only to be immediately drugged into a stupor. He had just re-awoken to realize that he was confined to this room. “What are you planning to do with me? Why are you doing this?”
He spoke in his ordinary low tones, though it was obvious that he was furious. He had every right to be: though he had not been mistreated, his kidnapping was still a crime. Ujimasa only smiled at his angry hostility.
“It appears my younger brother is much in your debt for your care.”
“Younger brother? What’re you talking about?”
“I had heard that you and he are close. Yet Saburou intentionally betrayed the fact of your existence to the warlords.”
“Saburou? You can’t mean...”
Ujimasa folded his arms deliberately, eyes flashing behind his glasses. “My name is Houjou Ujimasa. I am Saburou Kagetora’s elder brother.”
“Kagetora’s...! Then you’re Takaya’s...!”
Yuzuru immediately recognized the name. He might not be a Japanese history buff, but he’d encountered the names of the Houjou brothers in video games and the like. After hearing about Kagetora and the others from Chiaki, he’d started reading up on the warriors of the Sengoku—even more than Takaya, for some reason.
Houjou Ujimasa became the fourth head of the Houjou Clan upon Houjou Ujiyasu’s retirement. Watched over by his father, he had tightened his control of the Kantou and vied for power with the various warlords of the Sengoku. He had stood against the Taikou Hideyoshi to the last, and, defeated in the famous Siege of Odawara, had committed ritual suicide with his younger brother Ujiteru according to Hideyoshi’s command.
Ujimasa was Kagetora’s biological brother, and his command had sent Kagetora to Echigo. Takaya was surely not indifferent to this man.
(But why would he have...)
“Your name is Narita Yuzuru, I believe?” Ujimasa’s voice pulled him back to the conversation. "I have heard that you wielded a ‘great power’ in Sendai—that Daiitoku Myouou and Gouzanze Myouou destroyed Mogami’s ‘Kinrin no Hou’ by your will.
“I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.” Yuzuru was not dissembling, for he had virtually no memory of those events. Though Takaya and others had told him about the part he played in Sendai after the fact, he still found it difficult to believe that he had actually done any of it. “...What does that have to do with anything?”
“We wish to borrow this unearthly power,” Ujimasa answered, approaching. “The power to move the gods.”
“I refuse,” Yuzuru immediately retorted, eyes sharp. “I don’t know anything about this ‘power.’ I certainly don’t know anything about using it. ...But even if I did, I wouldn’t help you.”
“You’re Saburou’s friend. Do you not think it would be to Saburou’s benefit to help us?”
“Takaya’s benefit?” His words agitated Yuzuru. “What do you mean?”
“Saburou has returned to us. He will fight for us as a warrior of the Houjou.”
“You’re lying!” Yuzuru exclaimed, involuntarily raising his voice. “Takaya would never help you!”
“Why do you doubt me? Saburou is our brother. Of course he would help us. As Saburou’s friend, you should understand his feelings.”
“Takaya is Takaya, not Kagetora! Even if Kagetora’s memories did return, even if Takaya remembered everything, he would still be Takaya!”
“And if this ‘Takaya’ should disappear, and he became ‘Kagetora’ completely...?”
“!” Yuzuru’s expression immediately froze. “He couldn’t have...”
“It is the truth. Saburou is wholly ‘Saburou Kagetora’ once more and has agreed to help the Houjou.”
“That...can’t...”
“If your friendship for him is true, you would aid him by lending us your power. You will do so sooner or later in any case.”
“Wait! Are you saying... that Takaya was the one who told you to bring me here?!”
“You may think of it that way. Your stubbornness will not help you here; you will not be harmed if you simply obeyed quietly and allowed these people to draw out your power.”
“Takaya! Where is he? Let me see him! I want to talk to him!”
“I leave him to you,” Ujimasa said to Kojirou, and left the room. The men guarding Yuzuru held him down as he struggled violently.
“Let me see Takaya! I want to see him!”
“Stop this.”
Yuzuru’s eyes narrowed at Kojirou. Kojirou looked back at him expressionlessly.
“There is no escape. If you don’t want anything bad to happen to you, be silent and obey.”
Yuzuru bit his lip. He had never been so frustrated before in his life. Takaya would never deceive him like this: he was certain of it. Yet why did that statement cause him such uneasiness?
It’s not true! he cried out silently. You’re still in there somewhere, aren’t you? Even if you did become Kagetora, you would never do this to me!
(You wouldn’t, would you, Takaya...?)
It was a lie. Please let it be a lie, Yuzuru prayed, biting on his lip hard enough to draw blood.
(Tell me it’s a lie! Takaya!)
After taking his leave of Ujimasa, Tooyama Yasuhide called a car to take him to his hotel in Kinugawa.
Ujimasa had offered him rooms, but the idea of staying under one roof with his master filled him with dread; he had declined and booked a hotel for himself and his underlings.
When the car arrived, Tooyama thanked the driver and alighted, heading straight for the front door.
“Tooyama-sama.” A young woman greeted him in the lobby: his subordinate, Sahei, formerly one of his mounted guards. “Welcome back, my lord. Is Ujiteru-sama well?”
“Yes, and as obstinate as ever.”
Sahei peered at Tooyama’s face uncertainly. “What has happened? You look exhausted.”
Tooyama did indeed look haggard. He couldn’t remember the last time he had not been strung-out with tension. Because of the audience with his master? No, there was something more.
“Tooyama-sama?” Sahei asked worriedly.
“He wanted me to see Saburou-sama...” Abruptly Tooyama’s expression shifted to a fierce glare, and Sahei cringed back. “It doesn’t concern you. We’re feasting tonight! Call everyone here and make arrangements for a banquet!”
“Ye-yes, my lord...”
Bewildered, Sahei looked at Tooyama, wondering what had happened to arouse this strange irritation. Tooyama continued into the glass-sided corridor of the new wing, walking quickly, and Sahei hurried to follow.
“If you are tired, I can have food brought to your room...”
“No need, no need! Call me once everything is ready. Go!” Tooyama snapped, gaze drifting to the glass. He suddenly froze as if he had caught a glimpse of something within the glass. He shook his head and looked again.
“To-Tooyama-sama?”
Just a figment of my imagination, Tooyama thought, relieved. He stiffly began walking again, his eyes wandering restlessly as if something had spooked him. He didn’t hear Sahei’s voice calling after him as he entered his room and closed the door behind him.
Back in his own room, Tooyama nervously latched the door chain before finally drawing in a deep calming breath.
(What is going on?)
He’d been haunted since last night by the feeling of someone watching him. No matter where he was, the gaze followed. His nerves were completely shot.
(Just my imagination?)
He was just tired, he told himself, sinking into the sofa. That was it. There was no one else in the room. He poured himself a glass of ice water and drank it straight down.
(Nothing to worry about.)
He was simply unused to having a body after so long. His skin would stop crawling once he was rested.
(It has nothing to do with Lord Saburou.)
There was no connection. There couldn’t be.
Four hundred years had passed. Too much time to still remember Tooyama, surely. Remember what he had done. Besides, Lord Saburou was asleep, comatose. He knew nothing.
(Why am I even thinking about this?) he asked himself, even as the past re-awakened in the back of his mind.
His father Tooyama Yasumitsu had served the Houjou as a magistrate and a diplomat, participating in strategic negotiations with the Uesugi. The Echigo-Houjou Alliance was one of his triumphs, and he later accompanied Kagetora to Echigo as his vassal. In that alien land he became Kagetora’s support and sole confidante. When the alliance fell apart, it was Yasumitsu’s unwavering loyalty in addition to Kenshin’s deep affection and care which had made it possible for Kagetora to remain in Echigo despite the rancor of the Uesugi vassals. He stayed at Kagetora’s side to the very end, serving and protecting him, until he was cut down by Kagekatsu’s forces in the Otate no Ran.
You must protect Lord Saburou to the last. Understand, Yasuhide?
His father’s last words to him.
(My father was a good man.)
A good man. A brave man who died a heroic death. His father’s last request lingered in Tooyama’s heart, its echoes stirring his guilt and shame again and again. He had failed his father. He had failed his master, Saburou Kagetora.
(It’s all in the past.) Tooyama stood and went into the bathroom.
He turned on the faucet and roughly splashed water on his face before reaching for a towel.
(Lord Saburou is going to be the ‘Hakone Offering.’) He wiped his face and looked into the mirror. (It’s all right. I’ll never have to see him again.)
He had no reason for fear. No one knew. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. He repeated the words silently as he shut off the water.
Then—
«...suhide...»
He shuddered at the sound of a voice calling his name. He spun around and around, naked terror on his face, seeking its source. Just as he decided that there was no one there, he heard again:
«Yasuhide.»
He whirled reflexively, and what he saw stopped his heart.
“Aaaaaah!”
Another figure had appeared in the mirror.
Tooyama lost all capacity for speech. He gasped, choking, his mouth opening and closing. He backed away in utter denial of the sight before him until he hit the wall.
“No...no...it can’t be...”
The reflection in the mirror was his former lord, Saburou Kagetora. Looking just as he had four hundred year ago.
«It has been a long time, Tooyama Yasuhide.»
“L-Lord...Sa-Saburou...”
Kagetora regarded the shock and terror twisting his face with a calm, cool gaze.
“Aa...aaaaaaah!” he screamed. He bolted, stumbling out of the bathroom into the main room—and saw Kagetora again in the dresser mirror.
“Aiyeeee!” He backed away, but Kagetora was there again in the hand-mirror behind him. He stared at the dresser mirror, trembling.
Kagetora returned his gaze coolly.
«I have always wished to see you again, to speak with you.»
“I...I-I-I...I...”
«I wanted to ask you: how far were you able to run after deserting me at Samegao Castle?»
“I...I don’t know...what...”
«There is no need for lies. I already know the answer.»
Tooyama froze.
«I know that you colluded with Horie at Samegao Castle. That you informed the enemy of my attempt to cross the mountains. Then you abandoned me and ran. You alone escaped from that place.»
“P-please forgive me—!” Tooyama screamed, prostrating himself on the floor. “Forgive me! I...I...I just...!”
«—Valued your own life above that of your lord?» Kagetora asked coldly, eyes narrowing. «It’s not difficult to understand. Rather than matyring yourself in a strange land for your defeated lord, you chose to survive. You’re a shrewd man. You renunciated a master who had no chance of victory and ran for your life. An exceedingly intelligent choice. How could I fault such wisdom? How could your foolish father, who squandered his life to stand with me to the last, possibly compare?»
The words pierced Tooyama’s heart like bullets. He stood frozen, rooted to the spot. “...Lord Saburou...please forgive me...”
«Forgive? For what possible reason could you need my forgiveness? I offer you only admiration: for your sense of self-preservation, for the cowardice which allowed you to forsake your lord, a feat of which no one would have believed a vassal of the Houjou was capable.»
Kagetora laughed mockingly.
«Yet you were cut down in the mountains of Shinano by bandits without even reaching Odawara. How humiliated you must have been! I do not wonder that you became an onryou.»
Kagetora had seen through him so thoroughly that Tooyama could muster no response at all. He could only tremble in shame and terror.
“I beg you...I beg you to forgive me...”
«You have never known the anguish of those forsaken, have you?» Kagetora’s smile vanished, and hatred filled his eyes. «You have much to atone for.»
“..!”
Tooyama shivered. His teeth clattered together as he stared into the mirror. Kagetora’s razor-sharp eyes seared straight into him like crimson flames.
«You dream so tranquilly of conquest by my brother’s side. I will rip that dream to shreds. I will take my retribution for your betrayal four hundred years ago!»
“Forgive me! Please forgive me!”
«I will not forgive you!» Kagetora stated mercilessly. «Would you dare deny me my revenge? You betrayed me. No retribution would be enough to sate my hatred for you.»
“Lord Saburou...”
«You will atone for your treachery.»
“...”"
«I will extract my vengeance from you.»
His fear was so extreme that he lost control of his bladder. Kagetora continued to look at him, a cruel smile on his handsome face. But what he said next absolutely petrified Tooyama.
«You will pay me back in full, Tooyama,» he whispered malevolently. «You will obey all my commands to the letter from this moment.»
“Lord Saburou...”
«I will make you pay.»
Terror overwhelmed every other feeling. Kagetora’s words snatched his breath away.
“...Lord Saburou, you...you can’t...”
Steal the male Tsutsuga Mirror.
That was Kagetora’s command.
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