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She shook her head and started to point at plants in the garden. “Think of the far right iris as this castle. For about five
shaku
to the left and down from there, the fighting has broken out—"

I interrupted her. “I'm American. What the fuck is a
shaku
?"

She laughed, thinking for a second. “It's about foot or so. Does that help?'

"Thanks,” I said. “I have a hard time with that metric shit too."

She smiled at me and continued her explanation. “At the end of that, the last iris can be considered Kyoto, in a diagonal from where this castle stands. Between them, roughly is Edo. That is most of the middle of Nippon. The north is cut off, which isn't an issue, but the chaos is spreading upward from the south, which is bad. The section of purple iris closest to us can be the island of Shikoku, while the white iris just beyond them can be Kyushuu. Both islands are held by a number of strong lords, but I don't doubt that some of their retainers wished to become
daimyo
and rebelled against them or took their forces to Honshu to see what they could gain there."

"Where's Iida's place in all this?” I asked.

"On the edge of the garden,” she explained. “See the last iris to the left? That is roughly where Tsushima is located, since the
kuni
is a small island off the coast of Kyushuu. I was surprised that he didn't plan his attack on one of the southern islands and not Northern Honshu and my
kuni
."

I looked at her “map” and bit my lip, trying to think. Aside from the fact that it was on the ass end of nowhere, I didn't think that there was too much wrong with it. But being in the middle of nothing was a big thing in a Nippon that didn't have trains or even decent roads. “Which iris is your place?” I asked.

She waved toward the top and left of the garden. “That group of irises there,” she said. “My
kuni
is large and well placed. I swear that it's a joke of the
kami
that I am surrounded by the
Hakkenshi
."

"I think that he went after your place because you pissed him off,” I mumbled.

She frowned. “You may have a point. I wasn't as receptive to his advances as he thought that I should be."

"Still ain't a reason to pull the shit that he did,” I muttered. “Asshole should have figured out that ‘no’ means ‘no’ a long time ago."

"I fear that I discovered that Iida had an issue with that word a little late,” she admitted ruefully.

"Can I ask you something?” I changed the topic of conversation. I didn't think that the man went too far with either of them, but I also didn't think she wanted to talk about it. “Another pain in the ass thing."

"And what might that be, Mason-san?” she asked me with a smile. Somehow, I realized she didn't think I was being a pain in the ass. I liked that.

"I'm too old to move in with mom and dad.” I'd found out at the end of the mess last time that I was like Keno, an avatar, one of Yatsufusa and Fuse's sons’ spirit reborn generations later. In my case, it was Inumura Daikaku. “And I think that I'd drive my avatar nuts, even if he's a nice guy. Shit, probably
because
he's a nice guy. And I really don't want to stay here either."

"And that means?” Tamazusa asked with a faint smile.

"Can I move in with you?” I asked. “Shit, you can find something for me to do around the place. I ain't proud. I work for my keep."

"I really don't have a place for you to move into,” she pointed out.

"I don't think that you're gonna sit around and not kick some ass so that you get it back. I'm willing to help you do it too,” I said. “So what do you think? Got place for a guy like me in your posse?"

Tamazusa

That Mason was asking me for a home was astonishing to me. I was silent for a moment before asking, “And what do McGann and Wolf think about this?"

"I haven't run it by them,” he admitted. “I know that I might be blowing smoke up your skirts with this, but shit, I think that we aren't going back, ‘cause it should have happened by now. And I don't know if I
want
to go back."

"And why is that?"

"I don't trust them not to fuck me over again,” Mason said bluntly. “I know that you're up to your ass in alligators right now, so this is just one more thing that's being dumped on you. I'm sorry about that."

"If I had thought that you were going to be trouble, I wouldn't have talked to you,” I said gently. “I am very willing to continue with being your patron."

"That was just to save me from that bitch Helga,” Mason muttered. “Not giving me a place to live. But shit, it's that I trust you more than anyone else here."

"I thank you for that,” I said formally. “And I will be willing to have McGann and Wolf as part of my household also."

"I'll tell them. I don't know about Wolf wanting to move in with the folks, but it seems that Dousetsu isn't a lord for some reason.” That had come out last time as well: Wolf was also an avatar of one of the brothers. “So that means that there's no place for them to move into. And Wolf's going to be hooking up with McGann real soon now, or he's dumber than I thought, ‘cause he's had the hots for her for a long time."

"Inukai-sama and Inuyama-sama have chosen not to hold the reins of power. I feel that Inukai-sama is much like yourself, one who is not interested in the responsibility of leadership. But Inuyama-sama is a bit more responsible, just not one who is interested in ruling a
kuni
.” I laughed for a moment, thinking about how all this began. “I fear that Fuse-hime has gotten her wish. I seem to be in an alliance with one of her sons."

"I don't get it,” Mason said, sounding totally lost.

He thought that I wouldn't say yes. He actually probably hadn't thought beyond asking me for a place. “Iida-sama's interest in me seems to have started when the rumors went around that Fuse-hime was trying to arrange an alliance with me through one of her unmarried sons. It was done to explain how friendly we seemed after centuries of frigid politeness. It was an excuse so that her family could spend more time with Keno without letting outsiders guess who he really is."

"You people are weird,” Mason remarked, shaking his head. “You okay?” he asked, frowning faintly at me for some reason

"Why wouldn't I be?” I smiled, serene and in control. On the outside at least.

"'Cause the shitstorm that's happening out there, you think that it's your fault,” he said bluntly.

"It is."

He shook head. “This Iida guy would have managed to grab someone for this, and Nippon would still be fucked. Shit, from what Logan told us, the Trustees had planned this double cross with us from the beginning. I just want to see the look on that fucker Iida's face when he realizes that he's going to get screwed by the Trustees, just like the rest of us."

"But I would have my
kuni
,” I said. “Keno... Keno would be safe. I don't want him in a war."

"Why?” Mason asked. He was naturally curious and a bit confused about why Samojirou and I felt the need to shelter Keno so much.

"I met his ancestor."

"Most of these guys are mean fuckers,” Mason said. “Anyone here, really. So what makes Keno so different?"

"The
Sengoku Jidai
was a time of a betrayal.” I spoke as if I was telling a tale of someone else, the soothing tones of a storyteller, calm and disinterested. Mason wouldn't understand that era; no one born in the modern world really could, for all they claimed that they did. It had been decades of civil war in Japan, even if the emperor hadn't been involved in the fighting. It had been a fight to see who would control him.

"The land was soaked with blood as all tried to rule it. Brother betrayed brother, the capitol was in shambles, and one could rise from a lowly samurai to a lord by the strength of your arm. Satomi did so."

"Who's that?” Mason asked.

"The
Hakkenshi
's grandfather.” I paused for second, trying to keep the hate that I felt for the man out of my voice. It wasn't that he had killed me, though betraying his word to me had much to do with it. It was that he had executed me as common criminal and hadn't allowed me the dignity of committing suicide, and the fact that I had truly been innocent of Aboshi's plot to murder Jin-yo. My guilt in it was that I had taken advantage of the fact that I had a patron who had been willing to keep me for my mind and not my body. So I hadn't informed anyone of the crime. It wasn't like it was an isolated happening. Nippon was drenched in blood from such things. “Fuse-hime's father, the man that broke his word to Yatsufusa-sama and myself. He had been a minor lord that rose to rule Awa. I think that it's a prefecture of Tokyo now. It was a powerful
kuni
then. It is part of the
kuni
that Yatsufusa holds now. He gained more power when his grandsons allied with him."

"Fuse-hime told me a bit about that,” Mason said. “That she had been dead by the time that her kids were born."

"Magic is a wonderful thing,” I said with a strained smile.

"You know that you can tell me to stay the fuck out of your business too,” Mason said unexpectedly. “But I notice that Satomi ain't here and you are. So that just shows what a shit the man was."

"He was thought to be a good lord,” I told him stiffly.

"Even with the shit that he pulled?” Mason asked, sounding outraged. “Assholes. And speaking of that, what's the deal with Keno? How come his family seems to be getting upset when we call him by his name and not Sakura?"

"Because it is not well-known that Inuzaka Keno has been found by his family. He had been missing in the Dreamlands for centuries. While you think that we call him Sakura because it amuses us, it really is to protect him. I do not want him to become the killer that his ancestor was."

"Most everyone here's swung a sword and shit like that,” Mason said. “Your people were all fighters in a time that meant hacking the crap out of the other guy with a sword."

"Only you have such a technique,” I teased, trying to lighten his mood.

Mason laughed. “Wolf wasn't much better when he was goin’ nuts.” He sobered, though. “And you haven't answered the question."

"Hamaji has a lovely strolling garden,” I said abruptly. “Let's explore it."

Mason looked at me strangely but must have realized that I didn't want to be overheard. He followed me out to the garden I had mentioned, before repeating his question. “Why are you worried about people finding out about Keno?"

I hesitated for a moment, studying the landscape, the gardenias and the hydrangeas that were blooming. “The first Inuzaka Keno vowed when he was a child, around six or seven, to avenge his father's death. When he was seventeen, he fulfilled that vow."

"Seventeen?” Mason repeated with a stunned look on his face. “How?"

"He slaughtered the entire Makuwari clan in a single night. They had gathered to celebrate in their main stronghold. Inuzaka turned it into a slaughterhouse."

"Why?” Mason asked, looking confused. “What had they done to him?"

"Makuwari Dai, the leader of that clan, was the one who slaughtered most of Inuzaka's family. He was raised in hiding after that, in disguise really, which was the only reason that he survived, from what I pieced together."

"So he kills everyone, and then what?” Mason asked.

"Inuzaka discovered that he was one of the
Hakkenshi
,” I answered. “And his grandfather took advantage of the training he had undertaken for his vow and used him as his own personal assassin."

"Keno was a ninja?” Mason asked.

"In a manner of speaking,” I said, drifting up the path.

Mason followed me, curious. “Ninja” was a term mostly used in the West in modern times. What Keno had become for his grandfather was an assassin who, by the end of the fighting, was nothing more than a doll for the man, after he had banished Aboshi.

"So what was bad about that?” Mason asked.

"Satomi rose to power on the backs of others,” I said scathingly. “Inuzaka killed and killed for the man in the shadows for years before the war ended. He was broken by that time."

"How did the war end?” Mason asked, suddenly suspicious. “What is so great about all these guys that they're here? That you're here?"

"Japan didn't really know peace until the Tokugawa ruled, which was roughly a hundred years after the deaths of the
Hakkenshi
, after they had achieved some sort of peace, keeping the Kanto area of Japan under their control,” I explained, wondering how much I could really tell him.

"Whatever,” Mason dismissed, not caring about the history lesson. “What I give a shit about in this is Keno."

"Aboshi-sama and myself want to protect Keno from those who would try to make their reputation by fighting and killing him for being Inuzaka Keno. He would have to face challenges or worse for his entire life here. He might turn into the bitter man that he had been because of that, if it didn't kill him."

"You're not going to get Wolf to believe this,” Mason said seriously. He stared into the pond we stopped by. “He's gonna think that's a reason to take Keno back with us."

"Keno will not go,” I stated firmly. “And Wolf has to believe that or what friendship they have will be ruined."

"I'll talk to him,” Mason promised. “Are you doin’ all right?"

"I am fine,” I repeated, lying through my teeth again.

"And I'll believe that eventually,” he said. “Shit, if you need someone to talk to, grab me. I may not know shit about what's going on, but I can be someone to talk to."

"I know that,” I murmured. “But I have a question for you, even if you don't want to give me an answer. When were you supposed to return to the real world?"

Mason looked at me in shock before he started back to the castle at a run. I followed at a more leisurely pace. He finally knew there was something wrong. Not that Logan hadn't told him that before, but in his heart, I knew he hadn't wanted to believe it was happening to him. He was going to have to believe it now.

Mason

I was kind of confused about what Tamazusa was telling me. I knew all the players, mostly, but trying to wrap my head around the thought of Keno being a ninja killing machine was kind of hard. I couldn't picture it. I had a hard time thinking of him as an adult, never mind someone who was a cold-blooded killer. That Samojirou had fallen in love with someone like that showed me that the man was either bugfuck insane or someone who tried to save kittens from being drowned. Or both. I was going with both.