The Hinomoto Rebellion (40 page)

Just as Andrea had gotten to her knees and her blackened vision was starting to clear, she saw movement in front of her. She attempted to roll out of the way and moved enough to make the kick that had been aimed for her stomach glance off of her ribs.

The silver-haired girl lay on her back on the asphalt, attempting to catch her breath. Something was poking her uncomfortably in the side, although it was a minor annoyance when compared to the splitting headache she had. She honestly couldn’t tell if the stars she was seeing were from the pounding she was taking or if they were actually there.

Aki loomed into sight above Andrea, glaring down at her as she used her bo for support. Andrea found that she didn’t really have much strength left to move, so instead she scowled up at her foe. “Go on. I’m getting tired of looking at you.”

The traitor’s smirk widened. “I don’t know what he wants with you,” she said.

 

“Take me to him and find out.”

Aki lifted her bo and brought it crashing down on the side of Andrea’s face as she let out a yell of triumph. Andrea didn’t attempt to move. She let the blow come, and felt herself sink down in to the embrace of darkness.

Rays of sunlight crept into the Aka Ryuu’s room in the old mall. Roni was the first one to leap up off the cushions. “Come on, everyone! It’s press conference day!”

It was only a few more minutes before the others were awake as well. “Hey, where’s Andrea?” 26 asked as she rubbed her eyes. “Aki’s not here either,” D said, getting up off the floor faster than he ever had in the morning.

 

“They both probably got up early,” said Kanjou as he grabbed his headband. “Let’s go look for them.”

After a half on hour search, the
Kemono
and the Aka Ryuu were satisfied that neither Andrea nor Aki were in the mall, so they went outside. It was another ten minutes before Fushi let out a yell. Kanjou, Roni, D, 26, and Deuce came running at the sound. The redhead was pointing down at the asphalt near the edge of the parking lot.

“Is that?” started 26.

“Blood,” said Kanjou, crouching down for a closer look. It was dry, which meant it had been there a few hours. Right next to the spot sat three books they had never seen before. Kanjou reached out and picked them up. “Where the hell did these come from?”

On the other side of the blood stain, Deuce crouched down and grabbed something, pulling it up from the ground. “What is that?” 26 asked him.

“Strands of silver hair.” replied the leader of the
Kemono
, “Which probably means that this is the Tiger’s blood here.” Kanjou opened up the top book and nearly fell over, his eyes widening. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed.

 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Fushi asked, crouching down beside him.

 

Kanjou turned the book so that Fushicho could see the stamp on the inside cover, which read “From the library of Tetsuo Kunota.”

The group grew quiet for a few moments until D finally spoke. “Blood, three books that belong to the Shogun of Hinomoto, and strands of silver hair... What the hell happened out here?”

Kunota had gone home after his visit by the silver-haired
ronin
, but had managed to sleep only a couple of hours. He kept replaying their conversation in his head– the truth about Shinrai, the revelation that there would be an army of
ronin
at the press conference tomorrow to protect him, and his promise to reveal to an entire world of viewers that one of the youngest and most prominent Shogun in the history of Hinomoto was a black-mailing and lying traitor.

His stomach kept doing flip-flops whenever he thought about that. But he’d promised the martial artist he would do it, hadn’t he?

Finally, Kunota sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Shinsetsu was sleeping, and she stirred as he moved but then rolled over and went back to her dreaming. Kunota watched her for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should wake her up and tell her to take the children and leave Shibasaki for the day.

How could I explain that to her, though? ‘Dear, I had a ronin come in to my office last night and tell me that a huge band of martial artists is going to attack Yasakuto today at the press conference. She also made me promise to put us all in danger by announcing on live, national television that he’s a manipulative bastard that has been threatening us for the past year to satisfy his megalomania... I don’t think she’ll buy that.

He sighed deeply and got up from the mattress, sliding his feet into his slippers and grabbing his robe from the chair next to the bed.
Besides, if what Andrea says is true, Shibasaki may be the safest place for us today,
he thought as he picked up a pad of paper and scribbled a note to Shinsetsu, leaving it on top of his pillow.

With a look back at his sleeping wife, Kunota headed out of the room to begin preparing for a long day.

 

“The fact of the matter is that we can’t just give up now! With or without Andrea and Aki, we have to move forward on this! It’s too important to give up!” said 26, her tail swishing angrily.

“I agree! Andrea wouldn’t want us to stop now! We need to get downtown and keep going with the plan!” Roni chimed in.

Kanjou rubbed the bridge of his nose. Fushicho, 26, D, Roni, Deuce, and several other
Kemono
were staring at him with eyes that held mixed expressions of expectation and anger. Shinrai’s words of encouragement and his many repetitions of how important the Aka Ryuu were to the future of Hinomoto echoed through his head, along with the memory of the beloved Daimyo’s lifeless eyes. Kanjou felt his temper rise and he quietly recited a mantra to calm himself. “Alright,” he said finally, “but we’d better get moving now. We’ve wasted too much time as it is. The conference starts in less than three hours.”

Roni let out a whoop of excitement as 26 and Deuce turned and began giving direction to other
Kemono
. D put his hand on Kanjou’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright. They’ll turn up.”

Kanjou looked up and gave a small smile. “I’m just worried what state they’ll be in when they do turn up.” He paused for a moment, “I know you have to be worried about Andrea, at least a little bit.”

D nodded. “I am. Although by all rights, I shouldn’t be. Andrea’s a tough one. And if Aki was a traitor and that’s why Andrea’s missing, then it’s Aki who should be worrying. When I get a hold of her I’ll make her regret she ever came here, and that’s a promise.”

Kanjou chuckled. “I think you’ve been hanging around Andrea too much, talking like that.” The brunet stood, reaching back to his ponytail and yanking the red headband from it. Without a word, he slipped the headband around his forehead and spiked his hair up over top of it. “Alright, Daimyo Yasakuto,” he said to no one in particular, “the Aka Ryuu are coming to get this country back on course.”

From around the room, D, 26, Fushi, and Roni all looked at Kanjou with approval.

 

Andrea stirred, vaguely aware of the throbbing headache that was dancing around in her skull. She tried to move her arm so she could rub her aching head, but found that her arms weren’t moving. She forced her eyes open, feeling panic rise in her throat. She tried to speak but something was covering her mouth.

She waited for her vision to clear, then looked down. Her icy blue eyes widened as she saw the ropes that tied her to a chair. Her wrists were bound to the arms and her ankles to the legs. Something was over her mouth, though she couldn’t tell what it was. She tugged on the ropes, testing to see if she could break out of them.

How did I get here? What’s going on?
She wondered. Then she remembered the night before and the fight she’d had with Aki. How had the little spy gotten to be so fast? She’d somehow managed to outpace and outmaneuver a martial artist that was regarded as being one of the best ever by her peers. Andrea seethed with anger as she thought of breaking out of the ropes and killing Aki with her bare hands. Not just for beating her, either, but for her betrayal of the Aka Ryuu.
First though, Tiger, you have to get
out
of your bonds…

Andrea began to look around the room, though she couldn’t see much considering that it hurt to move her head too much to either side. Light gleamed off polished hardwood floors that had tatami rugs laid on them. Framed art hung on the white walls, lit with gentle, diffused light from a built-in track of spotlights in the ceiling. Something about the office seemed familiar to the
ronin
, especially the feel of the chair she was in. It must have been morning by the amount of light in the room. How long had she been out? Six hours? Eight hours? Two days? Maybe the conference was over already. Maybe she’d been kept knocked out until the time had passed. Maybe the Aka Ryuu and Shogun Kunota had been killed already. The possibilities and questions shot through Andrea’s mind so quickly they made her head pound harder.

Something moved behind her. Andrea sat up bolt upright and tried to crane her neck around to see what was behind her, but all she got a view of was the corner of a huge desk. Whoever or whatever was behind her chair was standing at just the right angle to be out of her view, so she snapped her head back around to face forward. She was trying not to panic since logical thinking would benefit her much more than emotions right now, but this situation made her feel helpless.

I hate feeling helpless…
thought Andrea, hanging her head so her silver bangs covered her face. The ropes were too thick and too tight for her to even wiggle her arms or legs a little bit.
Wait a second...
Andrea turned her head again and looked at the corner of the desk again. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at the little statue perched on the corner of the table. Beyond the statue was a bookshelf that seemed to be missing a few items from its shelves. Just at the edge of what she could see was a shelf with a small tree with red leaves blooming from it.

The Shogun’s office!
Andrea thought in horror.
Did he betray me? No.. It can’t be. He wouldn’t be working with Yasakuto to destroy the ronin. That can’t be possible. I was wrong about Aki, I can’t be wrong about him too! I must be here because of Yasakuto, that has to be it!

Andrea looked forward, her eyes darting around in an attempt to come up with a plan. Once more, she tested her bonds but they were still too tight for her to get out of. There was nothing near her in the room, so she couldn’t knock the chair over and get to something she could cut the ropes with. Plus there was the fact that she was sure someone was behind her in the room, watching to make sure she didn’t get loose, and she didn’t want to try anything without knowing exactly who it was.