InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Shard in Kyoto ❯ kagome & Sango alone in Kyoto ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: jeffs 
Kagome and Sango first day alone in Kyoto...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Samurai / Romance / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.29.2003 | Pages: 6 | Words: 8.1K | Visits: 854 | Status: Completed
Kagome and Sango first day alone in Kyoto...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Samurai / Romance / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.29.2003 | Pages: 6 | Words: 8.1K | Visits: 854 | Status: Completed
A shard in Kyoto
Chapter 3
About my story, "when Friends find out," I have, finally, gotten over my writers block with the scene of Kagome explaining her problems with Inu-yasha and Kikyo to her friends. I will work on that next, before I do anything else with this story. This was basically finished, there was a couple of more scenes . . . but I can shift them to ch 4. (I do have a couple of other things almost complete, I might finish them before doing "when friends" we'll see.)
First day in Kyoto . . .
Author's note: In the interest of saving some dialog. I'm going to reduce the amount of the customary polite phrases in the dialog. "Thank you, honorable sir. Pardon me, sir, etc." Sango and Kagome are normally polite girls and those phase are part of their normal speech pattern and as such, is included automatically. (Now, Inu-yasha on the other hand . . . ) I'm just ignoring them, in the interest of keeping the dialog as minimal as possible.
I'm making this chapter as detailed as I can. I'm trying to set the mood of the city and give some details so readers can understand that this is not modern japan. I'm going to use as many odd POV's as I can, just for flavor. So, expect some very different opinions then you might think . . .
A couple of general notes about Kyoto: I could not find a census for this time period. Not that unusual, due to the chaos. Pop. was less than 200,000, I think, but probably more than 100,000. Compared European cities it was well laid out. Very clean. Osaka, at this point in time, was about the same size, perhaps bigger than Kyoto. Tokyo, or Edo as it's called in this time, is a castle and a couple of villages on some marshland near a bay.
AN: Footnotes mark. More complete explanation at the bottom of the chapter . . .
"Speech"
'thoughts'
_________________________
< br> Kagome and Sango, with Kirara in her arms, are walking down the hill toward Kyoto. The early morning sun is shining, and cutting through the morning fog that is rising from the river. Even this early they can see people entering and leaving the city.
"Kagome, let's stop for a minute, I need to give you something," Sango says.
"Yes. Stopping is good, it's been to long since I've had to walk any real distance in these traditional wooden sandals (called geta), not my school shoes." Kagome bends down to fiddle with the straps, "I had forgotten how much I hate them." She looking at her friend and asks, "why did you want to stop?"
Sango pulls out a small knife, and she says, "I want you to wear this. You probably will not like it, but, with just me for protection, I want you to have something on you, especially since you can't carry your bow in Kyoto." She points with the knife. "Lift up your left-arm and I'll tie this to it. You can draw the knife with your right-hand."
Kagome grins, and she says, "Sango, There's already a knife there."
"Huh?"
"While you were busy changing, Inu-yasha, and Miroku, this morning gave me knives. With the same reason you just did. Inu-yasha, strapped his to my left arm. Miroku, though, choose my right leg and he felt me up, while he was doing it." She finishes with a frown.
"Oh. That's why there was a bump on his head when I came back. In that case." Sango takes off her pack and goes thru it for a minute or so and pulls out a large ten centimeters long hair pin with a seashell grip. It is very sharp and Kagome can easily see how sticking someone with it would be dangerous. "Let me see your hair for a minute, Kagome. I'll arrange it and put this in it. It'll probably bend when you use it, but you should be able to use it at least once. Also, let me see those knives. I want to make sure those idiots knew what they were doing." Sango approaches Kagome, who bends down and allows Sango to adjust her hair.
"You know we've going to look like peasants just off the farm." Kagome says.
"I know, and Kagome, we've going to have to act like it, as well. So, remember, to defer to anybody you see, or talk you. It'll probably be demeaning, but, until we know who's who in Kyoto. We've at the bottom of the social ladder, just about."
Sigh. "Stopping and letting others past in front or around. Bowing and saying 'yes, ma'am and yes, sir' a lot." Sigh. "Fun stuff that." Kagome says with annoyance in her voice.
"Yes," sigh. "Fun stuff, indeed. Kagome, please, watch it with the samurai, the bastards will expect to be treated like gods on earth. So, both of us, are going to have to hold things in, instead of teaching the idiots to treat us right."
"Ok. I'm done." Sango says. "Let's look at those weapons, now."
Kagome holds out her left-arm. Sango pulls up the sleeve and sees in addition to the knife strapped to her forearm, Kagome is holding the camcorder.
"I thought you were going to put your stuff up?"
"I thought the sleeve would hide it and I would be able to get some shots as we walk through the city. The shots probably won't be all that good, since I can't hold it openly, but," she shrugs.
"Hmmm . . . Let me attached it to the sleeve, that way you can still use the hand. Just be careful, Kagome, my stitches might break." She takes a piece of cloth, wraps it and ties it around the handle and stitches the other end of the cloth to the inside the sleeve. "That should do it."
"Let me adjust the sheath a bit on the knife. Make it a bit easier to pull." Sango fiddles with the sheath on Kagome arm a bit. Kagome can't see what she does to it, but, afterwards it fells more comfortable on her arm.
"And now the leg." Sango says as she pulls up Kagome's kimono. "That monk . . . This is way too high . . . " Sango moves the sheath lower and arranges it properly and lowers the kimono. "There that should do it. Remind me to belt the monk a good one. He should have known better than to put the blade up that high. Given you it was one thing, not putting it on you properly is another." Sango says fuming.
"You ready?" Kagome asks.
Sigh, "I didn't think my hesitation was that noticeable, Kagome." Sango says looking at the ground embarrassed.
"It's Ok, Sango. You've never been to a city as big as this. And so you're nervous."
"Yes" she says softly.
"My problem is I've been in bigger and better places, and well, I'm not going to be used to this either. And I was hoping the boys would come and help us, but. No . . . it's just us." Kagome finishes with a growl in her voice.
"Any idea where to look first, Kagome."
"We've still too far away. But, those building that burned down last night, might have been because of the shard so, let's head that way first." Kagome says pointing to a burnt out area on the south-west side of the city.
********flashback, last night*********
"Wake up people!" Inu-yasha says as he goes around kicking everybody awake.
"Huh? What Inu-yasha?" Kagome says blurrily.
Sango wakes with a start and only Inu-yasha's reflexes prevent the knife that suddenly appears in her hand from hitting him. "We've not being attacked, Sango. Look!" Inu-yasha points to the city.
In the distance, on the south-west side of the city, they can see one large building, or perhaps several smaller buildings burning. They are too far away to see any details, but it looks intense.
"Oh! Will they put it out?" Kagome asks.
Miroku says thoughtfully, "Perhaps, Lady Kagome, but." Shakes his head, "That is one of the reasons the streets of Kyoto are so wide. So they can act as fire breaks. The city has burned down to the ground many times in its history. A year rarely passes without a fire, even bigger than that one," pointing to it, "happening somewhere in the city. Every generation sees a fire that will consume more than a block."
"What causes them?"
"Anything could cause a fire, Lady Kagome, from a child overturning a lamp to deliberate arson. And with the many fights between families, throwing a torch over a wall and onto your enemy's house is not an uncommon tactic."
"Arsonists should be killed." Sango growls out as she sees the fire flare up and flames jump a hundred or more feet into the air.
Miroku smiles, nastily, "When I was in Kyoto, I saw an arsonist caught, Lady Sango. It took him more than two days to die. He was being tortured by the neighborhood in which the fire started all during that the time."
"He got off easy."
"That was the general consensus of the neighborhood as well, Lady Sango."
"No police?"
"They helped with the torture."
Kagome shudders. "A man, his wife and three small children died in the blaze, over a minor insult, Lady Kagome." Miroku explains.
"Did the shard have anything to do with that fire, woman! That's why I woke you up!" Inu-yasha says nastily as he approaches Kagome.
"Oh! Sorry, Inu-yasha, I was still sleepy." She concentrates. "I don't think so, but that's pretty far away, Inu-yasha."
"Feh"
************end flashback***************
They both look at each other, sigh, put on small grins and start walking to the city again.
At the river front . . .
"Move It, Women!" "Get out of the way!" "Coming thru!"
Both girls have to quickly move to the side of the street to get out of the way of a gang of men which are unloading a barge full of semi-cut logs. Four men to a log, two at each end, they pick up the logs and move them off the barge and into the hands of other men, waiting to take them into the city. A man in a fancy kimono is arguing with what looks to be the captain of the barge.
"That is twice the price you said they would be!" the rich man yells.
"There is a new, nasty pirate on the inland sea, Lord. You either pay him, or he sinks your ship. I paid him. I am passing on the cost, Lord."
"I wouldn't pay!"
"Boys! Stop! We've got a problem!" The men stop and take a rest.
"You will unload those logs and I will pay the price we agreed to earlier." The rich man says with determination.
"I am sorry, Lord, But I cannot do that. That terrible pirate."
"I do not believe you."
"Boys! Come over here and explain our problem on the inland sea to the gentlemen."
Sango and Kagome move around the group as they crowd around and start yelling stories at the rich man. They are about to cross of the Shijo street bridge, when Sango puts her hand of Kagome arm and says, "stop, I want to hear this, I thought I heard something."
They can hear one the of sailors on the barge saying, " . . . like my friend said, then the bastard raised his staff and the crystal glowed and lightning hit the ship." He points to a small burn area on the side of the barge. "Then he waved the staff and waves started to crash over the ship . . . "
Kagome and Sango look at each other. Kagome says, "crystal"
Sango grimaces, "do we tell the boys?"
"Of course, but only after we get the shard here."
Sigh, "how's your swimming."
"I tried out for the swim team, but didn't make it. You?"
"I don't drown."
Sigh, "lets go in." And they cross the bridge.
As they cross the bridge, Sango points downstream. A small crowd of people has gathered about a hundred meters away from the bridge. They are dragging out a nude, headless body from the river. "Do we go see?" Kagome asks.
"Is the shard there?"
"No"
"If we go there, people are going to ask questions. And we really can't answer a lot of questions."
"So . . . we go on . . . "
"Yes"
On the other side of the bridge they can see several men and women carrying brownish, black, smelly baskets on their back go up to a barge and dump the human waste into a barge. As they approach the barge, a few men with sticks and clubs come up and try to attack them, but the men on the barge pull out sticks and clubs and attack the new men. People on the bridge and near the checkpoint into the city can see the fight, but everybody is ignoring it.
'I would like to ask about it, but, we've supposed to be looking for a shard and they don't have it. And the more we talk and ask questions, the more likely somebody will ask questions back, questions that we may not be able to answer, so . . . we'll have to ignore it, as well.' Kagome thinks. Both girls quickly move past the area and approach the city gate.
There are many walled compounds within in the city limits. However, there is no true wall around the city. So, they don't have to go through any gates, but as they approach they can see that people that don't go through the checkpoint along the road are watched and followed more closely than people going thru the checkpoint. If they were familiar with the city, they could avoid the watching eyes, but being new to the city, they would be caught and questions would be asked . . . They look at each, shrug, and go up to the checkpoint.
There is a line at the checkpoint, they can see that when people are going into and out of the city, they are being asked questions by various groups. Men are having a tougher time than women. As they go through the checkpoint, the two girls don't have that much of a problem. A couple of pats on their backsides, but their experienced glares take care of the soldiers that do it.
From listening to the questions and conversions around them they realize that at least three families: Ashikago (the official shogun's troops), Hosokawa, and Ouchi have checkpoints set up at this gate. They are asking questions of anybody entering. The official city guards, on the other hand, are doing just a very per functionary check and just passing people thru.
"They're scared, those families." Sango says under her breath to Kagome. "They're trying to find out about the shard and they don't know what to do."
"Yeah, Miroku, thought that there would be checkpoints and questions. They seem to ignoring women, though."
"Yes, now that we're past that, let's walk around and tell me when you can sense the shard."
As they walk through the city streets . . .
There is a couple of stone walled compounds, but most houses, shrines, building are made out of wood. Many have gilded or lacquered signs on them. Blue is the most common color they see. The houses and buildings, if they are painted at all, have mainly blue paint or have blue banners, etc. Some other colors also occur, but they see very little green (except for the tress that rise from within the walled compounds) or yellow.
Some of the banners and signs Kagome points out to Sango. The calligraphy and how much the calligrapher changed the characters to make them fit the space available are occasionally small works of art themselves. The calligraphy lesson that Kagome's mother has given her allows her to have an appreciation for the skills used. She brings her left arm up to wipe some imaginary sweat off her brow, so she can make sure she gets some good shots of the better signs with the video camera, for her mother.
From many of the buildings comes the smell of various incenses. Each building tends to have a different smell, and in some places, it's obvious to the two girls that the owners of the buildings have gotten together to make sure the incenses complement it other.
For Kagome, used to town planning and such, the buildings are very chaotic. Each building is totally separate from the others. They can see a Shinto shrine next to a common shack selling food or perhaps some walled compounds, with a tall pagoda sticking up, next to an open field where farm families have brought in food and crafts to sell.
To Kagome, the sounds of the city are very different from what she's used to. The sound of her geta and all the other getas that many people are wearing causes a 'clop, clop' undercurrent to everything. The sounds of the bells of the city as people strike them in worship at the many Shinto and Buddhist temples are a far more pleasant sound than that of car traffic, and sirens she hears in her time. Although the squealing sound of badly or ungreased axles on the carts being driven through the city, do make the girls cover their ears every so often. (AN1)
Kagome tries to remember movies about old Kyoto and compare. 'The movies have more stone buildings, but otherwise, they're OK. The people, the clothing, it's a little dirtier than in the movies, but, they're very close. But that could be because me and Sango are going thru the working class area of the city.'
The two girls reach the burned out area at Omiya and Hachijo (see map 2 for any street names), and . . . "Nothing here, Sango." Kagome announces.
Sigh. "So, we keep on walking."
"It was the explosive powder that caused the fires, sir." They hear as the pass a group of men looking over the burned out area.
"Explosive powder, let's stop, Sango, I want to hear this." Kagome says as she places her hand on her friend's arm.
"How soon before you can start making more?" a samurai wearing a rich kimono and a couple of swords is asking.
"Well, we only lost a couple of night watchmen, so. Once, I can buy some more supplies and get a new building, I still have the workmen to make it. Say a week or so and I should have more ready by then." A man in a fancy kimono says to him.
"Good enough, I'll tell my lord what you said." The samurai says as he leaves.
"I want to follow him, Sango." Kagome whispers.
"Why?" she whispers back.
"I want to make sure about something."
"Could you be more specific?"
"Remember when I told you guys about guns and such?"
"Yes."
"I think that they had gunpowder here and this samurai is going to where there are guns. And I want to make sure about it."
"Ok. We need to go somewhere else anyway." Sango finishes as they follow the samurai. He ignores the couple of peasant girls following him. After a few minutes walk, he approaches a walled compound between Kujo and Hachijo on Suzaku street.
At the gate of the compound a man is calling out, "see the Tanegashima's! A demonstration of the Tanegashima's will start in a little while! Come in and see them!"
There is a small stream of people, man and women, going into the gates, the girls join the stream. "Tanegashima? Kagome, that's not what you called them."
"Yes, I know, I've heard the term before, but" Kagome shakes her head, "I just can't remember what it means."
Inside the compound is an archery range. People are lined up alongside it. At one end are several hay targets, at the other end is about a half-dozen samurai. They are working on a couple of long tubes with wooden handles. They are cleaning them and doing other things to them. The girls can't get too close to the weapons, only samurai are allowed close. But they can see enough to interest them. "Oh! Now I remember. When the Portuguese first showed up, it was at the town of Tanegashima and the muskets they sold were named after the town, at least for the first few years." Kagome whispers to Sango.
"Muskets?"
"Primitive guns, Sango. Watch, this should be interesting and since it's a new weapon, you might enjoy it."
After a few minutes of more yelling to get ready, the man stops and the samurai at with the weapons, loads, aims and fires the musket at one of the targets. A big cloud of smoke appears when he fires the gun and the hay target shivers when the bullet hits it. It takes about a minute to reload and fire the gun again.
The samurai puts the musket down and calls over some of the watching samurai. At this time, the man that was yelling, starts up again, saying, "There will be demonstration of the."
The girls can see several samurai go up to the samurai that were firing the gun. They, obviously, are asking about getting some for themselves.
"Selling guns, Ok. I've seen enough, Sango. Let's go." The girls join the stream as they leave the compound.
"Those guns you've mentioned, Kagome. You made them seem worse than that."
"They are, Sango. Like this little knife on my arm is compared to Inu-yasha's sword."
"Oh. Now I think I understand, maybe, is there a way to get some of your guns? It would help against . . . "
"I've thought about it, but it's hard to get them. Now that I'm telling my mother more," Kagome shakes her head, "maybe, but it's very doubtful."
As they move north on Suzaku Street, they see what looks like, to Kagome, a traffic jam. About a half-dozen ox-drawn carts are trying to go north. And same number ox-drawn carts are trying to go south. There is ample space for the two groups of carts to go around each other, but they are stopped in front of each other. The two girls can hear the samurai guards around each group of carts yelling at each other.
"They're arguing about who gives way? Is that what you hear, Sango?"
"Yes, they are comparing family history and court offices to determine it." She pauses, "well, they were . . . " she stops as somebody, they are too far away to see just who, has pulled a sword and what was a loud argument, has now turned into a melee in the middle of the street. "Let's get back, before we get caught in this." (AN2)
"Yes, thru this alleyway." Kagome points to the small street between Rokujo and Gojo on Suzaku, and they enter it.
'And I thought road rage was a new phenomenon.' Kagome thinks as she shakes her head.
As they go through the alleyway, they see a sign for a bathhouse. They look at each other, and Kagome says, "We traveled long, hard and fast to get here, and we've only had a couple of quick baths this last week. I need to get clean. You?"
A small smile curves Sango's lips, and she says in a light voice, "I suppose, Kagome. Besides places like this are great for hearing rumors and such."
As they enter an older man, in his fifties perhaps, greets them, "Hello, how may I help?"
"Hello, sir. We would like to use your establishment, sir." Sango says as she bows to the man.
The man bows back, "thank you for coming. This is your first time here, right?"
"Yes, we just entered the city today, sir." Kagome says as she bows to the man.
"Good, you'll see a small room off to your left for your clothes and packs. Once you've disrobed, go through the other doorway and the baths will be in front of you." He motions his arm to invite the girls in. After they enter, he softly coughs, says, "there is a small fee, of course. The cost to heat the water and such."
"OH. Of course, I'm sorry," Kagome apologizes as she reaches into her kimono and into the pocket sewed into the sleeves. She pulls out a hand full of small copper Chinese coins (AN3). (On their way here, Miroku has changed some of her mother's gold, into more useable copper and silver coins. He gave most of them to the girls before they left this morning.) "How many?"
He looks at them as he says, "three," Kagome hands him the coins and both girls go into the disrobing room.
In the room, there are a few people, men and women, either disrobing or putting on their clothes. There is only a small chest high see-through lattice work screen separating the sexes. There is also a boy, perhaps twelve or so, sitting off in one corner, where he can see both sides on the screen. He is watching everyone. Both girls slowly disrobe. They are trying to get a feel for the place. They see one the men before he leaves flip the boy a small coin and say, "thanks for watching my stuff, boy."
Once they hear that, they relax a little and finish disrobing. Sango looks closely at the boy and notices the slingshot by his hand. They grab towels from their supplies and some of the bath supplies. (The ones, that don't seem out of place. Not the modern shampoo's in the plastic bottles, etc. Kagome is going to have to borrow from Sango for once . . . )
"Kirara, just stay here and watch." Sango says to her cat, before the two girls go into the main bath area.
Once into the bath area, what they had thought about the bathhouse, they see is true. This is a mixed bath, so men, women and children are visible as they wash and soap themselves. There is about two to three dozen people in the room. They are about evenly divided between men, women and children.
Kagome looks around when she enters. She notices three teenage boys sitting against the outer wall, they are looking at the women in the bath and Kagome can see movement around their crotches. One of them notices Kagome's glance and puts on a grin and 'accidently' shifts the towel covering his crotch for a couple of seconds. Kagome blushes down to her chest and nudges Sango.
Sango glances over, sees the boys nudging each other and looking at them. Sango stares back and puts some heat into that stare. The boys, quickly, find other women to stare at.
Sango tries to cover herself as much as possible, but by the time they finish soaping and cleaning themselves, she is sure some of the people in the room have noticed her scars. "Don't worry about it, Sango, there are other people with scars here, as well." Kagome whispers to her friend, nudging her to look at some of the men. The men do have scars, like Sango, a couple of them have old fire burns and other types of scaring.
At the main pool are two groups of people. One male and one female. There is a couple of mixed groups, but these are obviously families, taking baths and trying to control their children. The two girls go the main heated pool and sit close, but not very close to the group of women that are gossiping in the pool.
From looking around and listening, they are quite sure that the people in the bathhouse, are townspeople. Common tradesmen, like carpenters, scribes, night watchmen, generic shop owners, shoe makers, clothes makers, laundry ladies, hair dressers, candle stick makers, and such (no butchers, in case your wondering), they are either the wives of the men in these trades, or the men themselves, taking a bath.
These are not nobles or samurai families, that the girls hear stories about, these are the salt of the earth people behind the scenes that you never hear about in the stories. (Except, of course, for some of the romances where a prince falls in love with a washer woman.)
"New in town?" an older, mid-forties, early fifty's woman, asks them as they settle down. From listening and looking as they were cleaning up, the girls understand that this woman seems to be the leader of the female gossipers. From some of the orders she has given, she's probably the wife of the owner of the bathhouse.
"Yes, we just arrived today." Kagome replies.
"Just you, two?" the woman asks.
They look at each other, and they realize that the complex story that Miroku had worked on, and went over with them all week on, will not work. Miroku and Inu-yasha aren't here . . .
"Yes, well, we had two male companions, but somehow in the city, we got separated." Sango quickly says.
"Oh, two young girls, like yourselves, shouldn't be alone. If you don't mind, why did you come to the city. Looking for work?" the woman asks.
"My mother is a painter in the province of Musashi, and she sent me, my friend here, and our companions, as guards, to get a critique on her paintings." Kagome quickly says.
"Ah, who were you going to see?" one of the other women asks.
Kagome answers with names off the list of artists her mother gave her. A couple of the women start talking with Kagome, and within a few minutes all the women and a couple of the men are arguing about artists and who's the best. Kagome has listened to her mother enough that she can give some informed opinions and quickly becomes one with the gang of gossipy women.
As this starts, Sango looks around to see how the rest of the people in the bathhouse are reacting and she notices a young girl, about Kagome's age, and an older man, mid-thirties perhaps, go into a small room off to one side. The room is marked, private massages. 'It's too late to leave now . . . ' she thinks.
Sango turns her attention back to Kagome and the gossipers, and she gently shakes her head as she thinks, 'I've never understood this, in just a few minutes, Kagome, has worked her magic again. From being suspicious of us to being included in their gossip in such a short period of time, is something I could never do. Miroku and I have argued between us about how easily Kagome makes' people like and trust her. I still say it's her, not her magic like Miroku thinks. If you talk to Kagome for more than a few minutes, she works her magic and she becomes your instant trusted friend, unless, of course, you're Naraku or Sesshoumaru.' A small smile appears on her mouth.
"You have a nice smile. What's your name?" one of the younger women asks Sango. She's in her mid-twenties.
"Oh, sorry, my name is Sango and my friend's name is Kagome."
"My name is Aoi. If you don't mind, your scars . . . "
"....are still a sensitive subject." Sango quickly says.
"Of course, I have a girl friend that told a samurai no, and so I understand." She says, hiding her face behind her spread hand. "I am sorry, if I offended."
"No, I'm used to it." Sango says with a sigh. 'She thinks I was injured when I was raped, but, Telling them I'm a female demon exterminator might cause a greater problem than letting her believe that . . . ' Sango thinks.
Then Sango gets an idea and asks, "Last night, as we were camping outside the city, we saw a large fire in the city and as we were walking around the city we heard rumors about a crystal causing it, do you know anything about it?"
This distracts the group from their discussion about artists, and they start talking about the fire and rumors about the shard. Within only a few minutes it begins to dawn on Sango and Kagome that Miroku was understating the number of rumors about the shard that is circulating around Kyoto. More than a dozen families and in some cases, three or four branches of the same family, are said to have a shard or shards. The stories are very confused and in so cases very strange. Trying to make heads or tails of them would be impossible.
A few minutes after the discussion starts, a new woman joins the group and quickly joins in on the gossip. Her bit of gossip causes both girls to start and quickly decide to memorize it.
The gossip: "My cousin, who cleans the clothes for the Emperor's astrologer, heard that the astrologer has told the emperor that his spells have told him that the protectors of the jewel and her companions either are in Kyoto or will be here soon."
This causes the group to start gossiping about the jewel. It's history and its protector. Both girls have a hard time keeping a straight face at some of the stories. They are sooo wrong. But after listening for a few minutes, they put together the following as the *truth* in Kyoto at least for this group of gossipers. Who knows what another group of gossipers might believe . . .
The shard is part of a larger jewel. That there is at least four (it could be as high as ten) shards of the jewel in Kyoto. The owner of the jewel will become the next Shogun. The protector of the jewel is a very powerful, very dignified Miko. (Someone that very defiantly, would not be gossiping with the commoners.) That Inu-yasha is after the jewel and is expected to arrive in Kyoto soon.
Some of the stories about his family also come out. The two girls understand Miroku's confusion about what Inu-yasha did sixty years ago. The only thing that is constant in the stories is that Inu-yasha caused the imperial palace to burn down. But they also understand, that Miroku was also correct about Inu-yasha not being able to enter Kyoto. Sesshoumaru and his family are hated and feared in Kyoto and the families of Kyoto will band together to kill them.
Interrupting the gossip, a young boy, nine or ten years old, comes of the women and says, "Mom, I've a problem in the back, the burakumin are fighting again."
The older woman, whose name is Chika, gets up and says, "I'll be right back, girls, we've had this problem before."
Kagome and Sango look confused, and their gossipy companions fill them in on the details.
"Oh, you two must come from a very small village, here, I'll explain . . . "
People gather night soil (human waste) and sell it for fertilizer. Kyoto is the largest city in Japan, and as such, makes the most night soil. Since selling fertilizer is a very profitable business, there is always a competition for the night soil. With a war over the shards assumed to begin soon, the families that control the night soil are fighting. Once the war starts, gathering the night soil, will be harder and the families want to get all they can before the war starts. (AN4)
'That explains the fight outside the city,' Kagome thinks.
Chika comes back gets back into the pool, sighs and shakes her head, "Idiots . . . Now where were we . . . "
"I'm a bit confused, everybody thinks that there will be a war soon, but none of you seem all that worried?" Kagome asks hesitantly.
"Now about the possible war . . . " Chika begins.
"What do you mean possible? It will happen, soon. The astrologer that lives on my block says this week." One of the women says.
"They have been saying that for the last month, you know. But," Chika shakes her head, "war isn't a very big concern. As long as you get out of the samurai's way, we've safe."
"Yes, if they kill my husband who will build their houses?" "Or wash their clothes?" "Hell, who'd make their clothes." The other women start talking over each other.
"Girls, the only people in Kyoto that really worry about the war are nobles and samurai. For us, the little people, we endure it. But, except that occasionally when you have to rebuild, they leave you alone."
"When you're an old woman like you, maybe . . . " one of the younger women says.
"I had that problem when I was younger, girl. But even that you can survive. I know."
"Actually, a war would be a good thing. The winner would be a powerful family and if this magic gem is as powerful as it should be, he'll conquer the warlords. A powerful Shogun is just want we need. Once the independent warlords are controlled, then all the problems will be solved. And if we have to endure a little to get that good future, so be it." One of the men who has been listening adds into the discussion. Everybody nods or says, "yes" in agreement to him.
"Yes, all these weak shoguns and independent warlords are destroying the country." One of the women says, and this comment gets more nods.
As this discussion takes place, Sango notices the girl and the man leave the room. The girl goes and cleans herself up. She then joins the group. "Mom, I'm going to take a break for a few minutes." She says to Chika as she slides into the pool.
Sango's face goes white and she gulps. Aoi, sees this and leans over and whispers into Sango's ear. "From an old time village, I see. Don't worry about it. She's just taking care of the customers, like a good girl. It's means nothing, really. She's engaged to the son of another bathhouse owner, who knows what's happening. It's everything is fine, really." (An5)
The comment about weak shoguns starts the group into gossiping about the various noble and samurai families in Kyoto.
The shogun, whose name is Ashikago Yoshiteru, at this point in time, is very weak. The Hosokawa family is the most powerful in Kyoto. They have been appointing the last couple of shoguns. But no family has a large military advantage. And if a family goes to war and loses men, well . . . their power decreases. So if a family doesn't want to cooperate with the shogun, the shogun or the Hosokawa family does not the military force to make the other family obey.
Each family looks after its own interests first and then the shogun and then the emperor. Each family has its own friends, and enemies and once a war starts, knowing exactly which family will help which family is a very iffy chance, the families of Kyoto and Japan are free to do as they wish. (The result of 200 plus years of civil war as caused the authority of the shogun and emperor to reach its lowest point . . . ) The rumors about who is backstabbing who at this point in time are very confusing.
Also, the two girls get an earful of some very dirty gossip. Drunk idiots, violent maniacs, multiple affairs between various members of various families are all included. One of the girls evens claims that her parents worked for a noble family when she was born. But since she was the first child of the heir of the family, she was given to her adopted parents, a laundress and her husband, so officially, a boy would be the first child of the heir of family.
After a long while, the girls make their excuses and leave the bathhouse. "Well, Inu-yasha, might think we wasted our time, but I think we learned a lot, right, Sango." Kagome says once they leave the building.
"Yes, a lot to think over. I'm most concerned about that bit of gossip about the emperor's astrologer."
"Yes, that is something to think about." sigh. "Miroku would know more about the possible magic we might meet. I'm just not trained that well."
"Training or no training, Kagome. I think we've just been thrown into the deep end and told, swim . . . "
After eating lunch and walking north, they come up to what looks like a parade blocking Sanjo street as they try to go north on Suzaku
A golden Buddha statue being carried on the shoulders of eight strong men. This Statue is in the front of the parade. Behind it is a large group, a couple of thousand at least, of monks. Most of the monks have strong staff, similar to Miroku's, but typically plainer. These staff's look more like weapons than his does. Most of the monks also tend to look more like soldiers in a monk's robe than monks. They are chanting in a broken rhythm some mantra as they walk.
Oddly, the regular citizens of Kyoto are just staring, with sullen expressions on their faces, not with any real excitement at the parade. Kagome gently approaches one of the women watching and asks quietly, "I'm new to Kyoto, why the long face?"
"New to the city?" the woman replies softly, "well lets step back a bit and I'll tell you."
They move back away, so the parade isn't visible. "Those are bastard monks from mountain Hiei. There are marching to show their strength. Their leaders are with the shogun and other families right now. They are making demands upon the shogun, and if the shogun says no. Well, the next time they parade, the monks will have on armor and real weapons and will decide to riot and destroy the parts of the town. You start to wonder who actually is in charge, the shogun, the high priest of hiei, or perhaps someone else." She looks around. "And since you're new here, be careful, some of these monks do un monkish things to women, if they catch you, so be careful." She then leaves the two girls. (AN6)
The two girls, making sure that there are other people around, move close to the parade again. It is blocking the street that they want to travel down. They are planning to wait until the end of the parade and then continue. But, one of the monks, interrupts his chant, and he starts looking around. His eyes lock on Kagome's. Kagome starts to move away, with Sango following. The monk follows as well. Kagome starts to go down some of the alleyways trying to shake the monk. But they are new to the city, and the monk who is very familiar with the city, so he can't be shaken and quickly keeps up with the two girls.
Sango waits until they find an empty alleyway, then she drops a gas bomb from her sleeve. (She tries to be prepared . . . ) In the couple of seconds that the smoke conceals the two girls, Sango grabs Kagome and jumps up to the roof of the building they were walking by.
Sango covers Kagome's mouth, to prevent her from yelling, as they land on the roof. "sssshhh . . . " she whispers into her ear.
The monk looks around confused, the two girls he was following have just vanished. From the rooftop, the two girls hear. "Her aura, so powerful, so mysterious. She has to be a demon. I must tell the abbot." He turns around and leaves the alleyway.
"My aura . . . " Kagome starts.
"I didn't realize it was that powerful, Kagome."
Kagome grimaces, "I didn't either. This could cause problems, If a regular monk can detect . . . My coming here might have been a mistake." She's looking down at the ground, speaking softly when she finishes. 'My plan might not work . . . ' she thinks.
"Not every monk detected your aura, Kagome. I noticed many of the monks lecherously staring at you and me, but he was the only one that saw something odd. Plus, only your ability to detect the shard will allow us to succeed. There is no way we could make sense of all those rumors, you know that." She says trying to cheer up her friend.
"I suppose you're correct, Sango." Kagome says.
After they have Kirara check to make sure the monk is gone, the jump down and walk on.
Late afternoon . . .
Suddenly, Kagome stops and looks at the walled compound to her right. A smile appears, "It's there, Sango." She says softly, nodding toward the compound at Omiya and Nakamikado, near the old palace grounds, which over the years has fallen into decay and has been basically abandoned.
Sango smiles, and she looks at the compound. "Now it begins . . . "
End chapter three . . .
Authors' notes:
(AN1) The description of the city streets of Kyoto was from the book "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan." What I used was the visual description of Yokohoma in 1890. Paraphrasing the "My first day in the Orient" ch. I made up the incense lines based on the stories about incense contests. The noble houses had pre-1200. The sound lines are basically my imagination.
(AN2) traffic jam: based more on Kyoto pre-1200. But the story itself is pretty correct. You get two groups of samurai and they walk into each, one has to give way and if there is confusion about who should. Well, if the other is dead, that solves the confusion, correct?
(AN3) Chinese coins . . . At this point in time, Japan imported copper Chinese coins for money. Paid the Chinese gold and got copper coins. They didn't re-minted them, just used them as is.
(AN4) night soil: To give the reader an idea about how valuable night soil was. You could, depending on the place (some places it was more valuable than others), get a meal (rice and pickles, basically) for a bowel movement. Rents were adjusted in cities depending on how much night soil was produced. In one example 10 families of the course of a year might get half a gold ryo (equal to about 3 to 3.5 ounces of silver) for the night soil. Small wars were fought over control of it. While it is handled by the burakumin underclass, due to the money involved and the shogun's were interested in it. (They just made sure that there were many, many layers of people controlling the night soil between them and the burakumin.)
(AN5) bathhouse girls. Mixed baths and sex . . . It happened. Some bathhouses were more brothel than bathhouse. Some were more bathhouses than brothels. This bathhouse is basically a bathhouse. Only the owner's daughter and only with special customers. Since she's marring into a bathhouse family, who knows wants happening (they do the same thing at their place), there isn't that much problem. You meet her outside the bathhouse and the girl will be a shy, innocent appearing girl, only in the bathhouse will her behavior change.
Bathhouse scenes: until 1860, mixed baths were common in Kyoto and other major cities. I've tried to mix and match from a couple of stories/sources. I think it's pretty close.
Gossip . . . I had to have some way to get the information to the readers. I probably overused this plot device, but . . . I couldn't think of anything else. It did take the girls at least an hour, probably two hours to get the information.
(AN6); the monks: even in Nara, before Kyoto was founded, the monks were a problem. When they wanted something, they would march into Nara or Kyoto and make demands. If the emperor and later the shogun, did not meet their demands, well . . . a couple of thousand men would loot the city . . . And since, the monks are supposed to speaking with the voice the god . . . refusing them, was always a problem. The move from Nara to Kyoto in 800ad was supposed to get rid of the problem. But the monasteries on mt Hiei . . . In the 1570's Oda Nobunaga as he was unifying Japan, destroyed mt hiei. Thousands of monks were killed and executed. Oda Nobunaga was a hard man, and his solution to people that opposed him was extermination.
The monk and his noticing Kagome's aura . . . She is special, and there are a lot of people in Kyoto that make a living with magic. Astrologers and such were very powerful and respected people. This will be a problem for her . . .
General authors' note: Hmmm . . . I still would like some reviews and/or private comments about my story. I would like to get at least 1 review per 1000 words before I continue the story.
I do have, if you click on my pen name, a list of potential stories/ideas, I would like to get opinions of them. So, if you could, please look at the list and given me an idea about what to do next.
Thank you
jeff shelton
Chapter 3
About my story, "when Friends find out," I have, finally, gotten over my writers block with the scene of Kagome explaining her problems with Inu-yasha and Kikyo to her friends. I will work on that next, before I do anything else with this story. This was basically finished, there was a couple of more scenes . . . but I can shift them to ch 4. (I do have a couple of other things almost complete, I might finish them before doing "when friends" we'll see.)
First day in Kyoto . . .
Author's note: In the interest of saving some dialog. I'm going to reduce the amount of the customary polite phrases in the dialog. "Thank you, honorable sir. Pardon me, sir, etc." Sango and Kagome are normally polite girls and those phase are part of their normal speech pattern and as such, is included automatically. (Now, Inu-yasha on the other hand . . . ) I'm just ignoring them, in the interest of keeping the dialog as minimal as possible.
I'm making this chapter as detailed as I can. I'm trying to set the mood of the city and give some details so readers can understand that this is not modern japan. I'm going to use as many odd POV's as I can, just for flavor. So, expect some very different opinions then you might think . . .
A couple of general notes about Kyoto: I could not find a census for this time period. Not that unusual, due to the chaos. Pop. was less than 200,000, I think, but probably more than 100,000. Compared European cities it was well laid out. Very clean. Osaka, at this point in time, was about the same size, perhaps bigger than Kyoto. Tokyo, or Edo as it's called in this time, is a castle and a couple of villages on some marshland near a bay.
AN: Footnotes mark. More complete explanation at the bottom of the chapter . . .
"Speech"
'thoughts'
_________________________
< br> Kagome and Sango, with Kirara in her arms, are walking down the hill toward Kyoto. The early morning sun is shining, and cutting through the morning fog that is rising from the river. Even this early they can see people entering and leaving the city.
"Kagome, let's stop for a minute, I need to give you something," Sango says.
"Yes. Stopping is good, it's been to long since I've had to walk any real distance in these traditional wooden sandals (called geta), not my school shoes." Kagome bends down to fiddle with the straps, "I had forgotten how much I hate them." She looking at her friend and asks, "why did you want to stop?"
Sango pulls out a small knife, and she says, "I want you to wear this. You probably will not like it, but, with just me for protection, I want you to have something on you, especially since you can't carry your bow in Kyoto." She points with the knife. "Lift up your left-arm and I'll tie this to it. You can draw the knife with your right-hand."
Kagome grins, and she says, "Sango, There's already a knife there."
"Huh?"
"While you were busy changing, Inu-yasha, and Miroku, this morning gave me knives. With the same reason you just did. Inu-yasha, strapped his to my left arm. Miroku, though, choose my right leg and he felt me up, while he was doing it." She finishes with a frown.
"Oh. That's why there was a bump on his head when I came back. In that case." Sango takes off her pack and goes thru it for a minute or so and pulls out a large ten centimeters long hair pin with a seashell grip. It is very sharp and Kagome can easily see how sticking someone with it would be dangerous. "Let me see your hair for a minute, Kagome. I'll arrange it and put this in it. It'll probably bend when you use it, but you should be able to use it at least once. Also, let me see those knives. I want to make sure those idiots knew what they were doing." Sango approaches Kagome, who bends down and allows Sango to adjust her hair.
"You know we've going to look like peasants just off the farm." Kagome says.
"I know, and Kagome, we've going to have to act like it, as well. So, remember, to defer to anybody you see, or talk you. It'll probably be demeaning, but, until we know who's who in Kyoto. We've at the bottom of the social ladder, just about."
Sigh. "Stopping and letting others past in front or around. Bowing and saying 'yes, ma'am and yes, sir' a lot." Sigh. "Fun stuff that." Kagome says with annoyance in her voice.
"Yes," sigh. "Fun stuff, indeed. Kagome, please, watch it with the samurai, the bastards will expect to be treated like gods on earth. So, both of us, are going to have to hold things in, instead of teaching the idiots to treat us right."
"Ok. I'm done." Sango says. "Let's look at those weapons, now."
Kagome holds out her left-arm. Sango pulls up the sleeve and sees in addition to the knife strapped to her forearm, Kagome is holding the camcorder.
"I thought you were going to put your stuff up?"
"I thought the sleeve would hide it and I would be able to get some shots as we walk through the city. The shots probably won't be all that good, since I can't hold it openly, but," she shrugs.
"Hmmm . . . Let me attached it to the sleeve, that way you can still use the hand. Just be careful, Kagome, my stitches might break." She takes a piece of cloth, wraps it and ties it around the handle and stitches the other end of the cloth to the inside the sleeve. "That should do it."
"Let me adjust the sheath a bit on the knife. Make it a bit easier to pull." Sango fiddles with the sheath on Kagome arm a bit. Kagome can't see what she does to it, but, afterwards it fells more comfortable on her arm.
"And now the leg." Sango says as she pulls up Kagome's kimono. "That monk . . . This is way too high . . . " Sango moves the sheath lower and arranges it properly and lowers the kimono. "There that should do it. Remind me to belt the monk a good one. He should have known better than to put the blade up that high. Given you it was one thing, not putting it on you properly is another." Sango says fuming.
"You ready?" Kagome asks.
Sigh, "I didn't think my hesitation was that noticeable, Kagome." Sango says looking at the ground embarrassed.
"It's Ok, Sango. You've never been to a city as big as this. And so you're nervous."
"Yes" she says softly.
"My problem is I've been in bigger and better places, and well, I'm not going to be used to this either. And I was hoping the boys would come and help us, but. No . . . it's just us." Kagome finishes with a growl in her voice.
"Any idea where to look first, Kagome."
"We've still too far away. But, those building that burned down last night, might have been because of the shard so, let's head that way first." Kagome says pointing to a burnt out area on the south-west side of the city.
********flashback, last night*********
"Wake up people!" Inu-yasha says as he goes around kicking everybody awake.
"Huh? What Inu-yasha?" Kagome says blurrily.
Sango wakes with a start and only Inu-yasha's reflexes prevent the knife that suddenly appears in her hand from hitting him. "We've not being attacked, Sango. Look!" Inu-yasha points to the city.
In the distance, on the south-west side of the city, they can see one large building, or perhaps several smaller buildings burning. They are too far away to see any details, but it looks intense.
"Oh! Will they put it out?" Kagome asks.
Miroku says thoughtfully, "Perhaps, Lady Kagome, but." Shakes his head, "That is one of the reasons the streets of Kyoto are so wide. So they can act as fire breaks. The city has burned down to the ground many times in its history. A year rarely passes without a fire, even bigger than that one," pointing to it, "happening somewhere in the city. Every generation sees a fire that will consume more than a block."
"What causes them?"
"Anything could cause a fire, Lady Kagome, from a child overturning a lamp to deliberate arson. And with the many fights between families, throwing a torch over a wall and onto your enemy's house is not an uncommon tactic."
"Arsonists should be killed." Sango growls out as she sees the fire flare up and flames jump a hundred or more feet into the air.
Miroku smiles, nastily, "When I was in Kyoto, I saw an arsonist caught, Lady Sango. It took him more than two days to die. He was being tortured by the neighborhood in which the fire started all during that the time."
"He got off easy."
"That was the general consensus of the neighborhood as well, Lady Sango."
"No police?"
"They helped with the torture."
Kagome shudders. "A man, his wife and three small children died in the blaze, over a minor insult, Lady Kagome." Miroku explains.
"Did the shard have anything to do with that fire, woman! That's why I woke you up!" Inu-yasha says nastily as he approaches Kagome.
"Oh! Sorry, Inu-yasha, I was still sleepy." She concentrates. "I don't think so, but that's pretty far away, Inu-yasha."
"Feh"
************end flashback***************
They both look at each other, sigh, put on small grins and start walking to the city again.
At the river front . . .
"Move It, Women!" "Get out of the way!" "Coming thru!"
Both girls have to quickly move to the side of the street to get out of the way of a gang of men which are unloading a barge full of semi-cut logs. Four men to a log, two at each end, they pick up the logs and move them off the barge and into the hands of other men, waiting to take them into the city. A man in a fancy kimono is arguing with what looks to be the captain of the barge.
"That is twice the price you said they would be!" the rich man yells.
"There is a new, nasty pirate on the inland sea, Lord. You either pay him, or he sinks your ship. I paid him. I am passing on the cost, Lord."
"I wouldn't pay!"
"Boys! Stop! We've got a problem!" The men stop and take a rest.
"You will unload those logs and I will pay the price we agreed to earlier." The rich man says with determination.
"I am sorry, Lord, But I cannot do that. That terrible pirate."
"I do not believe you."
"Boys! Come over here and explain our problem on the inland sea to the gentlemen."
Sango and Kagome move around the group as they crowd around and start yelling stories at the rich man. They are about to cross of the Shijo street bridge, when Sango puts her hand of Kagome arm and says, "stop, I want to hear this, I thought I heard something."
They can hear one the of sailors on the barge saying, " . . . like my friend said, then the bastard raised his staff and the crystal glowed and lightning hit the ship." He points to a small burn area on the side of the barge. "Then he waved the staff and waves started to crash over the ship . . . "
Kagome and Sango look at each other. Kagome says, "crystal"
Sango grimaces, "do we tell the boys?"
"Of course, but only after we get the shard here."
Sigh, "how's your swimming."
"I tried out for the swim team, but didn't make it. You?"
"I don't drown."
Sigh, "lets go in." And they cross the bridge.
As they cross the bridge, Sango points downstream. A small crowd of people has gathered about a hundred meters away from the bridge. They are dragging out a nude, headless body from the river. "Do we go see?" Kagome asks.
"Is the shard there?"
"No"
"If we go there, people are going to ask questions. And we really can't answer a lot of questions."
"So . . . we go on . . . "
"Yes"
On the other side of the bridge they can see several men and women carrying brownish, black, smelly baskets on their back go up to a barge and dump the human waste into a barge. As they approach the barge, a few men with sticks and clubs come up and try to attack them, but the men on the barge pull out sticks and clubs and attack the new men. People on the bridge and near the checkpoint into the city can see the fight, but everybody is ignoring it.
'I would like to ask about it, but, we've supposed to be looking for a shard and they don't have it. And the more we talk and ask questions, the more likely somebody will ask questions back, questions that we may not be able to answer, so . . . we'll have to ignore it, as well.' Kagome thinks. Both girls quickly move past the area and approach the city gate.
There are many walled compounds within in the city limits. However, there is no true wall around the city. So, they don't have to go through any gates, but as they approach they can see that people that don't go through the checkpoint along the road are watched and followed more closely than people going thru the checkpoint. If they were familiar with the city, they could avoid the watching eyes, but being new to the city, they would be caught and questions would be asked . . . They look at each, shrug, and go up to the checkpoint.
There is a line at the checkpoint, they can see that when people are going into and out of the city, they are being asked questions by various groups. Men are having a tougher time than women. As they go through the checkpoint, the two girls don't have that much of a problem. A couple of pats on their backsides, but their experienced glares take care of the soldiers that do it.
From listening to the questions and conversions around them they realize that at least three families: Ashikago (the official shogun's troops), Hosokawa, and Ouchi have checkpoints set up at this gate. They are asking questions of anybody entering. The official city guards, on the other hand, are doing just a very per functionary check and just passing people thru.
"They're scared, those families." Sango says under her breath to Kagome. "They're trying to find out about the shard and they don't know what to do."
"Yeah, Miroku, thought that there would be checkpoints and questions. They seem to ignoring women, though."
"Yes, now that we're past that, let's walk around and tell me when you can sense the shard."
As they walk through the city streets . . .
There is a couple of stone walled compounds, but most houses, shrines, building are made out of wood. Many have gilded or lacquered signs on them. Blue is the most common color they see. The houses and buildings, if they are painted at all, have mainly blue paint or have blue banners, etc. Some other colors also occur, but they see very little green (except for the tress that rise from within the walled compounds) or yellow.
Some of the banners and signs Kagome points out to Sango. The calligraphy and how much the calligrapher changed the characters to make them fit the space available are occasionally small works of art themselves. The calligraphy lesson that Kagome's mother has given her allows her to have an appreciation for the skills used. She brings her left arm up to wipe some imaginary sweat off her brow, so she can make sure she gets some good shots of the better signs with the video camera, for her mother.
From many of the buildings comes the smell of various incenses. Each building tends to have a different smell, and in some places, it's obvious to the two girls that the owners of the buildings have gotten together to make sure the incenses complement it other.
For Kagome, used to town planning and such, the buildings are very chaotic. Each building is totally separate from the others. They can see a Shinto shrine next to a common shack selling food or perhaps some walled compounds, with a tall pagoda sticking up, next to an open field where farm families have brought in food and crafts to sell.
To Kagome, the sounds of the city are very different from what she's used to. The sound of her geta and all the other getas that many people are wearing causes a 'clop, clop' undercurrent to everything. The sounds of the bells of the city as people strike them in worship at the many Shinto and Buddhist temples are a far more pleasant sound than that of car traffic, and sirens she hears in her time. Although the squealing sound of badly or ungreased axles on the carts being driven through the city, do make the girls cover their ears every so often. (AN1)
Kagome tries to remember movies about old Kyoto and compare. 'The movies have more stone buildings, but otherwise, they're OK. The people, the clothing, it's a little dirtier than in the movies, but, they're very close. But that could be because me and Sango are going thru the working class area of the city.'
The two girls reach the burned out area at Omiya and Hachijo (see map 2 for any street names), and . . . "Nothing here, Sango." Kagome announces.
Sigh. "So, we keep on walking."
"It was the explosive powder that caused the fires, sir." They hear as the pass a group of men looking over the burned out area.
"Explosive powder, let's stop, Sango, I want to hear this." Kagome says as she places her hand on her friend's arm.
"How soon before you can start making more?" a samurai wearing a rich kimono and a couple of swords is asking.
"Well, we only lost a couple of night watchmen, so. Once, I can buy some more supplies and get a new building, I still have the workmen to make it. Say a week or so and I should have more ready by then." A man in a fancy kimono says to him.
"Good enough, I'll tell my lord what you said." The samurai says as he leaves.
"I want to follow him, Sango." Kagome whispers.
"Why?" she whispers back.
"I want to make sure about something."
"Could you be more specific?"
"Remember when I told you guys about guns and such?"
"Yes."
"I think that they had gunpowder here and this samurai is going to where there are guns. And I want to make sure about it."
"Ok. We need to go somewhere else anyway." Sango finishes as they follow the samurai. He ignores the couple of peasant girls following him. After a few minutes walk, he approaches a walled compound between Kujo and Hachijo on Suzaku street.
At the gate of the compound a man is calling out, "see the Tanegashima's! A demonstration of the Tanegashima's will start in a little while! Come in and see them!"
There is a small stream of people, man and women, going into the gates, the girls join the stream. "Tanegashima? Kagome, that's not what you called them."
"Yes, I know, I've heard the term before, but" Kagome shakes her head, "I just can't remember what it means."
Inside the compound is an archery range. People are lined up alongside it. At one end are several hay targets, at the other end is about a half-dozen samurai. They are working on a couple of long tubes with wooden handles. They are cleaning them and doing other things to them. The girls can't get too close to the weapons, only samurai are allowed close. But they can see enough to interest them. "Oh! Now I remember. When the Portuguese first showed up, it was at the town of Tanegashima and the muskets they sold were named after the town, at least for the first few years." Kagome whispers to Sango.
"Muskets?"
"Primitive guns, Sango. Watch, this should be interesting and since it's a new weapon, you might enjoy it."
After a few minutes of more yelling to get ready, the man stops and the samurai at with the weapons, loads, aims and fires the musket at one of the targets. A big cloud of smoke appears when he fires the gun and the hay target shivers when the bullet hits it. It takes about a minute to reload and fire the gun again.
The samurai puts the musket down and calls over some of the watching samurai. At this time, the man that was yelling, starts up again, saying, "There will be demonstration of the."
The girls can see several samurai go up to the samurai that were firing the gun. They, obviously, are asking about getting some for themselves.
"Selling guns, Ok. I've seen enough, Sango. Let's go." The girls join the stream as they leave the compound.
"Those guns you've mentioned, Kagome. You made them seem worse than that."
"They are, Sango. Like this little knife on my arm is compared to Inu-yasha's sword."
"Oh. Now I think I understand, maybe, is there a way to get some of your guns? It would help against . . . "
"I've thought about it, but it's hard to get them. Now that I'm telling my mother more," Kagome shakes her head, "maybe, but it's very doubtful."
As they move north on Suzaku Street, they see what looks like, to Kagome, a traffic jam. About a half-dozen ox-drawn carts are trying to go north. And same number ox-drawn carts are trying to go south. There is ample space for the two groups of carts to go around each other, but they are stopped in front of each other. The two girls can hear the samurai guards around each group of carts yelling at each other.
"They're arguing about who gives way? Is that what you hear, Sango?"
"Yes, they are comparing family history and court offices to determine it." She pauses, "well, they were . . . " she stops as somebody, they are too far away to see just who, has pulled a sword and what was a loud argument, has now turned into a melee in the middle of the street. "Let's get back, before we get caught in this." (AN2)
"Yes, thru this alleyway." Kagome points to the small street between Rokujo and Gojo on Suzaku, and they enter it.
'And I thought road rage was a new phenomenon.' Kagome thinks as she shakes her head.
As they go through the alleyway, they see a sign for a bathhouse. They look at each other, and Kagome says, "We traveled long, hard and fast to get here, and we've only had a couple of quick baths this last week. I need to get clean. You?"
A small smile curves Sango's lips, and she says in a light voice, "I suppose, Kagome. Besides places like this are great for hearing rumors and such."
As they enter an older man, in his fifties perhaps, greets them, "Hello, how may I help?"
"Hello, sir. We would like to use your establishment, sir." Sango says as she bows to the man.
The man bows back, "thank you for coming. This is your first time here, right?"
"Yes, we just entered the city today, sir." Kagome says as she bows to the man.
"Good, you'll see a small room off to your left for your clothes and packs. Once you've disrobed, go through the other doorway and the baths will be in front of you." He motions his arm to invite the girls in. After they enter, he softly coughs, says, "there is a small fee, of course. The cost to heat the water and such."
"OH. Of course, I'm sorry," Kagome apologizes as she reaches into her kimono and into the pocket sewed into the sleeves. She pulls out a hand full of small copper Chinese coins (AN3). (On their way here, Miroku has changed some of her mother's gold, into more useable copper and silver coins. He gave most of them to the girls before they left this morning.) "How many?"
He looks at them as he says, "three," Kagome hands him the coins and both girls go into the disrobing room.
In the room, there are a few people, men and women, either disrobing or putting on their clothes. There is only a small chest high see-through lattice work screen separating the sexes. There is also a boy, perhaps twelve or so, sitting off in one corner, where he can see both sides on the screen. He is watching everyone. Both girls slowly disrobe. They are trying to get a feel for the place. They see one the men before he leaves flip the boy a small coin and say, "thanks for watching my stuff, boy."
Once they hear that, they relax a little and finish disrobing. Sango looks closely at the boy and notices the slingshot by his hand. They grab towels from their supplies and some of the bath supplies. (The ones, that don't seem out of place. Not the modern shampoo's in the plastic bottles, etc. Kagome is going to have to borrow from Sango for once . . . )
"Kirara, just stay here and watch." Sango says to her cat, before the two girls go into the main bath area.
Once into the bath area, what they had thought about the bathhouse, they see is true. This is a mixed bath, so men, women and children are visible as they wash and soap themselves. There is about two to three dozen people in the room. They are about evenly divided between men, women and children.
Kagome looks around when she enters. She notices three teenage boys sitting against the outer wall, they are looking at the women in the bath and Kagome can see movement around their crotches. One of them notices Kagome's glance and puts on a grin and 'accidently' shifts the towel covering his crotch for a couple of seconds. Kagome blushes down to her chest and nudges Sango.
Sango glances over, sees the boys nudging each other and looking at them. Sango stares back and puts some heat into that stare. The boys, quickly, find other women to stare at.
Sango tries to cover herself as much as possible, but by the time they finish soaping and cleaning themselves, she is sure some of the people in the room have noticed her scars. "Don't worry about it, Sango, there are other people with scars here, as well." Kagome whispers to her friend, nudging her to look at some of the men. The men do have scars, like Sango, a couple of them have old fire burns and other types of scaring.
At the main pool are two groups of people. One male and one female. There is a couple of mixed groups, but these are obviously families, taking baths and trying to control their children. The two girls go the main heated pool and sit close, but not very close to the group of women that are gossiping in the pool.
From looking around and listening, they are quite sure that the people in the bathhouse, are townspeople. Common tradesmen, like carpenters, scribes, night watchmen, generic shop owners, shoe makers, clothes makers, laundry ladies, hair dressers, candle stick makers, and such (no butchers, in case your wondering), they are either the wives of the men in these trades, or the men themselves, taking a bath.
These are not nobles or samurai families, that the girls hear stories about, these are the salt of the earth people behind the scenes that you never hear about in the stories. (Except, of course, for some of the romances where a prince falls in love with a washer woman.)
"New in town?" an older, mid-forties, early fifty's woman, asks them as they settle down. From listening and looking as they were cleaning up, the girls understand that this woman seems to be the leader of the female gossipers. From some of the orders she has given, she's probably the wife of the owner of the bathhouse.
"Yes, we just arrived today." Kagome replies.
"Just you, two?" the woman asks.
They look at each other, and they realize that the complex story that Miroku had worked on, and went over with them all week on, will not work. Miroku and Inu-yasha aren't here . . .
"Yes, well, we had two male companions, but somehow in the city, we got separated." Sango quickly says.
"Oh, two young girls, like yourselves, shouldn't be alone. If you don't mind, why did you come to the city. Looking for work?" the woman asks.
"My mother is a painter in the province of Musashi, and she sent me, my friend here, and our companions, as guards, to get a critique on her paintings." Kagome quickly says.
"Ah, who were you going to see?" one of the other women asks.
Kagome answers with names off the list of artists her mother gave her. A couple of the women start talking with Kagome, and within a few minutes all the women and a couple of the men are arguing about artists and who's the best. Kagome has listened to her mother enough that she can give some informed opinions and quickly becomes one with the gang of gossipy women.
As this starts, Sango looks around to see how the rest of the people in the bathhouse are reacting and she notices a young girl, about Kagome's age, and an older man, mid-thirties perhaps, go into a small room off to one side. The room is marked, private massages. 'It's too late to leave now . . . ' she thinks.
Sango turns her attention back to Kagome and the gossipers, and she gently shakes her head as she thinks, 'I've never understood this, in just a few minutes, Kagome, has worked her magic again. From being suspicious of us to being included in their gossip in such a short period of time, is something I could never do. Miroku and I have argued between us about how easily Kagome makes' people like and trust her. I still say it's her, not her magic like Miroku thinks. If you talk to Kagome for more than a few minutes, she works her magic and she becomes your instant trusted friend, unless, of course, you're Naraku or Sesshoumaru.' A small smile appears on her mouth.
"You have a nice smile. What's your name?" one of the younger women asks Sango. She's in her mid-twenties.
"Oh, sorry, my name is Sango and my friend's name is Kagome."
"My name is Aoi. If you don't mind, your scars . . . "
"....are still a sensitive subject." Sango quickly says.
"Of course, I have a girl friend that told a samurai no, and so I understand." She says, hiding her face behind her spread hand. "I am sorry, if I offended."
"No, I'm used to it." Sango says with a sigh. 'She thinks I was injured when I was raped, but, Telling them I'm a female demon exterminator might cause a greater problem than letting her believe that . . . ' Sango thinks.
Then Sango gets an idea and asks, "Last night, as we were camping outside the city, we saw a large fire in the city and as we were walking around the city we heard rumors about a crystal causing it, do you know anything about it?"
This distracts the group from their discussion about artists, and they start talking about the fire and rumors about the shard. Within only a few minutes it begins to dawn on Sango and Kagome that Miroku was understating the number of rumors about the shard that is circulating around Kyoto. More than a dozen families and in some cases, three or four branches of the same family, are said to have a shard or shards. The stories are very confused and in so cases very strange. Trying to make heads or tails of them would be impossible.
A few minutes after the discussion starts, a new woman joins the group and quickly joins in on the gossip. Her bit of gossip causes both girls to start and quickly decide to memorize it.
The gossip: "My cousin, who cleans the clothes for the Emperor's astrologer, heard that the astrologer has told the emperor that his spells have told him that the protectors of the jewel and her companions either are in Kyoto or will be here soon."
This causes the group to start gossiping about the jewel. It's history and its protector. Both girls have a hard time keeping a straight face at some of the stories. They are sooo wrong. But after listening for a few minutes, they put together the following as the *truth* in Kyoto at least for this group of gossipers. Who knows what another group of gossipers might believe . . .
The shard is part of a larger jewel. That there is at least four (it could be as high as ten) shards of the jewel in Kyoto. The owner of the jewel will become the next Shogun. The protector of the jewel is a very powerful, very dignified Miko. (Someone that very defiantly, would not be gossiping with the commoners.) That Inu-yasha is after the jewel and is expected to arrive in Kyoto soon.
Some of the stories about his family also come out. The two girls understand Miroku's confusion about what Inu-yasha did sixty years ago. The only thing that is constant in the stories is that Inu-yasha caused the imperial palace to burn down. But they also understand, that Miroku was also correct about Inu-yasha not being able to enter Kyoto. Sesshoumaru and his family are hated and feared in Kyoto and the families of Kyoto will band together to kill them.
Interrupting the gossip, a young boy, nine or ten years old, comes of the women and says, "Mom, I've a problem in the back, the burakumin are fighting again."
The older woman, whose name is Chika, gets up and says, "I'll be right back, girls, we've had this problem before."
Kagome and Sango look confused, and their gossipy companions fill them in on the details.
"Oh, you two must come from a very small village, here, I'll explain . . . "
People gather night soil (human waste) and sell it for fertilizer. Kyoto is the largest city in Japan, and as such, makes the most night soil. Since selling fertilizer is a very profitable business, there is always a competition for the night soil. With a war over the shards assumed to begin soon, the families that control the night soil are fighting. Once the war starts, gathering the night soil, will be harder and the families want to get all they can before the war starts. (AN4)
'That explains the fight outside the city,' Kagome thinks.
Chika comes back gets back into the pool, sighs and shakes her head, "Idiots . . . Now where were we . . . "
"I'm a bit confused, everybody thinks that there will be a war soon, but none of you seem all that worried?" Kagome asks hesitantly.
"Now about the possible war . . . " Chika begins.
"What do you mean possible? It will happen, soon. The astrologer that lives on my block says this week." One of the women says.
"They have been saying that for the last month, you know. But," Chika shakes her head, "war isn't a very big concern. As long as you get out of the samurai's way, we've safe."
"Yes, if they kill my husband who will build their houses?" "Or wash their clothes?" "Hell, who'd make their clothes." The other women start talking over each other.
"Girls, the only people in Kyoto that really worry about the war are nobles and samurai. For us, the little people, we endure it. But, except that occasionally when you have to rebuild, they leave you alone."
"When you're an old woman like you, maybe . . . " one of the younger women says.
"I had that problem when I was younger, girl. But even that you can survive. I know."
"Actually, a war would be a good thing. The winner would be a powerful family and if this magic gem is as powerful as it should be, he'll conquer the warlords. A powerful Shogun is just want we need. Once the independent warlords are controlled, then all the problems will be solved. And if we have to endure a little to get that good future, so be it." One of the men who has been listening adds into the discussion. Everybody nods or says, "yes" in agreement to him.
"Yes, all these weak shoguns and independent warlords are destroying the country." One of the women says, and this comment gets more nods.
As this discussion takes place, Sango notices the girl and the man leave the room. The girl goes and cleans herself up. She then joins the group. "Mom, I'm going to take a break for a few minutes." She says to Chika as she slides into the pool.
Sango's face goes white and she gulps. Aoi, sees this and leans over and whispers into Sango's ear. "From an old time village, I see. Don't worry about it. She's just taking care of the customers, like a good girl. It's means nothing, really. She's engaged to the son of another bathhouse owner, who knows what's happening. It's everything is fine, really." (An5)
The comment about weak shoguns starts the group into gossiping about the various noble and samurai families in Kyoto.
The shogun, whose name is Ashikago Yoshiteru, at this point in time, is very weak. The Hosokawa family is the most powerful in Kyoto. They have been appointing the last couple of shoguns. But no family has a large military advantage. And if a family goes to war and loses men, well . . . their power decreases. So if a family doesn't want to cooperate with the shogun, the shogun or the Hosokawa family does not the military force to make the other family obey.
Each family looks after its own interests first and then the shogun and then the emperor. Each family has its own friends, and enemies and once a war starts, knowing exactly which family will help which family is a very iffy chance, the families of Kyoto and Japan are free to do as they wish. (The result of 200 plus years of civil war as caused the authority of the shogun and emperor to reach its lowest point . . . ) The rumors about who is backstabbing who at this point in time are very confusing.
Also, the two girls get an earful of some very dirty gossip. Drunk idiots, violent maniacs, multiple affairs between various members of various families are all included. One of the girls evens claims that her parents worked for a noble family when she was born. But since she was the first child of the heir of the family, she was given to her adopted parents, a laundress and her husband, so officially, a boy would be the first child of the heir of family.
After a long while, the girls make their excuses and leave the bathhouse. "Well, Inu-yasha, might think we wasted our time, but I think we learned a lot, right, Sango." Kagome says once they leave the building.
"Yes, a lot to think over. I'm most concerned about that bit of gossip about the emperor's astrologer."
"Yes, that is something to think about." sigh. "Miroku would know more about the possible magic we might meet. I'm just not trained that well."
"Training or no training, Kagome. I think we've just been thrown into the deep end and told, swim . . . "
After eating lunch and walking north, they come up to what looks like a parade blocking Sanjo street as they try to go north on Suzaku
A golden Buddha statue being carried on the shoulders of eight strong men. This Statue is in the front of the parade. Behind it is a large group, a couple of thousand at least, of monks. Most of the monks have strong staff, similar to Miroku's, but typically plainer. These staff's look more like weapons than his does. Most of the monks also tend to look more like soldiers in a monk's robe than monks. They are chanting in a broken rhythm some mantra as they walk.
Oddly, the regular citizens of Kyoto are just staring, with sullen expressions on their faces, not with any real excitement at the parade. Kagome gently approaches one of the women watching and asks quietly, "I'm new to Kyoto, why the long face?"
"New to the city?" the woman replies softly, "well lets step back a bit and I'll tell you."
They move back away, so the parade isn't visible. "Those are bastard monks from mountain Hiei. There are marching to show their strength. Their leaders are with the shogun and other families right now. They are making demands upon the shogun, and if the shogun says no. Well, the next time they parade, the monks will have on armor and real weapons and will decide to riot and destroy the parts of the town. You start to wonder who actually is in charge, the shogun, the high priest of hiei, or perhaps someone else." She looks around. "And since you're new here, be careful, some of these monks do un monkish things to women, if they catch you, so be careful." She then leaves the two girls. (AN6)
The two girls, making sure that there are other people around, move close to the parade again. It is blocking the street that they want to travel down. They are planning to wait until the end of the parade and then continue. But, one of the monks, interrupts his chant, and he starts looking around. His eyes lock on Kagome's. Kagome starts to move away, with Sango following. The monk follows as well. Kagome starts to go down some of the alleyways trying to shake the monk. But they are new to the city, and the monk who is very familiar with the city, so he can't be shaken and quickly keeps up with the two girls.
Sango waits until they find an empty alleyway, then she drops a gas bomb from her sleeve. (She tries to be prepared . . . ) In the couple of seconds that the smoke conceals the two girls, Sango grabs Kagome and jumps up to the roof of the building they were walking by.
Sango covers Kagome's mouth, to prevent her from yelling, as they land on the roof. "sssshhh . . . " she whispers into her ear.
The monk looks around confused, the two girls he was following have just vanished. From the rooftop, the two girls hear. "Her aura, so powerful, so mysterious. She has to be a demon. I must tell the abbot." He turns around and leaves the alleyway.
"My aura . . . " Kagome starts.
"I didn't realize it was that powerful, Kagome."
Kagome grimaces, "I didn't either. This could cause problems, If a regular monk can detect . . . My coming here might have been a mistake." She's looking down at the ground, speaking softly when she finishes. 'My plan might not work . . . ' she thinks.
"Not every monk detected your aura, Kagome. I noticed many of the monks lecherously staring at you and me, but he was the only one that saw something odd. Plus, only your ability to detect the shard will allow us to succeed. There is no way we could make sense of all those rumors, you know that." She says trying to cheer up her friend.
"I suppose you're correct, Sango." Kagome says.
After they have Kirara check to make sure the monk is gone, the jump down and walk on.
Late afternoon . . .
Suddenly, Kagome stops and looks at the walled compound to her right. A smile appears, "It's there, Sango." She says softly, nodding toward the compound at Omiya and Nakamikado, near the old palace grounds, which over the years has fallen into decay and has been basically abandoned.
Sango smiles, and she looks at the compound. "Now it begins . . . "
End chapter three . . .
Authors' notes:
(AN1) The description of the city streets of Kyoto was from the book "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan." What I used was the visual description of Yokohoma in 1890. Paraphrasing the "My first day in the Orient" ch. I made up the incense lines based on the stories about incense contests. The noble houses had pre-1200. The sound lines are basically my imagination.
(AN2) traffic jam: based more on Kyoto pre-1200. But the story itself is pretty correct. You get two groups of samurai and they walk into each, one has to give way and if there is confusion about who should. Well, if the other is dead, that solves the confusion, correct?
(AN3) Chinese coins . . . At this point in time, Japan imported copper Chinese coins for money. Paid the Chinese gold and got copper coins. They didn't re-minted them, just used them as is.
(AN4) night soil: To give the reader an idea about how valuable night soil was. You could, depending on the place (some places it was more valuable than others), get a meal (rice and pickles, basically) for a bowel movement. Rents were adjusted in cities depending on how much night soil was produced. In one example 10 families of the course of a year might get half a gold ryo (equal to about 3 to 3.5 ounces of silver) for the night soil. Small wars were fought over control of it. While it is handled by the burakumin underclass, due to the money involved and the shogun's were interested in it. (They just made sure that there were many, many layers of people controlling the night soil between them and the burakumin.)
(AN5) bathhouse girls. Mixed baths and sex . . . It happened. Some bathhouses were more brothel than bathhouse. Some were more bathhouses than brothels. This bathhouse is basically a bathhouse. Only the owner's daughter and only with special customers. Since she's marring into a bathhouse family, who knows wants happening (they do the same thing at their place), there isn't that much problem. You meet her outside the bathhouse and the girl will be a shy, innocent appearing girl, only in the bathhouse will her behavior change.
Bathhouse scenes: until 1860, mixed baths were common in Kyoto and other major cities. I've tried to mix and match from a couple of stories/sources. I think it's pretty close.
Gossip . . . I had to have some way to get the information to the readers. I probably overused this plot device, but . . . I couldn't think of anything else. It did take the girls at least an hour, probably two hours to get the information.
(AN6); the monks: even in Nara, before Kyoto was founded, the monks were a problem. When they wanted something, they would march into Nara or Kyoto and make demands. If the emperor and later the shogun, did not meet their demands, well . . . a couple of thousand men would loot the city . . . And since, the monks are supposed to speaking with the voice the god . . . refusing them, was always a problem. The move from Nara to Kyoto in 800ad was supposed to get rid of the problem. But the monasteries on mt Hiei . . . In the 1570's Oda Nobunaga as he was unifying Japan, destroyed mt hiei. Thousands of monks were killed and executed. Oda Nobunaga was a hard man, and his solution to people that opposed him was extermination.
The monk and his noticing Kagome's aura . . . She is special, and there are a lot of people in Kyoto that make a living with magic. Astrologers and such were very powerful and respected people. This will be a problem for her . . .
General authors' note: Hmmm . . . I still would like some reviews and/or private comments about my story. I would like to get at least 1 review per 1000 words before I continue the story.
I do have, if you click on my pen name, a list of potential stories/ideas, I would like to get opinions of them. So, if you could, please look at the list and given me an idea about what to do next.
Thank you
jeff shelton