Ronin's Revenge

Ryoma eventually broke through the awkwardness by clearing his throat. He asked, “Himiko, would you like to join us on our quest?” Himiko looked up at him inquisitively and asked, “What quest are you two on, anyway?” This caught Ryoma off-guard as he wasn’t exactly sure what their quest entailed at this point. Their goal was to find Himiko to help exorcize Emperor Hiro, yet now they were faced with the fact that she wasn’t capable of doing so.

“Well,” Ryoma said, “We need to find someone who can properly perform an exorcism. And it seems you need to learn a better or easier way of executing the ritual. Perhaps we should travel together and find the answers we seek. I truly think it’ll be beneficial for all of us.” Yuki chimed in and exclaimed, “Yeah, Himiko, let’s go together! It’ll be more fun with you around!”

Himiko pondered the proposition for a time near immeasurable to Ryoma and Yuki. It would have been a most uncomfortable silence if not for the succubus laughing across the room. Ryoma then figured that the silence might not, in fact, be the worst outcome of Himiko’s deliberation.

Finally, Himiko said, “Alright, I’ll go with you, but I have unfinished business that I must ask you to allow me to tend to first.” Ryoma nodded and said, “Of course, Himiko. In fact, perhaps Yuki and I can help you achieve what you need to. What exactly is this unfinished business of yours?”

Beginning to smile faintly, Himiko said, “Thank you Ryoma. And you, too, Yuki. What I’m trying to do is find my parents. You see, the home where we first met is actually theirs. I noticed that the shoji was damaged and assumed the worst, but thankfully, they weren’t home. I next checked the tool shed, wondering if they fled there in a panic, but that led nowhere either. Although, that is why I met you both, so I suppose it was for the best.”

Ryoma chuckled with mirth and said, “Thank the gods for your parents’ tool shed, then. If you had left without checking it, I’m not sure I’d still be around today.” Then, the gravity of the overall situation came back to him, and he asked, “Do you have any idea where your parents could have gone?” Himiko, however, shook her head.

“If there was trouble,” Himiko said, “then the commonly held belief of the villagers was to make their way to the shrine for assistance from the maidens. The night the demons came, a handful of people did arrive and alerted us to the problem, so I headed out on my venture to find my parents, but they weren’t there. To make matters worse, the villagers had disappeared when I returned.”

“Sorry,” the succubus interrupted, “that would be my fault. They saw me, turned tail, and ran as far as their feet would take them. It’s for the best, really; I prefer having this sultry, younger body to control rather than a middle-aged broad from the village.” This angered Himiko greatly and she yelled, “I told you to shut up, succubus!” Sayako’s controller ignored her, though, and continued to laugh.

This time, however, Himiko regained her composure rather quickly, taking a deep breath and exhaling all the stress away. Then, a twinge of guilt came across her face as she said, “To be honest, I really couldn’t care less what happens to the other villagers. I’d care for them if they showed up, or came back in the case of those the succubus scared off, but I wouldn’t lose sleep over wondering where they were and if they were okay. The other shrine maidens hail from those families, so they should bear the burden of being concerned for the other folk. I hope that doesn’t sully your opinion of me.”

Ryoma understood the sentiment; after all, the night of the demons’ invasion, he was so determined to find Emperor Hiro that he neglected the well-being of Goro as well as Empress Haru and her retainers. To make matters worse, he hadn’t really thought of them since, being too focused on his singular goal of saving his ruler to truly care about the others. “Don’t worry,” he said to Himiko, “your feelings make perfect sense to me. Please don’t feel ashamed because of them.”

Himiko’s smile returned and she said, “Thank you, Ryoma; it means a lot to hear you say that.” She wasn’t quite sure why she was so relieved to receive the samurai’s approval, but somehow, she found comfort in his presence and subconsciously craved his recognition. To be fair, though, he craved her recognition as well, though he wasn’t exactly privy to that knowledge either.

“So,” Yuki broke up the admiration parade as he asked, “how should we go about finding your parents?” Ryoma then pitched in and said, “For starters, you surely must have a map of the places you’ve already searched. I would assume we could cross those locations off the list.” Yuki, however, disagreed as he said, “I don’t know, Ryoma, it could be that they’re moving from place to place in search of shelter, outside of the shrine, of course. What if they’ve moved to a location Himiko’s checked after she left there? For all we know, they could’ve returned home.”

“You may be right, Yuki,” Himiko said, “though I doubt they would return home. I would wager that a demon scared them away and that they’re attempting to find a new safe place. That being said, I hadn’t considered that they may have chosen their new hiding spot after I inspected it.” Ryoma frowned and said, “So, you’re telling me that we’ll have to backtrack on your footsteps and search through the whole village again.” Yuki chuckled and said, “Well, look on the bright side, Ryoma; it’ll only be the first time searching for us.”

Ryoma didn’t look all that amused at Yuki’s attempt to lighten the mood, but Yuki smiled widely anyway. Himiko then said, “Alright, if we’re going to work our way back through the village first, it may be best if we split up.” Yuki gulped and asked, “Are you sure it’s the right move to separate from one another? I think it’d be safer for all of us if we stuck together, and I specifically mean that I should stay with Ryoma.”

However, Ryoma shook his head and said, “No, I agree with Himiko. The process will go a lot smoother if we split up. Besides, Yuki, you’re more than capable of handling demons by yourself.” He turned his attention back to Himiko and exclaimed, “Alright, let’s venture forth!” Himiko nodded and said, “By the way, I should describe them to you both so you know who to look for.”

Himiko then set about describing her parents to Ryoma and Yuki. As she continued, the samurai and the kappa both gulped, realizing that they didn’t need to search for them after all. “Himiko,” Ryoma said solemnly, “I know where to find your parents. We’ve already encountered them along our journey.”