Safe Haven: Edo, October 2360
I head out into the dusk of the warm October evening from the physicians’ offices where I help out most Tuesdays. I have started staying longer now that Grey goes to her grandmother’s for ikebana lessons, and Aiko generously offered to come down from the temple and watch the boys since Takai is on a diplomatic mission—again. I stretch as I walk home along the quiet dirt path. The work here is not exciting, and the pay is low, but it does require that I have to shower beforehand, and I do get to talk to adults, so those two things are enough to make up for any shortcomings. The walk is about three kilometers, and I could hustle, but I am enjoying the serenity and stillness. This half-a-bell walk between the offices and home is my time to think, and I don’t want to hurry through it. I take deep breaths of the air as I head up into the foothills where the trees are putting on a show with their yellow, red, and orange leaves. I can hear the little stream that parallels the path, happily bubbling stories of its travels to itself as it skips over rocks. I love the peace of this journey.
The path narrows as I slip into the woods, and the light dims even more. The sounds of the stream recede as I move away from it. Takai and I had a conversation before he left, and I am rolling that about in my mind. He doesn’t know why I want to re-enlist. What was it he said? “I’m not speaking ill of the dead, Kat, but Teddy is the one who grounded you. Why would you go back to that rough, boorish life?” He says we can just visit once the banishment year is up. I don’t think he understands how important . . .
My head jerks back. I feel another person behind me, and something around my neck tightens as my air is cut off. I instinctively put my training into use, leaning my body back into my assailant and reaching up with my left hand and grabbing what feels like a small, but strong, beaded chain around my neck. I pull it forward to relieve some of the pressure, and I feel air pass into my body. I quickly pivot and strike what I now see is an Edoan man with the ball of my right hand first at his groin, then at his ear.
He drops his hands, and the garrote falls from my neck, but the man recovers quickly and lashes out at me, using the garrote as a whip. I feel the very end bite into my thigh and jump backward, losing my footing on some rocks at the edge of the path and tumbling to the ground. I swiftly hop up, getting my feet under me, and see him come at me with a push dagger. My hand drops to my thigh for my double-edged knife that Teddy had given me, and then I curse inwardly as I have become complacent here and have started leaving all weapons at home when I go to work. I won’t make that mistake again.
I grab a handful of dirt and throw it in this man’s face, which slows him enough to allow me to twist out of the path of the dagger that is bearing down on me. I open my hand and tighten my fingers together, so they are like a blade, and bring it down hard on his forearm putting my full bodyweight into it. He yelps with pain and his hand releases the knife, which falls into the shadows and is lost from view.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a large shadow come out of the trees and begin to bear down on us. Two of them. Okay, then. I’ll take care of the little one first. My assailant gives his arm a shake, and I am shocked as he reaches across into his coat and pulls out a short-muzzle gun—it looks like a Chinese ZHP-59 with a suppressor. Shit. Does this guy have a cannon hidden on him somewhere as well? This may end badly for me.
I shift slightly out of the shadow and raise my hands and my head, trying to buy a little time. For some reason, he doesn’t fire. He stares at me, his eyes now flitting from my neck to my face and back. His face looks confused, and I hear him murmur, “Scar?” I see his eyes widen, and he drops the arm holding the ZHP ever so slightly. This is my opportunity.
I reach and grab the inside of his wrist with one hand and the slide of the ZHP with the other, leaning my head and body out of the line of fire in the same move. The gun fires past my shoulder, and I feel the slight kickback and then him resisting my grasp and attempting to pull the weapon back toward him. I move with the direction he is pulling, giving an elbow to his chin, and then I twist his hand until he cries out as his finger is wrenched. When the barrel is pointing at his middle, I jerk the gun back and pull it into my hand, immediately chambering a round. Without hesitation, I fire into his gut. He drops to the ground, moaning, and I pull the slide again, turning to defend myself against the second approaching opponent when I hear a familiar, deep voice, “Are you okay, Kat-san?”
“Riki?” I squint and his face comes into view. My hand drops to point the gun at the earth, and I move my finger from the trigger. I am confused; Riki is one of Kenichi’s bodyguards. A huge man by any standard and particularly huge in Edo, I know Riki would never harm me. I take a moment to catch my breath. “I’m fine. Well, a little banged up, but fine,” I reiterate. “What are you doing here? And who the fuck is this?” I kick the writhing man on the ground, who moans a bit louder.
Riki gives a short, dry laugh. “He is, I am grieved to say, a member of our family who took on an outside paid job.”
My eyes widen a bit. I know that is a huge breach of the rules in the yakuza family Kenichi heads. I look up at Riki who, while immense, is just half-a-head taller than I am, which makes him tall for an Edoan man. He has an open, honest face with his black hair in a bowl haircut and a van dyke beard and mustache. He stands with his arms crossed in front of him, and his biceps look a bit like tree trunks. I bet if I had pulled the trigger, the bullet would have bounced off his titanic chest. I am really glad I never have to fight Riki. “A paid job? Like, to kill me?”
He nods his massive head.
I sigh loudly, “It’s gotta be Abernathy. Damn. I heard him mention my scar.” My fingers automatically move to stroke the tiny rise of flesh that runs from my left ear to my right collar bone. I glance at Riki, but his face is passive. He won’t reveal anything he hasn’t been instructed to. I will have to talk with Kenichi about this, but for now, I look at the man on the ground. This won’t go well for him. I am glad. I get offended when people try to kill me. “I guess you can’t come home with me and see Grey. She’ll be disappointed to have missed you.”
Riki’s face lights up at the mention of my daughter. He plays with all three children, but he and Grey have had a special friendship ever since her baby-dimpled smile charmed him at the Winterfest when I first met Kenichi. “I will come back. I am sure Tsukasa-san will want to talk with you about this.” He motions to the man.
I nod. “Most definitely.” I tuck the gun into my belt. Then I extend my arm in friendship to Riki. “Thank you.”
He reaches out and grasps my elbow gently. My arm looks like a child’s next to his; I can’t even reach his elbow. “I will always look out for you and your family, as will Tsukasa-san.”
He releases my arm, then picks up the would-be assassin and tosses him over his shoulder as if he weighs nothing. Riki heads toward the village, and I start to walk toward home but then pause. “Should I expect anyone else?”
Riki smiles. “No. This was, foolishly, a one-man operation.”
I nod, then spy the errant push dagger half-hidden in the leaves and reach down to pick it up. Riki and I look at each other and then part ways. He heads back toward the village of Kiharu with a soon-to-be-dead man on his shoulder, and I head back into the foothills on my once-again peaceful commute home, now heavier by one dagger and one pistol. Perhaps Edo is not the safe haven I had thought it was. I consider what that could mean for my family and my babies, and this thought sobers me for the rest of the walk.
