Taiko. Part 75

"He was strictly entrusted to me. I thought that I could do it at any time, without too much hurry."

"That's excessive leniency. There's a limit to this leisurely pace, you know. I do not recall having ever been so inept on a mission as I was on this one."

"There was never any fault in the way you carried out your mission. It's absolutely clear that I purposely delayed the matter because of my own thoughts on the subject."

"Purposely?"

"While I knew that it was a grave errand, I've been thoughtlessly preoccupied by this less..."

"Wouldn't it be sufficient if you sent a courier with a note?"

"No, he may be a hostage from another clan, but he's been entrusted to us for a number of years. The people around such a lovely child naturally feel sympathy toward him and would find it difficult to kill him. I'm concerned that if the worst happened and some indiscreet retainer sent someone else's head for His Lordship's inspection, I would have no excuse to offer Lord n.o.bunaga. So I think that I myself should go to behead him. Perhaps my condition will improve before long." As Hanbei spoke, he began coughing uncontrollably. He put a paper handkerchief over his mouth, but it seemed that he was not going to able to stop.

An attendant nearby moved behind him and began rubbing Hanbei's back. n.o.b.u.mori could do nothing but keep quiet and wait until Hanbei settled down. But just sitting in front of a man who was trying to control his violent coughing fit and who was having his sick body ma.s.saged began to be painful in itself.

"Why don't you rest in your room?" For the first time n.o.b.u.mori mumbled something sympathetic, but the look on his face bore no sympathy at all. "At any rate, in the next few days there should be some action taken as a result of these words from His Lordship. I'm amazed at your negligence, but there's nothing else I can do after what I've said here now. I'll be sending a letter to Azuchi explaining the situation exactly as it is. No matter how sick you may be, any further delay will only provoke His Lordship's anger. It's tedious, but I'll definitely have to inform him about this!"

Ignoring the pained figure of Hanbei, who was still racked by coughing, n.o.b.u.mori had his say, announced his leave, and departed. As he reached the veranda, he pa.s.sed by a woman carrying a tray from which floated the thick smell of some medicinal decoction.

The woman hurriedly put down her tray and bowed to her guest. n.o.b.u.mori inspected her at length, from the white hands that touched the wooden-floored veranda to the back of her neck, and finally said, "It seems that I've met you before. Ah, yes, that's right. The time I was invited by Lord Hideyoshi to Nagahama. I remember that you were waiting upon him at that time."

"Yes. I was given leave to take care of my brother."

"Well then, you're Hanbei's younger sister?"

"Yes, my name is Oyu."

"You're Oyu," he muttered rudely. "You are pretty." Mumbling to himself, he stepped down on the stepping stone.

Oyu simply nodded as he left. She could hear her brother still coughing, and she seemed more concerned about the medicine growing cold than about what her guest's feelings might be. Just when she thought that he had left, however, n.o.b.u.mori turned again and said, "Has there been any news recently from Lord Hideyoshi in Harima?"

"No."

"Your brother was purposely negligent with Lord n.o.bunaga's orders, but I'm sure that couldn't have been a result of Hideyoshi's instructions, could it? I fear that our lord may have some doubts about that. If Hideyoshi is incurring Lord n.o.bunaga's wrath, he may be in for a great deal of trouble. I'm going to say this once again: I think it would be a good thing if Kuroda Kanbei's son were executed immediately."

Looking up into the sky, n.o.b.u.mori quickly walked away. Obscuring his retreating figure and the huge roof of the Nanzen Temple, specks of snow fell obliquely, turning everything white.

"My lady!" The coughing had suddenly stopped behind the sliding doors, and the agitated voice of the retainer could now be heard in its place. Her chest pounding, Oyu opened the doors and looked inside. Hanbei lay face down on the floor. The paper handkerchief that had been over his mouth was covered with bright red blood.

6 SEVENTH YEAR OF TENSHO 1579.

Characters and places Shojumaru, Kuroda Kanbei's son k.u.mataro, retainer of Takenaka Hanbei Bessho Nagaharu, lord of Miki Castle Goto Motokuni, senior Bessho retainer Ikeda Shonyu, senior Oda retainer Anayama Baisetsu, senior Takeda retainer Nishina n.o.b.u.mori, Takeda Katsuyori's brother Saito Toshimitsu, senior Akechi retainer Yusho, painter Miki, Bessho Nagaharu's castle Nirasaki, new capital of Kai Takato, Nishina n.o.b.u.mori's castle A Retainer's Duty Hideyoshi's campaign in the western provinces, Mitsuhide's campaign in Tamba, and the long siege of Itami Castle were n.o.bunaga's real work. The campaign in the western provinces and the siege of Itami were still stalemated, and only in Tamba was there some minor action. Day by day, a vast number of letters and reports arrived from these three areas. The doc.u.ments were screened by staff officers and private secretaries, so that n.o.bunaga saw only the most important ones.

Among them was a letter from Sak.u.ma n.o.b.u.mori. n.o.bunaga read it and tossed it aside with an expression of extreme displeasure. The person whose job it was to pick up any discarded letters was n.o.bunaga's trusted page, Ranmaru. Thinking that n.o.bunaga's orders had been disobeyed, he surrept.i.tiously read the letter. There was nothing in it that should have upset n.o.bunaga. It read: To my surprise, Hanbei has not yet taken any action to carry out your orders. As your messenger, I impressed upon him the error of his ways, informing him that if he disobeyed the order, I would be accused of negligence. I think your order will be carried out soon. This has been extremely trying for me, and I humbly request your magnanimity in this matter.

Behind n.o.b.u.mori's words one sensed that he was, more than anything else, trying to justify his own faults. In fact, his intention really was nothing more than that. Ranmaru was not able to read more meaning into it.

n.o.bunaga's anger at the letter, and his perception that n.o.b.u.mori had changed, would not be manifested until later on. Until then, it would have been difficult for anyone other than n.o.bunaga to have understood his own true feelings. The only hints presaging the future that did not go unnoticed were that n.o.bunaga did not seem angry about Hanbei's disobedience and negligence-even after he received such a letter from n.o.b.u.mori-and that after this event, the matter was ignored. n.o.bunaga himself certainly did not press it. But there was no reason for Hanbei to be aware of such complicated changes in n.o.bunaga's thinking. It was not Hanbei, however, but Oyu and the retainers who were taking care of him, who thought that Hanbei should do something. It seemed he had not yet decided what to do about the problem.

A month went by. The plum trees were blossoming at the main gate of the Nanzen Temple and around Hanbei's retreat. As the days went by the sun became warmer, but Hanbei's condition did not improve.

He could not bear uncleanliness, so every day he would have the sickroom swept clean and then, bathing himself in the sunlight on bright mornings, he would sit on the veranda.

His sister would prepare tea for him, and his one pleasure during his illness was to watch the steam rise from the tea bowl in the bright morning sun.

"Your color has improved a little this morning, brother," Oyu said brightly.

Hanbei rubbed his cheek with a thin hand. "Spring has come to me, too, it seems. This is pleasant. For the last two or three days I've felt rather well," he answered with a smile.

Both his mood and color had indeed become much better in the past two or three days, and Oyu felt the greatest pleasure in looking at him this fine morning. But suddenly she felt a sense of desolation as she recalled the doctor's words: "There is little hope of recovery." But she was not going to give in to her feeling. How many patients had recovered after their doctors had given them up for dead? She promised herself that she would nurse Hanbei back to health-to see him healthy was a goal she shared with Hideyoshi, who the day before had written from Harima to encourage him.

"If you continue to get better at this rate, you'll be able to get out of bed by the time the cherry trees are blooming."

"Oyu, I've been nothing but trouble, haven't I?"

"What nonsense are you talking now?"

Hanbei laughed weakly. "I haven't thanked you before, because we're brother and sister, but this morning somehow I feel I should say something. I wonder if it's because I'm feeling so much better."

"It makes me happy to think it might be so."

"It's already been ten years since we left Mount Bodai."

"Time pa.s.ses quickly. When you look back, you realize life goes by just like a dream."

"You've been at my side since then-and me, nothing but a mountain hermit-cooking my meals morning and night, taking care of me, even preparing my medicine."

"No, it's only been for a little while. Back then, you kept saying that you would never get better. But as soon as your health improved, you joined Lord Hideyoshi, fought at the Ane River, Nagashino, and Echizen. You were in pretty good health then, weren't you?

"I suppose you're right. This sick body has stood up pretty well."

"So if you take care of yourself, you'll certainly get better this time, too. I'm determined that you're going to become your old self again."

"It's not that I want to die."

"You're not going to die!"

"I want to keep living. I want to live to make sure this violent world finds peace again. Ah, if only I were healthy, I'd be able to help my lord to the best of my ability." Suddenly Hanbei's voice fell. "But the length of a man's life is beyond his control. What can I do in this condition?"

Looking into his eyes, Oyu was suffused with pain. Was there something that her brother was keeping from her?

The bell of the Nanzen Temple announced the hour of noon. Although the country was still in a state of civil war, people could be seen viewing the flowering plum trees, and the song of the nightingales could be heard among the falling blossoms.

That spring was considered to be a pleasant one, but it was still only the Second Month. When night fell, and the lamps began to flicker coldly, Hanbei began to cough again. During the night, Oyu would have to get up several times to rub his back. There were other retainers nearby, but Hanbei was unwilling to let them take care of him in this way.

"They are all men who will ride out with me into battle. It wouldn't be right to ask them to rub a sick man's back," he explained.

That night, too, she got up to ma.s.sage her brother's back. Going into the kitchen to prepare his medicine, she suddenly heard a noise outside the kitchen door that sounded as if someone was brushing past the old bamboo of the hedge. Oyu listened carefully. She could hear whispering outside.

"I can see a light. Wait just a moment. Somebody must be up." The voices outside gradually came closer to the house. Then someone tapped lightly on the rain shutter.

"Who is it?" Oyu asked.

"Is that you, Lady Oyu? It's k.u.mataro from Kurihara. I've just come back from Itami."

"It's k.u.mataro!" she called excitedly to Hanbei. She slid open the door to the kitchen and saw three men standing in the starlight.

k.u.mataro stretched out his hand took the bucket Oyu offered him. He called the other two men, and all three went to the well.

Oyu wondered who the other two men were. k.u.mataro was the retainer they had brought up on Mount Kurihara. At that time he had been called Kok.u.ma, but now he was a fine young samurai. After k.u.mataro drew up the well bucket and poured the water into the bucket he had taken from Oyu, the other two men washed the mud from their hands and feet and the blood from their sleeves.

Hanbei instructed her to light the lamp in the small guest room, put some burning coals in the brazier, and lay out cushions for the guests, even though it was late at night.

When Hanbei told her that one of the men with k.u.mataro must be Kuroda Kanbei, she could not hide her surprise. Kuroda was the man about whom there had been so many rumors: either that he had been a prisoner in Itami Castle since the previous year, or that he had changed sides and was staying in the castle of his own free will. Ordinarily, Hanbei did not talk at all to his retainers about official business-much less about secrets matters of this nature-so even Oyu had no idea where k.u.mataro had gone before the New Year, or why he had stayed away for such a long time.

"Oyu, please bring me my coat," Hanbei said.

Although she was worried about him, Oyu knew that he would insist on getting out of bed and meeting his guests, no matter how sick he was. She slipped the coat over his shoulders.

Having combed his hair and rinsed his mouth, Hanbei went to the reception room where k.u.mataro and the other two guests were already sitting and waiting quietly for him.

Hanbei responded to the guests' greeting with deep emotion, "Ah, you're safe!" and he sat down, grasping Kanbei's hands. "I was worried."

"Don't worry on my account; as you see, I'm quite well," Kanbei replied.

"I'm glad you made it."

"I seem to have made you worry. I apologize."

"Anyway, heaven has blessed us by bringing us together again. For me, this is a real joy.

But who was the other, older man who had been watching in silence, reluctant to disturb the emotional reunion of the two friends? At last Kanbei asked him to introduce limself.

"I think this is not the first time we have met, my lord. I am also in the service of Lord Hideyoshi and I have seen you from a distance many times. I'm a member of the ninja corps, which doesn't mix with the other samurai much, so you may not remember me. I am Hachisuka Hikoemon's nephew, Watanabe Tenzo. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance."

Hanbei slapped his knee. "You're Watanabe Tenzo! I've heard a lot about you. And now that you mention it, it seems I have seen you once or twice before."

Just then k.u.mataro said, "I met Tenzo quite by accident in the prison of Itami Castle. He had the same purpose I had in penetrating the place."

"I don't know if it happened completely by chance or through divine providence, but it was only because we met each other that we were able to get Lord Kanbei out. If we lad each been acting on our own, we probably would have been killed in the attempt," Tenzo said, smiling.

Tenzo had been in Itami Castle because Hideyoshi had also tried to engineer Kuroda Kanbei's rescue. Hideyoshi had first dispatched an envoy to beg Araki Murashige for Kanbei's release, and later, had sent a Buddhist priest in whom Murashige had faith to preach for the same thing. He had used every means at his disposal, but Murashige had stubbornly refused to let Kanbei go. As a last resort, Hideyoshi had ordered Tenzo to get Kanbei out of prison.

Tenzo had broken into the castle, and a chance to rescue Kanbei had presented itself. There was a celebration of some kind taking place in the castle, and all of Araki Murashige's family and retainers were in the main hall, while every last soldier had been treated to sake. As luck would have it, it was a dark night with neither moon nor wind. Tenzo knew that it was the moment to act decisively. Having already completed his reconnaissance of the grounds, he was investigating the area beneath the keep when he saw someone else spying into the prison, someone who did not look like a guard. In fact, the man must have broken into the castle just as he had. The other man introduced himself as Takenaka Hanbei's retainer, k.u.mataro.

"I am an agent of Lord Hideyoshi," Tenzo replied. With this exchange, they knew they had come on the same mission. Working together, they broke through the prison window and helped Kanbei to escape. Concealed by the darkness, they went over the castle ramparts, took a small boat from the floodgate across the moat, and fled.

After listening to the detailed circ.u.mstances of the difficulties they had been through, Hanbei turned to k.u.mataro and and said, "I was worried that I had sent you out on an impossible mission, and I realized that your chances of success were only one or two out of ten. This absolutely has to be the work of heaven. But what happened in the days after that? And how did you make your way here?"

k.u.mataro knelt respectfully, apparently without the least bit of pride in having done something worthy of praise. "We had little trouble in getting out of the castle; our real problems began afterward. The Araki forces were stationed at wooden palisades here and there, so we were surrounded several times, and sometimes we were separated from each other in the midst of the enemy's swords and spears. We were finally able to cut our way through, but in one of the fights Lord Kanbei received a sword wound to his left knee, and his injury kept us from going too far. In the end, we had to sleep in a barn. We traveled at night and slept in roadside shrines during the day. Finally we made our way to Kyoto."

Kanbei took up the story. "If we had been able to find refuge with the Oda troops that surrounded the castle, our escape would have been easier. According to what I heard in the castle, however, Araki Murashige was letting it be known that Lord n.o.bunaga was very suspicious of my actions. He told people that I should join their side because of the kind of person n.o.bunaga was, but I smiled at this chicanery."

Kanbei forced a sad smile, and Hanbei nodded silently.

By the time all the questions and stories were over, the night sky had begun to turn pale white. Oyu was preparing soup in the kitchen.

The men were tired after talking all night, and after finishing their breakfast, each took a short nap. Upon awakening, they spoke again.

"By the way," Hanbei said to Kanbei, "I know it's awfully sudden, but I was thinking that I would leave today for my home province of Mino and then go on to Azuchi to see Lord n.o.bunaga. As I will tell your story to His Lordship, I suggest you go directly to Harima."

"Of course, I don't want to be idle for a single day," Kanbei said, but then he looked dubiously at Hanbei's face. "You're still ill, and how is a sudden trip going to affect your health?" he asked.

"I planned on getting up today anyway. If I let my illness defeat me, there'll be no end to it, and I've been feeling much better for a while now."

"But it's important to be completely cured. I don't know what kind of pressing business you have, but couldn't you put it off just a while longer and convalesce here?" Kanbei asked.

"I prayed that I might get better quickly with the coming of the New Year, and I've been taking good care of myself. Now that I'm sure you're all right, I have no worries about that anymore. At the same time, I've committed a crime for which I have to receive punishment at Azuchi, and today's a good day to get out of the sickbed and say good-bye."

"A crime for which you have to receive punishment at Azuchi?"

Hanbei now told Kanbei for the first time about how he had disobeyed n.o.bunaga's orders for over a year.

Kanbei was shocked. That n.o.bunaga had doubted him was one thing. But that he would order the decapitation of Shojumaru was something he could not even begin to imagine.

"Is that the way it was?" Kanbei moaned. Suddenly he felt cold and hollow toward n.o.bunaga. He had risked so much: gone into Itami Castle alone, been imprisoned, and only narrowly avoided death-and in the end, whom was he working for? At the same time, he was unable to keep from shedding tears at Hideyoshi's inordinate show of affection and Hanbei's friendship.

"I'm very grateful, but why should you do this for my son's sake? If that's the situation, then I should go to Azuchi to explain myself."

"No, the crime of disobedience was mine. The only request I have is that you join Lord Hideyoshi in Harima. I doubt that I'm going to be in the world much longer, whether I'm found guilty or innocent. I'd like you to go to Harima as quickly as possible."

Hanbei prostrated himself in front of his friend as if to beg him. He had a sick man's determination. Even more, he was Hanbei, a man not lacking in mature deliberation; once he had spoken, he did not go back on his decisions.

That day the two friends parted company, one going east, the other west. Kanbei went on to the campaign in Harima, accompanied by Watanabe Tenzo. Hanbei set off for Mino, accompanied only by k.u.mataro.

As Oyu saw her brother off at the gate of the Nanzen Temple, there were tears in her eyes, for in her mind was the possibility that he might never return. The priests tried to comfort her by telling her that her grief would be as fleeting as all things, but in the end they almost had to carry her back through the main gate.

Hanbei most likely had the same thoughts as well. No, it was clear that he felt an even more intense grief. In the saddle of his horse, his body swayed as he neared a rise.

Hanbei suddenly pulled back on the reins as though he had just remembered something. "k.u.mataro," he said, "there's something I've forgotten to say. I'm going to write it down, and I'd like you to run back and give it to Oyu." Taking out a piece of paper, he scribbled something and handed it to k.u.mataro. "I'll go on ahead slowly, so you can catch up with me."

k.u.mataro took the letter, bowed respectfully, and ran back toward the temple.

I've made mistakes, he thought sadly, as he looked down at the Nanzen Temple one last time. I have no regrets at all about the road I have taken, but for my sister.... He let the horse walk at its own pace.

A samurai's road was a straight one; and after Hanbei had come down from Mount Kurihara, he had not deviated from it. Nor would he have had any regrets, even if his life were to end that day. But what pained him most was that Oyu had become Hideyoshi's mistress. As her brother, he constantly felt censured by his conscience. She had, after all, been at his side at the crucial time of choosing her own path, he told himself. The fault lay with him, not with his sister. He secretly worried about the many years that were ahead of Oyu after his own death.

It was a woman's misfortune that her happiness never lasted her whole life. What was especially painful to him was the feeling that he had stained the pure whiteness of the Way of the Samurai-the way that based itself on death. How many times had he grumbled to himself about this matter, thinking that he should apologize to Hideyoshi and ask to be dismissed, or that he should unburden himself of his anguish to his sister, and ask her to live in seclusion? But the appropriate course of action had never presented itself.