"Tenpo Year 1 4, late May." "The rainy season has come yet again this year." "Tokoroten jelly!" "Cold tokoroten jelly!" "I'd like some, Edogen." "Thank you." "Not that some tokoroten jelly will cool me down in this humid weather." "Come to think of it, don't you have a ronin friend named Ryudo or something?" "Yes, did something happen with Ryudo?" "I had a customer yesterday named Ryudo, too." "Is something the matter, Sir?" "This is my first time drinking sake..." "What?" "Excuse me." "Wait, surely you did not come just to drink sake..." "I will come again." "All right, then at least tell me your name." "We must have met for a reason." "Ryudo." "My name is Yukiatsu Ryudo." "He said his name was Yukiatsu?" "An unusual family name, right?" "That was why." "Does he have a younger brother?" "But it is odd that he has the same name..." "Kotoba dake ja tsutawaranai mono o The things you can't get across with just words" "Ichiban tsutaetai no wa naze?" "Why do you want to get those things across the most?" "Kutsuzoko o suriherashite Wearing down the soles of your shoes" "Hadashi demo tomarenai no wa naze?" "Why can't you stop, even when you're down to your bare feet?" "Kaban no naka ni hoshizora The starry sky is in your bag" "Arashi no yoru mo soko ni aru The stormy nights are in there too" "Soro-soro tabi ni dero It's about time you go on a journey" "Robou ni saku hana yo hana yo The flowers, the flowers that bloom by the wayside" "Goro-goro doro-darake Rolling around, covered in mud" "Mune o kogasu yoake yoake The dawn, the dawn that consumes your heart" "Soro-soro hashiri-dase It's about time you start running" "Kowareru made asobe asobe Play, play until you break down" "Odorou yo doro-darake Let's dance, covered in mud" "Mune o kogasu yoake yoake The dawn, the dawn that consumes your heart" "Cha pter Nineteen The Three Y u kiatsus" "Oh, right..." "I no longer have that sword..." "And this, too..." "I swear!" "The ground in Edo is so..." "What's this?" "What are you doing?" "!" "I am no longer Yukiatsu Ryudo." "Ryudo?" "The flesh from Ougu should still last for a while without drying." "When was the last time we obtained any Youi flesh?" "Come to think of it, there were too many people to get the mask Youi, and we had no time for it in Nikko either." "The Yoshiwara butterfly vanished somewhere, too." "This is our first catch in two months." "Better to do this now, before it spoils in this weather." "I burnt it a little, so..." "The flavor will come together better if we dry it." "A fine plan." "Some new way to apprehend criminals?" "Throwing money at Youi is quite a novel idea." "Are your wages not enough?" "!" "Are you in debt?" "!" "Damn you for causing me embarrassment!" "Huh?" "What are you talking about?" "That police hand showed up at the estate again!" "Ryudo ate food without paying for it?" "When he went in, it seems he clearly identified himself as Yukiatsu Ryudo." "I thought he was a rather young warrior, but..." "Young?" "He was a respectable two-sworded samurai, and in particular, his short sword was..." "Well, even to my non-warrior eye, the workmanship was of a rare caliber." "Two-sworded?" "Yes..." "But after he had eaten his fill of eel, just when I let him out of my sight for a moment..." "This is going to be a bit troublesome." "I gave up on the incident from fifteen years ago, because there would be no reward, but this time..." "But Ryudo does not carry any swords." "Still, I can't imagine the name Yukiatsu Ryudo is all that common." "Ryudo has been here all morning." "I am certain." "It's a completely unwarranted accusation." "Then, just who is it that identified himself as you and gobbled up seven whole eels?" "!" "No idea." "Is this about the imposter Yukiatsu?" "The man I saw just earlier seems to fit the bill." "Just how is he related to you?" "That, of all things, I have no idea." "Eel" "Eel A child?" "!" "Yes, he was a child warrior of ten years or thereabouts." "So, this child identified himself as Yukiatsu Ryudo?" "Yes, did I not mention that?" "I need to get back." "I told you." "It's just around the corner." "I don't want any ornamental hairpins." "I have to get back before we open." "Don't say that." "Hey, hold it." "Are you the child of a warrior?" "What's this?" "Wearing swords not fitting of your stature..." "To be sure, I am a warrior." "I see." "If you are a warrior child, surely you have words of apology." "You would splash us with mud and leave without a word?" "A warrior running is evidence of an emergency to begin with." "Were you not taught that you are not to run needlessly in normal times, for it will alarm the townspeople?" "Is that true?" "Yukiatsu runs all the time..." "Hell if I know." "My old man just bought the title from a fire brigade constable." "He used to be a rice merchant." "You'd..." "No, you would accuse me of being ignorant of the warrior's code?" "What's wrong?" "Bow your head humbly and apologize." "Do so and we will forgive you." "A warrior does not bow his head!" "He only bows his head to express his loyalty." "Brat..." "My name is Yukiatsu Ryudo." "Draw!" "Kyousai!" "Say, you guys, drawing your sword against a kid is..." "Do not interfere." "This is a duel between warriors." "I never intended that!" "I did not draw!" "My sword just..." "My sword just acted on its own..." "You stop this, too!" "What is this about calling yourself Ryudo?" "Here I go!" "What the heck?" "!" "A Youi?" "!" "That is..." "Hey!" "Kyousai!" "Hey!" "Kyousai!" "What's wrong?" "That kid is a Youi, probably." "That child's axe..." "It was the same as Yukiatsu's." "And his name was the same, too." "He was saying strange things." "Something about no longer being Yukiatsu Ryudo." "This is something they say in the West." "They say you must never meet your other self, someone who is exactly the same as you, a shadow of yourself, if you will." "Why not?" "They say that if you meet that person, you will die." "Ryudo, your home is up this way, correct?" "I'll have you let me off here, after all." "What is wrong?" "According to the police hand's investigation, the only House by the name of Ryudo in all of Edo is your home." "They may have some idea of who might be identifying himself as you." "I can't go home." "Not after all this time." "Why not?" "!" "You are not a child." "To be afraid of your mother..." "But of course he must be afraid." "He has not been home in twenty-five years." "Who knows if his parents are even alive?" "What if he really finds a Yukiatsu Ryudo there?" "Yeah, that occurred to me too." "The real Master Yukiatsu is still the warrior at home even now..." "While I am something like Kumoshichi..." "There they are, at it again in the middle of the city..." "Yukiatsu, I have something to ask you!" "Atl, what's the matter?" "Yukiatsu, do you have any children?" "What?" "Huh?" "So now, we have a child Yukiatsu." "That is not the same Yukiatsu that Saizo and I have encountered." "The man was apparently a samurai about thirty years of age." "The man you and I encountered, and a child of about ten..." "How many Yukiatsu Ryudos are there?" "The eel incident might have been the child." "That will be easy enough to find out if we just nab him." "Let's go, Atl." "Hey, what about your home?" "The brat comes first." "I am going too!" "Pardon." "The Office of Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement?" "I have never heard of such an office..." "It was newly established at the beginning of this year, with Finance Magistrate Lord Atobe of Noto's support." "To be sure, Master Yukiatsu Ryudo is the present head of this House." "Has something happened to Master Yukiatsu?" "So he exists?" "Another Yukiatsu Ryudo?" "In this house?" "Another?" "I believe Yukiatsu Ryudo ran away about 25 years ago, or so we heard." "Being officials, you must know." "We did file the adoption notice." "Adoption?" "Why did you leave your home?" "Is there a reason you cannot go back?" "It happened when I was about twelve." "Mother..." "I apologize for my carelessness." "Souya, enough, stop going to the training hall." "What?" "This house only has one child, you." "If..." "If something should happen to you, who would carry on the Ryudo House?" "Father, as a warrior house, and a vassal of the Shogun at that, in times of need, it is our lot to fight for the House of Tokugawa." "Learning the way of the sword comes first and foremost, does it not?" "!" "Wielding swords can be left to the retainers, the common soldiers." "It is as Toku says." "Generation after generation, the Ryudo House has served the Shogunate as scholars." "You, too, must learn the contents of every book here before you turn 15, and receive Rector Jussai Hayashi's approval, so that you may become a preceptor at Yushima Temple." "Father, I enjoy swordsmanship!" "Souya..." "Then what of the scholarly pursuit" "long cherished and upheld by the Ryudo House?" "You would abandon it?" "It was then that it finally struck me." "Analects of Confucius" "Analects of Confucius Up until then, I thought tomorrow held unknown possibilities." "Analects of Confucius Even though the world was then at peace," "Even though the world was then at peace, if war broke out, my sword would become necessary." "Such were my thoughts." "But never mind tomorrow..." "I was to follow my father, enter the Shogun's service, marry, have children, then in turn, pass down our scholarly tradition to my children, and die." "I was not alone in that." "That holds true for every warrior." "Yes, the House is everything for the warrior." "Protect the House and pass down the hereditary stipend." "What if you grow weary of it?" "You would lose both your home and your livelihood." "It would be different if you sold your title to a merchant, but that kind of money would be gone in no time." "The idea that everything beyond tomorrow and onwards was set seemed very strange to me." "The short sword that marks the head of the Ryudo House, handed down through the generations..." "What is it here for?" "Father should have no need of this short sword..." "In which case, I shall take it." "But where?" "Oh, where to?" "Souya, your meal..." "Souya?" "Souya!" "I don't remember what I saw in the Other World." "Mistress!" "Mistress!" "Souya!" "Souya!" "It had been a year since I disappeared." "Souya..." "It had been a year since I disappeared." "It had been a year since I disappeared." "Even though it was only an instant for me, the Other World had held me captive for a whole year." "After that, my mother never let me out of her sight." "That is only natural." "I found it stifling." "If the Other World came for me again," "I would be very frightened, but I would be unable to resist it." "I felt I'd summon the Other World again if I remained in that house." "If you had wished it, it would surely have come." "At fifteen, on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony," "I put my hair in a topknot and received my name from my father." "That was the last thing I received from my father." "That night, I left the house and never returned." "Enough already!" "Who the hell are you?" "!" "Are you really Yukiatsu Ryudo?" "I am." "No, you're not." "You're a Youi!" "I thought as much." "You saw, didn't you?" "!" "This is a Youi playing as an imposter of you!" "I see, a Youi." "I am Yukiatsu Ryudo!" "Where did you get that sword?" "It was given to me along with the name." "Huh?" "What do you mean?" "That was..." "He said, "The name of Yukiatsu Ryudo, which is too weighty for me to bear," ""and this short sword..." "If you want them, you can have them."" "That was what he said?" "I've always wanted to be a warrior!" "I believed that I'd become one!" "So surely, the Buddha had seen fit to..." "I obtained a cheap sword at a secondhand shop to make a set, and I became a warrior!" "Having become a warrior, you went and ate eel without paying for it?" "!" "I too am Yukiatsu Ryudo." "What is your real name?" "Toshizo..." "It's Toshizo Hijikata." "At any rate, I'm going to have you return that short sword." "What?" "!" "Kanashi" "A Youi?" "!" "The same battleaxe?" "!" "He disappeared..." "A Youi... in the sword belonging to the Ryudo House?" "Maejima Temple" "Maejima Temple With regards to the Ryudo House, which had lost its heir," "With regards to the Ryudo House, which had lost its heir, they adopted a son from some people they knew and made him the heir." "And it seems they renamed the adopted son Yukiatsu Ryudo as well." "Such a simple thing when you find out the truth." "He is no shadow of mine, nor a monster." "A completely respectable Master Ryudo Yukiatsu, an adopted son, was now head of the House." "It appears this adopted son has not returned to the estate since the day before yesterday." "Then, that would mean it was the adopted son who gave the heirloom short sword and his name to this Toshizo boy." "What is happening?" "Once, long ago, you were spirited away to the Other World." "Twenty-five years later, an adopted son by the same name disappears, and furthermore, a child is going around turning swords into Youi." "It is as if the curse of the Other World that began with Yukiatsu has made the House of Ryudo go awry." "Hey, Ryudo..." "Saizo?" "We ironed it out." "Though it is cotton." "You're returning to your House after twenty-five years, right?" "Go dressed properly." "Or it will shame the Ayashi..." "shame the Boss." "How did you know I would be returning home?" "They adopted a son because you left the House." "Having heard that something has gone awry with him, you are not the sort who can let things lie." "You were merely looking for an excuse to return home." "Abi and I will take care of the child Yukiatsu." "The character for "shi" in "bushi", meaning "warrior", refers to a small battleaxe wielded by those who served the king, but..." "Where is the source of the Youi?" "The adopted son who has disappeared?" "Or the child?" "Or could it be something that Ryudo brought back?" "Yukiatsu." "Shi!" "So your name is Samurai!" "I'll be a samurai, too!" "A true warrior!" "Mado no soto no sora o mitara Outside my window, looking at the sky" "Kumo ga haato no katachi ni mieta yo The clouds looked like they were in the shape of a heart" "Iki o ookiku suikome ba If you take in a deep breath" "Kokoro ga ookiku natta ki ga suru ne It makes you feel like your heart's grown bigger, doesn't it?" "Ai to wa nanika?" "What is love?" "Nante kono toshi ja wakaru wake nai kedo There's no way I'd know that at my age" "Itsu no hi ka wakaru toki ga kuru no kana I wonder if there'll come a day when I do know" "Mado kara mieru ki no eda mo ha mo Outside my window, I can see tree branches and leaves" "Mainichi mainichi nobite-iru yo And they grow every day, day after day" "Kore kara mo nobite-iku yo ne They'll continue to grow from now on too, won't they?" "Konna toki ni wa konna uta ga niau At times like this, a song like this is just the thing" "Jibun no ima omou kimochi o kuchizusame Sing whatever you're feeling right now" "Aishite-iru to iu suteki ni hibiku kotoba ga The words "I love you" have such a wonderful ring to them" "Mirai ni iru jibun o kitto ima no nanbai mo ookiku Surely they'll make my future self many times greater" "Yasashiku sasete kureru no kamo shirenai Maybe many times kinder than I am today" "Preview" "Preview An eternal doze, similar to the Other World..." "An eternal doze, similar to the Other World..." "Warm and gentle, it envelopes all." "But it is a sweet place that will never be again." "That place is atop a mother's lap." "Next Time Cha pter Twenty Shinobazu Pond Lullaby That place is atop a mother's lap." "Next Time Chapter Twenty Shinobazu Pond Lullaby" "Next Time Chapter Twenty Shinobazu Pond Lullaby Chapter Twenty." "Shinobazu Pond Lullaby."