Page 44 of Yoshi (Land of Jade & Fire #1)

Chapter 44

Kaneko

K azashita slammed the door behind us as we stumbled into Irie’s shop, the force rattling the shelves. My breath came fast, my pulse thrumming from the encounter with the slavers.

“Kaneko, that was reckless,” Kazashita snapped.

I wheeled on him, anger and adrenaline warring in my chest. “I grew up with Kibo. She’s Yoshi’s—our Daimyo ’s daughter. I couldn’t just stand there and—”

“You could have walked away. And you should have.” His voice was like iron, unyielding, edged with something dangerously close to fear. “Those men will go back to whatever filth-ridden camp they crawled out of and talk. They will talk about you . I cannot protect you if a dozen wakō decide to come crashing through this door.” He gestured wildly to the room, his eyes blazing. “Do you know what they would do to you? Or to Irie? She has been hiding you. Even if you escape, they might take their anger out on her.”

Irie, ever calm, stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. I barely registered the touch, as my mind reeled against Kazashita’s words. He was right. I had put her in danger. I clenched my fists, my body rigid with guilt.

“I’m sorry, Irie,” I muttered. “I would never bring harm to you, but Kibo—”

“Kaneko, enough!” I shrank back at Kazashita’s uncharacteristic ire.

“Kazi, calm yourself,” Irie said, her voice low, soothing. She reached out to him, but he jerked away, pacing the small room like a caged beast.

“No! I will not be calm, not after everything I have done to keep Kaneko safe.” He stepped back, avoiding her touch.

A bitter laugh tore from my lips. “You call tearing me from my family and sailing halfway across the Empire protection?”

“I saved you from certain death—or worse. On the ship, so many times—”

“I understand perfectly well. You saved me for yourself.”

Kazashita gaped.

“Kaneko—” Irie freed her arms.

I stuck my chin out defiantly until Kazashita’s eyes dropped to the floor.

“I have never laid a hand on you and never would.” Kazashita’s voice was barely a whisper. “Believe what you will, but I have protected you and your honor as best I could.”

My anger eased a bit. “Why?”

Kazashita met my eyes. “I . . . Kaneko . . . because I . . . because it was the right thing to do.”

Silence stretched between us, heavy with unsaid things. I had never seen Kazashita at a loss for words. He was always self-assured, commanding, so damned unshakable. And yet, there he stood, unable to form a sentence, unable to meet my gaze for longer than a heartbeat.

Irie cleared her throat. “I think I’d like some tea. Yes, tea would be nice. Would you like some? Either of you? Of course, you would. I’ll go make us some.” Her babbling dimmed as she shuffled to the back, leaving us alone.

I stared after the old woman, torn between amusement at her discomfort and confusion over the pendulum of emotions that was Kazashita. One moment, he was my captor, the next, a protective brother—now what? What was he trying to say?

“I’m sorry, Kaneko.” Kazashita’s voice brought me back to the present. “I was just . . . afraid.”

“You?” My brows rose. “Afraid?”

“Not for me.” He nodded. “For what those men might do to you. I don’t think I could forgive myself if harm came to you.”

“Kazashita—”

He stepped toward me. “Kaneko, I was never your jailor, only a man trapped in service to the one who captured you.”

I rolled my eyes and grunted at his feigned innocence.

He took another step. “I am serious. Our time together on the ship . . . and in the jungle—”

“Running from savages bent on rape and murder? Fellow pirates? Your brothers?” I folded my arms.

“Yes, we were running from a danger I helped put you in. That is true.” He held up both palms. “But since then, or maybe because of that time together, I have come to know—”

“Tea’s ready,” Irie’s voice sliced through whatever Kazashita had hoped to string together. The old woman tottered into the room bearing a tray with three small bowls and a pitcher.

I quickly turned and gripped the tray. “Let me help you, Irie.”

She gave me a knowing grin and released the tray. Aromatic steam curled upward as I filled each bowl. We sipped in silence for what felt like an eternity before Kazashita ventured to speak again.

“We need to leave the island sooner than I had planned,” he said. “Those men might not have recognized you, but if they did, we will have more company than we can handle, and soon.”

I stared at the tea swirling in my bowl. Only days earlier, all I wanted was to flee the island, to find some way back to Yoshi, my family, and my home. Sitting in Irie’s shop after a close encounter with my childhood friend who would likely soon be sold to gods knew who, leaving felt like abandoning something important.

And the conversation Irie interrupted hadn’t helped clear my thoughts, either. What the hell had that been? What was Kazashita trying to say? Every time I looked at the man, my mind screamed to run, to find some safe place to hide.

But my heart . . .

I didn’t want to hear its whispers. Yoshi and I had only been apart for, what, a month, two? And already I was looking at another man? Who does that? What kind of vile, disloyal serpent was I becoming?

“How?” tumbled out. Kazashita and Irie were staring at me when I finally looked up. “How will we get away? You’ve been trying for weeks to find passage without success.”

Kazashita ran a hand over his head. A lock of inky hair had freed itself from his topknot and fell across his forehead. My hand shot out to push it back, but I caught myself before it reached his personal space, before Kazashita noticed.

Irie’s mouth quirked upward. There was no hiding beneath her gaze.

“I will find a way,” he declared, then rose suddenly. “Bar the door while I am gone. Open it for no one.”

He vanished without another word.

Irie let out a long sigh. “If I was young, I wouldn’t have let that man walk out of here.”

“Irie?” I coughed on a sip of tea.

The old woman grinned. “You are young. You could find a reason to keep him here, could you not?”

My eyes widened as I realized Irie had missed nothing. “I . . . he’s . . . I mean . . . Kazashita is fine . . . as far as wakō go.” I stood and grabbed Irie’s empty bowl and headed toward the back of the shop.

“He was captured, too, you know.”

I froze in the doorway.

It took a long moment to turn and ask, “Really?”

Irie nodded. “He was a boy no older than six, if memory serves. His family lived on the mainland near Suwa Temple.”

“Suwa? In Toshi lands? There aren’t any villages near there.” I returned to my mat beside Irie and sat with the empty tea bowls cradled in my lap.

Irie nodded. “He wasn’t from a village. His father died when he was a babe. His mother served the brothers of the shrine. I think she washed clothing or cooked, perhaps both. She lived in a small hut a half ri from the shrine at the base of one of the mountains. Kazi played at the feet of the gods as a child.”

When I remained quiet, Irie continued. “The wakō were headed north to raid, but a storm blew them ashore near the temple. The monks used their magic to keep the pirates at bay, but Kazi’s mother had no such power. She was raped, then sliced open before his eyes.”

“Why did they take Kazashita? The wakō don’t let children live.”

“No, almost never.” Irie shook her head as she dabbed a cheek. “Children slow them down. I believe you met the man who became Kazi’s adopted father.”

My eyes scrunched as I thought, then widened. “The taichou ? Fujita Kichi? He didn’t look much older than Kazashita.”

Irie waved a hand and chuckled. “He’s only a few years younger than me.”

“Really?” I was stunned.

Irie nodded. “Kichi found Kazi at the center of a ring, surrounded by wakō . Their blades were pointed inward as the boy swung a toy sword defiantly about, threatening to stick anyone who came close, if you believe Kichi’s telling.”

I grinned despite the sadness of the story and its frightening similarity to my own. “That does sound like Kazashita.”

Irie smiled and nodded. “He is a good boy.”

“So, he stayed with Kichi—”

“Because he didn’t have anywhere else to go, and because they would have killed him if he hadn’t. He was lucky the taichou saved his life—and he knew it.”

“And years later, he found me surrounded by swords.”

“The gods have a strange sense of humor.” Irie shrugged and braced herself against my shoulder to stand. “Now, let’s get those bowls cleaned and get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

I rose and began to follow, but a clamor outside pulled me up short. I remembered Kazashita’s words to bar the door and saw that Irie had forgotten to do so.

I only made it two steps before the door flew open, and a pair of burly men wielding katana barged in. The bowls I carried shattered against the hard floor as I jumped back and shouted.

“Kaneko?” Irie called from the back.

“Irie, run!” I called as strong hands wrapped around my arm. “Go!”

The old woman’s face appeared in the opening, then vanished as she fled.

The pirate not holding me started after her, but the other barked, “Let her go. This is the one she wants.”

I whirled about and slammed a fist into the side of my attacker, but it felt like I’d struck stone. The thickly muscled brute laughed and squeezed my arm tighter.

“You’re coming with us, boy. I don’t care if you’re awake or not, so hit me again and see how that works out for you.”

I struggled, but the man was too strong. When the second wakō gripped my other arm, I knew struggling was useless.

They dragged me out into the road, where the night was thick, and heavy clouds obscured any light the moon goddess Tsukuyomi might shed. I shouted for help once, hoping Kazashita might still be nearby, but a sharp crack against the back of my head silenced further protests.

As the last of the night dimmed about me, I noticed a lone figure standing on the side of the road, watching the men drag me away.

Taira glared with the sneer of a scorned woman who’d just won her revenge.