The First News of Summer [Plot/Event/Kina]

Sitting high above Kina’s capital lay the great palace of the Hinamoto clan. A den of wolves vying for the attention of their pack’s leader, it was both an object of respect for the common folk and an object of scorn for the nobles. But what lay at its heart was the most stunning display that one might ever view. A vaulting ceiling decorated with rich gemstones housed a magnificent hall with walls painted with traditional calligraphy and columns made from ivory. But what was most stunning of all these beauties was the throne that dominated the centre and the man who sat upon it. Dressed in golden robes, the same shining colour as his throne, sat Akihiko - the leader of all Kina. Well, he was not exactly sitting, so much as lounging about with his legs sprawled upon the arms of the throne. Though he was relaxed, he was not happy at all - that much was clear from the frown on his pretty face and the angry comments he hurled towards the foreign ambassador prostrating before him.

    “I knew those fuckers were plotting something when they suggested opening up the festival to outsiders, Kintaro! They just wanna hire some mercenaries for their dirty work! Plausible deniability, my ass. I know their handiwork when I see it, even if it was carried out by mercenaries. Do they think I’m fucking stupid? Cos I know they fucking are.”

    “Oh, venerable lord, I understand this vexes you so, but it would be wise not to insult the clans - especially with such vulgar language. Your mother did always say that foreign tutor was a bad influence on you.”

    “Kintaro.”

    “Yes, my liege?”

    “I know you mean well, but you gotta know when to keep quiet. My mother’s had her time, and now I’m here. I’ve got the weight of this country on my shoulders now, and that heavy burden is mine to bear - not hers, not yours, not theirs. Mine.”

    “I understand, my liege.”

    “They’re fuckers cos they’ve added to my burden - an extra and pointless weight that’s just hurting my shoulders. So if I wanna say they’re fuckers, it’s not your place to tell me otherwise, okay? But you’re right, it’s a waste of breath to insult them. Especially when we’ve got bigger issues to discuss.”

    A swift and unseen change swept about Akihiko’s person, as if the very air around him had become charged with majesty. Without moving a single hand, his entire being exuded the royal authority befitting his station. His relaxed posture, which had seemed the caricature of nonchalance, was suddenly the bearing of a king; his voice was no longer smooth and buttery, it now held the respect and attention of those who listened.

    “Update me on the current state of affairs regarding the clans.”

    “Indeed, my liege. The clans are beginning to form their own alliances, their hands forced by the aggressive actions of the Kogata. The Shikizui have remained neutral, their loyalty unwavering towards you and the Hinamoto. However, the Morihana have begun informal talks with the Kazeharu and the Toh behind closed doors, surely talks regarding an inevitable alliance. The Kogata have assimilated various branch clans and grown to a formidable size, but they remain alone.”

    “I’ve spent these past few years maintaining the delicate balance of power my mother left, as you well know. The hard work of reining in the clans and meeting their demands was taxing, but I believed that it would be well worth the effort. But their determined appeal to open the Kambutsu festival has broken the scales in two, leaving me to clean the mess left behind. That balance of power has gone, engulfed by the hungry mouths of our greedy clans.”

    “Those outsiders who happily go along with the outrageous actions of the clans can no longer be considered visitors or guests. They are accomplices complicit in their acts of treason - and those who commit treason against the crown are my enemies."

    "No, not just my enemies, they are enemies of Kina itself!”

    Those powerful words rang out within the closed halls of the Hinamoto palace, unheard by the prying nobles outside. But they did ring in the open ears of someone else, deep within the cavernous rooms of the dead where the ancestors of those alive slept soundly in eternal slumber.

    “The leaders squabble amongst themselves while their mercenaries hatch their own plots. What a tragic and predictable turn of events! Uho ho ho!”

A cloud of smoke slithered around the hazy room, crawling around the figure of a woman bent over a shoji board. With her second exhale, the smoke wriggled through the byobu screen separating this sideroom from what seemed a much larger hall outside. As the smoke disappeared, this woman put aside her pipe into a case adorned with a green serpent curled eightfold, her mind suitably relieved of stress. Now free of the haze and smoke, the room revealed Fumiko - the Kogata daimyo.

    ”Our foreign employ have proven themselves invaluable, have they not?”

    She seemed to be conversing with someone seated behind the decorated byobu, but their figure was hard to discern. All that was visible on her side was the silhouette of a boyish figure.

     ”They not only accomplished our request with ease but also engineered a false narrative, leaving us with no small advantage. Without their efforts, the Kazeharu would not have turned towards us for protection against their alleged enemies in the Morihana. A pity we could not sway both to our side - but we need not call a premature jishogi.”

    ”I understand, milady, and apologise for questioning your judgement regarding those foreigners. I just cannot help but feel uneasy around them…”

    ”I hardly blame you, boy, for our poor island was once torn apart by Zounese invasions and some still distrust the Kou people. But that was the old Kina, weak and small, ruled by the same sort of fools as the Hinamoto prince who sits on the throne. He rejects the title of ‘shogun’ for fear of being associated with his failed predecessors, but he forgets that they are cut from the same cloth - the cloth of the samurai. The era of honour and glory is over - his mother Manami knew that well - and the clans can no longer be controlled by pen or blade, only fear and terror.”

    ”Mmm, that reminds me. What news of the other clans, the ones still clinging to that outdated idea of the samurai. Have they bent knee to the Kogata?”

    ”The Shikizui have remained loyal to the Hinamoto, credited to the efforts of some foreigners. However, the Morihana have also decided to join this alliance.”

    ”Ah, yes, no doubt from their newfound animosity towards the Kazeharu. But what of the Toh, have they agreed to our terms?”

    ”The Toh previously entered a compliance treaty with the Kazeharu, therefore they will also join our alliance and the subsequent terms.”

    Smiling gently, Fumiko turned to the forgotten shogi board behind her, a mess of confused tiles. But gradually, that chaotic game transformed into an ordered and meaningful display. A display that no strategist could mistake.

    “Mmm, so the two sides are set and the tiles spread. But will the Hinamoto prince’s new ryuo stand firm, or shall both my ryume capture them first?”

Lying deep within the cradle of Kazeharu land was a large castle, used nowadays as a conference hall due to its safe position. Seated at a varnished wooden table inside were six individuals, three of them sporting black and crimson clothes and the others dressed in white and navy robes. The former group was formed from Toh officials - the leader Tobi, his minister Genjiro and trusted bodyguard Yoshi - and the Kazeharu leader Ichika, her brother Ichiro and their father Ichigo made up the latter group. While Ichigo and Genjiro were engaged in a simple discussion of domestic matters, Tobi and Ichika took this rare opportunity to snatch a few breaths of small talk - their cheeks blushing red as they chatted - as Yoshi and Ichiro silently eyed the other up. Noticing that the two leaders were not fully paying attention to these matters - or rather that they were paying too much attention upon each other - Ichigo tapped his sake cup upon the table and cleared his throat loudly,

    "This is hardly the time for flirting, Ichika. We’ve a more pressing matter at hand!"

    "Father, I was not flirting! But yes, yes, there is indeed a more pressing matter, I know."

    "Which side should we ally with now?"

    "Hmm, do we change to the Hinamoto prince or stay with the Kogata folk? Neither side is an ideal choice, but we can only choose what we have and not what we want."

    It was Tobi who continued, his usual theatrics toned down and replaced with a calmer tone. It was evident that he was restraining himself as he reminisced upon earlier days.

    "Well, I know Akihiko well - my father taught him swordsmanship. He is skilled, both in battle and at diplomacy, and values Kina above all else. If he were not leader of the Hinamoto, I believe we could even call ourselves brothers…"

    "But he is exactly that… His reign embodies those problems which the Hinamoto will never fix. They concern themselves with the capital alone, ignoring the troubles besetting their vassals. Bandits roam, crime thrives and crops wither but the Hinamoto stay cooped in their palace like chickens. How can we ally with the very clan who have shut their ears to our peoples’ cries and fattened themselves with our hard-earned grain… The very clan I swore to overthrow?"

    "But the other side is... the Kogata."

    "Pah! Those cretins don’t deserve their standing. They’re simply a band of villains with titles - thieves and slavers dressed as samurai. I don’t trust them at all."

    "They have never been trusted, Genjiro, and I believe they never will be. My father was double-crossed by Koga Minamoto back in his day and Fumiko has double-crossed me during mine. They do not trust anybody and nobody trusts them."

    "But their forces keep growing stronger, don’t they? Isn’t that enough for us to tolerate them, even if we cannot trust them. They must have enough manpower and grain to feed the island tenfold."

    "Manpower and grain gained by what methods, Ichiro, and hoarded where? If they have that much grain, why not share?"

    "Because they are villains, that’s why!"

    "While i would not word it exactly like that, I agree. I doubt they will ever share their grain nor do I think we would want to share in it."

    "I definitely don’t doubt where their manpower comes from…"

    "But that leaves us nowhere better than we were before. Either we side with the same corrupt clan we have always lived under or invite in an entirely new kind of corruption."

    Then Ichika and Tobi shared a look, a bold one, their faces filling with hope and brilliance. It looked as though some great idea had suddenly dawned on them, shining inspiration upon their minds.

    'There’s always a third option...'

For the superstitious layfolk of Kina, if you saw four fires burning outside your home, it was a sign of ill things to come. But the elderly Morihana Abe smiled as he looked out a window and caught sight of four fires burning outside; for him they were the signals for a new and better future.

    “It is time the gates are opened and the old guard leave their posts! That Fumiko bet everything upon her game, and we shall all share in her winnings - all but the Hinamoto prince and his lap dogs.”

    His son Jin knelt opposite him, his face not even entertaining even the slightest hint of a smile. He did not join his father’s gaze towards the fireworks in the sky, but stared at the sealed document held in his hand. Its lip was emblazoned with a red lotus - a symbol he had not seen before but had certainly heard about. It was a symbol of bad omens.

    “Have you not considered that those gates were closed for a reason? Did you not wonder what could be hidden behind those bars?”

    “What else could they hide but power and luxury?”

    “Or could they be the bars of a prison?”

---

    Within the great hall of the Hinamoto palace, profanities echoed throughout the decorated walls. Venting the frustrations he could not display anywhere else, Akihiko shouted his anger into the empty room where only the paintings would hear his thoughts. Well, the paintings and the unlucky Kintaro, whose sole job seemed to be relating bad news nowadays.

    “I apologise, but there is no better way I can say it…”

    “But how the fuck could this have happened?!”

    “How could the Kogata have reduced our country’s most important fort into such a fucking mess of blood and guts…”

    His eyes burning a sinister green, Akihito attempted to swallow his furious words but his tongue would not let him. There was no calming him once he had been pushed this far. No demon could hold him back - they would fall along with him.

    “That bitch and her shitty toys from the outside have taken it too far… They trash our proposed underground railroad for delivering goods to Yutaro harbour. Then they fucking murder the last two masters of the Yu-Are school, the oldest living martial art in Kina. Now they turn our trade checkpoint into that sick crap...”

    “What sorta piece of shit would do that?!”

    “What sick fuck would do any of that?!”

---

    Deep within the corridors of the Kazeharu’s castle, Ichika and her father were preparing for the upcoming journey for the summit. But they were not sitting at their usual low-legged table but standing in a small dressing-room whilst the young leader was fitted in the latest fashion. The Hinamoto capital was renowned for its taste and its focus on style - those who survived in the prince’s court were the ones that kept up with the recent trends. With this in mind, Ichika had hired a delightful seamstress from the geisha themselves and received the most gorgeous dress that she had ever worn, a compliment she had paid the woman and her work many times over. She may have been the youngest successor to her title but this dress had given her an unmistakeable air of maturity - and there was no doubting that she was the head of the Kazeharu clan.

    “You’ve certainly grown these past few years, Ichika…”

    “Father, I’m only leaving for a week at most, there’s no need to worry.”

    “No, no, you’re right. It’s a silly thing we parents do, this worrying, isn’t it? It feels like I’ve spent half my life worrying over all of you…”

    “I mean it, father - I’ll be fine.”

    “Of course you will be. Just stay strong and stand for what is right. Like you always do. Like any true head of the Kazeharu would do. Like your mother would do…”

    “Don’t worry, father. I’ll attend the summit along with Tobi and when we get back…”

    A full-red blush overtook her cheeks as her words trailed away into embarrassed silence. The sort of blush that only a woman madly in love could ever achieve - that cherry red of romantic dreams - and which all men hope to one day receive.

    “We’ll finally have the wedding.”