Chapter 2 - 14 Years ago
Submitted January 30, 2009 Updated October 19, 2015 Status Incomplete | It's been 10 years since Kaede last saw Samanosuke. Now that they've been reunited, neither of them wishes to waste any more time about their feelings for each other. Takes place after Onimusha: Blade Warriors in story-mode.
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Chapter 2 - 14 Years ago
Chapter 2 - 14 Years ago
1557
Taking the advice from his uncle, Akechi Mitsuhide, Samanosuke had been traveling all around Japan for months and was planning on traveling to Korea, China, Mongolia, India and elsewhere. While staying in a small abandon house, a young 20-year-old Samanosuke was approached by a young female Ninja just outside the door, she had very short hair, she wasn’t wearing a mask, she had on a short dark gray tunic, a wide dark blue obi belt, long dark brown Ninja tabi boots that almost went up to her thighs and a red tattoo symbol on her left and possibly right thigh.
“Samanosuke Akechi?” Shouted the young woman. Nodding his head and with a straight unemotional heavy toned voice answered, “Yes… and who are you?” The young woman got down on her knees and bowed her head. She had laid down her weapons in front of her, her long knife and all of her kunai throwing knifes. Raising her head up she stated, “I come to you unarmed and in peace.” Samanosuke took a step forwarded. “In peace?” “Yes, I am Kaede of the Iga Ninja clan… I was sent here to assassinate you.” Samanosuke garbs his sword but doesn’t unsheathe it; his eyes and head sift left and right, scanning the area. Kaede raises her hands up, “As I said… I come in peace and I am alone! I have laid down my arms for you to see! To show you that I am unarmed and as you can see, I have also unmasked myself.”
With his left hand still holding his sword Samanosuke didn’t know what to make of this. “Why are you doing this?” “I must tell you something Samanosuke Akechi… even though I’ve been given orders to kill you……… I cannot go through with it.” With a questionable look on his face he asked, “Why is that?” “I have observed your actions for several weeks, almost a month. My clan told me that you were an evil that had to be killed. But I cannot find any truth to that claim.” As Kaede continued her eyes shifted to the ground, “You see… I thought the clan I belong too was out to do the right thing, to kill those who are evil and who would do harm to others… but now… this lie they have made-up about you… I now have to question what I thought was true about the Iga.” Kaede then looked straight at Samanosuke. “You are a very good and just man… and I will not kill such a person.”
Samanosuke was taken back by everything she had said and he was nearly lost for words. He slightly lowered his voice to a gentler tone, “…Kaede…” It was the first time her heard Samanosuke say her name in such a way, “I’m deeply touched…I truly am.” But then he slightly deepened his voice to a more serious tone, “But you are from a Ninja clan that’s out to kill me and perhaps my uncle as well.” Samanosuke took his hand off his sword and put both his hands behind his back, “But the tone in your voice, the look in your eyes and face and even the slight movements that your body made when you spoke…I can very well see that you are telling the truth.” Kaede gave a small smile and bowed. “Thank you.” “Pick up your things Kaede, and come inside.”
Bring Kaede into his room, he then asked her to wait there. “I need to discuss a few things with some people and that will probably take about 20 minutes or so. I give you my word as a Samurai that I will not do anything too you, no harm will come to you. But promise me you’ll stay here until I come back.” Kaede nodded her. “I promise you I won’t leave.” Samanosuke nodded and headed to the nearest town.
As Kaede sat there and waited she began to wonder what she would do now. She was sure that Samanosuke just wanted to give her something and then have her be on her way, but after that, what then? She knew she couldn’t go back to her clan; she wasn’t going to commit hara-kiri for not completing her mission. No other Ninja clan would have her over this, she could only hide from them for so long and she also knew she couldn’t fight the whole Iga clan on her own. Then there was Samanosuke; she knew that they would simply send someone else to kill him.
20 minutes later Samanosuke returned, Kaede noticed that he was carrying something wrapped in a blanket. “What’s that?” She asked. “I’ll tell you in a moment. First there’s something I must ask you.” “What is it?” “Well… I’m going to come right out and say it… I have given this some thought … well a quick thought… but would you come with me and……… became my partner?” Kaede was completely taken back; she couldn’t believe what Samanosuke had just asked her, “You want me to come with you and fight by your side? Just like that?” He nodded his head, “That’s right.” “But why? I mean… I was sent to kill you.” “Yes, but you chose not to. I respect the decision you made and I thought it was very brave of you to come and tell me this.” Now Kaede was lost for words. She looked down at her hands as she tried to hide the fact that for the first time in her young life, she was slightly blushing.
For almost a whole minute there was silence between the two until Kaede finally spoke, “Samanosuke… I… I don’t know.” Samanosuke folded his arms. “I assume you cannot go back to the Iga, that they will come after you as well for not completing your mission?” Kaede nodded.
He leaned forwarded, “Well… we can face them together.” “I don’t understand,” said Kaede, “how have you come to trust me? You’re putting your life at risk by having me become your partner.” Samanosuke shook his head, “I don’t see it that way… you see… when I put on this armor, when I carry this sword and the unknown lands I will be traveling too… I’m putting my life into my hands every single day. I am not afraid of death. With you by my side the Iga will be no match for us. But it’s not just that… I am of course young and inexperience but I have seen much evil, hatred, arrogance and ignorance. I’ve seen people kill others when given ordered too but for the most idiotic reasons or for no reasons at all. But you, like me are the opposite of that… and from what I’ve seen so far that is a very rare thing in this world. I don’t know if I’ll ever meet someone like you again. Either you have given the performance of a lifetime and you are lying and waiting to kill to me……… or you truly meant what you said and if you did… then I ask you again to come with me… maybe… maybe somewhere out there we can find a cause worth fighting and dying for.” After a long pause Kaede bows her head, “… all right… I’ll come… thank you…”
Samanosuke leaned forwarded and with his right arm he gently lefts up Kaede’s head with his hand on her chin, it was the first time she felt his gently touch. “Kaede… you never have to bow to me. Don’t think of me as your master, were equals, think of me now as your partner… and then hopefully… a friend.” Kaede nodded her head.
She then pointed to the wrapped blanket, “So, what did you bring?” “Oh, right… well since the Iga will be looking for us and your tunic is a bit reveling, so…” Samanosuke pulled out two dark blue kimonos, dark gay hakama pants and two Ronin-Gasa straw rice hats to hide their appearance. Kaede bows her head and thanked Samanosuke again, but she then remembered that he didn’t want her to bow to him, “Oh, I’m sorry!” He gave a small laugh, “Hehehe! Oh, that’s all right. I’m not going to get mad, an occasional bow will be alright.” Once again it was the first time she heard his laughter. “If anyone asks about you Kaede, we’ll just say that you’re a female Samurai.” “Female Samurai?” Question Kaede, “Are there women Samurai?” “A few,” Samanosuke answered, “but their mostly sword instructors. But once were out of Japan it won’t matter, we’ll make up something else.”
Samanosuke could see that the sun was setting. “It’s getting late, we’ll stay her for the night and begin are journey tomorrow.” Samanosuke then gave the blanket for Kaede, “Thank you again Samanosuke, but what about you, you don’t have anything to sleep on.” “I’ll be fine.”
“Samanosuke can I ask you something?” He nodded his head, “Do you find it difficult being a Samurai?” “I assume your asking because of what has happen to you?” She nodded her head to his question, it was clear to Samanosuke that she wanted to know that she wasn’t the only one to feel this way. As he answered his voice became deeper and somber, “Well then yes I do, being a Samurai is to serve your master till the very end and to do whatever they say… and… I found that very difficult to do. But fortunately my uncle has been fair and kind to me. We can talk more about this or anything you want later, but now get some sleep.”
10 minutes later
As Kaede slept Samanosuke began to wonder why the Iga clan wanted him dead. He held no top rank, he was not a Lieutenant or a Captain or a General or some type of top warrior or even an adviser to Mitsuhide. He was just a simply Samurai, he wasn’t apart of Mitsuhide’s army, he was his own man. What would the Iga clan gain by killing him? Was it just that he was related to Akechi Mitsuhide? Did they really want him dead so much that they would makeup lies about him? Did someone else want him dead and the Iga where doing someone else’s dirty work? Or did the Iga clan truly believe him to be evil?
The next day and beyond
After the two decided to become partners they both traveled together across Asia and elsewhere. Samanosuke even wrote a letter to his cousin Yuki about traveling to see the world with a female Ninja. “Where will we be going?” Asked Kaede as they boarded a ship heading west, “Korea first, then China and north to Mongolia. We’ll then go back to China and head southwest into India, then east to Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, head southeast to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Continue southeast into the Philippines, maybe we’ll go south to Indonesia or north to Taiwan and then back to Japan. Well that’s the plan, but we’ll see what happens.”
The first few weeks traveling and working together were pretty straightforward, trust had to be established and that was going to take time. But within those first few weeks a strong bond between the two had formed, one that would only grow and grow for the next 4 years.
Unknown to them, the Oni gods were watching them, as they watch many people to possible become future Onimusha, but they were of course observing Samanosuke since this was an important day in his life, he had shown great compassion to Kaede and for the Oni gods, it was one of the deciding reasons for which he would be chosen.
To Be Continued
Arthur’s Note: “When it comes to why Kaede was sent to kill Samanosuke, why she didn’t and how and why she become his partner……… that was never answered in the games, so I thought about it for awhile and came up with this… but I’m not a 100% satisfied with the way it came out, it feels rushed with how they met and became partners, so I’ll probably go back and rewrite a few things.
I’m hoping that one day they will answer those questions in a book or a comic book or in a graphic novel that are canon for background information and show what we didn’t see with the characters, what the games didn’t have time for. Although I can’t really think of that many good video game books or comic books that were well written.”
Taking the advice from his uncle, Akechi Mitsuhide, Samanosuke had been traveling all around Japan for months and was planning on traveling to Korea, China, Mongolia, India and elsewhere. While staying in a small abandon house, a young 20-year-old Samanosuke was approached by a young female Ninja just outside the door, she had very short hair, she wasn’t wearing a mask, she had on a short dark gray tunic, a wide dark blue obi belt, long dark brown Ninja tabi boots that almost went up to her thighs and a red tattoo symbol on her left and possibly right thigh.
“Samanosuke Akechi?” Shouted the young woman. Nodding his head and with a straight unemotional heavy toned voice answered, “Yes… and who are you?” The young woman got down on her knees and bowed her head. She had laid down her weapons in front of her, her long knife and all of her kunai throwing knifes. Raising her head up she stated, “I come to you unarmed and in peace.” Samanosuke took a step forwarded. “In peace?” “Yes, I am Kaede of the Iga Ninja clan… I was sent here to assassinate you.” Samanosuke garbs his sword but doesn’t unsheathe it; his eyes and head sift left and right, scanning the area. Kaede raises her hands up, “As I said… I come in peace and I am alone! I have laid down my arms for you to see! To show you that I am unarmed and as you can see, I have also unmasked myself.”
With his left hand still holding his sword Samanosuke didn’t know what to make of this. “Why are you doing this?” “I must tell you something Samanosuke Akechi… even though I’ve been given orders to kill you……… I cannot go through with it.” With a questionable look on his face he asked, “Why is that?” “I have observed your actions for several weeks, almost a month. My clan told me that you were an evil that had to be killed. But I cannot find any truth to that claim.” As Kaede continued her eyes shifted to the ground, “You see… I thought the clan I belong too was out to do the right thing, to kill those who are evil and who would do harm to others… but now… this lie they have made-up about you… I now have to question what I thought was true about the Iga.” Kaede then looked straight at Samanosuke. “You are a very good and just man… and I will not kill such a person.”
Samanosuke was taken back by everything she had said and he was nearly lost for words. He slightly lowered his voice to a gentler tone, “…Kaede…” It was the first time her heard Samanosuke say her name in such a way, “I’m deeply touched…I truly am.” But then he slightly deepened his voice to a more serious tone, “But you are from a Ninja clan that’s out to kill me and perhaps my uncle as well.” Samanosuke took his hand off his sword and put both his hands behind his back, “But the tone in your voice, the look in your eyes and face and even the slight movements that your body made when you spoke…I can very well see that you are telling the truth.” Kaede gave a small smile and bowed. “Thank you.” “Pick up your things Kaede, and come inside.”
Bring Kaede into his room, he then asked her to wait there. “I need to discuss a few things with some people and that will probably take about 20 minutes or so. I give you my word as a Samurai that I will not do anything too you, no harm will come to you. But promise me you’ll stay here until I come back.” Kaede nodded her. “I promise you I won’t leave.” Samanosuke nodded and headed to the nearest town.
As Kaede sat there and waited she began to wonder what she would do now. She was sure that Samanosuke just wanted to give her something and then have her be on her way, but after that, what then? She knew she couldn’t go back to her clan; she wasn’t going to commit hara-kiri for not completing her mission. No other Ninja clan would have her over this, she could only hide from them for so long and she also knew she couldn’t fight the whole Iga clan on her own. Then there was Samanosuke; she knew that they would simply send someone else to kill him.
20 minutes later Samanosuke returned, Kaede noticed that he was carrying something wrapped in a blanket. “What’s that?” She asked. “I’ll tell you in a moment. First there’s something I must ask you.” “What is it?” “Well… I’m going to come right out and say it… I have given this some thought … well a quick thought… but would you come with me and……… became my partner?” Kaede was completely taken back; she couldn’t believe what Samanosuke had just asked her, “You want me to come with you and fight by your side? Just like that?” He nodded his head, “That’s right.” “But why? I mean… I was sent to kill you.” “Yes, but you chose not to. I respect the decision you made and I thought it was very brave of you to come and tell me this.” Now Kaede was lost for words. She looked down at her hands as she tried to hide the fact that for the first time in her young life, she was slightly blushing.
For almost a whole minute there was silence between the two until Kaede finally spoke, “Samanosuke… I… I don’t know.” Samanosuke folded his arms. “I assume you cannot go back to the Iga, that they will come after you as well for not completing your mission?” Kaede nodded.
He leaned forwarded, “Well… we can face them together.” “I don’t understand,” said Kaede, “how have you come to trust me? You’re putting your life at risk by having me become your partner.” Samanosuke shook his head, “I don’t see it that way… you see… when I put on this armor, when I carry this sword and the unknown lands I will be traveling too… I’m putting my life into my hands every single day. I am not afraid of death. With you by my side the Iga will be no match for us. But it’s not just that… I am of course young and inexperience but I have seen much evil, hatred, arrogance and ignorance. I’ve seen people kill others when given ordered too but for the most idiotic reasons or for no reasons at all. But you, like me are the opposite of that… and from what I’ve seen so far that is a very rare thing in this world. I don’t know if I’ll ever meet someone like you again. Either you have given the performance of a lifetime and you are lying and waiting to kill to me……… or you truly meant what you said and if you did… then I ask you again to come with me… maybe… maybe somewhere out there we can find a cause worth fighting and dying for.” After a long pause Kaede bows her head, “… all right… I’ll come… thank you…”
Samanosuke leaned forwarded and with his right arm he gently lefts up Kaede’s head with his hand on her chin, it was the first time she felt his gently touch. “Kaede… you never have to bow to me. Don’t think of me as your master, were equals, think of me now as your partner… and then hopefully… a friend.” Kaede nodded her head.
She then pointed to the wrapped blanket, “So, what did you bring?” “Oh, right… well since the Iga will be looking for us and your tunic is a bit reveling, so…” Samanosuke pulled out two dark blue kimonos, dark gay hakama pants and two Ronin-Gasa straw rice hats to hide their appearance. Kaede bows her head and thanked Samanosuke again, but she then remembered that he didn’t want her to bow to him, “Oh, I’m sorry!” He gave a small laugh, “Hehehe! Oh, that’s all right. I’m not going to get mad, an occasional bow will be alright.” Once again it was the first time she heard his laughter. “If anyone asks about you Kaede, we’ll just say that you’re a female Samurai.” “Female Samurai?” Question Kaede, “Are there women Samurai?” “A few,” Samanosuke answered, “but their mostly sword instructors. But once were out of Japan it won’t matter, we’ll make up something else.”
Samanosuke could see that the sun was setting. “It’s getting late, we’ll stay her for the night and begin are journey tomorrow.” Samanosuke then gave the blanket for Kaede, “Thank you again Samanosuke, but what about you, you don’t have anything to sleep on.” “I’ll be fine.”
“Samanosuke can I ask you something?” He nodded his head, “Do you find it difficult being a Samurai?” “I assume your asking because of what has happen to you?” She nodded her head to his question, it was clear to Samanosuke that she wanted to know that she wasn’t the only one to feel this way. As he answered his voice became deeper and somber, “Well then yes I do, being a Samurai is to serve your master till the very end and to do whatever they say… and… I found that very difficult to do. But fortunately my uncle has been fair and kind to me. We can talk more about this or anything you want later, but now get some sleep.”
10 minutes later
As Kaede slept Samanosuke began to wonder why the Iga clan wanted him dead. He held no top rank, he was not a Lieutenant or a Captain or a General or some type of top warrior or even an adviser to Mitsuhide. He was just a simply Samurai, he wasn’t apart of Mitsuhide’s army, he was his own man. What would the Iga clan gain by killing him? Was it just that he was related to Akechi Mitsuhide? Did they really want him dead so much that they would makeup lies about him? Did someone else want him dead and the Iga where doing someone else’s dirty work? Or did the Iga clan truly believe him to be evil?
The next day and beyond
After the two decided to become partners they both traveled together across Asia and elsewhere. Samanosuke even wrote a letter to his cousin Yuki about traveling to see the world with a female Ninja. “Where will we be going?” Asked Kaede as they boarded a ship heading west, “Korea first, then China and north to Mongolia. We’ll then go back to China and head southwest into India, then east to Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, head southeast to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Continue southeast into the Philippines, maybe we’ll go south to Indonesia or north to Taiwan and then back to Japan. Well that’s the plan, but we’ll see what happens.”
The first few weeks traveling and working together were pretty straightforward, trust had to be established and that was going to take time. But within those first few weeks a strong bond between the two had formed, one that would only grow and grow for the next 4 years.
Unknown to them, the Oni gods were watching them, as they watch many people to possible become future Onimusha, but they were of course observing Samanosuke since this was an important day in his life, he had shown great compassion to Kaede and for the Oni gods, it was one of the deciding reasons for which he would be chosen.
To Be Continued
Arthur’s Note: “When it comes to why Kaede was sent to kill Samanosuke, why she didn’t and how and why she become his partner……… that was never answered in the games, so I thought about it for awhile and came up with this… but I’m not a 100% satisfied with the way it came out, it feels rushed with how they met and became partners, so I’ll probably go back and rewrite a few things.
I’m hoping that one day they will answer those questions in a book or a comic book or in a graphic novel that are canon for background information and show what we didn’t see with the characters, what the games didn’t have time for. Although I can’t really think of that many good video game books or comic books that were well written.”
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