"It seems that they're after something that could decode the language of the gods..", said a middle aged man in a white kimono and gold kabuto. A sense of inexplicable fear was seen in his blue eyes as he examined the images sent to him by Captain Yanagi's military unit from a week before. "The Orient is once again, illegally smuggling our resources, but I cannot turn a blind eye on this one anymore, especially that they seem to be working with Shirogane's Yakuza. How're our diplomatic relations with our great neighbor?"
Tension rose inside arguably Jihon's largest and most decorated room. Many images of familiar public figures from the past covered the walls. Gold, silver, and platinum figurines and weaponry stood silently unmoving for viewers to appreciate. For those who are ignorant of this place, it may have seemed like a regular historical exhibit. However, for the "Player Characters" who were dressed identically and masked, and currently on a single knee in front of their leader, this is the office of the most powerful man in their great nation.
"We are still under negotiations regarding a code of conduct on our seas..", replied one of the Oniwabanshu members. "Peaceful but fragile, Kaishin Shogun-sama."
Shogun Kaishin has always been regarded as a very patient and persevering leader. Despite having regular problems in governance when it comes to "NPC" hostility and rebellion, he often resorted to long term solutions rather than quick fixes. Due to this, it was under his term that some used to be hostile "NPCs", like Orcs and Nymphs, were welcomed into the gates of cities and towns for trading. With that, this so called "Kaishin Period" became a great age of commerce for Jihon.
However, there was one issue that frustrated the Shogun the most. Kaishin sighed in disappointment as he gestured towards his personal guard, the "Oniwabanshu". "And it seems we keep breaking it gradually. Did you know how many Orientals died in that confrontation in Minami? Sending their citizens back as relics won't do diplomacy any good."
The door of the Shogun's office opened slightly, and a beautiful silver haired woman in a cat suit entered. She kneeled and bowed shortly after. "May I interrupt, Kaishin-sama?"
"Oh, Mizuki-chan. It's you..", said Kaishin in surprise. "You were the one who delivered the rest of the evidence and interrogation report here, yes? You should've come straight to me."
Yoshiki Mizuki almost popped a vein with the way the shogun called her, but she kept it to herself instead since she was talking to her commander in chief. She just eventually resorted to a slight jab. "Well, your ninja guards are as boring as ever and wouldn't let me in, shogun-sama."
A droplet of sweat rolled over Kaishin's golden mask. "I'm sorry to hear that, Mizuki-chan. They're just following protocols."
"There's no need to apologize, Kaishin shogun-sama..", shot Yoshiki back in a sarcastic tone. "I am just a member of the 'Round Table'. I am nothing but a servant to you, Kaishin shogun-sama."
Every single member of the Oniwabanshu felt their leader's awkward chuckles and beads of cold sweat under that golden mask. It actually made them wonder if the shogun really was the nation's most powerful figure, or if it was his undisclosed wife or General Yoshiki. Because of that little altercation, Kaishin signaled his guards to give him and Yoshiki some time alone.
Right after the Oniwabanshu left the room, Yoshiki sat down on a chair in front of Kaishin's desk. "Seriously? If you call me '-chan' again in public, I'll strangle you in your sleep, Kaishin-kun!"
"You know you can't sneak into my bed in the middle of the night. My wife will kill us both..", replied Kaishin with another bead of sweat appearing on his kabuto.
Yoshiki looked at the shogun skeptically. "Or you're not actually Kaishin, and he failed to instruct you that little detail, huh? Let's have a look under that mask."
Kaishin backed down a little with his hands up in surrender. "We can't do that. It will lead to capital punishment when caught. It's really me, Mizuki-chan."
After giving Kaishin more looks of skepticism, Mizuki broke her gaze. She just simply pouted and blushed as old memories began to flood her thoughts with all the playfulness earlier. "This brings us way back, huh?"
"Yeah..", said Kaishin softly, almost whispering. "Sometimes, I do need a break from paperwork, you know."
As the two locked their eyes with each other, Mizuki continued to flush a little, but she smiled endearingly at her old friend. "Why'd you choose her, Kaishin-kun?"
Shogun Kaishin sighed at the thought of the many times Mizuki asked him that same question. However, even if no one could see, he flashed an eye closing smile at Mizuki. "There are no words in this world for it. It just struck me. She's simply an amazing woman."
Mizuki nodded while smiling. "You are Kaishin. Then, let me give you the full report, shogun-sama."
It was going to be a long morning in the shogun's office. Besides bringing about the series of unfortunate events of the Minami confrontation on the table, Mizuki's report was a summarized version of all the first years' quests from the previous week. And not only that, the other members of the "Round Table of Jihon" were also scheduled to give their insights about the quests from the other year levels and other military units. Fortunately, for Kaishin, it was just another day in the office.
In another room which was more cramped and littered with manga material all over the place somewhere in the city, young Erida Seijurou was not blessed with the same fortunate thinking. It had been a few days since the Minami incident, and all Seijurou did was lock up in his room to read manga, watch anime, and play video games up to the wee hours of the morning for consecutive nights. By letting his son get his well deserved rest and summer vacation from a quest, Kajiya simply granted him leave from the forge for a few days. But his activities for the past nights did not serve the sixteen year old well this morning.
"Erida-kun! Erida-kun!..", a familiarly perky voice caused Seijurou to slowly open his exhausted eyes. "Wake up, Erida-kun!"
Seeing Kinjou Satsuki's face up close got Seijurou standing on his bed abruptly, throwing his blanket aside. The gradually reddening and panicking face of his battle partner made him pale as he realized something grim. He was just wearing his short trousers.
Satsuki squealed in embarrassment and squatted in a corner while covering her eyes. She was "dangerously" turning as red as her hair. "No, I didn't see anything! Why the heck is it pointing upwards?! But I didn't see it! I swear!"
A flustered Seijurou hurriedly put his pants on along with the rest of his school's summer uniform. "It's because it's the morning, baka-ojou (stupid girl)! And why the hell are you in my room?!"
The squabble upstairs only made Kajiya chuckle to himself. It was as if he knew exactly what went on. So, he just continued his work on the forge.
As Seijurou looked at himself in the mirror while buttoning his shirt, a confused expression took over his face. He realized something was odd. "Kinjou, why are we in our uniforms?"
But Satsuki remained hiding in the corner as if she did not know if she should cover her ears or eyes. Seijurou proceeded to just tap her shoulder to get her attention, but she ended up squealing again to his surprise.
Upon realizing Seijurou was already dressed up, Satsuki revealed her madly blushing face and just giggled awkwardly. "Eh? What were you saying?"
Sighing in a bit of frustration, Seijurou shook his head. "Should we be in uniforms today?"
"If I told you no, will you dress up in front of me again?..", said Satsuki with a worried face as she slowly turned red again. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head slightly violently. "No, no! I can't get it out of my head!"
A droplet of sweat rolled on Seijurou's head. "Will you cut it out already and answer my question?"
Satsuki dropped her hands and smiled. "Hayama-sensei is calling for a class meeting, so as your partner and teammate, I'm fetching you."
"You could've just told oyaji..", Seijurou replied. "You didn't have to wake me up yourself."
Going towards the doorway, Satsuki led Seijurou out. "Kajiya-ji said to go straight to you since he was busy."
"Tsk, that ossan..", sneered Seijurou as he followed Satsuki outside and downstairs. Wondering at first, he thought what could possibly be the meeting about. "Do you know what Hayama-sensei called us for?"
"Nope..", replied Satsuki while they both waved goodbye to Kajiya. "But I think it's most likely another quest. Summer isn't exactly done, you know."
"Of course.. this summer break is for us to hone ourselves in the field..", Seijurou said as they walked out of the house onto the sidewalks. "You think it's going to be harder?"
Satsuki turned towards the lagging Seijurou and smiled with her hands behind her back. "For things to happen like that twice in a row? That's some luck. But I do know a thing for certain."
"What?"
"That you, Erida Seijurou-kun, will do great again..", Satsuki about faced and continued on skipping forward.
As Seijurou followed, a faint smile started to form on his sleepless looking face. He pondered in his thoughts silently as he walked. "You are such a child.. but I'm glad I have you."
The changing seasons of spring to summer brought upon some kind of parallelism in Seijurou's view of the world. Coming out of the darkness of his thoughts, his journey towards a new chapter in his life was full of doubt, but he eventually saw the beauty of it just as the cherry blossoms drifted aimlessly in the beginning. And just like the blazing sun above them currently, the light has finally revealed the clarity of his purpose. It was greatly because of his annoying but overly cheerful red headed partner.
"Looking at your back makes me want to follow you and move forward..", thought Seijurou, as he watched Satsuki enter their classroom in FSG. The moment they entered, it was as if a hero paraded into the streets. They were greeted by their classmates gleefully. "And looking at how you bring such blinding light into a room.. makes me want to protect you even more."
"Oi, I heard what you did at Minami..", Terumi Shoutou nudged Seijurou suddenly. "That was nuts! You were awesome."
"Yeah, I wish I could've seen that myself!..", added Morisaki Renji cheerfully.
Seijurou got wide eyed in awe. He was not expecting this kind of attention. Thinking of all the reckless things he had done in their quest, anticipating a warm welcome from his classmates was supposedly out of the question. But then, he went back on all the times Satsuki told him he did great. She never had a shortage of praises for him. All the things she saw was the few but magnificent feats that he did.
The surprised Seijurou glanced at Satsuki, who was at that moment exchanging laughter with their classmates. He could not help but smile faintly at the thought. "That's right. Your light got me involved in this. It has reached me."
Catching his little geek of a classmate staring at Satsuki, Jax glared at Seijurou and sneered. They just simply ignored and walked past each other with Jax approaching Satsuki.
It brought Seijurou back to reality. "Of course, what was I thinking? I almost forgot that they somehow dated each other."
After a few moments of telling each other's experiences in their respective quests, Hayama Akira entered the room. It led to everyone hushing and hurriedly going to their seats. Satsuki went to her usual window side desk while Seijurou got his usual high five from Chizuru with a playful head slap after.
"Alright, before we begin..", Hayama addressed the class. "I'd like to commend you for a job well done on your first quests."
The class let off a short cheer. Then, Hayama continued. "Some quests were simple to handle that it did not require much effort, but some were difficult enough to get your commanders overly involved. Nevertheless, I'm glad you all came back unscathed and gained valuable experience..
"However, most quests are only the beginning of a string of more assignments.. most especially you, Kinjou, Erida..", Hayama gave short looks each at Seijurou and Satsuki. Then, he transferred his attention towards Kanae. "These missions can somehow lead to the bigger picture. With that, I would like to give the floor to Fukuoka Kanae for the next debriefing."
A look of confusion replaced the teenagers' enthusiasm in their expressions. Kanae was not exactly one of the students that lagged behind, but she was not among the exceptional as well. To discuss about a quest in behalf of their teacher and commander was something out of the blue.
"The quest we took part in was to be exact, not out of the ordinary for us..", Kanae did not even wait to reach the front as she spoke sternly like a teacher. Her experience in front of crowds definitely had something to do with her confidence. "I must say the reinforcement side mission was a little more exciting."
Kanae shot glances towards each of the ones who were involved in Minami. After pausing for a quick breath, she continued. "As far as everyone knows, we, Yoshiki-sensei's unit, were able to successfully conclude our quest with a sellout concert in Shizuoka."
The class gave her a short applause. Kanae simply acknowledged them with a nod. "However, it was supposed to be an infiltration mission to bust cultists out. Yoshiki-sensei was only able to get information about the said group but was unable to apprehend at least one. In short, Kaguya, Kasumi, and I did nothing but practice and perform like always."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Kanae-chan..", said Jax uncharacteristically cheery. "I'm sure you did great as always."
"I appreciate it, Jax, but that's not the point..", replied Kanae stoically, which got Jax to stumble backwards. She proceeded to put her attention back to the class just as swiftly. "Youkai cultists can be very convincing when recruiting. Yoshiki-sensei found out that they use some sort of magic spell to sway unknowing bystanders and at the same time, hide themselves."
"We've been encountering a lot of foul magic users lately..", Chizuru pointed out. "Do you think these incidents were somehow connected, Kanae-chan?"
"Besides the Nerima and Minami incidents, we are yet to find out..", answered Kanae while she began to distribute sheets of paper indicating the quest objectives. "This brings me to my main point."
As soon as each student received a copy of the debriefing, gasps of shock resounded throughout the classroom. They could not help but be in disbelief when they read what was written.
Seijurou himself was left dumbfounded. "A joint mission involving the whole class?!"
"Since the cultists already had a firm grasp on Shizuoka town, there was no recorded recruitment during the mass gathering in our concert..", continued Kanae as she went back in front. "However, since we sold out our concert, the town leaders requested for an encore performance two weeks from now. This presented an opportunity to carry on with the quest..
"It will be held during the town's local summer fireworks festival. Along with its scenic beaches and our group's concert, tourists from all over the country will sure gather. With that, the cultists will almost definitely attempt a single mass invocation of their spell to recruit from different parts of the nation. And I'm sure you all know what comes next."
A mix of reluctant nods and pumped up approvals came after. However, Seijurou felt skeptical about it and raised his hand. "Fukuoka, I'm not sure about the nature of this sabotage quest. It seems like we're using innocent citizens as bait."
Kanae sighed at the thought. "I know it sounds a little unethical, Seijurou, but it's not just about infiltration and sabotage. This quest comes with protecting the lives of our countrymen from conniving villains. We could use a lot of help from you and Satsuki, so are you both in?"
Satsuki looked Seijurou in the eye and nodded with her usual childlike smile. After that, Seijurou went back to turn his attention towards Kanae. "If we're talking about protecting those who're unable to fend for themselves, of course we're in."
Translation Notes:
Baka-ojou - a wordplay used by Seijurou on Satsuki meaning "stupid girl".
Monogatari Concepts:
Origins of the Oniwabanshu - believed to be based on the Almighty's army of angels. These so called angels were created from Youkai that got lost during Danaya's incursion of the Underworld to battle their malevolent counterparts, the Oni or demons. Besides being the defenders of the kingdom of heaven, they are the eyes and ears of the Almighty himself. Every single one is connected to the god in both mind and soul.
Although not entirely connected through mystical means, the Oniwabanshu of the shogun serves almost the same purpose as the angels to their master. Additionally, they are ninjas who belong to the leader's personal guard. It is rumored that the reason why their identities are unknown is because they switch places with the masked shogun himself regularly for absolute protection. But that was never proven.
Character Description:
Shogun Kaishin - his name actually means "conversion" or "reform". Just like every shogun before him, their names usually have a meaning which describes the nature of their reign. His character is obviously a reference to the real world shogun of pre imperial Japan. Although his name is given to him by his predecessor since birth (which also comes as a vision for the future of their country), just like his mysterious identity, his family name is undisclosed for security reasons.
I would definitely make Kaishin an interesting character since he is the supposed leader of Jihon, but I will try to make him as mysterious as possible first (so this probably won't be a long character description). What we know for sure is he embodies the meaning of his namesake. His desire for Jihon's reformation is very evident with his economic programs and peace treaties.
Kaishin is a very patient man and known to be tender with his words. His personality (though not seen because of the mask) projects an image of a father considerate of his children's feelings. He is said to be married, but his family is undisclosed due to security reasons. One thing is for sure is he has close relations with Yoshiki Mizuki. It is said in this chapter that they may have worked together before or went to school at the same time (or probably even more intimate).
With his golden kabuto on, he stands at a mighty 193cm. Without it, god knows what. His weight is also unknown. His favorite thing in the world is his wife (plus it's also more like who he's most scared of).