History recorded that in the year 1703, in the town of Kodaiji, Japan, Tojiro Okami - commander of the Otoyo han guard - slaughtered the han heir, in a heinous act of treason. What do you want me to tell you about Tojiro Okami? Well, he was a damn stubborn. A man destined to have many songs written about his deeds, to have pretty girls swoon at tales spun by those who claimed to have known him, not to have his name whispered by mothers to scare their children to bed. I don't remember how I came into his acquaintance, I don't remember a lot from those days. Many men dismissed me as a fool drunk; it helped them sleep better at night. I was many things: overindulgent eater, occasional gambler, priest, but I was not fool drunk. I was a damn fine drunk. That dry coarse itch at the back of my mind still haunts me, especially when I recall the events that led to Tojiro's tragic downfall.
"Stay here Sune," Nogi commanded.
"As much as I'd like to," I found myself saying, "the temple has heard the rumors and petitioned Daimyo Ashida Otoya for answers. I've been ordered to assist."
"As you wish," Nogi replied, his voice not betraying his displeasure. Someone was going to be ordered about though. "You men secure this area. No one comes in or out without my say."
The yoriki and his investigative doshin parted - finished with whatever policing they had been bribed not to see - as we rode toward the three room shanty on the outskirts of Kodaiji. We made a curious trio: Tojiro, bangashira of Daimyo Ashida's honor guard; Nogi Gasai, the next in charge; and my humble self, priest of Tojiro's temple. I dare say Tojiro allowed me to ride with him to be a burr in Nogi's under garments. Nogi ran hot-tempered, yet cold as a winter's moon; projecting the bearing of manliness, but not the soul. The wind stirred dead leaves across the road, skittering like roaches across wooden floors. The smell of butchered rotten carcasses lingered in the air like a cheap yotaka's perfume on your pillow after she'd long since plied her trade. Not that I'd know.
