Twelve Lies I Told Shingen Takeda

Chapter Thirty-Six - Time Warped

"Have you come with me because you want to check out these shops and artisans, or because Shingen asked you to keep me out of trouble?" I sent a challenging look toward Yoshimoto as we approached a studio belonging to Tokuro, a wood artist who had been recommended to us. I'd been on the hunt for another burr puzzle, hoping to find something to distract Shingen into taking breaks from his work. Eventually, I asked Yoshimoto where he had found the first one, and he'd offered to help me search.

"Do you think I do everything Shingen asks of me?" Yoshimoto gestured for me to precede him into a home-studio that smelled pleasantly of sawdust and lacquer.

"Oh, I am well aware that you don't." It had been a point of complaint from Shingen during the tactical lessons. "I'm also well aware that you did not answer my question."

"You're sounding more and more like a spymaster. And possibly an interrogator." He bowed to Tokuro who responded with an even more reverent bow. Yoshimoto's reputation as a patron of arts preceded him. "To answer that question – I am, as you must know by now, always interested in art and antiques... but it may also be true that my cousin requested I accompany you."

Oooh, I was so going to have to have another talk with Shingen. "It's not like I haven't already spent the better part of a week looking for a puzzle on my own."

"That will be our secret." Yoshimoto turned to Tokuro, introduced me, then wandered off to examine some carved screens, while I explained to the artist what I was looking for.

Hopefully, he had some already in his shop. I could always commission one, but since I wanted a puzzle sooner rather than later, I was hoping to find one that was already completed.

Tokuro frowned for a moment as I tried to explain what burr puzzle looked like, then led me to a display of boxes with an inlay lid. "I do not have a puzzle of that sort, though the concept is intriguing. But will something like this serve instead?"

A box? It took me a moment before I realized these were puzzle boxes. It had been a long time since I had seen one, but when I was a child, one of my schoolmates brought one to class, and we'd all had fun trying to decipher the sequence needed to open it. No, it wasn't what I had been looking for, but in fact, might even be better, and I could hardly wait to give it to Shingen. "This is beautiful... and it's perfect."

I immediately paid, which was a good thing, as Yoshimoto tried to buy it out from under me. He threatened to outbid me, until I pointed out that he could commission one for himself, and as such, would be able to take part in the design. "I'm certain that Tokuro can execute anything you can envision."

"Thank you for your kind words," said the artist as he handed me the wrapped parcel.

My suggestion was successful, and I left Yoshimoto and Tokuro to hammer out the details of the commission. Perhaps I should have felt guilty at so easily escaping my so-called bodyguard, but Sasuke, who had been off on a mission for Kenshin for days, was due back, and I wanted to talk to him about time travel without Yoshimoto as an audience.

***

Once I had picked up the traditional order of pastry for Shingen, I laid in wait for Sasuke near the castle gates. Luckily for my fraying patience (seriously, why did Kenshin always send Sasuke on a mission right when I needed to talk to him?), it wasn't very long before I spotted my friend rounding the path from the stables.

"How was your latest errand?" I asked him. Errand was his universal catch-all for whatever mission Kenshin sent him on.

"Apparently less eventful than it was here." He gestured to the fading bruise under my eye. "I'm half convinced Kenshin sent me on a snipe hunt to punish me for planning to leave." He glanced at the few packages I was carrying. "Pastry run?"