Wolf and Keeper

Chapter 31: The Jitou

Maru had heard of the Otomo before. They were a Kirishitan clan, oddly enough. They wielded considerable influence among the others and had a sizable trading empire. He knew that several warlords tended to view their newfound religious alignment as an abomination, but Atsumori always said that he wondered how much of it was real and how much of it was to cozy up with the foreign traders. The foreigners gave them access to goods and services that were hard to come by and thus very expensive, making it a good system if you could figure out how it worked. He knew little of Tsukiyoru specifically except for the fact that he was apparently more of a Buddhist than a Kirishitan and that he had been awarded a Jitou position by the Shogun. It was a big enough deal when it happened, at least for Atsumori who was, according to him, a friend of Tsukiyoru's mother.

"Let me get this straight," Yuzuha leaned back against the railing of the ship and watched Naoyuki with narrowed eyes, "shooting the monk... was an accident?"

Naoyuki scoffed, "I-You- Of course it was! Who intentionally shoots monks?"

"I figured you did," she replied flatly, making Naoyuki stammer and stand up in what Sen could only guess was utter offense while Nobuhiko was trying not to laugh next to him.

"I will have you know that I am a very, very good shot!"

Yuzuha gave the most sarcastic smile Sen had ever seen on a human face as she nodded, "Oh, yes! Such a good shot. That monk definitely was Hashi."

"I would fight you, but your massive arms terrify me," Naoyuki lost his fire and sat back down as his eyes went to Yuzuha's exposed arms.

Sen turned his attention back to the water as he watched it roll past. His eyes went to Hashi, who had one long arm poised above the water with a look of deadly concentration on his face. He was about to ask what he was doing when he watched the yokai stab his hand into the water and yank it out with a grunt. The fish he held was easily the size of Sen's forearm, and Hashi looked pleased with himself as he pulled it onboard and held it with a twinkle in his eye. Without warning, he bit straight into it, locking eyes with Sen when he realized that his friend was watching him.

Sen stared at him for a moment before simply saying, "That's gross." In response, Hashi just ate the fish faster and then stood by quietly, his eyes going from the horizon and back to Sen multiple times as Sen stared at him with a shrug of his shoulders. "Why are you like this?"

Hashi gestured to the water and then to his stomach with a patting motion. Fish is tasty.

"You ate the whole fish," Sen replied with a shake of his head. "The whole fish, Hashi."

Hashi merely buckled down and repeated the motion again. Fish is tasty.

"I give up." Sen shook his head and looked around the ship, catching sight of Maru and the rather large gaijin - "Avery", Sen had learned his name was - looking around the ship with Maru listing off parts in his language as the gaijin scribbled them down in a small, tattered notebook. He started to figure that Maru and his foreigner weren't so different from him and Hashi, in their own way. Sen saw Hashi stretch beside him with a gaping yawn that showed off all of his massive fangs, and he caught sight of the captain glance over and give a long whistle as he did.

"Damn, those are big!" He laughed from over by the ship's rudder. "I'm sure happy that he's not mean!"

Sen smiled a bit and nodded, "He's pretty docile most of the time."

"I'd hate to be on his bad side," the captain strolled over and looked up at Hashi with a shake of his head. "Heard you were heading to see the Jitou. Good luck. I've heard that there's been some unrest over there."