Till The Moon Shines

10. Loss

Uesugi Tsuneyuki, captain of the 2nd Unit had arrived from the neighbouring military village at Captain Ikeda's urgent request. "Of all nights..." he muttered, his irritation barely concealed behind a weary smirk. "Perfect weather to keep Nozomi-san warm in my arms, but instead I'm out here looking for dead men, missing fools, and half-alive soldiers." He kicked a stray stone across the empty street, his breath misting in the cold air.

His laid-back gait belied the sharp mind behind it, for Tsuneyuki knew better than to let his guard down, despite his flippant attitude. "No one's hurt, except for Ikeda's over-excited wife, I suppose. That woman should've—"

His steps halted abruptly as his sandal splashed into an unexpected puddle. Tsuneyuki glanced down, expecting mud, but the sight that met him was far more ominous.

Blood.

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Past midnight, Shinichi rode toward the village, the cold air cut through his armour but did little to cool the seething fury burning within him. The Hosokawa faction's deceit had been a low, disgraceful strike, one that had cost him his post—and worse—his men. His grip tightened around the reins, knuckles white under the moonlight.

'Stinking bastards! All of them!' He huffed. 'If my arrows fail to carry their screams of agony to Katsumoto's dogs by sunset tomorrow, I'll have no honour left. I should commit seppuku myself.'

The enemy had encroached upon his lord's territory in the most dishonourable of manners. The rage that coursed through him was further fueled by the bitter frustration of how the night had unfolded. 'This should've been over by now, the land reclaimed by sunrise. But no... this woman had to run after a demon.' His eyes narrowed at the thought. 'She'll hear a word or two from me, given that we find her...'

The pounding of hooves echoed as Shinichi neared the village, and a foot soldier rushed to greet him, the man's hurried steps matching the tension in the air.

"Captain Ikeda! Takeshi committed seppuku!"

Shinichi's eyes snapped to the man, his expression hardening. "Heh?" The word escaped him like a bitter exhale, laced with disbelief. He towered over the soldier from his horse.

"Captain Uesugi found the disembowelled body, sir."

'So, he came...' Shinichi dismounted, his feet hitting the ground harder than he intended. Another soldier took his horse, but his mind barely registered it. Takeshi's death struck him like an arrow to the gut, an unexpected blow he had no time to brace for. Takeshi, his right-hand man, a skilled archer, was gone. Shinichi's jaw clenched, the anger bubbling beneath the surface threatening to spill over. Why? Why now, when Takeshi could have been instrumental in recapturing the post? 'If no one witnessed it, and he acted without permission, it's hardly seppuku...' His thoughts churned with disappointment, mixed with a rising fury. 'Damn you, Takeshi... what weakness led you to this end?'

"When did Uesugi-san arrive?" he asked, his voice sharper than intended.

The ashigaru shifted nervously, "Its been two hours, approximately. I'm sorry captain." There has been a history of Shinichi not liking approximations.

Shinichi's brow furrowed in irritation. His mind spun, struggling to determine what to prioritize—Takeshi's irrelevant seppuku, the village's condition, or the looming question of his wife's whereabouts. "How is Takeshi's family?"

The soldier swallowed hard. "The daughter is dead, and his wife is in shock. The demon, it... attacked the child, Captain. The woman witnessed the entire thing."

Shinichi scratched his brow, a wave of disgust and frustration washing over him. Almost three deaths, all for nothing. They died for nothing, the weight of their deaths settled heavily on his already burdened shoulders. "Where is Uesugi-san?"