Scroll of Kitsuki Donoha Part 12

MURDER IN THE CITY THAT REMEMBERS

After leaving, Doji Hoto was able to gather some Crane Ashigaru to have them watch the three gates with the name Donoha sama gave them – Hengo, and his description. I was to follow along at a distance as we entered the city and see what I can witness from a different vantage point. After wandering through Toshi no Omoidoso for awhile they learned a few things about sites in the city. Mostly the locations of the Temple of Rememberance, Temple of the Seven Dragons, and the Shrine of Matsu Hitomi. Hitomi’s shrine is said to bestow misfortune if not visited once a week while one is in the Toshi no Omoidoso.

Nothing about Kenshin’s helm had come up yet. Their were two Tea Houses of note: The Red and The Yellow. As they were walking past the Yellow Tea House. It appeared slightly lower quality than the Red House but it made up for it in atmosphere. A dark color wood bonsai had been allowed to grow to enormous size! It stretched up the inner archway to a courtyard. Over and down the other side to blossom its branches at the bar. Donoha had not been here on his last trip through the city. He’d stopped at the Red House on that occasion.

What had caught my master’s eye was the entrance to the Yellow Tea House. There were artful gutters to collect rain water and it made split waterfall around the frame of the door. When he pointed it out to Hoto, the Crane nodded and we went inside. The madame of the tea house greeted us and Doji Hoto then smiled and started talking. As I became a wall flower, decor even. I could describe this or just skip to the information we learned. Yes, I believe to summarize would be best.

We learned of a flute player Nakano, and wandering drunkard that the proprietress would give a cup of tea to each day in exchange for staying in the alley. This allowed them to play and provide ambiance in exchange they got some tea and any food that someone did not finish. The madame was worried when we asked about him because he’d been harmless up till now. Hoto and Donoha mentioned it was just a chat and they ordered food to go with their tea while they waited.

Without fail the flautist showed up and Donoha had to help escort him back in when he tried to hobble away. What they failed to get out of him was whom was to come and pick up the info Genji was suppose to gather. The old, Nakano, kept repeating “Always in the dark. I can never see.” when queried about the contact. After that he got abusive and ill tempered toward Doji Hoto, Kitsuki Donoha, the madame, and all of the Celestial Order. Quite the foul mouth adorned the man. All while Nakano was getting up to leave both samurai were trying to deescalate the situation.

When Donoha tried to get him to play his flute in order to use music to pacify the drunk he broke his flute. Which my lord collected as evidence. Hoto said he’d wait while Donoha went to deal with angry and still very drunk Nakano. He found him fallen down and asleep in the alley. He squatted and waited for him to wake up.

Donoha sama tried to reason but the man hated his life. While Donoha did not seeing an animal suffer he could not let the dishonor to his lord or the Celestial Order go unaddressed. He drew the Three Souls (Mittsu no Tamashi) katana he crafted and sent the man on to his next life. Cleaning his katana before returning it to its saya. He returned and informed the madame to call the Eta as their is a incident that needs cleaning in the alley. The madame complied as Nakano had made her very worried once angry.

Hoto and he discussed things civilly but Hoto did point out that while the honor of their lords had been taken care of the investigation had ground to a halt having no further lead. Donoha nodded and went to stand in the alley in the rain in hopes of running into the contact. Hours passed by and nothing, night had fallen by the time a fully dejected Donoha came around the corner, knocking on the entrance arch mentioning he had turned up nothing. Hoto asked him to call it and he acknowledge it was time to call it a night.

Doji Hoto is a proud man and has reason to be. A sign of friendship was quietly reminding Donoha that in public honorifics should be used. Then said nothing more about it as he and my lord walked home. On the way out of the city they stopped at the shrine to Matsu Hitomi and something caught Donoha’s eye. It was a kimono that was clearly made by the same person that made the one Akodo Tozawa sama had given to him. What he saw next was that it adorned a leg sticking out of a bush!

He called over two passing Eta and had one move the body so he could examine it. The other was sent to get supplies for Donoha. My lord took notes on the cuts and animal-like claw marks on the now dead and purportedly a Lion shugenja. Doji Hoto stood guard while the investigation went on so he did not have to get near the dead body. One Donoha made a picture of the face the Eta took the body away. He turned a copy of the picture with notes to an aid of his damiyo, Mirumoto Tanetsu and they headed to rest.

It was the end of the Hour of the Hida (Boar / 10pm-Midnight) when Donoha was summoned to the caravan wagon of the Dragon Emerald Ambassador, Mirumoto Tanetsu. First on the docket was the picture of the dead woman with the Lion Mon. Tanetsu sama had never seen a picture drawn this way before. Donoha mentioned he had developed this style of art to capture more accurate representations of the dead or place in an investigation. He asked for another example and Donoha said he would draw the flute player.

Tanetsu sama kept the picture he made and could not believe the lack of a single missed step in using brush and ink. Then using water to dilute and create shading. While painting he gave a complete report about the prior day’s events. He apologized for not having the for thought to knock out Nakano and not kill him for his impertinence. Tanetsu sama gave him a scroll to read on Hojojutsu – the art of restraining your opponent. It was not widely practiced as many samurai were fond of their swords. Donoha promised to study and put it to use for the future.

Then Donoha told him about his love for Chiasa and everything from three years ago. He apologized for waiting but just didn’t want to make it look like his lord was uninformed about his retainer. Tanetsu sama accepted this and thanked him for trusting him with this information. By the time they finished talking the sun was cresting the horizon. Donoha was ordered to take the day off as this information would need to be discussed. Especially with such life like images to go forward on.