"Yeah, in the end he was pretty pleasant, but that doesn't change the fact that he just pushed you into a river for no damn reason!"
Masaatsu was still complaining to Gengyo about his actions, even as they opened the door to the house.
"Perhaps, but the majority of the village is against us, and in the end he saw past all that did he not?"
"Only because the way you responded was absolutely insane. How did you stop yourself from punching him?"
The young man shrugged. When Kushizu was looming behind him, he had expected something of the sort.
"Well… Me getting angry wouldn't have solved much, would it?"
"That's true but…"
"I agree with Nii-san on this Masaatsu. Even if he didn't really stand up for himself, the way he responded was amazing!"
Masaatsu nodded.
"There is no doubt that it was amazing, and the best thing to do, but still… I can't help but feel dissatisfied."
"Don't worry about it. We're in no position to be going out making more trouble – in fact, we need to do the opposite. That Kushizu seems to have an interesting character, and he's respected. It's worked out in our favour, really."
"Ughh, but I still can't help wanting to punch him…"
He clenched his fists tight, trying to control his anger.
It was then that Morohira walked in, still covered in his wounds – though the bruises were starting to go a more yellow colour than blue now – and looking to be in a rather foul mood.
"What's all this about wanting to punch someone? Don't you think I want to do the same?"
Masaatsu hung his head a little shamefully after being overheard by his father.
"Of course I do father… Hahh, it's probably better that I calm down. You're all right."
The old man heaved himself down by the table, pouring himself a drink.
"That's not what I'm saying. More than any of you can imagine, I want to punch that Kyougoku and put him in his place. A fair fight – that would be nice."
Gengyo - who initially had not been paying his father's bitter ramblings much thought - suddenly perked up.
"You think you could beat him, father?"
Morohira shot a glance his way as he raised the glass to his lips, searching for any sarcasm in his son's words.
He tutted, but chose to answer honestly.
"Yeah, without a doubt. I used to fight in the village festival, and I won for ten years straight. Even if there were three of him, I could still probably win."
His oldest son nodded enthusiastically. It was a tale he had heard before, and was one of the reasons he admired his father so much. But Masaatsu had not yet had the chance to prove his skill, so Morohira still deemed him to be lacking.
He was not the only one who was listening attentively – Gengyo also had his ears primed, with his mind awhirl with certain thoughts.
"Even with those injuries, could you beat him?"
"Hah, are you making fun of me kid? My injuries are all but healed – that bastard wouldn't last two seconds."
Gengyo snapped his fingers in excitement (it was an old habit of his from a time when he had spent his evenings with his mindset on solving certain problems).
"Brilliant."
His sudden outburst attracted the attention of the entire room, and irritated his father.
"I knew you were taking the piss…"
"No, father, that's not it. I now have a plan to regain your honour."
"The f.u.c.k are you talking about?"
Rin grabbed at his sleeve in excitement.
"Really, Nii-san? Please tell us!"
"Father, will you fight Kyougoku tomorrow?"
His father frowned, confused at the question.
"Eh? I mean, if the idiot is dumb enough to come at me alone, then I'll knock the shit out of him."
"Good. I can arrange that."
"..? How?"
"I'll make an announcement at work tomorrow, forcing him into a duel. He will accept, else he'll lose honour. And upon our victory, he has to admit the truth."
Masaatsu had a hand on his chin, processing the details.
"How do you know he'll accept? Father's a good fighter after all – he's certain to lose."
"Too right son. I'm going to play around with the shape of the bastard's spine – see if I can make a nice circle out of it."
"Haha, him accepting depends on father, for Kyougoku will be allowed a wooden weapon – a club or something, and father will have to fight unarmed."
The room froze at that unexpected detail, with their eyes widening.
Morohira slowly placed his glass back down on the table, allowing it to make no sound as it made contact with the wood.
And then he sat back, brushing his hair off his face, and covering his mouth with a hand.
His shoulders started to heave up and down and his face contorted. It looked as though the man was having a seizure.
That was, until, a booming laugh escaped his lips and he collapsed to the floor in a mad fit.
"Hahahahahaha! Oh, that is f.u.c.k.i.n.g brilliant!"
Rin turned from their father to share a questioning glance with Gengyo who only shrugged in response.
It was only Masaatsu who seemed to be able to understand his father's reaction.
Suddenly the laughter stopped, and Morohira pulled himself bolt upright, before standing up in front of his children.
"This, this is a good f.u.c.k.i.n.g idea. Worry not, Tadakata, I can break him even if he brought a katana. And with this, he will have to bear the humiliation that I have felt – sorry, that we have felt."
Gengyo grinned, inspired by his father's extremely positive reaction, and he clapped his hands together.
"I'm looking forward to this!"
…
…
Later that evening, Gengyo made his way to Akiko's mansion.
He spotted the sleeve of her kimono sticking out from behind one of the gate's pillars, and sighed to himself.
'How did I manage to get caught out by such an obvious hiding place?'
Strolling past the gate, he muttered to himself as though oblivious to Akiko's presence.
"That swan… She's late again…"
He could see the sleeve shake slightly, spurred on by Akiko's repressed giggles.
When he passed the pillar, she was so easy to see that it almost felt bad to drag this out anything further. But still, the girl didn't budge, seeming to believe that Gengyo wouldn't find her.
He made a ruckus as he sat down on a rock, muttering to himself all the while. And then with his sandals slipped off, he crept toward the lady who fancied herself a ninja.
A firm pair of cold hands clamping down on her shoulders caused her to jump up with a terrified shriek.
She dashed forward a few metres before turning back, only then realizing it was Gengyo.
"Ah! You…"
Gengyo smiled lightly, enjoying his stab at a little revenge.
The lady in question had a much harder time calmer down, with her hand on her chest, heaving deep breaths.
"How are you, miss Niwa?"
"I was fine…."
She murmured pitifully.
"Haha. Cheer up – it was just a little bit of payback."
She coughed lightly into her hand, attempting to lead the conversation away from her defeat which she was evidently embarrassed about – betrayed by the blush that decorated her cheeks.
"Ahem… Shall we get going?"
At that, the youth in front of her straightened up, growing serious.
"Niwa-san, before that, I have a request to make of you."
The girl stiffened, alarmed by his sudden change in disposition – she felt like she was dealing with an entirely different person.
"W-what is it?"
He retained his seriousness, and stated his want clearly, with a degree of bluntness.
"I want to meet your father."
She reeled back at those words, shocked.
"Ehhhh?! What's this all of a sudden?"
"Could you pretend that I helped you whilst you were lost in the forest, or something similar, to put him in a position where he owes me a small favour?"
Akiko blinked her eyes, with her head full of questions.
"But why…?"
"I understand it will be uncomfortable for you – given your relationship to him – but I'm in great need of his assistance. Do not worry, I will not be attempting to force him to do anything."
"Eh, that's not what I meant… I did promise you a favour, but this is a little..?"
Gengyo bowed at his waist.
"Please, Niwa-san, this is a matter of great importance to my family."
The little lady felt immensely uncomfortable at having this – rather odd – peasant bow toward her. Rightly, a peasant should be prostrating themselves simply being in her presence, but this man had a certain air about him that forced one to look past his class.
"Mhhh, please raise your head Miura-kun."
She closed her eyes tightly, clenching her fists as though she was trying to work up the willpower to make a decision.
"Alright! I'll do it. But you have to make sure to keep holding your end of the bargain up – trips to the lake every day, got it?"
The young man smiled at her straightforwardness, pleased that it was her that he had to make this request of.
"Now that, I think I can do."
Akiko returned his smile, feeling a sudden enthusiasm for the task ahead.
"Okay! How are we going to do this?"
"Uh, what I said earlier, about you getting lost. We can say that you got lost because of the dark – that way he won't stop you from going out in future, but will scold you a little about being careless. Is that fine?"
"Mhmm, not bad. I think I can pretend to walk normally long enough whilst I deal with father, and then I'll get him to talk to you."
Gengyo was surprised by her confidence, and realized that she and her father must have a better relationship than he expected.
"That's perfect. Thanks again, Niwa-san."
…
They then proceeded to spend the rest of the evening back by the lake, until it got dark.
They took to the waters on the raft once more, and Gengyo practised his archery from the same distance, this time managing to strike the target at 60 paces consistently.
When they disembarked, Akiko had expressed her interest in wanting to help him train, and so he had immediately put her to good use.
Through a little contraption – though it was possibly too simple to be called a contraption, for it was a mere log and some twine – he brought in training that anticipated the movement of his enemies.
"Push now!"
He called out to his helper, who promptly pushed the log with all her might.
It followed a parabolic path, like all pendulums might, and sped upwards.
Gengyo released his arrow a second after the push – as he needed a moment to measure the speed – intending to hit it at its highest point.
This being his fourth shot, the bullseye was almost preordained given his past record, and it sunk into the target without much fuss.
Akiko felt almost as much joy as he did at finally making the target after a good three missed attempts, and she shot him a proud thumbs up.
"Good work, Miura-kun!"
He returned the gesture, smiling.
'I'm glad she's having fun.'
He proceeded to increase the distance at varying angles on his different shots, so that by the time the evening had concluded he was able to hit a bullseye at 80 paces whilst on the shore, a bullseye at 60 paces whilst the target was in motion, and a bullseye at around 70 paces when on the raft.
It was a step up, and with the addition of the motion training – inspired by Masaatsu – Gengyo had a good feeling about his rate of progress and felt as though everything was finally starting to tie together.
Still, he could not shake the hint of anxiety he held in his heart about the meeting he intended to have with Akiko's father.