"Hahah, I'm looking forward to this."
Fuku was still worried about the whole arrangement, and looked rather uneasy as she served the family their morning rice.
"I am as well."
Gengyo shared the opinion of his father. With the events of last night, he now had a good deal of confidence about the whole affair.
Masaatsu's thoughts were on the fight itself.
"How are your movements, father?"
"I'm good son. Did some stretches this morning, and now I'm feeling fluid."
He threw a few practise punches in the air to ill.u.s.trate his point.
Though he still looked to be a mess, with his face covered in his old wounds, they could only place their trust in his words.
Rin did not care much for the fight itself, but was more looking forward for the drama to end. She had not been able to talk to her friends since it had begun, as their parents had told them to stay away, and she was excited at the prospect of spending time with them once more.
"Please be careful dear."
Fuku was part of the reason Morohira had stopped fighting in the first place. He had promised her that he would no longer fight, after she cried for hours each time he sustained an injury.
"Haha, don't worry about it, dear. This will be a piece of cake."
He was itching to fight once more. He had a natural aggression present in him that he needed to vent, and so looking back, it was possibly a bad idea to make him stop fighting. The drinking was likely a by-product of those unreleased stresses.
Though, of course, this was simply Gengyo's analysis based on his father's behaviour – he did not know what was truly going on in his father's mind.
But still, he spoke, and voiced his want.
"Father, if this goes well, I want you to make a promise."
His son was dead serious, but Morohira was in far too good a mood, causing him to take Gengyo lightly.
"Sure, sure, name anything."
"I want you to stop drinking."
The old man's smile faded at that, and he put his chopsticks down quietly.
Rin looked back from her brother to her father anxiously.
"Look son… I know I'm bad with the drink, but… I've got nothing else, you know?"
His boy nodded, having already thought of that.
"I know father. What do you prefer, drinking or fighting?"
He frowned at the question, but paid it due consideration, giving an honest response.
"Well, fighting. Definitely fighting."
"If you could take up fighting again, would you stop drinking?"
Morohira turned to Fuku, who was anxiously watching over the exchange.
"If… If you promise not to hurt yourself too much, I would prefer that you fight rather than drink."
Fuku had to suffer her husband's drunken behaviour for years now, and though he had never actually hit her, he did leave her painfully frightened at times.
Guilt covered Morohira's face as he realized the true meaning of those words. It meant that he had caused her life such misery over the past years with his drunken antics, that she would rather suffer the worry of his injury, than deal with his drunkenness anymore.
He put a hand round her shoulders, and stroked her hair before bringing her in close and kissing her atop the head.
His eyes were filled with affection, and Fuku had a shy smile on her face, as she sank into her lovers embrace.
Rin was beaming, pleased to see a rare display of affection between her parents, as their relationship had become strained as of late.
Masaatsu's usual stern look had indeed also softened.
Gazing down into his wife's eyes, Morohira made his decision.
"Alright son. I'll do it. I'll take up my fists once more, and throw out the depraved me that leaned on the bottle."
His eyes teared slightly as he made that declaration.
"I'm sorry Fuku. I'm so sorry – for everything. All you've had to put up with. My dear, beautiful wife, I will worry you no longer. I will hold you in my arms and support you for the rest of our days."
Gengyo smiled lightly, satisfied.
Whilst he did not entirely believe that Morohira could fulfil all the promises he had made, it was still a step in a better direction, and one that lead toward his dream of a peaceful family life.
…
…
As the three siblings arrived to work that morning, Gengyo immediately approached Baba, speaking quietly.
"Good morning, Baba-san."
Baba raised an eyebrow. It was not uncommon for him and Gengyo to exchange morning greetings, but he could sense a different intent in the boy's words today, and his behaviour and actions all confirmed it.
"Morning, lad. Is there something you need?"
The young man was pleased that his overseer with quick on the uptake, and phrased his proposal as politely as he could.
"This morning, just before we start the day's work, may I make an announcement whilst everyone is gathered?"
One raised eyebrow turned into two, as Baba's face contorted with surprise.
"Hoh… That's a rather unusual request young Miura. I'm assuming it's related to the lost honour of your family..?"
"That's right."
"Permitted."
It was Gengyo's turn to be surprised. He had not expected the old man to accept so quickly.
"What..? Oh, I mean, thank you very much Baba-san."
Gengyo bowed at the waist in thanks toward Baba-san, and as he did so he felt a certain familiarity with action. He felt as though in recent days he had been bowing rather a lot.
Baba nodded, and Gengyo judged the conversation over and started to return to his siblings.
"Ah, but if this is something silly, you'll have to face certain punishments."
Came the ominous parting comment.
He stiffened slightly, a little put off by the threat.
'Still, it depends on what you call silly, right? Surely my arrangement shouldn't fall into that category?'
When he neared, Masaatsu called out.
"Success?"
"I think so…"
"Aren't you nervous about speaking in front of so many people, Nii-san?"
He shrugged. The actual speech itself was not something he cared about. He was merely interested in the results. After spending a good portion of his life doing speeches for newly released products, he'd basically killed any fear he had of public speaking.
"Should be fine."
Rin looked doubtful as she empathised in her head with his position.
'If it was me, I'd be so embarrassed…'
A few more minutes passed, and almost all the workers had arrived.
Baba drew everyone's attention with a few short claps.
"Good morning everyone. Before we get into the shift, one of our workers has requested your attention. Miura-kun, if you would."
He gestured toward the boy, who received his signal with a nod, and stood up grace, moving swiftly toward Baba-san's side, maintaining a body language that was the very epitome of confidence.
"As you all know, my father has recently been accused of cheating."
His voice was clear, and loud, making it audible to all of the many workers present.
His eyes danced over the crowd, and he noticed a few sour looks of people dying to interrupt. But alas, him speaking had been permitted by Baba, and thus in going against him, they would, in turn, be offending Baba.
He spotted a few of his acquaintances, whose faces were filled with friendly interest. Although Aritada's face was tenser than you might expect, seemingly feeling the anxiety in Miura's place.
Rin and Masaatsu were willing him on so strongly that their emotions were transmitted through their faces. Their shining eyes told him all he needed to know.
"This, I assure you is false."
He paused once more, knowing the primary thought in people's heads would be: 'what of the proof?'
"Now, it is easy to sully someone's name without grounds, but much more difficult to stand and defend such accusations."
The crowd seemed to be following, but still, the same harshness remained in the air.
"That is why, my father, Miura Morohira, challenges the accuser, Kyougoku Suemochi, of Tobishima village, to a duel."
Whispers filled the air as the crowd grew more unsettled, dying to shout something out.
"Now, we all know that my father is a skilled fighter, so that it would be unfair on Kyougoku-san. Therefore, my father will be unarmed, and Kyougoku-san will be allowed any weapon that does not hold metal."
The crowd grew more restless, and he left them like that for a time.
He watched them whisper to one another, noticing a few flickerings of approval. Even Kyougoku's underlings seemed supportive of the duel.
After all, the odds were very much in Kyougoku's favour, were they not?
"Now, some of you here know Kyougoku-san. Please inform him of the fight. Tell him to go to the market place, where he will find a ring made and overseen by the honourable Niwa-sama himself."
At that, a few over-enthusiastic individuals could not contain themselves, despite knowing the consequences.
"How the f.u.c.k's he done that!?"
"F.u.c.k this is gonna be good!"
"F.u.c.k.i.n.g Miura is going to be beaten up in front of the master himself, what an honour!"
That last remark provoked a good deal of laughter, but Gengyo waited patiently for it to pass before resuming.
"The loser of the fight will be branded as a liar. The winner will have all charges cleared, and be known to be the one who speaks the truth. Niwa-sama will make sure this conclusion is carried out, regardless of the result."
Not much attention was paid to this, as everyone had assumed it from the start, but still, it needed to be said even if it was a simple formality.
"Then, that will be all. The fight will be held at sundown today. I hope to see you all there."
With that, his speech concluded, and he nodded toward Baba in thanks.
Baba resumed control of the situation as Gengyo headed back to his siblings, noticing Kushizu laughing loudly out of the corner of his eye.
'I hope you found that entertaining, old man.'
Masaatsu and Rin were beaming with pride, sticking their chests out as though they had already regained their honour – and more besides.
"Little brother that was brilliantly done."
His formal praise caused a smile to creep out onto Gengyo's lips, which only widened after Rin joined in.
"Yup, yup! You were so confident, Nii-san! I'm really proud. Really, really proud! You looked so cool, and everyone listened to you… all those girls in the village are going to be trying to steal my Nii-san now... got to work hard!"
Gengyo awkwardly half-smiled at the last part. Whilst he certainly wouldn't turn away the chance at meeting a woman, she would have to be of a special character if his image of a peaceful family life were to be manifest.
"I'm glad you approve."
"By the way, Tadakata, that part – about the master being present – is that true?"
'Ah, I forgot to tell them about that.'
"Yeah, I met with him last night. He'll see to it for us."
"Hah? You met with him? Just like that?"
"Yup. He's a kind man. I paid him a visit and announced my plight, and he was only too happy to lend a hand."
Gengyo felt a little bad at lying to his brother who had nothing but good intentions, but he felt that if he were to reveal too much, and his relationship with Akiko got out, there would be no end of trouble involved.
Masaatsu seemed to harbour some suspicions, but did not voice them. Instead, he put his hand on his brother's shoulder, and offered his commendations.