Dororo: Part Two - Chapter 23

Dororo: Part Two

Nakamura Masaru

Part 3: Kagemitsu

Chapter 23

    Daigo Kagemitsu stood alone in his golden tower, staring up at the ceiling. Revealing everything about his lost son to his wife and Tahōmaru made him feel drained, like he was standing outside in the utter darkness of a total solar eclipse.

    He wasn’t sure how much time passed before someone called for him.

    “Kagemitsu.”

    He’d been expecting a visit from Yaomukade, so he was surprised to be addressed by the small dead mouse that he’d first spoken to in the Hall of Hell so many years before.

    Kagemitsu recognized the voice and drew his sword. He spun, searching for the mouse, but he didn’t see it anywhere. He felt a sudden change in the demons that defended his castle--earth, water, fire and wind--and caught his breath.

    “You’re late,” Kagemitsu said peevishly. “You promised to give me the power to conquer the world, but the world is still not in my hands. I have done my utmost. Use me as you will to complete my grand design.”

    The demon laughed. “Yes, we gave you the power you asked for, but your sacrifice was weak. You did not kill the child you gave us. He lives, and chases us down to restore himself. That was not our agreement, Kagemitsu. We owe no more than we have given.”

    “What are you trying to say?”

    “You were too cowardly to kill your child. You lack the strength of will to use the power we gave you to its greatest potential. You always will, as long as Hyakkimaru lives.”

    “Are you saying that the man Tahōmaru brought here was my son?”

    “Didn’t you listen to him? A man without limbs--with a sword in his arm. Who else could it be but your son?”

    “Anyone,” Kagemitsu said. “No one at all. Speak sense, demon. The young man was missing some limbs, but not all of them. He was not crippled. He could see and hear. Who gave him back these pieces of his body, if not you demons?”

    “He still lacks many pieces. A doctor found him and gave him a new body. He uses it to hunt us.” The demon’s voice echoed to the ceiling.

    “So you do claim that it is true. Hyakkimaru is my son... but what is the meaning of this?”

    “What?”

    “You demons, also, could kill him. You could have killed him as an infant. That was what I thought happened. Why haven’t you killed him?”

    “You have no right to accuse us of hesitancy or of reneging on our bargain,” the demon said.

    “Don’t I? You never even told me he was alive. I didn’t know he would show up one day and attack you--attack us both.”

    That was true. Hyakkimaru had been traveling for years, killing demons and regaining body parts, but none of the demons had approached Kagemitsu and told him what was happening.

    The demon’s voice rumbled, shaking the floor. “Hyakkimaru despises you. You broke his body into pieces and sold it. He’s coming for you--perhaps he’ll cut you into forty-eight pieces, himself! Kill him now, before he comes for you.”

    “Why should I? It’s you demons that he’s hunting. If he attacks me, I’ll take care of him. How can I defend demons? You’re supposed to be more powerful than I am.”

    There was a silence. Then, “Your sacrifice was insufficient. Your hated son has weakened us. If you sincerely desire to conquer the world, you must give us your other son--the one you love, Tahōmaru. Kill him with your own hands, and the world will be yours for as long as you live.”

    “No.” When Kagemitsu had first gone to war after the birth of his first child, he hadn’t believed that he would win.  At the time, it wasn't clear if he would ever come back to Yuri. When he was least sure of himself, his second son was born. Tahōmaru was his hope for the future; he wouldn’t give him up for anything. He certainly wouldn’t kill him for the satisfaction of the demons.

    “Then you must kill Hyakkimaru,” the demon said. “The power that you possess responds to your will. A weak will cannot govern it. You will not rule the world until at least one of your sons is dead.”

    When the demon phrased things that way, the predicament that the demons found themselves in made a twisted kind of sense. They hadn’t asked Kagemitsu to kill Hyakkimaru at birth, perhaps because they hadn’t expected the infant to survive. Now that the infant had survived to adulthood, he was a problem to both the demons and Kagemitsu... but he was Kagemitsu’s responsibility. His own flesh and blood. This problem was his to take care of.

    “Kill him,” the demon urged. “You should have killed him from the start. Do it now, and fulfill the terms of our bargain.”

    “Silence!” Kagemitsu commanded. “It’s my decision to make, demon.” What he was feeling was difficult to describe. He saw a way out for himself and the demons, but he didn’t like feeling manipulated. When he raised his sword and cut over the X-shaped burn on his forehead, his hands weren’t entirely steady.

    The demon chuckled. “What excellent swordsmanship. I’m pleased that you’re able to see reason.”

    Kagemitsu looked up at the ceiling of his golden tower again with the demon’s laughter wrapped around him as tight as a cocoon. I have to end this, he thought. It’s time.

 

***

 

    Hyakkimaru awoke from a half-remembered nightmare where he’d killed Daigo Kagemitsu and fallen to his death in the process. He sat up slowly, taking in the sight of the river in the darkness with his new eyes, and snorted.

    That’s fine. I don’t care if I die, as long as I kill him, too.

    Dororo was still sleeping. Hyakkimaru shook him awake. Dororo complained and rolled over, but was finally persuaded to sit up.

    “What?” Dororo said with a huff. “You worried about me or somethin’? Maybe you think if the bad guys come I’ll step back and let ‘em kill ya? If I kill a few of ‘em for you will you leave me alone to sleep?”

    “No,” Hyakkimaru said. “I’m worried... but not about that.”

    “Pah. You got nothin’ to worry about. Isn’t your body made up of all those dead children? You’re strong enough to beat twenty people. And you have to be. You have to live for all those kids. And the kids the Kaneyama Clan killed in front of you. Them, too. I’ve gotta live for my parents. If that demon girl comes back, I’ll pound her into the dirt.”

    “Quiet,” Hyakkimaru said. “You talk too much.”

    “You woke me up!” Dororo’s fists hit the ground. “Don’t even think about dying. I’d have to watch, and I couldn’t stand it.”

    “So you want me to live so that you don’t have to watch me die? How does that make sense?”

    “It doesn’t have to make sense. I told you to do something, so you do it, damn it. I don’t even care if you mean it. You’ve gone through more than enough to make you tough, same as me. So if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right--with a smile. Otherwise there’s no point.”

    Hyakkimaru didn’t quite smile, but Dororo’s words were comforting. Dororo hasn’t changed. It’s hard to tell if that’s childish innocence or basic simple-mindedness.

    “I guess,” Hyakkimaru said. “Thanks for the talk.” He wondered if Dororo still hated him because of who his father was. It didn’t seem like it, but it was hard to tell. Hyakkimaru hadn’t decided to live or die consciously since the death of his real father, Jukai, but that choice was before him again. Dororo wanted him to keep living regardless of the circumstances, but to Hyakkimaru, those circumstances mattered. In the end, he might not have a free choice. He had too many problems to solve and too many enemies to fight.

    “Say,” Dororo said, “if I killed your old man, would you be mad at me?” His tone was light, but his expression was bitter.

    “Of course not,” Hyakkimaru said. “It doesn’t matter which of us gets to him first. Not to me.” He gave Dororo a smile, though it pained him. It probably looked painful, too. He drew a dagger from a scabbard at his hip and presented it to Dororo hilt-first.

    “Take it,” Hyakkimaru said. “Your knife broke, so you can use this.” To kill me, he thought but didn’t say. He still wasn’t certain that Dororo wouldn’t try to kill him.

    “Keep it,” Dororo said. “I ain’t planning to kill ya anytime soon, y’know, so don’t tempt me, you fool.”

    “I’m not trying to tempt you,” Hyakkimaru said. He set the dagger down on the ground. “Take it, or not, but I think you need a weapon.”

    Dororo shrugged, then took the dagger and slipped it into his scabbard. “What will you do when you see him? Your old man, I mean? Can you kill him? Isn’t that like a crime against nature or somethin’?”

    Hyakkimaru opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. “I… I don’t think it’s a crime against nature. Why can’t I kill him? I don’t think there’s any reason not to.”

    “Kids don’t kill their parents,” Dororo said. “It ain’t done. It would be one thing if you knew him from when you were a kid and he tormented you the entire time. Everyone has their breaking point. But you’ve never even met the guy. I think you’ll feel differently when you do. Who even knows what you’ll feel? That’s why I asked what you thought you’d do.”

    Hyakkimaru seriously considered Dororo’s points. He’d assumed from the first that killing Daigo Kagemitsu was natural and right, given what the man had done to him… but what if Dororo was right? What if something happened when he met Daigo Kagemitsu that he hadn’t predicted?

    “I won’t let him kill you,” Hyakkimaru said quietly. “That much, I can promise.”

    Dororo appeared surprised. “I can kill him, y’know. You don’t need to protect me.”

    “I do,” Hyakkimaru said. “You have no armor or sword skills. You might be able to kill him if you surprise him, but you can’t fight him one-on-one and win. I can. Maybe,”

    “You can’t kill him; he’s your dad.”

    “And you can’t kill him, either. He’s too well-defended.”

    “Yeah.” Dororo scratched the back of his head. “You’re right. But the bastard still has to die… so what do we do?”

    Hyakkimaru had no idea. The half-demon girl might show up and attack again at any time. The rebels of the Kaneyama Clan were on the move. Kagemitsu Daigo was hidden in his fortress, protected by human guards as well as demons. There were too many moving parts.

    If only I could run.

    Running would keep him alive, at any rate. Dororo, too. But it was too late to run. Daigo Kagemitsu knew that he was alive. If he tried to flee now, he’d be pursued… and there was no point in trying to outrun his destiny.

    The sun was rising. A band of white-yellow light glowed on the eastern horizon.

    “Some people say every sunrise is a miracle,” Dororo said. “It means another day of life.”

    “Sounds a little cheesy,” Hyakkimaru said. “How’s the weather? Is it a good day to travel?”

    “Seems like it,” Dororo said. He was staring at the sunrise. “We should be able to get a good view of the surroundings from that hill over there.Want to go do some scouting?”

    “Sure.”

    While Dororo and Hyakkimaru were walking toward the hill, Biwabōshi caught up to them. He’d made camp nearby.

    “Yo,” Dororo said. “You gonna follow us?”

    Biwabōshi shook his head. “I’ll see you off, but the Daigo Clan’s fortress is no place for someone like me.”

    Hyakkimaru, Dororo and Biwabōshi climbed the hill that would let them see over the border to the Daigo Clan’s lands. They stood in contested territory, but it didn’t feel that way. The world at dawn was quiet and still.

 

***

 

    At the Daigo Clan fortress, Yuri and Tahōmaru both received word of Hyakkimaru’s whereabouts.

    “He’s on the hill at the border,” Rai said to Yuri.

    “Right above the remains of Banmon,” a servant girl said to Tahōmaru.

    The vast fortress in the gloom was as silent as a tomb. Hyakkimaru, Dororo and Biwabōshi  saw it in the distance as the sun came up. Yuri, Kagemitsu and Tahōmaru stared out the windows of their rooms at Banmon and the ancient battlefield where the Daigo Clan had seized power some twenty years before. The Kaneyama Clan rebels sent out a message to their scant remaining army to muster at the river. The half-demon, half-human girl followed after the Kaneyama Clan like a wraith, unnoticed.

    Emotions swirled in from every side: love, hatred, jealously, loyalty, desire, ambition. The separation between the world of demons and the world of humans was obliterated like Banmon: only symbolic remnants of that separation remained.

    The sun rose over the horizon: a chilling, terrifying dawn.