Free Kill the Shogun by Dale Furutani

you beat up the son of a daimyo if he was doing that?”
    “Probably not, great Lord.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because that is not cruelty for cruelty’s sake. I was taught that all creatures must die, including human beings. Death is inevitable, by one means or another. The manner of death, however, is important. Being boiled alive to give another pleasure is not a good death, even for a dog. I have never seen this type of cruelty exhibited before by our clan. Young Lord Okubo is a future daimyo, but he is also a guest of our clan. He should abide by the customs of our clan. That includes not inflicting pain for callous reasons, even to a dog.”
    Kaze’s father opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it. His son was acquitting himself like a man. He didn’t know from what depths the young boy was pulling up the answers he was giving. He wanted to turn his head and look at his son,but protocol prevented him from doing so in this type of formal interview. He had to keep his face toward his daimyo.
    The daimyo raised his eyebrows at Kaze’s answer, surprised at the response.
    “Undoubtedly there are other customs in Okubo’s own clan,” the daimyo said diplomatically. “Why do you think Okubo complained to me about the beating you gave him?”
    “To get me in trouble because he was defeated and …” For the first time in the interview, Kaze looked his age as youthful embarrassment flitted across his face. He stopped talking.
    “Finish your thought,” the daimyo commanded.
    “Yes, great Lord. I believe young Lord Okubo complained to you because he has not been properly trained in bushido, the way of the warrior. A true warrior would never complain about such a trivial matter.”
    The daimyo placed his hand to his face to hide his smile, but his son, who was not as experienced in maintaining his composure, laughed out loud.
    After a moment, the daimyo said, “All right. I’m not going to punish you this time, but please try to restrain yourself from beating up the sons of daimyo, even if they’re engaged in what you think is cruelty.”
    Kaze and his father gave another deep, formal bow and left the room. As they left, Kaze’s father looked at his son as if he were seeing him for the first time.
    When the father and son were gone, the daimyo looked at his own son and said, “Someday that young man will become your right arm.”
    O kubo was assured that proper punishment had been given to Kaze, but he continued to hate the young boy. He also hated the retainerswho did not defend him, and when he returned to his own fief, he had the three retainers put to death.
    Later, Kaze and Okubo met again during the finals of Hideyoshi’s great sword tournament. There, Okubo’s clan tried to bribe Kaze, which made him want to destroy Okubo, not just defeat him.

          CHAPTER 8
     
    Poor pay, much hardship,
and the joy of the moment.
Welcome, show business!
    K aze balanced the top on his blade and walked it toward the tip. Although he kept the top balanced on the sword, his attention was not on the spinning orb of painted wood. Instead, he was studying a building across the street from him.
    It was a discreet building of dark wood and white plaster outer walls. It might have been an upper-class residence, except for the blue half-curtain hanging from the top of the door. The curtain had the
kanji
for “Little Flower” on it.
    The building had no windows facing the street, and in the twenty minutes Kaze took to do his act with the tops, no one entered or left. It was midmorning, and the street was bustling with people conducting their shopping or business. After years of a solitary existence on the road, the swirl of people that made up a typical Edo street was strange to Kaze, but he willed away the distractions and focused his attention on the brothel.
    Kaze was in Ningyo-cho, a compact community of Edo, not too far from the construction site of Edo-jo, tucked in the angle of the Sumida