Taiko. Part 37

It was near dawn when Kazumasu withdrew from n.o.bunaga's presence. By the time the light of early morning spilled into the castle grounds, the rumor that the Oda and the lord of Mikawa had made an alliance had already been back and forth, whispered from ear to ear.

Even such secret information as that concerning the imminent meeting of the representatives of the two clans at Narumi to sign the agreement, and the proposed New Year's visit the following year of Tokugawa Ieyasu at Kiyosu Castle to meet n.o.bunaga for the first time, was quickly and quietly pa.s.sed among the retainers.

Inuchiyo, Shonyu, Tokichiro, and the other young samurai had recognized from as far away as Sugaguchi the ident.i.ty of the messenger who was returning to the castle, and had immediately chased after him. Sitting packed together in a room in the castle, they waited breathlessly to know if it would be war or peace with Mikawa.

"Rejoice!" The page, Tohachiro, had heard the news that came swiftly from the inner council, and he told them everything he had heard.

"It's been agreed?" This outcome had generally been expected, but when they knew a settlement had been reached, their faces were brighter, and their hearts looked to the future with antic.i.p.ation.

"Now we can fight," said a samurai.

n.o.bunaga's retainers had not been praising the alliance with Mikawa as a means of avoiding war. They heartily welcomed the treaty with Mikawa, the province to their rear so they could face a greater enemy with all their strength.

"It's His Lords.h.i.+p's good fortune as a warrior."

"And advantageous for Mikawa, as well."

"Now that I've heard the outcome, I can't keep my eyes open. Come to think of it, we haven't slept since last night," said one of the previous night's revelers; to which Tokichiro yelled, "Not me! I feel just the opposite. Last night was a happy event, and so is this morning. With all of these happy things one after another, I feel like going back to Sugaguchi and drinking some more."

Shonyu joked, "You're lying. The place you feel like going back to is Nene's house Well, well, how would the bride spend the first night? Master Tokichiro! This forbearance is futile. How about asking for a full day off today and going home? Somebody's waiting for you now."

"Bah!" Tokichiro put up a bold front in the face of his friends' laughter. The burst of loud guffaws drifted down the corridors in the dawn. Finally, a huge drum sounded from the top of the castle, and each of them quickly went off to his post.

I'm home!" The entrance to Asano Mataemon's house was not large, but when Tokichiro stood there, it seemed awfully big. His voice was clear, and his presence brightened the surroundings.

Oh!" Nene's little sister, Oyaya, was bouncing a ball on the step and looked up at him with round eyes. She had thought that perhaps he was a visitor, but when she saw that he was her sister's husband, she giggled and ran into the house.

Tokichiro laughed too. He felt strangely amused. When he thought about it, he had left the party and gone drinking with his friends, and then had gone straight to the castle. He was finally coming home at about dusk, the same time of the wedding ceremony the night before. Tonight there were no longer bonfires burning at the gate, but for three days now there had been some sort of family celebration, with guests coming and going. Tonight the voices of guests filled the house again, and a number of pairs of sandals had been left at the entrance.

I'm home!" the bridegroom once again yelled cheerfully. No one came out to greet him, so they must be busy in the kitchen and the guest room, Tokichiro thought. He was, all, the son-in-law of the house since the night before. Next to his father and mother-in-law, he was the master here. Well, perhaps he should not go in before they all came out to greet him.

"Nene! I'm home!"

A surprised voice came from the direction of the kitchen, on the other side of a low fence. Mataemon, his wife, Oyaya, some relatives and servants all came out and looked at him with exasperated expressions, as though they wondered what he was doing there.

Nene arrived, she quickly took off her ap.r.o.n, knelt, and greeted him by pressing both hands to the floor.

"Welcome home."

"Welcome back," the others all added hurriedly, lining up and bowing, with the exceptions, of course, of Mataemon and his wife. They appeared to have come out just to look.

Tokichiro looked at Nene and then at all the others and bowed once. He walked straight in, and this time he bowed politely to his father-in-law before reporting the day's events at the castle.

Mataemon had been disgruntled since the previous evening. He had wanted to remind his son-in-law of his duty to his relatives and of Nene's position. Tokichiro had back without a trace of remorse, and Mataemon had resolved that he wouldn't hold back,even if it was bad manners in front of guests. But Tokichiro looked so carefree that Mataemon forgot his complaint. Moreover, Tokichiro's first words had been to inform him of his day at the castle and of their lord's state of mind. Mataemon unconsciously staightened and responded, "Well, you must have had a hard day." Thus he said just the opposite of what he had intended, and praised Tokichiro instead of reprimanding him.

Tokichiro entertained the guests by staying up late that night and drinking. Even when the guests had gone, there were a number of relatives whose homes were so far away that they had to spend the night. Nene was unable to get away from the kitchen, and the servants looked tired.

Even though Tokichiro had finally come home, he and Nene hardly had enough time to smile at one another, much less to be alone together. As the night deepened, Nene put away the cups in the kitchen, gave orders for breakfast, made sure everything was well at the bedsides of each of the befuddled sleeping relatives, and finally loosened the cords that held up her sleeves. Herself again for the first time that night, she looked for the man who had become her husband.

In the room set aside for the two of them slept relatives and children. In the room where they had all been drinking, her mother and father and their close relatives were chatting.

Where is he? she wondered. When she went out to the veranda, a voice called from a dark servant's room off to the side.

"Nene?" It was her husband's voice. Nene tried to answer, but couldn't. Her heart was pounding. Although she had never felt this way until the wedding ceremony, she had not been able to see Tokichiro since the night before.

"Come in," Tokichiro said. Nene could still hear the voices of her parents. While she was standing there, wondering what to do, she suddenly spotted mosquito-repellent incense that had been left smoldering. Picking it up, she went in timidly.

"You're sleeping here? There must be a lot of mosquitoes." He had gone to sleep on the floor. Tokichiro stared at his feet.

"Ah, mosquitoes..."

"You must be exhausted."

"And you too," he sympathized. "The relatives resolutely refused, but I just couldn't make the old folks sleep in the servants' quarters while we slept in a room with a gold screen."

"But to sleep in a place like this, without any bedding..." Nene started to get up, but he stopped her.

"It's all right. I've slept on the ground-even on bare planks. My body has been tempered by poverty." He sat up. "Nene, come a little closer."

"Y-yes."

"A new wife is like a new wooden rice container. If you don't use it for a long time, it smells bad and becomes unusable. When it gets old, the hoops are apt to come off. But it's good to remember that a husband is a husband, too, from time to time. We plan on living a long life together, and have promised to be faithful to each other until we become old and white-haired, but our life is not going to be an easy one. So, while we still have the kind of feelings we do now, I think we should make a pledge to each other. How do you feel about this?"

"Of course. I'll keep this pledge absolutely, no matter what it is," Nene answered clearly.

Tokichiro was the picture of seriousness. He even looked a little grim. Nene, however, was happy at seeing this solemn expression for the first time.

'First, as a husband, I'm going to tell you what I want from you as a wife."

"Please."

My mother is a poor farm woman and refused to come to the wedding. But the person who was happiest at my taking a wife more than anyone, anyone in the world, was my mother."

"I see."

"One day my Mother will come to live with us in the same house, and it will be fine if helping your husband takes second place. More than anything, I would like for you to be devoted to my mother and make her happy."

"Yes."

"My mother was born to a samurai family, but long before my birth, she has been poor. She raised several children in great poverty; just to bring up a single child in such circ.u.mstances was to struggle through incredible hards.h.i.+p. She had nothing to make her happy-not even a new cotton kimono for the winter and one for the summer. She's uneducated, she speaks in a country dialect, and she's completely ignorant of manners. As my wife, will you take care of a mother like that with real love? Can you respect and cherish her?"

"I can. Your mother's happiness is your happiness. I think that's natural."

"But you also have two parents in good health. In the same way, they're very important to me. I'm not going to be any less filial to them than you are."

"That makes me happy."

"Then there's one more thing for me," Tokichiro went on. "Your father has raised you to be a virtuous woman, disciplining you with a lot of rules. But I'm not so hard to please. I'm just going to rely on you for one thing."

"Which is?"

"I just want you to be happy in your husband's service, in his work, and in all the things he must commonly do. And that's all. It sounds easy, doesn't it? But it won't be easy at all. Look at the husbands and wives who have pa.s.sed years together. There are wives who have no idea what their husbands do. Such husbands lose an important incentive, and even a man who works for the sake of the nation or province is small, pitiful, and weak when he is at home. If only his wife is happy and interested in her husband's work, he can go out on the battlefield in the morning with courage. To me, this is the best wy a wife can help her husband."

"I understand."

"All right. Now let's hear what hopes you have of me. Speak up and I'll promise." Despite this request, Nene was unable to say a thing.

"Whatever a wife wishes of her husband. If you won't tell me your desires, shall I say them for you?" Nene smiled and nodded at Tokichiro's words. Then she quickly looked down.

"A husband's love?"

"No..."

"Then an unchanging love."

"Yes."

"To give birth to a healthy child?"

Nene trembled. If there had been a lamp to see it by, her face would have burned as red as the color of cinnabar.

On the morning following the three-day wedding party, Tokichiro and his wife put on formal kimonos for yet another ceremony, and visited the mansion of their go-between, Lord Nagoya. After that, they went around to two or three houses, feeling as though all the eyes of Kiyosu were on them that day. But Nene and her young husband had nothing but good intentions for the pa.s.sersby who turned to look at them.

"Let's go visit Master Otowaka's house for a moment," said Tokichiro.

"Hey, Monkey!" Otowaka yelled, and then corrected himself in a fl.u.s.ter, "Tokichiro."

"I've brought my wife to meet you."

"What? Of course! The honored daughter of the archer, Master Asano! Tokichiro, you're a lucky fellow."

It was only seven years ago that Tokichiro had come up to this veranda selling needles, dressed in dirty, travel-stained clothes. He had felt as though he hadn't eaten in days. When they had given him some food, he had sat there eating greedily, with his chopsticks clacking.

"You're so lucky, it's scary," Otowaka said. "Well, the house is filthy, but come in." Somewhat fl.u.s.tered, he yelled to his wife inside the house and then showed them in himself. Just then, they heard a voice shouting in the street. It was a herald, das.h.i.+ng from house to house.

"Join your regiment! Join your regiment! By His Lords.h.i.+p's order!"

"An official order?" Otowaka said. "The call to arms."

"Master Otowaka," Tokichiro said suddenly, "I have to get to the a.s.sembly grounds as quickly as possible."

Until this morning, there had been no indication that something like this might happen, and even when Tokichiro had visited Nagoya's residence, appearances had been nothing but peaceful. Where in the world could they be going? Even Tokichiro's usual intuition had failed him this time. Whenever the word "battle" was spoken, his intuition was usually right on target as to where they were headed. But the young bridegroom's mind had been far away from the current situation for some time. He ran into a number of men das.h.i.+ng from the samurai neighborhoods, shouldering their armor.

A group of hors.e.m.e.n raced from the castle. While he didn't know what was going on, Tokichiro had a premonition that the battlefield would be far away.

Nene hurried home ahead of her husband.

"Kinos.h.i.+ta! Kinos.h.i.+ta!" As he approached the archers' tenement houses, somebody yelled from behind him. Turning to look, he saw that it was Inuchiyo. He was on horseback, in the same suit of armor he had worn at Okehazama, a banner decorated with a plum-blossom crest fluttering from a thin bamboo pole fastened to his back.

"I was just coming by to call for Master Mataemon. Get yourself ready and come immediately to the a.s.sembly grounds."

"Are we marching out?" Tokichiro asked.

Inuchiyo jumped off his horse. "How did it go... later on?" Inuchiyo asked.

"What do you mean, 'How did it go?'"

"That would be better left unsaid. I was asking if you are now man and wife."

"That's nothing you need to ask about."

Inuchiyo laughed loudly. "But anyway we're going to the front. If you're late, they'll laugh at you at the a.s.sembly grounds, because you just got married."

"I don't mind being laughed at."

"An army of two thousand infantry and cavalry is marching to the Kiso River at dusk.

"We're going into Mino, then."

"There was a secret report that Saito Yos.h.i.+tatsu of Inabayama suddenly became sick and died. This call to arms and the advance toward the Kiso River is a feeler to determine whether there's any truth in the story."

"Well, now, let's see. There was a lot of excitement when we heard that Yos.h.i.+tatsu had gotten sick and died earlier this summer, too."

"But this time it seems to be true. And regardless, from the clan's standpoint Yos.h.i.+tatsu murdered Lord n.o.bunaga's father-in-law, Lord Dosan. In terms of morality, he's the enemy, and we cannot live with him under the same sky; and if the clan is to gain the center of the field, we must have a foothold in Mino."

"That day is coming soon, isn't it?"

"Soon? We're leaving for the Kiso tonight."

"No. Not yet, not yet. I doubt if His Lords.h.i.+p will attack yet."

"The armies are under the commands of Lord Katsuie and Lord n.o.b.u.mori; His Lords.h.i.+p will not go out in person."

"But even if Yos.h.i.+tatsu is dead, and even if his son, Tatsuoki, is a fool, the Three Men of Mino-Ando, Inaba, and Ujiie-are still alive. Plus, while there is still a man like Takenaka Hanbei, who is said to be living in seclusion on Mount Kurihara, it's not going to be done so easily."

"Takenaka Hanbei?" Inuchiyo c.o.c.ked his head to one side. "The names of the Three Men have echoed for a long time even in neighboring provinces, but is this Takenaka Hanbei so formidable?"

"Most people have never heard of him; I'm his only admirer here in Owari."

"How do you know things like this?"

"I was in Mino for a long time, and..." Tokichiro stopped in midsentence. He had never told Inuchiyo of his experiences as a peddler, the time he spent with Koroku in Hachisuka, and of his spying in Inabayama.

"Well, we've lost time." Inuchiyo remounted.

"See you at the a.s.sembly grounds."

"Right. Later." The two men sped away from each other, toward opposite ends of the neighborhood.