27 September 2022
This immediately felt off as soon as I wrote it. It wasn’t until I was in the middle of work the next day that I figured out why, though; I wasn’t staying true to my image of Hanako. This Hanako is all “lone samurai” angst and sorrow and the world is terrible. The Hanako I originally established? She was willing and able to find the positive in almost any situation. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t have angst or angsty moments, but I try to remember to add her cheerful, almost cavalier attitude.
As a result, I actually rewrote the scene here, and expanded it. We’ll get to it once we reach October 6th and 8th entries for this year.
The town made no effort to welcome outsiders, but still, Hanako was able to get a room at the inn with little trouble. After she was certain she was alone, she finally pulled back her hood and heaved a sigh of relief. She ate a simple meal and went to sleep.
The next morning, however, she woke to find a battalion of the shogun’s army had camped nearby during the night. A squadron of them marched straight into the center of town; the commander ordered his men to take food and supplies, along with anything else they fancied, all while spouting some rhetoric about the glorious fight against youkai.
In her travels, Hanako had sometimes run into towns ransacked like this; destitute, heartbroken, and usually starving. The army were like locusts, devouring everything in their path.
Despite that, she knew better than to get involved; she couldn’t take on an entire army, no matter her strength and skill. Especially not one designed to hunt oni like her.
But when the commander moved to grab a young woman, Hanako caught him by the wrist. “You leave her - and the other members of the village - alone.”
The commander yanked his hand back and reached for his sword, sneering at her. “It is their duty, as citizens under the shogun, to serve our needs!! We defend them from the army of monsters, so this is only right!”
“Protect them?” Hanako asked quietly. “Like you protected Naha, where the people are so starved they’re boiling leather? Like you protected Tokushima, where the march of you feet turned their fields into wastelands? Or Gifu? Wakayama? Makuhari?” Hanako spat on the ground. “If you want to hunt monsters, commander, perhaps start with the rapists and thieves in your own army.”
The commander’s face burned red, and he barked an order to the rest of the squad. The five men all drew their swords and circled around Hanako.
The girl she’d saved had fled with the rest of the villagers, thankfully leaving the area clear. Hanako was grateful for that; less chance the soldiers would try to use someone as leverage. Hanako inhaled deeply, and drew her sword out only the first inch. Her rage snarled, eager for the fight.
As in on cue, all five soldiers jumped toward her at the same time, only to swing at empty air. Hanako danced between them, her sword flashing here and there, almost unseen in the dawn light. Only seconds had passed, but Hanako stood with her sword to the commander’s throat, while behind her his men’s armor clattered to the ground.
The sweat beading on the commander’s pale face took the bite out of his glare. “You will regret this!”
Hanako pushed the blade just a little harder against his skin. “Oh? Are you saying it would be better if I killed you and saved myself the trouble?”
The commander’s face turned bone white, and Hanako whispered, “As of this moment, this village is under my protection. If you don’t want to me to bleed you like the animals you are, you will take your men and never return. Am I clear?”
With a nod, the commander backed away, then turned and ran. His men followed after him, struggling to carry all their armor with them.
Hanako sighed, then sank to the ground against a wall. A few of the villagers gingerly stepped out onto the street. One, an elderly man Hanako assumed was the chief, stomped over to her. “What have you done!?”
“I saved a young woman,” Hanako replied tiredly.
“At the cost of the village! When they return, it will be a while battalion, bringing torches! Mark my words, there won’t be a building left standing!”
Of course. What else had she expected? Even without revealing her horn, she got the same reactions. “I’ll protect your village, don’t worry, old man. And you haven’t seen what I’ve seen. Once the army’s gone through… Well, let’s just say I don’t even call that surviving.”
The old man tried to rant at her some more, but Hanako tuned him out. Instead, she stood up, and began heading for her room in the inn.
On the way, the woman she’d saved stopped her. “Thank you.”
Hanako smiled back. “You’re welcome. You okay?”
The woman nodded.
Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)