4 April 2023

I wrote this at about 11:30 last night. I couldn’t sleep, and I’d wanted to get back to writing anyway, so here we are. It’s been long enough that I barely remember any of what I was doing with any of my plot threads, but I love Hanako, and I’d wanted her to help Chiaki somehow. Then, while I was writing it, this moment wound up so much more important than I would have expected. This feels like the moment where Hanako commits to take the fight to the shogun. Though she still does have to get through the Yokai army first…

Some of you may be familiar enough with Japanese legends and mythology to recognize the name Mikuzume. That’s intentional, though it’s not the exact same entity. One of my major sources for yokai legends and facts is at Yokai.com, for anyone who’s interested.

Hanako stood outside the tent door for half a moment. “Chiaki? Mind if I come in?”

When no answer came, Hanako tentatively opened the flap and stepped inside. Chiaki was curled up on her cot, facing the tent wall. The space was small enough that Hanako could smell Chiaki; the girl hadn’t had the energy to bathe, it seemed.

What could Hanako say in a situation like this? What could she do? She almost reached out and placed a hand on Chiaki’s shoulder, but eventually let it fall. Hanako’s own guilt devoured her. Eventually, all she could do was sit on the floor, back against the cot. In a voice so soft it was barely audible, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

The cot shifted behind her. To Hanako’s surprise, Chiaki spoke. “Why? Why did it have to be us?”

Hanako bit her lip. Was Chiaki talking about her? Or the shogun’s men? “I don’t know.”

“I just… I can’t stop thinking about it. That day. When they came to the inn, and later with the torches. I… I hate them!”

Hanako turned to face Chiaki. The girl’s expression had twisted into a grim mask of rage and grief. Chiaki’s gaze pierced into Hanako. “You’ll kill them, right? The shogun. His men.”

Hanako’s blood froze. She’d never considered it before. Take on the shogun himself? “I… I don’t know that I can.”

Chiaki blinked, then slowly turned back toward the wall. Before she closed off completely, though, Hanako added, “But I will do everything I can to stop him. These raids… the way he treats people… it’s not okay. ”

Chiaki turned back to face her. Hanako smiled awkwardly. “But… I definitely can’t do that alone. Will you help me?”

For several seconds, Chiaki didn’t respond. Hanako started to worry she’d broken something important in the girl. Then a shy smile broke out on Chiaki’s face. “Ok.”

A huge grin of relief split Hanako’s face. “Thanks. You might want tot start by getting cleaned up; you don’t exactly smell like roses right now.”

Chiaki blushed, and Hanako left the tent. She was greeted by a beautiful woman in her early thirties. A nurse? “That was quite the bold statement. Did you mean what you said?”

Right. Tent walls. Probably not the best when it comes to soundproofing. Hanako nodded and said, “It’s… going to be hard. Maybe impossible. But I want to try.” She was actually a little surprised at how invested in this she felt. It wasn’t a bad feeling, though. “I’m Hanako.”

The nurse tipped her head. “You can call me Mikuzume.”

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Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)

29 October 2022

Round two on the final battle. I like this one a lot more; there’s still a few tweaks I made to it after this on the 31st, but overall, this is the core of what I used.

I’m still iffy on the general offering Hanako a place with the shogun’s army. Just feels off. But he needed to say something. I’ll likely change that at a later date, especially if I wind up doing anything more formal with this story.

Hanako didn’t know how much of what she felt was rage and how much was panic. As she jumped back toward the village, all she could think about was the village elder’s face as he’d screamed, “She’s doomed us all!”

It wasn’t long before she ran into a group of people running into the forest. She recognized the woman who’d defended her against the village elder, who seemed to be the one keeping everyone together. Hanako stopped and asked, “What’s going on?”

The woman replied, “The army attacked. A massive group of them, from the north. Benjiro gathered what people he could to slow down and let us escape, but…” She shook her head. “They’re mostly just old men and boys.”

Hanako’s chest tightened. “I’m on my way. Be careful; there was another force further that way. I took care of most of them, but there could be stragglers.”

The woman nodded. “Thank you.”

Hanako turned to leave, but she caught sight of Chiaki, with vacant eyes and tears flowing down her cheeks. “Chiaki?”

She reached out to her, but the woman from before pulled her back. “Leave her be.”

“What… what happened?”

“Her mother was one of the first to fight back; Chiaki was still there when they killed her. We managed to pull her away before anything worse happened, but…”

Ice ran through Hanako’s veins as memories of the gentle innkeeper passed through her mind. She hadn’t known the woman long, but it was enough to have earned Hanko’s respect. The beast inside Hanako’s chest strained against her control, almost breaking free, and tears pooled in her eyes, though they didn’t fall yet. “Be safe.”

“You too.” The woman waved her off, and Hanako dashed for the village.

Once she arrived, over half of it was already aflame. Soon she arrived at a makeshift tent that had been set up, which seemed to serve as a hospital of sorts. Among the handful inside, the boy who’d lifted a sword too big for him lay on a cot, clutching his stomach. His sister sat next to him, clutching his arm as she pleaded, “Satoru! Satoru!”

Hanako almost stopped, but if she didn’t take care of the army, nothing she did here would matter. So she ignored the ache in her chest and rushed toward the sound of fighting ahead. On the way, she thought she caught sight of the village elder, eyes open, sword in hand, laying in the street.

When she finally arrived at the battlefront, she saw their commander, an old, white-haired general, with the captain she’d fought in town earlier beside him. A few dozen soldiers were scattered around, fighting the last of the villagers who tried to resist.

“That’s her, sir,” the captain said. “The oni swordswoman.”

The general studied Hanako. “So Suzune failed to pin her down.”

The last threads on Hanako’s control began to fray, and she pulled out her sword. The general looked unconcerned. “You, swordswoman. You don’t carry yourself like other oni. Would you consider joining the shogun’s forces?”

Hanako was incredulous. “For what? More of this? Burned villages and murdered townsfolk?”

A few soldiers flinched at that, but the general remained impassive. “We only do the will of the shogun.”

That was the last push. The restraints on Hanako’s wrath snapped, and she roared into the army in a storm of steel and blood. Everything blurred together as tears streamed down her face. She vaguely remembered cutting down the general and the captain; there was also a group of soldiers who moved to surround her only to lose their heads. Another group tried nets; before they could throw them, though, she stomped the ground, and the weakened village buildings collapsed on top of them.

Even after the troops broke ranks and began to flee, Hanako’s wrath drove her on, and she screamed as she cut them down. By the time she came to her senses, she stood alone on a field of corpses.

Hanako sank to her knees, and gazed at the devastated village as it burned. She looked down at her blood soaked hands, and then screamed to the sky.

By the time Suzune had come to and gathered what was left of her forces, everything was over. They’d hobbled to the village, in hopes to rendezvous with the rest of the army. But when they arrived, they could only look in horror. Captain Ito watched the flames flicker against the dying light of evening; he’d been assigned as an archer to Suzune’s force, and was one of the few lucky enough to escape uninjured.

Suzune’s attention, however, wasn’t on the village, but on a lone figure kneeling in the blood and muck a little ways away. One of her other men also noticed and moved to draw his bow, but Suzune pushed it back down.

The men all looked to her. “Unless you managed to kill her with a single shot,” she explained, “which I doubt, you’d engage us in a fight we’re in no condition to win. Besides…” she looked around the devastation around them. “I think there’s been enough death here today.”

She signaled the retreat, but while the rest of her force turned to head back, she continued staring at Hanako. “Say, Captain Ito.” She spoke softly, and Ito paused. “When we die, do you think anyone will weep for us like that?”

Ito turned and looked at the red haired oni girl. “After what I’ve seen here,” he whispered, “I honestly don’t know.”

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Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)

6 October 2022

Here is the first of a three-part rewrite of the events depicted in this post. I would say that it is here that Hanako’s story really felt like it was starting to grow into its own.

I was thinking about it recently; why have I fixated so much on this particular story compared to others? One of my main theories is that I just find Hanako that engaging as a character. Hopefully I get that across. But there’s something about the cheerful front she puts up and her desire for connection that resonates with me.

The other theory is feedback; I was really proud of my introductory scene for her, posted here, and I showed that to a few people, who proactively wanted to read more. That lit a fire and increased my willingness to invest, I think. I’m not saying all feedback needs to be positive; that would actually be really bad. Constructive criticism is important to identify weaknesses so I can improve. But little touches of affirmation go a long way, at least for me.

The town wasn’t especially welcoming to outsiders, but Hanako didn’t care; after the horrors she’d seen in Wakayama, Gifu, and others, she was just happy to have arrived ahead of the army for once.

She headed to the inn and paid for a room. She stayed out in the common area for dinner, though, in the hopes to get a feel for the atmosphere of the town. What she saw confirmed her suspicions; the innkeeper’s smile was tense, and the woman kept shooting furtive looks toward the door. The serving girl, who looked to be the innkeeper’s daughter, couldn’t keep her hands from shaking.

“Hey,” Hanako called out to the girl. “I’m Hanako. What’s your name?”

The girl hesitated for a bit. “Chiaki.”

“Mm. Nice to meet you, Chiaki!” Hanako beamed at her, which seemed to calm Chiaki down a bit. “Say, everyone in town seems really on-edge. Is something going on?”

Chiaki blinked. “Haven’t you heard?”

Hanako shrugged sheepishly. “I’ve only been in town for about half an hour. And before that, it’s been two or three days since I saw anyone else on the road.”

“The shogun’s army has camped near here. A whole battalion, they say.”

Hanako’s breath caught. “A whole battalion?” She’d thought - or hoped, rather - it would just be a squadron or two; she wasn’t sure she could take an entire battalion by herself.

“No sense in worrying. We’ll just give them what they want, and they’ll leave us alone.” The white knuckles on the innkeeper’s hand as she polished the tables betrayed her worry, despite her words.

Hanako knew a lot of people in the villages she’d just passed through that would disagree with her statement, but there wasn’t anything to be gained from worrying them with the things she’d seen. She continued her meal, but before she got up out of her seat, three Imperial soldiers entered the room. Hanako’s expression brightened when she recognized them as the trio who’d attacked the  old merchant.

The leader scanned the room, but focused on Chiaki so quickly Hanako wasn’t sure he’d even seen her. He gestured the soldiers towards Chiaki and said, “Take the girl, and anything else that looks valuable.” 

The faces of both the innkeeper and her daughter turned white, and the innkeeper wailed, “No! Please! Don’t take my daughter!”

The leader backhanded her across the face and roared, “Do you intend to interfere with an officer of the shogun’s army!?”

His two men moved to grab Chiaki, but they froze as soon as they saw Hanako. She gave them a feral grin and stood up. “Hey, robber-san, robber-san! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

The leader creaked his head toward Hanako. “You! How…” Hanako almost burst out laughing when his face first turned pale white, and then a deep, deep purple.

She continued, “I see you got new armor! How’s it holding up?”

At that, the leader snapped and lunged at her, drawing his sword. Hanako just stepped in and diverted his sword hand, and punched him in the solar plexus. Right as the punch landed, she brought up the memories of Wakayama, Gifu, and all the other ruined towns she’d witnessed, and let a sliver of the anger she felt creep into the punch, launching him a few inches into the air.

The leader wheezed for breath as he collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness. The other two backed up and turned to run. However, Hanako wasn’t willing to let them warn the rest of the army just yet, so she jumped past them, chopping one in the temple and knocking the other in the back of the head. Both dropped.

Once she wrestled her rage back under complete control, she turned to look back and realized her jump had broken the floorboards. She smiled apologetically to the innkeeper. “Sorry about that. Let me know how much it costs to fix that, and I’ll do what I can to repay you.”

Both the innkeeper and Chiaki stared at her in shock. “You’re… an oni.”

Oh, right. She’d used her powers. Hanako slowly reached up and touched her horn. “Erm, yeah. I’m not with the youkai army or anything, though; I hear they’re just as bad as these guys.”

For a long moment, no one said anything. Hanako turned toward the door. “These guys shouldn’t be dead; do whatever you want with them. A friend told me their armor sells for good money.”

She started to leave, but Chiaki called out, “Th-thank you! For saving me.”

When Hanako turned back, the smile on her face was the warmest it had been in a long time. “You’re welcome.”

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Current Draft of Hanako’s story (including unposted content)