[Episode 177543] [Episode 177543]Genma Saotome is not a very nice man. Not as vicious and destructive as the 'Demon Master' Happosai that he studied under. Mostly Genma's sins revolved around broken promises, outright lies and petty theft.
He'd still managed to ruin a few people's lives. In most cases it was partly their own fault for trusting such a shifty character, but the suffering that resulted wasn't mitigated by this fact.
Ukyo Kuonji was one such ruined life. Genma had pledged his son as her fiancee, then unceremoniously fled, stealing the yattai which was to be her dowry. Usually, her father's shame and guilt over the incident was inflicted for years on his daughter. This in turn would lead her to abandon her own identity as a woman and put her on a long and fruitless quest for revenge.
Horrible as it was, the situation could have been worse. Which meant, of course, in some timelines, it WAS worse. For example, the Kuonji family might have come across a powerful curse in furthering their culinary mastery. A curse with a high price.
"I ask you one last time. Will you not reconsider? Ukyo needs you now more than ever." The woman's dark eyes flashed with anger and resignation. It was clear she'd tried to dissuade the man kneeling before her many times. She was dressed formally, and wore the sword at her side uneasily. Still, any warrior would recognize the pair as martial artists. Their dark hair and features were remarkably alike, and it took no great intellect to realize they were also related by blood.
"Sayoko. I will not have my only daughter live with the humiliation of that worthless dog Saotome. If I could hunt him down and extract the debt of honor in blood, I'd do so. But he's a thief and a coward, and he lives accordingly. This will expiate my own shame and take a suitable vengeance on her behalf. With this act, I settle giri between the Kuonji and Saotome clans. Genma Saotome will suffer my punishment for his arrogance."
The man's voice was suitably grim, but there was a calm triumph in his claim. The spatula laying at his feet was a bit strange... But anyone familiar with bushido would recognize the poem written before him, the bared tanto, and the way his own formal kimono was opened so as to expose a solid and muscular torso.
Seppuku.
"We can find them eventually! There are other ways to make that bastard pay!" The way Sayoko Kuonji's hand clenched angrily near her sword would concern most men.
Elsewhere in Japan, a certain bald martial artist felt a familiar chill run down his spine. But Ukyo's father was unmoved.
"Enough. Every time I look at her I am reminded of my own failure and shame! It's like a poison that fat leech left in his wake! I am not the same man I was before I met him. I've failed my daughter. I've lost my business. The art our family follows, that I've dedicated my life to... It can't bring me peace. Now... Sayoko. Will you act as my second? Or are you only here to dissuade me?"
Sayoko's voice was choked with grief. Her hand clutched the katana's hilt, drawing the blade from it's sheath. "Damn your stubbornness. I can see you're right. You're not the man you once were. If revenge is all that matters to you... Finish this. Have your revenge and find peace."
The heavyset man reached down with one hand to touch his spatula for the last time. "Koujin-sama, listen! Hettsui-No-Kami, hear my plea! Oki-Tsu-Hime-No-Kami and Oki-Tus-Hiko-No-Kami, judge well that which has taken place. All kami of the hearth, know that I have devoted my life to serve mankind, and I offer my life to redress this crime. Genma Saotome accepted my hospitality... and turned his hand against me."
"I ask you to let me punish him. Let my spirit see that no drink quenches his thirst. Let me turn food to ash upon his palate. Show him that heaven will offer justice where mortals cannot."
The hand left his spatula and settled firmly on the tanto once more. The tanto bit deep into stomach, a grunt of effort the only sign of pain. Sayoko Kuonji was a chef at heart, and she and her brother had worked on their timing often in the kitchen together growing up. So a moment later the task was finished as perfectly as any other the pair had taken on.
As ritual demanded, his head was still attached by a small band of flesh. But his body was drenched in blood.
(Posted Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:52)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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