WAP 55

As usual, no one truly appreciated how funny she was. Aiko sighed and fidgeted while the room dissolved into a very long and very boring series of deliberations. She sat down by the wall and watched them argue about whether or not he could have been replaced and how to prove it.

“We can investigate tomorrow,” Izuna declared. “During the hunt.” His eyes glittered with triumph.

‘Hunt?’ Aiko wrinkled her brow. ‘They’re doing masculine bonding by hunting? This is going to be pathetic.’

Madara crossed his arms. His biceps bulged. “Investigate how?”

He rolled his eyes. “Minister Tani is supposed to be a scholar and artist,” Izuna explained with pure condescension. He dodged the retaliatory smack to the head. “There’s that one ballad poem about a boar hunt, who remembers it?” He wiggled his eyebrows as if this was in any way interesting. “A real literary man would be able to recite at least part of it.”

“He may have been replaced by another noble,” Hashirama argued.

Mito put a hand on his arm and shook her head. “No, they would have nothing to gain,” she assessed. Her eyes were cold. “Minister Tani is not well-liked, or successful enough to impersonate if one has other political prospects. He is comfortably wealthy, but no one who could do better by marriage or accomplishment would desire his station.”

Aiko put her chin in her hands and listened dubiously.

‘Is she wildly out of touch because she’s a princess or are my standards too low? Tani’s life seems decent. He has this fuck-off big castle and gets paid taxes by all the peasants in the area. His wife is gorgeous and competent, and he’s got like, ten retainer samurai. That seems more than comfortable to me.’

“He’s really that badly off?” 

Aiko was glad someone else asked for her, because she didn’t want to admit that this was also new information for her.

Mito flicked her eyes around the room. “His family has prestige, but he is an embarrassment,” she summarized. She seemed mildly incredulous that the fire country natives didn’t know this offhand. “He displeased the former Daimyo by making inflammatory statements about his wealth in rice when others were starving. The joke became well-known enough that he was dismissed to avoid the association. I doubt that he even receives visitors. This is a permanent exile.” She was too well-mannered to scoff, but her derision came across in the way she held her hand near her nose.

A permanent exile to the country because he bragged about having a lot of rice? That was so dramatic. 

‘It’s interesting that she mentions visitors. Senhime said that he turns away visitors. So either Mito is overstating it, or Senhime lied. Perhaps because she’s embarrassed that no one comes.’

…Aiko decided that she didn’t care about this. She heaved a sigh and leaned back on her hands. 

“He could only return to court on the tails of a victory, like an alliance with a new power.” Mito gestured to Izuna with a palm. He bowed theatrically and was ignored by everyone. “Most nobles would be leery of association with burakumin, but he has little to lose. That is some evidence towards being himself.” She tucked her hands away inside her sleeves.

“Burakumin?” Izuna said, tone high in outrage. “Bura- we are an ancient and noble clan!” His pale face flushed red. “Brother–”

“A killer is a killer to civilians,” Madara cut him off. He rolled his eyes. “Why should we care what they think of us? They are quick enough to associate when they desire our skills.”

“To the point, if he was the real Tani, he would be well-versed in the classics.” Hashirama held his hands up for peace. “That’s a good idea, thank you.”

Izuna stared at him mutinously.

“But if he doesn’t know, it’s hardly proof,” Aiko added. “He might just be dim. Or he didn’t study that poem.”

It seemed obvious to her. Lots of people born at the top of society were stupid. The idea that they were all well-educated was just classist rhetoric meant to justify their position. You could dress a lowborn man in a Daimyo’s clothes and it wouldn’t be meaningfully different.

The collection of feudal era ninja stared at her as if she had said something dumb. They exchanged glances and then looked away. Her jaw dropped in outrage when Izuna cleared his throat and continued talking about the poem.

‘Why am I involved in this discussion?’ Aiko rolled her eyes and stood to leave. ‘They don’t consider me a shinobi. There’s no reason for me to waste my time here. They haven’t even asked for what I think– the only person who even expressed interest in my assessment of Senhime was Madara.’

“I will go to breakfast,” she said. “Excuse me.” She waved off Kiroyama-san when the other woman stood to follow her. Aiko slipped out and left them all to their very intellectual debate, rolling her eyes. 

Staying at the castle was a lot like staying in a resort. She made her way to the dining room and a servant appeared with a drink and a cloth to wipe her hands. Breakfast came out on a tray a few minutes later.

…Aiko cocked her head. She didn’t frown at the food but it was a close thing. The rice and eggs were fresh. But that daikon pickle looked familiar, as did the sansai salad.

The servant looked nervous.

She looked at them. She considered asking why the side dishes were the leftovers from dinner last night. It seemed too rude, so Aiko said, “Thank you,” and dismissed him. He left with obvious relief.

Aiko picked up her chopsticks but didn’t eat, holding them in the air with a scowl. Something was wrong. She didn’t like it when patterns changed.

‘They haven’t repeated a dish the whole time I’ve been eating here.’ Aiko idly wondered if she was about to get poisoned again. But the rolled egg dish smelled good and she wouldn’t die, so she ate without complaints.

She was pleasantly surprised to experience no symptoms of a poisoning. Maybe they just hadn’t been able to prepare for someone to eat breakfast that early. …But it was such a departure from their extravagant hospitality. Was it a deliberate snub? It was hard to imagine Senhime allowing that, and she was clearly the household manager. Whatever menu plan she had made had not included using dinner’s leftovers for guests in the morning. Aiko contemplated this with a frown at her empty dishes.

The same servant returned to clear her dishes. “Is there anything else that we can do for you, honored guest?” He didn’t make eye contact.

Aiko stood. “Yes, can you have a message sent to Narahime?” she asked. “I’d like to give my apologies for the abrupt parting yesterday.” It was a transparent attempt to finagle another social invitation. If Narahime really was a threat to Tani, the girl might be willing to talk about it. She didn’t seem as savvy as Senhime.

He bowed in answer.

‘There’s been multiple servants in this room every other day,’  Aiko thought, and said nothing else as she left. 

It didn’t sit right. She didn’t know what the change meant, but she didn’t like it. Aiko decided to take a walk around the grounds and see if anything else felt odd.

That was the right call. Oddities emerged as she walked the grounds: the castle appeared to be short-handed. She didn’t see as many gardeners as usual. There was only one girl walking up the hill with water. The head cook herself was outside of her kitchen, speaking in hushed tones with another senior staff member. They both went silent and bowed when they noticed her, smiling until they thought she was out of earshot.

“It’s priority,” the cook whispered. “They won’t notice the dusting immediately, but if there’s no fish or meat for lunch–”

“I can’t afford to divert-”

Aiko was startled out of her eavesdropping when a servant came down the stairs and headed towards her. She blinked, trying to place him. She’d seen him before at least once. Aiko was craning her memory when he got close enough to speak. 

“Good morning, Priestess.” He was young, somewhere between his late teens and mid twenties. He had an easy and graceful way of moving. Like a dancer, or perhaps a taijutsu artist.

‘I saw him when I was breaking into the upper floors,’ Aiko placed him. She gave him a pleasant smile and waited to see what he had to say. 

“My aunt would like to apologize to you.” He said it mildly, as if she knew who his aunt was offhand. Aiko felt her eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “She has rented the private room at a dining establishment in the village below, the botan nabe building. If you would meet her there, we would be very grateful.” The Hyuuga bowed and left without waiting for acknowledgement, leaving Aiko standing alone.

“...I should probably tell someone before I go and meet with the representative of an enemy clan,” Aiko mused to herself. She looked around the castle grounds and thought it over. The sun was nearly off of the horizon by now. The Uchiha and Senju were probably still agonizing over how to socially obligate Minister Tani to recite poetry. 

Yeah, she didn’t want to talk to any of them. Aiko shrugged and set off for the village alone.