The Rising Sun & The Morning Calm Ch. 21

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Genzo and Linnsa spend some quality time.
6.2k words
4.82
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Part 22 of the 33 part series

Updated 06/07/2023
Created 06/14/2009
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Walking by Linnsa's room, Genzo could make out the sounds of her quietly crying into a pillow. "Linnsa-sama," he knocked. "Are you alright?"

The crying stopped, followed by a few attempts to calm her breathing. "How did you know I was crying?" she asked sheepishly through the door.

"Our senses are enhanced by the infection," he reminded her.

"Oh yeah...I forgot." She sniffed a few times but said nothing else.

"Do you wish to talk?" He strained to hear her response as she'd become very quiet. Finally after a long silence, she spoke up.

"No, but thank you."

Her voice sounded so small. "If you change your mind, I will be outside."

"Thanks, Genzo. I appreciate it."

Walking into the living room, he pulled out his graphic tablet and began to do some sketches. He was engrossed in a particularly good drawing when he heard the haunting strains of a violin fill the apartment. It was melancholy, but filled with passion. He didn't realize until a minute had passed that he had been holding his breath as he was listening. It went on for about fifteen minutes before it finally stopped. Knocking on her door again, he tentatively called, "Linnsa-sama?"

She opened the door, violin in hand. "Sorry, Genzo, was it too loud?"

"No, it was...beautiful." He looked down at the tiny girl in wonder, "Where did you learn to play like that?"

She smiled at his compliment. "I've been taking lessons since I was five. I find playing the violin is very soothing when I'm stressed out or upset."

"You have a great talent," he said with admiration.

Gently laying her instrument back in its case, she smiled again. "Thank you. That's very kind."

There was something very fragile and delicate about her that invoked his protective side. "When were you to be married?"

She looked down at her left hand where the engagement ring still was. "In a few months."

"I am sorry if I am being rude by asking," he interrupted himself with a frown. "It was not my place to ask. Please forgive me"

Sitting on her bed, she looked at the ring for a moment and then slid it off her finger. Placing it in one of the compartments in her violin case, she shook her head. "No, it's not rude."

"May I come in?" He looked at her hesitantly.

Putting her hand to her forehead, she gave an embarrassed laugh. "Oh, now who's being rude? Of course you can come in. There's no reason you should be standing in the doorway." As there was only a bed in the room, Genzo sat in front of her on the floor, crossing his legs under him. She gave him another faint smile. "You sit like a samurai would."

"I am not samurai, I am -- "

"[Shinobi]. I know. Unnie told me."

Genzo looked at her curiously. "Why do you call her that?"

She looked puzzled. "Call her what?"

"By her formal title. You do not use her name?"

She thought about his question for a moment. "Well, wouldn't you call your older sibling by their title?"

"My situation is slightly different," he replied. "In the first place, I was born in Japan. Secondly, I am over three hundred years old, so I was raised to speak that way. According to your sister, the two of you were born in America."

Linnsa shrugged. "I don't know. For me, that IS her name. It would be weird for me to call her by her first name. My parents were just uber traditional I guess. I never really gave it much thought." She tilted her head to one side and looked at him. "Do you have any family?"

"I did...once."

"What happened?" When she saw his face darken, she put up her hands and added, "You don't have to tell me if it's too private."

"No, it is fine." He looked up and was a little surprised to see that she had freckles as well, but while her sister's skin was slightly darker, hers was fairer in tone. It reminded him of porcelain. "Do you know anything about Japanese history?"

"Only as it relates to Koreans," she answered.

Thinking back to his past experiences, he felt a pang of regret for the history their two countries shared. "In the period before the Meiji Restoration, many Japanese clans were at war with each other. Despite the fact that Toyotomi Hideyoshi managed to subjugate many of the [daimyo], and Tokugawa Ieyasu afterwards, the shogunate grew weaker with every progressive generation and the feudal wars continued. My village was composed entirely of shinobi, involved in a blood feud with another ninja clan. I had three brothers, and I was the youngest. One day, the rival shinobi clan attacked our village and everyone was killed."

Her eyes widened at the awful story. "And you survived because of Noboru?"

"Yes, if not for his aide, I would have been dead many years ago."

His story saddened her. "Is that why you're so devoted to him?"

"Hai."

"I'm so sorry, Genzo."

She felt genuine sympathy for him, which he hadn't expected. In fact, he was shocked to find that her sadness for her own situation was pushed out of her mind and she felt mostly for him at that moment. "It was a long time ago," he said indifferently.

"Do you think about it a lot?"

It sounded like a simple enough question but for some reason, he'd never thought about it. When he tried to assess if he had, he saw for the first time in over two centuries that he hadn't thought about it much at all. After he'd healed, he simply immersed himself in serving Noboru, not realizing that it had served to distract him from mourning the loss of his family. "I...suppose I have not."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." She hadn't meant to rehash a past that he had kept hidden away.

"No. It is alright." He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. "You and your sister ask very interesting questions. Is that a family trait?"

She laughed -- a real laugh. "I don't know. No one's ever said that to me before."

He smiled at hearing her laughter and then became serious again. "May I ask you about your situation?"

"Why not?" Sighing, she tucked a strand of hair behind her hears and Genzo noticed how tiny her hands were, almost the size of a child's. His own hand could easily conceal hers. "So I started dating this guy in college. He was actually the resident assistant in the dorm where I lived. We went out for a long time and then we started talking about, you know, long term plans. I'd never had a boyfriend before him and I was his first girlfriend. So I thought everything was great. We had to do long distance for a while and that was hard. I took a job at a hospital out in California so that we could be in the same city for when we were married."

"And what happened then?"

She looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment. "I'd been there for a year and we were looking to buy a house, planning the wedding. I was working like eighty hours a week so I didn't see him much and when I did I was so tired. He was a little distant, but I thought that was because I was so overworked. I'd been really bogged down with work for the last two months and I was just wrapping up and he just...called off the engagement."

How awful for her. He couldn't imagine being discarded in such a callous manner. "Why?"

"That's the worst part," she admitted miserably. "I don't even know why. He just called it off and said that his heart wasn't in it." She attempted to wipe her tears as casually as she could. "He did it over the phone, too."

"Coward," he muttered.

"What?" She looked up at the anger in his voice.

"I said he is a coward," Genzo repeated forcefully. "You do not deserve that."

"How do you know what I do and don't deserve?"

"I know you deserve better than that," he stated emphatically.

Her expression brightened a bit. "Thank you, Genzo. That's very sweet of you." Her stomach growled loudly all of a sudden and they both laughed. "Are you hungry at all?"

"I could eat something," he agreed. "What would you like?"

"Any good steak places around here?" She was put off when he started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"The two of you are most certainly sisters," he chuckled. "I know a very good steakhouse not too far from here."

"Just do one more thing for me, if I could impose on you," she asked shyly.

"And what is that?"

"Please stop calling me '-sama'?"

He grinned again at her request, having heard it before. "As you wish."

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daimyo: Japanese feudal warlord

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It felt good to get out of the house again, and even though she thought she would be pretty down while Angela was away, it was actually nice to spend time with her taciturn bodyguard. As they sat down at their table, she looked at him and blurted, "I'm really sorry you had to get stuck babysitting me. You must have a million other things you'd rather be doing."

"I was not stuck," he noted pleasantly. "It was a request by your sister. If I truly did not wish to accept, I would not have."

Her face broke into a smile. "You're a really sweet man, Genzo. Thank you for taking me out for dinner."

"If you can eat as much as your sister, then it will be well worth it for the show," he laughed.

"And how!" Linnsa picked up a menu and her face fell. "It's all in Japanese."

"Not to worry. I can answer any question you may have."

"Do they have filet?" Her eyes lit up hopefully.

"[Moichiron]. How do you like it?"

"Medium well, au poivre if possible," she grinned.

"Your sister prefers it more bloody." He smiled and looked over the menu.

Her face showed surprise. "That's new. Must be the infection I guess."

When their food arrived, she clapped her hands happily in the same child-like manner that her sister did and ate almost as ravenously. Occupied with carving her meat, she spoke without looking up. "So why don't you have a girlfriend, Genzo? Aren't there any nice Japanese girls around to infect?"

They certainly were blunt, these Korean girls. "I do not meet many women in my daily life."

"Don't you get lonely?" She shoveled a piece of steak into her mouth. "What do you do for fun?" She paused to chew. "You DO have fun, right?"

He thought about it. "I practice my ninjitsu. I also enjoy drawing."

"You'll have to show me sometime." Horking down another bite, she said, "I'm sure you already know this but my sister's a pretty good artist."

"Are you artistic as well?"

"No." She started cracking up all of a sudden.

"What is funny?"

Still chortling, she finally managed to explain, "I couldn't draw a stick figure with a ruler and a pen tied to my hand. My sister is the artsy talented one. I'm the boring one."

Genzo frowned at her self deprication. "That is not true, you play the violin so well."

"Yeah, well, I was always more of the studious one. And my sister does too, by the way, play the violin, that is."

"And you chose to be a doctor as well?"

Her smile slipped away. "Yeah, us two successful sisters. It all feels so pointless right now, though. Actually I kind of wish I had studied more literature in school. I hardly ever have time to read."

"Can you not go back to school to study these things?"

"What would be the point? It's too late now." She pushed her remaining meat around her plate listlessly.

"That is not true. If you harbor the virus then there is no issue of time."

"But I don't have the virus, Genzo. Who's going to give it to me, and even then, I don't want to live forever only to have my sister in my life. That seems kind of pointless too."

He realized two things upon hearing her response. The first was that he had made the statement thinking that if she wanted the virus, he could transfer it to her. The second was that what she had described was pretty much how the last two centuries of his life sometimes felt. Not knowing how to answer her, he simply said, "You are right. It was foolish of me to suggest that. You would know better than anyone what is waste of time for you or not."

She put a hand on his arm. "Oh, Genzo, I didn't mean it like that. Your idea would be great if it meant that I had someone to be with. It's just that I don't."

Her hand looked so small against his arm and he found himself wondering about her. No, that was foolish. He'd moved from one sister to the next? As if she'd have him anyway. "I am sorry that you have had such a difficult time."

She sat back and looked at her plate. "Yeah, well, I'll figure something out. I don't really have a choice do I?" She yawned suddenly.

"You are tired."

"Combination of jet lag and food coma." Linnsa looked at her watch. "I shouldn't ask her to come back tonight. I know she wants to spend time with Noboru."

"If you would be overly sad without her, she will want to know," he urged.

"That's true," she conceded with a smile. "But I'm so tired, I think I shouldn't have a problem sleeping."

"Very well. But if I catch you crying to yourself again, I will have to call her or she will be very angry with me for not doing so." Looking behind him, he caught the eye of his waiter and motioned for the check. "Would you like a doggie bag?"

"How did you know?" she blinked sleepily.

"Intuition," he laughed, unable to help himself.

_____________________________

moichiron: of course (Japanese)

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When they returned to the flat, Linnsa kicked off her shoes and stretched. "Good night, Genzo," she yawned again. "Thank you so much for dinner and the company. I had a really nice time."

"Please tell me if you need anything." He paused and his voiced softened. "I truly mean this. If possible, I would prefer to be helpful to you."

She smiled and he felt her gratitude. "I promise. If I need anything, I'll come find you." Waving, she went inside her room.

Turning into his own room, Genzo found that he had actually enjoyed spending the evening alone with Linnsa. It made him angry to think that her fiancé had hurt her so badly. Hoping that she would be able to get some sleep, he got undressed and was soon out like a light.

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"Genzo! I do not have time to argue with you. Leave now!"

"[Oni-san], I cannot run while you and the others stay!"

Uehara Kyuzo drew his sword and whirled around to face his youngest brother. "I am your eldest brother and you will do as I say!" he barked. Looking outside into the thick of the fighting, he saw one of their other brothers Manzo trying his utmost to fend off the Takeda ninja who had overrun their village. He fought valiantly until another shinobi ran him through with his katana. "MANZO!!" he cried. Looking one more time at his brother, he shouted, "I do not wish for all of us to die in vain, but if you do not survive then we will have fallen for nothing. You must live, Genzo. You must survive!" Letting out a shrill battle cry, he threw himself into the melee.

Refusing to sit back and let his brothers place their lives on the line for him, he grabbed his twin katana and ran to help. Ryuzo, the third brother, grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him against a tree. "You never listen!" he roared. "We told you to get out of here! We can't hold them off properly if we're forced to worry about your safety. [Itte]!"

Slicing through men left and right, Kyuzo looked up momentarily to see Ryuzo speaking with Genzo and screamed, "[Bagayaro]! Run! I-" Before he could yell anything else, his head flew off his shoulders as one of the Takeda ninja sliced through his neck.

"[ONI-SAN!!]" Genzo shrieked.

His attention drawn to Genzo's scream, another of the Takeda ninja aimed his sword and ran towards the distracted Genzo.

"[DOKKEH]!!" Ryuzo leapt between the charging ninja and his brother. The attackers sword pierced right through him and into Genzo's abdomen. Crying out in rage, he split the man in half down the middle with one stroke of his sword. As the blood drained out of his punctured aorta, he pitched forward, taking the sword with him. Genzo held his bleeding abdomen with one hand as he stared at his brother's dead body. As fast as he could manage with his stab wound, he began to run.

As he struggled to escape, he could hear the Takeda shinobi pursuing him. His lungs burning and his lower belly in pain, he finally fell to the ground, spent. Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, he looked up to see a man in a white kimono riding towards him on a charcoal black horse. As he neared, he saw that the man's eyes were blue like the cloudless sky. Wondering if it was a demon spirit come to fetch him to the afterlife, he watched as the man dismounted and drew his sword. Drawing the blade from its scabbard, he aimed it and charged. Assuming that his time had come, Genzo closed his eyes and waited for him to strike.

He heard the sound of metal slicing through flesh and tensed, but he felt nothing and the noise was behind him. Raising his head to look behind him, he saw the man in white kneeling on one leg, his sword held out behind him, the dead bodies of the marauding shinobi collapsed by their severed heads. Wiping the blood off his katana on one of the dead, the stranger smoothly returned his sword to its scabbard with a sharp click and walked up to him.

"Who are you?" Genzo whispered.

"I will explain later." He had an arresting voice, commanding, yet reassuring all at once. Unable to manage a reply, his head fell forward on the ground as he faded from consciousness.

_____________________

oni-san: older brother (formal Japanese)

itte: get out (Japanese)

bagayaro: idiot (Japanese)

dokkeh: get out of the way (Japanese)

_________________________

When he awoke, it was dark and the man in white was feeding a fire next to him. "[O genki deska]?" His blue eyes almost seemed to glow in the firelight.

"I am alive?" he coughed. Remembering his wound, he felt his abdomen but found no trace of his wound. Confused, he raised his eyes to look at his rescuer.

The man's lips turned up in a smile. "It would appear so." Handing him a wooden bowl of water, he asked, "What is your name?

"Genzo. Uehara Genzo." He took a sip of the water, then quickly drained the bowl.

"[Yorushku-na], Uehara-kun." Bowing his head he introduced himself. "Nagamori Noboru."

"I don't understand," Genzo mumbled. "How is it that I am still alive? By rights I should have bled to death."

"Yes, another few moments, and you would have been beyond saving," Noboru confirmed.

His hand continued to search for the cut he had received. "What...there was...I know I was hurt..."

"I promise when you are stronger, I will answer those questions." He looked up in surprise as Genzo began to sob angrily. "[Doshta?]"

"It's my fault," he wept. "It's my fault that they're all dead!" Clenching his fists, he beat the ground in grief.

"Who is dead?" Noboru asked softly.

"My parents, my three brothers," he cried. "They all died to save me! They told me to run! I didn't want to! I should have stayed and fought!"

"They must have loved you very much," he mused.

"All their lives weren't worth mine!" he shouted. "I can't live with the idea that they sacrificed everything for me!"

"Do you wish you were dead?" His companion's blue eyes watched him calmly.

At his question, he suddenly felt exhausted. "I...I don't know. At this moment I wish I were."

"And how would your departed family members feel if that were to have been the case?"

"They would be heartbroken," he admitted, his shoulders slumped forward.

"[Sorudewa], if you truly love them and wish to honor them, you must continue to live," Noboru reasoned.

"Live for what?" he demanded angrily. "To wander the world in mourning until I die alone?"

Noboru stirred the embers in the fire. "I once felt as you did when I was in a similar situation."

"And what did you do?"

"The only thing I could do. I lived, and I learned to find other meaning." He paused and stared into the heart of the fire. "My old life died, so I built a new one in its place."

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