Story Notes
Setting, background, titles.
Arc: Translated
Immanent
A new, young samurai arrives at the central castle of the Uesugi clan.
Echizen Ryouma had been in Kasugayama for a week, and one of Uesugi’s warriors for three and a half days, before he ran into trouble.
At First Sight
The young women of the castle sneak a look at the new warriors.
“Oh, oh, over here! Come here, Sakuno, you can see the new warriors from here!”
Convex
Echizen cleans his sword and thinks about his new place.
Ryouma sat in his rooms in the middle town, with his sword over his knees, cleaning it. His hands moved automatically, years and years of familiarity guiding them while his eyes rested on the blade without seeing it.
Unnoticed
Echizen escorts Sakuno and deals with a little trouble. Other sorts of trouble, he misses completely.
Or, she admitted to herself with a silent sigh, maybe he hadn’t done it for her at all. He was a samurai, after all; she was young, but she knew how the men of her own class could be about fights and challenges.
Tarnished
Tezuka watches his newest warrior and wonders about him.
Kaga would be a good place to see Echizen’s real mettle. Kunimitsu’s mouth tightened.
Echizen’s form was beautiful. Deadly.
And wrong.
Need Beyond Want
Echizen enters his first battle as a samurai of Uesugi, against the forces of Kaga under Tachibana.
They would probably have been fine if Echizen’s opponent hadn’t seen himself about to be caught between the two of them and panicked. Momo reacted automatically to the man’s desperate, circling slash.
So did Echizen.
Pride
Tachibana’s officers renew their bonds in the aftermath of their battle with Uesugi.
Akira hovered beside his friend as Shinji flexed his arm. He wanted to go on to recheck the rest of their injured, but he was wary of the thoughtful expression on Shinji’s face.
Hold
Tezuka tries to break through to Echizen.
Ryouma knelt where he was, staring up at the General. He could feel the deadly thin line of Tezuka-dono’s sword against his throat. It didn’t move when the General spoke.
Washed Dry
Fuji decides to try his hand against Echizen. It provokes a lot of thought.
Shuusuke felt a touch of excitement flicker along his nerves as they moved out into the open, feet scuffing up tiny puffs of dust to mark where they set themselves. Echizen was good. Not good enough to make Shuusuke lose, but perhaps…
Brittle Edge
An outsider samurai visits, looking for a challenge. Echizen
gives it to him and comes a little closer to figuring things out.
They met in the training yard.
"The kid again, hm?" Akutsu looked down at Ryouma with cold eyes.
Ryouma shrugged. "We didn’t finish, last time."
The Finest Things
Atobe deals with some trouble among his officers.
"How badly were Taki’s forces defeated?" Tarou-sama asked, evenly, eyes
on the men passing him."Completely," Keigo reported, keeping his voice dispassionate, no matter
how much he wanted to grind his teeth with frustration. "They would
have lost two out of three, had we been in the field."
Detachment
Yukimura and Sanada discuss the future a little.
Yukimura turned his head back to look up at the ceiling. "I may not be with you at Kawanakajima this time." The curve of his mouth could not be called a smile.