A Conflict's Arrival

(Nearly a week had passed since Jinko arrived in Shirakawa-go. The quiet of the early morning was broken only by the sharp, rhythmic shing of his blade as he practiced his Kenjutsu forms in the backyard of his family home. The quiet clatter of Jinko’s blade sliced through the morning frost.)

“JINKOOO!” a distant, echoing yell shattered the rhythm.

Jinko froze mid-swing. “Either the squirrels learned my name… or Tenmichi’s back.”

Footsteps crunched through the snow as Tenmichi burst into view, waving his arms. “Jinko! You gotta come to the residence—now!”

Jinko: "Oh hey, Ten."

Tenmichi: "Not excited to see me, huh."

Jinko: "No no, that ain't true." (Jinko replied with clear, flat sarcasm.)

Tenmichi: "Ugh, we are not doing this again. ANYWAYS DUDE, COME TO THE RESIDENCE!" (Tenmichi insisted, gesturing wildly with gasping breaths.)

Jinko: "Why?"

“Just come! It’s important!”

“Important,” Jinko muttered, sheathing his sword. “It better not be another one of your ‘discoveries.’”

(Jinko arrived at the residence to find a small crowd gathered around a bizarre item on display. His right cheek twitched in grimace.)

Jinko: "Dude... this is what ye called me for..?"

Tenmichi: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? THIS IS AMAZING!" (Tenmichi answered with full, genuine excitement.)

Jinko: "LIKE HELL IT IS! You brought me to show the new BLACK COLOURED LOINCLOTH?? And why is it on display outside the nanuki-yashiki (village headman's residence) for everyone to see anyway???" (Jinko exclaimed, his voice rising in anger and disbelief.)

Tenmichi: "Oh please, stop being such a crybaby. You never socialize with us, so the least I could do is to make you come with me and enjoy as we progress as a society."

Jinko: "WHAT PROGRESS, YOU PERVERT! They just made an undergarment be colored in black! Our ancestors are rolling in their graves right now!" (Jinko's streak of anger continued.)

Tenmichi: "Alright, alright, calm down. Let's go and have some kakigori (shaved ice), yeah?" (Tenmichi suggested, trying to defuse the situation.)

Jinko: "You can have yer kakigori all ye want at the time o' winter ye fool, I'm headin' home." (Jinko replied, turning away poutingly.) "Waste of my fuckin' Sunda—"

"A rider’s coming! From the river!” someone cried.

Jinko turned. A dark blur cut through the village — horse hooves splintering the silence.

“He’s injured!” One villager cried out.

“Wait… that jacket—light blue…” Another cried out.

“That’s a Shinsengumi haori!”

Jinko: "What..." (Jinko spoke the word in utter, cold shock.)

"WAIT. EVERYONE. I CAN SEE THE BLOOD ON HIS WHITE HACHIMAKI (headband)! HE'S AN INJURED OFFICER!!"

Jinko's mind went into overdrive, fear and suspicion coexisting in a terrifying torrent of thoughts: 

"Ye gotta be kiddin', the Shinsengumi were the police force for the Tokugawa Shogunate before they were dethroned by the Meiji Restoration... all of 'em should be out o' commission for at least eight years now... unless..."

"He appears to be in desperate need of assistance." (A familiar voice from behind Jinko, formal and measured, instantly silenced Jinko's racing thoughts.)

Jinko: "MICHINORI!" (Jinko exclaimed, whipping his head around.)

Tenmichi: "Michinori, what do you make of this?" (Tenmichi asked, approaching for a better view.)

Michinori: "Well, upon observation, I presume he is a rebel who participated in the recently concluded Satsuma Rebellion. He is likely an off-duty Shinsengumi officer who wore his old uniform to battle to reprise his fallen pride and is now returning having lost the fight."

Jinko: "Or he's someone of importance who escaped the harsh punishments the Meiji is bestowin' on the caught leaders and instigators." (Jinko interrupted Michinori’s proposal, his voice tight.)

(Michinori glared at Jinko for a few tense seconds. As the traveler came closer, he delivered his final judgment.)

Michinori: "If he is one of them, then we have no choice but to hand him over. Otherwise, we shall dispatch him ourselves."

Tenmichi: "Yo— You're not serious! What are you saying!?" (Tenmichi asked, shocked.)

"What a joke. Killing him won't end well for us, I assure you. In fact, it'll be nothing but trouble. And handing him over provides no goddamn certainty that we won't be made to clean up their mess later, don't you think?" (A familiar, cutting voice approached from behind.)

Tenmichi and Jinko: "DANJIKI!" (They exclaimed in unison.)

Michinori: "You are unequivocally mistaken, mate. There is no 'getting away' with killing him; that, in fact, is precisely what the Meiji side desires." (Michinori turned around to put forward an argument.)

Danjiki: "Oh, pray tell? Did the Meiji vouchsafe that to you personally? What if they merely wish to apprehend this one to extract information regarding upcoming rebellions or secret bases, my dear fellow?" (Danjiki responded with an easy counter-argument.)

Michinori: "Hence, I also proposed handing him over when they come to search for him."

Danjiki: "And you truly believe, that if we hand him over, and they suspect someone here secretly made him a figurehead for a new rebellion, not one of us will be held accountable? Do you think our villagers won't be hauled away for questioning? And what if surrendering him infuriates the rebel cults so much they attack us instead?" (Danjiki exclaimed, presuming he had put a nail in Michinori's arguments.)

Michinori: "Why would the Meiji have any reason to doubt us? There is no justification for them to assume an injured high-ranking rebel arrived and we suddenly supported his beliefs." (Michinori argued again.)

Danjiki: "How ridiculous. It is the Meiji, you know. If they were as gullible as you suggest, Pinco here would have no need to live the life of a fugitive."

Michinori: "That is because this scoundrel's relatives participated in the Rebellion and ruined him! As far as we are concerned, he himself will be the one who starts a new cult with that rebel there!" (Michinori snapped, turning his head sharply to point at Jinko.)

Tenmichi: "MICHINORI, THAT'S ENOUGH!" (Tenmichi shouted.)

(Jinko stayed quiet, weathering the ugly provocation with forced stillness.)

He heard Michinori’s words like a blade nicking the air. "Is that how they see me?" Jinko felt his tongue thicken, breath shallow; he wanted to speak, to shove back—yet his throat closed and the sentence died before it formed.

Danjiki: "Oh, my dear man, do you truly wish to cross blades? If you insist, I can certainly oblige you by putting the tip of this sword right through your damned eyeball." (Danjiki said to Michinori, his tone provoked but chillingly calm.)

Michinori: "What is it? Did I hurt your feelings, mate? Do you notice how Jinko-dono himself had nothing to say and merely looked on, yet you are the one who is incensed?" (Michinori replied, a cruel smile playing on his lips.)

Danjiki: "I couldn't care less. You might be a Meiji cocksucker for all we know. "Jinko-dono" avoids arguing because he knows it's futile to argue with someone as dense as you, especially when you are maligning him based on pure hypotheticals, is it not?" (Danjiki said, provoking him in return.)

Michinori: "Grand words, Danjiki. Are you forgetting that I am this region's most respected upcoming combatant? Any provocation toward me results in a loss of dignity for you, Sir."

Danjiki: "Hmph. You are naught but a press release. Even Pinco can defeat you in a sword fight. You are merely a good martial artist, you see. And blessed with a good physique." (Danjiki replied, dismissively.)

Michinori: "So what you are suggesting is that I have the advantage over you in every way other than with a sword?" (Michinori laughed.) "If the thought of that helps you sleep, then you should proceed to keep that sword in your waist at all times. You never know when I'll come to kill you, my friend." (Michinori said, before turning and walking away, the conflict unresolved.)

(Michinori walked off, his footsteps heavy in the snow. Danjiki stared after him with cold malice.)

As the villagers carried the wounded man who arrived away, snow muffled their retreat. The street fell still, safe for the whisper of wind brushing old wooden walls.

From the shadows, a lone figure watched.

Tenkai: "Michinori... You ain't gonna do what I think you're gonna do, are ya?"