Weeks pass before the doctors deem Aya strong enough to receive visitors. When Kojuuro gets the news, he heads over to her room, only to faintly hear voices inside, so he relaxes against the wall and waits for the occupants to finish. Eventually the door slides open.
"...Kojuuro."
Kojuuro nearly folds himself in half.
"I am told you spent two days fasting on my daughter's behalf."
"As you say, your Ladyship."
"Your loyalty is to be commended."
"I do my duty, your Ladyship."
"Indeed." And she sweeps away.
There is something about Yoshi that makes his hackles rise. Part of it is because she is, in her own way, a very dangerous woman. She is not a soldier like her husband or daughter, but she is a canny politician and a shrewd businesswoman without whom the running of Oushuu would be a significantly more difficult task. Kojuuro, on the other hand, much prefers to meet his enemies on the battlefield. He can play politics well enough, but encounters with people like Yoshi always leave him feeling as if he is standing on shaky ground.
Because Yoshi is most certainly an enemy. Yoshi despises him, considers him responsible for her daughter's rough and ill-mannered ways. Kojuuro quietly believes that she wanted a daughter to raise in the ways of women and to teach the intricacies of politics. And in fact she has taught Aya much already about the running of the domain, having insisted on participation in the little lady's education even after Kojuuro's boon. The little lady simply will not admit to paying much attention. Kojuuro once debated privately telling Yoshi about how well her daughter has absorbed her lessons, but decided that it would be a Very Bad Idea. The lady of Oushuu is a very proud woman.
He enters the room, sliding the door shut behind him.
"Hey, Kojuuro."
Aya is pale and visibly thinner. Her right eye has turned a milky white and does not focus on him when he enters the room. But she is smiling and sitting up, and Kojuuro feels his own mouth twitching in response.
"Did Mom catch you on the way out?"
"'Mother,' and yes."
"Whatever. She doesn't really care about me anyway."
"Your mother cares about you a great deal--"
"Don't lie to me, Kojuuro."
This is the other problem. Aya's relationship with mother is rocky, to say the least. "Have you been fighting again?"
"No, but as soon as I get better she'll start nagging me again." She closes her eyes, looking tired. "Bonten is going to grow up and be her perfect son. I'm her stupid daughter."
He surprises himself by wrapping his arms around her. "Your mother loves you. No matter how much you fight, she will always love you. That's what mothers do. You'll understand when you have children."
"How would you know? You're not even married."
"I take care of my siblings. And a certain little troublemaker." He ruffles her hair.
"I'm not having kids." It's something she says frequently, so he ignores her, but then she struggles out of his arms to give him a serious look. "Really. I'm not having kids. Or getting married."
"Wait until you're older before--"
"What you mean is that Father will marry me off to someone important. I'm not stupid, Kojuuro." She sits back with a sigh. "All these weeks, I got nothing to do but lay around and think. And I realized something. I'm gonna get a couple of years to ride and fight and act like a boy, and then Father will marry me off to someone and I'll have to stay home and run the castle while he gets to do the funs stuff."
Kojuuro sighs. "Aya-hime, none of us gets to choose who we marry. Your father and mother didn't, and neither will I. And Terumune-sama loves you dearly. I highly doubt he'll choose a man looking for a--a yamato nadeshiko*. Running the domain is an important duty and, well, you wouldn't be the first woman to accompany her husband into battle."
"I don't to fight as someone else's wife!" she snaps, banging her fist on the floor. "I want to fight as me. I want to rule as me. I'm not getting married."
Kojuuro suddenly realizes that this conversation is much more important than he thought. "...Aya-hime, you know I follow your father's wishes," he says, half-sensing a question in her words.
"I don't want you to disobey Father. I want you to help me make Oushuu strong."
Oh gods, she isn't suggesting what he's thinking, is she? "...I can't do that. You'll split Date in two. Your brother is the heir--"
"Not if I start now. Not if you help me. Please, Kojuuro. You said I would make a great lord."
And that is the crux of the problem. He knows in his bones that she will be someone great, someone remembered by the scholars and the storytellers. He wants her to go as far as possible, wants to see her get the accolades that he is certain she will earn.
"...What do you want me to do?"
She grins, fierce and toothy, like Dairokuten-Maoh* himself plotting mischief, and points to her right eye. "Take it out."
*~Footnotes~*
*Yamato nadeshiko--Roughly, "the flower of Japanese womanhood." A yamato nadeshiko is the perfect woman in traditional Japanese patriarchy, being completely devoted to her family and submitting to her father/husband. Wikipedia and Tvtropes have a more detailed explanation.
**Dairokuten-Maoh--The Japanese name for the Buddhist demon Mara. A trickster figure, he tries to tempt people away from a spiritual life.
"...Kojuuro."
Kojuuro nearly folds himself in half.
"I am told you spent two days fasting on my daughter's behalf."
"As you say, your Ladyship."
"Your loyalty is to be commended."
"I do my duty, your Ladyship."
"Indeed." And she sweeps away.
There is something about Yoshi that makes his hackles rise. Part of it is because she is, in her own way, a very dangerous woman. She is not a soldier like her husband or daughter, but she is a canny politician and a shrewd businesswoman without whom the running of Oushuu would be a significantly more difficult task. Kojuuro, on the other hand, much prefers to meet his enemies on the battlefield. He can play politics well enough, but encounters with people like Yoshi always leave him feeling as if he is standing on shaky ground.
Because Yoshi is most certainly an enemy. Yoshi despises him, considers him responsible for her daughter's rough and ill-mannered ways. Kojuuro quietly believes that she wanted a daughter to raise in the ways of women and to teach the intricacies of politics. And in fact she has taught Aya much already about the running of the domain, having insisted on participation in the little lady's education even after Kojuuro's boon. The little lady simply will not admit to paying much attention. Kojuuro once debated privately telling Yoshi about how well her daughter has absorbed her lessons, but decided that it would be a Very Bad Idea. The lady of Oushuu is a very proud woman.
He enters the room, sliding the door shut behind him.
"Hey, Kojuuro."
Aya is pale and visibly thinner. Her right eye has turned a milky white and does not focus on him when he enters the room. But she is smiling and sitting up, and Kojuuro feels his own mouth twitching in response.
"Did Mom catch you on the way out?"
"'Mother,' and yes."
"Whatever. She doesn't really care about me anyway."
"Your mother cares about you a great deal--"
"Don't lie to me, Kojuuro."
This is the other problem. Aya's relationship with mother is rocky, to say the least. "Have you been fighting again?"
"No, but as soon as I get better she'll start nagging me again." She closes her eyes, looking tired. "Bonten is going to grow up and be her perfect son. I'm her stupid daughter."
He surprises himself by wrapping his arms around her. "Your mother loves you. No matter how much you fight, she will always love you. That's what mothers do. You'll understand when you have children."
"How would you know? You're not even married."
"I take care of my siblings. And a certain little troublemaker." He ruffles her hair.
"I'm not having kids." It's something she says frequently, so he ignores her, but then she struggles out of his arms to give him a serious look. "Really. I'm not having kids. Or getting married."
"Wait until you're older before--"
"What you mean is that Father will marry me off to someone important. I'm not stupid, Kojuuro." She sits back with a sigh. "All these weeks, I got nothing to do but lay around and think. And I realized something. I'm gonna get a couple of years to ride and fight and act like a boy, and then Father will marry me off to someone and I'll have to stay home and run the castle while he gets to do the funs stuff."
Kojuuro sighs. "Aya-hime, none of us gets to choose who we marry. Your father and mother didn't, and neither will I. And Terumune-sama loves you dearly. I highly doubt he'll choose a man looking for a--a yamato nadeshiko*. Running the domain is an important duty and, well, you wouldn't be the first woman to accompany her husband into battle."
"I don't to fight as someone else's wife!" she snaps, banging her fist on the floor. "I want to fight as me. I want to rule as me. I'm not getting married."
Kojuuro suddenly realizes that this conversation is much more important than he thought. "...Aya-hime, you know I follow your father's wishes," he says, half-sensing a question in her words.
"I don't want you to disobey Father. I want you to help me make Oushuu strong."
Oh gods, she isn't suggesting what he's thinking, is she? "...I can't do that. You'll split Date in two. Your brother is the heir--"
"Not if I start now. Not if you help me. Please, Kojuuro. You said I would make a great lord."
And that is the crux of the problem. He knows in his bones that she will be someone great, someone remembered by the scholars and the storytellers. He wants her to go as far as possible, wants to see her get the accolades that he is certain she will earn.
"...What do you want me to do?"
She grins, fierce and toothy, like Dairokuten-Maoh* himself plotting mischief, and points to her right eye. "Take it out."
*~Footnotes~*
*Yamato nadeshiko--Roughly, "the flower of Japanese womanhood." A yamato nadeshiko is the perfect woman in traditional Japanese patriarchy, being completely devoted to her family and submitting to her father/husband. Wikipedia and Tvtropes have a more detailed explanation.
**Dairokuten-Maoh--The Japanese name for the Buddhist demon Mara. A trickster figure, he tries to tempt people away from a spiritual life.