Genji returned to his home to find his mother and sister training mugai-ryu in the garden. They swung dull wooden sticks in unison, practicing their forms together.
His father sipped tea nearby, concentrating on the valley below as if he was memorizing its every feature.
Genji collapsed in the doorway from exhaustion and began the first real sleep he had received since venturing off into the woods all that time ago.
The next few weeks were no respite from his experience with Haetorigusa. Though his body had returned to normal, and he bore no open wounds, beneath the all-encompassing layer of scar tissue on his body, was a burning fire that caused Genji to writhe in agony. His family would care for him as they had in the forest, but the buried gashes and lesions he sustained would allow for no lasting comfort.
This time was excruciating, but it did eventually pass, and Genji was able to sit and sip tea with his father as he had as a young boy. When his strength returned, He helped his mother in the fields and trained mugai-ryu with his sister.
If Genji was focused on the immediate needs of his family, he could find peace, but he would awake in the middle of the night in distress. His mind would race as it had done in the forest. He would sweat profusely from nightmares recounting his distrust of the entangled creatures, Haetorigusa’s words, and the memory of Atsuko’s fear.
With more time, he experienced pleasure in the activities that he used to deem pedestrian. Genji would pride himself in training and building and repairing the community with his people. The key to this peace was avoiding any thought or conversation about himself. Genji became skilled at focusing on the task at hand and ensuring quality in the small details of life.
Life was liveable for a time, but the dull pain beneath his skin remained.
One morning while sitting with his mother and father, Genji’s defenses broke, and he confided in them.
“I have brought shame to our family,” he cried. “I have behaved in a manner that can only be justified by the great success that I sought. Now I am irreparably scarred, an abomination you are burdened with. How can you tolerate my great disappointments?
Genji’s mother put her hand on his shoulder as he wept.
Genji’s father did not react, instead he remainded stoic in the face of his only son’s confession.
Of all the anguish Genji had waded through, the prison of his own body was now the setting for the most hopeless test he had experienced.
Genji felt his former self slipping away, and something new building inside him. His mind was racing faster than he could cope.
“Is this dying,” Genji managed to utter as tears streamed down his face.
“this is living,” his father responded. “Now come help me.” Father spoke as if Genji had never left, as if he was still a young man learning the bushido.
“A new baby was born in the village today,” said his mother, “and we are going to build a azumaya (gazebo) in the newborn’s honor.” Her voice was soft and caring. “You are a great builder, and your help is needed.”
Amidst the sound of his own sobs and screaming thoughts of malice, Genji began to hear a new melody. This song was much calmer than Haetorigusa’s song of the Gods. It was infused with soft mountain winds and the unintelligible chatter and laughter of his people across the village.
Genji could feel the energy of generations of love, honor and commitment radiating over his homeland. It was clearer now that, one day, the specifics of his people would fade into the landscape, but the pieces that would linger are the notes they all would add to the immortal song.
Today, Genji Gozen began a new journey with this new song. Today, he added his first unique melodies in the form of hammer on nail, in commemoration of new life, and it was beautiful.
“Oh, we grow and grow, it is all that we know, so we grow and grow until we’re buried in the snow,” sang Haetorigusa, deep in the depths of the forest.
The End.
Terms:
Mugai-ryu – Outter Nothingness School
Genji – Two beginnings.
Tomoe Gozen – a famous female Ona Musha warrior
Haetorigusa- Venus Fly trap
Daimyo- local land owner or ruler that employs Samurai to fight for them.
Atsuko- Sincere, kind
Samurai – 1168 – 1868
