Yoritomo came running back a few minutes later, shaft of bamboo in hand.
"Hah… hah… here… hah... it"s the best I could find."
Gengyo nodded and received it.
"It looks good. Catch your breath and then I"ll show you how to change the shaft."
Aritada looked slightly surprised at that.
"You mean you"re going to teach us?"
"Yes. It"s a useful skill to learn - heat hardened bamboo has many uses."
"No… It"s not that I don"t think it"ll be useful, but why teach us? We"re not friends or anything."
Gengyo simply shrugged his shoulders.
"We"re not really enemies either. We"re all part of the same village, on the same side. We"re going to be going to war together soon. I"m just concerned with living a peaceful life, you know? If you don"t bother me, I"m not going to make your life difficult."
Aritada looked a little ashamed, as he turned to Yoritomo who seemed to share the sentiment.
"…Yeah."
"Alright then. Watch. You put it over the fire a bit at a time, and then you wait a little…"
"You see it starting to brown? That"s when you know it"s ready. Now we move onto the next bit."
They nodded, as the process was relatively simple, but Yoritomo still had a question.
"Miura-san, how are you going to get the broken shaft out of hoe? It"s in pretty tight."
To this, Gengyo responded with action. He grasped the hoe that was by his side, and put it in the flames.
The two boys started to panic at this.
"Wait Miura-san?! What the h.e.l.l man?"
Aritada reached into the flames to try and grab it back, only to be repelled by the intense heat.
"Hm? It"s the best way to get it out. What are you worried about? This measly fire isn"t enough to melt the metal."
Aritada still looked a little uneasy.
"Ok… I hope you"re right."
"I am. More importantly, the hardening is complete. Yoritomo, try it and feel the difference."
Yoritomo took the bamboo carefully, taking care not to grasp the recently heated part too firmly – for fear of burning.
He nodded enthusiastically.
"It"s a lot harder. Probably just as good as the shaft was before."
"And now, Hijikata-kun, we can take your hoe out of the fire."
Gengyo did as he said he would.
"See? The shaft"s been completely burned out, and the blade is still fine. Now all we need to do is hammer in our new bamboo and it"ll be as good as new."
Aritada looked pleased with the results and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Seems like I won"t have to buy a new hoe after all."
"Indeed. Use this rock here, and hammer in the new shaft. I"ll hold it to make sure it"s in place."
"Alright."
Aritada took the rock.
Gengyo who was crouching down - directing the shaft - motioned for Yoritomo to come closer.
"Watch this Makino-kun. You see how the shaft is a bit too wide for the hole? When Hijikata-kun hammers it, the bamboo will be shaved off until it fits inside. The result is a tight blade that doesn"t move."
Yoritomo looked where Gengyo was pointing, following his explanation.
"Listen man… Thanks for showing this to us. We"ll be able to avoid buying new hoes in future now."
Aritada rolled his eyes at that.
"It"s not just hoes, dummy. Anything that has a shaft we"ll be able to fix. Axes, picks, anything. It"s a really useful skill. Thanks Miura-san."
Gengyo nodded, accepting their thanks.
"This is how it should be. Internal conflict is too wasteful."
Aritada hit down with his rock a few times, firmly merging the shaft with the blade. And thus, the hoe was fixed.
"Well that"s done fellas. I"m going to head back and get some lunch. See ya later."
They exchanged farewells and Gengyo quickly jogged away.
"Yoritomo."
"Yes?"
"We need to change."
"I agree."
"I feel really stupid now… We spent years messing with him and he spent years learning new s.h.i.+t."
"Yeah, bro. We should just focus on training."
"Mm. That"s a good idea. I"ll focus on training from now on – properly this time. And when the battle comes, I"ll show that Miura my true potential."
"Yeah! We"ll show him what we can do."
…
…
By then time Gengyo got back, everyone had finished eating and were heading back to work.
Rin was still waiting with a rice ball in hand, looking relieved to see him.
"Tadakata, you"re back! What happened?"
"I"ll tell you later. Better hurry back to work. You too Masaatsu."
Rin looked unhappy with that, but knew he was right, and so pa.s.sed him a rice ball before beginning to leave.
"You better tell us later."
Masaatsu seconded that.
"Yeah. Don"t leave us in the dark too much Tadakata."
"Don"t worry, I won"t. Now getting going or you"ll annoy Baba."
At that they finally left, leaving Gengyo to hurry across the field whilst stuffing his mouth full of rice ball, meeting Baba as he went.
"Here is your hoe back, Miura-kun."
"Thank you for taking care of it for me."
Old man Baba smiled knowingly. He knew more about the bullying than he let on, but atlas there was nothing he could do to directly intervene – not until it got more serious. Still, he had always been cheering Tadakata on in his heart.
"Not at all. I can see you had your reasons."
Gengyo smiled warmly and nodded, before returning to work.
"Another good fellow."
That afternoon Aritada and Yoritomo did not return to the field, which could only mean one thing: they had kept their promise.
"Good. It seems my life will grow simpler now.
…
…
Masaatsu and Rita ambushed Gengyo at the door house.
"Hmm. Did you think you"d be able to get away?"
Rin would make a good criminal. Her voice was perfect, and her eyes were contaminated by a distinct touch of sadism.
Masaatsu slivered behind him, cutting off his retreat, and locking down his arms.
"Nii-san, don"t you think it"s time we got some truth out of Tadakata here?"
Masaatsu nodded deeply, mirroring her playful ferocity.
"But of course. We"re family after all. One should not hide things from their family."
"Eh… But I haven"t even tried to hide anything yet."
Rin dismissed his protests quickly.
"Silence! Masaatsu, what"s our theory?"
"Responding to the lady, our theory is this: you were beaten up by the two friends Hijikata and Makino."
"You heard the man. What"s say you in your defence?"
"Uhh… is this really the right way to treat a man who"s just been beaten up? You"re making me seem like the criminal."
"Oh but you are the criminal, Nii-chan! Your crime is not fighting back."
"Ah, that"s where-"
"Masaatsu. How badly do you think he"s wounded."
"My lady, I would guess not that badly. Tadakata here is a bit of a wuss – if he was injured he"d be crying about it."
"Mhm, mhm. Your reasoning is sound, Masaatsu. I"m glad to have you in my services."
"It"s my honour, my lady."
"Very well. Let"s reveal the truth!"
At that Masaatsu gripped Gengyo"s kimono firmly, swiftly removing it from the upper body, leaving Gengyo"s back and chest bare. Gengyo could not help but flinch at his rough actions, due to the many bruises that decorated his torso.
They were black and yellow and blue, and not few in number.
Rin"s sharp intake of breath perfectly and breaking of character marked their severity.
"My goodness… Even for you Tadakata this is a bit much…"
Tears started to fill her eyes as she looked at the battered torso of her older brother.
"Tadakata… They did this?"
Masaatsu was seething. Despite telling Gengyo that a real man must solve his own problems, this was too far.
He stormed outside and returned with an axe.
"Let"s go little brother – it"s time to get your revenge."
He spoke solemly.
Gengyo was touched by their reactions, but could not help feel a bit worn out by their dramatics.
"Masaatsu. Stop."
He spoke with authority, startling his siblings.
"But Tadakata… look at yourself. They"ve messed you up real bad, those sick f.u.c.ks. I"ve got to at least pay them back somehow."
"Thanks, but there"s no need. I"ve already paid them back. They won"t be bothering me again."
"Nii-san… please don"t lie. These injuries are too much – let Masaatsu handle it.
Rin gently pa.s.sed over his bruises with her cold hands from her now seated position in front of Gengyo.
"You two…"
Gengyo could not help but be happy. He"d never been close with his birth family, but these two here were genuinely concerned about his safety.
He stroked Rin"s head gently as he rea.s.sured them.
"This afternoon – these wounds – they were my fault. I provoked the two of them."
Masaatsu recoiled at those words, seemingly remembering something.
"When you said you would deal with them… This isn"t what you meant, surely?"
"Not at all brother. This was a mere piece. But I won. Trust me brother. I won."
Gengyo quickly calmed him, as he felt there was much more Masaatsu wanted to say.
Rin looked at him with big eyes, searching for any deceit behind his words.
"You"re probably just saying that so we don"t worry…"
"No, I"m serious. Your brother is a different man now. You won"t have to worry about me anymore. It"s your brother"s turn to protect you."
"You keep saying that, Tadakata, but what proof do we have? You say you won? What kind of victory did you win when your body is in such a state?"
"Did you notice that those two were ahead of you both on their way home?"
"Yes..?"
"Isn"t that unusual? Our field is the furthest away from the house. Why would they be ahead of you?"
"They got off early..? I don"t know."
Masaatsu and Rin shared a glance as they searched for an answer to these seemingly irrelevant questions.
"In that case, I would also be home before you. Let me tell you the real reason: they were moved to a different field. I made them ask to be moved."
Disbelief plastered the two siblings faces. It made absolutely no sense for that to happen, yet the more they thought about it, the more it seemed true.
"…? How? Nii-san?"
Now that he had their attention, Gengyo was only too happy to run them through the events of the day, and share the joys he felt at executing his many plans.
He told them of the incident with Haru, at which they burst out laughing.
"d.a.m.n that was cruel little brother. Even I might have beaten you up if you did that haha. "
Masaatsu joked in response.
And then he told of them of how angry the two friends had become, throwing stones. He mimicked some of the poses he had pulled to dodge and he told them of how he had drawn the attention of the entire field, framing the two who were doing no work.
"Bahaha! Brother is too cunning."
Rin praised delightedly.
And then he began to tell them of lunch, to which they both began to lean in further.
Captivated by Gengyo"s storytelling skills, their anger rose as Gengyo told them of the beating he had received, but then their expressions instantly lifted as he revealed his plan.
And then he neared the end of the tale, describing the deal he had laid out, at which Masaatsu physically patted him on the back.
"That was b.l.o.o.d.y well done, Tadakata. Really. I"m proud of you bro."
Rin didn"t want to be left out, as she praised Gengyo – whom she was still clinging onto – with vigour.
"Yup! Nii-san did really good!"