Risuko by David Kudler

Author:David Kudler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Middle Grade, historical adventure, Japanese Civil War, historical fiction, coming of age, kunoichi, teen fiction
ISBN: 9781938808333
Publisher: Stillpoint Digital Press
Published: 2016-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

22—Feather Soup

The following day, after the midday meal, Emi and I were taking the remains of a dozen chickens out through the gate in the back of the compound wall to the rubbish pit when we heard a sharp hiss from behind our dormitory. She and I blinked at each other, dull and incapable of thought after the long ordeal of plucking and butchering the birds.

“Emi! Murasaki!” It was Aimaru’s voice, whispering as loudly as he could manage.

Blinking at each other again, Emi and I scanned the compound. It was not snowing—it hadn’t in over a week—but it was bitterly cold as only those mountains can be, and everyone seemed to be indoors, shutters closed. I led the way back to where Aimaru was hiding.

Our friend was wearing what looked to be every piece of clothing he could pull on—he could barely bend his arms to gesture.

“You look silly,” Emi said, her scowl lightening slightly. He looked like a rag doll.

“Very funny,” he said, and Emi and I choked on our laughter, unable to cover our mouths since our hands held baskets full of bones, feathers, intestines and beaks.

“Look, I’ve been waiting out here forever since the end of the meal. It’s cold!”

We laughed again. It wasn’t very kind of us, but after all of the dismal and odd things that we had been doing, it felt good to laugh.

“We apologize, Aimaru-san,” I said finally with a giggle, bowing as deeply as I could without spilling the chicken offal onto his feet.

“Fine! Fine! I’ve wanted to talk to you two for days! But if you’re having such a lovely time, clearly you don’t need to talk to me,” Aimaru grumbled, and I tried to settle myself as much as I could. Emi was scowling so fiercely that I was certain that she was biting her cheeks. He peered into our baskets. “What are you doing?”

“Well,” I grumbled, “now that we’ve butchered these lovely chicken carcasses so that you can have some stew tonight, we’re taking the bits that even Kee Sun can’t figure out how to make edible out to the offal pit.”

Aimaru frowned—the expression seemed wrong on his face.

“Would you like some feather soup, Aimaru?” Emi asked. “I’m sure Murasaki and I could whip some up for you in no time.”

He snorted, the frown gone again. “Not just now, thank you.”

Emi scowled—at least, I think she did—and said, “What a shame. I was looking forward to seeing if you really would eat anything.”

Sighing, Aimaru said, “Close enough. The Little Brothers have me working and training so hard, I’m ready for the mid-day meal before the sun has cleared the horizon.”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Oh, working with a spear and on my strength. It’s mostly pretty boring.”

I giggled. “Really?”

He shrugged as much as he could in all of that clothing. “We do hours of meditation, just like when I was at the monastery. They have been taking me out on their rounds, though.”

“Rounds?” I asked.

“Yes, the Little Brothers serve as Lady Mochizuki’s bailiffs, making sure that her farmers are all well, and collecting.

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