Logan was knelt in front of the open hearth, the elderly woman across from him deftly making tea and the silence of the small wing was a balm to his heart. He accepted the offered cup and watched the elder drink first before taking his own deep sip of the bitter green tea. When she had placed her cup down, Logan waited for her to speak, when she did her voice was just as he remembered. “So you've come back at last, what took you so long? What was so important that this guri has been left unpaid for so many years?” Logan didn't rise to the bait held out to him, he kept his voice calm and his mind clear.
“My debt is one that has only been made clear to me recently, I make no excuse for the pain I have left your family in or Yuriko's spirit. I am here now and I seek your permission to find those responsible for her death and regain the honour stolen from her and from you.” The air in the house seemed to freeze for a moment before she spoke again.
“Honour! You speak of honour, you left without a word, without responding to her gifts, without a word to her or to her family. You shamed her gaijin! You brought her shame in the eyes of her ancestors!”
He took every word, the acid of their venom striking deeply, he knew the position she'd been in, and his disappearance had made her look as if he had shunned her advances. That she hadn't been worthy of him, that he thought her below him, when the opposite had been true. Finally he raised his head and met the gaze of the elder in front of him, her eyes blazed with anger and he let his own glimmer in the background of his stare.
“I gave no dishonour, I was taken away without my knowledge, kept away, and when I returned I learned of her death. I had accepted her gifts, kept them safe, until I would see her again when I would have been presented to you with her by my side. Yet this was denied me and my own honour was shamed by the men who killed Yuriko. I would have loved her as I love my life, she would have been my breath in the winter morning and the scent of cherry blossom in spring. The peach in summer and the pomegranate in autumn, she was my hope and when it was taken from me I became Oni.” Logan raised an arm and fired the blades in his fist, “I became death, for life had left me, light had gone from my sight and now I seek to repay those who took that light from us both.” He snapped the blades away and the old woman narrowed her eyes at him, leaning toward him one arm resting on her knee.
“You did this for her? Became Oni, a demon of strength beyond strength, why? What did you do before you washed here upon our door? How many years have passed under the bridge, since that day in the rain? Where were you when her ghost came to her sister before her wedding night, pleading to her to help her rest? Where were you then? Oni, with the claws of iron?”
Logan accepted the rebuke and rested his head on his chest for a moment before raising it again.
“I was lost in anger, in hatred, in rage, I had no balance and now I do, for fate has once again given me the chance to find hope in love. But I cannot give myself this hope until I pay my debt, my guri to you and to Yuriko by finding the men responsible and taking their lives for hers.”
The old woman rocked backward on her knees and tutted to herself, Logan watched the emotions running over her face she wanted her daughter to rest in peace but her hatred of him was still therein her soul. Because of him she had lost the flower of her heart and Logan knew it, “I give my service to your family for as long as I live. I have not changed in the years since you last saw me old one, your grandchildren will have grandchildren before you see a white hair upon my head. I give my service as an Oni to your family line, if you grant me your blessing to seek the honour lost to us all. If I am successful I will bring their names to you to give to Yuriko, so she can pass into peace.” The old woman sat back and poked the fire with the poker, the ashes settled again and no sound was heard for nearly an hour between them. Finally she raised her head to Logan and nodded sharply at him, he bowed low to the ground in front of her, “In your service I do this.” He stood and made to leave when her voice whispered to him through the quiet.
“Go lightly gaijin Oni, they are powerful men with long arms.” Logan turned to face her and let his claws fire in the dim light, his eyes glittering with the heat of the small fire.
“I have a greater reach than they and I have patience old mother. When I return your name shall be clean again.”
No one saw him leave, but the purpose was branded on his heart, Yuriko would be free of pain and he would be cleaned of his debt to her ghost and her family. Now his work began and he went to it with a glad heart.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Logan gets permission
Chapter End Notes:
Next time we see Logan....death ensues and a few men realise that the Oni are real and their sins have found them out!