“Do you know who his parents are, Hanzo?”
“Minor riffraff. He’s an orphan with no family name.”
Koichi winced. Not only at Hanzo’s arrogance but his stupidity.
If there was one thing Koichi had learned over the years, it was that the only thing more dangerous than a demon was a stubborn samurai. At least demons practiced self-preservation.
A samurai didn’t mind dying so long as they did it with honor... and style.
Laughing bitterly, Koichi shook his head. “I had no idea the great Hattori Hanzo was such an idiot. You honestly thought some kid without parents shows up, has what it takes to get into this school... and you didn’t even think to ask a single question about where he really came from?”
With that, he had overstepped. Hanzo’s eyes flared as his hand went to his own sword. “It’s not the place of an honorless ronin to question his betters!”
There it was. His cousin’s true feelings at that tiny slip of decorum.
Koichi scoffed. “When my better arrives, please point him out. Until then... you might want to know that you dumped a Shadowling in my lap. I might be a drunk ronin, but you, Hattori Hanzo, are a fool. Why you even wear a helmet when there’s nothing inside it to protect, I have no idea.”
Hanzo immediately stood down. With a gasp, he pulled his hand away from his sword. “What do we do? Kill the boy?”
There it was again.
First answer always.Kill the boy.
Koichi’s gaze went to Ryuichi’s unconscious body. “We don’t know who his parents were or are. We might not be able to kill him. We could just make them angry.”
Hanzo cursed under his breath. “Masaru.That’swhy he chose him...”
“Probably, but Masaru doesn’t seem to know anything about the kid either.”
“How could he not?”
That was the question that Koichi kept coming back to. “There’s a lot about this boy we don’t know. But the one thing I’m certain of is that he needs to be specially trained. His powers are incredible.”
Shadowlings were exceptionally rare. Those who could walk in both worlds, who could communicate with the darkest of powers...
It was why Hanzo had allowed Masaru a place in his castle. The ronin inari had been banned from his shrine for treachery, and since then had sold his skills to the dark kami.
While Hanzo didn’t exactly trust Masaru, he trusted the kitsune’s greed and self-preservation.
Hanzo gaped at Koichi. “Special training? He absolutely cannot mix with the others—not after what you just told me, and not when we know nothing of his origins. Or loyalty. Can you imagine what he could do to the students here? Not to mention the rest of us?”
Indeed. If Ryuichi could win over someone’s shadow, he could control them. Turn them against each other. Do all kinds of evil.
Or good. But good was seldom practiced by those with such skills. It was too easy to become corrupted.
“I know, but what if he’s the key to ending the Shadow War?”
That got Hanzo’s attention. He knelt by Ryuichi’s side. “Do you really think that?”
Koichi shrugged. “The kami are angry. Every day more darkness takes over. They are searching for the Kage-taro. What if this boy isn’t just a Shadowling? What if he is the one they’re seeking?”
Hanzo shook his head. “The Kage-taro is a myth.”
“Then why do they seek him?”
“To curry favor with the Ryukage. You know the Kage are insane—they’re searching for the Kage-taro to placate a monster who’s bent on our utter destruction.”
“But what if there really is a son hidden in our world?”
