The Wings of Dreams

high opinion of Gankyuu. Therefore you wish to believe he’s a good person at heart. Am I wrong?”
    Shushou nodded reluctantly. She sat down dejectedly next to Seisai and leaned back against his by now filthy-looking coat. “There could be something to that.”
    “But I’m pretty sure what you consider a good person and what Gankyuu considers a good person are not at all the same. Gankyuu has his own expectations and logic. Whatever conclusions you come to based on your expectations and logic are besides the point.”
    “I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”
    “You like kijuu, don’t you?”
    “Yeah, I do.”
    “So you’d like to be a wrangler or a shushi. Becoming one of the koushu no tami appeals to you.”
    “To tell the truth, it does.”
    “Thought so.” Rikou nodded and grinned. “But do you comprehend what being a koushu is all about?”
    Shushou looked up at Rikou. “What what is all about?”
    Behind her, Gankyuu sighed. “On that subject, even a man who freely buys and trades suugu is unlikely to have opinion worth listening to.”
    “That’s harsh.”
    “And true. I can’t imagine that a man who wears silk while riding a suugu into the Yellow Sea is going to know a damned bit more about the koushu.”
    “I wouldn’t say you were wrong.”
    Shushou took in Rikou’s wry smile and Gankyuu sullen expression and clenched her hands. “So you’re saying there is no way I could possibly understand?”
    Gankyuu bobbed his head as if this were the most obvious thing in all the world. “You’ve never been a refugee or itinerant, have you?”
    “No. And you’d have to be a fool not to know the answer to that question.”
    Gankyuu smiled at the pale, shaking girl. “I also know how bright you are.”
    “That’s right.” Shushou said with unmasked pride, “I am Banko’s daughter. I just wasn’t the first in my class, I was the smartest in the whole school. I’m not the one with the comprehension problem. It’s you. ”
    “Anybody who would say something like that will never understand the life of the koushu.”
    “What I don’t understand is why you’ve never tried to be a better or smarter person than a dog’s tail. ”
    “A what?” Leaning back against the trunk of a tree, Gankyuu reflexively straightened.
    Shushou got to her feet and observed him coolly. “The sixty-five ryou I gave you is yours to keep. Thanks for all you’ve done up till now. And goodbye.”

Chapter 23
    [3-7] “ H ello there, Miss.”
    Ren Chodai glanced over his shoulder at Shushou. He and several of his party were sitting in a circle beneath a tree. They were clearly in a churlish mood.
    “Was there something you wished to discuss?”
    Shushou said, “I came to ask you for a favor.”
    “What’s that?”
    “I’ve had enough of shushi. I was wondering if you could hire me, doing chores and whatever.”
    Chodai blinked several times. “ Hire you?”
    “Yes. You’ve seen enough of me to know that I’m in good physical condition. There’s nothing wrong with my legs. I can put in a full day’s work. What do you say? I don’t care how menial the tasks are.”
    Chodai exchanged looks with the men gathered there then gestured to her. “Nothing personal, see, but I think it best you go back to the shushi.”
    “I think not. I can’t abide the way shushi and goushi do things.”
    “The way they do things?”
    “That’s right. I’m not going into specifics. Frankly, I don’t even want to think about it.”
    Chodai thin face clouded over. “Miss—Shushou, was it?—if you insisted, I would have no problem treating you as a guest. Unfortunately, as you have pointed out yourself, I am a novice when it comes to the Yellow Sea.”
    “No matter how much a person knows about the Yellow Sea, if that knowledge is in the service of a twisted heart, then it doesn’t mean a thing.”
    “A twisted heart.”
    Shushou stared at the ground, her hands still clenched in anger. “Koushu are itinerants. It’s a tough life, I know, without a family or emperor to protect them.” She raised her gaze. “But it’s not like I don’t have any idea how tough life can be. It’s tough living without an emperor. It’s tough having youma coming out of the woodwork. Why else would all these people put their lives on the line to travel to Mt. Hou?”
    Chodai quietly looked back at her.
    “Yes, itinerants and refugees have a hard life. Supposedly it’s not possible for people like you and me to