The Celestial Path Where Water and Sky Merge to Become Daylight 3

Thank you all...for taking the time...to join us here...today...

... ...

Bunyan? Lady Bunyan!? Come on, wake up!

(Yaaawn...) Oh, was I sleeping?

Hmm. You've clearly reached your limit. No surprise, given how hard you've been working all this time.

I think you've more than earned a rest. Go on, lie down for a bit.

I'll handle things from here.

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us here today. We are honored to have you with us.

I know several of you are here on vacation, while others are engaged in other club activities as well.

So, while you are here, I hope you will lend us your voices and talents in bringing our characters to life.

Again, thank you all.

Morishirooou!

Lord Sue Harukata!

Time: A.D. 1541, the tenth year of Japan's Tenbun era. Place: Aki Province during the Siege of Koriyama!

Akenosuke and his army rush in to aid Morishirou, and successfully drive off the invading Amago clan.

Two bishonen, embodying both good and evil. One might have thought them akin to the noble heir of Kurama in days past!

For these two friends, bound by fate itself, fighting side by side in this battle was their greatest moment of camaraderie yet.

"Heh. Why didn't you call on me sooner, Ooe-no-Morishirou Narikatsu? I thought you and I were friends!"

"I still remember how you shouted gleefully after knocking me off my horse, and now look at you: the head of an entire province!"

"Lord Harukata."

"No... Akenosuke. I, in turn, still remember how notoriously unruly you were as a child. I couldn't believe my eyes to see you have been chosen to lead the entire Oouchi army."

"Thank you. Know that I WILL one day repay this debt I owe you!"

Fourteen years after this battle, the two youths would be pitted against one another in a bitter contest for the right to rule the land.

But for now, let us turn back the clock and bear witness to the twists and turns they took along the way.

"Kageichi? Hitaka Kageichi, is that you!? What a coincidence, running into you here!"

"Akenosuke! It's good to see you again, brother!"

Tasked with an errand, Akenosuke had come to the western city of Sakai as if to escape the yoke of his many obligations.

There, he was reunited with Kageichi, a former traveling companion he thought of as a brother.

"I see... I'm sorry to hear about Grandpa Taifuji's passing."

"Indeed, not a day goes by that I don't think of the big boss. It seems you've had your share of hardships since then too, brother."

"You could say that. I ran into a man named Abo-no-Yagorou Naoyuki who put me through hell."

"WhaWhat was that, Yagorou, you bastard!?"

"Did you just say you rigged that archery contest?"

"Indeed, that was all my doing."

"I was this close to making off with all that money you had no business carrying around, too. Tch."

"Then, my attendants, Nosuke and Boujirou... Were you the one who"

"Shot them? Yes, I was. I did so in part to silence them, but also to keep you here."

"And your wife acting as the bait in a honeypot!?"

"Yes, of course that was my doing as well."

"I swear, there truly is no end of miscreants out there. But enough about me."

"Tell me more about how things have been with you lately, Kageichi."

"What about Kokane? Is she well?"

"Brother..."

"...Well..."

"Two hundred ryou!? That's absurd!"

"Even the big boss's bounty is only 7.2 ryou! This isn't what we agreed on, Kuwatsuyu!"

"Oh? I'm surprised to hear you say that."

"Then I'll just have to insist you return the thousand ryou that disappeared from the forge right here and now."

"You WERE supposed to pay my reward from those ryou, were you not?"

"So, what'll it be? Perhaps you'd rather pay me with Lord Taifuji's head after all?"

"Damn that bastard Kuwatsuyu!"

"He set us up right from the start."

"Somehow, he found out about my family's wealth, and pulled the wool right over the big boss's eyes."

"Naturally, the alchemical forging technique for transmuting gold that Kuwatsuyu showed him was complete nonsense..."

"...along with the woman who seduced the big boss and blackmailed Kuwatsuyu into smuggling."

"I didn't find this out until later, but..."

"...it seems Kuwatsuyu Doujin's real name was Kanakuso Kajirou, a well-known criminal in the underworld."

"But by the time we knew that, the big boss had already..."

"...What happened to Kokane?"

"Kokane and I were both sent here to Sakai to essentially live as indentured servants for one of the boss's associates."

"In Kokane's case, that servitude took the form of an arranged marriage to that associate."

"...I see..."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that alone, Kageichi. Dammit, if only I'd gotten here sooner!"

"Kokane is more beautiful than ever. And I'm sure even now, she still misses you."

"..."

Bound by emotion, swayed by desire, Akenosuke's journey grew ever more turbulent as his destiny sank to new depths!

...To be continued.

"Gaaargh!"

"Aaagh! The paaain!"

"..."

"Ghh... You there! Nanaroku, was it? Call off this whipping!"

"Quit your whining, you damn thief! That was only the fifth lash."

"Your punishment calls for a hundred lashes before your banishment to the east."

"Consider yourself fortunate that I, Minehari Nanarokurou Michiyoshi, am bearing witness to this as an act of mercy."

"Mercy!? You call this merGaaah!"

"Pace yourself. You still have ninety-four lashes to go."

"Remember, your punishment would be death had Lord Morishirou not intervened."

"If my sister-in-law, Otsuge, had not been imprisoned along with you, I would have left you to rot long ago."

"Even so, you have yet to muster a single word of gratitude for Lord Morishirou. You ungrateful whelp!"

"Oh shut it, Bangs! I'm completely innocent here. Besides, what's wrong with spending my money how I see fit!?"

"If you're blaming me for Imayo the geisha's suicide, I had nothing to do with it."

"I would have been cleared of suspicion eventually, so I didn't need your help at all, you pompous ass!"

"I swear... You just don't know when to shut up, do you, Akenosuke?"

"Or did it just slip your mind that you gambled away the money the Ougigayatsu Uesugi clan entrusted to you!?"

"I can explaiAaargh!"

"Well I, for one, am grateful to you, Akenosuke."

"Thanks to you, my wife was never bored even while they were investigating her involvement in this matter."

"In fact, without any time to complain, she's become something of a master of rhetoric instead! Wahahaha!"

Imayou, the famous geisha who served as the impetus for Akenosuke's imprisonment, was in fact the mistress of Kanakuso Kajirou...

...the leader of a gang of extortionists who would scam wealthy merchants and farmers, then make off with their valuables.

In truth, Imayou was so overcome with grief over Kajirou's sudden death...

...that she stole Akenosuke's wakizashi while he was sleeping on the floor and plunged it into her own throat.

In time, Akenosuke and Morishirou would be reunited once again at the camp of Rokkaku Takayori, governor of Oumi Province.

There, they would face each other in formal duels fought in Takayori's presence to prove which young warrior was more skilled!

It would be at this very duel where the two youths' relationship would change forever, and each would recognize the other as his greatest rival!

All right, good work, everyone. Let's take a break.

(Ya-yaaawn...) Nnn.

I guess I made the right choice, asking X Alter to handle the voice recording.

She really is a whiz when it comes to electronics. I don't know what we'd do without her.

So everything's going well then? That's wonderful!

Yeah.

...Say, Michi? I know I probably should've double-checked sooner, but...

..."A Modern-Day Record of Bishonen" is historical fiction based on real events, right?

Yes, that's right.

Let's just say Pops was really into "Water Margin" around the time he wrote it.

And the book he wrote afterwards, "Shinkyoku Gyokuseki Doujikun," is basically a direct sequel, right?

Indeed.

Pops began writing the "Record of Bishonen" after I married into the Takizawa family, but he ended up taking a long sabbatical before he finished.

Then, when he started writing again, that's when he wrote "Doujikun." Although, it was really me, and occasionally Tarou, who transcribed it while he dictated.

Really? You transcribed "Doujikun"? But it's so much longer than "Bishonen."

Yes, it is. Both "Record of Bishonen" and "Doujikun" were published in thirty-chapter installments.

There were also drafts for the thirty-first chapters that never got published, unfortunately.

So, if "Doujikun" was a direct continuation of the story, why change the name so much? Especially when "A Modern-Day Record of Bishonen" is such a good title.

Well...that was in part because times had changed, and he couldn't easily use the word "bishonen" anymore.

Oh, I see. Another instance of the Edo period's harsh restrictions, huh?

And eventually, Monsieur Bakin passed away before he could complete it...

Still, since it was based on history, did readers have ideas about what would have happened next?

Yes, they did.

Which is why it's so unfortunate they never got the chance to find out for sure. That goes for me too, of course.

Since Akenosuke was a very handsome man born during the Warring States period, many people thought he must have been a choudou for the Oouchi clan.

What's a "choudou"?

...!!!

W-well, a choudou is, um...

...something the other, non-swimsuited Oei can explain to you better than I can...

Is that so? (Looks like I was right. It IS an adult thing.)

Ahem. At any rate, Akenosuke went on to become a general for the Oouchi clan, where he started going by Sue Harukata.

As Harukata, he eventually led a revolt against Lord Oouchi and seized his considerable land and authority for himself.

In response, one of Lord Oouchi's own feudal lords, Morishirou, began leading his own revolt, this time against Harukata.

This conflict would go on to become the famous Battle of Miyajima.

Although up against a huge army, Morishirou gambled on a sneak attack against Harukata's forces with a small strike team, and succeeded at disrupting them.

Thus, the brilliant Mouri Motonari etched his name in history, becoming the inspiration to Morishirou.

Of course, some roles ended up switched around during the writing process, but that was more or less how Pops imagined the story going.

I see...

And now, we won't get to see a proper ending for "Dog Days Bishonen Records" either.

I'm sorry, Michi. This must be another big disappointment for you and Monsieur Bakin.

Oh no, not at all.

Every day we've spent working on this doujin has been so much fun. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it.

...Well, I still hope you and Monsieur will be able to finish the story one day.

Me too!

Phew, we finally finished! It was great seein' everyone in action.

I was real worried we weren't gonna make it when Bakin started insistin' on, like, fourteen different takes, but I guess it all worked out. Haha.

Then I take it this means we're done with voice recording for now?

That we are. While there are some aspects on which I could not compromise, overall, I was floored by everyone's performances.

It really feels like everything is starting to come together.

Phew.

Really? That's wonderful to hear.

Then I suppose that just leaves the final scene.

Heh...

Ahhh...

We made it! I'm still not sure how we pulled it off, but we finished in time!

And right before the main event, too! We couldn't have cut it any closer if we'd tried to shave Babe with a chainsaw!

Of course, I'm sure we'll still have work to do even with the test screening done. There's bound to be plenty of last-second cuts, edits, revisions, and so on...

Heck, there's still plenty about it I'd like to fix myself!

But, even so...I've got a good feeling that it'll all work out on time!

...Huh?

Hang on. What about the press packages? I DID ask Michi to take care of those...right?

And I still have to password-protect the phone download version... Swap out the inlays... Make a bonus pamphlet for the theater-goers...

...Oogh, I'm getting a stomachache again. I'll just try to put that stuff out of my mind for now.

...(Sigh)

Oh?

Well, you have the look of a woman who has accomplished a great deal. I take it the worst is over?

Oh, Princess.

And Doggie, I see. Good evening.

Woof.

You think so? I mean, we're still not really done. In fact, the actual event hasn't even begun yet.

But, maybe we're past the point where I should be agonizing over every little thing. Michi, Williams, and the others should be able to handle it from here.

I see. Then the real battle is just beginning.

I am sure it will not be easy, but I wish you luck in this trial.

Ruff.

...Merci.

Hey, Princess? Are you maybe from the Satomi

Williams?

The test screening is almost over.

Everyone else is asking for you. They say they need to speak with you urgently.

...I see.

Génial! That's just what I wanted to hear! Oui, I'm coming, Williams.

Hehe.

Were you having a nice dream on your break?

Yeah... Maybe I was.