Warnings: Eventual LeoUsagi. Edo!Japan!AU. I'm by no means an expert, I just know how to use google. Later chapters will turn darker. Be prepared for violence, emotional abuse, torture and other dark themes. All chapters will come with individual warnings. If you need to skip one, you can always message me for a K+ summary. (There will also be fun bits, though. Always look out for the fun bits.)

Notes: Chapters will probably be quite short. I'll try to polish up and publish at least one a week, but I am currently working fulltime while in the process of moving, so bear with me.

AU Explanation: Miyamoto Usagi is a wandering ronin. His travels lead him to the northern parts of Japan, where the lands of the Hamato clan lie…

Chapter Summary: Goodbyes aren't easy at the best of times. These aren't the best of times. / Usagi's POV.

THE NORTHERN KINGDOM:
USAGI YOJIMBO

Prologue

"I really wished you wouldn't go," Tomoe says quietly.

Usagi ties the last knot of his bag and slings it over his shoulder. He steps off the tatami mats, finds his sandals next to hers, slips into them. Only then does he turn around and face her. Tomoe is still standing in the doorway to the guest room where she is leaning against the wooden doorframe and almost, though not quite, blocking his exit.

She isn't smiling, and so he isn't either. He simply adjusts the strap of cloth over his chest and sighs.

"I really cannot strain your lord's hospitality any longer."

That is not what she meant. He knows it, and he knows that she knows that he knows it. Her expression is solemn when she regards him now, but she remains quiet. He hates it. In a way he is thankful for her silence, and he hates that, too, hates how his stomach churns when he reaches for his coat and she does not stop him. He keeps his eyes down when he fastens the straw kappa* around his shoulders and looks up only when she shifts against the wooden frame. She is making room for him to pass, still without even the trace of a smile, and he still feels like he owes her something. An apology, if nothing else.

"You know that the White Heron Castle will always have my loyalty," he says instead.

"But not enough to swear the oath," she says, and this time he does give her a slightly sheepish smile. It makes her laugh. "Do not worry about it, my friend. I know you are a ronin through and through. I would never take the road from you, even if I could."

Belying her words, this time it is her who sighs. But, being a warrior, she knows when she is defeated. When he approaches the door, she steps outside into the hallway. The close quarters force her back against the wall, and his trousers brush against hers when he moves past. That shouldn't feel intimate. It does, though. It does.

She does stop him again once they reach the main doors, where she reaches out to brush some lint off the front of his haori**. For a moment the air is thick with a strangled intimacy. The heaviness drags them both down. When Usagi shifts his weight, her hand falls to her side and she steps back. Her expression is solemn again. When he passes her now, she remains stoic, unmoving, and he hates how he hates it.

They cross the gardens in silence, each distracted by their own thoughts. The day is already dawning, and the birds in the cherry trees along the main path are getting ready to announce the new light when Usagi reaches the gate and turns around.

Tomoe is standing beneath the pale petals just in front of the main building where her dono*** still sleeps. They have not disturbed anyone. Even the guards are standing so still that it is easy to forget their existence entirely. And behind Usagi the street curls around the sloping hills and disappears in the blue mist. It is probably very fitting, this scene and the time and both of them standing where they are, even if it doesn't feel that way. Usagi's fingers ache for an ink set. He bows instead, and so does she, and then he turns around and takes to the streets. There is no room for goodbyes, not with the day so fresh. He leaves it to the guards to close the gate behind him.

This isn't running. There are just so many places he has yet to see.

He will try the northern shores this time.

*kappa /here/: A straw coat.
**haori: The long-sleeved, flowing garment worn by samurai of that time. Upper half of the hitatare. Trousers are called 'hakama'.
***dono /sometimes also spelled tono/: A lord, someone of high birth.