The characters of Mirage of Blaze belong only to their author, Kuwabara Mizuna.

Mirage of Changes is the sequel of Mirage of Beginning but the story takes now place in 1800.

Spoilers for the entire series and the OVA.

Warning: English is still not my first language (maybe in next life!) so I apologize for any mistake you may find. It will also take me time to translate the chapters

XxX

Mirage of Changes

by Karura

Prologue

Everything was changing, Kagetora thought while observing the busy streets of the city of Edo. Once a simple village dominated by a castle, that city had become the political centre of Japan and the home of the shogun for nearly two hundred years. The current shogun was Tokugawa Ienari. He received that title at the age of fourteen, too young for some but there was no choice since the former shogun, Ieharu, had died without any descendant. Anyway, Ienari had amply proved himself since that time and everything was indicating he would have a long reign. The emperor was only now a distant puppet. Everybody knew that the real power was in the hand of the shogun since the battle of Sekigahara (1).

Kagetora sighed. Many things had changed since the last two centuries. The Uesugi was just another clan. After Kagekatsu's death, Kagetora hadn't really care about the fate of his descendants but he had hear that the power of this family had gradually decreased and would eventually completely disappear in the near future. Kagetora had gone to his brother's funeral at Yonezawa but it was not to pay his last respects. He hadn't really known why he had come there, observing the city mourning the death of its lord. Naoe had come with him and the former vassal hadn't meant to mourn the man who had been his master. After that, Kagetora never returned to Yonezama. Anyway, that city had no connection with his ancestors.

The bushis had disappeared to be replaced by samourais. They claimed the bushido for themselves but they were too dependant on the government. They also spent more time at home than to fight. Kagetora was now forbidden to have a sword and he couldn't help but despise those men of the government who thought they were warriors.

On the other hand, he had liked the government decision to close Japan in order to stop the gaijins' influence. Those white devils were only allowed at Nagasaki and Deshima's port and they couldn't travel in the country. Kagetora had never appreciated those foreigners and he was now satisfied they wouldn't pollute the Japanese culture. However, he couldn't agree with the Christians' persecution. Once Urabe had revealed him the onmyoujis feared that new religion and that they would do anything to banish it from Japanese grounds. Would Urabe have accepted the systematic hunting and killing of men, women and even children who just had other beliefs? Kagetora didn't want to know and since Urabe had died for quite some time, he would never know. It was strange to think about death, true death, the one you wouldn't come back from, excepting by loosing all your memories. He had often wondered if one day he could meet the reincarnations of people he had once known. Could he then recognise them?

Kagetora sighed. He still didn't like big cities and crowd but there was nothing that could be done. He didn't live at Edo by choice but by obligation: that city was built on a place where the earth energies were meeting. It only needed a single negative energy to disrupt the balance and cause a huge earthquake, as it had been the case fifty years before. The Yashashuu had arrived too late to prevent that disaster and there had been several thousand victims. Kagetora had then chosen to settle there in order to keep watch over the earth energies. Thanks to his constant vigilance, the tragedy hadn't repeated itself.

The Yashashuu...

No matter what he did, Kagetora could never forget who he was and what was his mission.

They would have gone crazy if they hadn't some rest periods by possessing new-borns. Fist reluctant to steal a life that had just begun, the other possessors had soon understood the importance of resting. Kagetora himself appreciated those years. It was like being asleep, unconscious of the mission. The waking was always sudden but he would never have thought about resigning. Not as long as Kenshin was trusting him. Not as long as the other were counting on him.

Unlike him, the other possessors hadn't settled in one place. He thought it was because they didn't feel the need to have a home. They were travelling from one region to another, stopping occasionally somewhere during wintertime, but they never stayed too long. From time to time, one of them came to see him, mostly Haruie or Naoe. Kagetora had always wondered if they were taking turns to see how he was doing. He knew they felt it was their duty not to leave their lord alone but... he was no one's lord. He had no land and no people to protect. He only had Kenshin's mission. That mission enabled him to go on through the decades. He could bear with anything as long as it was for his father.

He could even bear with the worst changes.

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Everything was changing, Irobe thought while observing the valleys and mountains around him. He inspired some fresh air. Since Kagetora assigned them a part of Japan to watch over, he had resumed his role as a wandering monk. He had done so in his first existence, before he had to exorcise the vengeful spirit of Kagetora. He had found that role was perfect: the priests were always welcomed in the villages and people didn't hesitate to call on them for spiritual troubles. Of course, there was often false alarms but they had to remain vigilant.

Irobe liked the stillness that had taken over Japan since the Tokugawas' seizing of power. Nothing had deeply changed and it was comforting for an old soul who traveled the country for two hundred years. However inner changes were felt. Irobe couldn't recognise himself. He had always felt like the older Yashashuu, a sort of venerable adviser. As a result, he had maintained a certain distance from the younger other members. By while travelling with Kakizaki, he had felt younger and younger and it didn't have anything to do with changing bodies. It was his spirit that became younger years by years. The distance with Kakizaki had shortened somehow and Irobe didn't feel as old. Anyway, what were some years of difference compared to two hundred years?

Yes, he had changed but he liked those changes.

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Everything was changing, Kakizaki thought following Irobe on the roads of Japan countryside. Two hundred years were a long time. Kakizaki had matured during that time. With his reisa-nouryoko he could trail spirits and feel spiritual disturbances. Kagetora was relying fully on him about that matter and Kakizaki often thought proudly that he was probably the one his lord was trusting the most. Of course he wished he could stay by his lord's side but he had accepted Kagetora's decision. Any way, he could still feel despite the distance his lord's spiritual presence, like a huge flame, and that reassured him. He liked to think he was looking after Kagetora without the latter knew it.

XxX

Everything was changing, Yasuda thought looking around the common room of the inn. After two hundred years, he must have visited all the inns in the south of Japan. Naoe and he had no desire to settle down in some place so they were all the time on the roads. Only in winter they halted somewhere. Their rallying point was Kagetora. Yasuda would have sniggered at that thought two hundred years ago but now it was the undeniable truth. All was forgotten, the past, the old alliances, the grudges of their fist lives. Every one of them had accepted Kagetora as their leader.

"And some more than the others," he mumbled thinking about his fellow traveller.

XxX

Everything was changing, Naoe thought while ending his meditation in the silence of the inn room. Yasuda was downstairs, preferring the company and animation, unlike him. Naoe was more upstage with the livings. He felt isolated from those people. He could not say however if he felt superior of inferior to them. On one hand, he was superior: he had spiritual powers, could fight spirits and above all he had a sort of eternal life-- at least until the completion of their mission. That was a secret dream for many people. On the other hand, every second of his existence was devoted to the mission. He wasn't allowed to found a family and it was difficult to cultivate relationships with the livings. Not that he really resented those restrictions since he wasn't the king of man to get attached. But he was unable to completely renounce to his dreams of glory. He knew perfectly well that being one of the Yashashuu would grant him no earthly glory but those dreams remained in him.

Naoe sighed and straightened up. It wasn't easy for them but Kagetora did his best to make their life supportable. He didn't require a lot from them and he let them have a private life. It had taken time for Naoe to accept his lord's decision to separate them, but he had finally seen the rightness of his choice. When together, they could never forget their mission and its importance. In small groups, they could sometimes forget. It wasn't very much but it really meant a lot for them.

Kagetora...

Naoe was still lukewarm regarding his impression about his lord. Concerning the mission, Kagetora was the perfect leader. He controlled the most risky situations and always knew how to use at best each one's strong points or how to compensate their weak points. Concerning his relations with them... While Irobe opened up, Kagetora remained discreet. Even when the Yashashuu were together during a calm period and they were celebrating the event, Kagetora stayed apart, never taking part in the general euphoria. It was such a pity, Naoe often told himself, but it was difficult to reason with that man. In the few instances when Naoe had dared to raise the subject, Kagetora had sharply replied that Naoe had no say on how he chose to live his life. It was true but yet...

If Kagetora ever came to break under the pressure of the mission and the years, the Yashashuu wouldn't be able to recover from that.

Naoe clenched his fists and swore to never let that happen.

An incongruous thought suddenly flashed in his mind: it had been fifteen years since he had seen his lord. He was missing Kagetora... Naoe shook his head to push back that disturbing thought. What was the matter if he hadn't seen since some years that person whose tiger eyes never ceased to fascinate him, those eyes that didn't change despite the various possessed bodies?

Naoe left abruptly the room. Usually he wasn't sociable but he felt he needed a glass of sake.

Everything to forget that strange thought and those feelings rising in him.

It was ridiculous anyway. But he would need several glasses of sake to be really convinced.

To be continued...

Notes : (1) Sekigahara : a great battle in 1600. After it, Japan was unified under the rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu