Amy the Two-Faced Rat

[madimpossibledreamer]

 

Isamu Ena (Amy)-Tesso|Rairi (The Iron Rat)

*Originally, the story had Raigo.  According to Google, it was spelled with the characters for rely and feather, writing brush, or little.  Since it’s Bloody Petals, it’s Rairi instead, with the same character for request or rely and one meaning reason or logic.  Also, empress, daughter, you get the idea.

Most people wouldn’t have a treacherous second-in-command who’s tried, on numerous occasions, to try to kill her Matriarch as their lieutenant.  Most people aren’t Akiyama.  As you might expect, this digs down into the dark criminal underworld—it’s not all smiles and games.

Her relationship with Isamu is…complicated.  Rumors that they’re lovers exist, though with no evidence either way.  With Akiyama, accomplished mystic and seasoned blackmailer, though, it’d be unlikely that any evidence would exist even if it was true.  It’s clear, though, that Isamu does love Akiyama in some capacity, even as she hates her and respects her.  In turn, Akiyama has forced her to eat the poisoned food, used the variety of usual physical and spiritual punishments, and even turned her several times into her irezumi no youkai namesake, the rat.  A fact that might have influenced her stay of execution is that she’s never attempted to get anyone else involved and is nothing but loyal in public.  It’s only behind closed doors that the attempts come out.  Although given how much she knows Akiyama is capable of finding out, perhaps it’s more a case of seeking self-punishment and self-hatred for not just getting away, since she seems to be resigned to the fact that Akiyama-sama will catch every attempt.

Part of the problem, both in loyalty and hatred, is the fact that Akiyama undeniably has blackmail material over her lieutenant, though what that information is happens to be a secret kept even from the rest of her Family.

The true story goes something like this: Isamu’s mother was horribly abusive.  Eventually, Ena snapped and sought out an unlicensed tattoo artist carrying spirit ink, reasoning that if the cause of death was determined and found to be an irezumi no youkai, suspicion would fall on the yakuza.  If she used a spell or killed her normally, say, with a kitchen knife, and then used a spell, that would probably actually be more suspicious, since her mother was known to have some powers of her own and such talents are often hereditary.  She had found a spell to disguise her irezumi without drawing attention to it.  It is possible that the irezumi was designed with an air of cruelty, mockingly offering hope while trapping Isamu in a never-ending spiral of regret and pain.

The problem was, Akiyama found out.  To this day, Isamu still doesn’t know how the Matriarch knows, nor what kind of deals her mother was making with various akuma or how they’d known, tracked her down, and what they’d wanted to kill her for.  What she does know is that Akiyama also tracked her down, together with a few other loyal subordinates, and killed the akuma in a move that ultimately saved her life, but might have left her trapped with a worse fate.  The rescue had not come without its price—‘Come join my family,’ went the deal with the devil, ‘…your irezumi will no longer be punishable by death then.’  The exact details of what would happen if she refused were not given, but she didn’t need them to know it would be massively unwise to do so.  In exchange, as well, Akiyama-sama has kept her word—no one else has found out the truth.

Working for Akiyama is an experience.  Isamu is both the most gifted in magic of her subordinates and the best at digging up details best left forgotten, and does not hesitate to complete every command Akiyama gives.  Despite this, sometimes she can’t help the urge to kill.  It’s unclear whether this gift is a kindness or a cruelty.

*Tesso|Rairi-Like several other yakuza, Isamu chose a legendary figure for her irezumi no youkai.  In exchange for praying for the birth of a daughter and heir for the Empress, a nun, Rairi, asked for a donation to her temple.  While this worked, politics and fear of a rival warrior-temple caused the empress to break her promise.  In protest, the nun went on a hunger-fast, died, and returned as a terrifyingly large white metal rat, sometimes accompanied by a horde of rats, that supposedly cursed the empress’ daughter to death and then began eating records (presumably largely of the rival temple).  The youkai was only appeased by a shrine erected to elevate it to being a shinto god, Tesso. 

In the tattoo, Rairi is depicted, but the shrine in the irezumi near the ghostly undead rat-monk suggests that just like Isamu’s temper, the dual nature of Tesso can also be found in the irezumi no youkai.  Isamu can direct a horde of rats to do her bidding, including spying, moving talismans and other magical items or curses to targets, chewing through wires to take down electronics, eating documents, scrolls, or books, and starting fires.  It also, presumably, makes Akiyama’s spell to turn her into a pet rat more effective, and Isamu can also turn into rats of varying sizes, including the original unusual size of youkai Rairi, as well as a protection like a samurai irezumi no youkai.  Rats can also be good luck (or bad luck, given some of the recent news about the common variety in Japan), similar to Isamu.  Given the Buddhist connection, this probably also gives her a boost with Buddhist magic and knowledge.

*Foo Dog/Lion of Buddha-on either shoulder at the top of steps leading to the temple, Isamu has a Foo Dog.  This sentence from the tattooseo website caught my attention: “It has even been said that mother foo dogs throw their young from cliffs to see which ones survive and those will be the strongest.”  Which would definitely resonate with Isamu.  There’s also talk about Buddhist law, heaven and earth, and the attempt to keep evil out, which is a valiant effort but ultimately not exceptionally successful.  courage, strength, protector

*Hannya-a noh hannya mask is seemingly discarded on the steps.  (though this might represent a husband rather than a wife, given the world of the story) revenge, jealousy, and sorrow turning a person into a demon, the desire for revenge has trapped the hannya in suffering it cannot escape, and yet there’s still some humanity and love in there

*lotus-in a pond in front of the temple and Rairi there’s a lotus—Buddhist connections, fortune, grow from murky water and the dark thoughts to enlightenment, purification

*koi-also in the pond, courage, control, achievement through adversity

(I’ve used tattooseo, tattoodo, irezumiart, tatring, Japanese Tattoos by Brian Ashcraft with Hori Benny and most frequently.  Mythology stuff comes from Wikipedia and its various linked sources.)