Heartsick, he stared across the makeshift camp to where his dōjō had been.

It was nothing more than ashes now.

They were lucky that anyone had survived.

But for whatever reason, his father had recalled his army, and they were semisafe now. Safe with the fear that his father’s army might return at any moment to claim him and to finish off every last member of Hanzō’s school.

“Hey, kid. You all right?” Koichi asked as he neared his bed with Takara in tow. That was the gentlest tone Koichi had ever used with him.

And that terrified Ryuichi. “Oh no. I’m dying, aren’t I?”

Koichi frowned in confusion. “What?”

“I must be dying for you to be that nice to me.”

Rolling her eyes, Takara shook her head.

That only made his panic worse. Did that mean . . .

“We’re . . . all dead, aren’t we?”

“No. No,” Takara quickly assured him. “Nothing like that.”

“Yeah, but . . .” Koichi’s voice trailed off. That made Ryuichi even more nervous, as Koichi had never been shy around him before.

Takara bit her lip before she answered. “They called their meeting.”

No, not the dreaded they. Not the dreaded meeting where they’d demand his head.

“And?” He held his breath as dread filled him.

Takara sighed and refused to meet his gaze. “You should see for yourself.”

It must be even worse than he feared.

What are they going to do to me now?

That one question left a lump the size of Fuji in his stomach.

Against his better sense and will, Koichi waited for him to get up and dress while Takara waited outside, near where her father and others had set up a makeshift tent they were using as a council chamber.

Every step toward it seemed to take forever, and the instant they entered, everyone gathered there grew quiet.

Suddenly, he wished his father had killed him and spared him this newest humiliation.

When the voice of an old man rang out, he wished they’d remained silent. “That boy is too dangerous to be kept here. Who knows when they’ll come back for him. And come back they certainly will.”

Things were getting tense.

Ryuichi wanted to shrink into his clothes until he was as invisible as they used to make him feel.

“He burned down our school,” another man said.

A younger man spat on the ground near Ryuichi. “Ryukage’s mutt. He should be put down like the rabid dog he is!”

Well, this wasn’t the homecoming he’d wanted.

Suddenly, they were all shouting at him to such a point that he couldn’t understand a single word or insult.

“Everyone! Everyone! Enough!” A woman’s voice rang out over all the others.

They settled down to a tense silence so that they could glare at her.

Kasumi.