Did you really think this guy goes to classes?

Roaming around from bar to bar on the mainland, Sugawara Yoshitsune, the ‘Delivery Boy’, could be found with a scratchy beard enjoying a drink with others and laughing uninhibited. A stranger to these lands would mistake him for any other vagabond if it weren’t for his high-quality clothing. But many on the mainland knew the noble prodigy he once was and could recall his fall from grace. He carries two swords on his hip, one is the sword he calls his own and sees frequent use, the other belonged to an old friend and has never been drawn since. It is the second that details his downfall if that's what you want to call it.

Yoshitsune comes from a smaller branch of the royal Sugawara lineage renowned for its judgement and adherence to the law. Being the first child and a son, Yoshitsune was groomed from an early age to inherit the duties of the house and hold the wisdom of his father. Justice is blind, it needs to strike true regardless of the affections the judge may hold. Yoshitsune took this all in, during his childhood and adolescence he idolized his father and, with the encouragement of the rest of the family, quickly began shaping up to those expectations.

The pressure compounded when Yoshitsune was nine and was told that he would become the heir to the Shogun himself. His already rigorous training and lesson plan increased two-fold and the punishment for failure in these tasks increased three-fold. In all respects, Yoshitsune was an excellent student, pressure makes diamonds and he was proof. But he wasn’t flawless and a small chip would surface very soon.

The aftermath of a small, unfortunate accident would change Yoshitsune’s life forever. It shouldn’t have happened, by all planning of the Sugawara house. During his younger teenage years, Yoshitsune’s life was saved by a peasant boy after he had accidentally hit his head on a rock diving into a river. A river Yoshitsune shouldn’t have been near, but snuck out on a very rare occasion of rebellion.

The saviour boy's name was Kaito and Yoshitsune was filled with gratitude for the boy saving his life. Despite the boy's lower status, Yoshitsune treated the boy to the luxuries of nobility for a time and the two became quick friends. While the family did expect to reward the boy for his good deed, the care and duration of his stay quickly became outside the bounds that peasantry should be allowed. It quickly became apparent that Yoshitsune was no longer gifting the boy a just reward but treating him because he saw the boy as a friend and an equal. The family, his father especially, disapproved of this.

Kaito was eventually escorted back home firmly but with honour. The two were expected to be separate after this, but Yoshitsune would sneak out around once a month to spend time with Kaito. This was generally allowed because, outside of these exchanges, Yoshitsune still lived up to the noble he was expected to be.

As the years passed by, the two picked up the arts of war together. For Yoshitsune it was mandatory, for Kaito it was to join his friend. They would begin to spar during each of their meetings and slowly develop together. To Yoshitsune’s surprise, without professional training, Kaito kept up with him and he eventually figured out this was the result of tireless practice on the peasant boys' part.

When the two boys had passed adolescence and into adulthood, Kaito let Yoshitsune know that he intended to conscript into their house’s army and that this would likely be the last time they would meet in some time. In response, Yoshitsune got to work with his family's smiths and forged two similar katanas under the guise he wanted to do for himself. In reality, he gifted one of the swords to Kaito before he left for battle and kept one for himself. This drew immense dissatisfaction from his family, but it was already too late by the time they found out. After some severe punishment, Yoshitsune convinced them not to confiscate the blade from Kaito. Kaito was honourable and deserved it, Yoshitsune wouldn’t be alive without him.

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A few years passed and with the absence of Kaito, Yoshitsune became far more focused in his development. He spent more time with his father, more time with private trainers, was present for sentences made, and gradually his face hardened. He was conditioned almost as a true heir. One more test lay in wait for him, Yoshitsune’s first sentencing as a judge.

A dissertation from the army was an easy case—the sentencing as written by law: execution. Yoshitsune strode out to pass his judgment and was more than prepared to carry it out. That was until he saw Kaito, who had looked up to him with misery in his eyes. Yoshitsune, in shock, looked to his father who only regarded him with a cold, unfeeling expression. Justice is blind, it needs to strike true regardless of the affections the judge may hold.

Yoshitsune’s face hardened, composing himself. Kaito deserted the army. The sentence was execution. He thought Kaito was an honourable person. But an honourable person doesn’t run from their duty. The sentence was execution. And so Yoshitsune brought his blade down on the neck of his best friend, his brother, and someone he loved. Such was his duty.

Yoshitsune impressed his father with his actions. While Kaito's crime was real, it was a test to see if his son could separate his feelings from the call of law. Yoshitsune passed with flying colours.

Yoshitsune hung his gift to Kaito in his sleeping quarters as a daily reminder. Every day he would wake up and look upon it as a reminder of what he had to do and the person he had to be. With each day, a reminder of Kaito weighed upon his heart like a small stone. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but growing with every passing day. Every regret, every double take, every thought where he considered his actions were deeply wrong to execute him. They would pile up and they would be exactly what he needed to harden his heart.

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It started a few years after the execution, after a record of being the perfect son and heir, Yoshitsune spoke out over dinner. The content of his words was inconsequential but the effect was well heard. Yoshitsune had interrupted his father. This earned him a few disapproving glares but was quickly overlooked. It was a rare act of rebellion after all. But then another act of disobedience happened, then another, and another, until a clear pattern had emerged. It wasn’t long before Yoshitsune could be seen as a threat to his house’s dignity and something needed to be done.

His father had assumed his son simply needed to learn humility. So he arranged for Yoshitsune to be put to work as a messenger for a while, a highly regarded one but a messenger nonetheless. His father was certain that a demeaning job would bring Yoshitsune back to the fold in no time. But instead, the young man took it as an excuse to travel around and drink at random bars on the mainland and beyond. Despite this, he performed his duty admirably and without fail so no punishment could reasonably be placed on him. To add to this, he would help the needs of the peasant folk as he came across them, which gave him some respect among the lower circles of society.

Yoshitsune’s family was baffled by the sudden change and his descent into something they would consider a disappointment. They were left asking why, but the answer rested on his hip. During his first delivery and all subsequent deliveries, he had carried Kaito’s blade.

The growing weight on his heart had not hardened Yoshitsune but broken him instead. Left with the grief of his deceased friend, he had come to realise that the execution could not have been just. Kaito was an honourable man, so he couldn’t have deserted for no good reason. But he still couldn’t understand it fully and sought desperately to know the answer.

In all the times Yoshitsune had met with Kaito, it had always been near or around his family estate. Every time, he would bring Kaito into his life and his world but he had never done the same back. Maybe if he were to trace his friend’s steps and see what life was like from his shoes, he could understand why his friend could have deserted. So he took to the job of deliveries, travelling Nikan, and seeing what life was like for the peasants.

At first, he was confused and awkward. He didn’t fit in with these people at all; his overly serious and dignified expressions didn’t help. But as time passed on and he persisted, Yoshitsune found himself lightening up, his shoulders less firm and his face softer. He began joking with these people, laughing with them, dancing with them, and more.

A day came when Yoshitsune had stayed up drinking so long that he met the rising sun. It was on a field just outside a small, nameless town and he sat alone with his thoughts. It was that day that he finally understood his friend. He laid back on the grass, he laughed, and he cried for a life he cherished and a life he had taken unjustly. He had come to the end of his journey.

The joy and happiness his travels had gained him were precious. So why not continue the journey? Why not make a few more deliveries? With every step, he took Kaito’s blade with him. He wanted his friend with him if he was going to travel to all these places. He loved Kaito after all.

Justice should try to be blind. But judgement without empathy isn’t worth shit.