General Info

First Issue: CRITTERS Volume 1, Issue 11

Comics Which Contain This Story

This story can be found in the following comics:

	CRITTERS Volume 1, Issue 11
	USAGI YOJIMBO Book 1

Characters

The following characters are mentioned in the story:

• Jotaro
• Kenichi
• Mariko
• Miyamoto Usagi
• Mogura Ninja

Story Synopsis

With Jotaro held hostage by the Mogura Ninja, Usagi can do nothing. Kenichi can do nothing but blame Usagi and Mariko is utterly afraid that her sole child will be killed. Jotaro on the other hands, takes advantage of the ninja's concentration on the samurai and bites him in his hand.

It is all the distraction Usagi needs to kill the ninja and rescue the boy. Meanwhile - the ninja's comrades have ambushed the storehouse - stealing everything within.

On the dead ninja's garb are clumps of red clay. the only source of this clay in the area is a nearby mountain, and this is where Kenichi, Usagi and the villagers go.

They search the area seemingly in vain, until the Usagi's childhood memories take him back to a cave in the mountain face. Upon finding the cave they also find the stolen supplies; no sign of the Mogura Ninja however. As the villagers go to retrieve their supplies the Mogura Ninja burst from the ground, surprising and killing several samurai.

They quickly recover and rally around Usagi and Kenichi. One of the slain samurai's torches catches on some straw floor matting, setting the place ablaze. Sensitive to the painful light, the ninja turn to flee. After several close calls, the Mogura Ninja are slain to a mole and most of the supplies are rescued, ensuring the survival of the village.

The following day, after Usagi finishes paying his respects to his father's tomb, he and Mariko wander the village remembering their childhood. They talk of karma and what might have been and about what remembrances they had of each other, so long ago. Usagi must leave the following morning and after he escorts Mariko to her room, he unties his topknot, revealing the lock of Mariko's hair that he took from her all those years ago. Perhaps he does not realise that he is not the only one who believes a keepsake is for keeps.