Summary
Arikoto’s wounds finally heal and he is taken to meet the other Grooms of the Bedchamber. The other grooms are crass and disapprove of his feminine features. The other grooms warn him that the female shogun slaughtered the last groom she slept with because he hurt her body. Arikoto has his own back, though. He belittles the other grooms by comparing them to a gaggle of ladies-in-waiting instead of stoic warriors. That evening, Arikoto is given a surprise with his meal.
Gyokuei immediately sought justice from the kitchen. Guokuei approached the three other Grooms and was beaten and raped.
Arikoto was summoned to the dojo. The grooms are required to train in swordsmanship. When Arikoto is matched with the instructor, he yields and refers to his teachings as a monk to not strike someone with hate in his heart. The instructor then tells him to do 500 practice swings. When Gyokuei protests, the instructor mentions his guards do 1000 a day. Arikoto then stated he would do 1000 practice swings. He struggles but manages to do all 1000 swings earning the respect of the instructor.
The next day, the shogun enters Arikoto’s room. She divulges that she doesn’t like the kitten she gave Arikoto because it is adorable, just like her daughter. Arikoto is taken aback by this revelation. She lets Arikoto know that she had a daughter at 15 years of age, and it died shortly thereafter. After sharing his condolences, the shogun Iemitsu started visiting him regularly. During one of their visits, Iemitsu tells Arikoto how Lady Kasuga got her father to eat. Every day, she prepared seven different meals, hoping one would suffice. Knowing that he preferred men, Lady Kasuga created the Ooku, hoping she could find one woman he would sleep with.
In the evening, the three other grooms are gossiping about Arikoto and Iemitsu. They are angry because it appears Arikoto will be the first invited to bed with Iemitsu. Gyokeui overhears the conversation and secretly kills the cat with one of the groom’s swords. The next day, the cat’s corpse is found in front of the offending groom. The groom, out of honor, commits seppuku.
Arikoto and Iemitsu get into a verbal altercation. Iemitsu has been having the swordsmen run into Edo and cutting women’s hair. She saw it as a prank, but Arikoto explains that it causes people to suffer. Iemitsu expresses she hates her life and is suffering. Arikoto yells that he was brought there for her pleasure and makes it known that she is not the only one suffering.
Thoughts
Poor Gyokeui. All he wants to do is serve Arikoto and he ends up getting raped by the other grooms for his troubles. I am also disappointed that he abandoned his ideals to “kill” the other groom as promised. It was shocking he was able to slaughter the poor cat to get revenge. I was also moved by the verbal shouting match between Arikoto and the Iemitsu. Iemitsu is such a brat and unlikeable and she tries the “woe is me” approach. That didn’t fly with Arikoto. After all, he is suffering because he was forced to give up his life to be breeding stock. The relationship development between Arikoto and Iemitsu is interesting. I am looking forward to seeing where their relationship goes.
Filthy Casual for Life 
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