Muto Yuki

Muto Yuki ("Snow") known after her death as Yusuetsu, was a member of the Tribe. She was the daughter of the Muto Master, Muto Kenji, and his wife Muto Seiko, and a younger first cousin of Muto Shizuka. Although she was briefly married to Kikuta Akio before her death, she always loved Otori Takeo and became the mother of his son, Kikuta Hisao. Shortly after Hisao's birth, Yuki was fatally poisoned by the Kikuta. Since her son possessed the unique ability to communicate with and control the spirits of the dead, her ghost remained attached to Hisao for much of his young life, as she sought revenge on those she held responsible for her suffering.

Early Life: Heaven's Net is Wide
Born in the Middle Country in Yamagata, Yuki was brought up with more freedom than most women (even by the Tribe's standards) due to her father's indulgence and deep affection for her; Kenji later admitted to Shizuka that Yuki was "probably the only woman I've ever loved". As a daughter of the most skilled member of the Muto family, Yuki inherited a number of the Tribe's strongest gifts, including invisibility and the ability to disassemble her features. She was close companions with Kikuta Akio (who was deeply in love with her, although she did not return his feelings) and there had been talk of a marriage between them since childhood. She was also close to her first cousin Muto Shizuka, who had a disturbing premonition that Yuki would die young; this later proved correct. Yuki witnessed the cruelty of the new Tohan overlords in Yamagata and, like many of the inhabitants, admired the kindness and dignity Shigeru showed towards his own tennants.

Across the Nightingale Floor
Yuki was assigned by Kenji to help keep watch on Otori Takeo during his and Shigeru's journey to Inuyama, as his Tribe abilities were becoming apparent to the Muto and the Kikuta. She initially posed as a maid in the castle at Yamagata where the Otori, Maruyama and Tohan delegations stayed. When Takeo snuck out one night to mercy-kill several captive members of the Hidden (who had been hung from the castle walls to die) Yuki was touched by his compassion and impressed by his skill; while attending him in the bathhouse she remarked to him that "it was well done" without revealing her identity. Kenji later confirmed that she was a member of the Tribe to Takeo, though he did not reveal she was his daughter.

Yuki participated in the Tribe's abduction of Takeo when the Kikuta claimed him during his assassination attempt on Iida Sadamu, using her knowledge of pressure points to knock him out. However, she correctly believed that the Tribe would never win Takeo's obedience due to his prior loyalty to the Otori, and she was angry with her father for taking him by force, believing it would inflame him further against the Tribe. When Takeo repeatedly tried to attack Kenji and Kenji beat him in response, Yuki helped restrain Takeo and suggested her father leave, clearly startled by their mutual loss of emotional control. She showed her sympathy for Takeo by treating his bruises, bringing him food and tea, and reassuring him that he had not shown shame though his capture; indeed, he had fought back against considerable odds.

She later defied the Tribe by carrying correspondence between Takeo and his adoptive father Otori Shigeru, and even brought the ancestral Otori sword, Jato, to Takeo. After the Tribe agreed to allow Takeo to rescue Shigeru in exchange for joining them, Yuki helped him enter Inuyama castle and killed many of the Tohan guards and retainers alongside Takeo. She then carried Shigeru's head to the temple of Terayama and witnessed its' burial. Before the Tribe departed from Terayama, Yuki warned the Masters that she thought their decision to have Takeo train under Akio would eventually lead to disaster, due to the conflict between them.

Grass For His Pillow
During Takeo's time in hiding with the Tribe, despite two incidents where she had to discipline him for losing his temper and trying to escape, Yuki acted as one of his most important teachers. Sometime over the course of their journey northeast, she also became his lover, both out of genuine affection for him and because the Tribe Masters encouraged her to do so (wanting to either win Takeo's loyalty through her, or to preserve Takeo's powers in his possible offspring if his death became necessary). While not trusting her (with good reason, as she reported much of what he said to the Masters), and not holding the passion he had felt for Kaede, Takeo was attracted toward her and they frequently sought each other out by night. Yuki's friendship with Akio became strained over this, as he had long harbored unrequited feelings for her; his jealousy spurred him further in his hatred for Takeo.

After several months together, Yuki discovered she was pregnant with Takeo's child. Shortly after, she informed him that Shizuka had told her that Shirakawa Kaede was dying, inadvertently learning of Takeo's feelings for the young noblewoman. She angrily told him that he could never be with Kaede again due to his new life with the Tribe, but was heartbroken when Takeo replied that, even if she was dead, he would love Kaede until the day he died. Although their sexual relationship continued, Yuki left Matsue a few weeks later, without telling Takeo about the baby.

Shortly after her departure, Yuki revealed to Kikuta Kotaro that Shigeru had been aware of Takeo's existence and Tribe ancestry from the start (something that not even the Tribe had suspected), indicating that Shigeru likely kept records on the Tribe. This, in turn, prompted Kotaro to send Takeo on his final mission to Hagi, resulting in Takeo's defection from the Tribe. It is unknown what Yuki thought of his escape, despite her having predicted it before anyone else.

Once the Kikuta learned of her pregnancy, Yuki was moved to a Kikuta village near the mountainous eastern border of the Three Countries. There, she essentially became a hostage for the Kikuta to coerce the Muto to follow their lead, especially after Takeo defected from the Tribe. Under considerable pressure, she was finally married to Kikuta Akio, her childhood companion and Takeo's bitter rival for her affections. However, their relationship remained celibate, as he refused to touch her while she was carrying Takeo's child. The Kikuta's plan was for Akio to raise Takeo's child as his own and train the child to hate Takeo, and possibly use him to assassinate his father one day. Takeo became aware of this plan and the child (thanks to his Kikuta hearing) shortly before he defected from the Tribe, and often wondered guiltily whether Yuki would have her child stolen from her at birth.

Death: Brilliance of the Moon
Since Yuki would have opposed the use of her child as an assassin against Takeo, due to her continued love for him, she became the main obstacle to the Kikuta's plans. Once her son (who was named Kikuta Hisao) was born, Kotaro ordered Akio to poison Yuki while she was still recovering from childbirth; Akio did so, though with great reluctance. However, as she succumbed to the poison, Yuki's grief and anger caused her spirit to latch onto her infant son (who, unknown to anyone, was a ghostmaster), keeping her connected with the mortal world.

The entire Muto family was grief-stricken when they learned of Yuki's death; despite the Kikuta claiming she had died in childbirth, Kenji was able to discover the truth, presumably through spies in the Kikuta village. Her parents each blamed the other for her loss, and Kenji was so enraged by her murder that he turned fully against the Kikuta, seeking an alliance with Takeo to destroy them and using his influence to bring the other three Tribe families with him. When Takeo learned of Yuki's death, he wept; despite never having loved her the way he loved Kaede, he admitted to himself that he had both desired and felt affection for her, and he was ashamed and angry at the way the Kikuta had used her (and then disposed of her) in order to gain his child. He later apologized to Kenji for being responsible for his daughter's fate, but Kenji replied that he did not blame Takeo, as he had always known Yuki was a fiercely independent spirit and that she had chosen to love Takeo of her own free will. Kenji speculated that, if Takeo had not already met and fallen for Kaede first, he might have fallen in love with Yuki.

The Harsh Cry of the Heron
Yuki remained connected to Hisao in spirit form as he grew up, though he could only faintly perceive her presence, often accompanied by the presence of headaches and illnesses. Despite his being unable to understand her, she continually begged him not to kill his father, whom she continued to love despite their separation. However, Hisao was raised by Akio solely with the intention of being used as a weapon to kill Takeo. Akio put him through a brutal training regimen, which grew more and more abusive when it became clear he had inherited neither of his parents' Tribe gifts.

When Hisao was about eighteen, his grandfather Muto Kenji came to the hidden village where the Kikuta family were living in exile. He intended to re-negotiate the return of the Kikuta in exchange for their giving up their blood feud against Takeo, and to see if he could bring Hisao back with him. After negotiations came to nothing, Kenji offered Hisao freedom from Akio as he tried to escape. As he touched Hisao's arm, Yuki became visible to her father, who immediately realized Hisao was a ghostmaster. Dazed by the sight of his beloved daughter, nearly twenty years after her death, Kenji was quickly captured by the Kikuta and took poison to avoid torture. He wondered, as he died, whether he might return as a ghost and reunite with Yuki, but his spirit passed successfully into the next world.

As Hisao traveled west with Akio, his perception of Yuki and his corresponding illnesses became more frequent. After they captured his half-sister, Otori Maya (Takeo's daughter by Kaede, who possessed powerful Tribe abilities and a lesser form of Hisao's ghostmaster ability) Maya also perceived Yuki, and explained to Hisao that his mother wanted to speak with him. In the presence of two ghostmasters, Yuki was finally able to manifest fully. Confirming that Takeo was Hisao's father, she explained why she had died shortly after Hisao's birth and implored him not to kill Takeo. However, feeling he had gone too far now to turn back, Hisao reluctantly severed his connection with Yuki's spirit. Maya escaped shortly after, aided by her twin Miki.

Unknown to Hisao, his severing of his mother's spirit had somehow enabled her to manifest herself in semi-human form again. As Maya and Miki traveled through the wilderness towards Hagi to warn their parents of Akio and Zenko's plot, Yuki appeared to them repeatedly and helped provide them with food and shelter. She acted kind and maternal towards them, claiming they should have been her daughters by Takeo. While Maya wholeheartedly accepted her kindness (due to her cold and distant relationship with her own mother, Kaede) Miki was more wary of her, knowing that most spirits manifest in the human world to seek revenge on those who wronged them. Yuki confirmed this was true, claiming she was seeking the destruction of Kikuta Akio for his murder of her and his abuse of Hisao.

When Maya reached Hagi and entered Shigeru's house, Yuki saw Kaede holding her infant son by Takeo. What she had not informed the twins was that she also sought revenge on Kaede, as she had always been jealous that Takeo loved Kaede and not her. While the household was asleep Yuki subtly influenced Maya to put her baby brother under the Kikuta gaze, causing him to die in his sleep. Collecting the baby's spirit and claiming it as her own, she departed, leaving Maya horrified by her actions.

Despite having been severed from him, Yuki appeared once more to Hisao when he finally confronted his father, again attempting to prevent him from killing Takeo. Kaede, at the conclusion of the book, wonders whether she and Takeo have been reunited in the afterlife following his death, though this seems unlikely as Takeo accepted his death, unlike Yuki. Their son, Hisao, was taken in by the monks at Terayama temple.

Personality
Yuki was a stubborn, independent spirit. Despite having been raised on the Tribe doctrine of total obedience and following her orders without question, she maintained a subtle rebellious streak, which was indulged by her loving father. While sometimes critical of her father's decisions, particularly concerning Takeo, Yuki loved him dearly. Her relationship with her mother, Seiko, was not strained, but did not appear as close as with Kenji.

She did not regret her role as a member of the Tribe, a spy and (occasionally) an assassin, or condemn that of others; indeed, she was oddly enthusiastic and adventurous when carrying out missions. However, she disliked deliberate and unnecessary cruelty, and criticized those who showed it. Takeo's compassion for the suffering and oppressed moved her and eventually resulted in her falling in love with him. Despite their relationship, she was brokenhearted to discover that he had always loved Shirakawa Kaede.

After her death, Yuki's spirit became bitter and vengeful, seeking justice against those who she perceived as having "wronged" her when she was alive. This vengeance was mainly focused on the Kikuta family, who had taken her son from her and killed her, but she also sought vengeance against Kaede (despite the two of them having never met) whom she had resented for having Takeo's love. Yuki demonstrated a manipulative side when she tricked Otori Maya into accidentally killing her younger brother (Kaede's infant son) with the Kikuta gaze, to gain her revenge on Kaede. Despite her descent into cruelty, Yuki's spirit intervened once more on Takeo's behalf, attempting to prevent their son Hisao from killing him.

Skills and Abilities
Yuki was physically very strong and fit due to constant training and exercise; she was agile, powerful and dexterous, being able to leap great distances and disable opponents with a single, well-placed blow. She had a great knowledge of pressure points and often used this to her advantage both when massaging or disabling a person's body. She was also skilled in climbing, swimming and the use of the garrote for assassinations.

Yuki had some knowledge of business, having helped Kenji run his soybean-paste and wine merchandise. She was also skilled as an actress, musician and prostitute, roles she played while on the road with other members of the Tribe.

Yuki's rarer, more inherited Tribal abilities included invisibility, the second self and the Muto ability to dissemble her features, making her age and appearance nearly impossible to identify and enabling her to disguise herself with great ease.

After her death and her conversation with Hisao, Yuki's ghost temporarily gained the ability to manifest herself in human form again while she sought vengeance against all those who had wronged her.