Kikuta Kotaro

Kotaro was the Master of the Kikuta family of the Tribe, and alongside Kenji, one of the two co-leaders of the Tribe. Possessing most (if not all) of the traditional Kikuta powers, Kotaro was a first cousin and (for a time) close friend of Kikuta Isamu until he was forced to kill him for deserting the Tribe. Although Kotaro never married or had any children of his own, he trained his nephew, Kikuta Akio, as his heir.

Kotaro served as a supporting character who initially helps Otori Takeo (Isamu's son) transition into his new role as a member of the Tribe, hinting that, because of his talents and bloodline, Takeo may even displace Akio as Kotaro's heir. However, after Takeo rejects the Tribe as his father did, Kotaro issues a death sentence against him and repeatedly sends the Tribe's assassins after him, though each time they fail. After Muto Kenji- once Kotaro's ally- turns against the Kikuta and brings most of the Tribe to Takeo's side, Kotaro attempts to kill both of them himself, but is finally defeated and killed.

Heaven's Net is Wide
During the events of Heaven's Net is Wide, Kotaro and other members of the Tribe were tasked with finding and eliminating Isamu, as he had forsaken the Tribe, which broke their most fundamental law: no one leaves the Tribe. Kotaro and his relatives drew lots to determine which of them would kill Isamu, and he was chosen. He experienced some internal conflict, as while he and Isamu had always been rivals (with Isamu usually getting the better of him) they were also close relatives and friends, or as friendly as was possible within the Kikuta family.

Kotaro eventually tracked Isamu to the village of Mino, where Isamu had converted to the peaceful ways of the Hidden, and confronted him, making it clear it was not personal. Isamu fled into the mountains (intending to lead Kotaro away from his wife Sara, to protect her) with Kotaro in close pursuit. Several hours later, Isamu finally halted, and Kotaro asked him why he had deserted the Tribe, even offering him a final chance to return with him; Isamu refused. Kotaro hesitated as he drew his knife, and was even more unnerved when Isamu not only refused to defend himself, but forgave him and said he would pray for him; he laughingly added that he knew he would probably kill Kotaro if he resisted death. Though conflicted, Kotaro obeyed the will of the Tribe and killed his cousin by stabbing him in the heart. Neither of them knew, however, that Sara was pregnant with Isamu's son, who would eventually grow up to be Otori Takeo and would inherit most of his father's powers.

Kotaro soon became head of the Kikuta family and thus the most dominant member of the Tribe, though he always treated the Muto Master, Muto Kenji, with friendship and respect. He steered the Tribe towards working with Iida Sadamu, who paid the highest price for their services of espionage and assassination. The alliance between the Tribe and the Tohan led to the Tohan's crushing victory over the Otori in the Battle of Yagaehara, as the Tribe uncovered the Otori's secret alliance with the Seisshu families and helped Sadamu bribe the Noguchi into betraying the Otori.

On one occasion, Kotaro himself carried out the murder of Lady Maruyama Naomi's young son with the Kikuta gaze, causing something of a rift between himself and Muto Shizuka, Kenji's niece. He also contemplated the possibility of assassinating Otori Shigeru, but respectfully consulted Muto Kenji on the matter, as he knew Kenji and Shigeru were friends. After drawing lots, Kotaro won the right to pursue one attempt to kill Shigeru, but if he failed, Shigeru's protection would be ensured by Kenji; the attempt failed, and Kotaro subsequently left Shigeru alone, though both he and the Tribe watched him with interest.

Despite continuing to profit from their work with Iida, the Tribe began to decline in subsequent years; intermarriage between the families had depleted the gene-pool, and fewer and fewer children with Tribal talents were born.

Across the Nightingale Floor
After the death of Kuroda Shintaro (who was hired by the Otori lords Shoichi and Masahiro to assassinate their nephew, Otori Shigeru) the Tribe became aware of Takeo's presence in Shigeru's house and Kenji went to investigate. Initially apprehensive, Kotaro became quite pleased when he learned that Takeo had inherited virtually all of Isamu's talents, including invisibility, the second self, and the Kikuta hearing.

He was alarmed, however, by Shigeru's plot to use Takeo to kill Iida Sadamu in Inuyama. Regardless of Sadamu's cruel leadership, Kotaro saw his regime in the Three Countries as a source of order, which the Tribe needed in the long run in order to flourish; his death would deprive the Kikuta of one of their main employers and ignite chaos. Kotaro was also concerned with preserving Takeo's life, both out of a possible desire to atone for killing Isamu and because Takeo's talents could be a great benefit to the Tribe in a time when their gifts seemed to be dying out. Therefore, despite Kenji's longtime friendship with Shigeru, he and Kotaro ultimately decided to kidnap Takeo before the assassination could take place.

Enraged and frantic on his capture, Takeo was soon confronted by Kotaro, who attempted to calm him by understanding his dual nature and revealing his connection with Takeo's father-- though he did not reveal that he himself had killed Isamu. Takeo continued to resist, so Kotaro put him under the Kikuta gaze and rendered him unconscious.

When Kotaro returned later, Takeo had received Jato (Shigeru's ancestral sword) through Kenji's daughter Yuki. He threatened to kill himself (thus denying the Kikuta his service and abilities) unless they agreed to negotiate. In return for Takeo's submission to the Tribe, Kotaro agreed to allow him to rescue Shigeru (who had been arrested, accused of treason and tortured by the Tohan). However, Takeo went beyond their conditions by attempting to kill Sadamu (the only reason he failed was that Shirakawa Kaede already killed Sadamu). With Sadamu's death, the Three Countries' future was uncertain as Arai Daiichi became the next most powerful warlord.

When Takeo relocated to the temple at Terayama with Arai (having taken credit for Sadamu's death) Kotaro contacted him via Shizuka, declaring that unless Takeo joined them immediately and renounced his Otori inheritance, he would be killed by the Tribe. Takeo ultimately relented and joined them. Kotaro treated him with surprising warmth when they met again, embracing him and paying his respects at Shigeru's grave.

Grass for His Pillow
Kotaro met with Kenji, Takeo and several other Tribe members in a concealed room of a Tribe house near Terayama to discuss Takeo's future. Kotaro hinted that, given Takeo's bloodline and abilities, he might one day displace Akio as heir to the Kikuta family, if he could demonstrate his obedience and value to the Tribe. However, neither Kenji nor Kotaro were able to continue supervising his training (both at furthering his skills, and at acting out various roles to hide his Tribe identity) as they were needed to maintain the Tribe's business empire and find a new main employer to replace Iida Sadamu. The new overlord of the Three Countries, Daiichi, was enraged with the Tribe for having taken Takeo and decided to mount a campaign to destroy them and arrest Takeo. Takeo was therefore sent northeast to the town of Matsue (where the Kikuta had an especially strong presence) to train under Akio, with whom he had a mutual hatred. This proved rather short-sighted of Kotaro, as Takeo tended to respond to empathy rather than the brutal discipline of the Kikuta; his rivalry with Akio did nothing to build his obedience to the Tribe.

On the off-chance that Takeo was unable to prove a valuable addition to the Tribe, Kotaro had Kenji's daughter, Yuki, seduce Takeo in the hopes of siring a child with equally strong talents, which the Kikuta could raise from birth. Although Takeo's training and initiation as a killer seemed to be going well (barring one early escape attempt, which Takeo willingly returned from), Kotaro was disturbed to learn from Yuki that Shigeru had had prior knowledge of Takeo's Tribe powers before adopting him; he had known of Takeo's identity before even the Tribe had, and this indicated that Shigeru had been compiling information about the Tribe for some time. Suspecting that Takeo had known this and withheld it, Kotaro confronted him, attempting to obtain some admission of guilt, but to his astonishment Takeo not only resisted the Kikuta gaze, but temporarily used it on Kotaro himself.

His patience nearly exhausted, Kotaro ordered Takeo on a mission to infiltrate Hagi, intending to give him one final chance to prove his loyalty: he was to find, interrogate and eliminate Shigeru's old tutor, Ichiro, and learn the location of the Tribe records. He later learned that the mission was a total failure; Takeo escaped and nearly killed Akio, renouncing the Tribe and fleeing to Terayama to seek his Otori inheritance again. Kotaro then issued a death warrant against Takeo on behalf of the Kikuta and sought an alliance with the Otori lords, who would naturally target Takeo to secure their own legitimacy. Twice during Takeo's flight through the mountains, he was attacked by Kikuta assassins, but both times he was able to defeat and kill them.

Worried about the loyalty of the Muto (and especially Yuki) Kotaro had her moved to a Kikuta village outside the eastern border of the Three Countries, intending to use her as a hostage against Kenji until her child by Takeo was born. Yuki was also married to Akio, who could be counted on to raise Takeo's child to hate him so that he might one day be used to kill his father.

Brilliance of the Moon
Kotaro moved to Hagi so that he could communicate directly with his new employers, the Otori lords Shoichi and Masahiro. Both they and the Kikuta sought Takeo's death, for various reasons; Kotaro ordered at least three more Tribe assassination attempts on Takeo, the last of which was carried out by Kikuta Hajime. All three resulted only in the deaths of the assassins.

Realizing Yuki would prove an obstacle in his attempt to make Takeo's son hate him, Kotaro ordered Akio to poison her after the child was born. This was a serious strategic mistake by Kotaro, as it eliminated his leverage over the Muto and inflamed Kenji against him. Knowing that Takeo, in possession of the Tribe records, could help him defeat the Kikuta, Kenji negotiated an alliance with Takeo on behalf of the other four Tribe families.

After Takeo's final victory at the Battle of Hagi, Kotaro lay low in the city until the chaos caused by the earthquake had subsided. As night fell, he attempted to enter Takeo's house, but was prevented by the Nightingale Floor; Takeo heard him and confronted him. Kotaro confirmed Takeo's accusation that he had killed Takeo's father Isamu, explaining that his unconditional obedience to the Tribe meant that he would even sacrifice close friends and family if so ordered. He believed Isamu and Takeo had been unable to achieve this obedience due to being "tainted" by their Otori blood.

Kotaro then attacked the unarmed Takeo with a poisoned knife. Takeo initially fought back, managing to land a blow or two, but Kotaro's knife soon connected with Takeo's right hand, splitting his palm open and cutting off two fingers. With Takeo forced onto the defensive, Kotaro pressed his advantage, but Kenji and his grandnephew, Muto Taku, heard Takeo's cries for help and joined the battle; Kenji had also brought Takeo the Otori sword, Jato. Kotaro quickly stunned Taku, then fought against Kenji, both Masters making full use of their Tribal powers. Kenji had a short sword, giving him a slight advantage in reach, but Kotaro was somewhat younger, stronger, more skilled in combat and fueled by desperation. Kotaro put up a furious fight along the Nightingale Floor, breaking some of Kenji's ribs with a vicious kick, but Takeo's intervention distracted him, allowing Kenji to injure his neck with shuriken and Takeo to finish him off by cutting his throat with Jato.

Takeo's wound was poisoned by Kotaro's knife, leaving him on the verge of death for several days, and even after he recovered his right hand remained crippled and painful for the rest of his life. Akio succeeded Kotaro as Master of the Kikuta, declaring a permanent blood feud against Takeo to avenge Kotaro's death.

Personality, Abilities and Appearance:
Kotaro is generally calm, cold, practical and deadly in any situation. Unlike his nephew Akio, who is zealous and short-tempered, he has largely mastered masking and controlling his emotions (though in his younger years he displayed a somewhat cocky nature) though everyone is immediately aware if he is angry, even though he does not raise his voice. While better than Akio at hiding it, though, he is just as devoted to the Tribe's rigid, unbending and harsh ways- which ultimately causes him to kill his cousin and close friend, Isamu, in cold blood despite his hesitation. This stubborn devotion to the Tribe's uncompromising ways limits Kotaro's cunning, unlike the more open-minded Kenji.

Detached and casual about killing, Kotaro speaks of committing murder (even that of children) in a way that is callous, yet he is not deliberately cruel so much as extremely ruthless and practical. Although he understood Takeo's conflicted nature perfectly and tried to empathize with him to ease his transition into the Tribe, Kotaro just as quickly made contingency plans for Takeo's death in the event that he proved as disloyal to the Tribe as his father: sending Yuki to sleep with him and forcing him to train with Akio, who had a personal feud against him. While his plans are usually carefully laid (unlike those of his impulsive nephew) Kotaro often fails to anticipate the consequences of some of his ruthless actions. For example, his decision to have Yuki killed (because she would have prevented the Kikuta from using Takeo's son against him) caused the entire Muto family to defect to Takeo, taking the other three families with them.

Kotaro almost never shows affection and demands total obedience of all members of the Tribe, though before the splitting of the Tribe he treated Kenji (his fellow Master) as a friend and equal, and always consulted with him on decisions that would affect the Tribe as a whole. This friendship ended, however, when Kotaro ordered the death of Kenji's daughter.

For all his faults, Kotaro died without fear, continuing to curse Takeo and Kenji defiantly as he died.

Despite his narrow-mindedness, Kotaro is considered the most skilled and dangerous member of the Tribe of his time, apart from Kikuta Isamu, who allowed Kotaro to kill him. He possesses many of the Tribe's strongest abilities, including invisibility, the second self and the enhanced hearing and sleep-bringing gaze of the Kikuta. Like his nephew Akio, he has lightning-quick reflexes. Kotaro is a master of martial arts, poisons and pressure points, as well as an excellent knife fighter, able to hold his own for some time against the combined force of Kenji and Takeo before he was eventually overwhelmed.

Kotaro is of medium height, with an unremarkable face, long fingers and dark tan skin, like Takeo. In Across the Nightingale Floor he is about forty years old, with some of his black hair beginning to turn gray. Like nearly all members of the Kikuta family, he bears a straight, horizontal line across his palms. He usually wears faded blue robes in public, but on missions wears the dark, body-hugging clothes of the Tribe.