Kenji was silent.
Satoru blinked. “I thought they were the same.” sepuku vs harakiri
“You retreated,” she corrected. “There is a difference. You saved the clan’s records from the burning wagon. You carried the lord’s nephew on your back for two leagues. You lost the supplies, yes. But you did not run like a coward. You survived like a sentinel.” Kenji was silent
“ Harakiri ,” she said, “is the word commoners use. It means ‘belly-cutting.’ Crude. Bestial. It is what a cornered rat does. No ritual. No dignity. A samurai forced to kill himself in a ditch after a lost battle—that is harakiri . Quick, ugly, desperate. They use a tanto if they have one. A shard of pottery if they don’t.” “There is a difference
She sat down unbidden. “In this house, I decide my place.” She looked at Satoru. “Do you know the difference between seppuku and harakiri , boy?”
Chiyo waved a hand. “Words are cages, Master Kenji. You have been Lord Tadamasa’s headsman for thirty years. How many men have you beheaded in seppuku ?”