otono-tachibana makie

A master swordswoman and in love with Anotsu. She is said to be Anotsu's match and once saved his life with her deadly skills when they were children. Born into a samurai family, Makie and her mother were disowned and cast away by her father, Harukawa, after her older brother committed seppuku. This occurred after it was revealed that Makie had inherited the family's famed talent and he could not defeat her in combat. Initially, she chose the path of the sword to avenge her mother's disgrace but ended up becoming a geisha when Anotsu bought her freedom. This happened because she neither had the nerve to become a prostitute like her mother nor fully commit to being a swordfighter as she cannot kill when her concentration in battle breaks. She defeats but does not kill Manji, seemingly turning her back on Anotsu. Later, she is found living alone, having bound her hand in an attempt to destroy her own combat skill following her father's humiliating death. She reappears in Last Blood, having followed Anotsu since he left Shirakawa upon realizing his body was weakening. She destroys the men under Iriya who were pursuing Anotsu. After Iriya's death, she leaves with Anotsu and Magatsu. As Anotsu says, she is the only one who can beat him. Her weapon, a double-bladed three-section staff named Haru-no-Okina (Old Man of Spring), is concealed in a hollowed-out shamisen, a mandolin-like instrument. She first appears in Dreamsong Part 1.