Sachiko (Usagi Yojimbo)

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Kitsune holding Sachiko, Usagi Yojimbo Volume 3, Issue 52

Sachiko is a character from the Usagi Yojimbo comic; she is an anthropomorphic cat and is a master thief, posing as a street performer to hide her criminal livelihood. Very little is known about Sachiko herself as she only appeared in one story in flashback; in the story Kitsune's Tale, she's the one who taught Kitsune everything she knew about being a street performer/thief.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

One day in Edo, Sachiko was packing away her things after a hard day's work as a street performer when a rather scruffy teenager ran past, being pursued by police. Sachiko flagged the girl down and threw a blanket over her, then sent the police off on a wild goose chase. When the police were gone, the girl was about to take off, but Sachiko invited her to her home. There, she offered the wayward juvenile a meal and inspected the swag from a rather sloppy robbery: a comb and a few meagre coins. Sachiko kept the money and returned the comb, telling the girl it was a reminder that she needs to choose her targets more carefully. The cat then asked the teen to place her hand on the floor, then tried to stab it with a small sword; the girl was quick enough to spot the knife and moved. She was completely stunned that the woman tried to cut her hand off, while Sachiko was most impressed with her reflexes. After apologizing for the attack, Sachiko reveals that she is a thief, and is interested in taking on an assistant; Sachiko offers her the job, and when she accepts, Sachiko gives her a new name to go with her new life: "Kitsune".

Kitsune learned fast, and with Sachiko's training became an expert in various arts of performance and thievery. Together, Sachiko and Kitsune made a crime wave across Edo, which naturally drew increased pressure from the police. When the heat turned up over their night-time robberies, they switched to pickpocketing. The plan was simple, Sachiko steals someone's purse, then passes it to Kitsune before the victim notices it missing; when the person finds their money gone, they may finger Sachiko, who no longer has the purse, and the police can't arrest without evidence. At one point, Kitsune was getting worried that they were going too far, and they should move on to another city; Sachiko agreed, but insisted they stay a little longer to make some travelling money.

The next day, they return to the street and pick a rather wealthy looking samurai for their target, but Kitsune has concerns. She doesn't want to target a samurai, but Sachiko insists it'll be fine. The play goes off as planned, Sachiko gets the purse and passes off to Kitsune; but the samurai is wise to them, and grabs Sachiko off the street. Sachiko feigns anger over being taken by the samurai, but he reveals that he saw her picking the pockets of a merchant the other day; and while the police can't do anything without evidence, he could. Later, Kitsune is worried that Sachiko is late and goes looking for her. As it starts to rain, Kitsune finds the alley where the samurai confronted Sachiko, and found her body lying on the ground.

Kitsune remarks that Sachiko treated life as a game, but sadly, some people don't play by the same rules.