Her beatury caught the eye of Hatemushi, Ryuhitsu's father, as he made his regular delivery to Kyuden Mirumoto, and the two fell in love The wise diamyo of the Mirumoto granted the two permission to marry, saying, "What destiny has chosen must be."
Their wedding was surprisingly large for a merchant's- even the clan Diamyo, Togashi Yokuni himself, showed up at the marriage ceremony- an auspicious blessing indeed. However love does not always bring luck, and Shiko was unable to concieve a child.
Unable, that is, until five years later, when delivering supplies to Kyuden Togashi. Then, an old ise zumi walked up to Shiko, and, placing his hand above her belly, said, "Life can be found even in land which was thought to be barren." Ten months later, Ryuhitsu was born.
Both Shiko and Hatemushi adored their only son, and constantly doted on the little boy. Since they lived in a constantly moving trade caravan, Ryuhitsu was not overseen by a single woman- all the mothers and elderly women in the caravan helped raise the children.
As Ryuhitsu grew older, his pampering and diminutive size became the object of ridicule by the other boys in the caravan. Calling him "Little Ryu!" or "Ryu-girl!", they laughed as he struggled to climb a tree or compete in their races. That only made Ryuhitsu more determined to win, and despite his small stature he was soon beating the other boys in the caravan at almost all their games.
However, the nickname- "Ryuko" - didn't go away.
This day, however, Ryu noticed that his mother was not her usual cheerful self, and she most certainly wasn't angry and prepared to chastise him. Instead, she looked... sad.
"What is it, mother?"
"Ryuko..." she saw the angry glimmer at the name, and then started again. "Ryuhitsu, you are getting older. All other boys your age in the caravan are already gone, to a clan school or otherwise."
"I know mother, but..."
"Hush, my son. I recieved a message from my honorable uncle yesterday. He, as you know, is head of a bushi school."
Ryuhitsu nodded.
"You... you, my son, have been chosen to attend the Mirumoto School of Bushido. You will leave tomorrow."