Everything ends, Chapter 12
Title: Everything ends
Author: fffriction1984 [tbsupervillains ]
Chapters: 12/??
Genre: het, AU, historical, action, romance, drama (at least in this chapter, lol)
Warnings: het, un-betaed, English is not my first language, Wikipedia helped me a lot but I’m not sure how accurate this is (I suck when it comes to historical things XD), CHARACTER DEATH!!!
Rating: PG-13/NC-17, depending on the chapters
Pairings: Aoi x Waka so far
Characters: All gazemen, Yoshiki [X Japan], Tora, Nao, Hiroto, Saga [Alice Nine], Hiko (Tomiko), Waka [danger*gang], Sakito [Nightmare], some OC’s, more characters to come, this will be an jrock-all-star-cast XD
Disclaimer: Don't own anyone
Synopsis: Everything he lived for was gone
The rain had ceased, finally. After that heavy rain lasted for almost three days, the fourth morning was the first dry morning in what felt like a lifetime. Uruha got up early that day and decided to take a walk through the woods on his own to sort out the wide range of thoughts that messed up his mind at that time. He believed he had accepted the fact that he wouldn’t have so much time to spend on this planet and decided to make the best of his remaining lifetime, but he couldn’t really grasp one single thought, there was just chaos in his mind.
After spending almost three days just sitting around he noticed that doing nothing at all got to him. It got to him quicker than he liked and he felt like something had sucked almost all his energy out of him, he felt weak. Rather fortunately he didn’t have any cramps or abdominal pains, but he didn’t feel well overall, he looked pale, his hands were shaking even if only slightly.
It was then that he started valuing the fact that Hiko was there - anything as long as he didn’t have to be all by himself. He was fine with taking walks on his own and to be alone for a short period of time, two hours perhaps, but as soon as he started to feel lonely, he decided to go back to the hideout.
While walking back his thoughts wandered to Reita and the others. He started to ask himself what they were doing and what they’d do once he was gone, completely. As far as Reita was concerned he would trust his life to Uruha, he would have to find someone to replace the blonde. Uruha knew that Hiroto was quick and skilled, he would be most eligible for that assignment, that is if Uruha had a choice in deciding anything, but that was completely beyond his control. Aoi? Aoi would probably go mad. Uruha thought and chuckled. He felt sorry for that argument they had the night he left, yet it couldn’t be helped. Somehow he wanted to sort that one out, he was just unsure how to approach his friend. That and he didn’t want to go back, not like that, not with that condition he was in. As soon as he would be back Reita would assign him to do whatever and it would only worsen things.
He simply had nowhere else to go.
Just as he walked back onto the premises he saw Hiko standing at the well, pulling the bucket up again. She cast him a small, a shy smile and went on doing whatever she had been doing before. Uruha sighed to himself and pulled his Haori tighter around himself, it was still chilly outside and harsh winds that had helped finally blowing the dark rainclouds away made him shiver a bit. Either the wind or that cold he felt from inside, an iciness he could not explain, other than death was already coming to get him. An horrid notion that made him shiver even more.
That day, when the sun began to shine again, it was still too cold for July, no matter if there was this parky wind, it was too cold. Uruha sat outside on the patio after he and Hiko have had dinner, with his back resting against the outer wall, and felt chilly. On the other hand he was too lazy to go inside and get himself a slightly thicker Haori or a blanket.
With his eyes closed he let his mind wander once more, it was like he thought his life through. There were quite a few things he wanted to forget but also a lot of precious memories regarding his fellows, the members of the Suzuki clan, and all the things they had gone through together.
After quite a while though he heard the rustle of fabric and blinked with one eye, just to see Hiko approaching him, with a small tray with a teapot and two teacups on it balanced on her hands. She kneeled down next to him and set the tray down, got back up and scuttled away into her room. As she returned she carried a blanket. She draped that blanket over Uruha without a word, then sat down next to him - actually really close to him, close enough that he felt heat radiating from her limbs.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” she asked with a slight smile.
“No, later perhaps. Thank you.” Uruha shook his head, then sighed. “Why is it so cold? It’s July, it’s supposed to be warm.”
“I have no idea.”
“But you’re Hiko, the cleverest 18-year-old I know. You should know.”
“No, because I’m only an 18-year-old, not a meteoroligist, you see.” she chuckled.
“Don’t you feel cold?”
“Not so much. You?”
“A fair bit, yes.”
And instead of just telling him that he would feel warmer soon because of the blanket, Hiko scooted a bit closer to him and snuggled up against him. Just like that, obviously not thinking about the propriety of that action. “Better now…?”
Later that evening Uruha sat in his room by himself. A single oil lamp cast its dim light on him and made his shadow dance over the paper covered sliding door behind him. He put his calligraphy brush down and took a sip of his sake and continued to listen to the sounds of the night. The wind made the trees around rustle and moan, it was howling along the several buildings on the compound.
His gaze then fell upon his Katana and Wakizashi on the table top in front of him. Both blades have tasted the blood of hundreds of men, his Wakizashi had even pierced his own flesh once as one of his oponents pulled that shorter sword out of its sheath and just started stabbing him like mad. That man had paid for his stupidity. Only 30 seconds after trying to stab Uruha he fell to the floor with fountains of blood gushing out of a slit on his neck. And despite being injured Uruha went on fighting that day. They were outnumbered after they had been ambushed. Uruha could see Aoi and Ruki about ten feet away from him. He saw how Ruki struck two men down before he heard the clinking sound of someone approaching him from behind, the clink of a sword. With a low growl Uruha pushed his Katana backwards and soon felt the resistence as the blade pierced into and through flesh. He turned around and rammed his sword deeper into that man, relentlessly, without any thoughts. He had learned that war wasn’t about fairness and this was the only rule he did abide when fighting. But then again there was this bleeding wound in his abdomen, it hurt, but Uruha didn’t want to and couldn’t give up, so he pushed himself back up and practically slaughtered five more men down before Ruki came to help him.
Hiroto and Aoi made short work of the remaining three men as Ruki pressed both hands onto the stab wound on Uruhas stomach. “You’re not going to die on me now, Uruha…!” Ruki had mumbled as Uruha had started to see stars before everything went black.
Thinking about that now he was almost sure that he had never been this close to death before and afterwards, but thanks to his friends he was save and still far from dying.
Rather suddenly though Uruha was ripped out of his thoughts by a bloodcurdling scream coming straight out of Hikos bedroom next to his. Uruha jumped to his feet, grabbed his Katana and stormed into her room, sword at the ready. “What happened?!”
Hiko, shaking like a leaf, ran to hide behind his back and pointed towards her futon. “There… Underneath the blanket, there’s something…” she whimpered and clutched onto his Haori with both hands.
“Gods, you did scare me, Hiko…” Uruha mumbled and carefully lifted the blanket with the tip of his sword. Underneath he saw… a snake. “Okay… That’s…”
“What? What is it?” she asked and tried to peek towards the Futon, then saw the snake.
“Yaah, that’s just a grass snake, Hiko.” Uruha sighed. “Even if it bit you, you wouldn’t die because of that.”
“Then… Why don’t you… just… Put it away, will you? Please?”
“I’m not going to carry that snake out of here. Just wait for a bit, then he or she will leave on her own.”
Hiko looked at Uruha in disbelief and shook her head. “I’m not going to wait for that thing to leave, Uruha…” she said and pulled her black sleeping Yutaka tighter around herself as the Obi had losened up before.
“Fine.” Uruha dropped the blanket, grabbed Hiko by the wrist and pulled her out of her room and into his own. “Then you’ll have to sleep here. Make yourself at home.” he mumbled and sat back down at the table where the lamp was, picked up his thin calligraphy brush and went on writing into his small and torn notebook. Ever since he had been a young man he wrote down certain memories every once in a while - it was good to read those entries again after a few years, he would never forget what he had gone through that way.
“But… Where are you going to sleep then…?” Hiko asked.
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” he answered frankly for he barely slept for longer than two or three hours a night usually, and he could just as well spent those three hours sitting with his back against the wall.
**********
There wasn’t a real, a proper explanation for what was happening. No one would or could answer his question as to why his master suddenly allied with the people who stole his daughter right out of his house. That was all information they had: That Hiko had asked them for help and they helped her, like noble men - at least that was what they wanted to make Sakito’s Master, the old Takahara, believe. Sakito couldn’t believe that version of the story and he was eager to hear what Hiko had to say about it. Part of him doubted somehow she was okay. To him all these guys seemed barbaric despite the good manners they put on display when someone of a higher status or rank was in the room. Ruki was the worst in his eyes, that man had such an uncontrollable temper and Sakito was almost scared to end up with a dagger in his back when the short samurai was around.
Sakito wasn’t a warrior. First and foremost he was Takahara’s and Hiko’s guard, yet more like a consultant in ways, but he would make sure not to get into fights himself. To make sure he himself and Takahara or whoever was under his surveillance was safe there were two or three fairly chunky men near, at all times, in times of peace as well as in times of war - and those men were trained in more than 5 martial arts, they had daggers, everything they needed in case something happened, the same guys who tried to mess with Uruha on the Tanabata when Sakito took Hiko back home against her will.
“Sakito-san? Do you want more rice?” Waka asked waiting to refill his empty rice bowl.
He shook his head and emptied his sake, then got up and left the spacious room that was now used for dining purposes. Just outside he saw Aoi, Hiroto and that samurai from Tokyo, Tora, walking just behind them. The youngest of them, Hiroto, was obviously prepairing to leave, at least it looked like it to Sakito from the bag he was carrying. “Where are you headed?” Sakito asked with doubt in his voice.
Aoi looked at him and shook his head. “That’s really none of your concern.”
“So Hiroto-san is leaving.” he concluded.
“Why don’t you just join your master in the main room…?” Aoi asked and stopped walking towards the stables as he noticed that Sakito was following them.
“And why don’t you just stop treating me as if I was the enemy?”
Aoi smirked. “As if you were a threat for any of us.”
“Then we have this cleared out, don’t we? So, where is he headed?”
The raven haired samurai sighed, said “Alright, follow me…” and led Sakito to the stables as well. “We’re not planning a conspiracy or anything…”
“But you’re up to something. Is this about Hiko-san?”
“More or less, yes.” Aoi answered in a low grumble.
“And you know where she is?”
“Gods, why don’t you just stop asking questions for a minute?!”
“I’m worried about her, just like her father is. I would be glad if you’d tell me anything, Aoi-san.”
“Everything at the proper time, don’t you worry…”
Sakito folded his arms before his chest and looked at the three men in the stables. Hiroto was stuffing the bag he was carrying into one of the horse boxes, then turned around and looked at Sakito. “May I talk frankly to you, yes?” Hiroto asked. “You want Hiko to come back to her father, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“You see? And we want Uruha to come back to us as well, so we both have the same interest, in ways. We trust that you won’t run to your master or Reita-sama and sing about what we’re about to do.”
“That means that Hiko and that man are together right now?!”
“Right now we can only guess, so don’t lose your temper, please.” Aoi interfered and shook his head. “We’re going to tell you what you need to know once the time is right.”
“We’ll see…” Sakito grumbled and clenched his fist.
*******
The lamp was still lit, the wind was still howling and making the flame flicker as Hiko woke up. For a moment she didn’t dare to move, but when she did, when she lifted her head to look around the room, she noticed that Uruha sat with his back against the wall she sighed a bit. The hems of his Yukata were practically open, revealing his slender and smooth legs what almost made Hiko blush. “You’re going to catch a cold like that, silly…” she mumbled and scooted over to him to wrap him into the blanket.
She had never really seen anyone with blonde hair before, so she was still amazed by Uruhas hair. She had once seen a young woman with fiery red hair when she and her father went to Tokyo a few years ago, but that woman hadn’t been japanese.
Carefully, as if wanting to make sure he wouldn’t wake up, she reached out and touched a streak of his hair. His hair felt just like hers, the same structure. More or less accidentally though her finger brushed over his cheek. “So cold…” she whispered and placed her palm against his cheek. As if on cue the sleeping Uruha leaned into the warm touch.
And although she didn’t know why or how or whatever Hiko leant forward and kissed Uruha on the lips - somehow she had wanted to do this for quite a while already now. His lips felt just as cold, but his breath was hot against her skin before she pulled back. Hiko blushed a hot red and felt her heart beating like mad. She let go of his cheek as well as she saw how his eyelids fluttered open.
“What are you doing, Hiko…?” Uruha mumbled with a yawn. “Go to sleep…”
“And you…? You’re going to freeze like that, Uruha…”
He blinked and scratched his head. “Oh well… We have already bathed together…” he said and slid over to the Futon, pulling Hiko with him.
And so they ended up lying right next to each other. Hiko didn’t dare to breath really, but Uruha fell asleep again quickly, wrapped into the cosiness of the warm blanket and that warm body beside him.
Finally the flame of the oil lamp died and Hiko opened her eyes again as Uruha turned in his sleep and flung his right arm across her stomach. And then there was his right leg that was draped over her legs. It didn’t feel really uncomfortable, it was more unfamiliar to have someone this close - especially someone of the opposite sex.
Eventually Hiko fell asleep as well though, luckily.
*********
Birds were singing and the wind had stopped howling when Uruha woke up at morning. The sun was already shining, nothing unusual so far, but then he noticed Hiko in his arms. She had her arms wrapped around him - and vice versa.
It had been a while since he last had a woman this close, but he admitted it felt nice, comfortable and warm, and so he closed his eyes once more, his head dropped back against the crook of her neck. It was then that Uruha noticed she smellt like cherry blossoms.
For Uruha women where not meant to spend their time with a swordsmen who could be called into battle at anytime. He had always admired Waka because she and Aoi were a couple for over 5 years already and whenever they would have to leave to fight for the Emperor no one could be sure they would ever come back. He wouldn’t want any women to suffer because he’d die in battle. And that’s why he would, more or less, stay away from women, despite visiting one of Kyoto’s brothels once in a while. But he would never dare to get attached to a woman really.
At least he wouldn’t have grown attached to anyone before. Before he met Hiko. He knew that it was stupid and either way, Hiko would be the one who’d end up alone and possibly hurt if they were to engage in some kind of mistress relationship or whatever, but he also knew that there was something inside him that craved for her presence.
After a while of just lying there and breathing in her cherry scent he noticed that Hiko tightened her grip around him ever so slightly, then he felt a hand in his hair, cradling his head. Her hand slipped to his cheek and Uruha finally decided to let her know that he was awake, it was just fair. Their eyes met and by the way Hiko was breathing Uruha could tell how anxious but stirred she was.
Her breath grew faster still and her eyes fell shut as Uruha moved, then kissed the curve of her neck. With tantalising slowness he kissed all the way up her neck, cupped her cheeks and kissed her on the mouth. Hiko froze as he hovered over her with his lips pressed on hers ever so slightly and carefully. This was unlike anything she knew, it was unlike anything she should be doing, but she couldn’t deny that it felt good. Even his weight on top of her was comfortable; he felt so warm now and so she didn’t protest as she felt one of his hands snake into her Yukata.
“Uruha…” she hushed against his lips and clutched onto his shoulders. She felt how he started to undo her Obi but arched into his touch all the same. Tears escaped her eyes, she wasn’t sure what was happening to her but she knew that she shouldn’t like it like she did.
The blonde stopped dead in his tracks almost suddenly. He looked at her and attempted to wisk her tears away before dotting a quick and chaste kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry, Hiko… I… I don’t know what came over me…” he apologised but only a mere five seconds later it was Hiko who urged him to carry on by launching her lips on his. Uruha simply did what everyone would have done in that situation - he played along.
The consequences of their actions were still far away.
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a/n: Happy birthday to myself. Yeah. Thanks.
Good night.
to samuraisongbird : I'm still working on that fanfic, I'll hopefully get it done by the end of the week. ^^
Comment. Thanks. Because comments are <3
Author: fffriction1984 [tbsupervillains ]
Chapters: 12/??
Genre: het, AU, historical, action, romance, drama (at least in this chapter, lol)
Warnings: het, un-betaed, English is not my first language, Wikipedia helped me a lot but I’m not sure how accurate this is (I suck when it comes to historical things XD), CHARACTER DEATH!!!
Rating: PG-13/NC-17, depending on the chapters
Pairings: Aoi x Waka so far
Characters: All gazemen, Yoshiki [X Japan], Tora, Nao, Hiroto, Saga [Alice Nine], Hiko (Tomiko), Waka [danger*gang], Sakito [Nightmare], some OC’s, more characters to come, this will be an jrock-all-star-cast XD
Disclaimer: Don't own anyone
Synopsis: Everything he lived for was gone
The rain had ceased, finally. After that heavy rain lasted for almost three days, the fourth morning was the first dry morning in what felt like a lifetime. Uruha got up early that day and decided to take a walk through the woods on his own to sort out the wide range of thoughts that messed up his mind at that time. He believed he had accepted the fact that he wouldn’t have so much time to spend on this planet and decided to make the best of his remaining lifetime, but he couldn’t really grasp one single thought, there was just chaos in his mind.
After spending almost three days just sitting around he noticed that doing nothing at all got to him. It got to him quicker than he liked and he felt like something had sucked almost all his energy out of him, he felt weak. Rather fortunately he didn’t have any cramps or abdominal pains, but he didn’t feel well overall, he looked pale, his hands were shaking even if only slightly.
It was then that he started valuing the fact that Hiko was there - anything as long as he didn’t have to be all by himself. He was fine with taking walks on his own and to be alone for a short period of time, two hours perhaps, but as soon as he started to feel lonely, he decided to go back to the hideout.
While walking back his thoughts wandered to Reita and the others. He started to ask himself what they were doing and what they’d do once he was gone, completely. As far as Reita was concerned he would trust his life to Uruha, he would have to find someone to replace the blonde. Uruha knew that Hiroto was quick and skilled, he would be most eligible for that assignment, that is if Uruha had a choice in deciding anything, but that was completely beyond his control. Aoi? Aoi would probably go mad. Uruha thought and chuckled. He felt sorry for that argument they had the night he left, yet it couldn’t be helped. Somehow he wanted to sort that one out, he was just unsure how to approach his friend. That and he didn’t want to go back, not like that, not with that condition he was in. As soon as he would be back Reita would assign him to do whatever and it would only worsen things.
He simply had nowhere else to go.
Just as he walked back onto the premises he saw Hiko standing at the well, pulling the bucket up again. She cast him a small, a shy smile and went on doing whatever she had been doing before. Uruha sighed to himself and pulled his Haori tighter around himself, it was still chilly outside and harsh winds that had helped finally blowing the dark rainclouds away made him shiver a bit. Either the wind or that cold he felt from inside, an iciness he could not explain, other than death was already coming to get him. An horrid notion that made him shiver even more.
That day, when the sun began to shine again, it was still too cold for July, no matter if there was this parky wind, it was too cold. Uruha sat outside on the patio after he and Hiko have had dinner, with his back resting against the outer wall, and felt chilly. On the other hand he was too lazy to go inside and get himself a slightly thicker Haori or a blanket.
With his eyes closed he let his mind wander once more, it was like he thought his life through. There were quite a few things he wanted to forget but also a lot of precious memories regarding his fellows, the members of the Suzuki clan, and all the things they had gone through together.
After quite a while though he heard the rustle of fabric and blinked with one eye, just to see Hiko approaching him, with a small tray with a teapot and two teacups on it balanced on her hands. She kneeled down next to him and set the tray down, got back up and scuttled away into her room. As she returned she carried a blanket. She draped that blanket over Uruha without a word, then sat down next to him - actually really close to him, close enough that he felt heat radiating from her limbs.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” she asked with a slight smile.
“No, later perhaps. Thank you.” Uruha shook his head, then sighed. “Why is it so cold? It’s July, it’s supposed to be warm.”
“I have no idea.”
“But you’re Hiko, the cleverest 18-year-old I know. You should know.”
“No, because I’m only an 18-year-old, not a meteoroligist, you see.” she chuckled.
“Don’t you feel cold?”
“Not so much. You?”
“A fair bit, yes.”
And instead of just telling him that he would feel warmer soon because of the blanket, Hiko scooted a bit closer to him and snuggled up against him. Just like that, obviously not thinking about the propriety of that action. “Better now…?”
Later that evening Uruha sat in his room by himself. A single oil lamp cast its dim light on him and made his shadow dance over the paper covered sliding door behind him. He put his calligraphy brush down and took a sip of his sake and continued to listen to the sounds of the night. The wind made the trees around rustle and moan, it was howling along the several buildings on the compound.
His gaze then fell upon his Katana and Wakizashi on the table top in front of him. Both blades have tasted the blood of hundreds of men, his Wakizashi had even pierced his own flesh once as one of his oponents pulled that shorter sword out of its sheath and just started stabbing him like mad. That man had paid for his stupidity. Only 30 seconds after trying to stab Uruha he fell to the floor with fountains of blood gushing out of a slit on his neck. And despite being injured Uruha went on fighting that day. They were outnumbered after they had been ambushed. Uruha could see Aoi and Ruki about ten feet away from him. He saw how Ruki struck two men down before he heard the clinking sound of someone approaching him from behind, the clink of a sword. With a low growl Uruha pushed his Katana backwards and soon felt the resistence as the blade pierced into and through flesh. He turned around and rammed his sword deeper into that man, relentlessly, without any thoughts. He had learned that war wasn’t about fairness and this was the only rule he did abide when fighting. But then again there was this bleeding wound in his abdomen, it hurt, but Uruha didn’t want to and couldn’t give up, so he pushed himself back up and practically slaughtered five more men down before Ruki came to help him.
Hiroto and Aoi made short work of the remaining three men as Ruki pressed both hands onto the stab wound on Uruhas stomach. “You’re not going to die on me now, Uruha…!” Ruki had mumbled as Uruha had started to see stars before everything went black.
Thinking about that now he was almost sure that he had never been this close to death before and afterwards, but thanks to his friends he was save and still far from dying.
Rather suddenly though Uruha was ripped out of his thoughts by a bloodcurdling scream coming straight out of Hikos bedroom next to his. Uruha jumped to his feet, grabbed his Katana and stormed into her room, sword at the ready. “What happened?!”
Hiko, shaking like a leaf, ran to hide behind his back and pointed towards her futon. “There… Underneath the blanket, there’s something…” she whimpered and clutched onto his Haori with both hands.
“Gods, you did scare me, Hiko…” Uruha mumbled and carefully lifted the blanket with the tip of his sword. Underneath he saw… a snake. “Okay… That’s…”
“What? What is it?” she asked and tried to peek towards the Futon, then saw the snake.
“Yaah, that’s just a grass snake, Hiko.” Uruha sighed. “Even if it bit you, you wouldn’t die because of that.”
“Then… Why don’t you… just… Put it away, will you? Please?”
“I’m not going to carry that snake out of here. Just wait for a bit, then he or she will leave on her own.”
Hiko looked at Uruha in disbelief and shook her head. “I’m not going to wait for that thing to leave, Uruha…” she said and pulled her black sleeping Yutaka tighter around herself as the Obi had losened up before.
“Fine.” Uruha dropped the blanket, grabbed Hiko by the wrist and pulled her out of her room and into his own. “Then you’ll have to sleep here. Make yourself at home.” he mumbled and sat back down at the table where the lamp was, picked up his thin calligraphy brush and went on writing into his small and torn notebook. Ever since he had been a young man he wrote down certain memories every once in a while - it was good to read those entries again after a few years, he would never forget what he had gone through that way.
“But… Where are you going to sleep then…?” Hiko asked.
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” he answered frankly for he barely slept for longer than two or three hours a night usually, and he could just as well spent those three hours sitting with his back against the wall.
**********
There wasn’t a real, a proper explanation for what was happening. No one would or could answer his question as to why his master suddenly allied with the people who stole his daughter right out of his house. That was all information they had: That Hiko had asked them for help and they helped her, like noble men - at least that was what they wanted to make Sakito’s Master, the old Takahara, believe. Sakito couldn’t believe that version of the story and he was eager to hear what Hiko had to say about it. Part of him doubted somehow she was okay. To him all these guys seemed barbaric despite the good manners they put on display when someone of a higher status or rank was in the room. Ruki was the worst in his eyes, that man had such an uncontrollable temper and Sakito was almost scared to end up with a dagger in his back when the short samurai was around.
Sakito wasn’t a warrior. First and foremost he was Takahara’s and Hiko’s guard, yet more like a consultant in ways, but he would make sure not to get into fights himself. To make sure he himself and Takahara or whoever was under his surveillance was safe there were two or three fairly chunky men near, at all times, in times of peace as well as in times of war - and those men were trained in more than 5 martial arts, they had daggers, everything they needed in case something happened, the same guys who tried to mess with Uruha on the Tanabata when Sakito took Hiko back home against her will.
“Sakito-san? Do you want more rice?” Waka asked waiting to refill his empty rice bowl.
He shook his head and emptied his sake, then got up and left the spacious room that was now used for dining purposes. Just outside he saw Aoi, Hiroto and that samurai from Tokyo, Tora, walking just behind them. The youngest of them, Hiroto, was obviously prepairing to leave, at least it looked like it to Sakito from the bag he was carrying. “Where are you headed?” Sakito asked with doubt in his voice.
Aoi looked at him and shook his head. “That’s really none of your concern.”
“So Hiroto-san is leaving.” he concluded.
“Why don’t you just join your master in the main room…?” Aoi asked and stopped walking towards the stables as he noticed that Sakito was following them.
“And why don’t you just stop treating me as if I was the enemy?”
Aoi smirked. “As if you were a threat for any of us.”
“Then we have this cleared out, don’t we? So, where is he headed?”
The raven haired samurai sighed, said “Alright, follow me…” and led Sakito to the stables as well. “We’re not planning a conspiracy or anything…”
“But you’re up to something. Is this about Hiko-san?”
“More or less, yes.” Aoi answered in a low grumble.
“And you know where she is?”
“Gods, why don’t you just stop asking questions for a minute?!”
“I’m worried about her, just like her father is. I would be glad if you’d tell me anything, Aoi-san.”
“Everything at the proper time, don’t you worry…”
Sakito folded his arms before his chest and looked at the three men in the stables. Hiroto was stuffing the bag he was carrying into one of the horse boxes, then turned around and looked at Sakito. “May I talk frankly to you, yes?” Hiroto asked. “You want Hiko to come back to her father, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“You see? And we want Uruha to come back to us as well, so we both have the same interest, in ways. We trust that you won’t run to your master or Reita-sama and sing about what we’re about to do.”
“That means that Hiko and that man are together right now?!”
“Right now we can only guess, so don’t lose your temper, please.” Aoi interfered and shook his head. “We’re going to tell you what you need to know once the time is right.”
“We’ll see…” Sakito grumbled and clenched his fist.
*******
The lamp was still lit, the wind was still howling and making the flame flicker as Hiko woke up. For a moment she didn’t dare to move, but when she did, when she lifted her head to look around the room, she noticed that Uruha sat with his back against the wall she sighed a bit. The hems of his Yukata were practically open, revealing his slender and smooth legs what almost made Hiko blush. “You’re going to catch a cold like that, silly…” she mumbled and scooted over to him to wrap him into the blanket.
She had never really seen anyone with blonde hair before, so she was still amazed by Uruhas hair. She had once seen a young woman with fiery red hair when she and her father went to Tokyo a few years ago, but that woman hadn’t been japanese.
Carefully, as if wanting to make sure he wouldn’t wake up, she reached out and touched a streak of his hair. His hair felt just like hers, the same structure. More or less accidentally though her finger brushed over his cheek. “So cold…” she whispered and placed her palm against his cheek. As if on cue the sleeping Uruha leaned into the warm touch.
And although she didn’t know why or how or whatever Hiko leant forward and kissed Uruha on the lips - somehow she had wanted to do this for quite a while already now. His lips felt just as cold, but his breath was hot against her skin before she pulled back. Hiko blushed a hot red and felt her heart beating like mad. She let go of his cheek as well as she saw how his eyelids fluttered open.
“What are you doing, Hiko…?” Uruha mumbled with a yawn. “Go to sleep…”
“And you…? You’re going to freeze like that, Uruha…”
He blinked and scratched his head. “Oh well… We have already bathed together…” he said and slid over to the Futon, pulling Hiko with him.
And so they ended up lying right next to each other. Hiko didn’t dare to breath really, but Uruha fell asleep again quickly, wrapped into the cosiness of the warm blanket and that warm body beside him.
Finally the flame of the oil lamp died and Hiko opened her eyes again as Uruha turned in his sleep and flung his right arm across her stomach. And then there was his right leg that was draped over her legs. It didn’t feel really uncomfortable, it was more unfamiliar to have someone this close - especially someone of the opposite sex.
Eventually Hiko fell asleep as well though, luckily.
*********
Birds were singing and the wind had stopped howling when Uruha woke up at morning. The sun was already shining, nothing unusual so far, but then he noticed Hiko in his arms. She had her arms wrapped around him - and vice versa.
It had been a while since he last had a woman this close, but he admitted it felt nice, comfortable and warm, and so he closed his eyes once more, his head dropped back against the crook of her neck. It was then that Uruha noticed she smellt like cherry blossoms.
For Uruha women where not meant to spend their time with a swordsmen who could be called into battle at anytime. He had always admired Waka because she and Aoi were a couple for over 5 years already and whenever they would have to leave to fight for the Emperor no one could be sure they would ever come back. He wouldn’t want any women to suffer because he’d die in battle. And that’s why he would, more or less, stay away from women, despite visiting one of Kyoto’s brothels once in a while. But he would never dare to get attached to a woman really.
At least he wouldn’t have grown attached to anyone before. Before he met Hiko. He knew that it was stupid and either way, Hiko would be the one who’d end up alone and possibly hurt if they were to engage in some kind of mistress relationship or whatever, but he also knew that there was something inside him that craved for her presence.
After a while of just lying there and breathing in her cherry scent he noticed that Hiko tightened her grip around him ever so slightly, then he felt a hand in his hair, cradling his head. Her hand slipped to his cheek and Uruha finally decided to let her know that he was awake, it was just fair. Their eyes met and by the way Hiko was breathing Uruha could tell how anxious but stirred she was.
Her breath grew faster still and her eyes fell shut as Uruha moved, then kissed the curve of her neck. With tantalising slowness he kissed all the way up her neck, cupped her cheeks and kissed her on the mouth. Hiko froze as he hovered over her with his lips pressed on hers ever so slightly and carefully. This was unlike anything she knew, it was unlike anything she should be doing, but she couldn’t deny that it felt good. Even his weight on top of her was comfortable; he felt so warm now and so she didn’t protest as she felt one of his hands snake into her Yukata.
“Uruha…” she hushed against his lips and clutched onto his shoulders. She felt how he started to undo her Obi but arched into his touch all the same. Tears escaped her eyes, she wasn’t sure what was happening to her but she knew that she shouldn’t like it like she did.
The blonde stopped dead in his tracks almost suddenly. He looked at her and attempted to wisk her tears away before dotting a quick and chaste kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry, Hiko… I… I don’t know what came over me…” he apologised but only a mere five seconds later it was Hiko who urged him to carry on by launching her lips on his. Uruha simply did what everyone would have done in that situation - he played along.
The consequences of their actions were still far away.
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a/n: Happy birthday to myself. Yeah. Thanks.
Good night.
to samuraisongbird : I'm still working on that fanfic, I'll hopefully get it done by the end of the week. ^^
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