Series: His Sakura (Chapter 13)
Title: His Sakura
Pairing: Sakumoto (other pairings may be appearing later)
Setting: Early Edo period. Historically incorrect and purely fiction.
Rating: PG-13
Beta-ed by the lovely
ivenclaire ♥ ♥ ♥
Summary: When Jun ended up in a castle.
Chapter 1 >> Chapter 2 >> Chapter 3 >> Chapter 4 >> Chapter 5 >> Chapter 6 >> Chapter 7 >> Chapter 8 >> Chapter 9 >> Chapter 10 > Chapter 11 >> Chapter 12 >> Chapter 13 >> Chapter 14
The person he pushed was indeed Sakurai. “What are you trying to do?!” Jun asked as crossly as he could manage.
Sakurai groaned and rubbed the painful area where Jun’s hands had harshly met his sturdy chest.
“It’s nothing… Don’t get any weird idea… I was jus-“
Jun didn’t listen to Sakurai’s pitiful explanation as a more pressing matter that required his immediate attention occurred. His temporary rush of adrenaline that made him successfully shove Sakurai off him disappeared as Jun’s hands immediately flew to his head, pressing it heavily because of the sudden intense pain and nausea that hit him. He groaned loudly. He wanted to ask whether Sakurai had done anything to him or not but the pain was too unbearable that he couldn’t utter any word or sound besides painful whines.
Suddenly, he felt Sakurai’s hand on his arm. He heard Sakurai whispering to him gently, “Are you okay?”
The same question that had been the source of his annoyance last night appeared to be more tolerable in his situation right now. If Jun didn’t know Sakurai any better, he probably thought he heard a hint of concern tinged in Sakurai’s voice. Jun was a soft-hearted person, but the strong resentment he felt towards the daimyo made him wary of Sakurai’s attempts to be on his good side. Therefore, he couldn’t trust him not even when the young daimyo was showing his soft nature that was probably fake. He was kind of uncomfortable too because Sakurai was now sitting too close to Jun’s comfort. Jun was too aware of it, but his attempts to lessen the pain he’s feeling was more of his priority right now than throwing the daimyo out of his room.
Sakurai brought his hand to Jun’s nape to gently massage it in order to ease some of Jun’s pain. Jun was a little shocked by the gesture and without thinking, his hand slapped that hand away from him. A look of pain crossed Sakurai’s face in a flash before it went back to his normal arrogant contour. The daimyo heaved out a frustrated breath that made Jun flinch a little.
“Fine, I’ll bring your medicine here.” With that announcement, Sakurai strutted outside. After a few minutes of talking with his servants, who apparently were waiting outside the room, he came back to sit beside Jun again, only this time, he didn’t try to touch him. And Jun was glad about that, because any more attempts of Sakurai to touch him, whether it was in good intention or not, it would only make his head swirl more in pain.
“You should lie on your futon. It’ll lessen your headache.” Sakurai’s voice firmly broke through Jun’s heavy head.
Jun didn’t throw any retort at Sakurai’s direction because he felt the advice sounded logical. So, he lay back on his futon. Immediately after he rested his head on the soft pillow, the nausea lessened considerably, although the throbbing was still present in his head.
The rushed footsteps of his servants broke the silence. The door was hastily opened. Both Hiroki and Shunsuke appeared beside Jun in an instant. They propped Jun up and helped him take the medicine carefully. Jun nearly spat the concoction he drank back to the small cup. It was warm but it was so bitter that Jun was afraid he would get sicker anytime soon.
“You shouldn’t drink that much on an empty stomach. You’ll get drunk faster that way, especially for a beginner. Apparently, before yesterday, you have never drank any sake before, not even a drop of it. You should take time to learn how to drink properly. Our sake can be strong for someone with your built. If you aren’t careful, you’ll have an extreme aftereffect like what you’re experiencing right now-” And blah blah blah…Jun continued in his head.
Jun didn’t need his lecture at this moment. It makes his headache worse. He wrapped his head with his arm and curled his body in a foetal position to take refuge from the endless speech and the bright morning light that filtered through the open window.
Since Jun appeared to be not listening to his advice any longer, in the end, Sakurai said, “Since you don’t need me here, I’ll leave you to your servants.” in a heavy tone that had a hint of frustration and some irritation.
“Just rest, you’ll feel better soon…” Sakurai instructed while he got up, ready to leave before he added rather unnecessarily, “And if you must know, you were so out of it last night after just four cups of sake. You’re ugly when you’re drunk. Even a monkey won’t want to be near you.”
Afterwards, he marched out, leaving Jun to question his needless insult that made the pressure in his head increase tenfold.
And it was after that Jun felt it was futile to be mad at Sakurai that he realized something. Sakurai’s dissatisfaction towards him alluded that they weren’t together last night, as in spending the night in the same futon together. Internally, Jun felt relieved. It seemed that nothing happened last night between him and Sakurai. Aside from his painful head, he didn’t feel any strangeness to the rest of his body. Jun was sure now he was totally drunk that Sakurai let Jun rest alone.
Although it was strange to hear Sakurai talk too much and be concerned about Jun’s wellbeing at first, Jun had the suspicion that Sakurai’s true intention was just to annoy him back, in which he clearly did, since Jun had probably ruined their supposed night together. The night that was supposed to end with them consummating their ‘marriage’; with Sakurai most probably forcing himself upon Jun once again when Jun isn’t willing.
Jun shuddered.
What a frightening thought. Perhaps it was a blessing that he got drunk. It ruined their ‘night’.
The medicine made him sleepy as it kicked into effect. He felt his pain easing as the drowsiness enveloped his whole body. Sakurai wasn’t there anymore so Jun thought it was safe to fall back to sleep without any trouble.
The drug-induced sleep made Jun rest a few hours more without any dreams disturbing his sleep. As soon as he woke up, he felt his hangover lessen significantly. There was no more pounding headache attacking his head and Jun was so relieved. If that was what a hangover felt like, he swore to himself that he didn’t want to experience it again. It was too troublesome.
And he found that he couldn’t really remember what had happened last night after a few cups of sake entered his system. He closed his eyes, squeezing them hard to try to remember how he had managed get himself back home, whether he had made a fool of himself or not in which he hoped he didn’t. He scratched his head when nothing came to him except bits and pieces of memories here and there. He remembered seeing the dance. He remembered feeling rather down that disappeared after a few rounds of drinks. Other than that he was totally lost.
He was sure Sakurai didn’t touch him the way he wouldn’t want to be touched since he insinuated that even a monkey won’t be near him last night. Jun was rather glad about it since he wasn’t fond of monkeys either, so Jun thought the feeling was mutual.
And yet he hated having blank spaces in his memory and because of that, he regretted his decision to drink too much. He reluctantly agreed with Sakurai who had lectured him just now. As much as Jun hated him, Sakurai seemed more experienced than him in that regard and that was why at least Jun should heed his advice to be careful when he drinks sake.
A wave of shiver came unexpectedly at him as soon as he remembered something. He remembered that Sakurai was there, pressing onto him this morning. Did Sakurai intend to do something to him this morning when he couldn’t get to do whatever he wanted to do last night? Even though he was kind enough not to do it when he was knocked out cold, but Sakurai is Sakurai. That monster won’t suddenly turn into a tame cat and wait for Jun to be ready, will he? However, another thought came to him. Sakurai’s expression didn’t show that he wanted to force himself on Jun when he looked so concerned when Jun complained about his headache. It was confusing. Jun wasn’t sure what to make out of it. But it didn’t negate the fact that he did try to do something to Jun and with that, Jun rubbed his chest in relief that he woke up in time to prevent worse things from happening.
It was already past afternoon and after Jun finished cleaning himself up, a set of meal was already placed inside the room.
“Sakurai-sama wants you to enjoy your food, Matsumoto-sama. He personally chose this set for you.”
Jun didn’t flinch when he heard himself being addressed with his new name by his servants. He reckoned that he probably had gotten used to his new name. It was a pleasant name after all.
But the fact that Sakurai had chosen that particular set of meal made him worried though. Jun asked himself, Sakurai can’t possibly put poison into them, right? In the end, Jun just ate them and prayed that nothing would happen to him right after. His concerns vanished though when the food tasted just fine to him.
Jun couldn’t finish his food because it was just too much for him. Therefore, he asked Shunsuke and Hiroki to finish them instead. Both were surprised that Jun was a light eater, but they indulged the food without any complaint. They burped loudly and it made Jun laugh. Such gluttons, he said to himself amusingly.
“Matsumoto-sama, where should we put the trousseau?” Shunsuke asked after he had cleaned up the plates from Jun’s room.
Jun has completely forgotten about the chests that were still stationed in the middle of his house. He stepped outside his room and strode curiously towards the items. Hiroki and Shunsuke were already gathered around the chests. They looked at Jun expectantly. Jun nearly laughed. They indeed looked like excited children waiting to open their gifts. Jun was curious too, that was why he was now seated, his knees under him as he reached the nearest chest and began to open it carefully.
The medium-sized chest opened with a soft click. Jun peered inside and after making sure nothing distasteful was going to jump out of the box, he released the top more widely. Inside, there were smaller boxes that were made of polished wood decorated with autumn foliage. Both Shunsuke and Hiroki immediately scrambled near Jun to look at the inside more closely. They ‘ooohed~’ and ‘ahhhhed~’ as Jun took out the boxes of various sizes one by one.
The boxes were beautiful on their own right and Jun was careful to place them at the nearest empty space.
Truth be told, he was as excited as his two servants in unveiling the contents of the boxes, but he managed to curb his excitement inside him. He didn’t want to appear as someone who could be easily bought with expensive gifts. And he told himself that whatever is inside those boxes, Jun won’t use them.
Faint scents of wood pricked his nostrils gently as he opened them one by one. Apparently, the boxes contained cosmetic articles. There were dark, half-moon wooden comb with small decorative silver sparrows, handheld mirror that was decorated with rhinestones on the wooden handle and around the rounded mirror itself, hair ribbons and clippings as well as decorative face-washing basin safely held inside the boxes. They were surely lavish, Jun thought quietly. They looked so expensive they could pass as decorative items in his room. However, he shrugged later on thinking that he won’t necessarily need to actually use all those things. He would just keep them in the original boxes in the event where he would need to return them.
Jun opened the other chests. Jun found a tea ceremony set inside one of the smaller chests, a painting of sakura flowers inside another, incense boxes, an incense pillow and futon, decorative fans, a 3-compartment decorative lacquer containers with elephant-shaped netsuke and golden bead, a set of poem cards and a few sets of fresh kimonos.
The last three chests surprised him though. The content made Jun’s determination to keep them all unused flew out of the window.
The chests contained dolls. Dolls in beautiful and elegant dresses that suited the position they were representing.
Jun was in awe as he held one of the doll gingerly in his hands. He had seen dolls being sold in one of the stores he visited in his childhood during the doll festival. He had wanted one but then his parents couldn’t afford it. And now, he was given not only one doll but loads of them. The dolls were in the form of a sitting emperor and an empress with seven accompanying nobles and samurais. Three smaller dolls acted as court ladies and five smaller dolls as musicians. It was like his childhood dream was fulfilled in an instant. There was an altar set included in the chest too where he could place the dolls and Jun was excited to decorate one of the room with the dolls. Excitedly he was thinking of asking Shunsuke and Hiroki’s help to stack them later.
Jun and his two servants were too engrossed in admiring the gifts that they didn’t realize that it was already dark. It was Hiroki who noticed first as he made an ‘ahh’ sound, like he suddenly remembered something important that he must do. He scrambled out and came back into the room with candles and he lit them one by one in haste. Jun frowned, looking at Hiroki who looked like he was panicking already. Jun turned to Shunsuke with a questioning gaze. Shunsuke seemed to remember something too as he went to a mode similar to his friend.
Shunsuke went to Jun’s room in an instant. Jun heard his servant rummaging his room and he later emerged from the room carrying fresh yukata and a set of towel. Hiroki was already outside the house in a dash, Jun realized momentarily. Meanwhile, Shunsuke was tugging him to follow him.
“Matsumoto-sama, we need to get you to the bath house right now. Hiroki is already preparing your hot bath.”
Jun didn’t have the time to say his agreement as he was pulled by his arm towards the bath swiftly. He wondered why they were so panicky. The bath won’t go anywhere and he won’t run away anyway. In fact, he likes hot bath as he likes the idea of soaking his body in the warm water, relaxing his tired muscles. Jun was already imagining how he wanted to spend the whole night inside the hot tub when he was tugged out of his clothes rather expertly by Shunsuke. His hair was pulled into a bun by his servant as he was seated into a small stool so he could clean up his body. Shunsuke helped him scrubbed his physique with wet towel and Jun didn’t complain when he reached every crook and cranny of his body for thorough cleaning. After all, this was a bit better than being floundered by all those old ladies before.
No one else was there as Jun stepped inside the big tub. The steam was swirling on the surface of the water and the slight burn on his skin didn’t deter him from immersing his whole body inside it. Jun let out a content sigh as he draped his arms around the edge of the tub. The scent of sakura hit his senses and it made him feel totally relaxed. The image of him stacking all the dolls was occupying his mind as the only thing he could think of was every possible combination of display so they could look perfect in that beautiful altar. Jun smiled blithely. He never thought that he could like Sakurai’s gift, but he did. That doll collection was perfect.
Jun’s moment of bliss was short-lived when Shunsuke asked him awkwardly to get out of the bath to dress. Jun pouted and said that he required a moment longer inside the water. However, a persistent egging on Shunsuke’s part made Jun abandon his warm water and step out of it, albeit rather reluctantly. Jun asked him what the rush was anyway but Shunsuke just threw him a knowing look which made Jun frown in confusion.
The towel was carefully dabbed onto his skin and as the last drop of water went to seep into the damp cotton, Jun was wrapped in a dark blue yukata with swirly white pattern.
Shunsuke smiled at Jun, admiring him.
“You look fine. I’m sure the lord will find you very alluring when he sees you.” Shunsuke complimented him with a wide smile crossing his face. The complement should have made him happy. But instead, it made Jun froze. He could feel the blood leaving his face.
“Is the lord coming?” Jun whispered nervously.
“Well, yes. We were told to prepare you before the sunset but we forgot. That’s why we’re in a rush now. Forgive us Matsumoto-sama. We would like to spend a longer time with your bath but I’m afraid that we must go back now. But you look so beautiful already. I’m sure the lord will find nothing wrong with you tonight.” Shunsuke told him confidently, totally overlooking Jun’s stricken face.
In the midst of his joyfulness in receiving all those gifts and the fact that he had probably made Sakurai annoyed with his attitude this morning, it didn’t occur to him that Sakurai would come back this soon.
A wave of cold shiver attacked Jun. He could feel his palms already damp with sweat, his heart beating furiously against his chest. He felt like he didn’t want to go back inside the house. “Please let me stay here. I don’t want to go inside.” Jun found himself whispering in distress.
Apparently, Shunsuke didn’t hear him as he mistook Jun’s fearful look as nerves before the first night. He talked about how his older brother was having cold feet when he got married last summer and how he looked just like how Jun was looking right at this moment. No, Jun wanted to say. It isn’t the same, he wanted to add. I’m not having cold feet. In fact, I’m in total fear right now. He really wanted to say that to his servant, but his mouth felt they were glued together. Shunsuke turned to look at him fondly in his misguided thought about what was currently happening to Jun’s entire being.
“It’s okay, Matsumoto-sama. You’ll enjoy the night with him. I heard he’s a beast in bed~” Shunsuke winked at him, completely missing the fact how the word ‘beast’ brought more cold shivers to Jun’s spine. Jun wondered what rumours Shunsuke heard to make such assumption. Did he know about his incident last year? He must have known. That particular incident that Jun wanted to erase from his mind shook the servants’ quarters after all. And if he knew, the word ‘beast’ was not enough to describe how brute Sakurai was. And surely, Jun wasn’t looking forward to seeing more beasty sides of Sakurai.
Jun gulped, gasping for more air as he was pulled towards his room with a slight force on Shunsuke’s part.
Apparently, he couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer.
*netsuke- little carving made from ivory/wood as handling pieces/ toggles
Pairing: Sakumoto (other pairings may be appearing later)
Setting: Early Edo period. Historically incorrect and purely fiction.
Rating: PG-13
Beta-ed by the lovely
ivenclaire ♥ ♥ ♥
Summary: When Jun ended up in a castle.
Chapter 1 >> Chapter 2 >> Chapter 3 >> Chapter 4 >> Chapter 5 >> Chapter 6 >> Chapter 7 >> Chapter 8 >> Chapter 9 >> Chapter 10 > Chapter 11 >> Chapter 12 >> Chapter 13 >> Chapter 14
The person he pushed was indeed Sakurai. “What are you trying to do?!” Jun asked as crossly as he could manage.
Sakurai groaned and rubbed the painful area where Jun’s hands had harshly met his sturdy chest.
“It’s nothing… Don’t get any weird idea… I was jus-“
Jun didn’t listen to Sakurai’s pitiful explanation as a more pressing matter that required his immediate attention occurred. His temporary rush of adrenaline that made him successfully shove Sakurai off him disappeared as Jun’s hands immediately flew to his head, pressing it heavily because of the sudden intense pain and nausea that hit him. He groaned loudly. He wanted to ask whether Sakurai had done anything to him or not but the pain was too unbearable that he couldn’t utter any word or sound besides painful whines.
Suddenly, he felt Sakurai’s hand on his arm. He heard Sakurai whispering to him gently, “Are you okay?”
The same question that had been the source of his annoyance last night appeared to be more tolerable in his situation right now. If Jun didn’t know Sakurai any better, he probably thought he heard a hint of concern tinged in Sakurai’s voice. Jun was a soft-hearted person, but the strong resentment he felt towards the daimyo made him wary of Sakurai’s attempts to be on his good side. Therefore, he couldn’t trust him not even when the young daimyo was showing his soft nature that was probably fake. He was kind of uncomfortable too because Sakurai was now sitting too close to Jun’s comfort. Jun was too aware of it, but his attempts to lessen the pain he’s feeling was more of his priority right now than throwing the daimyo out of his room.
Sakurai brought his hand to Jun’s nape to gently massage it in order to ease some of Jun’s pain. Jun was a little shocked by the gesture and without thinking, his hand slapped that hand away from him. A look of pain crossed Sakurai’s face in a flash before it went back to his normal arrogant contour. The daimyo heaved out a frustrated breath that made Jun flinch a little.
“Fine, I’ll bring your medicine here.” With that announcement, Sakurai strutted outside. After a few minutes of talking with his servants, who apparently were waiting outside the room, he came back to sit beside Jun again, only this time, he didn’t try to touch him. And Jun was glad about that, because any more attempts of Sakurai to touch him, whether it was in good intention or not, it would only make his head swirl more in pain.
“You should lie on your futon. It’ll lessen your headache.” Sakurai’s voice firmly broke through Jun’s heavy head.
Jun didn’t throw any retort at Sakurai’s direction because he felt the advice sounded logical. So, he lay back on his futon. Immediately after he rested his head on the soft pillow, the nausea lessened considerably, although the throbbing was still present in his head.
The rushed footsteps of his servants broke the silence. The door was hastily opened. Both Hiroki and Shunsuke appeared beside Jun in an instant. They propped Jun up and helped him take the medicine carefully. Jun nearly spat the concoction he drank back to the small cup. It was warm but it was so bitter that Jun was afraid he would get sicker anytime soon.
“You shouldn’t drink that much on an empty stomach. You’ll get drunk faster that way, especially for a beginner. Apparently, before yesterday, you have never drank any sake before, not even a drop of it. You should take time to learn how to drink properly. Our sake can be strong for someone with your built. If you aren’t careful, you’ll have an extreme aftereffect like what you’re experiencing right now-” And blah blah blah…Jun continued in his head.
Jun didn’t need his lecture at this moment. It makes his headache worse. He wrapped his head with his arm and curled his body in a foetal position to take refuge from the endless speech and the bright morning light that filtered through the open window.
Since Jun appeared to be not listening to his advice any longer, in the end, Sakurai said, “Since you don’t need me here, I’ll leave you to your servants.” in a heavy tone that had a hint of frustration and some irritation.
“Just rest, you’ll feel better soon…” Sakurai instructed while he got up, ready to leave before he added rather unnecessarily, “And if you must know, you were so out of it last night after just four cups of sake. You’re ugly when you’re drunk. Even a monkey won’t want to be near you.”
Afterwards, he marched out, leaving Jun to question his needless insult that made the pressure in his head increase tenfold.
And it was after that Jun felt it was futile to be mad at Sakurai that he realized something. Sakurai’s dissatisfaction towards him alluded that they weren’t together last night, as in spending the night in the same futon together. Internally, Jun felt relieved. It seemed that nothing happened last night between him and Sakurai. Aside from his painful head, he didn’t feel any strangeness to the rest of his body. Jun was sure now he was totally drunk that Sakurai let Jun rest alone.
Although it was strange to hear Sakurai talk too much and be concerned about Jun’s wellbeing at first, Jun had the suspicion that Sakurai’s true intention was just to annoy him back, in which he clearly did, since Jun had probably ruined their supposed night together. The night that was supposed to end with them consummating their ‘marriage’; with Sakurai most probably forcing himself upon Jun once again when Jun isn’t willing.
Jun shuddered.
What a frightening thought. Perhaps it was a blessing that he got drunk. It ruined their ‘night’.
The medicine made him sleepy as it kicked into effect. He felt his pain easing as the drowsiness enveloped his whole body. Sakurai wasn’t there anymore so Jun thought it was safe to fall back to sleep without any trouble.
The drug-induced sleep made Jun rest a few hours more without any dreams disturbing his sleep. As soon as he woke up, he felt his hangover lessen significantly. There was no more pounding headache attacking his head and Jun was so relieved. If that was what a hangover felt like, he swore to himself that he didn’t want to experience it again. It was too troublesome.
And he found that he couldn’t really remember what had happened last night after a few cups of sake entered his system. He closed his eyes, squeezing them hard to try to remember how he had managed get himself back home, whether he had made a fool of himself or not in which he hoped he didn’t. He scratched his head when nothing came to him except bits and pieces of memories here and there. He remembered seeing the dance. He remembered feeling rather down that disappeared after a few rounds of drinks. Other than that he was totally lost.
He was sure Sakurai didn’t touch him the way he wouldn’t want to be touched since he insinuated that even a monkey won’t be near him last night. Jun was rather glad about it since he wasn’t fond of monkeys either, so Jun thought the feeling was mutual.
And yet he hated having blank spaces in his memory and because of that, he regretted his decision to drink too much. He reluctantly agreed with Sakurai who had lectured him just now. As much as Jun hated him, Sakurai seemed more experienced than him in that regard and that was why at least Jun should heed his advice to be careful when he drinks sake.
A wave of shiver came unexpectedly at him as soon as he remembered something. He remembered that Sakurai was there, pressing onto him this morning. Did Sakurai intend to do something to him this morning when he couldn’t get to do whatever he wanted to do last night? Even though he was kind enough not to do it when he was knocked out cold, but Sakurai is Sakurai. That monster won’t suddenly turn into a tame cat and wait for Jun to be ready, will he? However, another thought came to him. Sakurai’s expression didn’t show that he wanted to force himself on Jun when he looked so concerned when Jun complained about his headache. It was confusing. Jun wasn’t sure what to make out of it. But it didn’t negate the fact that he did try to do something to Jun and with that, Jun rubbed his chest in relief that he woke up in time to prevent worse things from happening.
It was already past afternoon and after Jun finished cleaning himself up, a set of meal was already placed inside the room.
“Sakurai-sama wants you to enjoy your food, Matsumoto-sama. He personally chose this set for you.”
Jun didn’t flinch when he heard himself being addressed with his new name by his servants. He reckoned that he probably had gotten used to his new name. It was a pleasant name after all.
But the fact that Sakurai had chosen that particular set of meal made him worried though. Jun asked himself, Sakurai can’t possibly put poison into them, right? In the end, Jun just ate them and prayed that nothing would happen to him right after. His concerns vanished though when the food tasted just fine to him.
Jun couldn’t finish his food because it was just too much for him. Therefore, he asked Shunsuke and Hiroki to finish them instead. Both were surprised that Jun was a light eater, but they indulged the food without any complaint. They burped loudly and it made Jun laugh. Such gluttons, he said to himself amusingly.
“Matsumoto-sama, where should we put the trousseau?” Shunsuke asked after he had cleaned up the plates from Jun’s room.
Jun has completely forgotten about the chests that were still stationed in the middle of his house. He stepped outside his room and strode curiously towards the items. Hiroki and Shunsuke were already gathered around the chests. They looked at Jun expectantly. Jun nearly laughed. They indeed looked like excited children waiting to open their gifts. Jun was curious too, that was why he was now seated, his knees under him as he reached the nearest chest and began to open it carefully.
The medium-sized chest opened with a soft click. Jun peered inside and after making sure nothing distasteful was going to jump out of the box, he released the top more widely. Inside, there were smaller boxes that were made of polished wood decorated with autumn foliage. Both Shunsuke and Hiroki immediately scrambled near Jun to look at the inside more closely. They ‘ooohed~’ and ‘ahhhhed~’ as Jun took out the boxes of various sizes one by one.
The boxes were beautiful on their own right and Jun was careful to place them at the nearest empty space.
Truth be told, he was as excited as his two servants in unveiling the contents of the boxes, but he managed to curb his excitement inside him. He didn’t want to appear as someone who could be easily bought with expensive gifts. And he told himself that whatever is inside those boxes, Jun won’t use them.
Faint scents of wood pricked his nostrils gently as he opened them one by one. Apparently, the boxes contained cosmetic articles. There were dark, half-moon wooden comb with small decorative silver sparrows, handheld mirror that was decorated with rhinestones on the wooden handle and around the rounded mirror itself, hair ribbons and clippings as well as decorative face-washing basin safely held inside the boxes. They were surely lavish, Jun thought quietly. They looked so expensive they could pass as decorative items in his room. However, he shrugged later on thinking that he won’t necessarily need to actually use all those things. He would just keep them in the original boxes in the event where he would need to return them.
Jun opened the other chests. Jun found a tea ceremony set inside one of the smaller chests, a painting of sakura flowers inside another, incense boxes, an incense pillow and futon, decorative fans, a 3-compartment decorative lacquer containers with elephant-shaped netsuke and golden bead, a set of poem cards and a few sets of fresh kimonos.
The last three chests surprised him though. The content made Jun’s determination to keep them all unused flew out of the window.
The chests contained dolls. Dolls in beautiful and elegant dresses that suited the position they were representing.
Jun was in awe as he held one of the doll gingerly in his hands. He had seen dolls being sold in one of the stores he visited in his childhood during the doll festival. He had wanted one but then his parents couldn’t afford it. And now, he was given not only one doll but loads of them. The dolls were in the form of a sitting emperor and an empress with seven accompanying nobles and samurais. Three smaller dolls acted as court ladies and five smaller dolls as musicians. It was like his childhood dream was fulfilled in an instant. There was an altar set included in the chest too where he could place the dolls and Jun was excited to decorate one of the room with the dolls. Excitedly he was thinking of asking Shunsuke and Hiroki’s help to stack them later.
Jun and his two servants were too engrossed in admiring the gifts that they didn’t realize that it was already dark. It was Hiroki who noticed first as he made an ‘ahh’ sound, like he suddenly remembered something important that he must do. He scrambled out and came back into the room with candles and he lit them one by one in haste. Jun frowned, looking at Hiroki who looked like he was panicking already. Jun turned to Shunsuke with a questioning gaze. Shunsuke seemed to remember something too as he went to a mode similar to his friend.
Shunsuke went to Jun’s room in an instant. Jun heard his servant rummaging his room and he later emerged from the room carrying fresh yukata and a set of towel. Hiroki was already outside the house in a dash, Jun realized momentarily. Meanwhile, Shunsuke was tugging him to follow him.
“Matsumoto-sama, we need to get you to the bath house right now. Hiroki is already preparing your hot bath.”
Jun didn’t have the time to say his agreement as he was pulled by his arm towards the bath swiftly. He wondered why they were so panicky. The bath won’t go anywhere and he won’t run away anyway. In fact, he likes hot bath as he likes the idea of soaking his body in the warm water, relaxing his tired muscles. Jun was already imagining how he wanted to spend the whole night inside the hot tub when he was tugged out of his clothes rather expertly by Shunsuke. His hair was pulled into a bun by his servant as he was seated into a small stool so he could clean up his body. Shunsuke helped him scrubbed his physique with wet towel and Jun didn’t complain when he reached every crook and cranny of his body for thorough cleaning. After all, this was a bit better than being floundered by all those old ladies before.
No one else was there as Jun stepped inside the big tub. The steam was swirling on the surface of the water and the slight burn on his skin didn’t deter him from immersing his whole body inside it. Jun let out a content sigh as he draped his arms around the edge of the tub. The scent of sakura hit his senses and it made him feel totally relaxed. The image of him stacking all the dolls was occupying his mind as the only thing he could think of was every possible combination of display so they could look perfect in that beautiful altar. Jun smiled blithely. He never thought that he could like Sakurai’s gift, but he did. That doll collection was perfect.
Jun’s moment of bliss was short-lived when Shunsuke asked him awkwardly to get out of the bath to dress. Jun pouted and said that he required a moment longer inside the water. However, a persistent egging on Shunsuke’s part made Jun abandon his warm water and step out of it, albeit rather reluctantly. Jun asked him what the rush was anyway but Shunsuke just threw him a knowing look which made Jun frown in confusion.
The towel was carefully dabbed onto his skin and as the last drop of water went to seep into the damp cotton, Jun was wrapped in a dark blue yukata with swirly white pattern.
Shunsuke smiled at Jun, admiring him.
“You look fine. I’m sure the lord will find you very alluring when he sees you.” Shunsuke complimented him with a wide smile crossing his face. The complement should have made him happy. But instead, it made Jun froze. He could feel the blood leaving his face.
“Is the lord coming?” Jun whispered nervously.
“Well, yes. We were told to prepare you before the sunset but we forgot. That’s why we’re in a rush now. Forgive us Matsumoto-sama. We would like to spend a longer time with your bath but I’m afraid that we must go back now. But you look so beautiful already. I’m sure the lord will find nothing wrong with you tonight.” Shunsuke told him confidently, totally overlooking Jun’s stricken face.
In the midst of his joyfulness in receiving all those gifts and the fact that he had probably made Sakurai annoyed with his attitude this morning, it didn’t occur to him that Sakurai would come back this soon.
A wave of cold shiver attacked Jun. He could feel his palms already damp with sweat, his heart beating furiously against his chest. He felt like he didn’t want to go back inside the house. “Please let me stay here. I don’t want to go inside.” Jun found himself whispering in distress.
Apparently, Shunsuke didn’t hear him as he mistook Jun’s fearful look as nerves before the first night. He talked about how his older brother was having cold feet when he got married last summer and how he looked just like how Jun was looking right at this moment. No, Jun wanted to say. It isn’t the same, he wanted to add. I’m not having cold feet. In fact, I’m in total fear right now. He really wanted to say that to his servant, but his mouth felt they were glued together. Shunsuke turned to look at him fondly in his misguided thought about what was currently happening to Jun’s entire being.
“It’s okay, Matsumoto-sama. You’ll enjoy the night with him. I heard he’s a beast in bed~” Shunsuke winked at him, completely missing the fact how the word ‘beast’ brought more cold shivers to Jun’s spine. Jun wondered what rumours Shunsuke heard to make such assumption. Did he know about his incident last year? He must have known. That particular incident that Jun wanted to erase from his mind shook the servants’ quarters after all. And if he knew, the word ‘beast’ was not enough to describe how brute Sakurai was. And surely, Jun wasn’t looking forward to seeing more beasty sides of Sakurai.
Jun gulped, gasping for more air as he was pulled towards his room with a slight force on Shunsuke’s part.
Apparently, he couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer.
*netsuke- little carving made from ivory/wood as handling pieces/ toggles