Himitsu (Book One of the Kakureta Hana series)

VI: Roku

I must look as if I have lost use of all sense as I rush through the halls.  Night fell an hour ago, but the only thought in my head is to reach Rika with hopes that it is not too late.

Halting at the door to the lady's room, I note a light shining within.  "Lady Fujioka, may I have a moment of your time?"

I barely wait a moment after she calls for me to enter.   The only thing that makes me pause is closing the door before I blurt out, "Jun's gone, and I fear that it is to do something foolish."

The exclamation startles the lady, causing her hand to remain suspended above the page upon she had been writing.  Slowly, she manages to set aside the ink-splattered sheet and turns to me, eyes wide with an emotion I could not quite read.

"What do you mean, Lord Igarashi?" She asks, voice gentle.  "Did Jun storm out on you, or did she disappear without a word?"

A growl escapes before I can stop it, and her look of fright leeches all emotion out of me excepting that of weariness.  I sink to the floor, resisting the temptation to bury my face in my outstretched hands.  "I have not seen Jun since this morning when she went to see you.  She is simply gone, and a note I just found seems she went off somewhere with Hikaru.  We are all in danger if she tells him the truth like I believe she has planned."

Rika's face blanches, but like she has been taught, she merely stands and runs her hands over her kimono, the action serving to instill calm in her.  "Well, I will go look at the usual tryst corners for the two of them while you search his rooms.  Meet me in the gardens if you find nothing.  But, Ryuu, her motives may not be what you believe them to be.  It is not unusual for those in love to frequently vanish from those closest to them."

The words sting as they hit their mark, though I know she had no intentions of hurting me.  Before Hikaru had sauntered into the picture, I had thought that Jun would have accepted my proposal to be wed at some point.  Now, that opportunity has seemed to have passed, slipping through my fingers easier than dirt; her thoughts and heart consumed by one only seeking to bring us all down.

I manage to get to my feet again to wander the halls in search of her once more.  Even picturing Hikaru's cocky grin and the scar crossing his face that I had given him makes my body fill with an emotion I am becoming more and more familiar with the longer that we remain in the company of the Fujioka clan.

When I reach the rooms that the shinobi is occupying, I do not bother with giving him a warning.  I open the door and walk in, scanning the sparse area.

That is enough to tell me the two are not currently occupying the space; however, I cannot help but linger, hoping beyond all thoughts that I might find something to help locate them or even break the trust she has in Hikaru.

Very little is actually in his rooms.  No papers, no personal items, nothing but clothing.  If I did not know better, I would believe these rooms to be like any other unoccupied rooms in the Fujioka's fortress.

That idea being fruitless, I make my way towards the gardens, pride of the late lady Fujioka.  Many a person has wandered into them, only to lose their way.

Rika is nowhere to be found, and with foreboding dwelling in my mind, I do not wait for her.  Heedless of the darkness, I direct my feet towards the wisteria.

It is the part of the gardens furthest away from the entrance and the most secluded.  The closer I get to the flowering trees, the darker the shadows get, and the more I notice signs of a scuffle marked in the path.

Straining to see more, I try to look deeper into the shadowy figures of the wisteria, but my feet trip over something before I can move closer.

Beneath my feet lies a body.  I can smell the sickly sweet scent of blood, can almost taste the metallic edge in my mouth.  Irrational fear fills me, and I drop to my knees next to the still figure, nearly beyond the thought that it could not be Jun.