Himitsu (Book One of the Kakureta Hana series)

II: Ni

The soft tread of feet across the floor wakes me, and I twist for the dagger that I left on the floor.  My movement startles Ryuu awake, and he lunges for his katana.  My fingers find the hilt of the knife, and I shift my body to face whoever made the noise.

Saiko.  Of course, it was that shinobi.  Ryuu reaches the same conclusion as soon as he sees the figure standing over us in the faint light of dawn.  He scowls and pushes his katana back into its sheath.

"Get dressed," Saiko says, returning his scowl with vengeance.  "Then we are going to go collect Junichi and Rika from wherever they are currently."

"We don't even get a reason as to why you are in our room?" I answer, crossing my arms over my chest.  "We could have both killed you, and now all you are going to tell us is to 'get dressed'.  Explain what is going on, Saiko."

His eyes have flickered down to my arms at their movement, and his face turns a faint red.  After I have finished talking, he tosses my discarded kimono at me.  "The shogun has requested Ryuu and Jun's presence on the battlefield.  I volunteered to collect you because I am less conspicuous, and I know what was going on with the four of you.  Now, will you two get dressed, so we can leave?"

Ryuu tosses his weapon at the shinobi before rising and reaching for his discarded clothes.  "Why don't you go stand guard outside or irritate someone else so my wife can get dressed without you ogling her?"

A flash of anger lights the surface of his eyes, but he only sets the katana on the floor and retreats into the hallway quieter than he had entered.

"What is wrong with him?" I ask as I grab the rest of my clothing from the floor and stand to dress.

"I do not know, Sakura.  With Saiko, it could be a number of things.  Maybe he is simply exhausted or his meal was cold or he really did not want to have the duty of dragging us back."

"He volunteered, so it cannot be that.  I think there is something else going on besides all that you listed.  And I believe that he is going to be even more unhappy when we go to retrieve Rika and Jun."

Ryuu picks up his katana and belts it into place before looking towards me.  "Either way, we best leave before he decides to come back in."

I help him gather our belongings, and we exit the room to find Saiko scowling at the opposite wall.  When he sees the kimono bundled in my arms, the lines around his mouth tighten.

Without a word, he snatches it from my grasp and shakes it out.  "Where in all the earth did you get this?" He growls, his whole body shaking.

"Yamane Bashira allowed me to borrow it for when Ryuu and I were married,"  I reply.  "Do you mind returning it before you rip it?  I would like to give it back to her in one piece."

"It was not hers to give," Saiko shoots back but shoves the garment to me.  Mumbling something under his breath that sounds like a curse, he stomps down the hallway without another glance towards us.

"That is why he is in such a foul mood.  There is history between the Yamane family and Saiko, and he is afraid of what he will find when they finally see each other again," I tell Ryuu, who nods slowly in agreement.

"It confirms some suspicions I have had since we met Yamane Osamu.  Saiko has the look of one who has loved so deeply that when he lost the one he loved, it broke something fundamental to his existence.  And now he must face the past that he cannot put to rest."

Neither of us says anything else about the shinobi's outburst when we join him outside.  His face is void of emotion, and the sight of that blank stare makes my heart ache even more for the pain he must be feeling.  As tough as Saiko's exterior was, he was not so callous on the inside.