Himitsu (Book One of the Kakureta Hana series)

VI: Roku

Five battles in a year. Each one more terrifying, more destructive, and more violent than the last. With each one, I feel Rika's absence almost as sharply as I feel Ryuu's. Without her there, I wander the halls with abandon, feeling lost and out of place.

However, Jun returns to the battlefield to fight alongside the Fujioka clan and its allies each time, and when Ryuu returns, he brings new letters from Rika that Jun has passed on to him. The words from my friend reassure me that she is still among the living, and I feel a little more of my worry for the two of them drop away with each letter.

I am penning a letter to Rika, wondering why it was so difficult for me to fit in with the women that have saturated the fortress. For years, I had been able to blend in with the men of my clan, yet when it came to women, I found myself at odds with them and feeling more and more like an interloper.

"Sakura," a voice says from the door, causing my hand to jump in shock. I look up to find Emi leaning against the door, a smile on her face.

Rising, I wrap my arms around her, relief filling me at the sight of someone that is not bent upon merely gossiping. "Emi! What are you doing here?"

She laughs and returns my embrace before pulling back to study my face. "Ryuu told me that you were acting strange, and he wanted someone to look in on you while he was gone. I suspect that part of your strangeness stems from the fact that you do not fit into any of the group here and that you are missing Rika."

"And the other part?" I ask.

"I have an idea especially now that I have seen you, but how about you let me see how your health is before I say what I think?"

I wrinkle my nose but allow Emi to lead me to the futon. For the moment, she kneels beside me. "Rika misses you, Sakura, probably as strongly as you miss her. Jun and she never remain in the same place for long as they fear that someone will happen upon them if they do not continue to move."

I miss her too, I think but do not say out loud. The shinobi runs a light hand along my sides as she continues her conversation. "Have you noticed any changes lately? Extra weight, increased fatigue, loss of appetite, moodiness?"

"What do you think is wrong with me?"

"Something that commonly happens after you get married," Emi answers, sitting back on her heels. "From what Ryuu was able to tell me and from what I can garner from my exam, I believe that nothing is seriously wrong with you."

I sigh, pulling myself up into a sitting position. "I could have told you that, Emi. Why the sudden concern about my health?"

Emi shakes her head, barely able to conceal a smile behind a hand. "It is not my concern. It is more of your husband's concern, but I am happy to report that he will likely no longer be worried. And your family of two is about to get a little bigger. However, I suspect that you already had an inkling about what was going on."

Her words take a moment to sink in, and my hands drift down to my stomach as the realization hits me. "I am carrying a child?"

"Yes," Emi says with mirth coloring her voice. "I would estimate that you are no more than three months along."

Tears fill my eyes as I look at my stomach. A babe. Relief fills me with the understanding that I, unlike my parents, did not have to wait twenty years for a child. I had not thought until that moment that it ranked among my worries, but it no longer does.

"A babe," I whisper, scarcely believing it. "I am going to be a mother."

Emi rises and walks to the window. "Yes, you are going to be a mother as will Rika. I saw her on my way here and reached the same conclusion about her as I have about you. I would say that the future of the Amachi clan is well-secured."