Taisetsu (Book 1.5 of the Kakureta Hana series)

II: Meetings

Mother and I are sitting outside of Nakakanai, a few of Father's retainers keeping their distance in the illusion of privacy.  Mother is sketching the flowers flowing down the hillside we are sitting on.  Further beyond us, there is a family of farmers tending to their fields, in spots only visible by their hats.

Father only allowed us outside of the city because Mother had told him that she wanted to look at some of the wildflowers in hopes of inspiration for her garden.  I am supposed to be sketching the scenery as well, but I am more fascinated by the view of the fields that I rarely get to see.  My parents are rather protective of me as I am their youngest as well as the only girl.  It is only because of my brothers that I ever get to see more than just the inside of the fortress.

"Mother," I say, knowing that I am disrupting her concentration but also knowing that she won't care, "what are they growing down there?  It is not rice.  There is not enough water for it."

My mother raises her gaze to squint down at the fields below us.  "I believe that it is wheat, Rika, but I have very little knowledge of agricultural pursuits.  You would have to ask someone else that question if you want to know for sure."  She directs her attention to me.  "Why the sudden interest in crops?"

I sigh and prop a fist under my chin.  "I am bored and lonely, Mother.  Why can I not learn how to shoot a bow or throw a dagger as Ichirou and my other brothers have?  While I want to be a good wife, I have a desire to do more than learn the proper way to prepare tea or run a household.  What is the harm of allowing me to learn something that will also give me the chance to defend my home in case of attack?"

She smiles, a sad wisp of one, and runs a gentle hand across my hair.  "My little Rika, so eager to both follow her brothers' footsteps and be a fine lady.  There are many who would look down on a woman with knowledge of the arts of war, some among our allies.  Besides war is a bloody terrible business best left to the men when it must happen and better left to no one when it does not need to happen.  Your father worries too much about you anyway without adding possible shame to the list."

"Yes, Mother," I answer with a huff, knowing that she only says such things for my own good.  However, it does not help the hurt that my older brothers along with many of the other clans' sons are allowed to do such things while it is frowned upon for me to even consider the prospect.

My mother returns to her drawing, and rather than returning my gaze to the farmers with envy for the freedom that they have, I look towards the flowers emerging beneath her skilled hand.  It is in moments like these that my mother's happiness seems to return from the dark place that it has retreated to since my youngest elder brother Daichi first went off to battle.  She has never voiced her concern for her youngest son, but I can see how it has etched itself into her face in the moments that she cannot find a reason to smile.

She moves her hand off of her drawing, and the wind catches it, the thin sheet floating off in the breeze quicker than her hand can dart up to reach it.  Before she can tell me no, I am on my feet, kimono bundled in my hands, as I run down the hill after it.  If I did not know how her face would fall at the complete loss of her sketch, I would have more heed for the flowers as I barrel through them.

I have caught the attention of the farmers below us, and they look around to see what I am running from.  Once they realize that there is no threat creeping up on them, their gaze turns back to the fields around them.  That is, all but one of them.  A boy that looks hardly old enough to be working the fields, who catches sight of the paper tumbling through the air towards him.  Ignoring whatever the person closest to him says, he presses a hand to his hat and works his way through the fields a little more carefully than I am making my way through the flowers.

The sketch lands in the arms of a nearby gingko tree, and though I beat the boy to it, I find that I am too short to reach.  A moment later, he is next to me and climbing up the tree with very little effort.  I can feel the eyes of both the farmers and the retainers on us as he reaches my mother's sketch and makes his way back down to me.

"Here you are," he says, and his smile reveals that he is missing one of his teeth.  I carefully take the drawing from his hand and smile back at him.

"My thanks," I pause, realizing that neither of us knows the other's name.

"I'm Maro Tadashi."

"Fujioka Rika," I answer.  "You have my thanks, Maro Tadashi."

His dark eyes are wide now, shocked at the mention of my name.  "Milady," Tadashi says, hastily bowing.  To which I take his hands as best as I can and pull him up.

"No," I tell him.  "The only lady present is my mother, who will be much more grateful than I for the safe retrieval of her sketch.  You can call me Rika."

His gaze darts up the hill behind me, almost as if he has just realized that there is more people than just us and the farmers present.  "Tell Lady Fujioka that it was nothing.  It would have been very rude of me to just allow the drawing to blow away when there was something that I could to help."

"She needs all the happiness she can get," I manage to say before my mother's voice interrupts me.

"Fujioka Rika!"  She sounds close, so I turn around to find her near the bottom of the hill, the retainers not far behind her.  She does not necessarily look angry, just mildly displeased, likely due to the fact that not only did I run like some unrefined child but I am also now talking to a strange boy who would not normally be allowed within a foot of me.

"Mother," I say lightly, "this is Maro Tadashi.  He was kind enough to retrieve your drawing when I could not reach it.  After all, me climbing a tree would be more highly frowned upon than running down a hill."

He manages to stifle the laugh that I can see on his face, and Tadashi quickly dips into a bow to hide even that from my mother.  "Lady Fujioka, it was a pleasure to be of service."

She bows slightly back to him.  "Thank you for sparing my daughter further embarrassment, Maro Tadashi.  It was lovely to meet you, and I hope that if your services are of further need, you will not be far away."

With those words, she takes my hand and leads me back towards Nakakanai.  I glance back over my shoulder to find him still standing by the gingko tree, growing smaller with each step that we take back home.  He waves towards me, and I return the gesture, thinking quietly that it would be nice to have a friend like him.  One that would hopefully not care that I was the daughter of a shogun any more than I would care that he is the son of a farmer.