The dark sky was dotted with many stars which gave off enough light to brighten up my surrounding; the meadow that was filled with different flowers seems to look even more beautiful under the starlight. Suddenly a pair of hands covered my eyes, "Guess who I am?" The person behind whispered to me in a playful tone.
"Hmm let me guess…" I pretended to ponder for a second, "You are Heisuke!"
"Bingo! We have a winner." He released his hands and dropped a kiss on my forehead before seating down next to me.
[You always know how to make me smile]
It was a daily routine; we would always meet here in the meadow at night to talk about our day, unless Heisuke has something important to attend to.
"So how's your day?" He asked casually.
"The usual except that someone came into the Ochaya and tried to cause trouble, but the owner of the Ochaya grabbed her broom and chase him out. You should have seen it; the man was so scared that he practically ran away with his tail between his legs! "
I was expecting him to laugh upon hearing the incident instead he frowned, "You should be more careful, there are people who like to go to the Ochaya* to cause trouble."
"I'll be fine." This was the not the first time we talked about how working in the Ochaya would affect my safety. "I'm just there to help clean the place; it is not as if I'm working as a Geisha*."
"But you look so vulnerable; I'm just worried that something will happen to you." He reached out to caress my cheeks.
[If you only knew]
"Looks can be deceiving." I reminded him.
"But for you that is hardly the case. You are just as helpless as you look. "
[That the truth is I'm not vulnerable as I looked]
"Enough about me how's your day?" I purposely tried to change the topic.
Heisuke started talking about his day, his eyes always seem to light up whenever he talks about the situations that he had encounter during his patrol around the town.
"Oh I have almost forgotten!" He sipped his hand into his pant pocket, "Close your eyes first."
I raised an eyebrow at him but I still closed my eyes as he told me to. He took my left hand and slipped something cold into my finger, when I opened my eyes to see a simple silver band around my ring finger. My eyes widened and I looked at him in surprise.
"I was on my way here, when came across a shop that had a lot of interesting things. Then I saw this ring, the western shop owner told me that it is a promise ring that lovers give to each other to represent their promise to each other." The more Heisuke explained the more he blushed.
He gently took my hands into his, "So I'm giving you this ring to promise you that I'll forever love you and never to leave you even if someone put a sword against my neck."
"Oh Heisuke…" I was so touched that i couldn't help myself but to slipped my arms around him and hugged him, "Thank you."
[Would he still keep his promise if he knew who I really am?]
He lifted me up onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me, rocked me slowly from side to side. We stayed like this for a while. At the same time I was having an internal battle between my selfishness and my logic.
"Umm..Heisuke I…I-" Somehow the words cannot seem to get out of my mouth.
"You what?" He whispered into my ears while stroking my hair.
[I should really tell him, he deserve to know.]
"Umm…actually...i..." I took a deep breath and smiled, "I-I love you."
He chuckled, "Was it that hard to tell me?"
Heisuke leaned in closer to my face, and then pressed his lips to my forehead, my eyelids and both side of my cheeks before claiming my lips with his, "I love you too."
"Oh let me tell you something funny that happened today at the Ochaya…"
[In the end, I just couldn't tell him the truth. He means too much to me and I can't afford to lose him. ]
Ochaya: an ochaya is an establishment where patrons are entertained by geisha.
Geisha : A Japanese hostess trained to entertain men with conversation, dance, and song.