The sun was setting, his mood was darker than the night soon to come. He'd seen Yankumi with Shinohara. It was the week after graduation, and he was leaving in just another week. Yankumi knew his feelings. He'd confessed the day he had graduated, she hadn't reacted. Not that he'd seen at least, he'd been avoiding her and her family.

He should have known... She wasn't as dense as she appeared, he was betting that she'd known how he felt and come to terms with it long before he'd even known whathe felt let alone come to terms with it. With a sigh he flopped back against the grassy hillside, the river glinting in the fading light. Soft footsteps caused him to look up, standing next to him was none other than Yankumi. Quirking an eyebrow on an otherwise expressionless face, he watched as she gracefully fell to the ground next to him.

Looking back to the river, yet keeping an eye on her out of the corner of his eye. He watched her hesitantly reach for his hand. Once grasping the courage she needed, she held onto his hand tight, as if afraid he would disappear into the rapidly approaching dusk.

"What do you want Yankumi?"

"Shin..." She chewed on her lip for a moment, she knew what she wanted to say, yet wasn't sure how to say it.

"Just spit it out! You..." Here he took a deep breath, he knew that starting a fight would help nothing, beyond the fact, she could kick his ass from here to kingdom come. "You... You know how I felt, no, feel. I love you. I have from the first moment I saw you. Each time you saved us, helped us, I fell for you a little bit more. Now... You own me. My heart beats only for you, my soul craves your companionship."

Yankumi looked at him through tear-filled eyes, he'd said what she'd wanted to say. He'd just said it in a way that she hadn't yet figured out how to. It was now her turn to let him know her feelings.

"You're not the only one. I've loved you from the moment you jumped in and helped me. I trust you as I trust none other. Even my family. You are my heart, the companion of my soul. As much as I don't want you to join my family, to be a normal, law abiding citizen... I want you there with me, to help me when I take over as the head of the Ooedo Clan."

Shin could feel his eyes, they were wide with shock. He hadn't realized she'd felt this way. His breath was coming in short pants, the shock was almost every whelming. Just when he thought he was going to faint, his lips were covered with her own softer, smoother ones. Her tongue swiped at his sealed lips softly, asking gently. With a passion he'd never before admitted, he kissed her back, flipping them so that he hovered over her, his body covering hers.

Their kiss was deep, their passion building. Suddenly she pulled back, the lust in her eyes palpable in the air. Tangling her fingers in his blood red hair, she rested their foreheads together, noses brushing, their breath whispering and mixing.

"I love you, but we are not having sex here. Its too public, that and... I will wait for you."

Closing his eyes, he willed his erection away. Opening them, he saw her breathing deeply trying to calm her racing heart and raging hormones.

"What do you mean? You'll wait for me?" His confusion was quite obvious.

"Until you come home, to me. You leave for Africa in less than a week. I... Can't give myself to you. Not until you come home. Understand now?"

With a sigh and roll of his eyes, he nodded. He knew what she meant, originally, he'd chosen to volunteer in Africa as an escape from her and his feelings for her. Now that he knew that she returned his feelings, well... That changed things considerably. He would go, and he would grow while he was there.

There would be no other woman, no one to steal him away from her. In the end, there was no one else in the world like his Yankumi. Or was the Kumiko now? Either way, she owned him. Just as he owned her. He would come back to her a man grown, with a mans appetites.

In turn, while he was gone, she would learn all she needed to so that she could succeed her grandfather as head of the Ooedo. She'd become a woman in truth, not just his former teacher, but a woman who knew how to please her man. There would in truth, be no other man for her, but for her learning. After all, she was the Oujo, and no one would deny her.

Alright y'all, tell me what you think etc. This is my first foray as an AUTHOR into this fandom.