Sakura blossoms passed by the opened windows softly, decorating the lovely blue skies and mixed well with the vibrancy of puffed marshmallow like clouds.

It was inviting for a stroll to enjoy the day but the sudden turn of harsh winds would occasionally rustle something fierce from the withering trees. Pacing over the small bridge had led to his young Master's temple, the shackle like chains of the samurai's hold on you gave your arm a dead weight feeling from the elbow down.

You swore you could no longer feel them and with every attempt in trying to ask the brutish samurais to loosen their grip, your pleas were largely ignored. Or maybe because whatever Japanese you had was cheap and ridiculously limited. You were surprised that Kiku could understand what you said back when you asked if you were to be executed publicly or not. It didn't matter at the moment; all you cared was trying to get your heavy fingers moving though to no avail. It was like trying to move a boulder, futile.

You watched how the river under the bridge reflected your entourage's appear in wavers. The state you were in compared to the nicely dressed men made you look worse than the scoundrels back at the prison! Hair sticking out in random directions; strands of hay intertwined with fuzzy strands engendered by the moisture of the dank cell. God, you had seen better days.

Upon entering the temple, several servants attended the return of their young Master, kowtowing to him in a rather fawning manner. To you it mustered up a light chuckle, earning you a burning glare from both samurais.

The entire thing was too unctuous for your taste or primitive in a sense. They flew to his feet without ever questioning why. A descendant of a higher being or a direct reincarnation crested upon the mass of an unthinking people? You weren't exactly sure of which, regardless if it were the case then why would a God come to dine with the uncivilized? They shouldn't waste time. Any attempt to educate and reason produced an unsound effect in the end.

Wicked looks were thrown upon you the second you stepped foot inside. You only cursed under your breath to save yourself the grief.

The entire entourage stopped in the vestibule, Yao muttering something to Kiku who wrinkled his nose. Commands in Japanese were given and at once you fell to your knees. There was no way you could lift your arms, the warmth of blood filling up above the elbow felt as though it tried to meander on but nothing seemed to come of it.

He noticed your panic, coming to you at once despite everyone's high gasps and Yao's warning. Kiku kept a comfortable distance though he seemed unsure of how to approach you.

The samurais kept their gloved hands curled over their hilt in case you tried anything.

Stupid! How can I do anything if I can't feel my arms!?

"I suppose shackles would have been better than being... uh... How you say it?" His English wasn't bad, but you wished he could fix the R's in his speech. "Man handled? Hai, yes, man handled."

You glared in a lustering flame, hoping to burn him in place.

The following day you remained perched by the corner closest to the window, admiring the nice sky and wondered how the weather was back home. There was the first sign of winter if the naked trees were something to go by. This wasn't something you could look too yet it reflected perfectly with the situation.

After being washed by the female servants thoroughly, you ignored their obvious amazement of Kiku-sama's great 'shame' or 'compassion' whichever anyone preferred, towards his taking you in. You understood this by the fact that those words were first taught to you by someone you wished you hadn't just thought about now.

He told you how interpersonal the Japanese were seen to be. One person's folly or greatest achievement could make or break their society.

At the time like with most things that sounded outrageous you rolled your eyes and kept your criticism to yourself. Afterwards a lily-livered servant came, and to no surprise a guard behind him in tow, entered tentatively with a tray in hand. Those doe-eyed eyes kept you from saying anything as he knelt to leave the tray in the middle of the room and hurried out without another word. You watched after him, flinching slightly at the forcedly shut sliding door, their shadows perceivable through the light material.

What was there as you removed the opaque lid burnt your face by a sudden rush of guzzling steam. Recovering by wiping it with the sleeve of the yukata you were given, plain white and unflattering holes in places you were sure to have your back towards a wall at all times. Perhaps it belonged to one of the submissive ladies who knelt… No. You shook your head immediately at the thought since you didn't feel well enough at the moment. Besides, things like that could drop your mental in a tenfold. You peered over the exposed meal. At least it smelled good and it looked edible. You had to be careful around here, especially with the food.

"...I think I'll pass for today,"

He would no pay attention to Yao while his arms were spread as his servants tended to his clothes. The only female servant out of the three insisted in working in front of the young Master, her hands being too near for comfort. Yao noticed this and huffed, shaking his head while intertwining his hands behind his back.

To his knowledge the women residing in the temple were more than fans of the young Master. The most attractive since the two previous shoguns who married a beautiful commoner but died after giving birth. There was no direct relation since his great grandfather had taken the title of shogun many years previous, but some of the women entertained with the idea. Such beauty could only be inherited by a god incarnate.

"What would your father think?" The Chinaman gave his indignant-rich rebuttal, keeping the faint scowl to a minimum. "If he heard about this in his current condition he'd surely die of shock! The failed assassination was enough to send him on the brink and keeping this secret will not last!"

A sigh escaped Kiku, his shoulders falling. "He won't have to worry; there is no need for it,"

"How can you say that!?"

"Yao... You worry too much,"

Yao huffed exasperatedly.

"Then what will you do with the wench?"

The mention of you made the female servant peer up at Kiku curiously; her black eyes alight with a peculiar luster that Kiku would not understand even if he had noticed. His eyes were fixed blankly at the wall and she wondered if he had kept his eyes open the entire time. Eventually he spoke after his Chinaman mentioned something of a concubine which made her immediately upset. With or without intent, Kiku didn't know but he yelped when her hands slipped a little too close.

"Ai-yah!" Yao went, reprimanding the female servant. "Pay attention to your work or you'll be punished!"

Kiku normally would have said something but he was too flustered to think.

A sly smile crept upon her face.

Those rumors of Kiku-sama's innocence in the ways of women were true.

It was said he never kept his distance any closer than an arm's length towards a female other than his mother, a Kyoto woman who was promised to his father some many years ago. Normally the shogun was to be wed to a Kyoto woman but there had been whispers of Kiku's distaste at the idea.

She wondered if there was something off about her young Master…

"I don't want her living at the Women's palace in Edo," he said frowning.

This piqued her interest more. The Shogun would normally visit the palace which was never attacked by assassins, mainly because the women who resided there were trained skillfully to beat off any intruders but a few shoguns have had children with these women in the past. Again, Kiku was very prune when it came to women so why the sudden attachment towards a young girl who wanted to kill him?

Maybe he was the kind of men who liked to be dominated, she thought.

"We cannot have her living here in your home, besides she can possibly fight it out with the other women and die."

"No, Yao, I'll do as I wish with the prisoner and my father will not know of this." As he said this his eyes flew over the servants imploringly, giving them a nonverbal warning beforehand. They simply lowered their heads in response.

In a five minute silence he stood down from the small platform and dropped his arms to his sides. His shoulders ached softly. Dismissing his servants they all exchanged respectful bows and left leaving Yao and Kiku alone. They faced each other unnervingly.

"You are dismissed for the rest of the day."

The look on the Chinaman's face was unforgettable.

Later that evening while the skies began to show early signs of lavender and peach Kiku strolled about the palace in silence. He rejected many requests of accompaniment, explaining he needed the solitude to mediate. The excuse was true but in reality he was waiting for the guards to leave their station perched beside your room. He was normally of calm disposition until this moment where he felt his patience thin.

Occasionally he would rub his wounded neck, flinching whenever he rubbed too hard. Kiku should be in bed but his state of excitement kept him running around. During the night before retrieving his would-be killer, he was incapable of getting a wink of sleep. His thoughts buzzed wildly about her, needing to know why she had tried to kill him.

She had said something to him despite her urgent words being no higher than the night air.

Kiku never got the whole thing but what struck out to him was blood. The way she muttered it did not hold the connotation of the blood that would leak but rather in a way of exchange.

Blood for blood? Maybe.

His mind racked furiously in trying to recall anyone being killed by his father's army of any particular importance. Nothing came up as expected.

Frustrated he climbed down the numerous stairways till he reached the first floor, ordering the guards to open the large front doors and wandered into the vast stone path where two other buildings sat on either side by some several yards. Several servants, samurais, and messengers meandered about under the rising moon's silver shine. Looking up he could feel the shine caress his cheeks, making them paler than they already were. He arrived on the first massive step, sitting himself while gazing up at the now diamond filled sky.

Nights like these were beautiful, it was a shame that they never came so often nowadays. Unfortunately his thoughtful gaze was ruined by sudden rustles of cloth originating from the inhabitants of the temple kowtowing to Kiku. Embarrassed he told to go on about their night and hoped them pleasant dreams.

You thought whether or not to jump out the window to make your escape but then you realized you were on the perhaps third or fourth tier of this large palace. Maybe you could just hang from the edge, let go, and somehow manage to grab onto the other edge to flee unscathed.

"I'm so stupid," you grumbled, staring over your shoulder to the untouched meal that went cold a long time ago.

Your stomach growled something fierce at the sight. Cheeks flushed pink you flew your hand over your stomach and hoped to goodness the guards hadn't heard. It would be embarrassing if they had or maybe they did going by how their distorted image shuffled a second later after the roar of a stomach growl.

Oh just kill me already, you thought.

When the skies turned pitch black leaving the stars like distant lighthouses, the guards had long left.

You realized this was your moment and you lifted yourself over the window pane, one leg already in the process of taking your whole body along with it until an unexpected sliding of the door disrupted the entire process. Shocked you stumbled forward and yelped in fear of falling to your death but a firm hand grabbed you by the hem of your yukata and pulled you back. You fell onto your back with a thud and your eyes squeezed shut as you tried to suppress a cry. A shadow fell over you then, making you all the more cautious and braced yourself for a blow though none came. You peeked below an eyelid only find those same speculative eyes whose too were wide in shock.

You sat up in a start, involuntarily scooting away in case he proved hostile but all he did was speak in a comforting tone.

"Hey… relax…"

You both noticed the door was wide open.

Neither of you moved when the thought of escape simultaneously ran through your minds. You turned over onto your knees and went to stand but you fell back down when the young man threw himself on you and held restrained you.

In the heat of the moment you tried to throw him over but he was more versatile than you had originally thought.

He managed to pin you down and wore you off quick than you thought imagineable. Sure that you were exhausted he went over to the door and slid it closed. In between heavy breaths he brushed himself off, looking over to you remorsefully.

"I apologize for being very inhospitable but I cannot allow you to leave just like that,"

"You son-of-a-!"

His wheezes became more stressed than yours to the point of labor. At once you remembered his condition the second the gauze darkened with his blood. Onto his knees now he tried to steady himself by breathing through his nose. His body racked softly in his attempt to compose his body but it seemed futile.

All the while you lain there on your belly, watching in a mixture of awe and fear. A sense of conflict crashed inside your head.

To help or not to help, that was the question.

You remembered there was a large bucket of water left you which you knew was safe because you had seen the young Master personally retrieve it but then you weren't so sure if he had tampered with it…

Only one way to find out.

"Hey, you left me water earlier, you didn't mess with it did you?"

Kiku looked up, his hand at his throat.

"It's safe…"

"If that's the case you won't mind if I give you some then," you scrambled onto your feet before you could see whether Kiku was objecting or not.

Gathering the water in an old cup you carefully approached him, grabbing his hand to lend the cup however you practically had to nurse him.

You were no doctor but an itch of hope hoped this was enough.

"A-ari-arigato…" he said at last, still shaking beside you.

When you felt he was able enough you quickly withdrew back to your corner, arms crossed. A sense of disgust barely hit you like a brick to the face.

You'd just saved him even when you intended to help.

The first excuse was the fact you wanted an audience.

Kiku unsteadily came onto his feet and shakily went to the corner opposite of yours, wiping his mouth clean from the water with his sleeves and sat himself.

A staring contest commenced.

"What are you doing here?" you started, angrily, "I could have killed you right now,"

"But you didn't,"

Silence.

"I'm here to ask you why you tried to kill me and there isn't a lot of time before my men can find me not in bed,"

"I have no reason to explain anything to you, you know what you did,"