Hooded Lies

The Conspiracy

Dark pools narrowed at the shrouded form in front of him. Under the black shadows cast by the enveloping cloak draped around his guest, what she looked like, her age and figure left much to his imagination. He casually folded his sinewy arms across his chest choosing to play her game. "I've heard the dowagers in most courts practice strange pleasures…You wouldn't happen to be one of them, are you milady?"

Sakura's soft tinkling laughter reached his ears and, deciding to appease the man's curiosity, lowered the hood of her cloak. "I don't think you need to worry about that, Mister Kiyoshi. I am, as you can see for yourself, a woman."

Twinkling green orbs tinkled up at his probing dark pools. She smiled up at him carefully, coyly even. "No need to be so suspicious."

His scowl was the only answer he gave her. What a girl, and an unusual one at that, with her unfathomable sea-green eyes fringed with dark long curling lashes and unusual short pink hair, was doing there in his prison cell was beyond him. He sure hasn't seen her before.

To see a particularly young visitor at his less than appealing abode attempting to do business with him, he could but only stare down at her, awaiting her pleasure to give him more information of her business with him.

Caution was a lesson he wouldn't soon forget, after all…And right now, it was all that mattered.

Sakura heaved a soft sigh at the man's continued silence. Looks like she was going to tread through this more carefully than she had thought. It was clear the man was no fool, that much she could see. The suspicion in his dark orbs glowed eerily under the dim offering of the lantern light making him look even more dangerous.

She gulped.

Oh, yeah. She was definitely treading on thin ice.

Really thin. As in cheese thin.

But before she could allow her thoughts to run any further and convince herself to turn tail and just murder the damned count to get things over with and end her misery, her sense of duty held on to her resolve. No way was she running away now! She was going to do this! She was going to beat Inari at his own game and, once this was over with, she could continue to live her life normally and peacefully, just the way she liked it!

"You see, Jiro" She started before she lost the nerve to again…only this time she used his given name with casual familiarity just to make herself feel better. Knowing that she had a higher ground than the man. She was, after all, impersonating a lady…Something she was playing very well…for the most part anyway. "I need your name."

If it was possible, the already narrowed dark pools of the captive thinned further into dangerous slits.

Sakura wet her lips with her tongue apprehensively, choosing her words carefully. If there was something she's learned throughout the twenty-one years of her life, it was knowing whether or not your opponent was hardly a threat or as deadly as any animal of prey. And it sure looked like Jiro Kiyoshi was even more dangerous than any animal of prey she had ever encountered before.

"I suppose you're aware of the reputation the Kiyoshi family has over the kingdom of Fire—"

"Kiyoshi?" He interrupted, an eyebrow rose in some confusion and suspicion. As if he wasn't sure that it was really the name she wanted.

Sakura nodded her head in an affirmative carefully. "Yes. The Kiyoshi family is one of the most prominent and important families from the continent allied with Fire and…I…" she hesitated casting her green orbs to the dark cobbled ground, "have to marry a man of sterling name…That's you."

"…You want to marry a man condemned with murder?" There was a tinge of disbelief in his deep monotone timbre, though the caution was still not altogether lost in his tone.

Again, the girl nodded. "I know you're not related to the Kiyoshis residing in Fire of course, but nevertheless, a name is still a name. It's all I need really. And since you won't be needing your name in the near future, I think I could put it to good use when you're gone."

Confusion was all that swarmed his thoughts after that. He couldn't begin to comprehend what the strange girl's motive was. Did she want or have a lover? A child? Debts?

A puzzled frown met her green gaze. "I don't get it. You're…proposing marriage to a man about to hang? Do you even know what you're saying?"

"It's simple really. I just have to marry a man of the aristocratic circle." She said with a shrug. "You don't have to be an aristocrat, but your family name does say a lot…"

"Aren't you from an aristocrat?"

"Even if I am, it doesn't mean I can take just anyone." A delicate eyebrow rose, and an enigmatic smile graced her pink lips. She turned her back to him. "The point is that, I don't want to marry this…significant other I'm supposed to marry. I have yet to find the man I would choose as my own and I doubt that Mr. Right would show up in two weeks' time."

Ah, a romantic. Jiro thought with a mental scoff. It was pathetic, really but he said nothing, merely watching the eccentric young miss with cynical dark orbs. He knew where this conversation was going. He advanced.

Sakura breathed in a handful of air.

Okay…Now comes the hard part…She braced herself for what was about to come. She knew she wasn't the most persuasive girl around, but she still had to try. Should be easy right?

Yeah.

Sure…

Just one problem though…

To be persuasive, she would have to plead, beg. Swallow her hard earned pride and plead to a murderer.

Talk about how the mighty has fallen.

The whole idea in itself was unappealing.

Kiba's never going to let me live this down…She though dejectedly exhaling a nervous breath before continuing. "Mister Kiyoshi—Jiro…you…are my last hope to stop this marriage from happening…but—"

"What will I get in return?" The prisoner asked before she could continue.

Wha—! She froze feeling him suddenly behind her, his breath warm against her ear.

"You know…My mother has always tried to teach me rules a gentleman should abide to. Such as respect for women…" He whispered huskily in her ear.

How…how…? She swallowed feeling a foreboding prick of apprehension to rise in her stomach.

Run! Run! Rrrrruuuuunnn! A small voice inside her head screamed sending panic signals throughout her body…which didn't seem to be complying. She just stood there, rooted on the spot as the indicted killer stood behind her, hardly a hair away from her person.

"…But my father has also taught me one rule I have always followed." His voice, deep, rich, husky and just barely above a whisper, reached her ears, sending a shiver of foreboding to run down her spine.

She cursed silently under her breath, berating herself for being so careless, as panic began to settle into her system. How did he manage to maneuver his way toward her without even making the slightest sound? She didn't even hear him move!

He smirked. "Milady…"

Her breath caught in her throat when she felt his cold hands on her shoulders. His grip was gentle but firm. She didn't dare move though, growing cautious.

She should've known, should've been prepared for some tricks up his sleeves. He was a murderer after all. And he was no dope either. And having both wasn't entirely a good combination.

She should know. She's had her fair share of thugs. And dang, this was one thug she hasn't ever encountered before. A smart thug.

Ignoring the red alert signals her instincts were shooting through her body, she maintained a calm and confident countenance. "And that would be?"

She couldn't—wouldn't—refused to give him the pleasure of having the upper hand. She knew that intimidation was a basic tactic into getting into someone's skin. Whoever does it better wins the advantage. And he was trying to intimidate her. She couldn't allow that. It was one advantage Sakura wasn't willing to give without a fight. That was what she really was after all.

A fighter.

"Never—" The wily man rasped. "Ever buy a mare with a blanket on…"

His voice was a rumble in his chest and Sakura could all but suppress the flinch when his lean fingers hovered above the fasteners of her cloak.

"May I?" His voice, though soft, seemed to echo and fill every darkened corner of the cell.

The young pinkette pulled away from his hold before he had a chance to pull her cloak away and see the worn gown no respected lady would be caught dead wearing, and faced him squarely, her green eyes glinting with a sudden rise of anger under the scant illuminating glow of the lantern light.

"Jiro. Let's keep ourselves in a business level here." She snapped tersely. She grew annoyed at how easily he had driven her to a corner like a predator would its prey, infuriated that he had turned her carefully thought out, although rushed in performance, plan around.

She was supposed to be the predator here! Not the other way around! "I know that nothing comes without a price, Mister Jiro Kiyoshi, so I ask you to hear what I have to offer."

Although his arms returned to his sides, his intense gaze was fastened on her so acutely it made Sakura feel kind of conscious under his scrutiny. Because though she refused to be outwitted and put off by the man, there was just something about him that screamed menace. Darkness. And every other word that made its essence. It was there in his intelligent gaze, in his casual demeanor.

He towered over her dominatingly and it unnerved her.

Whatever this man did to end up here was probably big. And catching him must've been hard too… She concluded with a shudder.

"Hn, if you think that I'll bargain my name for a price as shallow as receiving warm blankets, food, wine and clothing, you thought wrong, my lady." His said in a hushed tone, his eyes boring holes into her.

Sakura's eyes waved a bit knowing, fearing, what he wanted in return, but she held her ground.

"My price is high, my lady."

"Let's here it then." Her voice came out barely above a whisper, her patience thinning, her breath coming out in a rush.

The corner of his mouth twitched upward in a satisfied smirk. "Are you sure?"

Jaded orbs narrowed up at him. Lips thinning in a stern line. "Tell me."

"Consummate our marriage."

"What?" A barely stifled scream exploded from the pinkette coming out as a half shriek and a half gasp. She couldn't believe he actually said it! It took all of her will power to stop herself from tackling the man and laying her good ol' one-two rabbit punches up his already obscured face which would...er…only obscure it further. Only this time with the bruises she'd inflict.

"You heard me." He tilted his head to the side cockily walking over to his shabby cot and sat down casually. He threw her a smug look. "My name is the only precious thing left in my possession. It's mine to give alone. In return I ask you to give me what is precious to you and yours to give alone. Wouldn't that be a fair price?"

"Are you crazy?" The pinkette half shrieked.

The sly smirk he wore intensified as he swung his feet on his bed. "I'm a man bound for the triple tree, milady. Such price would, indeed, give me ease better than any warm blanket."

"But…but…" She tried to protest hesitantly and flushed not meeting his gaze.

What the hell was happening here?! It wasn't supposed to be like this!

She was supposed to offer him good food, blanket and a good grave, damn it! Not actually marry him, marry him! For Pete's sake, she just needed his signature!

"Listen. If you're going to become a widow, wouldn't it be logical to lose your virginity to your first husband than to let whoever husband you choose after me to wonder why you still have your maidenhead intact? You would cause suspicions. If we consummate our marriage, it would satisfy both our causes, my lady. Think about it."

She stared up at him in disbelief. She could see the trap set for her, as well as the clear logic in his words. He made a damn good point. But it was a damn price to pay too!

Her virginity for a damned aristocratic name? For a signature? Would she really…? Could she really…? With a murderer?

The silence that death itself would find it hard to impersonate settled upon the dank prison cell leaving the occupants to center on their thoughts. And one particular occupant had her thoughts in a quite traumatic turmoil. The other, at complete ease.

Sakura was left with two heavy choices. Both of which didn't sound appealing.

But which was really the lesser of the two evils now?

The first of the two evils was Count Gin Inari.

If she didn't marry anyone with a famous name soon, Inari would. The count was bent on having her for a wife and her lands. And she herself was bent on him not having either.

Her only way out would be if she managed to convince the count that she married a rich aristocrat during the three months he had been gone so he wouldn't wonder where she got all the money to pay for her taxes…and possibly even stop raising them out of contempt.

That should've been easy enough…right?

Right.

Sure it was. She could be beautiful when she put her mind to it…at least that's what they tell her. It wouldn't be hard for her to hook in a man.

But the problem to that solution wasn't her face.

It was the fact that she knew next to no one of the aristocratic circle. Not many rich men visit her part of the province, being too poor to maintain any tourist attraction. Plus she hated noblemen with all their fancy frills and luxurious galore. They were all the same, those doddering dandies. All of them were bent on climbing up that social ladder, and it was one of the last things she needed.

A husband practically living on impressing others!

The solution?

The man with the aristocratic name nearing death.

Which is why she was there. In prison. With said man with a prominent name nearing death.

Jiro Kiyoshi.

The problem?

Jiro Kiyoshi.

Also known as the second of the two evils.

If she chose him, she'd be free from Inari. Her plan would work. He would stop bugging her and she would be free to rule her lands again. And even if Jiro was dead, Inari wouldn't dare threaten her again…because she would be a Kiyoshi…

But it was that…or bye-bye virginity.

Did she really want to sleep with a man she not only barely knew, but was one of the lowest of lowlifes found in the lowest dump? Could she really sink so low? And turn herself into a slut…?

No! Her mind protested with an angry roar.

…

And then…

Yes?

…

I don't know!

Sakura inwardly groaned in anguish. Oh, what was a girl of twenty-one with no parents to do?!

Damn it! Why don't things always go easy for me?! And more importantly, why me anyway?!

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to regain a sensible portion of her composure, she looked up at him again, eyes filled with resolve. "You're price is too high Mister Kiyoshi…" She exhaled her voice dropping into a gentle whisper.

He clucked out a disappointed tsk, though she doubted that he actually was. Jiro Kiyoshi had the air of a man of absolute confidence…despite the fact that he was in prison. A certain fact that would've left anyone less sure of himself, but whatever. He was the one hanging, not her.

With another deep intake of breath, she charged on before she lost her gut, determination radiating off her. "But I did come here prepared to plead."

Silence.

His blinked down at the girl in front of him, shocked.

She met his gaze unwaveringly. "It's a deal then."

Jiro looked unaffected but it took a lot of effort on his part to keep his jaw from unhinging and inevitably dropping to the dirty floor. He hadn't expected her to agree. Really. She was a lady, wasn't she? A genteel lady of noble blood, right? Because ladies don't just sleep with anybody…

…

Well, okay, so maybe they do…

But not with people like him.

Never with people like him.

Was she serious?

Was she really that desperate?

"…"

"…"

Yes…

He knew it.

She knew it.

With that knowledge, a deal was made.

Their fates were sealed.

And they both knew it too.

"I'll be back in two days…"

He nodded and she left.

Dark orbs stared after her retreating back. It's a deal.