Things should start moving at a faster pace now, plot-wise, after this chapter. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed this story! My apologies also for the delay, I've been taking care of my dad, who was recently in a serious car accident, and I had to return home. At any rate, please let me know what you think, it makes me happy to hear your opinions! Chapter 10 up for you now, please enjoy! -Murasaki

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The moment that the carriage rolled to a stop outside the gate, Saitou pushed upon the door to the carriage and hopped out, smacking Tatsuro very neatly in the head with the carriage door. Holding the door open for the princess as the man muttered something about fireflies and went to sit down, his eyes found, right before them, the very object of their discussions. Tokio, having shut the gate almost all the way behind her, had frozen, eyes wide at the carriage.

"Sada-chan!" Teru-hime called gaily as she came out of the carriage, lifting up the hems of her kimono so they wouldn't drag in the spring mud. Tokio crossed the muddy depression in front of the gate, so that Teru wouldn't get her own geta wet and dirty.

"Teru-hime," she said much more reservedly, "What a pleasant surprise." She accepted the taller woman's embrace, and her eyes went to Saitou, as if to pretend that she had only seen him for the first time. "And you returned Fujita-san to us, as well, how kind of you. I-," she fumbled slightly, but then continued in her melodic voice, that sounded almost like a song from the lips of someone half-dreaming, "I heard that Yaso-san was very worried when we received word that he had been separated from the work crew. I believe that she thought that he was perhaps injured in some way."

"I was picked up by your lady, here," he said uncomfortably, earning a small, mostly hidden smile from Tokio and a sniff of disdain from Teru.

"Perhaps you ought to go and see your wife," Teru-hime pointed out, eyes flashing in a way that brooked no argument. "Assure her of your well-being. Toki-chan, I was wondering if perhaps I might have a word with you?"

"Certainly, Teru-hime. I can spare a few moments, before I go down the road to pick up some herbs for Kurasawa-san." Saitou knew he was dismissed, and continued on inside.

Yaso was in the kitchen, as she always was. She barely turned to acknowledge him when he walked in, although he cleared his throat in his customary way around her. "Ah, husband," she said in her usual tart voice over her shoulder, "I see you've made it home. Unharmed, may I hope?"

This woman, he reflected, trying not to make himself more melancholy than absolutely necessary, did not understand him at all.

"I had to attend to some business, wife," he replied tonelessly, "Business that is not yours."

The tension thickened in the room, but she said nothing. Her back was to him, and he couldn't see the pain that spasmed across her face, quick as an eyeblink. "Well," she said at last, "I'm glad to hear my esteemed husband is not in any trouble. Now, his humble wife has work to do." The tightness in the the humble way that she spoke belied that she really felt no humility at all.

"And what if," he said slowly, "I decided not to leave your presence?" His voice was cool, but she could tell that, for some unknown reason, he wasn't going to back down from this fight.

Instead of firing up, her words pitted against his, the tired Yaso put down the knife she had been cutting with, turned on her heel, and walked out of the room. Saitou did not stop her as she walked right past him.

Supper that evening was a disastrous affair- Yaso had stormed out and had refused even to come back to finish her duties as cook. Therefore, a mere hour before the dinner hour, no one had any prepared food, and Yaso was nowhere to be found. The moment that Tokio returned from her long talk with Teru-hime and her trip down to the clinic to pick up Kurasawa-san's herbs, Kurasawa-san fell upon her like a single whirlwind comprised of many panicking chickens.

"Tokio-chan! Tokio-chan! Whatever shall we do?! Yaso-san is nowhere to be found, I'm worried that she may have collapsed somewhere! We must look for her! But no one is yet fed, and everyone is getting hungry! Did she run an errand somewhere, and fail to return? Who would have allowed her to leave in her frail health?"

Tokio said nothing at first, but looked around piercingly at the household, standing with her packages in her arms in the courtyard. Unless she was very much mistaken, she smelled a wolf in all of this-. And, sure enough, she received the now-familier shock as their eyes met, him skulking near the shoji of the room that he shared with Yaso. Her eyes narrowed very slightly at his vaguely insolent look, but she turned back to Kurasawa Keiko.

"Well, let us get the situation here at home under control, Kurasawa-san, first. If you would be so kind as to ask some of the young men- Kenji-kun, perhaps, and Sota-kun, to run to the Ueno residence and down into the village, respectively, and ask if anyone has seen Fujita-chan, then we may turn to salvaging supper. If they hurry, they may go before it gets dark."

"But, Tokio-chan, aren't you worried for Yaso-chan?" Kurasawa Keiko, plagued with the best intentions, wrung her hands and peered at her servant anxiously.

"Of course, Kurasawa-san," she murmured, truly regaining her external calm once more, "But you and I shall accomplish nothing for her if we cannot get our emotions under control." With the intimation that Tokio had referred to them as some kind of team on equal footing, Kurasawa-san beamed.

"Yes, yes, of course, Tokio-chan! I'll go ask some of the boys to go, right away!" At that, she was off, and Tokio set her sights on the kitchen. Unfortunately, the wolf had not moved from his shadowy hiding place, and he lay between her and the kitchen. Determined to ignore him, she stopped at the well by the gate, and drew a bucket of water, and then walked the long way around the engawa. Perhaps, she thought, although she didn't actually believe it, he would realize that she didn't want to speak with him.

Takagi Tokio was tired, in every way one could possibly name. She certainly did not want to tangle with wily wolves tonight. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the wily wolf didn't want to cooperate with her wishes. As she attempted to put the bucket of water down to open the engawa, she found it taken gently out of her hands, by the animal-like man who had crept up silently to her side.

Quietly, she looked from side to side, to confirm that the engawa was mostly empty- with the coming of spring, many people had gone to work for whomever they had connections with, most heading back out to the fields once again- before nodding and inviting him in wordlessly, extending her hand to the open doorway.

"Tokio," he began, sliding the shoji shut behind them.

"You shall address me," she replied, adding some loftiness into her voice, "as Takagi, if you please, as befits my rank and our relationship, thank you, Fujita-san."

There was silence for a moment- obviously, he was unnerved at her pulling rank suddenly.

"And if I don't please?" He asked caustically, hackles up, "What would you do, Tokio? Bat your eyelashes at me? A good, proper gentlelady, are you?"

"Where is your wife, Fujita-san?" She asked emotionlessly. "A good husband ought to be taking care of his family, not bothering single women."

"Hell if I know, woman! She just walked out earlier this afternoon!"

Tokio was busy shaping food from the empty air in the cupboards, or that's how it seemed to him, and did not face him to reply. "You're the head of your family unit, if you will pardon my forwardness, Fujita-san. All this one knows is that the woman that is in your charge failed to complete her duties today that keep this household running. Fujita-chan is responsible for people greater than herself here, and we must all pull together to survive. Regardless of if she left for her own reasons, or if you chased her off, in one way or another, someone in your charge has failed to complete her duties here."

There was a stony, icy, biting silence that fell between the two of them.

"Now, if you will excuse me, sir, this unworthy one must take steps to clean up the problems that have resulted from your lack of foresight, thank you. And if this one could give you advice, she would tell you to go find your wife, and attend to her, Fujita-san."

Seemingly, he reflected angrily, this day was trying its level best to seal victories away from him. Stepping forward rapidly, giving her only enough time to freeze over her cooking, but not enough time to dodge, he came up immediately behind her, pressing himself gently against her, hand reaching out to parallel her own arm, to gently force her to put the knife she had been chopping with down. Wordlessly, she obeyed, and he felt one unsuppressed tremor. Then, she tried to breathe in such a way as to keep as still as possible.

It seemed impossible for her to be so intimately close to him and still speak in such formal terms, and she sighed. "Hajime, I am tired. Please leave me be. There is so much that needs be attended to- the residents will soon be calling for their supper, and I am one woman attempting to do three women's work. It would ease my mind greatly if you could make sure that Yaso-chan is alright."

"In a moment, a moment," he whispered down into her delicate ear. "Yaso can be an amazingly stubborn woman, but she is not a fool. She has spent long enough wrestling her illness that she knows when it will win, and when to stop. Given a little time, I will most certainly track her down. You, on the other hand, my little Lady Bird," he made the title gently mocking, "Need a little bit of attention."

"Hajime," she replied, attempting to make a sharp retort that was largely ruined by a blush staining her cheeks.

"Hush," he ordered, and leaned over her shoulder at a sharper angle to nibble on her earlobe. Tokio let out the smallest and most delicate of moans. Quiet as it was, it still made the wolf's blood race.

Her own blood rushing faster in her own ears than was proper, Tokio turned in his grip, and against her better judgement, reached up to fuse her lips with his, marveling as his hands set her own body afire, turning nerves into plunging cycles of hot and cold. Hungry, she pressed herself even closer to him, delighting in tasting what she had not partaken in since the last summer.

Suddenly, he ripped himself from her, and was gone before she could even draw in a surprised gasp. The kitchen was empty of him as if he'd never been there, and if for the fact that her kimono was rumpled and her breath was short, she would have believed that it had only been a very potent daydream. In his wake, he had left the shoji cracked, and Tokio jumped as she heard the reason for his flight- the footsteps of Kurasawa Keiko were rapidly approaching down the engawa. Fighting down panic, she straightened her kimono and hair as quickly as she could, and was calmly cutting up vegetables to put into the soup broth as her mistress came stepping cheerfully in through the door.

"Tokio-chan!" She called, much relieved that her soon-to-be adopted daughter had already begun making progress putting things to rights, "I'm glad to see that things are underway here. It seems that the boys found Yaso-san at the Ueno residence. It seems she left to run an errand, but became tired on the way back, and so stopped at her old home. I'm sure that Fujita-san will want to go down and retrieve her. Perhaps I could get him to escort you down the road, and you could take a token of my thanks to the Uenos? Once you are done with supper, of course. I wish to send you because Yumi-san knows your face, and your connection to us."

A pause. Tokio knew that the Kurasawas were attempting to show her off to as many of their friends as they could, so that when they adopted her, her transition from servant to daughter would be a smoother one. "Perhaps, Kurasawa-san, if you were to summon Aomura-san here, she could finish this task, before returning to her mending, and I could accompany Fujita-san before it gets too late."

Kurasawa Keiko beamed warmly at the younger woman. "That was an idea on my own mind as well, Tokio-chan. I'm glad you approve! I shall go find her directly!"

Tokio paused for a minute as her mistress headed for the doorway. "Kurasawa-san? Pardon my interruption…"

Keiko stopped in the door, secretly delighted by Tokio's slightest breach in good manners- it meant that, just maybe, they were breaking through the girl's extreme sense of politeness and duty, and she was seeing them more as family than as masters. "It's no worry, Tokio-chan? What is on your mind?"

She looked on in amusement as the girl passed a very small smile over her face. "Your happiness uplifts my own spirits, Kurasawa-san. May I be so bold as to ask what makes you so happy so suddenly?"

Kurasawa Keiko chuckled a little. "Oh, Tokio-chan, you'll be excited to hear this news! Whenever you are ready to let your past lie in rest- and don't feel as if we are rushing you, the first thing we want is for you to be content- we have found a good man from a decent Tonami family for you to marry. When you decide to become our daughter, you shall be introduced directly."

Keiko was rewarded by a sweet smile blooming across Tokio's face. "Thank you, Kurasawa-san, for looking out so thoroughly for my welfare. I hope that my own personal sorrows will not keep you waiting long."

The motherly figure somiled. "We cannot move these things on our own, Tokio-chan, but I'm sure that sunlight shall break through your sorrows soon. How could it not, with such a secure and bright future before you now?"

"Thank you, Kurasawa-san."

"Well, I'm off, but I'll return shortly."

"Of course."

As the doorway was vacated once again, Tokio fought down the urge to be sick. Methodically, she continued to prepare the supper until the ever-demure Yuuna appeared in the door.

"Takagi-san," she said in her quiet, musical voice, "Fujita-san is waiting for you by the gate." Tokio tried not to look up too fast, and set the ladle in her hand down carefully, brushing herself off.

"My thanks, Aomura-san. I will be off."

"Return safely and soon, Takagi-san."

As Tokio left, she couldn't help but wonder how much Aomura-san knew or guessed about her feelings for Saitou. She decided that it wasn't important enough to concern herself with now.

"Stay close, Tokio," he murmured, and Tokio looked up at the man she was following, realizing, that, in her thoughts, she had been lagging behind him. "There are too many wolves out in the forests, these days."

"And you, Hajime?" She asked, voice vaguely mocking as she hurried up to where he paused to wait for her. "I would believe that you are the most dangerous wolf in these parts. Why should an innocent woman be any less afraid of you than any of the others?"

Darkness had mostly fallen, and his golden eyes turned away from her as they resumed walking again, Tokio hurrying to keep up with the wolf's rapid pace. "Because this particular wolf would protect this particular innocent woman down to the last, and has, as always, her best intentions in mind."

Tokio let out a very unladylike snort, but moved a little closer to him. "This woman sincerely doubts that this wolf has her best intentions involved, Hajime."

"And why is that, little bird?"

She blushed a little at the nickname, but came back with a quick reply. "Because this wolf is walking too fast for the 'little bird' to keep up with him. It would be such a shame if she twisted an ankle trying to keep up with her protector's pace."

His arm flew out so fast that she crashed into it, and only her old training as a warrior allowed her to balance herself so quickly again. As she saw his other hand go for his sword, she stepped back wordlessly and also soundlessly. As soon as his behavior drew attention to it, she knew that there was someone coming through the woods.

Not over the road, as one would customarily do, she decided, so it was, indeed, most likely an attacker. The woods was dark and, although Tokio didn't normally subscribe to this method of thought about the natural world, a little bit frightening. Perhaps, she thought, she was out of practice in sensing others' presences, but there seemed to only be one person, moving slowly through the woods. Much more slowly than a warrior or a bandit most likely wood.

Her eyebrows furrowed. The ki was familier, but there was something a little strange with it, a little off. Like there was something twisted, or it was sick.

"Hajime," she whispered, coming up so they were waiting back-to-back, "That's Yaso, isn't it."

She could feel the sharp nod that affirmed her hypothesis.

"Then what's wrong with her, Hajime? There's something wrong with her spirit…"

Another sharp nod, and then a quiet, directed hiss, "It's the sickness, Tokio. Sometimes it makes her… strange."

To her attuned ears, she heard the very distant sounds of Yaso coming through the brush, feet snapping twigs. It sounded as if she was stumbling, unable to walk straight.

"Tokio," he muttered, very lowly. "Take off your geta, take this from my hand, and run down to the Uenos. Stay there until I fetch you, do not return before then. Now."

"Haji-."

"Tokio!" He barked, as a whisper. The crunching was getting louder. Yaso stumbled into a tree and cursed. Swallowing nervously, she reached over to the palm of his hand, and took the small dagger there as she slipped off her sandals. As silent as she possibly could, she ran down the road, willing her feet to carry her as silently as possible.

Yaso's breathing was getting closer to her, and Tokio fought down an unreasonable feeling of panic. Yaso was her friend, after all, and even if she was sick… But there was something going on here, something that Tokio didn't understand at all. Hajime had not told her all the details. How exactly was Yaso sick-?

Tokio felt suddenly sick, and realized that it was because such an ill presence was so close to her. Yaso's breathing filled her ears, and suddenly the other woman was in front of her, and in her hand was something that glimmered dully in the low light. Tokio smelled the overpowering smell of alcohol. The married woman's hair had fallen free about her, she was scratched and dirty from stumbling through the forest. At seeing Tokio's face, she grinned, but there was nothing friendly in the smile, in fact, it was something quite hostile… almost terrifying…

"Yaso-san?" She whispered. The thing in Yaso's hand flashed as her arm moved, and Tokio realized it was a knife, possibly one of the Uenos' kitchen knives. Yaso just missed as she slashed at Tokio, and the smaller woman jumped back as quickly as she could evading the blow, gripping Saitou's dagger in her own hand. This wasn't the Yaso she knew.

"Wife!" A sharp shout came from behind her, and Tokio felt herself grabbed by the collar of her kimono and thrown roughly backward. Unable to catch herself in time, she fell to the ground and skidded along before sliding to a stop. Quickly, not wanting to be in a vulnerable position in case of a fight, she scrambled to her feet, to see the knife Yaso had been wielding lying, reflecting the new moonlight, on the ground. Fujita had moved to block her view of his wife.

"Takagi-san," he said firmly. "Please take this knife my wife borrowed from the Uenos, and return it to them. An escort will come to bring you back in time."

"Hai, Fujita-san," she replied, finding her geta on the ground, and putting them back on. In the deepening darkness, she had no idea of the condition that she was in, but she was only worried with getting as far away as she possibly could at that moment. Picking up the knife as she hurried by, she didn't dare chance a look at either woman or man.

As she left them behind, she heard Yaso whisper her husband's name, and begin to cry.