Listening to roosters and sparrows through an open window, Madara was slowly waking up; almost precisely at dawn, as always. Commonly, that was his ideal time to get up. His day would last longer, and he'd get everything done by late noon, and then had the rest of the day for relaxing or whatever else he would plan. This particular morning, however, wasn't so refreshing. He had trouble falling asleep the previous night, so instead of his usual six hours, he slept only for three.

He was trying to think of an acceptable way to tell Mego about his and Amako's conversation, and lost track of time. He wouldn't even regret it had he actually been able to come up with something. Being direct and blunt didn't come very hard to him, but he was honestly worried about her answer – whatever it ends up being! If she accepts, that would mean she really would become his wife; if she refuses, living with her would be very, very strange after that.

That was the reason he avoided going to even see her for the whole previous day, and through some unexpected luck, she never came looking for him. Mego would usually seek him out as soon as she knew he was home.

He got up from bed, accepting there was no point in lying around anymore, as sleep would just continue to escape him. Instead, he planned to train and take a shower, then see how the rest of the day would progress. He would eventually get down to having the conversation with Mego, there was no use in overthinking it.

So, upon finishing his morning rituals, Madara slowly made his way over to the training area, wondering what type of training he would even do. First, he'd stretch, sure, but after that, he couldn't decide whether to practice taijutsu or ninjutsu. He sighed lightly. Same as everything else on this morning, he'd just have to wait and let things happen on their own. He rarely did that. Maybe he could try to think this was refreshing?

No, not really.

As he was approaching the training garden, though, he heard voices; Tajima's and another one, he wasn't able to recognize. So he picked up his pace, about to bid them good morning, but ended up swallowing his own words instead.

Uchiha Yushiro, his mistresses' husband and Tajima's old friend, stood opposite him, looking anything but friendly this particular morning. As much as Madara wished to lie to himself and hope the man just came by to chat, he knew better; sadly. Both men looked at him, almost with equal contempt. His instincts almost had him bite his lip at the uncomfortable sight, but he suppressed them, as he usually would.

"Until next week, then, Tajima." Yushiro said, offering Madara another serious glare, before calmly going to the gate and leaving.

His father sighed and came closer, standing right before him. Madara had to keep his gaze straight, as his eyes were about to dart and look away from Tajima's strict gaze. The man stood still and watched him; his anger silent, but very much obvious.

"What did—" Sharp pain cut his sentence short when the back of Tajima's hand struck his cheek, leaving his face feeling like it burned, from soreness, or disgrace, he wasn't sure. He could have stopped it, or evaded it at least, but alas, they both knew he deserved it. For a brief moment he thought of Hisa, and wondered if she was well. He never knew Yushiro to be violent towards his family, but one can never be sure.

"You lied to my face." His father's voice was barely above a whisper, and knowing him, Madara could tell that was nothing else but calm before the storm. Finally, he averted his gaze, not wanting to provoke the old man further by staring right back.

"That man" Tajima pointed towards the gate Yushiro left through, "is my friend. That man is an Uchiha. And you ruined his marriage." He grabbed Madara's chin and made him endure eye contact once more. "As if we lack enemies that tear us apart, you had to go and do something so horrible."

Madara managed to resist rolling his eyes, but he jerked his face out of Tajima's grip.

"You're talking like I raped her. She came to me first—" Another strike. He let out a shaky sigh, restraining his need to hit back with all his might. Come to think of it, all he's ever done lately was hold back and let people say whatever they wanted straight to his face. And that pissed him off.

"Now Yushiro wants to fight you in a duel."

"So? I'll fight him—Ah—" Another one. "Father…" He warned, slowly, his rage bubbling inside of him. He would rather cut his arm off than strike Tajima, but the man kept pushing him.

"And then? His marriage wasn't enough? Now you would leave his children fatherless?" Inhaling deeply, as if trying to calm himself, Tajima stepped away. "He doesn't stand a chance against you, Madara. None of us do." Once more he pointed the direction Yushiro went. "He must defend his honor, at the cost of death. And I cannot permit him to fight you because that is simply hopeless." He brushed his fingers through his short hair. "And now I have to fight my friend, because you had to screw his damn wife!" He yelled, and Madara flinched, unused to the man raising his voice.

He remained silent, as his father went on. His words left an impact. The worst thing about it all was that Madara couldn't really disagree with anything he said. It was all true, as much as it hurt to hear.

He lowered his gaze once more. The lump in his throat grew to the point where he was afraid to speak even if he had anything valid to say. No, he wasn't going to cry, even though he wished to. He would suggest how he didn't actually have to kill Yushiro, but that was an even worse idea than screwing his wife, in the first place. Beating the man but letting him live would be more humiliating than anything else. At that point, killing him would be doing him a favor.

"And then I should believe you didn't dishonor Mego—Shut up." Tajima ordered when he tried defending himself. Mego was the one person he knew he never hurt, but the man continued before he had a chance to speak again.

"Did I really raise you this way? I raised you to think everyone your pawns? Men for killing, women for fucking, right?" He chuckled.

Madara wished to say something, deny any of that, but actions did speak louder than words. And his actions didn't even speak; they roared what a bastard he was.

"I'm not the best man out there, but you…" Tajima exhaled exhaustedly. "I'm out of words for you." He brushed right past Madara and left through the same gate Yushiro did.

He stood alone, in that same spot for what seemed like ten minutes. There was no strength in him; he wasn't going to train after this, that one was certain. He couldn't even gather enough willpower to walk to his own room.

A ticklish sensation on his face, trailing down the bridge of his nose, was what finally woke him up, and he quickly used his sleeve to wipe the tear away, sniffing, and taking a look around to make sure no one saw him.

He sighed pathetically, and went to drag himself back to his bedroom.

….

Mego rolled over on her side, unable to decide whether to get up or try going back to sleep. Her bedroom was filled with that chill of the early morning, so she instinctively hugged her blanket closer, but even then, she wasn't really tired; not physically, at least. So, she proceeded to leisurely get up, wash her face, change her sleeping gown for the boring, gray dress she needed to wear. Taking a seat before her mirror, she brushed her disheveled hair and slowly braided it. The bangs that used to frame her face had grown long enough to get into her eyes, so she parted them and brushed them to different sides.

Toya was probably still asleep in her own room; waking her just because she was lazy to do her own hair seemed like a very annoying thing to do. Like something her mother would do, for example, she thought, still endlessly angry with the woman.

Silver jewelry and ornament box on the table caught her attention briefly, and as nearly every morning, she had to resist her wish to put any in her hair or around her neck. It sounded minor, but such things lifted her spirits. She thought maybe looking a bit better might bring her some joy back. Since she both felt and looked gray, her constant timidity only grew more persistent.

Parting herself from her vanity table, Mego made her way out of the room and down the hall, wishing to get to kitchen to prepare some tea. She was at least glad that Toya still slept, so she could avoid breakfast. Her appetite was diminished, same as everything else, but she wanted to evade any questions about it from the others in the house, so with them around, she'd eat, even if she felt like the food ate her right back.

"Mego…" She looked up, slightly surprised by lack of enthusiasm in the familiar voice.

"Brother in law." Her reply was equally absent of vigor, at first. Almost immediately, she remembered to smile, even if all she could conjure up was the tiniest tilt of her lips. "Good morning." She added, a bit more cheerfully.

He appeared troubled, looking back at her with tired, glassy eyes, and only then she took notice of redness on the side of his face. Almost impulsively, she came closer, her hand already in the air, about to touch and inspect the bruise, but her mother's vile words about their relationship came back to her. She curled her hand into a fist for a moment, and simply let it fall back to her side.

"What happened?"

"Just…" Madara sighed, "Just a stupid fight… with father." He shook his head as to stress how much he didn't want to talk about it, and Mego almost went to argue, but her own reluctance held her back, so she simply complied, dropping the subject, and asked him to join her for tea.

Sitting down in the dining room, they stayed in silence for a little while, as a servant was preparing their beverages back in the kitchen. Mego noted the way her brother in law frowned deeper than usual, along with the way muscles on his face tensed and would rarely relax at all. She also found it strange that he never mentioned having breakfast, and he always had to make sure she ate, even when she didn't really want to. The redness was still tainting his fair skin, albeit slightly less than before.

"You should put something cold on that, brother in law." She broke the silence, letting her eyes stay on the bruise. Even if he was going to say something to that, and nothing suggested that to be the case, the servant came in, standing in between them both, and placing their cups on the long table they sat at.

"Leave us." Was all Madara uttered, and the help retreated immediately.

"Will you tell me what happened?" She brought herself to try again, placing her hand over Madara's own that lied on top of the table. "Why would father in law hit you like that?"

It took him a few seconds, but this time around, he did give an answer, still not even looking her way. "He was just disappointed, I'd say."

"Why? Did something happen with the village?" Mego had no idea what could have happened that's so terrible, free only to guess.

"No, not the village. Just me."

"Why would he be disappointed in you?"

Despite having being generally disinterested for the past few weeks, Mego found herself honestly curious. She couldn't think of one thing Madara had done wrong in a very long time; he was the most successful man in their entire clan; he had even made diplomatic progress with the Senju; even she, being absolutely ignorant about politics, knew that generations of people had failed to do that before him.

"I suppose because" His voice was oddly weak and defeated while he spoke, "I'm not a very good man."

Mego sat there confused, staring Madara's way while he calmly went back to sipping the tea, as she tried unsuccessfully to process what he had just told her. He's not a good man, he said. She shook her head lightly, in disbelief. He accepted her into this family like she never even hoped he would; he cared for her and consoled her when Izuna died even though he mourned more than anyone; he walked with her, took her to the healer, made her company, provided comfort and understanding when no one did. Alongside Sumi, he was the only person letting her lean on him; he loved her and he loved her baby even before it was born, then continued to love her even after she failed to bring that baby to life… And someone made him believe he's not a good man.

"That's crap."

Madara nearly choked on his tea, using his hand to wipe it off his chin, and gawked at her, with both amusement and surprise.

"I'm", He let out a small laugh, "really not used to hearing such words from you."

"Get used to them if you're going to say such nonsense again, brother in law." Once more, she laid her hand atop his, locking her gaze with his black eyes, as she proceeded to speak more softly, "You're the best man I've ever known."

He appeared… almost sad, for a moment. His eyebrows came together in that everlasting frown of his, and his dark eyes turned somewhat restless and glassy. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, suddenly feeling like he was about to cry. She'd be there to support him, as he had always done for her.

But, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were clear. He seemed to have something to say, but was reluctant.

"Mego…" Finally, he called.

"Yes, brother in law?" She smiled, wishing to encourage him to open up.

"I love you."

She giggled lightly, unable to stop her lips from forming a wide smile; for the first time in a while.

"I know, brother in law. And I—"

"I'm going to marry you."

She felt her smile drop; in confusion, more than anything else. Had she heard that right?

"W-What?" She managed to ask breathily, powerless to stop the shiver that went through her whole body once Madara gently placed his hand on the side of her neck.

"You heard me. I will marry you." He added in a whisper, and it was Mego's turn to grow restless, feeling as her breathing became erratic, and her stomach turn, leaving her with an almost ticklish sensation.

"I… I don't know what to say, brother in—" She ended her sentence early, about to address him as she usually would, but halfway realizing how inappropriate it sounded.

"Just say yes."

Somehow, she managed to look back into his eyes. They were calm and relentless, letting her know he would take no other answer but yes. Did she even want to give a different one?

How was she even supposed to know that?