Tajima sat in his study in the afternoon, unable to stop the thoughts of the unfortunate conversation he had earlier had there with Madara, as well as the one he was just about to have. Behind the wooden desk, on a chair opposite of him, sat Mego, his daughter in law. Apparently, twice over. She kept quiet, eyeing him when she thought he wasn't paying attention.

"I assume you know why I summoned you." He broke the silence, observing her reactions. Her gaze dropped to her lap, expression frowning and bashful. Well, she at least possessed enough common sense to feel ashamed because of this stupid game of house she and Madara wanted to play.

When Tajima learned of their plan to be legally wed while continuing to live as brother and sister in law, he had almost all but lost his mind. At this point, he wondered if his son was actually actively trying to anger him?

"Because brother in law proposed to me." She mumbled out with guilt-ridden voice.

"And do you think that's fair?"

"That he proposed?"

"That you accepted." Tajima narrowed his gaze, not missing a single worried, uneasy change on her young face. "That you'll rob him of the chance to ever have a real wife, a real family?"

Mego let out a deep sigh, unable to take control of her restless eyes once the seed of doubt was planted. It was clear as day she wanted to avoid thinking of it that way, and Tajima was determined to make it so she has to. Maybe Madara was out of his control, but his daughter in law shouldn't be that hard to handle. One more push, and he felt that she would completely give up on that silly idea altogether. He wasn't even sure what came over her to even accept it, in the first place.

"And if you think your life will be much better after you marry him, think again. You don't know Madara as well as I do."

"He did tell me you were angry with him, father in law." Her voice bore a newfound strength, as if she thought that him being angry with Madara changed the facts he had just presented her. As if he ever had the liberty of being subjective about any serious matter.

"Yes. Did he tell you why?" A chuckle escaped him as she shook her head no. "Of course not, I wouldn't boast about it either if I was him." Her expression hardened in worry.

He drew a long breath, paying no heed to the young woman who was on the edge of her seat. The longer she waits, the bigger her doubt would grow.

"He had an affair with a married woman." Making a small pause, he gave her a chance to give some type of reaction, but there was nothing too notable. Sometimes, greatest shock keeps you from even being able to give any response. He was counting on it. "And I will have to fight her husband in a duel because of his actions."

After nearly a minute, she decided to speak again, albeit reluctant and quiet.

"…Why doesn't brother in law fight him?"

"Because I want that man to have a fighting chance. He has children to raise and support. Madara is, however… quite murderous in battle." She gulped, unable to control the fit of blinking that had overcome her. "There," Tajima shrugged, "as I just said, you don't know him half as well as you think you do."

"It's hard for me… to think badly of brother in law, no matter what." She sighed, raising her gaze to meet his. "He's always been so good to me…"

"Yes." Tajima had to agree. "You're Izuna's widow, so he cherishes you. Madara's love for his brother was, well, maybe too great." He frowned, finding that his own words had made a feeling of sadness overwhelm him, causing him to think back of the time his children were growing up. He sighed, abandoning his current train of thoughts.

His one remaining son was in the wrong very often, but on a deeper level, Tajima understood he was simply hungry for love and happiness. He'd been depraved of both his whole life. Sighing, he wondered if he was the one in the wrong to begin with, expecting Madara to turn out perfectly obedient after everything he's lost?

Now, unsure of what he was even going to ultimately tell Mego, he unwillingly had to realize he was about to deny Madara love and family he wanted yet again. Given what a bad example he had set, should he even be surprised that his son refuses to father any children?

He closed his eyes for just a moment to try and chase away all those dark thoughts. They weren't new. He would bury them whenever they'd come to him, but in moments like this they'd sometimes resurface. Ever since his wife died, the upbringing of his children was just one long failure.

"Father in law?" The girl called, sitting up unsurely, after his silence continued for several long moments.

"Do you love him?"

"Of course, father in law." She answered, perhaps with more certainty than he expected.

"As a woman?" Madara swore to him that the two of them shared no romantic connection, but with all the recent happenings, Madara wasn't the one to be easily trusted.

Frowning yet again, Tajima took in the way her confident expression simply melted away at his very simple question, and her gaze roamed the floor, unable to meet his. Well, that did tell him all he needed to know, anyway. He drew in a breath to prepare himself for the words he was about to utter. Who cares at this point? The rumors had already spread, them getting married wouldn't make it any more scandalous that it was.

"Marry him."

"Are you sure, father in law?!" Rightfully confused, the girl gestured. "I thought you would tell me not to."

"I was going to." Tajima admitted in all honesty. "But he needs you." He gulped. "Stay with him, and take good care of yourself."

"Why?" Worry crept into her voice, while she carefully listened.

"Because if something should happen to you as well… I'm afraid he'll lose all control." He stood up before she had a chance to add anything else. He didn't wish to frighten her, and it was obvious he was getting there. "You may go now."

"And… What about his chance of having a real wife and family?"

"Didn't you say you want him?"

Her cheeks almost immediately changed hue at his words, and a fit of ticks attacked her expression once more. Clearing her throat, she spoke,

"Y-yes, but brother in law said we should live as we did until now and—"

"So? You're a woman. Seduce him." Though, her dumbfounded expression made him wonder if she was up to the task?

…

Madara paused his training when he spotted Mego as she was approaching across the garden. He walked over to the tall, wooden fence and leaned his weapon against it. Using his sleeve to wipe some of the sweat running down his forehead, he made his way over to meet her.

"Let me guess, he insists you should reject my proposal?" He said as a matter-of-factly, raising an eyebrow when Mego shook her head. "Really?"

"Yes." She smiled. Madara let out a small laugh.

"What did you do?! He wanted to end me when I told him."

"Nothing, really. I think father in law just changed his mind." He frowned at the vagueness of her answer.

"Tsk, please, Mego, I know him. He never changes his mind. What happened?"

"Nothing happened. Really!" She gestured, almost defensively. "Father in law seems to think you need me, and he says I should stay with you."

"For gods' sake." He exhaled tiredly, growing progressively more annoyed with his sweat, the sun's heat and the almost certainly disingenuous answers he was getting from Mego. Untying his belt, Madara let his long sleeved top slid down his arms, and he signaled for a servant to come closer, throwing the cloth so the boy could catch it.

"I don't believe it." He added, receiving a towel from the servant to tap away the persistent sweat. Trying to release some frustration, he made his training pretty rough, and in the weather that was only getting hotter by day. "I'll have to talk to him again later."

"Are you calling me a liar, brother in law?" Mego asked, holding her chin high and resting her hands on her hips. He almost laughed again at her little display, but instead managed to muffle it down to only a chuckle.

"If you managed to get Tajima's blessing, why is it that you still call me that?" He raised an eyebrow in amusement, coming a few steps closer and ruffling her hair. His mood turned slightly sour, however, as she flinched at the contact, looking away. What had he done wrong now?

"I'm sorry. I'm not sure what I should call you…"

"You really don't like my name, do you?" He attempted a joke. Once more, she hardly registered it, appearing uncomfortable and looking anywhere but him. "Mego?"

Gently taking her chin between his thumb and index finger, Madara made her face him. She was tense, her chest raised up and down quickly as she drew in short, nervous breaths. Her dark eyes would dart over his face, and seemed very in rush to avoid meeting his gaze.

"Is everything alright? Are you changing you mind?" He tried, honestly out of ideas. "Y-you don't want to go through with it?" His throat betrayed him, tightening around his words, while he meant to keep his tone nonchalant. He wanted her to feel that the choice was hers. Although, if she changed her mind now, he wasn't confident about concealing his feelings about it.

"No, no. I do…" She gave a silent reply, barely above a whisper.

"So? What is it then?"

"You're very close, and… w-without a shirt…" She gestured suddenly, and Madara looked down, once her cold hand made a brief contact with his abdomen. "Oh gods! No!" She stared at him, red faced and panicking, "I didn't mean to do that, my hand just—"

Her words gradually died down when he let out a small laugh.

"I understand." He nodded, stepping away. "I'll keep that in mind."

"My lady." Mego's new handmaiden jogged over to them. "You just received a letter. It's from lady Sumi!" The girl smiled, not hiding her admiration for her predecessor.

"Oh!" Mego beamed, turning away from Madara to take the said letter, seemingly very happy for a chance to end their conversation. "Thank you, Toya. I'll go read it immediately." Facing him again, her expression notably changed, as she once again continued to avoid eye contact and blink more than necessary. "Excuse me, brother in—" She cut her own sentence off with a slight squeak. She stood still for another moment, blushing and thoughtful, then settled for bowing and left.

Since when does she bow to me? Madara wondered, confused.

An amused chuckle escaped him at her awkwardness. He never knew her to be so bashful, but their relationship was bound to change now. Who knew what else he'll come to discover?

Shaking the thought away, he drank some water then returned to his training.

….

Going over Sumi's letter for the third time, Mego found her lips involuntarily stretching into a soft smile. She really missed talking to her friend, and even if only through writings, she enjoyed reading Sumi's familiar expressions and tone. She had Toya prepare all the material on her desk so she could write one back right away.

She couldn't wait for the moment they move to their village, so that two of them can be neighbors and spend every day together as they always had. Until then, she settled for asking about Sumi's wellbeing and letting her know about all that had transpired in the house since she left.

Not wanting to talk anymore about the miscarriage, at least not through the letter, she settled for writing about Madara's proposal. She could only imagine Sumi's shock at the news, since to her it probably seemed like it came out of nowhere. Well, Mego couldn't exactly say it was much different for her either.

The proposal, change of honorifics, Tajima's strange behavior, and her restlessness around Madara were all together very overwhelming. Every since she had first gotten married to Izuna, she was used to her life being pretty uneventful. All of these major things at once were a big change of pace for her.

"Tsk…" With an attitude she put the brush back into the tint. She felt cold shivers of embarrassment go down her spine, unwillingly recalling her strange behavior around him for the past days. She didn't mean to act so funny and out of character! She would have loved to be able to act nonchalant and unbothered just like Madara, but it was impossible.

When around him, she kept noting to herself internally to stay calm, to act natural, but then he would go ahead and do something as outrageous as removing his shirt right before her! Of course, she had watched him train before, and he would occasionally do that to cool down as would anyone else, but couldn't he see that now they were different?! She wanted him to know he had to be careful around her, without actually having to say anything so embarrassing.

On top of it all, she had to learn of his affair. Resting her elbows on the desk, she let her face fall into her palms, desperate to get her thoughts in some logical order. Are you crazy? She asked herself, as she kept failing to focus on the important part of that news.

She didn't know exactly what kind of reaction Tajima had expected of her, and by giving none at all, she thought she had done well enough. She knew he wanted her to judge Madara, be disgusted and probably consider rejecting him because of that, yet, all her mind chose to focus on was him having an affair… with a woman. Inappropriate questions raided her mind: how was his courtship, was he as gentle and soft spoken with his lover as he was with her, what his kisses were like, and even—

"My lady?"

She jumped, letting out a loud gasp, and evidently scaring her handmaiden.

"Are you alright?!" The girl asked worriedly, rushing over to her side.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine." She sighed. "I'll be done soon." She added, going back to writing her letter.

She should most definitely be concise in her writing. It would be terrible if anyone but Sumi got to read her disturbing thoughts. She'd have to settle for waiting until they're able to talk in person to finally share this shameful burden with someone.