Chapter Twenty-Four: Winter Secrets
When winter finally dawned, heralded with a snowfall fierce enough to give half the village the flu, thoughts quickly turned to New Years, with everyone splitting their time between usual village life, and preparing for the annual feast in the Elder's house. Since Nobu and Asuka's father were handling the to and froing from town with the wagon, Hanzo was left with pretty much nothing to do, and settled for keeping me company in the house. "New Year's Eve, the best food and only legal method of getting to the alcohol. So, fancy helping out a friend?"
"When you say, 'legal method'…"
"Okay, it's out in the open, but Nobu keeps his eyes on it." Rolling my eyes at him, I was rewarded with a wounded look from Hanzo. With everything that had happened, including the recent bout of illness, my interactions with him seemed to have a new layer, but one that I wasn't quite sure of yet.
Inconsequential things, such as our fingers meeting every so often, or the small jokes that passed between us as he helped me clean, things that had started after that quick hug on the night of the Harvest Festival.
Smiling over my lunch, I scooped the last of the rice in, and was just getting up when he reached out, gently stroking my cheek, and making it flush "Hang on, you got a little something right…"
"Sayomi, we're home!" Hanzo quickly pulled his hand back, the small rice grains on the tip of his finger just as Ranmaru and Itsuki clambered in again, shaking their hair clear of the snow. Face still red, I didn't dare look at either of them until I felt my cheeks slowly begin to cool again.
When I finally managed to face them again, hair firmly pushed out of the way, Ranmaru was staring at me with an odd look of suspicion and wonder, the look turning to hate when he glanced over at Hanzo.
Oblivious, to this wordless exchange, Itsuki was making Hanzo help her with her cloak clasp, which had tangled in her hair slightly. Clear from their view, I sent a glare over to the archer, eyes narrowing in a manner that practically dared him to say something. He kept quiet, but something told me that this kind of situation would not be so easily forgotten. I was right to be wary.
After settling the kids in for the night and seeing Hanzo and Saburo off when they left for one of the village's 'special' jobs, I stepped out into the garden for a bit, sword in hand for some practise. However, the third movement was cut short by the door sliding open, and Ranmaru sitting on the modest decking after locking us out again. "You like him, don't you?"
"Hanzo? He's nice enough." I shrugged, continuing the dance.
"You were blushing, Sayomi." He spat the word out as if it was the plague, "Like you used to whenever Ieyasu was around."
Dropping the tip of my katana to the ground, I turned slightly, facing Ranmaru with a similar glare as I had earlier, "You do a good impression of Oda, you know that? Get to the point."
"I guess I just don't get how you can fall again so fast, especially when he's clearly hiding something."
Mouth opening and closing like a salmon's, I settled for retreating back into my Blade persona, building a heavy defence, "Whatever you're implying, forget it."
Defiantly, Ranmaru just stood up on the deck, gaining a few inches so we were at eye level. Then he snorted, turning to go back in, "New Years is coming up. Guess you'll choose then, huh?"
"I can look after myself Ran. I don't need you trying to act like him."
Halting with his foot in the doorway, Ranmaru's shoulders tensed, and I knew I'd struck a nerve. So this was what it was about. A few tense seconds passed before he finally spoke again, tossing the words over his shoulder with malice lacing every part of them, "At least my loyalties never shifted."
Before I could react, he'd slammed the panel closed, the latch going back into place. Forgetting my boots, I stepped up, hammering hard on it, "Low blow, Mori!" When he didn't answer, I gave a tug on the frame, my anger growing when it didn't budge, "You fucking locked me out!"
"Good, go spend the night with lover boy!" Lips pressing in a firm line, I settling for giving the door another punch and then storming off, collecting my sheath on the way. If he wanted to act like a spoilt brat, that was fine with me!
Still…there was something in Ranmaru's arguments that bounced off one of my own suspicions. The village had a secret we weren't privy to, and knowing this only made it more frustrating. The only problem was we also had no way of finding out the truth.
Back when Oda was still around and very much in charge of our lives, Ranmaru and I had several small spats that usually lasted less than a day, typically because we didn't think holding a grudge for too long was worth sitting through one of his lectures, or worse, one of Nohime's.
Without their influence however, we managed to last around a week without speaking once to each other, leaving poor Itsuki in the middle trying to make peace without really understanding the cause. On the plus side, we now had a new game to keep us entertained, but since it involved locking the other one out at night, a winner didn't seem to be appearing. After news of the feud hit Mizu's ears, she began waiting outside the house, ready to greet the loser and walk them back to her and Hanzo's house.
Since Ranmaru was somewhat of an expert at sneaking into places where he wasn't supposed to, and had more of a flexible schedule compared to Nobu's woodcutting or Chiyome's cooking, most of my nights were now being spent in Hanzo's room, usually after a mini lecture to make things up with Ranmaru soon. Until one day, the temporary routine changed.
Rather then opening Hanzo's door, Mizu nudged me into hers, "Hanzo's coming back tonight, and if I know him, he'll want his bed."
"What about you?" I queried, taking the opportunity to glance inside her room. Other than a few wood and stone carvings on the shelf above her bed, there wasn't much. It was Hanzo's room that had all the homely touches.
From where she was poking at the hearth to stoke it, Mizu gave a half hearted shrug, "I'm going to stay up for him. Saburo'll want something to eat too most likely."
"Want me to stay up with you?"
"It's alright samurai, you'll need your energy tomorrow. Elder's holding a meeting about New Years, and since you'll be the only coherent scribe, you drew the short straw." Mocking a groan, I was rewarded with Mizu's withering smirk before closing the door and curling up in the blankets.
It must've been about midnight when I snapped awake, disturbed by Mizu's voice, "Quiet, Sayomi's asleep."
"What's she doing here?" My curiosity was awakened by Hanzo's voice, further piqued by a loud groan, "Sorry Saburo."
"Her and Ran had a falling out and she couldn't get home in time." Saburo whined again, and Mizu scoffed, the sound covering me pushing the door enough to let a sliver of light in, my eye pressed eagerly against the slit.
Hanzo appeared to be crouched in front of Saburo, and Mizu was nearby, holding a roll of material. After a lengthy few seconds, Hanzo moved away again, a makeshift sling supporting Saburo's left arm.
Examining it for himself, the injured boy gave a shrug with his available shoulder, "What was the falling out about?"
"Their business, not ours."
"Mizu…" Hanzo warned lightly, turning to look at his sister. Unperturbed, she shrugged, closing the subject before it could begin. The hearth had barely spluttered before he spoke again, "I'm going to check on Sayomi."
Exchanging surprised looks with Saburo, Mizu intercepted her brother before he could reach the door, giving me time to scuttle back into the blankets, "Leave it for the morning."
"Mizu's right, you're covered in sweat. Not what you want to be waking your girl up with."
"Not what I meant, Saburo."
Hanzo scoffed slightly, but there were no footsteps bringing him closer, "Alright, but tomorrow, you're not stopping me."
"Wouldn't dream of it, little brother." After checking on Saburo again, Hanzo said goodnight, heading off to his room. Straining my ears slightly, I just heard Mizu's quiet sigh, and Saburo's laugh. "He could've picked worse."
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
