Author: Jun-I
Chapter 8: The Proposal
Besides Sanae, there were three young girls staying with Yukino in the House of the Fireflies. They were all taken by force from their families and made to work as slaves in the Amanushi's palace. One of these former slaves, Mizuki, begged the samurai to destroy the Capital. It was the source of all evil plaguing the peasants.
But even if the girl had not made this request, Kanbei and Shichiroji had long decided that they had to destroy Ukyo and the Capital. Heihachi already had her orders. She was to make the necessary upgrades to their vehicle so it could withstand an arduous journey. Thus the samurai mechanic was kept busy. She almost never saw Kyuuzou. But one evening, as Heihachi finished up her work and stepped off the boat, she saw Kyuuzou sitting on the river bank, looking at the water.
Without a word, the small woman walked over and sat herself down beside the lady in red. Kyuuzou gave her an almost imperceptible smile. They sat in silence for a while, and then Heihachi spoke.
"Is Kyuuzou your real name?"
"Yes. My father gave me a boy's name."
Then the crimson warrior turned to her slowly and asked, "Is Heihachi not your real name?"
"That's just the name I use while I am living as a man," the mechanic responded. "My real name is Hitomi."
"Hitomi." Kyuuzou's lips curved slightly with amusement. "I would guess that your parents gave you that name because of your large eyes?"
Heihachi grinned. "That was what they told me. But it's not like anyone else has noticed my large eyes."
"That's because you keep squeezing them into slits." Kyuuzou smirked. Then the scarlet warrior added, "'Hitomi'… I like it better than 'Heihachi'."
Heihachi's smile grew even wider. "If you like it, you can call me that. But only when the others are not around."
Kyuuzou was silent for a moment. Then she spoke, "Well, Little Sister Hitomi, what are your plans after Kanna?"
"I don't know…" the little mechanic said as she stared at the boat. "What about you, Older Sister Kyuuzou? Do you have plans?"
"I have not thought about it." The lady in red replied, "I don't think too far into the future because I don't know if I'll live until tomorrow. In fact, which one of us knows if we'll live to see the next day?"
Heihachi pondered those words, and then she said to the older woman. "But what if we do live till tomorrow? It would be wise to have a plan for that possibility, right?"
Kyuuzou turned to look at the younger woman with a look of mild curiosity in her eyes. Heihachi's face had taken on a wistful expression. "When this is all over, and all the men have gone their way, we can go back to Kanna, just the two of us girls. I'm sure the villagers will let us stay if we ask. We could grow our own food and teach the village girls how to defend themselves."
Kyuuzou said nothing for a while. Then she asked, "The two of us?"
The short mechanic glanced nervously at the red samurai. Then she continued, "The two of us could live together. You know, just to take care of each other. I'm a good cook. I'll do the cooking. Unless you want to, of course."
Kyuuzou remained silent. Heihachi looked worriedly at the other woman's expressionless face before adding earnestly, "You don't have to love me. I would be content with your friendship. But it would make me the happiest person in the world if I could look upon your face everyday for the rest of my life."
The female samurai's scarlet eyes widened. Then she took a deep breath and said, "I don't deserve what you offer me. I have nothing to give you in return."
Kyuuzou rose to her feet and walked away without a backward glance.
"But I don't expect you to give me anything." Heihachi had called out after the blonde's departing figure, her words echoing emptily in the silence of the evening.
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Kyuuzou's heart was beating fast. Faster than it had done in the heat of battle. Confusion and other emotions yet unnamed raged within the scarlet samurai. Without quite thinking, Kyuuzou found her way to Kanbei's room. She did not know exactly why she was there or what she wanted. But when he opened the door, she found herself saying, "I need you. Now."
Kanbei was surprised. The younger samurai's voice was cool and devoid of emotion. Yet he could detect a strain of desperation underneath the calm facade. Strange. She had never approached him directly before. The silent woman always dropped him a veiled invitation and let him follow up if he wished. She never begged. Well, he could not say he was displeased with the change.
He would have entertained her if Shichiroji's curt voice had not cut through the thick evening air. "Excuse me, but we're in the middle of reviewing Heihachi's logistics report."
Kyuuzou looked into the room. The aide was there, sitting at the table. As Shichiroji got to his feet and headed over to the open door, the dark samurai looked from the blond woman to the blond man and then back to the blond woman. Shichiroji followed the direction of Kanbei's eyes. As the handsome young man's eyes came to rest on Kyuuzou, he gave her a cold stare. Then he sighed impatiently to attract Kanbei's attention.
"Please excuse me for now," the older man said as he bowed politely to her. The woman gave a curt bow in return and left.
Kanbei came to her room later that night. Without a word, Kyuuzou had opened the door and let him in. He understood he was just something she used to release her pent-up energies but still, he went to her willingly. Their exchanges had always been wordless, at least on her part. She had nothing to say to him. But that night, as she lay in his embrace, she said one word. A name. It was not his name.
"Hitomi!" she had whispered even as he claimed her.
He stopped and stared down at her in shock. "Hitomi? Who is Hitomi?"
"Nothing! Nobody." Kyuuzou seemed just as surprised herself. Then she recovered and said, "Just a little sister. Forget you heard that."
She put her arms around him, but her eyes had taken on a faraway look. The man looked into those scarlet orbs doubtfully. But he still finished what he had wordlessly promised her that he would do.