With Makio it was a whole different situation.
Her letters sometimes let out a sudden outburst of emotions to otherwise strictly professional words.
I hate everyone here. Everyone is either too loud or too annoying.
That's her version of 'I miss you', Tengen discovered.
All the clues I found lead to Kyogoku House where Hinatsuru-san is. The two girls who disappeared had visited Kyogoku before.
Unlike the other 2 houses, Ogimoto didn't have a well-known Oiran, so Makio gained popularity really quick, her schedule full-booked for a whole month.
Tengen hated how that sounded. Other men are waiting and paying to see his wives, they're much more than an object to see and ogle over. But he had no other choice. Girls from Yoshiwara have been disappearing for years, and Oyakata-sama had asked Tengen personally to investigate the possibility of demons lurking there.
So the only option left is daytime. Good, then he won't need to split his time with patrol and other missions.
Makio lazily followed the madam's fast steps, rummaging through the market with a handful of bags and boxes they bought. They've been shopping for the past 2 hours and her feet are starting to ache. Had this been a trip with Tengen-sama and the girls, she wouldn't be in a sour mood like this. Shopping is definitely one of their favorite bonding activities beside chilling in the hot springs, where he would waste no chance to show off his wives to everyone.
This is my beautiful wife. The other ones are buying food over there. Hmm? Yeah, I have three, actually. All of them are gorgeous just like her.
Makio exhaled slowly. As much as she hates admitting it to herself, she missed them. Tengen-sama with his boastful acts and unexpected romantic gestures, Hinatsuru's insightful conversations and delicious cooking, heck, she even missed Suma's whining.
Suddenly a scrawny-looking man ran past them, taking the madam's money pouch forcefully.
"HEY! —" the rightful owner screamed, "PICK-POCKET!"
"YOU LITTLE—" Makio instantly pushed everything in her hands to the madam, jumped back to her kunoichi mode, and started rushing to that man, "THAT'S MY EARNINGS, YOU JERK!"
They sprinted through the market, passersby getting out of their way and gaped. A courtesan running in a very not-feminime way was not something they see everyday.
As soon as she reached the thief in one of the dark alleys, she tackled him and twisted his hands until a crack was heard. He writhed painfully. "YOU THINK YOU CAN STEAL SOMEONE'S MONEY, HUH?! WHAT? YOU EXPECT NO ONE WOULD CATCH YOU? YOU'RE LUCKY I'M NOT GONNA HIT YOU UNTIL YOU'RE BLACK AND BLUE ALL OVER. I CAN EVEN KILL YOU EASILY, YOU KNOW?!"
She snatched the pouch back, then let the thief go. Hah. She probably just blew up her cover. What excuse should she give the madam? That she used to be a runner? She mentally slapped her face.
See? Your emotions always get in the way of missions. That's why male shinobi are superior. Among other reasons. Her father's sharp hiss resonated in her head. The only good thing you can do is to marry a respectable shinobi. And bear strong kids.
"Wow, you're really something else, aren't you?" A manly, familiar voice stopped her unpleasant thoughts.
She looked up to the source, and found her husband; undeniably hot with his hair down and bright red yukata that showed his pecs.
It felt like finally looking into an edible fruit in the forest after 3 days without eating.
She felt her chest constricting and eyes watering, "Tengen-sama…"
It's been a while since she saw him in the flesh, and she can't hold back her happiness.
"Running after a thief is such a sexy move, if I do say so myself" He jumped from the roof where he previously was on, landing in a cool pose he would call flamboyant.
She rushed to hug him, sinking her face to his warm chest.
He just laughed loudly, caressed the back of her head and kissed her forehead, "That's it? Not even a proper greeting?"
"Hey," she pulled away to look at his eyes. "It's really nice to see you, Tengen-sama."
"Hey, how is the busiest girl around?" he leaned back to the wall behind him.
"I'm not busy." A pout.
"Sure. I can't even squeeze into the long list of men wanting to see you."
"You should just barge in one night and knock the customer unconscious." Disgusting men. Her Tengen-sama was better in every way.
"Hey! I don't strike civilians for no reason! I'm an honorable demon slayer, here to protect humans from hideous demons" He puffed his chest comically.
"You do. Remember when we went to that new hot spring Hinatsuru-san found and you hit the owner out of the blue?"
"He's staring at Suma's chest! His drool was all over the floor"
She laughed freely, it felt so good and relieving. "Ew, disgusting! Men really can't keep it in their pants, huh?"
"Most of them, yeah." He paused, looping his fingers to her obi. His voice deepened, "Speaking of which, it's been a while since the thing in my pants got some actions"
Makio laughed, cutting the distance between their faces. "What? You wanna do it here? I don't mind, since you can hear if anyone gets closer."
Tengen gently swapped their places by holding her obi so Makio was the one leaning to the wall.
"Hmm, I don't know how accurate my hearing will be, once I'm busy appreciating my hot ninja wife who I haven't seen in a while." He whispered to her mouth, their foreheads and noses touching.
"Then we just need to keep our clothes?" She asked, looking at his fuschia eyes that darkened with lust.
"You think?" he sucked her lower lip, deep and long until it turned deep red. The gesture was so intoxicating, she felt her sight blurred and head spinning "I'll just get into your clothes, then."
He lowered his body while brushing her sides, the feeling of his fingers through her kimono, forcing a shaky breath to escape her chest. He sat on his knees, built so big that even then his head was on the same level as her breasts. He lifted both of her legs to his shoulders, trailing kisses from the bottom of her calf up to the inside of her thigh.
Conveying his love and longing for her through her nether lips.
"Sorry," he whispered to her ear, hips steadily moving, "Did the wall hurt your back?"
Makio was too far into the pleasure she didn't feel anything else, so she shook her head slightly. The wall was a little coarse, but not sharp enough
Nonetheless he moved her (he always makes it look so easy, as if she's light as paper) and placed his lower arms to cover her back so it didn't touch the rough wall. One of his hands (it's so big, the same size as her head if not bigger) cupped the back of her head, and the other moved quickly; opening the front of her kimono, tucking her hair behind her ear, moving her bangs out of her face, caressing her cheek. His touches were ever so gentle and warm.
"Why not just move to a smoother wall?" she asked, breath ragged.
"Sorry, I can't wait that long." Followed by a particularly deep thrust.
He always managed to reach the right places at the time, thanks to his Musical Score Technique. It's a technique he developed from his years of ninja training, heightened sense of hearing, and his brilliant, analytical brain mixed together, he proudly explained it to them the moment after he used it perfectly for the first time.
"Every living creature — plants, animals, even humans and demons have a certain rhythm. Even when we think they move randomly depending on the situations, if we look closely in enough time, they will repeat similar movements. That's what this technique is about. I convert their movements and rhythm to notes, like a music sheet. Then I can predict the next moves, and find an opening. Flamboyant, isn't it?"
Makio always hated the 'men are superior than women in every way' narration, but she had to admit that's such a genius technique only he can pull off. He's a much better fighter than all three of them combined, not because he's a man, but because he utilizes all his skills to the fullest.
"Will you use that technique for us too?" Suma had asked dumbly.
Makio gave her a smack on the back of her head, "Dumbass! He won't kill us!"
"Ouch! I mean in bed, to make us feel good! You're so mean, Makio-san!"
Tengen rubbed Suma's head and laughed freely, "I have been learning your rhythms so yeah, basically this is an advanced, more dangerous version of what I'm doing to you guys. Just different goals."
He's always open for discussions, on pretty much everything.
"Tengen-sama, how come you never mention the wrong name during intercourses? You have three wives." Makio asked once, pretty early on their marriage, on the dinner table no less. Hinatsuru and Suma blushed, but she thought it was an important question, and they were secretly curious too.
Tengen laughed until his whole body shakes, and when his laugh subdued, "You three are very different"
"Different how?"
He thought for a while, "Your heart beats, moans, sensitive spots and the way your body responds to me, I guess? Like Makio would go crazy if I kiss the back of her ear, for Suma it's her pulse on the neck, and for Hina it's the inside of her thighs. But there are some similar areas, like…"
Hinatsuru whacked the table, her face dark red. "Apologies Tengen-sama, but could we finish dinner first? We can talk about this later."
"Okay, It does feel weird to nibble our food while talking about nibbling…other things…"
"Tengen-sama!" Hina gave him a sharp side-glance.
Raised to be proper and elegant, Hinatsuru then forbade some topics on the dinner table, including bedroom activities, bodily excretions and explicit description of limb mutilation after missions.
Gasping and sticky from sweat, pressing his forehead to the wall beside her head, Tengen asked, "What do you usually do at this hour?"
"Learning shamisen." Makio answered, making sure her kimono was covering her properly.
He let out a shaky breath, "Oh."
She hit his chest, hard but not enough to hurt him. "Hey, you forget your Total Concentration Breathing."
"Your fault. You took my breath away." he said, smirking as he lifted his eyebrows playfully.
Makio laughed, "I didn't do anything."
"You did. You look so good I can't help but ravish you right here. "
"You could've wait a little and meet me at the house"
"I couldn't. Again, your fault."
"Stop blaming everything on me!"
"What? I'm not the one who run after a criminal sexily"
"What does 'running sexily' even mean?"
"You tell me. You're the one who did it."
Tengen didn't say it, but he missed this, quick banters with his Makio.
"Wanna go to the bath house together?" He offered, baths are always one of their favorite things to do together.
"I'll take a bath in Kyogoku, they have a really nice soap."
He nodded and gave her head a little pat. "I'll see you there, then?"
She beamed, "My room is on the west corner, I'll leave a little sign at the door."
Tengen arrived at her room before her. It didn't have any window, so he was forced to sneak through the front door, crawling through the walls and ceiling. Good practice, at least.
She came a little later, hair wet and smells fresh, like a garden full of newly blossomed flowers. She brought a shamisen, its bachi, and a music sheet.
"You should teach me, Tengen-sama" she complained, "the madam is pissed off. She looks like she's about to explode every time she hears me play."
Makio was never a patient learner, nor particularly talented musical-wise. Unlike Tengen who naturally had good hearing and could play any instrument flamboyantly after only hearing it once.
He read the music sheet, "Ah, it's a classic. They played this at our wedding, remember?"
Her face turned adorably red, head bowed down in shame. "Really?! I don't remember, I was too scared that day!"
"Yeah, a different version, but the same song. Here, I'll show you"
They practiced for about an hour before Makio gave up, lying on her back and pulling her hair, frustrated. "AAGH, WHY IS IT SO HARD?!" She let out an angry breath. "I'll never master this. I won't be an Oiran"
Tengen just rubbed her hair, smiled fondly. "That's okay, you're already doing so well."
"You think?" Voice surprisingly vulnerable.
He kept running his fingers through her hair, lightly scraping her scalp. "Yeah. I'm so proud of you."
Her eyes watered before she wiped them harshly. "Stop! I don't wanna cry."
Tengen took the shamisen and started playing some random notes flamboyantly.
"Now you're just showing off," she pouted.
He picked up the pace, playing more playful and upbeat tones. "Wanna dance? You said you want to be a street dancer."
It was one of their game nights, the ones they often do during their runaway from the village, to make the situation feel less terrifying than it actually was.
The question was 'What do you want to be, if given the choice and not a shinobi?' Makio's answer was a street dancer, because 'how nice is it, to dance freely and gain money from it?' Suiting her lively and energetic self. Hina's was a restaurant owner, and Suma's a swallow (Makio had hit her, saying it doesn't make sense)
"Come on," he kept on playing random, flashy, happy tunes. "Show me your flamboyant moves!"
She smirked, then jumped to her feet. "Only if you dance with me."
Hands up, she whirled around, hips moving and legs jumping. Makio danced like she was lost in her own world, one that would bend to her whim. Where she wasn't seen as less just because her reproduction means.
Makio, his wild whirlwind, unpending and unpredictable. His life wouldn't be as flamboyant without her.
