Part Five: Going East

Ran batted his eyelids in disbelief, his face suddenly warm, and at the same time he felt a tight knot inside his stomach. "What?"

Crawford gave him that wicked smile again. "I knew that you were going to take Aya's place as my bride."

Ran somehow suddenly remembered that his hair was still pinned high on top of his head, and he felt his scalp itch. He pulled the pin that put the hair together, and let the strands fell like a cascade of waterfall on his shoulders and back. The white kimono made the crimson color of his hair stood out even more. "You knew?" He tried so hard to put together what he was going to ask. How did Crawford know? Did he have someone to spy the house? And if he had known that someone else had replaced Aya as his bride, and he had known that Ran was not a girl, why didn't he…

Crawford stepped closer to the bed, and Ran shifted backwards on his knees, in an attempt to put enough distance between him and the man. However, Crawford simply leaned forward and grabbed Ran's obi. Panicked, thinking that Crawford was going to strip him from his kimono, Ran put his fingers around Crawford's wrist, intending to yank the man's hand from his obi. The skin contact sent shivers down his spine, made his knees weak and his stomach churn rather violently, and he quickly let go of Crawford's wrist and let himself be pulled forward by Crawford's big, strong hand.

With one hand firm on the obi, keeping Ran in place, Crawford used the other to pull the kodachi out of the obi. "Yes, I knew, as well as I knew about this," he said, lifting the short sword at Ran's eye level. "This is such a dangerous thing for a bride to carry. I'm confiscating this, for your own good."

"No!" Ran screamed in shocked. He could not lose the kodachi, not only because it was one of his favourite weapons, but also because it was his only way out. He was going to kill Crawford when they were alone in the bedroom. He tried to reach for the kodachi, however, Crawford stepped back, and Ran fell from the bed, the bundle of layers of kimono prevented his body from hitting the wooden floor too hard, rose petals from the bed showering him.

Crawford did not do anything but watching Ran fall, looking smug. "I'm going to make sure that Yohji does what he was told properly. Get some rest and help yourself with the food. I will send Naoe to help you with the kimono."

With that, he turned around and walked to the door, leaving Ran glaring at him in complete annoyance and dismay.

Words were lost to Ran. He could not even find the right word to yell at Crawford and curse him. He simply felt… he did not even know how to describe his feeling, and that only made him angry at himself.

However, he still had another plan, which he did not like at all, but that thought still put him in a better mood.

He was in the process of getting up, using the bed as support, when he heard a knock on the door. He felt dizzy, as if the floor beneath him was moving, but then he remembered that he was on a ship and the ship had probably started sailing without him realizing it.

"It's Naoe," a voice announced behind the door. "Crawford-sama said that you need my help."

"Come in. The door is not locked," Ran shouted back, not disguising his voice anymore. If Crawford sent Naoe to help him undress, that meant that he had told the truth of his bride to the boy, and there was no point in disguising himself anymore.

The door shifted open, and Naoe stepped inside, and the door moved to close by itself, and Ran tried not to be affected by the scene. It was Naoe who explained, "I'm sorry, I'm weird that way."

"As long as you don't do that to me, I won't care," said Ran firmly.

"I won't," said Naoe as he walked to the chest at the corner of the room. Aya's name was carved in kanji on the wooden chest, however, Ran did not remember one like that among the boxes from Aya's room.

Taking a few things from the chest, Naoe went back to Ran and began helping him undress, starting from the obi, and went through the layers of kimono methodically, taking a break between each layer to fold the expensive clothes neatly and stack them on the bed. After all the heavy silks were off, leaving Ran in chihara and hakama, Naoe helped him put on a lighter kimono that was dark purple in the background with white cherry blossoms all over. He did not utter a single word during the process, nor did Ran feel like talking. There was a flash of thought where Ran wondered if he should ask how Naoe ended up working for Crawford; however, he had the feeling that if he found out, it would only distract him from his plan.

"Would you like to eat while I comb your hair?" asked Naoe as he put the wedding kimono into the chest. "I'll heat the sake and tea."

"No, no need to heat the tea and sake," said Ran. "That won't be necessary."

He went to the desk where food and tea and sake were laid, and sat down on the highbacked chair with velvet upholstery. The chair swallowed him, and he felt uncomfortable.

"I'll make a low table for you," said Naoe as he poured tea into a cup.

"That won't be necessary either," said Ran quickly. He was not planning to stay long anyway.

He ate alone as Naoe combed his hair. The food was cooling, but he had no complaint. He was hungry; he only had some onigiri and tea in the morning while he was dressing, and then sake from the ceremony was all he had afterwards. He wondered what happened back at the Takatori Castle. Had they started to search for Aya and Ken? He hoped they had. He also forced himself to eat as much as he could, although the food tasted like foam inside his mouth. He needed the energy and the strength.

Naoe oiled Ran's hair to make it shiny, and then he said, "I will help you wash your hair tomorrow."

"Thank you," said Ran quietly. He wanted to tell Naoe that he would not be here tomorrow, but he swallowed his words along with the sticky rice.

"Crawford-sama is a good man," Nagi continued. His voice soft; however, there was no affection in it. "You'll be fine with him, he'll take a good care of you."

Ran wanted to tell Naoe that he would be fine without Crawford. He did not understand why Naoe spoke as if Crawford was looking forward to spend the rest of his life with another man as his spouse. Ran certainly did not want to share his bed with another man whatsoever. The thought of sleeping side by side with Crawford made him shudder. He had to run away before night fell.

"I think I could use some fresh air," said Ran as he put his chopsticks down. He gulped a cup of tea.

"Yes, I think you must," said Naoe. "You look pale. You don't get seasick, do you?"

"No, I don't," Ran shook his head. He had traveled with his father from time to time, sometimes on ships like this, although not as big, he could very well handle seasickness.

"Good, because we're sailing through a new ocean and I don't know what lies in front of us," said Naoe as he went to the chest.

Ran frowned. "What do you mean?" His fingers tightened around the tea cup.

"Oh, we're heading this newly-found land called the New World."

The cup almost slipped from Ran's hands, as the news shocked him. What the hell was this all about? "I thought Crawford had to come back to his homeland because something happened to his King."

Naoe came back with a robe for Ran. "Something is happening to the King; however, what Crawford-sama needs to take care of is in Virginia."

Ran carefully put the cup down on the desk, his mind was swirling fiercely. If they were sailing towards the New World, then they were sailing east, and he did not have any idea what kind of ocean was waiting at the east side. He had to go now, before it was too late and he could not swim back to the shore.

"I'll accompany you," said Naoe as he draped the robe over Ran's shoulders. "You might get lost."

"I'll be fine," Ran said as he got up. He did not want Naoe to know that he was going to jump from the deck into the sea. "You just stay here and tidy things up."

"All right," Naoe nodded.

Ran walked out of the room, slowly at first, normally, then when he was out of the door, he quickened his steps. He still remembered the corridors, and he knew where the stairway was.

He was glad to see that the sky was still bright when he reached the deck. It was barely noon after all. He slowed down to admire the beautiful ship. The deck was very spacious, and the ship looked strong and sturdy enough to ride the biggest ocean waves. He felt a bit sorry that he could not be here any longer, but he had things to take care of and he simply did not plan to spend the rest of his life living in another country, another place but Japan, and certainly not a new land called Virginia. He was so caught up with his own thoughts and the overwhelming beauty of the ship that it did not occur to him to wonder why there was nobody on the deck. For a huge ship like Persephone, there should at least be one hundred crew members.

Ran walked towards the railing, and from there he could still see the land at the horizon. They had gone quite far, but not very far away, if Ran calculated it right. It was still possible for him to swim. He was a good swimmer. He was strong, and he would reach the shore with no problem at all.

Ran shrugged the robe off, so it would not burden him when he swam back to the land, then he climbed the railing. The ship was swaying with the waves; however, Ran steeled his heart.

He looked down, at the moving water, clear and blue and beautiful, and took a very deep breath.

He was ready.

"Going somewhere?" someone spoke behind him. It was Crawford.