REVISED: 05 February 2019

12. The Betrayal

-;-

Misao shoved hard to Soujiro but he would not budge. His kiss was excessively forceful and uncomfortable; his hands pressed on her back and it inflicts a pain on her. When he finally let go, she swung her hand to slap him but it never reached his face. Instead, he caught her wrist and Soujiro gave her a big smile in return, "Such a feisty spirit you have, Akari-chan! But we must behave in public you know. There will be a time for that later."

Shishio suddenly appeared on the scene, "I think it is time for you Soujiro to take your fiancée home, she seems to be ill again."

The room shrunk around Misao, the words Shishio spoke hit her hard, the shock making her speechless.

Soujiro shrugged and wrapped his arms around her as he led her towards the door. In the sudden burst of panic, she turned around to search for Aoshi; who was, looking directly at them. Misao looked at his expression, the way he was looking at her was very cold – and hurtful. She could feel the chill and hatred he was giving her.

Misao wanted to scream. Misao wanted to kill Soujiro. Misao wanted to yell the truth but every word was on the tip of her tongue as she felt a sharp pain on her waist. Soujiro leaned close to her ear and whispered, "My dear fiancée, you must remain silent and never utter a single word or I will kill you using this dagger. And also, the life of Yahiko depends on your obedience."

And with that, she had no other choice but turned her eyes to look at Aoshi from the distance. For a moment, his eyes intensely fixed on her then he looked away.

He would never forgive her.

In a sudden time, Soujiro pulled a handkerchief from the sleeves of his black kimono and put it forcefully to her nose - it smelled really awful.

The world around her became dizzy and everything went black.

-;-

Aoshi saw red, the faint glow of sunlight. He stood on the tallest tower of the palace and glared into the sunrise. It had been hours since he had been betrayed by his bodyguard and of course, the woman he loves the most.

No, he had been betrayed the entire time; the image of Soujiro kissing her made his blood run cold. The idea that Soujiro was laying his filthy hands on her while he was away was too much pain on him.

And to think how he completely trusted her…

"I am a fool." Aoshi whispered and looked at the far distance.

He was ready to kill Soujiro who dared to kiss her at his front. His fists clenched and he grabbed his kodachi as his feet were ready to find the offending man when Shishio suddenly appeared. Kamatari and Yumi bowed at him.

"What are you doing here?" Aoshi coldly asked.

"Don't blame yourself, Aoshi-sama." Shishio said. "She was always a deceitful woman"

"Explain.", was all he managed to say.

"Kamatari will, my Lord. Yumi and I must go to check Akari and Soujiro." Shishio answered and led Yumi to exit. Both of them smirked which Aoshi found distrustful.

Once alone, Kamatari began an explanation…

"She was so thrilled to have caught you, she bragged nonstop on how she had seduced you! At first, we assumed that she would stop as Soujiro started to court her! We all thought that she was going to choose you instead of Soujiro but everything was completely the opposite. We thought that she would stop playing her games and who knows what more tricks she had on her sleeves! My deepest apologies, Aoshi-sama. We should have not attended the ball tonight." Kamatari paused then her face twisted with pain. He saw a glint of regret in her eyes.

"For how long?" he asked.

"They have been together for a month, Soujiro never failed to visit her every week! And looking at Akari, she must really love him!" She paused. "Aoshi-sama I…"

Aoshi walked away, he does not have enough patience to hear the details anymore…

"Son!" someone shouted, it was his father calling him out from the distance.

"What?" Aoshi replied in annoyance.

Hiko ran towards him… "Son, why did you left the ball so early? Your mother and I wanted to know what's wrong."

"Nothing." He lied. Why could he never find a moment of peace? Every time he was in this castle, nowhere Aoshi had found the contentment in this place.

An image of her face came to Aoshi's mind. It was pleasant but it was painful at the same time. He glared at the thought; he could not accept that he belonged to another. The worst part was, he cannot do anything about it…

"I have made my choice." Aoshi stated and looked at Hiko.

"Oh, have you? Son, I have been thinking about that and…"

"Tell people in Kyoto that I will wed Princess Emi and that's my final decision. Arranged the announcements and the wedding whenever you wish." Aoshi said and walked away.

"But son, are you sure about this? What about Akari? You already love her, don't you?!" Hiko asked but Aoshi ignored him. "I'm the Emperor and I demanded you to answer me!" Hiko yelled in frustration but his voice drifted away in Aoshi's head as he walked away and went to the baths; hoping to wash away the feeling of betrayal.

The warm water made him feel better but nothing could wash away the pain. He had been wounded before with all the manner of swords, daggers and war…

…this wound, however… he feared it would never heal.

The whole palace was in uproar. The many ladies went home with disappointment. It was officially announced, the Crowned Prince Shinomori Aoshi will marry the Princess Watsuki Emi after all.

-;-

Misao must have passed out. The next thing she knew was a rude awakening outside the front door. She had completely regained her senses just in time to be roughly shoved through the cellar door and braced herself for the impact on the wooden floor.

"I got you." A familiar voice said and caught her quickly.

"Yahiko?" she uttered in surprise and looked at the young man.

"Yeah." Yahiko replied.

By then, she felt a deep feeling of relief followed by… nothing. Hallow, cold and nothing. She must have felt sadness, nervousness or pain but it was the shock that filled her thoughts this time. Everything was so wrong. She was planning to tell Aoshi the truth but everything was now a mess.

"Are you alright, Misao?"

"How could I be alright? What are you doing here? Where's Shishio and the others and why… why…" She rambled and paused to take a deep breath.

"Calm down, okay? Tell me everything that happened." Yahiko said as he put his hands to her shoulders for comfort.

"You… you don't know?" she told Yahiko, confused.

"I know why I am here but you… no. Tell me Misao, is Megumi okay? How about Sano?" he asked.

"Sanosuke and Megumi?" This new turn puzzled her. Her mind went to her friends. She only prayed for their safety.

So Misao told Yahiko everything that happened since she had last seen him. Yahiko remained silent throughout Misao's explanation but he was surprised to hear that Soujiro kissed her.

"But he is Aoshi's bodyguard, isn't he? How could he do such thing?" Yahiko asked and his eyes wide with a conclusion, "HE'S A BLOODY TRAITOR!"

Misao thought the same thing. "I know! Tell me Yahiko, why and how did you get here?"

Yahiko sat on the floor as he recalled the incident, "You remember the morning when you escaped to see Aoshi? That morning while you were away, I was working in the poultry. Shishio said that he had something for me. And then he led me here and I was shoved inside and the door was locked. I yelled at him and demanded him why was he doing this to me. He told me that he knew what you and I have done! He also threatened to hurt Sanosuke and Megumi if I did not remain silent. I was very afraid Misao, very afraid especially when I am thinking about our friends so I did what he said but it seems that Shishio forgot that I was here."

Misao burst with anger. "Yahiko, he also used you as a threat against me! I was planning to tell Aoshi-sama the truth tonight but Soujiro was there and kissed me in front of Aoshi then he said I was his fiancée and the next, I must have been passed out. When I woke up, I was here."

"He is evil, Misao… a really wicked evil." Yahiko commented.

"Aoshi must have hated me." Misao cried.

"That Soujiro…" Yahiko paused, thinking. "There's another group of men involved with this. I heard them talking behind these walls last two days ago."

Misao listened.

"Just before the last ball, I was locked here and pretended to be asleep. Suddenly, I heard many footsteps outside and I also heard the voice of Kamatari. The footsteps turned out to belong to a group of men. They called themselves Juppongatana, a group of samurai who held a deep hatred for the royal family. And guess what, Misao? CHO IS STILL ALIVE."

Misao's eyes widened in surprise. Suddenly, she recalled the very first day she met Aoshi and Soujiro in the woods as a servant girl. That time, Cho and a group of men tried to tolerate her but they saved her.

Soujiro panted and paused as he looks at Misao. "Don't worry, lady, I've killed all of them completely. And Aoshi-sama, I've already buried their bodies!" He laughed.

"Soujiro… that liar! He told us that he killed Cho!" Misao yelled in annoyance and swallowed all the puzzle pieces that seems to fit together.

"Misao, I don't think Shishio wanted to marry Kamatari to Aoshi. I think, he was planning to assassinate the Imperial family in the first place!" Yahiko cried.

"But, murdering the Imperial family? Why?" Misao said.

"One time, when Shishio tossed me in this room, he told me that he loathed the government and people like us. And when I heard the Juppongatana's plans to take over the government; it seems that Shishio is the leader in all of this. They had been planning this for many years."

Misao stared blankly. "What can we do, Yahiko?" she cried in agony.

"We must find a way to escape and warn the Emperor."

Yahiko sounded so sure but Misao had sunk completely into hopeless darkness with no light to pull her out.

End of Chapter