Chapter 2: The Morning After
Bayushi Kiri of House Aotora found herself terribly distracted as she tried to go about her work that day. Distractions were a dangerous thing in the Garden of the Green Tiger. Many of the plants produced deadly poisons and toxins that could end her life in an instant, or worse after a thousand nights of agony.
Still, she could not bring herself to concentrate properly. Her mind was constantly returning to the events of the previous night, and every time it did she could feel her cheeks flush bright red. Though her time at the Bayushi Courtier dojo had taught her how to manipulate and seduce a man with sexual arts, she had never once actually been able to experience it with a man.
An insect flew by her ear and she gently shoed it away with her hand. She managed to stop herself before her hand bumped a particularly unpleasant plant with needles. It would not have killed her directly, but the 5 hours of madness it produced in her likely would.
The near miss should have snapped her mind out of the lusty mire it had found its self in, but instead it made her think. Kiri had been studying these plants extensively for five years, ever since completing her gempukku. With the ingredients of this garden she could give a woman nightmares or put her in such a deep sleep that others would fear her dead. She could induce a man to feel rage or sorrow or pain or madness for days. Why should she not use what was at her disposal for her secret meetings as well?
Her mind reeled with possibilities. Could she take away his ability to move and pleasure herself on his body? Could she make him feel intoxicated or obsessed by her touch? And what of herself? Was it possible to heighten the sensations in her own body or produce other enjoyable results?
The idea its self was intoxicating, and Kiri could not wait for answers. She walked as quickly as she could allow herself from the main garden to the library, where hundreds of hand-written scrolls personally scribed by her grandfather were stored. She spent the rest of the day pouring through them, making notes and writing out ideas.
She was careful with her notes, knowing that her uncle or cousin would likely look over everything she wrote. It would not do for them to find her obsessively pursuing a way to paralyze a man's body with an odorless, tasteless poison or intoxicate him without a single drop of saki. Such things would be suspicious, even among the work she had always done for them with poisons and antidotes.
And so it was on this day, the day after she had given herself to the unknown dragonfly, that Kiri developed her own coded system. Within copies of recipes and notes on plant care, she hid parts of her work. A subtle note here, a casual emphasis there, and by evening she had a list of plant ingredients and Aotora toxins to reference tomorrow that she was sure would develop into promising new results. And even more valuable, she had created a way to make her work secret.
"Perhaps one day I will discover a potion that will rid my life of that which vexes me," Kiri dared to breathe as she filed her papers away. It was not an honorable thought, especially since her uncle's face had been the inspiration of the words she had spoken, but it delighted Kiri nonetheless to hear her own voice whisper those words.
It was not until she had cleaned her hands that Kiri realized she had not gone to dinner. It was not the first time Kiri had missed a meal in the midst of work, but it troubled her. Such a thing was sure to make her family curious, and she did not want them to have any reason to take a closer look at her affairs. Nor, she realized, did she have a suitable excuse for missing the meal. All of her work had been disguised as common notes. What could she say to anyone that asked about her work that would convince them she had a reasonable and unsuspicious reason for not attending a meal with them?
Sure enough, Kiri's mother was waiting for her in her room when she returned. Aotora Kioso was a beautiful woman with a frail figure and fine feminine features that had not yet seemed to age. She looked much like a doll to those that did not know her well. Kiri knew better. She loved her mother deeply, and respected her as she should, but Kiri knew that her mother embodied everything that a Scorpion was to be, and she was very loyal to Kiri's uncle and the family as a whole.
A bowl of steamed rice and a plate of fish sat on the small table, opposite from where Kiri's mother sat. Kiri bowed respectfully and took her seat on the floor, picking up her chopsticks without a word.
Kioso allowed her daughter to eat in silence, and Kiri tried not to think about what was going through her mother's mind. Such questions would have no answers and only seek to break her composure. Kiri focused instead on her food. It was quite good despite the coolness of having been untouched hours after cooking.
A smile appeared on Kioso's face after a stretch of time had passed, and she broke the silence. "You were missed at dinner, my daughter. I trust everything is alright?"
She sounded genuinely concerned, and perhaps she was, but Kiri was very controlled in her response. "I am not sick if that is what you mean."
Her mother continued to smile. "I am glad to hear it. I do worry about you so amongst father's plants. There are many ways to accidentally end your life."
Kiri raised her eyebrow. "There are even more dangers where you work, crafting what the plants make into poisons of death for weapons and teas. Surely I have proven myself capable to tend grandfather's garden by now."
"It is a mother's place to worry," Kioso replied with a dismissive gesture. "And it does not take much to lose yourself in our garden, no matter how careful you have been in the past. A single distraction can be your last."
There was a slight tone of emphasis at the end of her words. In the past, Kiri would have feared that her mother already knew what she had been hiding in secret and would have blurted out a confession. She had since been taught the trick herself, to make people think that you knew their secrets. People were always afraid that someone knew their secrets, so it was easy to convince them of such.
Ironically, this realization brought a great calm to Kiri. She smiled appreciatively at her mother and kept her voice free from any negative emotion. "Since uncle insists I stay in the garden it seems logical that I learn to enjoy my time there. It is my duty, after all, to make sure I give my best in all that I do for our family."
Kioso's smile widened even more, and she tilted her head slightly as if bowing to concede a point. "Such words sound rehearsed, but they are quite true. Still daughter, I would ask that you try to avoid skipping meals in the future. Your duty is not limited to your work."
Kiri's mother got up with that and left without further comment, leaving Kiri a bit uncomfortable. At the least she had aroused her mother's suspicions, and at worst she had already been discovered.
As she prepared for bed, another horrifying thought struck her. What if her secret lover did not come for her tonight? He had already taken her wholly, and without the physical manifestations of the ideas in her head she may not have anything new to offer him. What if he did not come tonight out of caution, or worse? What if he was satisfied or tired of being with her?
Settling down on her mat, Kiri pulled a pillow close to her chest. She lay on the pillow that night for what seemed like a long time, trying not to wonder how many other women her dragonfly may have waiting for him this night. Her eyes were closed, but her troubles would not let her sleep.
Here lies my flower
Peaceful, graceful, beautiful
Will she bloom for me?
The poem was whispered in her ears, and she froze in excitement. She felt the lower hem of her night robe lift slowly, and two firm hands rubbed her ankles gingerly. They worked their way up her calves and thighs, pushing the gown up as they went, until they had exposed her butt from beneath the silk that had covered it.
"Have you not yet grown tired of my cup, my dear dragonfly?" she asked without turning to see him there.
His warm, affectionate voice answered in whisper. "I have barely even begun to drink from you, and I fear my thirst will never be quenched."
He began to kiss her calves slowly, sending chills up her spine. She dared not move an inch as he worked his way up her inner thighs, desperate to savor every sensation of touch. Her heart was pounding to get out of her chest, and she gripped her pillow even tighter as an effort to keep it in.
Not breaking the rhythm of his kisses, she felt his hands slide down off her butt back to her thighs and spread them out. Expectation surged in her body, and she found herself silently begging Benten that he would continue his trail of kisses upwards.
She felt his lips brush the ones between her legs and allowed herself to gasp appreciatively. She had learned that he enjoyed such noises from her. They encouraged vigor in his actions, and sure enough she was soon panting and moaning happily as his tongue danced around inside of her. Even after her first orgasm he did not slow his assault, lapping up the juices that slickened her inner walls. It was not until the third orgasm had shook her body violently that he crawled up her body and entered inside of her as he had the night before.
It was just as wonderful this night.