A/N: This took a little longer than expected, but it's also much longer than expected. Thank you for waiting.
Warnings: language, some sexuality
Firefly Effect
Summer Storms
What being Shogun actually meant had never occurred to Amaya. She never considered that it would entail having to announce the reinstallation of the No Hostilities Pact to the feuding Iga and Kouga clans. Though, now that she had the time to think about it, she realized there was no other way such a thing could come about. Struggling just a little under the weight of her head dress, a thing which she was uncertain of its origin or purpose as there had not been a female Shogun ever before her, she cast a curious glance at Hattori Hanzo who was walking at such a brisk pace beside her that she was struggling to keep up. The great folds of ornate cloth making up her kimono, another ceremonial garment she had not expected, were cumbersome and hindered her movement.
Hattori Hanzo was silent and blank-faced beside her, appearing not to notice her inquisitive stare. He was disconcerting. He had shown no reaction when Amaya had broached the subject of the Pact's reinstallation to him. She'd been expecting outrage and blatant disapproval, all the while hoping for agreement and support. She'd received neither, only a noncommittal grunt of obedience and a muttered point about announcing it officially tomorrow.
She craned her head a little further around to make her stare more obvious. Without turning his head, Hanzo narrowed his eyes and returned her look with a cold sidelong glance. Amaya immediately bit her lip and turned away. She thought she heard an irritated huff from the man beside her, but the sound was quiet enough that she could have been imagining it. She hoped she was imagining it.
Amaya hadn't noticed that she was watching her toes as she walked until she jerked her head up upon hearing the scrape of a shoji being opened. The noon sun created a slight glare, and it took Amaya a moment for her vision to adjust, but when it did, she immediately recognized the centermost courtyard, formerly the site of Ieyasu's seductions and more recently the battlefield for Kazamachi and Yashamaru. A makeshift platform sat unoccupied before eleven figures, all of which bowed down as soon as they noticed her presence.
Amaya moved as stately and gracefully as she could to her designated platform, even though she trembled in her sandals and her hands were balled into fists tight enough that her fingernails bit into her palm to prevent herself from fidgeting nervously. It was taking all of her concentration not to clamp her teeth down on the abused corner of her bottom lip. She exhaled long and quiet in an attempt to relax herself just before carefully stepping up onto her platform and kneeling on it. Once settled and no longer afraid her nerves would cause her to topple off, Amaya realized she was uncomfortable staring at bowed heads, and without thinking, spoke to remedy the situation.
"I don't really like staring at the tops of heads when I'm speaking to people," she stated casually, only realizing her blunder when Yagyu Munenori glared at her over his shoulder with unconcealed disapproval. Amaya had nearly frozen under the icy stare, and found herself fumbling for someway to revoke the statement before realizing the bald man below her was completely insignificant. Amaya mustered up a little of her more characteristic boldness and glared back at him. She found his startled expression both amusing and extremely satisfying, and just barely refrained from smiling lazily with contentment.
When she lifted her head back up to face her audience, she noticed several pairs of eyes go wide in shocked recognition: the two women who had saved her from Koshirou, Akeginu, and… It was Amaya's turn to be surprised when she locked eyes with a familiar dark blue pair. Yashamaru had shifted some when she had ordered them to look at her when she spoke, and now knelt on only one knee, his arms crossed and draped over the other. Apparently he had recovered well. This time Amaya could not refrain from biting down on her lip, and she searched his expression desperately for any traces of emotion, wondering if he knew her selfish heart was to blame for his fiancé's death.
"Shogun Amaya," Hattori Hanzo hissed, barely loud enough for Amaya to hear even though she was only several feet away. "You are not here to ogle."
Amaya almost apologized, then decided a narrowed eyes and a hard glare would be better suited considering her position. Part of her wondered absently if she really commanded so much less authority than Ieyasu that Hanzo and Munenori thought they could push her around, or if they had treated the previous Shogun with the same lack of respect. She snorted, just to reinforce that she didn't really care what he thought she was expected to do then looked back at the eleven ninja before her.
And realized she hadn't the slightest clue what she should say. She debated for a half a second telling them exactly how and why she had killed Ieyasu, and realized that such a story would not go over well with the two men kneeling just in front of her. She inhaled deeply, then set her face with an apparent melancholy expression before speaking, choosing her words carefully.
Thank God…"I regret to inform you…"
…that lecherous bastard Ieyasu finally kicked the bucket.
"…the great and honored retired Shogun Ieyasu, my father, passed away last night."
I took the liberty of poisoning the ass.
"As you know, he had been suffering from a cancerous growth in his throat for some time now, and after years of struggling against it, it overcame him. In his final hours…"
…with a knife pressed to his throat…
"…he realized he had made a grave mistake in pitting the Kouga and Iga against each other."
…over something as stupid as the decision of who would be heir.
"So, while on his death bed, he requested that I, his illegitimate daughter…"
Though it's not like Hidetada would have had the balls to deny him…"…have the No Hostilities Pact reinstalled…"
Huh… Actually, I don't think that fool had any idea this is what I wanted to do with the position of Shogun.
"So that no more lives be lost on his account."
…my account, but I can't very well say that either.
"That said, from this moment forward, that foolish competition that id… Ieyasu started is no more." Amaya bit her lip. She'd almost completely lost her slippery hold on formality.
Amaya hadn't realized she'd been unintentionally staring over the heads of her audience, and she dropped her gaze to look at their faces. She wished she hadn't. Mostly outrage looked back at her. The two clans had been so close to finally getting the revenge they felt they deserved on their rival, and she had yanked it back. Eyes narrowed to slits, clenched fists, taught muscles were all tell tale signs that most of the ninja were just barely refraining from attacking her for the injustice she had caused them. She was afraid to look at Yashamaru, terrified that she might see the same malice in his eyes and posture as well.
Her gaze was drawn to the foremost positioned members of the clan, the only names she had taken heed of when Hattori Hanzo was listing them. Oboro and Gennosuke, respective leaders of the Iga and Kouga clans, looked relieved, even happy and the bright eyed glances they exchanged as well as Oboro's slightly flushed cheeks were hard to miss. Amaya cocked her head slightly to one side; if she hadn't known better, she would have guessed the two were in love.
"Amaya-sama," a hissed voice startled her out of her pondering and she looked down at Munenori. "We should be getting inside now."
"Oh… of course."
Amaya was sluggish in her movements as she paraded out, with every step she felt the need to know what Yashamaru felt gnawing a little more violently at her insides. Once they had entered, her steps were small and slow, and she ignored the irritated looks shot back at her by her escorts. If they really wanted to demand an explanation, she would simply blame her outrageous attire and the midday heat. Though with every idle step, she was casting small glances over her shoulder, watching for when the ninja re-entered after her.
Just before they turned the corner, which would have cut off Amaya's line of site to the door, she caught the barest glimpse of the long, baggy sleeves of Yashamaru's kimono, and whipped around, dropping out of her raised wooden sandals as she did so.
"Shogun Amaya, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Munenori demanded of the retreating figure. The girl didn't even glance back at him as she continued to hurry down the hall.
Amaya could feel the more than wind resistant headdress pulling at her hair as she sprinted, and it was a struggle to keep from tripping over the monstrous folds of her kimono. If Munenori or Hanzo really felt the need to run her down and drag her back, they easily could have, but man handling was apparently where they drew line at disrespecting Shoguns, because they didn't chase after her.
By now, she had caught the attention of the line of ninja filing back inside, all of which were staring disbelievingly. Yashamaru had just slipped into another corridor and so hadn't noticed the antics in the hall behind him.
"Yashamaru-dono!" Amaya fisted her hand in the trailing fabric of his sleeve just before she tripped over her kimono and toppled to the floor at his feet, shameful tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.
Yashamaru stared down at her dumbly for a moment. "Amaya-san?" he hazarded the slight lack of formality in an attempt to soothe the creature at his feet. He squatted down in front of her, tilting her head up to look at him with two fingers, not heeding the startled faces the action earned. Akeginu had told him everything, and he had a feeling he knew what was coming. He brushed the tears out from under her eyes with his thumbs.
"Yashamaru-dono…" Amaya trailed, glancing down at the floor just to her right. "I… I'm so sorry…"
"Hey, hey, shh," he interrupted gently, realizing that Amaya would blurt out her whole story in front of all present. "Akeginu told me."
Amaya's head snapped up and large frightened eyes met his, more tears starting to brim from them.
"I thought I told you not to cry," he teased softly, "You're not as pretty when you do." He was whispering and his head was bent low so as not to make the gawking ninjas around them privy to their conversation.
Confusion mingled with the fear, and Amaya's brow furrowed just slightly, a few last tears dripping down her cheeks. "I don't hold you responsible," Yashamaru offered.
"You… you don't?" Amaya didn't bother to lower her own voice.
Yashamaru shook his head. "A four hundred year old grudge killed Hotarubi-dono, not your attempt at making peace."
"But if I hadn't…"
Yashamaru pressed a finger to her mouth to silence her. "The Kouga would have found some other excuse to storm Tsubagakure," he finished for her.
"But I was the reason…"
Yashamaru shook his head. "Not reason," he corrected, "Excuse." He leaned forward so that his mouth almost touched Amaya's ear. "Do you think they really cared that Kunichiyo was killed?"
Amaya's response was a puzzled stare, and Yashamaru was hit by her true ignorance of the Kouga / Iga feud. He sighed. "Trust me, then, when I say they didn't."
Amaya sniffled and fidgeted nervously with her sleeves. "Does that mean you forgive me?"
"There's nothing to…"
Pleading hazel eyes stared up at him. Amaya just wanted to hear those words, he realized. He shook his head resignedly, then offered her a charming smile. "Yes, I forgive you."
It was all Amaya needed; her eyes brightened and she flung herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his waist, and she nestled her head against his chest as best she could while wearing the awkward head dress. "Thank you," she breathed, one weight on her shoulders finally removed.
Yashamaru patted the top of her head. "And thank you," he whispered, "for reinstating the Pact. You were right, you know, this grudge, it was all foolish." He cast a quick glance up at the confused, occassionally seething crowd members. "They'll appreciate it eventually."
Someone cleared their throat behind her, and Amaya lifted herself up some and turned to look over her shoulder. Yashamaru stood, offering her a hand up as he did so, easily hoisting her onto her feet.
"Shogun Amaya, that was hardly befitting one of your status," Munenori chastised.
Amaya's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "And telling me what to do is hardly befitting one of your status, Munenori-san," she replied, smoothing the front of her rumpled kimono as best she could, leaving the entire room to stare at her in shock. Amaya for her part didn't care. She had already turned and was walking back in the direction she had come from, brushing in between the astonished Hanzo and Munenori, who were still for a moment before turning and following after her.
The moment she was in her chambers, Amaya began shedding articles of clothing, the ornate hair piece being the first thing to go. She set it carefully on the desk before yanking her obi untied and dropping it with significantly less care on the floor.
Munenori and Hanzo, who had just entered the room behind her, immediately averted their eyes. "Amaya-sama, what do you think you are doing?"
"Getting out of these offensive clothes," she answered back, "What does it look like?" As soon as the excessively heavy kimono was dropped off her shoulders, she shrugged her much simpler burgundy one back on, which she had stashed in a desk drawer for this exact purpose. In record time, she had tied the navy obi that had been stashed with it around her waist and was turned to dart back out the door.
Munenori caught her arm, just below the shoulder. Amaya paled, realizing just how lucky she was that he had not grabbed her wrist or forearm and gotten a handful of her hidden knife, then yanked her arm out of his grasp. The motion was not pain free, and she hissed out through her teeth. "Don't touch me," she snarled.
Munenori glared down her, and Amaya internally faltered, but remained outwardly glaring back, jaw set.
"Amaya-sama," Hanzo interrupted the staring contest, "Where do you think you are going?"
"Out," she answered.
"You have responsibilities, you know."
"This is more important," she answered, and just before Hanzo and Munenori could get over their shock at her reply, Amaya had bolted out the still open door. Perhaps if they had thought to close it behind them, they might have had a chance of catching her for it would have taken her several moments to drag the heavy wooden portal open. However, with neither the door nor cumbersome clothing to hinder her progress, neither man had a chance of catching the castle bred teen. They didn't even bother to shout after her.
"What was Ieyasu thinking?" Munenori sighed as he dropped onto a zabuton, rubbing his temples, "Naming that child Shogun?"
Hanzo shrugged, pouring two small cups of tea and offering one to the other man. "I don't know. Even with a knife pressed to his throat, I could never see Ieyasu putting his government in so much danger."
Munenori nodded agreement.
xxx
When she was certain Hanzo and Munenori weren't following her, Amaya slowed her pace to a walk. All the rebellion and boldness she had shown her escorts drained away in a matter of seconds when she reached Koshirou's door. Her hand shook when she knocked lightly on the fusuma. She was a little surprised when there was no answer, and slowly slid the paper door open a crack to peer in. Koshirou was alone. He was laying on his side, back turned to the door. Amaya couldn't tell if he was asleep or simply ignoring her. She slid the fusuma open a little more, just enough that she could slip through, and tip toed toward him, so as not to wake him up in case he was asleep.
"Most people don't let themselves in when no one answers the door," Koshirou snarled.
"Oh… I… I'm sorry." Amaya had been nearly at his back when he had spoken, and so she scurried back.
Koshirou immediately recognized the voice. "What the hell are you doing here? I don't want any more of your damn concoctions. I'm fine; leave me alone!"
"I didn't bring any today," she answered slowly.
"Then why the hell are you here?" he demanded again.
"I wanted to tell you that I kept my promise. I've fixed my error. No more lives will be lost on my account." Amaya's voice was steady, even though her heart was racing.
Koshirou snorted and rolled onto his back. "Like you really could have done that."
"I'm Shogun now," she replied evenly, "I can do whatever I want."
"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you? I'm blind, little girl, not stupid."
Koshirou had not been at her announcement, and Akeginu must not have relayed the news to him yet. "It's not that much of a stretch, I am his daughter, albeit an illegitimate one."
"So that bastard finally keeled over. Must have been senile, too, if he named you heir."
"No," Amaya answered, voice still perfectly composed, "Just threatened at knife point then poisoned."
Koshirou was silent.
"I killed him, Koshirou-dono. Held him at knife point until he would name me Shogun upon his death, then waited for the poison to take him. I had the No Hostilities Pact reinstalled earlier this afternoon. No more lives will be lost on my account," she repeated.
Koshirou was still silent. He heard the rustle of fabric and faint noise of cloth catching on the wood floor as though Amaya was scooting closer, followed by the click of her knife release. He tensed reflexively to defend himself and was more than a little shocked when soft hands lifted his arm out from under the thin sheet, then carefully pried his fist open. Something cool to the touch was pressed into his palm, and he could feel the ornate detailing of whatever it was. When he didn't immediately close his hand around it, a tentative palm pressed his fingers to fold over it.
"I… I also promised that if… if you still…"
Amaya's voice was trembling to the point that he almost couldn't understand her as were the hands that had both wrapped around his limp forearm. His knuckles brushed against smooth warmth that it took him a moment after gauging the height his arm was lifted to realize that it was her throat. He both heard and felt Amaya's nervous swallow as she shifted his hand a little to the left.
"I promised that, if after I fixed everything, if you… you still wanted…" Another swallow interrupted her words. "If you still wanted to kill me, I… I would let you."
With those words, Koshirou realized that it was Amaya's knife he was holding pressed against her throat. Her hands fell away from his forearm, and he could hear the dull thump of them hitting the floor at her sides. "I'm not going to slit my own throat, though," she muttered solemnly.
Koshirou snorted too quietly for the distracted Amaya to hear, then wrapped his hand around the knife's hilt in a more useful position.
Amaya swallowed again and closed her eyes. She felt the whoosh of something hurling past her nose and heard the thunk of the knife implanting itself in the wall before she registered that Koshirou's movement had not been one intending to kill her. Her eyes flew open, and she whipped her head around to see her small knife buried almost two inches into the support beam ten feet to her left.
"It wouldn't look very good if I killed the Shogun, would it? And somehow I don't see anyone believing that you offered me your life."
Amaya couldn't think of a right answer, and Koshirou continued.
"Besides, Oboro is happy now, isn't she?"
Amaya was more than stunned and it was muddling her thoughts, so it took her a moment to remember who Oboro was. Her eyes widened in sudden understanding as she recalled the slight blush dusting the Iga cheiftess' face and her bright eyes. "Oboro-dono, she is in love with Gennosuke-dono, isn't she?"
Koshirou made no response for a long moment, and then nodded slowly, biting his lip.
"What were they going to do? If I hadn't reinstated the Pact?" Amaya blurted incredulously.
"Kill each other, I suppose," Koshirou answered with a noncommittal shrug that didn't quite match the solemn hint in his tone. "She was devastated."
"Understandably so…" Amaya trailed in agreement.
"Which is why you have to stay alive, to make sure the No Hostilities Pact is maintained." It had been a sudden conclusion because he was in dire need of an explanation for why he hadn't killed Amaya, which had been difficult to come up with considering he wasn't sure why he had actually spared her. His tone, though, gave none of his uncertainty away.
"Oh… okay…"
Koshirou heard the rustle of fabric and creek of the old wooden floor as Amaya got to her feet, followed by soft footfalls as she went to the door, and lastly the slide of the fusuma being opened just a tad wider because Amaya hadn't closed it behind her when she'd come in.
"At least until after Oboro-sama and Gennosuke's wedding," Koshirou added. It sounded like a half hearted after thought, but Amaya wasn't willing to be so optimistic. She chewed her lip in almost violent in frustration. She wasn't forgiven, not at all, and she found that it was eating away at her. Amaya was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Akeginu, who had been sitting against the door the entire time.
She was half way back to her quarters when she heard something slither quickly across the ground behind her. She stopped a moment, waiting to hear the sound again, and when she did not, she continued moving. Another slither, this time in a hall as she passed by it caused her to freeze and turn on her heel to stare after the noise, even holding her breath, trying to catch the noise again. The only sound in the empty hallway, though, was the frantic knocking of her heart against her ribcage. The third time she heard the noise, she reached for the catch on her knife and realized that her right knife was still impaled in Koshirou's wall. Trying not to let this add fuel to her rising panic, she unhooked her left knife and tossed it into her dominant hand. "Is anyone there?" she asked.
"So sorry to alarm you, my dear," a serpentine voice greeted from behind her. Amaya slowly turned around to face the speaker, "But I haven't been able to help but overhear that you seem to think all is solved."
Amaya saw the armless, legless torso and heard not a word it spoke. She screamed and scrambled backwards, not even bothering to turn and run. She couldn't maintain her balance trying to back pedal so quickly and stumbled, causing her to fall backwards, landing with a thump and a yelp on her shoulder blades and tailbone.
Jyubei hadn't been expecting quite as startled a reaction as he received, having thought she would have noticed him during her announcement. Apparently, though, she had not, if the way she continued to try and back away from him even after her back was against the wall was any indication. "Get away get away get away!" she screamed and kicked her legs out at him.
Jyubei did as asked and stopped all forward motion and merely stared at her until her she ceased her howling.
Finally, when she realized her shouting was neither bringing her help nor frightening the limbless creature away, Amaya became silent. "What are you?" she squeaked out timidly.
"Jimushi Jyubei, living torso and Kouga ninja," he introduced eloquently with as much a bow as he could give,
This seemed to allay Amaya's fears some. She could feel her heart rate slowly dropping back to normal. "And you are stalking me through the hallway because…?" she trailed dubiously.
"I thought I should let you know, that despite your thoughts to the contrary, the mess you caused is not yet completely cleaned up."
"How do you…? What do you…?"
Jyubei didn't wait for her to finish a question. "I'm a reader of the stars, my dear, I know everything, and your future's not cleared of disaster just yet. I thought I should warn you." He turned to go.
"Wait!"
He noticed Amaya's hand reach to grab him then suddenly jerk itself back, uncertain. "That's not what I meant… How do you know this is my fault?"
Jyubei flashed her a wicked smile around his pipe. "Amaya-dono, I already told you, I know everything. Don't worry, though, that includes what futures and pasts need never be spoken of."
"Uhm…" Amaya was left speechless.
"Take care, my dear." Amaya was just a little startled by the speed at which he slithered away.
xxx
Akeginu wiggled the hilt of the knife Koshirou had implanted in the wall until it was loose enough for her yank free. "You didn't kill her," she stated conversationally, studying the decorative knife handle. "I'm intrigued."
Koshirou rolled onto his other side, facing away from her, grumbling incoherently in response.
"You were intent on killing her. Why didn't you?" Akeginu asked a little more directly.
"It wouldn't look very good to kill a Shogun," Koshirou dead panned.
Akeginu snorted. "You didn't believe that when you told Amaya and you don't believe it now."
Koshirou winced, but didn't deny Akeginu's statement.
"I think you saw something in her, something you…"
A soft knock on the door interrupted her. Akeginu let the thought dangle and went to answer it. "Shogun Amaya," she greeted warmly. "Returned for your knife, I presume?"
"Please, Akeginu-dono, just Amaya is fine."
Koshirou could hear the faint chink of Amaya's knife being replaced in its sheath.
"Actually, I brought this for Koshirou-dono. I don't know if he actually needs it, but I thought I would…"
Akeginu noticed the way Amaya was craning her head around, trying to look over her shoulder at Koshirou. "I told you I didn't need it, Amaya!" Koshirou snarled from his bed. Akeginu frowned and took the little pot from the girl.
"I'll offer it to him later," she whispered, knowing Koshirou would pitch a fit if he realized she was accepting it. "He's… not feeling well."
"Oh…" The corners of Amaya's mouth turned down in a frown. "I hope he feels better then."
Koshirou heard the slide and thump of the fusuma being shut.
"She only wants to help you, you know," Akeginu chastised.
Koshirou grunted.
xxx
Amaya couldn't hold still at her desk, and her mind was much too preoccupied to focus on the documents Hanzo had set out in front of her.
"Shogun Amaya, are you paying attention?" he asked, tapping his pen on the desk to get her attention. The first few times, Amaya had snapped back to attention; now she didn't even turn her head away from the window, just offered him a bored sidelong stare and raised eyebrows. Hattori Hanzo was not a short tempered man, but this teenage female Shogun was grating on his every last nerve. He rather abruptly dropped his pen and forced his chair back so he could stand, causing Amaya to jump and turn to face him, though her expression merely changed from bored to slightly curious. "Amaya-dono, when you are ready to look at these papers, you know where you can find me," he gritted out as politely as he could.
Amaya waited just until he was out the door and had shut it behind him before dropping her forehead on the desk and groaning. "Thank God!" she blurted, "I thought he would never give up." Without lifting her head off the desk she reached with one hand and tugged a drawer open. Inside was a pot of the medicine she had been bringing Koshirou. Well, sort of; aware that he seemed to be in less pain, Amaya had removed the white poppy from the mix.
She dragged the oversized wooden door open with a significant amount of effort, just enough for her to slip through so that she could easily pull it closed behind her, and peered out, checking both directions of the hall for signs of either Hanzo or Munenori. Finding none, she started toward Koshirou's room.
Akeginu answered the door. "Amaya-dono…" she trailed, looking around behind her, as though expecting to see an escort. "What are you doing here? Don't you have things you should be doing?"
"I brought this for Koshirou." She held up a pot with which Akeginu was beginning to become familiar, and intentionally neglected to answer the second question.
Akeginu looked over her shoulder. Koshirou had been particularly volatile whenever Amaya was brought up in conversation, and she was unsure Amaya should be allowed in.
"Akeginu-dono!" Oboro came flying around the corner, colliding with Amaya in the process of stopping at the door, sending them both toppling to the ground. "Amaya-sama!" she blurted as soon as she recognized who it was she had hit, "I'm so sorry!"
Using the nearest wall for leverage, Amaya hoisted herself onto her feet, offering a hand to Oboro as she did so. "It's fine." She gave the embarrassed cheiftess a reassuring smile.
"Oboro-sama, is something the matter?" Akeginu asked before Oboro could continue to stammer apologies.
"No! Well, yes, sort of… Can we talk?" she asked.
Akeginu's eyebrows went up, and she glanced between Amaya and Oboro.
"It's not a problem, if you want to go talk," Amaya offered, slightly confused expression on her face. "I can take this to Koshirou by myself."
Akeginu looked over shoulder at the sulking ninja sprawled on his futon. "Thank you, Amaya-dono," she answered just before slipping into Oboro's room down the hall.
"I didn't need the last one, and I don't need this one," Koshirou snarled as soon as he heard the thump of the fusuma being shut. Fingers wrapped around his wrist, and a small pot was placed in his palm.
"Well, it can't do you any harm," Amaya answered calmly as he sat up and uncapped the pot.
If Koshirou could have glared at her, he would have. He lifted the container to his mouth and downed its contents in three swallows, then slammed it, empty, onto the floor. The floor, however, gave a little under his hand, and the action was followed by a squeal of pain. Koshirou immediately released the pot, hearing it slide off Amaya's thigh and onto the tatumi then roll away. He immediately went to rest his free hand on the injured limb, half afraid he might have broken the tiny girl's leg. He had intended to shatter the ceramic container against the floor in order to frighten Amaya away, that was how much force he had used to slam it down. Instead of the fabric of kimono, his hand fell on her own, which was trying to rub the pain out of the sore spot.
"Shit!" he blurted as he dropped his hand onto her thigh, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Are you okay?"
The hand underneath his froze, and through the contact he could tell her entire body had frozen as well. "I… I'm fine," a stunned voice answered. "It'll bruise, I'm sure, but I'm fine." His hand slid off her thigh as she scooted back away from him. He heard her footfalls followed by the chink of the cap being replaced on the pot. "I've got to go."
Koshirou nodded in acknowledgement. He heard the fusuma slide open. "Amaya," he shouted after her, "Don't bother using that stuff as an excuse to come back."
Amaya paused in the doorway. "Is that an invitation to come back?"
"No." Koshirou didn't receive any response but the thud of the fusuma being closed.
Amaya nearly collided with Akeginu on her way out because she was still looking back over shoulder at Koshirou instead of the direction she was moving. "Did it go well?" the older woman asked, eyes twinkling with curiosity.
"Uhm… yes, I suppose," Amaya answered with as much a smile as she could muster. Akeginu started to frown, hearing the dishonesty in Amaya's voice. "Is everything alright with Oboro-dono?" Amaya blurted, anything to change the subject.
Akeginu pretended not to notice this and laughed warmly. "Everything is fine, I think. Gennosuke-dono and Oboro-sama can't seem to decide whether to hold the wedding in Manjidani or Tsubagakure is all."
Amaya cocked her head to one side and seemed to think about the problem, closing the fusuma as she did so. "They could always hold the ceremony here," she offered, then grinned brightly.
Akeginu chuckled at the girl's sudden enthusiasm. "That's a most gracious offer, Amaya-dono. I'm sure Oboro-sama and Gennosuke will appreciate it."
Amaya's grin just broadened, the issue of Koshirou momentarily forgotten at the prospect of a celebration, before she turned to leave.
Her quarters weren't empty when she slipped inside.
"Where have you been, Amaya-sama?" Munenori's voice drifted from the shadows. His vague silhouette in the corner materialized into a human form by the dim light of the remaining candles. Most had melted away, having been left unattended all day.
Munenori's voice dripped irritation, and Amaya's mouth stretched into a sheepish grin that he couldn't see in the poorly lit room. She struggled to come up with a good answer; Munenori's deep frown, crossed arms, and steely eyes making her think "somewhere" was not an answer that would go over well. She choked out two or three guilty laughs, trying to buy herself time to come up with an answer. Her brief conversation with Akeginu provided one, and her sheepish grin curled up into a contented smirk. The bald fencing instructor wasn't going to get to lecture her today.
"I was with Gennosuke-dono and Oboro-dono, helping them make plans for their wedding. There seemed to be dispute over whether to hold their ceremony at the Iga or Kouga stronghold. I solved the impending issue by offering for them to have it here in Sunpu and stay at the castle." Her satisfied smile only grew.
"Was it really necessary that you were involved in that?" he grumbled under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Amaya asked sweetly.
"Nothing." Munenori shook his head at the diminutive Shogun. "I will see you in the morning, Shogun Amaya. Good night."
xxx
Amaya had disregarded Munenori's parting words the night before, and she was more than a little disappointed when both he and Hanzo arrived that morning, each with a stack of papers. Yagyu Munenori was a much more stubborn man than Hattori Hanzo, and he had no tolerance for Amaya's day dreaming and distracted mind.
"Amaya-sama."
Amaya cracked an eye open at him, just barely enough for her to see out, but not enough for Munenori to notice, then let it drift closed again. The man had to give up eventually. The loud thump in combination with the shaking of her desk startled Amaya so badly that she squealed, jerked her elbows off it, and scrambled back in her chair. "What the hell?" she demanded, head snapping up to glare up Hanzo and Munenori.
Hanzo just stared blank faced at her, as per his usual. Munenori had a triumphant smirk on his face that bared his teeth. "Good morning, Shogun Amaya," he greeted with a wider smile and unconcealed sarcasm.
Amaya glared murderously at him as she picked up her pen, then leaned over to look at the document in front of her. She listened as patiently as she could to its explanation, though her eyes constantly drifted toward the window, or the door, or a wall hanging. Every time he noticed her eyes wandering, Munenori would say her name to get her attention. After several repetitions of this procedure Amaya realized what he was doing.
He would say her name three times, each time growing a little in volume and intensity. If she continued to ignore him after that, he would slam his fist down on the desk. Munenori didn't tire of this method, and unlike Hanzo the day before, did not give up on her half way through the day's tasks. Every single document they had brought was discussed in as much depth as Amaya's limited knowledge of government allowed, and anything she did not understand was patiently spelled out for her until she did.
It took the entire day to complete it all with several breaks for tea and snacks by Amaya's demand. As the hours ticked away, she realized there was no way she would be able to slip away to see Koshirou. The thought distracted her through the entire session, frustrating because she could not see him, and more frustrating because she didn't understand why it was frustrating. There's nothing like filling out paperwork and holding complicated political conversations in jargon one doesn't understand when one's mind is arguing with itself.
Tomorrow could not go the same way. A late night raid of her mother's herb closet guaranteed that it would not.
xxx
Shogun Amaya was pouring tea when Hanzo and Munenori arrived the next morning with a slightly smaller stack of papers. Two pairs of eyes widened, and the two exchanged a glance. "Amaya-sama, where are the servants?"
Amaya leisurely lifted her head to look at them. "I gave them the day off," she answered casually. As expected, her response wasn't met with much disbelief.
"Amaya-sama, it doesn't work like that…" Munenori began.
Hanzo held up a hand to silence him, shaking his head. "Don't bother," he grumbled to his companion. "Did you make the tea yourself, then, Shogun Amaya?" He decided to humor the girl.
Amaya resisted smirking, and instead smiled sweetly. "I did," she answered, pouring the final cup. She'd filled her own cup first, and it held only water, not the sedative enhanced tea.
Amaya immediately noticed Munenori's dubious expression, and her smile faltered slightly. He was clearly suspicious of her sudden amiable behavior. If Hanzo felt the same way, he was much better at hiding it. He lowered himself into his chair and took a drink from his cup. Munenori lifted his slowly to his face and sniffed it.
Amaya struggled to maintain a neutral expression, terrified for a moment that she would be caught. She contained her sigh of relief when he took a drink.
"I don't know the taste," Hanzo commented. "What is it?"
Composure was becoming harder and harder to maintain. "Something exotic. You won't have heard of it. My mother loaned it to me."
Two pairs of eyebrows shot up. "Should we trust something made by Akane-san?"
Amaya's laugh was tad strained, and she hoped Hanzo and Munenori didn't notice. "It's supposed to be relaxing. She said it would make all this politics talk less stressful," Amaya made up on the spot.
Relaxing it was; so much so that after only several documents, Munenori and Hanzo's worlds seemed to spin in and out of focus and their eyelids drooped heavily. By the time they connected their weariness with the tea Amaya had made, a blurry figure was telling them good night and waving goodbye.
"Clever bitch," Hanzo muttered, head dropping onto the desk. As predicted, Amaya was not there when they awoke.
xxx
Amaya tapped softly of Koshirou's fusuma.
"Come in," came the answer. Amaya was startled to hear Koshirou's voice respond, not Akeginu's, and she slid the door open cautiously. She was surprised when she saw that Koshirou was sitting up, one leg stretched out in front of him, the other bent upwards with his arms draped over it. If he could see, he would have been staring out the small window, and so had his back to her.
Koshirou strained his ears to identify the footfalls of his visitor. They were too light to be Nenki, Tenzen, or Yashamaru and not confident enough to be Akeginu. The stride was just a tad longer than Oboro's. Koshirou was confused. He had identified the sound of all his comrades' steps in the last two days, and these matched none of them. "Who's there?" he finally asked.
Amaya hesitated, afraid of what his reaction would be if she identified herself. "A… Amaya," she answered quietly.
"I told you not to use your medicine as an excuse to come back," Koshirou snapped, turning in a reflexive but useless gesture to glare over his shoulder, revealing that the bandages that had wrapped his head were gone, replaced by a black mask that covered two thirds of his face.
"I'm not," she answered boldly, walking around and leaning against the wall beside the widow.
Koshirou heard and tried to follow her footfalls. He squirmed uncomfortably, turning his head from side to side, trying to discern where she was.
Amaya frowned and took pity on the blind ninja. "I'm right here," she informed gently, sliding down the wall so she was sitting against it. The sound of her voice and the noise of sliding fabric were enough for Koshirou to easily locate her. He snorted, the sound intending to inform her that he hadn't needed her help. Amaya felt no need to contradict him and merely shrugged. They sat in silence for so long that Koshirou started to wonder if Amaya had somehow silently slipped out, uneasy with the uncertainty.
Amaya must have noticed because she spoke again. "I'm still here." She cocked her head to one side and studied Koshirou closely. "You're frustrated, aren't you, being unable to see?"
Koshirou turned his head to the side. His noncommittal grunt didn't really constitute as an answer.
"You should see my mother. She's cured a lot of seemingly incurable injuries. She might be able to restore your vision," Amaya offered.
"I don't need your mother's help," Koshirou snarled.
Amaya's eyebrows went up in a slightly amused expression. "Are you saying you think you can restore your vision by yourself?" she asked rhetorically.
Koshirou was silent.
"Or do you still not trust her?" Amaya hazarded.
He didn't answer.
"Koshirou-dono," Amaya's voice took on a pleading note. "My mother has no reason to do you harm, and you can't live like this forever."
"I am fine!" His head whipped back around as he yelled it. "I do not need your mother to cure me!"
Amaya's eyebrows went up again and she chuckled humorlessly. "Are you saying you're okay with being blind for the rest of your life?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Yes!" he snapped hurriedly, hoping the answer would satisfy her and she would go away.
There was a slight pause before Amaya spoke again, voice almost too calm. "Then why haven't you left this room for the last five days? You've clearly recovered from Okoi's attack and your face has healed. If you are comfortable being blind for the rest of your life, why won't you leave your room?"
Koshirou mulled over her words in silence, and when he didn't respond, Amaya continued.
"This has nothing to do with your eyes does it? It has to do with your pride! You won't ask for help, but you'll sit here and sulk about your misfortune!" she accused harshly. Amaya hadn't come to lecture. Her premise for seeing Koshirou was to convince him he should see her mother and let the experienced apothecary try to help him.
"I am not sulking!" He made an angry lunge toward Amaya's voice, but as he couldn't see her, it was poorly aimed, and the girl easily stepped out of the way. Koshirou's feet tangled in his sheets and he topped to the floor. Humiliated, he didn't even bother to move.
Amaya bit her lip, feeling sympathy and guilt eating at her. She knelt down next to the fallen ninja. "Koshirou-dono," she reached out and touched his shoulder tentatively, "Please…"
An arm shot out and knocked her hand away with more force than was really necessary, and Amaya yelped and fell back on her heels, holding the attacked appendage protectively against her chest.
"Don't fucking touch me," Koshirou snarled.
Amaya felt frustrated tears spring to the corners of her eyes that she struggled to hold back so Koshirou wouldn't hear. "Fine," she snapped with as much force as she could. "I don't even know why I bothered."
That was the first time Koshirou had ever heard Amaya slam the fusuma, and he felt inexplicable guilt starting to form in his chest.
Amaya took off at a sprint as soon as she was out the door, feeling the frustrated tears she had been struggling to hold in flow freely down her face. She crashed into someone several steps past the door, and barely paused to stammer an apology before she continued.
It didn't register that it was Amaya that had collided with Akeginu until the girl was almost out of site. As she slid open the door of Koshirou's room she could already guess what had happened. Koshirou was picking himself up off the floor when she entered.
"Koshirou, Koshirou, Koshirou," Akeginu chided, reaching to help him back under covers. Koshirou brushed her hands away with significantly less force than he had used with Amaya. Akeginu sat back on her heels with a sigh, watching as the blind ninja awkwardly resituated his sheets. She waited until he was settled before she spoke. "What happened?" she asked.
"I'm not fucking talking about it," Koshirou answered angrily.
Akeginu winced. "Alright, I suppose." Koshirou heard the rustle of fabric as she stood, followed by footfalls. "I'll be back later if you need anything." With the slight thump of the fusuma, Koshirou found he was alone again.
xxx
Hattori Hanzo had been searching the castle for the escaped Shogun, but he ceased his brisk walking pace when he heard noise coming from the Shogun's private courtyard, pausing to press an ear to the shoji. Sobs, he concluded after listening a moment, were the noise he was hearing. He slowly slid the shoji open, intending not to be heard by the person within, but the door caught harshly on the floor, making a painful grating noise that gave away his presence.
"I thought no one was allowed in here but the Shogun," a hoarse voice trying to sound authoritative informed. It was hard through the tears, but Hanzo recognized it as Amaya's. He took several steps into the courtyard. It used to be full of exotic flora, but for the last several years it hadn't been maintained, and was instead a tangled mess of overgrown weeds.
"Shogun Amaya, where are you?" he called, lifting branches to the side in a vain attempt to find the path that should have been there. The sound of tears had momentarily stopped, giving him nothing to follow.
"It does not matter," came the answer. The voice was close, and another lifted branch revealed Amaya curled up on bench, chin resting on her knees, eyes swollen with tears. As soon as she realized he had found her, she started to wipe the tears away. "Go away!" she snarled at him, eyes narrowing angrily.
"It's not really my place to ask, but…"
"I told you to go away!" she interrupted, glare darkening.
Hanzo debated what he could say to placate the clearly upset creature curled on the bench, stepping closer. As soon as he was near enough, Amaya kicked out at him. "I told you to leave!" she snapped, voice hysterical, turning her head away, trying to uselessly to hide her tear stained face.
Hanzo stepped out of range of her foot. "Shogun Amaya…"
She turned to face him, eyes narrowing even further in a dangerous glare. "Go! Away!" she growled.
Hanzo debated trying again for a half a second before turning to leave, shaking his head.
"Oh! Hattori-sama!" a voice greeted as he closed the shoji behind him. He turned to face the woman hurrying toward him. He couldn't recall her name, though recognized her as one of the Iga ninja. "Have you seen Shogun Amaya?"
He was a bit startled by the request. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing the door. "In there, but I don't think she wants to see anyone," he answered.
"I wouldn't expect her to," was Akeginu's reply as she stepped around him and opened the shoji, wincing at the awful noise it made against the floor. "You should really have that fixed," she informed Hanzo casually as she slipped through, closing it behind her, leaving Hanzo to stare dumbly after her.
"Go the fuck away, Hanzo," an angry, tear laced voice snarled as soon as the shoji was closed.
"It's not Hanzo," Akeginu said gently, following the sound of Amaya's tears until she found the girl, still curled up as she had been when Hanzo had found her. She lifted her head off her knees and wiped at her eyes again when she saw Akeginu.
"Akeginu-dono, forgive me, I thought you were someone else," she explained pointlessly, as Akeginu clearly could figure that out.
"It's fine," she replied and sat next to the teary-eyed Shogun. She leaned back and stared up at the sky. It was splashed with the dazzling pinks and oranges of sunset. "So," she began lightly, "what happened between you and Koshirou?"
Amaya sort of shrugged and mumbled, "Nothing."
Akeginu tilted her head back down to stare at Amaya's profile. The girl was glaring at a point several inches in front of her nose. "Do you honestly think I'm going to believe that?"
Amaya shrugged again. "No."
Akeginu sighed. "What's wrong?"
"I'm confused and frustrated," Amaya answered without hesitation.
Akeginu quirked an eyebrow up at her. "About?"
"Why I give a damn about Koshirou," Amaya grumbled almost incoherently. "I have done everything I can to make up for the pains I caused him, and he still seems so angry at me."
Akeginu thought a moment, "I don't really think…"
She was interrupted by the slam of the shoji. "Shogun Amaya get your ass inside now! You have some serious explaining to do!" Munenori came storming into the clearing, stomping up to Amaya.
The girl glared up at him, despite the tears that still stained her cheeks. "I request that you not speak to me like that again, Munenori-san," she hissed at him, voice dead calm as she rose to her feet. Even though it required her to tilt her head back so far it looked uncomfortable, Amaya locked her eyes with the swords' master. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her body was taught, defiance apparent in the stance. "If you wish to talk to me about this morning, then we may, but you should really cool your temper first." She brushed past him, toward the door, turning to look back over her shoulder at Akeginu. "Forgive me again, Akeginu-dono, I need to be going."
Akeginu was a tad surprised at the girl's behavior. Her avoidance tactics weren't as outright as Koshirou's, but she had definitely taken full advantage of that situation to get out of talking about the blind ninja. As she passed by Munenori, she tapped his chin. "You might want to close your mouth before you go in. The dropped jaw shocked look isn't particurally dignified."
Munenori just scowled at her before turning on his heel to follow Amaya and Hanzo out. He was several paces behind them, and Hanzo was shutting the door to Amaya's quarters when he caught up. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Closing the doors," Hanzo answered simply. "Shogun Amaya said she was ready to retire for the evening and would rather wait until tomorrow to discuss the matter of this morning's tea."
"She doesn't have a choice in the matter, Hanzo!" Munenori snapped.
"But she does," he countered. "And she's right, you should cool your temper. Taking out your anger over your bruised ego on me and the girl is less than becoming."
Hanzo brushed past him, intending to retire for the night as well, leaving Munenori to stare dumbly behind him.
xxx
Noticeably, there was a servant pouring the tea when Hanzo and Munenori let themselves in the next day. Amaya's eyes were smoldering; her elbows rested on the desk, and her fingers were laced in front of her, her chin resting on them. She looked less than pleased to see them. "Good morning," she greeted. Neither Munenori nor Hanzo carried papers, and Amaya wondered if her actions yesterday would really require a day long conversation.
Amaya watched the two men intently as they sat down. Munenori's actions were stiff. He pulled out his chair with a white knuckled grip. Hanzo was not so stiff, but he seemed less than inclined to meet her angry stare. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Yesterday morning," he began, "You felt the need to poison Munenori-san and myself."
"I wouldn't call it 'poisoning'," Amaya interjected, "It was not so maliciously intended as poison would be. You're still very much alive and well, am I right?" She quirked an eyebrow up at them both.
Hanzo wasn't sure what to say. Munenori was sitting silently, jaw and fists clenched, clearly wanting to lash out at Amaya and struggling to refrain from doing so. He was not going to speak either.
"How about we say I drugged you? That sounds a little less malevolent," Amaya offered, breaking the tense silence.
Hanzo breathed out an audible sigh of relief. "You felt the need to drug Munenori and myself," he corrected his previous statement. "Why?"
Amaya turned her head to look out the window without lifting it off her folded hands. She had thought long and hard about her answer. "I needed to see someone," she answered without looking at them.
Munenori's eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to lecture. Hanzo held up a hand to silence him, knowing full well that Amaya would take no heed of a speech about sacrificing one's personal life for the sake of their duties. Munenori glared at him. Hanzo almost wished the other man had not come at all today; he was certain that he would have been able to get more information out of Amaya if Munenori was not scowling at her the entire time.
"This someone," Hanzo began cautiously. Amaya cast him a bored sidelong glance, waiting for the inevitable question, and was slightly surprised by what was actually asked. "You're not going to tell me who they are, are you?"
"No," Amaya answered simply.
Munenori started to rise out of his chair, and Hanzo's arm shot out to hold him in place, glaring at him when he resisted. With a look that promised an argument later, Munenori allowed himself to be forced back into his chair.
Still treading lightly, Hanzo continued. "This person, are you going to be sneaking away to see them regularly?"
Amaya's eyes widened in unconcealed shock just briefly in reaction to the question before she resumed her blank facial expression and actually debated the question. Hanzo watched her bite down on her lip and her brow furrow as she thought about it. Without releasing her lip or relaxing her clearly frustrated facial expression, she nodded wordlessly.
"Then, to avoid another incident such as yesterday morning's, may I suggest you simply schedule to meet with them?"
Amaya snorted. She didn't like the way he said that. "How about we schedule to finish by eight in the evening and I do whatever I want with the time after that?" she suggested, though her tone of voice left no room for compromise. The pointed look she cast him when she turned back to face them reiterated the feeling.
Hanzo rose to his feet. "Then we will begin that tomorrow, Amaya-sama." He bowed politely and dragged the dumbstruck Munenori out with him.
The swords' master whirled on him as soon as they were through the wooden doors of Amaya's chambers. "You bent completely to her whim!" he accused.
"She's Shogun, Munenori-san, what else could I do?" He continued speaking without looking at the other man. "Besides, what harm will it do? Other than prevent her from finding another way to drug us the next time she feels the need to slip away. With her having access to Akane-san's plants, I wouldn't want to clash with that girl, Munenori-san."
Munenori scowled, but it was an argument he could not deny.
Their early departure left Amaya with much too much time to mull over Koshirou. She let her arms buckle out from under her chin and dropped her head onto the desk. She scowled at the candle that blocked her line of vision to the window, and wished she could pin all her misfortunes on the flaming stub of wax. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, blowing the little plume of fire out, which accomplished nothing but further darkening the room, as the wax body still blocked her view of the window. She dragged her arm out from under the desk and with minimal effort she pushed the candle to the right so she could see the darkening clouds outside. By the time it no longer blocked her view, it was balanced precariously on the edge of the desk. Amaya thought a moment then pushed it off, hearing the satisfying tinkling of shattering glass when the holder made contact with the floor. She grinned and rose to her feet and went to the window. It was going to storm, she realized, and her grin only widened.
A back corner of her brain wondered if dancing in the rain was behavior unbefitting a Shogun; the rest of it thought it would be amusing to break such a dumb rule of conduct. The rain was just occasional droplets when she stepped outside, but they gradually multiplied to a steady downpour after several minutes, and a crash of thunder brought with it torrential rain that was so heavy Amaya could barely see her hand if she stretched it out in front of her.
She spread her arms out and tilted her head back, as though the pouring water would wash away all the frustration of the last week.
The storm was brief, as most raging summer storms are, but it left Amaya soaked to the bone.
And feeling more empowered than she had in a long while. Not heeding her drenched state, she let herself back inside and made her way to Koshirou's room, struggling against the wave of uncertainty that threatened to crash over her as she knocked on the door. Once again, Koshirou answered as compared to Akeginu. The older woman must be spending a good deal of time with Oboro planning the wedding.
"Come in."
Koshirou recognized both the knock and the footfalls. "Amaya-dono," he greeted, startling the girl immensely. He could tell by the abrupt way her footsteps stopped.
"Koshirou-dono," she responded in kind, slowly lowering herself so she was leaning against the wall closest to the door. Confusion was laced into her voice.
Koshirou noted the slight splishing sound as Amaya presumably sat down, and heard it again as she shifted to make herself comfortable. "Were you out in the storm?" he asked conversationally.
"Yes," Amaya answered, adding caution to her tone.
"You're drenched. You really shouldn't be wandering around in such soaked clothes. You'll get sick."
She snorted. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I'll be fine."
"There are towels in the closet across the room." He took a moment to orient himself before pointing in the general direction.
She hesitated a moment, but he eventually heard the squash of wet fabric as Amaya stood and the footfalls as well as the drip-drop of water as she moved across the room to the closet. He waited silently as Amaya dried herself off as best she could, pondering. Koshirou had been forced to admit that he wished he hadn't chased her away the day before, forced to admit that the sound of her voice when it wasn't strained was comforting. He sighed, too quietly for Amaya to hear across the room. And now he was forced to admit that he wished she would let down the walls she appeared to have built since their last encounter. Frustrating didn't even begin to describe it.
Koshirou heard the plop of a slightly dryer body sitting down against the wall closest to him. He was aware of the inquisitive, confused stare that was boring into the side of his head.
"I didn't think you'd come back, after how I treated you yesterday…" he trailed. He'd expected an explanation, but instead only heard the barest shuffle of fabric as though perhaps Amaya had shrugged. "Why are you here?" he tried a more direct approach.
Amaya didn't really know, but she had a convenient excuse. "I want you reconsider seeing my mother about your eyes. I really think she could help." The pleading note was gone from her voice; the words rolled off her tongue without any of the previous day's force. "But I realize it's probably a useless endeavor." Another rustle of fabric Koshirou associated with a shrug followed the explanation.
"Oh," was Koshirou's only answer. "I… I guess you're right then."
Amaya cocked her head to one side and studied the blind ninja. He was laying down today, facing the ceiling. Actually, she hadn't noticed him turn toward her once. She bit her lip, confusion nagging at her and wiping out the last of the boldness the rain had instilled in her. "Koshirou-dono, are you alright? You're behaving strangely."
"I'm fine."
Amaya didn't reply for a moment, then smiled a little, humorlessly. "I'm sorry. That was a dumb question."
Koshirou shrugged.
A heavy silence filled the room. Amaya was curled against the wall, staring intently at a point a foot or so above Koshirou's chest, while Koshirou lay completely still on his back. Had he not been blind, he would have been boring holes through the ceiling with his stare. Both of them were struggling with the feeling that they had needed to see the other, and both of them were unsure why, which resulted in the awkwardness they were currently sitting in.
Koshirou sighed, this time pointedly loud enough for Amaya to hear. She lifted her head off her knees. "Hmm?" she made the slight questioning noise.
"I'm sorry about yesterday."
"Eh," Amaya shrugged again. "It's fine."
"And the rest of the week."
"Still fine," she replied, and Koshirou desperately hoped he wasn't imagining the hint of smile in the words. Another long pause followed before Amaya spoke again. "I should really be going…" she trailed. "I'm cold and getting your floor all wet." Her voice was warm, though, Koshirou noted optimistically.
"Amaya-dono," he caught her attention just before she opened the fusuma. "You don't have use medical excuses to come here…" he trailed.
There was a definite pause as she pondered the words. "Is that an invitation to come back?" she asked, trying to hide the hopefulness in her voice behind disbelief and failing. She rested her forehead against the wooden support beside the fusuma, afraid to hear the answer.
"Yeah."
"Good night, Koshirou-dono." The smile in that was as undeniable as the quiet thump of the fusuma being shut behind her.
xxx
Amaya was in significantly better spirits the next morning when Hanzo and Munenori arrived. It was impossible to miss. And if one could ignore the way she was constantly glancing over at the clock, she was actually paying more attention than the previous two days combined. Hanzo wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth by snapping at her for it, though.
Munenori, on the other hand, snapped at her whenever opportunity presented itself. Most noticeably, he neglected to use words to get her attention anymore, just skipped straight to pounding on the desk and occasionally shouting, which always resulted in startling the teen, and once even startled her to tears. She only let that happen once, though. The next time Munenori thumped the desk to make her look away from the clock, she ignored him, continued to stare for another moment, waiting until he raised his hand before turning to face him with an exasperated expression. "You're being an ass," she informed him bluntly, "Banging on the desk will not get this done any faster."
It appeared that finally snapped the swords' master's composure. He stared at her a moment, mouth gaping before pushing his chair back with enough force that it tipped over. He didn't bother to lift it back up before he stormed out, slamming the great wooden door behind him.
Amaya stared after him, stunned, then abruptly dropped her head in a bow. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Should I go after him?"
"No." Hanzo was smirking when she looked back up at him. "Let him have his temper tantrum."
Amaya blinked twice at the Hattori ninja in shock, before returning his grin. "Okay."
"In the mean time – " Hanzo got to his feet, " – you're free to go. We'll finish tomorrow, I think."
Amaya smiled at him, the first real smile he thought he'd ever seen on the girl. "Thank you, Hanzo-dono." She hurried out before he could respond.
Hanzo sighed and shook his head, amused smile on his face. "No need to thank me," he murmured to the empty room.
xxx
"Koshirou-dono!" Amaya shouted as she flew in the fusuma, which she had barely opened enough for her body to slip through, and her rush her foot caught on its edge, sending her stumbling to her knees with a painful thud.
A shout and a thump roused Koshirou out of his sleep, and he rolled onto his side with a grunt.
Amaya's hands immediately went to cover her mouth when she realized that Koshirou had been sleeping. "I'm so sorry!" she blurted, "I didn't realize you were asleep."
"I said you could come back, not barge in without knocking," he growled at her.
"Oh…" The brightness in her voice faded away and was replaced by timidness. "I'm sorry."
Koshirou bit his lip; he hadn't meant to do that. "It's fine," he sighed. "I shouldn't have snapped."
"It… It's alright." Still timid.
He sighed. "What thudded when you came in?" he asked.
"Oh… nothing! It's fine. I tripped and fell is all!"
"Are you okay?"
Amaya was more than a little startled by the seriousness in his tone. She grinned, "Yeah," she answered, laughter laced into the word, "I'm fine."
Koshirou felt his cheeks heat up beneath his mask knowing that she was laughing at him, even if it was in good humor. "That's good," he mumbled in response.
Awkward silence followed, neither one knowing what to say, and neither one wanting to speak first for fear of embarrassing themselves.
"So, what was so exciting that you felt the need to burst in my door without knocking?"
"Oh, well, it's nothing. It's kind of dumb actually." Koshirou didn't have to see Amaya to know her face was flushed. She bit her lip and stared at her lap, trying to come up with an eloquent way to tell her story, then gave up and huffed out a sigh before speaking. "I told off Munenori-san today," she answered with a bit of a goofy grin. "Got sick of him yelling at me, so I told him he was an ass. He is an ass, actually, and so damn frustrating to work with. And he's mean, too." She curled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, then rested her chin on them. "Hanzo-dono's not so bad, though." She paused again. "I don't really like this Shogun thing." She stared up at the ceiling. "It's all formalities and paperwork, it feels like. Short of reinstating the Pact, I don't feel like I've done anything actually useful."
"Then retire," Koshirou offered the simple solution, and Amaya glared at him even though he couldn't see her.
"After five days?" she asked incredulously, "Besides you were right. I have to stay in power to make sure the No Hostilities Pact stays installed, at least until Oboro-dono and Gennosuke-dono are married…" she trailed; that concept left a bitter taste in her mouth from previous conversations.
"Amaya-dono, you know I don't intend to kill you after their wedding, right?"
Amaya smiled half-heartedly at the prone ninja. "I certainly hope you don't."
Koshirou was fumbling for something reassuring to tell her when the fusuma slid open again. He was momentarily afraid that Amaya was leaving before he realized the foot falls that followed the noise were much too heavy to belong to Amaya. "Koshirou, the date for the wedding is set at…" Tenzen trailed upon seeing Amaya sitting against the wall behind Koshirou's head.
"Shogun Amaya," he greeted, bowing his head slightly. "What are you doing here?" He fixed his eyes on the tiny figure.
Amaya didn't like the way he spoke to her. The respect felt fake, and malice was thinly veiled behind it. Koshirou knew his sensei well enough that he didn't even hear the pretend respect, only the obvious dislike underneath.
Amaya barely managed to hold his gaze, not liking the way he looked at her either. "J… Just visiting."
Koshirou winced, hearing the evident fear in the way she stuttered, and he felt nauseous when he heard the familiar menacing smirk in Tenzen's voice when he noticed as well. "You may be going now, Shogun Amaya," somehow he simultaneously made it sound like both a suggestion and an order.
Koshirou wished desperately that he could see her face. Tenzen was an intimidating man, and he was using all of his daunting nature to frighten Amaya purely for entertainment because she had withdrew his ability to destroy the Kouga. Koshirou had been forced to hear all about it.
"Good bye, Koshirou-dono." The fusuma closed more harshly than it should have, and Koshirou assumed it was because Tenzen had closed it behind Amaya to further frighten the girl.
"Consorting with the enemy are we, Koshirou-kun?" he crooned dangerously at his pupil.
"She's not the enemy, Tenzen-sama," Koshirou tried.
Tenzen laughed outright at this. "Has she brainwashed you, too? Of course she's the enemy! She reinstalled the Pact!" His sensei chuckled darkly. "Perhaps I should get rid of her. I'm sure I could get someone on the throne that would have the Pact uninstalled again."
"Don't you hurt her, Tenzen," Koshirou snarled.
If anything, the outburst made Tenzen laugh harder. He bent down so that he was almost nose to nose with his masked pupil. "Is that an order, Koshirou-kun?" he hissed, "Because if I didn't know better, I'd say you had feelings for the girl."
Koshirou snarled wordlessly at him, making no response.
Tenzen stood upright, still snickering quietly. "Don't you worry, Koshirou-kun, for the moment, I have no intention of hurting a hair on her pretty little head."
Koshirou wasn't satisfied with this, but he couldn't very well argue with his sensei either.
xxx
"I hate Munenori," were the first words out of Amaya's mouth as she dropped onto the floor with an audible thump. This was latest she had arrived in the three days since her encounter with Tenzen, and so Koshirou could guess what was coming. "He was in one of his sadistic modes today, and not even Hanzo-dono could stop him." Amaya rubbed her temples with the pads of her fingers. "I didn't even know what he was talking about half the time."
"Then retire," Koshirou dead panned grumpily.
Amaya started to argue with him, then bit her tongue to stop herself. That had become Koshirou's answer to every complaint she had about her position of Shogun, and it translated to "I don't care." Maybe when she learned to be less whiny about it, he would be more inclined to listen. She leaned her head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling, companionable silence settling over them. Almost half of her visits consisted of this silence, as both parties pondered if they had anything of interest to say.
"Koshirou-dono, did Akeginu-dono ever tell you why I killed Kunichiyo?" there was a trace of sadness in the otherwise conversational tone.
"No," was the simple answer.
Amaya stared down her outstretched legs at her toes. "You know, I might never have done it if I'd've know Yashamaru-dono was engaged."
"Hnn." Koshirou made the noise just to indicate that he was listening.
"I met him, just before the Pact was dissolved, and fell hard and fast for him. When I heard about the blood bath Ieyasu wanted to start, I decided I had to stop it, to save him. I thought killing Kunichiyo would eliminate the need for the Kouga and Iga to fight."
"Rather misguided and naïve of you," Koshirou commented.
Amaya hung her head. "Yeah, I know. It's just, I really thought I loved him, I guess. He was the first person I felt like I could open up to and be myself with. It's hard feeling you have to pretend, act formal or act submissive. It's not so bad, now, I guess. With being Shogun comes the right to be whoever I want because there's nothing anyone can do about it." She sighed, "But it's not quite the same."
"Well, then you've been a damn good fake for the last week and a half. You've sure had me fooled."
Amaya started visibly. "I'm sorry… I… I didn't mean… any offense… I'm sorry…" She sighed again. "That was awkward."
Koshirou shrugged.
More silence followed, interrupted only by the creaking of the floor, rustling of fabric, and faint thumps as Amaya struggled to find a comfortable position and massage the muscles of her tense neck in the process, banging her elbows against the wall every third or fourth movement.
"What are you doing?" Koshirou questioned when the commotion continued more than several minutes.
"Trying… to get the kink out of my neck," Amaya grunted in answer. "Stupid Munenori, had me bent over that damn desk all day." A yelp and another thump as her elbow bumped the wall for the umpteenth time interrupted her. "And I can't seem to get at it right."
"Come here."
All movement on the other side of the room ceased.
"You're going to hurt yourself, and you're causing a ruckus. Come here," he repeated with a little more force. After another long moment of silence, hesitant foot steps made their way toward him. Koshirou felt the futon shift a little under him, signaling that Amaya had sat down beside him. He sat up, turning to face her back. "I'm going to assume you have your back to me."
"Mmm," Amaya made a noise of agreement, just as she felt hesitant fingers touch her back. She wasn't prepared for the electricity of the touch and she just barely refrained from arching into it. They moved upward, obviously searching for her neck, and it felt like they were leaving heated paths behind them.
Koshirou chewed his lip and struggled to keep his hands from trembling. He was very quickly realizing this might not have been so good an idea; his control already felt like it was slipping. The way Amaya's breath hitched when his fingers reached the bare skin at the back of her neck helped not a thing. Koshirou swallowed hard. He'd forgotten just how small the girl in front of him was. He found himself afraid he would break her when he started to apply pressure to her neck that was so slender he could easily wrap both hands around it in such a way that all his fingers would overlap.
Amaya's eyes drooped closed and she leaned her head forward to allow him better access. "You can press a little harder than that," she mumbled, "I won't break."
Koshirou swallowed again, quietly, not wanting Amaya to hear, and exerted a little more force, trying resist the urge to caress the smooth skin of the front of her throat with his free fingers, since he needed only his thumbs.
"Little lower," Amaya murmured. Koshirou slid his fingers down a ways. "Mmm, not quite." His fingers were as low as they could go, and his hands were brushing the neck of Amaya's kimono. He heard the rustle of fabric and felt his face get uncomfortably warm. Amaya reached back over her shoulder and took his hand, which had stilled in shock, and rested it at the juncture between neck and shoulder. "Right there," she informed.
He softly touched the bare skin at first, and was relieved to feel the brush of fabric against his hand, letting him know that the kimono had not been removed, just loosened. He breathed out a sigh.
Amaya felt the rush of warm air along the nape of her neck and shivered with sensation that had nothing to do with the cold.
Koshirou felt the tight knot at the location Amaya had directed him and winced sympathetically as he started to try and work it out. Amaya's head lolled to one side and she practically purred.
Koshirou felt his control slip even further with Amaya's tiny sigh, and he wondered if she had any idea what she was doing. A sharp gasp and faint moan alerted him to the fact that knot had come undone, and then shattered all the control he had left. His hands dropped to Amaya's clothed shoulders, and he leaned forward, nuzzling just behind her ear and inhaling the scent of her hair as he did so. Amaya's head lolled a little further to the side; she didn't seem to mind the contact.
It wasn't until lips brushed the nape of her neck, mouthing softly, tracing the same path as Koshirou's fingers that Amaya realized that the situation was past appropriate. A well placed kiss to the juncture of her jaw bone and throat caused her to realize it was also out of her control. Light suction applied to the spot, and Amaya decided she didn't care.
"Ko… Koshirou-dono…" she breathed out, turning her head to look over her shoulder at him. He either did not hear her or did not care that she had spoken for he merely shifted a little, kisses searching the newly available skin, drawing a trail along her jaw line.
Koshirou's hands kneaded the shoulders beneath them as he struggled to regain some semblance of control. Unintentionally, Amaya had shattered any prayer of that with the breathy gasp of his name. Trembling fingers pried his hands off Amaya's shoulders, and without warning all contact with her was broken. Immediately he started to stammer an apology, ears strained to try and hear the slide of the fusuma over his pounding heart, which felt like it had lurched into his skull and was thumping in ears and not his chest.
Hesitant lips pressed against his, cutting off his incoherent rambling. The tips of fingers tickled up the sides of his throat and tangled in his hair with enough force to drag the body in front of him closer. He was too stunned to respond for a moment, and Amaya backed away. He chased after her, relocking their mouths together before she could let go of the clumsy grip she'd had on his hair. He twined shaking arms around her waist, carefully, terrified that in his blind state he would grope something that would frighten her away. It surprised him, the way one arm twined so far around her that its fingers caressed her stomach, the other her ribcage, like he could crush her if he wasn't careful.
Amaya's hands seemed incapable of staying still. They stroked his neck one moment, tugged at his hair the next, caressed what of his face they could after that. She pressed her palms flat against his chest and slipped them into the neck of his kimono, her fingers catching and tangling in the mesh shirt he wore underneath. He felt the frown of frustration her kiss as she removed her hands, deciding a more direct approach was in order. The loose knot of the tie holding his kimono shut was yanked undone easily, and fumbling hands, still trembling fingers pushed the garment off his shoulders.
Koshirou let his hands wander as well, though not as brashly, merely sliding Amaya's loosened kimono a little further off her shoulders, resting his hands on her bare skin, thumbs gently stroking along her collar bones. Amaya sighed lowly at the touch, and Koshirou relinquished her bottom lip which he'd been mouthing tenderly to slide his tongue into her mouth. Amaya didn't resist the invasion.
It was Koshirou's turn to gasp when he felt bold hands slide up under the mesh shirt.
The defined muscles of Koshirou's stomach rippled as she dragged her fingers across them, the tips just barely catching in the ridges of his abs. She allowed herself one more appreciative stroke before scooting her hands up further, taking the mesh shirt up with them, palms tensing and releasing against Koshirou's torso with the action.
Koshirou concentrated all his attention on their kiss; his hands gripped Amaya's shoulders with enough force to bruise. It wasn't just his self control hanging by a thread anymore, but his sanity as well as he fought to keep his hands from exploring Amaya's body with the same abandon.
Neither of them heard the slide of the fusuma, or even Akeginu's mildly startled gasp. The older woman debated just ducking back out and pretending she had not witnessed the activities within, but Tenzen was at the end of the hall making his way toward Koshirou's room. "Forgive me for interrupting," she coughed, startling Amaya so badly she jumped and her head whipped around.
"Ake… Akeginu-dono!" she stammered as she scrambled off Koshirou's lap, tugging her loose kimono up in the same motion, fumbling to untie and retie her obi tight enough to hold the fabric in place. She had almost gotten it tied when she noticed Koshirou trying recover his own kimono without appearing obviously panicked. Amaya cast a quick look behind him to locate the article of clothing before leaning over slightly to pick it up and press it into his palm.
Akeginu shook her head and smiled at the two clearly flustered teens. "Relax," she said gently, startling them both, then laughed good naturedly at Koshirou who was tugging his own kimono closed and realizing the tie was missing.
Having come to the conclusion that Akeginu did not condemn their behavior, Amaya let out a sigh of relief as she reached for the missing tie. She leaned in and pressed an affectionate kiss to Koshirou's cheek as she laid it in his hand, smiling at her lover as she did so. "She said relax, Koshirou," she whispered softly to him, nuzzling his cheek, frowning a little at the cloth of the mask that prevented skin to skin contact.
Akeginu rolled her eyes at the puppy love display before her. "Took you long enough," she told them, and without giving either of them time to respond, continued. "To warn you, though, Tenzen is coming."
Amaya's eyes widened in a horrified expression, and Koshirou could feel the way she scrambled awkwardly to get to her feet in the way the futon shifted. A hurried kiss to his masked temple was all Amaya's goodbye consisted of before she slipped out the door past Akeginu and was gone. They would know if Tenzen had seen her the minute he was through the door, because doubtless he would have some snide remark about her. Much to Koshirou's relief, he merely relayed a message from Oboro to Akeginu: something about needing to see her about kimono patterns that Tenzen seemed begrudged to seriously speak about.
He snorted when he saw Koshirou. "You're kimono is inside out, idiot," he snickered, intending to prod at his pupil's lack of vision. Koshirou would let him think it was due to his blindness; that was a much safer solution that letting him know it had anything to do with Amaya.
xxx
Amaya knocked but didn't wait for him to answer before letting herself in the next day. Her knees thunked loudly on the tatumi when she dropped onto them beside him, making Koshirou wince. "Don't do that," he bit out, "You're going to hurt yourself."
Amaya snorted, then pressed a welcome kiss his cheek. "I think I'll be fine. You worry too much."
Koshirou scowled at her. But before he could argue the contrary, Amaya moved on. "Was Tenzen angry? That I was here?" Her voice was timid, and Koshirou guessed she'd bit her lip following the questions.
"He didn't even notice." It was Koshirou's turn to lean in and kiss his lover comfortingly, but his kiss was slightly less well placed than Amaya's and landed just below her right eye. She giggled and moved to correct the mistake by brushing her lips against his. Koshirou caught her shoulders, holding her gently at arms length. "We shouldn't start this again." His voice was completely serious.
Amaya sat back on her heels, bit her lip, and stared down at her hands which she'd folded in her lap. She sighed. He was right. Such behavior was far from appropriate. They sat silently for a moment and then Amaya huffed loudly. "You're stubbly," she stated bluntly.
"Excuse me?" Koshirou responded, "What?"
Finger tips traced over his chin and along his jaw line. "You haven't shaved since you lost your vision have you?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.
"No…" he trailed. "It didn't seem like a good idea, since I wouldn't be able to see what I was doing."
Amaya snorted. "Like you really need to see to find your face."
Koshirou's mouth turned down in a frown, and Amaya frowned back. "You're still uncomfortable being blind…" she trailed, "And you still haven't left this room."
Koshirou didn't answer.
Amaya sighed. "Why won't you see my mother? Just let her try?"
"My razor blade is over there." He pointed to a pack next to the closet in which Amaya had found the towels nearly a week earlier. "If you have such an issue with stubble." He was unable to hide the irritation in his voice.
Amaya sighed dejectedly and got to her feet to find the items she was in need of. Koshirou was a little startled when she dropped into his lap and her hands reached behind his head. It took a moment to realize what she was doing and his hands flew up and caught her wrists in a less than gentle grip. "No," he snarled, "It stays on."
"Koshirou, it's covering two thirds of your face. I can't possibly do this right with it on." Her fingers continued to work out the knot on the back of his head despite the restraining hands around her wrists. Noticing this, Koshirou forcefully dragged her arms down from behind his head. Amaya whined in pain, and Koshirou immediately released her. "I'm sorry," she muttered, starting to lift herself off of him.
Koshirou caught her sleeve. "No… Don't go. I'm sorry, you're right." He reached up to untie the knot himself, scowling when it took a little more effort than he expected. He yanked the fabric away with more force than was necessary, then immediately turned away from Amaya. Four long scars stretched across his face, a shorter fifth stretched between his eyes. The injuries hadn't been treated properly, or they wouldn't have scarred. Amaya brushed inquisitive fingers over the smooth scar tissue. They were new enough, they could easily be reduced to invisible if Koshirou would let her or her mother try.
"Hmm… These are courtesy of Tenzen's rushed dressing, aren't they? I don't see Akeginu-dono or Oboro-dono being this careless," she stated casually, fingers still tracing the thin scar lines.
Koshirou didn't respond, which was an answer unto itself. He thought he heard her exhale "stupid bastard" under her breath, audible only because of her proximity to him, but she didn't say anything else.
A wet cloth dragged down his cheek slowly, and Koshirou realized she must have brought water with her, having planned to do this. The cloth was followed by the slippery feel of shave soap, though the scent was unfamiliar, so it was likely something borrowed from Akane.
Amaya chewed her lip as she carefully ran the razorblade down Koshirou's cheek. The activity had seemed an interesting way to bond when she had thought of it, but now, sitting in awkward silence on his lap, she wished she'd never considered it. "Koshirou," she said gently, running her hand down his other cheek, "I need you to relax, koi. I don't want to cut you."
Koshirou let out a shaky breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and struggled to do as asked, guilt gnawing at him hearing the unhappiness in Amaya's tone.
Amaya struggled to finish the task, trying to hold in her disappointment. "Koshirou-dono," she whispered as she wiped away the last traces of soap and water with a dry cloth, "What's wrong?"
Koshirou turned his head away from her without answered and was startled when small hands softly took his face and turned it back to face her. "Nothing," he answered, realizing Amaya was not going to take silence for an answer.
"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?" she asked, thumbs tenderly caressing his cheek bones.
Koshirou went to hang his head, but the hands shifted to beneath his chin, holding his jaw and consequently keeping his head upright. He could feel Amaya's stare boring into his closed eyelids.
"It's humiliating," he muttered, turning away from Amaya despite the hands holding his face. "Being so dependent…" he trailed.
Amaya's hands slipped back over his ears, around behind his head until her arms were wrapped one around his head, the other around his shoulders, holding him against her chest. "I don't like how upset you are," she told him, running her fingers soothingly through his hair. "Especially when it could be so easily solved." She leaned back and gently touched his closed eyelids. "Koshirou," her voice had struck a pleading note, "Let my mother help you. God, just let her try," she begged.
She was distraught, and Koshirou hated it. If it would ease her frustration… Very slowly he nodded, swallowing hard. "Tomorrow," he muttered.
A warm smile split across Amaya's face. She splayed her hand across Koshirou's cheek, bending her head down just a little to press a kiss first to the tip of his nose then gently on his mouth. "You won't regret it, I promise." She smiled a little broader against his mouth. "And I always keep my promises."
Koshirou sighed, unable to deny the statement, as Amaya lifted herself up off his lap. "I've been here longer than I should've already. Tenzen could be back any minute. Good night, Koshirou."
xxx
"We need to finish earlier today," Amaya informed Hanzo and Munenori as they sat down.
Hanzo's eyebrows went up. "May I ask why, Amaya-dono?"
Amaya paused, trying to decide how much to tell him, then shrugged. "My mother needs help with a patient tonight," she answered, not really a lie at all.
"Akane-san should know better than to try and drag you away from your duties as…"
"Munenori-san, the matter is settled. It's not up for discussion," Amaya stated calmly, reaching across the desk and dragging a paper toward her, rotating it on the tip of her finger so she could read it. That was the last the issue was mentioned, and Amaya rushed out as soon as she was able.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Koshirou leaning against the wall just outside his room waiting for her. He either hadn't bothered to put his mask on or had taken it off before coming out, because he wasn't wearing it. He scowled when he heard her hurrying down the hall and then stop. "Don't just stand there. I want to get this over with," he said forcefully, but could quite keep the nervous tremor out of his voice.
Amaya pretended not hear it and grinned down at her feet as she shook her head. "Of course." She wound her arm around his and laced their fingers together so she could guide him through the halls.
xxx
Akane wasn't sure which shocked her more: that it was her daughter at the door of her shop or that it was her daughter with a man at the door of her shop. Upon inspection of Amaya's companion, she decided it was the latter. They were definitely an odd pair, the Iga ninja who was clearly rough around the edges and the petite, refined, castle bred Amaya whose fingers were almost completely hidden in his hand. "Amaya-chan, what's going on?"
Mother-daughter small talk about "boys" had never been a strong suit of Amaya and Akane's for obvious reasons, and Amaya found herself struggling for words to explain the situation at hand. She cocked her head to one side, trying to gauge her mother's reaction.
"Who is he?" Akane asked when her daughter didn't answer her first question after several moments.
"Koshirou-dono," she answered suddenly, realizing her mother probably did not remember him from their brief meeting almost two weeks prior.
Akane's eyebrows went up as she recognized him. "He wasn't scarred up so bad or blind when I saw him last," she stated casually.
Amaya bit down on her lip, not liking her mother's candid nature. "That's why we're here," she explained. "You've cured the blind before, and the scarring, well, that should be easy." Pleading hazel eyes stared up at Akane.
"Don't look at me like that," Akane snapped. "I'm your mother, what less could I do but help? Come in."
Koshirou felt Amaya's wince through his grip on her hand, and because it seemed like the right thing to do, gave it a reassuring squeeze. Amaya shook her head. She wasn't supposed to be the nervous one.
"Sit there," Akane pointed absently to a zabuton in the middle of the floor just before she ducked into her storage room. Amaya pretended not to notice the way her mother had already seemed to have forgotten that Koshirou couldn't see and helped him to the mat.
A jar flew out the partially opened fusuma, the word "catch" following it. Amaya barely managed to snag the container out of the air before it dropped onto the tatumi and shattered. She glared in the direction of her mother's work room. "Put that on his face while I get the mix for his eyes ready," Akane hollered the instruction without bothering to so much as poke her head into the room, and Amaya sighed.
She scooted around in front of Koshirou, unscrewing the lid of the jar as she did so. She ran the jar under her nose a few times, inhaling the scent and hoping to identify the contents. "This shouldn't burn, I don't think," she admitted as she dipped her fingers into the gooey substance, "But I don't know what it is, so I'm sorry in advance if it does." She smeared what she had on her fingers over the top most scar, careful to get as little as possible on the undamaged skin around it. Koshirou wrinkled his nose when he felt the thick sticky substance on his skin.
"Sorry," Amaya apologized, "It is kind of disgusting."
Amaya was searching for a towel on which to wipe her hands when Akane returned with a bright yellow paste in a bowel. She squatted in front of Koshirou. "Hold this," she ordered, setting the bowl in his offered palm. She reached out and pried his right eye open with her thumb and forefinger, studying the damaged tissue closely. "How long has it been since this happened?" she demanded, irritation in the question.
There was a long pause as both Amaya and Koshirou tried to count the days. "Eleven days, counting today," Amaya answered.
Akane's face contorted in a expression very similar to that of when no one could produce the snake whose venom Yashamaru drank. "You shouldn't have waited that long," she chastised Koshirou. "It only gets harder to reverse, the more time you let pass."
Koshirou made no response.
Akane sighed. "Count yourself damn lucky I know what I'm doing, or this would be unfixable." She pried the other eye open, though as she expected, it was in the same state. She let go of that eye, and still holding his right open, she dabbed her fingers into the paste. With extreme care, she smeared the mixture onto the broken surface of his eye. Koshirou started to wince away, and Akane's hand, still with traces of goo on it, lashed out and caught him tightly by the hair at the nape of his neck. "You have to hold still, dammit," she snarled.
Koshirou balled his hands into fists, bracing himself as Akane spread a little more on the same eye. "You need to keep your eyes open," she explained, as she moved to the other eye. "And this is going to burn, to warn you now, but you have to let it sit. Since you waited so damn long to get it treated, you've got at least twenty minutes to tough it out," she informed.
Almost as soon as Akane had said it, Amaya saw Koshirou bare his teeth and hiss out through them, a familiar expression of pain. The apothecary sat back and took the little bowel from him. "If you blink or wipe it off, we start all over," she said conversationally as she stood. "That's why I have to make so much. Not often that anyone finishes in one try." She gestured the remaining paste in the bowel for Amaya.
Amaya barely spared her half a glance. Koshirou's body had tensed up, his fists rested on taught thighs, clenched so tightly a little trickle of blood dripped between his fingers. "Stay still," Amaya reminded, a warning that she was going to touch him and he shouldn't be startled by the contact, then lifted his hand, prying the fingers open. "We can't have you doing that," she told him, obviously referring to the small puncture in his palm.
He heard her shuffle along the tatumi, but was a little surprised when he felt her press flush against his back. Her head rested between his shoulder blades, and her arms wrapped around his waist. She reached out to twine her fingers with his as she held him. "I'm right here," she whispered, not because he didn't know, just because the words were comforting. She nuzzled his back softly, anything to soothe him.
He wasn't used to affection. If it wasn't apparent, Tenzen rarely offered him a day's rest after an injury let alone any kind of actual comfort. He didn't really understand why Amaya felt the need to try and ease his pain, but he definitely appreciated the gesture.
Amaya didn't move from her position until her mother re-emerged from her work room with a wet cloth, at which point she sat back on her heels and rested her hands patiently in her lap. Akane wiped away both the sticky translucent green paste Amaya had spread over his scars, and with more care she removed the bright yellow goo from his eyes. She studied the scars while Koshirou furiously blinked the blurriness out from his vision. "You'll probably want to repeat the process for your scars." She touched one lightly. "But they're definitely most the way faded away. Pretty amazing, this stuff." She smiled at her own work and tossed the three quarter full jar to Amaya again.
Amaya caught it absently, not really looking as she did so. She was staring intently at the back of Koshirou's head, hoping desperately that his vision was completely restored. Akane was going to reprimand her daughter for her careless treatment of the glass jar, but realized it would go unnoticed. She shook her head as she went back into her work room.
Koshirou shook his head violently back and forth and rubbed his eyes, and when he took his hands away a less than crisp, but still visible picture of the world greeted him.
About the same time Koshirou realized he could see again, Amaya was realizing she looked terrible from a day bent over paper work that she hadn't really made any effort to look nice for anyway. "Ugh," she groaned, "What a first sight." She sighed. "I look completely… mmph." Koshirou's arms wrapped around her tightly and his mouth locked with hers, preventing further speech and effectively knocking Amaya off balance so badly that they both toppled to the floor.
Akane heard the thump and came rushing out, such noises usually meant someone had had an allergic reaction and had passed out. She stunned by what she actually saw. "Not in my office!" she barked. "Someone could walk in. Out!"
Koshirou immediately scrambled off the still startled Amaya, face flushed, immediately realizing his blunder and stammering apologies. Amaya on the other hand recognized the dry humor in her mother's voice and facial expression as she tilted her head back to look at the woman upside down. Akane wore a barely maintained frown, and her hands were braced on her hips in an exaggerated posture. She smirked at her mother from her position on the floor. "Of course, mother dearest."
The exchange was lost on Koshirou, who was still shooting sheepish glances at Akane as he offered Amaya a hand up. Amaya couldn't help but notice her lover's embaressment as he pulled her up. She lifted herself onto her toes and kissed his cheek softly before whispering in his ear, "Koi, relax. She's not serious."
Koshirou slowly looked away from Amaya and back at her mother. Akane's arms were crossed over chest and she was shaking her head, but there was definitely a smile on the older woman's face. Koshirou let out a releived sigh and draped his arms around Amaya's shoulders.
"See, I told you," Amaya said gently, resting her head on his chest, turning her head a little to the side to mouth the words "thank you" to the woman leaning against the frame of the fusuma before lacing her fingers with Koshirou's to tug him out the door.
A/N: I'm excited. I found a scene for Jyubei. You may credit the length of this chapter to my wonderful, if sometimes frustrating editor, who informed me I was not allowed to write anymore Romeo and Juliet, fall in love in twenty four hours, romances. Thus it took me 32 pages to hook up Koshirou and Amaya. Hope you like the pairing... I know a lot of people that are irritated by OCxseries character pairings... Hopefully I'll see you next chapter.
