"Is that Shiba Lord?" asked neesan.
Kotoha nodded her head.
"Your cheeks are red."
Kotoha shook her head.
"Yes they are. Why don't you sit with him? I can handle myself."
"Are you sure, neesan?"
Mitsuba nodded her head. Kotoha went back to her tono-sama.
"Neesan is okay."
"Good," said Takeru. He pulled the seat out for her.
It reminded her of when he posed as her butler, and how uncomfortable she felt that her own lord was pulling her seat for her.
Kotoha smiled and sat down.
The next few minutes were awkward silences. Until the show started.
Ryunosuke was very convincing as a woman. The special effects got to both of them, though, when Ryunosuke's character was physically scarred by poisonous make-up.
Both Takeru and Kotoha were scared, Takeru thinking about the Haunted House, and Kotoha just startled in general.
It got even more frightening, though, when Ryunosuke's character was murdered and sought vengeance, and came back as a horrible ghost.
By this time, Takeru and Kotoha had grasped the same armrest, and were holding hands, although they weren't aware of it.
At the end of the performance, there was a huge round of applause. Kotoha turned around to see her sister standing up, applauding, and grinning down at Kotoha and Takeru.
Afterwards, they met Ryunosuke who sat at the front of the stage, still wiping up some of his indigo and white make-up.
"I'm so glad you could come Tono, and Kotoha too."
"Ryunosuke, this is my older sister, Mitsuba."
"You have some make-up right here," giggled Mitsuba, raising her hand and gently wiping the left-over make-up away on Ryunosuke's cheek. Kotoha swore she could see Ryunosuke blush.
"Um, Kotoha, why don't we have Takeru and Ryunosuke over for lunch. They sure look hungry."
"Sure, I mean, would you like some lunch?"
Takeru and Ryunosuke nodded eagerly.
Kotoha made them a simple udon broth with noodles. It tasted better than Mako's cooking, at least.
Ryunosuke told the story about how, before the play, they had to go to the grave of the character that Ryunosuke played, in order to get permission. Mitsuba seemed very interested.
"I think it would be interesting to see you do a kabuki dance, Ryunosuke," grinned Mitsuba.
"Nee-san, I wanted to show them around town, though, but if you want to see Ryunosuke's dance, I'll stay and watch with you."
"Hmm… I have an idea, why don't you show tono around while Ryunosuke dances for me," Mitsuba said, with a sly smile.
"Umm… okay, whatever you would like to do, nee-san," Kotoha smiled.
Takeru noticed how Kotoha treated Mitsuba like a china doll, and sacrificed a lot for her.
"Tono-sama, would you like to see town."
Takeru nodded. Kotoha and Takeru left the house.
Kotoha took Takeru to the general tourist attractions, various temples and shrines. They saw a group of training geishas walk through. Takeru was surprised to see the geishas.
"It's funny…"
"What is, tono-sama?"
"I've lived in Japan all of my life, and I've never seen a geisha."
"Geishas usually are in Kyoto. I've lived Kyoto all my life, training and taking care of nee-san, and I had never even been in Tokyo until a few months ago. And now that the time is over, I feel empty. I've never really stopped to enjoy Kyoto, tono-sama."
Takeru nodded his head, and put his hand on Kotoha's forehead, to ruffle her hair. It felt warm.
"Hmm… guess there's a lot in common with us that we weren't aware of."
"Would you like to see my favorite place, tono-sama?"
Takeru nodded.
Kotoha brought him to a small, rocky stream, in a lush green area near her house.
"This is where I would go to practice or play the flute. Or to just relax."
"Mou, Kouichirou, you moved!" said a woman in her late 20s, "Stay still!"
She struggled to take a picture of a man, holding a soccer ball.
"I am, Chisato!"
"Okay, on the count of three, toss your ball in the air. One, two, three. Perfect," she said as she took a picture.
Chisato looked over at Takeru and Kotoha.
"Hi," she said, "Can we take a picture of you?"
Kotoha looked at Takeru.
"Kotoha, you don't need to ask me."
Kotoha blushed. Chisato and Kouichirou moved out of the way, and Chisato arranged them in a shot.
"My name's Kouichirou, by the way, and this is my wife, Chisato. And you are?"
"Kotoha and this is to—Takeru."
"Kouichirou's soccer team is here for a campaign, and I'm taking pictures for a magazine. I love nature photographs, though. Okay, and smile!"
It was a rareity to see Takeru smile.
"You, you call that a smile? Smile like her!"
Kotoha laughed. Takeru looked at how happy Kotoha was, and couldn't help but smile. Chisato took the picture.
"Ah," Chisato said to Kouichirou, "young love."
Both Takeru and Kotoha blushed at Chisato's notion. They both wanted to correct her, but were afraid about upsetting each other. And they were afraid about lying to themselves as well.
"You should put this in your gallery, honey."
"Yeah, this would be nice. Would you two like to come? The opening for the new exhibit is in a few weeks. "
"Uh…" Kotoha looked at Takeru.
"Okay, when you make up your mind, here's the address," said Chisato as she handed them her business card. The couple walked away, hand in hand, "Bye!" they said.
"Would you like to go, Kotoha?" asked Takeru.
"Um, I'll have to wait to see what neesan thinks about it."
"You should go, Kotoha-chan," said Mitsuba later, as Kotoha prepared dinner for Takeru and Ryunosuke, the latter of which had yarn wrapped around his hands, holding it for Mitsuba as she knitted a blue scarf.
"But what about you, neesan?"
"Kotoha, I think I can handle myself for a few days. I can have one of our neighbors check in on me."
"I think we aren't performing any shows during the exhibit, I can stay with your sister, Kotoha."
"That would be nice, Ryunosuke," said Kotoha, "But where can I stay?"
"You could stay at the mansion," said Takeru.
"Oh, tono-sama…"
"It's close to the gallery."
"Tono-sama, you're so kind."
Takeru blushed.
"It's nothing, really, you stayed there before."
Kotoha nodded. Mitsuba nodded Ryunosuke. They grinned at each other, like they were aware of something the other two were only slightly.
"So, it's a plan!" said Mitsuba.