jychan: I don't own Saiunkoku Monogatari. :)

31. A Last Resort

The sound of the birds and the rooster, croaking as if to signify the start of the new day, made Hidari stir up as she turned to the other side of the bed. She felt the cold wind as she tried to grab her blanket, yet oddly, she couldn't find one. She reached out and realized that there was a warm object beside her. She grabbed it without a second thought only to realize that it was a human arm. She bolted her eyes in panic as she saw dark blue eyes staring back at her.

"Afraid that I was gone?" Ran Shuuei asked as Hidari tried to hide her smile, but failed. Her eyes twinkled in delight, she was truly in joyful bliss with her husband. She shook her head in response, however.

"I know that you'll never be able to leave me. As if you can afford to do that." She replied, cheekily as Shuuei raised an eyebrow to mock her, but she blurted her tongue in response. He chuckled as he pinched her nose, making her close her eyes in an immediate reaction. "Shuuei!"

"I like how you're comfortable with saying my name now." He said with a cheeky grin as she immediately realized and blushed in response. "Then again, you had no problem with screaming my name last nigh- Itaii." He complained at the last part as Hidari punched him on his gut. She blushed, however, as she felt his abs. He smirked, knowing the reason why she was blushing. "Is it rock hard? I'll tell you one thing that's rock hard, too."

"I'm not interested!" Hidari said as she grabbed her robes and stood up from the bed. She was wobbling back and forth, noticing the pain in her abdomen area. She glared at him back as she definitely knew the reason why a certain area of her body was aching. He grinned at this realization and stood up, picking her up easily and putting her back to bed.

"I won't do anything to you. So, relax. Just sleep the entire day. I'll be right here, okay?" He said as she nodded and settled in bed, while he returned to bed, too, lying beside her, but not falling asleep. He smiled as she curled up to him while he played with her hair, but assuring that she wouldn't get bothered. He was just too fortunate and happy that she was finally in his arms.

"Shuuei-sama, there is a guest waiting for you outside." A voice interrupted him from outside as he tried to untangle himself from his wife, while making sure that she didn't wake up. He put on his robes and exited his room. Who would come at such time in the morning? He yawned as he continued on walking towards the receiving area, finding an unexpected visitor.

"Seiran, what are you doing here at such time of the day?" He asked as the grey-haired lad sighed. Shuuei widened his eyes, noticing that Seiran had a very heavy air around him. Did something happen?

"Is Hime- no, Furiko here?" He asked as Shuuei grinned.

"First name basis already, eh? But, no. I haven't seen her. Is there a problem?" Shuuei replied as Seiran's expression became glum. "Did something happen? Is she missing?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I left my eyes off her for a minute and she was gone when I turned back." He said as Shuuei's eyes widened. "For sure, she wasn't captured by any person since she would have definitely made a noise or whatsoever. She might've gone to find a way to get Hidari-hime back."

"Hidari-hime? But she's-" "Shuuei, is something wrong? Where did you go..." Hidari arrived to the receiving room as Seiran widened his eyes. She went near Shuuei and gave a low bow to Seiran in acknowledgement. "Good evening, Shi-san. It's a surprise to see you here."

"Hidari-hime, you're here... What happened?" Seiran asked as Shuuei proceeded to explain the events to Seiran, who nodded throughout the whole explanation. Hidari was just quiet as Seiran proceeded to explain to her the events that transpired when she had lost her memory. She widened her eyes, yet she stayed silent and listened throughout the whole ordeal.

"Th-Then, Hime- no, Shimo-san is missing right now? But, what's going to happen then? We have to find her." Hidari said as Shuuei raised his arm before her.

"No, we are going to look for her. Hidari, you were just recently kidnapped. They might do it again. For now, I'll ask the shujou if we can keep you inside the palace. You have to be safe. I can't afford to lose you again." Shuuei said as he looked at her, while Hidari frowned for a moment, but nodded. She felt sad that she couldn't help her husband to do anything, but if she were to accompany them, she might become a burden. However, she knew of one thing that she can give her husband that will prove to be useful.

"Seien-nii-sama, would it be fine if you can wait for a quick moment before you and Shuuei can leave? Besides, Shuuei still has to change his clothes into something proper." Hidari said as Seiran raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyhow.

"I'll wait for you in the Palace. The shujou is also waiting for us." Seiran said as he left the Ran residence. Hidari and Shuuei went back to their quarters as Shuuei had a grin on his face.

"If I knew that you wanted to have a quickie, I would-" "No. It's something else." Hidari said as she quickly looked through her things and grabbed a brush, the ink bottle and a scroll. She proceeded to write things on the scroll as Shuuei raised an eyebrow, looking over his wife.

"What is this?" Shuuei asked as he looked at the writings on the scroll, but could not comprehend a single thing.

"You would not understand that since it's one of our country's ancient languages. Only old families will understand this." She replied as she proceeded to roll the scroll and inserted it inside his sleeve. "Danna-sama, please stay safe." She said as she kissed him on his lips. She looked at his eyes and smiled afterwards.

"Of course." He replied as he sealed her lips with his.

"Ojou-san, where were you going again?" An old man who was in his cart that was being run by a donkey, asked the woman who was sitting beside him. She smiled in response, her gray hair glistening in the sky.

"Shinyen."