Chapter 10 | A Separation of Power
Uchiha Mio entered the compound hauling her luggage off her shoulders and leaving it at the entrance. After years of commuting between Sachiyo's home and the compound, Eijiro encouraged her to look upon it as a second home as her duties would doubtless increase her visits to the point that she would make the guest room into something permanent. She had since fallen into a strange normal.
She zipped past the entrance hall, determined to find Jouji and deliver the mission report Sachiyo entrusted her to keep safe. She stopped short of the council room, spotting a new face and freezing. A pretty, humbling girl in a cotton dress and apron with hair bright and golden like the sun and a frightful look was seated at the table. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Mio's abrupt halt, blinking doe eyes at her looking as if she had just seen a ghost. She held her hands folded over her pregnant belly almost protectively.
"Hello," the stranger intoned, a wavering voice.
Mio straightened her back and inclined her head in greeting. "Good morning."
"You don't need to bow. I'm low birth."
"Me too."
Eijiro's booming voice startled the girl, who redirected her attention to the screen of the adjacent room where it was likely to find the elder schooling his insubordinate grandson on a subject likely to go in one ear and out the other. Asking Taiga to reason was like telling a king to relinquish his crown for the good of the people when he'd rather be a bastard about it.
Mio maneuvered her way across the room and seated herself in front of the table. She had to speak to Eijiro before she sought out Jouji and the girl looked like she could use the company. It wasn't hard to piece things together from the indecipherable words of Eijiro's tirade. Taiga had committed the biggest form of idiocy and this girl had to pay for it.
"You don't have to keep me company."
Mio didn't understand how she could have figured out her intention. "Why?"
The golden-haired girl stared at her lap. "It seems I'm not welcomed here."
"Did you do something bad?" Mio asked curiously.
"I don't think I did," she answered after a pause. "Not to them, I didn't, I—" She looked up, alarmed, tearing with every panicked word. "I don't think I should say anything, but they've been in there for hours and I don't know if I'll be killed."
It wasn't hard to determine she was talking about Eijiro and Taiga. They were a force of nature, an earthquake and hurricane respectively, but even they had reasons for civility. Seeing as the girl was pregnant with a child she assumed was Taiga's, Mio knew that could be used to soften Eijiro. He loved children.
"Eijiro-sama controls Taiga. If you are in danger because of him, you won't be long if you are in his grandfather's good graces." Mio pointed to the woman's large belly. "Whether girl or boy, he will love that baby as it is his blood. Eijiro is already on your side. The clan needs offspring to prosper, whether the women are deemed suitable or not, and he knows it better than anyone else."
The girl looked distraught. Mio determined she said something terrible and lowered her gaze in response, thinking of ways to repair the hurt. "I don't know any comforting words," Mio blurted, shifting uncomfortably. "Sorry."
The confession proved to be the lifesaver in the terse atmosphere because the smallest hint of a smile broke across the girl's face. Eijiro's haranguing concluded with Taiga's emergence into the council room.
"Sako, we're leaving," he announced, sparing her a glance. His eyes swept the room, finding Mio and the dark demeanor dissipated long enough for one of his famous secret smiles. He glanced from her to the pregnant girl. "Have you met?"
Sako glanced up at him timidly, struggling to push her weight off the ground and onto wobbly feet. Mio sensed her uncertainty, wondering if it was fine to admit it and before Taiga could demand an answer from the young girl, she gave him one, "I wanted to keep her company."
Mio rose from her seat, interjecting once more when she saw him open his mouth. "I have to speak to Eijiro-sama. Please excuse me."
Taiga grabbed Sako by the arm and turned her toward the hallway leading to the apartments upstairs shared by the Elders. It wasn't hard to see what neither had spoken. Mio knew Sako had fallen prey to something Taiga said, just as she had the day he prevented Hiryuu from killing her.
She entered the room from which Taiga had emerged to find Eijiro seated with his back to the entrance. Even if she hadn't heard his shouts permeating from the room, she would still feel the anger clinging to the ambience as if the air was thinning. Her steps, though careful and quiet, drew his attention.
Eijiro shifted over his seat, turning to face her with a scowl on his face. "More bad news?"
Mio shook her head.
"Don't just stand there, sit," he said gruffly, gesturing to a cushion across him.
She stepped closer and took the seat. She sat in awkward silence with the older man, his dark eyes searching her face for a hint of news.
"What's it you want?" he asked sharply, his patience thinned.
"She's a nice girl," she replied.
Eijiro grunted. "She's a useless girl," he started. "A civilian, a handmaid, a naïve fool." He puffed up like a blowfish, red faced. "And don't get me started on that grandson of mine—a genius at his work, a fool outside it. Women and alcohol and herbs—the perdition of men of his caliber and he has mastered each."
Mio listened, hearing his ire lessen as his insults rang. She came to inform him of her arrival and of good results, but stayed for the sake of the terrified pregnant girl fooled by Taiga's sweetened words and pledge of friendship. He used recycled methods in ways they should never be used against unsuspecting victims. She wished she had something to say about it, perhaps a good reason for sticking her nose in somebody else's business. She would have opted for ignorance, but it was the terrified look on Sako's face that gave her the incentive to do something knowing she could.
"He won't lose his—"
"He wants to marry the girl," Eijiro interjected. The revelation shocked her as much as it did him. "How stupid is that? Does he expect to marry every woman he impregnates?"
Eijiro had more to say about the subject and went on until he exhausted himself enough to send her away. She was surprised to have managed to say what she needed to and left in search of Jouji, the leader of the intelligence squad. Although the council room strummed with silence, the upstairs apartments creaked under the weight of Taiga's heavy steps and the hushed threatening voice he used to address his current situation with Sako.
Avoid the nonsensical, Mio recited mentally. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary. Taiga and Sako's situation was theirs to deal with, there was no need for her to interfere even if she thought she could fix it. She already overstepped her boundaries by bringing up the subject to Eijiro and listening to his angry spiel. She didn't mean to do it. It just came out and she regretted it instantly. As she walked further away from the main building, her mind went back to the moment she seated herself and blurted out that Sako was a nice girl. She mentally shouted at herself.
Why did I do that? She turned a sharp corner, surroundings blurring in her periphery. Why does it matter to me? She's a stranger. I'm not her family. She had a stronger bond with Taiga because he knew one of her secrets and he had spent the last two years in Sachiyo's house training with Madara and Izuna. Honestly speaking, she wouldn't call that a bond, she called it 'forced amity.'
It hadn't been an hour since she delivered her information to Jouji and had lunch in the kitchens that she encountered Sako wobbling inside the room, a hand in her back and one on her large belly. She looked like she was about to burst. The servants stared at her in disdain, like one would a disgusting insect, and she noticed it from the moment she entered the room. Despite the horrible looks, Sako beamed and greeted each of them. She meandered around the kitchen searching for something to do, but being barred from doing so since Taiga proclaimed her his future wife and ordered she received the same treatment he did.
Mio fell into her periphery from the start, but Sako hesitated as she seated herself nearby.
"Taiga told you something, didn't he?"
"No," she said quickly. "He didn't."
"You answered too fast," Mio pointed out. "You're lying to me."
Sako looked devastated. "How—?"
"I would shame my family if I couldn't tell when someone was lying," Mio interjected, taking her tea in her hands. "Don't think anything by it."
Sako wasn't sure whether to laugh or take the advice in silence. She fidgeted, her eyes looking around in every direction.
Mio waited for the kitchen staff to disappear before confronting Sako about the type of deal she struck with Taiga. She wanted to kick herself for thinking about it and reconsidered her decision to pry, but her conscious wouldn't let her drop the subject. With the room radiating silence and the atmosphere growing awkward between the sound of her cold tea sloshing in her hands and the crunch of the crackers Sako busied herself eating.
"What did Taiga tell you?"
Sako peered at her fretfully. "What do you mean?"
"I mean why are you here when you'd rather be anywhere else?" she rephrased. "Taiga isn't psychic, so you could have easily lied and said it was someone else's child and had a far easier life raising it on your own without a psychopath."
"Psychopath?" she asked doubtfully.
"Two years ago, my parents were murdered—" Mio glanced up in time to catch the flash of horror in her face. "Oh no, it's not what you think. He didn't kill them, someone else did." She knew from the look in Sako's face that her intention had been lost the minute she uttered the word 'murdered.' She lost herself in Sako's horrorstruck expression for a minute too long. "The point is that I was doing something on impulse and he found out about it through eavesdropping. He saved my life and I'm grateful for it, but he knows I was keeping a secret and he wants to know why so he's basically been extorting me with talks of friendship and wide suspicious grins. Since you're uncomfortable being under this roof, I assumed he said something to you."
Mio finished the rest of the liquid in her cup and rose to her feet, impatient. "I should get going. Please excuse me," she said, opting for a change of pace and moved towards the exit. "Taiga will likely bring you to Sachiyo-sama's manor. It's in a quiet countryside and the owner of the house, Sachiyo-sama, she has llamas. I live there. If you need anything and I'm not around ask the cook called Kana, she's nicer than the ones here."
Sako nodded hesitantly.
"He promised he'd kill me."
Mio halted at the kitchen entrance, unprepared for her confession.
"Uhm, he swore he'd carve the baby from my insides," she continued shakily. "He would kill me after I watched our child die, said he would wait. I-I only had two options: let it happen or become his wife. I don't want to be here, but I don't have choice."
Mio closed her eyes. It was worse that she could have ever anticipated. She didn't know what to do, but maybe that was due to the fact that she was just a girl. She didn't know any sagacious words. She had no experience in anything but her work. What could she offer this other girl when she knew nothing?
"I should really go. I'm sorry."
Mio ran.
"What happens if my grandmother doesn't return first?"
Madara's voice drew her from her sudden reverie. She blinked, pushing the memories from her head and focusing on the subject at hand. Trouble had befallen the clan with rumors of Eijiro's death and she felt strangely uneasy with the news.
"You tell me," Mio replied strangely. "A lot of people suffer if Eijiro is dead."
They were seated across one another, only a candle between them highlighting the contours of their faces in a night far darker and sinister than they could have ever anticipated.
"Shouldn't you think of a plan?"
"I didn't know I had to think of a plan."
"You have the right skill set." Mio reached out and pinched his wrist. He flinched with a growl. "That hurts!"
She did it a second time, feeling his hand slap hers in retaliation. She scowled, though she barely felt the sting of it.
"I can keep doing it all night if you don't lower your voice," she whispered coolly.
It was harder for Madara to keep his voice down and he agreed he needed a reminder so she volunteered to pinch him. There were shinobi in almost every room around them, each devising their own plan to deal with whatever storm was brewing in their ranks. Eijiro's death would throw everyone in disarray. He kept the Uchiha clan united without having to call himself its leader. Shinobi like Hiryuu and Taiga who have always been in disagreement would appeal to those that might support their ideas to pledge their loyalties because many were waiting for news of Eijiro's death whenever he stepped outside the compound, ready to take his place even if it meant dividing the clan.
The worst of it all is not knowing what would happen if it came to that.
Madara rubbed the reddening flesh around his wrist. "So?"
"If Eijiro-san is dead as Hikaku-san claims, there are only two ways this can go," Mio started. "Taiga won't sit around quietly; he will assume his grandfather's position and protect the brittle peace within the clan. He can either succeed or fail. I wager he won't be as convincing as Eijiro-san or Hiryuu and your father will be the voices of two revolts that won't leave him enough room to try. With that, the power will be split in three, but Hikaku-san won't stay quiet either. He will take the fourth power. And because Sachiyo-sama isn't likely to follow any one of them, she will take from them the fifth power and the clan will be irreparably split."
"That's a given," Madara said, unimpressed. "But how sure are you that none of the other shinobi on this floor want that power. Our clan could end today—disperse completely."
"Because everyone has alliances, either in those they respect or admire," she said, brushing aside his assumption. "Konoe would immediately side with Hiryuu and Jouji will take Taiga's side. Taisuke and Shouji from the subdivision will collaborate with Hikaku if necessary. Katsura is extremely loyal to Tajima. We are loyal to Sachiyo-sama. Sides will be taken if the clan is divided by these five people and nobody would challenge them because they are this clan's strongest."
Madara wore a troubled expression, partly shrouded by the long shadows in the room. "Then we need Taiga to succeed."
"Either way, the internal war is inevitable. Since Eijiro-san put an end to the conflicts many have waited for the moment in which they could follow the old principles. There could be alliances with even bigger shinobi clans that can lead to a large-scale war." Mio grew weary of talking about the unavoidable. It would happen whether they concocted a plan or not. She shifted uncomfortably, stomach aching. "At this point, we can only hope Eijiro-san is still alive."
"Damnit," he cursed beneath his breath. His hands fisted over his knees. "Why isn't Izuna here when you need him?"
"His absence is irrelevant," she said. "He won't know what to do any more than we do."
"We could outsmart them."
"We're just brats. They're older and have more experience than we do." Mio frowned, leaning into the window. "I don't want to be killed for doing something stupid."
Madara didn't back down. "This is because you're worried about Taiga's wife and daughter, aren't you?"
"I work for your family. It doesn't matter if I am," she answered evenly.
"But what if it did?" he urged. "What if you're so worried you can't stand it?"
"I can't stand it," she said edgily. "You don't think they're the first people they'd go after if things turned violent. Minako would be killed and who will stop Taiga from placing the blame on his wife as an excuse to kill her as well?"
Four years ago when Taiga acknowledged he impregnated Sako, he gave her two options: marry him or have the unborn child cut from her womb by him. He took responsibility for the mistakes he made, but he wasn't the least bit happy about taking a wife. He disrespected her more often than he noticed she was there. The only person that mattered at the end of the day was Minako. And it was a depressing sight to see Sako bow her head to his cruel manipulations, but Mio had seen it and she had been kind to her in return. Perhaps it had been pity at the time, but it was also because Sako deserved better and she didn't want to let Taiga get away with it all the time. In the end, there was only so much she could do.
"Do something about it," he ordered.
Mio sucked in a breath and held it in as she considered her options. She could throw the civil conversation in the trash and start an argument that may lead to her sleeping in the hallway or say what she knew he wanted to hear.
She looked at him as she exhaled. "Fine," she said hesitantly, "but from now on, I work for you."
The words tasted like bile on her tongue. Never in a million years did she imagine she would pledge her allegiance to Madara, but he left her no choice. She cared enough to be the sacrifice.
"Then you better not fail."
In her insomnia, Mio sauntered downstairs to raid the kitchens. Her stomach was growling and cramping, making it hard to lie on the futon long enough to sleep, especially with Madara snoring at+ arm's length. She ate a disastrous combination of rice balls and oranges and the leftover rice cakes she had from the trip that led to a walk around the compound. She needed to walk it off. With the housing room packed to the brim, remaining clansmen were camped outside and once the drinking had ended a chorus of snores reached her whenever she stepped into the outdoor hallways that connected the buildings. Even late that night there were shinobi arriving and guards to fill them in on what they missed.
Mio had never seen so many Uchiha in one place before. There were children, teenagers, older men and women, even crones landing safely on the ground beneath them. But her amazement made things worse. Too many had gathered and there wasn't any news on Eijiro or any of the other elders. She grew weary and worried about Sachiyo and Izuna. She was exhausted, but too restless to stay in one place without every minute feeling like an eternity. There was no place for her downstairs so she returned to the room, picking up a number of books to keep her entertained through the night.
She breezed through the pages of three short books using the glare of moonlight to see the words before Madara rolled onto his stomach, lifting somnolent eyes to her.
"I can't sleep," she announced, picking up a book on topography.
"Count sheep." He buried his face in his pillow.
Mio perused her book, skipping the introduction. "I counted to a thousand earlier."
"Listen to the rain."
"Only it's not raining."
"Don't be difficult," he mumbled, pushing himself into a seat. "You're making too much noise."
"Your ears are just too good. I don't make much noise."
"If I can hear you breathing, that's too much noise," he said, suppressing a yawn. "Have you even tried to sleep?"
Mio read in silence, nodding. "I told you I counted a thousand sheep."
"I thought you were being sarcastic."
"I think I slept too much." She caught his gaze. "How long had I been unconscious?"
"You ask this now?" he complained.
"I only thought of it now."
"You ask as soon as you wake up, not when it occurs to you," he went on. "You could have been asleep for a year."
"I would have noticed a year."
"Didn't you ask Kana?"
"You gave me half an hour. I'm a girl, I like taking my time."
"Taking your time doing what?" he whispered harshly. "You wear the same clothes all the time and just tie your hair. You don't even bother trying to look nice."
She bristled, but her tenor didn't change. "They're not the same. I happen to have a closet full of similar clothes. This is the first time I wore this entire outfit, you can't say that same thing about the clothes on your back, I can see the age wear from this far."
"At least you can tell the difference?"
Mio snapped her book shut. "We are about to embark on the stupidest suggestion you have ever made in life, so if you have a problem with what I wear, you be a good master and get me prettier clothes because I can't afford anything with my cut of the work." She reached for a book detailing the legends attached to a number of clans and opened it. "Do you want me to tuck you in, sing you a lullaby, and hold your hand? You speak up because I can't read minds."
"Who says I can afford anything?" he snapped.
And that's what you respond to, you cheapskate? She shook her head, skimming through the open page. She used that same book to learn the history of the Kuronuma clan where the later volumes depicted them as cannibals. Now that she could assume they weren't, she felt a little cheated.
Madara snatched the book from her. "Listen!"
"I'm listening!" she spat.
"Do you always do this?"
"Not sleep?" she questioned. "Yes. I travel easiest through night."
"What about at home?"
"If I can't sleep, I just wake Kana and I eat and we talk."
Madara stood, dragging her to her feet. "Let's go to the kitchen."
"I just came back from the kitchen."
"Then why aren't you sleeping?"
"You never told me how long I've been asleep."
"A month or less. You think I was counting the days?"
Mio dropped her eyes to his hand. "Are we still going downstairs? My stomach still hurts, so I still might be—" She felt a lurch in her stomach and looked at him plainly. "I need to vomit."
He jerked his hand away. "Go outside."
"I don't—"
Mio made it to the window and stayed slumped over the frame until the last of what she ate spilled out. She wiped her mouth, preferring to have been asleep than deal with her nasty stomachache and insomnia. Once she was certain she finished, she sank into a seat, taking water from Madara. It went down easy, but didn't wash away the acrid aftertaste.
"You're pale again."
She closed her eyes, leaning her head on the wall, sighing. "Excellent."
Morning peaked at a snail's pace. Madara had been lucky to have slept at least five hours. He stayed up starting petty arguments with her and she left his wrists bruised. The looks they received from the other shinobi as they walked down the staircase was enough to assume they had heard them talking the entire night.
A dozen more Uchiha had arrived since yesterday. The dining hall was teeming with various families and the servants of the compound maneuvered through the crowd with platters of food on their arms, serving everyone as quickly as they could manage. Others were outside, enjoying the company of old friends and new acquaintances over expensive bottles of sake and gambling games that at times ended disastrously.
Mio observed a pair of men growing rowdy, tempers boiling and voices rising before the table between them split in half and blows were exchanged until one of them fell a bloody heap on the ground, barely conscious, barely alive. She turned away, following Madara out the back entrance to the gardens and forest. They ate a small breakfast of onigiri as they walked, he split the servings evenly, except he gave her all the flavors he didn't like and she took them without complaint. She wasn't exactly picky with onigiri fillings so long as Madara ate the squid and tuna. He was good at eating things she hated much like she enjoyed roe.
"Mio!"
The thumping of Minako's feet reached her ears a second before the girl lunged herself onto her back, dropping her face first into the polished floors.
Madara walked on ahead, sparing her a scathing glace as she struggled to get back on her feet. She turned slowly, straining to smile as the girl stumbled off her back and rolled over with a high-pitched giggle.
"Found you!"
Mio flopped onto her back smiling. "Yes, you did."
"Mio!" snapped Madara.
She tilted her head back. He was waiting at the doorway, arms crossed.
"Where you going?" piped Minako.
"To the gardens." Mio pushed herself back on her feet, offering the girl her hand. "Want to come?"
Minako took her hand and led the way in her excitement. Madara rolled his eyes, stepping out into the verandah to a chilly morning. Mio took a scarf from a hook on the wall and wrapped it around Minako's neck.
The girl sprang off the last step and barreled across the short grass to the vegetable garden over a dirt-packed road.
"What are you doing?" asked Madara.
"I'm keeping a promise," she replied, taking a seat on the bottom steps of the verandah. "You're just bored and want to rub it in my face that you can order me around now."
"She has a mother."
"An unappreciated woman that everyone hates, who slaves to work for the likes of them to be around her daughter because Taiga barely gave her an option," she said briskly. "I like to help if I can."
"It's not your job."
Mio looked at him. "You can't stop me."
"Maybe it's time you learned not to concern yourself with outsiders," he remarked lowly. "Or is that too hard for you?"
"I just don't want to do it."
Madara walked down the stairs. He called Minako over and crouched down in front of her. The girl bounded towards him with wind burnt cheeks and stood bouncing, eager to hear whatever he had to say.
Mio heard chickens clucking nearby and scrambled onto her feet, away from them. She watched a trio of hens skitter along the grass. They're so stupid looking…
She turned away.
"Okay!" Minako announced, running to the verandah. "Mio! Let's find baby chickens! I want to find baby chickens!"
Mio felt her blood run cold at the thought of going near the coop with all its feathery inhabitants and the sound of their wings flapping in her ears, but she didn't know how to say no to the girl. "Uhm…I—"
The hen's clucking was suddenly near…close enough to make her squeamish. Fluttering wings appeared in her periphery, then the sound of it reached her as its feathers brushed against her skin. She jolted away, slamming into the nearest wall and falling on her backside with a loud scream. The chicken landed on the ground, dismayed, squawking louder with ruffled wings before returning them to its sides and strutting away.
Madara and Minako laughed.
Mio's face burned with embarrassment as she looked from one face to another, completely helpless. She sat there frozen unable to move an inch because the brown hen was skittering around the verandah. She continued sliding closer to the corner, taking hold of the ledge and heaved her body up.
"Kick it off," she said, making a gesture.
Madara stared at her, mocking. "I didn't think you were afraid of chickens."
She felt strongly about crying, but sucked it up. "Just kick it off."
In that same moment, the chicken left of its own volition and scampered away to join the rest of its pack, leaving her room to breathe and relax her frightened heart.
"That's just impressive," he said mockingly, leaving the verandah as well. "You should sit and guard the door. What if they try getting inside?" Oh, take this." He pulled a kunai and tossed it in her direction. She caught it by the hilt and stared at him awkwardly. "You'll need it more than I do."
Minako didn't forget about the chicken. She told her mother and the entire staff the whole story. She and Madara were suddenly the best of friends, they laughed it out over breakfast, lunch, and dinner or whenever Minako tagged along for a chance to play with her. Mio knew they were secretly plotting to throw another chicken at her and give her the heart attack she almost had the first time. She had nightmares about birds swarming around her, pecking at her face with their pointy beaks until they were covered in her blood. Every time she woke up, she threw something at Madara's head or kicked him. She swore not to forgive him and by the fourth day, they were at each other's throats to the point Madara ordered her out of the room and she retorted that she made the decision to leave long before he formed that thought in his head.
By then, everyone was present except the elders and their personal guards. It wouldn't be long before Sachiyo, Izuna, and Tajima made an appearance. However, the fact that they had taken so long from the start was worrisome. There wasn't a day she didn't feel it was strange. Instead of worrying about it day in and out, she spend her time helping Sako do chores.
"Should you be sleeping in the same room as Madara-sama?" Sako asked, folding all of her daughter's clothes meticulously. "I mean…I grew up with a lot of brothers, but the girls and boys slept in different rooms."
Mio looked at her, confused. She was lying over the tatami, legs folded, with a book in hand. "I have my own room back home," she said. "We only share a room when we come to the compound. Sachiyo-sama likes having us near and together."
"But you're fourteen," Sako replied, holding a pair of pants to her lap. "He's a boy and he's older."
"He's only a year older."
Sako smiled, humored. "You don't understand, do you?"
"No?" she answered dubiously.
Sako set aside the clothes and seated herself closer to her. "Have you ever liked a boy?"
"I can't say I've had too much exposure to boys my age, but I like Izuna just fine."
"And Madara-sama?"
"I tolerate him."
"You don't understand at all" Sako giggled. "I meant a different sort of like. Love. Like a legitimate marriage where a man and a woman love each other. Weren't your parents like that?"
Mio never thought about love. She didn't see Madara or Izuna that way either, so she found it a tad disturbing and it showed in her face. It made Sako laugh some more.
"I don't know," she replied, trying to remember the way her mother and father were around each other.
Genji was complacent where Kikyo was strict. One had what the other lacked and somehow they complimented each other. They had a strange way of acting around one another, but it was the way they looked at each other that resurfaced in her memory. Kikyo could stare at his back for hours and not once would the light dim in her eyes. Genji always watched her, observing the slightest of movements she made as she walked from room to room and smiled that secret smile of his.
Mio felt warm whenever she looked at them exchanging whispers and giggling in some corner of the house where she wouldn't hear them and how they surprised each other for their birthdays. There were so many little things the two shared and it was those insignificant details that she remembered. She now wondered if anyone could have that.
"You don't know or you don't remember?"
"I remember," she answered. "I think they were good together."
"Then you did understand what I meant?" Mio nodded slowly. "I think it might be improper to be in the same room at your age."
"It's fine," said Mio dismissively. "I'd faster die than look at Madara that way."
"What about him?"
She almost laughed. "If I was the last woman in this world and the future depended on us procreating, he'd consider dying twice before agreeing to do anything with me."
"But you wouldn't be averse to the idea?"
Mio placed her book between her legs, tilting her head back to see Sako's expression. "I shouldn't have an opinion on that matter," she started. "I suppose it wouldn't matter if I was averse or not if that was what he wanted. I serve his family. Only in that situation. In any other, I rather not obey."
"So if it was absolutely necessary for you to have children with him, you would agree to it if he asked it of you?"
"Not asked, ordered."
"And you would succumb to his will?"
"Yes," Mio deadpanned.
Sako sighed. "You're braver than I am."
"Why?" Mio reopened her book, holding it high above her head.
"Madara-sama can a bit scary."
"I can see why, he's short-tempered and reckless and he's quick to threaten you," Mio described. "But his threats are empty. He won't hurt me. Sachiyo-sama would kill him."
Sako was as concerned as when the conversation had started and she didn't drop the subject. "Maybe you should stay with me and Minako?"
"Okay," Mio answered instantly.
"Really?"
"Yes. Madara threatened to turn the room into a chicken coop tonight."
Sako grinned. "Would he?"
"Madara shouldn't be encouraged."
Sako rose with the folded clothes in her arms and walked across the room to put them away. "So is there a boy you like?"
"No."
Mio flipped through the pages of her book, unconcerned with the question.
"I liked a baker's boy when I was your age; we were friends since we were young," Sako reminisced, looking happier than she had ever seen her. "We were together for a few months before I left to become a maid. There were many boys after that, a guard who treated my kindly, the servant of the lord who told funny jokes, and one of the gardeners. I've fallen in love too many times so I think it was easy for Taiga."
"What did you see in him?" Mio asked, curious.
"He was charming and I was broken hearted," Sako admitted. "I thought sweet words had saved me…but I guess I was wrong."
A loveless life sounded pleasant. She didn't like the way brokenhearted and sweet words sounded in that single sentence and she wished not to experience anything remotely like that if she'd look as sad as Sako when she said it.
"But I was happy for a moment and I'm happier now with Minako."
"It's good she is nothing like her father," remarked Mio.
Sako laughed, nodding. "I couldn't agree more."
"What are you doing?" Madara demanded, watching her pack her things.
"I'm going downstairs to sleep with Sako and Minako," she answered, bags slung across her shoulder.
His eyebrows creased, annoyed. "Why?"
"Because I'm a fourteen-year-old girl and it's inappropriate."
"You don't look like a girl," he said with a frown.
"You can say all the nice things you want but I won't stay."
"I never asked you to stay. Leave."
"Is that an order?" she challenged.
"Everything that leaves my mouth is an order, so start listening," he retorted, pushing her out the room. "Go!"
He shut the door in her face, drawing a frown to her lips. As much as it pained her, she had to offer herself up for whatever he desired. She sucked it up, hating that she was doing the one thing she never wanted to do: work for Madara. "If you want anything, I'll be downstairs."
Mio started toward the staircase when she heard the door open.
"Stop doing that."
She turned to see Madara looking at her.
"Doing what?" she asked innocently.
"I kicked you out this morning," he said, "and you twisted it around."
"Who do you think I am?" she asked, insulted. She took the stairs two at a time before his booming voice carried over his insults and headed to Sako's room down the hall.
A scrambling shinobi intercepted her path, smacking straight into the wall and crumbling onto the ground. She stood startled by the odd entrance, listening to the sound of Madara's descent from the staircase, his tirade coming to a sudden end. The stranger left a thin trail of blood that dripped from between his fingers. His left arm looked as if it had been mauled by an animal and she immediately felt queasy.
His dim eyes quickly found her face as he reached to tear the mask from his face. She recognized him as one of the men from Eijiro's guard, but his name didn't come to mind as she stared at his disheveled, wounded state. "You're Mio, aren't you?"
Startled, Mio stepped back with a slight nod. "Yes."
"What do you want with her?" came Madara's voice behind her.
"Not me. Eijiro-sama wants a word with you," the shinobi answered, pausing to cough haggardly as he tried getting back onto his feet. "Now. It's best you leave now without the rest finding out."
Mio searched Madara's face for approval.
He steeled himself, staring at the messenger. "We go together."