Kanji's whole world was a mess. A threat letter?! Seriously? What was this, who sent stuff like that? And yet, he could tell it was serious. Naoto furrowed her brow when Yu handed it to her as they sat around on the roof, frowning. If she looked like that, it was serious business.

"The fact the letter was delivered directly to your address, the home of a police detective, is concerning." She said. Yu kept holding the letter out, printed on thick paper with the letters having been cut out and pasted from different sources.

"Raccoon says he feels like people watch him in there…is it possible the culprit saw us in there? And that's how he knows it's Yu-kun?" Yosuke questioned, pacing around.

"I don't think so. Anytime I heard gossip, it was just the people who disappeared. If people knew we were doing this, I think we'd know." Chie shook her head.

"There's too little to go off of," Yu said. "And no way am I telling Uncle Ryotaro. He might bar me from doing more, even if it's a good thing in his eyes. Or he might ask too many questions."

"As expected, we're on our own." Kanji grumbled.

"Enough about that. Let's talk about something happy!" Chie jumped from her seat. "It'll be Emperor Meiji's birthday soon! And all the classes are celebrating!"

"Right, each class has a different theme about the glory of Westernization." Rise nodded. "Naoto-kun and I got Western fashion. Isn't that funny? We're basically going to dress the way we normally do!"

"And she'll help all our classmates figure out how bustles work. Not even I can make heads or tails of it," Naoto said.

"And Sir Kanji and I can attend as guests so we can see you all!" Yukiko smiled.

"Yeah! What are you guys plannin'?" He asked the other three, who shrugged.

"Something called a racetrack romance. I genuinely don't know what that means." Yosuke said. "Guess we'll find out as the day gets closer and we actually set it up."

"Ooooh, will I be your date for that occasion, Senpai?" Rise beamed.

"Of course," Yu said, and she cheered.

Kanji grinned at the infectious mood, but still went home worried about the letter, wondering what it meant. Nothing was making sense anymore. He helped Tomiko with the shop, she served customers while he swept up the place, keeping it tidy.

The next day it was raining, so he grabbed an umbrella and walked through town to pick up the fabric his mothers asked him to since the shops didn't like doing deliveries in the rain. Several people stared at him, marveling at the fact he was using an umbrella. What was so strange about that?! Japanese people used umbrellas all the time! They were just a different material, was all!

He walked along, keeping his feet high and away from puddles to prevent his zori from getting soaked, bumping hard into someone else on the street. "Watch where you're-!"

"Kanji-kun?" Naoto's head tilted curiously and his face burned in response. She stood under a nondescript umbrella, her uniform on. "Sorry, the mist makes it hard to see."

"Uhhh…" All his words left his body. Damn it. "Fabric. Pickup. Need to get some for my mothers!" Nailed it.

"Don't let me keep you then,"

"And I hate the rain! It just brings back bad memories," He blurted out.

"Yeah…" She looked up at the sky. "In my village, the rain tended to mean death. It would bring mud and disease with it." A fork of purple lighting streaked through the sky. "Sorry, I really should get going, and you too. It's not safe to be out during thunderstorms,"

He assumed he would be perfectly fine if there was lightning, with his powers, but didn't want Naoto to be worried, so he just nodded and went on his way to the shop while she went the other direction for school. He got the seasonal fabric and held the bundle close to his chest, running all the way back home so it wouldn't get soaked.

The rain poured harder the instant he stepped inside, lighting flashing through the sky and thunder booming. He set the fabric down and left the umbrella to dry near the door, bringing in with him the scent of an autumn rainfall.

Not having much to do, he decided to be good and extend a hand to Yukiko, asking if she wanted to see the play showing in the nearby city.

Hm? You mean Saigyōzakura?

Yeah.

Oh, let's invite Yu-kun! He would get a bit of culture in him!

Kanji couldn't argue with that, so he agreed and got ready for the next day when they'd go. They'd be seeing a Noh play, which was of the utmost fanciest quality, so he wore the most formal kimono he owned. A solid black hakama, haori, and kimono piece with two silver crests on either side, and his hair pulled up into a topknot. He had his hair forcefully cut a year or so ago, so the hairstyle looked a bit ragged, but it would do. He walked over to the Amagi Inn and picked up Yukiko, who wore three layers of orange, gold, and red, a kanzashi of gold and pearl in her hair, combs and balls and flowers, her sleeves and hem elegantly sweeping everywhere. He carefully took her hand and the two then picked up Yu, who was just wearing his school uniform and had the decency to blush about it.

"I don't have anything nicer than this, I'm sorry. I only brought seasonal things-"

"Well, Noh is more popular with foreigners, so if anything, we'd be the weird ones!" Yukiko laughed.

The trio rented a rickshaw, getting one with two seats in front and one in back, heading for the nearby city, where the only theater was.

"So what is the play about?" Yu asked nicely to make conversation along the way.

"A famous poet loves cherry blossoms, but hates company. He gets mad that his tree draws a crowd and curses it. The spirit comes out and scolds him and then they dance." Kanji recited. It was a favorite of Tomiko's, who saw it with his father a few times before he was born, and then once more before he died.

"Is…that it?" Yu blinked.

"Yeah. There 'upposed to be more?" Kanji said. "Noh is all about dancing and music and the artistry of it all. It's dyin' and that sucks."

"I've never been to one, so it'll be an experience."

They paid for the rickshaw and Kanji carefully helped Yukiko out of the seat, watching her step gracefully out and walk into the theater.

"It's an all-day affair, so do you have money for food?" Yukiko asked Yu nicely.

"Yeah, I have some."

The trio sat close to the stage and adjusted themselves, the crowd staring at their extravagant outfits. Kanji could tell Yukiko was just happy to finally kneel on a floor traditionally.

The play began, and carried on. The actual story was three hours long due to all the dancing, as first the spirit danced, then the poet, then finally they danced together to celebrate their new understanding. There was also a huge dance of cherry blossoms, and praising the countryside for their fruitful and gorgeous trees. There was a brief break in the middle for a comedy act, which Yukiko laughed hard at and clapped her hands for.

Once it was over, Yu stepped outside for some fresh air while Yukiko and Kanji remained inside the lobby, drinking tea.

"It's been a while since we've spent time like this," She suddenly blurted out, making him jump.

"Y-Yeah, guess so. We've just had other stuff to do. Uh," He sipped his drink.

"And…I need to ask you before I do anything further. Do you love me? Do you want to marry me?"

He almost spat his drink out, and was glad he didn't, for that would've been very rude indeed.

"Because…I don't love you and can't marry you. I can pretend, but…I've found someone else,"

Flashes of Naoto filled his mind. He understood entirely what she meant.

"Uh, no. I mean, you're nice, but I can't love ya like that,"

"Is there someone else too?!"

"Yeah."

Yukiko smiled at him. "I hope you two work out then. So, no hard feelings if we break off the engagement?"

"I don't care, but Ma and Tomiko-san were super excited to welcome ya into the family."

She laughed.

"Is the person…another girl?" He whispered.

"How did you know?! Is yours another guy?!"

"No. Just…I understand some things."

Of course, he would have to be the one to break up the engagement, and very lightly brought the topic up to his mothers during dinner.

"Seriously?! No way! She was the best!" Tomiko swore.

"Well, marriages for love are a new thing," His mother said gently. "Who is this person?"

"Uh, a princess. She's really smart but kinda mysterious, and has this air like she knows everything but deep down she wants to be protected…" Kanji trailed off. "I don't know if she'd be up to marry me so soon though."

"That's alright! We'll monitor her. See if she has that Tatsumi spark."

Something told him Naoto would never take the last name of a man. Even her current last name belonged to her mother and was an important piece to her as a result. Or would she go back to using her old last name, Surkova, Surkov, again? Kanji Surkov didn't sound too bad, if that is what he had to do.

But he wasn't sure how much he was willing to sacrifice for a girl who was physically in Japan but mentally in Russia and had no interest in changing that.

-Noh and Kabuki are the two main traditional plays in Japanese culture. Noh is notably much older with roots in court and temple dances, so it was for the wealthy, primarily the samurai class. Thus, the emphasis is more on the artistry of the dances and costumes, which is why they move extremely slowly. There'd be other shorter shows spread out throughout too, such as comedy acts and historical dramas. By the mid-1800's, both styles were rapidly dying out due to disinterest from the Japanese who were abandoning their old ways. It was only kept alive due to the interest from the West.

-For men, increasing the family crests increases the formality of their kimono. None is kinda formal while five is the most formal. Crests tend to be worn for weddings, funerals, tea ceremonies, etc

I am so, so sorry this took so long. School completely kicked my behind these past few weeks so I wasn't able to do anything but assignments. I'm on break now and hopefully the second eight-weeks won't be so brutal so I can update weekly again. We'll just have to see.