With a groan, Yuri got up from Izana's mattress; she had stayed up late trying to wash the towels while they were still fresh with blood because they would be hard to wash otherwise. Her yukata, on the other hand, was ruined, and she discarded it with a heavy sigh.
After putting away the futon and leaving the room, she checked on Taiju, and seeing that he was still sleeping, she closed the door and went to prepare for the day.
She made tea for herself and her guest, along with a nutritious breakfast; she knew from her experience with Izana that men, especially martial artists, ate a lot of food. And as if she had summoned him by thinking about him, she heard her brother's voice at the entrance of the house.
"I'll be right back!" Izana said with a cheeky smile to his closest friend, Kakucho. He walked down the hall to the kitchen, where he saw his sister. "Good morning, Yuri," he cheerfully said.
He saw her tense as he approached and raised an eyebrow at the amount of food she was preparing. "Is someone coming over this early?"
"Good morning, Izana!" She said with a high-pitched voice, startling him. "Did you have fun last night? How is Kaku doing? Shouldn't you be at the dojo right now?"
Izana gave her a strange look. "Uhh... I was just going to grab my haori... Are you all right?"
Yuri mentally scolded herself for panicking; she hadn't expected him to come until evening. She cleared her throat and gave him her best smile, "I'm fine; don't worry. I'm just stressed out," she finished with a sigh.
Izana's eyes softened. "Was she here yesterday?" He inquired, to which Yuri replied with a nod.
She wiped her hand and turned to her brother, saying, "She said that this is the last warning." She saw his fists clench in anger and took them in her hands. She gently squeezed his hands and smiled. "It's going to be fine, Izana."
"The hell it will! Yuri, we gave them everything, and I'm pretty sure we've already paid off the debt. What could they possibly want more than that? How much longer can we put up with this?! We can't even buy food anymore, and if it hadn't been for Kaku's family, we would have died of starvation a long time ago!" He was breathing heavily by then, trembling slightly with rage. He took a deep breath, calming himself. He was usually composed, but whenever the Shibas were involved, he lost his cool.
"Izana," his sister called him softly, "I know it's unfair and it doesn't make any sense, and trust me, I'm as frustrated as you are, but we can't let them break us. We're dealing with the Shibas here, and you know that we can't do anything about it." She cupped his cheeks in her hands and then continued, "Even if we lose our house, we will figure something out." She reached up to ruffle his silver locks before fixing them. "I know I can't do much, but I will protect you from this harsh world." She said with a wide smile and flexed her arm, causing him to laugh.
"Yuri..." He moved in closer and pulled her into a hug. The height difference made him smile; he had grown up looking up at her, and now he was taller than her. She wrapped her arms around him and patted him on the back. He hated feeling helpless. His sister dedicated her life to raising him, ensuring that he had the perfect life he deserved by taking on the roles of mother, father, and sister. Thanks to their father, they were on the Shiba family's blacklist. He can't change the past, but he will make sure to change their future. He knew the least he could do to repay her was to use his strength to protect and take care of her, just like she had done for him. He took a step back and looked her in the eyes with determination.
She noticed his solemn expression and decided to relieve the tension by smiling at him and saying, "You look adorable." He whined, and she laughed. "You should go; your students are waiting."
He sighed and nodded, "Right, I'll leave now. Take care, okay?"
"Mhm, and you be careful! Don't get into fights, and try not to get hurt," she said with a strict tone. She was well aware of his reckless nature.
"I will," he turned to leave, paused, looked at her one last time, then reluctantly left. He hated leaving her alone, but he had no choice. He stopped by his room to grab his haori before leaving the house with a heavy sigh. He went up to Kakucho, who was petting a stray cat.
"Everything okay?" he asked when he saw his friend.
Izana shrugged on his haori and nodded, "Yeah... let's go."
Kakucho frowned as he saw Izana's somber expression. He knew what the Kurokawa siblings were going through and wished he could help them. He wanted to ask more questions because something was bothering the young man, but he decided not to since he knew it was a sensitive subject.
He followed after his friend, feeling sorry for the students because he knew that someone was going to face Izana's wrath.
Through the window, Yuri sighed in relief as she watched her brother walk away from the house. Good thing she remembered the night before to hide Taiju's slippers and anything else that might indicate that someone was with her. When Izana was no longer in sight, she returned to the kitchen only to run into a wall that wasn't there before. She frowned in confusion when she found herself staring at a man's chest; Taiju's chest.
"Eeh!?" she exclaimed, stepping back to give them some space. He had taken off his kimono and was only wearing his hakama. She would have appreciated the sight of his exposed upper body but seeing his bloodstained bandage alarmed her.
"Why are you up?! You shouldn't be moving," she frowned at him.
Taiju had woken up after she had closed the door when she checked on him. Realizing that he was in an unfamiliar place startled him awake, but the previous night's events flashed through his mind.
He heard her footsteps fade away into what he assumed was the kitchen, and he got up slowly. When he sat up, he winced and removed his top to inspect the bandage; It had dried blood on it, indicating that it had bled during the night when he shifted in his sleep, but the pain had not woken him up. He was relieved that it was only a mild discomfort, nothing he couldn't handle. He snapped his head up as he heard a young man's voice, and remembered Yuri mentioning that she had a brother. He sat on his futon, holding his breath as the siblings talked to each other; he didn't want to eavesdrop, but the walls were thin, and the kitchen was next to her bedroom.
He learned that her brother's name was 'Izana,' and Taiju felt like he had heard it before. He also learned that they were in debt and that their financial situation was dire. He heard Yuri's voice as she comforted her brother, and a small smile tugged at his lips, but what she said next caused him to stiffen; she said his last name. He listened intently and concluded that his family intended to take away the sibling's home. It wasn't technically his family's decision, but it was his; he remembered ordering Kokonoi, his treasurer, to take away their house as a way of punishment and to teach the other villagers what would happen if they messed with the Shibas.
'The Kurokawa family, huh,' he thought, finding it ironic that fate had brought him to her, and that she had sheltered him just as he was about to take hers away. He couldn't help but wonder if she would have helped him if she had known who he was, but he had a feeling that she would even if she knew. She literally brought him to her house without knowing who he was, and he appreciated her kindness, but it could have ended horribly for her if it had been someone else with ill intentions. She was too nice for her own good, and for some reason, Taiju was worried about her. He frowned at that; he was worried about someone other than himself and his family. Normally, he couldn't care less, but strangely, he was concerned about her well-being. He clenched the covers with his fist and told himself that he was feeling this way because of his gratitude to her. That made perfect sense to him. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone approaching, and his eyes widened. He heard a door slide, followed by shuffling in the other room; Izana's room. The brother left soon after finding whatever he was looking for.
When he felt it was safe to move, Taiju got up and walked out of the room. Carefully, he walked to the kitchen, only to find it empty. He turned to the other side of the house and saw Yuri in the living room, looking out the window. She didn't see him because he was behind her. He noticed that she was dressed in a navy blue kimono with her hair tied up in a bun. Out of curiosity, he moved closer to see who she was looking at and saw two young men, one of them had silver hair, and his eyes widened in realization. There was only one man in the village with such unusual hair color, and he was the Kurokawa boy, a martial arts prodigy. Now that he thought about it, the two siblings had the same eye color, lilac, which really distinguished them from the rest of the people. He was aware that Izana was a teacher at a Shiba-run dojo, but he never had the opportunity to see how tough he was. He heard Yuri sigh and turn only to bump into him. He watched with an amused smirk as she stared at his chest before yelling in surprise. He had just realized he had unintentionally snuck up behind her.
Taiju was speechless when she asked him a question; he found himself distracted by her beauty. He thought she was stunning in the moonlight the night before, but she was even more breathtaking in daylight. He never paid attention to the opposite sex or became involved with them. In his opinion, the only women he thought were beautiful were his mother and younger sister. Yuri was the first woman who captivated him.
"Taiju?" she called out, breaking him out of his trance, "Wait here. I'll be right back," she said before running out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts and a racing heart.
"What's wrong with me?" he wondered to himself. The man sat with a groan on a cushion near the dining table; he forgot about his injury. He had no idea how to deal with these new feelings. He wanted to shift the blame to her for saving his life, which was why he regarded her as an angel. But he knew that was only part of the truth; she elicited other emotions in him, and he hated admitting how that scared him. "What have you done to me..." he whispered.
In frustration, he ruffled his hair and swiped it back. He heard her hum a song as she approached him with a tray containing a cup of water and clean bandages.
"Here," When she handed him the cup, he realized how thirsty he was. He took it and drank the liquid while she placed the tray on the table. She moved a cushion to sit in front of him and waited for him to place the cup down.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
He cleared his throat and said, "Better."
"Glad to hear that," she said with a smile. She leaned in, placed her hand on his forehead, and nodded; his fever was gone. "I'm going to change your bandages now." She carefully removed the old bandages and was relieved to see that the wound was pink, indicating that it was healing. She dressed his wounds with new bandages, unaware of his gaze on her.
After she was finished, he wore his kimono that he had taken off earlier. He noticed the dried blood on his hands and said, "I would like to use the restroom."
Yuri nodded and directed him to where he needed to go before continuing to prepare their food.
She wondered if Taiju's family was looking for him. Based on his appearance and demeanor, he appeared to be from a wealthy family, and they would search high and low to find him. He would probably want to leave after breakfast, which was good because she couldn't hide him from Izana, but she couldn't help but feel like she wanted him to stay a little longer, at least until he got better; after all, he was still hurt.
After setting the table with plates and side dishes, the young woman sat on a cushion with a sigh, waiting for her guest to join her.
After finishing his business, he walked back to the living room. He had made his decision; he would leave after the meal. He was certain that his estate was in chaos, and he needed to address the issue with the other village as soon as possible.
He also considered the best way to repay Yuri; releasing her from the debt and giving them back their house seemed like the most reasonable thing to do. He had no idea where this sudden generosity had come from, or why he felt the need to do something so big for someone- even if they saved his life- but with her; she deserved to live peacefully in her home with her brother. She didn't deserve to suffer the consequences of her father's foolishness.
'A new kimono too,' he thought, to compensate for the one that got ruined because of him.
He nodded to himself and entered the room, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the scene in front of him; the table was full of several dishes and his stomach rumbled, reminding him of his hunger. Yuri sat on the other side of the table, facing him, and when she caught sight of him she smiled.
'Oh, she's definitely staying here,' he reasoned as he sat on his cushion, 'It's the least I can do for her.'
Author's note: What do you think about the story so far?