The Second Day

Morning

Kazuha woke with the sun, as was his nature. The first thing he noted was the ceiling over his

head- more commonly it was the sky. As he gazed up and remembered why he was under that

ceiling, the memory of his own vulgar outburst at Ayaka brought a wave of shame through his mind. He

sat up and looked across the suite.

Ayaka was also sitting up in her futon and looking in his direction. Apparently, she was an early riser, too. Their eyes met and neither flinched from the other. Both found a sort of cool wariness in their opposite, but no obvious hostility. Perhaps some repair work was in order, first thing.

But how to start?

The sound of the suite door opening took the question away from both of them. They both stood, their sleeping robes modest enough for each other and a potential invader. Kazuha's hand searched around for his katana and realized that his real weapon had not yet been returned to him. He felt naked without it.

However, there was little cause for concern. They seemed to be in a rather secure compound and Ayaka was practically royalty. And the intruder was their handler: Head Shrine Maiden Yae Miko. The voluptuous, leggy woman entered the suite like it was her own. Kazuha saw her nose wrinkle and she looked upon both Kazuha and Ayaka with mild disdain, her head turning slowly back and forth.

"Good morning, Kadeharas," said Yae Miko. "As your marriage remains platonic, it seems you both shall be enjoying the confines of this room for another day and night."

Ayaka rose to her feet, seeing Kazuha do the same on the other side of Yae Miko. This surely was some absurd jest! To have their freedom reduced so! This was not the behavior of the Shogunate that Ayaka was accustomed to.

"Head Shrine Maiden," said Ayaka, drawing the appraising purple gaze of Yae Miko back upon herself. "Your generous provision of our accommodations honors me. Us. Yet there is urgent business that I must attend to and-"

"What urgent business?" said Yae Miko, her usual smirk arriving on her face. "With whom?"

Ayaka took a deep breath. She felt like she was being teased. "With my household."

"Which household?"

Ayaka realized where she was being led, but there was nothing to do but step forward into the dead-end.

"The Kamisato Household."

Yae Miko's eyes widened in false surprise. "Oh, but my dear Ayaka. You are not a Kamisato anymore. Your brother will handle… whatever it is you're talking about, I'm sure."

Ayaka pressed her lips together. Her eyes shifted to Kazuha. His amber eyes regarded hers with a placid expression. He took Ayaka's look as a sort of passing of the baton. Kazuha wanted to leave just as much as Ayaka at this moment.

"Lady Miko," said Kazuha, and Yae Miko's purple gaze shifted to him, looking rather bored all of a sudden.

"Save it, Kazuha," said Yae Miko. "We both know you have absolutely no business anywhere with anyone. What? Is there some favorite tree you need to touch, or something? Some cliff in need of your pensive gaze?"

Kazuha gritted his teeth but had no real rebuttal. He'd thought to mention some tepid need to stretch his legs, but Yae Miko hardly seemed receptive to that sort of thing. Being a wandering ronin did somewhat limit one's external obligations that could be used as excuses.

"I told you both," said Yae Miko with an amused smile on her face. "You will remain here until your marriage is consummated."

"I do not think this amount of scrutiny is common," said Ayaka, her tone carefully even.

"It is not," said Yae Miko. "But both of you are flight risks."

Yae miko pointed a finger at Ayaka, her fingernails filed perfectly into what seemed like tiny claws. "You are the prized heron of the nation, but if left to your own devices, you would convince yourself to defy the Shogunate by having yourself plucked by some other fox."

Ayaka's eyes widened and she blushed red.

"I- I would never-" Ayaka started to assert but Yae Miko immediately cut her off.

"You would. Those doe-eyes of yours might fool everyone in Inazuma, but they don't fool me, my pretty little Shirasagi Himegimi. But tell me: Have you thought about how you're not just a pretty little bird? Now you're one of the Shogun's prize hens. Have you thought of the fate of your would-be fox when the farmer catches him? Hmm? And he would be caught. Easily."

Ayaka visibly paled, her eyes widening in sudden fear. Not only did Yae Miko obviously know about Thoma, but she was bluntly threatening the man. If Ayaka's vague fantasies of being with Thoma now took shape, it could cost Thoma his life.

"And you!" said Yae Miko, pointing now at Kazuha. "You ran away before and you would do it again."

Kazuha had nothing to say against that accusation directly. He'd exploded last night about being accused of running and cowardice, so the reins of his anger were already in his taunt control. Kazuha searched for some other argument.

"Surely there is a law against this…"

Yae Miko's face suddenly gained a look of wonder. Ayaka gave Kazuha an exasperated glance.

"You seem to misunderstand a basic element of your reality, Kaedehara Kazuha," said Yae Miko slowly. "The Raiden Shogun's will is the law."

Kazuha felt a frustrated anger build up in him at that statement. "That's not right. No one should have such power over a person! We all deserve-"

Yae Miko burst out laughing, cutting Kazuha off. His train of thought was derailed by the unexpected reaction.

"Oh no, my dear. The world doesn't work the way you think it should? You poor thing," Yae Miko said, half hiding a broad toothy smile behind her palm. "Well, welcome to reality, my dear Kazuha. You've run away from it long enough, I think. Enjoy another day of this room's fine hospitality."

Yae Miko left, still chuckling to herself. Kazuha looked over to see Ayaka wearing an almost imperceptible smirk of her own. Her pleasant diplomatic mask was slipping and she didn't seem to realize it.

"You're stuck in here with me, you know," said Kazuha, and he was gratified to see that tiny smile vanish.

The door shut behind Yae Miko with a thump of finality. If either Kazuha or Ayaka had toyed

with the idea that their effective captivity here was hyperbole, that hope was now dispelled. Their

pre-sleep fantasies of escape were now dashed by Yae Miko's uncompromising stance.

Ayaka felt a wave of frustration wash over her. She was trapped. Trapped by this room's locked doors and caged garden; trapped by the vows of her new marriage; trapped by Yae Miko's machinations; trapped by her family station and her own place within it; trapped, in the end, by her culture and her god.

For a brief, fiery moment- Ayaka's heart flared up in a blaze of indignant rage.

The world doesn't work the way you think it should? You poor thing.

Ayaka took a deep breath and let Yae Miko's harsh mockery of her new husband wash through her. Was she really any different than he? At least Kazuha tried to speak out against what he found unfair. Did she? Had Ayaka ever done anything but simply think about defiance?

And she had called Kazuha the coward. She was disgusted with herself.

Yet Ayaka was not the type to wallow in self-pity or self-doubt. When she felt such things, a survival instinct forced her into action and set her to any responsible task or goal that was near at hand. When the future was dark and all seemed wrong and nothing in the world seemed appealing to do: Ayaka forced herself to do something useful. A chore. An exercise. Something. So when she finally got a grip on herself and emerged from wallowing, she had some tiny thing completed that would help herself later. An investment for better times.

There were few chores or responsibilities in the honeymoon suite- but there was a training room and practice swords. So be it. She would force herself to do that. Her daily exercise needed to be done, so she might as well do it now.

Kazuha watched the gleam in Ayaka's eyes dampen slightly. Something had happened inside her mind, and while he didn't know what it was exactly, it didn't look like anything positive. He didn't think the cause was strictly his fault, but based on their conflict last night and this morning, Kazuha was sure he hadn't helped. There was some guilt there. He'd contributed to some small wilting of this beautiful flower that was his new wife.

When Ayaka picked up a training sword, Kazuha moved forward without hesitation and took one up himself. Practicing stances and motions was an essential part of practice, but it also lacked a certain invigorative quality that he thought Ayaka would benefit from. As he stepped before her, Ayaka's blue eyes regarded him with blank question, and Kazuha answered by pointing his sword at her.

"Spar with me."

Ayaka was silent for a moment, her expression empty. "I just want to exercise."

"Sparring is good exercise," said Kazuha, settling into his habitual ready stance.

Ayaka's eyes turned critical. "With an equal opponent, yes. What stance is that? I don't want to play games with swords, Kazuha."

"My own stance," said Kazuha. "Try me."

Ayaka sniffed primly, clearly doubtful. "Fine. But after this. Will you please just leave me alone?"

"If you win, I'll spend the next three hours in the garden," said Kazuha.

"Deal," said Ayaka. She settled into her own stance. It was passed down within her swordmaster's family for generations. It had been tried and battle tested for centuries.

They menaced one another with their training swords. Then, Ayaka stepped forward confidently, her sword struck out to batter away Kazuha's weapon, but she expected him to be forced to move his sword to defend against her blow while also anticipating her direct attack to be feint for her next move. Which it was. She intended to launch an immediate second attack on Kazuha's forearm and end this farce.

Kazuha rebuffed Ayaka's attack, as expected, but his sword shot forward almost immediately- jabbing Ayaka painfully in the left shoulder. Ayaka blinked in surprise. She'd never seen a move like that before.

"Looks like I win," said Kazuha with a satisfied smile.

"What kind of strike was that?" said Ayaka, aghast. "You left your core wide open. I could have killed you if I'd known what you were up to!"

"But you didn't and you didn't," said Kazuha, smiling wider. "Want to try again?"

"Yes," said Ayaka. She'd underestimated him and made herself into a fool. To be defeated by such a silly-looking move. "Again."

Almost before she said it, Kazuha slashed at her. Ayaka flicked out the tip of her blade to knock aside Kazuha's strike before it could land– except his sword suddenly wasn't where it was a moment before. Ayaka's parry only caught empty air as Kazuha turned with his slice, putting his own attack off the mark, but then his shoulder charged in and struck her painfully in the left breast, staggering her back.

"I win again," said Kazuha with levity.

Ayaka blinked in surprise again. "W- what are you doing?!"

"Sparring," said Kazuha. "What are you doing? Playing games with swords?"

Kazuha smiled inwardly as the blue gleam of Ayaka's eyes returned and her expression changed. She was awake now. He faced Ayaka a third time, and this time, he knew that she wasn't looking at him as a joke anymore.

Ayaka realized she'd fooled herself into thinking Kazuha didn't know how to use his weapon. She'd sparred against masters of many sword schools and had never seen his stance. So she'd disregarded it. But the world was large and Kazuha had been out in it. Just because she'd never seen his stance did not mean he didn't know how to use the weapon. Foolish, foolish assumption. If she'd made such a mistake in real life, in say… her first ever need to use her weapon for real? In a life or death situation? She'd be very, very dead right now.

Kazuha had tricked her twice by playing with her expectations of a formal sword duel. But Kazuha was not dueling with her. He was acting like it was a fight. In a sword fight, Ayaka's master's foundational philosophy was…

Ayaka stepped forward, her sword becoming a blur of three successive strikes. Kazuha's eyes widened as his sword moved to stop the first, but after only an instant of contact, Ayaka's blade had withdrawn and struck again almost faster than his eye could track it. Two solid blows of the wooden sword smacked into Kazuha's floating ribs. He gasped and staggered aside.

"Mine, this time," said Ayaka, needlessly but with satisfaction. She'd been right. If she moved fast, then Kazuha simply did not have an opportunity to employ a trick. Her master's words resounded in her mind with new vibrancy. She understood what he'd been saying at a deeper level than ever before. And Kazuha had helped bring that about.

"Again," said Ayaka, and she smiled. Kazuha smiled. They readied their swords.

For two solid hours, they fought back and forth in the dojo. Their current situation and their prior conflict were forgotten as they both enjoyed the thrill of fighting an equal in wit and skill and talent. Kazuha would employ some sort of gambit that would surprise Ayaka and he would take a few matches, then Ayaka would figure out a counterplay and her greater speed would win her back several matches, and in a developing arms race, they battled with sword and mind in their private world, neither able to definitively escape the other.

Soon they were exhausted and their bodies sore. They stared into the eyes of the other, their hearts pounding in their chests. Good humor and satisfaction tugging at the corner of their mouths.

"You are very skilled," said Ayaka, her breathing heavy and feeling a sheen of sweat on her brow. "Much more so than I expected of a-"

"Coward?" said Kazuha, interrupting her. The accusation of last night still rankling, and he suddenly remembered it now. Though he regretted saying it almost immediately.

Ayaka's mouth froze, then closed suddenly with a soft click of teeth. Her blue eyes closed a moment and she took a breath. "Please do not interrupt me. And please do not put words into my mouth."

Kazuha took a breath of his own. "Yes, sorry. I apologize. That was rude of me."

Ayaka inclined her head slightly, a line of sweat running down a smooth, perfect cheek. "Thank you. What I was going to say was: for a self-taught swordsman. You are an even match for me- and that is rare."

Kazuha stared at her and found only a genuine compliment. "Thank you. I think you are my equal, too."

They looked at each other, breathing steadily with their earlier exertions, finding something inherently appealing in how the other looked in their robes and with their practice sword in their hand. They saw some deeply satisfying beauty in the other, and their words for each other were direct and unadorned, but the simple and obvious respect behind them was like a salve over the wound of their conflict last night. Their sparring felt like it had repaired the rift.

And it was fun.

"I think I shall bathe," said Ayaka. Two hours of fierce fighting had her covered in sweat and she feared she was beginning to stink. The smell of sweat-soaked robe was heavy in the air between them.

"I'll use the bath in the garden," said Kazuha, and then he bowed to her respectfully. "Thank you for the matches."

Ayaka was surprised and she laughed uneasily. He was giving her the deference one might give to a swordmaster. "Don't tease me!"

Kazuha looked surprised now. "I- I wasn't. You're one of the best I've ever fought against."

Ayaka's eyes followed him as he turned and headed for the garden door. He seemed entirely sincere. She felt a new warmth in her chest for this man. He wasn't seeing her family name, or her title, or her body in the way that some men did. Kazuha seemed to look at her without a filter of expectations and just saw the Ayaka that she presented to him.

It was so direct and unsophisticated. And pure.

And cute.

Kazuha headed for the bath while his mind was filled with Ayaka. The way she looked at him. The way she reacted to his words. The way her body moved when she fought. The way she smelled when covered in sweat. He felt a deep excitement and desire stir in his body, and he took a deep breath and tried to put that back in the box where it had emerged. He realized that he wanted her now. And it had happened at some point during their sparring session.

But Kazuha thought that was suspiciously lustful of himself. He needed to stay cool and not get lost in his own base desires. Ayaka would never truely come to love him if he pushed things too soon. And he realized he didn't want Ayaka to love him just to save his life in a year; but to love him because she was…

She was…

Kazuha's mind became hopelessly trapped upon the futile effort of defining what Ayaka was.