Nabuyuki Kawashima left the Kannonji Castle and ran past the heavy drops of rainfall towards the little cottage at the foot of the palace. One of Rokkaku's children stays in the little hut given by their father. And unlike the other offspring who stays with their family, Takayori insisted his child stay and live with him but as a stubborn dummy would often say:
"Otou-san just doesn't want me to meet boys." The kid pouted her red lips while whining against his strict father's order to dwell at the castle.
The rain dropping hard from the dark clouds propel Kawashima to run quickly towards the small cottage. He didn't knock and quickly opened the sliding door to see the teenager.
"Amara-chan!!!" Nabuyuki shouted the lass's name with great excitement.
But the scene from the other side of the door gave him another kind of "excitement".
A beautiful woman facing the door with her body laid down on top of the table. She wore a bright sunflower yukata and the round mounted flesh in the middle of her chest was exposed. Her head was at the edge of the table staring upside down at him while both of her thighs were spread wide on the other end.
"A-A-Ama-r-a-chan???" He broadened his sight, glaring not at the woman on the table but the lady between her legs.
A wine gourd flew through the air and crashed on Nabuyuki's reddened face. He quickly fell on his back and wildly groaned in pain. Blood burst out of his snout after the wooden piece of wine carrier broke his nose. He was not able to evade a throw from the kid after losing focus.
"Onii-san, are you okay???" The woman asked in a husky sweet tone after hastily rolling out of the table and crawling on his spot with her knees and hand on the floor.
The loose obi (sash) on the woman's hip opened her yukata more intimately than she was at the table and Nobuyuki forgot to hold his nose close. Blood gushed out of his nostril when he lifted his head trying to get up from his tumble.
"He's okay. He's just being a pervert." The lady sarcastically answered, raising her brow as she watched the mustached man clumsily trying to sit up from the floor.
"Ohhh…I like perverts," The charming woman curved her lips mischievously and giggled while covering her lips with the tips of her fingers.
Nabuyuki swallowed his spit to wet his dry throat. And leaned on the side to take a glimpse of the lady leaning her delicate face on the back of her fragile hands over the table.
"A-Ama-chan???" Nabuyuki called the lady's name to know for certain that he's not lost in a stranger's cottage.
The 15-year-old kid he met before now looks different. The slender build of her body suddenly has two hoisted flesh on her chest. Her lips are crimson like the color above her eyes. But what surprised him the most was the kid dipping her face in front of another woman's Manko.
'How did this kid change so much in three years,' He asked himself, wanting to cry for losing all the time of having fun with her little sister.
"Why are you here, Nobuyuki-san?" Amara stared blankly at the man facing the woman tending his injury.
"I thought we could drink "sake" together…" Nobuyuki mumbled, he felt depressed that Amara didn't call him brother.
"There… all done." The gracious woman smiled after managing the samurai's broken nose.
Nobuyuki leaned his head down in front of the woman to show his genuine appreciation. "Thank you, Imouto-san,"
"Sanada-san is older than you, dummy," Amara countered the man's honorific use of "younger sister".
"Oh?!? Really?!? He looks older than me with a mustache and beard," Setsuko Sunada laughed with grace, an absolute opposite of the young lady beside her.
"Nobuyuki-san is 24 years years old. He let that mustache grow because he thinks ladies like—,"
"—YAMERO!!!" (STOP IT)
They all fell silent after the samurai's abrupt outburst. Amara noticed the man he called older brother before felt greatly upset about something that he made his way to her house in the middle of stormy weather.
"Setsuko-san, can you heat some sake, please," Amara politely ordered the elegant woman.
When Amara's servant left, she turned to the samurai, patiently sitting on the floor. His legs are out in front, with the knees bent and each foot crossed beneath the other leg.
"Kawashima-san, why are you here?" The formality that the young lady demonstrated was cold and strict.
"I think your father just got assassinated," Nobuyuki assumed from his observation at his last visit to the castle.
The sound of heavy rain falling on the rooftop of the small lighted cottage filled the silence of the room. The thunder rumbled in the heavens as a sign of lightning striking down the foul earth.
Nobuyuki gazed at the woman wearing a red chrysanthemum kimono. Sitting in seiza (formal) way. Kneeling on the floor, folding her legs underneath her thighs, while resting her buttocks on the heels. He carefully studied Amara's expression on the news of her father's death. There was none.
The lady's red irises that she inherited from the hanyo didn't show any grief for the old man. Amara didn't blink. Her eyes didn't moisten. All she had as a daughter was suspicions of who could have the power to kill a demon like her father.
"Are you sure about this?" Amara asked the swordsman with a blank expression.
She trusts the Takeda emissary's words. Yet the chance of his father dying is absurd. Takayori Rokkaku is a demon. He wouldn't die easily from a sword.
"Ohara-san doesn't need to lie to kick me out of the castle…" Nobuyuki looked away, saddened by the information he had for a friend.
Amara quickly stood up from the table and ran past the samurai. She forced the sliding door open and raced against the heavy drops of tears from heaven.
"AMARA-CHAN!!!" Nobuyuki shouted, watching the lady fight the storm barefooted.
'Is the sky mourning for her father's death or are the Gods rejoicing?' Amara thought as her red kimono turned black from being soaked.
She galloped through the muddy pathway towards the castle door. Her soiled feet sprinted to the stairs to reach the room of her father. Ohara only saw her shadow but the drops of water she left along the way were enough for the high servant to recognize the chief's daughter.
Amara stopped by the door, her heart throbbed like drums of war calling for a savior. Her palms shivered, touching the wooden entrance. When she carefully slides it open, her sight caught the demon in his nightmare.
π - π - π - π
[REFERENCES]
*Seiza - (literally "proper sitting") is the Japanese term for the standard formal traditional way of sitting in Japan.
*Kimono - is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a T-shaped, wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono is traditionally worn with an obi sash and is commonly worn with accessories such as zōri sandals and tabi socks. Formal wear showing a woman's status in family and society.
*Yukata - is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. Usually worn by servants.
*Tsumugi - Unlike traditional Japanese kimonos for men. Tsumugi is made of a dyed yarn of silkworm. People generally wear Tsumugi as everyday clothes. When you put on Haori over Tsumugi, that means you wear Haorihakama.