Chương 42: 038 - Courting Death
NADESHIKO VILLAGE
"Musume-sama, may I come in?"
"...No."
Shizuka refused to look up as the door slid open. "I don't remember permitting you to enter, Tokiwa," she said, pulling her knees closer to her bosom.
"Then I must apologise," came a sedated reply. Shizuka finally looked up, her defiant gaze rising to meet that of her attendant. The older woman sighed as she plopped down beside her, saying nothing as she placed a consoling hand on Shizuka's back.
"Why?" the distraught girl asked, her green eyes watering. "Why must they force us apart?"
Shizuka waited, her teary eyes trembling as they searched for an answer in the woman's eyes. But, alas, there was no answer to be found. Shizuka looked away as she shrugged off Tokiwa's hand. Incensed.
Tokiwa sighed again. "...You might hate Lady Marika for this, but remember, all she is doing, she is doing for your future and the future of the—"
"I don't want to hear it!" Shizuka snapped. The room lulled into an awkward silence.
Another sigh. "...It's been three days since you locked yourself inside this room. We are all getting worried about you."
"Well, I don't care!" Shizuka replied. "You should all leave me alone!"
"All of us? Even Sagiri?"
Shizuka looked up in surprise.
"What? You didn't expect him to go bumbling around the village like some love-struck fool—poking his nose in places where it has absolutely no business—when you suddenly decided to disappear from the face of the earth, did you? I am starting to doubt whether or not you really know the boy."
"...He is here?"
"Of course, he is here," Tokiwa exclaimed. "And with the sort of nuisance he is making of himself, I am surprised someone hasn't knocked him bloody yet."
Shizuka paled as she threw her blanket off her knees before sprinting out of the room.
"Oi! Musume-sama! Wait!"
Shizuka ignored the shouts of the attendant as she burst out into the courtyard. There she saw her beloved in a heated argument with Elder Himeko. The elderly woman might have been a bit past her prime, but she was still far beyond what a civilian could ever hope to contend with; evidenced by how easily she manhandled the young man.
She was, and still is, an elite kunoichi after all.
Sagiri, however, seemed to have forgotten this fact given the choice of words he hurled at the elderly kunoichi as they argued with each other. Shizuka felt her heartrate spike as her beloved wandered past the point of no return, hurling embarrassingly colourful insults at Elder Himeko regarding her "runaway" gallivant of a husband; a rather sore topic for the middle-aged woman.
Shizuka raced forward, yanking the firebrand out of the elderly kunoichi's reach by the ear before he got himself killed. Her sudden appearance only seemed to further amuse Elder Katsura who cackled to herself as she observed the proceedings from a safe distance away. To Shizuka's consternation, a small crowd had already gathered to watch the drama unfold.
"I am going to kill this gigolo!" Elder Himeko snarled, wind nature chakra gathering in the palm of her hands.
"Elder!" Shizuka exclaimed placing herself between Sagiri and the volatile woman. "Please wait!"
As if just registering Shizuka's arrival, Elder Himeko paused, her gaze finally focusing on the girl. The tense stare-down continued for a few seconds with Katsura cackling as obnoxiously as possible in the background and the crowd whispering furiously to itself. It continued for a few seconds more, but thankfully Himeko was as quick to forgive as she was to anger. Shizuka breathed a sigh of relief as the middle-aged woman turned around to leave with a huff.
"You disappoint me, Shizuka."
Shizuka stared at the departing Himeko, a hollow feeling echoing in her chest as she registered the sheer disenchantment in the elder's voice. The young kunoichi exhaled, however, as she hardened her heart.
"Don't mind her, Shizuka-chan!" Katsura cupped her mouth and shouted from where she stood in the distance. "I like the kid! He is useless, but at least he's got guts! I support your choice regardless of how stupid it is!"
Shizuka winced at the words of encouragement, her chin dropping as an embarrassed flush stained her face red.
"Are you all right?" Sagiri asked behind her. Shizuka swivelled on her feet to glare at the fool before slapping him across the face.
"Idiot! You almost got yourself killed!"
The young man caressed his smarting cheek as he stared at her in confusion. "...I'm sorry?"
Shizuka's glare intensified. "Never do that again!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Content with his response she grabbed him by the waist before flickering away to somewhere more secluded.
"I might never get used to—oof!"
Shizuka ignored his complaints, squeezing his midsection as hard as she could in a hug without actually hurting him. "Idiot…" she sniffled, trying her hardest to hold her tears back, albeit with little success.
"...Shizuka?"
"I am sorry," she groaned, wiping her face.
"Shizuka? What's the matter?"
"I-I am sorry—hic—they are trying to force me to get married to someone else."
Shizuka felt her heart bleed as her beloved's face hardened.
"...Don't worry," he said, rubbing circles into her back. "We'll sort it out."
"How?" Shizuka sobbed, unable to contain herself. 'They've all but given me to that bastard. He doesn't even want me! Not as a wife at least; treating me like some breeding mare to birth his accursed spawn!"
Sagiri's hold on her tightened protectively. 'I won't let them do that to you," he said. "...We could leave. We could go back to my family on O'Ozu Island."
Shizuka smiled sadly at his naivety. "I am a kunoichi, Sagiri. If I leave they would hunt us both down as criminals."
"...There has to be something we can do!"
Shizuka sniffled, finally coming to terms with their situation. "...This might be the last time we meet each other like this. I am sorry."
She turned to leave, but Sagiri held her arm to stop her from leaving. It should been absurdly easy for her to release herself from his grasp, or even, avoid it altogether, but she didn't, clearly reluctant to leave.
"No!" Sagiri said, pulling her to face him. "I can't let you go like this! No without fighting for a chance for us first!"
"...What do we do?"
"...Who is he?"
Shizuka froze at the question. "...I-I can't tell you that," she stammered.
"Why?"
"...I-I just can't."
The conversation lulled into an uneasy silence. Then to Shizuka's surprise, Sagiri turned around to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To find the bastard! Since you can't tell me, I will find him myself."
"No! Wait! You can't!"
"Then take me to him!"
"...But why? Doing this would achieve nothing."
Sagiri stopped, turning to face her. "Take me to him, Shizuka," he pleaded.
"Please."
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