Seriously Joking, Jokingly Serious

Chapter X: Into The Lair Of The Prankster

Please play the video/song when you come to the part marked *** Happy reading!

Chiaki's POV:

Can a floor be worn through by a person's non-stop pacing on it? If it could, I'd hardly be surprised. For I was doing the exact thing at the moment.

To go or not to go? Argh! That's not even the proper question. The real one would be when's the right time to do so?

"I should just forget about the whole thing." Who knows? That guy would probably have forgotten it by now.

"No. I'm going to do this come hell or high water," I said in an attempt to psych myself up. "A promise is a promise..."

Now... No other time was perfect. "Get moving, Aki" I muttered. Yes, before I lose what little nerve I do have.

A sense of anxiety loomed annoyingly in my mind. Why? There's no reason why for me to feel nervous. I'm only meeting a guy to make good a hasty promise I made to him.

Yeah, right... I don't know, but I seem to be contradicting myself. I'm certainly experiencing not a small amount of anxiety.

Perhaps it's perfectly normal to feel this way? After all, I'm meeting him in his territory... Granted, it wasn't the first time, but circumstances are different now.

I'm starting to doubt whether this was a good idea. Without the safety net I find in my companions, who knows how this will end?

You're dealing with a dangerous and ,at the very least, an unpredictable man. Never forget that, I sternly told myself.

"Go now," I murmured. About time I did so... Time sure flits by when one's deep in thought. I better hurry up, making my way to my mistress.

I found myself out in the streets a few minutes later. It was a relief to be able to convince her to let me spend the day out of the okiya.

To say I played around with the truth would be too much. Bending it was, for me, a more appropriate term. I didn't leave out any detail of my plan for today from my mistress.

Not one detail... Well, only if one doesn't take into account my intention of meeting a guy who goes by the name of Yamada Renji.

And his name triggered a nemory in my mind. I promised to bring him some dangos when I come to see him. So it's off to a sweets shop I go...

A rather large basket containing dangos and mochis occupied my hands a little later. Perfect. This should be enough to satisfy that guy's apparent sweet tooth.

"A ride if you please," I called out to a passing carriage driver. "To the city proper, near the daimyo's residence," I added in reply to his query about our destination.

I found pleasant distraction in seeing the breathtaking scenery along the way. So much, in fact, that I hardly noticed the rumble of the carriage along the road.

"We're almost there ma'am," the driver informed. That's good news. I've been raring to get up and about for the last hour...

"Just until here, sir," I announced when we were a few meters away from the mansion. I thanked the driver, paid him, and got off.

I made it... Joy coursed through me at the thought. I have been ordered around all my life, so being able to accomplish a thing on my own is quite a feeling.

Okay... So much for the interruption. I started towards the mansion as a woman on a mission. Imposing... Such a word was fitted to describe the structure as it stood in the daylight.