Himitsu (Book One of the Kakureta Hana series)

VII: Shichi

"The shogun only requests the presence of Lord Amachi Junichi," the retainer standing at the entrance to the hall tells us.  "You, Lady Fujioka, and Lord Igarashi must remain here."

I open my mouth to protest, but Jun looks towards me, shaking her head.  Rika accepts the light kiss she presses to her cheek before coming to my side.  Only then does the retainer open the door to Jun.

"Junichi cannot speak," I say after he has shut the door behind her.  "One of us should have been permitted to enter as well to help remedy the problem."

He scowls slightly.  "The shogun knows well the situation.  Writing supplies have been brought in to ensure that the lord Amachi is able to tell how the demise of the shinobi known as Hikaru came about."

My fist clenches next to my side; however, before I can plant it somewhere on the retainer's body, Rika loops her arm through mine.  "Come, Lord Igarashi.  I find that I am famished, and I fear that little will be gained by remaining here."

I allow her to pull me away after I ensure that the retainer realizes that I am more than willing to beat him to a bloody mess if the need arises.

A while later, we are seated back in Jun and my rooms, a bounty of food set on the table before us.  The Fujioka cook did not even raise an eyebrow when I asked if he had any sweets that I could have.  Rika clearly has something she wishes to say about my food choice, but she wisely waits until my mouth is stuffed.

"My father worries about the repercussions from Hikaru's death.  The less reason he finds to place blame upon Jun's shoulders, the better it will be for her."

"He should be glad to be rid of the enemy hiding within his walls," I snarl.  "Hikaru would have brought nothing but trouble down upon the Fujioka clan and its allies."

A glint of defiance lights in the lady's eyes as she leans closer to me.  "Saiko and you knew something about him that you did not disclose to the rest of us.  Why did you not tell us before something like this happened?"

I cram another sweet into my mouth, taking my time to chew it.  Rika is not deterred by my contrary manner and merely waits until I am almost done.  "What did you not tell us, Lord Igarashi Ryuu?"

Unable to hold off any longer, I say, "Hikaru was the Neji clan's champion that I fought during the last battle with Aikawa Shigeru.  I only realized his identity after we left the shinobi, and Saiko and I decided that to tell Jun who he was would only turn her against us.  She was too blinded by affection for him at that point to believe anything that we would have told her."

"I would have believe you.  Why did you no tell me?  My father could have taken care of him; he could have sent Hikaru back to Emi."

"There was nothing that Shogun Fujioka could have done," I reply.  "Emi and Masumo were both gone at that time, and she seemed to make it clear in her letter that Hikaru would no longer have a place among the shinobi.  The responsibility for him belonged to us alone.

"Jun needed to make the choice between running from who she truly is and turning her back on everything that she knows.  I believe that, in some ways, how she handled Hikaru was a test of that."

Rika runs her finger along the edge of the table, an unreadable look upon her face.  "Ryuu, I am not truly marrying Tadashi when we wed.  I will be marrying Lord Amachi Junichi in the eyes of Japan, and only a few people beyond us will know that truth.  It frightens me beyond words, and I am not even the one giving up everything that I have known for a life that I was never raised to live.

"I did not realize how much that Jun was giving up to throw off the false identity that her father trapped her in.  Any children that the two...that she has will not be able to inherit the Amachi clan unless she reveals the truth.  My son, one who has no true Amachi blood running through his veins, will be the next Lord Amachi."

She places her hands flat on the table and looks at me with almost a feverish look.  "And every day for the rest of our lives, we will all lie about who we are or who we are married to.  Every time that my child says their name, that they are of the Amachi clan, I will be stung again with the realization that they are living in a lie and they do not even realize it.  And I can never ever tell them the truth about who they are, that they are the child of a farmer turned samurai, without condemning us all to die for our deception.

"Our children will grow up together, and one day your son may be the general of mine.  When do our lies catch up to us, Ryuu?    Is it when Jun's child innocently tells mine that they look close enough to be siblings?  What questions will such words awaken in someone's mind?

"I fear for the future.  I fear for the web that we have started to spin.  I fear for the disgrace that we will bring upon our clans with what seemed like simple actions."

I reach across the table to lift Rika's chin.  "To correct a wrong committed by the generation before us, we must be willing to follow through with what has been planned, even when we are afraid.  One day, the whole of Japan will know the truth and only speak on the courage it took to preserve a clan's leadership.  Worry not about the future, Rika, for it is not yet written.  No one concerns themselves with the rising of the sun each morn, thus we must not concern ourselves with the path our choices have set us upon."

Her lashes conceal her eyes for a moment before she lifts them towards mine and merely says, "I do believe that I look forward to seeing what havoc our children manage to raise together.  And I will relish watching them grow into adulthood, knowing that they will always have someone that loves them for who they are, not who they have been forced to be."

"You seem to assume much, Rika.  Foremost of all being that I will have children," I say.  "I intend to take a wife before I ever become a father, and that seems a distant possibility."

"Do you not see the truth in front of your face, Ryuu?  Your arms are the ones that Jun sought last night.  With Hikaru's deception revealed, I have hope and near certainty that she will not refuse you a second time.  After all, she does love you even if she does not always accept it."  A smile tugs at Rika's lips.  "Within a few years, I believe that there will be plenty of children in the Amachi clan."

I feel a mischievous grin pull at my own lips, and I raise a bowl in salute.  "To the future and the next generation we will raise side by side, Lady Fujioka Rika."

She raises her own in return and answers.  "To the loves that will preserve the Amachi clan for another season.  May they endure for as long as the sun rises and may the flame of them never flicker and die."

For a brief time, worry became a distant thought, and I found myself looking forward to the yet unwritten future before me.