There was a knock at Mikoto’s door and moments later she heard it slide open. She opened her eyes to see one of the house servants sitting in her doorway bowing to her. Mikoto attempted to shift onto her hip so she wasn’t laying facedown while being spoken to but a soreness she hadn’t experienced before kept her on her belly.
“Matsu-sama,” The servant girl said, “I trust you had a wonderful night?”
Mikoto groaned in response.
“We’ll make you some tea this morning. Asahina-sama is calling for everyone this morning to breakfast.”
“I’ll be there,” Mikoto groaned and brushed her hair out of her face.
The girl left, closing the door behind her. Mikoto surveyed her room; there were clothes everywhere, most of them not hers. After last night’s debacle, she wasn’t sure what was hers, what was Katsumi’s, and what was Negisa’s, so she had just grabbed everything and brought it with her back to her room. This morning she would have to sort through it and give them back to the proper owners.
Last night… wow. That was all she really could say. She had never done anything like that before. In fact, she had never done anything with a man before last night. It was an evening of new and exciting things that she would not soon forget. And Katsumi… There was a flutter in Mikoto’s chest at the thought of the Daigotsu living with her just down the hall. She was happy Katsumi had kept her waiting, it was probably one of the reasons last night was so amazing.
Mikoto sorted through the clothes, folding them into piles. Now that she wasn’t completely exhausted and was in a clear mind, it was much easier to pick out her items. She looked over the piles; Negisa seemed to have gathered everything of hers so she was left with only two, hers and Katsumi’s. She rushed through dressing, knowing Asahina was waiting on all of them, gathered up Katsumi’s clothes and giddily went to Katsumi’s room.
“It’s Matsu Mikoto,” Mikoto called out after knocking on Katsumi’s door.
“Come in,” Katsumi answered.
Mikoto slid the door open and tried not to blush or smile too big even though she knew she was positively glowing. Katsumi looked the way she normally did, with her Spider Monk outfit hiding her soft, light skin, leaving only her enchanting eyes to gaze at.
“Good morning, Katsumi-chan,” she said affectionately. Katsumi didn’t respond, just stared at her. Maybe she was too flustered to speak; you couldn’t really tell when you only had eyes to judge.
“Um, here are your clothes, you left them last night.” Mikoto set the folded pile down in Katsumi’s room.
Katsumi sighed, “Painting, right?”
There was something strange about the way Katsumi was asking, but Mikoto figured it must just be the way she was. She always ran off when shown the slightest bit of interest from Mikoto and never seemed to speak about those moments again. Moreover, yesterday when Katsumi was teaching Mikoto medicine, Mikoto was certain those seductive times were not in her head. Katsumi was just the hard to get kind of girl.
“Yeah,” Mikoto dreamily breathed.
“Thanks for returning these.”
Katsumi didn’t move, just stood where she had been since Mikoto entered, watching her. Mikoto nodded and withdrew to the hallway taking a few calming breathes before going to the dining area. Asahina had called a meeting and Katsumi was sure to be there shortly. Maybe they could sit together for breakfast.
Shiba and Asahina were already waiting when Mikoto took her seat. This was vaguely reminiscent of another meal where they were all waiting on Katsumi then too. Thinking on it, she was also late to the painting party, maybe she just had a thing with tardiness. It endeared her to Mikoto even more. She would have to keep up on Katsumi about time, Mikoto wouldn’t mind always being the one to wake her up and get her ready. Katsumi entered and Asahina jumped right into things.
“We’re doing a great job, everyone. The party last night went off well, and I have no complaints. Keep up the good work. You,” Asahina pointed at Katsumi, “Keep doing well on the construction. You,” he was now pointing at Mikoto, “Get going on the guards. And you,” now it was Shiba, “Start on the bodyguards. Okay?”
No one responded.
“Great. Let’s do it.” Asahina strolled out of the room leaving Shiba looking confused, Katsumi unimpressed, and Mikoto uncaring about whatever it was he had said. Katsumi walked to the kitchen without saying a word. Mikoto frowned, Katsumi was back to her old self, quiet and pretending like Mikoto didn’t exist. A pit was growing in her stomach, Katsumi’s behavior this morning was quickly causing Mikoto to lose her appetite so she headed back to her room to sleep a little longer. Maybe she could dream about the amorous Katsumi. She flushed at the thought and cuddled back into her bed.
Mikoto arose several hours later feeling much better. The sun was high in the sky, marking it close to noon, and the house was quiet. She brushed out her hair and dressed fully, deciding she was going to confront Katsumi about her behavior. Really, if she wanted to keep things secretive, Mikoto didn’t mind. In fact, that was half the fun with relationships, keeping it out of the public eye. Living with a houseful of others only made it even more of a challenge, and thus more entertaining. All Mikoto wanted was to know if last night was a one-time thing that Katsumi was trying to avoid, or if she wanted to take things further, to a more personal level.
As she was walking down the hallway, she heard voices from Asahina’s room. There seemed to be more than a few of them. Mikoto peeked at Katsumi’s closed door deciding she could wait a few minutes before seeing Katsumi and rounded the corner to Asahina’s room. His door was open and inside stood Shiba, Tsuruchi, Soshi, Katsumi and Asahina all looking at one wall.
“I can draw you a much simpler picture, Shiba-san, if you would like?” Soshi politely offered.
“You have an interesting imagination, Asahina-san,” Katsumi’s voice came from the front of the group.
“Indeed,” Soshi agreed.
“Yes, I could get lost in this,” Asahina commented.
Okay, what where they talking about? Mikoto stepped around the doorway trying to make her way to Katsumi’s side.
“Now where’s my sushi?” Tsuruchi spun and marched towards the kitchen. Shiba followed, and Soshi shuffled out leaving Katsumi and Asahina staring at a painting.
She snuggled next to Katsumi and glanced at the screen. It wasn’t just a painting, it was their painting. From Negisa’s curves to Katsumi’s scars, everything was there. The coloring brought your eye directly to the three of them, and Mikoto’s breath quickened remembering the scene depicted. She flushed a little.
“It’s very detailed,” she said, complimenting the picture more than Asahina.
“Gazing into this beautiful picture, I am inspired,” said Asahina thoughtfully. “I must add to my other work to make it as wonderful as I have made this one.” Asahina pulled out the painting he had shown Mikoto yesterday, the one with the cherry tree, and set it up on the easel. “Daigotsu-san, I don’t think I’ve shown you this one that I did the other day.”
Mikoto turned back to Katsumi, who was now staring at her.
“What is it, Katsumi-chan?” She smiled at Katsumi and tilted her head.
Katsumi just turned back to the painting, studying it. Mikoto took a deep breath, Katsumi smelled so good even in Asahina’s room. She scooted closer to Katsumi, their arms touching. Katsumi didn’t move away. That was good. Maybe she did just want to keep things a secret in front of others since, with the three of them in Asahina’s room, Katsumi didn’t seem to mind Mikoto being so close.
“This is pure fantasy, right?” Katsumi pointed at the painting.
A shot pierced Mikoto’s heart. How could she say that? Her chest hurt, it felt like she couldn’t breathe. She could feel her eyes burning, the tears threatening to well up and stream down her face.
“What?” Mikoto squeaked, “What do you mean?”
“Asahina painted this from his mind, right?” Katsumi wasn’t even looking at Mikoto as she twisted the knife deeper. It was the most special night she had ever had in her life, and here Katsumi was trying to take that away from her. In Katsumi, she had found someone she wanted more than just a one-night stand with, and Katsumi was treating her like this happened on a daily basis and she couldn’t recall one girl from the next.
“You… don’t remember?” Mikoto felt her lip quiver and her voice shake. Katsumi flashed her eyes to Mikoto, finally taking them off the painting.
“Oh, no. It was magical,” the words rocketed out of Katsumi’s mouth and focused on Mikoto. Mikoto wasn’t aware what was going on, but she had to believe Katsumi was being sincere. She just had to, otherwise it would hallow out her heart.
“Yes it was,” She managed to choke out. Katsumi nodded feverishly in agreement.
“We must do it again some time… erm, Mikoto…chan.”
Mikoto swallowed the rock in her throat and blinked away the mist in her eyes. Katsumi called her Mikoto-chan. The pain was subsiding, washed away by a sudden delightful euphoria at the sound of her name from Katsumi’s lips. Soshi had said it in the same fashion but it didn’t make her feel the way it did now, when it was coming from Katsumi. She beamed at Katsumi and edged closer again, somehow they had separated by a foot during this large misunderstanding. Mikoto rectified that and rubbed against Katsumi again.
Suddenly it dawned on her that Katsumi had suggested they invite a third party again. The gears began turning in Mikoto’s head. Last night, after Katsumi was carried away, and after-- Mikoto flushed remembering what happened after that. She inhaled sharply and blew it out slowly, trying to calm herself. After Asahina had left, Negisa had dressed and sat next to Mikoto, lovingly combing her hair with her fingers. Then she had told her the news that shocked Mikoto to her core. Apparently, Moto Leon was dead. There was an accident and he fell from his horse. It was good news, but also some thing one usually did not put so bluntly. In addition, the way Negisa had said it made it sound like she had some sort of hand in the matter. As if that wasn’t already a lot to handle, in the interim, she had been arranged with Negisa’s younger brother, Yanagi. Apparently, it was Katsumi’s older brother because Negisa had said Yanagi was the one that fetched Katsumi last night, and she couldn’t imagine anyone younger than Katsumi carrying her, no matter how thin she was. Katsumi was barely of age, if Yanagi were younger then Mikoto would be betrothed to a child.
Unfortunately, at the time she didn’t get a good look at him. She was a little occupied with - ahem, other things. This was also unfortunate because that meant that her new betrothed knew she wasn’t chaste. He had walked in on them after Asahina had joined. Celestial Heavens, she didn’t even know what was going on at the time Yanagi had walked in, was she with Negisa, or Asahina? And when exactly did Katsumi leave?
She sighed, pushing the mortifying thoughts from her mind. Obviously the Daigotsu family wasn’t as concerned as her second mother had been about her purity. After all, Negisa had initiated the encounter, Katsumi had joined, Negisa invited Asahina, and now Katsumi was offering another go. If she was going to keep up with this lifestyle, and Katsumi was offering herself for Mikoto’s pleasure, she wanted to pick the third party.
“Well…” Mikoto murmured, “If we do it again… maybe you could invite your brother?”
It would be the perfect opportunity for Mikoto to get to know her new fiancé. Maybe not so much intercourse, she barely knew the man. However, what better way to learn about someone than putting him or her in such a vulnerable state? If Katsumi asked, maybe he would say yes because she is his sister, so it would really just be with Mikoto. Then she could have both Katsumi and Yanagi to herself.
“Actually…” Katsumi seemed to be thinking how best to approach this subject. Mikoto knew she asked something quite taboo, but she felt comfortable enough with Katsumi, especially after last night, to mention it and gauge a reaction. “He’s leaving town today.”
“Oh. Well…” Mikoto couldn’t tell if that was a polite no or if Katsumi was considering the best time to arrange things, “Your sister said something last night, and I thought… I don’t know. Put it out of your mind.” Mikoto shifted uncomfortably under Katsumi’s stare.
“Alright,” Katsumi kept eyeing Mikoto.
It might have been a bad suggestion. Maybe Katsumi was backing out now, she was just staring. Maybe she had ruined things between Katsumi and herself. Mikoto tried to offer a smile to offset the palpable silence between the two of them.
“Have you met Yanagi?” Katsumi finally spoke.
“I don’t… believe so.” Mikoto honestly wasn’t certain. Most of the Spider at the tournament, and still around town dressed like Katsumi did, as a Spider Monk. How was she to know if she ever really met him? Katsumi turned and gave a glance over her shoulder, behind her, and suddenly walked out of the room. Mikoto was confused. They seemed to be past the awkward suggestion and yet Katsumi just left, for no reason. Mikoto blinked and watched the doorway, wondering if it was another one of Katsumi’s strange habits. She crept towards the door, peeking out into the hallway to find a tall and definitely male Spider Monk rounding the corner towards her.
He flourished a beautiful flower Mikoto had never seen before seemingly out of nowhere, offering it to her with a bow. “Matsu Mikoto-chan, it is my pleasure to finally meet you.”
She blushed completely. Mikoto could feel the heat emanating from her chest, neck, face, even her ears. They all burned at the very formal and kind way this man had spoken to her. She plucked the flower from his hand and smelled it, it was sort and powdery. Katsumi reappeared behind the man; he was several inches taller than her, probably the same height as Asahina was. His skin was dark, much darker than Katsumi’s, and his eyes were as black as one’s eyes could get. Katsumi touched him on the arm, Spiders, always touching everyone, and leaned in speaking low, but with how close Mikoto was she could hear the words.
“She wants to invite you next time.”
It was Yanagi. It had to be, otherwise Katsumi was talking about something completely different and Mikoto was drawing a parallel where there wasn’t one.
“Of course,” He replied sharing a knowing look with Katsumi. “The next time I’m traveling through here, which should be next month if everything goes according to plan.”
“You’ll be back so soon, Yanagi-sama?” Katsumi asked. They were talking to each other, completely cutting Mikoto out of the picture.
“Yes, we’re just scouting the Shinomen Mori, seeing what is left of the Black Silk Dojo. We’re also thinking of reopening in the area.”
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
“As do I,” Mikoto piped up, both Daigotsu‘s turning back to her.
“Of course I look forward to seeing you, and possibly at some other point, meeting Hikaru as well.”
He asked to meet Hikaru, Mikoto was soaring. What a man this Yanagi was. He was polite, sweet, and wanted to include Hikaru in his life as much as he did Mikoto. This is what a betrothal should be made of.
“Of course,” Mikoto said dreamily.
“Matsu-sama,” The servant girl said, “I trust you had a wonderful night?”
Mikoto groaned in response.
“We’ll make you some tea this morning. Asahina-sama is calling for everyone this morning to breakfast.”
“I’ll be there,” Mikoto groaned and brushed her hair out of her face.
The girl left, closing the door behind her. Mikoto surveyed her room; there were clothes everywhere, most of them not hers. After last night’s debacle, she wasn’t sure what was hers, what was Katsumi’s, and what was Negisa’s, so she had just grabbed everything and brought it with her back to her room. This morning she would have to sort through it and give them back to the proper owners.
Last night… wow. That was all she really could say. She had never done anything like that before. In fact, she had never done anything with a man before last night. It was an evening of new and exciting things that she would not soon forget. And Katsumi… There was a flutter in Mikoto’s chest at the thought of the Daigotsu living with her just down the hall. She was happy Katsumi had kept her waiting, it was probably one of the reasons last night was so amazing.
Mikoto sorted through the clothes, folding them into piles. Now that she wasn’t completely exhausted and was in a clear mind, it was much easier to pick out her items. She looked over the piles; Negisa seemed to have gathered everything of hers so she was left with only two, hers and Katsumi’s. She rushed through dressing, knowing Asahina was waiting on all of them, gathered up Katsumi’s clothes and giddily went to Katsumi’s room.
“It’s Matsu Mikoto,” Mikoto called out after knocking on Katsumi’s door.
“Come in,” Katsumi answered.
Mikoto slid the door open and tried not to blush or smile too big even though she knew she was positively glowing. Katsumi looked the way she normally did, with her Spider Monk outfit hiding her soft, light skin, leaving only her enchanting eyes to gaze at.
“Good morning, Katsumi-chan,” she said affectionately. Katsumi didn’t respond, just stared at her. Maybe she was too flustered to speak; you couldn’t really tell when you only had eyes to judge.
“Um, here are your clothes, you left them last night.” Mikoto set the folded pile down in Katsumi’s room.
Katsumi sighed, “Painting, right?”
There was something strange about the way Katsumi was asking, but Mikoto figured it must just be the way she was. She always ran off when shown the slightest bit of interest from Mikoto and never seemed to speak about those moments again. Moreover, yesterday when Katsumi was teaching Mikoto medicine, Mikoto was certain those seductive times were not in her head. Katsumi was just the hard to get kind of girl.
“Yeah,” Mikoto dreamily breathed.
“Thanks for returning these.”
Katsumi didn’t move, just stood where she had been since Mikoto entered, watching her. Mikoto nodded and withdrew to the hallway taking a few calming breathes before going to the dining area. Asahina had called a meeting and Katsumi was sure to be there shortly. Maybe they could sit together for breakfast.
Shiba and Asahina were already waiting when Mikoto took her seat. This was vaguely reminiscent of another meal where they were all waiting on Katsumi then too. Thinking on it, she was also late to the painting party, maybe she just had a thing with tardiness. It endeared her to Mikoto even more. She would have to keep up on Katsumi about time, Mikoto wouldn’t mind always being the one to wake her up and get her ready. Katsumi entered and Asahina jumped right into things.
“We’re doing a great job, everyone. The party last night went off well, and I have no complaints. Keep up the good work. You,” Asahina pointed at Katsumi, “Keep doing well on the construction. You,” he was now pointing at Mikoto, “Get going on the guards. And you,” now it was Shiba, “Start on the bodyguards. Okay?”
No one responded.
“Great. Let’s do it.” Asahina strolled out of the room leaving Shiba looking confused, Katsumi unimpressed, and Mikoto uncaring about whatever it was he had said. Katsumi walked to the kitchen without saying a word. Mikoto frowned, Katsumi was back to her old self, quiet and pretending like Mikoto didn’t exist. A pit was growing in her stomach, Katsumi’s behavior this morning was quickly causing Mikoto to lose her appetite so she headed back to her room to sleep a little longer. Maybe she could dream about the amorous Katsumi. She flushed at the thought and cuddled back into her bed.
Mikoto arose several hours later feeling much better. The sun was high in the sky, marking it close to noon, and the house was quiet. She brushed out her hair and dressed fully, deciding she was going to confront Katsumi about her behavior. Really, if she wanted to keep things secretive, Mikoto didn’t mind. In fact, that was half the fun with relationships, keeping it out of the public eye. Living with a houseful of others only made it even more of a challenge, and thus more entertaining. All Mikoto wanted was to know if last night was a one-time thing that Katsumi was trying to avoid, or if she wanted to take things further, to a more personal level.
As she was walking down the hallway, she heard voices from Asahina’s room. There seemed to be more than a few of them. Mikoto peeked at Katsumi’s closed door deciding she could wait a few minutes before seeing Katsumi and rounded the corner to Asahina’s room. His door was open and inside stood Shiba, Tsuruchi, Soshi, Katsumi and Asahina all looking at one wall.
“I can draw you a much simpler picture, Shiba-san, if you would like?” Soshi politely offered.
“You have an interesting imagination, Asahina-san,” Katsumi’s voice came from the front of the group.
“Indeed,” Soshi agreed.
“Yes, I could get lost in this,” Asahina commented.
Okay, what where they talking about? Mikoto stepped around the doorway trying to make her way to Katsumi’s side.
“Now where’s my sushi?” Tsuruchi spun and marched towards the kitchen. Shiba followed, and Soshi shuffled out leaving Katsumi and Asahina staring at a painting.
She snuggled next to Katsumi and glanced at the screen. It wasn’t just a painting, it was their painting. From Negisa’s curves to Katsumi’s scars, everything was there. The coloring brought your eye directly to the three of them, and Mikoto’s breath quickened remembering the scene depicted. She flushed a little.
“It’s very detailed,” she said, complimenting the picture more than Asahina.
“Gazing into this beautiful picture, I am inspired,” said Asahina thoughtfully. “I must add to my other work to make it as wonderful as I have made this one.” Asahina pulled out the painting he had shown Mikoto yesterday, the one with the cherry tree, and set it up on the easel. “Daigotsu-san, I don’t think I’ve shown you this one that I did the other day.”
Mikoto turned back to Katsumi, who was now staring at her.
“What is it, Katsumi-chan?” She smiled at Katsumi and tilted her head.
Katsumi just turned back to the painting, studying it. Mikoto took a deep breath, Katsumi smelled so good even in Asahina’s room. She scooted closer to Katsumi, their arms touching. Katsumi didn’t move away. That was good. Maybe she did just want to keep things a secret in front of others since, with the three of them in Asahina’s room, Katsumi didn’t seem to mind Mikoto being so close.
“This is pure fantasy, right?” Katsumi pointed at the painting.
A shot pierced Mikoto’s heart. How could she say that? Her chest hurt, it felt like she couldn’t breathe. She could feel her eyes burning, the tears threatening to well up and stream down her face.
“What?” Mikoto squeaked, “What do you mean?”
“Asahina painted this from his mind, right?” Katsumi wasn’t even looking at Mikoto as she twisted the knife deeper. It was the most special night she had ever had in her life, and here Katsumi was trying to take that away from her. In Katsumi, she had found someone she wanted more than just a one-night stand with, and Katsumi was treating her like this happened on a daily basis and she couldn’t recall one girl from the next.
“You… don’t remember?” Mikoto felt her lip quiver and her voice shake. Katsumi flashed her eyes to Mikoto, finally taking them off the painting.
“Oh, no. It was magical,” the words rocketed out of Katsumi’s mouth and focused on Mikoto. Mikoto wasn’t aware what was going on, but she had to believe Katsumi was being sincere. She just had to, otherwise it would hallow out her heart.
“Yes it was,” She managed to choke out. Katsumi nodded feverishly in agreement.
“We must do it again some time… erm, Mikoto…chan.”
Mikoto swallowed the rock in her throat and blinked away the mist in her eyes. Katsumi called her Mikoto-chan. The pain was subsiding, washed away by a sudden delightful euphoria at the sound of her name from Katsumi’s lips. Soshi had said it in the same fashion but it didn’t make her feel the way it did now, when it was coming from Katsumi. She beamed at Katsumi and edged closer again, somehow they had separated by a foot during this large misunderstanding. Mikoto rectified that and rubbed against Katsumi again.
Suddenly it dawned on her that Katsumi had suggested they invite a third party again. The gears began turning in Mikoto’s head. Last night, after Katsumi was carried away, and after-- Mikoto flushed remembering what happened after that. She inhaled sharply and blew it out slowly, trying to calm herself. After Asahina had left, Negisa had dressed and sat next to Mikoto, lovingly combing her hair with her fingers. Then she had told her the news that shocked Mikoto to her core. Apparently, Moto Leon was dead. There was an accident and he fell from his horse. It was good news, but also some thing one usually did not put so bluntly. In addition, the way Negisa had said it made it sound like she had some sort of hand in the matter. As if that wasn’t already a lot to handle, in the interim, she had been arranged with Negisa’s younger brother, Yanagi. Apparently, it was Katsumi’s older brother because Negisa had said Yanagi was the one that fetched Katsumi last night, and she couldn’t imagine anyone younger than Katsumi carrying her, no matter how thin she was. Katsumi was barely of age, if Yanagi were younger then Mikoto would be betrothed to a child.
Unfortunately, at the time she didn’t get a good look at him. She was a little occupied with - ahem, other things. This was also unfortunate because that meant that her new betrothed knew she wasn’t chaste. He had walked in on them after Asahina had joined. Celestial Heavens, she didn’t even know what was going on at the time Yanagi had walked in, was she with Negisa, or Asahina? And when exactly did Katsumi leave?
She sighed, pushing the mortifying thoughts from her mind. Obviously the Daigotsu family wasn’t as concerned as her second mother had been about her purity. After all, Negisa had initiated the encounter, Katsumi had joined, Negisa invited Asahina, and now Katsumi was offering another go. If she was going to keep up with this lifestyle, and Katsumi was offering herself for Mikoto’s pleasure, she wanted to pick the third party.
“Well…” Mikoto murmured, “If we do it again… maybe you could invite your brother?”
It would be the perfect opportunity for Mikoto to get to know her new fiancé. Maybe not so much intercourse, she barely knew the man. However, what better way to learn about someone than putting him or her in such a vulnerable state? If Katsumi asked, maybe he would say yes because she is his sister, so it would really just be with Mikoto. Then she could have both Katsumi and Yanagi to herself.
“Actually…” Katsumi seemed to be thinking how best to approach this subject. Mikoto knew she asked something quite taboo, but she felt comfortable enough with Katsumi, especially after last night, to mention it and gauge a reaction. “He’s leaving town today.”
“Oh. Well…” Mikoto couldn’t tell if that was a polite no or if Katsumi was considering the best time to arrange things, “Your sister said something last night, and I thought… I don’t know. Put it out of your mind.” Mikoto shifted uncomfortably under Katsumi’s stare.
“Alright,” Katsumi kept eyeing Mikoto.
It might have been a bad suggestion. Maybe Katsumi was backing out now, she was just staring. Maybe she had ruined things between Katsumi and herself. Mikoto tried to offer a smile to offset the palpable silence between the two of them.
“Have you met Yanagi?” Katsumi finally spoke.
“I don’t… believe so.” Mikoto honestly wasn’t certain. Most of the Spider at the tournament, and still around town dressed like Katsumi did, as a Spider Monk. How was she to know if she ever really met him? Katsumi turned and gave a glance over her shoulder, behind her, and suddenly walked out of the room. Mikoto was confused. They seemed to be past the awkward suggestion and yet Katsumi just left, for no reason. Mikoto blinked and watched the doorway, wondering if it was another one of Katsumi’s strange habits. She crept towards the door, peeking out into the hallway to find a tall and definitely male Spider Monk rounding the corner towards her.
He flourished a beautiful flower Mikoto had never seen before seemingly out of nowhere, offering it to her with a bow. “Matsu Mikoto-chan, it is my pleasure to finally meet you.”
She blushed completely. Mikoto could feel the heat emanating from her chest, neck, face, even her ears. They all burned at the very formal and kind way this man had spoken to her. She plucked the flower from his hand and smelled it, it was sort and powdery. Katsumi reappeared behind the man; he was several inches taller than her, probably the same height as Asahina was. His skin was dark, much darker than Katsumi’s, and his eyes were as black as one’s eyes could get. Katsumi touched him on the arm, Spiders, always touching everyone, and leaned in speaking low, but with how close Mikoto was she could hear the words.
“She wants to invite you next time.”
It was Yanagi. It had to be, otherwise Katsumi was talking about something completely different and Mikoto was drawing a parallel where there wasn’t one.
“Of course,” He replied sharing a knowing look with Katsumi. “The next time I’m traveling through here, which should be next month if everything goes according to plan.”
“You’ll be back so soon, Yanagi-sama?” Katsumi asked. They were talking to each other, completely cutting Mikoto out of the picture.
“Yes, we’re just scouting the Shinomen Mori, seeing what is left of the Black Silk Dojo. We’re also thinking of reopening in the area.”
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
“As do I,” Mikoto piped up, both Daigotsu‘s turning back to her.
“Of course I look forward to seeing you, and possibly at some other point, meeting Hikaru as well.”
He asked to meet Hikaru, Mikoto was soaring. What a man this Yanagi was. He was polite, sweet, and wanted to include Hikaru in his life as much as he did Mikoto. This is what a betrothal should be made of.
“Of course,” Mikoto said dreamily.
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