After our meeting in Dazaifu, I’d looked up the names of the gentleman samurai and his vassal. While I didn’t find anything on the younger man, the gentleman immediately popped up on Wikipedia. He was a historical figure from around four hundred years previous. The sight of the search result had sent a chill tingling down my spine.
Shinozaki really has lived for over four hundred years. He’d become impossibly distant in my mind after that revelation.
“I’ve noticed something off about you lately, but that’s all you were worried about?” Shinozaki shrugged. “Sorry about that. I didn’t have any ulterior motive for keeping quiet.”
“Okay…”
“If there’s anything else bothering you, ask me whatever you like.”
I checked my wristwatch. We had over fifteen minutes until the appointment. Had we arrived at the station early because he wanted to have a conversation with me? He’d even accounted for the possibility that I might feel unwell and ensured I would have time to decide before setting out on the long trip south.
He’s a kind person. That makes this time he set aside for us even more painful.
“Shinozaki,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Do you still think about your master?”
Shinozaki stared at me, solemn, his golden eyes widening slightly. The melody of “Tōryanse” drifting from the crosswalk was nearly deafening in the silence between us.
“Why,” Shinozaki asked, his voice a little lower and hoarser than usual, “are you worried about that?”
“Do you love your former master?” I pressed.
A deathly chill filled the car.
“I…” He hesitated.
“Do you love your former master romantically?”
His gorgeous face flushed a bright, undeniable red. I’d figured he’d answer, “Yeah, of course I do,” in his usual carefree manner. But my question had rendered him speechless. He didn’t know how to answer me. And I realized the truth: Shinozaki loved his former master with all his heart.
“Shinozaki,” I said.
“Y-Yeah?”
“I made you kiss me because of my leaking spiritual energy…even though you love someone else.”
“…Huh?” He closed his eyes, unable to hide his panic. His behavior confirmed each and every one of my suspicions. “No, Kaede, wait,” he pleaded. “Just hold on.”
“You’ve already given your heart to someone else,” I said. “And yet, you still had to kiss—”
“Wait,” he interrupted. “Forget about me for just one minute. You’re the one who’s actually suffering because of our need to kiss, right?”
I shook my head. “No, forget about me. I never paused to consider your feelings because I was so caught up in it being my first kiss. Can you ever forgive me for not thinking about you at all?”
He’d done everything in his power to make sure I was okay afterward. But I should have been the one to make sure he was okay. He had someone else he would rather kiss, after all.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying and failing to feign composure. “I feel so guilty that I might start crying. I-I’m going to the convenience store for a minute. Be back soon.”
“Hey, wait!” he exclaimed.
Forcing a smile onto my face, I fled to the restroom in front of the station. The tears started the instant I locked myself in a stall. I’d reached my breaking point.
“Hic…” I sobbed.
Shinozaki had kissed me, had absorbed my spiritual energy, to protect me and Tenjin at large. And I’d fallen for him. Could I have been a bigger nuisance?
“I’m such an idiot…” I wept. “I can’t cause him any more trouble than I already have.”
As I scrubbed at my endless tears, several versions of myself criticized me in an internal indictment.
“Crying out of self-pity?” the rational me asked in an exasperated tone. “Pathetic.”
“Crying in the middle of the day and inconveniencing your boss?” working adult me derided. “Could you sink any lower?”
“Are you the one who should be crying right now?” my conscience asked, perplexed. “Do you even care about him?”
I know.
I’d fallen for Shinozaki without any regard for him. I needed to be more conscientious of how my feelings burdened him. So I gave myself one minute to pull myself together. I set an alarm on my phone, bawled my eyes out, and blew my nose. When the alarm beeped, I flushed the tissue paper down the toilet, symbolically washing away my emotional turmoil as well.
“Okay…” I said with a deep sigh. “Time to put your nose back to the grindstone, Kaede!”
I had to prioritize work. Exiting the restroom, I raced back to the parking lot.
Abruptly, a van screeched to a stop between me and Shinozaki’s car, blocking my path.
“What?!” I squawked.
The vehicle appeared to be some sort of shuttle. Before I could read the text on its side, however, the driver rolled down the window.
“Ni hao!” he called in Chinese. “Are you alone? That’s some nice spiritual energy you’ve got there! Let’s add each other on social media! Weibo, LINE, or anything else!”
“Wh-What’s going on?!” I cried.
The man grinned at me, his eyes sparkling amiably behind stylish, round glasses. He wore traditional Chinese clothing with intricate embroidery, and his glossy, black hair was tinged with violet.
“Your spiritual energy is leaking quite nicely!” he said. “Are you the newbie at Shinozaki’s place, by chance?”
I floundered. “I, um, well… Hold on! Are you from that rival business I’ve heard about?!”
“Rival? Perish the thought! I simply offer a better deal than the other hot spring!”
The back door of the van opened, and a swarm of women in matching uniforms with mandarin collars flooded out.
“Wait—ah—hey!” I shrieked as the women began to drag me into the van. “Let go of me!”
“My, my, my,” the man tutted. “A parking lot is hardly the best place for a discussion, no? Let’s continue this conversation at my hot spring resort. I’ll treat you to a full spa day on the house!”
The women forced me into the van, and just like that, the rival businessman drove away.
🍁🍁🍁