“SHINDO...?” Satsuki quietly called.
The hand she held out to catch a falling petal slightly twitched. Plopped down on the ground, she craned her head as she shifted her gaze toward the plants across the walkway.
Lavender rain began pouring from overhead. It was a shower of flower petals. They belonged to the large, elegant wisteria growing on the trellis. Twining and coiling through the trellis, its graceful beauty dominated that space. The explosion of flowers was so magnificent, any who beheld it couldn’t help but stare in admiration. It was a true piece of art, evoking a sense of sacred wonder.
This large greenhouse was located toward the back end of the Tsujikawa estate. The exterior glass walls were so massive, it seemed like they sprawled up forever. One step inside, and the eyes were met with an endless variety of trees, plants, and flowers. It was like a small nature park. The trellis of wisteria was practically in the center of it all.
Wisteria bloomed from April to May. Seeing as this was April, the flowers were at full bloom. Yet even after its blooming season passed, the wisteria at Tsujikawa mansion would continue to blossom. The number of flowers it produced might decrease, but saying it bloomed year-round was no exaggeration. Those who beheld its splendor couldn’t help but be mesmerized. All who saw the Tsujikawa’s trellis of wisteria would say without fail “This wisteria is grown by God.”
Ever since she was a little girl, Satsuki loved this spot. She spent countless hours of fun here, playing with flower petals and chatting with the wisteria...alongside him.
Monitors were scattered throughout the greenhouse for security purposes, but Satsuki didn’t want prying eyes to invade her privacy while at her special place. She felt so strongly on the matter that she went so far as to order the placement of the monitors to create a blind spot around the trellis.
Satsuki sensed his presence carried on the wind. Upon holding both hands cupped before her chest, the pile of petals around her rustled as they fluttered into her open palms. She gently blew on the pile of petals.
Whoooooosh...
As if propelled on a mighty gust of wind, the petals hurtled past the shrubbery before her. All at once, the petals that blew off Satsuki’s hands dropped to the ground on the other side of those plants!
“Miss,” came a voice through the greenery.
Having just sent forth an army of petals, Satsuki lowered her hands onto her lap and looked straight ahead with eyes filled with anticipation.
“You went too far,” the kind voice continued as its owner pushed through the growth to reveal the man whom she’d been waiting for. Not bothering to brush off the petals on his hair or clothes, Shindo slowly approached Satsuki with a gentle smile reserved only for her.
“Shindo...” she called in a happy voice saved for him. She flashed him a childish smile meant for no other. He was the only one she could be herself around.
“You’re late, Shindo,” Satsuki chastised. Although she was beaming mere moments ago, her expression quickly switched to a pout. She slightly puckered her adorable lips and cocked her head to one side as she glared at Shindo.
“I am terribly sorry,” he apologized with a chuckle. Shindo approached Satsuki, who was still sitting upon the ground, and fell to one knee before bowing in apology.
“You passed through the front gate one minute and twenty seconds later than when you said. You broke your promise.”
“Yes, I am well aware,” he replied. She kept a close eye on him, clear down to when he entered the gate. Yet Shindo found it somehow exhilarating to know he couldn’t keep a secret from her.
Under her reproving glare, Shindo quietly took Satsuki’s right hand. Lifting it to his lips with a gentleness reserved only for her, he laid a kiss atop her hand.
“I will accept any reprimand...”
Chills ran through Satsuki’s body as the feeling of his lips spread from the top of her hand. His whisper and breath became sound waves that penetrated her hand to race throughout her body. The waves resembled a tingling sensation as it embraced her body, warming her very core. As her temperature naturally rose, her cheeks grew red. She desperately fought to hold back this strange phenomenon that was on the verge of overtaking her body.
When did this start...? Satsuki wondered. When did Shindo’s touch first begin to make the innermost depths of her body burn?
Shindo was Satsuki’s retainer. He received the position to serve at Satsuki’s side as a retainer a mere month after she was born. At that time, he was still just twelve years old. Never leaving her side, he spent more time with Satsuki than her own parents, who were quite busy. It was hardly an exaggeration to say, “Shindo raised Satsuki.”
Shindo handled changing Satsuki’s diapers when she was a baby. During her childhood, he looked after everything, from changing her clothes to bathing her. As strange as it might sound, he was even the one who helped Satsuki through her first menstrual cycle.
There were times she would cuddle up against his chest and fall asleep. Other times, she would whine, “I’m tired!” and make him carry her like a little princess. From an early age, she had permitted him into nearly every facet of her life.
The kiss upon her hand was among their rituals... But there were times this expression of respect she accepted with casual grace filled her with agony of late.
“I’m not going to reprimand you, silly!” Satsuki sniffed. As if trying to escape from the strange sensation assaulting her body, she pulled her hand away and shook it lightly by his wavy hair. The petals sticking to his clothes and hair momentarily rose as if drawn to her hand before tumbling to the ground.
“Who told you where I was?” she asked, stroking her hand through his soft, ruffled hair.
The feeling of Satsuki’s fingertips traveled through each strand, exciting the young man. Forced to suppress the surge of emotions growing under her touch, Shindo feigned calm as he put on a smile.
“The wind told me,” he answered.
“The wind?”
“Indeed. It said you were in here—in the green house,” he elaborated.
“I see...” A pleasant smile spread across her face; she held her hands daintily to the sky.
Whoosh... Wind couldn’t blow within the greenhouse. At most, an artificial breeze would come through the ventilation system on occasion. But at this moment, a wind coiled itself around Satsuki’s outstretched hands. She pulled the wind to her bosom in a loving embrace.
“Thank you... Thank you for bringing Shindo to me...” Satsuki smiled like an angel as she expressed her gratitude to the wind before releasing it...
“So was everyone searching for me?” she asked.
The sound of her voice snapped Shindo back to his senses. In all honesty, he had been mesmerized by the sight of Satsuki smiling at the wind. It was a gentle, fragile smile, like that of an angel. Surely it would captivate any man in the world who beheld it. Yet Shindo dared not let how he felt show. Instead, he slightly furrowed his brow in an expression of anger.
“What sort of attendants would they be if they didn’t get upset when their young mistress goes missing?” Shindo said as if scolding a child. He remained on one knee as he glared into her clear eyes. Before his stern admonition, Satsuki shrunk in on herself like a child getting chastised. “Honestly! You do this every time I leave. Is a spanking in order?”
“Eep...! Don’t! No spankings! I mean it!”
Those who only knew Satsuki’s outward persona would have gaped in surprise over the stark difference in her behavior. Growing bright red, she hastily scooted back a bit from Shindo.
“How old do you think I am? I’m going to turn eighteen soon. I’m not two or three anymore!” she snapped.
“You act just like a two or three-year-old child the way you’re constantly troubling your attendants with these antics... Would an occasional punishment help that sink in?” Shindo threatened.
When he grabbed both of her wrists, Satsuki wondered, Is he really going to spank me?
She was clearly beginning to panic as she cried out “W-Wait! Shindo!”
It wasn’t as if Shindo’s goal was to terrify the poor girl. He gave Satsuki time to plead her case while holding onto her wrists to keep her from running.
“I’m too old to get a spanking... Can’t you see how it’d be embarrassing in the wrong way?” she insisted.
She made a solid point. Put differently, spanking her bottom meant she was allowing a man to touch her rear. She’d find it embarrassing even if it was Shindo, the man who essentially raised her... Or perhaps it was better to say, it’d be embarrassing precisely because it was Shindo... Satsuki’s self-conscious wriggling nearly unsettled Shindo, but he managed to mask his feelings of embarrassment behind a gentle smile as he released her wrists.
“In that case, please try not to give your attendants too much grief. You just said so yourself, Miss... You’re going to be turning eighteen soon.”
“Right...” Satsuki replied happily now that Shindo was back to treating her kindly. Then she shifted her gaze to the wisteria overhead.
Seeing Satsuki giggle with her eyes fastened upon the wisteria, Shindo followed her gaze to the vining flowers.
“Did the wisteria say something?” he asked.
Satsuki giggled as she slowly sank into his chest, her eyes merrily feasting upon the lavender lace.
“...It said, ‘Your wisteria is strict’...”
“Only because you’re putting others out,” he replied.
Satsuki grabbed Shindo’s blazer with both hands and nuzzled against his chest.
“My...wisteria...” she said happily. This was another voice that she reserved only for Shindo. “You...are my...”
With both hands, Shindo gently stroked Satsuki’s silky hair. He did so with loving care.
“You can’t go anywhere...Shindo. You can’t leave my side... If I’m troubling the other attendants, it’s your fault for leaving me... Do you understand?”
“I do, Miss.”
Work assigned by Master Tsujikawa—Satsuki’s father—had pulled him away from her side. It was a legitimate reason. This generally wouldn’t be grounds for reprimand, but Shindo didn’t offer such a petty excuse in his defense. Instead, he said, “I will stay by your side. My life and body belong to you.”
The wisteria flowers watched the pair. Its petals danced down upon them. They were bound by an unbreakable bond of master and servant. Even if the feelings they shared stepped beyond that, they could never act upon them. Such was their destiny. A destiny only the wisteria flowers knew...