AFTER assisting Satsuki to the sofa in her room, Shindo stepped out. He explained to Hakamada that she was feeling ill and saw the suitor off. Returning straight to her room, he found she was sitting exactly where he left her.
The troubled look of uncertainty made it clear something happened between her and Takemi. Dropping to his knees before her, he placed his hands over hers.
“Did he tell you about your past?” Shindo asked.
Satsuki bit her bottom lip. She could never bring herself to tell him there was a possibility he was somehow connected to her past memories.
“Didn’t I tell you there was no need to remember such things? Why is it so imperative for you to remember?” His voice was extremely kind. By no means was he chastising Satsuki for trying to learn the past when she knew it would bring her nothing but pain.
The simple admonition “It’s a matter of life or death for Shindo” was enough to greatly inflate the urgency within Satsuki that she had to unseal those memories. But in order to do so, she had to pick Takemi as her fiancé. On top of that...
Satsuki wrapped her arms around Shindo’s shoulders, clinging to him as she whispered, “Hold me, Shindo...”
“Miss?”
“Please...” Satsuki pleaded. Holding Shindo’s head, she ran her fingers through his soft hair. She rubbed her cheek against it as she savored the softness of each strand against her fingers.
“Don’t...let me go...”
Takemi’s voice rung in her ears. “It’s a matter of life or death for Shindo.” His words were attempting to seize control of her heart.
“Keep me from unlocking the French doors...”
The moment those words escaped Satsuki’s lips, Shindo thrust her against the back of the sofa and kissed her. He knew Takemi told her to keep the French doors open if she wanted to learn about her past. Seeing how strangely she was behaving, he quickly realized she wanted the suitor to reveal the past.
“I won’t let you go...” Shindo promised. “...I swear...I won’t let you go.”
With the lights still turned on, their bodies melded into one on the sofa. The two made love fervently. It was as if they were trying to make the most of every last second left to them—as if there was something pushing them to make haste.
“I will be here to keep you from unlocking the doors,” Shindo swore. “I love you...Miss.” He would only be able to whisper these words of affection a little longer.
“I love you...Shindo...” There was not much time left for her to freely confess the feelings in her heart like this.
Once Satsuki chose a fiancé in two weeks...they would be forced to part.
“At least for now, don’t let me go...”
✦ ✦ ✦
“AREN’T you staying with me tonight?” Satsuki asked, looking straight ahead at her reflection in the mirror attached to the dresser. Her expression in the mirror looked sad.
Her question stilled the retainer’s hands that were busily brushing her long hair. Standing diagonally behind the lady sitting before the dresser, Shindo raised his head to see the reflection of Satsuki looking at him with sadness as heartrending as the heavy sorrow carried in her voice.
“I’m staying with you. I’m not leaving your side until you’re fast asleep,” Shindo replied and resumed brushing her hair.
“That’s not what I meant...” Satsuki mumbled embarrassedly, dropping her gaze. She began fidgeting with her fingers over her lap. It was probably difficult for her to broach the topic. Really, it was inappropriate to make a lady say such things. Realizing what she was implying, Shindo put down the brush and gently wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Please take it easy tonight. I’m afraid you might be...tired...after I got overzealous this afternoon... Are you sore at all?” he said, making Satsuki feel even more embarrassed.
What Takemi said earlier led the two to make love on the sofa that afternoon. Shindo was honestly burning with jealousy over the suitor’s request for Satsuki to keep the French doors unlocked. He was afraid it caused him to get rougher with Satsuki more than usual.
Ever since they first became one in heart and body, they spent every night these past two weeks locked in passionate ecstasy. Shindo strived to embrace her with nothing but gentle and tender love, but...
“I’m not sore. It was different from usual...but...” Satsuki looked up at the reflection of Shindo holding her through the bangs of her hair. “...I like that side of you, too... You seemed more masculine and irresistible than usual... It was surprising even to me...” Satsuki muttered abashed, making Shindo’s heart grow tight with adoration over how she seemed far cuter than usual.
“By the way, you haven’t made any progress with the office work Father has assigned since you’ve been spending every night with me, have you? Are you going to need to cram it in to meet the deadlines?”
Shindo usually tackled his work from the headquarters of Tsujikawa Corporation after hanging up his title as retainer for the day when he tucked Satsuki in. But that work was piling up since he was spending each night these past two weeks with her.
“Miss...” Shindo whispered.
The fact that Satsuki would take notice of that and express concern for him filled Shindo with immense joy. That joy evoked tender affection, making him unable to pull away from Satsuki. Placing a hand over one cheek, he urged her to turn back toward him and silently kissed her. As they kissed, Satsuki scooted the rest of the way around. Once she was fully facing Shindo, he pulled her body towards him. He laced his fingers through the silky hair he was brushing only moments ago. As they kissed, Shindo lifted Satsuki up. He swiftly carried the young lady to her bedchambers and turned off the lights.
“Wasn’t I supposed to go straight to bed tonight?” Satsuki asked with a giggle, but Shindo silenced her with another kiss.
“I won’t let you get a wink of sleep...”
✦ ✦ ✦
SURE, he was probably drunk. During the reception dinner, he had a bit too much to drink. He stepped out of the restaurant in hopes of clearing his head, but that was probably when he started to act a bit funny. With a slow, yet sure stride, he began to walk away from the restaurant.
As if in a drunken stupor, his eyes were only half open. His mouth was partially agape. His cheeks appeared to hang slack. His overall expression was dazed, as if he were caught in an illusion. Even strangers who passed by gave the man puzzled looks as they wondered, “Has he lost his mind?” No one would ever suspect such a man to be a Dietman’s first secretary.
Once Shinichiro Hakamada came to a busy road, he began to go up the steps of an overpass. Ever so slowly, one step at a time, he made his way up, until he reached the top. Countless cars raced by below with their bright lights and noisy mufflers filling the street.
As he looked down upon the cars from his perch on the overpass, Hakamada saw a vision in those car lights. What did he see...? His promised title? The renown that was sure to follow? Or a beautiful young lady?
Reaching out to those lights, he leaned his body over the rail. His body went plummeting headlong toward the car lights.
✦ ✦ ✦
TAKEMI slowly opened his eyes. An evil grin spread across his lips as he laughed coldly.
“Two down...” he whispered.
Looking at the night sky, he set his mind free. He was parked in front of the Tsujikawa mansion’s front gate. Straddling the turned off sportbike, he telepathically confirmed that the French doors to Satsuki’s room were locked. His eyes narrowed somewhat sadly as he said, “I will make you open them... You must...”
Memory of a little girl without compare in this debauch world stood smiling as she offered him a hand flashed across Takemi’s mind. At the memory of her as a child, Takemi sounded tormented as he whispered, “Satsuki...”
✦ ✦ ✦
“DO you remember that promise?” Satsuki asked, her voice reverberating against the left side of Shindo’s chest. Shindo was stroking her hair as she leaned against him, but that question made his hand come to a stop.
“The promise we made when I was four,” Satsuki elaborated. She closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat as she enjoyed the feeling of his rock-solid chest.
Ever since she was little, she liked the feel of his pulse against his chest. She always found comfort in the sound of his heartbeat. Whenever they made love in bed, Satsuki would listen to Shindo’s heartbeat once they were done. It was almost like a ritual to make sure these happy moments weren’t just a dream.
“Of course I remember,” Shindo answered and resumed playing with her hair. “That was when I promised to stay by your side forever...”
Satsuki lifted her head from Shindo’s chest. Looking up at him, she held out her right hand’s pinky finger. “Stay with me forever...” Satsuki whispered as she gazed intently at Shindo.
Wrapping his own finger around her pinky finger, Shindo returned Satsuki’s gaze as he replied, “...Of course, Miss Satsuki...”
With pinky fingers entwined, the two kissed.
Rustle...! The moment they kissed, the same wisteria swished across their minds. Their memories mixed and melded, becoming one. Their minds were thrown back to the trellis of wisteria where they made their eternal promise.