It was the day after Hana’s first encounter with Yukizasa.
That day, Yukizasa had agreed to the short-term instructor job. When he returned to his temporary residence, the servants ushered him inside in a panic.
“Master Sankourou, Lord Ichinomiya is here to see you!”
“Is that so?”
As I expected, he thought, grimacing like he had just bitten into a lemon. He figured the other man had come to complain about the fact that Yukizasa had reached out to his wife.
But Yukizasa didn’t see what the problem was.
The Saku he knew kept a cool head and never got serious no matter who his partner was.
Yukizasa was confident that the only reason Saku had chosen Hana Ichise was to complete the barrier around the pillar.
He had heard that the older sister, Hazuki, was the stronger one of the two, but he had realized the truth immediately after meeting Hana: the younger twin was leagues more powerful.
He had always assumed insect shikigami were weak, but Hana’s butterfly shikigami was strong enough to completely bust up what he had thought was common sense.
The girl appeared to be hiding her powers, but she was clearly a force to be reckoned with. Yukizasa was impressed Saku had managed to dig up such a strong candidate to be his bride, a true gem whom Yukizasa would have considered marrying had he found her first.
At the time, he had thought Saku, like him, would pick a lady of the clan solely based on power, with no consideration for love or such rot.
The barrier masters who protected the pillars had to give up on various things for the sake of the country.
Even if that weren’t the case, there was a part of Yukizasa that was frigid toward women. He and Saku shared that in common.
He felt sorry for Hana being forced into her position, but she was a necessary sacrifice for the country.
Such were Yukizasa’s thoughts as he went to meet Saku in the reception room.
When he entered, Saku was waiting for him with displeasure written across his face.
Saku grabbed Yukizasa by the collar and sucker punched him in the gut without so much as a “How do you do?”
“Ugh!”
With zero concern for Yukizasa, whose thoughts had been short-circuited by the pain, Saku twisted his fist and drove it deeper into Yukizasa’s stomach.
Unable to bear the pain, Yukizasa sunk to his knees, clutching his abdomen. Saku looked down at him with frosty eyes.
“That hurts like a bitch. You bastard,” Yukizasa groused, breathing heavily. “What did you do that for, Saku?”
Saku’s leg moved.
Yukizasa immediately leaped out of the way and managed to avoid the blow, but had he not, he would’ve been kicked mercilessly as if he were a ball. There was a hole gaping open in the paper sliding door, which had taken the hit in Yukizasa’s stead. The merciless attack proved that Saku was dead serious.
Yukizasa broke out in a cold sweat. “Hold on, man. That’s not funny.”
“Of course. I’m not joking around.”
“What’s with you?”
“…I’m just repaying you for what you did to Hana.” He was expressionless, but the anger in his eyes was plain for all to see.
“Hana’s your bride, right? I just went to give her my regards.”
“Her arm is bruised. You’re the one who put it there, right?”
“My grip was a tad too tight. So what?” Yukizasa said flippantly. “Besides that, when are you going to divorce her? Sure, it’s for the good of the country and all, but you don’t want a woman hanging around, right? I think it’s a pain, too, but I won’t have a choice since I’m next in line to be clan lord.” Yukizasa laughed freely.
Saku’s eyebrow twitched, and fury filled his expression. “…A tad?”
He grabbed Yukizasa by the collar again and raised his fist.
Yukizasa desperately held him back. “Hold on, calm down.” He didn’t understand why Saku was so angry.
Without loosening his grip on Yukizasa, Saku slammed him into the wall. “You listen to me. There will be no second time. Don’t you dare lay a hand on my Hana again.”
Yukizasa was taken aback by Saku’s humorless gaze. He nodded. “I—I got it. It won’t ever happen again.”
Satisfied by Yukizasa’s shocked expression and acquiescence, Saku harrumphed and let him go. “I’m leaving,” he said and made to exit the room. As his parting words, he declared, “FYI, I’m never going to divorce Hana!”
Yukizasa looked at him in disbelief. “What? That’s really all you came for?”
“What else could there be?”
“Hold on. Nothing comes to mind? I’m an Obsidian practitioner now,” Yukizasa said.
“So what?” Saku’s expression didn’t change one bit; he seemed like he couldn’t care less.
Yukizasa was disappointed by his utter lack of interest. “Isn’t this where you’re supposed to congratulate me? Aren’t we friends?”
“I don’t remember being friends with you,” Saku said, shooting him down point-blank.
That was the Saku that Yukizasa knew. Poker-faced, cold as ice, iron defenses he didn’t let anyone through in order to protect himself, a frigid personality that made it clear that he rejected the world with every particle of his being.
“Don’t say such heartless things. To make it up to you, I’ll do whatever you say. Any one thing,” Yukizasa said jokingly to lighten the mood.
Saku stroked his chin with one hand, pondering Yukizasa’s offer. Then a sinister smile rose to his face.
Suddenly, Yukizasa wanted to take back his words.
“In that case,” Saku said, “I’ll put you to work. I’ve been wanting a lackey to help me take out the trash.” He looked so evil even a demon would have run from him on bare feet.
Yukizasa’s face spasmed. “I shouldn’t have said anything…”
That was when he learned about the Ichise family’s circumstances and the compromise.
His mission was to get rid of the family trash and install Yanagi as the new head so the young man could revitalize the Ichise name.
Even he had heard of Yanagi, who had been the youngest practitioner to claim the Lapis rank, so he wasn’t against Yanagi becoming the head of the family per se. However, he didn’t see why he had to get his hands dirty to solve some other family’s problem.
Yukizasa let displeasure show only to have Saku pin him with a sharp gaze. He wasn’t even allowed to complain.
“There’s something different about you, Saku.”
“What?”
“How do I explain it? It just feels like the atmosphere around you is different from how it used to be.”
“That’s—”
It seemed like he wanted to say something, but Tsubaki appeared out of the blue and finished his sentence. “That’s the power of love,” she cooed. “Master’s eyes have been opened by his love for Hana. Just like mine were by my love for my darling!”
“Don’t say anything unnecessary, Tsubaki,” Saku scolded, karate-chopping her on the head. She giggled and disappeared.
“Hana…,” Yukizasa muttered. “Do you get along?”
“We’re a married couple. Of course we do.” Saku tried to play it cool, but his voice went mellow and soft when he said couple.
“I see,” Yukizasa responded simply.
At the time, he had been mildly impressed that Saku was making an effort, but now that everything was over and he was seeing the two of them together with his own eyes, he realized he had been wrong.
“Saku! Don’t abuse other people whenever you feel like it!” Hana yelled. “Let me punch you once. This is grounds for a divorce! Divorce, I say!”
“What would you have had me do? This was all for the sake of a peaceful resolution.”
“Is this what you call peaceful, idiot? It was pure mayhem!”
Yukizasa watched the two argue with exasperation.
“It’s all good and well that Hazuki and Suzu are both okay, but what were you going to do if Hazuki came here alone?” Hana demanded.
“Don’t fret. We had a plan B,” Saku replied proudly.
“That’s nothing to brag about!” Suddenly, Hana’s face twisted in pain, and she crouched down. “Ow, ow, ow…”
Saku’s impish expression turned on a dime, and he rushed to Hana’s side. “Are you okay?”
“The shade slammed me into a wall. It hurts so badly.”
“Sorry…” His eyes were full of genuine concern with no hint of a lie. They made it clear that he was worried about Hana with all his heart.
Saku lifted Hana up gently.
“Oh my god! Put me down,” she shrieked.
“If you’re in pain, hold still. It’s best we treat you right away.”
The Saku who was smiling tenderly at Hana was a completely different person from the Saku Yukizasa knew.
Saku helped Hana into the car that was waiting in front of the factory, then turned back toward Yukizasa and said, “I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“You got it.”
Yukizasa waved. Saku climbed into the car and drove away.
Left alone, Yukizasa smiled wryly and said, “He’s changed a lot.”
He hadn’t believed it when Hana had said Saku was expressive, but it was true; when Saku was with her, his expressions changed all the time.
But not in a bad way.
It felt like he had been freed from his burdens.
Yukizasa muttered, “You found a good woman to be your bride.” His expression was one of relief.