Part 1: Chapter 9

Chapter 9



The next morning, instead of training, Yoshimo went out and bought paper, ink and a writing brush. He sat at Kurenai's bedside and wrote twelve identical letters, which, as soon as they were dry, he hid under the floor. If Hiruma were to find out about the letters too soon it would be a disaster, so he was careful not to let the older man see him writing them, nor to let him see where they were hidden.

Begging out of his duties for the next couple of days was difficult, but when he expressed concern for Kurenai, Hiruma let him tend to the girl's mysterious 'illness'. He managed to get out of the house on the eighth day on the pretext of finding a doctor and getting Kurenai some medicine. He left one of the letters with the doctor, an aging but kind man, with the instructions that if either he or Kurenai were to die the letter was to be delivered immediately to Kaede. He left another letter with the doctor's apprentice while the doctor was away for a moment, and made sure that the apprentice wouldn't say a word about it. The other ten letters he seeded amongst Hiruma's business associates, some he felt he could trust, and others who he knew would tell Hiruma. All of the letters were to be sent to Kaede under the same circumstances as the one he had left with the doctor. He went home a lot lighter in the purse, but having accomplished one of the most important parts of his plan.

Aside from his little errands he spent most of his time watching over Kurenai. She hadn't been eating very well, and she was constantly whispering things to her dead sister, responding to him only when he actually put food in front of her and helped her sit up to eat. He tried to coax any flicker of her normal personality out, but she just looked at him with blank, dead eyes until he had to look away. He reassured over and over that Hiruma wouldn't ever so much as touch her again when he was done, but his words sounded hollow, even to him. Whatever he did now could never undo the past. He hoped though, that it would keep both himself and Kurenai alive and safe.

Their continued survival was what he was most concerned about. He knew that Hiruma would not hesitate to kill the both of them -or more likely kill him and drive Kurenai to suicide- if he thought that either of them were going to tell Kaede what he had done. He had to make sure that Hiruma knew that even if they were both dead that Kaede would know what had happened. That was the purpose of the letters, and having eleven extra copies protected him in case Hiruma found out who he had given one of them to. He wasn't worried about the truth coming out when he died so much as threatening Hiruma with that prospect in order to protect himself and Kurenai. He made sure that those associates of Hiruma's that he didn't trust knew that there were at least a dozen other copies of the letter he had given them -without telling them who held them, of course- and he knew that when they passed along news of the letter to Hiruma they would pass along that information as well.

As Yoshimo had expected Hiruma confronted him on the ninth day, the day before Kaede, Ayame and Hana were expected back.

"What's this supposed to be, boy?" the scarred man demanded, throwing one of the letters at Yoshimo's feet. "Did you think I wouldn't figure out you were up to something?"

Yoshimo stood his ground. "This," he said, easing the letter onto the tip of his toes and kicking it up into his hand, "is supposed to be my way of saying that I know exactly what you did to Kurenai, and the answer to your second question is, of course not. I knew you would find out, you were supposed to."

"Congratulations," Hiruma said coldly. "You're a sneaky little bastard. Now tell me what this is all about!"

"What it's about is that I don't like what you did, and I won't let you hurt that girl again, and I won't let you kill her to cover up your tracks."

Hiruma laughed at him. "You won't let me? Tell me, boy, just because it amuses me, how do you think you can stop me from doing whatever the hell I want?"

"You saw the letter, and I'm sure your friends told you that there are nearly a dozen more copies of it just waiting to be sent to Kaede. I don't doubt that she wouldn't take this sort of news very well, and while she might not do anything drastic, like say kill you in your sleep, I think she could make your life very... uncomfortable."

Hiruma advanced on him, clenching his fists. "You little..."

Yoshimo backed away. He was starting to get a little nervous. "There is no need for her to know, though," he said, perhaps a little to hastily. "We can let this go, and act as if it never happened so long as you leave Kurenai alone from now on."

"What makes you think it is any of your business who I fuck?"

Yoshimo said, "I don't give a damn if you tumble some unwilling peasant girl, I probably wouldn't even care if it was Ayame or Hana, but I owe Kurenai, and so involving her made it my business." He didn't add that causing Hiruma trouble also made him feel distinctly satisfied. Even though Yoshimo hadn't really won, he'd forced a stalemate.

"Fine," Hiruma said suddenly, "I'll leave the bitch be, so long as she keeps her mouth shut. She's no good to me anymore anyway." He chuckled dangerously. "You've learned your lessons well, boy."

Yoshimo smiled coolly. "I've had the best of teachers."

Hiruma gave a derisive snort, turned and left, and when he was well and truly gone, Yoshimo slumped to the floor and exhaled slowly, bleeding the tension out of his body. His hands were shaking ever so slightly, and he realized that if he had misjudged Hiruma even a little he would have been dead in an eye blink. He'd come closer to death than he ever wanted to again, and even in though he'd done well he still felt like his bones had turned to mush. He would have to be careful around Hiruma for a while. Acting superior would be the first and easiest way to provoke the older man in to an irrational rage. No, he would step carefully and let Hiruma lick his wounded pride, and later perhaps this mess would blow over.

The main thing was that now that he and Kurenai were safe, since Hiruma wouldn't try to cover things up by killing them and lying about it -which was what Yoshimo imagined he would have done had he thought that they would tell Kaede. Things would be uncomfortable for a little while, but they would live, and that was what was important. Feeling a little giddy, Yoshimo stood up again, and went to tell Kurenai of his success.

He went into her room, closing the door behind him, and sat down next to her futon. "Well," he said, quite satisfied with his work, "everything's been taken care of."

Kurenai twisted around to look at him with dark, hopeful eyes. "You killed him?" she whispered.

"What?" Yoshimo exclaimed. "The day I'm able to kill Hiruma-san is a long way away from now. I did save our lives though."

"You... you didn't kill him?"

"I'm good, but I'm not that good. Yet. If I had tried he'd've struck me down, killed you, and then told Kaede some lie to cover his tracks. He won't dare so much as lay a finger on you now, though, or me, for that matter. If he tries Kaede will find out what he did to you."

"But... he..." her eyes filled with tears.

Yoshimo stroked her hair. "You can't cry anymore," he said. "If you act differently it will be hard to make Kaede-san and the other girls think nothing happened." The plan would fall apart if he didn't have any blackmail to hold over Hiruma's head, and if the plan fell apart they would die.

"I want her to know!" Kurenai sobbed. "He hurt me!"

"If she knows then we have nothing to keep Hiruma-san from killing us. Kaede-san not knowing is what's keeping us both alive."

"She'd kill him!" Kurenai said fiercely. "She and Ayame-chan and Hana-chan would all kill him for me."

Yoshimo shook his head. "They won't," he told her. "Kaede-san knew he might try something like this, with you, or with one of the other girls, so he must've done it before. She didn't kill him then."

"It's different!" she protested wildly. "Kaede-sama is my mistress. She takes care of me. She protects me."

"Hiruma-san is my master," Yoshimo countered, trying to reason with her. He couldn't let her ruin things now by being hysterical. "Kaede-san might be kinder, and she might care more, but she's comfortable with the life she's got now. She'll do whatever makes the least trouble for her."

Kurenai's lower lip trembled. "She cares about me," she murmured. "She does!"

"I know she does, but she also cares about her own comfort and well being. As mighty as Kaede-san is, I've seen what Hiruma-san can do. She would stand a good chance of dying if she tried to kill him, and your sisters would almost certainly die."

"I want him to die!"

"I know, but if you want to live, you're going to have to pretend nothing happened. At least for now. Someday we'll both be strong enough to destroy him, and then you will have your revenge, but for now we have to bide our time. Please, trust me in this."

Kurenai looked at him, crying silently. "I... but I want him to die..." She put her face in her hands and hunched over, her body shaking with sobs.

"And he will," Yoshimo assured her. "I promise."