Chapter 004

'I want to eat that, get it for me' the temple maiden said excitedly at every snack stall when they entered the town proper. This was the first time Kaoru was outside in the midst of people without a veil and she didn't stand out. In fact, nobody cared about her, they were just trying to enjoy the festival.

She paused in wonder when an old woman offered her some food with a kind smile, but the old woman just offered her another kind smile. 'We are all from Izanami, child. If you think too much about it, your head will hurt.'

The old woman bowed slightly though when the temple maiden and those two men passed by her. Kaoru didn't notice, she was too busy not thinking as the old woman advised.

The redhead clung to Kaoru's again as they stopped to admire a passing group of dancers. 'You must have missed me, I'm sorry but I had to attend to my brother.'

'Who missed you?! Get off me you rascal!' she snapped at him but that seemed to further encourage him.

'Of course, a rascal only for you' he said sweetly.

Kaoru was about to retort when she remembered she didn't know his name. He smiled as if he understood her.

'My name is Susa—' he began but the soft black-haired one bumped his head in mid-sentence, 'right! Susumu!'

She narrowed her eyes at the slight change in the second syllable, 'and what is your brother's name?'

Susumu turned to give his brother a grin full of mischief, 'Koinu.'

'Puppy?' Kohana joined in and the "Koinu" stumbled and fell on his face. 'I see it suits him, he's so soft looking!'

Everyone burst out laughing at Koinu's misery, even the temple maiden.

'Since everyone is introducing themselves, I am Kana. And he's Getsumei, not Koinu.' The temple maiden said. But "Koinu" stuck for a long, long time.

That night at the festival they made merry their hearts and souls, and Kaoru was able to have a restful sleep for the first time in a while.

After the festival, Koinu left but Susumu stuck around. He helped fetch firewood and water, though they tried to limit him to cutting the firewood as the way his tanned skin glistened with sweat under the hot noonday sun was absolutely delicious.

Kana told Kaoru that Susumu stayed behind with hopes of courting her but she was completely against it. After all, she still had doubts about who was her husband among the two even though her mind still says Koinu was the husband.

'I'll pass' Kaoru told her.

'It's your decision, my dear' Kana smiled.

At nights when Kaoru could not sleep she still sat on the edge of that stream and Kana joined her at times but there was an addition now. Kohana and Susumu joined her. The peace of the night was broken by these rowdy two, it didn't even feel like the morning had ever passed.

Kana called her one morning and asked her to go into town to get them supplies and Susumu was told to go with her as "who knows what might happen, so you can never be too careful".

The walk to town was thankfully uneventful and Susumu kept to himself till they got to town. When they got to the marketplace Susumu tried to haggle prices with the vendors and almost got cheated.

Kaoru stepped in and warned him to keep his mouth out of it lest he makes the vendors insist on their price. By the time she was done, they had gotten everything they needed and some change, so Susumu took her further into the market to the area where fabrics were sold.

He picked the best silk material they had and paid for it without haggling. Kaoru was pained by how much he spent on that one material, and by the time he paid for another silk material her heart was bleeding.

'Let me handle your money for you from now on, you spend too much' Kaoru said to him though she knew it wasn't appropriate. Not only was Susumu okay with it, but he was also even excited!

'Really? Of course, you can handle me too!' he made to hug her and she ducked.

'Just your purse, young man. I don't want you.'

Susumu held his chest in mock pain, 'wicked!'

He held the supplies while Kaoru took the materials. He managed to free one hand to hold hers and she let him. The walk back to the temple was the shortest for Susumu, as he wished never to let go of her hand. He made a mental note to thank Kana for giving him this opportunity and his hand tightened a little on Kaoru's.

She looked up and flashed him a brilliant smile and his chest tightened. If only…