YOUR LOVE AS A BRIDE. CHAPTER TWO: GRANDMA'S FAVORITE.

After touching his golden robe, she started touching his fair, it was very fair, soft and well combed and tied in a topknot and the other left free.

He had rapture blue eyes,he had a dainty nose,he had sea-nymph ears,his eyes were velvety,he had slender eyebrows,he had a glossy snow white skin and his hair was midnight black and it tumbled over his shoulders. She handed him her hand and cleared her throat and said," Pay me,your clothes,hair,hairclips and even shoes are very fancy,you can't simply lack money or if you can't,I'll keep you in hostage until you pay!"

He looked at her in a assertive manner and said,"I don't owe you anything,I don't have money with me,and I don't know where I came from or who Iam."

"Impossible!"

Suddenly the man passed out and fell in her arms. Yuki Yori exclaimed,"You faint when I mention money, You jerk!"

Toshiyuki Yori and Yoshiaki quickened their pace from the city square as the dark clouds began to gather in the sky. Up to now, the sky had been postcard-perfect, but it was changing suddenly. The beautiful cocktail-blue shade of the sky was beginning to darken into gravel-grey. Large pillows of cloud were forming, blotting out the old-gold colour of the sun and spreading over the sky like a blanket of grey.

They got the first splatter of rain when they was halfway across the meadow. They then decided to take shelter under an old oak, hoping that I could see out the shower. Droplets of moisture began to drip from the leaves. They were sprinkling onto the grass like a gardener's hose. Then the rainfall became more intense and the both decided to sit under the tree. A wall of rain moved over the oak and the drops were drumming against the canopy. So much rain was falling that the sound blurred into one long, whirring noise. It reminded me of the buzz of angry bees. Plink plink plink,,plop plop plop,the rain fell drop by drop drop drop wetting the ground,

each one an echo pizzle drizzle,tip tap pitter pat. Meanwhile at home was Yoshiyuki who was lying on the bed in the visitor's chamber with everyone present in the house sorrounding his bed. The place which he had fell on was letting water into the house and they had placed a water collecting vessel to prevent wetting of the floor.

Yuki Yori looked at her father,Yuu Yuudai in a uneasy way,her fingers were wet from the heavy sweating. Yoshiyuki was still lying down,asleep. "Mmmh," Yuu Yuudai cleared his throat and said in a hoarse voice as usual,"I think he can work for us until he repays," Yuki Yori looks at her mother,the leaking roof and points it with her index finger," Father,how about that one?" The once bubbly Yuki Yori had changed. Yuu Yuudai then said while rubbing his chin, "He'll fix it,we can't let him have a easy life,he must pay!"

"Mmmmh."Ine suzuki said while nodding.

Eventually, the noise lessened and the drops faded into a musical chime.

The sun came out again, casting slanted beams of light across the meadow,the rays dappled through the branches,the water on the grass and leaves shone brightly. Steam rose slowly from the grass. It rose up eerily and drifted mist-like towards the molten-gold sun. The image was so vivid that it stayed with us all the way home. Although the rain had stoped,there were puddles which dirtified Toshiyuki Yori's and Yoshiaki's dresses. The road gleamed in the sunshine. A cold breeze blew making them feel very cold. After reaching home,they went direct to the bathroom.

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Yuki Yori woke up with the crowing of the crow. She took a refreshing bath and dressed in her normal clothing.

She took a pen and a paper written the expenses they required to be payed back and headed to Yoshiyuki's room.

She first sat on a chair in the open courtyad as she breathed in some fresh air and practiced the speech.

Her noise made her father Yuu Yuudai to wake up .

He headed to the open courtyad to see the imposter who had invaded their house with a stick on his hand.

"Hey, Yuki Yori, it's so early,"he said as he approached her.

Yuki Yori almost fell off the chair in shock but she managed to keep her balance and sit up again.

"Dad you scared me,you know what, I think that man should pay for this so I made a list of the money he owes us, I'm just practicing what to say."

"What are you doing with a stick?"Yuki asked him.

"Nothing,just tell him 'PAY UP!!!'" Yuu Yuudai l replied in his hoarse voice as he hesitated and then left.

"Okay then I'm gone,"she said as she left.

She quickened her pace through the veranda which led to the guest room.

Yuki Yori tried to be polite and knocked on the door but no one answered,she then decided to peep in and see what he was doing.

Yoshiyuki had already heard her and walked to the door.

The door creaked as it was being opened.

Yuki Yori's head met with Yoshiyuki's as she peeped.

"What are you doing here,you are supposed to be asleep?"Yuki asked him.

"You were making a lot of unnecessary noises so I decided to see which goat woke up that early."he replied.

"How dare you call me a goat after you owe me so much money!"She shouted at him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself,so impolite!" She added.

"You are shouting and I'm just some centimetres away from you,that's why and it's also very early in the morning,I'm afraid you might wake up our neighborhood." He replied.

"You see this,"she said as she waved the paper she held across his face.

"Whose handwritting is that? It's so bad,was it a toddler writting it?"

"You! This is my handwritting and this is the money you owe us, and here,"as she pointed on a blank space left.

"You are supposed to sign here assuring us that you will pay us our money back,"she said with finality.

"I have one condition,for I to pay you back your money,you must investigate and tell me who I am,where I came from, my occupation and how I can go back to my home,"he said.

"Why is this man making life hard for me?" She asked herself as she looked at him angrirly.

"Okay, that's easy,as long as I satsify your condition you will pay me back, right?"she said trying to hide the rage that was within her while putting on a fake smile on her face.

"Yes I will." Yoshiyuki said.

"No problem,take it and sign,I'm waiting," she said while tapping her shoes on the floor.

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On the dining table Yuu Yuudai and Yuki Yori looked at Yasushi in an angry manner,Yuu Yuudai's mother as she gave Yoshiyuki most of the food on the table.

"Eat my son,grow stronger and handsome too."she said as she added food on his plate.

"Mother who's your son, the stranger or me?"he asked.

Yuki Yori patted him on his back and said.

"Father let's eat,and grow too even if we don't grow sronger and handsome,"Yuki said as she ate her food.

"My son,don't worry eat as you are wise not like the two,who are complaining while eating yet they are not wise,"she added.

Yoshiyuki was smiling at Yuki Yori.

"Thank you grandma,"Yoshiyuki replied.

"Which spell has satan casted upon you to like him, so much?"Ine Suzuki asked.

"Yasushi, here is more food,"Aiko Hisaku said.

"Great add it to the guest's plate."

Aiko Hisaku was hesitating as the others looked at her very seriously and angrily,she knew she was playing with fire by doing what Yasushi had said.

Her footsteps were weak as if she was going to pass out and she kept on glancing at the four;Yuu Yuudai,Yuki Yori, Toshiyuki Yori and Ine Suzuki.

"Yuki,eat more my daughter," Ine Suzuki said while adding more food to Yuki Yori's plate. It now seemed like a competition between grandma, Yasushi and Ine Suzuki for who would add more food to their children. "Mom,stop it,I'll not finish it." Yuki Yori complained but her mother was too busy competing with grandma.

After the competition both plates had a mountain of food. Then Yuu Yuudai interrupted them by asking a rather silly question. "Who won?"

Yasushi and Ine Suzuki looked at him in a perplexed manner. After the meal all dispersed in different ways.

Yoshiyuki was walking majestically,pleased to his room im his red robe which he had been given by Yuki Yori as per the agreement. Ine Suzuki and Yuki Yori were still grumbling as they walked towards the fish pond,"How could grandma be so inconsiderate?" Ine Suzuki patted Yuki Yori on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we'll deal with her. Maybe it's because she's growing old so she have gotten amnesia and is literally blind. Doesn't she know the consequences he brought to this household!?" Ine Suzuki's intonation rose as she spoke the last words. "Yeah,the breaking of the roof,the hall was full of water vessels full of water last night,the expenses for the loss when he came out of nowhere! How dare she treat us like imaginary goats sitting on the table waiting for grazing time?"

"I'm not a goat, and I'll never be one, who's her daughter,who's her son, who's her granddaughter, who are her family members?"

"I can't believe it!" Yuki Yori replied as she stomped her foot on the ground while holding up her green and yellow kimono dress. They continued on grumbling until they reached the fish pond. Meanwhile Toshiyuki was in her room reading and memorizing the poems in her scrolls. She heard a knock on the door and went to open it Yoshiaki was outside carrying a mountain of books in her hands and some she balanced on her head.

"Hey, Miss," she started. "I looked for them everywhere, they're here it was so hard to find them in the reading room." She said as she got in and placed the books on Toshiyuki's desk.

"I'll show that Miss beauty that I can be wise if I want to,how dear she look down on me." She said as she clenched her fist. "Mmmh." Yoshiaki nodded her head and said. Toshiyuki had been made fun of by a lady in the Kishi family. Mai had criticized her of being concentrated only in learning cooking recipes and not learning wisdom since she claimed that her name represented a brightness or flower while hers only meant righteous happiness and had made a deal that whomever could learn the 20 poem books written by Scholar Matsuko would win and they'd hold the competition in the bookclub for all scholars to judge.

Suddenly, Yoshiaki heard some movements and squealing in a nearby book. The book was shaking and shaking non-stop. Toshiyuki was too concentrated building castles in the air of her victory after the competition to notice the weird movements. She was smiling broadly as she jumped in ecstasy. Yoshiaki remained rooted to the ground,she was completely terrified and taken aback,she trembled in fear trying to picture the animal,a snake or maybe a narrow bee-fly..... The thoughts raced in her mind like fire eating up dry grass. She had the fright of her life. Suddenly a rat came out of the book from the pages,it was nibbling on one of the pages. "A rat!!" Yoshiaki shouted loudly,a tone that would even awaken the dead. Yoshiaki took a stick and started shooing the animal away with the help of Toshiyuki. Yemon came running and helped them capture the rat,he kept it in a cage and left with it saying how cute it looked like. Toshiyuki finally came back from fantasy world only to realize that one of the pages had been nibbled off as she put her finger through the hole and peeped through it and some words were missing, about one sentence of the important part. "Ma'am what do we do now?" Asked Yoshiaki in a panicked tone. They were both seated on Toshiyuki's desk. Ah Lam was very worried,she bit her lower lip and said while snapping her fingers,"We'll buy another one!"

"Mmmh, ma'am you're the best!" Yoshiaki said as she held her thumbs up. Toshiyuki was now thinking of her victory. After some minutes of admiration , Yoshiaki snapped her fingers in front of Toshiyuki's eyes. "Let's go," she said as she darted ahead. Toshiyuki then took the nibbled book and put the others in her chest and locked it, carried the key and they both left. They took off for Kura's bookshop. The city was full of people, mothers walking with their kids and husbands and wives walking,bachelors, hawkers and many more. Toshiyuki had Yoshiaki were still steadily walking admiring the candies being sold in the market, the beautiful clothes, flowers and vases. After they arrived,they went to the cashier and asked whether they had the book she had in her hand that was write by Scholar Matsuko . Kura sent his handyman,Kaiyo to look for the book in the shelves but they had none, Mai had bought all the books from scholar Matsuko. Toshiyuki was so angered,she put on a fake smile and left the bookshop. "You want to say that that that that...." Toshiyuki was simply trying to look for a name that would suit Mai but she had none. So she continued with none,"That that, Mai! Spent so much money just to torture me,I pity her moneybag." She said as she paced up and down the place thinking of the next step to take.

"She's so stupid, very very very stupid." Yoshiaki said to comfort Toshiyuki as she looked so angry and worried. She had been overwhelmed by profound shock. Meanwhile Mai was busy at her home, laughing hysterically thinking of how Toshiyuki's suffering now. Her hand maiden had already told her the news as she saw her at Kura's bookshop as she was passing by. "She'll loose completely!" Yan Li said forgetting to concentrate and read the books she had while she was siping the tea in her cup that she held in her hands.

"I got it!" Toshiyuki said while jumping up and down. "What's the plan?" Asked Yoshiaki. Toshiyuki called Yoshiaki over and whispered softly in her ear. "Yes! It'll surely work, and will be a win win situation." So, happy and satisfied, Yoshiaki and Toshiyuki left for home to read the available books. Toshiyuki and Toshiyuki were in the study reading the books when Yoshiyuki got in and wondered why both of them would be reading; the laziest of the family. It took a long time for Yoshiaki and Toshiyuki to notice Yoshiyuki's presence since they were very busy. "What are you doing here?" Toshiyuki asked in a questioning tone as she flipped over the next page. "Grandma's favorite," she mumbled to herself in a low tone. Yoshiyuki didn't answer and rather left the room. "He's very weird," Said Yoshiaki as they got back to the main business that had brought them there.

Yuki Yori was seated in the central courtyard staring at the birds flying up so high and the hazily setting sun.

The evening sun cast long shadows on the round, and that's when Yuki Yori realized that someone was coming, she had been expecting a bowl of fruit salad from Aiko Hisaku but it was only Yoshiyuki passing by. She was actually disappointed to see that it was Yoshiyuki instead of Aiko Hisaku.

The slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky. It looked like a masterpiece of art made to the emperor,it was so beautiful to see. It's sight brought in warmth in the heart. The sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun. Yoshiyuki was just wondering around the house. It was like he was taking a tour around the house. Yemon was busy sweeping the backyard as ordered by Yuu Yuudai who saw it as dirty and unclean. Toshiyuki yawned and look at the sand clock and outside through the window,it was evening. Toshiyuki woke up and stretched. "We should get prepared to go!" Said Yoshiaki.

"Mmmh." They both arranged the books in the shelves and took the nibbled one, Toshiyuki had only remained with reading the one book but Mai hadn't even read one. They both had only one week. They went and changed into black clothes. Wore their masks and left. It was not that dark yet so seeing the road was very easy.