My Soul Will Find Yours

When we reached Iori"s village, dawn had almost come and the sky was starting to become pink with the early morning light. He motioned for us to follow him in the first hut we saw. Tired and famished, I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, we can rest properly.

Unfortunately, my relief soon turned into horror for what awaited us was something I never expected! Inside the humble home, Nagahito waited. His face was void of cosmetics yet he still looked his perfect-and-not-hair-out-of-place self.

"h.e.l.lo, Jin-san," he greeted me in a singsong voice. "Or should I say… Lady Hinata, the shogun"s second wife?"

"What!?" Ryouta turned to me in astonishment.

I took a step back and prepared to run but the man named Saru was already blocking the only entrance and exit of the place.

"How dare you trick me!" I glared at Iori.

He smirked and laughed. "You were a fool to believe that escaping the crown prince was as easy as that!"

Ryouta looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and anger. "You filthy b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You put on quite a show! When you were cursing and calling the kotaishi names, you were actually just pretending!"

"Oh?" Nagahito flipped his fan open and peered at Iori. "What did you call me when you were doing your job?"

"Those were not said with sincerity, your highness," Iori coughed to hide his awkwardness. "They were, as he put it, for show."

Nagahito fanned himself, gave him a disapproving look, then turned to me. "Lady Hinata, have a seat. Kirito, give our esteemed guest a cushion to sit on!"

Kirihito appeared with a silk cushion in his hand. He then neatly placed it on the floor and motioned for me to sit on it. I glared at him and subconsciously moved a step back.

"The kotaishi told you to sit down!" Kirihito grabbed my arm and forced me to sit down on the cushion.

The force was enough to make me almost drop Riku, fortunately I was able to tighten my hold on him in time although I couldn"t stop him from waking up.

"Mama?" he asked sleepily. He looked around, when he saw the man who abducted him, he stiffened and his eyes automatically brimmed with tears.

"Aww, he remembers me!" he chuckled evilly.

"Mama, it"s him," Riku started sobbing in my arms.

"Oh, how mature. A grown man scaring a child!" I muttered sarcastically.

"You!" Kirihito"s face turned black and he raised his hand to slap me.

I didn"t move an inch and just looked at him with disdain. When his hand was almost at my face, a sword suddenly sliced his hand off. Blood splattered on my face and on Riku"s back. Kirihito staggered backwards and landed on his b.u.m with a shocked expression on his face. He looked at his twitching severed hand on the floor, unable to utter a single word.

I, too, felt horrified. My brain had a hard time processing what just happened. Meanwhile, Riku was still crying while Ryouta stood petrified in a corner.

"That"s what you get for your insolence!" Nagahito dropped the sword in his hand and turned to Iori. "Clean up this mess and tell that tongueless woman to take her little brat away! I do not like seeing him clinging on my precious jewel!"

Iori wordlessly took Kirihito"s hand on the floor and dragged him out. Moments later, two maids cleaned the blood on the floor. They were followed by Ayaka. When our eyes met, she sneered at me.

"You are not taking my son away from me!" I told her. I was prepared to fight her if necessary!

Ayaka"s face reddened and she turned to the crown prince for help. Nagahito just waved his hand at her, a wordless command to do as she was told.

She grabbed Riku"s shoulders and started to pull him away. I stood and pushed her but her strength and the fact that I still had my son in my arms prevented me from doing so.

"Don"t hurt my mother!" the little guy wailed and attempted to scratch her face. A viciousness that was foreign to him masked his childish features.

Ayaka stopped struggling and looked at him with a pained expression. Her eyes held one unspoken question: My son calls this woman his mother?

"Woman, I gave you an order! Take your son away! I want to be alone with Lady Hinata!" Nagahito yelled, impatient and angry.

I braced myself to fight her again but two strong arms held me in place, Saru had joined us. I had no choice but to watch as Ayaka take Riku away. Tears fell from my eyes angrily as he struggled in her arms.

"Mama! Don"t let her take me away, mama!" he cried.

"Riku!" I tried to get up but Saru tightened his grip on my shoulders, making me wince. I buried my face in my hands and sobbed.

"There, there…" came Nagahito"s voice. "Why do you care so much about that brat? He is the son of your husband and that woman. He isn"t your flesh and blood!"

"Sc.u.m like you will never understand!" I spat at him. "All you care about is siring children!"

Nagahito laughed. "Children are noisy creatures who know nothing but demand your attention. How could I bring myself to love, let alone, like them?"

"What do you want from me, Nagahito?" I looked at him disdainfully.

"All of you," he stood up to squat before me. "You"ve left me so confused the past three years, did you know that?"

"What?"

"When I first met your alter ego Jin-san, I was immediately attracted. For the first time in my life, a man who was much more beautiful than me existed! While inside my palanquin, I replayed our initial meeting. I was besotted and I started to covet you, you were in my head the entire day. The night of our first meeting, I couldn"t bring myself to bed any of the ladies I brought with me. They all took turns in trying to please me but I remained limp. My mind was full of thoughts of the shogun"s personal guard, my body craved for Jin-san!"

"A month later, I met a kabuki artist who resembled you. I sent him a note and he joined me in my quarters that night. Only then was I able to perform again! I realized that the company of men was much more pleasurable than women"s! I could no longer stand the sight of women so I replaced all my servants with male ones. Every night, I bedded three or four of them. Each time, I thought of them as you. All these years, I, Nagahito, the crown prince of the land of the rising sun, slept with men! I tasted all the handsome men I laid my eyes on but was still unsatisfied!"

"I thought I was going to go crazy. I hungered for you so much, thinking about you was not enough! Catching glimpses of you in your trips with Lord Kirishima no longer satisfied me!" he fanned himself furiously as if his body was burning up. "Did you know? I prepared for your arrival on my father"s banquet as if I was like an adolescent girl waiting for the man she loves! I made sure I looked my best but you only treated me like air!"

"Despite my cousin"s pleas, you never wavered and insisted on being loyal to the woman you loved. This surprised me as, try as I might, I couldn"t dig any other information about you except that you are the shogun"s left hand and official translator. In all my thirty and four years of existence, it was the first time that I experienced a heartbreak! I secretly followed you in the balcony and hid in the shadows like a thief. When Lady Sen tearfully ran away, I was prepared to retreat as well. Alas, I was treated to a wonderful revelation! It turns out that Musashi Jin and the shogun"s second wife are one and the same!"

"My obsession with you grew even more. I had to have you!" he lifted my chin with his fan. "And now that you"re here… I shall satisfy my cravings until they vanish. You have driven me to madness, it is only right that you take responsibility. Lady Hinata, are you ready?"

"You are insane!" was all I could say. I thought I"ve seen and heard it all, but this wretched man"s perversion was unparalleled!

"Call me whatever you want but I will have you no matter what!"