I woke up to find the s.p.a.ce next to mine empty. I rolled on my back then removed the warm blanket that was covering my body. I got up slowly and put on my discarded robe to start my day. I was rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand, as I was still a bit groggy, when I smelled the familiar scent of my husband."Where are you going?" Kaname asked behind me, his arms encircling my waist.
"I thought you already went back to the nakoku," I murmured as he rained kisses on my neck and nape.
"I just went to relieve my bladder."
"Oh," I turned so we were facing each other. "Good morning…"
"Good morning," he took one of my hands and placed it on his roaring manhood.
"Hmm…" I pursed my lips while pretending to be thinking about something seriously. "You might get late for work."
"I"m ent.i.tled to a honeymoon, aren"t I?" he uttered the English word flawlessly.
"But last night—"
"Was not enough," he continued for me, his hands were now fondling my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
"Anata," I moaned, completely melting in his touch.
"Let"s return to the futon, shall we?"
When we reached the mattress, Kaname started kissing and undressing me. Before he could completely pin me down beneath him, I rolled on top of him and sat up with my knees on either side of his hips. With my long hair spilling on my back and shoulders, I gently pushed him so he was lying on the futon. Then, with one hand on his chest for support, I lifted my body up and forward before guiding his erection into my waiting quim with my other hand as I slowly lowered myself.
"I can definitely get used to this," he said huskily as I started to gyrate my hips. I was straddling him facing forward and leaning back with my arms resting on his shins for balance. "I get to see your beautiful face and feel every inch of you at the same time."
I started our pace slow and steady while rocking back and forth, the rhythm enough to stimulate us both. When I felt him harden even more, I switched to circular motions. Kaname moaned as my movements slightly tugged and teased his rod. Loving his reaction, I angled my pelvis backwards and moved him inside me more. His hands that were gripping my hips tightened, letting me know that he was definitely enjoying whatever I was doing.
"Hinata…"
"Mmm," I bit my lip and took one of his hands. "Touch me here…"
Without saying a word, Kaname placed two fingers to hold over my sensitive k.n.o.b. As I grinded myself to pleasure, his calloused fingers added more sensation to what I was already feeling.
"Ahh…"
I vaguely felt his legs move beneath me, lost as I was in the moment. When I felt him lift his hips to push himself inside me deeper, I felt my insides quicken. He must have felt it too, because he met my thrusts with more force until all I could do was stop my movements and let him take over.
Grabbing my waist with both hands, Kaname pulled me down so he could go deeper into me.
"This way, I won"t slip out," he told me, making my already flushed cheeks brighten even more.
As he continued his pounding motions, I slowly felt myself come undone.
"Oh, please…" he was. .h.i.tting my sensitive spot, I closed my eyes and savored the sweet torture.
A few thrusts more and I couldn"t stop my o.r.g.a.s.m from coming. Instead of slipping out of me as I was wracked by intense paroxysmal excitement, he held me down and let me find my release around him. I breathlessly collapsed on top of him, our bodies still one.
After some time, he shifted so I was beneath him. When he slowly disentangled himself from me, I furrowed my brows.
"What are you doing?"
"Letting you catch your breath properly," he replied.
I wrapped my legs around him to push him back inside me. "Anata, since when did you ever let me catch my breath?"
He stared at me for a solid five seconds before chuckling. "When indeed?"
I lifted a brow at him questioningly.
"I really don"t know what I was thinking," he held up both his hands in the air in mock surrender.
"Hmph!"
He smiled that smile that told me he was going to devour me soon and I felt myself tingle all over.
"Be… Be gentle…" I told him coquettishly.
His smile widened and his eyes darkened. "Oh, I don"t know about that…"
Kaname and I spent the next few hours rolling in the sheets with the intention of adding more kids into our family of five. Although I don"t think we can ever fulfill his desire to have a ten more, I was certain we could make one more rice ball together.
~~~
"Mama, what"s this?" Miyako asked as she showed me a familiar rectangular rose gold object.
"Where did you find this?" I asked while taking it from her.
"I saw it in the pile of things Ryuko-san and Megumi-san were setting aside," my daughter replied.
"I see," I nodded and told her to tidy up the toys that she left on the floor earlier. When she was busy doing what she was told, I went to where my two maids were.
"Oh, there it is!" Ryuko-san exclaimed in relief when she saw the mobile phone I was holding. "It suddenly disappeared when we were arranging your old belongings, my lady."
"Miyako took it and asked me what it was," I said while handing it to her. Megumi was busy placing some pieces of clothing inside a chest, when I saw what she was about to put away, I walked to where she was sitting. "Are those my old clothes?"
"Hai," Megumi replied while neatly folding the skirt I wore when I first came here.
"May I see them?"
When I held them, a wave of nostalgia hit me. I remembered how excited I was when I shopped for these clothes. My vision blurred when I saw the tag on the collar of my top, it was from one of mum"s favorite brands. I hugged the blouse and started to weep.
"M-my lady, what"s wrong?" Megumi asked worriedly. "Why are you crying?"
I didn"t answer her and just continued crying. "Mum, I"m sorry… I almost never thought of you all these years," I said in my mother tongue. "I"m an awful daughter. Please forgive me for abandoning you."
~~~
"Is something wrong?" Kaname asked when he noticed that I was unusually quiet.
We were having dinner with the little rice b.a.l.l.s in my room. Seeing me shake my head tiredly, he turned his attention to the children.
"Did you three tire mama out today?" he asked with a hint of warning. "Did any of you misbehave?"
"No, papa," Riku replied. "We were all very good today."
"Yes, very good!" Touya echoed. "We even napped early."
Miyako didn"t say anything and lowered her head as if she was guilty of something.
"Miyako," Kaname noticed it too and decided to probe. "Why didn"t you answer my question?"
"I… I was maybe a bit bad today, papa," she placed her chopsticks down on her hashioki[1]. "Mama had to tell me thrice to return my toys to my storage chest earlier."
Upon hearing our daughter"s explanation, I patted her hand and told her rea.s.suringly, "Mama"s just not feeling well, Miya. Don"t worry, it"s not your fault."
Kaname raised his brows but didn"t say anything. When the three children left to take their evening baths in their room, he pulled me aside to check on my temperature.
"You"re neither cold nor burning up," he said. "Why do you look so down?"
"I"m probably just tired. I helped the maids store some of my old belongings away," I explained.
"If that"s the case then why are you avoiding my eyes?" he demanded. "Hina, for the third time, what"s wrong?"
I bit my lower lip to try and stop the tears but failed miserably. "It"s mum… I just miss her so much, that"s all."
His shoulders relaxed and his facial expression instantly became gentler when he heard what I said. "Tell me everything."
"Okay," I took my old clothes from the dresser and showed it to him.
"These are your modern clothes," he said as he unfolded them.
"Hai," I sniffed. "The blouse is from one of her favorite makers of clothing. We were shopping together when she chose this for me. When I saw this earlier, I couldn"t help but feel guilty. I rarely thought of her ever since I came here. I"m the worst."
Kaname gathered me in his arms and rubbed my back gently. "I"m sorry. I wish I can do or say something to make you feel better but I"m completely at a loss."
"Oh, Kaname…"
I wept in his arms until I emptied my tear ducts. As if on cue, the shoji opened and in came the little ones. When they saw my swollen eyes and red nose, they immediately ran towards us to envelope me in a group hug.
"Papa, why is mama crying?" Touya asked concernedly.
"Mama misses her own mama," Kaname explained.
"Oh," Riku said. "Does baba[2] live very far away? Can we not visit her so mama will not miss her anymore?"
"Mi-tan wants to meet her, too!" Miyako said. "Let"s visit baba, papa."
"I"m afraid that"s not possible," Kaname tried to word his sentence carefully. "You see, your baba lives in a place where even I don"t know how to get to."
"Oh," the three children chorused, disappointment evident in their tones.
"It"s alright, mama feels better now that she got a hug from papa and her rice b.a.l.l.s," I told them to stop their worrying.
The four of them engulfed me in another warm embrace, soothing my heavy heart. I was about to get up so Kaname and I could tuck our children in bed but I suddenly couldn"t feel my legs. Thinking that they must have just fallen asleep, I looked down but to my horror they looked transparent and I couldn"t touch them. The kids and Kaname saw it, too, and stared at my see-through legs in shock.
"Hina, what"s happening?" Kaname asked, fear and panic laced each word. "Where are your legs?"
"I don"t know," I started to cry again. "Kaname, help me!"
He held me by the waist fiercely in an attempt to stop me from vanishing.
"Mama, your face!" Riku pointed at me, there was fear in his eyes.
"Mama, why are you turning into a ghost?" Touya cried as he held his twin. Miyako"s mouth was formed into an o, she was so frightened she couldn"t say anything.
"Kaname, I think I"m going back," I cried. "I"m being returned to my time!"
"No!" he shook his head fiercely. "That can"t be, Hina! You belong with us! As the great shogun of this country, I simply won"t allow it!"
Although he said these, Kaname looked helpless and panic-stricken. I continued to gradually disappear.
"My babies, be good and always listen to your papa. Always remember mama loves you with all her heart. Papa and my little rice b.a.l.l.s will always be in mama"s heart."
"Mama, no!" Miyako stepped forward and grabbed my robe. "You can"t leave! Mi-tan will have no one to braid her hair and tell her she"s pretty anymore!"
I wanted to touch her face but I couldn"t. All I could do was cry and watch their scared faces.
"Anata, take good care of the children," I told him hurriedly because I felt like I only had seconds left in this era. "Remember my wedding vow and all the promises I made you. I will keep them even when we"re no longer together. I love you, my love. Forgive me if I have to leave you."
"My soul will find yours, Hina," Kaname promised as his warmth on my skin started to fade. "I swear we will have our chance to make all our promises a reality together! I love you. We will all be with you soon."
I tried to kiss him but a flash of light blinded me. The next second, I found myself in an unfamiliar surrounding. Disoriented, I looked around and saw that I was inside a room of some sort. It was dank and cold. Wincing, I got up only to lose my balance and fall on the floor once more due to shock.
"No… This isn"t happening…" I stared at the golden plaque above the tomb before me. "He"s not dead, my husband isn"t dead!"
On the plaque was a short summary of the life of Kirishima Kaname, the fifteenth shogun of the Kirishima shogunate. With a shaking hand, I reached out to touch the modern looking tomb.
"1598? But it"s only…" before I could finish my sentence, a familiar yet oddly foreign sound made me jump. I looked around to search for its origin. Spotting my mobile phone inside my unzipped bag, I grabbed it and swiped its screen to the right. "h.e.l.lo?"
"h.e.l.lo, Miss Yang?" a woman spoke in a heavily accented English. "This is Asami, the tour guide. The tour is starting in five minutes, did you get lost while walking around?"
It took me a few good seconds to understand what her words meant. "N-no, I just… I just had so much fun looking around."
"I see," she said. "If you could return to the temple that would be great."
"Hai," I told her and hung up. Robotically, I grabbed my bag and the little medicine kit on the floor. "I"ve really returned."
I burst into tears as I recalled what happened earlier. The shocked faces of my family, the hurried oaths Kaname and I made… Everything.
"Kaname," I whispered, my fingers trembling as I touched his moss-laden resting place. "I will wait for you; we will be together again."