"It"s none of your business," Mirei said although she was avoiding my eyes."Sorry, I didn"t seem to have heard you," I said as I stopped in front of her. "What did you say just now?"
"I-I said," I saw her gulp. "I said it"s none of your bus—"
She wasn"t able to finish her sentence because I slapped her in the face. She gasped at the pain, the force almost made her drop the oil lamp she was holding.
"You seem to have forgotten who you"re talking to," I told her tersely. "Ryoji"s business is my business for I am her wife!"
"I met him first!" she replied angrily. "He was mine way before you met him!"
"Mirei, stop this!" Kaname finally moved and decided to intervene.
"Just try it, Ryoji!" I challenged him, he was about to pull me away from the woman. Kaname had no choice but drop his hands to his sides. "What did you say?" I refocused my attention to our unwanted visitor. "He"s yours because you met him first?"
"That"s right!" she wailed, her attractive face tear-stained. "He"s mine because I met him first!"
"Ka—" I almost called him by his real name. "Ryoji, just what is this woman talking about?"
"You didn"t know?" it was her turn to sound mocking. "I am his lover! I"ve been satisfying him in bed for years!"
"What?" I turned to Kaname for some explanation.
"How pitiful, the wife does not know of his husband"s past! Don"t you know? Every move and technique he"s done with you, he"s tried with me first?" her words rung in my ear. "I am the reason why he"s always away, he visits this place because of me!"
"When was the last time he came here?" I asked calmly.
"Roughly three, almost four months ago!" she replied haughtily. "But I met him when we were both still quite young!"
"And do you know how long we"ve been married?"
Her brows furrowed, she did not know the answer to this.
I smirked and quoted her, ""Roughly three, almost four months ago!""
"Ryoji-san, is this true?" she asked Kaname for confirmation.
"Yes," Kaname replied. "Mirei, just what exactly do you intend to gain from coming here tonight?"
"I missed you, Ryoji-san," her lips formed into a small smile. "I haven"t seen you for a long time…"
"Mirei, don"t you remember what I told you before?" he sounded like he was talking to an unruly child. "Don"t get too attached to me because we can never be together. I made it clear from the very start, I wasn"t looking for a wife when we met."
"I know," her smile didn"t wane. "But you"ve been gone for so long…"
"Ryoji, don"t make me repeat myself," my patience was wearing thin. I don"t want to listen to them reminisce about the past! I needed to know what was going on p.r.o.nto!
"Tsuma," he placed his hands on my shoulder. "What she said is true, but that was way before I met you. She used to be my lover. When we first met years ago, we both made it clear that it would be a purely physical relationship between us."
"Ryoji-san," she placed the lamp on the floor and took a step closer to him. "I haven"t forgotten about our agreement but I missed you so much… Surely you feel the same way, too?"
I looked at her incredulously. Just how liberated was she to say these things? I mean, I"m familiar with the concept of a no-strings-attached relationship (if one could even call it that), I"ve come from the future after all… But that didn"t mean that I understood how someone would be so willing to engage in a relationship purely for the s.e.x! One party was bound to get emotionally attached from all the physical contact, making it tricky… Also, I was not expecting to learn that this kind of setup existed in this time. This was an eye-opening experience.
"Mirei, forgive me but I don"t," Kaname replied. "I finally found the woman who can make me think straight. That woman is Aiko."
"No," she shook her head. "This can"t be! I cannot accept this!"
"It"s the truth. Ever since I met her, Aiko has been the only woman for me… And I intend to keep it that way."
"Impossible! Ryoji-san, you"re a freedom-loving man! How could you tie yourself to just one woman?"
"I love her, that"s why," he told her matter-of-factly, causing her eyes to widen in shock. "She"s the best surprise I never knew I needed in my life."
"Ryoji-san…"
"Mirei, whatever we had ended months ago. Please respect my decision."
"This isn"t happening…"
"You"ll meet someone who will knock you off your feet the way Aiko has caught me off guard," he said as a way of comforting her. "It"s never too late."
"You already heard what he has to say," I spoke again. "Now get out."
She looked at Kaname then at me with sorrowful eyes. I kind of pity her, to be honest. She had no idea she"d fall for him after agreeing to the setup. From my perspective, I believe she never intended to grow attach to him… Unfortunately, she did and I"m guessing she hasn"t even realized this.
Kaname and I watched her leave the room while holding back her tears. I took the oil lamp she left on the floor and placed it near the hibachi.
"Kaname, are there others like her in your life?" I asked him. "Your past is your past the same way my past is mine. We haven"t really talked about it, but I think it"s time we did if we ever want to make our relationship grow."
"Are you mad at me?" his odd eyes looked at me with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
I thought about it for a while as I wanted to answer him truthfully. "No, I"m not. I was furious earlier because she was like a thief in the night, she made sure I was asleep before she attacked but I"m okay now."
"I"m glad" he said, his face awash with relief.
"So, are there others?" I repeated my question. "We talked about almost everything but never about our past relationships. I want to know that part of the shogun"s life; in return, I will tell you everything you want to know about me."
"Alright," he agreed and motioned for us to sit on the futon. "Where do you want me to start?"