Chapter 24 Change After Becoming Chief of the Inner Compound After becoming the chief of the Inner Compound, Sakura moved into the compound. Though some old wives and maids left by Takeda n.o.butora didn’t like her, most of them were fearful. Lady Ooi gave her three maids before leaving; they were new to Tsutsujigasaki. They didn’t even have names yet. Sakura thought for some time and decided to give them Chinese names: Ye, Cao, and Hua. Tsuru, who once served Lady Ooi, was very envious of them, but she had no choice because Lady Ooi sent her to the sister of Takeda Harun.o.bu. She said goodbye to the young chief and left her many complaints. Sakura heard what she said, but she simply overlooked those complaints. Madam Sanjō realized her dream of moving in. When Sakura saw her jaunty face, she was so contemptuous, but she still remembered her duty and asked the maids to clean the main house for her. Sakura did not see Yoshin.o.bu, her first son. Cao told her that the son moved to Obu Toramasa, the old officer’s house, to study. It was his father’s will. As to the blind second child, he planned to send him to a mountain temple once he knew how to take care of himself. Sakura now understood the sad words from Madam Sanjō. Children of the n.o.ble families in this age were doomed to a sad fate. She showed some pity for Madam Sanjō. However, the madam didn’t return any kindness; instead, she was as proud as before. She liked to take Yae and the other three maids and have them circle around inside the Inner Compound. Once Sakura and her maids met them, they all saluted them politely, but the maids of the madam were rude. “How dare you be so arrogant in front of us! You three slave girls from Lady Ooi’s hometown! If it was up to me to name you, I would call you carriage wheel, toilet brush, and pickle jar, hhha. . . ” Sakura bore all these herself. Today was a fine day. She had her hands washed in the pool, and began to do some popping dance moves. She needed practice, or she might lapse. “Sakura. . . ” While she was crazily dancing the moonwalk, reveling in her good mood, someone called her name and held her by the waist from behind. She was so surprised she screamed. “Sakura, it is me, n.o.bushige.” “n.o.bushige?” Sakura turned back to find the boy. Yes, it was him. He released her carefully, asking, “Are you okay?” “Why have you come to the Inner Compound? You scared me!” “I saw your body twitch from time to time just now, and I thought that you might be seriously ill. What if you were having a stroke? So I ran over to help. Are you really okay?” “Come on, I’m dancing. What great luck I have!” Sakura was stunned. How could he regard such cool dance moves as twitches? And a stroke? If she had an inflatable stick on hand, she would have hit him on the head. n.o.bushige wiped his sweat and pulled a face at her. “Look at you; you always dance strange dances. But now I know the truth, I can’t hold you from behind anymore. Or I will be struck by you, just like my brother.” Sakura laughed when she heard this. She could never be angry at this cute boy. “I came to say thank you today. Your medicine was effective for my master. His hands feel much better.” The boy half-bowed to her mischievously. “You are the brother of our master. You don’t need to treat me like this.” Sakura hurried to return him a salute. Suddenly, she saw a shadow quickly pa.s.s by in front of the gate of the yard. She followed it to check. “Who did you see?” n.o.bushige asked. “Hush. . . ” Sakura raised a finger to her lips to stop him. “Speak quieter. She was the toilet brush of your sister-in-law.” “Toilet brush?” “Something used in the toilets for purpose of cleaning. I named her myself.” “You are good at giving names.” “Forget it. Why are you here with the token to get out?” “For sure I am going out to buy something for the sister-in-law. Yae always went to Kyoto to buy silks to make dresses for her. Shouldn’t you already know this? You are the chief now.” When n.o.bushige finished his explanation, the girl was already missing. He was curious to find where she went. Soon she appeared in front of the door, and she ran to chase the maid quickly, as a swift monkey. “The fabric shop was not open yet, so why did they let the toilet brush in so early?” Sakura followed the maid to a nearby shop. She saw the maid talking to the shop owner for a little while; she entered the shop, closing the door behind her. She leapt onto the roof of the bamboo house and looked down through the gaps between two bamboos. Fortunately, she was fast enough that n.o.bushige didn’t catch up. “Is this a letter to Master Imagawa Yoshimoto, from Madam Sanjō?” The owner took hold of a letter from the maid and gave her some silk cloth in return. The maid nodded.