「Shi - Bara」 死バラ [ DangerouslyDanni & Garinovitch ]

[Garinovitch]

Shi Bara ("The Dead Rose") 死バラ

The faint smell of the blooming Spring flowers was carried by the tranquil, northbound winds as the loud clatter of folded bamboo echoed throughout the valley. A young man armed with a wooden training bokken struck outwards, the end of the the wooden sword clacking firmly against the edge of another wooden sword. Like every morning, Miharu Shimazu, retainer to the Shimazu Clan of the Satsuma domain, was spending his waking moments of the morning sparring against his younger brother. The Shimazu Clan was renowned across Japan for their art with a blade, and Miharu was absolutely no exception to their stellar reputation as established sword masters. Miharu, the ambitious, young samurai of the Shimazu Clan was a prodigy with the Daishō Katana and like all members of his family, the Shimazu Clan protected their peaceful domain by always being prepared for war. A master of the art of Iaijutsu, the art of drawing the sword, Miharu cut outwards once more with his bokken, the wooden blade pressing firmly against the waist of his younger cousin, Yaito.

Miharu and Yaito Shimazu were an interesting pair, many confusing them for brothers, despite their varying appearances. The two boys were very close to one another, and sparred every morning to constantly hone their art with a blade, as expected of them as members of the Shimazu Clan. Although cousins, the two of them were raised in the same household with the same parents. Miharu Shimazu was actually the true heir to the Shimazu Clan and was to inherit the capital city of Satsuma when he came of age, however, the boy was soon disowned by his family when the boy lost his right eye in an assassination attempt on his life and was thus cast aside by his family as he was believed unfit to rule a head of the Shimazu Clan. Miharu and Yaito became very close to one another, and while Yaito wasn't nearly the intellectual and physical prodigy of his cousin, Miharu always shared a special bond with his younger cousin. "You're being too indecisive, Yaito," Miharu noted as he retraced the wooden sword from his cousin's waist, "You're spending too much time thinking about whether or not you wish to strike or defend," Miharu continued, "Indecisiveness-"

"-Only leads to failure, and failure leads to death." Yaito interrupted, rolling his eyes in an unfavorable fashion.

Miharu smiled, giving off a short laugh, "Hah. I guess I'm starting to sound like your old man, huh?"

Yaito shrugged, "You know he's your old man too, I mean, he's always raised you like a son."

"He's not my old man, because if he was, I'd have to be even more closely related to the likes of you." Miharu joked, grabbing his cousin in a short headlock, the both of them laughing at one another.

As the two of them playfully bantered and wrestled with one another, Saraba Shimazu, Yaito's mother and Miharu's guardian gracefully emerged from the nearby building, a smile drawn across her face. Although an older woman, Saraba held a very illustrious, mature beauty and was essentially the perfect paradigm of a mother for the two boys. "Boys," Saraba muttered to herself as she tentatively crossed her arms behind her back. "Miharu!" Saraba beckoned after watching the two tackle each other to the ground, a few moments passed before Miharu turned towards his guardian. "You have a visitor, you best not keep her waiting." Before Miharu could respond, Saraba turned around and walked back inside the building, probably to go offer their visitor tea as usual. Yaito sighed and rolled onto his back, seemingly unhappy with the announcement of their visitor. Miharu chuckled, ruffling his younger cousin's hair as he stood up and followed Saraba inside the building.

[DangerouslyDanni]

"Never," a voice gasped before a giggle followed. "It's not like that at all," Kokoro exclaimed again and was again met with a giggle. She slapped at the other young woman who sat beside her with a hand pressed firmly over her lips. "Emi, that is not something to giggle about," she scolded though her cheeks were red.

"Kokoro, you can be a bit prudish," the other girl laughed again. Emi had been another orphan that young Kokoro had met, and Sobo Koizumi had been the one to save Kokoro from Emi's lifestyle. "You're always spending time with them, and it's not so uncommon for a woman your age! You're a poor girl with a good enough job, and besides I've seen that shop keeper's son always looking at you. You are nearly an old maid, so marriage is something you need to be thinking about." She paused and puckered her lips, "Or you can always come back with me!"

Kokoro shook her head, burying her now bright red face in her hands. "Please Emi, stop tormenting me. It is not funny to me. Now I can to see you before I went back to the Shimazu Clan house. I'm going back to work for them, since they allowed me some time off to see, Sobo was settled back here in the city with her family." her expression grew pained, though her face stayed hidden. "Oh Emi, you should have seen the way they looked at me! It was as if I was nothing but rubbish to them," her voice cracked, and she had to bite her lip to war with the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"Kokoro," Emi said sadly, wrapping her arms around her slender friend. "Do not let them bother you. People like that need to look down upon others to make themselves feel better. You are not garbage. You are my dear, dear friend!"

Pulling herself back together, Kokoro looked at her friend with a huge smile and gave her a quick hug before standing and brushing off the seat of her simple blue linen kimono. "You are such a dear friend, Emi. I will speak with you later! I must hurry!"

"Say hello to your boys for me," she called in a suggestive tone as her friend hurried off. The older girl watched her young friend dash off with a worried expression in her eyes. It was not at all like Kokoro to cry. In fact in the almost ten years they had been friends, Emi had only seen Kokoro cry once, so for her to cry over this, that family must have been truly cruel. "Poor Kokoro," she murmured before disappearing into the building behind her.

Kokoro wove her way through the busy market place, and was pushing toward one of hte many rutted roads that lead away from the place. The shop keeper's son Emi had been speaking of called her name, and she merely greeted him and moved on, noting his disappointment. Emi was right. She was almost too old to marry a man her age. Most were married already, and she was not wanting to find a divorced man with a houseful of sons already. Even so, she couldn't bare to marry and be forced to move away from the Shimazu clan. Her adoptive Sobo Koizumi had been with the family for years, and her along with Saraba Shimazu had kept her from a life in a brothel. She nearly shuddered at the thought, but that had not happened. Her life had become safe and happy almost over night. Her more dear friends Miharu and Yaito Shimazu. A smile touched her lips as she thought of the day she had met them. It was not long after Miharu had moved into the household, and she had been doing something foolish in the top of one of the trees in the courtyard. She had fallen and hurt her ankle badly. It was Miharu and Yaito who had found her, trying her best not to cry. They had helped her inside, and still teased her about the incident today.

"Kokoro," a female voice pulled her out of her daydream. Turning, she saw Saraba standing in one of the doorways. Kokoro had entered the house without thinking, jsut as she had done for year. She bowed, hoping to hide her blush.

"Shimazu-san," she said. "I was going to get started if that is fine with you. I did not want to disturb you or any of the others.

"That's fine, but I am certain the boys will want to speak to you first," she said with a smile in her voice. "But if you want to get your things put away. I will let them know you are hear."

"Thank you!" she said happily before darting off to her tiny room at the very back of the house. She had shared it with her sobo originally, and as she entered now tears almost split down her cheeks again at the thought of that awful family. They hadn't seemed to care for her grandmother, and it broke her heart to think they would not make sure she was taken care of. She quickly stowed her very few possessions and smoothed her waist length black hair back into place. She did not wear it in normally fashions since she cared about them very little. Instead she knotted it at the nape of her neck and let it hang over her shoulder usually. With a smile back on her face, she hurried back through the house to greet Miharu back in the front. A glance behind him showed that his 'mother' hadn't followed, and she leapt toward him to give him a quick half hug before hopping back away, not caring if it wasn't proper. Her expression was carefully still, but her eyes were crinkled and her lips were pressed together as she tried not to laugh. "Hello, Mihura. It's good to see you. How have you been?"

[Garinovitch]

"Kokoro!" Miharu greeted in a mixture of surprise and happiness from across the room, a smile etched firmly across his face. Miharu was always delighted to see Kokoro, as she was a very close friend of both him and Yaito. The former heir to the Shimazu Clan lived a very reclusive lifestyle and didn't keep many friends around, but always made a point to visit Kokoro whenever he and Yaito felt like leaving the safety and comfort of their illustrious household. The two boys had known Kokoro as long as they could remember, and Miharu especially will always remember their cherished moments that they had together as soon as he moved in to Yaito's household. Both Yaito and Kokoro were very important parts of Miharu's life, and the two of them had helped get him through some very difficult, emotional times of his youth. Miharu was always sympathetic towards the young girl, who was brought up as an orphan due to the early death of her parents. Although Miharu still technically had his, he was somewhat brought up in a similar fashion. He knew it was difficult, even more so for Kokoro because she didn't have a family name or any sort of wealth to fall back upon.

Miharu Shimazu noticed as he approached Kokoro that she took a quick glance behind him, raising a brow, the young girl wrapped her arms around him, hastily embracing him in a short hug before skipping backwards. Miharu chuckled as he looked around, knowing full well why Kokoro looked behind him before hugging him. It may not have been proper, but the young boy appreciated the kind gesture. Leaning in towards Kokoro, "You best not do that to Yaito," Miharu whispered, giggling, "He may get the wrong idea," Miharu remarked, his smile never wavering. As soon as he finished whispering, Miharu leaned backwards and adjusted his posture, "It's great to see you too, Kokoro! It feels like ages!" Miharu remarked, his vivid gaze meeting Kokoro's happily. Miharu placed a finger to his chin as he thought about how long it really had been, he couldn't quite place a figure on it, and decided to give the thought up all together.

"How have you been?"

Miharu shrugged at the question, "I've been fine, as usual, not a whole lot happens around here nowadays, not that I'm complaining." Miharu grinned, "How about you? Fall out of any trees lately?" Miharu teased, laughing vibrantly. He knew that the subject was a soft spot of their history together. Unfortunately for Kokoro, the young boy had absolutely no problems pushing Kokoro's buttons. She was generally a very good sport about it anyways, plus, it's not like she didn't have her own share of embarrassing stories about Miharu and Yaito's youth hidden in the back of her pocket as well. Miharu's spine crawled at the very thought, he probably should have thought about that earlier before he poked fun of her. The boy braced himself for one of Kokoro's famously witty retorts. The girl was always very good with words, Miharu thought to himself, still smiling.

[DangerouslyDanni]

After Emi's teasing earlier, Kokoro's cheeks flushed pink at Miharu's comment, but she replied with a slight haughty tone, "I can handle Yaito! You are the difficult one!" She grinned and made a face at him, hoping that he did not notice her blushing. At this rate, Kokoro was ready to join a temple and forget about all of this entirely. It's not like her felings mattered. What Emi said was true, she was just a poor girl. With no one to set up a marriage for her now that her father was gone, Kokoro was likely to end up an old lonely woman like Sobo Koizumi. Kokoro scolded herself mentally for thinking such sad things, she didn't have time for self-pity.

"It hasn't been that long! Only a few months! No, I did not fall out of any trees, though I suppose I may have come close to falling off a bridge int o a stream." Tilting her head, she looked thoughtful for a moment, "That wasn't my fault though. Someone nearly knocked me over, so you can't blame me." The man who had done it had actually been part of Koizumi's sister's family, who had taken her in, and had laughed cruelly as Kokoro tried to regain her balance. She smiled mischievously and waved her hand at the room around them. "Well I suppose at least you and Yaito did not burn down anything this time. I would have hated to miss that." She giggled as she thought of the trouble the two boys had been in when they had been caught by Yaito's father outside of the small shed they had caught on fire. Kokoro hadn't been with them, though she had been scolded too, and to this day still couldn't get either of them to tell her what they had been up to in there. "I am back though to stay! The Shimazu family allowed me to come back now that Sobo Koizumi has been settled in with her sister's family." Her cheerful smiled wavered slightly, and she was forced to blink back tears, yet again. For a girl who never cried, she was truly heartbroken. It was like losing her parents all over again. "They were so cruel, Miharu. To me, and to Sobo! They kept saying we were faithless traitors since we worked for you, the Shimazu clan. They were resentful and harsh, but their anger was at your western God." She turned away from him, hating that she was so simple and so weak that she was growing upset over such trivial things. "I am worried for her. Even though we still follow our ancestors faith, they acted like we were horrible criminals for tolerating-"

She cut off the comment with a shake of her head as she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to will the tears away. "They told me I was not welcome, and could not see her anymore." They had been cruel and vicious the entire time Kokoro was there, and when she finally defended the Shimazu, they had turned her out to the street and had told her that she was never to come back. They did not want their family to be tainted by the evil that she spoke. Kokoro had left without protest, but she was devastated. The young woman had no family left at all now, and even her friends were close to being taken from her. They would not stay children forever, and soon both Miharu and Yaito would have no place for her in their lives.

[Garinovitch]

Kokoro's attempts to hide her blushing face were in vain as Miharu giggled at the young girl's reaction to his little teasing, her face was clearly a cute, bright, red hue. "Has it really only been a few months?" Miharu inquired, scratching his head, "You must have grown a bit since the last time I saw you then," Miharu remarked, his eye examining Kokoro, "You're a lot prettier than the last time I saw you," Miharu teased with a short cackle. The boy's expression quickly turned to a gasp of surprise when Kokoro teased Miharu about burning the small shed down when they were children, the boy pondered the event in his mind for a few moments before turning back towards Kokoro, "I have no idea what you're talking about!" The boy denied with a grin etched firmly across his face. After a few more moments of conversation, Miharu noticed that Kokoro's eyes were beginning to water, and watched as her cheerful smile faded away. "I'm, I'm sorry to hear that, Kokoro." Miharu frowned as she opened up to him. The boy smiled as he laid his hand on Kokoro's shoulder, "Everything's going to be okay," the boy assured, his eye firmly staring into Kokoro's.

Miharu wanted to say more to comfort one of his closest friends when Yaito suddenly poked his head into the room, Miharu quickly dropped his hand from the girl's shoulder so his cousin wouldn't see. "Dinner's ready, bro!" Yaito remarked, smiling, before Miharu could respond, the boy's mouth dropped open, "Kokoro! I can't believe it! Fall out of any trees lately?" Yaito remarked with a grin across his face.

Miharu laughed gleefully, as he turned towards his cousin, "Yaito, I already beat you to the punch, you can't use that joke more than once!"

"Aw man!" Yaito beckoned, "I should have known!" Yaito laughed in return. "Hey, you're joining us for dinner, right Kokoro?"

Miharu turned towards Kokoro, giving her a short nod. Their household was an interesting one because they treated their servants like guests, allowing them to eat meals together as if they were part of the family. Most prestigious households would be baffled at such a thought, but the young heirs to the Shimazu Clan were not necessarily ones of staunch tradition. Miharu smiled as he stared at Kokoro, "Come on, I'm sure you're starving right now," the boy commented as he leaned inwards towards Kokoro, "Stay strong." Miharu whispered, careful not to let his cousin hear his delicate words.

[DangerouslyDanni]

Kokoro giggled at Yaito's attempts to tease her and stuck her tongue out at him, "Always just a little to slow! Miharu and I always beat you." She simply nodded and smiled at Miharu's encouragement. He was always able to reassure her when her optimism faltered, but Yaito wasn't one she wanted to see her weakness. So she was grateful to Miharu for his discretion. Yaito's offer of food made her laugh, "Have I ever missed a meal before? And don't even try," she shot a glance at both of them. "I don't think either of you have too, so you both have no room to talk!" Laughing, she made a shooing motion at them, "Go go. I will of course be along since I'm ravenous! Now go. I need to help with the last of the preparations and serving, or I will never hear the end of it from the others!" The rest of the staff employed by the Shimazu household were adopted family to Kokoro. They had taken her in just as her adopted grandmother had with kind and gracious hearts. She hurried away waving to Miharu and Yaito over her shoulder. "See you in a bit!"

Kokoro slid into the cooking area without notice from the others in there and surprised everyone when they finally noticed her going about her usual chores. Laughing, she teased the three who were present and hurried with them to get the last of the dishes to the table where the rest of the household had gathered. The Shimazu clan's meals and the cleaning were handled by a small family, the Oshiro family, who where all well into their elder years. Her grandmother had been married to one of their brothers who had passed years ago. Kokoro was the youngest and was like one of their own children. With the dishes spread across the low table, Kokoro plopped into her place half way down the table. The rest of the servants were seated to her left and the Shimazu, including her two friends were to her right. Kokoro murmured answers to questions asked, but she was starving so the food before her was far more important that conversation.

A comment of hers, meant harmlessly brought whispered news of unrest in the local temple. Most of the Oshiro's had followed the Shimazu's migration to this odd western God. Not all though, and Kokoro was one of those who did not. While she respected their opinions, she did not feel the need to change from the tradition that her barely remember parents had instilled in her. Akio, one of the younger men, but still graying, told her solemnly that there were those who where starting to resent the Shimazu for their success, when others were struggling. All of this conversation was more or less had after the food was eaten, and while Kokoro helped clear up. She hesitantly told them of her own prejudices, and with what had happened with her sobo's family. Most of them were outraged, and the few of the older family members were worked up enough to want to go rescue her. Kokoro smiled and assured them that tonight was not the best time to go storming across the city. Perhaps they could pay a civilized visit tomorrow? The anger diffused most went back to their work, and Kokoro slipped away climbing the tree she had fallen out of so many years ago.

Life was growing too complicated for her, and more than anything, she just wished she had her parents to guide her. An orphan, alone even now, she could do nothing more than gaze in awe at the dawning moon and bright stars just beginning to fill the sky. The sun had disappeared, but it's rays still clung to the horizon. A silent prayer was sent to her parents, praying for their help and guidance.

[Garinovitch]

Miharu smiled as Kokoro stuck a tongue outwards towards Yaito, there was a ring of laughter between the three of them as Kokoro taunted both Yaito and Miharu before shoving them along. Miharu giggled at Kokoro's sudden change of emotion as his younger cousin dragged him out of the room. The young heir to the Shimazu family shot a final look backwards towards Kokoro as Yaito led him away, "See you!" Miharu beckoned back as Kokoro hurried away in the other direction. As the two boys strolled through the many corridors of the estate, Miharu thought about Kokoro. Miharu always thought about his long loved friend, perhaps more than he should, and the boy was simply delighted just to see her again, even if the moment would not last. "Hey Miharu~" Yaito called as the two of them continued walking together, "Why are you staring off into space?" Yaito inquired, "Could it be that you're thinking about someone?" The young cousin teased.

"Wha-?" Miharu remarked, glaring towards Yaito suddenly and snapping out of his day-dream. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

His younger cousin nudged Miharu on the shoulder, "Don't play coy with me, bro. I know you better than anyone and I know when you're thinking about a lovely someone."

Miharu's face turned red in excitement as he backed away from Yaito, "You're... You're crazy!" The boy refuted, staring at his cousin in bewilderment.

Yaito laughed at his younger cousin's reaction, "So who is it, hmmm?" Yaito already knew the answer, but he was content with watching his older cousin's face turn an even brighter flush of red. "Don't tell me it's,"

Miharu's eye widened as Yaito's grin grew from cheek to cheek, his younger cousin's lips slowly spelling the name out in shortened syllables, "Ko~ko~ro~"

"Sh-Shut up!" Miharu grabbed Yaito in a headlock and took him to the ground in an instant, his arms wrapped around the boy's neck as he held him to the ground, "Take that back!" Miharu beckoned, his face a bright, pink hue.

Yaito laughed as his brother quickly tackled him to the ground, the boy was always right when it came to reading his older cousin's feelings, "Oh come on, let me go tell her, I'm sure she'd be absolutely thrilled to hear about this."

"You've got it all wrong!" Miharu resounded, his hands wrapped firmly around his brother's neck, "She's just a friend!"

"A friend huh? Then why is your face three different shades of pink?" Yaito remarked with a smirk across his face.

Miharu pulled his arms away from Yaito, cupping his cheeks in his hands in a halfhearted attempt to cover his face. "I swear if you speak about this to anyone, I will kill you!"

"Even Kokoro?"

"Especially Kokoro!"

As the two Shimazu boys walked themselves into the dining room, Yaito quickly sat himself down next to his mother, forcing Miharu to sit right next to Kokoro. Miharu groaned as he sat down on the floor, not paying attention to his younger cousin's immature hand gestures and motions. Miharu knew that he wasn't going to hear the end of it. The dinner wasn't particularly interesting, but Miharu listened attentively to the words that were passed around the dinner table as he quietly enjoyed his meal. After Miharu had finished his meal, he helped the Oshiro family clean up some of the table. Although the heir to the Shimazu clan, the boy was technically a guest at this household, and something as simple as helping clean up wasn't something that was beneath him. It wasn't long after all of the dishes had been cleaned off of the table that Miharu noticed Kokoro slip away from her evening chores. The boy watched with a smile as his friend climbed her way back up the great tree that teetered over the center of the courtyard. It was the same tree that she had fallen out of during her youth.

Miharu waited for a few minutes for Kokoro to get herself situated on one of the tree's great branches when he approached across the courtyard and stood beneath the tall tree. "Hey there," Miharu beckoned upwards towards Kokoro, "Mind if I join you up there?"