Chapter 504:

Playing Pretend

Shift


A smirk curled up over the old man’s lips, something that Yumi caught out of the corner of her eye. ‘He knew… Was this a test?’ She couldn’t understand after she figured it out why they were trying to marry off their daughter under the pretense that she was their son. No matter how much they tried to hide it, it would get figured out eventually. ‘Did they have some sort of plan for this? They can’t be dumb…there’s something more going on here…’

Fujimoto already started to sweat now that Yumi said what he had been trying to hide. Though she could see that her father and the Lord both held up better. A little more of the picture started to become clear. “So you all know about this then.” Yumi started to put the pieces together on the fly as she spoke. “You planned this from the beginning then.”

The girl across from her remained silent, but stared intently at Yumi. Part of that weird feeling came back to her. ‘There’s something more about this girl. She’s not innocent in this either I think…’ She looked around the table. “Lord Fujimoto, you don’t have an heir do you?” No reply came from him, but his silence was affirmation enough for her. “So that’s what’s going on here. You’re afraid of Lord Komagata starting a war with you and you need the soldiers that Lord Fujimoto has along with the experience that my clan holds. You were hoping it would be enough to keep war from coming.”

She looked over at the old man who only looked like he wanted to laugh, enjoying the whole scene. His eyes told her to keep going. “But neither of our clans have heirs, but the public hasn’t seen Takumi have they? You can parade her around as your son. We keep up appearances for the sake of the clans to unite everyone for a greater threat. I’m guessing at some point if either clan has an heir a secret marriage will occur to provide legitimacy to the union and maybe even change things out at some point later when the public doesn’t know?”

The old man started clapping, nearly breaking out into laughter as Yumi expertly aligned all of the pieces. They had thought that they were talking amongst adults, unaware of whom they shared the room with. “There’s that fire I remember, Yoshi.”

“Master…”

“She was going to figure it out when she was an adult, no reason to play secrets when she’s exposed you all so keenly.”

“Yes, I must admit Lord Kaoin, while your daughter speaks her mind unabated, she sounds nothing like the child you told me about. Dare I say, she’s as old as any of us.”

‘Crap! I went too far and stopped acting like a child!’

“My apologies, my Lord I—“

“It’s fine. I’m not offended. Had she been wrong, perhaps, but your daughter has shown staggering insight and wisdom beyond her age. I’d dare say she’d be wasted as a golden hairpin for young Takumi.”

“My Lord?”

The young Lord smiled looking at Yumi having gained some of the old man’s energy. “I think a new curriculum for your daughter is in order and once she’s old enough my court.”

Satoru Kaoin could hardly believe what was happening. This was supposed to be just a simple marriage meeting on paper with his daughter being a formality, nothing more. He agreed to the whole plan with everyone at the table knowing what the future would be. While hesitant about the risks, there were no other options that he could find.

He had a hard time knowing if his daughter had just ruined it all or not. The shock of her figuring it out put him into a cold sweat at first. Everything seemed to be destroyed by a stupid child’s remark. And then she only amazed everyone. ‘How did she figure this all out?’

With Shimedzu and the Lord accepting of Yumi, Satoru had few options that he could take. If anything, she managed to elevate the family’s value in the eyes of the Lord, something that he couldn’t argue with no matter how much she broke with rules. “Yes, I agree, my Lord. It would seem I need to re-evaluate her instructors.”

Clapping his hands together to draw attention back, Shimedzu moved things forward. “We still have some things to discuss, especially now that Yoshi figured things out. However, since your daughter is acutely aware of the matters that we discuss, I'd advise the children to step out.”

‘Damn, I’m not going to get any more information from them.’

“Yes, I agree. Lord Kijomoto and Lord Kaoin, please excuse your daughters.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

Chapter 504 – Playing Pretend

Out in the courtyard, one completely apart from the meeting room as they apparently worried that she might still eavesdrop, Yumi sat down on the porch along with Takumi. They treated her like an adult in that they were cautious about her now, but still as children in that she couldn’t be at the adult table. She wasn’t sure which was worse about that situation. ‘I’m going to have a harder time now faking as a kid after that show…’

She looked over at the girl pretending to be a boy, who Yumi guessed had more of a head about what was going on than her quiet demeanor lead on. ‘She’s still bothering me…’ While they were expected to play together like children their age, neither seemed to have that in mind. The girl known as Takumi took up a seat on the opposite side of the courtyard far away from Yumi. Clearly, she wanted space, something that Yumi didn’t plan to adhere to.

Yumi got up from the porch and walked across the simple dirt pathway that cut between a small pond on the left and a flower garden on her right. The strong fragrance of the blooming flowers entered her nose as she passed by them. It came as constant reminders for her that it was a convincingly fake world affecting all of her senses.

While Takumi didn’t seem to want to go out of her way to spend time with Yumi, she didn’t run away either at her approach. Some caution painted over her eyes, noticing her shadow entering into range. “I’m Yoshiko as you already know. What’s your name?”

A bit of a pause came from her, Yumi guessed she was deciding on playing it safe or being honest. “Moriko,” she finally answered, having come to a conclusion.

“Were you fine with this fake marriage?”

“Our clans would be at peace and war might be prevented.”

‘We were hostile between each other? Is that the cause of her caution?’ There was a lot that she still didn’t know about this world and the history. Despite as much as she hated politics, it seemed to be what she signed herself up for now. ‘Is politics going to be the theme of this world?’ Given what she had seen already, it would make a lot of sense, though it was certainly not her strength. Though with the past worlds, they weren’t her strength either and she succeeded eventually. It just got more challenging as she was warned.

For now, she had to focus on what she could learn about Moriko. “You think our marriage will prevent the war?”

“Most likely not. Father says there are a lot of threats surrounding us.”

‘Everyone’s out for each other…I get a feeling this is the warring states or at least modeled off of it…’ Moriko had a simpler way of talking, lacking many of the complex kanji that she contained, but still seemed to have that spark of insight. It certainly was an odd trait to find someone so young, ignoring the unique case of herself. “He’s probably right. I don’t get out much, so I don’t know what the rest of the land is like.”

“Father doesn’t let me leave either. I have to practice most days.”

“Pretending?”

“Yes.”

“Is that what you want?”

“It’s what father has decided.”

“Yes, I know that, but what about you?”

“My feelings aren’t needed.”

“It’s your life, not just your father’s. I’m not saying you rebel against him,” Yumi quickly started to correct her direction with her words. She started to take her modern sensibilities with her into this feudal period. She needed to be mindful of how society worked, as much as she hated it. “I’m just asking if it’s tiring all of the pretending. Do you want a break from it sometime to just be yourself?”

“I don’t really have a chance to do that. Only a few at home know the truth and father insists I keep up at all times.”

Yumi looked back in the direction of where the adults were talking about the marriage and likely strategy for war. “Since I didn’t say no to the marriage and everyone seems to be for the idea, it’s probably still going forward. So how about this, Moriko?” She turned to face the girl once more. “When it’s just the two of us you can drop your guard.”

“But what if someone sees us?”

“It’s not like we’re going to be playing dress up.”

“Dress up?”


“Nothing. You can just adjust your speech and relax around me. It’s probably tiring for you to always be on alert.”

A small nod acknowledging Yumi came from Moriko, but that was all she allowed herself. The young girl might have dropped some of her guard around Yumi, but she continued to keep her vigil over her identity. The whole time her voice was soft spoken to keep out of ear shot of any servants. Yumi respected those wishes, avoiding anything that drew all of their attention.

Though she did have to admit that two children their age just standing around doing nothing but talking seemed a little odd. It wasn’t really something that she could avoid and she doubted that the servants gave that much mind, being that they were the children of nobles. “I’m guessing that we’ll be seeing more of each other in the coming months or years.”

“Probably.”

“You’ll get plenty of opportunities.” Yumi stared closely at the girl hoping for something. She wanted a sign of any sort, but felt that at least right now that she would not get it. ‘Masa and Sumiko were masters of their areas, but they were also adults with time to master it. Moriko could be the one, but not until later in life…but that would mean I’m going to have to live through more than just a few months or years in this world… They won’t do that to me would they?’

Some hesitation built up in Yumi as the thoughts stirred around. There was nothing that was saying that Moriko was the one that she was looking for, but she had a very unique situation and didn’t seem to just be a normal girl. If things played out later in her life to become some sort of master of politics as Yumi guessed, then it was possible. But it broke with the trend that they set. ‘I’ll keep an eye on her at the very least until a better candidate surfaces.’

Yumi stretched out her hand to the girl that would become her husband, a strange phrase that she couldn’t have seen coming. “Let’s start out being friends! We’re going to be in this together!”

“Okay, but please be careful.”

“Right! You can trust me, Takumi!” The two girls found an agreement and safety in the other. A tumultuous period lay ahead for them and those that they loved.

Sota
icon-reaction-1
Eytha
badge-small-silver
Author: