Teatime

Eien Akagawa

Norihisa sat at a low table with his legs folded under him sipping tea. I sat across from him, my tea untouched. Iroha sat beside me sipping from her own cup. I looked at the futon set in the corner where Kizuna lay. She was breathing softly which was a relief.

We were in the sitting area of the main residence. Norihisa had cleaned up and was in his own clothes again. Tasteful purple robes fit for his station. The women he had fun with last night had appeared shortly after our fight. They had gotten dressed and had left. The lady of the goons had taken her men with her. After many apologies from her of course.

I stared at Norihisa. Since the fight, most of his cuts and bruises had faded. I didn’t have to be a genius to know that that wasn’t normal. “How are you doing that?”

“Pardon?” he asked, putting his cup down. “Doing what?”

“Healing yourself,” I clarified.

“Oh, that.” He chuckled softly and grinned. “Well, you know how often this happens right?”

“Often enough that one would think that you’d stop having your dalliances with women.”

“Ha, well I got tired of hiring muscle to help me after I got beat up. So with a little help I set up a type of barrier around the shrine. In here, I heal faster than normal. It doesn’t work for anyone else.”

I pointed at myself. “Then why am I healing faster than normal?”

“That, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

I turned to Iroha as she put her tea down. “What do you know?”

She looked at me with her deep dark eyes. “Do you really need me to answer the obvious?”

“It’s because of me,” Kizuna said from behind. I turned to see that she was now sitting up.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as I walked over to sit next to her.

“Bleh.” She stuck out her tongue. “Fine. I just have a headache.”

“Do you feel well enough for questions?” She nodded, her unbound golden hair falling around her face. “Did you place your protection on me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” I rubbed my face before pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why did you get involved in that fight? You knew what it would do to you.”

“I had to.” She turned her head to look at me. Her golden eyes once again seemed like they were piercing right through me.

“Do you hold so much faith in that seer that you would do whatever she said?” There was more than a little anger in my voice. I tried to quell it, but it was difficult.

“I do, and I would jump into that fight again if I had to make the choice.”

“Princess, I don’t want you to be involved in these fights, nor do I want to be under your protection.” Her brow furrowed and I knew this was going to be a fight.

“I'm going to get involved. I'm not just going to stand by when I can do something to help.”

“Princess, I hate to say it but you are quite literally a damsel in distress. If you fight, then you harm yourself.” The fire in her eyes didn't dim, instead they seemed to only intensify. “How am I supposed to get you to China if you die on me?” That seemed to dampen the fire in her eyes a little.

“I'm going to get home.” Her hands tightened into fists. “Everything I do makes sure of it."

More of this seer crap again. “Don’t just blindly put your faith in others.”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing with you?” Those damn golden eyes. They were trying to make me back down. “But the investment in you is paying off so far.”

“Should you really be trusting me?” I put a hand on my chest. “The first time you saw me, I was stealing a boat from your clan. Stop blindly trusting that seer.”

“I’m not blindly trusting her. From what I’ve seen of you, you’re a loyal man. You stand by your client, your friend,” she nodded to Norihisa. “And you help people like the twins.”

“For a payment.”

“Everyone needs to make a living.”

I rubbed my hair and stood. “Why are you making this so difficult?” I walked back to the table and grabbed my tea. It was cold by now but I still drank it all in one gulp. I turned back to face her. “Fine, you trust me and the seer. What about your protection?”

“That’s not something that I can really control.” She slowly stood up. “Since you are technically in my service, it extends to you. You should be happy that it’s healing you.”

“I want to be kept away from anything relating to the clans if at all possible. Even if that thing is a boon.”

“Why don’t you want to be connected with the clans?” she asked, earnestly wanting to know.

A loud slurping sound interrupted our argument. We both looked at Norihisa who set his cup down. “If there’s nothing to be done about it, then you’ll just have to live with it, Eien. And if it heals you, so much the better.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. There was no point in arguing with him. Being able to heal fast would be a great boon. Even if it was from the clans.

I waved a hand at him “Fine, I’ll deal with it.”

“Good, now where are we going to meet?”

“The Ryu shipyards.”

“You’re going to steal from the Ryu?” Kizuna asked, incredulously.

“Not steal, borrow. Someone owes me a favor and I intend to call it in.”

“Okay, but as I said before, I need to meet with the seer again.” She walked away from the futon and stretched.

“Why?” I asked, perhaps a bit too harshly.

“She said I would need to meet her one last time.” Kizuna walked to the door of the sitting room and slid it open. “It’s long been paid for.”

I helped Iroha up. “Fine, I did after all agree to it earlier. We’ll go see this seer of yours.”

“Shouldn’t there be less complaining?” she asked as she turned towards me with a slight smile. “I already paid you.”

Iroha giggled and I sighed in defeat. “Yes princess.”

“So when should I go to the shipyards?” Norihisa asked.

“I’ll send you a message later.”

“You got it.” He went back to his tea and sent us out with another loud slurp.