Confrontation

"Takahara-sama, where are you going?" Takumi was walking with a hurry. He didn't expect to see into Haruna and her mother, who looked at him with confusion.

"Shibasaki-san..." Takumi whispered, looking at Haruna. "Don't worry... I'm going to the factory. I have many pending matters."

Takumi continued on his way without saying goodbye, leaving both women confused. The path Takumi took did not lead to the factory.

That day, Sachie was working at the apothecary. A ship from Hong Kong had arrived that day, and there were several sick people who, due to rumors, had gone specifically to that place because it was said that there was a skilled healer who made ailments, wounds, and diseases disappear.

During her lunch break, Sachie looked at her plate with distaste. Something she was still struggling to get used to, even more than a month after her escape, was the food. Even in this activity, she was singled out. She ate properly, always in silence, alone. The strange spinster always acted strangely.

“Nishimura san," her boss told her while she was trying to finish her plate of vegetables. "You have a visitor."

"Who?" Sachie asked, leaving her plate on the table and getting up.

Her boss said nothing, which made Sachie rush out and find Takumi. He looked nervous, hurried, as if he didn't want to be there. Without a word, he took her hand and led her out of the apothecary. A customer of the place asked curiously about what happened.

"Why would a man like him be looking for a woman like your employee?" he asked with amazement after analyzing her manner of dress and speech.

"Everyone here wonders the same thing," the owner of the apothecary replied.

Takumi and Sachie reached a street where there were no people to talk.

"May I know what is happening?" Sachie asked, confused by the brusque treatment she received.

"I won't be able to come for a while," Takumi told her seriously. "Father heard some unpleasant rumors about us."

Sachie was not surprised. She was already used to being pointed out for everything. She even knew that everyone talked about her friendship with the famous "heir of the textile factory." For her, they were normal, but not unpleasant.

"What is the problem?" Sachie said, ignoring what the consequences of these rumors being confirmed might be.

"It's not that easy for me," Takumi replied. Sachie noticed the indirect hint and was offended. "I am the heir to the factory. Besides, my family is planning my engagement."

This surprised Sachie, who was left speechless. Now it turns out that Takumi was acting according to what his parents wanted. This more than surprising her, annoyed her.

"What's her name?"

"Shibasaki Haruna," Takumi replied nervously. "She is part of a family of merchants. If our friendship comes to out, she will be affected... I can't humiliate her."

"And that's why you are eliminating me?" Sachie was now raising her voice.

It wasn't just that he was leaving her. It wasn't because in the end Takumi was obeying what she rejected. Her chest ached upon learning of Haruna's presence, and that Takumi was interested in an engagement with her.

"I had the courage to defy what they were imposing on me," Sachie commented, annoyed. "But I see that you are a coward."

Again Takumi was being challenged about his decisions. But unlike last time, now he truly felt the urge to defy his father's authority. Takumi have a deep breath, earlier that day he was re-reading his correspondence with Renko and he remembered all those moments with her. He discovered with those letters that she loved him. That word was strange for him. 

That day he talked with a person he considered friend. He openly talk about Renko and her letters. That friend of him listen with attention without judgement. When Takumi ended he only said something.

“She fell in love with you” the friend said. Takumi without a reaction only listen to his friend. “Is a common feeling and for some people is normal. 
From my experience watching your employees, I can say that loving someone can drive you to madness. But in other ways, it's a feeling that makes you better person. If I were you, I'd be careful."

“Why?,” asked Takumi with doubts.

“If you’re telling me all those things is because you are hiding something,” the friend began to explain. “Take care and decide wisely what will you do. Remember that girl, the Apricot one. Surely what she decided affected not only her family." 

Takumi took a radical turn in his speech; by that time he took his decision, he knew what he wanted. Now that he saw Sachie's reaction, he knew he could take a risk.

"Sachie, I have to tell you something," Takumi told his friend, who was still upset, hurt. "It's true that I have been involved with Miss Shibasaki, I have interest in her only out of obligation. I do it only so I can spend time with you. I like you."

Sachie was speechless. She could barely understand what Takumi told her and didn't know how to react. For her, "liking" sounded weird, strange.

"I don't understand you..." Sachie managed to whisper.

"You make me feel strange," Takumi told her. "Sachie, I can say that I love you. But I need to put order in my life."

Now Sachie really didn't know what to say. Time was running out. If Takumi took any longer to get home, he knew the questions would start. So he continued his speech:

"I want to stay with you," Takumi commented, insisting on opening up about his feelings. "Give me some time, and when everything is sorted out, I will return. We can run away to Tokyo and start over, what do you say?"

"No... I can't leave Shimizu..." Sachie replied. She was already anxious. She wanted to flee, but from that situation.

"Why not?" Takumi asked. "You don't have anyone here, you are always judged, always criticized. If we go to Tokyo, we can start together. Think about it. I will come back in a week. I want you to have an answer for me."

Sachie returned to the apothecary to continue working. Her boss only looked at her, judging, and told her to go to work, that the inventory needed to be done.

Indeed, Takumi did not visit her for several days, which made her feel lonely. Her neighbour, Aizawa, whom she could talk too openly, or so she thought, spoke about the matter.

"I don't know what he wants," Sachie told her neighbor that evening. "He told me he likes me."

"And you believed him," she said after letting out a mocking laugh. "Sachi, wake up, he is an heir, you are a family-less peasant. Why would he risk everything to be with you?"

"Be realistic" was something her father always told her when they argued. Haruto always trying to get the best option, the safest one, and that meant she had to sacrifice her daughters' independence. She was fighting for something that not many dared to do: study, work, and do something more than "just the perfect woman and wife."

She didn't sleep that night. She thought about Takumi's proposal, his confession: fleeing Shimizu to create a new life. She wanted to keep believing that someone was waiting for her in Shimizu, someone wanted her, and someone needed her. The first person who came to mind was Takumi. 

He listened to her, let her express her ideas, and didn't care about her dirty appearance. Yes, he was a fool for lying, for feigning interest in that Haruna, the Shibasaki's doll, but... she was a liar too.

October 25, 1891.
After noon, a midwife visited the apothecary where Sachie worked. She needed an assistant for a birth, Sachie, being the only one available, went to help. After buying some medications and relaxants for the patient, both women left to attend the birth.

"It's a sailor's third child," the midwife explained to Sachie, who listened while they both ran to the family's house. "It's the first one where the father is present. By the way, my name is Mariko, nice to meet the famous Sachie."

"Famous?" Sachie said with curiosity. She didn't feel that way. Mariko laughed a little.

"Come on, don't pretend you don't know," she said, laughing. "Everyone knows who you are: an expert and skilled in herbology, medicine and I hear a lot of mothers talk about the way you treat children. And your relationship with the Takahara heir is no secret."

Mariko did not judge or say anything about this topic. But that didn't mean she wasn't part of that group of people who secretly criticized and judged her. If she knows who she is, she is surely part of those rumors.

Upon arriving at the place, they had to go up two floors to find the woman who was already trying to give birth. The dilation she had was of a considerable diameter, and the two older children wanted to be close to their mother.

While Mariko was preparing for the birth, she asked the father to please leave the room with the children. Sachie helped in silence, obeying the midwife's orders. The minutes piled up, but finally, a small baby was born without problems.

Sachie smiled when she saw the mother crying with joy at seeing her baby. Was a healthy baby girl. The father entered, and both celebrated and gave thanks. This was a bit awkward for Sachie. Why did they are celebrating a baby girl? Normally was a deception for parents.

For Mariko was a nice day and she looked genuinely satisfied and did not stop smiling. Her job was done, and for that day, she had no more calls.

"You look happy, Mariko san," said Sachie, who was also smiling. It was the first time she had seen a birth.

Usually, for her, it was a more discreet event, as if they wanted to hide it. She had also been surprised by the couple's reaction. The sailor, a being Sachie imagined as tough from spending much time at sea, was there celebrating the birth of his third child, hugging his wife, as if it were something normal.

"It's normal," Mariko explained calmly. "He loves his wife and was worried about her health. You don't know how many births end badly, my dear."

"He loves her?" Sachie asked, confused. She didn't understand the phrase.

"They are in love," Mariko explained calmly. "Just like Takumi loves you."

Sachie laughed a little about the matter, but at the same time, she felt a sort of pain in her heart, which she didn't understand, but Mariko noticed how she blushed when she heard her words.

"Are you feeling well, Sachie?" Mariko said to her new friend, who looked distressed.

“No... I mean, I don't know," Sachie said, trying to look normal, but failing. With a look, Mariko challenged her. "My stomach hurt... My heart felt strange a moment ago. I don't understand..."

"I've seen it a lot, you know. You are in love, and if I can guess, it's with Takumi."

Sachie stopped, is she in love?