Love letters from Edo period

Himawari was watching her children playing with each other while waiting. It didn't take her long to find the materials her father-in-law had asked for, she arranged them on the small table. Several minutes had passed and finally, an employee commented that Izumi and Shinobu were waiting for her and the children in the main room of the mansion. 

Immediately, Kamui get up, and pushing the employee aside he run to the main room. Sachiko tried to follow her brother. Just before she went out of the room, the employee catch the girl. Himawari gathered the materials and left the room to head toward where her husband and father-in-law were. She asked the employee to take the girl to the main bedroom apologizing for her son's behavior.

When she arrived to the room, Himawari saw her son already standing next to the chest, begging for it to be opened. He wanted to see the secrets, the treasures it contain. Seeing her enter, Shinobu took the items she had brought for his grandson. 

With her hands now free, Himawari picked up Sachiko and thanked the employee. While sitting down at the kotatsu she tried to keep her daughter calm. Meanwhile, he boy insisted in his demands. He began to comment about the treasures he could find.

“Kamui!” Only with the sound of his father’s voice he boy pulled his hands away from the chest and waited.

His fingers began to move with nervous while thinking he won a new reprimand. Sachiko went over to his brother and grabbed his hands. To the girl, the erratic movement of the fingers of Kamui’s was just a game. Izumi, watched his children interaction. It was as if the little girl knew how to calm her brother.

“Kamui, remember that you promise to behave” Izumi said with tranquility. “Here there are objects that could easily be broken.”

“Kami chan, come here” ordered Shinobu. He was sat in the kotatsu and had prepared the materials for his grandson. Sachiko decided to stay near the chest, hitting it with the hands. Kamui obeyed. “We are going to start with that chest. It contains valuable objects form several years ago. I’ll tell you what to write, understood?”

Kamui nodded with excitement watching the writing materials. With a gesture, Shinobu gave the instruction to opened the chest and Izumi did it. His son tried to get up to see better what was inside. 

The first object Kamui saw was a lavender silk, wrapped and tied with an old cord. Immediately knew what was it. Sachiko tried to touch it, but her father stopped her. Himawari took her daughter and return to the kotatsu. All the time Sachiko was begging about to see what her father had.

“Kamui, please write” said Shinobu. Finally the silk went down showing the artifact. Kamui was expecting a shining object not an old blade. “First item: late Edo-period Koto-Tachi. Ceremonial blade of the Yanagi clan.

Kamui didn't hear; his gaze was on that katana. Only when Shinobu clapped his hands and the boy he snap back to reality. Annoyed, Shinobu repeated what he had said, and Kamui began to write.

In the boy's imagination a story began to make a story for the weapon—it was a legendary artifact from an era too old for him to imagine.

“Listen closely, Kamui” Shinobu said in a measured tone. “That katana and several other items were forbidden long ago. This led to many similar weapons to being forbidden. I chose to keep this one because it is important to know who we were in the past.”

“Who were you in the past before you decided to be my grandfather?” Kamui asked with curiosity.

Izumi was surprised that his son was actually paying attention. He thought that was thanks to the useless stories his wife told Kamui before bed. Perhaps they weren't as useless as he thought.

“I was a samurai” Shinobu answered with pride. “The last of our family.”

“How many treasures did you obtain when you were a samurai?” Kamui asked with emotion. He was talking too fast and loudly. “Can I see them all?”

Izumi picked up the silk and began wrapping his father's katana once again. That was when he spotted something that caught his attention. It was a small wooden box, hidden in a corner of the main chest. With a curiosity similar of his son, he picked it carefully. 

Shinobu immediately, recognized it. He stood up and he took the little box. The children got close. Kamui stared at the box and asked, pulling on Shinobu's sleeve:

“Was that also a forbidden object?” Kamui asked. Sachiko began imitating her brother.

“See... see…" said the little girl.

“Father…" Himawari whispered timidly and with curiosity, “why is that box in the chest?”

“What are those?” Izumi asked. Next to the box, he found a series of envelopes that were clearly open. “This aren’t part of the warehouse's important objects.”

The envelopes were tied together with a worn gold cord. Unable to reach the box, Kamui insisted on helping untie the cord and see the letters' contents. His father allowed him to do.

The family was now gathered around the chest. Himawari had given up on returning to the kotatsu with her daughter and openly show her curiosity about the contents of the box and the letters. For a moment, she wondered if they were love letters from Izumi dedicated to her that he had never dared to send.

With his trembling hands, Shinobu took the letters and then, he opened it and saw the date: August 1864. At that moment, everything around Shinobu disappeared. He was now back to his youth, to the moment he met the woman who would become his fiancée. He read, in silence the letter:

August 23, 1864
To Urara:
The family received news of the clashes from Kyoto, and I fear they are worse than I thought. My father also received orders that could force him to send several men of the clan to the capital. I hear that even my older brother, Kohei, is being considered.
I did not. I don't know whether to feel relieved or worried. I must confess I even felt a bit of envy. Kohei has always been better than me in various intellectual abilities. I’ll remain here, in Edo. You may probably tell me that does not make more worthy than my brother. I wish I could believe it.
Shinobu Yanagi

Shinobu trembled with that memory. Not only because the political problems he lived. He had never gotten along with his brother and also, he just remembered how nervous was with that woman. He opened another letter.

November 4, 1864
To my beautiful fiancée,
I have confess it made me very happy that your father allowed you to accompany him to the checkup once more. I was surprised when you told me that you have begun studying medical texts.
I need to confess that I didn't understand half of the themes that you explained to me. Still, I liked listening to you. When you talk about medicine, your gaze change. While you talk about philosophy, you seem to forget that I am the one sitting besides you and I can’t understand a single thing about you say.
Only through this letter I must remind you that my intelligence will never compare to yours. Even so, I like hearing your voice. Forget I said that. I am worrying about the way I feel when I am by your side. You motivate me. My final confession will be this: I will be a better person to you.
Shinobu Yanagi.

There there were. He forgot that those letters were the only place he could be open to his true feelings.

March 28,1865
To you, the beautiful  Urara
I read your last letter so many times that I began to memorize several words and sentences that you wrote. You complain about why I always talk about Kohei, my brother. I still don’t even know the answered.
Almost every day you always said that I have to stop comparing with my him. I really don’t know how to answer you. All my life I was always compared with him, so for me is normal.
“I am not Kohei’s fiancée, I am your’s” you said with a loud voice, almost shouting. If before I couldn’t answered when you told me that my mind was all blank.
Shinobu Yanagi.

The last letter he decided to open could read:

May 1, 1865
To the most beautiful woman in Edo:
Today I saw you wear the fan I gave you last March. The comb I also gave you was in your hair. Both matched perfectly with the kimono you wore. That day, at least for me, you were a princess.
I was surprised when you asked me a single question: Why was I staring at you? "I don't know" was my answer. Our wedding is in 14 days, and I can’t stop wondering thinking why do you continue with this engagement.
You have become someone important in my life, and I have begun to notice how I remember too many things about you. The way you hold a book when you read it, for example.
I like the way you smile when you think you've won an argument. Even the way you flick your fan when you are impatient. Some people give it a name, and I am embarrassed to confess that is how I feel. I have fallen in love, and for the first time I must tell you something important: I love you.
Shinobu Yanagi, your future husband.