A Test of Loyalty

Year 1259 since the Great Fall

Takisuma wiped the sweat from his forehead with his leather glove, feeling the metal of his arm press against his skin. He had been working in the kitchen of the Komono House since dawn, helping the other servants prepare the meals for the day. He was used to being treated as a lowly servant, even though he was technically the son of the head of the house, Ryuu Komono. Though, it was no secret that Ryuu hated him, and would gladly get rid of him if he could.

That's why Takisuma had to obey every command given to him and endure the constant abuse from everyone. The last thing he wanted was to stand out and give Ryuu a reason to act on him. It was a constant walk on a fine line when it came to Ryuu. The least little mess up, and the man had a reason to punish Takisuma.

It was quite clear that Ryuu Komono was an ambitious man, who had married Hana for her status and the Komono land’s resources, focused only on expanding his power and influence. For reasons beyond Takisuma’s knowledge, Ryuu had somehow gotten Hana killed back then, even though she was the head of the House, by accusing her of adultery. And even took it as far as to have her publicly executed for a mass of people to see, including the King of Woucan.

Takisuma and Sakura had both witnessed their mother’s death. It was extremely hard for Takisuma, but it had completely changed Sakura, seeing and hearing her mother’s pleads whenever she was only five years old… it had scarred both of them for life.

Back then, Takisuma had sworn to protect Sakura from Ryuu, and to avenge their mother someday. Though, it was actually Sakura who ended up doing the saving first.

Even at such a young age, she had come up with a plan to save Takisuma from Ryuu by declaring that he was going to be her personal servant, and that no one could do anything to or with him without her consent. And with Ryuu treating and believing she was truly his daughter up until the point that Takisuma was born, he had no way to try and get rid of her and her status as the next head of the Komono House, therefore, he had no way to object the five-year-old’s order.

The best thing that Ryuu got out of the whole ordeal was the title of “Head” to make financial deals and stuff until Sakura turned eighteen. At the age of eighteen, after she has had all the proper training and studies needed, Sakura would then claim the responsibility of Komono House Head.

Sakura even went as far as to have Kuroda make Takisuma a pair of metal arms about a year back to make it more realistic for him being her servant—that was personally something that he was really grateful for. Though it was still tough getting used to them, actually having arms again made everything much easier…

Sakura had changed a lot after their mother's death. She had become far more mature and serious, hiding her emotions behind a mask of humility and obedience, even at her young age. She had completely lost the child inside her, replaced with a young woman. Though, she always smiled at Takisuma with warmth and affection, even when she was suffering or lonely herself. She always treated him as an equal, not as a servant or a burden like everyone else. If it wasn’t for Ryuu, Takisuma was sure that she would still be the young girl who smiled all the time, like she was seven years back, and not just when she was around him.

Ryuu had not wasted any time in finding another woman to replace Hana either. He had met her at a banquet shortly after Hana’s execution and they married within a month of their meeting. She ended up birthing him another son and then a daughter soon after also, and Ryuu showered them with all the love and attention.

Obviously kicking Sakura to the side, as much as he could anyway.

Ryuu kept them in the most luxurious part of the estate, where Takisuma was forbidden to enter. He only ever caught glimpses of the children from afar, and most of what he knew of them was from Sakura sharing the information.

Not that he cared. It was obvious to Takisuma what the old man was doing. Setting these other kids up to be his successors instead of Sakura. The only thing that Takisuma didn’t fully get was how Ryuu would end up pulling that off.

He had a terrible feeling that he was going to do something like he did with Hana. And Takisuma was not going to let that happen.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he heard someone call his name.

"Takisuma-san! Stop slacking off and get over here! You have to peel these potatoes!" one of the servants called out, her face wrinkled with a scowling frown.

Pretty much all the servants disliked Takisuma, a lot. They thought he was a freak, with his white hair, blue eyes, and metal arms. All of them driven to that mindset by Ryuu, brainwashing these servants, who had ended up replacing the ones that served the Komono House whenever Hana was alive, into disliking him—and even Sakura to an extent as well.

Takisuma clenched his teeth and put down the broom he was using to sweep the kitchen floor, like he was told to do a couple minutes prior. He walked over to her and took the knife and the basket of potatoes. He knew that it was useless to argue or complain. He had to endure this treatment every day, as part of his punishment for existing.

He started to peel the potatoes the best he could. His metal hands shaking and locking up with the motions of gliding the knife blade under the potato skins. He still hadn't got used to his artificial arms, even after a year and a bit of using them daily. Kuroda had tweaked and modified them several times to improve their functionability, and even after all of that he was still only this good with them. He wondered if he would ever feel normal like he did back in his previous life.

Well, I guess this is what I get after thinking about how much stronger metal was compared to bone before I died. Takisuma thought as he peeled one potato after another.

It had occurred to him after Sakura had brought up the idea of Kuroda making him metal arms that right before he died, he was beaten by a person in the group that attacked him—or… more accurately, he attacked—with a metal pipe. It had broken the bones in his arms as he used them to protect his head. He had subconsciously thought to himself that no matter how good of a fighter a person was, they could still be beaten by the weak if they brought an advantage to a fight.

Takisuma finished peeling the last potato and placed it in a large pot of water. He wiped his metal arms with a cloth and looked at the female servants who were busy cooking, washing dishes, and preparing tea. He bowed his head and asked politely, "Is there anything else I can do to help?"

Several of the servants glanced at him with disdain and annoyance before one of them snapped, "Yes, there is. You can scrub the floor, wash the windows, and dust the shelves.”

“And when you're done with that, you can go outside and sweep the petals off the path. It's a mess out there." Another servant added.

Takisuma nodded obediently and did as he was told.

***

Takisuma finished his chores inside the house and went outside with a broom. He started to sweep the path that was covered with pink petals from the cherry blossom trees. It was springtime, and the estate was beautiful with flowers and greenery. Takisuma admired the scenery, but he did not smile. He rarely smiled.

After a moment of sweeping, he heard someone call his name and looked up. He saw two children running towards him. They were Kenji and Akane, the children of one of the Komono clan's subordinates—a lesser House that was under the Komonos. They often visited the estate to play with Sakura and Takisuma whenever their father had business with Ryuu.

"Good morning, Takisuma-kun!" Kenji shouted. He was three years older than Takisuma with short black hair and brown eyes. He wore a blue kimono and a wooden sword at his waist.

"Good morning, Takisuma-kun!" Akane echoed. She was Kenji’s seven-year-old sister with long black hair and brown eyes. She wore a pink kimono and a flower hairpin. Takisuma always thought that Akane looked a lot like Sakura whenever she was this age.

“Good morning, Kenji-sama, Akane-sama.” Takisuma replied, bowing his head to the two of them. He held the broom in his hands and looked at them with a polite smile.

"How are you doing?" Kenji asked, leaning against a nearby tree. He crossed his arms and tilted his head, curious about the young servant.

"I'm fine." Takisuma said, lowering his eyes. He resumed his sweeping, moving the broom back and forth across the stone path.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked, walking closer to him. She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger and blinked her large eyes, trying to get his attention.

"I'm sweeping the path." Takisuma said, stating the obvious. He avoided her gaze and focused on his task. Sometimes he wondered why they would ask him such silly questions, but then it would click to him that they were still only children. Even though his body was physically their own age as well, he was nearly two decades ahead of them mentally.

"Why?" Kenji asked, looking at the path, “Path looks clean enough to me.”

"Because I was told to." Takisuma said, shrugging his shoulders. He did not want to explain the fact that he simply didn't have a choice in the matter.

"That's boring." Akane said, making a face that equally fit what she had just said. She grabbed Takisuma's arm and pulled him away from the broom. "Why don't you come play with us?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Sorry, I can't today." Takisuma said, trying to free himself from her grip. He glanced at the broom, which had fallen to the ground. He knew he would get in trouble if he left it there.

"Come oooon, why not?" Akane asked, pouting. She tightened her hold on his metal arm and leaned closer to him. She whispered in his ear, "We can have some fun together."

"Because I'm still working." Takisuma said, instantly feeling uncomfortable.

What the hell was that!? He thought before pushing her away gently and picked up the broom. He hoped no one had seen them.

"That's no fun." Kenji said, shaking his head. He grabbed Takisuma's other arm and pulled him in the opposite direction.

"You should have some fun." he said, grinning mischievously. "We want to show you something you've never seen before. We went there the other day."

"Maybe later." Takisuma said, lying. He knew he would be given more work after this. He always worked from sunup to sundown for the most part. Rarely did he get a little bit of time off, and the little bit that he did was only whenever Sakura pulled him aside. He looked at the two of them with a pleading expression and said, "Please let me go…"

Kenji looked at Takisuma for a moment with peering eyes before giving up and letting go dramatically. He put his hands up in the air and took a few steps back almost defensively. “Okay, okay… We will stop…”

Takisuma glared at Kenji for a moment, almost seeing his old friend Kai in the boy’s voice and body language. He turned around and picked up the broom, but before he could start sweeping again Kenji started back up.

“Buuuuut…” Kenji started, teasingly. “If Sakura-sama insisted that you played with all of us, you couldn’t refuse, right?”

“Could you stop pulling that card?” Takisuma argued, turning to face the boy, who wore a smirky grin. “It is too early in the morning for me to slack off. I will get in trouble for sure. And plus, I am sure Sakura-sama is too busy to play right now as well. She has been in her room all morning.”

“What all have you don’t this morning?” Akane asked, honest curiosity lacing her voice.

Takisuma was stumped. If he answered or avoided the girl’s question, they would argue that he had already done enough for the morning—they had done that to him before. He stood there for a moment trying to figure out the best thing to say, but it took him too long to think.

“See!?” Kenji scoffed, throwing his hands up at Takisuma like he was showing the rest of the world to him, “You have already done so much this morning that you forgot what all you did! —”

“No, I have not! —”

“Then why are you thinking so hard?”

“I’m not!” Takisuma let his voice get a little too low, his words coming across as more of a growl.

Just then, Sakura slid open one of the doors to the estate behind them and stepped outside, wearing a simple white kimono and a bright red obi. She smiled at the sight of her friends, but also noticed the tension in the air. She walked over to Takisuma and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good morning, everyone. What's going on?" she asked, looking at each of them with her gentle eyes. Her voice very calm and smooth.

Kenji and Akane immediately brightened up and greeted Sakura enthusiastically. "Good morning, Sakura-sama!" they said in unison with a bow.

"We were just trying to convince Takisuma to play with us, but he's being a stick in the mud!" Kenji added, pouting before he shot Takisuma another smirky grin.

Takisuma sighed audibly. Here we go…

"He says he has to work, but he's already done so much this morning!" Akane chimed in, frowning.

Sakura turned to Takisuma and gave him a soft look. "Is that so? Well, I think you deserve a break, Taki. I am taking one. You should as well."

Takisuma looked away from her eyes and muttered, "I don't know..."

Sakura tilted her head and smiled.

Takisuma glanced at Sakura again and saw the sincerity in her expression. He felt his resolve weakening, but he still hesitated. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Kenji interrupted.

"Please, Takisuma! We need you! You're the best at hide and seek and tag... You always make the games more fun and challenging!" Kenji pleaded, grabbing Takisuma's arm and pulling him in closer to whisper in his ear. “Plus, you can’t leave me to be the only boy playing with a bunch of girls… it needs to be equal!”

Takisuma pulled away just enough to look disgustedly into Kenji’s eyes, “Why do you even care about something like that at ten years old…” he whispered back.

Akane nodded in agreement, clearly not hearing Kenji’s added part between him and Takisuma. "Yeah, Taki-kun! We want to play with you!" she said, joining Kenji in tugging on Takisuma's other arm.

“First off, Sakura-sama is the only one allowed to call me that. I have told you that.” Takisuma started to Akane, and then turned to Kenji. “And I thought you said that you wanted to go and show me something, not playing games.”

This sparked Sakura’s curiosity. She narrowed her eyes to the younger children. “What is this…? Go where?”

Kenji’s face lit up with a wide smile as he looked up to Sakura. He let go of Takisuma and took a few steps back, pulling out his wooden sword from under his black obi and pointing it in the direction of the large wooden gates, leading outside of the Komono Estate’s courtyard.

“To the forest!” the young boy announced all heroically, looking down the length of his wooden blade, “There is a giant golden rock not too far away from here! Me and Akane found it the other…” Kenji kept talking for a moment before turning back to the others. Akane’s face was painted with joy, but Sakura’s showed more concern. Naturally, Takisuma glared at him with the most disapproving of looks.

“Absolutely not…” Takisuma stated, taking his broom back down the path to continue his sweeping. He was done with this conversation.

“Oh, come on!” Kenji argued back. “All you two ever do is stay within these walls… You need to actually see what the outside looks like sometimes as well. And besides that, we are talking about GOLD! A giant bolder of GOLD!”

“There is a reason we have those walls, Kenji-sama.” Takisuma said back to the boy as he started to sweep again. “It is to keep other things out, not us in…”

Even Takisuma himself didn’t believe what he said. What he said might have been true, but that isn’t what it felt like. This estate felt more like a prison other than a residence.

“And that sounds more like it was made up to me…” Takisuma added.

“It not!” Akane protested. She spread out her arms as wide as she could get them and looked up to the sky. “It was thaaaaaaat big!”

“As big as a carriage!” Kenji added on. “And there are no Monsters in these woods! Father kills all of them before they get close to here. That is his job.”

Takisuma looked back at his friends, letting out a deep sigh, “Even if that were true, we are still not allowed beyond that gate, so there is no point in continuing to get us to go…”

After all this time of Sakura being quiet, she finally spoke up over Takisuma. “I… I actually wouldn’t mind going to see this rock.” she looked at Takisuma who eyed her with peering eyes, obviously wondering why she would agree.

“Really!” Kenji exclaimed, gripping his sword with excitement.

“Yes. If this rock really is gold, that would be a great deal of money for the Komono House.” Sakura confirmed. “I think it is worth checking out. If it is not that far away, we will be back before noon.”

“Sakura-sama! Don’t you think that someone would have found this giant piece of gold before now!?” Takisuma protested. “Something like that doesn’t just appear out of nowhere.”

“You never know, Taki.” Sakura said, her voice smooth as ever. “It might have been covered with dirt of something before now. But either way, I want to go check it out—”

“Sak—”

“And you are coming as well.” Sakura ordered over Takisuma, causing him to freeze like he was cast to stone. “If you were part of the group that found this, Father would have to notice you more.”

This is a reeeeaaaally bad idea… Takisuma thought, but before he could say anything else, Sakura turned away and began to walk towards the gate. Akane followed very close to her but not enough to outpace her, and Kenji turned to follow as well, but not before laugh just loud enough for Takisuma to hear.

Takisuma sighed deeply before looking at the broom in his hand and the rest of the path before him that was still covered in pink petals.

I’m not going to hear the end of this one…

To be continued...