Wasted Nights chapter 2

[yun_miyake]

 Title: Wasted Nights

Pairing: Sakumiya/Ohmiya

Length: Chapters

Genre: Romance, Historical, Violence

Rating: Up to NC 17

Disclaimer: Only a borrower of their names

Summary: In the beginning of Edo period, the best samurai from different clans were expected to join training in Edo, led by the Shogun’s most trusted swordsman. The peaceful era of Edo, however, was still haunted by the survivors of Sekigahara Battle from Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s troops. Sho was chosen to join the training in Edo and he must select one of his underlings to travel with him. But nobody was qualified enough to accompany him, until one day, he encountered someone he never expected.  

Note: Triangle love story and a violence, mention of blood.

Betaed by  ladygiggles thanks so much for always helping me with the grammar errors. 

 

Sho’s decision to let Ninomiya participate in his troops training was viewed negatively by his subordinates. They were even more irritated when Ninomiya showed a much better skill in using weapons – something that Sho didn’t expect from the thief.

“Where did you learn it?” Sho asked as they walked together back to his chamber.

“On the street from a homeless samurai,” Ninomiya replied briefly. He didn’t show his ill-mannered attitude during the training which made Sho grateful. It seemed Ninomiya could be a serious man if he wanted to.

Sho couldn’t tell whether Ninomiya was telling him the truth or he simply lied to shorten the story, but it didn’t matter. He thought that he had found the right guy to travel with him to Edo for the special training with the Akatsuki troop. He knew his decision would cause an uproar and in order to avoid that, he had a plan. Perhaps the swords battle would be nice enough – the winner would be chosen to be his companion to Edo.

Ninomiya didn’t speak much; he finished the dinner quickly and left Sho, heading towards his room. Sho took a longer time to finish his dinner, thinking of his plan to hold a sword battle. Lord Mito as well as his underlings would question his motive, but Sho had prepared an argument. 

Sho woke up earlier the next day and waited for Ninomiya at the dining table for breakfast. The man joined him a moment later, with a messy hair and sleepy face.

“It’s so early, Sho-dono,” he mumbled, taking the chopsticks with eyes half closed.

“I need to talk about an important thing before the training,” Sho said.

“What is it? Am I disqualified?” Ninomiya asked without any interest.

“It’s the opposite,” Sho answered gladly. “I’ll announce that you’ll be my companion to Edo…”

Ninomiya murmured something which heard like ‘don’t be kidding me with something like that’

“…but you have to win the swords battle against my best underlings,” Sho finished his sentence, waiting for Ninomiya’s reaction, but all he got was a sleepy face, struggling to stay awake.

“What’s so good about Edo?” Ninomiya asked after chewing a big slice of radish.

“You’ll never know until you go there,” Sho gave a slight smile to the man.

***

Sho’s idea for a swords battle was welcomed by Lord Mito; it was the proper way to measure the skill of a samurai. The Lord even attended the battle which was good news for Sho – nobody would dare to cause an outrage if the clan’s leader was present. He took a seat beside the Lord, watching as the first battle was about to begin. Sho had twelve underlings, but only six were qualified to join; he had made a brief selection this morning and was satisfied with his choice. He glanced at Ninomiya who sat down at the furthest end of the line; his eyes locked to the pair who started the battle. Sho swore he saw a glimpse of smirk on Ninomiya’s lips as he watched the battle, but when he blinked, the smirk had faded, replaced by a serious expression. Perhaps Sho only imagined it.

The first battle ended with Yokoyama as the winner. The second battle was between Ueda and Yamada – Ueda only needed a couple of minutes to win it. The last one was Ninomiya and Satou; Sho could see how Satou’s eyes were on fire as he looked at Ninomiya with an utmost dislike. If it wasn’t because of the sudden appearance of the man, he would have become the strongest candidate for Sho’s companion to Edo.

Ninomiya, on the other hand was as calm as a lake. He encountered Satou’s attacks with flawless movement – almost effortless. His grip on the sword’s handle seemed loose, but also tight at the same time. He made a complicated turn and attacked Satou this time; his movement was so fast that Sho couldn’t follow it properly. The next time he saw Ninomiya’s sword on Satou’s neck.

Lord Mito clapped his hand unexpectedly, followed by everyone in the dojo. Sho’s eyes met with Ninomiya’s, he gave the man an encouraging nod.

The next battle was between Ninomiya and Ueda, but their skill had a huge gap which made Ninomiya win rather easily. Same thing happened with Yokoyama where Ninomiya forced him to let go of his sword on his third movement.

“I guess you’ve found your best companion, Sho,” Lord Mito patted Sho’s shoulder lightly as he left the dojo. Sho bowed in respect, waiting until the Lord couldn’t be seen anymore before returning inside. Ninomiya was sitting across from Sho’s other underlings with eyes locked at the dojo wooden floor. He lifted his gaze when Sho entered.

“We’ll depart next week,” Sho said shortly.

“Yes, Sho-dono,” Ninomiya answered immediately.

Satou and the rest of the troops left the dojo without any words, a deep disappointment was clearly imprinted on their faces. Sho ignored them, Ninomiya won the battle fairly and he had proven that his skill was far better than everyone.

Both of them trained intensively prior to their departure to Edo. Ninomiya received special lessons to adjust his manner and behavior during his upcoming stay in Edo. Sho could see how the man frowned every time the teacher fixed his way of holding the bowl or his way of slurping the soup.

“Do I really need it?” he asked the teacher blatantly on the third day of their lessons. The ‘manner adjustment’ – as Ninomiya called it, was held in Sho’s chamber. Sho was there all the time to watch Ninomiya’s progress and to help the teacher because Ninomiya kept on protesting and refusing to do what was requested.

“We’ll be meeting high-rank samuraiin Edo, we don’t want to show our awful manners, Nino,” Sho said.

“Since when did my name change?” Ninomiya asked, but his tone didn’t show a disliking.

“Your name is too long,” Sho replied, smiling at Nino as he grimaced after kneeling down for some time.

For a former thief, Nino was very smart. He might be complaining all the time, but he could remember the details within a short period of time. On the fourth day, he got his hair renewed with the formal chonmage style. The chonmage in Mito castle didn’t require them to shave the pate; Sho’s hair was only tied up in a bun and he left his bangs covering half of his forehead. Nino’s hair wasn’t that long; but the hairdresser of the castle worked his best to tie it on the back of Nino’s head.

The new hairstyle revealed Nino’s complete facial contour which was surprisingly pretty. Sho had been aware that Nino was cute since the first time he saw the man, but his recent look was even cuter. He had a hard time not staring at the man in front of him.

“Am I weird?” Nino asked, touching his hair bun.

“No,” Sho shook his head confusedly. “It suits you.”

He pretended that he had something to do in his chambers and told Nino to start packing his stuff for their travel. He didn’t like the sudden increasing heartbeat when he saw Nino’s face, it wasn’t something Sho expected when he decided to save Nino’s life. It wasn’t proper for a bushi like him. It would be a disgusting scandal if he didn’t control his feelings; he must refrain from doing something stupid.

 Nino was just a companion – nothing more.

***

Lord Mito provided the best horses for Sho and Nino to travel to Edo. They would be accompanied by ten other troops who were carrying food supplies and souvenirs from Lord Mito to Tokugawa Yoshinao. Both Sho and Nino wore kimonos with Mito’s clan symbol embroidered on its chest. Nobody would have guessed that Nino was a thief a few months earlier. The attitude lessons had worked very well on Nino, he was no longer an ill-mannered boy, on the contrary, he was a person with dignity.

The well-behaved Nino, however, only lasted for a few hours. He returned to his usual self as soon as they left Mito clan’s territory.

“My waist aches,” he said to Sho. “My shoulders too,” he massaged his own shoulder while looking at Sho from his horse’s back. “I’ll die before we reach Edo.”

“Are you saying that you’ll give up? After all the difficulties I’ve been through to get you here?” Sho asked, irritated.

“I didn’t say that, Sho-chan.”

“Watch your mouth, Ninomiya,” Sho hissed from the corner of his lips.

“Hey, you’re the one who gave me a nickname. Why can’t I do the same?”

“It’s different,” Sho replied.

“Alright, alright. I’m not equal to a samurai. Please forgive my rudeness, Sho-dono,” Nino bowed slightly while giving Sho a broad smile.

Sho inhaled a deep breath, it felt like travelling with a mischievous kid. Nino talked about his years as a thief along the way, he told Sho that he belonged to a group a long time ago. They had to steal a certain number of things once a week and deliver them to the broker. Most of the group members were arrested as their operations were known by samurai. Nino was one of the last members who escaped arrest; he began his life as a pickpocket thief ever since.

“Why did you steal at the kabuki hall, knowing that a samurai was there?” Sho asked as Nino ended his monologue.

“I didn’t know you were a samurai,” Nino replied. “It was my first time in Mito. The samurai I know would have travelled with some companions, they didn’t go to watch a cheap kabuki show by themselves.”

“That kabuki show is the best in Mito,” Sho mumbled.

“Oh, really?” Nino rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen the better ones in Kyoto.”

“I thought a thief doesn’t enjoy performing arts,” Sho commented.

“That’s the best place to steal,” Nino smiled amusingly. “Everyone’s attention is on the stage, they have no idea their wallet is missing.”

“That makes sense,” Sho flashed a weak smile at the man. He just hoped that Nino had really changed and wouldn’t do something stupid in Edo castle. As far as he knew, the samurai in Edo were cold-blooded. They didn’t forgive misbehavior that easily, dignity was their utmost concern.

The trip to Edo took two days. They spent the night in an old inn at the borderline of Edo. He and Nino shared a room; Nino fell asleep immediately as his head touched the pillow, but Sho couldn’t sleep until past midnight. He watched Nino’s sleeping face – it was probably the most peaceful face he had ever seen in his life.

Sho couldn’t tell whether he had made the right decision in taking Nino as his companion to Edo, given Nino’s unclear background, but he couldn’t explain why he felt attached to the man. Was this pity? Or was it curiosity? Or perhaps, simply because Nino was cute. The last possibility seemed to not make any sense to Sho. He didn’t trust other people just because they were cute.

“…the sword…” Nino mumbled unclearly in his sleep.

Sho leaned to him, but it was clear that Nino was still sound asleep. He tried to close his eyes, ignoring the strange nervousness he felt in his chest. He would train under Akatsuki troop – the best samurai in Edo castle. He would be gathering with samurai from other feudal lords across Japan; it would be a place where he could prove himself as a capable soldier. The sleepy feeling finally came; Sho dreamt of a wide meadow, Nino was standing in the middle of it with a complete samurai armor. His right hand was holding a sword, he was bleeding, as if he had just come back from a battlefield. Sho tried to call him, but his voice was swallowed by the strong wind.

***

“Ohno-san, do you need something before the performance?” Jun asked the man while handing a cup of tea to him.

“No, I’m fine,” Ohno said, receiving the cup from Jun and drinking the tea carefully.

“Lord Yoshinao is here to watch your performance,” Jun informed.

Ohno nodded, handing the empty cup to Jun and fixing his heavy kimono. Aside from becoming the captain of Akatsuki troop and the most capable swordsman in the entire Edo castle, Ohno was also a kabuki performer. He usually played the women roles otherwise known as onnagata; he was a completely different person every time he wore the costumes and make-up.

Jun, as Ohno’s sandal bearer* was tasked to assist him. He basically stayed by Ohno’s side all the time, making sure that the man got all he needed. Today’s performance would be the last for Ohno before the intensive training of Akatsuki began on the next day. Jun actually had reminded the captain that it wasn’t the right time to receive an offer to perform kabuki, but Ohno insisted. He told Jun that it was his obligation to perform – becoming a kabuki artist was a part of his dedication to Tokugawa clan.

Jun helped him climb the stairs to the main stage where he would make an appearance. He peered through the small space between the curtains; the performing hall audience was full; Lord Yoshinao was sitting in the VIP seat, he was busily talking with someone beside him.

The samisen was played as the sign for Ohno to appear on stage; Jun opened the curtain from behind and closed it right after. He could hear the applause from the audience as Ohno started his opening dance. He climbed down the stairs and took care of Ohno’s kimono alongside his sword. The man would perform for an hour and would leave the hall immediately for a final check of their activity on the following day.

Jun had read the list of samurai who would join Akatsuki; there were six clans in total with two representatives from each. As far as he remembered, Ohno never took apprentices. This training was Lord Yoshinao’s plan and Ohno had no choice but to obey the Lord’s command. Jun couldn’t imagine how Ohno would train those samurai; he had been serving under the man for more than five years, but not even once, had Ohno trained him, given his reputation as the best swordsman in the castle. He remembered how his friends were jealous of him when he was chosen to become Ohno’s sandal bearer. Jun had asked Ohno to train him with his sword technique, but all Ohno said was everyone had their own style and perhaps his skill won’t fit Jun.

How could that kind of reluctant person become a main trainer for samurai from other clans? What was Lord Yoshinao thinking?

Jun was ready at the curtain once again as Ohno ended his performance. He opened the curtain, waiting for Ohno to exit the stage. He followed Ohno’s steps towards the dressing room and quickly helped the man to take off his make-up and kimono.

A few minutes later, Ohno had returned to his normal appearance. He was way shorter and skinnier than Jun, his skin was rather tanned as a result from his outside training. Instead of chonmage, he cut his hair short which was actually forbidden, but Ohno seemed not to care about such a rule.

Jun handed him the sword as Ohno finished donning his kimono; the man took it and inserted it into his belt.

“I’ll take a quick look at the reception hall, please handle the rest. There’s something I need to do tonight,” Ohno said.

“Yes, Ohno-san,” Jun answered immediately. “I have prepared tomorrow’s schedule on your work desk.”

“Thanks,” Ohno said, walking ahead of Jun through the corridors towards the reception hall which was located in the other side of the castle.

Edo castle was a huge place; they sometimes needed an hour to reach the other side of the compound. The lower rank samurai bowed to Ohno as he passed through the paths and corridors. Jun always felt proud of himself as one of Ohno’s most trusted underlings. Everyone wanted to approach him as their way to be closer to Ohno, but he usually kept his distance from those people.

It was about time for Lord Yoshinao to appoint Ohno as a feudal lord; the gossip had spread all over the castle and Jun knew that not everybody was happy about it.

“Good evening, Ohno-san,” the person in charge for tomorrow’s welcoming ceremony, Kamenashi Kazuya approached them as they reached the hall.

Ohno nodded in response and stepped quickly from corner to corner, making sure that each symbol of the different clans was placed properly. He then checked the swords which would be awarded to the twelve samurai as the symbol that they had become a part of Akatsuki.

“Everything’s good, thank you for your hard work, Kame-chan,” Ohno said.

“Thank you for your compliment, Ohno-san,” Kame bowed deeply to Ohno. He couldn’t hide his excitement which somehow amused Jun. Perhaps he liked how Ohno called him ‘Kame-chan’ or how Ohno treated him with a friendly manner.

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Jun,” Ohno said.

Jun nodded.

Ohno left the hall with speedy steps. It was unusual for him to not take Jun along with him, perhaps it was a private matter. Jun approached Kame and once again they made a final check around the hall.

***

Sho and Nino arrived at their compound inside Edo castle at sunset. They were welcomed and guided by a young servant; he took them to the chamber where they would spend their night. Sho’s chamber was slightly bigger than Nino’s. It would be the first time for Sho to stay at a separate building than Nino after a month of living under the same roof. He wished Nino a good night before heading to his own room.

When Sho traveled to Edo for the annual feudal lords gathering, he usually stayed at the room near Lord Mito. The compound itself was located at the western side of the castle. He never paid any visit to this side; it was Lord Yoshinao’s private quarters, which according to rumor was raising a number of future feudal lords in order to dominate a certain part of Japan.

He stretched his limbs and slumped tiredly to the tatami floor. He could hear some noise outside, it seemed that the other representatives had arrived earlier here. A man with a high-pitched voice was talking with the utmost excitement to his friend.

“Did you notice the onnagata role? He’s Ohno Satoshi, the one who will train us. I can’t believe it, he looks fragile.”

His friend replied, but Sho couldn’t hear what they said as they walked further from his room. The mysterious Ohno Satoshi, the strongest swordsman inside Edo castle. Sho was surprised that Ohno was very popular at Edo; he felt stupid that he had never paid any attention to that name before. He slowly rose off from the floor, ate the provided dinner, took a long bath, and slept.

Nino was waiting for Sho outside of his chamber the next morning. He wore a nice deep blue kimono with a dark obi around his waist. He smiled at Sho as he approached.

“Did you get a nice sleep?” Sho asked.

“Sort of,” Nino shrugged. “My neighbor talked until midnight, his voice could be heard all over the place. I wonder why nobody broke into his room just to shut him up.”

“Was he the man with the high pitched voice?” Sho confirmed.

“Yes, did you hear him? His voice was so annoying.”

Sho briefly explained how the man talked about the kabuki show he had watched.

“I’ll teach him a lesson if he makes a noise again tonight,” Nino mumbled angrily.

“It’s better to report him to the person in charge. It’s not wise to cause an uproar here,” Sho patted Nino’s shoulder lightly.

They walked side by side towards the reception hall. Some samurai were already taking their place based on the clan’s symbol. Sho and Nino walked towards Mito clan’s flag and took a seat on the tatami floor nearby it.

“Where’s our symbol?” the same high-pitched voice was heard from the entrance.

Sho turned his gaze to the owner of the voice; a tall man with a dark green kimono was in the doorframe, spreading his gaze all over the room to find his clan symbol.

“Ah! There it is,” he happily pointed in Sho and Nino’s direction.

Sho craned his neck to the symbol beside Mito clan and found a green flag with the Mogami clan symbol. The high-pitched man stepped excitedly towards the symbol, a shorter man followed behind him.

“Excuse me,” he said, sitting beside Nino. “You guys must be Mito clan’s samurai. Please let me introduce myself, I’m Aiba Masaki of Mogami clan, nice to meet you.”

Nino raised his brows and exchanged a look with Sho as if trying to tell him that this Aiba was much worse than him in terms of behavior.

“My name is Sakurai Sho, nice to meet you, Aiba-dono,” Sho bowed slightly.

“This is Kazama, my companion,” Aiba said, clearly not bothered by Sho’s cold acceptance. “Did you guys watch yesterday’s kabuki. Ohno-san looked so pretty, he played a woman’s role.”

“We’ve just arrived yesterday evening,” Sho answered.

“That’s a pity, right, Kazama. You should watch Ohno-san next time.”

“Sure, but now, could you please shut up?!” Nino said impatiently.

Aiba grinned, but it seemed that he wasn’t affected by Nino’s dislike. He continued whispering something to Kazama until a figure entered the hall.

“Ohno Satoshi will be arriving soon, please be ready,” he announced.

All of them bowed lowly to the floor, waiting in silence. Sho could hear Aiba whisper the last word to Kazama before the door opened, revealing footsteps and the sound from a kimono.

“Raise your head, gentlemen,” a deep voice was heard.

Sho and the rest of samurai in the hall raised their heads. There were three men sitting down in front of them, the man on the left side was the person in charge that they had seen this morning. The man on the right side had a serious face and extremely thick eyebrows. The man at the center must be Ohno, but instead of a bulky-muscular samurai, he was skinny. His short hair was sticking out everywhere, his eyes looked unfocused and rather sleepy.  He was probably slightly older than Sho, but there was a childish appearance to his face.

“Welcome to Edo,” Ohno spoke with a rather soft voice as if he was not confident with what he said. “I’m glad that you all made it safely to the capital. We’ll be training as the same troop for the next six months. Thus, I ask you to leave your clan identity for a while and become a member of Akatsuki. Lord Yoshinao wants to provide the best skills for the most capable samurai from each clan in order to maintain peace and stability in your respective territory. The Lord trusts this important task to me, but it doesn’t mean I’m more capable than all of you, I’m sure we can learn from each other for the upcoming six months.”

“Now, as a symbol that you’ll become the part of Akatsuki, we’ll hand a sword to each of you. They were made specifically for this training. We hope all of you can use it well during our intensive training,” Ohno ended his speech and gave a code to the men on each of his sides to start the handover of the swords.

Sho took a closer look at Ohno. He couldn’t believe that this man was the strongest swordsman; he was as skinny as Nino, there was no sign that he was capable of defeating his enemies. Sho perhaps could win the battle in one-go with him. He turned to Nino to tell him what he thought of Ohno, but Nino’s eyes were focusing on the man.

It was an admiration look, no, it was something else.

Sho felt a pang inside his chest. He glanced at Ohno who was talking to a samurai from Asakusa clan; a sudden dislike grew inside him – something that he couldn’t name.

“Sakurai Sho-san,” the man with thick eyebrows called his name. “Here’s your sword,” he said.

Sho took the sword which was surprisingly heavy. “Thank you,” he said.

The man smiled, erasing the serious image from his face. “My name is Matsumoto Jun, I’m Ohno Satoshi’s sandal bearer,” he said with an utmost confidence and pride in his voice.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Matsumoto-san,” Sho said.

“I hope you’ll enjoy the training,” he bowed to Sho and Nino before returning to Ohno’s side.

Sho could see how Nino followed Matsumoto’s movement, but he averted his gaze immediately when he realized Sho was looking at him.

“Seems fun, eh?” Nino said, grinning.

“I guess,” Sho answered briefly.

“Hi, guys,” Aiba approached them again as he received the sword from Kamenashi (the man who was in charge since the beginning). “Do you have time for tea? Our training starts tomorrow, we’re free until evening.”

“No, thanks,” Sho and Nino replied in unison.

TBC .