Chapter 5: Kiss From a Rose

“Are you feeling well, Satou?” his mother asked as he prodded at his food with his chopsticks. “You aren’t eating very much.”

Her voice snapped him out of his daydream, and he resumed his meal. He couldn’t tell her that the reason that he had lost his appetite was because he had dined on venison during his time on the mountain of course.

“I’m fine mother, I was just ... distracted.”

“Those flowers that you picked,” his father said, gesturing to the bouquet that was now sitting in a vase in the middle of the table. “They don’t look any different from the ones that grow down in the valley.”

“No, these ones are ... prettier,” Satou insisted. “I wanted only the best flowers for Lady Sasaki.”

“I’m so glad that you’ve taken such a liking to that girl,” his mother said, Satou grateful for the change of subject. “Such romance in the context of an arranged marriage is rare indeed. You should consider yourself lucky, Satou.”

“This is entirely hypothetical of course,” Satou began, avoiding his father’s gaze as he tried to conceal his nervousness. “But what would happen if ... the Lady Sasaki ... rejected my advances? What if she refused the marriage because she didn’t like me?”

“That won’t happen,” his mother insisted, “you have nothing to fear Satou. Lady Sasaki is an obedient girl. She has been reared well, by a good family. She is well mannered, dutiful, a proper lady through and through. No one in her position would dare to dishonor their parents and their shoen by refusing such a beneficial union. It would be unthinkable.”

He swallowed a mouthful of soup, trying not to look as guilty as he was starting to feel.

“Love plays no part in a marriage of this nature,” his father added sternly, “duty to family and to society must come before one’s own whims. Remember what I always tell you Satou, those who come together in passion...”

“ ... stay together in tears,” Satou finished.

“Very good. Now finish your soup and get a good night’s rest. I want you working tomorrow, you’ll need your strength.”

“Yes, father...”

“You seem even more distracted than usual today,” Nagao said, holding the fence post as Satou hammered it into the ground. They were repairing the fence that encircled the farm, used to deter scavengers and animals like deer that might try to eat their crops. The sun was already high, and Satou kept glancing up at the mountain, a kind of tension overcoming him. He longed to visit Higa again. The idea of her waiting around for him beside the pool only for him not to show up was maddening.

“I saw the Oni again,” he admitted, “I spoke to her this time.”

Nagao sighed with exasperation, standing up and wiping his brow.

“Will you heed no one’s advice, young Satou? I warned you not to go exploring beyond the sluice gate a second time, and you did exactly the opposite! If you were my son, I’d box your ears.”

“She’s not what you think!” he insisted, “she isn’t a vengeful monster that wants to destroy us. She’s kind, reasonable. She didn’t try to eat me or trick me, or anything of the sort. She hasn’t caused any earthquakes or plagues. She’s just visiting the forest to hunt during the spring.”

“She is a yokai, a mystical creature,” Nagao said. “They are mischievous Satou. Just because she didn’t immediately try to eat you doesn’t mean that she won’t try something later! For all you know, she might cause a rock slide to crush the whole village, or she might conjure a blight that kills all the crops.”

“The Oni was kind to me, she fed me, she seems to want to teach me.”

“Teach you?” Nagao asked quizzically, “what does she want to teach you?”

“About her people and her culture, at least that’s what I think...”

He glanced longingly at the mountain again, Nagao shaking his head and muttering to himself as he retrieved another fence post from the pile.

“I know that look,” the old man grumbled, digging a furrow in the earth with the pointed end of the post. “I’ve seen it enough times to know that no amount of arguing is going to sway you. You’re smitten with her, aren’t you?”

“She’s like no one I’ve ever met before,” Satou admitted, “she treats me differently to everybody else. She understands me. The way she acts, the way she talks ... I can’t stop thinking about her. I dream about her.”

“Young love,” Nagao sighed, “as beautiful as it is destructive. You haven’t forgotten that you’re engaged to the Matsuyo girl, I assume? Let me guess, you don’t like her? She’s too demure for you, too prim and proper?”

“Nagao,” Satou began, “I-”

“Remember Satou, that as the heir to the shoen you have responsibilities and duties that go beyond your own happiness. Granted, being the lowly peasant that I am, I cannot imagine what it must be like to be compelled to marry someone that you don’t love. The lower classes of society might not get to enjoy the same luxuries and privileges as those at the top, but there is balance in all things. We enjoy freedoms that you do not. Do you have any idea what will happen if you refuse the Lady Matsuyo’s hand?”

“I don’t,” he admitted, “I have no plan. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what will happen. All I know is that when I met the Lady Sasaki, I felt nothing for her. I might as well have been engaged to a tree or a rock. But when I’m with Higa, the Oni girl, I feel alive in ways that I never have before. It’s like there’s a furnace burning inside me, like I can feel the blood coursing through my veins. Food tastes better, the world seems more colorful, and the thought of being without her makes my guts twist into a knot. What should I do, Nagao? How can this be wrong if it feels so right?”

“I remember when I met my wife,” he replied as he leaned on the post and stared into the distance, his eyes losing their focus as he dredged up old memories. “Nothing could have kept me from her. Your heart has switched places with your brain, and it’s making the decisions now. You’re in the prime of youth, you’re experiencing all of these emotions and feelings for the first time. It’s like being drunk on sake, you feel like you could move a mountain if it meant winning her heart, like she’s worth risking everything for...”

Satou was surprised that Nagao understood how he felt. The old man was wise indeed, he had lived a long and fruitful life, accumulating so many experiences.

“You were never one to heed my advice before,” Nagao continued, “and you certainly won’t listen to me now. But I have to try to get through to you, Satou, I owe as much to your father. If you commit to this, if you go down this path, then you will put not only yourself but your entire family in a very difficult position. They have vouched for you, they have gambled their honor on the notion that you will be obedient and dutiful. The inhabitants of both our shoen are depending on this union to improve our quality of life, to elevate our position as a community.”

Satou began to speak, but Nagao cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“I know that you didn’t choose this, none of us can choose to whom we are born. But never the less, it is your duty to take care of your people. Do you understand that? Your father didn’t act impulsively, he didn’t get where he is today by chasing dreams. He did what was necessary, regardless of how he felt about it, and a result there are dozens of families here who live in peace and security under his guidance.”

“Will you tell him?” Satou asked, his eyes turned to the ground and his head bowed. He wasn’t accustomed to being scolded by Nagao. The casual and friendly way in which he did it somehow made Satou feel worse than when his father subjected him to another one of his stern talks.

“I promised that I would keep your secret,” Nagao replied. “If I went back on my word, the spirits of my ancestors would rise from their graves and haunt me for tarnishing their good name.”

Satou breathed a sigh of relief, glancing back up the mountain again.

“She’s waiting for you, isn’t she?” Nagao asked. Satou nodded. The old man rolled his eyes and held out his hand, gesturing for Satou to pass him the hammer. “Go on then, but it would be wise to return before your father comes looking for you. He won’t miss you for a few hours.”

“You mean it?” Satou asked, his expression brightening. “But ... will you be alright on your own?”

“I’m not so old that I can’t repair a fence without your help,” he grumbled, “now off with you. I don’t agree with what you’re doing, but I know that you’ll do it anyway. The best I can hope for is that you’ll get over this girl and come to your senses in time for the wedding.”

“Thank you, Nagao,” Satou exclaimed, practically hopping with excitement. He composed himself, then gave the man a more sincere bow to express his gratitude, Nagao waving for him to stand.

“I’m only an old farm hand, boy, I’m not worth such formalities. Now off you go, and take the forest path lest someone see you.”

Satou nodded enthusiastically, jogging off in the direction of the dense woodland that surrounded the farm.

The ferns rustled as Satou pushed through them, arriving at the border of the clearing. He peeked between the trees, his heart racing, not just from his hurried climb but because he feared that he might have missed Higa. She had told him that she would only wait there for a short while.

He was relieved to see a massive puff of white, only her hair and her red shoulders visible from where he was standing. She was lounging in the water with her back to him, resting her elbows on the grassy shore. Satou could see her cloak and her clothing lying on the grass nearby, which meant that she must have shed them before entering the water. He watched her for a moment, wondering if it would be intruding to announce himself right now, but the snap of a twig alerted her to his presence.

She reached a hand over her shoulder and beckoned to him with her finger.

“Not peeking again, are you Satou? You took your time, I thought you might not be coming today.”

“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I wanted to come sooner, but I had some trouble sneaking away.”

“Oh, you’re being rebellious again today? Come join me. It’s a hot afternoon, and the water is wonderfully cool.”

He hesitated, then emerged from between the trees, his face already reddening as he made his way over to her.

“It’s so nice to be able to bathe here” she sighed, leaning her head back and enjoying the spray from the waterfall. “It’s easy to work up a sweat while hunting, especially since it gets very hot and humid down at this altitude. I’m used to the snow-covered mountain tops, I’d never come down to the tree line if it wasn’t where the best game is found.”

He approached the edge of the pool and stopped beside her, Higa turning her head, looking up at him with a toothy grin that was becoming all too familiar. The water was crystal clear, there was nothing preventing him from copping an eyeful of her magnificent, red body. He averted his gaze, steam practically rising from his ears as she chuckled at him.

“Now now Satou, an Oni wouldn’t avert his eyes when faced with a beautiful woman. We go without clothing all the time, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Speaking of which, you can’t very well take a dip with yours on, can you?”

“Maybe I should just ... stand at the water’s edge,” he mumbled.

“Nonsense, you worked up a sweat climbing the mountain, come and cool off for a while. You don’t have anything that I haven’t seen before.”

He considered for a moment, then did as she asked, walking a short distance behind her so that she couldn’t watch and shedding his clothes. He stripped down to his loincloth, not willing to go fully nude, and quickly slipped into the water a few feet to her left. He gasped as the cold liquid touched his feet, sliding down until he was sitting on the rocky bottom. The water reached his neck, while barely serving to cover Higa’s bosom due to their difference in stature. At this angle the sun was reflecting off the surface of the pool, obscuring what lay beneath, and he felt a little more comfortable.

Higa was right, the water was pleasantly cold, and the spray from the waterfall felt lovely against his face. It was nice to be able to wash off all of the sweat that he had accumulated during his hike, those heavy clothes didn’t do him any favors. He allowed himself to relax, sinking a little deeper, blowing bubbles as the water reached his mouth.

“That’s gonna chafe, you know,” Higa said as she gestured beneath the water at his loincloth. “Better let it dry in the sun for a while before you head back down the mountain.”

Satou didn’t reply, enjoying the peace and tranquility, enjoying being around Higa again. All of the tension that he had felt during his time away from her had evaporated the moment that he had laid eyes on her again, like surfacing for a gulp of air after holding his breath for a long time.

“What are you doing all the way over there?” Higa asked, making waves as she shuffled closer to him. Before he could escape, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him tightly against her body. Her nearest breast cascaded over his shoulder like it was trying to swallow him up, his body going as stiff as a board as he felt her smooth, wet skin against his own. Her flesh was so malleable, molding around him like a sack of grain, the weight of it threatening to push him beneath the surface.

She laughed at his expression, their cheeks now the same shade of red, loosening her grip a little.

“That’s better. You didn’t trek all the way up here only to sit so far away from me, right?”

His apprehension slowly melted away, his desire to be near her overpowering his social graces. It was everything that he had been taught not to do, and yet just the contact of her skin, the warmth of her body made him feel like he was floating on a cloud. He even dared to rest his head against the cushion of her breast, feeling it sink an inch or so into the red globe, its texture smoother and softer than even a silk kimono. He waited for her to push him away, to scold him for his unsolicited contact, but she never did. It was intoxicating. He felt blood rushing to his nethers, and he thanked his stars that he was still wearing his loincloth.

“There you go,” she said, ruffling his hair. “It’s called intimacy, it won’t kill you. You just need a little practice, and you’ll get the hang of it. So have you told your dad that you don’t want to marry that posh girl yet?”

“N-No...” he admitted.

“What are you going to do about it? You’ll have to do something, right? You’ve made it clear that you don’t like her, are you just going to keep pretending that everything is fine?”

“I don’t know,” he grumbled, sinking deeper into the water and blowing bubbles again. “Everyone is depending on me to unite the two shoen. It’s all anyone ever talks about. My father keeps saying how proud he is of me for taking responsibility and being obedient. My mother won’t stop talking about married life, like she’s trying to give me advice. Whenever I walk past them, the villagers chatter and whisper, they’re as excited about the wedding as my mother is.”

“Sounds like a lot of pressure,” Higa said, clasping her hands behind her head as she leaned back. “You haven’t told anyone besides me how you’re feeling?”

“Only my friend Nagao knows about it, and about you.”

“Oh?” Higa asked, “what did he say about me?”

“He thinks you’re going to eat me or cause a plague...”

“Figures,” she snickered. “I won’t bite,” she added, baring her sharp teeth. “Not unless you ask me nicely...”

“What do you think I should do?” Satou asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Hard to say, Oni society is very different from yours. We wouldn’t ever find ourselves in that situation. But I can tell you that if someone tried to force me to do something that I didn’t want to do, I’d fight them tooth and nail.”

“I can’t fight my parents...”

“No, but you can tell them the truth. What’s the worst that could happen, and is that worse than spending the rest of your life with someone that you don’t love?”

“I don’t know that either,” he grumbled. “My father would be furious, my mother would be disappointed, my community might reject me. Maybe they would throw me out of the shoen to fend for myself in the wilderness.”

“Are you sure they’d react that badly? Even if you pissed them off, your parents would still love you, surely?”

“I can’t say for sure, but all my father seems to concern himself with is honor and duty and the family name.”

“Oni are expected to survive on their own in the wild from a young age,” she said as she draped an arm about his shoulders again. “It’s not that hard you know, especially down at this altitude. There’s plenty of game, fruits and vegetables growing wild, medicinal herbs that you can make use of. If they really do kick you out, I can teach you how to live off the land. You’ll be fine.”

“You’d really do that for me?” Satou asked.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be any trouble. If you lived with me for a month or two, you’d pick it up in no time.”

The prospect certainly cheered him up a little. He didn’t want to leave his home, of course, it was all that he had ever known. But he had no idea if his parents would go as far as to disown him, or if his community would exile him. Suicide pacts between lovers who were not allowed to be married were not uncommon, nor was being denied inheritance for going against the wishes of one’s family. At least he had somewhere else to go if the worst was to happen.

“You need to learn to stick up for yourself,” she continued, “headbutt your dad if you have to. Assert your dominance.”

“I can’t headbutt my father,” he laughed.

“Well you’re going to have to do something, right? It seems cruel to me, forcing someone to marry when they don’t want to. You’re so young, you shouldn’t be shackled to a woman you don’t even like. You should be enjoying yourself, experimenting, messing around with girls.”

“Messing around?” Satou asked. Higa laughed at him, trapping him in a headlock and rubbing her knuckles against his scalp. He struggled but it was futile, her muscles were like iron.

“You’re such a little ... I don’t even know,” she chuckled. “You’re so sheltered, it drives me crazy. I want to get you drunk off your lordly face and throw you into a brothel just to see what would happen. Nobody should be this innocent at your age.”

“Well you won’t find any brothels around here,” he said, straightening his hair as she released him. “So ... have you ever...”

“Have I ever messed around? Yeah, plenty. My people aren’t like yours, we have a different concept of romance. We don’t have to wait around until we’re married.”

“Is there someone back at your village that you ... like?”

“You’re asking if I have a lover? No, not officially.”

He tried to conceal his relief, Higa watching him out of the corner of her eye as he sat beside her in the water.

“You can ask about sex, you know,” she added. Satou nearly jumped out of his skin, averting his eyes and wringing his hands again. “Watch you don’t boil the water there, kid. You’re more than old enough, it’s normal to be curious. I suppose you haven’t had any exposure to it. Do they teach you about it at all in your culture?”

“That’s ... between a man and a wife,” he mumbled. “It wouldn’t be proper...”

“Yeah, maybe in your fantasy land. Do you think that everyone holds out until they’re married, even in your society? How many lords and ladies go around doing the nasty in secret before they’re auctioned off to whichever family has the most oxen? Most of them I’d bet.”

“Passion has no place in a marriage,” Satou insisted, repeating what his father had endlessly drilled into him.

She pulled him tight again, her breast pressing against his burning cheek.