Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Sakura Monogatari (Cherry Blossom Tale) ❯ Chapter 2

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I don't own fake.

Ryo readjusted the blanket over him and tried to will his mind into calmness, but sleep continued to allude him. After serving Rose-sama and his guests their tea, he had retired to his own quarters. Not long after, the innkeeper had knocked at his door. Ryo's heart sank at the sound; he was sure it meant that Rose had requested a private audience with him.

"Well, your popularity is growing," the large man said gleefully. "Tomorrow night you've been requested by another one of the samurai," he told him. Ryo did his best to look pleased at this news. "Let's hope his pockets are as deep as Rose-sama's!" the innkeeper added as he turned to leave.

"Which man was it?" Ryo asked, surprised, though not disappointed, that the request had not come from Rose.

The surly man glanced back at the blond with a light of warning in his eye. "Does it matter?" he said crossly. "You can't afford to have favorites, you know!" he said, sliding the door shut with a loud KLACK!

So now Ryo laid on his thin sleeping cushions, unable to rest as his mind reviewed the evening and he tried to guess who he'd be meeting the following night. Automatically, the image of two deep green eyes flooded into his mind. Those unusual, intense eyes had seemed to look right through him. Shivering, he pulled his worn covers tighter about him.

He startled himself with the unexpected thrill that raced through him at the idea of being intimate with this stranger. Sighing, he shook his head to clear it of these fanciful ideas. There had been a couple occasions were Ryo had felt similarly in the past. He had thought that maybe with a certain person that perhaps the experience wouldn't have to be a negative one. That maybe this time he would meet someone who actually would care for him and whom he could learn to love in return. Such idealistic notions about his predicament soon faded in the light of experience.

No, he couldn't get his hopes up. He wouldn't put himself through that again. Although he had to admit that there was something... unique and tender in that look the man had given him. But there had also been lust. THAT Ryo was familiar enough with to recognize right away.

Even so, he couldn't get the image of the man out of his head as he tossed and turned on his futon. He couldn't help but wonder if the darkly handsome man had foreign blood in his veins as well. Where else would he get such a brilliant, distinct shade of green in those penetrating orbs?

Knowing that it would do him no good to let his mind wander over such things, Ryo shifted again and settled deep into his blankets. Tomorrow would bring what it may, for good or ill. But deep within his heart, the blond man dared to hope for a happy ending.

* * *

"Konbanwa, Dee-san! So good to see you this evening!" the owner of the inn said with a bow. Dee gave a curt bow in return and said nothing. He didn't much care for the innkeeper, but he was willing to put up with him for the pleasure of Ryo's company. Only last night when he had made the arrangements and payment had Dee learned of the intriguing man's name.

Ryo. It suited him.

Dee was quickly lead to one of the smaller, private rooms on the second floor of the establishment where he was left to wait while his prize for the evening prepared to receive him. Oddly, he found himself unable to sit still as he fidgeted with the edge of his sleeves. He'd never been patient, but he'd learn through his bushido training to settle his mind. Besides, this was hardly a situation that would require him to call upon his fighting skills. Even so, he could not keep calm. There was simply something about this Ryo that crept into his bones, and it was unnerving.

Thankfully, Dee didn't have to wait long before the door was slid open and the object of his musings stepped gracefully inside. The door hissed shut behind him and the blond man knelt down to pour a obligatory cup of sake.

Dee watched the man's movements with quiet delight. He had known many geisha who had trained for years and never achieved the kind of subtle elegance that Ryo seemed to display with ease.

As he breathed in the sight and smell of this man Dee felt unreasonably affected for someone with his extensive years of sexual experience. Yet his mind still paced with boyish thoughts. Even now he could only think of how Ryo seemed even more beautiful this night than the last.

The blond man's yukata drifted exquisitely down over his shoulders, but fell slightly open at the neck, leaving the broad expanse of his chest in full view. The material at the back was also drawn low, revealing the smooth, pale skin at the nape of Ryo's neck as he leaned forward to pour the rice wine in a small cup.

Dee's pulse raced at the sight. There was something about the elegant arch of the back of the neck that always captivated him. Visions flooded his head of Ryo bent before him, stripped bare as he took him from behind and leaned over to scrape his teeth savagely along that sensitive strip of skin.

It was all he could do not to bend down right then and there and clamp his mouth along the exposed column of his neck and hear the man cry out in astonishment and arousal. But it was Ryo's very refinement and beauty that stayed his movement. Although it had never bothered Dee before, he discovered that he wanted to take his time with Ryo, seducing him into submission rather than roughly taking him. Not that it really mattered, he supposed. It wasn't as if Ryo was unaccustomed to such matters.

"Ryo," Dee said, liking the sound of the man's name on his lips.

The blond man looked up at him expectantly then with those gorgeous eyes. "Hai?" he asked.

"Tell me something about yourself," Dee found himself saying.

For a moment the man looked surprised, but the emotion was quickly veiled. "What would you like to know?" he asked. Before Dee could answer, though, Ryo asked, "Would you like to hear what I /like/? About what I'd like you to do to me?"

Dee blinked. It was a typical reply given their situation, but he hadn't meant the question to be taken that way. The flirtatious words didn't seem to fit with the delicate image of the man before him. Dee's dark eyebrows furrowed together. No, he didn't want to hear the coy, rehearsed reply; he wanted a genuine response.

"Tell me how you happen to have that gorgeous golden hair," Dee said after a moment.

This question clearly caught the man off-guard. Of course, others had asked Ryo the same, but it was Dee's tone and the sincerity behind it that briefly broke his composure. Dee saw him shift ever so slightly before speaking.

"My father..." Ryo began with soft hesitation, realizing he was willing, for whatever reason, to divulge the truth to this man. "My father," Ryo repeated more clearly, "was a foreign missionary who met my mother when she was training as a geisha. He said he was going marry her and bring her back to his homeland with him, but..." Ryo paused. "He was killed shortly after I was born," he finished, his eyes looking down to gaze at his hands folded on his bent knees.

"I see," replied Dee. His mind was able to fill in all the things the blond man didn't say: that his exotic looks made him an outsider in his own land, but also drew admirers who found him a titillating conquest. It wasn't far from his own experience, though Dee was slightly more fortunate to have come from a line of samurai, even if they were of low rank.

"So we both have foreign blood in our veins," Dee said to break the sudden tension between them. Ryo looked up now.

"I come from a line of samurai that originated on the northern islands. So there is some Ainu blood in me," he explained.

"Soo desu, ne?" Ryo replied politely, but his gratitude toward Dee revealing part of his own background was evident. Sensing that the dark-haired man wished to further their conversation and emboldened by Dee confiding in him, Ryo ventured to ask, "What is it like? The life of a samurai?"

Dee thought the question a bit unexpected and found himself saying, "Why ask me? Surely you've known /many/." He immediately regretted his words. He hadn't meant them to be hurtful. Or maybe he had. The idea that this man must have sat in this very room with countless 'clients', perhaps talking with each of them with such intimate, casual ease, raked at his pride as well as nagged at a deeper feeling he wasn't sure he wanted to acknowledge yet. It was very unusual for him to feel jealousy and he didn't handle it well.

However, Ryo was used to the irrational jealousies of his customers and hid his pain from this barb with a simple reply of, "No one has ever really talked of it."

Although he knew he had probably offended Ryo, Dee tried to reply as if he'd said nothing out of the ordinary. "It's not as exciting as it may seem. These days our roles are becoming more and more ceremonial. Most samurai are taking positions in the government," he said with a sigh. "I've even heard they are considering a law to outlaw all swords." Ryo looked genuinely surprised by this information.

Noticing the man's glance toward the two swords at his side, Dee asked, "Would you like to hold it?"

.Ryo blinked.

"My sword," Dee explained. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled out the long katana and handed it to the blond man.

"It's heavier than I thought," Ryo said, weighing the instrument in his hand. "Are you sure it is safe to hand his to me?" he asked, his voice growing soft. "What if I were to use it against you?"

Dee smiled, confident in his abilities. "I still have my other, short sword, you forget." he told him. Then he said, "Besides, why would you want to do such a thing?"

As Dee watched the man handling the blade, he saw a haunted light briefly gleam within Ryo's dark eyes.

"Perhaps," he said slowly, as if to himself, "I've grown tired of always being used as a sheath for a samurai's sword!" Their was a dark edge to the man's voice, but when his eyes lifted to Dee's once more, he blanched.

"S-sumimasen!" he cried, placing the sword at Dee's knees. "I forgot myself!" he said in a desperate tone. Placing his hands on the tatami before him, he bowed his forehead until it touched his fingers. "Sumimasen! Sumimasen!" he repeated entreatingly.

Softly, Dee stepped over to the prostrate man and, slipping his fingers beneath his chin, raised his eyes to meet him. Their was such naked pleading in those glassy, dark orbs, Dee couldn't help himself. Dipping his head, he licked away a stay tear, then softly brushed his lips over Ryo's own.

A soft whimper slipped passed Ryo's parted lips and, encouraged, Dee pressed down more firmly upon his mouth. An expert tongue traced Ryo's lower lip and Dee felt the man's mouth open, an answering tongue gliding out to twine with his. But there was something prefunctionary about the blond man's response. Pulling back, Dee looked over Ryo's features and he saw nothing.

No passion. No heat. Only blank acceptance of the duty expected of him.

And Dee realized that this was not enough for him. "I think I'll be going," he said, clearly surprising the other man, who's eyes widened a bit before his head dropped down, dejected.

There was a slight tremor in his voice as he asked, "Do... do I not please you?"

Dee's smile in return was full of warmth and comfort as he gently cupped Ryo's chin to force his eyes to meet him once more.

"Your beauty is beyond the inadequate words I have to describe it, you couldn't possibly fail to please me," he told him, earning a sudden and heavenly smile from the man. "But the question is not whether you please ME, but whether I am pleasing to YOU..."

With that, he turned and stepped from the room, leaving Ryo in a stupefied silence.

***********

GLOSSARY

bushido: The way of the samurai; the art of the samurai sword

katana: The traditional samurai long sword- although they always had a short sword at the waist as well.

yukata: The light kimono usually worn in spring and summer, usually for festivals. (but I still have Ryo wearing it here.)

tatami: The straw mats that divide the floor of Japanese houses. Even today rooms are measures in how many 'tatami' make up the space.

sumimasen: excuse me, forgive me

'soo desu, ne': Is that so?

Ainu history & Dee's eyes: Although the Ainu are actually thought to be the 'native' inhabitants of the Japanese islands (we're talking WAY back), they are actually caucasians with lighter hair and eyes and are extremely hairy. (Hence Dee's northern origins and his green eyes.) They were pushed further north as the Japanese race expanded and are known for their worship of the bear as a protective spirit.

There's a lot of controversy over their origins and how they relate to the Japanese. Some scholars believe the Japanese did evolve from them, just along a different route. Others are convinced that the Japanese came from the mainland and pushed them out.

It's difficult to know much about primitive Japanese culture because they didn't develop writing for SO long, so there's a huge lack of records and the only thing known about them at an early stage is the pottery they made. Interesting, ne?