Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

400 Years Apart	By : Cynthermes Category: +M to R > Mirage of Blaze Views: 4238 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Mirage of Blaze and its characters solely belong to Kuwabara Mizuna. I’m just going to creep into a corner of her sand box and play the part of a wannabe historical writer. No profit has been made in the construction of this story.

Chapter List
- 32
- 33
- 34
Chapter 33:

Happyaku-nen Arc:

A Tale of Two Siblings

A/N: In a secret rest house covered by a mysterious fog near Lake Ashi, the knights speak of the tale of Tsurugi no Kusanagi’s untamed guardian spirit, Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Warning: This chapter is a mini arc in itself and you may initially find yourselves wondering if you had accidentally wandered off into some different story… But you’re still in 400 Years Apart, guys. This arc is essential to the plot and would feature Minamoto no Yoritomo’s relationship with his brother, Yoshitsune.

More Shinto Japanese Mythology snapping at your heels but this is a part of the story so again please bear with me. Also, INCEST yeah in capital letters so I’ll rate this Serious M and for mature readers only. Also, those who are against incest please DO NOT READ FURTHER.

…

Tsurugi no Kusanagi was a gift bestowed to quell the lasting animosity between two celestial siblings.

The two siblings, the major god and goddess: Susano-o, kami of storm and seas and Amaterasu, kami of sun and heaven were offspring of Great God Izanagi. These brother and sister were said to have been rivals, the former often the instigator of conflict and the latter the one who is mostly appeased. Susano-o was always jealous of the people’s affection for his sister. She, being the source of the sun’s power was highly revered because without the sun there would be no warmth, no food and no fair weather for festivals. He on the other hand was instead feared more than loved for he commands storms that destroy crops, houses and livelihood, made rivers overflow and the seas rage to sink vessels and swallow lands.

Thus he would often have fits of anger and like a temperamental child would vent his displeasure on his sister. One of his more violent outbursts were said to involve the death of Amaterasu’s attendant and the destruction of her rice fields. Stricken by grief and distress she was said to have isolated herself in a divine cave causing the sun to hide behind the clouds until she was coaxed to come out.

Susano-o’s rampage resulted to his banishment from Heaven but to reconcile with his beloved sister and to repent for his wrongdoings he offered her the blade that would aid her descendants in purifying the land and purge all impurities.

Minamoto no Yoritomo’s will to reconcile with his brother, Yoshitsune in the first moments in the afterlife warranted for Susano-o’s apparition. The mortal’s feelings of regret, of passion, and severe anguish for his past actions towards his brother called strongly on Susano-o’s sympathy. Furthermore, the kami had found the rightful guardian spirit of Tsurugi no Kusanagi.

To be together in the ideal afterlife, to be inseparable once more, Tsurugi no Kusanagi will always exist for Yata no Kagami until the latter forgives the former. The pair, as two of the three imperial regalia of Japan should never be separated in any deliberate spiritually anomalous means. Should the guardian spirit of the mirror Yata no Kagami be held against his will, the guardian spirit of Tsurugi no Kusanagi will react on its instinct to protect and safeguard.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

The first time I laid eyes on him he was but a babe cradled in his mother’s arms, I surely didn’t know at that time that after 20 years I shall see him again as a beautiful young man.

I recall that night perfectly. There was a bright moon, there were songs and merriment around a campfire for it was the third night of celebration after my wedding.

I, being a foolish young man who was exiled then become adopted into the influential family of Izu: the Hojo and met my adoptive father’s daughter carelessly thought I was in love with her. She, who already had a fiancé was convinced by her father, Tokimasa that I would be a better husband.

Masako’s fiancé was assassinated through Tokimasa’s orders.

She and I, convinced of our love was blessed by fate, wed.

And when the orders came from the Imperial Prince to avenge my family against the tyrannical Heike¹⁰³ my exile ended and along with it came a most unexpected reunion.

I was sitting at the wooden platform sipping fine sake when a messenger alerted me of an army at the gates. A matrimonial gift as well as a scroll bearing the genuine emblem of the Imperial Prince was read aloud containing the introductions for the formally garbed men outside. Without letting the man finish, I ordered my soldiers to grant the idlers entry. Soon, warriors clad in the colors of the Fujiwara came pouring inside. Among all of them there was one that immediately stood out for his fine features had a resemblance to mine.

Elegant, graceful and with a commanding presence humbled out of respect for me, he walked forward, bowed his head and dropped on one knee like a common soldier. He refused to meet my eyes when he announced that he was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Tokiwa Gozen. Seeing how he carried himself with a mixture of composure and naiveté endeared me to him and I bid him to rise, choosing to end this awkwardness I beckoned him to me with open arms and called, “Brother,”

A startled look fleetingly crossed his beautiful face before he glowed with my acceptance and almost hurriedly approached me and was enveloped in my arms. “I came late but best wishes, Brother.”

“Thank you, Ushiwaka. It’s been a long time but welcome home.” I said as we parted and then spotted the slight dusting of rose across his cheeks.

He seems to be embarrassed by something. “I’m sorry but the name you called me by…”

I couldn’t help teasing him; a cruel part of me wanted to see him flustered by my words alone. “Do you not like it? It is your childhood name so I thought you won’t mind me calling you such.”

To my delight it caused him to flush some more. “I don’t… mind.”

22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

Masako was not the jealous sort for she being a rare specimen of femininity and a known brilliant negotiator amuses herself with the company of my retainers. In fact most of the elders look up to her and admire her. It was not unknown to me that even in her childhood she has spent more time in horsemanship, archery, hunting, or fishing with men of the Hojo than even with her mother or sister. So it somehow surprised me when she made an offhand but shrewd comment about my newly reunited brother.

“Yoshitsune really likes you, doesn’t he?”

I look up at her raising a brow but she smiles like knowing some little secret. “Does he often come to your room at night to simply listen to your outlandish tales?”

She was pulling my leg but I didn’t let any reaction show on my face. “He merely wants to speak about our late father*. He has no recollection of Chichiue* or his mother, Tokiwa-Gozen so finally hearing stories about them makes him feel less of an orphan.”

Masako giggles but didn’t say anything more. And as if that was the end of the conversation footsteps were soon heard outside our quarters and the respectful knocking follows along with a melodic masculine voice, “Yoshitsune bids you good evening, Tono-sama.” Formally came first before a more impersonal and somewhat timid, “Aniue, are you still up? If you are, can I come in?” was said after.

“Right on cue," Masako-no-kata, my wife whispers to me with a different gleam in her eye I couldn’t quite decipher. I direct my gaze at the closed doors. “Come in, Ushiwaka.”

The bushi guarding my doors immediately let him inside.

The initial excited expression on Ushiwaka’s face falters as he sees who I was with. He bows, “Ojo-sama¹⁰⁴.”

Masako’s calculating and imperious bearing melts. She affixes an amiable and gentle demeanor. “Good evening, Yoshitsune. We were just speaking about you.”

“I do not want to appear intruding, so good night Tono-sama, Ojo-sama.” Ushiwaka bows again and waits for me to bid him leave.

“Oh no, please don’t leave. You are not imposing on us, not at all, Yoshitsune. I have had my husband’s attention for some time. It is I who should not interfere with brothers who have just reunited after so long.” She affectionately drapes an arm around me before taking her leave. If I had not known her so well she would seem alright with this but the cool glimmer in her gaze as she half-inclines her head to bow good night to me would have been missed completely.

“Ah,” My young naïve brother awkwardly seemed to beg her to stay but was to slow to form coherent words.

As always I could not read her mind at all. I could not tell if she was pleased or displeased. “Sit next to me, Ushiwaka.”

My wife’s absence seems to bring back my young brother’s lost composure. He comfortably takes the sitting mat across from me but I grab his hand and pull him closer.

A small surprised yelp escapes him followed by a grunt when he landed unceremoniously on top of me. His flustered face seduces me and I readily frame its heat by my fingers. “What do you want to talk about?” I slide my thumb across his full lips.

“Aniue— please stop teasing me.” His lovely face creases and he turns his head struggling not to let my touch affect him so much.

“Do you think I love to tease? I do not do things halfheartedly, Ushiwaka. I seize the person that attracts me shamelessly, I decisively bed my lovers, and heartlessly kill my enemies… just like Father. Else why do you think he chose your beautiful mother?” It was an exhilarating game I play by revealing my intentions and sharing morsels of fact about his parents. In this way he would know me better and come to understand people who were long dead: what I would call a fair trade.

My hand slips under his kariginu* touching well-defined planes and slopes of his body making him shudder and squirm especially when my fingertips brush his sensitive nipple. I mercilessly swirl my fingers over the tip until it hardens. He exhales sharply when I squeeze and tug with forefinger and thumb.

“Nn…No.” Ignoring his soft plea, my hand wanders further down, opening his layer of robes as it slides off his body. I stroke his firm milky-white abdomen drawing lazy circles around it and I relish the occasional twitch my massage induces. “When you were still in Lady Tokiwa’s womb, as a child I would ask for permission and rub you through her clothed swollen belly. I would tell her often that I love you and I couldn’t wait for you to be born.” My hand becomes more aggressive, adding a little pressure here and there on the area where a woman’s womb should be in Ushiwaka’s very male body.

He gets up trying to run from me but I reverse our positions and I bodily hold him down. I slam and clench against his struggling wrists keeping him pinned to the floor. “What makes you so upset?” I lick a perfectly-shaped ear and he bites his lip. “I am not teasing you, Ushiwaka. Can’t you tell that I wanted you from the beginning? I want to embrace you.”

He whimpers when my hot breath fans against his neck. “Doesn’t Aniue find me disgusting in wanting him? It is why he is teasing me because he is upset with my filthy desires.” I drew back and peer closely at his scarlet-tinged face. He seems unable to accept that I truly crave him. Instead he easily takes all the blame for our intimate nights where we would both lie naked in the shadows though no intercourse happens. He has deluded himself in believing I am merely assuaging his young fervid lust stemming from his exile in Kurama’s monastery out of goodwill¹⁰⁵. He knows not that this is exactly how I wanted him to think.

I want him to feel guilt in wanting me yet it is very much the other way around.

I do not want to feel guilt in desiring him. And for that, he should take the blame for us both.

“It is alright. You cannot control the urge because of your youth. Embracing you is the least thing I could do for not being able to protect you in all those years you were in the company of lecherous monks.” My words cause tears to silently fall out of his anguished eyes. It was perhaps common knowledge that young acolytes in monasteries more rarely escape with their virtue intact than not but I had to know from him personally and admitting the unwanted attention for being in exile was what destroyed his armor of invulnerability to me.

I comfort him by tasting his salty tears. Ushiwaka gasps at my unchaste action and whimpers some more as I restrain him from struggling against me again. “Pragmatically you cannot blame them, Ushiwaka. Who would not succumb to your beauty? All men are enamored by you and cannot resist for long. Do you not realize this?”

“Me, a tengu…? Beautiful? I do not think so.” He firmly shakes his head.

“Yes, the wild tengu of Mt. Kurama, you are beautiful.” I undress him and praise what I see. With himself exposed to my dark gaze, my Ushiwaka starts to breathe faster. It delights me that seeing him helplessly naked before me, excites him. “It’s been a while, right? Do you want to relieve the ache?” I murmur seductively against his vulnerable throat.

His eyes dilate with my tempting words. And yet he couldn’t admit it. He would rather die than tell me he wants me to satisfy his need. I don’t wait for the answer that would never come, the pliant stillness of his body beneath me were enough evidence of his surrender.

As my kimono slides off my own body and loom over him there was still a speck of fear in his heavy-lidded stare. The press of my nakedness against his makes him gasp and tremble but I would hold back no longer. My hands greedily grope him in sensitive places, my lips burn his feverish skin and my tongue laps up the salty sweetness of his flesh. I mark him in areas that would mostly be concealed by clothing but he gets nervous the more I venture down.

He twists and writhes beneath me when I suckle his peaked nipples. I can only imagine the sensation I induce but the intense expressions he makes: eyes shut tightly, head decisively turned to the side as he pants deeply and bites his lip so no sound would leak out show me how much he likes it.

“Ah!”

In the middle of sucking, I bite him and he forgets not to cry out for once and arches his back. I trail a finger over his weeping tip. His manhood had grown very hard by the mere simplicity of it. “Tell me how good it feels.”

Ushiwaka stubbornly grits his teeth. I find his preference of being quiet all throughout the act both fascinating and irritating. I want my lovers especially my obsession (though he does not know that yet and never will) to be loud in bed.

I stop playing gentle. I draw back, remove the ribbon tying my long hair and devour his wide-eyed uncertainty with angry lust.

He pushes up on his elbows as I breathe between his thighs. I don’t give him time to react as I spread his legs wide and take him inside my mouth.

My young brother stormily throws his head back, “Hnngh! Ah…” Supporting himself on one hand, he bites the back of the other hand to stifle the noises while his hips, thighs, and the rigid flesh I’m showering with wet attention jerk and tremble.

I know he was nearing the end when the fluid leaks more copiously and some escapes, running down the corner of my mouth. I suck more forcefully and tease his sac, which I knew must feel tight, ready for release.

He lets go then, “Ah…! Aan… Aniue... stop. It’s… going to come out…!” He grabs my shoulder and foolishly tries to pull away from me.

I stop, lick my lips and shoot him a glare. He withers from it, dissolving any form of resistance and was forced to let me take him back inside my mouth. Secretly, his resistance against his own pleasure arouses me to no end. I take him deeply, more vigorously, and he behaves, not trying to stop me anymore. “Ah! Aniue… I feel like… I am going mad..."

The passive hands by the tatami clench into fists… Ushiwaka howls a soft long moan as I finally coax him to climax.

I push his spent body down my sheets and he doesn’t fight me when I enter his lubricated, moist heat. “Are you going to try to be quiet again?” I whisper by his ear.

“Doesn’t Aniue want to keep this secret in silence?” He replies in breathless defiance. I love this quality of him. He knows he can’t win against the enemy but he still tries anyway. And for that, I will never tire of you.

“You want to keep our brotherly love, a secret. Are you shamed by it?” My words gave him a startled expression but I realize he was not looking at me. He was looking at something behind my shoulder.

When I turn towards the same direction, I think I saw a shadow of a man… no, a kaijin* a son of a giant disappear from my sight.

A disturbed spirit, my wife’s malice, or… another jealous lover?

33333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

Some of my retainers are starting to take notice. Now not only Masako was giving me a strange look but now even my generals seem to have this unnecessary lingering stare whenever I grace the halls with company. After our supposed first night ended with some unresolved issues, I took it upon myself to keep Ushiwaka close to me whenever possible and when not, I have assigned a shadow to watch over him from a distance.

The information the shadow gathered from days of diligent observation were intriguing. It appears that Ushiwaka had his own share of interesting company. These comrades/friends came all the way from Oshu and as long as they don’t overstep their boundaries, they are welcome here. However there was one of them that clearly stood out. For one, I was told that whenever Ushiwaka was left in his own devices, this one would stay close by his side. This one, who to me appears as a sohei (warrior monk) was impressive in bearing and frame. It takes but one glance to tell that he had been through many bloodbaths. And to see for myself that Ushiwaka was very comfortable with this sohei’s presence intrigued and irritated me at the same time.

As we traversed the grassy pathway towards the gardens I couldn’t help but bring the subject into conversation. “Your current captains… are they from Oshu?”

Ushiwaka pauses and appears to be taken a little off-guard. “…Why yes, they are.”

“Are they your personal friends or Hidehira-dono’s men?”

“Some… are personal friends while others are indeed former bushi of Hidehira-dono who decided to pledge themselves to me for your campaign.”

I could tell my young brother was itching to ask me why I was asking him such questions but chose not to out of politeness. I notice this topic, which to me was a harmless subject brings him a little discomfort. My curiosity was now piqued. I decided to quickly go for the kill. “Are there any of them who were admirers in the past?”

His reaction was priceless: an indignant shade of flustered red. “No such thing! They… some of them are virtuous monks who vowed chastity to Amida Nyorai. They would never…” He trailed off when I stroked his warm cheek.

“You didn’t tell me that we have the Sohei of Oshu on our side.” I tipped his chin and looked into his nervous eyes. “The ones who abused you in Mt. Hiei are monks themselves. Is there anything you’re neglecting to tell?”

To my surprise, Ushiwaka didn’t lean into my touch and turned his head aside. “My trusted comrades would never endanger our cause, Aniue. They pose no threat to my safety if that is your concern.” His tone had grown cold. Occasionally this rare side of him surfaces whenever I address his vulnerabilities.

He hates to be pitied. But this wasn’t about his pride… it was mine. “That sohei with uncut hair… is it safe to be around him? He seems never to leave your side.” I held fast to his wrist as he tries to rudely excuse himself.

“I assure you.” Ushiwaka said with a voice as hard as steel. “Musashi-bou is trustworthy.”

“There was an odd rumor I heard about a sohei in Oshu who kills thoughtlessly… women, children…bushi, multitudes of men who were considered lifeblood for his sword. That sohei was no man but a demon who terrorized, raped, and pillaged everywhere he goes. Is that same demon, your companion*?” I suddenly have this mad urge to throw him to the ground and ravage him like a beast. His silence was clouding my reason and… something I have never felt before was making me lose control. He affects me so and I can’t help but loathe him for it.

“I defeated him. Since then I have claimed rights to his will. He has vowed to radically change his ways. If he makes the slightest threat to your household, I will kill him myself!”

I pulled him towards me. “You better,” I whispered in his ear and he tenses against my chest. “A demon often misbehaves especially if you don’t give what it wants regularly.”

“What…?” His face had furrowed into a scowl but he was too respectful to openly show me his anger.

“Are you forced to keep him company? Hmm… was he the one who stood guard behind my quarters that night? Was he looking out for you or…?” I leave the statement teasingly gauging for his reaction.

His eyes widen and it shocks him that I know. Unbeknownst to him, I wouldn’t have. It was his face that had given it away. After a while he recovers and calmly says, “Aniue, are you telling me to get rid of Benkei?”

Musashi-bou Benkei was the name of the demon, I see. “Could you do it?”

It was my turn to be surprised for he readily shakes his head. “No. If I kill him, you ought to kill me as well.” I shake him roughly, “Ushiwaka! What foolishness is this?”

“Aniue, my loyalty is yours but if Musa dies, then I die as well.” I release him. To have a single aspect of him not bound under my control greatly upsets me. He tells me that his life belongs to me but his death… he is deliberately telling me the demon owns his death!

I could not accept it.

I briskly walk away.

“Aniue!” Ushiwaka runs after me and I let him cling to my sleeve. “Aniue?” He searches my face for understanding but he finds none. My expression was frigid, “Go to my room tonight,” then I tug my sleeve and brush past, leaving him looking forlorn, until…

“Lords!”

We both turn at the sound of running footsteps and harsh breathing.

A courier prostrates before us, “Lords, I have come to bring you dreadful news!”

“Speak,” I command coldly.

“His Highness, the prince! His Imperial Highness, Mochihito-Ouji and Yorimasa-dono were killed in battle by forces serving Taira no Kiyomori!”

My blood ran cold. My royal benefactor and friend, and another one of my relatives… killed by that tyrant! Icy rage threatened to engulf me. “Send for the generals! I would be calling for an assembly at the open grounds this instant!” I send the courier scampering and then I turn to my young brother who was a general himself, my general.

“Yoshitsune,” At once, like an old-worn coat we shed our personal affairs and prepare for battle.

“Tono-sama.” He gives me that gaze of the sharpest blade. It was the look I love best. “I will gather the army.”

I nod. He bows and leaves for his official duties.

44444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

The occasional periods of sending my young brother and the army to war gradually became a regular occurrence. Days became weeks and weeks became months as the revolt against Taira no Kiyomori divided the great families and staged the Kanto Plains as the bloody battleground. It was the five-year-long Gempei War.

As the Clan Head of the Minamoto and Lord of the Realm, I often stayed behind and left much of the military campaigns to my very capable generals. Though I participate in our military strategies most of my time was devoted in “shadow tactics” on the political arena against Kiyomori.

The tyrant had quite fatten himself up in power and imposed his authority over my late benefactor’s father, Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa. That spineless fool I barely tolerate was just the man I needed. Unbeknownst to Kiyomori, my father-in-law Tokimasa was encouraging the Cloistered Emperor to give in to Kiyomori’s whims.

Masako herself had gotten engaged in negotiating with some of the neutral great families and coaxed them to join the revolt against the tyrant.

Now with the tyrant too fat with power and oblivious to the threats, believing himself to be invincible, abandoned the Taira and egoistically carried on with his way of life.

Soon that overfed swine will die of greed.

With my plan proceeding well, the influx of support redirected towards my interests. The swine soon found his allies and retainers turning against him. All have rallied up for my cause and to this day I still get to have a good laugh over Kiyomori’s benevolence to spare his foe, Yoshitomo’s children: myself, Yoshitsune, and Noriyori our lives. It proved to be his greatest undoing, the fool.

I wonder in his deathbed as he burned with a raging fever, thought I was probably laughing at his follies, his regrets… to let us live.

Burn Kiyomori…

Burn in hell.

55555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

“Do you like it here?” I whisper these words on the soft skin of Ushiwaka’s nape. He shivers as I place my lips against the scar on his naked shoulder.

He struggles to form coherent words, “Izu is a remote place brimming with the wonders of nature… but Kamakura is beautiful as well.”

“You are beautiful.” I lick his scar while my hands touch his nipples making him inhale sharply. Without mercy I continue to stroke them until they grew hard. A weak whimper escapes before he remembers to bite his lip. It still amazes me to find his body very sensitive even though it was copulated many times. Or is it because of my touch alone that makes him react forever like a virgin?

I pull his nude body closer to my bare chest and make him sit on my lap. The light of the full moon makes his skin glow an ethereal white and I pause to admire it. But the scars that littered his beautiful body in his battles for me caused me to feel strangely. I barely realized what I was doing as I pulled him close in a tight embrace.

“Aniue?” His voice breaks my trance and to dispel any wayward thoughts I roughly push him face down on the sheets.

On his elbows and knees he tries to look my way. I don’t want him to see my current expression and so I shove his head firmly down my bed and ripped the ribbon tying his hair. Black silk falls like glossy curtains down his back to conceal his scars. Now I can look at him again.

“Do you want to use me like a courtesan, Aniue?” Ushiwaka said not too pleased that I refuse to let him move from his current pose.

I drape my heated body over his and whispered shamelessly, “Don’t you know that this position is the least painful and makes me easily stroke your pleasure spot, inside?”

“You’ve never taken me without seeing your face. It makes me feel…”

“Like an animal?”

He pales at my words and with a sound of indignation he tries to rise on his feet.

“Stay where you are.” I warned and then sweetened my voice, “Don’t you want to find out for yourself how good it feels?”

He stills as I stroke his hardness that had become wet in arousal because of my words. “Let me show you the different ways of love, my inexperienced one.”

I coat my fingers in fragrant oil and proceed to show him wonderful things.

“Uhh…ah…!” As I enter him carefully, the pads of my fingertips immediately search for his weakness. The noises he couldn’t stop making already told me that I was very close...

“Oh… Why does it… feel…so… Ohhh…!” When I found and began massaging it sensually however, he had already lost his mind.

“Calm yourself… this is only the beginning.” I said amusedly as he writhed and squirmed beneath me. Watching him be seduced and utterly coming undone with just an intimate touch awakened my ferocious need. I could no longer hold back and withdrew my fingers.

Moaning silently, I stroked myself with the oil now mixed with his fluids and deeply entered him.

He gasped as I sheathed myself inside him. The sounds that he couldn’t stop spurred something wild in me.

“You sprawl and claw the sheets like the animal you hated. Do you like being claimed by me… so much?” I purred darkly as my thrusts slammed against a place that drove him insane. Reduced like a piece of wanton flesh Ushiwaka trembled in heat. He lewdly swings his hips, thrusting back vigorously.

The intensity of our combined lusts pushed us to cast our humanity aside. There were no longer two men of the same blood coupling within the master’s chambers but two beasts that rutted furiously against each other.

Animalistic howls, growls and grunts, filled the room but I know nothing anymore. I was just a senseless beast gorging basal pleasures with my mate.

The highest ecstasy crashed down on us so suddenly that all I could do was gasp while Ushiwaka whimpered feebly under me.

We both came down from our high dazed, panting heavily and momentarily unable to speak. I instinctively held him close and breathed the salt and musk of his skin.

"Chaos is about to fall once more.” I said untangling our twined limbs as I finally regained my senses.

“Yorimasa-dono’s death, you mean.” It seems my young brother was not oblivious to the sleeping wolves in our clan.

“Our relatives are restless… and not only that, my offer of peace has been rejected by Kiyomori’s incapable heir.” Though my need has been sated my eyes continue to drink the sight of my naked general in the afterglow.

Ushiwaka has long abandoned any sense of modesty, enduring my fervid stares like lashes of a whip. “What would you have me do?”

Before I could help it, a cold smile had crept into my face. His validation that I owned him was like a mockery to me. He says I own him but he won’t dismiss his demon companion. It elicited a different brand of covetousness in me.

I control him.

No other should have the right to have an impact in his life.

“I love hearing that from you.” I brushed the back of my hand against his cheek and twirled a fragrant lock of hair between my fingertips.

“What?” My words had gained the intended reaction from him. Ushiwaka’s brow furrowed. He knew that my statement held a deeper meaning that wasn’t meant to be pleasant at all.

I held his troubled face, “You heard me. You should always be ready to serve me whether it concerns military affairs, my household or my pleasure. You said it yourself, your life belongs to me.”

To my surprise and anger he knocks my hand away. “Tono-sama, I’d willingly risk my life and fight many wars for you but you’re sorely mistaken if you think I lay with you because I want your love as my reward. I am not some doe-eyed woman!”

Uncaring if I break bones, I roughly grab him before he could walk out on me and threw him down the bed. My actions stunned him for I have never vented my rage in this way. I took advantage of his lapse and straddled him, pinning his arms above his head. By the time he recovered it was too late to struggle.

“I thought you like it this way… seeing my face as I violate you.” I licked his ear and sucked a violent mark on his neck high enough for everyone to see. He took a nervous breath when he realized what I was doing.

“Sto…ahh…!” Protesting, he writhed and twisted as I entered him again. He was still moist and tender but still incredibly tight from our earlier copulation that I fought not to lose myself.

“It’s hard not to treat you like a woman when you… grasp me just as good. I take… your demon is just as addicted to this as I am.” I rasped, ramming furiously in and out of him until his body moved with me for such was the force of my thrusts.

“Y-You’re mistaken! Nghh! Musa has never… coerced me like this! In fact he refuses to… lay with me!”

I do not believe it. “You lie through your teeth, Ushiwaka. Or… perhaps he knows you sleep with your aniue and is disgusted?”

His eyes widen in horror. It seems I have dealt him a lethal blow. In his shock, he has not noticed that I have released his wrists and instead wrapped his legs over my shoulders. Soon the new angle and the depth of my penetrations would cause him to scream senselessly in pleasure and pain.

The very thought of his wild yells reaching the demon’s ears aroused me beyond my imagination. And with an agonized groan I released my seed deep into his insides.

Languid and satisfied, I watched my young brother expressionlessly pull on his soiled robes. In slightly unsteady feet, he stood up and shakily walked across the room. Flowing down his leg were streaks of our seed and the evidence of my violence… blood, dark blood stained the tatami.

The shoji slides open and just as I expected there stood the demon wearing a grim expression. My brother walks past him as if completely unaware of his presence but when Ushiwaka suddenly collapses, the demon catches him without fail.

Not meeting my eyes once, Musashi-bou Benkei carries Ushiwaka away… from me.

66666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666

As I feared, Yorimasa’s death had awakened the sleeping wolves. A cousin of mine by the name of Minamoto ‘Kiso’ no Yoshinaka intends to wrest control of the clan from me. Perhaps it was my shortsightedness and being caught up in too much personal affairs that made things spiral out of control.

Yoshinaka had taken Kyoto by storm, much to my displeasure. He seeks to get ahead of me in every way. And I for one do not want to imitate Kiyomori and sit comfortably in my Kamakura domain and ignore the dangers until they went out of hand.

After gaining the support of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, I summoned for my finest generals, my half-brothers: Yoshitsune and Noriyori to extinguish the fire before it spread out and became an inferno.

While Minamoto no Noriyori was sent to distant provinces to suppress the Taira, I personally chose my most brilliant war piece to get rid of Kyoto’s obstacle for me.

Early that morning in the palace grounds, I saw Ushiwaka standing beside his horse preparing for battle when I heard Masako’s voice, “Aren’t you going to see him off?”

She appeared in the opposite hallway accompanied by two maidservants. Held safely in her arms was our firstborn son and heir, Yoriie. I extended my hand for our son but she refused, shaking her head.

Dismissing her servants she answered my unspoken question, “Not so soon. I may not disapprove of your relationships but I won’t carelessly let you hold our son after you have touched ‘him.’”

I feigned ignorance, “What are you saying?”

“Just below the jaw, in between his neck and shoulder I have the evidence.” She said wearing a disturbing carefree smile. I would have been a fool if I couldn’t tell she was describing the same exact place where I marked him as mine. I sighed and she laughed.

“Go ahead, this may be the last time. Unlike me who always stay by your side, you often send him far away in military campaigns. His life is always in danger, fighting for your glory. Your men might call him a great demon in the battlefield but I assure you, Danna-sama¹⁰⁶, he is not immortal.” Parting with these words, Masako turns away, humming a lullaby to the babe she cradled.

“Masako,” I call for her retreating figure and she pauses, “Do you not hate him? Do you not… hate me?”

“I envy him. He gets to fight battles for you. You know me, you know my childhood. If I had not been your wife, I would not mind being a warrior to slay your enemies.” She resumes walking, the echo of her song fades in the distance.

By the time I had decided to wish my brother for a safe journey and for a victorious battle, he was already riding away with the cavalry and the army marching right behind him. The image of his proud back as he exited the gates brought a cold and hot sensation that washed over me.

Long before the army departed I remain staring into the distance. The heavy feeling of not seeing him off properly weighed me to that spot.

I began to think of what I did to him two nights before. I thought of his limp and all the dark blood running down his leg.

A woman would not be able to walk properly or sit without a cushion but my brother would be riding a warhorse and fighting a battle for me in Kyoto.

He must be in so much pain both from my insults and physical abuse but like the great general that he is, he takes it all like a man.

77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

The rusting steel from the cell creaks open and my bushi and I step inside only to recoil in horror at the sight before us. Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the prisoner hidden away in this desolate dungeon. That ruffian Kiso Yoshinaka really outdid himself.

I unclasped my troublesome outer robe and helped the weakened emperor walk gingerly until we reach the safety of my idling army who stood guard outside.

The emperor collapses from exhaustion and I immediately shout for a physician. Fortunately one was present among the company and quickly heed my orders. We lay the pale Go-Shirakawa-heika on a makeshift stretcher when a commotion among the soldiers suddenly rang out.

Noises of horses’ hooves of armor-clad men, and victorious cries became louder as another army bearing the Seiwa-Genji Clan’s crest approached.

Two warhorses carrying two important generals caused both armies to shift and give way. Minamoto no Noriyori dismounted first and bowed before me and before the emperor who stirred back into consciousness. The other general, no… my general who appeared magnificent in victory, Minamoto no Yoshitsune dismounts last, bows in respect and presents us the severed head of Kiso Yoshinaka.

Cheers and shouts of triumph erupted once again at the undisputed proof that Kyoto was now free of her oppressor.

As we restore Kyoto back into order, we shelter the retired emperor into one of our tents for medication and rest.

“Go-Shirakawa-heikasama was fatigued due to lack of sleep and not being fed for two days. Other than rest and intake of soft nutritious food for now, he should be fine, Yoritomo-sama.” The physician reported briefly to me and excused himself.

“I am fine, Yoritomo. Do not trouble yourself with the likes of me.” The emperor said to me with an indulgent smile.

“Heikasama, please do not take your health for granted.” I replied politely though deep inside I want to sneer at him for trusting Yoshinaka so openly that it led to this predicament in the first place. The spineless coward had no one to blame but himself.

“What do you suggest we do now? The Taira had taken my grandson, the child emperor Antoku with them. I am retired so the throne is empty.” Was this fool for real? Is he actually asking me* to make the decision for him?

With a neutral face I gave my suggestion. “With all due respect, Heikasama, I believe Emperor Antoku’s half-brother, His Highness Prince Takahira is suited for the throne.”

The fool nods favorably. “I agree. Prince Takahira as the new emperor Go-Toba is brilliant. Yet with the Taira still on the loose I fear for Takahira’s safety.”

I would never have thought that he would stop being a fool in the mere moments after he said this statement, “Prince Takahira is Emperor Antoku’s half-brother… hmm, say Yoritomo you have half-brothers as well correct?”

Though I nod, I did not like the implication he was getting at. I felt unease, the wisdom shining in his eyes doesn’t sit well with me. “That brother of yours, the one who presented Yoshinaka’s head, he is the main person responsible for Kyoto’s freedom today, isn’t he? He appears to be a fine, strong, and intelligent man. Can you bring him to me, Yoritomo? I’d like to speak with him.”

This time I couldn’t stop my anxiety from showing. “If I may not be so forward and as Yoshitsune’s elder brother, what do you need him for, Heikasama?”

He cuts me off with, “What I want with him does not concern you at the moment, Yoritomo. Please call for him.” Resisting my sudden urge to strangle him I bowed and grudgingly obeyed.

This better not start fires.

My tent was situated in a secluded place so few in the army were made aware of. Hence I am not in immediate threat of being ambushed. And as another security measure a handful of my finest bushi were stationed nearby, highly alert for any signs of anomaly. This is where I call for Ushiwaka to spend the night.

So when my brother entered wearing full armor while I was scantily clad in my night robe reclining sideways with my hand supporting my head was understandable for the occasion. “You went drinking with the soldiers, correct? Even my men wouldn’t stop talking about you and your greatness.” I beckoned him to come closer as a test.

To my delight he readily removes most of his armor and now barefoot courteously approaches me. “Aniue, what do you want of me?”

I remain where I am at first. “Not just your armor, take everything off. Or…” I stand towering before him when he takes no action to obey. “Do you want me to undress you?” Even with his armor, I still overshadow his slender frame.

Not bothering to wait for an answer I decided to take matters into my hands. He struggled half-heartedly before letting me have my way.

Once the very last article of clothing was removed I pushed his nakedness beneath me. I nipped and molested his neck until his rapid and labored breathing told me his body was getting excited. I ran my hands over his chest and teased the nubs to hardness. In reaction, his flesh rose to join mine and then he was bucking and gyrating his hips like a beast in heat. “Mm… you’re so impatient.” I licked inside his mouth and confirmed my suspicions. “You did drink too much. You don’t know half of what you’re doing.” I chuckled and like a thirsting man I drank the wine from his lips until he pushed weakly against me for lack of air.

He exhaled and wiped the excess saliva off his mouth with the back of his hand. Flushing hot from the talents of my sly lips he grates out, “I am not drunk to be an imbecile, Aniue. Tell me why you called for me.”

He was almost pouting and I would have chuckled goodheartedly if I was not so bothered by the retired emperor’s plans. “What did Go-Shirakawa-heika speak with you about?”

Though Ushiwaka saw this coming, tension still radiates from his nude frame. “Heikasama wants me to become a court official.”

It is what I feared. “And you accepted?” I couldn’t help raising my voice. A wrong answer and it would make me fly into a murderous rage.

“Aniue, please hear me out. Heikasama wants me to watch over Prince Takahira like a guardian. It would not appear so obvious in the eyes of potential assassins if I pose as a mere court official and wander into the palace grounds.”

That spineless coward had the nerve to seize control of Ushiwaka from me! I was shaking in fury. “And you wish to stoop so low as to be a living shield for a brat? Answer me!”

“But I thought you wish for me to retire into obscurity after this is over. I do not want the worship of your men! I couldn’t stand the comparisons! I only want to fulfill our father’s dream to make you win this war!” I no longer want to hear Ushiwaka’s reasons. For me it was clear… very clear.

YOU DARE LEAVE MY SIDE!

“So you accepted!” I backhanded him so hard I burned.

He gasps in pain and shock. I have never laid a hand on him. Though I had bouts of temper, I was always in perfect control, in complete discipline of my faculties. But now I don’t know anymore. Among all others, he had the knack to provoke me in the ugliest of violence. This is how much he affects me but he would never be aware of this… until I drove him to his death.

Before Ushiwaka could recover, I licked the bruise forming on his cheek and stroked his length into arousal. Nonchalantly as if nothing happened I whispered below the delicate skin of his stomach. “Tell the retired emperor you reconsidered. Tell him you will serve me alone.”

“Nnghh… Aniue… I…!” He whimpered losing the ability to speak. He muffled his moans against the palm of his hand as I sucked and swallowed his manhood. “Nn… Oh… Ah… Ahh…!” With the barest stimulation from the tip of my tongue, he climaxed, his seed spilling inside my mouth.

Before he could protest my tongue was already smearing his cum around and into the rosette of his opening. And for good measure I coat my fingers in warmed oil and stretch him… I do not want a repeat of last time though my unabated ire calls for blood.

When I deemed him able to accommodate my size I roll him to his stomach and pushed inside. Despite himself he throws his head back, groaning in pleasure. The alcohol in his system was doing wonders for his body. In my combined lust and anger I become wild and shake him roughly.

Unbeknownst to me, in his highly aroused state this was what his own lust craved for. The walls of his oversensitive flesh rippled and clenched around me threatening to make me forget the matter at hand. The wanton and raucous noises he makes as I pound madly into him would not be the ones he would utter normally. It almost drove me over the edge. But a shred of sanity clings to me. It whispers, sneers, and shouts at my leniency. He is yours… He should be yours and no one else’s! “Do you hear me Ushiwaka? Obey me! Give yourself to me! No one else owns you, no one else controls you! Reject that coward’s offer! YOU ARE MINE! I WILL CARVE MY MARK WITHIN THE VERY DEPTHS OF YOUR BOWELS!”

With intense sensations flooding us both, our bodies finally reach completion. As I lose my essence inside him he cries and spasms under me.

I rest beside him and was relieved to find not a trace of red clinging to his skin except his face of course.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

After another victory earned from the battle of Ichi-no-Tani, which eradicated most of my Taira enemies, I secretly confined Ushiwaka in Kyoto by making him my deputy. In this way I showed him that I trust him not only in fighting wars for me but also in assisting governance of the masses of lands that I accumulated as a result of our brilliant campaigns.

At first the arrangement went well and the lands flourished, earning us more than enough gold dust to finance the armies and the salaries of my entire household. I never saw another storm brewing in the distance.

Ushiwaka’s men from Oshu and even my own retainers were restless. In their warrior’s pride, I can sense that they believe Yoshitsune would be a better ruler of the clan than I am. His war strategies, his charisma, and the ability to turn any dire situation into a victory not to mention the fact that he rode at the front lines risking his life in battle all exalted their high opinion of him.

And now seeing him manage my estate just as prudently and barely getting enough praise made Minamoto no Yoshitsune the ideal commander, the ideal overlord.

How could they understand my role? These monkey-brained men do not understand politics and my own workings behind Kiyomori’s downfall, the setting of the imperial succession to my favor, choosing the right generals for different campaigns and using the forte and talent of cunning diplomats such as my father-in-law Hojo Tokimasa and my ingenious negotiator, my very own wife, Masako.

These bloodthirsty buke only thought of the glory in the battlefield; they could not comprehend my shadow wars with the imperial court. And to make matters worse, the Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa would not stop pestering my protégé. Almost every day he sent envoys and sometimes he came personally seeking Yoshitsune and to convince him to accept the post of a court official.

Go-Shirakawa-heika makes the final straw when he announces that he would make my Ushiwaka a fifth level Tayou Hankan so he would be obligated to attend court sessions. His reason for this came from his own logic, thinking that Ushiwaka refuses to agree to his offer because of the unsuitable rank befitting his station.

As a response to this harassment, I make use of an Imperial edict that states that the lands I acquired would eventually be returned to Imperial control. However I manipulated the wording of the edict that when approved would make me sole military dictator of the country since it was my decision that Prince Takahira be made Emperor Go-Toba and that ultimate influence of the lands rest on the individual capable of their collective protection. As expected, the spineless fool agrees to my terms, effectively giving me the true power of an emperor and backs away.

Now to take care of other matters, the Taira supporters from Kyushu are causing a stir. However due to the recent turn of events, I was very reluctant to send Ushiwaka away despite the complications. So I decided to send my other half-brother Noriyori instead.

Noriyori was one of the more influential men in the army who does not openly oppose the idea of Yoshitsune becoming commander-in-chief. To make things short, he was the captain of Yoshitsune’s worshipers so I wish to throw him into the backwaters for now.

Noriyori agrees for the campaign without question yet to my surprise it was Ushiwaka who was against it. He came into my quarters, a protest ready to come at me. “Aniue, why do you send Noriyori-ani away instead of me?”

I calmly answer, “Where is the wrong in that?”

“Do you not want me to fight in battle anymore? Am I becoming incompetent? Tell me my flaws.” This string of responses produces a laugh from me. So this is what it was about. Minamoto no Yoshitsune for all his supposed maturity was behaving like a child. But I could not resist his pout so I pull him towards me.

“Kyushu is a nest of Taira snakes, you are too important to lose there. And besides, the countryside doesn’t suit you.” My teasing words fail to pacify him.

“Aniue, I feel insignificant to you here… and the men are becoming tense. Do you not think now is the right time to set me loose for a bit?” He tries to struggle from my embrace that slowly irritates me.

I make another attempt at sweet talk. “I’ll send you loose in Kyushu so the cloistered emperor could chase your loincloth there?”

He flushes in embarrassment. “No! Aniue you’re not taking me seriously. Perhaps it is the curse of a warrior but I feel restless. My young blood doesn’t want me to stay cooped for long.”

Was he implying that by keeping him close to me, I was in turn suffocating him? Was he accusing me of extinguishing his spirit? His demands of freedom awaken the same territorial beast inside me. I snarl, “You thirst of battle? Even after so many lost lives and blood in your hands you still wish for more?” I push him against the wall and trap his arms above his head.

“Aniue, release me! If I go to Kyushu and camp there for a while I will be able to smother the men’s misdirected beliefs! I can stay there for many years to suppress the Taira completely. It would benefit us all.” His reasoning was so sound I hated it. It made me angrier.

“So you wish to disobey and leave my side… I can’t forgive you. Have you not learned on that night? Or maybe…” I licked the sensitive place behind his ear making him shiver, “You need to learn more?” I turn him around and shove his chest against the wall while I imprison both his hands behind his back. Doing quick work of his clothing, piles of silk crumble to the floor. To stop his struggling I bite the scar on his shoulder. He flinches and pants… aroused. His body leans to the other side, unwittingly giving me more access.

I lavish the scar with much attention: easing the bite with my tongue, suckling and carefully sinking my teeth several times. His eyes were shut tightly while his lips were slightly parted: he likes it.

It puzzles me. I do not know the reason behind this scar and why touching it evokes such a response from him. I pause and ask while rubbing my fingers against it. He only shivers again and takes a while to answer. Partially opening his eyes he manages, “You do not remember but I got this scar from you, Aniue.”

“I did this to you?” Confused, my previous anger drains slowly away. I do not recall hurting him there.

I soon let go of him while he sinks to the floor but remains seated, leaning against the wall. He fights for calm: he was still aroused. “Prince Mochihito was killed by Kiyomori’s troops. It was your first time sending me to battle. But on the day the army leaves for war, we were all horrified to be informed that some of the allies who promised to provide us additional soldiers backed out of fear for Kiyomori’s wrath. Now that we were outnumbered you became very reluctant in letting me go. As you saw me off, you clasped my shoulder so tightly that the metal of my poorly built armor lacerated the skin.

The pain in the wound kept me alert in that battle to stay alive. And now… you forbade me to leave your side and bit me here. I was reminded of its significance.”

Listening to his tale I became lost… forgetting my ire, the emotion that replaced it was hard to name.

After this exchange, my selfishness and stubbornness in keeping him under control would prove to be the greatest undoing of my own.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

The late retelling of Ushiwaka’s tale came as a bad omen.

The remnants of Ichi-no-Tani escaped into Yashima, which became the right time to send Yoshitsune into battle again to deter the enemy. A month after our victory there, the Taira took to the seas to flee. Both Ushiwaka and I knew that we could not let this opportunity pass. All the remaining Taira with links to the imperial family were all aboard those retreating ships. And having that knowledge, it was very possible that they also have the false Emperor Antoku and Kiyomori’s widow, Lady Tokuko with them.

I swiftly gather the naval army for Shimonoseki Strait. And yet as the preparations were ongoing, an ally by the name of Lord Kajiwara who was supposed to provide us with more naval soldiers familiar with the strait deferred to the Taira. In short, Yoshitsune’s forces were at a disadvantage once more. But my brother was determined. He convinced and reminded me that this was our last chance. If we miss this, the Taira could scatter and hide and then become a bigger threat in the future.

Though essentially with fewer men, Yoshitsune insisted on the same number of ships. He divided the soldiers to handle the ships, chose the most agile of warriors and the most accurate archers to board the key vessels.

I personally did not witness the battle but from a retelling it was the greatest naval and decisive battle the Minamoto will face against the Taira.

The Taira waited with three squadrons while Yoshitsune confronted them en masse. Being more familiar with the tides, the Taira tried to use it to their advantage to surround Yoshitsune’s fleet. But Yoshitsune specifically chose ships that were smaller but greater in number thus created an illusion of superiority. Waiting for the right opportunity they remained en masse gauging for the enemy’s next move. When the Taira took initiative, it became a hand to hand combat and a rain of arrows.

Choosing the right men for such an event, Yoshitsune soon overwhelmed a Taira general. He deferred and revealed which ship the false Emperor Antoku was aboard. Yoshitsune’s naval warriors focused assault on the said ship and as a result, chaos befell the Taira.

Unwilling to admit defeat, the last members of the prominent Heike threw themselves at sea. All of them drowned including the child emperor Antoku and his grandmother, Kiyomori’s widow. Before the Taira committed suicide, they allegedly attempted to sink two of the three imperial regalia: the jewel (Yasakani no Magatama) and the sword (Tsurugi no Kusanagi).

The jewel was recovered but the sword was said to be lost forever… until…

Susano-o bestowed it and its powers to me upon my death.

10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101

Our greatest battle, our greatest victory of all time would be short-lived.

A body does not need two heads. One must be cut off.

With all opposition from the enemy gone and I, the supreme ruler of the country, the Minamoto had no need for Yoshitsune anymore. Behind me, my Hojo diplomats lurked. Their eyes were cold as they bore into Ushiwaka’s. Malicious whispers from within an overgrown army spread like wild fires.

To make the fires spread faster, Go-Shirakawa-heika has not given up on Yoshitsune. With or without my knowledge, Yoshitsune was made a high court official and was rumored to conspire with the retired emperor who highly favored him over me.

They were said to be plotting to overthrow my dictatorship.

Until now I did not know what sort of oni* possessed me to storm into Yoshitsune’s rooms like I was fit for murder only to throw my katana aside, bite the scar on his shoulder drawing fresh blood and arduously make love to him until dawn.

Before the sun rose, in a sudden shift of mood I put on his robe, then with his few belongings threw him outside like a straw doll. I proceed to shower him with the most hurtful of words until he had the wit to stand up and see that his most trusted companions from Oshu were waiting for him including the sohei, Musashi-bou all dressed in traveling priest’s clothes.

Grasping his bleeding shoulder had stained his hand. With that same hand he tearfully and slowly slaps me as if it were a caress. As blood smeared my cheek he says, “I am dead. So I can’t stay by your side.”

Several years later, without staining my hands in his blood… I killed him.

For only half a decade after his ‘supposed escape,’ I could no longer endure being separated from him.

To ease my diplomats’ suspicions I send for Noriyori to “arrest” Yoshitsune. Noriyori who simplemindedly believed that I wanted to kill Yoshitsune, refused.

And my plan backfired when the son of his supposed protector, Fujiwara no Hidehira (who died earlier due to illness) betrayed Yoshitsune. Fujiwara no Yasuhira had my Ushiwaka killed in Koromogawa for fear of my wrath. His demon, Musashi-bou Benkei who battled 500 warriors never left his side, died standing up, protecting him to his last breath.

In retribution, I destroyed the entire clan of Oshu-Fujiwara.

Afterwards I became a demon* ruling the country with an iron fist and a dead heart.

…

Eyes slowly regaining their focus, Kotarou took a deep breath and held his brow. The overwhelming visions from the 800-year-old spirit threatened to give him too much strain as he delved for the memories. He then turns to a gaping Naoe who appears to be white as a sheet.

“I reckon, something happened.” The Fuma said monotonously.

Naoe cleared his throat, “For the past hours, you were not yourself.”

That practically explains the immense headache.

~TBC

103 – Another name for the Taira Clan

104 – My lady

105 – To be in the company of monks in secluded Mt. Hiei isn’t an innocent exile. If you get my drift.

106 – Most-esteemed husband.

Post A/N: (Additional Disclaimer) My reference for the historical data is from J. Gilbert and for the inspiration it’s the historical yaoi manga entitled, “Amasakaru” by the wonderful and brilliant Azumi Moka-sensei. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.
- 32
- 33
- 34
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

400 Years Apart