Twelve Lies I Told Shingen Takeda

Chapter Thirty-Seven - *Ahem*

"I can hear you thinking again." Shingen rubbed my shoulders as I prepared a cup of 'Chiyome's tea' for myself and a regular blend for him.

Hopefully he didn't literally know my thoughts because they were all over the place. One of those places was frustration that he wasn't even considering Sasuke's recommendation. But it was easier to dwell on that frustration than to consider the ramifications of loving this man. I needed to put that emotion in its own compartment for a little while. If he knew I loved him, would he be more – or less - willing to go with Sasuke to the future? My gut told me it was the latter.

Settling on a new topic entirely, I handed him the gift. "Here, this is for you." He examined the cloth wrapped bundle without opening it. Ha! I knew he was going to be the type of person to sh-

He shook it and listened to it, but there wouldn't be much in that to give it away. "It's not my birthday."

"My brother and I had this tradition of 'just because' gifts. We'd see something, or think of something that we believed the other would like and go ahead and gift it, even if there was no occasion. Just because we wanted to." In fact, usually the just because gifts ended up being items I got more use and enjoyment from than the official occasion gifts. Once he had given me a key hanger in the shape of a cat that basically had prevented me from locking myself out dozens of times (which... probably had been his strategy as inevitably I called him to bring over my spare key).

He hefted the package a few times. "Clever. If he ever forgot your birthday, he could always remind you that he'd given you gifts all year around."

"I suppose. Not that he ever forgot my birthday." He couldn't, unless he forgot his own.

"A paragon, your brother is." Had Shingen ever forgotten a birthday or other special occasion in his time? Unlikely – the man remembered everything – he would make it a point to remember birthdays. "I almost worry what he'll think of me."

I let him stew another moment before I added, "We were born on the same day." Was he ever going to open it? The anticipation was driving me crazy.

"Ah, twins. You never mentioned." He seemed to be filing that away in his brain somewhere. "I had the impression he was the younger. You seem like you're protective of him."

"No, he's older, but not by much." Aki had informed me that twins were considered unlucky in this era, so I normally didn't mention our shared birthday. "I guess I'm protective because he's very clumsy. And he gets motion sickness." And because it was my fault that we ended up here in the first place.

At last, Shingen untied the bundle to reveal the puzzle box. Using various types of wood, Tokuro had created a mosaic-like picture of a moon over a lake, surrounded by trees. It had reminded me immediately of the lake where Shingen had first "met" me as Katsuko.

"This is beautiful." He spent a moment turning it around to examine the lacquered wood from all sides. "Does it open? It sounds hollow, but there doesn't appear to be a lid to it."

"That, you have to figure out on your own. It's a puzzle box. It does open, but there are twenty-one steps you have to perform in the right order before it will." Puzzle boxes were not completely unheard of in this era, although they wouldn't become more popular for another century or so. I had been extremely lucky that Tokuro made them.

"Twenty-one steps?" His eyes bright with interest, Shingen set about trying to solve the puzzle.

Yes! Gift giving achievement unlocked. I rested my head on my hands while I watched him try to work the various levers and catches. He glanced over and caught my eye. "Thank you. This is a perfect gift... although, I imagine it might distract me from my reports... and... you thought of that already, didn't you?"