Things We Do For Love

CHAPTER SIXTY

A/N: when you see the " * " sign, play the attached music from Naruto Shippuden to add dramatic effects to your reading. TRUST YOUR AUTHOR. 

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Y/N's P.O.V

"Y/N, are you coming?" Naomi peered from the corner of our shared room. The lines of beds were set against the wall with our wardrobes placed on the opposite end. It was dinner time and the rest of the residents of this house were awaiting my arrival.

"Just a few minutes"

"Okay, hurry up!" she left the door ajar and happily skipped down the stairs, a hazardous tendency that would beckon doom. As dancers and future enchantresses, I condemned her running wildly up or down the staircase. What if she fell and broke her leg? Shaking my head at her indifference, I paid attention to what I had been doing before her interruption.

The letter on my lap was almost empty. Just the credentials at the top left corner of the man who was desperate to meet me, simple three lines that instructed where to stand so he could find me and lastly, a little warning to not be late and come alone. My heart raced as I looked at the note and the wall clock. The sound of its moving hands sliced the tension in my room, sweat trailed down my nape as I considered how to approach the matter. Was it wise to be out of my house at such a late hour? How was I supposed to come back? Could I even return? It was astonishing to find the letter almost glued to the undersleeve. The writer of this commanding note had trickily placed it without so much as my attention. That was exactly why I was frightened, if not for my life then for what was about to transpire.

Dinner went smoothly. Midori-toji talked about our upcoming events and she stressed Naomi to be careful with her dance moves. She was supposed to be the main entertainer while Saaya and I helped enhance her performance. It was the usual, every three events the main dancer changed. Last time it had been Saaya and before her, it had been me. We gained praise from the people who enjoyed watching little girls enact stories with their dances. It was, however, interesting that Midori-toji had two complete set of dance practices. The act of enchantment was reserved only for a time when we were no longer children. She explained that the dances were more mature and it was unwise for young children to perform like that in front of older audience. But she was happily counting the days when we could have our debut, she sighed dreamily when she talked about the admiration we would receive and that it reminded her of her own days. Truth be told, my friends and I were still too young to comprehend the desire behind her words. All we wanted was to dance and then eat the delicious foods offered to us while looking with wanderlust eyes at the display of expensive items at these lords' houses. But unlike other nights, I was engrossed in staying awake rather than indulging in the same routine conversations. My guardian did not notice my fidgeting figure but she did comment that I was not hungry as usual. I blamed it on my upset stomach and ushered them to continue their dinner without me.

Once I was excused, I went upstairs and put on warm socks. I tightly tied my hair to a bun, which frustratingly decided to undo itself every time I moved. I switched off the lights to ensure no one noticed the heavy yukata I was wearing underneath the pile of blankets. It was monsoon season and temperatures dropped drastically after midnight.

The drumming of my heart nearly blocked every other sound in the room, my ears felt warm while I parted my lips to breathe in. It was futile for I was extremely concerned where this night would take me. The message looked harmless, it definitely had meaningless content written but the severity and tone shook my bones. Moments later Naomi and Saaya entered the room, their dainty steps caused the floor boards to creak and crunch while each of them shushed the other. I tried not to giggle as Naomi sat on her bed making farting noises while Saaya erupted in a thin laughter but quickly slapped a hand across her mouth.