Slain

Chapter 3

Uzui Tsukiko P.O.V.
-A year prior-

I always thought that I was enough for Tengen. My world collapsed when he told me he wanted to marry three other girls, from a ninja village up ahead. I told him that I didn't want him to, but he went ahead and still did it. He took them home yesterday, to our home. I was supposed to be enough. Gasping I shoot up. The futon next to me is empty and cold. "Tengen-kun" I whisper. I get out of bed and out of the master bedroom. My stomach hurts. As I walk down the hall, and hear them having sex, I get so nauseous that I have to run. I'm not going to make it. I drop down on my knees on the engawa, and vomit on the grass below. I groan softly and bend over until my stomach and breasts touch my knees before vomiting on the grass again. "Tsukiko-sama?" I hear someone asks. "Go away" I say, wiping the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand. "Please let me help you" Hinatsuru says, placing a hand on my back. She smells like him. "Get away from me!" I say, pushing her away. I hide my tears with my hair. "Tsukiko-sama. You probably have a stomach bug. Please allow me to help you" Hinatsuru says. Why are you so kind?! "It's not a stomach bug. You make me sick!" I snap at her, without allowing her to see my face. "It's best to leave her be, right now Hinatsuru" I hear Tengen's voice. "It's not personal. Go back to bed, I'll see you in the morning" he says. I don't just hear her footsteps, but others as well. "Get away from me, you smell like sex" I say, as I feel his hand on my back. "My love" Tengen sighs, as he strokes my hair behind my ear. "I know that you feel hurt. But you have no reason to. You are my wife, my first love. There's a special place in my heart that only you hold" he says. "I might be your wife, but you are not my husband" I say, wiping my cheeks. "But I am, love." Tengen says. "I am" he whispers, pressing a kiss on my temple. "Now please let me help you. You're burning up" he says. "Please just go" I whisper.

I wake up, and feel a damp cloth on my forehead. Tengen is sitting crossed legged next to my futon, with his arms crossed as well. I'm feeling cold and at the same time so hot. "You've got a pretty high fever, my love" Tengen says as he sees that I'm awake. I pull away the cloth and put my forearm over my eyes as I feel the tears dripping out. "Just go away Tengen-kun" I say, and hearing my voice break. "I'm not going to, you're terribly ill, I'm going to take care of you" Tengen says. "You broke my heart, I don't want you to!" I say. "I didn't mean to" Tengen says. "What did you think that would happen, when you marry three other girls when I told you I didn't want it" I say. "I just wanted to grow our family" Tengen says. "When you want to grow a family, you have kids and not marry other women" I say frustrated. "You will get used to it" Tengen says after a long silence, and wipes the tears off my cheeks. I don't even have the energy to go against him. He then puts a fresh damp cloth on my forehead. "Come in" Tengen says after a soft knock. The door slides open. "I'm very sorry to disturb" Hinatsuru says. "Do you think that Tsukiko-sama is up for some food? I don't know if she is awake?" She asks softly. "She is. If you could please maker her some rice porridge, that'd be great" Tengen says. "I'm not hungry" I say. "You still need to eat something." Tengen says. "I'll be right back" Hinatsuru says. "Thank you" Tengen says, as she closes the door. "Your behavior is really starting to annoy me, Tsukiko" Tengen says. "You're going to have to suck it up. The situation is not going to change." He says. "If I knew this beforehand, I wouldn't have married you" I say, turning my back toward Tengen. "So you'd rather stay at the brothel then?" He asks. "Isn't this the same thing? Your own, personal brothel?" I ask. "Now you're just being petty" Tengen scoffs. "Perhaps. But you can at least acknowledge that you fucked up and hurt me. Just get out" I say, pulling the duvet to my chin. Tengen sighs deeply. "I do know that I hurt you, my love. But I thought our relationship was strong enough. That you could handle this" he says.

Because of the sound breathing that Tengen trained me in, my hearing is heightened. I can hear a needle drop on the floor, miles and miles away, if I wanted to. So I heard the other wives talking. I heard them talking to Tengen. I haven't been able to sleep because of the hurt and anger, so I've been training ever since. When I drop down on the floor I realize that I haven't eaten or drank anything since last night. I'm tired. "You're doing really good, my love" Tengen says. I look up to see him sitting on the engawa. There's a pot of tea and some food beside him. "You've been going at it for a while" he says. "I guess" I sigh, feeling the sweat dripping down my neck and between my breasts. "Come. You need to eat and drink something and then sleep" Tengen says. Groaning I stand up. "I wouldn't be here if I could sleep" I say, sitting down on the other side of the tray. "You need to rest, you were terribly I'll a couple of days ago" Tengen says. "It wasn't that bad." I say, pouring tea for the both of us. "It was a pretty high fever" Tengen says, sliding the plate with Dango toward me. It's silent for a while as I drink the tea, and eat the dango that was prepared for me. I feel myself calming down as I look around our garden. "So what made you go so hard?" Tengen asks after a while. So he noticed. "I heard you and them talk.." I say. It's silent again. "I see" he answers. "Why didn't you tell me?" I whisper. Tengen doesn't respond. "I fell in love with you. It wasn't on my mind until it was supposed to happen. I was just reminding them that even though I'm happy with my marriage to them, I choose you and you were here first so I expect them to treat you accordingly" Tengen says. "Yes I heard" I sigh. "I love you, Tsukiko. So much" he says. I look at my husband. I hate how handsome he is.  "I love you too. I just hate how you make me feel sometimes" I say, looking back to our garden. Tengen presses his lips against my temple. "We'll get through this" he says.