HIROSHI: Truth And Illusions

Ch 6: A Warrior's Path

"Uh, you're not going to let her see you like that, are you?" Yoshi said with a frown.

"Like what?"

"Like that..." pointing to his shredded, dirty, black uniform. "You look like a wild, crazy man. When she sees your smoke stained face, wild hair, injuries, and those...shredded clothes, she's probably going to faint. But who knows, some women might like that kind of look."

"She's been abducted Yoshi! She's probably going to faint anyways," said Hiroshi spreading his hands apart, pausing on his way to the horse. "Right now, she's the least of my problems."

"Problem? That's the last thing I would call her," he responded with a distorted face. "Her kimono and face are soiled from the smoke too. What do you think? Does she need a bath and change of clothes?" 

"NO!" Hiroshi protested, "We are not giving her a bath!"

"I never said we," he mumbled, before walking towards the horse too. "Who would know? She's still unconscious."

"We will know," he replied, pausing to give Yoshi a hard look, before continuing his digging through the sacks.

Yoshi threw his hands up, "Ok, ok. No baths. But seriously Hiroshi, do you not feel anything when you are near her? Are you not a man?"

"You already know what I am."

"I get it. You're a monk and I respect that..." trying his best to put Hiroshi at ease. "But you're also a man. When you look her, what do you see?"

Hiroshi's eyes gazed at the sacks in front of him. His mind raced back to seeing Mayu for the first time in her smoke filled room, kneeling beside her; holding her soft rich hair in his hands. He remembered her delicate scent and the sensations that stirred inside his torso. In a flash, his mind jumped to that strange encounter in the forest that brought her right before his eyes. 

Upon hearing Yoshi clear his throat, Hiroshi shifted his eyes back and forth and then walked to the other side of the horse, continuing his search. Yoshi followed him with a puzzled look.

"Well?" asked Yoshi.

"Well what?" he responded, digging through one of the sacks.

Yoshi closed the flap. "Look at her! Tell me you don't see what I see."

"I've already seen her!" he replied, moving Yoshi's hand off the flap. "And I've already told you what I think."

"Hiroshi, how can you refuse to open your eyes and see this once in a lifetime opportunity that has been handed to you; exclusive access to this highly sought after woman. Come on, you're handsome and she's a..."

"Yoshi! Stop making fun of me! It's not funny anymore."

"You know what Hiroshi? You are the absolute symbol of everything wrong with the world," he said wagging his finger at him. "What most people want, they can't have it and what most people have, they don't want it! Oh why couldn't they have given me this mission?"

"Ugh!" said Hiroshi shaking his head. "We've been through this so many times. I have taken the monastic oath Yoshi and am honor bound to it. I've vowed to live a life of service to others. And now, I'm duty bound to give this woman safe passage, NOT take advantage of her."

"And exactly how do you plan to do that? We're all under strict orders not to give any details of this mission to anyone. You can't even tell her you're a monk," said Yoshi with a straight face. "She's doesn't even know what's going on! Do you think she's going to happily go with her abductor—cooperate with some, some crazy looking bandit?"

"I don't know what to do Yoshi. This was supposed to be Katsuro's problem. I shouldn't even be here!" said Hiroshi yanking one of the sacks off the horse now. "I have to tell her something! I wish I knew how Katsuro was going to do it."