The Disgraced Blossom- A Hakuouki Fan Fiction

8

Haruka sauntered into the Buddhist monastery whilst she ignored a row of monks who welcomed her with a word of blessing.

Blonde hair in a disordered topknot and curled strands skim her lean cheeks. It was late afternoon, but the high priest had a business to converse with her, thus the visit into the holy sanctuary.

The aforesaid holy man who personally appointed to administer prayers and bless their weapons every other week. A languid hand was inserted into the folds of her black kimono and licked her lower dry lips.

The ronin casually advance to the temple to locate a luscious garden. She found a figure in the midst to dish out breadcrumbs at a group of koi fishes. Haruka paused to pound the front ends of each zori on the grass before she ambled toward the monk.

Finally, Shinoya Ibuzu peeked toward Haruka as she halted on the opposite side of the gurgling clear stream ascended from nearby mountains.

"Nice to see you, Haruka," he beamed in acknowledgement.

"I heard you have a matter of discussion?" she replied without missing a beat. "Raiku-same informed me to meet you."

"Straight to the point are we?" he chuckled softly. "Would you like to feed the koi fishes?"

She raised a thin brow in the silent comeback at the same time, bore a hole into his inky-black gaze; a distorted scar on the left eye. Haruka had known about the monk's infamous past courtesy of Raiku the two were friends linked together by business purposes.

The Amanozako fatten the monks' purse with money whilst Ibuzu and the rest would aid them when raids supervene. They cover up any signs of weapons underneath the flooring until the coast was clear.

Before Ibuzu decided to be a priest, the man had been a merciless ronin and carried the weight of many innocent souls. The said temple had been on the brink of destruction due to the former monk who stole coins from devotees undeterred by its structure on the verge of collapse.

When a body had been washed ashore on the riverbed, Ibuzu was on the brink of death when a group of kind-hearted religious men lugged the syncope male into the abbey and nurse him back to health.

Continuous prayers were at service throughout the days and by the mouths of scuttlebutt suggested truth, the former ronin caterwauled like a newborn babe and sworn his life to walk in the pristine path.

"Are you done?" she probed in a detached voice.

"Yes," he nodded at the same brushed off bread crumbs from his wide palms. "I have appealed for Raiku's permission to choose a few of his men to guard me all the way to Kyoto."

"You want me to follow?" she cocked her blonde head aslant.

"You're the best that I can ask for protection," he padded over the scarlet bridge to a standstill in front of her. "There is an important meeting held in Kyoto for high priests and it is compulsory."

"When?" she folded both arms as a bandage in which coiled around her small breasts peeked outward.

"In a week," Ibuzu exhale contently as he glances upward at the bluish sky. "Kyoto has a strict code of regulations for visitors to carry an entry permit and weapons will be confiscated."

"I don't go anywhere without mine," Haruka stated as a matter of fact.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to pass the entry gate," the bald man smiled serenely. "I let you pick your group of men to guide along."

"You used to be a ronin," Haruka acknowledged in a low tone. "Why do you want us to take care of your hide?"

"Disrespecting a priest?" he spoke in a gruff voice at the choice of her word. "I have sworn off carrying any weapons in front of my brothers."