Cherry Blossom | | Ikemen Sengoku | |

Chapter 13: The Beautiful Stranger

A sweat drop down from her forehead at the danger that befalls on her. Each second feels like forever even though barely a minute had passed. After her eyes adjust to the darkness, she could make out the man's feature. Below her is a pair of beautiful eyes that is gazing at the door.

Loud, hurried footsteps echo through the hall. He turns to her and hold her closer to him just as the door is forcefully slides open. Soldiers who are on duties stood at the doorway with a deep blush on their faces when they see what is in the room. Two people are having intimate moments.

"T-this not the right one either." One of the soldiers stutters before he closes the door and heavy footsteps echo through the hall again.

Y/N doesn't know what is happening, but even she could tell the soldiers are looking for something or someone. As soon as the door is closed, the stranger let go of Y/N.

She backs herself away from him as she stares intently at the silhouette of the stranger in the dark.

"I apologize for my action. The guards here had mistaken me for a recent thief, I didn't want to bring in any unnecessary troubles while I enjoy my stay here." Unlike before, his voice now carries a strange calmness and elegance in it.

"Ah.. I understand. It happens all the time, doesn't it?" Y/N exhales in relief now that she knows he was only trying to protect himself.

She recalled the portraits that was posted in Azuchi town to warn the citizens of the local thief. It was so bad that she does not know how can people actually recognize someone from that picture. She is too spoiled by her time period, the advanced technology makes it easy to draw a portrait of someone.

Before, she would take no excuses if anyone even point a knife or sword at her. But now she can at least sympathizes with the people in this time period, everyone is just trying to survive. As long as he did not really intend to kill her or harm her, she does not mind helping him out.

The stranger's placid expression changes for a second because of her carefree response. He did not actually think Y/N would believe his lies so easily. He was planning to settle it by knocking Y/N out cold if it is necessary to conceal his identity.

"Are you not from around here? It can be quite troublesome during these hectic days." Y/N notices his strange pair of eyes.

Thanks to the newly lit lanterns from the restaurant next door, she can see that one of his orbs is a bright blue and the other one is a clear emerald green. Beautiful like the ocean and a gemstone. She is strangely mesmerized by his beautiful pair of eyes.

"I came from the outskirt of the capital, I've never visited the capital prior to this festival." The stranger replies before he stands up and looks outside through the crack of the window.

"Do you want a tour? I don't live here but I know the way around Kyoto like the back of my hand." Y/N excitedly offers her kindness, she wants everyone to enjoy the amazing festival as much as they can.

"That is fine, I can on my own." The stranger looks outside the window, not paying attention to her.

"My name is Y/N." She can tell he is checking to see if the soldiers had left completely through that small open crack.

"Shinji." The stranger replies with no interests.

"Well then Shinji, we need to do something about your look before you head out to avoid any troubles." Even though he does not want her tour, she wants to at least help him from being chased again.

Before Shinji could respond, Y/N runs out of the room and comes back with a few accessories. She lit up two lanterns in the room once she places the accessories down on the mat.

"What are you doing?" Shinji narrows his eyes when he averts them back onto Y/N.

As soon as the room is lit up with light, Y/N is captivated by the strange charisma that leave her with little choice but to look at him. His blonde white hair only strengthens his beautiful and unique pair of eyes. The bang on his left falls elegantly down his face, covering a part of his ocean colored orb. He holds an untouchable and cold feature, yet it is so beautiful in its own way that she doubts there is any man from this time period or the future that can rival his flawless feature. It is as if he is coldly perfect as a statue cut from marble. He has a distinguished aura that makes him strangely irresistible as a man, and as a leader, if he becomes one.

Y/N shakes her head and snaps herself back to reality. Fawning over a man like this is not herself at all. She pats on the spot on the mat before her, signaling Shinji to take a seat there.

"Let me help you." She grins brightly.

Though Shinji looks at Y/N with skeptical eyes for a moment, he gracefully sits down at the spot Y/N told him to. He actually does not mind walking around town in plain sight because he can just "clean up" any soldiers who gets in his way. But in order to enjoy the unique sa-ke here at the festival, he needs to avoid the constant chasing. So he figures it would be in his best interest to let this young man here help him keep a low profile.

"I'm going to do something about your hair, is that alright?" Y/N said before touching Shinji's long bang with her slender fingers.

Shinji is taken back a bit with the sudden warm brush of her fingers on his forehead. But he gives a single nod, giving her the permission.

Her fingers make its way through Shinji's silky hair. She ties it up into a bun like how she did with her own hair before placing an ornamental cap over his head to cover his blonde hair.

"Ah just one more thing!" She runs out of the room again and comes back with a jar and cottons.

"What is that?" Shinji eyed the jar suspiciously.

"It's flour with black bean color mixed into it. I've made it into a power substance that can safely be used on skin." She dips a cotton into the jar.

"And what are you going to do with it?" Shinji questions with his eyes fixed onto the cotton ball that is now dyed with brown power substance.

"Your skin, I'm sure they won't be able to recognize you if you have a darker skin color." Y/N smiles.

Before Shinji could protest, Y/N had started to pat the cotton on his cheek, causing him to widen his eyes in shock.

"It won't hurt, I promise." She grins brightly and continues to pat the substances on his face.

Shinji sits still silently in his spot. His strange beautiful pair of eyes are fixed on her bright smile. There is something pure behind her pair of brown orbs, something that reminds him of something that he had seen before, something he had lost. It is uncomfortable yet surprisingly soothing at the same time. Despite the fact he just met this young man, named Y/N, and threatened to kill him, Y/N is still determined to help him.

"All done!" Y/N excitedly look at Shinji, proud of her work.

Even with the change to Shinji's appearance, Y/N cannot deny the fact that he still looks effortlessly beautiful. She didn't take notice of it till now, but his feature seems even more impressive up close. His face is perfectly symmetrical, except for his heterochromatic eyes. It gives a haunting quality to his beauty. She is, again, too fascinated to look away.

"Do you have a mirror?" Shinji's voice snaps her back to reality once again.

She shakes her head, not believing that she was fawning over a same man twice within just a few minutes. As she tries to put that thought away, she hands a mirror to Shinji to look at himself. His placid expression is shattered when he sees how he looks like.

"Try to avoid meeting the soldier's eyes, your unique pair of eyes might give it away." Y/N smiles brightly.

She wonders who is the thief that has the same unique pair of eyes like Shinji.

"Thanks." Shinji smiles slightly.

"Alright, let's go enjoy the festival, Shinji!"

Shinji nods and joins Y/N who is now already standing at the door. He figures he might as well stick around with Y/N for a while then lost her in the crowd of people later. Though he was cautious around her at first, he becomes normal around her over the night. They blended into the crowd of people, walking past the soldiers being unnoticed.