The Ronin’s Mistress

evidence against her servant. He was so preoccupied that he almost forgot to lose the game.

“I win!” the shogun exclaimed. Everyone clapped. “Now it’s time for my massage.”

He left with Yoritomo, who gave Masahiro a baleful parting glance. Masahiro went home, dreading what he had to do. At the gate, he asked the sentry, “Are my parents here?”

“No, young master.”

But Masahiro couldn’t put off telling them forever. If Okaru and Goza were responsible for beating his grandfather and killing the two bodyguards, they must be punished. “Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Hirata-san caught the man who attacked your grandfather.” The sentry told Masahiro about the hired assassin.

It wasn’t Goza! Masahiro felt a huge relief. He wouldn’t have to tell his parents. He wouldn’t have to see their disappointment that he’d kept a bad secret from them. But his relief quickly faded as suspicion reared its head again. “Who hired him?”

“Your parents are trying to find out.”

It could have been Goza, Masahiro thought unhappily. “Where’s Okaru?”

“Still under house arrest.”

That meant his mother still didn’t trust her. Masahiro decided to talk to Okaru. Maybe he could help her prove she was innocent. He ran so fast that he was out of breath when he arrived at her room. Outside it, Lieutenant Tanuma sat against the wall. He saw Masahiro, jumped up, and said, “Young master, can you guard Okaru for a moment? I have to go to the Place of Relief.” He rushed off without waiting for an answer.

Masahiro went into the room. Excitement mounted in him; his heart thudded. Okaru knelt on the bed, plaiting her hair into thin braids, then combing them out with her fingers. She turned to him. Her beautiful face was sad, scrubbed clean of makeup, and puffy around her eyes. She looked as if she’d stopped expecting anything good.

“I-is there anything you need?” Masahiro said.

Okaru forced a smile. Her lips looked soft, bruised. “No, but thank you for asking.” She added, “I’m sorry I was mean to you yesterday.”

“That’s all right.” Masahiro was embarrassed and unhappy to see her so sad. “They caught the man who attacked my grandfather,” he blurted out.

“I know,” Okaru said. “I heard one of the guards tell Lieutenant Tanuma.” Sighing, she twisted her hair around her hand. “I feel so bad that your mother thinks I had something to do with the attack. She thinks I’m a dog who bites the hand that feeds me. But I can understand why she does. Girls like me … well, we’re famous for causing trouble and taking advantage of people. But your mother has been so good to me.” Her eyes briefly glowed with her affection for Reiko, then filled with anguish. “I would never do anything to hurt her family. Never!”

She wasn’t angry, Masahiro saw. He would have been furious at anyone who wrongfully accused him. But Okaru made excuses for his mother and blamed herself. “I believe you,” he said, carried away by the conviction in her voice and his admiration for her.

“You do?” Delight bloomed on Okaru’s face. “Oh, thank you!” She sprang up and threw her arms around Masahiro.

Masahiro was so surprised that his eyes popped and he choked on his breath. He lost his balance and fell onto the bed, dragging Okaru with him. Exhilaration and rapture filled him as she hugged him and pressed her cheek against his. He felt the softness of her skin, the warmth of her body, and her breasts touching his chest. He wanted to hold Okaru. He strained away from her because he was afraid that if she knew how he felt, she would be upset.

Now her face was wet with tears. Masahiro awkwardly stroked her hair as she cried, trying to comfort her. Its silky strands tangled in his fingers. He couldn’t bear to take pleasure from her that she hadn’t offered, but his desire and excitement leaped even higher than when he’d watched her in the bath chamber.

Her arms loosened their embrace; she drew back. “You remind me of my little brother who died.” She cupped his cheek in her soft hand and smiled mistily.

Desire vanished. Her little brother! That was how Okaru thought of him. Not as a man she could like, or even a friend, but as a child.

Masahiro didn’t have time to feel the worst of his mortification, because he heard his mother’s voice say sharply, “Masahiro! Okaru!”

* * *

Alarmed, Reiko stared at her son and Okaru sprawled on the bed. The girl had her arm around Masahiro and her hand cradling his cheek. Masahiro’s hand was in Okaru’s hair. They turned at the sound of her voice.

“What are you doing?” Reiko asked.

They sprang apart and stood up. Reiko saw Masahiro’s face turn red, and fear in Okaru’s eyes. Suddenly she recalled her conversation with Chiyo. Now she understood: Chiyo had been trying to warn her about what could happen when a boy on the verge of manhood and a beautiful young girl lived under the same roof. Chiyo must have noticed an attraction between Masahiro and Okaru. Reiko belatedly realized what had happened. Okaru had a broken heart and needed comfort; Masahiro was experiencing the sexual desires that boys did. It was natural that they should come together.

Reiko turned on Okaru. “Were you seducing my son?”

“No,” Okaru said in a small, chagrined tone. “It’s not what you think.”

Reiko was shocked, even though she knew that samurai boys began having sex at an early age and it was considered acceptable as long as they confined themselves to women from the lower classes and didn’t ruin girls from good families who were reserved for marriage. Reiko had caught Sano’s young retainers coupling with the maids and politely looked the other way. But Masahiro wasn’t grown up enough for sex!

“Mother,” Masahiro said. The word was half protest, half plea. He looked miserable.

The idea of him with Okaru filled Reiko with aversion, even though she’d prided herself on overlooking class distinctions. She’d taken the girl into her house, and Okaru had blithely helped herself to Reiko’s son! No matter that Okaru was innocent of the attack on Magistrate Ueda, she was dangerous. Inexperienced boys like Masahiro often fell in love with girls like Okaru. The affairs begat jealousies, quarrels, duels between men vying for the same girl, and often babies. Custom forbade such couples to marry, and too often they committed shinju, double love suicide. Reiko saw a new, perilous world opening up for Masahiro. She’d tried so hard to protect him from his father’s political enemies, but she’d not thought to shield his heart.

“Go to your room,” Reiko told him, angry at her own obliviousness, wanting to separate Masahiro from Okaru and shut the door on his new world even though it was too late.

He started to protest, to defend Okaru. Lieutenant Tanuma rushed into the room.

“Where have you been?” Reiko asked Tanuma. “Didn’t I tell you to watch Okaru?” Before he could answer, she said, “Take Masahiro to his room.”

Tanuma and Masahiro slunk out like whipped puppies. Reiko turned to Okaru. The girl knelt on the bed, hands clasped behind her back, like a child caught stealing candy.

“Now,” Reiko said in as level a tone as she could manage. “Explain what you were doing with my son.”

“Nothing,” Okaru said. “I hugged him because he was kind to me. That’s all.”

But Reiko had seen the look on Masahiro’s face while he and Okaru were touching. A hug could easily lead to other things-perhaps things that had already happened when she wasn’t there to see. For the first time she experienced the jealousy of a mother who realized that someday she would no longer be the woman her son loved best.

“You’ll stay away from Masahiro from now on,” Reiko said. “Do you understand?”

Okaru nodded, her complexion gray, lips pressed together as if she feared that if she spoke she would be sick. Her eyes were huge and solemn.

“Good.” Reiko felt a pang of shame for treating the girl so harshly. She remembered why she’d come to see Okaru. “I have news. My husband and I have found out who’s responsible for the attack on my father. It’s not you. You’re exonerated.”

Tears of relief spilled from Okaru’s eyes. She murmured, “Thank the gods. I prayed that I would be proved innocent.” She gazed up at Reiko in sudden apprehension. “Does that mean you’re letting me go?”

Reiko knew she was thinking of the cold night and her lack of a place to stay. “You don’t have to go now.” Reiko wasn’t heartless enough to put the girl out. “Tomorrow I’ll have my husband’s troops escort you and Goza