Love without limits
Meet Shota

I can't believe what happened ..

Saki slowly moved her lips away from my hands.

Still ....the heat left from his lips penetrated deep into my finger.

eehh .. saki . "with eyes wide open, I look at him"

Saki said she would take good care of me.

With seriousness in his eyes, like he was proposing to me.

..... "saki was silently staring at me intensely as well"

He was still holding my wrist which was hot, and I couldn't move. Then ... instantly, the usual gentle smile returned to his face.

Starting from the beginning of today "says smile"

That was all he said.

He let me go, and turned around, and went into the dorm.

My nervousness melted away, and I slumped in my sitting there.

Only then, did I hear my loud heartbeat, and for a moment, I stood there in a daze.

...**Next day**...

I woke up early, and I trained with samisen unconsciously.

Afraid to think, I forced myself to sleep last night, so I didn't sleep less.

Even now, I'm afraid that if I don't keep busy, I'll start thinking about takasugi and saki.

Immediately, I heard gentle and familiar footsteps.

Ayumi peeked through the door.

but when he saw me, his expression became gloomy.

Sherry, were you okay yesterday? I heard you're not feeling well . "ask ayumi"

My eyes might still be red from crying.

Forcing myself to smile, I nodded.

I'm fine, thanks for worrying about me. “Ucapku smile”

Even though I said so, ayumi still seems worried ..

And told me not to overdo it, and she left the room.

Feeling grateful for his kindness, I started picking samisen again ...

Saki quietly entered my room, and for a moment I became stiff.

Good mornin. “Sapa saki smile”

good morning "my words are nervous"

a hoarse greeting came out of my mouth and I looked down.

I still feel uncomfortable.

(because.).

I mean, I still can't believe it.

What Saki said yesterday .. about taking care of me, and the kiss on my fingertips.

Saki has feelings for me ...? That's impossible. *benakku*

Feeling the silence, I frowned.

I put down my samisen, wanting to run to another room, when ..

Sherry .. "call saki"

It was saki's voice, and once again, I became stiff.

I felt uneasy about what he was going to say, and turned around ...

He gave me a letter.

This is coming for you. “Ucap saki”

ah thank you. "my word"

I thanked him and received his letter.

(this is ... handwritten shota)

I usually go back to my room to read it.

But the inscription ..my name and the return address seemed to be shaking, and I got a bad feeling.

In a hurry, I opened the letter and glanced at it.

It made blood flow from my face.

Wh-what happened? “Saki voice full of kawas”

and clenching the letter in my hand, I answered ...

shota and ryoma .. attacked at his inn. "my words tremble"

This is what is written in the letter ...

It happened right after the satsuma-choshu alliance was formed.

Officers from the judge attacked an inn known as teradaya where ryoma and shota lived.

It seems they are fighting. Shota with sword and ryoma with gun ...

But the ryoma fingers on both of his hands were cut off, and the shota handwriting became shaky at that moment.

He lost a lot of blood and the injuries were very deep, so shota had no idea what was going to happen now ...

But they managed to escape and seek refuge in the house of the satsuma clan in fushimi, and waited for him to recover.

The last part looks like an extra note, but it is said that they will probably move into the house of the satsuma clan in kyo soon.

(It took a while for the letter to reach me .. So maybe they were already in the capital?)

But ryoma's wounds are very deep. I hope he's okay.

Must have been very busy when Shota wrote this letter.

His writing and signature look rushed ...

And it makes me even more anxious.

Later then…

Leave tomorrow. I'll let you have a day off. “Ucap saki”

Saki's words made me look up in shock.

you're worried, aren't you? Don't you want to go and visit him? “Ucapnya again”

yes . "my answer"

When I nodded strongly, he muttered I should leave, then covered his mouth with a fan.

Besides, you can take a day off today. Just do other tasks “Ucap saki”

Huh huh? Then, I leave today! If I don't work today, and you let me take a day off tomorrow, too . "my word"

I'd say that I feel bad about that ...

Your eyes are still a little red. "Saki touched the base of my eye"

and I stopped my words ... "

they'll notice that you've been crying. You don't want them to worry, right? “Ucapnya again”

huumm .. "my words finally understood"

she's correct. They were quite worried about being chased by the people from the shogunate.

I don't want to add to their worries.

If you understand, then as I said today you do light work and rest enough. "Father"

He took his finger out of my eye.

Then Saki walked up to her desk and started researching the ledger and documents as usual.

As he always does, nothing has changed with him.

Saki means what she said yesterday.

He said he would take care of me if I stayed here ...

Saki has always taken very good care of me ..

Thank you! “Ucapku feel grateful”

My heart was about to explode, I bent over ...

On the day the letter shota arrived, I did some cleaning and other household chores.

And the next day ....

I visited the headquarters of the Kyoto satsuma clan in nihonmatsu.

With the recent incident, I knew it might be difficult to enter, but maybe ryoma had given permission, because I mentioned my name and I went straight in.

Once I entered the room, ryoma greeted me warmly.

Sherry ... You're coming! “Ucapnya smile happy”

He lay down, but tried to get up when he saw me.

Ugh ...! “Ryoma holding aache”

His two bandaged hands ended up on the floor, and he cried out in pain.

Ryoma, your injuries are very serious. Take care of yourself. “Shota see ryoma with desperate”

I'm sorry, I'm happy to see sherry and . "ryoma smiled shyly, then tried to sit carefully"

you were so excited today more than I expected. I was relieved to see it "I heaved a sigh of relief"

injuries to ryoma hands sound serious, but the face and complex colors are still good. Shota wasn't hurt, as far as I know.

Sorry to worry you. “Ucap ryoma smile”

I shook my head and Ryoma thought for a moment.

Hm .. I want to hug you, Sherry, but as you can see, with this hand . "say ryoma with his sad face"

Ryoma .. "say the shota looks irritated again"

Then, why don't you just hug her shota? “Ucap ryoma laughs slacking shota”

Ryoma teased her, shota lightly slapped ryoma on the shoulder.

Ugh .. You hurt my wound. "say ryoma in pain"

You just shut up and take a break, "said the smiling shota"

Watching their fight made me smile.

Their words were very warm and cute, and I felt like I had never laughed in a long time. Then, we start talking.

I heard the details of the incident, and I told them how shocked I was when I read the shota letter.

It appears he wrote the letter shortly after the attack.

So it ended up being a horrible sounding letter.

But knowing that they survived the ordeal, we can talk about it now.

I felt relieved again, then someone from the satsuma clan came to tell ryoma that he had a guest.

The clan members and ryoma told us to wait for a while, but did not want to disturb if it was something important, shota and I stood up and left.

Let's go to the porch? “Take shota”

I nodded and waved lightly at ryoma, and we left the room.

Sunbathing in the sun, we closed the sliding door.

He really took care of me. “Ucap shota”

That was the first thing that shota told me.

Huh huh? "I didn't understand the meaning, and shota let out a long sigh"

He was always joking, and laughed "shota glanced towards the room where ryoma was."

Then, I finally understood.

I stopped smiling without thinking, then the shota's eyes darkened.

Leaning against the wall, he let out a loud sigh again.

I can't protect her, I'm causing ryoma to hurt. He may not be able to move his left thumb anymore . but ryoma laughed at him and said there was no need to worry. “Ucap shota with sad face and she sat down sadly”

From his attitude, I could tell how much shota cared about ryoma.

And I remember the previous banter ...

It is clear how concerned ryoma with shota as well as shota.

I crouched down next to the shota ..

And she looked at me with a sad smile.

I'm sorry ... I was so weak “ucap shota with a smiling face praising”

No, you are not .. "I shook my head and muttered"

Being sad when someone you care about gets hurt is natural. "tell me again"

As I spoke, the image of takasugi was on my mind.

That's natural. And that's why .. "my words stopped and I smiled"

I suppressed the emotions that were inside me, and smiled so that the shota would not worry.

But as if feeling what I felt, shota frowned again.

you also. You forced yourself to laugh “ucap shota”

His expression when he said this surprised me.

He said you too.

I felt what shota felt ...

Wounded that Takasugi was not here, I tried my best to endure it, and forced myself to laugh.

I looked down without thinking and touched my face.

I was afraid to cry, but my cheeks were dry.

We remained silent for a while.

Birds in the distance.

Seeing the small flowers start blooming in the garden, it came out of me naturally.

I'm jealous of the man I love "my word"

my voice was so timid, I even surprised myself.

It's only been a few days, but it feels like a long time.

Takasugi looks far away.

Clenching my kimono sleeves, I shook my head.

Actually probably not. I didn't even acknowledge my love, so I guess it doesn't count. "My grandfather"

…… “shota silent hear me”

I haven't told you, shota? “Tanyaku”

He listened quietly and I looked at him.

And I'll tell the shota everything.

I became a woo. Can you trust him? I became a woo. Everyone in the house is very nice. At first, being a woo was impossible, but .. they taught me many things. And I trained really hard, and I did my best, and I became a woo.

After I became a lady…. He told me. This is the first and last. He asked me to come to a party just once. And he said it was the last time.

My voice trembled as I spoke, and the shota looked at me sympathetically.

And I continued again ..

He said he would never see me again because he was going to the battlefield. Without him, all his comrades would be in trouble. And he wants to help them .. he'll risk his life and fight the shogun.

And I was told that she could not let me by her side nag. I saw... “I was silent for a while”.

Is it so bad for me to be by his side?

My breath became disheveled, and I propped my knees.

Quickly, I wiped away the tears that threatened to fall.

But I can't stop talking.

I love him, I still love him. “Ucapku again”

Sherry .. "shota with her sad face"

On the quiet veranda, my sobs are softly out.

I don't know what to do except hold back my tears. And the shota watched me kindly, her eyes reflecting the uncertainty.

But as if making up his mind, he placed his hand on my shoulder and spoke ...

...****************...

*continuing*