Aoi Kanzaki was drying freshly washed white sheets in the courtyard, a bamboo pole still raised in her hands. When she turned and saw Lady Shinobu, normally so imposing, both revered and loved by everyone, walking in with Takanashi Rokuno holding her hand tightly as though leading a little bride, her mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.
Clatter.
The bamboo pole fell to the ground, and the freshly washed sheet instantly became stained with dirt, but Aoi Kanzaki did not even notice. She rubbed her eyes hard, then pinched her cheeks.
"Ow... this isn't a dream..." Aoi muttered to herself.
She was not the only one. Kiyo Terauchi, Sumi Nakahara, and Naho Takada, the three little girls sorting medicinal herbs in a corner of the courtyard, also stared blankly at the scene as though frozen by a spell. Then all three flushed bright red, let out squeals they could not contain, covered their faces, and turned to run, shouting as they went:
"Aaaah! Lady Shinobu and Lord Rokuya are finally holding hands!"
"This is wonderful!"
The children's uninhibited cheers echoed over the Butterfly Mansion, making Shinobu Kocho's already scorching cheeks feel as though they were about to burst into flames. She wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it at once. All she could do was cover her face with her free left hand and complain to Rokuya in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, "This is all your fault... now everyone in the Butterfly Mansion knows."
"Let them know. You're my woman-Takanashi Rokuno's woman. Why would I need to hide you?" Rokuya raised his eyebrows smugly. Holding Shinobu's hand, he walked straight through the courtyard to the enormous old cherry tree in the Butterfly Mansion's back courtyard.
It was cherry blossom season. Blossoms