Chapter 3: No more Broken Hearts

It was past nine that night, and Shuuei and Kouyuu all went home. Shouka retired to his room to sleep, but Shuurei was busy attending to Seiran.

"Ojou, had I offend you?" Seiran asked.

Shuurei looked at him with sad eyes as she continued to render sponge bath.

"Seiran, please don't feel guilty. It is not your fault that I am grown up now." Shuurei told him.

Seiran smiled a bit and looked down on the floor. He had remembered her saying that she loved him second to her father, and he remembered boasting to Sakujun about it. He was very proud that she loved him and that Sakujun seemed not to have a place in her heart. But he never knew if her heart had changed for all this time.

Shuurei, meanwhile, remembered the time when Sakujun, at the point of death, was asking her if he could be the third in her heart, next to Seiran. Why is everybody asking for her heart? Maybe even Ryuuki would have asked to be third too if he had learned of her ranking. But to her, she is still unsure of her feelings for Ryuuki. It was something of a half-love, plain admiration, infatuation, or simply respect for him being able to transform from that of an irresponsible heir to that of a mighty and prudent ruler. But one thing was for sure. Her otousan (father) would always be first. No doubt about it. And Seiran would always be second.

The light of the candle was almost out, and Seiran mentioned it to Shuurei. She stood up and changed a new candle. Over the new one, Seiran looked at her again and asked.

"Do you still love me, Shuurei?" he asked.

"Of course, I still do," she replied without hesitation. "You had always been a brother to me. You had been everything—a friend, a shadow, a shoulder to cry on, a defender."

"Would you consider me a lover?" Seiran brashly asked.

Shuurei was taken aback. Why would he ask for such a thing? She fidgeted, looked away from him and told him she didn't know.

"I need time, Seiran. Please don't change the way things had always been."

"But you cannot force to stay away from change, Ojou…" Seiran tried to explain. "It hurts to know the truth, but I am dying to not be able to tell you what I feel."

"What do you mean?" she asked. But she had a hunch as to what he really meant.

"I love you, Ojou—iie, Shuurei…" he whispered as he looked deeply in her eyes.

She didn't understand what she felt or what to feel when he said it. She was trying to decipher her own feelings as to why she was hurt when he went away, and why she was happy to know that he came home.

"Seiran, I…" she tried to explain, but he locked her lips with his finger.

He slowly advanced forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her so gently that Shuurei breathed hard in order to force air to her system. She so liked it that she kissed him back. When their lips departed, Shuurei looked at him and caressed his face. This man in front of her had been doing many things for her sake, and he had been frustrated that she seemed to do many things in his behalf. She finally came to understand why he never seemed to look out for a life outside of home. For him, his heart was already home with her. She finally understood as well what she had been feeling for him all along.

"I love you too, Seiran," she whispered.

He smiled at her and rested his head on her chest. Since he was sick, he was very willing to experience how it is to rest on her bosom and lay silently there. Both of them finally realized that their love was more than that of being siblings. It was already the love that lovers feel.

Meanwhile, outside, it had started to silently rain…

-owari-