“Then tell me what’s wrong with my strategy of using a beauty?”
“It’s terrible. You’ve read Chinese books so you’ve heard of legendary beauties like Xi Shi and Diao Chan right? Using beautiful women as spies is so predictable. Takeda Harunobu may be described by his father Nobutora as a weakling, but from what I know, his understanding of Chinese culture is quite good. He also knows Sun Tzu, who wrote The Art of War. Using this old trick is not going to help your plans, it’s probably going to be defeated before it even starts. I think it’s better to find a spy who’s not attractive, like someone who was missing an eye or crippled...”
Time to make a gamble! Sakura remembered an illustrious person in the history of Japanese warfare, but couldn’t remember if he was in Suruga. She brought up his name.
“You know Yamamoto Kansuke?” Yoshimoto was so surprised he grabbed her wrist.
He fell for it! So this Kansuke person was in Suruga and has dealt with the Imagawas. The historical stories were true. Sakura, it’s time for you to change your fate.
“Can you let go of my hand?” She acted calm, while making an odd noise to complete her act. “I don’t know this Yamamoto Kansuke, but God has given me power to predict what will happen.”
“Are you Suwa’s witch?”
“I’m a messenger of god, and not merely a witch.”
Sakura rolled her eyes dramatically as she talked. The way Yoshimoto seemed so stunned was very entertaining.
It was three days later when Yoshimoto gave up on the idea of using Sakura as a spy at Kai. On the same day, he received a letter from Harunobu. Sakura thought Harunobu must be asking the Imagawas to help host Nobutora in the letter. The spy, Yamamoto Kansuke, should already be in contact with Harunobu. She slapped her forehead... if only she had remembered that the Japanese believed in Gods and spirits, she could have pretended to be a witch from the beginning and saved a lot of time.
Yoshimoto still saw her these days, but he never caressed her chin with his fan anymore. He has indeed taken her for a messenger of God, with an attitude change of at least 90, if not 180, degrees. She could stop worrying about Suwa and Yiu for a while. What she had to do next was to keep acting and influence Yoshimoto, to make sure he accepted Nobutora and not Harunobu as a guest, and it’d be wonderful.
Six months passed before Sakura realized it. By the time she noticed, she saw that while history has sped up, history itself didn’t change at all. She didn’t see Harunobu in Suruga but a glimpse of the lonely figure of Nobutora. The old man’s brutal demeanor seems to have diminished. Maybe it would help him to have a peaceful retirement if he didn’t see her at Suruga.
“I thought you’d be happy to see that Suruga has accepted Nobutora to be here, after he was exiled by Harunobu. Why are you so upset?” Yoshimoto asked her, seemingly grinning.
“That’s because... I want to return to Suwa. I didn’t see God at the Lake of Suwa last year and couldn’t do my ritual. If my karma suffered, it’d be your fault.” Sakura complained.
“My fault? You think Suwa would allow you back now?”
“Can’t I travel around if I don’t go back to Suwa?”
“You... really hate living in Suruga?”
Yoshimoto frowned, his tone showing a hint of blame. Sakura actually felt a little sad. If she compared him with Harunobu, Harunobu was more annoying. But to stay in Suruga, a place full of rules and regulations, inspite of the good-looking man in front of her, and getting to appreciate ancient Japanese culture, she was actually really bored, since no one argued or bickered with her. She finally understood why pampered upper-middle class girls on TV shows always liked to explore the outside world.
“Fine. But before you leave Suruga, can you arrange flowers for me again?”
When did he start acting like this? Sakura couldn’t believe her eyes. Yoshimoto’s eyes seemed to be less devious now, they were deep and filled with some kind of emotion.
Did he really not want her to leave Suruga? She felt a little apologetic. Yoshimoto wasn’t as possessive as Harunobu, but somehow, he’s touched a soft part of her heart. As brief as the feeling was, she could feel it deep down.
She picked a small bamboo basket with a long and narrow handle as the flower container, and added blush-colored summer roses to pure white lilies. Cutting off the extra stems and leaves, she dropped the flowers into the basket in a four-sided fan shape, free of any other artifice.
Yoshimoto stared at the flowers as if he was enchanted. Red and white were Japan’s two favorite colors, and the passion of roses and the elegance of lilies were well-matched in their colors of life. When Sakura noticed his expression, she was inspired to take some peacock blue and pale yellow dried flowers as decorations. After adding them to the spaces in the basket, she finished her flower-arranging. Gingerly picking up the basket, she handed the result to Yoshimoto.
“This is for you. Do you like it?”
“Why did you add the dried blue flowers?”
“It was just an inspiration. Suruga is close to the sea, so I thought it’d be perfect to think of the sea when looking at flowers.”
“Does this have a name?”
“I don’t know how to pick names. I just want the flowers to look good.” Sakura scratched her head in embarrassment.
“Let’s call it ‘Enchanting Blue on a Sunny Day.” I’ll remember you, Sakura.” Yoshimoto sighed. Holding the flower basket, he turned to leave on a narrow path. The hem of his clothes flew up like snow floating from the ground. The shadow of his retreating shape dragged on and on under the sun.