Chapter 71 YOSHI CONTINUED

Chapter 71 YOSHI CONTINUED
Her ears ringing and her hands stinging from all the clapping she'd just done, I peer through the breaks in the crowd, trying to glimpse Miss Miyuki's reaction to all this, but the woman is nowhere to be seen.

"You'll have to excuse me, I must give the introduction for tonight's play," Sachi is saying, reluctantly releasing Xiao Shen's arm. "I'll be back."

No one objects to his departure and with that the playwright cuts through the crowd, disappearing in the direction of the stage.

"Okay, your turn," Declan speaks up, nudging me in the side.

"My turn?" I repeat, watching Sachi leave distractedly.

"Hey, don't even try that. This is an even trade, your blank spots for mine," he persists.

I come to and look to him with slight annoyance. "You want to hear it now?"

He crosses his arms and stares down at me. "You couldn't wait."

I frown, sending a quick look in Cal's direction. He's currently absorbed in a conversation with Ren.

"Fine, but if any of this is overheard—" I go on, looking up at Declan warningly.

"I'm waiting, Mei," he urges stubbornly.

"I went looking for a food stand," I begin, lowering my voice so that he has to move closer to hear me. "Then things got interesting."

Curiosity fills his eyes. "Like what?"

I purse my lips, stealing another glance in Cal's direction.

"I got separated from the crowds and found this empty space, just outside the festival grounds, I thought I was alone, but—"

I pause again; Xiao Shen is talking to Cal now, smiling and turning the full force of her attention on him. I feel my blood pressure rise. Declan follows my gaze, then takes my shoulders to get me to focus again.

"Don't get distracted, who was out there with you?"

Grudgingly I return my attention to him and my story.

"Right. I heard voices. One of them belonged to Sachi and the other was a woman's."

He leans back and blinks at me.

"That's it, Mei? Just Sachi out wooing Naomi? Maybe you should be relating this bit of gossip to Xiao Shen."

"Declan," I protest, pulling on his sleeve to draw him near again, "the woman wasn't Naomi."

He looks into my serious eyes unfazed.

"Alright, Sachi's a busy guy. Like I said, Xiao Shen's over there—"

I swat his shoulder and ignore his cry of pain.

"You're missing the big picture, Declan. What was Sachi doing out there with some random woman in the dark?"

A slow smile spreads over his lips.

"Let's see here Mei, it's the night of love and he's alone in the dark with a woman. I'll give you two guesses."

I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Declan, this is serious—"

"I know," he agrees, adopting a grave look, "someone needs to let Xiao Shen and Naomi know that Sachi's running around on them."

I frown and cross my arms.

"You're impossible."

"Well, sorry if my interest in Sachi's generous heart is lacking, but rest assured my concern isn't, let's go break the news to Xiao Shen—"

"If you would just let me finish," I object, yanking on his arm to stop him, "Sachi wasn't just out there to, whatever you think he was doing. From my hiding place I heard him say—"

Released from my painful grip, he observes me with raised eyebrows.

"You were hiding? Why?"

I brush self-consciously at my kimono.

"I don't know, my intuition I guess. But that's not the point, something was off, he seemed uneasy—"

"That can happen when you're cheating."

"He was whispering with her—"

"That's advisable if you don't want to get caught."

"He mentioned theaters and expenses—"

"Mei, he is a playwright, you gotta talk about something."

"And he handed her something—"

"Even you can guess what it was."

"Declan," I say, growing red in the face, "you weren't there, he was acting suspicious."

He smiles back at my frustrated glare.

"That's because he was doing something suspicious. Cheating is very suspicious. Now, we better wait on mentioning this to Naomi, her having such a great night and all—"

"I would have heard more," I go on, speaking over him, "but then Cal had to show up—"

"Cal?" he repeats, his interest recaptured.

I narrow my eyes and avoid his knowing look.

"Nothing more happened after that; he let them get away—"

"Are you sure Sachi didn't see you? You couldn't have been hiding very well if Cal found you—"

"I was hiding just fine. Cal just appeared out of nowhere like he always does and ruined it by dragging me away—"

"He dragged you away?" he wonders, looking on at me bemusedly. "Like, manhandling?"

I flush a deeper shade of red, but am fortunately spared answering by Sachi's magnified voice.

"Hello, Hollow Crest!"

Applause is stirred at the sight of the playwright. I clap, exchanging a look with Declan.

"Well, if it isn't the playboy himself."

"Declan, shh," I hiss, "no one can know."

"Does Cal know?" he questions, raising a challenging eyebrow at me.

"No, so please keep it to yourself," I answer, staring hard up at the stage to avoid the amused look on his face.

"I see. Fine, your secret is safe with me."

I send him a sidelong glare. "It isn't my secret."

"But you're keeping it," he argues, crossing his arms.

I heave a sigh and face him fully.

"I'll tell Cal eventually. But for now, can we keep this between us, please?"

He nods. "Okay, okay. I promise."

The two of us share a small smile before our attention returns to the stage and Sachi.

"This is my favorite part of the festival," the playwright goes on, joining the crowd in a rumble of laughter before continuing, "Tonight's play follows the romantic meeting of our Mr. Miyuki and his beautiful and inspiring Yoshi. Prepare to be captivated by their moving love story, acted in part by our very own Yoshi Miyuki, Naomi Stiles. Please enjoy!"

The crowd erupts in more applause as the lights around the stage dim and Sachi exits. In the few still moments before the opening notes, I'm reminded of just how late it is. Above me millions of stars keep watch on all of Hollow Crest, a warm current blows across the festival grounds, strangely quiet and empty as everyone is gathered around the stage. And then comes a long note off a violin, soon joined by a cello. The stage is suddenly lit and there Naomi stands, an artistic idea of a forest filling the space around her.

"Now, where's the bed of lilies I've been sent to find."

Her voice rings high and clear out over the audience. With grace she moves about the stage. I can see the light in her eyes and the glow on her cheeks all the way from where I stand, the woman is truly blissful and it shows.

She won't stay that way if Declan's right, I think darkly, frowning over at the vacant spot at Xiao Shen's side where Sachi was standing.

But was he right? I close my eyes and attempt to focus harder on what exactly I had seen that night. It had only been too easy for the monk to turn what I saw into some secret love triangle, so why don't I agree? Why do I still feel like there was another reason Sachi was out there with that woman? Why do I wish I could have heard more of their conversation, if it was only to be filled with sweet nothings?

I open my eyes, the pressure of my thoughts weighing me down. It's no use, what I'm feeling and what I saw are two different things.

Up on stage another actor is embracing Naomi, murmuring words of love.

"My darling, let us never part."

"My dear Joji, how I love you," Naomi declares as she's released from the man's embrace.

Joji.

I blink, stunned, as an audible gasp breaks over the crowd. Declan sends me a dark look which I return, my cheeks reddening.

Poor Naomi.

After a pause the actor she's with recovers and takes up her hands in his.

"I, I love you too, my dear Yoshi."

There's another pause, presumably it's Naomi's line, but she appears to be frozen in place, her face as pale as ash. At a loss at what to do, the actor does the only thing he can think of and holds her in his arms once again. The lights dim for the change of scene and the audience is left in a hush of shock.

With a hand covering my mouth I look over to Declan, who lets out a long breath.

"Well, it's not like nobody knew," he whispers helplessly.

To my right I catch sight of someone pushing their way through the crowd. Sachi finally breaks through to join Xiao Shen.

"My dear, sorry it took so long," he greets her, appearing entirely unaffected.

She looks to him silently, her lips forming a thin line.

"He doesn't seem bothered," I murmur, watching the playwright take her arm, looking up at the stage with anticipation, as if he can't wait for a good show.

"Why would he be? He's got Naomi singing his praises."

I nudge Declan with a frown. "Sachi's not calculated, this is all just some big, terrible, coincidence."

"It's a coincidence that three women are involved with him?"

I shoot him a disbelieving look. "Where do you get three?"

He grins down at me knowingly. "Naomi, Xiao Shen, and mystery woman."

I return his look with a relenting sigh. "Fine, three, but I still say it's coincidence."

Just then the lights brighten and the stage is lit once more. The silence in the audience is absolute, as though holding its breath, awaiting Naomi's first lines. On cue the woman glides across the floor.

"Oh Takuya, this theater. It's stunning."

That's it. The crowd releases its breath and the tension breaks. The actor portraying Mr. Miyuki joins her, relief written upon his face.

"My dear, this is ours now, I can inspire others as you have inspired me."

The play progresses uneventfully. The final scene is an overly dramatic recount of the Miyuki wedding, the notes from the band swelling as Yoshi kisses her new husband. The stage darkens, with the music still ringing in my ears, I join the crowd in applauding a satisfying performance.

The stage is lit again so that the actors and actresses can take their final bow. I glance toward the cause of half the confusion that night. A few feet away Sachi stands with a bright smile on his face, clapping harder than anyone else around him.

That Sachi.

Lowering his hands, Declan follows my gaze.

"No shame, huh?"

I frown as I watch the playwright join arms once again with Xiao Shen. "None."

The actors leave the stage and slowly the applause around us subsides. A low murmur fills my ears as the crowd begins discussing the play, or rather Naomi's performance. Behind me someone gasps and giggles.

"Can you believe she said Joji?!"

I bite my lip and resist the urge to turn around and tell off whoever is being so insensitive, but Declan gently takes hold of my arm.

"Hmm?" I wonder as I fight the temptation.

"We should probably join the others," he suggests, glancing toward the playwright and the rest of TFP. I sigh and nod, I want anything but to face Sachi, and Cal.

"See here, now we can get some more opinions," the playwright declares as Declan and I approach. "What did you two think of tonight's show?"

"I thought Naomi was great," I answer, unable to keep a slight insinuating tone from my voice.

"She was, for sure," Sachi remarks and then looks to Declan.

"I agree with Mei," he says simply, sharing a brief glance with me.

The playwright smiles, feeling that there's something he's missing, but can't understand what.

Standing across from them, I feel Cal's gaze burning into me. I swallow and stare down at my feet, my face steadily growing warmer.

Over my dead body.

"If that's it for tonight, we should head back," Cal speaks, his voice raising the hairs on the back of my neck. I practically glare in concentration at a rock near Declan's foot.

"Oh yes, very good idea. We don't want to be late for the meeting," Sachi consents, drawing Xiao Shen to his side.

I blink and despite my determination not to look up, risk a glance at Cal, to stare surprised at Sachi.

A meeting?

"What meeting?" Cal speaks, eyeing the playwright sharply.

Sachi looks to them all.

"Didn't you know? Day three's meeting is always held the night before."

"It works for me, there's no way I'm getting up at the crack of dawn again," Sonja mutters and with that she starts to make for the inn, following the steady trickle of people there.

"About that," Sachi tries to interject, but she ignores him. "I guess she'll find out for herself soon enough."

"We really should be going," he urges the rest of us.

Finally the group begins to move out, Emeka falling into step by my side. The two of us share a silent smile.

"Are you okay?" he asks quietly as we pass through the emptying grounds.

"I'm okay, it's just been a long night. You?"

"Good, actually."

Feeling calmer than I have all night, my eyes shine at him teasingly.

"You had some interesting company earlier."

He coughs, a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. "Xiao Shen and I met them a few days ago; they seemed to have taken a liking to me."

My lips twitch as I try not to laugh. "I noticed."

Sharing in another smile, the two of us pass under the many strands of lilies strung up over the entrance to the festival grounds. A few remaining clouds from the rain earlier that day break free of the moon, letting it cast a pale glow over the flat landscape of Hollow Crest. I watch as my shadow stretches out before me, long and lean. Then another shadow comes to mind. Cal.

I hope this meeting isn't anything like this morning's.

My cheeks flushing pink, we approach the inn. Nearly as noisy and chaotic as the festival grounds, I hold onto Declan's arm tightly as we follow Cal and Sachi into the swarming building. Perfume and cologne mingle in the air with the sweet scent of lilies. The concoction is almost dizzying and I find myself longing to be out in the open again.

"I didn't know the Kokus had enough rooms for all these people," Declan comments, speaking with a raised voice to be heard over the murmur around us.

"Me either," I answer, ducking to avoid the elbow of the man squeezing by me.

Feeling suffocated by the heat and the close quarters of the halls, I'm never happier than when I hear Sachi announce that the meetings are starting in the same large rooms as that morning.

"Here," Declan says, depositing me near Sonja, "I'll see you in a bit."

I nod and let go of his arm reluctantly. Without my anchor I find myself already getting pushed around.

"Have a good meeting," I call to him, meaning it in my tone, as he joins Emeka down the hall.

With a quick grin the monk looks back at me. "I'll be sure to keep my ears open."

Noticing Sonja's curious stare, I feign interest in my sleeve.

"What was that about?" she prods.

I look up with a shrug. "Who knows."

She narrows her eyes, unconvinced, but never gets the chance to persist because in that moment Xiao Shen walks up.

"Are we ready?"

"After you," I answer quickly, gesturing her forward.

She pauses a moment, eyeing me carefully, but then moves on, gliding ahead of us. Sonja and I follow after, sharing an uncomfortable silence, the priestess wanting me to speak, me unwilling.

Behind us and filling the hall before us are many of the women present at the festival that night. Many of them still carry their lilies and almost all are giggling.

"I don't know what I like better, tonight or tomorrow morning."

"I know, I hope I can catch Noburo before Kasumi does."

I frown uncertainly.

Just what is day three?