Red strands

A few minutes later, Hana was sitting on a short-legged wooden chair with Haruka sitting before her on the bare floor and her back turned to her as they got ready to apply the dye.

To the side, Ane stood and watched as Hana took away the wooden sizeable pin used to hold the young lady's hair in an updo.

Immediately, Haruka's long strands of black hair came falling behind her and cascaded down to her tailbone.

'I hope this works.' Both mother and daughter prayed in their hearts.

Without wasting time, Ane stepped forward as it was time for the familiar ritual to begin.

First, Haruka's frontal hairline was stripped of its artificial colour using lukewarm water, as this step revealed the several red strands of her hair which had never been seen by another set of eyes apart from the ones belonging to her immediate family.

Next, her entire hair was dried using a white cloth before Ane moved to her side with a local hand fan to make the work faster for them.

Curious to see what her red hair looked like at the moment, and how well it blended with her hair, Haruka made a request.

Tilting her head to the side, Haruka cast a quick glance at her mother with her brows moving up slightly and asked, "Mother, can I see what I look like before the red strands are covered up again?"

Not surprised by her request, Hana motioned for Ane to bring a mirror over as she took over her task.

As soon as the mirror was put in front of her face, Haruka's sight landed on it and her eyes immediately went straight to the red strands of long hair that almost covered her entire frontal hairline.

Her eyes went round as she admired the beautiful difference those simple strands made.

"My hair is beautiful…" Haruka exclaimed as her lips parted slightly with a wowed expression on her face.

The young lady seemed proud of her strange locks as she instinctively ran her hands through them.

It had been years since she had seen those magical strands that gave her a superior kind of vibes.

In fact, Haruka was not accustomed to seeing the red strands of hair because she normally didn't mind as it was almost a monthly routine to dye her hair.

She always felt that there would be other opportunities to see them as they wouldn't run from her head, plus the fact that her mother was usually in a hurry to get things over with.

But finding out that a permanent dye was about to be used on her special strands, she had the urge to see them again.

Hence, she made a request which luckily for her, was immediately granted.

To the comment she made about her hair, her mother replied with a troubled gaze.

"Yes, but it's a pity that you must hide them, and can't show them off to avoid getting killed."

Although her words were slightly harsh, Haruka understood what she meant. She had only done this out of care for her.

To this day, Hana and her husband had always thought the Daimyos would take their daughter away and probably have her killed immediately because of her strange hair colour that was likely to be a threat to them.

But they were ignorant of the fact that they needed her very much alive to fulfil their agenda.

Although hearing what her mother said, Haruka remained unmoved.

She didn't seem afraid of dying or maybe she had her mind fixated on the beauty of her hair to hear those words clearly and take them into deep consideration.

Noticing that she was lost in thought, a helpless sigh escaped from Hana's lips as her tensed shoulders slumped.

Her daughter was pitiful and she felt even more useless for not having the power to protect her from evil.

It was truly frustrating to be helpless at a moment like this.

Putting away the hand fan, she gave Ane a side glance as the latter quickly stepped forward to take the mirror from Haruka.

"Young Miss, I shall be returning the mirror now," her polite voice rang out as Haruka retracted her hands obediently.

"One day, I shall be able to wear my double-coloured hair without fear," the young lady promised as a pool of determination swirled in her eyes.

'I hope that day would come.' Hana thought with faith as she released a deep breath.

After some minutes had passed, the fragrant black dye produced by Naoki was applied to her hair as her red strands finally disappeared from sight.

As the dye was being applied to her hair, Haruka couldn't stop herself from thinking about Naoki.

Being aware of his thoughtfulness towards her by sending the dye over, made her wonder what his intentions were.

******

As soon as the day broke, Daisuke left his Master's castle with a big wooden box on horseback.

Because of the size of the box and its content, he couldn't ride his horse and could only set out on foot.

Inside the castle, Naoki lay sprawled with his back on the futon in one of the sitting areas downstairs as his arms went behind his head to prop it up.

With one leg crossed over the other, his gaze remained fixed on the white concrete ceiling above him as his thoughts wandered to some events of the past.

Scenes of bloodbath from centuries ago flashed across his eyes, but instead of getting bothered by it, his right foot dangled over his left leg as they moved in rhythm.

This was the first time Naoki was being jobless since he woke up from the coma.

Normally, he was always busy in his Rabo, but it seemed like he was not in the mood to do that this morning.

In actuality, he was waiting for Daisuke to arrive at the large house on the outskirts of the City before teleporting over there.

He didn't have the patience to walk with him on the dusty and crooked paths leading to that place and being a man of ease, he didn't want anything that would stress him.

Naoki's mind lingered in the past for a little while longer before leaving his trance suddenly.

Uncrossing his legs, he immediately stood on his feet. After straightening his red and black kimono, and adjusting the brown obi around his waist, he vanished from sight.

There was no longer time to lazy around. He was sure Daisuke had arrived and now, plans had to be put in place with actions taken.