Fifty Words for Rain(70)

What a fine cloak that would be.

She laid her face against the tree. It wouldn’t hurt to close her eyes for just a little bit. She would go to sleep in a while, but out here, with her face towards the sky, she felt so gloriously free.

She did not hear the footsteps. By the time her eyes opened, there was already a body on top of hers. She could smell smoke.

Even before her eyes adjusted, she knew it was Will.

“Oh, Will,” she sighed. “You scared me.”

He rubbed his nose against her hair. “Do I frighten you, little kitten?”

She felt a flash of irritation. “Not so little anymore. Get off.”

He ignored her protests and kissed her. She allowed it for a moment before pulling away.

“You’re drunk,” she said, not bothering to hide her distaste. “You taste like sake.”

He kissed her again, deeper this time. She could feel his hips grinding against hers. She tried and failed to wriggle free. She had never allowed him more than the occasional furtive grope over her dress. She wrestled her mouth away from him so that his kisses fell on her cheek.

“Will, that’s enough.”

“You’re always saying ‘not so little,’” he hissed. “But you’re still afraid. Just like a child.”

“I’m not a child!” she protested.

“Then do you feel for me no longer?” he asked, and he sounded genuinely hurt. It was rare for him to be genuine about anything.

She hesitated. She could not deny that he inspired something in her that could only be called affection. But he was turning out to be more than she could handle.

His cruelty towards Alice and his love of mind games hinted at something that frightened her.

“I don’t know, Will,” she whispered. “I don’t think . . . we should keep doing this.”

His face was half hidden by shadow, but there was no mistaking the rage on it. “So you’re taking her side, then?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side. Alice is my friend—”

He growled. “And what am I?”

She recoiled now. “Will, you’re hurting me. Hanashite. Let me go.”

“I saw you first.”

“Will, this has nothing to do with—”

He bit her shoulder so hard that she cried out. “You aren’t going to take the word of that stupid slut,” he whispered. “You aren’t. Not after all I’ve done for you.”

She felt the tears forming at the corners of her eyes and tried to hold them back. This was William. He was a wealthy gentleman. He was her brother’s best friend. He was Alice’s cousin.

And he had been something to her too. He had been kind. He wouldn’t hurt her.

“William,” she said, and she was proud, so proud, that her voice did not waver. “You know that I care for you. Truly. We can talk about this in the morning. I promise.”

His grip on her wrists loosened. Her breath hitched.

“It’s okay, Will,” she soothed. “It’s all right. I just need to go to bed now. I promised Akira, ne? Please just—”

It was exactly the wrong thing to say. His grip tightened again, and this time, it was like steel.

He lowered his face onto hers, and all she could see were those blue eyes, blazing with cold fire. Her voice left her. She felt herself turn to stone.

“ ‘Akira, Akira,’” he mocked her, with his mouth pressed against her ear. “That’s all you can ever say. Do you have a brain inside your head, little girl? Do you have a single thought of your own?”

Speak. You have to speak.

Will’s fingers moved swiftly. He had beautiful hands. Perfect piano fingers. Perfect.

“Time to grow up, kitten.”

Her eyes would not close. All she could see was the blue.

Blue, like sapphires. Blue, like the car in my dreams. Blue, blue, blue.

Vaguely, she felt the fabric of her kimono as it slid up her thighs and across her belly. She heard the jingle of a belt buckle as it came undone. She heard an owl cry out.

And then there was red.

The pain was sharp. It knocked the wind out of her, and all she could manage was a low whimper. Her muscles contracted, protesting this new invasion, but still her eyes would not close.

Speak.

She could feel a solitary tear pooling at the base of her neck.

Speak.

“Now you’re a woman,” he whispered, his breath coming faster and faster. “And now you are mine.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


    NIGHT SONG




Tokyo, Japan

July 1956

Sixteen now,” Akira mused. He held up his glass, and Ayame refilled it. “That was fast.”

Not so fast, Nori thought. The sunlight was pouring down on her, but her skin still felt cold. The locket Akira had given her this morning was cool against her neck. It was white gold, with a treble clef engraved on the front of it. When he’d handed it to her, she’d thanked him politely, like a grown-up. Then she’d cried in her room for half an hour.

Now they were sitting on the patio having an early dinner in her honor. Akira had hired a real chef for the occasion. Alice was wearing her new red yukata, tied properly now. She was seated beside Nori and squeezed her friend’s hand underneath the table.