The wooden corridor floor creaked, and as Logan got closer to the elegant room in the backyard, he felt his blood boiling with excitement.
The cold wind blowing through the courtyard seemed to disappear in an instant, and he could only hear the pounding of his own heart and felt parched.
Yamamoto Ichirō opened the wooden sliding door of the room and turned around respectfully: "Lord Logan, please come in."
Logan, who had long been impatient, nodded politely and walked into the room before the host.
A brazier warmed the interior, filling the air with the sweet aroma of citrus, but his eyes didn't linger on the calligraphy and paintings on the wall or the ornate screens, instead immediately falling on the woman bowing on the floor, performing a grand ceremony.
Yamamoto Ah Yi had already changed into a black furisode, her long black hair coiled atop her head, secured with seven or eight golden hairpins, revealing a fleeting glimpse of her snow-white neck in Logan's sight.
The furisode is a type of kimono, different from the more casual yukata, worn as formal attire on ceremonial occasions.
It comes in three types: large, medium, and small, not only referring to the size but also the grandeur of the regulations.
The large furisode is the highest class of attire for unmarried women, complete with five emblems. The so-called five emblems mean that the entire furisode is adorned with five family crests.
Moreover, once fully dressed, it becomes a picturesque scene or a painting of flowers and birds. The sleeves of a large furisode are about 120 cm long, reaching the ankles, making it a kimono style rich in sentiment and a perfect giant canvas.
The patterns generally use yuzen dyeing and tie-dyeing techniques, embellished with gold leaf and embroidery, making them extremely luxurious, with black often considered the most noble of furisode.
Under the bright lights, black flowers blossomed on the pale green tatami mats, and the golden designs and jewelry gleamed brightly, dazzlingly radiant.
Such a display left Logan, the country bumpkin, quite stunned.
Such dignified elegance, such poised and graceful aura, is this the legendary Yamato Nadeshiko?
Ah Yi remained bowing on the ground in greeting: "Greetings, Lord Wolf Warrior, I am Ah Yi, I greatly apologize for my offenses during the day."
Logan didn't know how to respond; his deceased wife, Dunzi, was just a farmer's daughter and had never encountered such formalities at home, and he wasn't familiar with them either.
Faced with his beloved performing a grand ritual on her knees, he didn't know where to place his hands and feet, so he spontaneously dropped to his knees....
Yamamoto Ichirō coughed twice, turning his head away as if he didn't see, as if he found the sparrow footprints in the snowy courtyard much more captivating.
In present-day Japan, only women kneel before men, where the man is the master of the household. Whether serving dishes or sliding doors to enter a room, women kneel.
Foreigners unfamiliar with these customs look quite comical, especially a bearded and burly man like this?
But this was still good, indicating Logan's high regard for his sister—after marriage, she could persuade Logan to enter service, and such a powerful warrior would surely revitalize the Yamamoto family name.
"Sister, I need to check if the matcha and snacks are ready; Lord Logan, please be entertained by my sister." Ichirō smiled and nodded at his sister, finding an excuse.
These snacks? May as well eat them tomorrow morning.
"Ha, thank you for your hard work." Ah Yi stood up to respond, her figure slender and slim, leaving a great expanse of space between her collar and neck, which Logan's eyes couldn't tear away from.
Ichirō threw a glance and casually closed the door, locking the two in the small room: "The God Master will arrive shortly, I ask the two of you to endure patiently."
Ah Yi's face turned red, she tightened the sleeves of her kimono, clutching the embroidered crane wings, and nodded slightly without replying.
"???"
Logan, still kneeling on the ground, was puzzled; the God Master is the host of the shrine, usually a Yin Yang Master, is he coming as a guest today?
But seeing Ah Yi raise her sleeve to cover the lower half of her face, her large eyes blinking at him, he forgot his question.
"Wolf..."
Ah Yi gently parted her cherry lips, just uttering a syllable before Logan scratched his head and interrupted.
"Call me Logan, haha...."
Ah Yi nodded in agreement, reorganizing her words, and appeared poised and dignified now at home: "Lord Logan, forgive my boldness, but may I ask if you have a spouse?"
"I have," Logan answered candidly, straightforward by nature, with nothing to hide: "But she died on the day Hiroshima was bombed."
Upon hearing this answer, sympathy filled Ah Yi's eyes; she lowered her arm from her face, and the fabric of her luxury kimono rustled as it brushed together.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
"It's alright, I once served in the military, and I've become accustomed to partings and loss; Hiroshima... that's a matter from long ago."
Logan gracefully waved his hand, indicating that it was okay.
"Oh? Was it in the Allies military? In that case, my father was once a soldier as well, but he never returned from the battlefield." Ah Yi spoke of her family's situation, her oval face tinged with a faint sadness.
Logan's heart tightened, could she be the daughter of an enemy? He held his breath secretly and tentatively asked, "Which battlefield?"
"Sulfur Island, did Lord Logan participate in that conflict?" Ah Yi gathered her emotions and asked with a slight smile.
Logan breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, on the way to Sulfur Island, the ship he was on was sunk by a Japanese submarine, thanks to that oxygen torpedo!
"No, no, I was... discharged before that."
Originally wanted to say captured, but felt it was disgraceful, so he changed the term.
"Oh, that's really unfortunate. I was still young then, so I've only heard that Sulfur Island was exceptionally cruel. But Japan had blocked all news domestically, I just wanted to ask what the real situation was like."
Ah Yi explained his motives while seamlessly starting to rinse the teacups, preparing to brew tea.
"Then your father died in battle there. I was his enemy ten years ago. Do you not hate me?" Logan felt strange about her relaxed attitude and asked again recklessly.
Ah Yi smiled and shook her head, gently swirling inside the bowl with the tea whisk.
"This is the fate of a Samurai. Life is like cherry blossoms and morning dew, inherently seeking the moment to bloom. The battlefield is a place where the strong prevail. I have no resentment; your survival means you are a more powerful samurai, nothing more."
Logan thought about his capabilities. If undying means strength, then he truly is immensely powerful.
Not just torpedoes, but even consuming a nuclear bomb wouldn't matter.
He certainly is stronger than Captain America, just unsure how he compares to the legendary Deathstroke, who is supposedly even stronger?
Having been in service for so many years, he never encountered someone like that in the United States. Perhaps it's a fabricated character to intimidate enemies. Intelligence department folks sure have scheming minds!
But thinking this way, having spent years in Japan, Logan learned a few things, like politeness.
"Not at all, just fortunate to have survived."
But his face betrayed no hint of being fortunate; rather, it was full of rightful confidence, as if saying the opposite.
"Pfft." Ah Yi concealed her mouth with a chuckle, glanced alluringly at Logan: "Then would you look down upon the daughter of a defeated general, that is, myself?"
"How could I? You're so wonderful: beautiful and generous, full of Eastern elegance, and what was that..." Logan scoured his meager Japanese vocabulary in his mind.
Ah Yi let out a sigh of relief, pushed out the tea bowl, adjusted her sleeves, sitting upright, looked earnestly at Logan: "Before my parents and brother died early, I had to fend for myself in this world. Now I have a very unreasonable request I hope you'll consider... Please don't be angry, would you marry into the Yamamoto family?"
".....Eh? What do you mean?" Logan didn't understand the term.
"I'm asking... if you're willing to marry me as your main wife?" Although long decided with her brother, still nervously embarrassed to say.
Her words finished, she shyly covered her face, biting her lower lip tight, turned her head towards the tatami, waiting for Logan's response.
Now Logan understood.
He was instantly overjoyed, though meeting in the afternoon and marrying by evening was rather fast, but in this era, life is truly like the morning dew Ah Yi spoke of.
If you don't seize the time to do what you want, life may suddenly slip past.
Love, especially, must seize every minute and second.
"I will!"
Swish!
The door behind him instantly opened, a group of servants entered holding wedding attire, dragging Logan and Ah Yi to change clothes, the God Master already waiting in the main hall, close relatives arrived as well.
An American man marrying into the Yamamoto family, what an honor!
Originally prepared seemed insufficient now, but no time for further arrangements, only to publicize extensively afterward, letting all Hiroshima Prefecture know!
"Brother! Change clothes and pay respects now, spend the night in the bridal chamber!" Ichirō eagerly pulled Logan's hand, said enthusiastically.
Logan wanted to say something but through the crowd glimpsed at Ah Yi; she too gazed passionately at him, he forgot everything, like a puppet dragged away, letting others handle him.
........................
"We haven't gone for a ride in quite a while, though the journey is somewhat short."
Meanwhile, Su Ming and Gin landed on a shallow beach somewhere in Nagasaki, not far from the former Navy Prison, no matter what, they decided to follow possibly correct clues for now.
After landing, Gin seemed somewhat dissatisfied; she enjoyed drinking while sitting on flying apparatus, but alas, her Flying Horse was killed by Hel.
The souls of animals don't belong to Hel. Even if Su Ming asked Hel, they couldn't get it back.
"Next time, I might have some ideas, taking you to another cosmos for a ride." Su Ming reassured with a few words, soon refocused attention on the mission: "We look too conspicuous now, let's disguise ourselves."
"What do you mean?" Gin started preparing Illusion Technique, her signature skill.
"Turn into a petite woman, hair yellowed, skin gray, short stature, bad teeth, bow-legged, slightly lead-poisoned, preferably with a hint of night blindness..."
Su Ming described a typical ordinary Japanese woman of this era, a time without the East Asian sorcery yet.
"Splat!"
Gin angrily slapped his arm, wrinkled her brow, pouted in protest, showed no intent of casting Illusion Technique.
"What's wrong? Your Illusion Technique should be fine, go ahead." Su Ming touched the Magic Floating Cloak, which responded back, showed no magic restriction around, energy could flow normally.
Gin looked at him suspiciously, like pondering if he was joking: "You big villain, you actually ask me, Asgard's Valkyrie, to turn into a female goblin?! Are you serious?"