A/N:  This chapter is sponsored by Jessica L.  Thank you.

Yasu preferred to work near the back door of the dress shop, letting the sunlight shine through.  Because Yasu's embroidery techniques was special, he sat separately from the embroidery apprentices.  Yasu's embroidery techniques have never been seen before. Because he was the only one who could do it. The dresses, clothing, and accessories that he made were special orders.  He had tried teaching his techniques to his mother and some of the embroidery apprentices, however no matter how much they tried to learn from him, they could not understand it or replicate the embroidery technique. Even if they followed him step by step, for some reason it would not come out correctly.  

Whenever Yasu embroidered he would zone out and only focus on his work.  Had it not been for the shadow that blocked his sunlight, he wouldn't have looked up to see that General Ren was there.  

"Ah... hello, General Ren."  Yasu said as he bowed and placed his work down.  

"Greetings, Young Master Yasu."  He said as he stared at Yasu.  

Afterwards no one said anything, making the atmosphere awkward.  

"Is your meeting with my Dad done?"  

"Yes."  

"And is your new posting to your liking?" 

"Yes." 

"Then I hope everything works well for you."  Yasu said as he grasped for words to say to Ren.  

"Thank you."  Ren said.  

Ren's one to two word answering was killing Yasu.  

"Will you be staying for dinner tonight at our home?"   

Although Ren had not planned to stay in the small town nor keep encroaching on General Soshu's hospitality, he could  not help the fact that his footsteps lead him back to the young teen that he just met.  

"Thank you for the invitation.  That would be wonderful."  

Yasu's eyebrow twitched without him knowing.  He had just invited the young General into their home and to join them for dinner.  

"Great.  The garrison is a day's ride away.  If you leave now, you would travel at night and would have to camp on the side of the road.  It's better to leave in the morning so it'll be safer."  

"Your work..."  Ren said as he pointed to the kimono in Yasu's hands.  

"Ah, yes, my embroidery.  Come in and take a look." Yasu said as he stood up and showed Ren his work. 

"Beautiful."  Ren said as he looked over the interact work then he looked up at Yasu.  "Yes, very beautiful."  

Yasu's cheeks quickly became pink as he caught the hot stare from Ren.  Yasu saw a quick flicker of lust in Ren's eyes, before it was quickly hidden away.  

"Thank you."  Yasu said as he turned the kimono inside out.  "Look, this is called 'double sided embroidery.' Only I am able to do this kind of work."

"You're very talented as well."  Ren commented.  

Yasu smiled at Ren's comment.  "Thank you. From what I hear, so are you."  

Yasu put his work down and led Ren to sit in the small pavilion, located behind the dress shop.  Although the dress shop was closer to the middle of the town, they had made sure that there was a small garden with a pavillion for Miyoko and the apprentices to enjoy on their break.  

Ren and Yasu sat across each other as Rai quickly served tea and left them alone.  They took the time to enjoy the silence and the fragrant tea before Yasu cave in and spoke.  

"Can I ask you a question?"  

"Sure."  

"I heard from my Father about the heroic deed that granted you the title of a General.  Why is it that you decided to be stationed at the border instead of staying in the capitol as the Head of the Guards for the Imperial Palace?"  

Ren stared at Yasu for a long moment, not answering his question.  Yasu could not decipher his thoughts so he quickly gave up.  

"You don't have to answer my question if you don't want to.  It's too--" 

"The Imperial Palace is more dangerous than the borders."  Ren answered, cutting Yasu's words off.  

"Oh."  Yasu said as he nodded his head.  "Then why did you decide to become a General instead of becoming a Minister or a Scholar?"  

"I don't have the patience to sit still long enough to study."  Ren answered. "I would rather use my fist to fight rather than use my words to argue."  

Yasu smiled and nodded his head in understanding. 

"When I was young and mischievous.  I used to get into trouble whenever I got caught.  When I got caught, my Dad Jiro, would sit me down and give me a long lecture about what I did wrong then the lecture would turn into the morality of men and my opinion on it.  I would then be grounded to reflect on my actions." Yasu reminisces. "However with my Father Soshu, once he caught me, he would shout at me then quickly hit me before punishing me with training.  When my Dad Jiro lectures me, I would prefer my Father Soshu's way of child rearing. It was painful, but at least it was quick and over with."  

Yasu saw the corner of Ren's mouth twitch with amusement.  

"Luckily for my family, they knew I had too much energy.  So I train twice a day while looking over books, practicing other subjects and self discipline."  

"You have a good family."  Ren remarked.  

"I do.  I'm quite blessed."  Yasu agreed.  

"Yasu!"  Miyoko shouted from the door and saw that Yasu was speaking with Ren.  "Oh, General Ren, greetings!"  

"Greetings."  Ren said as he stood up to bow to Miyoko.  

"It's time to clean up and close the store."  Miyoko told them.  

"I invited General Ren to have dinner with us and stay for the night.  It's not safe for General Ren to head back to the garrison and sleep on the road by himself."  Yasu told his mom.  

"That would be wonderful."  Miyoko agreed. "Let's quickly clean up for today and close the store so we can leave."  

By the time they cleaned up and closed the store.  Not only was Jiro waiting outside to pick them up, but Soshu and Shiro was waiting for them as well.  Turns out Jiro also invited Shiro to dinner and to stay for the night. With enough food and room to spare, they traveled back to the Mori Estate.  While Ren rode his own horse, Shiro was also given a horse to ride. The owner of the horse, Soshu, rode in the carriage with his spouses.  

Yasu, Ren and Shiro rode in front of the carriage, with Yasu in the middle of the two of them.  They spoke about the town, the local residents and the land. Yasu was able to speak to the both of them on different matters not letting it get awkward between Ren and Shiro.  

The three of them found a common hobby of shogi and promised to pay against each other once they were at the Mori Estate.  After an hour of travel, they arrived and Yasu was tasked to show the two young talents around.  

Yasu showed them around like a young guide, sharing stories about his youth or funny stories that went along with each place.  Shiro was the most interested in Jiro's pharmacy building, while Ren was most interested in the guards training in the training yard.  Both of them were surprised by how large the bathhouse was. Never have they seen such a bath house before.  

"Was it your idea?"  Shiro asked as they walked out of the bathhouse.  

"Yes."  Yasu admitted it.  "My Father Soshu says I have some crazy ideas, but somehow it works out in the end."  

"You have a wonderful and ingenious mind.  One that could change history."  

Yes.  Yasu thought.  That was what he was afraid of.  Changing history.  

By transmigrating into his new body, he had already set off many butterfly wings.  Who knows if the young Yasu was supposed to die, but he knew that because his soul invaded into the new body, he had already changed history.  He didn't want to do more to affect the world.     

Yasu smile tightened, however there wasn't any emotions behind his eyes.  It was only Ren who caught Yasu's change in his emotions as they made their way back to the main house.  

Dinner with their new guests were joyful.  There were many laughs as wine poured freely.  Afterwards, Ren joined Soshu and Yasu to train with the guards while Jiro took Shiro for an extensive look at Jiro's private stash of precious medicine and his medicinal herb garden.  

Afterwards, the five of them went to the bathhouse and took a bath.  They chatted and enjoyed a long soak in the hot tub. Letting their muscles relax from a long day of work.  

Ren and Shiro were given clean clothes for the night as they all went to the study to play a game of shogi.  It was the Mori's against the newcomers.  Yasu won against Shiro, however lost against Ren. Soshu won both games against Ren and Shiro.  Soshu boasted his win like a sore winner and was quickly dragged off to sleep by Miyoko and Jiro.  

Rai came into the study with Ren's robe and Yasu's sewing basket.  

"That's my robe."  Ren said as he saw Rai hand over his robe to Yasu.  

"Yes."  Yasu said as he looked at the sleeves of the robe.  "I'm going to mend the sleeve. I saw that the string on it was coming off and know that you are a long way from home.  I just thought that I could mend it for you, before you leave."  

Ren was quiet for a long time before clearing his throat.  "Thank you."  

"It's something that I know how to fix so it's no trouble to me."  Yasu told him. "Doctor Shiro, should you also need me to mend some of your clothes, you can also come to me.  I'll fix it for you as well."  

"Thank you.  I will take you up on your offer."  Shiro smiled brightly.  

Had Yasu looked at the two men, he would see that the quiet and stoic Ren had his right eyebrow twitch with annoyance.  

"The both of you are a long way from home, it's only right that me and my family help you both, who are new here."  Yasu told them.  

Yasu quickly stitched up the sleeve and took a look at the rest of the robe, fixing the embroidery of Ren's Fujino Clan symbol, before folding it neatly and handling it off to Ren.  

"Everything's been fixed."  Yasu told him.  

Yasu then reached into the side of the basket and pulled out two first meeting gifts and gave one to Ren and the other to Shiro.  

"It's not much, but I wanted to give both of you a first meeting gift."  Yasu told them as he sat back down. "Please do not mind them and accept them as small playthings."  

The both of them opened the gift and saw that it was a silk fan.  The wooden silk fan was made out of sandalwood and gave off a pleasant and calming smell.  When they opened the silk fan, they saw that they had different designs. Ren's fan was embroidered with a crane taking flight in a bamboo forest.  Shiro's fan was two koi fishes, one chasing the other in a circle.  

The meaning behind them made Ren and Shiro feel touched.  Yasu was blessing Ren with good fortune and longevity. While Yasu was acknowledging Shiro's preservation and tancity.  

Yasu didn't want Ren or Shiro to think too much about the gifts.  To Yasu, he didn't want them to think that he was trying to buy their affection.  When he was with them, he just thought the silk fans he embroidered fitted their image well and wanted to gift it to them with no strings attached.  

"Thank you, Young Master Yasu."  Shiro said as his fingers ran across the silk threads in awe. "I will accept this gift with goodwill."  

"Me too."  Ren agreed as he too touched the silk threads as if it was the most precious thing he ever felt.  "Thank you."  

"The time is getting late and we all have an early start tomorrow.  Should I show you where your rooms are?" Yasu offered as he stood up.  

Ren and Shiro gently folded the silk fan back and placed them into the container that it came with.  

"Let's go."  Shiro said as he got up and followed Yasu.  

Ren followed the two of them behind as he closed the study door behind him.  Yasu first sent Shiro to the closest room, then sent Ren to the room next door.  Both of them stood at their door, not entering the bedroom, but instead watched Yasu the whole time.  

"My bedroom is here."  Yasu told them as he pointed to the room that was directly across from Ren.  "Should you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me. Goodnight."  

"Goodnight, Young Master Yasu."  Shiro said before he realized that there was also the Young General there as well.  "Goodnight, General Ren." 

"Goodnight."  Ren said before taking a step back into his room.  He did not close the door until he saw Yasu close his door.  With a sigh, Ren closed his door and laid down in bed. The room had one lamp already lit, by the bed. Once undercover of the blanket, he blew out the candle and laid down in the dark room, listening to the quiet house, hoping to hear Yasu's deep breathing as he falls asleep.  

As for Shiro, he got into bed, however he didn't blowout the candle yet.  Instead he took out the silk fan once more and kept touching the intricate embroidery.  After a while he was afraid that he might ruin it, so he gently folded the fan again and placed it back, before blowing out the candle and laying down to sleep.  

Both Ren and Shiro dreamt of a young man, with large fox-like eyes that they could get lost in.  A young man who's smile could make them feel happy seeing his dimples and soft lips. A young man, who would fit perfectly inside of their arms.  A talented young man, who was born blessed under the sun and the moon.