Chapter 20: The Roof

On a clear night in the first week of February the head maid put a key on Sakura's tray, beside the pickled plum.

It was a small iron key on a red string.

"The roof deck," she said, with a perfectly straight face.

"The stars are very good tonight. There is a blanket up there."

"I have not been up since autumn. Please make sure the door is locked behind you."

Sakura turned the colour of the plum.

"Thank you," she said, and took it.

At one in the morning, with the last guest asleep, she and Yuzu climbed the narrow back stair.

At the top they unlocked the little door.

The cold hit them.

The deck was a flat patch of old boards on the roof of the staff wing.

A low railing ringed it, and clean new snow covered it.

Above them the sky was black and enormous, packed with stars so thick that they looked like spilled salt.

Below, the inn lay dark and silent, its fourteen windows shuttered, its chimney sending up a single thread of smoke.

Yuzu spread the grey wool blanket on the boards, over a straw mat, and they sat down on it side by side.

Then she pulled the other half over both their shoulders.

Sakura found herself wrapped in one blanket with her whole left side pressed against Yuzu.

"Cold?" Yuzu said.

"Freezing."

"Good. I'll fix that."

She kissed her.

Her lips were icy and her mouth inside was hot, and the contrast sent a shiver down Sakura's spine.

They kissed for a long time, slowly, with their breath steaming together in the dark.

Yuzu's hands slid under the heavy padded coat and found the opening of the kimono underneath.

"Yuzu. It's minus eight."

"I know. Be quiet."

"Anyone on the road could see us."

"There is nobody on the road, and if there were, they would see a blanket."

Yuzu's cold fingers closed over a bare breast, and Sakura gasped.

"I've got you."

She pushed the kimono open, and the cold air kissed Sakura's skin.

Her nipples tightened to hard points.

Yuzu bent her head under the blanket and took one in her warm mouth.

The heat of it was so sharp that Sakura's whole body jerked.

"Oh."

"Shh. A whisper. Only a whisper."

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