There weren't a lot of things that Hinatsuru wouldn't do for Tengen. But there was an entire roster of things he certainly wouldn't do for her.

It was a sick dance to watch. You knew from a very young age that yourself, & three other women of the cult & village would be destined to be a wife. A wife of an Uzui, no less. A life subjected to neglect, burning at the reigns.

You'd never anticipated any of it to go this far, though.

"You're not being very flashy, my dear." Tengen snided with a thick sneer, as Hinatsuru clung to your broad shoulders, & Makio's. The damage from the red-light district significant. & The eyes of the kakushi, & passing civilians, lasting, intensely. Hinatsuru murmured an incoherent apology. Her swollen feet dragging, & trembling.

Tengen had always said his taunts were a tease. But as his wife, YOUR wife, nearly collapsed against yourself, & Makio,

Your core nearly burst in fury. "Tengen, she's been chained up in that cellar for three god damn weeks. She can barely fucking walk. Cut the bullshit for now." Your voice cut through the crowd with a firm sliver.

It had been no secret that you were Tengen's least favorite spouse. & Him, yours. But it was with his treatment of the other women, where the both of you often butt heads.

All your sterning had earned you was a scoff & a roll of Tengen's battered shoulders. "Run her a bath when the four of you get home."

"I don't need you to tell me how to take care of my wife. I'm taking her to the infirmary."

"You better hope it's insured." Tengen taunted.

Your molars grit, progressively, against one another. The slithering sensation of your bloated tongue, not quite fitting right against your teeth, with the venomous words you were daring to speak.

Hinatsuru let out a sob. A weakened one. A murmur for the two of you to stop bickering. Insistent that she didn't need medical attention. "The co-pay will be too expensive.." She murmured. Drool, & blood, pooling at the corners of her stained lips.

"He can afford it."