A moment later, there was a knock on the door, followed by "Hello? Who's there? It's me, Koji. Can I come in? You're welcome. Thank you." Koji opened the door and stepped in. He crossed the room, gave her the backpack, turned around and left. After he had closed the door again, Nikki called out, "And good-night to you, too! People are so rude these days." Somehow, she sensed that something wasn't right, but she pushed it away, and crawled into bed. She knew she probably wouldn't get to sleep that night, at least not with so many strange men around, so she let her mind wander.
She thought back on all of the past few days, and went over the events again and again in her mind, trying to piece together what happened and where she was. The only possibilities she could think of were either she'd somehow ended up in some extremely isolated area, or she was actually in the book those girls were reading. Neither option sounded rational, but Nikki wasn't really one to rationalize things. Without meaning to, she fell asleep.
She was awakened the next morning by a knock on the door. "Hello? Who's there? It's me, Koji. Can I come in? You're welcome. Thank you." Koji entered, carrying a large bowl of rice. "I figured you might be hungry," he said, "So I brought you some breakfast. Eat up!"
Nikki slowly crawled out of bed and rubbed her eyes. Koji had set the bowl on a small table in the corner, and was sitting on the floor beside it. Nikki joined him, and began to eat.
After a few mouthfuls of rice, she looked up to find Koji staring at her. She swallowed. "Got a problem?" she asked.
"No," Koji said, "It's just that, well, you've got blue eyes...and yellow hair. I've never seen anyone like that except the Hin. And, well, let's just say they're not liked much around here. Besides, most of them have been wiped out. I guess, what I'm trying to say is..."
"What you're trying to say," Nikki yelled, "Is that just because I'm a blonde, you don't like me. Is that it?" "Well..I..uh," Koji stammered, "Not me personally, but, yeah. I guess."

Nikki leaped to her feet, overturning the table and spilling rice everywhere. She stormed over to the bed and picked up her bag. She turned around and was about to open the door, when Koji grabbed her by the arm and nearly knocked her off her feet. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
Nikki lowered her gaze and spoke quietly. "Anywhere but here. Now please let me go."
Koji could tell she was furious, yet she tried to hide it. He smiled to himself. "Alright," he said. He let go of her arm. "You win. You can go. But, tell me this: how are you going to find food? You can't pay, since you don't have any money. How are you going to protect yourself from the other bandits? You have no weapons. How can you possibly survive out there on your own? Face it. You can't leave. You need me."
"I don't need anyone," Nikki replied, "Especially not you!" Koji could hear uncertainty in her voice now. He couldn't understand why, but he felt sorry for this girl. He felt he had to protect her. He gently cupped his hand under her chin and tilted her head back so that she was forced to look at him. "Listen," he said gently, "A girl like you wouldn't last five minutes out there alone. Now, I don't like this situation any more than you do, but you've got no choice but to stay here. It's for your own good."
Nikki just stood there. She knew she should pull away, get as far away from this place as possible, but for some reason, she couldn't. Neither one of them moved.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Koji pushed Nikki away from him just as a large man burst in.
"Sorry for intruding," the man said, "But I have important news." He whispered something in Koji's ear, then turned and ran out of the room.
"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Nikki.
"Don't worry about it. Just lock the door behind me and don't let anybody in. You'll be alright in here." Koji said. `Wow, that makes me feel so much better,' Nikki thought. Koji turned to shut the door behind him, but Nikki stopped it with her foot.
"Hey, Koji," she said, "Why do you want me to stay so badly; for my sake, or yours?"
Koji didn't answer. He didn't even look back.
Nikki shut the door and locked it. She leaned her back against the door frame, smiled, and shook her head.

Nikki spent most of the day pacing the room. She straightened the bed, righted the overturned table, and cleaned up the spilled rice. She tried to convince herself she wasn't worried about Koji, but she couldn't help it. She was way worried.
Koji finally returned, with the evening meal. Again, it was rice. They sat down and ate in silence. Finally, Nikki couldn't take it any more.
"What happened?" she asked. "Where were you all day?" Koji finished his bowl of rice before he answered.
"One of my men said they saw Genrou earlier today. I went to find out if it was true. If so, I don't think Eikan would be too happy."
"Who is this Genrou?" Nikki asked. "And why wouldn't Eikan be too happy about him being here?"
"Because," Koji sighed, "Genrou is the rightful leader of these Bandits. Eikan took over while he was away."
Koji leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms before continuing. "So, if Genrou's back, that puts Eikan down with the rest of us. Eikan won't go down without a fight, though. So I want to get to Genrou first and warn him."
Nikki stared off into space. "Oh," she said, "Okay then." She got up and cleared the table.
Koji watched her walk away, then looked at his hands, which were folded on the table in front of him. "Um...I...uh," he stammered. He stood up.
Nikki turned around to face him. "What?" she asked.
"Want a drink?" he finished.
Nikki grinned. "I've never turned one down, and I don't think I'll be starting now!"
Koji left, and returned a moment later with a large chest. He placed it in the corner, opened it and took out a small flask of sake. "Don't finish it too fast this time, this is all you get. There's four more flasks in here, and that's it."
Nikki took a few sips, then replaced the stopper and placed the flask back in the chest. "Thanks, Koji. I think I'll go to bed now," Nikki said.
"Yeah, sure." Koji said. He moved closer. "But first, take off your shirt."

"What?!" Nikki screamed.
"No," Koji said quickly, raising his hands in defense, "Not like that. I just want to look at your shoulder. Here," he handed her a blanket. "Wrap yourself in this."
Nikki looked at him cautiously, then took the blanket and moved behind a wooden partition, out of view. She removed her shirt and bra, and flung them over the top of the partition.
Koji's face turned bright red, and he turned his face away and whistled to himself. Nikki emerged, clutching the blanket to her chest. She sat down in front of Koji with her back to him.
Koji carefully unwrapped the bandage from Nikki's shoulder. The wound looked pretty bad. He went over to the chest he'd just brought in, and removed a small jar of paste. He rubbed some paste on the wound.
It smelled really bad, and it stung like daggers. Nikki bit her lip to keep from crying out. Koji got some fresh bandages and rewrapped the wound.
Trying hard not to look at Nikki's exposed shoulders and back, Koji finished tying the bandage, and left the room as quickly as possible. Nikki got up and grabbed her shirt.
It was filthy, and stained with blood. She threw it down, and got a clean one from her bag. It was baby blue, and showed more of her chest than she would like, but at least it was clean. She would have to do her laundry sometime soon. Wearing clothes until they were so worn out they fell off her wasn't exactly working.
`Well,' she thought, `At least it goes with these black jeans...what am I thinking? I'm living out of my backpack, and I'm worried about being fashionable. I need a drink.'
Not wanting to finish off the sake Koji gave her too quickly, she opened the door and stepped out into the hall. She heard loud voices coming from around a corner. She followed them and ended up in a large hall. Dozens of men sat around drinking and eating.
The room went silent as soon as Nikki entered. A few men pointed and whispered. Nikki straightened her back and walked to a table in the back. She sat down in an empty chair and poured herself a drink.
Conversation rose back to normal level in the room. Most of the men paid no attention to her, except the ones she sat with. They just stared at her. She took a sip of her drink.
"Got a problem?" she growled. Each man shook his head and resumed conversation.

Koji cursed to himself. He had come in to check on Nikki, but the room was empty. Her bag was still on the bed, so she couldn't have gotten very far. He looked up and down the hall. No sign of the girl.
He couldn't stand the thought that he could have let anything happen to her. He took off down the hall, to see if anyone had seen her.
He turned the corner into the large hall. He scanned the room, before spotting her at a back table. A large group of men had gathered around her.
He pushed his way through the crowd. She was sitting at the table with a young man across from her. There was a bunch of empty shotglasses on the table between them.
The boy looked like he was going to be sick, but Nikki appeared to be fine. They each raised another glass, and chugged it down.
That was it for the boy, he fell out of his chair and landed flat on his face. Nikki laughed, and collected the money that the men had placed on the table.
She looked up and saw Koji. Her smile faded.
He looked at her sternly. The crowd went silent, and backed away. "So," Koji said, "Think you can take me?" The crowd cheered.
"Alright," Nikki replied, "You're on." The men started placing bets. One brought a tray of glasses and a large jar of sake. He poured the drinks and stepped back. Nikki and Koji each raised a glass.
Nikki raised hers, as if in a toast. "To your health," she said mockingly, "And my victory!" She tilted her glass back and swallowed.
They continued for about eight more shots. Koji was starting to feel light-headed, and Nikki was feeling nauseous, though she hid it well. Neither one would give in.
After another three shots, Koji couldn't take it anymore. "I quit." he said. The group of men cheered. Nikki collected more of her winnings.
Koji slapped her on the back. "Well, you're the first person to beat me. Congratulations!"
Nikki winced from Koji's hand hitting so close to her sore shoulder. "Yeah," she said, "Sure. Whatever," All of a sudden, the room seemed to be spinning more than usual, so Nikki decided to call it a night. She stumbled back to her room.