"Oh, but if you were a dancer for my troupe, I would certainly have to call you Midnight Rose, darling, because you truly are divine!" Ayame cooed at his favorite barmaid.
Tohru laughed softly with a slight blush. "You know my fiancee would never approve. He is a doctor after all. I mustn't do anything sorrid to tarnish his reputation." she told him.
The baretender, a dark haired man by the name of Shigure, nodded.
"Which makes you wonder why he approves at all about you as a waitress as this bar." he told her.
She sighed. "He doesn't really approve, but he knows that you are all like family to me and I have to support myself somehow until we're married." she told him.
Her best friend, an adorably boyish young man, embraced her affectionately.
"We're the only family you have left. You know we love you." he told her.
Tohru smiled. "Thank you, Momiji. I appreciate that." she said.
Shigure shook his head in frustration.
"Yes. It is really a shame what that outlaw did to your parents. For having claim to never killed anyone, the Crimson Haired Bandit certainly changed his mind there at the end. It's still hard to believe to this day." he said.
'There's still a part of me that doesn't think he pulled the trigger. I know he was a dangerous outlaw, but I was there! I saw into his eyes and I just know he didn't mean for it to happen." she told them.
Momiji took her hands in his.
"Let's not talk about such unpleasant things anymore. It's your lunch hour, right Tohru? Let me treat you to a meal, please." he pleaded with her.
Tohru smiled. "You know I can never say no to you, Momiji. Of course you can. I'll be back soon, okay?" she asked the others.
Shigure smiled. "Okay. Be safe!" he told her.
As Tohru and Momiji walked away, they waved at the arrival of the town sherriff Yuki, who had once been a member of the Crimson Haired Bandit's gang. Having spent some time in prision for his crimes, he had reformed and joined the right side of the law. It had taken him some time to earn the trust of others, but his ardent protectiveness over the innocent Tohru had sealed his favor.
There wasn't a citzen in the small town that didn't adore the young orphaned teen, who had lost her parents in a confrintation with the Crimson Haired Bandit. To them, he was the scorge of their existance and the most protective of all were those closest to her, the baretender Shigure, best friend Momiji, sherriff Yuki and her legal guardian since that fateful day, the very friendly owner of the local girls dance troupe, Ayame Rose.
Then of course there was her fiancee' Hatori, the respectable doctor. Tall and handsome, Tohru had become the envy of all the women in town for claiming the mysterious dark haired physician as her own. Since she was only eighteen and becuase he was building his practice, they had not yet been intimate, nor had they even kissed or shared tender embraces very often.
Momiji often inquired about their romantic status out of concern, but she reassured her closest friend constantly that she was sure that Hatori was just being respectful and waiting until their wedding night.
"I respect him for that. It just proves how much he loves me." she had told him.
It was also a well known fact that Hatori was just as envied as she was. Many men in the town had fallen in love with Tohru over the years just based on her sweet, open personality and patient kindness towards others.
That included her best friend Momiji, who had known her since they were ten years old and with whom she had shared her first kiss. It had been an innocent, chaste kiss, but it had sealed his heart to hers forever with mutual affection.
Shigure and Ayame, who had been best friends their whole lives, were older men and considered her to be like family. Ayame had assumed guardianship of her once her parents had died, and often bemoaned the misfortune of her beauty not being showcased as one of his dancers.
That was one of the few things in her life Hatori vocally disaproved of. It was well known that the women of Ayame's dance troupe were scantilly clad ladies that hid their assets beneath frilly dresses of Ayame's own design, the long haired tailor basking in the limelight of being their benefactor. He was used to dressing and undressing beautiful women, and he knew that his Tohru's lovely blossoming figure would be perfect for his group.
What kept him from being arrested was Tohru's friendship with the local sherriff Yuki, another one of her many admirers. Having been there when the gunshot had gone off, he felt as though it was his duty now to protect her from those that might wish to harm her.
He had never been a very trusting soul and he knew that his former associates were still out there and could strike at any time. He had heard rumors that his former partner Hatsuharu was roaming the countryside in search of their former leader, wanting to finish what they had started so long before...
The Crimson Haired Bandit indeed, Kyou thought, as he rode into town on the back of his horse. I've always hated that infernal nickname. My hair isn't even red, it's orange, he fumed. The nickname had only stuck becuase it was easier to say and more memorable, and allowe dhim to hide his true indentity. To the few that knew him, his name was Kyou, a young man on the verge of turning twenty four and wanting to turn his life around.
He had given up his life of crime that terrible day, the day that he had wrestled with his rival Hatsuharu and had ended up with a permanent limp on his right side. The prisioners they had taken had suffered a much worse fate and he knew he would be forever blamed for it. He was the Crimson Haired Bandit, after all, the most fearsome outlaw in the country.
Since that time, he had never been able to have any kind of normal life, having to keep a low profile to avoid being caught for crimes committed in his teens and living off the savings he's acquired doing honest work over the years. The limp was a asset in that way, that it made employers feel sorry for thr mysterious drifter they'd pay under the table because they felt sorry for him.
It was also an asset in the romance department, making women want to claim him as someone to take care of. He admired the new breed of women that took care of themselves and didn't depend on men to support them, as was common in his day.
It was probably the main reason he had become an outlaw, to support his mother whose husband had died at an early age. Too proud to take jobs that she felt were beneath her when Kyou needed her most, he had takne up the slack and had taken his father's place.
He and his rival Hatsuharu had that in common, only Haru had a tendency to want to keep his windfalls for himself and eventually he and his young cousin Yuki had had to join Kyou's group permanently.
Perhaps that was why he still felt so guilty to this day about that little girl having been orphaned that day, remembering how she had returned his stare with wide, inocent eyes when he had desperately wanted to take her into his arms and protect her from harm.
She hadn't seen which of them had fired the gun, so there was no doubt that she blamed him and he blamed himself as well. To this day, he knew he would still do anything to avenge their deaths on their true murderer, his former partner and rival Hatsuharu. Dismounting from his horse as they stopped at the edge of a pristine blue lake with a sharp wince, Kyou sighed as he resigned himself to his fate of searching forevermore...