"Why should Boss get everything the rest of us want? He can share with us, right? Don't be scared, I won't hurt you…"

Yumi tried to run for it and managed to get around the man to the door, only to find that the door had been locked and she was trapped inside. All martial training forgotten for the moment, Yumi banged on the door and called as loudly as she could.

"GENRO! KOJI! GENRO! HELP!" She screamed, pounding on the heavy wood, but the next second, she had been grabbed from behind and forced roughly onto the floor. Her arms and legs were pinned. Trying to hold back the hot tears that were springing to her eyes, she called again for help, not caring that her voice came out more like a shriek. The man slapped her, telling her to shut her mouth and be a good girl. Of course, that just caused Yumi to scream louder, earning another slap. Her cheek was numb from the force with which the man hit her, but she didn't give up.

"STOP! PLEASE! SOMEONE! HELP ME!" Tears spilled down her cheeks as the hated touch of his hands and mouth searched her out. Yumi tried to free her hands, but she couldn't move, pinned by the man's weight.

"PLEASE! NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE!" Just like the night before, her shirt was ripped off of her body and this time, her skirt followed suit. Struggling as best she could, Yumi continued to call for help, screaming with all her heart, in total disbelief that no one had come yet. The intruder had her completely pinned; Yumi couldn't move an inch, so she screamed, which was the only thing left that she could do.

"PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP! STOP! STOP! STOP!!"

Yumi heard the door crash open, breaking the locks with a loud crunch, followed immediately by a sickening thud, and the movement of the man atop her came to a stop. Gasping for air, Yumi shoved the man off of her, which was quite a task, considering that he was at least twice as heavy as Yumi. When she had disentangled herself, Yumi saw that she was covered in blood. It was all over her hands, face, and chest; everywhere. Yumi heard a noise from inside the room and snatched up her clothes and hid herself in a blanket. Peaking out from her scant protection, she saw that Genro, framed in the doorway, staring at the expanding pool of blood on the floor. He came to himself, though, and stepped over to the body and pulled a knife out of the man's neck, wiped the blood off on the dead man's clothes, and stuck it inside his boot. Yumi hid her face in a blanket, trying to erase the scene from her memory.

-------

About fifteen members of the gang were about the house when Yumi was attacked. None of them came to the girl's rescue, knowing they would not survive being alone with her if the boss found out. There was also the possibility that the boss was the cause of the commotion in the first place. Juyen shook his head. He knew the boss was young, three years younger than himself, and he still needed to learn a thing or two about how to treat a woman. He had known Genro for four years, since he arrived. Here, everyone knew everything that went on. He had never thought of Genro as such a brute, but then again, this was his first woman. He would learn. Maybe he was rough on purpose, because it was well known that Genro didn't like girls. Despite himself, he felt sorry for the girl. She had been a pretty little thing.

The girl's screams were starting to attract attention, and Juyen could hear other voices calling to each other. He couldn't help smiling to himself when he heard what they were saying, even though he knew it was rude. Why do we have to be polite? Our reputation precedes us, I'm afraid. The screaming continued, calling for help. She sounded genuinely terrified. Juyen was starting to wonder if he should help the girl when he heard a door slam loudly, and the screaming stopped within seconds. Juyen saw Koji run past him toward the boss's room, a deadly look on his face. It was then that Juyen began to worry, but he brushed it off; it was none of his business what the boss did with his wench.

At lunch, there was more talk about her, and with the morning's events still fresh, there was much to discuss. Since Boss didn't allow women on the premises, his keeping one was all anyone could talk about.

"Did ya hear all that commotion a few hours ago?" Juyen asked his friend. Hiro shook his head.

"Nah, I was out, but I heard about it. Was it really that bad?" He asked.

"Bad? I thought the wench would scream her lungs out! I wouldn't be surprised if everyone within two miles of this place heard her. It sounded like she was being murdered!"

"I always thought Boss was a good guy, but… well, it's no different than any of us would have done, right?" The two of them laughed, and listened in to the conversations all around them, putting in a word in where they felt they could contribute. The door on the end of the hall opened, but no one noticed at first. Genro walked into the room, a serious look on his face. As people noticed his presence, silence began to fall. Not letting anyone take the floor from him, Genro strode into the middle of the room, ignoring the jibes coming from among those assembled.

"Did you do 'er good, Boss?"

"What's she taste like? I hear foreigners taste different!"

"Can you be gentler with 'er next time? I was startin' to feel sorry for 'er!"

Genro stared around, daring anyone to make another comment. He pulled his iron fan from off his back and held it before him threateningly.

"No one is to touch that girl." His voice was as hot and angry as they had ever heard, but what made it scary was the absolute control he kept it under. He didn't raise his voice, but everyone could feel the wrath in his words.

"I swear," he continued, "the next one to touch her dies. If you doubt me, then you'll be seeing someone who tried the same thing. You'll be seeing him in hell." Juyen was now thoroughly confused. He could practically see the question he wanted to ask floating in the room. What happened? Without another word, Genro turned on his heel and left. Ruyen followed Genro's progress with his eyes and noticed Koji standing by the door after Genro had disappeared from view. The silence was deafening. Juyen couldn't stand it any longer.

"Koji!" He called, "You know the boss better than anyone. What's got him so angry?" Koji looked over at Juyen, and was silent for a few seconds.

"Nakuto is dead." Koji said simply and left, going the same way Genro had gone a moment earlier. The bandits looked at one another uncomfortably. Talk started up again as everyone came to the same conclusion. Now it all made sense. Nakuto didn't like Genro to begin with, and had forced himself on the boss's woman. That's what all the screaming was. Genro must have found out and killed Nakuto. Juyen swore to himself never to bother the boss about the wench.

-------

Genro came back to his room. He had done his best to clean it up, but some of the bloodstains would never come out. He looked around, still in shock. He thought he knew these guys, but sometimes… He shook his head. He didn't regret killing that man, but he wished he hadn't misplaced his trust. He had been out collecting reports from his scouts when he felt Yumi needing him. He had come as quickly as he could, running even faster when her screams reached his ears, but he still didn't know if he had been fast enough.

His heart sank when he saw Yumi. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring blankly at the wall in the corner. Just after Genro arrived, she had asked him to take her to the pond again. In an effort to feel clean, she had rubbed her skin so hard that she began to bleed. He had to pull her bodily out of the water to prevent her from injuring herself further. Genro didn't ask, but he felt sure he stopped Nakuto before the man had actually raped Yumi. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he was certain of it. When he had brought her back inside the house, Yumi had curled up, pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs and hiding her face in her knees. She hadn't moved. Genro couldn't stand it anymore.

"Yumi," he said, addressing her by her name, walking over to where she was sitting, and scooped her up into his arms. Yumi let go of her knees and threw her arms around his neck. Genro wasn't sure what to do, so he did the first thing that came to mind and sat down cross-legged and leaned against the wall. He then positioned Yumi on his lap so that he could talk to her.

"I'm so sorry." Yumi whispered. She wasn't crying anymore. In fact, she hadn't shed a single tear since she left the house for her bath. Genro decided not to respond. Yumi had been blaming herself for the man's death, and it was tearing her to pieces. Nothing Genro said could change it. In Genro's opinion, any monster who would take an unwilling girl deserved death, and he told her so, but she hadn't changed her mind. Right now, he was struck by how small Yumi was. In the short time he had known her, she was usually so full of life, even when she was sleeping, that she seemed a lot bigger, but looking at her like this, Genro saw that in truth she was tiny. She couldn't have been much more than half his weight at most, and she barely came up to his shoulders when standing. Since he couldn't think of anything to say, Genro remained quiet, just holding her on his lap. After a while, Yumi's breathing slowed, and she fell asleep. He gently laid her on some blankets and covered her with his coat. Genro stood up and looked at the strange girl. She was turning everything upside down. He had never thought about anything but his gang before, but now he started to see things differently. And to think he'd once considered women to be… well, he'd never really liked one before, until now. Silently, he left the room, meeting Koji out in the hall.

"Shh." Genro put a finger to his lips, telling Koji to keep his voice down. "She's asleep."

"Genro, what's up with you? You've been acting strange since you met that girl. What is it?" Genro shrugged, then gave vent to his frustration, remembering to keep his voice down.

"Damn it all! I don't know why, but when I think of her gettin' hurt and such, I jus' get so pissed off! Maybe it has something to do with me being one of the constellations of Suzaku. Tasuki."

"Tasuki? Your celestial name?" Koji ventured to guess, and Genro nodded. "Have you told her, yet? That you're one of the constellations?"

Genro, or Tasuki, going by his celestial name, looked at Koji in surprise.

"I thought ya didn't believe the stupid ol' legend." Koji coughed slightly, and went on to explain himself.

"I know there has to be some kind of link between you and her. I still don't understand what it is, but that's twice you've saved her, and there was no way you could have heard her calling you either time." Koji smiled cheekily, causing the scar on his cheek to stretch, making his face look comical, and said in a sing-song voice,

"Maybe its destiny! You were meant to be together! Ha ha ha!" The thought of his boss going for any woman was funny in itself, but the idea of him going after this otherworldly creature, so delicate and tough at the same time, was too much. Koji held his sides as he went down the hall, leaving Genro to guard the creature on his own.