Chapter Three

"I'll give you a towel after this, and you can finish removing your underclothes," Doulin continued. "I'll show you the way to the bath, but you'd best watch out; Lanva is a pervert!"

"L-Lanva . . . ?" Suzuno repeated, lowering her arms in the protective manner she had before. The woman giggled.

"He's my fiancée," she said. "Our families arranged our marriage a year ago, and we've been living here ever since."

"F-Fiancée . . ." duplicating Doulin's words again. When she looked at the woman, she seemed so young. Her eyes were fresh and cheerful, and her cheeks were colorful. This woman of unimaginable beauty, who was so young, was already getting married?

'No,' she thought to herself. 'She just looks young, but the way she talks . . .' Convinced by the woman's motherly manner and intelligent way of speaking, she assumed this woman was much older. She was probably in her twenties.

After Doulin was finished with her hair, she stood up and got off of her bed, smiling at Suzuno. Taking the clothes she had taken out of the drawer earlier, she handed them to the obviously quiet girl, trying to make her feel welcome and speak up more. "When we're done taking the bath, you can dress in those. I hope they're you're si-"

"Umm . . ." she tried to speak up, and Doulin stopped quickly, ready to hear her talk. Instead of putting a full sentence together, she quietly used a single word. ". . . We?"

"Of course! Although we have plenty of water in Sairou, it's still expensive because we have to have someone to drag it all the way out here for supply. Besides, it'll be like having a big sister taking a bath, so you shouldn't be nervous." Doulin inquired thoughtfully. "Do you have an older sister, dear?"

"Wha . . . Umm . . . Uh-uh. I used to bathe with my Daddy, but we stopped when I was little."

"Oh, I see," she replied, understanding. "You're not used to that sort of thing. Well, to save water all the same, could you keep the water you use in the tub and not throw it outside?"

Without asking what she meant by doing such a strange thing, she nodded, thinking that she would sound stupid if she wondered about something like a bath tub. But then again, maybe this was part of speaking intelligently. She must've asked her not to drain the bathtub after she had filled it up, the better to conserve.

'But when Doulin spoke,' she thought, getting up and following the woman while covering herself the best she could with a towel, 'She mentioned a place called Sairou. I've never heard of it before . . . Why am I in a desert?' Suddenly she wanted to cry again, and as the two of them were in the hall together, she kneeled over and used the towel to cover her face. 'I'm so stupid; I don't even know where I am! I can't even ask, they'll think I'm a fool . . .'

"Dear . . ." Doulin kneeled over as well, bringing her in a strong embrace, surprising Suzuno and just for a second, letting her tears stop. "If you need to cry, then cry as much as you want. There's no shame. I'll hold you as long as you need."

'Why is she so nice to me?' Suzuno thought to herself, suddenly feeling that same warm feeling she felt when she was in her father's arms. This woman somehow made it okay to cry in front of her. She didn't feel embarrassed of doing it; she felt more at peace.

"Hey Doulin!" Lanva shouted, walking into the hall and making the two of them jump. He looked at the two of them suspiciously, and observed every detail, as a man should. In his eyes, his future wife was on the floor, her arms holding a stiff smelling but nearly naked girl. Almost exactly how life should be. He smiled and said, "Doulin, I didn't know you went that way! No wonder you couldn't find a hus-"

"Stupid jerk!" Doulin hollered, jumping up and landing a strong kick with the heel of her shoe in the face. The second the blow smashed into his cheek and grazed over his puffy bruised nose he fell backwards, slamming his back into the ground. The woman stood confidently in front of him, her feet spread apart and her hands on her hips. Deliberately she was separating Lanva from the shy girls' sight, and Suzuno covered herself up with the towel as best as she could. She was shaking a little; the thoughtful and kind image she thought of Doulin had just been torn apart.

"Sometimes I swear I want to kill my parents for setting me up with you," she said in low growl. Lanva sat up, this time feeling his cheek which had already started to redden against his tanned skin.

"You think I want it?" he argued, and instead of hitting him again, she took a very deep breath and turned around. Instantly a strained smile was back again, and although Suzuno noticed her eye twitching a bit she decided it was best to keep quiet about it. She held out a hand to the green-eyed girl and said, "Come on, Suzuno! Let's get your bath ready!"

"Uh . . . Uh-huh," was all she could reply, staring at the ghastly result on her fiancée's face. 'She's nice, but she also scary . . . '

After Doulin walked out of the bathroom, Suzuno completely undressed and stepped into the tub before her, something that looked more like a giant pond. She had been led outside towards the back of the house, and among the sun setting sky the water was rather bright, though not completely clear. Cautiously she approached it, still covering herself up in case there was something out in the woods nearby. But, when the put her toes in to test the water, she was rather surprised at how nice and warm it felt, and was immediately tempted enough to go in.

"A hot spring . . ." Suzuno said to herself, leaning against the edge and covering her small breasts with her arms, even though only the neck up was above. She had never actually been in one of these before, not in her entire life. She always used the shower and occasional bath in her home; the only person to ever use the warmth of the public baths was her father. At least, she thought that this is what the public baths were like. She never asked. ". . . Warm . . ."

"So what's up with your clothes anyway?"

Suzuno suddenly felt a lightning chill shoot up her spine and she swiftly turned around, backing up further into the center of the water to get as far away from the edge as she could. There in front of her with his legs squatted and his arms resting on his knees was the same Lanva person that Doulin had mentioned earlier.

"Wha-What-What . . ." She couldn't get the words out, and instead of trying to speak, she covered herself up the best she could and took a deep breath, diving underwater completely, head and all. Lanva sighed, taking off his shoes and rolling up his pant legs, then dipping them in the water.

"I'm not coming out her to get a look," he muttered, running his hands through his hair after he wetted them. "I'm just curious; now get up from out of there. Your body wouldn't be able to take the heat underwater for too long; it'd all go to your head." After a few second of bubbling from the spot, Suzuno's head rose slowly, but only up to her eyes. She looked up at Lanva as if she were about to cry.

"Geez." Lanva turned his body around and reached for a towel, then threw it on her head. "Here, wear this in the water, I don't care if it gets wet." Then he smiled, "and if you want, I'll close my eyes for you!"

Suzuno still stayed cautious, but removed the towel she was given from her head and wrapped it around her body, then nodded a little bit. As asked, he kept his word and closed his eyes. This still didn't phase the tense feeling welling up in her; she had never, ever been in the presence of a man like this, and not even a woman for that matter. Except Doulin, maybe.

"Can I ask you some questions?" he said, waving one of his hands as he spoke. At first she nodded, but then she remembered he couldn't see.

"Uh-huh."

". . . Well for starters, I'm Lanva Hahmu."

"Su . . . Suzuno Oosugi."

"Okay Suzuno, why were you in front of our house?"

"What . . .?" She was in front of their house? But when she woke up, she remembered being in their house, with Doulin. She hated sounding secretive, especially when no one really talked to her with interest before, but she had no answers for him. "I don't . . . know."

She noticed the disapproval on his face, but he continued. "Well then, what about your clothes? And the white light we saw?"

"The white light!" Now they were getting somewhere. She was about the talk more as she stood up eagerly, but realized how she shouted and covered her mouth. She stuttered again, muttering an apology for speaking so loudly but was cut off mildly from Lanva.

"Go on," he said warmly, no rush in his voice at all. "I'll listen."

"Well . . . I was at school . . . In Tokyo, and I remember a bright light coming from nowhere, and I started to disappear . . . I remember seeing a tiger . . . And . . . then I . . ."

"A tiger?" this had definitely perked his interest. Then instead if listening some more, he stood up and turned around. "You can finish your bath if you want; I need to talk to Doulin about something."

"Umm . . . Okay." She felt the weight in her heart come back again. She did something wrong, didn't she? Was the white tiger a bad thing? After Lanva walked back in the house, she covered her mouth with her hands and felt ready to cry again. "I'm so stupid . . . he must hate me . . ."

It wasn't much later that Suzuno had been dressed in one of Doulin's robes, which was a bit too revealing at the top for her tastes. Her hair was dried clean and was down, very wavy. After being given a very fitting meal, Doulin showed her to the same bed she had been in earlier.

"I'll let you sleep in here," Doulin said kindly, opening the door for her. "I'll stay with Lanva tonight."

"B-But you two don't get along . . ." Suzuno started to say, but then slowed as she started to realize she was going into territory that was none of her business. ". . . Don't . . . you . . .?"

Doulin laughed. "It's alright Suzuno! You shouldn't worry at all about that. He won't be unbearable for just a couple of nights. Now if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask." She started to turn to leave, but then felt Suzuno grab her shoulder and she looked back at her. "Already? Well then, fire away!"

"When . . . when you said I shouldn't throw away the water in the tub, did you mean I wasn't supposed to throw away all that water from outside?"

Doulin gave her a strange look and raised her eyebrow, then started to laugh so much she covered her mouth to try and suppress it. What a random question! "Dear, that spring is the water supply delivered to us. I thought that you would have a nicer time in it than putting some of the water in the tub, so I let it slide. You're a very good listener if you remembered that!"

A . . . A compliment? Suddenly her heart stopped hearing those simple words, and instead of feeling foolish when remembering a silly detail, she felt proud. 'I'm a good listener . . .'

"Now, rest up!"

As Suzuno lied in Doulin's bed, covered up with covers upon covers to keep her warm, she felt so rejuvenated. Today had been the wildest day of her life. School was horrible, but wherever she was now . . . She had spoken to people. Two, in fact. Two people she already found wonderful for even recognizing someone like her. It made her want to cry again, she felt so happy. But . . . She couldn't bother these people anymore. There just wasn't any point. She was happy enough that they accepted her so readily.

Her clothes had already been washed by Doulin, and her lying on the dresser next to her. She took off the robe she was given and put on her school uniform skirt and shirt, being careful to let the skirt cover her knees. Next, she put on her socks, her toes fiddling at the ends to find comfort and then she put on her shoes. Quickly as she could to keep the hair out of her face, she tied her hair up in the same two braids from before.

After opening the door with what seemed like an almost masterful silence, she tip-toed down the hallway and walked past the open kitchen, which was next to the door to the front. It was already opened just a little bit, and she cautiously peeked out to see if anyone was out there, which, luckily enough, there was not. Someone must have just been careless to not close it completely. As she walked outside, her heart started to beat immensely, so much so that she held her chest.

'I feel so guilty . . .' she thought to herself, shutting her eyes tightly. Why was she leaving these people? They would help her, wouldn't they? But . . . what if they didn't?

"I need to talk to Doulin about something."

Yeah, right. After that . . . After that, she was sure she did something wrong. Tightening the hand around her chest and the one at her side, she ran down the dirt-ridden path towards the woods as fast as she could before she could have any regrets.

X x x x x

Author's Notes: Chapter Three edited! I suppose this is where things would get interesting? Maybe the chapter before, even . . . or even the first! Gah, I'm not evensure. Once again, I should thank otaku-no-miko, Kaeru Soyokaze and Angel for reviewing this chapter the first time around. I'm so honored!