The Color of Chinese Bellflowers
Chapter sixteen: The Lion Roars

Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.
A/N: The name 'Daisuke' means roaring lion in Japanese, so I will sometimes refer to Daisuke as a lion. Ritsuka's name is written as 立夏 in kanji, translating roughly to the begining of summer/standing summer.
Odori - Dance

A new man spoke up, "it took my breath away." His voice was deep, yet his tone reminded Ritsuka of a dirty snake. Taking a good look at him he noticed this new man was dangerously thin, with short blackish brownish hair that tickled his midnight colored eyes.

"I've never seen you in the teahouses before, what might your name be sir?" Ritsuka asked politely.

A slick smile spread over his pale face. "Daisuke."

"Daisuke, that name means roaring lion doesn't it?" Ritsuka tried to use a little bit of his knowledge to seem cunning. While he talked he reached over gently grabbing the sake bottle. While pouring the man sake Ritsuka held one sleeve of his kimono back slightly he exposed a little bit of wrist.

The new man shivered slightly as if his back was wet and a cool wind just blew over it. Youji's clever eyes caught it however, and he immediately because suspicious of Daisuke. But the blissfully unaware Ritsuka never noticed it. With the slightest movement of his hand the peach wrist disappeared behind his pink and baby blue kimono. Daisuke swallowed hard, and smiled nervously. "Yes it does. You must be a very smart boy, Ritsuka." The lion's ebony eyes fixated themselves on Ritsuka, but not his face.

"Please sir I am not worthy of being called smart. I don't think that is a quality I have retained over the years, the only thing left in my mind is how to dance and entertain." Ritsuka joked. A few of the men around him chuckled. Daisuke laughed nervously and used his frail bony fingers to push a lock of hair from his vision. Natsuo looked up from chatting with another man and said, "Ritsuka will grow to be better geisha than we will Youji, with a mind only for dancing and entertaining."

Youji chuckled politely, trying to take the subject off of their dark haired friend. "Maybe so. But I've heard that the new lead dancer in the Cherry Blossom Dances is a girl named Odo-chan?"

"Well Odo-chan is just a nickname, actually from the word Odori!(1)" Answered an elderly man across the table. Youji blushed (unnoticeable through the makeup) as the men around him laughed but it was all good natured. A demure hand rose to the aqua haired boy's cheek as he pretended to be embarrassed, when he really didn't care. He was just glad the focus was off of Ritsuka. "If her nickname came from the word dance she must be well respected then." Youji stated, though he meant it to be more of a question. His skill was slipping now-a-days.

Daisuke was frowning, for one reason or another. This had become a full room discussion, most of them telling Youji more things about Odo-chan. The lion didn't know who Odo-chan was, and he really didn't care. His eyes rested on the side of innocent Ritsuka's head, as his attention was turned to the conversation going around the room. Very impolitely Daisuke rested his elbows on the table, leaning on them. "Ritsuka? Do you know Odo-chan?" he asked quietly. This wasn't a conversation for the entire room.

Ritsuka's big wondrous eyes turned to the man beside him. "Me? Oh no, I've never met her before." he smiled, "she must be amazing though."

Daisuke's strange grin was back again, but it seemed to only work on one side of his face. His body must have been concentrating more on fidgeting his fingers, which they were. "I bet she isn't a better dancer than ... than you are." Crooked teeth shined when he smiled, hoping to make up for his stuttering.

Ritsuka smiled weakly, he must be a new to our world. I should help him out a little Ritsuka though. "Thank you very much Mr. Daisuke. Would you like another cup of sake?" he asked. Ritsuka was seeming more refined through the evening hours, more graceful than he had ever been. One half of it was the playful jeering of Youji and Natsuo, the other half of it was his desire to please Soubi.

The lion jumped slightly, "yes please!" Eagerly he pushed his cup into the geisha's reach. Ritsuka again held his sleeve back to pour Daisuke sake. The young man's hands trembled in his lap as he watched. Youji's eyes caught every move, thanks to his feline tendencies. Now he was extremely suspicious of this new man. Being nervous around geisha was to be expected of a new comer, yet this man took it to a whole new level.

Taking all of the sake in to his mouth and swallowing it in one giant gulp Daisuke seemed to calm down a little bit. The alcohol was working at his nerves and slowing him down oh so slightly. "Is Ritsuka your real name?" he asked.

Painted lips smiled back. "Yes it is, I never changed my name when I became a Maiko."

Daisuke flipped the hair out of his eyes again. "That's really interesting. Ri tsu ka ..." he let the syllables roll of his tongue as if he were thinking deeply about them. "Ritsuka, you do not seem like a summer person."

In surprise the dark haired geisha smiled. "Actually the summer is my favorite season, along with spring. There are so many fun things to do in the warm parts of the year." he said. The connection of his name and favorite seasons were coincidental, although he was born in winter. With a glance of his slitted eyes he spied the wall clock. It was nine o'clock PM. His painted lips turned downwards in to an invisible frown. Time had seemed so slip away from him that evening. Soubi had asked him to return home about that time so he didn't overwork himself for a first night back. How handsome Mr. Agatsuma had looked, leaning in the doorway telling him about his curfew. His face lit by only the lights from other buildings on the street gave him an even more mysterious air.

Ritsuka realized he had been spacing out thinking of the man, and when he came back Daisuke was staring at him with hard set eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry. I got caught up in thought for a moment." Slowly he rose to a standing position, while discreetly smoothing out accidental creases in his kimono. "Gomen nassai everyone, but I'm afraid it is time for me to leave for tonight. I trust I will see you all again sometime very soon?" Ritsuka asked in a sweet voice, with a charming smile. The dark haired cat boy did not see it, but beside his feet Daisuke jumped slightly for the third time that night. He also didn't see that the lion was staring up at him with pleading eyes. Unfortunately Youji didn't see it either, as he was too busy pouring a drink for a patron he was talking to. A few of the patrons in the room smiled towards Ritsuka. "We will see you again very soon!" One elderly one said to him.

Ritsuka bowed with that stellar geisha smile, and turned. He walked (almost floated, really) out of the room and to the front room of the teahouse. Sliding on his geta he paused to turn to a woman working in the teahouse. "Thank you very much for letting me entertain here tonight." It was a habit for him to do so.

The woman, looking to be in her thirties smiled at him. "No need to thank me, I should thank you! You bring good business to the tea house. Please send my gratitude to Mr. Agatsuma will you?"

Ritsuka smiled because he had to, but on the inside he was a little shocked that she knew he belonged to Soubi. Of course a few people knew, but he thought his changing of owners would go less noticeably. He had told only a few people, but it probably leaked out through Natsuo and Youji during idle conversation with patrons. Or maybe it had been Soubi himself, he didn't know. But it was okay, Soubi was a very desirable man to the women of Gion. He had seen that enough with his own two young eyes. Belonging to Soubi was like a badge of honor he wore, that said I belong to him and you are just some woman. Don't you wish you knew him like this? Although Ritsuka was always too modest to say things like that out loud.

Snapping out of it he responded, "I will!" and with that he left.

It was an eerily quiet night for the streets of Gion. The quiet clacking of his wooden geta against the ground seemed to be the loudest sound Ritsuka could hear. It echoed off of the streets and reverberated around the buildings. Being as he hardly ever got a quiet moment like this, Ritsuka sank back in to his thoughts. His life had changed rapidly over the course of the past nine months. He went from being a cheap and unknown geisha leading a lonely life like the rest of them were, and then he met Soubi. Mr. Agatsuma had bought him and gave him a better life, and through Natsuo and Youji he grew to become more skilled in his career. Yuiko helped him understand himself better, surprisingly. And Kio ... well Kio was Kio.

As it had been doing more frequently lately, Ritsuka's mind wandered to Soubi. His face turned a shade of light pink although you couldn't see it under the thick layers of white makeup. It did get hotter, however. The gentle breeze that snuck around the buildings of Gion caressed his face, cooling the blush. Breezy winds snuck around to the back of his neck and despite the comfortable temperature he shivered. Following the unseasonable shiver of course came a sneeze. Someone must be talking about me, Ritsuka thought. Or maybe a ghost of a family member is following me or something. Trying not to think too much about it he shrugged it off.

Tilting his head back, the kanzashi in his hair jingled. Staring up at the starless sky he wondered, why aren't there any stars out tonight? Oh well. Ritsuka was thankful that he didn't have too far of a walk to take on that night. Soubi had made sure to send him to a nearby teahouse, so he was closer to the okiya. Ritsuka smiled absent mindedly. His owner was almost acting like a worried parent, and Ritsuka himself was worried that Soubi would see him as a son or a profit more so than ... well anyway. And now with the okiya in sight he let out a long sigh of relief.

Reaching it he opened the door to see Kio in all of his hyper glory. "Welcome home kid!" he almost shouted with a large grin.

"Ahh," Ritsuka hadn't been expecting Kio's good mood. He had seemed a little mopey lately, at least up until now. "Thank you, it's nice to be back." The door closed behind him and he slid off his geta. Before he could finish that though Kio was already talking to him. "Enchant a lot of men on your first night back hm? How did your little contest against Natsuo and Youji go?"

The younger one chuckled. "I don't know about enchanting men, I'm sure I gave a few of them a bit too much sake though. And those two made me dance." Ritsuka finished with a frown, when talking about the contest.

"That's great! I'm sure your popularity will rise even more if you dance more often." Kio said.

"I don't know about that. I was pretty terrible." Ritsuka gave the maid a small smile and then yawned. "I think I'm going to retire to my room for right now. I'll see you later, okay Kio?"

"Sure. Go relax! You deserve it." Kio said, his words bumping into each other from him talking to fast. Before Ritsuka could really blink, the maid had bounded down the hallway and in to the kitchen. I wonder what he was so giddy about? Ritsuka thought. Almost all of the way up the stairs, he thought he heard the front door open. "Natsuo? Youji?" he called out down the stairway. No answer. The cat boy shrugged it off and continued up the stairs to his room. It was the first door on the left, and he walked inside leaving the door open by about an inch. For a small time he stood in the middle of the room, thinking about all of the things he had done that night. He'd danced publicly for the first time, and hopefully persuaded a few patrons to like him more.

What happened next surprised Ritsuka.

It happened without a sound.

It also happened without any form of warning at all.

In a split second his heart detonated into a frenzy of uneven beats. Was his heart in his throat? He couldn't tell. Actually he couldn't tell much at all, besides the sinking feeling in his stomach. Had all of his internal organs fallen? It felt like it. His mind was congested, his eyes bulging. Right now there were two things he was absolutely sure of. One, he wasn't alone. And two, he was being choked from behind. He coughed out, trying to breath in but it wasn't working. Small peach colored hands reached up and tried to pull away the hands that clutched around his throat in vain.

A million thoughts raced through his head. But in the moment they all blended together, into a searing white hot ball of shock in his mind. Suddenly the hands unclamped from his neck and pushed him forward. With a loud thud his front side landed harshly on the tatami floor, gasping for air. Before whoever choked him got the chance, Ritsuka pushed himself up on his elbows and turned to the face of his strangler.

"D-Daisuke?! What are you doing?!" Ritsuka attempted to shout. But no matter how hard he tried it came out as nothing more than a squeak.

The lion's dark, hard eyes stared back angrily into the geisha's. "I want what I see and I get what I want. That means you, my summer flower."

In defense Ritsuka tried crossing his arms in front of him, but with a shocking quickness and speed Daisuke pounced forward grabbing the teen's thin wrists. Forcing them above his head he grounded the wrists painfully into the floor. "That was so cute, but your as defenseless as a new born fawn. And I am the predator." Ritsuka froze, it was all that came to his mind. Not two seconds ago he had been standing alone peacefully taking in his success. But now here he was, on the floor beneath a man he had met just that night. All thought left his mind, Daisuke was squeezing his wrists too tight while also grinding them into the hard and uneven tatami floor. But then the pressure from his left wrist was gone. When did that happen?

The piercing chill of the night air in the okiya shot through his shoulders and chest. Daisuke had used one hand to forcefully pull open the top of his kimono, thankfully his obi was too tight for the rest to come undone. Before he could react his left wrist was being clutched again. Without warning a searing pain shot through his shoulder, a little bit up on to his neck. Daisuke was biting into the side of the base of his neck, and his teeth were unusually sharp. Finally a signal came through in his brain and he let out an ear piercing cry. Although he couldn't tell how long he was screaming, he was sure it was loud enough to hear two buildings away.

The next few moments passed in a blur, so that he wasn't sure what happened. A loud clack resounded through the room as the door was forced open. It sounded like it had been opened so fast that whoever opened it broke it. All of the pain was gone including the weight on his chest that was Daisuke. Slowly he unclenched his eyes, everything in the room were mere blurry objects obscured by tears. Someone was around him, a more gentle someone. Lazily his eyes turned to the two struggling figures in the doorway. Kio was restraining Daisuke, before plucking a nearby lamp off of the wall using it to knock the lion silly. In the next few seconds Ritsuka blinked and the two struggling figures were gone, but more sounds of a struggle came from the stairway. Kio was fending off Daisuke trying to contain him.

When had he begun to shake so violently? Strong arms encircled his body in an attempt to stop his quaking. A familiar voice reached his ears. "Shh, Ritsuka. It's okay, he's gone you don't have to worry about him anymore. I'm here for you, please Ritsuka come back to me."

It was Soubi.

Slowly and shakily the geisha's head turned to his owner. "S-soubi?" his voice was uneven. His eyes met with Soubi's which were widened with worry. "Soubi. Soubi!" A wretched sob rose out of Ritsuka's throat. Wrapping his arms around Soubi's waist he buried his face into the warm neck. Clear tears soaked into the flesh that smelled of musk and smoke. "Soubi, Soubi, Soubi!"

"Yes it's me, I'm here you don't have to worry anymore." he cooed.

Ritsuka seemed to calm down, and cried fresh tears of relief instead of fear. "I thought I was going to die."

"I would die before you would, Ritsuka. I will always save you."

"Thank you, thank you."

And the rest of that evening Ritsuka spent curled in Soubi's arms, thanking god for being alive.

So you may wonder why this chapter and the next chapter have special release intervals? Well that's because, (dun dun dunnn) chapter 17 of The Color of Chinese Bellflowers will be the last chapter. But don't worry, I will make it extra nice for all of you!

PREVIEW FOR THE LAST CHAPTER - March 14th, 2008
Ritsuka's hands flew up to his chest, clawing it it to contain the heart which was betraying him. "I said be quiet."

"You're scared, Ritsuka. I can see you trembling even in the darkness of night."

It was true, the geisha was trembling terribley. "Shut up, Soubi!"