Chapter Eight
"It's almost an adventure."
Tamatama gazed out of the window of the carriage, casting a thoughtful gaze across the moving landscape as he did so. "Two pretty young girls on a trip to the capital - where adventures await."
"Stop it." Nuriko instructed, although a faint smile brushed his lips at his companion's light humour. "That's not why we're going to Eiyou. Although to be honest, I'm glad I'm not going alone."
He shivered, pulling his wrap more tightly around him as the carriage wheel juddered over a stone. "It's disorientating and strange, when you don't remember."
"Even with your hair that short, Kourin, you're still a pretty catch." Tamatama reflected, turning to smile at his friend. "I suppose that a face like yours can always carry you, even if you haven't taken very good care of yourself since the last time we met. A change of clothing and a little make-up and you look as charming as ever - don't say I never take care of you, my friend. With your background in the textile trade, you must be able to appreciate fine fabric when you see it."
"I do feel better, now we've left that place." Nuriko admitted, glancing down at himself as he did so. "There was something...soothing about dressing this way, too. Like I hadn't done it for a while, but it still felt natural to do. Like it ran more deeply inside of me somehow - although I don't really understand how."
"None of us really do." Tamatama said philosophically. "Those like you and me, we're enigmas even to ourselves. Which is why we get to stick together, right?"
He winked, and Nuriko nodded.
"I suppose we do."
"Then why the long face, huh? We're doing what you wanted - right?"
"I'm a little afraid to go to Eiyou." Nuriko pursed his lips. "I don't know what I'll find there. You said my family were merchant folk, in the capital's textile district. But I can't...I don't remember. None of that is coming back to me at the moment. All I can see is that girl...Byakuren...and what happened in the snow in Yukigase. Or maybe in Hokkan. The two are a blur...I can't distinguish them apart."
"Which is no doubt why you're so confused." Tamatama said wisely. "I have to admit, Kourin, it upsets me to see you out of sorts. You're really not the girl I remember you as - you seemed to have so much confidence then, even though you'd experienced sorrow and disaster in your life before we met."
"Right now I don't really remember that." Nuriko looked pensive. "Just a hole inside of myself that I can't quite fill. That's all."
Tamatama pursed his rouged lips, but said nothing, and they travelled in silence for a moment. Then Nuriko frowned.
"Byakuren...had a brother." He said slowly. "Tenbun. I remember...wasn't he a friend of yours? Did he die too, when the demon came?"
"No." Tamatama shook his head. "But he left Yukigase a short while after you did. He lost both his mother and his sister that night, and though he tried to adjust...it was difficult."
He sighed contemplatively.
"What we do for the ones we love." He added, his tones resigned. "I didn't want him to go, but in the end, I thought it was better if I helped him leave. His family were from the capital originally, and so he decided to go back there, and see if he could find work. Escape everything that had happened...or no, if I'm honest, I think maybe he came to look for you."
"For me?" Nuriko looked startled, and Tamatama grinned.
"I told you you had a pretty face, Kourin." He bantered. "And I never could quite bring myself to tell him who you really were. Although it broke my heart knowing that he felt like he did about you - I thought it would be too cruel, so soon after losing Byakuren. He wanted to marry you, you know..."
"He'd have gotten a shock." Nuriko said acerbically, and Tamatama burst out laughing, slapping his knee in appreciation.
"Now that sounds much more like my Kourin-chan." He said playfully. "You are starting to come back to me, after all. Maybe it's the travel - I guess the fresh air is doing you good."
"Or the friendly company." Nuriko acknowledged. "You've been kind to me even though I've not been anything but trouble for you since I arrived in Yukigase. I appreciate that. Although I do wonder if maybe you're going to Eiyou to find this brother of Byakuren's as much as you are to help me."
"Well, I guess I might be." Tamatama admitted. "But no, really, I'm coming because I don't think you should be left alone right now, Kourin. As Nuriko, you have a lot of strength in that svelte body of yours - and so far you've not seemed to be able to control it too well. I'm pretty strong, considering what a delicate wraith I am. I thought that at least, if I was with you, maybe I could act as damage limitation. It took a lot to hold you in that room, back at the house - but I managed it. So I think that it's better this way. You need an escort, and well, pretty ladies should never travel alone, anyway."
"My strength." Nuriko glanced at his hands. "When you say that, I feel like there's something...I should remember. Something I should know. Maybe it is how to control it, or how it really works inside of me."
He groaned, shaking his head.
"It's so damn frustrating." He muttered. "I don't know who I am or anything. And if you didn't know as much about me as you seem to, I wouldn't remember anything at all."
"Maybe that's why you came to Yukigase, then." Tamatama suggested. "If I'm right, and you were hurt in Hokkan, it's not so very great a stretch to think that you did. Familiar territory in the north of Kounan, after all. You're a southern girl, really. You grew up in Eiyou - at least, I imagine that you did. That's nine or ten days travel at worst from the Hokkan border - I guess you came to the one part of the north country to which you felt you had a connection. At least, that would make sense to me."
"A place where a girl died because of me? Some connection."
"Byakuren's death wasn't your fault, you ninny." Tamatama scolded. "Stop it with that mindset, will you? You frown too much and you'll give yourself wrinkles - and that would be a crime, with a face like yours."
Despite himself, Nuriko smiled feebly at this.
"Perhaps you're right." He said pensively. "Till I get to Eiyou, though, and find this Chou family you talked about, I won't really know for sure. If I am Chou Ryuuen, then I need to find out what pieces of the jigsaw I'm missing. You say I'm Suzaku's Nuriko, and I can't dispute it - I remember the fight in the snow against Ashitare, and defending...defending the Miko, though it's fleeting as a dream. But it's all disjointed and wrong in my memory, like it never really happened at all. Maybe when I'm on home territory, I'll understand better."
"That's more of the spirit." Tamatama said comfortably. "And like I said, it's an adventure."
"I wonder where we are." Nuriko said pensively. "I must have come this way before, the first time I came to Yukigase. But I don't have any memory of it at all."
"It's some days distance to the capital." Tamatama responded. "Maybe you'll see some more familiar landmarks as we go further south. This is all new to me, anyway. But it is a little exciting."
He shifted his skirts more comfortably, then grinned.
"If a beauty such as you can cross-dress openly in the streets of Eiyou, then it must be a city worth my visiting." He added speculatively. "Father wasn't sure I should travel so far away from home, but you know, I've always heard stories about the capital. It's time I saw for myself what it has to offer."
"You're enjoying this way more than you should be." Nuriko reflected, and Tamatama looked rueful.
"Yukigase is a small place, and people aren't always kind." He said frankly. "I've learnt not to let it bother me, but since you went back home, and Tenbun left...well, it's isolating, in a sense, losing friends like that. That's all. Your coming to me was a sign, I think. A sign that it's time to branch out. After all, I'm not going to marry a village woman and settle down like father would secretly like me to do, am I? There can't be any harm in me travelling a little bit, surely?"
"You never have any doubts about it, then? About being who you are?"
"Do you?"
"Right now, yes. About everything." Nuriko groaned, rubbing his temples. Tamatama looked serious, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"That's what I mean, when I say you're not like Kourin at the moment." He said frankly. "This kind of indecisiveness - it really isn't like you at all."
"I wish you'd stop saying that." Nuriko muttered. "Every time you do I feel like I'm letting someone down. And the trouble is, I don't even know who that someone is. It's driving me crazy, trying to remember - but the more I try, the more dread and sadness I feel. So then I don't know if I want to remember, after all. It's a vicious circle and it isn't helping me feel any better about myself."
"Sorry." Tamatama looked contrite. "Perhaps it is a little bit tactless."
He sighed, stretching his meaty arms as he did so.
"As for your question, I think everyone has doubts." He said briskly. "But mine these days usually involve choosing between pink silk and black. No, Kourin, I don't think that I do. I've been this kind of Tamatama long enough to know it's who I am."
He sent his friend a sidelong glance.
"But you're not entirely sure that you're a girl, are you?" He asked curiously. "Even when I knew you before, you were indecisive as to whether you liked men or women, I remember that. You tried to distinguish it from what I do, by saying it was your sister's spirit inside you, a way for you to be together. Perhaps I was wrong, when I said it wasn't like you to be unsure. Maybe I've got a jaded memory - perhaps you are more like the girl I remember than I thought."
Nuriko looked thoughtful for a moment.
"When you said that, a man's face came into my mind." He admitted. "A...a beautiful face. Kind and gentle, and...and lonely. Someone...someone dear to me, I think. Someone...I loved once. As a woman."
"And yet you're still not sure?"
"I..." Nuriko frowned. "I guess I don't remember enough about my life to answer that."
"So wait, you're telling me you had a drop dead gorgeous man somewhere in your circle, and yet, you weren't sure?" Tamatama's eyes widened. "You're sicker than I thought."
"No, just confused." Nuriko shrugged. "But...I can't remember his name, or who he was to me. I just feel...that I loved him. And that I would have done anything for him, once upon a time. That's all."
He sighed, folding his hands in his lap.
"Bits and pieces." He said resignedly. "Nothing makes any coherent sense, so there's not much point in trying."
"Looks like we're stopping." Tamatama glanced out of the window again, nodding his head. "I suppose we've reached our next stopping point. I'm hungry, and I don't know about you, but we should get something to eat and drink before we try and find someone who can take us further south. It's a long trip, after all - but this looks like a big enough place to be finding food."
"I'm not really hungry, but I guess I could use a break." Nuriko nodded, as Tamatama wrenched open the door, stepping down heavily before turning and offering his hand to his companion in a mock-chivalrous way. Nuriko grimaced at him, clambering down nimbly and gazing around him at the bustling centre of the town. It wasn't a huge city, not like the pictures that flitted like ghosts in and out of his muddled mind. But it was busy and swarming with people, and something in the life of the place seemed to cheer his spirits.
"I think this is a nice place to stop." He reflected. "All right. We'll eat and then we'll move on."
"I think I see a place up ahead." Tamatama gestured, as they headed up the main street, Tamatama seemingly oblivious to the stares he received as he strode easily along the cobbles. "I have some money, so you shouldn't worry about that...I brought plenty of coin with me, and you should let me treat you - after all, you're not well right now, and you need to be properly looked after."
"It's all right. I don't think I need to eat, anyway." Nuriko shrugged his shoulders as he approached the tavern his friend had indicated. "But I'll keep you company, with pleasure."
"You should eat, you know. Even with a figure like yours, food is necessary to live."
"Maybe." Nuriko said absently. "I'll eat at the next stop then, I suppose. I'm not really up to it now, but thank you, anyhow."
"Well, suit yourself. I could eat a horse." Tamatama shrugged, putting his hand on the door. "Hey, are we going in?" As his friend paused, gazing up the street the way they had come.
"Kourin?"
"That girl..." Nuriko's brows creased and he took a step or two back towards the centre of town, a strange expression flickering in his eyes.
"Girl? What girl?" Tamatama frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Nuriko raised his hand, gesturing to a young girl of eight or nine who was playing with a ball not far from a busy market stall. Tamatama's confusion grew.
"A girl with a ball - what about her?"
"I don't know." Nuriko admitted. "I feel like I know her. That's all. Would you mind waiting for me? I'm going to go ask her her name."
"Kourin, you can't just go speaking to strange kids, people will think you're up to something." Tamatama protested, but Nuriko was not listening, already half way back up the street. Tamatama sighed, turning his back on the tavern in resignation as he followed his friend, shaking his head slowly as he did so.
As Nuriko approached, the small girl stopped her game, clutching her ball to her chest as she eyed him with big, startled eyes. Nuriko offered her a smile.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your game." He said gently. "I just wondered if we'd met before. You remind me...of something...I just...will you tell me your name?"
"S...Shian." The girl looked bewildered. "Hei Shian. Have you come to buy something from Mother's stall?"
"Shian, stop bothering that lady and come do something productive." A woman's voice rang out, and Shian started, dropping her ball as she turned towards the speaker. A harried woman stood there, hands on hips, and Nuriko realised that she was Shian's mother, the owner of the market stall. He bowed his head quickly in her direction.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault. I was asking your daughter...for directions." He said lightly. "I'm sorry to have troubled you both, when I know you must be busy."
"It's quite all right. You're a traveller here? Then you must be hungry." The woman offered a tired smile. "We have a lot to offer, you know - please feel free to take a look at our wares."
"I'm afraid I don't have any money. I'm reliant on my friend's goodwill on this trip." Nuriko said apologetically.
"My ball!" Shian let out an exclamation at that point, turning as she saw the small blue ball rolling out into the centre of the road. "Mother, I have to get my ball!"
"Leave the ball, Shian - it's not important. We'll get it later." The mother scolded, but Shian shook her head.
"Aniki gave me that before he went to fight for the Emperor." She said stubbornly. "It's Aniki's ball - I won't let it go!"
Before either the mother or Nuriko could stop her she had darted out into the road in the direction the ball had gone.
"Shian, get back here!" Her mother exclaimed, but her words fell on deaf ears and as Nuriko watched, cold dread settled in his heart. Images flashed and flickered across his senses and he bit his lip, trying to swallow the sudden sense of fear that welled up inside of him.
"Kourin." He whispered, and before he knew what he was doing he had struck out after her, just as a horse and rider came around the blind bend ahead, galloping at speed with the man on it's back clearly not in full control of his steed. Nuriko's heart seemed to pound in his chest as he grabbed for the girl roughly, pulling her up in his arms as the animal bore down on them. Tamatama's voice screamed something, but it was too distant for Nuriko to make out. Knowing that the horse was too close to miss them completely, he made up his mind, covering Shian with his own body as he waited for the impact of the animal's hooves.
The rider yelled, and there was the sound of a whinny and a scraping of cobbles as the beast was finally brought to a stop. Nuriko felt the dig of front hooves against his body, but somehow he was numb to the pain as in his grasp, a little girl began to cry softly.
"Kourin! Kourin, what the hell were you thinking?" Tamatama darted forwards to haul his friend up, and Nuriko struggled to his feet, setting the dishevilled, frightened Shian down on the ground as tears glittered in his own eyes. As soon as the girl was free, she pulled away from her rescuer, running for her mother, who had stood staring in horror and dismay at the tragedy that had almost unfolded in front of them.
"You saved her life." Tamatama brushed his friend's clothing down. "But you could have been killed - you stupid girl, what were you thinking of?"
"Kourin." Nuriko said unsteadily. "I was thinking...of Kourin."
He bent to pick up the forgotten ball, glancing at it.
"I must give this back to her." He said softly. "I'm all right, Tamatama. I don't bleed, remember? So I can't be hurt."
"That's a matter of opinion." Tamatama muttered, but Nuriko paid him no attention, approaching the mother and child and holding out the ball.
"This is yours." He said quietly.
Shian merely stared at him with frightened eyes, and her mother sighed, taking the ball slowly from his grip.
"I'm sorry. And grateful." She said quietly. "My daughter is all I have...and you...you could have been killed, but you rescued her anyway. I have no way to thank you for that."
She glanced at the ball, then,
"Her brother gave it to her as a keepsake, before he went to fight for Sahitei-sama in the war with Kutou." She added unsteadily. "He didn't come home, and Shian - she believes he lives inside of it. That she can keep him, if she thinks of him as being inside the ball."
Nuriko's eyes widened, and tears sprinkled his own cheeks.
"I understand." He whispered. "I lost my sister, too."
He glanced at Shian, touching her gently on the head.
"That's who you reminded me of." He murmured, more to himself than to her. "Kourin."
"There must be something I can do, to show my gratitude? Anything at all?" The mother asked, and Nuriko shook his head.
"To help her...and her brother. That was enough." He said faintly.
"Kourin?" Tamatama approached at this juncture. "Are you sure you're all right? The hooves came down on you pretty hard - shouldn't I take a look at you, to make sure you've not hurt yourself?"
" told you, I didn't feel pain when they struck me. Not there, at least." Nuriko shook his head. "I'm fine, Tamatama. Go ahead to the tavern. Get something to eat. I...I'm going to take a walk, I think, and clear my head."
"No way are you going anywhere on your own." Tamatama shook his head adamantly, grabbing his companion by the arm and forcibly leading him back towards the tavern. "After that little adventure you can't pretend you don't need to reboost your energy with something warm to eat, and I'm not taking no for an answer."
"I forgot about her." Nuriko said sadly. "But when I saw Shian...it was like...she was there again. How could I have forgotten? Of all people - how could I have forgotten her?"
"You've forgotten a lot of things of late. Don't worry so much about one particular example." Tamatama told him quietly. "Just come with me and sit down, okay? You've got a strange, not quite there look about you at the moment, and I'm not sure you're really okay after that little escapade. It was damn brave, but seriously, you could have both been trampled to death."
"Perhaps that would have been better." Nuriko murmured, and Tamatama frowned, pausing and giving his companion a good shake.
"No, you are not going to talk like that." He said firmly. "Do you understand? No matter how confused you're feeling. I won't allow it."
Nuriko closed his eyes, as images of another day in another busy street flooded over his senses. The horse's whinny, the crack of hooves against bone, and then his sister's body, lying dead and broken in his arms as he struggled to wake her. As the sensation overwhelmed him, he pushed his companion aside, almost causing the other man to fall headlong as he fled through the streets and houses, not caring where he was going, just as long as it was away from the memories that had stirred so cruelly inside of him. Tamatama called him back, but he took no notice, tears blinding his sight as he ran.
"Kourin." He whispered. "How could I forget you! Of all things...how could I forget!?"
-------------
"You're a kind girl, Anzu-san."
As Anzu set the remainder of her herbal brew down beside the bedside of Tasuki's sleeping father, she turned, offering his mother a shy smile as she shrugged her shoulders.
"I thought I could be helpful, that's all." She said self-consciously. "I can't do anything to heal the leg - but I do remember how to help ease pain, at least. And this should last for a few more days, too - I'm sure Genrou will be back by then, with his friend the healer if he can be."
"You're fond of my son, aren't you?" The older woman looked curious, and Anzu flushed red, nodding.
"I am." She admitted. "But I...don't know that he thinks the same about me."
"Well, he hasn't really grown up yet...although I'm starting to think that men never do." The older woman said sagely. "Still, if he had a young woman like you to take care of him, I'd worry less about his reckless attitude. Taking off like he has, that's just another indication of it - never staying in one place long enough to be counted. At least this time Aidou is with him - although I worry about that, too. Even though we agreed that we shouldn't let him out of our sight - it's an undertaking, watching over my Shun'u."
"You and Aidou-san planned for her to go with Genrou?" Anzu paused, a startled expression crossing her face. "Even though it's dangerous?"
"Aidou can take care of herself. She's a sturdy woman with a good head on her shoulders, and she'll be all right." The other said with a smile. "I think it more likely Shun'u will come back in one piece if he has his sister's watchful eye on him. Knowing him, he'll charge into some hell for leather revenge battle to avenge his village's fire - and I know what happens to these Suzaku people. It's better to be safe...Aidou won't let him do anything stupid. She's always had a stronger rein over his actions than any of her sisters."
"Genrou's mentioned his sisters in passing, but I don't know much about your family." Anzu admitted. "He's the youngest, isn't he? And your other daughters are all married?"
"Yes." Tasuki's mother shifted her considerable bulk, indicating for Anzu to sit beside her, and after a moment of hesitation, Anzu did as she was bidden. "My middle three children are all settled with husbands, starting families of their own. That makes a mother happy - to see her children so responsibly settled."
"Aidou-san...said she was too old to find a husband now." Anzu remembered, a shadow touching her face. "So she stays on the farm, and helps you."
"Yes." A shadow crossed the other woman's face. "It's sad for her, in a sense. She did have...well, there was a time when we thought Aidou might have a settled future, too. But it wasn't to be. Wartime is such a cruel blow for families, Anzu-san...the young man in question died fighting for Kounan against Kutou. She's never spoken of it, or even really allowed it to affect her in any major way. But I'm sure that it affected her...I think it's more a case that she doesn't want to try again, now...it's our gain, in a way, but my heart does ache for her from time to time."
"I didn't realise." Anzu's eyes softened. "But if that's the case, I understand something a little better now. Something she said to me about people who fight. I won't say anything to her about it - but I'm glad to understand Genrou's sister a little better."
She frowned, eying the older woman keenly.
" But now the farm has been destroyed...what will you do? Where will you all go?"
"Well, obviously we can't rely on Shun'u to provide the answer to that, as a son should." The older woman sighed, shaking her head. "No doubt we'll go to one of the girls. It depends on how much damage the farm has sustained, and whether or not my husband's leg heals properly...but we're getting older, anyhow. The farm should have passed to Shun'u's care by now - he should at least have learnt how to run it and keep things in hand. But...well, my son..."
She frowned, pursing her lips.
"We tried so hard to have a son, you know." She reflected matter-of-factly. "It took us enough attempts, but when Shun'u was born, it was like the heavens answered our prayers. Don't get me wrong - I love my daughters dearly, and I wouldn't forsake any one of them. But we wanted to be able to pass the farm to a boy, just as my husband's father passed it to his only son. It's the way of things, I suppose. And when we finally had Shun'u, it seemed like it was all going to go to plan. A young man to protect his sisters and keep the farm in safe hands."
She sighed gustily, shaking her head.
"And then when he was three years old...that mark appeared." She said heavily. "At first we didn't know what to make of it...it was so faint it seemed like maybe it was a birthmark or a rash - but it only appeared when he was excited or active. As he grew, we realised what it was. Suzaku's mark. One of the chosen. And when I knew that, I wept - for sure, a whole night, I wept. Because I know the legend of Suzaku as surely as any citizen of Kounan does. I knew what it would mean."
"Weren't you proud though? That Suzaku had chosen your son to do his bidding?" Anzu was surprised. Her companion shrugged.
"I had only one son." She said softly. "And I was afraid to lose him. Suzaku's legend says that the chosen ones - the Seven Stars of Suzaku - will fight and die in defence of the Priestess of Suzaku. That their power will be drawn on to summon the beast God and protect Kounan. In short - my son was a sacrifice. His life, in exchange for those of the Kounan people."
"I see." Anzu looked sober at this. "That makes sense, I suppose. Even though it's an honour, you must've felt - why us? Why our family?"
"Precisely." The older woman nodded. "You see, I knew you were a good kind of girl, Anzu-san. You strike me as intelligent, and you have a gentle touch about you, too. My son would do well to wake up to it...if he had you to take care of him, I'm sure he'd be quite all right."
"I...I don't know." Anzu flushed uncomfortably. "He...doesn't like women very much."
"Well, we've been hard on him. All of us, always." Tasuki's mother smiled, a rueful look in her eyes. "Because we were afraid for him. And even now, when Suzaku's shadow no longer hangs in the sky over Kounan - I wait for the day someone brings me that news. The news every mother dreads - that her son has given his life in defence of his country. It's a selfish thought, I know. But he is my only son, Anzu-san. That's why Aidou went with him. She knows how I feel - it's how we all feel. Shun'u is a reckless, mindless fool of a boy on occasion...and he seems blissfully unaware of the dangers that everyone else sees clearly. How he's made it to nineteen summers, I don't know. But I know that he lost many friends, doing Suzaku's bidding. And I wait...I wait for the hammer to fall on my son too. That even though he's survived this far...so long as those wings burn on his arm, I know he's subject to the God's will. And that he can still be sacrificed for Kounan."
Anzu was silent for a moment, touched by her companion's simple, honest confession.
"I understand." She said at length. "I...have no family of my own, Kou-san. My parents died a long time ago, and my sister, who I was closest to, passed away just a short time ago. I came here because I wanted to re-establish my friendship with Genrou - we knew each other two years ago, and I was sure that coming back to Kounan was the right thing to do. But sometimes I realise how little I know about him. About you. About everything, really. It makes me feel foolish - I think I love him, but then, so do many other people. Even if he doesn't know it."
Her companion's face broke into a wide smile.
"You have been good to my husband and I, since we arrived here, and I've appreciated that." She said gently. "I think that proves you have a good heart. And so does my son - deep beneath all the belligerence and stupidity. Please don't give up. Men are children for a lot longer than we girls, and they don't always know what they need or what they want. Shun'u is a worst case example - but if he's done something to cause you to love him, please, don't give up on him just yet."
"Oh, I haven't." Anzu grinned. "I'm more stubborn than that, Kou-san. Trust me."
"Anzu-san?"
A voice from the doorway startled them both, and Anzu glanced up to see one of the other bandits standing there, offering her a smile. "Anzu-san, Kouji-aniki wants to see you."
"Kouji does?" Anzu looked startled, nodding as she got to her feet. "All right. I...I'm coming. I'm sorry, Kou-san - Genrou told me before he left that I was to do what Kouji wanted, and it might be that he needs my help too."
"Then go." Tasuki's mother assured her. "There's nothing more you can do here, anyway. Thank you for soothing a farmer's pain, my girl, but more, thank you for hearing an old woman's words, too. I confess, I miss my daughter when she's absent...I hope I've not imposed on you."
"It's no bother at all." Anzu assured her with a laugh. "It's a pleasure for me to meet Genrou's family."
She bowed her head, then withdrew from the chamber, casting the bandit a questioning glance.
"What did Kouji want?" She asked curiously. "I thought he was still busy with settling the villagers, as Genrou told him to. He said I should stay and try and help Genrou's family, if I could."
"I don't question Aniki." The other man said brusquely, gesturing for her to follow him and Anzu shrugged, doing as she was bidden. The bandit loped along in front of her, a slight limp giving away previous battle wounds, and as she glanced at him, Anzu tried to remember his name.
"Bouka, I think." She reflected, narrowing her gaze as she considered. "But really, I haven't mixed as much with the others here as I should. I mean, if I want to stay...I've spent most of my time with Kouji or Reirei or with Genrou and Chichiri, when they were here. I should make more of an effort to get to know Genrou's buddies, shouldn't I? I can't be one of them if I don't. I have to prove myself as much as any of the others, after all."
"Hey, space cadet, are you coming?"
The bandit had stopped up ahead beside a doorway, pushing back the door as he gestured for her to enter. Anzu blushed, embarrassed by her inattention and she nodded, quickening her pace and stepping into the room, glancing around her for the gang's deputy leader. He was nowhere in evidence, however, and as she turned to ask whether her escort had made a mistake, she heard the click of the door, raising alarmed brown eyes to meet amused hazel ones.
"Where's Kouji?" She demanded. "I thought you said he sent for me."
"Well, I guess that was a little white lie." The bandit, whose name was Bouka, she remembered now, offered her a slight smile, his gaze flickering over her as he spoke. "See, actually, I wanted to have a little word with you. But you're like, priveleged goods in this place. You only come running when Aniki or Kashira calls you - and I wanted to find something out from you myself. Oh, she'll never listen to a summons from just one of the guys, not that girl, I thought to myself. So I figured, tell her Aniki sent for her. That'd do it. Then she'd come."
Anzu frowned, folding her arms across her chest.
"You could have just asked me. You make me sound stuck up, and I'm not." She objected. "There's no need to spirit me away like this - if you have something to say, say it. Don't use Kouji as an excuse."
"See, you even call Aniki Kouji." Bouka's eyes narrowed, giving him a sinister look as for the first time Anzu properly registered the deep scar that ran across his brow. "If I did that, he'd make sure I regretted it. Noone calls Aniki Kouji, except Kashira. And noone calls Kashira Genrou, 'cept Aniki. Then...you come into the picture...and you talk to them both like old friends. Like you don't understand what a bandit's world is like."
"Kouji doesn't mind, and nor does Genrou." Anzu snapped back. "What's your point?"
"Well, we all thought, to begin with, it was because you were the Kashira's woman." Bouka eyed her speculatively. "But you ain't, are you? He doesn't seem to care if you're there or not - in fact, he didn't even know who you were, the night he came back to the mountain."
"I'd changed in two years. That's all." Anzu flushed. "And I've never said that I was his woman."
"No, but you sure act like you want to be." Bouka observed.
"That's not exactly any of your business."
"So you do think you're better than the rest of us." Bouka smirked. "But then, I heard a rumour, you want to be a bandit. Just like Aniki. Just like Kashira. You think that you can match up to them - be one of us, even lead over us? I wasn't here when you were before, Anzu, but I've heard the stories. The little girl who tried to take over Reikaku-zan with a demon's power and some holy trinket. And none of us are going to let you do that. Kashira was chosen by the last boss, that's the way it is in a bandit's hierarchy. And you can't think that, by poisoning his mind, you'll be able to take over Reikaku-zan again. Kashira don't like women - any women. So you might as well give up now."
"I don't want to be Kashira." Anzu's eyes opened wide with shock. "Two years ago...that was a whole other matter, and it's long behind us now. It wasn't as clear cut as you think, and I would never do anything to hurt Genrou! I love him - why would I want to harm him?"
"Ah, she loves him." Bouka laughed, and with a jolt of alarm, Anzu registered the fact that her companion now held a short bladed dagger loosely in his right hand. "That's cute. Pity it's as I said - Kashira don't like women. And he sure ain't going to allow one to become a bandit. But it's all right, Anzu. We can still find a use for you. After all, you're mighty pretty. And if you ain't Kashira's woman, you're fair game."
"Let me out of here!" Anzu backed up against the wall, fear flickering in her eyes as for the first time she read the bandit's true intentions. "Let me go - G...Genrou will kill you, if he finds out what you're doing!"
"He won't care." Bouka shrugged. "You're just a woman, that's all. Some girl - he's far too busy doing the God's work, and seein' to proper Reikaku-zan stuff. He doesn't have the time of day for you, whatever you think about it. He's a bandit, not some shining knight on horseback. And you're in way over your head."
He approached her, grabbing her arm with calloused fingers as he tightened his grip around her wrist.
"Be good and don't scream, and I won't slit you throat." He whispered, as he pulled her towards him. "If you play nicely, I'm sure we'll find a reason for you to stay here...if you get my drift."
"Let go of me!" Anzu exclaimed, pushing against him with all her might, as she attempted to twist her body away from him, but despite his lean physique, Bouka was stronger than he appeared and he merely grabbed her more firmly, shoving her against the wall as he reached out a finger to touch her cheek.
"Aw. Don't cry." He said softly. "It won't hurt. Much."
Anzu swallowed hard, hating herself for being so weak as to show tears.
"I'm not crying. I'm angry." She choked out, struggling to kick herself free, but Bouka's eyes merely glinted with amusement, his hands dropping from her face down towards her throat and then further as he slid his fingers beneath the ties of her gown.
"You're a virgin, aren't you." He observed, as she flinched away from him. "Which just goes to show, you really aren't Kashira's woman."
"One more move, Bouka, and I'll be skewerin' you for Genrou myself."
A fresh voice from the doorway made the bandit freeze, and Anzu wriggled out of his grasp, relief flooding her heart as she registered the presence of Kouji in the doorway. In his hand he held his sword, his expression one of decided unamusement, and at the sight of him, Bouka took a step back.
"Anzu, get out of there. Now." Kouji spoke in low tones, and too shell-shocked to do anything else, Anzu scuttled out of the room, ducking behind the door as she watched the bandit's temporary leader advance on the unfortunate Bouka.
"Explain." Kouji's voice was even and calm, but the tension in his body told Anzu that he was angrier than she had ever seen him before.
"She's just a woman, Aniki." Bouka muttered. Kouji pursed his lips, glancing at his sword, then back at his companion.
"She's not to be touched. Not by you, or by anyone." He said quietly. "I thought you understood that - Anzu has my protection. She has Genrou's protection. She's not some town prostitute you can lay your grubby, greedy fingers on. Do you understand me? You do not touch her."
"She's not Kashira's woman." Bouka's eyes blazed with momentary defiance. "You led us to believe that she was, but she isn't. She's just some woman skulking around here thinking she owns the place. We all know the story of how she came to be here before...and she's not Kashira's, or yours. So why do you care so much? It's not like she's anyone special. She's just another girl!"
Kouji's eyes narrowed, and despite himself, Bouka flinched back.
"You have your standards. I have mine." The stand in leader said eventually, lowering his sword. "But while I'm deputising for Genrou, we'll go by my rules. And if you don't, I'm not kidding about the skewering."
He frowned.
"Anzu may not be Genrou's woman, as you put it, but she is his friend." He added. "And on those terms, you should be glad it's my sword and not his tessen you're staring down. You really don't know Genrou, if you think he'd stand for this - against Anzu, against his sister, against any woman in this place. And he's not as forgiving as I am. So keep it in mind. If you - or anyone - lays a finger on Anzu again...you will regret it."
He slid his sword back into the loop on his belt, then.
"Get out of my sight." He said coldly. "And make sure any others who've been thinking along the same lines stop thinking along them. Because I will run my sword through the next person who tries to rape a woman on my shift."
Bouka's defiance crumbled away, and he sidled out of the room, casting Anzu a dark look before disappearing down the hallway. Anzu sighed, leaning up against the wall as her legs felt giddy beneath her.
"Thank you." She murmured. "I...I couldn't fight him off. He was so strong."
"You should be more clever, too. Wisen up." Kouji offered her a frown. "I don't believe in using women, but this place - this is a bandit hideout. There are men much rougher in their views than Genrou or I. We can't protect you all the time, you know...you shouldn't be naive."
"He said you wanted to speak to me. I thought he'd brought a message - how was I to know?"
"If you want to stay here, you're going to have to know." Kouji said matter-of-factly. "If I hadn't been passing by and I hadn't heard you cry out, he'd have had his way. And that's the bare truth of it. This isn't a safe haven for stray girls. I understand how you feel about Genrou." As Anzu opened her mouth to protest again. "And I don't have a problem with you being here. But just so you know - not all of Reikaku-zan's bandits are goodhearted rogues. There have been bad seeds before, and there will be again. Bouka's probably not alone in sizing you up - there are no women on Reikaku-zan as a rule, and some of these guys don't have great self control, especially when they've had too much to drink. Learn to defend yourself, and don't put yourself at risk. I might not be there to save you next time."
Anzu frowned.
"I understand." She said softly. "But...really, Kouji...thank you for helping me this time. And I will remember what you said."
Kouji flashed her a smile at this, shrugging his shoulders.
"Genrou would burn anyone who tried to rape a woman on his mountain." He said evenly. "I'm sure that if you'd been raped, and Genrou'd found out about it, Bouka wouldn't have lived to see the night out. It's true what I said - I'm more forgiving than he is, when it comes to things. Bouka might be smarting for a while, but he'll realise, when he cools down, that he got the easy option."
"I hope it doesn't mean trouble for you with the others." Anzu looked worried. "I don't want to be the cause of that."
"Ah, but I can take care of myself." Kouji smiled lazily. "Besides, Genrou'd flame me if he thought I wasn't taking care of you."
"I'm not sure if he'd be quite that angry." Anzu sighed. "He doesn't love me, so...and I don't even know if we really are friends, now. Two years is a long time...and I really don't know."
"Well, you can take it from me that Genrou's not the most perceptive to a girl's feelings. You might have to hang in there if you really want to make a mark." Kouji shrugged his shoulders.
"You've known him a long time, haven't you?"
"Well, since he came to Reikaku-zan." Kouji agreed. "He was fifteen, and I was seventeen. Hated the brat at first, that's the truth of it. He was an upstart, and like an eager puppy - into everything and nothing seemed to phase him."
He laughed.
"He's still like that, sometimes." He admitted. "Even as Kashira. But that's a good thing, I think. He takes his situation seriously, even if it doesn't always seem that he does."
Anzu smiled.
"Everyone seems to know him better than I do." She reflected. "His family, you, Chichiri. Do you think I was wrong to come here - chasing a pipe dream?"
"I don't know." Kouji said evenly. "Do you think so? Because if y'ask me, Anzu, the only kind of girl that's ever gonna break through Genrou's thick skull is one who's both determined an' persistant. Otherwise, he'll jus' saunter along without givin' it a second thought. Besides, women are a sore point for him. They always have been, a bit. So that really depends on you. But listen, girl,"
As Anzu's brows knitted, considering the bandit's words. "If you want to be a Reikaku-zan bandit, and belong here, you're really gonna haveta toughen up an' learn to fight your own corner against fools like Bouka. Whether you charm Genrou or not, I don't mind either way - it's between you two, an' there's no sense me getting wrapped up in it more than I must. But I think we're friends, now, you and I. And I don't want to see you hurt or worse because you were naive."
Anzu smiled.
"I understand, and I appreciate it." She said softly. "You're right. I don't want to be trouble for either of you. So I'll do as you say."
"Good girl." Kouji inclined his head slightly. "Hey, how's Genrou's Pa doing?"
"Well, I wish I could fix his leg." Anzu frowned. "But better, I think."
"Good." Kouji winked at her. "Genrou might not admit it - but he's fond of his family, somewhere deep down. He'll be glad they're being taken good care of."
"Aidou went with him, you know."
"I know. I won't pretend I'm not glad about that, too." Kouji admitted. Anzu laughed.
"I don't think she's so bad." She chided.
"Well, if Genrou doesn't like girls, Aidou doesn't like men." Kouji said frankly. "And I'm quite happy to have her away from the mountain, to be honest. I've enough to be doing without that."
He tapped her on the shoulder.
"Just make sure you do absorb what I said." He added. "And I'll see you later."
Anzu watched him leave, pursing her lips.
"I promise, Kouji." She said softly. "I'm not cut out to be a bandit right at the moment. I need to learn more. And right now I'm probably not safe here, on my own, with people like Bouka waiting to take advantage. It was naive of me...but I'm not going to forget."
She frowned, then nodded, making up her mind.
"If Aidou can go with Genrou, so can I." She decided. "I'll catch up to them, and prove myself as a bandit. And then maybe he'll realise I'm serious - and I'll be able to stay here, on Reikaku-zan, without being afraid of what the other guys might do to me!"