A Show They'll Never Forget
"OH, HELL NO, KANONJI! I WON'T DO IT, I WON'T!" Corbeau's voice could be heard all over the grounds the next day. She stared at the huge birdcage sitting backstage with vicious hatred and disgust on her face. Her face was red and her eyes appeared as if they were about to pop right out of her head. Her wings were spread and it appeared she was either going to beat him to death with those wings or take flight.
"What's going on in here?" Renji demanded, throwing back the tent flap that led to backstage where the two people were having a standoff. He saw the birdcage and immediately understood the problem. "What the hell is that?"
"I want her to get into that for her introduction. She can come out after she's pulled out onto the stage," Don Kanonji explained.
"No," Renji answered with a sharp edge to his voice that would not allow for argument.
Corbeau's attention turned to Renji as a fierceness took him over giving him a feral, beast like appearance. His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed while he stood up straight and tall with his shoulders pulled back and his chest puffed out. He looked like he was ready to tear the gangly man limb from limb. She halfway expected him to beat his chest and throw leaves next in a physical statement of his animalistic dominance.
"Come up with something better, and I'll change my mind. If not, she goes out in the cage," the man conceded after a few minutes of being stared down.
Renji swung his gaze to Corbeau who confidently replied, "I've got just the thing. You're gonna love it!"
"Rangiku, I need to borrow some – Oh, holy hell!" Corbeau yelled, inadvertently walking in on her friend and Toshiro having sex. She covered her glowing red face and swiftly retreated from the tent. She shook her head to try to erase the image of the white haired man having his way with her friend who had been enjoying herself immensely. The thought occurred to her that the two of them could never have sex in any kind of standing position due to the height difference. A snort escaped her as she stifled the giggle that bubbled up from the wondering of her dirty little mind.
"Don't laugh," Rangiku said with a big grin of satisfaction on her face. "What he lacks in height he makes up for with extra inches somewhere else."
"Oh?" Corbeau inquired, unable to say anything else before snickering.
"I call him Tripod," she answered, raising her eyebrows.
"Tripod? Really?" she snorted, unconvinced. Her friend held up her hands to indicate his size like an old man telling a fish story. She estimated the woman's hands to be about eight or nine inches apart. "REALLY?"
"Really," Toshiro said, appearing out of the tent. He stole one last kiss from Rangiku as he walked by.
Corbeau yelped with surprise and pain when he delivered a stinging slap to her behind when he walked past her. Amazingly enough that helped counter her devastating embarrassment.
"Bye, bye, Birdy! Good luck at the show tonight!" he yelled without looking back.
Men around this place had a tendency to do that. They had an annoying habit of pissing off the women then not even looking back to accept the death glares thrown their way like real men.
"What did you need, sugar?" her friend asked.
"I need to borrow a costume for tonight. I thought you might have something I could wear," she explained with a hopeful look on her face. The size difference in breasts didn't matter anyway because all of Rangiku's costumes only covered her nipples and that was by choice.
"Anything in particular. Color? Material? Sequins?"
"Black leather?"
Rangiku's eyes lit up. She took her friend by the arm, pulling her into her dressing tent. "I've got the perfect thing for you."
"You're so hot," Renji whispered, kissing her neck as they waited backstage.
"Yes, yes, I am," she groused, fanning herself with her hand although it did no good whatsoever. Between the stifling heat and humidity mixed with her nervousness, she thought she might faint.
"I mean sexy. Damn! We're going back to the RV right quick and in a hurry when our performance is over," he warned her, skimming his hand over her leather clad breast. She was dressed in a super short and tight pair of black leather shorts and a leather vest. The knee high leather boots she wore were about to drive him crazy. After seeing her in that outfit, she had convinced him to wear a pair of black leather pants, no shirt, and black biker boots to go out on stage with her. It was so totally not fair that she waited until she was in costume to ask him. He would have agreed to anything she asked him at that point. She had braided his hair into one thick long braid that she kept toying with while they were waiting.
Corbeau was too nervous to notice him feeling her up as they waited for their introduction. She paced back and forth apprehensively like a caged animal. She could only walk so far away from Renji because he was holding the end of a chain that was fastened securely around her waist. Maybe the birdcage would have been more appropriate all the way around. Her heart beat against her ribs with anxiety as Kenny and Yachiru walked by having completed their appearance.
"Good luck," Yachiru said, giving her a quick hug.
Kenny nodded an acknowledgement and that was as far as he went with his wish of good luck which was a relief to Corbeau. She would be afraid the big man would crush her into dust if he tried to hug her.
"Ladies and gentleman, I have a special treat for you. Many believe angels exist, and I have proof that they do. Feast your eyes on our beautiful dark angel, Corbeau," Don Kanonji announced.
"Knock 'em dead, baby," Renji whispered, kissing her before they walked out onto the stage.
With her heart lodged firmly in her throat and sweat trickling down her body, Corbeau compliantly followed Renji as he led her onto the stage with the chain. The crowd did not make a single sound; not even random cough. She took a deep breath and soundlessly extended her wings, flapping them a few times to give the people a full view of them. The tent was filled with various noises of shock and surprise from oohs and ahs to gasps. Her eyes stared into Renji's when he came to stand in front of her. She folded her wings around him as he bent to kiss her which delighted the audience so they cheered and clapped their approval.
"Isn't he a lucky man folks? Receiving a kiss from the angel," Don Kanonji announced with a lilting tone in his voice, receiving a collective 'awww' in return.
"Turn around," Renji whispered, holding her against him as they turned together. The men whooped and whistled when the couple turned and his hand could be seen plastered to her behind.
With her back to the crowd, she folded her wings into their relaxed position. Cheers and claps broke out through the audience again. A few people came up to the stage asking her to touch her wings, but Don Kanonji declined for her and sent them away. Three big country boys refused to move. All three were tall, strapping, corn fed redneck men dressed in overalls with shirts underneath that looked like they had been cut from tablecloths. The smallest of the three was probably six feet tall and weighed around two hundred and fifty pounds.
"Let's hear it for our beautiful Angel right here on earth," he announced, bringing the crowd to their feet with applause. He felt the need to get her off of the stage immediately as the men eyed her with curiosity about more than her wings.
"I think it's all a load of horse shit!" the smallest one yelled.
"I can see the straps where those things are held on!" hollered another, pulling on the straps of his overalls as if to make his point.
"I want to have me a closer look at the pretty little birdy," the third one said, licking his lips as he looked her up and down.
"Renji, get her out of here!" Don Kanonji bellowed.
Without warning, three men jumped on the stage. The smallest one grabbed the startled barker while the biggest of the three seized Renji. The mid-sized country bumpkin grabbed Corbeau, put her over his shoulder, and disappeared into the bewildered crowd that was stampeding like spooked cattle.
"NO! PUT ME DOWN! RENJI!" Corbeau screamed but could barely be heard over the chaos and melee that was taking place. She screamed again as she was rushed out of the tent amid the confusion of the panicked spectators. Her throat burned as she continued to cry out for help while the man fled with her slung over his shoulder.
"Shut up!" the man yelled at her, disappearing behind the tree line that surrounded the property where the show had been set up.
When the man put her down, Corbeau's relief was short lived. She looked at him just before his fist made contact with her face and knocked her to the ground. Her legs kicked out at him and her hands clawed at his face when he reached to take off the shorts she was wearing. She beat him with her wings which did not deter him at all.
"Well, well, look what we got here, brother. That's one purty little birdy you caught," one of the men taunted when he appeared on the scene.
"Would you shut up and grab those damn things?" the man yelled as she boxed him back and forth between her powerful wings.
"Damn! I think these things are real. Let me find out," he said, seizing her wing along the biggest bone over the top.
"No, no, please," she begged, before hearing the distinct and sickening sound of bone breaking then feeling a surge of pain stab flow her wing to her body. A horrifying scream of agony was ripped from her raw throat while pain pulsated from the broken bone, wracking her entire body.
"Oh, I think that hurt the little birdy," the man laughed with sadistic glee. He grabbed the next big bone further down her wing and broke that one too. His laugh and her scream rang out into the still night air.
The third brother appeared on the scene at this time and grabbed her other wing. "Let's see how easily these things come off!" he exclaimed with a cruel delight in his voice. He tugged as if to test it then pulled with all of his strength.
Corbeau howled as the pain radiated through the wing to her body while a distinct ripping sound split the air. The wing was being torn from her body by the savage backwater brute. A pulsing, throbbing, white hot pain that made her feel weak and nauseated radiated through her body from both of her injured wings. She felt dizzy and saw stars burst in her vision but for some reason she would not lose consciousness to find some relief from her suffering.
"Damn freak," the man between her legs snarled. He roughly unfastened her shorts and scraped his fingernails down her thighs as he tried to take them off of her.
Corbeau shrieked with fear and misery wondering why someone was not coming to help her. How many of these sadistic idiots were there? She was sure as children these men burned ants with a magnifying glass and ripped the wings off of butterflies. She lay as still as possible because any kind of movement caused her whole body to spasm with torment from the injuries they had inflicted on her. She whimpered helplessly as the man threatened to make her ordeal worse by raping her.
A plaintive,resounding howl reached her ears moments before there was a growl nearby. The man on top of her did not move a muscle as golden eyes glowed in the dark near his face. Corbeau was startled when warm drool dripped down on her chest and face from Sajin's bared fangs that gleamed ominously in the moonlight.
"Close your eyes, Angel," he snarled, reaching out to seize the terrified man.
Corbeau did as he had told her, squeezing her eyes shut. If she could have gotten her hands to her ears she would have covered them too. She cried out as something wet and warm splattered across her body. A heart stopping yowl of fright was made by the man as his weight was suddenly lifted off of her. She made the mistake of opening her eyes too soon. She saw the big man being flung against a tree with the same ease a child would toss a doll.
The jerk who had broken her wing was screaming in pain soon after when Sajin's teeth sank down into his wrist, nearly severing his hand from his body. Corbeau's vision blurred from her terrible pain as she observed the blood running down the horrified man's arm while he held up his hand that dangled at a sickening angle from his wrist. A vicious snarl and bark sounded on the other side of her while the wolf man latched on to the ankle of the other sadistic fiend with the same results of the wrist. The man went down flat on his back wailing and crying in fear and pain when he almost lost his foot to the jaws of the canine like freak.
"Corbeau! Can you hear me, Angel?" Sajin asked, pulling her into his arms after incapacitating her attackers.
"It hurts. Please make it stop hurting," she begged. She cried out without meaning to when he picked her up, holding her tightly against his chest.
"Is she all right?" Renji yelled, sliding to a stop next to them. "Oh, god, Raven! I'm sorry, I-I couldn't get away from that bastard. And he…"
"Renji, stop," she said calmly, placing her hand on his face. "It's not your fault, sweetheart. Please, don't blame yourself."
"Where is she? Where is she?" Hanatoro yelled in a blind panic he was so fearful for her safety.
"Hey, kid, calm down! She's right here," Renji said, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him slightly to bring him down a little bit.
The boy had gotten himself so stirred up and freaked out he wasn't even thinking anymore. He blinked quite a few times then seemed to come back to himself. "Put her down so I can help her," he told Sajin who growled deep in his throat. "Please! I can help her!"
Hanatoro knelt down by her after Sajin lay her back down on the ground and covered her with the shirt he had been wearing. He ran his hand over the broken wing, finding the two spots were the nefarious redneck had completely snapped the bones in two. A faint blue glow seemed to be coming from his hands as he held them over the two broken places.
Corbeau cried out in pain, making the other two men jump. Tears flowed down her face while she bit her lips against the oppressive pain. What Hanatoro was doing burned as if her flesh was fire clear through the bone but she knew he was trying to help her.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Renji bellowed as she writhed and moaned in pain.
"I'm healing her. Don't touch me," he warned when the angry and confused redhead stepped toward him. "It's something I learned I could do a few years ago. I started out healing animals. I learned I could heal people when my little sister got sick."
Hanatoro paused briefly, taking several deep breaths. His hands moved over the formerly broken areas of her wing checking to make sure that it was completely healed before he moved to the injury on her back. He looked up at Renji who was staring at him with awe and fascination. "We lied to you about our parents. They didn't abandon us," he confessed, tears brimming and overflowing his big blue eyes. "They died. They were sick for a very long time. I tried, and I tried, and I tried to heal them, but it didn't work. I couldn't save them. I almost killed myself trying to heal them."
Renji resisted the urge to place a comforting hand on the crying boy's shoulder. He could feel the heat radiating from Hanatoro's body even from the distance he stood away from him. He watched the boy carefully roll her over onto her side to check the wound on her back. His body hurt right along with Corbeaus's as Hanatoro placed his hand against the raw bloody wound ,making her wince and shriek with the almost unbearable discomfort.
"Oh, god," Renji gasped, seeing her torn bloody back from where the bastards nearly succeeded in ripping off her wing. Guilt flooded him because he had not been able to protect her. From now on she would get in the damn cage and stay there for her whole appearance for her safety. He would also have men posted around the stage as well including himself. He was determined that no one would ever hurt her again. His attention was drawn back to Corbeau's back that had been healed as if nothing had ever happened.
Hanatoro slumped over her body, panting heavily. His healing powers were incredible, but they pulled a lot of energy from him.
"Hana," she called as Sajin picked her up into his arms. "Thank you. You truly are one of us. You have a family now, sweetie."
The other two men watched as the boy put his arms around her, placing his head against her chest. "I love you, big sister," he whispered, kissing her cheek.
"Renji, help him back to Kisuke and Yoruichi's. They might want to know about our new family member's interesting gift," Sajin said, holding Corbeau against his furry chest. "I wonder what secrets his siblings are hiding."
"Thank you, Sajin," was the redhead's surprising response. No retorts, no sarcastic comments, no dog insults. He walked away with the fatigued healer protectively tucked underneath his arm like a big brother.
The wolf man was so stunned by Renji's gratitude he did not move until the woman in his arms shifted and moaned in pain. "All right, Angel. I'm taking you home."