Chapter 6

The ‘guards’ are drooling. We brought a lot more food than normal. I 
felt like being especially generous today. After all, a lot happened 
and I don’t feel like going into town for a while. Once things settle 
down from my last visit, I think I will become more of a regular 
visitor. Besides, if I am going to be teaching Liya how to speak 
Japanese, she will need to practice somehow.

“Um…I think this is for you….” Liya puts down the buckets of tofu. Her 
expression is unreadable for once, but the sound of her pulse and the 
heat coming from her body tells me she’s a bit anxious. Almost 
fearfully she takes the folded parchment. The water color painting on 
the front makes me nervous. Tigers are said to ward off demons. I know 
people often refer to me as a white tiger for some reason, probably 
because of the other symbolic meaning, courage and bravery. Even that 
is a bit far fetched though. This tiger however has been slaughtered. 
An obviously imperial sword, a symbol of authority, has cut off the 
head of the white tiger and been thrust into the body to stick 
triumphantly from the torso. 

Liya’s face has paled. Her hands are shaking. The implications of this 
symbolic painting are endless. I am a lonely white tiger. I am a 
target for slaughter. That’s no surprise. I’ve been a target for a 
while now. The brat from the Kamiya dojo proved that again for me. 
Along with that, the demon ward has been slaughtered. I am Liya’s 
protection for now. I am her ward against demons. Again another threat 
against me, but this time it also threatens her. The sword shows that 
whoever sent this thinks they have authority over her…and me. In other 
words, the whole painting wreaks of threatening intentions.

Her usually soft pools of onyx are now blank as she hands the message 
to me. I remove myself from the cart of food to take the letter. It’s 
written in Japanese. My eyes and senses dart around the area. Whoever 
sent this has left. “Come on. Let the others sort through this. We’ll 
find someplace private to read.” 

Her head gives a jerky nod. I am forced to press my hand against her 
back to get her to move. One foot in front of the other. Her movements 
are unsteady. I think she’s going to pass out soon. My arm snakes its 
way around her waist in an effort to keep her on her feet. She leans 
heavily against me causing me to nearly carry her into the shadows of 
the village.

“I see you have found a new bed to sleep in Tang Gei Mu. I wonder how 
well you know your protector. He is not the demon ward you think he is. 
I know you were wondering why people kept staring at you today with 
horror. Why that little boy got so upset. Why those new friends nearly 
fainted at the sight of your man. If he does not tell you, I will. I’m 
sure he is reading this to you, since you can’t read it. You will find 
out soon enough. Then, you will realize your place is with me.” 

I fold the parchment and set it on the ground so that the painting 
cannot be seen. Liya is frozen in fear. They had been watching us all 
day. I was so occupied with Battousai and his family that I never 
noticed.

Her lip begins to quiver. She knows I’m a demon. I didn’t tell her 
details, but she knows I’m capable of some sort of destruction. I 
won’t tell her my story without a direct question from her. If she 
does ask, I don’t want to tell her yet. This is too much of a shock, 
let alone if I told her of my own involvement. ’Onee-san…help me…I 
don’t know what to do…’

* * *

An unsure hand touches my shoulder in an effort to be comforting. He 
means well, but he has no idea how to reassure a woman. My body 
decides to guide him. I feel myself fall forward. Sure enough, he 
catches me. “Liya…” He’s nervous. He’s probably never done anything 
like this before. 

I don’t care if he is a demon who has been kind because of a rare whim. 
“ni bao…” I choke on my words. I just want to be held right now. 
That’s all. I hear him gasp. No. This is not a demon. I don’t care 
about his past. He is not a demon. My arms find their way around him 
and hold on for dear life. I am crying. I am scared. I haven’t been 
able to cry for five years. It’s all coming out now.

“My parents were murdered like this. My whole family. They say my 
father damaged the pride of the gang. I don’t believe them. They 
kidnapped me and made me give them pleasure for five years. My father 
got a letter like this once. Now they think I have damaged their pride. 
They will stop at nothing. There is a secret man they get weapons from. 
They will get new, more dangerous weapons from him and use them to 
murder everything I hold dear. Right now, that’s you, the two women 
from today, and this village. You are most important. They won’t just 
murder you, they will rip you apart. I’m scared.” I sob into his 
shoulder. Not again. Why can’t they just leave my family alone!

“They won’t hurt anyone. I’m…I’m stronger than you think. Let me 
protect you.” Yes. He is strong. Not just with muscle, though he has 
plenty of that. He has another strength. The whole town is scared of 
him. His past is laced with horrible mysterious deeds. He will survive 
this and he will make sure everyone else survives. I will trust him. I 
can depend on him.

* * *

I will protect her with everything I am. I will succeed this time. The 
poor protection I gave onee-san will not happen again. “She was the 
one I wanted to protect,” was what I told Battousai after he beat me 
on that island. This is onee-san giving me a second chance. I will not 
lose, especially since they can’t get any new weapons. The ‘secret man’ 
is me. They have no way of getting my weapons.

“They won’t hurt anyone. I’m…” No. I won’t tell her if I don’t have to. 
The yakusa will eventually make me tell her, but she doesn’t need to 
know right now. That can wait. She just needs to be reassured right 
now. “I’m stronger than you think. Let me protect you.”

I lay her down with me. If anyone wishes to take her during the night, 
they will have to go through me. My arm surrounds her cupping her face 
to serve as a shield so that I don’t have to lay all my weight on her. 
I don’t know. Maybe that would actually be better. Using my whole body 
as a shield would certainly protect her.

Warm breath cascades like shivers of water upon my neck. I turn my head 
to catch sight of her right eye and her ebony hair. She smells nice. 
Despite her past, she smells innocent. I want to immerse myself in the 
scent of sakura emanating from her hair and skin. If I just inch a bit 
closer, I will be able to taste the alluring aroma.

No. Didn’t you listen to her?! Onee-san is frowning at me. She always 
scolded me for not listening to people, especially girls. This is to 
protect her not to take pleasure from her. If I were to do that, I 
would be no better than the yakusa. No. I will just hold her. Hold her 
and protect her. To hold her is good enough.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Reviewing the tones again:

(1) = straight tone; little doll, "mama."
(2) = upward tone; sounds like you're asking a question
(3) = up and down tone; sounds like you're whining
(4) = downward tone; sounds like you're scolding someone
( ) = Has a tone because it's not really a tone, if that makes sense.

bao(4) = embrace, hold in arms, enfold

I'd like to thank this website:
http://www.chinesepaintings.com/glossary/glos-1.htm

They gave me a lot of information regarding symbols used in Chinese
paintings. I used this for the beginning of this chapter. I hope I did
well.

Any questions you may have, please email me: sarina7667@gundamwing.org