Chapter 7

It has been three months since I received the threatening letter. This 
is how they work. They will wait patiently until your guard is down. It 
could take anywhere from a week to a year. It took my family nine 
months to forget the threat. My brother had just been brought into the 
world.

I thank the gods that Enishi has not ‘taken‘ me. My father made that 
mistake with my mother. The pregnancy and birth served as a distraction. 
It worked too well and my family lost their lives.

Each night, he lays with me as my shield. He puts himself in danger for 
me. I don’t like this, but there is no other way. I keep telling myself 
he knows what he’s doing; he’s strong. However, I can’t help realizing 
that he is human. Humans make mistakes. He is strong, but he could 
misstep. Anything could happen. Most likely, everything will happen.

Right now, I have convinced him to let me have some time to myself. He 
is sitting on top of the most sturdy shack. It’s in the center of the 
village so he can still keep an eye on me as well as the rest of the 
people here.

I have decided to cook for the villagers as a way to pull my weight. 
When I cook, that is my alone time, though I am not really alone. The 
children help me. Enishi has been teaching me Japanese, so I can at 
least give orders. They are smart children. They usually figure out 
what I need.

“Liya-san! Can I help?” Cho-chan is my favorite child. I found out that 
her name means butterfly. She is clumsy, but when she falls her arms 
spread as if she thinks she really can fly. Her name suits her. I have 
made it a pastime of mine to do her hair every morning. She likes the 
attention and I like spoiling her. Today, we decided to put her hair 
into two little buns. My mother used to put my hair up like that when I 
was little. I fussed, but it does look cute when it’s on someone else. 
Cho likes it, so that’s good.

“Yes. You help Liya?” Her stormy blue eyes twinkle in the afternoon 
sun. I wish my eyes had color. I like color. Black is too dull. It is 
said that onyx eyes make a woman beautiful. Better for a wife to have 
onyx eyes than the eyes of a foreigner. I don’t agree. Cho’s eyes are 
much more beautiful than mine. They sparkle with vibrant innocence. 
“We go cart. You help Liya carry.”

She nods cutely. The little buns on her head jiggle with the movement. 
Kindly, I take her tiny hand as we walk to the food cart. The child 
must have a sixth sense. She always knows when I’m going to make dinner 
and always wants to help. I barely got to the stew pot before she 
showed up this time.

“Where brother Cho?” Very rarely do I see the girl without the young 
man. As I understand things, their parents were killed. Now Kaemon 
takes care of his little sister as a father would a daughter. He is 
good to her without spoiling her. That way she will be a gracious wife 
someday. 

“He said he was coming back soon.” That’s odd. She didn’t say where he 
was. He usually at least tells her his whereabouts when he leaves her 
to do his own things. This is odd. Maybe I should talk to Enishi about 
this. No. He’s fine. There’s nothing for me to worry about. I look up 
at the mentioned white haired man. He looks bored, yet tense. I softly 
smile. Enishi is too kind for his own good sometimes. I will visit him 
with dinner soon so that he doesn’t have to leave his perch.

* * *

She says she wants alone time, but Cho is always with her. I don’t 
understand her sometimes. My eyes flicker with still unknown softness 
as I watch her sift through the food cart for dinner items. She looks 
much healthier now that she has some meat on her bones. Oh, she’s not 
chubby. In fact, she’s very lean, but just not a waif anymore. I take 
a deep cleansing breath, something unheard of during my Jinchuu. 
Granted things are tense right now because of the threat, but things 
have certainly changed. ‘I wouldn’t trade it for the world.’ The 
thought wanders through my mind as I watch Liya pat Cho on the head. 
Her smile is much freer now that she has found someone to spoil. I 
like seeing that. 

A clunking sound alerts my attention to my right. The sound is 
deliberate, yet unsure, as if someone preoccupied is trying to climb 
up to the roof with me. I look around the grounds. It’s obviously not 
Liya. She’s already making dinner as she sends one of the other 
children to get more supplies from the cart.

“Enishi-kun…” I raise an eyebrow. It’s not very often the boy graces 
me with his presence. The only reason he calls me ‘-kun’ is because 
his sister is so familiar with me and he knows I don’t mind. In fact, 
I’m beginning to prefer it.

“Kaemon…? To what do I owe this honor?” I sarcastically push my 
glasses up. The boy has grown. He looks like he’s on a mission. I 
force myself not to laugh in his face. The intensity of his expression 
is almost comical.

“Enishi-kun…It’s my birthday today…” I didn’t know that. Both my 
eyebrows raise this time. This is intriguing news to say the least. 
What’s even more intriguing is why he’s telling me this. “I’m twenty…” 
I see he’s a man today. I think I know what he wants to talk about.

I watch his eyes dart from me to linger on Liya. She has become like a 
mother for Cho during the course of these past three months. I know 
Kaemon treats Cho like a father would. He has been eyeing Liya for 
some time now. Nothing gets past me, unlike the unsuspecting female. 
My lips twist into a half grin as my eyes glint with understanding.

He blushes. Does he think I don’t notice all the looks he gives her? 
All the seemingly innocent hand brushes when he takes his bowl of 
supper from her grip? His hungry eyes when she happens to be wearing 
her Chinese dress? He even took up with attempting to stake out the 
village from another similarly sturdy roof as I have accustomed myself 
to doing. I can see it in his eyes as plain as day. He wishes to 
protect her. He is green with envy that I lay my life on the line by 
sharing her bed every night.

Yet, through all this, Liya is still oblivious. She considers him to 
be a younger brother. I can see that in the way she smiles at him. The 
light touches of her hand that are meant to comfort and nothing more. 
I can see it because she does the same thing for me. I think. Things 
get very confusing when I’m lying over her at night. They’re hazy. I 
refuse to sleep, only pretending by closing my eyes. Her scent 
overwhelms me to the point of insanity sometimes, but I endure. I have 
to. She seems almost frightened that I would take things any further 
then just protection. I wish I knew why, but I will not force her to 
tell me.

“I want to ask her…”

“Ask her to marry you?” He casts his eyes downward. “I think you’re 
moving a bit too quick.”

That got his attention. His eyes blaze. They seem to glow green with 
embedded jealousy. “You’re just saying that because-”

“Women have this thing about them. They like to court first before 
they settle down, unless it’s an arranged marriage. Then, they have no 
choice in the matter. I suggest you start with that first.”

His jaw drops. Yes. I’m giving you dating advice, even if you are my 
competition. It’s better for her to tell you that you don’t have a 
chance than for me to tell you. Even though, I don’t have a chance 
either. I’m still a monster after all.

Stormy blue eyes soften to become unsure once again. I mockingly 
tousle his already messy black hair. He glares at me in return. “You’re 
always picking on me like I’m a kid! I’m twenty!”

“It’s because you let me do it…and then you react like a kid. Besides, 
I like taunting you.” I grin wickedly and do it again just to piss him 
off. As far as I’m concerned, he was asking for it.

“So…” He scowls. Obviously I achieved my objective of pissing him off, 
but that doesn’t stop him from noticing I have a bit more experience 
in this matter. “What do I do?” I suppress a chuckle. I didn’t think 
he was that inexperienced.

“Get her something nice. Girls like gifts.” He glares at me as if to 
say, ’No kidding!’ Ah, so I underestimated him.

“I don’t have money.”

“Who said you needed money? Girls like romantic stuff. Liya’s no 
exception. If you want her bad enough, you’ll think of something.” I 
run my fingers through my silver hair. This ought to be interesting.

“Then what about all the stuff you buy her? How the hell am I supposed 
to compete with that?” I can’t suppress it anymore. I outright laugh 
at him. This time he doesn’t glare though. He’s actually depressed 
about this. I run my fingers through my hair again and sober up, but 
the smirk painted across my face refuses to be erased. It’s still 
amusing that he’s this open about our ’competition’ to win the Chinese 
woman.

“I buy her things because she needs them and I have the money. It’s not 
to win her. In fact, it pisses her off even though she’s too polite to 
show it.”

“Then…What about you teaching her?” I see. He’s trying to understand 
my motive so he can beat me with something I can’t do. He’s going to 
be sorely disappointed. I’m not trying to win her, like him. I have 
feelings toward her, that much is obvious, but she’d never go for me. 
I’m a demon, a temporarily dormant volcano. I can content myself with 
her laughter and the warmth of her smile. That’s all I need to be 
happy.

“I teach her so that she can talk to people besides just me. I’m the 
only one who speaks her language here.” I let my arms rest limply on 
my knees as I observe the object of our discussion. It looks like 
dinner is almost ready. Cho and a few other children are happily 
helping Liya clean up as the finishing touches are made to the nightly 
meal.

“What about you sleeping with her?” I give him a sidelong glance. How 
did I know he’d bring that up. I know people are talking about it. It 
never bothered me before, but I know it bothers Liya. Maybe if I 
explain it to Kaemon, others in the village won’t make her feel so 
uncomfortable.

“I sleep with her to protect her.” He scoffs, obviously unconvinced. 
“There isn’t anything sexual about it. I use my body as a shield.”

“A shield?” He raises an almost feminine looking eyebrow. For once, he 
almost makes me shift uncomfortably. I can’t help but agree with his 
skepticism. I admit it, my mind isn’t exactly clean when I’m with her 
like that. Her warmth. Her scent. Her softness. They all tempt me. 
When she finally falls asleep, I find myself burying my face in her 
hair just to immerse myself in the aroma. A few times I’ve even found 
myself preparing to steal a kiss, but she always stirs and I lose my 
nerve. I end up admonishing myself and comparing my actions with that 
of the yakusa.

“Yes. A shield.” I’m going to regret telling him this, but I think he’s 
old enough to understand his limits. I don’t think he’ll go to great 
measures to protect her when he lacks the means to do so properly. “Do 
you remember those men that taunted her when she first came to the 
village?”

“Yeah…” His expression is unreadable for once.

“They’re still ‘interested’ in her. That’s why I shield her at night.” 
Kaemon’s eyes widen. His eyes momentarily house jealousy, but it’s 
quickly vanquished by depression and anger. Such an interesting range 
of emotions. I wasn’t expecting that. Briefly, I wonder what he was 
thinking, but then I remember who I’m dealing with and figure he’ll 
tell me in a second anyway.

“So…you’re willing to give your life for her…” Now I understand the 
jealousy. He’s not willing to give that up for her. He doesn’t think 
he can compete with the sacrifice. That explains the depression. The 
anger is obvious. He will learn. Sacrifice isn’t what will attract her. 
Life will attract her. She may not be aware of it, but she’s much 
better at living than anyone else here in this tiny village. She 
doesn’t belong here. This is more of a place to hide than a place to 
forget for her. My sacrifice won’t make her smile, but it will keep 
her safe so that she can smile for other people. That is reason enough 
for me to continue putting my life on the line. I can atone through 
this.

“I bring you dinner.” Her ambrosia like voice genuinely startles me. I 
was thinking too much about trivial things. Hopefully, she didn’t 
catch that her protector was caught off guard. She smiles and hands me 
a bowl and chopsticks with a knowing gaze. I guess she did notice. 
“You should rest more Enishi.” I can’t rest. Not until this is all 
over. Not until I know she’s safe.

“Thank you. It smells great as always.” Kaemon gives her a winning 
smile taking what she offers him with a slight bow. As the bowl is 
transferred to his hands, he nonchalantly brushes his fingers over 
hers. His eyes soften with intent which Liya promptly either ignores, 
or doesn’t notice. Sometimes I wonder if she is well aware of his 
intent and purposely ignores his advances. Maybe I should ask her 
about that tonight.

“It’s Kaemon’s birthday today. He’s twenty.” I grin at her as if 
asking her to suggest something appropriate. Her eyes widen with 
surprise. 

“Twenty?” Kaemon blushes and nods. “We same age!” It’s my turn to be 
surprised. I never did ask her for her age. I always assumed she was 
seventeen or eighteen adding to my reasons not to pursue her. “We have 
party! Yes?” Excited onyx eyes meet my pools of teal as if asking for 
permission. My mouth twitches in response. Our eyes are locked. She 
really is beautiful. I bask in the vitality of her excitement for that 
brief moment before nodding my acceptance.

I hate to admit it, but this might be the best course of action for 
our present situation. If we appear to be too relaxed, the yakusa will 
make a move. Perhaps it’s best if we do a bit of deception to finish 
this. “Right then. Let’s take you out on the town.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that-”

“I know. Get over it.” I raise my hand as if I’m going to tousle her 
hair, but I find myself running my fingers through it instead. Stopping 
suddenly, I break away from the contact. That wouldn’t be a very good 
birthday present to see your rival making a move like that on the 
‘prize’.

“Too much money Enishi. You spend too much.” I grin at that. Switching 
my vision to the man beside me, I find that he is also amused. She 
just proved me right about her being pissed with my generosity. She’s 
still rather polite about it, but she has certainly gotten bolder in 
these past three months. My money is a constant annoyance to her. It’s 
like she doesn’t think she’s worthy of it.

I openly laugh. “But when you pout like that, it encourages me to do it 
more.” I speak my blatant come-on in Chinese so that Kaemon won’t catch 
it. She blushes and turns her head while biting the offensive lip.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took me so long to send in my new chapters. I had a bit of
trouble with another fic of mine, but I'm better now. Sorry for the
length of this one too. I know it's a long chapter about seemingly
nothing, but I wanted to introduce some competition for Enishi so I
could further the plot a little more.

No real notes on this one except that my 'name website' that I found:
http://www.20000-names.com/
It says that Cho means 'butterfly'
and Kaemon means 'joyful; righthanded; old samurai name' I chose it for
the last part. I thought it would make him more interesting, but he
didn't really turn out the way I wanted. That's okay though. This might
even be better. He's just kind of a brat that makes Liya a bit 
uncomfortable with his constant come-ons.

Well, that's it from me! I hope you liked the chapter and continue
reading it! Tell me if Enishi begins to get too out of character.
I have a bad habit of doing that when the story gets long like this.

Thanks for liking it so much so far!!!