Akayuki (Red Snow) Chapter 1

Author's Note: The main story begins. Point of view switches to Nica. I apologize for the beginning being jarring, but I don't write in a linear fashion. I think that's the right word for it. I can't correct it. I've tried. I ask you to be patient with me. 

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual persons living or deceased is purely coincidental.

~o~

The Elders were not happy to see the uninvited guest in the room. I didn’t care what they thought.

“He saved my life. He needs work. He will earn his keep.”

“And if he betrays us?” Mixter asked. The old bitch couldn’t stop looking down her nose at me. I was trouble, so, of course, I would invite more into the house.

“He won’t,” I assured her and the two men seated on either side of her. “But if he does, I will take off his head and present it to you.”

*

“I didn’t mean that,” I told my bodyguard as he pulled my rickshaw across the grounds to my room. The Elders insisted on keeping the poor crippled heiress in the summer house away from the rest of the clan.

I shared the summer house year-round with three servants—two teenage boys and one teenage girl. And now my bodyguard.

My bodyguard did not reply. I had gotten used to his silence, but I was still struggling to read his body language.

I continued my thought.

“I would take off the heads of those three old fuckers before I would take yours. Or anyone else’s for that matter.”

My bodyguard glanced over his shoulder at me. He glared. I understood what he was saying.

I sighed in frustration.

“I know it’s treasonous, but I’m unhappy, and they’re making it worse with all the rules and suspicion.”

We pulled up to the summer house.

Setting the handles of the rickshaw on the ground, my bodyguard walked around to where I sat in the passenger seat.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me bridal-style into his arms and carried me inside the summer house.

Being this close to him, I blushed and kept my eyes on the collar of his navy blue robe. Since arriving at the Akayuki compound, he had abandoned the black travelling cloak he had been wearing when we met.

He carried me straight to my bedroom and set me down on the futon Ren kept spread out for me.

I released him once my rear was on the floor. He then backed away from the futon until he was out of arm’s reach.

I scowled because it felt like he didn’t trust me, just like those three, or two old bastards and the old bitch Mixter, which was a ridiculous thought to have because if that were the case, he wouldn’t have taken the bodyguard job.

He stood watching me and it made me a bit uncomfortable to be honest. His black eyes were unsettling even at a respectable distance.

“Will you go see if any messages arrived while I was gone?” I asked him.

He nodded and slipped out the sliding door, shutting it silently behind him.

I doubted Freddy had sent any messages, but I had to give my bodyguard something to do.

I assumed he would return empty-handed, but to my surprise he handed me a scroll tied with red and green ribbons.

I accepted the scroll without comment.

My bodyguard returned to his earlier place in front of me (still out of arm’s reach) while I untied the ribbons from the scroll.

I could feel him watching me as I unrolled the scroll and browsed its contents.

I kept my expression neutral as I read even though what I was reading upset me. I couldn’t finish the message fast enough.

“I need to go to him,” I murmured as I rolled up the scroll. I made eye contact with my bodyguard, who stared back at me with his usual intensity. “I need you to smuggle me out of here long enough to visit my friend in the Elm District.”

My bodyguard tilted his head to the left, considering the journey or the stupidity of my request. No way would the clan elders allow me to leave the compound without permission. However, if I bothered to put in a formal request to visit Freddy, the old bastards and bitch would hem and haw over it for days and Fred apparently didn’t have that much time.

I would just have to sneak out. Again.

“Can you do it?” I asked my bodyguard.

He straightened his head and nodded once—confident as ever.

I smiled and thanked him.

We spent the remainder of the night planning our escape.

I sent a secret message back to Fred letting him know I would try to get to him. My servant, Devon, acted as delivery boy.

Everything done, I forced myself to get some sleep, although I couldn’t shut my mind off. I worried about Freddy and what the elders would do to me if they caught me sneaking out.

Worst case scenario, they would fire my bodyguard. No, worst case, they would have him executed for aiding my escape.

As for me, they would lock me in the dungeon underneath the main house again.

We can’t be caught, I thought over and over again until I finally drifted off.