Tasuki stretched her arms high above her head, feeling her spine crack satisfyingly. It felt so GOOD to be back in her own clothes again! Even if they were too large for her new body. She'd just come from an hours-long strategy session with Chichiri and Kouji, and they had finally worked out a viable plan of attack.

The Leikaku bandits would enter Hinansho in small groups, over a period of three days, each group having been assigned a part of the city to search. Questions would be asked - some of the tougher-looking men would be pretending to want to join the new bandit group, hoping they might know of a powerful, wealthy woman operating in the area. Others would simply listen to rumours, still others would station themselves by the city gates, and follow promising-looking carriages back to their great, walled houses, and see who emerged from them. With nearly two hundred men working, the sorceress was sure to be found in a matter of days.

Kouji's sharp eyes had not missed the behaviour of the two Shichiseishi, Tasuki was certain. They hadn't been able to resist giving each other small touches here and there, as if to reassure themselves that the other wasn't a dream. Kouji had said nothing, but his expression promised that he would corner Tasuki later.

With a grimace, Tasuki tried to decide what she would say to her long-time friend and once-lover. She knew Kouji had never bought her weak explanation for why she had gone traveling with Chichiri, instead of staying and leading the bandits; he also hadn't bought her equally weak explanation for why she had left Chichiri's side after two and half years away, to return to her friends on Mt. Leikaku. But he had never pushed, and never pried, though Tasuki knew he had been hurt by her refusal to talk to him about it.

So when a heavy hand descended on her shoulder and tugged her around, she naturally assumed it was her best friend, come to make her talk to him. "Kouji, I…"

She trailed off, words caught in her throat, at the sight of three of the rougher bandits before her. She and Kouji had debated long and hard about letting these three brothers join, as they were prone to needless violence and displayed a seeming ruthlessness that had disturbed Tasuki. Kouji had laughingly reminded his friend of some of his own attitudes when he first joined the bandits, and Tasuki had acquiesced. That had been less than three days before Tasuki had been turned into a woman, and captured.

Now, in a dark, deserted hallway deep in the bandit stronghold, faced with three identical expressions of lust and greed, Tasuki was nervous about that decision. It didn't seem that their attitudes had improved any with time, and they reminded her uncomfortably of Eiken. "What the fuck do you want?" She blurted out, her voice rough.

The oldest brother - she couldn't remember their names - arched an eyebrow at her. "Now, now, pretty lady - is that any way to treat your hosts? You might be a friend of one of our fearless leader's Seishi buddies, but you are still a guest in our house. Shouldn't you be more polite?"

Tasuki reminded herself that not everyone in the bandits would have heard about her transformation and return yet. To them, it would indeed seem that she was being needlessly rude. "Take your hands off me, and then maybe I'll be more polite," she gritted, fighting the urge to strike out at the man who was still gripping her shoulder.

That grip tightened, instead of loosening. "Maybe you'll be more polite?" the middle brother repeated. "I think it sounds like you need a lesson in manners, ojosan." Tasuki trembled at the barely hidden glee in his voice. "What do you think, brothers?"

The oldest cracked his knuckles, making Tasuki wince at the sound. "I think you're right, bro. Pretty ladies should know how to treat their betters properly."

Tasuki snarled, and batted the man's hand off her. She'd had enough for one day. "I think you'd better watch your mouths," she said, her shoulders stiff. "You have no idea who you're talking to, or how much trouble you're about to get yourselves in."

"Sounds like she's got a pretty high impression of herself," the youngest commented, his eyes glittering dangerously. Tasuki shivered despite herself, beneath that cold, chilling gaze. "Maybe we oughta teach her a lesson in humility, as well as one in manners?"

The middle brother leaned in, his breath foul in Tasuki's face. She backed up, realizing too late that the movement left her pinned against the wall of the corridor, with the three of them surrounding her. "Traveling all alone with a monk - you must get awful lonely, ojosan. I bet you're just dying for a real man's touch, aren't you?"

He reached out and ran his thumb over her lower lip. Tasuki snarled and bit him, drawing blood with her sharp fangs. The man howled and drew back, clutching his injured digit to him as if it were a death wound. "She bit me!" he growled. "The little bitch BIT me!"

His hand came up and around, backhanding her hard across the face. Tasuki's reflexes in this body were too slow to dodge or block the strike, and she tasted copper in her mouth where her cheek had been cut open on her teeth.

Until that moment, she had been ready to fight, her short-fused temper sparked by their insolence and rudeness. But the moment she tasted her blood, memories came rushing back on her, overwhelming her and hold her motionless. Memories of how she had been abused, struck, cut, and taken against her will, again and again, flooded her mind's eye, until all she could do was draw breath to scream.

A heavy hand clamped over her mouth, stilling the sound in her throat, until all she managed was a whimper. Her shoulders were pinned back against the wall by two more hands, and a foul-smelling body pressed its length against her.

She squirmed desperately, trying to get away from the terrifying pressure and heat of the man's erection pressed hard against her stomach, but her wiggling served only to heighten his arousal. Horrified, she raised a wide amber gaze to meet his dark one.

The oldest brother leaned over her, while his younger siblings held her motionless, one on either side. "Struggle all you like, pretty girl," he murmured, and she nearly gagged at the alcoholic stench of his breath. "It just makes me more excited."

He ground his groin into her, and she wimpered again, turning her face away from him and closing her eyes.

He moved his hand briefly, and she cried out, "CHICHI…umph…" and was muffled by his sloppy, wet kiss, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth. Shaking with shame and terror, she found herself unable to even try to fight back.

One of the other brothers moved his hand down to caress her breast, and the sudden painful squeezing jarred her back to herself just a little. She bit down, hard, and as he pulled away, howling in pain, she hastily drew breath for another scream. "CHI…"

The middle brother slapped her harshly, choking off her cry before it even really formed. Sobbing now, Tasuki realized that although she might have gotten away from one of them, she had no chance against all three.

"You little bitch, you've just earned yourself a lot of pain," the oldest brother punched her hard, in the gut, and she gasped for air. He grabbed her chin with a painful hand, and forced her head back up for another foul kiss.

Tears ran freely down her face, as she gave up resisting, knowing from experience that to continue would only mean a great deal more pain. She could only wince as all three of them groped her roughly, squeezing painfully and pinching hard enough to leave bruises, her thoughts rising in a voiceless prayer to Suzaku.

So absorbed was she in what they were doing to her, that she didn't hear the shocked noise and outraged cry from beyond them. She was only dimly aware of what was going on, as one of them was hauled off of her, then a second, and the third cowered away, babbling excuses and apologies.

Her legs unable to support her anymore, she collapsed, huddling into a trembling little ball on the floor. A hard hand grasped her chin and lifted her face, and she whimpered and flinched away, not even recognizing the face of her best friend in her terror.

Suddenly there was warmth wrapped around her, two strong arms cradling her gently against a familiar chest, as the spicy scent that she associated with Chichiri surrounded her. Shaking, she leaned into him, burying her face in the kesa and sobbing.

Above them, Kouji raked his hand through his hair and kicked one of the now-unconscious brothers. "Ch. Genrou was right about them all along. I should have listened. Chichiri, is he - uh, she - is she okay?"

"She's just scared," Chichiri replied, his tone soft and soothing. He looked up at the bandit, his gaze narrowed and his scar making him seem more dangerous, though he didn't let his voice convey his anger to the huddled form in his arms. "She's been hurt, badly, Kouji. Even Tasuki has limits, and she's been forced far past them."

Kouji couldn't help but stare at the shivering wreck of a girl, trying hard to see his strong friend in her. He'd never imagined something like this could happen to Genrou, never imagined that anything could hurt him so badly.

And to see her wrapped in Chichiri's embrace, after rejecting his own touch - Kouji finally began to realize just how much his friend had changed, since leaving the bandits more than three years before to join the Miko.

Gesturing to some of the other bandits who had gathered in the hallway at the commotion, he pointed at the bodies of the three brothers. "I want them tied up securely, put in separate rooms, and watched. I'm going to have a little chat with them." Cracking his knuckles, he watched as the others scrambled to follow his orders.

Shooing the rest of the men away, he left Chichiri to comfort Tasuki, with only one last glance over his shoulder. Tasuki had come back to her senses, and wrapped her own arms around Chichiri's neck, clinging for dear life as the monk whispered reassurances in her ear.

Shaking his head, Kouji accepted the inevitable. *They look so good together,* he thought. *Genrou, whoever did this to you, whoever hurt you like this - I'm gonna kick their asses for ya. I promise.* Clenching his fist, he made the promise to himself again. *For all that we were - I promise.*
 
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