Loveless

"Mmm...Miss Tsukikage...?"



"Shh, just relax." Shotaro's blurred vision slowly adjusted to reveal his body slightly submerged in the miraculous healing spring while being carefully cradled in Suzuka's strong arms.



"I'm sorry..." The child looked up at the older woman in curiosity.



"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, Shotaro. I'm sorry..." As a drop of water landed on the his cheek, Shotaro noticed tears falling from the woman's face despite her efforts to hold them back. Shotaro caught a tear that slowly departed from Suzuka's right eye.



"You're here with me now. I'm fine as long as you're here with me."



The older woman smiled, until something dawned on her. Until meeting Shotaro, Suzuka was a ruthless bodyguard of the Zigguraut family, never letting anyone come close to her. But upon meeting this young boy, she saw in him a pure reflection of what happened in her earlier years. Suzuka had grown up despising the very existence of the opposite sex because of the men who attempted to rape her, and failed. But for the first time, Suzuka crossed paths with a child of the opposite sex who has suffered far more than she has as a child. Her perspective was changed entirely.



"Hey, Shotaro?" The child's expression changed slightly, awaiting for Suzuka to continue.

"Would you like to come with me?"

"Where to?" The boy wondered.

"Away from here, far away." Shotaro smiled innocently.



"Yes, I'd love to. Umm...Miss Tsukikage?" It was now the woman's turn to await the question that the child would ask.



"Can I...become strong too?"

"Indeed Shotaro, you can." With that, Shotaro and Suzuka exited the spring and the realm of abuse that young boy only knew as his only world.





"Miss Tsukikage, are you sure it's okay to be out in the open like this? What if we run into a law enforcer?"



"There's no need to worry. I've received word that all of the enforcers were called back since they couldn't find me." Suzuka assured, carrying Shotaro on her back as she stealthily left town under the shadow of the new moon.



Shotaro slowly drifted to sleep as Suzuka continued to move swiftly through the city, eventually reaching its limits where a transport was seen waiting, well hidden from the vigilance of the random officers scouting the area.



"So, who's the little girl with you?" The driver asked, Suzuka chuckled quietly.

"He is someone that I rescued..."

"He??? Oh my God, he looks so much like a young girl!" The driver exclaimed upon briefly looking behind to see the slumbering dark-haired child clad in white.



"I thought the same thing as well. Could you be a little quieter?" Suzuka quietly spoke, quieting the driver's voice.



No matter how many times Suzuka saw him, she saw Shotaro as a beautiful girl resting peacefully beside her. But as she brushed the hair that covered Shotaro's right eye, she came to realize that it was a bishota resting beside her. It neared daybreak when Shotaro's youthful yawn stirred Suzuka.



"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Shotaro yawned quieter.

"Hmm? Oh, it's fine. We're here."

"Here? Where's 'here'?" Suzuka smiled gently.

"I guess you could call it home."



Upon adjusting his vision with the rising sun, Shotaro discovered that they arrived in front of an oriental-style compound secluded in the mountains. Waiting for Suzuka at the compound's center were several other girls, showering her with praise for her safe return, and with her the child she liberated, whom they all mistook for a girl. Suzuka chuckled as she awaited Shotaro to declare his gender. Shotaro, however, was too flabbergasted from the adulation he was receiving to say anything, let alone declare that was, in fact, a male.



"Shotaro, come with me. There's something I would like to give you." Shotaro nodded as he followed Suzuka into the central compound, keeping the white cloth wrapped about his body.



"Shotaro??? Isn't that a boy's name?" After a simple deduction, the girls came to a single, surprising, unanimous conclusion...



"Ahhh!!! A boy!? How can a boy be that cute?"

"Amazing! I never thought there would be a boy...who could be mistaken for a girl..." A bi-spectacled girl noted.



"Never mind that, I wonder what Lady Tsukikage wanted to give that boy." Another girl commented.



Inside the central compound, Suzuka and Shotaro stood before a hanging wall scroll of a pale, crimson waning crescent encompassed by the azure night sky with her name inscribed vertical along a corner in mystic characters. After drawing a symbol in midair with her index and middle finger extended, the wall accompanying the wall scroll separated vertically to reveal three exquisite, rectangular cases, each with similar inscribed on them. From the three cases, Suzuka removed the middle case from the wall as she turned to face the small boy.



As the older woman kneeled, interestingly enough, the boy settled on his knees as well. Unlocking the masterfully crafted ebony case, Suzuka revealed a sheathed wakizashi (Japanese short sword), much to the other girls' surprise. Suzuka lowered her head as she presented Shotaro with this unique sword to Shotaro, who carefully held it in his small hands, bowing his head as well.



"I want you to have this wakizashi. This is my payment for you helping me." Shotaro carefully gazed at the sheath's intricate design.



"Miss Tsukikage...?"



"Become strong, Shotaro...Tsukikage." Being granted the name of this savior, tears welled in Shotaro's eyes. Wiping them away, Shotaro wore an uncharacteristically brave smile.



"I will...Lady Tsukikage!"