About Crystals and Stars (On hold)

6-2

A/N: Off to the second part. Still not proof-read. Still grateful for your corrections.

Had this man – this boy – no shame?

Mayura turned away, feeling deeply embarrassed even if she wasn't the one who was undressing themselves right now. She placed her hands to her face, trying to cool it down, while pushing the idea of a man undressing next to her out of her head.

But she couldn't ignore it. The sound of leather groaning at its relief pierced to her ears, drowning the rustle of the water next to them. She leaned her back against the trunk being reminded of her state of dress by the sharp edges of the texture pressing against her softened skin.

She wished, she could be as bold as him. The wet clothes clung to her body and itched. Furthermore she was getting colder and colder at every stroke of wind. She wanted to get rid of them, too. But as a noble maiden and especially as the female princess of Narukami she would loose her honor if she'd undress in front of a man before marriage. Her honor would be tainted, if she saw a naked man, too. This situation was dangerous for her dignity and she couldn't help but feel angry at the man who was responsible for all of this. (1)

From the moment they've met this man had scared her, aggravated her and now he was embarrassing her deeply.

Yet, she had to admit, she was grateful he meant no harm. Laying down his weapons and armor meant, he didn't aim to kill her, although he was aware she was from Narukami.

She had been shocked and deeply scared, when he had revealed this knowledge. After she had told him her name, she had been wary about his reaction – something she had not foreseen at all – and was quick enough to give him her mother's maiden name, recovering from the wonder she felt at the sight of his hair, a dark red which might be scarlet or almost pinkish if dry. Never had she seen a color like this before crowning a head. It was as striking as the icy color of his eyes. Odd but mesmerizing.

His interest for her name explained itself, when he stated that it was a common tradition to call your child after the sovereign's heir. But instead of attacking her and butcher her or whatever soldier's of Tsuchimikado do to Narukami people he had called her a damsel in distress. She had been totally forgotten about her fear thanks to the insult. And now she wondered, if he had done it on purpose. Was he playing nice to make her lower her defenses? No, that made no sense. He had a sword and armor. She visibly had only her yukata. If he'd wanted to kill her, he could have done it easily by now. Maybe he was just a lout, calling women names. It was not uncommon with soldiers. Mayura had witnessed this once, when she walked up on a soldier pushing one of the maid's of the Amawaka house into a corner.

The sound of cloth rubbing against cloth startled her out of her tray of thoughts. Without thinking she looked into the direction and saw the Tsuchimikado soldier pulling away his shitagi (2) and uncovering a bare chest beneath. The fire in her cheeks aflamed anew and she snapped her head away from the sight. Never before had she lain eyes on a bare male figure. It was shameless to do so and now she had lost a part of her dignity, thanks to a stranger from another country. How much honor would she loose on her trip to end the war?

Worse than having been disgraced was her curiosity about the male figure. All she had seen on one sight was that the armor had been gone and only the shitagi and hakama were left. The shape beneath looked so different from female bodies. She had figured they had looked different by the form of male bodies, of course. The proof was nothing like her imagination though. Where women were soft, men looked to be hard.

She swallowed deeply. Her head felt like it would explode. What was she thinking?

The thud on the ground made her flinch. She looked again and saw the soldier naked from his head to he stomach. Right now he reached out for the belt of his hakama. With a creaky voice she yelled, "Leave them!"