Guardian

Chapter Ten

Yang stood outside of Ghira's office for a moment as she tried to get her thoughts in order. She had to remain at least somewhat professional around him and, until Blake was okay with him knowing about them, she couldn't reveal anything that would lead him to suspect her feelings for his daughter. Content that she had her head on right she gently tapped on his door.

"Come in!"

She peeked her head in first to make sure he wasn't over flowing with work and found him glancing at papers over a pair of half moon glasses. "Evening Ghira I need to talk to you for a moment."

He gave her a heartfelt smile and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Yang! Come on in. You know James called to tell me that you and Blake did quite the favor for Vale. Tell me were there really a whole mob of thugs or was he just exaggerating?"

Yang took in a deep breath and reached into her pocket. "There was a whole mob of them alright," she said as she tossed something from her pocket onto his desk before she sat down, "but they weren't thugs."

Ghira's smile faded quickly as he picked up the item Yang tossed at him. It was part of a Grimm mask. When Blake threw her into the hoard of hooded mystery people she found that one of her hits had shattered the mask they kept hidden under their hood. Before the dust settled she had quickly picked up a peice and kicked the rest under the dumpster. It had been weighing heavy in her pocket since then.

Ghira fumbled the piece of hard plastic around in his hands. "Alright. Start from the beginning."

She recounted their trip out. How she was telling Blake stories as they walked, how she felt like they were being followed, the shortcut through the alley just to be sure, the trap, the fight, and how she lied to Blake and told her they were thugs. Even telling Ghira left a bad taste in her mouth. She hated lying to Blake but she couldn't risk disappointing Ghira, not if she wanted to stay near her.

"It's good you didn't tell her," he assured. "She's seemed to be really happy the last few days."

"You know we're going to have to tell her eventually right? She does deserve the truth and I hate lying to her."

He sighed solemnly. "I know but, for now, let an old man enjoy his daughter's happiness a little longer if you would."

Yang nodded sharply and stood. "I should get back to Blake, I told her I wouldn't be long. I just wanted to fill you in."

"Of course but before you go Yang," he stopped her, "I have a meeting with Sienna Khan in a week. She will be coming here and I would like for you to be present during the meeting."

Yang shuffled nervously. "A human at a White Fang meeting doesn't sound like a good idea."

"It isn't a White Fang meeting. It's a meeting if old colleagues. I have some questions for her and her knowledge of tonight's incident will be among them. As Blake's bodyguard I feel you should be there."

Yang was shocked. Ghira was placing an awfully large amount of trust in someone he had just met and it made hiding her relationship with Blake all the more difficult. She nodded respectfully to him. "I'm honored Ghira. Thank you."

"No Yang thank you for protecting my daughter."

She chuckled nervously. "I honestly feared you'd be mad that I let her fight."

He grinned over the papers he had gone back to studying. "I didn't raise my daughter to back out of a fight once its started. You wouldn't have been able to keep her out of it even if you had wanted to. She remained safe and alive. And that's all I ask of you. Now go on!" He dismissed her. "I'm sure Blake is wondering what's taking so long."