China x Assassin!Reader ~Death's Wings~ 3

~Death’s Wings~ 3

As predicted, little Mei was crying beside her remaining brothers when Yao and Kiku returned. There was a gathering of servants and maids waiting by the entrance for the eldest son’s return along with many other men Yao had never seen before.

“So you’ve finally returned,” one of the men said to Yao as he dismounted. “Long before his passing, your father had already prepared a list of grantings he had planned for you. If you and your siblings would please come with us to the main chambers, we will read off his parting statement.”

Yao looked to Kiku before making any response. Kiku had a calm look on his face. Exhausted, but calm.

“Very well,” he then said. “Everyone, let’s go.”

“Yao, where’s Yong Soo?” Mei suddenly asked. “How come he’s not here?”

Yao pressed his lips together. It was one thing to know that their father had died, but it was another to know that their own brother and friend had died. She didn’t need to know both pieces of news in a single day. From the looks on their faces, it would have appeared that his brothers had already figured out what had happened.

“Mei, Yong Soo went to stay at a friend’s house,” he said as he kneeled down and brushed back her hair to comfort her.

His little sister sniffed. “When is he coming back? He has to know what happened to Father, doesn’t he?”

“He’ll know soon enough, Mei,” Yao assured her. “Let’s just focus on hearing what Father had to say before he died.”

“O-Okay…” she hiccupped and followed after him, her small hand clinging to his soiled clothes.

-----

_____________ was waiting on a high post when the Wang children entered the grand chambers. From above in the dark light, she looked like she was hiding something. Yao’s eyes darkened when he saw her. This had to be her fault. She was the one who had brought upon this misfortune. As soon as he became the head of the family, he was going to have her killed.

As soon as all five children gathered in the circle of the men, the doors closed behind them. A cold chill suddenly shot up Yao’s neck making him shudder. It was supposed to be a warm summer night. There was no reason to feel cold in this kind of weather, but he was starting to break out in chills. Something was wrong.

The one who led the children into the room unraveled a long scroll and began to read off of it.

“Your father has left all his properties all his assets, all his wealth, and al of his possessions in the care of the oldest son, Yao Wang,” he announced. “In short, that is all it says. There is nothing discussing the other children. I’d assume you could do whatever you wanted with them. You could throw them on the streets if you wanted, Yao.”

“What?” Yao gasped. He could never do such a thing. What had his father been thinking before he suddenly passed away? Had he really thought to be so heartless? Now that he thought about it, it didn’t sound like his father at all. If his siblings were really an insurance policy, then shouldn’t his parting statement have mentioned something about his brothers at the very least? And what about his death? He never did find out exactly how his father had met his end.

The man clicked his tongue. “I find it hard to believe that your father would entrust so much care into a single person,” he said. “And a child at that. If you were to cut the fruit as a bud, it would never grow. It would never get the chance to nourish anything. Its life would end right here—along with the rest of the fruit.”

The realization hit Yao at full force.

“Everyone, run!” he shouted, but as soon as the words left his mouth, something seized him by the neck and began to squeeze him in a chokehold. Then, he heard screaming. His siblings had been captured, too.

“No!” he shouted. “Let them go! Do whatever you want with me, but don’t hurt them!”

“If the Wangs are to fall from power, then no one can be spared,” the man hissed into his ear. “But first, you will go through the pain and suffering of watching the rest of your beloved siblings die.”

“I won’t allow it!” Yao yelled. He began to kick and squirm around, but his body was much too weak. Unlike his late brother, he had never possessed the physical strength necessary for an attack such as this.

I’m going to die, he realized. This is it. Everything stops from here. If only I had been stronger. Then no one would have had to die. If only…

Just as Yao was about to accept his fate as well as his siblings’, the grip on his neck suddenly loosened up allowing him to breathe again. As he lay collapsed on the floor gasping for air, the chamber began to fill with the sounds of deeper and louder screams. When he opened his eyes, he saw that all of the men in the room were now rolling on the floor in nothing but pain and suffering. Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets like someone was squeezing on the centers of their skulls, and their tongues were protruding out of their swollen lips as though they had swallowed a thousand bee stingers.

What’s going on? Yao wondered. He looked to his siblings who were all paralyzed with fear. Like him, they had been unharmed, but their captors were now beginning to move a little slower, their screams getting a little softer until…

“They’re dead…” Kiku whispered. His dull brown eyes were wide with horror. Cheng pulled Mei close to his chest so she wouldn’t look at the horrific sight any longer. Leon looked like he was going to throw up.

Suddenly, Yao heard a different noise like the loud flapping of drapes blowing against a storm. When he looked up, he saw _____________ sitting atop the rafters.

“You…” he breathed. “You saved us.”

Kiku looked confused. “Who are you talking to, Yao?” Curious, he looked up as well and saw what had saved them from a mass assassination.

“What is that?” Cheng asked his brother. “Do you know it?”

Yao slowly nodded. “It’s the present Father gave me. He said it would help me succeed. It would be my sword.”

“Well, don’t just tell it to stay there,” Cheng then said. “It saved our lives. The least we can do is thank it.”

“It’s actually a girl, but I’ll try to ask it to come down,” Yao wearily corrected his brother. Then, he went to the spot below their savior and beckoned her to come down with an outstretched hand.

“______________," he whispered, “can you please come down? My siblings want to thank you.”

_______________ hesitated. Apparently, she didn’t feel comfortable in the company of those she wasn’t meant to kill—especially if those people happened to be young children.

“She’s shy,” Yao sighed. “I must tell you all: you must not touch her. Ever. That was the promise I made to Father before he…” He swallowed. “Just don’t touch her.”

“I understand,” Kiku said. He bowed. "Thank you for saving my siblings and me."

Leon wrinkled his nose. “Why would I want to touch something like that? Is it that thing’s fault that everyone’s dead?”

“I will thank you in place of my other siblings,” Cheng said to ____________ before he turned to Mei. “Mei, did you hear your brother? He said to not touch _____________.”

Mei took her face away from her brother’s chest and looked up at the thing that had saved them. Much to Yao’s surprise, her tears began to dry up as soon as she saw her.

“I heard him,” she then replied.

“Good.” Yao looked back at _____________. “Did you hear them? They said they will not touch you.”

It took some time, but finally, _____________ leaped down from her spot and landed at her master’s feet. She was so quiet that she didn’t even make a noise as she landed right on the corpse of the man who had nearly killed Yao.

“I was wrong about you,” Yao said. “I was wrong about my father. Now I understand what he meant by those who wanted to kill me.” He looked at his siblings. “But that is not all. From now on, your protection does not solely apply to me; it applies to all of my siblings now, understand? You must protect them, too.” He swept his arm towards them to introduce them all.

“My second brother is Kiku,” he said. “He is kind and quiet, but he is also intelligent.” He then gestured towards Cheng. “Cheng is my fourth brother. Like Kiku, he is calm and polite. Leon is my youngest brother. He is not as hyper as…Yong Soo, but he is also very sharp. And finally, there’s my sister, Mei. Whatever happens, you absolutely must protect her. She is my only sister, and I can’t imagine what I’d do if something happened to her.”

_____________ remained quiet as she gave each and every one of Yao’s siblings a good look. Given her appearance and what she was, it was hard to tell what she was thinking or if she understood him at all, but, just like before, she bowed her head to the ground as if in understanding.

“Good,” Yao said. “Now let’s get out of here. Someone has to get rid of these bodies.”

“Yao, what are you going to do from here?” Kiku asked. “Father is dead. You have been left with everything. Are you really going to throw us out?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you,” Yao snapped. “As far as I know, you’re all I have left. I’m never going to throw you out on the streets. I will protect you and be there for you unlike our father. I’m going to make things right, and _____________ is going to help me.”

“______________?” Leon repeated. “How is something like that going to help us?”

Yao narrowed his eyes and looked at his present. She was staring idly by his side as though awaiting orders.

“Father said she would be my sword,” he said. “I am not strong enough on my own, but I know that she is destined for something great just like the rest of us. I have seen what she can do, and I plan to use her in the right way.”

Cheng blinked. “Yao, please don’t become like Father. I don’t want that.”

“Me, neither,” Mei mumbled.

Yao shook his head. “I will never become like that. I assure you. When everything is stabilized again, we can all be happy. We won’t have to worry about something like this ever happening again. __________ will make sure of that.”

“Why are you placing so much trust into that thing?” Leon suddenly burst out. “It’s not even a human. It can’t even talk! What makes you think it will be any better than a guard dog?”

“I don’t.”

Yao’s siblings were quiet. From the looks on their faces, it would have seemed that they had thought their brother had gone crazy from all the bloodshed that had happened in one day.

Kiku was the first to break the silence.

“Yao, I don’t want to sound like a parent, but aren’t you acting a little too immaturely?”

“I am not,” Yao said. “I have a feeling that Father knew his time was coming. If anything, I believe he used this as leverage for us to grow up. We are going to have to do it fast if we are going to be able to uphold this family’s honor and control. He had faith in ______________, so I will, too. This will be the last time I take his word for anything.”

Cheng closed his eyes. “It’s not like you can take much else. He’s dead.”

“Father…” Mei sniffed.

Yao looked away. His brothers could say whatever they wanted about him. He couldn’t run away again. He was now the head of the family. They would be nothing without him. If he was to make sure they were safe, then he would have to take drastic changes for the sake of their futures. This, alone, would be his purpose to survive. He had already survived one close encounter with death, and he had no doubt that he would have to survive through several others in the course of his young lifetime. The protecting would have to fall on ____________’s aid.

“_______________...” he whispered. “Just what are you?”

As expected, ______________ didn’t say anything. She simply stared at him with her cold, hard eyes. It was almost like she knew what he was thinking of at this very moment.

“Never mind,” he said. “Let’s get out of here, everyone. ______________, make sure you keep close to us.”

_______________ obediently followed after Yao and his siblings as they came out of the main chambers. She could hear her master giving out orders to the servants to get rid of the bodies. It was on that same night, with a whisper on the wind, that she received her first true assignment from her master.

-----

“I want you to find the families of each of these men,” he said pointing to the pile of bodies growing in numbers. Thankfully, his siblings had all gone to sleep so they were not able to see the true body count of those who had betrayed the Wang family.

“Once you find the families,” Yao continued,” I want you to take each of their severed heads in a white cloth and drop it at their front doors. Be sure you are not seen. The world must never know what you are truly capable of. Did you understand all of that?”

_______________ silently nodded and went off into the night. Yao wouldn’t have to worry about there being any attackers coming while she was away. They, too, had already been taken care of as an extra precaution. He had seen what she could do. She was still young, too. He could only imagine what she might be able to do when she was fully grown. Until then, he would use her to the best of her abilities. For now, however, he could sleep soundly tonight knowing no one would dare lay a finger on his throat.