Bound Heart Ch. 01

In the middle of the woods Masa stumbled around. She tripped over roots and ran into trees. "Damn, where is the village? It should be around here somewhere." Lost and confused she continued to stumble around looking for the village. After a while she stopped to take a breather. She pushed her dark brown short cut hair out of her gray eyes using a tree to support her. The bindings on her chest weren't helping any, but she refused to take them off. She hated her breasts.

As she caught her breath she heard a thump a little to her left. Looking over it looked like there was a clearing through the trees. "It's either something dangerous or something that can help me." She pulled out a small dagger. "Either way I can handle myself."

Cautiously she made her way through the trees and to the clearing. Just on the outside of the clearing she hid behind a tree putting her back to it. Slowly she turned to look around the tree to see what had made the noise. All she saw was a man collapsed on the ground. Without sheathing her dagger she quickly ran to his side.

"Are you alright?" Masa asked crouching down next to him. He was wearing fitting light armor and had four weapons that she could see, two daggers and two swords. This man was obviously a warrior, but he didn't appear to have any wounds. She checked his pulse at his neck to see that he was still alive. "Mister!" She yelled shaking him rather roughly. "You're not dead so wake up."

It was then that Masa realized that the man's eyes were bound. He could be awake and she wouldn't even know. It was then that she also noticed that he had long shoulder length blue hair. She'd never met a guy who dyed his hair. Finally the man stirred. His mouth moved but she couldn't hear what he said. "What?" She asked leaning closer.

The man raised the volume of his voice so that she could hear. "So ... hungry." Masa sighed and rolled her eyes. He wasn't hurt, he was just a starving bum. No, not a starving bum, he had too many good weapons and armor to be a bum. Maybe a starving blade for hire? With a groan the man got up. Masa, sheathing her dagger, got up as well. "So Miss, what's your name?"

Miss? Masa deepened her voice. "I'm not a girl. My name is Masa-kun." She said hoping that would convince him. It didn't.

"Masa-chan huh? Well I'm Zionica Guardian of Light. Would you like to come have some lunch with me?" He dusted himself off.

Masa was annoyed. "Don't call me 'chan'. I told you I'm a ... wait ... did you say Zionica?" The man looked confused but nodded. "I have something for you." She swung her backpack off of her back and began digging around for it. Finally she found the scroll and gave it to Zionica. "My master told me to give this to a man named Zionica. He said I'd most likely find you here."

Taking the note Zionica opened it and read it quietly. "So your name's Masami Hitsuguri? That definitely fits you better than Masa." He rolled up the scroll. "Well Masami, from this day forward I will be your master. Our Master has commanded it."

Masa was at a loss. "No," she said grabbing the scroll. "No that can't be!" But there it was in black and white that she was to train under Zionica's tutelage. 'I have done all I can with her. The rest is up to you. If anyone can get through to her, you can.' Masa just couldn't believe it. She glared at Zionica as if it was his fault.

"Now," Zionica said rubbing his hands together. "How about that lunch?" Masa suddenly felt a pressure all around her. Next thing she knew her and Zionica were standing in front of a fancy looking restaurant .

Doing a total 180 Masa looked around her surroundings. They had moved and she was pretty sure why. "That was a flash step wasn't it?" She asked Zionica excitedly. "I've only read about them in books, but I had no idea you could take someone with you! That's so cool. You have to teach me how to do that." It was only then that Masa realized that she had followed him into the restaurant and was sitting across from him holding a menu. She took one look at the menu then leaned over to Zionica and whispered. "This is too expensive. I can't pay for this."

"It's on me." The waitress came up the them. "I'll have the usual and get one for my friend here but get her the mild one." The waitress nodded with a smile and left. "I'll teach you to flash step and many other things. But first you must learn control, focus, and acceptance."

"Pfft, is that all. I can have those mastered in a week." Masa said leaning back in her chair.

Zionica sighed. "You don't understand. You cannot master one without the other two. If you have control you have no focus or acceptance of your abilities. If you have focus you have no control or acceptance of what needs to be done. You have the understanding, but no power to do anything. If you have acceptance but not focus or control you are only trying to maintain who you are. When you master all three, no amount of power, no great enemy will be able to defeat you."

Letting this all sink in Masa thought about all of this and wondered what she would have to do to get all of those mastered. It was then that their food arrived. Masa's was green and Zionica's was red. Other than that they looked the same. In the green food Masa recognized four different types of meat and two that she couldn't. Either way she took her chopsticks and began eating.

Normally Masa ate silently and slowly. But since she's been posing as a boy her eating habits had to change. She picked up her plate and began eating fast. Zionica sighed again. "You have to incorporate control, focus, and acceptance in all things you do. This includes eating."

Masa looked up at Zionica, her mouth full of food. She swallowed her food and put the plate down. She copied Zionica's pace in eating. It was still a little faster than she normally ate, so to show her control she ate the way she normally ate. Zionica was finished before her, still she continued eating. "That's better." He said watching her eat.

Turning her head away from him with her chopsticks still in her mouth she muttered, "Will you stop watching me eat? It's creepy." But he didn't. He stared at her as she ate slowly. Finally she was finished. No check was sent to their table, yet Zionica stood up and looked at Masa waiting for her to get up. She stood. "What about the bill?" She asked not wanting to dine and dash.

Waving dismissively Zionica started walking away. "Don't worry about it. I own the place so they never charge me." Masa tried not to be impressed. She didn't think that he could keep a restaurant up and running, not with all his training and Guardian duties she'd heard so much about.

"So where do we start?" Masa asked following Zionica. "Flash stepping? Barriers?" The sooner he taught her what she needed to know the sooner she could get back to her true master.

Zionica sighed. "I told you. We're starting with control, focus, and acceptance."

Looking confused Masa came up beside him. "How are we going to do that?"

"Well Masami," Zionica said not looking at her. "You could start by taking off your bandages and just accept that you're a woman."

Masa stopped. "No way!" She said covering her chest defensively. "There has to be another way?"

She caught up to Zionica and fell in pace with him, which was hard since he had longer legs than her. It was then that she truly saw how big Zionica was. He was at least a foot taller than her with wide shoulders and a slim waist. Something stirred in Masa, it must be hate, she thought to herself. "There is no other way. You need to accept yourself for who you are."

Hating Zionica with all her heart she moved her hand to her chest to feel the bindings holding her breasts in place and out of the way. She had a reason for wanting to be a man. She was a woman, but she didn't really want to be.

Finally they came to their destination. It was a three story house. "This is my house." Zionica announced. "After you. Go explore and find a room. You'll know your room when you see it."

Nervously Masa walked through the door. The first room she walked into was a hallway. There was the kitchen and dining room to her right. To her left was a closed door. As she opened it she found a meditation room. Next to that door were stairs to the next floor. On the side of the stairs was another door. She opened it to find a brick wall. There were a couple more doors on the first floor but Masa didn't feel like looking in them. Instead she went to the second story.

Masa walked past door after door or bedrooms. She was confused about how to find her own. But halfway down the corridor she felt impressed by one of the doors. Turning to see Zionica had followed her she pointed at the door. "This is my room." Zionica nodded and Masa went in.

The walls were painted a burnt orange color and the carpet was bright blue. There was a double four post bed with orange bedding and blue drapes. "Get some sleep." Zionica whispered behind her. "We start training in the morning." He then left closing the door behind him.

Going to a dresser in the corner Masa took off her shirt and began unbinding her chest. She found it hard to sleep with them on, so night was the only time she didn't wear them. She got into her bag and pulled out night wear which was an overlarge t-shirt and some boxers. Putting that on she climbed into the bed. "What am I going to do about this? Accept myself?"

A five minute walk from the house, Zionica sat naked in a hot springs. He was gazing up at the moon which was just a sliver in the sky. Next to the hot spring there was a tree, a gorgeous tall Willow Tree. Zionica leaned his head up against it. "What am I going to do my love?" He asked the willow. "I have to deal with this gender confused twit. How am I going to train her?" After a moment of silence he nodded. "Yes you're right. I just need to be patient. Thank you my love."