[Ch. 27] Don't Wake a Sleeping Rabbit

Panzram watched Ryu sleep peacefully wearing such a heavenly face. Panzram wondered why he was still sticking around this man. Ryu was annoying and foolish. Yet, he was also fascinating. Panzram's interest in the flamboyant man filled him with rage.

Even though he didn't understand why.

Once their shift started, Panzram started kicking Ryu to wake him up. However, Ryu made no effort to get up. Ryu muttered something unintelligible and grabbed onto Panzram's leg. No matter how hard Panzram shook his leg, Ryu continued to sleep while holding on to the moving leg. Panzram finally gave up and slipped his foot out of Ryu's grip.

Ryu continued to sleep on the tatami floor with a ludicrous expression as Panzram made his way down the stairs to meet up with the Madame.

The Madame looked around when she realized he was alone, "Where is Ryu?"

Panzram responded coldly, "He wouldn't wake up."

The Madame sighed, "Ah… He's back to those bad habits again. After you came, he was in high spirits and jumping around. I've never seen him look so lively." She clicked her tongue, "And all it took was a visit from his family to put him back in that grim mood of his."

Panzram looked at the Madame in surprise, "Grim mood?"

She nodded, "Don't you know? Those who are despondent usually sleep too much or too little. In Ryu's case, he sleeps too much."

Panzram frowned, "How can you be sure that he is despondent? Isn't he just lazy?"

"Of course there is also that. There is no doubt that he is also lazy, however, this sleep doesn't come from laziness. Ryu is a complicated boy, but I've been around long enough to tell which men are in high spirits and which ones are in low spirits."

She waved her hand, "But don't worry. If we need Ryu's help, he will spring up in a hurry and be there to help. He's actually not as deep of a sleeper as you think he is."

Panzram didn't entirely believe her, "Are you sure?"

She nodded, "Yes, it's how it's always been. Or at least, how it was before you got here… Just be happy he isn't shoving his face full of food. Only then should you worry."

He clicked his tongue, "Why would I be worried?"

As the Madame walked away chuckling to herself, Panzram looked back at Ryu's room in curiosity. He was in low spirits? But why? Was it because of the visit from his brother? But Panzram didn't think that the visit could put him in such a bad mood. Perhaps there was more to it than he thought.

He wanted to inquire about it to Ryu but convinced himself out of it. This wasn't his business. There was no use involving himself in unrelated matters.

Panzram walked back out to the front of the brothel to stand guard. Everyone who would come to the brothel expected to see a bodyguard that looked frightening, so there wasn't much surprise to see Panzram standing there. Although Panzram filled the customers with dread, they much preferred to see him standing guard rather than Ryu.

Even though Ryu was far more beautiful and pleasing to the eye, he also had some rather strange… Hobbies. Thus, the customers were always relieved when Ryu was nowhere to be seen.

Madame Hime's brothel was also infamous for hiring the scariest of bodyguards. She usually chose the worst candidates, but this was because she didn't have any other option. This was due to Ryu's hobbies…

Again.

But even if Ryu had strange hobbies, the Madame would never dare get rid of him. Thus, she just chose to hire any man who was daring enough to work alongside Ryu. Even though she had Ryu, she couldn't rely on a single person to protect every single worker. Not even if they were extremely powerful as Ryu. Essentially, the Madame was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

That's why when Panzram came along, she was overjoyed. Not only was Ryu behaving (except for that one drunken episode), but he was also more cheerful. He made the atmosphere feel lighter and more inviting. Panzram, or to her the young master Pan, was a gift from the Gods. Although his background was questionable, she could care less as long as Ryu was happy.

As Panzram stood in front of the door feeling bored, a shriek rang out from one of the rooms. Then it sounded like some sort of argument or fight was occurring. Panzram rushed up the stairs with a dark scowl. The other working girls who had no customers looked toward the door in curiosity. They all were all too familiar with the shriek to know that it meant someone was trying to beat one of the girls.

Panzram flung the door open and saw a man holding one of the girl's hair. The girl had a black eye and her nose was bleeding. She was sobbing from the pain. The drunken man shouted, "Shut up you blathering wh*re! If I want to hit you! I can hit you! I purchased you!"

As he went to hit her once more, Panzram grabbed his fist and threw him against the wall. He landed with a thud, causing cracks to spring up the wall. Panzram went to the poor girl and helped her up. He turned back to see the drunken man stand back up with a dazed expression.

He shoved his finger toward Panzram, "You worthless vagrant! I bought her! Stay out of this!"

Panzram glared at him and went to hit him, but before he could, a dazed Ryu came in. He walked in elegantly with a chilling smile on his face. Ryu spoke to him in a sickly-sweet voice, "Dear customer, you've woken me up."

The customer spat out in slurs, "I-I paid for this woman! Why can I not do what I want to her?! This is how you treat your customers?! I demand to be compensated!"

Ryu chuckled without ever dropping his smile, "Good sir, are you alright? You seem to be tired."

The customer looked confused by this, "Tired?"

Ryu walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Sleep."

The customer suddenly collapsed, fast asleep as if he had a spell cast on him. Ryu paid the man no attention and looked over at the girl in Panzram's arms, still sobbing. Ryu looked at her, "Ah, are you okay?"

She sniffed, "Yes… Thanks to you and the Young Master Pan."

Ryu nodded, "Find Madame to take care of those wounds. We wouldn't want it to get infected. And don't worry about this idiot. I will take care of him."

The girl gave him a long look, "Little Ryu… You're not going to do... That, right?"

Ryu smiled at her, "How else will he learn?"

She sniffled, "I will let Madame know."

The girls all shuffled out and Ryu looked at Panzram with a warm smile, "Panzram, could you give me a hand and carry him?"