Love like Winter

Part 11: "Hunter-nin"

Haku's warm eyes lingered on Ren's charming face, her very subtly tan skin and her soft, pouty lips. The thoughts of their first kiss came rushing back and his pale cheeks flushed. Ren's hair had fallen behind her ear, and the little point at the top was twitching ever so slightly... a clear reminder of her clan's feline past. Slowly he stood, peering at her as he approached a drawer across the living room. She was still sleeping soundly. There was a small crick in his neck from falling asleep on the floor. Truthfully he hadn't meant to, though at the moment last night he was so entirely comfortable with his head rested onto Ren's soft chest. Though through the night they had tangled away from each other to be left in rather awkward positions, sprawled onto the cherry wood flooring. Haku slid the drawer open, retrieving his mask. That's when he heard some gentle shifting and a smile broke out onto his face. "Originally this undertaker career was a disguise," he started, turning to Ren who sat up, stretching her slender arms, Haku's blush returning as her back arched. "But I've learned so much already that it would be good to keep it going. We could use the money and normally it's an easy task to hunt down the missing-nin and turn them in to those who dispose of them."

Ren looked at the mask in Haku's hands curiously. "If I'm going to be tagging along, won't I need one too?"

Haku nodded to her statement as she stood and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. "I made this one myself. We could head to the craft store to get the supplies we need to make your own. I could show you the basic designs for hunter-nin and you can choose which you like best. Or we could have matching ones," he smiled brightly, already excited with the idea, though Ren glanced over to him questioningly.

"Don't you get in trouble for that?" she asked as she brought a pot of water to the stove. Haku was already gathering what she would need to make a delicious Udon dish, one of Haku's favorite types of noodles.

"I thought so at first, though as long as you know what you're doing it doesn't seem to matter," Haku clarified softly, bringing some raw Udon and sliced fish over to Ren. "This disguise was a fairly thorough one and I've learned enough about the human body to be able to pinpoint areas to strike to put people into death-like states... or kill them if completely necessary. Mostly this job consists of finding missing-nin and striking them down, though sometimes they're already dead. I could teach you the basics of where to strike, it's not too difficult to pick up if you're quick. And well, you certainly are swift if you can keep up with me," he teased, laughing a little. Ren flicked her bright eyes to him, a playful smile on her face.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Ren teased back, indicating the time they had sparred and Haku flopped straight on top of her.

Haku's face flushed a deep red, already full aware of what she was speaking of. "Of course not! That was a complete accident. I'd never act so indecent." He rose his hands a bit, clearly insistent.

"I was only teasing," Ren chuckled. "I could tell it was an accident."

"...Here and here," Haku used his hands to ghost over specific areas on Ren's body. There was a faint blush on her cheeks, though she tried hard to keep her composure as he was finishing up explaining how to take their enemies down quickly and efficiently. "I hope you're good at absorbing information," he giggled softly, reaching into the pocket of his pants.

"No need to worry," Ren confirmed, already repeating the whole of the lesson in her mind.

"Here," Haku handed her some senbon as they continued out of their home. Earlier they had completed Ren's mask, and now that Haku had gone over a few things they could head out and get some work done.

The two of them zipped through the woods. "This way," Ren suddenly made a sharp turn to their left.

"What is it?" Haku asked, peering at her through his mask.

"I sense someone nearby, but their aroma is faded... indicating they're likely dead or very close to dying." Haku smiled warmly under his mask.

"I'm already so grateful to have you helping me. You're heightened senses will save us plenty of time." In a blur they zipped through the lush trees before stopping suddenly. Ren rose her nose, searching around before darting around the trees. Haku kept up well, watching her every move. "There," Haku pointed his finger to a body dangling on a flimsy branch. Ren chuckled.

"Not such a great way to go," she commented, clearly amused.

"Indeed. Well, I suppose it's what he gets," Haku was already lifting the man—twice his size—from the branch that looked ready to snap off. Ren couldn't help but still be amazed at his utter strength. "All right, this way!"

Haku and Ren ran along for a bit until they reached one of the many hideouts for the undertakers of Kiri. Apparently Haku even had the hand seal for the place down. Ren hadn't a clue how he'd managed that, though she figured she would not question it. They entered and nearly the whole of the hideout seemed enclosed in darkness. Ren's eyes had no issues seeing around the place and Haku knew it well enough not to run into any walls. The inside was a lot bigger than it appeared on the outside, and around the corner Ren could see some people in coats working on something that smelled rancid. Her nose wriggled in disgust and she clamped it. "Having such sensitive senses does not always come in handy," she groaned lowly.

"Sorry," Haku frowned beneath his mask. "Stay here, the closer you are the worse it gets. I'll only be a moment," Haku continued toward the people, hitching the enemy up on his shoulder a bit to keep it from slipping. Ren watched carefully. The smell of all of their scents was so masked by the much fouler smell that she could hardly make out what those people might be like. One of the hunter-nin was peering at her through the iron bars separating them and she tried hard to focus on Haku, who was handing the body over to one to one surgeon who in turn nodded gratefully to him. Still, from the corner of her eye, Ren could see that particular hunter-nin staring at her until someone complained to him to keep focused. Clutching her nose further, she was turning to leave just as soon as she saw Haku turning to come her way.

His walk picking up a bit, he was at her side. "Is something wrong? Or is it just the smell?"

"That and one of them couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of me," she lowered her hand as they exited, thankful for the crisp air that now filled her lungs.

"Oh, that was probably just Ginyou, don't mind him. He's just a little odd," Haku reassured while they lept up into the trees and headed for home. Something of this Ginyou character put Ren slightly on edge, although since he was not as near them as the guard from the other day had been, she simply figured that she shouldn't linger on it too much. Once Haku brought forth the courage to clamp his hand to hers, the worries vanished from her mind and she smiled warmly, continuing home with her graceful lover.