Street Sweeping Chapter – Part V

The little girl standing there at first does nothing but let out a big yawn. For a moment he wonders if she even realizes that he's standing there. Really it's just the one remaining sliver of hope in his heart that this whole job hadn't just been completely screwed.

Then at last, she murmurs softly to him. "Yata-kun…?"

Kanbei audibly gasps. Of course – the mask. Yes, he definitely was wearing one of those. Mask equals super hero. Right. It's so obvious, except for the part where it doesn't make any sense at all. He doesn't even look like the Yatagarasu.

"Um… Uh… Y-Yes…? Y-Yes! Yes, that's, that's me… Yeah… W-What's your name, little one?" What the fuck are you doing what the FUCK are you doing don't engage the little gremlin you dumb fuck -

"Reina." The child replies. "Yata-kun, have you seen my mommy? I heard bad noises."

Of course – everything comes crashing down on him all at once. The hair color, the resemblance to that old picture of Natsumi Kimiyoshi Rika had given him - this was one of Natsumi Kimiyoshi's children. Possibly even her youngest.

After what he'd just witnessed, so much as coming into contact with this girl, especially under the veil of night without her parents' supervision essentially marked him for death.

"Um, yes. Your momma's inside with your daddy. T-They're safe now."

"Okay." That's apparently good enough for the small child. Kanbei tries to move past her, but she then tugs on his pants. Please please GOD let this end. The child looks up at him and smiles. "Thank you, Yata-kun."

"You're welcome." Fascinating – the first two words he'd said to this small child that didn't come out a garbled mess. After what feels like an eternity the little girl finally loosens her tiny hand's iron grip on him and she disappears into the Gathering Hall.

For a moment he still stands there like a complete fool, risking further detection. The longer this night went on, the less and less things made sense.

But he can't stand around like that for long. After that – he simply does his best to push onward. Following the underbelly of the walkways once more he makes his way back over to the Storehouse. Having been spotted by that particular witness, the chances of him getting away are fairly high. But even so, after the farce he'd just witnessed, he couldn't help but fear the worst, even as he retrieves the fake sword and picks the padlock to the Storehouse. He could only hope that Sekiguchi hadn't been lurking around somewhere in the darkness as well.

At last he enters the Storehouse. The inside is packed, the shelves overflowing with non-perishables, the walls lined with tools of all shapes and sizes. There were even a few water sifters, presumably for the pool down below. The space is well kept – air is circulated well, even some of the surfaces cramped in the corners are dust free. The wooden floor is worn enough to suggest consistent use day in and day out. Eventually after enough stumbling around in the dark he comes upon it -

Buried deep in the back, in a corner visited far less frequently, is a lock on a door leading into another part of the storehouse. Just as Rika said, the lock is far too difficult to even bother trying to pick. But using the key, he unlocks the door and slides it open.

First comes a rush of stagnant air from within. This door had clearly not been opened for some time. Within is a large bronze statue, seemingly built in the likeness of some deity. Only the head is missing, placed off to the side on a nearby table, caked in dust and cobwebs. There's nothing else in this room besides the table and the statue – and in the place of the statue's head, with the hilt facing up is his quarry.

The Onigari-no-Ryuou shines even in that poorly lit room. He nearly drops it as he tries to unsheathe it, making a lot of noise as he does, but not a soul is around to hear. The weight is similar to the forgery, but the material is another matter entirely – however the differences are still too minute to notice without the two side-by-side. He unwraps the fake and sets it in the head of the statue in place of the original. At a glance there's no difference between the two – the forgery looks legitimate enough, and that's all he needs from it.

He carefully wraps the true sword before leaving the room, setting everything back exactly the way it'd been.

Backing out onto the front lawn, he sticks close to the ground – the Kimiyoshi family of three has exited the Gathering Hall and started back towards the Residence. Kanbei stalks them slowly, his aim to return the key to the best of his ability. The couple are in the middle of another argument.

"I can't believe you came after me without making sure the kids were asleep." Natsumi pouts angrily.

"T-They were, I swear." Even a man as uptight as Akira knows when he's fighting a losing battle.

"Not only that, but she followed you! Lord knows what she could've seen."

"That's not quite my fault, now is – ack!" She jabs him in the arm pretty hard.

As the two of them drone on, with some luck, he gets close enough that he's able to toss the key somewhere that little Reina will find it as she skips about the walkway – and at this point she's fortunately awake enough that she takes notice and brings the key straight back to her mother.

"Oh, look – of course she would've found it." Smiling with relief at her daughter, Natsumi takes the key back, relief washing over her, and most importantly, she doesn't suspect a thing.

In all honesty, he's jealous of it. Of that whole exchange. He wishes he could live in a world like that. But maybe once this was all over, there would be a time for that yet.

Once they've disappeared into the Residence, he makes his way back to the hatch. To have been seen once and not raised a single alarm – that had to have been a feat. His work at last finished, proceeding downward into the darkness, he nearly slips on the ladder. He stops for a moment so his brain as the opportunity to catch up with the rest of him. Shaking his head he sighs.

Before too long, he's back in the sluice chamber below. He ensures again that the sword is safely secured before heading towards the gate, eyes still peeled for anyone else that might have been skulking around down there with him. But it looks like he's at the home stretch. There's nothing between him and the exit now, besides the water channel beyond the gate. But that just seems so easy now, compared to everything else.

Only as he moves to open it – the latch on the gate is suddenly pushed out of place, from the outside. His eyes widen, and he immediately backs off and hides himself in the shadows just to the left as the gate opens. Through the opening steps through a man and a woman dressed in diving gear. Both of them are wearing masks and have large duffle bags hanging from them.

They set their things down and move further into the chamber. He slows his breathing as they approach.

"Clean yourself off. We won't have more than a couple shots each." The woman speaks first, reaching for the towel rack. She grabs a towel and tosses it to her companion.

The man unzips the duffle bag – he pulls out a sniper rifle and what looks like some kind of tripod for it. The woman with him removes her mask and lets her hair down.

The mere sight of it is enough to to stop his breathing entirely.

That flowing blonde hair alone is enough. It's longer than it used to be, but even so.

After quickly inspecting his equipment, the man stuffs them right back in the bag. "Am I allowed to know who we're after tonight now?" The man questions.

And she opens her mouth to speak again.

"Just the kids. We can't hit Kimiyoshi-san." Her voice – it's the same. And the look in her eyes – like her strings had been cut. Like they were on that day.

"What if we miss?"

"We won't." She reaches for another towel on the rack and pauses – she'd grabbed his towel, the one he'd used before. "Someone's already here."

"What?"

"Someone's already been through here. Through the gate."

"Maybe it was the staff cleaning."

"Would've just tossed this in the laundry in that case."

It's about what he expected. Her mind works fast, far too fast to keep up with or do anything about.

But in this moment, more than any other, he was the one that still had the element of surprise. And if he waited one more moment, that would slip away.

The keaton mask emerges from the dark, like the head of a specter materializing. The man sees it before she does, but at first he doesn't understand what he's seeing.

And in that moment of confusion, he charges forth, shoving the man as hard as he can – taken completely off guard, the man trips on the slippery surface he's standing on, and trips hard. For a moment Kanbei reaches out as though to pull him back – but he's too slow. And with a delayed scream, he descends into the concrete pool below. He can hear the crunch of the impact, and so can she.

She stands there staring at him, completely motionless with the towel still in her hands. "Kacchan." She at last speaks. He knows he's wearing the mask. But of course that wouldn't do a single thing to conceal him from her.

He lunges at her, and despite her attempts to use the towel as some misdirection, he successfully pins her against the wall behind her by her shoulders.

Don't delude yourself. It's just like Manaka Sonozaki, just like your ex.

That man didn't die by accident. He's not some kind of casualty. You pushed him. You killed him.

You're not above killing. You never were.

So do it. Finish this.

He can feel her breath on him. After nine months, she was this close. He has her there, completely at his mercy. He clutches her so hard that his fingernails draw blood through her skinsuit.

But you don't want to kill her. Some fucking shinobi.

Shut up.

You don't even have a dick anymore, yet you still wanna fuck her lights out.

I said, shut up.

Then do it. Smash her head against the fuckin' wall. She took everything from you.

Shut up shut up shut up

But you won't do it. 'Maybe you really deserved it', you worthless cuck.

You care more about her rosy slit than you do about getting your pissant justice.

But just think – think of all the men she's been fucking since she dumped you. You can tell from here just how much they've been fattening her up.

So do it. Finish the job. Kill her.

"Shut up….!" He releases her with one arm, pushing her against the wall with the other as he scratches hard at his neck.

But that's all she needs. She pushes at his mid-section with her now free arms, managing to free herself from him and in one motion dashes to the side, so as he tries to grab hold of her again he has no chance.

She snatches both duffle bags and darts straight for the sluice gate. He blindly charges after her – and as she opens the gate, all she has to do is sidestep him. The flowing water is enough to knock him off balance, and with a small shove she pushes him over the edge.

He hangs from the slippery ledge, just barely holding on, showered by the running water. There's no kind of a foothold on this inner wall of the pool, the drainage gaps being on different sides – all he can do is dangle there struggling to pull himself up.

She looks down at him for all of a moment before she disappears behind the sluice gate, closing it as she vanishes into the murky water beyond.

Even as the flow of water stops he struggles there for minutes on end, doing everything he can to hold on. At last he manages to fling a whole arm onto the ledge above – but his one leg is worthless in trying to climb the rest of the way. However, it's just enough that he can let go with his other hand and reach for his hook. He throws the hook as hard as he can – it manages to catch itself on the towel rack. The rope dangles into the gap just to the side – nearly slipping as he does so, he shifts himself close enough to grab hold of it.

Once again the grip is sturdy. He manages to lift his entire body and leg up and over the ledge entirely with support of the hook. He stumbles onto the tiled floor.

"Fucking Sonozaki." He curses under his breath, pulling off his mask and coughing heavily.

He peers down into the pool – the water level has just barely risen, far below the drainage gaps. He can see the dark splotches of blood forming.

And as for her – all she had left behind was her diving mask. He has to take it with him – it has its immediate uses, and, after all, there can't be any traces of any perpetrator other than the one at the bottom of the pool.

By no stretch of the imagination was this story over, but for that night, it had been placed on hold. He couldn't show that same hesitation again.


"So in summary, you were detected by a small child, almost impaled by a kitchen knife, almost drowned yourself, and nearly got caught by Natsumi Kimiyoshi and her husband no less than three times." Rika counts off his shortcomings on one hand, though from the bored look on her face she's really just relieved that he'd made it back in one piece – and with her sword in tow.

"Twice. Not three times."

"And on top of that, you sent one Sonozaki falling to their death, and let another one get away, right before she almost killed you, for the second time. Are you a shinobi, or are you some kind of ferret?"

"Look, there's a few bigger questions we've got at the moment – like what the hell that deal I walked in on was, and why the hell the Sonozaki family broke in the same fucking night I did."

"Obviously they were trying to force Natsumi to make a move – accelerate the village falling apart. At least now there won't be anything hanging over this next council meeting besides an attempted burglary ending in tragedy."

"Maybe, but what about Sekiguchi? Doesn't a stunt like that make him look even worse?"

"On the contrary, it just makes him look better. A man like that isn't going to respond to a deal falling through with a stunt like this the night he was there – makes this clean break with the Sonozaki seem more legitimate. Besides that, Sekiguchi snooping around on his own like that doesn't shock me."

"You're sure we've got the same Sekiguchi, right? The 'Mion Sonozaki's lawyer, Sekiguchi,' that one."

"The very same."

He almost didn't take her seriously at first. He knew Sekiguchi by way of work for quite awhile, and while he carried the reputation of being a top dollar attorney, there wasn't much more to it than that.

"Why? What's his angle?"

"He's another bastard spurned by this village, just like you."

"The hell does that mean?"

"There used to be more of you running around, you know. Shinobi – in the nineties." She still responds vaguely. "Back then Hinamizawa might as well have been lawless. Everyone was out for themselves, playing a game with the highest stakes. And he got screwed by the outcome too, just like we did. And your father, he wasn't in it to win or lose – his goal was to get off the game board entirely."

"Well, did he do it?"

"We wouldn't be having this conversation right now if he had. All any of us are really doing now is just living through the consequences of how that game ended."

"Then what's our next play? Are we headed in that same direction?"

"Not quite." Rika lifts the Onigari-no-Ryuou. She watches as it glistens under the dim ceiling light. "We're gonna be playing for the game's own sake. And this time, all the strongest pieces in play are mine."

In the aftermath of that night, the Kimiyoshi family found the corpse of the Sonozaki assailant in the sluice chamber. The investigation is short and conclusive – the Sonozaki family sent someone to break into the estate and used the underground sluice system to get within the estate limits, but slipped and fell to their death.

Natsumi uses the opportunity to rally the village leadership on the path towards unity. The council meeting is still on in three days.