A/N: Sorta long Author's Note. Sorry there was no chapter last week. I know I stated in Chapter 17 that it may or may have not come out in time. Last week was just super bust with starting a new job schedule, plus voluntering for conventions which took the whole weekend and I was just exhausted by the time like Tuesday rolled around.

This story IS CONTINUING. I am not giving up on it and will continue to update weekly now on Thursday's as best as I can. Your reviews and support have been very kind as well and thank you everyone who has comment so far.

As previously mentioned, we are in the Kaneshiro arc. I also have an internal number of chapters for this story in my mind. Each chapter is sorta written out like an outlaw on what I want it to be about. Sometimes when I get a flow somethings get added while other content is cut.

I also understand the past few chapters have been fairly short even when I wanted them a little longer. Anyhow, enough of my ramblings. Please continue to enjoy "Until the Sun Sets"


Chapter 18

Present Day 1885,

It was a scream that alerted their camp. Morgana and Ryuji were closest to the scene and rush to Ann's last location. What they found was a startled Ann on the ground near the bloody and wet body.

"Ann! Are you okay?" Ryuji asked her checking for any markings on her own body.

Nodding her head up and down, "I'm fine but she's hurt."

Morgana rushed up to the bleeding woman and saw a gunshot wound on her shoulder. "Hey blondie, head back to camp and get my satchel, there's medical supplies in it," he said. He took off his yellow scarf that hung around his neck and pressed it tightly to her wound.

"Will she make it?" Ann had asked the younger brother. She had stayed while waiting for Ryuji to come back. She could see the young woman was going in and out of consciousnesses.

"Morgana, what happen!?" Ren had burst onto the scene with Ryuji hot on his heels; satchel in hand.

"Someone's hurt. I think she came in with the current and tried to get back on land," Morgana said taking out some medical cream and bandages. The Amamiya brothers had been taught by Dr. Takemi in basic medicine some years ago. But Morgana had the steadier hand when it came to things like this.

Ren looked down at the woman in question, she looked to be in her 20's, hair caked in dried blood and dirt. There was a gun belt around her waist but no gun in the holster. He wondered if she came across the wrong crowd and was left for dead. Morgana had cleaned the wound as best as he could and applied the bandages around it. If she survives the night he would need to change it in the morning.

"Let's carry her back to camp, she would need to stay dry and warm for now." Ren and Morgana gently lifted her up, the older brother steadying her legs while Morgana held her back and good shoulder. The rest of the camp was in for a surprise when they came through. Yusuke saw Morgana and Ryuji run off first while Ren had scanned the area for any immediate threat. When Ryuji had come rushing back yelling about a medical bag, Ren followed. They had placed her on Ren's bedding and added an extra blanket. Being further North the night would be a little bit chillier.

"Did she say anything Ann when you found her?"

"She said 'help me' and grabbed my leg. It made my heart jump," she explained.

"I see." This would put them at a slight delay. They couldn't move while this young woman was injured. If she didn't last the night they could always dig a hole, say a prayer, and be on their way. But he hoped that wasn't the case. Taking a peek over, he could see her faint breathing, chest still moving up and down albeit slowly. Morgana believed she lost a lot of blood but nothing vital appears hit at first.

"So how are we going to approach the town when we get there? Did your informer ever send a map?" Ryuji asked their de facto leader. They needed to approach Northsbury cautiously. Mishima did try his best to get as much information as he could out, but Ren didn't like having vital information missing. Like how many guards there were, the number of paths in and out of town. Back at the harbor they were merely visitors to the outside person. The world could simply believe they were passing through or looking to make a home. That was the beauty of staying low and out of the law's eye.

"It would be suicide to go in guns blazing. We could lure them into a false sense of security and surprise them," Morgana suggested. "But then it will give their leader a chance to escape. We would need him alive for questioning.

All good ideas but they needed something solid. Maybe if he was able to find some high ground, he could eye the town from above with binoculars. If they were in range, Morgana could pick off the hired guards one by one with his scoped rifle providing the cover fired. A small smile was forming on the elder brother's face as a plan was coming to fruition.

"I think I have an idea."

The group of outlaws stayed in one place for a few more days, delaying their travel plans. Morgana could see that Ren was getting antsy staying in one place for so long. They couldn't move due to their newly acquired acquisition using up their medical supplies. The young woman had survived the first night and the second. Morgana had reapplied the medicine cream and bandages to keep it clean. Shiho had helped clean the young woman up and help feed her whenever she came back into consciousness. Ren still never got her name or where she was from. But her breathing was looking more prominent.

They passed the time with more planning or sitting around with a game of poker, the youngest of the group winning most of the matches. He picked up this game real quick. It wasn't till late in the fourth day that their patient was not only awake but coherent.

She was a bit dazed at her location and tried to move out of the bedding. The last thing she remember was being thrown into the river.

"Miss, I know things may be scary, but you are safe here." Ren keep space between them to not scare her any more than he needed. "My name is Ren, what's yours?"

"Nijima…Makoto Nijima," she said grabbing her shoulder.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Makoto. You sure gave us quite the scare finding you. Thankfully the bullet in your shoulder went right through. It may be sore for some time but you should make a full recovery. You need to gather your strength, wait here I'll pour you some stew."

Makoto wasn't quite sure where she was and how far away she gotten from town. But her cover was blown.


.…..She took her position and aim for his head. Cocking the revolver back as her father told her years ago; she pulls the trigger and fired. The bullet had just missed her father's killer and alerted the others to her. She made a mistake with her aim. The single bullet she had saved just for that man was wasted and now lodge into the wall behind him.

A hail of bullets came after her as she attempted to run out of town. Multiple footsteps were heard behind her as she ran for her life. She hopes she could at least come back in the middle of the night to help her obscure friend. Ducking through some houses to lose them, she drops underneath one porch and crawls her way forward. If she could just hide long enough for them to forgo the search, she could fight another day.

Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel she saw her chance at freedom. Climbing from underneath, Makoto is soon grabbed by multiple hands roughly pulling her up.

"Look what I found, a little rat!" One of them said roughly tying her down. She was dragged back into town racking up scrapes and bruises before being presented to their boss.

"We found ourselves a wench boss. Tried to take a shot at us before runnin"

They were in what she assumed was the former Mayor's room if the dried blood on the wall had anything to say about it. A heavyset man had his back to her as he was counting his cash behind his desk. His hair receded, leaving a shiny spot on his head.

"Can't you idiots see I'm busy," he said back to his goons.

"But we caught a real pretty one here sir. Maybe we can make a pretty penny by sending her to the "shops." She needed to get out of here. She really didn't want to find out what these said shops entailed.

The man in front of her had finished counting his money and turned to examine her, "You are a pretty sight aren't you. I hear you caused a ruckus in my town. I don't like that. Your stunt destroyed property, meaning I'm out of some money." He pulled up closer to her and stare her straight in the eye. "I really don't like that. It means my case is not perfect!" Their boss had slapped her hard sending her on the ground.

"Kaneshiro….sir. She had dropped this as well." One of the hired guns had given this man her Father's gun.

"THAT'S MINE! GIVE IT BACK!" Makoto yelled at them. It was one of the few possessions she had left of her beloved father.

"This is a well-crafted revolver, Miss. Where did you get it?" The man now known as Kaneshiro asked.

"It was my Father's. He hunted scums like you down."

"Is that so? Well, it's my gain now. This could catch a few bucks on the market. Let's leave it as part of your payment back from disturbing my order of things," Kaneshiro said with a grin on his face. "Send her to Asmodeus for some lessons. I'm heading out for a trip to one of my associates. Her mess better be cleaned up when I get back."

Makoto tried to fight out of the ropes to get to this outlaw. He snickered at her struggles and begin to walk away. Managing to elbow one of the men holding her from behind, she rushes up to Kaneshiro and bit his hand causing the weapon to drop.

"Get off you BITCH!" He pushes her off before discharging his own weapon. The pain that follows on her back through her shoulder was excruciating. "Just great what a fucking waste. Throw her in the river then," he said examining the damage on his hand.

Her consciousnesses faded in and out since then before she saw a younger man with soft black hair and eyes crouch over her…


"Here Miss, I hope it still warm for you." Ren had handed her a small tin bowl and spoon with warm leftover deer stew.

"Thank you," she said mumbling out.

Taking a seat a respectable distance away, Ren was snacking on some berries he found earlier that day. "So you said your last name was Nijima was it. You wouldn't happen to be related to that famous woman lawyer would you?"

"And what if it's true."

"Then you would make a good hostage," Ren replied back. She was spooked by his answer and immediately got defensive in her wounded state. "Is what I would say if we were those kinds of people. But what I want to know is what was the younger sister of a Miss Sae Nijima doing near a ganged hub?"

"I was looking for someone."

"I see. Obviously things didn't turn out in your favor."

"I know that I made a mistake, but you don't have to be an ass about it," Makoto yelled at the elder brother.

"Sorry Miss, that wasn't my intention. But I do advise you to stay here at our camp while my group and I handle some business in town. Once the dust settles, I'm more than happy to drop you off at a safe town or train station."

"No! I have to go back, I need to get my father's gun back. Its one of the few possession left I have of him," she pleaded to Ren.

"I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do. It's getting late, you should finish eating and get some rest." Getting up from his cot, he started prepping his horse for a ride out in the night.

The elder Amimiya brother needed to clear his mind. He prefers taking rides by himself whenever a new mission would start. He had to stay focus on the path he chose to tread. But he couldn't stop the nagging feeling he had in the back of his mind, about a brown haired woman and crimson eyes.


A/N Another short chapter again :( Bu thank you again for taking the time to read my story. The next chapter is already about halfway written, just gotten finish some editing and stuff.

See you all next week and feel free to review. :)