Urakih: Yes, Josue is Jakotsu :)
Well, I hope you guys like this chapter!
Chapter 3
"You went out there?" Nasuti asked, eyes large. "Bankotsu, that was very dangerous!"
Bankotsu shrugged, "I didn't feel like I was in danger, but then I saw Josue. He was dressed like a woman and he went somewhere in town. When I asked him why, he wouldn't say."
"He's a good boy; I know he is. It's that no good father of his..."
"What is it? What does his father do to him? Why was he dressed like a woman, and why was he so scared? Josue can fight; I've seen him. He can take on an old man."
Nasuti smiled, "Bankotsu, when you say things like that it makes me wonder again about how you were raised. Aiko is Josue's father; children shouldn't raise hands to their parents."
"But, if he's hurting him and making him dress like that– why?"
"Bankotsu, do you know what a brothel is?"
Bankotsu nodded, "It's where men go to sleep with sluts. Why?"
Nasuti winced. "Yes. Men go to these places to pay women to pleasure them, but sometimes not only women work in brothels. Sometimes there are young boys."
Bankotsu was shaking his head, "But what does..." He trailed off, his eyes widening. "Josue works in a brothel?"
Nasuti nodded. "No one will hire him, because of what he is and who his father is. The boy supports his father and himself."
"But doesn't he work here? You give him food. Why can't you give him money too?"
"That would mean I'd have to officially hire him. I cannot do that, Bankotsu. As much as I want to, I have to think of what my husband will say when he returns home. He will already be displeased with me for letting him help out what little he has. The men in town don't take kindly to Josue."
"But don't they go into the brothel to..."
"Only behind closed doors will they admit their desires for that boy. He is the only one in town who is not afraid to be what he is, and he shames the ones who will not come out," Nasuti said with a sigh.
"Why doesn't he just leave then?"
"Where would he go, dear? He has no other family that he knows of but his father; there's no one willing to take him in, nothing. And most of all, he'll never have acceptance. Everywhere he goes he'll be unwanted; at least here, he can be ignored because everyone's used to his queerness."
Bankotsu scowled, "He can just runaway, live off the land. If people won't accept him, then why should he live with them?"
Nasuti smiled at him, "You're a brave soul, Bankotsu. Not many people can speak as firmly as you; not everyone is as strong. People like you go far; you conquer continents and move mountains. People like Josue, people like me, we're not like you. We wouldn't survive in your world, my boy."
Bankotsu frowned at that. In his world? Did this woman think he resided on a different plane of existence than she did? He was no greater than anyone; he just knew what he wanted, and right then, he wanted to help Josue.
When Bankotsu left town he was going to go on and be a fighter. He was going to kill and have adventures, but he didn't really plan on traveling alone the entire time. Adventures were more fun when there was someone to share it with. Why couldn't that person be Josue? His skill with a sword was admirable; his accuracy was perfection. Bankotsu knew then that he wanted the older boy to come along with him. He would save Josue and in return, gain a friend, an ally. How fun.
"Would you like a snack before bed?" Nasuti asked him. He nearly jumped; he'd forgotten she was still there.
"No thank you Nasuti-sama," Bankotsu shook his head. The woman ran her fingers through his bangs.
"It's hard to believe you'll be leaving after tomorrow. What am I going to do with myself? There will be no one to talk to or fawn over."
"Maybe you and your husband should think about having another kid?"
Nasuti gave a very unladylike snort, "Well, aren't you blunt?"
Bankotsu grinned cheekily, and she ruffled his hair again and fingered his braid. "My boys would never let their hair get so long. What are you going to do with all this as a solider? Won't they make you cut it?"
Bankotsu laughed, "I'm never going to cut my hair, and I'll threaten to leave the army if they try to make me, and by then I'll be so good they'll beg me to stay."
Nasuti chuckled with him, "My you do dream big and that is wonderful. I see you being a great leader of men, Bankotsu."
"Eh, I just want to fight," Bankotsu disclosed to her, "but if they want to make me a captain or something, I won't turn it down."
"Boys and violence..." Nasuti shook her head. "Well, goodnight, Bankotsu. Will you play with Josue again tomorrow?"
Bankotsu nodded. "If he'll play with me. I really scared him tonight, when he saw me."
"He didn't want you to know," Nasuti said softly. "It would probably be best if you didn't bring it up with him again."
"Ok," Bankotsu agreed aloud. He smiled as the woman blew out his candle, encompassing the room in darkness, and he shut his eyes.
Josue was waiting for him after breakfast with two new swords. He was hesitant to meet Bankotsu's gaze at first. He seemed nervous.
"Yo!" Bankotsu greeted him cheerily. He approached the other boy and smiled, "Do you want to do something else today? We can go swimming? The water in the stream a few miles that way is warm enough."
Josue blinked in surprise, "Yo Bankotsu. You...you want to leave town? With me?"
"Just for a few hours," Bankotsu shrugged. "We'll be back before you have to go. We can bring Banryuu and the swords and find a place to spar near the water hole, even! It'll be fun."
Josue studied Bankotsu's face, as if trying to discern if he was joking or not. "Bankotsu, about last night..."
"Josue, I don't care what you do at night or what kind of people you're attracted to. You're a nice guy, I know that, and that's all that matters to me. It should be all that matters to everyone else too."
Bankotsu took the other boy's arm gently. "Now lets get Banryuu and go swimming."
"I..." Josue was stuttering as Bankotsu was dragging him along. "Bankotsu, I can't swim!"
Bankotsu halted in his tracks and Josue's body slammed into his shorter one. "You can't...." He whirled to face the older boy, staring him directly in the eyes. Was he lying? Josue's face was innocent of all things that would give away deception.
"I've never gone into the water past my knees..." he trailed off. "I can't swim."
Bankotsu made a face and grabbed Josue's arm again and continued on his trek to retrieve Banryuu. "I'll have to teach you then."
"But..."
"No buts, we're going, and that's that. Oi, how about a lunch to take with us too, huh? This is gonna be great."
Bankotsu clutched his side as he laughed so hard it hurt. Josue was sputtering and trying ineffectively to glare at him while flinging water from his eyes.
"You're never gonna learn if you're too afraid of putting your head underwater! I was just helping you get past that," Bankotsu treaded away as Josue splashed the place he had previously been wading.
Bankotsu and Josue had found the water hole after 30 minutes of traveling, and Bankotsu had been trying to teach Josue to swim for about an hour. The taller boy had to be pushed into water up to his waist and dunked to get his face beneath it.
"Isn't there a way to swim without putting your face in the water?" Josue whined, taking a cautious step out towards Bankotsu who was treading in deeper water. It probably looked as if the shorter boy were standing...
"Josue, no!"
Bankotsu giggled as Josue slipped underwater, his eyes going wide in shock. He barely had time to yell. Then the boy bobbed back to the surface splashing and sinking again. Bankotsu shook his head and swam to the boy, wrapping an arm just under Josue's armpits and pulling back to bring Josue's head up to the surface.
"I got ya. Calm down, it's ok," Bankotsu laughed as the other boy choked, gasped and clung to him. He was actually shaking, and when Bankotsu realized he wasn't calming down, he decided it was time to get out of the water.
"I'm gonna get us back to shore, ok?" Bankotsu told Josue, readjusting his hold and giving a kick to propel him backwards through the water while supporting his friend. Once they were about waist deep in the water, Josue shrugged off Bankotsu's assistance and trudged back to shore on his own. He located his clothes immediately and was about to pull them back on.
"Oi! You're going to get your clothes all wet!" Bankotsu shouted after him, running onto the grassy banks. "You gotta let yourself dry off some."
Josue dropped his clothes as if they were hot coals and sat down in the grass beside them in his damp undergarments, hugging his knees while resting his head on them.
Bankotsu frowned and sat down beside him. "Are you ok? You didn't swallow that much water."
Josue didn't answer for a moment and Bankotsu began to feel guilty for pushing him to learn to swim. "I'm really sorry. I should have been paying more attention. I didn't think you were going to step out after me. Really, Josue, I wouldn't have let you drown; you were in no danger. Josue?"
"Mama tried to drown me once," Josue whispered.
Bankotsu's head jerked to the older boy as he gasped in shock. "J..."
"She brought me out to the center of a pond. She was holding me and then she wasn't. She just watched and watched... until Papa came to save me. Then, she left. Papa said it wasn't my fault. She was a bad woman. All women are like that, bad."
Bankotsu was still reeling over the self disclosure and was barely able to catch the last line Josue had said. "All women can't be bad. What about Nasuti?"
"She's using me. Instead of wages, I get leftovers from the meals she cooks for customers. When her husband returns, she'll shun me. Women are only decent when they need something."
"But..." Bankotsu bit his lip. Didn't Josue dress like a woman? If he didn't like them, why did he become one at night?
"I'm sorry," Josue was suddenly saying, shaking his head and trying to smile. "I didn't mean to bring down the mood. I... hey, let's test out the new swords I brought. I want to show you the grip on one of them."
Bankotsu blinked, wanting to tell Josue it was ok and if he still wanted to talk he could, but it was obvious Josue wanted to change the subject. The older boy stood and Bankotsu studied his malnourished frame. His bare skin was pale and free of blemishes. Bankotsu had been certain the boy was abused, but his body showed no signs of it.
"Ok," Bankotsu jumped up. He jogged over to where Josue was leaning over the weapons.
"Bankotsu, how about using a regular sword today instead of Banryuu. I've never seen your other skills," Josue said, lifting a long sword and studying its thin blade.
Bankotsu grinned slyly, "You'll find them more than formidable. I'm just learning with Banryuu. No one wants to dance with me and a sword, not even my father had been so brave."
Josue laughed, "You talk big; let's see if you can back it up."
"Hope I don't embarrass you too much," Bankotsu said cheekily. "Lets go."
They sparred and broke for a late lunch an hour before sunset. Josue would need to return home. Bankotsu stuffed an entire rice ball into his mouth and concentrated on not choking while watching Josue nibble at his. His friend ate so little. "Josue, if you're not hungry now, you can take it back with you."
Josue grimaced and shook his head. "I can't eat after dark."
"Why not?"
"Not allowed to. You gain weight when you eat after the sun sets," Josue informed him. He set the half eaten rice ball down.
"Gain weight? Who told you that? And are you saying you're not eating because you don't want to gain weight?" Bankotsu was so confused.
"Papa...."
"Oh. But you're so skinny," Bankotsu commented. "If what your Papa says is true, then you should take the food home to eat after dark."
Josue shook his head, "Papa likes my size."
Bankotsu frowned at the oddity of that statement. "Um...ok."
Josue grinned at him suddenly. "You're leaving tomorrow right?"
"Tomorrow night," Bankotsu said. That reminded him, he wanted to ask Josue to come along.
Josue toyed with the rice a bit before speaking again. "You remember how to get to my house?"
"Yeah..."
"Meet me there tomorrow; I can get you in to see Papa's swords. There's one in particular I've been saving to show you when you could finally come over."
Bankotsu's eyes brightened. Josue had a special sword? He beamed. "Ok!"
"Great," Josue said. "I have to be getting back soon. I can walk back into town alone, if you want to stay longer, Bankotsu."
Bankotsu shook his head. "I'll walk back in with you. Nasuti will worry. She's temporarily adopted me, and besides, someone might try to jump a bony guy like yourself. You need someone to protect you."
Josue gave a bark of a laugh. "And you're that someone?"
"Yeah," Bankotsu nodded.
Josue snorted. "Maybe when you get a little taller, kid."
Bankotsu narrowed his eyes. He kept forgetting Josue was three years older than he was. "Whatever. Come on. Lets get our clothes back on, so we can go."
Bankotsu returned to the boarding house alone, slightly damp, and happy. He propped Banryuu up on the wall beside his bed and went to put on some dryer clothes, when Nasuti knocked.
"I'm decent," Bankotsu told her and she stepped inside.
The woman's dark almond shaped eyes were sad, but she smiled at him nonetheless. "I've started packing some things for your trip. You didn't come into town with anything but the clothes on your back and your sword."
"Nasuti-sama, you don't have to..." Bankotsu began, but she cut him off.
"Now I've packed some food that should last for a bit, some warm clothes, soap, some combs, a blanket, and.... my husband has an older horse that he rarely uses. She won't last long, but she'll get you a few weeks down the road, until you get to where you're going."
Bankotsu blinked and blinked again, an odd stinging sensation behind his eyes. "I can't...repay you."
"I don't want you to," Nasuti smiled. "You just being here and spending time with me has been payment enough. You gave me someone to take care of and I enjoyed that."
Bankotsu nodded. She had told him this before, but now it was finally setting in. His presence had really made a difference in this woman's life. Now that he thought about it, he never really saw the woman socializing with many people from town. Most of the time she was cleaning or with him. What would she do?
"I'm sorry I have to go."
"You don't have to, dear. All you have to do is say you want to stay..."
Bankotsu was shaking his head, "I can't." He should have left sooner, before he'd grown attached or anyone had grown attached to him. But alas, he couldn't take his time spent there back now.
"Ok," Nasuti sighed. "Well...dinner will be ready in a bit. Come into the parlor when you're hungry."
"Alright."
He sighed and sat on the futon thinking about all the things he would have to do... Tomorrow.
Author's Note: That's it for now. How was it? Good? Bad? Let me know. I have the next chaper ready to go, if you want it...please review :)