Sorry, education caught up with me. Thankfully exams are almost here and I suddenly feel the need to be distracted. Lol.
Anyways, let's get right into it! Chapter 13!
Yay.
Following Sanosuke was for - all intents and purposes - difficult.
He had followed men like him before, back before his sensei took him. The last two he had followed in that old career were unique. Kenshin had held himself in such a way that Yahiko underestimated him the first time he tailed him, and Kaoru, who knew she would be underestimated based on her youth and gender, worked with the resulting overconfidence and used it to her advantage.
Sanosuke, however, was someone whose presence radiated that he was not just some mere civilian. He was too aware of his surroundings to not know when he was being watched, tailed even. Yahiko would have found himself idly wondering what life the man had led before becoming a bounty hunter if he didn't have to put extra effort into staying out of said hunter's field of perception. Sanosuke was on his way back to the Banza in the residential district's general parking lot and Yahiko put his focus on staying too far out of Sanosuke's radar to be deemed a significant presence worth confronting. The bounty hunter was not the first perceptive and dangerous man Yahiko had followed, and if he and Tanuki-sensei intended to join the bounty hunters on their future missions, Sanosuke sure as hell was far from the last dangerous person he would end up tailing.
There was chittering in his arms, and in a burst of unprecedented willfulness from a so-far sleepy docileness, Kitsune-chan sprung out from Yahiko's inner coat. With a fox chatter, it bolted in Sanosuke's direction. The child cursed soundlessly and went into hiding in the shadows of an alleyway. Sanosuke's head spun back, his dark brown eyes scanning the area suspiciously while the fox bounded its way towards him enthusiastically. He had worked hard to keep the animal from stirring awake, but it clearly wasn't enough and he found himself hoping his cover wouldn't get blown.
'Kitsune-chan,' he said tensely as the silver-grey fox made way under his clothes and unto his rooster head. He glanced up to spare the critter a small grin, but his shoulders were still tense. 'Did you follow me by yourself?' The fox made unintelligible noise, naturally, but it did bob its snout in the direction he came from. 'Oh? Anyone with you?' But even as he asked, he made his way in that direction. He didn't actually expect a comprehensible enough answer from the animal - smart or not - and with him having been feeling a faint sensation of being followed for a while, he decided to do a quick sweep before heading to the ship, just to make sure everything was okay.
Yahiko, none the wiser to the conversation that involved a fox snitching him out, patiently waited for Sanosuke to find nothing too fishy with Kitsune's sudden appearance from nowhere. Foxes weren't dogs, they didn't go sniffing out their favourite human just because. He was completely unaware that Sanosuke had turned back to walk in Kitsune's formerly incoming direction and was already within hearing shot till he heard the bounty hunter's phone ring. A yell of surprise died in Yahiko's throat as several emotions took hold of him at once.
'Hey, Kenshin man, what's up?... Yeah, I'm on my way already though, stopped to eat at Jou-chan's... hey you chose to bail on the pretty thing, not m - calm down Himura jeez... I'm already close to the hangar, alright?... Will dango make you feel better?... groans ... alright captain you got it.' Sanosuke audibly punched his phone silent and groaned. 'Fucking drama queen... come in here Kitsune-chan.' he spun on his heels as he stuffed the fox in his coat, deeming whatever he felt was off far too insignificant in the face of finding the favoured appeasement sacrifice for the melodramatic samurai that was Kenshin. Without a doubt, if his stalker was a threat to him, he'd probably have attacked upon realising he'd been sniffed out.
"It's definitely some slick stupid kid anyway."
Once Sanosuke was out of earshot, Yahiko exhaled in belief. Now sure of where Sanosuke was going, Yahiko bounded through that alley for a shortcut straight to the hangar. He had no interest in stalking Sanosuke do his sweet shopping, only in the bounty he was supposed to sniff out and report back to his Tanuki sensei on.
...
Kenshin glared at Sanosuke when he boarded the Banza, his expression refusing to soften at the sight of his beloved sweet. If anything his eyes narrowed at the sight of the fox in his care.
'Jou-chan, Sanosuke? Really?'
The taller man simply shrugged.
'She's become a sister to me, what can I say? Besides,' he added in a sneer, 'someone has to apologize for causing the girl some grief.'
Kenshin sighed at Sanosuke's lack of remorse, but the taller hunter was having none of it.
'Oh no,' the younger hunter shook his head as he sneered at his partner, 'you don't come here acting like I'm the one who's tripping from a guilt complex and punishing myself and others for every coincidence that I stumble on to.' Kenshin shot him an unamused look and snatched the bag of dango from his hand. Sanosuke rolled his eyes, raising his hand in a show of backing off. The movement jilted the fox in his coat awake, and the critter quickly found its way to Sanosuke's hair and made himself comfortable there. Kenshin's brow quirked imperceptibly at his second sighting of the animal he was yet to be acquainted with but said nothing of it. Sanosuke, noting the expression, made a face and made an absent-minded scan of the place, hoping his partner wouldn't ask any questions about the fox. 'Well boss, what do we have?'
Kenshin's expression changed and he sighed, turning on the holograph projector to show off the contents of their boxy laptop.
'Budget assassin. Charged for 9 manslaughters and sixteen homicides. All the victims had a history of bankruptcy, old-world prestige or both, which meant they were targetted for feuds and/or debts by long enemies fallen from relevance.' The redhead had his hand swiping through the slides of the bounty's information. Middle-aged male, grey eyes, last seen as blue-haired, five foot eight, olive-skinned and has a crooked right hand.'
'He's left-handed?'
'Oh no. Right-handed,' Kenshin shook his head. 'The man went straight to ground after his last murders, the police says he was seen by a surviving member of a group of victims. The witness himself also went out of contact, but they have his statement, visual and written.'
'That makes sense, he ain't exactly in high demand or ever gunned enough bigshots to be notorious,' Sanosuke nodded as he made his way from across the table to his partner's side, 'but you didn't pull from the archives, did ya? You said this was a hot one.'
'He's been hired for another job. He was called in to take out the son of a mob boss, but security busted him and forced him to hightail out of the compound. The latest bounty on his head is a black one, because of who put it on, but its the sum of the bounties for all his other crimes and some.' Kenshin sighed and leaned forward, supporting himself with his hands planted on the desk before him. 'Thank God we left Kamiya-san and Yahiko-kun back at the dojo.'
Sanosuke rolled his eyes, his hand reaching to pet the fur of the sleeping animal draped upon him.
'Do you even grasp the concept of moving on, Kenshin?' the man scoffed. 'You're the one who bailed on them, so why bring them up right now?'
The redhead glared at his partner not for the first time, opening up a new tab that showed the bounty's list of crimes and evidence against him. He gestured to the holographic screen with a curt head jerk, and Sanosuke followed the direction. His expression quickly turned grim as he read through the list, and he let out a low sigh when he reached the end.
'Aw man...'
Ushijima Kuujo's last victims were the descendants of the long bankrupt, but longer noble descendants of the Myojin Clan, with the man and his wife falling into debt after being duped by a long con. Kuujo's services had been employed once the family had fled to Osaka and the only serving member had been one young Yahiko Myojin, who had a black bounty placed on his head once the assassin failed to capture the boy and reign in him to pay back the debt through life-long servitude. The loan sharks were the last people to employ Kuujo before the assassin's latest client that would lead him into being bountied again.
Sanosuke gave Kenshin a wary stare.
'The kid won't even know you're doing this for him.'
'This is not about recognition,' Kenshin said quietly, his amethyst eyes hard with resolution. 'The boy deserves justice.'
'So we're turning Ushijima Kuujo over to the police?' Sanosuke let out a pained cry, 'but we need the money from the black bounty, man!'
'I didn't say systematic justice,' Kenshin gave his partner a humourless grin, before sobering up again very quickly. 'This was why I took this work. Good people everywhere walk unavenged and cheated by the system. This man is the reason Yahiko-kun has seen the life he had too early, too young.'
'You know you being paid for catching him defeats the purpose of that... right?' Sanosuke drawled with a sceptical look but Kenshin only looked on, and Sanosuke's expression turned indignant. 'Aw no... goddamnit Kenshin we may as well dump him with the police!' The samurai only smiled smugly at his partner and crossed his arms. 'Think of the dango! The ice cream!'
Kenshin's expression faltered, but only for a second before his resolution strengthened even more.
'How did you think I would not give the reward money back to the school that is looking after that boy's upkeep, Sanosuke?' he snorted good-naturedly. 'You met me doing this work, don't act so indignant.' Sanosuke glared at him and glowered as certain things clicked in place.
'You looked for this bounty didn't you?' He declared accusingly, pointing at the shorter man with his accusatory finger. 'You've wanted to find the man who did this to Yahiko since we first pulled the files on him way back, haven't you?'
Kenshin only shrugged as he reached for his sword and hakama to wear over his off-white working suit. It was clear that he had been on standby for the mission long since, which only convinced his partner of his suspicions even more. Kenshin's eyes landed on the sleeping fox on his partner's head once more. Said partner followed the amethysts' line of sight and cleared his throat to get those amethysts to look at him instead. Kenshin raised a brow, but chose not to comment on that matter at all.
'Does it really matter?'
...
'Watch where you're going, kid!'
'Well damn you ya blind old geezer!' Yahiko shouted furiously at the old motorist who had nearly run him over with his hovercycle. 'Riding on the damn sidewalk where do you think you are, OSAKA?'
The old man threw back insults at the boy, but Yahiko had already tuned him out, his mind a storm of thoughts and conflicted emotions.
Ushijima Kuujo.
The machete he used to slit his parents' necks while he hid in the ceiling was red with blood, dripping in his mind eye. The blade was shivering, shaking along with the hand that held it. Yahiko's step faltered into a dead halt as he stared at the pavement.
"Don't you dare make a sound Yahiko-chan. Please just stay quiet and stay hidden. Everything will be okay."
"You have the blood of a samurai, my boy. I need you to be brave and live, alright?"
"I know you're in here, little rat."
The sound of sniffing and then the fixation of empty grey eyes that were red with substance abuse staring right at where little Yahiko was hiding in the roof. As if those haunted eyes that told of inebriation had locked right onto little Yahiko's browns through the nigh high imperceptible crevice of the ceiling. Yahiko had held his breath until he fell unconscious, determined to not let even his breathing give away his presence, and it was there the coronas had found him when they arrived at the scene of the crime.
Giving his testimony had been a blur, as had writing his statement. He felt as if he never left the too-big-of a wooden chair during the entire time. Not even conscious of at what point he had imperceptibly slipped away from the world and become a shadow with a price tag. He just sat there staring at the table before him.
Standing there, staring at the pavement.
The whole world feeling like a never-ending fever dream.
'Move, you little bastard!' A jogger forcibly shoved Yahiko out of their path and he stumbled to the edge of the pavement. He didn't even have it in him to cuss out the rude pedestrian. He took a deep gasp and pushed himself upright from his hands off his knees.
Not here. Not right now.
Yahiko hadn't had panic attacks for many years. He would not have one now.
Ushijima Kuujo.
How did it take this long for him to learn the name of his parents killer?
Had it really been so long?
Was he asleep the whole time?
Ushijima Kuuujo.
He had spent his whole life running. Conning. Hiding. Impossible to find.
What have I been doing? How did I not hear his name that night?
How did I not even know his name ever?
Yahiko hadn't really heard those officers talk about the man. Or even remembered what he wrote of the man. Or said of the man. He couldn't remember the face of the female officer who had been put in charge of minding him and finding social security for him. He didn't remember the therapist provided by social security to probe his mind. Not distinctively. Nothing was distinctive. It wasn't that they were forgettable, actually. They didn't fade from his mind with time.
It was just that the world turned into a fever dream after he watched the man he had to hide from. The man who was after his head for money.
His entire life after that moment had progressively paled into background noise in the face of his goal to stay alive, to stay a phantom if that it was it took to remain unnoticed.
But he had been so desperate to disappear that he forgot to pay attention and learn the name of the man who did this to him, at the very least? Had he never even thought to learn it ever since?
Have I been asleep for this long, really?
Yahiko hadn't stayed in the Banza long enough to hear how Kenshin saw this mission as a justice crusade done for his favour. Nor did he actually care to know what the mission meant to him at all.
He straightened his back and started walking down the sidewalk again, his eyes trained on the ground.
The world had felt like nothing but a fever dream for a very long time. His highs - as a successful pickpocket, as a boy finding camaraderie in the streets and then a home with a kind but strong sensei and mentors in adventurous men - and his lows - being blackmailed, always running away, having panic attacks, going hungry, escaping servitude and even death from enemies - it all felt like the nightmares and daydreams of one long hallucination.
Ushijima Kuujo.
And then he was reliving everything, up until that very moment when he sat on that wooden chair. He had given his statement. He had stared at the wooden table before him and had fallen asleep and had spent the last six years in a fever dream. The last moments of that dream was him staring at that pavement, reliving the very moment that made him fall asleep. Into this mad slumber that didn't even let him know the name of the very devil who took everything away-!
Ushijima Kuujo.
The very eyes of the very man that slit his parents' throat with a machete in his shaky hand. That made the world stop turning. Or was it just him unaware of the continuous rotation?
Ushijima Kuujo.
He started to run.
The world started to spin again when that jogger almost knocked him into the street. Or maybe the world had never even stopped.
Maybe, after so long...
I'm awake.
He choked back a sob as he charged through the road, his eyes blurry with tears.
That bastard!
...
Kaoru paced about the dojo, furiously practising a series of kata once she reached one end of the room before resuming to pace to the other end. She had yet to hear from Yahiko and the sky was already about to set. She panted furiously as she practised the series of slashes again, her stance changing with every swing.
Where are you, Yahiko?
'Jou-chan!'
The sound caught the sensei by surprise. That was not who she as hoping to hear, much less expect. She dropped her bokken to the ground and ran out to meet the bounty hunter, angry at herself for thinking Yahiko wouldn't do something so silly as to be caught- her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a shoji door opening and a belyayev fox happily tackling her. If not for her footing, the surprise would have unbalanced the young woman. She grabbed the animal by the scruff of her neck and leaned to the side to find Sanosuke grinning at her.
'The critter followed me,' he explained sheepishly and laughed. 'Thankfully we did mostly groundwork today and I was around long enough to drop it back in your care. Space ain't for pets and I don't really work with strays anyway.'
'I see,' the woman croaked out, craning her necks in hopes of finding Yahiko lurking somewhere behind him. Sanosuke made a funny face as he watched her and found himself turning to look behind him too.
'Is something wrong?' He asked, raising his brow at her suspiciously. 'Are you waiting for the brat to come back on an errand or something?' He held his chin as he considered it. 'I thought this place was quiet. It's getting late tho-'
'What! No Yahiko is perfectly fine there's nothing wrong at all I'm not looking for him are you looking for him because I've known exactly where he's been all day long yep no need to worry-'
'Jou-chan relax!' Sanosuke, on removing his shoes, raised his hands defensively and chuckled, walking into the dojo to hold her by the shoulders. 'No one is interrogating you.' But as he spoke, he paid attention to how jumpy she was and ran the words she had said back in his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but then shook his head and let go of her. 'Well, I have to get back to the ship. We're leaving early tomorrow. And I get the feeling one of my haters put some kid to work my movements. I can't find the kid though, or shake him off.' He huffed and pouted, before waving goodbye to the sensei and the fox. Kitsune-chan sat comfortably draped on Kaoru's shoulder, while said Kaoru stood too stiff to respond. She turned to look out the window. It was already twilight, and soon the day would be gone.
"What is Yahiko doing..."
'Jou-chan?'
'Huh?' she was startled out of her thoughts, and then smiled and waved at Sanosuke, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. 'Oh yeah. Bye Sanosuke. See you.'
'Bye, Jou-chan.'
She watched the embroidered kanji for "wicked" shift with his movements as he made his way to the door and slid his shoes back on, before her will finally gave way for worry.
She let out a sigh and hung her head.
'Sanosuke, Yahiko hasn't come back home yet.'
The man didn't move from the door, unfazed by her words.
'From?'
'Following you, I should think.'
Silence.
'We agreed that we wanted to hijack your mission from your hands if it came to that, but mostly we just wanted to impose and add ourselves. I had Yahiko follow you. But now he hasn't returned yet. And it's getting very late.'
Sanosuke finally let out a sigh, but before he opened his mouth to speak she beat him to the chase.
'I'm worried about him Sano.'
'Damnit Jou-chan,' he turned to her with an exasperated expression. 'You should be! '
'Do you know where he is?' She asked earnestly walking up to him. He held up his had and wagged his finger to affirm the negative. 'Did you know he was following you?'
'I suspected that he might have been when he wasn't in, but if you didn't start babbling as you did right then I honestly would have thought you sent him to run a late errand. Or a long one. Honestly even at that, when you started talking at first I was already thinking that he had run off on his own to tail me or something. Fool around and all that. I mentioned the whole thing about being followed to get you to talk because I figured you were worried that Yahiko had been gone for too long but didn't want to worry me,' he groaned and rolled his eyes. 'Well you were worried, but obviously for a different reason.'
'So he followed you back then? He's probably planning to stalk you to the ship again?' she clenched her fist. 'He's waiting you out, isn't he? So he can come into the dojo once you leave!' The look on Sanosuke's face told Kaoru her guesses were as off as she felt they were and she swallowed thickly. 'He didn't?' She managed to squeak out.
Sanosuke only let out a heavy sigh and gestured for her to come outside to meet him. They sat down on the porch.
'Yahiko followed me all the way to the ship. Technically he overtook me and waited there but he eavesdropped on the conversation between me and Kenshin, and while we could tell we were being watched, the kid was too good for us to even start guessing his identity. The only reason we considered the brat an option was because of Kitsune-chan. So I came back to return the fox to be sure that it wasn't in fact Yahiko, but some stalker of an old enemy or something. No one followed me back here, and you confirmed to me that Yahiko did in fact follow me and end up on the ship.'
'But he isn't back...' she inhaled deeply and held on tightly to her training hakama. Sanosuke's gait had not changed and she visibly deflated in an exhale. 'And you've obviously figured out why. So tell me already.'
Sanosuke nodded and told her his suspicions. Kaoru's expression grew stiller and stiller as he spoke, till finally, the bounty hunter worried if the girl had turned into stone.
'Yahiko.' The word was barely a whisper. She was barely aware of Sanosuke holding her hand. It was when he squeezed that she turned to him, so sharply that he felt like he got whiplash from just watching her turn her head. 'You have to let me help you find him. I sent him down this path.'
'I will.' But she shook her head and squeezed tighter. 'We will, Jou-chan.'
Ouuuu. The action (or the lack of thereof). The drama...
The last relationship I was in managed to survive till after valentine. Now all I have to do is not get into another one by November this year and I will prevent a cycle from taking form. Break the wheel before it starts turning, and all that.
I'm honestly in quite a space, between exams and cardiac arrests - because what are heartbreaks if not attacks on the heart - and I'm not sure I'm producing quality stuff. Hopefully, I won't disappear again for months on end like last time.
Stil in dire need of a beta readerrrrrr.
I hope you enjoyed this more than I did though. hoping to hear you out. Criticisms are especially welcome, so please review!
=UwU=