Folded Hands, Chapter Four
Pairings: Zabuza/Haku, possibly others later
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Zabuza woke before Haku the next morning. He found his slave sleeping peacefully on the couch and almost walked passed him, thinking, 'I'll let the kid sleep in'.
Haku was his slave, though, and their relationship could not be one of gentle allowances and tolerances.
"Get up," he said gruffly as stood over Haku.
The young man opened his eyes immediately and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and then looked up at his master.
Good.
"I'm going into town for a little while," Zabuza told him. Haku nodded. "Breakfast should be ready by the time I get back." He gave Haku a lingering glance—mostly as a reminder of his place—and left the small house.
Haku sat on the couch for a few more minutes, thinking about what his master had told him to do.
I wish that I had awoken before him. I don't want master to think that I'm lazy or that I need constant guidance to please him.
Thoughts of the previous day's incident crossed his mind. Master might still be angry with me for lying to him. I need to get on his good side, no matter what that takes today.
Haku changed and began to make breakfast. He hoped that his master would return soon.
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Zabuza returned two hours later. By that time, Haku had made breakfast, set the table, and returned to cleaning the living room.
Haku greeted him in his usual way: he stopped what he was doing, walked up to him, and said, "Yes, master?".
"Breakfast ready?" The answer to this was obvious, but Zabuza asked him in order to reinforce the dynamics of their relationship.
"Yes, master."
"Good."
Zabuza sat down at the dining table and began to eat. "Come eat when you're finished with that," he said, not bothering to look up to see what 'that' was. "There's something I need to talk to you about."
Haku said, "Yes, master," and did as he'd been told. When he sat down with his master, the older man said, "I have work to do tomorrow, and I'm going to have you help me."
"Yes, master."
Zabuza raised an eyebrow. He's not going to ask what it is?
His slave began to eat, acting rather disinterested, so he said, "Pay attention."
A look of surprise, and then sadness, crossed Haku's face as he realized that he had already disappointed his master that morning. He looked at the older man and said, "Yes, master," and did not take his eyes away from him.
Zabuza pulled a photograph from his pocket and tossed it onto the table in front of Haku. "All you need to know is that this is the target." Haku examined the photograph—the man in it looked to be about fifty, with white hair and a short white beard. "He's done some things that some people didn't like for some reason. What's more, is that the informant told me that he's got a taste for young girls."
Haku feigned confusion. "Young girls?" Please not that. He could feel his stomach unsettle.
Zabuza nodded. "It's fortunate that I bought you, then. Otherwise, I would have had to pay some girl who had nothing to do with me, to seduce this old geezer."
His slave closed his eyes for a moment, steadying himself. Zabuza watched him, wondering if he would protect his pride by refusing to do what he was implying that Haku would have to do. Haku opened his eyes again and looked at him placidly.
So, he's going to serve me.
"I guess it's fortunate then, master." He began to eat again.
His master was very entertained by that response, and decided to not punish him.
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Haku was inwardly fuming. He was mostly angry with himself, for having long hair, for disappointing his master over the past few days—he was suspicious that his master was going to have him pretend to be a girl, and seduce an old man, as a punishment, or as a threat that he would not be allowed to help his master with the important parts of his work if he did not progress.
But, his master had ordered it. If he could help Zabuza, then he would do whatever was necessary.
These thoughts crossed his mind as he shopped inside the women's clothing store back in town. He had worn the pink yukata again in order to pass as a girl.
His master hadn't given him much guidance on this shopping trip. "Just pick something pretty, I guess," his master had said before pushing him inside the shop. He knew that his master thought the situation was humorous, but he couldn't say anything back.
The saleswomen helped him to choose another yukata. This one was violet and was much more expensive than the men's clothing he bought. Haku found himself grinning inside.
If this has to be difficult for me, then why should I worry about the cost?
He knew that it was wrong to think such things, but the thought came to him before he could push it down. He was afraid that thoughts like this, and his occasional cheekiness, would make his master punish him.
Haku forced his face into a frown. He did not want to give this master any reason to treat him badly.
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The next day, Zabuza lead the female-impersonating and incredibly nervous Haku to the district where the target spent his afternoons. Haku had difficulty in keeping up with his master because of the clothing he had worn.
His bit his cheek. Why did I have to dress like a geisha?
His master had made him return the first yukata, and had chosen the clothing for him the second time around. Haku had been mildly amused to see his intimidating master ask the sales lady for 'promiscuous clothing' and then actually look through a few garments himself, looking for the appropriate type. Haku knew that they would probably never be allowed back into the store again, which suited him just fine.
His master had not stopped at the yukata—he had made Haku find shoes, make-up, and hair ornaments. As his master pushed him from one store to the next, he began to truly understand his purpose in this mission.
Zabuza had surprised him by shopping for the hair ornaments himself. Haku wasn't sure of what his master had been looking for at the time, but he had given him instructions when they returned home later that day.
"I'm going to have you kill him," he said. "The geezer goes to this bar almost every afternoon. The women who work at the bar are usually too old for him, so he'll look around for pretty teenaged girls outside the bar before he goes in.
"There usually aren't any girls waiting outside, though, so if he sees a girl standing nearby who looks like the right type, he'll probably jump all over her and pull her in with him."
"That's me, right?"
His master had nodded. "Follow him inside, and when he's relaxed--" his master pulled out one of the hair ornaments and brought the tip to Haku's neck suddenly. Haku fought to not flinch, and his master smiled.
"If there's any trouble, I'll come in to help. I'll be ready to kill his bodyguards by waiting at the back, but the old guy'll probably pull you into an isolated room for some fun--" Haku shuddered at that, "—so you'll have a clear shot."
Haku found himself wondering if he would be prepared for this mission. He didn't think that the actual killing would take much prowess, but the acting required…
They neared the bar, and Zabuza said, "It's all yours, kid."
He nodded at his master and walked towards the bar. The old man was not there yet, it seemed, so he waited outside for a while.
One of the waitresses saw him outside and said, "Oh! Young girl!"
Haku turned to her and said in as softly a voice as he could, "Yes?"
The waitress pulled Haku inside. "You're here for Juroichi-sama, right?" She tugged on Haku's arm, forcing him to follow her up a set of stairs. "You can make some money really quickly if you want to, just spend some time with this nice man!"
When they reached the end of one of the bar's hallways, the waitress pulled the door open and said, "Please excuse me, Juroichi-sama! I found this lovely girl Hanako outside and she said she would love to meet you!"
Haku was taken aback. Hanako? Love to meet you? Am I even a part of this mission at all? He wondered how many other girls had been dragged into this situation. He did not fight, though, because this was what Zabuza wanted.
The old man was sitting before a low table on a cushion, enjoying a very expensive-looking meal and a bottle of what Haku guessed was alcohol. "Oh? Hanako you say?" His expression lit up, and his patted a nearby cushion.
The waitress shoved the silent Haku into the room before slamming the door shut.
Haku regarded the man for a moment and thought, for master…
He smiled and used the soft voice again. "Yes, Juroichi-sama. My name is Hanako. Would you care if I join you?"
The old man just smiled back and Haku took the cushion next to him. Haku wondered how quickly he could kill the man, get out of the bar, get out of the costume, and…
As he looked back at the target, forcing himself to smile, he thought, master must not think much of me, to have me take this kind of role in a mission.
Juroichi offered him a small cup of sake.
"Oh, no, I couldn't," Haku said softly, covering his mouth with his hand.
The old man leered at him. "Don't worry, young lady, I won't tell your parents…"
"Well, well," Haku responded in his best imitation of a flirtatious woman. He drank the sake slowly, and it burned his mouth.
That's disgusting!
He hid his distaste for the alcohol as he handed the cup back to Juroichi. The old man took it, filled it again, and quickly drained the contents. He was clearly inebriated.
Juroichi looked over Haku's well-disguised body and said, "My, they really do tie these things differently from how they did in my day," he said drunkenly. "A pretty girl like you should look more relaxed…" He started to pull the garment down Haku's shoulders.
Haku said, "Oh no, Juroichi-sama!", still impersonating a girl, and was shocked when the old man proceeded to pull the top down to Haku's stomach.
"Eh?" Juroichi asked. He stared at Haku's flat chest and Haku closed his eyes.
He pulled the hair garment out as he had practiced and shoved the pointed end as quickly was possible.
The old man stared at him for a moment with the thin metal rod sticking out of his neck. He tried to say something, maybe to shout, but no sound would come out of his mouth. Haku realized that the man wasn't on the road to death just yet, and so he pulled out the decoration in preparation for a second blow.
As soon as the rod was out of his neck, blood began to spurt from the wound. Haku was surprised by this, and a fair amount of blood stained his new, unwanted yukata. He quickly shoved the rod back into the old man's neck and realized that he had no escape route.
Haku stood up, letting some of the blood on his yukata drip onto the floor, and he peeked outside the room. He was at the end of a long hallway with rooms on either side. He stared and thought about his situation, and then decided to try the next room.
This one was empty, thankfully, and was facing the alley at the back of the store.
Haku ripped the remaining decorations out of his hair, pulled the yukata up so that it covered his chest, and wiped his face clean of the disgusting makeup using his already-ruined yukata.
No one had noticed the murder yet.
He looked out the window again. There was a ledge to jump onto, and nothing else but the ground, which was at least fifteen feet away.
Haku swallowed and jumped.
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When Haku awoke, the first thing he saw was the ceiling of Zabuza's house. As he remembered the events of the day, he sat up and looked around for his master.
He noticed that his ankle was bandaged and that he was only wearing the inside layer of the yukata.
His master entered the house then, slamming the front door behind him.
"You up?"
"Yes, master." Haku suddenly felt a sting of guilt in his stomach. "Master?"
"Yes?"
"How did the mission go?"
Zabuza shrugged. As he walked to his room, he said, "You did alright," over his shoulder.
Haku stared at the door to his master's room as it was slammed shut. He knew that he had made a mistake—he must have passed out from that jump—but his master hadn't said anything about it.
His master left his room then and approached him. Haku had no idea of what to expect, when this man actually gave him his attention.
"Haku."
"Yes, master?"
Zabuza gave him a look, though Haku wasn't sure why, and said, "Firstly, good kill. No one knew the old guy was dead when I picked you up and brought you here.
Secondly, the jump."
Haku nodded. "I'm sorry, master."
"If you let something like that happen to you again, I won't bring you back."
"Yes, master."
"Now, go to bed."
Haku thought of asking his master about dinner, but decided not to.
He had already disappointed his master that day. He didn't want to trouble him anymore.
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Note: no, Haku will not regularly dress as a girl.
