Yakeru stood in front of the building, reading the sign that stood in front of the shop several times as though he didn't believe what was written on it.

"You coming in or are you just gonna stand there?" Goemon asks the kid as he holds up the sheet in front of the door.

"Yeah, sorry… I just didn't think you were serious." Yakeru mutters, shaking his head in disbelief as he follows the redhead into the shop.

The small library had a cozy feeling to it. It smelt musty with a twist of earthy and wax. It was lit nearly around every corner by a candle but most of the light came from the back door leading to a small zen courtyard with some cushions and a tea set. Books lined walls as shelves were placed in neat lines around the shop, the books flowing from one section to another alphabetically and by genre. On the far side of the shop stood a full wall of scrolls. In front of the wall sat an old man at a desk with a brush in hand and a half-written scroll in front of him.

The old man had a long beard that was tucked into his kimono to keep it from smudging the ink. And while he looked feeble and wrinkled like a sun-dried prune, his handwriting was beautiful. Clean strokes and graceful flicks of lettering on the scroll.

"Ishikawa," Goemon and Yakeru both look over and find a young man walking in from a side room with an arm full of blank scrolls.

Yakeru knew the man was speaking towards Goemon, but it startled him a bit when he said his name out like that.

"Yara," Goemon bows to the man in familiality. "Yakeru, give me a minute with them."

Yakeru gives Goemon a side-eye for a moment before walking off and scanning a random wall of books.

"How is Danto doing?" Goemon asks in a soft voice, looking over at the old man continuing to write on the scroll.

Yara sighs a bit, "what can I really say? He's still healthy enough to live. But if he isn't on bed rest, he is writing."

Yara, or Yarichiko, was Danto's grandson. And Danto, the old man, was the closest thing Goemon had as a grandfather. He's the owner of the small library that is in the growing city of Ijuri and is known for his beautiful scroll writing. When Goemon turned to the life of thieving before becoming a ninja, he would visit Danto once in a while and help pay for the running of the shop and sometimes spent some nights with him if he didn't want to sleep outside. And as Goemon grew, he continued to keep in touch with Danto. But in his frail state, he is always worried that he may forget who he is.

"At least he is still able to do what he loves," Goemon murmurs under his breath, Danto continuing to write on the scroll uninterrupted as they spoke about him.

"Who's the kid?" Yara asks, changing the subject and nodding towards the redhead who stood in front of a shelf reading a book.

"You're not going to believe it, but that is my kid."

Yara raises an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't want to settle."

"I didn't. He's from someone I slept with years ago." Goemon shook his head, touseling his hair a bit as he felt uncomfortable as Yara went back and forth between him and Yakeru.

"I mean… I see the resemblance."

Goemon gives the man a friendly smack before turning back to Yakeru to see if he was listening.

"Have you heard anything about Hojo's mansion?"

Yara walks to the end of the wall of scrolls and pulls out two before handing them over to Goemon.

"I've heard through the vines that Hojo has a document that may be useful for Hanzo. It contains a very detailed list of many of the underground criminal organizations that work many of the ports for trades. And some even say it has some Western groups listed on a separate document." Yara explains in a hushed tone, keeping his voice facing away from the shop to keep the echo to a minimum.

"A document with all the crime lords and more. That would be a great present for Hanzo." Goemon says sarcastically. Opening up one of the scrolls just barely to see the first words, he nods to confirm that they were instructions and blueprints for the mansion and inventory and a count list of staff that would be there.

"Hojo just left the country a few days ago from what I heard. So if you are going to get that list, I would do it within a week. He usually isn't gone long." Yara warns before turning away from Goemon and finally organizing the stack of scrolls he still held in his arms.

"Thank you, Yara." Goemon walks over to Danto, kneeling down at eye level and placing a hand on his, causing the old man to halt his stroke and look up at Goemon with gray glossy eyes. "It was good seeing you again, Danto."

The old man doesn't react in any way as he continues to stare at the redheaded ninja. And as soon as Goemon lifted his hand, he went right back to continuing to write.

Goemon felt his heart wrench for a moment at the interaction before standing up and turning back to call over Yakeru, only to find him walking up to them with a small stack of books in his arms.

"Can I check these out?"

~PYRODYNASTY~

"So…" Yakeru speaks up first as the two sat in a tea house with identical bowls of spicy ramen sat in front of them. "Who is Yara to you?"

Goemon glances up to the kid before bowing slightly, giving thanks for the food and mixing it around to get some of the noodles mixed in the spice.

"Yarichiko is my informant." He simply states, making sure to keep his voice down to make sure no one near was able to hear.

"Do you have an informant in every town?" Yakeru asks curiously as he does the same thing.

Goemon shook his head. "Informants are rarely ninjas or samurais. General informants are those that everyone uses to gain information. It will usually be someone who is a known gossiper but is able to keep a secret till their last day. But when you work as a ninja long enough, you can meet people who know the ropes. Deeper information."

Goemon meets Yakeru's gaze, finding a very tentative look on his face as he listens to Goemon's lecture.

"Yara is my informant for the weapons and drug trade that happens in the harbors of the East. No one else is able to get information from him, even after I die."

Yakeru nods in understanding, silencing the conversation and continuing to eat their ramen before heading back to the mansion.

~PYRODYNASTY~

"You got the scrolls?" Hanzo asks, walking into his office with all three of the ninjas already waiting for him.

"Yeah," Goemon pulls out the scrolls from his backpack before laying them out on the table. "Yara mentioned the Hojo is gone out of the country at the moment so we only have about a week to get this mission done," Goemon explains to the group.

"Shouldn't be too hard. Hojo's mansion is barely half a day's walk. Maybe a few hours on horseback." Momo mentions.

"Even if it isn't that far, we cannot procrastinate this," Hanzo argues to him. "We have to get this map down well enough that we can figure out just how we can get those documents and the best escape routes. I don't want any notice of this task."

"Well, that's going to be easy. I already see two ways in without getting detected." Kotaro points out on the maps.

Goemon felt a small shudder go through his body before looking over at the hallway. It was dark as it was already evening, only a small flicker of light from a lantern slightly illuminated the walls around it. He couldn't really tell but he thought he felt like someone was watching or listening in to their conversation.

"Goemon, what do you think?" Hanzo's voice brings him back, raising an eyebrow when he notices him not paying attention to the meetings.

"Sorry, what?"

Yakeru stood up against the opposite wall, making sure no shadows appeared from the little light in the hallway and straining his hearing to listen in on the meeting.

It seemed like they were talking about something amateur. Easy in and out mission. Just for some documents.

He didn't know what the documents contained but if there was a mission to it, they are probably important, he thought.

Yakeru takes in a few minutes of the conversation before slipping through the hallway silently and making it up to his and Fuyuko's room in excitement. Fuyuko looks up from the book Yakeru's brought back for her and notices his grin.

"Yakeru?"

"Fuyu, I have a plan that would help us rank up as ninja sooner than later."