Author's Notes: I wanna say two things at the start. First, I broke one of my own rules in publishing this chapter so early. I usually wait at least 24 hours after finishing the rough draft before I look over the chapter one last time and publish it. Not so in this case. Not only am I fairly excited about this chapter personally, I want to get as much published as I possibly can before school starts (and that time is coming up fast; too fast, if you ask me).
Second, this chapter features an original character created by a friend of mine. Ririka is owned by Sarahsuke, and is used in this work with her permission.
--
Ebisumaru sighed happily as he looked outside at the singing wind chime on the balcony. Some of the cool, light breeze entered the room through the door that was open only a crack. Even up here, just a few stories above the ground, the air felt cleaner.
"Your dinner is here, sir," said a male voice that caused Ebisumaru to turn away from the balcony and towards the front door of the suite. A bellboy stood there behind a cart with several large plates and a steaming tea kettle on it. Each plate had a semicircular steel cover over it.
"Thanks very much," Ebisumaru said as he skipped over to the cart and the bellboy. He licked his lips as the pungent scent of his food passed through the metal barrier and reached his nose. "Mmm...Boy, I can't believe I got this great deal, just for being the one millionth customer. That was some good fortune, eh?"
"One millionth customer? Sir, there's no way this place could ever have had one million--" The bellboy stopped at what sounded to Ebisumaru like a loud cough, even though neither of them had done any such thing.
"What was that?" the Ninja of Justice asked.
"Er, nothing, sir. Nothing at all. Anyway, well, I've only been here for, uh, three months, sir, so what do I know? The manager, Mr. Tanaka, would know more about our records and such than I, a humble bellboy. Heh heh...Umm, enjoy your meal, sir!" And without another word to explain this strange noise or the sudden increase in talking speed, the bellboy bowed and quickly walked out of the room.
"What a strange person...Oh well, free food time!" Ebisumaru lifted the cover off the biggest plate and nearly cried from sheer joy when he saw a plate with strips of barbecue beef over a bed of rice staring back at him. He uncovered another and squealed with delight. "Eee, anmitsu!" The syrup covering the bean jam and fruit was almost spilling off the plate, there was so much of it. After taking a deep breath to keep himself from passing out from over excitement, he lifted the third and final cover. "Ah, good ol' dango." Ebisumaru picked up one skewer of the dumplings and shoved the entire thing in his mouth. The dumplings were glazed with an extremely sweet substance that Ebisumaru couldn't quite figure out; the taste sensation was completely new to him, and Ebisumaru always embraced new tastes. "I'm gonna enjoy this," he said before beginning his quest to scarf the rest of the food down.
--
The bellboy carefully walked over wires in the narrow passageway, which barely seemed big enough for even one person to walk through. Being relatively tall, he also had to bend down to keep from hitting his head on the ceiling. "You almost screwed everything up in there, Hibiki," came a hushed voice.
"Ack!" The bellboy jumped slightly and hit his head on the ceiling. Rubbing his new injury, he responded in an even softer tone. "Shh! He'll hear us!"
"I don't think that's very likely. He's not exactly a quiet eater." The man who had already been there turned to face this new arrival and patted a spot on the ground next to him.
Hibiki sat down and examined the wall in front of him. There were two small holes there, just large enough to see inside Ebisumaru's room. "Wow, he's still going...Say, you don't think that's the...person that paid us to do this, do you, Mr. Tanaka? They look exactly the same."
"Don't be foolish," came the brusque reply. "Even someone like...that person doesn't look dumb enough to come back here and fall into their own trap. This is definitely the guy we were asked to take care of.
"And he's been eating that food since the moment you left his room. Are you sure you put enough poison on everything?"
"Well, I applied as much as I could in such a short time. Also, the budget was so small, and--"
"I didn't ask you about the budget, you fool!" Tanaka received a harsh shush for this outburst, and Hibiki received a smack on the forehead for his insolence. "I asked you if you put enough poison on his food," the irate innkeeper hissed. "You know, enough to kill him."
"That much poison would be enough to kill most men, sir."
" 'Most men'? I don't know if you noticed this, boy, but this guy isn't like 'most men'. I mean, he's huge!" Hibiki shushed his boss once again, and promptly received the same punishment for it. "Do that again and I'll send you straight through this wall, you hear me?" Tanaka warned.
"Fine, fine. But even so, sir," Hibiki started, gently massaging his sore head, "the amount I used would even be enough to knock out a rhinoceros. I'm sure he'll keel over soon enough."
Suddenly, Ebisumaru burped loudly. Looking quite embarrassed, he looked to both sides before saying "Excuse me" to no one in particular. "Oh! Look, boy, something is happening!" Mr. Tanaka pointed towards the Ninja of Justice excitedly.
On the other side of the wall, Ebisumaru stretched and yawned. "Wow, that food was really rich," he mumbled. There was only some rice and a small amount of anmitsu left on the cart. "Maybe I should just drink some tea and go to bed..." Ebisumaru lifted the pot and poured some into a small cup.
"Ah, the tea," Tanaka said with an evil grin.
"Yes, the tea," Hibiki repeated with the same grin. There was a short pause. "Umm, what about the tea, sir?"
"Don't ask stupid questions, boy. You did remember to poison the tea, didn't you?"
"Er, well, no...I, I can explain!" He put his hands up to cover his face when his boss gave him a furious look. "You didn't give me enough to put in the tea. Plus, this type of poison isn't very potent in hot liquids...uh-oh..."
Tanaka, completely dumbfounded, stared openmouthed at this idiotic bellboy. "What kind of a poison...ISN'T POTENT IN HOT LIQUIDS?! No wonder he hasn't died yet!"
"Shh, please calm down, Boss--" Before he could say anymore, Hibiki found himself being slammed headfirst into the wall separating them from Ebisumaru.
Of course, even the Ninja of Justice would have to notice a loud crash like this. With a confused look on his face, he tiptoed towards the wall and put his ear up to it. The other side was silent, save for occasional muffled whimpers from the bellboy, which Ebisumaru couldn't detect. After a few seconds of hearing nothing else, Ebisumaru backed away from the wall and shook his head disapprovingly. "Tsk tsk...Looks like this place has a serious rat problem. I'd better tell the manager tomorrow morning." And with that, he yawned and trudged off to bed, scratching his stomach as he dragged himself to the comfort that awaited him.
"Ow...Well, I'm glad you didn't send me through the wall like you threatened, sir," Hibiki whined.
"Eh? I don't think I could do that even if I wanted to. These walls are pretty sturdy," Tanaka said as he lovingly petted the section of wall that his subordinate's head had collided with seconds earlier. "I may be crooked, but I'm no cheapskate."
"Right...Well, anyway, it looks like the poison seems to be making him weaker. He should be dead any second now."
Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes became hours. Neither Tanaka nor Hibiki said anything at all during this time, though there was a considerable amount of moaning and grunting. Suddenly, Hibiki sat up straight. "Say, Boss," he whispered. "I just realized something."
Tanaka yawned and rubbed his eyes before responding. "Yeah? What is it?"
"Well, if he's dead, umm...How would we know if we stayed back here? We can't see the bed from here. Plus, dead people don't usually make any noise or anything, do they?"
"You're the so-called expert, you idiot! You tell me!"
Tanaka was about to strangle the bellboy before a loud noise from inside the room interrupted him. Both men turned towards the noise, which was followed by mumbling from a very distinct voice. "Food, glorious food, hee hee hee..." it said before snoring loudly once more.
"Argh! Come on!" exclaimed both of the failed assassins at the same time.
"All right, it's fine, we'll be all right," Hibiki said after taking a few seconds to calm down. "I've got a Plan B."
--
"Are you sure you can't get me any closer than this, sir? This could be kind of tough..."
"Of course I'm sure. And if you're even half as good as you claim to be, then this should be a piece of cake."
Hibiki gulped and nodded. They were once again in the space between the walls, though in an area only slightly closer to the bed than their previous position. He took out a thin, black box and opened it carefully. Inside lay the intended murder weapon; three of them in fact, as well as a fourth device to make it all possible. "All right, these should do the trick, methinks..."
The innkeeper pushed on the wall, which opened like a hinged door. At the same time, somebody in Ebisumaru's room would have seen one side of the suite's sole painting (a garish portrait of Mr. Tanaka himself) separate from the wall and swing forward to reveal a lanky bellboy and a squat innkeeper staring in from the narrow space behind the wall.
"Uh-huh, I'm pretty sure I can't make this, sir...Why can't we just go in and slit his throat or something?" asked the now shaking bellboy. "It would be so quick and easy."
"You fool! If we were to set foot in the room, something would inevitably tie us to the crime! Don't you know anything, boy?"
"Oh yeah, you're right...Heh heh, you're pretty smart, Boss." He removed a thin, wooden tube and an even thinner cylinder with a sharp point at one end from the box. "These darts will send our stubborn friend packing on a one-way trip to the afterlife." He put the dart into the blow gun, put the other end to his lips, and blew into it.
The deadly projectile sailed through the air towards its oblivious victim. It would deliver death mere seconds after impact from the point on the end of the dart, a quick demise for the clueless Ninja of Justice. However, Ebisumaru experienced one more stroke of good fortune when gravity's pull caused the dart to hit the side of the bed instead.
Tanaka slapped his forehead. "I thought you said you could do this..." he groaned.
"Of course I can do this, sir. I just have to aim a little higher and give it a little more oomph." The shooter adjusted his aim, took a bigger breath, and blew into the tube once more.
This second shot did in fact manage to reach the sleeping Ebisumaru. However, it had lost much of its force by that time and simply bounced off of his large, flabby nose. Without waking up, Ebisumaru mumbled something, swatted lazily at the general area of his nose, and turned over onto his side. His back now faced the frustrated and murderous duo.
"Great...We've only got one more shot with this," Hibiki mumbled. He loaded the dart into the gun. "I'd better make this count." He then took several deep breaths and closed his eyes in concentration before slowly raising the narrow tube to his lips.
"Come on, boy, don't let me down," Tanaka said. Just as Hibiki put the blow gun to his mouth, the innkeeper gave him several hearty pats on the back. The bellboy's eyes grew wide as he inhaled quickly to recover from this sudden blow, and grew wider still when the dart flew back into his mouth and became lodged in his throat. He dropped the gun and held on to his neck, making loud choking sounds the entire time.
Even Ebisumaru couldn't sleep through that. He sat up with a start, rubbed his eyes, and looked straight at the painting. Both Tanaka and Hibiki froze, though the latter continued to gag and cough. Ebisumaru got out of bed and dragged his feet in their direction. "You've really done it this time, idiot," the innkeeper hissed quietly.
However, Ebisumaru walked right past them as his hand searched for and eventually found a night stand near the door leading to the balcony. He picked up the vase on the table, walked out onto the balcony, and hurled it at the ground three stories below. There was a loud crash as the vase shattered upon hitting the ground. "Shaddap!" he shouted before turning around and beginning his slow journey back to bed, wetting his lips and mumbling something about "stupid cats" along the way.
Tanaka, though, kept looking out at the balcony as tears began welling up in his eyes. "M-My vase...That thing cost me a fortune...!"
--
Hibiki yawned loudly, nearly letting go of the two ropes that were held in one of his hands. "Don't let go of those ropes yet, boy!" came a stern command that snapped him back to attention.
It was now morning. The other ends of the ropes in the exhausted bellboy's hand were tied to one of the ornate columns that decorated the lobby of the inn. The column itself leaned somewhat precariously in the general direction of the front desk. "Can't you ask somebody else to do this, sir?" he asked in a hoarse voice. "I mean, we were up all night coming up with this plan and setting it up..."
"Quit your whining! We'll get him this time, I'm sure."
The plan went as follows: Ebisumaru would come down to the lobby sometime within the next few hours to check out of his room. After returning his key and on his way out of the lobby, Hibiki would release the ropes holding the column up, smashing the Ninja of Justice under its massive weight.
"Boss, I'm really tired," moaned the bellboy. "And are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, you're destroying part of the inn."
"Hold your tongue! Of course it's a good idea, boy. And don't worry your foolish little head over that, he said he'll be glad to pay us handsomely if we can do this. I'm sure we'll be compensated for any damages, and then some." He added in a barely audible whisper "And then I can replace my precious vase."
"Again with the vase," thought Hibiki as he rolled his eyes.
"Anyway," Tanaka continued in his normal tone, "he'll be down here any minute. When I give you the signal--" He waved his hand in a flourish. "--then you can let go of those ropes. It's a plan that's simple enough even for an idiot like you to understand."
--
And so they waited. They stayed in the exact same positions, saying no words and seeing no one, for over an hour. They were both growing tense and irritated. Finally, Ebisumaru, looking fully rested and very happy, casually strolled up to the front desk.
He put one elbow on the table and used his other hand to slam the key on the desk. "There you are, sir. Thanks for the free room," he said. "By the way, I think I heard rats in the walls last night. You might want to look into that."
"Ah, thank you for telling me that, good sir. I'll be sure to take care of it," the innkeeper said with a grin. Soon, the time would come to carry out his plan and complete a more important task. Shortly after exchanging goodbyes, Ebisumaru turned around and began walking away. Tanaka signaled that it was time to drop the column.
--
About a minute before he was ordered to release the ropes from his hands, Hibiki was in fact still standing there, attentively waiting for the signal to deliver the final blow. He had gone through a painful and sleepless night leading up to this moment; it would take something highly unusual to distract him from this purpose now.
Fortunately for Ebisumaru, something highly unusual did in fact come to distract the bellboy. "Hey. Got a minute?" came a sudden voice. The person's speech was quick, and it was difficult to determine a gender from it.
Hibiki was frustrated that somebody was interrupting him at this crucial time. "Sir, can't you see I'm bu--Whoa, wow wow wow!"
The "sir" standing before him wasn't so much a sir as a madam, and was actually less of a madam and more of a fox, in more than one sense of the word. She was a fox spirit, a kitsune, that had taken on a human form, save for her furry, pointed ears and multiple bushy tails. Her clothing consisted of a worn orange jacket and a pair of shorts of matching color, as well as some cloth wrapped around her voluptuous chest and a ring that hung from a modest necklace. Standing there with one hand on her hip and a sly smile on her face, she exuded a strong sense of self-confidence.
"Uh, I mean, I can, I can help you, if you want, miss, with, uh, whatever..." The bellboy continued rambling in this manner for some time.
The kitsune put her hands up to stop him. "All right, I'd like to get what I need today, if you don't mind. Listen, I'm looking for--"
"What's your name, pretty lady?"
"Huh? My name? You can call me Ririka. Anyway, I'm looking for--"
"Ririka...Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman..." Hibiki seemed lost in thought as his glazed eyes stared at this exotic creature before him.
"Well, it is good to know I've still got it after all these years, but if you can't tell me where I can find Jurokubei, I'll just be on my way. I hear he's got a pretty great place for people like me," she said with a grin.
"Jurokubei? Why would you want someone like Jurokubei when you can stay here with me?" The scrawny bellboy flexed for Ririka, letting go of the ropes but pulling them back just in time.
"Yeah, I don't think so. I'll see you around." Ririka turned to go, and that was when she noticed the Ninja of Justice pass right in front of her on his way to the door. "No...It can't be..." she muttered to herself. She quickly turned back to face Hibiki. "Hey, you! Tell me, who is that man?"
"That man? Why would you want someone like that man when you can stay here with me?"
"All right, that's it, I'm leaving," said the kitsune as she threw her arms up in frustration. "You're completely useless. Oh, and I think you're boss wants to talk to you." She was right; the innkeeper was waving his arms so wildly and looked so mad, it seemed like a blood vessel in his head would burst. And with that, she ran out the door after Ebisumaru.
"What?! Useless?! Why, I never--" Completely insulted, Hibiki let go of the ropes and crossed his arms. Seconds later, there was a crash, a scream, and a cloud of dust. "Oh no! Mr. Tanaka! Hold on, I'll get you out from under there!" he shouted as he ran towards the fallen column.
Outside the inn, Ririka had caught up with her mystery man, and was too distracted by her excitement to look for the source of the loud crash. Ebisumaru, however, turned back to face the inn, and this woman that had followed him out. She was panting heavily as a wide smile came to her face and she wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Ebisumaru! I'm so happy..." she said.
Ebisumaru, though flattered that he had such an enthusiastic and beautiful fan, was wracking his brain to figure out just who she was. "Umm, I'm sorry...Do I know you?" he asked finally.
Too shocked to speak, Ririka released him from her embrace and stepped back to look him in the eyes. It was Ebisumaru, all right. But if he didn't recognize her...That could only mean one thing: this Ebisumaru was from too far in the past. Though it pained her to do nothing, she knew there could be dire consequences to introducing herself to him here and now, before he returned to his own time. "N-No, my mistake. I'm sorry," she said. Her ears drooped as she looked away with embarrassment.
Ebisumaru raised an eyebrow before turning and walking away. Whoever she was, she was sure strange. The kitsune remained in the same place, however, and watched him go. A million thoughts ran through her mind, but only one of them was articulated as she rubbed the ring on her necklace between two fingers. "Ebisumaru...I'm so glad I got to see you again..."
--
Author's Notes: I think it would be a good idea to give some more information on Ririka for all you people. As this chapter stated, Ririka is a kitsune (fox spirit). Long ago, in the Edo period, she met and fell in love with Ebisumaru, and they entered a long and happy marriage together. It should be clear that this story takes place before they meet in the Edo period; after all, it'd be hard to forget someone like Ririka. Being a kitsune, she always knew that she would likely live for hundreds of years after her husband's death. Now, in "the future", she seeks Jurokubei to become a part of his "beautiful women collection" (his harem), though she'll never forget Ebisumaru and all he's done for her.