After getting over the commotion surrounding Yae's sudden awakening, the next important task was finding a way out of the forest. Although nobody had any real idea where the nearest town could be, they did have Sasuke, who could lead them away from the ocean using an internal compass that the Wise Man had so ingeniously installed.
"Say, what time is it?" Omitsu asked after yawning loudly. They had been walking for what seemed to her like ages.
"5:21 a.m." Sasuke replied very matter-of-factly. "We've been traveling for approximately 40 minutes now."
"Hmm..." Omitsu looked over at Goemon as she stepped over large roots in her way. She could see in his eyes that he felt exactly the same way she did: tired and frustrated, willing to trade anything for a warm meal and a soft bed. She also noticed that he was making an obvious effort to stay away from Yae and briefly wondered why he had such an odd habit of keeping his distance from women he had been pushed into being too close to.
"Hey guys, look!" Yae shouted suddenly, pointing ahead and up at the sky. A thin, gray line undulated slightly as it rose higher and higher. "Where there's smoke, there's fire. And where there's fire, there's probably people. Come on!" She ran forward excitedly; apparently, Goemon and Omitsu weren't the only ones looking for a place to rest. The others followed her with just as much enthusiasm.
The ninjas didn't have to travel very far to discover the source of the fire. Though their relief at finally seeing the end of the forest was great, they were overjoyed to see a small building just a short distance away from the forest's edge. "Well, thank goodness for that," Goemon said with a huge sigh. "Come on, let's go inside."
The group moved closer to the building, which had a blue curtain in the doorway. "Must be a shop of some sort..." Yae guessed. "Doesn't look like a very nice place, though." She looked up and read the sign above the door that identified this building as a restaurant and bar. One window next to the door was missing an entire glass pane, and wood was chipped in several places.
"Who cares? They've got food," Goemon said as he moved the curtain aside and walked in, ignoring Yae's pleas to wait. "See, this place isn't so bad," he said after he had been joined by his three friends.
Yae's and Omitsu's first thoughts upon seeing the restaurant were that Goemon clearly didn't have high standards when it came to cleanliness or appearance. There were large piles of dust in each of the corners and cobwebs decorating the ceiling. Most of the tables stood on wobbly legs and the bar that Goemon sat at had splotches of what was, they could only hope, alcohol.
"Oi! Drink!" Goemon shouted as he banged on the counter in front of him.
"Hmm?" The bartender turned around to face his new customer. He wore a solid black shirt with a hood of the same color, which covered all of his face except for his eyes, attached to the back. He was cleaning the inside of a mug with a dirty rag which made the girls' eyes widen in shock. He looked Goemon up and down, and then examined his friends behind him before speaking. "Yeah? What'll it be?"
"Sake. One bottle," Goemon replied. "And make it fast." Surely this wouldn't be a problem for the bartender; there were no other customers in the restaurant.
"Right, a bottle of sake," the bartender mumbled. "What about the rest of you?"
"No thanks" was the unanimous and simultaneous response.
While Goemon sat waiting at the bar, tapping his fingers impatiently on the counter, Yae pulled Omitsu and Sasuke into a huddle and spoke to them in a whisper. "Hey, does this place seem a little...fishy to any of you?"
"What do you mean?" Omitsu asked. "Sure it could use a good cleaning, but it seems normal otherwise."
"I'm not just talking about the upkeep of the restaurant itself, Omitsu. The bartender also seems a little suspicious."
"Really? I didn't notice anything unusual..." Sasuke mumbled.
"Well, maybe it's just my imagination..." Yae continued. She looked back at Goemon, who was just getting his drink. "Anyway, I think we should get out of here as soon as Goemon's done. This place is giving me the creeps." It was certainly easy enough for all three of them to agree on that point.
"Hurry up, Goemon," Omitsu said as she walked up to her friend with the others. "We, um...We'd better keep moving."
"What's the big rush?" he said as he poured some sake from the bottle into a splotchy mug. He took a swig, which was enough to make the ladies wince. "You guys must be exhausted, you should've gotten something to eat or drink." He belched loudly. "Yeah, I think we're gonna be here for a while." Goemon swayed back and forth somewhat unsteadily on his seat, and then toppled over, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Omitsu and Yae shrieked as all three knelt to make sure he didn't hurt himself. Goemon's eyes were closed and his breathing had become practically nonexistent. "Quick, get the bartender!" Yae ordered as she put her ear against Goemon's chest.
Omitsu and Sasuke stood up and looked around, but there wasn't a single soul in sight. "Sir? Where are you?" Sasuke called out.
"Please, help us!" Omitsu shouted. No response, not even an echo. "This is bad," she said as she knelt down. "There's nobody here!"
"What?! Damn it, I knew there was something weird about this place and that guy!" Yae hissed. "Goemon's in pretty bad condition. My guess is there was something in the drink."
"Well, what are we gonna do about it?" Omitsu asked, a strong panic and a miserable cracking in her voice.
"Well, it might be possible to save him..." Yae began. She took a deep breath and finished her thought. "With CPR."
"You mean...the same procedure we used to save you?" Omitsu asked, blinking.
"Yeah. I've got a hunch that Bismaru's responsible for both this and the monster we fought. If he used a similar type of poison, we need to get Goemon to expel it out of his body, or at least stimulate his lungs somehow."
"Right." There was a long pause. "Well, come on! What are you waiting for, Yae?!"
"What are you looking at me for? YOU'RE the one who's going to be doing this."
"Me?! But I, I don't know how--"
"Don't worry, Omitsu, I'll supervise. Sasuke, you need to see if there's something back there that might be an antidote."
"But how am I supposed to know what the antidote looks like?" Even as he said this, Sasuke walked behind the bar counter and started examining the hundreds of dusty bottles displayed on the back shelf.
"Hold it!" Omitsu raised her voice much higher than any of them were accustomed to, which came as quite a shock to her two conscious companions. She was breathing heavily and looked like she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. "Yae, please...I just want Goemon to be okay..."
"And he will be if you follow my instructions," Yae said as she grabbed Omitsu's shaking hands. She looked deep enough into Omitsu's eyes to see her own desperately panicked expression in the glossy surface. "I promise, he'll be okay. I'll guide you every step of the way, and if it looks like things are going badly I'll take over. You need to be the one to save him. And besides, you should learn this for the next time you come with us."
"N-Next time?" Omitsu blinked in utter surprise. Why Yae would want her to accompany them again was beyond her, but instead of taking an inordinate amount of time to contemplate this, she gulped and nodded. "Okay, tell me what to do."
"All right, he's in good hands. First, you're going to check to see if he's breathing and how his heart is doing. I've already done that, so we'll move on to step two. Put one hand on his chest and move it down until you reach the triangle formed by his rib cage. Don't be shy," she said as she guided Omitsu's hand down. "All right, there we go. The bottom of your palm should rest in that triangle. Now put your other hand on top and push down firmly."
"L-Like this?" Omitsu pushed against his chest and brought her hands back up.
"Yes, that's right. Do that a few more times, but not too much. I'll let you know when you should stop."
"Okay..." She repeated the motion, counting with each completion. "Two, three, four, five, six..."
Yae instructed Omitsu to stop when she reached ten. "Now check for a pulse. Put your ear against his chest and put a finger against his wrist, like this." She picked up Goemon's wrist and showed Omitsu the proper place to check, while the waitress did as instructed with his other hand and lowered her head to his chest. "Well? Is there a pulse?"
"I...I don't think so..." Omitsu's voice was shaking uncontrollably.
"Really? Let me see..." Yae repeated the check on her side, and then sat back up. "Okay, time to try mouth-to-mouth. Are you ready?"
"I...I guess..."
"No pressure, Omitsu, but people usually mess up somehow when they try mouth-to-mouth for the first time. Anyway, here's what you do--"
"Wait, what?! Then you should definitely be the one doing this, Yae!"
"Omitsu, we don't have time! Besides, I already told you you have to learn how to do this. Anyway, first you need to pinch his nose shut."
"Yeah, I remember," Omitsu said as she followed Yae's instructions. She slowly lowered her head towards Goemon's lips, decelerating her descent and shaking more and more the further down she went.
"Omitsu, this is no time to be shy!" Yae shouted. "Just get in there and do it!"
"Fine, fine!" Omitsu took a deep breath and swooped down, locking her lips with Goemon's and breathing as much air into them as she could. She raised her head and repeated the process, but opened her eyes in shock when she felt Goemon's lips kissing hers. She quickly stood up and glared down at Goemon, whose eyes were still closed while the rest of his body was motionless.
"Huh? What happened, why'd you stop?" Yae asked. In her confused panic, she was starting to raise her voice.
"He...He kissed me! I swear he did!" Omitsu pointed down at the presumably unconscious Goemon. Yae stared at her with a skeptical eye. "Goemon, how dare you?!" Omitsu gave him a swift kick in the side.
"Ow! What the hell are you--?" Goemon shook his head, opened his eyes, and looked up. "Omitsu? Was that you who just kicked me?"
"Of course it was! Why wouldn't I do that after you kissed me, you sick--?!"
"Wait...I kissed you?" Goemon blinked, a dazed and confused look in his eyes. There was a slight pause before he chuckled to himself and spoke again. "Heh, I guess I did. Sorry about that, I didn't even realize I was doing it."
Omitsu crossed her arms and turned away. "Hmph. Yeah right, you creep," she muttered.
--
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I should have said this last chapter, but this fic should NOT, under ANY circumstances, be used as a reference for carrying out medical procedures of any kind. This isn't a reliable source or a substitute for being professionally trained in performing CPR.