Retribution
Chapter 4: Turning Point
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Author: Jun-I
Pairing: Kambei/Kyuzo, Hyogo/Soubei (implied)
Synopsis: How Kyuuzou decided to join Kanbei.
Warnings: See Chapter 1
Notes: About Hyogo's ex-boyfriend, I would assume their relationship was BEFORE the guy mechanized.
Disclaimers:
- The opinions expressed by Kyuuzou or any other character are NOT intended to reflect the writer's opinions.
- I do not own the seven samurai or any of the characters from Gonzo's S7. Am not writing this for profit, just for fun.
Kyuuzou POV:
Just as I expected, when I next saw Hyogo, he lost no time in mocking me about the nick on my neck that Kanbei had given me. Hyogo then declared he was going out to challenge Kanbei too. That was not a surprise either. Hyogo was one of the most competitive bitch queens I had ever met; he was always trying to outdo me and impress the boss. Quite willing to resort to backstabbing to further his career too. Good thing Ayamaro was far from a complete fool and could discern the true nature of things, or I'd have been done in by Hyogo's lies a long time ago.
I let Hyogo go his way. No point telling Hyogo that Kanbei had already promised himself to me! My colleague had no scruples. All he wanted was to prove he can succeed where I failed. Not that the garish queen who wore too much foundation and the wrong lipstick color stood a chance with Shimada Kanbei anyway.
But just to be sure, I followed Hyogo from a distance. He will NOT touch what is mine alone to kill! I shouldn't have worried anyway. As I predicted, Hyogo was no match for Kanbei. I could not resist silently cheering Shimada on while he kicked Hyogo's butt. Don't get me wrong though. I was only taking Kanbei's side temporarily cos' I liked Hyogo even less. But well, I had to admit that dark ronin is kind of attractive for an irritating ojisan. Actually ... I guess one could say that for an older guy, he is rather hot ... objectively speaking. Not that I care anyway.
Ran back to Ayamaro's place before Hyogo and gang returned. There was more drama waiting for us though. That same day, the visiting Imperial Envoy from the Capital was murdered right under my employer's roof! How bizarre! My employer went into a panic and ordered the arrest of all samurai within the city limits. My own suspicion was that the killer came from within our compound. With the strict security clearances it would have been near impossible for unauthorized personnel to gain access to Ayamaro's guest rooms. But I kept my mouth shut - if there was treachery within our ranks, people who suspected too much might be next in line for extermination.
Kanbei and his ronin gang were of course targets of this citywide sweep. The next day, we received word that they had apparently been eliminated. The vertical railway transport they were using to escape had been blown to bits the night before. My heart sank. Now my chance of ever knowing if Kanbei was the one seemed even more out of reach. But even if he was a closed case, I had already lost my peace. After the war, I had chosen to live with no thought for the past or for the future, but Kanbei's appearance forced me to remember Mother. What would she think if she saw me now? The life I'm living, and the people I spend my time with? Ayamaro was my first employer after the army. I wasn't too picky, I just wanted to get paid, but ... my sisters were now happily working at their stereotypically feminine 'make-the-world-a-better-place' professions while I was just drifting from day to day. But I did not want to have my sisters' jobs anyway. I did not know what I wanted.
I was in an ugly mood that day, so the ronin who crossed my path suffered for it. Hyogo and I were going about our work cleaning up the city streets when Ukyo interrupted us. As was his habit, the foppish wimp commandeered us for his own purposes, something that Ayamaro had explicitly told him not to do. Under normal circumstances this imposition would have annoyed me. I was wrapping up the day's work so I could get home early enough to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. But this time, I was willing to go along with Ukyo's plans. The mechanized samurai who interrupted my duel with Kanbei had been seen in the pleasure quarter, or so Ukyo said. If he was alive, it meant that the rest of his gang might have survived. Ukyo wanted to hunt down the robot and find the peasant girl. I, on the other hand, would love to locate Kanbei.
We tracked Kikuchiyo to the House of the Fireflies. Sure enough, we found the entire gang there, but they made their escape with the help of a new guy - some samurai called Shichiroji who could seriously use a makeover from the Fab Five. We chased them by boat into Shikimori territory, but had to turn back on Tessai's insistence. Well, at least I got to know Kanbei was still alive.
I returned to my quarters, and much to my annoyance, found another letter waiting for me. Was it Ayame again? I had not yet sent my reply to her earlier letter. I took a look at the sender's address and noted with relief that the letter was from Haruko, our Big Sister who almost never wrote, busy as she was with Sensei's dojo. I opened the letter and it turned out my relief was short-lived. Haruko was writing to tell me that Ayame, concerned by the months of silence following her letter to me, had done some investigation on my mailing address and found out that I was located in Ayamaro's compound. After the paranoid tendencies of women, she frightened herself with the ridiculous possibility that I had been kidnapped and forced into Ukyo's harem.
Ayame was going to come to Kougakyo to 'rescue' me, but fortunately thought it wise to run the idea by Haruko first. Haruko, being more sane, told her that it was more likely that I was working as a bodyguard, as I had said in a letter to them four years back. Still, Ayame said she was planning to come to 'rescue' me even if I was a bodyguard for Ayamaro, because it meant I had fallen in with a bad crowd that no self-respecting young woman should be hanging around.
Having read thus far, I was truly alarmed. Much as I was not entirely fond of Ayame, I had absolutely no desire that the lowlife Ukyo, or any of Ayamaro's men for that matter, should ever lay their eyes on my unfortunately not-too-ugly sister. Sure, Ayame could more than take care of herself, and she was probably a little too old and much too angry for Ukyo's tastes, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If he could go for Kirara, he could go for anything! Now I had to do whatever it takes to prevent her from coming to Kougakyo, even if it meant giving up my employer's excellent medical benefits. How irritating!
I read on. Now that Haruko was done writing about Ayame, she moved on to me. "How can you hang out with the kind of creatures that Mizuho, Ayame and myself had risked our lives fighting?" Haruko was asking. Ah ha, after having withheld information from me all these years, Eldest Sister finally admitted to the nature of their clandestine activities. They knew I knew they went out to fight, but they never told me what they were fighting for. I did not know if her confession gave me any satisfaction now though. If I was really working for that pervert Ukyo, Haruko stated, then perhaps my mother had died to protect a life not worth saving. The words cut me more badly than swords ever could. Worse, I could not find any reason to disagree with Haru.
I dashed off a letter to Ayame and Haruko, telling them NOT to come to Kougakyo and NOT to worry about me. I was in the middle of a transition, I wrote, and moving on to something better. I would let them know more as soon as I was able, I said. Hopefully that would keep Ayame from coming to Kougakyo. I already had enough trouble on my hands at the moment.
I thought it unwise to use the office mailbox for this particular correspondence, so I went to the post office furthest away from Ayamaro's place to mail my letters. When I returned to my employer's compound, I learnt that Hyogo had gone with the Nobuseri to intercept Kanbei's band when they exit the Shikimori mountain. So typical of Hyogo to leave me out of the loop 'by accident' and go off on an operation without me. I headed out after him. But this time, I was no longer interested in competing with him for a better score on our annual performance review.
The Shikimori realm had many exits. I did not know exactly which one Hyogo was going to, but somehow I managed to turn up in the right place. It was almost as if I was able to sense and follow Kanbei's ki energy. Perhaps he is really that man from years back - the man I should be seeking for but never expected to find; there seemed to be no other explanation. I arrived not a moment too early - Kanbei was fighting a Raiden. Then the coward Hyogo intervened by using a cannon to disarm Kanbei. The Nobuseri closed in to finish the wounded samurai but I wasn't going to let it happen. That man and I have unfinished business.
I can be as much a bad ass bitch as my sisters if I want to be. I jumped on the Raiden and carved it up with a rapidity and precision that would have made my Sensei proud. As the incapacitated mecha went crashing down, I vaulted off the wreck and made sure I landed facing away from Kanbei so that I would not have to make eye contact with him. I was not in the mood to entertain flirtatious glances. And in case this guy got the wrong idea again, I had to ensure he knew where I stood. "I'm the only one who can kill you." I said to Kanbei. Hopefully that made it clear enough that we have a 'business-only' relationship.
Anyway, it seemed that Hyogo did not appreciate my nice handiwork, for he snarled and fired the cannon at me. I had timed the volley and would have dodged it easily, but that busybody Kanbei decided to come to my 'rescue' and intercept the shot with his katana. Just why is it that everyone thinks I need rescuing when I really don't?
Hyogo was working himself into a hissy fit and would have partied with us some more if his mechanized Nobuseri ex-boyfriend Soubei did not insist on leaving. That left just Kanbei and me for the moment. He turned to me. "I'm afraid you won't be able to go home to your friends," he said. Whatever. They were never my friends. I started walking away without a backward glance at him. I had no real plan as to what my next move would be. Now that I'd found Kanbei, I did not know how to get him to answer the questions I needed to ask; in fact, I was not even sure if he was the one with the answers.
In the meantime, the other samurai had gathered around us. Gorobei stepped in front of me but Kanbei told him to let me go. All the while I could sense Kanbei's smouldering gaze on my back. Does that man have nothing better to look at? I walked on, contemplating my next move, "Should I just follow him from a discreet distance until I figure out how to confirm if he is the man I saw 15 years ago? ..."