Soujiro

"I understand…. Yes… Yes. I will not fail you, Shishio-san. …Of course… I will get in touch with that person immediately. …I see. Thank you." Soujiro hung up the phone and leaned against the wall of the phone booth, lighting a cigarette. He thoughtfully breathed out a puff of smoke and watched it disappear as it came in contact with the roof of the booth. He repeated this process several more times, then slowly smiled. I definitely will not fail you, Shishio-san. He dropped the cigarette on the floor and ground it with his heel.

Stepping outside he felt strangely light. I think I'll go buy myself a drink to celebrate, at Kamatari's, of course. Combining business with enjoyment. He smiled cheerfully. How very unprofessional of me. He walked down the street, whistling quietly – a tune that was mournful at times wildly upbeat at others. He made it up as he went. It began to rain and he tilted his face up, as he always did, to feel the cold droplets on his cheeks. Better get to Kamatari's bar soon. He walked faster, adjusting his cap.

As he began to whistle again, somebody shouldered him. "Hey! You!"

"Me?" Soujiro stopped whistling and slowly looked up, a smile spreading across his face. "Yes? How may I help you?"

The man had several others with him, all looking like they wanted a fight. If by 'fight' one meant beating up one guy for the fun of it. "Wha'cha grinnin' at? You're a stranger around here, yeah? We don't like those. You don't belong on this street."

"I'm in a hurry, rather. Oh, and, by the way, I live nearby, so I rather don't think I'm a stranger. I'd love to stay and chat but… Y'know. Duty calls and all that." Said Soujiro, shrugging. "If you'll excuse me-"

"A hurry, huh? But we ain't done talking yet!" The man cracked his knuckles. "What do you say we explain to him why he shouldn't come around here again?" the others grinned and nodded.

Soujiro shrugged, still smiling. Oh honestly… These men. …No, Not men. Boys. They couldn't have been older than me. "Eh?" he tilted his head to the side. "I'm sorry, you must have misunderstood. I said I was in a hurry." There was an edge to his voice underneath the soft politeness. Sensing that there was no-one behind him, he slowly walked up to the leader, his smile widening and his eyes also. "Oh what a pity… I was hoping not to get my new white shirt dirty…" It seemed as if a knife suddenly appeared in his hand. He flicked it open. With one move, he slashed a wide arc out in front of him, so quickly that he seemed not to have moved.

The guy he was slashing at yelled in fear and fell on his butt. The bill of his cap fell into his lap, cut cleanly off. The others watched Soujiro, intimidated yet angry, unsure of what to do next. Soujiro sighed. "Who doesn't belong around here?" he asked. "The only ones who do not belong around here are the weak ones." He flicked the knife into the air and caught it. "And in this case…" he smiled amiably. "That…" he threw the knife and caught it again. "Would…" he tossed it up, and as he caught it he slashed, a boy's suspender was cut in half. "Be…" the knife flew up again, glinting as it made its arc back to Soujiro's hand. "You." He caught the knife and pointed it at the group.

"I said I was in a hurry. Please move." He said pleasantly. They parted to let him through. But there was a roar and a rock flew by Soujiro's head as he walked through. The slight breeze that it caused as if flew by him caused his hair to be ruffled.

"You think some little knife tricks would scare us?" the leader was shaking, but he had another rock in his hand, prepared to throw it.

Soujiro sighed, smiling sympathetically. In the blink of an eye, he had his arm around the boy in a seemingly friendly gesture. But the arm that he had curved around his shoulder had a knife in it, pointing straight at the neck, drawing a little line of red. "Yes. I did. How very silly of me. I should've killed someone immediately, it was my mistake." Soujiro laughed. "It won't happen again. I don't want to get my shirt dirty with your blood, but if you keep annoying me…" he sighed, smiling embarrassedly and shaking his head. "…I might just have to buy another shirt." The other swallowed, saying nothing, his eyes wide and his body shaking. Soujiro smiled. "Bu-ut… I'm not really in the financial situation where I can just ruin a nice shirt like this so…"

He stepped away and walked through with no interruptions, adjusting his cap, his knife disappearing up his sleeve. "If you'll excuse me." Soujiro said with a pleasant smile and a polite tilt of the head.

**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**o**

Soujiro walked into a convenience store and waited until there was no-one at the counter, listening to the static-y jazz playing over the radio. When the shop owner turned around, Soujiro simply smiled and pointed at a small door, inconspicuous behind a few crates. The man nodded and allowed Soujiro through, making sure no-one saw, looking this way and that suspiciously.

Opening the door, Soujiro walked into a speakeasy. It had a low ceiling, the paint was peeling a little, yet it seemed a lot more high-class than many other 'underground' bars. It was mostly empty, a single man slumped over his drink at the end of the bar. A single glance at the blood soaking into his cap and the unnatural angle of his neck told Soujiro that he was dead. He shook his head reproachfully. "You really should clean up before other visitors come, you know." He said with a slight laugh.

"Ahh, I'll do it later. Officially I'm closed for the day but since it's you… What're you having, Soujiro-kun?" the bartender asked, wiping down a glass.

"Surprise me, Kamatari-chan." Soujiro smiled, taking his cap off and sitting down on a bar stool facing him.

Kamatari winked. "Ooh! I'll mix up just the thing for you, Soujiro-kun…" he giggled as he began to work. "How've you been? What've you been doing? I haven't seen you around these parts in a while."

"Oh, I've been fine, as usual! You know me." Shrugging, Soujiro smiled. "Well… What I've been doing. You know. This and that. Assassinations, debt-collecting, fraud, the occasional theft… Having to pick up Yumi-san's shopping."

With a wry laugh, Kamatari slid the glass across the table. "Oh god. That woman Yumi's shopping. I'm not sure at all which one out of the above is a bigger crime, lemme tell you. Shishio-sama could do so much better." As Soujiro drank, Kamatari watched him. "What's up, Soujiro-kun? You don't visit me for fun. You've only ever come here if there's a job." Kamatari pouted, then smiled happily as another thought came to him. "Does Shishio-sama need me again?"

Soujiro took another sip and smiled. "You know me real well. This is the perfect drink." He said. "Yes, Shishio-san needs you. He also needs me and…" he winced a little. "Chou-san. Anji-san's already on the move."

Lifting a surprised hand to his mouth, Kamatari looked carefully at Soujiro. "The four of us? That broom-head and that crazy religious fanatic?! I mean, out of the ten of us, he's one of the most decent people but… Four of us?!" he shook his head. "There must really be something going on, then!"

Soujiro smiled to himself. "Oh yes…" he hummed. "Something's going on – and Shishio-san has something interesting up his sleeve again, as always… He really is quite a guy, you know? Well, I guess I don't need to tell you that, Kamatari-chan." He lit a cigarette. "I think he's sending another one besides us, though." He blew out a small thread of smoke and lifted the cocktail to his mouth.

"…Besides the four of us…?" Kamatari almost dropped the glass he was wiping. He began to fan himself with his hand, unbuttoned sleeves flapping. "Heavens! Just what's going on here? What on earth is going on that he's called five of his 'Ten Guns'?"

Tapping his fingers on the counter, Soujiro's smile never left his face, but his sky-blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "…I don't think the fifth person is one of us 'Guns'…" he said, the tapping of his fingers on the polished wood speeding up. "Shishio-san said that after he finishes his job, we're supposed to kill him and his subordinates before we get to New York. Oh, and Houji-san will relay Shishio-san's instructions to us over radio."

"What do you mean, before we get to New York?" Kamatari anxiously leaned over the counter, facing Soujiro. "What's going on?"

Soujiro laughed. "Oh, silly me!" he said. "I forgot to mention that we'll all be on a train! The New York City/Chicago Express! The nineteenth – oh, that's tomorrow, isn't it. Our tickets have already been booked." he shook his head. "He told me that some other syndicates are planning on showing up there." He leaned closer to Kamatari. "This is just hearsay, but I heard that Wu Heishin is going to be on that train." Soujiro's smile widened. "And so is Shinomori Aoshi."