I was dressed in a dark kimono and loose pants, which they told me were called hakama. I didn't care what they were called; they made me feel like I wasn't going to flash anyone, and so I was happy to wear them. I wasn't wearing a sword, because I knew I couldn't use the thing and even I knew that carrying one around would make people think I could. It felt strange not to be wearing my usual clothing, but that would have made me stick out even more. I was getting some strange looks as it was, but I knew these people hadn't seen an African American before.
"And why are we wandering around, Keno?” I asked.
"Because we can,” he told me. I heard the grin in his voice, but that damn veil blocked me from seeing his face. It was weird, and I wondered why the hell he was dressed like that. “And Mason-san, just remember that I'm a shy and delicate flower."
I got the hint that I was supposed to call him Sakura. I shouldn't forget that, seeing that he was dressed like this, but it was hard. I was getting old. “And shit, just call me Mason."
"I wish to explore Edo,” Keno said. “I just... I just need to see how it's changed. I know that this isn't close to the Tokyo I grew up in, but I can almost see it sometimes."
I believed that, because I doubted the kid had been allowed to wander around like this. I knew Samojirou had stopped by last night, from the sounds I'd heard coming from Keno's room. I was just glad Keno knew that his lover and Tamazusa were all right. I'd felt a twinge when I'd heard that she had gotten her kuni back. I had promised her salsa dancing. I didn't think that was going to happen now, and for some reason, that upset me.
"You got any money, Sakura?” I asked.
"I do,” he said, sounding puzzled at my request. “Why?"
"'Cause I think that your sister deserves a nice present for getting her job back,” I said.
He laughed. “I think that she would be proud of you right now. You managed not to mention anything important in public. You are learning to be discreet."
I laughed, too, even though it sounded off to me. Keno picked up on it, though. I was glad that Noma was wandering slightly ahead of us, not really paying attention to what we were talking about, just keeping an eye on us. “I think that I like your sister the way that she was in the Northlands more than who she is now."
Keno was silent for a moment. “She...."
"Isn't the same person,” I finished for him. “Shit, that sounds stupid. But she was my hot mama for a while."
"You didn't call her that to her face?” Keno asked, sounding like he was going to have a heart attack. “Mason...."
"She ain't that anymore,” I said with a shrug. “She's like my boss now. You don't have that much fun with the boss. McGann, she don't feel like she's that to me now. And shit, you know that she isn't that to Wolf right now, or he wouldn't be actin’ like he is. Man's trying to date her or something. Good thing, too, because she's a nice lady, and she needs a nice man, which he is. She told him that she was...."
I stopped, wondering why I was willing to let that secret out of the bag after keeping it for so long. Keno didn't seem to notice the slip or he was willing to ignore it.
"I think that Wolf would be good for her,” Keno said.
I was glad he sounded so calm about it, considering he'd had a crush on Wolf forever. I figured finding your True Love or soul mate or whatever the fuck Samojirou was to him got him over Wolf. “Shit, Sakura."
"You remembered,” Keno murmured sarcastically.
"Don't be a smartass,” I told him. I wondered how much English Noma knew, because I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to talk to whatever Keno was like this. If he understood what I was saying, I thought he'd have to kick my ass. “She told him something important that weirds a lot of people out. He didn't freak. End of story. But your sister, man, she's gonna go back to being a cast-iron bitch."
"Mason!” Keno snapped, horrified. He should have been used to this from me by now.
"It's a good look for her,” I continued, ignoring the small conniption fit he was trying not to have. “Not blaming her for it, ‘cause she isn't a bad lady that way. I just don't think that she's going to like me teasing her again. Or that we can act like we did on the boat."
Keno stopped and looked at me. I was kind of glad that I couldn't see his face, because actually hearing what I had said made me feel like an idiot. Shit, I hadn't sounded this bad when I was a teenager and started dating. Let me tell you, I did some really stupid shit then, but this took the fucking cake. I sounded really pathetic.
"Tease her,” he said simply. “While she isn't who you want her to be anymore, I think that she likes you."
"I figured that one out,” I grumbled. “She didn't Jell-O me."
I had figured out that she couldn't do it anymore when she lost her kuni, but the lady could have done something like that, if I had pissed her off, just with a knife. And now, I really don't think that she would. I could be wrong, but I doubted it. And I wasn't thinking with my dick, either. I didn't know why I liked the woman, but I did. Could have been that she was smart, kept her cool in a crisis, made the hardass decisions that she needed to, and was willing to get her hands dirty, literally and figuratively. McGann was the same way, but she was more like my kid sister or something. Tamazusa wasn't. I didn't know what she was, but I knew I wasn't going to think of her as a sister.
"You both suck at relationships,” Keno said bluntly, like he was an expert. “Why don't we just deal with this later."
"Good for me, because I feel like an ass now telling you all this crap,” I said. This was about all the sharing I was willing to do right now.
* * * *
We ended up at a restaurant that was pretty nice, eating in a private room with a really cute waitress. The food was good, and the sake flowed freely, even though I noticed Keno stuck to tea. We made an odd party, I thought, but Keno gradually drew Noma out, making him comfortable with us, asking him questions about Edo and translating the things we said to each other. Noma didn't know English, and it turned out his Spanish was worse than mine, but that was the only other language he knew. I was getting the vibe that he was oddly flattered by Keno's attention. He disappeared for what I guessed was a trip to the bathroom, and Keno turned to talk to me, shaking his head slightly at something Noma said on his way out the door. Thankfully Keno had taken off that stupid hat for the meal.
"What's wrong?” Keno asked.
"Noma. He isn't getting the wrong impression, is he?” I asked, hating that question, but only hearing half the conversation was a little confusing for me.
"And what impression would that be?” he asked, a little pissed, but curious too. Because unlike Wolf, I hadn't given him shit about what he was doing. I just didn't know the rules of the Game that he and everyone else here was playing. He was cutting me some slack because of that.
"That he really, really likes you,” I didn't know why I was being so coy about it. But I didn't feel comfortable coming out and saying that Noma might want to fuck him.
"Being seen with a tayuu raises his standing with the men who see him,” Keno said. “A samurai of his stature rarely gets to deal with one, even if he is only escorting me around town. He's flattered by my attention, and he's flirted a little, but we both know that it's not going to go beyond that."
"And what the fuck am I?” I asked.
"Unarmed and with a shaven head?” he asked with a grin. “A priest maybe. Or just a stranger that Noma may be introducing to me. Or I may be introducing him to you."
We heard a bang outside the room. Keno looked up in alarm, and I was halfway to the door when it was kicked in. Overkill on their part, because it was just made out of paper and bamboo. A half dozen really big guys muscled their way in. I got in a couple of punches, but there was too many of them, and the room was too small for me to do any real damage. A couple of them wrestled me to the floor and Keno down beside me, his outfit all torn up from fighting them, with a knife at this throat. I was going to ask what the fuck was going on, when ano
ther guy strode in, stepping over the wreckage of the door easily and acting like he owned the place.
"Sakura-chan,” the guy practically purred at him, sounding like a villain from a bad B movie. “So nice to meet you here."
I was hoping Noma would manage to either rescue us or get help. It was kind of worrisome that he hadn't gotten back from his bathroom run yet. Then I realized that the man was speaking English, and his accent wasn't too bad.
"Iida-san,” Keno said coolly, like this was some formal meeting.
I looked at the guy again, wondering what the fuck was going on. The last thing anyone knew, this Iida was trying to take over Tamazusa's kuni, with her guys holding his army on the beach like it was fuckin’ D-Day. Inuta and that little shit Inue were protecting their borders, with occasional raids, and Tamazusa's other neighbors were doing the same thing, so what was he doing here?
The sad part was that I would have passed the man on the street without a second glance. He was dressed like everyone else here, in a kimono and hakama. The colors were brighter, reds and oranges, when most of the men seemed to wear blue, brown, or black. He had a pair of swords stuck in his belt, but he didn't look that dangerous. I believed that until I looked into his eyes. The man was made out of hate and something evil, as strange as that sounded.
"You seem surprised to see me,” Iida said. “My attack is only a feint. It did, however, manage to distract the Hakkenshi. They didn't see what my other allies were doing until too late."
"You lost,” I blurted out. “She's got her place back."
Iida shrugged. “I can kill the bitch later."
The knife at Keno's throat was the only thing that stopped him from trying to kick the man's ass then and there. I unconsciously lunged forward, though, which caused Iida to laugh.
"You're fond of her?” he asked me, tilting his head to one side and studying me. “You fuck her?"
"None of your goddamned business,” I snarled at him.
He laughed again and stepped closer to Keno. “Such a pretty flower,” he said, stroking the side of his face lightly. Keno cringed and tried to get away from the touch, like it hurt him or something. “Talented, too, it seems. I almost didn't notice you when you played her maid, so mousey and meek. Not looking like the whore that you are now."
I struggled to get loose and kick his ass for that one. I had been pissed about what he said about Tamazusa, but him insulting Keno was too much. He laughed, and one of his goons hit me on the back of the head. It was like getting hit with baseball bat. I saw stars for a second and was hoping like hell Noma was getting some help, because I didn't think he could take these guys on his own.
"I only need one of you as a hostage,” Iida said coolly, glancing between the two of us. I felt like he was going to ask me about my teeth or something, the way he was sizing me up. “And right now, Samojirou's little blossom is the more valuable one. I don't doubt that the Trust would be interested in you also, but I think that I only need one of you to get Dieter."
"Wolf?” Keno almost gasped.
I was confused and slightly annoyed, but I didn't think that this guy would fall for the “I don't know nobody called Wolf” routine. What use was he to them? Shit, his grandfather was a Trustee, but there was like a dozen of the fucking things. Aside from Mrs. Adams and him, the rest of them were probably shits. Was this some sort of corporate takeover? Would Wolf be used to make sure that his grandfather didn't have a shitfit and do something about whoever had taken over Kyushu and stop them? Or rat them out to whatever government actually gave a shit about what we were doing?
"Using you would make sure that both that Samojirou and Dieter don't spoil my plans,” he continued with an evil smile.
I was kind of hoping he'd do the classic villain thing and explain what was going on to us, because he was acting like a slimy villain in every other way, but he just shut up after that and stared at us, debating what to do next. I kept my mouth shut for once. Iida smiled, and my blood ran cold, but I was relieved when the next words out of his mouth were, “Take them both."
What sucked was that one of his assholes hit me on the back of the head to knock me out. I just knew that I was going to have a killer headache when I woke up again.
* * * *
Keno
I woke up in a small room with Mason. We had both been tossed on the floor and stripped down to our underwear. I shuddered at the thought of Iida undressing me. I knew that he had done that just because he could, so that he could touch all the bruises I had from making love with Samojirou. But mostly because he knew it would upset me. I sat up slowly, aware of the fact that my head felt like it was going to roll off my shoulders and that my mouth was dry and nasty-tasting. After a few minutes, Mason groaned and sat up, looking a little gray. I noticed there was a really nasty lump on the back of his head,
"Fucking asshole,” Mason groaned. I didn't know if he meant the man that hit him or Iida. Knowing him, probably both of them. “Hopefully Noma managed to get help."
"I don't know,” I said. Iida had only had me knocked out after he had told me what had happened to Noma. “Iida told me that he might survive his injuries, if someone got him help quickly enough."
"Shit, I hope so,” Mason said, standing up slowly. “He's a nice kid."
"He left a note on Noma,” I continued, also standing up, glad the room wasn't swimming around me. “It instructed Wolf as to where he could find us."
"And he's stupid enough to fall for something like that,” Mason groaned. “With any luck, McGann will manage to talk some sense into the man."
"And he brings someone with him,” I added. Genpachi or another of my brothers, I hoped. I just wondered how he would be able to get in touch with them. I wondered how long we had been unconscious, too, because for all I knew, Wolf was a prisoner here too.
"What the fuck is he doing?” Mason asked. I took me a second to realize that he was talking about Iida.
"I don't know,” I said. “I had thought that he wasn't working with the Trust, but now I'm not too sure."
"He could be trading favors with them,” Mason said, looking thoughtful. “My question is who in the Trust is he dealing with?"
"Who knows?” I answered. “I really didn't pay attention to that stuff. I don't even know their names or anything like that. The only one that I knew was Collins. And I wasn't around when Tamazusa-sama questioned him."
Mason winced when I said that. I knew why, too. He knew that Tamazusa hadn't sat down and had tea with the man to get the information she wanted. I knew she had his skull someplace in her bedroom. I didn't know what happened to the rest of the body.
"I wonder where the fuck we are, ‘cause I think that the man would have trouble getting us out of Edo. It was a bitch to get in."
"That still leaves a lot of territory for people to search,” I pointed out.
"I know,” he grumbled. “I feel like a fucking idiot."
"You feel stupid?” I posed. “Samojirou-sama sent me to Edo to keep me out of trouble and safe."
And even if I didn't like it, I didn't blame Mason for laughing.
* * * *
I didn't know how long we were held in that room. Mason seemed kind of uncomfortable that we were both only in our underwear. I was surprised. I also thought the issue might be that we were being held prisoner and there wasn't a way out. We both had examined the room, looking to escape. It was empty, the walls and floor made of some sort of pale wood, without any windows, and had a heavy teak door. I didn't even know if we were still in Edo. That worried me. He could have taken us anywhere. And using us as bait to get Wolf wasn't a good idea either. I didn't think he'd go berserk or anything, but he'd be angry. And even I knew that an angry Wolf wasn't a good thing.
Iida showed up after a while. He swept into the room, followed by a couple of his retainers. I wasn't surprised to see that Mawatari wasn't among them. I would have bet he was the man who was leading the attack on Tamazusa's forces. But there was something odd abou
t the men who were with Iida, like the ones on the boat. I couldn't place it, but even for the Dreamlands, there was something off about these men.
"I expected to see Wolf by now.” Iida smirked at me. I shrugged. He frowned. “I'm surprised that you didn't know how he felt about you."
"How he felt about me?” I echoed, thinking that I must have looked as stupid as I felt. The man had told me he was never going to feel like that about me. So why was Iida hinting that Wolf had been lying to me?
Mason looked interested in that for a second before he hid it. Unfortunately, Iida saw it also. “So that quack was right!” he exclaimed.
"Quack?” I asked. What did a duck have to do with this?
"Wolf likes the kid,” Mason said slowly, almost reluctantly. “It was killing him that he stayed here, but you knew that."
Iida smiled. “My informants in your organization mentioned that either one of you would be good bait for him. You've worked with him for years, and he considers you a good friend, one of the few that he has. The boy... well, he seemed to be in love with him."
"Wolf?” I almost gasped, wondering what was going on.
"He was very attentive to you on the journey here,” Iida told me. “Did you not think that odd?"
I thankfully didn't blurt out that he had been checking on McGann all those times. I didn't want her to be involved in this mess.
"And since Samojirou seems to be fond of you also,” Iida continued. “I can use you to get to him. Killing him would weaken that bitch's hold on her kuni. The fool didn't bother to claim it when he thought that you both were dead, even though he has the strength to do so. Neither did any of the other idiots who follow her. I'd have thought that one of them was intelligent enough to make a grab for power once she was gone. Instead, they let a woman rule them!"
Neither one of us knew what to say, because Mason was silent too. I was seething with rage. I hated being used, and I was annoyed that Iida seemed to have gotten the wrong information about Wolf and me. Who had been his source?
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