FicWad

Please see Chapter One for full disclaimers, warnings, and summaries.

/Kotaro's POV/

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Enemy of my Enemy - Chapter 02

The mine was empty except for a few people who felt brave enough to try their luck at finding some gold. Jubei had been a bit more difficult to find than I'd expected, but not impossible. I am a ninja, after all. Finding people in winding tunnels is nothing for someone with my skills.

"Hey, Jubei!" I said cheerily, not really feeling the sentiment. "Do you have anything for me?" The swordsman regarded me with an unreadable expression. It seemed that I was the only one who felt like putting on a show of cheer and I waited for him to say something in his usual grim tone. Jubei Yagyu was a man driven by revenge for the destruction of his village and I assumed that thoughts of killing Nobunaga ran through his mind most of the time, now being no exception. He hid his pain well, instead showing the world a cold exterior that did little to comfort those around him. Of course the comfort of those he spoke to would probably be the farthest from his mind these days. "I'm bored," I clarified when he didn't say anything. "Do you have anything rare for me? Maybe a book? I read through that other one that you gave me but I'd like another one if you have it."

He looked at me for a moment, eyes drifting to his pack as a look of thoughtfulness flashed across his face before hardening once more. "Well, I did find something, but I don't think you'd be interested in it," he said in his usual monotone as he reached into his pack. "It's a book on history... I know Magoichi likes that kind of thing so I was going to give it to him, but if you have something I could use..." he looked at me expectantly. I had tons of useful things, but I suspected that he wanted something more than healing potions. I quickly checked my pack and pulled out a jewel of sorts. "How about this?" I asked, handing it to him. He examined it before nodding, seeming pleased with the trade and handed me the book.

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I walked back to my room at the bar after that, the leather-bound tome clutched in my hands and I wondered if it was really worth it. Sure I was bored, but would a history lesson really be the thing to keep me entertained? I sighed, rolling my eyes when I thought about it more. If worse came to worse I could always sell it and maybe find something that interested me in one of the shops around town. That small thought comforted my worries as I approached the bar. The prostitute I'd spoken to earlier was busy with a customer and I breathed a sigh of relief to know that I didn't have to listen to her whining voice again. I entered the bar and passed by Magoichi's table, watching his eyes watching me as I climbed the stairs. It was an odd moment of clarity that I can't explain; our eyes met and for that moment I knew that he knew exactly what I was doing. I suppose that I could have avoided it, since a Fuma ninja can become invisible if they want to, but I wanted a confrontation with the older man and that's probably why I let him follow me up to my room at the top of the stairs. When I reached the landing a playful mood struck me and I quickly leapt up to the rafters, hiding myself in the shadows there and peeking out at Magoichi as he reached the top of the stairs. He stood there for a moment looking around the room and I held back a laugh at how foolish he looked trying to figure out where I was. He propped his rifle against his shoulder and slowly shook his head, seeming to have given up. I prepared to leap out to startle him, but he chuckled instead, catching me off guard. "Hey, kid," he said in a voice that was smooth as smoke, yet commanding. "What's your business with Jubei, eh?" he asked, looking up at my hiding spot.

His eyes looked straight at me and I knew I was caught. Well, I guess I didn't hide myself all that well, anyways, so I shouldn't have been surprised. I hopped down to the floor beside him with cat-like grace. "Oh, nothing," I said all sing-song and innocent as I walked over to lay down on my mat by the fire. "It seems that he and I have the same sort of relationship as you share with him," I smiled, raising my eyebrow for effect.

He looked at me oddly, perhaps confused by my vague response, and sat down opposite me, the fire separating us. "What do you mean, exactly?" he asked, his tone betraying nothing of his emotions. "I only trade with him. If you suspected something more..." he let his sentence trail off, leaving me to fill in the gap and I realized what he thought I'd meant.

Could he have suspected that I would have that kind of relationship with Jubei? I wanted to laugh at the suggestion, but instead held my composure and grinned. "Nothing more than trading," I said, pretending to have no idea what he was implying. I enjoyed watching him pretend to be insulted, knowing full well that it was an act to hide his true emotions. It might have fooled a regular person, but I am far more skilled than a regular person in the art of deception and saw through his display quite plainly. I smiled at him and reached into my pack, grabbing a tokkuri of sake that I had purchased earlier and proceeded to pour myself a drink. I watched his eyes as they followed my hands, lingering on the drink as I poured. "Want some?" I asked, tilting the bottle in his direction once I'd filled my cup. He said nothing as he leaned over to accept my offer, raising rim to his lips to take a long drink straight from the bottle. My expression must have betrayed my disgust with him because he gave me a wry smile and laughed as he passed the container back to me. Did he think it was childish of me to not want to share the same bottle with a man I'd just met? Or was he just baiting me; trying to get a rise out of me so that I would betray some important secret that I held? I grabbed the bottle from his hand, putting the ceramic to my lips and taking a long drink to show him that it didn't matter. I drank all that I could, which wasn't much since he'd taken his fair share of the drink, and lowered the tokkuri from my lips, looking at the gunman to gauge his reaction. Would he care? Suddenly what he thought seemed very important to me and I wanted to prove that I wasn't the child he thought I was. When I looked at him he was staring at the fire, seeming to have forgotten that I was even there! "You have been trading with Jubei," I said suddenly, pulling his attention away from the flames and back up to my inquisitive gaze.

"What of it?" he asked, looking at me oddly. "What would a ninja want with him or me? If you intend..."

"You worry too much, Magoichi Saiga," I said, cutting him off. "I wanted to talk to you." I reached for my pack, intending to show him the book I'd acquired earlier. I swear that with all of my ninja training, and all my skills that allowed me to sense danger, I did not see him coming when he reached forward to grab my hand. I tried to pull away but his grip was strong and I found myself at his mercy as he loomed over me, knife drawn. "You misunderstand," I started, tossing my pack at him with my other hand. "I only intended to ask if you'd like to trade with me." His grip loosened somewhat but he did not release me as he inspected what I'd shown him. After a moment he looked back into my eyes and I allowed him to see in them that I was telling the truth. His eyes, however, were clouded and I could not read him in them at all. It bothered me that I'd left myself so open to him just to show that I intended no harm. What of his intentions? I stiffened then, in preparation to fight him if I had to, but he nodded at me and released my wrist. He offered no apology for his actions and sat back down at his spot, looking at me expectantly. I rubbed at my sore wrist, glaring back at him and idly wondering if he was always such a strong and domineering person. He was far more than he seemed, I realized, and I resolved to keep a closer eye on him.

We ordered more sake from the bar and drank in silence, preferring to spend the time in immersed in our own thoughts and I wondered more and more what he was doing here. At first he irritated me, but the longer I stayed there thinking about him, the more I interesting he seemed. He preferred to fight with guns instead of swords, which was puzzling because I always thought of the sword as the better weapon. Guns needed ammunition as well as a cool head to aim them properly in the heat of battle. If he were to run out of either during a fight, then it could turn out very badly for him. I probably shouldn't have let my thoughts wander to such things, but I knew that he would never loose his concentration or his resolve, even if he had ten demons bearing down on him. He would make a good ally, I decided, and having him for an enemy would be unacceptable. If I discovered that his loyalties lay with Nobunaga then I would not hesitate to kill him, although I hoped that wouldn't be the case.

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The afternoon drew out, and I'll admit that I allowed myself to drink a bit too much. Really stupid of me, but I guess the silence began to eat at me and I needed to fill it with something. After deciding that I'd had enough to drink I crawled over to pull out a futon from the many that were neatly folded away in this area of the bar. I remember looking up at Magoichi as he stood up, gathering his things to leave me to sleep. He didn't say anything to me, but tilted his head to acknowledge that I was there. I fell asleep rather quickly after he left; the sake working its way through my veins, and warming my blood as the cool night air descended upon me.

~End chapter two~