AN: Hey, sorry for the wait! Been...distracted. Reviews will be responded to by means of PM and e-mail. So if you'd like a response and don't have an account, please leave an e-mail addy :). Thanks and thank you for reviewing!
Chapter 6
"A gentle giant," Jakotsu mused, helping himself to another potato. Suikotsu had eagerly set the platter in front of him, when Jakotsu decided he liked them. "But you know, it should have been expected."
Bankotsu sucked prawn juice from his fingers. "Expected? How? The man's scary as a demon. Bet kids cry when they see him. You're telling me you're not surprised someone that looks like that would pass up a chance to..."
"Bankotsu, you of all people should know never to judge anyone on their appearance."
Bankotsu rolled his eyes. "But Ja..."
"He is Renkotsu's friend, Oo-aniki. Think about the kind of person Renkotsu is. He hides behind the strength of others. He hides behind you, us... but does he refer to any of us as friends?"
Bankotsu sighed. "No, he doesn't."
Which is why I'm worried about what he and Genji are talking about right now.
Maybe he should eavesdrop. It probably wouldn't be that hard to go unnoticed...
"I don't refer to him as a friend either, for what it's worth," Suikotsu snorted, ignoring both Bankotsu's and Jakotsu's irritated groans.
"He cannot call us friends because he is afraid of us. So, naturally, Renkotsu would not make friends with anyone he finds intimidating. His friends would have to be people he feels he is either on the same level with or that he can control."
"But he can't control Genji, and if those two ever got into a fight, Genji would kick his ass," Bankotsu argued.
"What makes you think he cannot control him?" Jakotsu searched for another potato in the mass of greens and pouted when he could find no more.
"Hm... the whole 'I don't want to be a mercenary. Rule Japan on your own. You don't need anyone' lecture he was giving Renkotsu as we left. He just didn't seem very submissive to me– you pig! You ate all of them?"
Bankotsu had laid on his stomach on the floor across from Suikotsu and Jakotsu, not caring about the sand he was rubbing into his clothes as he shifted about. He inched forward to stare down at the plate of greens and glare up at Jakotsu playfully.
He ate all of them. "I've never seen you eat all of anything."
Judging from the mood he had been in earlier that morning and his meeting with– a big grin stretched Bankotsu's lips wide. "Could this increase in appetite have something to do with... oh, what was his name...?"
He wasn't quick enough to dodge the closed fist coming down on his head. He gritted his teeth, giggling against the pain vibrating through his skull. Jakotsu wasn't known for pulling punches.
"Genji ," Jakotsu said pointedly, "is a people-pleaser. He will do what you ask, so long as it is not asking too much. Renkotsu has asked too much. He is asking him to throw away his life here, and come with us, complete strangers of whom he knows nothing about–"
"Other than the fact that you're a pain in the ass," Suikotsu retorted. "So what about this what's-his-name Bankotsu mentioned? You sure did change the subject fast."
"He met a guy on the beach last night. That's why he was gone so long–"
"I thought we were supposed to be having a meeting about Genji and Renkotsu!"
Was he blushing? Bankotsu smirked at the pink blossoms blooming on either of Jakotsu's cheeks. "We are, we are, but... we also should talk about our business deal this morning. Suikotsu wasn't there after all."
"What does Nicalao have to do with our business?" Jakotsu growled, gray eyes burning black with venom. Bankotsu gulped, sitting up and scooting away from Jakotsu.
"Ni-ca-lao?" Suikotsu perked. "So, he's foreign? Portuguese?"
Jakotsu rose all in one motion, hands on his hips as he glowered down at Bankotsu and Suikotsu. "Genji is a kind man that likes to help his friends. Renkotsu befriends people who are not a threat to him. He controls them in that way, because he knows that they will never turn against him no matter what he does and that they will protect him.
As much as I do not like him, he will not turn against us because of what Genji has said. If they are as close as they seem to be, Renkotsu was not as shocked as he appeared with Genji's answer. The talk they are having now is probably Renkotsu trying to talk Genji into coming with us anyway, so that he will have someone in his corner when Suikotsu and I raise votes against his decisions."
Bankotsu blinked. Suikotsu stared. Jakotsu left, stepping over them both and stalking out the door.
"He makes a good argument. Think he's right?" Suikotsu scratched his head, glancing at Bankotsu from the corner of his eyes.
"Probably. He usually is, unless it has to do with him."
"Hm." Suikotsu fished a green bean off the potato-less plate. "He right about Ni-ca-lao being not having anything to do with our business?"
"Hell no! Lemme tell ya about how red he turned when..."
Bankotsu and Suikotsu were lying flat on their backs about an hour later, two empty platters and a few empty bottles of some delicious liquor Bankotsu had never tasted before then between them.
"That stubborn old goat is so set in his ways it would take a tsunami to... Oo-aniki? Suikotsu? Are you drunk?"
Bankotsu giggled, glancing over at Suikotsu who had rolled onto his stomach to greet Renkotsu as he entered the house. "I'm not drunk, but Bankotsu here is a lightweight."
"I'm not..." Bankotsu hiccuped. "I'm not a... I can handle my liquor! You're the one who had to lie down or fall down."
"I'm lying down cause I'm tired!" Suikotsu practically roared and then– as if to prove a point– tried to sit up and promptly toppled backward.
Bankotsu laughed until it hurt, wiping his runny eyes and nose on his sleeve before acknowledging that Renkotsu had sat down across from them. His tiny eyes shifted nervously before resting on Bankotsu, after he'd calmed.
"What?" Bankotsu fought back a grin. "I got something on my face?"
"He wants to talk about the Gentle Giant."
Dark blue eyes crossed for a moment. A giant? Where? Bankotsu wanted to fight it! A giant against his halberd– how cool would that be? But... would he count the giant as a human or demon?
What was his Banryuu count again?
"I want you to know– Oo-aniki, are you listening?"
Sure, he was listening. He wasn't deaf; he could hear him just fine. What Renkotsu should have asked was: did he understand? No! Bankotsu chuckled and he heard Renkotsu sigh.
"You're depressing Moon Head, Bankotsu," Suikotsu whispered.
"Then he should have some of this!" Bankotsu sat up, smiling as the room spun around him in a whirlpool of color. Pretty. He patted the floor, looking for a bottle and found one. Empty.
Found another. Empty.
Empty.
Well shit.
"Ah..." Renkotsu began.
"You can tell me what you would like to say." Jakotsu? He was back? Where had he gone, anyway? He could have– oh wait, Jakotsu didn't drink. Something about his dad being a drunk ass embarrassment to society...
Or something else along those lines.
"Oh, Jakotsu. How are you feeling? You look..."
He looked what? Bankotsu turned around slowly to face the door where Jakotsu was standing. His hair was wet– he must have washed it– and pulled back in loose braid to tame the curls. He was a bit pale and seemed a little tired. In short– Jakotsu looked like he needed a drink. If Bankotsu could find a bottle that still had a little liquor in it, he'd mix some in with Jakotsu's tea.
"I am fine." No snap? No glare? Just a straight answer.
But then again, the concern behind Renkotsu's inquiry had seemed genuine.
"Nothing will affect the deal."
Renkotsu's eyes widened slightly and his mouth opened and closed, before he nodded, something strange gleaming in his eyes for a moment.
Jakotsu stared at him, then raised a brow as he turned his attention to Bankotsu and Suikotsu. Bankotsu offered a wave and a belch, then laughed at Jakotsu's disgusted scowl. "Drunk in the middle of the day? You should be ashamed."
"M'not drunk! I'm full of spirit!" Bankotsu cheered, falling back on Suikotsu who grunted and shoved him off.
"Bankotsu and Suikotsu informed me of the situation with Genji, Renkotsu, so you can say what you need to say to me. The information will filter to those fools when they sober up."
A light chuckle.
Renkotsu. Hm... maybe there was something about that tanuki suspicion after all. He glanced sideways at Suikotsu to see if he was thinking what he was. Suikotsu met his eyes with a lazy smirk.
"Genji has decided that he does want to join our group. He's a traveler and he intends to travel on to Spain on Diaz's ship."
"Why not De Sousa's?"
"De Sousa is going back to Portugal and planning to stay for a while. He's... Genji told me a little more about him. He's a real patriot in some ways. Believes Portuguese boys should be raised by Portuguese people. He probably thinks we've adopted you."
"What does this have to do with Genji?"
"Ah...nothing. It..." Renkotsu cleared his throat and Bankotsu heard something scraping across the floor. Suikotsu hiccuped lightly his ear, his breath was hot and smelled of stale cabbage. Gross.
Bankotsu shifted positions.
"... just, in case you were uncomfortable with how strongly those men came off. You'd seemed nervous... But anyway, Genji said no, and I know he said some things that probably has you all questioning my loyalty to the group. Well, while I hold Genji's opinions very highly, I don't take them all to heart. Genji is... nice and he thinks so much of the few people he calls friends. If I told him I wanted to pull the sun from the sky, he'd probably tell me that he could procure me a place to store it once I'd done it. You have nothing to fear when it comes to me knowing my place. I'm staying with the group."
"That is good to hear. Suikotsu assured us that you were going to slit our throats in our sleep, so he would sleep with an eye open."
Renkotsu gasped, then... laughed again.
The tanuki was going down. Where had he stashed the real Renkotsu?
"I don't kill so directly."
"I did not think so. You are not the type to get your hands dirty."
"I wouldn't say that..."
"I would."
Bankotsu giggled at Jakotsu's bluntness. No tanuki there.
"Would you like me to inform Genji he can come in now? He is sitting in the yard, gazing at the door. Did you...?"
"Tell him that I wanted to talk to you first? Yes. Oh, and don't trouble yourself. I'll get him. You just go in and..."
"I am going out. I was just going to inform Bankotsu of it, but it seems he would not remember if I had in his present state."
"Going out? But you just got back! I want you to..." Bankotsu hiccuped and burped at the same time. "Itai!"
Suikotsu laughed and Jakotsu rolled his eyes.
"Where are you going? Can I come?" Bankotsu was staggering to his feet and finding it hard to stay balanced.
"No!" Jakotsu snapped. "And it is none of your business."
"You're going back to the boat to see that guy!"
Jakotsu flushed, gray eyes going wide and he searched for the correct words to say. "I am not going to see anyone! I just want to get away from you!"
He turned on his heel and stalked across the yard, seemingly snarling something at Genji and the big man rose and came lumbering toward the house.
"Damn." Suikotsu sat up, scratching his head at Jakotsu's exit.
"I second that." Bankotsu pouted, then grinned devilishly. "I bet he's going to see that guy."
"What guy?" Renkotsu asked, distracted. He was watching Genji's approach.
"The one from this morning," Bankotsu said chirpily and patted his belt to find his tiny dagger. Whispering to Suikotsu, he said: "If you dismember a tanuki, they'll revert back to their original form, right?"
"That's what I've heard. Lets try and see."
Jakotsu had climbed into the wagon, fumbling for a decent ribbon to tie at the end of his braid when he heard Renkotsu's high pitched scream. Sighing loudly, he refrained from looking back toward the house. If they wanted to behave like animals, he'd let them, but they would do it on their own.
He'd gone behind the house where Genji had left the fresh water he'd gone to fetch that morning in a large tub and washed the grit of the day out of his hair. He hadn't washed it that morning, not knowing how it would behave if he let it dry without keeping it tightly bound. He couldn't meet strangers with his hair a mess–especially Portuguese strangers.
Especially not...
Jakotsu shook his head, finding a light blue ribbon and snatching it from where it was folded at the bottom his traveling bag. He refused to keep his things in Genji's home for fear that they would leave it smelling like fish. As it was, he'd had to scrub extra hard that morning to ensure that he didn't smell like spicy fish.
Tonight, I will sleep outside.
Hastily, he tied the ribbon and pulled the braid over his shoulder, fingering its length. Just past the bottom of his breastbone. Bankotsu and Suikotsu would start pestering him about cutting it soon.
Perhaps he should. Maybe he did wear it too long. Nicalao's hair had only been a few inches past his shoulders...
And there he went again! Who cared about Nicalao's sandy hair? Not Josue.
Jakotsu blinked.
Not Josue... When had he started referring to himself mentally by that name again?
Troubled, he pulled a few curls from his braid to frame his face and twined his fingers in them. He sat back on the hard bench seat and stared up at the sky. The afternoon sun was sinking lower in the sky. The sailors were probably having lunch, so maybe it would be safe for Jakotsu to go to the beach and not run into one.
Perhaps he'd go to the one where he'd seen...
Well, it was off to the side.
Releasing his hair, he leaned forward, searching under the first bench seat to find his small art bag. He'd brought a few paints, some plain hair pins he'd fashioned, white sashes, and a small, flat bamboo board.
There was another yelp from the house, this one from Bankotsu.
Animal house.
Jakotsu slung the tiny back over his shoulder and began his trek through the woods to the beach he'd found the other day.
The ocean's call was soothing and Jakotsu was as drawn to it as he had been before. The waves caressing the surf and the sand kissing his bare toes was seductive. He'd kicked off his sandals long ago, tucking them in the pockets of his yukata. Long, light weight trousers that tied on either side, dragged through the sand.
He would have to wash them when he got back– or cut them. Perhaps he'd cut them and make– yukata shorts! Maybe he would cut all of his yukata pants! Grinning at the prospect, Jakotsu skipped out onto the virtually unmanned beach. He could see the boats in the distance.
He shrugged his bag off his shoulder, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum as he trotted across the sand. The soft sound of music greeted his ears played by a vaguely familiar instrument. It was airy and light. It sounded almost like a flute, and the tune was hauntingly beautiful.
The melody harmonized with the sea's song, begging him to perform again– and he might have, if he hadn't been curious enough to see what was producing the melody. Flutes didn't play themselves after all.
A slender boy sat with his knees pulled to his chest, sandy hair free of a bind and blowing gracefully in the wind. He held a long, seemingly wooden instrument at a horizontal angle just under his lips. He blew lightly, soft lips purring over a hole at the neck of the instrument. Skillful fingers moved to cover and uncover holes.
Jakotsu crept closer.
The music stopped.
Jakotsu froze where he was, paces away from Nicalao.
"Hey."
Nicalao barely turned his head to glance at him.
Jakotsu swallowed hard, heart racing. "H...hey."
"I thought I might see you again before tomorrow."
Jakotsu said nothing, staring as Nicalao looked back toward the sea again, setting his instrument in his lap and reaching for something in front of him. Jakotsu heard the sound of cloth unfolding and took a step closer with a curious frown. What was...?
Nicalao tossed large wad of cloth over his shoulder and Jakotsu moved to catch it. From the moment the soft fabric touched his fingers, he knew what it was before he looked at it.
His pants.
His face felt hot, and he prayed he wasn't blushing. How humiliating...
There was a soft chuckle from Nicalao, wispy and elegant. "I thought you might like to have them back. Though you seemed to be more comfortable once you'd taken them off."
Jakotsu was leaving.
"Thank you."
Jakotsu pulled his bag back over his shoulder and folded his pants neatly.
The melody started again. Nicalao had resumed his playing. Jakotsu watched for a moment, mesmerized then determined to go home. The wind picked up, blowing him forward and disrupting Nicalao's song. He ceased playing again, one hand leaving his instrument to pat the ground beside him, a beckoning ocean-green eyed glance tossed over his shoulder.
Jakotsu licked his dry lips and toyed with his hair.
He should go back.
But... he had come to paint and... it was a nice day... and...
The music started again.
The waves stroked each other, the sand licked the tender skin between his toes...
He moved forward and sat down in the warm sand, listening to the green ocean's call.
AN: Like it? Hate it? Don't care either way?-- Either way, let me know. Please review :)