[China Trip]

[x_ginta_x]

Sifting through the maps and charts in the Nexus library while using his grandfather's stories as a guide had helped. When they PINpointed onto the scene they were just far enough outside the city limits that someone appearing out of thin air wouldn't be gawked at, but just close enough that it wasn't a terrible walk. The estimate had ended up

Comments

[dream_departed]

The only real similarity to Ginta was the eyes. Maybe the slightly upturned nose. He was more stockily built with wild black hair that refused to be restrained by a top knot. It is possible it might not be Ginta's grandfather, but how many Yourouzoku found their way to China?

Aya-chan made a small bow. She took a slow step forward trying to radiate 'See? I'm a small helpless girl. No threat at all.' Which was, after all, true.

"We ditched the group and ran away." She raised the PINpoint. "Using this. It sounds like you are a long way from home. We could help you, if you trust us."

[x_ginta_x]

He looked at Aya, then at the thingamabob she was holding with no small amount of suspicion in his eyes.

"That's what you used to poof in with?" He gave it another measuring glance. "Tempting... but I can't just go. I have an obligation to fulfill."

Ginta gave him a strange look. "What obligation could you possibly have in a place you don't know?"

The responding look was just a little bit stern in a way that filled Ginta with a sense of déjá vu. "Not that it's any of your business, but... I promised one of the guys I came over with that I'd track him down and we'd both make it back to Japan in one piece." He paused before muttering, "He helped me with my sea sickness."

Now the déjá vu was hitting full force. Ginta was fairly sure he'd heard a story similar to this before. "What... what was the guy's name?"

"Kenichi. I doubt you'd really know him," the youkai said with a dismissive wave.

Pretty sure I know of him, though, Ginta thought as he sent a kind of sick, shocked glance at Aya. The trip just got a lot weirder, for him.

[dream_departed]

Aya-chan gave him a sympathetic look. She reached out to put her arm around him. "Come on, we're only trying to help.

"Where was the last place that you saw Kenichi? Maybe we could track him down."

The demon looked from Aya to Ginta and back again. Aya-chan was often got that Look, but it still hurt.

"Why do you care? Why are you so insistant?"

"You are Yourouzoku. Ginta is Yourouzoku. And the pack looks after one another." Aya-chan said in a tone that suggested that he should know that already. "Now, you can let us help you or take your chances with the nice men who are trying to capture and do God knows what to you."

[x_ginta_x]

The arm was appreciated and leaned on a little bit. He was just going to ignore the small headache that thinking about the situation was generating.

The youkai (Denjiro by name, if Ginta was remembering right [though he rarely had called him anything but jii-chan, so he could be wrong]) narrowed his eyes at Aya.

"What would you know about Yourouzoku, girly? You smell pretty human to me."

Now it was Ginta's turn to put his arm around Aya and give the other man a significant look. "She knows enough."

Denjiro gave a half-laugh, half-snort. "I'm sure your pack just loves that."

Ginta held up a finger, "They're actually pretty understanding, believe it or not. ...And I thought you'd be more understanding since the friend you have to find is probably human."

Denjiro crossed his arms and glared. "That's a pretty different situation, boy."

"But it's still hanging around-" just then, Ginta thought he heard Big Mouth's voice off in the distance, "-humans! Run!"

[dream_departed]

Aya-chan muttered under her breath. She still had the PINpoint in her hand. She was fast, but not fast enough to keep up with two youkai without slowing them down. She reached out with the arm that was not wrapped around Ginta and lunged at Denjiro. He was too surprised to move away fast enough. She pointed them a few miles away. ...And from waaaay up here it looked like maybe several miles up too. She knew that had to be an illusion.

Aya stepped away from the edge of the steep pagoda. Still holding on to both youkai, she blew her long bangs out of her face with one frustrated puff, just to have them fall back into place again. "Now, are you going to let us help you?" She made the mistake of looking over the edge of the pagoda, and the view made her queasy which put a little more agitation in her voice. "Or should we leave you up here?"

[x_ginta_x]

"Gyaaaah!"

To say that Denjiro wasn't expecting this would be an understatement. He fell back and clung to the pagoda's shingles as best he could.

"Fine. You can help me as long as you help me the hells down from here. Stubborn, little..." After the concession, Denjiro tapered off into muttering.

Ginta, meanwhile, had frozen in place, and was trying to just look around instead of down. Anywhere but down.

"Kind of a nice view if you forget about the height... I think I can see the river from here."

[dream_departed]

Aya-chan modified the coordinates -- which meant more guessing. She PINpointed them down to the stairs at the base of the pagoda. She looked around in mild surprise before fixing her expression in an 'I meant to do that' kind of look.

"Alright. Tell us anything that might help you find your friend. And what do we call you anyway?"

[x_ginta_x]

Denjiro quite happily clung to the steps for a moment as he readjusted to the idea that he was on solid, trustworthy ground.

"Denjiro. My name is Denjiro." And even though Ginta knew that would be the case, he thought he might be more light-headed after hearing that than he was while standing on top of the pagoda. He thought he did fairly well by only wobbling once, though.

"As for Kenichi... I believe he's still with the Wōkòu, the pirates. I just managed to get separated from the group when a storm came through. It's possible that we may be able to find him at the harbor."

He shot a glance at the PINpoint. Denjiro officially did not like that thing after it landed him on top of the Six Harmonies. "Would you mind if we walked, though?"

[dream_departed]

"A walk sounds like a great idea, but maybe we should get you into something less conspicuous first. ...I think that we could make a sarong or something out of one of the bolts of silk, but you would still stand out too much. We'll have to buy something." Shopping and a walk to the harbor! Their vacation was getting back on track.

[x_ginta_x]

Denjiro crossed his arms. "Well, if you're worried about me standing out, I'd best not go into the village just yet. I'll stay on the outskirts while the two of you do that."

Ginta took the straw hat off of his own head and plopped it down on Denjiro's.

"Nice try, but you're staying with us. You'll probably skitter off the moment we take our eyes off of you."

Ginta took a cloth out of a pocket in his vest to tie around his head and conceal his own ears while Denjiro glared at him.

[dream_departed]

Aya-chan giggled and wrapped her arm around Ginta. Aya-chan reached out lock arms with Denjiro too, but he side-stepped away. The stroll back into town passed in what was to Aya-chan a companionable silence.

Aya-chan was much less silent once she got back to the market. Aya-chan haggled over a set of second-hand clothes with every evidence of enjoyment. She seemed to have forgotten that they were on a mission or that they were in any danger.

[x_ginta_x]

Denjiro, however, had no problem reminding her of their current situation. Often. Though, every time he started he got an elbow in the ribs from Ginta from his troubles. (Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ginta realized that he was getting a perverse enjoyment out of scolding his own grandfather).

It turned out that Aya's haggling skills are something to behold, because the clothes were obtained at a real bargain. Denjiro was ushered off to an abandoned little merchant's tent (the owner presumably being off to lunch, or something similar) to change. When he emerged, he looked rather convincingly human.

Ginta reached out to squeeze Aya around the shoulders. "Good job! He looks practically native."

"Can we go, now?" Denjiro's crabbiness was starting to give way to more of a state of resigned, put-uponess.

[dream_departed]

"Of course. You look very handsome." Aya gave Denjiro a small wink.

She chatted companionably while walking to harbor. When the boys wanted to talk, she would listen. When they wanted to be silent, she easily filled the silence.

An unwashed man who smelled strongly of rice wine stumbled toward them. He made a drunkenly graceful sweeping gesture with his hand, summoning them closer.

The man half fell on, half leaned against Aya-chan. "You don't want to go this way, love," he warned. Aya felt a little tipsy just from smelling his breath. "There are lost of unsavory characters over here."

Aya made a high-pitched squeak as the man squeezed her bottom.

[x_ginta_x]

The compliment got a kind of perplexed, almost flustered look out of Denjiro and, thankfully, got him to stop whining for the moment.

When they ran across the sake-soaked man, Ginta started feeling a little ill at ease. Most of that was because the strong smell of alcohol wasn't at all pleasant to his enhanced smell, but the rest cements quite firmly when the man gooses Aya-chan. Ginta, who was apparently starting to pick up habits from Kouga, reached forward to grab the man's skull in an uncomfortably tight grip in order to pull him back.

"Unsavory, huh?"

Meanwhile, Denjiro was busy peering at the man's face. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

[dream_departed]

The man raised his hand in a dismissive gesture. He reached into his sleeve and drew out a knife.

"Most unsavory."

The man's whole body spun toward Denjiro peering at him. "I can't recognize you if you don't stop swaying."

[x_ginta_x]

While Ginta made sure to an eye on that knife... it was kind of hard to be afraid when the man couldn't even see straight.

Denjiro half-pointed, half-waved a finger at the man. "On the boats... you were on Roka's. ...Seiji? Sake-Seiji."

Seiji blinked blearily at him, one eyelid a little slower than the other, before some sort of recognition started to spark. "Oh yeeeeah, I-"

It was just then that the half dozen men who had been waiting in the bushes for an opportunity to ambush and rob them burst forth.