[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter twenty six
Title: RED WEST III.
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: Another long one, enjoy!
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven // Chapter twelve // Chapter thirteen // Chapter fourteen // Chapter fifteen // Chapter sixteen // Chapter seventeen // Chapter eighteen // Chapter nineteen // Chapter twenty // Chapter twenty one // Chapter twenty two // Chapter twenty three // Chapter twenty four // Chapter twenty five //
Coping mechanism
A familiar hand - hardened by frequent manual work, yet gentle - caressed his naked arm from shoulder to elbow. It sneaked under the warm blanket and continued across his stomach, where it lingered, warming up his abdomen muscles. Then it swiftly moved on lower, its fingers teasingly going through his pubic hair first, before clasping around his eagerly awaiting member.
When he sighed in pleasure, a wet, hot tongue uncompromisingly spread his lips apart, penetrating his mouth. A heated battle for dominance in the kiss stirred the so far dormant spot inside of him and increased his desire for more, just as the conquering, skillful hand down there did. The demanding pressure of the muscular body made him surrender completely and more than willingly.
Excited moans, whispered loving words, bodies synchronized in growing passion and the strong feeling of being safe and loved… All of it was so unreal…
Kame straightened up with a sharp jerk, realizing he was about to pass out and lose balance even while still sitting on the uncomfortable stone.
With considerable effort, he raised his head again. As he looked around the silent cave, his vision seemed somewhat blurred. It was because his whole body was shivering so hard his teeth were chattering. He felt so damn cold he might have as well be dead. It was as if they had already buried him deep under the ground.
His small, so-called torch was still shining, faintly yet perseveringly. Unfortunately, neither the view in front of him has changed in the least.
Kame stared at the motionless water surface, depressed. He did not see or hear any source of this underground lake. What else could he try in his situation? All his endeavors so far were in vain. Immersing in memories, which included Jin, was a way better than facing this bleak reality.
Bitterly, he chuckled at his own cruel imagination, which had been creating those lovely, dreamed-up images in his mind. It was probably due to that aching bump on the top of his head…
The torch flickered and his surroundings darkened a little.
Suddenly upset, Kame bent down for a little stone within his reach and threw it away. It sank with a loud splash, which echoed around the cave. If he had some spare strength for it, he would have started swearing loudly. Instead, he took another pebble and threw it again, creating more mild waves on the water surface.
“Damn it…” he sighed hopelessly.
To hell with everything. With Henderson, with his mine and most of all, with his stupid, foolish heroism, that led him to this forsaken place.
Then, just when he was about to pick another stupid stone, he saw it.
Something was floating on the surface of the lake.
Kame froze, gazing at that tiny thing, which was disrupting the otherwise smooth view. Slowly, he stood up on trembling legs, grabbed his makeshift crutch and staggered closer. It was still too far, so he was not able to identify what it was. Frowning, he relied mostly on his left leg and carefully checked the bottom under the water with the end of the crutch. It seemed to be shallow near the shore.
After a short hesitation, he walked in or rather stumbled into the lake.
The water was ice cold, biting his limbs as an army of ants, but the same time, it had a pleasantly numbing effect on his broken leg. He made a few very cautious steps forward, since it was gradually getting deeper and then leant down to pick that mysterious thing.
It was a dry elm leaf.
It hasn´t even started rotting yet, so it could not have been in the water for long. Somehow, the leaf had to get inside this cave from the outside. Though there was no visible hole, therefore he could assume that it was hiding under the surface of the lake, which was apparently deep enough for it.
Kame struggled to tame his excitement from such a finding. Even if there was a connection to the outside world, it might be too small for him to use it. Not to mention that trying to find it would be dangerous. Would he be even able to swim properly with his leg broken?
No. It was not a question of if he could. If there were a way, he would just swim through. What was the point in worrying about it, if he hasn´t tried yet?
He returned for the torch and then carefully moved it along the shore to lean it against two stalagmites. He needed at least some source of light to do this. He could not swim through the whole lake, trying to find the canal only by touch. He had no strength for it.
He turned on his axis, musing about where to start. As it turned out, it was more than a good idea to keep checking the bottom in front of him with a crutch first, since the lake deepened so suddenly, he almost lost his balance.
Starting to feel somewhat numb to the icy coldness, Kame looked around trying to remember the shape of the cave and the position of the torch. Then he slowly lowered himself to sit on the overhang under the water, hissing surprised about how much colder it could be yet.
Then, with a heavy heart, he put his crutch aside and took a couple of deep, slow breaths. Indians from the Blackfeet Tribe had taught him to hold breath for quite a long time, but he was not sure if he was able to do the same in his current state. He could not overestimate himself; otherwise, it would be the end of him.
Taking one last breath, Kame sank into the wet coldness.
The water pressure had a disturbingly calming effect on him. It was quite pleasant letting the water bear his weight and listen to its humming voice. Once his eyes accustomed to the new terms, he started to move forward slowly, trying to recognize as much under the water as was only possible.
No sooner than almost two minutes later, Kame resurfaced gasping for breath and groaning in pain. He had tried to prevent himself from moving with the right leg much, even though it was hard to keep direction like that, yet it still hurt like hell. He was shaking wildly again, trying hard to collect himself.
There was one good thing, which hit him confirming there might be a chance for him to escape. The taste of the lake water was good. Not stale or weirdly tasting in any way. It was fresh. There just had to be the source and the outflow of it somewhere.
He held himself afloat, calming down a bit. He got a couple of feet away from the torch and there was not much of what he could see under the water anymore. Nevertheless, he had to try to keep the same direction of his search.
He turned a bit, studying the cave walls around him again. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he caught a glimpse of something. He slowly swam a little further away from the torch light.
There it was again - a slightly less dark spot on the other side of the lake. It looked as if there was some source of natural light. In case he was not hallucinating of course. It was quite far and he was already getting tired. Was it worth risking?
There was a crackle and suddenly, Kame found himself in complete darkness. His torch gave out.
Gulping down panic, which immediately raised up in his throat, he tensely waited for his eyes to accustom. He blinked a few times to make sure. The light spot was still there, coming from under the water.
There might have been a canal connecting this lake with some other place and it should not be hard to find it now. On the other hand, he could not tell if it was wide enough for him to swim through, or if it did not change size in the middle, which would have trapped him. It might have even been too long for him to hold on with his breath. All these possibilities would lead to the same result - he would have drowned.
Not a way I would wish to go, Kame gloomily wondered, as he slowly swam toward the light spot. Nevertheless, there were much worse. Such as giving up and starving to death, while Jin was out there grieving.
With his eyes closed, he tried to get as much air into his lungs as possible, at the same time reminding himself to be careful about the right leg. Determined to try his best, he sank under the water again.
Soon, the surface of the hidden lake became just as unmoving and calm as before Kame had arrived to its underground shore.
***
“Luke Harrow. Negan Smith. Elam Ferguson. Morgan Jones. Rob Gunderson. Kazuya Kamenashi… We have gathered here today, in front of our Lord Jesus Christ, to honor the memory of these brave men, who lost their lives while struggling to provide for their families. Let´s pray for salvation of their souls…”
That morning, the church was so crowded that people were even standing outside in front of the entrance. All the front pews occupied wives, children, and other relatives of those who perished in the gold mine. Most of them were sobbing quietly.
“This sad tragedy is a sign from the Almighty,” Reverend Kapner continued preaching in a heartfelt voice. “It is a reminder to us all that we have no choice in our destiny. Hear the word of God…”
Lena was kneeling in one of those pews as well, with her hands clasped in the pleading gesture, whispering voiceless prayers. Her parents were sitting right behind her, the rest of Bozeman citizens who used to know Kame further behind. There were a lot of them, including the saloon owner Harada, Miss Melody McBain, little Mike with his grandparents, and others. In fact, most of the city had arrived. From Kame´s acquaintances, only Dr. Best was missing, since he still had his hands full with the injured men at the clinic.
However, the one who had been the closest to Kame was not there. She had already noticed that Jin Akanishi really did not come to the Requiem Mass in the end. Even though a day before, she went to tell him about it herself…
*
Lena was waiting outside, on the street in front of the brothel, not daring to enter. She asked one of the girls just arriving to work to pass on her message and now she was observing the evening hustle on the street sadly.
Even though the news about the mine collapse spread through the city like fire, nothing much changed in its usual daily flow. Several families mourned their loved ones, yet it was as if nothing had changed. As if none of those dead mattered…
She heard a creak of the door and turned. A tall figure walked out on the veranda and stepped down the stairs, approaching her. All the words flew out of Lena´s mind once she set her eyes on Jin Akanishi´s face.
She felt broken ever since she had found out that the news from the collapsed mine related to her fake boyfriend as well, but this man… The dark emptiness in his look almost frightened her.
“So? What is it?” Akanishi asked in a raspy voice.
Lena gulped down heavily, crossing arms on her chest, trying to suppress the tremor, which suddenly seized her.
“I´m not sure if you already know or not, but tomorrow, there´s going to be a mass service for the collapse victims,” she informed him quietly.
He stared at her blankly: “And?”
“Well…” Lena suppressed the urge to step away from him. “I just thought you might want to come...”
There was a short silence.
“No,” he said then. “Anything else?”
This time, it was her staring at him speechless. She had expected him to mourn, but it felt like Akanishi turned out into a complete stranger.
When she did not say anything, he turned away from her, promptly on the way back inside. Lena sniffed, fighting against tears. She believed that Jin truly cared for Kame and what happened would have a bad influence on him, but this man was as closed up and cold as a stone.
She could not hold her disappointment back and made a couple of quick steps after him: “Won´t you even say goodbye to him?” she snapped at his back tearfully. “I thought you loved him.”
Already on the veranda, Akanishi froze. Lena noticed how his hands tightened into firm fists. At first, she half-expected him to storm at her, but then his tense back slackened, he did not react in any way and just disappeared back inside the brothel…
*
Lena did not understand why Akanishi refused to come. How did he expect to reach any kind of conciliation, when he could not do even something so simple?
There were no bodies to bury. Parting with those deceased in the collapse like this was the least they could do. Was he not able to overcome his dislike towards the church even for Kame?
Lena squeezed her eyelids together, desperately trying to stop the flow of stinging tears.
Just why? Why it had to be him?
After everything her dear friend went through, he lost his life while helping others. If there was any God, he was damn unfair in this case. Why should they pay the Almighty such respect in that case?
In the end, Lena realized that she did understand Jin´s attitude a bit.
***
Jane was among the first to leave the church. The local priest´s speech was empathetic and comforting, yet it felt empty and insincere to her. She slightly regretted going to that mass. Now, she thought it would have been better to go with Ryo right away to see Koki again.
To protect herself from the cold wind, she pulled the long coat closer to her body and set off across the short bridge to the main street, sinking in sullen thoughts.
Jin had been holding on to his non-talkative attitude, spending most of the time at work in the brothel. He claimed to do so at least. Ryo was the one riding here and there between their current shelter in Kame´s house and the city the most, taking care of Koki and shopping. Leo was gradually getting hopeless about how to help his brooding brother and Cullen restless from idly sitting on their asses. And she… She was just trying not to think much about her own previous ideas.
During their journey north, she had been imagining how wonderful it would be once they would arrive to Bozeman and announce their engagement. Leo even intended to ask Jin to be his best man. Nevertheless, they did not utter a word about it yet. It was not exactly convenient. Not now.
Pondering their gloomy situation, Jane was already in sight of Dr. Best´s clinic, when she noticed an unusual number of riders in front of the building and stumbled a little surprised.
Tensely, she made herself continue walking in the same pace and passed by the clinic, pretending not paying attention to the group of men. However, once she turned the corner, she stopped right away and attached herself to the wall, peeking out to check on the situation again. She counted six armed men in dark vests and brown short coats, all of them bearing quite distinctive badges on their chests - of the US Marshals.
Jane observed them, thinking hard. It could be just a coincidence that they gathered right there. On the other hand - it might not. Though armed to the teeth, they seemed to be at ease, talking with each other and waiting for something. More precisely on someone, as she found out soon.
A well-dressed elderly man, whom she had already noticed in the church, approached the Marshals together with a slim youngster. If Jane could rely on the description she remembered hearing from Koki - and once Kame as well -, those two were probably the mine owner Henderson and his assistant McFly.
Henderson shook hands with the most impressive Marshal from the group, even though the man could be over forty years old and he was sitting in the robust wheelchair. Then the two of them approached the entrance to the clinic. She could not hear their conversation with the doctor, but she saw the result - they went inside along with another younger Marshal.
Slowly, Jane leant over the wall behind her, wondering what to do. At that moment, going to see Koki was not an option. She could only wait and see how this would turn out.
The US Federal Marshals were by far the most important government officials in territorial jurisdictions. For what reason did they appear in this city, just when they - the Black Riders - arrived as well? Either it was really just a coincidence and they came here only because of the attack in the mine, or they were damn unlucky or somebody snitched on their presence in Bozeman…
*
“Why so gloomy, buddy?”
Koki reluctantly looked up to face his friend sitting on the edge of his bed.
“The doc said you´ll be released soon,” Ryo continued cheerfully. “So, you should stand the rest of this boredom and doing nothing quite easily, right?”
“Yeah, I know…” he sighed and leant into the pillows behind his back. His head did not hurt so much anymore, even if was still wrapped in bandages and the horrible sickness had passed as well. Physically, he was recovering just fine. However, it was not so easy with how he felt. “It´s just… hard to be happy about anything when…”
“Is it because of Kame?” Ryo completed him quietly. “I´ve already told you not to blame yourself.”
“How can I not?” he blurted helplessly. “You guys saved my ass back there and he… he paid for my greed. This shouldn´t have happened.”
“Koki…” his fellow Rider took a breath to start persuading him again, but Koki did not let him. He just had to let it out.
“It should´ve been me! I should´ve been trapped in there!”
Ryo frowned: “If you don’t stop bullshitting, I swear I´ll hit you no matter your convalescence. None of us could predict what would happen.”
“That does not excuse me and you know it,” he opposed sadly.
His dear friend sighed: “Stubborn as always…”
Koki rather changed the topic: “What about Jin?” he asked.
“Still the same, sometimes worse,” Ryo murmured. “He…” a sudden knock on the door did not allow him to continue.
“Tanaka, you´ve got some visitors,” Dr. Best announced in an unusually sharp tone and stepped back to the corridor to free the entrance of Koki´s room.
His announcement surprised both Koki and Ryo, since they knew the doc would not bother to accompany Jane - whom they were expecting - to the room, since he already knew her from the day before.
Their surprise quickly turned into unpleasant shock, once one of the mentioned visitors wheeled through the door. Koki just stared, feeling somewhat numb, while Ryo cautiously rose up on his feet.
Altogether three men entered the room.
Two of them in very specific clothes and with shining badges on their chests, which left no doubt about who they were, even though the older one of them was sitting in the wheelchair. The younger Marshal navigated the older man´s chair into the room skillfully.
Right behind the Federal Marshals, the third man stepped inside and his presence squeezed Koki´s gust with a very bad hunch - it was Cameron Henderson.
“Good morning,” the wheelchair man greeted them. His voice was strict and his eyes observing as he studied them with a piercing look. “I´m Marshal Botkin and this is my deputy. I suppose you both know Mr. Henderson…?” he gestured shortly toward that creepy bastard, who moved to stand by the window.
Koki figured that if they were there to arrest him right away, then they would not have bothered with introductions. Therefore, he nodded shortly, noticing that also Ryo realized they could expect some serious troubles, when he heard the name, which confirmed the third man´s identity.
“Good. Mr. Tanaka?”
“That´s me,” Koki reacted as firmly as possible, preparing himself for the worst.
“We´d like to ask you a few questions about what happened in the gold mine, if you feel up to it,” Marshal Botkin finally explained their presence. “The doctor said you should be fully able to handle a few questions.”
Koki allowed himself to feel a bit of relief. If they came just because of the explosion, then he could handle it just fine.
He nodded again: “Sure…”
“Should I leave, Marshal or I may stay as well?” Ryo asked politely.
Botkin focused a bright, exploratory look on him: “And you are?”
“Ryan Kiddo. A friend of his.”
“He had been helping with rescue of the trapped miners, Marshal,” Henderson spoke with an unreadable expression. “I assume it´d be convenient if he rather stayed as well.”
Marshal agreed right away: “Stay then, Mr. Kiddo, you said?”
Ryo nodded: “That´s correct.”
“All right… Wallace, give me a hand, please.”
The young deputy navigated Botkin´s wheelchair right next to the bed and then pulled a writing pad out of his coat´s pocket. Ryo purposefully stepped aside a bit, to have a better overview of the room and especially on Henderson, and remained standing by the front side of the bed, next to Koki.
“We´re here to properly investigate the cause of the recent collapse in the gold mine… Are you Koki Tanaka, currently employed as a miner by Mr. Cameron Henderson?” Marshal Botkin had started the questioning, while his deputy writing.
“Yes.”
“According to the report provided by Mr. Henderson, you said that two days ago you had encountered a man, who blew the gold mine…”
“That´s right.”
“And it was shortly after the beginning of the morning shift in the west part of the tunnel. Is that correct?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Did you recognize this man?”
“I think he was one of the new guards, I didn´t know him by name.”
“So, you can testify he was also an employee in the mine?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You haven´t met him anywhere else?”
“No… Why should I?”
“Did he tell you his motivation?” Marshal asked another question without explanation.
“Well, he definitely talked like a crazy man.”
“Can you specify it?”
Koki huffed: “Specify? He was nuts, okay? He kept yapping something about revenge for somebody who was already dead and then… Then he just blew it.”
“You can´t remember any exact words?”
Rather reluctantly, he thought about it: “I was kind of upset by the whole situation, so no… I don´t know what exactly he was saying.”
Marshal wordlessly shook his head and looked up to Ryo: “Mr. Kiddo, what can you tell us about this incident?”
Ryo shrugged. Koki almost envied him that he was able to look so calm.
“Not much. I arrived at the mine to volunteer only after the blast. I can only say that inside definitely looked like after some explosives blew up. And I believe what Koki says.”
“All right…” Botkin seemed to ponder their words for a while. “Mr. Tanaka, did you see anyone suspicious moving around the mine? Probably even days before the explosion?”
Koki frowned incomprehensibly. These questions were going somewhere, but he could not figure out where: “No.”
“No one in expressly black clothes or having weird comments for example…” Marshal continued.
“What? No, I don´t think so.”
“Do you know the gang which call themselves Black Riders?”
Koki almost burst out laughing, when it occurred to him, but he managed to handle it. Botkin´s eyes were unwaveringly studying him the whole time.
“Well… Yes, I do. The local newspapers mentioned them a couple of times.”
“And even more times you could see their name on the wanted posters, isn´t that right?”
“Yeah...”
“Do you think they might be responsible for this incident?”
He gaped at the man: “What?! No way!”
His reaction was a bit too fierce and Ryo scolded him wordlessly with his eyes. However, he was too upset to realize it. What was this shit about?
Marshal raised his eyebrows: “You sound quite certain about it…”
“Well, it´s obvious it was just some crazy idiot, who lost someone in the mine and wanted to take it on the whole world!”
“Even though, they´re capable of handling explosives, aren´t they?”
Koki´s head was starting to ache from all those quick questions: “Who?”
“The Black Riders.”
Perfect, now he was getting nervous again. It did not feel good to hear their name from the Marshal´s lips so many times.
“How should I know that?” he strained the question between his teeth.
“Well, Mr. Henderson here reminded us that they already used them in the past, even killing innocents.”
“Mr. Henderson is obviously well informed,” Koki reacted caustically, while Ryo seemed that he would have like to strangle him.
“Unfortunately, I had some serious troubles with this persistent gang already,” until that moment silent Henderson suddenly cut in as well. “They obstructed my business a few times, so I did my own investigation, naturally,” he announced with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
Koki frowned at him: “And what in common does it have with the mine? Or with me?”
“How can you tell it was not one of the Riders, if you don´t know the gang as you said?” Marshal hit on him.
“With all the respect, Marshal,” Ryo stepped in. “Now you twist what he says…”
The older man´s look stabbed him so that he had to suppress the urge to step back: “Do I now?”
Henderson´s eyes suddenly narrowed and he moved forward, closer to the bed: “I apologize for interruption, Marshal, but…” he stared directly at Koki: “Haven´t we met before, Tanaka?”
Koki stiffened and his hands began to sweat. After all this time, he was already sure that Henderson did not remember him and now this…
He gulped down to wet his dry throat: “I don´t think so…”
“Really?”
“Yeah…”
“You know, I´ve got a strong feeling I met you under some unfortunate circumstances.”
Fuck… Koki finally realized that he made an awful mistake being so emotional over the Black Riders topic.
“I… I hope not in that case,” he managed to utter.
“Hmm…” Henderson hummed and straightened up. “Never mind. Please, continue, Marshal.”
“So, Mr. Tanaka,” Botkin focused on Koki with his sharp eyes again. “Can you be certain that person was not a member of Black Riders?”
Koki felt his guts clutched in an unpleasant lump. Feeling cold and anxious, he returned Henderson´s stare. There was a knowing, threatening smile on his face.
He licked his lips: “…No. If you put it this way, then I cannot.”
Marshal´s Botkin face brightened up, as if he finally got what he came for.
“Thank you. If either of you remember anything else, which might help us with the investigation, we´ll be staying at Harada´s Saloon.”
“Sure thing, Marshal,” only Ryo replied, as Koki was speechless.
Just before the door closed behind the uninvited visitors, Henderson turned - a half-assed smile still playing on his thin lips: “Wish you quick recovery, Tanaka.”
Koki let him leave without any reply.
Stunned Ryo stared at the door for a while, before he turned back to his friend. Koki was still sitting there in the same position, but his hands were clenched in the shaking angry fists and his eyes were full of remorseful tears.
“Hey, calm down, buddy…” Ryo whispered urgently. “They´ve got nothing on us.”
Koki shook his head unhappily: “He knows…”
Ryo frowned: “What?”
“Creepy Cam knows who we are.”
“Wait a second. He did not imply anything specific. How can you tell…?”
Upset Koki continued ignoring his objections: “Kame-chan had warned me about him many times, but I just didn´t listen. I was so damn stupid.”
Ryo breathed out and sat down on the bed again, finally realizing that his friend was damn sure about what he just said: “Do you think McFly told him?”
Koki shook his head: “That´s the thing. I´m quite sure that guy would not give us away… He could have exposed me back at the mine, but he didn´t do it.”
“Well, he could just play it on us,” Ryo suggested.
“Even if, it doesn´t matter. Henderson knows and we are in trouble.”
*
Jin was watching the stables behind Harada´s, while smoking his first cigarette of that day.
The saloon owner needed some help with tables´ repairs and since forenoons were usually quite lazy at the brothel, he offered himself to take care of it. He was just taking a short break in the lee of the building, remembering those few occasions he had helped Kame out with his duties around the horses of the saloon guests. Even though he got scolded a couple of times for doing something in a wrong way, it was fun. Everything his boyfriend ever did, it was with such dedication and seriousness...
At that moment, only Mike was running around, obviously busy, probably trying to catch up on all the duties because of his late arrival after the mass.
“Here you are!”
Jin looked up to see Ryo, who was approaching him with a suspicious rush and serious expression on his usually bright face. He tensed up, yet remained sitting on the empty box from whiskey.
“Hey… Something happened?”
“More like someone,” Ryo replied with a heavy sigh and hastily checked the backyard before he continued. “We need to meet and talk. All of us, sooner the better,” he emphasized.
For once, Ryo´s tone was enough for Jin not to ask more questions: “Where?”
“At your house.”
The sound of it stabbed Jin´s chest with bitter intensity. It was not just his, it was Kame´s home as well, it was theirs…
Hastily, he averted his gaze from the other Rider.
“The doc has just released Koki from the clinic, so we´re going there now,” Ryo informed him. “When can you come?”
Slowly, Jin doused the rest of the cigarette and got up: “I´ll go with you, just need to tell Harada. I´ll meet you in front of the clinic.”
***
Distant humming in the woods surrounding the house carried the undeniable essence of late autumn. The sun was hiding its yellow face behind grayish clouds and the strong wind kept chasing around dry, yet still colorful leaves in the gloomy afternoon. Soon, the days were about to get much shorter and colder.
Fortunately, together with Kame they did quite a good job as came to general house repairs, so it was well isolated from the unpleasant weather and there was a fine temperature inside. Thanks to that, almost complete Black Riders could gather in the biggest room of the house - the salon and didn´t have to shiver with cold, even though Jin had barely started the fire in the hearth.
Koki with an ugly, dark bruise on his forehead was occupying Kame´s favorite sofa in the corner, while frowning Ryo was standing above him as a caring hen. Leo with Jane were sitting on the new bench near the fireplace and Cullen took place typical for him - right next to the window to keep an eye on anything happening in front of the house.
Jin was sitting on the floor, right in front of the hearth, altering the growing fire crackling in it. Their current gathering was a way different in both place and time; nonetheless, he could not help but remember the similar serious discussion in the cottage deep in the woods of Colorado. Back then when all gang members voted about what to do with the unexpected new arrival… He had to try hard to focus and actually listen to the narration of the other two Riders.
After Koki and Ryo finished their description of the confrontation with Marshals and Henderson, the room fell into anxious silence.
No wonder, Jin thought bitterly. None of them expected that their trip to Montana would turn out in such a miserable way… The least of all I did.
He was more annoyed than surprised by Henderson calling up the federal marshals to the city. He should have expected that creepy bastard would not have enough even after what happened in the mine. He had already taken Kame away from him and now he focused to do the same with the rest of people close to him. It made him angry and sick.
Slowly, feeling strangely tired, Jin turned to face his comrades and younger brother. He was aware that they were trying to help him in the past few days, and even though he was not able to accept their sympathy, he appreciated it. He just didn´t know where to find strength to fight for them…
“I´m amazed by the ridiculous amount of troubles you´re able to attract,” Cullen was the first to comment the new circumstances, giving the rescued gold digger one of his clearly disgusted looks.
“I know it´s my fault,” the humbled mumbling did not remind the once blonde cheerful Rider much. “No need to remind me.”
“I won´t argue with you about that, but that doesn´t mean our old wolf needs to be such an ass,” Ryo growled upset.
The older Rider eyed him haughtily: “What other choice do I have?”
“We´re not kids for you to be scolding us like this at each opportunity,” snapped Ryo.
Cullen bared his yellow teeth at him in an exaggerated smile: “Trust me, I can´t wait for the day I´ll be able to treat you as adults.”
The younger Rider rolled his eyes: “Jesus, you act like you never make mistakes.”
Cullen´s strong finger pointed directly at obviously depressed Koki: “What this blinded-by-gold donkey did was not a mistake, but a fatally wrong decision. He even introduced himself with his true name, damn it!”
The mentioned donkey dared to raise his head: “Well, I applied for a job. They didn´t know me, so I thought that…”
Cullen cut him out quickly: “Rather stop thinking all together. It seems to me that would be good for all of us.”
“He was trying to be helpful, while you´re just hateful!” Ryo spat out, not controlling himself anymore.
“You´re going too far, Nishikido,” the older man growled. “You´ve always defended his stupidity, but this…”
“Enough!” Leo disrupted their argument annoyed. “Shut it already, seriously. You give me a headache.”
“You bicker like grandmothers in the market,” Jane chipped in readily.” “What´s done is done, rather think about what we´re gonna do now.”
Cullen and Ryo kept killing each other with angry stares, but they ceased their verbal fight at least.
Leo leant over his knees with a thoughtful expression: “First things first… Since when is Henderson after us?”
“Since the moment he found out that I and Kame are the members of the gang as well.”
All the Riders turned their attention to Jin. So far, he had been sitting on the floor so quietly that it actually surprised them when he spoke.
“That´s what we figured out after Jack´s telegram arrived at least,” the older Akanishi added.
“What do you mean, brother?” Leo asked surprised. “What exactly was in that telegram?”
Jin shrugged: “Nothing specific, naturally. Apart from that you´re coming here, the main message was about Creepy Cam´s cooperation with Tabor.”
His statement reverted Cullen´s attention from Ryo to him: “And you´re telling us about that now?”
“Yeah. I forgot to mention it before…”
“You forgot?!” the older man raised his voice.
The Riders´ leader gave him a warning glance: “Cullen… It´s understandable considering what happened meanwhile.”
“I knew about that telegram as well, so you can happily keep blaming me,” Koki joined Jin´s defense quietly.
Cullen snorted mockingly: “How comes that doesn´t surprise me?”
“Did you catch fleas or something, man? What´s up with you?” Ryo asked harshly, obviously fed up with Cullen´s attitude.
“Well, I won´t be here forever to catch and kill those fleas for you!” the oldest Rider snapped and turned away from them to look out of the window.
“What do you mean by that, Cullen?” even Leo asked him bothered. “Did something happen?”
There was a short silence.
“Nothing,” the older man murmured then. “I´d just appreciate some truly peaceful days.”
Ryo kept eyeing Cullen´s back for a while, before his expression eased up and he sighed: “Well… I dare to say I know what you mean. And I agree.”
“So, can I tell you the rest now?” Jin asked.
“Go on, Bro,” Leo encouraged him to continue.
“Henderson hates us for what we did to Raynold Karnaka,” he started to explain from the very beginning in a cold, detached voice. “He´s been focused on us ever since he returned to Bozeman. Claiming that he inherited Kame´s lands from Karnaka, he forced us to pay rent for living in this house and took over the rest of the property along with that damn mine.”
“Just to be clear - while you were talking with him, he didn´t mention us in any way?” Leo asked.
“He did make some hints about robbing the safe vaults, so we presumed McFly told him we were involved with the Black Riders, but it didn´t seem like he considered it important. Moreover, he had no proof to use against us in this matter, so we just let it go. We had other thing so take care of…”
“I can imagine,” Leo nodded. “McFly… Is that the guy who helped us catch Grenet in Colorado?”
“Yeah. I think he´s the main source of Henderson´s information. He appeared in Bozeman only along with him.”
“A little rat,” Cullen by the window murmured.
“Not necessarily,” Jin opposed. “I believe he keeps many things to himself, otherwise Henderson would have enough material to have both me and Kame arrested long ago.”
“The same counts for me, so I think the same,” Koki agreed.
Thoughtfully, Leo nodded: “That makes sense…”
“So, we thought Henderson just wanted revenge on the two of us until that telegram came and we found out he´s like two peas in a pod with Tabor. He had probably offered him cooperation in catching you, based on common finances and shared information. That´s when we realized he wants to use us to target the Riders as well.”
It was one of the longest Jin´s speeches ever and everyone stared at him at first, trying to absorb all the revelations.
“How did you come up with all this?” Leo asked amazed.
Jin´s eyes turned distant and he replied only after a short pause: “We used to discuss it a lot with Kame… We… we were trying to find a way to handle him.”
“How kind of you to tell us about it, too. Are you done?” Cullen asked in a weirdly tired voice.
Jane hissed something at the man, while Jin just stared at him unmoved: “Yes.”
“Even when I take all this into account,” Leo mused, “just why he would blame us for the explosion? How can he know that we´re even here?”
“McFly again?” Ryo offered. “He saw all of us up close, except Jane.”
“Well, he didn´t give us away at the mine…” Koki reminded feebly.
Leo looked at him sharply: “But he recognized you?”
“That´s for sure,” nodded Koki unhappily.
“Then he was scared shitless or calculative,” Cullen had an explanation to provide. “He could tell Henderson about you after that. We can´t trust anyone, how many times do you all need a reminder of that?”
Koki looked at Cullen with burning eyes: “We did well to trust Kame, didn´t we?”
Jin turned away from them to put some more wood on the fire.
“That´s different…” the older man reacted stiffly.
“Really? Tell me how?”
“Come on…” Leo got up on his feet. “I know you´re all upset, but this is not helping, okay?”
Nobody in the room showed any sign of disagreement.
“What bothers me more than McFly is why Henderson doesn´t use this directly or if he shared all of the information with Tabor or not,” emphasized Leo.
Jin half-turned to him to react: “It doesn´t matter if Henderson didn´t mention what he knows in front of the Marshals. He´s just using the explosion against us all.”
Leo nodded: “True. But what is he waiting for then?”
“It felt like…” Koki started and stopped, hesitating.
“I told you to stop thinking,” Cullen reminded caustically.
Ignoring the older man, Leo encouraged him: “What´s on your mind, Koki? Tell us.”
Koki took a deep breath: “It felt like he was having fun, you know? He was just waiting if I´d snap or not.”“I get you and I don´t like how that sounds,” reacted Leo.
“I´m actually surprised if he showed such emotion in front of you,” Jin commented in a non-participating tone.
“And what about that Marshal? Botkin?” Jane asked then curiously. “What was your impression of him?”
“Well…” Ryo turned to Koki questioningly and after the other nodded, he continued. “We cannot be sure what Henderson disclosed, but he led him to that thought about the Riders having something in common with the explosion.”
Koki followed up right away: “But I don´t think he told him as much as he actually knows.”
“And he was persistent, really,” Ryo huffed. “Even in that wheelchair of his, he had an impressive presence.”
“So, the man won´t stop until he solves this case,” Cullen assumed kind of absently.
“We must count with it,” Leo nodded. “So?” he looked around the face of all Riders. “Any ideas regarding what should we do?”
“Leave.”
Ryo turned to Cullen, who was the first to express his opinion: “He doesn´t necessarily know that all of us are here…”
“Doesn´t matter,” the older man shook his head. “It´s too risky to stay with all those Marshals around.”
“But we didn´t do anything!” Koki opposed indignantly.
“You think they´d listen to your explanation?” Cullen asked him.
Finally, their leader cut in: “I agree with Cullen… We didn´t anticipate this, but we must adapt to the new situation. We must assume that McFly told Henderson about everyone he saw back then - that means all of us except Jane. We should get out of this town,” Leo stated decisively.
Satisfied, Cullen nodded, not saying anything else to the topic, while Koki curled up on the sofa, looking quite miserable.
Ryo didn´t seem thrilled by the idea either, nevertheless asked the question first: “When do you want to leave, Chief?”
Leo hesitated and then turned to his brother: “Bro? What about you? Will you come with us?”
Jin just kept staring at the flames in the hearth.
“The change of environment would do you good, don’t you think?” his brother continued carefully.
There was a moment of thick silence, before the older Akanishi stood up and turned around to face them with a stiff expression: “You guys should disappear. But I´m staying.”
Leo strived to gather the strength for what he had to say: “Jin… What you´re doing is no solution.”
“And what exactly am I doing?” there came a quiet question from his brother.
“You know very well,” Leo urged on him. “You´re closing your eyes, not accepting what happened. It will get better in time, you´ll see… Just come with us.”
“I´ve already decided,” the older Akanishi stated in a detached voice. “If you wanna run, just go and leave me here.”
Leo sighed, not knowing what to say anymore not to make it even worse. It was Cullen, who had his day of giving out advices and his words stopped Jin in the doorway.
“Don´t you think it´s already enough, kid?”
Jin´s look was dark, when he turned back to the older Rider: “Keep your ´kid´, old man and take care of your own behavior more,” he recommended him annoyed.
“You might not believe me, but I´d rather you to go with us as well. You just need to pull yourself together. Otherwise, you´ll be nothing more a drunken burden to us.”
Alarmed, Jane stood up and took a breath to stop this awful conversation, but Leo´s hand on her elbow stopped her.
Frowning Jin huffed: “Since when do you care what I do with my free time?”
Cullen took a deep breath, facing him directly: “Kamenashi´s dead and you should better reconcile with that.”
A dangerous shine appeared in Jin´s eyes: “Shut up. It´s not your fucking business.”
On that, Cullen smirked: “You don´t even seem to miss him so much with all that drinking and fucking around.”
Jin froze and his expression revealed more than clearly what he would like to do at that moment. Jane held her breath, expecting Jin to lash out.
“Come on,” Cullen mocked him even further. “You can hit me, if it makes you feel better.”
Though Jin did not utter a word and stormed out of the house instead. Leo sat down again with a helpless sigh.
Jane approached Cullen and looked in his face: “You insensitive prick…” she whispered reproachfully.
Cullen gave her a long, meaningful look: “We all know that he´s not coping well. Someone needs to tell him. And he must start to listen.”
“And that gives you the right to talk to him like this?” she asked incredulously.
“No, it should have been me,” Leo spoke quietly, before the older Rider could reply. “But I just couldn´t do it.”
*
Not even the pure rush of wind on the back of his faithful horse could clear Jin´s head this time. He was riding back to the city with his mind almost painfully swirling with remorse.
Cullen reminded him something, which he was desperately trying not to think of. It was too hard for him to face own incapability to keep going in normal life.
He did not exactly remember what happened after he got drunk at Cora´s place that night a few days ago. He just knew that he woke up in her bed half-naked. Cora herself claimed she had even blanker head than he did, so she could not clear the things out. Nevertheless, she was sleeping naked right next to him. Everything led to one thing, which might happened during the night. And apparently, the other girls had already started spreading rumors.
Damn it all…
It still hurt so terribly. Jin was missing Kame´s voice, his kissing, and his mere presence so much. Though at the moment, most of all he felt damn guilty for sleeping with Cora.
His Kazuya was gone for such a short time and he has already fucked someone else? What kind of grieving was that? Did he lose his mind already?
It did not matter that he got drunk into unconsciousness, that it was just sex and he did not even remember the actual act. He still did it and felt like shit because of it.
Not to mention that Lena Brice was just another painful reminder of what he did wrong.
When she had come to see him, he remembered that the last time they were alone with Kame, before all that shit with the explosion went down, they were arguing about her. Instead of love, he was giving just jealousy and complaints to the most precious person in his life. He was not even able to talk to Lena properly, when he had realized that…
Even though Jin knew it would not help him to escape from his conscience, he incited Kuro to run faster. The black stallion - feeling his master´s woe - followed his lead obediently.
A part of him was still expecting to see Kame´s smile behind every corner, behind every tree, in the bed beside him. He was not able to tear his mind off him. He had so many and yet so little memories of him and he could not regret more not spending each new day with him. He knew now - no matter what he would do, nothing would really help to make it better. It was painful and so, so damn tiring…
***
The steps of feet in soft moccasins would not have made any audible noise even without chirpy splashing of the waterfall up the stream nearby.
The muscular Indian followed the river, studying its bank and searching for animal tracks. He had almost reached the waterfall itself, when something else entirely caught the attention of his intent eyes.
There was a body half lying on the stones and half soaking in the burbling water.
The Indian squeezed the bow in his right hand more firmly and carefully checked the quiet surroundings. Then, like a predator, he quickly reached the unmoving figure.
It was a young white man. His eyes were closed, he was lying on his stomach and except the right leg - which was apparently broken - he had many scratches and bruises all over his hands.
The Indian stared at the pale, handsome face for a short moment, before he squatted and reached forward to check the pulse under the cold skin on the man´s neck. Then he threw the bow over his back, grabbed the body with both his hands and slowly raised the unconscious man up in his arms.
- To be continued -
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: Another long one, enjoy!
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven // Chapter twelve // Chapter thirteen // Chapter fourteen // Chapter fifteen // Chapter sixteen // Chapter seventeen // Chapter eighteen // Chapter nineteen // Chapter twenty // Chapter twenty one // Chapter twenty two // Chapter twenty three // Chapter twenty four // Chapter twenty five //
Coping mechanism
A familiar hand - hardened by frequent manual work, yet gentle - caressed his naked arm from shoulder to elbow. It sneaked under the warm blanket and continued across his stomach, where it lingered, warming up his abdomen muscles. Then it swiftly moved on lower, its fingers teasingly going through his pubic hair first, before clasping around his eagerly awaiting member.
When he sighed in pleasure, a wet, hot tongue uncompromisingly spread his lips apart, penetrating his mouth. A heated battle for dominance in the kiss stirred the so far dormant spot inside of him and increased his desire for more, just as the conquering, skillful hand down there did. The demanding pressure of the muscular body made him surrender completely and more than willingly.
Excited moans, whispered loving words, bodies synchronized in growing passion and the strong feeling of being safe and loved… All of it was so unreal…
Kame straightened up with a sharp jerk, realizing he was about to pass out and lose balance even while still sitting on the uncomfortable stone.
With considerable effort, he raised his head again. As he looked around the silent cave, his vision seemed somewhat blurred. It was because his whole body was shivering so hard his teeth were chattering. He felt so damn cold he might have as well be dead. It was as if they had already buried him deep under the ground.
His small, so-called torch was still shining, faintly yet perseveringly. Unfortunately, neither the view in front of him has changed in the least.
Kame stared at the motionless water surface, depressed. He did not see or hear any source of this underground lake. What else could he try in his situation? All his endeavors so far were in vain. Immersing in memories, which included Jin, was a way better than facing this bleak reality.
Bitterly, he chuckled at his own cruel imagination, which had been creating those lovely, dreamed-up images in his mind. It was probably due to that aching bump on the top of his head…
The torch flickered and his surroundings darkened a little.
Suddenly upset, Kame bent down for a little stone within his reach and threw it away. It sank with a loud splash, which echoed around the cave. If he had some spare strength for it, he would have started swearing loudly. Instead, he took another pebble and threw it again, creating more mild waves on the water surface.
“Damn it…” he sighed hopelessly.
To hell with everything. With Henderson, with his mine and most of all, with his stupid, foolish heroism, that led him to this forsaken place.
Then, just when he was about to pick another stupid stone, he saw it.
Something was floating on the surface of the lake.
Kame froze, gazing at that tiny thing, which was disrupting the otherwise smooth view. Slowly, he stood up on trembling legs, grabbed his makeshift crutch and staggered closer. It was still too far, so he was not able to identify what it was. Frowning, he relied mostly on his left leg and carefully checked the bottom under the water with the end of the crutch. It seemed to be shallow near the shore.
After a short hesitation, he walked in or rather stumbled into the lake.
The water was ice cold, biting his limbs as an army of ants, but the same time, it had a pleasantly numbing effect on his broken leg. He made a few very cautious steps forward, since it was gradually getting deeper and then leant down to pick that mysterious thing.
It was a dry elm leaf.
It hasn´t even started rotting yet, so it could not have been in the water for long. Somehow, the leaf had to get inside this cave from the outside. Though there was no visible hole, therefore he could assume that it was hiding under the surface of the lake, which was apparently deep enough for it.
Kame struggled to tame his excitement from such a finding. Even if there was a connection to the outside world, it might be too small for him to use it. Not to mention that trying to find it would be dangerous. Would he be even able to swim properly with his leg broken?
No. It was not a question of if he could. If there were a way, he would just swim through. What was the point in worrying about it, if he hasn´t tried yet?
He returned for the torch and then carefully moved it along the shore to lean it against two stalagmites. He needed at least some source of light to do this. He could not swim through the whole lake, trying to find the canal only by touch. He had no strength for it.
He turned on his axis, musing about where to start. As it turned out, it was more than a good idea to keep checking the bottom in front of him with a crutch first, since the lake deepened so suddenly, he almost lost his balance.
Starting to feel somewhat numb to the icy coldness, Kame looked around trying to remember the shape of the cave and the position of the torch. Then he slowly lowered himself to sit on the overhang under the water, hissing surprised about how much colder it could be yet.
Then, with a heavy heart, he put his crutch aside and took a couple of deep, slow breaths. Indians from the Blackfeet Tribe had taught him to hold breath for quite a long time, but he was not sure if he was able to do the same in his current state. He could not overestimate himself; otherwise, it would be the end of him.
Taking one last breath, Kame sank into the wet coldness.
The water pressure had a disturbingly calming effect on him. It was quite pleasant letting the water bear his weight and listen to its humming voice. Once his eyes accustomed to the new terms, he started to move forward slowly, trying to recognize as much under the water as was only possible.
No sooner than almost two minutes later, Kame resurfaced gasping for breath and groaning in pain. He had tried to prevent himself from moving with the right leg much, even though it was hard to keep direction like that, yet it still hurt like hell. He was shaking wildly again, trying hard to collect himself.
There was one good thing, which hit him confirming there might be a chance for him to escape. The taste of the lake water was good. Not stale or weirdly tasting in any way. It was fresh. There just had to be the source and the outflow of it somewhere.
He held himself afloat, calming down a bit. He got a couple of feet away from the torch and there was not much of what he could see under the water anymore. Nevertheless, he had to try to keep the same direction of his search.
He turned a bit, studying the cave walls around him again. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he caught a glimpse of something. He slowly swam a little further away from the torch light.
There it was again - a slightly less dark spot on the other side of the lake. It looked as if there was some source of natural light. In case he was not hallucinating of course. It was quite far and he was already getting tired. Was it worth risking?
There was a crackle and suddenly, Kame found himself in complete darkness. His torch gave out.
Gulping down panic, which immediately raised up in his throat, he tensely waited for his eyes to accustom. He blinked a few times to make sure. The light spot was still there, coming from under the water.
There might have been a canal connecting this lake with some other place and it should not be hard to find it now. On the other hand, he could not tell if it was wide enough for him to swim through, or if it did not change size in the middle, which would have trapped him. It might have even been too long for him to hold on with his breath. All these possibilities would lead to the same result - he would have drowned.
Not a way I would wish to go, Kame gloomily wondered, as he slowly swam toward the light spot. Nevertheless, there were much worse. Such as giving up and starving to death, while Jin was out there grieving.
With his eyes closed, he tried to get as much air into his lungs as possible, at the same time reminding himself to be careful about the right leg. Determined to try his best, he sank under the water again.
Soon, the surface of the hidden lake became just as unmoving and calm as before Kame had arrived to its underground shore.
***
“Luke Harrow. Negan Smith. Elam Ferguson. Morgan Jones. Rob Gunderson. Kazuya Kamenashi… We have gathered here today, in front of our Lord Jesus Christ, to honor the memory of these brave men, who lost their lives while struggling to provide for their families. Let´s pray for salvation of their souls…”
That morning, the church was so crowded that people were even standing outside in front of the entrance. All the front pews occupied wives, children, and other relatives of those who perished in the gold mine. Most of them were sobbing quietly.
“This sad tragedy is a sign from the Almighty,” Reverend Kapner continued preaching in a heartfelt voice. “It is a reminder to us all that we have no choice in our destiny. Hear the word of God…”
Lena was kneeling in one of those pews as well, with her hands clasped in the pleading gesture, whispering voiceless prayers. Her parents were sitting right behind her, the rest of Bozeman citizens who used to know Kame further behind. There were a lot of them, including the saloon owner Harada, Miss Melody McBain, little Mike with his grandparents, and others. In fact, most of the city had arrived. From Kame´s acquaintances, only Dr. Best was missing, since he still had his hands full with the injured men at the clinic.
However, the one who had been the closest to Kame was not there. She had already noticed that Jin Akanishi really did not come to the Requiem Mass in the end. Even though a day before, she went to tell him about it herself…
*
Lena was waiting outside, on the street in front of the brothel, not daring to enter. She asked one of the girls just arriving to work to pass on her message and now she was observing the evening hustle on the street sadly.
Even though the news about the mine collapse spread through the city like fire, nothing much changed in its usual daily flow. Several families mourned their loved ones, yet it was as if nothing had changed. As if none of those dead mattered…
She heard a creak of the door and turned. A tall figure walked out on the veranda and stepped down the stairs, approaching her. All the words flew out of Lena´s mind once she set her eyes on Jin Akanishi´s face.
She felt broken ever since she had found out that the news from the collapsed mine related to her fake boyfriend as well, but this man… The dark emptiness in his look almost frightened her.
“So? What is it?” Akanishi asked in a raspy voice.
Lena gulped down heavily, crossing arms on her chest, trying to suppress the tremor, which suddenly seized her.
“I´m not sure if you already know or not, but tomorrow, there´s going to be a mass service for the collapse victims,” she informed him quietly.
He stared at her blankly: “And?”
“Well…” Lena suppressed the urge to step away from him. “I just thought you might want to come...”
There was a short silence.
“No,” he said then. “Anything else?”
This time, it was her staring at him speechless. She had expected him to mourn, but it felt like Akanishi turned out into a complete stranger.
When she did not say anything, he turned away from her, promptly on the way back inside. Lena sniffed, fighting against tears. She believed that Jin truly cared for Kame and what happened would have a bad influence on him, but this man was as closed up and cold as a stone.
She could not hold her disappointment back and made a couple of quick steps after him: “Won´t you even say goodbye to him?” she snapped at his back tearfully. “I thought you loved him.”
Already on the veranda, Akanishi froze. Lena noticed how his hands tightened into firm fists. At first, she half-expected him to storm at her, but then his tense back slackened, he did not react in any way and just disappeared back inside the brothel…
*
Lena did not understand why Akanishi refused to come. How did he expect to reach any kind of conciliation, when he could not do even something so simple?
There were no bodies to bury. Parting with those deceased in the collapse like this was the least they could do. Was he not able to overcome his dislike towards the church even for Kame?
Lena squeezed her eyelids together, desperately trying to stop the flow of stinging tears.
Just why? Why it had to be him?
After everything her dear friend went through, he lost his life while helping others. If there was any God, he was damn unfair in this case. Why should they pay the Almighty such respect in that case?
In the end, Lena realized that she did understand Jin´s attitude a bit.
***
Jane was among the first to leave the church. The local priest´s speech was empathetic and comforting, yet it felt empty and insincere to her. She slightly regretted going to that mass. Now, she thought it would have been better to go with Ryo right away to see Koki again.
To protect herself from the cold wind, she pulled the long coat closer to her body and set off across the short bridge to the main street, sinking in sullen thoughts.
Jin had been holding on to his non-talkative attitude, spending most of the time at work in the brothel. He claimed to do so at least. Ryo was the one riding here and there between their current shelter in Kame´s house and the city the most, taking care of Koki and shopping. Leo was gradually getting hopeless about how to help his brooding brother and Cullen restless from idly sitting on their asses. And she… She was just trying not to think much about her own previous ideas.
During their journey north, she had been imagining how wonderful it would be once they would arrive to Bozeman and announce their engagement. Leo even intended to ask Jin to be his best man. Nevertheless, they did not utter a word about it yet. It was not exactly convenient. Not now.
Pondering their gloomy situation, Jane was already in sight of Dr. Best´s clinic, when she noticed an unusual number of riders in front of the building and stumbled a little surprised.
Tensely, she made herself continue walking in the same pace and passed by the clinic, pretending not paying attention to the group of men. However, once she turned the corner, she stopped right away and attached herself to the wall, peeking out to check on the situation again. She counted six armed men in dark vests and brown short coats, all of them bearing quite distinctive badges on their chests - of the US Marshals.
Jane observed them, thinking hard. It could be just a coincidence that they gathered right there. On the other hand - it might not. Though armed to the teeth, they seemed to be at ease, talking with each other and waiting for something. More precisely on someone, as she found out soon.
A well-dressed elderly man, whom she had already noticed in the church, approached the Marshals together with a slim youngster. If Jane could rely on the description she remembered hearing from Koki - and once Kame as well -, those two were probably the mine owner Henderson and his assistant McFly.
Henderson shook hands with the most impressive Marshal from the group, even though the man could be over forty years old and he was sitting in the robust wheelchair. Then the two of them approached the entrance to the clinic. She could not hear their conversation with the doctor, but she saw the result - they went inside along with another younger Marshal.
Slowly, Jane leant over the wall behind her, wondering what to do. At that moment, going to see Koki was not an option. She could only wait and see how this would turn out.
The US Federal Marshals were by far the most important government officials in territorial jurisdictions. For what reason did they appear in this city, just when they - the Black Riders - arrived as well? Either it was really just a coincidence and they came here only because of the attack in the mine, or they were damn unlucky or somebody snitched on their presence in Bozeman…
*
“Why so gloomy, buddy?”
Koki reluctantly looked up to face his friend sitting on the edge of his bed.
“The doc said you´ll be released soon,” Ryo continued cheerfully. “So, you should stand the rest of this boredom and doing nothing quite easily, right?”
“Yeah, I know…” he sighed and leant into the pillows behind his back. His head did not hurt so much anymore, even if was still wrapped in bandages and the horrible sickness had passed as well. Physically, he was recovering just fine. However, it was not so easy with how he felt. “It´s just… hard to be happy about anything when…”
“Is it because of Kame?” Ryo completed him quietly. “I´ve already told you not to blame yourself.”
“How can I not?” he blurted helplessly. “You guys saved my ass back there and he… he paid for my greed. This shouldn´t have happened.”
“Koki…” his fellow Rider took a breath to start persuading him again, but Koki did not let him. He just had to let it out.
“It should´ve been me! I should´ve been trapped in there!”
Ryo frowned: “If you don’t stop bullshitting, I swear I´ll hit you no matter your convalescence. None of us could predict what would happen.”
“That does not excuse me and you know it,” he opposed sadly.
His dear friend sighed: “Stubborn as always…”
Koki rather changed the topic: “What about Jin?” he asked.
“Still the same, sometimes worse,” Ryo murmured. “He…” a sudden knock on the door did not allow him to continue.
“Tanaka, you´ve got some visitors,” Dr. Best announced in an unusually sharp tone and stepped back to the corridor to free the entrance of Koki´s room.
His announcement surprised both Koki and Ryo, since they knew the doc would not bother to accompany Jane - whom they were expecting - to the room, since he already knew her from the day before.
Their surprise quickly turned into unpleasant shock, once one of the mentioned visitors wheeled through the door. Koki just stared, feeling somewhat numb, while Ryo cautiously rose up on his feet.
Altogether three men entered the room.
Two of them in very specific clothes and with shining badges on their chests, which left no doubt about who they were, even though the older one of them was sitting in the wheelchair. The younger Marshal navigated the older man´s chair into the room skillfully.
Right behind the Federal Marshals, the third man stepped inside and his presence squeezed Koki´s gust with a very bad hunch - it was Cameron Henderson.
“Good morning,” the wheelchair man greeted them. His voice was strict and his eyes observing as he studied them with a piercing look. “I´m Marshal Botkin and this is my deputy. I suppose you both know Mr. Henderson…?” he gestured shortly toward that creepy bastard, who moved to stand by the window.
Koki figured that if they were there to arrest him right away, then they would not have bothered with introductions. Therefore, he nodded shortly, noticing that also Ryo realized they could expect some serious troubles, when he heard the name, which confirmed the third man´s identity.
“Good. Mr. Tanaka?”
“That´s me,” Koki reacted as firmly as possible, preparing himself for the worst.
“We´d like to ask you a few questions about what happened in the gold mine, if you feel up to it,” Marshal Botkin finally explained their presence. “The doctor said you should be fully able to handle a few questions.”
Koki allowed himself to feel a bit of relief. If they came just because of the explosion, then he could handle it just fine.
He nodded again: “Sure…”
“Should I leave, Marshal or I may stay as well?” Ryo asked politely.
Botkin focused a bright, exploratory look on him: “And you are?”
“Ryan Kiddo. A friend of his.”
“He had been helping with rescue of the trapped miners, Marshal,” Henderson spoke with an unreadable expression. “I assume it´d be convenient if he rather stayed as well.”
Marshal agreed right away: “Stay then, Mr. Kiddo, you said?”
Ryo nodded: “That´s correct.”
“All right… Wallace, give me a hand, please.”
The young deputy navigated Botkin´s wheelchair right next to the bed and then pulled a writing pad out of his coat´s pocket. Ryo purposefully stepped aside a bit, to have a better overview of the room and especially on Henderson, and remained standing by the front side of the bed, next to Koki.
“We´re here to properly investigate the cause of the recent collapse in the gold mine… Are you Koki Tanaka, currently employed as a miner by Mr. Cameron Henderson?” Marshal Botkin had started the questioning, while his deputy writing.
“Yes.”
“According to the report provided by Mr. Henderson, you said that two days ago you had encountered a man, who blew the gold mine…”
“That´s right.”
“And it was shortly after the beginning of the morning shift in the west part of the tunnel. Is that correct?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Did you recognize this man?”
“I think he was one of the new guards, I didn´t know him by name.”
“So, you can testify he was also an employee in the mine?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You haven´t met him anywhere else?”
“No… Why should I?”
“Did he tell you his motivation?” Marshal asked another question without explanation.
“Well, he definitely talked like a crazy man.”
“Can you specify it?”
Koki huffed: “Specify? He was nuts, okay? He kept yapping something about revenge for somebody who was already dead and then… Then he just blew it.”
“You can´t remember any exact words?”
Rather reluctantly, he thought about it: “I was kind of upset by the whole situation, so no… I don´t know what exactly he was saying.”
Marshal wordlessly shook his head and looked up to Ryo: “Mr. Kiddo, what can you tell us about this incident?”
Ryo shrugged. Koki almost envied him that he was able to look so calm.
“Not much. I arrived at the mine to volunteer only after the blast. I can only say that inside definitely looked like after some explosives blew up. And I believe what Koki says.”
“All right…” Botkin seemed to ponder their words for a while. “Mr. Tanaka, did you see anyone suspicious moving around the mine? Probably even days before the explosion?”
Koki frowned incomprehensibly. These questions were going somewhere, but he could not figure out where: “No.”
“No one in expressly black clothes or having weird comments for example…” Marshal continued.
“What? No, I don´t think so.”
“Do you know the gang which call themselves Black Riders?”
Koki almost burst out laughing, when it occurred to him, but he managed to handle it. Botkin´s eyes were unwaveringly studying him the whole time.
“Well… Yes, I do. The local newspapers mentioned them a couple of times.”
“And even more times you could see their name on the wanted posters, isn´t that right?”
“Yeah...”
“Do you think they might be responsible for this incident?”
He gaped at the man: “What?! No way!”
His reaction was a bit too fierce and Ryo scolded him wordlessly with his eyes. However, he was too upset to realize it. What was this shit about?
Marshal raised his eyebrows: “You sound quite certain about it…”
“Well, it´s obvious it was just some crazy idiot, who lost someone in the mine and wanted to take it on the whole world!”
“Even though, they´re capable of handling explosives, aren´t they?”
Koki´s head was starting to ache from all those quick questions: “Who?”
“The Black Riders.”
Perfect, now he was getting nervous again. It did not feel good to hear their name from the Marshal´s lips so many times.
“How should I know that?” he strained the question between his teeth.
“Well, Mr. Henderson here reminded us that they already used them in the past, even killing innocents.”
“Mr. Henderson is obviously well informed,” Koki reacted caustically, while Ryo seemed that he would have like to strangle him.
“Unfortunately, I had some serious troubles with this persistent gang already,” until that moment silent Henderson suddenly cut in as well. “They obstructed my business a few times, so I did my own investigation, naturally,” he announced with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
Koki frowned at him: “And what in common does it have with the mine? Or with me?”
“How can you tell it was not one of the Riders, if you don´t know the gang as you said?” Marshal hit on him.
“With all the respect, Marshal,” Ryo stepped in. “Now you twist what he says…”
The older man´s look stabbed him so that he had to suppress the urge to step back: “Do I now?”
Henderson´s eyes suddenly narrowed and he moved forward, closer to the bed: “I apologize for interruption, Marshal, but…” he stared directly at Koki: “Haven´t we met before, Tanaka?”
Koki stiffened and his hands began to sweat. After all this time, he was already sure that Henderson did not remember him and now this…
He gulped down to wet his dry throat: “I don´t think so…”
“Really?”
“Yeah…”
“You know, I´ve got a strong feeling I met you under some unfortunate circumstances.”
Fuck… Koki finally realized that he made an awful mistake being so emotional over the Black Riders topic.
“I… I hope not in that case,” he managed to utter.
“Hmm…” Henderson hummed and straightened up. “Never mind. Please, continue, Marshal.”
“So, Mr. Tanaka,” Botkin focused on Koki with his sharp eyes again. “Can you be certain that person was not a member of Black Riders?”
Koki felt his guts clutched in an unpleasant lump. Feeling cold and anxious, he returned Henderson´s stare. There was a knowing, threatening smile on his face.
He licked his lips: “…No. If you put it this way, then I cannot.”
Marshal´s Botkin face brightened up, as if he finally got what he came for.
“Thank you. If either of you remember anything else, which might help us with the investigation, we´ll be staying at Harada´s Saloon.”
“Sure thing, Marshal,” only Ryo replied, as Koki was speechless.
Just before the door closed behind the uninvited visitors, Henderson turned - a half-assed smile still playing on his thin lips: “Wish you quick recovery, Tanaka.”
Koki let him leave without any reply.
Stunned Ryo stared at the door for a while, before he turned back to his friend. Koki was still sitting there in the same position, but his hands were clenched in the shaking angry fists and his eyes were full of remorseful tears.
“Hey, calm down, buddy…” Ryo whispered urgently. “They´ve got nothing on us.”
Koki shook his head unhappily: “He knows…”
Ryo frowned: “What?”
“Creepy Cam knows who we are.”
“Wait a second. He did not imply anything specific. How can you tell…?”
Upset Koki continued ignoring his objections: “Kame-chan had warned me about him many times, but I just didn´t listen. I was so damn stupid.”
Ryo breathed out and sat down on the bed again, finally realizing that his friend was damn sure about what he just said: “Do you think McFly told him?”
Koki shook his head: “That´s the thing. I´m quite sure that guy would not give us away… He could have exposed me back at the mine, but he didn´t do it.”
“Well, he could just play it on us,” Ryo suggested.
“Even if, it doesn´t matter. Henderson knows and we are in trouble.”
*
Jin was watching the stables behind Harada´s, while smoking his first cigarette of that day.
The saloon owner needed some help with tables´ repairs and since forenoons were usually quite lazy at the brothel, he offered himself to take care of it. He was just taking a short break in the lee of the building, remembering those few occasions he had helped Kame out with his duties around the horses of the saloon guests. Even though he got scolded a couple of times for doing something in a wrong way, it was fun. Everything his boyfriend ever did, it was with such dedication and seriousness...
At that moment, only Mike was running around, obviously busy, probably trying to catch up on all the duties because of his late arrival after the mass.
“Here you are!”
Jin looked up to see Ryo, who was approaching him with a suspicious rush and serious expression on his usually bright face. He tensed up, yet remained sitting on the empty box from whiskey.
“Hey… Something happened?”
“More like someone,” Ryo replied with a heavy sigh and hastily checked the backyard before he continued. “We need to meet and talk. All of us, sooner the better,” he emphasized.
For once, Ryo´s tone was enough for Jin not to ask more questions: “Where?”
“At your house.”
The sound of it stabbed Jin´s chest with bitter intensity. It was not just his, it was Kame´s home as well, it was theirs…
Hastily, he averted his gaze from the other Rider.
“The doc has just released Koki from the clinic, so we´re going there now,” Ryo informed him. “When can you come?”
Slowly, Jin doused the rest of the cigarette and got up: “I´ll go with you, just need to tell Harada. I´ll meet you in front of the clinic.”
***
Distant humming in the woods surrounding the house carried the undeniable essence of late autumn. The sun was hiding its yellow face behind grayish clouds and the strong wind kept chasing around dry, yet still colorful leaves in the gloomy afternoon. Soon, the days were about to get much shorter and colder.
Fortunately, together with Kame they did quite a good job as came to general house repairs, so it was well isolated from the unpleasant weather and there was a fine temperature inside. Thanks to that, almost complete Black Riders could gather in the biggest room of the house - the salon and didn´t have to shiver with cold, even though Jin had barely started the fire in the hearth.
Koki with an ugly, dark bruise on his forehead was occupying Kame´s favorite sofa in the corner, while frowning Ryo was standing above him as a caring hen. Leo with Jane were sitting on the new bench near the fireplace and Cullen took place typical for him - right next to the window to keep an eye on anything happening in front of the house.
Jin was sitting on the floor, right in front of the hearth, altering the growing fire crackling in it. Their current gathering was a way different in both place and time; nonetheless, he could not help but remember the similar serious discussion in the cottage deep in the woods of Colorado. Back then when all gang members voted about what to do with the unexpected new arrival… He had to try hard to focus and actually listen to the narration of the other two Riders.
After Koki and Ryo finished their description of the confrontation with Marshals and Henderson, the room fell into anxious silence.
No wonder, Jin thought bitterly. None of them expected that their trip to Montana would turn out in such a miserable way… The least of all I did.
He was more annoyed than surprised by Henderson calling up the federal marshals to the city. He should have expected that creepy bastard would not have enough even after what happened in the mine. He had already taken Kame away from him and now he focused to do the same with the rest of people close to him. It made him angry and sick.
Slowly, feeling strangely tired, Jin turned to face his comrades and younger brother. He was aware that they were trying to help him in the past few days, and even though he was not able to accept their sympathy, he appreciated it. He just didn´t know where to find strength to fight for them…
“I´m amazed by the ridiculous amount of troubles you´re able to attract,” Cullen was the first to comment the new circumstances, giving the rescued gold digger one of his clearly disgusted looks.
“I know it´s my fault,” the humbled mumbling did not remind the once blonde cheerful Rider much. “No need to remind me.”
“I won´t argue with you about that, but that doesn´t mean our old wolf needs to be such an ass,” Ryo growled upset.
The older Rider eyed him haughtily: “What other choice do I have?”
“We´re not kids for you to be scolding us like this at each opportunity,” snapped Ryo.
Cullen bared his yellow teeth at him in an exaggerated smile: “Trust me, I can´t wait for the day I´ll be able to treat you as adults.”
The younger Rider rolled his eyes: “Jesus, you act like you never make mistakes.”
Cullen´s strong finger pointed directly at obviously depressed Koki: “What this blinded-by-gold donkey did was not a mistake, but a fatally wrong decision. He even introduced himself with his true name, damn it!”
The mentioned donkey dared to raise his head: “Well, I applied for a job. They didn´t know me, so I thought that…”
Cullen cut him out quickly: “Rather stop thinking all together. It seems to me that would be good for all of us.”
“He was trying to be helpful, while you´re just hateful!” Ryo spat out, not controlling himself anymore.
“You´re going too far, Nishikido,” the older man growled. “You´ve always defended his stupidity, but this…”
“Enough!” Leo disrupted their argument annoyed. “Shut it already, seriously. You give me a headache.”
“You bicker like grandmothers in the market,” Jane chipped in readily.” “What´s done is done, rather think about what we´re gonna do now.”
Cullen and Ryo kept killing each other with angry stares, but they ceased their verbal fight at least.
Leo leant over his knees with a thoughtful expression: “First things first… Since when is Henderson after us?”
“Since the moment he found out that I and Kame are the members of the gang as well.”
All the Riders turned their attention to Jin. So far, he had been sitting on the floor so quietly that it actually surprised them when he spoke.
“That´s what we figured out after Jack´s telegram arrived at least,” the older Akanishi added.
“What do you mean, brother?” Leo asked surprised. “What exactly was in that telegram?”
Jin shrugged: “Nothing specific, naturally. Apart from that you´re coming here, the main message was about Creepy Cam´s cooperation with Tabor.”
His statement reverted Cullen´s attention from Ryo to him: “And you´re telling us about that now?”
“Yeah. I forgot to mention it before…”
“You forgot?!” the older man raised his voice.
The Riders´ leader gave him a warning glance: “Cullen… It´s understandable considering what happened meanwhile.”
“I knew about that telegram as well, so you can happily keep blaming me,” Koki joined Jin´s defense quietly.
Cullen snorted mockingly: “How comes that doesn´t surprise me?”
“Did you catch fleas or something, man? What´s up with you?” Ryo asked harshly, obviously fed up with Cullen´s attitude.
“Well, I won´t be here forever to catch and kill those fleas for you!” the oldest Rider snapped and turned away from them to look out of the window.
“What do you mean by that, Cullen?” even Leo asked him bothered. “Did something happen?”
There was a short silence.
“Nothing,” the older man murmured then. “I´d just appreciate some truly peaceful days.”
Ryo kept eyeing Cullen´s back for a while, before his expression eased up and he sighed: “Well… I dare to say I know what you mean. And I agree.”
“So, can I tell you the rest now?” Jin asked.
“Go on, Bro,” Leo encouraged him to continue.
“Henderson hates us for what we did to Raynold Karnaka,” he started to explain from the very beginning in a cold, detached voice. “He´s been focused on us ever since he returned to Bozeman. Claiming that he inherited Kame´s lands from Karnaka, he forced us to pay rent for living in this house and took over the rest of the property along with that damn mine.”
“Just to be clear - while you were talking with him, he didn´t mention us in any way?” Leo asked.
“He did make some hints about robbing the safe vaults, so we presumed McFly told him we were involved with the Black Riders, but it didn´t seem like he considered it important. Moreover, he had no proof to use against us in this matter, so we just let it go. We had other thing so take care of…”
“I can imagine,” Leo nodded. “McFly… Is that the guy who helped us catch Grenet in Colorado?”
“Yeah. I think he´s the main source of Henderson´s information. He appeared in Bozeman only along with him.”
“A little rat,” Cullen by the window murmured.
“Not necessarily,” Jin opposed. “I believe he keeps many things to himself, otherwise Henderson would have enough material to have both me and Kame arrested long ago.”
“The same counts for me, so I think the same,” Koki agreed.
Thoughtfully, Leo nodded: “That makes sense…”
“So, we thought Henderson just wanted revenge on the two of us until that telegram came and we found out he´s like two peas in a pod with Tabor. He had probably offered him cooperation in catching you, based on common finances and shared information. That´s when we realized he wants to use us to target the Riders as well.”
It was one of the longest Jin´s speeches ever and everyone stared at him at first, trying to absorb all the revelations.
“How did you come up with all this?” Leo asked amazed.
Jin´s eyes turned distant and he replied only after a short pause: “We used to discuss it a lot with Kame… We… we were trying to find a way to handle him.”
“How kind of you to tell us about it, too. Are you done?” Cullen asked in a weirdly tired voice.
Jane hissed something at the man, while Jin just stared at him unmoved: “Yes.”
“Even when I take all this into account,” Leo mused, “just why he would blame us for the explosion? How can he know that we´re even here?”
“McFly again?” Ryo offered. “He saw all of us up close, except Jane.”
“Well, he didn´t give us away at the mine…” Koki reminded feebly.
Leo looked at him sharply: “But he recognized you?”
“That´s for sure,” nodded Koki unhappily.
“Then he was scared shitless or calculative,” Cullen had an explanation to provide. “He could tell Henderson about you after that. We can´t trust anyone, how many times do you all need a reminder of that?”
Koki looked at Cullen with burning eyes: “We did well to trust Kame, didn´t we?”
Jin turned away from them to put some more wood on the fire.
“That´s different…” the older man reacted stiffly.
“Really? Tell me how?”
“Come on…” Leo got up on his feet. “I know you´re all upset, but this is not helping, okay?”
Nobody in the room showed any sign of disagreement.
“What bothers me more than McFly is why Henderson doesn´t use this directly or if he shared all of the information with Tabor or not,” emphasized Leo.
Jin half-turned to him to react: “It doesn´t matter if Henderson didn´t mention what he knows in front of the Marshals. He´s just using the explosion against us all.”
Leo nodded: “True. But what is he waiting for then?”
“It felt like…” Koki started and stopped, hesitating.
“I told you to stop thinking,” Cullen reminded caustically.
Ignoring the older man, Leo encouraged him: “What´s on your mind, Koki? Tell us.”
Koki took a deep breath: “It felt like he was having fun, you know? He was just waiting if I´d snap or not.”“I get you and I don´t like how that sounds,” reacted Leo.
“I´m actually surprised if he showed such emotion in front of you,” Jin commented in a non-participating tone.
“And what about that Marshal? Botkin?” Jane asked then curiously. “What was your impression of him?”
“Well…” Ryo turned to Koki questioningly and after the other nodded, he continued. “We cannot be sure what Henderson disclosed, but he led him to that thought about the Riders having something in common with the explosion.”
Koki followed up right away: “But I don´t think he told him as much as he actually knows.”
“And he was persistent, really,” Ryo huffed. “Even in that wheelchair of his, he had an impressive presence.”
“So, the man won´t stop until he solves this case,” Cullen assumed kind of absently.
“We must count with it,” Leo nodded. “So?” he looked around the face of all Riders. “Any ideas regarding what should we do?”
“Leave.”
Ryo turned to Cullen, who was the first to express his opinion: “He doesn´t necessarily know that all of us are here…”
“Doesn´t matter,” the older man shook his head. “It´s too risky to stay with all those Marshals around.”
“But we didn´t do anything!” Koki opposed indignantly.
“You think they´d listen to your explanation?” Cullen asked him.
Finally, their leader cut in: “I agree with Cullen… We didn´t anticipate this, but we must adapt to the new situation. We must assume that McFly told Henderson about everyone he saw back then - that means all of us except Jane. We should get out of this town,” Leo stated decisively.
Satisfied, Cullen nodded, not saying anything else to the topic, while Koki curled up on the sofa, looking quite miserable.
Ryo didn´t seem thrilled by the idea either, nevertheless asked the question first: “When do you want to leave, Chief?”
Leo hesitated and then turned to his brother: “Bro? What about you? Will you come with us?”
Jin just kept staring at the flames in the hearth.
“The change of environment would do you good, don’t you think?” his brother continued carefully.
There was a moment of thick silence, before the older Akanishi stood up and turned around to face them with a stiff expression: “You guys should disappear. But I´m staying.”
Leo strived to gather the strength for what he had to say: “Jin… What you´re doing is no solution.”
“And what exactly am I doing?” there came a quiet question from his brother.
“You know very well,” Leo urged on him. “You´re closing your eyes, not accepting what happened. It will get better in time, you´ll see… Just come with us.”
“I´ve already decided,” the older Akanishi stated in a detached voice. “If you wanna run, just go and leave me here.”
Leo sighed, not knowing what to say anymore not to make it even worse. It was Cullen, who had his day of giving out advices and his words stopped Jin in the doorway.
“Don´t you think it´s already enough, kid?”
Jin´s look was dark, when he turned back to the older Rider: “Keep your ´kid´, old man and take care of your own behavior more,” he recommended him annoyed.
“You might not believe me, but I´d rather you to go with us as well. You just need to pull yourself together. Otherwise, you´ll be nothing more a drunken burden to us.”
Alarmed, Jane stood up and took a breath to stop this awful conversation, but Leo´s hand on her elbow stopped her.
Frowning Jin huffed: “Since when do you care what I do with my free time?”
Cullen took a deep breath, facing him directly: “Kamenashi´s dead and you should better reconcile with that.”
A dangerous shine appeared in Jin´s eyes: “Shut up. It´s not your fucking business.”
On that, Cullen smirked: “You don´t even seem to miss him so much with all that drinking and fucking around.”
Jin froze and his expression revealed more than clearly what he would like to do at that moment. Jane held her breath, expecting Jin to lash out.
“Come on,” Cullen mocked him even further. “You can hit me, if it makes you feel better.”
Though Jin did not utter a word and stormed out of the house instead. Leo sat down again with a helpless sigh.
Jane approached Cullen and looked in his face: “You insensitive prick…” she whispered reproachfully.
Cullen gave her a long, meaningful look: “We all know that he´s not coping well. Someone needs to tell him. And he must start to listen.”
“And that gives you the right to talk to him like this?” she asked incredulously.
“No, it should have been me,” Leo spoke quietly, before the older Rider could reply. “But I just couldn´t do it.”
*
Not even the pure rush of wind on the back of his faithful horse could clear Jin´s head this time. He was riding back to the city with his mind almost painfully swirling with remorse.
Cullen reminded him something, which he was desperately trying not to think of. It was too hard for him to face own incapability to keep going in normal life.
He did not exactly remember what happened after he got drunk at Cora´s place that night a few days ago. He just knew that he woke up in her bed half-naked. Cora herself claimed she had even blanker head than he did, so she could not clear the things out. Nevertheless, she was sleeping naked right next to him. Everything led to one thing, which might happened during the night. And apparently, the other girls had already started spreading rumors.
Damn it all…
It still hurt so terribly. Jin was missing Kame´s voice, his kissing, and his mere presence so much. Though at the moment, most of all he felt damn guilty for sleeping with Cora.
His Kazuya was gone for such a short time and he has already fucked someone else? What kind of grieving was that? Did he lose his mind already?
It did not matter that he got drunk into unconsciousness, that it was just sex and he did not even remember the actual act. He still did it and felt like shit because of it.
Not to mention that Lena Brice was just another painful reminder of what he did wrong.
When she had come to see him, he remembered that the last time they were alone with Kame, before all that shit with the explosion went down, they were arguing about her. Instead of love, he was giving just jealousy and complaints to the most precious person in his life. He was not even able to talk to Lena properly, when he had realized that…
Even though Jin knew it would not help him to escape from his conscience, he incited Kuro to run faster. The black stallion - feeling his master´s woe - followed his lead obediently.
A part of him was still expecting to see Kame´s smile behind every corner, behind every tree, in the bed beside him. He was not able to tear his mind off him. He had so many and yet so little memories of him and he could not regret more not spending each new day with him. He knew now - no matter what he would do, nothing would really help to make it better. It was painful and so, so damn tiring…
***
The steps of feet in soft moccasins would not have made any audible noise even without chirpy splashing of the waterfall up the stream nearby.
The muscular Indian followed the river, studying its bank and searching for animal tracks. He had almost reached the waterfall itself, when something else entirely caught the attention of his intent eyes.
There was a body half lying on the stones and half soaking in the burbling water.
The Indian squeezed the bow in his right hand more firmly and carefully checked the quiet surroundings. Then, like a predator, he quickly reached the unmoving figure.
It was a young white man. His eyes were closed, he was lying on his stomach and except the right leg - which was apparently broken - he had many scratches and bruises all over his hands.
The Indian stared at the pale, handsome face for a short moment, before he squatted and reached forward to check the pulse under the cold skin on the man´s neck. Then he threw the bow over his back, grabbed the body with both his hands and slowly raised the unconscious man up in his arms.
- To be continued -