[Fanfic] Red West II. - Chapter three
Title: RED WEST II.
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance
Warning: AKame pairing; vulgarisms, violence; No beta-reading
Summary: Once upon a time in the west... During the wild period of the United States formation, the two guys met, became close friends and lovers, before they had to go separate ways again... Jin is desperately searching for his younger brother Leo, who is wanted for a murder, while Kazuya follows his track, after he had helped the remaining Indians of Blackfeet Tribe to move into the reservation. Will they be able to meet again and overcome the new obstacles? And does the affectionate relationship of the two young men even have any chance in the cruel times?
Thank you: To
seiko22 for always supporting me; And to Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin for being who they are...
AN: I promised that in the next chapter we will check out how Jin is doing, right? Well, there´s going to be even more Akanishi inluded...Enjoy the reading; I´m looking forward to your reactions! ^^/
I´m really grateful for every opinion or advice - your comments are my best reward and kick me off to try harder and keep writing.
Previously:
Chapter one - On the road // Chapter two - Two surprising captives //
Brothers´ reunion
The manager´s office was located on the upper floor of the two-stored building at the edge of the sandstone quarry, which was quite lively despite the very late hour. Almost all present workers were up, discussing the reason of an unusual fuss and recent shooting and there were also more guards around than usually.
Math was tempted with an urge to make the atmosphere even livelier, so that those idiots would have properly remembered to do what they were paid for. But in the end he had decided it would have been just a waste of time.
He squeezed the rest of his cigarette over the window sill and turned back inside the poorly enlightened room, which belonged to Cameron, who was appointed to the position of the quarry´s main manager a month ago. For being the former ass-licker of Karnaka, he was surprisingly capable and soon managed to gain the respect of all other workers in the quarry.
They are still more afraid of me, though, Math smirked in his thoughts.
But the truth was that if those lazy bastards knew what their superior was really like, some might ran off praying to the Indian gods for mercy. Sometimes, Math doubted that even he himself knew the true nature of his companion without a surname, as Cameron had never revealed it to anyone.
When the grey-haired man with creepy eyes appeared in Fort Collins in the middle of furious snowstorm, the news about Karnaka´s death hadn´t reached them yet. Back then, Grenet felt a kind of damn satisfaction. He offered to deal with the both annoying troublemakers, but awesome Mr. Karnaka despised his abilities and sent him off instead. Well, it certainly turned back against that old man. On the other hand, it was quite inconvenient not to have the man´s power as a backup.
Anyway, Cameron didn´t seem to care what Grenet thought about the whole disaster. He was focused only at one thing - revenge on both Kamenashi and Akanishi. According to the former Karnaka´s servant, those two - despite it was not proved - were responsible for the ambush of the farm, for burning it down and for his beloved master´s death. The man was more certain about it than about anything else and Math himself thought the same.
It was perfect that they had a common goal now; Math was sure that those two would not stand a chance against them. Unfortunately, for Math´s dissatisfaction, it seemed that Cameron had more than enough time for achieving of his goal. That man was cold and hard as a stone and damn patient, not like himself. He was eager to go after those two right away, but unwillingly he had to admit it was not possible under the weather conditions of cruel winter.
So they stayed in Laporte, building up their position even without Karnaka´s support. They had enough money to buy the people they needed, and enough guns and guts to threaten the rest. After all that damn long waiting, Math was furious that pretty brat made a fool of him so easily. He should have expected that Kamenashi was not necessarily as stupid as some of his own subordinates. To Math´s surprise, the former bartender predicted his move and acted faster. Moreover exposing himself as a fucking Samaritan again and taking their noisy captive along.
Math couldn´t wait to fuck those pretty ideals out of Kamenashi´s brain; that would teach him for sure. Now, he was eager to get some drink, but he decided to wait with it until the discussion with Cameron would be over; any drink lost some of its good fragrance in presence of the man, who was sitting at the table silently, his slightly wrinkled face covered in shadow. Just those ice-cold eyes were shining there.
“So? Any brilliant idea?” Math hissed impatiently. He had enough of that damn thoughtful silence of the other man.
The quarry´s manager pierced him with the glance, which made Math to feel like a stupid kid. Damn this man and how he made him feel!
“Why didn´t you tell me sooner?” Cameron asked on a silent voice, placing both of his hands at the table. “How comes I get to know about this only now, when Kamenashi is happily escaping to God-knows-where?”
Math snorted annoyed and lit up another cigarette. It seemed that he would not be able to get out for a little longer while.
“I meant to bring him,” he said confidently. “There was no need to tell you.”
“No need?” Cameron repeated. “I would say there is no need for you to decide anything yourself, Grenet. What you did was foolish. Kamenashi knows you already and once he assumed it was you, who had taken his animal, he went after information of your whereabouts immediately. It was quite predictable he wouldn´t wait for you coming to blackmail him.”
“How could I know that little asshole would be so cold-blooded and calculating?” Math exclaimed.
“Kamenashi is not only pretty like a girl; he is smart. You should know by this time already,” Cameron enlightened him contemptuously. “We have to be smarter. And definitely not such shining examples of idiots, as you had just shown.”
“I don´t let myself be insulted like this! Don´t think you´re better than me! That incapable idiot, who was supposed to be guarding…”
“At least admit your mistake,” Cameron interrupted the younger man´s complaints coldly.
“He was faster only this time,” Grenet gritted through his teeth. “I will not let that repeat.”
“No, I will not let another chance to slip from our fingers like this.”
“I´m quite curious about how are you going to do it?” Math mocked the older man. “It´s like chasing the wind, trying to figure out where he went in this area!”
“Really?” the grey-haired man raised his eyebrows. “Well, dear Math… Since we can assume Kamenashi came down here from the north, where could he be heading such a long way?”
Grenet frowned, inhaling his cigarette deeply.
“You think he continued to Denver?”
“Excellent,” Cameron praised him in a tone, which was very insulting. “I was almost worried you have no brain left.”
Math had to try really hard not to draw one of his revolvers; recently Cameron became quite lofty.
“That´s far from his precious home… What business might he have there?” he wondered instead.
“Do I look like a prophet?” the older man reacted standing up. “Send a few reliable men on the fast horses there, let them check the saloons, and keep someone on the watch over the main crossroads around. He might avoid them for now, but who knows…”
“I think it´s a waste of time,” Grenet snorted, still pissed about Cameron´s cocky attitude.
“You should rather not think at all. It may hurt you.”
***
It was in the late afternoon of the second day which Jin spent in company of the five riders with the black scarves around their necks, when it became quite hard for him to suppress his uneasiness. They were getting further and further from Denver with the each mile and their destination was nowhere in sight yet.
Nobody from the small group bothered to tell him where they were heading on the first place, so he had no idea how long it would take to get there. It made Jin somewhat nervous, as he would have liked to remain close to his temporary accommodation, where (in case that everything went as they had planned) he was supposed to meet with Kame. He didn´t know where the younger one was at the moment; there was almost no chance for any message from Kame to catch up with him, as Jin was moving from one place to another constantly. But still, it was already more than two months since they had parted in Bozeman and if Kame intended to keep his promise, he had to be close… If…
Jin frowned, repulsing own stupid ideas. Why wouldn´t Kazuya keep his word? Of course he did! He was on his way to Denver for sure already. Well, in case that his boyfriend received that telegram which he had sent him to Cheyenne…
The young gunslinger almost slapped himself at the realization that he had relented in focus again. He couldn´t afford that now, not when he was under the constant supervision and certainly suspicion of those guys around him and moreover without his guns. Naturally, Jin didn´t expect anything else from the wanted criminals, rather he had counted with a worse attitude than which they had showed him so far.
The members of Black Riders didn´t talk in Jin´s presence much, and they kept an eye on him all the time, but otherwise they let Jin to move freely, they were not hostile and especially Ryo was quite a friendly fellow. He noticed that the oldest man, whom they called Cullen, preached to the guy a few times to be more careful, but the black-eyed one didn´t seem to be bothered with it.
But Jin didn´t trust any of them. He didn´t know what they were thinking about him or what they might have been planning and he had to stay on alert.
Their little group proceeded a lot since the moment Jin approached to them above the road where they had arranged their ambush of the government coach. They kept going to the west, up to the hills of the Front Range. At the beginning the slopes were small and easy to overcome, but the terrain got more difficult soon and they continued more slowly. The peaks of the nearby mountains still powdered with snow were looking down at the riders, as they proceeded higher, leading their horses on the barely visible paths among the small bushes. It was a boring trip through the wild.
Then finally, when the daylight was already dying quickly, it seemed that they had made some significant progress.
That city appeared out of nothing, which totally confused Jin. Only when he noticed that their group came from the east, while the main road was reaching it from the north, he realized that they had avoided the main connection to the place.
“That´s Leadville,” Ryo informed him, when Jin stopped in the middle of their path, to observe the town down under them. “I´m sure you´ve already heard about it.”
Jin nodded slowly, as that was the truth.
City of Leadville - it was a cradle of the Colorado Silver-rush and one of the main topics in all Denver newspapers. One would have to be deaf not to hear about it, as it was already known all around the state. Just a few years ago founded town was located in a quite high elevation, in the wide valley bordered with the mountains from almost all the sides. The peaks of them were almost invisible at the time they reached the first houses.
Leadville was not as big as Denver, but according to Jin it was somewhat livelier. It was still spreading and growing fast, as he could see many new buildings and roads and saloons and banks. There were many people outside, despite quite annoying freezing. There were workers, builders, women in nice dresses, cowboys, civilized Indians, even a few black people, gentlemen in suits as well as gunmen with cruel looks. With the upcoming evening the pubs got enlightened fully and the atmosphere became heavily cheerful, with the harlots luring their customers inside the brothels and being judged scornfully by the pretty ladies. This mountain city was very alive and much less clean, Jin assumed.
“They say there is already over eleven thousand citizens around, would you believe it?” Ryo noted, riding his stallion right next to Jin´s Kuro.
Jin was quite impressed with the number, but at the moment more interested in the fact that the whole group entered the city so… calmly. They changed their clothing partially on the way, so they were not completely in black as the first time Jin had met them, but in each case it was expected that they would attract some attention. But nobody gave the riders a second glance.
They rode right through the main street fearlessly, as if they were any other common inhabitants of Leadville. Jin was aware of that the faces of Black Riders were not known in general, they were too careful about exposing themselves, but still it amazed him that they behaved so carelessly, especially when they carried quite a few sacs with the stolen silver in their pockets. Even passing around the two-stored office of the local sheriff, their faces didn´t show any sign of concern. Maybe exactly this calm attitude was the point…
It was something what Jin noted for himself to ponder about later. His mind was flooded with various worries and feelings instead. If he was right in his assumptions, he was about to meet with his younger brother soon. After the two years since they had gone separated ways and it was not in a good manner. He remembered their last furious argument more than well. And somehow he didn´t know what to expect from his sibling now.
For a long while he had already pondered about just how Leo could have become the leader of the group itself. He was so young… He was only twenty now. How came that the men like the ones who were accompanying him, were willing to be under the command of such a boy?
There were many questions for which Jin would like to know the true answer, including the very reason why he was at the trail of his brother now - his felony announced at the wanted posters. It was said that Leo murdered six people. Six. Jin knew that his relationship with Leo was never perfect. But they went through very difficult childhood together and they were very close. He knew his younger brother. And Jin just couldn´t believe that he would have been able of something like that. Leo had done a lot of foolish things, he risked a lot and he joined the Riders without thinking about the consequences, but a murder? He could have killed someone in self-defense, of course, but six human beings?
Jin´s anxiety only increased when they finally stopped their horses in front of a neat building, which carried the notice ´Slabtown´s Tavern´. Those who knew nothing about the city´s history might have been confused about it. But it happened that Jin read some article in the Denver´s newspapers, concerning the rapid growth of the city, so he knew that quite ugly ´Slabtown´ title was the previous name of the place, before it was renamed to ´Leadville´. The pub was not located on the main street, the building was almost the last one in the dark alley; there was only the darkness of the wild behind it. It seemed to be one of the older buildings in the city, but well kept.
Jin followed the example of his companions and dismounted, tying the reins to the long wooden rail in front of the spacious veranda. The two guys disappeared somewhere behind the tavern, along with the heavy bags, which they didn´t let out of their sight even for a minute for the whole time they had travelled. Ryo gestured Jin to go inside, to follow Esler who went there as the first, while the other guy remained behind his back.
As they entered, Jin was flooded with the heavy odor of cigarettes and cigars. The air was resonating with the loud conversations and the bright light of the kerosene lamps hanging on the long ropes from the ceiling was flooding each table. The taproom was full and the atmosphere cheerful.
Some customers raised their heads and greeted the passing group or just waved at them, before they went back to their beers, whiskey and cards.
“Welcome back, boys,” an old barkeep leaning over the bar counter greeted them. “You´re thirsty, I suppose…”
Ryo had almost hugged the counter nodding excited, before a firm voice of his superior brushed the guy´s intention off right away.
“Later, old man. Is he there?” Cullen asked.
“Yes,” the man, whose hair turned completely white already, nodded, not paying attention to the cold tone, probably more than used to it. “He had arrived about half an hour ago.”
“Good, let´s deal with this right away then,” Esler decided and mercilessly dragged Ryo away from the full tankard. “He is your responsibility, so you´re coming along.”
Jin rather didn´t comment it. He didn´t want to reveal how much he was already annoyed with the Cullen Esler´s attitude, as the behaved like that all the way, speaking about him as of a burden, in better case ignoring Jin as if he was never there. It was clear that the older man was more careful and suspicious than the others.
Esler led their way through the rest of the taproom to the back, where Jin spotted some door in the shadow only when they were just a meter away. A muscular and formidable man standing next to them nodded his head seeing them coming, but stepped into Jin´s way as soon as he noticed the guy, staring at him in a not friendly way.
Jin backed off carefully, more than aware that with the muscles like those, which could be seen under the man´s shirt, he would have lost at least a few teeth if anything would go wrong. It was Ryo who prevented that from happening, as he approached the mountain of muscles hastily.
“Slow down, man,” the black-eyed one forced himself between Jin and the guard.
“It´s all right, Benny,” Cullen cut in as well. “He is our guest. For now.”
The mentioned guard was still frowning, but he stepped aside to let them go through. With chills on his back Jin followed Esler inside the narrow room, which was very poorly alighted in comparison with the taproom. The two men and to Jin´s surprise even one woman were sitting at the table in the middle, discussing over the pile of newspapers, when they came in.
“Cullen!” one of the men welcomed them. “You´re back!”
“Yeah,” the man murmured stopping his steps close to the table.
The woman was the first one to notice a stranger and she pierced Jin with the almond shaped eyes, which went a little wider. Jin´s view was partially covered by Esler, so he didn´t notice the fourth person in the room, until the last one spoke.
“Any troubles?”
That voice was so familiar to Jin, despite it was deeper, than he remembered.
“No, all the bags were there. The boys already took them to the back,” Cullen answered the question.
“Great…”
“Though, we came across one fellow…” Cullen continued. “You have a guest, Leo.”
“Huh? Whom?”
“Well… He claims to be your brother,” the man snorted and stepped aside, pulling Jin closer to the reach of light.
Only then Jin could finally see the youngster sitting in the front of the table. When the dark eyes focused at his face, he held his breath without knowing it. There was a surprise and then a shine of something what Jin didn´t recognize. He wanted to say something, but he couldn´t make his mouth to open.
The young man´s hair was scruffy, and loosely cut, his deep eyes serious. There was a hint of dark stubble under his nose and his pose was firm, the body well-built and seemed strong. Two years older, and changed, but still he was Jin´s younger brother. Something eased up inside him to see the guy well and alive, but still he got somewhat anxious about what to say or do.
The deep silence fell onto the room; the others at the table glanced over both their faces and at each other, surprised about the unexpected visitor. Esler remained at Jin´s side, with his hand placed at the gun belt, while Ryo was waiting behind, curiously comparing the faces of the two.
Finally, Jin gulped down and took a breath to break the silence, but the younger one did it first.
“I´ve never seen him before.”
That thunderstruck Jin and left him staring at his brother in disbelief. Ryo stepped closer, obviously confused, while Esler drew his gun swiftly.
“I knew it,” he snorted, aiming at Jin. “A little swindler, huh?”
“Hey, wait a sec!” Jin overcame his numbness and leant over the table, so hard it creaked as it moved closer to the young leader, whose facial features didn´t move even an inch.
“One more move and you´re dead,” Esler informed him threateningly, with the heavy revolver at his head.
But Jin didn´t pay attention to the man, looking directly at his brother.
“So you don´t know me anymore just after the two years? Can you even shoot something when your eyes are so bad?” he exclaimed angrily.
Leo didn´t reply and kept staring at him blankly. Even the other men were already standing, ready with their guns, just the woman at his brother´s left hand studied the younger one instead of the stranger and Ryo kept his distance as well.
“What do you want me to do with him, Leo?” Cullen asked harshly, obviously ready to manage anything what would have been said in a blink of eye.
Jin was so dumbfounded about why Leo denied knowing him that he was not even a little afraid. Despite that there were already three revolvers endangering his life.
Suddenly, the stiff expression at Leo´s face broke and in the next second he was laughing so hard that he almost fell off his chair.
Everybody stared at the young leader with a clear confusion all over their faces, including Esler. Just the brunette still sitting at Leo´s side didn´t seem to be surprised about the outburst.
“You should…” Leo almost choked at the words, as he was still laughing. “You should see your face now, Brother…”
Jin didn´t move or said anything, glaring at his so-much-fun-having little sibling.
“So… He is…” Ryo started, figuring out the real situation as the first.
“Damn right, he is,” Leo confirmed, leaning into this chair comfortably, the cheerful smile still playing at his lips. “I would have never expected such a visitor today, dear bro…”
Jin moved and went around the table so fast, that he was at the younger one sooner than anyone managed to react and stop him. In the next moment the gunmen were helpless witnesses, as Jin captured his brother from behind, squeezing his neck angrily, while Leo started laughing again.
“You think this is so much fun, little Brother?” Jin hissed angrily, while the younger one didn´t put up any defense against his grip. “They might have killed me, damn it!”
“Come on… It was… such a fun…” Leo reacted a little breathless already. Only when he noticed that all barrels in the room were aiming at his brother´s head, he finally remembered to clear the things up for them as well. “Calm down, guys, put those guns away.”
The member of Riders slowly lowered their weapons, the amused smiles appearing on their faces, when Jin finally let Leo go, but didn´t forget to smack him over the head.
“Idiot,” he scolded the younger one, who didn´t seem to mind that though.
“He really is my dearest brother,” Leo assured them, not even a little offended, as he stood up from his chair and faced Jin. He was almost as tall as his older sibling now, but still shorter. “He really is…” Leo repeated seriously, the amusement slowly disappearing from his face. “I´m glad to see you, Jin…”
Then Jin gave in to his relief and happiness and grabbed Leo into a bear hug, which the younger one repaid firmly.
“It´s good to see you in one piece, little one…” he murmured into the younger´s ear.
“I´m not so little anymore, you know?” Leo replied, his voice suddenly hoarse.
“Yeah, I see…” Jin pulled away, observing his brother once again from close. Leo was right; an adult was standing in front of him now.
“So… This was just a joke?” it was Esler who raised the question, his face a perfect example of cold composure, but with his eyes shining in a strange way. “A joke?” he repeated.
“Sorry, Cullen,” Leo shrugged not very apologetically. “I couldn´t help it…”
“I should have expected something like that…” Jin murmured, while Ryo approached visibly upset Esler.
“Come on, man, you know Leo…”
“Yes. I do,” Esler snorted. “I will be at the bar,” he decided then and marched off.
“You´re still like a kid sometimes,” the woman sitting with her long legs crossed sighed.
“And you love me for that,” Leo replied with a smile, which obviously belonged only to the brunette.
Before she could have replied something, Leo turned to the others.
“Everyone, I have a request…” the men stood there silent, waiting for the order. “Bring some beers in, so we can celebrate my brother´s arrival!”
“Finally!” Ryo was the first one to react enthusiastically. “You´re the best boss, Leo!”
He was out of the door in no time, while the rest seated around the table again, one of them dragging a spare chair for the older Akanishi.
Jin was already calm, but still he would have rather preferred to talk with his brother privately.
“Leo…” he started uncertain, if it was really a good idea to launch their reunion with drinking.
The younger one just looked at him seriously, and as if he wondered about the same, he shook his head slowly.
“I know, but… Later, Jin, all right? We will talk later…”
***
“It stiiings…” a young man´s voice interrupted the peace on the shore of a small stream, which was one of many burbling its way down from the Horsetooth Mountain.
“Man up a bit, will you?” there was a strict response from the other youngster, who was treating the first one´s quite ugly but not live-threatening injuries. “In case you would enjoy some nice infection, I can always stop.”
The noisy blonde stopped flinching under the touch of the cloth watered with the strong disinfection, with which Kame cleaned the deep cuts on his arms and legs.
“Just hurry up… I´m freezing,” Koki murmured, biting into this lower lip, trying hard to stay still under the treatment.
“It´s not that cold over here,” the younger one informed him, with his eyes focused gradually on each injury, trying to figure out if any of them might be dangerous.
“It´s easy to say for you! You´re clothed!”
“You´re not naked,” Kame reacted calmly.
The former captive huffed unsatisfied. Koki had his underwear on only, so that Kame could reach his injuries. He intentionally chose a sunny spot to stop and do this, but the other one didn´t seem to appreciate it much anyway.
“You´re unexpectedly cruel, handsome,” Koki complained, eyeing him indignantly.
Kame sighed. This guy was much more difficult to deal with than Jin, when it came to the wounds. Jin was a whining type as well, but only in certain cases, when… Kazuya frowned and stopped his thoughts from continuing. Thinking about the young gunslinger made Kame to miss him more.
“It´s almost done,” he said, scolding himself for being so out of alert state. “None of them is too serious. You should be fine.”
“Fine?” Koki repeated. “It hurts like hell! They definitely knew what they were doing….”
Kame threw the dirty cloths aside, hiding the disinfection as well, and handing the guy over his shirt.
“Do you mean Grenet and Cameron?”
“Yeah…” the other one nodded gloomily and hastily put the cloth on. “Especially that fucker Grenet. He is a real son of a bitch.”
“I can only agree,” Kame reacted silently. “Be glad he didn´t proceed to ripping your nails off.”
“Ripping of nails?” Koki exclaimed, forgetting about pulling his trousers up.
Kame kept quiet, not really willing to discuss the topic.
“Just how do you know those men?” the older one asked shocked.
“More than I would like to,” Kame replied and straightened up.
He took the water bottle and descended to the stream, to get some fresh water. He felt the other´s curious look on his back, but Koki hesitated with more questions.
“Thank you, Kame,” he said instead, already fully clothed. “It feels better now.”
“Glad to hear that,” Kame nodded and gave him the bottle to drink from. “What did you do to make them so pissed at you?” he asked, to avoid any possible questions related to torture.
“Well… I think it will be better if you don´t know…” Koki answered hesitantly. “Not that I don´t trust you, just…”
“It´s all right,” Kame said. “I don´t want to involve in anything unnecessary anyway.”
He went to Ukushi to check on her saddle, to prepare her for the next journey. They didn´t have time to hand around.
“Well… Where are you heading, if I might ask?” Koki spoke, when he stood up slowly, trying if his legs were firm enough.
“Denver,” Kame replied and turned to him. “You?”
“Well, a little further, but we have a common way,” Koki reacted smiling. “So, in case you´d not mind my company for a little longer…”
“Not a problem,” Kame shrugged. “Just we should…”
“Hurry?” Koki completed the sentence. “I´m all in,” he grinned reaching for the bridle of his horse.
“If you feel you can´t manage…” Kame observed Koki´s careful movements.
“Oh, you´re worried, that´s cuuute,” the other guy reacted teasingly.
Kame stared at the older one, not saying another word.
“Sorry, sorry, I didn´t mean it bad,” Koki laughed. “You have magical hands, handsome. We can surely continue. I´m in a rush as well…”
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance
Warning: AKame pairing; vulgarisms, violence; No beta-reading
Summary: Once upon a time in the west... During the wild period of the United States formation, the two guys met, became close friends and lovers, before they had to go separate ways again... Jin is desperately searching for his younger brother Leo, who is wanted for a murder, while Kazuya follows his track, after he had helped the remaining Indians of Blackfeet Tribe to move into the reservation. Will they be able to meet again and overcome the new obstacles? And does the affectionate relationship of the two young men even have any chance in the cruel times?
Thank you: To
seiko22 for always supporting me; And to Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin for being who they are...
AN: I promised that in the next chapter we will check out how Jin is doing, right? Well, there´s going to be even more Akanishi inluded...Enjoy the reading; I´m looking forward to your reactions! ^^/
I´m really grateful for every opinion or advice - your comments are my best reward and kick me off to try harder and keep writing.
Previously:
Chapter one - On the road // Chapter two - Two surprising captives //
Brothers´ reunion
The manager´s office was located on the upper floor of the two-stored building at the edge of the sandstone quarry, which was quite lively despite the very late hour. Almost all present workers were up, discussing the reason of an unusual fuss and recent shooting and there were also more guards around than usually.
Math was tempted with an urge to make the atmosphere even livelier, so that those idiots would have properly remembered to do what they were paid for. But in the end he had decided it would have been just a waste of time.
He squeezed the rest of his cigarette over the window sill and turned back inside the poorly enlightened room, which belonged to Cameron, who was appointed to the position of the quarry´s main manager a month ago. For being the former ass-licker of Karnaka, he was surprisingly capable and soon managed to gain the respect of all other workers in the quarry.
They are still more afraid of me, though, Math smirked in his thoughts.
But the truth was that if those lazy bastards knew what their superior was really like, some might ran off praying to the Indian gods for mercy. Sometimes, Math doubted that even he himself knew the true nature of his companion without a surname, as Cameron had never revealed it to anyone.
When the grey-haired man with creepy eyes appeared in Fort Collins in the middle of furious snowstorm, the news about Karnaka´s death hadn´t reached them yet. Back then, Grenet felt a kind of damn satisfaction. He offered to deal with the both annoying troublemakers, but awesome Mr. Karnaka despised his abilities and sent him off instead. Well, it certainly turned back against that old man. On the other hand, it was quite inconvenient not to have the man´s power as a backup.
Anyway, Cameron didn´t seem to care what Grenet thought about the whole disaster. He was focused only at one thing - revenge on both Kamenashi and Akanishi. According to the former Karnaka´s servant, those two - despite it was not proved - were responsible for the ambush of the farm, for burning it down and for his beloved master´s death. The man was more certain about it than about anything else and Math himself thought the same.
It was perfect that they had a common goal now; Math was sure that those two would not stand a chance against them. Unfortunately, for Math´s dissatisfaction, it seemed that Cameron had more than enough time for achieving of his goal. That man was cold and hard as a stone and damn patient, not like himself. He was eager to go after those two right away, but unwillingly he had to admit it was not possible under the weather conditions of cruel winter.
So they stayed in Laporte, building up their position even without Karnaka´s support. They had enough money to buy the people they needed, and enough guns and guts to threaten the rest. After all that damn long waiting, Math was furious that pretty brat made a fool of him so easily. He should have expected that Kamenashi was not necessarily as stupid as some of his own subordinates. To Math´s surprise, the former bartender predicted his move and acted faster. Moreover exposing himself as a fucking Samaritan again and taking their noisy captive along.
Math couldn´t wait to fuck those pretty ideals out of Kamenashi´s brain; that would teach him for sure. Now, he was eager to get some drink, but he decided to wait with it until the discussion with Cameron would be over; any drink lost some of its good fragrance in presence of the man, who was sitting at the table silently, his slightly wrinkled face covered in shadow. Just those ice-cold eyes were shining there.
“So? Any brilliant idea?” Math hissed impatiently. He had enough of that damn thoughtful silence of the other man.
The quarry´s manager pierced him with the glance, which made Math to feel like a stupid kid. Damn this man and how he made him feel!
“Why didn´t you tell me sooner?” Cameron asked on a silent voice, placing both of his hands at the table. “How comes I get to know about this only now, when Kamenashi is happily escaping to God-knows-where?”
Math snorted annoyed and lit up another cigarette. It seemed that he would not be able to get out for a little longer while.
“I meant to bring him,” he said confidently. “There was no need to tell you.”
“No need?” Cameron repeated. “I would say there is no need for you to decide anything yourself, Grenet. What you did was foolish. Kamenashi knows you already and once he assumed it was you, who had taken his animal, he went after information of your whereabouts immediately. It was quite predictable he wouldn´t wait for you coming to blackmail him.”
“How could I know that little asshole would be so cold-blooded and calculating?” Math exclaimed.
“Kamenashi is not only pretty like a girl; he is smart. You should know by this time already,” Cameron enlightened him contemptuously. “We have to be smarter. And definitely not such shining examples of idiots, as you had just shown.”
“I don´t let myself be insulted like this! Don´t think you´re better than me! That incapable idiot, who was supposed to be guarding…”
“At least admit your mistake,” Cameron interrupted the younger man´s complaints coldly.
“He was faster only this time,” Grenet gritted through his teeth. “I will not let that repeat.”
“No, I will not let another chance to slip from our fingers like this.”
“I´m quite curious about how are you going to do it?” Math mocked the older man. “It´s like chasing the wind, trying to figure out where he went in this area!”
“Really?” the grey-haired man raised his eyebrows. “Well, dear Math… Since we can assume Kamenashi came down here from the north, where could he be heading such a long way?”
Grenet frowned, inhaling his cigarette deeply.
“You think he continued to Denver?”
“Excellent,” Cameron praised him in a tone, which was very insulting. “I was almost worried you have no brain left.”
Math had to try really hard not to draw one of his revolvers; recently Cameron became quite lofty.
“That´s far from his precious home… What business might he have there?” he wondered instead.
“Do I look like a prophet?” the older man reacted standing up. “Send a few reliable men on the fast horses there, let them check the saloons, and keep someone on the watch over the main crossroads around. He might avoid them for now, but who knows…”
“I think it´s a waste of time,” Grenet snorted, still pissed about Cameron´s cocky attitude.
“You should rather not think at all. It may hurt you.”
***
It was in the late afternoon of the second day which Jin spent in company of the five riders with the black scarves around their necks, when it became quite hard for him to suppress his uneasiness. They were getting further and further from Denver with the each mile and their destination was nowhere in sight yet.
Nobody from the small group bothered to tell him where they were heading on the first place, so he had no idea how long it would take to get there. It made Jin somewhat nervous, as he would have liked to remain close to his temporary accommodation, where (in case that everything went as they had planned) he was supposed to meet with Kame. He didn´t know where the younger one was at the moment; there was almost no chance for any message from Kame to catch up with him, as Jin was moving from one place to another constantly. But still, it was already more than two months since they had parted in Bozeman and if Kame intended to keep his promise, he had to be close… If…
Jin frowned, repulsing own stupid ideas. Why wouldn´t Kazuya keep his word? Of course he did! He was on his way to Denver for sure already. Well, in case that his boyfriend received that telegram which he had sent him to Cheyenne…
The young gunslinger almost slapped himself at the realization that he had relented in focus again. He couldn´t afford that now, not when he was under the constant supervision and certainly suspicion of those guys around him and moreover without his guns. Naturally, Jin didn´t expect anything else from the wanted criminals, rather he had counted with a worse attitude than which they had showed him so far.
The members of Black Riders didn´t talk in Jin´s presence much, and they kept an eye on him all the time, but otherwise they let Jin to move freely, they were not hostile and especially Ryo was quite a friendly fellow. He noticed that the oldest man, whom they called Cullen, preached to the guy a few times to be more careful, but the black-eyed one didn´t seem to be bothered with it.
But Jin didn´t trust any of them. He didn´t know what they were thinking about him or what they might have been planning and he had to stay on alert.
Their little group proceeded a lot since the moment Jin approached to them above the road where they had arranged their ambush of the government coach. They kept going to the west, up to the hills of the Front Range. At the beginning the slopes were small and easy to overcome, but the terrain got more difficult soon and they continued more slowly. The peaks of the nearby mountains still powdered with snow were looking down at the riders, as they proceeded higher, leading their horses on the barely visible paths among the small bushes. It was a boring trip through the wild.
Then finally, when the daylight was already dying quickly, it seemed that they had made some significant progress.
That city appeared out of nothing, which totally confused Jin. Only when he noticed that their group came from the east, while the main road was reaching it from the north, he realized that they had avoided the main connection to the place.
“That´s Leadville,” Ryo informed him, when Jin stopped in the middle of their path, to observe the town down under them. “I´m sure you´ve already heard about it.”
Jin nodded slowly, as that was the truth.
City of Leadville - it was a cradle of the Colorado Silver-rush and one of the main topics in all Denver newspapers. One would have to be deaf not to hear about it, as it was already known all around the state. Just a few years ago founded town was located in a quite high elevation, in the wide valley bordered with the mountains from almost all the sides. The peaks of them were almost invisible at the time they reached the first houses.
Leadville was not as big as Denver, but according to Jin it was somewhat livelier. It was still spreading and growing fast, as he could see many new buildings and roads and saloons and banks. There were many people outside, despite quite annoying freezing. There were workers, builders, women in nice dresses, cowboys, civilized Indians, even a few black people, gentlemen in suits as well as gunmen with cruel looks. With the upcoming evening the pubs got enlightened fully and the atmosphere became heavily cheerful, with the harlots luring their customers inside the brothels and being judged scornfully by the pretty ladies. This mountain city was very alive and much less clean, Jin assumed.
“They say there is already over eleven thousand citizens around, would you believe it?” Ryo noted, riding his stallion right next to Jin´s Kuro.
Jin was quite impressed with the number, but at the moment more interested in the fact that the whole group entered the city so… calmly. They changed their clothing partially on the way, so they were not completely in black as the first time Jin had met them, but in each case it was expected that they would attract some attention. But nobody gave the riders a second glance.
They rode right through the main street fearlessly, as if they were any other common inhabitants of Leadville. Jin was aware of that the faces of Black Riders were not known in general, they were too careful about exposing themselves, but still it amazed him that they behaved so carelessly, especially when they carried quite a few sacs with the stolen silver in their pockets. Even passing around the two-stored office of the local sheriff, their faces didn´t show any sign of concern. Maybe exactly this calm attitude was the point…
It was something what Jin noted for himself to ponder about later. His mind was flooded with various worries and feelings instead. If he was right in his assumptions, he was about to meet with his younger brother soon. After the two years since they had gone separated ways and it was not in a good manner. He remembered their last furious argument more than well. And somehow he didn´t know what to expect from his sibling now.
For a long while he had already pondered about just how Leo could have become the leader of the group itself. He was so young… He was only twenty now. How came that the men like the ones who were accompanying him, were willing to be under the command of such a boy?
There were many questions for which Jin would like to know the true answer, including the very reason why he was at the trail of his brother now - his felony announced at the wanted posters. It was said that Leo murdered six people. Six. Jin knew that his relationship with Leo was never perfect. But they went through very difficult childhood together and they were very close. He knew his younger brother. And Jin just couldn´t believe that he would have been able of something like that. Leo had done a lot of foolish things, he risked a lot and he joined the Riders without thinking about the consequences, but a murder? He could have killed someone in self-defense, of course, but six human beings?
Jin´s anxiety only increased when they finally stopped their horses in front of a neat building, which carried the notice ´Slabtown´s Tavern´. Those who knew nothing about the city´s history might have been confused about it. But it happened that Jin read some article in the Denver´s newspapers, concerning the rapid growth of the city, so he knew that quite ugly ´Slabtown´ title was the previous name of the place, before it was renamed to ´Leadville´. The pub was not located on the main street, the building was almost the last one in the dark alley; there was only the darkness of the wild behind it. It seemed to be one of the older buildings in the city, but well kept.
Jin followed the example of his companions and dismounted, tying the reins to the long wooden rail in front of the spacious veranda. The two guys disappeared somewhere behind the tavern, along with the heavy bags, which they didn´t let out of their sight even for a minute for the whole time they had travelled. Ryo gestured Jin to go inside, to follow Esler who went there as the first, while the other guy remained behind his back.
As they entered, Jin was flooded with the heavy odor of cigarettes and cigars. The air was resonating with the loud conversations and the bright light of the kerosene lamps hanging on the long ropes from the ceiling was flooding each table. The taproom was full and the atmosphere cheerful.
Some customers raised their heads and greeted the passing group or just waved at them, before they went back to their beers, whiskey and cards.
“Welcome back, boys,” an old barkeep leaning over the bar counter greeted them. “You´re thirsty, I suppose…”
Ryo had almost hugged the counter nodding excited, before a firm voice of his superior brushed the guy´s intention off right away.
“Later, old man. Is he there?” Cullen asked.
“Yes,” the man, whose hair turned completely white already, nodded, not paying attention to the cold tone, probably more than used to it. “He had arrived about half an hour ago.”
“Good, let´s deal with this right away then,” Esler decided and mercilessly dragged Ryo away from the full tankard. “He is your responsibility, so you´re coming along.”
Jin rather didn´t comment it. He didn´t want to reveal how much he was already annoyed with the Cullen Esler´s attitude, as the behaved like that all the way, speaking about him as of a burden, in better case ignoring Jin as if he was never there. It was clear that the older man was more careful and suspicious than the others.
Esler led their way through the rest of the taproom to the back, where Jin spotted some door in the shadow only when they were just a meter away. A muscular and formidable man standing next to them nodded his head seeing them coming, but stepped into Jin´s way as soon as he noticed the guy, staring at him in a not friendly way.
Jin backed off carefully, more than aware that with the muscles like those, which could be seen under the man´s shirt, he would have lost at least a few teeth if anything would go wrong. It was Ryo who prevented that from happening, as he approached the mountain of muscles hastily.
“Slow down, man,” the black-eyed one forced himself between Jin and the guard.
“It´s all right, Benny,” Cullen cut in as well. “He is our guest. For now.”
The mentioned guard was still frowning, but he stepped aside to let them go through. With chills on his back Jin followed Esler inside the narrow room, which was very poorly alighted in comparison with the taproom. The two men and to Jin´s surprise even one woman were sitting at the table in the middle, discussing over the pile of newspapers, when they came in.
“Cullen!” one of the men welcomed them. “You´re back!”
“Yeah,” the man murmured stopping his steps close to the table.
The woman was the first one to notice a stranger and she pierced Jin with the almond shaped eyes, which went a little wider. Jin´s view was partially covered by Esler, so he didn´t notice the fourth person in the room, until the last one spoke.
“Any troubles?”
That voice was so familiar to Jin, despite it was deeper, than he remembered.
“No, all the bags were there. The boys already took them to the back,” Cullen answered the question.
“Great…”
“Though, we came across one fellow…” Cullen continued. “You have a guest, Leo.”
“Huh? Whom?”
“Well… He claims to be your brother,” the man snorted and stepped aside, pulling Jin closer to the reach of light.
Only then Jin could finally see the youngster sitting in the front of the table. When the dark eyes focused at his face, he held his breath without knowing it. There was a surprise and then a shine of something what Jin didn´t recognize. He wanted to say something, but he couldn´t make his mouth to open.
The young man´s hair was scruffy, and loosely cut, his deep eyes serious. There was a hint of dark stubble under his nose and his pose was firm, the body well-built and seemed strong. Two years older, and changed, but still he was Jin´s younger brother. Something eased up inside him to see the guy well and alive, but still he got somewhat anxious about what to say or do.
The deep silence fell onto the room; the others at the table glanced over both their faces and at each other, surprised about the unexpected visitor. Esler remained at Jin´s side, with his hand placed at the gun belt, while Ryo was waiting behind, curiously comparing the faces of the two.
Finally, Jin gulped down and took a breath to break the silence, but the younger one did it first.
“I´ve never seen him before.”
That thunderstruck Jin and left him staring at his brother in disbelief. Ryo stepped closer, obviously confused, while Esler drew his gun swiftly.
“I knew it,” he snorted, aiming at Jin. “A little swindler, huh?”
“Hey, wait a sec!” Jin overcame his numbness and leant over the table, so hard it creaked as it moved closer to the young leader, whose facial features didn´t move even an inch.
“One more move and you´re dead,” Esler informed him threateningly, with the heavy revolver at his head.
But Jin didn´t pay attention to the man, looking directly at his brother.
“So you don´t know me anymore just after the two years? Can you even shoot something when your eyes are so bad?” he exclaimed angrily.
Leo didn´t reply and kept staring at him blankly. Even the other men were already standing, ready with their guns, just the woman at his brother´s left hand studied the younger one instead of the stranger and Ryo kept his distance as well.
“What do you want me to do with him, Leo?” Cullen asked harshly, obviously ready to manage anything what would have been said in a blink of eye.
Jin was so dumbfounded about why Leo denied knowing him that he was not even a little afraid. Despite that there were already three revolvers endangering his life.
Suddenly, the stiff expression at Leo´s face broke and in the next second he was laughing so hard that he almost fell off his chair.
Everybody stared at the young leader with a clear confusion all over their faces, including Esler. Just the brunette still sitting at Leo´s side didn´t seem to be surprised about the outburst.
“You should…” Leo almost choked at the words, as he was still laughing. “You should see your face now, Brother…”
Jin didn´t move or said anything, glaring at his so-much-fun-having little sibling.
“So… He is…” Ryo started, figuring out the real situation as the first.
“Damn right, he is,” Leo confirmed, leaning into this chair comfortably, the cheerful smile still playing at his lips. “I would have never expected such a visitor today, dear bro…”
Jin moved and went around the table so fast, that he was at the younger one sooner than anyone managed to react and stop him. In the next moment the gunmen were helpless witnesses, as Jin captured his brother from behind, squeezing his neck angrily, while Leo started laughing again.
“You think this is so much fun, little Brother?” Jin hissed angrily, while the younger one didn´t put up any defense against his grip. “They might have killed me, damn it!”
“Come on… It was… such a fun…” Leo reacted a little breathless already. Only when he noticed that all barrels in the room were aiming at his brother´s head, he finally remembered to clear the things up for them as well. “Calm down, guys, put those guns away.”
The member of Riders slowly lowered their weapons, the amused smiles appearing on their faces, when Jin finally let Leo go, but didn´t forget to smack him over the head.
“Idiot,” he scolded the younger one, who didn´t seem to mind that though.
“He really is my dearest brother,” Leo assured them, not even a little offended, as he stood up from his chair and faced Jin. He was almost as tall as his older sibling now, but still shorter. “He really is…” Leo repeated seriously, the amusement slowly disappearing from his face. “I´m glad to see you, Jin…”
Then Jin gave in to his relief and happiness and grabbed Leo into a bear hug, which the younger one repaid firmly.
“It´s good to see you in one piece, little one…” he murmured into the younger´s ear.
“I´m not so little anymore, you know?” Leo replied, his voice suddenly hoarse.
“Yeah, I see…” Jin pulled away, observing his brother once again from close. Leo was right; an adult was standing in front of him now.
“So… This was just a joke?” it was Esler who raised the question, his face a perfect example of cold composure, but with his eyes shining in a strange way. “A joke?” he repeated.
“Sorry, Cullen,” Leo shrugged not very apologetically. “I couldn´t help it…”
“I should have expected something like that…” Jin murmured, while Ryo approached visibly upset Esler.
“Come on, man, you know Leo…”
“Yes. I do,” Esler snorted. “I will be at the bar,” he decided then and marched off.
“You´re still like a kid sometimes,” the woman sitting with her long legs crossed sighed.
“And you love me for that,” Leo replied with a smile, which obviously belonged only to the brunette.
Before she could have replied something, Leo turned to the others.
“Everyone, I have a request…” the men stood there silent, waiting for the order. “Bring some beers in, so we can celebrate my brother´s arrival!”
“Finally!” Ryo was the first one to react enthusiastically. “You´re the best boss, Leo!”
He was out of the door in no time, while the rest seated around the table again, one of them dragging a spare chair for the older Akanishi.
Jin was already calm, but still he would have rather preferred to talk with his brother privately.
“Leo…” he started uncertain, if it was really a good idea to launch their reunion with drinking.
The younger one just looked at him seriously, and as if he wondered about the same, he shook his head slowly.
“I know, but… Later, Jin, all right? We will talk later…”
***
“It stiiings…” a young man´s voice interrupted the peace on the shore of a small stream, which was one of many burbling its way down from the Horsetooth Mountain.
“Man up a bit, will you?” there was a strict response from the other youngster, who was treating the first one´s quite ugly but not live-threatening injuries. “In case you would enjoy some nice infection, I can always stop.”
The noisy blonde stopped flinching under the touch of the cloth watered with the strong disinfection, with which Kame cleaned the deep cuts on his arms and legs.
“Just hurry up… I´m freezing,” Koki murmured, biting into this lower lip, trying hard to stay still under the treatment.
“It´s not that cold over here,” the younger one informed him, with his eyes focused gradually on each injury, trying to figure out if any of them might be dangerous.
“It´s easy to say for you! You´re clothed!”
“You´re not naked,” Kame reacted calmly.
The former captive huffed unsatisfied. Koki had his underwear on only, so that Kame could reach his injuries. He intentionally chose a sunny spot to stop and do this, but the other one didn´t seem to appreciate it much anyway.
“You´re unexpectedly cruel, handsome,” Koki complained, eyeing him indignantly.
Kame sighed. This guy was much more difficult to deal with than Jin, when it came to the wounds. Jin was a whining type as well, but only in certain cases, when… Kazuya frowned and stopped his thoughts from continuing. Thinking about the young gunslinger made Kame to miss him more.
“It´s almost done,” he said, scolding himself for being so out of alert state. “None of them is too serious. You should be fine.”
“Fine?” Koki repeated. “It hurts like hell! They definitely knew what they were doing….”
Kame threw the dirty cloths aside, hiding the disinfection as well, and handing the guy over his shirt.
“Do you mean Grenet and Cameron?”
“Yeah…” the other one nodded gloomily and hastily put the cloth on. “Especially that fucker Grenet. He is a real son of a bitch.”
“I can only agree,” Kame reacted silently. “Be glad he didn´t proceed to ripping your nails off.”
“Ripping of nails?” Koki exclaimed, forgetting about pulling his trousers up.
Kame kept quiet, not really willing to discuss the topic.
“Just how do you know those men?” the older one asked shocked.
“More than I would like to,” Kame replied and straightened up.
He took the water bottle and descended to the stream, to get some fresh water. He felt the other´s curious look on his back, but Koki hesitated with more questions.
“Thank you, Kame,” he said instead, already fully clothed. “It feels better now.”
“Glad to hear that,” Kame nodded and gave him the bottle to drink from. “What did you do to make them so pissed at you?” he asked, to avoid any possible questions related to torture.
“Well… I think it will be better if you don´t know…” Koki answered hesitantly. “Not that I don´t trust you, just…”
“It´s all right,” Kame said. “I don´t want to involve in anything unnecessary anyway.”
He went to Ukushi to check on her saddle, to prepare her for the next journey. They didn´t have time to hand around.
“Well… Where are you heading, if I might ask?” Koki spoke, when he stood up slowly, trying if his legs were firm enough.
“Denver,” Kame replied and turned to him. “You?”
“Well, a little further, but we have a common way,” Koki reacted smiling. “So, in case you´d not mind my company for a little longer…”
“Not a problem,” Kame shrugged. “Just we should…”
“Hurry?” Koki completed the sentence. “I´m all in,” he grinned reaching for the bridle of his horse.
“If you feel you can´t manage…” Kame observed Koki´s careful movements.
“Oh, you´re worried, that´s cuuute,” the other guy reacted teasingly.
Kame stared at the older one, not saying another word.
“Sorry, sorry, I didn´t mean it bad,” Koki laughed. “You have magical hands, handsome. We can surely continue. I´m in a rush as well…”
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2