[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter nine
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: Montana is in the middle of summer and Kame receives an unexpected letter, while Jin lends a helping hand...
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 //
Indian Agent
“Stop pissing me off, you tiny bastard,” Jin hissed at the battered nail in his left hand´s fingers threateningly, as he once again grabbed the hammer with the right one.
Fast strikes sounded from the roof, echoing to the edge of peaceful woods surrounding the Kamenashi property. This time, the iron obediently bit into the wooden tile and went in up to its head.
“There you go,” the young gunslinger breathed out, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
The summer sun was flooding the result of his previous efforts, as well as himself, with annoying hot intensity. He felt like a baked chicken they had for lunch that day, but comparing the finished part of the roof with the one still in need of repair, made him consider it worth the hard work.
Since it seemed they were stuck in Bozeman for a while, he agreed with Kame on necessity to have some more permanent shelter than accommodation in Harada´s Saloon. Not that the old man wouldn´t have wanted them to stay, but they couldn´t dwell there basically free of charge forever. Even though Harada didn´t ask for much, their pride didn´t allow them to accept his generous offer.
To move in the old Kame´s house was the most logical and convenient solution, despite the fact that it required quite some endeavor to make it properly habitable. They were lucky it was summer and the weather enabled all the repairs they had already made. Not to mention it was a pure miracle the roof didn´t cave in during the last winter.
Carefully, Jin shifted on the sloping surface to another hole, which was, as one of many, created after they removed all the rotten tiles. Soon, more hits filled the air and drowned the sound of hooves approaching on the heavily overgrown path. Jin noticed the visitor only when the boy stopped his horse right in front of the house.
“Hey! Jin! Good afternoon!”
“Hey, Mike!” he turned on the ladder, which was completely new, since the old one was literally unusable, to look at the boy under it. “What´s up?”
“A letter for Kame!” their young friend waved with some yellow envelope. “Seems important!”
It better be, Jin thought as he reached for the flask hanging from the small hook on the ladder. It had already been three weeks since Kame sent his request to Washington and there was no response yet.
“He´s behind the house!” he navigated Mike to the place, where Kame was making more roof tiles, and swallowed a few sips of water. It was disgustingly warm, so he didn´t spit it out right away only because he was thirsty as hell.
“Okay!” the boy dismounted and tied the animal to one of the pillars supporting the roof of the small veranda, which he and Kame repaired just four days ago. “I must go back quickly. Mr. Harada threatened to skin me alive if I do not return this fellow on time,” Mike patted the sturdy animal.
Jin chuckled just when another voice joined their conversation: “You´d better hurry then.”
“Ah, Kame!” Mike disappeared from his view on the other side of the house.
He checked the roof with a short critical look and decided that he more than deserved a break.
*
“Is it what you´ve been waiting for?” Mike asked curiously, as Kame eyed the thick envelope in his hands.
“Looks like it,” he nodded, not sure, if he should feel relieved or worried. After such a long time, he would rather expect someone from that office in person, or no response at all.
“Finally,” Jin commented, as he joined them after swiftly climbing the ladder down.
“It could take even longer,” Kame reacted soberly and returned his eyes to the young messenger. “Thank you, Mike.”
“No need to,” the grinning boy shook his head. “This new postmaster isn´t as stingy as the previous one. I even get properly paid for these errands now.”
“That´s great! You can finally repay me your debt for those sweets,” Jin ruffled the boy´s hair, smiling even wider than he did.
Mike jumped away and pointed an accusing finger on him: “Not fair! You said those were in advance reward!”
“Really? I don´t remember that…” Jin reacted with pretended astonishment.
Mike stuck out his tongue: “Liar!”
“You really said that, Jin,” amused Kame cut yourself in.
“See?” the boy pouted.
“Aren´t you supposed to back me up?” Jin reproached to Kame in a low voice, before turning to Mike again. “All right, all right… I´ve just regained my memory.”
“You´re still lying!”
Jin grinned: “No, just making fun of you.”
The boy stared at him for a short moment, before he giggled: “I knew that…”
Kame laughed at Mike´s response and put the letter aside on the swept planks of the veranda.
“You´re becoming more cheeky every hour, squirt,” Jin noted with a sigh. “So? Anything new in the city?”
“Nope,” Mike shook his head vigorously. “Every day is just as boring as the previous one.”
“You´ll learn to appreciate boredom, trust me,” the older guy enlightened him significantly.
“Bullshit,” the boy commented and escaped Jin´s hand just before it could smack him.
“I doubt your grandparents teach you to talk like that,” Kame assumed.
Mike shrugged: “They don´t, but Mr. Harada does.”
“And who´s the liar now?” Jin snapped.
“It´s the truth! Everyone talks like that in the saloon!”
Kame raised his eyebrows: “And when they jump off the roof, you will as well?”
The boy lost words for a few seconds: “Well, no…”
“See the point?”
“Probably,” Mike murmured frowning and turned to leave, but stopped in the middle of step. “And by the way - your roof looks quite ridiculous now with all those white stains,” he grinned, before dashing off to his horse.
“Make fun of it again and I will make you repaint it, brat!” Jin called after him, but without any real anger in his voice. “And next time, don´t forget to bring the newspapers!”
“Roger!” the boy saluted and rode off.
“Insolent kid…”
“I´m glad he´s so chipper,” Kame reacted on Jin´s not so serious complaint, smiling a little.
“Yeah, me too,” the older one admitted. “So? Is it really from that office?” he peeked on the thick envelope with the sender´s address in Washington, D.C.
“Yes, it has their stamp… I´ll read it later,” Kame made a few steps and glanced up the roof. “How many more?”
“Ten to fifteen, rough estimate,” Jin assumed and checked on how far Mike got. The boy on the borrowed horse was just passing the first trees, soon to be out of sight.
“Do you think we manage to finish it today?” his boyfriend wondered.
“Probably… But we´ll be just worn out as yesterday,” Jin murmured.
One corner of the younger´s mouth twitched in a suppressed smile: “Nothing bad about it. It has been long since I slept that well.”
He smirked: “I seriously doubt that´s all you want to do in the night…”
Kame gave him a long look, which made Jin´s throat narrow. Of course, it was not.
They had already done many things in that creaking bed and those resulted in the next chore on their list - making or buying a new one. They could make full use of privacy and time for each other, when they finally had plenty of each.
First, Jin had his doubts about them moving in this house, which looked about to crumble, but it turned out to be a decision with even more positive consequences…
*
With a smile playing on his lips, Kame nostalgically eyed the quiet house under the steep hill. Not counting the last year´s leaves flooding the veranda and dozens of dry branches covering the driveway, everything remained just as when he had left with Liwan to Colorado half a year ago.
Before, when he was spending time here, the bad memories kept coming back to him. Just closing his eyes, he could hear again the terrified voice of his father, pleading of his mother and the echoes of gunshots in the muggy air. He could see the pale, empty faces of his brothers, as well as the blood gushing from their wounds and during sleepless nights, he could feel numb pain in the old scar on his lower back.
Only now, after everything what happened with Raynold Karnaka and Math Grenet, after he and Jin together faced their enemies and persevered, Kame could enjoy the happy memories, which he had connected to this place.
Finally being able to remember how he used to play with his siblings on the hill behind the house, how his father taught him to look after horses in the long ago collapsed barn and the fragrance of his mother´s cooking escaping from the kitchen window… It felt like a blessing and even better.
Because now, there were also many memories which he had created in this house with Jin. It was the place where he looked after his wounds caused by Grenet´s torture, where he realized that Jin really cared for him, and where they made love for the first time…
After all those years, Kame had a reason to smile when he saw his old home, and he was unspeakably grateful for that.
“I´ve missed this place…”
The words escaping the younger one´s lips made Jin look at him a bit surprised. He remembered how Kame´s birthplace affected him before; there was always sadness and pain hidden under his calm face. But seeing his expression at the moment, Jin realized that the dark past was not there to bother them anymore and it made him feel relieved.
“Well, me too... Especially the bathroom.”
Kame stared at him: “Can´t you read my mood at all?”
“I definitely can,” Jin assured him smiling meaningfully.
Shaking his head, Kame dismounted Ukushi to lead her safely across the rest of almost invisible path, mumbling something about ´horny boyfriends´. However, he could not fool Jin with that and he followed his steps with a knowing smirk. He was sure Kame remembered the short time they had spent in this house together as well.
For Jin, it was one of the most vivid memories he had regarding their relationship. It was when he finally stopped worrying and overcame that last inner barrier, which stood in the way of his strongest desire.
If someone had asked, he wouldn´t have been able to describe those feelings, which engulfed him back then, during the first sex with the former bartender. He was only certain about his yearning to feel them again, and again… He considered himself a happy man, as there were many chances for that since then and he was looking forward to more of indescribable moments with Kazuya. However, it seemed there were many duties awaiting them before that.
“Well, this will take a while…” Kame commented on the crooked pillars barely holding the veranda´s covering, broken glass in the windows and suspicious spots standing out on the roof in the morning sun.
“Yeah, but there´s two of us on it,” Jin assumed, already untying the harness off Kuro.
The look his lover gave him this time was far less annoyed: “That´s right…”
*
That evening, it was a damn relief when Jin could finally settle in front of the fireplace and he didn´t give a damn about sitting on the floor, as the simple bench fell apart once they tried to use it. Both his arms and legs ached from the all-day work around the house.
He yawned and added some broken branches to the small fire. All rooms were damn stale and despite the hot summer, they were keeping the fire for the whole day to chase the dampness out.
He heard Kame rattling with something in the kitchen, there was already dark behind the windows and the flames started to eat on the dry wood cheerfully. He lied down on the carefully swept floor to get his back straight. The sound of the fire was comforting, and just for a moment he closed his eyes in front of its flickering light…
He must have dozen off because suddenly, a soft voice called his name and he found Kame sitting next to him.
“We don´t have to finish everything in five-day record, you know?” the chestnut eyes were watching him warmly.
“Nah, I don´t think we managed to do so much today,” Jin objected, rubbing his eyes.
“The opposite, Mr. Hard-Worker,” Kame informed him amused. “You must have been used to daily exertion before we had met…”
“Yeah, you can say,” he admitted and sat up.
“Have some tea,” Kame pointed at the mug waiting for Jin near the fireplace. “I dug in the old supplies from Cloud Dancing and these herbs should be good for muscles.”
“Oh, really? Sounds good,” he sipped from the offered mug curiously. “Tastes good as well. Does it work for all kinds of muscles?”
Kame almost sputtered the gulp he was about to take: “What the… Jin!”
“What? It´s just a simple question,” he blinked, pretending innocent surprise.
“Oh, really?”
“Sure.”
“Not buying it.”
“Just what are you thinking, Kazu? Aah… That muscle!” he exclaimed suddenly. “And you always say I´m the perverted one here!”
He really overacted now and Kame noticed it. He smacked his shoulder, laughing: “Dumbass…”
“Always at your service,” Jin winked.
For a while, they both sipped on the tea in pleasant silence.
“It´s really nice, you know?” Jin broke it in a covert voice, which made Kame look at him questioningly. “Just this - sitting here together, drinking tea and talking about the foolish stuff.”
Kame kept silent, not letting his eyes of suddenly serious Jin.
“There was a time I considered something like this impossible, only an unreachable dream…” he breathed out heavily.
There came a sound of mug being put aside on the floor and then a warm hand reached for his neck and made him turn his head.
“And yet here we are,” Kame stated softly.
“Yeah,” he agreed and let the younger one lock their lips in the loving kiss.
*
Of course, they did not need any tea for what they were about to do that first night. Or during any of the nights which followed after it.
They weren´t used to be alone or not on the way travelling somewhere with their companions. It was a new experience for them, on which they savored fully. If it was either only lying next to each other in tight embrace or taking each other to some place without a reason, it was awesome and addictive.
It felt incredibly good to have this peaceful time aside from the city, working on and around the house together, behaving freely, exactly as they felt to each other. They could show their affection without worries about what anyone might think and it felt so liberating, Jin didn´t want that ever change again. Not to mention that being able to keep Kame in the bed in the morning, until he moaned in pleasure, when Jin carried out his dream from that night, was a damn great bonus.
Probably thinking about the similar stuff as himself, Kame made a step closer and placed a hand on Jin´s bare chest.
“I admit your doubts are justified,” he stated in a teasing tone. “Our roof might look funny, but you definitely look hot.”
Jin felt two kinds of shivers at once - the first one kind of nostalgic, almost aching, hearing Kame use the words ´our roof´. They didn´t talk about it, but it really felt like they were about to build a real home here. The second shiver was the excited one, as he felt Kame´s fingers move against his hot skin slowly.
No proper words could describe what he actually felt in that moment, standing in the bright sunshine, far from any other people, looking into the eyes of the one he loved and treasured. Therefore, without saying anything, Jin captured Kame´s provocatively curved lips. They were both sticky with sweat, but that didn´t discourage him from deepening the kiss, when Kame´s hand slipped around him, as he pulled himself closer.
In this embrace, loving and feeling loved, he was happy as never before.
*
Three hours later, Jin finally got down from the roof, quite satisfied, since all the repairs were done. After cleaning the tools, which he had been using that day, he headed right to the barrel full of water, which they pulled out from the old well to let it get warmer. With pleasure, he splashed himself a few times to get rid of the layer of sweat and dust.
The sun was just setting behind the horizon and the air was getting cooler, filled with the birds´ singing from the treetops nearby. The fragrance of fresh wood and summer flowers floated around, almost completely absorbing the faint smell of dung from the shed for their dear animal companions. It was a nice, peaceful spot to build home for a family, Jin thought, as he dried himself with a towel. Especially in comparison with the dark shack, he used to live in once, with his parents and brother.
Feeling relieved and refreshed, he grabbed the washed shirt from the cord Kame had stretched between the two pillars on the veranda and went in the house. He found his boyfriend, who had already washed and changed as well, sitting in the kitchen near the window with some papers in his hands. It didn´t look like he was very happy about them.
Kame raised his eyes, when he entered the room: “Done already?”
“Yeah…” Jin nodded proudly. “Let the floods come, we´ll be just fine,” he stated as he poured himself a cup of cold tea from the prepared kettle.
“Do not call any misfortune, it usually finds us all by itself,” Kame reacted gloomily.
“True enough,” he admitted and leant over the table, glancing at a few unfolded papers. “So? Will they send someone or not?”
“You better read it yourself,” Kame replied and handed the letter over to him.
Jin sat down on the opposite chair, ran his eyes across the address with Kame´s name and focused on the surprisingly long text:
Dear Sir~
We have taken note of your complaint on misused authorization of military unit in Fort Benton, based in Montana Territory. Unfortunately, we are not able to send someone to check on the real situation with government rations, as all our nearby Agents are currently occupied with their duties in other Indian reservations.
Instead, based on the recommendation of Lieutenant Cooper from Fort Ellis, and on your mentioned knowledge of the local tribes, we would like to offer you a position of ´Indian Agent for reservations in Montana Territory´. The list of related responsibilities is attached.
In case you would like to apply for this position, we ask you to fill in the necessary form with all requested credentials and send it back to our Office in Washington. Once the Contract of Employment will be signed, you will be authorized to handle the government rations yourself, as well as to request for military support. All Montana forts will be informed about your assignment and obliged to cooperate with you. Your authorizations will extend after the one-month probation period - please see the attached leaflet.
Additionally, if you know about anyone else willing to apply for the same job, with at least basic knowledge of the Indian tribes, please let us know. We need to fill in other vacant positions.
We will be awaiting your reply. Hiram Price
Sincerely, Commissioner of Indian Affairs
Jin´s eyes widened as he realized the real meaning of the letter: “Wow… That´s kinda unexpected.”
“Tell me about it,” Kame murmured, already eyeing the mentioned forms.
He scanned that surprising offer in the text again, before he looked up to his lover and observed his expression for a while.
“You don´t like it.”
“Of course not!” Kame dropped the densely described papers on the table in an angry gesture, which surprised Jin a bit. “Instead of sending someone already authorized to deal with it, they want to move the responsibility to someone they had never met in person? If anything, it tells me they don´t really care about what´s going on in the reservations at all!”
Jin let the loud words fall in, waiting for Kame to take a deep breath, as he tried to calm himself down.
“Is it that unusual?” he asked carefully then. “That they hire civilians for this job?”
Kame shook his head: “No… Not as far as I know. They take mainly volunteers. Hunters, explorers and woodsmen, who can speak the Indian languages.”
“So, basically, it´s the usual practice,” Jin assumed. “Once they see an opportunity, they take it. You were born in this country, you know the local Indians, moreover you speak their language and you make yourself involved actively. It makes sense they offered this to you, doesn´t it?”
His boyfriend sighed, obviously calmer now: “Partially, I agree. But even if I accept this position, it doesn´t necessarily mean I´ll be able to help the Blackfeet. There´s many duties related to it and all of them favor the white men,” Kame pushed one of the papers closer to Jin. “Most of it makes sense, but for example here… Absolutely no work within the reservation must be given to white men which can be done by Indians.”
“I admit that´s like supporting slavery again,” Jin murmured, already checking other conditions, as ´working toward preventing conflicts between settlers and Indians´ or ´keep an eye out for violations of laws and report them to the Office´, as well as ´enforce prohibition of liquor´. Which was good in contrast with ´allowing Indians to leave the reservation only if they have acquired a permit´. “The rest of it doesn´t seem so horrible…” he noted.
“I know. And they´re logical, but still…” Kame sighed again. “I don´t know, really… It relates to too many negatives.”
Jin took another paper, which Kame put aside: “You will be authorized to interact with Montana Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government and to request the military support from all Montana forts... That doesn´t sound bad at all.”
“Not on the first look. But read it further. My hands will be tied regarding many things. In case of any conflict, these rules put up the government first, Indians second. If I break any of them, I can even be arrested.”
Jin pushed the papers aside, pondering everything he had just read.
“But still - it´s a great opportunity to help them, isn´t it?”
“You think I should accept it?”
“Well, yeah…” he nodded slowly. “It has its disadvantages, but I think that positives are stronger. There won´t be another opportunity like this, Kame.”
“In that I must agree with you… Even with how half-heartedly they handle their work, this offer is something rare. I guess they offered it to me only thanks to that recommendation from Cooper.”
Jin drank up his tea, before he reacted: “Might be. We both know how everything´s changed, most of all for the Indians. If you let this slip, you won´t be able to ease the consequences of these changes for them at all. But in this position, you can at least try and actually achieve something.”
Kame answered his serious look for a while: “You´re right…” he admitted heavily then. “It seems you thought about it a lot.”
He sighed: “There´s nothing else we´ve been solving these past few weeks, Kazu. Of course I was thinking about it.”
The younger one suddenly seemed ashamed: “I know… My head has been only full of Blackfeet recently and…”
“Which is natural,” Jin cut in before he could continue. “It´s up to you of course, but I´d say this is the best what you could achieve by that letter to Washington.”
Kame lowered his eyes to the flooded table again: “I´ll think it through…”
“Good,” Jin folded all the papers to one pile and moved them to him again.
His boyfriend ignored them for the moment though and reached for Jin´s shirt instead, dragging him close enough to peck his lips: “Thanks for consultation…” he stated softly then.
“Don´t worry, I´ll give you space in our bedroom to show me your gratitude,” Jin reacted with a calculative smile.
***
“Come on! You can make it, my dear,” Cora kept encouraging the pale girl in her grip.
Charlotte staggered again heavily, letting out a painful groan: “I can´t… It hurts…”
The strict-looking woman in upright dress, so far walking opposite to them, scowled noticing them and pulled her kids to the other side of the street. Cora ignored her, just as all other disgusted looks focused in their direction.
“It´s only a couple of more steps away,” she kept persuading her. “We´ll be right there and you can rest then, but you must help me now, okay?”
The girl nodded faintly, completely relying on Cora´s support.
Damn it! If I realized this kid was is weak, I´d order at least one of other girls to help.
Since obviously, she couldn´t expect any of the noble, honest citizens of Bozeman to aid her to carry the bleeding girl to the clinic. She didn´t sleep for the whole night because of that asshole, who was responsible for the girl´s condition and her head was already spinning from the hot dusty air.
Suddenly, Charlotte stumbled clumsily and Cora didn´t react quickly enough. She would have inevitably fallen down to the ground, not being for some quick steps and strong hands, which grabbed the falling girl from the other side.
“Whoa! Carefully, Miss!”
Surprised Cora observed as the handsome man picked the fainted girl up into his arms easily.
“Where to, Madame?” the deep, dark eyes looked at her questioningly.
She finally shook off her surprise from the unexpected help and let her lips spread in a relieved smile: “To Dr. Best´s clinic, please.”
The black-haired gunslinger nodded and set off without any further questions, with Cora rushing by his side. Their movement across the street was accompanied by many sharp stares, but their savior didn´t seem to mind them.
“Thank you so much,” Cora remembered her good manners. “She´s worse than I thought, otherwise I wouldn´t have tried to drag her there on foot.”
She noticed how the young man shortly eyed the blood on the girl´s blue dress.
“What happened to her?” he asked quietly.
“An asshole customer, that happened,” Cora replied gloomily. “I should have known better…”
Jin Akanishi, whom she had spotted in town a couple of times since their arrival with Kamenashi, didn´t question her any further, just prolonged his steps toward the white painted building with many windows.
Cora rushed ahead and pounded hard on the door, so they opened just as the man with unconscious girl in his arms stepped on the veranda. Sharp eyes and deep frown appeared in them.
“Dr. Best!” Cora got out of herself, without breath for anything else.
“Cora! What happened now?” Dr. Best, obviously already used to finding her behind the door of his clinic, focused his eyes behind her. “Akanishi!”
“Hello, Doc,” her good helper nodded. “Would you be so kind and lead me where to put this sleeping beauty?”
Dr. Best immediately stepped aside, gesturing him: “Get her in, quickly!”
The young gunslinger walked through the door carefully, following the doctor´s instructions: “Yes, there, on the bed.”
“Doctor,” Cora was quite worried now, noticing Charlotte´s white ash skin. “I don´t know what exactly happened, but…”
“Yes, yes, usual story… I´ll take care of her, wait outside,” Dr. Best hushed her off and closed the door once Akanishi went outside again.
Only now, Cora took her breath through the squeezed throat and almost collapsed on the bench nearby the door.
“Will you be alright, Madame?” Akanishi asked. “You´re awfully pale.”
“It´s nothing, thanks,” she shook her head. It was just too much on her blood pressure for one day, and it wasn´t even noon yet. “And once again - thank you so much. It was very kind of you to help.”
The gunslinger shrugged: “Do not mention it, it was nothing.”
Carefully, considerate of her head, Cora stood up: “Maybe for you, but I do appreciate it,” she reached out her hand to him.
The smile, which brightened up the man´s face now, made her heart flutter. Dear, she had already noticed it before, but this one was really damn handsome. His warm hand with firm fingers accepted her grateful gesture: “You´re welcome.”
She felt better each second now and since Akanishi didn´t seem to be bothered with her occupation much, she encouraged herself to make another step in their polite conversation, which she almost never did: “My name is Cora.”
“Jin,” to her surprise, he repaid her with the same familiarity.
“So, Jin…” she repeated with a meaningful smile. “As a reward for your help, I´d like to repeat my invitation from the day before.”
*
It was done. All those complicated forms filled, the envelope sealed and the most expensive postage fee paid to get his letter delivered to Washington in the shortest possible time limit. Now, he could only wait. Again. It was frustrating. Who knew what could happen in the reservation meanwhile? But there was nothing more he could do to make it faster.
Feeling resigned, Kame left the cool post office to face the sunny, heated street again. It surprised him a little, when he found out that Jin was not back yet and Ukushi with Kuro were waiting in front of the building all alone.
“Oh, my… Did you see him?”
“Yes! Awful, really. I thought of him to be more decent than to tangle with those dirty girls…”
“Exactly. Such a handsome young man!”
Kame was patting Ukushi, who obviously didn´t like the hotness of the day much, and didn´t pay attention to two women passing by the post office in a heated conversation.
“Where did they go?”
“They took that whore to Best.”
“I´m surprised our doctor still bears with them.”
Hearing the doctor´s name made Kame look in the direction of the clinic. He had to shadow his eyes first, but to his surprise, he recognized Jin there, standing in the shadow of the veranda, next to a woman in rich, violet dress.
*
Akanishi´s smile was rather sheepish this time: “Well, I remember it. Unfortunately, I´m not so much into the pleasures which your house is offering…”
“Oh?” such a statement surprised Cora a bit, but she didn´t let it be seen on her face. “Well, then you can come by just for a free drink, if you´re not interested in my girls,” she winked.
“Sounds very tempting, Madame,” Jin nodded this time.
“You´ll be expected then. And it´s Cora for you,” she reminded him.
“I´ll try hard to remember that,” he replied a little teasingly.
She was pleased to notice that this handsome man was watching her with interest and she didn´t hide her own observing look running from his face, to the half-unbuttoned shirt and belt with impressive revolvers. Smiling, she took a careful step closer…
“Jin? Something happened?”
Cora froze and eyed Kazuya Kamenashi standing on the street with two pretty beasts tailing him. From under the wide hat, his sharp eyes stared at them.
Akanishi half-turned to reply his question: “No, everything´s fine.”
Then he looked at her for the last time: “It was nice to meet you, Cora,” he shifted his hat in a greeting. “I hope your girl will be well soon.”
“Pleasure for me too, Jin,” she made for a playful curtsy and watched the gunslinger stepping down from the veranda. Once he approached Kamenashi, he took the reins of the black stallion over from him.
“Thanks… You´re done?”
“Yes,” the younger one nodded. “It will be dispatched with tomorrow´s stagecoach to Cheyenne.”
“Great,” Akanishi reacted as they started walking. “How long it should take?”
“A week, more or less, he said…”
Cora watched those two men curiously, until they turned the corner. Then she sat back to the bench to wait for Dr. Best, still tired, but in a much better mood. It was nice to interact with someone so handsome and well-mannered apart from the usual guests of her business.
*
“So, what was that about?” Kame didn´t want to snap, but it almost sounded like that anyway.
“What?” Jin, who just mounted Kuro to move faster on the empty road, glanced at him surprised.
“With Cora,” he emphasized, patting Ukushi on the neck.
“Ah, one of her girls got hurt and passed out on the street. I helped to take her to the doctor.”
“And?”
Jin blinked over the strange tone his boyfriend used: “And… that´s all.”
“It seemed to me you were pretty familiar to each other.”
“She was grateful,” the older one assumed soberly.
“I see… So, she was just thanking you.”
“Yeah.”
The current brothel boss was obviously flirting with Jin, but that was not what bothered him. He was jealous because it seemed that Jin enjoyed it. Nevertheless, at the same time, he felt stupid for doubting him so easily. He couldn´t blame Jin for taking interest in her; he had always known that his boyfriend liked pretty women and their relationship couldn´t change that. It would be foolish of him to make a big deal of it.
“Will the girl be all right?” Kame asked to change the embarrassing topic.
“I guess… She´s in Dr. Best´s hands,” Jin assumed.
“Right. There´s no one better around here,” he agreed, as they both made their animals move slowly. “Have you checked the newspapers?”
“Yes, all available,” Jin confirmed. “Everything as usual. It seems nothing big is happening down in Colorado.”
“That´s good.”
“Yes, but there´s no message from them either. I´m a bit nervous about that.”
“I´m sure Leo and the others are just fine,” Kame tried to encourage him. “Trust them.”
“You´re right…” Jin admitted, as they passed the last row of chalets in the outskirts. “So, what´s gonna be for dinner?” he wondered then curiously.
“What you´ll manage to catch,” Kame informed him calmly.
Jin gaped: “You want me to run around the woods today?”
“It seems you´ve got some spare energy, so I suppose it´s no problem for you.”
“Kazu… Not fair! Annoying insect everywhere, it´s too hot, not to mention grizzly bears…”
He rolled his eyes: “I haven´t heard you whine for quite long.”
“See? I´ve got a proper reason to!”
Kame couldn´t help but laugh: “What about we´ll go hunting together then?”
Jin grinned: “That sounds much better.”
- To be continued -
Credit for banner:
witchann2
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: Montana is in the middle of summer and Kame receives an unexpected letter, while Jin lends a helping hand...
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 //
Indian Agent
“Stop pissing me off, you tiny bastard,” Jin hissed at the battered nail in his left hand´s fingers threateningly, as he once again grabbed the hammer with the right one.
Fast strikes sounded from the roof, echoing to the edge of peaceful woods surrounding the Kamenashi property. This time, the iron obediently bit into the wooden tile and went in up to its head.
“There you go,” the young gunslinger breathed out, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
The summer sun was flooding the result of his previous efforts, as well as himself, with annoying hot intensity. He felt like a baked chicken they had for lunch that day, but comparing the finished part of the roof with the one still in need of repair, made him consider it worth the hard work.
Since it seemed they were stuck in Bozeman for a while, he agreed with Kame on necessity to have some more permanent shelter than accommodation in Harada´s Saloon. Not that the old man wouldn´t have wanted them to stay, but they couldn´t dwell there basically free of charge forever. Even though Harada didn´t ask for much, their pride didn´t allow them to accept his generous offer.
To move in the old Kame´s house was the most logical and convenient solution, despite the fact that it required quite some endeavor to make it properly habitable. They were lucky it was summer and the weather enabled all the repairs they had already made. Not to mention it was a pure miracle the roof didn´t cave in during the last winter.
Carefully, Jin shifted on the sloping surface to another hole, which was, as one of many, created after they removed all the rotten tiles. Soon, more hits filled the air and drowned the sound of hooves approaching on the heavily overgrown path. Jin noticed the visitor only when the boy stopped his horse right in front of the house.
“Hey! Jin! Good afternoon!”
“Hey, Mike!” he turned on the ladder, which was completely new, since the old one was literally unusable, to look at the boy under it. “What´s up?”
“A letter for Kame!” their young friend waved with some yellow envelope. “Seems important!”
It better be, Jin thought as he reached for the flask hanging from the small hook on the ladder. It had already been three weeks since Kame sent his request to Washington and there was no response yet.
“He´s behind the house!” he navigated Mike to the place, where Kame was making more roof tiles, and swallowed a few sips of water. It was disgustingly warm, so he didn´t spit it out right away only because he was thirsty as hell.
“Okay!” the boy dismounted and tied the animal to one of the pillars supporting the roof of the small veranda, which he and Kame repaired just four days ago. “I must go back quickly. Mr. Harada threatened to skin me alive if I do not return this fellow on time,” Mike patted the sturdy animal.
Jin chuckled just when another voice joined their conversation: “You´d better hurry then.”
“Ah, Kame!” Mike disappeared from his view on the other side of the house.
He checked the roof with a short critical look and decided that he more than deserved a break.
*
“Is it what you´ve been waiting for?” Mike asked curiously, as Kame eyed the thick envelope in his hands.
“Looks like it,” he nodded, not sure, if he should feel relieved or worried. After such a long time, he would rather expect someone from that office in person, or no response at all.
“Finally,” Jin commented, as he joined them after swiftly climbing the ladder down.
“It could take even longer,” Kame reacted soberly and returned his eyes to the young messenger. “Thank you, Mike.”
“No need to,” the grinning boy shook his head. “This new postmaster isn´t as stingy as the previous one. I even get properly paid for these errands now.”
“That´s great! You can finally repay me your debt for those sweets,” Jin ruffled the boy´s hair, smiling even wider than he did.
Mike jumped away and pointed an accusing finger on him: “Not fair! You said those were in advance reward!”
“Really? I don´t remember that…” Jin reacted with pretended astonishment.
Mike stuck out his tongue: “Liar!”
“You really said that, Jin,” amused Kame cut yourself in.
“See?” the boy pouted.
“Aren´t you supposed to back me up?” Jin reproached to Kame in a low voice, before turning to Mike again. “All right, all right… I´ve just regained my memory.”
“You´re still lying!”
Jin grinned: “No, just making fun of you.”
The boy stared at him for a short moment, before he giggled: “I knew that…”
Kame laughed at Mike´s response and put the letter aside on the swept planks of the veranda.
“You´re becoming more cheeky every hour, squirt,” Jin noted with a sigh. “So? Anything new in the city?”
“Nope,” Mike shook his head vigorously. “Every day is just as boring as the previous one.”
“You´ll learn to appreciate boredom, trust me,” the older guy enlightened him significantly.
“Bullshit,” the boy commented and escaped Jin´s hand just before it could smack him.
“I doubt your grandparents teach you to talk like that,” Kame assumed.
Mike shrugged: “They don´t, but Mr. Harada does.”
“And who´s the liar now?” Jin snapped.
“It´s the truth! Everyone talks like that in the saloon!”
Kame raised his eyebrows: “And when they jump off the roof, you will as well?”
The boy lost words for a few seconds: “Well, no…”
“See the point?”
“Probably,” Mike murmured frowning and turned to leave, but stopped in the middle of step. “And by the way - your roof looks quite ridiculous now with all those white stains,” he grinned, before dashing off to his horse.
“Make fun of it again and I will make you repaint it, brat!” Jin called after him, but without any real anger in his voice. “And next time, don´t forget to bring the newspapers!”
“Roger!” the boy saluted and rode off.
“Insolent kid…”
“I´m glad he´s so chipper,” Kame reacted on Jin´s not so serious complaint, smiling a little.
“Yeah, me too,” the older one admitted. “So? Is it really from that office?” he peeked on the thick envelope with the sender´s address in Washington, D.C.
“Yes, it has their stamp… I´ll read it later,” Kame made a few steps and glanced up the roof. “How many more?”
“Ten to fifteen, rough estimate,” Jin assumed and checked on how far Mike got. The boy on the borrowed horse was just passing the first trees, soon to be out of sight.
“Do you think we manage to finish it today?” his boyfriend wondered.
“Probably… But we´ll be just worn out as yesterday,” Jin murmured.
One corner of the younger´s mouth twitched in a suppressed smile: “Nothing bad about it. It has been long since I slept that well.”
He smirked: “I seriously doubt that´s all you want to do in the night…”
Kame gave him a long look, which made Jin´s throat narrow. Of course, it was not.
They had already done many things in that creaking bed and those resulted in the next chore on their list - making or buying a new one. They could make full use of privacy and time for each other, when they finally had plenty of each.
First, Jin had his doubts about them moving in this house, which looked about to crumble, but it turned out to be a decision with even more positive consequences…
*
With a smile playing on his lips, Kame nostalgically eyed the quiet house under the steep hill. Not counting the last year´s leaves flooding the veranda and dozens of dry branches covering the driveway, everything remained just as when he had left with Liwan to Colorado half a year ago.
Before, when he was spending time here, the bad memories kept coming back to him. Just closing his eyes, he could hear again the terrified voice of his father, pleading of his mother and the echoes of gunshots in the muggy air. He could see the pale, empty faces of his brothers, as well as the blood gushing from their wounds and during sleepless nights, he could feel numb pain in the old scar on his lower back.
Only now, after everything what happened with Raynold Karnaka and Math Grenet, after he and Jin together faced their enemies and persevered, Kame could enjoy the happy memories, which he had connected to this place.
Finally being able to remember how he used to play with his siblings on the hill behind the house, how his father taught him to look after horses in the long ago collapsed barn and the fragrance of his mother´s cooking escaping from the kitchen window… It felt like a blessing and even better.
Because now, there were also many memories which he had created in this house with Jin. It was the place where he looked after his wounds caused by Grenet´s torture, where he realized that Jin really cared for him, and where they made love for the first time…
After all those years, Kame had a reason to smile when he saw his old home, and he was unspeakably grateful for that.
“I´ve missed this place…”
The words escaping the younger one´s lips made Jin look at him a bit surprised. He remembered how Kame´s birthplace affected him before; there was always sadness and pain hidden under his calm face. But seeing his expression at the moment, Jin realized that the dark past was not there to bother them anymore and it made him feel relieved.
“Well, me too... Especially the bathroom.”
Kame stared at him: “Can´t you read my mood at all?”
“I definitely can,” Jin assured him smiling meaningfully.
Shaking his head, Kame dismounted Ukushi to lead her safely across the rest of almost invisible path, mumbling something about ´horny boyfriends´. However, he could not fool Jin with that and he followed his steps with a knowing smirk. He was sure Kame remembered the short time they had spent in this house together as well.
For Jin, it was one of the most vivid memories he had regarding their relationship. It was when he finally stopped worrying and overcame that last inner barrier, which stood in the way of his strongest desire.
If someone had asked, he wouldn´t have been able to describe those feelings, which engulfed him back then, during the first sex with the former bartender. He was only certain about his yearning to feel them again, and again… He considered himself a happy man, as there were many chances for that since then and he was looking forward to more of indescribable moments with Kazuya. However, it seemed there were many duties awaiting them before that.
“Well, this will take a while…” Kame commented on the crooked pillars barely holding the veranda´s covering, broken glass in the windows and suspicious spots standing out on the roof in the morning sun.
“Yeah, but there´s two of us on it,” Jin assumed, already untying the harness off Kuro.
The look his lover gave him this time was far less annoyed: “That´s right…”
*
That evening, it was a damn relief when Jin could finally settle in front of the fireplace and he didn´t give a damn about sitting on the floor, as the simple bench fell apart once they tried to use it. Both his arms and legs ached from the all-day work around the house.
He yawned and added some broken branches to the small fire. All rooms were damn stale and despite the hot summer, they were keeping the fire for the whole day to chase the dampness out.
He heard Kame rattling with something in the kitchen, there was already dark behind the windows and the flames started to eat on the dry wood cheerfully. He lied down on the carefully swept floor to get his back straight. The sound of the fire was comforting, and just for a moment he closed his eyes in front of its flickering light…
He must have dozen off because suddenly, a soft voice called his name and he found Kame sitting next to him.
“We don´t have to finish everything in five-day record, you know?” the chestnut eyes were watching him warmly.
“Nah, I don´t think we managed to do so much today,” Jin objected, rubbing his eyes.
“The opposite, Mr. Hard-Worker,” Kame informed him amused. “You must have been used to daily exertion before we had met…”
“Yeah, you can say,” he admitted and sat up.
“Have some tea,” Kame pointed at the mug waiting for Jin near the fireplace. “I dug in the old supplies from Cloud Dancing and these herbs should be good for muscles.”
“Oh, really? Sounds good,” he sipped from the offered mug curiously. “Tastes good as well. Does it work for all kinds of muscles?”
Kame almost sputtered the gulp he was about to take: “What the… Jin!”
“What? It´s just a simple question,” he blinked, pretending innocent surprise.
“Oh, really?”
“Sure.”
“Not buying it.”
“Just what are you thinking, Kazu? Aah… That muscle!” he exclaimed suddenly. “And you always say I´m the perverted one here!”
He really overacted now and Kame noticed it. He smacked his shoulder, laughing: “Dumbass…”
“Always at your service,” Jin winked.
For a while, they both sipped on the tea in pleasant silence.
“It´s really nice, you know?” Jin broke it in a covert voice, which made Kame look at him questioningly. “Just this - sitting here together, drinking tea and talking about the foolish stuff.”
Kame kept silent, not letting his eyes of suddenly serious Jin.
“There was a time I considered something like this impossible, only an unreachable dream…” he breathed out heavily.
There came a sound of mug being put aside on the floor and then a warm hand reached for his neck and made him turn his head.
“And yet here we are,” Kame stated softly.
“Yeah,” he agreed and let the younger one lock their lips in the loving kiss.
*
Of course, they did not need any tea for what they were about to do that first night. Or during any of the nights which followed after it.
They weren´t used to be alone or not on the way travelling somewhere with their companions. It was a new experience for them, on which they savored fully. If it was either only lying next to each other in tight embrace or taking each other to some place without a reason, it was awesome and addictive.
It felt incredibly good to have this peaceful time aside from the city, working on and around the house together, behaving freely, exactly as they felt to each other. They could show their affection without worries about what anyone might think and it felt so liberating, Jin didn´t want that ever change again. Not to mention that being able to keep Kame in the bed in the morning, until he moaned in pleasure, when Jin carried out his dream from that night, was a damn great bonus.
Probably thinking about the similar stuff as himself, Kame made a step closer and placed a hand on Jin´s bare chest.
“I admit your doubts are justified,” he stated in a teasing tone. “Our roof might look funny, but you definitely look hot.”
Jin felt two kinds of shivers at once - the first one kind of nostalgic, almost aching, hearing Kame use the words ´our roof´. They didn´t talk about it, but it really felt like they were about to build a real home here. The second shiver was the excited one, as he felt Kame´s fingers move against his hot skin slowly.
No proper words could describe what he actually felt in that moment, standing in the bright sunshine, far from any other people, looking into the eyes of the one he loved and treasured. Therefore, without saying anything, Jin captured Kame´s provocatively curved lips. They were both sticky with sweat, but that didn´t discourage him from deepening the kiss, when Kame´s hand slipped around him, as he pulled himself closer.
In this embrace, loving and feeling loved, he was happy as never before.
*
Three hours later, Jin finally got down from the roof, quite satisfied, since all the repairs were done. After cleaning the tools, which he had been using that day, he headed right to the barrel full of water, which they pulled out from the old well to let it get warmer. With pleasure, he splashed himself a few times to get rid of the layer of sweat and dust.
The sun was just setting behind the horizon and the air was getting cooler, filled with the birds´ singing from the treetops nearby. The fragrance of fresh wood and summer flowers floated around, almost completely absorbing the faint smell of dung from the shed for their dear animal companions. It was a nice, peaceful spot to build home for a family, Jin thought, as he dried himself with a towel. Especially in comparison with the dark shack, he used to live in once, with his parents and brother.
Feeling relieved and refreshed, he grabbed the washed shirt from the cord Kame had stretched between the two pillars on the veranda and went in the house. He found his boyfriend, who had already washed and changed as well, sitting in the kitchen near the window with some papers in his hands. It didn´t look like he was very happy about them.
Kame raised his eyes, when he entered the room: “Done already?”
“Yeah…” Jin nodded proudly. “Let the floods come, we´ll be just fine,” he stated as he poured himself a cup of cold tea from the prepared kettle.
“Do not call any misfortune, it usually finds us all by itself,” Kame reacted gloomily.
“True enough,” he admitted and leant over the table, glancing at a few unfolded papers. “So? Will they send someone or not?”
“You better read it yourself,” Kame replied and handed the letter over to him.
Jin sat down on the opposite chair, ran his eyes across the address with Kame´s name and focused on the surprisingly long text:
Dear Sir~
We have taken note of your complaint on misused authorization of military unit in Fort Benton, based in Montana Territory. Unfortunately, we are not able to send someone to check on the real situation with government rations, as all our nearby Agents are currently occupied with their duties in other Indian reservations.
Instead, based on the recommendation of Lieutenant Cooper from Fort Ellis, and on your mentioned knowledge of the local tribes, we would like to offer you a position of ´Indian Agent for reservations in Montana Territory´. The list of related responsibilities is attached.
In case you would like to apply for this position, we ask you to fill in the necessary form with all requested credentials and send it back to our Office in Washington. Once the Contract of Employment will be signed, you will be authorized to handle the government rations yourself, as well as to request for military support. All Montana forts will be informed about your assignment and obliged to cooperate with you. Your authorizations will extend after the one-month probation period - please see the attached leaflet.
Additionally, if you know about anyone else willing to apply for the same job, with at least basic knowledge of the Indian tribes, please let us know. We need to fill in other vacant positions.
We will be awaiting your reply. Hiram Price
Sincerely, Commissioner of Indian Affairs
Jin´s eyes widened as he realized the real meaning of the letter: “Wow… That´s kinda unexpected.”
“Tell me about it,” Kame murmured, already eyeing the mentioned forms.
He scanned that surprising offer in the text again, before he looked up to his lover and observed his expression for a while.
“You don´t like it.”
“Of course not!” Kame dropped the densely described papers on the table in an angry gesture, which surprised Jin a bit. “Instead of sending someone already authorized to deal with it, they want to move the responsibility to someone they had never met in person? If anything, it tells me they don´t really care about what´s going on in the reservations at all!”
Jin let the loud words fall in, waiting for Kame to take a deep breath, as he tried to calm himself down.
“Is it that unusual?” he asked carefully then. “That they hire civilians for this job?”
Kame shook his head: “No… Not as far as I know. They take mainly volunteers. Hunters, explorers and woodsmen, who can speak the Indian languages.”
“So, basically, it´s the usual practice,” Jin assumed. “Once they see an opportunity, they take it. You were born in this country, you know the local Indians, moreover you speak their language and you make yourself involved actively. It makes sense they offered this to you, doesn´t it?”
His boyfriend sighed, obviously calmer now: “Partially, I agree. But even if I accept this position, it doesn´t necessarily mean I´ll be able to help the Blackfeet. There´s many duties related to it and all of them favor the white men,” Kame pushed one of the papers closer to Jin. “Most of it makes sense, but for example here… Absolutely no work within the reservation must be given to white men which can be done by Indians.”
“I admit that´s like supporting slavery again,” Jin murmured, already checking other conditions, as ´working toward preventing conflicts between settlers and Indians´ or ´keep an eye out for violations of laws and report them to the Office´, as well as ´enforce prohibition of liquor´. Which was good in contrast with ´allowing Indians to leave the reservation only if they have acquired a permit´. “The rest of it doesn´t seem so horrible…” he noted.
“I know. And they´re logical, but still…” Kame sighed again. “I don´t know, really… It relates to too many negatives.”
Jin took another paper, which Kame put aside: “You will be authorized to interact with Montana Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government and to request the military support from all Montana forts... That doesn´t sound bad at all.”
“Not on the first look. But read it further. My hands will be tied regarding many things. In case of any conflict, these rules put up the government first, Indians second. If I break any of them, I can even be arrested.”
Jin pushed the papers aside, pondering everything he had just read.
“But still - it´s a great opportunity to help them, isn´t it?”
“You think I should accept it?”
“Well, yeah…” he nodded slowly. “It has its disadvantages, but I think that positives are stronger. There won´t be another opportunity like this, Kame.”
“In that I must agree with you… Even with how half-heartedly they handle their work, this offer is something rare. I guess they offered it to me only thanks to that recommendation from Cooper.”
Jin drank up his tea, before he reacted: “Might be. We both know how everything´s changed, most of all for the Indians. If you let this slip, you won´t be able to ease the consequences of these changes for them at all. But in this position, you can at least try and actually achieve something.”
Kame answered his serious look for a while: “You´re right…” he admitted heavily then. “It seems you thought about it a lot.”
He sighed: “There´s nothing else we´ve been solving these past few weeks, Kazu. Of course I was thinking about it.”
The younger one suddenly seemed ashamed: “I know… My head has been only full of Blackfeet recently and…”
“Which is natural,” Jin cut in before he could continue. “It´s up to you of course, but I´d say this is the best what you could achieve by that letter to Washington.”
Kame lowered his eyes to the flooded table again: “I´ll think it through…”
“Good,” Jin folded all the papers to one pile and moved them to him again.
His boyfriend ignored them for the moment though and reached for Jin´s shirt instead, dragging him close enough to peck his lips: “Thanks for consultation…” he stated softly then.
“Don´t worry, I´ll give you space in our bedroom to show me your gratitude,” Jin reacted with a calculative smile.
***
“Come on! You can make it, my dear,” Cora kept encouraging the pale girl in her grip.
Charlotte staggered again heavily, letting out a painful groan: “I can´t… It hurts…”
The strict-looking woman in upright dress, so far walking opposite to them, scowled noticing them and pulled her kids to the other side of the street. Cora ignored her, just as all other disgusted looks focused in their direction.
“It´s only a couple of more steps away,” she kept persuading her. “We´ll be right there and you can rest then, but you must help me now, okay?”
The girl nodded faintly, completely relying on Cora´s support.
Damn it! If I realized this kid was is weak, I´d order at least one of other girls to help.
Since obviously, she couldn´t expect any of the noble, honest citizens of Bozeman to aid her to carry the bleeding girl to the clinic. She didn´t sleep for the whole night because of that asshole, who was responsible for the girl´s condition and her head was already spinning from the hot dusty air.
Suddenly, Charlotte stumbled clumsily and Cora didn´t react quickly enough. She would have inevitably fallen down to the ground, not being for some quick steps and strong hands, which grabbed the falling girl from the other side.
“Whoa! Carefully, Miss!”
Surprised Cora observed as the handsome man picked the fainted girl up into his arms easily.
“Where to, Madame?” the deep, dark eyes looked at her questioningly.
She finally shook off her surprise from the unexpected help and let her lips spread in a relieved smile: “To Dr. Best´s clinic, please.”
The black-haired gunslinger nodded and set off without any further questions, with Cora rushing by his side. Their movement across the street was accompanied by many sharp stares, but their savior didn´t seem to mind them.
“Thank you so much,” Cora remembered her good manners. “She´s worse than I thought, otherwise I wouldn´t have tried to drag her there on foot.”
She noticed how the young man shortly eyed the blood on the girl´s blue dress.
“What happened to her?” he asked quietly.
“An asshole customer, that happened,” Cora replied gloomily. “I should have known better…”
Jin Akanishi, whom she had spotted in town a couple of times since their arrival with Kamenashi, didn´t question her any further, just prolonged his steps toward the white painted building with many windows.
Cora rushed ahead and pounded hard on the door, so they opened just as the man with unconscious girl in his arms stepped on the veranda. Sharp eyes and deep frown appeared in them.
“Dr. Best!” Cora got out of herself, without breath for anything else.
“Cora! What happened now?” Dr. Best, obviously already used to finding her behind the door of his clinic, focused his eyes behind her. “Akanishi!”
“Hello, Doc,” her good helper nodded. “Would you be so kind and lead me where to put this sleeping beauty?”
Dr. Best immediately stepped aside, gesturing him: “Get her in, quickly!”
The young gunslinger walked through the door carefully, following the doctor´s instructions: “Yes, there, on the bed.”
“Doctor,” Cora was quite worried now, noticing Charlotte´s white ash skin. “I don´t know what exactly happened, but…”
“Yes, yes, usual story… I´ll take care of her, wait outside,” Dr. Best hushed her off and closed the door once Akanishi went outside again.
Only now, Cora took her breath through the squeezed throat and almost collapsed on the bench nearby the door.
“Will you be alright, Madame?” Akanishi asked. “You´re awfully pale.”
“It´s nothing, thanks,” she shook her head. It was just too much on her blood pressure for one day, and it wasn´t even noon yet. “And once again - thank you so much. It was very kind of you to help.”
The gunslinger shrugged: “Do not mention it, it was nothing.”
Carefully, considerate of her head, Cora stood up: “Maybe for you, but I do appreciate it,” she reached out her hand to him.
The smile, which brightened up the man´s face now, made her heart flutter. Dear, she had already noticed it before, but this one was really damn handsome. His warm hand with firm fingers accepted her grateful gesture: “You´re welcome.”
She felt better each second now and since Akanishi didn´t seem to be bothered with her occupation much, she encouraged herself to make another step in their polite conversation, which she almost never did: “My name is Cora.”
“Jin,” to her surprise, he repaid her with the same familiarity.
“So, Jin…” she repeated with a meaningful smile. “As a reward for your help, I´d like to repeat my invitation from the day before.”
*
It was done. All those complicated forms filled, the envelope sealed and the most expensive postage fee paid to get his letter delivered to Washington in the shortest possible time limit. Now, he could only wait. Again. It was frustrating. Who knew what could happen in the reservation meanwhile? But there was nothing more he could do to make it faster.
Feeling resigned, Kame left the cool post office to face the sunny, heated street again. It surprised him a little, when he found out that Jin was not back yet and Ukushi with Kuro were waiting in front of the building all alone.
“Oh, my… Did you see him?”
“Yes! Awful, really. I thought of him to be more decent than to tangle with those dirty girls…”
“Exactly. Such a handsome young man!”
Kame was patting Ukushi, who obviously didn´t like the hotness of the day much, and didn´t pay attention to two women passing by the post office in a heated conversation.
“Where did they go?”
“They took that whore to Best.”
“I´m surprised our doctor still bears with them.”
Hearing the doctor´s name made Kame look in the direction of the clinic. He had to shadow his eyes first, but to his surprise, he recognized Jin there, standing in the shadow of the veranda, next to a woman in rich, violet dress.
*
Akanishi´s smile was rather sheepish this time: “Well, I remember it. Unfortunately, I´m not so much into the pleasures which your house is offering…”
“Oh?” such a statement surprised Cora a bit, but she didn´t let it be seen on her face. “Well, then you can come by just for a free drink, if you´re not interested in my girls,” she winked.
“Sounds very tempting, Madame,” Jin nodded this time.
“You´ll be expected then. And it´s Cora for you,” she reminded him.
“I´ll try hard to remember that,” he replied a little teasingly.
She was pleased to notice that this handsome man was watching her with interest and she didn´t hide her own observing look running from his face, to the half-unbuttoned shirt and belt with impressive revolvers. Smiling, she took a careful step closer…
“Jin? Something happened?”
Cora froze and eyed Kazuya Kamenashi standing on the street with two pretty beasts tailing him. From under the wide hat, his sharp eyes stared at them.
Akanishi half-turned to reply his question: “No, everything´s fine.”
Then he looked at her for the last time: “It was nice to meet you, Cora,” he shifted his hat in a greeting. “I hope your girl will be well soon.”
“Pleasure for me too, Jin,” she made for a playful curtsy and watched the gunslinger stepping down from the veranda. Once he approached Kamenashi, he took the reins of the black stallion over from him.
“Thanks… You´re done?”
“Yes,” the younger one nodded. “It will be dispatched with tomorrow´s stagecoach to Cheyenne.”
“Great,” Akanishi reacted as they started walking. “How long it should take?”
“A week, more or less, he said…”
Cora watched those two men curiously, until they turned the corner. Then she sat back to the bench to wait for Dr. Best, still tired, but in a much better mood. It was nice to interact with someone so handsome and well-mannered apart from the usual guests of her business.
*
“So, what was that about?” Kame didn´t want to snap, but it almost sounded like that anyway.
“What?” Jin, who just mounted Kuro to move faster on the empty road, glanced at him surprised.
“With Cora,” he emphasized, patting Ukushi on the neck.
“Ah, one of her girls got hurt and passed out on the street. I helped to take her to the doctor.”
“And?”
Jin blinked over the strange tone his boyfriend used: “And… that´s all.”
“It seemed to me you were pretty familiar to each other.”
“She was grateful,” the older one assumed soberly.
“I see… So, she was just thanking you.”
“Yeah.”
The current brothel boss was obviously flirting with Jin, but that was not what bothered him. He was jealous because it seemed that Jin enjoyed it. Nevertheless, at the same time, he felt stupid for doubting him so easily. He couldn´t blame Jin for taking interest in her; he had always known that his boyfriend liked pretty women and their relationship couldn´t change that. It would be foolish of him to make a big deal of it.
“Will the girl be all right?” Kame asked to change the embarrassing topic.
“I guess… She´s in Dr. Best´s hands,” Jin assumed.
“Right. There´s no one better around here,” he agreed, as they both made their animals move slowly. “Have you checked the newspapers?”
“Yes, all available,” Jin confirmed. “Everything as usual. It seems nothing big is happening down in Colorado.”
“That´s good.”
“Yes, but there´s no message from them either. I´m a bit nervous about that.”
“I´m sure Leo and the others are just fine,” Kame tried to encourage him. “Trust them.”
“You´re right…” Jin admitted, as they passed the last row of chalets in the outskirts. “So, what´s gonna be for dinner?” he wondered then curiously.
“What you´ll manage to catch,” Kame informed him calmly.
Jin gaped: “You want me to run around the woods today?”
“It seems you´ve got some spare energy, so I suppose it´s no problem for you.”
“Kazu… Not fair! Annoying insect everywhere, it´s too hot, not to mention grizzly bears…”
He rolled his eyes: “I haven´t heard you whine for quite long.”
“See? I´ve got a proper reason to!”
Kame couldn´t help but laugh: “What about we´ll go hunting together then?”
Jin grinned: “That sounds much better.”
- To be continued -
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witchann2