[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter twelve
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: Jin is looking for a job and Ukushi´s secret is about to be revealed...
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven //
Employment
The dark blue fabric flowed almost as smoothly as warm water and despite the high price, she could not help buying it. She intended to use the fabric for a birthday gift - a new skirt for her mother, who definitely deserved to wear something nice. Therefore, for once, she disregarded the costs and gave Mr. Franko almost half of her savings for it.
Pushing her precious purchase to the bottom of the basket, Lena went out of the cool store and shielded her eyes from the burning sun. Just then, the door of ´Avant Courier´ office on the opposite side of the street was opened. The white bearded editor in chief of the sole Bozeman newspaper was accompanying outside the young suntanned man in becoming beige shirt.
Lena´s lips spread in an excited smile. Curious about what Kame might have to do with the only local journalist, she hastily headed across the dusty street.
Those two shook hands and parted in a polite manner, but her dear friend did not look happy as he turned away from the once again closed door.
“Kame! Good afternoon!” Lena called to draw his attention.
Kazuya Kamenashi looked up and smiled, but this reaction did not reach his eyes, which remained serious and troubled: “Hello, Lena. How are you doing?”
“Honestly, quite busy,” she sighed. “I´m helping mother with her work.”
“Really? She finally persuaded you to learn dressmaking?”
Lena giggled: “I kind of realized it´s convenient to know at least some craft and the seamstress´ job isn´t so hard. We´re gradually receiving more and more orders these days. Mum couldn´t handle it alone anymore… But enough about me - what about you?”
“It used to be better,” Kame admitted unwillingly. “Did you know that Cameron Henderson is back in the city?”
Frowning, Lena clenched her fingers around the basket handle: “Gossips about this man are going all around Bozeman. They say he did some dirty business in Colorado, which made him so rich,” she added, lowering her voice. “Why do you mention him?”
“He almost moved us out last week,” Kame revealed cheerlessly. “He appeared at our house claiming that the whole property is his, according to Karnaka´s last will.”
Lena gaped at him: “But that´s absurd!” she exclaimed indignantly.
“I wish it was. Henderson´s got all the paperwork properly certified. I´m trying to find a way to invalidate the old property rights transfer, but it´s a long time objective,” Kame complained sighing. “Meanwhile, we must pay him a monthly rent.”
“Unbelievable… I so knew he means troubles the second I heard his name again,” Lena assumed, still upset. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I´m afraid not, but thanks, Lena,” her friend shook his head and turned to the seal brown stallion waiting by the wall of the newspaper´s building.
“Oh, what happened to Ukushi?” she asked surprised, when Kame started to untie the reins of this unfamiliar horse.
“It seems there´s something wrong with her, so I asked Mr. Harada to examine her,” Kame explained. “He promised to do it sometime today, so she´s stabled behind his saloon for now.”
“I´m sorry to hear that. I hope she´ll be all right.”
“Me too… Well, it was good to see you, Lena.”
Realizing that Kame was already leaving, Lena took a breath to invite him for dinner, but before she could utter a word, the heavy clatter and another voice prevented her from it.
“Agent Kamenashi! I´m glad to find you so quickly!”
Both Kame and Lena turned to the uniformed man, who stopped his horse in front of them promptly.
“What´s going on, Sergeant Garton?” Kame asked.
“Would you mind coming with me to Fort Ellis right away? We´ve got a bunch of Indians nearby with whom we can´t find the common ground. They don´t understand a word of English.”
“Sure,” her responsible friend agreed without hesitation and swiftly mounted the borrowed horse. “Lena, can you do me a favor?”
Disappointed by yet another opportunity slipping through her fingers, Lena could not find her voice right away, so she just looked at him questioningly.
“Find Jin - he should be waiting at Harada´s place - and tell him I left for the fort and I´ll be back home late, all right?”
“Of course,” Lena assured him with something invisible squeezing her stomach bitterly. “Don´t worry, I´ll let him know.”
“Thank you. Let´s go, Sergeant.”
The two riders quickly picked up the pace and rode through the daily hustle. She remained standing there in a pensive mood for a while.
Back home… Kame´s words stuck with her and pushed that bitter feeling up to her mouth. She would be lying to herself if she did not admit that the cohabitation of Kame with the quick-tempered gunslinger made her wonder just what kind of relationship those two had.
Obviously, they were good friends and it was convenient to reduce the expenses on living, especially when they had to pay for it now, but still… Both of them were at the age when it was commonly expected they would settle down with their chosen partner. Instead, they seemed to be glued to each other, apparently with no plans to change their ´housemate thing´ any time soon.
Doesn´t that Akanishi guy have his family somewhere? What if he´s just using Kame´s kindness?
The more she thought about them, the more confused she felt. Although Kame looked quite content while talking about him, or more precisely about them. Recently, he often used the plural form…
“As if they were a married couple or what,” Lena murmured to herself, dissatisfied with the lack of information she had when it came to Kame in the past weeks.
She could hardly even talk with him properly after the two had returned to Bozeman. Practically always, Kame appeared in the city along with Akanishi, and after he was appointed as Indian Agent for Montana, he was quite busy, just like this time. Not to mention that when he was actually able to get home from his errands, he was there with Akanishi again.
Lena had to gulp a few times to suppress the strange lump in her throat. She had always liked Kazuya Kamenashi, long before that cocky gunslinger showed up, and she had been trying hard to let him know about it - to no avail. Kame had always cared more for someone else - for his mother, for his Indian friends, for Jin Akanishi.
Maybe I should just stop trying…
*
Jin watched the blonde girl leaving in the direction of her home a bit confused. Even though Lena Brice usually behaved reserved towards him, she had always been polite. This time, she seemed to be quite annoyed and let her bad mood fall on his head without restraint.
To be fair, she brought him the message from Kame, but apart from informing him that he unexpectedly had to leave to Fort Ellis, she didn´t include any more details and left without even saying goodbye.
Pondering her behavior a little, Jin assumed that it might have been caused by jealousy. Only a blind person wouldn´t have realized that the cheerful girl had a crush on his secret lover. Maybe she was tired of pretending she did not mind that Kame wasn´t paying her more attention.
“Akanishi, you´re going along or what?”
A little rough voice pulled him out of thoughts. Jin turned to the impatient owner of the saloon apologetically.
“I don´t have all day for this,” Harada snorted and continued their interrupted walk to the stable behind the building.
Postponing speculations about the Brice´s girl for another time, Jin walked in the older man´s steps, casually following up with the topic they had discussed before.
“So, you don´t know about anyone else who might need someone to help out?”
Harada shook his head: “Nah, not around Bozeman. You´ve already tried asking all those whom I told you about in the morning?”
“Yeah… Nothing fitted with my idea of what I´d like to do.”
“You´re too picky,” the saloon owner grumbled. “What about a lasso? Can you handle it? I know about a rancher or two, who´re always in need of cowboys.”
Imagining the stinky herd and long travels with dirty co-workers, Jin wrinkled up his nose: “I´d like to stay near the city, at least for the time being.”
Washing his hands up to the elbow in the huge water barrel, Harada gave him a sharp look, his lips twitching in a sneer: “Don´t tell me you´re already tired of wandering far and wide, hunting bears and infamous brothers.”
Jin shrugged, rather not commenting on such a remark.
It was annoying enough that Kame had to spend a lot of time travelling around. If he obtained a similar job, it would be quite difficult to see each other. He didn´t want to bear with the whole days or even weeks without his boyfriend. However, it wouldn´t be exactly wise to mention this reason in front of Harada.
“With such an attitude, you´ll have it tough,” the older man predicted.
“Doesn´t mean I´ll stop trying,” he countered.
“Good luck with that. I might´ve taken you in myself, but I don´t want to take the spot away from that lazy brat,” Harada noted, already walking through the wide-open stable gate.
Jin was aware that Mike was saving money for his grandparents´ medical treatment: “I appreciate it, but I wouldn´t even ask for that, Harada,” he reacted firmly, following the man inside the building filled with scent of hay and dung.
“There´s still a certain farm nearby, but I assume you don´t consider that place an option, do you?”
“I´d rather starve than work for that creepy bastard,” Jin murmured disgustedly. “Though, I´ve heard quite a lot of men came to Henderson for employment.”
“And none of them was refused,” Harada frowned. “I´m glad you´re not among them… I´d bet my livelihood that he earned all those money he´s throwing around like flowers in some crooked way.”
“Absolutely agreed, Harada.”
Just when they finished their conversation, they found themselves in front of the last stall in a row, which was temporarily occupied by the white mare.
“So,” Harada glanced over Ukushi´s pose. “Our Kame thinks there´s something up with her, but he´s not sure what, right?”
Hearing the possessive pronoun, Jin´s eyebrow twitched at the idea of Kame belonging to anyone else apart from him, but he managed to hide his discontent.
“Yes. I didn´t notice anything significant, but he insists there is something. She eats properly and she´s not hurt anywhere, so maybe she has some hidden problem,” Jin summarized shortly. He would have preferred if Kame was there himself as the mare´s owner, but Harada was not someone with whom he´d like to argue. Therefore, when the man said he would check on the animal now, he acted like Kame´s substitute without objections.
“Let´s look at you then,” Harada entered the stall, eying Ukushi carefully. “Be a good girl now,” he patted her neck, as he started examining her noble body, including her eyes, ears and teeth. “When did it start?”
Jin thought about it for a moment: “Shortly after we returned to Montana… About two months ago,” he assumed, leaning over the wooden partition and watching Harada tensely. “I remember Kame mentioned she began to be restless, more nervous than usually. She had always been a shining example of a calm and obedient horse, so it´s no wonder it made him worry.”
“I see…” Harada nodded for himself before turning to Jin again. “Is she familiar with you?”
Jin raised his eyebrows on the question and looked at the mare. Ukushi returned his questioning stare calmly.
“I guess,” he admitted not exactly certain about the fact.
“Good,” Harada considered it good enough. “Come here then, I need you to keep her in check. I´d like to avoid being kicked in some unpleasant place.”
Jin entered the stall and grabbed Ukushi´s reins, while Harada moved behind her, leaning toward her tail. Realizing what he was about to do, Jin averted his look and started soothing Ukushi across her neck: “It will be over soon, okay? Be nice to that old man, he won´t hurt you.”
Ukushi flinched a little, but otherwise remained obediently still, with Harada´s probing hand checking her insides. After a while, a shortened, almost amused exhale was heard: “Aah! Here we go… I didn´t really think it´d be this.”
“What is it, Harada?” asked Jin, already quite worried about Kame´s animal companion. What if it was serious?
Harada straightened up smirking and stroked Ukushi´s back appreciatively: “I´d say there´s nothing wrong with her.”
*
She let the heels of her shoes land on the wooden floor harder than would be expected from any decent woman. However, she had never considered herself to be one, so she couldn´t care less about what those drunkards inside the taproom might think of her.
Well aware of a few sideway glances and many intense looks, she headed right toward the bar, blowing a provocative kiss in the direction of one fully occupied table, which appreciated her arrival with loud whistles and vulgar flattery. She passed around the solitary gunslinger, who was sitting at the counter in a somewhat grim mood and stopped at the edge of it, returning the inquiring look of the saloon´s owner with a wink.
“Cora, what is it?” Harada approached her with a towel in his hands. “Don´t tell me there´s another problem to deal with.”
She shook her head slightly: “Not this time, don´t worry. Here,” she pushed a small pouch across the bar counter.
Hearing the jingling coins, Harada shook his head disapprovingly: “You´ve already given me the share for the last month.”
“It´s not that,” Cora denied the connection of the money with their mutually advantageous contract. “My girls and I would like to thank you. It could´ve gone very wrong if you hadn´t come yesterday.”
Harada moved the pouch back to her rather harshly: “Nonsense. Keep your alms and get out of my sight, woman.”
“Don´t be like that, you grumpy geezer,” she pouted. “It wasn´t the first time. You...” she shut her mouth in defeat since Harada ostentatiously ignored her and went to collect the empty tankards from the tables.
Cora sighed. It didn´t surprise her; she already knew what the supreme ruler of the saloon was like - always putting on a harsh face, but it was hiding a good heart. Yet, she had hoped he would accept her gratitude along with that symbolic amount. Not many Bozeman citizens were willing to bother with what was going on behind the walls of her pleasure house - it wasn´t always merely about dirty jokes and sexual delights.
She returned the pouch to the hidden pocket in her skirt and turned to leave. However, she couldn´t help but look again at the quiet gunslinger at the counter. She had noticed who that was as soon as she had entered the taproom. The reason for it was simple - this man wasn´t only sinfully handsome, but also one of those few who actually bothered at least once.
After a short hesitation, Cora pulled herself up on the high stool next to his and leant closer: “What evil deed has that beer done?”
Surprised by the sudden question, Jin Akanishi looked up. Cora shuddered a little under his dark and cautious stare. Once the young gunslinger realized who pulled him out of the blank observation of the almost stale beer, his hostile expression relaxed and he let out a short laugh.
“Nothing. Except that I can´t afford it.”
“I´ll pretend I didn´t hear that,” came a murmur from Harada, who just got back with his hands full of jingling glasses.
Akanishi grinned and stealthily grabbed the tankard, before the saloon owner could think of taking it away from him.
“Oh, so… Money troubles?” Cora asked warily, not sure if she should cross such a line.
Fortunately, Mr. Attractive didn´t seem to mind her curiosity and nodded: “Exactly those. By the way, it´s only a blind shot, but wouldn´t you know about anyone who could hire somebody like me?”
Cora spread her lips in a challenging smile: “You mean a handsome man with dangerous look and terrifying revolvers?” she described what she saw in front of her at that moment.
Amused, Akanishi focused even more attentive gaze on her: “Yeah, somebody like that.”
“Actually, I might know about a job, which would fit you just perfectly…”
***
Several hours later, Jin was pacing the veranda as if he had ants in his pants, checking the driveway every two minutes.
Ever since he left the city, with both Kuro and Ukushi, he was unsuccessfully trying to figure out the best way to deliver all the news to his dear boyfriend.
The remaining daylight was about to disappear soon. He just hoped that no serious issue occurred in Fort Ellis, which would have forced Kame to stay there overnight.
He picked up the faint smell of spices, which made him leave his watching spot and go to the kitchen. Tensely, he took the pan out of the oven. He was uncertain if he correctly remembered the ingredients for the ´hot-hot potatoes´ recipe, which used to be the most favorite meal of his childhood, but the small ovals definitely had the properly threatening color. As he made sure by biting into one, they had just the right flavor as well.
He covered the pan with a wide lid and turned to put it on the dining table, when his eyes glimpsed a movement through the window - a slim rider galloping across the front yard on the borrowed stallion.
The simple dinner almost ended up all scattered on the floor, because Jin literally threw the pan away and it didn´t fall over the edge only by a miracle. He rushed outside again, suspecting - from the crazy speed - that his boyfriend had already found out about at least half the news in Bozeman…
*
A little breathless, Kame stopped the obedient horse on their back yard and promptly dismounted. Still filled with shocked disbelief, he marched toward the neat shed from which the two pairs of big eyes were watching his hasty arrival.
“Kame! Kame!”
He could ignore the urgent calling, but not the broad-shouldered figure, which outran him and blocked his access to the open shed with both hands raised in a calming manner.
“Out of my way!” he demanded harshly.
“What do you want to do?” his boyfriend asked carefully.
“Horse sausages,” he snapped immediately.
Jin frowned: “You don´t mean that,” he reproached him in a hurt tone.
Kame stared at him, quite tempted to confirm his spoken intention.
“I don´t,” he growled then. “But that devilish beast of yours needs a proper lesson to remember its place!”
Declaring this, Kame quickly moved to the side in an attempt to bypass his opponent, but Jin grabbed his elbow.
“Calm down,” he urged him pleadingly. “It´s not that bad…”
“Not that bad? You know what your awesome horse did, don´t you?”
Jin strengthened his grip and stepped closer: “Don´t you think there needs to be at least two of them for something like that?” he suggested meaningfully. “I seriously doubt Ukushi could be forced to something with her temperament.”
Kame gritted his teeth, returning Jin´s serious look. He was aware that the unexpected situation wasn´t only to Kuro´s credit, but he just could not cool down so easily.
“She´s too young! It will be difficult and might be dangerous for her!”
“Not that young, since she fell into it so easily, right?”
“I won´t be able to ride on her!”
Jin shook his head: “That´s a premature concern even for you, Kazuya. It will take months to get to that point.”
However, he was not willing to give up on his arguments yet: “And what then? I can´t afford to buy another horse!”
“I´m sure that your Indian brothers will relieve you of such a necessity,” his boyfriend had something to oppose him with right away.
“Stop making light of this…”
“I´m not doing that. Kame, you know this is nothing unnatural, so stop acting like an upset father, whose daughter was abused,” Jin emphasized mockingly and pecked his lips with a quick kiss. The warmness of it spread right into Kame´s stomach, melting his anger with greater success than any words. “Not to mention it´s mostly our fault,” his boyfriend added shrugging.
“What?” Kame gaped. “How can we have anything to do with Ukushi being pregnant?”
“We let them spend so much time together… and even alone, remember?”
For once, he felt quite dumbfounded: “I didn´t realize that… that she… they might…” he stuttered.
“I didn´t pay this kind of attention to Kuro either,” Jin shrugged and slipped with his other hand around Kame´s waist. “Ukushi´s strong and she´s got us. She´ll be just fine, don´t worry so much.”
Kame sighed in defeat: “All right… It was just… I haven´t been so surprised ever since… forever.”
“That makes two of us,” chuckled Jin. “But she´s not sick, so that makes it the happy news, doesn´t it?”
“Well… I must admit that.”
“Good. Calmer now?”
Pretending annoyance, he glowered: “Hardly, with that sneaky hand of yours on my butt.”
Jin flashed an alluring smile: “You´re tempting my hands too much.”
“I´ll relieve you of that temptation then,” Kame assumed, gleefully using his previous words and pulled away from Jin´s embrace.
He approached the shed slowly, still worried, but already reconciled with the awaited foal news. HIs mare was sticking out her head across the lower part of the wooden counter toward him.
Kame reached out his hand to stroke her: “So… You´re going to be a mother…”
The mare softly snorted right into her master´s face.
“I know and I´m sorry,” he whispered, attaching his face to the side of Ukushi´s head. “I should have realized it was your choice too.”
A gentle nudge made him open his eyes to see another big head leaning toward him.
“Don´t think you´ll be forgiven so easily,” he snapped at the pitch-black stallion.
Kuro shook his head shortly, before showing him the impressive row of teeth.
“I bet he´ll make up for it, won´t you, Kuro?” Jin, already sneaking closer, dared to stand up for his animal companion.
“He better should,” Kame reacted stiffly and patted Ukushi one last time. “I´m starving, do we have anything to eat?”
“Sure,” his boyfriend announced proudly. “In the pan on the table.”
Kame blinked in surprise: “You prepared dinner for us?”
“You thought I´d be useless without you in the kitchen?”
He shook his head smiling: “Of course not. I´m really curious though,” he mused.
Only once Kame turned away from the shed and walked around the corner, Jin patted Kuro´s neck proudly: “Good boy, well done,” he praised him quietly with a wide grin.
*
Jin´s special dinner almost made Kame cry, but he praised the taste of spicy potatoes nevertheless.
Between the bites, he told Jin about a problematic group of Indians, which needed to be led to the reservation. Many women and children were a part of it and none of them used the language of white men. The commander of the fort seemed quite relieved that he could shift the responsibility for them on someone else. It turned out that Kame was about to leave the next day again to accompany the Indians to the north…
“You must go in person?” complained Jin, pushing his empty plate away. “Those cocky soldiers forgot where the reservation is?”
“It´s my job, Jin,” Kame reacted strictly.
“Yeah, I know that… How long you´ll be gone?”
“We´ll have to proceed slowly, as they don´t have many horses. At least a week or so. And I want to stop by in Helena on the way back.”
The mention of a densely populated city surprised Jin: “What for?”
“Mr. Wright recommended me a lawyer, who might help us with that property right transfer. He resides there.”
“Wright? That old journalist? Do you trust him so much that you told him about our issue with Creepy Cam?”
“He used to be my mother´s friend,” Kame clarified seriously. “He even wrote some articles about Karnaka in the past, trying to stop the slavery on his farm. At least before…”
Jin noted the slight change in his boyfriend´s voice: “Before what?” he asked, already suspecting what would follow.
“Before Grenet threatened him, so he stopped,” Kame completed with his brows knitted together.
“Why doesn´t it surprise me?” Jin commented darkly.
“Mr. Wright knows Henderson as well and he doesn´t want to be directly involved in anything related to him. Even so, he didn´t hesitate to hear me out and gave me a few pieces of advice.”
“Well, that was so nice of him,” Jin noted caustically. “Isn´t he worried Cam might find out you talked to him?”
Kame raised his eyes from the almost finished dinner: “I don´t blame him for being cautious. We need friends in the city if we want to win this, Jin. No matter how much or little they´re willing to help us.”
*
After they washed the dishes, Jin finally revealed two pitchers of beer he had been hiding from of Kame so far and they settled with them on the veranda.
To chase the dark away, they lit one kerosene lamp, which was hanging above their seats on the simple hook and tens of crickets hiding in the grass performed their rattling song to them. It was a warm, peaceful night. Jin hoped it would also stay that way…
“What did you promise to Harada, that he gave you these?” Kame wondered after they both tasted the bitter liquid, which was pleasantly cool from their small underground pantry.
“Nothing, he was paid for it, properly,” Jin assured him.
Kame eyed him surprised: “How comes? You used money from a secret pocket I don´t know about?”
Jin rolled his eyes: “As if you didn´t know I´m not good at saving up. No, this reward is related to the second news of the day… Really a good one this time!” he hastened to say.
“Is that so? Let me guess… You found a job?”
“You got it!” Jin smiled widely.
“I´m astonished. You actually found something that fit your demanding requirements?” Kame mocked him. “Or were you so desperate from beer deprivation already?”
Jin pouted: “Don´t be mean or I won´t pour you anymore. My requirements were not that high.”
“That could be argued. You had some excuse for any job.”
“Justified excuses,” Jin snorted. “A small example - some priest tried to persuade me for the new church construction. Can you imagine me as a carpenter?”
Kame chuckled, shaking his head: “Impossible. I´m amazed you didn´t lose any of your fingers on our roof.”
“See? Anyway, I´m gonna be an employed man from now on,” he stated victoriously and buried his nose in the small tankard again.
“Employed as…?” Kame urged, when he didn´t add anything else.
It came to the critical moment and Jin worked on keeping on his joyful expression, choosing his words carefully: “As a guard and occasional help.”
Kame probably already sensed something was off: “Okay… Where?”
“At Cora´s place,” he said and quickly returned to his beer.
Exactly as he expected, his boyfriend´s expression darkened: “At that brothel?”
“Yes. She gave me a great offer considering that I´ll be acting there as a mere scarecrow. It´s in the city, under roof and even with some bonuses as free drinks,” Jin named all the positives he could think about. “I couldn´t wish for anything be…”
“So, you´ll be spending every night there,” Kame interrupted his persuasion coldly.
Jin suppressed a sigh: “Not every night,” he emphasized. “They have free Sundays.”
“Among whores and moody drunkards,” Kame continued harshly, as if he didn´t say anything.
“Well, yes…” he admitted unwillingly. “There were quite a lot of unpleasant issues recently and Cora really needs someone to be guarding there. She´s willing to pay me more than well, if she´s satisfied with my services, so it´s worth it.”
“Satisfied with your services?” Kame repeated, with each word more contemptuous than the previous one. “I wonder what she imagines those to be like.”
That insulting tone was not to Jin´s liking: “Don´t be like that. We will sign a proper work contract.”
Kame huffed, which was a strange sound that Jin had never ever heard from him. He leant forward from the chair, locking his eyes: “If you need to hear it, it´s not like I want to be there for the women,” he stated firmly.
His boyfriend didn´t react at first, but his face demonstrated clearly, what he thought.
“You could have chosen tons of other employments,” he suggested then.
Jin was already getting pissed: “Just that I couldn´t!”
“You didn´t try hard enough.”
“That´s not fair, Kame…”
“And you jumped after the first convenient opportunity.”
“I´ve run all around the town! Just why are you so upset about this? Don´t you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you, I don´t trust them!”
Dumbfounded Jin didn´t know how to react on the sudden declaration: “Oh…”
Kame looked away, finished his beer in one go and got up: “I´m going to sleep. I´ll have a hard day tomorrow.”
*
For a long while, Jin remained sulking on the veranda.
He knew that Kame wouldn´t be happy with his new working place, but still, he expected the more understanding attitude. He stood by his reasons for accepting Cora´s offer. It was definitely better than hard work on some field or ranch. He had learned some things in the past, but he couldn´t do just anything. Protecting those girls, who were such a bother for many citizens, was something in which he could be useful and it would keep him close their house, in Bozeman.
On the other hand, he had to admit that he wouldn´t have liked it either if Kame was about to work among harlots and perverts. Before, when Kame worked as a bartender, he didn´t think about it that way, but now… Partially, it was definitely understandable that his boyfriend was pissed.
When he managed to drag himself to their bedroom, Kame was already in bed, facing the wall. Jin undressed and put out the dim light in the lamp on the small night table, before crawling under the sheets.
After a half-minute long hesitation, he shifted himself to the motionless figure next to him. When Kame didn´t move away, he leant closer.
“Kazu… I didn´t want to piss you off,” he whispered in his ear.
There was a short silence.
“…I´m not.”
Relieved that he received a response, which didn´t even sound angry, he continued asking: “Still worried then? About Ukushi?”
“Uhm, that too, but I believe she´ll be all right.”
“Good…” Jin studied the dim line of Kame´s pressed lips for a short moment. “You´re jealous then?”
Kazuya immediately turned and stabbed him with a look, which was quite sharp even in the dark: “Huh? About what?”
Jin grinned: “So, you are…”
“Shut up!”
“Not denying it?” he proceeded with his hand under the sheet sneakily, but his boyfriend flinched from his touch.
“I´ve got nothing to deny. And I need to get up early, so shut it,” and with that he turned on his side again.
However, upset and jealous Kame was irresistible for Jin.
“I don´t think so…” he assumed, once again pulling his lover closer.
“Get off me!” Kame literally hissed. “Didn´t you hear what I said?”
“I did,” he confirmed calmly, while already caressing Kame´s waist and then hips with both hands seductively.
“Then what do you think you´re doing?”
“Proving you there´s no need for jealousy,” he replied, slipping under Kame´s pants in confident search. The resistance of slim body in his arms somewhat slackened, when he reached its most intimate spot.
“Jin… Just don´t… Mhm…”
“What did you say?” he asked defiantly.
“Uhm… stop…” there came a protest, but it sounded quite feeble.
Jin strengthened the grip of his fingers: “Really?”
The younger one gave in at last: “…no.”
“I thought so,” he reacted caustically, pulling Kame´s underwear off the way completely.
- To be continued -
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: Jin is looking for a job and Ukushi´s secret is about to be revealed...
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven //
Employment
The dark blue fabric flowed almost as smoothly as warm water and despite the high price, she could not help buying it. She intended to use the fabric for a birthday gift - a new skirt for her mother, who definitely deserved to wear something nice. Therefore, for once, she disregarded the costs and gave Mr. Franko almost half of her savings for it.
Pushing her precious purchase to the bottom of the basket, Lena went out of the cool store and shielded her eyes from the burning sun. Just then, the door of ´Avant Courier´ office on the opposite side of the street was opened. The white bearded editor in chief of the sole Bozeman newspaper was accompanying outside the young suntanned man in becoming beige shirt.
Lena´s lips spread in an excited smile. Curious about what Kame might have to do with the only local journalist, she hastily headed across the dusty street.
Those two shook hands and parted in a polite manner, but her dear friend did not look happy as he turned away from the once again closed door.
“Kame! Good afternoon!” Lena called to draw his attention.
Kazuya Kamenashi looked up and smiled, but this reaction did not reach his eyes, which remained serious and troubled: “Hello, Lena. How are you doing?”
“Honestly, quite busy,” she sighed. “I´m helping mother with her work.”
“Really? She finally persuaded you to learn dressmaking?”
Lena giggled: “I kind of realized it´s convenient to know at least some craft and the seamstress´ job isn´t so hard. We´re gradually receiving more and more orders these days. Mum couldn´t handle it alone anymore… But enough about me - what about you?”
“It used to be better,” Kame admitted unwillingly. “Did you know that Cameron Henderson is back in the city?”
Frowning, Lena clenched her fingers around the basket handle: “Gossips about this man are going all around Bozeman. They say he did some dirty business in Colorado, which made him so rich,” she added, lowering her voice. “Why do you mention him?”
“He almost moved us out last week,” Kame revealed cheerlessly. “He appeared at our house claiming that the whole property is his, according to Karnaka´s last will.”
Lena gaped at him: “But that´s absurd!” she exclaimed indignantly.
“I wish it was. Henderson´s got all the paperwork properly certified. I´m trying to find a way to invalidate the old property rights transfer, but it´s a long time objective,” Kame complained sighing. “Meanwhile, we must pay him a monthly rent.”
“Unbelievable… I so knew he means troubles the second I heard his name again,” Lena assumed, still upset. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I´m afraid not, but thanks, Lena,” her friend shook his head and turned to the seal brown stallion waiting by the wall of the newspaper´s building.
“Oh, what happened to Ukushi?” she asked surprised, when Kame started to untie the reins of this unfamiliar horse.
“It seems there´s something wrong with her, so I asked Mr. Harada to examine her,” Kame explained. “He promised to do it sometime today, so she´s stabled behind his saloon for now.”
“I´m sorry to hear that. I hope she´ll be all right.”
“Me too… Well, it was good to see you, Lena.”
Realizing that Kame was already leaving, Lena took a breath to invite him for dinner, but before she could utter a word, the heavy clatter and another voice prevented her from it.
“Agent Kamenashi! I´m glad to find you so quickly!”
Both Kame and Lena turned to the uniformed man, who stopped his horse in front of them promptly.
“What´s going on, Sergeant Garton?” Kame asked.
“Would you mind coming with me to Fort Ellis right away? We´ve got a bunch of Indians nearby with whom we can´t find the common ground. They don´t understand a word of English.”
“Sure,” her responsible friend agreed without hesitation and swiftly mounted the borrowed horse. “Lena, can you do me a favor?”
Disappointed by yet another opportunity slipping through her fingers, Lena could not find her voice right away, so she just looked at him questioningly.
“Find Jin - he should be waiting at Harada´s place - and tell him I left for the fort and I´ll be back home late, all right?”
“Of course,” Lena assured him with something invisible squeezing her stomach bitterly. “Don´t worry, I´ll let him know.”
“Thank you. Let´s go, Sergeant.”
The two riders quickly picked up the pace and rode through the daily hustle. She remained standing there in a pensive mood for a while.
Back home… Kame´s words stuck with her and pushed that bitter feeling up to her mouth. She would be lying to herself if she did not admit that the cohabitation of Kame with the quick-tempered gunslinger made her wonder just what kind of relationship those two had.
Obviously, they were good friends and it was convenient to reduce the expenses on living, especially when they had to pay for it now, but still… Both of them were at the age when it was commonly expected they would settle down with their chosen partner. Instead, they seemed to be glued to each other, apparently with no plans to change their ´housemate thing´ any time soon.
Doesn´t that Akanishi guy have his family somewhere? What if he´s just using Kame´s kindness?
The more she thought about them, the more confused she felt. Although Kame looked quite content while talking about him, or more precisely about them. Recently, he often used the plural form…
“As if they were a married couple or what,” Lena murmured to herself, dissatisfied with the lack of information she had when it came to Kame in the past weeks.
She could hardly even talk with him properly after the two had returned to Bozeman. Practically always, Kame appeared in the city along with Akanishi, and after he was appointed as Indian Agent for Montana, he was quite busy, just like this time. Not to mention that when he was actually able to get home from his errands, he was there with Akanishi again.
Lena had to gulp a few times to suppress the strange lump in her throat. She had always liked Kazuya Kamenashi, long before that cocky gunslinger showed up, and she had been trying hard to let him know about it - to no avail. Kame had always cared more for someone else - for his mother, for his Indian friends, for Jin Akanishi.
Maybe I should just stop trying…
*
Jin watched the blonde girl leaving in the direction of her home a bit confused. Even though Lena Brice usually behaved reserved towards him, she had always been polite. This time, she seemed to be quite annoyed and let her bad mood fall on his head without restraint.
To be fair, she brought him the message from Kame, but apart from informing him that he unexpectedly had to leave to Fort Ellis, she didn´t include any more details and left without even saying goodbye.
Pondering her behavior a little, Jin assumed that it might have been caused by jealousy. Only a blind person wouldn´t have realized that the cheerful girl had a crush on his secret lover. Maybe she was tired of pretending she did not mind that Kame wasn´t paying her more attention.
“Akanishi, you´re going along or what?”
A little rough voice pulled him out of thoughts. Jin turned to the impatient owner of the saloon apologetically.
“I don´t have all day for this,” Harada snorted and continued their interrupted walk to the stable behind the building.
Postponing speculations about the Brice´s girl for another time, Jin walked in the older man´s steps, casually following up with the topic they had discussed before.
“So, you don´t know about anyone else who might need someone to help out?”
Harada shook his head: “Nah, not around Bozeman. You´ve already tried asking all those whom I told you about in the morning?”
“Yeah… Nothing fitted with my idea of what I´d like to do.”
“You´re too picky,” the saloon owner grumbled. “What about a lasso? Can you handle it? I know about a rancher or two, who´re always in need of cowboys.”
Imagining the stinky herd and long travels with dirty co-workers, Jin wrinkled up his nose: “I´d like to stay near the city, at least for the time being.”
Washing his hands up to the elbow in the huge water barrel, Harada gave him a sharp look, his lips twitching in a sneer: “Don´t tell me you´re already tired of wandering far and wide, hunting bears and infamous brothers.”
Jin shrugged, rather not commenting on such a remark.
It was annoying enough that Kame had to spend a lot of time travelling around. If he obtained a similar job, it would be quite difficult to see each other. He didn´t want to bear with the whole days or even weeks without his boyfriend. However, it wouldn´t be exactly wise to mention this reason in front of Harada.
“With such an attitude, you´ll have it tough,” the older man predicted.
“Doesn´t mean I´ll stop trying,” he countered.
“Good luck with that. I might´ve taken you in myself, but I don´t want to take the spot away from that lazy brat,” Harada noted, already walking through the wide-open stable gate.
Jin was aware that Mike was saving money for his grandparents´ medical treatment: “I appreciate it, but I wouldn´t even ask for that, Harada,” he reacted firmly, following the man inside the building filled with scent of hay and dung.
“There´s still a certain farm nearby, but I assume you don´t consider that place an option, do you?”
“I´d rather starve than work for that creepy bastard,” Jin murmured disgustedly. “Though, I´ve heard quite a lot of men came to Henderson for employment.”
“And none of them was refused,” Harada frowned. “I´m glad you´re not among them… I´d bet my livelihood that he earned all those money he´s throwing around like flowers in some crooked way.”
“Absolutely agreed, Harada.”
Just when they finished their conversation, they found themselves in front of the last stall in a row, which was temporarily occupied by the white mare.
“So,” Harada glanced over Ukushi´s pose. “Our Kame thinks there´s something up with her, but he´s not sure what, right?”
Hearing the possessive pronoun, Jin´s eyebrow twitched at the idea of Kame belonging to anyone else apart from him, but he managed to hide his discontent.
“Yes. I didn´t notice anything significant, but he insists there is something. She eats properly and she´s not hurt anywhere, so maybe she has some hidden problem,” Jin summarized shortly. He would have preferred if Kame was there himself as the mare´s owner, but Harada was not someone with whom he´d like to argue. Therefore, when the man said he would check on the animal now, he acted like Kame´s substitute without objections.
“Let´s look at you then,” Harada entered the stall, eying Ukushi carefully. “Be a good girl now,” he patted her neck, as he started examining her noble body, including her eyes, ears and teeth. “When did it start?”
Jin thought about it for a moment: “Shortly after we returned to Montana… About two months ago,” he assumed, leaning over the wooden partition and watching Harada tensely. “I remember Kame mentioned she began to be restless, more nervous than usually. She had always been a shining example of a calm and obedient horse, so it´s no wonder it made him worry.”
“I see…” Harada nodded for himself before turning to Jin again. “Is she familiar with you?”
Jin raised his eyebrows on the question and looked at the mare. Ukushi returned his questioning stare calmly.
“I guess,” he admitted not exactly certain about the fact.
“Good,” Harada considered it good enough. “Come here then, I need you to keep her in check. I´d like to avoid being kicked in some unpleasant place.”
Jin entered the stall and grabbed Ukushi´s reins, while Harada moved behind her, leaning toward her tail. Realizing what he was about to do, Jin averted his look and started soothing Ukushi across her neck: “It will be over soon, okay? Be nice to that old man, he won´t hurt you.”
Ukushi flinched a little, but otherwise remained obediently still, with Harada´s probing hand checking her insides. After a while, a shortened, almost amused exhale was heard: “Aah! Here we go… I didn´t really think it´d be this.”
“What is it, Harada?” asked Jin, already quite worried about Kame´s animal companion. What if it was serious?
Harada straightened up smirking and stroked Ukushi´s back appreciatively: “I´d say there´s nothing wrong with her.”
*
She let the heels of her shoes land on the wooden floor harder than would be expected from any decent woman. However, she had never considered herself to be one, so she couldn´t care less about what those drunkards inside the taproom might think of her.
Well aware of a few sideway glances and many intense looks, she headed right toward the bar, blowing a provocative kiss in the direction of one fully occupied table, which appreciated her arrival with loud whistles and vulgar flattery. She passed around the solitary gunslinger, who was sitting at the counter in a somewhat grim mood and stopped at the edge of it, returning the inquiring look of the saloon´s owner with a wink.
“Cora, what is it?” Harada approached her with a towel in his hands. “Don´t tell me there´s another problem to deal with.”
She shook her head slightly: “Not this time, don´t worry. Here,” she pushed a small pouch across the bar counter.
Hearing the jingling coins, Harada shook his head disapprovingly: “You´ve already given me the share for the last month.”
“It´s not that,” Cora denied the connection of the money with their mutually advantageous contract. “My girls and I would like to thank you. It could´ve gone very wrong if you hadn´t come yesterday.”
Harada moved the pouch back to her rather harshly: “Nonsense. Keep your alms and get out of my sight, woman.”
“Don´t be like that, you grumpy geezer,” she pouted. “It wasn´t the first time. You...” she shut her mouth in defeat since Harada ostentatiously ignored her and went to collect the empty tankards from the tables.
Cora sighed. It didn´t surprise her; she already knew what the supreme ruler of the saloon was like - always putting on a harsh face, but it was hiding a good heart. Yet, she had hoped he would accept her gratitude along with that symbolic amount. Not many Bozeman citizens were willing to bother with what was going on behind the walls of her pleasure house - it wasn´t always merely about dirty jokes and sexual delights.
She returned the pouch to the hidden pocket in her skirt and turned to leave. However, she couldn´t help but look again at the quiet gunslinger at the counter. She had noticed who that was as soon as she had entered the taproom. The reason for it was simple - this man wasn´t only sinfully handsome, but also one of those few who actually bothered at least once.
After a short hesitation, Cora pulled herself up on the high stool next to his and leant closer: “What evil deed has that beer done?”
Surprised by the sudden question, Jin Akanishi looked up. Cora shuddered a little under his dark and cautious stare. Once the young gunslinger realized who pulled him out of the blank observation of the almost stale beer, his hostile expression relaxed and he let out a short laugh.
“Nothing. Except that I can´t afford it.”
“I´ll pretend I didn´t hear that,” came a murmur from Harada, who just got back with his hands full of jingling glasses.
Akanishi grinned and stealthily grabbed the tankard, before the saloon owner could think of taking it away from him.
“Oh, so… Money troubles?” Cora asked warily, not sure if she should cross such a line.
Fortunately, Mr. Attractive didn´t seem to mind her curiosity and nodded: “Exactly those. By the way, it´s only a blind shot, but wouldn´t you know about anyone who could hire somebody like me?”
Cora spread her lips in a challenging smile: “You mean a handsome man with dangerous look and terrifying revolvers?” she described what she saw in front of her at that moment.
Amused, Akanishi focused even more attentive gaze on her: “Yeah, somebody like that.”
“Actually, I might know about a job, which would fit you just perfectly…”
***
Several hours later, Jin was pacing the veranda as if he had ants in his pants, checking the driveway every two minutes.
Ever since he left the city, with both Kuro and Ukushi, he was unsuccessfully trying to figure out the best way to deliver all the news to his dear boyfriend.
The remaining daylight was about to disappear soon. He just hoped that no serious issue occurred in Fort Ellis, which would have forced Kame to stay there overnight.
He picked up the faint smell of spices, which made him leave his watching spot and go to the kitchen. Tensely, he took the pan out of the oven. He was uncertain if he correctly remembered the ingredients for the ´hot-hot potatoes´ recipe, which used to be the most favorite meal of his childhood, but the small ovals definitely had the properly threatening color. As he made sure by biting into one, they had just the right flavor as well.
He covered the pan with a wide lid and turned to put it on the dining table, when his eyes glimpsed a movement through the window - a slim rider galloping across the front yard on the borrowed stallion.
The simple dinner almost ended up all scattered on the floor, because Jin literally threw the pan away and it didn´t fall over the edge only by a miracle. He rushed outside again, suspecting - from the crazy speed - that his boyfriend had already found out about at least half the news in Bozeman…
*
A little breathless, Kame stopped the obedient horse on their back yard and promptly dismounted. Still filled with shocked disbelief, he marched toward the neat shed from which the two pairs of big eyes were watching his hasty arrival.
“Kame! Kame!”
He could ignore the urgent calling, but not the broad-shouldered figure, which outran him and blocked his access to the open shed with both hands raised in a calming manner.
“Out of my way!” he demanded harshly.
“What do you want to do?” his boyfriend asked carefully.
“Horse sausages,” he snapped immediately.
Jin frowned: “You don´t mean that,” he reproached him in a hurt tone.
Kame stared at him, quite tempted to confirm his spoken intention.
“I don´t,” he growled then. “But that devilish beast of yours needs a proper lesson to remember its place!”
Declaring this, Kame quickly moved to the side in an attempt to bypass his opponent, but Jin grabbed his elbow.
“Calm down,” he urged him pleadingly. “It´s not that bad…”
“Not that bad? You know what your awesome horse did, don´t you?”
Jin strengthened his grip and stepped closer: “Don´t you think there needs to be at least two of them for something like that?” he suggested meaningfully. “I seriously doubt Ukushi could be forced to something with her temperament.”
Kame gritted his teeth, returning Jin´s serious look. He was aware that the unexpected situation wasn´t only to Kuro´s credit, but he just could not cool down so easily.
“She´s too young! It will be difficult and might be dangerous for her!”
“Not that young, since she fell into it so easily, right?”
“I won´t be able to ride on her!”
Jin shook his head: “That´s a premature concern even for you, Kazuya. It will take months to get to that point.”
However, he was not willing to give up on his arguments yet: “And what then? I can´t afford to buy another horse!”
“I´m sure that your Indian brothers will relieve you of such a necessity,” his boyfriend had something to oppose him with right away.
“Stop making light of this…”
“I´m not doing that. Kame, you know this is nothing unnatural, so stop acting like an upset father, whose daughter was abused,” Jin emphasized mockingly and pecked his lips with a quick kiss. The warmness of it spread right into Kame´s stomach, melting his anger with greater success than any words. “Not to mention it´s mostly our fault,” his boyfriend added shrugging.
“What?” Kame gaped. “How can we have anything to do with Ukushi being pregnant?”
“We let them spend so much time together… and even alone, remember?”
For once, he felt quite dumbfounded: “I didn´t realize that… that she… they might…” he stuttered.
“I didn´t pay this kind of attention to Kuro either,” Jin shrugged and slipped with his other hand around Kame´s waist. “Ukushi´s strong and she´s got us. She´ll be just fine, don´t worry so much.”
Kame sighed in defeat: “All right… It was just… I haven´t been so surprised ever since… forever.”
“That makes two of us,” chuckled Jin. “But she´s not sick, so that makes it the happy news, doesn´t it?”
“Well… I must admit that.”
“Good. Calmer now?”
Pretending annoyance, he glowered: “Hardly, with that sneaky hand of yours on my butt.”
Jin flashed an alluring smile: “You´re tempting my hands too much.”
“I´ll relieve you of that temptation then,” Kame assumed, gleefully using his previous words and pulled away from Jin´s embrace.
He approached the shed slowly, still worried, but already reconciled with the awaited foal news. HIs mare was sticking out her head across the lower part of the wooden counter toward him.
Kame reached out his hand to stroke her: “So… You´re going to be a mother…”
The mare softly snorted right into her master´s face.
“I know and I´m sorry,” he whispered, attaching his face to the side of Ukushi´s head. “I should have realized it was your choice too.”
A gentle nudge made him open his eyes to see another big head leaning toward him.
“Don´t think you´ll be forgiven so easily,” he snapped at the pitch-black stallion.
Kuro shook his head shortly, before showing him the impressive row of teeth.
“I bet he´ll make up for it, won´t you, Kuro?” Jin, already sneaking closer, dared to stand up for his animal companion.
“He better should,” Kame reacted stiffly and patted Ukushi one last time. “I´m starving, do we have anything to eat?”
“Sure,” his boyfriend announced proudly. “In the pan on the table.”
Kame blinked in surprise: “You prepared dinner for us?”
“You thought I´d be useless without you in the kitchen?”
He shook his head smiling: “Of course not. I´m really curious though,” he mused.
Only once Kame turned away from the shed and walked around the corner, Jin patted Kuro´s neck proudly: “Good boy, well done,” he praised him quietly with a wide grin.
*
Jin´s special dinner almost made Kame cry, but he praised the taste of spicy potatoes nevertheless.
Between the bites, he told Jin about a problematic group of Indians, which needed to be led to the reservation. Many women and children were a part of it and none of them used the language of white men. The commander of the fort seemed quite relieved that he could shift the responsibility for them on someone else. It turned out that Kame was about to leave the next day again to accompany the Indians to the north…
“You must go in person?” complained Jin, pushing his empty plate away. “Those cocky soldiers forgot where the reservation is?”
“It´s my job, Jin,” Kame reacted strictly.
“Yeah, I know that… How long you´ll be gone?”
“We´ll have to proceed slowly, as they don´t have many horses. At least a week or so. And I want to stop by in Helena on the way back.”
The mention of a densely populated city surprised Jin: “What for?”
“Mr. Wright recommended me a lawyer, who might help us with that property right transfer. He resides there.”
“Wright? That old journalist? Do you trust him so much that you told him about our issue with Creepy Cam?”
“He used to be my mother´s friend,” Kame clarified seriously. “He even wrote some articles about Karnaka in the past, trying to stop the slavery on his farm. At least before…”
Jin noted the slight change in his boyfriend´s voice: “Before what?” he asked, already suspecting what would follow.
“Before Grenet threatened him, so he stopped,” Kame completed with his brows knitted together.
“Why doesn´t it surprise me?” Jin commented darkly.
“Mr. Wright knows Henderson as well and he doesn´t want to be directly involved in anything related to him. Even so, he didn´t hesitate to hear me out and gave me a few pieces of advice.”
“Well, that was so nice of him,” Jin noted caustically. “Isn´t he worried Cam might find out you talked to him?”
Kame raised his eyes from the almost finished dinner: “I don´t blame him for being cautious. We need friends in the city if we want to win this, Jin. No matter how much or little they´re willing to help us.”
*
After they washed the dishes, Jin finally revealed two pitchers of beer he had been hiding from of Kame so far and they settled with them on the veranda.
To chase the dark away, they lit one kerosene lamp, which was hanging above their seats on the simple hook and tens of crickets hiding in the grass performed their rattling song to them. It was a warm, peaceful night. Jin hoped it would also stay that way…
“What did you promise to Harada, that he gave you these?” Kame wondered after they both tasted the bitter liquid, which was pleasantly cool from their small underground pantry.
“Nothing, he was paid for it, properly,” Jin assured him.
Kame eyed him surprised: “How comes? You used money from a secret pocket I don´t know about?”
Jin rolled his eyes: “As if you didn´t know I´m not good at saving up. No, this reward is related to the second news of the day… Really a good one this time!” he hastened to say.
“Is that so? Let me guess… You found a job?”
“You got it!” Jin smiled widely.
“I´m astonished. You actually found something that fit your demanding requirements?” Kame mocked him. “Or were you so desperate from beer deprivation already?”
Jin pouted: “Don´t be mean or I won´t pour you anymore. My requirements were not that high.”
“That could be argued. You had some excuse for any job.”
“Justified excuses,” Jin snorted. “A small example - some priest tried to persuade me for the new church construction. Can you imagine me as a carpenter?”
Kame chuckled, shaking his head: “Impossible. I´m amazed you didn´t lose any of your fingers on our roof.”
“See? Anyway, I´m gonna be an employed man from now on,” he stated victoriously and buried his nose in the small tankard again.
“Employed as…?” Kame urged, when he didn´t add anything else.
It came to the critical moment and Jin worked on keeping on his joyful expression, choosing his words carefully: “As a guard and occasional help.”
Kame probably already sensed something was off: “Okay… Where?”
“At Cora´s place,” he said and quickly returned to his beer.
Exactly as he expected, his boyfriend´s expression darkened: “At that brothel?”
“Yes. She gave me a great offer considering that I´ll be acting there as a mere scarecrow. It´s in the city, under roof and even with some bonuses as free drinks,” Jin named all the positives he could think about. “I couldn´t wish for anything be…”
“So, you´ll be spending every night there,” Kame interrupted his persuasion coldly.
Jin suppressed a sigh: “Not every night,” he emphasized. “They have free Sundays.”
“Among whores and moody drunkards,” Kame continued harshly, as if he didn´t say anything.
“Well, yes…” he admitted unwillingly. “There were quite a lot of unpleasant issues recently and Cora really needs someone to be guarding there. She´s willing to pay me more than well, if she´s satisfied with my services, so it´s worth it.”
“Satisfied with your services?” Kame repeated, with each word more contemptuous than the previous one. “I wonder what she imagines those to be like.”
That insulting tone was not to Jin´s liking: “Don´t be like that. We will sign a proper work contract.”
Kame huffed, which was a strange sound that Jin had never ever heard from him. He leant forward from the chair, locking his eyes: “If you need to hear it, it´s not like I want to be there for the women,” he stated firmly.
His boyfriend didn´t react at first, but his face demonstrated clearly, what he thought.
“You could have chosen tons of other employments,” he suggested then.
Jin was already getting pissed: “Just that I couldn´t!”
“You didn´t try hard enough.”
“That´s not fair, Kame…”
“And you jumped after the first convenient opportunity.”
“I´ve run all around the town! Just why are you so upset about this? Don´t you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you, I don´t trust them!”
Dumbfounded Jin didn´t know how to react on the sudden declaration: “Oh…”
Kame looked away, finished his beer in one go and got up: “I´m going to sleep. I´ll have a hard day tomorrow.”
*
For a long while, Jin remained sulking on the veranda.
He knew that Kame wouldn´t be happy with his new working place, but still, he expected the more understanding attitude. He stood by his reasons for accepting Cora´s offer. It was definitely better than hard work on some field or ranch. He had learned some things in the past, but he couldn´t do just anything. Protecting those girls, who were such a bother for many citizens, was something in which he could be useful and it would keep him close their house, in Bozeman.
On the other hand, he had to admit that he wouldn´t have liked it either if Kame was about to work among harlots and perverts. Before, when Kame worked as a bartender, he didn´t think about it that way, but now… Partially, it was definitely understandable that his boyfriend was pissed.
When he managed to drag himself to their bedroom, Kame was already in bed, facing the wall. Jin undressed and put out the dim light in the lamp on the small night table, before crawling under the sheets.
After a half-minute long hesitation, he shifted himself to the motionless figure next to him. When Kame didn´t move away, he leant closer.
“Kazu… I didn´t want to piss you off,” he whispered in his ear.
There was a short silence.
“…I´m not.”
Relieved that he received a response, which didn´t even sound angry, he continued asking: “Still worried then? About Ukushi?”
“Uhm, that too, but I believe she´ll be all right.”
“Good…” Jin studied the dim line of Kame´s pressed lips for a short moment. “You´re jealous then?”
Kazuya immediately turned and stabbed him with a look, which was quite sharp even in the dark: “Huh? About what?”
Jin grinned: “So, you are…”
“Shut up!”
“Not denying it?” he proceeded with his hand under the sheet sneakily, but his boyfriend flinched from his touch.
“I´ve got nothing to deny. And I need to get up early, so shut it,” and with that he turned on his side again.
However, upset and jealous Kame was irresistible for Jin.
“I don´t think so…” he assumed, once again pulling his lover closer.
“Get off me!” Kame literally hissed. “Didn´t you hear what I said?”
“I did,” he confirmed calmly, while already caressing Kame´s waist and then hips with both hands seductively.
“Then what do you think you´re doing?”
“Proving you there´s no need for jealousy,” he replied, slipping under Kame´s pants in confident search. The resistance of slim body in his arms somewhat slackened, when he reached its most intimate spot.
“Jin… Just don´t… Mhm…”
“What did you say?” he asked defiantly.
“Uhm… stop…” there came a protest, but it sounded quite feeble.
Jin strengthened the grip of his fingers: “Really?”
The younger one gave in at last: “…no.”
“I thought so,” he reacted caustically, pulling Kame´s underwear off the way completely.
- To be continued -