Kame stepped out of the door and stopped at the threshold. It wasn´t very tempting to go out into the streets, as it started raining during the night and the clay road turned into a mess of ugly mud. But the rainy weather wasn´t anything unusual in Bozeman, so Kame just observed the street from one side to another with a calm expression and then he tried to suppress a yawn unsuccessfully.
"That´s what you get for coming home so late," an amused voice was heard almost right in front of him.
The blonde girl in blue dress came to their house, holding a small basket covered with some cloth in her hand and put the dark umbrella away.
"Good morning to you too, Lena," he reacted a little annoyed. "I don´t think you should care what time I come home."
She stuck her tongue out at him: "Your mother was worried."
"She knew where I was," Kame answered and checked the clouds above them. It didn´t look like the sky would stop pouring the flood of drops any time soon.
"But I didn´t," the girl complained.
"Don´t be so curious, it´s not fitting for a lady," Kame brushed her off and finally stepped down from the veranda to the road.
"That´s not true!" Lena was naturally offended.
"I´m off..." Kame didn´t pay attention to her.
"But you didn´t have a breakfast yet!" she called after him.
"No time, thanks!" he waved at her, hid his head in front of the rain between the shoulders and rushed towards Harada´s Saloon.
Every Monday morning was the time for cleaning the stalls. That was why Kame had to set off earlier and why he put his high shoes on and some old clothes, which he was planning to change for the proper work suit later.
He arrived to the still closed saloon and continued further around the building. But right at the stalls entrance he stopped for a while, when he overheard some voices, which surprised him a lot. It was possible that Mike got up early as well, after he scolded him the last time. But who was he talking to?
He entered the stalls filled with dung´s scent and horses snuffling and headed to the back part, where another big door was, which they always used for putting the dirty stuff out to one huge dunghill. He was almost there, when Mike appeared in the door laughing, but he wasn´t the one pushing the cart, now empty. It was a tall, black-haired young man.
Kame froze on the spot seeing Akanishi talking to the kid.
"Morning, Kame!" Mike greeted him much more enthusiastically than he usually was in the mornings.
That was when Akanishi spotted him too.
"Good morning," he said in a careful voice.
"Good morning," Kame´s response was stiff and cold. "Mike? What´s going on here?"
"Jin said he will help me!" the kid reacted with a wide smile.
Kame felt like ambushed from behind; it was an unexpected surprise to see Akanishi here and moreover so early.
"And since when do you make our guests to do your job?" even his face was frozen, he couldn´t make himself relax.
The boy cowered under the strict voice of his older co-worker.
"I offered to help him myself; he didn´t ask me for anything," Akanishi emphasized firmly, eyeing Kame with piercing eyes.
"That´s very kind of you," Kame reacted awfully politely. "But Mr. Harada would be really angry, if he found out. This is our job, you´re our guest. Isn´t that right, Mike?"
"Yes..." the boy agreed guiltily.
"Well, get back to work then," Kame recommended to him coldly.
The boy overtook the cart from the young gunslinger and rushed to another stall with his head lowered.
"It was not necessary to be so strict at him," Akanishi said grumpily. "This is no problem for me. I got up early so..."
"As I said, Mister," Kame interrupted him. "This is our job," he repeated concisely.
Then he took the pitchfork, which was propped at the wooden counter of the stall with Akanishi´s horse, who was watching both men calmly, and turned to leave, when a firm hand gripped his elbow.
"What in the world did I do to make you angry at me, Kame?" Jin asked, looking directly into his eyes. "Is it about yesterday? I´ve already said I´m sorry."
Kame repaid the honest and confused glance of the other one, surprised by his strong grip at first, before taking a step back to shake his hand away.
"It´s nothing," he said stiffly. "I have to get to my work."
But Akanishi didn´t let himself to be get rid of so easily: "Don´t you think I have a right to know what´s going on?"
Now he sounded pissed off. Kame turned to him once again.
"All right..." he knew that he should consider that Akanishi was Harada´s guest and keep his mouth shut, but the older one asked for it himself. "It´s because I hate when somebody kills just for fun."
The dark orbs widened in surprise.
"And now, if you excuse me..." and Kame left Akanishi, who said nothing in response, behind his back.
*
Jin watched the young bartender joining the small kid in cleaning the manure away. Then he kicked the nearest pile of straw, turned around and left the stalls in a fast pace.
So, this is all about...
Kame overheard his conversation with Grenet and his men and he made not very shining opinion about him. And Jin couldn´t tell him the truth, he didn´t know if he can trust this young man.
Damn, to hell with it... Why should I care what some bartender thinks about me?
***
Mr. Harada kept his saloon open for the whole week, even though Sundays and Mondays were usually so calm that it was the same as if he would have let it closed. But Kame appreciated some rest despite being at work a lot, especially after his morning exercise with the pitchfork. He and Mike had to take care about many horses this time; there were almost no free rooms in the saloon.
Of course, it could have been easier with certain help, only if you hadn´t been so stubborn... Kame´s inner voice informed him mockingly.
He ignored it and rubbed the glasses furiously, trying to stop thinking about Akanishi, but it wasn´t much help. Why did that guy bother at all?
"Kame."
Why didn´t he sleep longer after that trip of his in the woods? Why did he have to be so... so… He just couldn´t find the right word to describe the young gunslinger.
"Kame?"
Kazuya blinked and finally noticed Harada standing behind the counter and obviously talking to him.
"Yes, sir?" he asked in an apologetic tone.
"Stop daydreaming and pour me some whiskey," Harada requested. "Then you can go home. It´s pretty much dead here tonight."
The bar was really empty, except one old man in the corner, so grateful Kame just nodded.
*
The evening air was awfully damp and everything out of reach of the roofs completely wet. It was raining even more than in the morning. The annual raining season obviously came with full regalia. Kame knew that not many sunny days could have been expected from now on. That was the autumn in Montana.
He hid his hands into deep pockets of his coat and wanted to set off home, when he spotted something strange.
In the sheriff´s office, which was located on the opposite side of the main street, the light was on. That was not so weird; he guessed that Grenet and his men probably had one of their secret meetings. But what caught Kame´s attention was a shadow, which was not supposed to be hiding in the dark narrow space next to the building.
It was only a moment and the figure was gone, somewhere in the darkness. Kame hesitated, standing in the middle of rain. It was not his business and there was no reason to care about it, but... But the sneaking shadow awoke his curiosity. That dark figure was somehow familiar to him...
He made two steps toward his home, but then he stopped and turned back to the light in the distance. He checked both sides of the main street, which was really empty in that ugly evening, and then headed in the opposite direction than he originally intended to.
*
Jin was proceeding to the window on the side of the building further from the main street carefully, knowing very well that if he was discovered, all his efforts would be in vain. He stayed in town for the whole day this time, observing the citizens quietly, trying to find out as much as he could about the habits and customs of the people in Bozeman. He talked with a couple of them, just a few words and restrained himself from asking too many questions. He needed to find out more about Grenet and Sheriff and about the way how they handled this city.
He had already wanted to leave it be for that day and get some rest, when he spotted the gathering of some gunmen in front of the sheriff´s office from the saloon´s balcony. It was a great opportunity to find out something more, so Jin changed his shirt for the black one, not to be spotted so easily, checked that his revolvers were loaded and set off for a little spying.
Despite the rain, it wasn´t so cold and to his luck the company inside the office left the window slightly open, letting the fresh air pour inside. Jin sneaked under it and very carefully lifted his head up, just so that he could see inside through the glass.
Four men were assembled around the battered table - Grenet, grey-haired old man with the golden star on his coat flap, obviously the sheriff and other two, who were also the members of the drinking group from the previous night. The room was lightened up with one lamp and full of cigarette´s smoke.
"What about that little revolt at our kerosene field?" Grenet asked and gulped down some unidentified liquid from the bottle with no label.
"Two leaders ended up on the gallows," the old man informed him in a faint voice.
Jin noticed the dark circles below the man´s faded eyes; Sheriff seemed to be exhausted.
"The others don´t dare to utter even a word now. Everything´s calming down."
"Good," Grenet reacted. "What about our greenhorn?" he looked at the other two. "Anything?"
Jin stiffened at his hiding spot. Grenet was trying to search for some info about him?
"Nothing, boss," one of the gunmen shook his head. "Seems nobody around knows him."
Grenet grinned unsatisfied with that.
"Then you´ll go to Livingstone tomorrow. Try to ask there. I want to know, who that little fucker is."
"Yes, boss."
Jin held the curse back behind his lips. So Grenet was suspicious about him after all. There was not a big chance that anyone in that town would be able to tell anything interesting about him, only maybe someone would remember that he had passed through the city recently. But in case that Grenet´s subordinate would have continued with snooping around and went further to the east, to the next city... That would be a different story.
But Jin had to risk it and let it go. It would be useless waste of time trying to stop that man and it would have attracted even more attention. First, he needed to rush with the hunt and then...
The feeling of someone´s eyes watching him froze Jin on the spot. He had developed a really sharp sense for any unwanted presence during the past months, as he was on alert almost all the time. He turned his head to the side just at the moment a slim figure was disappearing behind the corner of the next building.
Fuck... Somebody saw me.
Jin jumped off his spying place immediately, but didn´t run right after the stranger. He walked around the building from the other side quickly and because of this he stepped right into the way of that particular someone, who spotted him under the window of Sheriff´s Office.
Jin´s sudden appearance surprised the other one, as he stiffened in the middle of step. Jin grabbed his arms roughly and pinched the guy to the wall. A dim light of one kerosene lamp next to the office´s door fell on the other´s face. And only from this close Jin recognized, who was the one he caught. It was the bartender for Harada´s Saloon.
They were staring at each other without a move for a few long seconds. Then Jin narrowed his eyes and even tightened his grip around the slim arms. He had expected anyone but not him. The surprised bartender attempted to free himself, but he didn´t let the younger one move even for an inch.
*
"Why are you following me?" Jin hissed angrily.
"I´m not," Kame protested, quite stiffened under the threatening glance. It was completely different from the way Jin has been looking at him so far.
"Really?" the gunslinger reacted ironically and approached with his face even closer to Kame´s. "Then it was not you watching me from that corner five meters from here?" he asked, while his hot breath touched Kame´s cheek.
Kazuya gulped down heavily. He had not seen Jin like that before. He didn´t know that the young newcomer could be so... Scary. But he suppressed this feeling and replied in a calm voice.
"I just spotted the suspicious figure sneaking around, so I went to check up on it. We had a few cases with the night ambushes here. I was not following you directly."
Jin was observing him for a while, saying nothing at all and Kame found some righteous outrage inside himself. He was not the one at fault here.
"Why do you spy on them anyway, Akanishi?" he asked coldly. "If you want to join them, you shouldn´t do things like that..."
Akanishi blinked and slackened his tight hold a little, probably realizing what Kame caught him doing.
"It´s not your business," he murmured.
"I guess you just made it my business," the bartender opposed.
"I have my reasons..."
"Oh, those must be very important."
"Why do you even care?" Jin snorted, still not knowing what to think about the guy. "Are you Karnaka´s secret spy or what?"
In the next second, Kame was the one emitting quite a scary aura. The expression at his face even made Jin let him go. The younger one looked as if he was able to chew his head off.
"I do NOT work for that bastard," the bartender emphasized each word in a quiet, but ice-cold voice, piercing Jin with a burning glance.
Jin took a slight step back: "Ok, ok, take it easy, I just didn´t know what to think."
Kame was pressing his lips together firmly, but his eyes were telling much more than any words. At that moment Jin thought that maybe, only maybe, they could have something in common...
"Look, Kame, I´m not so fond of running around in the woods looking for a deadly dangerous furry creature, neither of sneaking around in this fucking rain. But I have to do it."
"Why?" the younger one asked sharply.
Jin sighed, already giving up any resistance: "Because I need to get close to Karnaka."
Kame´s eyebrows wrinkled, the anger almost disappeared from his face and it was replaced with a thoughtful expression.
"And what do you want to do then? Do you have something against him?"
"It will be better for you not to know," Jin shook his head. "I don´t want to drag you into this."
"That´s very nice of you," Kame reacted cynically.
"What the hell should I say for you to believe me??!" Jin exclaimed. "I just don´t want to-"
He was interrupted in the middle of sentence by Kame´s palm, which covered his mouth and in the next moment he was dragged into the narrow space between the two buildings, from which he came out a while ago. In the last second, Jin glanced at the sheriff´s office door, which was just opening.
There was really a little of space in the alley, so they ended up quite close to each other, Jin leaning over the wooden wall and Kame over his chest.
Jin understood right away, what was going on, when he heard the voices from the street. He didn´t notice that Grenet´s men finished their conversation and probably put the light off. But Kame did.
The younger one put the finger on his lips signalizing him to be quiet. Jin just nodded slightly, and Kame withdrawn his warm hand from Jin´s mouth.
"Don´t forget to report to me as soon as you get back!" both guys heard Grenet´s voice calling.
"Yes, boss!" that man, who was appointed to find out more info about Jin in Livingstone, answered.
They were waiting for a whole minute, while the steps were going away. Meanwhile, Jin was observing the faint features of Kame´s face, who was listening to the sounds from the street carefully. From that angle, he really almost looked like a girl. And he was standing quite close to Jin. So even though it was cold, Jin could feel the warmness of Kame´s body through the lawyers of their clothes.
Suddenly, the younger one looked at him again, which made Jin flinched almost guiltily.
"Wait here," the bartender said in a quiet voice and left their hiding.
Jin shivered from cold, suddenly stolen of the slim figure next to him. Kame was back soon.
"It looks like we´re clear," he said and waited till Jin joined him on the street. "I won´t tell anything, you don´t have to worry," the younger one stated then.
"And why won´t you do it?" Jin asked a little confused, instead of just being glad and quiet.
Kame grinned a little: "I have my reasons too. But you should be more careful. Grenet is very suspicious and he won´t let you fool him easily."
"I´ve noticed," Jin nodded. "But thanks for a warning."
"You´re welcome... And..." Kame put his hands inside the coat´s pockets, obviously nervous about something. Jin was waiting curiously for whatever he wanted to say. "I apologize for my previous behavior," the young bartender murmured finally. "I was hasty in judging you."
"It´s all right. I can understand that," the older one assured him.
Kame looked at him, suddenly relaxed: "I´m glad to hear that... Good night, then."
"Good night..." Jin repaid the greeting with a small smile.
*
Kame was heading home in a slow pace despite the rain, lost in his thoughts. So, he was probably really too hasty in judging Jin Akanishi. He wasn´t sure about the guy´s motives yet, but it was quite certain he didn´t intend to give that grizzly´s head together with the bouquet of flowers to Raynold Karnaka just to receive the recognition from the old man. He had intentions for something much darker. He could see it in Akanishi´s eyes just a few minutes ago – that dark anger, which was usually hidden in the pitch-black orbs.
It was somehow familiar to Kame. Something happened to Jin, something what had a lot to do with Karnaka. And just that fact made him kind of sympathize with the young newcomer.
After a few minutes, he got home, to the small brown building with the grey wind shutters. The light could be seen in the kitchen´s window. Kame took his muddy shoes off and left them on veranda before stepping inside.
The house was warm and filled with the scent of strawberry cake. He hung his coat up on the hook in the narrow hall and entered the kitchen, where Lena was just finishing cleaning up the dishes.
"Good evening," she smiled at Kame widely. "You´re home soon."
"Evening, Lena. Mr. Harada let me go for today."
"That´s great! Do you want some tea? I´ve prepared the green one. And I can offer you a piece of cake, too, it´s still warm and…"
Kame stopped the flood of words by putting his hand on the girl´s shoulder.
"Thank you, Lena, I´ll take some myself. You can go home."
"But…"
"Because of me you stay late almost every day. I´m really glad I don´t have to force you to do it today too, so…"
"It´s not a problem for me to stay, you know that!" Lena protested.
"I know and I´m grateful. But today, I will feel better if you can get some rest."
"Fine then… Will I get a kiss for good night?"
Kame rolled his eyes.
"Don´t be such a kid and go already," he pushed her gently out of the door to the corridor.
"I´m not a kid anymore, Kame!" the girl yelled offended.
"Of course," he agreed to avoid any arguments. "Here – your coat."
"Thanks…" Lena murmured, still unsatisfied.
"Tell your mother I´ll bring her the money for food right after the pay day."
"You don´t have to," the girl informed him. "Mum says we still have something to pay you back for how you helped us when Dad was sick."
"No way," Kame reacted firmly. "You´ve already repaid it to me many times. I´ll bring the money, don´t forget to say that."
"She won´t accept it," the blonde one insisted.
"Leave that on me. And remember, you don´t have to come tomorrow right in the morning."
"The doctor´s visit again?" she asked.
"Yes," Kame confirmed with a nod.
"I´ll come after lunch then."
"Fine, thanks. Good night, Lena."
Not very patiently Kame showed the pouting girl out of the door. Lena was a kind girl, but sometimes it was tiring to listen to her. And it was not him who was spending the whole day with her, but his mother.