Their journey through the snowy mountains was not much easier than at the time they had travelled in the opposite direction. Their feet didn´t sink so deep in the snow as before, but the more help was needed for their horses, which they didn´t even ride to save up their strength for later. They intended to use them down in the valley, where the winter hadn´t hit so hard yet.
After a few miles, Jin noticed that since their departure from the pueblo Kazuya´s mood was slowly getting worse, as he kept more or less quiet during walking and a worried expression refused to leave his face. The younger´s gloominess influenced Jin too, as he could clearly imagine with what Kame was bothered so much...
They had to spend one night in the wild, so they decided to stop in the same cave, which had already served them once. To be fully prepared for the next day, both of them really needed to get a proper sleep, but instead of that they discussed the upcoming trial with Grenet long into the night. They had to decide about what they should or shouldn´t reveal in their testimonies, as Kame was really troubled about it.
So far, they hadn´t talked much about the events, which happened shortly before Kame managed to rescue Jin from Karnaka´s farm. Nevertheless, the younger one didn´t need to hear any details about it; he still had the poor state of Jin´s body in front of his eyes, whenever he just thought about it.
It would have been fully righteous if that cruel bastard Grenet was judged also for what he had done to the young gunman. But considering Jin´s true intentions, when he joined Karnaka´s subordinates, made the whole issue much more complicated. It could have backfired at them very easily, especially if Grenet started talking, too.
In the end, they agreed on that Jin should not give out his testimony, unless it would turn out to be really necessary. It would be more than inconvenient if it came out, that Jin had tried to assassinate Karnaka before he was captured and tortured…
When they went to sleep finally, there was still something unspoken left, despite their long conversation. Both Jin and Kame felt it between them. It was something invisible but so tense, that it made their throats narrow and heartbeats faster. But none of them talked about it aloud. As if they had agreed wordlessly that there was not a good time for it.
When they lied down on the furs close to the small fire, settling right next to each other, as always when nobody else was around, Jin hesitated a little. There was a burning urge inside him to capture Kame in his arms, but he was not sure how it would end up with so many troubles on their minds.
Kame settled it in his own way, as he just snuggled closer to Jin without saying anything, and he let his head rest over the shoulder of the older one.
Jin felt that the younger man sought for some assurance and peace, yearning for his closeness. There was no need to put it into words, when he could feel it. So, Jin kept quiet too and he hugged Kame with one arm, pulling a blanket over them with the other, kicking himself mentally not to request anything else.
It took quite a while before Kazuya relaxed and was able to fall asleep, while Jin kept staring at the cave´s ceiling listening to the younger´s regular breathing. He was pondering gloomily, if it wasn´t better to skip that whole trial thing completely. It was certain that Math Grenet would be sentenced to death even without their contribution, anyway. But after they have started all of this, it would have been cowardly not to carry it out till the very end.
***
With the upcoming dusk of the next day, Kame and Jin passed around the first houses of Bozeman City, both sinking in a not very optimistic state of mind. After weeks, which they have spent together among Indians in the Blackfeet Tribe´s village, where they could have behaved freely and enjoyed the pure nature, it was almost strange to see the usual evening fuss on the main street of the white men´s town. They were both nervous from the reasons none of them wanted to name, and they were trying hard to cover it. Not exactly the best attitude for confrontation with the former Sheriff´s deputy.
Kame pulled on the reins and Ukushi stopped her regular movements obediently. Jin traced the direction of the younger´s glance and realized that he was mourning over the dark ruins of his former home. It seemed that the citizens have made a few alterations around, so that the burnt debris were not in the way, but even though the pile of the black wood was standing out from the snow as a painful reminder of what had happened on that place recently.
The evening shadows already covered the sad view, as well as Kame´s sorrowful face, but even like that it was just too visible for Jin, as he knew there was nothing he could do to ease the other´s pain. He couldn´t imagine what it had to be like for Kame to come back to the city; he could only let the younger one know he was there with him.
Jin patted Kuro gently and made him approach the mare. Then he raised his hand and placed it on the narrow shoulder, gripping on it encouragingly. Kazuya turned to him and his lips curved in the small smile.
"Thanks…" that word was nothing more than a whisper.
Jin just shook his head slightly: "No need to..."
"Kame!"
A joyful exclamation from the opposite side of the street made Jin withdraw his hand. Some blonde girl in warm blue dress and with a scarf wrapped around her shoulders was running toward them across the trampled snow mixed with the half-frozen mud. Jin had a feeling that he spotted her once or twice in the city before.
Kame dismounted his mare and he stopped the girl´s dash with open arms, when she threw her hands around his neck and hugged the young man tightly. Jin gulped the strange bitterness in his throat down and descended on the ground.
"You´re back! I´m so happy to see you!" the excited blonde kept hanging on Kame´s arm, even though they were not hugging anymore.
"I´m glad to see you too, Lena," Kame suppressed his previous depressive expression and smiled at her. "How are you? Is everything all right here?"
"Yes, you don´t have to worry," the girl nodded, smiling happily. "Since that evil itself had been locked up, it has been really calm around here. I´m almost bored without you."
"I´m relieved to hear that," Kame reacted and looked at Jin, who remained standing close to Kuro and he was trying not to look annoyed. "You don´t know each other yet… Jin, this is Lena, I´ve told you about her. And Lena, this is my friend Jin."
The blonde girl finally let Kame go and stepped closer to the older one.
"Nice to meet you," she said, making a small and somehow cute bow.
"Me too," Jin nodded his head politely.
The girl was too young for his taste, but very pretty and her smile was honest. There was nothing about her what could have justified his annoyance, except her affection for Kazuya.
"You´re here because of the trial, right?" Lena asked, turning her head to Kame again.
"Yes," he confirmed. "Are we late?"
"No, no, it´s all right. I think Captain Walker is still waiting for the judge from Billings to arrive," she replied. "Don´t you want to come for a dinner? My Mum will be happy to see you. And you can sleep over, too."
But Kame shook his head in disagreement: "Thank you for the offer, Lena, but we cannot ambush your mother like this," he rejected firmly. "We will rather stay in the saloon."
The girl was obviously disappointed, but she thought of something else right away: "Tomorrow then! For a lunch! I´ll make pancakes for you, you cannot refuse that, can you?" she winked playfully.
"Lena, I…" the younger one hesitated.
"Please, Kame... I don´t want you to leave again without even talking to me!" she insisted. "And your friend is invited too, of course."
Kame gave up and nodded slowly: "All right... We will come tomorrow then. At noon?"
"Great!" the girl´s face brightened up immediately and she placed a quick kiss on Kame´s cheek. "I must go, or Mum will be freaking out again that I´ll catch a cold or something," Lena rolled her eyes to show that it was completely ridiculous according to her. "Don´t forget!"
"We won´t," Kame promised.
"Good evening to both of you!" Lena parted with them and rushed back to the small house, from which she fled out before, when she spotted two young riders on the street.
"She´s nice," Jin made himself overcome his useless sulking, when they took the reins of their snorting animals and headed further to the town´s center.
Kame stole a quick glance on his face, but Jin kept looking straight forward, watching out for the lights of Harada´s Saloon.
"Yeah, she really is," Kame said. "She used to make a company to my mother, as I was outside the house all the time."
They spent the rest of way to the saloon in silence and headed right to the stalls. They were welcomed by small Mike there, who had just finished his daily tasks. The boy was not less excited and happy to see Kame than Lena, but unlike her, he made quite a fuss also around Jin. He flooded them with the waterfall of questions, which they were not able or didn´t want to answer.
It took some time before Kame sent him home and they stabled the horses themselves, before they could finally enter the taproom. The saloon´s owner, Mr. Harada, had already fixed the durable winter door instead of the summer season´s swinging doors, so the air inside was kind of hard to breathe in, filled with the cigarettes´ smoke and beer´s odor.
Only a few tables were empty, others were occupied by some railway workers, who obviously hadn´t set off for their homes yet, and the rest by Karnaka´s gunmen. All of them were enjoying their beers and the company of Madame Sukina´s harlots, but despite that, the arrival of two young men didn´t escape their attention.
A considerable amount of vicious looks followed Jin and Kame on their way to the bar counter. It seemed that the information about the two of them spread among Karnaka´s subordinates, but they counted with that and didn´t expect any friendly welcome.
Kame stubbornly ignored everybody around except Mr. Harada behind the counter; Jin on the other hand walked through the room in a way, which left no doubts that he was willing to shoot off anyone´s head in a second.
"Kamenashi!" only the saloon´s owner seemed honestly pleased to see his former employee.
"Good evening, Mr. Harada," Kame greeted the old man politely.
"And Akanishi!" Harada welcomed the other one with a wide and somehow dangerous smile. "Good to see you, young man, I suppose you came to settle your debt here…"
Jin totally forgot that he used to be a guest in the saloon and blinked in surprise, but he remained calm and nodded confidently: "Of course, I will settle it, Mr. Harada. I´m sorry, I left so suddenly," he apologized, but didn´t stop paying attention to the taproom. For that moment, all present cowboys and gunmen remained sitting on their places and just some mute murmurs filled the heavy air.
"Good," Harada nodded satisfied. "I was wondering when you´d show up," the man started to prepare two tankards for beers without even asking them. "But it would be naive of me to hope, you´ll come back to your job, right?" he assumed half joking, half seriously.
Kame shook his head in a sincere apology: "Unfortunately, I have to confirm your assumption, Mister. We´re here for the trial…" he replied quietly.
Mr. Harada also lowered his voice: "Yeah, I know, Captain mentioned you´d come. You´re right on time, just this morning the judge arrived, he´s accommodated here."
"Ah, really?" Kame reacted. "Was the date decided then?"
Harada shrugged: "I´ve heard something about tomorrow´s morning, but you have to confirm that with him or Captain Walker."
"I will," Kame confirmed seriously.
"Here you go, boys," Harada pushed two full glasses toward them. "Would you like something to eat, too? Miss McBain prepared her famous potato goulash today."
"Yes, thank you," Kame accepted the offer. "And about the place for us to stay..."
"Of course! There is that room with two beds vacant now, will it be all right?"
"That would be great, thanks."
"Just go to sit, I´ll take care of your dinner," Harada observed them with a sharp glance. "You two are so thin; you really need something to eat. And Kame... It´s free of charge, both the meals and the room, I hadn´t given you the last pay check anyway."
Kame nodded very gratefully this time, took both beers and headed to one of the free tables as the first one. Jin was right behind him, still scanning the room, but it seemed that for the moment nobody intended to make any troubles to them...
*
They had just finished their drinks and meals, when Captain Walker appeared inside the saloon and headed to their table, as soon as he spotted both young men.
"Good evening!" he welcomed them taking his hat off. "It´s great you´re here already! I was getting worried, that you might not show up."
"I keep my word, Captain," Kame reacted.
"And I´m really glad for that... Actually, I need you to come with me right away. I promised to the judge that I will give him over all reports tomorrow morning and I need your testimony. Akanishi, you should come too."
"Me?" Jin raised his eyebrows, realizing the sharp stares from the taproom on them. "Why?"
"You were Grenet´s former subordinate, weren´t you? It would be a great help if you could add some evidences to his judgement."
"But I…" Jin took a breath for the objections.
"You really should, actually," Walker emphasized, interrupting Jin´s excuse.
They didn´t want to cause any unnecessary fuss, so despite their previous agreement, they left the saloon following the captain.
Just a minute after them, one dark figure slipped outside too and ran toward the sheriff´s office, to which they were led for the investigation. And the rest of the threateningly looking gunmen started to discuss something in a very suspicious way…
*
It was strange to sit and be interrogated in the sheriff´s office, when there wasn´t either the old man with his star, or the former deputy. Just Captain Walker and his soldiers occupied the space, using it for their needs.
After Kamenashi described their experiences and troubles with Grenet, while skipping everything about Jin´s capture and torture, the captain informed them that Major General Ord had already left Bozeman taking the Indian captives along and the whole battalion, too. Just Walker with a few of his subordinates was ordered to remain in the city to watch over the trial and supposedly the following execution.
At the end of their long conversation, Kame had succeeded to persuade the captain, that Jin´s testimony was not necessary for the upcoming trial. Even though, Walker was not very satisfied, while being left with too many unanswered questions. Fortunately, he trusted both youngsters enough not to urge on them, when Kame swore that Jin´s involvement could bring more damage than benefits.
Math Grenet was still imprisoned in his cell, just behind the door of the office and neither Jin nor Kame could help but glance in that direction from time to time. To their relief, they were not supposed to meet that man earlier than on the next day during the trial.
Jin didn´t want to admit it, but he was quite anxious about the expected confrontation. It was many weeks ago, when he saw Grenet the last time, and that was only through the mist of pain. The more he thought about it, imagining the scene of meeting with that son of a bitch again, the more uncertain he felt. And Kame himself seemed to be bothered by that, too.
Actually, both of them were unable to get rid of that awful nervousness, since they left the Indians and it was eating them up. Math Grenet was a dangerous man and they had to be really careful, if they didn´t want to attract more problems.
Not speaking about Grenet´s superior, about whom Walker himself said, that Karnaka was just too powerful stubborn man, who was difficult to deal with. The soldiers´ leader informed them that he asked the lord from the white farm to come to the trial, but he didn´t really believe that Karnaka would show up, when General was not around anymore.
After they promised to be on time for the start of the whole judicial process, Captain Walker released them. A deep and cold night was consuming the whole city already, making them rush toward their accommodation.
Just as they appeared in the saloon again, Mr. Harada was throwing the last drunk guest out. He was curious about their questioning, but Kame excused for both of them. They were tired and not in the mood for more talking. Understanding Harada just handed the keys of their room over to him and wished them a good night.
*
Jin almost couldn´t believe it, when they finally went up the stairs to the second floor, where their room was supposed to be.
"I can´t help but I like Harada more and more," he stated, surprised with the helpful and nice attitude of the saloon´s owner. "I still owe him quite a lot of money and I thought, he would start asking angry questions, but instead of that – a free room."
"Maybe he came to like you," Kame suggested.
"No way," Jin denied that proposal amused. "I think it´s simply caused by the fact that you are his favorite bartender."
"You cannot say that for sure, as I was his only bartender," Kazuya reminded him smiling a little.
"True enough..." the older one admitted.
They reached the door at the end of the short corridor and Kame unlocked it, entering the room first. Jin followed him, closing the door behind them.
When the younger one increased the light in two kerosene lamps on the wall, which were already lit by Harada before, the room itself appeared to be quite simple, but clean and comfortable. There was one window, two wide beds and on the other side a small table with chairs.
"Anyway, it´s really generous of him," Jin commented the spacious place appreciatively, putting his bag down on the floor.
"I cannot agree more. I don´t think I´ll ever find any better employer," Kame stated and approached the window to shut the dusty curtain over it. "Which bed do you want?" he asked then.
"Yours, of course," Jin blurted out joking.
A short silence followed.
Kazuya stared at Jin for a while, as he was not sure about what to say. The hot embarrassment flooded Jin, when he realized, how his hasty words actually sounded like.
"All right…" Kame cleared his throat sheepishly, tearing his eyes off of the older one. "I´d choose the one at the window… You can have it then," he stated, grabbed his stuff and crossed the room to the other side.
At the same moment, embarrassed Jin decided to move, too. They almost collided in the middle of the room, their shoulders brushing over each other.
"Sorry…" the quiet apology was duplicated, as it came from two mouths at once.
With a deep exhale, Jin put his stuff on the bed near the window and remained standing there, staring at the washed-out bed sheets. Suddenly, the air inside their room was too warm and too heavy to breathe in. With his stomach filled with a strange shivering, Jin realized that only now they were alone with Kame after a very long afternoon and evening. And it was in a warm room, under the protection of a proper roof, without any responsibilities for the steady fire or their horses.
Moreover, it was after the first day, when they were supposed to behave according to the usual manners. Not that they were not doing it before, but being among the Indians and dealing with the white nation´s social rules was something completely different.
It was not that difficult as Jin had thought, but still it was... a little bit strange. As he had predicted, it was weird to be around other people now. It would have been all right, if he hadn´t thought about it too much and acted naturally, but somehow he was more than aware of the other´s presence all that time, and he avoided even looking at Kazuya, when somebody else was around. He still had Liwan´s words on mind, when the Indian warned them from being too obvious.
But what the hell was obvious about being friendly to each other? Jin just couldn´t get it, what he was doing wrong and the more worried about it he was, the more distant attitude Kazuya had. And so that tension in the cave from the evening before turned into anxious silence in the saloon´s room.
Jin turned away from his bed with a clenched stomach. Kame was facing the wall, pulling some clothes out of his bag quietly. Jin´s legs moved themselves, making one slow step, then a second one and third, until he was standing right behind the younger one.
Kame stiffened in the middle of his movement, when he realized his presence, but didn´t turn around.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Jin asked in a quiet voice.
He felt a little stupid asking about it like that, but it seemed to be a safer topic than the other reason of that tension, which made his pulse unsteady.
Kame stared at the clean shirt in his hands, which he packed up exactly for the mentioned occasion. From the profile, Jin saw how the younger one licked his dry lips, before he replied.
"Hmm, yes… A little," he admitted in an uneasy voice. "You?"
"Well... Me too," Jin reacted, with his eyes locked on the curve of Kazuya´s nape, which was visible thanks to the short ponytail the younger made from his hair. "But only because of the very high probability that I will shoot Grenet´s head off, before the process even starts," he added, trying to ease the atmosphere up.
Kame laughed shortly and put the shirt down onto the bed.
"Don´t do that, please, I don´t want to visit you in jail," the younger one said teasingly.
Jin circled his arm around the younger´s neck, before Kame could lean over to his bag again. Grabbing his shoulder gently, he pulled Kame closer to his chest and lowered his lips to the younger´s left ear.
"And would you visit me there?" Jin asked almost whispering. "Just in case that I would not control myself..."
Only then Kazuya turned his head to look in Jin´s eyes.
The dark eyes, which were so very close, consumed him immediately and made his breath stuck in his lungs for a moment. Jin´s firm body attached to his own made Kame feel safe and unsecure at the same time. The tension, which they had been dealing with for two past days, just got to its culmination and it got him frozen on the spot, waiting eagerly for next happenings, but somehow fearing them as well. It was a confusing mixture of feelings, which he just couldn´t figure out. Definitely not by pondering them.
"You know I would," Kame forced the words through his narrow throat.
"That´s good to know," Jin reacted hoarsely with a sudden flame in his eyes, which made Kame´s knees shake.
The younger one had never thought that he would be unable to make a first step. But Jin made it instead of him right in the next moment. He didn´t even manage to take a single breath and there were already the demanding lips attached on his.
Jin captured Kazuya in his arms, kissing him urgently. And it broke the spell, which was making the younger one numb. Kame slipped up with his hands, running through the thick hair with his fingers and he repaid the hot kiss with no less urgency.
An incredibly strong feeling stroke into their bodies, almost as if they were hit by lightning and it pushed their lips apart. But it took only an insignificant instant, before they connected them again hungrily.
Jin got aroused so fast that he almost chickened out; scared of his own rushing emotions. But Kazuya´s soft lips, repaying his actions tenderly, made him forget about it right away, as the hot wave of shivering was flooding him from head to toes, overcoming any reasonable thinking. And only holding and kissing the younger one was not enough then...
Jin got annoyed by the quantity of clothes between them. He surprised Kame with the forceful interruption of their eager kissing, when he pushed the other one away a little. But Jin did that just to undress the coat from the younger one. He let it fall on the floor, before taking Kazuya back into his arms. Kame gasped, when Jin grabbed his waist a little roughly, pulling him as close as possible to himself.
They both stiffened for a short moment, looking at each other´s flushed faces, letting out short, shaky exhales. The lights of the lamps were reflecting in Kame´s eyes, making them shine like small fires, while the strong desire made Jin´s ones even darker than usually. Then Kame moved his hands again and keeping their eyes connected, he started to unbutton the older one´s shirt. Jin waited impatiently for his fingers to deal with all the buttons. He lowered his hands on Kame´s hips, when the younger one finally opened his shirt and spread his warm palms on Jin´s bare chest.
Not ever stopping to observe his face, Kame soothed Jin´s skin slowly, with his lips slightly parted. He went up, until his fingertips touched Jin´s nipples hesitantly, caressing them with bigger confidence, when Jin breathed out from excitement. With one hand Kame continued up, fondling his collarbone, which made Jin almost choke on the strange shaking. But it was not unpleasant, not at all when the fingers of the younger´s other hand kept playing with one of his nipples.
By those slow touches, Kazuya was studying the places on his body, which only a few got to know so far. Something squeezed inside Jin, bringing up the sleeping passion. Feeling that soon he would not be able to control himself, he pushed the younger one back and pressed him against the wooden wall, pulling out a shaky inhale from him.
With each breath he took, Jin heard the stronger rumble in his ears, as his blood began to rush in his veins. There was no space for any stupid worries, when he felt so damn horny.
He searched for the way under Kame´s shirt hastily, until he found it and finally could touch the warm skin. He slipped under the cloth with both hands, spreading palms on the lower part of Kame´s back.
He couldn´t take a proper breath and Kazuya´s breathing was not regular either, when Jin closed the gap between their lips again. This time he only teased on them, luring Kame´s tongue out of its sanctuary, while he kept exploring the soft skin on his back up and down, proceeding for the waist and then also chest, feeling the younger´s ribs under his fingers.
Jin almost forgot where he intended to go next, when Kazuya caught on the bait of his caressing and probed Jin´s half-open lips with his tongue, a hot sigh escaping the younger´s mouth with it. Jin let it slip in and then captured him by sucking on it greedily, making Kazuya shiver.
One of Jin´s hands escaped from the warm place under Kame´s shirt and grabbed on the round bottom. Jin didn´t even know when his hand wandered so low. But the younger´s reaction in the form of a muted moan told him it was more than a great idea. It was so alluring, that he joined the first hand with the other, capturing Kame´s ass in a horny grip.
Kame fought for some space in their kiss eagerly, biting on Jin´s lower lip, which made Jin even more unwilling to let him go. As he was pressing Kame between himself and the wall, he realized that the firm warmness he felt in his crotch had a companion in the trousers of the other one, too.
Kame tore off their passionate kiss out of breath and the burning glances clashed together. The younger´s hands went down from Jin´s neck with not a single hint of that innocence from a while ago. There was no hesitation, when Kazuya´s fingers grabbed the buckle of Jin´s trousers, which Jin intended to appreciate with just another possessive kiss...
A loud bang followed by the glass breaking ripped them from their hot enchantment with such a cruelty that it hurt almost physically. Jin and Kazuya flinched back terrified and neither of them could believe their own eyes, when they saw what caused the sound. There were tens of sharp shards from some bottle on the already burning floor.
They didn´t even had a chance to overcome the first surprise, when one more bottle engulfed in fire flew inside the room through the broken window. The splashed kerosene oil set the bed sheets and curtains on fire within seconds.
A completely different kind of heat flooded both startled young men, who were standing right next to the shocking flames. Their instincts worked and made them react. They jumped away from each other; Jin grabbed the thick blanket from the other bed, throwing Kame´s stuff aside, while the younger one took the sink full of water prepared for the evening washing.
Kame poured the bed with everything what was in the metal sink and right after that Jin threw the blanket over it. Rushing to the small wardrobe, the younger one grabbed the first hanger, which came under his hand and hooked it over the pelmet, which was holding the curtains up, dragging them down roughly.
Jin was hitting the flames, which were not stifled by the poor blanket, with his coat, covering his nose and mouth, while trying not to breathe in the thick smoke. Kame was stomping over the burnt curtains furiously, until even the tiniest flame was gone. Jin even sacrificed his hat to put out the pillow, which threatened to light up as the last one.
They kept checking the room, letting their eyes roam around, until it was sure there was no more fire anywhere. Thanks to the awful smell and smoke, the air in the room was almost stifling and only the fresh air coming inside through the broken window allowed them to find some oxygen for their strained lungs.
Then they looked at each other with identical expression on their blackened faces, which showed shock and relief at the same time.
"What the…hell… was this?!" Jin coughed out from his dry throat.
Only then Kame thought of checking out the street. But there was not a single suspicious figure around, when he looked out carefully.
The banging on the door made both of them jump in surprise again.
"Kamenashi! Akanishi! Are you… What the hell happened here?!!" Harada burst inside the room, staring at the black mess. He heard some glass breaking and came upstairs to check on his visitors.
"Petrol bombs… Two of them…" Kame managed to say hoarsely. "We don´t know who…"
"What?!" the man gasped in shock. "Oh my dear God, are you all right?!"
Kame looked at Jin again, who was coughing heavily, but nodding his head.
"Yes…" he assured him. "We managed to put it out."
"Sweet Jesus! This is incredible!" Harada was keeping his voice up quite upset, walking across the demolished room to the window. "What kind of a sick idiot would do this in the saloon?!" he yelled over to the empty street. "Do you hear me?! No matter who you´re, I´ll hunt you down and eat your balls for my breakfast!!"
Then the saloon´s owner turned over to check on both young men again.
"You two look like going through the chimney," Harada stated frowning. "Come on, Dr. Best must examine you and we have to tell Captain Walker about this," the man decided and he was the first one out in the corridor. "Even though Grenet is in jail, something like this happens! Fucking crazy idiots! Incredible! In-cre-di-ble!" he kept swearing, while heading to the stairs.
Kame and Jin exchanged knowing looks, hearing his words. It was quite clear that the attack was directed on them. Somebody had to hear Harada out down in the saloon, when he assigned this room to them and wanted to scare them off before the trial. Or maybe even worse...
Jin stood up from the ugly bed, still trying to clear his throat a little.
"Captain will be so happy to bother with us again…" he assumed gloomily.
*
But the first person, who was not happy about two ´black´ guys, was Dr. Best, whom Harada woke up, even though both Kame and Jin tried to persuade him, that it was not necessary. The surprised doctor examined them properly, notifying that they both had burns of the first level on their hands and the lungs filled with the inhalations, which were supposed to irritate them to coughing for some time yet. But he just gave them some ointment for the burns and let them leave his infirmary.
Captain Walker was the second one. The soldiers´ leader was still in the sheriff´s office, preparing the documentation for the upcoming trial, when the news, or so to speak three visitors, reached him. He just stared at them for a while, before palming his face tiredly.
Then he offered them the same chairs again and heard both Kame and Jin out. He also ordered his soldiers to search for any tracks, which the attackers might have left behind. Unfortunately, it was already late at night, the city was sleeping and the deep darkness covered anything, what might have helped them.
Mr. Harada was kind enough to prepare new rooms for them, only single-bed sized this time and Captain Walker insisted on having one soldier as the guard in front of their doors.
Neither Kame nor Jin could sleep that night. They just kept rolling from one side to another, too agitated by the attack and troubled with what was awaiting them the next day. And also, both filled with that forcefully suppressed desire after each other, which made their bodies shake just at the idea, how far they would have let the hot moment continue, if they hadn´t been interrupted so roughly.