'This is the second day of rain, huh? Won't it ever stop? It seems never-ending', Hayato thought as he walked around the street.
At least, it was not a storm anymore. Compared to the previous day, the rain was moderated. For this sole reason, more people were now on the streets, which helped Hayato a lot. It was very suspicious to be the only person wandering in the middle of the rain, the guards would catch him as soon as they saw him if that was the case.
Another detail that helped him a lot was the fact that almost everyone wore something to cover them entirely. Raincoats seemed to be the favorite option in the city on rainy days like that. Only a few people dared to use umbrellas.
The raincoat was a very effective disguise for Hayato, even more so when he wore his mask. He could go by unnoticed with that outfit. Besides, he wouldn't have trouble getting all soaked like he did yesterday.
'Thankfully, I didn't catch a cold or something. I am just fine and I hope things keep this way.'
Hayato had passed by some guards during his stroll. Fortunately, none of them bothered in asking to see his face or his eyes, even though he stiffened a little once crossing ways with them.
'I still need to be careful, though', Hayato thought as he glanced at a guard walking on the opposite street. The man looked around with foxy eyes behind the white mask. He had his hand closed around the hilt of his katana at all times.
'Probably, the guards I crossed ways with were just negligent. If I get the wrong guard at the wrong place, all my efforts will go to waste.
'Besides, even if I went to prison, I think I could manage somehow. Nevertheless, I don't know how much dangerous these guards think I am. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them tried to kill me on the spot right after discovering me.'
Hayato feared getting busted. However, the fear of death was bigger. If they didn't have a way of sealing his teleport, nowhere in this world would be a real prison to him. This way, there was only one way of stopping Hayato...
'No, no! Don't think about it. You will get nervous and draw too much attention. Any suspicious action and you are done.'
Hayato hoped on a rusty and collapsing flying bus. Actually, it didn't quite seem like a bus at all. It was more like a flying inflatable boat, but people called them buses.
'This place is very underdeveloped in many ways, but even so, they manage to have this type of technology. I guess the culture of this place collides directly with the precocious technological progress and that's the final result. We have vehicles and other devices made out of rusty scrap and strange engines that work well, though some problems may appear here and there. And, yet, the guards of this city use katanas instead of firearms.'
He entered the boat and gave two copper coins to the driver, who smiled at him with his eyes.
Hayato entered the boat-like flying buss, squeezing himself into the crowd, feeling his personal space being invaded in many ways.
Soon, the bus left the ground. After reaching a height some meters above the average for the houses and establishments of the city, it propelled forward.
'This boat is a lifesaver. I don't know how else I would be able to move so fast to such long distances otherwise. One thing I definitely can't do with my current financial state is buy one of those strange bikes that they use around here. Besides, since I came from another world, I would feel like wasting my money if I bought that pile of scrap metal. It may be way too arrogant to state it this way, but I am just too used to high-quality technology. I need to work on this perception, though. I get the feeling that using these technologies will help me greatly.'
While thinking about such things, the boat-like bus reached its stop, where Hayato planned to leave.
To get to his destination, he only needed to walk a few blocks...
'To think that I would have the guts to come back here after just one day... Well, but that's not something the guards would expect, for sure. Besides, I don't see any of them in the surroundings.'
Hayato looked left and right, trying to spot guards, but he only saw normal people minding their business. They all avoided looking in the direction of Mr. Satoshi's ramen place, which was right in front of Hayato, especially the people running the neighboring establishments.
The mood of that street was grim and everyone was cautious. They wondered if the same would be done to them as well, to their family, their friends...
The empire was cruel. The nobles would eliminate each and every weed standing in their way with no hesitation. That was a reoccurring thing, actually. However, people never got used to that. It was just impossible.
Seeing that scene only made Hayato get angrier. Even though most people wore masks, he could see the melancholy and despair they felt by looking at their eyes. Even he was getting used to reading people only by looking at their eyes after so long dealing with those masks.
He pursed his lips while staring at the entrance of the ramen place. He knew exactly what he would find there, he had nothing good to expect. However, anxiety hit him like a truck.
'I even wondered along the way... I wondered why I am doing this, why I am trying to confirm something I know that happened. And I can't really find an answer in the end. Whether it is a means to feed my hatred or to overwhelm my heart with sorrow, I don't really know.
'But, sometimes, I will do such crazy things with no explanation. Things that not even I understand. Maybe that's why I always end up failing, after all.'
He moved one leg after another, slowly. It looked like he was walking on thin ice, being the most careful about stepping somewhere he shouldn't. But the truth was that it got too hard to walk. His body rejected that place with all its might. His mind rejected that place.
The only thing leading Hayato there was his broken heart.
'It is funny how much you can get attached to a person with only some weeks of daily interaction. It's funny how you begin to appreciate their company so much when they take care of you without asking for anything in exchange. When I realized, I was acting like his son all of a sudden.
'Maybe, that's the lack of parental figures in my life. Or, maybe, we were destined to be good friends.'
As Hayato had expected, once he entered the ramen place, all he saw were broken plates, destroyed chairs, and a floor dirt with footprints and blood. A lot of blood.
"Those bastards..." Hayato clenched his teeth as he muttered it. "They beat you this hard, old man? And, after all this, you didn't spit a word about me?"
Hayato controlled his breathing, holding back his tears as much as he could.
His eyes laid on a cup they normally used to drink sake. It was now partly broken. Since they were resistant, simply throwing them to the ground wouldn't shatter them completely.
"Our life right now isn't that bad, is it?" Hayato remembered what he said that day.
'No, old man. It was not. I could go on living like that for the rest of my days and die happy.'
Hayato circled the balcony, going to their kitchen. There were noodles and meat spread all over the kitchen floor. Blood as well, of course. Meanwhile, memories kept flooding his mind.
"I mean, the guards appeared, I know but... having someone to drink sake with once again is more fun than I would like to admit."
'Yeah... it was good having someone to be with again. A friend to count on. I am sorry, though. I am so weak that, although I could count on you, you couldn't count on me for anything at all...'
That thought stabbed Hayato's heart like a nail. His heartbeat suddenly became painful and unbearable, it looked like his chest was going to get ripped apart.
He could barely pay attention to his surroundings, yet miraculously he noticed a detail in the middle of that mess. Something that cleared his vision.
He walked across the kitchen, which totalized less than four steps. Then, he crouched down and took something from the ground. It was stained with blood, so it probably was on Mr. Satoshi's body before it dropped.
'His smoking pipe...'
Hayato closed his hands around the smoking pipe. His body shivered and he held his breathing, trying to hold back his destructive thoughts, but nothing was helping it now.
"You know, old man..." he said in a choked voice as tears slowly left his eyes. "You never told me what the hell was that thing you were smoking. There are many, many things you still didn't tell me. How could I not miss you, then? How...?"