Hurried steps echoed across the corridors of a certain temple. A soldier headed to a door at the end of the corridor. This door led him to the gardens around the temple. He barely had the time to appreciate the beautiful sights and fresh atmosphere, though. All he did was approach another person wearing the same pattern of clothes and armor as him.
"Captain Shintaro..."
The man was looking at a little lake at the center of the garden. Around the lake were several small plants. The lake had two or three carps. Shintaro stared intently at these carps for no reason in particular.
"Captain?"
"I am hearing", he said in a calm and nonchalant voice.
"Our Daimyo requests your presence in his room immediately."
The soldier seemed retracted and cautious around Shintaro. He didn't have any hint of firmness behind his voice as he talked with his superior.
Normally, soldiers wouldn't act like this around their captains. However, things were extremely different when it came to Shintaro.
"Don't worry. I will be there soon", Shintaro answered normally, still very calm, nonetheless. It seemed foolish of the soldier to overreact in such a way around someone so indifferent.
But his eyes showed that he knew. He knew something that was way beyond what the eyes met. Shintaro was good at hiding it, though. Good at hiding, but bad at making others forget about it. In fact, he wouldn't be able to make them get rid of their terrible memories even if he tried very hard.
"E-Excuse me, sir", the soldier clumsily bowed once he didn't receive any more words from his captain. Shintaro dismissed him with a hand as he said so, making the soldier the more glad.
'Frankly, this asshole is more annoying than anyone I ever had bothering me in my life. I would have beaten him to death if I could, but not now... I can't even dream about hurting this Daimyo. I still need his influence and occasional pampering to raise in the hierarchy. Until then, I need to be truly patient.'
Shintaro headed to the room of the Daimyo, which was at the center of the temple. This position was definitely the safer one and held a meaning of importance, absolute authority.
'It is a pain to cross the temple every time I need to talk to him since the garden is on the far east side. I would rather not see his fat and old face so often, to be honest. I am trying to find peace of mind.'
Shintaro stopped in front of a room, looking at its slider door. He was about to knock on the door, but stopped himself before he messed up.
'Are you a retard? You know very well that the walls and doors of these damn temples are made of wood and paper. You will mess them up if you are careless... What's the name of this thing? Shõji, I guess.'
"My Daimyo... your servant is here", he called instead of knocking.
After a delay of two or three seconds, the response finally came.
"Please, Shintaro."
He opened the door as soon as he heard the response, then entered.
The Daimyo sat on his knees, on top of a cushion. In front of him was a tea table with two cups and one teapot. Right in the middle of the small table lay a chessboard, most of its pieces already moved.
"Please, help yourself", he pointed at the cushion on the opposite side and to the tea.
Shintaro obediently knelt on the cushion, but hesitated to get the tea.
"Any problem?" the Daimyo raised his eyes to him with a curious expression.
The captain denied with his hand and took the cup, though his mind said otherwise.
'I hate tea, that's the problem', even so, he took sip after sip of that terrible tea.
"You know why I called you here, right, Shintaro?"
"Yes, my Daimyo."
"And you know why I am being so pushy about this, I suppose?"
"In fact, sir, I find it extremely reasonable. After all, we had one temple blown away and a lot of other trouble due to that one boy that can use magic."
The Daimyo nodded.
"You said that the demolition of my temple was his fault. You also said that he might not be in this city anymore, even. I am feeling like you and your men are not truly capable of catching him, and this impression is making me profoundly worried."
"I understand, my Daimyo."
The Daimyo sipped his own tea, then moved a piece on the chessboard, seeming to finally realize how to get out of the pinch he found himself into.
"What is your justification?"
"Nothing I didn't say to you before, my Daimyo. This person can teleport. It's not a simple magic, to begin with. Besides, his specialty is running away. One second he is here, on the other he is in a completely different place and we don't know how far away his magic can reach. That is, if it has such a limitation. Until now, we only know that he needs to have been once somewhere to teleport there. He cannot go to places he never saw in person. However, this information alone is not that helpful now that he is out of the city."
"You guys were patrolling the exits of the city and inspecting every merchant or ordinary citizen that wanted to get out. How did he escape from the city, then?"
"Illegal means, of course. Maybe, he did an agreement with famous merchants and they hid him better than we could search. Certain types of load can help with it, like grains in enormous quantities. Rice, for example. Anyone can ride just fine under a pile of tons of rice."
"Are you investigating it already?"
"In fact, we have a few suspects. Soon enough, we will get the accomplices and punish them."
The Daimyo's eyes shone with clear murderous intent.
"Punish them with death after a well-served torture."
Shintaro held himself back to not laugh at that claim.
'Man, I am getting more and more messed up. Working as a guard was the best choice for sure.'
"Will be done, my Daimyo."
"Get this boy to me, Shintaro. Don't make me doubt your abilities. I need him right now. I need this boy."
Shintaro squeezed his eyes briefly.
'His obsession with Hayato is widening every day. That's a hassle, a worrisome situation. Soon enough, I will need to deal with it.'
"As you wish, my Daimyo", Shintaro bowed, then boldly moved a piece on the chessboard, checking the King of the black pieces.
The Daimyo frowned hard, thinking what would be his next move.
"Hmmm... What a good play."
'I just moved a random piece, though', Shintaro shrugged. 'Anyway, now that he is absorbed, time to go.'
"Excuse me, sir", he got up and left.
****
"I said to you that we should have taken the other road, didn't I? The truck would have a way better time crossing that way. But, nooooo. I am Hiro, the old geezer, I know better than you. A dirt road will be the best option, because it is shorter and bla, bla, bla", said Gen as he crossed his arms and looked out of the window of his truck.
Hiro glared at Gen, squinting his eyes as if he was about to commit a crime. His tensed jaw showed just how hard he was gritting his teeth.
"You fucking... No. You know what? Fine! You can complain all you want. I won't lose my temper because of bullshit, you dickhead", he firmly held the truck's wheel and stared forth.
The truck was shaking and getting stuck on the road all the time. It had rained during their trip, which ruined the previously normal road.
"Yeah, come again with the dickhead thing, you bastard. That's what you do when you can't argue, anyway", Gen quipped.
"Shut up."
"I will, I will. Gonna shut up knowing that you know I am right."
"Yeah. Now, hush."
"I did. Complete hush. Total silence. The silence of the wise. The quietness of the coherent. That's what I am doing."
"..." Hiro just stared at the road.
Gen kept staring at his brother, his arms crossed, a serious countenance... He sighed as he nodded his head, then stared forth, too.
Hiro coughed.
Gen sighed again.
"No need to say anything more since I am right, huh?"
"Agh! You-" Hiro turned to him with bloodshot eyes, ready to retaliate, but had to stop himself once he noticed something standing on the road. He pulled a lever, making the truck stop immediately.
"S-Shit. I nearly killed someone... And a guard, on top of that."
"Why is there a guard standing in our way? Did you buy your remedies for old people again?"
"Those pills are not remedies, you imbecile! They are DRUGS! And if you open your damn mouth about them again in front of a guard, I will make you swallow them to death!" Hiro muttered furiously.
Gen shrugged.
"Well, if that's not it, then maybe he knows who I am and wants to mess with us", he mumbled, then put his face out of the truck's window.
"Are you okay, sir?"
The guard smiled, then nodded his head.
"Yes. Actually, I am not okay, but glad."
'Glad?' both had the same question mark inside their heads.
"I-I don't think I get it, sir."
"I was waiting for you, Gen. And your brother too, Hiro, of course. My name is Shintaro", as he said it, a bunch of guards appeared on the road, surrounding the truck.
"I have a few questions for you guys. I hope you will provide me with some interesting answers... for YOUR sake. But, you know, I am a kind person", the guard's lips formed a sneer, "so I will give you several tries to answer me correctly. I just can't guarantee you that you will want more than one try, hehe."