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good, and the sake flowed freely, even though I noticed Keno
stuck to tea. We made an odd party, I thought, but Keno
gradually drew Noma out, making him comfortable with us,
asking him questions about Edo and translating the things we
said to each other. Noma didn't know English, and it turned
out his Spanish was worse than mine, but that was the only
other language he knew. I was getting the vibe that he was
oddly flattered by Keno's attention. He disappeared for what I
guessed was a trip to the bathroom, and Keno turned to talk
to me, shaking his head slightly at something Noma said on
his way out the door. Thankfully Keno had taken off that
stupid hat for the meal.
"What's wrong?" Keno asked.
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"Noma. He isn't getting the wrong impression, is he?" I
asked, hating that question, but only hearing half the
conversation was a little confusing for me.
"And what impression would that be?" he asked, a little
pissed, but curious too. Because unlike Wolf, I hadn't given
him shit about what he was doing. I just didn't know the rules
of the Game that he and everyone else here was playing. He
was cutting me some slack because of that.
"That he really, really likes you," I didn't know why I was
being so coy about it. But I didn't feel comfortable coming out
and saying that Noma might want to fuck him.
"Being seen with a tayuu raises his standing with the men
who see him," Keno said. "A samurai of his stature rarely gets
to deal with one, even if he is only escorting me around town.
He's flattered by my attention, and he's flirted a little, but we
both know that it's not going to go beyond that."
"And what the fuck am I?" I asked.
"Unarmed and with a shaven head?" he asked with a grin.
"A priest maybe. Or just a stranger that Noma may be
introducing to me. Or I may be introducing him to you."
We heard a bang outside the room. Keno looked up in
alarm, and I was halfway to the door when it was kicked in.
Overkill on their part, because it was just made out of paper
and bamboo. A half dozen really big guys muscled their way
in. I got in a couple of punches, but there was too many of
them, and the room was too small for me to do any real
damage. A couple of them wrestled me to the floor and Keno
down beside me, his outfit all torn up from fighting them,
with a knife at this throat. I was going to ask what the fuck
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was going on, when another guy strode in, stepping over the
wreckage of the door easily and acting like he owned the
place.
"Sakura-chan," the guy practically purred at him, sounding
like a villain from a bad B movie. "So nice to meet you here."
I was hoping Noma would manage to either rescue us or
get help. It was kind of worrisome that he hadn't gotten back
from his bathroom run yet. Then I realized that the man was
speaking English, and his accent wasn't too bad.
"Iida-san," Keno said coolly, like this was some formal
meeting.
I looked at the guy again, wondering what the fuck was
going on. The last thing anyone knew, this Iida was trying to
take over Tamazusa's kuni, with her guys holding his army on
the beach like it was fuckin' D-Day. Inuta and that little shit
Inue were protecting their borders, with occasional raids, and
Tamazusa's other neighbors were doing the same thing, so
what was he doing here?
The sad part was that I would have passed the man on the
street without a second glance. He was dressed like everyone
else here, in a kimono and hakama. The colors were brighter,
reds and oranges, when most of the men seemed to wear
blue, brown, or black. He had a pair of swords stuck in his
belt, but he didn't look that dangerous. I believed that until I
looked into his eyes. The man was made out of hate and
something evil, as strange as that sounded.
"You seem surprised to see me," Iida said. "My attack is
only a feint. It did, however, manage to distract the
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Hakkenshi. They didn't see what my other allies were doing
until too late."
"You lost," I blurted out. "She's got her place back."
Iida shrugged. "I can kill the bitch later."
The knife at Keno's throat was the only thing that stopped
him from trying to kick the man's ass then and there. I
unconsciously lunged forward, though, which caused Iida to
laugh.
"You're fond of her?" he asked me, tilting his head to one
side and studying me. "You fuck her?"
"None of your goddamned business," I snarled at him.
He laughed again and stepped closer to Keno. "Such a
pretty flower," he said, stroking the side of his face lightly.
Keno cringed and tried to get away from the touch, like it hurt
him or something. "Talented, too, it seems. I almost didn't
notice you when you played her maid, so mousey and meek.
Not looking like the whore that you are now."
I struggled to get loose and kick his ass for that one. I had
been pissed about what he said about Tamazusa, but him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]