Kame´s choice

As if Ukushi understood Kame´s reasons to rush, the mare crossed her usual speed border and the gallop of her hooves was so fast, that the trees along their road were nothing but smears in the light of a dying day.

Kame was at the edge of losing control over the fear of what he might find in the city. It was so strong that it was almost suffocating him. For that moment, he managed to keep that fear inside his heart and remained focused at the furious ride to Bozeman. Despite that he almost didn´t notice when they reached the first houses. Then there was the barber´s place and post office, saloon...

Finally, Ukushi turned to the street, where their house was standing. He jumped down even before the mare stopped completely. Ukushi remained standing there, snorting fast and her shoulders rising up and down heavily, while Kame burst into the door, not thinking on anything else but finding his mother.

The lock was unlocked, and the house cold and dark. Not a single lantern was lit, no fire in the stove, everything was breathing with emptiness.

"Mother?!" the word coming from Kame´s mouth was more like a desperate whisper.

He wanted to check the bedrooms, when his eyes spotted something white at the kitchen table. Something what didn´t belong there...

With a bad hunch and his hands shaking, Kame took the matchsticks from the shelf and lit up the lantern hanging from the ceiling. The light fell onto the sheet of paper and Kame almost forgot to breathe. It was a message for him...

I have your mother.

Come to my office.

Grenet

Nothing more was there. No threats, no details; just that order. Grenet knew that Kame would come anyway.

He let the paper go off his hand and once again, just during one day the room swirled around him in crazy spins. Kame almost ran out of the house right away, but somehow he made himself to sit down in the empty kitchen instead. He stared at that cocky writing, breathing slowly, forcing his heart to calm down a little and think first.

After a minute or two, Kame doused the lantern and went outside again. Faithful Ukushi was standing in front of their veranda, where he had left her, and she was watching him with her warm eyes. The mare was completely wet from sweat, her mane and tail in a huge mess.

"I´m sorry, dear, I pushed you so much..." Kame patted her, whispering apologies into her ear.

The mare shook with her noble head so that her bridle clung. Kame checked the street quickly, in case there would be any of Grenet´s underlings nearby, but there was nobody in sight. Then he led Ukushi around the house to her shelter first, before he headed to the saloon, while he avoided even looking in the direction of Sheriff´s Office.

*

Harada was observing the half-empty saloon drowning in the gloomy thoughts. He didn´t want to admit it at first, but he was missing his young employee. Not that he was occupied with work so much without him, as those were not exactly busy days, but except over-talkative Miss McBain there was nobody to speak with properly. Not even that likeable youngster Akanishi appeared yet.

The saloon´s owner liked talking to Kamenashi; he was a clever young man and very hard working. He was worried about him, when Rosie Kamenashi came to apologize the other day for her son staying in bed for a few days. He just hoped he would be all right soon.

With a deep sigh, Harada checked the present guests again, but nobody needed a refill at that moment. So he headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat. When Kame was not there, he tended to forget about his dinner.

The kitchen was lit by just one lantern at the table; otherwise, it was full of deep shadows. And Harada almost jumped out of his skin, when a quiet voice from the back part of the room greeted him.

"Good evening, Mr. Harada."

The old man had to catch his breath back first, before he was able to shook his shock off. He didn´t expect anyone´s presence there at all, as Miss McBain had already left a long time ago. And now, the very person, who he was just thinking about, moved forward into the light.

"Kamenashi!" Harada breathed out heavily. "What...? How did you...?"

"I came in by the side entrance, sir," Kamenashi was polite as usually, but it seemed that he was troubled by something completely else than his manners. "I´m sorry I scared you off, but I needed to get here so that none of Grenet´s men saw me."

"Troubles again?" Harada finally found his usual calmness and observed the unexpected incomer closely.

"I can´t talk about it right now," there was a response from the young man. "But can you please call Captain Walker? Tell him to wait for me outside? It is important."

This was getting stranger and stranger. For what might Kamenashi need the captain?

"I´d like to, Kamenashi, but I´m sorry, Walker had left this morning with his soldiers," Harada informed the younger one frowning.

Already not very well-looking man turned completely pale.

"This morning?" he repeated in a strangled voice. "Why?"

"To the nearest military base, for some back-up because of that group of rebels, he said," Harada explained. "What´s going on? Can I help you somehow? You don´t look well..."

There was a short silence, before his bartender reacted in a forcefully calm voice: "Thank you, sir, but you cannot help me... I need to go now..."

"Kame, wait!" Harada tried to stop him. "Can you at least explain...?"

The very dark eyes focused on him once again: "My apologies, Mr. Harada, but it seems like you will have to find a new bartender..."

After that, Kamenashi left, leaving the dumbfounded saloon´s owner behind.

*

So, that was it. He ended up being alone in the mess again...

He should have remembered that Walker wanted to go for more soldiers because of that incident with Sioux. But there was already more than enough stress on his mind, to keep that information in it.

Kame was standing on the street, looking at the lights on the veranda of Sheriff´s Office. There were at least four gunmen, observing everyone who passed by. There were also guards at the back part of the building; he could see the orange lights of their cigarettes. They were waiting for him...

There was not much what he could do. Jin was safe, for now, Liwan would take care of him. But his mother... If Grenet did something to her, anything at all...

Kame clenched his fists firmly, keeping his determined look on that place. Then his feet moved, heading right toward the office, not making a single step away from the direction.

He would not leave his mother in Grenet´s hands, never. That´s how it was and the deputy knew it. Fine then... There was no need to act in any other way than which the deputy expected from him...

*

Young Danny peeked into the room, which was filled with thick smoke and smell of whiskey.

"Boss? Kamenashi is coming," he reported excitedly.

The deputy poured himself another glass of Sheriff´s whiskey, smirking satisfied. Finally.

"Let him in," he reacted shortly.

"Yes, boss," the youngster nodded and disappeared again.

Only a few seconds after that, his awaited baby boy marched into the office, without paying any attention to the guards on the veranda or to other two men, who were standing on both sides of his table. He was like a blind sheep, coming right into the muzzle of a hungry wolf, even his face was white as wool. Math so knew that the bartender would go crazy because of his precious mother.

"It took you long enough," Grenet welcomed the youngster, taking the drink into his hand.

He had no idea, how many glasses he had already drunk during that annoying waiting, but he couldn´t care less.

"Where is my mother?" Kamenashi snapped surprisingly coldly.

"Not so fast, baby boy," Math threw the drink into his throat. It was a burning pleasure; he really needed to find out where that old sheriff bought those bottles. "I believe we can make a deal. I will exchange your mother for a certain bighead."

"I have no idea what you´re talking about," the bartender reacted.

That pretty boy in front of his table was staring at him quite militantly; there was no fear in his face, just anger. Well, well, he liked taming the disobedient horses too...

"Interesting," Grenet hissed caustically and put the empty glass away. "Bring her," he ordered to one of his men, before returning his glance to the bartender. "We will see if your mind enlightens a little..."

Kamenashi made a step closer to the scratched desk, with disgust in his eyes.

"If you have a problem, Grenet, why won´t you solve it with me?! Stop dragging my mother into this like a coward!"

Grenet let his smirk disappear and very slowly, he got up on his feet.

Ok, that´s enough. No shitty pretty bastard will treat me like this... he thought staring at the young bartender.

"This situation is your own fault, baby boy," he stated, letting the anger appear in his voice.

Kamenashi didn´t avoid his look; he was repaying it with such a force, that it surprised Math a little. As he remembered, the last time the boy had much more respect... Right now, the bartender looked that he was able to point the gun at him and fire without any hesitation.

His subordinate came back to the office, leading that old hag behind him. Rosie Kamenashi was disheveled, her dress was wrinkled and face pale, but otherwise she was too much all right to Grenet´s taste. And she spotted her son´s presence right away.

"Kazuya!" a huge relief in her voice was almost visible.

Kamenashi couldn´t help it, he moved his eyes to the mother and his expression completely changed.

"Are you all right?" he asked, not able to cover his worries this time.

The woman just nodded, looking at him with her eyes shining and she made a move as she wanted to step closer, but his man was holding her firmly.

"Well, I hate to interrupt your moving reunion," Grenet spoke and went around the table, stopping in front of that little fucker. "But as I said, we will make a deal."

"Just let her go, Grenet, this is enough," Kamenashi responded quite upset. "She didn´t commit any crime, you´re breaking the law here."

"Does it seem to you that I care?" Math raised his eyebrows mockingly.

After this sentence, Kamenashi´s face turned into the shining example of hatred, but he kept his mouth shut. Grenet almost laughed at it aloud. It was so good to have the upper hand.

"Listen, boy. I will let your mother go only when you bring Akanishi to me."

"What does he have to do with this?" the bartender reacted immediately.

Math snorted dissatisfied. Then he moved with his hand so fast, that baby boy had no chance to avoid the hit, even if he knew it was coming. The sharp sound echoed in the room, making Rosie gasp in fright. Kamenashi´s face remained turned to the side, where his slap forced it to go.

"You will not make an idiot of me," Math emphasized each word. "Is that clear?"

That too pretty head in front of him straightened again and the eyes pierced him with no less anger than before.

"I don´t know where he is," Kamenashi said, using the same tone as himself.

Grenet gritted his teeth. This little piece of shit was always able to piss him off, but he overdid it this time.

He moved forward, grabbed Kamenashi for his neck and pushed him to move, until he hit the opposite wall with his back. He did it very hard and hopefully also painfully for him. It made him go off breath at least. Then Math pulled out his favorite knife from its sheath on his belt by the other hand and pressed its peak to Kame´s face.

"Kazuya!" his mother screamed in fear and moved forward again, quite furiously, but both his men hold her back.

"Shut up, I have to explain something to your stupid son," Math gritted through his teeth, not even looking back at her.

"Let him go, you monster!" the woman still defied her captors. "You will not get away with this!"

"Take that annoying bitch away!" he ordered. "Now!"

"Don´t you dare to hurt him!" Rosie kept screaming, when they were dragging her back to the cell.

"And make her shut up!" Grenet snapped, before the office´s door was closed finally and he remained just with the young bartender.

Kamenashi didn´t move an inch, but Math saw his eyes filled with the burning rage. And as he pressed against him, he felt the bartender´s chest going up and down fast, as well as the hot and soft skin of the other´s neck under his left palm. The smirk sneaked its way back to his lips.

As soon as we will be done with the Akanishi issue, I will enjoy this pretty boy a lot...

*

The smelly breath flooded Kame´s face from the unpleasant closeness. He forced himself not to fight back. He was taunting the deputy enough already and Grenet was obviously angry as hell. Kame was afraid that he would take that on his mother later.

Therefore, he didn´t move away, despite that grip and breath made him almost shake in disgust. Not to mention that his body was pinched to the wall by that bastard, who caused Jin so much pain.

"Let´s make it clear for you," Grenet hissed with that awful smirk of his. "I don´t care, if you know or not. You will find him and bring him to me personally, or she dies. Did I make it clear enough?"

Kame stared into those ugly eyes, which were piercing him with anger, but also with the strange gloss, which meaning he would rather not to know. The pressure of the knife strengthened and he felt the blood dripping from the cut on his face.

"Do you understand?" Grenet repeated in the voice grating like the nails on tin.

"Yes..." Kame made himself say, almost spitting into that ugly face instead.

"Good boy..."

Grenet kept the knife close to his face, but he let his neck go, heading down with the free hand across his chest. Then he moved closer and whispered right into Kame´s ear: "You have one day for it. Sooner you bring him, better for you, baby boy. If you don´t..."

To Kame´s shock, in the next second he felt the rude grip right on his crotch. It made him flinch and the blade cut even deeper into his face.

"You will pay me for each minute of your delay... You will pay a lot, baby boy, for causing so many troubles..."

Kame couldn´t make himself breathe again, his whole body frozen by irrepressible anguish. And that bastard seemed awfully satisfied with his reaction. Then finally, Grenet let him go and stepped back, tapping with the bloody knife over his open palm.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, curving his lips scornfully. "Get the fuck out! Your time is running!"

*

When Kame went out to the street again, his knees were shaking as if they transformed themselves into jelly. He was able to put on a brave face almost all that time, but now, when he was alone... Grenet touching him in the way he did; it knotted Kame´s guts into the hard clutch. He felt awful bitterness at his tongue, which almost made him vomit.

A few years ago, he couldn´t even imagine that he would be able to despise somebody so much. That feeling permeated through his entire body – he hated Grenet even more than Karnaka himself...

In this shaken state Kame reached their house again. He intended to go inside, but his jelly knees refused to carry him on any longer. He more like collapsed than sat down at the stairs leading up to their veranda, leaning the elbows over his knees and covering his face with both palms.

When Kame entered the sheriff´s office, he was determined to deal with the situation with his mind clear. Now, when he still felt that rude touch on himself, more than aware of that Grenet considered him nothing more than a toy for play and that he was capable of absolutely anything, no matter how cruel the action would be and there was nobody to stop him...

Kame let go of a shaky breath. How did it come to this point? What should he do?

"Kame!" a girl´s voice, full of joy and worries at the same time, disturbed him from his motionless anxiety and Kame looked up.

The blonde-haired girl was rushing toward him across the street, with the warm scarf loosely around her shoulders, the hair flitting around her head in the air, as she ran out her home in a hurry.

"Kame..." Lena sat down next to him, touching Kame´s shoulder worriedly. "I´m so relieved to see you... What happened? Where´s your mother? I cannot find her since this morning..."

Kame sighed heavily and leant over the pillar, which was holding up the short roof above them.

Lena... Kame considered her a younger sister. She was just another person, who was hurt by that inhuman creature.

Math Grenet.

First, he threatened Liwan. Then he shot Mike. Then he attempted to rape Lena. Then he tortured Jin so much that the handsome gunslinger ended up almost unrecognizable. And now, he threatened to kill his mother...

"Kame..." the girl spoke again softly. "Please, say something, I´m scared..."

At that moment something awoke inside Kame´s heart, something what suppressed the fear and worries and that horrible helplessness. After everything that bastard did, he was supposed to just give Jin over to him? Let him torture his friend again? And even if he did, where was the guarantee that Grenet would have not killed his mother anyway?

It was already enough... He would not be defeated by that human trash. He would not let that monster hurt the people precious to him anymore. He was determined to fight with everything he had. But he needed some help to accomplish it...

Kame looked at the girl next to him, who was squeezing his shoulder anxiously.

"Lena... Grenet imprisoned my mother," he said in a quiet and serious voice.

The blonde one gasped for a breath: "Why?!" she exclaimed indignantly. "She didn´t do anything!"

"He´s blackmailing me... But I won´t let him hurt anyone anymore."

"Kame, tell me what´s going on!"

He took both of girl´s hands into his: "I cannot explain it to you now, but I need your help, Lena. Grenet must be stopped."

The expression at the girl´s face was surprised first, but then turned into a very serious one.

"I cannot agree more," she whispered.

"I will answer any questions, which you have, later, but for now just do what I will ask you for, all right? Will you help me?"

Lena squeezed Kame´s hands firmly.

"Yes, I will," she replied determined. "What do you need me to do?"

***

The peace of the night forest was interrupted by soft snorting of a horse and by the crack of little twigs under its hooves. The small yellow light appeared in the darkness, approaching the huge oak standing lonely within the army of conifers. Soon the rider´s face became recognizable, handsome but very serious features of the young man.

The rider stopped his mare at the tree and hung the small lantern, so far holding in his hand, up onto the stump of a broken branch. After that, the young man dismounted the animal and turned a little, as if he listened to something behind him in the darkness. Then he moved, leading the noble mare away from the road, on which they arrived.

The sound of their movement died out and the woods got peaceful and quiet again. Only the light of the lantern was disturbing the usual picture. Until other two riders appeared, attracted by that light.

"Damn!" one of them exclaimed, when he realized, that the light they were pursuing so far was really not moving anymore and not because its owner went to relieve himself, but because it´s hanging on the branch, while there was nobody around at all.

"Do you think he noticed us?" the other murmured, observing the dark forest.

"No, smartass. He let it here for the wolves to see better on their prey," an ironic snap replied him. "You go in this direction; I´ll check the north side. If we don´t find him, let´s meet up back here in an hour."

"All right," his companion nodded, before frowning and asking another question. "And if we find him?"

The first one turned his eyes to the night sky in disbelief.

"You drink too much beer, don´t you?" he lashed out at his stupid companion. "Of course keep following him, idiot! We need to find out where he hid that Akanishi asshole, or Grenet will rip our heads off!"

*

It was much more difficult to hurry in the dark, but Kame had no time to lose. He trusted Ukushi to find the safe way, so he didn´t spend more time than was necessary in the city and he headed right back toward his old home.

First, he had to get rid of those two tails, which stuck on him as soon as he set off from Bozeman. It delayed him a little, but it was worth of it, as he led them in the completely different direction and returned in own tracks, only through the woods.

He reached the old house almost at the same time when they got there the day before, with the weak sun slowly rising above the hills. Kame just managed to get down from already quite tired Ukushi, and Liwan was already in the doorway.

"Finally! What were you thinking?! Going there alone!" his Indian friend seemed unusually upset; there was no sign of the usual calmness.

"I did what I had to do," Kame stated stubbornly, turning to face him.

"What about your mother?" Liwan asked frowning worriedly.

"Grenet wants to exchange Jin for her," Kame informed him shortly, glancing at the open door.

A very vulgar expression in the Indian language followed, before Liwan asked another question: "And he let you leave alone?"

"Not exactly, but he´s quite confident that I will obey. He just sent some spies after me, but I got rid of them."

"What will you do now, Kame?"

He looked into his friend´s eyes finally. Liwan was watching him with silent expectation.

"I will not give him what he wants," Kame stated in a little rebellious way, as he expected some objections.

"I thought so..." Liwan murmured. "But you need help, right?"

Kame took a deep breath: "I´m not sure if I can still ask for it..." he said more humbly.

"Kame..." the Indian moved with his hands and took Kame´s right arm into them, squeezing it firmly. "You and your mother are members of our tribe. Our Brother and our Sister. We swore to protect each other. Of course we will help you as much as we can."

Kame was touched and grateful to Liwan for not trying to talk him out of his decision, just offering help.

"Obrige tamaši, Liwan," he thanked him relieved. "But didn´t the tribe already leave for the winter resort?"

"Most of them did, but not all," Liwan assured him. "Some stayed behind for a while, together with my father. Some warriors are still there, too. How many of us do you need?"

Kame reconsidered what he saw in the city quickly.

"Six. And also someone who will take Jin away. He can´t stay here, I´m afraid that somebody might recall this house and find him."

"Unfortunately, I must agree...." Liwan reacted gloomily.

Kame stiffened, feeling the new gulp of fear in his stomach.

"What do you mean? What is it? How is Jin?" all questions left his lips in one breath.

"He was all right when I got here, he informed me about where you went, but then..." there was a short pause, as Liwan was thinking about how to say it. "I hoped it will not come, but there is infection in some of his wounds. He already has a high fever..."

Another heavy strike fell on Kame´s head. Jin and the fever was not a good combination at all.

"I did my best, but... He needs the help of my father," Indian stated hopelessly. "I have not enough skills for this..." he seemed very sorry for not being able to do more.

"I understand," Kame said quietly. "It´s not your fault, Liwan, don´t feel bad about it."

"Here, this is for the tea against fever, prepare it for him," Liwan pressed the small sachet into Kame´s palm. "And make him drink water, as much as possible. I leave right away; will be back with others after noon. And then we will rescue your mother."

Liwan seemed so sure about their goal, holding Kame´s hand firmly and giving him courage; he was the best friend Kame could only have...

The Indian´s eyes went wide suddenly: "Oh, Kame! Don´t you dare to cry here! Men don´t cry!"

"I know," Kame smiled faintly and from the sudden impulse, he hugged his friend. "Thank you, thank you so much, Liwan."

Liwan repaid his hug shortly and then looked at him again, with a small smile on his lips.

"You are my brother. There is nothing to thank me for," he assured the younger one, before he dashed off to his horse.

*

It was hot, he was bloody thirsty and couldn´t get to any drink, because he didn´t want to move. Or he couldn´t move, actually? It did not matter, anyway. He was not able to make himself care about if he dies of thirst or not.

Jin was lying on his side again, as the position on his back was simply not a possibility right now, with his eyes closed. He was trying hard to ignore the shrieks of vultures in his ears. He knew they were just a part of his imagination, which included the desert at the time of noon, onto which somebody threw him without any mercy. Stupid birds' screaming was making his head to hurt more. Instead of the images of his mind, he was trying to figure out what those voices somewhere outside the house were saying.

It was as if they were speaking in a language he had never heard, he just couldn´t grasp the meaning of their conversation. Was it important or not? Was it something about him? From some reason, he didn´t really want to deal with it...

The imaginary hungry shrieks in his head got louder. The ugly vultures were looking forward to their snack.

Screw you; I´m not dead yet...

A gentle touch made Jin ignore the crazy ideas and open his eyes. The familiar face was blurry at first, but when he forced himself to focus, he recognized the worried features clearly.

"What are you doing, Jin?" Kazuya asked, sitting at the edge of the bed, his palm soothing Jin´s forehead.

It was so nice; that hand was cool and Jin felt miraculously relieved with its touch. His mind finally cleared up and the desert disappeared together with those shitty birds. Only the hotness remained...

"I´m sorry..." he managed to say with some effort. "I rested, really, but... I´m hopeless, right?" he chuckled a little desperately.

"No, you´re not hopeless," the younger one replied softly. "You´re just sick..."

The hand moved away from his head to the covers on those places, which burnt Jin the most. He was watching Kame´s face, when he looked there and he saw that twinkle of dismay, before the worried expression returned.

Well, he didn´t have to see it to know it was bad. Suddenly, it was like there was not enough oxygen in the air for his lungs, but he ignored it.

"Are you... all right?" he asked the younger one breathing heavily.

"You´re the one to ask," Kame reacted, watching him with those goldish eyes of his, which always seemed like an illusion for Jin, because in fact Kame had them of warm brown color.

"And your... mother?" he continued stubbornly.

"Grenet has her..." Kame responded slowly. "But don´t worry, she will be all right. The tribe will help me and we will get her out of there. She wants to meet you, you know?"

So, Kazuya´s mother was still alive. Good… But there was something what Jin didn´t like on Kame´s voice and face. Despite that his brain was screaming in protest, as it didn´t want to think, he kept observing the other one closely.

"Did he hurt you?" Jin asked slowly. "Did he... Did he touch you? Because if he did..."

Kame seemed abashed as the older one kept asking, and repaid Jin´s look with the indecisive expression. Then Jin finally spotted what he didn´t like on that otherwise beautiful face. There was blood at Kame´s left cheek.

"Did he do that?" he asked hoarsely, staring at the deep cut, probably caused with the knife. Not to mention that now he also saw Kame´s lip swollen, as if he was hit hardly.

Kazuya´s eyes got wide: "What do you mean, Jin?" he asked hesitantly.

Suddenly Jin felt strong enough to kick somebody´s ass.

"What are you...?" the younger one tried to stop him and keep Jin down, but he supported himself over the shaky hands anyway and got up into the sitting position, his back and stomach screaming in new pain. When he could see Kame´s face properly, he got even more determined to know the truth.

"Your cheek... Your mouth... Did he hit you?" Jin repeated the question, almost cutting the words with his teeth.

"Well..." Kame seemed surprised by the sudden Jin´s activity, and observed him carefully. "Yes, he did, but that is nothing unexpected from him. I´m all right, Jin."

"It is not all right!" Jin snapped so violently, that everything around him started to waver in strange haze. His vision got a little blurry again, and Madame Fever reminded him laughing that he was too weak against her. "Did he do anything else?" he asked another question, with his throat narrow.

"No," Kame´s reply came too fast and was too short.

Jin frowned: "I don´t believe you..."

"He threatened me," the younger one admitted slowly. "With many various things... But I´m not hurt, Jin, so calm down, please."

The older one kept repaying the pleading look for a while, before he was willing to admit that Kame was telling him the truth.

"All right..." he nodded slowly.

"Jin... What Grenet told you before? About me?" it was Kame asking the question now.

If possible, Jin started to feel even hotter than before. He didn´t want to discuss the disgusting shit that bastard was letting out his dirty mouth.

"Garbage stuff... I just don´t want him to ever touch you again," Jin huffed out, before he slid down onto the bed again.

*

Kame noted how Jin avoided his look, suddenly strangely nervous. He could clearly imagine what bullshit Grenet might have talked about in front of the other one; what surprised him was how huge volume of emotions it awoke in Jin. He got totally upset, more than he would expect from him in this state. And his heart jumped crazily against his will at that expression Jin had, when he was making sure he was not hurt.

"Try to sleep a little," Kame said, deciding that they could leave the topic for later. "When Liwan comes back, we will move you away from here. I don´t consider this house as safe..."

Jin´s eyes focused back on the younger one only now: "Sorry that I´m so many troubles..."

Seeing those regretful eyes and hearing that apologetic voice was unbearable. Kame raised one of his hands slowly, and caressed Jin´s face, careful because of the darkening bruises.

"You´re not a trouble for me, Jin," he stated quietly.

For two more seconds he remained in that position, so close to the older one´s face, fighting back the urge to lean even closer... But he remembered too well, how this worked out the last time...

*

Jin could feel Kazuya´s breath and he was looking at his face thinking, what it would be like if the younger one would overcome the remaining distance between them. But after that tense moment Kame straightened again, much faster than he moved before and the spell holding Jin´s breath was broken.

"Just call if you need anything," he said, already on his feet, going into the kitchen.

Which Jin considered quite regretful, before sinking back into his personal fight with fever illusions.

***

Despite Liwan´s promise, the sun was already long on its way to the west, when a group of fast riding Indians finally emerged from the shadow of the forest. By that time, Kame´s anxiety reached its peak, as he kept checking the view from the kitchen´s window each two minutes. And Jin was not any better. His fever didn´t go higher, not yet at least, and he even fell asleep for a while, but he didn´t look well, not at all.

Liwan ran into the house apologizing many times. He caught up with the rest of the tribe on their departure and it took them longer to go back than he had expected. Kame was ready to leave right away, as well as Jin whom he dressed into some shirt and spare coat, which he took from his own closet.

It was decided that two youngest Indians would stay, make a skid and remove Jin up the mountains to the village, taking also Kuro with them.

Kame, Liwan and five more Indians were fully armed and prepared to set off to Bozeman. Kame asked Liwan to go for Ukushi, which was waiting in the back and returned to the bedroom for one last time.

"Jin?" he spoke softly, waiting for the dark sunken eyes to open and focus on him. "My friends are here, they will take care of you. You just have to hold on, all right?"

Jin had to gulp down, before he was able to speak: "I will... hold on. I still have to... kick Grenet´s ass..."

A woeful smile appeared on Kame´s lips, when he reacted, touching Jin´s shoulder: "Right... See you soon."

"Yeah... And Kazuya... Good luck."

Kame nodded gratefully, straightened up and rushed out of the house, leaving Jin with his crazy imaginations behind.