Telegram

The following day happened to be surprisingly lively, despite the heavy blanket of dark clouds, which already seemed to be too tired to pour any more water over the hills and lands of Montana.

That morning, Kame was among the very first citizens of Bozeman, who were awake and outside the house. During the night, he couldn´t get any proper sleep. He had spent many long sleepless hours on his bed, not able to get the thoughts about what happened between him and Jin in the evening before out of his head.

Kame gave up his useless attempts for at least some rest shortly before the dawn and decided to use the additional free time for little chores around the house and shelter for Ukushi, which were necessary to be done. It was not so urgent, as he was doing quite a good job in taking care of their home all the time, but that was not important at all. He just needed to keep his mind busy by something. By anything what distracted him enough...

It was near the breakfast time when Kame accidentally spotted Brad and one of his companions sneaking out of the city, walking as quietly as they could alongside their fully loaded horses and heading towards the woods. Seeing the inconspicuous departure of those two brought Kame a bad hunch, which didn´t leave him even after a very silent breakfast with his mother.

Not to mention that on his way to work he saw Captain Walker´s group of soldiers setting off to the mountains as well. They were probably going to continue their search for the traces of Sioux group of attackers again. And Kame was quite sure that both expeditions meant troubles for his friends from the Blackfeet Tribe...

*

Jin was woken up by the loud cheerful voices and the horses´ neighing under his window. The next perception, which he had realized, was that the muscles of his neck hurt like hell, because he fell asleep in the sitting position, with the guitar in his lap.

He was pretty confused, until he remembered that in the previous evening he just couldn´t make it to the dreamland at all, rolling over and over on the bed, so he took the instrument out from its box, trying to calm himself down by strumming the strings, remembering the songs, which his best friend taught him long time ago.

Jin got up and returned the guitar back carefully, stroking across the smooth wood gloomily. He hadn´t touched it even once since... Since the day Pi had died. He closed the box slowly, thinking about what made him play it again after such a long time. It helped him to fall asleep, but it couldn´t remedy what happened only a few hours ago. If it was even possible to fix what he screwed somehow, which Jin really doubted.

He opened the window to let some fresh air in and the excited voices became recognizable. The fuss in front of the saloon, which interrupted his light sleep, was caused by the arrival of the tired postal worker, who – except some letters - brought the news about the post-coach coming to the city soon.

Before Jin could get downstairs for some breakfast, he was stopped in the corridor by the person who he wasn´t exactly happy to see as the first one in the morning. It was Grenet himself and he ordered him to go to Karnaka´s farm to present the report about their progress with the Blackfeet Tribe.

Jin just managed to spot Kame helping Miss McBain in the kitchen, when he went through the taproom. And he felt like a coward, when he ran out in a rush, before the younger one could notice him too...

*

The journey to the rich farm was shorter than Jin had remembered, but it was probably caused by his pondering in the gloomy mood. The guards let him appear in front of his current boss only without any weapons again and he repeated everything what he was ordered by Grenet, trying to pretend that he was significantly concerned about the current situation.

Raynold Karnaka was not exactly thrilled about the news – they still didn´t know the Indians´ village location. Fortunately, Jin didn´t become the target of the old man´s annoyance and he was only ordered to go back to the city with the message for Grenet and also with the order to inform Karnaka immediately, if there was anything new.

This time, Jin was more than glad he could go away; he wasn´t in the mood for dealing with any annoying orders which Karnaka, or his toady Cameron, could come up with, neither for watching around the fields. Kuro, who sensed his master´s bad mood, was unusually obedient and he brought Jin back to the city shortly before the dusk.

In the stalls, Jin met with that cute squirt Mike, who was obviously happy to see the young gunslinger and immediately took Kuro´s bridle, promising to take care of the horse. Then Jin headed to the saloon, finding it quite full, as there were Captain Walker and his soldiers, enjoying their relaxing evening and drinking some beer. It wouldn´t have been anything surprising, if not for four tables moved so that they created one huge surface, as the uniformed men sat there together with Grenet, who was obviously trying to persuade Walker for more drinking, but the man was moderate enough to refuse continuously.

When Grenet spotted Jin in the doorway, he just made a short sign across his mouth, which meant that he wanted his report later and continued with his dirty jokes, which were laughed at by all soldiers except Walker, who was observing the deputy with hardly readable look.

Jin didn´t care about the drinking group anymore, as his eyes fell on the young bartender, who was over-occupied with the preparation of more and more tankards. He hesitated on the spot, not sure if he should go to the bar counter or rather leave to his room, when Kame noticed the older one´s presence too.

Their eyes met only for the brief moment, during which Jin felt exposed and somehow vulnerable, with his feet stiffened, before Kazuya broke the contact first and returned his attention to the glass, which had almost spilled over from the liquid.

Jin kept looking at the younger one for a few more seconds, feeling the huge urge to talk with him, but he knew he just couldn´t do it in front of the full taproom. He didn´t have courage to go to the counter and ask for a beer. Jin felt kind of stupid, but in the end he approached the connected tables instead, joining the drinking group and trying to avoid looking at the young bartender.

*

It took something over one hour, before the soldiers left to their rooms to sleep, which they did only after Walker´s uncompromising order. The captain excused himself after that as well and four of Karnaka´s gunmen got up and left the saloon soon after him. Only then, Grenet was willing to listen what orders Jin had brought from Raynold Karnaka.

He didn´t say anything unexpected; Grenet knew that their boss wouldn´t be happy about the slow progress, so it didn´t pissed him off much. He just forced Jin to go with him to the counter and ordered two more shots of whiskey. He drank it in one go, then that bastard thanked Jin with a wide grin for treating him and left without letting any cash behind. Kame obviously realized it, but didn´t say a word and kept serving other customers.

Jin retreated to the table in the corner then, and sipping on his beer, he was not able to prevent himself from hypnotizing Kame behind the bar. But it didn´t seem that the other one noticed him, actually Kame didn´t pay him any attention, which made Jin feel more and more depressed.

Then Mr. Harada took his place and Kazuya headed to the back door to take care of the stalls, before his shift was supposed to end. Only then Jin gulped down the rest of his beer, paid Harada with almost all remaining savings, as except Grenet´s, his ´companions´ drinks were not covered either, and ran after the bartender.

Jin tried to ignore his heart, which started to beat faster, when he spotted Kame talking with Mike in front of the stalls, sending him home for that evening. Then he disappeared in the stalls and Jin found himself fighting against the part of him, which was telling him not to go there... He was standing there in the shadows, felt his knees to be unusually weak and his throat narrow. But still, after a minute his feet moved and Jin entered the stalls too.

Kame´s slim figure was moving in the dim light of a few lanterns, as he was checking the stables, making sure that all toll-bars were closed properly. The place was almost completely full of horses; some belonged to the soldiers and to the surveyors, who – for the time being – were spending most of time in the saloon, making some lame excuses about how dangerous the local woods were, instead of doing their job.

Jin made two steps from the entrance and stopped between two rows of stables, watching the other one. He wanted to say something, but it was as if somebody cut his tongue out and he wasn´t able to utter even a word.

Thanks to that, Kame spotted the older one only after he turned in the end of the main aisle, already done with his task. Jin knew that he should greet the younger one at least, to explain his presence there, anything, but he just couldn´t, feeling his heart sinking down under Kazuya´s look. The younger one´s face turned cold and his following steps heading to the front part of stalls were tense.

Jin hid his hands into the pockets, fidgeting nervously. He was more and more anxious as Kame was approaching. When the younger one walked up to him, he was one big standing example of nervousness. Then the bartender just passed by him toward the door, saying nothing at all.

Jin was completely frozen for a second, before he turned around hurriedly.

"Kame, wait!" his voice was strange, pinched in the lungs, not having enough air for speaking.

The bartender stiffened with his hand reaching the door, remaining turned to them.

"Please, wait," Jin repeated, feeling unpleasantly hot all of the sudden, the invisible hands squeezing his stomach. "I just want to talk with you..."

Kame´s shoulders cowered, as if he had expected a blow. Then he turned back slowly, his eyes dark, and the facial features stiff. The younger one just waited, not saying anything. Jin´s hands turned into the firm fists in their hideouts, as he was searching for his voice to speak again.

"I... about the... yesterday," he managed to spit out. "I don´t want..."

Jin stopped trying to search for the correct words; if was somewhat impossible, anyway. He couldn´t bear it, with those eyes watching him. There was no way how he could explain it properly…

"We´re still friends, right?" he asked in the end, feeling cornered. He would have sworn that he wasn´t that nervous ever in his life.

Kame was watching the older one motionless, but his expression changed, somehow softened and he looked much more as the Kazuya Jin got to know weeks ago.

"Of course we are, Jin," the bartender said, his voice without any negative emotions.

Jin breathed out in relief. Kame talking to him – that was some progress.

"Good. I just want it to stay that way..." he said and continued hastily, fearing that Kazuya would not want to listen. "I shouldn´t have done what I did. I didn´t want to insult you or hurt you... It was... Ah, this is stupid. I´m not good at this stuff..."

"Jin," the younger´s voice interrupted his blabbering. "You didn´t notice that I´m not angry because of what you did..."

Jin´s breathe jammed in his lungs and he couldn´t tear his eyes off Kazuya´s face. Was it only him, or was the younger one really blushing a little?

"Ehm..." Jin hesitated.

What am I supposed to say now? What if I make it even worse?

"Well, but... I wouldn´t have been surprised if you were... angry. Because it was... wrong."

After those words, Kame´s face turned very cold again and his eyebrows bent in the frowning line.

"Says who?" he asked, and Jin realized that the younger one was upset.

"What? What do you mean?" he reacted, a little confused.

"Who says it was wrong, Jin?" Kame asked again.

Jin was baffled at that moment. For him, it was so clear that they did something wrong. They were not supposed to... kiss, because they were...

"Well, the manners..." he murmured finally.

"The manners..." Kazuya repeated slowly and took one step closer to him. "All right. So tell me... Did you feel it was wrong?"

Jin gulped down heavily, not being able to respond. Kame approached even closer, so he ended up right in front of Jin, looking in his eyes.

"Just tell me what you felt," he asked quietly.

Oh, hell, he is so close again... Jin almost panicked.

He felt Kazuya´s warm breath on his face, he could sense the faint smell of cigarettes and hay, which were clinging to the young man thanks to his workplace, and there was also a slight fragrance of something what reminded Jin wet needles, the cold morning in the woods and freshly baked cakes. Naturally, that was not possible, but still… Jin felt it.

Those brownish eyes were creating a hole in him, making his heart dancing in the throat... That flood of emotions was incredible. But... But... There was something... strange. It was against everything what Jin was ever taught. He couldn´t just forget about it.

"I... I can´t..." he breathed out and regretted saying it almost immediately.

The surprising anger appeared in Kame´s eyes. All of the sudden his hands grabbed Jin for the coat´s collar, and pulled him closer. Jin didn´t expect the slim bartender being able to be so rough and he staggered a little, finding the support at the door of the closest stable.

"If you really think that it was so wrong, why the hell did you do it in the first place?!" Kame´s voice was loud and somewhat desperate. "Why did you kiss me, Jin?!"

It hurt almost physically to see the younger one like that. Jin was helpless and didn´t know what to do to fix what went wrong. He didn´t want to lose Kazuya. He had already realized that he needed to have the handsome, honest bartender by his side…

"I... I´m sorry..." he tried desperately.

"And I told you to stop apologizing for it!" Kame´s voice went quite high this time. "Don´t you realize it at all?"

Jin´s heart felt as if it wanted to jump out of his chest. He opened his mouth to say something, to ask for what Kame had meant, even though the part of him already knew, but the younger one was the first to speak again.

"It´s not like only you kissed me," he said. "I kissed you too, you moron."

*

Kame didn´t expect much from the young moody gunslinger. Not after how he had reacted the previous evening. Not after what he had heard out. But... He hoped for at least something. Anything, apart from being sorry.

Kazuya couldn´t recognize his own behavior; he was actually shocked by how much Jin influenced him. And this foolish attempt to provoke some reaction from the older one, why the hell did he do that?

Despite that, Jin remained silent. Kame was looking into his dark eyes and saw confusion and worries. The other one´s face was a picture of being helpless. There was something more too, a glimpse of a completely different emotion, but if Jin was not able to name it, how could he?

Kame released his grip around Jin´s coat. Could he even reproach the other man his attitude, when Jin himself didn't know what to do with his feelings, which were in the direct opposition to what he was taught? The gunslinger was scared of what was happening between them. Kame realized it finally and that realization made him calm down a little.

How comes it made him so much pissed? It was perfectly understandable, that Jin´s fear…

The older one was observing him almost pleadingly and that look awoke the faint guilt inside Kame. He had quite a different point of view on the love relationships, but that didn´t mean he could force Jin to think the same. Or that he had the right to be angry at him.

Kame took a step back, so that he created some free space between them. He didn´t even realize that he forced Jin to retreat to one of the stables.

"I know, but..." Jin whispered, still holding onto the wooden counter behind him, as he was trying to force himself not to move. "I don´t want to lose you, Kazuya… Can you... Can you understand?"

Kame´s heart was squeezed into the tiny fast-beating object hearing that. The quiet statement sounded a little strangled, like there was something in Jin´s throat, what prevented him from talking in a usual way. And that something appeared in his throat as well, when Kame thought about what to say.

It was selfish from Jin, but the truth was that he didn´t want to push the older one away from his life either. It was still only hardly understandable, how much attached to him Kame became after such a short time they knew each other. But it was not worth spoiling it just because of one… kiss.

"Yes... I´m still on your side, Jin," Kame managed to say finally. "Nothing changed on that."

Jin stared on him for a while, before he dared to smile a little: "I´m glad to hear that…"

They were looking at each other for a minute, and despite the final mutual agreement the tense anxiety arose between them, which thickened the air.

"So…" Kame encouraged himself to speak again and change the subject of their conversation. "Did you find out anything new? I´ve noticed you rode away today..."

Jin cleared his throat and focused his eyes somewhere to the ground, while he responded.

"Well, I did, but you won´t like it… Walker had no luck looking for those Sioux rebels, that´s not so surprising, but…"

"But? Grenet?" Kame guessed.

"Yeah… He sent Brad and some other guy to search for the Blackfeet village again."

Kame frowned, not surprised much: "I knew it… I saw them leaving the city this morning."

"The deputy won´t give up so easily," Jin murmured and made two steps along the stable and then back again, as if he was trying to shake some numbness away.

"I just hope that the tribe moved to their winter sanctuary already, as Liwan told me the last time," Kame said.

"I hope so, too," Jin nodded.

And it was there again. The tense silence, during which neither Jin nor Kame knew what to say or what to do.

"Well… I think I should go and help Mr. Harada to close the saloon…" Kame stated and moved toward the exit slowly.

"Ah, all right," Jin nodded vigorously, but didn´t move even by inch.

Kame stared at the older one.

"So, if you excuse me…" he said, pointing out at the door, in front of which Jin was standing.

"Sure, sure!" Jin moved away so hastily, that he bounced to the row of pitchforks near the wall and threw them all down with the awfully loud sound, which made both of them almost jump off their skins.

After the noise died out, they moved at the same moment to collect the pile of the tools up from the ground.

"Damn it all…" Jin swore. "It´s all right, Kame, I got it," he was waving the other one away. "I´ll take care of it; just go to your job…"

"Stop blabbering, I´ll help you a little," Kame hushed the older one.

Of course, they ended up picking up the last one both at once. They flinched back from the touch of their fingers, when they met on the handle. The last pitchfork hit to the already standing colleagues and threw them down again.

"Damn…" both of them spoke at the same time, and their eyes met surprised, before running off.

"I should go then…" Kame said, stumbling over the words a little.

"Yeah, I´ll clean it up, don´t worry," Jin assured him.

Kame nodded and slipped out through the door.

Jin spent more than two minutes by putting the tools back on their place, thinking over that sad expression Kame had... and about the possibility, they had for talking in a normal way, as before. If there was any at all...

***

Early in the next morning, Kame found his employer on the saloon´s veranda, engrossed in serious discussion with Captain Walker. They didn´t even let the bartender to greet them properly and stopped him right away.

"I´d like to ask you for a favor again, Kamenashi," Captain blurted without any long start. "I´ve just spoken with Mr. Harada and he´s willing to give you two or more days off for it."

Kame eyed the saloon´s owner, who was biting on his morning cigarette, and seemed not very happy about the issue.

"Why? What´s going on, Captain? How can I help you?" he asked.

"To be honest, we´re somewhat lost in the woods around here…" Walker started explaining. "I assume you have quite a good knowledge of them, and I´d like to use your help once again."

"But, Captain, I have my job here and I can´t just…"

"Mr. Harada understands the seriousness of the situation. We need to find those rebels, Kamenashi. I´m sure you want to clear your Blackfeet Tribe friends from all possible accusations, right? The sooner we find Sioux Indians, sooner they can be at peace."

Walker was able to talk very nicely about something like that. He was reasonable and convincing, Kame had to admit.

"Well…" he reacted, still hesitating. "When do you want to set off?"

"Within an hour, if possible?" Walker suggested.

Considering the current situation, Kame assumed that it wouldn´t be so bad to go away from the city and especially from Jin for a while, so eventually this proposition appeared quite convenient.

"Is it really no problem, sir?" Kame looked at his employer again.

"It´s a middle of the working week, meaning not so many customers; I´ll handle it," Harada shrugged. "And we need to keep our city safe, right? And according to what here Mister Captain told me, you can help with that…"

"All right," Kame nodded. "I will try my best to help you, Captain."

"I´m really relieved to hear that, thank you," Walker seemed honestly glad about his response. "Let´s meet in front of the stables, then."

*

"Good morning, boss!" a loud greeting of the youngster in high boots and with the green scarf around his head, was heard all over another veranda, belonging to Sheriff´s Office this time, where Grenet was sitting with his feet leant on the railing, sipping on his morning cup of strong coffee.

He pierced that eager beaver with an annoyed look; he hated to be interrupted during the mornings, when he was still half-asleep: "What is it, Danny?" he growled.

"The telegram from Sheriff Trent came for you, boss. The telegrapher gave it to me, saying that I should hand it over as soon as possible."

"He definitely took his time, that bastard," Grenet commented, almost surprised that the message came at all. Trent had a tendency to be reckless. It was already weeks ago, when Brad was there trying to find out some information about Akanishi. "Give it to me."

"Here," the young man was handing over the piece of folded paper obediently.

Grenet took it casually, still sipping on the dark liquid and skimmed through a few lines. Before his eyes reached the end of the telegram, half of the gulp, which he just had in his mouth, ended sputtered out at the paper: "…the fuck?!!"

The errand-boy stepped back a little, surprised by the sudden outburst and a little scared. He wanted to build his position among Grenet´s men slowly and surely and it wouldn´t be good if he was targeted for just bringing the bad news.

"That little son of a bitch!" Grenet cursed awfully, rumpling the paper in his hand. "Danny!" he barked at him.

"Yes, sir?" he asked carefully.

"Go for Akanishi. Tell him we´re leaving for the farm. Now!"

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir. I´m going, sir," Danny blabbered and dashed away towards the saloon.

Grenet didn´t hear him; he was just gritting his teeth in anger. He hid the paper into the pocket, jumped on his feet and stomped inside the office for his hat and coat, while the words in the telegram were burning inside his head teasingly, making him more and more angry...

To: Math Grenet, Deputy of Sheriff in Bozeman

From: Trent, Sheriff in Billings

Just returned to city and got your message STOP Beware of Jin Akanishi STOP He was friend of Tomohisa Yamashita STOP He may want revenge STOP Awaiting instructions END