CH_7.20 (238)

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Takuma paced back and forth in the base with the poster in his clenched fist. He always knew that he had put his face at risk when he had shown it to Motohiro's group, but he didn't think it would be leaked so soon. However, more importantly, he didn't think his identity would be leaked at all.

"This isn't Motohiro's group," said Gaku before lighting up a cigarette.

Everyone had settled down in the couches and chairs. There was a visible tension on everyone's face because of the wanted poster that was posted all around the city so no one would miss it. By the end of the day, Takuma's face was sure to become household knowledge. In fact, the team shouldn't have visited him at the base due to the separation they had built between them for safety—but the matter was too big for them not to meet.

"You're defending them?" asked Rikku with a sharp tone.

"He's right," said Kameko. "They know him as Tobi, but it's his real name on the poster... So, at least, they didn't do this alone." She looked at Takuma. "That organisation is behind this. I think someone from the group went to the organisation and told them about you—they must've recognized you and put your real identity out."

"If the group is involved then why wasn't Gaku postered as well?" asked Daiki. "I don't think they're involved."

Anko shook her head with a click of her tongue. "We can't be sure. They could've omitted Gaku to better paint the narrative they printed on the poster."

It wasn't only his name that was compromised; the poster identified Takuma as a Hidden Leaf shinobi and used that point as propaganda claiming that the Land of Hot Waters and Hidden Steam didn't care about the city enough to send their own people and had sent a foreign shinobi to do their dirty work.

Putting out Gaku's wanted poster alongside Takuma would've damaged the story given that he was a retired Hidden Steam shinobi and a city resident.

"What are you thinking, Takuma?" asked Iori when he didn't say anything.

He stopped pacing and faced the team with a deep frown on his face. "I'm thinking that we have a meeting with the Kumi family in thirty minutes and we're running late. We should leave now," he said to Gaku.

The team was surprised at his lack of comment about the situation since he was clearly bothered about it.

"Just meet them some other time or Gaku can go on his own," said Iori.

"No, we—I have to go now. It might only be the last safe time for me to meet the Kumi family," he sighed. "Motohiro is introducing us to them, but they don't know that the guy they're meeting is the same one from the poster. Motohiro knows me as Tobi, and it's safe to assume that he must've seen the poster—so we go find him to see what exactly he says to them, and if he hasn't updated them about the situation, it's safe to meet them.

"Unlike Motohiro's group, the Kumi family is a criminal group. These guys aren't nice people. As far as we're concerned, regardless of it's true or not, they could've jumped at the offer to work with the Hidden Frost shinobi, but lost out in timing to the Goharu family. If I delay the meeting and they find out that they're supposed to be meeting the guy in the poster, they might plan an ambush with the enemy to gain their favour. Right now, there's a chance that I can safely get in a meeting with them and check out their vibe."

Takuma was wearing his full gear with a robe covering all of it, but got to changing his clothes. He switched his full-sleeved shirt and pants with a half-sleeved t-shirt and cargo shorts, and ditched the robe. He removed his arm and shin guards and carried them in his pouches instead. Previously, everything except for his hands and face was covered, but now the scars on his arms and legs were plenty visible.

"This fits, let's go," said Takuma after enduring a light bout of headache; they had gotten worse after the recent incident.

Gaku stared at him for a moment before putting out his cigarette and getting up from the couch. The team tried to ask him to reconsider, but he was set on having this meeting. He couldn't let his problem mess with the mission. If there was a chance the mission could advance, it needed to be done.

There was no running away from danger because just being in the city was dangerous. He no longer wanted to stay in Yu, and the fastest way to leave the city was to move the mission forward to completion.

———

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Motohiro and his two aides, Wada and Miyauchi, rode their bicycles on their way to the meeting with the Kumi family. As the introducers, they had decided to meet with Gaku and Tobi before proceeding to the meeting with the Kumi family together.

Motohiro was nervous about the meeting because of the parties involved. Even though he was the introducer, he didn't like the Kumi family. They were hoodlums and thugs who increased the violence in the city. One could say that they were necessary because they kept the Goharu family in check, but it was a solution to a problem the criminal families themselves created. He had known many young men pulled into that world when they were looking for a place to belong and the criminal families and gangs had provided that place.

Then there were the shinobi. Every second in their presence was prickly. As friendly as Gaku tried to be, Motohiro couldn't get comfortable around the man because of the faint presence of cold apathy deep in his eyes. He wouldn't have noticed it because it was hidden well, but there was a time when the shinobi had just invaded where Gaku didn't bother to hide it; perhaps that made Motohiro look for it more closely. As for Tobi, he didn't sense any danger from the kid which was a concern in itself because someone who could shatter the floor with a light foot stomp was dangerous.

He, in fact, had no idea how the meeting between the two parties would unfold. He could only pray it was peaceful, but perhaps that was wishful thinking.

They arrived at a lot behind the butcher's market, their designated meeting place.

"Will they come?" asked Wada.

Motohiro didn't have an answer. Even though Tobi was the one to ask for a meeting, the poster in his pocket could very well mean that the meeting was off.

However, they didn't need to wait long to get an answer. Barely two minutes later, Gaku and Tobi were standing behind them.

"Yo," Gaku greeted.

Motohiro's heart pounded because he had no idea when or from where they came from. He turned back and was surprised to see Tobi dressed differently without his robe. He gulped when he saw the concerning amount of scars on his arms and legs. What sort of life had someone so young had lived to accumulate that amount.

He saw Tobi staring at him as though saying if he had something to ask, so he wasted no time and took out the wanted poster that was plastered around the city.

"So, you're Takuma, a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf?"

"Did you do it?" asked Tobi.

"What?"

Tobi took out a kunai, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of him with the kunai held against his neck. Wada screamed in terror and fell back to the ground while Miyauchi jumped toward Takuma but was held back by Gaku with one hand.

"Did you betray me, Motohiro? I've only shown my face to your group. And today I find it plastered all over the city."

"N-No! I didn't do it!"

Tobi pressed the kunai closer, and Motohiro felt his heart race in fear and horror as he stared in Tobi's dull eyes.

This was a killer, Motohiro thought—and he was going to die.

"Please, it was not me, please!"

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"No, I'm not!"

He thought about his children, wife, and parents. His wife would take care of the business to support his family, but his son was too young to help his mother. He couldn't help but worry about his family who he was leaving behind when the city was in such a fragile state.

"Miyauchi! Wada! Take care of my family!" he yelled with his eyes closed. The thought that they might die with him didn't cross his mind.

He held his breath and waited for the blade to go through his throat but that time never came. He opened his eyes and saw that the light had returned to Tobi's eyes. When Tobi removed the blade from his neck, Motohiro fell to the ground. He was completely drenched in sweat, he was breathing heavily, and his heart was beating to hard that it hurt.

"My name is Takuma," said Tobi.

Motohiro stared at Tobi's outstretched hand for long before deciding that he didn't want to be touched by him. He slowly got up on his own with his feet that refused to stop trembling. He looked at Wada and Miyaychi and they looked just as terrified, if not more.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, but I had to confirm you didn't screw me, and this was the quickest," said Tobi.

"You—!" Motohiro was speechless. He was furious, but couldn't say anything in fear for his life. It took him several deep breaths before he calmed himself down.

"You lied to us," he said.

"You asked me to show my face. I did," said Tobi. "I'm far away from home, fighting in a foreign war. The less anyone knows about me, the better it is for everyone." Motohiro tried to cut-in, but Tobi continued. "It's better for you as well. Knowledge can be a curse, you don't want to know something that might attract trouble to you."

Motohiro pursed his lips. He thought about the number of posters he had seen on his way here. This partnership of theirs could get him in trouble if someone leaked the information to the enemy. He knew he could find himself in an interrogation where he was tortured for information. That had happened to some people who were suspected of the police station bombing.

"Given the current situation, it's important that you answer this carefully. What did you tell the Kumi family about us? Did you think they'll connect him to the poster," Gaku said as he played with his lighter.

Miyauchi answered, "We never said you were shinobi; we told them you were the guys behind the police station arson... but I think with the rumours floating around, I think they'll assume that shinobi were behind it."

Not only the poster blamed Tobi for the two police station arson and bombing and the murder of three well-liked police officers, even before the wanted poster, there was a rumour that the shinobi were involved in it. It wasn't a leap to assume that the Kumi family had joined the dots to reach a conclusion.

"But you didn't say it explicitly, right?" asked Tobi.

"No, we didn't."

"Then, that's it. Let's go meet them."

Motohiro noticed the look Gaku gave Tobi, and how it was ignored. He understood they were worried about the Kumi family screwing them over and putting them in danger. And he had to be honest, even though he didn't trust them one iota and didn't like Tobi at all right now, it did feel good that Tobi was taking the risk. As Tobi had just put it—he was far away from home, fighting in a foreign war.

He didn't need to do it, but he was doing it.

.

———

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