Final Destination Part 4
(Kuroyuri Kuzu POV)
'He looks tense. Should I help him relax?' Kuroyuri thought looking at John as he stared at the ocean, shoulders tense. 'It'll make him more compliant when I tell him that he'll be staying behind with me while everyone else will be out fighting. If he refuses, I'll just tie him up and gag him, his survival is more important than anyone else in the group.'
Her train of thought was halted as her hand reflexively reached for her weapon Midori suddenly reappeared next to her before relaxing her grip and started signing to her.
'All set?'
'Yes.'
'Nothing suspicious to report?'
'No. There's no evidence of this place being used for a while.'
Kuroyuri nodded at that, and her expression softened slightly as she stared at her longtime friend. She had mixed feelings about Midori's own mission in the battle to come, but she squashed it down under her professionalism and silently promised to make it up to her later. Maybe by having her act as an assistant teacher for John's lesson in the bedroom arts.
She switched her attention to Kagero, who was sitting with her arms around her knees, staring out at the sea, lost in thought, then moved on to the other two; Misao was currently cleaning her blade, making sure there were no nicks or cracks, and Rinko was meditating with her sword on her lap.
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(John POV)
'Should I tell Kagero about the fact that her lord is dead?' I thought looking at Kagero out of the corner of my eye. 'Knowing that your whole team was sent to their death for no reason other than amusement might cause her to have a mental breakdown. Even if I did tell her, she wouldn't believe me unless I had undeniable proof. Well, she'll find out either way.'
Now to focus on the next important thing.
[Draw a card?]
[Yes/No]
After glaring at the message for a few seconds, I decided to draw a card after holding it off previously and immediately met with disappointment as it wasn't one of the rarer cards before turning into elation as I realized that I was staring at [Slave Trader Zokt].
It's the same guy in the first Taimanin Yukikage game that tricked Yukikage and Rinko into being sex slaves that is now in the palms of my hands. In other words, a perfect disposable meat shield that I wouldn't feel any guilt if he were killed. However, it does bring up the question of whether he's the one from the game or not? Eh, it doesn't really matter since I know he sold other Taimanins before too.
After putting the card away, a new, smaller window popped up dyed blood red.
[Warning! Card carrying limit reached! Next Draw is currently paused. Please summon, sell, discipline, or discard a card. The countdown for the next draw will start once one or more cards are used.]
'Huh, so that's what happens if I reach the card limit,' I thought, sitting down near Kuroyuri and Misao, somewhat glad that the floor wasn't too moldy while trying not to touch anything with my bare hands. After getting somewhat comfortable with my arms crossed my chest for warmth, I closed my eyes ignoring everything to the best of my ability as I tried to come up with a plan to steal the gold with these new variables coming up.
Jubei is missing in action, Dakuan is hiding somewhere, the shadow guy is most likely still alive, and, more importantly, the ship is arriving at an unknown time.
After a few minutes of thinking, all I got was blowing up part of the town just as the ship was arriving to distract them and then have Rinko use her powers to teleport onto the ship, killing everyone there before high-jacking the ship and taking the gold. Or we could kill everyone on the ship just before it arrives, take the gold before blowing up the ship letting them think the gold sank with the ship. I let out a small sigh wondering how other people can make complicated plans in such a short period of time before deciding to give up.
"Tired?" Kuroyuri asked.
"Yeah, I was thinking of taking a small nap now that I have the chance to rest," I said opening one eye to stare at her before closing it and decided to take a nap.
"Here, you can use my lap instead of the wall," Kuroyuri said, scooting closer before grabbing and placing my head on her lap and looking down at me. "Better right?"
"Yeah, much better," I said, enjoying the softness of her thighs, and closed my eyes.
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(John POV 4 Hrs 49 Min later)
"Can you repeat what you just said? I think I misheard you," I said, staring at Kuroyuri who was staring back at me with a determined look on her face.
"I said that you're going with me to a different location while Kagero will lead everyone else to the harbor."
"Ah, yeah that's fine," I said nonchalantly while in my mind, I was pumping my fist in the air and hollering loudly at the good news.
"I know you want to hel–," Kuroyuri started to say until she realized that I agreed with her, "wait what?"
I rolled my eyes at everyone's surprised looks. I'm not a male Taimanin that has any ninja training, nor do I have any combat abilities that will help me right now and I'm smart enough to know my limits. "I know that I'm a liability if I join in and I'm not that good with a blade which will force you to protect me and yourselves at the same time, which might cost you your life trying to protect mine."
Rinko suddenly looked less tense than before as Midori let out a quiet sigh of relief. Misao stared at me in silence for a few seconds before looking away and Kagero had a troubled look on her face for a split second before it disappeared.
Kuroyuri walked up to me and leaned in close enough that I could feel her breath tickling my ear, as she whispered in a sultry manner, "I'm somewhat disappointed that you agreed with me so easily. I was planning on doing anything to change your mind, but I guess I don't need to after all." With that said, she pulled back far enough to wink at me as she giggled at my regretful expression.
"Is it too late to change my mind?" I asked already knowing the answer from the smirk on her face. "What's wrong Rinko?" I asked, noticing a frown on Rinko's face, staring out at sea.
"I can see the ship coming. It's still pretty far away, but it'll be visible soon enough," Rinko said staring straight at a very small smudge in the horizon. "It's considerably bigger than I thought it would be."
"Well, I guess it's time then. So, what's the plan?"
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(Yurimaru POV)
Yurimaru stood with his hands behind his back with Zakuro a few feet to his left, waiting at the docks, watching as the huge ship slowed to a stop before dropping anchor.
He frowned staring at how much damage the ship had taken. "Hurry up and load the ship," He called out to the men on the ship, watching as soldiers poured out from inside, some moving more gingerly than others as they started loading up the ship. He watched for a few more seconds before he turned around and went back in moving past Zakuro.
"Aren't you worried Yurimaru? I would be after letting those ninjas escape time after time without even killing one. I wonder what Gemna will say about this failure," Zakuro spoke up with a sly smirk on her face noticing how his face twitched slightly.
He didn't bother turning around as he spoke, "Why would I be worried? I've already placed my traps all over the town, and now all I need to do is wait for those pesky ninjas to take the bai–" He stopped talking as one of the wires on his wrist let out a slight vibration alerting him that they're here. "Well now, it seems that our guests have arrived sooner than expected."
"It seems that fate is smiling down on you."
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(Rinko POV a few minutes earlier)
They set off at a light pace with Kagero leading them, traveling through the thicker section of the forest, easily weaving through the trees while keeping their senses sharp, dodging the few patrols along the way until they arrived on top of Kashima Harbor's wall.
"Wait, something's not right," Rinko said, instantly noticing something amiss thanks to the moonlight shining down on them providing excellent lighting and her sharpened vision allowed her to see the almost invisibly thin ninja wire strategically spread out for maximum coverage.
"They must have placed these here to slow us down if someone tries to enter," Misao said, trying to locate where all the wires were, but she soon gave up after only a dozen from what she could see.
"They're only giving us two choices, use the roofs to travel above, which they most likely placed more traps at, or enter through the street, forcing us to be mindful of the potential ambushes and the wires. Either way, we'll be alerting them that we're here," Rinko said with a frown trying to see anything unusual in the open space above but finding nothing.
"The roof is a safer bet, but that's what they're assuming we'll take, so I say we use the streets. They can't cover the whole harbor," Kagero stated with a frown.
"Don't forget that all the remaining Demons of Kimon are here, Kagero. It doesn't matter what route we take; either one will force us to be careful, slowing us down enough while the gold is being loaded onto the ship," Midori said, shaking her head. "We have to split up, even if it's risky. It's not like we have much of a choice at the moment. Rinko and Misao, you two will travel above while Kagero and I will go below. Stay safe you two."
"Good luck," Rinko said before they all split up, Rinko and Misao jumping across the rooftops as fast as they could without being reckless.
Midori and Kagero jumped down, running parallel for a moment before moving in a different direction.
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(Jubei POV)
Jubei gritted his teeth as he glared down at the harbor, watching the soldiers carrying the gold into the ship. He didn't see any of his temporary teammates from his vantage point and decided to not wait for them. This is his only chance to finish what he started years ago. 'Gemma, I'll send you straight to hell, even if I'll have to take you there myself,' Jubei thought as he started running again, ignoring the fact that he hadn't had a chance to rest properly.