Lower Lows; Higher Highs

[Amy]

Misaki’s pace slowed, beads of sweat slipping down the sides of her face. The position of the sun suggested they had been running for nearly an hour. She had already planned on getting the two of them out of Jianyu in a hurry when she found Yutaka but the man had needed no encouragement. He hadn’t even given her time to respond to him before he took off in the direction of…well, Misaki didn’t really know what direction they were running in. But she also didn’t think it mattered at that moment in time. Trying to stop and explain where they needed to go and figure out what direction it was in would have stolen valuable time they needed to put distance between them and Jianyu.

“You wanna tell me what the fuck you did?” Despite her harsh words, the tone was incredibly casual. She fell back against a large tree and slid to the ground, kicking her feet out in front of her. “Cause of the two of us I thought for sure I’d be the one hightailing it out of there.”

Objectively, their mission had been an overall success. For the first time in Misaki’s life, for the first time since her sister was taken, for the first time since she had met Yutaka, she held a real clue in her hands. It was only the first piece of the puzzle but it was more than she had ever had. Small bits of information, whispers in the dark, ideas that never fully took shape were the only hints she had ever been able to find. Whoever these people were they ran a tight ship. Tight enough that despite finally having a clue, Misaki didn’t know what to do with it. It wasn’t as though she could just walk up to the camp and announce that she was there searching for her sister. Especially, she thought to herself, her fingers tracing the brand on her neck. Especially not until she got rid of that.

But even then, she was more likely to become a victim than accomplish anything. No doubt, the people who worked for the trafficking group were worse than the Yakuza. One Taichi, she could handle. Maybe two with Yutaka there. But how many traffickers would be at one location? She had no idea but she was confident it would be more than two. And it wasn’t like they could just kill them all in a surprise attack. Based off of everything she knew, no one stayed at these camps for long. Just long enough to get sold off somewhere for a profit. Misaki knew her sister wouldn’t be there and that likely, no one would even remember who she was. She didn’t need that though, not yet. All she needed was the next piece of the puzzle.

“We shouldn’t stop for long,” she added before Yutaka had a chance to start talking. “Pretty sure we just pissed off a whole lotta people.” Maybe they wouldn’t give chase. Hopefully they wouldn’t give chase. Taichi had wanted her. She had seen it in his eyes when he promised to come back for her. But he thought she was just an everyday whore. Surely, after a brief moment of frustration, he would give up on her. Not even Misaki had such a large ego to think she was that special. But still, she couldn’t deny the sense of unease that plagued her as they rested. As though they were tempting fate.

[ThatGuy]

It took Yutaka a moment before he could catch his breath enough to answer Misaki. Adrenaline was pushing him forward, but the lack of sleep the past few days was still weighing heavily on his body. Sleep was the last thing on his mind, however, as he found himself constantly checking their surroundings. After years of running, the Oni was still attempting to track him down. The intensity of the hunt died down after he joined the military, but they never stopped completely. If someone had managed to catch a glimpse of his real face earlier, he’d have to kiss the easy life goodbye.

“I met with Taichi, and things went south, so I had to get out of there. I ran for a while to try and shake off anyone that might have been following me before changing disguises. Fucker came around a corner and tossed a bottle at me. It was a one in a million shot, but he nailed me in the back of the head with it, and it dropped my transformation, jutsu.” Yutaka gritted his teeth, still bitter about the whole situation. “I couldn’t let them live after seeing my face. I only saw four of them, but I can’t be sure that they were the only ones.”

He was embarrassed. Though he did his best to hide it, Yutaka was a highly capable individual, and he had executed his plan perfectly for the most part. It was a huge blunder to not notice the men chasing him, but if it hadn’t been for the lucky shot from the bottle, he would’ve been able to change disguises in time and give them the slip. Sometimes it felt like the hand of fate itself would make an appearance during his highest moments just to punch him in the dick. With a groan, he nodded his head at Misaki’s second statement.

“They’re gonna be on our ass for a while. We’re gonna have to make some serious distance before we can start to relax. There are two things that really have me worried, however. Firstly, Taichi had already considered you his prey. He already thought you were a spy, so when he finds out that you got away, he’s not going to let that go. Besides, once he considers someone his new toy, he isn’t willing to let them go easily. But the other thing is if Kioshi finds out I was in Jianyu. If that’s the case... Honestly, you might just want to ditch me and continue alone.”

There was no self-pity in his tone, he completely understood why she might want to leave him behind. Honestly, he probably understood more than she did. Kioshi was one vindictive bastard, and at the end of the day, Misaki had a job to do. Having had a minute to rest, he remembered something very important. With a smile, he turned to Misaki and flashed the briefcase he kept hidden under his yukata.

“Wasn’t a total loss, though. We got plenty of money to last us wherever we end up.”

[Amy]

“Don’t tempt me,” Misaki grumbled, digging her heels into the ground. It shouldn’t be possible to have luck as bad as Yutaka’s but here they were. Running. Again. This time though, she knew she couldn’t blame it all on him. The whole mission had been her idea. She was the one who had pushed the envelope, she was the one who had insisted on staying even after she had met with Taichi. She was the one who had lied to Yutaka about how much time they had before he came back for her. She was the one who had raised suspicion inside of the brothel. Whatever it was she had done, however it was she had acted, she was the one who earned his attention. There were dozens of women in that brothel but after meeting with her for a few minutes….

A heavy sigh fell from her mouth, breathing out all of the useless thoughts with it. Where the blame laid didn’t matter. What was happening in Jianyu didn’t matter. What did matter was what they were going to do now. Shaking off the rest of the guilt and worry creeping around the edges of her consciousness, Misaki managed to grin up at Yutaka.

“I did hear something about four times the amount they bought me for.” Her eyes fell to the suitcase at the same time her grin faltered. Chie’s words rang through her ears. There was nothing compelling her to tell Yutaka what she had said. The message that she had given her to pass onto Yutaka. Even just a few months ago, Misaki wouldn’t have told him, she knew that. She would have said it wasn’t her problem and conveniently forgotten about it. But now, she didn’t know. She didn’t know if it was because she knew that if someone kept a message from her sister from her, that she would kill them. That seemed more likely than her having developed some sense of loyalty for him. Whatever it was, she didn’t think she could keep it to herself.

“Listen,” she said as she pushed herself to her feet. “I dunno how you’re going to react to this so I’m just going to say it. Chie figured out who you were. And she gave me a message for you.” Misaki didn’t waste time giving all of the details of what had transpired. “She said to let it go. She said to let her go.” It wasn’t exactly what Chie had said but it was what she had meant.

She eyeballed Yutaka carefully, trying to read his expression. If there was one thing Misaki understood, it was the inability to let something, someone, go. But she already had her obsession. There wasn’t room for a second one. “If you want to go back, I won’t stop you. But I won’t go with you. Or,” she grinned once more, glancing at the briefcase. “We can go spend some of your hard earned money for a change.”

[ThatGuy]

Yutaka was surprised to hear that not only had Chie warned Misaki and helped her escape, but had also somehow managed to figure out his real identity. Where had he slipped up? Was it this feminine intuition he was always hearing about? Regardless, her message struck true. He understood how she felt. Yutaka had finally gotten away after years of being their slave, only to return. But one thing she seemed to have gotten wrong was that he was not there for revenge, not against the Oni branch at least. He was only there to help Misaki in her investigation, so he had no issues leaving and never coming back. The only thing that still weighed heavily on him was the knowledge that poor Keiko was forced to suffer as Taichi’s plaything. When Misaki gave him permission to go back, he chuckled.

“The koi does not belong in the sea.”

It was something he had told Chie back when he had first received his back tattoo—a corny use of symbolism. But its meaning was true nonetheless. Yutaka had no place in Jianyu or within the Yakuza as a whole. They were all chains that he needed to cast aside to search for true freedom. He told himself that he was done working towards the interests of other people. From then on, he was going to live for nobody but himself. With a smile, he realized that he had started to break that rule with Misaki as of late. But was it truly serving her if he simply wanted to see how far she could go? With a wink, he put the briefcase away.

“Let’s keep going west for now. We can gawk at the money later.”

----

It took a while before they were far enough away from Jianyu to finally settle down a bit and even longer still to find a place that wasn’t within the sphere of influence of any Yakuza families. Once they finally did, however, they began their lives of luxury. For the first time since they had started traveling together, they could afford separate rooms, something that Misaki was quite happy about. Yutaka was able to indulge his vices to a degree that he rarely had the chance to in the past. He stocked up on alcohol and fell into the habit of getting two girls every time he went to the brothel.

He wasn’t quite sure how long they had been in this town. A week? A month? Several months? Time was a haze as he spent all of his free time in pure self-indulgence. Putting his clothes back on, he let out a silent yawn as he took care not to wake the two women sleeping nearby. As he exited the room, he made his way back to the front room of the brothel and was surprised to find Misaki there as well. With a cheeky smile, he walked over to her.

“Picking up an extra shift?”

Things had gotten back to normal as of late. Some distance away from Jianyu had helped him once again shove his memories behind a wall. But more importantly, it allowed him to smother and bury the feelings of empathy that threatened to turn him into a caring human. It had sucked putting in all that work to gather all that money, but it had paid off in the long run. Even Misaki was getting a chance to relax and enjoy themselves, although it was only because they needed to kill some time while the heat on them died down. If this was what it took to lie low, he could certainly get used to it.

[Amy]

The pleasant smile on Misaki’s face dropped when she heard Yutaka’s voice. She had been very careful to avoid running into him at the brothel for this exact reason. It had been easy considering her rare visits and his extended ones. Men were easy enough to find and pick up in bars but women were more complicated. Women wanted romance and affection and love, three things Misaki had none of to give. She had found herself a bit reluctant to go, at first. She had known that if she walked into the brothel and it was like the one in Jianyu that she was liable to kill everyone who owned the place. Her relief was nearly palpable when she walked in to the sound of women’s laughter and a clean, respectable environment. Not a single person there looked afraid or worried.

“Go fuck yourself,” Misaki said somewhat dispassionately. Reflexively, her hand reached up to cover the back of her neck. It was one of the first things they had done after leaving Jianyu. Cutting the brand off hurt significantly more than having it done. But it had to be removed, as onerous as it was. On the off chance that Taichi and Kioshi were hunting them the brand was too identifying. Since they had the money it had been easy to afford to hire a real healer to heal the wound left behind on the back of her neck. It was like it never even happened aside from the memory of Yutaka’s knife slicing through her skin, the sake doing little to numb the pain.

Shaking off the memory, Misaki headed towards the front door, motioning for Yutaka to follow along with her. Things had been going well since they landed in town. There was no yakuza presence there, not regularly at least, which was about as good as things were going to get. Misaki had been miserable for the first few days. They finally had a clue and they couldn’t do anything with it. She hadn’t been able to sleep, eat, or relax. Finally, after a few days though she had dragged herself to a bar and had only planned to stay for a drink or two. But then two had turned into three which had turned into five which had turned into waking up in her private room with a man wrapped in her sheets. After that, relaxing had started to seem rather appealing, even as tangential as it was for her.

Every day, at least for a little while, she forgot about the bigger goal. For the first time in maybe her entire life, Misaki just enjoyed living, uncaring of how much money they spent. It felt dirty anyway and she didn’t want to keep it. But like all good things, it eventually had to end. And that end was hovering on the horizon.

“Pretty sure our vacation is over,” she said with a yawn. They had split the money when they got to town though they hadn’t been exact with how it had been spent.“Unless you’ve somehow managed to save more than me. Or if your luck turned and you left the casino with more money than you went in with.” Misaki couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. That’s how rarely that happened.

“As safe as this play may have been we shouldn’t stay too long.” Eventually, just by staying, they would be more likely to be found. If anyone was looking. Misaki honestly doubted that they were. After a few days of being pissed, Taichi had probably forgotten all about her. And they probably hadn’t even seen who Yutaka was. “We’ll make sure we have enough for the trip and then get going.” There was no question to her tone, though it was slightly nicer than an order. Only slightly, though.

[ThatGuy]

Yutaka couldn’t help but notice the way Misaki reflexively touched the spot on her neck where the brand used to be. It had been a bitch to get rid of, but she was lucky that they had enough money to ensure it went smoothly. Part of him felt a little bad about the whole ordeal, but the other part remembered that it was all entirely her own idea. It had been beneficial in the long run, but she had nobody to blame but herself for the pain of removing the brand.

His eyes looked down to the brand on his wrist. When Misaki was getting hers removed, he had considered removing his own. Ultimately, he decided it would be more of a hassle than it was worth. His tattoos did a good enough job of hiding the brand, and removing it would only make it more suspicious. Yutaka would have to try and remove a large portion of the tattoos on his arms, and that would just defeat the purpose. The tattoos were as much of a brand as the lotus symbol, and there was no way he’d be able to remove all of them. Besides, as much as he hated that they represented his past life, they were truly a part of him. As Misaki motioned for him to follow, a memory played in his mind.

----

”The koi is good for you. Do you know the story?”

A young Yutaka casually read from his book while Chie cleaned his back in an attempt to prevent the tattoo from getting infected. It was a huge piece of work and would take months to get it fully completed. As much as he hated the Yakuza, he had to admit that it was going to look pretty badass when finished. Still not looking up from his book, Yutaka gave a dispassionate answer.

”A koi swims upstream in an attempt to leap over a waterfall and reach the dragon gate. After many failed attempts, it finally succeeds, and as a reward, the gods transform it into a dragon. I’ve read a couple of different versions, but that’s pretty much it.”

”Don’t you think it’s fitting? Your life has been a struggle, but you have the potential to become a dragon! Even Kioshi has acknowledged that.”

A sardonic smile grew across Yutaka’s face. He couldn't blame her for not realizing the truth. It was exactly what Kioshi was going for when he designed the tattoo. Only he and Yutaka understood that it was one massive, layered insult.

“It's the opposite, actually. What is around the koi on my back?”

Chie stopped cleaning for a moment and hesitantly answered the question.

“Waves?”

“Yep. Waves mean the sea. For everyone else, it could be dismissed as simply a cool way to draw water, but Kioshi very purposefully designed this.”

“What does that have to do with becoming a dragon?”

Yutaka set his book down and searched through his stack in the corner of the room. Pulling a large book of maps, he opened to a map of the continent.

“We have found and recorded over four thousand waterfalls. You want to know how many of those empty into the sea?” He pointed to various specific spots on the map to emphasize his point. “These eight are the only ones we've found. That’s less than one percent.”

“You’re overthinking it. Even if I agree with your point, that still means there are eight separate spots to climb a waterfall. It’s not impossible.”

Yutaka nodded his head. Normally, he would agree with her. It was an insane extrapolation to make, but when it came to Kioshi, this was the exact kind of convoluted thing he’d pride himself in. The man was no idiot, but he thought himself to be far more intelligent than he actually was. Thinking that he was a once in a generation talent meant that he was always trying to find opportunities to show just how deep his thinking went, no matter how shallow it was in reality.

“Alright I’ll give you that. The sea is massive, but there are still places a koi could find a waterfall to climb and reach the dragon gate, but there’s something else you’re overlooking.”

“And what’s that?”

“The koi does not belong in the sea.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s a freshwater fish. If you took a koi fish and threw it into the ocean, it’d die in less than a day. Once in saltwater, the very world around it becomes poisonous. All it can do is thrash around as the life is sucked out of it, leaving behind a dehydrated husk. The koi in the sea is not about beating the odds; it’s about a pointless struggle in a world that you don’t belong in.”

Chie gave him a look that he couldn’t quite recognize. As he tried to read her face, she slammed the encyclopedia closed and gave him a stern look.

“You need to quit reading so much. All this symbolism shit is pointless. Just keep your head above the water and live to see the next day. That’s all we can do. Got it?”

“Yes, Ms. Chie.”

Yutaka didn’t want to give off the impression that he was completely hopeless, but he realized why he might have sounded like he was. In reality, he had been planning an escape for a long time now. It would require a lot of hard work and a level of deception that he wasn’t totally sure he could pull off, but being allowed to work within the Oni branch was the first major step in that journey. He was about to tell Chie some of this when the door swung open violently.

“Get your ass out of here and to the front room.”

“Yes madam”

As Chie left and the door slammed behind her, Yutaka sighed. At the end of the day, they were both simply the property of the Oni branch. Perhaps it would be better if Chie didn’t know.

----

Yutaka pulled out his flask and took a large drink of sake. The memory came unbidden, and the sooner he could forget about it, the better. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had barely caught what Misaki was saying. After finishing his drink, he hissed away the burn of the sake. He missed the specifics, but he knew what she was trying to tell him. They were almost broke again.

“I can always run some cons. Cheating at the casino is an option too, but it’s a little more risky. I can make some good earnings off of it, but it’ll put us on someone’s shit list, and I don’t know if we can afford pissing anyone else off.”

He knew she didn’t think he was capable of bringing in more than a meager amount of ryo. In reality, he had scammed gambling halls and casinos more times than he could count, but that was back when he was on his own and never staying in one place for too long. Things were a bit different now that he was traveling with Misaki. He gave a shrug as the familiar warmth of alcohol spread through him.

“Unless ya had a better idea.”