Chapter 12: Washed Up Desperation

While Shogo is taking another one of his involuntary swims, one particularly tumultuous household in the Land of Water is being broken apart due to the fortunate but costly gift of one ill-fated soon-to-be five-year-old girl.

??? POV

“NOOOOO!!!! Please! Please don’t take her! She’s all I have left!”

I reciprocate my mother’s tight embrace hoping that her grip on me never loosens despite the strong hold on my forearm by the monster man behind me. My fingers still ached from whatever tore out of them a few minutes ago but even though it felt like a big cut, there was no blood on them. They finger things cut the monster man’s left leg up good though, hahaha! He looked afraid of me for an instant before his face broke into a crooked grin that makes me shiver even now. My mother ran over to me immediately and engulfed in a tight hug, shielding my body completely from the now bleeding monster. My mother’s plea sends a ripple of panic through me. What does she mean “take her”?! I don’t want to leave my mommy!

Tears start to well up in my eyes, I clench them tight hoping the monster won’t take me away.

*Tsk! *

“STOP BEING STUPID! You should know what this means for the clan! Be happy knowing you have born the very tool that will return our clan to its lost glory. Now quit your needless bawling, I get the girl to our sacred grounds immediately and start her training. Besides that, little monster needs to be honed and sharpened or it’ll turn into little more than a wild beast when it comes of age!”

I hear the large man start to move towards us and with every step I hear my mother’s arms tighten around me more and more. Before long I am sure he is looming over the huddled figures of my mother and I without even needing to open my eyes.

“Remove yourself, woman…”

The tone of his deep voice sends tremors down my spine but between my mother’s quivering I couldn’t be sure if that’s what was causing it. Despite the obvious threat of violence behind the monster man’s tone, my mother continues to shield me from him and doesn’t reply.

The resulting violence from my mother’s defiance comes all too soon as one pain filled gasp from my mother later her tight grip on me comes undone as she is sent sliding across the floor. My eyes are wide as I peer into the seemingly soulless dark eyes of the monster man then my vision starts flickering. I hear my mother’s pleading wails before I fully succumb to darkness.

On a beach somewhere in Water Country...

Shogo POV

Immediately the familiar feeling of the warm sand at my back and the cold ocean water on my feet let me know that I have once again washed up on a random shore.

‘Why the fuck am I always washing up on all these damn beaches?! Can’t I get off one fucking boat like a normal person?!’

The dehydration headache hit me as soon as the sun made itself known. The sun is on the horizon slowly rising up from the ocean. The ringing in my ears lasts about five seconds before I decide to start getting it on my feet. My joints crack from sleeping on the sand for who knows how long.

Then it suddenly hits me like a boulder,

“-HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN OUUUUUTTTTTTTT!!!!!”

My hands are gripping at the roots of my hair as I consider the significant amount of unaccounted for time that has now passed while I was slumped on the sand.

“HhhhhMMmmm~”

“HhhmmmMMmm~”

My ears perk up at the loud and offkey humming coming from the distance to my immediate right. I need information on just how deep of shit I am in right now ASAP! I run recklessly toward the sound hoping that I will be greeted with a somewhat knowledgeable person.

??? POV

“HHHHhhhMmmMmmm~”

I cast my line out into the water again, this side of the island is particularly shallow meaning there isn’t any intense game around, so I made this my spot for getting some time away from my absolute dragon of a wife. As a professional fisherman, you’d think fishing in my free time is the last thing I’d want to do but there’s a distinct difference between fishing for big game and poking around for shallow nibblers. The gap is large enough that I can consider sitting down on this pier looking out at the sunrise while fishing, a hobby of mine to at least get out of that hell hole for a bit. 

My wife, the beautiful creature that she has become after 25 years of marriage, constantly condemns my attempts at getting my building designs sold. Urging me to take on more work on the tuna boat.

Ever since I was a wee lad, I have the dream of building large cities and intricate temples but being born a poor fisherman’s son doesn’t correlate with the high education fees. So alas I became a fisherman like my father, my father’s father, and so on. Yeah, I did kind of give up on my dream for a while but I’m a right stubborn ass so within the last ten years or so I always make sure to carve out time to learn architecture and design some buildings in my spare time. But this usually comes at the expense of my hours on the fishing line. Which royally pisses off the missus something fierce. 

My wife and I have been raising three kids together in a relatively nice bungalow a little way from this beach here. We just barely get on from the scratch I manage to make from catching those giant tunas out the big drink but we’re definitely not the worst off among our neighbors.

I get that I’m being really selfish with my time. Sometimes your dreams are worth sacrificing for damnit! I know my wife probably wants to work me over with a branch for being so stubborn and my kids glare at me for making them wear stitched up worn down clothes, but they’ll change their tune quickly when I finally sell one of my damn designs. 

I got this grand hotel design I’ve been putting together for about 10 years. It’ll be massive! It’s got something like…...250 rooms and …..a super luxurious penthouse that takes up two floors! With a gambling ring on the bottom floor! An absolutely gorgeous fountain in front of the main entrance in the shape of the rabbit goddess for luck!

“If I can sell it to the daimyo when I’m done, I’ll drown their annoying asses in my money gahahahah-,”

‘TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!’

I suddenly hear the sound of someone running up behind me and I go to turn my head around but the feeling of cold steel against my throat stops me and makes my heart jump into my throat. A small hand grips tightly to my right shoulder, making think my assailant is a child or at least a petite woman. Either way it wasn’t going to stop me from pleading for my life unashamedly.

“HEeeeeeeeeeee-!!! Don’t hurt me! I don’t have any money!”

I turn my head slightly to get a small look at the face of the person with the blade at my throat, only to see dark brown eyes, a glistening diabolical smile, and one of the darkest complexions I’ve ever seen in all of Water country.

“Let’s have a little chat, builder-san. Wouldn’t want to get a second mouth underneath your chin now would you?”

The high-pitched voice confirmed my suspicion that the perpetrator is indeed a male child. A lot of the fear had dissipated after that discovery however the threat chilled my very bones. Child or not a sword on your throat was a goddamned sword on your throat! 

“S-sure, sure kid I’m all ears…”

Shogo POV

The first thing I ask the builder is about the day of the week. To my relief only a total of 8 hours has passed since I nearly got drowned by that giant fucking squid thing. I still have the rest of the day before I had to worry about that blonde greased up monkey coming after my head.

The second thing I ask him is if he knows where this Momochi shop is located. The builder gives me a confused look, but one menacing snarl and he immediately tells me that it is about a 3-hour hike north from here on top of a steep hill. Satisfied I am about to let him go-

‘FUCKKKK!!! I just realized, I lost the damn oxen and the fucking fabric! Hopefully, I’ll be able to find it along the beach or something after I’m done with this old man. But even if I am that lucky, how the crap am I going to get into the daimyo’s palace?! This damn quest is looking more and more insurmountable, the longer I think about it’

I take a look at the builder’s puzzled face and an amazing plan formulates in my head. It must have shown on my face because my captive’s face pales a bit.

“Hey old man, you got some type of meeting with the daimyo, right?”

“Wha- I don’t have any meeting with th-!”

“Hey hey I hate liars, old man! I heard you say that you're trying to sell something to the daimyo when I came up to you! Think wisely before you continue on with your words!”

I press my katana a little bit harder against the skin of his neck. I feel him tremble under my hand before he immediately tries to grovel.

“S-sorry, sorry, sorry just don’t kill me please! I have to see my dream hotel be built, please! I have a meeting, or I’ll get any meeting you want just let me gooooo-!”

“Shut up! Jeez, have some self-respect man! Since you have a meeting, I want you to move the meeting up to later this afternoon, you understand me fuckface?! I’ll pose as your shinobi guard so we can both get into the palace. After that all you’ll have to do is sell whatever you're selling and while I do what I gotta do. Meet me here exactly two hours before noon or I’ll track you down and butcher you like a pig!”

The builder stiffly nodded his head at my plan. With that confirmation, I swiftly remove my katana from underneath his chin and take off north toward the supposed hill that the Momochi shop is located. Hopefully, I scared that spineless old creep enough so that he will actually show up. I can’t waste time looking for him if he decides not to show up!

An hour and a half later…

I stood at the bottom of the only hill I had found north, I am drenched in sweat from running nonstop, often moving on the roofs of houses to avoid the foot traffic of the early morning. I could barely see the home on top of the hill as it is of course covered in an extremely thick mist. It almost looks otherworldly, but I don’t have time to contemplate the origins of the atmosphere around the place. I briskly jog up the hill cautiously looking out for traps on the ground or something else insidious hidden in the mist. Before long I reach the front of an old rickety hut made up of torn up wood. The hut looked like it could be knocked down from a stronger than usual gust of wind. There is no vegetation around the hut and the soil looked black as if it had been rotted too at some point. I scan the area for any indication that human beings currently live in the hut but find none which instantly makes me think I have been duped by the old builder at the pier.

‘OF FUCKING COURSE! I was stupid thinking I could trust information given to me by some yellow-bellied coward! If I ever see that old fucker again, I’ll-’

Just before I completely delved into a rage, I see the door of the hut creep open and a pale wrinkly face peek out at me. A sickly rugged looking man with sunken eyes seemingly investigates my very soul. He must’ve not liked what he saw in my eyes because a snarl quickly forms onto his weathered visage.

“Why are you here, BOY?”

The man’s notably deep voice and the amount of disdain he put in the word boy cause me to flinch a bit but honestly fuck this guy! I need to get one of those damn necklaces or whatever and fast! So, I put on one of my most bullshit smiles and try to turn on some of that old Shogo charm on this ancient bastard.

“Sorry to bother you so early in the morning, sir. But I was wondering if this was Mistress Momochi’s home. If so, I could come in and speak to her please, I’ll be quick, promise.”

I end my little spiel with my biggest megawatt smile. Immediately, I know I said something wrong because the man’s face shifts into an unknown expression. It is a face that I can’t readily place but then I hear the snickering,

“heh…. heehaw…. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

The man starts to laugh unreservedly in my face, holding his belly with all the remaining teeth in his haggard mouth on display. If there isn’t a faster way to piss me off! Laughing at me is definitely going to make me go nuclear in a fucking situation! I could feel the blood rushing through my face and into my ears. I grit my teeth and try to get the old man’s attention,

“E-excuse me sir-r? -”

“GA-HAHAHAHA!!!”

The old man continues to laugh slapping his knee multiple times,

“Sir?!”

“WoooHoooo Hooo HAHAHAHAHAA!!!!”

The old man grabs a hold of the door hinges to brace himself from falling over,

“WHAT THE FUCK IS SO FUNNY YOU OLD GEEZER!!!!! TELL ME OR I’LL...I’LL STAB YOU!!!!!!”

I can’t take it anymore! I have never felt so disrespected in my entire life, and by someone so insignificant too! At some point, my hand had snaked around the hilt of the katana on my back. 

The old man has stopped laughing and is regarding me with a condescending stare,

“Ahhhhh, now comes out your true nature boy. Thank you for the laugh brat, but my mother has been dead for about thirty years now. Now leave my yard the stink of your desperation will start to leak into my home otherwise.”

As the old man the last part he slowly goes to close the door, but before it shuts fully, I run forward and shove the door open. The old man goes crashing to the floor and I immediately turn my katana on him ready to poke him full of holes if my questions aren’t answered,

“What does your mother have to do with Momochi?! Where is the woman? Answer me!”

The old man scoffs at me,

“You're in the right place, you little fucker, just at the wrong time. This here used to be Mistress Momochi’s hut 50 years ago and she was my mother. If it’s money you want, you won’t find it here as I’m sure you can see.”

The now confirmed Momochi gestures to the home around him and it is then that I take in the incredibly dilapidated surroundings. There are holes in the wooden floor and ceiling. The walls are completely bare and there is a single mattress on the floor with a mess of worn-out blankets on top. Lastly, there is a single cooking pot with a wax candle next to it. That was it.  All in all, the telltale signs of extreme poverty are very present in this home. Not at all what I expect for the supposed home of a legendary jeweler. But I doubt the old man is lying since I got the exact directions to this hut from the builder. The confused look the builder gave me is probably because he knew that the mistress was dead.

 I give the old man another look and then I begin to really take in his more morbid features. The gaunt look of his body, long nearly yellow finger and toenails, the scraggly and mattedness of his near white hair. I cringe on the inside as it isn’t often that I come across such uncleanliness and poverty, even when I was a street kid under Tako, the other kids and I didn’t ever look this haggard.

I press the old man with another question inching the tip of my blade closer to his chin,

“Say I believe you, you crazy old hermit, and your mother really was the famous jeweler-”

“Famous Jeweler! HAHAHA! Kid you really don’t know shit about this place do ya?”

I position my blade just centimeters away from the neck of the infuriating old man,

“EXPLAIN” 

I say through my gritted teeth, this old man is pissing me off more by the fucking second! Sure I don’t think I have it in me to stab the old bastard, but maybe a few punches and kicks to make me feel better about being laughed at so much even though I have a damn katana in my hand.

The old man looks at me unwaveringly, as if gauging whether I am worth giving whatever information before his eyes briefly go to the side behind then right back on my face.

“My mother was a high-class whore, kid, not no jeweler.”

This revelation shocks me it must’ve showed on my face because the old man smirks a bit before he continues,

“When she was young, my mother was extremely beautiful, but she grew up an orphan on the streets of some eastern island. So she did what all the other orphan girls did to get money, she became a prostitute and it didn’t take long before she became one of extraordinarily high demand. She was getting shipped all around the world to lay with incredibly powerful men. They would send private boats to fetch her, and during all her time on the ocean my mother decided to pick up a hobby, jewelry making.”

My hand tightens around the hilt of my blade, 

“At first, she would do basic things like making bead necklaces and bracelets but when she moved onto the more intricate stuff it was then she realized she had some talent. So, my mother started to make absolutely beautifully designed jewelry, but she couldn’t sell them yet because no one would buy the jewelry made by some no name whore for a fair price. But my mother was a smart and courageous woman, she found a way to get her name out their labor and expense free. My mother decided to give the jewelry she made to the powerful men she serviced as a gift to give to their wives and concubines. For a short time, Mistress Momochi’s jewelry was all the rage among the high-class wives all over Water country and Fire country some say even in the mountains too. But that all came to an abrupt halt when the previous Daimyo’s wife caught wind of the fact that she was wearing a pearl necklace made by her husband’s mistress. The Daimyo’s guards seized my mother, immediately gouged her eyes out before removing her tongue. Then they threw her into this very hut to die all alone.”

My eyes widen in disbelief and disgust at the harshness of his mother’s punishment,

“However, my mother, being the true survivor that she is, seduced one of the daimyo’s guards even though she was crippled into taking her as a wife. It is from there I was born and raised in this very hut. Where I live to this day all alone.”

The old man finishes his story and looks over to side behind me once again, but I pay it no mind as I quickly try to piece together my next course of action since my plan of just stealing directly from Momochi has been decimated. I need to make a new plan and fast! Maybe this old goat can tell me if he knows if anyone has one of his mother’s pearl necklaces then I can work from there!

“Alright you old bastard, thanks for the story but now I need to know where I can find one of these damn pearl necklaces made by your mother…”

“Are you fucking serious kid?! No woman still has one of my mother’s pieces and even if a woman did still possess one, she would never let it see the light of day much less wear it proudly! Don’t ask me to do the fucking impossible now, brat!”

I close in one him and kick the ghoulish man in the face then lunge at his downed form. I grab a handful of his shirt then put my blade horizontal directly under his chin,

“I NEED A NAME!!! You atleast would know better than fucking me! If you don’t start talking! I’ll start taking your damn fingers. SOOO TALK!!”

Any sympathy I had left for the old man had been dashed out of the window. My patience is extremely thin, and time is ticking away FAST. I need to be on my way ASAP.

“Ugh alright fine just don’t do anything rash kid. It’s possible that the shipmaster’s family might have one of my mother’s pieces in their treasury. They confiscate all manner of loot from the people of the island as part of their bullshit tax. My mother’s pearls have a purplish tint and have the initials MM carved on one of the pearls. Maybe you’ll find one there but if you don’t please just leave me because I can’t help you.”

I nod at the old man then let go of his shirt, as I turn around to run out the door, I notice a crouched tiny form huddled in a dark corner of the hut behind the door. I squint to get a better look and it was a raggedy spiky black-haired kid who looked to be at least half my age. It shocks me because I had no idea, he was there the whole time, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it now. Ignore the cowering child and rush out of the room toward where I knew the shipmaster’s mansion rested on the island. It would take me about 20 minutes to get there if I ran full speed. The mansion is relatively close to the beach that Tako’s gang resides on, but we didn’t dare approach it because of the constant and extensive security detail around the premise of the building.

‘On my way there I’ll sweep the beach for any sign of the silk and that oxen. Hopefully, they didn’t sink into the ocean or float off to another island. If so, then I truly am deep deep shit. Worst case scenario, I might have to see if I can outrun that greased up blonde tool again.’   

Omake:

While Shogo scrambles to steal the necklace....

Gengetsu POV

ZZZzzzzzzz…..ZZZZzzzzzz

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz……

“Hey…”

ZZZzzzzzzzzz…..

“Hey!...”

ZZZZzzzzzZZZzzzz…

“Jeez! I really do sleep like the dead when I’m not on missions….HEY!”

Gasp!

I jerk up from my pillow and look at who dares interrupt my beauty sleep only for a mirror image of myself fully clothed in my ninja garb to stare right back at me,

“What the! Aren’t you supposed to be watching the kid?! Why are you here waking me up?! You should know better than anyone that we desperately need our beauty sleep!”

I watch my clone roll its eyes at me, something I will never get used to by the way,

“The brat is back on the island and he came back empty handed. We need to start coming up with a plan B before Tamari comes back and cuts our junk off!”

“Hey don’t even joke about that!”

“I wasn’t! We both know that’s a real possibility.”

“I know...I know...I just don’t wanna think about it! Make sure you continue following the brat and if he fails or tries to weasel out make sure you put a hole through his fucking eyes!”

“Will do.”

With that I watch my clone melt into a puddle and slink out of the room. I stand from my comfortable spot on my bed and start to pace around my bedroom floor,

‘ShitShitShit...SSSHHHIIIIITTT!!! This is why you don’t depend on the riff raff to do your dirty work for you! It was a simple grocery list! How do you fuck that up! Now I have to come up with something other than dinner on a beach but what! She doesn’t like expensive stuff because that’s all she grew up around being the daimyo’s grandniece so I can’t buy her anything. Maybe I can make her a present!’

At the same time as Gengetsu’s scramble….

??? POV

When I told my friends that I would be going on a bounty mission with the sole Shimizu clan kunoichi, Tamari Shimizu. They told me, ‘Oh, don’t worry! She’s so nice! Just stay focused on the mission and you’ll be fine.’ Nobody told me she would be so scary though!

We’ve been hunting down this group of pirates that have been terrorizing the south bend of the Eastern Sea. Tamari-sama just tortures and kills without even batting an eye, and she hasn’t even washed all of her victims' blood off her clothes yet. This mission was supposed to last us about a week but we’re about half through all the pirate locations and it's only been a day! That’s not even the worst part either! Sometimes when it's really quiet and we’re running to our next spot I swear I can hear her whispering under her breath. At first, I thought she was just thinking out loud but then I realized what she was saying, and it still makes me shiver.

Flashback to last night…

My eyelids were starting to get tired but from the pace of my extremely motivated partner it seems that I won’t be getting any sleep for quite a bit more time.

~whisper…. whisper~

Hmmm? Is Tamari-sama trying to talk to me about something?

I run a little closer to her so I can hear what she is saying, that’s when I hear something that will haunt me for the rest of my days.

“I’ll skin him alive and chop him up then eat him over the course of a year with a side of rice and miso. Then when there’s no more left over, I’ll kill myself then murder him a thousand times in the afterlife.”

Flashback end…

NO mentally stable person thinks like that! I feel bad for whatever dude has her so pissed. He must've really fucked up to get her this mad. All I know after this mission is over, I’m avoiding this crazy bitch like the plague. If anybody asks me why, I’ll just say I’m allergic to insanity!

 

A/N: This chapter reminded me of why I started this story, it’s because creative writing is a lot of fun to me. For the new year, I got to carve out more time in my schedule for some good old yarn spinning (story writing). Not gonna lie though being a consistent writer is so hard when games like Cyberpunk are coming out lol. I have a new original Naruto fic coming out soon. I just wanna get the idea out into the ether to vacate some of the creative space in my dome cuz a lot of stuff goes on up there. Anyway, be on the lookout! Thanks for the reviews and the comments I appreciate them all even though I might not reply.