| [Feb. 21st, 2015|04:12 am] |
Was it being asked her opinions on ANBU that was setting Ueno on edge, or something else? Whatever the cause, it was clear her hackles were up. Best to let her redirect. Hakone’s father had taught him at least that much.
“I’d be delighted to, as long as Ryouma gives me the go ahead,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Some stories you only tell with full consent.”
Ryouma snorted. “I already told her you tell the story better. You had the best view of everything, after all.”
“And what a view,” Hakone agreed. He glanced around the mostly empty courtyard, wadded his napkin up and stuffed it into the empty curry bowl, and satisfied with his clean up, repositioned himself more comfortably on his angle of the U-shaped planter they were using as a bench. “Am I starting, or are you?”
Ryouma leaned back on his hands, trying his best to look casual and cool, though there was a fresh tint of pink gilding the apples of his cheeks. “You start,” he said. “I’ll correct you.”
Ueno’s eyes lost a little of their wariness as she leaned in to hear the story.
“You know where Bungobashi is, right?” Hakone asked. “Borders with River Country?”
Ueno nodded. Ryouma, who had participated in the telling of this story a time or two before—usually after a beer or seven—was playing it cool, leaning back on his hands, but his half-lidded eyes were slanted towards Ueno, gauging her reactions.
“Okay. So we're up there—this is about two years ago,” Hakone said. “Second mission Ryouma and I have ever run together. We’re up there—"
“Down there,” Ryouma corrected.
Hakone rolled his eyes. “It’s in the foothills. But fine, yes, it’s southwest of here, so down there undercover, posing as civilian traders in the big market in Asahimachi. It’s a typical four-person team. Ryouma and our second-in-command are the insert team, mission captain is coordinating from our base at the Lucky Hare Casino hotel, and I’m the man in the shadows.”
“Admit it,” Ryouma cut in. “You like lurking.”
Hakone shrugged. “It’s one of the more enjoyable parts of the profession.”
“He joined ANBU for the uniform,” Ryouma told Ueno conspiratorially. “And the fifty-percent higher likelihood of lurking ominously at people.”
“Not incorrect,” Hakone agreed. “Anyway…”
Ueno snorted in amusement, unthawing a little bit more, mouth curling up at the corners.
“Anyway. It’s the third night of our mission, and Ryouma misses his check-in.”
“I wasn't on duty! You're making it sound like dereliction," Ryouma interjected. “We'd done all the recon,” he told Ueno, “and the target wasn't expected to show for another eighteen hours, so captain gave us the night free. We were just supposed to check back in so's he'd know we weren't dead in a gutter somewhere.”
“Not an unreasonable request, given your tendency to fall into gutters,” Hakone said.
Ryouma curled his lip like he’d taken a drink of sour milk, but he didn’t contradict.
“So Yoshinoya-taichou wakes me up at the crack of dawn, after I’ve only been in bed a couple hours, to go look for him.” Hakone caught Ueno’s eye—she looked like someone who could appreciate the seriousness of Ryouma’s offense here. “This was on a day I should have gotten to sleep in until at least noon.”
“How dare he,” Katsuko agreed, straight-faced.
“I was the only chakra sensor on the mission, so of course I get to track Ryouma down,” Hakone continued. “So I start the last place I’d seen him the night before, right? Which was the restaurant where we had dinner. It’s closed, obviously, because sensible people are all still in bed.”
Ryouma smirked ever so faintly. |
|