| [Sep. 4th, 2017|11:18 pm] |
"Have people been going missing, too?" Ryouma asked. A kind of weary dread curdled in his stomach, but not surprise. They'd been waiting for something like this.
"No, no, nothing like that." Suki patted his arm. Her hand was light and cool, chased with veins under the fragile skin. She lowered her voice. "It's just, we haven't seen Nomiya Harubi or her two little ones since before the sake was stolen. Of course no one thinks she stole it. But it's just gossip. She's probably visiting her family, just like Nomiya-san said."
The other woman snorted bitterly.
Ryouma looked back to his officers. Genma was thin-lipped, silent, his gaze flicking between the village houses. Raidou's face was carefully blank, but he met the second woman's eyes. "What do you think?"
She drew breath— then let it out, her gaze shuttering, as a blocky man stepped off the porch of the village's largest house. A teenage boy, evidently a runner who'd brought word of the shinobi arrival, dogged his heels. Curiosity or worry had drawn a dozen other villagers. They stood murmuring, giving the shinobi a wide berth.
The man came forward. He was in his late thirties, dark-haired and thickly muscled. That barrel chest and heavy arms promised punishing power, but not speed. Ryouma watched his hands. Genma and Kurenai could pay attention to everything else.
"Nomiya Tadatoki," the man said, in a voice even deeper than Raidou's. "Owner of Nomiya Brewery, and mayor of Tanigawa. You're the shinobi from Fire Country?"
"We are," Raidou allowed.
"They're here about the sake." Suki patted Ryouma's arm again. "I was just showing them the way to your house."
"Thank you, Suki-san." Nomiya's big hands were tight, but the missing sake could be excuse enough. And even in Fire Country, civilians weren't always glad to see ninja.
"Come on, Suki-san, I'll walk you back." The angry woman took Suki's other arm. She looked at Nomiya like a knife, in one brief unguarded glance, then lowered her eyes to the dirt and walked away.
Nomiya's hands flexed. "Do you want to see the breweries?"
"Let's hear the story first," Raidou said.
"Come in, then." Nomiya turned — not afraid to show his back to shinobi, Ryouma noted — and led the way up two steps into his house. The villagers milled, murmuring, behind them, but only two followed: an older man, his thinning hair nearly grey, and a middle-aged woman almost as broad as Nomiya. The mayor introduced them as Goto and Inada, owners of the two other breweries in the village.
"We aren't hiding the sake," Inada said, flat out. Her back was rigid, her shoulders tense. "I know that's why your Daimyou sent you, to see if we're breaking our bargain. We heard about the trouble in your capital. But we've sold our sake to Fire Country for six generations, even during the wars— We don't care about politics here, just sake!"
Raidou winced when she mentioned trouble in the capital. He held up his hands, palms open, soothing. "We're not here to punish, just to find out what happened."
"No one is suggesting you're at fault, Inada-san," Genma added. "Maybe we could sit down, and you and Nomiya-san and Goto-san could tell us what you know."
Kakashi was still out ghosting somewhere in the shadows. Kurenai had faded back into Raidou's wake, her long lashes dimming her crimson eyes. Ryouma took the spot beside her, behind the officers on the crisp tatami mats. The three brewers arranged themselves opposite. Inada nudged Nomiya, and he belatedly offered tea.
Raidou accepted graciously, adding, "Yuuhi will help you." He didn't look around.
Kurenai eased to her feet. "If you'll show me where the things are, Nomiya-san." Her voice was a little softer, her gaze still downcast. Ryouma stared. Did she really think anyone would believe a Konoha kunoichi subservient? |
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