| [Nov. 14th, 2011|02:49 am] |
Ichiba’s eyes were like cuts of shadow. “Are you sure? You promise?”
Asuma would have knelt under Kaminari’s knife for the chance to throw his arms around Ichiba’s shoulders right then. “I promise,” he said, and hoped he wasn’t lying. “Now howsabout we annoy the guards until Katsuko gets back? Do you know Vertical Limit?”
Ichiba gave him a puzzled look.
“Coldforged?” Asuma tried. “Strands of Life? What about Shuriken Force?”
“Are they films?” Ichiba asked.
“Oh man, kid, you make me sad. They’re bands. D’you at least know Shutdown Assassin?” Asuma’d had their name tattooed between his shoulderblades for two years, admittedly in slightly blurry ink.
Ichiba shrugged one shoulder, eerily like Katsuko. Asuma cast about for something everyone knew, no matter the village.
“How about ‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier’?”
White teeth flashed suddenly in the dark. “My dad sings that one.”
Asuma grinned back. “Bet I’m louder.”
He had to sing alone at first; Ichiba was too afraid to lift his voice. Asuma wasn’t exactly tuneful, but he made up for it with volume, and by the third line the woman who’d chanted sutras with Ichiba had started to laugh, rough and grating, before she joined in.
I don’t want to be a soldier,
I don’t want to go to war,
I’d rather stay at home,
Around the streets to roam,
And live on the earnings of a lady dancer.
Ichiba managed one line, uncertain but trying, before falling silent again when his eyes flicked to the door. Asuma straightened his back, achieving something that was almost a harmony with the nameless kunoichi.
I don’t want a knife in my belly,
I don’t want my jewels blown away,
I’d rather stay at home
Around the streets to roam,
Three more voices joined in for the last line, reminding Asuma of trenches and campfires and howling music at the night sky, because singing was better than mourning the ones who wouldn’t come home. Ichiba’s was one of them.
And fornicate my bleeding life away!
A man’s cracked-glass laugh bounced off metal and stone. “Do you know ‘Devil’s Run’?” he called, half a dozen cells down. The slur of his voice made it sound as if his jaw didn’t work quite right.
In answer, Asuma winked at Ichiba and tipped his head back.
I'm broke and I'm hungry.
I'm hard up and lonely,
I've been dancing on this killing floor for years.
And of the few things that I’m certain,
I'm the captain of my burden.
I'm sorry doll, I could never stop the rain. |
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