Seeing their commander down, flat cold, the rest were alarmed and ready to throw hands. Arms above their faces, little knives gripped tightly in their hands.
"Drop your weapons and surrender," I said, but they didn't flinch, rather started taking fighting positions. It seemed like the training they undergo in the village had altered their brains to not recognize certain human emotions such as fear. I would say pain, but the ninja with his chest torn open sure yielded to that one.
The fight didn't take up to a minute, and I was done with the rest. Fortunately, they didn't have the same durability as Pachi—Crusher rather. I haven't confirmed his identity yet.
After rounding up the rest of the ninja squad, I suggested that we bury the dead ninja. I know he may have killed people before and was even after our lives at some point, but there was something about him that seemed human just at the end, something that I couldn't feel from Crusher and the rest of the guard.
A shallow grave was dug, and we laid him to rest.
When we were done, we waited for Crusher to wake up from his nap, as he had a lot to answer. And luckily, his little peace nap didn't take that long.
He woke up with his hands and feet tied, and his body tied tightly to a tree. He looked around, confusion written on his face till he saw us standing before him. His whole demeanor changed; instead of the cold hardened face, it turned into something warmer. His eyes relaxed and brows shot upward, tears gathered beneath them as he whispered, "Chogi. Boss." Even the voice had changed.
"Chiharu…" Pacho said and rushed at him, but I held him by the cloth, dragging him back.
Pachi looked at me confused and angry that I stopped.
"We cannot trust him… yet."
"But he—"
"He sounds like Pachi, but he isn't Pachi. Not until he proves himself."
Pacho gave up, face soaked in sadness, he took a few steps back for me to do the questioning.
I walked up to Pachi and squatted. I could see the confusion on his face with a blend of sad familiarity, but I wasn't buying any of it, not until he had explained himself through and through.
"Who are you?"
"It's me, Boss. Pachi—Chiharu."
"I don't believe you in the slightest. The Pachi I know wouldn't kill someone."
His face fell flat, then he stared at the ground like he was avoiding eye contact.
"You'll tell me everything I need to know. First, who put you up to this job, killing Pacho?"
"Two days before you left the village, we were contacted by an influential man from Shogi. He was the head of the Hakai family. He said the young master of the Ikemoto family would be on a journey; he wanted him and his guards dead and wanted it to appear like an accident." He explained, surprisingly cooperative.
I turned to Pacho, his eyes gaped open in shock and terror. "You know who Hakai is?"
"Yes," he stammered.
"You've got beef with him or what?"
"He is one of our big customers in the gambling house. Maybe he was not too happy with how things ended with our last match… and previous matches before."
"He hired ninjas to kill you over a game??"
"It's gambling, Big Brother. He lost a lot of money to me; maybe he wanted me to pay them back with my life."
"Gambling, huh? So, what are you going to do about it? Go back to the village and settle the scores, or should we continue?"
Silence fell on us as Pacho pondered intently. He looked around—at his guards, the ninjas they had apprehended, but he didn't look towards Pachi, partly because I stood between both of them.
"We will have to continue."
"That's reasonable, but—"
"He would send more after you, Pacho." Pachi shouted from behind me. "Hakai has deep connections with the elders back at the village; they have done many deals before in the past, and none of them was ever unsuccessful. As long as it is Hakai, the village will keep pouring people into this mission to see it is done."
"If Mr. Shuichi hears of this, then a war between the two families might brew up. Well, if Mr. Shuichi is as good as he seemed."
"Mr. Shuichi?" Pachi asked.
"His foster father," I clarified.
Pacho averted his gaze; the air was getting really uncomfortable with the two. If Pachi is who he says he is, then they have a lot of catching up to do, but that's after he has gone through the series of questioning I have for him and this heirloom hunting issue has been dealt with.
"We have to make a decision now and act fast. What is it by you, Pacho, your final say??"
Pacho remained quiet for some time before an ocean of confidence flooded him, and he began to speak in a manner I've never seen—not the little brother vibe he always gave, but this time something more, like the young master he was.
"We have to send word back to Father." He looked at his men and singled out one. "You! You will take one cart and head back to the village with our dead ones, and state everything that has happened here to my father. He will pay you for your services, and he will be the one to decide how he will face the situation—if he wants war, so be it; if he wants peace, he's the one to still decide. As for the rest of us, we have a task at hand, and we shall continue."
The way Pacho talked, I could hardly recognize him. The boy Pacho was gone, and the person standing before me was Young Master Chogi of the Ikemoto family.
"I would like to forfeit the task, Young Master," one of the guards said.
Pacho looked at him, brows twitching. "Why? You will be paid very well when we reach our destination."
"About that, you can keep the money. I quit, sorry."
"Yeah, me too."
"And me."
One by one, the remaining three quit the team, and that really pissed me off.
"You guys are fucking guards; you don't get to quit."
"Sorry, but we don't have a choice." One of them said and turned to Pacho. "You're like bait for death. If we stay any more close to you, we may end up dead as well. You heard what he said—they will keep sending more killers."
"That's not an—"
"Leave them, Big Brother; they made their choice, and it's a reasonable choice."
Pacho proceeded to bring out a purse and handed them some pieces of coins for a job they didn't even perform. And then bid them farewell with a smile.
I was wary and walked up to Pacho. "It's just us now, and remember my plan—I have somewhere else to be, so I won't be able to reach Kageguiri."
"Let me go alongside him then," Pachi yelled from the tree he was tied to. "I will protect him from anybody they send his way."
"No, that's not happening."
"Please, Boss. I know you don't trust me because of who I was, but I can tell you with my heart that I'm not like them." He gestured to the other ninjas tied beside him. "You reversed it, Boss; I don't know how, but you cured me."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a mechanism the village uses to keep us ninjas at bay. They do something to our heads, making us forget who we are; they turn us into something else. You first cured him…" He pointed to the grave. "…that's why he gave up information, that's why he ran, and also the reason why… I killed him." He ended it with a whisper. "No ninja from the village would run away from death; they don't recognize fear. Please believe me, Boss, believe me, Pacho. I'm not like them."
I was still skeptical, maybe not from the fact he was once like them, but from the fact he killed someone so easily like it was nothing, and heaven knows how many more he had killed like that. But his condemnation wasn't in my hands.
I looked at Pacho, waiting for his call, that was his brother on the cross after all.
"I believe him," Pacho whispered meekly. The little brother attitude had snuck its way back.
I walked up to Pachi and with a single swing cut him loose. He stood up, and I could grasp fully how tall he was.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
Even with my attitude, he still wore a warm smile on his face. He walked up to Pacho and embraced his kid brother tightly. The sight was blissful, and in that moment, I was grateful that Pachi might be who he says he is.
Not wasting much time, we began the journey back to where the carts were packed. I paced far behind the two brothers, leaving them to do all the catching up they could. I began to daydream how the scene would be—Nana and the rest, everyone together like this, all grown.
I hadn't noticed that Pachi had reduced his pace also and was almost beside me. I was willing not to say anything first, to hear the first thing he would say to me after years.
"Boss, I know you don't trust me, but that's fine. I understand you, and I'm willing to earn your trust back. But you need to hear me out."
"Mm?"
"Pacho is not who he says he is. The person you are looking at is a shadow of my brother."