Ryuuji was at the front of the gate, gazing at the man with an unamused look as both his hands were nestled inside the opposite sleeves of his black and white kinagashi kimono(just another name for male kimono).
"Sigh. Esther, go ahead inside. You, follow." He said simply before walking off.
The two walked to the edge of the village, near the backyard road leading up the mountain.
Ryuuji stopped beside the tree and the man sat on the rock a few feet behind it.
With his back facing the man, Ryuuji spoke first.
"What is it...Pride." He said with the same tone as always.
"There are only so many rumor's going on around about us, even in the organization, so using that information to identify me isn't that impressive, sloth. Changing your hair colour is one thing but your eyes are a dead give away too. They are one of your character-defining traits."
The man reciprocated, although not the same.
"You went through so much effort to keep your exact location ambiguous, having the organization's letters sent to a post office weeks away and having it surrounded by several other villages near and far, but with just a single glance I already knew who you were." He continued.
"And? Do you want to be flattered for that?"
The man couldn't see it but Ryuuji gave an utterly theatrical eye roll.
"Sigh, enough with the chit-chat, or else I'm off," Ryuuji said jaded.
"Oh." The man's brow furrowed. He squinted his eyes and glared intensely at Ryuuji. "I would think carefully with what I say, sloth." He said with a slight pause.
Ryuuji didn't side-eye the man, as his gaze remained fixed staring off into the distance.
"Well, tell me, why are you here? The how is less important than the why."
"Chi! To keep it brief, the organization is calling for all sins to assemble. Seems Wrath betrayed them after a mission to kill some kid. There is no official confirmation of it but, considering four of the organization's outposts got slaughtered, ...well, there are only two likely scenarios. And they believe, with absolute certainty, it's her and not some other group."
"Even for being fairly new to the organization, the little information Wrath knows is enough to put a decent dent in them."
"Yet they chose to hide rather than send us out. How utterly pitiful." He sneered.
Ryuuji gleamed at him, with a slight movement of his head, his hands still positioned comfortably in his sleeves as he made the slight movement.
"They're just playing it safe. The information Wrath wants isn't something that she can get by playing nice with the organization. That's why they sent another sin to inform the other, and also why they had you kill your messenger. No loose ends. All for the sake of controlling the damage."
The man traced his eyes to Ryuuji's.
"Well, depending on how you interpret the subtext." He said while leaning forwards and posturing both hands to rest on his thighs ."Regardless, if whether you are on the job or not, you must be able to read a situation fully to find out its true objective." He side eyes, but still held steady eye contact. "It is the reason why we're still alive in spite of our line of work."
"Indeed..."
Ryuuji saw the man's shoulder flex.
His right foot inched along the dirt.
YOU ARE READING
So the wind blows
Mystery / Thriller'Why' Was a question Esther never thought herself seriously asking. Her life was supposed to be simple. She wanted it to be extra ordinary, but all that changed once her fathers secret came to light and slowly unraveled some painful truths about hi...
