Vagabonds

White Shadows

Today was a slow day.

Yukiro the bartender ran his cloth around the rim of yet another glass, cleaning it for the fifth time that morning. He eyed it closely; once again discovering that it possessed no streaks, and sighed deeply. He glanced at the clock. Only 11:23 am. He still had another 10 hours to go before quitting time. Only three patrons sat in the bar; the same three drunkards who came in every day and only bought one drink. A small sliver of sunlight threatened to pierce through the darkened glass. Yukiro ran his hands down his face in an anxious manner. This was going to be a long day.

Truth be told, things had been this way for quite some time. Ever since Hitoshi discovered his new money maker, the actual bar had taken a back seat in terms of producing revenue. Seven years had passed since that fateful day, and seven years had passed since Yukiro actually had a busy time at work.

"Yo!" Yukiro looked up to see an old man enter the bar. He smiled and waved a hand in the air.

"Aah, Ren! It's been awhile since I've seen ynou around these parts!" Yukiro pulled a glass down from above his head, and grabbed a bottle of sake from under the counter. "You still drinking the same poision?"

Old man Ren pulled off his hat and took a seat at the bar. "You know it! I can't keep up with whatever these kids are putting in their systems now a days. No sir, I stick to what I know." Ren looked around the establishment, frowning at the lack of people. "Although I see that some things have definitely changed. Last time I've been in GoldLink, this place was always packed. Falling on hard times?"

Yukiro shook his head and let out a deep breath. "No, it's quite the opposite actually. Hitoshi is doing better in business now than he's ever been." He filled the glass with sake and slid it over to Ren. "Hell I'd say he's only keeping this place open as a favor to me."

Ren gulped the liquid down quickly and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. He scrunched his face as the sake burned his throat and coughed. "Alright, now I'm prepared to hear this. Hitoshi, the lewd crude businessman of Goldlink Hitosi, found something better than this dump? What the hell's he doing on the side? Did he give in and start a prostitution ring?"

Yukiro shook his head. "No, even that couldn't get him half of the Jenny that he's raking in. This story's kind of old, so let me catch up to ya and I'll let you in on the secrets around here." Yukiro poured himself a glass of sake and swung it back. "Alright, so about seven years ago, I was working like I normally do at night, and this kid walks in here. Young little thing, about 10 or so, and he's got this crazy red hair and slanted eyes," Yukiro pulled back on the corners of his eyes to exaggerate his point, "and instantly I'm like get out. This place is no place for kids. Hell, half of the time, this place is no place for adults. So anyways, the kid manages to make me laugh, which you and I both know don't happen quite often, and I decide to feed him. But I tell the little shit not to go starting any trouble. And you know what the kid does?"

"He's starting trouble?"

"You fucking know it." Yukiro poured himself and Ren another glass of sake and they knocked it back. "So I come back and this kid stabs this guy-you remember Kenji? That stupid drunk who was always giving Hitoshi a hard time?-yeah him. Stabs him with a butter knife. A butter knife! So bossman gets involved, and he's pissed, so he exes out Kenji and gets ready to do the same thing to the kid. And the smart little bastard finds this last minute courage and asks Hitoshi to teach him something."

"Well," Ren asked impatiently, "what's he ask him to teach?"

"Nen. I want you to teach me Nen."