By Your Side

Chapter 1

    McCree stood at the gates of the Shimada castle, tilting his hat to block out the bright sun as he looked up to the top. "Doesn't seem like I'll be climbing over that anytime soon." Jesse mumbled, folding his arms. He pressed a hand to his ear to communicate back to Winston's lab, where the surviving former members of overwatch recalled to. "Just how exactly do you expect me to get in this place?" McCree asked, grumbling.
    "I'd suggest going in under the cover of night McCree, you know daylight isn't exactly preferred for a stealth-"
    "You know me better than to send me out here and expect a quiet recruitment. I ain't the quiet type, and you said you're not even confident he's here." McCree cut Winston short.
    Winston sighed. "McCree, wait until nightfall." The scientist ordered, and before McCree could say anything else, Winston had cut the communication.
     "Damn monkey." McCree huffed and stormed off into the city. Hanamura was quite the beautiful city, enough so that Jesse's foul mood was lifted. The smell of cherry blossoms and Japanese Cuisine drifted through the air, and McCree suddenly felt his stomach growl. His eyes met a clock stationed above a vending machine.
     "Well, 4pm ain't really time for lunch, but it's high noon somewhere in the world." Jesse stated quietly and began searching for a place to eat and drink, anywhere really. He spotted a hole-in-the-wall kind of bar and pushed open its bamboo door. The small space was dimly lit with sparse neon lighting and surprisingly American decor. And while most of the customers seemed to be Japanese, the barista appeared American. For the time and place, the bar was decently crowded with men and women, who were either drunk or knew how to handle their drinks. Jesse's eyes landed on an open seat next to a Japanese man with long hair tied into a bun and shaved sides. Though, that wasn't the most interesting detail; slung over his shoulder were a bow and quiver full of arrows.
    McCree took a seat next to the stranger, not really looking for a conversation, but the barista was occupied with talking to another customer, and Jesse had no idea what to expect from their drink and food menu. Jesse's eyes wandered to the man sitting next to him, and almost instantly the stranger pulled the collar of his coat higher and looked away in an attempt to avoid conversation. McCree raised a brow at the man's odd action, then shrugged and turned to the woman sitting on the other side of him for questions.
    "Excuse me miss, what in all has this place got to eat and drink?" McCree asked.
The woman turned to him and gave a confused look. "Gomen'nasai, nani?" She asked in response. McCree held up his hand dismissively.
"I uh- don't speak Japanese."
    Even though the woman most likely didn't comprehend what McCree said, she nodded understandingly. Both knew they couldn't speak the other's language. Jesse turned his head and scratched at his beard. 'Well, ain't like they'll kill me for not knowing how this place operates.' He thought.
    "There are mostly American food and drink, but there are Japanese options as well." The man next to him suddenly commented nonchalantly.
McCree stayed silent for a bit, raising his brow once again at the stranger. "So the barista speaks English?" Jesse asked, looking over to see the barista was still in conversation, not paying attention to him.
    The stranger nodded, taking a sip of his drink. McCree observed the man, whom obviously wasn't much of a talker. "Whatcha drinkin' there?" Jesse asked, eyeing the liquid in the glass cup.
The stranger stayed quiet a few seconds before responding. "Saké. Rice Wine." The man explained, then turned his head the other way, ending the conversation.
    Finally the barista noticed McCree and ended the painful silence that broke out between Jesse and the stranger next to him. "Wanting a drink?" The barista asked.
"No thanks, just a-" McCree looked around the bar, then spotted someone with food. "bowl of ramen." He said. The barista walked off and Jesse pulled a bottle of Jack Daniel's from his pocket.
    "Whiskey. How predictable from a man like yourself." The man suddenly commented, eyeing the bottle sitting on the bar.
"Well, I prefer my drink strong. None of that weak 'sakè' for me." Jesse responded, taking a drink straight from the bottle.
    "Sakè comes in many different alcoholic strengths. I usually drink stronger than wine." The bowman explained, tapping the glass of his drink with his thumb.
"Then how about you take a swig of my whiskey?" McCree challenged, raising his brow with a smirk.
"Hmph- as if I'd prove a point that way." The man retorted, rolling his eyes.
"Alrighty then, I'll just assume you can't handle it." Jesse teased, taking another long drink of Jack Daniel's.
    "Make all the assumptions you want cowboy, your childish behavior does not offend me." The bowman hissed, once again turning away from McCree.
"Okay then, I assume you can't shoot that bow." Jesse challenged again, his eyes traveling to the bow slung on the stranger's back. While he wasn't looking for a fight, aggravating the hell out of this man was quite entertaining to him.
    "Just who exactly do you think you are?" The stranger snapped at him, the small fringe of loose hair from his bun covering one of his eyes.
"Well, I'm McCree. That's who I think I am." Jesse responded, winking with a grin; he knew he was getting under the skin of this man. "Tell you what, let me buy you another drink and you can show me just how well you use that bow of yours." Jesse offered.
The stranger stayed quiet for a while. "Pass. I have had enough today." He said and stood, leaving cash on the bar and walking out. McCree stared after him, taking another drink of whiskey.
    "I'd normally tell you that there's no outside drinks allowed in here, but I'll let it pass since you got a peep out of him." The barista suddenly filled in, setting a bowl of ramen in front of McCree.
"You know that fella?" Jesse asked, digging into the ramen but having a bit of trouble with the chopsticks.
"He comes here quite often, but I've never heard him speak. Not even for a drink. He'd just gesture and grumble on occasion. I thought he was mute." The barista admitted, pocketing the money on the bar.
McCree thought on it as the barista walked away, and considered getting up to follow whoever it was, but his hunger made him stay put.

A/N: No idea if this is even worth reading, but what the heck. I'll try to update this as often as I can if it gets enough votes!