Ninja Love: Saizo Kirigakure

Chapter 5

Saizo and I continued to enjoy our food in silence as I mulled over possible endings to the story of my life. We were just about to finish up and head to the counter to pay when three loud and very obviously drunk men stumbled into the otherwise quiet tea house.

I watched as the biggest one out of the group marched up to the counter where the elderly man and young woman were organizing dishes, slamming his fist on it and asking in a demanding tone, "Old man! Does this place serve alcohol?"

He was definitely a threatening sight, and I did not blame the elderly man for shrinking away from him. He had bulking muscles underneath a greasy and grimy coat of skin. His black hair was cut short but messy all the same, and a green snake was tattooed, frozen in a deadly coil around his neck.

The old man furrowed his brow and spoke cautiously, "Unfortunately, this is only a tea house..." he shrugged apologetically and went back to organizing glasses on a shelf behind the counter, but the thugs weren't satisfied.

"Hey!" The leader swept a glass off the counter, shattering it and snagging the man's attention again while his two cronies snickered, "Don't you know who we are?" he proudly thumped himself on the chest, "We are commissioned by Lord Nobunaga himself! How do you think the lord will feel when he learns that a mere peasant refused service to three of his employees?" the man spat out the words like they were venom, eliciting a fearful expression, and a gasp from me.

It is just as Grandfather feared... Gangs have been hired by Nobunaga to hunt down the ninja!

I turned to Saizo, who was watching the scene before us just as intently as I was. He glanced at me and put a finger on his lips to ensure I stayed silent. We continued to watch, and I willed myself to blend in as much as possible.

By this time, most of the small crowd that had been in the tea house had cleared out, sensing trouble was brewing. Only a few groups remained, and they were either shovelling food into their mouths as quickly as possible or already easing their way towards the door. Saizo and I were positioned as such that there would be no way for us to stand up and make it to the door without drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves, so we were forced to stay put. Even I recognized that, if Nobunaga already had warrants out for me, we would be in much more danger if we tried to leave.

The second thug piped up this time. He was a thin, wiry man who looked as though he had been malnourished throughout his childhood. His skin was a clammy pallor, and was only slightly better groomed than the leader. However, he seemed to be even shorter than I was, making it hard for him to look very imposing.

"Are you going to serve us some alcohol or not?" he had to look up to the man slightly, sticking his pointy nose into the air and giving him an almost comical air to contradict his rude tone.

The old man looked down to the bony thug suspiciously, "Even if you demand it, I don't have the stock..."

He was interrupted by the last thug, who seemed to be the most drunk of them all, and had previously been spending his time leaning against the counter and picking at his dirty nails. He was well-built, not as beefy as the first man, but definitely nowhere near as skinny as the first one. He was, however, more messy in appearance than the other two combined. His disheveled kimono had something splattered on it that looked suspiciously like vomit, and he had a couple cuts and bruises in various places, evidence of a bar fight.

"Ladies, please," he slurred, chuckling at his own humor, "I think we have something better than alcohol here..." he pushed off of the counter and swayed for a moment before making a grab for the young waitress. He yanked the shrieking girl over to him by the wrist. Fear was evident in her eyes as the bandit's meaty hands felt their way down her sides. She tried to pull away from him while the old man pleaded with the group.