Letting Off Steam

 

     "Oh my young loverbirds, look at you!" A cherry-cheeked lady whose contours were shaped exactly like a pear's threw the boys and girls into stools fluffy as whipped cream and ushered the companion animals to a separate quarter of the motel. Then she bustled to an oven that took up half of one wall and flung it open--the fragrance of food kept hot for chance visitors wafted in waves of warmth into their faces, and Runo pursed his lips tight to keep drool from spilling out uncontrollably. Her broad face creased with a smile that never got old, she hurled dish after dish after steaming dish towards Luccin, who guided them without spilling a drop onto the table until it was sagging on its stubby tofu legs. At unspoken signal the entire group dove headfirst into the feast. The little old lady laughed at them. "Such dirty, tired faces, your shining trophies from travelling so hard, so long! Eat up quick! Luccin dear, stay with them while I feed the animals and get the baths ready."

     "Sure thing."

     She shuffled out the room like a penguin. Everyone would have stared if they weren't too busy stuffing their mouths in total disregard of personal hygeine.

     "Woah, slow down!" Luccin dodged a glob of tofu sent flying at her face, and waved it away with a laugh. It was pointless to try to break up the happy chaos. "There's plenty for all. Try not to choke. Check it out, this square-shaped one steeped in brown sauce is called Dochas, tofu with soy sauce. This one's tofu sauteed with vegetables, this one's diced tofu sprinkled with peppers. Not that any of you can even hear me." She smiled. Runo rolled his eyes and grabbed at the richest-smelling type of tofu, tossed a piece into her plate.

     "Oh. Th-thank you."

     "It's the one sauteed with vegetables. If I eat anything with meat in it I will make you suffer."

     She smiled again, a nervous quickness to her breathing.

     After they had filled their bellies to bursting, Luccin led them to an open-air hot spring bath tucked away in the middle of the motel. Jay wanted to check on Violet first, so Runo and Kake had the men's section to themselves.

     When Kake saw the yawning pool he squealed, stripped on the spot, and catapulted in. For a second Runo was hit with a sickening dread that the pool was too shallow and the boy had gotten hurt--but then he bubbled up slowly, waved, and splashed around in an attempted freestyle stroke. "It's huge! It's huge! We're taking a shower in a swimming pool! This is awesooooooooome!!!"

     Runo let out his breath, wondering at the peace that seemed to be settling deeper and thicker over the town with every step he took. Here, he felt safer and more content than even in his sweetest dreams. The thought barely flitted through his mind, though, before another shot it through with suspicion. He squinted and rubbed his temples. What if this was a nightmare in disguise? He had to keep alert to matter what. Things were strange around here, and when things were strange being paranoid was what had always kept him alive.

     "I'm leaving clean clothes out here," Luccin called from back in the building. "There's also soap and shampoo by the hot spring; not made from animal fat!"

     There were two bars of soap on the edge of the steaming pool, next to two squirt bottles. He hesitated, then peeled off his clothes and cautiously descended into the liquid. It scalded his skin at first, but after the heat thoroughly soaked him through it seemed to be the perfect temperature. He looked down at his grimy arms, looked beside him at the soap, edged closer, and sniffed.

     One hundred percet soy beans and tofu, alright. This place was crazy and sticky and absolutely amazing.

     "It's so hot in here~!" Kake squealed in excitement. "Why's there so much mist!?"

     "The soy milk's letting off steam, duh." 

     From the other side of the wall Kuchiha's voice yelled, "Soy milk!? We're standing up to our arms in soy milk!?"

     "Up to my neck," gurgled Kake.

     "No, really," muttered Runo sarcastically. "Soy milk, good food, and tofu baths just for you! Come to the legendary Path of Angels and Demons now for a limited time offer!"

     "I'm not here to see some cheap tourist show!"

     "Well good, cuz neither am I." He set to work scrubbing himself down. "Here, Kake."

     A bar of soap smacked into the boy's face as he turned. He went underwater with a gurgled, "I didn't mean it!"

     There was some splashing on the other side of the wall that Runo tried not to think about too hard. Kake flailed back up with a lopsided guilty smile plastered on his face.

     "What about you, kid?" he asked absentmindedly. The other wall became silent but for Kuchiha's breathing.

     "Eh? [gyaaahhh how long has it been since i got to use that worrrrrrrrrd] What about me?"

     "Nothing."

     Someone like him, even if he was after more than a full stomach and sweet dreams, would probably only do something drastic when left with no other choice. Runo sank deeper into the soymilk liquid, watching the stars wink out.

 

     Kuchiha woke up.

     Well, if you want to get technical about it, she first heard Kake squealing in her ear, punched him so hard he cracked the tofu ceiling, was gently prodded to her feet by Jay, was coached to wash and dress herself by Luccin, was stuffed with breakfast by Viva, and was plopped into a boat by Runo. And then she woke up.

     "Took you long enough," a voice said, still smooth and calming no matter how gruff it tried to be.

     Kuchiha stared at the brilliant blue sky, feeling completely empty and satisfied for no reason at all except an absence of reason. She began to be lulled to sleep again by the boat's rhythmic swaying and the music of the soy milk streets.

     "Hey. You're not going underwater again, are you?"

     Funny. The voice was strangely familiar. It was giving her mixed feelings of annoyance and comfort, like a soft rabbit sitting on her head that happened to be deadly heavy...

     "I've been kind enough to help you find him, so do your part."

     Her eyes snapped open again. Runo was standing at the elevated stern, holding a pole like Luccin had the previous day. Kuchiha leaped to her feet and almost capsized the boat. "WHAT!? WHERE ARE WE!? WHAT'RE YOU DOING!? WHAT'S GOING ON!?"

     "Shush shush shush, you crazy she-wolf. On a boat in the middle of Soy Stop. You know. The first stop on the Path. And I didn't kidnap her," he added for the people gawking at them from the suddenly silent busyway.

     "Huh!? But - Where's everyone else!?"

     Runo only uncoiled his whip, apparently waiting for something. After a belated heartbeat, Kake's rabbit came falling from the sky and was fluidly guided back into the boat by an instantaneous flash of the whip, unharmed. "And watch your head before you stand up."

     She rubbed her head and sat down as her face grew hot. "Was its fault for sitting on my head."

     The surrounding merchants, students, mothers, lawyers, gradually returned to their previous occupations with a laugh and a smile, filling the streets once more with the pleasant hum of thriving peace. The sun was already high in the sky, bathing Soy Stop in a spectacular array of gold. Kuchiha could see the rooms and shops through the windows in the tofu buildings now, and it warmed her heart to see the simple ones, the cluttered ones, the decorative ones, the antique ones. It was like breathing sunlight while sailing on the milky way.

     Then realization hit her, and she finally got a full grip on her senses. "Why isn't Kake here if his bunny is? Are they all out shopping with Luccin or something? And what was that you said back there, about helping me?"

     Runo puffed out hard, a sheen of sweat on his forehead from pushing the boat along with a pole. "Could you get any slower?"

     "Just answer the questions already!"

     He nodded at the snowy white rabbit, nestled up beside his boot to rest from its previous ordeal. "The kid said it's a mystical beast or something. That you knew how to use it. But if what you're looking for is over 8 marksas [what was that again, a mile? for Kuch, each one's about 20 minutes' walk] away its power won't work. Oh, and you're actually right that they went to the market. Do you want a carrot for your reward?"

     "Do you want me to make you into dog food!?"

     He grinned. "That's more like it."

     The comment made her brain spin, and Runo grinning was just a little bit creepy, so Kuchiha drove back to the topic again. "What'm I supposed to be finding?"

     "Guess."

     She paused. And a grin spread on her face too. Shucks, were these things infectious? Was there a smiley-disease going around?

     "So," Runo said, "how does this mystical beast thing work?"

     Kuchiha racked her brains in search of a memory from the time she and Kake got lost in the desert, right on the outskirts of the Forest of Devourers. They'd met Rika and Runo there, and that strange man with magic rings--wholly unpleasant memories. She licked her lips.

     "Right then, bunny, c'mon over here. I know what I'm looking for." She held out her arms and roughly gathered the rabbit to her chest, closed her eyes, and tried to picture the face from before everything fell apart. She had it for a brief second, that innocent smile, but then another image tore it to pieces and poured a shadow over it like black blood, the vivid memory of a silhouette against the moon on a hill of--

     "I can't," she gasped, eyes snapping open. "Why - why can't I - but-"

     Runo was beside her. The pole clattered to the deck. "It's okay. It's okay."

     She sank to the boat's hull, shivering. "Ugh. This - I feel so weird." She tried to lift herself back up to the boat's seat [since the boat's shaped like...y'know, a chinese boat with those two elevated sections in the middle to sit on], but her hands and legs hung heavy as lead. Kake's rabbit leaped to her and nuzzled her neck worriedly. "The heck? Why can't I move? What's wrong with me?"

     "It's okay," Runo repeated. "Don't think about it. Just breathe. Easy, easy. Breathe."

     She swallowed. "I want to find him."

     "Yeah."

     "I want to find him."

     "Yeah."

     "But I can't set my heart on it. I can't find him like this."

     "What, you're afraid?"

     She saw red. Then next time she blinked her sword was against his neck. She fell back and dropped the blade to the hull, cold pouring down her back until it numbed her clammy fingers.

     "Sorry sorry, letting off steam. Sorry."

     "Did you. Just apologize to me."

     She tried to kick him, but he quickly retreated to the other end of the boat. "No, Ruru! Never! You're disgusting!"

     "Sure. Anyways, think you could describe him to me? That...person?"

     She chewed her lower lip and tried to burn a hole through Runo's head with her stare, to no avail. This sucked. Thinking sucked, having to talk to Runo sucked, being filled with an ugly conglomerate of every despicable emotion in the middle of the most beautiful town she had ever seen sucked. She spat into the water. "Can't! Stop pestering me already."

     "Why can't you describe him?"

     She gritted her teeth, but the words slipped out anyways. "His eyes, it's his eyes. They're watching me."

     Runo gazed at her in pensive silence for a while.

     He left her slumped at the bottom of the boat, took up the pole again and pushed off with a metallic heave of his whole body that rippled through his arms. They sliced through the sparkling fluid a little further, then turned a corner and stopped at a miniature dock before a restaurant. The deafening noise must have reached Runo's ears long ago.

     "You hungry?" He smirked over his shoulder as he tied the boat to the dock. It immediately set her blood boiling, the dark thoughts vanished in a puff of smoke and a blaze of glory. Just what Runo was good at. If she didn't know better, she'd say he made her hate him on purpose.

     "No! I just woke up!"

     "Five hours after I did. I'm going in."

     "Agh! Wait, you - Potato legs!" she shouted after his back. The rushing stream of people flowing in and out the broad restaurant doors dazzled her eyes as she searched for bobbing red screwed on a splash of green. She hesitated a moment.

 

     "Can I sit at the bar?" Runo called to a waitress over the clamoring din.

     "One moment," she replied, stacking dirty dishes from a table onto her plump tofu trolley.

     He tried to filter one particular voice out from the roar of yelling customers, running water, frying food, but when something--a plate, a cup, whatever it was sounded huge--crashed to the floor a dull throb seared through his head and he clutched both hands over his ears. He hated crowded places, and restaurants were worst of all. What was he even doing here?

     "POTATO LEGS!"

     He instinctively threw himself into a corner and stared at the assaulter, ears ringing. Kuchiha was panting in front of him, a vengeful glint in her eyes. When the crowd came between them again, she elbowed through and hauled him up by his shirt.

     "You. Deserved it."

     If only she knew.

     The waitress then bustled toward them, and Kuchiha hastily threw him back against the wall and turned away, failing horribly at playing innocent. The waitress just smiled at her.

     "How may I help you?"

     "Can I--can we sit at the bar?" Runo asked. The smile vanished, replaced by a look of mild concern.

     "How old are you two?"

     "Old enough." [he's actually 17. underage drinking is bad!!! D:< but ruru's an outlaw and kuch's a murderer, so it doesn't really amount to much by their standards.]

     "An age number, please, or I can't let you drink alcohol. Its the rules, and for your own health. Please understand."

     "Yeah, yeah. Trouble is I don't know, since nobody's around anymore to tell me when I was born and nobody cares, but they all know I hold my drink plenty well, so do you still need an age?"

     There was a harsh ring of truth in that, even if it was dressed up like a lie. The waitress's expression turned guilty, and she slipped them a small clipboard with a paper and pen. "I'm sorry. Go ahead, there're two spots open over there."

     They sat down and Runo ordered a glass of the only real drink available: soybean wine.

     "Heh. Good choice," the bartender joked as he took the clipboard, scribbling something on it. "You sure you don't want just regular soy milk?"

     "We're good."

     When his back was turned, Kuchiha muttered to Runo from the corner of her mouth, "Not fair, you used your hypnotism on him."

     "Hypnotism?"

     "Yeah, like when you tell an animal to do something and they do it. You used it on me yesterday, but I broke away, hah!"

     First time anyone had called it that. Funny.

     "Hey, stop smirking! Weren't you were gonna eat something!?" 

     "Ah, I'll just grab something as it passes by."

     "Huh?"

     The bartender slid two glass cups filled with a milky liquid toward them. He turned to Kuchiha. "Would you like anything else, ma'am?"

     A little jolt rammed through her. "...Did you just call me ma'am?"

     "Well, yes," the bartender stuttered. "Would you prefer to be called something else?"

     "No no no! Say it again!"

     "M-ma'am?"

     Kuchiha giggled to herself in bubbly ecstacy. With Luccin monitoring how Kuchiha did her hair that morning, it actually didn't look disgusting for once. But still.

     Runo leaned closer to the bartender and whispered, "Don't mind her, she's kind of loony."

     "I HEARD THAT!"

     Much better.

     Runo rolled his eyes and brought the cup to his lips. Halfway there something hit his olfactory nerves like a puffing train, stopping him in his tracks.

     "...This...this smell..." he wheezed out, staring at the cup.

     "Huh?" Kuchiha glanced at the bartender quizzically. He laughed.

     "Your first time here, isn't it? Wonderful! I'll let you have everything for free."

     "Wait, seriously!?" Kuchiha exclaimed, suddenly perking up. Then Runo tilted his head back and started downing the whole cup, and she yelled at him, "Chug! Chug! Chug!"

     He finished it off and slammed it back on the counter. "...Woah."

     "Woah? Woah!? What's that supposed to mean, woah!?"

     "It means," he gasped, "that you should drink like your life depends on it."

     She sipped her first glass slowly, and he listened in amusement to her heart jump erratically with each shot of the most heavenly alcohol he had ever tasted. By her third glass her heart practically stopped. She just closed her eyes and gulped it down like Runo, who had polished off his seventh and was looking for something to go down with the it. He leaned back and waved at a passing trolley. [i went to chinatown recently, and there are these dim sum places (minus the bars) where trolleys loaded with two or three kinds of dishes circle around the restaurant, and you basically order by stopping whichever looks good, getting however many plates, recording that on a paper you got at the reception, and at the end paying for whatever's written down. it was so awesome i suffered an attack of lp-hunger and now i'm still here, going strong.]

     "What've you got?"

     "Oh, lasagna," the waitress stuttered quickly, this one with glasses. "Well, I mean, tofu lasagna, but it tastes the same as real lasagna, really-"

     "Cool, pass me a plate. Make that two plates." He glanced at the bartender. "Do we need the clipboard?"

     The man leaned forward with interest. "You two new to Soy Stop?"

     "Yeah. Fresh out of the forest, really."

     "Why then!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them animatedly. "It's on the house, kids! Don't tell your parents! Sally, that trolley's almost out of plates--switch it for some of your famous cakes and come on over!"

     Sally blushed, and inexplicably her glasses started to fog. "O-okay." She wheeled away.

     The bartender gave Runo and Kuchiha a refill of wine and smiled genially at them. "We don't often get kids like you around here. Where're you from?"

     Runo shrugged. Kuchiha hicupped and drawled, "Mind'ya own business, ol' man."

     "Oh, my." He shot a glance at Runo. "That sound good to you?"

     "She's fine, four cups can't do much. Keep them coming." He sipped his glass slowly, watching with more than a little amusement as Kuchiha glugged hers down in a million little shudders and twitches of guilty pleasure. "So I've been wanting to ask you something."

     The bartender raised his eyebrows. "Everyone wants to ask the bartender something, and they all walk away with screams, tears and pointed fingers. But I guess I'm used to that now. Well, anyways, fire away--I'll see what I can do."

     "I'm looking for someone."

     Kuchiha peered up at him from where she sprawled on the counter.

     "Black hair, two swords. And if you ever saw his eyes, you'd call them...well, penetrating. Not the kind you'd forget anytime soon. They follow you, so to speak."

     With wide, angry eyes, she mouthed something silently. He felt menace stab into the back of his neck, but he shrugged it off.

     "I'm sorry," the bartender was saying, "I can't say I've seen him, but the Lighthouses should have. Do you have any other clues? What he's wearing, where he likes to go-"

     "No idea!" Kuchiha suddenly barked. He and Runo flinched. "Stop tallkin' about him, you're 'lly pissin' meh off!"

     "Hey, relax-"

     "R'lax!? R'LAX!!?? How'm I s'posed teh r'lax 'round you!? Ya gonna stop meh 'fore I even getta kill 'im!!

     The voices of the customers nearby dwindled to an uneasy hush, trying not to stare. The bartender looked horrified.

     "Shush, shush," Runo hissed. "I'm helping you find him, and that's as far as I'm seeing through. You should be grateful for that. Just sit back and take it easy. It's what the drinks are for."

     "Ah should be GRATEFUL fuh that!? Ah'm never wantin' teh ask a favor ya! Ya dyin' lonely and stabbed in the back one day, Ruru!"

     "Stop talking, dang it, she-wolf-"

     "NOW YA DONE IT!" She stomped both feet up onto the counter and drew both swords, screeching like a wildcat. Runo backed off with his hands in the air.

     "No, this is not the place to be spouting steam like a little kid-"

     "I AM A LI'L KID! NEVER FINISHED THE PARTY! YA MAKIN' MEH THINK BAD MEMORIES! BAD, BAD! R'LLY BAD!" [ooh. foreshadowing. yipee.]

     The last time he'd seen someone drunk was after his mother downed ten hardcore shots of liquor in five minutes, each one with an alcohol concentration three times as high as the soybean wine--and those weren't exactly good memories either. "How was I supposed to know you couldn't hold your drink for crud?" he murmered.

     "DIDYA JUS' SAY YOU DON'T GIVE A CRUD!?"

     "Hah!? No, how'd you-"

     "WELL I DON'T GIVE A CRUD 'A YA, EITHER! AH HATE YA!"

     She charged at him, windmilling her swords around her head. He cursed and pushed the bartender to the floor, hopefully safe behind the counter. The other people sitting at the bar and at tables nearby took the cue and started grabbing their things, taking off with faces pale and voices hoarse from unfamiliar panic. Waiters, waitresses and other restaurant managers evacuated to the kitchen, peaking around doorframes and windows to watch the scene. Someone gave the bartender a thumbs-up, but he fortunately didn't notice--the fall had knocked him out.

     The blades were as crazy and unpredictable as Kuchiha's unsteady footsteps, and Runo was forced back and back. "Stop! Stop it, just--"

     He summersaulted over a table with his hands, then grabbed the edges of the tablecloth and flapped the white cotton, food, plates and all at her face. There was a sound like a tree being mauled by a giant, and even the metal forks and knives were reduced to sparkling bits of confetti floating down to the floor.

     Runo ran.

     "Okay, okay, I get it. You're mad. But just slow down for a second and listen to me, will you!?" he yelled over his shoulder. She was chasing him with a striking resemblance to a tornado, sending whole tables and chairs flying out of her path.

     "NEVER!!"

     He said it anyways. "I know better than anyone in the world that killing isn't going to solve anything. So put that cursed sword down and get it through your thick she-wolf skull already!"

     "YA THINK YA'RE ALWAYS RIGHT!? AS IF! YA'RE A PUSSYCAT AND A WEAKLING AND YA CAN'T DO A THING TA STOP ME! ACTIN' SO FULL'A YASELF, I'M GONNA KILL YA!"

     He stopped. A violent fire began to spread through his limbs, flushing his face and depriving his brain of common sense. With one hand in his pocket, he wheeled around, feet planted firm and ready to face the storm when it came. "We'll see about that," he growled under his breath.

     He shot his whip out at Kuchiha's face. So well practiced it was almost subconscious, he began mapping out different trajectories of action, different possible routes to take. Kuchiha turned to him, arms raised--and then was hurtled backwards with a square hit on the nose. His plan of action stumbled to a halt. Kuchiha would have dodged--should have stepped to the right and feinted with her left sword, then thrown her weight left and jabbed with her right sword. He should have bent his whip back around with a table leg and coiled it around her left ankle, and she should have been down just like that. Of course, there were a million different ways this could have gone wrong. But to actually get hit?

     The girl sprang forward, closing the distance between them so fast Runo only managed to block the blade with the handle of his whip. The most it did was buy him half a second--the blade sliced through easily--but that was enough for him to abandon his precious weapon and duck. Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt Kuchiha's sword nick his hand. As she careened off balance, he kicked at her feet, sending her tumbling. The moment she hit the floor he almost desperately hurtled on top to slap the hilt of the double-edged sword out of her grip. He felt her knees slam into his stomach, knocking him out of breath, and she rolled on top to reverse the advantage.

     He didn't have his whip. He couldn't predict her movements. But it didn't matter, because the moment he had turned around to face her he had stopped using his head. For the first time since the night he had left his birthplace, Runo was fighting for the sake of fighting. In the heat of battle he went deaf and blind, shedding everything to follow pure instinct.

     Kuchiha sliced her sword at his neck. He clawed at her with his hands wildly and managed to jab her eye with his finger, and she jerked backwards with a roar. Sparks flew where her sword zigzagged off target and skimmed against the floor. He lunged up and bit her remaining sword hand, which earned him a fist to the nose and a broken collarbone. He bit again, this time drawing blood, and the katana clattered to the floor. The two tore at each other barehanded for a moment, then he caught her in a headlock and threw her overhead. They clambered upright to face one another again, wheezing for breath. He felt blood drip over his lips and down his neck.

     "Don't do it, Sally!"

     Runo blinked. It took him a few seconds, but his consiousness swung back into reality and his hearing returned. Someone was running unsteadily toward them. He turned, vaguely irritated by the interruption.

     One plate of delicately arranged tofu cake crashed into his face. The other one smashed Kuchiha's at the same time. They both went down, leaving the waitress with glasses the last one standing in the wrecked tofu house.

     "St-stop fighting!" she squeaked. After a moment of awkward silence, she squeaked again and went to get medical help, tripping over broken table legs and slipping over smeared food every few steps.

     Eventually, the sound of her footsteps faded, replaced by a soft murmer of voices coming from the kitches doors. Runo lay where he fell, staring at the ceiling. "...Draw?"

     In a voice hoarse and sullen, all mindless anger boiled and spent: "Draw."

     He waited for a little bit longer, listening to her heartbeat.

     "...sorry."

     "You're finally sober?"

     "Shut it." She groaned softly. "I think I'm gonna puke. Get over here so I can do it on your face."

     He smiled. "Just hear me out."

     She didn't respond.

     "Everyone knows you want to find him. You might not think much of it, but they're all going to help you no matter what it takes--so don't try to do everything alone anymore. They're worried about you, alright?"

     She rolled over so that he couldn't see her face, but it was no use; her heart said all.

     "Kuchiha." He meant it. "Please don't hurt yourself."

     Several long seconds later, he sat bolt upright. The eyes of the entire restaurant staff were boring into him with speechless chagrin, and the drunkard who had decimated half the room was out cold. Mild humor played on his bloodied lips.

     "Not my fault."

 

Table of Contents

Chapter 34

Chapter 36