Chapter 3: VIP Escort

"Need something?" Sanmaru was already behind them, surprising everyone. "Man, between him and Kazuma, I hate when they do that," Renji grumbled.

"That mercenary," he said, "The one with the blonde hair. I recognized him. He works for a man in the Land of Water named Gantaco Shamida. He's the vice-chairmen of the company I'll be merging with. He must be the one behind all this."

"Gantaco Shamida," says Kumori,"isn't he connected with organized crime?"

"I don't get it, " Kamiko piped in, "why would your business partner want to take you out? "

"Probably to weed out the business competition," Kazuma replied. "But then why go through the trouble of agreeing to this merger thing and making him go out of his way to travel out here? " Renji asks.
"If I were to guess, which assuming I'm right, " Sanmaru finally spoke up, "this little coup was to make it seem like a tragic case of 'wrong time, wrong place'."

"Well that's the thing," replied Elijah, "I don't think Gantaco is supportive of the merger. The chairman and enough of the board members did. If this merger is successful, Gantaco will no longer be second in command of the company. A new hierarchy would be established that includes members from both currently existing companies. I would be above Gantaco in this hierarchy, and I guess he doesn't want that."

Elijah looked over at Kumori who had come to the lower deck and joined the conversation. "There have been rumors of that but no definitive proof," he said, "I mostly dismissed all the allegations but now that this has happened, I'm positive he's a bad guy. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd even be safe if the merger becomes successful. He may just have me assassinated later, making him the #2 guy once again."

"If what he's saying is true, why don't we out this Gantaco guy as a bad person?" Renji asked. "With Mr. Ramu's testimony as credible evidence, we'll nip this problem and complete our mission. "

"Easier said than done, " Kazuma replied bluntly.
Sanmaru nodded in agreement. "We've still have a long way to go from here, anything could happen."

"It would just be my word against his," replied Elijah, "All our assailants were either killed or escaped so we don't really have anyway of proving that Gantaco was responsible." Elijah suddenly got an idea. "Wait a minute," he said, "Miss...Kumori? Was it? How do you know about Gantaco Shamida and his connection to organized crime?"

Kumori gave Elijah and the others a suspicious look before taking a deep breath. “I guess there’s really no reason in hiding it from you at this point,” she said with a sigh, “a few months ago, one of your coworkers found evidence linking many members of this company to the Yakuza. I was hired discover who they were and to deal with them as a member of the Kakusu-ken clan.”

Sanmaru, Kazuma, Kamiko, and Renji all had a surprised look on their faces when she said that. But that name especially burned in Kazuma's ears. Kakusu-ken? Seriously?? Does that mean she...?
"Kakusu-ken, huh? " Sanmaru finally said. "Great. Looks like Akira and Mugen aren't the only ones I might have to worry about ."
Mugen. Mugen Kakusu-ken.
Kazuma unconsciously smirked at the sound of his name. Mugen was the only genin that he knew who dueled him into a stalemate. Kazuma would have ended up using Master Mifune's "forbidden technique" if Raiku-sensei and Sanmaru-sensei hadn't shown up..

“So know my niece Akira,” says Kumori with a slight smile, “Take good. I'm happy she still alive, Mugen huh, my brother finally had a son. How is my brother by the way?”

"Maybe later," Sanmaru replied, "right now, we have to get Mr Ramu to his destination, all the while figure out a way to stomp this coup. That eye thing you did earlier; you think you can use it to track the ones that got away?"

“Tracking someone on the open ocean,” Kumori says with a wry smile, “surely you jest, I’d need a high vantage point first and they’ll also need to leave a trail for me to track.”

"Wait," said Elijah, "Perhaps we don't need to track them. The reason I recognize the yellow haired mercenary is because I once attended a meeting at Gantaco Shamida's residence. He wasn't aware I was coming nor did he look happy to see me there. I was invited by someone else. If that location is still where he lives, maybe we can ambush him. Once he receives word that his mercenaries were defeated, he'll likely just send more."

“That won’t work,” Kumori said plainly, “we don’t know the layout plus it will be heavily guarded by his men. It’ll be too dangerous. Gantaco will likely be in hiding until the merger as not to look suspicious.”

Kamiko cracked her knuckles in response. "Like a couple of guards are gonna slow us down." "Yeah," Renji added, "we know how to handle ourselves. You saw it firsthand."
"Before you two decide to crack skulls," Kazuma interjected, "did you forget our top priority is to get our client to his destination safely? Besides, kicking down the front door would make US the bad guys." Sanmaru stayed quiet, thinking. Before he said anything else, he habitually lit another cigarette in his mouth and took one long drag. "We won't know for sure until we get there. So from now on, we stay close-knit to Mr Ramu before and when he gets to his merger deal." He turned his attention to Kumori. "I appreciate what you have done for us so far. But this is our mission, you don't have to tag along."

“Once we make landfall, I’ll going to start hunting down that snake along with his friends,” Kumori said in a cold tone as draws a knife, “I’ll make sure they never cause trouble again and if all goes well it will your mission easier.”

With that, the vessel continued on, reaching a port of the Land of Water just as the sun was setting. "I guess we'll have to secure lodging for the night," said Elijah, "We'll head out in the morning."

"What a relief, I'm super tired," Kamiko yawned while stretching to emphasize her point.
"After today, I think we all are," Sanmaru replied, "but we're still on a mission, so we need to take shifts-"
"NOT IT!" Kamiko and Renji screamed in unison, putting a finger on their nose. "Well, looks like Kazuma is volunteering first.."

Kazuma glared and mumbled under his breath. "Sure.Fine."

As Sanmaru was talking to his team, Tora, the captain of the vessel, approached them and said, “Hey, I’d like to apologize for what happened on the ship. There's this nice hotel in town that my friend owns. Let me to make up to you by giving you rooms there tonight.”

"That sounds excellent," replied Elijah, "We certainly appreciate it. Everyone get a good night sleep. We'll head out early tomorrow morning."

"Well that's convenient," said Kamiko.
"Kazuma still has to be lookout," Renji snickered, but stopped at the sight of Kazuma's warning glance.

Tora then turns to Kumori, who was walking by and said, “What about you, Madame, I’d like to thank you too.” “I’d like nothing more than to rest but I’m short on time as it is,” she says. “Aww come now don’t be like that,” Tora says, “you won’t find a better hotel than this on the coast.” “Well it’s a good thing I’m headed inland,” Kumori said as she continues walking into town.

"Where is she going?" Kamiko asked out loud
"Who knows, who cares," Renji said bluntly, "we get free hotel rooms, we're almost there, and that's all that matters."

Kazuma continued to look in the direction Kumori headed. "She is kind of odd, despite the familial presence she gives." Sanmaru smirked in agreement. "There is a lot of Mugen's personality I see in her, that is certain." He then turned his attention to the captain, requesting the direction of the hotel.

After a long day, the crew settled down at the hotel, compliments of captain Tora. Elijah, his security guard, and Sanmaru shared a room and the three genin shared a room. Kazuma was taking the first lookout shift while everyone else was asleep.

Today is just my lucky day, isn't it, Kazuma thought sourly. He sat down in the hallway, back against his door, his sword holstered off his back and tucked in his arms while his legs were crossed. He sat back and meditated on the events so far. This is our first real mission, and I haven't been proving myself. Those guys, that woman, that whole fight at the ferry.... It's been a while since he left Mifune's dojo, his home, and what's left of his family, just to prove he was strong enough to be like his parents. Kazuma wondered if maybe what he was doing wasn't enough.

The sound of a hastened scuffle against the floor and down the hallway broke the silence, as well as Kazuma's train of thought. He leapt up, sword still sheathed in one hand but a kunai knife in the other, scanning the area for whatever seemed out of place. He calmed downed a bit, but had a slightly confused look on his face when he saw a familiar face peeking from around the corner.
"Yoshino?"