Uninvited visitor

During his not very long, but the more exciting career at the United States Army, Captain John Walker had encountered many situations, which were difficult to judge. But he had never doubted his decisions during those moments; he could tell what was wrong or right according to the common social rules and laws, as well as according to his own conscience.

This was the first time John hesitated. It wasn´t any particular shock for him, when he had found out about the fiery destruction of the white farm. Raynold Karnaka was not any goody-goody; in fact he was the most hideous man the captain had met so far. Karnaka´s reputation of a cruel and rich slave-holder preceded him far and wide, and Walker knew of quite a few dead or missing people, who just might have been standing in the way of that man´s plans, despite nothing could have been proved. But nobody had the right to condemn Karnaka outside the law and burn him along with his whole mansion. That was not justice, but murder and arson to the top of it.

According to what Walker found out at the ugly crime scene, even some Karnaka´s gunmen were missing, not to mention many injured ones. Along with the house burnt down to the ground it was quite a lot of damage for one Indian attack. Or maybe it was not so Indians-related at all.

As John let his horse follow the route, which was described to him by married couple of Brice´s, he pondered if there was even a slightest chance that he could have found out the truth about the night ambush. It was very likely that either both youngsters had already escaped or they had left to the mountains, seeking a refugee at the remaining members of Blackfeet Tribe.

But there was still a possibility that the house a few miles away from the city would be occupied and the captain considered that eventuality worth checking out. Especially, when it would have been quite dangerous to chase after them in the mountains, as the weather was getting worse with each day.

To John´s relief, it was not a problem to find that half-collapsed cottage. As soon as his view was not blocked with trees, he noticed he was probably right in his assumptions – there was a smoke coming out of the chimney. Somebody was definitely inside…

Captain Walker checked that his guns were ready in the convenient position under his coat and made his horse move forward, determined to put an end to that awful Karnaka-history at least, when it was not possible to do it with Math Grenet.

*

"We need to prepare more wood," Kame assumed looking out through the small window, after he finished cleaning after their quite long breakfast. "It seems that this snowing won´t stop any time soon."

Satisfied Jin, with his stomach pleasantly full, got up from the table, approaching the younger one.

"For such an awesome breakfast, I´ll gladly help you with anything," he stated firmly.

"I think that we were already so hungry, that you would enjoy any food."

"That´s not true," Jin shook his head. "Just the one prepared by you."

The brownish eyes focused on him: "Cheesy...." Kame teased Jin with an amused smile.

"Do you mind it?" the older one raised his eyebrows mockingly.

"No... It´s just unexpected from you."

"It´s you who has such an influence on me," Jin reacted, coming even closer and locking his arms around Kame´s form from behind.

Kazuya took a slow inhale and breathing out he leant against Jin, giving in to his capture.

"I have no reason to complain then," the younger one said.

Jin put his chin on Kame´s shoulder, breathing in the faint scent of his hair. It took him a while to realize, that just being so close to the younger one was influencing his whole being in a way, which was almost terrifying.

One would thought, that when they had the chance to release some steam, and let all that accumulated tension get out, giving in to their desire after each other, that he would be able to stay calm in Kame´s presence. But to his surprise, the very opposite was the truth. Jin felt attracted to him even more than before.

Now, when he knew the feeling, when he knew how damn awesome it was when he could have the younger one in that way he did, Kazuya turned out to be irresistible for Jin. He didn´t understand fully what was happening inside of him, but it felt so good, he didn´t care.

He strengthened his grip around the slim body and approached with his lips to Kame´s ear.

"I would feel offended if you had complaints," he whispered.

Kame smiled and closed his eyes.

"This feels really nice, you know..." the words escaped the younger one´s lips with a content sigh.

"What about to make it even nicer?" Jin asked huskily, while his hands slipped lower on Kame´s hips.

The warm body in his arms shivered a little, which teased Jin´s inner longing even more.

"I´m all in... If you´re willing to," Kame said in a voice, which revealed his expectations.

"What do you think?" Jin asked back, heading with his right hand to the buttons of the younger´s trousers.

"I don´t know, will you tell me?" Kame replied a little teasingly.

Jin let his hand rest just above Kazuya´s crotch, and moved with his lips instead, to taste the skin of Kame´s neck.

"Do I really have to say something?" he reacted with just another question.

"Well... Maybe not," Kame admitted in a strangled voice, when Jin´s fingers strayed even further down.

"I thought so..." Jin assumed.

Kame had a hard time to speak again coherently: "You know, I think we should not... continue in this..."

"You think?" the older one muffled against the soft skin, probing it with his tongue again.

"Stop…" Kame gasped for breath under the ministration. "Jin, stop," he repeated through the narrow throat more firmly.

"Right now?" Jin´s breath tickled against Kame´s cheek, while his teasing hand reached even lower. "Are you sure…?"

Kame´s cheeks were blushed and his breath shaky, but his eyes were focused outside: "Seriously, wait… Somebody´s coming."

"What?" Jin followed the younger´s stare.

Kazuya was right; there was a rider on the snowy driveway, in blue uniform.

"Well, who might that be?" Jin grunted and very unwillingly let the younger one slip from his grip.

"He looks like Captain Walker," Kame noted.

"He couldn´t have chosen a better timing," the older one snorted annoyed.

"Hey… Behave, Jin. He might be here because of the farm," he warned the older one.

"Yeah... Probably," Jin murmured, still quite upset.

*

The hoof prints of the captain´s horse were the only tracks in the untouched white surface of the driveway and courtyard. It seemed that nobody left the house since the heavy snowfall had started. The building itself was quite old and at the first look almost uninhabitable.

John reached the veranda without any railing and dismounted his horse, just when the front door opened with a sharp creak. Determined, he turned to face the youngster with yellow brown hair, who appeared outside.

"Captain Walker, what an unexpected visit…" the owner of the house welcomed him.

"Kamenashi," Walker touched the brim of his hat to repay the greeting. "I´m sorry for appearing so suddenly, but I have a really urgent matter to discuss with you," he said sternly.

"Of course, come in, Captain."

The soldier stepped up onto the veranda, following Kamenashi´s lead.

"By any chance, don´t you know where Akanishi is?" Walker asked carefully, when he entered the house right behind its owner.

"Well, I do," Kamenashi confirmed calmly. "He´s here with me."

Somehow, it didn´t surprise Walker to hear the information, more like he was really glad that he wouldn´t have to search for the older one all around.

"Great. I need to discuss this with him as well…"

*

All three men settled in the warm kitchen with the cups of hot tea at the table. Jin was somewhat sulking on his chair in the corner, Captain Walker was sitting on the other one, his hat and coat hanging on the hanger and Kame remained standing, leaning over the wall and observing the gloomy face of the surprising guest.

"So, what brings you here, Captain?" Kamenashi asked in a serious tone, suspecting the troublesome conversation.

"Well, first of all…" the captain´s sharp look focused on the younger one. "I´m surprised I find you here; I thought you were planning to help the rest of Blackfeet Tribe to move out, didn´t you?"

"That´s true," Kame nodded. "I need to gather some supplies and stuff for them and I also wanted to put this house into some order for the winter season first. As my house in the city burnt down, I have no other home now," he explained slowly.

"I understand that," Walker admitted. "Does it mean that you spent the last few days here?"

"We both did," Jin stated curtly, before Kame could have reacted and Walker´s suspicious stare moved to the older one. "Why do you ask, Walker?"

"So, you haven´t heard about what happened at Karnaka´s farm the previous night?" Captain Walker raised a question, which both Kame and Jin expected since they had spotted the uniformed man.

"What do you mean?" the younger one asked.

"There was a night ambush; the farm was burnt down to the ground, four or maybe six men were killed," Walker stated shortly. "Raynold Karnaka perished in the fire as well. Do you know anything about it?"

"No."

That response came out from two mouths at the exactly same moment. Walker noticed the short glance, which two youngsters exchanged and with a deep sigh, he made himself more comfortable in his seat, even though his mind got even heavier than till that moment.

"You don´t seem very surprised though," he suggested.

"If that old bastard is dead, I´m only happy about it," Akanishi made his attitude quite clear right away.

"That´s a rough statement…" Walker noted in a cold tone.

"I suppose you don´t expect me to talk about Karnaka nicely, Captain," the young gunslinger snapped back, earning a warning look from Kamenashi.

John Walker frowned at that reaction, still hesitating about how he should handle with what he knew.

"Do they know who did it?" the younger one asked him stiffly.

"Karnaka´s employees described a small group of Indians," Walker answered slowly.

"Why do you bother us with it then?" Jin smirked.

Right at that moment, the captain decided to confront them directly.

"Because three Karnaka´s gunmen denounced spotting two white young men on the scene," he reacted sharply. "And both of you had many reasons for seeking revenge against Karnaka."

Akanishi and Kamenashi repaid his stare unmoved.

"Do you accuse us?" the younger of the two asked straight away.

"Did you do it?" Walker snapped at them, not able to keep calm anymore.

"No…" Kame reacted slowly. "We didn´t set Karnaka´s farm on fire."

Captain stared at the younger one, trying to figure out the truth behind his words, because he felt that Kamenashi didn´t lie in that sentence. Akanishi kept silent, he was just staring at him from his corner with a quite annoyed expression on his face.

Taking a deep breath, Walker suddenly realized, what the former bartender meant by his statement. They didn´t set up the fire, because their Indian friends did it. They did something else. Walker couldn´t be sure about it, but he assumed that Karnaka´s death was their doing. But could he blame them about it?

Raynold Karnaka clearly destroyed both of their families and much more. That man let the whole Indian tribe, with which Kamenashi was involved, exterminate in such a cruel way, that even Walker felt sick about it. And as came to Akanishi, the young gunslinger obviously went through his portion of suffering on the farm, despite neither of the two had revealed the truth about his recent injuries.

Could he blame them that they had taken justice into their hands in this case and literally prevented that cruel haughty man from hurting anyone else? Just remembering what happened, when they had relied on the law and it led to Grenet escaping the prison, made Walker understand their attitude fully.

But on the other hand, he was a man representing the government of the United States; he was supposed to be a shining example of the one, who follows the laws, which were valid for everyone.

Captain was forced to face a difficult decision: Can he let Akanishi and Kamenashi get away with this?

There were other forms of justice, and it was truth that some of them couldn´t have been achieved from his position. But the two of them had that chance, and Walker would have been lying to himself, if he had said that he was not actually relieved hearing about the death of infamous Karnaka.

Both youngsters were observing him tensely, as Walker stood up and approached the window, looking at the white scenery behind the greyish glass for a while and trying to put his thoughts into some order. When John turned his attention back to them, they were still quietly watching him.

"All right… Let´s say you were not involved," the captain stated in a much calmer voice. "Do you have any idea, who might have done it? What about the rest of Blackfeet Tribe? How many of them survived?"

"Just women and children, Captain," Kame reacted seriously. "Then also two boys and old Shaman. There´re no warriors left; I´ve told you so before."

"I seriously doubt those kids can even loose off an arrow," Jin added his opinion sarcastically.

Walker decided to ignore the older one´s offensive tone.

"Any other Indian tribes then? Who else might have been focused on Karnaka´s farm?"

"I´m afraid we cannot help you in this, Captain," Kame stated slowly and very decisively.

Walker gazed at both of them seriously.

"Look… Raynold Karnaka was a famous and powerful man. I´ve already reported this incident to my superiors. Some investigators from the U.S. Marshals´ office will be sent here to find out the culprits. Moreover, we have to face an issue of many unemployed black servants and also his former gunmen are quite pissed. This cannot be taken lightly."

"We understand that, Captain," Kamenashi reacted again. "And I´m sorry for your troubles, but there´s nothing more we can do for you."

Walker repaid the younger´s serious look for a while. Then he had a fierce eye-battle with Akanishi. Suddenly, he had a feeling that the conclusion of this conversation was decided even before he stepped inside Kamenashi´s house…

"Fine then," he said in a strangely calm voice. "There´s nothing more I needed to discuss with you, so… I´ll rather go."

John gathered his clothes and headed to the exit with both Kamenashi and Akanishi following his steps.

"Captain? I´m really sorry…" the younger one spoke, when Walker walked through the door.

John Walker turned once again to see a troubled face in the door; with frowning Akanishi appearing right behind it. And something urged him to say more, as from some reason he really wanted to part with these guys in a good way.

"Listen," the captain stepped a little closer. "I will be completely open with you. No matter what you say, the word had already spread around Bozeman, with the unemployed gunmen supporting it quite willingly. They say that you two coupled with the Indians and attacked the farm. Some even call for you to be arrested."

Both Akanishi and Kamenashi repaid Walker´s serious stare a little worriedly now, but kept silent.

"There´s no proof against you except some unclear statements of unreliable gunmen, who are more like criminals themselves. So I said that I would go to hear you out and that´s it. But if you show up in the city… be really careful, both of you. There might be some, who will not trust my judgement and you can easily end up in a quite unpleasant situation."

"Are you implying somebody specific, Captain?" Kamenashi asked carefully.

"I have to say that I wasn´t really fond of that servant Karnaka had… Cameron was his name, I think," Walker revealed what bothered him a lot.

"We remember him more than well," Akanishi said, not very thrilled either.

"He was there, when I arrived to the farm, or to what was left of it," the captain explained. "He didn´t blame you two, not directly, but he seems to be capable of anything to avenge his late master."

"Not to mention that Grenet is still on the run, right?" Jin reminded not very calming bonus of the whole situation.

"That´s unfortunately true... And this man doesn´t exactly love you two either," Walker agreed seriously. "Honestly, I think it´s a good idea for you to go and help out the Blackfeet Tribe. You know, just to retreat for a while, before the things will calm down a little."

Both youngsters stared at him obviously surprised by his attitude.

"Thank you, Captain Walker," Kame nodded his head gratefully in the end. "We appreciate your warning, really."

"I just hope I won´t regret it," the military leader reacted in a tone, which made his statement sound as if it was related to something else. "Take care, you two. And avoid the troubles…"

"We will try," Kame was the one to reply again. Then he accepted Walker´s right hand for a parting greeting and the captain did the same with older one´s hand, too.

John Walker left the veranda, mounted his waiting horse again, greeted both men in his typical way, and set off toward the woods, before he could have changed his mind.

*

"Well… That was definitely an interesting twist in the conversation," Jin stated, as they watched the blue uniform disappearing between the trees.

Kame seemed to be quite thoughtful about Walker´s behavior as well.

"I hoped for his understanding, but I really didn´t expect him to be so considerable," the younger one stated.

"He definitely surprised me too."

"It´s good to have people like him around."

"It´s just a shame there´s so little of them," the older one reacted a little pessimistically. "So… What do you think? Should we check on the situation in Bozeman ourselves?"

"Yeah, I think we really should," Kame nodded seriously. "We need some supplies before we go to the tribe anyway…." then he stiffened a little and turned to Jin, who was standing just behind him, still with the deep frown darkening his handsome face. "Well, in case that you want to go with me…"

The dark eyes focused on Kame with surprise: "Where else do you think I´d like to go to?" Jin asked a little offended.

"Well, chasing after Grenet for example…" Kame suggested.

Jin stared at the younger one amazed by the fact how many thoughts were going through his mind.

"I won´t deny I thought about it," he said slowly.

"Me too," Kazuya admitted gloomily. Grenet was the one responsible for his mother´s death and for torturing Jin, so it was no wonder the man´s presence was still on their minds. "But I want to help Liwan and the others first. And then…"

"Then Grenet should pay for what he had done as well as Karnaka, right?" Jin completed him.

The younger one nodded slowly: "I don´t like an idea he´s out there somewhere, capable of appearing out of the blue anytime."

"I know what you mean," Jin reacted heavily. "I feel anxious every time I remember him…"

In short silence, which followed that statement, Kazuya made a small step closer, reached out his hand and squeezed Jin´s shoulder wordlessly.

"If a bullet in his head is necessary for that bastard to leave us alone, I´m more than willing to do that," the older one said with his eyes dark.

Kame observed his expression closely, gathering courage to ask for the assurance he needed: "So… Will you...?"

"Your Indian friends come first," Jin assured him right away. "We can deal with that piece of shit later; I doubt he would appear here anytime soon."

"All right," Kame reacted with relief. He wouldn´t have been able to bear it if Jin had rushed on another path of revenge, alone. "We should pack up then. There´re many hours of daylight left; we can get to the city today."

Jin´s face prolonged in disappointment: "Today? So soon?" he complained, while Kame went around him back inside the house.

"Well… I promised Liwan to come as soon as possible and this winter won´t get any better now," the younger one reacted, entering the kitchen.

"Aah, right…"

Kame glanced at Jin, who sat down on his chair in the corner, kind of sulking again.

"Why are you so upset?" he asked, after he added some wood into the stove.

"It´s nothing," Jin murmured.

Kame´s eyes narrowed suspiciously. He went closer to the other´s chair and sat on the edge of the table: "Jin," he emphasized his name, waiting for a proper answer.

"Well, there will be people," the older one stated reluctantly.

Kame raised his eyebrows: "Of course, there will be. What about it?"

"I just thought that… That we can have… You know," the words were coming out from Jin so slowly, that Kame got impatient. "More time alone," he revealed his thoughts finally.

The younger one got surprised at first, but then such a happy smile brightened up his face, that just the sight of it made Jin´s heartbeat faster.

"To be honest, I like the idea of staying here too, Jin…" Kazuya announced with his eyes sparkling. "But…"

"But you´re not that selfish," Jin finished the sentence instead. "I know that. You always think of others."

Jin knew that it would have been more than stupid from him to insist on staying, when there were still things they had to deal with. No matter how much he would have liked to continue, what they had just started, there was that urge to deal with the certain issues inside of him too.

It felt so nice just to sit with Kame at one table, drinking tea and having no other worries than how to get water and some firewood. It was just too nice to last long...

Jin´s statement made Kame foolishly happy. He didn´t want to rush and leave their cozy place, which felt almost like a home now, either. It was not fair that they could have spent only such a short time here. There was always something to drag them back to the harsh reality.

Kazuya was looking at Jin´s lowered head, thinking about how nice it would have been to spend another night with him in bed. Here, in this old house, full of childhood memories, far away from the city and from all the troubles... But he couldn´t make himself to give in to that temptation; his conscience wouldn´t let him at peace.

"I´m sorry, Jin," Kame breathed out heavily. "I just can´t..."

"Oh, come on, you don´t have to be, Kazuya!" the dark eyes focused on the younger one, when Jin interrupted him. "This is who you are! And it´s also why I… why I like you."

Something warm flooded Kazuya hearing those words. He leant his head down and he didn´t even have to go the whole way to the intended goal, as Jin´s lips came forward to meet his. It was a slow tender kiss, which brought the hundreds of butterflies into their stomachs and made them feel kind of dizzy.

They remained close with their eyes closed even after their lips separated.

Kame felt his hands trembling a little, even though they held on the edge of the table firmly. Those feelings flooding his whole being every time Jin kissed him were so intense... It made him wonder if it was the same for the older one, or it was just him to be influenced so much.

Jin felt Kazuya´s warm breath tickling his face and savored on the effect of their kiss. He was such a fool to fight against that attraction before. At the moment, he couldn´t have imagined to feel better with anyone else.

"We should pack up, right?" Jin suggested, breaking the thick silence.

"Yeah…" Kame confirmed almost whispering.

On the contrary of what they said, their lips reunited again in a more passionate kiss. Kazuya slipped off the table, somehow ending up sitting on Jin´s knees, and buried the fingers of both hands into older one´s hair, while Jin´s arms wrapped around his waist possessively.

This time, it was a harder task to separate from each other, and they ended up with the breath squeezed in their lungs.

"You know…" Jin breathed out heavily. "We really should go to pack up. Before I won´t be willing to let you go…"

Kazuya nodded wordlessly, realizing the forthcoming end of their self-control as well; and he had to literally force himself to leave the comfort of Jin´s lap. He would have never thought that something like that could have been so difficult.