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Lin sat on the old wood of a store counter. He was in a tattoo parlor several blocks from Jiro’s place, surrounded by a stack of books. They towered his hunched body and almost completely hid him from view. Some of the books were thick while others were thin but their contents were all the same. Various patterns and designs filled them up, waiting to be picked and brought to life with the work of a needle and some ink.
Licking his thumb, Lin flipped through the third book he had trifled through since joining Martínez to the shop. His eyes scanned over a few pages of intricate flowers, enraptured by the complexity of some and the beauty of others.
Martínez watched the hitman from across the room. He had a phone in his hand and the app for shadyjobs.com up on the small screen. He had a few requests in but he kindly declined them. He had family business to take care of and that, as always, was more important than some torture job.
“Your flowers are pretty,” Lin commented after a while. His words filled the silence in the shop and captured the attention of Martínez and the other sitting in the quiet.
“Thanks,” a woman’s voice called from the back of the shop. “Any you’re interested in?”
The woman’s name was Asia. She was Martínez’s friend and one of the best tattoo artists in Hakata. Martínez had told Lin all about her on their way to her shop. He had even shown off the body art she had etched into his own skin.
Asia herself was pretty, Lin had said so when he saw her and Martínez couldn’t deny the observation. His friend had raven black hair that was braided back in a series of intricate cornrows. Gold earrings pierced her ears and matched the makeup around her eyes.Yes, she was beautiful but her artwork was always what captured Martínez’ attention. Her work was clean and artistic, much prettier than the barcode inked into the skin of Lin’s shoulder.
Martínez let his eyes fall down to where the ugly thing poked out from beneath the sleeve of Lin’s blouse. He had seen it for the first time a few days ago when on a job with the hitman. Some bastard had shot Martínez in the leg and Lin had graciously ripped the sleeves of his dress off to make a homemade tourniquet. That was when Martínez spotted through foggy vision the set of lines.
“That’s hideous.”
“I didn’t want it.”
“Do you now?”
The answer had, of course, been no and Martínez had offered to take Lin to see Asia and pay for a coverup tattoo as compensation for Lin’s dress. Now here he was, waiting patiently as Lin turned the book in his hands over to show off a series of pictures of a yellow flower.
“Sunflowers?” Martínez grinned from his spot beside Asia. “You like them or something?”
Lin shrugged. “Yeah,” he answered. “They’re pretty and their seeds taste good.”
Martínez couldn’t argue with him there.
“But…” Lin pushed himself off the counter. “I read in a book somewhere that they symbolize the dedication to weather all storms with someone and emerge victorious on the other side…” He trailed off, cheeks turning pink. “Or...something like that.”
“Wow.” Martínez took the book from Lin. “That’s deep.”
“Fitting though,” Asia added and she sent Martínez a knowing look. “Don’t you think?”
Martínez chuckled and the memory of Lin and Banba reuniting after Feilang’s demise came to mind. He thought of the soft smiles, Banba’s ‘welcome home’, and Lin’s soft but meaningful ‘i’m back’.
The torturer swept a tear from his eye.
Sunflowers were definitely fitting.
His tears taken care of, Martínez held the book page so it covered Lin’s barcode.
“Looks cool.”
Lin smiled at his words and glanced down at his arm. There was a look of concentration on his face, one that Martínez recognized well. Lin was trying to envision the bright yellow flowers on his arm and forget the series of lines taking space there now.
Martínez’s smile fell as he remembered the talk he and Lin had while making their way down to the shop. Lin had told Martínez about how he got the ugly black lines and how hard it was to forget them sometimes. The hitman had tried to imagine time and time again waking up one morning without the ugly reminder of his past sitting on his arm. It was hard though and no amount of cover-up or long-sleeved clothing could full hide it from Lin’s view.
The poor guy was probably wondering if a new tattoo would be enough as he stared at his arm. The barcode would never be fully gone. They were only covering it up after all. It was more permanent than cover-up and clothing but would it really be enough?
Martínez dropped a hand on Lin’s shoulder and the hitman looked up to find Martínez’s smiling face. “You okay?” the torturer asked. “We don’t have to go through with this. It was just a suggestion, you know?”
“I’m fine.”
He wasn’t but maybe, with Asia’s skill, he would be soon.
“If you say so,” Martínez sighed and he looked back at the book in his free hand. “Did you pick any yet?”
Lin took the book from Martínez and pointed at a shoulder sleeve design without hesitation. He had planned on just getting a simple tattoo when Martínez first suggested the idea but there must have been something about this particular design that had pulled Lin right in.
Martínez and Asia both smiled.
“Nice choice.”
“Come on, Lin!”
“Let’s do the big reveal.”
“I wanna see it!”
Lin stuffed his face with a healthy helping of yakiniku.
Martínez pitied the poor hitman.
The two of them were out with the rest of the family. It was one of their big family meetups where they all just hung out and got caught up on the latest family gossip.
As it turned out, Lin was the main source of gossip this time around.
Banba chuckled and looked at Lin over his drink. He was sitting across from the hitman and squished between Saitoh and Enokida. “It's very Lin,” he told the others as they continued to hassle Lin for a show.
“What does that even mean?” Enokida leaned forward, his body hanging halfway across the table as he tried to get a look at Lin’s fully covered arm. “Is it a knife?”
Martínez choked on his drink and an irritated sigh left Lin’s lips. He turned his gaze to Martínez, clearly asking for aid.
The torturer could do nothing for him though. He had helped keep everyone away while Lin went through with getting the tattoo and again as he healed from the experience. Now, though? There was no holding them back. They were hungry, starved for just a tiny peak.
A faint line of a smirk played at Martínez’ lips and Lin let out a defeated sigh. He knew it and Martínez knew it. There was no getting out of showing off the new ink.
“Lin!”
“Alright, fine.” Lin glared at the others, exasperated. “I get it.”
Banba nudged Lin under the table with his foot. “Don’t force yourself,” he scolded lightly.
Lin waved him off and a few cheers sounded around the table. The hitman grabbed the sleeve of his blouse and slowly began to roll it up. A few excited murmurs filled the restaurant as he did but Lin ignored them, focusing purely on his shoulder as he slowly began to reveal the still tender skin.
“Wow.”
“Beautiful.”
The tension in Lin’s body drained away. He was clearly relieved that they agreed and a feeling of peace seemed to wash over him.
The tattoo was a shoulder sleeve of watercolor sunflowers. On the petals falling from the flowers and down his arm were the curling letters of both his mother and his sister’s names. On the petals still attached to the sunflower were the names of everyone at the table.
“We’re all on it,” Misaki said, completely in awe as she ran her fingers lightly over her own name.
Saitoh rubbed his eyes. “Ah, Lin,” he sniffled. “It’s so great. You really do love us.”
Lin huffed and a blush colored his cheeks. “Course I do, idiot.” He ducked his head, looking anywhere but the smiling faces surrounding him. “Your family, you know.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Gohda said from the head of the table and he raised his drink. “To family!”
“To family!” Martínez and the others mirrored.
Lin stared at them, taking in everyone’s wide smiles and the laughter bubbling from their lips.
The heart in Martínez’s chest squeezed as Lin reached for his shoulder out of habit. Instead of feeling the ugly lines of his barcode that reminded him of betrayal and loss; however, his fingers followed the lines of the sunflowers and the names that reminded him of loyalty, love, and trust.
Lin’s gaze softened as he followed the sunflower’s lines and again, Martínez wiped a tear threatening to spill from the corner of his eye.
“So did Lin cry?”
Lin stared daggers at Enokida’s face but the informant didn’t back down and neither did a very proud looking Martínez and Banba.
Martínez held up a hand, drawing the attention of the others. “I held his hand for the line work,” he revealed.
“I did for the rest of it,” Banba chimed in. “Lin-Lin had quite the grip!”
“You helped rub the lotion on too, didn’t you?”
Lin bent and snapped his chopsticks in half. Despite that and the murderous glares rushing their way, Martínez and Banaba continued dripping with pride. Even when the hitman sent both broken sticks soaring towards their heads, they kept laughing and teasing.
“I’m gonna kill you,” Lin hissed through his teeth. “Both of you.”
“It's your day off,” Gohda reminded and he handed Lin a new set of chopsticks. “Save it for tomorrow.”
Laughter bubbled up from everyone at the table and despite the grumpy look on Lin’s face, Martínez could see the happiness hiding in his eyes. The hitman had been through hell and back but those times were over. He had a family now and a new tattoo to symbolize his future and a life with those he could forever lean on and trust.