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Ogata visibly scowls at the sight of his ever persistent companion awaiting at their agreed meetup location. It had been but a few hours, and he was a little dirty, but he has returned with two small ducks. Upon seeing the lifeless birds in his hands, Rat grimaces. Ogata has come to learn that the American was more sensitive to animals dying rather than people -- though it was something she never got too terribly hung up on, for that he appreciates.
She takes the ducks from his hand, but almost instantaneously throws her arms around him. Ogata does not return her embrace, nor does he fight her off as she squeezes and holds him close. He has also come to learn that allowing her these uncomfortable gestures and affections kept her docile and compliant.
"You made it back safe, I'm glad." She speaks this ever so softly and directly into his ear, with her head pressed against his own.
"You were worried," it isn't a question.
"No, not at all, Hyakunosuke. I just missed you was all."
Ogata scoffs at such a notion, and takes the ducks back as he brushes past her. He needs not tell her to follow, he knows she would do it anyways. As expected, she does.
Rat trots to catch up to the sniper, and falls into step just slightly behind him. She studies the back of his head carefully -- some of the hair he kept slicked back were starting to break loose. She almost has the audacity to reach up and smooth it back into place herself, but they must have been of the same mind: Ogata raises his free hand, and fixes his hair himself.
Once back at their makeshift little camp, Ogata dresses the ducks while Rat sits across from him with his cloak in her lap and a needle in her mouth. It's silent, save for the sounds of game being prepared and the slight rustle of fabric.
It was at moments like these where Ogata realises that maybe it was something of a blessing to have her around -- yes, he could sew, but having the task delegated to someone else made it possible for him to put his focus somewhere better.
Sensing his staring, Rat looks up just in time to catch his gaze, and she smiles knowingly. Ogata doesn't give an inkling as to what he's thinking nor feeling, and turns his attention back to the meat. With an amused and quieted huff, Rat threads the needle, but keeps her head down as she speaks.
"Have I ever told you what I used to do back in America?" Her tone is light, but it gives Ogata a fleeting pause.
This was another one of those moments where he is reminded of the imbalance of knowledge between them: she knew far too much, whereas he knew far too little.
"You haven't."
Silence stretches on, and Rat waits on a small bated breath for a follow-up, for any hint at a desire to know more but it never comes. She has yet to begin stitching the hole in his cloak.
"Right.... well, would you like to...?"
"I guess this is the part where you reveal yourself to be a spy, then?" Ogata chuckles, a noise that rings hollow each time.
She loathes the fact that she can't really tell when it's a genuine sound or not. Choosing to believe the inauthenticity of his amusement, she lets out an exaggerated, exasperated sigh.
"No, Hyakunosuke, I'm not---" Rat looks up just in time to see the smirk on Ogata's lips, and she realises now that his comment was in jest.
He was playing around with her, an uncommon occurence...
She swallows her embarrassment down, but it remains evident on her cheeks. Not often did he joke with her, and it throws her off most every time.
"I'm not a spy," she exaggerates her tone, trying to play in this space with him a little. "I used to be a seamstress."
"A seamstress," he echoes as he finishes plucking the feathers from the bird.
"A seamstress, yes. Though, truthfully, I was not anything to write home about." It is only now that she begins to stitch the hole closed. "But I made enough, so I wasn't too terrible."
Ogata hums non-commitedly, his focus on the game before him. Another bout of silence passes between them before he's speaking again -- it wasn't often that the American opened up about her past, and so this was a prime opportunity to pry more information from her. Unfortunately, he has yet to grasp the concept that she would simply tell him in earnest if he only just asked.
"Now you're here in Japan." The tone in which he says this is inquisitive, it's layered with indirect questions: what happened? why?
"That I am, yes." Rat's voice remains even and reveals nothing in regards to what she's thinking. A moment's pause passes, and she adds: "I was married once, you know."
Something about that revelation makes Ogata falter in his movements. This was new information, and though he finds himself growing annoyed that she leaves only breadcrumbs out for him, he doesn't let the annoyance show. Again, he has yet to grasp the idea of just asking her.
He looks up with a raised brow. She does not notice this, and when it becomes clear that she will not offer more details without his express interest, he bites.
"I find that hard to believe."
Yes, she figured that, and she huffs, tickled by his remark. Tying off the stitch, she grins to herself.
"I'd show you the proof, Hyakunosuke, but I sold the ring back in Philidelphia. I needed the money."
She raises a brow up at Ogata after speaking this, making it less than obvious that she was intrigued by whatever answer he could give her. The sniper stares blankly at her, but it's clear he's trying to think of something. The answer to most things are always the simplest ones, aren't they?
"Widow?"
"If such were the case I would have stayed back home."
"You killed him, then, and are on the run now."
That idea gets her to pause, and she laughs, too loud and genuine for his liking. Ogata wasn't saying that in jest, but it appears she took it as such.
"Heaven's no, Hyakunosuke! Do you think me to be that cruel?" No answer comes, and she looks up to see the scowl on his face. She rolls her eyes, and elaborates: "No, I did not kill him. I ran away from him, that's all."
"I see."
"He never put his hands on me, if that's what you're wondering." She sighs, only a little melancholic. "He was a drunk and a gambler, and wasted all of my savings."
"And I imagine divorce was too daunting for you?" His tone is a little smug.
"Smart ass, I don't have to fix your cloak, you know." Rat clicks her tongue, but continues on. "Catholics don't recognise divorce."
Ah, that's right, he forgot about that. Rat wasn't the most pious, and often was she shameless and crude, t was easy to forget her faith.
Ogata sighs, and separates the meat, skewering each proportion semi-evenly. This new information swirls around in his mind, and he takes it in, letting it simmer like a stew.
Seamstress, married, ran away, now here in Japan. Fell into Tsurumi's clutches, escaped, found him. Somewhere along the line, she took the time to learn all she could about him.
He was so lost in his head that he does not realise that the woman had stood up, and was now knelt behind him. Ogata flinches as she drapes the cloak over his shoulders, but not out of fear -- rather he was just startled back into reality. Rat is too close, he realises, as she reaches around his shoulders, her chest flush against his back.
All she's doing is buttoning the cloak, but he knows her by now, this is an excuse to touch him, to allow a caricature of a romantic gesture.
"You're being bold." The skewers pierce the earth, only to hold them upright and out of the dirt.
"I am nothing if not bold, Hyakunosuke." Her voice is a silk, and the rumble reverberates in his skull. Her cheek is against his, and he swears she's purposefully fumbling the buttons so that she could hold him like this longer.
"I can do it," he reasons, reaching up to still her hands, but something makes him stop.
Perhaps it's the warmth that seeps into his bones with her right against him, or the way he can tell her breathing is a bit too heavier than what's appropriate for the situation (he cannot rule out that she was sniffing him, either), but Ogata takes a great moment's hesitation before grabbing at her wrists. There was only one button left undone. Rat doesn't move, instead just allowing her wrists to be held, but the look on her face is not pleased.
The aura surrounding her is palpable, and the tension between them is thick. He knows that the American wouldn't lay a hand on him, not without good reason (of which this instance was not one), and so he isn't worried in that regard.
Nor is he worried about her leaving him -- not that it would affect him either way, so he tells himself.
"Thank you," he forces the words from his mouth, and begins to gently remove her arms from around his shoulders. Rat follows without complaint.
"Let me cook these ducks." Ogata's voice is gentle enough, and it's not entirely certain whether or not he's acting or being genuine.
Really, she doesn't know what exactly it was that she was trying to achieve with her actions. Rat prided herself on becoming a master of disguise, of blending in, of changing out her personality to suit the situation's needs, but since she's been reunited with Ogata, she finds the mask slipping from time to time.
The impulse to act as she pleased was overwhelming, and when it came down to the sniper, she preferred to be deliberate and thorough lest she scare him off. There isn't a seed of regret at her actions, though, she understood Ogata enough to know that he wouldn't toss her aside over a small breach of boundaries.
It doesn't take much to get her to acquiesce -- he could tell her to jump, and she would ask how high? without fail every time -- and she shuffles back, rising to her feet to make her way over to the where she sat before. She's quiet, her face inscrutable, but still docile.
Something about it unsettles Ogata.
It's Ogata who wakes first in the dead of the night. The fire is down significantly from how it was earlier, and the glow of it casts an eerie light on the face hovering above his own.
He jumps, startled by the American woman leaning over him, her face an empty canvas. The shadows flickering across her face give the impression of something sinister in her lack of expression. Ogata's eyes remain slightly more wide than usual as his heart rate rises.
Should he have been specific when he told her to take first watch? Certainly not, this wasn't the first time…
“What are you doing,” he asks sternly. They watch each other like hawks, each not being able to discern what the other was thinking.
It's only after a few moments that she breaks into a soft, warm smile. Watching the emotion bleed onto her face like watercolours was always an unsettling sight – it was as though her face was not her own.
“You were twitching in your sleep, Hyakunosuke. I thought it be best to check up on you.”
Ogata swallows nervously, finally being the first to blink – and he's reminded that this entire time, she has not blinked. Rat makes no effort to move, and that serves to make the sniper feel like he was under the metaphorical gun.
“I find that hard to believe.”
Rat's head tilts a few degrees too many, and her eyes narrow like a fox's. Ogata wasn't scared of her, but he can't deny the way she makes his skin crawl sometimes.
“How would you know? You were asleep.” Her head jerks back to a normal position. “Do you not trust me?”
What a fascinating question – but he has not the time for such introspection. His eyes narrow, but he remains still, as though moving suddenly would have some unforeseen consequences.
“That must be a no.”
“If it was?” His voice is cautious.
Rat takes a moment to ponder, but that's for more his sake than her own. Her answer was locked in before he even asked.
“I would say it is a shame, I would never bring you harm, Hyakunosuke.” She lowers herself, so that her face is just before his, her hair falling around them both in a curtain – strangely intimate.
“You say that.”
“Aye, I do.”
“You're a strange woman.” Ogata pauses, growing more unnerved the longer she stays this close to him. “And, you're too close.”
Rat takes the hint – she knows she can only push boundaries so much for so long. She rises back up, but remains hovered over him, sat upon the backs of her legs. Ogata sighs, and only sits up now that he has the opportunity. A hand runs through his hair, once, and then twice.
Ever since this woman had inserted herself into his life, he's found himself simultaneously on edge and somewhat relaxed. He can't rule out her tracking him down despite her claims of finding him again by happenchance, especially when she was open about being willing to hunt him down had their paths not crossed naturally. Rat was both the most unsettling woman he's ever met, and the most… dedicated. He does not know how to feel about such prospects.
You'll never find a dog more loyal than I, Hyakunosuke.
Her words from some time ago ring in his mind. As much as he would want to counter her, to refute any claims, he knows that he can't. She's proven her willingness and ability to do his biddings without question.
And for what? He doesn't buy her reasoning of just wanting his company.
It's only now that he realises the silence has stretched on for far too long, and he looks over his shoulder to find her warm expression fallen. With her head slightly tilted down, she stares intensely at Ogata with some bizarre expression on her face. Desire? Yearning? … Malice?
Whichever it is, he cannot discern it.
“I'll take watch,” he speaks suddenly, his voice only slightly strained.
“My apologies for disrupting your sleep.”
Ogata isn’t so sure he believes that.
Rat is a moderately heavy sleeper – Ogata had learned this quickly. Despite his evident unease, she chooses to sleep nearer to him than he’d like. Not quite touching, but she remains close enough that he must be cautious if moving an arm or a leg (the makeshift shelter was quite small as is). She’s curled up like a bug under her own cloak, with her shoes sticking out just under it. The position seems far from comfortable, but she was asleep, so perhaps it was?
Ogata has tried to keep his eyes on the fire before them both for most of the time, but it grows harder to do so when his brain will not silence itself. The more he thinks about the direction in which his life has turned, the more he finds it both perplexing and surreal. Not once in his life, so he perceives, has he had someone take such great interest in his life, and ask for naught in return.
It’s too good to be true.
When Ogata looks down at Rat, who has barely moved an inch since finally falling into sleep, there’s a sliver of doubt in him – no one would go to such lengths just to be in someone’s company, certainly. People didn't just do things like that without wanting something or another, without ulterior motive. Yet, he can't fathom just what it was she wanted – he was poor, a nobody in the army before and a deserter now, and if there is one thing Ogata is certain of, it's that Rat truly didn't seem to care about this gold.
But, that could be a facade, couldn't it? She could just be using him to get to it, let him do all the work and then swoop in once all is said and done…
As Ogata looks down at Rat, the more unconvinced of that possibility he becomes. The thought that it could very well be his own wishful thinking crosses his mind, but he snuffs it out almost immediately. People weren't just good for the sake of it, and he doesn't acknowledge the aspect of genuine love.
“Stupid girl,” he mutters under his breath as he reaches down to push her hair out of her face, where it had begun to stick to the corner of her lips.
Rat does not stir, and so Ogata takes the opportunity to stoke the flames a bit before laying himself beside her. The movement must have alerted her in her dreams, but he remains unfazed as she shuffles and shifts to twist her limbs around him.
It was cold, and this was logical, he tells himself.
Ogata wakes to the feeling of lips pressed softly against his neck… and then again, repeated a few times. Not an accident, it was far too sensual. It does not click right away what's happening until he feels a hand slide up his side, riding his uniform jacket up.
His own hand darts out faster than lightning, and seizes Rat by the face. When he pulls her back, her eyes are slightly wide, but otherwise she does not look ashamed or alarmed.
“Have you lost your mind?” He asks, the flush creeping up from his neck now to his cheeks. Ogata does not call any attention to how they're both intertwined with one another again.
“‘er'aps,” Rat replies though it's muffled by the palm of his hand.
“What?”
After a few sudden blinks, Rat cautiously gestures to how Ogata is keeping her silent. With a frustrated sigh, he releases her, but does not further the slight gap between them.
“I said perhaps,” she repeats, unbothered by the entire situation.
“The hell do you think you're doing?”
“Kissing you.”
Ogata looks at her like she's grown a second head. Only now does he realise her hand is still under his jacket. Everything feels too overwhelming – it was too warm, she was too close, his pants were becoming too tight—
“Stop that!”
“I did. You stopped me a few moments ago.”
“You know damn well what I mean!”
“My apologies.” She does not appear to be the slightest bit sorry.
“Look it, then.”
Ogata pushes her away just slightly enough so that he could have room to breathe and roll onto his back. There's too many conflicting feelings rolling through his mind, and it was far too early to be dealing with this shit.
As Rat props herself up on one arm, she looks over Ogata with a slight frown.
“You were holding me close, first.”
His eyes rake slowly over to her, narrowed but he does not reply. Rat continues to plead her case.
“I have been awake, Hyakunosuke, you were holding the back of my head to you like I was a babe.”
“No, I wasn't.” Ogata isn't sure of it, but he's not giving her this.
“What a pain,” she groans, and flops onto her back again. How petulant. “I will ask next time, then.”
Ogata doesn't dare move just yet, rather he's still trying to gather his bearings. When he steals a glance over to her, he finds she's already looking at him with a soft smile. A minor mistake, she chirps up.
“May I?”
“You really don't know when to quit.”
Ogata huffs, but weighs his options. It would be an incentive to have her stick around to do his biddings as needed… He does not acknowledge the truth that Rat would have done that anyway with or without a kiss.
“Well?” She's not grown impatient, but she would like some idea as to what Ogata is thinking.
“Not– not my neck,” he bargains, and Rat nods in agreement.
“Where, then?”
Not this question. Ogata feels that flush from before returning, and he has to turn his head to try and hide it. Rat could lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek, but she knows when to behave, and waits for his express permission.
“You have never been kissed?” She asks, almost sympathetically, but really she's just curious. The answer feels obvious, but she could be wrong.
“... No.”
“Not at all? Really?”
Ogata shifts his gaze from her to the ceiling of the shelter, and shakes his head slightly. Rat props herself up once more, obviously intrigued at this new fact she's been presented with.
It's annoying how unsubtle she could be, Ogata finds, and he can tell she's dying to ask to be his first. Jesus, if the girl had a tail she'd be wagging it incessantly.
“I feel you aren't gonna give me a choice.” He sighs, rubbing at his cheek.
“I would not do that to you,” she murmurs, deflated. Ogata doesn't ask what the hell she thought kissing his neck unwarranted was if not the that in question.
“Hm.”
“I am serious!” Now she's getting defensive. “Do you really…” Rat sits up, her brows furrowed. “I would not impose myself on you, not like that.”
He's glad she clarified.
Ogata takes another glance over at her, and debates just pulling her down towards him, but his nerves get the better of him, so he does not say anything or do anything at all. This inability to act frustrates him, he had survived war, killed plenty, for Christ's sake.
“You're not comfortable,” she notes. “I will leave it up to you, then.”
That morning had gnawed at Ogata for a good few days – this woman was far too confusing. Who kisses someone's neck in their sleep, then tell them that the choice for a proper kiss was up to them? He isn't certain he's ever met anyone that's simultaneously respected and pushed boundaries as much as Rat.
But, she had stuck to her word, and has even drawn back on how touchy she was with him. That much he can be thankful for.
Even now, she keeps a smart distance away from him, opting to idle in the weeds while he surveyed the area. The area was less forest rather than the start of rolling hills now. So far there had been no trouble, and mentally he was trying to place where they were on a map…
Ogata is startled out of his thoughts when he feels a hand on his shoulder. His binoculars lower, and he turns slightly to be met with… well, who else? She holds up some sort of puffy plant before him.
“Make a wish.”
Ogata looks at the plant in her hand, then back to her face. He doesn't bother asking if she's serious, it's written plainly on her face.
“A wish,” he repeats, and takes the stem when she gestures for him to take it again.
“Aye, a wish. Watch, like this.”
Rat closes her eyes, her head tilting from side to side just barely. Ogata raises a brow at how long this goes on for, and before he can open his mouth –
The wind carries the many little puffs that break off the stem. Rat has to huff and blow a couple times to make sure each fly off the centre. They seem to go on forever, but Rat doesn't give him a chance to wonder about this bizarre thing she's making him do.
“Now you.”
A wish. Such an asinine thing to be doing, but Ogata plays along. He closes his eyes, and the silence is allowed to stretch on. Rat only looks to him the same way she always did: nauseatingly in love. Elated, even. It was not often he entertained her like this.
Soon enough, Ogata's lips part, and he's blowing a rush of air. Only some of the puffs come off, and he scowls, and tries again.
Not many more float off.
“You're not very good at this.” Rat comments, and Ogata clicks his tongue. Stupid girl, he comments mentally.
When he goes to attempt it again, he's startled with how Rat leans in, her chin on his shoulder, and her hand atop his own.
“I'll help.” It was what she was there for, what she had offered to him this entire time.
There is no countdown, no verbal direction to start: Rat and Ogata are in sync, and as they blow the seeds from the stem at the same time, each one pops off. The sun is especially warm as they watch the wind carry them off.
“What did you wish for?” He asks, his head tilting her direction. This causes their cheeks to press slightly against one another.
“If I tell you then it won't come true.”
“That can't be how that works. This isn't real, anyway.”
Rat huffs but is not offended. Ogata does not protest when she wraps her arms around his own.
“It could be,” she counters. “To me it is.”
“You're an idiot.”
“Aye, sure, but you did it as well. What does that make you, then?”
Ogata’s lips turn up into a defeated smirk. Well played.
“I was only appeasing you.”
“Uh-huh,” Rat hums, and nuzzles into his shoulder, pretending not to notice how he alternates between tense and relaxed. “Whatever makes you feel better, Hyakunosuke.”