Chapter Text
Shinobu sighed. She knew what she had to do, but she had never used her poison on a human before. Seeing the small malnourished child before her was all the convincing she needed. She remembered to compose herself.
“Only children and the immature can't control their emotions,” she told herself as she walked up to the man. He wore a fancy haori that looked like it cost a fortune, confirming her decision all the more on what she was about to do.
“Excuse me, sir?” She tapped the man's shoulder.
The man turned around, irritated.
“What do you want?”
His voice was rough and jagged, leaking hate and anger like a poison, little did he know Shinobu had better poison.
“I was wondering about the boy there.”
Shinobu pointed at the small child, his hair long and matted.
“Ah, are you interested? He's perfect for a farm, trained in obedience and hard work. But you'll find he won't come cheap.”
The man rubbed his fingers together, the shackle he had connecting him to the boy rattling as he did so.
Shinobu faked a chuckle.
“I bet. Would you like to discuss business over drinks? On me, of course. I know a perfect place with nothing but the best, perfect for a purchase such as this.”
The man smirked.
“Ah, a woman of class, I like it. Lead the way. I could never turn down a drink, especially from a beauty like you.”
The man gave an evil smirk, his teeth yellowed and breath of booze and tobacco. He held out his hand to shake.
“Akio Kabana, pleasure to meet you.”
Shinobu gritted her teeth on the inside as she shook his hand.
“Kodaku Abane, the plessis is all mine. Will lead the way, Mr. Kabana.”
Shinobu led the way, stealthily wiping her hands of the man's presence as she made her way to the bar making a mental note of the fake name she gave the man and to request Aoi wash her haori later.
“Here we are, Mr. Kabana.”
Shinobu paid for a private room and a bottle of alcohol. The hostess led the way.
“Your drinks are on the way. Please enjoy your meal.”
The table was set up nicely, though Kabana was irritated to see three plates. His neck snapped at the small child.
“You go to the corner and don't ruin this for us. If you ruin this sale you'll regret it!”
Shinobu wanted to say something but bit her tongue before putting on a smile.
“Now, Mr. Kabana, where should we star-”
He cut her off, holding his finger up like an adult silencing his child.
“Food first, then we discuss business. I think better on a full stomach.”
Shinobu thought to herself, “Clearly you've been doing too much thinking then,” her anger building at getting cut off along with the way he treated the small boy.
The waiter arrived, taking their orders. Shinobu ordered something random on the menu. She didn't plan on eating it anyway she’d be long gone before it got here.
“And here is your drink.”
The waiter placed two drinks of alcohol on the table. Finally, what Shinobu had been waiting for. After the waiter left, she faked taking a drink, making a disgusted face.
“This is not what I ordered. They gave us the cheap stuff.”
The man instantly faked his disgust. He hadn't even tasted it, but upon hearing it was cheap he immediately dismissed any possibility of it being appealing.
Shinobu stood up, taking the drinks.
“I'll fix this, give me one minute.”
Shinobu hated leaving the boy with this man, she had to do it for her plan to work. Shinobu left the private room and went to the bar.
“Excuse me, dear, I ordered the wrong drink. Can you quickly pour me some of that stuff? My apologies.”
Shinobu pointed at a random bottle, not caring what it was, slipping the bartender some cash for a quick drink. Taking the cups from the bartender, she added in her selected poison something in the man's drink Valerian root, just enough to give him a long nap. She knew she couldn't kill him and get away with it, but all that mattered was the child's freedom.
Shinobu walked into the private room.
“I'm back, Mr. Kabana, sorry about that.”
Shinobu placed the cups down, but she noticed the child had obtained one more cut on his upper lip. Shinobu winced internally as she thought to herself.
Shinobu thought to herself “That's going to leave a scar. I must hurry up.”
She placed the cups down, her expression now serious but masking it as a business demeanor.
“Now, let's discuss business. Alcohol is a good substitute for food, if you ask me, wouldn't you agree?”
Kabana smirked. Usually, he would be annoyed at someone so assertive, but eager to get the child off his hands he agreed.
“My, my, so eager for business. I suppose we can begin.”
He downed the drink, slamming the cup down to make a show of it. Shinobu smirked, happy to see him down her poison. She drank some of her cup as a small victory drink. It should only take a few minutes, fast-acting poison was her specialty after all.
Shinobu placed down her cup gently.
“Now, Mr. Kabana, may I ask what the boy excels in?”
The man grinned as he waved over the boy.
“Why, I found this one here when he was just a baby. I've trained him well.”
The boy walked over silently and sat down as the man put his arm around his shoulder.
“This boy here is good at many things. Gardening, farming you name it, he can do it. Cleaning too, if that's what you need him to do. And he can make a good cup of tea if needed.”
The man let out a laugh.
“But it would be a waste to have him do such a task when he'd make a good farm hand. And you'll never have to worry about disrespect. This boy will always respond with sir or ma'am hell, even master if you want. That's how he responds to me. I didn't even need to tell him he just knows better.”
Shinobu thought to herself.
“Any minute now.”
She saw the man's discomfort in his face.
“Are you alright, Mr. Kabana?”
“I, um… I feel a little woozy. I… I just need a minute. I'll be right back, I need to freshen up.”
The man tried to get up, making it a few feet before collapsing onto the floor, causing the boy to flinch. Shinobu quickly rushed over to the boy.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok. I'm here to help you. Do you know where he keeps the key to this chain?”
The boy nodded, a look of confusion and worry on his face but he managed to lift his trembling fingers pointing to the man's belt
Shinobu quickly ran over to the man, checking his pulse to make sure he wasn't dead before grabbing the key and kneeling to the boy.
“Hello there, my name is Shinobu. I'm not here to hurt you or own you. I'm sorry I lied about my name, but I'm here to help. When I unshackle you, can you promise you won't run away?”
Shinobu tried to make her voice sound as gentle as possible.
The frightened and confused child simply nodded. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but anything was better than being with that man.
Shinobu gave him a reassuring smile before undoing the lock, still wary of the child making a run for it, but her worry lessened as the child sat there. He looked at his ankle, the shackle was on, and the area was red from irritation.
Shinobu looked at it with concern.
“Don't itch it, dear. I can help you, but you'll need to come with me. Are you ok with that?”
The child felt the area that had long been shackled it had been so long since he was able to see his ankle
The boy looked up and nodded at Shinobu
Shinobu smiled softly. She took off her haori, making sure there were no harmful substances hidden away in it, wrapping it around the boy.
“I'm glad to hear that, dear. Let's get you out of here.”
Shinobu ruffled the boy's greasy tangled hair before standing up and lifting the boy off the floor, he was light not at all what she expected from what the man described as “The perfect farm hand”
Shinobu gave him a comforting smile and walked out of the restaurant calmly. On the way out she saw the waiter, giving him a generous tip and paying the bill, and grabbing the plate of food she had ordered for the road.
“My guest had a little too much to drink, my apologies.”
The waiter, in awe of the stack of money, nodded.
“D-don’t worry, ma'am. We'll make sure he's alright.”
Shinobu took the boy and stepped out as he took his first look around as a free kid.
“It's different isn't it, the world?” Shinobu asked, looking over at the boy wrapped in her haori.
“Ya… it is…”