I was the first to finish lunch. Once my sticks had scraped the bottom of the bowl, I put them down and tried not to look too longingly in the direction of anyone else’s meal, especially not Kouje’s, since I knew that he would have given me whatever he had left without thinking twice about it.
“Want another?” Inokichi asked, grinning like a monkey.
“I couldn’t,” I said then, trying to muster more conviction, “really. Thank you, Inokichi.”
“So polite,” Kichi said, clacking his tongue against his teeth. “Man oh man. You’ve got yourself some sister.”
I folded my hands in my lap and sat very still, listening to my companions slurp their noodles, and grateful that Jiang’s hands were occupied with his sticks. I ought to have savored my noodles more, made them last, but I’d been too hungry. At least, I thought, I could let Kouje savor his without worry or anger spoiling the taste.
Kouje finished at about the same time as Jiang and Inokichi did. “So,” Kichi began, talkative once more now that his mouth was no longer busy with eating, “guess we’d better move on. Don’t want to get caught outside at night, ’specially when a lady like that’s riding with you.”
Kouje murmured his agreements. I would have done the same, save for the fluttering touch at my leg. Jiang’s hands were under the table again, and it was growing harder and harder to believe he was touching me by accident.
My realization must have dawned on my face at about the same time Jiang gave my thigh a—what had he called it? Neighborly?—squeeze. I couldn’t stop myself, and Kouje, who knew my face better than anyone, saw it at once.
He stood so quickly he nearly knocked the bench he’d been sitting on over, and Inokichi with it.
“Hey, hey,” Inokichi said, struggling to keep his balance. He held up his hands, the only one at the table, now, who didn’t know what was going on. “Did you see a rat or something? I swear, they don’t make any difference to how the food tastes—”
“May I speak with you outside for a moment?” Kouje said, ignoring Inokichi completely. His eyes were burning.
“Stop,” I said, reaching out toward him, but Jiang was already standing. When he didn’t slouch, he was a little taller than Kouje, and he’d raised himself to his full height.
The other patrons of the restaurant had all gone quiet, save for a whisper here and there. This sort of thing must have happened quite often in a place like this, though it had never happened to me before. We were making a scene. The last thing we needed was to be apprehended by local authorities so close to the border crossing—one which my brother’s loyal retainers were patrolling at this very moment, looking for me.
“My pleasure,” Jiang said.
“I’ll only be a moment,” Kouje said, turning to me, his expression softening. “Stay here.”
Suddenly, I was outraged. Had I asked to be defended? Couldn’t this have been resolved some other way? My cheeks were burning hot; I was dizzy from anger and desperation and the long day’s ride in the hot sun. I reached out to catch at Kouje’s sleeve—perhaps I meant to command him to stay, which admittedly might have called further attention to us—but I was too slow. Already, he was stepping past the colored banners in the doorway, ducking outside into the bright sun.
“Traveling companions, huh?” Inokichi said nervously, craning his neck to look after Kouje and Jiang. “Can’t travel without ’em, but sometimes you wonder if being lonely isn’t preferable to being…”
“Stuck in a noodle shop while your brother defends your honor on the streets,” I supplied.
“Yeah,” Kichi said. “Something like that. Though, of course, your situation and mine aren’t exactly the same.”
I wondered if, all this time, Inokichi was the easygoing one—if he was the one who suffered from Jiang’s more volatile nature—all the while putting on a good show. Was Jiang in the habit of doing this sort of thing often? Was Kouje in danger?
Likely not, I thought. Likely, Jiang had no idea the hornet’s nest he’d just stepped into the middle of.
And, just like that, after a shared glance of mutual panic, Inokichi and I rushed outside into the street, with all the patrons of the noodle shop whistling and howling and crowding out after us.
The first thing I could think, upon seeing the scene before me, was that this wasn’t the way Kouje usually fought.