Hanzo and the tofu boy

[goofier_fox]

The other boy was funny to watch, not because of how he dressed -he was forced to dress like that too- but because of the way he went about shoving tofu at people. The funniest thing though, was that every single person ignored him. Maybe he had gotten lucky before Hanzo had noticed him, but all that luck was gone now. Each and every time the boy stood in front of someone, little tray in hand, they sidestepped him.

As the weeks went past and not a single person acknowledged the tofu boy, Hanzo decided that he had had enough. With the determination of a seven year old on a quest, he decided he would buy that tofu no matter what. As his weekly outing with his nanny came around, Hanzo prepared. He pulled out a small colored pouch where he kept his coins, folded the clothes he would wear when they left the castle grounds, and put his favorite blue socks on top of the folded clothes.

/BROUGHT TO YOU BY: THE SKELETON WAR 2017/

Miss Kaede’s hand was warm and rough, and it held tightly onto his. Every time they left the Shimada Castle it was the same. She would wake him up, he'd get dressed, eat breakfast, and wait for Miss Kaede to finish packing his little backpack with snacks and other trinkets. Then they would leave by the side exit of the castle, Miss Kaede said it was because people took note of who left through the main gate.

Ito was the guard who always went with them, though maybe ‘went’ isn't the best word for. When Hanzo had first asked to be able to leave the grounds, there had been a serious discussion on the risks. Eventually, it was decided that a disguised guard would follow the young heir and his nanny.

Hanzo was aware of this, he had begun training seriously the year before and he knew how dangerous people could be. But Miss Kaede and Ito always made sure he was safe, and Ito would even play with Hanzo. He would try to see if he could spot the guard, and when he could Ito would secretly hand him a piece of candy as he ‘walked by.’

When Miss Kaede pulled him into one of the market streets, Hanzo began to pay attention. Usually there was a good amount of people around, and today was no different. It was a bit difficult to spot his target, but the loud “TAKE SOME TOFU” was hard to miss. Hanzo twisted around -taking a second to grin at Ito as he saw him- looking for the source of the noise. After a bit of looking around Hanzo saw him. The tofu boy was slightly smaller than him and his hair was much shorter.

Once he had spotted his target, Hanzo had to begin the tricky part of his plan. A way to avoid being seen by Miss Kaede and Ito, luckily Hanzo was pretty smart. Ito kept watch in rotations, he would walk around and peruse the streets looking for anything suspicious. This gave Hanzo a small window of time in which Ito did not have eyes on him, Miss Kaede was easier because she trusted him. Whenever they went into a store she'd let go of his hand, and go get whatever is is that they were shopping for and let him wander around.

Hanzo knew how picky she was with food, so while she checked over every single leaf on a cabbage he slowly inched away from her. He stood by the door front, waiting for Ito to begin a round. When he saw the guard walking away, Hanzo left the store.

He headed towards where he had last seen the boy, luckily he caught sight of him just as he let out a small scream at a woman and started leaving. Hanzo quickly followed the boy into an alley not far from the food shop. Pulling his backpack straps closer, he ran after the tofu boy.

In his excitement Hanzo didn't notice the empty cans, and as he ran in he tripped over one. The clang of metal did not go unnoticed by the other boy, who turned around startled. And as the two boys stared at each other, all Hanzo could think of was, I hope my clothes didn't get dirty.

/SPONSORED BY: SOMEONE THREATENED THE BUS DRIVER TODAY, WHAT A DICK/

Tofu boy may have been smaller than Hanzo, but he looked a lot tougher. His brown hair was dirty and his clothes old, and his face had little scratches here and there. Hanzo wanted to ask what had happened, but he knew he didn't have a lot of time left. So he did the next best thing, he grabbed the wild looking boy’s hand and dragged him back to the store where Miss Kaede was.

As Hanzo pulled tofu boy along, he didn't notice the look of wonder that briefly crossed his face. However that expression soon gave way to an angry frown, “What do you think you're doing?!”

Hanzo glanced back, “I'm sorry for grabbing you so suddenly, but we have to get back before Ito.”

“Who the hell is Ito? And that doesn't explain why you're dragging me!” The boy was trying to pull away from Hanzo’s hold, but the other’s hand was tight around his.

Hanzo huffed and threw tofu boy a slightly annoyed glare, “I'll tell you when we get there, ok?”

Tofu boy glowered back, “I'm the one being kidnaped here, you have no business being annoyed.” Hanzo had slowed down, and was now pulling them into the store. As he dragged the other boy behind a shelf, he caught sight of Ito coming back around the corner.

Hanzo sighed in relief, “We beat him.”

At this point tofu boy was slightly more than annoyed, “Hello? Would please let go of my freaking hand?”

Turning around Hanzo pulled at his hand, then he looked straight into tofu boy’s eyes and said, “Nope.” He grinned when he saw the slack jaw affect his answer had.

Hanzo then proceeded to march on looking for Miss Kaede, his strong grip not lessening as he happily explained.

“First I have to see where Miss Kaede is, to make sure I'm close by when she looks for me. Once I find a good spot we can con…duct? Yes, conduct our business.”

A scoff followed, “What type of kid says that shit? Are you a mini grownup or something?”

Hanzo frowned at tofu boy’s language, “Miss Kaede says not to use those words. And no, I'm just copying what the grownups say.”

He abruptly stopped when he saw his nanny talking to another woman. Tugging at the other boy’s hand, Hanzo placed them in such a way that he could see her but she couldn't see them.

When Hanzo finally turned to look at tofu boy, he saw brown eyes glaring at him. The boy's face was pink when he asked, “Are you finally gonna let go of my hand?”

His face blushed harder when he saw Hanzo considering it and not immediately letting go. Hanzo then shrugged and said aloud, “It would be hard to do business holding hands.”

Not taking note of the other’s red face he smiled, “Though I like holding hands,” Hanzo smiled wider at tofu boy, “don't you?”

“Fuck no.”

“You shouldn't say fuck, and that's okay. Hand holding isn't for everyone.”

“I'll say whatever the fuck I want, and how do you know? Maybe I just didn't like holding your hand.”

“I have a good grip, Miss Kaede said so.”

Tofu boy internally wailed, “Just tell me why you dragged me all over the place, you weirdo.”

Once reminded of his original goal, Hanzo’s face brightened. He stood up straighter and looked deeply into tofu boy's eyes…

“What was your name again? I keep calling you tofu boy in my head.”

“Why are you so easily distracted? And you don't know my name because you never asked dingus.”

He sighed as Hanzo stared expectantly at him, “My name’s Naoki, and I want to know what you want.”

At this Hanzo pulled his backpack to the front, unzipping it he pulled out a pouch with so much flair that Naoki was afraid he'd hurt himself.

“I would like to buy all of your tofu, please.”

“...eh?”

Hanzo shook the colored pouch, the coins jingling inside. “I have money, so I can definitely buy your tofu.”

“So you dragged me from the alley, to this store, in an effort to not get noticed. Just so you could buy tofu that isn't even for sale?”

Hanzo looked stunned, “It's not? And I had to, Miss Kaede and Ito don't let me talk to strangers.”

Naoki put his hands on his hips and looked at Hanzo, “Those two sound like real hardasses.”

“Hm? Oh, they didn't come up with it. My family is the one who told them to keep me away from strangers.”

“Isn't everyone a stranger though?”

“Yes, that's why I had to plan this out well. Miss Kaede lets me wander in the stores, but if she knew I had left we'd never have any outings again.”

Naoki whistled, “Sounds tough,” puffing up he pointed at himself, “I can go wherever I want.”

Hanzo smiled hopeful, “Selling tofu?”

“I told you. I don't sell tofu, I give it to people.”

Hanzo frowned, “That doesn't sound like a good way to do business.” He shook his coin pouch at Naoki’s face, “Sell me all your tofu.”

Naoki pushed the pouch away, and gave Hanzo a glare, “No.”

He watched amused as Hanzo pouted, the other boy seemed to have a hard time containing his expressions.

“Why won't you sell me your tofu?”

“ ‘Cause one, it's not for sale. And two, I have a very specific clientele. My bosses only let me give it to certain people.” Naoki crossed him arms and gave Hanzo a strange look, “You don't want that tofu anyways.”

Hanzo sighed and shook his head, “I don't get it, you haven't given a single person tofu since I've started watching you. In fact, you yell at them and they ignore you.”

Naoki sputtered, “You've been watching me? What are you, my stalker or something?” He rubbed his forehead when Hanzo simply made a face at him.

“And you only see half of the process anyways, I'm just the one who's out in the day time. One of my bosses gives them the tofu after dark.”

“That sounds like an even worse way to do business, your bosses must not be very good.”

“Oh, trust me. They're good at what they do,” Naoki looked outside, “in fact, I should get back to where I was.”

“The alley?”

“Nope, since you interrupted my break time I'm going back to finding people.”

Hanzo scuffed his shoes against the floor, his face downcast. “I'm sorry, I just wanted to help you out.”

Naoki tilted his head, “What d’ya mean?”

“I felt bad,” here Hanzo waves at Naoki’s clothes, “you dress like I do at home. But your clothes are dirty and everyone ignore you, and I thought if I bought all your tofu then I could help you.”

At this admission Naoki’s face reddens for what must be the third time, he was unused to hearing someone say that they wanted to help him. Usually it was the opposite, Naoki do this, Naoki do that.

Seeing Hanzo’s gloomy face, and feeling something flicker to life in his chest he takes a deep breath.

“I'll give you tofu.”

Hanzo quickly looks up, his eyes wide. “I'll have to make it especially for you though, so it'll take a bit.” Naoki then points at him accusingly, “You stalked me this entire time,” he raised his hand to keep Hanzo from arguing,“you stalked me, so this time I'll take the tofu to you.”

“Hanzo!”

Both boys startled when they heard Miss Kaede’s voice, “Hanzo, where are you?” They both glance at where she was standing and see her looking around.

“I have to go,” Hanzo worries his lower lip, “I don't think you'll be able to bring me the tofu though.”

Naoki gives him a dark look, “After all of this you don't want the tofu?”

“No! It's just tha-”

“Hanzo, we have to go!”

Naoki tugs at Hanzo’s shirt, “C’mon tell me where you live.”

Naoki’s face pales when he hears, and as he watches Hanzo quickly walk to Miss Kaede all he says is, "Shit.".