The Drunken Otter Sake House

Gihei and his array of thuggish henchmen all looked around as Yasuke approached their table, those on the edges coming to stand a little too close behind and to the sides of Yasuke for him to feel comfortable. One began to slide a sheathed knife from his belt. One spat. All of them glared. Gihei looked up, and smiled with a nod. Of course Shisou would hand over the money. What choice did he have? And the exchange would have to be made in secret, otherwise Yasuke could be spotted making it. It worked for Gihei too. Perhaps he would leave the city, but perhaps not, and he would definitely be back when the gold ran low. As long as his son was pretending to be a samurai he was ripe for blackmail. This was just the first milking of the cash cow that Yasuke would now become, supporting his father in his old age, like a good son would.

“It's a deal. I'll meet you an hour after sunset. Come alone.” Of course Gihei had no intention of coming alone, and he thought Yasuke might possibly bring back up too. After Yasuke turned to leave, Gihei nodded at a small, monkey-like man in a worker's headscarf. The man got up and, at a short distance, scuttled after Yasuke, not letting him out of the sight of his beady eyes. Gihei downed the rest of his bottle of sake and leaned back with a smirk.