"You look a bit surprised," the Doctor grinned as he spoke.

Kohei and the spear-wielding samurai looked confusedly at the both of us.

My body struggled to keep myself from moving forward, his grin only tempted violence further. He smiled because he knew I couldn't get away with it. I couldn't touch him without getting a punishment tenfold.

Kohei spoke through the tension. "Will there be a problem with you two?"

I was the first to give and speak to Kohei. "No... No, there won't be a problem."

His eyes narrowed a small bit in disbelief. "Good. I expect you both to act civilized. If you act like animals in my company you will be treated like one."

The Doctor spoke, his joyful demeanor not quitting. "I would expect no less from such a reputable place!"

Kohei snickered at his blatant pandering. He waved at the Doctor to stand. "Come, then. I'll get you acquainted with us."

And so the Doctor stood, and we went out the door. The soldier that had greeted us nodded goodbye as we passed.

Kohei walked with the Doctor in the front, talking about the multitude of tasks he would be expected to fill as the large spear wielding samurai and myself walked behind.

The samurai had noticed my anger towards the Doctor and looked far more concerned than Kohei was over whatever past we had. He spoke quietly to go unnoticed by Kohei. "So... Should I be more concerned over what you will do moving forward, or the old man?" His voice was deep and soft, almost a mumble.

I glanced over to him, then back to the brick-paved road. I sighed for a moment, I didn't like it, but staying out of that prison was more important than violence. "No... I won't be a problem."

The samurai nodded as he looked around at the tightly packed buildings. He spoke as he read the signs to the small shops. "Hmm, I am curious then what has made you so adamant over keeping this measly old man away from our company then?"

"There are far too many things to-"

He pointed at an older teahouse, comfortably packed between two other small shops. "We'll discuss it over tea, then." He shouted over to Kohei, who had wandered a bit with the Doctor. "Kohei, I'm taking my friend..." He paused for a moment.

I spoke up. "Uh, Kenshi..."

The muscular samurai spoke again with enthusiasm. "My dear friend Kenshi off for some tea."

Kohei looked unhappy. I was on thin ice with him since my near confrontation with the Doctor, and the last thing he would want is me to be treated to tea. But, the spear-wielding samurai seemed like he was respected by Kohei. He looked to the ground in slight frustration. "Fine... I wanted time to speak to our newest member privately anyways..."

The samurai nodded happily. "Then it seems beneficial for the both of us."

Kohei was reluctant, but the samurai didn't speak like he was asking for permission. "Indeed. But I expect you to be back within the half hour."

"Of course."

We started walking to the side and towards the candlelit shop. Quickly passing through the door before Kohei could change his mind.

Inside was familiar and comforting. Tables sat in rows with lofty cushions beneath. The samurai pointed at a nearby table, signaling me to sit. He adjusted his cushion, then leaned forward against the table. "...Yasuo."

I adjusted my cushion as well, trying to mimic his behavior in small ways, hopefully making me seem more familiar and likable. I replied with a question. "Pardon?"

Yasuo answered. "My name."

"Ah." There was a pause. "So... I don't feel particularly fond of discussing all that I've seen that old man do."

He waved a waitress over to take our order. Then answered me. "Don't be sore. I'm keeping you from having to help set up camp and giving you-" Yasuo leaned in closer, as to not let the waitress hear. "...most likely mediocre tea."

A reasonable trade, I suppose. I'd rather spend my time talking over the wretched things the old man had done than tirelessly set up tents for the night. "Fine..."

Yasuo smiled. "Wonderful." Then turned to the waitress. "We'll have two cups of your matcha." The waitress smiled and nodded, turning to go retrieve the tea. Before she went far, Yasuo stopped her. "Oh! You know what, I'm feeling a bit gluttonous. Bring us a few sweet rolls."

She tightly bowed, as a server would to a customer. "Yes, sir." Then disappeared into the kitchen.

Yasuo looked around the tea shop and smirked. "You know, my family runs a tea shop."

Apparently seeing the tea house had taken his mind off my interrogation, and I was more than happy to talk about his family business. "Oh?"

He waved his hand across an imaginary horizon as he spoke. "It was the finest. We were so popular, in fact, that eventually we were given the opportunity to move our establishment to Kamakura. Along the way, we even accumulated a few impersonators."

The story was familiar. "So you're saying your family is the original Tīshoppu no hinshitsu?"

The waitress served our tea and sweets as Yasuo replied. "The very first. But now you see a tea shop with the same name around almost every corner."

I held my porcelain cup still as Yasuo poured. "And what brought you here, all the way from Kamakura?"

Yasuo's face contracted as he took a sip from the liquid that I found well brewed. "Well... I've always been the tallest and strongest person in the room. After working with my family, I decided I wanted to strive for more honorable pursuits." He stopped and took a bite from his sweet roll, he smiled at the sugary substance. "So I started training with the spear..."

I broke off his lecture and moved the conversation on quicker. "And you chose this branch?"

He spoke with a mouthful of the fruit glazed bun. "Newly formed... Needed men... It just seemed right." Yasuo had been here since the conception of the company by his own free will. Quite out of the ordinary. I took a bite out of the sweet roll and a sip of the tea as we sat in silence for a moment. He finally broke the silence when he finished his dessert. "So... What is so terrifying about this old man."

Ah, fine, I supposed. I didn't want to get people other than ones I trusted involved, but a deal was a deal, and he at least seemed trustworthy. "He's killed people."

Yasuo shook his head. "People don't get put in that prison for murder. A little more in-depth, if you will."

I was uncomfortable. I took a moment to finish the sweet roll and take another sip of my tea while I looked around to see where the waitress was. "Ah. Well. Inside the prison."

"Yes."

I would leave it to the bare minimum, even I didn't know the intricacies of what that old man did in his shack. "Experiments... On the inmates."

Yasuo looked off to the distance in thought for a moment, then back. "So I'm assuming he wouldn't be averse to doing the same here."

I nodded. "Correct."

"You're saying he has no moral compass."

"By the way he spoke. He thought of people below him, like animals."

Yasuo stood from his seat. I did the same soon after. He spoke. "Good. I'll keep watch over him. And don't worry over Kohei. If you get familiar enough with him, you eventually get as much power as you desire." He sat a few brass coins on the table to pay for our tea, then a shiny silver piece for the waitress to collect.

We started moving back into the tightly packed streets as I spoke. "If Kohei is as easily manipulated as you say. Keep him away from the Doctor."

"Will do."

---

As we finally got back to the camp, it was already almost finished. Large tents we erected in the open fields next to the city, many men were shuffling their small mats in, others were setting up a fire pit.

Kohei noticed us enter the camp and walked over quickly. "You were supposed to be here within the half hour."

Yasuo replied. "We lost track of time, you know how I can be when I finally find a reputable tea house."

Kohei nodded. "True." He turned to me. "You. Go help set up the tents with the others."

I obeyed and walked along to the familiar faces. It looked like Sora was pulling a large tent up, with the assistance of the young Lee.

I walked up to them. "How can I help."

Lee looked happy to see me. "Oh, hello. Uh..."

Sora finished his sentence, still struggling to pull the tent up. "Hello, Kenshi. Take a rope." He gestured to a loose rope lying on the ground. I took it and pulled taught.

After enough strain, the large tent popped into shape.

Lee sat on the ground, catching his breath. Sora soon followed, along with me.

After a moment, Sora looked over and questioned me. "So. Do you know anything about that peculiar old man?"

Sora was to be trusted. I had known him since my first day and had gotten a solid grasp on what kind of person he was.

Lee, I had only met recently, when he fell into the large river. But he was young and friendly and honest. I thought he could be trusted. "Yes. I know a small bit about the old Doctor."

The same explanation I gave to Yasuo was given to the two. Most of the inquiries afterward were asked by the curious Lee.

After a while, we had finally finished. And most likely had to separate and work again. As we stood, the baggy-eyed face of Mahiro showed. He spoke in his quiet manner at the three of us. "I heard what you said about the old man."

Mahiro was strange. And I most likely would have preferred him to not have known. But he was distant and spoke to no one but our small group. So he ended up not being the worst person to know. "Alright... Just... Don't go gossiping about it."

Mahiro stared blankly at me, we both fully knew he wasn't the type to gossip. "I won't gossip. But I still want to be informed."

Fine. It seemed I had accidentally formed a group of insiders. But there was nothing to do now but live with it. "Fine, you'll stay informed. Only you, Sora, Lee and the muscular Samurai know about this. So keep it quiet."

Lee looked around the camp, searching for the large man. "He's called Yasuo, correct?"

I replied. "Yes."

Sora spoke up. "I've seen men setting him up a makeshift laboratory of sorts. I think he's been brought here as a Doctor. Along with studying yokai."

Mahiro inquired. "So we should most likely avoid letting him open us up like hens and poke around in our insides."

Sora replied. "Most likely."

Mahiro's eyes lifted as he nodded his head. "Good to know."

I spoke. "Tomorrow we'll arrive to the hunt, correct?" They all nodded. "Then we will have two different dangers to worry about."

Lee interjected. "We should stay together."

Sora agreed. "It's safer."

We turned to Mahiro. His lone wolf personality leaned him to disagree. But he would have to learn to live in the pack if he wanted to survive. He ended up silently nodding his head.

Our small group within the caravan had been formed. A few of the only people left that could navigate in the dark had grouped in the one hope to continue living.

We merry few.