Gekko stumbled a bit to regain his footing, then put his hand up against the rock again to steady himself. Those ‘handholds’ looked to be spaced out quite a bit, actually, even in top physical form he would have struggled to shimmy his way up there. Someone like Hajime or Ringo, with their much more built physiques, would have still had a difficult time getting up the thing. What was that old Annitou saying? If not you, who? Gekko hated that phrase. Being guilted into doing something always left a sour taste in his mouth.

No, this was his choice. He needed to do this. “Give me a boost.” He waved towards the silently steaming Junko and gestured up to one of the gravestone’s indentations he intended to climb on. “You should be thankful, I’m letting you use that grotesque strength of yours for something other than murdering people.”

Motivated partially by spite and more than partially by wanting to see Gekko fall flat on his butt and get hurt by his own audacity, Junko relented. His attitude was insufferable but kids tended to be little brats when you gave them a little leeway. It more than reminded her of how her sisters acted- used to act, that was. It didn’t matter how much older or wiser or stronger you were, children at that age just always assumed they knew more than you. When this plan inevitably failed Gekko would pout and steam and throw a little fit but then relent. This was all just him trying to work through the inescapable truth that he would have to cooperate with Motonubu in order to escape. Junko, as a responsible and reasonable adult, already made that concession right when this whole ordeal began. Sometimes you just had to take your medicine!

Taking her hands off her swords, Junko ‘helped’ and grabbed Gekko by his skinny legs. The boy hadn’t seemed quite ready for the speed or strength that Junko used to haul him up, perhaps forgetting that the woman easily carried his comatose body around earlier. The whole thing made Gekko very uncomfortable and he hastily scrambled to move off the woman as soon as he was within range of the first place he could put his feet. Upon releasing the boy Junko dusted off her hands and took a big long look up at the path Gekko would have to traverse. She couldn’t let her guard down. He would almost certainly attempt to pull some kind of dumb plan, but what? It wasn’t like there was a convenient set of gravestones he could leap across to escape. Agents (and the cadets under them) might possess exceptional physical abilities but Junko had more than seen what Gekko was capable of at that point. The lad clearly couldn’t escape from up there. Maybe he telling the truth. Maybe Gekko actually was just trying to solve the riddle of the graveyard.

In the meantime the struggle was very real for Gekko. The shade provided by the growing cloud cover kept the sun from baking him right into the rock, at least. At first it wasn’t so bad as the spiraling inscriptions carved into the gravestone provided him ample places to migrate his way up with just one arm and his toes. The higher he went, though, the fewer places presented themselves for climbing. At about halfway up he suddenly found himself without an obvious way forward.

“You don’t have to climb all the way to the top, do you?” Junko shouted from below with more than a bit of smug satisfaction in her voice. “I’m sure you can get a good look from where you’re standing now!”

Gekko tried to respond, then realized he was completely out of breath. It was taking all his energy just to cling to the side of the rough surface. If he tried getting smart with her now it might break his concentration. Better to stay focused. Changing up his strategy Gekko started moving sideways around the rock, circling around its circumference to try and locate a better way up. Junko kept pace so he wouldn’t leave her sight, her own posture suggesting she was ready to leap into action to catch him should he fall (intentionally or unintentionally). Constant vigilance, how annoying.

His persistence didn’t end up paying off. Though there were some places to cling to higher up the stone, the sheer verticality of it was quite literally beyond his reach. He lacked the strength to continue as well. Exhausted and defeated, Gekko rested his head against the cold stone. Sweat continued to pour off his skin, though it hardly mattered given how filthy he must have looked from the arduous trip so far. So that was it, then? No way forward?

As if some divine being decided to help, the stone beneath him shifted slightly. For such a huge object to move was no small feat and the first thought that shot through Gekko’s mind was panic. Had the giant monument not been as stable as he thought? All that Annitou excavation could have weakened the earth around here, so some shakiness in the soil was to be expected. But this particular tombstone looked really stable from the ground. How could his small weight have knocked it off balance? Gripping on for his life Gekko waited and held his breath as the surface moved underneath him. Like a toppling domino he felt the rock tilt, and tilt some more, and for the briefest moment he thought perhaps some supernatural force must have been at work. What else could possibly explain so much movement in such a small timeframe?

The answer came from the forceful exhale far down below him, as Junko’s lungs heaved from exertion as she finally took her foot off the stone. “Ayy, that ought to do it!” She resumed looking up towards the still panicking Gekko, who was only now beginning to come to terms with what had transpired. “What’s the matter? Did you wet yourself?”

“What the hell was that!” Gekko’s voice was an octave higher, possibly because he was still out of breath. “I could have fallen off! On what plane of existence does a rational person decide to do something so stupid?”

“You looked stuck! I thought I’d give you a bit of help!”

“What kind of ogre-ugh.” Gekko wheezed, already having exhausted what little air he could spare to yell down at the woman. Had she been trying to knock him down, or was that a legitimate attempt to assist him? He couldn’t deny the position of the rock was now far better for him, with the slight angle it stood at. Still, what a frightening beast that Junko woman was! Gekko felt it back before when she boosted him up, and when she caught him falling down that canyon. Watching her titanic strength work on something that wasn’t himself made it clear the woman possessed remarkable strength for her size. It might even rival that of General Gou- but Gekko didn’t want to get ahead of himself there. The gulf of power between those with jutsu and those without was enormous. The force and gravity that Gou wielded alone was enough to crush lesser men in an instant. Gekko himself knew that better than anyone.

Regardless of how it happened, it seemed a path opened to the boy yet again. The little man-made earthquake subsided and Gekko resumed his perilous climb to the top. There was only a little bit farther to go. Just a bit further, and the end of this horrible situation might be in sight.

Finally cresting the peak of the giant grave gave Gekko relief in more ways than one. He didn’t even bother actually clambering up the last few feet. Instead he came to a rest just outside the top, enough to get the upper half of his body above the tip of the stone. All things considered Gekko wasn’t even that high up, though a fall from this height would almost certainly be incredibly damaging. It wasn’t any higher than that cliff he jumped off, and he survived that, right?

Junko continued to watch Gekko with an increasing amount of suspicion. She already didn’t like having to shift her watch from the surroundings to make sure the boy didn’t fall and kill himself. That, compounded with the fact he was up there in an easy to spot location and was defenseless meant her job was that much harder. She had been hoping once they made it to the graveyard everything would just kind of...resolve itself and she could go home. Fate tended to make these final stretches the most difficult, though. Occasionally her attention shifted away from the boy to make sure nobody was lurking around any gravestones, but so far that morning had been remarkably quiet. Even the birds were staying away.

That in itself should have been cause for concern. The day seemed quite pleasant. The breeze carried only the slight smell of ash. The growing turbulent clouds above, while ominous, kept the sun from beating down and the tropical temperatures nice and cool. That combination meant rain was very likely later in the day but what was a little water compared to the struggles they already overcame? Junko welcomed something as mundane as an unpleasant storm!

“Hey!” Junko took her hands off her weapons again to cup around her mouth as she shouted. “Give me an update! If you want to waste time you could do it down here instead!”

“I’m taking a breather! Just relax, woman!” The way he said ‘woman’ ticked Junko off, but there was little else she could do at that point. Maybe throw rocks at him but that was definitely not productive. Tempting, for sure. But not productive. Gekko did seem to be examining the horizon though and based on his previous comments, a bird’s eye view of the area could possibly reveal something about the structure of the graveyard. Annitou might have the resources to dump into digging up sites like this, but it wasn’t as though Annitou’s Navy was made up of the brightest minds the country had to offer. It was entirely possible they missed something obvious. Motonubu, and by extension the nation of Garion, seemed to believe as much.

Or it was possible this was all a snipe hunt. All that blood shed, all that damage done, in search of something that didn’t exist. Junko worked on jobs like that before. That’s why it was so important to get paid up front. The surprisingly light hourglass Motonubu gave her the night before still jostled around in her bag, untouched from their previous encounter. She had no interest in its arcane, confusing time warping abilities. It was those reviving Tears it carried that mattered most. That type of power, to reset a past mistake, made every moment out here worth it. Even if this brat wanted to spit in her face for the rest of the day it was a temporary unpleasantness to endure. Sahori and Hikiboshi deserved that much at least.

“Okay, uh, so!” Gekko’s normally whiny voice sounded more warbly from up atop the grave marker, but some hints of genuine curiosity seemed to work its way in as well. “You might not believe me, but from what I can see, these stones are kind of laid out...it’s another message, right? Like, a message spelled out in the sand. Does that make sense?”

“What does it say?”

“I, uh, need more time! It’s really rough, Annitou must have moved a bunch of stones when they were out here. I think I can work it out though!” The displeased Junko exhaled a short breath through her nostrils and turned away for the moment. At least the kid found something to occupy his time. If there was a message it was likely something irrelevant. Her former home, the City of Kings, was positively loaded with that decorative ‘meaningful’ crap. Back when she used to be a bodyguard for wealthy patrons she saw it all the time, their sprawling estates organized to spell out their name or in the form of their clan’s crest or other such nonsense. Weren’t there even pyramids in Garion that for centuries nobody could decode, then when they cracked the mystery it ended up being nothing but the name of some dumb former king over and over? That’s why ancient ruins were such a waste of time. Anything that survived the past wasn’t usually worth thinking about in the present. They had enough problems without having to expend resources learning about the vanity of some ancient narcissist.

For a while progress crawled along with no developments, with enough pauses between Gekko’s infrequent updates that Junko managed to work through a third of her rum gourd in the meantime. Drinking on the job usually wasn’t a good sign but she could work better if she was a bit looser anyway. It also kept down her urge to pester the boy given the length of time he was spending up there. Motonubu would almost certainly give her an earful about it. Where was that insufferable little man, anyway?

She looked up to check back up on Gekko, only to find him in some very odd position with his arm far above his head as if he were trying to grab something. “Oy! What are you-”

“There’s an angry bee up here!”

“What?!” Junko’s jaw slightly fell at such a weird answer. “Just ignore it! Why do you feel the need to make life miserable for every living organism in your immediate vicinity?”

“It’s big and it already stung me! Mind your own business!” Gekko continued his odd hand motions and since he was so far away Junko couldn’t actually make out if the alleged insect even existed. What she could tell, though, was that his body movements were not consistent at all with someone trying to kill something. Reading movement was kind of her thing, given that the Kiku-Ichimonji clan martial art revolved entirely around responding to minute actions from an opponent. In fact, in her professional opinion, the kid’s flailing looked entirely without purpose. Was he stretching? Did his arms fall asleep and he was too embarrassed to admit it? It was movement for movement’s sake. Almost like what a bored toddler might do. Or...

“Oh, oh no.” Junko’s eyes left Gekko and shot towards the distant horizon, where the very edge of the trees bordering the graveyard lay. Of course she couldn’t see jack. They were stuck near the middle of the multitude of grave sites, blocking any direct view to the surroundings. However from where Gekko stood he could easily make out the distant jungle, and more importantly see anyone who might emerge from the treeline. Gekko wasn’t thinking like Junko, though. Every soul that she had encountered over the last week in Jinchi’s jungle was outright hostile- there wasn’t an ally to be found on this island for her. Any time she heard or saw somebody Junko had ample reason to believe they were an enemy. That vigilance put her constantly on edge. She couldn’t afford to be seen.

The same wasn’t true for Gekko. If he spotted a stranger Gekko would likely have told Junko, since she was his only protection. If, on the other hand, Gekko recognized someone and started to signal to them, that meant...

He saw his fellow Annitou soldiers. He was trying to get their attention!

“Hey. HEY!” Junko approached the gravestone and put her hands against it as if she were about to pull it out of the ground. “You’ve been up there long enough. Get back down before someone-”

“I’M OVER HERE! LOOK OVER HERE!” Gekko’s voice burst out into a surprisingly loud scream. “I’M TANUMA GEKKO! I’M BEING HELD HOSTAGE! HELP!”

A mix of a hiss and a tiny, subdued internal howl escaped Junko’s lips. Of course, of course. This was to be expected. Now this was some real trouble. She couldn’t see anybody from where she stood, but Gekko seemed to have spotted some of his comrades. And if he saw one, then without a doubt more waited close by. Those damn Annitou pests always traveled in herds. Junko felt confident she could take on any enemy but challenging a whole Navy was just a bit outside her comfort zone. Especially if she wasn’t going to be paid for it.

Gekko continued screaming at some unseen person in the distance and Junko seethed as she tried to come up with a plan of action. Should she run and abandon the kid? Try to climb up and get him down, and hold out for Motonubu? Throw rocks at him (but with an actual reason this time)? What a stupid mistake for her to make! That’s exactly what she deserved for putting even a small amount of faith in another person. In the end everyone was out only for themselves. Even brats like Gekko.

Part of her even suspected this of being a bluff, as the kid’s continual stunts proved he was absolutely shameless when it came to attempting to escape. That hope fell to pieces when an indistinct shout, clearly human in origin, reached her ears from somewhere far out of eyesight. The quiet, isolated little graveyard now had additional guests, and there wasn’t a single person on the island Junko would have been happy to see right then. There was no other choice.

It was time to flee.

The hourglass, her true goal, already rested comfortably in her possession. Sticking around to assist with the job only looked attractive when a clean escape was also on the table. With that option gone, Motonubu’s offer to get her off the island looked less and less like a possibility. Fleeing made the most sense, then! She wasn’t a Kiku-Ichimonji anymore so the whole ‘honor’ thing meant very little. Better to live to make a profit another day. It would be a bit abrupt, leaving Gekko stranded on his little island rock like this, but senseless violence was not something Junko was terribly excited to pursue. And Motonubu could suck a lemon. Her bags were packed already, so blowing this joint made all the sense in the world.

She took off down one of the winding pathways of the graveyard and left the screaming child behind. If Gekko noticed Junko fleeing he didn’t make any indication of it. Judging from the direction the kid signaled and screamed at, Junko headed in the opposite way. Without that kid to slow her down Junko estimated she could get back to Camp Monog in two, maybe three days. She had all of Motonubu’s supplies on top of that, so if she needed to chill in the jungle while things cooled down, that was an option too. As her powerful legs carried her through the graveyard at a rapid pace Junko formed her mental to-do list, which she had been preparing anyway over the last several days for just such an occasion. She would need to cut her hair, change her clothes, get some forged documents to get off the island...Gekko would without a doubt give his allies an accurate description of her, so she couldn’t rely on the ignorance of Annitou to escape. If they hadn’t completely shut down Metsina’s shipping operations after that night on the docks, those smugglers were her best bet. Those thieves did anything if the dollar amount was high enough!

With that decided she settled her resolve. That was it. No more of this Motonubu work. No more being accosted by strange Agents in some kind of international intrigue. No more crossing swords with Generals or rescuing dumb stupid children from their dumb stupid mistakes. Junko the Mercenary flew solo! She owed nobody nothing! This was where she parted ways with Jinchi for good!