"Sure, I can do that." Sasha said softly, watching Sayuri as she settled in and closed her eyes.
---
((FF))
It had been about a half hour or so and Sasha was admittedly a bit surprised that Sayuri had fallen asleep so deeply so quickly if the near imperceptible sound of her sleepy breathing or the gentle twitching of her lashes on her cheeks as she perhaps chased a dream was any indication. It was one thing to sleep in front of him in the hotel room, but it was something totally different to be asleep in front of others, Sasha thought. She looked wholly vulnerable like that, without a care or worry as if they weren't on the run. At that thought, Sasha found a warm feeling building up in his chest that perhaps her willingness to rest like this in a crowded train was because she felt comfortable enough to do so with him at her side. It was a presumptuous thought, but Sasha hoped that he could be someone to put her at ease.
The scenery outside of the train hadn't changed much, even after the first stop. It was all mostly rural countryside and rice paddies with little houses and townships dotting the hills in the distance. It was much different than what he was accustomed to having spent the majority of his days in a bustling city, but there was something charming about it all the same. It reminded him of snowed in days in the more rural estates his family owned in Russia or even spending time taking care of the property his Papa Navrik built for his Mama Havania. It was peaceful and slow, the prospect of these hillside homes being inviting.
He was almost too caught up in his reverie as three men in suits entered the car and began walking the aisle, but the way they seemed to be prowling just within his periphery pulled him to attention. He discretely watched as they looked carefully into every pocket of tables and chairs. Even if he hadn't found that suspicious, their manner of gaudy dress would have alerted him. The suits they wore were not the standard Japanese business man type, but were showy and borderline ostentatious with patterned shirts and one of them even sporting a red suit jacket. It was clear to him they were Yakuza and probably on the lookout for them.
Without being obvious, he moved his hand to gently tap his knuckles against Sayuri's hip, hoping she would rouse without fuss and drawing attention to them. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Sayuri fell asleep easily, chasing the fantasy of freedom with intention. She did feel safe with Sasha, at this point she felt their fates were intertwined; be it for a fleeting moment or longer, Sayuri felt they both had each other’s best interest in mind. Had she been a different person, Sayuri might consider the nuances of their agreement and the archetypes they were fulfilling as a damsel and a white knight. But Sayuri wasn’t a girl who had convictions about that sort of thing, she would take advantage of any opportunity. Although this felt different in the way that they were friends, if you could call it friendship. Sayuri knew she liked Sasha, that she thought he was good looking and funny, even when he isn’t trying to be. What she liked most about him, was the feeling of his fingertips upon her temple when he thought she was already sleeping. She thought about that little window in the shared attic space above the bar, had she been permitted to bask in its moonlight, she thought it might feel like that. Sleeping on the train, tucked under the safety of his guard; she secretly yearned for his touch like she yearned for the moonlight.
Although she didn’t feel Sasha’s touch now, not at first. His touch was too light, and her sleep was a little too deep. Another gentle tap at her hip though awoke her with a start. She jolted with a sharp gasp, a hand flying up and hitting Sasha’s face. It dawned on her almost upon contact where she was and who she was with; it was sobering.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry.” She was quick to apologize, wincing sympathetically. She wasn’t being especially loud, but not as quiet as she should be if yakuza were prowling. But she hadn’t noticed them yet, still grounded in the idea of an uneventful train ride.
Sasha's gaze was fixated on the yakuza as they continued to inspect the alcoves in the car, so when Sayuri's hand rose up and smacked him in the face, he let out a little yelp of surprise and jolted. If it had been any other circumstance, it was incredibly likely that no one would have even bat an eye at Sayuri or Sasha at their noise, neither were particularly loud even in the overall quiet of the car. However, this wasn't just any circumstance, they were on the run and their pursuers were actively looking for them. So, in the same moment Sayuri began her apologizing and in the same moment the yakuza all looked their way, Sasha hastily grabbed at Sayuri's wrist and hauled her up before shoving her in front of him to head the other way.
"Go, go, we need to go!" He urged, pressing at her back to get her going. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Sayuri was a quick study, so even though she had just woken up from a nice sleep, she could parse the gravity of her waking situation very quickly. Familiar scents entered her nostrils before her eyes found familiar figures just behind them as Sasha shoved her to her feet. Sayuri didn’t know everyone who was yakuza, but she did know these guys; they frequented the bar, even dated some of the girls upstairs. So when she saw them for the briefest of moments over her shoulder, she knew that they saw her too. It occurred to her then, that sunglasses and hats did little in terms of a disguise when you had a unique zigzag pattern of moles across your face. She reached down and took Sasha’s hand again, it went from him shoving her along, to her now dragging him behind her. She was thankful then, for how spacious the train car was. There were many rows of seats, but there was still a clear path to traverse in the middle of the aisle, not clogged at all with luggage or the feet of passengers. They did garner a lot of attention as they ran through, lots of people looking up with surprise and concern.
She ran through sections of train, thankfully not running into any attendants yet. They passed doors of course, but Sayuri knew that if there wasn’t a well timed stop, being by the doors would only trap them. They entered an empty train car now, there were no passengers here yet. Sayuri looked out the window and didn’t really recognize where they were, she looked to Sasha then.
“When did the train stop last?” She asked him, her intention was to calculate how long until their next stop.
Sasha allowed himself to be hauled along, holding on fast to Sayuri's hand in fact. He kept throwing glances over his shoulder to keep an eye on their pursuers who were, in fact, pursuing them. Besides running, they weren't causing much of a commotion yet, Sasha had to believe that was due to them not wanting to draw any more attention to them and perhaps garner a visit from the authorities on the train.
"I don't know, maybe ten, fifteen minutes?" He said, unsure. He hadn't been paying too much attention to the time, not when he'd been lost in the hills and valleys of the countryside and of Sayuri's sleeping face. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Sayuri felt a little frazzled, unsure of what their next moves would be.She feared the notion of reaching automatic doors that wouldn’t open before their yakuza pursuers would reach them. She also knew if they kept going back, they would eventually reach the end and be completely trapped. She believed in a physical confrontation Sasha could defend them, but at what cost? How much attention would it garner, would they have to worry about evading the police next? She took a moment and closed her eyes, exhaling slow and evenly through her nose. They could keep running, but she had to anticipate a fight.
Sayuri opened her eyes again, and tightened her grip on Sasha’s hand before pulling him again through the train car. In between cars, there was a small compartment intended for storing luggage. They were like little closets, parallel to one another with doors that swung out. They didn’t have racks in them for traditional shelving, just one up top for overhead storage. Sayuri was formulating her plan of action now. She checked over her shoulder once for their pursuers, when she didn’t see them, she shoved Sasha into the closet before hopping in with him and closing the door behind her. It was a tight squeeze, the space was for bags and not for people. But Sayuri was thankful that it was empty for them to use, grateful for even the most snug hiding spot. Sayuri was pressed against Sasha, she had to be with the limited space. It wasn’t something she would’ve minded in any context, but in this one she couldn’t think about it.
“We’re going to get the jump on them first, when they come this way, we’re going to jump out. They won’t be expecting it. We incapacitate them and jump out of the first stop.” Sayuri spoke in a whisper.
Sasha's eyes bugged at Sayuri's suggested plan. It wasn't that he didn't think he could handle three men, he'd killed more men at once in other altercations after all, but in the last two days he'd grown somewhat complacent in their running that he hadn't thought they'd have to fight anyone head on. More than that, there was the thought of not only a yakuza altercation, but also their potential ruckus forcing a police altercation as well. Dealing with the police in his home country was one thing, but to be in a foreign country without any resources to his or Sayuri's name felt like a dangerous thing, after all, it only took one call from a dirty cop to summon the rest of the yakuza right to them.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" He whispered back, though, before she could answer, Sasha could hear the telltale footfalls and back and forth hollering of the yakuza approaching. He hissed a little curse under his breath and braced Sayuri a little closer to him unconsciously, listening as the men grew nearer and nearer. He heard one man fly by, shouting in Japanese at the other men, and just as another man came rushing up to their hiding spot, Sasha flung open the door hard enough it sent the man flying backwards. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
The plan worked more or less, Sasha swung the door open wide and surprised one of the yakuza, sending him flying backward. With Sasha already out, Sayuri jumped out next, taking with her in her hands- the metal overhead rack. It was detachable for storage convenience, in the event of needing to make more room; Sayuri used this to her advantage. She jumped out and swung the metal rack wildly at the other yakuza who had run by the closet. It was no bat, but she swung it with the same control, with intention to make impact. Sayuri didn’t have trained experience fighting, nor had she been able to overpower a man in human form yet, but she was scrappy and resourceful.
Sayuri's wild swinging struck one of the men across his jaw, which sent him stumbling backwards into a row of seats. He cursed and clutched at his mouth, blood trickling over his knuckles. It appeared she'd struck him hard enough to knock out a tooth or two. The other man was stunned by this for all but a second, gawking at his friend, before redirecting his attention at Sayuri. He rushed at her and ducked away from her weapon, reaching to grab at both of her wrists and squeezing harshly and shaking her.
"Stop it now! You've caused enough trouble, gorotsuki! You and the Russian are coming with us so Joe can handle you!" He shouted in Japanese.
Sasha bristled as soon as he saw the man grab at Sayuri and he began to rush forward, only for the back of his head and hair to be grabbed by the man who'd initially been knocked back by the closet door. Sasha's world spun as the man slammed his head into the flimsy lavatory door just across from the storage area with enough force to crack the fiberglass exterior, leaving a deep gash in Sasha's temple. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“Sasha!” Sayuri exclaimed, her eyes not leaving Sasha’s frame as she tore her wrists down, and away from the yakuza man. After she ripped her wrists free from his grasp, she ducked around to attack the man who hurt Sasha. She charged forward and jumped on the back of Sasha’s assailant. Once on his back, she wrapped her arms around his throat and squeezed as hard as she could.
"Get off me, you crazy bitch!" The man gasped as Sayuri clung to him. He reached up to try and attempt to peel her arms from him, but she was stronger than anticipated and he instead resorted to scratching deep lines into her forearm before reeling backwards to slam her against the wall.
Sasha swayed on his feet for a moment, watching with a dizzy gaze as Sayuri launched her assault on his assailant. He stumbled forward towards them, but before he could reach them, he was knocked off his feet by the man Sayuri had struck in the face, seemingly having found his wits enough to tackle him. Meanwhile, the third man Sayuri had previously been fighting rushed over to Sayuri and the other man to try and peel her arms off his friend's neck. Though Sasha wanted to go to Sayuri's aid, he was beneath his own attacker. The man had scrambled to sit up, his knees braced on Sasha's arms while he whaled his fists at Sasha's already bloody face. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
When the man backed into the wall, slamming Sayuri hard, she didn’t release at first. She let out an audible gasp, both in pain and in surprise. While she was still on the back of their assailant, with the wind knocked out of her, she was pried off with little effort. She stumbled backward but tried to regain her footing fast; the situation was escalating, attendants would be here soon, train security probably, then police. Their options were dwindling. Instead of attacking the two men before her, she quickly redirected to the man sitting on Sasha. She reached, somewhat clumsily in her desperation, and clawed violently at his face. She tried hard to get his eyes, trying her best to incapacitate him in a more meaningful way. Whatever she could do to give Sasha a chance to recover.
The man was taken by surprise when Sayuri turned her attack on him and proceeded to howl in pain as he reeled back and began pedaling backwards away from her.
Sasha's face was a bloodied and battered mess and he was dizzy from the repeated strikes done to him, but the instant the man was off him, he shot up to his feet like a spring. The man who had been choked out by Sayuri had collapsed to the floor when she'd released him, however, once he was done gasping for breath, he'd reached out to grab her by her ankle to try and pull her away. Upon seeing Sasha launch back up to his feet in his ruined and blood soaked glory, he blinked up at the Russian with a shocked expression, one that Sasha promptly kicked off his face as he reared a long leg back to strike the man with his full weight.
Overhead, the train intercom let out a pleasant little ding ding ding before a woman with a smooth and pleasant voice began speaking in Japanese. It was a similar enough announcement to the ones came before the other stops previously, so Sasha assumed they were coming up on their next stop. He spun quickly to face Sayuri and uncoordinatedly scrambled her way to grab her by the arm to haul her upright and to the closest door.
Sure enough, the train began to slow and a soon the telltale architecture of a train station could be seen drifting by slower and slower outside the train windows.
"Come on!" Sasha urged, though surely Sayuri was all too aware of the urgency.
As the train slowed to a stop, Sasha hurried towards the doors. Just as they began to open, Sasha shouldered his way through, tugging Sayuri along with him, however, just as his shoe made contact with the platform, the last standing yakuza let out a wild cry from just behind them.
"I'll kill you, fucking Ruski!" He screamed in Japanese as he lunged.
Sasha felt the weight of the man as he plowed into him first, but followed by that, he felt a sharp pain in his side. A knife piercing flesh was not an unfamiliar sensation to him, though that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. It was a sharp and aching sensation, one that throbbed the deeper the blade went and this blade had gone deep enough. He grit his teeth and made a strangled sound of pain, but continued to stagger forward off the train. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
As Sasha dragged Sayuri along, she caught the violent action in slow motion. She could see the yakuza lunge and stab into Sasha, the slow and pained grimace rising to his expression as they stepped off the platform. Sayuri wanted to ensure they weren’t going to follow them off the train. As Sasha stepped down onto the pavement, Sayuri back stepped to wedge between Sasha’s back and the yakuza, shoving the man back hard onto the train just as the doors shut between them. Sayuri looked around somewhat frantically then, she was sure Sasha’s bloodied state would garner unwanted attention. It didn’t seem like too many people had noticed yet, though there were some concerned onlookers who made an effort to stare and point, nudging others to see. Sayuri didn’t know where they would go yet, just that they needed out of sight in the crowded station. She took Sasha’s hand again and guided him through the train station with some urgency, it was important not to run. Sasha looked concerning with his bloodied face, but if they weren’t running, it probably wasn’t an emergency, therefore there was no need to call attention to security about it.
She pulled him into a little bathroom with her, just for the time being. She hoped he would heal fast and they could just clean up his face, but there was definitely blood still on his clothes. One step at a time though.
“Oh my god, are you going to be ok? Does it hurt?” Sayuri blurt as soon as she shut the bathroom door behind them. She turned him around somewhat forcefully, to get a look at the stab in his side. Then she hurried over to the sink and turned on the faucet, wetting fistfuls of paper towels before returning to his side. She sort of bobbed back and forth anxiously between his face and the wound on his side; not sure what to tend to first and exactly what she was going to do to help with wet paper towels.
“Will you be okay?” She asked again, steadying herself as she decided to press a towelette to his wound. She knew Sasha was a fast healing werewolf, but she wasn’t; she’d never seen what that looked like. How fast was fast, was it seconds or days? She only knew what she had to do for herself over the years; she kept pressure on the wound with one hand, dabbing at his face with another, trying to wipe some of the blood from his eyes and clear his vision.
Upon entering the bathroom, Sasha found himself slumping into the bathroom wall while he reached down to clutch at his wound. He let out a hiss of pain as a dull throb resonated from the wound at the pressure, but even as it ached, he could tell that it wouldn't be too much of a problem for long. The knife had gone deep, deep enough that despite the injury being in his side, he could feel the hot ache throughout his entire midsection, but even as he stood there, allowing Sayuri to fuss over him, he could feel sliced through muscle reconnecting and blood vessels rejoining. There had been plenty of blood at first, but it had begun to slow and he knew soon enough it would stop entirely. His face ached as well, but as Sayuri wiped at his brow and mouth, he could feel that she was running her paper towel over smooth, fresh skin.
"Well...it doesn't tickle exactly." Sasha joked, voice a little strained but at least humorous. He raised a free hand up to touch at Sayuri's face then, using his fingertips to gently turn her face this way and that. "Did they get you at all?" He asked. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
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