Cornerman - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

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The two individuals, one boy and one woman, quietly stared at each other. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife. Mineko was the first to break the silence.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Sasuke-kun. I just wanted to prevent you from doing anything rash.” Her eyes, like two dark pools, looked like they wanted to swallow him whole. “Why don’t you sit down again and we’ll talk things over sensibly?”

Sasuke’s fine eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. “Are you sure you can afford to take this course of action, Iwasaki-san? The consequences for you and Ichika-chan could be… dire.”

Mineko felt a rush of anxiety flow through her. Of course, she knew this. However, what was she supposed to do? Obediently wait for the Hidden Leaf ninja to come arrest them? No. Now, she’d essentially taken Sasuke hostage, which provided leverage for negotiation if they were discovered.

Her main source of confidence was the poison she’d fed him, one she’d created herself. She’d always had a knack for the practice, and after many years of training and experimentation, she knew for sure that not many were able to equal her skill.

Both the poison and the cure (also a certain type of poison) were created by her. Nobody else would be able to solve it without her assistance, at least not before the toxins activated and killed the boy.

She shook her head. “We’re both in the same boat now, Sasuke-kun. There’s no use in trying to threaten me or act out – if you do, we will all suffer for it.”

The boy in question contemplated her words for a while before he eventually sat down with a sigh. “Have it your way, Iwasaki-san. Let’s negotiate.”

She mimicked his actions, sitting down as well. “Why don’t I start by telling you what I can offer.” She adjusted her robes, sitting in a modest posture. “I’m sure there are things you’d like to learn – things that the academy isn’t teaching you.” She was confident in this bait; Sasuke clearly placed a lot of importance on self-improvement.

He looked thoughtfully at her. “I suppose that isn’t untrue.” He stroked his chin, mulling over his next words. “You have some accomplishment in ‘medicine’, I see. I’d be interested in learning more about that.” He smiled. “I’m a very compassionate person by nature; someone who loves helping others.”

‘Compassionate by nature…?’

“We can come to an agreement regarding that.” She was willing to teach him some general knowledge of the poison arts, but she’d keep her hard-earned tricks close to her chest.

Sasuke fiddled with his sleeves as he looked at her. “…and what would you like in return? As wonderful as I believe you are, I doubt you’re willing to share your knowledge with me for free.” He looked expectantly at her, awaiting her answer.

That gave her pause. She honestly hadn’t thought of what she could ask of him – she doubted that he’d be willing to act against his village in any way. Framing acts of espionage, sabotage or information gathering as innocent or insignificant probably wouldn’t work either; he was bright enough to see through that kind of thing. If he did comply, then she didn’t trust him to do an honest job.

She was a little bit startled when she realized how much capability she’d unconsciously assigned to him. She wasn’t treating him as a child at all. She herself hadn’t had much of an opportunity to be a child, but she knew that it was different for these kids.

Despite the troubles that Ichika had experienced, she still had a lot of her childhood innocence. But, for Sasuke, it could be argued that he’d had an even tougher childhood than her student. In some ways, it was much easier to never having had anything, than to have had everything only to lose it all in a single night.

“I want you to spar against Ichika.”

There wasn’t much Sasuke could be trusted with aside from this. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t making a proper request – she did think that it was a good idea for Ichika to have someone that could match up to her skill level. As for if it was dangerous for Sasuke to find out about her student’s true abilities, well… she’d already all but confirmed that he’d been spying on them.

Sasuke huffed. “That isn’t much of a request. It could even be seen as being beneficial towards myself.” He eyed her carefully, like he wasn’t sure what she was planning. “…I accept.”

She didn’t doubt that he would. She took out a small item, wrapped in brown rice-paper, from her robe and handed it to him. “Take this. It will stop the spread of the toxin temporarily.”

As expected, Sasuke didn’t take that too well. “Temporarily…? Miss must think that I’m easy to bully.” He said this through clenched teeth.

Mineko didn’t lose her composure. “What choice do I have, Sasuke-kun? Will there be anything stopping you from ending my and Ichika’s lives if I don’t at least go this far?”

A vein stood starkly against Sasuke’s temple as he listened to her words. She watched as he battled against his outrage, likely realizing that there truly was no other way. However, there was no telling what a cornered tiger would do. She needed to give him a way out.

“Once you’ve demonstrated your sincerity, I’ll naturally provide you with the full cure.”

His eyes narrowed dangerously at her. “…and what exactly does that mean?” He asked, his jaw practically creaking as he spat out the question.

“After enough time has passed, and I’ve judged that you mean us no harm, we can consider things between us as settled.” She stated calmly, steadily maintaining eye-contact with him.

He lowered his head onto his knuckles with an angry sigh.

Mineko patiently waited for him to come to a decision.

After a minute, he collected himself. “Fine.” He reached out and took the sample she’d given him, slipping it into his sleeve. She noted how he didn’t immediately consume it.

“It’s best if you take the remedy as soon as possible, Sasuke. There’s no way of knowing what could happen if you delay for too long.”

Of course, she’d predicted something like this. It was possible that he’d try to have it analyzed in an effort to produce more, but that wouldn’t work. The solution would degrade into uselessness once exposed to common investigation methods.

He froze for a moment, then stared at her with open hatred on his face. It didn’t matter – nobody was immune to the ‘carrot and stick’ method. She’d shown him the stick, now she only needed to show him the carrot.

She smiled prettily, tilting her head to one side to let her gorgeous hair fall over her shoulder to expose her perfectly sculpted neck. She puffed out her chest, causing her robe to pull tightly against her marvelous bosom.

“We can start with your lessons now, if you prefer.”

However, Sasuke wasn’t having any of it. “I’m a little tired, so I’ll head home now.” He stood up decisively with the air of someone who wouldn’t let themselves be stopped a second time.

She nodded understandingly. “I’m really sorry about today – I didn’t intend for things to turn out this way.” She put her acting experience to good use, showing an expression that would certainly induce pity in even the most hardened man.

She felt a sense of satisfaction when she saw his expression waver in reaction to her honest demeanor.

He said nothing in reply, instead proceeding to exit her apartment. She remained standing where she was, until she was sure he’d completely departed. Then, she went over to the window and surreptitiously glanced at him as he walked down the street.

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Sasuke muttered curses under his breath as he walked, apparently unaware of his spectator. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and other pedestrians parted around him, afraid to provoke the wrath of the seething boy.

He continued stomping hard on the paved road, barely restraining his tantrum until he judged himself to be fully out of sight of the undercover femme fatale. He rounded a corner into an alley and spat a thick black substance onto the ground.

He actually hadn’t drunk the entire cup of tea, only a portion of it.

The black stuff was activated charcoal, which he carried on him at all times. It was an extremely useful thing to have, counteracting a vast majority of ingested toxic substances.

In the ninja world, there was no such thing as paranoia.

His eyes were calculating as he turned and started making his way home.

He was still in a bit of a difficult spot when it came to reporting her or not… he didn’t want the village to interfere and spoil this opportunity for him. He also loathed the idea of them ‘managing’ him if he were to reveal any knowledge of the spy and an intention to investigate her himself. However, he didn’t doubt that they would react badly if he kept the truth from them.

He casually kicked a stone out of his way as he continued to contemplate.

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