Genre

Rating

Spoiler Level

Fishbone

by slinkster sunshine ::: 10.Sep.2003

Fishbone.

He chewed the bone thoughtfully. "Got any threes?"

"Go fish."

Sanosuke swore and drew from the pile. He was being kept out late again by his gambling buddies, and felt that it sorely wasn't his fault. "Speaking of fish, why is it you're always chewing on that thing?" Takeshi wondered, taking a drag from his pipe.

Sanosuke's eyes slowly became visible from behind a vast hand of cards. It was obvious who was losing.

"Baka," he snorted, looking smug as the others expressed their confusion. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed? This is the same little sucker I've been chomping on my whole life." He motioned to his jacket that lay crumpled on the floor. "I keep it in my pocket in case of emergencies."

"What sort of emergencies?" One of the men inquired, not sure if he should be taking Sanosuke seriously. "I've never heard of a guy to rely on his leftovers."

Sanosuke shook his head, then beckoned them closer. The ruffians strained forward to listen.

"It all started a few years ago.." he began, his voice barely above a whisper. "I was only fifteen, still an irate little punk on the streets trying to make a name for myself. The air was chilled with the first indications of frost, and I had no place to stay should winter come early."

Sanosuke's gaze flicked downward, before he continued. "I took refuge inside the hull of a freighter that had anchored on the docks. The men were preoccupied with unloading their shipment, so it was easy to sneak on board." He smirked, twiddling the skeleton between his teeth. His audience was completely enraptured.

"It had been days since I last slept, so I hid myself behind the empty crates in the hold and dozed off. When I awoke the next morning I was terrified to discover the ship had left port."

A low mutter of astonishment passed through the group, but Sanosuke held up his hand for silence. "I knew immediately that I could not be discovered. I don't suppose you know how sailors dispose of stowaways out on the open sea?" The others replied that they did not.

"They cast them overboard, that's what!" Sanosuke leapt to his feet, startling one man who spilled his sake on the floor. "You see my friends, I was safe so long as no one found me out. If I could survive the few months at sea without being caught, I knew I'd make it back to Japan." He took a swig from his mug, the liquid fire blazing down his throat and smoldering in his eyes.

"But what did I say before? They had already unloaded all of their cargo back at port, and I had boarded a fishing liner." He sat back down with a sweep of his hand. "All the company I had down in that hell were the rats and empty boxes, with the stinking carcasses of what could have been a meal strewn across the floor."

Kahtsu, who had been by far the most disinterested, was now staring at him with rapt attention. "But Sano.. how could you have survived?"

Sanosuke plucked the fishbone from his teeth and waved it about like a banner. "This, my friends. This baby kept me alive when all else had failed. I found this bone and survived by chewing on it for three years."

"But that's incredible!" Takeshi exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "How come you never told us any of this?"

"Because it's all a load of crap." Sanosuke tossed his cards down and stood to leave. Whilst his rivals had been listening, he had managed to sneak a peek at their hands and remove the cards he needed to win. "When you're as drunk as you bastards are, I suppose you'll believe anything, hm?"

He snatched up his coat and walked out the door, pockets jangling with newly acquired coins. He swallowed the fishbone whole.