Morning comes with a loud crash of a frying pan being dropped, waking up those who are yet awake. 6AM is a bit early for some.
 
NightRunner and the guys gather themselves together and head out on their own, seemingly knowing in what they have to do for the day. Kei and Yuri try to sleep for another hour while the girls gather the two skunk girls into another shopping trip for the emperor’s dinner party tonight. Val makes breakfast while Hondo receive some post operative care for his eye. Fernando takes off his eye patch, putting a couple eye drops to numb his eye. A pair of tweezers pulls out the ‘scab’ of the cryoacetate glue. The cornea seemed to have sealed shut without bubble, wrinkle or distortion. A couple more drops of antibiotics is added before the eye patch is put back on.
 
“You should be able to remove the eyepatch by 4 in the afternoon. Be in a dark room, take off the eye patch and put these on over your regular pair.” Fernando explains as he hands him a similar pair of glasses to those he wears. “The day is yours but I suggest spend it getting ready for the dinner tonight. Around mid day I will have something for you and the others. Can’t say what it is yet until I get it first.”
 
“I’ll see what I can do.” Hondo says as he sits up on the pilot’s chair. Instinctively he reaches into is eye.
 
“Any questions?” Fernando asks.
 
“None so far.” Hondo replies.
 
“Good. Now go before I forget who I am and start yelling at everyone.” Fernando tells him.
 
“But Val is making breakfast.” Hondo points out.
 
“Take it, put between two slices of bread and take it out with you both. Tammy and I are going to have some alone time throwing things at each other, and it’s going to get ugly. I do not want you or anyone else to see that.” Fernando tells him.
 
Hondo nods, “I see.” He pauses for a second before getting up out of the chair, “I’ll get us out in a few.” He takes a few steps to the door.
 
“Hondo?” Fernando calls to him, making him stop at the door, “The guys say that a place named ‘El Gusto’ has an excellent Tex/Mex Breakfast menu and very low prices. They speak English there, and located in Downtown Tokyo not too far from the Hilton where we were staying.”
 
“Much obliged, I’ll go look it up. But I got to have some coffee first before I leave.” Hondo says.
 
“Thanks.” Fernando tells him.
 
Hondo leaves the room a few seconds later.

Things sounded pretty silent for the moment, Fernando goes out onto the kitchen. He finds the half made meal Val was making for Hondo and anyone else who was interested she was cooking for. Taking a few bits here and there, and throwing in a fried egg, he makes a bacon egg and cheese on a roll sandwich. He is too concentrated on his working on breakfast for himself thinking that he was alone.
 
“Something smells good.” A female voice startles him into an unexpected reality that he was not alone.
 
“You want one, Jeanette?” He asks without turning around to see her.
 
“What is it?” She asks.
 
“Bacon Egg and Cheese on a roll.” He answers,
 
“I’ll take one. And Tammy needs a cold cereal with fresh fruit and milk.” She replies.
 
Fernando points out to the cabinets on the other side, “Cereal and canned fruits should be there. We do not have any fresh fruit as they would not have held up during our flying trip over here.” He continues after a pause, “Milk is in the refrigerator below the cabinets.” He works on making Jeanette a second Bacon Egg and Cheese on a roll sandwich.
 
Jeanette gets a tray together of a bowl with milk, canned fruit and cereal for Tammy, and head to the rear of the plane. She returns to Fernando by the time he finishes her sandwich. Jeanette goes into the refrigerator and pulls out some orange juice for herself. Fernando puts her sandwich on a small plate before handing it to her.
 
“Thank you.” Jeanette says to him.
 
“Yeah, anytime.” Fernando tells her before shutting off the stove and head to the passenger section of the plane and sits down at a seat with a table.
 
Jeanette sits down across from him in a nearby seat as they ate their morning meal. She tries to start conversation with him as they ate.
 
“Tammy wants to talk with you before you go out.” She tells him.
 
“We’ll see what happens.” He tells her, adding, “But do remind her that she has to prepare for the Emperor’s dinner tonight at the palace.” He slides one of his sapphire blue credit cards to her, “You both should get a new dress, shoes, and other things you ladies need.”
 
Jeanette looks at the credit card, “There is no name on this.”
 
“Oh, how observant!” He almost mocks her, “It does not need one as it is tied to my personal account. Though nearly bottomless, don’t try to buy or rent something stupid like a Lamborghini or a Ferrari, there is a spending limit to it for a 24 hour period. Exceed it and the card shuts down for 24 hours. Exceed again and it will shut down permanently.”
 
“No need to ridicule me.” She tells him.
 
“For as long as you have known me, have I ever stuck you with the bill?” He throws at her.
 
“No, but... what am I to say if I get questioned about not having a name on the card?” She throws at him.
 
“Tell them it’s a family credit card, one of several tied to a central account.” He tells her.
 
Jeanette refuses to comment for the moment.
 
“I see you’re still in your robe without pajama pants.” He comments.
 
“I can trust you in what I wear around you.” She tells him.
 
“Even if you wear nothing at all.” He throws in.
 
Jeanette tightens her lips for a second before she replies, “Correct.”
 
“Nothing to be ashamed off, considering how close and intimate we were. What bothers me is how suddenly it ended.” He points out.
 
“Part of that is you being disrespectful to my friend.” She tells him
 
“Misao is not your friend. She is using you for as long as she finds you of valuable for her cause. If you did not have Time Travel Technology from me, you would have never have been led to believe you two are friends with her.” He tells her in return.
 
“You do not know what you are talking about.” She tells him.
 
“I am not going to push you into anything to prove a point. But you are just going to get burned to learn your lesson with her.” He throws at her before adding, “Long ago I said to you that if we were to have a relationship with each other, that we do not have to accept the other’s friends but those friends have to be respectful to both of us and our relationship. You did not necessarily like my friends and in fact some of them scare you. But my friends respect you and like you for who you are to me and not some singer from some pop group. And in times of need, they are willing to help you if I am not around. Now, flip the coin – what has Chip done? What has Dale done? What Misao done? I’ll tell you. Chip has tried to steal every award and accolade I have received in the work I did, saying that it is Rangers who did it and he leads the Rangers into action – which is bullshit. Dale, he’s too idiotic to know his right hand from his left foot but if it comes to me vs. Chip – he will always go to Chip. Remember, he left you to be killed years ago in that upstate chemical plant explosion that I rescued you from. And Misao has never said a kind word about me since she arrived because before she ‘befriended you’ she tried to befriend me with a huge price tag of ‘let me barrow your time travel equipment’ and I flat out told her ‘No.’ So she ran to you when she found out you have access to such equipment. And in that time has she ever say a good word about me? I don’t think so.”
 
Jeanette does not say a word in anyone’s defense for the meantime. Fernando gets up and begins to clean up the kitchen area. It only takes him a short time to do so. Tammy walks into the area with her empties, looking at the area and what is going on.
 
Handing over the empties to Fernando to clean up in kitchen, Tammy says loud enough to be heard by both of them, “I hope you two not plotting on having an affair behind my back.”
 
“No Tammy, we’re not. You would be invited into our sexual orgy of pleasure and bliss as you are my wife and wives are always invited into such events.” Fernando tells her.
 
“Now wait a minute!” Jeanette lets out.
 
“Look, Jeanette. Despite the difficulties and problems Tammy and I might be having, she is Number 1 in my life as you once were. She understands that and I hope she does not take our friendship as a threat to our marriage and relationship.” He tells her.
 
“What threat is there? If you are going to take her to bed and #$@! her brains out, I hope you rock her little world like you do mine and used to with her.” Tammy says.
 
“Fernando and I never had sex.” Jeanette tells her.
 
“Maybe you should. The sexual tension between you two is unbearable.” Tammy tells her. She then turns to Fernando, “Anything to do today?”
 
“Just you and her have to go out and buy a lovely dress to tonight’s dinner at the Emperor’s palace. Nothing more.” Fernando tells her.
 
“Alright. I’ll be ready in about half an hour. Jeanette?” Tammy says and calls to her.
 
“I’ll be ready by then.” Jeanette tells her.
 
“Good.” Tammy says before leaving to the bedroom at the end of the plane’s fuselage.
 
As soon as the bedroom door closes, Jeanette tells him, “I’m not having sex with you.”
 
“Or anyone else as far as I remember. You used to say, ‘Not until we are married first.’” Fernando reiterates. He adds, “But that’s besides the point. Nobody on my side finds you or your relationship with me, no matter how deep it would be, as a threat or disrespect to what they have with me and what I have with you. Misao however thinks that I will destroy the world with my Time Traveling on a whim. And she has been a driving force to divide us and it was allowed to happen on your part.”
 
“Our split up was not because of her.” Jeanette tells him.
 
“Oh really. Well, I’m not going to question that.” He tells her, “You do need to get ready to go dress shopping with Tammy.”
 
Jeanette lets out a sigh before asking, “Is there a place I can wash up?” She asks.
 
“Come” Fernando tells her as he takes her to the bathrooms, opening the door and showing her inside, “Bathroom with a small basin and shower stall. We have a couple thousand gallons of water so try to not to use it all. All I got is Ivory soap and I can get you a spare towel. Also, on the opposite side of the hall is a second shower stall in case somebody is using this one. It is a mirror image of this one.”
 
“I can manage with this.” Jeanette says noticing the closeness of the room.
 
“Jeanette...” He calls to her despite being less than a foot away from her.
 
“What?” she asks.
 
“Thank you.” He says to her.
 
“For what?” She asks.
 
“I swear, I think our past relationship left a bit of my thinking inside you.” Fernando says, but then goes back to subject, “Thank you for helping Tammy out. Thank you for helping me helping her out.”
 
“This is not over, you and I are going to have a long talk about this. I do not see your marriage in as dire straits as you say it is.” She tells him.
 
“No relationship is perfect. And we do have our problems, but if we do not work out on our problems, this marriage is going to break. We need our friends as much as we need each other to keep this marriage from breaking. Thus I say to you, ‘thanks,’ because you are helping in ways you do not see.” He tells her.
 
“I see. It is not just about Francesca, but you and Tammy.” She says.
 
“You are to help her with Francesca. This is not about Tammy and I where you are to referee us or to choose sides. This is a dangerous mission and this group has already been attacked twice. I do not trust no one else to help Tammy with Francesca but you. Don’t fail me, because failure means that little girl getting hurt and I will nuke this island nation off the face of the earth if she does get hurt.” He tells her.
 
“I see.” Jeanette says, almost unsure of herself. She then begins to untie her robe, “If there no problem, I’ll take my shower here. Just need some soap and a towel.”
 
“I’ll get them to you.” Fernando says as he turns around to walk out of the bathroom.
 
Jeanette reaches over to him, taking him by his shoulder to turn him around. Once he is facing her, she opens up her robe to show what little she had on: her pajama shirt open and exposing her front and light nearly see-through bikini-cut nylon panties on.
 
“Jeanette...” He calls to her.
 
“Just making sure I can trust you like I used too.” She tells him.
 
Fernando turns away to the doorway, “I’ll put the towel and soap on the basin here. Hot water takes a few seconds to heat up.”
 
Jeanette just nods before he leaves. She starts taking off the robe, shirt and panties when he is gone and the bathroom door closes. She looks over the shower stall, it is smaller than she is used too but she fit comfortably inside. She turns the shower on to see how it flows and let the hot water warm up. The door opens up and Fernando steps in halfway to put the towel and a bar of soap in a plastic soap box on the basin for her.
 
The shower door opens slightly with Jeanette sticking her head out of the doorway, “Fernando, could you hand me the soap, please.”
 
This requires that he had to step all the way into the room and hand her the bar of soap, which he does. He opens the plastic box and takes out the bar of soap, turning around to hand it to Jeanette. She stands here naked with her arm extended out to receive the soap. He tries to make it as fast as possible but it seems to drag on. He has not seen her totally naked like this since a year before the Gunslinger Bink missions started.
 
She takes the bar of soap from his hand before closing the shower door on his face, “Thank you.”
 
For some reason he takes his time to leave, making his way past the kitchen for some final touch ups before heading to his pilot seat. He is just tired, not physically but mentally tired and emotionally drained. He just sits there staring at the ceiling. Several minutes that seemed like seconds passed before Tammy walks in with baby Francesca sleeping on her shoulder. She was already dressed and ready to go.
 
“Not taking a shower?” He asks.
 
“I took a shower at 5-in the morning before anyone else woke up.” Tammy tells him.
 
“Oh. I did not know.” Fernando says to her.
 
“In all seriousness, Fernando, if I find out you’re screwing that stamp-licking ‘muck, I’m cutting off your balls.” Tammy tells him as she presses her finger against his temple.
 
“Then don’t give me a reason why I should chasing down her panties when I have you to chase.” He tries to sit back against his seat.
 
“I’m just telling you that you better not.” Tammy throws in.
 
“The only time I would put my dick into her pussy ever again is if you were either dead or did me wrong with Chip or others. Now that we got that cleared up, you just be careful out there. Hondo and Val were attacked last night and I had to clean up the mess that was created. I do not want to know if you and Francesca were attacked for I will nuke this stupid Island Nation off the face of this Earth.” He tells her.
 
Tammy lets out a sigh, “OK then. I’ll be careful out there.” She tries to lean over and kiss him on the cheek but can’t reach. “Take care then.” She tells him as she stand up again from leaning over.
 
“Yeah, I’ll be here, doing much of nothing.” He tells her.
 
Tammy walks out carrying Francesca. She meets up with Jeanette and makes sure she does not interrupt Fernando from his personal space in the cockpit.

“Fine. The choice is yours in what you are to do next: coward here in the plane or go get those things you need with the Emperor’s dinner. I would advise you to stay out and make a presence before you go home to deal with your eye and get dressed in for the Emperor’s Dinner. I say get home at 3 or 4 o’clock. That will be all.” Fernando tells him before hanging up the phone.
 
As soon as he hangs up, he begins to receive text messages from others of what happened. He sends a mass text to all to continue about their day but to keep an eye out for each other and suspicious activity.
 
He then makes a phone call to Ichikawa Realties.
 
(Translated from Japanese)
 
“What is the Code Word?” a computer generated male voice says
 
“Enemy Trash Panda.”
 
“Good morning Agent G. How can we of assistance to you?” The voice changes to a female one.
 
“Hello, Yes. I would like to know if the American Safe House is available.”
 
“No. With all due apologies, it is under renovations. Is there another place you might be interested in?”
 
I will have to get back to you on that after some research but it will be within the hour. Thank you for your time.”
 
“Thank you for calling.”
 
Fernando hangs up the phone.
 
(Back to English)
 
“Damn, I swear!” He says to himself, thinking of the options available to him. Ichikawa seems to be the best of all options but nothing seems to be available to him. He also thinks, knows, that the car was registered to his name, not that he has a lot to worry about as insurance will cover for it. But if somebody did a license plate trace on it, it would come up as from the rental company and he as the renter of the vehicle. It is paranoid to think along these lines, but of somebody was able to track the vehicle to him, instead of being a random act of terrorism, this has become a deliberate plot against him personally and anyone in the group indirectly.
 
 
“What was that?” Dale asks as he hears the muffled explosion almost a quarter mile away.
 
The others heard it too, but Chip tells him, “Ignore it. These people are not as civilized as we are and bomb each other constantly.”
 
“I think you’re speaking of the Middle East. This is the Far East.”  Monty says.
 
“Middle East, Far East – who cares. They are still savages. They still have a king, while we vote for our leader.”
 
“We vote for our leader?” Dale asks.
 
“Yes we do.”  Chip answers in an annoyed tone.
 
“Then I vote for Gadget to be our leader!” Dale throws out, only to be bonked on the head hard by Chip, “OW! Why you did that?”
 
“Nobody asked for your opinion!” Chip barks at him.
 
“But you said...” Dale begins to state.
 
“I know what I said and it does not apply to me as Leader of the Rangers!” Chip tells him.
 
“Then we must be savages too since we did not elect you...” Dale says to himself.
 
Chip turns around about to Bonk Dale on the head again but is stopped by Monty.
 
“Easy ‘are mate... we’re not ‘here to argue who’s leading who. We got a mission to do!” Monty tells them as he looks at Chip.
 
“Yeah.” Dale butts in, “Got the money from Misao? We need to get spiffied up for the Emperor’s dinner tonight!”
 
“She said she would forward something around noon, and I would get a text about it then.” Chip replies, calming down in the process.
 
“What about the invites?” Monty asks, “We can’t get in without the invites.”
 
“We’ll go in early and say Misao and/or Gadget has our invites.” Chip says.
 
“What about Fernando? He got us kicked the last time before I was able to eat anything...” Dale whines.
 
“I’ll need to make some more phone calls but I think our new found friends can take care of him if they hadn’t already.” Chip replies.
 
“How much money we got left over? I’m getting hungry and it is almost lunch time.” Dale complains.
 
“Food is expensive here, if you have not noticed. You can hold out until the Emperor’s dinner.” Chip tells him.
 
“I have a little something to get us a meal, but it needs to be cheap.” Monty says.
 
“We can get something from the 7-Eleven.” Dale says.
 
“7-Elevens have no place to sit down.” Chip throws in, trying to get something better and more expensive.
 
Dale sighs as he looks at the prices on the posters of the nearby restaurants, thinking that they are quite high. Eventually as they meander about, they find a place to their liking that serves American Cuisine at a very low price. Fortunately for them, or at least Chip, Hondo and Val left the place more than a half hour ago.
 
As they sit down, Dale leans over to Monty, “How much can you spare?”
 
“No a ‘hole lot. So go easy on me.” Monty tells him.
 
Dale looks at the menu and points out to Monty a burger with egg and cheese on a bun, “Hmmm... 900 acceptable?”
 
“That’s just a bit mo...ooh...ooh...Cheese?” Monty says before seeing the cheese on the picture.
 
“Don’t get too excited, Monty. It’s a fake cheese. For rats and mice, they do not eat cheese here. Instead they eat tofu!” Chip throws at them
 
“Toe-Fu?!! Of all the disgusting...” Monty goes back into a normal but angered mode.
 
Unknown to them, it is real cheese, that has been imported from the states. But they continue to argue the finer points of the pictured food on the menu instead of asking the waiter questions about various selected items. After a while they choose scramble eggs with sausage and fries. Standard cola went with their meal adding up to a total of 1200 Yen. Monty sighed in relief that he was able to feed himself and his friends for such a low cost instead of 1200 Yen per plate.
 
 
Another phone call is made to Ichikawa Realties.
 
(Translated from Japanese)
 
“What is the Code Word?” a computer generated male voice says
 
“Enemy Trash Panda.”
 
“Good Afternoon Agent G. How can we of assistance to you?” The voice changes to a female one.
 
“Hello, Yes. Can you verify a place for us?”
 
“What is the name of this place?”
 
“Maria Rental B&B.”
(2-29-4 Takinoi, Funabashi)
 
“Hold on please.” (sounds of someone typing on a keyboard can be heard) “That is in Funabashi Prefecture, we do not have access to it unless given the proper access codes.”
 
“Room for more.”
 
The sounds of somebody typing can be heard, “OK, it is just a quarter mile from the Ichikawa Prefecture Border, closer to Tokyo than from Ichikawa’s furthest southern point. Hmmm... How many rooms do you need?”
 
“I have a party of 20, so 8 10 or more rooms would be great.”
 
“The building has 8 12 rooms. And... it is available. How long will be your stay?”
 
“Undetermined, but for now to the foreseeable future, 3 to 6 months.”
 
“Let me discuss this with the rental agent in Funabashi and I will get back to you.”
 
“I appreciate your assistance with this matter.”  
 
“Since it is a B&B, the renter can send your group meals if you like.”
 
“I’ll accept the meals but not many in my group like Japanese foods. I just need access to a market and stores. Looking at the map, Tokyo can be reached by highway and train.”
 
“That is correct. It is the national high speed bullet train from the main station to Tokyo’s main station with a stop in Ichikawa’s main station. It will get you there in less than 20 minutes. The 296 highway is nearby and 14 is further to the south but accessible, both will take you to Tokyo by vehicle as well”
 
“Again, thank you.”
 
“It has been a pleasure to serve you, Agent G. I will call you as soon as arrangements can be made.”
 
The call ends.
 
Fernando looks at the house on the screen on the laptop, thinking to himself, “It is no safe house, but it will have to do. And it is out of the way to keep everyone safe during our stay.”

NSA Plane Arrived in Tokyo International Airport as they park. Then they got out while heading to there cars and drove to the Best Western Tokyo Nishikasai.  
 
Charles: Ok Team we meeting My old Friend Fernando and his family at the Party witch is one week tonight. So Our Tech Advisors Sparky will meet us at the hotel so we can hide our weapons and this way metal decorators won’t pick up our weapons since they will be hidden.  
 
Burborn: What you mean?
 
Charles: You will see it when we get to the Hotel Burborn.  
 
*
Then They arrived at the Hotel. AS they head to the penthouse sweet and meeting Sparky as they put there suit case in the rooms too. Since it got 9 Bedrooms.  
 
Sparky: Ok This is a New Suit and Dress for you people to wear to the party. It can hide your weapons like this.  
 
Then he put a 9mm into the Suit as it dissaperd into he suit and then he went into the suit. Then pull it out. AS they were amazed by this.  
 
Rebecca: Wow that is amazing  
 
Frank: This is cool tech  
 
Maggie: Wow  
 
Charles; This will help just incase if anyone try to interfere with the peace treaty.  
 
Burborn: Peace Treaty?
 
Charles: Yes It going down this week. Fernando give me the details of the Treaty and it on the news too. So we bet anyone want to mess this up.  
 
Frank: I.see  
 
Charles; So tomorrow at the party we meeting with Fernando and he will give you your orders. So Get some Rest and We need be ready for the party tomorrow Dismiss.  
 
All: YES SIR.  
 
Then they went to sleep.

They made it to Little Texas in about an hour and they were both ready to sit down and have a drink. As they approached the bar there were several locals dressed in American western type dress. Some more closely resembled 50's cowboy movie stars, as they were far more bight and ostentatious than what was worn by western Americans. There were a few motorcycles outside, done up with finely tooled leather saddled bags with bight conches on them, and one even had a saddle for a seat. a couple had empty rifle scabbards and most had either a lasso or bull whip attached to them somehow. Hondo could only think they were setup as gas powered horse substitutes.  
 
 
As they walked into the bar there were more people in 'cowboy garb' and everyone greeted them with a 'Howdy, Partner', a few even tipped their hats at Valentine. Hondo shook his head at it all. Wood, brandings, rod-iron, tumble-weeds, and cactus. It seemed like a Las Vegas tourist trap, but they blended in well enough, though they were almost underdressed in their darker colored, practical western clothes.  
 
 
They found a small table in a back corner where Hondo could see the whole room , the kitchen door, and the entrance. He ordered a bottle of MGD and a shot of Four Roses for himself, Valentine ordered a margarita, and they got an order of Nacho with chorizo to share. They talked for a bit and rested but they were no closer to an answer after and hour of talking and drinking.
 
 
Hondo pulled out his phone and looked at the time. He sighed and shook his head.
 
 
"Well, we should probably get back. Not sure what time Jefe wanted to leave for the dinner tonight, but its 2:30 now an' it's a three walk at least from here." He said
 
 
"Should we get a taxi or somethin'?" Valentine asked.
 
 
Hondo shrugged, "Could but not sure I trust any of them. Who better to act as eyes an' ears for the Yakuza. Call me paranoid, but we might be better off on foot."
 
 
She sighed and nodded, "Just not lookin' forward to a three hour walk in these boots. They are practical until ya have to walk a lot! I was figurin' on just breakfast, maybe a stop for supplies then back."
 
 
Hondo chuckled, "Since when does anythin' we do ever go accordin' to plan?"
 
 
"True. you ready?" She asked
 
 
"I reckon." He said with a nod.
 
 
They paid their bill and headed out the door, back to the street via the alley they came in through. As they exited they saw a few men standing around a couple of the duded up motorcycles. Hondo appraised the warily with a side glance, but the men paid them no great attention, so they continued on. As they turned to head to the street, a woman and small boy, dressed as a cowboy, came from the street and headed their way about 50 yards off. About then a black car squealed to a stop behind them and a man with a gun jumped out. Valentine dropped their bags and Hondo started going for his gun, but hesitated as the woman and boy were in the way. He grit is teeth and growled a bit as he waited for the man to rush past the woman and boy and head for them. Instead, to his surprise the man grabbed the boy. At first Hondo thought it was to use the boy as a shield or something but The man seemed to ignore him and Valentine completely.
 
 
As they boy cried out the mother attacked the man, trying to wrestle the child away from him. She was soon stopped as he beat her along side the head with his pistol, causing her to fall to the ground. Valentine froze in place, unsure of what to do. Hondo paused for only a moment before leaping forward and snatching a rope off of one of the motorcycles. The woman's and boy's combined cries drew a crowd from the bar, and got the attention of those already outside. As Hondo charged forward he whipped the rope up over his head, swinging it around to open the loop. a couple other men started forward but a second man with a gun exited the car. The other men stopped their advance, but Hondo did not. The boy's struggling slowed the one man down, keeping him from bringing his gun to bear. The second started to raise his gun towards the rapidly approaching American with the lasso twirling in his hand, but he was stopped short and dropped his gun as a bullet tore through his shoulder. Hondo threw the rope and snagged the man who held the child, casing him to lose grip on the boy and fall to the ground. The wounded man jumped back into the car and the car sped off, without the prize it was after.  
 
As the car roared off, to woman got to her knees and she wrapped the crying boy in a hug, crying herself. Several of the 'Japanese Cowboy's' rushed forward and pounced on the man Hondo had lassoed. They used the rope to tie him up further. Hondo turned to look back at his wife, who stood, still holding the smoking 1911 .38 super in her hand. he gave her a bit of a lopsided grin.
 
 
"I told ya that my trust in ya was enough." he said.
 
 
She shook a little bit as she looked at the gun for a moment, put the safety back on and holstered it. she looked back at her husbanded and grinned.
 
 
"I … I don't even remember drawin' it. I just saw the man point the gun and … and.." She stammered a bit, still grinning.
 
 
He closed the gap between them and gave her a quick hug.
 
 
"You knew what was needed an' did it. Just need to trust yourself more, is all." He replied.  
 
 
About then the woman, boy, and a man who wore a large Stetson hat, Holstein vest, matching chaps, gator skin boots, and a bright red shirt came up to him and Valentine.
 
 
"Konnichiwa. Howdy. You are Americans?" The man asked
 
 
Hondo nodded, "Yes, sir, we are. My name's Hondo an' this is my wife, Valentine."
 
 
"I am Shingo Tanaka. This is my waifu Aina, and my son Isamu. We are forever in your debt Hondo-sama." Shingo said with a slight bow
 
 
"No worries. Just saw a need an' did what we could.
 
 
The boy said something to his father in Japanese. He turned back to Hondo and smiled.
 
 
"My son asks if you are real American cowboy?" He said
 
 
Hondo grinned, "Well, I've done some cowboyin' from time to time. Just consider myself a country boy."
 
 
Shingo spoke to his son in their native language whatever he said for a reply made the boy smile. He turned back to Hondo and bowed again slightly.
 
 
"We are forever in your debt, Hondo-sama, so if you ever need anything all you need to do is call." He said as he handed Hondo a card with his number on it.  
 
 
The card did not just have his number but had a business name on it. It read, 'Tanaka Wagyu Ranch: Shingo Tanaka Owner/Operator'.
 
 
Hondo looked it over and looked back at Shingo, "You're a rancher?"
 
 
Shingo Nodded, "Yes. and maybe we will still be ranchers because of you. Those who took tried to take my son have been trying to force us to sell. If it had not been you , Hondo-sama, and your waifu I would have been forced to sell."  
 
 
"Well, ranchin' is somethin' I know a little 'bout, anyway. Would like to see how y'all ranch over here." Hondo said.
 
 
"And my family would benefit from hearing how we ranch differently from you in America. You would honor me and my family if you join us at our ranch." Shingo said.
 
 
"We'd like that." Hondo replied
 
 
"How about tomorrow?" Shingo asked.
 
 
About then three young men, dressed in dusters and western clothes as if they had came off a movie set for the Japanese remake of 'Young Guns', started down the alley from the street side. The man who had been tied up for trying to kidnap the boy yammered at them in their native tongue. As if one man, all three turned and looked at Hondo simultaneously. Hondo had seen that look before and he did not like it.
 
 
Hondo whispered, "Tanaka, get your family back. Val, stay with them."
 
 
"But, Hondo …" Valentine started to say before a growl from Hondo cut her off.
 
 
Shingo looked at the men then back at Hondo and gave him an understanding nod. Valentine stood looking at her husband for a moment, but knowing the look on his face, she backed off with the Tanaka's.
 
 
The three young men spread out in the alley and the crowd up people got off to the side and fell silent. The middle young man looked at Hondo and sneered.
 
 
"You are Hondo the Sackett! The Yakuza is paying big money for you and you bitch." He said in slightly broken English
 
 
"Who wants to know?" Hondo asked angrily.
 
 
"Why you need to know, Sackett?" He asked
 
 
"So if you do somethin' stupid,  I know what name to have put on the tombstone." Hondo said flatly.
 
 
Someone snickered and this only made the young man angry.
 
 
He spat at Hondo then spoke, "Call me the Clint of East-a-wood, if you feel lucky, punk Sackett!"
 
 
The man on the ground yelled at the young man in Japanese. The young man snarled and yelled back at him.
 
 
Shingo spoke in a low voice so Hondo could hear, "The man wants you dead, but the gun slinger wants to kill you in gun fight."
 
 
Hondo just nodded slightly to show Shingo he understood. The young men pulled back their dusters exposing their six-shooters. Two looked like newer guns, but the man in the middle looked to have an original colt. Hondo chuckled lightly and shook his head at their showmanship.
 
 
"Quite a performance there, tinhorn, but if you're so tuff does it really take three of ya to take me on? You're either lousy gun slingers, or afraid of me." Hondo replied still grinning.
 
 
The two you guns on the outside yammered at the one in the middle for a moment until he yelled at them and they backed off to the side and put their coats back down.
 
 
"You dishonor us by saying we afraid. I will kill you and you bitch myself!" He yelled
 
 
Hondo glared at him, "And you dishonor me by speakin' 'bout my woman like that. This is between you an' me, understand? The code of the cowboy was never to harm women and children. You care to dishonor the code of the old west?"
 
 
The young man looked nervously around at the disapproving stares. those who did not understand English were filled in quickly by those who spoke both languages. The attitude towards the young gun was growing increasingly hostile and his bravado was quickly fading. He pulled himself together for a long angry look at Hondo.
 
 
"I leave your woman alone, Sackett." He said.
 
 
The man on the ground yelled at him in Japanese and the young man yelled back angrily before turning his full attention back to Hondo.
 
 
"I leave her alone, but the Yakuza will have her soon after I kill you. Now draw!" He yelled.
 
 
Hondo stood there, coat still down and not moving. The young gun's hand hovered above his gun and his eye twitched as he waited, but nothing happened.
 
 
"Draw I said, damn you!" He spat in broken English
 
 
Hondo stood still for a moment then started slowly walking forward, hands away from his gun.
 
 
"Stop, I'll kill you dead! Stop and draw! Draw!! I'll shoot you dead, I swear!!!" the g=young gun yelled, sounding a bit more frantic the closer Hondo got.
 
 
Hondo growled as he approached, "I don't think ya will, Hombre."
 
 
Hondo walked up almost nose to nose with the young gun. As he stared in him he saw more of a kid than a man, a kid who had a lot to learn. Hondo stood there staring him in the eyes for a moment before he reached down and took the kids gun from his holster. He thumbed out the shells, dropped them on the ground them slammed the gun into the kids hand. Hondo spoke after a moment, in low, cold tones.
 
 "I real man doesn't kill for fun. There are four reasons to kill ;Murder, Arson, Rape, Kidnappin'. You kill to stop those. You kill only to save lives an' protect what's yours. That is part of the code of the west. That is what usin' a gun honorably means. Until you learn that you'd best put that thing away." he growled.
 
 
He young gun hung his head and holstered the pistol. He looked back up at Hondo then bowed.
 
 
"I have acted dishonorably and brought disgrace upon my family. Death is the only honorable thing now." He said.
 
 
Hondo growled again, "No, learnin' from your #$@!in' mistake, bein' a man, an' helpin' other to regain your honor is what should be next."
 
 
The young gun looked at him a moment then looked at the man who had been tied up. His eyes grew wide for a second and that was all Hondo needed to see. Hondo pushed the young man away and spun, pulling his own gun from his holster as he turned. He turned to see the man had freed his arms and had pulled a small pistol that no one had noticed. Hondo shot at the pistol, not only knocking it from the man's hand but also blowing a hole in his hand at the same time.
 
 
… to be continued