Several days passed...
Behind some out-of-the-way house, Yasutaka and Mōha sat keeping watch.
"Quite a lot of coming and going, isn't there," Yasutaka said.
What the two of them were watching was the Python, a club rumored to serve as the hideout of the bandit gang known as Anakonda.
Now, a "club" in this town meant a place where folks drank, danced, and sang the night away, the sort of tavern-style haunt musicians liked to frequent.
Originally it had been a place for the bird-folk to sing and dance and enjoy themselves, a proper social hall from back in the days of the avian civilization. These days, though, it had become the gathering spot for a rather unsavory crowd.
"I've heard clubs draw more than their share of rogues, but this is something else. More than half these fellows look like they're hiding a scar or two," Mōha said.
"Gensuke of Onigawara, Imozō of Saitama, Gonroku of Ibaraki... every troublemaker in the district seems to be dropping by," Yasutaka said.
And indeed, bad company kept gathering outside the Python, day after day.
Watching them, Yasutaka let out a sigh.
"Setting all that aside, just how many cups of tea am I supposed to drink before this job's over?" he said.
"Same thing every single day. Gets old fast," Mōha said.
A stakeout meant round-the-clock watching, and that took patience.
Which meant a fair amount of care had to go into working out whose turn it was.
"Mōha. About time we switched, isn't it?" Yasutaka said.
"Right you are. All yours," Mōha said.
Shinnosuke, next in line for the watch, had arrived, and Mōha handed things over without complaint.
He too had signed on for this job of bringing down the bandit gang.
With Shinnosuke on the scene, Mōha would grab some sleep before his next shift came around.
Shinnosuke let out a great big yawn.
"How's it looking?" he asked.
"Getting pretty lively. Looks like they'll be moving soon. Only..." Mōha said.
People had been coming and going more and more often.
There was just one thing that nagged at them...
"Still no sign of Karo of Anakonda anywhere. That's what bothers me," Mōha said.
"Yeah, no kidding..." Yasutaka said.
The two of them checked the wanted poster of Karo of Anakonda as they spoke.
In this day and age, a wanted poster was about all a body had to go on for telling one face from another, and while every local rogue in the district seemed to have turned up at the Python, the man himself had yet to show his face.
"Can't make the arrest without the boss himself showing up. Oh, we could round up the rank and file easy enough, but if the leader slips away, they'll just band together again somewhere else..." Motomura said.
"So we let them run a while longer, is that it..." Yasutaka said.
Yasutaka's face clouded over at Shinnosuke's words, though secretly, he was relieved.
He'd taken this job well enough, but it was shaping up to be the kind that ate up time and tried a man's patience something fierce.
That was exactly why he'd saved it for last, figuring it would eat into his schedule for other jobs. Looked like that had been the right call after all.
Just as he was thinking that...
"Hey, look. He's finally showing up," Mōha said.
"Oh, so he is," Yasutaka said.
A man with the very same face as the one on Karo's wanted poster walked into the Python.
Judging by the way the men with him moved, there was no mistaking that he held some rank among them.
"Well now, here we go at last..." Motomura said.
"Looks like things are about to move," Mōha said.
Most likely, preparations for the heist itself were finally complete.
"Yasutaka. You and Mōha are done here, right? Go tell the boss," Motomura said.
"Got it," Yasutaka said.
With that, Yasutaka went to fetch Mōha.
Mōha had been resting comfortably downstairs when Yasutaka called out to him.
"Hey, we're moving," Yasutaka said.
"What's up?" Mōha said.
"The boss showed up. We're going to fetch the chief," Yasutaka said.
"Got it," Mōha said.
"I'll head out first," Yasutaka said.
With that, Yasutaka hurried out ahead of the others.
(A wary glare.)
The rough sorts keeping watch outside the Python eyed Yasutaka with suspicion, but he ducked his gaze like a frightened rabbit and hurried off, quick as you like.
The last thing he needed right now was trouble.
If he kicked up a fuss here, the boss might slip away for good.
So he hurried out of sight, ducking around the corner into a side alley.
"Whew..." Yasutaka breathed.
He let out a breath and steadied himself.
"Scary bunch, gathering 'round there. Scary, scary..." Yasutaka muttered.
So saying, Yasutaka scurried off, quick as he could...
"Gueeess who? ♪"
A cute little voice came from right behind him.