A/N: My first fanfic ever! If I make mistakes in composition, syntax, spelling, etc, please tell me! I want to improve my writing skills.
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7. Akira Kurosawa owns the original 1954 movie Seven Samurai, while the anime studio Gonzo made the anime.
Notes (taken from Wikipedia):
Ryo - A gold piece in pre-Meiji Japan.
Mon - Japanese currency from 1336 to 1870 in the Muromachi period.
4000 Mon = 16 Shu = 4 Bu = 1 Ryo
Chapter One: Out of Jail and into the Team!
"Alright, Akinari, you're out of here," said the guard.
"My month is already up? Cool," I said, as I stood up and stretched. "Well," I turned to my cellmate, who was beat up in the corner," I guess this is 'good-bye!' I'll probably be back in jail sometime soon, though." The poor man flinched at that, and I snickered.
"Akinari, enough," said the guard," Though it was entertaining, I don't want you giving anyone nightmares." The guard gave me back my weapons and wallet, the only items I had on me when I was arrested a month ago. I checked my wallet immediately. Dammit! Not again!
"Hey, wait, where's my money?!" I doubled checked my wallet, making sure I wasn't just seeing things," I swear I had 3 Ryo and 4 Mon in here!"
The guard looked to the side awkwardly.
"Oh, about that... Sorry, but we got hungry last week."
Thar must've been some expensive food to use MY money. I earned that shit! They have no idea how hard I had to work for it! I was saving that money for a new dagger, too.
"If only attacking you wouldn't put me back in jail..." I scowled, and I walked out of the jailhouse. I knew my way around the facility, so I had no trouble getting out. And for the record, the only reason why I've been to jail for so many (I think 540? 545?) times, is because I was stupid. Well, I'm still stupid now, but at least I'm not practically living in jail now. Practice makes perfect, after all!
"Oh, wow! Is that kid really gonna shoot?!"
"I just GOT to see this!"
I heard a commotion from up ahead. Walking towards the crowd, I saw my 2 good friends: Kikuchiyo the cyborg, and Masamune the blacksmith.
"Hey, guys!" I waved to them, and stood next to the cart Kiku was in," What's going on?"
"Oh! Hey, Aki!," greeted Kiku, " Looks like you're out of jail! Anyway, see that kid with the bow and arrow?"
"Yeah. What about him?"
"That kid is Katsushiro. He and that weirdo over there made a bet. If Katsu can shoot him, he wins. But if the weirdo catches it, then Katsu will owe him lunch."
"Huh. Some bet. Oh, and why are you in a cart?"
"Your idiot got damaged in a fight," said Masamune.
"Whoa, Kiku in a fight? I wish I saw that..."
"Hey! I lost an arm, you know!"
"Yeah, yeah..." I leaned against the side of the cart, watching the scene unfold in front of me. The dark skinned man taunted the young boy. When the man suddenly spoke, the kid fired the arrow, and the man caught it, right when it nicked him.
"He went and did it," said Kiku.
"Yeah..." Masamune and I both stared in awe.
Then, the man put the arrow down, and seemed to be in ecstasy from the pain.
"He up and shot him!" stated Kiku.
"This is why I can't stand samurai..." I heard Masamune mutter.
Katsushiro put the bow back in its place with the other weapons I saw behind the strange man, then walked towards us.
"Hey, kid," said Kiku," Good shot! Anyway, meet my friend, Akinari!"
I waved to the kid.
"Hello! You're... Katsushiro, right? Nice show, man!"
"Uh... Thanks..." Katsushiro then noticed my katana. "Are you a samurai?"
"I was trained to be one, but I never followed through," I said," but I still practice my swordsmanship."
"I see..."
"Hey, Aki!" said Kikuchiyo," Want to come along with us?"
I shrugged.
"Sure. Where to?"
As we walked down the streets, Kiku told me about the recent events I missed. Katsushiro didn't talk much; he seemed to be moping about something.
"Huh, so some villagers from Kanna is going around asking for some samurai to help defeat the Nobuseri?"
"Yep!"
"And so far, you two are the only ones who've agreed?"
"Yeah, but there's this one other guy that they wanted to get, but so far, he's a no go."
"And you're asking me to come along?"
"Well, yeah! I mean the more the merrier, right?" laughed Kiku.
I slapped his mechanical head.
"Why should I get myself killed fighting Nobuseri?!"
I already fought big ass mechas once!
"You'll be away from here, so you won't be in jail." I was about to make a retort, but I stopped myself, knowing that there was nothing I could say. Kiku did have a point. "Well, you joining or what?"
I sighed. "Well, at least it's better than jail..."
"Atta boy, Aki!" Kiku laughed boisterously.
"Thank the heavens... Now I don't have to pay for your fines..." I heard Masamune say.
"I heard that, old man!"
Soon, the four of us arrived at some residential complex. It was the former jail house, but now it's open for anyone who wants to live there. Katsushiro walked into one of the rooms. I heard 2 female voices, and Katsushiro said someone's name.
"What?!" yelled Kiku," Did you say Kambei?!" I saw a dark man in white look over at us. "Hey, you dirty samurai! What the hell are you doing there?!"
The mystery man walked over to Kiku, saying," So it's you."
"The Nobuseri will be cut down by me!" yelled Kiku," Me! Me! You get lost!"
The man simply replied," Take good care of that fighting spirit." As Kiku made a ruckus, the man calmly walked back in the room.
Back inside, I introduced myself to everyone. I saw that besides the man clad in white, there were 3 people wearing similar clothing. They must be from Kanna Village, like Kiku had informed me about earlier.
"Hello, sorry for intruding! My name is Akinari. I heard from Kikuchiyo that you folks were looking for samurai to help in your Nobuseri problem. I'm wondering if I could tag along and help, too? Since Kiku's so set on joining you guys, I might as well come along in case the idiot malfunctions or something. And even if the big lug can't come, I still would like to join you in your cause."
A girl smiled, and said," Of course! Thank you, great samurai, Akinari! My name is Kirara, by the way."
"I'm Komachi!" said the little girl.
"And I'm Rikichi," said the man," We're very grateful that you've decided to join us, though the only thing we can offer as a reward is rice, great samurai..."
"Don't worry about the reward," I said, smiling," and please, you don't have to address me with such formalities. As long as I can get out of this city eventually, then it's all good."
"Why?" asked Komachi," ...Are you a bad man?"
"I'd like to be seen as a good person, but there's always a couple of people who want me dead." I turned to the man in white. "So, you're Kambei?"
"Yes, I am."
I studied him for a bit, then smirked. "Well, it looks like you're the boss man. Plus, if you can get Kiku this mad, then I guess you're a good guy!"
"Hey!"
"Oh, shut it, Kiku! Now c'mon! I'm gonna help repair you, again."
As I helped Masamune repair Kikuchiyo, the rest of the group spoke about something. Suddenly, Kiku reacted to what Katsushiro had said, breaking down the strong wooden bars. I face palmed.
"That won't do it, Katsu!" he yelled.
"Y-You broke it!" yelled Komachi, in Rikichi's lap.
"Hold it, Ki-!"
"I won't rest until I've had a word with this dirty samurai!"
I listened to Kiku's speech, though I wasn't really paying attention for much of it. Well, in the end, the samurai Kambei had agreed to aid the villagers. Kiku settled down, and then Masamune and I could finally finish up on repairing the big guy. He was finally all right to go when Masamune poured some oil on his now attached arm. I listened intently to the conversation, but remained quiet.
"Both Katsushiro, Kiku, and Akinari are samurai that are coming to the village," said Komachi," You shouldn't be arguing."
"No," said Kambei, "We're not taking Katsushiro nor Kikuchiyo to the village."
Katsushiro looked dejected, and Kiku merely said," You're not what?! Why does Akinari get to go?!"
Yeah, why do I still get to go? I don't really consider myself to be a samurai.
"What we need are samurai," said Kambei," and I can tell from Akinari that he has fought in many battles. Am I correct?"
He's better than I thought.
"Yes. You're correct," I said, as Katsushiro looked at me," I fought in the Great War along side my master and a friend."
"You fought in the Great War?" asked Katsushiro, surprised. "How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-eight. The only reason I look younger than I am is that I have a bit of a baby face."
Well, that wasn't the whole truth, but it was what I could give them for now. Silence fell briefly, before Kiku said that he was going to sleep. Kambei continued the conversation from earlier, about the enemy and what we should do.
"You say the main force of the Nobuseri consists of 40 units..."
"Yes, about," said Rikichi.
"Benigumo and Raiden models," continued Kambei," Sounds like reinforcing our arms will be unavoidable. War isn't something you can fight without living people. Now then, I'd like to have 8 of us, including Akinari and myself."
"Eight..." said Kirara.
"The Elder said we'd need four."
"We can't take Kiku?" asked Komachi.
"We can't go against the great samurai," said Rikichi.
"If that's what master Kambei says, " stated Kirara," then we don't have a choice." The girl stood up, and I saw Katsushiro tremble in frustration. "With that settled, let's go into the city. We must find the remaining 6."
"Water Priestess," said Rikichi, "If you would, please stay here."
"Why?"
"Those men from earlier might come after you again..."
"That's right!" exclaimed Komachi,"The city turned out to be a much, much more scary place that we thought. It's no place to go sightseeing."
"But we can't protect the village by being afraid all the time," said Kirara.
"Yeah, but..."
"Be cautious," said Kambei.
"I know."
"Hey, Missy," said Masamune," I know the perfect samurai crazy enough to join you guys."
Oh damn. He can't be talking about him.
"Who?" asked Kirara.
I sighed and scratched the back of my head.
"The man the four of us saw on our way here," I said. "He's a street performer, but he's pretty good. Weird, but good. Katsushiro fired an arrow at the guy, and he caught it. I think he's still around the street."
"What's his name?" asked Kambei.
"Katayama, Gorobei, I think," replied Masamune.
"Hmm... Will you go get him to come here?"
"Of course. I'll be right back."
With that, the mechanic left. Kirara then started to cook some rice as Komachi was on the look out for Masamune to come back with the street performer.
"Gre- I mean, Akinari-san, would you like some rice?" asked Kirara.
"No thank you. I'm good."
In a couple of minutes, Komachi ran back in, saying that the mechanic was back with Gorobei. Then, Kambei picked up a stick and tossed it to Katsushiro. He told the kid to hide by the entrance of the room and hit the street performer as hard as he can. Though Katsushiro seemed hesitant, he complied.
"If you would come through here..." we heard Masamune say.
It was a tense moment. The dark skinned man with white hair slowly walked in, but he stopped, just before Katsushiro would strike.
"You must be kidding me," said the man.
"Well done!" said Kambei, satisfied.
When the man sat down with us, Kirara placed a bowl of rice and chopsticks in front of him. We explained the situation to him, and what may happen if he joined us. Gorobei agreed, but not out of pity or for the reward of having meals, but to be able to fight alongside Kambei on the battlefield, after seeing him apprehend a robber some time earlier.
Huh. So Kambei's the one who scared my cellmate before me.
"Gah... Everyone is always master Kambei this and master Kambei that!" yelled Kikuchiyo.
"Oh! You're the guy who got his head cut off!"
"Shut it!"
Suddenly, something flew into the room, aimed for Kambei. Gorobei quickly caught the item, which turned out to be some metallic rod or needle. He said that he knew danger is near because of the scent of blood lust.
'The scent of the enemy,' I thought, briefly remembering my master's words.
Then, two more metallic rods flew in. Kambei sliced one down as Gorobei got the other.
"Katsushiro, protect the others!" commanded the white swordsman.
Gorobei and Kambei then ran out. I wanted to stay and help protect the others, but then Kikuchiyo ran out as well.
"Kiku! Get back here!" I yelled, running after him.
'Please,' I thought,' Don't make me draw my sword.'
Outside, I noticed our attackers. A creep with pink hair, and what I think is a cyborg. Gorobei quickly got up to the upper floor, the two enemies in front of him.
"Looks like you've caught Ayamaro's attention," I heard Masamune say.
Was I hearing things?
"Ayamaro?" asked Katsushiro.
Damn. I wasn't hearing things. I saw that guy once when my katana was stolen by a bodyguard of his, and man, he has a face that no one would love.
As Masamune explained who Ayamaro was to the group, I looked up at the 3 people (er... 2 and 1 cyborg). Gorobei made a bet with the enemy. If he's dead, they can kill us all. If he's alive and able to catch all the metal rods, then the enemy must let us all go. Kikuchiyo was complaining whether or not we should let the strange man go along with the bet, but we did anyways.
Gorobei tried to make a compromise, but pinkie shot 3 rods at him. As all 3 were caught with ease, 2 more were fired, and were caught as well. The enemy cyborg then leaped up into the air, attacking Gorobei. Kiku, wanting to help, used his large sword to knock down the pillar.
"Whoa! Kiku!" I yelled," This place is friggin' old! Everything is gonna collapse!"
"Uh-oh..."
End of Chapter One
A/N: Just so you know, updates are random.