A/N: Title is subject to change. If I find a different title that suits this, I will change it. Thanks! C:
Enjoy! ~
oOo
He dropped a few golden coins beside the sleeping form of the woman on the futon. He had woken a little earlier than usual that morning to dress himself, to spare the possibility of awkward light talk. He hated that. He enjoyed their company, but he sneered at their level of intelligence. They were such simple creatures. Maybe he envied them.
He shook his head. No way was that possible. He was a renegade. He was a mercenary. He was free to sojourn throughout the land. And he got paid quite well for his work. They should envy him. He had it easy.
He grabbed his bayonetted musket that he had carefully leaned against one of the walls before he and the woman got intimate the night before. As he neared the mat to leave the hut, he stopped and looked back at the woman. She was lying on her stomach, her head facing the entrance, hair curling down the side of her flushed countenance.
She looked so tired. She looked so peaceful. He didn't even remember her name, but he recalled her soft hands, her whispery voice, her sweet lips. He smiled.
He didn't hate them. He could never hate women or think ill of them. Besides, conversations with him were never awkward. He just didn't want to disturb her; afterall, he was a gentleman. And he had to be on his way, anyway. He had a meeting with a dear friend that he refused to be tardy to.
He exited the hut, sun shining so brightly he had to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the rays. What a beautiful day! He strolled down the street, flashing handsome grins to every young lady that crossed his path. They swooned after him. He was gorgeous and everyone knew it.
The tea house he had promised to be at was just ahead and he could already see his friend's horse tied up. He could just imagine what his friend could possibly want from him. He required his services, no doubt. It didn't matter. Whatever he wanted, he would get! It was a beautiful day in the quaint little village! And nothing could dampen his mood.
He strutted into the tea house, and his swagger immediately caught the attention of every occupant. The women fawned over him as he passed by and the men grumbled with jealousy or chirped excitedly with admiration.
These looks and comments did not go unnoticed by the man as he offered a charming smile here and there, "Magoichi, over here!" He turned to the sound of his name and immediately spotted his friend.
"Ah, Hideyoshi!"
"Come, come! You, bring a round of sake for my friend here!" Magoichi approached the table as Hideyoshi stood. The two exchanged a unique handshake, chuckled and sat. Magoichi gracefully plopped down, legs crossed, musket across his lap.
"So, what do you want from me this time, Hideyoshi?" A woman garbed in a plain cream furisode shuffled her way toward their table with a tray and knelt down to set it on the surface, eyes downcast. Just as she was straightening up to leave, the man gently gripped her wrist and gazed up into her eyes. She gasped in surprise, meeting his gaze, "Thank you.." Magoichi dazzled her with a smile and her cheeks reddened considerably, "You have the most loveliest eyes I have ever seen."
"T-thank you, sir." She stuttered, clearly unaccustomed to having her clients flirt with her so shamelessly. His hand lingered on hers for a moment longer before he pulled away, reaching into a brown leather pouch.
"How much for the sake?" The girl looked over her shoulder, in the direction of a noisy kitchen. When she was sure she wasn't being watched, she turned back to look at Magoichi.
"It's on me."
"Oh, no, I insist!"
"No, no, it's okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." The girl gave him a shy smile, to which Magoichi returned with a grateful one of his own.
"Extraordinary must come to the minds of all that think of you," Magoichi sighed contently, "Thank you for your generosity."
"It's no problem." She gave him one more smile, transferred the sake from the tray to the table, snatching the tray off the surface and scuttled away. Magoichi turned to look at his friend, who wore almost a pained look on his face.
"Are you—" He began, but was interrupted by laughter. Magoichi arched a brow at Hideyoshi.
"Magoichi, you're a sly dog!"
"What can I say? The ladies love me."
"I cannot believe you conned her into giving us free drinks. I have money, you know."
"Money isn't the issue. I just wanted to reaffirm my ability to charm people."
"Charm? Please," Hideyoshi scoffed, draining his cup of sake, "You coax them into your manipulative web of lies, Magoichi. You're nothing but a swindler."
"Well when you phrase it like that, Hideyoshi, of course it's gonna sound bad!" Hideyoshi laughed.
"Magoichi, it's been far too long."
"Agreed." He mimicked the actions fo his friend and emptied the contents of his cup, holding it up as Hideyoshi was in the process of refilling his own, "So.. did you miss me or is there something you want?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you were interested in a job."
"What sort of job?" Magoichi eyed the man across the table.
"Oh, it's nothing big. Just transporting goods. We don't want any of it being lost to ruffians, you know."
"Seems awful tedious to be askin' me to oversee the journey, Hideyoshi.. what's the catch?"
"Catch? Why must there be a catch?"
"It's too easy of a job to not have a catch. If it was nothing big, you'd bug peasants to help with security detail."
"All right, all right.. but you have to keep your mouth shut about this, you hear?" Magoichi narrowed his eyes. Hideyoshi ignored the look and leaned over the table. Magoichi did the same, "We got our hands on this shard and Nobunaga-sama wants it delivered to him at once, no interferences."
"Wait a minute.. you want me to babysit jewelry for Nobunaga? Sorry, Hideyoshi, but I've got—"
"I'm not done, Magoichi!" Hideyoshi began, impatiently, "It's not just any shard. This is a shard from the legendary Shikon no Tama. It's supposed to be very powerful, and whoever possesses a shard is said to gain unnatural puissance."
"Are you even sure it's a shard for the Shikon no Tama?"
"We're almost positive."
"Does anybody else know you guys got your grubby hands on one of these things?"
"Well, we're really trying to keep this as classified as possible." Magoichi detected the sarcasm.
"Hm.. sorcery." He frowned, distastefully, "I don't like the sounds of it."
"I know, neither do I. A lot of people are going crazy over this jewel, Magoichi."
"All you want me to do is make sure it gets to Nobunaga then? A shard that may or may not be worth the trouble it's going to cause?"
"That's the gist of it. He's willing to pay a great sum of money."
"All right.." Magoichi sighed, "I'll do it."
