He was going to be late again. Rikimaru lived in the hidden city of Takamesh, he was training to be a warrior for Lord Kamoto of the Shamishu clan. He had been taking hand-to-hand combat lessons for a season now, and he was going to be late for the ninth time.
"Rikimaru!" his teacher yelled as he came in sight, "you have been late nearly every week of your training, now you will receive your punishment!"
"Yes, sir." He mumbled. For the remaining eleven hours of daylight Rikimaru cleaned the toilets and scrubbed the floors of the dojo.
At the end of the day Rikimaru reported to his teacher Fujiwara and recited the rules of the dojo. No food, no unsanctioned fighting, no peeing with the seat down, and, most importantly, no lateness.
After his meeting with Fujiwara, Rikimaru returned home and ate the meager meal the dojo master provided, (for he had no money or job to buy his own).
Rikimaru lived alone in a small, one-room house, three identical houses away from the dojo. In his house he had a cheap bamboo chair, a small wooden desk, and a floor mat to sleep on. Along one wall were small hooks used for hanging his clothes, the other walls were bare.
As Rikimaru lay down to sleep a knock came at the door, walking towards the door he stopped at his desk, opened it, and pulled out his old, weathered short sword. He removed the sheath and dropped it to the floor. Slowly opening the door he raised his sword. As the door came open he was expecting a thief or bandit, but instead standing there was his good friend Kinta.
"Should I come back later?" she asked when she saw the sword.
"Oh, no. Sorry I thought you were a burglar," he responded, "what is it?"
"Could I borrow your bed sheet tonight, mine was stolen while I was training." Kinta was an assassin in training, she had been training secretly with a well known assassin named Shintaro, for it was unheard of for a woman to fight. But Rikimaru found it as one of her interesting traits and didn't mind.
"Sure," he said as he retrieved it, "but could you bring it back tomorrow, I might need it."
"Of course." She said, and lightly walked away. Rikimaru watched her as she walked out of sight, he didn't like to admit it but he was infatuated with her. She was not only beautiful, but she was different from the other girls, she was strong, smart, and disagreed with the regular social rules of the world.
But he couldn't think about her now, he had to sleep, for tomorrow was his last day in training, he would receive his short bow and katana, (he had extensive training with both of these), and most importantly he would receive a blessing from his master.
As he closed his eyes his head whirled with activity, he knew his life was going to change, the thing he didn't know was how much.