Takumi let out a yawn as he watched the battle unfold in front of him.
He recently reached the age where he now required a retainer, whether the prince wanted one or not. To decide a retainer Yukimura had organized a small tournament, pitting many of Hoshido's best against one another to find a warrior worthy of serving the young Hoshidan prince (all the weapons were dulled for safety reasons of course).
Right now he was watching the second semifinal match, a samurai was easily defeating the archer he was fighting and laughed as he struck the finishing blow. He concluded his victory by kicking his downed opponent in the head. Takumi simply shook his head as Yukimura sat beside him and clapped.
"This one will be a good fit for you Takumi." Said Yukimura. "His sword skills are almost on par with Ryouma's."
Takumi narrowed his eyes as the loser limped away from the samurai.
"Yes but the way he laughs as he finishes off his opponent...then kicks them when they've already lost" began Takumi "That is not how I want my retainer to act."
"Well maybe he'll loose in the final match." Said Yukimura. "And if not, at least he'll be more than capable of defending you."
Takumi rolled his eyes. None of the warriors he'd seen had caught his interest.
"Bring out the final opponent!" Shouted Yukimura.
The samurai smirked as his final opponent arrived. He was a spear fighter, clad in blue holding a steel nagitama. His face was hidden underneath a helmet. Takumi raised an eyebrow.
"This one wasn't in any of the previous fights." Said Takumi
Another soldier made his way over to Yukimura and whispered something into his ear.
"Oh, well it seems this one arrived late and the previous winner gave up his spot for them." Said Yukimura. "Very unprofessional if you ask me. If you wish I can have this undon-"
"No." Said Takumi. "I wasn't fond of the other semifinalist anyways. Lets see how this one does."
Yukimura nodded and looked at the two warriors.
"This is the final match!" Said Yukimura. "Whoever proves their self will be Lord Takumi's retainer!"
The samurai smirked cockily, the spear fighter seemingly unfazed.
"BEGIN!"
The samurai lunged forwards and struck with several blows. The spear fighter dodged each and counterattacked, narrowly missing the samurai. The samurai swung, his attack parried by the steel nagitama. The spear fighter took the opportunity to slash them across the breastplate, leaving a large scratch on it.
"Hm, he fights well." Said Takumi.
The samurai dodged the spear fighter's next attack and struck their side with a flurry of blows, sending them to their knees. If the samurai's sword hadn't been dulled for safety reasons; the Spear fighter would have been hurt badly.
"But not strong enough it seems." Said Yukimura with a smile.
The samurai smiled and walked towards Takumi's seat, not noticing the spear fighter get back to his feet and utter his first words since his arrival.
"I'm not done with you."
The fighter took off its helmet and threw it at the Samurai, who immediately spun around and knocked it away.
With the helmet gone all three of them could see the Spear fighter's true identity. First of all it was not a man, the nagitama user was in fact a woman. She had longer blue hair done up in a ponytail and a smug grin on her face. The samurai glared at her while Yukimura sighed.
"I should have known." He muttered.
"Known what?" Asked Takumi. "Do you know this girl?"
"The Nagitama user." Said Yukimura. "Her name is Oboro. Shes a handful."
"A handful?" Asked Takumi.
The samurai ran at Oboro, bringing his sword down to attack. She blocked it with the middle of her Nagitama and pushed him back before thrusting her weapon at him repeatedky. The samurai blocked every attack.
"Shes the niece of one of my subordinates." Said Yukimura. "She is one of our best Nagitama fighters, and her hatred of Nohr rivals even yours."
Before she had Takumi's attention, now she had his interest.
"Then what makes her a handful?" Asked Takumi.
"She doesn't listen to her superiors." Said Yukimura. "She rejects orders that don't fit her interests, and don't get me started on the number of times shes left her post."
The samurai hit Oboro across the head, knocking her down once more. He walked over to Oboro and pointed his sword at her throat.
"Looks like its over." Said Yukimura.
Suddenly Oboro slapped the katana away and swept the samurai's legs out from under him with her Nagitama. The spear fighter quickly got to her feet, placed one foot on the Samurai's throat, pinning him to the ground and imbedded the blade of her weapon into the ground by the samurai's head.
"Do you surrender?" Asked Oboro.
The samurai nodded furiously.
"Good."
She pulled out her spear and walked away from the samurai, kicking his sword away as she did so.
"Impressive." Said Takumi with a small smile on his face.
Yukimura frowned.
"Lord Takumi she will not make a good retainer." Said Yukimura. "She'll run off to do her own thing the moment she gets bored."
"This tournament of yours was voluntary." Said Takumi. "If she didn't want to be my retainer then why would she be-
"AH!"
The two looked back at Oboro as her Nagitama fell to the ground. A shuriken was embedded into her hand and the samurai had gotten to his feet and picked up his sword.
"Yukimura that shuriken was real!" Said Takumi. "The weapons are supposed to be dulled!"
"They were, but that technique was most clever." Said Yukimura.
The samurai ran at Oboro and tackled her to the ground, putting his dull sword to her neck.
"Do you surrender?"
"I'd rather die than surrender to you!" Replied Oboro
The samurai pushed his blade forward, "cutting" her throat.
"I win." Said the Samurai.
The samurai got to his feet and walked over to Yukimura and Takumi.
"Lord Takumi, I am ready to serve you." Said the Samurai.
He knelt down held out his sword.
"I swear upon my sword to protect you with my very life if-"
Takumi got up and walked past the samurai, towards Oboro.
The blue haired girl looked at the prince, surprised as he held out his hand to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
Oboro took his hand and nodded.
He helped her to her feet and looked at the shuriken in her hand.
"We should get that looked at immediately." Said Takumi.
Yukimura and the samurai approached Takumi.
"Takumi, its not polite to ignore your retainer as he pledges himself to-"
"I'm not allowing that snake to be my retainer." Said Takumi.
Everyone gasped as Takumi spoke.
"But why-"
Takumi pointed at Oboro's wound.
"He violated the rules, injured Oboro intentionally with a real shuriken, and his overall attitude displeases me."
Takumi looked at Oboro.
"You though, You interest me."
"I... Interest you?" Asked Oboro.
"I hear you're a bit of a rebel." Said Takumi. "Why would someone who defies orders from their commander wish to pledge themself to a nobel?"
"Maybe I needed the right leader." Said Oboro. "Truth is, I've wanted to be your retainer for awhile now."
"And why would you pick me over someone like my big sister or Ryouma?"
"Because we both lost something at the hands of Nohr."
Takumi's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?"
"Your father was killed by the Nohrians, and your brother was taken by them." Said Oboro. "I lost both my parents to Nohr raiders."
Oboro got onto her knees and bowed in front of Takumi.
"You know what I've been through, and I think I know what you've been through too." Said Oboro "I want to fight by your side Lord Takumi, I wish to be your blade."
Takumi looked down at Oboro as Yukimura crossed his arms.
"Then I accept you as my retainer."
The samurai stormed over to Takumi full of anger.
"What about me!?" Shouted the Samurai "I won-"
"By cheating." Said Takumi. "And I won't allow cheaters in this army."
He grabbed the samurai's sword and handed it to Yukimura.
"I hereby discharge you from the Hoshidan military."
"Y-You can't be serious." Said Yukimura. "He's our finest swordsman"
"No he's not, my brother is." Said Takumi. "And if he were here right now he'd do the same."
Takumi grabbed Oboro's arm and led her away as the samurai looked at Yukimura.
"I-I'm not actually discharged am I?"
"... These orders came from the prince himself." Said Yukimura. "I'm sorry but this is beyond my control."
Yukimra started to walk away, stopping once to make one last remark.
"He's not wrong though." Said Yukimura. "Ryouma would have said the same thing."
Takumi took Oboro into the medical tent to bandage her wounds.
Takumi finished bandaging Oboro's hand and smirked as he admired his handiwork.
"There, that should do it." Said Takumi.
"Thank you Lord Takumi." Said Oboro.
"So you wanted to be my retainer for awhile." Said Takumi.
"There is nobody I'd rather serve." She said with a light blush.
"Well I hope you'll take good care of me." Said Takumi.
"You won't regret choosing me." Said Oboro. "Point me at the enemy and I'll cut them all down."
Takumi smiled at his new companion.
"I think we're going to get along just fine." Said Takumi.