I hold no claim to any of the original characters!
Chapter One
The Master
"This place is…wrong."
"It truly was not what I had been expecting."
"Does that mean we can leave and go back home now?"
"No, it doesn't."
Aina Hara gave a sigh as she listened to her brother and sister argue. The trio stood in the streets of the Merchant city Kougakyo, taking in the feel of the new place. She was silent, but she had to agree with her sister. The city hadn't been what she was expecting. So many homeless people. So many moneyless, starving people. It didn't hold the feeling of happiness and joy like they had been told. If someone was pleased with living here, then they had a problem that someone needed to take care of; and fast.
The Hara trio paused at the side of the street, taking the moment to decide what they should do next. Akahana was the eldest of the triplets at their age of 26. At 5'9' in height, she wore her short, black hair in a jagged cut just above her shoulders, her green eyes sharp as they moved across the crowd before them. In her black boots and pants, her top was blue with silver strands moving up from the edges and whirling around her body. A pair of swords were hooked to her belt to her left hip and hidden beneath the cloak she wore.
Aina was the second of the three, leaving her black hair long and her green eyes softer than her sister's. At 5'7', Aina wore matching pants and boots, but only one sword as her top was a pale gold and red. She swore a cloak as well, hiding her own blade.
Aito was the only boy of the three, and the youngest of the triplets. He was taller than his sisters, at 6'1' with short black hair and green eyes, and was dressed in brown pants with a faded green and black shirt. He wore a sword on his right hip, but no cloak.
Normally, the sisters wouldn't hide their blades but they had been warned that women were not fighters here in the city by several others and had taken to hiding the blades; for now.
"Do you think that there's another city we could go to?" Aito asked. "You know, one…cooler?"
"Cooler?" Akahana glared through the moving strand of people.
"Yeah."
"I think this is what we'll find anywhere," Aina told him. "The tales we heard of flourishing cities and peace is apparently not true."
"That's just what they are. Stories." Akahana crossed her arms. "Especially after the war."
"Yeah, well, one can hope, right?"
"Yeah, but that seems to be all that the three of us can as of late."
The Hana Trio were not from around here. They actually came from a land up north that hadn't been involved with anything about the Great War or the Emperor. They had traveled down south due to stories that travelers had told them but what they found did not please them at all.
"So, what now?" Aito asked. "What do we do?"
"Well, we can try to find a place to rest for the night before we leave," Aina suggested. "They would have an Inn or something around here, wouldn't they?"
"You really want to sleep here?"
"Where else would we rest?"
Akahana ignored her siblings as she continued to search through the crowd. From their right, further up the street, came cries of a thief. Turning her gaze there, she found a man running their way, a brown crate-like object on his shoulders as another man chased after him. It wasn't hard to pick out who the thief was.
Aito, not liking the thought of that, went to move forward but another had moved first, knocking the rice to the ground and shattering the crate.
The man was young, early twenties if not late teens, with long greenish hair in a ponytail and green eyes as he was dressed in multicolored clothes with a sword on his hip. A Samurai, it seemed.
The man that had been running after the thief gave a bow to the young man before beginning to pick up the rice as a set of girls, a teen and a child, joined him. The triplets stood there, watched as the child began to cry, worried over the thought of the rice being taken from them and that they would be left with nothing.
Aito was the first to move of the three. He bent down in front of the child, a small smile on his face. "Hey, you wanna see something cool?"
The crying child looked up at him. "Something cool?"
"Yeah, Watch this."
All four of them paused as Aito moved to the middle of the fallen rice. Others in the street paused as well and watched as the man pulled two fingers of each hand up to his temples, spreading his feet apart. A strange language then began to flow from his mouth as a bright, green light began to swirl around his feet. As his legs began to move, shifting the wind with it. The wind sucked the rice up off of the ground and everyone watched as it separated the rice from the dirt before dropping it back into the bags before them.
"Wow!" the young girl cried out, applauding as Aito gave her a small bow. "That was amazing! How did you do that?!"
"Your movements," The boy said. "They're like a dance."
"Yeah, you can say that," Aito scratched the back of his head.
"Our fighting styles are…quite different than anything else we have seen here over the last few days," Aina told them.
"Where are you from?" The older girl asked.
"Not from around here." Akahana said, giving her sister a stern look.
"What's your name?" Aina asked the samurai.
"Me?" He blinked. "My name is Okamodo Katsushiro. Yours?"
"I'm Aina Hara. This is my older sister Akahana and our younger brother Aito."
"Are you new here to Kougakyo?" Katsushiro asked them.
"Yes," Aina answered him. "We're looking for an Inn for the night so we can rest. Do you know of one?"
"It's actually not too far from here, if you want to follow me there."
Aina glanced at her sister. Akahana gave a sigh. "That would be fine." The younger woman nodded.
"Then shall we?"
"Thanks. We really do owe you," The man, Rikichi, told them as the seven moved down the street together now.
"Let me give you one word of warning," Katsushiro began. "You shouldn't go walking around here with your food on display."
"Right."
"Now, be sure to watch yourselves. Now then…" He went to walk off but Rikichi paused him.
"Please wait, Samurai!"
Katsuhiro turned to him. "Something else?"
"U-um,"
"No, not this one." Kirara cut him off. "Neither of them."
Akahana gave a frown. Something about this teenage girl rubbed her the wrong way. They were going to have part ways soon, or she was going to loosen her tongue. "Let's go, guys." She turned and followed after Katsuhiro.
The teen turned back to her, apparently interested in talking and learning more about the trio and their…tactics. Akahana stayed silent as the younger two transverse with the new samurai. She knew that she could trust her siblings with keeping their mouths closed on their information. She didn't get involved, keeping her eyes set on the ones around them when cries of a break-in began to pass through the streets as the horde all ran to look.
Katsuhiro ran forward to be the first to help, the triplets staying back to watch what would happen. A man had snuck into a building and got caught. He grabbed a baby as a defense and was now holding it hostage against the city people, ordering that the authorities were not to be alerted.
"And it's just the one man?" Katsushiro asked.
"Yes and he's still in there."
"All right, I'll do what I can."
"Why even bother?" Akahana asked, crossing her arms as they continued to watch. "The others here wouldn't do the same. Half of them are lowlifes. Why do you even think these people are in this mess?"
"Akahana," Aina glanced at her sister. "You're so mean."
"Heh."
"She just needs to get laid." Aito replied. "That'll cheer her up real quick."
"But, brother, we're all virgins."
Aito pulled a sad face and hung his head as he relied in a sad, whiny voice-"I know."
"Hold on there, boy!" a deep voice called out, bringing everyone's attention to the large man in armor with the sword on his shoulder as he stepped out of the crowd. "You're going to need some muscle in a battle like this! I'll help you out."
"And things just got worse." Aito was the one to sigh this time, though all three of them feared the outcome of this event.
Katsushiro tried to refuse the newcomer's help but the large man just insisted…before chopping the building straight down the middle and revealing the man inside with the baby.
"Standoff's over," The new man said loudly. "Hand me the kid."
"Wait," The man looked scared. "You're a samurai, aren't you?"
"Of course I am! Now why did you go off causing all this trouble?"
"If you were really a Samurai, you'd know that answer. I haven't seen food in a week. I've been on the streets since the war."
Aina pulled a sad face as he began to cry. "What all happened in the war, Akahana?"
"After the Samurai were defeated and the Emperor took control, it's not hard to believe that the Samurai are now seen as the enemy in this day and age. No one hires them for anything anymore."
"Then why not just stop being Samurai?" Aito asked.
"It's not that simple, Aito." Akahana sighed. "It's not a job. It's a way of life."
Before she could continue, the rogue samurai had opened his shirt, revealing dynamite and lighting a flare. The townspeople ran away, leaving just a few close to the crazed man.
"What's wrong, samurai? If you want to save the kid, then strike me now!" Akahana exchanged a look with Aina. She gave a silent nod before slipping behind her and her brother, taking the same stance that Aito had taken when he gathered all the rice together. "Stay away! I'm not bluffing! Stay away! Maybe you're afraid to die, but I'm not!"
"W-what kind of nonsense are you talking about?" The man in armor cried. "There's no battle to be had here! You're just someone that broke in!"
"It's high-time I found you, Samurai." A deep voice called out from the crowd.
Akahana's eyes slid in that direction to find a cloaked man in white moving towards the one in red armor. "You don't recognize me. I'm not surprised." He pulled his hood back to reveal long brown hair and matching eyes. "Have you forgotten my face? My name is Zaemon Yoshichika, the Peaceable. For many years, I have sought to avenge my parents. How fortunate for me that I should happen to meet you here. As my foe, prepare yourself to come forward to cross me and my blade!" He grabbed the blade at his side.
"Hey, hold on!" The large man cried out.
"I haven't forgotten your colossal form, or your unusual helmet. There is no mistake; you are my sworn enemy, Tsukumozaka Jurobei Mitsuharu!"
"Wait!" Was the only word the large man got out before his head went flying off, his mountainous form still standing. That was odd.
Akahana felt the cold feel of water on her neck and glanced to the side to see a blue light, much like Aito's green, float past her. It made its way, carefully, to the flare and doused the flame so the dynamite could not be lit. She gave a secret smile to her sister.
"Forgive me," The man in white stepped towards the man with the baby. "I don't mean to intrude." The man tried to light the flare again, but Aina's water kept it out, giving the man in white time to quickly dispose of the fool and give the child back to his family.
"Samurai, thank you very much!" The owner cried. "If you would like, may I buy you a drink to thank you?"
"No, there is no need for thanks. He was just a troublemaker. You never asked me to get involved, I'm just a nosy man."
"Yeah, we can tell." Akahana frowned, crossing her arms. At her voice, the man's eyes slid over to look at her. She found herself caught in a staring match with the man for a few moments before it was cut off by another.
"Hey, wait!"
That large man again. Akahana was surprised. How could he be alive still with his head…
"A robot?" she asked aloud.
"It seems so." Aito nodded his head, crossing his own arms.
"That hurt, you bastard! How dare you use me to get to that thief! Maybe we should be sworn enemies!" the crowd seemed to be caught in shock,
"You say you're a Samurai," The man in white replied. "I have my doubts."
"Why?!"
"You carry a sword, yet you hesitate." He continued to move on.
"Don't walk away from me! We're not finished yet!"
"Well, it's not like there's anything that you can really do at this point in time," Aina decided to say as she moved forward and picked up his…helmet/head.
"What are you doing, Aina?" Aito asked his sister.
"Well, we can't just leave him like this. It would be unkind. We have to fix him."
"Aww, do we have to? We have enough problems as it is."
Akahana gave a sigh as her siblings continued to argue over what to do with the robot man. She found her gaze following after the man in white in time to see that trio from before following after him as well.
~Something tells me,~ She began. ~That we're going to be seeing all four of them again. And soon.~
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