Well, here's another chapter of this poor fic that nobody reads. If you stumble on this by accident, I wish you'd stay!
Disclaimer: If I owned S7, this would be fact, not fanfic.
Ukyo stood on a hill overlooking his destination, trying to remember if he'd been there before. Kurume, Kurume…did I go there on my tour? I don't think so…No, wait. I was supposed to stop by, but the weather was too bad. He descended to the village, wincing as a step jarred his injured arm. The bandages he had thought he'd wrapped securely turned out to be rather loose, but luckily the Tobito-inflicted wound had stopped bleeding. It still hurt, though.
Upon entering Kurume-mura, the first thing that struck him was that every house seemed to be in various stages of disrepair. How strange…none of the villages I saw on tour were like this. I wonder what happened. Someone behind him cleared their throat, and he turned to see a young woman standing there, dressed in a tight knee-length skirt and a wrap top opened to show substantial cleavage. When she spoke, it was barely above a whisper, and he had to step closer to hear her, trying hard to keep his eyes on her face.
"What are you doing here? You know there are Nobuseri about, don't you?" He nodded and indicated his arm. "I know. I killed a bunch of them a few hours out of Yubari-mura, and one of them gave me this."
The young woman smirked. Linking her arm with his uninjured one, she walked him down the street. "Oh, you must be very strong to kill Nobuseri. Are you a merchant?"
"Used to be. Now I'm just a traveler." He couldn't help but notice that she was quite pretty, with dark brown hair, strange, light green eyes, and a figure that--Stop that, he ordered his hormones. Just because you haven't had sex in half a year doesn't mean you should go lusting after anything with breasts and a pulse. Calmly, the object of his current thoughts continued, "I'm Suzuri, by the way. What's your name?" (1.)
Suddenly nervous, he stuttered something to the effect that his name was Ukyo and did they have a place for him to spend the night. Her reply was cut short by a gruff voice from a nearby house snapping, "Suzu! It's your turn to make dinner!" Undaunted, she called back, "Uncle! I found someone who can help us! His name is Ukyo!" Leading Ukyo into the house, she explained, "My uncle is the leader of this village. The Nobuseri have been hanging around here for six months. They've stolen and destroyed most of our crops—the capital won't trade with them."
Somewhat unnerved, Ukyo entered the house to be greeted by around a dozen men, women, and children surrounding an older man lying on a futon. From the door, Ukyo could see the man's leg was clearly broken. He raised his voice to be heard above the villager's chatter. "Everyone, quiet! Suzuri's found a samurai to kill the bandits for us. Please, "—he addressed Ukyo—"sit down. You must be tired from your long trip."
Ukyo did as he was asked, putting his bag and Benzaiten by his side. The old man's eyes widened as he saw the guns. "I'm sorry, but I'm not a samurai—just a man. I would gladly help you in any way I can, though." At this, a wave of murmuring broke out; Ukyo distinctly heard, "We can't afford to be picky", "But I thought we were gonna get samurai, like the ones at Kanna!", and even, "Look at his hair. Who has hair like that?" Finally, the village leader spoke up, silencing the crowd.
"Silence. We can't argue. My name is Ishiki. I am the leader of this village—but I assume my niece already told you that. We don't have any money, but we can give you whatever else you need—in exchange for you ridding us of bandits, of course." Ukyo nodded, nervously tucking his hair behind his ears.
"Um, Ishiki-sama, I have to warn you—I've never really fought before, and I don't know anything about the area. But I'll do whatever I can to help out." Ishiki smiled. "Thank you. Later, we will discuss a plan to save our village. But now, let's—" A crash and the sound of gunshots drowned out his words.
Meanwhile, in Kanna-mura, Akemi and Kirara were discussing a history book of Kirara's that Akemi was reading. Not surprisingly, Akemi was waiting for a chance to somehow work her brother into the conversation.
"You know, Kirara-chan…" Kirara tuned her out. She already knew what her friend was going to say—what Ukyo's opinion was of a certain passage in the book. Oddly enough, it didn't bore her as much as it should have. That's strange. Normally, I feign interest in whatever comes out of Akemi's mouth—but now I think I'm starting to almost look forward to her talking about Ukyo. To hear her talk, it's as though the sun rose and set on him. And then a thought occurred to her, one that made her gasp in shock. Maybe…maybe there is something about him worth admiring.
Akemi smiled, guessing what had just crossed the former water priestess' mind. Perfect. Before she could enjoy the fruits of her careful labor, a cry of frustration reached her ears.
"Aaargh! Where are you, you bitch!" The two girls looked at each other. Akemi blanched, recognizing the voice, while Kirara was filled with righteous fury. Komachi is reading next door! She shouldn't hear such language! She started out the door to give the unknown speaker a piece of her mind, but Akemi held her back by the sleeve.
"Kirara-chan, don't! I know that man. He's very dangerous. He—" A bullet pierced the wall, causing Akemi to wince at the noise. Komachi peered out from the next room. "Oneesama? What's going on?" Struggling to keep her voice calm, Kirara replied, "Nothing's wrong, Komachi. Bring Akemi-san her gun belts, alright? And stay in there." As Komachi threw Akemi her guns, Kirara glared at her. "Akemi-san, you know this person?"
Nodding, Akemi strapped her guns to her thighs, grateful that she was wearing her old clothing. The tight denim knee-length pants were much easier to fasten holsters to than the loose pants Shino had given her. "Like I said, he's an old enemy of mine, Daisuke Jigen. I beat him to win my guns, and he took it a bit personally. Never thought he'd follow me here, though."
With that, she stepped outside. The two sisters huddled by the window to get a look at the man who had announced his presence in such a rude manner. What they saw was a fairly young man with stringy black hair falling into cruel-looking eyes. He sneered, "Alright, girl. If you give back those guns, I won't harm a hair of your pretty little head. If you don't, I'll have to challenge you to a duel, and you'll certainly die."
Akemi growled, feeling her patience leave her. "'Give back'? How can I give something back to you if it was never yours in the first place? Face it, Jigen-san. The guns went to the better Houshou—me. (2.) You're just a bully with a revolver."
He fired.
"We don't have time for 'later'—the Nobuseri are here now, Ishiki-sama!" One of the village men went to pick up Ishiki, but Ukyo shook his head. "Too risky to move just yet. Everybody, stay calm!" Several of the younger children started to whimper, and were quickly shushed by their relatives. He turned to one of the nearby women. "How many Nobuseri are there?"
"One Raiden, twelve Tobito, and seven Mimizuku units." Ukyo frowned, thinking hard. I killed five Tobito already—that leaves seven. Mimizuku are going to be tough, since they're so fast, but I think I can take them with Orihime or Hikoboshi. That leaves the Raiden—Benzaiten will take care of that. "Okay, thank you. Make sure everyone stays here."
Suzuri's eyes shone with a mix of admiration and lust. "What about you, Ukyo-sama?"
He smiled coldly. "I'm going to kill Nobuseri."
Jigen missed by a mile. To be fair, he probably would have hit her had Akemi not jumped, throwing herself backwards and to the side and landing neatly on her feet before dropping into a crouch behind a wall. Dammit, I shouldn't have taunted him like that. He didn't get to be a finalist in a national tournament by being a lousy shot. Let's see, that was one…
He fired again with both revolvers, splintering the crate by her side. Akemi fired back, and he cried out as her shot hit him in the arm. He ran forward, firing as he went; Akemi jumped and spun out of the way, returning fire as his shots struck the walls of houses beyond where she had just stood. Mentally, she counted the bullets. Ten…eleven…twelve!
As he stopped to reload, she ran forward and tackled him, sitting on his chest with Tsukikage's bayonet held to his throat. Although her eyes were filled with rage, her voice was calm.
"Look, Jigen-kun. I really don't want to kill you, okay? So why don't you just give up? There are better prizes then these." Jigen's only reply was to punch her: she went flying, crashing to the ground. Inside the house, Kirara and Komachi gasped in horror as her head struck the hard-packed earth, knocking her headband off. Ouch… She looked up into Jigen's eyes, and gasped. They were the eyes of someone devoid of reason.
Those eyes…the last time I saw such eyes was when oniichan nearly died.
He gazed at her coldly. "See? A mere girl could never defeat me. Now, die." His shot thudded into the ground where her head had just lain, as she jumped out of the way, pushing her hair out of her face. Now thoroughly pissed off, she returned fire. This time, he couldn't dodge, and at such close range, she couldn't miss. He almost looked surprised as her bullet lodged under his chin, killing him instantly.
Shaken, she holstered her guns. While she had killed Nobuseri during the Battle for Kanna, those had been machines, and they had been trying to kill her. Sure, Jigen had tried to kill her as well, but…machines didn't bleed when you shot them. They didn't continue to look up at you with lifeless eyes long after death.
I…I don't think I can do this again. This…this is horrible. She dropped to her knees. Motioning to Komachi to stay inside, Kirara ran out to her, wrapping her arms around Akemi's shoulders. The other villagers, realizing that the gunshots had ceased, began to trickle out of their houses.
"Akemi-san…" Akemi shuddered convulsively, before seeming to regain her resolve. He came here trying to kill me. He could have hurt innocent people. He deserved to die. "Kirara-chan…let's get this guy buried."
Running out into the street, Ukyo saw the source of the crash—Mimizuku, surrounded by the remaining Tobito, had attacked what appeared to be the granary. He fired with Hikoboshi, dropping one with a single shot. And then the others attacked him, and he reacted automatically, blocking a Tobito's shot with Orihime. The Mimizuku probably would have killed him—if he'd allowed them to get close. I never understood samurai. Why use swords when guns are so much safer?
Despite his defense, however, the last Mimizuku was able to get close, scratching his stomach. He would have been disemboweled had he not jumped back and fired on it until there was silence. There. All done. And then a huge shell appeared, followed by the last Nobuseri. Shit! I forgot about the Raiden! Acting quickly, he shot the shell in midair, exploding it before it could hit the houses.
This is really, really bad. He had been counting on the Raiden being far away enough for him to use Benzaiten, but now he would have to rely on the handguns. Quickly dodging a sword strike that would have cut him in half, he pulled Hikoboshi's trigger.
Nothing. He had run out of bullets. Running behind an unused building, he checked Orihime and sighed with relief at the discovery that there were three bullets remaining. (3.) I'll have to be careful. Here goes! Somewhere in the back of his mind, the voice of reason (i.e., cowardice) reminded him that this was a very bad idea, as he stepped out of shelter and stood before the Raiden. "This is for Uken-mura."
With that, he jumped, avoiding a cannon shell, and running forward until he was practically touching it, pulled the trigger. It ricocheted off the thing's shoulder as it calmly swung its sword down at him. Abruptly, Ukyo realized he couldn't move, frozen by fear. I'm going to die. And then, mid-swing, the Raiden froze as shots rang out, piercing its head.
"Run!" Ukyo did as he was told, as the Raiden fell to the ground with a thud that made the buildings shake. He started at his rescuer. A Yakan? The lid opened, and the pilot heaved himself out. He turned out to be a man around thirty, with a pilot's cap, goggles, and a pair of heavy-duty overalls.
"Thank you. You saved my life…" Grinning, the man took his cap off, revealing brown eyes and bushy hair the same color as Ukyo's own. "It was nothing, Amanushi-sama—but I suppose you're not the Amanushi anymore, are you?"
Ukyo stared blankly. "What are you talking about? How did you know that?"
"Oh, of course you wouldn't remember—I'm Kyoichi! I was the one who hauled you away from the capital and saved your life." He nodded smugly. "Yep, that was me, Sanada Kyoichi!" (4.) Ukyo bowed deeply, filled with gratitude beyond words.
Seeing that it was safe, Suzuri left the house and went to stand by Ukyo. Placing a hand on his chest, she gushed, "Oh, you saved us! Thank you so much! Please, eat dinner with us." Ukyo nodded. At this point, he was so tired he was willing to do just about anything if it meant he would get to sit down.
Well, this is…different. It's good, though. Ukyo had never tasted true peasant cooking before. Now that he had, he knew why Kirara hadn't minded eating basically the same thing day after day. Taking another sip of tea, he glanced across the table at Kyoichi, who was regaling several villagers with tales of his travels. "Well, I was born in the capital—this was way before the war—and my parents died when I was in my teens. I just bought a Yakan unit, signed up for the war, and afterwards started to travel. And that's how I met Ukyo, wounded near to death in a field." Ishiki asked him, "Are you going to stay here, Sanada-dono?"
Kyoichi shook his head. "Nah, I'm going to keep traveling. Who knows, maybe I'll find someone to settle down with and start a family." From the way he was trading glances with a woman sitting a few seats away from Ukyo, it seemed extremely likely he wouldn't have to travel far.
Ukyo had already retold his story for what seemed like the thousandth time—minus the slightly important fact about him being Amanushi. The women had all sighed at his declaration of love for Kirara-kun, while the men rolled their eyes.
Suzuri, who had nearly glued herself to his side, simpered, "Oh, Ukyo-sama, you can spend the night at my place...before you leave for Kanna-mura, that is." Ukyo paused. Well, I do need a place to sleep…but why do I have such a bad feeling about this? "I would be delighted; thank you very much, Suzuri-san."
Ukyo sighed, pulling off his shirt and socks, and laid his gun belt by the side of his futon. What a long day…I've never had to do so much in my life. Just in the space of a few hours, I fought Nobuseri, met the man who saved my life, saved an entire village, and got one step closer to seeing Kirara-kun again. Just a few days away…His eyes slid shut.
And then, what seemed like several hours later, the sound of his bedroom door opening snapped him back to awareness. Sitting bolt upright, he lit his bedside candle to see Suzuri standing by his side wearing a yukata. A very thin yukata. He swallowed hard, mouth going dry. "Suzuri-san?"
As she sank down, embracing him and running her hands over his chest, he tried to pull away—her hands were cold. Wait, his hormones complained, what are you doing? She's offering herself to you on a silver platter!
"Ah, Amanushi-sama…"
What the hell? He grabbed her shoulders, holding her at arms' length. "How did you know that?" She smirked, twisting free of his hands, and Ukyo winced; there was no compassion or kindness in that face. "I knew as soon as I saw you. I'm not stupid, you know, and I know your reputation." She kissed him slowly, but he did not respond. "Well? I was under the impression that you weren't especially picky."
What's the matter with you? She's trying to seduce you—let her!
I can't. Kirara-kun…
Who cares? You haven't gotten laid in half a year; take what you can get!
No. Ukyo glared at her. "You can't seduce me. Because, you see…I love Kirara-kun. I'm sorry, but you just can't compare. Now, I suggest you leave. I'll be on my way to Kanna in the morning." She recoiled as though she'd been slapped. How dare this man reject me? Giving him a look of pure, icy hatred, she got to her feet and slowly walked out of the room. "Good night, Ukyo-sama."
Now alone once more, Ukyo collapsed back on his futon and rolled over onto his side. Well, I suppose that proved it. I truly do love Kirara-kun. There is nothing I won't do for her.
Like turn down free sex? a snide voice in the back of his mind piped up.
Oh, shut up. Kirara-kun's hands…He thought back to when he had picked her up after Tessai had knocked her out—something he had not told him to do. She was so warm…I can't wait to see her and hold her in my arms again. If she lets me.
Having buried Jigen with Rikichi's and Kirara's help, Akemi knelt by the new-made grave. I'm not sorry. I know I should be, but I just…don't…care. Not at all. He was a heartless, cruel, bigoted misogynist. She remembered the Kanritsu Shageki Taikai two years ago, how Jigen had been so sure a teenager could never beat him, and how he had insulted her. I was pissed, sure, but oniichan was about ready to kill him…I've never seen him so mad. Tessai had to hold us back. She sighed. He's dead now…I wish I could have said goodbye to him, but at least we sent his body home.
Rikichi's wife, Sanae, knelt by Akemi's side. "Akemi-chan, I do wish you'd let me help." The younger woman shook her head. "You're pregnant, Sanae-san. You shouldn't be doing heavy work!" Sanae replied, "You forget, I'm a farmer. We're used to hard labor." Akemi shook her head in frustration before gazing up at the woman she had come to care for like an older sister.
"Sanae-san…do you think my brother might ever come back? It's been so long…When Jigen attacked me, I thought I was going to die, and all I could think was how Ukyo always promised to save me."
Sanae smiled. "I'm sure he will, Akemi-chan. Just keep believing in him." Poor girl…she's the only one who thinks her brother is still alive. If he never comes back…She thought about her grief at learning that her unborn child and the Amanushi were dead. I pray that this strong girl never experiences that pain.
Author's Notes
1. "Suzuri" means "inkstone" (a stone used in calligraphy to mix ink with water), and her uncle's name, Ishiki, means "stone tree." Suzuri's name is based off my search to find stone-related girl's names to contrast with "Kirara" which means "mica" (a type of stone).
2. "Houshou" or 'Houte" both mean "gunner", as in Houtedo, the way of the gunner (used in this fic to describe many gun-related techniques, among them shooting two guns at once and blocking bullets with any type of gun).
3. Bullet conservation is not Ukyo's strong suite. Both Orihime and Hikoboshi hold clips of 20 bullets each. Benzaiten (which he rarely gets a chance to use) is an autoloader rifle that holds 10 bullets.
4. Unbeknownst to everyone, Kyoichi is actually the first clone of the Amanushi, making him Ukyo's "brother". His "parents" were actually a foster family, and he was believed by the capital to have perished with them. By the way, his eyes are actually reddish-purple like Ukyo's; it's the light that makes them look brown.
Just a little side note this time—when Akemi's red silk headband is knocked off in battle, she becomes infuriated and capable of destroying hordes of enemy Nobuseri, no matter how scared she might normally be. Afterwards, she'll calmly walk back to her headband, put it back on, and act like nothing happened.
Next Chapter
Ukyo enters Kanna-mura, and Kirara is most definitely not happy to see him! Much groveling ensues on Ukyo's part as he tries to gain Kirara's favor. And where is he going to sleep, anyway? Later, the mikumari-in-training falls ill, and Ukyo undertakes a journey to save her.