6.
"She's late." The woman replied in a dead monotone, entering the main room of the inn. The sun had just barely risen above the horizon.
"What do you expect?" Shouta replied from where he knelt before a low flat table, carefully lighting the bowl of a long thin pipe. "It's been storming out there. Give it time. She'll do exactly as I trained her."
"I'd give anything to be out of this god's forsaken village," The woman said. "To be somewhere civilized, and clean, with people who respect their betters..."
"Once she brings back that gold and that katana, we'll have enough to leave. We'll head straight for Kyoto! Ahhh, the plucking there will be just as ripe! You will have only the finest foods and clothing. And our little Momo will make us even richer," Shouta replied, drawing on the stem of his pipe, he contently trickled smoke from his lips, eyes half shut at dreams of ill gotten gains.
The woman simply sighed, looking away, her mouth curled downwards in distaste. Sick to death of constantly being on the move. There was a shadow passing by the shoji screen to their room then a very soft tapping. Shouta looked at it with a scowl.
"Come!" he snapped, looking at the screen as it was slid back.
One of his retainers, bowed very low, said, "Your pardon Goshujin-sama. I bring the report from the camp."
"Well?"
"The girl has not returned."
Shouta glared at the man, who refused to look up, and he sat back with a disgusted sigh. "All right." He said waving the man off with a flip of his hand. "Bring report again this afternoon, if she hasn't returned, I will come to the camp tonight."
"Yes, Goshujin-sama!" the retainer replied, obediently sliding the shoji screen shut and fading away quickly.
"Knowing that ridiculous, accident prone, child, she probably fell off another cliff. Maybe this time she'll be dead." The woman said sourly.
"If our little Momo knows what's good for her, she'll return with what I want and get her dinner for tonight." Shouta grumbled.
"She's not exactly a sensible child!" the woman replied. "She was a bad idea to purchase to begin with and all she does is resist what she's told to do."
"But she is a very nimble little thief, my koishii. Thanks largely to me. No one suspects her. She's practically invisible to anyone of note. Which is why she is so perfect for getting into and out of homes. All while leaving no trace." Shouta smiled, drawing again on the pipe. "She'll bring back Ni'itsu-san's gold and that antique sword. If she wants to live out the week that is..."
Much to his disgust, the girl did not return during the day and Shouta showed up in the camp of his retainers shortly after sunset. The four men huddled near an open campfire in a clearing surrounded by trees. As he heaved his way out of a cart he'd hired from a local merchant, he looked around, searching for the child and did not see her.
The four men, all seeing Shouta dismount, knelt and bowed.
"Still no sign of her?" he demanded.
"As you can see, Goshujin-sama," the messenger from earlier spoke up, not lifting his head.
Shouta's mouth curled downwards in disdain. "Where's my saké?" he snapped, his eyes darkening. He stepped past one of the men and kicked him aside, taking the best seat near the fire. All four men scrambled, one handing him a saucer and the another uncorking a bottle of the rice liquor.
They all rearranged themselves opposite from Shouta, who sourly sipped his drink and stared at the flames for several minutes. Shouta indicated they could lift their heads from their obeisance to him. His eyes flicked at one of the men, "You, if she doesn't return by midnight, I want you to go up there and see if she can be found."
As the man made his appropriate agreements, Shouta just flicked his hand at him, and held his saké cup sideways, wanting more. The one holding the saké bottle filled it quickly.
"If she does not return tonight, one of you will go back up there and find the gold that potter has. We're not leaving this prefecture until I have it and that sword. Once that is accomplished, we'll be leaving for Kyoto."
General murmurs of assent were voiced, then one of the men asked. "Your pardon, Goshujin-sama, what if the girl is found?"
"If she has what I want, bring her back here. If she doesn't dispatch her quickly. I'll not tolerate failure. Not even with a child. She had a job to do I expect it to be done." Shouta replied, "Getting gold off a potter is child's play. She should not have been delayed this long,"
"Forgive me, Goshujin-san, she was missing nearly three weeks and you found her in his care."
"And what of it?" Shouta snapped, shooting a glare at the man who spoke. "It works out very well for us that she was with him. After dealing with her yesterday she revealed that she knew exactly where his things are kept. All most valuable information. He keeps gold on his premises for the kintsugi work. She will find it. However, these delays are inexcusable. We should have been back in Kyoto two weeks ago."
"Won't there be trouble still from that new police force they are setting up?" One of the retainers asked.
Shouta snorted in derision. "Police force!" he scoffed. "They can't even decided if real samurai or lowlife rabble like ronin and peasants should even be in the police force!" Shouta shook his head. "A useless idea, using master-less samurai to patrol the streets to maintain law and order. They tried that with the Shinsengumi and look where that led! They were just as corrupt as all the other 'forces' they tried. Imagine picking servants and merchants and farmers to police a city. Especially those loyal to the traitorous Aizu. What rubbish!"
Shouta held the saucer out. "By the time we get back to Kyoto, they won't even remember where to find their backsides, much less us. They couldn't even keep the 'police force' in this little district now could they?" Shouta shook his head dismissively. "No, no they won't succeed, we needn't bother with them, especially back in Kyoto. Kyoto is far bigger, we'll just blend in with everyone else and no one will be the wiser."
As Shouta continued pontificating on the useless idea of policing a community with wandering swordsmen, one of the retainers went on alert, reaching a hand for the hilt of his katana. He twisted, as the others noticed him. He focused on the far edge of the clearing, shrouded in the darkness with the trees looming above.
"What is it?" One of the men snapped.
"She's coming..." the alert member said, indicating a point in the darkness ahead of them.
"Ahhh," Shouta smiled, over his saucer of saké, "This is more like it..."
Moving very slowly, the girl appeared out of the gloom, stopping right at the edge of the trees. She clutched a large, flat wooden box to her chest. She stopped, looking up at them for a single moment then immediately dropped her head.
"What are you standing there for, Momo?" Shouta snapped irritably. "Bring that thing here."
She didn't move. She stood rooted in place.
"Momo!" Shouta snapped, "Get over here!"
She visibly flinched, and began to shake. Hesitantly she lifted a foot to make that first step and simply couldn't.
"Bring her here!" Shouta snapped in disgust, tossing his empty sakesuki at one of the men.
Another scrambled to his feet. Rushing up to the terrified girl, he simply grabbed her haori collar and dragged her closer, wrenching the wooden box out of her hands. Her legs refused to work and she looked up in horror. She tried to cry out, only a gargle coming from her lips and she collapsed in a heap just before the fire. She looked up, facing Shouta, who was being handed the wooden box she had been carrying.
"What is this?" Shouta demanded, holding the box up, hearing something shift around inside of it. "Is this what he kept his gold in?" He shook the box, then looked at the latch and lock keeping it closed. With a scowl he handed it towards one of the men, "Get rid of that lock..." he growled then he looked back at the cowering child.
Almost instantly, one of the retainers took the box, dropped it on the ground and slammed it with his foot. A loud crack of wood echoed into the trees followed by two more as the man simply destroyed the box. When a finally crack issued forth, he let out a loud shout of triumph, his hand diving into the splinters of wood to extract a small bag. He immediately tossed it to Shouta.
"I thought I told you to bring me that sword as well!" He snapped at the girl as he snatched the bag out of the air. He glared at the child, as he began to open the draw strings.
"Oh," A disembodied voice mocked casually from behind him. "She did bring you the sword as well."
The hair on the back of Shouta's neck rose straight up and as he began to turn his head, he caught a glint of cold silver steel. He felt the muné edge of a sword sliding past his ear and his jaw.
A scuffed, laced, knee high, black leather boot appeared next, stepping casually past him as chaos erupted. The blade of the sword flicked inwards, slicing the jawline enough to sting, drawing blood. Shouta jumped back, slapped his hand on his face as Hiko stepped past him. The other four men, all of them, scrambled for their katanas as Hiko walked past the fire.
He'd literally appeared from out of nowhere, it seemed.
He wore black hakama's tucked into the boots and a deep red robe, almost the colour of blood, over a dark blue one. The sleeves weren't as wide as a regular kimono, and they were edged in dark blue. He dropped his left hand onto Winter Moon's hilt, exposing a laced on, black leather bracer protecting his wrist.
His hair was loose, and he leaned forward just enough to look like a predator as he walked up to where the girl cowered. He casually turned the o-katana, running the muné along the webbing of his left hand between thumb and index finger, where he gripped the saya. As the point dropped off into the koiguchi opening, he sheathed it and turned to face Shouta and his men. They had all fallen in around Shouta.
Hiko stood between them and the child.
"N.. Ni'itsu Kakunoshi?" Shouta began to stammer, holding his now bloody hand to his face. As he stared at the man towering over them all, indignation and outrage began to seep in. He started to speak, mouth gaping and flapping.
Hiko just cut him off. "You ordered you're little thief here to bring you my gold and my sword. You got what you asked for." Hiko said conversationally. He hooked his right thumb in the sash of his hakama, exposing the bracer on his right wrist. A slow lazy smirk appeared on his lips as he looked across the fire at Shouta.
"Go on, open the bag. It's the gold you had her steal." Hiko replied.
Shouta, still holding his face, looked askance at the bag still in his other hand, then back at Hiko. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you playing at, Toko-san?" Shouta asked. "You're just walking in here, handing me your gold and your sword? Can't you see you are up against four men? Each one quite accomplished with a sword? They are all samurai, and what are you? A potter..." Shouta spat in contempt.
Hiko heaved a sigh, barely refraining from rolling his eyes. "You sent a child in to steal my gold and my sword. I'm just making sure of the delivery."
"Oh really?" Shouta's continued to squint at Hiko suspiciously. The hairs on the back of his neck had never gone down. "If it's so simple, send her over here with that sword then." He paused a moment then looked at the cowering child. "Momo!" he snapped, his glower returning to his face. "Bring that sword to me!"
"On'nanoko..." Hiko murmured, "Cover your head and don't move."
Instead of doing as Shouta demanded, the child glanced up at Hiko, then promptly dropped, covering her head with her hands.
"Momo!" Shouta snapped, leaning forward and glaring up at Hiko.
"What you are completely failing to understand, miserably I might add, is that the sword is me and I am the sword. You want the sword, you've got to take me." Hiko smirked, looking at all of the men in turn. "And none of you are even close to being capable of winning against me in a sword fight. Simply put, I am the very best at what I do."
"You're just a potter!" Shouta barked out a laugh, "Carrying an antique sword! Just how tested is something that old? I doubt it very much. It'll shatter with the first strike!"
"Would you like to test that theory?" Hiko asked.
"Momo, I said get over here!" Shouta barked out again. He then glared at one of his men and jerked his head.
Hiko watched as the man in question, who had dropped his hand on the hilt of his katana, began to approach them.
"You're the one that took the box from the child..." Hiko stated casually, his gaze never leaving the approaching man's face.
"Momo!" the swordsman snapped, "Obey your master!" He shifted his focus to Hiko. "If you wish to live, potter," the man said, "stand away from the child and hand over the sword."
"If you wish to keep the hand that touched this child, I'd suggest you drop your sword and start running like hell." Hiko replied. He hadn't moved up until then. "Just be aware though that you probably won't be able to out run me."
"Or you'll what?" the man sneered, fingering his sword.
Hiko became a blur. There was a faint hiss in the air, followed by a wet, sickening thud. Seconds later, they all stared. Hiko had set one foot forward, knees flexed, posed in a very dangerous stance to anyone opposite him, all his weight was forward. He held his sword horizontally across his body as he shifted his weight back onto his other foot, sliding the back edge of his o-katana very slowly along his hand before letting the tip drop into place as he resheathed it.
He didn't even blink.
No one saw the move.
The swordsman who had been approaching him, stared for a moment in numb shock at his hand lying on the ground before him. Then his gaze shifted to the stump spurting a pulsing stream of blood.
He began to scream as he scrambled backwards staring in horror between his stump and the thing twitching on the ground.
"That hand will never lay a finger on a child ever again," Hiko replied sarcastically at the retreating man, "Just remember, Hiko Seijuro had mercy on you in not just running you through. Which is really what I would rather do." He took another step forward, his hands resting on the o-katana. "So do as I suggest, drop that sword, and start running."
As the horror and realization of what had just happened to him hit the man opposing Hiko, he tried to jerk his katana out of its sheath with his remaining hand.
Another blur of movement and this time everything froze. Hiko had taken another step, just sidestepping past where the girl huddled, his o-katana, at shoulder height, held straight before him.
The other man began gargling, his mouth gaping open. Blood started gushing like a geyser from a fatal neck wound. The man fell backwards in slow motion horror. Hiko had simply impaled him though the throat.
"Feh!" Hiko snorted in disdain, flicking the sword sideways to get rid of any blood. He vertically re-sheathed it and took a careful step around the girl. "Idiot!" he spat as he turned towards the others, keeping himself between them and the child.
Hiko's gaze; cold, predatory, unblinking, shifted to Shouta as the other three men began to react. He smirked at them all. "Next?"
"Gushojin-sama!" One of the other men began to babble. "Gushojin-sama!" He began to back away, gripping his own sword as the other two stepped around Shouta, protecting him.
"Who are you?" Shouta snapped.
"Does it matter?" Hiko replied. "Would you like another demonstration as to whether or not this old antique can deliver another strike?" The smile on Hiko's face was anything but pleasant as he patted the samé covered hilt with his fingertips.
"Don't do it, Master Shouta!" The third swordsman yelped.
"Shut your babblings and get that thing off of him!" Shouta barked at the men.
A very cold, almost reptilian smile drifted along Hiko's lips. "Think twice. Do you really want a demonstration of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu from a true Master? I'd be more than happy to show you as I am, indeed, a true Master of the form."
"Hiten what?!" Shouta demanded, kicking the back of one of the men's leg to urge him forwards. Shouta began to crab away from the men as Hiko took another, slow, menacing step forward. The third retainer was still babbling in fear. "Shut up!" Shouta shouted above the din.
"Goshujin-sama!" the man protested, "He is Hiko Seijuro XIII!" He stumbled away from Shouta.
"And I have no idea who that is!" Shouta snapped, "What difference is it going to make? He's going to be dead in a few minutes!" Shouta added irritably, clutching the bag of gold as he scrambled to his feet.
"No!" the man shouted, "You don't understand!"
Hiko shook his head, "I'm surrounded by idiots," he muttered as the other two men split up and began to come around the fire, drawing their katanas. They circled warily as Hiko backed up.
"Don't move, On'nanoko," Hiko said as he stepped around then stood over the top of the huddled little figure. He crouched, his eyes seemingly focused on Shouta as the two swordsmen approached him.
The two men watched as Hiko's gaze narrowed. All they could see was Hiko appearing frozen in place. His mind, however, raced at top speed; analysing, evaluating, deciding. He stood over the child, crouched, saya gripped firmly in his left hand as his right hovered over the hilt.
"One. More. Warning..." Hiko said out loud. "There is no way you can beat me. I am faster, stronger and far, far more advanced in swordsmanship than you."
"Listen to him!" The third man shouted. "He is not joking!"
"You'd better listen to a man who gives you good advice," Hiko continued. "The moment I draw this sword I will not hold back and you will die." He said with finality. "You can't possibly hope to win against my superior ability."
"What an arrogant ass you are!" One the swordsmen sneered.
Hiko barked out a laugh. "Yes, yes I am. Tell that to your buddy over there." Hiko said nodding fractionally at the dead man. He smirked, "Especially when I send you to join him."
"Who's to say it won't be you?" the swordsman retorted.
"Don't do it!" the third man yelled as both swordsman simultaneously went for their katanas.
To say it was a a fight, between worthy opponents, a duel to the death in a battle of wills, would make a mockery of it all. Hiko didn't even try showing mercy. Neither swordsman was even able to parry the blade of Winter Moon as Hiko's battojutsu unleashed hell on them. He hacked through them in a matter of seconds. He didn't even break a sweat.
Like a dancer, he stepped around the crouched, huddled child, scything down one man then running through the other. As both men fell away, mortally wounded, Hiko slowly stood back up, the o-katana's blade horizontally held in front of him.
"And that," Hiko spat out as he stepped towards the dying swordsman who had spoken. "Was just my practice form. I'm not going to waste my genius in Hiten Mitsurugi on lowlife's like you." He sheathed the sword, the snick of it settling into place almost loud enough to be heard across the camp ground. It sounded in the ears of the dying men like an act of utter contempt.
Hiko stood up to his full intimidating height and looked across the fire at Shouta who was staring in shock at the dead men. The other swordsman, the one trying to warn them all, had his saya out in front of him, right-handed. He had dropped to his knees, looking in white faced horror at the carnage Hiko had left behind.
"Mercy!" He gasped, staring at his comrades. "Please, Master, mercy!"
"That all depends..." Hiko said, walking past the fire.
The swordsman looked up at Hiko in shock, his mouth dropping open in misunderstanding. He started to shake.
"Just who the hell are you!?" Shouta babbled, still backing away, clutching the bag of gold to his chest and looking horrified at what he had just witnessed.
"You should listen to him," Hiko said to Shouta, "I'm not just a master potter." He sneered at him. "I'm Hiko Seijuro. I'm the thirteenth generation Master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. No one is capable of defeating me in a sword fight. Only one other person alive can even land a blow on me. Now I want you both to answer a question." Hiko said.
"Anything, Master!" said the remaining swordsman, now on his knees, still holding his sword up.
"Don't be so sure about that," Hiko said. "I'm only going to show mercy depending on the answer to the question I'm going to ask."
A dead silence had fallen on the camp. Only the sound of the fire crackling could be heard. That and a soft rustling as the child rose from her huddle. Hiko smirked, looking at both men. He focused on the man holding his katana up to him seemingly in supplication.
"Have you laid a hand on that child?" Hiko asked.
Another pause.
"She... she... she is not my slave to lay a hand on!" the man stuttered.
Hiko stared a moment at him. "Toss that katana towards me." He ordered the man.
"Yes!" The man replied hastily and tossed the sword away from him like it was on fire.
Before it could even hit the ground, Hiko snatched it up. "Get the hell out of here." He growled.
The man, seeing he was getting the opportunity of a lifetime, literally, began thanking Hiko profusely. He scrambled backwards onto his feet then took off running into the night. Silence descended again, and Hiko could just sense the girl behind him before slowly approaching Shouta.
"So..." he said slowly. "That. Leaves. You." He looked at Shouta.
Unbelievably he kept opening his mouth. "So what if I discipline my slaves the way I see fit!?" He stood defiantly, clutching the bag of gold to him, glaring at Hiko. "What's mine is mine to do with as I please!" he spat, and looked at the child, who had stopped just behind Hiko. She was trying to watch what was happening through the one good eye she could see out of.
Hiko didn't even speak. Gripping the katana the other swordsman had tossed to him, he whipped the end of it up, slapped his hand on the bottom of the hilt and savagely jabbed Shouta in the throat.
"That's for strangling her." He said, stepping forwards as Shouta fell back, his hand flying to his throat as he dropped the gold. He gasped and tried desperately to shout but the ferocity of the blow prevented that from happening. As he fell over backwards, Hiko followed, dropping the katana onto the ground. He stepped over Shouta, grabbed the front of his robes and jerked the gagging, suddenly very frightened man back upright.
"Normally, I don't dirty my hands like this but in this instance I'm going to make an exception." He growled and drew back his right fist.
He let fly.
Not once.
Not even twice.
He proceeded to pound on Shouta just enough to render to him what he had been dealing to his slave. Finally he shoved him contemptuously into the dirt, then reached over and snatched up the bag of gold.
Shouta collapsed into a heap, gargling and gagging, trying to protect his face. As he writhed in pain, shock and fear, the girl darted past Hiko's legs and her hand reached under his robe, extracting the flat leather pouch he carried.
She clutched it to her chest, backing away.
"Do you really honestly believe I would just walk in here and hand you my sword and my gold?" Hiko sneered, tugging the draw string open. He proceeded to dump a bag full of sand into Shouta's bloody face. "Do you honestly think I would be that ignorant to let something like that happen?" He held his hand out towards the child who promptly gave him the leather pouch.
"Now get the hell up!" Hiko barked, straightening back up to his full height. "You and I are taking a trip!"