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November 11th:

The Band of Seven

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In that frozen second between stand off and fighting their eyes flickered between each of the formidable weapons and the opponent themselves. Each of their faces were unreadable, no fear, no invitational smirk. Both were banking on the other to make one of the classic mistakes that had been the downfall of many before them.

"You know something," the man holding the smaller of the two swords finally proffered with a small smirk, "When they sent me to kill you, I never realized how handsome you'd be. Seems a shame to cut such a pretty face but I just can't wait to see how tight your corpse will be once I'm done with you."

"Is that supposed to throw me off?" the ebony haired man chuckled darkly, "I am Bankotsu. I have killed over five hundred men and I've never lost a battle to anyone. You'll have to try harder than that."

"Whoa, seriously?" the effeminate man as he shook his head and snorted in disbelief, "Man that usually at least gets a totally different reaction. Usually that type of comment throws men off enough for me to get the upper hand. Good for you."

"I'm not one to judge," Bankostu snapped back uneasily - perturbed that his track record hadn't so much as phased the strange young man. Glaring at the challenger, Bankotsu held his sword out at the ready, "You'll have to try harder than that. I'm not easily phased."

"Huh," Jakostu responded as a strange look flashed over his face and his posture relaxed, "So let me get this straight. You wouldn't care if I fancy men?"

"All I care about is killing as many men as I can," the long plaited man sneered, "Who you have chosen to lay with in the past is no concern of mine."

"No really, I'm genuinely curious now," the second man pressed as a hopeful glimmer shone in his eyes, "You don't care if I like men. Not just as a friend but I lay with other men. You don't care about that?"

"I just told you as much," Bankotsu responded curtly, "Now you've come to challenge me, have you not?!"

"No, no, wait. Totally my plan to brutally murder you but...but okay so I really gotta know if you're serious," Jakostu chuckled in an almost innocent, somewhat desperate tone, "If I wasn't trying to kill you, if I was just someone you knew, and you knew I liked men, you wouldn't care. Am I right?"

"No. I do not and would not care. To each their own. Now can we get on with it please?" Bankotsu sighed heavily - weary of this encounter already, "I truly have important matters to attend to and this is..."

"Do you want to team up?" Jakostu asked suddenly as he straightened himself up and grinned excitedly, "Like be partners in crime or something?"

"Wha--what?!" Bankotsu stuttered as he furrowed his brow in ill disguised suspicion, "What of your reward for my head?"

"Eh, I was just going to kill them all and take their gold anyway," Jakotsu responded casually as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tilting his head to the side curiously, Bankotsu was now the one who was seemingly in disbelief, "You'd kill them all?"

"Well duh," Jakotsu snorted as he rolled his eyes, "What, you wouldn't?"

In that moment, a warm feeling spread through Bankotsu's chest. His road had most certainly been a lonely one. Never before had he met anyone as bloodthirsty as he was and he found it quite refreshing. In fact, he found it more than a little exciting and suddenly he found himself wanting desperately to get to know this strange man better.

"You know, I could use a man like you," the ebony haired man smirked as he lowered his weapon, "A man who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty."

"Well that'd be me," Jakotsu responded happily as he too lowered his weapon before he bounced excitedly and clapped his hands together, "You wanna pretend to be dead and help me decimate the castle? I love a good ambush."

"I would love nothing more. You know I think this sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Bankotsu laughed as he walked forward and held his hand out, "I never got your name"

"Jakotsu," the man wearing next to nothing chirped, "Glad to make your acquaintance. You know we're gunna need a lot of blood to make this convincing. I saw a village nearby. I bet we could get all we needed from some poor sap."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Bankotsu responded as he nodded in appreciation. As the two walked side by side towards the village, Bankotsu eyed his new companion's weapon with increased interest, "You must be pretty good with that sword to be so cocky."

"Oh yeah," Jakotsu chirped happily as he patted the blade, "You won't believe how effective it is. Can kill a dozen men in one blow."

"Really?" Bankotsu chuckled as he shook his head in disbelief, "I'll believe that when I see it."

It wasn't very long before they both showed off their impressive weapons and their lethal moves. Having collected an obscene quantity of blood, they moved on to their plan to ambush the castle and had the best time of their lives slaughtering every man, woman and child inside the castle walls.

It was indeed the beginning of a beautiful friendship - the likes of which had never been seen before.