Chapter 1

It was mid afternoon. I was enjoying a nice cup of Bīru. Bīru always hits the right spot no matter the time of day. While I was thinking about where I would spend the night, a wealthy looking man dressed in a fancy red looking kimono walked into the teashop with his wife and daughter in tow. I chose to look away because I could tell they were looking for someone. Such people usually brought problems on my my plate. A few seconds past and I felt three taps on my shoulder. Maybe it was just my luck because the moment I turned around I came face to face with the red kimono bastard.

"Good evening sir, I wanted to ask if you were-" I raised my hand and stopped him mid sentence.

"No, I'm not a samurai and I won't do any work this day."

"Please sir, I'm meeting my daughters' suitors' family today. I'm asking if you could help protect my daughter if anything goes wrong."

So, that's what he's worried about. In the past few months children have been getting kidnapped and smuggled. So it makes that he would want someone trained with a sword to guard his daughter.

"Fine, I'll act as your daughters charge."

"Thank you," he said "your help is greatly appreciated."

He took me to a far corner of the teashop. There was a rectangular low table that had mats lain around it with tea cups and a teapot on the table. Sitting on one side of the table was a middle-aged woman and on the other side was a young woman. The young woman looked around twenty years old. She had shoulder length black hair and leaf green eyes that complemented her cream white skin. She had an hourglass figure and her body still looked like it was still developing.

Traditionally I'm supposed to sit besides the father and mother of the bride, but I was asked to protect her and that I will. So I took a seat next to the bride to to be. The silence was beginning to irritate me, so I decided to make small talk and get to know the bride.

"My name is Percy and I'll be acting as your charge." She gave me a strange look before responding to the words I said.

"Aren't you a little young to be acting as my charge?" she asked.

"Well that's a little rude; you could at least give me your name before you ask questions like that." Now I'm really regretting starting this conversation. She acting like someone stuck a stick up her ass.

"Fine, my name is Toshie."

"Finally, was that hard to do?" I asked her.

"Shut up and do your job!" she snapped at me.

Just when I was about to retort, two middle-aged men with Katana's strapped to their sides walked in. They two were dressed in fancy Kimonos. I'm beginning to think that everyone in the room is wealthy except from me. I think I'm going to call them guy one and guy two if they don't introduce themselves.

"Thank you for meeting with us," guy one said "my name is Hajen and this is my brother Junshi." Hajen and Junshi, sound like shady names to me. Despite that they look kind enough and trustworthy, hopefully.

"We are glad you could make it, "Toshie's father said "I hope you came with the terms and conditions for the marriage?" The fact that this marriage has terms and conditions means that Toshie didn't agree to it and that it's a forced marriage.

"Yes we did, we can now begin the meeting."

I wasn't paying attention to what was being discussed until Hajen and Junshi decided they wanted to screw up the meeting.

"We will be going now,"Junshi said" Toshie will be coming with us according to the agreement. "There was a complete and tense silence that followed after Junshi's words. Both brothers were looking at Toshie expectantly. It seems Toshie finally understood the staring she was receiving and stood off the mat. I was all in on the Toshie leaving business but my instincts started acting up. In these few years as a ronin I learnt to trust my instincts. So I stood up as well.

"Where are you going?" Hajen asked.

"Toshie's my charge and am not going to leave her," I said.

"This was not part of the agreement," Hajen said.

"It was part of their agreement but it was not part of my agreement," I said.

They seemed not to believe me. With a flick of my wrist I pulled my Katana out of its sheath flipped one of the teacups on the table and caught it with the tip of my blade.

"If you think I was joking," I said "Then you're completely mistaken."

"Let her come with us and they won't be any problems," Junshi said.

"Well I guess we have a problem." Just as I finished my words they both drew out their swords and went into a Chūdan-no-kamae stance. I can't say their stances were perfect but at least I was going to get a good warm up out of it. If they go too far I'll end them. Junshi attacked first. Using his lean body and speed to his advantage he went for an overhead strike which I blocked. I slid my blade along the edge of his sword and cut a long gash across his chest.

'Ahh! You bitch," Junshi cried out. I was about to finish off Junshi but Hajen interfered and deflected my head strike.

"I was going to give you idiots a chance," I said "But thanks to Hajen I'm going to kill you." Within a blink of an eye I was in front of Hajen. I drew my blade back and drove it into Hajen's heart. While he was choking on his blood, I moved my head closer to his ear and whispered these words.

"Say hello for me to the shinigami." I then pulled my sword out.

"You!" Junshi screamed at me "You killed my brother."

"Don't worry," I said "You'll be joining him soon enough." Junshi came at me. It seems killing his brother gave him the energy to fight me. Too bad it won't be enough. Junshi performed a front kick which I dodged. I then took my blade to the side and cut a gash along Junshi's arm. With his sword arm out of the way he was practically useless.

"Give up and I won't kill you," I said.

"You think I'll ever surrender to someone like you," Junshi said "I would rather die."

"You will soon just answer this one question," I said "Why did you and your brother want Toshie alone?"

"Does it matter if I tell you," he said "I am going to be killed anyway."

"Just answer the damn question!"

"We were planning on selling her to some men,"Junshi said.

The moment those words left his mouth I snapped. I begin to see red and black lines all over Junshi's body. I drove my sword through his heart and sliced his head clean off his body with one slice.

"You were not supposed to kill them,"Toshie said.

"What?" I asked surprised.

"I said you were not supposed to kill them," she said "I was supposed to interrogate them on the kidnapping that has been going on."

"So, you used me." I said factually.

"We had to," she said "It was the only way to bait them in." Wait, did she say 'we'. Just then I noticed the five ninjas seated across us hiding in plain sight.

"Let's just hope we don't cross each other's paths again," I said coldly "Because if we do, it won't end well for you."

This is what I get for trying to do something good in my life. I just hope some drunkard hasn't drunk my Bīru.

Three months later

Right now I'm being paid to protect Masami Musito; we've been travelling together for two months now. The Musito family is a very known and wealthy family that owns part of Hakkaido. I was told she was special. Apart from being a scholar and poet, she's a sorceress as well. Sorcerers and sorceresses were all to be enlisted into the army, using magic outside of the army was a punishable offence. So keeping her safe is a big deal, if she's found out she can be executed.

"Hey," I said "Aren't you hungry?" Quiet, that's all I got as a response.

"You know," I said "You have to eat as well as study."

"Fine," she said "You can get me some food to eat."

I left the house we were occupying and went to a nearby stream. Swimming in the stream was a Koi fish. I have to time it right if I'm going to catch it. When the Koi fish got close to the stream bank, I grabbed it by the tail and repeatedly smashed its head against a stone slowly killing it. When I was done killing it, I cleaned it in the stream and left for the house.

"Hey, am back."

"What are you holding in your hands?" she asked.

"It's some Koi fish that I caught by the nearby stream."

"Let me see it," she said. She took the fish away from me. She traced he fingers along its scales. She had a caring and tender look in her eyes. Something that I've never experienced in my life.

"You know," she said "It hasn't been through its second winter."

"So?" I asked.

"So!" she screamed "They don't live for very long but here you go killing it before it can even experience its second winter."

"I'm sorry alright!" I screamed back at her "I didn't know any of that." Even if I did, I still would have killed it. It's not that I don't care about what she's saying it's just that am hungry.

"Do you have any spells that can cook this?" I asked trying to change the subject of our conversation.

"Actually I do," she said "Could you please hold it while I get a spell ready."

I took the fish away from her. She left the room and came back with a rectangular piece of paper. On it were some strange symbols. She told me to lay it down on the floor. She took the piece of paper and stuck it onto the Koi fish forehead. The fish immediately begun to glow orange.

"What's happening to it?" I asked.

"I placed a heating spell on it," she explained. Magic's really powerful. Let's just hope I never encounter an enemy with magical abilities.

"So, Masami" I said "How powerful are you?" She had a thoughtful look on her face. The one I usually see her with when she's reading one of her books.

"I don't know," she said "I really don't know." We were going to continue our conservation when we heard a knock on the front door.

"Did you schedule a meeting with anybody?" I whispered to her.

"No, I didn't" she whispered back. Now this is a problem, someone's here and none of us know who it is.

"Come out! We know you're in there," a voice said.

"Masami wait here," I whispered to her "I'll be back." I slowly crept my way towards the front door and opened it. Standing in front of me was a chubby middle-aged man with six imperial guards and they were all armed.

"How can I help you?" I asked in the most sincere voice I could master.

"You!" the chubby man screamed and pointed at me "I saw you kill him."

"You need to be a little specific," I said "I've killed a lot of people."

"My grandfather! You killed him," he screamed at me "You smashed his head against a stone." Wait the only thing I smashed against a stone today was the fish. Don't tell me he put his grandfather's resting spirit in a fish.

"If you're talking about the fish," I said "Then yes I did kill your grandfather."

"Seize him!" he ordered. The moment I saw the imperial guards preparing to capture me, I closed the door. 'Why can't my life be easy?' I thought to myself. I only took two steps back and the door was broken down.

"You're not escaping us," the chubby man said.

"I will," I said in a smug tone " It just won't be easy." The closet object to me was my sword which I didn't want to use for obvious reasons. The next best thing was the heating koi fish.

"You want to catch something so bad?" I asked " Then, catch this." I grabbed the koi fish by the tail and swung it at the chubby man with all my might. The next thing I heard was a crunch and a girlish scream.

"Anybody else who wants to get slapped with a fish?"

Every single one of the imperial guards charged at me. The attacked me from both sides. I knew I wouldn't manage to dodge all of their attacks at the same time for long, so I jumped over a table and kicked it towards two imperial guards immediately knocking them down. While dodging I heard a vase drop, momentarily turning my head to the origin of the noise I saw Masami standing beside the broken vase.

"Masami get out of here!" I screamed at her.

"Percy," she said almost pleadingly "Let me help you."

"It's my job to protect you," I said while dodging an attack.

"Trust me," she said "I have a spell that can work." We're going to be together for a long time. I have to learn to trust in her sooner or later. If they find out she's a sorceress, she can be executed.

"Okay," I said "I'll trust you."

She pulled out a rolled piece of paper from the pouch around her waist. She unrolled it and on it were those strange symbols again. She took the piece of paper and placed it on the floor. The paper begun to hum and release an earthen green glow. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. In the centre of the room a tiny hurricane formed, it kept on growing until it was just below the ceiling.

"Masami!" I screamed "We have to leave now!" I grabbed Masami's hand and made a run for the door. When we got out the house we could hear the crackle of lightening and the screams of the chubby man and the guards.

"How long will the spell last?" I asked her.

"For at least five minutes," she said.

"We better get going then."

Forty minutes later

We were walking through the streets of the city looking for a motel to spend the night in and hide out, but it seems that most rooms have been rented out.

"Over here," Masami said.

She grabbed my hand and led me to a building. It was an open restaurant. I would be lying if I said it wasn't beautiful. The straightforwardness of the designs was amazing. The interior of the restaurant has images depicting the basic life in Japan and the aroma coming from the kitchen was amazing.

"What are we doing here?" I asked her.

"We didn't get to eat our dinner," she said.

"Yeah," I said "But who's going to pay for the meal, am not exactly rich."

"Don't worry," she said "I have enough money to pay for the both of us."

"Here," she said "Pick what you're going to eat." She handed me a piece of paper with what I assume has names of food. She was going to find out sooner or later, what's a better time than now.

"I can't read," I said in a soft voice almost whispering.

"You have to be joking," she said.

"All my sensei ever did was train me and nothing more," I said with a pinch of anger to my voice.

"I guess you'll be having what I'm having tonight," she said softly. She gave our orders to the chef. The meal she ordered was kedgeree as she called it; a mixture of rice, fish and eggs cooked together. The food tasted as good as it smelt.

"You've never had this before, have you?" she asked.

"I never have meals like this," I said while looking her straight in the eyes "With the money I earn I can't really afford such luxuries."

"I'm sorry for asking," she said in a gentle voice.

"Just forget about it," I said "We still need to look for a motel to spend the night in." After the meal we continued our search. During our search we met an imperial guard.

"How's your evening going?" the imperial guard asked.

"Our evening is going fine," I said "We're just enjoying an evening walk."

"Are you and this young lady engaged?" he asked. I know I have the worst time for humour but I just have to say this.

"Yes," I said in a serious voice "We recently got engaged." The look in Masami's eyes when I said that was priceless. Her earth brown eyes had a fiery burning passion to hit someone or something, most likely someone called Percy. To make matters worse I put my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me.

"Would you like me to escort you?" he asked us. His asking to many questions. It's like his trying to stall for more time.

"We're good," I said "We'll be on our way now." I took Masami's hand and calmly walked away. When we were far enough from the imperial guard Masami slapped me.

"Why would you say we're engaged!" she screamed at me.

"Hey calm down," I said "I was just joking."

"The next time you joke like that you'll be receiving more than just a slap," she said in an intimidating voice I never knew she had. I think I'm going to take that warning seriously.

"Now tell me why you didn't want the imperial guard to escort," she asked "He would have helped us find a motel."

"He was strange," I said "What normal imperial guard ask questions and offers to escort normal civilians?"

"You're right," she said "Do you have any idea why he was acting like that?"

"Simple," I said "Words got around on what we did to the imperial guards and the idiot that was with them, now we're being hunted."

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Will have to live Sapporo," I said.

"If that's what we're going to do, "she said "I want to visit the Lion Temple before we leave."

"You did hear what I said?" I asked her.

"Yes," she said "So we better hurry up."

We walked carefully through the quite streets making sure not to encounter any imperial guard. We arrived at the temple and it was a gorgeous sight to behold. The Temple had a beautiful garden with lush trees that were surrounded by large stones that were placed in eccentric patterns. At the back of the garden there was a flight of granite stairs with an entrance at the end of it. Standing on each side of the entrance was a wooden carved lion.

As we walked towards the entrance Masami explained a few things to me. For example, I shouldn't try to look at the temple monk if I'm full sin. She didn't explain what would happen if I did, so let's find out. Masami told me to bow my head before she knocked on the door. After a few minutes the door opened.

"Welcome to his holy sanctuary," a voice said.

The mysterious person was obviously male by the sound of the voice but something was different. It had a melodic tone to it than the normal manly roughness. When I tried to lift my head I was shocked. It felt as if someone was holding down my neck. When I looked to my side I could see Masami standing and smiling at the man.

"You can come in," he said "I've been expecting you."

I could finally move my neck and what I saw infuriated me and made me jealous. He had a physique that would make any woman fall for him, his cream white skin and dark blue eyes complemented each other in such a way that it made him look beautiful. His glossy black hair was neatly tied into a traditional samurai bun with some hair shaved off on the sides of his head. His Kimono looked so smooth that I suspect it was made from fine silk. After I was done admiring the obviously better looking man, I followed him in. The interior of the Temple was amazing. It was rectangular shaped room with lanterns hanging on the wall. The walls were cream coloured with images of samurai's fighting demons under the sun. The floor was made of some sort of brown coloured wood and had a long mat that began at the entrance we came through and ended at the shrine on the other end of the room. So many questions were going through my mind like 'how he knew we were coming.' He led us to the shrine and gestured for us to take a seat on the mat.

"My name is Yoritomo Minamoto but you know me as the emperor of Japan," he said.

"What are you doing here emperor?" Masami asked in shock. The emperor locked his gaze on her and smiled. Masami's cheeks flushed and she looked away.

"I'm here for the both of you," he said.

"Why," I asked rudely. I didn't mean for it to come out harsh but the emperor was starting to get on my nerves with all the hinted answers he kept giving us. Even if he did hear me he gave no sign that he heard the tone of my voice.

"Why," he said "because I've been receiving visions of your coming." I was going to ask another question but Masami elbowed me and told me to shut up.

"Do you know what your spirit animal is?" the emperor asked.

"Yes," Masami said "My spirit animal is the red panda." The cute little panda does suit her. I never really thought about it. I could lie to him but I have a feeling that he would know if I'm lying to him.

"No I don't," I said truthfully "Even if I did, I don't think my spirit animal would like me much." I don't think he liked my answer. He had a disappointed look in his eyes.

"Okay let me ask you this," he said looking me straight in the eyes "What would you do if you got a chance to redeem yourself?" That question hit home. My entire life I've been called a liar, cheat and a killer. Masami's the first person to actually care for me and that's something I want to cherish.

"I would try to do good for all the bad that I've done," I said honestly. The emperor gave me a reassuring and calm smile.

"What about the visions?" I asked.

"Yes," he said "I've been receiving visions about the both of you ever since your fates intertwined."

"What do you mean?" Masami asked.

"Your friend over here," he said pointing at me "Is the sword that cuts the heavens."

"What do you mean," I asked seriously.

"You are the one who will save the entire Japan when the time comes, "he said seriously.

"I'm just a ronin with a sword," I said "This job deserves someone more important than me."

"Everyone is important in one way or another," he said "It's time that decides when that person becomes important." This can be the first step to correcting all my wrong.

"I accept," I said "But what does this have to do with Masami."

"She's the only sorceress not enlisted in the army, "he said sadly. I nodded my head in understanding.

"Good," he said "Japan will always be in your debt but before we continue I have something for the beautiful lady over here." Masami blushed at the statement. The emperor raised his hands and took off the necklace around his neck and gave it to Masami.

"Here," he said "This necklace looks better on you than it does on me." Masami received the gift and put it around her neck.

"My emperor are you done here?" a familiar voice asked. I turned around and standing there was a ninja in a dark blue kimono with a bag around her waist and a sword strapped to her side. Something more than her voice was familiar. Those eyes only belong to one person I've me, Toshie.

"Toshie," I said with unrestrained anger in my voice.

"Hello Percy," she said casually. I'm pretty sure one of my eyes was twitching.

"I see you're already acquainted with one another," the emperor said.

"Yes we met a while ago," Toshie said. If you can call that a proper meeting.

"There's one more thing you have to know," the emperor said "You'll have to hunt down several demons during your travels."

"Demons," I asked.

"Yes," the emperor said "Akuma's that escaped from hell." He then went on to explain what he knew about the demons. He wrote down the names of the demons on a piece of paper and gave it to Masami.

"I will leave all for now," the emperor said. The emperor left the room I stood up and turned to Toshie.

"Now tell me what you're doing here?" I asked her.

"I'm here because I work for Yori- I mean the emperor," Toshie said.

"You're sure you aren't using him?" I asked angrily. She was going to answer but Masami intervened.

"Can someone tell me what's going on here and explain how you two know each other?" Masami asked.

"Not now Masami," I said. I could feel my anger rising to new heights. There's only way I was going to let loose some steam.

"Draw your sword now!" I ordered her. She looked hesitant but drew her sword took a stance. The stance she took was perfect, she could counter attack and block any of my attacks when needed to and she had firm footing.

"Percy stop this now!" Masami screamed at me. I chose to ignore Masami. I was going to attack but stopped. I noticed Toshie's hands they were smooth and lacked the natural roughness of a sword wielder. She was going to fight me knowing that she's never held a sword before. So I did the right thing and lowered my sword, my anger completely gone.

"Masami I'm so sorry," I said trying to apologise.

"It's too late for that now," she said angrily. Both Masami and Toshie left the room through the door the emperor used. I sighed and sat down.

"Me and my anger issues," I said to no one in particular. I was deep in thought when the front door was broken down. Standing there was the imperial guard me and Masami met with a large amount of back up.

"So this is where the engaged couple has been," the imperial guard said sarcastically.

"Would you believe me if I said we we're on our honeymoon?" I said.

"Get him!' the imperial guard ordered.

I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1. I will update the story after a few months, its because im going back to boarding school.

Expect a lot from Percy. For any grammatical mistakes, please forgive me english isn't my first language.