Prompt: "Sasaki Kojiro mocks Shirou. Shirou reveals that it's actually Muramasa and shittalks Kojiro hard, with banter between them." — Aberron
Kojiro fingered his hilt with a small smile as the boy climbed up the steps.
"So... you approach me," he said softly, but his voice carried through the trees. "Despite all that you were warned, despite everything you have seen, you approach me. What have you to say for yourself?"
The boy turned his gaze upward, and Kojiro was surprised by how much steel he found in those eyes.
"I can't beat the shit outta ya without gettin' any closer."
His small smile stretched into a grin.
"Ho... then come as close as you like."
Kojiro took one step downward, and then blurred. A fraction of a moment later, their blades were locked. The boy wielded a katana that seemed so basic as to be unnotable... which was exactly what made it so interesting, for it did not crumble underneath his strength.
"You are better than I anticipated," the samurai grudgingly admitted.
"I ain't meant for this shit," the boy said, and only then did it hit Kojiro that he sounded nothing like the child he had chased down and nearly killed that first night. "But if I'm gonna be in it... well, if you got a job to do, ya better do it right."
"On this we agree."
Kojiro attempted to trip the boy up by using the height advantage and some shifting of his feet, but the boy took no issue and easily swept around him. And as they clashed more and more...
"Your guard is fallin' on your left side."
"Don't overextend yourself."
"Stop tryin' to hit me and hit me, damn it!"
...he was getting a little bit pissed off.
"I've had enough!" Kojiro said and kicked the man square in the abdomen, pushing him back a few steps. "This is the end! Tsubame Gaeshi!"
A flash of steel. A body hit the floor. He realized far too late that it was his own.
"W... what...?"
"Next time, don't let your temper get the best of ya," the boy said. "Else someone might take a paddle to your hind."
You fucking ass—