Ronin Shiori* By IBB

*Masterless Samurai Shiori

Me (still IBB): Yep, this is chapter two! That it is!

animegirl101: Ooh! What're you gonna do this time?

Me: I'm not gonna spoil it for everyone!

animegirl101: You can tell me and Inuyasha, can't you? *gives me a pleading look as she tugs on Inuyasha's ears*

Inuyasha: Ow! *grumbles*

Me: *sweatdrops* I don't think you should tug on Inu-kun's ears, AG...

animegirl101: But they're so fluffy!! *plays with Inuyasha's ears*

Me: *seeing that it's hopeless* Hmph.

*Sesshoumaru randomly walks in*

Me: *sees Sesshoumaru* *squeal* 'Scuse me a moment! *runs after Sesshoumaru, who tries to keep away from me*

(P.S. Yep, you've got the right person, fishkisser! ^_^)

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Chapter Two: The Wanderer of Legends ~ Part Two ~

Komaru lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

~Who was she?~ he thought. ~She fought the so-called Shinimegami with the practiced ease of a full samurai... but she looked to be no more than 19 or 20...~ He turned over onto his stomach and hugged his pillow. ~And she spoke as if she knew everything about the legendary Shinimegami.... Who was she? Where did she come from? And what was she doing there, at that precise moment? Was it just an accident that she was there, and that the fake Shinimegami happened to spot her in the crowd?~ He buried his face in his pillow. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. He looked up groggily and sat up. He put his gi on and walked out of his room.

He approached the gate, yawning. He sleepily opened the gate, but suddenly became wide awake. It wasn't just because he realized that the woman who had been going around calling herself the Shinimegami was on his doorstep, or that she had obviously brought a lot of other very unpleasant-looking people with her. It was also due to the fact that the woman was suddenly holding the tip of her sword right up against his neck. Komaru tried to gulp, but he felt paralyzed right then and there.

~Oh kami-sama...~ he thought weakly to himself.

"Wha- what d- do you want?" he asked shakily.

The woman smiled evilly at him.

"Only to see this dojo fall," she answered very quietly.

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"Well, this is the place, that it is," said the woman with the dragon kimono from earlier. "Just as I remember it..." She stopped about two feet away from the dojo gates. "Now that is strange; the gates are open." She squinted and tilted her head slightly. "And... are those the sounds of a fray I hear?" She listened for a few moments. Her eyes went wide. "Megami-sama! It is!" She rushed into the dojo as fast as she could.

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"AH!" Komaru shouted as he was yet again flung against the far wall of the dojo. His sword fell out of his reach to his right side. He held his left shoulder, which was bleeding.

The attacking woman snorted.

"Ha! Did you expect to be able to defeat me and my boys with a mere reverse-bladed katana?" she sneered. Komaru winced and avoided looking up. He heard the woman pad up to him, and felt his head being tilted back to look at her. "Bakana shonen." ((From now on I'll define the words and phrases as I go. Bakana shonen means "stupid boy."))

"Omee wa sukeban desu," Komaru said. (("Omee" is a form of you that makes guys sound tough. Not that surprising, given Komaru's character so far. The whole thing is supposed to mean "You are a (girl) gangster." If anybody thinks it's wrong, point it out. I'm not that good with Japanese, here...))

"Omae o koroso," she answered, and raised her sword to slice him in two. Komaru bowed his head and shut his eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, that I wouldn't," said a female voice from the doorway. Everyone in the room looked at the speaker.

"Temee!" shouted the lead woman. ((My understanding is that it literally means "You f***!" It's actually a form of "you" that can be used in conversation, but not in polite ones.))

"Watakushi wa Shiori desu," said Shiori, the woman in the dragon kimono from before. ((This phrase means "I am Shiori." My understanding is that "watakushi" is a very polite form of "I." [animegirl101: Stop putting in so much Japanese! You're going to confuse people!] Hey, all the Japanese "I"s and "you"s help show the different characters' personalities! [Inuyasha: Just keep writing, will you?] Humph. *sticks tongue out at Inuyasha*))

Komaru's eyes widened.

~It's her! The woman from before!~ he thought to himself. ~So her name is Shiori. ...Why does that name sound familiar?~

"What do you want?" the woman shouted.

"Only for you to leave the inhabitants of this dojo alone," Shiori answered.

The woman sneered, and nodded slightly. Some of the men moved to block Shiori's path.

"I would rather that we not fight every time we meet," Shiori said.

"You could beat me on my own, but can you defeat ten men at a time?" the woman sneered. The ten men blocking Shiori's path moved closer. Shiori bowed her head slightly.

"Do you wish for me to kill them?" Shiori asked, softly.

"What do you think?" the woman answered.

"I am afraid I cannot do that, then," Shiori responded, softly. "That I can't."

The woman grinned evilly.

"Then I guess they will have to kill you!" she shouted, and the men ran towards Shiori.

Shiori didn't move a muscle. She didn't take on a fighting stance. She merely stood like a stone. All of the ten men raised their swords. They brought them all down in perfect unison.

There were ten loud "thunks" as all ten swords went swishing through empty air and got lodged in the floor. The men all looked around in confusion. Where had she gone?

"You missed," Shiori said from up in the air above the men. Everyone in the room looked up in astonishment. She did a flip and landed behind the ten men. They all ditched their swords and ran over to her. She barely glanced back at them.

One man swung at her head. She ducked at the last second and punched the man in the gut. But not only did she knock the wind out of him, but she also managed to send him sprawling into the man behind him. The other eight men hesitated for a brief second, but that was all the time Shiori needed to punch another one in the gut. The one next to him swung for her gut, but she bent over backwards and grabbed his wrist between her ankles. She then did a backhand spring and tossed the man into the wall on Komaru's left. She landed in a crouch and then tripped the guy that came running at her. That left five out of the original ten. The remaining five tried to rush her. They fanned out and circled her. She remained crouched. The one in front of her tried to kick her at the same time as the one behind her. She merely bent over the leg behind her and pushed it down with her head while she brought her legs up and caught the foot of the guy in front of her on the edge of her kimono and forced it up. There was a cracking and a ripping sound and the man fell onto his back groaning in pain. Shiori's momentum kept her body moving, and so she moved her legs so that her feet were pointing towards the other man's shoulders. She then pushed off of the ground with her hands and used the momentum in the man's leg to help push her up. She rammed her feet into his shoulders and knocked him over. She followed him to the ground. There were a pair of crunches as her full body weight was put onto his shoulders from the front. Another man moved into her path. She pushed off of the shoulders of the poor man she had sat on and dove headlong at the other man's stomach. She hit her mark and knocked the wind out of him. She also went falling forward with her target, but did a handspring out of the way as the remaining ones took a swing at her. There were only two men left of the original ten. One of them ran ahead of the other and tried to attack her while her back was turned. She abruptly leaned forward on one foot and hit the man in the chin with her other heel. He went sprawling back, blood coming out of his mouth. He fell over onto his back, coughing. What was surprising was that apparently she had broken his jaw. She kept going and did a handspring in order to keep herself from falling on her face awkwardly and hurting herself. The remaining man, however, had made a break for his sword, and had managed to quickly pull it out of the ground while she was busy fighting the other man. He rushed at her, holding his sword up high. She stood as still as a stone, with her left side facing him. But just as he brought his sword down to attempt to cleave her in half, she somehow moved out of the way faster than the eye could track. She brought her left hand down in a judo chop on the man's hands, causing him to drop his sword. She then brought her leg up and kicked the man in the gut, knocking the wind out of him as well. She moved out of the way as he slumped to the ground.

The whole fight had taken almost three minutes. ((If anybody got lost, then tell me when you review. [animegirl101: I think I'm lost... @_@] I almost got lost myself...))

~Kami-sama... how in the world did she do that?!~ Komaru thought, staring at Shiori. She wasn't even breathing hard. ~She did it with so little effort! She doesn't even look the slightest bit tired!~

The woman took a step back.

"Wh- who are you?!" she exclaimed. Shiori looked at her.

"I already answered that, that I did," Shiori answered. "Watakushi wa Shiori desu."

"Th- there's n- no way you could be hu- human!" the woman exclaimed, taking another step back. She shook her head. "But why... why didn't you kill them?!"

Shiori lowered her head.

"Because..." she answered, softly. "I have taken an oath to never kill." Her voice then became so low that she could barely be heard. "Ever again." Neither Komaru nor the other woman heard her.

The other woman flinched.

"Men!" she called, rallying the last of her fighters. "We shall go, now! No time to gather the fallen!" They exited past Shiori, who made no move to stop them.

Shiori locked eyes with Komaru. In the virtually non-existant light of the new moon ((Hint hint all you Inuyasha fans)), Komaru was pretty sure that her eyes were a deep violet or even brown. She stepped towards Komaru, who tried to back away. She stopped.

"Daijobu desu ka?" she asked, suddenly. ((That means "Are you all right?" The "ka" indicates that it's a question))

Komaru, startled, nodded silently. He then winced and remembered his shoulder.

"She stabbed you there, didn't she?" Shiori asked, gently. Komaru looked up at her in surprise, then nodded again. Shiori nodded. "I thought I saw blood on her sword. Do you need any help getting up?"

"Nah, I can handle it myself." Komaru let go of his shoulder and pushed himself up using both hands. He winced as he did so, but grit his teeth to avoid making a noise. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Shiori seemed surprised. She put a hand behind her head and laughed nervously.

"Ah ha ha... I... was just passing through, that I was!" Shiori answered nervously. "A friend told me about this dojo, that they did! I was coming to investigate when I heard the sounds of a fight, and so I decided to investigate, that I did!"

Komaru didn't look very convinced.

"You're a wandering bum, aren't you?" he asked, bluntly.

Shiori fell over.

"You aren't the first one to ask me that, that you aren't..."

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Me: Well, there ends another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! *sees Sesshoumaru trying to get away* Come back here Sesshoumaru-bishonen-sama! *runs off after a now swiftly retreating Sesshoumaru*

animegirl101 & Inuyasha: O.o *look at each other with weird looks on their faces, then looks at where I've disappeared to*

animegirl101: ...Uh, okay, I guess... just go review while me and Inuyasha try to get IBB to come back.... *she & Inuyasha exit after me*