I do not own Xenosaga and its elements. I do not own Ah! My Goddess, Oh! My Goddess, or Aa! Megami-sama, whatever you wanna call it.
DAMN. Wish I had something. Oh wait, I have me.
The Way of the Samurai
The samurai sword is said to be one of three sacred treasures of the Japan. The Sacred Mirror and the Comma Shaped Beads are the other two. As early as 3 B.C. the Samurai Sword was used as an offering to the Gods. It is said to possess the three critical holy elements of purity, rarity, and value. The sword would later become the symbol of the Samurai Code or the Code of the Warrior.
-Japanese Samurai Swords, website.
**********
Shuttle Arrival Dock,
Kukai
Jin Uzuki stepped off a transport shuttle, carrying a large selection of luggage, of which most notable was the large case that held many swords in its synthetic glass frames and several bags of books. His traditional samurai garb also attracted much attention and whispers as he walked to the Elsa, in which Shion had told him to meet her in. Along the way, he had the misfortune of being cornered by three street thugs. Three genetically enhanced thugs.
One, who towered over him by at least two feet and thrice as broad as him leered down at the smaller man. "Hey, pal. You a human? We don't take nicely to you second-rate humans walking in here, you know."
Jin calmly and politely asked him to please let him pass. "I do not have any problems with you, sir. If you would be so kind…"
The thug lifted him high into the air by his throat as Jin struggled to breathe. "Dude, you'd better clear off now, and leave your books and blades as payment, hehe. They look as though they would sell for a pretty dime."
At that, Jin's eyes flashed slightly. "No."
The thug sneered. "Well, too bad, then, coz-"
Jin slammed a foot into the thug's face, forcing him back. The swordsman landed lightly on his feet, and proceeded to draw a long katana from his sheath. While the thugs surrounded him, Jin calmly held his sword aloft, gripping the hilt tightly in the traditional kendo fashion.
"This is Masamune no kyuumu. Its kissaki was made according to the legendary script of the great swordsmith Masamune from Lost Jerusalem itself. Sculpted and smelted by the best of swordsmiths on New Edo."
The thugs laughed, and as one, leapt at Jin to strike him down.
"This katana weighs twenty kilogrammes, and the reason for its exceptional weight is the triple-bonded titanium and diamond blade. You will be hard pressed to find a heavier or more powerful one." So saying, he melted out of the thugs' reach, reappearing behind them, his blade held in the same position. As they turned around, about to bring their superhuman strength to bear, Jin spoke again.
"Legend goes that the great smiths Masamune and Murasame had a contest to judge whose swords were better. Murasame placed his blade in a stream, and the blade clove through all leaves that passed through it easily."
Jin evaded yet again, and this time leapt high to land behind them again, but his sword in reverse attack position.
"Masamune's sword did not cleave the leaves; the leaves avoided it instead, a symbol of its holy power."
With that, he struck. Lashing out like a coiled viper, Jin ducked below the first thug and knocked out the second with the reverse edge of his blade. He continued on to slam the blunt point into the other thug's chest and sent him flying backwards twenty feet, despite his advantage in size and weight. By now, only the first thug remained. He yelled, and instantly, Jin was surrounded again, but this time with twenty thugs.
The samurai retained his calm, and raised the katana to a parrying stance while his other palm glowed blue. As some of the gangsters charged him, the others opening fire with all manner of guns, Jin deflected their bullets single-handedly while gathering ether energy in his other. At last, as the first wave neared him, Jin unleashed the powerful force of energy by channelling it through his blade. It took on the form of sapphire sakura blossoms that seemed to flutter to the earth and explode in a tiny shower of particles.
As Masamune of old did with his blade, the force of the power rent the group asunder, throwing them like leaves with the wind to distances even greater than the first few thugs. Jin dealt with those at the back row by means of a complicated Tokoyonokuni sutoraiiki move that dropped them easily, the excess energy scouring deep gashes into the earth and sending metal flying. The last surviving member nearly wet his pants as Jin aimed the kissaki point at him, his hand never wavering and steadied further by his left hand on the sword point.
"Never again will you disturb an Uzuki."
Jin withdrew his blade and sheathed it before bidding his spectators a good afternoon and continuing on his way. However, the remaining thug instead drew a bead on Jin's back.
Instantly, before the others could cry out a warning, if they indeed intended to, Jin reached within his robes and flung four kozuka throwing blades at him, piercing him at his wrists and ankles, crippling him but causing non-fatal wounds.
"I warned you."
With that slightly cliché ending remark, the elder Uzuki continued on his way, the crowd parting before him like the Red Sea before Moses.
**********
Beach,
Kukai
Jr. dashed off, laughing madly as he prevented MOMO from getting the volleyball. However, he slammed right into chaos who neatly grabbed the ball and passed it to MOMO. Now, it was Jr.'s turn to dash madly after MOMO. At length, he stopped, huffing and wheezing.
"Damn, it's hard to play when your opponents are both taller than you!"
chaos stopped, laughing and quipped. "Why don't you grow up then? Choose to gain several years and some inches."
"Gah…I don't really wanna do it. To tell the truth, I don't think that I can get any older. I kinda screwed up the last time I tried to change my age." Jr. shut his eyes at the horrifying memory.
While the amiable trio were having fun in the volleyball court, Ziggy was looking at several magazines, reading through them with incredible speed. KOS-MOS was standing silently beside the volleyball court, looking at the playing kids. Jr. spotted her, and yelled.
"Hey, KOS-MOS! I need some help if I'm gonna even the height disadvantage!"
Ziggy turned around and watched interestedly. KOS-MOS nodded and walked up into the playing field. chaos grinned.
"Ah, the lady decides to join us. I presume all is fine with you?"
"It is for me, but not for you. My calculations indicate a 67.345 percent probability that you shall lose this round."
Chaos blinked. KOS-MOS had apparently made a joke when she had said that all would not be fine with him. A terrible joke and horribly stiff, but nonetheless a joke. Shrugging it off, he spiked the ball and yelled at MOMO to run and intercept.
KOS-MOS moved blindingly fast, and before he knew it, the ball bounced off chaos' head to score a point. Jr. grinned. They continued in this exact same fashion until chaos was soon groaning while massaging his aching head.
Ziggy chuckled silently and resumed reading his magazine, which happened to be none-too-educational, unless hentai manga (which he had stolen from Jr.) had gotten some sort of learning capability. It was then that Shion came running up, dragging a guy in a very traditional looking outfit behind her.
"Hey, guys! Jin's here!"
Jr. walked over, grinning a curiously twisted grin. KOS-MOS and chaos followed behind him, and MOMO led the way, anxious to meet the brother that Shion had been telling her about. Ziggy stood up and strode over, well-aware of Jin's former reputation as the one of the best swordsmen, albeit unknown in the known universe.
Jin appeared slightly uncomfortable, but eased up the moment he saw the others. Reaching down, he lifted MOMO in a hug. "Hey, MOMO! Shion's been telling me about you!" MOMO squealed slightly and blushed furiously as Jin picked her up, and she shook his hand as she was put down. chaos stood next, and welcomed Jin with a warm handshake. "A pleasure, to meet the brother of Shion Uzuki!"
"Hey, you old dog."
Jin turned, and saw Jr. grinning at him. "Now, you wouldn't happen to have a screen name of JinUzuki_rulez would you?"
"Er…oh! You're TheGreatBigHorny-"
Jr. clamped a hand over Jin's mouth as he tried to continue. "Hehe, well, Jin and me here, we have a bit of web chatting history, ya see? We both like educational sites, and find their contents very interesting. (Oh hey, do you wanna see both Belldandy and Skuld get it on with Keiichi at once?)"
Jin tore his mouth free. "WHOA! You serious? Damn, where d'you get those pics?"
"Speciality web-site designed for-er-oops."
Jin looked around, saw that everyone with the exception of two people, were staring at his sudden change of behaviour. Even Shion. The Jin she knew was a mild mannered bookworm, but this Jin was a-
"Erm, as I was saying!" Jin took on a very scholarly appearance. "That was a very educational web-site. (I need to shut up more.)"
"…"
Shion decided to continue with the introductions, ignoring the disturbing image of Jin peering at hentai comics even worse than Jr.'s own stash that seemed to pop up in her mind. She would make it a point to check his luggage later.
"This is Ziggurat Eight, otherwise known as Ziggy!"
Jin surprised everyone by bowing to Ziggy. "Ah, konnichiwa, Ziggy-san. I am honoured to meet you again."
Shion stared. "Wait, you know him?"
Ziggy fielded that question. "Jin Uzuki is also not unknown to me. We have fought together in a mission once, and I was impressed with his fighting skills. I can guarantee you, that no one, not even me, can surpass Jin Uzuki in the skills of the blade."
Shion raised an eyebrow. "How interesting. Jin, what exactly were you doing when I was in Vector?"
"Uh-reading books and hent-ah, and working for various security and mercenary agencies. I met Ziggy before he departed to Pleroma, on the Ariadne Shopping Walks. We were supposed to catch a band of thieves that had been plaguing the city."
Jr raised his eyebrows. "That seems like overkill. Two top fighters hired by two different companies to deal with some lousy thieves?"
"They attacked us with ten AGWS units."
"Ah…"
Ziggy spoke. "We were pinned into a corner, and the only thing which got us out of there alive is Jin's Raiden technique which short-circuited them long enough for us to get out. Jin, I look forward to duelling with you sometime soon."
"Same here, Ziggy. (Sounds like a puppy's name…why did he choose that?)"
"Did you say something, Jin?"
"Er-no. Talk to you later, then."
Shion raised her eyebrows and moved on to the next person. "Jin, this is KOS-MOS. She's the project that I was telling you about, remember?"
"Oh-ah-hi there!"
"Jin, you appear to have a nosebleed."
Jin distractedly wiped his nose while ogling at KOS-MOS.
Shion looked around, satisfied that Jin had met everyone. Well, except Gaignun, but they would be visiting him that night anyway. Jr seized this chance to grab the volleyball and slam it onto the other side of the court while no one was looking.
"56…57…58…59…60…61…"
chaos quickly spotted him and yelled at the others. "Hey, come on! Let's get in the game! Jin, wanna play?"
"Sure. It appears you could use some help!"
And not a moment later, the gang was back to playing volleyball, this time with Jin slightly evening out the score, despite Jr.'s cheating. Shion sighed.
"Boys…"
And she too, jumped in to the game, grinning wildly.
**********
A/N: Well, kind of stupid here, but at least I've established some facts about Jin. Y'know, I have the same first name as he does, hehe. (screams as Monolith tries to sue him for having the same name as one of their characters). Sorry for twisting him like that, but I thought the fight was a bit serious.
Okay, anyway, thanks to midnightoasis again, FF Fangirl H, Daye and Koyoko Mei! To Daye's question, yes I will develop the plotlines as well, and the humanity thing will be a theme in the process. Ew, that didn't come out well. Anyway, you get the point, right?
Sorry for updating so slowly, but I've just entered midterm phase, and also am working on an Ah! My Goddess fic. Just stumbled upon that wonderful anime which can compete with dothack Liminality and some other of my favourite OAVs for the top spot!
Sayonara, for now, that is.