Chapter Two: Rumble in the Teahouse
"What an animal," Yasu hissed under her breath as she stepped into the kitchen of the small teahouse. The peach dressed girl held her tray clutched to her chest as she shook her head in disgust. "I thought he was going to bite my hand when I reached across the table to pick up the used skewers." She stared at her fingers for a moment, as if checking to see all were still attached, then spinning about, she peered around the opening back into the dining area at the man in the red jacket that had her so put out.
He was hunched over a bowl of rice shoveling it in as fast as he could.
Yasu made a face. "That is just so…so uncivilized!"
"Not so loud," Koichi, the owner, whispered as he scooped rice from a steaming pot into a bowl. "He'll hear."
The object of everyone's attention, Mugen, happily snatched the small sake cup up from the table and downed the last bit of liquid. He licked his lips, savoring the taste mixed with rice and eel, before slamming the cup to the edge of the table. "Refill!" he barked, spewing half chewed food and spittle everywhere.
Groaning, Yasu clapped a hand over her mouth. "That's awful." She then squeaked as Koichi shoved her out into the room with orders to refill Mugen's cup. She grabbed the sake jug roughly as she quickly wove her way around mostly empty tables, passed a man in a maroon kimono sitting off to the edge of the room surrounded by three big samurai.
Cool, moist air blew in through the short curtain draped across the doorway making Yasu shiver as she came to a stop before Mugen's table. Sake sloshed into the small cup and then after tipping the jug back up, she reached for the plate piled high with used skewers. A low growl between mouthfuls of food made her withdraw her hand quickly as Mugen glared over the top of the bowl he had up to his mouth.
"What a rude fellow," the round-faced man in the maroon kimono said rather loudly. His men paused and looked back over their shoulders at Mugen. Each grunted in agreement before returning to their meal. Not satisfied with his men's acknowledgement, he set his bowl down and laid the chopsticks across the top. For a time, he just glared at Mugen, but the peachy color of Yasu's kimono drew his attention away. He smiled darkly as the girl moved through the teahouse.
The bang of the sake cup being smashed to the table across the room again drew the man's attention away. He pressed his lips into a thin line.
"More!" Mugen bellowed.
Koichi froze in the kitchen, then slowly drew his hands up to his gray head. "Oh dear."
"What?" Yasu said as she turned to look back into the main room.
"Magistrate Juemon is upset." He grabbed up a plate of skewered eel and shoved it toward the girl. "Give this to him, compliments of the house."
"But—"
"Just do it!
Yasu skittered over to the Magistrate's table. "Compliments of the house," she said with a strained smile as she set the plate down.
Juemon looked the steaming eel over suspiciously, and then slid the plate toward his three men. He motioned toward Mugen. "It seems Koichi lets any sort of trash in these days."
Following his hand, Yasu frowned. "Sir, with all the rain, business has been quite slow."
"That's no excuse for lowering your standards."
From behind a skewered squid, Mugen paused to eye the man, then with two big bites, stripped the meat from the wood.
"Nothing but common trash!" Juemon loudly sneered. He glanced passed Yasu to a nervous looking teahouse owner peeking out of the kitchen. "Koichi! Throw that low class dog out! He's disturbing my meal."
Shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, Koichi raced over to the table, bowing. "But he is a paying customer!"
The round-faced man's eyes narrowed as he spoke in a low tone. "Then you will give me my meal for free as it has been ruined. You will also give my men their food on the house for the next month for clearing such refuse from your establishment." He glanced toward Mugen who was starting his third bowl. Threat hung in his voice. "A bad reputation would ruin business, would it not?"
Koichi's lip trembled and he bit it as he bowed again. "Yes, yes. You are quite right." The fear was rich in his voice. "All your meals are on the house for a month. So terrible to disturb you."
Raising his hand, Juemon snapped his fingers.
Mugen had been listening to everything, as he always did, but barely paused between shovelfuls of rice to take a breath. People tended to be freer with their words if they thought he was not listening.
Sometimes he picked up some useful information.
Other times, it just pissed him off.
Damn, he thought as the three gray dressed samurai rose from the other table, he wasn't finished eating yet.
The sweet smelling, peach dressed waitress walked past, swinging a sake jug on the end of a braided cord. Dropping his rice bowl, Mugen was in motion. Before Yazu could scream, he had pulled the rope from her hand, swung the jug about and launched it across the room.
Clay shattered as it smashed into the face of the nearest samurai sending him tumbling backward. Before the other two could draw their swords, Mugen leapt up on the bench, then on top of the table. A wild kick sent the half filled rice bowl airborne. The taller of the two samurai batted it away with his sword as he charged the wild man.
Easily bounding out of the way of the down cut, he flipped through the air, a metal-soled geta battering the attacker in the chest as he flipped and landed squarely on a nearby table. "Is this all you bitches got?" he snarled as he reached back and drew his sword, blocking the third man's attack.
Juemon remained calm ignoring the fight as he picked a grain of rice off his dark sleeve. "No manners at all."
"Please," Koichi begged as he ran to the table the wild haired man was perched on. "Take your fight outside."
"I'm not the one who started it," Mugen said as he rebuffed the attack, bounding from table to table, just to see if the samurai would chase after him. The muscles of his arms strained as he fought to hold his ground against the remaining attacker. "You move fast for a big guy," he smirked. "But not fast enough!"
Somersaulting off one table and over to the one occupied by the Magistrate, Mugen grabbed up the complimentary eel as he completed the move. Fanning the three skewers out, he stripped one with a chomp as he fended off the last samurai with a one handed swing of his blade.
"Your boys look scary," he mumbled through the mouthful of eel, "but they're nothing but show." He stripped the second skewer as he hopped out of the way of a wild swing. "I fought better as a brat with a stick." Third skewer cleaned.
Driving the tip of his blade into the table, Mugen flipped the skewers about and stabbed his opponent with two of them. The man screamed as he dropped his katana and fell to the floor writhing in agony.
With the third skewer he turned, pausing only long enough to use the pointed tip to pick a piece of meat from between his teeth then flew down to his knee. His hand moving so fast that Juemon could not respond before the skewer with driven through his hand and between two tightly fitted planks of the table.
The Magistrate howled and tried to jerk back but his hand was pinned in place.
From another plate, Mugen picked up another skewer. Then held an empty hand out to the shaking man. "Your money or I'll pin the other hand to the table."
Tears streamed down Juemon's face as he glared at the rude fellow he had so happily insulted earlier. After only a moment, he relented and reached into his gi. Just as his hand appeared, gripping a small pale yellow coin bag, he froze. Gritting his teeth together, pain faded into rage. "Diagoro!" he barked.
Mugen tipped his head back in surprise. "Huh?"
Vibrations rocked the teahouse and the table he was crouched on. Rings formed on the surface of a full cup sitting near the edge. The light that spilled in through the doorway fell into shadow as something very large obscured the opening.
"What the hell?" he asked as he rose to his feet and scratched his shaggy head. Reaching calmly to his side, he grabbed the hilt of his sword and drew it from the table.
Juemon's voice was tight with pain. "You've signed your own death warrant."
The frame cracked as a veritable giant forced his way in through the small opening. Beady eyes stared out over a smashed in nose as the beast of a man growled. "Yeah, boss?"
Furiously pointing up at the man standing on his table, Juemon hissed, "I want this man to die slowly, do you understand Daigoro? Make him suffer."
Growling, Mugen kicked over a sake jug spilling liquid all over the Magistrate's skewered hand. A shrill shriek tore through the teahouse.
"You scream like a girl," he said in disgust before hopping off the table and hitting the floor with a thud.
"Kill him!" Juemon barked.
The nearly toothless Daigoro offered up a foul smile. "Yes, boss." From a shoulder strapped scabbard, the big man pulled a straight sword and held it out before him menacingly.
Mugen cocked a brow then shrugged absently. "Am I supposed to be scared?" Grinning, he added, "Are you a tough guy, because I only fight tough guys." Before the last word left his mouth, he was in motion, burning across the room, his geta thundering over the floor planks as he closed the distance to the large man.
Daigoro offered a toothless grin as he swung his thick arm sweeping his long weapon in front of him.
Bounding back, ducking as he lunged, Mugen avoided the deadly cut as he somersaulted through a follow up attack, dropping a geta into Daigoro's chest.
It was like slamming into a stone wall.
Air exploded from Mugen's lungs as he was thrown to the floor, landing flat on his back with a dull thud. "Wha—"
He didn't get the word out before he twisted out of the way of the long blade as it slammed down just a finger's width from his right ear.
"Hey! Watch it!" He snapped as he threw himself out of the way of another swing, spinning up onto his shoulder as he narrowly avoided being chopped in half.
"Stay still!" Daigoro roared.
"And let you cut me?" Flipping over, Mugen kicked out again, catching the back of Daigoro's knee. He sent the man stumbling forward as he surged to his feet. Blades crashed together but Mugen was quicker.
Red gushed, splattering at his feet as Daigoro fell to the floor but he did not linger to examine his handiwork as he raced for the door. Pushing through the dark blue curtains into the rain heavy afternoon he found himself surrounded by a dozen grey dressed men.
The hiss of blades being drawn filled the air as a wicked grin slid across his face. He playfully motioned to the samurai. "Come and get me."
Thank you to Elementary Magpie, roterritter, and poornmiserable for taking the time to read. :)
Next Chapter - Fuu Fuu go poof!