Chapter 8: Reunions.- Kojuro
Kojuro watched Hanbei leave the room. His patience was wearing thin, he had been held here in this room for far too long. He took out the letter sent by the ninja a week ago and read it over again. It was driving him mad trying to think of the plan that was supposedly going on outside the walls. "Boy, I thought that bastard would never leave." Came a strangely familiar voice. Kojuro rose to his feet and turned around but saw nothing. "Aname?" he asked in a whisper, not sure if he had really heard anything. A figure seemingly began to morph out of the shadows in the ceiling, until a small blonde woman stood before him. "Forgive me for the wait Master Katakura, I had a bit of recovering to do." Kojuro stood in silent awe; this woman before him was supposed to be dead and yet, there she was, no illusion, no ghost, Aname was right there in front of him.
"You're alive?" he asked, just to be completely sure. "Alive and at your service," she replied with a gentle smile. Aname walked up to him, unsheathing the sword at her side. "I've kept this safe for you," She said offering the blade to him. Kojuro took the sword and sheathed it quickly. "And I have kept yours," he said as he offered her, her own blade. Then, he reached his hand out to rest on her shoulder and gently pulled her into his strong embrace. "M-Master Katakura?" Aname mumbled, not expecting such a show of affection. "Kojuro," he said quietly, "You need only to call me by my name."
Aname blushed and wrapped her own arm around him, "Alright then Kojuro, we need to get out of here before someone decides to walk in."
Kojuro hesitated for moment as if he were going to say something, but quickly shook his head and started for the door.
Kojuro and Aname snuck out of the castle and made their way to the stables to steal a horse. "So it's time to meet back up with Boss Masamune," Aname said as she sat on the back of the horse. "If you don't mind, I'd rather go after Takenaka Hanbei," Kojuro said. "Well he went that way so let's go," Aname said pointing in the opposite direction. Kojuro spurred the horse on, eager to reach Hanbei now that he was free.
"Lord Shingen, Lord Masamune," Sasuke said as he appeared out of the trees.
"What's going on, did you get Kojuro?" Masamune asked anxiously.
"As we were searching the castle Aname found Kojuro and I found the Toyotomi's plans. Kasuga has gone to inform Kenshin and Aname stayed to free Kojuro. The Toyotomi have already started to launch an attack in several areas," Sasuke said.
"What do you mean Sasuke?" Yukimura asked curiously.
"I mean the Toyotomi have moved three different armies out already, One lead by Mitsunari Ishida heading to the North to engage Lord Kenshin, One headed up from the south led by Motonari Mori, along with another force led by Ieyasu Tokugawa on orders to attack the Takeda."
"What are we going to do about all of that?" Karia shouted.
"We leave Kenshin to face Mitsunari, I'll take the Takeda to engage Ieyasu, and you and young Masamune will go on ahead and attack Odawara. Then, if everything goes our way, Motonari will either retreat or we'll all be able to attack him all at once," Shingen replied.
"Lord Masamune!" one of the men shouted pointing frantically off into the distance.
Masamune noticed a lone -or what he thought was a lone- rider making its way towards them.
"It's Master Katakura, and Aname!" Karia squealed running forward to meet them.
Kojuro pulled the horse to a stop as Karia and Masamune approached. Aname removed her arms from around his waist and gently slid off the horse only to find herself embraced by her best friend.
"You did it Aname! You got Master Katakura back!" the redhead squealed.
Masamune grinned at Kojuro as his friend swung himself off of the horse. "Welcome back Kojuro."
"I still have something to take care of Lord Masamune, I shall join you back at Odawara once I take care of Takenaka Hanbei."
Masamune nodded his head. "Are you taking Aname with you? I want to make sure I don't lose you to that bastard again."
"Of course I'm going with him!" Aname declared.
"Alright then, you know to meet us in Odawara so let's get going; Toyotomi is already on the move."
Kojuro had the horse running at full speed and not too long after they left the main army a white clad figure could be seen in the distance.
"Halt there Takenaka Hanbei!" Aname shouted as they got closer. Hanbei turned his horse around and halted his small party before he faced his approaching opponents.
Aname leapt from the horse as they got closer, landing behind Hanbei to cut off any escape attempts.
"I see now that you and I are truly different my dear Katakura," Hanbei said as he faced Kojuro.
"I have waited for the moment we clash blades Takenaka Hanbei, there is much I wish to pay you back for."
Behind Hanbei, Aname pulled out her katana. "I'll leave Hanbei to you, I can handle the rest.
Kojuro and Hanbei lunged for each other, blades clashing instantly. Aname set her sights on the small party of soldier that had formed around her, raising her katana and shifting into a fighting stance. There were twelve men in Hanbei's escort, two armed with spears, and the rest with katana.
The two spear wielders made the first attack, trying to hit Aname from two sides. She did a backflip, grabbing the shafts of both spears and pulled them together forcing the soldiers to stumble forwards. Aname landed with two small knives going down into the soldier's necks to finish them off.
"Alright, that was the warm up, who's next?" she asked with a smirk. Three of the men were outraged and charged forwards. Aname ducked and spun in place, letting her katana slice through her opponents shins. They all fell to the ground with cry, leaving the other seven men to stare and back up a little bit. Five soldiers mustered their courage and charged for Aname. Three of them came head on and the other two split up to attacker her from each side. Aname pulled out a short sword and used both blades to hold back her opponents. Then, Aname felt a sharp pain in her left side and looked down to see that one of the remaining two soldiers had come up from behind her. Aname used all the force she had and pushed back her attackers and jumped away from them.
Kojuro watched as Hanbei slowly backed away from him, coughing fiercely. It was almost pitiful to watch as Hanbei came closer to the edge of the cliff.
"It appears as though time did not favor me," Hanbei said through coughs, "You would have made a beautiful addition to the Toyotomi."
"There is a power in loyalty which I believe you understand well. However, there is also a power in friendship, and it is not to be overlooked. You would have never gotten me to betray my Lord Masamune."
Hanbei chuckled, "It would seem so."
Kojuro then noticed that the ground below Hanbei's feet began to crack. As Hanbei began to fall he had one final word, "Farewell."
Kojuro looked to see how Aname was doing when he saw her jump away from a group of now seven men. Kojuro noticed that her hand was on her left side and her face was scrunched up in pain. Kojuro quickly moved in front of Aname as the soldiers came forward.
"Leave," Kojuro said, glaring down the soldiers. "You general as fallen, now leave."
One of the soldiers moved forward and Kojuro swiftly cut him down. The rest of the men fled and Kojuro then knelt down beside Aname.
"How bad is the wound?" Kojuro asked as he took Aname's hand and moved it out of the way.
"He didn't cut too deep but it's definitely not pretty," she replied.
"Come on, we passed a small village not far from here."
Kojuro gently lifted Aname up causing her to protest though he ignored her and carried her to the horse.
"You didn't have to carry me." Aname grumbled, a faint blush on her cheeks.
Kojuro swung himself up onto the horse so that he was sitting behind Aname, reaching his arms around her to grab the reins.
As they rode into the village a few people started to surround them in curiosity, "My comrade is injured. Can anyone help us?" Kojuro asked.
"Bring her in here sir," replied an elderly woman standing in the doorway of a small building.
Kojuro carried Aname inside following the woman into a small room.
"Lay her there and I'll come get you when I'm done. You can wait in one of the other rooms."
"Thank you," Kojuro replied.
Kojuro chose to wait outside of the house, sitting down on the wooden stairs.
"I've never understood you young women trying to be a part of all these wars," The old woman sighed as Aname carefully took off her ninja gear and shirt, revealing her wound.
"The men fight to protect what they love and what they believe in," Aname said, "Why can we not fight for what we love as well?"
The woman looked at Aname questioningly for a moment before giving her a soft smile. "I suppose I have been stuck in the old ways."
"Your ninja friend is all patched up, though I don't think it would be wise for her to move around too much for a few days."
Kojuro nodded, "Would you mind if I left her here then? We are in the middle of a war and I must regroup with my Lord. I can come back in a day or so."
"Of course, of course."
"Thank you."
Kojuro walked into the room where Aname was resting. "I'm going to leave you here while I go to Lord Masamune. I'll be back as soon as we leave Odawara," he told her.
"Yeah, I think it would do Lord Masamune good to have you fighting with him again."
"It seems as though he's survived well enough without me" Kojuro said with a smile.
"Yeah. Just make sure you don't forget me down here," Aname joked.
"Forgetting you would be impossible,"
Aname felt her cheek grow red again. She wanted to say something back but she couldn't come up with any words. The room became silent for a few moment as the two stared at each other until Kojuro spoke, "Before I leave there is one thing I'd like to do."
"And what would that be?" Aname asked suspiciously.
Kojuro leaned forward, gently pressing his lips against her's. Aname was shocked at first but she reached out her hand and placed it on his shoulder to keep him there for a little bit longer.
Kojuro pulled away after a moment and stood up.
"So that's what you wanted to do?" Aname asked smiling up at him,
"I'd like to do it again when I return as well," he replied with a grin.
"I think I'd like that too."
"I'll be back soon," he said almost reluctantly.
"Be careful, Kojuro."