Chapter three

T. Honda and the Long Con

"Three things gave you away, one: when I saw you in the inn before the fight you were all wearing these" he said, pointing to the symbol on the upper back portion of her kimono. "I personally know that symbol, having followed some fool samurai for half a year that was actually from that clan.

"His fighting style is completely different from yours. Now, granted, having a different fighting style isn't an unusual thing to possess coming from the same house, but having four distinct styles in the same group?"

The girl sat next to Mugen on the log, all the while listening to his conspiracy theory.

"Two" he said, lifting two of his fingers to demonstrate his point: "All four of you had mud caked sandals. This is normal for a lordless samurai, we see it every day. However, you bore the mark of a noble house. There is no way in the world you would've walked into an eating establishment with dirty feet. You would've cleaned them at the door. Once again, freaky samurai guy that I previously mentioned."

"He sounded like a pain in the ass" replied the girl, smiling. She was neither; agreeing or denying his current accusations, which made Mugen continue.

"And three: though at first glance, your tattoos might look yakuza, they are not. If this was a yakuza tattoo" he said pointing to her lower stomach region "it would've covered your entire torso."

"I could've been a bad yakuza and not earned a full body suit yet" she interjected.

"Not possible. Your skill with the blade and your full complement of ten fingers rules that out. No. That my dear, is what we, from the Ryuku islands call, a T. mark" he finished, moving closer to her tattoos to get a better look.

She smiled at Mugen and then proceeded to do the customary slow clap, acknowledging that what he just said could be all true.

"So according to you, these tattoos are actually an authentic T. Honda treasure marker, is that it?"

She was secretly impressed with his perception. How can a pirate like you have so much insight, she thought.

Smiling, he made a move to touch one of her tattoos "Babe, I knew you were a con the moment I walked through the door of that inn."

She let him touch it, which immediately ignited that good old pressure feeling in Mugen.

"So tell me Mugen, what is it that you think you know about Toshiro Honda's hidden treasure" she said, softly caressing his neck.

She was doing it again, and it was working. Moving away from her, Mugen changed the subject.

"You first" he said pulling out of her embrace. "First of all, how about a name?" He had been calling her everything under the sun, the two most popular were Hey you or Bitch, slow down!

She thought about it for a second and then finally said "Sakura".

"Sakura, that's a pretty name" he said with a grin. "Well Sakura, as you probably already know every child growing up in the Ryuku is familiar with the legend of T. Honda's treasure. As the legend goes, Toshiro Honda was a Buddhist monk who converted to Christianity when the Portuguese arrived a few years back. During his many missionary journeys, Honda came across mystical artifact known as the demon tooth of Prana. The tooth was said to have come from an actual demon and possessed magical powers, one of which was the power of battle prowess. The possessor of the tooth could never die in battle. There was a price however, the holder of the tooth was constantly filled with the rage of the demon the tooth belong too and would constantly find ways to get back to the tooth's master, taking the most dangerous route possible. T. Honda realizing this followed the tooth back to a hidden location where the wealth of a hundred kingdoms rested. The journey to the hidden treasure was treacherous and filled with danger. The quest change Honda in such a way, he could never be the man he was before. It was said that the moment Honda gazed on the fantastic riches, he broke his Christian vows and became one of the most ruthless pirates to sail the Ryuku."

Mugen paused; he liked that part about Honda. As a kid he grew up pretending he was Honda and his crews were capturing treasure to place in their hidden fortress. Suddenly he lost his train of thought and he couldn't remember the next part of the story. He was confident that it had something to do with markers but he couldn't get the order right.

"I'll continue" said Sakura, who had moved close to him once again. "After many years, Honda realized that he wasn't going to live forever, so he came up with a plan to make a way for his treasure to be found by his ancestors. The plan involved creating five markers, each one showing the way to the next. The final marker would lead you to the demon tooth of Prana which would show the bearer of the tooth the location of the hidden treasure. According to legend, the first marker came in the form of a magical tattoo which was placed on twins that were separated at an early age. The tattoo would magically grow with the twins as they aged. The marker was impossible to decipher without both twins and their tattoos matching up." She finished the story and went silent as if she was thinking about something important but then forgot what she was about to say.

"So you are one of the legendary Honda twins" Mugen said finally.

She nodded slowly as if letting him in on a secret. The girl stepped off the log and stared into the forest as if she was thinking about something important.

"Whether or not I believe you doesn't really matter at this point, what I really want to know is what you need me for? If you really are a Honda twin, you have half of the first marker already, so how do I fit in with all this" Mugen said waiting for her to respond.

She remained silent.

"You know, come to think about it, all this running away from the constable only made something more obvious to me. We are not running away from someone, we are running too someone, and at the speed were going, we are on a deadline. I'm right am I?"

She turned around to face him and nodded. "In fact, we should be going pretty soon before it's too late" she said, tightening her top for another run.

"Wait, I'm not going anywhere until you answer my question. Why do you need me?"

Finishing her travel preparations she stood up.

"I need you Mugen because you are the only one in the world that can find my twin brother."