(a/n: I just thought I'd throw this in. I do not own Samurai Champoo!!!! Though I do love it very much.)
Vol. 13 Ultimatum
-Jin-
Tsukiko and I stood facing the darkness. Whoever the men were, they hadn't moved in yet. Despite the fact that I was sure they outnumbered us, they were being cautious. Probably not your average cocky government lackeys. Tsukiko looked like she was calculating, maybe trying our odds against theirs. For the first time I found myself hoping that she was just as good a fighter as Mugen or I.
"How do you want to do this?" Mugen asked, waiting for his cue to go. He was still crouched behind us, making sure he was hidden from sight.
"I'm not sure," she mumbled. "Right now my weapons are across the water, so I'm totally unarmed."
Mugen and I both looked at her, shocked. "What?"
"I told you I wasn't lying," she shrugged. "I guess I can make a break for it and hope I get there before they do. Mugen, you use that as your distraction."
"Got it."
"This plan seems a little…flimsy," I thought aloud.
Tsukiko laughed quietly and shook her head. "Story of my life."
She ran across the stone steps quicky, her feet hardly touching before she was on the next. I went after her, ready to cut anyone down as she got her weapons. The men who had been hiding now cam out and closed in on us. Tsukiko pulled her katana out of its sheath and picked up her sai.
"Are you ready?" I asked her. She put her back up against mine.
"Always."
The men came at us and we began cutting them down. Blood sprayed as I sliced open one man's throat and ran my sword through another who was coming at me from the side. There were a lot of them. Twenty at the most. I didn't know if we could handle them all.
-Mugen-
I sat on the top of the wall and watched part of the fight. They were doin' alright. Jin was slicing and dicing like usual, and Tsuki was better than I had thought. She caught a blade in her sai and used her katana to cut him open. They were going to be okay, I could go without worrying. I needed to get Fuu's ass out of the rooms. Then we'd just have to wait for Jin and Tsukiko to get back. I dropped off the wall and ran back in the direction the we had come in.
-Jin-
The men started backing away from us. Their numbers were almost half of what they were before. They didn't look angry though, they looked like they had won. Tsuki was panting, a defiant look on her face. It reminded me of Mugen a little. We were coated in blood from head to toe. The man I took as their leader came out from under the shadow of a tree nearby. The men parted for him to walk through.
"You might as well surrender now," he said in a rough voice.
"That isn't an option," I said calmly.
The man smiled. He gestured to his men and they all pulled out guns. The sound of hammers being pulled back made me hold my breath. This was not good. Tsukiko's eyes darkened as she looked at me. We knew that we only had two options. One was that we could keep fighting and most likely get shot in the process. Two was that we give up and hope Mugen and Fuu would come and save us before they killed us. Neither sounded pleasant, so I was stuck.
"What are you thinking Jin?" Tsukiko questioned. Then to my dismay, all of the guns pointed to her.
"I know exactly how to solve this," the leader told us. "If you don't give up ronin, we'll shoot her. It'll be all your fault."
I hesitated, but Tsukiko spoke up. "What makes you think that we're that good of friends? I just met him a few days ago."
The man took another step and grabbed one of his men's guns. He pointed it right at Tsukiko's head. Her jaw clenched, but she kept her glare up. He looked to me.
"Can you do it? Can you know that she died because of your pride?"
"It wouldn't be your fault Jin. This bastard is the one pulling the trigger," Tsukiko assured me. "Kill him."
"Don't. I'll blow her brains out of her skull."
"Do it Jin."
"I wouldn't."
This was getting very trying. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want Tsukiko to die, but I hated surrender. I looked into her blue eyes and did the only thing I could think of to preserve the both of us. I dropped my sword. Tsukiko sighed and closed her eyes tightly. Apparently she was disappointed in me.
"Good man," the leader chuckled. "Now you get to come with us."
One of the men hit me hard in the back of my head and everything went black.
-Fuu-
From my pleasant dream, I was woken up by a rough hand being pressed over my mouth. Frightened, I struggled. I flailed my arms and legs around until one of my feet connected with something.
"Shit!" I heard Mugen grunt. "You kicked me right in the nuts, you bitch!"
"Well what were you doing attacking me in my sleep like that jackass?" I gasped. I put one hand over my chest to feel my heart hammering in my chest. "You were being a pervert weren't you?"
"No," he growled. "Me, Jin, and Tsuki got attacked. They are back fighting them off, I was supposed to come here and get your boney ass to safety. Now I'm thinkin' that I'll leave you here."
"What?" I asked urgently. "Who attacked you?"
"We don't know, but there were a lot of them."
"Where are we supposed to go?"
Mugen stood and started getting stuff together. "We are going to the nearest temple outside of town. Then we're going to wait until Tsuki and Jin get back. Now shut up and get your shit, 'cause we gotta leave now."
I did what he said and started packing up the few things I had. Then I began to get Tsuki's things. I was worried, I hoped they were going to be okay. Mugen had said there were a lot of them, which meant that Jin and Tsuki would have the odds against them. I hoped Tsuki could handle herself. She must be able to, right? She volunteered to stay behind and fight, so she had to be tough. I picked up her necklace, a tiger's tooth that she said she had gotten right from a tiger. "It was either me or it," she had told me. She said it was her good luck charm. I put it over my head and let it fall into my kimono. She should have had it with her tonight.
Please R&R!!!!!