We do not own Koihime Musou or Kamen Rider Gaim. They belong to their respective creators. We just thought this idea would be fun and decided to give it a try. If you like it then that's great. If you don't then we tried. Anyway, come along and let's see what you think.
Sangokuden Armored War Gods Saga: Legends of the Armored War Gods
Co-Written By: Ten-Faced Paladin and Kamen Rider Chrome
Chapter 6: Foreshadow to Genesis
After days of travel, Nagata's traveling party finally arrived at Enjutsu's city. Despite the size of the city and the bloodline that Enjutsu was part of, the streets were oddly empty, and very few stores were actually open. They stopped at a gift shop for some souvenirs since Riri had asked for a present before they left Touka Village and they couldn't turn down the little girl's request. As it was late in the evening, they couldn't go and see Enjutsu quite yet. They would have to wait until the next day so they would be staying at an inn before setting off to her palace.
"So, what do you think Enjutsu is like?" Ryuubi asked Nagata.
"Haru told me about her. Apparently, they've met..." started Nagata.
Haru and Nagata were able to enjoy the less-cramped sleeping quarters of Ensho's palace while the majority of the girls bunked together in their own rooms. Knowing that they were going to be dealing with one of Ensho's relatives, Nagata decided to ask what they may be dealing with when they went to see her. The answer was prompt.
"She can be a sweet kid but she's also a bit of a spoiled brat," Haru admitted.
"How is that any different from Ensho?" asked Nagata.
"Reiha-chan's been getting better. Sure, she's got that pride of hers and she may not be all that smart but now she's getting better at admitting her faults," Haru said.
"You're probably a good influence on her," Nagata remarked.
"Yeah, but see here, Enjutsu was pretty ticked when she found out Reiha-chan got herself engaged to an Armored War God and she didn't. They may be cousins but they act like sisters with a sibling rivalry," Haru continued. "I'm pretty sure she was laughing when she learned that she managed to fool Reiha-chan to give her the sword for nothing."
"That fiancee of yours has to work on that pride of hers. It gets the better of her," advised Nagata.
"Yeah, we're still working on that."
"He doesn't have a good impression of her," Nagata finished.
"So she acts like the typical arrogant noble," deadpanned Kanu.
"Pretty much, so it's going to be a challenge to get the sword from her. Unless we have something to trade it with then we really don't have anything," said Nagata.
"What about one of your Lockseeds?" Ryuubi asked.
"I'm not giving any of my Lockseeds to someone like her," Nagata objected. The girl would probably play around with it and then they'd end up with an infestation of Inves and the plants from the Helheim Forest. It was bad enough, in his opinion, that Zangetsu was endorsing the use of Lockseeds being spread but at least he was being responsible about it.
Chouhi then found some cute figurines of small animals alongside Ryuubi. The Ryuubi smiled at how adorable they were before looking at the description of the items, "So these animal figurines are charms made to give blessings to people who have them. The mouse brings many children, the cat brings good fortune, and the dog brings wellness and wards off illness."
"Okay!" Chouhi beamed, snatching up the small dog. "I'm gonna get the doggie! That way I won't get another stomachache like before!"
"Um...Rinrin, maybe you wouldn't get tummy aches if you would cover up your stomach," suggested Komei. Chouhi was the only one who wore an outfit that exposed her belly. She wore it proudly.
"Ah!" Suddenly, a little girl went up to Chouhi and snatched the dog figurine out of Chouhi's hand. "I saw it first!"
"Hey, I saw it first!" Chouhi argued as she snatched it back. "It's mine!"
"You haven't even paid for it!"
"Well, I say it's mine!"
"You're nuts! Give it back!"
"No, gimme!"
Nagata and Kanu were admiring some wooden training swords when they heard the commotion.
"Hey, what's all the commotion about?" Nagata asked.
"Is Rinrin causing trouble again?" asked Kanu.
The rest of the group headed to where the commotion was to see Chouhi and the new girl butting heads over the small dog charm. The girl was short, even shorter than Chouhi, and had cyan hair tied into twin ponytails. She wore what looked like a gakuran jacket and matching hat, a white Chinese blouse, and of all things ripped denim shorts. She also wore yellow and white striped stockings with black shoes.
"Actually, this time Rinrin is in the right," Komei spoke up.
"Ha! See?" Chouhi grinned in victory.
"Fuuu!" the new girl growled.
"Ah, hell must have frozen over," Chou'un nodded, crossing her arms.
"Sei…" Nagata sighed. "Anyway, how about we go and ask the shopkeeper. He might have some extra in stock."
"A good idea, Gaim-sama!" Ryuubi agreed.
Unfortunately, the shopkeeper didn't have any other similar figurines in stock. That was the last one and because of how poorly things were going recently, he didn't know if or when he'd be getting more. The greenette was upset by this and ran out of the store. Not before shouting at Chouhi how she wished a raccoon would wash out her belly button and give her a cold. None of them chased after her but Nagata couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. Perhaps she had been getting it for a friend. However, it was usually finders keepers when it came to shopping and Chouhi had picked the figurine first.
"Poor kid," Nagata remarked.
"Well, I hope we don't ever see her again," Chouhi remarked. "She was mean." The group exited the shop and that was when they saw someone familiar.
"Hey, isn't that Ryofu?" Nagata asked as he spotted the familiar dark-skinned girl. It had been a while since they had seen her. "Hey, Ryofu-san!" She wasn't alone either. Accompanying her was Ushio Kenshin, aka Kurokage, and a large St. Bernard with brown and white fur.
"Oh, it's you guys," greeted Kenshin. He hadn't changed much, not even his choice of clothes. However, he was now carrying a spear of his own instead of going around bare-handed. Nagata had to admit that in these times it was good to have a weapon in sight. It kept bandits at bay and unwilling to attack if they saw someone armed. That was why Nagata carried swords with him, sheathed at his hips.
"Wow, it's a big doggie!" Chouhi cheered as she went up to it. "Wow, it's so cute!"
As Chouhi was admiring the St. Bernard, they heard a loud shout, "Chinkyuu Knee Drop!" It was the girl from earlier as she leaped up to attack Chouhi, aiming for her head.
"Rinrin, watch out!" Nagata ran towards Chouhi, grabbed her, and tossed her aside towards Kanu. Of course, this put him in the path of the attack and...
WHAM!
He dropped to the ground from a kick to the head.
"Nagata-niichan!" Chouhi cried.
"Ah, Gaim-sama!" exclaimed Ryuubi.
"Gaim-sama, are you alright?" Kanu asked as she helped him up.
"Man," Kenshin sighed, scratching his head. "Ren-chan, you really need to teach that kid to be aware of the situation."
"Ren-dono, how many times have I told you not to go wandering about and let strange people close to you?" the little girl shouted.
"Hey, you hurt Nagata-niichan!" Chouhi snapped.
"Well, he shouldn't have gotten in the way!" the green-haired girl shot back. She then blinked when she realized that she recognized Chouhi from somewhere. "Huh, it's you!"
"Did you get so mad about the doggie that you hit Nagata-niichan!?"
"I was aiming for you! He got in the way!"
As the two continued to butt heads, Ryofu had enough.
"Nenene," Ryofu began and the green-haired girl. Her eyes took on a spooky stare which caused everyone to gulp. The girl, Nenene, likewise gulped and prepared for a scolding. Ryofu then lifted up her hand and wagged her finger in a scolding way, admonishing, "Nenene, that wasn't a knee drop. That was a dropkick." Everyone facefaulted at that.
"Gaim-sama, are you sure you're alright?" Kanu fretted.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "The Rinrinshi hit harder." He then turned to Kenshin. "You know this kid?"
"This is Chinkyuu Koudai," Kenshin answered. "She's Ren-chan's own personal strategist and advisor."
The group sat in a tea shop together to get reacquainted. It had been a while since they had seen each other and they wanted to catch up. They especially wanted to hear how Ryofu was doing since the last time they saw her. She was brought into Totaku's home at the small girl's request. After being by herself for so long, they hoped she was doing well.
"So, Ryofu-san..." started Nagata.
"Ren," she interrupted.
"Huh?" Nagata blinked.
"Ren. Call me Ren, Gaim-sama," Ryofu insisted.
"That's her real name," Kenshin remarked. "Seriously, if she asks you to call her that, just do it."
"Right..." Nagata agreed. "So, Ren-san, what brings you here to Enjutsu's city?"
"Arranged marriage," Ryofu answered and this surprised Nagata's group.
"An arranged marriage!?" exclaimed Kanu. "You!?"
"No," Ryofu shook her head.
"Then..." Nagata looked at Kenshin. Was this some kind of way to forge an alliance? Obviously, an Armored War God would be an eligible bachelor. Not many rulers would turn down the chance to have such a power in their corner.
"It ain't me, dude," Kenshin chuckled.
"Then what about...?" Kanu looked at Chinkyuu.
"No," Ryofu denied again. "Chinkyuu is still too young for intercourse." Nagata and everyone gasped as such a blunt answer. Well, Chouhi didn't know what it meant. She asked Komei who chose not to answer, but she definitely knew judging by her red-faced expression.
"But what does it mean?" Chouhi pressed on.
"Don't ask me! You're still too young!" Komei cried.
"Yes, Rinrin's too young," agreed Chou'un. She then gazed at Kanu with a penetrating stare, "But Aisha should be old enough for it.."
"Sei!" Nagata and Kanu shot back angrily in embarrassment but this didn't dissuade her teasing smirk.
Kenshin recovered quickly and commented, "Ren-chan, blunt as always. Anyway, it's none of us. It's the dog."
"The dog?" everyone looked down to the sleeping St. Bernard.
"His name is Chouchou. He's a big dog. Unless we find another dog of the same size, intercourse would be difficult," Ryofu explained, causing everyone to blush at how blunt she was being about her travel reasons.
"Ano, Ren-san, could you please stop mentioning intercourse?" requested Nagata. "There are kids here and all."
"Ah. Okay," Ryofu nodded, but then went right back to explaining, "We heard Enjutsu has a dog of the same kind. So we came to arrange a marriage between them. However, we decided not to go through with it."
"How come?" Ryuubi asked. "Did the negotiations not go well?"
"This city is sad. The people are sad," Ryofu looked out to the street where some downtrodden people were walking. "It's probably the lord's fault. This place wouldn't be good for Chouchou or puppies."
"Yeah, the city does seem a bit depressing," agreed Nagata. Compared to Ensho and Sousou's cities, which were quite prosperous, the people here seemed like that they had seen better days. There could be only one reason. "Enjutsu." Haru had told him the girl was spoilt. She probably had the people pay high taxes to fulfill her lavish lifestyle.
"Yeah, kid's a bit of a brat from what I heard. Has no idea that she's supposed to be serving her people," agreed Kenshin as he crossed his arms. "Wish I could go up there and show her a thing or two," he threatened.
"She'd probably declare war on To," Nagata retorted.
"Heh, between me, Kayu, Ren-chan, and Hideyoshi do you think any army she could come up with would stand a chance?"
"Ha! We'd only need Ren-dono to win!" Chinkyuu crossed her arms. "And me, her talented strategist of course!"
"You're probably right. I mean Ren-san's pretty strong. She's a one-woman army after all," praised Nagata. His words made Ryofu blush. Kenshin and Chinkyuu both noticed, sending dark looks Nagata's way. "What?"
"So, Chinkyuu-dono, how did you become Ryofu-dono's strategist?" Kanu asked.
Chinkyuu then told them of her hard past, of how she had been a poor orphan. She refused to beg for money and worked to make a living. With her St. Bernard, Chouchou, she transported goat's milk from village to village. It was hard work, but honest work, and even if she didn't make a lot, she made enough to survive for the both of them. One night though, it had been raining so they had to wait it out in a watermill. However, the watermill she had been staying at caught on fire. Because of the rain, the water had flowed too quickly and the wooden gears rubbed against each other to the point of ignition. This was poor maintenance, in Nagata's opinion. However, the villagers blamed her and kicked her out of the village. Since then she had wandered from village to village, taking up whatever odd jobs she could find to survive. Of course, jobs were scarce and at some point, she had no money for food and was starving. She had tried to beg for a job to earn money but was otherwise rejected due to bad times. She and Chouchou still tried to survive, though.
Eventually, they found their way into an abandoned temple and rested there. Starving and alone, the girl and her dog were visited by angels who would take them to Heaven. However, a much stronger force brought them crashing back to Earth: the smell of delicious food. It ended up being far stronger than the angels and dragged their souls back into their bodies.
Nagata wasn't sure if Chinkyuu was being serious or had been delirious from hunger, but he was glad she hadn't died. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl because of her hard life. She had been forced to work at a young age, with no parents to depend on, and only her dog as her companion.
Chinkyuu continued her tale and told them how she and Chouchou had found Ryofu by following the scent of cooked food. They found her cooking some fish over a fire. At first, she had felt nervous until her stomach growled loudly, telling Ryofu all she needed to know. Ryofu had offered to share her food but Chinkyuu refused to take any charity and insisted to work for it, starting by polishing Ryofu's weapon. Then, when Ryofu was about to go home, telling Chinkyuu to do the same, the little girl told her she didn't have a home.
Just as Nagata expected, Ryofu offered to take Chinkyuu home with her, to Totaku's palace.
"Hey, I remember this part," said Kenshin. "Ren-chan showed up with the pipsqueak when Kayu and I saw them."
Totaku's palace was alive with sounds of battle as Kayu and Kenshin squared off against one another. The silver-haired general was giving lessons to Kenshin on how to use his weapon in battle. He barely had the basics, having managed to figure them out from watching kung fu movies for so many years. Kayu was a tough mistress, but she was also a bit of a tease, poking at his openings instead of striking at them or flashing her cleavage or thighs to distract him.
The pair stopped to have a break when they noticed their vagabond general returning to the palace with yet another dog in tow. However, unlike before, the dog came with a little girl who was sticking to Ryofu like glue.
"Yo, Ren-chan. Welcome back," Kenshin welcomed Ryofu back with Kayu. Kayu looked at both Chouchou and Chinkyuu.
"Looks like you brought back home a couple of strays again," remarked Kayu.
"Well, this is Ren-chan we're talking about," Kenshin reminded. "She can never resist strays."
"True, but they're pretty dirty," Kayu commented.
"They're cute," was Ryofu's simple answer and that was all that needed to be said.
"Well, take care of them like you always do. Just make sure you clean them or else Kaku will get pissed," Kayu dismissed as she walked off, leaving Kenshin to speak with Ryofu and her new friends.
"So, kid, where did Ren-chan pick you up from?" Kenshin asked but Chinkyuu didn't answer the scary-looking man, deciding to hide behind Ryofu instead. "Fine, don't tell me then. I can wait. Anyhow, welcome to Totaku-sama's estate. Make yourself at home." He then went off.
"He's scary," Chinkyuu said.
"Kurokage is scary but nice," Ryofu told her. She then led Chinkyuu further into the palace with Chinkyuu in awe at what she saw. She hadn't expected Ryofu to live here of all places. She definitely didn't look the type.
As they continued to walk, Kaku and Hideyoshi were walking by in front of them in a heated discussion. It was about the taxes. As a hopeful accountant when he wasn't cosplaying and partying at night, Hideyoshi had a bit of a gift with numbers. As he began helping Kaku with her paperwork, he noticed that a lot of the tax reports were coming up wonky. Some places, namely certain cities where something important such as the courts, nobles, economic, or otherwise were kept were getting taxed quite heavily while out-of-the-way places were hardly being taxed at all. Now for bigger cities, it was normal for them to bring in more tax money, but the amount they were sending obviously amounted to ridiculously high taxation compared to a regular city, much less the ones which were being ignored.
Hideyoshi of course brought this up with Kaku, showing her that someone was obviously dipping their fingers into coffers somewhere and were upping taxes in richer cities in order to cover up the losses. Kaku was of course incensed that someone in To's court was doing such a thing and was determined to track down who. Only magistrates, people of high authority, could change taxes but they couldn't do so without Totaku's favor and the little lord would never unfairly increase taxes. If one city had to pay more, they all did but only when they had to. If someone got away with the change, they were forging Totaku's signature. Heads were going to roll without a doubt.
"We should really enforce a more uniform tax policy," Hideyoshi urged. "If people are getting unfairly taxed like this, I'm afraid of the peasants rising up and causing a rebellion out of spite."
"But we do have a uniform tax policy!" Kaku insisted. "Yue insisted on it when she came into power! No one gets special treatment in her province."
"And yet the numbers don't lie," Hideyoshi pointed to the bottom line. "Even if the laws are clear, they aren't being enforced strictly enough so people take advantage of it. Someone is treating these places like a personal piggy bank and taxing even higher to cover up their wrongdoing. They found loopholes and have done who knows how much damage already."
"How could this have happened?" Kaku groaned. "Only Yue can change the policies and to raise taxes, the magistrates would have needed some kind of formal order to do it."
"Then somebody must be forging Yue-hime's signature and seal on those orders," Hideyoshi concluded. "You have to admit that Yue-hime's just too kind for her own good, sometimes. Whoever's doing this must think they can get away with it because of that."
"Yue is very trusting," Kaku sighed, removing her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. "The number of times I've caught her leaving her personal seal laying around or precious documents left unsigned…"
"Plenty of time to make a copy," Hideyoshi nodded. "Okay, if we're going to stop this we need to first stop the unfair taxation and find out where the extra money is going. The smaller villages are being taxed less, which makes me believe that the extra money is being pocketed from them while the richer cities are taxed more. They can afford it so it covers up the gap left behind. Usually, officials look at the bottom line so it isn't obvious unless one looks at all the stats."
"I'll begin sending the orders," Kaku nodded. "No one gets away with taking advantage of Yue-sama!" They suddenly stopped when they saw Ryofu and her new friends entering the manor proper. Hideyoshi smiled, always happy to see Ryofu. Kaku, however, was exasperated.
"You brought home some filthy animals again!?" Kaku exclaimed.
"Ei-san, you know Ren-san could never turn away a cute animal," Hideyoshi remarked.
"But still, Hideyoshi-dono, she has so many already," Kaku retorted.
"And she's been taking care of them and training them. You have to admit that our canine unit has been very useful," he said as he adjusted his glasses. Also, Yue loved the dogs. She really couldn't turn any of them away and the estate had plenty of space.
"I know, but still..." Kaku glowered, unable to make a rebuttal. She addressed Ryofu sternly, "Just make sure they don't pee in my bed again!" She then went off only to do an about-face. "Wait a minute!" She looked at Ryofu's new 'strays'. "I can tell that one is a dog but the other is definitely a kid!"
"Really? You just noticed?" remarked Hideyoshi cynically in amusement. From a conjoined hallway, Totaku was actually watching the scene quietly in amusement, no doubt since she was skipping out on paperwork again. Ryofu was always so calm and composed. Even if she didn't show much emotion, she was very kind.
"What do you have to say for yourself!?" Kaku demanded.
"Dirty but cute," was Ryofu's expected answer and Hideyoshi chuckled. That was her perspective.
"But she's a kid! Don't tell me you just decided to pick up a random kid off the street just because you felt like it!?" Kaku continued to yell.
"Ei-san, Ei-san," Hideyoshi spoke placatingly. "Just relax. I'm sure Ren-san has a perfectly logical explanation."
"Kaku, it's not good to get mad," agreed Ryofu.
Kaku gritted her teeth but gave up and stormed off, "Fine! Just clean them up!"
"...Excuse me, is it really OK for me to be here?" Chinkyuu asked.
"Relax, that's just Ei-san being Ei-san,'" Hideyoshi replied. "She'll calm down in a bit. It's just all the stress that's getting to her. Anyway, welcome to the palace. If Ren-san has taken you in I know there must be a good reason. She's nice that way." He smiled in approval. "Anyway, Ren-san, you should really get your new friends cleaned up before Ei-san comes back. You don't want to make her angry again." Ryofu nodded and took Chinkyuu and Chouchou to have a bath.
That night, for the first time in a long time, Chinkyuu had slept in a soft bed. She still couldn't sleep until Ryofu climbed into bed in her and hugged her. That was when Chinkyuu could sleep properly. That was when Chinkyuu had decided to be by Ryofu's side always, to pay her back for her kindness.
Ryuubi was tearing up at such a heartwarming tale. Nagata handed her a napkin to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.
"Since then, this kid's been pretty useful to Ren," added Kenshin. "Always helping out whenever she could. It's kinda cute."
"Shut up!" Chinkyuu snapped but Kenshin chuckled as he patted her head.
"So, where's your usual partner-in-crime?" Nagata asked Kenshin.
"Oh, Hideyoshi's running some errands with Yue-sama," answered Kenshin.
Inside one of the cities which populated the To Province, the marketplace was unknowingly playing host to their young ruler and one of the two Armored War Gods that they so proudly boasted.
"Ne, Yue-hime, don't you think we should head back to the estate? It's getting late and Ei-san's probably getting worried," said Hideyoshi. He was watching over Totaku as she skipped ahead in her civilian garb, the same she met Kanu and the others in while looking at the wares the merchants had for sale.
"We can't go back until we've found the right gift, Hideyoshi-kun," Totaku told him. "Besides, you did tell me you'd help me and I'm sure Ei-chan will be fine as long as she knows you're here protecting me."
"...Hai, Yue-hime," he sighed while he adjusted her glasses. He and Kaku had become close and understood each other quite well. He also understood just how much Kaku worried about Totaku. She was just so small and innocent, it would be quite easy for some thug to try and take advantage of her. Luckily, she had him as a bodyguard. He may not carry any obvious weapons, but once he put on his SengokuDriver and used his Lockseeds, he was ready for action. He also had his own little arsenal since he managed to bring a Dandeliner Lockseed and go on raids into Helheim to stock himself and Kenshin up with weapons.
Chou'un then noticed something, "Hey, Ryofu. I noticed that little dog figurine isn't on your weapon anymore."
"...I lost it," Ryofu answered, making a small pout. It then made a lot of sense why Chinkyuu had wanted the dog figurine Chouhi had bought.
"I see..." Nagata realized. "Chinkyuu-san, you were getting Ren-san a present to replace the doggy figure she lost. weren't you?"
"Mn, yes," Chinkyuu huffed.
Chouhi frowned a bit at that. So that was why Chinkyuu wanted the figure so bad. She wanted it too. However, Chinkyuu wanted to give it to someone she loved. She then let out a huff and handed the bag containing the figure to Chinkyuu, shoving it into her hands.
"I don't want it anymore!" Chouhi insisted. "You can have it!" Chinkyuu smiled widely at what she had received.
"Thanks!" Chinkyuu smiled.
"Well, if that's all there is then how about we all head back to the inn?" Nagata suggested. As they exited the tea shop, Ryuubi noticed something a bit off.
"Look at that," Ryuubi pointed. The group came across a very odd sight. It was a Rinrinshi but he was doing nothing. He was simply lying on a bench that was in front of a shop, just minding his own business. He was even wearing a hood to hide his inhuman features and of all things was humming a song to himself as he watched the clouds go by. It was easy to recognize the clothes, though.
"Hum-da-dum-dum-drum. Hum-da-dum-dum-drum," he yawned. "The clouds have it made. What I wouldn't give to be a cloud. Just to drift all day without a care in the world."
"Oi! Rinrinshi!" Chouhi pointed, running towards the jiang-shi. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Hm?" The Rinrinshi looked up from his spot, lifting his hood slightly, revealing his face and a sloth emblem on his forehead. "Oh, it's one of you Tiger Generals or something. The little one...uh...Chouki, right?"
"It's Chouhi!" the little redhead growled. "What do you think you're doing here?"
"Just taking a nap," the Rinrinshi yawned, laying back down. "I don't even have to do anything while I'm here so I'll just lay back and enjoy."
"What do you mean by that?" Nagata asked, his hand still gripping his SengokuDriver.
"Well, I was sent to stir up some trouble and collect the negative emotions from the people to gather Rinki. However, I don't have to do a thing. This place is so depressing that I'm already gathering Rinki just by sitting here," the lazy Rinrinshi answered. "Easiest assignment, ever. All I gotta do is watch the clouds and the city does the job for me. Since I'm not technically doing anything wrong, you can't attack me."
"You know, he has a point," Kenshin begrudgingly agreed. "Nothing wrong with just sitting down and collecting energy. Sages do it all the time according to manga."
"See?" the lazy Rinrinshi nodded. "Even the pinecone guy agrees with me."
"But we can't just let him gather it," Nagata argued.
"Hey, if we attack him unprovoked, we'll look like the bad guys," Kenshin replied.
"So, you're just gonna let him go?" asked Nagata incredulously.
"Hey, I don't start fights," Kenshin retorted before pausing, "...Most of the time. I finish them. Until he attacks somebody, my hands are tied."
"He's part of the RinJyuKen!" Nagata argued.
"Not breaking any laws or hurting people right now."
Nagata pinched the bridge of his nose. Now he knew letting a Rinrinshi collect Rinki was always a bad idea. The problem was that his moral standards wouldn't let him stop a Rinrinshi when he wasn't doing anything wrong. Enjutsu's irresponsibility was making the city a natural source of Rinki which the Rinrinshi was taking advantage of. The RinJyuKen literally had nothing to do with the state of affairs here so he couldn't do anything about them.
"Hey, do you mind keeping it down? I wanna watch the clouds in peace," requested the Rinrinshi. "Anyway, I may not be doing anything but my buddy is somewhere in the city doing his job like he's supposed to, unlike me."
"What?" the group turned to the Rinrinshi.
"Yeah. He's got a chip on his shoulder, being a student of the DokuRinJyuKen without a master," the Rinrinshi nodded. "He's also pissed because the last time he went on a job he told me a bull fell on him. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not."
"And what JyuKen does he use?" asked Chou'un, hoping for intel.
"DokuRinJyu Man-O-War-Ken," the Sloth Rinrinshi answered. "Careful, he's got a nasty sting to him and-!"
*WHOOM*
A nearby closed building suddenly exploded as long deep violet tentacles broke through the front and began to slither along the streets in random directions.
"And there he is. Just follow the tentacles," the Rinrinshi explained before he leaped up from his back, caught the edge of the roof of the building, and pulled himself up and over. "Anyway, I'm gonna go now because this place is gonna be too noisy for a nap. Later!" He then jumped off the other side of the roof, vanishing from sight.
"What an odd Rinrinshi," remarked Kanu as she watched him leave.
"Ignore him! We got a real problem to deal with!" Nagata ordered. Both he and Kenshin strapped on their SengokuDrivers and raised their Lockseeds, "Henshin!"
[ORANGE!]
[MATSUBOKKURI!]
The war horns played, summoning the Arms from Helheim. At the side, next to Ryofu, Chinkyuu squeaked in fright and his behind her mentor, looking at the pair of men with newfound fright. No one noticed, save Ryofu, as the young men locked the Lockseeds into place before hitting the Cutting Blades to open them up.
[SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANIMICHI ON STAGE!]
[SOIYA! MATSUBOKKURI ARMS! ICHIGEKI IN THE SHADOW!]
The Arms dropped onto their heads and shoulders, forming their bodysuits before opening up to wrap them in their armors. Kurokage's Kagematsu appeared in his free hand as he dropped his other spear.
"Ah!" Chinkyuu squeaked, now hiding entirely behind Ryofu as the two Armored War Gods finished their change.
"Nenene?" Ryofu blinked.
"Is something wrong?" Kanu asked.
"Don't let them hurt me!" the small girl squeaked in fright.
"She's afraid of Kurokage-dono and Gaim-sama," stated Ryuubi in realization. How could that be?
The tentacles on the ground meanwhile seemed to perk up as if they 'saw' the Armored War Gods before quickly retreating into the building they burst out of. Only a moment passed before the front of the building exploded and the Beastman emerged with a growl. Its chest was a purple/blue color, but it looked like there was a layer of jelly covering it which rose up into twin ridges on the shoulders that had red lines running through them. The left arm was wrapped in small tentacles which dripped more goo while the right seemed to be made completely of purple tentacles. The head looked like it was wearing an opaque dome while there was no mouth, just a blank area where one should have been. His legs were humanoid but wrapped in more tentacles making them look like the ropes Muay Thai practitioners would wear in traditional matches.
"So, I wasn't seeing things," the DokuRinJyuKen fighter gurgled, sounding as if he had more slime in his throat. "There are Armored War Gods in town today."
"Kamen Rider Gaim! Arriving on Stage!"
"Kamen Rider Kurokage! Ready to Strike!"
"Hn. Good. I am a solo student of the DokuRunJyuKen Akugata! I am pioneering the Man-O-War-Ken!" the Beastman announced. "I am Warmano!"
Chinkyuu trembled as she watched both Armored War Gods clash with the Beastman and remembered the day she had first started becoming afraid of them.
Chinkyuu and Chouchou pushed on in another night of their quest to find some way to support themselves. The blame of the villagers still made her angry. It wasn't her fault that they were all so busy moaning about their misfortune that they didn't maintain the watermill! Of course the second their neglect caused problems they blamed her since she was the person who was closest to it. Well phooey on them! Maybe when they had to take responsibility for their own problems they'd learn not to be so quick to blame others!
So trudging down the road, the girl and her faithful dog started to head for another village. Maybe if they were lucky a nice family would let them spend the night or something. They were both getting awfully hungry and she was starting to get desperate.
Then the screams started.
Blinking, Chinkyuu looked back at the village they were just thrown out of for vagrancy. Curious and concerned, she and Chouchou dashed back down the road until they came back to the place. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw that it was in flames with the people running for their lives. More were laying on the ground, not moving as their homes and businesses burned to the ground. Worse yet, running amok down the streets were weird gray hunchbacked creatures and they were destroying everything they could get their claws on.
From where she was watching, she saw four people standing in the middle of it all. One woman, and three men. One seemed barely out of his teens and even from where she was she could tell the woman was voluptuous, but that was all the features she could get with the firelight. At their feet was the magistrate, bloody and battered while the gray creatures were raiding his home, dragging out everything valuable.
"Wh-why?!" he gagged, coughing up blood.
"We told you that a new order was coming. You had a chance to join us and contribute," one of the three men, likely sporting glasses answered. "You refused so now we play things the hard way."
A battle cry echoed from one of the other streets, and a group of armed men managed to pull resistance and overpower the gray creatures, causing them to explode in a fiery haze after they had been stabbed a ridiculous number of times.
"It seems we have some troublemakers," the woman purred.
"I'll deal with them. I've been getting antsy," the young man replied. He reached into his robes and pulled out some kind of device. Bringing it to his waist, Chinkyuu saw it fasten itself by some sort of strap. Then he pulled out a smaller device and tapped it, causing it to begin glowing red and speak.
[CHERRY ENERGY!]
Above the young man, a hole appeared in the air, dropping what looked sort of like a giant pair of red cherries. The young man then put the smaller device on the bigger one attached to him, locking it into place.
[LOCK ON!]
"Henshin," he snickered, before pushing something on his belt, making the smaller item shine brightly, and some sort of canister on the bottom of the device filled with red juice.
[SODA! CHERRY ENERGY ARMS!]
The cherries dropped onto the young man, covering him in a silver suit with metal shoulder pads. He also had thick fur wrapped around his forearms and shins like some kind of barbarian. The cherries then began to disassemble. The top halves of both cherries, connected by the green stem combined and landed on his left shoulder while the front and back of what remained unfolded onto his chest and back, making a blood-red chest plate with a circular section over the right side that had a strange helmet symbol on it. His helmet was mainly silver, looking like a metal cap with two large red eyes and a silver mouthplate. The back was black, decorated with red cherry-like studs that had green stem-like horns coming from it.
"Armored War God Sigurd. Unbreakable under God." a splash of red juice brought out a red bow and arrow, "This won't take long." He reached to his belt, uncaring of the charging militia, and removed the small item.
[LOCK OFF!]
He then placed the item onto a slot in his bow.
[LOCK ON!]
The device loaded, he drew back on the shaft of his arrow causing the entire weapon to begin to shine with green and red energy. Once Chinkyuu thought she was going to have to shield her eyes from the shining light, he let go of the arrow, causing it to launch with only the words from the weapon's announcement.
[CHERRY ENERGY!]
The arrow flew, generating a pair of cherries behind it. The arrow struck true and hit the leader of the militia, but the cherries still kept going, the momentum launching them before they crashed into the rest of the militia. Fifty men gave off screams of pain as they all exploded like the monsters did. No blood, guts nor gore were left behind, but in a way that was scarier.
"In record time," the man with the glasses nodded.
It was too much for Chinkyuu. Doing all she could to avoid screaming, she and Chouchou ran away from the scene, praying that the four wouldn't be able to see her.
Since that day, when she witnessed as an Armored War God participated in the attack on her village, she had been frightened of them. She had never told a soul about this. Not even Ryofu. People called them gods but they were just monsters to her.
And now she was seeing them again.
Warmano lashed his tentacles out at both Riders who came charging at him. Once they were in range, they swung their weapons to connect with his body. Sadly, a slime barrier was preventing them from landing a hit, the sharp parts of their weapons sliding off harmlessly.
"Fools!" Warmano barked before he lashed out with his tentacles and grasped Gaim and Kurokage around their throats.
Suddenly, a brutal kick smashed into Warmano's face and sent him flying, also forcing him to release both Riders. The blow actually took the Beastman off of his feet before he skidded down the street, leaving a slimy trail as he went before splattering against another building. Kurokage and Gaim both coughed as they looked up to the stoic redhead.
"Ren-san...?" Gaim coughed.
"Are you both OK?" Ryofu asked.
"Yeah, mostly," answered Kurokage as he massaged his throat. "Thanks for the save, Ren-chan." The Riders rose to their feet and prepared to attack again. Only this time, they had to find a different tactic.
"Gaim-sama, I think the best form for this is your red one! Change into that one!" recommended Komei.
"OK, Shuri!" Gaim agreed, not one to turn down a suggestion made by his precious strategist. He switched Lockseeds, causing his Orange Arms to vanish.
[ICHIGO!]
[LOCK ON!]
[SOIYA! ICHIGO ARMS! SHUSHUTTO SPARK!]
The Ichigo Arms dropped down from the portal and opened up to wrap around Gaim. He then glared at Warmano as he was recovering and decided to finish this fight.
"Kurokage, wanna smash this jellyfish?" asked Gaim.
"Heh, eagerly," answered Kurokage. "Just let me change into something a little more comfortable!" Reaching to his belt, he picked up a Lockseed which was deep brown with light green spikes dotting it. It resembled a chestnut. The very center sported a brand of L.S.-21. With a tap, he unlocked it.
[KURI!]
The Matsubokkuri Arms vanished as a new Arms dropped from a portal. This one was deep brown, round, and covered with spikes. He then locked the Lockseed into place before he hit the Cutting Blade and sliced it open. The inside looked like the inside of a Lockseed, but the bottom half had what looked like caltrops styled after chestnuts.
[SOIYA! KURI ARMS!]
The Arms came down and broke apart with a cloud of brown dust. The sides moved to the shoulders, the curves unfolding to meet with his arms and reaching to his elbows. The chest plate came down, having the spikes in a Y pattern in the middle and reaching around his collar. The back folded with the bare metal out, bracing against his back. The eyes were a deep golden yellow, but the head attachment was spiked like a ceremonial helmet, made to make the helmet more intimidating. A flash armed him with baseball-sized spheres which were spiked like chestnuts, the Kuri Caltrops.
[BA-DA-BOOM!]
"Follow my lead then!" Gaim said as he put his Ichigo Lockseed into the Musou Saber's Drive Launch and locked it in.
[LOCK ON!]
[1,10, 100! ICHIGO CHARGE!]
"Hyah!" Gaim swung his sword and sent out hundreds of Ichigo Kunais flying at Warmano
"Don't leave me out!" Kurokage grinned, hitting his Cutting Blade.
[SOIYA! KURI SQUASH!]
Kurokage pressed his two Kuri Caltrops together, making them shine before they combined and grew to the size of a melon. Holding the glowing chestnut up, he let it drop before kicking it through the air. His aim was true before it collided with Warmano. It pierced his hide with crackling brown energy before the entire ball exploded, sending Warmano back. As he flew through the air, he was struck with a rain of Ichigo Kunai which caused him to explode entirely.
"Ha! He wasn't so tough!" Kurokage laughed.
"Guess he was as lame as that other Rinrinshi said he was," Gaim frowned. He was surprised that the Warmano hadn't even used one of his special techniques. Wasn't there more to his fighting style or did he just suck that bad? He did make some excuse about being crushed by a bull.
*TONK!*
"Ow!" Gaim winced as a small rock hit the back of his head. Turning around, he saw that it had been Chinkyuu who threw the rock but was hiding behind Ryofu and obviously afraid. "Chinkyuu? What are-?"
"Go away! I bet this is your fault!" Chinkyuu trembled behind Ryofu. "Armored War Gods only destroy things! I bet you brought those things here!"
"Hey, Nagata-niichan was fighting that thing to protect people!" Chouhi shouted.
"Shut up! Shut up! You don't understand! You don't know!" Chinkyuu shouted. "You didn't see one of them kill fifty people with one shot! You didn't see them send all those gray monsters to burn everything down! You didn't see it!"
"Nenene," Ryofu kneeled down, holding the girl by her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"What do you think she's talking about?" Kurokage asked Gaim who seemed thoughtful.
"I don't know," Gaim answered as he looked at Chinkyuu sadly. "But I bet she knows. Right now, let's cancel our transformations. Our suits are freaking her out." Kurokage agreed as he and Gaim closed their Lockseeds, allowing the suits to dissolve into light and disappear. "Chinkyuu, what did you mean when you said you saw one of us kill fifty people one shot?"
"Like you don't know!" she snapped bitterly. "He had a bow and arrow and used giant cherries to blow everyone up!" Nagata's eyes widened as he recoiled in shock. Kenshin likewise froze, looking down at the terrified girl.
"Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man..." Nagata repeated, freaked out, gripping his hair. With a description like that, it could only mean one thing.
"Gaim-sama, what's wrong?" Kanu asked.
"You all know that there are more Armored War Gods like us," Nagata explained, rubbing his head. Seeing his friends nod, he continued. "Well, there are a few more who are similar to us. They use Lockseeds like us, special ones which are called Energy Lockseeds. Very rare, and very powerful ones. They also use different belts called GenesisDrivers. We call ourselves Sengoku Riders and we call them Genesis Riders to tell the two sides apart. There are only four Genesis Riders, but as they are now their suits make them stronger than us."
"And anyone can use those belts too," Kenshin frowned, crossing his arms. "Obviously a bunch of punks managed to get their hands on them."
"How powerful are they?" Chou'un asked.
"My Lockseeds are all A-Class. Energy Lockseeds by default are of the S-Class, way beyond my level," Nagata answered.
"So Chinkyuu saw one of these 'Genesis Riders'?" asked Komei.
"I think so," Nagata nodded. He looked to Chinkyuu who flinched in Ryofu's arms. "Chinkyuu, did this Armored War God have a silver suit, but red armor that looked like cherries when it fell? You said he used a bow and arrow to fight, right?"
"Uh-huh," Chinkyuu nodded.
"Then the one you saw was Sigurd," Kenshin frowned. "A real douchebag had the suit before. The guy didn't care about anything but the bottom line and how much it could profit him. This one sounds just as ruthless if he took out fifty guys for no reason."
"Great, as if the RinJyuKen wasn't bad enough, now we have four psychos running about with the power of S-Class Lockseeds," Nagata frowned. Why hadn't this been reported? Why hadn't he heard? Oh, right. They killed all the witnesses! Well, almost all of them. Chinkyuu had survived but had been traumatized by what she had witnessed.
"You know, this kinda explains why she used to keep away from me and Hideyoshi after she first saw us transform," remarked Kenshin.
"Nenene, you didn't tell me," spoke Ryofu. "Why?"
"...I was afraid they'd get me," Chinkyuu answered.
"They won't," Ryofu swore. "Gaim-sama, I think I need to take Nenene back to the inn."
"Right, of course," he agreed. Chinkyuu was afraid of him. She wasn't afraid of Kenshin though, since she was used to him, but Nagata was pretty much a stranger and she did not feel comfortable in his presence. Ryofu nodded and stood up, allowing Chinkyuu to hug her side while Chouchou nuzzled her. They then turned and headed back to the inn so the small girl could rest.
"I better go with them," said Kenshin. "Anyway, it's been great catching up, Oda." He jogged after the pair, leaving Nagata's party behind.
"Nagata-sama, are you alright?" Kanu asked.
"She was afraid of me, Aisha," he whispered, looking to her with sadness easily seen in his eyes. "I don't want anyone to be afraid of me. Not like that." This was the first time anyone who wasn't a bandit was afraid of him. It hadn't felt good at all.
"It wasn't you that she was afraid of, Gaim-sama, it was these evil War Gods you called Genesis Riders. They are the ones at fault," she reassured him.
"Right, I just reminded her of them." Nagata nodded. Although Kanu reassured him, he worried if some people weren't going to care if there was a difference between Riders like him and the Genesis Riders. "Come on, let's go and grab some dinner. I'm paying." He then walked, his friends worried about him.
"Gaim-sama..." Ryuubi spoke. She wanted to comfort him, telling him that everything was alright. Maybe this was a sign that she should make her move to try and secure his heart. He would need someone to comfort him.
In another part of the city, the familiar lazy Rinrinshi yawned as it walked towards the edge of the city. Inside of its chest, its revived heart beat strongly with a high amount of Rinki that had been collected both before and during the attack. It was mostly a drop in the bucket for the aspirations of the RinJyuKen Akugata, but for that particular Rinrinshi, it was a useful amount to have.
"Well, may as well enjoy it," the Rinrinshi's voice, the previous deep voice softening into a silky feminine one. The Rinki flared over the Rinrinshi's body before the jiang-shi's undead body shifted and changed into a vibrant, healthy, and female body. She wore a dark red kimono, but the front was open and hung off her shoulders, nearly exposing her chest. The edges of the fabric were lined with soft brown fur that could tickle with a touch. The sleeves of the kimono were long as they hung down from her arms, hiding her hands with more fur on the ends of the sleeves. The bottom half of the kimono was also wide open, revealing her legs. She wore lacy dark stockings which were held up with a garter belt that was barely hidden from view. She also wore thigh-high boots with high heels which had a number of belts keeping them tight around her legs. She wore a black choker around her neck with a purple stone in the center. Her face was beautiful with lush red lips and tasteful purple-black mascara around her eyes. Her hair was dark, the front coming over her left eye while the rest was tied back into a bun that was braided up and held with needles. Topping it all off was the beauty mark near her lips adding a bit of sexiness to her face.
"Ahhh, much better. Just like I remember," the transformed Rinrinshi purred, trailing a finger from her face down to her cleavage. "Now where can a girl go for a nice mid-day nap and snuggle?"
Nanamomo of the RinJyu Sloth-Ken was back on the prowl.
*YAWN~*
After her nap and snuggle of course.
KRC: Looks like the Genesis Riders are here and their powers are being used for evil. This can't be good for our Armored War Gods.
TFP: And now we see a new evil in the world of the Three Kingdoms. However, it seems Nanamomo is up to something herself. Just what is going on?
Fruits of the Tree, Yggdrasil
Kuri Arms: Based on a chestnut. it arms the user with spiked protective armor which is slightly spiked for defensive capabilities. It also arms the user with the Kuri Caltrops, explosive weapons much like the Ichigo Kunai which can be tossed and replaced quickly. Combining them together in the finishing blow causes an even greater explosion capable of destroying Inves easily.
Cherry Energy Arms: Produced by the Cherry Energy Lockseed, an S-Class Lockseed that is incredibly rare and difficult to find. Through the GenesisDriver, the Cherry Energy Lockseed summons the Cherry Energy Arms which is much stronger than any Arms produced with a standard Lockseed and SengokuDriver. It does not have an individual weapon as some would expect. Instead, it pushes the user to higher speed and agility than the other Lockseeds. The default weapon is called the Sonic Arrow, common to all of the Genesis Riders.
Lost Scrolls of the RinJyuKen Akugata
Man-o-War-Ken: A new style pioneered within the ranks of the DokuRinJyuKen Akugata. Users of this style are able to spread tentacles a truly ridiculous distance from their bodies to spread their toxic Rinki to cause suffering which would, in turn, allow them to draw in even more Rinki to grow stronger with. The bodies of the practitioners can be difficult to strike if the user is a master, and the Rinki is toxic to the point of paralysis of the painful kind. However, due to the still new nature of this style, the user was defeated before he could unleash any of the more powerful techniques of his JyuKen.