Disclaimer:
I don't own Samurai 7. All I own are my OCs.
Notes:
hakama: japanese clothing similar to pants
obi: a sash
Akinari's revolver: A .45 Colt Anaconda
Akinari's katana: a normal looking katana. Goes in a black sheath. The sheath has a small rectangular tab to ''lock'' in with the hilt of the sword. Akinari can put the cloth mentioned in the chapter through the narrow opening and tie it together, binding them.
Chapter Four: The Escape
The next day, I hung out with Heihachi. Komachi was using a log as a slide as we watched. Kiku suddenly showed up.
"Ah! Kiku, you want to try the slide, too?" asked the little girl.
"Don't be ridiculous," said Kiku,"I want to speak with that guy there."
"With me?" asked Heihachi.
"You're going to fight me!" Kiku had his sword pointed at Heihachi.
Komachi fell silent, and ran back inside.
"Sorry," said Heihachi," But I'm not very good at this kind of stuff. They say that even chance meetings in life are because of karma."
"GRAAH! And you call yourself a samurai?!" yelled the cyborg," I didn't buy crap that from you from the start!" Kiku swung his sword, and called out," Draw your sword!"
Heihachi calmly stood up.
"Hey! As fellow samurai, we should cling to our fleeting lives and admire the beauty of the rising sun, shouldn't we?"
"Eh?" Kiku seemed confused. "We're... both samurai?"
"Absolutely! The body of iron takes the spirit of steel. Swords are made of steel and a samurai's spirit is his sword! It's circular!"
Kiku rested his sword over his shoulder.
"I don't really understand that, but you just called me a samurai, right?"
"Yeah."
Kiku got into a happy mood, and had his arm around Heihachi.
"Hey, you got me, don't you? I knew right from the start that we'd get along! Ha ha ha!"
"What the hell just happened?" I muttered.
Komachi came out with Kambei in tow.
"See? Look! They're fighting ea- huh?"
"Fight?" Kiku looked at her," Don't be ridiculous, kid! We're the best of friends! Ha ha ha!"
"Weird..." said Komachi, wondering what had happened when she left.
"Alright, then," said Kambei," Kikuchiyo, you can come look for samurai with us today."
"See? It's all good," said Heihachi.
"Oh, so you finally accept me as a samurai?!" said Kiku, cheerfully.
"Right now, I'll take any help I can get," said Kambei, walking away.
"Ha... Burn!" I grinned, leaning onto the log that Komachi had used as a slide earlier.
Kiku's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
I chose to stay home today. I needed clean my katana and my gun. I chose to clean my gun first.
Not wanting the fumes to stink up the place, I cleaned it outside. I unloaded my revolver, making sure there weren't any bullets in it. I then tied a piece of cloth to the rear of the cylinder opening. After dipping my bore brush in the cleaning solvent, I put it through the barrel of the gun. After that, I took a cleaning patch that was dipped in the cleaning solvent and put it through the barrel of the gun. It's been awhile since I did this, so the inside of the gun was very dirty. I then used a brush to clean various parts of the revolver, and I also used a bore brush to clean where the bullets go in.
After cleaning off any residue, I put my bullets back in the gun, and put it to the side. Now I have to clean my katana.
I gulped, and carefully undid the the white piece of fabric that tied the hilt of my sword to the scabbard. I then unsheathed the sword. Examining the blade, I figured that the sword was sharp enough. used a sheet of rice paper to remove the old oil from the blade. I also lightly powered the blade. Using a cotton cloth, I rubbed over the power, polishing both sides of my sword. After re-oiling the katana, I sheathed it, and tied the white fabric back on. Tight enough to keep it in, but loose enough so I can easily unsheathe it if I ever chose to actually use it.
'How long has it been since I've actually used it?'
"Akinari!" I looked out of my room, after I had put away my cleaning supplies.
"What is it, old man?"
"Didn't you hear?" asked Masamune," The officials are tracking down arresting all samurai and those in the warrior class because the imperial envoy has been assassinated."
"That's not good..."
"You should pack your things up now. You all might need to escape tonight."
"Right."
After Masamune left to inform the others, I looked for my messenger bag. I packed up the things I think I'll need. Some clothes, my money, etc. By the time everyone came back, it was all ready nightfall. I learned that Kiku got caught in jail, and met some of my cellmates.
"There isn't much time left," said Kambei.
"They'll be coming in from above. We'll have to hide even lower," said Gorobei.
"So what will we do?" asked Kiku.
"We can escape downward," suggested Masamune.
"Doesn't that worry you?"
"All of the key locations are probably being covered," the old mechanic replied.
"Do you know of any ways we can escape?"
Masamune thought hard. I then remembered something.
"Hey, isn't there that elevator train, Masamune?"
"Elevator train?" asked Kambei.
"Yeah," I said," Um... What was it, again...?"
"It's a cargo train that connected the upper floor to the lower floor. That was a long time ago, though," explained Masamune.
"All right!" Kiku stood up, excitedly. "It's settled, then!"
"That's not for you to say," said Gorobei.
"Who cares about that?!"
"Let's go. Right now, there's no other way," said Kambei.
As everyone else got ready to escape, I volunteered to go ahead to the elevator train, to see if it's still working. The thing was really old.
"Tch... Where the hell do I start?"
"Hey, Aki! Is the thing all ready to go?" called out Kiku.
I looked out the train door.
"Not yet! I can't seem to get this thing working right!"
"We'll help!"
Heihachi and Masamune came over. The old man told everyone to get on board, even though the thing wasn't working yet. Heihachi wasn't too worried, though. He said everything will turn out fine. When everyone came in, Kambei started to tie up Masamune for his own safety. If it looked believable that we forced him, then the guardsmen would let him go more easily.
"Can we beat him up, too?" I asked, referring to Kiku and myself. I grinned like a madman.
"Yeah! I've always wanted to do this!" Kiku said happily, when he came in.
"Gah! Anyone but you two!"
"Don't worry..."
"We'll be gentle~!" I said.
The both of us raised our fists.
"GAH! NO! KIKU! AKI! GRAHH!" Kiku and I gave multiple bruises, while I think I broke 2 of his ribs. We threw him out of the train, right when the guardsmen came rushing towards us. "You bastards! I won't forget this!"
"Looks like I'll have to buy us some time!" Kiku went out to ward of the enemy, as Heihachi and I climbed to the top of the train. Heihachi got the train moving, and I just stood my ground with Kiku (he jumped over when it started moving), in case some mecha guards came over. I really hate vehicles.
As the elevator train rapidly moved downwards, I saw a spark of light in the sky. The guards must've alerted the others. On the side, I could see some guardsmen chasing us. Gorobei joined us, alert. Above us, we could see another elevator train coming.
"It wouldn't be any fun if nobody was coming!" said Kiku.
"And you're happy about this?"
"That's Kiku for you!" I said.
Kambei suddenly appeared with a gadget Masamune had sold to Heihachi earlier. I didn't pay attention to what he told Kiku. Kiku took the gadget and hammered it onto the train. Just then, some mechas and a couple of guardsmen came, and we fought. I didn't unsheathe my katana, but I still used it, holding it by the scabbard.
One of the guards held a spear, and attempted to pierce me in the stomach with it. I swiftly side-stepped, and thrust the end of my katana's sheath upon his neck. His neck fractured ( I think. I mean, there was a sickening crack) from the force of the blow, and he stumbled backwards, falling off the elevator train. The man was coughing up blood, trying to breathe, as his friend pulled him up from the train in front of me, trying to keep him from being run over. A mecha came over from my left suddenly, and tried to push me with its sword. I fell on my back trying to guard; the mecha's weight starting to take a toll on me.
'Shit! This isn't good!'
Will all of my strength, I shoved the mecha away from me with my legs, and I quickly got out my gun, having my katana rest on my hip by my hakama's obi. With 3 quick shots at point blank into its head, the mecha short circuited. Blood and oil dripped out of the holes as it fell away from me.
'Guess that wasn't an actual mecha,' I thought grimly.
I could faintly hear our names being called, when Kikuchiyo started to wind up the gadget.
"Gorobei, Aki, you two go on ahead! I can handle this fine by myself!" he said.
"I'm staying," I said," Leaving you alone here just doesn't seem right to me. Gorobei, we'll come after Kiku's done!"
"All right, got it!"
Gorobei left us to join the others. I was on my guard, ready to deflect any enemy as Kiku winded up the gadget. To our left, 2 mechas came in. I shot twice at one of them before I reloaded, and I shot again. I missed twice. The next moments didn't seem to register in my mind with me. I heard an explosion from behind me. Did the tracks get blown out?
The elevator train slowed, allowing the rest of the group to jump off to a platform. Kiku was trying to fight off some enemies, while I was trying not to get pinned down again. I then felt a sharp pain at the back of my head when I dodged from an attack from the front. As I fell, I turned around, shooting my attacker. As the enemy mecha fell away from me, I could see the elevator train moving rapidly once again, before I finally passed out. Just my luck...
End of Chapter Four
A/N: Just so you all know, I don't really know how to clean a gun and a katana. With the katana part, I go it from using Google. With the gun, I got from what I remember when I watched my brother clean his handgun...