"Tori, stop this madness!" Someone shouted at the courtesan, his own sword pushing down on Souza's. Fudou Yukimitsu was on top of him, the tantou he crossed with Souza's blade was inches away from the courtesan's face.
"Get off me!" Souza kicked the attendant away with all his might, freeing himself and quickly backing to where Sayo was.
"Fudou!" Ranmaru and the others had joined him, Hasebe looking worriedly from behind. His extended hand had stopped the other guards from proceeding any further.
"Ranmaru-sama, I'm sorry….I took your tantou without your permission…" Fudou straightened up, brandishing the sword he was carrying. "It's dangerous, come back here!" Ranmaru called but Fudou ignored him.
Looking at the courtesan and his brother clinging behind him, he wondered if he had done the right thing. "Tori, you and I arrived at the same time...you should come quietly, you know we can't go against Master Oda Nobunaga,"
"You're always so quick to kiss up to their ass, I wonder why aren't you a courtesan yet, Fudou Yukimitsu," Souza snapped, his fingers grasping his own sword tightly.
"They feed us, gave us a home!" Fudou shouted, circling the two, "You should be grateful to them!"
"You have no idea what price I had to pay for that," Souza huffed "You were lucky enough to be Mori Ranmaru's attendant, he is Nobunaga's favorite after all! Do you know how many others died in this house, how many people were pulled from their family, how much suffering was hidden beneath the floorboards?!"
Souza's head was throbbing with pain again. This all was too familiar. Fudou standing between him and Mori ranmaru….Fudou coming after him….fire. Heat. Fudou. Which memory was that?
Seeing that he was distracted, Fudou took the chance to lunch at the two again, Sayo shouting out a warning.
Fortunately, someone had jumped out of a nearby bush to parry the tantou's attack. Yagen stood before the startled Fudou, his own tantou catching the light of the night. His back was facing Souza, but the siblings were equally surprised by his presence too. "Get out!" Yagen shouted, gesturing to the brothers. "I'll cover you!"
Souza nodded thankfully and bolted to the nearest exit he knows of, the storehouse at the back of the garden where Hachisuka had escaped from. "Don't let them go!" Hasebe ordered the guards to follow suit. Yagen turns to stop them, but Fudou immediately intercepted him, pushing him out of their path.
"Fudou Yukimitsu….you've always been quite a sore….!" Yagen huffed, eyeing the attendant with malice. He has to get to Souza's side!
"Who are you, how do you know me?!" Fudou shouted though he couldn't really care less. He had long forsaken his past. This man must be someone from then. It doesn't matter, what matters now is that he needs to make sure that the other guards can capture Souza.
"I see you've gotten back your sword," Yagen muttered, eyeing the blade in the boy's hand.
The boy frown, not understanding his words and Yagen took this opportunity to attack, striking down with animosity.
Fudou could barely protect himself, trusting his instinct instead. He was slightly surprised that he was able to use the blade so well. He had never held one before.
But Yagen was visibly better, being able to get the upper hand almost in a blink of an eye. He pinned Fudou down, the attendant's sword right on his own neck.
"Hah, guess I am a useless attendant after all...breaking master's belongings, stealing his sword...now I can't even fight. Who am I kidding." Fudou chuckled, almost as if he had given up.
"You've not changed one bit…." Yagen frowned. Fudou shut his eyes tight, expecting Yagen to kill him off but he instead switches his blade, turning his grip. With one quick hit, he knocked Fudou unconscious and the attendant lay still on the grass.
"Yagen!" Someone called after him, landing from the roof. He looks up, noticing Ichigo and Kanesada had arrived at the scene. "What are you all doing here?!" Yagen wondered aloud.
"Hachisuka insisted on coming back here," Ichigo replied, turning to the boy on the grass. "Is that Fudou…?"
"Ichi-nii, Kanesada, I'll leave Fudou in your care, Souza and Sayo are in danger!" He replied and bolted towards the storehouse.
Kanesada picked Fudou up gingerly, hanging the boy on his shoulder. "Let's go there too," he urged Ichigo and the sword agreed, keeping up after the tantou.
The storehouse was just as they had left it previously when Hachisuka escaped from the place. Souza could hear the guards approaching and quickly shut the door, barricading him and Sayo inside. "Nii-sama...what do we do…." Sayo asked as Souza pushed some boxes and crates to the door, toppling a big one down to the door. The sheets that covered that box slid over as it fell against the door and the wood chipped, some of its content pouring out.
It was dark in there with barely any light from the window but Souza quickly noticed a tantou among the items that poured out. He picked it up, wondering what it was doing here. Outside, the guards were frantically pounding on the door, trying to open it.
"Sayo, take this sword." He muttered to his brother, putting the tantou he had just found in his hand. Weird, it felt like it belongs right there in Sayo's hand. "We are going to run away and if anything happens to me, use that to protect yourself."
"You won't leave me right?!" Sayo cried out instead, holding onto his brother's robes. Souza shook his head and hugged his brother tightly. "I will never leave you, Sayo," He promised, "but you must protect yourself if it comes to that."
Sayo nodded, clinging to his brother tightly. Souza scan the room. The ladder to the exit has already been taken away but surely there are things that can help them in here. "Sayo, we need to reach the window," He pointed and they get to work quickly, piling up boxes and crates against each other so that they could reach the opening.
The door was shaking by then and Souza knew it won't hold the guards back any longer. "Hurry!" He urged his brother, carrying him up to the window on top of the boxes that they had frantically stack up
At that, the doors burst open and Mori Ranmaru and the other ran in, stirring the dust and pushing the blockages away. "Tori!" Souza heard him shouted.
But he had managed to push Sayo to the window and climbed up himself, sitting on the sill, he glowered at the Yarite.
Souza took hold of Sayo and curled his arms around him, jumping out of the window unto the earth below. It was quite a high jump and Souza had to roll on the earth to reduce the impact. He could feel some bruises but thankfully there was nothing serious.
"Tori," He heard someone's voice and turn to find themselves surrounded by Hasebe and half a dozen guards.
"Hasebe…" Souza gritted his teeth, pulling out his sword again. Sayo hid behind him, clutching his tantou tightly. "My name...is not Tori!" Souza strikes forward, his dark sword raised. But Hasebe was faster, pulling out a sword that he had hung from his waist and intercepted him, the sound of the metal hitting each other ringing into the night sky.
"No!" Souza lurched when Hasebe kicked him, pinning him down on the wrist and pushing him against the wall. He yelped in pain, both from his previous wounds and from the pressure Hasebe was asserting.
"Don't hurt my brother!" Sayo called pulling out his tantou as well. He kicked some of the guards out of the way and strike down at Hasebe. The Yarite jumped away, shocked at the boy's skill.
Sayo was holding his blade towards them as his brother straightened himself, picking up the sword that he had previously dropped. "Run, you guys!" Yagen shouted from the roof, jumping down and taking out some of the guards, clearing a path for them. How is he appearing everywhere like this?!
But Souza couldn't care less. He immediately picks his brother up and did as he was told. Hasebe tried to stop them but Yagen effectively stopped him, remarking about the blade that the Yarite now has.
"Where did you get that?" Yagen asked, curious as he backed away from Hasebe and the guards. Ignoring him, Hasebe instructed the guards to give chase to the siblings but Yagen stood his ground, glowering at them. "I won't let any of you pass." He muttered dangerously, eyeing them with a warning.
"What can one small samurai like you do?" Hasebe huffed, irritated at this point "Why are you even helping them…." He asked aloud when suddenly a realization hit him. "You are the ones that helped Yuri escape, isn't it?" He accused "I knew something was wrong with your group!"
"My name isn't Yuri," A voice called from behind them. Turning, Hasebe saw that it was Hachisuka, spotting a full body armor made of gold. "What the hell…" he mouthed in shock. "It's Hachisuka Koutetsu….and we are here to bring you back as well, Heshikiri Hasebe!"
"Hachisuka!" Yagen couldn't contain the joy he felt seeing the sword back to his former glory again. Behind him, Ichigo jumped off the roof of the storage house, joining him with his blade drawn. "He's not really alone, either, Hasebe," Ichigo remarked with a smile.
I've read the reviews here. This story is based on my understanding of Oirans. As far as I am aware from my research and from my knowledge both in the internet and outside of the internet, Oirans are a type of Yujou, a type of prostitute, though extremely high class and has a lot of power. As this story is a distorted timeline, please be aware that Geisha(s) has not existed at this period yet. Thank you very much for enjoying this story. I will post the remaining chapters on a later date. Thanks!