Coming Home... Or Not (Tak)

[Morei Haji]

While it hadn't been long since I left home, I figured that while I journeyed in the immediate area I may as well pay a visit to my homeland now and then. It would be nice to see it one more time before I left for who knows how long.

I need to pick up some more supplies anyway... I left in too much of a hurry...

As I traveled on my way, I noticed something in the road, what looked like a broken carriage. It seemed one of the wheels was busted... very busted, and the guy who was riding it seemed to be all panicky. I walked up to him, trying to see if he was okay. And upon my offer to help him, he accepted quickly, it seemed he badly wanted to get this fixed so he could get out of there.

"Um... sir, if you could just be a bit more calm I think I could help you better." I said, but the guy didn't really seem to pay it much mind, he was looking around his things frantically for a new wheel, or something. I wasn't sure. I sighed and began to look among the things in the back, hoping to find something of use.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

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Takehiro had recently received a contract to hunt down a man for his drug trade and thieving tendencies. He was being offered a pretty hefty reward for the man's head, and it was understandable. He'd stolen from one too many powerful men, corrupted their daughter's too often with his drugs. He had a price to pay.

Informed he was just outside Owari, the mercenary hit the road quickly, by horseback. He followed the main roads, figuring the man would take them if he had a lot to carry. Luckily, it wouldn't take long for him to find a broken down carriage at the side of the road.

"Hideaki! I have come for your head!"

The mercenary would waste no time, and charged straight for the man. His intention was to run the spear through his neck and cleave his head off in a single blow.

[Morei Haji]

I heard shouting suddenly, turning around to see a man on a horse with his spear at the ready, coming at someone. I had to guess this merchant was Hideaki, as the guy began to panic even more. He was defenseless, and likely about to die. Even though I despised battle, I quickly drew my sakabato, and as this mysterious rider's spear came for the merchant, my blade would come forward and upwards, attempting to deflect the man's spear and save this man's life. As the guy was on horseback, he'd likely have missed his mark and it'd allow a bit of distance between us. I quickly jumped to the ground, blade at the ready.

"You should hide.." I said to the scared guy, Hideaki. I would look back towards the guy on the horse, scared out of my mind as my stupid actions were probably going to get me killed.

"Why are you after this man? He's stranded and in need of help!"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro's spear was shot up unexpectedly, causing him to miss his mark. He would have been upset, only, this meant things were going to be interesting. Pulling on the reigns of his horse, it slowed and turned, and he hopped off. The man slowly approached the boy, spinning his spear in his hands. His face was hidden by the straw hat he adorned, but his intent was clear.

"Help? No, what he needs is to die."

Takehiro charged forward, leaning down and picking up a handful of dirt. He would fling it at his target's eyes, and, if it successfully blinded him - if even for a moment - the merc would slam the butt end of his spear into the boy's stomach. Bodyguards for scum were always a pain.

[Morei Haji]

Why did this guy need to die? This guy clearly didn't want to talk about this, so it seemed there was no choice but to fight. I kept my eyes on his spear, wondering how I should end up blocking or dodging, but suddenly he leaned closer to the ground, and before I knew it he threw dirt right in my face. My hand came up to block it, but I lost my vision of the guy. I felt an impact hit my stomach, and I lost my air, sending me flying back onto the ground as I coughed and tried to catch my breath.

"Ugh... does everyone fight dirty in this place?" I groaned, slowly getting up to my feet, looking at the guy. I guess I should be lucky he didn't stab at me, but he was probably hoping to take me out in that one attack. I wasn't his target, after all.

Gritting my teeth, I charged forward at the man, swinging my sword in a horizontal arc at him from his left. If by some stroke of luck I did hit him, it wouldn't cleave him in two, due to my sword being reverse-bladed.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

The kid got back up... could make things more fun, but he didn't look like he knew what he was doing, nor did he seem to have a real grasp on what was going on here. Takehiro could have sent his spear through the boy's throat and not have felt bad, but at the same time, he didn't want to. He was going to go easy on the kid, here.

Takehiro brought his spear up, slamming it down upon the boy's sword as he struck. This would send the sword falling to the floor, and throw off the kid's balance. From there, Takehiro would raise the blade of the spear to the boy's throat, threatening him with death if he chose to persist.

"I don't think you understand, kid." He sighed, shaking his head. "This guy? I got a contract to kill him, and if you put up a fight, I gotta take you down too. Far as I know, though, there's no money in your death, and I don't see you lugging around a cart filled with stolen goods, and opium."

[Morei Haji]

The man's spear went up, knocking my blade out of my hand and sending it to the ground out of reach. My hand reached down to my spare blade, but I wasn't able to get it out of the sheathe before his spear ended up at my throat. I gulped in fear. I had no battle experience, and it was starting to show, while this guy fought like he had more than a few under his belt.

"A-are you serious..."

My eyes drifted over to the merchant, who seemed to be hiding even more now that his one hope of getting rid of this guy was beaten swiftly.

"You don't have to kill him though, no one has to die!" I said, looking back to the guy. It probably wasn't the best thing to do when he could kill me in one motion, but I thought of all death as wrong. I let my grip loose of my blade, bringing my hands up to show that I wasn't planning on doing anything.

"I know it's bad that he's stolen things, but... can't we just return them to their rightful place, and you can say that you fulfilled your job without killing the guy? Everyone can change." I stared at the man, hoping those wouldn't be the last words I ever spoke.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro's spear dropped, and his free hand came to the kid's collar, puling him closer with an intimidating grip. He had no fault in this, it seemed, but he was sure as heck going to prove to be a nuisance. He didn't want to kill the kid, so he'd try and explain things.

"He's conned and drugged TEN DIFFERENT DAIMYOS. AND their children. Tell me, how does it sound like he can change? This is why there's a price on his head, kid. And if I don't claim it, I don't eat tonight. Now, I don't want to hurt you, so you can either sit back and let things play out how they need to, our you're not gonna remember the rest of this day."

[Morei Haji]

"I... well..."

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? This guy I was trying to protect ended up being terrible, just like my luck. So I was fighting the good guy? No... he still wanted to kill him. But what could I really do?

Before I could say anything else, the merchant thought we seemed distracted enough, and attempted to make a run for the spear dude's horse.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro simply smiled at the kid, releasing his collar. And as the merchant made a run for the horse, the merc would ram the butt end of the spear into the man's kidney as rough as he could.

"HEY! Don't you dare steal my fucking horse while I'm in the middle of a conversation! That's rude!"

On all of the italicized words, the merc kicked the man in the stomach.

[Morei Haji]

Surprisingly, the spear guy didn't just kill the merchant right then and there. In fact, he was lecturing him and punishing him.

"Woah, that's a bit much! I think he got the point!" I said to him, before looking at the guy on the ground. "And you! That really was rude! That's the kind of thing that gets you into trouble in the first place!"

The merchant went into the fetal position, beginning to cry.

"Er..."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro sighed as the merchant began to cry, and the human in him couldn't bring himself to kill the guy! He stomped on the ground angrily, taking the spear and thrusting the blade into the ground.

"God damn it - hey, man, don't cry! Geezus, fine! I don't have to kill you! Okay!"

He didn't like saying that. WHY DID HE SAY THAT. THIS WAS HIS MEAL.

[Morei Haji]

A look of surprise crossed my face. "Say what?" The guy was going to live? This guy wasn't so bad after all!

"So you do have a heart! Woo! Look man, I'll pay for your meal!" I didn't have much to my name, but it was enough for the both of us for sure. I was so happy that someone wasn't going to die tonight that I just forgot all about the crying merchant.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

"Listen, buddy," Tak spoke to the merchant, pissed, but he felt like he needed to do this. "You're gonna take the horse - it's not even mine - and you're going to get the fuck out of here. But be warned, fucker, if I get another contract for you, ever, I am going to shove my spear so far up your ass - it'll be... it'll be far up there, man, do you understand?!"

With that, he cursed, going up to the carriage and punching it. But, he could fix this. It wouldn't be a problem. The wheel could be fixed, he could get the daimyos their stuff - or.... WAIT. TAKEHIRO COULD TAKE THE STUFF AND BRING IT TO A DIFFERENT TERRITORY AND SELL IT.

"Kid, if you wanna eat tonight, help me fix this carriage."

[Morei Haji]

"That's, uh... pleasant..." I said in response to this guy's threat to the merchant. "I love the part where you hit him over a horse that wasn't even yours to begin with."

At the guy's command though, I began to look through the back of the carriage. He was right, there was a ton of stuff in here. Antiques, weapons, clothing, and what looked like the drugs he mentioned before.

"Think with all of this stuff in here there would be a wheel somewhere..."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

"Hey!" Takehiro's hand would come up and slap the back of the kid's head. "It was my trasportation." Simple enough!

The merc would inspect the damage, seeing just how bad the wheel was. It irked him, but what he saw was a pain in the ass. The wheel was wrecked, but it was just one. There had to be some replacement in the back of the carriage.

"Move over a second."

Takehiro hopped in the back of the carriage and began searching around for a wheel.... AHA. It didn't take long, but he did find a spare! He hopped out of the carriage, handing the wheel to the kid.

"Alright, I'm gonna lift this thing, and you're gonna pull the old wheel off and put the new one on. Got it?"

No real confirmation. Takehiro would just LIFT.

[Morei Haji]

I rubbed the back of my head with a grimace. He did have a point. And soon enough he jumped into the carriage to look for the wheel himself, which he happened to find nearly instantly. How the hell.

I had no time to react to his instructions either. The guy jumped down and lifted the whole damn carriage with me on it. I quickly jumped off of the carriage, picking my sakabato off of the floor and using it as a wedge to push the wheel off. From there, I grabbed the other wheel and quickly fit it onto the carriage, using the butt of my sword as a hammer of swords to secure it into place.

"Sheesh. You're awfully hasty."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

"Hey, carriage is fixed. You don't look like you would've held it up."

Takehiro laughed, taking up his spear and seating himself at the front. He would take the reigns - VERY GLAD the horses remained - and waited for his companion to take a seat as well. Once he was all settled, Takehiro would take off, proceeding down the road and as far away from Owari as he could get.

"The name's Amakusa Takehiro."

[Morei Haji]

He had a point. The guy seemed more suited to physical work than me. As much as I hated to admit it, I was weak. Nevertheless, I sat down next to him on the carriage, and the two of us began to move... away from my original destination.

"Uh..."

I stopped myself. Maybe it was for the best I didn't return home right now anyway. My father would've just looked at me in disgust for not being the world's best swordsman yet. Or something.

The guy introduced himself. Takehiro, huh? Not a bad name. "My name is Morei Haji. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro had no idea what Haji's destination was, but his own was just anywhere but where these goods belonged. He was gonna get quite a haul from that guy's head, and he just let him go. Here was hoping he was going to get some good money for whatever was in the carriage. The opium was gonna be hard to sell. In fact, he kind of just wanted to burn it.

"Well, Haji," Takehiro never used honorifics. "Sorry 'bout your stomach. But we're gonna sell these goods, and split the profits 50/50. How's that sound?"

[Morei Haji]

My eyes widened. "S-sell the goods? Isn't that why you were going to kill that guy in the first place?" I looked at him in amazement, he was a confusing individual. But then again, if it wasn't for my interfering, he'd have had his money for his little bounty.

"Well... you're bound to get a whole lot more for these goods than for that guy's head. I accept your offer, but... I'm surprised you're not taking it all for yourself. You seemed like you would when you had me at spear point earlier." I laughed a bit nervously.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Once again, Takehiro sighed. This kid didn't entirely get it. "He had the bounty on his head for the reasons I stated earlier. Now, I can't claim that bounty - I let the guy go. So I need to turn to another source of income. You understand." He laughed a little, actually feeling pretty good about this. He was bound to get enough to buy his own territory with all this stuff! Today would be a good day!

"Yeah, well. Sorry 'bout that. It's been hard to find work, lately, and I'm hungry. But what's in here? We could probably buy Owari with it. Twice. So, why would I need to buy Owari twice myself?!"

Sound logic.

[Morei Haji]

"Buy Owari? That'd be something..."

Hey dad, I'm coming home because I'm now the owner of all of this land. Are you proud of me yet? He'd probably slap me for saying that still. I didn't think anything could make that guy proud. He wouldn't be happy even if I slayed the mythical Yamata no Orochi if I still wasn't the strongest swordsman in the world. I sighed a bit.

"So, Takehiro. What are you really going to do with all of this money? I doubt you'll be buying this land as we're moving away from it."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

So he was getting it! That was what the merc wanted, it's why he took the kid with him! Also, seemed he was a little naive to the way things worked out here, so he figured a little time with an experienced samurai could do a lot for him.

"Simple!" He chirped, his grin never leaving his face. "I'm going to help those in need. I'm not the only one with an aching belly at the moment, but I am one of the few who can fight for himself, regardless. Some people need it more than me." He didn't view his opinion as "admirable" or anything, he just thought it logical. If he had to kill scumbags to feed the needy, he would.

"What about you? If this take's as good as it looks, you'll be rich in no time."

[Morei Haji]

This guy was just surprising me more and more. "Ha, you're like Robin Hood. Only, you're real... and Japanese."

I didn't know if this guy knew who Robin Hood was. Actually, I was sure most of the people I ran into didn't even know how to read like I did. Regardless, that's what Takehiro reminded me of. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor... and himself.

"Well, I've got no reason to return home. My idea isn't too far from your own. I'd like to travel and help out whoever I can."