Chaos in Totomi Marketplace (Open)

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

It was a sweltering day in the largest marketplace in the Totomi Prefecture. Though at this time of year the place should be bustling with vendors and people who were willing to spend their coin on everything, there are sufficiently few people here for visitors from other prefectures to mistake it for a common market day. In fact, the only shops that managed to get a lot of costumers are those who offer food and drinks in a shady environment, and they were getting a lot of revenue as all of the restaurants and food stalls are filled with people to their brim. Those who could afford to go out into the sun are the only ones who did the shopping.

The fan that was held by the red-haired boyish male named Ryunosuke became bent due to both the heat and the mental irritation that comes with it. He had been selling his handicrafts - knives, pickaxes, hoes, and other metal implements - but to no avail due to the intense heat. No one could even test out his wares due to them accumulating heat, so he should not expect he would sell much. And with this comes more mental irritation, and the fan that he was holding became more bent.

Suddenly he saw some people run through the street where he vended his wares. Wondering why, he inquired one person, who still felt jittery and wanted to leave as much as possible. And the reason for the person's anxiety was...

"A group of bandits invaded the marketplace, and they're robbing every man they met!" he said.

"...Robbing every man they met? Wait, they are not only pillaging, but also pickpocketing? Where are they?" Ryunosuke asked. The fan snapped in his hand.

"At the west side of the marketplace!" The man said, and then ran away to the east.

"Damn, were they too short on money to do this even to poor people?!" Ryunosuke muttered as he packed up his wares. He would go hunt for them as fast as he could get these wares to his smithy as complete as possible.

[Morei Haji]

"Oh dear Izanagi, it is hot today."

Maybe I shouldn't have been taking that God's name in vain, seeing as I actually met the guy, but man, it was sweltering. The sun beat down on me viciously, and I began to wish that I hadn't gone wandering again and just sat around in a nice, shady place. Sweat dripped down my forehead, and I wiped it away with my kimono sleeve as I continued to walk. I ended up finding myself in a market. "Perfect, I could probably get something to quench my thirst there..."

I wandered through the marketplace, noticing it wasn't so bustling as I expected it to be. I looked around all confused, people were running away, why? I walked in the direction the people were running from, stopping when I overheard someone speaking to another man. "Bandits..."

Hands slipped into my kimono to retrieve my dark mask, and I placed it on my face. My skin instantly turned as black as darkness, and my eyes shined a bright red. I looked like a demon running through the marketplace, but I figured I would aid these people. I pulled my dual blades out, conjoining them at the hilts and keeping it to my side as I ran.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

The sun heavily beat down on Ryunosuke as he ran back towards his smithy, which was also within the marketplace. But the fact that it was on the east side made him all the more concerned. As said by the man, the bandits were on the east side of the marketplace, and it was possible that the smithy, as well as his gear, may be compromised.

"Damn, why are bandits attacking here in the first place?" Ryunosuke muttered the question that he also knew the answer of. Of course it was one of the seasons of high volume of people in the marketplace, and the people who visit in this time of year are mostly merchants and wastrels who will spend on anything they can place their hands on. It is therefore normal that they would attack. Therefore it is not normal that the militia, including himself, were also on break during this time of year.

Silently cursing himself for seeking fortune in his wares more than the security of his area, he continued to run towards the east side. Fortunately his two pistols were on the holsters assigned for them, since he would be needing them ahead. A demon, which looked like some refection of his self in his gear, was also running somewhat near him, but he did not see nor mind it. It was his job not to let the people who admitted him here get hurt.

When he finally arrived at the east side of the marketplace, as he passed through some stalls, he saw some bandits looting a stall, the keeper nothing to do about it as the bandits stuffed their bags and their bodies with fruits. After another seconds of running, he saw a woman being harassed by three of these fiends over a stall that was supposed to be selling pottery. Still after another second, he saw a detachment, breaking up the door of a restaurant. He felt sad after seeing those things.

"If I was only there faster than I could..." he muttered as he sprinted across a narrow road. At last he had reached his smithy, where two of the bandits were about to break down the door.

"Hey, you're looking for something in my wares?" He shouted at the bandits, who had their katana drawn.

"Just tell us how to open it, and we'll consider saving your life!" one of the bandits said, moving his katana over his shoulder.

"Hey, too desperate for metalcrafts?" Ryunosuke smiled confidently. "I have some here, want to try it out?"

"My pleasure!" The bandit shouted, then ran towards Ryunosuke with his partner. Ryunosuke drew both of his pistols, one the very antiquated matchlock he had been always using, and one seemed to be the fusion of a pistol and a wakizashi. As one bandit charged at him with an overhead slash, Ryunosuke parried it with the matchlock, and then slashed at the bandit's unguarded stomach. However the other bandit managed to wound Ryunosuke's cheek as Ryunosuke attempted to evade the decapitating blow.

After some seconds of agony, the wounded bandit fell down on the ground, as Ryunosuke managed to get way from the bandit. "I admit, you've got skill, but..." He aimed the gun-blade at the bandit, who charged again at him. The gun fired without what should have been a delay when Ryunosuke pulled the trigger, which shocked the bandit as he was hit by a very powerful round through his chest, felling him down.

"Now that should do it," Ryunosuke muttered as he walked towards the smithy when he was again stopped by a slash from behind. Ryunosuke manged to evade it as he rolled towards the smithy, but another wound had been added to his chick in the process.

"Now damn it," he muttered.

[Morei Haji]

One bandit fell to the floor, my gauntlet had smashed his face in and knocked him unconscious. I spun my dual blade around in order to parry incoming attacks before I slashed in front of me, slashing the stomaches of nearby bandits, non-fatally at least. I made it a point to not kill if I could help it.

Detaching my blades, I would sheathe one, instead pulling out my whip sword. As good of a time as ever to test this beauty out. I swung it forward at the leg of a bandit, wrapping it around his leg before pulling and throwing him to the side at another bandit. I instantly turned the whip into sword mode and blocked another bandit strike, kicking the man in the stomach and knocking him back before backhanding him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the kid from before, fighting off bandits and holding his own. But it seemed bandits were giving him trouble too. I wasn't going to let someone die if I could help it. Another bandit approached the kid from behind, and I would quickly swing my whip out, grabbing the guy's arm as he rose it. I would then tug on it, pulling the guy back towards me as I rushed forward, slamming my knee into his back and punching him in the face to knock him out. Retracting my whip, I would walk over and stand near the red headed kid, my own red eyes looking around at the numerous bandits.

"You look like you need some help."

Hopefully, he wouldn't be too weirded out by a demon lookalike. That said, his weapon was pretty fancy. I doubted he was a novice.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke looked behind him, and he saw what seemed to be a demon wrestling with that bandit that struck him on his cheek. The bandit was quickly overpowered by the demon, and the bandit fell after a quick punch.

"Oooh, looks like that would hurt for days," Ryunosuke said, staring at the very one-sided fight. After the bandit fell down, the demon started walking towards his direction. "Wait, does this demon want more action?" he thought as the demon inched nearer to him. But staring more than the demon, it seemed that the skin, hair, and eye color was too familiar. And after some thought, Ryunosuke widened his eyes.

He had brought two sets of demonic gear from the Numa castle home in Totomi, as well as the gun-blade he was holding. When he looked at his reflection on a jar of water after he had wore the gear, he was shocked at the result. His hair and eye color seemed to become inverted, and his skin became black for some reason, like that demon who was moving towards him. So this demon was actually a man who wore almost the same demonic gear that he had.

But that did not let him be lax while the demon was moving towards him. Maybe that demon just wanted to fight, and bandit or villager did not matter to him. He tightened his grip on his gun-blade, until the demon spoke. It was a gentle voice, and also, what he said made him felt relaxed. He was really a Numa Castle veteran like him, and he came to save him.

Ryunosuke replied, "More like it was 'thank you for saving me from becoming fertilizer.' Anyways, you're my hero. You saved my life." He then stared at the numerous bandits attacking the poor villagers. "Anyways, if you are here to save this marketplace, you should go your way, and I'll follow. It is hard to fight them without armor anyway. I'll get my armor first. I'll follow without a moment's delay."

[Morei Haji]

Huh? He wasn't scared at all? I looked at him confused. He spoke about getting his armor, could he also be...?

"If you insist." I spoke, twirling my sword in my hand and stabbing it into the ground. A light began to glow from my body, and soon it looked as though it was stepping out of me. A doppleganger made of pure light energy stood beside me, weapon at the ready.

"I can hold the fort down until you return." And with that, Light Haji began to run at the bandits, fighting and cutting several of them down. I turned around, ready to engage bandits in the other direction while my doppleganger handled this area. It would provide safe passage for the kid to get his armor too, I hoped.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

"Well then, thank you," Ryunosuke said to the demon-like human before going into the smithy. He wasted no time in putting on his armor, since the circumstances dictated that he should hurry up. But apparently some bandits noticed the half-open smithy door that he left while hurrying up.

The group of bandits, numbering four, charged towards the smithy, looking to seize anything within it. But by that time, another demon peered from the door. His eyes were red, and the color of his hair and skin was pure black, darker than night itself. The smithy door opened, and the full extent of the demon appeared right before the other demon and the bandits. But the creature looked more like an imp than a demon, due to its short frame.

The bandits laughed at the display, one of them saying "Is this one the demon that our comrades are talking about? I mean, it is so cute that I want to hug it!" With that remark the bandits laughed even harder, until a bullet ripped through the air and hit one of the bandits' lags, crashing him down on the ground.

The petite demon was then seen holding the same gun-blade that Ryunosuke held while fending off the bandits. Proof that the demon and the red-haired male child is indeed one.

"Say that again when you can't walk, all your comrades will truly laugh." Ryunosuke then charged at the three remaining bandits, and his agility confounded the three until they fell to the ground unable to run away due to numerous slashed on their legs. Unable to run, the bandits just crawled away very fast.

"Well at least they will have a good laugh later," Ryunosuke said, looking at the bandits, and then at the other demon-like person.

[Morei Haji]

As the other person ran off to grab their armor, I would fight any bandits remaining in this area. Parrying blows and making sure I only slashed them in non-vital areas, my light doppleganger would watch my back, doing the same. I prioritized the use of my whip, grabbing opponents and flinging them away, or knocking weapons out of enemy hands. The item was most useful.

"Heh. Just weeks ago I would've had problems with these guys. This armor's quite something." I spoke to myself, turning to watch my doppleganger fight. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another dark figure who was fighting. He fired at and schooled a group of bandits before walking over to me, and my eyes widened as I realized it was the kid from before, they had the same weapon.

"No way... you too went to Numa Castle?"

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke scratched the back of his head while saying, "Um... yeah, I also came from Numa castle some days ago, and found this armor after fighting off some undead. This seemed to be a set of veritable armor, notwithstanding the drastic change on the wearer's body." He then looked around him, and saw again the woman being chased by the bandits before, and now she was struggling to break free from the bandits that would attempt to molest her.

"Now damn it," he muttered as he saw the scene before him, and aimed his gun towards the three bandits who were attempting to have their way towards the woman. One pull of the trigger later, and the bullet found its way to the private parts of one of the bandits, which made him fall to the ground screaming in pain. Seeing their comrade behave that way, they turned towards the one who wounded him.

"Who gave you the authority to stop us doing what we want?" These two men were very furious, but that did not daunt Ryunosuke, who said, "Someone who had the authority not to let you breed." With that he charged towards the bandits, who drew their katanas and raised them up in the air. As Ryunosuke closed in on them, they swung their weapons downward, but they missed their mark as Ryunosuke side-stepped to the left, and struck one bandit on his crotch before finally swinging the blade of his gun on the crotch of the other bandit, felling both of them down screaming in pain.

"Now they will not try to molest any woman ever again," Ryunosuke said, looking at the bandits he felled.

[Morei Haji]

I nodded as the boy spoke. He was a veteran of that terrible place, and thus I decided I would look upon him as an equal, and with respect. Not many could survive that hellhole, I barely made it out alive after my own girlfriend shot me.

I would wince as the kid shot and stabbed some crotches on the bandits. That LOOKED PAINFUL. OH GOD. I was glad this kid was on my side, he definitely struck in places I tried to avoid. But the man was a rapist, so perhaps it was justified.

Two bandits would run at me from behind, and my doppleganger would intervene, slashing at their legs and arms to send them to the floor, unable to wield any weapons. I was glad this guy had a mind of his own, despite being my spirit. I almost had to do nothing here.

Looking at the kid, I decided I would give him something I hadn't given to Shou when I last met that man in this demonic guise. My name. "The name is Haji, of the Morei clan. It seems like you too fight for the people."

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

"Hmmm... Haji of the Morei clan, so Morei Haji..." he muttered as he repeated the name of the human in the demon garb. And then he remembered that he had not introduced himself to the man. It should be fair that he should also give his name to that person, since the person had done so.

"I am Ryunosuke, of the Ichimura clan," Ryunosuke said to Haji. When inquired about him being a protector of the people, he replied, "You could say that I am a protector of the people of Totomi, because I owe to the people here my time of peace and rest. Fighting for their sake is my only way of appreciating what they gave to me. As long as I live, there should be no one threatening their security, because they accepted me when I was a vagabond." As he said those words, he saw a large number of bandits successfully penetrating the door of a restaurant, which revealed a number of people who shrunk in terror because of the number of bandits that were there.

Having no time to waste, Ryunosuke charged towards the bandits, firing his gun-blade at their legs as he charged, making some tumble down, but the bandits pushed through the restaurant and took some of the people there as hostages.

"Damn it," Ryunosuke only muttered those words when he saw what was happening.

[Morei Haji]

Ichimura Ryunosuke. It was a name I'd be sure to remember. The kid seemed quite deadly despite his size, and that gunblade of his... definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of that.

I listened to his story about protecting Totomi. It was much how Yukimura decided he wanted to protect Kofu. I sympathized with his plight. I wanted to protect everyone, that included the people of this region too. I would help Ryunosuke protect the people of Totomi while I was here, I couldn't ignore people in need.

The bandits had taken over a restaurant, and before we could really do anything about it, hostages were taken. The situation had become dire, fast.

"Ichimura-san, I have a plan..." My doppleganger would turn into a pure wave of light, traveling low to the ground now and moving towards the restaurant. "I'm going to cause a distraction. And in the midst of their confusion, we charge. Understand?"

That mass of light energy waited near the restaurant, out of sight. He would sneak behind the bandits and cause mass panic, which would enable us to come in from the front.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke stared as the light incarnate turn into a wave of light, and moved towards the restaurant, where the bandits, seemingly afraid of two demons standing near them, decided to threaten them by taking hostages from the diners of the restaurant. When Haji said something about making a distraction, Ryunosuke understood. The distraction had to be that amount of light energy hiding itself from the bandits.

He said, "All right, I understood. Once you made the distraction, we're going to charge towards them and rescue the hostages, right? Seems like a good plan. I'll wait until the distraction is in place." He then stared towards the bandits, searching for signs that they were distracted from looking at them. That light energy really had to impose a lot on the bandits so that they can make their move.

[Morei Haji]

I merely nodded in response to him, glad that he understood. Any rash decisions at this point could cost the lives of the hostages. Moving my finger lightly, the light would direct itself into the building, moving slowly along the ground, trying to stay as far out of sight as possible. It made its way into the back, near the furthest bandits from us.

"Get ready..." My fist clenched, and a small explosion of light happened in the back, sending a couple of the bandits flying forward and turning all attention to the back. My light doppleganger stood at the center of the explosion, instantly charging to save the hostages. "Go, now!" I would shout, running towards the restaurant from the front, weapons drawn. This was mine and Ryunosuke's chance to save them.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke watched as the mass of light energy moved to the inside of the restaurant, and then at the back of the bandits as they were still focused on the two. What's more, when Haji clenched his fist, the mass of light exploded. There seemed to be something fishy with him, as he saw that he could control light. Just who the hell was he?

As the light expanded onto the bandits and something that seemed to be a light incarnate stood in its place, discomfiting the bandits while it tried to save the hostages. This was the signal they have been waiting for. As Haji shouted the word Go, Ryunosuke shrugged the thought he had, and ran towards the restaurant, shooting at the legs of the bandits who felt secure from him by taking some hostages. As he entered the restaurant, the bandits were still confused on who to attack. Ryunosuke took advantage of the situation and charged towards the surprised bandits. With slashes toward the arms of the bandits, he disarmed them so that they did not have a hold over the hostages, and then fired upon their legs so that they could not attack anyone.

[Morei Haji]

Ryunosuke moved forward on time, and began to attack viciously just as I had hoped. Light Me was holding his own, for any strikes did not hinder him whatsoever, as he felt no pain. He struck down any bandits in reach while I rushed in and slashed at the legs of bandits further away from Ryunosuke. I didn't have his handy range as I had no gun, but my melee skills were more than a match for these bandits.

Causing some of them to fall to the ground in pain, I would knock their weapons away before turning around to slash at another bandit who had tried to come up behind me, striking his arm and disarming him before smashing my fist into his face. I turned again, channeling energy into my fist as I sent a wave of light out, smashing more bandits against the wall painfully. So far, so good.

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke did not have much of a difficulty against the dumbstruck bandits as he disarmed one and kicked another at the same time. He then charged towards the disarmed bandit and struck him on his stomach using the blunt part of his matchlock, much that the bandit fell on the floor groveling. He then charged towards another group of bandits, firing his gun-blade while he was running towards them, plummeting them towards the ground unable to do anything. The others, still undaunted, charged towards Ryunosuke, katanas drawn. But Ryunosuke just slid past them, slicing up their heels as he passed by them, making them fall down backwards. But as he looked above him while slashing up the bandits, he saw some more on the second floor, jumping down towards them.

"Now damn it, they are desperate," he said, hurrying to get up and fire at the legs of the bandits falling down to the first floor. With every discharge of the pistol, a bandit fell down on the ground unable to land perfectly and so suffered an injury grievous enough that he can't get up.

"Now so much for being desperate, you ended up looking worse than you expected, huh?" Ryunosuke smiled as he said those words, holding his gun-blade upward.

[Morei Haji]

I watched as Ryunosuke took out the bandits who had jumped down from the second floor. His gunblade was rather handy, and I stared at the contraption. It was something I wasn't used to seeing. I've seen swords or guns, but both in one? Then again, I was flinging around light energy, so anything was possible.

Seeing one bandit trying to run up behind Ryunosuke as he had been paying attention to the bandits he dispatched, I swung my whip sword out and got the guy around the neck. "You shouldn't strike someone from behind..." I said as I started to pull the guy in. As he got nearer, I raised my fist. "It's just rude!" I would slam him down into the ground, knocking him out. Meanwhile, my doppleganger was practically break dancing while dispatching the enemies on the other side. He had a mind of his own, and it was strange.

"Well, it looks like we've nearly cleaned up here, Ichimura-san."

[Ichimura Ryunosuke]

Ryunosuke heard footsteps from behind him, and when he turned around, he saw another bandit charging at him. He was surprised by the turn of events that he was unable to defend himself. Fortunately Haji came and struck the bandit, knocking the bandit out. He then said to Haji, "Looks like I have been saved from being fertilizer the second time around. Thank you, Morei-san."

He then turned around, and saw from the entrance that the bandits scampered away from the marketplace after seeing the great slaughter in the marketplace. They should be, since two demons banded together to defend the marketplace against them.

When Haji said that they had nearly cleaned up there, Ryunosuke replied, "I would dare think that we have completely done that, Morei-san," while looking at the bandits who were escaping. "Anyways, thank you for helping me save this marketplace for being overran by the bandits. I doubt I could do that alone."