Brothers in Arms (Tak/Open)

[Amakusa Takehiro]

As a sickle shot toward him from the darkness, Takehiro simply grinned. He took a step back, extending his spear so the sickle would barely pass it, he then pushed the handle against the chain, causing the sickle to wrap around his weapon. From there, he would take a firm hold of the chain and pull his assailant out from the shadows and toward himself. Given the surprise of his tactic, his foe would be caught off-guard, and stumbled toward the mercenary. Takehiro swiftly tilted his spear downward and thrust it into the man's foot, piercing through bone and stone, holding the man in place. A firm right hook to the face sent him to the ground, incapacitating him.

"These guys are a bunch of pansies."

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu watched as Takehiro impaled his assailant's foot, almost wincing at the sight of it. It definitely looked like it hurt. But something didn't feel right about this. As the man hit the ground from Takehiro's attack, he would vanish in a puff of black smoke. Hideyasu stared curiously before walking over to Takehiro, keeping his guard up just in case they were attacked.

"Check your blade... if there is no blood on it, it would mean our opponent is cloning himself through shadows. And only one of them is real."

- Hideyasu would hold his blade up to Takehiro to show him the blood as his eyes surveyed the area around them. The sound of chains moving in every direction was a little unsettling, but Hideyasu had faith that they would succeed. After all, the real one was dripping blood.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Checking his blade, Takehiro found there was no blood on it. This meant he hadn't taken out the man, but that hadn't deterred him. He backed up, avoiding the sickles being swung around him, and searched for the blood. It would leave a trail right to the man, and he wouldn't be a problem, with Hideyasu having left the wound.

Spotting the trail of blood, Takehiro would follow it, dashing forward and sticking low to the ground to avoid the swings of the sickles. His spear would shoot forward, just above where the blood had ended. If the blade had not made contact, he would step forward once more, taking the spear in his other hand and thrusting it even further forward, before sweeping it around in a wide arc to slice through the man's side.

[Morei Hideyasu]

"GODDAMNIT!" A cry could be heard as Takehiro's spear pierced the air. A man stumbled out in front of his two assailants, and the sounds of sickles completely died out.

"Nekoya Kuroto."

- Hideyasu put his blade to the man's neck  as he looked up at his captors, smirking. "Ahh, you Hojo dogs caught up to me..." He spit blood at the ground towards Takehiro, a visible wound on his side. It looked deep.

"For your treachery in attempting to sell our lord out, you should be put to death. However... it seems I have no need to strike you down myself. I came here and did what I needed to do."

- Hideyasu turned away from the fallen man, beginning to walk towards the entrance. He stopped a way, turning towards Takehiro. "Unless you have other plans for him?"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

"Listen, you fucker," Takehiro approached the fallen man, picking him up by the neck and slamming him into the nearest wall. He was fighting to get the guy's life spared, and this is what he got in return? "First off, I'm not Hojo. Fuck Hojo. Second, it's because of me you're still alive. You wanna change that? Give me one more reason to hurt you, 'cuz so far, you've given me almost enough." When the man kept his mouth shut, Takehiro just laughed, ramming his elbow into the side of the man's head and knocking him out.

"We're done here. Come on."

He would usher Hideyasu out of the dungeon, though, from there, he was unsure of what his companion had planned.

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu watched as Takehiro knocked the man out, leaving him on the ground with his wounds. His mission wasn't necessarily a failure. In Kuroto's state, he wasn't going to get anything to the Oda in time. Following Takehiro outside, they would be met with a cool breeze, fresh air that was a change from the dark dungeon they had walked out of.

- Wordlessly, Hideyasu began to walk towards the entrance to the village, blade sheathed at his side. With nothing else to do, he was homebound for Odawara.

"Hm?"

- He stopped after a while, staring at a rundown home. His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing.

"This was my home..."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro cocked a brow as he saw the home the man was speaking of. That house, he recognized it. Yeah, he was certain he'd seen it before... was Hideyasu lying, did he get the place mixed up, or was he serious? Because...

"This place?" he asked, jerking a thumb in its direction. "You're kiddin' me."

What the hell was that kid's last name...

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Before Hideyasu could question what Takehiro's words meant, a figure came out of the home. It was an older man, walking rather slowly. He saw Hideyasu and stared at him for a little while before his eyes widened. "Is that you, Hideyasu...?"

"Y... you!"

- Rage taking over, Hideyasu drew his blade and charged at the man with the intent of cleaving him clean in two.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

The moment Hideyasu drew his blade, Takehiro's eyes widened. He was not about to let this guy murder someone, whoever that someone happened to be. Hideyasu didn't even listen to the concern Takehiro raised, because he recognized this damn house. His hand shot out to grab Hideyasu's wrist, and, if he had to, he would throw the guy back and away from the dude's house.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Now is about when it clicked. Morei Hideyasu. Morei Haji. This was Haji's house. They were brothers?

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Blade halted in midair, and Hideyasu fell back away from the man. He glared up at Takehiro angrily, blade clenched tightly in his hand.

"How dare you stop me?!"

- He immediately blended into the shadows, disappearing from view. He quickly rushed at the man again under the guise of darkness, appearing behind him, blade raised once more. He brought it down straight towards the man, aiming to slash him through from the shoulder as far as his blade could cleave. Everything in Hideyasu's being told him to kill this man!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro's eyes narrowed as the man disappeared from sight, but his goal was only obvious. Turning around and holding up his spear, as soon as Hideyasu was visible once again, he would launch it at the guy's head, butt-end first. As soon as he was distracted from that, Takehiro would run up and ram his foot into the guy's stomach and send him flying through the door to the house.

"Calm the fuck down!"

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu would see the spear coming in, attempting to block it. Takehiro was much faster than he anticipated, and despite knocking that spear away, he still received that foot to the stomach which sent him flying through the door. He rolled over on the ground, skidding to a halt as he struggled to catch his breath after that attack.

"I... you bastard... he can't live..."

- Hideyasu slowly began to climb to his feet, using his sword as support. He began to look around the home, seeing it in the sorry state it was in. Everything was dusty, broken, old. But the most important thing...

"Where is he...? Where's Haji...? Where are you, brother...?"

- Hideyasu fell to his knees, seeing the lack of his brother in this place. It's been fifteen years, and his brother was nowhere to be found. A tear streamed down his cheek as the rage continued to build up.

"Did you let him die too, you bastard...?! Haji... Hidenori..."

- The man climbed to his feet again, sword raised. He slowly began to walk towards the man, as if ignoring Takehiro's presence. His entire life was destroyed because of this man.

"YOU LET THE ODA KILL MY MOTHER. YOU LET THEM DRIVE HIDENORI AND ME OUT. AND NOW HAJI IS GONE TOO! I WILL KILL YOU, FATHER!"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

This confirmed just about everything he was assuming. Hideyasu and Haji were brothers... huh. And he thought Haji was dead? Takehiro raised an eyebrow. Some of Hideyasu's concern was warranted, sure, but given the mercenary had just had an opium trip with the kid like two days ago, he knew that wasn't the case. He didn't know who Hidenori was, and the mother thing was none of his business, but he'd be damned if he let someone blame someone else for a death that never even happened.

"God damn it, pull yourself together!" Takehiro roared, slamming his fist into Hideyasu's face to knock him to the ground. "Haji's not dead, you dumbass! I was just on a fucking adventure with that kid! I don't know what happened to your other brother or your mom, but don't you fucking go wild on this man for your crazy-ass assumption when you'd be equally at fault, because if you'd even seen him recently, you'd know he was alive!"

If Hideyasu got back up to cause more problems, Takehiro would punch him in the face a second time. And a third. As many as it took for this guy to calm his shit.

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu was sent to the ground as Takehiro's fist found another mark on his face. It hurt, but the built up rage cushioned it. Hideyasu pushed himself back up to his feet, ready to continue to advance on his father before he stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide at Takehiro's words.

"Haji is... alive...?"

- Hideyasu's grip on his sword loosened as it fell to the ground. He stared at Takehiro, unsure how to process this knowledge. Was he truly telling the truth? Was his little baby brother now out living his own life?

"Is he really...?"

- Hideyasu's father walked in from behind Takehiro, still staying close to the man just to be safe. "He is... he decided to leave home of his own accord... to become the greatest swordsman in all of Japan. The boy grew up to be just like your mother..."

- Hideyasu glared at his father for a moment, before looking to the ground. His hand came up to his face, and he began to laugh hysterically.

"Your stupid dream... so now it's passed down to him, huh? Does he even know the Oda took our mother's life...?"

- His father shook his head no, and both fell silent. Hideyasu's fist clenched once more, reaching down to grab his sword. He pointed it towards his father for a moment before sheathing it.

"Killing you now would only bring Haji pain..."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro just looked from Hideyasu to Papa Morei. It seemed they had a lot of shit go down between the two of 'em, and it was hard for the mercenary to relate. His own home life was pretty good. He had both his parents, his three sisters and two brothers were all very close. And then there was the Morei family.

"Look, he's your father. Either way, you'd need to calm your shit." He shrugged, matter-of-factly. The guy could try and argue if he wanted, Takehiro would just deck him in the face again. "Fact is, your bro's alive. Could probably see him sometime."

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu lowered his guard, but his stare was still tense. He looked over at Takehiro in silence for a moment. Was this man telling the truth? He had no reason to lie to Hideyasu, did he? Unless he was merely trying to calm his rage.

"Tell me... how does my brother fare? Has he grown strong?"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

"Has HAJI grown strong? Psh, hoooo boy," Takehiro began, letting out a little laugh. The kid was there for Numa... that place was a bitch, and Haji took it on with the rest and kept up the entire time. While he didn't want to tell Hideyasu the dangers he and Haji had experienced together, he wanted him to know just what kind of progress he'd made.

"I got a feeling Haji's gonna live up to that whole "greatest swordsman" thing you two mentioned earlier, for sure."

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu's eyes widened at Takehiro's words, and a small smile broke onto his lips for the first time. Haji, the greatest swordsman, becoming a reality? It was hard to believe, especially since the last time Hideyasu had seen the boy was when he was just two years old.

"I see... that is very good."

- The Hojo soldier looked down at his hands. They were stained with the lives of his victims, while from what he could understand, Haji's still held onto innocence and hope.

"I would very much like to see him, but... he is walking a different path that I never could."

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro frowned. He almost wanted to slap this guy. He himself had done things his family never would, and they still welcomed him with open arms. Haji was a loving guy, and maybe it was just Hideyasu's angry, jaded view on things, but it wasn't like he was going to shun him or anything. They're BROTHERS.

"If you want to see him, you should see him." Takehiro shrugged. "That simple. I see him all the time lately and I don't even intend to. It just... happens."

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu looked at Takehiro. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps his little brother would still be accepting of him, even if he was a natural born killer. This world twisted him, turned him into something else. Even though his brother was alive, the hatred for his mother's death would always remain. He wondered if Haji shared that same anger.

"I suppose you're right... does Haji not seek vengeance like I do?"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Haji was about as pure as they come, and Takehiro admired that about him. Turned out he had a pretty shitty past, and it seemed like none of that even changed who he was. He wasn't bitter and angry like his brother.

"If Haji seeks vengeance, he's got a damn good way of hiding it. Kid's a saint."

If he didn't know any better, Takehiro would think he worked for Izanagi himself.

[Morei Hideyasu]

"A saint? So he's much different than me..."

- Hideyasu looked to his hands, the hands that had taken so much blood. Together, he and Takehiro had wiped an entire clan from the face of the earth. An assault that helped to establish the Hojo as a dangerous power, one that could end your mere existence if you opposed them. But it left Hideyasu with bitter resentment towards himself. If Haji was walking a different path, one that was pure and good, then... he admired his little brother for that, a path he could never walk.

"Even you seem to have changed your ways. Did my brother influence that too?"

[Amakusa Takehiro]

He wasn't sure why, but it seemed every (ex)member of the Hojo seemed to hate themselves, and think themselves a monster. Takehiro was the very same not too long ago, but he'd come to terms with what he did. It was evident Hideyasu didn't, however, as it showed in his eyes how the assault on the Yoritomo still haunted him.

"Nah, course not. Good kid, sure, and if I hadn't changed my ways long ago, he might have. But I've been walking a different path for a like time, friend."

He smiled, patting his comrade on the shoulder.

"'bout time you do the same. Yoritomo was a bad time. Of course. I was there too, man. But that's why I dropped the Hojo like a moldy rice cake. Does you wonders, dude."

[Morei Hideyasu]

- Hideyasu's eyes widened a bit. Just drop the Hojo? Leave? Takehiro spoke like it was so easy, and perhaps it was to him, but...

"The Hojo took me in and raised me like their own... Could I really just..."

- To leave the life of an assassin behind. The prospect seemed promising, and yet, he knew he would be hunted down like he had been sent to kill Nekoya. A ninja with as much of a name as Hideyasu had may warrant the Fuuma being sent after him, and he knew he could never best Kotaro in battle, nor even dream of it. He was trapped.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro shrugged. To him, it was simple. Obviously, he and Hideyasu didn't follow the exact same train of thought.

"You fight with them because you feel you owe them. I fought with them because my family fought with them for like, three generations. But when things get to a point you can't stand them anymore, I'd say it's fair for you to take your leave. No point fighting under a banner if you don't support it fully." He nodded. "Besides, I'd say you've repaid any debt you feel like you have after Yoritomo. Sixty-two guys against like, five-hundred? Come on, now." He let out a chuckle, patting Hideyasu's shoulder. Though, he knew within him their laid other worries, far beyond that of repaying a debt.

"Listen. I'm looking at the possibility of raising my own banner one day. That happens, I want you on my side." He smiled reassuringly. "I'll handle Kotaro if he comes after you."