Yumi woke up in the shrine, she calls her home. It was a wonderful day. There were few people on the streets this morning and the crazy empress skipped through the streets. "Goddess? Goddess? Where are you?" The priest asked. Suddenly Yumi appeared out of thin air: "I am right here. I feel an evil coming. They will be here in a couple days. We must gather warriors to protect Edo. Even though I am a goddess, I cannot fight the enemy alone." Yumi then walked out into the city looking for work.

Kaizori sauntered quietly through the dusty streets of Edo. The amount of entertainment was almost equal to his native Kyoto. However, he had been living a simple life in the village of Amana, that was east of Edo. He had been distracted from all the pleasures of the city had to offer; perfumes as sweet as white plume, silks and incredibly fresh produce from the seasons.

But the small village had its own pleasures. They weren't interested in the looming darkness and didn't belong to any certain clan. Though if a clan did lay claim, it was Sakurai. Amana was...different. When so many villages were being stripped of young men Amana was hardly ever affected except when a youth wanted to do his part in the Sakurai army as an Ashigaru. But mostly, they were hermits and monks that tilled the earth and fought only when pressured to or was for the good of the community.

However, with his arrival came unexpected consequences. The Fujimori clan that he was originally apart of wanted to see Kaizori dead. And after an attempt on his life was made, and Kaizori was left barely alive attacks against Amana had become more and more apparent. Thugs and the likes would often be so brazen as to take action against them, and Kaizori would then take up his sword and defend the town. This too came with unexpected consequence, as he then had shown why they wanted him dead and showed his former masters that he was indeed there. He had caused such a ruckus that he decided he should leave his only begotten home.

He still wore his sword at his hip, the curve of the blade worn upright even whilst in towns, as there was always the presence of danger. The Yakuza was unfriendly and brazen, and he never knew when he'd have a conflict with the Fujimori. Even in a town as well guarded as Edo, danger lurked.

Rei smiled broadly as he finished his story, and casually joined in with the raucous laughter of the fearsome looking ruffians who gathered around him at the table at the back of the tavern.
This is the life, he thought; no debts, no deadlines, no rules but my own and most importantly, no enemies. The petrified bartender arrived with a tray of drinks, and as he placed it on the table, he looked over at Rei, a deeply grateful look on his face. Rei responded with a wink and a smile. The ruffians had been growing progressively more violent throughout the night since they'd barged in. Their drunkenness had been on the verge of spilling over into a violent brawl when Rei had decided to intervene. His now deceased master, he knew, would no doubt have resolved the situation faster than Rei, but his method would have been a tad more... to the point. The point being the point of his katana through at least one of the ruffians' chests.

"Well, it's getting late, I'd better be off." Rei said, smiling, through the dying laughter.
"Arrr, Rei, that's too bad!" Said the largest, and Rei guessed, the most senior of the group. They all rose and some turned, staggering carelessly towards the door.
"Innkeeper!" Rei called obviously, "we would like to thank you most kindly for your quick and generous hospitality tonight. Here is the fair payment for my drinks. I'd never short-pay someone who'd done me a service!"
Halfway turned towards the door, the leader hesitated noticeably and looked quickly from Rei to the petrified innkeeper. "Of course," he muttered quickly, and then confidently, with a quick look back at his watching ruffian pals: "Thanks for, the grog, you're due what you're due." And with that he fished around in his pockets and placed a couple of coins on the table.

As the rest of the gang thanked the stunned innkeeper and left their dues on the table, Rei walked out into the cool night air of Edo. It was a nice enough town, but he was already gaining a reputation, and when people put together who he was with the legendary sword he carried, he would gain unwanted attention fast. He adjusted his satchel and the blunt wakizashi concealed in it's side, shifted the weight of the tightly wrapped sword that he had slung tight to his back, and set of at a leisurely pace in no particular direction.

Yumi saw a guy in an alleyway stab a woman to death. She went over to him and appeared in front of him. "H...how did you do that? What do you want?" The man said. Yumi then replied: "I saw you kill that woman. As the goddess of execution, I must execute you." The man pulled his sword but with a swift swing of her blade, Yumi broke the mans sword. The man began to run beginning to act innocent: "Help! Help! She is trying to murder me!" Yumi didnt care if someone tried to ruin her reputation. Honor and duty came for her first, then came reputation. The man then ran into another man outside a bar and cried: "Please help me! This woman is trying to kill me. She is powerful and I bet you could protect me from her. I think she is a yakuza member." Down the road came Yumi walking with her sword in her hands: "Time to pay."

Daylight had quickly passed him by and left him roaming the almost deserted streets. Only the rabble, the criminals and guards were now plotted unequally amongst the thin stretch of alleys and avenues. Keeping his hands tucked into the over-sized sleeves of his gi, the crest that of the Sakurai clan- a familiar petal shaped blossom appearing in place of the Fujimori's crane styled crest. The day's dying breath, twilight was closing on the horizon just behind him.

However, several shapes emerged from the on setting darkness; cackling with laughter, the look of greed in their desperate eyes. Kai was humble, and modest but he was a samurai and held the air about him. Kai had stopped progressing forwards, yet remained quiet as though listening.

"Well," Kaizori responded after a brief moment of silence from the surrounding mob of thieves. "Haven't you got anything to say after you have so rudely interrupted my walk?"

"Heh heh heh. Looky here boys! This one's got a mouth on him!" One of the men spout out, making the rest burst into laughter. Immediately Kai was watching the man approach.

"Heh. We all have mouths, you ingrate. Just some don't know when to keep theirs shut." Kaizori retorted cracking a nonchalant grin.

"What was that?!" The presumed leader replied, his face swelling with rage. " You wanna talk down to me?! Perhaps my idea of letting you live was to nice! Maybe we out to show you a less!" The man began to yell.

Kaizori then sighed in resignation then turned towards the man knowing full well of the remaining six nearby. "I'm not in the mood to feel magnanimous- so if you wish to taste the ground feel free to attack me." Kaizori then said, his eyes glinting soberly.

"Don't worry, you won't feel anything much longer!" The man said unsheathing a wakizashi.

The leader charged forwards, expecting his sudden and abrupt movement would throw Kaizori's senses into panic. However, Kaizori himself, motioned his thumb to shift upwards at breakneck-speed, quickly unleashing the twin bladed katana and connecting with the man's thorax. The blades serrations cleaved through bone, muscle, and carved his body almost in twain.

Then, Kaizori sharply pivoted, angled the sword like a spear and lunged, with both hands gripping the hilt of his sword, towards the man behind the first. The tips of finely crafted steel plunged into the depths of the corporeal being with sickening effects as it struck the man's lower abdominal region. Sliding pas him, he turned and gripped the hilt backhanded and tore out the contents of his belly wile simultaneously continuing his circular form of movement by allowing the hilt to 'fall' backwards into forward gripping in his hands grasp, and then arch upwards and complete the circuit by coming down up a third man splitting him in two equal halves and allowing a geyser of carmine fluid spray into the night.

"Whoa, hey now!" Rei said, surprised as the panicking man gripped tightly to his jacket and yelled in his face. He awkwardly pried the man off his body, noticing that clenched in one of his hands was a broken sword, with fresh blood on the hilt. Before he had a chance to inquire about it, however, a young woman abruptly came into sight at the other end of the street, bearing a sharp looking odashi. Talk about an odd night.
"Time to pay" she called out, looking directly at the man.

In an instant, his samurai instincts kicked in, and for a brief moment he was a warrior again, soaking in the details of a battle.
1. Splashes of blood on the hilt of the man's sword indicate that the man has likely been stabbing or slashing someone, probably indicating a quick, bloody and easy kill. Freshness of the blood means it happened recently.
2. The woman can't be more than 19 years old, and is wearing a clean white kimono. No amount of luck could bear such a beautiful young woman through Edo at this time of night without attracting a lot of unwanted attention and at least dirtying her kimono. This means that she has been protected, either by others or... she was much deadlier and more powerful than her appearance indicated.
3. Broken sword means incredible power, and at least attempted swordplay.
4. This man is a coward. He would not have knowingly entered swordplay with anyone other than someone he was sure he could beat. Someone like a young woman.

Hmmm. He kept looking, adjusting and tweaking the obvious theory. "Alright," he said the the man, pushing him around so that Rei was in between him and the woman. He faced the hopeful looking ruffian. "I'm going to protect you, but this move is one that I'd prefer if you didn't watch".
The man's eyes widened with hope. "Wow! Magic or something!? Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. You know she was going to kill me!"
"I know," Rei said, soberly "I won't let her. Turn around please?"
The man thanked him once more and turned around, covering his eyes for good measure.
Rei sighed. He turned his head to look at he approaching woman, and drew a wakizashi from the satchel that he had over his shoulder. "This move works better when they don't look" he said, and swung the sword down on the back of the man's head, dropping him instantly to the ground.
He paused and looked somberly at the body.

"Who did the bastard murder, goddess?" He asked the woman, raising up his eyes to meet hers.

"He murdered a woman. But I hate it when others do my job. He had nothing to do with you and you killed him. I will let you off this time but next time I will slaughter you and feed on your bones and flesh." Yumi said while putting her sword away. A voice behind her then said: "You killed my men and my son! I will have your head for this Kami. What kind of goddess are you? A goddess should have grace and elegance and shouldnt be slaughtering everyone who commits a crime. You even killed child thieves!" "Ahh. Right on time." She grabbed the yakuza in the face and clawed into his head then picking him up. "I dont care about criminal scum. If someone is poor, my shrine offers food and drink for them. They shouldnt steal because it isnt lawful. You have stolen all of your life. I even knew it when you were a kid. But I didnt kill you because you visited the shrine often. But now you made it a job and didnt even ask for forgiveness. Only few visit me and the shrine nowdays. If a Kami doesnt get offerings, they have to feed on the people. I only fed on those who I had to kill but do you know what a burden it is to eat people? Goodbye." At that point she tore the yakuzas head off and crushed it. She didnt care if she had become a corrupt goddess. Because no one visited the shrine anymore and it was run down, she had become more focused on her duty that on giving blessings and helping people. But then it hit her again, she didnt care about how she had but still was sad about lack of company. She fell to her knees and cried. She missed the people, she was lonely.

Kai stood amongst several crumpled heaps. Blood dripped ceaselessly from the tips of his sword's blades. Slinging the sword to the side ceremoniously, he retrieved an untouched cloth inside his gi. Drawing it up each blade individually, he cleaned the steel of blood before sheathing it. He then wiped down his own face. He simply stood there for a moment or two, trying decide what to do with the bodies. Finally choosing to bury them, he began to. Taking a shovel from one of the storehouses he was near, he began digging much to the plight of his back.

Eventually, he'd bury all six of them near or around one another and fasten twigs to the mounds of disturbed earth so that passerby's would realize that they were in fact- graves. Planting the shovel back where he had taken it from, he continued on his way. Eventually, he found himself wanting to take a break as his feet throbbed. He was passing a neglected shrine, when his curiosity struck. Venturing through a thicket he came upon the core of the shrine, he looked around the serene place. He stopped before a stone denoted to a Kami. He began to pry the moss and other growth away from the small temple, revealing it to the eye.

Settling on his knees before the shrine, he respectfully leaned forwards. His thumbs and index fingers meeting as he pressed his hands to the ground and dipped his head. Afterward, he merely sat there staring towards the abandoned shrine. He wondered how someone could let such a place go to ruin as it had. Perhaps, he thought, it was the Kami itself that didn't wish to be seen. Whatever it was, Kaizori's reverence for such places took hold and he began to tear away the growth of weeds and brushes that had collectively, over tine, grown atop much of the once beautiful place as he imagined it. Pretty soon, he was sweating once more. All in a day's work he supposed.

He nestled himself on the old crack, stone steps that led into the larger wooden temple behind him. Inhaling deeply, Kai found his disease was once more, at work. He had consumption, and these days it was ever increasingly hard to breathe especially after hard work or fighting. Inevitably, his labor caught up with him and he began a coughing fit that resulted in him coughing up a bloody mucus on the steps. His eyes blurred in their vision while he took a series of deep breaths and he wondered if he would die without knowing real love before wiping the steps clean.

"Gomen nasai, Kami-sama."

Suddenly Yumi felt a kind of sensation, as if someone was visiting her shrine. She then unknowingly grabbed Rei's hand and the world seemed to move past them while they were still standing. It felt as if they were flying. "I finally have a visitor. I want to see him." Yumi said. After about half a minute the world stopped moving by. They were in front of a large shrine where part of the thicket was put away. On the steps in front of it was a man who seemed sick. Yumi had disappeared but she soon reappeared near the man. "I will help you." Yumi said to the man. She put her hand on the mans chest and her hand lit up. After a couple seconds, she was done. Yumi then smiled and said: "Welcome to my shrine. I am Yumi, Kami of Justice, Kindness and Execution." She realized for a short moment that she had been acting all these years without her kindness because no visitors came so she could still be kind.

Kaizori smiled gently towards the kami spirit. Placing his hands kindly over her own as she attempted to heal him. However, he declined the mending the goddess could give him in a polite manner. He lowered her hand as he repositioned himself to sit up properly before her. He then leaned forwards, bowing with utmost reverence for the spirit.

"I, apologize for not accepting your gift. But I can not accept it fully aware that I am a butcher of men. Please, allow me to accept my punishment, and know that, as I am dying, I use my sword to protect the innocent and for thosee who can not defend themselves." He spoke in a weak, shaky voice. "I am grateful for the gesture, and I apologize for any trespassing I may have done. I was weary and my feet tired so I decided to stop here and get some rest when I noticed that this was actually a shrine. Is this your shrine?"

"Yes, this is my shrine. You are the first visitor in years and I am happy for you to visit. I know you have killed. But if it was a wrong thing to do, then I would have brought justice upon you already. You have only killed to protect others. You can stay as long as you want. I even have a room you could use. I just cant see a poor fellow like you suffer from something he doesnt deserve, so I cannot allow you to die. There is more out there for you and an old enemy is coming which means you could prove yourself useful." Yumi said with her warm smile.

(Yumi is an odd Kami eh?)

(Indeed! Course, Kai is rather odd himself. ^^)

"Of course, Kami-sama. But grant me one last pardon, and tell me your name so that I may address you properly." He said, keeping his voice full of modesty and kindness towards the spirit. But soon after, he began coughing badly once more, trying to cover his mouth the severity of his cough, and indication of his advanced level of Tuberculosis. His corporeal form bent over as his lungs tried to inhale air while at the same time, reacting to their own destruction. He finally coughed up a large amount of blood and it spilled between his fingers onto the steps. It took him a moment after his fit, to realise he had gotten blood on sacred ground and frantically tried to wipe it up while apologizing repeatedly.

"My name is Yumi Onegai. What would that last pardon be?" Yumi said. But then the man started to cough up a lot of blood, spewing it over the ground. He began to apologize for something he wasnt at fault for. "Its okay. I can heal you and stop your suffering that way. Just let me." Yumi said and put her hand on the mans chest. "Dont worry. I am here and it wont hurt."

Finally awakening from a stunned stupor, Rei decided just to ignore the fact that he had suddenly appeared in a ruined shrine some place. Kamis were usually trouble, and while this one seemed to have suddenly become super cheerful, he didn't want to stick around and wait for her to start finding an excuse to make his head explode just like the yakuza member before.

Rei started edging backwards and towards the exit, keeping a curious eye on the grand looking, reverend samurai coughing up blood, and the unpredictable kami.
From the grace of his movements, and the sharpness in his eyes, Rei knew that he was a formidable samurai. It was also apparent from his interactions, that he was also a great big suck-up, doing all he could to get on the god's good side. Neither looked like fun company.

He was just about to turn and leave, when he noticed the samurai refuse healing. He turned back, stupefied.
So he wasn't sucking up just for the supernatural healing. He was taking responsibility for his actions. What a guy.
Rei knew that he had killed far fewer people than the man before him, but still far too many. Some of the guilt that he carried was likely shared by Rei, and he respected him enough to observe how he had decided to deal with it.

The Kami... Yumi Onegai, again went to heal him.
Rei watched intently, waiting to see how he would respond.

"My name is Yumi Onegai. What would that last pardon be?"

"I did not..." He took a moment to swallow air before he continued. "take the the time to read the inscriptions upon your shrine, Onegai-sama. This humble servant begs you forgiveness in the matter of his ignorance that he does."

"Its okay. I can heal you and stop your suffering that way. Just let me."

"I apologize, but I can not partake of your incredible gifts. If I am to carry this sickness to my grave, then let it be so. The men that stain my blade will have their reward when I am done protecting the innocent and the weak. They may weigh on me, but they will not stop me- I, am a samurai but I belong to no master that may abuse my ability. I have forsaken my duties to be a tool of death to those that seek peace." Kaizori responded, and knelt before her, bowing his head upon the setps and showing her the utmost respect and reverence. "Praise to you Yumi Onegai-sama."

The samurais response was a bad response in Yumis eyes. If she wanted to help somebody and heal them, the humans often had no other choice than be treated by her. "I often see it as disrespect when people dont let themselves be healed. Would you rather want me to end your life?! Anyways I need you to battle the evil that is coming to our nation and if you die on me, I will personally go to the underworld to bring you back to the world of the living!" Yumi said slightly angered. At this point, people could see how corrupt she had gotten over the years. Another thing that she disliked was when someone answered with no because she reluctantly takes no for an answer. "You over there wait." Yumi said to Rei having a sharp gaze at him.

Kaizori raised to his feet, his face pale and blood still fresh on his lips making them stand out and contrast with his brilliant colored eyes; formally a light lavender hue, now shone like darkened amethyst stones. His gaze became a stern one, rather than sporting a kind smile. He lifted his eyes to the Kami when she had spoken of her disapproval of his choice and how it had angered her. His look would be one of most intrigue to his fellow humans as it carried conviction even against a kami-spirit.

"You can end my life a thousand times over--in the most horrible ways imaginable, and still I would not kneel to your command kami. For corruption surely flows through you from the years of neglect, and disrespect to your temple. But as you are now, you can not call yourself the prevailer of justice only to threaten the humble and meek!. Your mind is warped, clouded by acts of vandalism."

Kaizori ascended the steps, stepping above her and looking down over the goddess. His gaze as fearless and uncompromising as it ever had been.

"You call yourself a ruler amongst men, to be feared and respected," He lifted a hand pointed towards her. " But what I see, is a being once beautiful and lithe, squandered and weak. You are weak kami, for you have allowed yourself to feel the bitterness of a flaw, a crack in your perfection and let it warp your duty. Do you always threaten a person and then command them to do your bidding? Not with me. You will ASK in a polite tone. One of serenity and honesty, one of your former glory. Until then, you risk losing a warrior for your cause."

Kaizori then turned his attention to the second figure. He had seen him appear with the kami, but had not a chance to properly introduce himself. Descending the steps slowly, he approached the other warrior. He bent forwards just lightly, bowing.

"My name is Kaizori Kuzamatchi-san, who might you be?"

Yumi then grew a smartass grin: "You are ignorant, warrior. You must have not understood what I had just said because I had reluctantly approved of your decision but have sworn to bring you back after you die. I ask you nicely, I would like you to fulfill a last duty before you die and if you die before fulfilling it, then I will keep you alive until its done. Is it so hard to accept my offer?" She gave the samurai a pat on his back and said: "Dont worry. If you accept and do this one favor, I will stay nice as long as you are alive and I will be able to return to my former glory, if people visit me again." Her grin turned into a nice smile. "Now come on and lets be friends."

Kaizori watched the kami with caution. But conviction drove his striving for a more peaceful world. He tired of the fighting, the constant battles. Maybe it was this consuming cancer that ate at his insides--maybe it was just him. He had no one else to turn to, the village he had come to love he had protected and kept the vow that his lord would no longer be of a threat to anyone anymore. Kaizori's eyes returned to their weary selves.

"Fine, Yumi-sama. I will do this one thing for you. But I ask this of you in return, should I perish after the task is completed. High in the mountains is a peaceful village where warrior monks and hermits live. A place where there should be no life for it is as though winter's hand had sewn a blanket for the land in snow. There blossoms many trees of great quality and pristine springs that can warm a person just by being near them. This village- I ask of you, if I return you to your self, that you look over its hard working people and make sure that any crime committed against them is fairly punished."

Kaizori swallowed and looked down, before turning he unraveled more vine that obstructed the temples stone structure. He would enter the sacred place, finding it hard to breath once again. He would retrieve his sheathed sword from the obi and use it like a common walking stick before find a place to settle down and recover his strength.

Yumi sighed and then said: "Fine then. I will watch over your village fairly after you fulfill your duty and decease. But I still need another warrior to join us." She then looked to Rei: "Are you up for an adventure? We could need another companion. So are you going to fight evil or stay here in the city? It is your decision but your help would be useful." Yumi said to Rei giving him a cute smile. Maybe this trip would really bring Yumi back to her former self.

Rei had stood silently through the conversation. He had been basking in the intensity of the righteous words of the samurai. He had not heard men speak like that since the days of his father. He thought that they were long gone from the world.
He also saw the kami soften as she too had felt the intensity of the words. She had not shown how much they had affected her, but her whole attitude seemed suddenly more stable... more hopeful.

As the Samurai had approached him, he had asked: "My name is Kaizori Kuzamatchi-san, who might you be?"
Silently, Rei swung his wrapped sword around to his grip, dropped to a squat, and started to slowly untie the cord fastening it. Before he could answer the question, however, Yumi had pursued Kaizori, and as their words flowed to their conclusion, finally their eyes turned back to Rei.

"Are you up for an adventure? We could need another companion. So are you going to fight evil or stay here in the city? It is your decision but your help would be useful." Yumi said to Rei giving him a cute smile.

Rei dropped the wrap to the ground and slowly unsheathed his katana. It was a deep, dark green hue, but was otherwise completely unremarkable, the handle having obviously been replaced at least once before. This is what he feared about the accursed blade. It was so damned unremarkable. In the stories and legends of mythical swords, they always glowed or sparkled, or called out to the user or his enemies. He would have settled for an evil choir This sword spoke only in death, and when wielded, it spoke often, and eloquently.

Rei looked momentarily sad.

"Its name is Avidwhiler. It obeys the True Heart of those who own it. Basically, that translates to great fortune in battle. Kill the owner, however, and it becomes yours. That, among other reasons, is why I have not let it see sunlight for many years. Should someone kill me, they would own a weapon capable of great evil in the world."
He sheathed the blade once more, and as it clicked closed, he knew it was time to take responsibility for his blessings... and for his curses.

He sighed.

His serious expression evaporated into a lopsided grin, and he awkwardly rose to his feet. "I'm Rei Tadayoshi." He glanced at his sword. "I guess I'm supposed to be called 'Dragon's Tooth' now that I've got the sword, but that sounds far too cheesy to me."

He pointed the hilt of his blade first at Yumi. "Sound's like a big offer, Yumi, but I've got some time to spare, and I've never saved the world before. I guess I could tag along and swing my sword around here and there. I haven't killed anyone since..." he glanced at his sword "...ages... but I still know a trick or two, and the sword does most of the work."

"Two conditions though. Firstly, all that jazz that the Kaizori kid said. I have a badass sword, but I need to know that professional disagreements aren't going to end with you zapping my foot through my face."
"Crazy and cute" he muttered "always seem to go together"

"Secondly," he swung the hilt around to point at Kaizori "You're far too serious for a kid your age. I know you've probably seen and done things I haven't dreamed of, but could you lighten up a little? If I'm going to be traveling around with two teenagers, I don't want them to be the crackpot god and the little professor. I need someone to laugh at my jokes."

He let his sword arm drop to his side. Suddenly, he remembered something, and his eyes shot wide. "Oh, oh, and just because you two are too young to visit a pub, doesn't mean I can't."

He smiled broadly. "But with a badass samurai, a cute looking goddess and a fearsome ronin, who can stand in our way, right?

...

Who are we fighting again?"

Having taken a moment to allow himself to breathe, he looked to his side and down to the ronin an the goddess. He would be traveling no doubt with these two. When the thought emerged, Kiazori's gaze lifted off to the sun rising in the horizon flooding the immediate are in a golden shower of incandescent rays. The illumination was brighter still, than the growing darkness that he could feel inside himself. "Maybe..." Kaizori thought. "I was brought here by fate's dealings..." Kaizori's eyes seemed far removed from the world of men until He heard Rei speak finally.

His serious expression evaporated into a lopsided grin, and he awkwardly rose to his feet. "I'm Rei Tadayoshi." He glanced at his sword. "I guess I'm supposed to be called 'Dragon's Tooth' now that I've got the sword, but that sounds far too cheesy to me."

He pointed the hilt of his blade first at Yumi. "Sound's like a big offer, Yumi, but I've got some time to spare, and I've never saved the world before. I guess I could tag along and swing my sword around here and there. I haven't killed anyone since..." he glanced at his sword "...ages... but I still know a trick or two, and the sword does most of the work."

"Two conditions though. Firstly, all that jazz that the Kaizori kid said. I have a bad-ass sword, but I need to know that professional disagreements aren't going to end with you zapping my foot through my face."
"Crazy and cute" he muttered "always seem to go together"

"Secondly," he swung the hilt around to point at Kaizori "You're far too serious for a kid your age. I know you've probably seen and done things I haven't dreamed of, but could you lighten up a little? If I'm going to be traveling around with two teenagers, I don't want them to be the crackpot god and the little professor. I need someone to laugh at my jokes.

"Oh, oh, and just because you two are too young to visit a pub, doesn't mean I can't."

He smiled broadly. "But with a bad-ass samurai, a cute looking goddess and a fearsome ronin, who can stand in our way, right?

Kaizori blinked several times, then simply smiled kindly and repositioned himself so that he he was sitting with his feet now on the steps. Holding his head up with one hand he jokingly replied. "For me to laugh at your jokes, they actually have to be funny, that they do."

Kaizori blinked several times, then simply smiled kindly and repositioned himself so that he he was sitting with his feet now on the steps. Holding his head up with one hand he jokingly replied. "For me to laugh at your jokes, they actually have to be funny, that they do."

Rei stared blankly at Kaizori, speechless.

Abruptly, he burst out laughing, a new respect for Kaizori in his expression. "Touché, Kai, touché!"

Kaizori kept smiling, though he hoped he didn't offend the man, as that wasn't his intention at all. It was merely a joke in and of itself. However, there was a brief, but seemingly long pause that swept between the two. Then, gratefully, he began laughing at his words.

"Touché, Kai, touché!"

"Thank you, Rei-san, I tried!" Kaizori continued to laugh half halfheartedly. It wasn't a personal thing, it was merely that laughing set into motion his detrimental coughing fits.

Yumi still looked serious. "I dont need anyone threatening me or I will force them to eat bitter lizard eyes." Then Rei spouted something out about his powerful sword. Yumi just smiled and said: "If you mess with me, a powerful sword wont be able to protect you." She looked at a big boulder and slashed it fast enough that her standing there looked like a distortion for a fraction of a second. The boulder then fell into four pieces.

(I will be gone until Tuesday. Til then!)