Fan Fiction ❯ Bushido ❯ Kitsune and Kimono ( Chapter 15 )

Hopefully this chapter will be more interesting than the last one...

Chapter 15: Kitsune and Kimono

Summer soon fell to autumn. The ronin rubbed his neck in thought, wondering where all the time had gone. Despite working most of the days with Haruko and her father out in the fields or some other chore, Koichi found that time slipped though his fingers rather too quickly. He still mulled over his meditations, and knew he was ever so slowly coming closer to spiritual peace.

The fact that there'd been no more attempts on his life also troubled him. Though Yiniku never returned from his mission, the young man was certain demons had other ways of finding information. Not the mention that Oshima may still send more samurai after him, despite the demonic help. No signs in half a year or so could be both good and bad. Knowing his luck, fate would hand him a little of both.

Koichi blew his hair up as he sighed. His locks needed trimming again... Maybe he could get away with it for at least a few more weeks - The tax collector wasn't due again for a bit, and the villagers didn't seem to give a damn. Most paid more attention to his height rather than his hair.

"Ah... my thoughts wander once more..." Koichi chuckled to himself, realizing his mind strayed off topic yet again.

"Something on your mind, Koichi?" The samurai turned his head to see Haruko, clad in a blue kimono, peeking from behind a shoji screen. She stepped out, sliding the door closed before waiting for a reply, "All right, stupid question. Something's always on your mind. What is it now?" The teenager ran her fingers through her ponytail absentmindedly.

"Many things... it has gone wandering again, Haruko-chan." He rubbed his neck, realizing how much formalities they'd dropped in only a year's time.

"I guess it's the true mind of a ronin then, huh?" Haruko asked, grinning. Koichi rolled his eyes, but snickered slightly.

"Looks like my horrible jokes are rubbing off on you."

"Well, I don't think that's a bad thing." Haruko snickered.

"Perhaps. A bad sense of humor is better than none."

"Oi! Who said my sense of humor is bad? I think you're funny!"

"Exactly." Koichi grinned, standing up. "Now, before we joke or ponder the day away, I need to go to the river and wash the laundry your father so kindly assigned to me." Haruko giggled, shaking her head.

"I don't know why he did. Last time he sent you to do the laundry, all our whites turned a light shade of purple."

"I'm still trying to find out how I did that..." Koichi murmured.

"Well, best I come along, so it doesn't happen again, ne?" The samurai eyed her suspiciously.

"You just need an excuse to follow so you can annoy me." Haruko gave him an innocent smile and stuck out her tongue.

"C'mon, Koi-san, let's go."

"I'm not a fish!"

Haruko giggled as the two walked on.

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"How do you do it?" Haruko asked with an odd stare, examining a futon blanket, "It went in blue, and now it's pink?"

"I've told you, I don't know! Obviously I'm a jinx near dirty clothes..." her friend grumbled, tossing aside a now gray kimono.

"I'll say."

"Feh." He sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat, "Looks like we're going to need to go clothes shopping again." Haruko shook her head, disagreeing.

"No, we can make do with what we have, regardless of the color…"

"True, but I'll buy you and your father something new. Besides, I need to go shopping either way. I think I just shrank some of my… er… more important articles of clothing." He held up his fundoshi, not only an odd shade of orange, but also three times smaller than it had been a few hours earlier. Haruko burst into fits of giggles as Koichi flushed, embarrassed.

"Oi, yamenka." He growled.

"C'mon, Koi-san," Haruko grinned at his glare, "Let's head back. Otousan should be starting dinner soon." Koichi sighed, pulling himself to his feet.

"True… I'll go shopping tomorrow then." He mumbled, pulling a load of ruined laundry into his arms. "Let's go home, Haruko-chan." He dumped the load into a basket and hefted it over his shoulder, his companion copying. Haruko walked a few paces in front to lead the way. Koichi moved his foot to follow, then set it back down suddenly.

"Koichi," Haruko turned, noticing his pause, "What-"

"DOWN!" Koichi yelled, tossing his basket aside to unsheathe his katana. He dove forward, using his free arm to grab Haruko and shove her to the ground, twisting his torso backwards at the same instant. Just a the young woman felt herself hit the ground, she heard the "Clang!" of something bouncing off the ronin's blade. She looked up, seeing Koichi stand just in time to deflect another attack.

"You're too noisy to use stealth weapons like kunai. Show yourself!" the samurai barked across the river. Across the waterway, a humanoid fox stepped from the shrubbery. Quick as the four winds, it leapt across the stones in the water before landing in front of Koichi.

"Kitsune yokai!" The bushi growled.

"Yes indeed, ronin." The fox-like man snickered, "I see your zanshin is too keen for me to use my usual tricks… well, maybe not." The demon dissolved into the air, and Koichi quickly ducked, missing the blade of a kuri by millimeters.

"Haruko, head back home, quickly! I'll take care of this!" Koichi ordered. Haruko shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you here! Friends don't abandon friends in need!"

"And your father is gonna kill me if you get hurt!" Koichi protested, but gave up as Haruko pulled out her bokken from a long sleeve. "No wonder your right arm wouldn't bend so much… you need a better hiding spot."

"Keep your eyes on me, human!" The fox demon cackled, reappearing and leaping at Koichi, a tanto aimed at the human's chest. The ronin quickly parried, cutting open a wound in the demon's shoulder. The kitsune hissed, jumping back.

"Who said I wasn't?" Koichi asked, charging forward as Haruko swung around to come from the back. The fox demon cursed, jumping over their heads, flipping over in an attempt to get behind Koichi. He realized his mistake a second too late, feeling the blade of the ronin impale his stomach. The kitsune spat out black blood, pulling himself from the weapon and falling to the earth. "Fool! You think this will kill me?!" Koichi dodged as the yokai leapt at him, daggers and fangs bared.

The ronin blocked with his sword, the force of impact sending his feet sliding a few inches back. He parried the next few attacks, breathing heavily as he tried to keep up with the demon's pace. At the first opening, the fox dove in, ensnaring Koichi's arm in his powerful jaws. The ronin took the bite quietly, but struggled to remove the demon's mouth from his arm. If the kitsune didn't let go soon, he would be left with half a right arm.

Quick to help, Haruko slammed her bokken hard into the demon's throat, causing him to release his hold and kneel over, clutching his throat, the airflow temporarily cut off. Gagging, the fox turned over just in time to watch Koichi plunge his katana into his heart. The demon gurgled, ebony blood leaking from his lips as he choked his last breath. For good measure, the ronin detached the head from the body with one swift stroke.

"Even though we took him down faster than the last demon," Koichi began, flicking his blade to remove the blood, "this kitsune was actually much stronger. Lucky for us, we were better trained and a bit more prepared this time." He sheathed his katana, while Haruko slipped her bokken into her obi. The young woman approached the ronin, looking at the growing red stain on his sleeve.

"We need to take a look at that." She insisted. Koichi shrugged, commenting that it wasn't so bad, but his friend persisted. He sighed, giving in as he pulled his sleeve back. Haruko blanched.

"How can you not wince at that?" She asked, looking at the deep bite marks. The wounds went close to his muscle, and had already swollen twice their size in a deep purple hue. "That looks like a poison wound!" Koichi inspected his arm, nodding.

"Oh yes… the tengu did mention once that many demons have a poisonous bite…. Hmm… That's not good." Haruko raised her dark eyebrows at him.

"That's all you can say? What if that poison kills you?!" She asked, her eyes beginning to get watery. Koichi, noticing this, shook his head.

"No, it won't. Well, it would in a day or two, if not for the fact the antidote is right above our heads." He pointed to the tree overhead. "Something else I learned from the tengu - demon poison antidotes and how to identify them. This is a maple tree. If we make tea from its leaves, it will make a powerful antidote to a kitsune's poison." Haruko looked up, blinking.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Fine, I'll get some leaves. You find something to use as a tourniquet for your arm, otherwise poison won't be your only concern." Haruko encircled the tree, trying to find a lower branch to pick from. Koichi fished through his laundry basket and took his ruined fundoshi. He wrapped it around his arm just above the bite marks, tying it tightly with his left hand and teeth.

Finding a decent branch, Haruko took out her bokken and knocked a few leaves from the tree with it. Scooping up the leaves, she headed back over to her friend. "Well, let's go back home." Koichi nodded, hefting his laundry basket up with his good arm as the duo walked back.

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"I will never understand how you two manage to find trouble when all I do is send you on simple errands." Hideki sighed as he bandaged Koichi's arm.

"Just have all the luck, I suppose." Koichi muttered.

"Tea's ready." Haruko said, handing Koichi a cup, "Are you really sure it's the correct antidote?"

"Hai. My tengu teachers stressed on which worked on what so often that I doubt I'll forget anytime soon." The ronin assured her, taking a sip of the hot liquid. "Hm… not bad."

"Well, your arm's set, Koichi." The elder man declared, finishing his job. "Let's hope you don't run into any trouble when you go into town next week."

"Tousan!" Haruko exclaimed, "You don't really intend to send him out again so soon?"

"Well, he does need new clothes, and he's offered to buy new ones for us. Not to mention we need to get some more vegetables. We don't have anything other than rice and daikon growing right now."

"Don't worry about it, Haruko-chan." Koichi agreed, waving his hand casually, "The antidote should help the wounds heal faster anyway, so my arm should be fine by then."

"Whatever you say…" the young woman mumbled, not quite convinced.

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"Damn it all!" Akurei snarled, seeing his kitsune's last memories. "This is becoming more than annoying… That fox was one of my better expendable vassals… I don't want to send my better minions just yet…" The demon huffed, his purple eyes flashing. "Let that Oshima fool's men handle it for a while… I'll just send assistance in other forms. I need to acquire more expendable men in the meantime…" Akurei grinned to himself, formulating a few ideas of how this could be accomplished. Next time Oshima came to him, he'd demand compensation for the men he had lost.

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True to his assurances, the poison left his body without much trouble within a few days. By the next week, the swelling had vanished completely, and his bite wounds were healing quite nicely.

"What are we gonna tell people if they ask what happened to your arm?" Haruko asked, watching Koichi put on a straw hat, dressed in his peasant attire.

"Simple. The truth." Koichi replied, walking past her and sitting down, slipping his straw sandals on, "That a fox bite me." Haruko tilted her head, raising her slender eyebrows.

"You're a very sneaky man, you know that?" Koichi only laughed.

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Despite the fact it was late in the season, the town was crowded that day, merchants and peddlers advertising their wares above the chatter of the shoppers. Koichi walked alongside Haruko as she pulled a cart along, checking out all the food and clothing stands.

"It's nice here." The ronin commented as they wove through the crowd. "Not packed like the city, but not sparse like most villages."

"Well, I wouldn't know. Haruko chuckled, "As this is the only place I've shopped at my entire life."

"Well, perhaps one day I can take you to see some of the places I've seen." Koichi smiled, "If the chance ever arises."

"I would like that." Haruko giggled, stopping to inspect a vegetable stall.

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Leaning quietly against a wall, a middle-aged man watched the pair closely, taking note of Koichi's height and scars. He smirked slightly when he noticed the "peasant's" callused hands, even though the man seemed to carry no weapons.

"Oi!" A merchant yelled at the silent observer, "You gonna buy something, or are you gonna lean against my store all day?" The man stood up, bowing slightly.

"Gomen nasai. My business is done here, anyway. Good luck with your store." The stranger walked away, leaving the merchant to grumble about window shoppers.

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The man continued on his way until he entered the woods near the town. Sticking his fingers into his mouth, he let out a shrill whistle that echoed through the trees. Moments later, a hawk descended, perching itself on the man's outstretched arm. Its master tied a note to its leg, whispering an order to the bird before thrusting his arm up and sending the animal back into flight.

"I may not be able to send my message to Master fast enough personally, but I trust you can, my faithful carrier." The man grinned, watching the hawk fly into the distance.

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Blah…. Sorry that took almost a year to post up, and it's not even a great chapter. @_@;;; Junior year was just very busy and stressful for me, not to mention I kept getting sidetracked by my comic and other projects, as well as some really good games like Way of the Samurai 2, Hordes of the Underdark, and Black and White. Gomen, gomen! XP I'll try to update quicker this year.

kitsune - "fox"

That's all for now… hopefully you won't have to wait another 11 months for the next installment. @_@;