Samurai 7 Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson Hearts ❯ Regroup! ( Chapter 4 )

CRIMSON HEARTS
© September 12, 2005 By Rory V. Pascual


CHAPTER FOUR: Regroup!

"Kyuzo-dono!" Shichiroji called out to the somber figure walking swiftly and stiffly ahead of them through the fog. "Slow down, will you? Kanna Village is not going anywhere!"

To this, the crimson samurai simply waved without looking back at his companions. "You continue at your own pace. I'm in a hurry."

Katsushiro inched close to the blond warrior and mumbled, "I can't believe he was created from the cells of Kyuzo-dono. The original Kyuzo rarely spoke."

"Maybe something malfunctioned as he was being cloned," Shichiroji offered, grinning wickedly.

There was the soft hiss of two sharp swords being partially pulled out. "I heard that!"

The two men rolled their eyes upwards and snickered conspiratorially. To avoid any more annoyances, Kyuzo walked further away from them.

"So, Katsu-kun," Shichiroji began, a look of expectation on his handsome face. "How are things between you and Kirara-dono? I had hoped you two would be married by now."

The blood rushed up Katsushiro's cheeks at that query. "Uh…no. Actually, we're just friends."

"Are you serious?" the blond exclaimed in disbelief. "But I thought you and she would…after Kanbei-sama had…"

Katsushiro turned sharply to the older man. "What about Kanbei-sama? Did he do something to her?"

Shichiroji quickly shook his head. He had completely forgotten that the young samurai viewed his mentor as a rival for the affections of the former Mikumari. "No, it's not what you think." Seeing that the look of suspicion remained on the boy's face, he sighed in defeat. "We all thought that Kirara-dono had feelings for you, but as it turned out she was in love with Kanbei-sama, and he knew about it. Before we returned to Kanna Village for the final battle, she was going to confess her love for him. Kanbei-sama never gave her a chance. He turned her down."

"That's cruel of Sensei to do that! He could be so blunt sometimes. How could he break a poor girl's heart like that?"

"You don't know Kanbei-sama like I do," Shichiroji patiently explained to him. "He had lost everyone he loved and cared about in the war. You cannot blame him if he prefers to distance himself emotionally from close friends and potential lovers. The pain of loss can be a very difficult thing to bear."

Hesitantly, Katsushiro started to inquire, "Did Kanbei-sama…"

"Have a lover?" Shichiroji finished Katsushiro's question for him. "I know he had a wife and daughter, but I heard they were among the war casualties. Kanbei-sama never talked about his private life. But I think he loved Kirara-dono in a way, like she was the daughter he had lost. Certainly not, however, in any romantic sense."

Katsushiro lowered his head, reflecting on what the elder samurai had told him. "I never realized Kanbei-sama led such a lonely life."

"Lesser men would have crumbled from the loneliness and heartbreak, but Kanbei-sama is strong," Shichiroji said confidently. "It would take something truly catastrophic to break him."

"Oh, how little you know…" Kyuzo spoke softly through the thickening mist.

"Did you say something, Kyuzo-dono?" asked Katsushiro, batting away the white wisps with his hands. "Where are you anyway?"

Before the two men could take another step forward, Kyuzo appeared from out of nowhere and blocked their path.

Shichiroji nearly jumped out of his skin. "Damn it, Kyuzo-dono! You nearly scared me to death! I thought my heart stopped!"

"I think dying from heart failure would be a better alternative to falling off a cliff," was Kyuzo's rebuttal.

Sure enough, the three men were facing a sheer drop. Even on a clear day, the bottom of the cliff could not be seen. Not too far from them, they could hear the roar of the waterfall.

"I don't understand," Katsushiro said in confusion. "What happened to the bridge?"

Shichiroji bent down to inspect the wooden platform at the cliff's edge. "Well, it definitely hasn't been destroyed. The old foot bridge had been changed into a drawbridge."

"But why? How are we…"

"LOOK OUT!"

Kyuzo shoved his comrades back. From where they stood, two arrows were deeply embedded in the ground.

"Who's firing at us?" cried Katsushiro as they ducked behind some rocks. "Is it a spy?"

"No," Shichiroji answered grimly as he trained his gaze towards the hazy outline of the watchtower in the thick mist. "Those arrows came from across the chasm."

"From Kanna? But why…" Katsushiro made to stand and call out to the villagers on the other side, but another arrow whizzed past his ear.

"Keep your head down, fool!" Kyuzo hissed angrily. "Shichi-dono, do you think you can get me across?"

Shichiroji made a quick calculation inside his head. Grinning, he readied his spear. "Piece of cake!"

Before Katsushiro could offer a dissenting opinion, the two elder samurai dashed towards the edge of the cliff, easily evading the arrows that were fired at them. They gripped the spear at the same time as it was thrust down into the ground, and they vaulted through the air. To Katsushiro's horror, he saw that they wouldn't be able to make it to the opposite side. But then, Shichiroji fired a long cable directly at the watchtower from his metal hand, coiling around a support, and they swung towards the tall wooden fence. Kyuzo used the momentum to carry him up the tower, nimbly scaling the supports. Jumping into the sentry box, he pulled out his sword and cut through the string of their attacker's bow.

Kyuzo pointed his katana menacingly at the archer, who was staring wide-eyed at him in shock.

"KYUZO-SAMA!" Kirara exclaimed in disbelief. "This is impossible! You can't be alive!"

To this, Kyuzo remarked dryly, "Since when did a little girl like you learn to use a bow?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Kirara fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the floor. "I am so sorry for shooting arrows at you. I thought you were an enemy."

"You surprised me, Kirara-dono," Shichiroji admitted with a reassuring smile. "I never knew you could handle a bow so well. Katsushiro here never told us about it."

But Katsushiro was just as amazed. "To be honest, this is the first time I found out about it myself."

Komachi, who was Kanna's current Mikumari, brought over some tea that she had boiled on her stove. The child who had joined Kirara and Rikichi on the samurai quest had blossomed into a beautiful young woman.

Beaming proudly at her older sister, she said, "Actually, Nee-sama is better with a crossbow."

At that moment, Rikichi burst through the doorway, panting for breath. "So it is true! You're here!" He looked at the somber samurai, who was carefully honing his precious katanas he had retrieved from the original Kyuzo's grave. "And…Kyuzo-dono?"

"I'm his clone," Kyuzo said wearily. He ran a strand of his hair over the blade, smiling in satisfaction as the hair was instantly cut in two. "I must stress, however, that I am just as good as the original, and I also possess some of his memories. So, forget that I'm his clone, and just consider me as the same Kyuzo you had known."

"Except for the fact that he talks more than the old one," Shichiroji couldn't resist saying, causing the crimson warrior to growl in irritation.

"Why the tight security here?" Katsushiro couldn't help but ask. "Is there another threat on Kanna Village?"

Rikichi sat down and joined them. "We've heard stories that other villages have been attacked by the Nobuseri. Kanna is pretty much isolated so we haven't confirmed these reports. However, two months ago, one dark midnight, we were awakened by the rumbling noise of machinery. We never saw them pass through our village, but that noise, without a doubt, it was the Nobuseri."

Someone suddenly spoke from the doorway. "Unfortunately, the villagers seemed to have a deeply ingrained fear of the Nobuseri, even after you had defeated them. It had been particularly difficult to shut up Manzo-san. In the end, it took all four of us to mobilize the entire village to fortify the defenses."

The three men gaped at the newcomer standing before them. At first glance, they thought he was Hayashida Heihachi, but on closer inspection, he was much taller than their fallen comrade, and he has long, wavy red hair that reached down to his shoulder blades.

It was a blushing Komachi who made the introduction. "My friends, I would like you to meet my husband, Kikuchiyo."

Katsushiro and Shichiroji blurted out in unison. "KIKUCHIYO?" Even Kyuzo was blinking his crimson eyes in surprise.

Astonishingly, the young man placed his hands on his waist and burst into raucous laughter, reminiscent of their former mechanical comrade. "Make no mistake, I'm the real Kikuchiyo! I was searching for that fool tenant of ours Tagomaru who stole my family tree from me."

The three samurai vaguely remembered a funny story that Gorobei told them about Kikuchiyo's flaunting a stolen family tree as "proof" of being a warrior.

Kyuzo's eyebrows knitted together in a dark frown. "You chased after Tago-san for seven years just to retrieve a stupid family tree? Unbelievable!"

Kikuchiyo plopped down on the floor beside his wife. "Actually, no. My parents had a new one made. For the past seven years, I've been learning the skills of merchants, but I wanted to become a samurai. It was a dream that I shared with Tago-san. I decided to go after him six months ago, and my travels brought me here. I'm so proud that he died an honorable warrior in the end. He was more like a father to me than my own was."

"Kikuchiyo-sama's parents made a big mistake in training him to be a merchant," Rikichi put in. "He's a brilliant architect and engineer, just like Heihachi-sama. He even made some improvisations in the weapons we used during the battle. It was he who designed Kirara-sama's rapid-firing crossbow. He even converted one of the Nobuseri guns into a weapon I could easily."

"Ah, but a weapon can only be effective depending upon the person using it," Kikuchiyo pointed out. "Both Kirara-sama and Rikichi-sama proved themselves well and able to wield the weapons I created for them."

"Although I cannot understand why you would still need a gun, Rikichi," Komachi remarked. "You don't know this but our timid farmer has turned out to be quite a swordsman."

At these words, Rikichi prostrated himself before the warriors. "Please don't be angry with me. I've been using Gorobei-sama's sword."

"Why should we be angry?" asked Shichiroji. "If Gorobei-dono were still alive, I'm sure he would have entrusted his sword to you."

The farmer brightened at that answer. "Thank you, Shichiroji-sama!"

Grim-faced, the blond samurai finally revealed, "You are right to take these vigilant measures. The Nobuseri have indeed returned. Not only that, there's a new Amanushi leading them."

Everyone's jaws dropped. "How could that be?" Kikuchiyo asked in shock. "I thought all of the Amanushi clones had been destroyed?"

"It's either we missed one or there's a new pretender to the throne. This Amanushi has been ordering the Nobuseri to pillage the farming villages, demanding more rice than what the previous ruler asked for. I've received appeals from the villages of Akame, Hiroyama and Mikamichi within the span of a week alone."

"We've heard that Karuna and Hiresa villages had been attacked as well," Kirara added.

"What truly disturbs us," Shichiroji said, "is the rumor that the Amanushi is searching for Shimada Kanbei. For what reason, we don't know. Worse, we don't know where Kanbei-sama is, so we can't warn him about this threat."

"I take it you'll be searching for Kanbei-sama," Kirara at once concluded. "Let me go with you. You've done so much for our village. Let me help by joining you in your quest. I promise I won't be a burden this time."

"Is it your intention to search for him or are you planning to get in my way?" Kyuzo asked bluntly, causing the young woman to turn red. "I know how attracted you are to Kanbei. Up to now, I still couldn't believe that Katsu-kun was so dense as to not notice that you were in love with Kanbei and not him."

Katsushiro was outraged. "Kyuzo-dono! This isn't the time or place for such discussions!"

Kirara, however, could be just as derisive. "You know? I think I like the original Kyuzo better. He was quiet, not like you."

"Seven years inside a cloning chamber building up an irritation towards certain people can loosen up one's tongue. Don't get between me and Shimada Kanbei, little girl, or you'll regret it."

"I'm throwing the same warning to you, Kyuzo-sama. Harm Kanbei-sama and I will kill you."

The two were about to exchange more barbs when a light tap at the window drew their attention. Kyuzo beheld the grinning face of Okara.

"The messenger arrived," she announced, handing the crimson samurai an official-looking scroll and a small note addressed to him. Secretly, she also pressed a small box into the warrior's hand before leaving.

"If you don't mind," Kikuchiyo began, as Kyuzo read through the contents of the note, "I would like to join you as well. I've always wanted to meet the great Shimada Kanbei. Besides, I think my skills would come in handy."

"I'm coming too," Rikichi hastily offered. "If it wasn't because of Kanbei-sama, I would never have been reunited with Sanae."

Shichiroji and Katsushiro smiled. This was better than they had hoped. To embark on an adventure with friends…

"It's just like old times," Katsushiro commented in enthusiasm. "All we have to do is find Sensei and we'll be seven samurai once more."

"The question is," Komachi began, "where are you going to look for him?"

Kyuzo's face darkened as he read the scroll. "We won't have to look very far. Shimada Kanbei is in Kougakyo."

"How do you know that?" Shichiroji asked. "Are those letters from Maro-sama?"

"I should have realized it sooner," the crimson samurai muttered with a shake of his head. "Akame, Hirayama, Mikamichi, Karuna and Hiresa…all follow a straight path heading for Kougakyo. Kanna lies between Hirayama and Mikamichi, and yet this village was by passed by the Nobuseri. Why attack these villages and spare Kanna?" He tossed the scroll into Shichiroji's hands. "Here's your answer."

The blond warrior opened up the scroll as the others gathered around him.

"Curse those Nobuseri!" Rikichi exclaimed in fury. "They're demanding that we give them a share of our harvest!"

"Yes," Kyuzo confirmed, "but in case you haven't noticed, they are asking for the same quota of rice you used to give to the former Amanushi. This village is being protected."

"Kanna? Protected?" Komachi asked, truly perplexed. "By who?"

"Oh my God! This can't be!" Shichiroji gasped aloud. With a trembling finger, he pointed to the bottom of the scroll.

Two signatures were affixed under the official seal. The first belonged to the new Amanushi. It was the second signature, however, that stunned them all.

Above the title of "Royal Adviser" was the signature of Shimada Kanbei.

A small note fluttered to the floor before them. Written in Ayamaro's utilitarian scroll was: "Kyuzo, Return to Kougakyo immediately. The Amanushi is coming here. Ayamaro."

Samurai and farmer alike turned to the crimson samurai.

Kyuzo gripped the two leather wristbands that Okara had made for him tightly in his hand. The sun and moon crystals that the young woman had fastened onto the bands were like warm embers in his palm.

"We're too late," Kyuzo hissed angrily. "The Amanushi has captured Shimada Kanbei."

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