The Cloaked Samurai

By nightfall, Takumi had successfully led you through the forest to the campsite. The other ninjas were setting up for the night, and they all seemed happy to see their leader again. Takumi was still trying to convince you that he was legitimately in love with the woman he met, but you continued to argue against him.

"I will convince you of my love for her," Takumi insisted confidently as everyone prepares their mats for the night. You just shook your head and sighed.

"You will regret your hastily-made decisions. She is only beautiful in your mind," you told him.

"My word is firm. I am not lying to you," Takumi argued.

"How can I trust someone who hides his face behind a mask?" you retorted.

"Still wishing to catch a glimpse of my face, I see," Takumi said, a hint of laughter in his voice. He reaches out and softly touches the side of your face. "Not everyone is blessed with your complexion, Akio." He gives a small chuckle at the surprised look on your face and enters his tent for the night. You're glad the darkness hides your red face, but you have a feeling Takumi knew you were blushing. His behavior was so strange and unpredictable. You never knew what he was thinking. It's hard to believe this was the man who murdered your family. You have to remind yourself that you can't trust him. Some day, you'll have to kill him in the name of vengeance, but for now, it was hard to not enjoy his company.

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The next day, everyone split up and went their separate ways. You, as usual, traveled with Takumi. This continued for weeks. You began to realize that you were covering the forest in a grid pattern, leaving no place unchecked. It puzzled all of the ninjas how the Cloaked Samurai and mysterious woman were no where to be found. If only they knew the truth!

One day, you came upon a camp of imperial soldiers.

"It's still strange to think of him as being dead," one of the soldiers was saying to his comrade.

"I know," the other replied. You ducked behind a tree and looked to Takumi for instructions. You were amazed to see that he has disappeared. You looked into the trees, but he is no where to be seen.

"Master Takumi?" you whispered, slightly panicked. Did he abandon you?

"Whoa- who are you? What are you doing here?!" a surprised soldier exclaims. You turned to see a soldier scrambling to get his pants back up. He had apparently been preparing to relieve himself. You didn't see anything, but you were too flustered to think up a response.

"You're one of those rebels we heard about!" the soldier accused.

"No, no!" you shook your head fervently. "I'm just a wandering samurai!"

"Ha!" the soldier gave a short laugh, drawing his sword. His comrades joined him, also drawing their weapons. You pulled out your katana, but there were at least thirty trained soldiers preparing to kill you, more than there had been on the night your family was killed. There was no way you could win.

The first soldier attacked, and you dodged his sword and stabbed him in the stomach. You pulled your katana back out as quickly as you could, just barely having enough time to block another attack. You managed to shove your knee into the diaphragm of one soldier while stabbing another. You were fighting and winning but barely doing so. The remaining soldiers surrounded you in a tight circle, closing off any escape. You can't attack them all at the same time, but you have to try just the same.

You put both hands on the handle of your katana and spun around, letting the blade cut through anyone who dared to approach. One soldier stopped your blade with his sword. You sliced his neck, but you suddenly sensed an attack from behind. You know instinctively that you won't be fast enough. You were going to die.

The soldier behind you fell to his knees. Suddenly, everyone around began to topple over and collapse. In a matter of seconds, the remaining soldiers were dead.

"I wanted to see how you would do on your own, first," Takumi said, leaping out of a nearby tree. You noticed small daggers and throwing stars in the necks of the soldiers. He calmly collected these, wiping the blood off and returning them to a pouch at his waist.

"And... what was your impression of my fighting skills?" you asked, carefully stepping over the corpses of the soldiers.

"You killed most of them on your own. I was very pleased. I know talent when I see it," Takumi announced, entering the soldier's camp. "We might as well salvage what we can."

You took their food and money and a few other items before continuing on your journey. After a few minutes of silence had passed, you murmured, "Thank you, Master Takumi."

"What's that? Why are you thanking me?" Takumi turned to stare at you in surprise.

"You saved my life. I thought you had abandoned me," you admitted.

"You're not easy to abandon. You probably would have survived and hunted me down," Takumi laughed heartily. You tried to laugh with him, but the terrible irony was making your head hurt again. The only thought that spun around in your head was, "How could this be the same man who killed my family?"

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Takumi related the story of the fight that evening as the ninjas ate dinner. They had already become more accustomed to you, and this story increased their awe. Then again, it seemed to you that Takumi was stretching truth and making the battle seem more fierce and deadly than it had actually been. You couldn't decide if you were just modest, if you had a different perspective of the fight, or if Takumi just liked to brag about you. It almost appeared that the last one was true. Takumi had been talking less and less about the woman he was searching for, and he was talking to or about you more and more. You're perplexed by this gradual change of interest, especially since Takumi thinks you're a man.

You're even more confused when you wake up in the middle of the night. Takumi was sitting beside your mat watching you. You wished again that he would take off his mask so that you could read his expression.

"You are a source of great bewilderment to me, Akio," Takumi said in a low voice as you sat up. "Every moment I spend with you, I forget about the woman I love. When I'm not with you, thoughts of you fill places she once held hostage."

"I... I don't really understand," you stuttered slightly. You quickly leaned back as he leaned closer to your face. "But that's what true friendship is, right? The deeper feelings of our friendship are overcoming the shallowness of your former love." Takumi put a hand under your chin, tipping your face upwards and forcing you to look him in the eye. You couldn't breathe when you gazed up at him. You remained this way for what seemed like an eon before he finally released his hold and turned away.

"Perhaps you are right," he murmurs softly, standing up and going back into his tent.