Koji drew his blade, it sang as it came free of the sheath. He eyed up his opponent, he knew not to under estimate her. She was full of surprises.
Rei eyed up Koji, he was so cool, he was the living embodiment of a placid pond. She had no idea what he was going to do. Then in a blink of an eye he moved, fluid and swift. Rei barely was able to raise her daggers before he was on her, literally. He had swept her legs out from under her and had her in his arms. " Not fair" said Rei, " how did you do that? I didn't even see you move."
" Practice" said Koji, " my youth was spent doing it."
" It was certainly worthwhile" said Rei, " how bout putting me down?"
Koji set Rei down, " Now I'll let you in on a secret" said Koji, " the key to anticipating your enemy's moves is watch his eyes. Now let's try again."
This time Rei paid attention to Koji, his eyes darted left but his neck twitched right. Rei blocked right and caught Koji's sword squarely between her daggers. There was a great clash of steel which disturbed all the birds resting in the trees around the clearing in which they were camping. Koji was impressed, Rei had good instincts. They continued to practice after a time Rei actually started to give Koji a real work out. Finally he decided to really show his skills off. He stepped back and moved at full speed. He fend left and then went right.
Before Rei could react the blunt side of Koji's sword was against her neck. Rei wasn't even sure what happened, it had all happened in a flash of an eye. Rei swallowed hard, " Good job" she said, " how did you do that?"
" I didn't get the nickname Lightning Koji for nothing" he replied.
Rei couldn't help but laugh despite a sword being so close to her neck, " Lightning Koji?" she giggled.
" I never gave myself the nickname but it has stuck" said Koji rather dismayed by Rei's giggles.
" This is from your sword prowess not you speed in bed I hope" said Rei.
" Spent many hours with this sword" said Koji, " worn the grip down so it fits perfectly in my hand, the blade is perfectly balanced."
" Sounds like you spend almost as much time chasing the ladies" she joked.
" Could say the same for you" he teased, " what about you? Any nicknames I can laugh at?"
" I use to be called Moon because of my pale skin, boys in the neighborhood had others for me which I won't repeat."
" Boys are so cruel" he replied.
" I bet you would have led the charge if we knew each other then" she said.
Koji took a breath attempting to find a way to pick himself above the level of the others but finally said, " You're probably right."
The pair shared a good laugh and sat down by the fire. Rei laid down, " So any idea about what we are going to do when we get to Four Crossing?" she asked.
Koji was rather quiet for several moments, " Talk to him?" he said.
" And how are we going to get it out of him?" asked Rei.
" There is one way" said Koji.
Rei looked at her chest, " And if that doesn't work?"
Koji stopped for an even longer pause, " How much money do we have?" he asked.
Rei emptied her little pouch into her hand, " We have fifteen Tae, and eighteen Shion, not exactly a kingly sum" she said.
" Maybe the two together would work better" he suggested.
" Let's just hope he isn't married, I doubt you can out fight an angry wife" said Rei, " but we have a couple of days to worry about that."
Rei laid back pillowed on her arms and closed her eyes, " Sleep well" she said.
Koji adjusted himself and followed Rei into blissful sleep.

Miles away Asuka stood in her bedroom staring out at the city. He was out there somewhere and she knew he was having the time of his life. She shuddered thinking what would happen if he actually won. The city was in chaos, her brother had really acted rashly and now the city was full of armed crazies turning over every rock looking for the killer as the rest of the hardworking citizens fled as fast as they could. She knew they had no chance of catching them, when he didn't want to be found nobody could find him.
She turned away from the window, no longer able to look out at the chaos she knew was rampaging through the streets. She could hear her brother arguing with his samurai and other officials. He was so thin skinned, even when they were kids he could never take even the littlest amount of teasing. Now that he had a title and something to really lose he was always on edge even from the slightest joke.
By the sound of the shouting downstairs and by the amount of swearing he must have been teased quiet a lot when he was in Jota recently. Asuka walked over to her dressing table where Rei's bloody, filthy kimono sat. Asuka picked it up and inhaled deeply. She was all over it and it made her feel safe. Asuka made up her mind, she was going to tell Rei everything when she returned, no matter what. Asuka gently folded up the kimono and prayed for her speedy return.

Taro and Shin had road ahead of the others. They had done this before, it almost seemed second nature to them by now. They rode ahead and used their skills of tracking to locate the quarry and then Kieta would bring up the Arajin for the attack. They were a day behind, all the chaos in the city as those money hungry fools turned the city upside down looking for that invisible killer had done an excellent job of obscuring Koji's trail until they managed to find a watchman who noticed Koji leaving the city in the company of a particularly attractive woman. They were now were riding hard and fast they had an entire day to catch up on them. Neither had any idea why they were leaving but neither really cared they just wanted him.

They came to a small clearing surrounded by large boulders was a campfire that was still smoldering. They climbed off and looked at it. Shin slowly rounded the clearing and Taro knelt by the fire. He shifted through the ashes and frowned. " Well?" asked Shin.
" Cold" said Taro, slapping the ashes with an angry hand, " they must have gotten an early start. Anything?"
" They moved around a lot, it looks like they were practicing their fighting techniques" said Shin, " the woman must be a fighter."
" But didn't the watchman saw she had huge breasts?" asked Taro, " what is she doing fighting?"
" Maybe they aren't fighting?" suggested Shin, " maybe it was something else."
" Sounds more like it" said Taro, " come on, we are losing time."
The pair slung themselves back up on their horses and rode off.

Koji and Rei were strolling down the road they still had another full day and then some worth of walking to reach Four Crossings. They were enjoying the walk, they weren't heading into danger or fleeing from it, which was a rather pleasant change from what they were use to recently. They strolled on through the day until they found a good place to camp along the road among a sea of boulders. They practiced and Rei cooked dinner before retiring.
Rei was almost asleep when she heard something. She sat up looking into the darkness, it was a strange sound. She sat very still, even holding her breath, and straining her ears desperate to hear any sounds in the night aside from the soft crackling of the dying fire. Rei kept listening until she had almost convinced herself she was just hearing things. She almost laid back down when she heard it again, it sounded like metal scraping against a rock, but it didn't sound like a sword. She reached over the fire and shook Koji who grumbled and rolled over. Rei stood up and pulled his blanket out from under him making him sit up. " Wha?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.
" Shut up" Rei whispered, " somebody is out there."
Koji looked up at Rei, two weeks ago she would just have been another hysterical town girl first time in the woods but now he believed her. " Where?" he asked.
Rei pointed away to the south into the sea of boulders now just looming black creatures. Koji swallowed and gripped his sword. The pair stood silently, sweat rolling down their flesh chilling them in the cool night air.
Finally Koji heard it, the metallic scraping noise but it was a hollow metallic noise, no sword made that kind of noise. Koji knelt down and blew on the burning embers trying to raise the fire up but to no success. They sat up the rest of the night trying to hear for any more sounds. The sound came a few more times but they were never able to precisely figure out where it was coming from all they knew it was circling them.

Dawn broke cloudy and grey both Koji and Rei were tired, neither had gotten any sleep last night. They both felt much better that the sun was up and if anybody tried to attack them at least they could see them coming. " Do you think it was him?" asked Rei as they started off again on the road.
Koji nodded, " It wasn't a sword, I just want to know why didn't he attack us? He had us pinned down, he could have killed us both with no problem" he grumbled, very upset by the prospect of being killed in the dark without even seeing his enemy.
" That must me we are getting close" said Rei, " Four Crossings must have a significant clue."
The pair slowly walked free of the boulders into soft rolling hills dotted by rice paddies and little farms. Now able to see in every direction for many miles they began to feel safer, but not by much. They both knew he hadn't left them yet.

Shin and Taro watched from the safety of a farmhouse as the pair passed. " She is quiet a looker" said Shin, " we should try to keep the Arajin away from her."
" I agree" said Taro, " I still want to know who that shadowy ass was last night."
" Got me, but I have never seen anybody move like that" said Shin, " you think he is after Koji too?"
" Who else would he be after?" asked Taro, " not like there are that many other people out here?"
" What was that thing he was carrying, was it a spear?" he asked.
" Got me" said Taro, " do we hit them now?"
" Not yet" said Shin, " they would see us coming, there is some sort of small town just ahead, they will stop there to get a hot meal. We will strike them then."
They looked at the carnage of the farmhouse, " I'll ride back to get Kieta and the Arajin, we'll meet back here" said Taro, " they will get a hot meal before they continue on."
" Then we attack" said Shin.
" Precisely" said Taro.
The brother shook hands, " I will see you soon" said Shin.
Taro mounted his horse and rode off as if carried by a great wind. Shin turned back and watched as the pair crested a hill and started their way down to that little town just beyond.

Before Koji and Rei was Four Crossings. " That is it?" asked Koji wondering where the rest of the town was.
" I guess" said Rei.
Four Crossings was nothing but a rundown old tavern and a large blacksmith that straddled the meeting of two roads, nothing else. " I think we can guess where the blacksmith is" joked Rei.
The pair started down the hill and for the blacksmith. They walked in the workshop were the ring of hammers echoed through the placid fields.
What was inside shocked them both. They expected to see a massive man working the forge instead they were presented with an ancient man who was a dark tan colour like that of Rei's well made leather satchel. He looked up at them and snapped, " What do you want?"