The wind gusted furiously as Ryou stepped into the Sora Gardens filled with thick olive coloured bamboos. He stood still while the translucent leaves glided to his surroundings. He tilted his head slightly to the left and slowly reach for his sword with his left hand. The wind stopped instantly and the flurry leaves fell to the ground like it was in mid-autumn.
Ryou pushed his sword out to a slight extent with his thumb. " I know you've been following me for a while."
" Huh...I thought you're the weakest, or this is just some dumb guess."
" What do you want..."
"Aren't you going to ask who am I ?"
" I don't like to get attached if there's going to be a fight. " Ryou peered with the edge of his eye.
The figure took off his Kasa hat and drew out his Nagamaki ( katana with a longer handle).
Ryou was staggered when he saw the golden chrysanthemum carved on the sword.
" You're....a royal guard!"
" Yoshikuni Ryou, forth born of the king. You've committed murder on your own brother and treason for killing the true heir to the emperor's throne. The guards have been put under leaden instructions to capture you under any circumstances if you disobey or have any intention to escape, feel free to do so. It'll make our job much easier."
Ryou eyes widened. He reached in his kimono to take the Hatsu cloth as evidence, but he felt something was off and the cloth would make it worse.
" Who sent you." Ryou looked confused.
"The new descendant of the throne and the future-"
"I did." Nagano pushed the guard aside.
Ryou emotions were all tangled together but he was blasted with fury. "How dare you accuse me of murdering my own brother...especially you !"
"Just surrender and we'll work this out, I promise I'll help you in front of father."
Ryou unfolded the cloth and showed it to Nagano. " He spoke of your name before he died."
Nagano chuckled. "So you were there? Don't make it worse Ryou."
"Daiki found him in the woods this morning and he handed him this exact cloth before he left."
The bewildered guard faced Nagano. " I thought you got the cloth?"
" That must be a fake! Do you think you could fool us with that? The real cloth will be on our father's hand tomorrow morning. The cloth you're holding will bring more pain than you expected."
"You really want to fight your way around this one Nagano? "
"What are you talking about brother?"
"You killed Hatsu....for what? His throne.....??? or his girl...-"
"How dare you bring Hiyori into this!"
"Why....? You can't live with a single rejection!"
Nagano pushes the guard on the back. " Take him down."
The guard gripped the sword with both of his arms and pointed towards Ryou with the blade placed beside his face before he charged.
Ryou rotated his waist with his right knee bent and the left leg spread out on the ground. He held the Tsuka ( katana's unique handle ) with his right hand and pull the sheath of the sword with his left hand near his back as if he was putting all his force on a single strike using the power of the twist on the waist.
Right before the guard could meet his sword against Ryou's flesh, his blood from his neck shattered right onto the ground. The royal guard dropped his sword and covered his throat with his whole arm, by the time the pain reached, he was far gone from the world.
"Hatsu and Hiyori were going to get married." Ryou stepped over the lifeless corpse.
"No...Hatsu forced her...she doesn't even like him!"
"They loved each other!"
" She was going to be with me when we saved her from the village!"
" You took her! I was never a part of that! Moumuku Nomura was our nemesis, they were kind enough to let us stay for a night and you took her from them!" Ryou shouted.
Nagano shook his head. He hauled his katana and pointed it at Ryou and he drew out a Tanto (samurai dagger ) upset (blade facing downwards).
"Your blood was written on Hatsu's cloth when he died and now I shall bring your head to our father as a righteous son and the successor to the throne." Nagano said.
Ryou changed his stance with the blade placed vertically over his forehead waiting to parry the incoming attack of Nagano's dual sword.
Nagano leered at Ryou. " She belongs to me ...only...me."
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Moumuku Nomura stands for ( Village of the Blind Eyes ).