Naraku considered Kuro's words for a moment before speaking on. "Fair enough. But I am concerned why we who were the ones to appear in Sekigahara when the Youkai attacked, were also the ones to be summoned here" And stared at the shrine maiden.
"I don't know about Sekigahara, but I can tell that you guys aren't native. I have special eyes, see." For a brief second, her eyes winked golden, and then it was back to blue. "I can see into people's futures...But not the ones belonging to the three of you. There's something that's stronger than Time at work here, and I have no idea what it is. Still, it pretty much confirms that you three aren't of this era." Shrugging, Chiharu continued. "As for how many people we have now, it's actually quite a decent amount, but the issue is, most of us have our hands tied and cannot journey out personally. If one of us did venture out of the Shrine and disappear from surveillance, then the war will start immediately. Therefore, we need people to be our eyes. And ears."
Looking at the many people gathered here, I could feel a slight discomfort eating away at my heart, unused to such occasions. But thinking that it would be rude to reject her, I did my best to put on a smile. "I am Xue, pleased to meet all of you." But not knowing what to do next, I stood around, taking in the surroundings.
"Xue? What a strange name. But pretty sounding nonetheless! Since you're here, feel free to sit around as you like! A friend of Kaori's is a friend of mine, as well! I don't know if Kaori has told you yet, but my name is Chinatsu, and this brat here is my little sister, Chiyuki. Nice to meet you!" "Nice to meet you, Miss Xue~" Chinatsu reached out and helped to set the table, before frowning. "Chiaki should have stopped sulking long ago, so why are they still not here?" Poking her head out of the building, she yelled. "Hurry up! The food's getting cold!"
Naraku mused a.bit.before speaking up. Her explanation was reasonable........and it didn't seem like she was lying. She also saw through the fact he was not of this era. Yosh! "Alright, I am in. Espionage might not be my speciality, but I am still pretty decent at it. Allow me to reintroduce myself - Naraku Douji, a solo mercenary from the 21st century. I threw away my birthname when I entered the trade of warmongering. My clients, colleagues, and enemies just call me "blade-storm" or "the blade-storm Oni".
East Of Kyoto - "Mmm, so what if I know~? Could you perhaps do me favor ?" said Asu with a soft smile, hearing this, Himura sighed and thought that she must know what the sender look like, but then is it enough ? Japan is big enough, he wouldn't be able to find the sender with only a description. Himura approached his ear to her mouth and listened to her request. "Just stir up some troubles please..." she said, Himura closed his eyes and accepted, it shouldn't be that hard, all he needs to do is simply to argue with the two men and create conflicts between the two of them, it shouldn't be that hard, at last, he knew that one of his answer will be answered nevertheless. "I see. I agree... then, I have another question, do you know where the sender was headed ? Just nod or shake, you will just have to tell me everything when I respected my part of the deal." Himura asked with a slight smile, as they were getting nearer and nearer to Kyoto.
Kyoto - "Eh, so, we finally arrived ?" "Yes, we are now here." "So now..." One of them was a wild ronin and another one seemed to be quite proper, between the two, there must be some interesting issues. But how to stir up some troubles ? Both of them nevertheless seemed to be very cautious with their surroundings, especially the rough one. They also seemed to be quite... attentive of Asu, there is always one of them having an eye on her. That's it. She just needs... to be gone. "Aye, your turn." At this moment, he decided to intervene and made a sign to Asu. She didn't understand until his mouth made some moves. Immediately, she ran away at the same moment both person turned to Himura who bowed to both of them with a slight smile. "Sirs, I would like to thank both of you for your kindness and generosity for letting me board your carriage, it helped me greatly in my travel. On top of being comfortable, it was peaceful and I feel regretful for not helping you or compensating you in any way..." "Himura, that is not nee-" "Scram already, it's not as if you bothered us, you were polite enough to let us come over. Now that we arrived..." Himura sighed. "Mmm, sir, why are you like this ? Don't you know that this kind of personality will only bring you troubles ? Or is it that the society wronged you in any way with the many injustices that it has ? The corruption that it brought ? Is that for something like this ?" "Eh ? What do you-" "In any case, if that is, then don't throw your frustation on others, think, just think about the source of the issue, the source of injustice among men instead of being so crude." "Himura-san, please. Could you please quiet down ?" Every passer-by slowly were attracted by the noises and... Himura suddenly disappeared as if he never was with them. Both of them looked around and noticed that Asu was away. ______ In another street of Kyoto, Himura was walking peacefully, and then, someone slipped a paper in his hand, they quickly left, passing in a backstreet. He smiled and opened the paper. "That's not exactly I expected and asked, but that is fine too. Frankly, as long as they are in troubles, I am alright with the result. Anyway... South Kyoto. Blue coaked young slim girl with a fox max. Asu~" Then, it is settled. Himura smiled and headed south on a whim.
21st century my ass! The Meiji era officer scratched his nose when hearing the man's introduction, he remembered a novel from his young adult period, and decided to probe him: "The brother is quite experienced. Now that I think about it, I might have heard the name appear in news about the Mars Canals Conflict against the British Communist Colony." In Kuro's head Edison's futuristic gravity ships had as much credibility as the Communist Manifesto causing a revolution in the British Empire. This is to say, any answer that didn't concern colonial empires would be surprising. All in all Kuro was quite the erudite Imperial Officer.
Naraku stared at Kuro for a short few moments, trying to remember the many battlefields he went to. In the end he gave up, there were just too many. Still, he was not sure if he misunderstood the man or he heard wrong, but it sounded like he asked him whether he went to Mars -another planet. At this point Naraku had an obvious confused look on his face. "Mars? The planet? Interstellar travel has barely been invented and I never stepped a foot on another planet. I don't care about the political situation of my clients but I definitely never heard of a British communist colony, not to mention any job offers on Mars. What exactly did you hear?" He concluded that the military officer-ish man was either trying to test him or for some unknown reason was making up a story on the spot.
"Ah, I see you are from an earlier point in time, then? It seems Naraku Douji must be a popular name for a Japanese mercenary, then." Kuro seemed to contemplate something in an exaggerated manner, "Still, from what I remember there was never a time in history when we had to defeat yokai the size of a naval ship. Or any yokai for that matter. Hey, you think that's why we were sent back in time? I mean, with all these powerhouses here, surely it is not now, but the future that is in peril and us normal people are hardly strong enough without our future weapons... Well we did die, so that's probably none of our business, though." Kuro was hoping the mercenary would see his point.
The Yatogami Shrine - Torii "So... this is the place..?" Holding the letter in hand, Himura looked around, a bit perplexed to find such a peculiar shrine in this place. It was a bit... remote, fortunately, he already ate something before coming else his body would be starving. It would be troublesome to visit such a place with a grumbling stomach. Without anymore words, he approached the Torii and put his palm on one of the pillars. It gave me a good feeling, at least, he remembered that resting near to those gates always was quite relaxing, and that was a good place to contemplate the surroundings. For some reasons, after seeing this, he felt like leaning on it and getting a small nap, it looked comfortable and it has been a long time since he approached one. Some months to be exact. He sighed and wondered a few minutes if he should go up, maybe he should at least check if there was some people inside. He put the letter back in his inner pocket and stared at the way forward.
A Little Conversation --- Hotaru/Mei/Chiharu We can talk like this. Now, none of the others will be able to hear the three of us communicating. Hmm? This presence...Ah, I see, you're a nine-tailed kitsune. No wonder you're able to do this, then. Now, how may I help you? Girl, you are human, correct? Are you really the shrine maiden of this shrine? Well, as far as I can tell, I am indeed human. And yes, I am also the shrine maiden, although I don't know which Kami this shrine belongs to. Therefore, you could technically call me a fake shrine maiden. I see. But the name of this shrine...May I know what it is? Oh, don't tell the others, but since it was already gone when I got here, I named the shrine after my own surname. Right now, it's known to the locals as the Yatogami Shrine. Yato---Girl! Your last name is Yatogami? Yes...? Is there a problem? ...I see. If your last name is Yatogami...Tell me, girl, is Yatogami Chizuru your mother? Oh, you knew my mother? I understand now. Thank you for telling me this, girl.
The Yatogami Shrine - Stone Stairs In the end, Himura began to climb up the stairs, still observing the place, it wasn't dusty so there was definitively some people around here. Then, in the middle of the stone stairs, he stopped and stared at the ground for a few minutes, he began to think about something. "Mmm... I should maybe think about why they sent us this letter and also... why did this Asu knew about the letter ? How did she knew that this letter was without senders nor adresses ?" Or was it something like an open secret ? He didn't know enough about this world to have a reply. Perhaps he should pass some time in Kyoto in order to know a bit more about it. He got back to climbing up the stairs.
Naraku tilted his head to the side and asked with a deadpan voice "Huh? So what are you trying to say?" From the corner of his eye he noticed that the Kitsune girl was slightly fidgeting in her place. 'Is something wrong with her? She sometimes acts weird all of a sudden for no visible reason'.
"What I'm getting at, is that any kind of experience we have won't be that useful for fighting monsters. Don't accept so readily, thinking it would be a breeze," Kuro then turned to Chiharu, "So either the task would be easy, or you should send us after you've trained us. Which one is it?" @Haxagen
North-east of the Sekigahara Battlefield After accompanying the mercenaries for a while, those assholes told me, sniggering, that I would not get paid as they did not hire me. We did not split on friendly terms, and I did my best to insult their honor while running away. It was satisfying that I could insult them that much, and infuriating that I couldn't just kill them. Time to head back home, I guess. Back to Etchu in the north! I'll make a gang like Shuten did, and be the local tyrant, with everyone bowing down to my will. Yes. That's the life. That's the life I want to live! With renewed vigor, I make my way north towards Etchu. But I don't have food or water, and I don't have a horse. So, the moment I spot a small, secluded farm, I grin to myself. Slowly creeping closer, and closer, observing the house. It seems to be a small family of a man, woman, and a son. Harmless, innocent, perfect victims. Sadly, they don't own a horse. Until night falls. Then I strike. The house has no windows one could escape from, and made from wood, like most other houses. With my Kanabo ready, I set fire to the house and hide near the door. It takes some time until it burns properly, but the panic when they notice is worth the wait. They rush out of the house, armed with knives and sticks, but I wait. And, the moment they don't pay attention to my location, I rush out and smash my Kanabo right onto the back of the man's head. Some blood splatters. I see him crumble to the floor, and hear the screams of the woman and child. With a savage smile on my face, I lick my lips and approach them, ready to torture them. The woman does have a rather attractive figure, now that I look at her from close up. The face doesn't matter. And the boy... heh, his flesh should be tender, and his screams will be music to my ears. Just as I am about to lay hand on them, I hear a shout from behind me: "Begone, fiend!" the shout is accompanied by some sort of energy that smashes into my back, and brings a searing pain with it. I scream out with rage, swinging my Kanaba around with reckless abandon, hitting something. But I don't look back as I run away from the fire and into the shadows of the night, the burning pain on my back not lessening.
"Not training. We haven't the time. The best I can do is to give you guys a couple of gifts, and whatever information you should need. Whether you succeed or not with be up to your own abilities, provided with the ability to hurt Yokai effectively."