Montegues and Capulets

[Date]

"Tell me about yourself, stranger."

It was a nice day, the children were out in the courtyard, running around in the thick snow that blanketed the ground. Laughing, playing, running and throwing snow at each other. Date sat upon the small wooden roofed walkway that wrapped around the perimeter of the home, right next to the interior's entrance. He wore a loose robe opposed to his usual armor, his long brown hair was messy, unkempt for some time. Stubble went from the bottom of his chin all the way up the side of his jaw. Traveling was taking it's toll on him, he hadn't taken a shower in weeks, and everything in Mizu no Kuni was so foreign to him.

His sandals were planted upon the polished, clean wood, his legs spread out. Along his shoulders were three swords each, standing upward, his arms wrapped around both sets as if he were hugging them. It was the way he was, there was nothing he could every trust in this world more than his blades. When he wanted them to kill someone, they did, he merely swung them and they never failed to cut. They'd never betray him, they'd never talk back, the blade was the most faithful of all.

The voice that spoke to him came from within the corridors of the mansion that belonged to Namako Ichizoku, a Yakuza family that watched over these parts valiantly. It was up until a few years ago that that had suddenly changed when the Kayaku Ichizoku moved into town and started hostilities with their cutthroat ways. "There's not much to tell." Date muttered, in the doorway next to him came an old man wearing a flattering white robe with a blue overcoat.

"Heh...there must be a lot to tell...a swordsman practically coming across the world and winding up on my doorstep looking for work." He was Namako Goro, head of the Namako Yakuza. Crow's feet extended from the edges of his eyes. Small wrinkles all over his face. He was old, but not that elderly. "I assume you came looking for some challenges...right?"

"Nah," Date responded, his one eye stared as the celestial white flakes showered the children laughing and running around in circles, "I came because I merely wanted to see what it was like..." His brow furrowed, his breath visible upon the air as he spoke, "The challenges are just a bonus." He said in a low tone, snickering lightly at the thought of clashing swords with Mizu no Kuni swordsmen. They were revered for their deadliness and ruthlessness even as far as Kusa no Kuni, that's why he decided to come here before anything else. He had to prove himself better than the rest.

"Haha," The old man laughed aloud, turning his head, looking down upon the messy swordsman seated next to him. "If it's challenges you seek...before you can join the fold, I'd like for you to display your skill. Do you mind showing me?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, looking down upon the man with a comforting smirk. Date looked up at him, the brown hair hid his blue irises behind them, his lips curled into a smirk.

"No problem."

They moved to a new courtyard, one on the other side of the home. Around the courtyard wrapped a walkway much like the one that wrapped around the home and opposite courtyard. Goro sat upon the head of the walkway, beside him were dozens of swordsmen kneeled next to him. Date stood in the distance of the courtyard, a large pond with water flowing from the rocks. A shishi odoshi placed nicely on the side within the pool of water, taking water into the bamboo shoot before tipping over and tapping the against the rock underneath it.

"Toru." Goro spoke, one of the swordsmen hurried forth with a shinai in hand, kneeling a ways away from Date to let him know he came in peace, offering the shinai up to him.

"What's this?" Date asked, looking from the shinai to Goro. Goro looked back with a frown. "It's to ensure that no one dies...all of my men will be using these."

"No, no. Time out." Date waved his hands, "we'll all use Shinken...and I promise not to kill any of your men while your men come at me to kill." Date said, "I don't handle anything other than these six here." He explained, patting the end of the handle softly.

A small pause, silence, Goro's eyes narrowed. "Very well." It was a show of faith. Toru stood and hurried back into the line, kneeling in place. "Hotsuma." Goro called, Hotsuma stood on command and rushed forward, gripping the sword at his side. All the while, he let out a bellow, crying, shaking the heavens, his long hair trailing behind him.

"Iaijutsu?" Date muttered to himself in question as to why the man hadn't drawn his blade upon approach. He gripped the sword on his left, the top one, tilting it so that it was pointed upward, angled slightly forward. In a burst of speed, he was gone within the blink of an eye, appearing only a few feet in front of Hotsuma--

Hotsuma reacted--

He started drawing his sword while trying to slow down--

The snow swirled around them--

The screech of the sword sliding from it's scabbard--

It was quickly followed by a sudden silence, a second hand was tightly wrapped around the handle of Hotsuma's katana. This hand belonged was foreign, it wasn't Hotsuma's, who was down near the base. The sword trembled, it was stuck, stopped cold, Hotsuma struggled against Date who was holding the katana in place.

"I'll teach you how to draw a sword..." Date said in a low whisper, all of the swordsmen looked on in amazement of Date's speed and sudden show of prowess. Hotsuma's eye twitched, he could feel his sword slowly being pushed back. Date positioned the thumb on his opposite hand, giving it a strong flick, plucking the hand guard and sending the katana of his Masamune set darting upward--

The butt of the handle smashed into his nose, blood spurting from it. He could feel himself being lifted, his body became limp. The force behind the sword was immense, enough to send him tumbling across the ground, blood spraying across the snow.

Date stood there, reaching upward and gripping the sword that he'd plucked at his opponent only moments before, sliding it downward back into it's sheath. In his right hand was Hotsuma's sword, which he tossed aside, staring at Goro with a smirk. "That was hardly a challenge."

Goro smiled in anticipation.

"Tsuno, Hikara, Tetsuo."

[S-san]

"I believe you know the reason why I summoned you."

Mokumokumoku

The sound of loud munching echoed through the dimly lit room. Eight candles in all were the sole sources of light in the large sized room. There was a long table set in the middle of the room with cushions set all around it. A plethora of cushions were placed along the length of the table while one one cushion was placed at the two ends. A large portrait of a youthful looking man resided behind the seat at the end furthest from the entrance. The man in the portrait had medium length black hair that he kept slicked back. A thin goatee was present on his face along with three claw marks on his left cheek. His dark red eyes were thin and harsh, and the smirk he had showed the sinister side of him perfectly. An almost mirror reflection of the portrait sat on the cushion underneath, but witht he minor difference of an eyepatch being placed over his right eye. He wore a loose dark kimono with golden embroidery along the edges of it. The man's name was Kayaku Ryohei, leader of the destructive Kayaku Yakuza.

"...Ahem!"

The cool voice would pierce through the air as he sat there patiently for his guest. Sitting on the opposite side of the table was a rough looking man. His long dark hair stretched all the way to the midpoint of his back. It was in shambles, and showed clear evidence that he didn't take very good care of it. His clothing was tattered along the edges, and from the looks of it the colors were beginning to fade. Laying befor him was a large pile of various metallic objects, ranging from screws to pipes to weapons. The sounds of shifting metal was heard constantly in the room as well as the sound of the man eating.

"Will you pay attention!?"

Mokumoku--

The sound of munching stopped as Ryohei slammed his fist onto the table. The man that had known to be called Setsuna Shugi glanced up from the pile of metallic objects towards the yakuza leader. A chunk of a steel floor was present in his mouth, with the other piece taking residence in his gasp. Indigo eyes stared at the man, almost as if he were insane. A vein twitched on the brow of Ryohei, but after realizing what had happened he quickly regained his composure. Clearing his throat he looked at the barbaric looking man before him.

"As I was saying. I'm sure that you understand the purpose of this meeting," Ryohei spoke, this time in a much calmer manner. His hands were clasped together on the table, and his solitary eye was looking directly at the still eating Shugi. "I summoned you here because rumors have said that you are so skilled in the art of killing that all it takes is a mere glimpse for your to kill," he continued as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the left wall seemed to slide away and three men appeared before reclosing the wall. "However, this is something that I'd like to put to the test," Ryohei said before snapping his fingers again.

Upon hearing the snap two of the three men darted towards Shugi, who had not so much as glanced at the newcomers. The smaller of the two approaching thugs was very muscular and had a tanto in hand. The taller of the two was more toned and he held a pair of nunchaku in his grasp. However, before they could so much as get within range to use their weaponry on Shugi they had already dropped to the floor with steel nails lodged into their foreheads. "You bastard! Those were my brothers!!" the final man roared, grabbing hold of the sheathe of his sword present on his waist. It was then that Shugi's attention was finally diverted from the pile of metal before him to his opponent. His indigo eyes would lock onto the long brown-haired swordsman's, and in an instant they seemingly began to glow yellow. A sudden overwhelming sensation seemed to overcome the swordsman as he slowly withdrew his sword from its sheathe. No longer did he desire to kill Shugi in the most brutal way possible. What he did desire was to kill himself. Slowly he rose the katana into the air, fighting against his own body as he inverted the blade to face him. "W-what did yo--!?" was all that he could mutter out before he impaled himself through the heart and twisted the blade, killing himself almost immediately.

Ryohei sat there looking at the three corpses that now littered the meeting room of the Kayaku. A devilish grin dawned his face as he looked back to Shugi, who had returned back to eating the pile of metal infront of him. "Amazing. Simply amazing," he said as he glanced once again from the corpses to Shugi. "A man of your talents will certainly find a home within in the Kayaku. In fact, I can think of the perfect assignment for you right now. What do you say?" he attempted to maintain his composure, not trying to let his excitement show itself too much. However, Shugi remain practically the same. Except this time he wasn't eating anything. Rather, he was looking directly at Ryohei with a stern look.

"Get me some steel."

---

moku = munching

[Date]

It wasn't long before he'd painted the snow with their blood, which was hard to do without actually cutting them. He trudged through the sea of broken swordsmen, half of them were knocked out, a good quarter seeing stars, and the last half's body simply wouldn't respond. They were all alive, though. As promised. And he managed to do it with style, there was a elegance to the way he wielded his steel, as if he were engaged in a waltz. As if it were a collaborative effort, as if he wasn't working against his opponent, merely leading the dance where he wanted despite the opposer's movement being of their own. One would think that the battle was completely planned. It wasn't, he was merely on that level, merely that good, it was a completely different plateau when one could engage in battle and work around the opponent instead of plowing through. Using every unskilled swing of the sword against the opponent, striking before they knew what they did wrong.

Date came to a stop before the walkway, his messy brown hair blew weakly with the winter breeze that swept through the courtyard, carrying the scent of blood and shame across the mansion's blanketed rooftop. The seated Goro's eyes winced, they were the best in these parts and he picked them apart without breaking a sweat, he spilled so much of their blood, yet, not a droplet of it was upon his kimono. It was dirty with all those weeks of traveling without washing, he was literally stewing in his own sweat and juices and reeked something fierce. Even then, he refused to wear the blood of what he deemed unworthy. He nodded to Goro.

"Make me an offer."

One Week Later
The elder Namako walked down the road of Okamai, his sandals caused the snow under it to crunch. With Goro were dozens of his men walking up the narrow street. They were moving toward a Kayaku Game Corner that was reportedly cheating people out of their money. Somewhat behind Goro was a man in thin blue overcoat, platings of armor assorted on his body. Six sheathes, three on each side, webbed with a blue cloth that matched his overcoat, giving off the appearance of a wyvern's wings. His eye patch was buffed, nicely shined, and his hair was nicely styled. Date was well taken care of, as expected of one from the Namako.

They approached the Game Corner, they walked as if they owned the city, and they practically did, they merely allowed the Kayaku to exist. At least, that's what Goro told himself. It was with a boot to the door which sent it flying inside of the open, Date stepped inside, followed by Goro, the store owners startled by the sudden intrusion on their store. Date led Goro toward the back where the Game Corner was secretly located, prepared to start something.

[S-san]

"So, do you agree?"

"I refuse."

"What? Fine. I'll make you a deal."

". . ."

"Work for me and you'll become richer than you've ever dreamed."

"I refuse."

"Wha--of course. Of course. You are a man who cannot simply be bought with money. I respect that about you."

"I'm out of here."

"No, no. Hear me out."

"You've got five seconds. Convince me...one..."

"I've recieved news from my spies that--"

"Two..."

"--the Namako have enlisted the aide of a--"

"Three..."

"--swordsman from the mainland. They say that his skills with the sword are--"

"Four..."

"--unrivaled. They say that he could take out a platoon of soldiers without so much as spilling a drop of blood on his robes. Every strike of his sword is done with grace, and every movement filled with the intent to kill. They that he's unbeatable!"

". . ."

"Will you do it?"

"You'll get my answer in the morning."

...Later that week.

The sound of chuckling and dice being rolled filled the small backroom. Smoke littered the air along with the stench of sake and sweat. It was a location that was known to everyone, but only few could enter. A place where you could come to relax, blow your money, and find a good whore for the right price. It truly was one of the hotspots within the town, and it was all thanks to the Kayaku Yakuza. Deciding to pay a special visit to his little corner was Ryohei, who occasionally checked in on his establishments. He was sitting at the edge of the room overseeing everything that went down, with Shugi leaning against the wall next to him. Various other Kayaku were spread throughout the room, offering Ryohei optimal protection.

With his one good eye Ryohei narrowed them upon one of the gamblers. Shugi glanced down at him, and Ryohei gave him a slight nod. A smirk formed on the mercenary's face as he pushed himself up off the wall. There were no words that needed to be said. The man could have been completely innocent for all Shugi cared. All he knew is that Ryohei didn't approve of the man, and it was time for him to take out the trash. Walking up behind the skrawny man Shugi grabbed the collar of his kimono, and lifted him up. "Wha--what are you doing!?" he called out as everyone started to look in his direction.

"Shut the fuck up," Shugi said in a rather cold tone, and then hurled the man towards the door. Just at that moment the door busted open, offering a gateway for the man to fly through. However, whoever was responsible for busting the door open would be greeted with a man colliding into them. Immediately standing to his feet was Ryohei, who knew exactly what was going on, and as he stood his other bodyguards seemed to swarm him. Meanwhile, Shugi just stood there with his brow raised as he saw the plethora of men standing outside of the door.

"The hell is this?"

[Date]

The souund of crushed roof tiles and snapping columns of wood. The spray of fresh powdery snow wrapping and peeling from his emerging form. Date growled, his bright blue eye glaring down upon the man that was viciously pursuing him. He was a monster, the sword that Date held in his hand was snapped in two, at the end were notable teeth marks indented into the beautiful steel. A priceless sword, destroyed by this man.

Date descended upon an adjacent rooftop, his sandals sent small flakes of snow swirling away from him. All around them were large rods of steel extending into the air, littered across the village. "What kind of animal can eat steel...?" Date growled, his brow twitching as he stared across the rooftop at the chuckling demon he was battling. If he knew he were in for a fight like this, he wouldn't have taken him so lightly.

:: Earlier
"This is a proposition, young man..." The boss said with a smirk, stepping in front of Date, brushing the dust from his robe while politely bowing.

"And what exactly do you propose?!" One of the men exclaimed, balling up his fist, ready to throw down with the opposing Yakuza.

"A battle between my bodyguard and a man of your choosing for this end of your territory. This store corner all the way East three streets." The boss explained, pointing in the direction in which he wanted.

"Tch, fuck no, fuck off ol' far--"

"I'll take you up on that offer. If you lose, we take your territory to the West." Ryohei spoke, cutting off his underling. Motioning for Shugi to step forward, he gave a short snicker. Shugi smirked, his devilish features seemed to gleam in the dim lighting of the corner store, even when he was flesh and bone he seemed so steely. He cracked his knuckles. Both bosses thought that this would be an overwhelming victory...

Little did they know.

:: Now
Ryohei and Goro looked on from below as the two opponents were staring at each other, they both wore bewildered expressions, no one had ever witnessed such power on such a scale. It was baffling. Not only that, but due to the battle, both of their territories were badly damaged beyond repair. Whole buildings were cleaved up by Date's blades, whole buildings were crushed by large pillar of steel. Date reached up, wiping the blood from his lip and nose with a flick of his thumb. He lacked his helmet, which was crushed in battle, the gust that swept across the untouched rooftop sent his brown locks waving across the current. It was only a matter of time before this rooftop too would fall.

[S-san]

"Gya ha ha ha ha!!"

The monstrous laugh came from none other than the newly appointed Kayaku guard. His long spiked hair swayed idly in the winter breeze as snowflakes began to descend upon the gradually disappearing district. Buildings that once stood tall were cleaved in half by the Namako's swordsman's blades. Statues and the like were crushed under the massive weight of steel rods that were now jutting out the earth. Through all of the destruction. Through all the screaming. The bone-chilling laugh of Ryohei's new powerhouse stood out.

Blood trickled down the side of his face as he stared at his opponent. A look of pure ecstasy was written all over his face. For the first time in years he was present with someone who could actually challenge his strength. Someone who didn't run in fright when they witnessed his ability. Finally he'd met someone he that could make him go all out.

Without so much as a warning Shugi lunged towards Date, his sinister grin ever apparent. Cocking his right arm back he activated his ability, transforming his arm to steel. "Die," was all he uttered as he thrusted his arm in Date's direction. As he did so his arm seemed to extend until it became a massive steel pillar, and shot off from his body. If Date weren't to move he'd be crushed under the weight of the steel pillar, but whether he moved or not the building would come collapsing down after this attack.

Landing on a nearby rooftop Shugi glanced down at his now missing forearm. Huffing lightly he activated his ability once more. The nub that he had left quickly turned to steel, and from it began to reform into a complete arm. Deactivating his ability his arm turned into flesh and bone again, and he flexed his hand to get a feel of his new limb.