Sword in the Stone

When the duo reached the prison wall the officer did all the talking and presented Kazuo as a Soil district boy that’d been trying to break into the Ishigami district. The prison yard was filled with so many lanterns it looked as though it was in the evening when it was well after dark. The lighting inside Okayama prison made that of the Ishigami streets pale in comparison. As they traversed the prison yard the duo made their way to the cells and Kazuo observed a group of close to a dozen keisatsu armed with batons and patrolling about.

Before Kazuo and his captive reached Okayama prison gate the trio of Takumi, Mikoto and Kaito had already arrived at the Hasegawa warehouse. It was a double storey concrete structure with a flat roof. The surrounding area was dimly lit with a few street lanterns and Takumi switched of theirs so as not to give away their whereabouts. Sitting on a wooden chair at the main door with a matchlock pistol was a yakuza member. From the way he sat with his head facing upwards the trio could also see that he was already in dreamland.

“He’s fast asleep,” said Takumi in a whisper. “Let’s go.”

The team tiptoed silently and when they reached the building they checked through the windows for any sign of life. None. Takumi gestured for them to enter but before they did he first tried to disarm the yakuza that’d been sleeping on guard duty.

“Huh,” the yakuza was suddenly woken up as he felt his gun being touched.

Just as his eyes were opened the first thing he saw was Mikoto’s clenched fist that sent back to dreamland.

“Phew that was a close one,” sighed Mikoto.

Kaito was already shaking in his trousers. After they had bound the yakuza with a piece of cloth and hid him Takumi took the pistol and led the team inside the warehouse. Just as they had seen from outside the first floor had no other people in sight. It was however filled with wooden barrels of both gunpowder and opium. All they needed was the former. Whilst Kaito kept guard Takumi followed by Mikoto went up the first floor and found in one the rooms a huge sum of money stashed in a bag and in another room was a passed out yakuza lying on a tatami (straw mat) next to a geisha (female entertainer).

“Aaaa–” Mikoto covered the woman’s mouth before she could scream any louder and instructed her to leave the building. She did as instructed and quickly ran away from the warehouse.

The yakuza on the other hand woke up to Takumi’s matchlock pointed at him. He stared at his own that was out of reach before looking back at the intruder.

“Don’t even think about it,” were the last words the yakuza member heard from Takumi before being hit on the back of his head with a wooden plank by Mikoto.

The two lightning undergrads took the yakuza’s body and bound it next the previous one. With another pistol at their disposal they haphazardly emptied a single barrel of gunpowder on the ground floor and made a path of black substance that led to the main door. Once everyone was out of harm’s way Takumi then threw a lantern through the main door from a safe distance. There was a loud boom that woke everyone in the district. After the massive explosion, the trio took to their feet in a flash and ran for the main gate to rendezvous with Kazuo.

Back at Okayama prison Kazuo was still staring at the keisatsu patrolling when his eyes were set on something far more marvelous. There it stood majestically at the centre of the prison yard and shoved midway into a rock. The Sword in the Stone. Dojin’s bandaged handle was visible with a piece of the tourniquet moving as the wind blew. Like an Excalibur it waited there for he who was worthy enough to remove it from the stone. Kazuo was still mesmerized by its beauty when he was brought back to reality by the sound of the explosion. That’s the signal he thought as he saw the patrolling keisatsu panicking about. The officers raced out of the prison and made their way to where the sound was emanating from.

“So is this also part of your doing?” Kazuo’s captive whispered.

Before the Inazuma prince could respond one officer who seemed to be of a higher rank rushed towards them, “Officer Yamamoto get this prisoner in one of the cells and head to the Hasegawa warehouse…there has been an explosion.”

“Yes sir,” Yamamoto replied in a salute before taking Kazuo’s hand.

When the Senior Police Officer had left Kazuo asked Yamamoto, “Are you also with the Hasegawa syndicate?”

He quickly freed his hand before the officer could respond and raced for the earth blade, “this is an uprising!”

When Kazuo touched the handle his mind was flooded by Kazuro’s memories. He stared at the sky with eyes rolled back. When he returned to reality he pulled the katana with all his might.

“Aarrgh!” Kazuo groaned as he summoned all of his strength.

“No one has ever pulled that sword from its place,” said Yamamoto. “Not even the strongest of the Hasegawa bro–” he held his statement as saw the katana budge for moment.

“Yeah…come…on!” grunted Kazuo squatting a bit to use all his body weight to lift the sword.

It budged for a second time! Just as it did so he tugged at it again even harder at and the blade moved slowly until the tip was completely outside. Kazuo stood there on top of the rock and held onto the sword tightly with both hands. It was bigger and felt slightly heavier than Raijin. The sword’s design wasn’t the typical style of the land of the rising sun as it resembled more of a cleaver. Dojin had a huge curved steel blade and looked detachable with a black chain connecting the two parts of the blade. The smaller part resembled an axe and was closer to the handle. The longer and curvier blade had an opening in the middle that had a tourniquet towards its back making another handle.

“No…way,” Yamamoto jaw was on the ground.

And just then four keisatsu who came from one of the prison buildings got on the scene and were equally amazed at what they saw.

“Put the sword right back where you found it!” one of them ordered holding a wooden baton.

However Kazuo ran through them and cut their batons in the process.

“Sound the alarm!” another keisatsu exclaimed, “a prisoner has escaped!”

“Yamamoto you can lead the way,” Kazuo ordered as he pointed the huge blade at his captive.

The keisatsu did as instructed and the duo ran as fast as they could out of the prison with four other officers heavy on their tail. As the prison bell tolled every officer in the Ishigami and Soil districts became on high alert. Back at his house Keisuke was woken up by the bell only to find that the kids were missing. He hurriedly dressed in his uniform and raced to the Ishigami district.

“You asked if I was one of those corrupt officers,” said Yamamoto gasping for air. “No I am not, and there’s a few of us in the force who actually want to take down the Hasegawa but we don’t have the fire power to do it.”

Takumi and his team arrived at the Ishigami gate before the alarm sounded. They were welcomed by a group of thirteen men. Seven yakuza and six keisatsu. The seventh yakuza who seemed like the leader of the whole group was armed with a nunchaku on each hand. He looked like he was in his late teens and had slightly long spiky black hair that went upwards without regard for the laws of gravity. He also wore a black haori jacket with the Hasegawa family crest on the back and had pieces of white cloth bandaged on his forehead, arms and below his knees.

“These must be the guys who blew up the warehouse Lord Dai,” said one of the yakuza members as he pointed his pistol at the trio. “But they look like kids.”

Takumi and Mikoto strategically covered Kaito with their backs and placed him between them as the aimed at their opponents.

“Yo, if you fuckers are thinking of starting a shootout with my guys,” Dai spoke with an energetic high tenor voice. “You won’t make it outta here alive, we gotcha surrounded you see. So tell me which gang are you with?”

“They’re not with any gang…they’re ninja from the Lightning village,” screamed Kaito. His legs were shaking and his trousers almost dampened. “Please don’t kill me I’m just a kid from the Soil district.”

“You’re quick to rat out your friends boy…you’ll be the first to die,” laughed Dai. He faced his men, “Take them to the palace I’ll be with you guys shortly. I first need to check on the goods at the warehouse.” He then glared at Mikoto and grinned menacingly, “but leave the girl in my room…it’s not every day I get to fuck a kunoichi.”