Highway Robbery

Prologue

1806-Bunka Era year 2

“The procession is coming” a farmer said to the straw hat ronin with two swords sitting on a straw mat in the middle of the road.

“I know” the ronin replied

“Then you know is procession will kill you” the same farmer replied with a tone of panic. The straw hat ronin ignored the farmer.

"You're a damned fool” the farmer cursed again as he raced to the side of the road so that he would pay his respects to the passing lord. ____________________________________________________ “Make way for the procession of Lord Yakuwara” one of the retinue members shouted.

“If you don’t move to one side and pay your respects, you will die” another member of the retinue shouted.

The peasants scrambled to the side of the road and fell to their knees, faces down on the ground as fast as they could, lest they be cut down by members of the retinue.

It wasn’t Lord Yakuwara himself in the retinue. It was only one of his many tributes of taxes that was being sent to the capital as proof of his devotion to the Shogun.

Despite the contempt the kneeling peasants felt towards their lord for taxing them to death, all they could do was kneel and wish for the worst of their lord.

“What do you think you're doing?” the leader of the retinue shouted, sending a chill up the spines of the peasants.

It wasn’t the peasants the leader of the retinue yelled at.

It was the straw hat ronin. ____________________________________________________

“The bastard son of a whore is sure taking his time” Matsumori Ryo thought to himself.

It had been a year since Yakuwara Senzo seized the lands of the former lord Akumara and forced his daughter Ichika into a marriage that was hardly an ideal marriage.

The former lord Akumara Bizen was beloved by his people because he was known for not being cruel in matters of dispensing justice nor did he tax the people more than he had too. His son Akihiro was no different than his father when it came to personality, only difference was that he was easier to beat at in swordplay. To Matsumori, Akihiro was the brother he wished he had, and lord Akumara was like a father to him.

Matsumori growled to himself upon thinking of both his former brother and lord. Lord Akumara was forced to commit seppuku for raising a sword to Yakuwara and Akihiro was cut down by one of Yakuwara’s goons. Matsumori and many of his fellow samurai were dismissed by Yakuwara due to their devotion to their former master, as well as the criticisms they had made in the past towards the new lord.

“What do you think you're doing?” an angry voice shouted at him, snapping him back to reality. ____________________________________________________

Chapter 1

“Stinking ronin” a retinue member with long sideburns cursed “Move to one side” he ordered, which Matsumori of course ignored.

“Won’t move?” he shouted as he withdrew his sword “Then die for your insolence” sideburns concluded as he swung his sword towards Matsumori in a downward motion.

____________________________________________________“Bad move” said outloud with a smile as he reached for his swords ____________________________________________________Just as sideburns thought that his sword would split straw-hat man in half, his strike was blocked not by one but two swords. He was shocked at the fact that he had his strike blocked at the last minute. It had never happened to him before.

The straw hat ronin rose to his feet with both swords still locked to that of sideburns sword, pushing them downward to where straw hat’s swords were at both sides of his neck as if they were a pair of scissors. When straw hat raised his head, sideburns saw who he really was, sideburns then went pale right before straw hat brought his swords together, shattering sideburns sword and slicing off his head at the same time with both swords. ___________________________________________________Hideaki Tokai, who was leading the procession was no fool. He knew that the straw-hat ronin was planning something, even though it seemed foolish to take on Lord Yakuwara’s procession head on. But he still didn’t take any chances as he had his hand on the hilt of his sword even before Tako lost his head.

When that happened, he didn’t need to order his men to ready their weapons, for the were already drawn and at the ready. They just needed to wait for his order.

He also didn't need to order the peasants to disperse either. They fled when the first of them noticed Tako's head rolling on the ground. Saved him the trouble of having to cut them down if they got in the way.

“Twelve swords stay with me and the lord’s personal guard, the rest of you swordsmen take him, six spears back them up, riflemen on standby with me and the rest of the procession” Tokai ordered.

The swordsmen who were not ordered to stay behind charged at the straw-hat ronin, while the six spear-men hastily followed them with their spears pointed at head level. ____________________________________________________

“Bunch of amateurs” Matsumori whispered to himself as the first swordsman came at him with sword raised overhead. Matsumori swung his right sword in an upward motion, fully slicing off the hands of his attacker.

Ignoring the screaming, handless swordsman, Matsumori chopped the head off of another charging swordsman with his left sword. He impaled two more with both swords at the same time, only to realize that they planned to sacrifice themselves, while a spearman tried to charge at him.

“Nice try, but not good enough” Matsumori shouted out as he swung his left sword downward, knocking the spear sideways while thrusting his right-handed sword into the spear-man’s gullet, spilling out his guts as he pulled his sword out.

Another spearman was rather reluctant to charge at him, but he charged at him, nonetheless. Matsumori scoffed at this pathetic individual as he stepped aside the spearman and then preceded to slam the butt of his sword into the back of the man’s head.

Two more spearmen charged at him simultaneously at him. As they thrust their spears at him, he ducked underneath them and slashed at the knees, chopping off the lower half of their legs.

The final spearmen stood shaking, not knowing whether to run or fight. As Matsumori came closer to him, the spearman tried to attack him, but Matsumori just grabbed the spear with his left-hand while smashing in the spearman's face with the butt of the sword in his right hand.

As the spearman crumpled over, a swordsman came charging at him with his sword raised. Matsumori sneered as he took the spear with his left hand and hurled it at the swordsman, hitting him in the chest so hard that the top half of the spear protruded outside the swordsman's back. Matsumori sheathed his right sword as he walked up to the impaled swordsman, he then grabbed the bloody spear and pulled it out of the now dead swordsman. As he did so, there was shouting to be heard as the sound of quick footsteps and the raising of rifles that were now pointing at Matsumori.

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Chapter 2

"Somehow I knew it was you Matsumori" Hideaki Tokai said out loud as he drew his sword while the rifleman took up their positions, the swordsman drew their swords while the spearmen were at the ready.

"Hideaki Tokai" Matsumori replied in contempt as he slammed the sharp end of the spear into the ground as he sheathed his right-handed. "I knew that the bastard son-of-a-whore Yakuwara would send you, his personal lapdog instead of having the courage to show up himself" Matsumori spat.

Tokai was used to having such insults flown at him, many did not live long after having said such things. One thing was certain in Tokai's mind, is that Matsumori would die, and Lord Yakuwara would not have to worry about another former retainer of Akumara causing trouble. He slowly walked towards the riflemen with his sword still drawn.

"Be ready to fire" he commanded the riflemen, as they pulled back the hammers on the rifles. Matsumori folded his arms and smiled. Tokai had enough of Matsumori's arrogance.

"Fire" he ordered.

_______________________________________________

The shots were fired, but they did not hit Matsumori.

They went wild as arrows suddenly appeared out of nowhere and were hitting the riflemen and other members of the procession. Tokai cursed as an arrow hit his left shoulder. He waved away whatever arrows came at him with his sword still in his right hand.

"Bandits" Tokai cursed as he ducked into a ditch with the remnants of the procession. Out of the three dozen men that accompanied him, only nine including himself were left.

____________________________________________________

"You certainly have a way of putting on a show" said a man dressed in filthy clothing and wearing a cloth over his face. He was walking up to Matsumori with a bow in one hand and jug of what contained sake

"I was making it easier for you" Matsumori replied plainly as the masked man chuckled, handing Matsumori the sake jug, which he then took and drank from.

More people dressed like the masked individual emerged from the tall grass with arrows nocked in bows and a few with others with swords drawn. Some wore straw hats, others wore headbands, and the rest were bare headed. They then began unloading the wealth from the carts and making sure the dead guards were dead.

"No horses dead, bad guys dead. Score another one for the Legendary Bandits of Chubu" a feminine voice replied from behind Matsumori.

The individual was Akane. A busty, yet very lithe figure with a ponytail, who wasn't above dressing in a provocative way, even if it wasn't called for. She was wearing a fox mask and was walking in her usual sexy manner towards Matsumori.

"Seducing our Ronin friend as usual I see" the masked man replied as he lowered his face covering, revealing a leathery faced man with scraggy facial hair. Matsumori handed her the sake jug.

"What's wrong with that Saito?" she replied lifting the sake jug to her lips.

"Yakuwara himself is not here. Just his mutt Taiko. It's hardly the time for pleasure" Matsumori answered.

"Oh, that's too bad. I was looking forward to hearing that pig Yakuwara squeal" she answered back.

"You're the son of a whore" a voice replied

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Chapter 3

"What was that Taiko? I couldn't hear you over your whimpering" Matsumori answered as several of the bandits chuckled including Saito and Akane.

"You heard me Matsumori, you're the son of a whore who dares to attack with bandit scum and has the audacity to call me a lap dog to Lord Yakuwara" Taiko angrily replied while waving his sword.

"Then why don't we settle this like men and duke it out with our swords?" Matsumori replied as he took the jug of sake from Akane with his left hand while he drew one of his swords with his right hand.

"Then that's exactly what we will do" Taiko snarled as he charged at Matsumori with both hands on his sword in a thrusting maneuver.

Matsumori kept the sake and spat it across the blade of his sword as Taiko charged at him. He side-stepped the charge as he slapped the flat of his blade against the back of Taiko's head.

"If that's the best you got, I'd hate to see your worst" Matsumori said as Taiko turned around with a red face while Matsumori passed off the sake to Saito. "Now, let's get serious" he added as he took a middle stance with both hands on his sword.

Taiko charged at him again with his sword raised and brought his sword downward towards Matsumori, while Matsumori raised his sword upwards to block it. Both their swords made a loud clanging sound as they made impact.

Both Matsumori and Taiko both looked at each other with disgust and contempt towards each while their swords were locked together, both struggling to throw the other off.

After what felt like hours, the two swordsmen disengaged.

Taiko then swung his sword around his head trying to go for Matsumori's head, while Matsumori swung his sword, hitting the blade of Taiko's sword.

Matsumori and Taiko were both breathing heavily, but both still were unwilling to yield to the other.

"You may be the son of a whore, but at least you put up more of a fight than Akihiro" Taiko said with a cruel smile.

Matsumori knew that Taiko was trying to throw him off by infuriating him about his fallen brother. Taiko would pay for both the insult of Aikihiro and for the brutality he inflicted on the local peasants.

"At least Aikihiro didn't practice his swordplay on helpless peasants. He practiced with the best, by which I mean me and his father Lord Akumara. Whereas you are not much of a swordsman. You might as well be a child with a stick, pretending to be a real swordsman" Matsumori replied.

Taiko's face went redder than red as he charged at Matsumori with his sword at his left side while Matsumori charged at Taiko with his sword at the same side. They both came within striking distance.

They both struck at the same time.

Seconds passed as both men stood with their swords out.

Blood spurted out of Taiko like a fountain. He fell to his knees as blood as started coming out of his mouth. Matsumori approached him drawing his other sword.

"Whoreson" Taiko cursed as he spat out blood.

Lap dog" Matsumori replied as he put both his swords to Taiko's neck, chopping his head off in a scissoring motion. Taiko's head made the sound of thunk as it hit the ground.

The last eight members of the retinue looked on in horror their leader had died. They then fled in terror in the direction they had originally come from. Saito, Akane and the rest of the Chubu bandits approached Matsumori.

"Let them run Saito. That scum Yakuwara will no doubt punish them for what happened here and save us the trouble of disposing of them" Matsumori replied as wiped his blade on the clothing of the now deceased Taiko.

"Then let's distribute the wealth and have ourselves a good time" Saito shouted out with glee. His fellow bandits cheered on as they went back to ransacking the cargo. Akane walked up to Matsumori and handed him the sake jug. As he took it from her to drink, he felt a soft impact on his crotch.

"I wouldn't mind having a good time with you" Akane said with a purr in her voice.

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Epilogue

Later that day

"How can we ever thank you my friends?" one of the farmers replied.

"You can start by pouring me some more sake" Saito laughed as did his fellow bandits and the rest of the peasants who were present.

After Saito and his fellow bandits were able to divide up the wealth between themselves and the farmers; the farmers decided to reward Saito and company with food and drink at a farm not far from where the bandits raided. It was an ideal location to defend from in case Yakuwara's people attacked.

A roaring fire had been made and a few pigs had been slaughtered to be put on that fire. Rice stores had been opened no more for Yakuwara, but for the peasants who no longer had to starve and the bandits who helped them.

Yakuwara would be furious at such a loss, but for the time being, the people of Ito village could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Where's our guest of honor? The twin swordsman?" the farmer asked as he poured Saito a cup of sake.

Saito smiled "He's celebrating our victory in his own special way".

____________________________________________________

"Your right, that was a good time" Matsumori breathed heavily while lying on the floor bed with a naked Akane on top of him.

"That's what I promised you" Akane replied softly as she too was breathing heavily. She had her fox mask removed and that revealed a most beautiful pair of violet eyes. She had removed the ribbon from her hair that held up her ponytail that loosened her hair that was now clinging to her sweat covered body.

Upon arriving at the farmhouse earlier, Matsumori wanted had something to eat with his sake. He knew Akane was impatient and wanted her "good time" with him, but he wasn't going to fulfill that promise on to her if his stomach was empty. When the time came to oblige her, it was like being ravaged by a wolf.

"You know we still have unfinished business with Yakuwara" Matsumori said plainly.

"I know that we still have that swine to deal with, but for now, let's just enjoy ourselves" Akane replied as she sought to kiss him on the lips.

"With that being said" he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun around, pushing her onto her back with him on top of her "We'd better make the most of it".

"Yes, let's" she replied.

The loud laughter and singing of the Saito, his bandits and the peasants drowned out the sounds of pleasure that Matsumori and Akane were making.

End