Ronin's Revenge

Koichi bit into a juicy peach as he laid his head in the succubus’ lap. “How delicious.” He said as juices slithered down his chin. The succubus said, “I’ll say.” She bent down and traced the juices up to his mouth with her tongue. She attempted to plunge it in between his lips, but he brushed her aside.

“You’re getting too greedy.” Koichi said. He rolled off the succubus’ lap and raised himself up to her level. The succubus retorted, “Come now, darling. You’ve plenty to go around. I need my fix.” Koichi shook his head and said, “I may need my strength provided any trouble comes our way.”

“Oh please,” the succubus said, “I’m strong enough to defend the two of us, my dear. On top of that, I’ll be even stronger once you give me more essence.” She hissed the last word into Koichi’s ear for emphasis. He pushed her away, however, and said, “The hell you will be. What worth am I if I can’t defend myself? I need to carry my own weapon and rely on my own body.” He held up the peach and continued, “Elsewise, I’ll end up soft like this fruit.”

“Halt, monster!” A voice yelled out from the distance. Koichi and the succubus looked over to see two samurai upon horses. They dismounted and one of them said, “Stand down now and accept arrest, you horrid beast. Maiden, please step aside from him.”

“Case and point.” Koichi said. He lifted himself up onto his feet and grabbed his naginata. “They wish to fight with me, and a fight is what they’ll get.” In a flash, he was upon the first samurai. Before the warrior could react, Koichi skewered him, lifting his body into the air on the end of his spear with his might alone. The other samurai unsheathed his katana and charged toward his enemy. Koichi laughed and flung the first samurai’s body at the second, impaling the former upon the latter’s sword. The second warrior fell backward, trapped underneath the weight of his friend as Koichi moved to loom over him.

“Please,” the living samurai said, “I beg you. Spare my life. I merely serve the shogun; it is his will that yearns for your capture, not mine. I’ll say you ran away if you let me live. Please, sir!” Koichi became incensed at the notion and asked, “You’ll say I ran away?! How dare you!” He landed a kick into the struggling samurai’s helmet, surely creating a concussion in the process. “Koichi the Wild One runs from no challenger! You’ll die before that lie escapes your lips again!”

Koichi raised his naginata and the samurai began panicking, begging incessantly for his life. His pleas fell on deaf ears, though, as Koichi swung down with a furious might, cleaving through the samurai’s neck and rupturing the ground beneath him.

Grabbing the samurai’s head by the ponytail and raising it up for the world to see, Koichi laughed at the poor warrior’s misfortune before tossing the part of him toward the succubus. He asked, “Is there any essence you can drain from that, demon?” The succubus shook her head, sighed, and said, “Not from that type of head, I’m afraid.”

The succubus then turned to Koichi and asked, “What led you down this path of destruction, anyway?” Koichi scoffed, sat next to her, and asked, “Does the sun need a reason to rise in the morning?” The succubus looked at him inquisitively and asked, “What are you getting at, Koichi?” He said, “It’s simply a force of nature. There’s no rhyme nor reason for its course of action, only the natural progression. Same with me; the way I see it, I’m my own force of nature, ready to destroy what lies before me.”

“Have you always been like that?” The succubus asked. Koichi contemplated the question for a moment, lost in thought, and eventually said, “I suppose so. The other kids in my village always hated me for how rough I would play. When we enrolled in our local dojo, I won every sparring match, but was scolded for my cruelty. Before long, I grew bored of kendo and wanted to see the effects of a real blade. So, I stole my family’s naginata and challenged one of the neighbor boys to a real duel.”

Koichi laughed as he reminisced, though the sound was harsh and dripping with malice. He said, “Gods as my witness, I could barely manage the damn thing in those days. But I challenged him nonetheless.” The succubus then asked, “What happened next?” Though she held a modicum of curiosity, she also had a strong feeling she already knew the answer, yet she asked anyway.

“Why,” Koichi said, “I killed him, of course. I’m not sure he believed it was a duel to the death as he cried like an infant when I held the naginata’s edge against his chest. But that only heightened my bloodlust, so I cut him down. His parents soon discovered us, but my own father convinced them that it was an accident. From then on, however, I was banned from the dojo. My only option was to practice in secret in the dead of the night, so I did as such for the last dozen or so years.”

The succubus giggled and said, “No wonder you’ve become so strong then, expressing such diligence in your training.” Koichi said, “Why, thank you, succubus.” He then frowned and said, “You know, I grow tired of referring to you as ‘succubus’ or ‘demon.’ We should name you.” The succubus mulled over the suggestion and eventually said, “We should call me Ame as shrine maidens often pray to Ame-no-Uzume.” She giggled at her own input.

“Very well,” Koichi said, “we’ll call you Ame.” And from then on, the succubus became Ame. He then knelt down next to Ame, picked back up his peach, and bit into it once more. “You know, Ame,” he continued, “you sure do have a wicked sort of grudge against shrine maidens. What’s the origin of that hate?”

Ame frowned and looked away from Koichi. “Those damn shrine maidens tricked me.” She said. “I was once traveling amidst a village, having my way with the men who lived there. Then, however, they grew wary of my tactics, so I needed a new approach. I saw a maiden washing alone in the river one day and thought to myself that I could use her body to seduce the men into torrid affairs so that I could have my fix.”

“Makes sense so far.” Koichi said. “So, where did it all go wrong?” Ame became frustrated and continued, “I snuck up behind the little bitch, but then she turned the tides on me by whistling to which a monk appeared and sealed me away in an ofuda. It happened so suddenly that I was caught completely off-guard. In an instant, I was sucked inside that damn talisman. If it wasn’t for that maiden tempting me, I’d still be able to roam free. She tricked me out of my fun!”

Koichi cocked his head and said, “That doesn’t explain how you’re here today.” Ame lit up and said, “Well, while I rotted away in that ofuda, one of Orochi’s lackeys found and released me. I was too weak to stand on my own, so I infiltrated the nearby shrine to seek my revenge. Unfortunately, it was many years ago that I was sealed away, so the maiden had since passed. Instead, I took the most feeble-willed whore in the temple, which happened to be this body.”

Before Koichi could respond, a voice from the samurai corpses’ direction said, “Wow, such carnage. This must be the work of the one I’m searching for.” Koichi and Ame looked over and noticed an amikiri floating around the bodies. “Oh, look,” Koichi said, “yet another demon.” Ame asked, “Are you here seeking us, oni?”

“That depends.” The amikiri said. It raised a claw to Koichi and asked, “You sir, are you named Koichi Hanamura?” Koichi nodded and said, “I prefer Koichi the Wild One.” The amikiri flipped in the air and exclaimed, “That’s wonderful! And I can tell by the amethyst eyes of your maiden friend that you’re in the company of a demon. That, too, is wonderful!”

“Why so?” Koichi asked. The amikiri swiftly said, “I represent the demon lord Orochi. It requests that you join forces with the demon army and slay our enemies.” Ame immediately perked up hearing Orochi’s name and thought positively of the offer. To be in the presence of more demons comforted her, and she figured Koichi would feel the same.

“I refuse.” Koichi said bluntly. Both Ame and the floating demon were shocked by the answer. “But why?” The amikiri asked. Koichi spat in his direction and said, “You’re asking me to be some demon’s lapdog. Man or monster, I bow to no one. Koichi the Wild One rides in his own direction, sewing chaos wherever he roams!”

Koichi then began laughing and grabbed his naginata. “This is punishment for daring to command me.” He said. Then, before the floating demon realized what was happening, he threw the spear squarely between the oni’s eyes, killing it instantly. Koichi continued laughing.

Ame, meanwhile, was impressed with Koichi’s display of might and became quite aroused. She said, “My, what devastating power you possess. Perhaps you’d enjoy sharing it with me?” She shifted around in her robe, revealing a breast to him. Newly invigorated by the sensation of taking another life, Koichi said, “On second thought, I believe I’m willing to oblige.” He laid down next to Ame, took a finishing bite of the peach, and transferred his essence into her.