"Phew, that was close!"

Niko breathed out, the sound of sirens echoing in the distance.

"But yet again, the great Niko escapes the pursuers, disappearing silently into the night!"

She laughed triumphantly.

"...You just followed Zatoichi's lead..."

Shoki sighed.

"Well, i brought him so it was only because of my actions that we escaped as well as we did!"

"Then that also means it was because of your actions that we ended up in this mess, if we had just rested for the day instead of running off maybe we could've avoided this whole scenario"

Gary added, attempting to straighten his suit.

"...Did you want to be left over at that bar with those thugs?"

Niko smiled at Gary, a smile too wide for his comfort.

"No, no, good job Niko, disappearing into the night and all that..."

He said with a low tone, too tired to argue.

"Perhaps we should head back, instead of lingering in the open..?"

Shoki suggested.

"Thats right Niko, we are going home, that is enough playing around for today, i will have you explain to me why such scary people were after you when we get back!"

Hannah grabbed Niko's hand and started roughly dragging her along despite her protests.

"You have impressive skills with tiny blade, from what little i saw, you have spirit of samurai, although should probably use better sword than kitchen knife, small blade can't reach akuma like mine did!"

Zatoichi said to Shoki, who was about to follow after the group, Gary snickering quietly at Niko who was being scolded by Hannah.

"Too bad your blade didn't reach anything then...since it seems it was Niko who placed the finishing blow"

Shoki said as he eyed the burned samurai before him, his blade still somehow in pristine condition, despite his clothes and body being scorched everywhere.

"Hooo, that is good spirit you have, young man, now that i am in Parade of shadows, i will make sure you grow into full potential so you become great swordsman like me!"

Zatoichi declared with an excited look in his eyes.

"No thanks, i prefer self-study.."

Shoki turned away and started walking away.

"I will come to you at the rise of sun to start training!"

Zatoichi shouted after Shoki.

"So annoying..."

Shoki sighed, not bothering to shout back at the man.

The group slowly disappeared into the distance, leaving Zatoichi standing in the middle of an empty dark street.

"Parade of shadows...I will do my best to be worthy of such great clan...now what to do with burns on body..."

He muttered to himself as he took out a phone from within his burned Kimono, taking a deep breath as he dialed a number.

"Hello, it is me, oh i see, yes, well, i call this time because i need favour again, yes, yes i cannot go to hospital, they ask questions, well, i burn whole body"

Suddenly, ear deafening masculine shouting began to erupt from the phone, causing Zatoichi to pull the phone back from his ear until the shouting subsided.

"Yes, No, it is not those bad friends of mine, they kicked me out, remember, these are new friends, very nice people, yes, yes i will be there soon, yes...Love you too, mother."

He quickly muttered out the last few words and turned off his phone with a tired sigh.

--

Niko woke up to the sound of something crashing and someone yelling.

"Uh..What is it Gary...so annoying...guess i have to go help you then..since i am so reliable..hehe.."

Niko muttered, still half asleep, attempting to rise up from the bed, only to realise that she was unable to move her limbs.

"Wa, what is this, was i captured!?"

Niko's eyes suddenly widened, the adrenaline flowing through her instantly rousing her from her sleepiness.

"What is this!"

Niko tried looking around, but all she could see was darkness as something blocked her vision, two things infact. The two objects that covered Niko's vision were very soft, making Niko want to snuggle up to the two pillows, which she tried to do, but stopped suddenly, once doing so caused someone to groan lightly as Niko was pulled in even further towards the two objects.

"Can't...breathe..."

Niko moved her face around some more, trying to get a general feel for what the soft pillows infront of her face were.

"Ehehe..."

Niko suddenly stopped struggling and relaxed her face into the two pillows once she realised what they were, her face slightly flush, with small drips of drool escaping her mouth.

"No... at this point i will end up dead...but is it really such a bad way to go....NIKO CAN'T DIE YET!"

She tried to push herself off the pillows, but was suddenly pulled in towards them even further, smooshing her face into them.

"...ahh..."

Niko sighed, her mind blanking out momentarily.

"No, damnit, i am not this weak, neither mentally nor physically, damniiiiiit!"

Niko pushed back with all her might, and after what felt like an eternity, she suddenly flew back, hitting the wall behind her, while still on the bed.

"Awawa..."

Niko took a deep breath as she held her head in pain, her eyes spinning around, causing her vision to become blurry.

As her vision slowly returned to normal, she finally saw the trap that almsot killed her. Laying on the bed next to her, was a beautiful woman wearing nothing but a half open blouse that somehow managed to cover all of her important parts.

Niko gulped, her breathing becoming heavier, her hand slowly reaching forward.

Right before her hand reached the two globes of gold however, she suddenly stopped.

"Oh..Alis- Niko, you're already awake..?"

Hannah slowly opened her eyes, and looked over at Niko's outstretched arm.

"Oh, were you planning to wake me, that's not very nice, older people need more sleep than kids, so you should let me sleep some more.."

Hannah yawned, and grabbed Niko's arm, quickly pulling her into a close snuggle, something soft squishing against Niko, causing her to gulp as she quickly risked a quick look, before looking away pretending she was admiring the wall.

"Hmm...?"

Hannah looked at the suspicious looking Niko that was trying not to look at her.

"It's okay, yours will be like mine once you become an adult.."

Hannah tried reassuring her after figuring out Niko was trying to avoid looking at.

"W-what, n-no they wont!"

Niko stuttered.

'Of course they won't, i don't want them to, i'm a man after all!"

She thought to herself, thinking that having something like that in a temporary body would be quite annoying, and not to mention would hurt her masculinity.

"It's okay..even if they don't, once you find someone special to massage them for you, they will be even bigger than mine, so don't worry too much!"

Hannah resassured her again whilst giving her a close hug, misunderstanding Niko's thoughts.

"W-w-wha, w-why would i want someone to m-m-massage them!"

Niko stuttered in surprise, her face flushing.

"Maybe you're too young to think of stuff like that... you will probably be interested in that kind of stuff soon though, so be sure to ask me for tons of advice~"

Hannah teased her.

"I-i wont.."

Niko pouted, giving Hannah an annoyed look, only to find her snoring again.

As Niko was being currently used as her fullbody pillow, and she didn't want to wake Hannah again, she decided to sleep a while longer, snuggling close to Hannah, dreaming of visiting an island that consisted only of the sweetest melons, and where the rivers flowed with sake.

--

"Come! your posture weak, which mean your attack weak!"

Zatoichi yelled out, the sound of wood striking wood echoing in the backyard of the small house.

'So annoying..how did i even end up in this situation...'

Shoki sighed as he raised his wooden sword high for another strike.

Gary watched the pair spar for a while, before scratching his head and heading back inside, giving the doorway to the backyard a tired look.

The door way was empty, the door lay on the ground infront of the doorway, small cracks apparent where the hinges used to be.

"He could have knocked, now i have to pay for this as well..."

He breathed out heavily, and went through the cracked doorway, muttering things about ungratefulness.

"Haa..i need some coffee...."

--

"Damnit...so noisy again..."

Niko muttered as she was awoken again.

"Hm..Hannah..?"

Niko looked around, only to find that she was alone in the room.

"Where is everyone..?"

Niko wondered, having quickly exchanged her pajamas for her usual clothes and heading to the living room, where some futons were neatly piled up in a corner.

"And what is that annoying noise..!"

Niko muttered as another series of sounds came from outside.

Niko quickly headed outside, giving the unhinged door a curious glance.

"What is this!?"

She exclaimed at the scene infront of her.

A mass of people had gathered in the backyard, all of them cheering incomprehensibly at something in the middle of the crowd.

Niko quickly made her way through the crowd to see what the hell was going on.

In the middle of the crowd, was a big empty circle, inside of which two figures were going at each other with wooden swords.

One of the figures was a heavily bandaged man, holding the sword infront of him in two hands, like how one would hold a Japanese sword.

The other figure, Niko recognised immediately as Shoki, who wasn't wearing his usual trenchcoat and hoodie, but instead just a simple shirt and pants, the other figure wearing similiar clothes.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Whilst the bandaged man seemed to be using proper techniques, and held a steadfast stance, Shoki held his sword in one hand, his stance undetermined, changing wildly with each step.

Confused by what was happening, Niko looked around in an attempt to find someone who didn't only speak japanese, as whenever she tried to adress someone from the crowd, they would just look at her with a confused expression.

Among the front rows of the crowd, Niko spotted Gary and Hannah cheering with the crowd, whom she headed towards.

"Go Shoki, show that bastard!"

Gary cheered.

"That's not fair, Zatoichi helped us out alot yesterday, so we should cheer for both, Go Zatoichi, and Shoki!"

Hannah cheered for both of them energetically.

"GARY, who are all these people, what is happening?!"

Niko ran up to Gary and dragged him down to her level by his tie.

"Oh hey there Niko, i don't know who the other people are, they just kind of showed up after a while, but those two have been at it for almost an hour now, GO SHOKI SHOW HIM IT'S NOT ALRIGHT TO JUST BREAK MY DOOR!"

Gary cheered after a particularly close miss in the fight.

"Wait, who's the mummy looking guy?"

She pointed over at Shoki's opponent.

"Thats that samurai bastard, Zatoichi, first he makes me pay for their drinks at the bar and now he breaks down my door, unforgivable, show him hell Shoki!"

He quickly explained and continued cheering for Shoki, with Hannah trying to cheer for both.

"I don't-"

Niko began but was cut off by someone talking loudly next to her.

"What a close miss, but the duel continues, at first glance it would seem like the black haired boy has the upper hand as his opponent seems to have recieved some kind of injury, but Zatoichi stands strong, not being affecting in the least!"

A young man with styled hair and a suit, stood at the front of the crowd, a cameraman filming the fight with a large camera as the man spoke into a microphone that he excitedly held with both his hands.

"We have never seen a duel such as this, ladies and gentlemen. Oh wow, it appears the great Zatoichi almost miscalculated his strike, his opponents unconventional style throwing him out of his comfort zone. While it would seem that Zatoichi has the upperhand in terms of technique and style, it would appear that his opponent that seems to use no specific style has an even larger advantage, each attack unpredictable, and each stance giving alot of obvious openings, is it a trap, is it just a terrible stance, it is impossible to tell, ladies and gentlemen, this might be a battle for the histoy books, oh my, it would appear as Shoki has finally started to tire, how will it go for-"

The Broadcaster continued with his commentary on the fight, as the fighters in question completely ignored both the broadcaster and the crowd cheering for each of them, concentrating fully on the opponent infront of them.

"What the hell is going on!?!?"

Niko screamed out, her voice lost among the cheering of the crowd.

--

"You fight well, but believe me, with more training you become even better than me!"

Zatoichi said, breathing heavily as he sat down on the ground.

"No. More. Training."

Shoki breathed out, as he lay on his back, his arms and legs splayed out.

The backyard was now empty except for Niko and her companions, the crowd having dispersed once the fight was over.

"Damnit, Shoki, i was cheering for you, i thought you were our ace, but you can't even defeat a heavily injured punk!"

Gary complained

"...Never asked you to cheer..."

Shoki muttered.

"And who you call punk, even if ojou-chan pay off debt by letting join clan you still owe"

Zatoichi added as he adjusted his bandages.

"I don't owe you anything, i didn't before and especially not now that Niko let you join our so called clan"

Gary continued to complain.

"Shut up Gary, you're too noisy"

Niko interrupted him as she escaped from having to help Hannah clean up after the crowd.

"Atleast i earned some money from the bets, good job on winning samurai man!"

Niko smiled as she flaunted a bundle of bank notes.

"You can use this for your damn door, so stop crying about it!"

She threw the bundle of money at Gary, which hit him in the face as he tried to grab it.

"It's not just about the money, it's about principle, and about the fact that you can just knock instead of breaking doors!"

He said as he gave Zatoichi an annoyed look, stuffing the money into his pocket.

"Whatever Gary, so where should we go today, maybe the pachinko parlour, or maybe the arcades, or maybe we could even go to that one place where they have alot of those Japanese cartoons that you like, Gary!"

Niko suggested, her gaze filled with excitement.

"As nice as that does sound, shouldn't we start doing what we came here for in the first place?"

Gary said, attempting to guide Niko away from money sucking activities and instead into something that will get Niko off his back sooner.

"That's right, having fun is fine, but we should also do some work, if you do a bit of work then a bit of fun, and then a bit of work, you will finish before you know it!"

Hannah placed a hand on Niko's head, talking to her as one would to a child, ruffling her hair slightly.

"Stop that, jeez.."

Niko complained and pushed Hannahs hand away.

"But i guess what you say does make sense.."

Niko could only relent at the indisputable logic.

"Fine, let's go find this old witch, whatever her name is!"

"Evileye, atleast remember the name of the person you're looking for..."

Gary sighed.

"Yes yes, Evileye, Evilnose, whatever, where do we find her?"

Niko put her hands at her waist and asked.

"Well i have a possible adress that might be her house or atleast somewhere she visits often, so we should start there, probably"

Gary suggested, holding out his phone which had an adress written on some sort of occult forum site.

"Gary...don't tell me you believe in that kind of occult nonsense.."

Niko looked at Gary with pitying eyes.

"So what if i do!" He exclaimed "Besides with all this magic and gods nonsense how could you not!?"

"Fair point..."

Niko scratched her chin with an awkward smile, remembering that they were on the hunt for witches and magic items.

"Ah, ojou-chan, do you mind telling what next goal of clan is?"

Zatoichi stood up and walked over to Niko.

"Ah, right..you don't know yet, well we are looking for this person, who can maybe help us use a certain powerful artifact and maybe even find more artifacts of the same nature"

Niko explained, not bothering to go into detail.

"Hoo, i see, finding artifacts to slay Akuma, truly noble cause, i will do my best to help!"

He held up the wooden sword infront of him dramatically.

"Also, who is head of clan, i must pledge allegiance to head before i am true member, no?"

Zatoichi asked, looking over at Niko and Gary questioningly.

"Well, obviously, it can be no one other than the great Ni-"

Niko began, but couldn't finish her sentence, as she was interupted by Hannah who had lightly struck her head in a mock karate chop.

"Niko, you haven't even washed your face yet, go do that, and then come have breakfast, i made some pancakes earlier"

She said to Niko and pointed inside the house.

"But, who cares, we can just eat something-"

Niko began but stopped once she saw Hannahs eyes.

"Now. Young lady."

Hannah said in a commanding tone, her eyes flaring red for a moment.

"I'm not young..or a lady..."

Niko mumbled to herself, obediently walking inside.

"And Gary, i made some coffee for you, you better get it before it gets cold"

She said to Gary, who lit up like a bulb upon the mention of coffee, quickly heading inside.

"And Shoki, you better go take a shower before breakfast, it's not good to eat directly after working out!"

She yelled over at Shoki who was still on the ground a bit away.

Shoki slowly stood up on shaky legs, and headed inside, following Gary.

"I put a towel there for you to use, it's the blue one!"

She yelled after him as he entered. Shoki lightly bowing his head in thanks, too tired to say anything.

"Hoo, such amazing leadership, they obey every command without question, amazing, truely what one would expect from such great clan!"

He said in amazement after observing Hannah.

"Great leader of Parade of shadows, will you grant me entry to assist such a great clan?"

He asked as he sunk to one knee, his sword stuck into the ground infront of him.

"Oh,of course you can have some pancakes as well, training with Shoki must have made you hungry, i was about to invite you in"

She smiled kindly at him.

"Hooo, i will do my best, Ane-san!"

He exclaimed, hitting his chest a few times before heading inside.

"Of course, eat as much as you want, i have made plenty"

She smiled as she went in behind him, picking up the door and covering the open doorway with it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you thought this was fun to read, if so then maybe you could try leaving a comment withwhat  you liked and disliked, and what you think i should change, in order to improve my writing and make it more not as crap~

Also, Bonus shitty drawing of Gary and Shoki :

http://imgur.com/a/fPqTY