The scent of blood was in the air as thirteen-year-old Roy McCoy rushed through the nauseatingly green bamboo forest. A sharp grin spread across his face as his blade slashed through the thick bamboo shoots before him. “Say, I’ve never had an adrenaline rush like this before! You’d better not die too quickly on me once I catch you!”

This was the young samurai’s first official outing since his training began. His sensei’s livestock had been going missing over the past few weeks. His mission? Ice the thief.

“Listen, I know you’re probably some ungodly creature of the night who hunts and sucks livestock, but you’d better not be a coward. The only thing that pisses me off more than a pussy? A thief! Err… I meant the only thing that… Ah, whatever, where the hell are you?!” The samurai, now red in the face, spun his back towards the sound of bamboo snapping.

Another cut echoed out to his left.

Then his right.

It wasn’t until a spinning blade fan had cut through almost an entire row of bamboo that his eyes finally caught wind of the weapon. “Shit, shit, shit!” He yelled, tossing his blade above his face to block the speeding fan.

That’s when he felt arms wrap around his waist from behind him.

BOOM!

A suplex left him on his back. His head was instantly sent to space as it impounded into the ground. Still seeing double as his assailant crawled on top of him, his teeth grit as a small blade got placed up to his throat.

“Wh-What the hell?! You were just… Now you’re… HUH?!” Taking advantage of his confusion, the attacker further positioned themself to take the young samurai’s life, easily dismissing his struggled squirming as they lifted their dagger in the air and…

WACK!

The sound of something slamming across their head added to the lack of pain in his chest, causing Roy to open his shut eyes. Standing above the pair was a large man with dark skin and jet-black hair coiled back in corkscrews. “Need a hand?”

“Sensei!” Roy took his master’s outstretched hand and pulled himself to his feet. “Man, if it weren’t for you, I’d be toast!”

“I’m well aware… I told you to watch your surroundings.” Without removing the sword from its fancy sheath, the older man pointed down to the attacker, covered from head to toe in black robes. “It seems we had a ninja on our doorstep.”

“Ninjas are real?!” With a gasp, Roy took a step closer to the unconscious ninja. His fearful eyes slowly filled with intrigue as his sensei lifted the body and tossed it over his shoulder.

“As real as you or I. Come now, Roy. Something tells me our visitor will be famished when they awake.”

“Huh? But… Maurice Sensei, th-they’re a thief! Shouldn’t we… Kill them?” The young samurai cocked his head, puzzled at the mercy his sensei had shown.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Where you see a thief, I see a child not much older than you. There’s an honor to the blade, Roy. Now, let’s go home. I left the beef cooking.” Roy tossed his blade back over his shoulder with a huff, slowly walking behind the man to whom he owed everything.

As the afternoon sun slowly tucked beneath the night clouds, the pair finally arrived back at the small cottage where they took residence. “Prepare the guest bedroom.” Maurice beckoned his apprentice.

With his jaw slowly dropping, Roy moved closer to the house. “Are you serious?! We’re keeping that dude HERE?! What if he steals another cow? Or worse… A horse!”

“Do not worry about a future currently untold. For now, focus on what sits in front of your eyes.” With a disappointed sigh, the young samurai nods at his master’s words, trudging his feet into the tatami-covered home. Once he was sure Roy was gone, Maurice placed the thief on a small cot, mainly used to transport produce to the market. His hand slowly reached out for the ninja’s mask, only halting its progress when their eyes shot open, and an acrobatic flip caused them to end up behind Maurice.

However… The attempt at gaining an upper hand was short-lived. The assailant slowly ended up back to back with the experienced samurai. His tanto blade was perfectly positioned to the ninja’s abdomen, ensuring an easy run-through if they tried to advance. “Your movement is impressive. Even if there’s a fatal flaw in your escape attempt. I mean you no harm so long as you’re willing to extend the same offer to my apprentice and I. Friend or foe?”

Silence.

“I’ll reiterate, this time in English. I mean, you no harm on the condition you match my motives. Can I trust you?”

“…You may.” The ninja finally responded. Finally, being allowed to exhale as Maurice’s blade was repositioned away from their chest.

“No Japanese? What brings you here, then.” Asked Maurice, now facing the same direction as his once adversary, his voice deep and authoritative per usual but still calm not to cause any panic.

“I’m an… Orphan. Living off the land.”

“Living off my land.” Maurice teasingly responded.

“Yes… Exactly, you see my predicament. Allow me to go free. I promise I’ll leave your home be.”

“Not. The forecast calls for rain soon… I also haven’t invited you for supper. Surely you’d be willing to stay the night at least?” His dark brown eyes pierced the ninja, causing them to remain frozen where they stood.

“Hey, sensei, I got the room ready. I still don’t think we should– Hey! What the hell?!” Upon seeing the scene outside the house, Roy quickly drew his sword. In swift retaliation, the ninja brought out a small set of knives. “Sensei! That thief is right there dude. We’ve easily got them if we team up!”

“Roy, stand down. They’re a friend, or should I say… She’s a friend.” To the surprise of both companies, Maurice yanked the hood off the robed figure. Long, straight black hair descended her neck, revealing the high-flying ninja as a beautiful Japanese teen.

“W-Wait, wait, hold on, you’re a… Girl? I… LOST TO A DAMN CHICK?! You have to be kidding me! Augh!” Roy covered his face in shame as Maurice placed his right hand on the girl’s shoulder. Her head shot up to the man, unsure what to make of this situation.

“Don’t mind him. He’s still young. As for you, might I ask your name?”

“It’s… Megumi. My name is Megumi.” She finally admitted, her voice brittle, yet had a sense of otherworldly grace.

“I see. Well, Megumi, it is my pleasure to meet your acquaintance. My name is Maurice, and that over there is Roy.” Pointing with a tilt, Roy finally pulled his face from his hands. “Ugh, introducing ourselves? Yeah, whatever, I’m Roy…”

Megumi looked at the young boy, a small frown spreading across her cheeks as she approached him. “I… Apologise for nearly killing you.”

“Huh?! Almost killing me? Listen, lady, I don’t know what you think happened out there, but I had the situation under control! I’m a real samurai!” Roy stood up and marched away into the house, leaving Megumi to look down at the ground below her.

Maurice took her side, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her an acknowledged nod. “As I said before, Roy is young. Only thirteen… What he can’t realize is that you could’ve killed him, yet you didn’t.”

“Because you intervened. Had you not, I-”

“Megumi. You had nearly a full fifteen seconds before I arrived. There’s no doubt in my mind if you wanted to kill him, you would have.” She looked up at him in response, her bottom lip quivering in confusion and exhaustion.

The rain had begun to fall, allowing Maurice to motion her towards the front door. “We’ll speak more over dinner. Why don’t you go clean yourself up for the time being?”

The long-haired girl nodded before slowly trudging the rest of the way to the front door. She remained motionless momentarily, taking in the day leading up to these events before eventually letting out a sharp exhale and walking inside.

As the sliding door shut behind her, she watched the adult samurai pass her by, giving her one final accepting glance. “What’s ours is yours. Officially, this time.” A cheeky grin spread across his face as her eyes widened in embarrassment.

“I-I’m sorry for taking your livestock…”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Don’t fret. We all do things out of our minds while trying to survive. The room you’ll stay in is down the hall to the right. Left is the bathroom. Feel free to take a bath. We’ve got plenty of robes to spare. Those clothes look filthy. I promise that I’ll clean them up in the morning.” As Maurice made his way to the kitchen, Megumi was again left to her mind. This new environment was much different from her last, refreshing even.

The tatami mats under her feet, the pottery, the paintings around her, and even the small bonsai trees that lined the room's corners made the small living area seem much more vast.

Down the hall, the beige walls were decorated with various amateur paintings. All of them are laughable in quality as if drawn by a child and proudly displayed by a parent. One, in particular, caught her eyes. It was a crudely drawn man holding some sort of stick while straddling what looked to be some alien vehicle.

“Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The coolest movie ever!” A booming voice caused her to jump away from the poorly made art piece. Roy, the boy from earlier, had emerged into the hall with her, a frown overtaking his lips as he looked at her.

“Not that a girl would have ever seen it. I bet you watch movies about… Pink or something.”

“Movies?” She cocked her head to the side, a puzzled expression overtaking her face. Roy followed up this reaction with an exhausted sigh.

“Dude, don’t you know anything? Yeah, movies! The best invention of all time. Okay, imagine a video game you don’t have to play. You just put a DVD in, and then BOOM! There you are, right in the middle of the action.” This explanation was met with even more confusion painted over her face.

“Ugh, man, you don’t know anything. It’s worse than I thought. Girls don’t even know what movies are!”

“Roy, leave the poor girl alone. She may put your butt back on the ground if you don’t let her get settled in.” Yelled Maurice from the kitchen, causing the brunette to spin around and run to the corner of the hall.

“Like hell! Why don’t you just go back to cooking rice, old timer!”

Using the time when Roy was distracted in conversation, Megumi quickly scurried to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her as she backed into it, locking it with her right hand. Even the bathroom was expansive for being placed in such an exteriorly small home.

She shuffled over to the small bath near the room's back end. Lined up all across the sides of the ceramic tub were all sorts of soaps and scrubbers. As she hunched over to the faucet, she began playing with the knobs, trying to find the perfect mixture of hot and cold before she could sink herself into the enticing waters below.

Right on cue of fine china topping the table, Megumi emerged from the bathroom. Her dark ninja robes were discarded for a navy house robe decorated with a sky-blue floral pattern. This time, the feeling of the tatami mats met her bare feet as she slowly sat herself at the dinner table. Her biggest change? Her once-overgrown black hair had been cut substantially down to a shorter style. The sides hugged her cheeks while her bangs sat neatly above her eyebrows. Maurice gave a soft chuckle as he finally sat down himself.

“I see you found my sheers. I rate your new style as a success.” He complimented, his chopsticks poking around at the meal on his plate.

“I think she looks like a guy now.” Roy shrugged. A mixture of beef and rice launched out of his mouth as he rudely tried to speak and chew simultaneously. His fork smashed into the plate as his sensei shook his head in shame.

“Roy! I know I’ve taught you table manners before! I may let you pig out around me, but when we have guests, you should know better than to terrorize them with your savage etiquette!” The dark-skinned man scolded. A slight grin appeared across the now short-haired girl's lips as she slowly and delicately scooped rice, bell peppers, and beef with her chopsticks.

The tangy flavor of the green pepper and the savory juice of the steak meshed well when combined with the perfectly salted rice. All these flavors fused in her mouth like a symphonic band piecing together to play a ballad; each ingredient could stand alone fine enough, but the dish truly shined as it was. Together.

As dinner concluded, Megumi finally made it to her living quarters. The soft cot pieced together. was completely foreign yet extremely inviting. Despite her desire to sink into the bed, something interrupted her chance at reprieve.

Two knocks at the door before it was impatiently slammed open. “Yo. Sensei told me to check in on you. You look like you’re doing fine, so I’ll get back to my movies now.”

“Wait!” Before Roy could slip from the room, the arm caught him. His gaze shifted to Megumi in confusion. “C-Could…”

“Eh?”

Megumi huffed, looking down at her feet and shutting her eyes.

“Could I… Watch a movie with you?”

Roy raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Megumi shrugged. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“You probably wouldn’t like them. They’re about killer robots and have explosions.” He responded, walking himself down the dark hallway.

“Killer… Robots? I’ve read some books like that before.” She added, closing the door behind them as she slowly followed him.

“See? You like to read. You won’t like these movies.” The young samurai rebutted as they descended a pair of stairs.

“Does Maurice like movies?”

“Bad ones. Too much talking, not enough action. This one time, he tried to put on this Pulp Fiction crap! Hey, you like books, why don’t you go watch his movies?” With that final insult, Roy slammed the door in her face.

Now standing at the end of a wooden staircase by her lonesome, Megumi let out a sigh. Hearing the sounds of explosions and gunfire coming from Roy’s room caused her to retreat up the wooden steps. This triggered a light switch and a quick rush behind a table for the ninja.

“Megumi. There’s no need to hide. It’s me.” Maurice calmly stated, the sliding door again closing behind him as he made his way to the cowering girl. “Is something the matter?”

“It’s… Roy. I don’t think he likes me.”

“Dammit. What did that boy say now?” The samurai turned towards the steps, letting his poncho fall to his back. He was ready to scold Roy on his manners again, only to be stopped by the small Japanese girl rushing before him.

“Wait! Wait! He didn’t say anything directly to me… He just doesn’t want to watch movies with me. I’d never seen one before, so… I was curious.” Her shy demeanor was quick to return, and in response, Maurice chuckled.

“I see. Well, how about we even the odds, then?” The master samurai held up a single finger as he walked into his room, flipped the light on, and trotted to the closet. Not wanting to disturb the man but also holding mild curiosity, Megumi peaked her head past the door frame but could not see anything.

It didn’t take long before Maurice returned, a stack of DVD cases in hand as he dumped them on the table. “From my collection.”

Megumi slowly made her way to the table, her eyes glossing over the strange cases in a mixture of wonder and anxiety at some of the more bizarre covers. “I’m not quite sure what fits your fancy, but many of these movies are more story-focused. It's not quite Roy’s type of movie, but I thought you’d prefer something more mature. How old are you anyway?”

“Mmm, fifteen.” She told him, comparing several of the movie covers with one another.

“I thought as much. You seemed older than Roy… At least from a maturity standpoint. Although, I had always heard girls mature quicker.” He let out another chuckle before looking down at Megumi's choice. Or, in this case, the lack thereof.

“Do you… Have Terminator 2?” A wild grin immediately overtook Maurice’s face as he nodded. “Of course. That movie is a known classic… But you can’t watch it.” He told her while collecting the cases he’d previously placed down.

“Huh? Why not?!”

Without saying a word in response, Maurice hurried to his room, put back the movies, and went back to digging through his box, only to return a minute later with a new stack of movies.

“Because it’s a sequel. You’ve got to watch Terminator before Terminator 2.” He showed her the cover, with Arnold’s robotic eyes hidden behind his iconic sunglasses. “What do you say? A double Terminator feature?”

Without saying a word, she gave an affirmative nod, walked to the couch, and folded her legs. Her heart raced in anticipation for her first-ever movie marathon…

One became two; two became three; eventually, I had a new movie marathon every night. After a couple of weeks of brooding, Megumi, Maurice, and Roy were seated on the couch. The tradition didn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. As the spring slowly crept into summer, when the humidity got high and the cicadas chirped relentlessly, Roy found himself on a long walk home with his Sensei, the three preparing to celebrate the summer harvest with a feast.

“Man, Megumi is lucky. She gets to sit at home while we lug all this crap around.” Huffed Roy, a backpack full of ingredients, slowed his run down exponentially.

“I thought you wanted to do more heavy lifting?”

“Not while she gets to sit on her butt! …Although, I don’t mind her as much as I used to. She’s still weird to me.”

“Weird, how?”

“She says and does weird stuff. Like the other day, she asked me if I liked looking at her in a kimono.”

“And do you?”

“Nah. Kimonos are granny clothes. I’d rather see her in like a… Bikini or something.” To that answer, Maurice chuckled. “Then it sounds like you’re both smitten with one another.” The young samurai then halted in his tracks, and after a few more steps of his own, Maurice also came to a stop.

“As in… Do I like her? You think I like her?”

“Do you like her?”

To that question, Roy simply stood there. His hands fidgeted around one another before he cocked his head to the side. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. When I think about her, my head gets fuzzy. Sometimes she pisses me off. Other times sh—“

Slice!

Inches away from his face was his sensei’s blade as it sliced an arrow in half. Then another. It was an arrow onslaught, only coming to a halt when three men on horseback rode up to the pair. “Ah, there you are. We had heard that a pair of samurai were held up in this area.”

“What of it? We’re allowed to practice our way of living. We’re not a threat to anybody.” Maurice calmly stated, stepping in front of Roy.

“We aren’t here for you. Besides, we would’ve never found you if it wasn’t for that girl you took in.”

Stepping in front of his sensei, Roy unsheathed his katana. “What the fuck are you talking about?! What do you know about Megumi?!”

“She’s one of our own. We’re taking her back.”

“Bullshit! C’mon sensei, let’s slice these guys into a million pieces!” The men on horseback readied their weapons, only halting an attack due to Maurice remaining unarmed.

“Tell me something. If that girl is one of your own, why was she out here by herself for so long?”

“Exactly! They’re probably just trying to kidnap her! I say we kill these bastards!” Roy kept his sword firmly clutched in his hand, but his grip loosened at the sight of Megumi herself.

“Roy, Maurice, I… I think this is for the best.” She sat on the back of a shining white horse, a familiar red scarf laid in her hands as she looked down towards the pair that had taken her in. “These people, they’re my family.”

“Shut the hell up! You belong here. With us!”

“Roy, I understand how you feel, but what if it was your family?”

“I’d tell them to screw off! Megumi, c’mon, quit messing around and come back with us!” Roy’s arms shook, his hold on his sword loosening more and more as Megumi brought the horse over to him. Tears welled in her eyes as she lowered the red scarf to the samurai apprentice.

“I’m sorry, Roy, but this is what I need to do with my life. I’ll always appreciate what you two did for me, but now… I must get back to my villa–” Roy slapped the red scarf to the ground, then turned his back to the girl.

“If that’s how it’s gonna be, I don’t want your charity. Get the hell out of here!” Megumi’s eyes widened. Tears and a sudden burst of rain showers caused her eyes to moisten. She glanced over to the scarf, then to Roy’s back, only snapping out of her spell as she felt a basket attach to her horse's saddle.

“For the road. Onigiri I had made for the trip out here. I think maybe it’ll serve you better.”

“M-Maurice…”

“It was great having you as our guest, but I believe we all have a purpose in life. Pursue it, Megumi. I’ll be rooting for you, and if you’re ever in the area, you’ve got a room.” Without saying a word in response, her arms quickly wrapped around him. The samurai instantly reciprocated the hug, his eyes shutting as the moment passed. His eyes slowly opened as he felt a note enter his satchel.

As Megumi pulled away, their eyes met, and her lip quivered, but Maurice quickly dismissed the tearful expression on her face with a nod of confidence. “You’d all better head out now. The rain is picking up.”

“Farewell then, samurai.” Noted one of the men as he tapped at his horse's bottom to signify it was time to go. The horses followed suit, including the white stead Megumi rode upon. She gave a final glance to the two samurai before focusing on the road ahead.

As the band of ninjas slowly faded into the horizon, Roy turned to Maurice; tears ran down his face as he pushed past his sensei, who tried to reach out to his apprentice, only to get pushed off with a shoulder shrug. Maurice sighed, picking up the scarf as he followed in silence.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Long into the night, he had worked, sighing in relief as he looked down at the finished product before him. “Sword technique and battle tactics are no issue. Yet a needle and thread, haha, I’m hopeless.” Maurice chuckled, resting the unused parts of the scarf on the side of his workshop as he lifted a red headband.

“Oh, Megumi…” Was all he could mutter as he looked back down at her final note, tears finally welling up in his strong grey eyes as he gave it one final read-through.

To Maurice and Roy,

I’m sorry I lied about who I was, and understand if I am never to be forgiven. The time we spent together was the best three months of my life. I never felt more alive than watching those movies with you both. However, that was not where I was meant to be. It was a fleeting moment of peace in a life meant for battle.

I leave my scarf to Roy, a reminder that I'll be there through all the battles he faces.

And to Maurice… A piece of art for you to hang on your wall.

– Hasta La Vista, Megumi

Attached is another letter with an oil-painted look at the three sitting on the couch. A bittersweet view that would linger as a constant reminder of better days for the trio.