Chapter 9: Yamato Village

As the group of villagers were running to us, we could hear them warning us to run. We weren't wearing anything fancy on us, just our usual attire, though it was very different from the common kimonos worn during this era of Japan. We were wearing jeans, while I had a t-shirt and the girls were all wearing blouses. On top of that, none of us particularly looked Japanese. Serafall could pass as Japanese, but the rest of us were clearly from other places with our hair color alone.

The group of civilians were running close to us now, I look at the girls and spoke, "How about you three fight those samurai, they should be a good fight, even if they are humans. No magic, just your weapons. You might be able to learn something, and I'll keep an eye on you all while your fighting." They all nodded excitedly, before pulling out their weapons, while it wasn't hard for Kouko and Grayfia to pull the weapons out and act as if they were hidden, it wasn't as easy for Sera and I. So I used magic to make it seem like we had them to begin with, it wasn't very hard to trick normal humans.

On a side note, I did have some real weapons made for us, though they aren't anything special they are for actually fighting. Unlike the weapons we had before, which were just for sparring, these were sharpened and tempered properly for combat.

The people running saw us draw our weapons, and were scared at first, especially the children, but they decided to keep running past us, stopping would mean death for them, so they had nothing to lose. Once the first few got past us, seeing that we weren't attacking them, many of them had relieved looks on their faces, some even thanking us for 'sacrificing' ourselves for them.

Once the last of the villagers were past us, the samurai were next. They were much closer to their prey now than they were a few seconds ago when we first saw them. You could tell they were in much better shape from fighting and training than the random civilians that passed us already. They however, stopped in front of us when they saw the weapons in our hands. The one that looked like the leader stepped forward and said, "In the name of our lord, move out of our way and let us pursue these cretins!"

"And why, pray tell, should we give a shit who your lord is?" I asked in a bored tone.

"They are Ronin that revolted against our lord!" He responded in an enraged tone.

"Again, why should I give a shit? My girls need practice and to learn to use their weapons, you're more useful to us this way." I responded with an even more bored tone.

(General's PoV)

Ever since these four people arrived in front of me, my instincts were screaming to avoid fighting them at all costs, specifically the man. At first I was angry and ignored it, but when he mentioned the girls next to him needed practice, and we would fit I couldn't help but start to think of something.

We are the best of the best samurai under Lord Hyashi, and this guy is casually talking about using us as training devices? I wasn't sure if I should be pissed at him or not, but it made me stop long enough to realize what my instincts were telling me.

Then it dawned on me, he wasn't kidding when he said we would be good training for those girls beside him. He genuinely meant that, and he knows we can't win.

I sighed and lowered my weapon, "If all you want is someone to fight then fine, but let us deal with these traitors first. Just from your looks I can tell you aren't from here, follow this road until you arrive at a fork in the road. You know what, never mind, I'll send someone with you." Though it sounded like I was nonchalant about it, in actuality, I had sweat rolling down my back.

The man in front of me wordlessly looked at the three girls beside him and nodded to himself, sheathing his sword on his waist before stepping to the side. The three girls followed his lead, and stepped behind him. I looked at the rookie who had just joined us, and called out, "Ishida, you lead these four back to Yamato, we'll pursue the traitors." He wanted to retort, but I gave him a threatening look before running off with the rest of my men.

(Valerian PoV)

After the samurai, who I assume is their general or whatever, left with the rest of his men, the one he assigned to guide us back turned to us. "Follow me, we will make our way back as General Tanaka asked." He said before turning and walking away from us.

I shrugged and followed him, with the girls close behind. Kouko walked up to me and tugged on my sleeve, "Brother, was it really okay to let them chase those people? I mean, there were children among them." She asked with a worried tone.

Without stopping I looked at her and said, "Ko, this isn't our situation to get involved in. You don't know what their families did for them to be chased by the samurai. So, while it's unfortunate that kids are involved, it isn't our place to decide. Mother promised that we wouldn't cause trouble, and that's what we will do." I said to comfort her, but with a finality to my tone at the end.

She sighed before nodding in agreement, though she didn't let go of my arm and kept hugging it. Serafall, being Serafall, got jealous and hugged my other arm, causing Grayfia to sigh at her childish nature.

We walked for close to twenty minutes before hitting a fork in the road. Leading us to the path on the right, we followed our escort for another half an hour before arriving at a gate that was guarded by two samurai. Behind in the gate, some distance away, A large manor could be seen, which I assumed was the Daimyo's house. Other than that, it looked about what you would see in movies about feudal Japan.

The one leading us asked us to stop before walking up to the two guards and explaining we were guests of the general. With the guards permission, the samurai that led us here, brought us to a rather large home, though nothing like the Daimyo's manor.

A ways away, the samurai stopped and looked at me, "Welcome to Yamato, this is the general's house, where you will stay." Approaching the house, outside of it was a woman in a green kimono, and it looked like she was tending to some crop outside of her house, though I wasn't entirely sure. She saw us approach and stood up, Ishida walked up to her and explained what happened, and that we would need to stay there.

The woman looked at us and smiled, "Hello, my name is Tanaka Himari , I'm Asahi's wife. Come in, please. " She said as she led us into a room with a table and seating pads in it. "Give me a few minutes to prepare rooms for you all." She said

I smiled back and replied, "Thank you, Tanaka-san. Ahh, right, my name is Valerian, this is Kouko, Serafall, and Grayfia."

Before Himari could walk out, Kouko spoke up, "Tanaka-san, we only need one room." Himari's eyes widened for a second before she nodded with a teasing smile. Serafall and Grayfia looked at her with teasing smiles, but I didn't really think anything of it. Kouko blushed, but didn't take back her request, only smiled in return.

A few minutes later, Himari walked back in, followed by a girl in her mid teens that was carrying a tray with tea on it. "Allow me to introduce my daughter to you all, her name is Tanaka Yua." She bowed to us and started serving us tea, but I could see her sneaking glances at me every now and then.

Himari looked at us and spoke up, "Forgive me if this is rude, but where are you all from? You're hair color and attire aren't local."

I shook my head, "Not rude at all, we are from... south... of here." She nodded slowly in response, not entirely believing me, but she wasn't going to say anything either. Though I wasn't really lying, just alluding to it. We were quiet for a while before she spoke up again, "What brings you all here, if I may ask?"

"We are here for training, well, for these three. They need to find teachers for fighting with their weapons. I can teach them hand-to-hand, but I don't know about any weapons other than the sword."

She looked surprised at my answer, but continued, "What weapons do you three use?"

Serafall spoke up in her always cheerful voice, "Naginata!" before going back to her tea.

"War fan." Grayfia calmly replied.

"Kyoketsu-shoge." Kouko replied a little worriedly.

Himari nodded and looked at Serafall, "I know how to use a naginata pretty well. I'm already training Yua-chan, so if you want Serafall-chan, I can train you alongside her. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who knows how to use a war fan or Kyoketsu-shoge. However, my husband might."

"Really! That would be great! Thank you Himari-san." Serafall said in an excited voice with a bright smile. I smiled at how fortunate we were to already find a teacher for Sera, though Kouko and Grayfia looked a little down. "Don't worry you two, we'll find teachers for you eventually. We just got to Japan today, Sera was just really lucky.

They both nodded at me but they were still a little bitter. We continued chatting a while before it got late, and the girls were tired. "Let me lead you to your room." Yua said to us with a smile. She led us to one of the spare rooms they had, where four futons were laid out throughout the room, along with blankets for each one.

"Thanks Yua-chan." I said to her with a smile, causing her to blush before running off. Turning around, I saw the three girls looking at me with smirks.

"What?" I said innocently.

"Tease." Grayfia replied in a dry tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied and looked at the mats. Three of them had been pulled together and placed next to each other, while the fourth was off to the side next to them. I shrugged and walked over to the middle mat of the three placed together. Seeing Kouko walking over to the lone futon, I smirked before grabbing her by the waist and pulling her on top of me as I fell back onto the middle futon.

"Ahh! Val why did u grab me?" She glared at me while asking.

"Hmm? You asked for one room." I replied with a smirk.

Grayfia and Serafall laughed as they laid next to me putting their heads on my shoulders. Kouko was still trying to free herself, but after a few seconds of failing to do so, she gave up and laid her head on my chest. "Goodnight." She mumbled as we all fell asleep.