Kyousuke stared at a small piece of paper, written on the paper was the address of a former samurai. He was extremely excited and it was written all over his face. His father, mother, and sister were all excellent with a blade..and so were the samurais in the books he often read.

Today would be his first time meeting an actual samurai. He hadn't really heard any word of this man yet, but if he was a samurai he must be a great man.

He stopped in front of a large gate. This was it. He knocked twice and immediately a tall man opened the gate.

The man seemed to be at least six foot five tall. His hair was tied in a pony tail and on his waist was a sheathed katana. The man had a large scar across his face.. he looked quite fearsome.

"State your name and business."

"Kyousuke Raiu.. I'm here to clean the sword."

The man examined him for awhile before gesturing him to come inside and pointing a finger towards the mansion.

"The master is waiting for you."

He nodded and began walking towards the Japanese style mansion.

If a man like that was just a servant what kind of man would his master be like?..the though of this only made him more excited to meet the samurai; needless to say, outside he was calm and quiet.

He entered a large room where a small and chubby man sat in the middle. The manlet held a sheathed katana layed down on his lap. This man was clearly shorter than him.

"Pardon me for my intrusion, but may I know where the master of this house is?"

The manlet stood up and glared at him, he was just around as tall as Kyousuke's chest. His eyebrows were furrowing and his hand gripped the katana tightly in frustration.

"How dare you! I am the master of this house boy!"

The man's eyes flared up in anger, while Kyousuke's eyes filled up in confusion. This couldn't be the former samurai could it? He was so...short...and fat. The sheathed katana that the man held in his hands was nearly his size...

"Are...are you sure?"

Being disrespectful was the last thing Kyousuke wanted, yet he couldn't help but ask.

As expected the manlet stomped his foot in anger and pointed a finger towards Kyousuke.

"How dare you boy?..I asked for a real shinobi, and instead they send me a disrespectful boy! I am the great samurai, Kenshin! I defeated General Mifune in single combat, boy! You will show me respect!"

"General Mifune?.."

While the man was quite old, he didn't seem to be past 50. It would be impossible for him to even meet Mifune.

"Right...well... I don't think you were born back when Mifune was alive."

"What!? How dare you! I will not have my honor questioned by a boy! Now go and clean my weapon."

Kyousuke didn't like the thought of being ordered by a man like him, of course he hand so say in the matter...a mission is a mission after all and he accepted this mission for the sword.

Without any sign of respect Kyousuke took the sword of the man's hand. The man led Kyousuke out the mansion and towards a small shack which seemed to have tools for gardening.

"Clean it here, boy."

The man hurriedly left him alone, presumably to go drinking. Kyousuke let a huff escape his mouth before sitting down a stool and laying the katana on a table. This was the reason he had accepted this mission in the first place, and this would most likely alleviate his anger.

The blade shimmered and his eyes, in turn, sparkled as he slowly unsheathed the katana from its saya. The katana was absolutely beautiful; no doubt forged by a master.

Kyousuke pulled out the cleaning kit, he had brought with him, from his pocket and lay it on the table. Before cleaning it he examined the katana and flourished it a bit. A blade like this wasted on such a terrible person...

"Such a shame."

After toying with it for awhile; Kyousuke wiped the blade with rice paper, removing old oil from the blade. After this he brushed the blade off with powder to absorb any oil residue that might have been left. He then wiped the blade with a cloth, lightly soaked in choji oil.

Just like that it was good as new. Kyousuke placed the katana back in its saya and moved out of the shack. He didn't even want to go see the manlet again, instead he walked straight towards the gate and handed the katana to the large man guarding the gate before exiting. With that the mission ended.

-Exit thread-

812/600