“There was I, before the greatest warriors of the Fire Tribe! The heirs of chief Houji, each one of them as brutal and merciless as their father. And all I had to fight them with was my trusted sword and my claws.” Ichimaru walked around the center of the hut, making dramatic gestures as three demon girls watched him.
“You were alone?” one of them asked.
“Well, actually not. I was there to protect my liege and lord of these lands, as well as my sister, who insisted in coming with us. You could say it was a fair fight, judging by the numbers – but make no mistakes, ladies, they were better than us. They were fierce, ruthless and cruel. The biggest of them was twice my size and had hands that could crush a man’s head!”
He jumped around, waving his sword while reenacting the fight.
“It was a terrible battle! My lord was having a hard time, and my sister…” He sighed in dismay. “I know I shouldn’t have let her come with us. But she’s secretly in love with lord Kumari and insisted in coming along.” He turned to one of the girls and touched her delicate face. “And I have such a soft heart for beautiful girls.”
At that time their eyes dazzled, impressed by his acting.
“What happened then? Tell us!”
“Oh, I can’t share the gruesome details with you… But know this, we were losing. I almost lost hope for a moment. My lord was seriously injured; my sister was under attack by one of those cowards and I… I didn’t know what to do! Duty commanded me to help my lord while my heart was telling me to protect my sister, but I still had to save my own life! It was then I realized…” he whispered, narrowing his eyes.
“What?!” the girls asked in one voice.
“That it was up to ME to save us all!”
“Aaaawwww…”
“And the rest, I’ll leave to your imagination” he suggestively thrust his sword in the ground. “I’m not going to brag, but… I’m happy that fate wanted me to be there. I brought my lord and my sister back, safe and sound, and still managed to retrieve the stolen fireworks”, and sat down comfortably among the three girls, smiling.
“Wow, you’re so brave”, one of them said, touching his chest covered in bandages. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice you are injured. Does it hurt?”
“Well, just a little bit…”
“We can take care of you.” The other examined a burn mark in his arm, left by Megumi’s spear. “It’s the least we could do for the village’s hero.”
“You’re still so tense from the fight”, the third one spoke from behind him, already massaging his neck. “Too bad your friend isn’t here, I wouldn’t mind taking care of those shoulders.”
“Girls, come on… Didn’t you just hear me? I dealt with three dangerous fire demons at once”, he said, hugging the girls around him, making them giggle. “I’m sure I can handle you three as well.”
Suddenly, hasty steps sounded outside the hut, and the curtain at the door was pushed away. Sazume was there.
Ichimaru sighed.
“This joke’s getting old…”
