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THIS BLOG IS MOVING ( again ! )

@chiiburi [from here]

It had been ages since he’d had a chance to spar with the best- it would be excellent practice. “…My focus will be on evasive maneuvers, so come at me however you like.” The thief stands ready and limber, focusing all his attention on the samurai.

Drawing his sword, Goemon could have smirked-- Kaito was confidently leading his own training. He’d come a long way from the little thief who could barely hold a sword. ( Was that pride welling in his chest ? )

“ Be ready. ”

“ Mm ? ” Goemon wasn’t used to being approached by strangers– were it not for her tugging on his hakama, he would’ve never thought she was talking to him in the first place. Slowly, the samurai turned to face her, a curious raise of the brow breaking his typically stoic expression.

           “ p f h . Fine then?” Teeth turned to pragmatic cigarette holders as he popped the marker’s cap off its body with one hand, heeding no attention to its wayward trajectory. ( No chance he could stop it with one arm injured—a pity. ) And though drawing with the pen clutched in between his more unversed fingers was a disaster waiting to happen, he somehow managed to produce SOMETHING alike a scribble anyhow. “Oh look, it’s you.” A poorly-drawn chicken with a black wig. “There, I’ll give it a sword next.” Striving for perfection.

To say that he hadn’t expected Jigen to act like this would be a lie. Sure, the gunman acted like the MATURE one of their little group, but was it true ? Not at all. None of them were mature in the slightest...except, of course, for himself. He was the pinnacle of rationale and sophistication. ( Not that it was difficult to be so, compared to the rest of them. But he was. )

Goemon was a WARRIOR, a samurai, a man trained in the art of keeping his calm even in the most deathly of situations. An outsider was never meant to see him falter. An outsider was never meant to see him BLUSH like a schoolgirl. 

@chiiburi “W-what the heck is that?!” He yells, pointing behind Goemon- no sooner had the samurai divided their attention, he shoved them with all his might, straight into the nearest pond.

It wasn’t particularly warm, either.

“I bet you thought I forgot about that past little incident, didn’t you?”

“ What-- ? ” Instincts took over and Goemon spun on his heel, eyes searching for some unseen threat, only for the TRUE threat -- his friend, his brother in arms -- to STRIKE from behind ! A mangled gasp escaped the samurai as he fell straight into the cold water of the nearby pond.

He should’ve known. He’d been a fool to let his guard down.

“ Vicious… ” Goemon mulled the name over in his head for a considerable amount of time– in all his years, he’d met SO MANY people; fought with an AGAINST so many people. How to remember them all ? Vicious, Vicious, Vicious…the name certainly didn’t sound familiar. Did the stranger expect him to know that person ? Maybe he was some sort of criminal lord ? ( He wouldn’t have known, really– tended to keep to his own business as best he could. )

        a samurai really isn’t one of the things one would expect when making rounds ( at least, in HIS forest ranging experience, this was a first ). footsteps STOP as flashlight lands on the other’s figure, watching in silence until he finally speaks up, turning the light off– since, really, it was still relatively BRIGHT, despite the on growing darkness.

        – ❝ a man of the NIGHT, huh ? have you been chillin’ here all day ? well, wouldn’t recommend staying out here much longer– forests are DANGEROUS at night. ❞

The other was understandably worried-- for most, the woods were a place to be FEARED, and to stray from the path was forbidden. However, Goemon did not hold such a fear. The animals around him were only companions, and the area surrounding the path was his HOME. ( For the night, anyhow. )

“ You want to spar, hm ? ” Goemon wasn’t tempted to deny the boy– it had been a long time since he’d sparred with anyone, and though Kaito was far less experienced than he, it was nice to have an actual OPPONENT to take his time with; to enjoy the heat of battle.

    COMING TO A compromise that the boy was satisfied with truly eased the eldest brother’s mind. Even the young gunman-in-training felt relieved when the small samurai agreed to Lupin’s suggestion. The thief grinned at Goemon and patted his shoulder, hinting for the littlest man to climb onto his shoulders.

“We’re going to a nearby convenience store. I know, I know, it’s small time stuff, but everyone’s gotta start small!”  Lupin explained to Goemon. The plan was to have Goemon snooker the store out of something small, but specific, to try and give him the thrill of the thieving life.

Climbing onto his brother’s shoulders was, of course, no trouble for the little samurai. Lupin’s shoulders were, in fact, one of his favorite places to be ! Up high, with all of the other adults, with a good view of any potential enemies. In one, two, three, four seconds, Goemon was seated properly atop the adult, hands settled neatly upon his head and tiny feet dangling over his front.