A Nobody Arrives in Nagasaki

Hayato wandered through the streets of Nagasaki. He hadn’t been in the city more than an hour and he was already lost. This didn’t really bother him as he was used to merely wandering around the country side. What he was more concerned about was getting some food in his belly. Around the corner he spots a food stall, where he fills his stomach. It has been a couple days since he has had a real meal. Recently all Hayato has had to eat has been grass and herbs.

After eating, Hayato counted what remained of his money. He had enough to last him a couple more days if he ate lightly.
“Are you looking for a good time?”

Hayato looked up to be face to face with a woman. Getting a bearing on his surroundings, Hayato realized he had stumbled into the red light district. His gaze drifted from the beautiful girl who stood before him and what remained of his money.
“Oh no, I don’t have enough.”

“Sure you do, let me see,” she says as she walks slowly towards Hayato. Glancing into his wallet she smiled, “You just have enough. Would you like to come inside?”

This was a bad idea. If he went in he wouldn’t have enough money to eat, but before his better judgment could take hold, Hayato was already inside. It felt good. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time and he soon forget all about his problems. If only he could feel like this forever.

“Well, that’s all the time we have,” the woman said.

“Thanks, you don’t know how much I needed that,” Hayato replied.

As Hayato got dressed, the woman was counting the money Hayato paid her.

“Hold on, this isn’t enough!”

“What? But you said it was just enough.”

“You tricked me! You put rocks at the bottom of your wallet to make it look like you had more than you had.”

“Liar! I did no such thing!”

“Hey, we have a free loader here!”

“But I—“

As Hayato began to protest, three men stormed into the room.

“What’s going on here?”

“This man tried to trick me. He doesn’t have enough money to pay.”

“That’s wrong! She looked at my money before—“

The men were ignoring him. None of his words were getting through. They were setting him up. Lying about his payment, they were trying to extort more money out of him.

“Hey man, if you pay us what you owe we’ll let you go,” one of the men said.

“I don’t have any more money, that was all I had,” Hayato explained.

The three men looked at each other as if trying to figure out what to do.

“I think you should come with us. Maybe you have more money than you think.”

The three men led Hayato out back into the alleyway.

“Now listen up, just give us what you owe and we’ll call it even.”

“But I told you, that was—“

Before Hayato could finish, the man punched him, sending him sprawling to the ground. The men begin to surround in a semicircle. His back was to the wall and he had nowhere to go.

“We don’t want any trouble, but if you don’t pay up, I can’t guarantee you’ll come out of this unharmed.”

Hayato was angry. This wasn’t fair. All he wanted was to feel good for once in a long time, but now this was happening. As he lay on the floor, his hands fumbled on the ground, looking for something he could use to defend himself.

Taking Hayato’s silence as his answer, the man in the center stepped for reaching down to grab Hayato’s shirt. Right when the man took hold, Hayato’s fingers curled around a stone. In desperation, Hayato swung his arm around slammed the rock into the man’s temple. Hayato could feel the man’s body shudder at the blow and the man slumped to the ground to the side. The warm touch of blood slid onto his hand from the stained stone.

The other two men stared at the event in shock. Was he dead? Hayato was scared, he didn’t mean to kill the man, but he had to escape. Hayato sprung to his feet and tried to run between the other two men in their shock, but before he could get passed, a fist collided with his stomach. Hayato doubled over from the blow, but got the will together to throw another punch at the man. The punch collided with the man’s jaw rocking him backward, rattling is brain, making him lose his balance. A hand grabbed his shoulder and Hayato was roughly spun around. He was greeted by the fist of the third man, which sent him sprawling to the ground once again.

As Hayato began to pull himself together, the second man was already on his feet. The two remaining men looked over him, anger in their eyes.

“That’s it. I’ve had enough of you,” said the second man, as he pulled a knife from under his shirt. “You’re a dead man.”

No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Hayato didn’t want to die, not like this. Did he escape from a glorious death on the battlefield just to in an alley as a nobody? This isn’t how he wanted it.

Putting his feet underneath him, Hayato stared down the two men. If he was going to die here, he’d at least go down fighting.

In the distance, he could a fight brewing. Dammit Thiago, why does trouble follow you like this? he thought, Who am I kidding? Trouble is being followed.

The old assassin drew his folding sword and his hook blade as his pace quickened toward the action. Soon enough, he was already there. He could see that there were two men, one was armed, gathered around a much less fortunate-looking man. Either a thief or a con. Regardless, Thiago was going to see this to an end.

"Slow down. What is going on here?"

The two thugs turned to face Thiago. They visibly tense as they see the Thiago’s hooked blade and sword.

“Back off. This isn’t any of your business.”

Hayato realized this was his chance. Both the men were distracted by this mysterious man. He had no idea if this stranger was going to help him, but he’d rather take his chances.

“They’re trying to rob me!” Hayato yelled.

Before the men could turn around, Hayato leaped onto the back of the weaponless man. Forcing him to the ground, Hayato started to pound his fist into the back of the man’s head. Struggling, the thug throws his elbow backwards, clipping Hayato in the chin. The blow rattled him, but Hayato held on with all of his might. He couldn’t let the thug get a hold the better of him, or he was dead.

A rough hand grabbed Hayato’s shoulder. Glancing behind him, Hayato catches the other thug, raise his knife to stab him.

Thiago disarmed the man as quickly as he could before subduing him to the ground. Seeing this, the other man tried to attack him as well, but was similarly subdued.

"Now, I will not ask again. What is going on here?"

"I-It was just a misunderstanding. We'll let him go," one of the thugs stammered. "How about we all just walk away?"

Hayato was breathing hard. If it wasn't for this stranger, he'd probably be dead. "These men tried to extort me. They said I didn't pay them fully for my, uh, uhm, for the services offered to me, but I swear I gave them what they said it cost," Hayato explained to Thiago.

"It was a mistake! We must have counted wrong."

"Yeah, that's hit. An honest mistake. Just let us go."

"Good enough. Leave. Agora {Now}!" and they did, but before the man who fought them could leave, THiago tried to get his attention, "Not you! Stop where you are. I want to have a word with you."

Hayato tensed up. He had already escaped death by a hair's breadth and now this stranger, who casually wields these strange weapons, is wanting to talk to him personally. Could this day get any worse.

"Y-Yes? What can I do for you?" Hayato said slowly turning to face Thiago. "I really appreciate what you did for me, but I don't have any money and I don't own anything of value. So if it is a reward you want, I don't have anything to offer."

Thiago extended a hand to the man, "Then give us your arms. We could use a man of your tenacidade {tenacity}. Have you heard of the Assassins?"

"That's where you went off to," Yuzuru said, approaching Thiago. "Just what kind of mischief were you getting into this time? Because you disappeared, it fell on me to pay for your lunch." Looking over, he noticed Hayato. "Who are you?"

Hayato shifted his gaze between the two men. He noticed they both wore white hoods, which was very unusual. Were they part of the military or some other organization? This second man was Japanese, but the man who saved him was obviously a foreigner. His skin was too white and he mixed in a strange language into his speech.

"No, I have never heard of any Assass--" Hayato paused.

Assassin. Assassin. He had heard that word before. When he was in the army, he had overheard some officers using that word.

"Hm, I have heard that word. 'Assassin.' Back when I was in Nobunaga-sama's army. Officers were speaking that word. What does it mean?"

Hayato waited for an answer, but glanced around. He didn't want to stay in this alleyway.

"Perhaps we can talk elsewhere. I don't want to risk those thugs coming back with friends."

"Walk with us," Thiago brushed close to Yuzuru and whispered, "He worked for Oda. Do you think he may be a Templar?" Thiago glanced over his shoulder to the new man.

Casting a side glance, Yuzuru shrugged. "He could be leading us into a trap, but his body language doesn't reveal that intention." Making motion with his hand, he alerted their brothers and sisters that were in hiding. "He looks hungry. Let's treat him to lunch."

"Sim, I was thinking the same thing. Desculpe about earlier. I will reimburse you."
Thoughts raced through Thiago's mind. One thought was about how useful a soldier of Oda's could be to the Assassins. Another thought was how much promise Yuzuru showed as a novice. The final thought was about how he had saved this man before ordering his own food. "Come on... What was your name, senhor?"

Hayato was getting nervous as these two men whispered to each other. The feeling was accented by a feeling of being watched. Were there more of them? He couldn't see them, but the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Who were these people?

"My name? Hayato, Shou Hayato. And what should I call you?"

Seeing an opportunity to get a better look at the young man, Yuzuru turned and bowed. "I am Kasai Yuzuru of Mutsu. It is a pleasure to meet you, Hayato-san." He was unarmed, but his fists could still be a problem. As he turned around to keep walking, he whispered, "He has no weapons, but I worry about his unarmed combat ability."

"Do not worry about that much, irmao. I saw him in a fight earlier. He could hold off one or two thugs, but you and I could take him if he starts trouble," Thiago guided the two to a nearby soup stand where they could grab some food, "And I am Chiyago Ropeshu [Thiago Lopes]. What do you want to eat, senhor Hayato?"

"I can't ask you to get me something. You were the one who saved me. I should be the one buying you lunch, though I sadly don't have the means to," Hayato explained. Hayato glanced around a bit before adding, "But, if you are offering, I'll take some miso soup with fish and potatoes."

"I'll have nothing," Yuzuru said as he leaned against the stand and crossed his arms. "What brings you to Nagasaki, Hayato?"

Hayato wasn't sure how much he should tell these people. He didn't think they had anything to do with the military, but he could never be too sure. The only people that he had heard use the term "Assassin" were officers in Nobunaga's army. If they were, he didn't want them to know he was a deserter. He was already kicking himself for mentioning he was part of the military in the first place.

"Well, I've come in looking for work. I'm not proud of it, but I'm sort of a vagabond."

"You said you worked for Oda. What happened with that?" Thiago sat before the bar, "Sim olá, I would like to order the miso with fish and potatoes for meu amigo and the shrimp and vegetable tempura for me."
Thiago turned back to Hayato, "Tell me, are you familiar with Tempura*?"

*In Japanese, the dish tempura is homophonous with Templar.

"Never tried it myself. As for Oda-sama, I served in his army as an ashigaru for a year before being discharged."

Hayato didn't really like where this conversation was going and he was ready to make a run for it if necessary.

Thiago saw no subtextual response in the man when he mentioned the Tempura/Templar connection. Overall, he seemed largely ignorant of the secret conflict.
"I have a proposal for you. How would like a home and a payroll?"

The offer was tempting. It had been awhile since he had slept under a roof and money would be nice, but he knew nothing about these men and what they did.

"Though I'd like to just say, 'yes,' I'm frankly wary about your intentions. I have no idea who you. Obviously you are some sort of organization, since both of your attires have similar traits. Are you military? And you never answered by question about these 'Assassins' you mentioned."

"The Assassin Order is an ancient organization devoted to protecting freedom for humanity. The Templars seek to establish peace at any cost. In theory, our goals would not collide, yet we strike at the throats of one another every day. That is how it has always been. Oda is a Templar. Nagasaki, Mutsu, and Echigo are the last Assassin strongholds in Japan. We need all of the help we can get. Would you ally yourself with us, senhor Hayato?"

The old man was getting ahead of himself again, offering membership to every urchin he came across. "The work is hard. You'll be doing some hard manual labor and you'll be required to meet certain standards, but the pay is decent and you'll have the opportunity to travel." Elbowing Thiago gently, he then added, "Perhaps our new friend would like some time to consider our offer."