Oneshot draft

"Hey, look at that." One of them whispered in the trees. They had spotted her. Beautiful pale skin, a long platinum mane and golden eyes. She was in a man's kimono, and a sword at her waist. She was walking down the forest path.

"Ain't she a pretty one."

"She's all alone."

"Let's give her some company, boys." They dropped from the trees, surrounding her. Some of them pulled out knives. "Hey, don't you know its dangerous for a lady to walk through the forest alone. You might get attacked by bandits."

"Yeah, bandits." Another one snickered.

"I'll keep that in mind." She replied.

"Ah, a voice like a song bird." One of them swooned.

"I can offer you some protection, if you'll be my woman." One of them smirked.

"Your protection is not needed, now get out of my way." She said with a blank expression.

"Hey, we're being nice, you could at least return the favor." He chuckled as he reached for backside. She grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm.

"Good little boys should go home to their mothers before they get hurt." She warned as she pushed him away, releasing her grip on his arm.

"What'd you say, bitch?!"

"Let's teach the little princess a lesson." another growled and they all agreed.

'Great, why's it always like this?' she thought.

"Grab her!" They lunged at her.

"Damn." she sighed. She elbowed the first one in the face before he could swing his knife at her. She grabbed a second one and threw him into the first one. She dodged one of them who swung at her wildly and kneed him in the stomach. She grabbed the wrist of one and pulled him forward, sending him crashing into another man. She spun on her heel and kicked another one in the face. They all hesitated at this point. "So? Who's next? I haven't even drawn my sword yet."

Two of them backed up, then quickly turned and ran. "Let's get out of here!" They didn't bother looking back as they ran through the forest. Moments later, crash! They ran into a man. He towered over them, black hair slicked back, scruff on his chin and the most piercing grey eyes. They noticed the masamune on his back only seconds before they noticed the tattoos peeking out of his kimono on his neck. "You're-!" They looked back hesitantly. "I'd rather handle that crazy bitch than the Black Dragon!" They turned and bolted a different direction.

'Crazy…bitch?' he thought curiously.

Hojo looked around, the bandits were unconscious on the ground. She sighed. "It's a shame what passes for bandits nowadays." She kept walking, unaware of the man watching her from the bushes, at first. 'I'm getting one of those vibes. Do I have another stalker again? Strange, he seems to be masking his presence well because I can't pinpoint him.' She sped up her pace. 'Don't look around or he'll know you know.' She told herself. She picked up her pace again, a slight jog. 'He's still following me!' She started running.

'She's so fast.' He thought as he followed.

She stopped and turned, placing her hand on her sword. 'He's gone… or can I just no longer sense him?' She sighed and went back to walking. 'Oh well. Maybe I'm just too much on edge. The last thing I want is to lose my female virginity. Sure, I've had many female companions as a man but no way in hell am I going to take a male companion as a female. If there's any way for me to free myself from this curse I'll find it.'

……………………………….................

'Finally, a place to drink.' Hojo sighed in relief as she walked through the town. She walked into a restaurant. There were already many tables filled with drunken men. She took a seat and waited for a woman to approach her.

"Excuse me, what can I get for you?" She asked with a gentle smile.

"A bottle of sake, please." She ordered. She was in an irritated mood.

"Um…yes…" The woman walked away, a bit surprised by her order.

'Where am I supposed to look?! A way to break this curse isn't going to fall into my lap!' She thought. It was happening again, there was a sudden shift in the way the men around her were acting. She had caught their attention. 'Damn hag, if you had to make me a woman, why did you make me attractive?!'

"Hey! You here alone?" One of them approached her, his friends followed in suit. He leaned close to her, she could smell the strong scent of alcohol from his breath. "Maybe you should join us."

"I drink alone." She glared at them. The woman brought her the bottle of sake and a cup.

"Um, one of the V.I.P.'s has requested you eat with him." She pointed to a man at one of the fancier tables, her lifted his cup as a toast to her and smiled.

"You'll have to inform him his request has been rejected." She told her. The woman walked back to man and told him what she said. He had a stunned expression and then he started laughing. 'Weird man.'

"Hey! Don't ignore us!" The drunks continued to pressure her. One grabbed her arm.

She gave him a venomous glare. "I suggest you take your hand off of me unless you feel like losing it." He was taken aback a bit but then he became enraged. "You wench! Who do think you're insulting?!" He raised his hand in the air, ready to swing at her. Someone suddenly grabbed his wrist. He looked, it was the man the bandits had run into.

"Don't you know a woman with a sword is ten times deadlier than a man with one?" His stoic expression remained the same.

Hojo paused, her hand was on the grip of her sword. 'I didn't even sense his presence… and he knew I was going to draw my sword. Who is this man? Is he the one who was following me?' She let go of her sword's grip.

"Who the hell-?!" The man started. He stopped when he spotted the tattoos on the man's neck. "Uh-! I'm so sorry!" He started shivering, the man could feel it from holding his wrist. He let go of him.

"Pay and get out." He said calmly. The drunk quickly did as he was told and ran out with his friends. The whole restaurant had recognized him by now. It got quiet, whispers went all around the restaurant.

'So this is the dreaded Black Dragon.' Hojo thought as her eyes scanned him. 'He's built, over twice my size even when I was a man and that's a masamune on his back. I see why people would find him threatening but size doesn't count for much.' She turned back to her bottle of sake and poured a glass. "I didn't need the assist."

He paused momentarily. "I was saving him actually. You were going to decapitate him."

"I was only going to remove a limb or two. I wouldn't go that far." She took a sip.

"I see." He sat across from her.

"I drink alone." She said, not looking at him.

"That's good. I don't drink."

"Are you trying to piss me off?"

"I'm not. You just get angry easily."

"How would you know? I just met you." She took another drink, she seemed agitated.

"You're getting mad now, aren't you? I haven't done anything but sit down in front of you."

"Maybe your presence is what's angering me." She frowned. 'Not true, it's the fact that I can see him in front of me but can't sense his presence.'

"Which brings me to my question. As you can see, everyone else is shaking with fear at my presence, and you're giving me an attitude while drinking sake. Why is that?"

She placed her glass on the table, it was empty. "I only fear men who are stronger than me and deserve to be feared, not those who want to be. Since there is no one by that description, I fear no one." She refilled her glass. 'I can't tell him its because I'm the White Lion.'

"I see. No one by that description." He eyed her intensely. "I never wanted to be feared truthfully. It started with my appearance and then when they found out how good a swordsman I was, I developed a very foul reputation. They say I might be stronger than the White Lion." His expression still remained blank.

She twitched with irritation. "I wouldn't go that far." She took another drink. 'I normally wouldn't care about those sort of rumors but when the Black Dragon himself is spouting crap in front of me I want to strangle him. I know he doesn't know who I am but it's irritating as all hell.'

"Why? Are you a fan of him?"

"No, I've seen him in action before though."

'I almost slipped.'

"So, are you afraid of him?"

The question made her jump a bit. "…yes."

"I see."

The woman approached them again. "Um- excuse me." Her voice was shaky.

"There's no need for you to be frightened of him. A real man would never harm an innocent woman." Hojo said. "And he doesn't seem the type."

"Okay." She smiled, a little relieved by comment whereas he seemed a bit surprised by it. "Our V.I.P. is still requesting your companionship. He's insisting."

"He can insist all he wants but I'm not going and that's final." She stood up. "I think I've done enough drinking for today. Good night." She paid and left.

………………………………..................

Hojo walked the streets. It was a quiet night, the sky was clear and the stars sparkled like diamonds around the moon, which was quarter full. 'I need to find lodgings for the night and that presence is back.' She quickly turned, drawing her sword. She deflected something that was too fast to see, then two more. They hit the ground, shurikens. "Come out, I know you're there." She picked up a shuriken off the ground and threw it in a direction, there was a clashing sound as it hit something metal. A man emerged from the shadows, holding a knife. He was dressed in a sort of ninja garb.

"So the sword isn't just for show." He cackled. She glared at him silently. "Don't you want to know why I followed you?"

"Not really, you've been following me since I fought the bandits in the woods."

"Y-You knew I was there the whole time?!"

"Yeah. I don't particularly care why you're following me."

"Well, my orders are to bring you back alive if possible."

"Unfortunately for you, that's not going to be possible." She pointed her sword at him, the blade was rigid and obviously old.

"Kill me? With that rusted piece of junk? That's a joke and a bad one at that."

"Why don't you see if I'm joking or not?"

"Alright then." He poised himself in a fighting stance, his eyes narrowed. He vanished in the darkness again. When he reappeared, he was behind Hojo. He drove the knife up, aiming for her back. It clashed with the metal of her blade. 'How did she notice?!'

"You're too slow and too obvious." She pushed him back and swung at him, cutting his arm as he tried to dodge. "Come on, I haven't even moved from this spot."

'There's something about her. Her demeanor hasn't changed but I'm getting chills just standing here. It's her battle aura! It's like that of a demon's!'

"Come at me. You picked the fight, now finish it." She said calmly.

"I plan to." He drew his sword and attacked. There were clashing sounds as his blade clashed with hers. She slashed his chest, took a step forward, and cut his shoulder. He jumped back.

"You're retreating already?"

He was shivering. "Another hit and I'll die! They told me she had a sword but no one said she was a monster!" He turned to run and bumped into him, the Black Dragon. His eyes reflected the moonlight, they were narrowed into a piercing glare.

"Running away like a coward." He drew his masamune. In a split second he was cut in half. His eyes averted to Hojo. "You were just going to let him get away?"

She sighed. "If I hunted down every person who ran from me in a fight… there's too many of them. Besides, whoever he worked for would've definitely killed him for failing his mission and returning home anyways."

"I see. Does this happen to you a lot?"

"You'd be surprised." She turned and started walking away but he quickly grabbed her hand. It surprised her, he let go.

"Are you looking for a place to stay tonight? I know of an inn nearby."

'Normally, I'd camp in the woods or stay at a brothel but my current situation keeps me from the brothel and I don't want to get attacked in my sleep so…' She frowned. "I guess that's okay."

………………………………...........................

'It's a good thing I told that lady we weren't married or I'd be stuck in the same room as that man.' Hojo thought as she rolled over in the futon. 'I know exactly what that leads to.' She shivered. 'What really bothers me is I didn't notice him again.' She sat up. 'Someone's at the door.'  She saw the shadow of a man. "I know you're there." He opened the door, it was the Black Dragon. 'Uh oh, the old sneaking into the room trick, I know that one.'

"I'm surprised you noticed me."

"I told you, your presence annoys me."  

'No, he purposely revealed his presence so I'd notice him.'

"Well," he sat down next to the futon. "Something was bugging me, so much so that I couldn't fall asleep."

"Okay, and that would be?"

"You. Something about you is bugging me and I can't figure out what."

'Oldest trick in the book.' Hojo thought. "Well take your concerns back to your room." She laid back down and rolled over.

"Maybe its because you don't act like a woman. You're very…manly."

She shot up out of bed, angered. "I'll have you know not all women are you're stereotypical housewives who do whatever they're told!"

'What am I saying? I'm a man.' Hojo thought.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean anything offensive by it. It's just strange to me, is all."

"Is that all you wanted? Then go back to your room."

'Please leave.' Hojo begged in her mind. She laid back down, it was silent for a few moments then she heard him get up and shut the door behind him. 'Wait, he actually left? So he wasn't trying to sleep with me? What a weird guy, maybe it was just ignorant curiosity.'

………………………………........................

Hojo yawned while she walked down the street. She noticed a man and a group of his guards. The guards were dragging a young woman away from an old man. She tried resisting but it didn't help. 'That man, he's the V.I.P. from last night at the restaurant.'

"Please don't take my daughter!" the old man begged.

"Its not her, Sakita-sama!" The guard told the man.

"Well, she's pretty so she's a keeper, but I want that female warrior found and added to my collection." Suddenly the girl was free of the guards grip. The guard looked at his hands, they were gone, cut from the wrist down. The man screamed in agony.

Hojo stood a few feet away from them, her sword drawn; blood dripped from the blade. "Looking for me?"

"Yes, we are." Sakita smirked. "Grab her! I want her alive!"

'Not this again.' she frowned. She dodged a man's grasp, and kneed him in the jaw. She avoided them with ease, kicking one in the face; another in the stomach. She re-sheathed her sword and hit a man with it. She continued to beat them. 'This is annoying. If I were a man, they'd be too afraid to look at me let alone attack me.' When she knocked out the last one, she looked towards Sakita.

He had the girl in his arms with a knife to her throat. "Don't move! If you don't want her hurt, you'll come with me, willingly."

Hojo sighed. "You're not giving me much of a choice, pal." She frowned. 'So annoying.'

"I'm gonna enjoy taming you." He licked his lips. He released the girl as soon Hojo got close enough. He grabbed her arm and then stopped. He noticed the glinting metal blade next to his cheek.

"I believe this one is too much for you to handle." He heard a deep, familiar voice, it made him shiver with fear. He was shaking so badly that his hand couldn't tighten his grip around Hojo's hand. Hojo had set eyes on the man standing behind Sakita.

"Th-the- Black Dragon!" He stuttered.

"Now be a good little boy and-" Hojo nailed Sakita in the stomach before he could finish his sentence. Sakita dropped to the ground. "Woah." he smiled. Hojo turned and walked off.

'Great, the last person I need to see.'

"You left pretty early this morning." He started following her. "I was wondering-"

"Would you go away?!" She growled.

"Hmmm, no."

She stopped. "What's your deal?! What do you want?!"

"You of course." She jumped when he said it. "Though this isn't going very well, maybe I should try another approach."

"Don't try any approach!" She stormed off.

"Wait." He followed her.

"Don't follow me!"

"I'm not, we're just walking the same direction."

……………………………….......................

"Ah~" The demon woman watched Hojo and her new follower from her mirror. She ran her nails along the mirrors edge. She was laying among cushions and silk in her bed. An elegant, expensive looking kimono encased her body. "This is getting interesting, you might understand me sooner than you realize, my dear Hojo."

END