The Big Catch! Murasaki Daisuke Enters the Scene!

Synopsis
After learning of a rogue samurai terrorising a nearby village, Daisuke goes out to save any survivors and ends the samurai threat. However, by capturing a man whose bounty is as large as the samurai’s Daisuke unintentionally becomes the talk of the bounty hunting world as an upcoming player.

Chapter One
Publicly, Gurīnkusa Island appeared like a picture book example of a peaceful West Blue civilian port, fishermen rafts anchored in the deep blue waters and the noise of a bustling economy flourishing in the town centre. A spring island, the scenery beyond the town boundaries was a bright, lively green where nature could grow to its full potential, only a few flat fields were occupied by farms and domestic animals.

However recent events had led to a despairing silence to blanket the town, its residents afraid to venture out from fear of meeting the gaze of a newcomer. The man had arrived by merchant boat only a week previously, wearing a simple white robe with a black sash, and an elongated sword hanging from his back.

Unfortunately, upon his arrival he had made it clear he didn’t wish to be approached. The few locals friendly or brave enough to venture close quickly learnt of his hostile nature, being cut down by nothing more than a silver flash. Very few were sure of what had caused the injuries, leading many to stay in their homes hoping for the swordsman to leave.

Near the centre of town in a local tavern, a dishevelled man was creating a scene. Yelling in frustration at the young waitress, he became increasing aggressive in his actions, “Ahhh?! What do you mean you’re out of booze?” A crowd surrounded the two, the other patrons afraid to interfere and instead trying their best to avert their gaze.

Frightened, the young girl could only stutter a response and raise her serving tray as if to defend herself from his waving arms, “I-I’m sorry Samurai-san, but we haven’t received any new shipments since you arrived a-and…..”

“A-and….what?!” leaning forward, the samurai closed in on the poor girls face, “Are you trying to tell me that your supplier is afraid of me? Huh!?”

“N-no! That isn’t it at all!” squeaked the waitress, realising her immediate danger.

“Then why doesn’t he show up Ms…..”

“Ayame! My name is Ayame, samurai-san!” her eyes closed, almost shouting her name.

“Well then Ayame-chan, if you cannot serve me beverages, then perhaps we can make a compromise,” leaning forward further still, he began to eye over the young girl’s figure.

Opening her eyes to see what he was referring to, the girl instantly blushed and screamed, swinging at the samurai with her serving tray out of instinct. Hitting him over the head, the tray made a metallic clang and left the samurai stunned. Pausing for only a moment, he refocused his gaze on the girl, his eyes now dark with new malicious intent.

“You’re going to regret that girl,” he growled, reaching behind to grab the hilt of his sword, “I was only trying to be friendly, but you had to take it too far!” Falling to the ground, the waitress could only begin to sob and make soft pleas for help; almost certain that out of the crowd around her there was no man or woman brave enough to step in. Bracing herself, Ayane looked downwards just as the samurai pulled out his blade, the edge making a "scrrrtch" sound along the scabbard’s inside before bringing it down on the girl.

[Cut to black]

Meanwhile, outside in a nearby street…

“What’s wrong with this town? It’s the middle of the bloody day but nobody’s around.”

Scowling, Murasaki Daisuke wandered throughout the town centre, looking around hopefully. “I stopped by because I heard about their market, but what do I get? An empty courtyard filled with rodents.”

Wearing a combination of loose pants and jacket he appeared like a normal layabout, the only item of interest was the long pole slung across his back, with two thicker sections on either end and wrapped in a thick bandage hiding its identity.

Looking down, he spotted a couple of small white mice sitting in front of several apples and pears. “Perhaps you little guys are the merchants and I have just been horribly misinformed about this island.” Sighing in defeat, Daisuke turned to leave for the docks again. Before moving too far however he caught the sound of shouting on the wind. Smiling eagerly, he quickly began moving towards the noise. “Either that was the sound of a prepubescent child, or my patience has paid off and I’m about to find a beautiful lass!”

With that thought in mind, he quickly rushed towards the source of shouting leaving a billowing trail of dust behind. Locating the tavern door, Daisuke’s eyes glinted with mistrustful intentions. Throwing it open, he entered the building crying, “Bring me the girls- *cough* I mean the drinks!”

The room was filled with instant silence, the scene that had been unfolding within suddenly freezing at the sudden, unexpected interruption. At the room’s centre next to an overturned table, a young girl was quivering on the ground, and was holding out a metallic tray above her head for protection. Standing over her was a rough looking swordsman, his blade drawn and frozen in a downward strike only centimetres away from slashing at the tray. However his gaze was no longer directed at the girl, instead his head was turned towards the sudden intrusion.

“Whose this idiot?” quipped the samurai, his sword arm lowering.

“M-me?” stuttered Daisuke, pointing to himself, “I’m just a nobody! Don’t mind me!” Smiling nervously, he leaned to the side and looked down over the girl before returning his gaze to the samurai.

“You know, I’ve heard of some rough foreplay but isn’t this taking it a little far-?” Daisuke wasn’t given the chance to finish, as in a flash he found the tip of the samurai’s blade pressed against his throat. “Do you have a problem with what’s happening in here, Mr. Nobody?” the samurai sneered, his eyes glinting with violent intent.

“A hardened swordsman beating down on a young lady?” Daisuke’s voice lowered, now looking directly at the samurai’s eyes, “Now what could a guy like me possibly find wrong about that?”

Putting some forward pressure on his sword, the samurai made a small cut which began to bleed slightly, “And what are you going to do about it?”

“Not sure. How about this?” Suddenly looking comically indifferent, Daisuke just raised a hand, and by flicking out his index finger the young man struck the samurai directly in the eye. Not wasting a second, he spun on the spot and ran out of the tavern while the samurai shouted in surprised pain.

Holding his hand over the struck eye, the samurai quickly kicked off after him. Taking a moment to see which way Daisuke had run, he saw a dust cloud moving towards the docks and begun his pursuit.

“Don’t think you can escape me kid!!” shouted the samurai, “I’m the samurai, Kyo Mai! And with my blade Naiou, I will cut you down!”

“Sounds like fun!” Daisuke shouted back.

Enraged by the young man’s flippant attitude, Kyo quickly advanced on his prey. Almost reaching the docks, he was trailing by only meters when Kyo noticed some movement on Daisuke’s back. Concentrating, he saw that the bandages on the pole were beginning to quickly loosen and unravel, revealing a slick black metallic surface underneath.

Sensing the sudden danger, Kyo quickly brought his katana up to his face and braced himself before being struck with a sudden impact. The young man had stopped without warning and swung the pole around horizontally, shocking the samurai as he had been able to stop all his forward momentum. Hair down and covering his face, Daisuke then looked up with a sly grin.

“You’re not out of trouble just yet, old man.” Suddenly the pole made a clicking sound, and before the samurai could react the two thicker ends sprung out, one of them barely missing his face.

Both fighters jumped back a short distance, warily watching the other. Kyo couldn’t help but focus on the other man’s weapon, which had finally revealed its true form. On either end and facing the opposite direction to each other in order to create an ‘S’ like shape with a straight body was a dual-bladed scythe. The handle was jet-black in colour, and extending over the outside of the blades to create a blunt edge, while the blades themselves were a bright steel colour.

“What is that weapon..?” muttered Kyo, suddenly unsure of the young man. “You’re not just some layabout, are you?”

“Why don’t we find out, Kyo Mai? After seeing what you were doing to that girl back there, I wouldn’t let you go even if you lacked that 49,000,000 bounty.” Lowering into a crouched stance, Daisuke held out his weapon horizontally behind himself before lunging forward, a cloud of dust blowing back.

Spinning around mid-leap, he brought the scythe to bare and made to strike Kyo’s right side. The samurai wasn’t going to be caught off guard by such an attack though, and was able to block with his katana’s edge, holding the handle next to his head and the blade pointing downwards. The edge of one of the scythe’s blades was now parallel to his back

“A bounty hunter, eh? So what’s your name kid?” Kyo asked, grinning suddenly at the thrill of the fight.

“I’m glad to see you’re enjoying yourself, and the name’s Murasaki Daisuke!” He replied, pushing into his swing with more strength and causing the samurai to jump several steps to the side lest he be cut down there and then from behind.

“Never heard of you!!” roared Kyo, pulling his sword arm back with the blade’s length horizontal to his head and the point facing straight ahead. Thrusting forward, the samurai seemed to disappear from sight for a moment.

Daisuke however was able to guess his movements, and raised his weapon’s handle so the length was held horizontally across his chest. Not a moment too soon, as with a sudden flash of light Kyo reappeared before him, his sword point driving hard into the scythes handle.

“Senkouitten!!” yelled Kyo, and with a rush of sound Daisuke was suddenly stuck with an invisible force that sent him flying away.

A concussive blast? He thought as he sailed through the air, his body slamming into a concrete wall causing the wind to be knocked out of him. Falling face first on to the ground, Daisuke struggled to breathe for a moment and could only cough as his scythe fell nearby. Hearing the brief sound of running feet he forced his body to quickly lurch to the side, his ribs calling out in protest.

Next to his head was the sudden “thwank” of a sword being driven into the dirt. Looking over, he saw the samurai’s blade sticking out of the ground vertically, the point driven a foot into where his throat had just been.

“If you think this is the part where I take the time to explain my technique, then you’re in for a surprise.” Kyo said, looking down on Daisuke.

“It’s never that easy...” muttered Daisuke. As the samurai moved to pull his blade out of the ground and prepare his next strike, Daisuke quickly rolled away and over to his scythe which was lying several feet away.

Grabbing it as he rolled over the weapon, Daisuke quickly come out of the roll and into a crouch while facing Kyo’s direction, already holding the scythe over his head preparing for a downwards cut. However it never came, as instead the samurai disappeared from sight again only to reappear behind the man.

“Ookamihametsu!!” the samurai shouted while slashing his katana diagonally across Daisuke’s back. Blood burst out from the new wound and caused the young man cried out in pain. Hardening himself against the agony, Daisuke leaped forwards and ran in order to get closer to the bay.

“You won’t get away!” Kyo cried, lunging forward with blinding speed once again. Seeing a glint in the corner of his eye, Daisuke quickly rolled to the side as the samurai sped past him.

“Senkouitten!!”

Again, there was a rush of sound before the entire area around Kyo was suddenly blown forward. Bales of hay and barrels were blown in all direction, while the fishing shed in front of him exploded outwards into the water. Daisuke was also blown to the side, landing near some merchant boats. A streak of thick blood was left on the ground showing how far he had been pushed, the wound refusing to close.

Pausing, the samurai lowered his blade and looked over to the injured man. “You’re decent enough, for a nameless hunter. Your strength is definitely impressive; most can’t overpower me in direct combat. But your speed is lacking. And that is why you will die here.”

Drawing back, Kyo held his katana backwards and under his left arm, placing his left hand on the blunt side and bracing himself for the next attack. Just as he was about to swing forward, the samurai paused as he realised Daisuke was haggardly laughing.

“What’s so funny? Has the blood loss caused you to begin hallucinating?” Kyo scoffed, but at the same time wondering why that laugh was so unnerving.

“Haha, no. It’s that you believe I will actually die here.” The man replied mockingly, “You think I’ll die from your blade? These cuts are but scratches!” Realising something about the man was changing; Kyo couldn’t help but lower his guard in confusion. It was almost as if the man was glowing from his left arm.

“Thing is, I haven’t even begun to show you what I can do!” he cried, before his entire left side was engulfed in scattered fire.

All over the affected areas, the fire began to burn away at his skin and flesh. But rather than burn and char it like normal fire, it seemed to instead just cleanly be replaced in flame to show the white bones underneath. His clothes were also mostly unaffected, and as Kyo watched several crimson tendrils arced over and behind Daisuke, the blood dripping from his back ceasing. The small cut on his neck also was briefly coated with flames, only for them to disperse and reveal a raw pink line where his sword had nicked him.

Standing up from the ground and picking up the scythe once more, Daisuke stood before Kyo in a ghastly form. A skeletal arm coated in fire, and the top left of his face burnt away to reveal the skull underneath, he represented something ancient and powerful.

“This is my Devil Fruit, Kyo Mai. The power of the death god itself,” Daisuke said calmly, seemingly looked down on Kyo now, “Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Karite!!” To be continued in the next chapter!!