Afro Samurai: Rising Justice

Chapter 2: Fast on the Draw

Justice walked down the dirt path towards the training area with his training sword leaning against his shoulder. Today was the day that he and the oldest kids in class would be tested to see if they had earned the right to a real sword. He had trained for this day since he came to the school when he was a small child.

The way the master tested their skills was through a series of duels between students. Saito thought this was because the master wanted to see the student's skills in an actual fight, but Mamiko, Justice, and Rokutaro all agreed it was because he was crazy and liked seeing people get injured.

Justice got to the end of the path and saw the training grounds. All the students at the school were there.

As Justice walked through the crowds he looked at his fellow students. Most of the younger ones chattered excitedly about the duels in large groups of jittering bodies, while the older ones, who were being tested, stood quietly with maybe one or two peers.

"So big day today." Justice said to his afro haired friend as he joined him beneath trees branches.

"Yep." Rokutaro said with a nod to his friend. He also had his training sword with him.

The two just stood there in silence for a moment.

"So...who do you want to duel against?" Rokutaro asked sarcastically.

While Justice and Rokutaro were most certainly the best of friends, they were also the biggest competitors with each other. It, however, was not to see who was the best, but how far both of them could get.

"Oh, well there's this one yahoo that's thinks he's pretty good. I think I'd like to duel him." Justice said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah I think I know that guy. He has some really awesome hair." Rokutaro said back to him.

"Students who are participating in the duels today step forward!" Their teacher shouted at the top of his lungs. Justice, Rokutaro, Mamiko,and Saito along with a few other students stepped forward.

"The first duel to show off your progress as a swordsman will be between Rokutaro and Justice! Please enter the ring!" The gigantic man said authority.

The two friends looked at each other with a smirk and a fire burning in their eyes.

"Good luck. Eh, pal?" Rokutaro said.

"Yeah lots of luck." Justice answered.

The two young men walked into the dirt ring ahead of them and went to opposite sides of it. The faced each other.

"The rules of engagement in this competition are as follows: You may use any sword techniques you have learned to fight your opponents, you may only use the wooden training swords you have been provided with, and the fight will only end when you give up or I call a winner. Do the contestants understand?" The sword master hollered.

Both swordsmen nodded, their eyes never leaving the other.

"Very well, begin!" The muscle bound man screamed.

The two men went into their stances.

Rokutaro had his sword tucked behind him with his hands on his sword ready to strike from his squatted position.

Justice's stance was more open. His arm holding his sword far off to his side but ready to swing and take out any opponent that tried to attack him.

The two circled each other sizing the other up. Slowly. Easing into the next step. Trying to see an opening. Looking for a weakness in the other's stance.

Fuck it. Justice thought before charging forward with a wide side slash. Rokutaro blocked it and then spun around with his training sword.

Justice dodged the attack and slammed his hands on the ground to balance a well placed kick into the stomach of Rokutaro.

The afroed samurai stumbled back as Justice sprung back up and charged at Rokutaro. He settled his stance and brought an over head swing down upon the hat wearing man.

Nice try. Justice thought.

He quickly slipped his arm in-between the loop Rokutaro's arms made, making his swing stop. Justice then yanked his arm back disarming Rokutaro.

Justice threw all his strength behind a swing to his opponents head but Rokutaro dived out of the way.

The young man with the large hair rolled into a run as he tried to avoid the swings his fellow swordsman made towards his body.

Justice gave chase as he tried to land a blow. Swinging almost chaotically to the untrained observer he made every effort to bring the edge of his sword into the flesh of his adversary.

Rokutaro bent down and Justice took his opportunity to bring his sword down above the man's head...but he stopped as Rokutaro turned around.

The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours, seeing how their little bout had turned out.

Rokutaro had ran over to his discarded sword and as Justice brought down the wooden blade upon his head he'd swung his own sword. The resulting positions made it impossible for either to win, if the blades were real they would have killed each other; Rokutaro from a head wound and Justice from being disemboweled.

"Enough! Both contestants have proven their worth as swordsmen! Lay down your swords!" The sword master bellowed.

The two young men stepped back and shook each others hands.

"You're just as good as you like to say Rokutaro." Justice said with a smirk.

Rokutaro chuckled, "Yep, you too John Wayne."

Justice and his friend walked out of the dirt circle used as a dueling arena. Mamiko ran over and congratulated both of them with a hug. They both thanked her and sat down with her to watch the other duels.

The rest of the duels went well, no one was injured significantly. Both Mamiko and Saito won their duels and proved their sword skills.

Several Days Later

Justice and the other students who had been deemed worthy of gaining their swords were now kneeling in the main hall of the school waiting for their swords to be presented to them.

Justice knelt down third in line. He looked farther down the line and saw the looks of anticipation on the other student's faces. He knew they were excited for their graduation and to finally be able to walk tall as full blown swordsmen.

"Justice!" The sword master called.

Justice turned his head and got up. He walked over to the sword master and knelt down when he got there.

The sword master gave a speech about honoring the sword and being sure to use your skills only for the sake of those who cannot defend themselves.

Justice nodded and waited for the man to give him his sword. The giant man who had trained Justice all these years held up a sword, he held it out for the young man to take, and Justice took it like it was a newborn he was afraid to drop.

Justice stood up and bowed, his master did the same. He then walked back and knelt back down in his spot in line and waited for the ceremony to end.

Later That Night

The ceremony had finally ended. Justice had been invited to a party that a few other students had decided to host; he had declined, despite urges from both Mamiko and Rokutaro.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy to graduate and gain his sword, it's just his reason for learning was completely different then most of the other students.

He had been learning to use a sword because he had just been some orphan that had been dropped off at the school.

Justice finally got to his room and opened the door.

The first thing he did was walk over to his closet. He opened the sliding door to the closet and got on his knees in front of a large chest. He undid the large copper clasps on the front and opened the top.

Inside the box were old circus posters. World's Best Gunmen some would say, Amazing Display of Gun Skills!; another said. Justice searched through the chest and found one in particular.

He held it up and on the poster was a man with a large nose and a wide brimmed hat. The man was holding up two guns and obviously cackling like a mad man. World's Best Gunmen! An Outlaw Reformed! the poster said in large print letters.

"I did it dad." Justice said in no more than a whisper before placing the poster back in the box, right beside the two large pistols from the poster in their holsters at the bottom of the chest.

Justice glanced at the guns with nostalgia. Tapping his fingers trying to get rid of the urge he was feeling.

"I bet I'm still a crack shot." He said reaching for the guns with a grin.

A Few Minutes Later in the Woods

Justice had the holsters wrapped around his waist while he was walking through the woods that were just outside of the school grounds. He was going out of the way to make sure no one would see him use his father's guns.

After walking a few minutes he found himself looking over the party he had decided to skip. The clearing it was being held in had a big bonfire in the middle of it. Students were dancing, singing, and talking all around the fire, enjoying themselves

Justice searched through the crowds, from the ridge he was on, to see if he could find his friends. He laughed as he found Rokutaro trying to impress girls by slicing pieces of wood with his newly acquired sword. He continued his search when he found Mamiko getting hit on by one of the more obnoxious students by the name of Chouji.

Justice sneered at the slightly overgrown slug of a man hitting on his friend before a delightfully wicked idea came to his mind.

He pulled one of his guns out of the holster slowly, letting the weight of the gun become familiar again. He steadied the barrel, aiming for the stupid hat that Chouji wore all the time.

He breathed carefully, letting the moment pass to be sure he made the shot. He noticed the wind change and calculated the amount it would affect his shot. He followed the movement of the fat man's hat. This all happened in the seconds before he pulled the trigger.

The hat flew right off Chouji's head, and Justice laughed as Chouji went in circles to find the source of his hat's untimely demise. The noise of the party had muffled his shot for the most part and he was hidden in the trees on the ridge, so his little prank was something he would laugh about privately.

"Yep. Still a crack shot." Justice said with a satisfied smile.

Author's Notes: Hey guys, I hope you're still reading this story because I did want to continue doing it. It's just between my other stories and some things that have happened recently in my life it's been extremely difficult to write anything.

I've, for the most part, gotten over those things so I'm back and ready to continue on this story.

It was hard writing this chapter because I wanted to fit both Justice's guns and his sword in this story and I had some trouble figuring out situations for both of those because Justice is still a student and doesn't fight that much because of it. I decided it would be best to focus on his sword for now and only hint that he's good with guns in battle.

We'll get into more of Justice's dad in the next chapter so don't worr too much over the small mention he has in this chapter.

Well hopefully the next chapter will come quicker so stay tuned for it!