Violence and gore warning on this one

The old sushi bar has been a part of this town for quite some time. It may not be a big, well-known restaurant chain (as many others have moved into the town and forced local stores out of business), but the owners are friendly and even their continued business has proven their dedication.

You step inside, and a waitress greets you. She is younger, fairly slim in frame and wearing red attire. You assume she is one of the daughters of the owners, since their family often works at the restaurant.

"I'm looking for someone.", you tell her.
"Ah yes, he is here. Please follow me.", she replies, seeming to know exactly who you are speaking of.

You walk further into the little shop, noticing the beautiful decorations around. There are several paintings of nature and koi, a few wall hangings including luck charms, and even a katana set sits on a little shelf. To your right is a small indoor pond with a little bamboo water feature that fills, drops, and returns with a gentle *clank* sound. To your right is a surprisingly large statue of a geisha in pink, seeming to look down on those who pass by in a courteous fashion. Before you is the place where the sushi chefs work, who smile and greet you as you walk by.

Near the back is man in a white kimono, who is sitting at the last booth. He is sipping a cup of tea when he sees you approach. "My friend! Please, come and sit! I have already ordered for us, I hope you don't mind."

As you sit, the hostess brings you and the man each a bowl of miso soup. Without speaking another word, the two of you enjoy the soup. During this time, you note he is carrying a katana, and there are a few strange objects sitting on the table - a pair of shurikens, some kunai, and a whetstone. The man sits his bowl down and takes the whetstone, and begins to sharpen the kunai. You notice they are worn, the black paint on them has been chipped away.

"Been practicing lately?", you ask.

He stops for a moment, inspecting the edge of the kunai as well as the tip, before setting it down and picking up one of the shurikens, sharpening it. He then responds, "That's right. I'm still learning how to use them, too. I'm not too bad at throwing them at the target, but sometimes the back-end of the kunai hits it instead of the blade. You might notice there are several dents on them."

He hands one of the kunai to you. He trusts you well enough to handle the little blade. You take it and inspect the handle. It did have several dents in the metal, just as he said. You sit it down and watch as he continues to sharpen the shuriken.

"These people, they're okay with you having your weapons in here?", you ask.

The man nods. "I come here all the time, so they know me pretty well. They know I'd never do anything to hurt them. Besides, if I did, I'd lose my favorite sushi bar in town.", he replies.

The hostess returns with a large order of sushi, who sets it in the center of the table. There are chopsticks already available, and you as well as the man take turns picking from the sushi. There is a wide variety so you easily find your favorite. You note that the man takes his favorites - eel, octopus, spanish mackerel, and roe.

While you eat, you ask the man, "I'm confused about something. I thought you were a samurai. Why do you use ninja throwing stars?"

The man smiles, he finishes chewing the sushi in his mouth and swallows it. "It's a long story, but since we have the time, I'll tell you."

He sets his chopsticks down and closes his eyes as he begins the tale -

"There is a village to the North of here, a little place called Takenawa Village. It's a small place, mostly rice farmers there. I was heading that way about a month ago, there was a rumor that they had a very distinct type of tea that I was interested in.

I had just gotten into town when I was stopped by two thugs passing by from the other direction. They had just ransacked a store in the town and were trying to threaten me for some added loot. They simply didn't realize who they were talking to.

The one man who was threatening me had one of these kunai and was pointing it at me. Little did he realize it was barely sharp and worn from use. 'Hand over your money and you won't get this knife in your eye!', he threatened.

I didn't budge, at least they thought I was just standing still, but I had moved one hand onto my blade. 'Did you hear me? I said hand over your--', the man repeated, and before he could finish, I had sliced his hand off.

It took him a moment to realize what had happened before he started screaming. He backed off, running away, and dropped the bag of loot he had in his other hand. The other man ran after him, but I heard him say, 'We're going to get you for this!' Out of curiosity, I picked up the little kunai in the severed hand (tossed the hand to the side of the road, I didn't want to start a commotion), and went on my way."

He stopped here, eating one of the eel sushi and sipping his tea before he continued the story.

"So I brought the stolen goods back to the town. I was lucky it had a label on it so I knew which store to go to. The owners were grateful and wanted to give me something in return, and I tried to tell them I didn't need a reward, but eventually gave in and asked for a little of the special tea I was looking for. They gave it freely, and afterward I was pretty much on my way. There was already talk of what had happened, since the thugs had to pass back through, one screaming that he had lost his hand. So naturally they asked me and I admitted to severing it. I was lucky I brought the little kunai with me as evidence that the man was threatening me.

I didn't have any trouble from the townspeople, I was glad about that. But trouble would find me in another form.", he sips his tea again here, "The thugs sent an assassin after me."

You sit back, intrigued. The story has gotten more interesting. You take another piece of sushi while continuing to listen.

"I was on the way back here, and did not expect him. This shuriken...", he showed the three-pointed one he had, "...zipped past my head and hit a tree. If he was just a little more accurate, I would not have been here.

I ran for cover, finding an old shrine where I hid behind. A kunai hit another tree close by. Another close call. I waited, holding my breath, hoping to hear him approach. Now remember I had the kunai that the thug tried to kill me with before. This one...", he shows one of the kunai. It was surprising that he knew exactly which one it was.

"I had one shot at him. And was lucky...again...one snap of a twig underfoot, and I ran out from the shrine, and threw the kunai. I saw him in the trees, and watched the kunai hit him square in the head.

It was the butt-end of it, though, not the blade. But it was more than enough to knock him off of the branch he was on. He fell from the tree and hit the ground hard.

And before he realized it, I had already had my katana on his neck. I was seeing red here, and the only thing I wanted to do was slice his neck...", he sipped his tea here.

"...but I couldn't. I couldn't kill a little boy. I hesitated long enough to see the fear in his eyes. The thugs...those bastards sent a boy to kill me. Yes, he was good at throwing these weapons, but he was doing it out of fear for his family.

So I retrieved the kunai and shuriken he threw at me earlier. I promised him to get rid of those who were causing so much trouble in the town. He was so thankful that I didn't kill him, and he led me back to where the thugs had spoke with him.

It was a Buddhist temple, of all places, that they were at. They did not expect to see me there, and the job was pretty quick. He showed me his throwing technique on one of the thugs, a fine shuriken throw, and the other one I dispatched with my katana.

So that was the end of it. The town was once again saved from those who caused so many problems there, and I was on my way. But before I was out of town, that boy stopped me again, and gave me these kunai and shurikens. He said he would train with a katana so he could defend Takenawa Village and his family, and in return he asked me to learn how to throw the weapons he preferred. I accepted his gift, and here I am, as if nothing ever happened."

The sushi was finished, and he paid the waitress when she came by. Standing, he put all of the knives and shurikens away, and bows to you. "Well it's getting late. I'm glad you were able to come, it was an honor to have a meal with you."

As he begins to leave, you ask, "Wait, I never got your name."

He stops and smiles, "Quad.", he speaks, and waving to the owners of the little sushi shop, he walks out of the store.