[Overdriven]

Kurayami sat in the northeast corner of the courtyard, though he was unaware of this. As he rested in a light meditative trance, trying to make up for the fact that he had been rudely distracted in the middle of it before, he remained blindfolded. Apparently the hosts of this particular tournament wished to befuddle and confuse the combatants before the battle. Perhaps that is why they sent attendents before the break of dawn to rouse the fighters.

Kurayami had already been awake, sitting in the center of his room, meditating. Few Ronin bothered with the ancient calming technique, but Kurayami was still quite fond of it. Even the ruthless needed a little serenity. It was then that the attendants arrived, forcing Kurayami to abandon his trance. He had immediately pulled Haiiro-rein, as the sword had been resting next to him as always. The Ronin was only a moment away from cutting the men down before he realized what was happening. After that he simply smiled.

Kurayami was given ten minutes to prepare for battle, which was ample time to focus himself. He wore no armor this time, only a dark set of clothing that he had fashioned during his time with the shinobi. It had aspects of both his Samurai heritage, and the ninja with which he trained later in life. Across Kurayami's shoulder, his bow was visible. The weapon was well strung, and extremely accurate. Kurayami had trained extensively with the long bow, enabling him to fire with precision while on the move or on horseback, which had saved his life more than once.

Coupled with the bow were, of course, his main sword and the backup. He had them both sheathed on the left side, enabling a quick and easy draw with either his left or right hand. Along with the two large blades, Kurayami had tucked his small shinobi crafted daggers along his back, beneath a trace amount of cloth. He could produce both of them in only slightly less time than his swords, and was capable of using both effectively in a pinch. Finally, he also concealed a handful of straight blade shuriken on his person. Three within the folds of his clothing, and two more tucked into his boot.

Kura then merely waited until he had been ushered blindly into the courtyard where he now meditated, awaiting the start of the battle. The hosts were probably planning on starting with the rise of the morning sun. They seemed to have a flair for the dramatic, and the entire concept suited them. Kurayami thought it all to be a rather sad excuse for foreplay. The Reikoku preferred to take it quickly from introductions to climax.

"BEGIN!"

A familiar voice boomed from above, and Kurayami sighed deeply. It seemed his meditation was, once again, being disturbed. The Reikoku rose silently, waiting until he was standing at full to reach up. He then pulled the blindfold from his head, tucking it casually into a inner pocket within easy reach. His most gracious hosts might desire to have the blindfold back, after all.

Kurayami's dark, unfathomable eyes immediately scanned the courtyard, as his left hand fell to rest on the hilt of Haiiro-rein. Little had changed in a week's time. The tree that he had turned into a miniature sun had surely died, and was now a blackened husk of it's former glory. A pity that it had come to that, but the tree was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kurayami took another breath, moving his eyes swiftly to the Southwest corner of the courtyard, where it seemed his opponent had been placed, blindfolded as well. Kurayami merely gazed at the man impassively, hand on his blade. Should his opponent rush him, Kurayami would have his weapon out quickly enough to grant him a proper parry, and it would have been tough for the man to get to Kurayami quickly from across the courtyard by any normal means.

The Reikoku waited silently, for he knew that many warriors were vain enough to throw their name around as though it had meaning. He would allow this one the same opportunity, letting him have his moment of imagined glory before he was thoroughly humbled.