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It was a lovely afternoon in the Kiyamacho mountain town. The birds' and cicadas' songs filled the air, carried through the streets by a cool breeze to counter the sun's warm rays. It all should have come together to form the perfect summer's day, a day for joy, laughter and merriment.

The people of Kiyamacho were anything but merry. Even beneath the beautiful sun, a shadow was cast over the town by Lord Takabashi's palace. Takabashi had plans to turn Kiyamacho into a military power, and to fund it he had raised taxes to irrational levels. Those who could not or would not pay were brutalised by goons the lord called his "samurai". In extreme cases, they and/or their family were even taken to the palace to work off their debt... particularly any who were attractive women. Any attempt at resistance was impossible, as while the law stated that only men could wield swords, Kiyamacho law further specified that privilege only extended to the lord's samurai. Any blacksmith or merchant caught creating or selling any without Takabashi's express permission were imprisoned.

Worst of all, Takabashi had sent out a summons to the lords of the neighbouring provinces to discuss the possibility of an alliance. If agreed upon, Takabashi would make his first move at domination of the country. With the threat of war on the horizon, it was a dark day regardless of how bright the sun shone.

The breeze blew through town, carrying with it the unmistakable fragrance of cherry blossoms. Many would find this unusual, as Kiyamacho didn't host any cherry blossom trees.

"Halt."

At the palace gates, a silk-garbed figure stopped before two burly guardsmen. Their wispy kimono did little to hide the lithe figure beneath, with a pink see-through shawl draped over their shoulders. Dainty hands with painted nails held an elegant folding fan over their face, leaving only their pretty made-up eyes exposed. Their hair was a beautiful pale purple colour, tied up in a loose, spiky ponytail with a pink-petalled flower tucked in just above their ear.

The guards stood by the doors, each garbed in a simple yukata with their katanas hanging off their hips. The smaller, younger of the two had long hair hanging over his pointed features and wore blue, while the larger, older man wore brown and had a stubbly face with an eyepatch.

"State your name and business," said the blue-clad man, standing head and shoulders taller than the newcomer.

The purple-haired outsider flicked their fan shut, revealing their face was as beautiful as expected. Delicate features and a slender jawline greeted the guards, with a light layer of makeup over their lips and cheeks. The young lady gave the guard a shy smile before bowing her head.

"Ren Hanaguchi, kind sir," she said in a soft, gentle voice. "I am a travelling dancer, so I have come to provide the entertainment to Takabashi-sama's meeting."

The two guards looked at one another. They hadn't been informed about any entertainment, but her story checked out. Of course Takabashi would invite a young lady to give the meeting some fun. They gave each other a knowing smirk as the older guard gave his companion a thumbs up.

"Well then, Hanaguchi-chan," he said. "Before you come in, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a body search, just to make sure you're not hiding anything. Can't have you sneaking weapons into the palace, especially if you're going to be part of Takabashi-sama's meeting."

"Oh..." Ren brought a hand to her cheek and looked away demurely. "Is that truly necessary? I mean, you know women aren't allowed-"

"Can never be too careful," the guard said while his partner chuckled. "Of course, if you refuse, I doubt Takabashi-sama would object to us throwing a potential assassin in the dungeon."

"...I see..." Ren sighed, closing her eyes and reluctantly raising her hands. "...if I must."

At that, the younger guard stepped up, rubbing his hands together with a sleazy grin on his face. Wasting no time, he reached forward and roughly rubbed Ren's chest. She was pretty flat-chested, he noticed, but as well-built as could be expected of a dancer. His hands travelled down, groping the lavender-haired girl's trembling body. Nice hips... firm thighs... and with a widening grin, he brought his hand up between the poor girl's legs...

He froze. His hand felt something that, as far as he knew, should not have been there. Ren stopped trembling and opened one eye, suppressing a giggle.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. I AM carrying one 'sword'." He stuck his tongue out with a cheeky smile. "Should I have declared it first?"

The guard let out a scream as he recoiled in horror. Ren instantly stepped forward, slamming the heel of his palm directly into the larger man's sternum. The sound of the blow rang out, and despite the size difference the guard was knocked flat on his back.

"Why you...!" Ren turned just in time to see the second guard bearing down on him, sword drawn. The blade came down, but with a flick of his wrist Ren whipped his fan out into the sword's path. Even as it sliced effortlessly through the paper, he clasped the fan shut over the katana blade and with another flick yanked the sword clean out of the guard's hand. Catching it in his free hand, Ren pivoted around his opponent and let the guard's momentum carry him down into the dirt.

"Sheesh, you'd think you guys would actually be GOOD with these things," the feminine man said, tossing the sword away. The two guardsmen growled and slowly stood up, and Ren smirked. "Then again, pretty little things like you guys shouldn't be using swords anyway, don't you agree?"

"Huh?" The guards looked at each other in confusion. "The hell do you mean?"

"Are you making fun of us, you little freak?"

Instead of responding to the insult, Ren kissed his fingertips and blew at the two men. Seeing red, they charged right at the crossdresser with furious yells, too angry to notice the pink petals that were swirling around them. Ren just giggled to himself and dodged between the two, their suddenly tight outfits throwing off their balance and both fell to the ground.

"There we go. Isn't that better?" Ren smiled and admired his handiwork. Yukatas replaced with kimonos, muscles shrunk to nothing, scars and callouses vanished to leave only the softest and frailest of bodies... anyone who saw them would only have been able to see two beautiful ladies.

"You son of a-!" the older of the two barked. With only his harsh tone and eyepatch as remnants of his previous self, he looked to all the world like a delicate little housewife. Hearing his own pretty new voice, his eyes went wide and he brought a hand up to his throat. "What the...?"

"J-Juro?" the younger asked, now resembling a young woman just on the cusp of marriage. A lock of his hair, now silky smooth, fell over his face, and he gasped in horror. "Huh!?"

"Ichiro?" His partner looked him over, as the other did the same, and it finally dawned on the pair what had happened. They looked down, let out shrill screams, and immediately turned to Ren.

Shame he was already gone.

* * * * *

In the highest room of the palace, Susumu Takabashi looked out upon Kiyamacho. He stroked his moustache, free hand resting on the hilt of his sword, deep in thought. His plans were nearly complete. All he had to do now was convince those other foolish lords to back his plans, and he could finally make his move against the Daimyo...

"T-Takabashi-sama?"

The samurai lord turned. Stood by the door was a nervous young woman, tray in hand. His thin face pulled into a frown. "What is it?"

"Y-Your dinner, a-as requested..."

Ah, of course. With a grunt of acknowledgement, Takabashi strode over to the centre of the room and took his preferred seat on the floor, nodding to the table. The servant girl didn't utter a word as she set the tray and cup down before him. He picked up the fish with his chopsticks, took a bite, and...

"Disgusting!"

He instantly stood, grabbing the plate and hurling it at the girl. She screamed and ducked out of the way. "How DARE you serve me this filth, you incompetent woman!?"

"I-I-I'm sorry!" The girl backed away, shaking. "Th-the cooks said you liked bluefin tuna-"

"Don't you dare try to pass the blame, you little whore! Were you trying to poison me!?" Before she could defend herself he lashed out, striking the girl across the face. "Get out! Get out of my sight, you useless little brat, before I have you beheaded!"

Trying her best to hold back terrified tears, the girl hurried out of the room as fast as her legs would carry her. Takabashi let out a heavy sigh and returned to his seat. The truth was bluefin tuna was actually his favourite dish, but he had to make sure his servants knew their place. The person beside him poured a saucer of sake and offered it to him.

"Thank you," he said, accepting it.

"The nerve of some of those servants, huh?"

"Tell me about it." He took a sip... only to spit it out and jump to his feet again.

"Hi there," Ren said, sipping at his own saucer.

"Who are you?" Takabashi demanded. "Guards? Guards!"

"Sorry, lord-san, but I already took care of your guards." Ren stood up, as several naked women ran past the door. "They weren't very impressive."

Takabashi growled and drew his katana. "No matter. I can deal with one intruder by myself! Prepare yourself!" He let out a war cry and rushed forward, sword raised over his head.

Ren stepped to the side, effortlessly dodging the lord's sword swing, and in the same motion lashed out with his shawl as if it were a blade of his own. Unlike Takabashi's, his attack struck true, and the pink fabric wrapped around the older man's face. Takabashi let out a growl and grabbed at it, but it was like the shawl had a life of its own as it coiled tightly around the lord's head. Dropping his sword to use both hands, Takabashi pulled and pulled against the shawl until finally he tore it off. Panting, he turned back to his opponent, who had been patiently waiting the entire time.

"Hm, that's not a bad look for you, Takabashi-sama," Ren said with a grin, offering the lord a small hand mirror. Takabashi was about to slap it out of his hand until he got a glimpse of his reflection. And he immediately balked at the sight.

His face and neck were coated with spotless white make-up, all the way under his collar, with black lining his eyes and eyebrows, with his eyelids and lips now a shiny red. The unmistakable makeup of a geisha. That alone looked ridiculous on his sharp masculine face, but not only did he still have his moustache, it had now been changed to a cherry-blossom pink colour, as was his hair. Worse, his topknot had been changed into a perky ponytail, with his simple and practical hair-tie replaced by a cute bow-tied ribbon.

"What... what is this witchcraft!?" the lord screamed, immediately rubbing at his face to remove the humiliating cosmetics. Yet no matter how vigorously he tried, the colours didn't so much as smudge.

Ren however, smirked and strode forward. "Now, now, don't try to mess it up, Takabashi-sama," he said, flicking his wrist and producing a fan from thin air. "After all, you want to look your best for the other lords, don't you?"

"The other-" Takabashi froze. If it weren't for the make-up already doing it, Ren would have seen his face turn white as a sheet. "Y... you don't mean-"

"Hush," Ren leaned close and tapped the older man's nose. "You just let Onee-san work his magic, and you'll look like a whole new person...!" He covered his mouth with his fan and let out a laugh as more shawls formed out of thin-air, coiling around Takabashi's arms and legs to hold him still. More and more appeared, wrapping around his legs, his arms, his chest, his hips, until the lord was wrapped entirely from the neck down in soft pink silk. He struggled as best he could, but the garments seemed to be as strong as steel all of a sudden. Ren smiled and gripped the one loose end poking out from the mass of fabric.

"Ready?"

Takabashi shook his head, but Ren yanked as hard as he could, sending the lord spinning like a top. All of the shawls had merged into one long continuous piece of fabric as Ren kept pulling, and pulling, and finally Takabashi came to a stop when the other end came free.

While the lord was still reeling from the spinning, Ren took his new look in with a devilish smile. The muscles Takabashi had painstakingly built through years of swordsmanship were gone, leaving him as slender and frail as the servant girls he regularly abused. Yet unlike the other men Ren had changed, Takabashi's head had remained untouched aside from his new hair and make-up. Unlike the servant girls, Takabashi's chest had ballooned out into an enormous pair of breasts, large enough to put any other woman in town's to shame. His new kimono wrapped around them lovingly, as pink as his hair with a white obi wrapped around his waist. Unlike virtually everyone else in town, his kimono was so short it shamefully exposed his new shapely thighs. Adding to his already impressive height were the matching pink okubo sandals now on his feet, though unlike any okubo he had seen these raised the man's heels a considerable distance. With no tabi to cover his feet, his toenails were revealed to now be painted the same pink as the rest of his outfit, as were his fingernails.

Proud of his work, Ren sauntered over to the transformed lord and placed the fan in his hand. "There we go. Now then, Takabashi-chan, you'd best go get things prepared, don't you think?"

"Pre... pared?" Takabashi was finally coming down from his dizziness, and when he saw the front of his kimono forced open by the massive bosom he now possessed, he let out a scream. Unfortunately his legs were already moving, marching him out of the room. "No, w-wait! Wait! You demon, s-stop this at once! Don't... I-I can't be seen like this! STOP!"

But Ren just smirked and waved as Takabashi marched off to his fate.

* * * * *

Mere hours after the meeting, "Lord" Takabashi had become a laughingstock. Stories spread like wildfire of his humiliating transformation, how he spent the entire meeting serving drinks to his guests like a common maid, even providing them entertainment by performing some ludicrous attempt at a fan dance. Though he insisted a witch had broken in and cast a spell on him, a letter was found in his room, in his own handwriting, stating his desires to one day abdicate his title and live life as a servant girl. With his behaviour at the meeting, this was easily put through with the other lords deeming "Suzume" unfit to rule.

Ren stood atop the hill outside the town gates, looking back at Kiyamacho. He was sure they'd find a much more suitable ruler in time. For now, things certainly seemed to be looking up for the little mountain town... even the shadow of the Takabashi palace seemed shorter in the sunset.

He let out a chuckle. With a flick of his wrist, a kasa umbrella appeared in his hands and he began his path to the next town. Behind him, the wind carried the unmistakable fragrance of cherry blossoms.