Swords and Guns of L'Amour

Communication Breakdown

When his would-be assailant started to yell, that's when Jimmy acted. With his quick hands, Jimmy drew his Colt from its holster and then pivoted on his left foot to his left side and now he was facing down his assailant with his right side facing him, his gun pointed right at the feller's face. His would-be assailant was caught off guard by Jimmy's sudden move, clearly showing that Jimmy had succeeded in catching him off guard. Now instead of his attacker having the advantage, Jimmy glared at his would-be assailant, while his opponent looked at him with his red eyes. His opponent kept his sword raised in the air as if ready to strike still. But now he was frozen by Jimmy's sudden move. Jimmy could not tell, but he suspected that this might be that Kazuma Yagami feller that was so famous.

Normally, Jimmy would have pulled the trigger by now. But the fact that his opponent still had his weapon raised meant he could just as easily kill Jimmy could kill him. Although he could see his opponent's eyes, the straw hat his opponent was wearing mostly obscured them.

Kazuma himself stayed perfectly still. He had never been on the receiving end of a gun before, so this was not only new to him, it was practically terrifying. He was stood perfectly still, hoping that Jimmy McCarthy would put his gun away, but the American did not move, flinch or twitch, as if trying to match Kazuma's movements—even though neither of them had moved yet. The situation turned into a two-person standoff, both of them skilled in their respective fields of combat, but neither wanting to receive or deliver the first blow.

Kazuma wanted to strike, but the obvious fear of getting his head blown off before he could do so prevented him. Jimmy, meanwhile, wanted to shoot Kazuma but that sword was looking mighty dangerous. The two stared at each other, as if playing some kind of mental chess match, even though the only move was not to move at all. But the game was not as low-stakes as one might think. One wrong move by either of them and it might be the end. But this standoff came to end an end, anyway. Not because one was killed, but because of outside involvement.

"What's going on here?" Came a voice from behind Kazuma. The two opponents stopped their little mind game and looked to see who it was. A pair of horses rode up towards them, both ridden by women. Then one rider got off her horse and ran towards the two.

"Kazuma-kun!" said the figure. Kazuma instantly recognized who it was.

"Sakura!" He called to his fiancé. "Don't come near!" But he couldn't stop her, as she ran up to the both of them anyway, and in a move that surprised both Kazuma and Jimmy, positioned herself between Jimmy and Kazuma, holding her arms out. "Sakura, what are you doing?" Kazuma said to her. "He's pointing a gun at you!"

"If you dare hurt my Kazuma-kun," Sakura said. "I will not be merciful on you!" But her threat fell on deaf ears when Jimmy, in the ultimate declaration of defiance said,

"Wha?" Sakura slapped herself mentally. Jimmy did not speak a word of Japanese! Now her threat seemed more foolish, since he didn't understand a word she just said. But she decided to try again, this time in English.

"Don't... hurt..." she said her words slowly so she could know what she was saying. "...Kazuma."

Jimmy looked at the woman in confusion. What did she say? It sounded like... Jimmy threw his head back and let out an exasperated sigh. She had told him not to hurt him. "Why?"

"You idiot, you're still pointing your gun at them!" Came another voice. Jimmy recognized this one, now.

"Karen, what are you doing here?" he said.

"You're pointing your gun at them!" Karen said again, this time to pound it in. Jimmy sighed again, realizing how stupid he was for keeping the two at gunpoint. Jimmy holstered his gin, to the confusion of Sakura and Kazuma, who lowered his sword.