Okamoto Daichi - Souji

Saito Hiroji - Hajime

Takada Eichi - Heisuke

Kikuchi Reiji - Sanosuke

Takeuchi Keigo - Shinpachi

Ogawa Mahiro - Toshizo

Watanabe Masanobu - Isami

Ueda Rikiya - Sannan

Ono Naritaka - Inoue

Matsuo Mototada - Kai

Miyazaki Shintaro - Ryunosuke

Iwasaki Ryoko - Chizuru

Iwasaki Ryokuro - Kaoru

OOOOOOOOOO

"Back in our past lives, we were estranged from each other. At one point, you came after my head." The 8 year old Ryoko stated as she gripped on the wooden sword tighter.

"Your point excatly?" Ryokuro questioned through gritted teeth, mirroring his twin's movements.

"Have you ever regretted your actions?" She asked him, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.

"I protected you all those time, but you never appreciated my efforts! If only you accepted your destiny as the new head of the Yukimura clan, all of this would have never happened. Uncle Kodo didn't have to die, we could have bring back our clan." Kaoru sneered as he went to attack her first.

Kazama leaned on the wall and watched the twins he once knew in their past lives fought each other. This was their first duel after training them for 3 years. He wondered himself why it took so long for them to face each other like this, it was Amagiri's idea. It was along the line of closure takes time or something. Yadda yadda, he was getting beyond bored even though the twin's bickering is of an interesting topic, but it was nothing new for him. He already knew of the Yukimura Twins conflicts, he wasn't that personally interested. Even if he's still after Chizuru, or rather known as Ryoko in this lifetime, this was between her and her twin.

"You both kept me in the dark! I didn't even know that I was a female demon! A pureblood at that!" She replied with a harsh tone as she pushed Ryokuro back.

"You didn't have to know! You just had to follow us and we all could have been fine. Better than fine!" He yelled and raised his sword.

"And let you use me like I was your puppet? I object!" Ryoko cried out and protected herself from her brother's swing.

She managed to stop avoiding and defending as she took Ryokuro's role as the attacker. Her movements were swift and sharp and didn't let her rage get in the way of dueling with her brother, wanting to win just to prove her brother that she was not a doll to be pushed around by other people. Not anymore, she didn't let herself to be so weak again.

Ryokuro fell on his back and opened his eyes to see his twin sister pointing her sword at his face. Both of them were panting but her face didn't seem to be tired. She looked fierce as she basked in her glorious victory. He grimaced and felt ashamed of himself while she threw away her sword carelessly.

"I have lost… so many people that I loved during that time. I was in great grief, Kaoru." She said in a solemn voice.

"I'm sure you were glad to see me dying!" He spat.

"You idiot, of course I wasn't glad to see you die! You were driven into madness and you having your memories, I'm afraid you're still obsessed with bringing back our dead clan. You're still so crazy on killing me. What I wanted for us in this life is to protect each other rather than only one protecting the other in the dark, the protected isn't even aware she had a watcher behind her." She told him while tears dropped on to his face.

"I wanted to get our stolen time back to spend it with each other as siblings! All I ever wanted was that you and I to reconcile, you big headed fool." She whispered as she slammed her fists to his chest.

"Even after all those time you had tried to kill me, hurt my precious friends, you're still my blood brother, then until now. How I hated the things you've done, but never hating you as a whole. All because you're my brother." She confessed fully and gripped on his clothe.

Ryokuro simply stared at his crying twin sister that was stradling him from the top. Kazama only stared at them emotionlessly. Kazama didn't understand what they were feeling, he didn't have siblings and he was brought up to be a stone cold leader for his clan. His clan always looked down to humans, he was taught to have no human feelings. He was taught to be satisfied, not happy. He was taught to be disaffected, not sad. He was taught to be virulent, not mad. Their feelings were more hollow than any other so they could stand tall and be as arrogant as they can be towards humans and lower demons.

But then there were the twins. There were Senhime and Kimigumi. Three of them were pureblood and only one was a lower class demon that has outstanding combat skills. Still, they were somewhat compassionate, driven by their hearts instead of their minds. Like Chizuru who loved her friends until the end, Kaoru who had looked after his twin and protected her from the shadows and Senhime who had tried to provide protection for Chizuru just because the latter had made an attempt to protect a stranger from harm. Kazama didn't understand them, his will is always driven by lust for power. He pursued Chizuru because of her bloodline, he wanted her to bear his child.

"You're the idiot here. I'm not so crazy anymore to try to revive the Yukimura clan, that clan is dead. The reason why I wanted to kill you was because of the will to revive our lost clan, maybe it also includes the fact that you would rather be with lowly humans than your own blood related brother who had loved you deeply for a long time. The reason why I had hurt your friend is the same thing, for our clan's revival and that they had stolen you away from me and Uncle Kodo. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair because I protected you first, I was the one that watched over you for all those time!" He yelled and stood up, holding tightly to her shoulders.

"But the reason why I was ignoring you all these time is because I was contemplating, Chizuru. I contemplated my past actions. I realized that I was wrong, but I still resented you for choosing someone else over me, your twin brother. But, it doesn't change the fact I was trying to get you involved in a stupid, dangerous scheme…" He explained further and his grip loosened.

"But have you came to a decision for us, Kaoru?" She whispered and didn't let go of his hakama.

His hands went up to her tear-stained cheeks and wiped her tears away gently.

"I did, I did just now. I have decided that I want to mend our relationship. I still love you no matter what, even if that stupid head of yours would never remember our past memories when we treated each other like actual siblings." He smiled.

Ryoko's lips quivered and planted her face to his chest. His arms wrapped around her shaking body and rested his head on top of hers gently. Kazama let out a deep sigh silently and decided to step out of the room. As he walked through the door, Amagiri stood before him at the other side and Kazama grimaced.

"Was this what you intended to happen?" Kazama harshly asked.

"Yes, Lord Kazama. They are twins with a tragic story, I am only trying to help them."

Amagiri is wise, everyone knew that. He could foresee everything and always approaches problems with ease, never resorting to violence immediately unlike Kazama and Shiranui. Ever since Kazama took the twins under his care, Amagiri sensed there was clearly a wall between Ryoko and Ryokuro. You might call it being nosey, but it was their new beginning, their new life, they shouldn't get stuck in their past and let it get in the way of their bond. Ryokuro should have known better than resenting his own sister for her own decision. Her past decision was the right decision but Ryokuro was Nagumo Kaoru at the time, he was driven by the will of reviving his past clan. For Nagumo Kaoru, her decision on choosing the Shinsengumi over him was a complete betrayal but for Iwasaki Ryokuro, he understood that her decision saved the world from a tragedy. He admitted his foolishness but it hurt that the sister he loved turned her back to him, even after all his of sacrifices he did to protect her from the dark. Still, she's still the sister he would die protecting.

"An older brother is a fool for his sister. You don't know that for you are an only child, Lord Kazama." Amagiri said and let his Lord walk past him, giving Amagiri a sinister glare.

OOOOOOOOO

"Ryoko!" Ryokuro called out as he ran towards his sister.

"Kuro?" She said and turned her head to her back to see if it was really her 16 year old twin brother.

"We got another work. Gear up, it's a hard one." Ryokuro told her in a serious tone.

Ryoko nodded and entered her room without another word. She had gotten used to the works she and her brother was given. Although they were hard, you should always expect no less from their boss, which was Chikage Kazama. It surprised her that he was working with the government. She had asked him about it before when she was younger, to him simply answering her it was because he owed a clan another debt. It wasn't his personal debt but of course his clan's. Again. Ryoko had to bit her lip, gulping down the question about why he has so many debts to the creatures he despised. Then again, it's not like he could back out. A demon keeps his words, a debt is to be repaid ten folds.

She tied up her waist lengthed hair as the finishing touch and wore her gloves. It was nothing fancy, just a simple black button down shirt worn with a black blazer over it. Her pants were long, black and fitting, hugging her legs comfortably. Following the rules, she placed a red band at her left arm. The look was controversial, but it is according to the code. White bands for underlings, green bands for squad leaders and red for lone wolves that work directly under their boss. Ryoko wasn't exactly a lone wolf, she and Ryokuro would often work together but there are also times she works solo, being apart from her twin brother.

"You done?" He knocked.

Ryoko gave herself one last look in the mirror and let out a sigh before walking to the door to open it. She met again with her brother and they both went along with their work. Like almost everyday, she convinced herself that her work was for the government. Everything she did, whether good or bad, it was for their country.

But she didn't really like being an assassin.

She gripped on the hilt of her sword and gulped down her saliva, a sweat rolling down her face.

OOOOOOOOO

"I can't believe we have to work apart. I can't believe I have to stick with that bastard Chikage! Take my place Ryoko, I can't stand that guy!" Ryokuro snarled.

Ryoko chuckled and tried to calm down her brother. Without asking for their permission first, Kazama had made the decision to let those who he owed a debt to have Ryoko and Shiranui. Ryokuro was beyond upset that he had to work away from Ryoko as he had to accompany Chikage to somewhere, probably another long-ass monthly demon meeting. Chikage would never bring Ryoko and Ryokuro with him as he took other people before them. They knew the reason of course, it was because of their young age. Now that the twins are 21, they can accompany their boss to the meeting, but he could only bring two at a time. Only heaven knows why Shiranui wouldn't come with them and the fact it's clear that Amagiri is to be by Chikage's side 24/7 if he can. From she heard from Shiranui's endless bickering with Chikage and Amagiri, he and his clan didn't have a good relationship with the true demon lord.

So it became a tradition for Chikage to bring red band-ers with him every month. Who knows, maybe Ryoko might be the one to accompany him to the next month's meeting. Not maybe, but that was already a given. It is still rare for a female demon to exist, so maybe Chikage would avoid her for a while. As she rubbed her brother's shoulders, someone had to jump in to ruin Ryokuro's mood more. It was none other than the other insufferable bastard Ryokuro had to face, Kyo Shiranui.

"I have to admit that I pity you, boy. The monthly meeting is always so fucking boring, then you also have to handle a pompous prick like Chikage. Your luck couldn't get any worse." Shiranui mocked as he shook with laughter.

"Shut it, Shiranui. First of all, stop calling me boy because I'm 21 now, you dumbass. Second, don't pity me, I don't need 'em. If it's about something that I would need, is you to suck it up and go to that stupid meeting. We red bands hate coming along with him just to stand beside their boss for a full 5 fucking hours. You on the other hand, you could take your seat because you have your own clan like Amagiri." Ryokuro glared sharply at Shiranui.

"Screw that. That Lord is a fucking shitstick that I'd rather avoid than to face with. He's like Chikage, but a thousand times worst. You're only an escort from the Kazama Clan, he wouldn't try to talk to you but he'd be so glad to ridicule me and my clan just because of a past rivalry. Why the hell did they vote him to be the successor of the previous Lord? He's so fucking irritating to deal with." Shiranui's face turned sour and spat at Ryokuro.

"Oh please stop fighting, I'm tired of it. I'm already getting headaches." Ryoko sighed and held her brother's shoulder.

"Not apologizing. Your twin said something so obviously stupid, I had to retaliate." Shiranui coldly answered and crossed his arms above his chest.

Steps were heard and Ryoko didn't have to look to know who it was. Were. Chikage and Amagiri were walking, the bigger one walking slightly behind Chikage, toward the three. They had their usual poker faces as they approached them. Chikage had ditched his modern clothes and wore the traditional japanese male clothing instead. Amagiri though never adorned the modern clothing, so they were already stuck with his usual appearence that was consistently so for hundreds of years. Shiranui had said something about it, Ryoko and Ryokuro too, even Chikage. He ignored them and didn't change his appearence at all. He didn't understand why he needed to, it was pointless in his eyes.

"Are you done bickering with Shiranui, boy? We need to go now." Chikage asked him in his monotoned voice.

"What's with you guys always calling me 'boy'?! I'm 21 for fuck's sake and that's the legal adult age in Japan." Ryokuro erupted and crossed his arms.

"Compared to us, you are a little boy. We are immortal, we're hundred years older than you. It's a pureblood thing." Shiranui told him and smirked.

Before Ryokuro could argue more he was pulled by Amagiri to being forcedfully dragged to the stupid meeting. Ryoko had smiled to say her goodbye and he grumpily answered her with a low voice. He would always be upset about this, right? Ryoko laughed a bit and turned around.

"Well, those three idiots are gone now. Why don't we ditch our mission and go to clubs instead." Shiranui suggested as the smirk he wore never leaving his face.

"Go ditch it by yourself. I'm not getting myself into Amagiri's wrath, not that I've ever experienced his wrath before." Ryoko answered maturedly and walked away.

"Fine. Let's gather the underlings and move already. Fuck ton of work is gonna get me thirsty for some booze and women, maybe you could satisfy me with the latter." He eyed Ryoko.

"And you getting beaten by Chikage for beating him on producing a full fledged demon." Ryoko smiled knowingly.

"Hah! Some fucking ain't gonna hurt anybody, Iwasaki." Shiranui barked.

"Let's get to work already, Kyo."

OOOOOOOOOOO