Out of the corner of my eye I saw the man I'd killed bleed, his blood pulsed beneath his skin, and spilled over his clothes, dark and red. The smell intoxicating and good; after all my years of being an assassin I have grown to love the metallic smell, it fueled my fire. I turned to the man on my left and prepared for close combat, drawing my sword. His first move weak and reading his movements I easily maneuvered around his attacks and hit all the vitals. I saw his face twist in agony and for pities sake I ended his misery before climbing up a nearby tree sensing the next two demons closing in on me. I grabbed two shurikens and launched them backwards, hitting them both square in the neck, blood gushing from their wounds, the damp cold earth the last they'll feel. To simple, these demons were two easy for me; then again I'd always fallen for underestimating my opponents. Swinging from the tree I landed on the ground and turned to find a surprise opponent awaiting an attack. I lifted my bow from my side swiftly shot the arrows through the air aiming perfectly at all the places I knew he would fail to dodge. But before I could gauge his distance he was right in front of me, with two daggers in hand. He quickly slit two deep cuts in each of my shoulders and I began to profuse dark red blood. I narrowed my eyes at him and quickly grabbed my dagger, pulling it across his waist ending his life and making him regret ever touching me with his blades. He fell to the ground on his knees, and then to the forest floor. My wounds were deep and I knew that more demons were coming so I fled; the thing I most hate to do, but given my condition I would not fight as good as if I were well. I ran until I felt I was safe and then collapsed onto the earthen floor, my spilled blood to sank into the earths damp surface, and I watched as it turned black. The pain of the wounds eventually rocked me into an unconscious state. I dreamed of my latest mission.

"Asuka, you have proven your abilities to the organization and for that we will grant you a challenging task, this one will win you your freedom."

"Yes sir"

"Your next assassination will be of the bandit, Yoko Kurama"

"Yes sir"

"If you fail, you will have proven yourself worthless Asuka, and you will die."

"I will not fail sir"

"My trust wavers, even with the finest of today's assassins" his words stung.

Killing has never been hard for me; the process may be difficult, sometimes impossible. But I have never felt regret. And it has never brought me happiness. Only a false feeling of Satisfaction.

After who knows how long of dreaming my eyes slowly opened, my body still paralyzed. It's wasn't even dawn, how long has it been since that last fight? The dark blue sky is just now showing signs of light. I tried to lift my self up and watched in horror as blood pulsed down my arms from the two deep wounds in my shoulders. I slowly rolled my self over, cringing at the pain and turned to see two piercing gold eyes glaring down at me, cold and unflinching. I gasped in surprise; apparently I was not alone, yet I didn't sense any kind of demonic presence. The demon's eyes had no emotion at all, a glare that clearly took practice. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't, that would show considerable weakness; a trait I cannot afford to have. I stared at the golden eyes, trying my best to imitate them. It only took me a moment to notice that it was the kitsune Yoko Kurama standing before me. I quickly devised several assassination plans in my head; I wanted this to be short and sweet. The fox demon eventually grew bored of our little charade and turned his back. He was treating me like a weakling, as though he took pity on me. I quickly reached for my bow and arrow and in one swift motion shot the arrow, aimed at his upper back. Yoko turned his head around slightly and gave me the merciless death stare, he's so known for, along with the annoying smirk.

Then just before the arrow could pierce his skin he lifted his hand behind his head and grabbed it. Then he turned to face me

"What's this?" he asked me as he forcelessly broke my arrow in two. I trembled a little, but kept looking at him, my anger only building inside as he humiliated me. I reached for several shurikens and launched them. He easily dodged them. How could I have underestimated this foe so much?

"It seems as though you have underestimated me" lovely, can he read minds too??

"You'd better not underestimate me!" I yelled out.

"Oh so you speak" he joked, amusing only himself

"I'll have you know that I've taken S class demons, taking you would be an easy task"

"Oh? If death is what you speak of, I'm afraid to tell you that your wrong" his sentence ended with a disdainful growl and a green ivy kind of plant began to grow out from his strange toga like clothing and down his arm, quickly reaching for me. The vine instantly took hold of my neck and lifted me up, pinning me to a tree. Then the fox demon came very close

"What is it that you are after? My life? Many have sought that and you should know how they have all ended up" he was getting more and more serious, making sure not to end up off guard, I liked that. I did not speak; it was true that the majority who hunted the famous demon usually lost their lives in doing so. However, I would never allow this to happen, and if he managed to kill me than I would be better off dead than having failed, imprisoned to the assassins life. I would kill him, and it would be soon.

"I don't know what it is you seek, but fighting you would be unnecessary." He said, I was immediately offended

"Are you saying I'm not worthy!?" I cried out to the demon, frantically trying to cut at the vines rapidly entwining around my body.

"What are you?" He asked, his voice lifting to a lighter curios tone.

"You don't smell like a strong demon"

"Oh? What of it?!" I yelled, glaring at the demon, angered at the venerable situation I was in.

"In fact, you hardly smell of demon at all." His face was now only inches away from mine; he could smell every inch of blood on my body, every hair on my head. He could see all my plans as if they were laid right out to him, just by looking at my eyes. Nothing could be hidden from him, the devious trait he had always had, but I could not give my self away. He searched and searched in my eyes, reading my soul for answers, honesty. I could sense that he felt he was wasting his time. Then I realized that I had never before been so close to a man like this, I mean a demon like this. The thought immediately caused blood to rise up to my cheeks. I cursed the insane stupidity of the realization, so what if a so called 'attractive' demon was standing before me, I remembered how I had always heard the older girls I lived with speak of him in very awkward and perved out ways. But I could really care less; all I had to do was end his life, simple, maybe. After a while I couldn't hold his stare any longer, and my eyes began to dart around, I looked at his long silver hair, and his intriguing fox features none of which impressed me so much as I was told it would. However, my heart began to pound, and soon it was so loud I wondered if he could hear it. How could I make it stop? I wanted to run away so bad, I wanted this man to leave me alone. I cursed my self, my cheeks became tomato red and I looked down like a pitiful little child. I wanted him to leave me alone!

"Get away…" I said trying to sound forceful but the words came out quiet and weak. However, he obliged, his hand lowered and with it the vines. By the time I was freed I fell on my knees, my legs wouldn't even hold up. I lifted my head, he was staring down at me, he looked at me with pity and disappointment, and then he turned and quietly darted away. I was relieved that the demon had gone, but I couldn't help but wonder why he let me go, why he didn't kill me. I had always been told that he was absolutely ruthless, that he left no one alive. Yet I was still among the living.