Okay now the next chapter of our story. Remember to vote for who should be his love interest.

Renka Ma. Kisara Nanjo. Shigure Kosaka. Freya.

Chapter 2

I walked down the street now demasked and heading for the abandoned restaurant I was taking shelter at. I then looked into the window of a TV shop and saw a news report. I wasn't surprised to see that it was about my target's death. The woman I let live most likely called the police and found my target dead in the process. A woman stood in front of the apartment building behind her police cars had the scene shut down and two ambulances were parked as well.

"I am standing in front of this motel." She began, "Where moments ago a woman and her boyfriend were attacked by a mysterious man who they said crawled through her window and cut off her boyfriend's hands. Moments after the police arrived they then found a man stabbed to death in his bed and beheaded. What was going through your mind at that time?"

She held her mic up to a police officer, "Well at first I just thought it was some crazed lunatic. But what happened to that man in that room... I've never seen anything like it. Obviously whoever did it was no ameture and had some sort of grudge against him."

I looked around and saw no one on the streets. But I didn't want to take any chances of getting caught so I ran across the street into the alley and hurried for the shelter. Cops now roamed the streets looking for me. Every once in a while I had to hide behind a trash can and wait for the cop to turn to cross the street. When I got back to the shelter I went in the back way and sat against the wall. I couldn't believe I actually got away. I was kicking myself on the inside. My master would always test my skills as an assassin by sending me after people in small towns and villages. But I always preferred to use more discrete methods to prevent from getting hunted by the police. But the terms I was given by the mob boss was to make the murder gruesome. I should have ignored that and killed him the safe way. More than that I shouldn't have attacked that man who was beating his girlfriend.

I now knew how to put my skills to the test, but there were some precautions I had to take. First I knew I had to only use discrete methods from now on. Second I needed somewhere to hide out. I needed to learn the city like the back of my hand. And third I needed a uniform to wear. That way the cops wouldn't recognize my street clothes. However there was something else that my brain said was more important. I was hungry as fuck, and hadn't eaten in two days. I looked across the street at the restaurant that I learned the previous night stayed open all night.

First thing was first. I had to satisfy my hunger then find a place to stay. I put away my mask and swords and opened the suitcase that has my chain knife in it. I concealed the weapon inside my pants. Putting the knife in my pocket and hanging the chain like a wallet chain. I then rushed across the street and walked in the front door. Immediately I was greeted by a boy with glasses that looked about my age.

"Hello." He said, "Welcome to Gekrin. May I seat you?"

I nodded and kept my eyes peeled for any potential threats. I could tell that this place was full of them. Every table had someone that looked like they were about ready to kill the first person they could reach. I was no different, I made no eye contact with anyone I passed. The four eyed waiter then stopped by an empty table near the window. I said nothing, sitting down quietly.

"Can I bring you anything to drink?" He asked handing me the menu.

"Water." I said.

He raised his eyebrow, "Uh... Okay... I'll bring it right out."

In all my years of training I had only drank water. My master taught me that a healthy diet is essential for an assassin. I looked through the menu and saw many choices. Lots of them didn't seem too healthy. The waiter quickly returned with a cup of water and set it down.

"Someone will be right out to take your order." He said.

I looked coldly at him. Then he walked back to the kitchen. All around me I could hear whispers that picked up as the sound of the TV got louder. I looked as well as a news report was turned on. The same woman from earlier still stood in front of the apartment building.

"After further investigating the police have found this footage from the motel's first floor." She said.

The screen then turned to a black and white video from the building's security camera. I could see footage of myself picking the lock to room number five and walking inside. The screen then froze on my masked face.

"If you have seen this man please contact the police." She said, "But do not make contact with him. He is believed to be skilled and extremely dangerous."

The people of the restaurant all talked about the person they had just seen. I could hear people at the table behind me talking.

"Psh he doesn't look so tough." one of them said, "Look at that skinny little puke."

"I could take him out easy." The other said, "He obviously relies on those swords of his to fight. He's no match for kung fu."

Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw a girl standing with a booklet in her hands. She had black hair and a red dress on. I looked blankly at her although I would have been lying if I said she wasn't hot as hell. However I couldn't show my thoughts to any of the people around me. I had to remain silent as possible so they wouldn't notice me and instead ignore me.

"You ready to order?" She asked.

I glanced up with a cold stare, "Chicken stir fry." I said handing her the menu.

She took the menu and looked at me strangely. Obviously I looked different than anyone else in the restaurant. Being the worst dressed and the dirtiest. I could knew she could tell I was currently homeless. Suddenly an old man with balding hair approached my table. He wore glasses that made it hard to see his eyes because of the light shining on it.

"So how are you enjoying the restaurant?" He asked.

I glanced up at him, "It's good." I said trying not to talk to him much.

"You don't look like one of the usual thugs that come in this place." He said.

"What gave me away?" I asked.

"You're much younger." He said, "And I can tell just by looking at you that you are a person that has seen a lot in his life."

"You trying to make me talk about who I am or what I do?" I asked, "Forget it. I'm just a high school student. My life hasn't been troubled at all and I'm no thug. So please leave me alone."

"I'm sorry that was very rude of me. I shouldn't have assumed too much." He said then left.

Once my food got there I ate it quickly and left my fee on the table along with a tip for that pretty girl. Now that my hunger was satisfied I decided not to return to the shelter quite yet. I figured taking any weapons would only cause trouble. And if trouble found me I would just use the unarmed fighting that my master stressed just as much if not more than my armed fighting. I looked at the map and sure enough I saw an apartment building on it that only had one star. Despite what people think a crappy place like that is perfect for an assassin. If people looked for me they wouldn't look there first, if anything they would look there last. And one star places like this didn't have many rules which would give me a lot of freedom to make my place attack ready.

I stood in front of the place that looked like a haunted house on the outside. Most of the windows were broken and the wood was dark and unpainted. It wasn't very big either. The size of it looked like it only had five or so rooms in it which was even better since that meant there wouldn't be many people to know who I am. I walked in the front door and saw a rather obese man at the front counter.

"What do you want?" He asked, "You lookin for a room?"

I nodded and payed for two rooms. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"You want two rooms?" He asked.

I nodded again, "One on top of the other." I added.

He then took the money and handed me two keys. "Room three on the first floor and room six on the second floor."

I nodded and took the keys. I then signed my name on the book of tenants then headed for the room on the first floor. When I walked in I saw that the floor was wooden and squeaked under my foot. Normally this would be bad for someone like me, but I noticed the ceiling had rafters on it which would be good in case an enemy tried to kill me. There was a single bed in the back of the room underneath the window, which would have to be moved since sleeping next to a window was an easy place for me to get killed in my sleep. I would have to customize my rooms later, for now I had to retrieve my equipment and get more clothes. One thing was sure walking all those things back to my place would require multiple trips, which take a while.

I walked down the street headed for the shelter across the street from the Gekrin restaurant. Suddenly I came across a motorbike shop. It had many different vehicles parked outside. The only problem was that it was closed, but that wasn't a problem for me. I circled around to the back and picked the lock to the fire exit. Before I walked inside I took off my shirt and tied it into a mask. I didn't have my wood mask on me so my shirt would have to replace it for now. I didn't want to take the chance of getting my face on camera. I then crept inside and went behind the counter. Hanging on the wall was a mount full of keys. I looked took no time to take one of the keys and went back outside. I matched the key to the number on a bike and sure enough I found a match. A black chopper with a flaming skull design over the gas cap. I ripped the tag off the bike and put the keys on with a loud rumble. I quickly put my shirt back on and drove away.

It took half the time to get back to the shelter. I put my swords and mask back back in their cases. I was able to carry half of the cases on the bike. As soon as I did I headed back home. Once I got there I parked my new bike behind the building and crawled through my window. I hid all the suitcases under my bed and crawled through the window again to go retrieve the rest of my cases. Once I got back with those I saw fit to move my bed to the other side of the room a safe distance away from the window and the door. I then put the cases back under the bed and took that time to relax. I turned to my right and walked into the bathroom. I undressed myself and stepped into the shower. There was still a lot I had to do. Since I let that mob boss live he would probably have people looking for me. But that was only hours ago and I was sure I disappeared a lot faster than he could send people after me. Plus he didn't see my face or know my real name so I was safe for now. I still had to make my apartment ready for attack. I was going to use the first floor room to hold my weapons and my second floor room for my living space. I planned make it so you could only get to my weapons room through my living space. So I was going to close off the front door and the window with boards or something like that. But that would take longer so I was going to have to wait until I got settled in with more clothes. But it was still too late and no places were probably open so I went to sleep.

(Time skip) The next morning.

When I woke up the next morning . I took the map out of my pocket and looked at the advertised places that sold clothes. Sure enough I saw two places. One that sold sports and hunting equipment and a civilian clothing store. So I first headed to the civilian store to get my street clothes and then go to the sports shop to buy my uniform for my missions. When I got to the store I pulled the kick stand and went inside. There were a lot of people there mostly family people who all looked happy. So of course I looked like the unfriendly stranger who went there alone and had the blank expression on my face. I ignored the staring people and walked into the men's clothing section. I picked out five pairs of blue jeans and one pair of black slacks. Then I picked out five pairs of white shirts and a black leather jacket. I also picked out a white dress shirt, a black tie, and a black jacket. My master always said that dress clothes were good to have if I ever had to get into a fancy place to kill someone. So I got a pair of dress shoes then carried the load to the counter and paid.

"Um you know sir the cops are very active today." The clerk said.

"Yeah." I answered, "I wonder why that is?"

"Well didn't you hear?" He whispered, "There's a killer on the loose."

I tried to look like I didn't know what he was talking about, "Really?"

"Yeah." He said, "They said he stabbed a guy to death in his bed. Guts on the floor and everything."

"Geez." I said paying for my clothes, "I hope they find him."

I then walked outside and loaded all my clothes on my bike and went back home. The news of my mission had spread quickly. People seemed pretty scared because of it. I then remembered what I said to the mob boss. I told him my name was death. A clever code name, I guess I was going to have to keep it. I crawled through my window and set all the bags of clothes on my bed. I then went back through the window and headed for the sports and hunting shop.

When I got there there weren't as many people parked outside than the previous shop. It didn't really surprise me since it was only ten in the morning. I walked inside and looked around. The shop appeared to be split in half. The sports equipment was on the left side and the hunting equipment was on the right side. My master taught me how to make a uniform out of simple everyday clothes. So I already knew what I was going to get. I first headed for the clothing section and bought a black Underarmor shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. Then I headed for the shoe section and bought a pair of black steel toe boots. I would have preferred to use tabi boots since they were lighter, but I knew how to walk silently even with bells on my feet so I didn't really care. Finally I walked to the winter section and bought a stretchy ski mask and a pair of black weather gloves. My master always wore a ski mask underneath his wooden mask for many reasons. One if the wooden mask got knocked off his face would still be hidden. He also wore it to hide his hair that way none would get left behind for the cops and no one could recognize his hair cut. The weather gloves had a simple purpose, to cover your finger tips that way no finger prints were left behind. As I walked through the hunting section to leave I noticed something to my right. Ammo belts hung there which I quickly noticed would be perfect for holding more of my equipment, especially my shuriken. So I picked that up too and payed for all my equipment.

"Um son." The old man at the counter stopped me, "I noticed you came here on that bike out there."

I gave him a cold uncaring look, "Yeah."

"Well the cops won't like it too much that you have no helmet on." He said grabbing a black motorcycle helmet behind him, "So here."

"Good point." I said, "I'll buy that too."

He put out his hand, "Nonsense. It's on the house."

I squinted suspiciously at him, "Thanks."

I finally left the shop and headed home with my new helmet on. When I got home I brought all my clothes inside as well. Now I had to make this place livable for myself. So I began by carrying all my bags of clothes upstairs.

"Good morning." My landlord greeted, "Sleep well?"

"I didn't sleep." I answered walking past him and upstairs.

I walked to the end of the hallway and set down my bags in front of the door. I heard a door open at the opposite end of the hallway and I looked over my shoulder and saw a rather skinny looking man looking at me. His hair was dirty and he looked as if he smoke at least two packs a day.

"Morning." I greeted.

"You must be the guy who just moved in." He said twitching slightly, "I'm Lee."

"You from China?" I asked.

"Yeah born there." He said nervously, "Y-you born h-here?"

I nodded and opened my door and brought my clothes inside. This room was no different than my room downstairs. Only it had a bed and a small dresser in it and a small closet. I walked up to the bed and moved it to the other side of the room like I did downstairs and set down my clothes on it. I hung my shirts, pants, and jacket in the closet. I didn't plan on using the dresser for clothes. Instead I would put emergency weapons in there just in case.

There you have it. A little bit of interaction with Renka there, but still getting Hadji settled into the city. Nothing to explain from this chapter. Remember to vote for who gets to be Hadji's love interest.

Renka Ma, Kisara Nanjo, Shigure Kosaka, Freya.

Miu will not be an option since she is Kenichi's love interest. See ya.