The man put his hands over his mouth to avoid screaming. He was hiding inside of a closet, only a small gap to the exterior. He just witnessed five of his comrades to be slaughtered. He watched as the shiny katana entered his friends' stomachs, sliced their arms and legs in seconds. The smell of blood was heavy in the air.

He heard the light steps coming up from the stairs neat the closet and his heart race. It started just like another night on the job. He was folding some drugs in small paper envelopes to distribute around the city when the door was kicked down and the attacker didn't even give them time to react. He was able to run away as she was occupied with the other four victims.

The closet's door opened suddenly and a pair of red eyes glistered inside the black mask as seeing his terrified face.

"Please! Please, spare me!" he screamed helpless, before his voice was silenced as her sword went through his body and cut him up on half.

Sakuno pulled the man's organs from his dead body, scattering them all over the floor while leaving the house.

She looked at the cadavers with a cold look, before finally disappearing inside the quiet Kyoto night.

##########

"There she is, safe and sound." Syuusuke smiled relieved as seeing Sakuno at the living room. The girl removed her black mask and looked at her brother. Placing her katana by her side, she sat in front of him. They were drinking sake and the fireplace was on.

"Where have you been?" Kunimitsu looked at her with an unpleased expression. His left arm was on a sling. "There are no assignments for you this week, why are you wearing your uniform?"

"The men who broke your arm, I finished the rest of them." She replied quietly. "I found out their new hideout and I killed them all."

There was a deep silence between them. Syuusuke took another sip of the sake cup. He knew better than meddling on their conversations.

"And who told you to do that?"

"People cannot assume they can hurt one of us and there is no payback!" She still could remember how useless she felt as seeing her brother in such pain before the doctor was called when they were back at the house. "You are never going to use a sword again, how can you be so peaceful about it?!'

"We do not act upon revenge." He replied calmly. "Someone hires us, pay us and we execute the mission. That is how things work. You should know better."

"But!"

"You are suspended for the next two missions, Sakuno. Take a bath and go to sleep. It is late already." He poured him more sake on his cup, without looking at her anymore. "It is a good thing Chichiue and Hahaue are traveling, they would be worried sick."

The girl stood up and looked at him angrily, her eyes glistering with frustrated tears.

"Nii-sama, I hate you!" she slammed the shoji on her way out and Tezuka released a deep breath.

"Oh, my." Syuusuke stood up. "Let me talk to her."

"Do not." Kunimitsu's free hand reached his wrist and the shorter man looked at him, surprised. "It is about time you stop overlook her impulsive behavior. She cannot do as she pleases."

Fuji kneeled in front of him and smiled kindly, touching his face.

"I cannot be upset with her for something I wanted to do it myself."

"Since our occupational hazard is death, a broken bone is not so bad." He showed him a discreet smile.

"All your bones are valuable to me." He said, his blue eyes gentle, before standing up and leaving the room.

Sakuno was sitting on the garden's porch. She was so angry! How could her brother dismiss her like that?!

"Sakuno-chan." Fuji appeared by her side with a smile. "Please, come inside. Are you hungry? I can fix something for you."

She averted her eyes and he sat by her side.

"We were very worried about you. You should not go outside without telling us."

"You are taking his side."

"There are no sides, since you were wrong."

"Eh?! How come?!"

"You did not think this trough." his serious voice called her attention. "You were alone on an unknown place. What if there were more people there and you could not handle? They could have captured you, rape you or worse."

"There is no such thing as something I cannot handle."

"There is." Touching her chin gently, the blue eyes were serious over the scarlet ones. "You are very talent and strong, Sakuno-chan, but you are not invincible or immortal. You also cannot think only about yourself. I know you love your brother and your parents deeply so think about how devastated they would be if something happened to you."

She lowered her face and was silent for a while, until Syuusuke noticed the big tears falling from her face and wetting the black uniform.

"Syuusuke-san…" her voice shattered with her tears. "What is the point of being talented and strong if I cannot protect the ones who are dear to me?"

Fuji words were lost as seeing her so heartbroken. Their lives were complicated. Moments of happiness always intertwined in fear and sadness, like walking between light and darkness. She was 14 and there were so much death in front of her eyes already.

He remembered when she returned from her first mission. She was 12 at the time. Her killing was precise, cutting off the head of her victim in a quick movement. When they arrived home, Syuusuke was helping her wash the blood from her small hands, when she asked him why they killed for a living. He tried his best to explain her that those were bad people and they were cleaning up so life could be better for the others they hurt. She seemed satisfied by his answer and never talked about it again, but he always feared that life was too much for such a young child to handle.

Sakuno would train daily. Her katana was an extension of herself. She was the perfect killing machine, a talent all yakuza feared and the clients were satisfied with, even without knowing her face or identity. But, at that time, watching her body tremble in frustration, he questioned himself about the weight of that lifestyle over such small shoulders.

Before he could reunite thoughts in an attempt to comfort her, Tezuka appeared and sat down by her side, hugging her tight with his free arm. He took a deep breath as she nestled on his chest and sobbed.

"Do not expose yourself to unnecessary danger because of me. I am the one with the responsibility of protecting you." looking at her, the dark eyes were kind.

"Nii-sama…" he touched her face and whipped the tears away from her reddish cheek. "I am sorry for disobeying and making you worry. I will never do it again."

"That's okay."

"Sakuno-chan, do not say you hate him so easily, otherwise you will break his heart."

"I do not hate you!" she looked at him. "I am sorry for saying that!"

"I am glad. Go take your bath now and sleep afterwards. It was a long day."

"Nii-sama?" She stood up and looked at him seriously.

"Yes?"

"Am I still suspended?"

"Yes, you are." she took a deep breath, admitting defeat. "Syuusuke-san, I am sorry too. Thank you for worrying about me."

"You are more than welcome." he smiled at her. "Sleep well."

They watched as she left.

"I will put out the fireplace so we can sleep. You go ahead."

"Syuusuke." His voice was serious.

"Yes, Kunimitsu?"

"I never apologize for worrying you too, with this arm of mine. I am sorry. I was careless and I will not be very useful for a while. This situation is going to give you extra trouble, so…"

Fuji gently touched his free fingers and the blue eyes smiled at him.

"Do not apologize for getting hurt. And, it is not hassle at all, taking care of you. Just write me a beautiful haiku when it is healed."

"I will." He squeezed the smaller hand inside of his.

########

Sakuno was finishing fixing her uniform in front of the mirror on her room. The weekend went by quickly and it was Monday again, time to go to school. She picked up her backpack and smiled at the photography on her dresser. It was a photo of Sayaka. She was smiling and her hands were on the big 9-month belly.

"I am going, Ka-san." She said, before leaving the room.

Crossing the hallways, she entered the kitchen and sat down.

"Good morning, Syuusuke-san."

"Good morning." He smiled at her. Coming close, he placed a plate with two fried eggs, a toast and some jam in front of her. "Here you go."

"Thank you for the food!" she started to eat.

He sat across from her, putting her bento box on the table. He was wearing a dark blue apron. "I prepared hamburgers with demi-glace sauce, pasta and salad for lunch. There are also some peaches for desert."

"Thank you, Syuusuke-san. It sounds delicious!" She took a bite of the toast before speaking again. "I met someone at school last week. He lives by himself most of the time and his lunch is not good. I shared my meal with him last time. He really liked your food."

"Oh!" he was really surprised. "A boy?"

"Hm. I told him to tell me what kind of food he likes, so I can take it too. Do you mind?"

"Not at all." Syuusuke placed his chin on his crossed hands, looking at her, amused. "I will gladly do it."

"Thank you." She smiled at him.

"Hey, Sakuno-chan, could you please make up with your brother already? His humor is terrible since you two argued. He is working late since then, saying it is because of the new book, but I am sure he is very bothered by the situation." He took a deep breath. "It is not good for my skin when he is in a bad mood. He is totally useless."

"Can you convince him to take me home this weekend?" she asked, a little shy. "I want to see Kaa-sama."

"Of course." He smiled. "You are his precious little sister; he would do anything for you."

"You have a deal!"

#########

"We have hamburger today." Sakuno grinned at Ryoma as he got close to her. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, it is one of my favorite." He sat down by her side. She placed half of her food to him on the lid of her bento. The teenager picked up with his hashis and ate a bite. "This is so good."

"I talked to Syuusuke-san about you. He said he would gladly do it."

"I told you it was not necessary!" he blushed. "It is not right for me to impose on people."

"I like eating with you." She ate some of her salad. "You are the only person on this whole school that doesn't annoy me. The girls are always whispering when I walk past them and the boys giggle. I am sure they are making fun of me." Placing the hashis on her lips, she looked at the blue sky. "I wonder if it is the Kyoto accent."

"They are probably jealous because you are so beautiful. And the boys are probably thinking the same." He said, naturally, before chewing some hamburgers. When he realized what he have said, he coughed, nervously and tapped his own chest to breath better.

"Ryoma-kun, you think I am beautiful?" she pointed to herself, surprised.

"Ah… well…" His voice was failing him and his face was deeply red.

"Thank you!" she smiled, not bothered at all.