Chapter Ten

"A story?" Raizo asked, unsure.

"Yep," Shinsuke replied.

Raizo came up with the perfect retort for that. "I heard once, a story can be true or false."

Shinsuke smirked, "'V for Vendetta'. I love that film. Raizo! You surprise me! I didn't know you were a movie buff."

Raizo glared at him.

"Sorry. Sorry." He looked at the camera, focusing on the steady red light, then back at Raizo. "Our story begins, the way both of our stories do, with an orphan taken in by a sadist."

Raizo squinted a bit.

"Don't be so surprised, Raizo. The wording has always fit. Even if we didn't know it at the time." He shifted on his feet and exhaled, "This young boy's parents died in a house fire. Not an attack. Not the devil. Just fate. A simple electrical fire." He paused, looking off into space. "Amazing what little tragedies can lead to." He looked back at his rival. "Isn't it?"

"That we can agree on."

Shinsuke smirked. "The sadist took the boy in to his clan, the Iburi Clan."

Raizo was surprised; the rules for leaving the Clan were the same for all but Iburi's wrath was almost legendary.

"He trained him to be a killer. But something unexpected happened. The boy surpassed the sadist. Oh, the sadist tried to have the boy killed and he thought the boy didn't notice. Simple accidents here and there, maybe a mission that would go wrong, but the boy saw the truth. So… he waited. Waited until he was strong enough and knew he was ready to leave." He smirked. "Then… a fateful day came. A day when leaving was not only expected but the opportunity was practically given to him."

Shinsuke arrived outside of the multi-million dollar mansion where his target resided. He looked at the house and knew something was different. Maybe it was night air or the stillness of it but something was different. This night would lead to something that would change his life forever. He knew it from the moment Iburi gave him the mission. Tonight, things would change.

He entered the domicile to kill his target. He moved around the house carefully until he came to the master bedroom where his target was asleep. He stood over the bed and drove his katana through the body and the mattress. He looked at life seeping out of the body then exhaled. It was done; all too easy but it was done.

He heard someone else in the house. Someone with training, Clan training. He was correct: tonight would change things.

He removed the katana from the corpse and, carefully, approached the door. He opened it and saw that no one was there. He walked into the hall way and looked around. Again, he saw no one but he knew better. There was another assassin here and he was the target. Iburi wanted him dead. Shinsuke scoffed at the notion, 'At least, you have the guts to finally out right do it, old man.' He continued on into the pitch black dining room, finding another ninja standing at the other end of the room.

Shinsuke chuckled. "Well, if the old man was going to send anyone after me, it only made sense that it had to be you, Mei."

"You have dishonored our father," the kunoichi said.

He shook his head, "He's no father of mine."

"Our father wants you dead."

"Dead?" he feigned shock. "That's a bit extreme. What did I have ever done to him?"

"You dishonored him, you insulted him, you insulted the Clan."

"In my defense, it's only because he's weak and the rest of you are incompetent."

She seethed, silently. "He demands your blood. It will pay the debts of your insults."

"If he doesn't want me in the Clan, I can leave." He smiled. "In fact, I will."

"It is too late for that." She drew her katana. "Only death will sate our master."

"It better not be or else he'll be, sorely, disappointed."

"I swore to bring back your head."

He scoffed. "No, you won't."

"I will. For our family."

He sobered, quickly. He knew she would be the ninja sent to kill him but, in truth, it was the last thing he wanted. "Don't make me do this, Mei."

She paused. "Neither of us have a choice."

Mei rushed at Shinsuke, their swords clashed against each other. Shinsuke kicked her back, trying to hurt her enough to put her down. She got back and charged at him. He flipped her over him and threw her to the ground but she wouldn't stay down. Shinsuke knew this would be a fight to the finish. It saddened him that Mei would have to be one who died for his freedom but he had no choice. He would be free, no matter the cost. They fought all over the house before Shinsuke threw a candle at Mei as distraction, causing a fire to breakout in the house. They continued to battle as flames consumed the mansion. After a few minutes of combat, Shinsuke slashed across Mei's arm, struck her in the side, and kicked her across the face. While Mei tried to get her bearings, he grabbed her head and slammed it as hard as it could against the wall, knocking her out.

As Shinsuke gathered his breath back, he stood straight, realizing the fight was won. Shinsuke stared at Mei and decided to leave her here to die, to give Iburi a message to leave him be. He started to walk out of the house when the sight of the flames stopped him. He seethed and looked back at Mei's unconscious form.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Damn it."

He went back, picked Mei up, and carried her out of the house. Once outside and far enough away from the burning mansion, he laid her on the driveway. He stared at her for a second and shook his head. He looked at the gate to the house and the open road beyond and started to walk.

Mei came to and realized that, not only was she out of the burning house, she was still alive. She looked around in shock and saw Shinsuke walking down the driveway. She turned over, clutching at her wounded arm. "Sh…Shinsuke…"

He stopped and declared, "Consider yourself fortunate. This is the only time that I'll help you, Mei. If he sends anyone else, after me… they will be dead." He turned and looked at her. "Even you."

She stared at him in silence.

He took his mask off and dropped it to the ground. "Get out, Mei. Get out of this life. It's not who you are."

"And who are you, Shinsuke?"

"I'm a killer. It's what I do but I don't need the Clan to do it."

"I have to stay. The Clan is my family."

"That's your curse, then. They're not mine."

"You'll be hunted. Iburi will have your head."

"Let him come and get it. I'm not afraid of him. I'm not afraid of anyone." He sighed. "Run, Mei. Run from this life."

"I can't."

"You better. Or else… you'll be destroyed by it. Walk away, Mei. Now. While you still can." Shinsuke walked off into the darkness, to forge his own path.

"And that was that." Shinsuke let out a deep exhale. "I thought I would go after Iburi but I changed my mind. Instead, I, simply, left. I didn't need to kill him. No point. His attempts to kill me had already failed. But my old master didn't learn. He sent ninja after ninja after me… and heads were sent back in return. Eventually, the whole Clan got the hint. They stopped sending assassins after me and I stopped sending heads back to them. The rest, as they say, is history."

Raizo exhaled, finding some similarities between to be a slight bit eerie. "Interesting story. Why did you tell it to me?"

"Because we're the same. We have been from the beginning!"

"You're not going to ask me to join you, are you?"

Shinsuke laughed. "Of course not! That's not why you're here."

"Then what is?"

"I wanted to tell you why I'm doing this."

"I assumed for the contract."

"Not that. Fighting you. Letting you live. Why I've let Kahler live all this time, why I'm letting the girl live."

"Alright. Why?"

"Because I respect you, Raizo. All my life, fools have fought me. Idiots who thought they were better than me. They never were. You're different. Kahler is different. So is the girl."

"How?"

"None of you think you're smarter or better than me. With every plan you make, with every blow you throw at me, you prove it: you assume that I'm the superior. Not you. Do you know how rare that is? You fight to survive but you do so without one bit of hubris. It's how you defeated Ozunu. I respect that. You're not a foolish Clan lord or an idiot like this Jung. That's why you're still alive. I don't want to fight you and beat you for these fools. When we fight to the finish, it'll be under my terms. Understand?"

"I look forward to it."

"As do I." Shinsuke looked at the camera and saw the red light flicker. He smirked, briefly. "I told you about myself, so, I have a question for you."

"What's that?"

"That girl. Who is she?"

Raizo remained silent.

Shinsuke chuckled. This was all too amusing. "I just want her name, Raizo. She's hardly on my contract list."

"Why do you want her name?"

"Call me curious."

Raizo debated for a few seconds then exhaled. "Mika. Mika Coretti."

Shinsuke nodded. "Do you care for her?"

Raizo maintained his silence.

"You do. Impressive."

Raizo couldn't help but be curious. "Why?"

"We're not supposed to feel, Raizo. You know that."

"You seem to have a lot of fun and you did let your own assassin live."

"Oh, I've always been different. It's why I let her live." He smiled. "This whole thing has been fun. You, the girl, Dominic. When Atkins hired me, I never dreamed that this would be the time of my life."

"So, you admit that Atkins hired you to kill the Studson chair members."

"Of course. It won't make a difference. Jung will die. You can't stop that, Raizo."

"Won't I?"

"Well, I may have jumped the gun on that. If anyone has a chance, you do. After all, you had the same guts I did: going against your Clan. You had to know that was a death sentence."

"Of course." Raizo clenched his jaw. "Maybe we are similar."

Shinsuke nodded.

"Why did Atkins hire you? Why did he have you kill everyone?"

"Well, apparently, he doesn't know who knows what. Pretty much everyone at Studson was scum on some level. They all had it coming for one reason or another but Atkins managed to look like a saint to the world when the company crashed around their ears. He's taking out the competition, if you will, so he can keep his name clean with the people. He's not a good man, Raizo. Don't let those 'fatherly' looks fool you. He's so crooked he might as well be a Clan leader. Arms deals, trafficking. He's a piece of work."

"Jung?"

"No better than Atkins. He's been my target from the start; just hard to find. The problem is he'd been talking to a lot of the old board members recently and others. That's why they had to go."

"Debra Hollis?"

"She turned into a whistle blower. I don't think Atkins wants her dead but he has to."

"She's already provided the information."

"You and I both know court cases go nowhere when the witnesses die. I didn't even need to tell you that."

The lights flickered for a few seconds, causing Raizo to look up at them.

"Hm," Shinsuke mused. "High price bunker, low price electric bill." He looked past Raizo at the camera and saw the red light flicker again. It even stayed off for five seconds before coming back on. "Shame, really. All that money and can't keep the lights on. Dangerous when dealing with guys like us, isn't it? Lights going off."

Raizo stared at him, "What happens next?"

Shinsuke smiled. "Oh, c'mon, Raizo. You know that, among all else, we are artists. The number one rule: a trust artist never reveals his master stroke before it's time."

The door to the cell opened and Henry walked in. "You're done here," he said to Raizo. "We have what we need."

"Cutting our time short? Oh, well. We'll talk again, Raizo."

Raizo stared at him, curiously, as he still felt something was wrong. He slowly started to back away.

"Do tell Mika she's one hell of a shot."

Raizo turned and left the cell with Henry while Shinsuke just laughed.

Raizo went back to the office with the others, followed by Henry and his team.

"Thought he'd never shut up," Henry complained.

"He's always been chatty," Kahler added.

"So," Jung said, "he was hired by Tristin. Damned fool. I'll deal with both of them."

Raizo moved to the wall and leaned against. He stared back at the direction of the cell, taking into account Shinsuke's completely unaltered demeanor given the circumstances and the length of their conversation.

Mika could see it all over his face: something was amiss. "What is it?"

"Something is very wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"He wanted me there. He wanted me to listen while he kept talking."

"Why?" Kahler asked. "What for?"

Raizo kept his mind on that question. He thought about his mannerisms, the story, and the length of it. He looked up when he saw the lights flicker again. Suddenly, so much made sense. He looked at Jung. "Didn't he have a phone with him that you took?"

"Yes," Jung answered.

"And where is it?"

"My tech team is checking it for information. They cracked while you were making chitchat with him."

Raizo exhaled as a look of fury came into his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Mika asked.

"We have to leave. Now!"

Suddenly, the lights turned off in the bunker and all of the automated doors in the facility began to open.

"What the hell?!" Kahler asked.

"Oy!" Henry said to his comms. "Why are doors opening? Hey! Hello! Anyone?!" He looked at Jung. "Nothing but static."

"What?" Jung asked. "How?"

Mika's heart started racing and her breathing came out quicker. She looked at her love and, fearfully, whispered, "Raizo…"

Shinsuke looked around as he saw the lights go off. He let out a sigh, "Sometimes, it's too easy." He undid his handcuffs with great ease, letting them fall to the floor. He smiled. "Showtime."