"Where are you going?" Munenori's sudden voice freezes Hitomi as she was halfway out the door before she rolls her eyes and sighs in annoyance.
"Out. Just to the town." She simply answers without looking back.
"Do you have your swords on you?" He pushes.
Opening the bottom part of her kimono slightly, she pulls out her o tanto from its sheath strap, showing him the small dagger before hiding it again.
"I hope you aren't going out to use that."
"It's for protection," Hitomi replies back sarcastically with a smirk.
"Why must you be going out this late?"
"I'm out of tobacco. I'm going to get more since I found a tobacco shop on my way here."
Munenori gives her a curious look from across the room.
"We have tobacco here. Why must you bother buying tobacco we have stored here?"
"It's not just normal tobacco. It's... a special kind of tobacco." Hitomi remarks in a low voice. Shaking her head, she doesn't wait for another word from her brother as she walks out of the mansion without a look back.
The tense atmosphere was slowly disappearing the further she walked from the residence and she was able to relax as she made her way into the small city and found the liveliness uplifting. She missed being free like this, but she was somewhat happy to be home. Seeing her father made her happy that he was still in good health. And able to scold her for being an assassin. Hitomi though was satisfied that no one was suspecting her husband yet, and being home was a good alibi for when they find the fifth man.
Scanning the high trees in the area, she smiles to herself and nods slightly enough for no one else to notice before there was a slight rustle in the trees and whatever figure was in the leaves was now gone.
Turning the corner, Hitomi scans the area again before finding the entrance to the tobacco shop and smelling the strong sense of drugs and herbs surround the area. Walking over with a slight hope in her step, she could only smile to herself as she closed the distance to the shop and imagined going back to her room with fresh new tobacco leaves to smoke. Nearing the curtain, a sudden ruckus erupts from inside the shop and a sudden figure bursts through the doorway, running into Hitomi and slamming his elbow into her jaw. Falling to the ground, Hitomi looks up to find a familiar looking samurai in full attire; including the swords at his side, scan his surroundings before looking down at her with a hostile stare, causing her to freeze in horror.
"Stupid girl!" He shouts as he takes her by her hair.
"Agh!" Hitomi's face churns in pain as she attempts to grab his hand and release his grip from her hair.
"Don't you know to respect the authority?!" As his other hand moves to the handle of his sword, his hand was grabbed by someone else's and makes him halt his movement.
"Don't even think about it." A low voice says to him before he clicks his tongue and drops Hitomi on the ground.
Walking away without another word, the samurai disappears around the corner before the ninja kneels down to her height.
"You okay?" Hitomi looks up at Kotaro before spitting out some blood on the dirt.
"I bite my tongue." She simply answers as she gently rubs her scalp with her fingers and messes with her hair to make it look nice.
"Other than that?" He asks as he helps her up and scans her body.
"No, that's it." Looking up at him, she lets out a sigh and bows. "Thank you, by the way."
"Your welcome. What are you doing out here anyway?"
"I should be asking you the same thing." She counters.
"I'm just out. Goemon went out for a drink at the brothel." Hitomi then notices his casual clothing and a cologne to mask the smell of blood that would usually surround them. He smelt fresh and it was attractive for a second.
"Ah." She simply responds with a nod.
"What are you doing in front of a tobacco shop?" Kotaro asks again without a bat of his narrow eyes.
"I ran out of leaves. So I came to buy some more." Hitomi replies as she turns and enters the shop, aroused by the strong sense of the drugs.
"Wouldn't your brother have a life's worth amount at the mansion?" The ninja asks as he follows her through the shop and scans the leaves that she was searching for. "What is this one?" He suddenly asks in a curious and surprised manner.
"Blue Leaf. It's quite hard to find inland so it is usually exported from the West. I just happen to know where to find it." Kotaro gives Hitomi a suspicious stare as she takes the entire stock of the Blue Leaf tobacco and brings it up to the shop manager with a small smile.
Yet he gave her a strange stare, once she pulled out the yen and handed him more than what it was priced for, he smiled politely and bowed her a good night.
Walking out of the shop with her, Kotaro watched her closely and wondered what was going on in her head. If she was the murderer, why was she doing all of this? And why them? They may have been hated by the public, but that wouldn't be the only reason? He was itching to know her motives.
"You still suspect me?" She asks without facing the ninja.
But before he was able to reply with anything, Goemon's voice interrupts him from behind and surprises the two.
"Kotaro! There's another body!"
Kotaro glances at him in surprise before staring back at Hitomi and finding a slightly surprised expression on her face.
It didn't make sense to him.
~*~ Yagyu Criminal ~*~
The three stared at the body in awe, but only two have seen him before.
On the ground was the samurai who harassed Hitomi at the tobacco shop; his swords thrown to the side, his armor and jewelry scattered, and the killer's signature on the man's chest.
"How did this happen?" Kotaro asks in shock.
"And right under our noses," Goemon adds.
"Am I still a suspect?" Hitomi asks the two as she stares at the familiar body; smiling on the inside.
~*~ Yagyu Criminal ~*~
Making it back to the mansion, Hitomi finds her brother sitting in his office in silence with a brush in his hand and a sake glass in the other.
"You not gonna sleep tonight?" She asks as she walks into the office and closes the sliding door behind her.
"I still got a few things to do before I could sleep. I don't have training tomorrow anyway." He answers without looking up at his sister.
"Hm." Hitomi simply hums as she takes the sake bottle and sips it in delight. "There's another dead body."
The words halt Munenori's movements and he looks up at his sister in surprise, finding her drinking the alcohol as though it wasn't a big deal.
"What?"
"And I'm not a suspect anymore." She continues with a grin. "Kotaro was with me the entire time and Goemon was the one who found the body." Hitomi puts down the bottle of sake on the desk and pulls out her pipe with the new batch of leaves and begins lighting a fresh smoke.
"From what I can tell you are still related to these murders, even if you aren't killing the men." Munenori scolds with a grim frown.
Hitomi only giggles at her brother's words as she releases the smoke from her nostrils.
"Damnit Hitomi!" He shouts at her after punching the ground under him, causing her to slightly jump in surprise. "You have no fucking respect for this family and all you think you can do is kill innocent people while framing it on someone else! The fucking Shogun is looking for your stupid ass,"
"They aren't innocent!" She shouts back, making her brother silent.
Before speaking again, Hitomi shook her head and takes another drag of the tobacco.
"They are fucking sick. Wrong in the head. No solid intentions. They do things without thinking and believe they can get away with anything because they are under the Tokugawa." Suddenly hitting the desk, Munenori slightly jumps and closes his eyes for a moment. Breathing through his nose, he settles himself before glancing at his sister.
"They have never been innocent." She whispers under her breath as she stood up from the ground and walked out of the room.
Munenori could only absorb the words from his sister before shaking his head and giving himself excuses for her behavior.
But something in the back of his mind made him worry about her life.
~*~ Yagyu Criminal ~*~
Hitomi takes in another drag as she leans out of the window in her room and stares out into the warm night sky.
She was so close to finishing, just three more and she would be able to go away forever with him. Just three more.
"Thank you." She thanks the empty night sky with a smile and another drag from the tobacco.