Kotaro stared at the body in distress. He was found that morning by a villager and Rennoshin was called on the scene immediately. The ninjas followed closely behind but Kotaro was the only one who didn't want to see the body. The thought of another samurai being killed right under their noses and under their supervision caused his stomach to churn, and just staring at the body made him want to throw up.
"You look like you want to vomit." Goemon pointed out, bringing Kotaro out of his trance and slightly jumping in surprise.
"I just don't feel very well." Looking away from Goemon, Kotaro looks back at the body and drops his shoulders when Rennoshin finds the "Corpse" symbol on the man's chest.
Noticing his strange behavior, Goemon pulls Kotaro by his arm away from the crowd and body, finding a more secluded area where he spoke to him with a quiet tone and gives him a look of concern.
"What's going on? You didn't want to leave the mansion, you were quiet on the ride here, and now you look sick. Not to mention, you came back last night from the banquet in a pissed off mood." Goemon shifts around and tries to get Kotaro to look at him, but his eyes don't focus as his mind wanders off again.
Grumbling in annoyance, Goemon grabs Kotaro's face with one hand and pulls his face up to make him look him in the eye.
"Hey! Answer me. What the fuck is going on with you?" Kotaro stares at him with some shock. It was the first time he's heard a swear word come from his lips as he is usually careful about what he says.
Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Kotaro gave in and softly pulled back from Goemon's hand and opened his mouth to speak.
"I spoke to Hitomi yesterday and she confessed that she was behind these assassinations. She even mentioned that someone else was gonna be killed." Looking back in the direction of the crowd, Kotaro frowns as his shoulders dropped. "It's hard for me to see these bodies continuing to pile up with minimum evidence against her."
"And we don't know the reason either," Goemon adds on. "We could just give up. From what I can tell, she's killing the men that have been abusing their power."
"We can't just give up!"
"The Shogun is about to pull the plug! We've got nothing but the word of the Yagyu bitch!" Goemon shouts, shutting up the albino as he continues to glare at him. "I don't like the idea either. This could be done today or it could go on for months, but if we have no lead we can't continue."
"Shut up, you two." Saizo appears behind the two, making them look back at him with a frown. "We found something."
Walking back up to the body, Kotaro and Goemon find Rennoshin holding a few of the rings that were scattered on the ground. Rubbing his fingers together and smelling whatever he found, he looks over at the tall ninja and asks him to reveal some skin on his arm. Doing as he says, Sasuke holds out his arm for Rennoshin before some of what was on his fingers was applied.
"It's not poison, is it?" Sasuke asks, somewhat worried as he felt the cool gel on his skin.
"How does your skin feel?" Renn asked, completely ignoring his question.
"Kind of hot. Like it's burning my skin. But also cool, since it feels like the entire area is now numb."
Rennoshin looks over at the other ninjas and nods his head.
"It seems to be a Western type of anti-inflammatory. While it smells like there are calendula and honey in it, there is a faint chemical smell in it that I have no knowledge of." He explains.
"Could it be from the victim?" Goemon asks.
"I would need a further examination of him but it seems like he doesn't have any scarring that is in need of this type of medicine."
"So, it may have belonged to the assassin. What type of scarring would they have?" Saizo asks as he looks back at Sasuke as he attempts to get the strange gel off his arm.
"It can range from a rash and acne for less severity, any type of scar tissue from a wound or a burn,"
"Burn?" Sasuke interrupts, looking down at the doctor as though a sudden lightbulb went off in his head.
"You have someone in mind?" Renn asks.
"Actually, I do." Fixing his kimono, Sasuke begins walking away as he waves to the group. "Don't wait up for me."
~*~ yagyu criminal ~*~
Hitomi strolled around the city, a little bored as she went to all the shops and bought just a few things. She was attempting to avoid her brother at all costs after what had happened just the night before. And with her husband in a different village, she couldn't seek him for comfort. Musashi, in general, wasn't around as he disappeared a few days back.
Walking in the direction that the tobacco shop was, a sudden figure caught her eye and she looked back to find a certain samurai fidgeting as he cautiously watched his surroundings. The figure had dark red hair that had grown out over the years since she had last seen him, but his posture was the same.
In the Mikawa city, Ando hid.
And Ando was the last samurai she had to kill.
~*~ yagyu criminal ~*~
It took him a few hours but Sasuke was finally able to track down the person that piqued his interest.
Walking into the tea house, he asks for the room that the girl was in before being led all the way down the hall and into a private room. Yet he knocked, he welcomed himself in before she was able to speak up.
Sasuke and the girl stared at each other for a long minute before she offered him the seat in front of her. She continues to stay quiet as she sips on her tea and patiently waits for whatever Sasuke had to say to her.
"Maybe it was a good thing that you showed me your face," Sasuke comments, watching the girl sip the tea with a bored expression. "We found some of the medicine that you use for the burns on your neck on the last victim. When the doctor was able to identify it, I could only think of the least obvious person with third-degree burns in an open area of their body."
"I'm actually surprised. I would have thought that I would be gone to the mainland before you figured out who was killing them cumbergrounds." Sasuke raises an eyebrow as she spoke, a little confused about what she meant by that. "Oh well, it can't be helped."
"I'm gonna have to take you in. You're gonna confess for killing these men and you will be trialed by the Shogun,"
Sasuke was then interrupted by the girl laughing.
"I find it amusing that you didn't call them 'innocent'. You must know some of what they were capable of."
"Hayata was a bit abusive when it came to power and authority. Aina even mentioned that he was a bit entitled also." Sasuke explains.
"That's just the surface." The girl leans in closer to Sasuke, narrowing her eyes at him as she rests against the table in between the two. "Did you find out my story?"
"Are you somehow related to any of the victims?"
She shook her head.
"The man you found today is named Kawabe. He is the man who raped and burned me 8 years ago." Sasuke gasps a bit, taken aback as she glares at him with seriousness. "I was only 10 when Kawabe and his friends decided to use their new power and take it to a test. My family lived away from the city and we were the victims who could easily be targeted. They broke into the home in the middle of the night, tied my father and made him balance on a noose as they made him watch my mother and my siblings being raped by those lust sicked savages." She sits back, her shoulders dropping as she feels her chest tighten. Taking in a few deep breaths, the girl continues as she pours herself another cup of hot tea. "My father was hung. My mother's throat was slashed. My siblings and I were shortly tortured before they stole the little we had and set our home ablaze. I don't know how I was able to make it out safely, but I owe it all to her for helping me heal and allowing me to take revenge on the man who did such things to a little child."
"Her? You talking about Yagyu?" Sasuke asks.
"Hitomi has raised me these past 8 years. Helped me overcome a lot. I owe her my life."
"So Hitomi IS behind these assassinations!" Sasuke's light bulb pops on, feeling quite proud of himself as though he figured it out by himself.
"It doesn't matter anyway. You know who is behind it, mine as well tell you that we're almost done." The girl blankly states, sipping on the tea in boredom.
"Almost?"
"If you didn't figure it out all the way, I'll give you a hint. You're still missing one more body."
Sasuke quickly stands up straight, dashing out of the room in a hurry towards Hanzo's mansion. He had to tell the others before it's too late.