Chapter 3
Hito jumped upon roof after roof, finding his way back to the house of his next victim. A smile crossed his face, and he began leaping with excitement, becoming anxious to slaughter the man he learned to hate. It was dark and he could barely see the roof head of him, but something caught him in the corner of his eye. He saw movement, but it was too dark to identify the source. Hito stopped on the current roof and walked silently to the edge. It was a person he saw...a woman. She was walking out into her backyard. He could barely tell, but something shimmered off of her face...she was crying. Hito crept closer, gripping the roof tightly so that he didn't slip. Shouting came from the house she walked out of, but Hito couldn't quite make it out. The girl crouched and buried her face in her sleeves. Her hands moved to cover her ears, blocking out the screaming from inside the house.
"This isn't my place..." Hito whispered before continuing his journey 'home'. His jumping seemed a bit sloppier than before. The main reason why he was such a good killer and the fastest man known in Japan, was that he hadn't a care in the world. No concerns or fears to distract him. But for some reason he couldn't get the girl out of his mind. She looked so in pain and miserable. "Forget about her." Hito commanded himself, forcing himself to sharpen up and continue his short journey as before. Osan...he was still back at the mansion. He had forgotten about Osan until that moment. He was allowing too much to interfere with his work, no longer would he accept it. Hito jumped gracefully from the final roof and landed soundlessly onto the dirt road. He crept inside, stressing over his quietness. He did not wish to awake his victim.
"You've returned. I was wrong." Kiro said casually when he saw Hito. Hito jumped, then turned to Kiro who was sitting at the table. He shot him a glare and quickly maneuvered his hand to the hilt of his sword and ran at him. "What do you think you're doing boy?!" Kiro stood up quickly, knocking his chair backwards. Hito drew his sword swiftly and thrust it close to his neck. Kiro's eyes widened and sweat trickled off of his face. "You...you can't kill me."
"But it's okay for you to try killing me?" Hito's eyes stayed in small slits, a cold glower that could scare any man away.
"What are you talking about?" Kiro was slowly moving his hand to Hito's hilt
"Don't play dumb with me!" Hito brought his sword back and shoved it into Kiro's stomach, causing him to double over in pain. "You sent me on that assassination hoping it would kill me!" Hito put his foot on Kiro's back and slightly pushed down. "You underestimate me, Kiro Sousen." He pushed down harder, causing the man to fall flat on his face.
"Hito...Himura...you could never survive without my help!" Kiro struggled to stand, but Hito kept him level to the ground.
"I did before you found me. Someone else will find a use for me and pick me up like you did." Hito kicked his side, "maybe they won't try to kill me."
"So what..." Kiro stood up, finding that Hito had temporarily laid off. "So what if I want you dead...who doesn't?" He walked backwards until he hit the wall, then reached into a large split in the wood, where he reached in and grabbed a gun. "Who wouldn't want the honor of knowing they had slain the most hated man with their own hands?"
"Your own hands, huh? You call sending me to a mansion full of guards trying to kill me 'slaying me with your own hands'?" Hito didn't take his eyes off of the gun.
"You were stupid enough to believe it was beneficial to me and take the offer. I say you'd have killed yourself!" Kiro shot the handgun, cutting Hito sharply across the right side of his face. He grimaced and took his hand up, wiping the blood off with his sleeve. After he had smeared some of it on his sleeve, he looked at it, then moved his hand to the hilt of the other sword. He moved his eyes to that of Kiro and glared viscously at him. Kiro shot again, but Hito ducked at the sound, just barely missing a full on hit. He took a wide step forward and drew his second sword in an upward motion towards Kiro. Startled, he aimed straight at Hito's head—which was about two feet away from the gun—and shot. Hito swerved right before the shot was fired, and bashed him on the side of the head with his hilt, knocking him over. He put the tip of his blade to Kiro's throat and sheathed the other. Frantically, Kiro grabbed his gun and aimed it up at Hito again.
"No matter how much you shoot it, you won't hit me." Hito kicked the gun out of Kiro's hands and knelt, keeping his sword at Kiro's throat. "I know you have a reason for killing me other than honor. Tell me."
"Why...why should I?" Kiro had extreme nervousness in his eyes, but tried to keep his cool. Hito tightened his grip on the hilt and shifted the blade closer to his throat.
"Tell me." He demanded again. "And why kill governor Kena?" Kiro kept silent. "What did you have against the governor?"
"I had nothing against him!" Kiro snapped. "Nothing at all...I didn't want him dead." Hito looked strangely at him. "He was my brother."
"But...different last names?"
"No, Sousen is not my real last name. It is my middle that I use for identity protection. I don't want anyone knowing who my brother is, and I want no one knowing who I am either. My real name is Kiro S. Kena."
"That doesn't answer my question of why you sent me to kill him."
"I didn't expect you to kill him. It was the most heavily guarded place in this area. I thought and hoped you would die before getting to him. And I knew that Ishine could not fail. But he did...and I still don't understand how he could fall to you."
"The smallest bit of carelessness can ruin you during a fight." Hito loosened his grip without noticing. "So what was the other reason for killing me?"
"You were trouble for my brother. Do you know how much of a nuisance an assassin is to a governor? How many complaints he gets about husbands, wives, and siblings, getting killed? You weren't making his job any easier than it was to start with!" Kiro hit Hito's sword aside with his hand, and quickly jumped up, running out of the house.
"Kiro!" Hito quickly turned around and chased after him. As soon as he exited the house, he was grabbed and pulled back by the collar of his shirt. A dark, covered face moved close to his ear.
"Master wants to see you immediately." The man whispered before jumping away. Hito looked around, trying to find Kiro. But in the darkness, he had gotten away. He sighed, and made his way to the house of his master. The mud sprayed up onto his legs and he felt almost blind, running in the darkness. But he knew the way well and got there in little time.
"Master?" Hito asked as soon as he opened the rice-paper door to his master's small home. Shihan looked at Hito. He didn't look very happy.
"Sit. I have much to discuss with you." His eyes were locked on Hito, a mix of agitation and concern. He was holding a sheath in his hands. "Hito," He sighed, "It has come to my attention that you have been blinded by fury and amusement."
"What?" Hito asked, eyes widening.
"Hito, the Shousa Kyouhen style teaches to feel sorry for those you kill. You remember that, right?"
"Master, how can I feel sorry for those who insult and defy me?"
"You are taking their lives Hito! That is the one thing that people keep sacred to themselves. You steal away their most prizes possession. That you should feel bad for." Shihan moved a bit closer.
"Are you telling me to regret my actions? Shousa Kyouhen is killing your foe quickly and acting only for the benefit of others.
"And you have already bent those rules. Hito, I slowly accepted your choice when you decided to be an assassin, but what I feared would happen is happening. The more skill you gain and the more you rip away the existence of men, you become more inhuman. It is becoming your way of life, a natural custom. I'm worried about you, Hito. I ask you to quit your job as an assassin and work for me. For pay of course."
"Quit...?" Hito stared blankly at his master. Without realizing it, all that he said was true. "Work for you? Master, I already serve you by practicing the style you have trained me under. I represent you, Master! I am becoming more and more known and feared. What great power rests under my name! Citizens tremble when my name is spoken. You have raised an infamous celebrity. Isn't that enough for you? Let me keep my job, master."
"This is what I mean!" Shihan stood up and through the sheath he was holding against the wall. "I hadn't even informed you on what I wanted you to do, and you stick up for you murderous job of slaying men! You have become attached to what should not be enjoyable! It's murder, Hito. Even if the original purpose was to slaughter, it was not supposed to be liked."
"Master, my existence is already known by over half of Japan! I'm in history books. What I have done will never be forgotten. It is no longer necessary killing, it has become a test of strength between myself and my opponents."
"Quit, Hito. Being an assassin is ruining your humanity. I am growing a garden in my yard. I will pay you to tend them every day. It would be good for you. Growing and giving life rather than taking it."
"A garden? Every boss I've had says I have immortal skill that can be stopped by no one. Except my last one...he said it but didn't mean it...but at least he knows of it now. Such skill cannot be wasted on tending a garden!"
"So you insist on killing?" Shihan asked. Hito hesitantly nodded.
"I won't be needing the reverse blade sword you gave to me. May I have my other blade back?"
"Keep the sakabatou. It may teach you something."
"...Thank you, master."
"Do not address me as master any longer." Shihan said. "I hereby disown you as my pupil." Hito was surprised, but forced himself to stand.
"I understand...Shihan." Hito turned and exited the house.
"I have lost him..." Shihan whispered after Hito had shut the door. "I knew it was wrong to teach him to kill from such a young age..."
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Hito returned to the house that he used to stay at. He stared at it for a long while, went inside, grabbed his black cloak, and left. Swinging his cloak over himself, you dragged his feet down the dirt road, hiding in the shadows of roofs.
"There you are!" A voice called, pulling on Hito's cloak. "I've still got a score to settle with you!" Hito turned around to see Osan standing in his path.
"You still want to fight me?" Hito put his hand on his hilt. "I'd rather not kill you, but if I must." He sighed. Osan backed away a step.
"Y-you wouldn't. W-would you?"
"I would. I am an assassin remember? Killing is my way of life." Hito repeated what he said over and over in his mind. It was true. Shihan was right. He bit his lower lip, then turned back around and continued walking.
"So where are you going?" Osan asked quietly, walking quickly to catch up to him.
"No where really."
"Then why are you even walking? Can't you just sit at home? Or do you just walk around every day? Strange, I never saw you before you saved me. So you must not just wander around every day..."
"I have no home." Hito stopped and sat down, dust flying up with the impact. "I am a no one now...a simple rurouni..." He looked up at the sky. "No master, no boss. I've lost everything. Even my humanity."
"Why don't you train me? That'll give you something to do." Osan suggested, smiling.
"My judgment and reasons have changed, but the answer remains the same. I will not ruin your life as well. Too many lives have I already stripped away."
"What do you mean? The training would kill me?"
"No, but the result is just as bad. You become emotionless. You lose everything. Every opportunity that had opened to you earlier in life closes. Once you start killing, you can't stop. It destroys you from the inside. Trust me, you don't want it."
"But I have a strong will! I will use the skill to protect people like me! I won't become what you have!" Osan caught himself and stared at Hito. "I didn't mean that..." Hito didn't seem to notice.
"When anger takes over you, the fury releases. Your skill makes you arrogant and you kill recklessly. It's not a matter of will." Hito said. "I speak from experience. I didn't start like this."
"What...do you mean? How did you become an assassin?"
Hito jumped upon roof after roof, finding his way back to the house of his next victim. A smile crossed his face, and he began leaping with excitement, becoming anxious to slaughter the man he learned to hate. It was dark and he could barely see the roof head of him, but something caught him in the corner of his eye. He saw movement, but it was too dark to identify the source. Hito stopped on the current roof and walked silently to the edge. It was a person he saw...a woman. She was walking out into her backyard. He could barely tell, but something shimmered off of her face...she was crying. Hito crept closer, gripping the roof tightly so that he didn't slip. Shouting came from the house she walked out of, but Hito couldn't quite make it out. The girl crouched and buried her face in her sleeves. Her hands moved to cover her ears, blocking out the screaming from inside the house.
"This isn't my place..." Hito whispered before continuing his journey 'home'. His jumping seemed a bit sloppier than before. The main reason why he was such a good killer and the fastest man known in Japan, was that he hadn't a care in the world. No concerns or fears to distract him. But for some reason he couldn't get the girl out of his mind. She looked so in pain and miserable. "Forget about her." Hito commanded himself, forcing himself to sharpen up and continue his short journey as before. Osan...he was still back at the mansion. He had forgotten about Osan until that moment. He was allowing too much to interfere with his work, no longer would he accept it. Hito jumped gracefully from the final roof and landed soundlessly onto the dirt road. He crept inside, stressing over his quietness. He did not wish to awake his victim.
"You've returned. I was wrong." Kiro said casually when he saw Hito. Hito jumped, then turned to Kiro who was sitting at the table. He shot him a glare and quickly maneuvered his hand to the hilt of his sword and ran at him. "What do you think you're doing boy?!" Kiro stood up quickly, knocking his chair backwards. Hito drew his sword swiftly and thrust it close to his neck. Kiro's eyes widened and sweat trickled off of his face. "You...you can't kill me."
"But it's okay for you to try killing me?" Hito's eyes stayed in small slits, a cold glower that could scare any man away.
"What are you talking about?" Kiro was slowly moving his hand to Hito's hilt
"Don't play dumb with me!" Hito brought his sword back and shoved it into Kiro's stomach, causing him to double over in pain. "You sent me on that assassination hoping it would kill me!" Hito put his foot on Kiro's back and slightly pushed down. "You underestimate me, Kiro Sousen." He pushed down harder, causing the man to fall flat on his face.
"Hito...Himura...you could never survive without my help!" Kiro struggled to stand, but Hito kept him level to the ground.
"I did before you found me. Someone else will find a use for me and pick me up like you did." Hito kicked his side, "maybe they won't try to kill me."
"So what..." Kiro stood up, finding that Hito had temporarily laid off. "So what if I want you dead...who doesn't?" He walked backwards until he hit the wall, then reached into a large split in the wood, where he reached in and grabbed a gun. "Who wouldn't want the honor of knowing they had slain the most hated man with their own hands?"
"Your own hands, huh? You call sending me to a mansion full of guards trying to kill me 'slaying me with your own hands'?" Hito didn't take his eyes off of the gun.
"You were stupid enough to believe it was beneficial to me and take the offer. I say you'd have killed yourself!" Kiro shot the handgun, cutting Hito sharply across the right side of his face. He grimaced and took his hand up, wiping the blood off with his sleeve. After he had smeared some of it on his sleeve, he looked at it, then moved his hand to the hilt of the other sword. He moved his eyes to that of Kiro and glared viscously at him. Kiro shot again, but Hito ducked at the sound, just barely missing a full on hit. He took a wide step forward and drew his second sword in an upward motion towards Kiro. Startled, he aimed straight at Hito's head—which was about two feet away from the gun—and shot. Hito swerved right before the shot was fired, and bashed him on the side of the head with his hilt, knocking him over. He put the tip of his blade to Kiro's throat and sheathed the other. Frantically, Kiro grabbed his gun and aimed it up at Hito again.
"No matter how much you shoot it, you won't hit me." Hito kicked the gun out of Kiro's hands and knelt, keeping his sword at Kiro's throat. "I know you have a reason for killing me other than honor. Tell me."
"Why...why should I?" Kiro had extreme nervousness in his eyes, but tried to keep his cool. Hito tightened his grip on the hilt and shifted the blade closer to his throat.
"Tell me." He demanded again. "And why kill governor Kena?" Kiro kept silent. "What did you have against the governor?"
"I had nothing against him!" Kiro snapped. "Nothing at all...I didn't want him dead." Hito looked strangely at him. "He was my brother."
"But...different last names?"
"No, Sousen is not my real last name. It is my middle that I use for identity protection. I don't want anyone knowing who my brother is, and I want no one knowing who I am either. My real name is Kiro S. Kena."
"That doesn't answer my question of why you sent me to kill him."
"I didn't expect you to kill him. It was the most heavily guarded place in this area. I thought and hoped you would die before getting to him. And I knew that Ishine could not fail. But he did...and I still don't understand how he could fall to you."
"The smallest bit of carelessness can ruin you during a fight." Hito loosened his grip without noticing. "So what was the other reason for killing me?"
"You were trouble for my brother. Do you know how much of a nuisance an assassin is to a governor? How many complaints he gets about husbands, wives, and siblings, getting killed? You weren't making his job any easier than it was to start with!" Kiro hit Hito's sword aside with his hand, and quickly jumped up, running out of the house.
"Kiro!" Hito quickly turned around and chased after him. As soon as he exited the house, he was grabbed and pulled back by the collar of his shirt. A dark, covered face moved close to his ear.
"Master wants to see you immediately." The man whispered before jumping away. Hito looked around, trying to find Kiro. But in the darkness, he had gotten away. He sighed, and made his way to the house of his master. The mud sprayed up onto his legs and he felt almost blind, running in the darkness. But he knew the way well and got there in little time.
"Master?" Hito asked as soon as he opened the rice-paper door to his master's small home. Shihan looked at Hito. He didn't look very happy.
"Sit. I have much to discuss with you." His eyes were locked on Hito, a mix of agitation and concern. He was holding a sheath in his hands. "Hito," He sighed, "It has come to my attention that you have been blinded by fury and amusement."
"What?" Hito asked, eyes widening.
"Hito, the Shousa Kyouhen style teaches to feel sorry for those you kill. You remember that, right?"
"Master, how can I feel sorry for those who insult and defy me?"
"You are taking their lives Hito! That is the one thing that people keep sacred to themselves. You steal away their most prizes possession. That you should feel bad for." Shihan moved a bit closer.
"Are you telling me to regret my actions? Shousa Kyouhen is killing your foe quickly and acting only for the benefit of others.
"And you have already bent those rules. Hito, I slowly accepted your choice when you decided to be an assassin, but what I feared would happen is happening. The more skill you gain and the more you rip away the existence of men, you become more inhuman. It is becoming your way of life, a natural custom. I'm worried about you, Hito. I ask you to quit your job as an assassin and work for me. For pay of course."
"Quit...?" Hito stared blankly at his master. Without realizing it, all that he said was true. "Work for you? Master, I already serve you by practicing the style you have trained me under. I represent you, Master! I am becoming more and more known and feared. What great power rests under my name! Citizens tremble when my name is spoken. You have raised an infamous celebrity. Isn't that enough for you? Let me keep my job, master."
"This is what I mean!" Shihan stood up and through the sheath he was holding against the wall. "I hadn't even informed you on what I wanted you to do, and you stick up for you murderous job of slaying men! You have become attached to what should not be enjoyable! It's murder, Hito. Even if the original purpose was to slaughter, it was not supposed to be liked."
"Master, my existence is already known by over half of Japan! I'm in history books. What I have done will never be forgotten. It is no longer necessary killing, it has become a test of strength between myself and my opponents."
"Quit, Hito. Being an assassin is ruining your humanity. I am growing a garden in my yard. I will pay you to tend them every day. It would be good for you. Growing and giving life rather than taking it."
"A garden? Every boss I've had says I have immortal skill that can be stopped by no one. Except my last one...he said it but didn't mean it...but at least he knows of it now. Such skill cannot be wasted on tending a garden!"
"So you insist on killing?" Shihan asked. Hito hesitantly nodded.
"I won't be needing the reverse blade sword you gave to me. May I have my other blade back?"
"Keep the sakabatou. It may teach you something."
"...Thank you, master."
"Do not address me as master any longer." Shihan said. "I hereby disown you as my pupil." Hito was surprised, but forced himself to stand.
"I understand...Shihan." Hito turned and exited the house.
"I have lost him..." Shihan whispered after Hito had shut the door. "I knew it was wrong to teach him to kill from such a young age..."
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Hito returned to the house that he used to stay at. He stared at it for a long while, went inside, grabbed his black cloak, and left. Swinging his cloak over himself, you dragged his feet down the dirt road, hiding in the shadows of roofs.
"There you are!" A voice called, pulling on Hito's cloak. "I've still got a score to settle with you!" Hito turned around to see Osan standing in his path.
"You still want to fight me?" Hito put his hand on his hilt. "I'd rather not kill you, but if I must." He sighed. Osan backed away a step.
"Y-you wouldn't. W-would you?"
"I would. I am an assassin remember? Killing is my way of life." Hito repeated what he said over and over in his mind. It was true. Shihan was right. He bit his lower lip, then turned back around and continued walking.
"So where are you going?" Osan asked quietly, walking quickly to catch up to him.
"No where really."
"Then why are you even walking? Can't you just sit at home? Or do you just walk around every day? Strange, I never saw you before you saved me. So you must not just wander around every day..."
"I have no home." Hito stopped and sat down, dust flying up with the impact. "I am a no one now...a simple rurouni..." He looked up at the sky. "No master, no boss. I've lost everything. Even my humanity."
"Why don't you train me? That'll give you something to do." Osan suggested, smiling.
"My judgment and reasons have changed, but the answer remains the same. I will not ruin your life as well. Too many lives have I already stripped away."
"What do you mean? The training would kill me?"
"No, but the result is just as bad. You become emotionless. You lose everything. Every opportunity that had opened to you earlier in life closes. Once you start killing, you can't stop. It destroys you from the inside. Trust me, you don't want it."
"But I have a strong will! I will use the skill to protect people like me! I won't become what you have!" Osan caught himself and stared at Hito. "I didn't mean that..." Hito didn't seem to notice.
"When anger takes over you, the fury releases. Your skill makes you arrogant and you kill recklessly. It's not a matter of will." Hito said. "I speak from experience. I didn't start like this."
"What...do you mean? How did you become an assassin?"