I will not tolerate any more laziness from you.

Kyuuzou winced as he felt the runes burn down his spine.

We made a pact.

No, we didn't. I escaped and fought against you, and for some reason you decided that you would ressurect me.

The demon hissed in anger in his mind and Kyuuzou gasped as he felt the scabs that had grown over the bullet wounds beginning to fall off, blood trickling down his chest.

You're right. I did ressurect you. and I can drag you right back to the afterlife if I so desire. You don't have to walk among the living to be of service to me.

Kyuuzou held his tounge, though he desperatly wanted to yell at the demon. It was the first time he wanted to do so to anyone.

I am willing to do almost anything, so long as I remain among the living.

Then kill Shimada Kanbei.

NO!

The demon was surprised at Kyuuzou vehemenace. He had never felt the man so focused, so angry.

I will never do so.

You dare disobey me?

Kyuuzou didn't even flinch underneath the pain that began to pulsate throughhis entire body. He merely sat on the floor of the room and slowly withdrew inwards, protecting himself by distancing himself. It had worked before, and was working again. No matter what kind of pain the demon threw at him, Kyuuzou sat silently on the floor, eyes cold and unseeing. It took half of day of this constant torture to finally make the demon stop, impressed at how Kyuuzou had even served as a bodyguard through it all.

The transition from pain to none was more jarring than the way it had started, the only indication of this being a slight hitch in Kyuuzou's step as he followed his Lord.

Your perseverence amuses me. I will have Shimada's life though, no matter what you want.

Try it.

This made the demon laugh, while Kyuuzou thought for a moment.

I don't want to serve you anymore.

You have no choice. Without the energy I give you, you can't survive.

But if I found another way of getting that energy, i wouldn't have to serve you.

The demon became wary. Something was going through the assassin's head.

Perhaps.

Give me a fortnight to find a way of substitution. after that...

You do what I want.

It was a reluctant agreement, but one Kyuuzou had to accept, otherwise he wouldn't have any chance of ridding himself of the demon. He felt a searing on the back of his left hand, and the demon whispered

That wll tell you how long you have left. When it's all dissapeared, you're mine.

It was very late, and all the lights were off in the main practice room, but as Kanbei passed it on his way back from having dinner with the soldiers(he found the company more desireable) he heard the singing of swords cutting through air. He walked over and looked through the door. There. Movement within the shadows. As he watched, he smiled faintly. Only one person fought as beautifully as if he were dancing. Kanbei walked into the room and was stopped short by a swordpoint at his throat. He gave Kyuuzou a wry smile, and the blonde lowered both sword and the hood to his cloak.

"You're practicing late."

There was a pause,and then an answer: "It keeps me distracted."

"From what?"

Kyuuzou didn't know why he answered truthfully; he assumed it was because the pain he had recently experienced and how hard he was trying to figure out how to find a way to get himself free of the demon made his tolerance for secrecy negligable.

"You."

"Really?"

Kyuuzou couldn't read Kanbei's voice correctly, and so was wary.

Kanbei approached, and Kyuuzou sheathed his swords. He didn't feel like he was going to do anything dangerous, so Kyuuzou didn't feel threatened. Until he discovered that the older man was close. Perhaps a little too close.

"I've been distracted by you, too."

'What?'

"I have two theories as to what what you said to me means. 'I came back for your sake', or 'I came back to be with you'. Which is right?"

There was a long pause, but Kanbei was patient enough to wait for the answer.

"Both," came the reluctant reply.

"I see."

The two men looked at each other for a long moment, each thinking fairly similar thoughts.

"Out of curiostiy, did you recognize me when we fought for the first time?"

Kyuuzou's eyes gave only a hint of a malign smirk. "Yes."

an idea popped into Kanbei's mind, and there was noharm in asking, "would you mind gathering information for me on the developing situation? If you were good enough to fool so many before and your skills have only grown, I'm certain such a small thing wouldn't be too difficult."

Kyuuzou nodded almost imperceptably,and turned to leave. Kanbei caught Kyuuzou's wrist and brought him roughly to him, making Kyuuzou's eyes wary.

Kanbei leaned down and gently kissed the younger man. "Thank you."

He let Kyuuzou's wrist go, and both of them went their seperate ways.

Kyuuzou sat in the shadows of his room, slightly dazed. What had he felt then? He replayed the moment in his head again, still searching for an answer.

When he had been kissed by Kanbei, it had been as if all the pain, all presence of the leash the demon had on him, dimmed to almost nothing. He had felt as if he was the only onein control of his actions. But what did that mean? Was Kanbei the key to freeing him of his tie tothe demon?

'Back up. What?'

Kyuuzou played with that idea, examining it closely.

So. Kanbei was the deciding factor of his fate. Whether he lived or died determined what course Kyuuzou's life could take.

But why? Why did it feel so...relaxing, so...pleasureable just to be in his presence,let alone to have even vaugely intimate contact. He felt that to better understand that, he'd have to understand what the demon meant by how to replace the energy given to him via their link. Kyuuzou took off his gloves, and looked at the runes that played beneath his skin.

He must understand them.

He slowly shut out every other sense save his sight, and concentrated fully on making out what the mechanism was that was described in the script. With agonizing slowness, he could make out bits and pieces, then phrases, then sentences. He committed every phrase, every detail to memory, before shaking himself awake, pulling away from single-minded concentration back to reality.

It was dawn. It had been a little after dusk when he had started. Very well. He had the day to think it over. He stood and streached, then picked up his swords, threw on his cloak and left the room. He met the other guard outside of the Lord's room, and nodded to him. He could go rest now. The other guard stood and walked past Kyuuzou,who sat down next to the door. When the guard turned to look back, he could barely see Kyuuzou's outline, Kyuuzou nearly dissapeaering completly into the shadows.

The topic of that day was the brewing insurrection. The only information that their spies were bringing in was general; no one could seem to get their hands on any more detailed stuff. Kyuuzou saw his chance both to be of service to Kanbei and to get away from the Lord he was serving. The man was quite capable of trying Kyuuzou's patience.

"I'll go."

"What?" his Lord asked, startled. Kyuuzou rarely ventured to do anything helpful aside from keeping him alive. "You certain that your partner can take care of me himself?"

Kyuuzou nodded slightly.

"Be back by this time tomorrow. Hopefully you will have more information than others have."

Kyuuzou nodded slightly, stood, and left, silently melting into the shadows.

It didn't take Kyuuzou long to find,and then follow, whispers of the insurrection. True, it had been slightly harder than he had thought it would be, which was a testament to the skill of whomever was running the program, but it was still far too easy.

'People have become sloppy, in this new age.'

He found a group covertly walking along, caught abit of their conversation, and then followed them. Once again, the leader of the group showed that he had more intellegence than most; rather than picking a secluded area. he had chosen one of the busiest sections of the city to found his group. Kyuuzou slunk in through an alternate entrance/exit he found after a few minutes of looking, and then followed the more sedate voices. He knew that the loud,excited ones were probably new to the group; those would be useless. The calmer ones belonged to those who were already deep in the intrigue; those wouldprove helpful. He stuck close tothe shadows, nothing giving away his presence. In the past, he had learned to smother, even change, his aura, and that skill was proving useful now. He slunk along, wandering deep into the building. He finally came across a room that was secluded,but heavily guarded against intrustion. Its walls were too thick to hear through, there was only one entrance which was heavily guarded, no ventilation shafts in the ceiling, and no secret passages.

Too bad it wasn't shadow-proof.

He waited until people began to congregate, and slipped into the shadow of a person entering and slid into the darkest corner possible as soon as he was inside. He wrapped the shadows about him tightly, so that only the faintest glimmer of his eyes would be visible to someone whoknew what to look for, as he knew most people would not. And even if they did find him, he was good enough to make a quick escape.

'And it's not like I can die through normal means,'he thought to himself.

As he watched, the room slowly filled,Kyuuzou recognizing quite a few people from the days of the war, people who had been clients of his. Others he did not know. But the one who they all stood for, he recognized very, very well.

'I hadn't thought he'd stay around here.'

"Toshiyo-sama," was the general murmured greeting to the man as he entered. He looked remarkably like his older brother, Genma, who had run the assassin ring Kyuuzou had been a part of. Toshiyo and Genma had been many years apart in age; Toshiyo was about Kyuuzou's age. He hadn't known what his beloved older brother did for a living until after Genma had died. Kyuuzou could only imagine what a shock that must have been. Kyuuzou leaned comfortably against the wall,and waited. If he remembered correctly, Toshiyo was a charismatic speaker, intellegent, but very hot-tempered. He wondered if he had stayed the same as he grew. The minute Toshiyo began speaking, Kyuuzou knew that this Toshiyo was the same as he remembered.

Kyuuzou listened intently, and absorbed every word of the conversation that followed:

Toshiyo smiled cheerily and encouragingly at all those assembled, greeting each by name. He bid them all to sit and relax, and then began to speak on the situation at hand:

"Things are moving swiftly along. We have agents in almostevery organization in this city who tell us what those people know of us and confuse the information, so that everyone is chasing a different, false lead. However, we know every move of theirs. Our supply of goods is steadily growing to the point we need it, while we are slowly gaining popularity and support among the people. Things are going very well indeed." the pride and satsifaction in Toshiyo's voice pleased those present, but his demenor abruptly became more serious.

"There is just one thing I need to know; I have heard that a specific person of interest has returned to this city. Have you found him?"

"No,Toshiyo-sama, we have been unable to locate him."

"That's too bad. Please keep on looking." Only Kyuuzou could read the deep undercurrent of anger in those words, while most only read the dissapointment. "Well,we'll leave that until later. Have we had any success in infiltrating the Castle?"

"Once more, Toshiyo-sama,I regret to report that we have made no progress. The Lord seems to have a sixth sense for traitors and spies. He reviews all those that are to be employed close to him, and dismisses all that we plant."

Toshiyo frowned. "I did not think he was so intellegent. Rumor had it that while he was good with business, he lacked common sense."

"However, those who were dismissed did bring some interesting news. You remember how he used to have a bodyguard near him at all time?"

"Yes."

"It seems that he doesn't anymore, or, when he does, it's only during the night and special occassions."

Toshiyo smiled ferally. "Good. He's getting complacent. But, enough of this. Continue our efforts. In the meantime, we have other matters to discuss."

"Yes, Toshiyo-sama."

Toshiyo gave those assembled a dazzling smile which made them smile back.

"So, let's see. Has someone created a detailed map of the city?"

"The map is almost completed. But, Toshiyo-sama..."

"Yes?"

"The men are afraid to go into the Yuurei district."

Toshiyo frowned. "I do not remember a district called that."

"Oh, I'm sorry Toshiyo-sama. You might remember it as Kakusareta district."

"Why is it now called 'Yuurei'?"

"Because it is said that that district is haunted by the ghosts of the assassins and all those they killed. Very few people live within two blocks of the house that the assassins were based out of."

"I see. Then I will go."

"Toshiyo-sama!"

Toshiyo held up his hand for silence. "They will not harm me. And perhaps they can tell me where the one I seek is. But that is for later. Tell me, what supplies do we still need?"

"It depends on how Toshiyo-sama wants to go about seizing control."

"No guns."

"But that would make things so much easier!"

"No guns."

The way Toshiyo spoke those words silenced all objections.

"The only supply we need more of now is manpower."

"That can only be accomplished by campaigning. But we cannot afford to expose ourselves now. We must continue advancing our cause quietly, gaining the support of any samurai that comes into our city. Make certain that we get to him before the Lord or any other employers do. Convince them of our stance before their minds are polluted."

He gave a reassuring smile that assuaged all their fears. "Do not worry, my friends! Soon, all our efforts will pay off, and the samurai will regain their rightful place in society! We will prove our worth and prowress beyong any doubts, reclaim our heritage, and upset the new regiem that seeks to oppress and belittle us! Do not falter now, when victory is coming close at hand."

The enthusiasm that this generated in those at hand was intense, and everyone left the meeting in good spirits, to go about doing what Toshiyo had requested, leaving Toshiyo and Kyuuzou alone in the room together, Kyuuzou still observing the man with mild interest.

Toshiyo sighed. If only he could find that bastard, he'd feel everything he was doing was more than worth the effort.

"I will avenge you, brother. Then you will rest in peace."

Toshiyo drew his sword and slashed the candle that lit the room, it tumbling into the small opening that was filled with the wax that dripped from it, and the candle sputtered out.

"I will kill him!" Toshiyo snarled into the darkness. After that moment of rashness, he regreted his decision, for now he was lost in complete darkness. He looked around and started. He thought he had seen two glowing red orbs hanging in the darkness, but when he looked again, they were gone, but he was still left unnerved. Had something else been in the room with him when the meeting was going on?

"Nonsense. Nothing could have gotten in without my noticing."

He walked carefully,and found a wall, before letting his hand run over it. He finally came tothe door and squinted as it he opened it, his eyes painfully adjusting tothe sudden light. As he was blinded, he never saw the shadow seperate from his own and dissapear down the corridor.