I continued to follow the thread, my apprehension growing. When I finally came to the end, I saw the cloaked figure and closed my eyes. Judging from the symbol on the cloak, it was the Shujin. Looks like my guess was wrong.

"So you came, Yurei'ha." That voice...

I cocked my head to the side, questioningly. "Kangae...?"

He pulled back his hood, smiling. "Who else?"

I blinked. What was going on...? Kangae was the Shujin!

Answering my unspoken question, he sighed and began to speak. "Yes... I am. As for what is going on... Yurei'ha... No, Yusuke..." he stopped. Took a deep breath, then continued. "I suppressed your memories, hoping you could escape the life of a hitokiri... But... As you know... Fate determined it otherwise..." He laughed slightly. "Every generation... There have been more children taken into the ranks of assassins. I was the first. You were the best. I had hoped... That you could escape my fate... Escape what happened to me... But you are probably wondering... Why the Shujin decided to work beneath a child assassin." His hazel eyes bored into mine. "You remind me so much of my younger self, Yusuke. And I know that you won't betray our secrets. Most of the other hitokiri realize that. So, you have my permission to step down as Shidosha of the Kyokai, if you wish to accept it. If not, well..." The he'd have to kill me was left unspoken.

However, if I revoked my status as Shidosha... I would have to give up my knives... That was something I did not want to do, but I did not want to fight Kangae either...

I swallowed. "What would happen... If I 'retired'?"

He smiled. "Considering the services you gave us in the past, you will be allowed to keep your equipment and memories, in exchange for your promise to help the Kyokai in any event if they call upon your services."

"What kind of 'help'?" I couldn't refrain from asking. I was not going to agree to something I would regret later.

"Maybe an assassination or two."

"As long as it is not someone I know."

"Deal." He nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation." He turned to leave, then paused. "I know what happened with Kumo... That he killed himself. If any one of the other hitokiri wishes to get 'revenge' for his death, they will be taken care of." He finished as he walked away. "If you ever wish to visit us, at the Kyokai or the Hakata, you have my consent."

"Thank you. Oh, and Kangae?" He stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"If anyone hitokiri tries to assassinate any one of my friends, associates, and people I otherwise know, as well as try to botch this peace meeting, I will kill them."

He smiled. "I would be surprised if you didn't." He then left without another word.

I nodded and walked back towards the meeting, occupied in my thoughts. So Kangae was the Shujin. That was a surprising turn of events... But when he is either killed or replaced, the next one will be able to send whatever he wishes at me. Depending on who it is. And, depending on when Kangae is replaced, I could already be dead. Reassuring thought, there.

I paused at the doorway to the conference room. Now I just have to get rid of the feeling I just escaped from the frying pan and fell into the fire. Taking a deep breath, I entered the room.

And... Nearly got my eardrums blasted. Wincing, I took my place behind Koenma.

I raised my eyebrow. "I take it the negotiations weren't going so well in my absence."

"Just shut up, Yusuke." Koenma groaned.

I shrugged. "Whatever." Then looking up at the arguing Demon Lords, I took a deep breath. "SHUT UP!"

They stopped and stared at me. I coughed. "Thank you." I sat down.

Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Yusuke!" Before I knew it, the Wind Master was hugging me. "Long time no see!" I started coughing.

"Jin? LITTLE AIR!"

Jeez... What's with these guys and squeezing me half to death!

"Sorry!" He grinned. No he wasn't.

I couldn't help but smile. "I wouldn't really worry about it, but you do realize that we are in the middle of negotiations? I highly doubt this is the time to play catch-up."

He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I guess you're right."

I just laughed as he took his seat. I glanced back at Hiei, who had stiffened, and was currently glaring death at Jin. I rolled my eyes. I appreciated the fact that he cared enough to be jealous, but Jin was like a brother, for kami's sake. Kurama snickered slightly at Hiei's reaction. Rolling my eyes, I kissed Hiei on the cheek. His eyes widened as he blushed slightly.

"Grow up, Hiei." I muttered, taking my seat again.

Koenma, along with everyone else in the room (excluding Kurama, who was shaking from his attempts to hold back his laughter. But so far, he wasn't succeeding), stared. I blinked. "What?"

Jin just smirked and shook his head. I held back the urge to stick out my tongue at him. And the urge to flip him off. After all, I do have some sense of when not to act like a child, and this was not one of those times. I doubt that Raizen would appreciate it if Koenma's bodyguard flipped the bird at his son. The whole point of this meeting was to divert a war, not start one, which would probably happen if I did do either of those things... Oh well, I'll just hit him in the head next time I see him.

Koenma coughed. "So... back to the meeting...?"

I shivered as I glanced around. I knew that if a hitokiri tried to take me out, as would the assassin, that if I didn't kill him, his fellows would, but I knew for a fact that a Shidosha level hitokiri was preparing to strike.

I saw the knife fly towards Jin. Crap. Grabbing a regular kunai knife, I threw it. And in the same arc with my arm, I summoned my yurei-ha and threw them. I heard the sickening sound of them sliding into flesh a second later, the same instant my knife pinned the other one to the wall. The other assassin ran, I followed, right on his heels.

"Stay here!" I shouted to Hiei and Kurama. "There might be others!" Then I leapt out of the room. This guy was suicidal... Jeez. Just going against me generally meant death, and with the Shujin understanding that I would kill anyone trying to harm one of the people in the peace meeting... Yeah, he was looking for death. So he probably was just hoping to take me down with him.

I concentrated as I ran. I knew I was probably following him into a trap, but I was not going to let someone who tried to take out one of my friends get away with it. No mistake, even if it killed me, I was going to take this guy down. Though it was not him I was worried about... It was the other three auras just down the hall. I slowed to a walk to conserve my energy.

I inwardly groaned as I recognized them. The other three Shidosha, the best of the best. When we met, we always wore cloaks, so I had no idea of what they looked like, because even out of meetings and on assignments, and just walking around the Kyokai, they wore their cloaks.

They, however, knew what I looked like. I rarely worried about formality and so rarely wore my cloak. But... Yurei'ha was known for being conservative in a fight, to wait and see what her opponent was like. My hand slid towards my knives and sword. I would maintain that illusion, then strike. I would have to take out at least one, if not two, quickly to stand a chance. Damn... At least, I didn't really have to worry about other hitokiri going after Hiei, Kurama and the others. I was probably their only target.

Hopefully.

The one who originally attacked me was clearly a Shidosha, but he, or she, underestimated me. I would have to take him out before he could heal. But I would wait.

Clearing my face of all emotion, I walked forward to meet the others. "You want me dead that badly?" I asked, feining a relaxed position.

Their answer was a wave of shuriken. I easily dodged them, and threw another kunai, instantly killing the injured Shidosha. And at the same time, I took out my set of secondary set of bells and, while they were slightly stunned, set up a Kumo no Su.

One tried to take a step forward, but was rewarded by the thread ripping through his leg.

"What the-!" Another one of them gasped when I revealed the threads. They could not move, if they did, or if a string snapped, it would break in such a way that it would rip their body to pieces.

"Inazuma-ha Ito Gijutsu." The last one breathed, fear evident.

I let the bell roll in my palm, it tinkled slightly. "Yes. What you are in now is a Kumo no Su, a spider web. The thirty-fifth, second to last move, of the hundredth, or last, form. Now, tell me, why did you attack?"

They did not answer. Though from the way their bodies were tensed it was because they thought I had killed Kumo. I sighed. "If I let you live, the Shujin will punish you slowly, and death will be agony. And I am not into torturing... I'll make this quick." I positioned my hand under a thread, nail just beneath it. Then I ripped through it, as one, the strings snapped, ripping through the bodies before they even had the time to shriek. Blood flew through the air as the dismembered bodies fell to the floor; I let the now string-less bells fall to the ground as well. Holding back my tears, I walked back towards the conference room. I was just thankful they were wearing their cloaks so I did not see their faces. It made the kills seem less... real, for they didn't seem as human.

When I came back and closed the door behind me, I went back to my seat. Sad, for Shidosha, really. I didn't even need to use the final move of the final form on them to win, the Inazuma-ha Ito Kumo no Su. Which was pretty much the ultimate move of Inazuma-ha Ito Gijutsu. Had I just become so strong that I could beat them so easily...? Or did they just underestimate me severely? Shrugging it off, I glanced around the room. If all of them had attacked in here, it would have been messy. I kind of wish they had.

I glanced at Jin. "You all right?"

He shrugged, he still seemed kind of... shocked, I suppose. Grabbing my knife from the wall, I slid it back into my belt.

I glanced at Koenma. "With your permission, I would like to search the remainder of the palace to see if there may be any other hitokiri or ninja." Koenma nodded and I walked to the door, but paused before exiting. "And you might want to get a crew of ogres to clean up the north eastern hallway." I left before he could question me further about why he should.

Shujin: leader of all hitokiri

Hitokiri: assassins

Yurei'ha: Ghost Blade

Kangae: "thoughts" or "mind"

Shidosha: leader of hitokiri, below Shujin

Kyokai: Guild

Kumo: spider

Hakata: Graveyard

Kami: God

Kunai: knife used by ninjas and assassins

Shuriken: throwing stars

Kumo no Su: Spider web

Inazuma-ha Ito Gijutsu: Lighting Blade Thread Technique

Inazuma-ha Ito Kumo no Su: Lightning Blade Thread Spider Web

Sorry that I wasn't able to update yesterday. But as promised, this one was longer.