"Oi."

As always, no initial reaction.

"Oi!" I said again, watching him as he slowly turned his head towards me. "Why are we after these people?"

"Ayamaro wants them dead." the blond replied.

"Ayamaro?! You're his damn bodyguard, not his puppet!" I snarled, suddenly realizing that I was speaking to nobody since my partner had jumped down from the roof to follow the targets. "Kyuzo!!" I half shouted. "I was talking to you!"

Releasing a deep sigh, I followed him. I was seventeen and finally, my mind was starting to brighten a little. 'Those people' he had been sent after were obviously samurai, except for the brown-haired girl. She looked like a priestess or something like that. The two samurai were a man who seemed to be in his late forties, dressed in white robes and a kid who couldn't have been much younger than me, wearing ridiculous pants. The older man sensed Kyuzo from afar and turned around. His two companions stopped as well, looking puzzled.

"Come out." the samurai said in a deep voice I took a few moments to analyze.

Kyuzo revealed himself calmly, knowing there was no point in hiding anymore.

"Who are you, samurai?"

Instead of a reply, Kyuzo drew his swords and when the other man didn't react, the samurai kid attempted to draw his own katana.

"Now, now, let's not interfere. This battle is not for children like us." I whispered in his ear, bending slightly over his shoulder.

He winced, he hadn't expected me to pop out of nowhere behind him. He pushed his sword back cautiously, keeping his eyes on the sharp, long needle pointed at his neck. If one of those stung him, he would have been dead in a matter of seconds. He grinded his teeth and made sure the girl was alright from the corner of his eye before gazing back at his sensei and the mysterious, blond samurai.

The moment I made sure the boy wasn't going to stick his nose in their fight, the two men looked at us. The older one stared at me thoroughly, analyzing my features, my clothes and my weapons. Kyuzo's eyes lingered on my face for a moment after his opponent turned his attention back to him. I was simply staring at the gray-haired samurai in a way that suggested I would strike the old man myself if Kyuzo didn't end that duel fast.

--

"Nice mark you got there, on your neck, Kyuzo." Kyogo sneered the moment he saw us walking back to the room all three of us had to share. "I knew you two were up to something, but love marks? How… inappropriate for a samurai."

Actually, the mark on Kyuzo's neck was a small cut the one named Kambei had inflicted upon him during their duel. Kyogo must have recognized the blade cut, but he was in a good mood and couldn't miss such an opportunity. I glared and within a few seconds, three sharp senbon were pointed at his neck. The samurai froze immediately, aware of the painful death he'd die if the poison on those needles made even the slightest contact with his skin. I wasn't joking around.

Unlike my blond friend, I wasn't Ayamaro's employee. I didn't have to put up with Kyogo. However, Kyuzo was still able to think clear about the consequences and held out a hand between us. I would usually step back at once, but this time it really took me a few moments to decide, since I considered killing him there and then the best choice. Kyogo sniffed and stepped backwards, glaring at me. I ignored him and continued to walk casually along the hall, with Kyuzo following me closely.

Ever since his duel with Kambei, something inside me had changed. I had become more quiet and aggressive and nightmares woke me up in the middle of the night, although I couldn't remember any of them in the morning. Shimada Kambei. I thought I'd never see his face ever again. I hoped that he would die, being on the losing part every time, but it seemed that I had no luck in my grudge for him. Nor did he, in his attempt to escape his past.

Once we were safely away from the clown, I felt Kyuzo's gaze boring holes through my back and turned around. He must have seen something in my eyes, because he motioned for me to get inside the room and be quiet. Yes, he was right, I was about to scream out the entire story. The hall wouldn't have been the proper place to do that.

As soon as he turned the lock on the door he released a sigh and looked at me with that mixture of feelings I knew all too well. I couldn't take it. I was about to snap when he put a finger over my lips, still holding my gaze.

"Not here." he whispered. "Not now."

--

I gasped as I felt the smell of oil and blood invade my nostrils when another nobuseri fell under my twin blades. Not far from my current position, Kyuzo and Kambei were killing their own enemies, for the first time fighting on the same side. I couldn't understand why Kyuzo wanted to join Kambei's group, or rather, I didn't want to understand. How ironical destiny could be.

A bullet missed me by little and killed one of the nobuseri behind me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my blond friend fighting Kyogo and stopped to catch my breath. I had never liked Kyogo and didn't care what happened to him, but a part of me hoped he would convince Kyuzo to go back to Ayamaro. Anything but to join Kambei and his bunch of merry samurai!

I decided to take my anger on the nobuseri and went back to fighting, running into some of Kambei's men on my way into the bandits' ranks. I was rather artistic with my blades, not quite skilled since I had been stubborn enough not to want to learn everything Kyuzo could have taught me. Still, my fervent dance was enough to cut through the metal armors and kill, so it didn't really make any difference. I was better in the ninja arts though.

I wiped the oil splattered on my cheek with the back of my hand and plunged my katana into a nobuseri trying to sneak behind me. I peeked over the dead bodies to see how Kyuzo was doing and smirked to myself, trying to stop myself from bursting out into maniacal laughter. It had been all over faster than I had originally anticipated. Kyogo was staring cross-eyed at the red clad samurai's katana, blood coming out of his mouth.

At the same time I noticed a pair of eyes fixing me from behind and felt another enemy approach me from a rain of sparks. The next second, I could see the samurai boy's terrified expression through the two parts of the metal body I had just sliced. I jumped backwards, avoiding the explosion I knew would come and hit another nobuseri, sending him into a rock. How interesting that boy was…

His eyes were always meeting mine with such discontent and revulsion I almost felt flattered. I stopped in the middle of the battlefield, with a malicious sneer spread across my lips as I looked deep into those emerald eyes. A wave of smoke broke the lock between our eyes for a few moments, but as soon as it disappeared, the heavy thread of hatred was connecting us again. If Kyuzo had someone he could be so willingly patient to duel with to death, so could I. And what an opponent I had chosen: Kambei's student.

It was only when I heard Kambei's voice that I redirected my attention. Kyogo was already dead. I saw Kyuzo thrust his katanas back into their sheath and walked toward them, keeping my eyes on the corpse at the blonde's feet.

"And your friend?" I heard the older samurai ask in his low voice, obviously talking about me.

I looked up, trying to meet Kyuzo's eyes and when I did, I knew there was no turning back. He was determined to go through Hell only to battle that man I loathed. For the first time in so many years, I bit back my feelings and fixed Kambei's dark gray eyes. I found there nothing that I was familiar with and smirked defiantly. So, he hadn't been left unscathed.

"I will join you as well." I said in a confident voice.

After all, I was eager to get my prize, wasn't I?