~Kyoto~

"Brother! There you are!" From a distance of 120m away, Izanami was still able to make out the figure of her brother happily eating with two girls. His bright yellow hat was a huge giveaway though. She slung her small bag over her shoulder and marched over to where Hanbei was cheerfully giggling and talking with Chisa, while Ouka looked on sideways with a fleeting smile on her face. As soon as he spotted his sister approaching, Hanbei's face brightened and he jumped up to her with a huge smile. "Iza!" Hanbei gave his sister a hug to which she scowled and accepted grudgingly. "Brother! Do you want to know why I'm here?" She placed her hands on her hips and stomped her foot angrily "I had to march all the way here and put up with that failed playboy ALL BECAUSE LADY NENE COULDN'T FIND YOU!" she 'hmphed' and turned away angrily.

"Aww, don't be like that Iza." Hanbei petted her on the head and laughed "Look, it's actually a good thing, isn't it? Lord Motonari and Aki are here too!" Hearing 'Motonari', Izanami instantly whirled around in shock and waved shyly when Motonari grinned at her.

"...fufu.." Ouka chuckled softly as she noticed Izanami's flustered actions which made Chisa curious. "Ouka? What' s so funny?" Chisa asked innocently as she tilted her head with confusion to which Ouka laughed even harder. "Behold! To my right", -she gestured flamboyantly with her right hand, causing the long sleeves of her kimono to swish loudly and brush the ground-" Here is a prime example of a girl in love. Watch as she blushes and acts all flustered at everything the object of her affections does. ufufu. how adorable."

Chisa didn't seem to understand but clapped her hands cheerfully while Ouka

"Lady Ouka! There you are! " A man dressed like a typical bodyguard complete with two swords hanging at his side strode over to Ouka and slammed his hands on the table "Lady Ouka! I've been searching everywhere for you? Did you know how worried I was? Let's go back now. Your father may be furious." He placed a hand on her shoulder pulling her to leave.

"My. I'm sorry. " Ouka covered her mouth with her sleeve and bowed her head slightly in an apologetic manner. " Chisa, Hanbei, this man here is my bodyguard. I...suppose I should take my leave now." She stood up and bowed to them all "Thank you for today Chisa. It was a memory I shall treasure." She smiled fleetingly and left while her bodyguard nodded once to everyone and hurried out after his charge.

~X~X~X~X

"THIEF! Get back here!" All of a sudden there was a commotion within the restaurant as the chef ran out angrily while waving a cooking ladle like a weapon "THIEF! Someone stop that girl!" The woman ran quickly out but was stopped by Magoichi who had seemingly recovered from his 25 rejections and winked at her "Leave it to me!" He gave a sparkling smile and rushed off towards the cloud of dust the thief had left behind.

"ehhh, she certainly was an interesting person." Hanbei laughed and twirled a hairpin in his hands "Look! Ouka had this in her hair! I borrowed it from her because you might like it Chisa!"

"Hanbei! How could you do that?" Chisa pouted and attempted to take the pin from Hanbei but stopped when she realised it looked familiar. "eh? This looks like the pin Lady Oichi gave me!"

"..u-um...c-can...I..s-s-s-see?" Aki mumbled softly and had to repeat herself again before they heard her. When Chisa handed her the pins to examine "..t-this...is...u-um..it's ...l-like this!" She fumbled with her pockets and withdrew a small scroll which had the seal broken. "..look at the seal..." She pointed a shaking finger at the seal which had a pattern of a snake around a flower. It matched perfectly with the tiny engraving on the pin. There were gasps and fingers were pointed as Izanami was the first to speak."..the Chishirou.."

Hanbei just smiled and readjusted his hat "I knew already. I'm sure Lord Motonari had a hunch as well. You see, I heard rumours that the Chishirou were planning something within Kyoto, which is why I came all the way here. " He giggled and continued "Looks like I was right! Although I guess I got lucky cos I got to meet Chisa!"

~X~X~X~

"mm! this is so yummy~ aww I should have stolen more..." In the middle of running as fast as she could, Sumire was stuffing her face with the freshly made manju which she had just stolen from the restaurant. "GET BACK HERE!" The faint sounds of angry yelling quickly reminded her she had people to escape from and began ducking through alleyways and through stalls before squeezing into a dark corner. "Phew! Safe!Hmm, I'll just sit here a bit...Nii-san should be fine...aiya!" Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her wrist tightly and the owner of the hand proceeded to walk slowly towards her. In a matter of seconds, Sumire had swallowed up all 8 manju and began bawling her eyes out."Yeek! I'm sorry! It's for my *sniffs* sick brother...he..*sniffles* uwaaah..eh?" Sumire looked up briefly from her fake weeping and stared with surprise at Magoichi's unamused face. "Cauht red-handed again Sumi? Geez. I thought you said you'd stop stealing. hmm?"

"Mago! You're not going to lecture me again are you?" Sumire huffed and flicked her hair back "Nii-san and I are broke anyway! hmm. Oh! Magoichi! Got any jobs for us? Maybe you can introduce us to a new and rich client?" She batted her eyelids and looked hopefully at Magoichi who only sighed and picked her up by the collar like a stray dog and tsked at her "Sumi, where'd Takeshi go?"

Sumire only raised her eyebrows slightly and laughed "Nii-san? He's sleeping back at the temple! I found a nice place for us to stay..for FREE! But I'm going to need to find a job really soon. "

~X~X~X~

"...*sniffle*"..." Takeshi was still sitting in the exact same position he had been where Sumire had thrown him before she went off to search for food. The memories of the previous day were still in his head and even while sleeping he was crying."...!" All of a sudden his eyes snapped open and his hands were on his blade ready for action. "...oh my!" There was a person standing in front of him, looking on with curiosity, though the thing that had instantly made Takeshi's 5th sense snap to attention was the bright red Han'nya mask the person was wearing on their face.

"...who...are..you?" He yawned but jept his hands ready to strike. The person seemed to relax a little and stretched both their arms to demonstrate they weren't a threat. " I'm sorry for disturbing you. I was passing by and noticed you crying. Is...something the matter?"

"Nii-san! I'm back! Mago's here too-eh?" Sumire skipped over to where Takeshi and the masked person were engaged in a silent stare-off. "Nii-san! Who's this person?"

She stared opened mouthed at the person who bowed courteously and handed her a small sack of coins. "I've heard about the two of you. Lady Sayuri Obata's debtors. I have a deal for you. I'll repay the entire amount, in return I require your skills as trained fighters to help a dear friend." The masked man clasped his hands around Sumire's as she held tightly onto the coins. "What do you say?"

Sumire screwed her eyes shut, trying to think. Or at least appearing to be deeply contemplating this offer. "Ok! We'll do it! But!" she jerked the sack away and jabbed a finger in the air "You have to pay off the entire debt first! Then Nii-san and I will do whatever you need help with!" she grinned innocently back at the man who remained silent and then produced a piece of paper and a brush. "..then, I'll have you sign here as proof of your agreement." As soon as he finished speaking, Sumire had grabbed the paper out of his hands and scribbled her name before Takeshi could do a thing. "Thank you very much. "The masked man whipped the paper away and stashed it in his sleeve before bowing again "..I am.. Izuna. from the Chishirou."

~Oda Castle~

"MItsuhide! MItsuhide!" The normally cheerful and easygoing Hideyoshi was practically roaring with anger as he pounded through the corridor all the way through to Mitsuhide's quarters. The guards and servants floating around jumped quickly out of his way and made themselves scarce.

"..Hideyoshi?" Nene peeked out from her room but was left baffled when her husband practically whooshed past her so quickly all she saw was a golden blur. "..hmm."

"MITSUHIDE!"

"Lord Hideyoshi?" Mitsuhide looked up from his desk where he was about to open a letter and nodded his head in greeting, "Don't give me that!" Hideyoshi spat as he threw a bloodstained letter onto the table. "What do you have to say? Traitor!"

"What? I don't understand?" The normally calm and composed Mitsuhide was stammering slightly at all the confusion, not understanding why Hideyoshi was so angry at him.

"Lord Nobunaga is dead!" Hideyoshi grabbed the stunned man by the collar and practically spat in his face. "You hired some samurai to do the dirty work ! HOW DARE YOU?!"

A moment of horrible uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"...what?"

The veins on Hideyoshi's face grew bigger as he clenched his fists tighter and stabbed his finger in the air towards Mitsuhide "You hired assassins to kill Lord Nobunaga!" The accusation hung in the air, making the atmosphere even heavier.

Still in shock, Mitsuhide kept shaking his head "that can't be right...there's no way I would ever do something like that..."

"Kiyomasa! Look over in that pile there!"
"..y-yes." Kiyomasa walked out from where he, Masanori, Reira, Kalypso and everyone else had been sneaking a peek from. The rest tensed up with shock and then breathed a silent sigh of relief in unison that Hideyoshi wasn't going to bust them for eavesdropping. He mouthed an 'excuse me' to a still stunned Mitsuhide and looked through the small pile of letters when an unusual looking one caught his eye. Curious, he pulled it out and almost flinched with shock when Hideyoshi grabbed it with lightning speed."Oh, what have we here?" Hideyoshi took the envelope from and flipped it so everyone could see what was so special about it. The words 'Chishirou' and their seal were on the front of the unopened envelope. Several gasps echoed through the room as Hideyoshi, never breaking eye contact opened the letter and began to read.

"Lord Akechi, as per your order I have sent my men to destroy the village of Kujoe and assassinate Nobunaga. Lord Azai has also been aware of the conditions of the alliance. Burn this letter as soon as you are done.

-Myou"

"ISn't this evidence enough?" The Monkey was furious and glared at Mitsuhide who was still in a state of shock, more of the fact that Nobunaga was dead than the fact he was the prime suspect for his lord's assassination.

Toshiie Maeda and his nephew Keiji stepped into the room "...Lord Mitsuhide...I can't believe.." Toshiie shook his head sadly and looked almost accusingly at Mitsuhide "why..? After all you said and did...was all that just an act?" The Maedas left the room, not before Toshiie threw a pleading look and went off.

"..my my. To think you would have the guts to do something like this." Nouhime sauntered into the room with a twisted look on her face "Mitsuhide." She pulled out the dagger from her hidden pocket and stabbed it into the table "Didn't I say that HIS life was mine for the taking? I suppose your life will substitute just as nicely."

Several guards entered the room from behind her and tied up Mitsuhide who was still too stunned to struggle. "b-but...what's going on? I swear I would never do something like this to our lord! Please believe me!"

~Kyoto~

As soon as Amaya had heard the news that Mitsuhide was accused of assassinating Lord Nobunaga from Hanzo, she had quickly grabbed Gracia by the hand and prepared to leave for Kyoto, somewhere she would be safe until they managed to find the true killer and prove Mitsuhide's innocence. However, she hadn't wanted to scare Gracia and had somehow been able to pretend it was simply a mission to find the Hanabusa siblings.

"Ama! DO you really know where Sumi is?" Gracia was cheerfully skipping around while she walked, not realising the potential danger she was in. A sudden movement in an alleyway drew Amaya's attention so she went to check it out and saw Hanzo standing silently there as if he was waiting for her."...Hanzo?" Amaya's eyes darted over to where Gracia was pouting and trying to decide which new dress to buy. "...Nobunaga...has been killed...Akechi has been suspected..." Hanzo's voice was as expressionless as ever "..go to Lord Ieyasu...he's the only one who can assist you." With a brief nod, Hanzo was gone in a whirlwind of leaves."Ama? What's wrong?" Amaya almost jumped when she heard Gracia's overly cheerful voice "Oh, nothing. I've received word that Sumire and Takeshi are staying with Lord Ieyasu now. Let's go."

~Etsuho Castle~

"Open up." Ouka strode up to the door of the mansion in a manner unlike a princess or a woman for that matter and slammed her foot violently against the door. "W-who's this?" A timid sounding man standing at the gate peered out from the slit hole nervously; not expecting to see a woman . Ouka sighed and tapped her fingers impatiently against the door "It's Myou." The man only narrowed his eyes and grabbed his spear "Lies! Myou is a man. I don't know if you're drunk or anything but leave this place! It's not for a woman like you!" Ouka only rolled her eyes and pulled a seal from within her pockets. It was a gold seal carved with the Chishirou emblem. Seeing this, the guard's eyes widened with alarm and the door opened instantly. "M-my apologi-"

"Quit with the formal talk." Ouka waved him away rudely and walked quickly through the long corridor until she reached a small room tucked away behind a giant screen painted with flowers. "Man, women have it tough." Myou roughly pulled off the kimono; throwing it into a crumpled heap onto the ground and straightened out the tunic and trousers she or maybe 'he' was wearing underneath.

"Myou." A man sitting quietly at the back spoke sharply "Dressing up as a woman again? Shameless." He was a fairly tall man with a goatee and shoulder length hair partly pinned up with a hairpin. A few rifles lay carelessly around him along with empty sake bottles and paintbrushes.

Myou shrugged "Oh noo, how shameless. You should know I'll do whatever it takes to get my job done. Besides, I'm a ninja, blending in and not attracting attention is rule number one. How'd you go with your task, Shouya?"

"Huh! I'm already done. Leading a bunch of samurai into Kujoe and ambushing Nobunaga was far too easy. The letters been planted in Mitsuhide's possession and all we need to do now is wait." Shouya rubbed his goatee and shrugged his shoulders arrogantly. "Also, Mahiro's out doing his thing. Should be back soon."

"Hanbei Takenaka of the Oda/Toyotomi alliance may have noticed a connection between our proposed 'alliance' with the Azai and the Kicho village burning . It's a good thing Nobunaga got finished off before things got out of hand." Myou rudely waved Shouya away and continued talking " According to plan, the next step would be Yuugiri should be returning with Ishida's head. Then I'll have it displayed in the town square for Hideyoshi to see. Speaking of which, he should be back soon"

"Myou." As if on cue, a young boy dressed in all black with a mask shaped like another jaw around the lower half of his face appeared from a gap in the ceiling. " Yuugiri! You're back." Myou's face softened as 'she' walked up to the boy and ruffled his hair affectionately "How'd you go?

Yuugiri lowered his face and shuffled his feet uncomfortably "S-sorry Myou. I was only able to hit Mitsunari with a poisoned dart...cos the girl with him kept getting in my way." mumbled Yuugiri as he stared at his feet "..but I know where they're hiding right now. Um..Myou? should I go finish them off now?"

Myou sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose "That's ok Yuugiri. You're the only one with antidotes to those poisons...Mitsunari's a goner anyway." He tapped his index finger against his forehead deep in thought "Our client needs Hideyoshi angry anyway, so I guess the best option would be Nene..or one of his students. What to do..."

"Pathetic" Shouya growled with disapproval and snorted " I thought you knew better than get a brat to do the job. Kid, one more mistake like that again, and it's back in the streets for ya."

"Eh, relax Shouya. Yuugiri's still a kid." Myou slouched back against the wall and leisurely poured a cup of sake "Shouya, wanna drink? It might soften a grouchy old man like you~"

Shouya fired off a few curses and grabbed the dangling bottle from Myou's hands with a scowl. "Old man?" He chugged down almost half the bottle in rage and slammed it onto the floor "I'm only 34! How is that old? Urgh, young people like you piss me off so bad!" He aimed a kick at the small table in the room, causing Yuugiri to twitch and retreat to the safety of Myou's side. Sighing to himself, Shouya "Man I miss the old days, back when everyone was still with us."

Myou smiled slightly and rested his head on his hands "Hmm, we got work done pretty quickly back then too. Still, I can't help but wonder what most of them are up to. Junji, Osuzu, Ryunosuke, Enami and Takeshi. Those bastards never said goodbye properly." He laughed bitterly and waved a hand dismissively "Not that I really mind. But geez, talking like that makes you sound more like an old man."

"Junji got killed by his client, Osuzu joined an army, Ryunosuke is now a successful merchant, Enami's a maiko and Takeshi is just wandering around with his sister." Shouya gazed wistfully at one of the rifles closest to him, apparently not realising that Myou had just tried to insult him. "You and Takeshi were the best team we had, the two of you were the best contract killers we had.

"If I recall.." Myou took a swig of drink and chuckled "you had something going on with Suzu didn't you?

"*pffft* R-ridiculous! What are you tryin' to say?" Shouya spat out his drink and disguised his embarrassment with an angry outburst. "There ain't anything goin' on with S-s-su ah.. Osuzu! Sides, don't you have a job to do? beat it Myou!"

"Behold, Yuugiri, to my left is a creature known as a rejected man. Watch as it drowns its sorrows in sake and rereads love letters to itself when it thinks its alone." Myou pretended to be teaching Yuugiri about some new animal, namely Shouya to which he began cursing and throwing paintbrushes. "See Yuugiri? Try to grow up to be a good boy, not a loser like the Shouya. Eh well, I'm heading out now." Myou had changed back into the kimono and was now placing a red half hannya mask which only covered the top half of the face leaving his mouth exposed. "Yuugiri, you behave yourself right? I'm trusting you to hold down the fort since Shouya's a useless old man."

"Myou! You bastard!" Shouya threw a well-aimed shoe in rage and roared with anger as Myou knocked it calmly out the way. "Yuugiri. Take his drink away while you're at it." He chuckled as Yuugiri nodded and stared with apprehension as Shouya snarled and hugged his remaining sake bottle protectively. "Y-yeah...bye Myou..*gulp*"

*yawns* Another chapter down~ Go me! Thanks for your lovely reviews my dear readers! Teehee, you see more members of the Chishirou now...ah, Ouka's outfit basically looks like Kurosaki Mahiro's (from Kiryu) kimono which he wore during 'Mugen Houhei'. So pretty! but I have no clue how to describe it lol!