February 17, 1855 in Edo, Japan

The place was as dingy as it was huge, but at least it was warmer than outside. Gamblers, criminals, and onlookers surrounded the many mats which lay on the floor. Judging by the tattoos displayed by the shirtless dealers, this gambling den was most certainly run by Yakuza.

Tsume was familiar with these kinds of places. His father had always called them 'fisheries of men.' If anyone could have concocted that analogy, it would have been him. Very few things could take an honest fisherman from his home and put him on the street quite as efficiently as an unhealthy addiction to chance and sake. It was for that very reason that Tsume had long sworn off gambling.

As such, he had not come to participate in these cyclical games. He had come to find Asuka's stray husband, Sanzo. A first glance yielded no trace of him just yet. Tsume was not planning to give up quite so easily. He had inspected too many dens today and this was one of the last in the middle-class district of Edo.

Tsume closed his eyes, hoping to activate his gift of knowledge. It wouldn't always work, but if it did, he could avoid drawing too much attention to both Sanzo and himself without disrupting these poor souls from bleeding out their wallets. He could even avoid needing to cross the entire district to get to the next den provided Sanzo was even here.

When his eyes opened, everything went black. Daily practice had improved Tsume's ability to use his gift, even in crowded conditions such as this. All of the dealers and some patrons emanated dangerous red auras about them. There were no friendly blue auras, which was actually good. Tsume was unsure of how he would react if he had found one of his fellow Assassins here. One aura stood out, though. It was gold. It was Sanzo.

Tsume approached Sanzo's location and restored his regular senses. As expected, Sanzo was playing a game of Cho-Han. "Your wife says no more gambling, remember?" Tsume informed him, "She wants you to come home."

"Ooohhh" one of the patrons mocked, "Sanzo-chan's wife is angry."

Sanzo facepalmed, "Sanzo-chan? Really? Two shu {500 mon} on cho {even}!"

The dealer rolled the dice from his bamboo cup and onto the mat, "Han {Odd}!"

"Hey! No fair! You cheated!"

"How could I cheat?"

"These dice are loaded! They usually land on what I don't call!"

"Sanzo-san, you called cho. Dice can only be loaded to land on cho. Even if we had loaded them, you could easily tell by looking at them."

"That's not true," Tsume interrupted, "Loading dice is about balance."

The dealer glared at Tsume, "Are you calling me a cheater?"

"No and I don't care if you are. Sanzo-san and I need to be leaving," Tsume grabbed Sanzo by the arm and lifted him from the mat, "He was supposed to be home hours ago."

"Wait, Tsume. Just one more round," Sanzo begged.

A rather powerful hand jerked Tsume around by the shoulder. Before him stood a large dirty man with a very patchy beard. The colors and lines around his wrists and neck indicated that he was a Yakuza, possible even the supervisor of this den. He held one eye open as if he were inspecting Tsume for something; possibly fleas. Tsume wasn't sure why he would be inspecting for fleas. The man seemed to have plenty enough.

"I recognize that scar," the man said, his breath reeking of fish and sake, "I've seen you around."

Tsume bowed, "And it's a pleasure to see you again, but really we must be going." He was sounding more like Joseph every day.

The man grabbed Tsume by the shoulders, "You're one of those kids who runs around with those gaijin {barbarians} and the woman who thinks she's a samurai."

"Nope. You must be thinking of someo-"

"Hey!" Sanzo interrupted, "That woman is my wife, and I'll have you know she can kick your nasty ass all the way to Kan-Koku {Korea} and back again."

"Dammit, Sanzo."

All of the dealers and guards and even some patrons had begun drawing tanto {daggers} hidden in their clothes. They had apparently been listening in on this conversation.

"Are you boys talking about me?" Asuka's voice resonated amongst the tension. She must have gotten impatient and acted on her own.

"Kasai-gozen, good to see you," Tsume was somewhat relieved that this wasn't going to be a completely hopeless situation. On the other hand, Asuka was more pregnant than ever and absolutely did not need to be getting into fights with Yakuza or anyone else for that matter.

"Hey dear, I'm going home now," Sanzo muttered.

The Yakuza pushed Tsume into Asuka, "You're not going anywhere!" He brandished his own tanto.

"Tsume," Asuka said as she regained her balance, "Do you remember the rules on lethal force?"

"Uhh, self defense, defense of others, threat to the Order-"

"I'll take that as a yes. Disregard them for now."

"What?"

"We will only use nonlethal force here, so put away your sword."

It wasn't until Asuka pointed it out that Tsume realized his sword was already half-drawn. With his eyes watching the belligerents in the room, he slowly returned it to the sheath, "Breaking bones okay?"

"Bones and joints."

Tsume and Asuka shifted into a back-to-back combat stance with Sanzo between them. Tsume estimated a dozen or so men wanted a piece of him. That was about a dozen or so more than he was wanting to fight, but peaceful options appeared to be nil. Then again, most of these men were scrawny. Were half of them not armed, they would not have been a threat. It still wouldn't take much more than a punch or two to bring each one down.

"By the way, Washio-san, how much do you bet I can take out more of these guys than you?"

"Asuka, please not now."

"I don't know. It looks like the right place to me."

"I'm not betting on this."

Some random unarmed man threw the first punch. Tsume easily used the amateur's momentum to fling him into an armed man. One and two. Another charged with a tanto. Tsume sidestepped and broke his arm at the elbow. As he fell to his knees, Tsume kicked him aside. Three. The next man attacked from Tsume's other side. Tsume grabbed the attacking wrist and pulled him in for a harder punch to the face. Four. Tsume stepped toward the man who had started this whole mess. He swiped his tanto, but Tsume spun to the left. With a simple kick behind the knee and arm to the throat, he was brought to the floor where Tsume stomped cracks into his sternum. Five.

With a quick scan of the area, Tsume noticed the belligerent patrons and dealers were already making well-informed retreats. The threat appeared to have been suppressed. He drew a sigh of relief as he dropped his stance.

"I got twelve," Asuka boasted, "How about you, Tsume?"

Tsume held up a proud hand with all five fingers outstretched. Even if he didn't manage as many as a pregnant woman, he wasn't dismayed. Asuka was the only person he had ever seen best Sensei in a spar. Granted, Sensei won more often than not, but no one else even had a prayer against him.

"And how much did we bet that I would win?" She asked.

"We never made any bets," Tsume replied.

"That's no good. What do you say we go back home?"

"Yes dear," Sanzo whimpered.

Tsume just nodded and faced the doorway. As he followed the couple out the door, he glimpsed a kind of fear in the faces in the inhabitants of the den. The patrons showed a kind of respectful fear. The dealers however wore more vengeful looks. Tsume didn't fear them, though. Instead, a kind of empowerment filled his chest. He had become an enviable force here.

One dealer was on his knees near the doorway. Tsume swiftly grabbed the hilt of his sword and looked him in the eyes. As quickly as Tsume moved, the dealer flinched and scurried away. Tsume couldn't help but to mock such a blatant display of cowardice with a lau-

A hand yanked him out of the den by his hair, nearly pulling it out in the process. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Asuka inquired with an anger in her eye.

"I was just... I was... Uhh..."

"No excuses. Taunting someone after a fight is in poor taste. Besides, our first priority should always be to get out as quickly as possible."

"AND THAT'S WHY I LISTEN TO MY WIFE!" Sanzo yelled into the den before being pulled out in the same fashion as Tsume was.

Asuka was pulling them them down the street by their hair to the Kasai household, as opposed to the usual dynamic in which men led women. Tsume wasn't necessarily looking forward to walking another hour to get there, especially not bent like this. He had already traversed half of Edo just today. At the very least, he got to wear his tabi {socks} on chilly winter days like today. That was always more comfortable than walking directly on his geta {sandals}.

"You're both lucky I showed up when I did," Asuka said, not bothering to look back at either of them, "Sanzo, do you remember what I said about gambling?"

"Uhh ... Don't?"

"Exactly. And what were you doing?"

"Well, you see... I wasn't really gambling. A friend of mine was there and I was trying to get him to stop."

Tsume laughed, "Yeah, you stopped him so hard you lost half a bu {2 shu or 500 mon}."

"Dammit, Tsume."

"Urusai, kozu {Shut up, you brats}!" Asuka snapped, causing Tsume and Sanzo to freeze in their tracks, "Sanzo, how much money did you lose?"

"I ... forgot."

"You forgot. That's wonderful," she released both men to retrieve a silk pouch from the chest of her kimono, "Count this. It feels heavy enough to cover our losses."

The pouch was tossed carelessly into Sanzo's hands. Tsume observed it a bit from a distance. The string was frayed at the ends as if it were pulled apart. Sanzo gingerly shuffled his fingers through the coins. Asuka must have pulled it from one of the dealers. Tsume thought to himself that next time he got into a fight, he should do te same thing.

The contents of the pouch were almost exclusively mon. A shu would occasionally poke its face through the mess. Tsume could have even sworn to have glimpsed the lovely visage of a bu. No ryo in sight, but that was probably for the best. Ryo are much too valuable to get gambled on a regular basis. Still, if Tsume knew anything about gambling habits then just a few bu should be enough to mostly replace the small fortune Sanzo had just pissed away.

"I think this will more than cover it," he informed his wife.

"Good," Asuka's hands embraced Sanzo's waist as she smiled love toward him, "You know I worry about you. Your gambling habit needs to stop for Tairo's or Natsuko's sake. I mean I can tell from how you treat Hitsu that you're a great father, but I gave up gambling myself for a reason," her right fingers walked up his chest and rested on his shoulder, "Could you support me? Support our child?"

Tsume thought. Had Asuka not just attempted to gamble on how many men she could beat up? Whatever. Tsume had enough self-preservation instincts to not say anything.

Sanzo's look changed from terror to relief, "I'll do better, Asuka," his hand touched hers, "I promise."

They kissed and touched foreheads. Tsume's eyes rolled. He had spent all day today tracking down that irresponsible lout for that lovely woman. He was in no mood to watch them share intimate moments in the street. He also knew better than to interrupt them. Asuka's pregnancy had made her an emotional dice roll. Perhaps Sanzo could never get enough of playing with the odds against him after all.

"Anyhow, Tsume," Asuka said as she and her husband pulled apart, once again progressing to their home on the edge of the city, "As you may have guessed, I didn't come looking for you because of how long you were taking."

"Actually, that's exactly what I thought."

"Whatever. Arkwright wants to speak with you."

"Did he mention why?"

"Somewhat. He said that he has an important mission for you."

"A mission? Don't you mean an assignment?"

"He said he wants to bring his top three recruits for field training."

"So I'm in the top three..."

"Yeah, what did you think that whole game was? The best student is still just a student. If a student cannot apply his lessons, then what were the lessons for? That's why it's going to be you, Azusa, and Kennosuke."

"Oh great, Kennosuke again."

"You have a problem with him?"

"He's a Kirishitan {Christian}."

"So is Nariko. You never complained about her teaching you."

"That's different. Kennosuke is supposed to be fighting. He can't be a very good Assassin if his God says he can't kill. Besides, he spends so much time praying that I don't know how much can expect from him."

"Tsume, what if I told you that I'm a little bit Kirishitan?"

"Uhh..."

"It's been in my family for centuries. Not all of us, but most of us have been followers of Yesu Kirisuto {Jesus Christ}."

"I see."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah."

"Very well," Asuka started walking again, "Good luck changing Sensei's mind."

Arkwright paced the floor of his cabin. Before him Azusa, Kennosuke, and Tsume stood in a small formation.

"One of our reconnaissance teams has informed me that a meeting is to take place between Egawa Hidetatsu, Abe Masahiro, Ii Naosuke, and Shimazu Nariakira. They are to meet with Matthew Perry tomorrow at Edo's westernmost post station. Word has it that that it involves a secret temple under Mt Fuji.

Before you think that this is another simple reconnaissance mission, we will be investigating this temple ourselves. We have reason to believe that it is of great importance to the Assassin cause. Do we have any questions?"

Tsume raised his hand, "What is the likelihood that we will be killing on this mission?"

"Extremely high. I understand that it will be a first for all of you. This will also be the the last time I hear that question coming from any of you. We are Assassins. Any other questions?"

Tsume raised his hand again, "Do you really think we need to bring a Kirishitan along?"

"So, you think that Maruya should be excluded from the mission because of his religion. Is that what I am hearing, Washio?"

"No, Sensei," Tsume's shame lowered his face, hoping that he could cover some of it that way, "I only said that Maruya works in the business of murder while he worships a God who takes issue with murder."

"Hm... Maruya, what is your opinion?"

"Nothing," Kennosuke answered, "Kirishitan have never gotten much respect in Nippon. I'm just relieved to finally be around people who won't kill me over it. I promise to fight just as hard as anyone else."

Sensei nodded, "Ishikawa, what is your opinion?"

"Maruya-san won the training game for a reason," Azusa replied, "We need the best and Maruya-san is the best."

Sensei moved his arms behind his back, "Then the mission will take place as planned. Meet Sanzo to receive your novice uniforms. Afterwards, report to the barracks. We begin preparation at dawn. Dismissed."

As they left Sensei's house, fear rose through Tsume's spine. In a way, he felt betrayed. However, their reactions told him that he was the traitor for trying to get his one-sided rival removed from the mission. At least he would soon be done with the walking for today. Maybe tomorrow he could try to regain their trust. For now, he had Assassin business to attend. The Kasai house was a blessedly short walk from Sensei's house. Tsume could feel his feet thanking him for finally coming to the end of the day.

Within the Kasai house, Tsume's eyes widened upon spotting a dozen kimono racks each with the same style of kimono draped neatly from them with the arms out wide. It was snow white with a blood red hem and obi. The hakama was a dull gray, but was covered almost to the knees by the kimono. The crest was the symbol for hito {person} underlined and dyed in red on the front of the shoulders.

"What do you think?" Sanzo asked.

"Are you kidding? It's warui {badass}!" Azusa's eyes bulged as she grabbed one off of its rack, "I can't wait to fight me some Templars in this."

"Actually," Sanzo interjected, "I had yours and Toriyama-san's specially made. They're to the back."

"Oh, okay," Azusa slung the mens' kimono she had just picked up over the rack as she moved to the two in the back, "I still love them!"

Sanzo immediately corrected the kimono, sliding the arms of the rack back into the arms of the kimono whilst cursing probably Azusa under his breath. He checked a small carving on the rack and glanced up at Kennosuke and Tsume, "Well, this one belongs to Shimoda. Kennosuke, yours is to the left. Tsume, yours is to the right."

"Sanzo, how much did these cost you to make?" Kennosuke asked.

"Akuraito-sama paid me very well for these. They cost me more time than anything else... especially since I had to work on them in secret."

"I would hate to be a burden."

Tsume had no idea what Kennosuke was talking about. It was best not to question free things, especially if the cost had already been paid.

"Oh, it's an honor to help the Order," Sanzo replied, "In fact, I'm relieved to finally help someone besides Asuka."

"I heard that" Asuka's voice rang through the room as a door closed behind her.

A provocative look crossed Sanzo's face, "Good."

"We're going to discuss this tone of yours," Asuka said with sex emanating from her voice and her hands gripping the hem of her husband's kimono, "The three of you may want to leave now. By the way, Tsume, I already put Hitsu to bed."

Tsume pulled the uniform from the rack. With it wrapped in his arms, he bowed. As he looked up, he spotted Azusa and Kennosuke stepping out of the house. He looked around again to find Sanzo and Asuka, but they had already disappeared to consummate.

Tsume fitted his new kimono in his room in the barracks. It was pretty easy to see where the kote {braces} and suneate {greaves} would go. It didn't make much room for other kinds of armor, but anything more would likely be too conspicuous. The hood did not obstruct his vision like he thought it would, even with the beak in front. The hem extended down to his knees, which he felt made him look like a badass. He placed his swords into the side of his obi. It fit just as snugly as his regular robes. The same did not apply to his hidden blade. It fit over his sleeve instead of under. Probably so the blade wouldn't snag.

Then his door opened. He jerked around, his blade snapped out.

"Oh, Moto- erm, Rangiku," he said retracting his blade, "You surprised me."

"That's fine. I hear you have a big mission tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm excited. Care to sit down?"

"No, but thank you."

"Alright then," Tsume began setting his swords on their rack, "what brings you here?"

"I just wanted to give you a present before you leave. Consider it good luck."

"Certainly. What is. . . Oh. . ."

Both Rangiku's kimono and Tsume's jaw dropped to the floor. She revealed all of the nothing she wore underneath. Her body was as muscular and healthy as one would expect to have after more than two years of Assassin training. Her breasts were only somewhat overwhelmed by her physique. The light was low, but didn't conceal her beauty mark. Somehow it made her more attractive than she already was.

Tsume gulped. He had never even kissed a girl other than Rangiku, and that was only once before. He wasn't even sure how much of that had counted, but it was becoming apparent to him that she had her eyes on him for quite some time now. His gift wouldn't tell him what to do with this present, so he would have to trust his instincts.

She laid herself onto his sleeping mat, gracefully moving her hands from her hips to her ribs. All the while, she gave Tsume an I-love-a-man-in-uniform look. He felt the tightness in his hakama already set to release. He would be a fool to miss this opportunity.

Tsume lowered to his fours over her, still wearing his uniform. He neared her face to kiss her, but she had pushed herself up to meet him. After a quick but tender kiss, Tsume felt her limbs wrap around him. As aggressive as she was, this could be even more fun than he was expecting.

February 18, 1855 in Edo, Japan

Cold water? Tsume bolted out of bed. With a few breaths, his panic had begun to subside. As his panic subsided, he began to notice his surroundings. As he noticed his surroundings, his surprise was replaced with horror. Sensei stood over Tsume's mat with an empty cup in hand. A calm fury was carved into his eyes.

"You complain about Maruya's religion, and then you waste your night inside another recruit," Sensei kicked the novice hakama to the corner where Tsume had cowered, "Now put some damned clothes on. We're to be leaving soon."

"Yes, Sensei," Tsume tried to say as he scrambled to find his furisode and sarashi. He didn't want to be immediately naked under his uniform.

Sensei turned about and passed the threshold of Tsume's room. He tossed an aside glance back into the room, "Toriyama, I can tell you're awake. Get dressed."

After the door slammed shut, Rangiku sat up, her bare back glowed in the soft morning sunlight. "He's better than I gave him credit for," she said with a kind of pride, "No one else can ever tell if I'm asleep or just faking."

"He's a baka {idiot}," Tsume grumbled as he wrapped the sarashi around his gut.

"So, what did you think of last night?"

"I thought you were fantastic."

Her grin spread almost to her ears, "You did pretty well for your first time."

"What makes you think that was my first?"

"I certainly hope it was. If it wasn't, then you have a lot of work to do."

"Hey. What's that supposed to mean?"

Rangiku just giggled. Tsume ran the possibilities through his mind. No way last night was her first, but how many others could there have been? Considering that the recruits weren't even allowed into public until after the training game, she would either have allowed the city of Edo to descend upon her like a ravenous beast or she had been spending a lot of quality time with some of the other recruits. But who? Kennosuke? Fumito? Takanori? No, it couldn't be Takanori. He talks too much about all the sex he allegedly gets with girls who are passing through Edo. Was it even restricted to recruits? Did Joseph teach her how to do that thing with her hands? Wait, if that were true, how could she not be pregnant by now? Probably best not to ask. Tsume fake-chuckled in return.

By that point, he was fully dressed and only needed to equip himself. He stuffed his sword and dagger into his obi and fitted the hidden blade under his left wrist. His hair was tied and he had everything all set to go, but something still felt missing.

"Here," Rangiku flipped the hood onto his head, "I like this look for you."

Tsume caressed her still nude hips, "You don't look half-bad yourself."

"Take care," she beamed with her hand on his chest before giving him a kiss.

"I will. You get dressed."

As he left his room, Tsume was greeted by the presence of Azusa and Kennosuke, both ready and waiting on him. As soon as his heart jumped into his throat, Tsume slammed the door shut. Unfortunately, for him, Azusa caught the door and peeked into the crack. Her big-toothed grin said enough, so Tsume covered her mouth before she had a chance to say anything else. Instead, she squealed glee as her arms wrapped around Tsume.

"What did you see?" Kennosuke asked.

"Don't worry about it," Azusa pried her mouth free and answered for Tsume, "I'll tell you later." Tsume wished she hadn't said that last part.

"Azusa," Tsume interrupted, "don't we have a mission starting soon?"

"He's right," Kennosuke said with a complete lack of enthusiasm, "Sensei is waiting."

Outside, Sensei stood with anticipation holding his arms behind his back. His kimono was black, but still looked very similar to the Japanese Assassin robes. The biggest difference, apart from the color, was that they reached halfway down his shins. It gave him a very imposing demeanor without standing out too much from normal Japanese society.

Garen and Joseph stood motionless at his sides, also wearing the Japanese robes that Sanzo had unveiled the night before. When his fingers snapped, the three recruits moved into formation with Azusa at the center. Sensei slowly traipsed around his students, giving each one a critical eye. Tsume had never known what it was to have his soul burned by disappointment, but Sensei's glare was doing just that. It took everything in Tsume's power not to move. Seeing as how he had let down Sensei twice in less than the span of a day, shame was a very difficult thing to withhold.

Once he had finished inspecting the recruits, Sensei turned away from them. "I expect that you all remember what I told you yesterday about this mission. We only have a few hours before the Templar meeting, but there are things we must cover before we set out.

First of all, just because you have training with a weapon does not mean that you will be using it. In the right hands, any weapon can give you a surprise advantage and turn the mission in your favor. In the wrong hands, overreliance on these weapons can harm you and result in the failure of the mission. You will wait until you have reached the rank in which a weapon is allowed before you may use it in the field.

Second of all, you will be wearing metal armor. Your bamboo training armor was a cost-cutting measure, because real armor is more expensive to replace. You will notice that metal is actually lighter than bamboo armor. You will adjust.

Finally, you will follow my every instruction to the letter. I will not tolerate deviation any more than I will tolerate disobedience. I did not come here from New York to show children that they know better than I do, and I sure as Hell did not come here to get those children killed. Are we clear?"

"HAI, SENSEI," the recruits sounded off.

"Would you care to repeat that?" Joseph jested.

Tsume couldn't see Sensei's reaction under the hood. Joseph, however, could see it all too clearly. Judging from Joseph's straightening response, Tsume was glad to be left in the dark.

Sensei turned back to his recruits, "You have five minutes to say any goodbyes. Dismissed!"

Without a thought, Tsume made his way to the Kasai house and Joseph followed. He already knew where everyone else was going: Kennosuke would visit his mother and Azusa would visit Garen. Tsume wanted to see Hitsu before he left.

Thankfully, Hitsu already stood just outside of Asuka's door. "Hey," Tsume called to them as he removed his hood, "Get over here."

"Tsume!" Hitsu ran to his brother the moment he saw him.

Tsume wasted no time in scooping him from the ground to give him the best hug a brother could give, "Hey Hitsu, guess what."

"What?"

"I'm going on my first big mission."

"Yeah, everyone knows," Joseph intruded, "I also noticed that he seemed a bit angry at you. What did you do?"

"Not in front of Hitsu."

"Oh that," Joseph's face lit up, "Well first of all, welcome to manhood. As soon as you get back, you and I are going to dinner and she can come along... or he? I never was all that sure about you."

"... She..."

"Ah yes. That's my favorite too. Anyhow, you're not going to explain or apologize your way back into Arkwright's heart. You have to do exactly what he says how he says it and do not hesitate. Believe me, I speak from both past and future experience. Understand?"

"Understood," Tsume put Hitsu back down, "Well, you two take care until I get back."

"Hey, one more thing," Joseph embraced Tsume as tightly as he could, "Come back safe."

Tsume bowed and waved as he walked back to where Sensei had dismissed them. Azusa was already in formation, no doubt because she was so eager to get started on the mission that she didn't have much to say to Garen. Kennosuke had just come into view leaving his uncle Junichiro's house, where his mother Nariko stayed.

As they lined up in formation, Sensei's mood seemed to lighten a little. Perhaps it didn't lighten so much that his eyes would no longer cast daggers in Tsume's direction, but at least said daggers were a little less sharp than before. Sensei's arms slid behind his back again, "Before we go to the post station, we are going to visit the blacksmith for your armor. We will only be purchasing kote and suneate. Understood?"

February 18, 1855 at a post station just outside of Edo, Japan

The assassins watched as four men in plain clothes gathered at a table across the room. Tsume believed one of them to look extremely familiar, so he turned on his gift. The gold aura radiating from the men suggested them to be the Templars they were looking for, but Tsume caught sight of something else. The dozen or so men sitting astound them were highlighted red. At first, Tsume thought them to be samurai, but they did not wear the same chomage hairstyle as samurai. They must have been the Templar shinobi Tsume had heard so much about.

"Here is your tea," the waitress said, placing a teapot at the center of the Assassins' table.

"Arigato," Sensei said as he paid her for the drinks. As soon as she had left to tend to other clients, he redirected his eyes to the recruits, "Do you see those four men?" He tilted his head across the room.

"Yeah," Tsume answered in English, "They're the Templars, aren't they?"

"You got it."

"Excuse me Sensei," Azusa said, also in English, "but all of these Templars are native. Didn't you say that Commodore Perry would be here?"

"He will be. They won't go anywhere without him."

"I certainly hope so," Kennosuke worried.

As soon as Kennosuke had finished speaking, an imposing figure darkened the threshhold. It was a very tall man with a sugegasa {straw hat} obscuring his face, much in the same way Assassins used their hoods. Using his gift again, Tsume could identify this man was another Templar. The look on Sensei's face seemed to say that he knew this too. Did Sensei have the gift as well? Wait, if he did, why would Nariko still say that it was unique to Tsume and herself? Was she trying to keep a secret?

The figure approached the Templars' table with his left hand resting over his sword's pommel. He was certainly saying something, but Tsume couldn't discern it. What he could discern was part of a face that looked hauntingly familiar and very white.

"That's Perry," Sensei informed his students.

"He doesn't look very happy," Kennosuke commented.

"I would say not. He's never been one for patience."

The Templars stood without even placing an order. The pudgy Templar's dismay was evident in the way he rubbed his belly, but he was ignored. Without any further delay, they left the station, probably to visit Mt Fuji.

"Listen up," Sensei said, "We are going to follow them. Perry won't be holding the meeting on the road. He'll wait until they are in a safe place away from any possible spies. We will be following far enough away so as not to arouse their suspicion. If anyone asks about us, we are a group of ronin. Understand?"

"Yeah, I understand, but will they believe that?" Tsume chipped in, "I mean, you're white."

"And Ishikawa is a woman. Hence, ronin."

"Azusa looks more like a miko with a hood than a ronin."

"If anyone asks, and they won't, we'll just say that she's a miko ronin."

February 18, 1855 at the foot of Mt Fuji

Mt Fuji was particularly beautiful tonight. Snow draped nearly the entire slope of the mountain, illuminating the world with the light of the full moon. Everything showed as plainly as if it were day except, of course, the white of the Assassin recruits' robes.

The Templars had taken shelter in a small house at the bottom of the mountain while the Assassins hid behind a particularly large rock about a hundred yards away. They needed to stay about an hour behind to keep Templar eyes averted. The meeting was beginning and they still needed to get closer to hear anything.

Tsume could see men moving in and out of an opening in the mountain for what must have been some kind of a mining operation. Something about the entrance to the mine seemed odd, though. It looked as if it were deformed by something.

Tsume used his gift to better assess his surroundings. All of the so called miners glowed red. A small army of samurai had gathered at this location. Many passed through the operation, but only about ten or so patrolled the road while two guarded the Templar shack. Even if they were as rusty as Sensei said, the Assassins were vastly outnumbered. So long as they didn't bring any attention their way, they should be fine, but this was already looking bad.

Still, the look in Sensei's eyes held a kind of cunning that gave a kind of hope. "Ishikawa, you create a distraction," he pointed to the samurai along the road between the mine and the shack, "Maruya and Washio, you will kill the samurai guarding the house. Then, you will impersonate said samurai. As soon as they're in position, Ishikawa will return here and she and I will spy on the meeting."

"Wait, why me?" Kennosuke objected.

"You're right, Maruya. You and Ishikawa create the distraction while Washio and I kill them."

Tsume began to laugh, but Sensei's judgmental leer scared the humor out of him.

"No," Kennosuke objected again, "I'll kill them."

"I thought so," Sensei still scanned the area, "Ishikawa, move out."

Azusa nodded and moved around the rock, exposing her presence to the samurai. "Excuse me," she called, approaching them with her sword overhead, "Did someone lose a sword?"

She and the samurai hadn't met until they were beyond earshot. On an insect-free winter night like this, Tsume half expected to be able to hear across such a great distance.

Sensei, however, didn't appear quite as interested in what Azusa was doing to suppress unwanted samurai attention. He patted the rock to make sure Tsume and Kennosuke were focused on him, like they should have been. "Maruya, Washio, move out," he said pointing to the pair of samurai guarding the small building.

Tsume and Kennosuke slipped out from behind the rock. Sensei had not specified just how to kill them, but neither had he specified how Azusa would distract them. Safe to assume that everything was permitted. Wait, Sensei also said to impersonate the guards, so as little damage to their robes as possible would be ideal.

As silently as could be done, the two recruits crept onto the porch of the building. Tsume could hear the Templars debating something, but he wasn't particularly interested in them at the moment. The Assassins stopped at the corner to assess the situation. Both samurai were facing away from the building, wide open to any potential attack.

Tsume glanced up at Kennosuke, who had ejected his hidden blade as a suggestion. Tsume silently agreed by ejecting his own. Now came the matter of how to kill them. If they moved too slowly, they would risk raising alarm from the guards they wanted to kill. If they moved too quickly, they would risk putting Azusa into danger from the guards she was distracting.

Azusa must have been able to see her allies, because she got the samurai to turn all of their eyes on her and away from the building. Tsume took the initiative to strike. He quietly dashed to the first samurai, thrusting the hidden blade into his neck before gently placing him onto the porch. The next samurai had witnessed this spectacle and would have raised the alarm, but Kennosuke managed to kill him in time as well.

Tsume took a relieved sigh, but the blood on his hands struck him. It was not accusatory like he had half-expected, but rather it was triumphant. Tsume did not know what injustices this man had committed, but now he would answer for them. Tsume smirked, standing over the fallen samurai. For the first time in his life, he felt a sense of fairness in this world.

Kennosuke did not appear to share the sentiment. He knelt over his target, closing the samurai's eyes and apparently drawing a cross for him. After a short and silent prayer, Kennosuke stood to face Tsume.

Tsume crossed his arms and looked away. "I hope you don't plan on doing that every time you kill someone," he whispered.

"Not every time," Kennosuke answered, "but the dead deserve their last rites."

"Rites? What have samurai done to deserve anything?"

"They enforce the peace. These men were not evil; just doing their jobs."

"They push us around to make themselves feel better. They don't get my respect."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Whatever. We still need to get rid of the bodies. I say we throw them under the house."

"You can't be serious."

"Do you have a better idea?"

Kennosuke sighed, "No, I suppose not. How do you think we should impersonate them?"

"We take their haori {coats}. How else could we impersonate them?"

"I was really hoping you wouldn't say that."

As Tsume removed the haori, his mind drifted off again. What had this samurai done to deserve this? How many innocent lives had tested his blade? How many waitresses had he harassed to avoid paying for his food? His haori was definitely that of a skilled swordsman. How many homeless did he starve to achieve that rank?

"Hey!" an unfamiliar voice called in the distance, "What are yo-"

Azusa managed to kill a samurai who had spotted Tsume and Kennosuke. Unfortunately for her, this alerted all of the samurai around her. Fortunately for her, Sensei was watching. As quickly as he appeared, Sensei had entered the fray and begun cutting down samurai. From this distance, Tsume could barely discern the things that Azusa and Sensei were doing to the samurai that made them fall so quickly, but it was no less impressive to watch. The spectacle calmed in less than a minute. Azusa had maybe killed two or three men out of more than a dozen. Sensei had handled the rest with both grace and efficiency.

Tsume glanced to Kennosuke, whose focus was absorbed by the violence he had just witnessed. Tsume brushed his shoulder to get his attention.

"I think we should check on them," Kennosuke answered.

"No. We have orders," Tsume slipped the haori over himself, "We need to hide the bodies. You grab his shoulders," he requested as he lifted half the samurai's ankles from the puddle of blood.

As they threw the samurai under the porch, Tsume felt the pride of his first kill alleviate ever so slightly. He wiped his head for sweat. As childish as it was, Tsume wished that Joseph- no, his parents- could have witnessed the justice he had just delivered.

Before assisting Kennosuke in disposing of his own samurai, Tsume glanced over the road. Azusa had taken an understandably triumphant strut. Sensei kept his pace deliberate as usual.

Sensei's hands signaled for the Assassins to regroup on the road. Tsume and Kennosuke obeyed the command. Upon coming closer, Tsume noticed Azusa wiping blood from her hands into the red of her obi. Her eyes were even brighter than when she spotted Rangiku in Tsume's room.

"Guys, did you see that?" she quivered from trying to contain herself, "How awesome was that?"

Tsume grinned, "You did great. I'm impressed."

"Our plans have changed," Sensei said, "For once, they changed in our favor. Washio, give the haori to Ishikawa. You and I will spy on the meeting. Ishikawa and Maruya will stand guard."

"Wait, why do we need-" Tsume shriveled from his master's glare, "Hai, Sensei."

Without a word, he passed the haori to Azusa, noticing that it had already left a sizable blood stain on his left shoulder. A frigid breeze pressed the cold blood into his skin, but the chill subsided shortly thereafter.

Sensei nodded, "Move out."

He and Tsume silently crept around to the outer wall facing away from the mountain, while Azusa and Kennosuke had taken their positions guarding the door. Tsume pressed his ear against the wall, and the muffled voices became much clearer.

"Well that depends on what you want them to do," one voice said in an American accent definitely belonging to Commodore Perry.

"We need them to fear the foreigners, because right now, they don't. They think that the treaties from Kanagawa last year have already been ratified. Have you seen our merchants? Their booths are filled with merchandise from Chuugoku {China}."

"I fail to see how that concerns me."

"We don't know how many of these goods are actually imported and how many are made here in Nippon {Japan}. Those who sell forgeries have technically done nothing wrong."

"Technically? You mean to tell me that you are willing to let a stupid little legal loophole weaken your grip? No wonder no one fears you."

"That is why we need your help, Perry-sama."

"What have you done to establish your dominance?"

"Um... Sometimes, we will have samurai arrest merchants who sell Chuugoku goods."

"And that hasn't stopped anyone, has it?"

"We're afraid not."

"So what do you do to establish that your dominance?"

The Japanese Templars failed to answer."

Perry sighed, "Do you remember my weapons demonstration in Edo harbor three years ago?"

"Hai, Perry-sama."

"Think big like that. Show the people exactly why you are in charge, and they will fall in line. You only have one thing to watch out for after that."

"What is that?"

"Assassins."

"We have already hired shinobi. In fact, they are guarding us right now. The Assassins won't be any trouble."

Tsume checked over his shoulder for shinobi. During the Sengoku, they were a team of Assassins, but some kind of falling out with their sensei had turned them Templar. They had managed to survive all the way into the nineteenth century, still using Assassin techniques against their former brothers. Tsume really didn't want to be dealing with those guys right now. He hadn't seen them since leaving the post station, but that brought no reassurance.

Perry laughed, "You seem to be under the impression that these are Japanese-trained Assassins who use training your shinobi are familiar with."

"Well, aren't they..."

"No. They've been trained by a man named Charlton Arkwright and just in case that name doesn't ring a bell, let me tell you exactly the kind of man Charlton Arkwright is. My brother Oliver was one of the most decorated captains in the United States Navy's very brief history. He led nine campaigns in a single war; all of them successful. Anyone who had met him said that he was the bravest man they had ever seen. He was killed on his own ship by a lone Assassin. Charlton Arkwright was that Assassin, and I happen to know that he is in Japan."

One of the Templars gave a nervous laugh, "You cant be serious. No way he's capable of bringing us down."

"Just two months ago, I received positive identification of several Assassin recruits running free through Edo. They were playing a game that condenses all of their training into a single moment. And they all showed exceptional proficiency at what they were doing. Now, how this information has slipped past your ears, I may never know. Understand me when I tell you this: the Assassins are dangerous. Do not underestimate them."

Just then, a hand clasped Tsume's mouth from behind, dragging him away from the wall. A dagger flashed in the moonlight. Tsume blocked the attack and bit the hand that silenced him. As it released he tasted something odd. It was both sweet and rotten. Trying not to think too hard on it, he turned himself to face his attacker... well, attackers. Four of these men stood armed and ready for a fight.

Judging from their dress, they were not samurai. They wore black robes with both kote and suneate. Their faces were obscured by a black cloth wrapped around everything but their eyes. These were definitely shinobi.

Tsume readied his sword, but Sensei had already taken to the offensive. He skewered the first shinobi with his sword. Another tried to attack, but had his throat cut. Tsume charged into the fray. Another shinobi was stabbed in the skull by Sensei's hidden blade. The last tried to flee, but Tsume pounced upon him. As his hidden blade pierced deep into his enemy's skull, Tsume glanced upward.

Shinobi began dropping from trees, drawing their swords. Most looked like the he had just fought, but one dressed in full armor. To say it was like samurai armor would be misleading. This armor gave the fearsome visage of an oni {ogre}. Had Tsume believed in oni, he would have been more frightened. Then again, they were still dropping from the treetops which was scarier than any oni could be. Tsume tried to swallow, but the sight was becoming too much to handle.

The armored Shinobi straightened himself and blew into a horn. The thunderous noise perforated Tsume's ears as it echoed throughout the area. Tsume needed no more proof that the Assassins' cover was irretrievable. Kennosuke and Azusa ran to Tsume and Sensei's location. Samurai poured from the opening in the mountain. No matter where Tsume looked, he couldn't find an escape route. Now would have probably been a good time to use those weapons Sensei had not authorized. Tsume drew his sword, ready to fight to his death.

"Sensei, offensive or defensive?" Azusa asked.

"Offensive. Escape to the temple to create a choke point. Follow my lead."

Sensei charged against the samurai. The recruits followed shortly after. Tsume didn't care that Arkwright was a Master Assassin. He knew this was suicide. Anyone would be a fool not to know. Still, Tsume had received his orders.

As Tsume got closer, he gripped his sword tightly. Some samurai carried naginata {poleswords}. As long as he could bypass their blades, he would have an advantage. Others carried nodachi {greatswords} and yet others carried kanabo {maces}. Both of these weapons required two hands and could easily throw a less experienced warrior off his balance with ease.

One samurai stabbed his naginata at Sensei, but was pulled in and killed. Another tried to attack Tsume, but he repeated Sensei's technique. Another samurai stood open, so Tsume rammed his sword through his gut. One samurai attacked with a kanabo, but Tsume ran a hidden blade into his neck. Another kanabo struck Tsume by the hands, sending his sword flying. As Tsume shook his hands to try to ease the pain, the kanabo came again, this time aiming for the head. Tsume sidestepped it, simultaneously breaking the samurai's arm and disarming him. With his new kanabo, Tsume bashed the samurai across the head so hard that his helmet caved.

Another samurai came with a katana as if his fallen brothers hadn't made any kind of impact on him, though it certainly made an impact in that last samurai. He was blocked by Tsume's kanabo. Tsume then swept the samurai from the ground before crashing the kanabo into his chest. A samurai came from the side with his sword swinging, but the kanabo rose to meet his groin before coming back around on his head.

Tsume checked his surroundings. He was both cut off from the other Assassins and surrounded by samurai. The shinobi were nowhere in sight, but there was no way that could be good. The entrance to the temple was still too far away. He dashed for the distorted entrance to close the gap. He pushed and kicked samurai instead of taking the time to kill them. His eyes never lost sight of the goal, even if he never seemed to get much closer to it.

Suddenly, a smoke surrounded him. It began burning his eyes. Tears tried to push it out, but it was useless. The air he breathed felt like fire rushing from his nose to his lungs. He tried to cough it out, but that was just as useful as crying. His knees hit the ground. As the smoke cleared, a black figure stood before him. As badly as he wanted it to be Sensei, he knew it was a shinobi. Soon, the shinobi's hand covered Tsume's mouth and nose, bringing the return of the rotten sweet smell. Spots blacker than the shinobi had begun to engulf his vision and blot the white of the mountain until nothing could be seen.

Tsume's consciousness returned when he felt himself painfully reunite with the ground. He tried to look around, but everything was still dark. Had his gift been activated involuntarily? No, his eyes were just still closed. He found it strange that it would take him so long to realize that.

When they opened, he saw that Azusa, Kennosuke, and Sensei were also present, but all appeared extremely discontent sitting on their knees. Tsume tried to get up to help them, but his arms and legs were bound tight.

"Charlton, I'm surprised that you were brought to me so quickly."

It couldn't be. His heart choked when he saw the figure. Commodore Perry stood tall over them.