A/N: It's nice to be back. Life's gotten in the way a bit but I'm glad to be back writing. It helps me get better. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

The night was still with no noise ruining it aside from the occasional quick call of some animal or insect, however those were quickly silenced. The moon hung in the sky orange and foreboding. The man was leaning against his window sill, lighting another cigarette. Should the boss figure it out, a fit would be had. No doubt about it. Smoking was forbidden, especially for him. Had to be in top shape for fighting, capturing, etc. However, one every once in a while should be fine. He made them himself, purchasing the tobacco from a trusted farmer some distance while he got the guards to hide the small shipments in the corners of boxes and he grabbed them whenever he could. It worked so far and he'd yet to be discovered. It was nice.

"So sweet." He sighed to himself, taking a long drag on the cigarette, enjoying the night and the taste. He let out a breath of smoke which was taken away by the wind. He watched it float away, disappearing fast. He smirked and took another drag on the cigarette, looking up at the moon. It was nice and big, providing plenty of light for this night. He looked down and saw no activity. That was good, he wanted to relax tonight. Today was stressful, catching a couple escapees, only one gave him too much trouble. But Shinoa was locked up tight now and she got her lesson. Hopefully she learned from it.

"Let's hope I get a good night's sleep for once." He sighed, taking the finishing drag on his current cigarette before he quickly lit another, tossing the tip of his finished one down and grinding it into the floor. He took a shorter drag this time around, wanting this one to last a bit. He sat down in his chair, the side table holding a drink of water. Beside that was another, empty chair. He took a drink of water and set it down, frowning. Something had changed. He looked over to the chair and saw someone sitting in it, silhouetted in the shadow of the wall. The archer.

"What is it?" he asked, taking another drag on the cigarette. The archer slid a not across the short table. The man picked it up and opened it, taking a drink of water as he read it. It seemed the bait was working, a few prisoners fell for it, all of which would be taken to the secondary facility to keep it a secret. "Huh. Well, some good news for once." He folded the note and slid it back over to the archer, who took it, sliding it into his jacket. "By the way, hope you can keep this a secret." The man smirked at the archer, gesturing to his cigarette. The archer didn't change his facial expression at all as he looked out at the vast expanse. The man rolled his eyes. "I swear, you're about as fun as the prisoners when they whine and complain." He looked out at the horizon, taking a drink of water before turning back to the other chair and finding it empty. In and out like one of his arrows.

The man took the last drag on his cigarette, enjoying the relaxing feeling it gave him. He finished off the water and leaned back in his chair. It would be nice to fall asleep right here and wake up in it. Though that would be detrimental to being in peak physical condition for each day. After all, guys who had a lack of sleep or hurt weren't effective enforcers. He stood and walked back into his room, flopping onto the bed with a heavy, muffled thud.

Arine sat against the wall when she should have been sleeping. She had slept for about an hour or so when the night mare began. She woke up when it began and had been sitting up since. She looked outside and saw the sky was beginning to brighten a bit due to the rising sun. She could practically feel the bags under her eyes as she sat there. Kami, she wished she had slept. But she hadn't felt the urge to since she woke up, but now she wished she had. Still, what was done was done and she could do nothing about it. Arine simply stood and walked over to the balcony, grabbing her spear as she did. She had some early training to do.

Arine jumped off of the balcony and headed over to her dummies, of which three still stood. Arine spun her spear in her right hand as she approached the dummies, her fingers moving expertly to keep the spear in her hand. As she spun the weapon she looked at the dummies, contemplating her options. She looked between the dummies and tried to find one that looked as undesirable as possible. She looked to the left one, which was put together a bit hastily. Arine kept spinning the spear before she cocked her arm back, gripping the spear so it pointed at the dummy before she thrust it forward into its chest. She pulled it out and spun the weapon between her fingers, bringing it around and slicing the area where the eyes would be on the head. Arine then thrust it forward again into the neck of the dummy, pulling out and slicing from the belly up, opening the dummy so that straw flung out in large clumps. Arine finished it off with a horizontal slice across its chest, letting straw simply fall out of the casing.

"Need to be a bit faster." She commented to herself, walking over to the right dummy, spinning the spear until she reached it, coming from down below with the spear. She stabbed it up into the dummy's stomach area, pulling out, and then stabbing it over and over, jabbing as fast as she could over and over and over until the dummy was perforated with plenty of hole. Arine stepped back and eyed the dummy, noticing that she focused on no particular area, just stabbing indiscriminately. Better since most people would probably not survive such a flurry of stabs but she should focus on the heart area. Arine moved on to the middle dummy, rubbing her shoulder as she eyed it, wondering how she should deal with it. She simply swung her spear in an upward diagonal slash, slicing deep into the dummy before she cocked her arm back and stabbed it through the face. Arine held the position for a second before slicing up, sending straw flying everywhere. She watched the straw land on the ground with a frown on her face. She should practice more complicated moves before destroying dummies.

"Morning." She heard behind her. Arine jumped and spun around, bringing her spear to bear at Yukio, who stood there with two cups of something hot. He didn't even raise an eyebrow at her behaviour.

"Oh, it's you." Arine lowered her spear, still holding onto it as she reached out, accepting whatever drink Yukio had brought her. She took a sip and noticed the taste. "Apple cider?" she asked.

"You always liked it." Yukio commented, taking a light sip of his own. "I noticed you were gone and thought you could use a pick up."

"Thanks." Arine took another sip of the scalding cider, somewhat enjoying the heat it had. She didn't dare drink too much, of course.

"No problem." Yukio gave her a slight grin. "Just wondering if you're doing okay." Arine looked to him, suddenly feeling defensive. Why was he being so concerned?

"I'm fine. Just didn't sleep." She took another sip.

"Okay, okay." Yukio backed off. "Just seeing you out training before daybreak is something I haven't seen much. I felt like I'd just ask." He drank a bit more.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of a sleepless night." Arine assured him. Last thing she needed was Yukio figuring out what was wrong with her and getting worked up. He was already over protective, having taken several hits for both her and Denji in years past. He had the scars to prove it.

"All right. Just take care of yourself." Yukio pleaded. "Last thing I need is you running yourself into the ground over something, or just in general."

"I promise." Arine sighed, grinning a bit. Yukio gave a slight smirk.

"There's a bit." He tipped his cup in recognition at her. Arine returned to her more displeased expression.

"Yeah. Shouldn't you be training?" she asked, putting the focus off of her.

"I've been meditating and working on chakra control lately, progressing quite nicely if I do say so myself. It's interesting, looking within and sort of finding various paths that can be cut when executing jutsu. In practice it's tougher, takes more concentration, but that's also what the meditating is for, expanding my mental faculties." He drank. "If I concentrate hard enough, now, I can get close to creating a Lightning Blade without hand signs. But it takes a couple minutes and I don't have that so a few quick hand signs goes a long way."

"Sounds tough." Arine commented.

"Ish. Issue is just mind strength and I have to work on mine a bit. Hopefully within the next couple years I'll be able to create my new jutsu on a whim. Hopefully." Yukio took a drink and Arine was afraid to ask what new he as making. The boy has scrolls in a pile in their room of things he was testing, ideas to try out. Aika had said he was regular scientist.

"I'm afraid to ask, but what all are you working on?" Arine attempted. Yukio sighed.

"Honestly, it's one of those things I'd rather save for the trip. You know how longwinded I get." Yukio chuckled.

"I sympathise." Arine finished her cider.

"Well one thing I am working on is a way to get some more distance with my lightning. So I looked into some books and read that some people of old tried throwing lightning with limited success. Most attempts really just ended up with scorched and burned limbs. I've been looking at the attempts and tweaking it and I think I got it." Yukio finished his drink.

"Care to show me?" Arine asked, legitimately curious. "I've got one dummy left and he looks like he needs a blasting."

"I'll try. I've done it once." He handed Arine his cup and she backed up. Yukio closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself before he began making various hand signs in combinations Arine hadn't seen before. It was a few seconds before Yukio curved himself back, his arm up, hand open as if to accept some object. Arine watched and saw blue lightning sparking in his hand before it violently expanded. Yukio quickly closed his hand around the lighting, forcing it to quickly take the shape of a lightning bolt. It was a beautiful sight, the lightning cackling within the formed shape, radiating heat and power. Yukio then threw the bolt as hard as he could. It flew at the dummy, impacting with a bright flash of light. Arine had to look away. When she looked back, the dummy's top half was incinerated, gone, with the bottom half split wide open and smoking, black and burnt straw falling out of it. Arine looked to Yukio, who was doubled over, panting, sweat running down his face with exhaustion.

"Holy, are you okay?" she asked, hoping he was. She stepped towards him but he held out a hand.

"I'm…. I'm fine." He panted. "That one just… it gets away from me sometimes. That initial burst when you have to form the shape, it's tough. Really tough. But I've done it." He chuckled. "I can throw lightning." He took a deep breath and sat down. "Holy… that got to me." Yukio cradled his head in his hands. "That hurts." He grunted.

"Maybe practice a bit more." Arine suggested and Yukio let out a laugh.

"That is practice. But yeah, I see what you're saying. It's just tough. Forming it, keeping its shape until impact." Yukio took a deep breath. "It's a daunting task. No wonder people before had such trouble."

"Yeah, I can see." Arine slid one cup into another and held out a hand for Yukio. He sat there for a few seconds gathering himself before he looked up and accepted the hand, allowing Arine to pull him up. He was wobbly at first as he tried to stand. However, he got his footing and Arine walked with him over to the cabin and opened the door for him. Yukio walked in and she helped him through the main room and up the stairs back to bed. Their trip today wouldn't take long so they would be allowed to sleep more. Yukio collapsed onto his bed and Arine sat on hers. She leaned back against the wall wondering if she would fall asleep, if it was prudent for her to. Probably. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon so they had a few hours. Maybe it would be good to get a couple hours at least.

Perhaps…

Arine felt her eyelids getting heavy. Maybe it would be best to go to sleep, at least physically she'd be rested. Arine lowered her head and closed her eyes, letting the sleep take her.

Arine ran as hard and as fast as her legs could carry her. The trigs and branches from trees and bushes clawed at her, slicing open her arms and legs. Blood trickled down her limbs as she ran, hearing the pounding footsteps behind her. She had to get away, had to get away! She ran so hard and so fast she didn't pay attention to the ground below her. This lead to her stepping on a stone that was protruding from the dirt, the sharp rock slicing open her foot. Pain lit up her right foot and ankle, forcing Arine to slow her pace.

"There she is!" she heard behind her and Arine felt her heart racing faster than ever. Arine tried running but her foot quickly diminished that prospect. She stumbled and fell into the dirt, hearing the voices closing in, Arine quickly got back up onto her functioning foot and hobbled over to the nearest bush before collapsing and curling up into a ball. She hold her breath as best as she could, hearing the pounding footsteps of the soldiers getting closer and closer… until they stopped near where she was hiding.

"Where'd she go?" one asked.

"I don't know, I think this way."

"You sure?"

"Yeah!" She heard them run off. Arine didn't dare move or breath, despite the pain her foot was causing her. It throbbed and burned with the rock had sliced the skin open, blood was running out of it at an alarming rate. If only she could get access to a bandage or something, anything! She was all alone in these woods with no one else to help her.

Arine sat there, not breathing for as long as she could handle, and then breathing very, very quietly. Her foot kept throbbing with immense pain but she tried to ignore it in order to escape. She kept listening for noise or sounds and heard nothing aside from the various bugs that inhabited the forest at night. So, slowly, she began crawling out of the brush, inch by painstaking inch, until she was completely exposed. She stood, shakily, holding onto the tree for support. Looking around she saw no one walking around or heard anything signifying that anyone was near her. She sighed lightly and attempted to take a step when arms reached out and grabbed her, pulling her in various directions. Arine screamed as the hands and arms reached out, tearing off her clothes and pulling at her until it hurt. A hand reached out and went for her face and she kept screaming as loud as she could, hoping someone might hear her.

"Arine!" she heard, and then she woke up.

"Arine!" Arine's eyes snapped open and looked to who was talking to her. Yukio stood above her, looking somewhat concerned.

"Huh?" she asked, looking at him.

"Come on." He nodded his head "Aika wants us up and ready." He turned and headed out of the room, leaving Arine to her own devices. She sat up, feeling the sweat on her body cooling off. She sat up, taking in her surroundings. She was back in her room, as she had always been. No one was after her, she wasn't alone, and she wasn't injured. She was fine. Arine took a deep breath before standing up and walking out of the room down to where Yukio and Denji were sitting down with Aika standing before them.

"Oh, you're up." Aika commented, gesturing for Arine to sit. Arine sat, and waited for Aika to begin speaking. "Okay everyone, this should be a basic mission. We head in, nab the guy, and head out. Quick, clean, nothing to fear. If there's a fight, there's a fight. Let's make it fast if it happens, but also quiet. I don't want a big scale battle or anything of that sort, you got that?"

"Yes." The three of them spoke in unison.

"That's good. Let's get packed and ready within the hour. It's only a few hours, roughly, to our destination so we can afford to take our time and the deal isn't until tomorrow. I just want to get a head start on this so that we can out do any other bounty hunters who are after the same thing."

"If bounties are a bit dry now, then I'd assume there's going to be a few." Yukio observed.

"Maybe, but bounty hunters keep to themselves. We don't like to encroach on others territory since we generally have our own things to worry about." Aika replied. "Though you're right, we might see some foreign activity so keep a look out. Do some sabotaging if that will help us. As long as we get the reward, what happens after doesn't matter. I just want this over and done with. We clear?"

"Yes, Aika." They responded.

"Good, go get packed and get something to eat. We're going to be travelling for a bit." Yukio and Denji stood right away, heading back up while Arine looked to her teacher. Dark rings were prominent under her eyes. She wondered how much sleep Aika had gotten last night. Considering the tale she told them a year ago, it wouldn't have surprised Arine if Aika dealt with traumatic nightmares. After all her friend and teacher died in the same span of time partly due to her actions. Anyone would be dealing with that for years.

Still Arine didn't want Aika butting into her own personal problems. That was the last thing she needed, someone so strong crumbling before the might of someone else's issues. Arine stood and went back up to the room where Yukio was shoving more and more books into his bag than he needed. But he read fast so maybe it would be nice. Denji was just putting clothes and weapon scrolls along with a spare eye band. He let it air out at night and it had pretty much healed, physically at least. Though some nights, Arine had seen him with various documents that contained rumours, speculations, pictures, anything that could lead him to finding Anri Nomura. She'd seen him fall asleep on the documents. So Anri left that scar with him that still hurt. and it hurt a lot.

"You gonna get ready?" Yukio asked, hefting his bag. He raised an eyebrow at Arine, who sighed.

"Yeah, I'll get ready." Arine grabbed her spear and her bag, filling it with various packs of knives, shuriken, and other bits and pieces. Soon her bag was well packed and she headed down the stairs, where Aika was giving a quick clean to her sword, the blade shining in the sunlight that entered the cabin. Aika lifted it, inspecting the weapon before sheathing it and re-sealing it within its small scroll, which went into her jacket. Yukio was pulling on his gloves, which contained his chakrams. Denji was storing his various weapon scrolls, which included the stake driver she'd bought for him two years ago. He'd found more use for it than her, especially considering his strength. He'd buffed up considerably since they first arrived at Aika's.

"Okay, I see we're all here." Aika put her hands on her hips and took in the group before her. "Are we well rested and ready?"

"About as ready as we can be." Yukio sighed.

"I should hope that's as ready as possible. Because when we get to the village, we're going to do some recon and I want thorough details on what you all learn, is that clear?" Aika glared at them, the three of them matching her in height.

"Yes Aika." They answered.

"That's good. Let's head out." She turned and the group exited the cabin, getting a running start before leaping into the woods, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. They kept in a loose diamond formation as they leapt, so that all sides were covered. "Remember!" Aika called out to them "Keep an eye out for any of Jin's men. You know he'd be going after a target like this and he knows we will as well so he'll try and stop us. Just make sure you deal with them quickly, I'd rather we not stop and fight. Leave, kill, re-join."

"Sounds good, I've been itching to get some more use out of my chakrams and jutsu. Dummies can only do so much." Yukio grinned. He was off to Arine's right while Denji was off to her left. Arine took up the rear while Aika took the lead.

"Speak for yourself, I got a weapon and haven't given it a proper fight in two years!" Denji grinned back.

"How about a bet?" Yukio called over. "Whoever gets the first incapacitation or kill wins."

"Wins what?" Denji challenged. "Come on a bet's nothing with just bragging rights!"

"Fine, how about winner gets…" Yukio thought about it for a second before he grinned. "Loser buys the winner a new weapon, any price, anything."

"I'll take that action!" Denji craned his head and popped his neck. He turned back to Arine. "Hey Arine, you want in on this?" Arine looked to him. Honestly it just sounded like a way for those two to just jerk around and not have Aika get on their cases. Although Yukio had a point, they hadn't gotten into any real fights in a long while. Just sparring and dummies. No real practice for their jutsu or weapons skills. Maybe this would be a more fruitful endeavour than she first thought.

"Okay, sure." She sighed. "I'll do it."

"Aw yes!" Denji moved right and gave Yukio a high five before moving back to his spot. Arine rolled her eyes. Honestly she was going to regret this.

"Well wait, then who buys who what?" Yukio asked.

"Oh." Denji realised that including Arine meant they had to rework their winnings. "Hm, that's tough. Maybe winner gets two weapons?"

"No…" Yukio thought for a second, ducking to avoid a low branch. "Maybe second buys first a weapon, the third buys second?" Yukio asked.

"Maybe…" Denji frowned as he thought. Arine just rolled her eyes. The easiest solution was one that didn't need changing.

"How about you don't change anything." Arine suggested. "Winner still gets the weapon but both second and third have to chip in. Sounds the fairest without anyone getting off without paying."

"Huh." Yukio had the realisation that that was going to work. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I'm smarter than you." Arine quipped and Denji smirked at his friend. Yukio rolled his eyes.

"Don't get cocky there." Yukio grinned at her and Arine rolled her eyes. Guys could be so insecure at times. Even if they didn't need to be.

"Don't worry, I won't be stealing your thunder." Arine reassured her friend. "It's a bit hard to control anyway."

"Speaking of, how are those jutsu you've been working on?" Denji asked him.

"Oh, they're good. Just a few are tough, like my Lightning Spear. But that's one I think I can evolve into something a bit more. Maybe if I could learn to add fire." Yukio shrugged. "I've got another one lined up that should be fun to try. I call it 'Arc'." Yukio waved his hands fancily, with showmanship.

"What's that one?" Denji asked.

"It's basic. Just a bolt of lightning."

"Isn't that your Lighting Spear?" Arine asked.

"Sounds like it but no. With Lightning Spear I'm forming the lightning into a defined, still shape. Containing it is an ordeal in and of itself, then I have to throw it and contain the shape until impact. Now, this is just a raw bolt of lightning shot out from my hand. I'll demonstrate when I win the bet." Yukio grinned.

"I've been tweaking a few things." Denji revealed. "A couple big jutsu that I still need to work on a lot."

"Not that Dreadnaught Armour is it?" Yukio asked.

"No, not that, I've got that somewhat down at least. These others need work since I've just began working with them."

"Makes sense." Yukio turned to Arine.

"Anything you're working on?" he asked.

"No." she answered. She'd mastered her various water jutsu to the point that a water dragon was almost an easy task. Aika had seen her and said she was using up too much chakra and that she needed to control it more. Arine tried but found that she could do more than enough doing what she was doing now. There was no need to fix it, no matter what Aika said.

"Okay then." Yukio relented and the talk died down. They kept moving for a few hours, not bothering to break until they reached the first village. By the time they got there it was past mid-day, so Aika suggested they all break and get some lunch. They discussed this outside of the gate to Makinami village. Aika was donning her cloak just in case someone recognised her.

"We'll meet back here in about, say, a couple hours." Aika finished buttoning the garb around her neck and pulled the hood up. "That should give you all enough time to sift around, find some food, and maybe get something. Just don't spend too much, we're not made of money anymore."

"Can do." Denji eagerly agreed, wanting to get some food.

"All right. I'll leave you all to it." Aika sighed before walking away, heading into the village first, to avoid seeming like they were as a group. It was a few minute later when the trio entered the village, Denji leading the way as he wanted to get a meal he said would fill them all a good bit. They walked and Yukio walked along Arine's left side. Denji lead them through the village until they came across a small ramen stand. There was one other customer sitting at the stand when they arrived. Denji was grinning as he sat down. Yukio and Arine sat down and each grabbed a menu. Arine looked at the various choices and found most of them seemed uninteresting. The most basic one, form what she could decipher, was just a simple pork ramen.

I guess this means I should learn a bit more about ramen. She thought to herself as a young woman behind the counter with her black hair in a bun and a white outfit. She had a perky smile and bright eyes that were either natural or required of her to survive in the service industry.

"Hey there, how may I help you?" she smiled nice and bright, in a way that made Arine cringe on the inside.

"I'll have the chicken ramen with everything on it." Denji ordered quickly.

"I'll just have the pork ramen, with the vegetables." Yukio ordered. The waitress looked to Arine. Arine grimaced at the smile.

"Pork ramen, nothing else." She answered. The waitress nodded and turned to a chubbier, older woman who was working with the broth.

"Mother, did you get that?" she asked.

"Yeah." The woman answered. She began moving around the horizontal kitchen and working on various things to prepare the bowls of ramen. The trio waited patiently as the dishes were made, not bothering to talk while they did. The stand was small and, while the outside was loud due to the various crowds, inside was somehow quiet and there was a looming quiet that threatened to make any attempt at conversation awkward and forced. Arine was fine with this, the less talking the better. She didn't feel like it, if she was being honest. If anything, the lack of talking was relaxing. A small break from the world of being a bounty hunter on a mission that may or may not fail. So she took in the atmosphere of the ramen stand until the waitress handed them their bowls. Arine's bowl contained a brown tinted broth with plenty of noodles and some pieces of pork in there. She grabbed some chopsticks and dug in, eating the noodles which tasted quite good. Looking over, Yukio was taking his ramen slowly, enjoying it for what it was. Denji was going absolutely mad with his bowl of ramen, eating it as fast as he possibly could. Arine grimaced at this sight and kept eating, enjoying the taste of it along with how the pork and noodles were cooked. Overall, quite worth the visit.

It wasn't too long later when the group paid for their bowls together and exited the stand, out into the crowds.

"Well, that was nice." Yukio commented with a sigh.

"It was freaking delicious!" Denji said loudly, hands on his hips proudly. Arine simply stared at him, but he didn't notice. He just enjoyed how he ate two bowls of the stuff. Arine and Yukio only had one.

"It was good." She shrugged uninterested. "Though maybe we should go head back to the gate. I don't think we have anything else to do, really."

"You're right, I believe." Yukio agreed, turning to Denji. "Anything you want or need?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm good. We should get to the gate. No telling how long Aika will be. Might as well be there early."

"Can't agree more." Yukio grinned.

"All right." Arine sighed. "Let's get going."

"Here." Aika handed a small pouch of ryo to the blacksmith. He opened it and inspected the money within, frowning a bit in response. Keiichi sighed as he looked to Aika.

"Listen, Aika. I know you said a small payment but for a blade like this, I mean…" Keiichi gritted his teeth and took in a sharp breath. "This isn't even half an order, even a quarter of an order. I mean I can get some but not much." He sighed, running a hand through his black hair. It had grown down to mid neck. Dangerous for a blacksmith, she'd think. "Must be a bad dry spell."

"No one's putting out many bounties, Kei." Aika lamented, shaking her head. "Trust me, I've giving you what I can. If this job I'm doing now is completed, I should have plenty of money for a full order." She stared, expressionless at Keiichi as he looked back at her, eyebrow raised.

"This is starting to sound a bit shady and or too good to be true. I hope this isn't gonna be some really risky endeavour." Keiichi swallowed and pocketed the money pouch. "I'll take this and do what I can but it's a favour. I can't keep giving dwindling money to my supplier."

"That's fine." Aika waved his concern aside. "All I was here to do was pay and give you a heads up of my current financial situation." She nodded her head and turned. As she was leaving, Keiichi called out.

"Listen, Aika." He started. Aika turned and looked to the blacksmith. He suddenly seemed a bit flustered and nervous, as if he didn't know what he should say next. "I know this is gonna sound really cheesy and bad but, just be careful out there. Last thing I need is for you to go an die on me and leave me with no more interesting projects." He gave a sheepish grin and Aika smirked a bit.

"Yeah, I'll make sure I come back. If I don't, then tell my students of the project and let them be the judge of if they want to continue it. If they don't, they don't, give them the unfinished product. If they do, then just make sure they pay. They can get lazy."

"You sure they'll make it out if it's that bad?" Keiichi asked.

"Listen, one of them is a sponge for wounds. He'd literally die if the other two could live. Even if it's just a chance. Trust me, at least two will make it back." Aika give Keiichi a real, legitimate smile. "But don't go losing faith in me. I'm a lot tougher than I look, despite my age."

"Yeah, okay." Keiichi smiled back. "I'll see you soon then."

"Count on it." Aika turned and exited the building, leaving Keiichi to his devices. Aika looked up and saw that the sun hadn't moved much. Then again, it was the middle of summer, so days were longer. So the sun moving very little wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Still, it was likely they were waiting by the gate so Aika headed over there now. She had no other business.

The Archer lined up the shot, pulling the arrow back with as much strength as he could muster. Both eyes open, he sighted the target and listened, feeling for the wind. He calculated his height and the approximate force of the bow. He stood atop a tower of the complex in mid-day, calculating the shot. It would be tough, for many, near impossible for even more, but for some, like himself, it was a trivial task.

He adjusted his aim to the left to compensate for the initial wind up high. Not a lot, just some. He took a deep breath, holding it as he prepared to let the arrow fly. His hand held the string back taught. His muscles remained still be relaxed. Locking one's limbs does not a good archer make. The Archer licked his lips, the wind brushing across them. He adjusted his aim once more, moving the arrow to the right. He sighted and…. Now!

He let the arrow fly with a mighty thrum as the arrow shot forward, the curve of it slight enough that it pierced the target dead centre, knocking it off its pedestal while destroying the top half of the pedestal itself. The arrow burrowed into the ground and stood there for a second, erect, before fading into smoke. The Archer stood beside his bow, examining the target from this distance. He could clearly see how the target had been turned into a whirlwind of wood after the arrow had gone clear through. A perfect hit. The Archer took a deep breath and stood beside his bow, relaxing. While real combat could require him to fire one arrow after the other, practice was always necessary. It was especially nice under this very large umbrella he had staked out atop the tower.

"Oh for fuck's sake." He heard. The Archer turned around and saw the muscle man. The large sword on his back looking intimidating to many, the hilt gleaming in the sunlight . "You've got an umbrella up here? You intent on hiding your face to everybody?"

It was true, in a sense. The Archer liked to maintain a sense of mystery about himself. So only this man's boss, who hired him, saw his face and wasn't to reveal it. After all, one doesn't become an infamous archer for missing his targets from afar.

"Oh well. Boss says to tell you to start doing patrols of the surrounding woods and simply report back. If people come too close, peg em." The man smirked and grinned. "Hopefully we'll see some bodies."

The Archer simply stared. This man was a brute, plain and simple. Nothing complex, just like others who'd hired him. Big men with big weapons and big egos. But he wasn't paid to judge his employers.

"Anyway, patrol starts tomorrow so enjoy the rest of your day, man." The man lit a cigarette and made his way back down the stairs. The Archer sighed before making the hand signs, allowing another arrow to appear at his feet. He reached down, picked it up, and notched it in the greatbow. With both eyes, he took aim upon the next target. There was no wind, everything had died down. He let the arrow fly and it hit dead centre.

A perfect shot.

A/N: A short come back but I think it works. It's nice to be back everyone!