I do not own Infinite Stratos nor do I own Rurouni Kenshin. All rights respectively go to Izuru Yumizuru, the author who created Infinite Stratos, and Nobuhiro Watsuki, the author of Rurouni Kenshin.

Then, out of nowhere, an arrow is fired and lands right in the middle of the group behind Raiden. But on the arrow was a device beeping red. And Laura realized what that was to her horror.

"EMP!" She cried.

But by the time she yells of what it was, the EMP activates like a flashbang, emitting a field of EMP electricity. Everyone in the group, except Raiden and Houki, were caught in the field, screaming as the electricity courses through their body. Their IS suffered the most as the electrics within the machinery began to shut down, thereby disabling them.

As the EMP field dies down, everyone collapses in the sand, unconscious.

"Everyone!" Raiden yelled before he turns around to speak to Houki. "Houki-dono, listen to me! You need to—"

*FWOOM*

Suddenly, Houki is grabbed violently from her left and behind, held captive in the arms of an unknown IS and its pilot. The ambush came so fast that Raiden did not see it coming, as he senses a familiar presence. A presence he had not felt since protecting the Dunois Corporations matriarch. One who had the ability of freeze her targets in place with a gaze. One wearing a infamous black kasa.

And that laughter. That sadistic laughter that Raiden recognized all too well. One that even he would never forget.

Udō Hina.

"Hehehahahaha!" Hina laughs as she takes her prey.

"Houki-dono!" Raiden runs to the edge of the sea, chasing after the kidnapped Houki and the kidnapper Hina.

"I see that this girl is your woman!" Hina called out mockingly as she flees with Houki in her arms.

"Hina!" Raiden realized as he was halted by the edge of the sea. With his IS battered from fighting the Silver Gospel, he would never reach to Houki and Hina in time.

"Angry! Become more angry!" Hina proclaimed while laughing in triumph. "Return to the way you were ten years ago! Hate me! Hate me! Return to the hitokiri you were, Kingslayer! Hehehehahahaha~!"

Houki manages to get Hina's hand off of her mouth for her to scream, "RAIDEN!"

All Raiden could see was Hina and Houki's vestige disappear over the horizon, the hitokiri IS pilot taking Houki to an unknown location and holding her hostage. Pure anger for not seeing it coming quickly enveloped Raiden, seeing someone dear to him now taken away. The Silver Gospel may be out of the count, but now another threat returns.

"HIIIINNAAAA!"

And now this time for Raiden, this was going to be personal.

(Insert OP: A Cruel Angel's Thesis by Yoko Takahashi)

Zankoku na tenshi no you ni (After a drop of water hits the black screen, it brightens up to a red sky with clouds and stars as it shows the IS Academy symbol)
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare... (Camera pans upwards as it shows the schematics of an Infinite Stratos before it shows its heart, the IS Core and then everything tuns white)

(Title of the show appears as Infinite Stratos)

Aoi kaze ga ima mune no doa wo tataitemo (Raiden is shown fully clothed and carrying the Sakabatō on his left hip)
Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete (As he watches the waters surrounding the IS Academy Island, the shadowy silhouettes of Akane Fujimoto and Miram Walker appear at the side of the screen going up and down respectively)
Hohoenderu Anata (As the silhouettes fade away, Raiden gives a small smile as if content with something of his life)

Sotto Fureru mono (A shadowy hand is shown pointing to the ground before an IS blueprint of Akatsubaki appears)
Motomeru koto ni muchuu de, (And then Houki is shown next as her image looks up at the sky)
Unmei sae mada shiranai itaike na hitomi (Houki's shadowy image sits on the ground with her arms around her knees as if crying before she looks up while Raiden is in the background and then Houki's image is replaced with that of Tabane, staring out of a window and her eyes blinking twice)

Dakedo itsuka kizuku deshou Sono senaka ni wa (Raiden is seen in his IS, looking upwards as he prepares himself for a fight, embracing his persona of Hitokiri Kingslayer. Four brief images of Hiko Seijuro XVIII, Akane Fujimoto, Miriam Walker, and Chifuyu Orimura are shown in order)
Haruka mirai mezasu tame no hane ga aru koto... (Raiden cannot contain the darkness he kept within himself any longer as Hitokiri Kingslayer emerges and the background is shrouded in flames of Kyoto)

Zankoku na tenshi no tēze (Ichika duels with Raiden, clashing his blade, Yukihira Nigata, against Raiden's Sakabatō, fighting on even ground)
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu (Raiden and Ichika break away as Rin comes in to assist the latter against the former with her Souten Gagetsu. Brief images of the various cast of IS, including students of the Academy, Liu King-Sang and members of the Righteousness Union, and members of FEISAR, are shown in quick timeframes)
Hotobashiru atsui patosu de (Laura was next as she unleashes her cables at Hitokiri Kingslayer, but he dodges in the air and attempts to cut her down but is blocked by Charlotte's shield)
Omoide wo uragiru nara (Raiden backs away as Cecilia unleashes heavy firing onto Raiden, making him move and slice down her BIT drones. Brief images of the various cast of IS, mainly the main antagonists are shown in quick timeframes, in order of Udō Hina, Squall Meusel, Autumn, Madoka Orimura, and the shadowy form of the Dark Lady)

Kono sora wo daite kagayaku (Raiden in his IS takes a Battojutsu stance and charges forward as executes a Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū attack)
Shounen yo, shinwa ni nare (As Raiden comes in and slices at the camera, everything flashes white as the title of the story, Infinite Stratos Hitokiri Kingslayer, comes up on screen)

The rays of light shine through the room where Ichika slept. As they hit his eyes, he wakes up with a blurry vision before they clear up, showing a wooden ceiling.

'Where… am I? I…I'm back at the Inn? Is it morning already?'

Ichika couldn't really think properly. Last time he was on the beach and something took him out. Something powerful enough to knock him unconscious. One minute he was feeling sand under his feet, the next he now feels the soft futon underneath him. He tries to sit up, but finds that his head felt heavy, like a was large anvil weighing him down.

'Ow. Owowow. Ugh, my head. And my body. D-Did we defeat the Silver Gospel? I could've sworn I disabled it with Yukihira."

Then he hears voices over to his left along with the sounds of footsteps rushing..

"Ichika-san!" Cecilia cried. "Oh thank god you're awake!"

"You had us worried there," Charlotte concurred. "You've bene unconscious for a few hours."

As Ichika struggles to sit up, a sharp pain hits him like a sharp nail. "Ah ow, ow…"

Rin eases him, "Easy. You and your IS took a bad hit."

"The damage is minimal," Laura further said. "But you should make a rapid recovery while your IS is in repairs."

"Wha—What happened?" asked Ichika but then he looks around and sees that one of the girls is missing. "Wh—Where's Houki?"

Upon being asked that question, the girls went silent and their heads lowered. Their faces were also grim, like they knew something.

Ichika took notice. "Guys? Wh-Why are you like that? Where's Houki?"

"Ichika-san…" Cecilia spoke softly. "I… We're not sure how to tell you this."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"Well…" Rin struggled to say. "It's that… After we were all knocked out, we woke up here at the Inn in our room… and we saw that Houki was not among us."

"What? What are you talking about?" Ichika asked frantically.

"It's probably best if you come with us first. Orimura-sensei will want to know you're awake."

Ichika would like to know first where Houki is but what Charlotte did say was true. His sister will want to know he is awake. So, getting up while being supported by Cecilia and Charlotte, he is led over to the command center where Chifuyu stood in the same spot looking at the holo map of the island.

Yamada-sensei notices the door to the command room opening and is exasperated to see Ichika awake. "O-Orimura-senseii, Ichika is awake."

Chifuyu turns around and sees his little brother, sighing in relief. "Orimura, how are you feeling?"

Ichika however, before he answered, wanted to know something more important according to his mind.

"Chi—Orimura-sensei, where's Houki?" asked Ichika. "I just learned she is… not at the Inn?"

"Shinonono… has been kidnapped," Chifuyu said rather reluctantly.

This makes Ichika widen his eyes in shock, gasping to hear his childhood friend has been kidnapped.

"The Silver Gospel?" asked a frantic Ichika, wondering if the IS was still active.

Chifuyu shakes her head. "No. It was… Kurogasa."

Ichika's eyes widened upon hearing the name. "What!?"

Laura explained for her Instructor. "An EMP blast took us all out, except for the Kingslayer and Houki. But according to the former, that's when Kurogasa made her move, ambushing Houki from behind and taking her away. The Kingslayer didn't even see it coming."

Ichika was stunned. The timing was all too perfect. As soon as one threat falls, another takes its place. But to kidnap Houki out of the blue was something even he did not think was possible to happen. And Raiden…

"We found this in Raiden's room," Charlotte said, holding up a piece of paper written in Raiden's handwriting. After unfolding it, it was a note.

"Kurogasa has stated where she wants the battle. If I don't return, I ask you to rescue Houki-dono with the help of Akane and Chifuyu-dono as soon as your IS have recovered from the EMP. -Raiden"

Rin then realized what the contents of the note meant. "That guy… He's going to go rescue Houki all by himself. He wants to put an end to the battle between two hitokiri."

"Two hitokiri…" Charlotte said. "But, Raiden is no longer a hitokiri!"

"That's why he might lose!" Chifuyu interrupted. "But even then, he's going to go fight. Alone!"

Ichika could no longer take it. If what his sister said is true, that Raiden may lose, then there is no time to waste. With Houki captured and Raiden going after her alone, he couldn't just sit by and do nothing. Ignoring the pain wracking in his body, Ichika stands up to the disapproval of the others.

"Ichika-san, what are you—" Cecilia said.

"I'm going to find them!" Ichika said as he rushes to the door. "I can't just sit here doing nothing!'

"And where do you think you're going, boy?" asked a familiar voice at the opened door that irritated Chifuyu the moment she heard it.

Standing in front of Ichika was Akane Fujimoto, Raiden's guardian. And next to her was Miriam Walker. And both of them wearing serious expressions on their faces.

Chifuyu though was not in the mood for wasting time with her rival. "Akane, I thought I told you—"

"Not to interfere with your students' training, blah blah blah. Yeah, I haven't forgotten. But I think Miri here can give you a detailed explanation of why she and I are really here."

"Really?" asked Chifuyu in doubt. "And just what exactly are you doing here?"

Miriam explained, "Intel came to us regarding Kurogasa, the IS pilot assassin that Raiden recently engaged with before the kidnapping. The CIA have been tracking her for a week by now and considering how her target was Raiden, we suspected she would show up on the beach side trip you planned. The Silver Gospel going out of control and arriving here did not seem like a coincidence either."

Chifuyu though wished she had this information from them sooner. She grips her hands into fists and a visible expression of anger shows up on her face.

"If you told me of this beforehand—"

"What difference would that make, Chi?" asked Akane. "Even you couldn't see this coming, could you?"

Chifuyu remains silent as Akane continues. "You saw Raiden's report and the JSDF's. Kurogasa is a hitokiri, an assassin. And with an IS at her disposal, modified to such an extent that we cannot track it, even your best IS pilots were taken out easily by an EMP. If she wanted to, Kurogasa could've killed everyone there. But she didn't because the only one she cares about is Raiden. And the Shinonono girl was just the bait to draw him out."

Chifuyu knew Akane was right, though she did not want to admit it. Granted, she did have a bad feeling earlier that during the fight against the Silver Gospel, Houki would somehow screw up the mission and that it may have cost her life. And it nearly did had it not been for Raiden who saved her in the nick of time despite disobeying orders. And everyone else that followed suite. But with coordinated teamwork, and trust in Ichika on delivering that fatal blow to the Silver Gospel, disobeying orders seemed to be justified as the mission had been accomplished.

But when Udō Hina emerged, she saw everyone's IS but Raiden and Houki's were somehow shut down on screen. When learning it was from an EMP blast and not from the Silver Gospel, and that Houki was kidnapped, Chifuyu had to admit she did not foresee this. Even with intelligence from the CIA, she had to admit that would not be enough to predict Hina's whereabouts or what role she would play with the Silver Gospel. The hitokiri was unpredictable and could appear out at any time. And she had to appear right after the Silver Gospel was finished, disabling everyone's IS with an EMP, and kidnapping an unsuspecting Houki from behind.

Her brother on the other hand did not want to waste any time bickering and arguing about the situation.

"We've got to find them!" He said. "We've got to help Raiden find Houki!"

But Akane stood firm at her position with a stern look similar to Chifuyu's. "Oh sure. Let you go into enemy territory without backup, without weapons, and without an IS? I don't think so, boy. There's nothing you can do at this time."

A stubborn Ichika retorted back, "I don't care! Houki is my childhood friend! I've known since I was little, and I am not abandoning her!"

"I can't believe I am about to say this, but… Orimura, Akane is right," Chifuyu's voice then spoke up, turning towards her little brother.

Akane however pretended to be surprised. "I'm right? Well, that's a first."

Ichika was stunned, seeing his sister give the order to not go after Houki. "B-But, Chifu—Orimura-sensei, you wouldn't—"

"You won't be able to find Shinonono in this mess," Chifuyu said. "And you're not ready to face another IS pilot like Kurogasa who can kill other pilots. We already have one of our own searching for her whose IS is still active, and I will not send another whose IS is in need of repairs. All we can do is wait for Hataru to return with Shinonono."

The other IS pilots, one by one, begrudgingly agreed to their teacher's suggestion.

"She's right, Ichika-san," Cecilia said. "Our IS' need repairs, as do our injuries that need tending."

"We're all still a bit exhausted from fighting the Silver Gospel," Charlotte concurred. "You, especially."

"The Kingslayer can track Houki down, along with that assailant," Laura said. "If the Instructor says to stay put and wait, we have to assume the Kingslayer knows what he is doing."

"Please, Ichika," Rin pleaded. "For Houki's sake."

Ichika clenches his fists and grits his teeth. Houki, his childhood friend, was kidnapped and the only thing he could do is just sit back and watch? He would never acknowledge this. If Houki was kidnapped and he was ordered to just stand by for further orders, he wouldn't give a damn about orders. But with his IS out of commission, he didn't exactly have a weapon in hand to fight the IS pilot. Yet even without an IS, he'd go straight away to save her, using nothing but blind dumb luck and stubborn pride, both of which are useless in the situation right now.

But he had no choice. With Raiden being the only IS pilot remaining to fight against another, they'd all have to depend on him to save Houki. He didn't like it as he felt powerless once again and his pride wouldn't accept the circumstances. But with stern orders from his teacher and from Raiden's guardians, along with pleading from his friends, there was very little he could do to go against them.

Giving in, he sighs. "…Alright. I don't like it but… I'll listen."

"Good boy," Akane pats him on the back rather roughly. That pat though earned him a grunt of pain, but Akane didn't care so long as he can toughen it up.

"All of you, get some rest," Chifuyu ordered. "We will inform you when we have further news by tonight."

Everyone does as ordered, going back to their rooms together while Akane and Miriam remained in the command center. Akane then walks up to the side to her rival, watching the map of his current location on the move by the shoreline.

"You're afraid for him…" Akane noted Chifuyu's expression without looking. "That's a little unusual of you."

"When I read the report of Raiden's encounter with Kurogasa, he told me that she wanted to fight him not as he is but as Hitokiri Kingslayer. And with Shinonono held captive, kidnapped in front of Raiden and that he couldn't stop it, I fear this duel will test his vow."

"If you want, you can take an IS over to Kurogasa and kill her right on the spot," Akane suggested. "Or send me in Raiden's place to assassinate her myself with a sniper rifle."

Chifuyu scoffs yet thanks sarcastically. "Thanks, but no. This is the Academy's problem now. And I don't want it to be passed along to the CIA."

"Your choice," Akane said. "But if I were you, Chi, I'd say Raiden will be fine. He'll come back. If anything, I'd say he'll find Hina on the western side of the island, use the shoreline for cover and fly in from the south."

"How do you know?" asked Chfiuyu.

"It's what I'd do."

Miriam could only watch, perhaps for the first time, of her best friend and her rival conversing with one another in a cordial manner. This sure as hell will not make them friends nor acquaintances, but when push comes to shove, rivals better set their differences aside for a common goal.

She just hopes that this does not blow out of proportion, considering how deep the history between the two of them is.

Meanwhile, in a cove on another part of the island, the sun was already setting on its horizon. The orange evening light covered the ocean and the landscape. But despite the beauty of nature, it was not the time to take in the view.

Houki was held captive within the cave with her arms and legs bound in specialized chains that not only prevent her from escaping, but also disables her IS. With those chains bound to a rock, she could only glare angrily at Udō Hina, who was off on the side smoking a cigarette. Having deduced who the hitokiri was based on Raiden's account, she identified this rogue IS pilot as the one called Kurogasa as evident by her black kasa, or straw hat. The one that Raiden had fought one week ago.

But the hitokiri catches on her glare and chuckles. "Relax, Shinonono. Don't glare at me so much. It's not like I'm going to kill and eat you."

But Houki would not buy it. "You coward! You disabled my IS and had me kidnapped because you can't beat Raiden otherwise!"

Hina lets out a puff of her cigarette, not even bothered by Houki's anger as she sadistically smiles. "You don't get it. I can defeat the present Kingslayer before finishing one cigarette. That's boring. But if I take you hostage, the Kingslayer will be angry. Anger will return him to the manslayer he once was."

"Y-You don't know how strong Raiden is," Houki said in defiance.

"And neither do you," Hina revealed looking at her. "You don't know how he really was back then… The power of Hitokiri Kingslayer gave everyone goosebumps during the assassination of the king and queen in Luxembourg."

Udō Hina clearly recalls that flaming day in Luxembourg, where she remembers the Kingslayer cutting down a plethora of guards and security personnel to reach the royal family. One by one, all of his opponents fell to his blade. Not even those with sharp shooting sights could bring down the assassin who basically kicked down the front door of the Grand Ducal Palace and murdered the king and queen right on the steps to their thrones.

"Back then I was in Luxembourg as well, as a member of Phantom Task," Hina revealed.

"Phantom Task?" asked Houki, having heard the name before.

Hina tosses her cigarette but smiles continuously, remembering the chaos of Luxembourg. The blood, the screams, the destruction. It made her all the more happy to revel in it.

"I was fighting in Luxembourg like him," Hina recounted her younger days. "A deathmatch with the former Kingslayer, both of us on the edge. It sounds fun. Is there anything as fun as that?"

"Raiden isn't like that!" Houki denied, making Hina look at her. "He's not like you, just out for blood! Raiden will never return to being a hitokiri again!"

But Hina could only chuckle at such empty threats. Soon, a murder of crows soon cry out and take flight in the orange sky. While to one person it may seem just a flock of birds taking flight, to Houki and Hina, it meant that death was approaching.

Someone was going to die tonight. Who it would be, neither knew.

A FEW HOURS LATER…

Hina looks at her watch and sees that midnight has just about struck. The second hand has hit the top and united briefly with the hour and minute hand. With her captive secured and unable to do anything with those tight chains on her flesh, the night was perfect.

"It is time…" She said as she puts her watch away. Her words rang true as she hears footsteps to her left, making her stand up. "Now then, shall we begin?"

Houki gasps upon realizing who it was walking towards Hina.

"Raiden!" She cried in joy.

But that expression was quickly wiped away, for what she saw on Raiden next, despite his blindfold, was an expression of anger. All directed at Hina. His mouth curled upside down, his nostril opened up wider, and his breathing sounded almost like that of a growling lion.

And yet, for a samurai like Houki, it scared her to see Raiden like that. Her joyful expression turned into fear for Raiden. And of how scary he looked.

But for Hina, it was a different story as she chuckles.

"Such an intimidating aura…" Hina said. "Your anger is showing."

Raiden did not deny, "Yes. Anger at you for involving Houki-dono and kidnapping her. And anger at myself, for not stopping you."

Houki was stunned. 'That tone of voice… No, that isn't the usual Raiden!'

Indeed it was not. His tone and his manner of speech were different, as was his expression like before. This made Houki concerned as Raiden was never one to enter in a battle filled with anger. Nevertheless, as a captive of Udō Hina, she could do nothing. With her IS Akatsubaki disabled by the chains and her body bound and tied to a rock, she can do nothing but watch and bet her freedom on Raiden's victory.

Tense moments pass as the two hitokiri face off against one another. This rematch has been a long time coming, long overdue some would say. Both of them were veterans from Luxembourg ten years ago. Although they had never met before on that particular tragic day, both of them experienced Luxembourg well enough that they both emerged as changed individuals. But ever since their fated encounter concerning Rozenta Dunois, they would no doubt meet again.

Now, it was time to settle this fight for good.

Both hitokiri activate their IS, the light encompassing their forms before it dissipates. Then, they draw out their blades. Like two samurai who had just wandered back into time, this would be a first of the ages. Two samurai IS pilots facing off in a traditional duel to the death.

"I sense a pleasing intention to kill," Hina said as she brings her blade to her side. "Now, you reverse that silly sword. Then, the legendary hitokiri will come back."

Raiden had just enough of her talk. "Shut up…"

Making the first move, Raiden charges in. Hina responds in kind, laughing along the way at such high speeds. Then the battle of two hitokiri begins.

*CLANG*

*BANG*

*DING*

*SWISSH*

Through the clash of two swords do both hitokiri battle. Like before, they seemed to be evenly matched. Neither of them managed to land a hit on the other, either dodging, blocking, or countering each other's moves. And neither of them seem to be tired from it. Their IS' also seemed in sync with one another, as if both machines were fighting against each other alongside their pilots. If the human half of the IS was in the form of Raiden and Udō Hina, then the IS half would respectively be Lion Heart and Kurogasa.

Both man and machine fighting together against another man and machine together.

*CLANG*

One last strike made the two back away and run in circles, keeping an eye on each other.

A laughing Hina then employs Shin no Ippō onto Raiden, locking onto his form easily.

*SHIING*

"Like that would work!" Raiden screams as he easily deflects the gaze, breaking free of it immediately.

As Houki watches, she was either stunned to see Raiden fight on another level or scared of what she feared he might have become.

'T-This is Hitokiri Kingslayer?'

Hina charges in, taunting at Raiden. "Be angry. Be more angry! Is that all you've got?"

Hina brings her sword back for a thrust, but Raiden, being a former hitokiri who fought Hina before, realizes she was going to use Nikaidō Heihō like before.

'Katate Hirazuki…' Raiden dodges to the left from the one-handed thrust. 'Next, form one, side swing…' Raiden quickly backs away from the side slash as Hina soon brings her sword upwards. 'Then cross form, bamboo splitter: a straight slash down… And here…'

Raiden turns his blade upside down so that the hilt faces upwards.

*DING*

As soon as Hina's straight slash down made contact with Raiden's hilt, he deflects it upwards, pushing Hina back.

'Break the stance!'

With Hina falling backwards from the deflection, she was left completely vulnerable and at Raiden's mercy. He charges in with the Sakabatō, ready to strike down his adversary.

However, Hina smirks as she performs a hidden move. Having her sword rebound towards her back, she drops with her right and grabs it with the left hand, switching hands in the process, and brings the sword forward to thrust it in a backwards position of a thrust, the form of eight.

*SLISSH*

Houki gasps in shock, seeing Hina's blade pierce Raiden in the left shoulder, cutting the brachial artery to his shock. Caught off-guard by the sudden move, Raiden twists and falls to the ground to avoid the blade going through his shoulder.

Unbelievably, Raiden was wounded, if not incapacitated. Hina took great pleasure of her defeated opponent as she laughs.

"Raiden!" Houki cried out, but she only saw a blood of pool forming beneath him from the shoulder to her horror.

Hina turns around and looks at her defeated opponent, with a disappointed look. "You were reading my moves up until the Backwards Wheel. Clever, but not enough. This is far from what the Kingslayer used to be. Because you don't want to kill me yet. While you have the silly thought of defeating me without killing, I can kill you before finishing three cigarettes. How boring."

"Raiden!" Houki cried, seeing him on the ground and bleeding. "Raiden, get up!"

"So…" Hina said, noting Houki's desperation and of how loud she is. "Let's see if I can fix that with this."

Hina soon looks directly into Houki's eyes. And then, with an intense gaze of her blackened eyes as dark as night…

*SHIING*

Shin no Ippō was used again, but this time on Houki. However, as the captive samurai girl looked back innocently into Hina's, she gasps and feels paralyzed down to her core. She couldn't move like her body had been turned frozen in a flash.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

"Hu… uh… ugh…" Houki struggles to speak. "Rai… den…"

Raiden then heard her voice, and of how rasp and quiet it was, to his horror.

"Houki-dono!" Raiden cried while holding his bleeding left shoulder. "Hina! What the hell did you do to her?"

"Just gave her an extra strong version of Shin no Ippō," Hina revealed. "One so powerful it paralyzes her lungs. At most, she will last two minutes before dying of suffocation. Death by strangulation isn't pretty. The corpse salivates, and the bowels relax."

Raiden was shocked. "What?!"

But Hina laughs at the thrill of Raiden's anger and horror. "There are only two ways to undo it. One is for the target to overcome it on her own, but only if her swordman's spirit is stronger than mine. For a weak samurai like her, it is utterly impossible. The other way… is for me, the user, to die."

Raiden felt further angered at the choices he was now brought with. Either let Houki overcome the Shin no Ippō on her own, or kill Hina to release her before she suffocates.

"In other words, unless you kill me, that girl dies," Hina said.

This couldn't have been true for Raiden. Houki was going to die if he did not act. And it seemed like he had no other choice. But this would make him go against his vow to not kill ever again. He made a promise of that, to never again take another life after so many he had already taken prior. But now… must he take one more to save Houki? To end this threat before Hina returns and strikes back?

"What's wrong?" Hina asked as she turns around. "There's no time left. Are you going to do nothing and let this girl die?"

"Hina…" Raiden growled.

"The time for talk is over," Hina exclaimed as she walks to him. "If you have anything to say, say it with the sword. With that silly sword of yours."

An intense moment passes by between two hitokiri as Raiden's expression is hidden by the bangs. But then…

*FWISSH*

For one moment, Raiden disappeared from Hina's sight, leaving only what appeared to be his blindfold.

*BAM*

But then the next came and Raiden smacks Hina on the nose, breaking it with his Sakabatō. Her black kasa comes flying off and Raiden ends up on the other side, without his blindfold on.

"Ugh…" Hina's broken nose drips a plethora amount of blood. But rather than feel scared or insulted by such an injury, she reveled in it. Almost like she enjoyed feeling the sense of pain.

"Oh ho… T-That attack…" Hina said with a smile. "Not only could I not see the sword's path, but I couldn't see his body move! This is Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū!" She then turns around to face the changed Raiden. "This is… Hitokiri Kingslayer!"

And she giggled in joy, like a schoolgirl meeting her idol. "Good, this is a good feeling!"

But Raiden, revealing his scarred eyes for the first time with an expression of an intent to kill, and his IS now darkened. Instead of its blue and white color, it was now a shade of blood red and black color. The eyes of the lion helmet also glow red, giving off a fiery aura.

This was what he was all those years ago, the darkness he had kept hidden inside. The very thing he never wanted to unleash in front of the IS Academy students. That which Laura called him on the very first day she met him.

This was his alter ego. His One-Off Ability of his IS, Lion Heart.

Hitokiri Kingslayer. The name of the infamous assassin ten years ago in Luxembourg, who struck down the king and queen.

This One-Off Ability reverts Raiden back to his original personality as a hitokiri. With the it activated, Lion Heart's speed, attacks, and performance are improved. It grants Raiden both enhanced physical prowess and access to abilities impossible to perform. The durability of Lion Heart is incredibly strong, able to survive even the most powerful of attacks.

When his strength as a rurouni is insufficient to defend against a particularly threatening foe, or in this case with Hina when the most depraved and horrendous acts of evil push him to his patience and limits of his moral crossness, Raiden's restraint falters and his personality reverts to that of his days as the Hitokiri Kingslayer.

Born from the countless acts of manslaughter and to steel himself from the weight and guilt of killing other human beings like him, such a personality was born in the face of becoming the tool of death, ignorant madness of denying the truth of reality of the act of murder, and overdoing such awful acts as an exceptional and undeniably justified need despite its grim and miserably cruel nature. In turn, while this allows him the ease to take life without hesitation, so does throwing himself into this darker half of himself; this selfishly justified wickedness and holding the lives of his foes as worthless leads into the tainted and corruptible ground of thought that nears the idea that life too is nihilistic and meaningless.

"The time for talk is over," Raiden said, in a more scary tone befitting of his hitokiri form. "Come, so I can kill you now!"

"R…Rai…den…" Houki was further shocked, seeing Hitokiri Kingslayer for the first time.

"Kill me?" asked a smiling and chuckling Hina. "Good."

Hina then snaps her nose back into place with her left thumb.

"A phrase appropriate of a hitokiri…" Hina exclaimed as she adjusts her IS, losing the shoulder pads. "You finally came back. Back to the days of Luxembourg! Back to Hitokiri Kingslayer!"

Houki struggles to speak, "No… Rai… Den… Don't…"

Hina continues to laugh, now finally having the fight she wanted. "Now the true battle begins. Here I come, Kingslayer!"

Eagerly, Hina charges in with sword in hand, eager to take the fight on to the Kingslayer.

*SHOOM*

But upon charging in onto Raiden, Hina then sees his ki, which causes her to gasp and flinch. It was like staring face to face at a menacing lion. A lion ready to pounce on her and slash with its claws and bite her neck.

Thinking quickly, she dodges over and swiftly moves to the right, like she had just dodged a bullet.

"What's wrong?" asked Raiden.

"He he…" Hina chuckles. "As expected of the legendary manslayer… You really change when you show your intent to kill."

Hina then stands up and displays her sword out horizontally. "I suppose I should get serious too. Shin no Ippō uses hypnosis to make a target stand in their tracks. The living are susceptible to impressions. When a man thinks he's sick, he becomes sick. And when a man thinks he can't breathe, he suffocates. By raising your ki, you shrink your opponents and make them unable to move. Your thoughts become your reality! And I am no exception!"

Hina soon looks into the reflection of her own blade, staring at herself. Then, her eyes turn black as night.

*SHIING*

And then, her form begins to change, enhancing her IS as it grows bigger by a few inches. Her muscles also tighten up and become enhanced.

"I am unbeatable!" Hina said as she grew in power. "I am invincible! I… am the strongest!"

This was Udō Hina's One-Off Ability, Akuma No Haaku. Grasp of the Demon. By using Shin no Ippō on herself, she can bring out her full potential and drastically increase her power tenfold. Her reaction times are faster, as are her strikes.

"The Hyoki no Jutsu of the Shin no Ippō… I haven't used this since I was in Luxembourg ten years ago," Hina revealed.

To prove her point of her power, Hina raises her sword over at a lonely rock.

*CLANG*

*SHINK*

*STAB*

*DING*

And the rock was easily destroyed via multiple strong and powerful attacks by Hina's blade. And her sword remained intact, not even a single chip or crack.

"It is not an honorable technique," Hina admits. "But it is mine."

Raiden however was not impressed. "It doesn't matter if you're invincible or not. Use whatever technique you like. But…" Raiden soon sheathes his Sakabatō and assumes a Battōjutsu stance. "Once I have said I will kill you… your death is assured."

Hina, seeing the stance he took, was surprised.

'This is the stance for Battōjutsu. Attacks that accelerate the blade by pulling it from the sheathe and slay the opponent in an instant. His unsheathing is at god-like speed, A speed that matches the gods! It was this technique that made him murder the king and queen of Luxembourg!'

"Come!" Raiden demanded. "I will show you why I was granted the name Kingslayer."

'However, Battōjutsu are all one shot attacks, leaving the user momentarily defenseless. If I can evade that one moment of drawing the blade... But, can I do it?'

Hina notes on the Sakabatō and realizes her answer.

'Yes! I can evade it! It's a Sakabatō, so the drawing slows for an instant! I can win this!'

With that said and her mind now made up, Hina charges in.

"You're mine, Kingslayer!" She shouts as she raises her blade for a Nikaidō Heihō cross form, bamboo splitter, a straight slash down.

Immediately, Raiden draws the Sakabatō, in a god-like speed so fast that Hina barely saw the blade in time.

"So fast!" She said as she halts herself briefly, just as the Sakabatō narrowly misses her face, drawing only a few hairs from her frontal bangs.

Raiden had missed his strike, and now he was wide open for Hina's.

"Victory is mine, Kingslay—"

*BAM*

"GAAGH!"

But suddenly, Hina's right elbow was hit. By Raiden's sword sheathe. A bone cracking sound was heard, and her arm was bent backwards, making her lose her sword.

Hina was shocked, seeing that the sword was not the threat, but the sheathe.

'A double Battōjutsu using the sword and its sheathe..'

*CRASH*

With a broken arm and her IS damaged at the same time, Hina falls to the ground, clutching her destroyed elbow. Raiden then rises as the victor of the duel.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū Battōjutsu – Sō Ryū Sen."

Raiden then explains, "I am fully aware that Battōjutsu was originally a one-blow killing technique, and that the Sakabatō is not meant for Battōjutsu. But I am the one who learned and mastered all of the Battōjutsu techniques. And I am the one who used Battōjutsu on the king and queen of Luxembourg, hence why I was called the Kingslayer."

Hina struggles as her IS begins to power down while clutching her right elbow.

"Your elbow joint has been crushed, your tendons and ligaments severed," Raiden said. "Your life as a swordsman is over… As is your life as a human being."

As Raiden said that last part, he did the one thing Houki did not expect. He raises the Sakabatō over his head… with the blade flipped to the sharp side.

The wind gently blows for a moment as Raiden stood over his incapacitated opponent, ready to end her life. And yet, he didn't kill her immediately, as if something was holding him back subconsciously.

"What's wrong?" Hina asked. "Why do you hesitate? You have to kill me to release the girl from my Shin no Ippō. Spare me and she dies! Kill me and you save her. It's such a simple choice to make."

"R-Raiden…" Houki keeps persisting, but her voice just won't come out.

"To protect Houki-dono…" Raiden said as the image of a dark lion overcomes him. "I will become a hitokiri again!"

While Houki is shocked, Hina laughs in such joy. "That's right! Let me, Udō Hina, enjoy being slain by the blade of the legendary hitokiri!"

"Die!"

Raiden then brings the Sakabatō down, the sharp side ready to end Udō Hina's life. Hina watches in great joy, finally having the death at the hands of the legendary hitokiri. Houki could only watch in horror to see Raiden forgo his vow to not ever kill. With her still unable to speak because of still being trapped from Shin no Ippō, she could not stop him.

But that is when Houki remembered Raiden's words upon the first days they met.

"A sword is a weapon. Swordsmanship is learning how to kill. No matter what ideals and names you use to cover it up, that is the truth of the world. But, I do prefer the philosophy of Katsujinken over the truth, that I do."

Houki then also remembered the words Raiden told her regarding about herself and where she stood as being Tabane's sister. They were words she had never forgotten.

"You're not your sister. And you're not anyone else in this school. You should be you, that you should. Your past doesn't have to control you, that it should not."

A tear-jerking Houki could only say Raiden's name multiple times. "Rai…den… Raiden… Raiden…"

"You should be you, that you should."

Houki then realized why she has become so dependent on Raiden, why she was so drawn to him. Both his personality and his ideals. Of why he no longer wishes to kill. Of why he was so much like her as a samurai than Ichika ever was.

She loved him.

And upon realizing that, she screams out one word to stop Raiden.

"NOOO!"

Upon hearing her word being spoken made Raiden stop his strike just above Hina's head. Having heard her voice made Raiden halt his strike, and snapped him out of his hitokiri mind state. His IS colors slowly reversed back into their normal state, the fiery red eye of his lion helmet dissipating away and showing a blue instead.

Both hitokiri, stunned and surprised that Houki broke out of Shin no Ippō, look over and see how hard she was breathing just to get air into her lungs.

"Don't go back… to being a hitokiri…" Houki said. "Don't use a sword… to kill…"

Exhausted from breaking free, Houki collapses and falls forward.

"Houki-dono!" Raiden cried as he swiftly runs to her, breaks the chains holding her hands and feet together, and catches her in his arms.

Hina didn't even bother stopping Raiden, surprised that someone like Shinonono broke free of her control.

"Houki-dono, wake up!" Raiden cried. "Are you alright, that is?"

Houki, feeling herself in the arms of her savior and the man she truly loved, sits up and smiles reassuringly, "I'm… I'm all right… that I am."

Raiden was surprised. "Oro?"

"I'm all right…" Houki said. "You're back to talking like you usually do, Raiden."

Raiden was again surprised, realizing his speech had changed. "Oro!"

"I'm fine, now—" Houki said.

But before any more could be said, footsteps were heard behind Raiden. And there was only one person whose footsteps those belonged to.

"To think that my Shin no Ippō would be defeated by a girl like her," Hina said in amusement as she drew her other sword in her left hand. "It seems the Shinonono family has not forgotten its warrior past."

Raiden pleads without turning, "Stop, Hina. You have no chance with only a short sword and your left arm, that you don't. It's over now. Peacefully turn yourself over to be arrested now, that you should."

But Hina, not intending to surrender, had other ideas as she raises her katana. "No, it is not over yet."

Raiden, realizing Hina would make such a move, grabs hold of his Sakabatō on the floor to his right, ready to fight the hitokiri again.

"There is something left," Hina said with that signature smile. "Cleaning up!"

Just as Raiden turns around with his Sakabatō in hand, Hina stabs with her sword…

*SHIINK*

Straight through her own chest. Intentionally. Twisting her blade to make the kill permanent.

Both Houki and Raiden were left stunned to see that the defeated opponent has decided to take her own life. The former couldn't even believe it with her own eyes. Whether she was scarred by such a suicidal act, one could not say.

"This is… a good feeling…" Hina said as she falls back, blood spurting out of her chest. As she bleeds out, a pile of blood forms behind her back.

After Raiden frees Houki from her chains, both stand up and watch the life of Hina ebb away. Despite the gruesome suicidal kill, they could not help but pity her with the way she ended her life.

"Don't look at me like that, Kingslayer…" Hina said as she coughs up blood from her mouth. "I liked your eyes when you said you were going to kill me. You truly are a hitokiri inside. I, another hitokiri, is saying this, so there is no mistake."

Raiden and Houki could only stare at the fallen form of Hina, who didn't even bore a face of fear of dying. In fact, she embraced her death, suicidal as her manner of demise is. Whether it was because she was satisfied of fighting the Kingslayer or not remains unknown. Perhaps it is unwise to look into the mind of one crazy IS pilot who was nothing more than a bloodthirsty killer.

"A hitokiri is only that until they die…" Hina said. "They can never be anything else. (GASP) I'll see how long you can stay a wanderer… from the edge of hell..."

With the final light leaving her eyes as they close and giving off one last chuckle from her lips, Udō Hina, hitokiri of Phantom Task, passes away with a disturbing smile. The gentle wind breezes on by as her corpse goes cold, still in its IS that has now shut down.

Despite the victory, Raiden felt hollow. The sight of a corpse was nothing new to him, having slain countless others in the past. But one from an opponent who had pushed him to the edge and one whom he nearly killed made him ponder on Hina's final words.

'A hitokiri is only that until they die…'

Truth be told, Raiden could not deny such words. Indeed, what Hina said she may be right. Raiden may no longer be a hitokiri anymore, but many others still consider him as such. The title he was given years ago is like a tattoo: never to come off. He was neither proud nor regretful of it and he knew it was a title he would never give away.

Ironic that the last words of wisdom to ponder would come from a hitokiri he despised much.

"Raiden?" asked a concerned Houki.

Raiden then turns to Houki and replies, "We should leave the rest to Chifuyu. She can inform the police of this and keep our involvement out, that she will."

Houki agrees as she watches Raiden deactivate his IS and pick up his blindfold and reattaches it to cover his scarred eyes. Once he tightens, he turns around and Houki gets to see the man she loved back to normal, no longer Hitokiri Kingslayer. Now, he was Raiden Hataru, a 1st year student at the IS Academy, the 2nd male IS pilot, and Houki's roommate.

Sighing in great relief that it is finally over, and that Raiden is finally back, Houki felt her legs suddenly give out, as she falls to the floor.

"Woah!" She cried before Raiden catches her.

"Houki-dono?" asked a worried Raiden. "Are you alright?"

"M-My legs…" Houki said. "They… They must be weak from being chained for so long. I can't stand properly."

Raiden understood. "It can't be helped then, that it cannot."

"Huh? Woah, Raiden, what are you—Hyagh!?"

In a flash quicker than the blink of an eye, Raiden scoops Houki in his arms and carries her, like she was a bride. But the samurai girl was so flustered that she turned a bright red.

"R-R—Raiden, what are you doing?!" She bashfully asked. "I-I-I can walk!"

"Not with those weak legs, that you cannot," Raiden said before he starts walking.

But Houki starts to babble bashfully. "H-Hey.. Put me down! This is… This is embarrassing!"

"Weren't you okay with me carrying you to fit into the IS like this?" asked Raiden, recalling that one training lesson where the Uchigane IS was rendered inoperable to get in via normal methods and Raiden had to insert Houki in bridal style.

Houki, remembering that, made her face blush more. "Th-That was just training! And I couldn't get into the IS normally!"

"Hence why you needed my help, that you did," Raiden smiles back nonchalantly.

Houki sulks and grumbles cutely, like she became a pouty fox all of a sudden. Her stubbornness and pride wouldn't just accept her being carried like this by her savior. It was so embarrassing. But perhaps for now, she will allow it. After all, she did lose feeling in her legs for being tied to a rock all night.

But as Raiden walks out of the forest and onto the dirt path that leads back to the other side of the island, Houki begins to feel conflicted within her heart. This whole day has been exhausting: from receiving her Personal IS, to battling a rogue IS, to being captured by a rogue IS pilot, and to being rescued by another IS pilot. It seemed like for the whole day she was the center of attention one everything that has happened. And in every single event, Raiden was caught in the middle of it all, like he became permanent in her life.

But that was not what was really going on in Houki's mindset.

"I'm sorry…" Houki apologizes as she snuggles to Raiden.

"Oro?"

"I… I don't know what happened back then," Houki said. "I was so focused on the mission against the Silver Gospel. So… happy that I got an IS from Nee-san. That I could finally fight beside you. And yet, when Ichika defended those poachers and called out on me for it, I… I felt—"

"Hey, it's alright, that it is," Raiden reassures her. "I'm sure you would've realized it eventually."

But Houki denied it, shaking her head. "No. I wouldn't have. If not for Ichika calling me out on it… if not for you saving me when I lost sight of myself…"

"Houki-dono…"

Raiden realized Houki was suffering from her own guilt. The fact that she wanted an IS and that she got one handmade from her sister was by in large not a thing to regret. But her arrogance, her overwhelming happiness when she saw Akatsubaki's power, and how Ichika defended the poachers despite being criminals, made her realize a classic yet harsh lesson to learn.

That with great power comes great responsibility. And Houki had misused it, almost.

It nearly cost her life, if not Raiden's when he saved her. And again tonight, it almost cost him again when he reverted into Hitokiri Kingslayer. All because of her own arrogance. That she was captured by Udō Hina and taken away, even though it was unwillingly, only seemed to add more weight on her own guilt.

Raiden could feel Houki shaking in his arms, but not from the cold air around them as they walked. She hides her face away, afraid to face her fears made manifest.

"Houki-dono…" Raiden said. "Do not blame yourself for this. While you have acknowledged the flaw within you, putting more blame on it will not ease your pain, that it will not. What matters is that you are alive and safe. And Ichika would be relieved to see that his childhood friend is as such. Besides, it is him you owe an apology to, that is."

But Houki was not so sure, especially since she accused him of defending criminals. "What if he doesn't accept it?" asked Houki.

Raiden smiles. "Ichika is too kind to reject an apology from his childhood friend. You know that."

Houki didn't respond back, seeing that Raiden was right. Indeed, Ichika is too kind to ever reject an apology. In fact, he may put up that dorky smile and just brush off the whole fiasco drama like it was nothing. It was in his nature to always look at the present and future and not in the past.

At least, she could find some measure of comfort in that in her heart.

"You know we may not get back to the Inn until the early morning," Houki noted as she notes the darkened sky beginning to brighten up.

"I know," Raiden said. "But with our IS' badly damaged, and that we're too far to make contact with communications, we're just going to have to walk, that we do."

Houki then makes a small smile, like she was fine with that circumstance. She snuggles herself more into Raiden's arms, getting comfortable if not getting a few naps. She felt safe and secured in his arms, like she was some princess being carried by a prince.

It was… relaxing.

When the first morning rays came, the area was heavy with fog and the air was cold. But sitting by the entrance to the inn were Ichika, Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte, and Laura. And they were waiting. It had already been more than twelve hours since Houki was kidnapped and Raiden went on alone to find Kurogasa and rescue Houki. And already were the five IS pilots anxious. And although Yamada-sensei told them to get some sleep, they couldn't even get one wink. It felt impossible. And they've been sitting at the front entrance for hours now.

They were not without hope that Raiden would return with Houki, but it has been so long since anything was last heard from him. With Chifuyu still in the command room trying to make contact with Raiden and pinpoint his location as they lost track of him, all that was left for them was hope and prayer. While they caught small naps here and there, only Ichika remained awake, still concerned of where his childhood friend was. Truth be told he became so worried for Houki that he could not sleep at all, nor eat his food. And neither could the others.

But it seemed at last their struggle was over.

Ichika sees someone emerging from the fog, as do the others that look in his direction. When the person emerges from the fog, joy leapt up inside of them. They saw Raiden, carrying Houki in his arms as she holds onto him tightly, walking towards the entrance with a smile on his face.

"Houki! Raiden!" Ichika cried as he sees them. He rushes to them, with the other girls plus Yamada-sensei behind him.

Akane, Miriam, and Chifuyu were right behind the group as they watch them rush towards the two.

"Houki!" A relieved Ichika grasped her hand. "Oh thank goodness you're alive!"

"We were really worried!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Shinonono-san, are you alright?" asked Yamada-sensei in concern.

"Y-Yeah," Houki nodded. "Just… weak at the legs."

Laura then notices the marks on her wrists and ankles. "She's definitely been chained. We best take her to the infirmary and get her some healing ointment."

Charlotte nods and turns to Rin, "Rin, can you help me carry her?"

"Righto," Rin said as she takes Houki's legs while Charlotte holds the upper body with Cecilia.

But before she could be taken off, Houki looks to Ichika and says, "Ichika… I'm so sorry. For my outburst."

But Ichika, as predicted, reassures Houki, "It's okay. I knew that wasn't you. And I figured you'd realize it eventually."

As much as Houki wanted to retort back at what he said, she was too tired to do so. So she smiles in acceptance, seeing that Raiden was right in that Ichika just accepted her apology so easily.

Chifuyu, Miriam, and Akane walk up to Raiden, with the first asking about the assailant.

"And Kurogasa?" asked Chifuyu.

Raiden shook his head, indicating she is dead. But that made Chifuyu gave one critical question as she bears a look of suspicion.

"Raiden… did you—"

"No," Raiden denied immediately. "She took her own life, that she did. She was not willing to surrender."

Miriam sighs, but not out of relief. "Dammit. Now we lost a clue as to who her employer was."

"Lay it off for now, Miri," Akane reassured. "I'm sure whoever sent her, they'll show up again in time."

"Easy for you say," Miriam replied. "Natasha Fairs doesn't remember anything of why her IS went completely berserk nor has any memory of what happened to her prior. The Pentagon wants me to return with her to discuss what happened. I'd hate to stall but-"

"Go where you're needed, Miriam," Chifuyu assured calmly. "And take Fairs with you. There's nothing more you can do at this time."

Miriam understood and nodded. "Keep me posted on Raiden, Chifuyu," Miriam told the Brunhilde as she leaves. "I mean it."

With Miriam taking her leave, perhaps grabbing a beer as it had been an exhausting day, the only people remaining were Raiden, Akane, and Chifuyu. But not for long.

"Raiden, can you come with me?" asked Akane as she notes Raiden's bleeding left arm. "I'm sure you need something treat that shoulder wound of yours."

Chifuyu however was suspicious and asks, "Akane, what are you trying to pull?"

"You got one student who was held captive for a long time and has injuries on her wrists and ankles. Between her and another student who has a scratch on his shoulder, I think she takes priority, does she not?"

Chifuyu hated to admit it, but once again was Akane right. Between both Raiden and Houki of who took priority, Houki was first. After all, she was held captive and chained by Udō Hina for nearly 12 hours. Between her injuries of the chains and of Raiden's shoulder wound, one took priority.

But to let Raiden be with her rival again did not soothe her conscience one bit. Ever since the volleyball game, Akane has been a thorn in Chifuyu's side. One that remerged when it first began back in middle school. Now she wants to take his adopted son away from her again to treat his wound, but Chifuyu wondered if Akane was doing this to tell her to back off. Like a wolf having its share of the carcass.

"Chifuyu-dono, it's okay, that it is," Raiden reassures. "Akane knows how to stitch. And I'd rather not be held up in the infirmary, that I do not want."

Chifuyu wanted to argue back but she was tired. It has been a rough day for her and she needed a big break. So, she gives in. "Alright. But you better be back by the time you're bandaged up. We've only got a couple days left before we head back. And as punishment for disobeying orders, you're to remain with the others in a room together and will be kept under strict watch."

With that said, Akane and Raiden head off to the former's room. By the time they arrive, Akane has Raiden sit as she brings out an emergency medic kit, something she always takes with her. After all, a freelance like her who was former military can never come unprepared for anything that might happen.

As Akane gets to work applying five stitches on Raiden's wound, first by cleaning it with alcohol and then taking a needle with thread and piking it through the flesh, she takes note of the punishment Raiden has to now endure for the next tow days for going against Chifuyu's orders of standing by during the Silver Gospel event.

"Being confined to your room with the other girls as punishment for disobeying orders," Akane said as she does her stitching. "I don't know if that's a good thing for you or bad."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well on one hand you got five beautiful girls all in one room with you. And the other hand… you got five beautiful girls all in one room with you."

"What does that mean—Oh…"

When Akane said that statement twice, Raiden then knew immediately what she had meant. With one guy alone in a room of five beautiful girls, and kept under tight security, it meant that things will probably be… kinky. And given of Raiden's sex history with Akane, it may just happen. Although, the real challenge would be to keep it quiet.

*PING*

"Ow!" Raiden jolts upon feeling a stab of the needle. "Easy there, Akane."

"Raiden, whenever you stitch yourself up or I do, you tend to make a bloody mess," Akane said putting the last stich on.

"Yeah. It makes me learn from my mistakes, that it does," Raiden said.

"You ought to be pretty knowledgeable by now, then." Akane however notices the size of the wound and jestingly asks, "Did you get scratched by a tiger?"

"It was Hina's sword," Raiden said. "She did a backwards pass with her sword just when I thought I had her. Didn't even see it coming."

Akane finishes up the last stitch before wrapping the arm around with a cloth bandage. "Well, at least you look good. Ah, the benefits of a strong, well-toned body that I put through hell and back."

"You didn't just bring me to be stitched up, did you, Akane?" asked Raiden, knowing his mentor all too well.

Akane smiles. "You always know when I have something up my sleeve. But yes, I didn't just bring you for that. Someone wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

Without answering him, Akane brings out a small handheld device and turns it on. It levitates from the floor, activating its systems.

"Jabba, are you there?" asked Akane on the comm.

Raiden curiously wondered who the name Jabba was. Certainly no human in the world is ever called like that, lest they be some higher-up individual whose appearance is that of a slug.

Then, the hologram of a woman appeared, a young adult woman with a well-endowed voluptuous body and long brown hair that is tied in a ponytail with golden eyes. She is mostly seen with a serious expression on her face, though it does change into a smile on occasion. Her outfit consists of a formal black shirt, navy blue business overcoat, matching dress pants, and high heeled shoes made of steel.

But her gaze is cast down onto Raiden, keeping a remote expression with her arms crossed over.

"Aria Ikeuchi…" Raiden greeted, realizing who it was. "Pirate Queen of Omega."

"Hitokiri Kingslayer…" Aria greeted back. "If you were here on Omega, I would've done a strict check on you for weapons. Right down to stripping you bare naked."

"But the fact that you're calling me from Omega means you want to talk to me about something, that you do," Raiden replied, wanting to get straight to the point. "Is it in regard to the Silver Gospel?"

Aria catches on his meaning and scoffs. "Didn't take you to be a smartass. You're just as Fett here says you are. As for your question, not exactly."

"Oro?"

"Remember that illegal fishing vessel of poachers that your Orimura boy tried to defend from Shinonono?"

"Are you spying on us?" asked a curious Raiden, seeing as how Aria knew of the ship.

"Hardly," Aria replies. "Eavesdropping is not one of my talents. But I do keep track of all shipments that come to Omega. And that fishing vessel was one of them. Now, I am not usually one to give thanks but in this case, since the cargo on it was so valuable, I have to make this call personal and private."

"Do I want to know the nature of the cargo?"

Aria did not bother to hold back on answering. "Missile box launchers for IS weapons, plus some North Korean refugees."

That made Raiden perplexed. "Refugees don't usually hide on poacher vessels fit with IS weapons, Aria."

"This one is a special case," Aria said. "Somebody had to deprive the industrial little fellas of the North Korean government of its prized weapons."

Raiden did not want to continue on the subject, and he moves on. "So, is a private thank you call all you wanted to bring?"

"No actually," Aria said. "Because that poaching vessel was protected thanks to you ad o fhow valuable it was to me, I'm sending a case of 2 million yen in cash over to you via Akane. But in exchange, I ask for your silence on this call. I don't want someone like Chifuyu taking note of the fact one of her students accepted criminal money just to protect one boat that got in the way of the battle."

Now normally any ordinary person would feel threatened, but Raiden was smarter than that. Since he was dealing with the crime boss of the Underworld and the Pirate Queen of Omega, to go up against her would be stupid. And she wants no one to bother her while she rules Omega. Not the police, not the CIA, and certainly not Chifuyu who has been on her case a few times in the past. Raiden has worked with criminals before in the past but not voluntarily. In this situation though, even though he does not like working with criminals, he knows that they are all human. And he was not willing to make judgment on their lives. It may sound naive, but it is the right thing to do.

And to not make any more trouble for Chifuyu, he knew what the right answer was.

"Deal," Raiden accepted. "I'll take the money in exchange for my silence to you."

"Smart move," Aria said. "Akane will deliver the money to your cabin in three days. Pleasure doing business with you, Kingslayer."

Aria soon ends the transmission call, her hologram disappearing and leaving Akane and Raiden alone.

"Well how about that, kid?" asked a satisfied Akane. "It's not every day you get 2 million yen from the world's most powerful criminal."

"I just hope it is the right one, that it is," Raiden said, hoping he did not make a mistake.

LATER…

As the girls and Ichika took their seats and casually ate away their meals, some of the girls came up and asked all kinds of questions. The group kept a stoic posture and had their eyes closed, showing a face of firmness to deny the girls' unending questions.

"Come on. What happened? Tell us."

"Was there really a pilot in that IS?"

"Was the battle scary?" asked Honne Nohotoke.

"What even caused the Gospel to go out of control?"

"It's highly classified," said Charlotte while having some tea.

"Besides, we don't even know the details," said Rin as she took a sip of her tea.

"Not to mention that it's been a long day for all of us," said Cecilia.

Laura then gave somewhat of a threatening look and warned "And if you learn the details, you will be sanctioned, as well. Are you content with that?"

The girls backed off and one of them said "I guess I don't want that. I mean, we don't want to have someone always on our tail."

Ichika could only chuckle a bit, seeing the reaction of the girls. But that is when he noticed something around the table. "Huh? That's odd. Where's Raiden… and Houki?"

That was a good question. The two seemed to be absent from dinner.

MEANWHILE…

Night fell upon the world once more as Tabane Shinonono casually sat on the edge of the cliff and musing on recent events. She pulled up the holograms of the fight and yet as she did, pulled up two of them and arranged them side by side. One of them was the Akatsubaki and the other was Lion Heart.

"No wonder why my sister wanted to be linked to the lion boy. Her results exceeded more than what I thought. And her performances are three times as better; much more than Byakushiki."

Tabane dispersed the holos and merely looked out to the blue ocean. "Byakushiki really is amazing though. To think that it adapts so well to Ii-kun. It's just like—"

"The White Knight," spoke a voice behind Tabane who was leaning on a tree and having her back to Tabane as the two did not turn to look at each other. Chifuyu showed herself briefly from the moonlight and even then, their expressions to each other were understandable.

"Core Number 001. The very first core you created and the one you spent the most effort on…"

"Hey, Chi-chan."

The two were silent for a bit as they merely heard the sound of the waves gently coming up onto the beach shore before going back.

Chifuyu then broke the silence, "Tell me something, Tabane."

"What's that?" Tabane asked.

"A certain genius deliberately made a boy mistake his high school entrance exam location and put the IS there such that it could only be activated at that time. If that's the case, the IS that shouldn't be operated by men becomes pilotable, right?"

"Hm~? But if that happens, he can't continue to pilot it, right?"

"That's right. You won't waste so much time to do such a thing anyway."

"Hehehe, because I'll get tired of it."

"...Then what's the truth? A certain genius?"

"Who knows? Fufufu, actually, I don't understand why Byakushiki activates. Logically speaking, I-kun and IS research are completely unrelated, right?"

"Humph...forget about it. Next hypothesis then. A certain genius wanted to let her beloved imouto's IS grace the stage, so she prepared a personal IS and an IS going rampant."

Tabane didn't answer, and Chifuyu continued on.

"As the incident happened, the new model hi-capability machine could take part in battle. This genius' imouto could gracefully enter the stage as a personal IS pilot."

"Heh~ that's a really unbelievable assumption. It seems like such an amazing genius exists."

"Yup, such a genius exists. That genius once hacked 12 countries' military missiles to create a famous incident in history."

Tabane didn't answer to that statement, and Chifuyu didn't continue. But now, it was Tabane's turn to tell Chifuyu something.

Silence came upon the two once again before Tabane asked in her usual voice, "Hey, Chi-chan, is the world you're living in interesting?"

"No more than usual, I guess." answered Chifuyu.

"I see..."

The strong wind that blew up the headland let out a roar. After saying a few words in that wind, Tabane disappeared.

Chifuyu sighed and leaned the back of her head on the tree branch. The voice in her mouth disappeared together with the sea breeze.

AT THE BEACH…

Meanwhile, Raiden was at the water's edge in his trunks and black tank top. His mind was trying to be at peace regarding the battle with Hina. In that battle, he reverted to his old persona of Hitokiri Kingslayer, a secret he told strictly and secretly to Chifuyu alone. A secret she wants to ensure does not reach the ears of the others. And perhaps a secret she does not want to see for herself, out of concern for her students.

It was the first time he had gotten close to breaking his vow to not take another life. But Udō Hina pushed him over to the very edge with her actions. Raiden is not one for taunts from another foe, but their actions, especially those that threaten those he wants to protect, can certainly test the limits of his morality. If it were not for Houki's scream, he would never have snapped out of it and would have gone back on that dark and terrible path of being a murderer.

He just hopes this does not ever happen again. But he didn't believe in the word 'never', and feared it may happen again. When and how he did not know.

"Raiden?" asked a voice behind him.

"Oro?" Raiden turns around. "Houki-dono. Are you here for a swim, too?"

"I wanted to cool my head a little," Houki said with her arms back. "And I was looking for you. I figured you might be here."

Houki stood there in a white bikini, along with some white beach high heels. If Raiden had any eyes, he could see that Houki looked quite beautiful. And she adorned for herself a new hair ribbon. White in color with a red stripe.

"D-Don't stare… so much…" Houki bashfully said as she brought one arm under her chest.

Raiden couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I-I'm sorry. Even with this blindfold on, and the fact I can't see, I can perhaps say you look beautiful in that suit."

Houki blushes as she soon walks over and sits on Raiden's left side, staring out to the calm and beautiful ocean illuminated by the moon. A lighthouse was on another island, its peak light going around in circles to signal for ships far out on the ocean. Silence runs between them, seeing as how it was just the two of them like before.

"You're awfully quiet, Raiden," Houki observed.

"I was listening to the sound of the gentle wind, that I was," Raiden said. "When I sit here like this, I feel like I can see many things that I didn't notice when I could see with my eyes, that I do…"

Houki however looked visibly concerned, as she was still a little shaken of seeing Hitokiri Kingslayer in the flesh in that battle against Hina.

"Raiden, are you going to be like that forever?" asked Houki. "If anything, we could get you surgery to restore your sight. Or perhaps cybernetics. I've heard that-"

"The damage is too great," Raiden revealed. "When my eyes were sliced out, it cut off my vision permanently. And cybernetics will not help as the idea is still in testing, especially connecting the destroyed blood vessels over to the electronics. And I don't even think your sister is an expert in that field, that she isn't."

Houki lowers her head, realizing that Raiden really is blind. Despite his enhancement of his other senses, the ability not to see anything, other than pure darkness, gave Houki the chills.

"Even now, I can imagine the just what kind of expression you have on your face, Houki-dono, without actually seeing it, that I can," Raiden said. "More than what happened to my eyes, Houki-dono, I'm worried about the smile that has escaped your face, that I am."

Houki felt relieved, as it was Raiden basically saying that he can sense her feelings. Her expressions. If she was happy, Raiden can sense it by the tone of her voice. If she was mad, well that would usually involve some sort of whack from her. Or if she was sad, Raiden can sense her ragged breathing.

"Are you really okay?" She asked. "It's hard to think so serious an injury would heal so quickly."

"I'm alright, Houki-dono," Raiden said. "There is no need to worry. The injury Hina gave me was easily treatable, that it was. There is no need to worry."

"But I must!" She said, surprising Raiden. "I must! You were injured because of me! A little mistake like that and you could've died! So… it troubles me if you forgive me that easily."

"Houki-dono…" Raiden calmly says. "If you didn't stop me back then, Houki-dono, I would have completely reverted to my old self, Hitokiri Kingslayer. It was your voice that made me snap out of it. Prevented me from forsaking my vow not to kill."

But Houki, stubborn as ever, persisted in her own self-guilt.

"No! I'm a samurai!" Houki claimed as she gets up close and personal with Raiden. "I cannot calm down when my pride is trampled like this!"

"Oro?"

Raiden then feels two massive melons pressed onto his chest.

"Um… Houki-dono?"

Houki then realized just how close she was to Raiden, seeing and feeling her breasts up against his. Immediately and bashfully, she pushes away from him and turns away with a red face, grasping her breasts.

"S-Sorry…" Houki apologizes.

"N-No," Raiden reassures. "Think nothing of it."

Awkward silence ran between the two again. But as Houki was dealing with the fact that her breasts touched the chest of the man she loved, she thought back to that day she spoke to Chifuyu of how she was switching rooms.

Of how she was going to be Raiden's roommate a few days before Charlotte entered the Academy in disguise as a boy.

FLASHBACK…

Houki was meeting with Chifuyu in her office for a private meeting, to discuss room changes and arrangements. It happened the day before Charlotte was transferred in as a boy named Charles Dunois, just as the paperwork had been filed in.

And for some reason, upon seeing the request form, Houki looked perplexed. In fact, she wasn't angry of being separated from Ichika again. But she did see who she was rooming with.

"You want me… to move out of Ichika's room and room with Raiden, Orimura-sensei?" asked Houki.

Chifuyu nodded. "Yes. This arrangement I made on my own. But I want to hear your thoughts on it."

"Eh? Why?"

"You're switching rooms to live with another male IS pilot. Are you comfortable with that?"

"Well, I mean… if you're asking for my impression of Raiden, he… doesn't seem to be too bad. He does practice in the dojo with me and Ichika."

"Oh?" asked Chifuyu as she crosses her arms. "And since when did you two go by a first name basis?"

That made Houki stutter a bit. "O-Oh! Well, it's just… Raiden said it is easier to call him by his first name and he prefers it that way."

Chifuyu gives a small sigh, closing her eyes as she mutters, "Cheeky bastard…" She then reverts back to her normal voice and opens her eyes. "In any event, the reason why I have you roomed with Raiden is for a personal one."

"Personal, sensei?" asked Houki.

"You recall how Raiden calls himself a rurouni?" asked Chifuyu. "It stands for samurai who begin wandering Japan after the loss of their lord or master. Normally, for any samurai they would be offered to join a new daimyo in exchange for their loyalty and service. But for Raiden, he's not like that because he doesn't wish to serve a new master."

"What do you mean?"

"Raiden is wandering, searching for something that will help ease his conscience and his mind. Though he has found himself here at the Academy, it is likely that if something occurs to the point if affects him personally, he may try to leave."

Houki was a bit stunned. She asks, "Surely you don't think he could just leave the Academy on a whim, do you Orimura-sensei?"

But Chifuyu thinks otherwise. "Raiden is… not exactly in a normal state of mind despite words saying otherwise. He's keeping a lot of his past to himself, and I want to know what it is. Which is why, Shinonono, I want you to watch over him. If you think goes wandering again at any time, I need you to inform me. Can you do that?"

Houki realized this was not a request from her teacher, but from Chifuyu Orimura herself. There was something about Raiden that Chifuyu wanted to know. Right now though, she doesn't know what it is nor does she know how to acquire it. And now she wants one of her own students, Tabane Shinonono's little sister, a samurai, to watch over a rurouni. It seemed like a simple task, but simple tasks are often translated into big ones.

Knowing that she was forced to move out of Ichika's room, she didn't really have much of a choice to disobey her teacher. Not to mention that Raiden had saved her from the IS Golem attack, so she wants to personally repay in kind. This may be the perfect opportunity for it.

"I understand," Houki nodded.

FLASHBACK ENDS…

After reconvening back to reality, Houki realizes that since the time she accepted Chifuyu's offer, a lot has happened to her real fast regarding Raiden. First was the IS Golem incident with which he saved her from the blast, then there was Laura Bodewig's feud with him, then the threat of Kurogasa attacking the Dunois Enterprise's matriarch, the Silver Gospel f which he saved her once again from an otherwise fatal attack, and her kidnapping by Kurogasa with which Raiden saved her.

She just could not stay out of trouble whenever she is with him. Not that she ever wanted to. In fact, she was okay with it. It meant that whenever she was in a bind, Raiden was always there to help her. To save her. She owed him her life twice now and has since grown to respect and admire the man for who he was as a samurai.

It was also the reason why she began to fall in love with him.

"Houki-dono, is your hair okay?" asked Raiden. "It got a little burnt, didn't it?"

"It's fine. And the blue ribbon, too," Houki revealed. "I got a new one. From Ichika. It was my birthday recently."

This surprised Raiden. He didn't know it was Houki's birthday recently. It must have been an oversight on her part for not telling him. But speaking of ribbon, Raiden realized he was still holding onto something. Something he kept with him all this time.

"That's right, I have to return your ribbon, Houki-dono, that is…" Raiden said as he reaches into his pocket.

"Eh? You kept it?" asked Houki.

"Yes, that I did," Raiden said as he pulls out the ribbon.

But as soon as he pulls it out and Houki sees it, her expression immediately turns sour and her right eye twitches. It was her green ribbon alright. But there was a stain on it. A rather big, wet, and red stain. And it could only come from one person.

"Oro?" Raiden notices the stain from the feel of the ribbon.

"What is that?" asked an inquisitive Houki.

Raiden sheepishly answers, "Blood from my wound?"

That made Houki pissed off even more. "That was my favorite one, too!"

And before one could say it, Raiden was being chased by Houki across cove to the sandy beach with the bloody ribbon still in hand.

"I can't believe you!" Houki shouted. "I shouldn't have promised!"

"I-I'm sorry, Houki-dono!" apologized Raiden, but it didn't work.

A ferocious Houki chases after the blind lion on the beach. He was fast but so was she. In fact, it seemed her anger and adrenaline gave her a boost needed to jump and catch Raiden in her arms.

"Gotcha!" She said.

"Oro?!"

*THUMP*

They crash onto the wet sandy floor and find themselves in each other's arms. And, surprisingly, they laughed.

"Ahahaha!" Houki laughed with a smile, like she was finally free of her guilt and that she felt better taking out her frustration on Raiden.

"Hahaha!" Raiden too laughed. It looked as if Houki did not care of that bloody green ribbon anymore, much to his relief.

As the two reconvene, Houki realizes her position as she stands on all fours above Raiden. She got a good look at him as he lies there, not even bashful of his position but finding it rather interesting. Houki too found it interesting. In fact, she didn't eve seem bashful of her pose nor the fact that her breasts hung over the chest of her crush. Slowly, she lowers herself as she presses her breasts against Raiden, and Raiden holds her tight, not wanting to let go.

The two stayed in their hugged position on the floor as Houki's right hand came to Raiden's right cheek. Their breathing tickled their lips until, slowly but surely, as they got closer, the moonlight shined down upon them.

And that was when their lips first met.

"Haah, mph, chuu, a-chu~"

Houki begins moaning softly, feeling her lips overlap by Raiden's. She felt a certain warmth in her body enveloping her, like a soft blanket as Raiden's arms wrap around her. Even though the cold water of the ocean that hit the shoreline covered the two in wet seawater, they didn't care.

Houki was at a loss of words and thoughts as it was her first kiss ever to a boy. Initially, she would've thought it would have been Ichika that she would have shared her first kiss with but to Raiden, she thought it would never happen. The kiss felt like an eternity had passed by as they continued separating their lips. A string of saliva was formed as a bridge between the two before it breaks off.

Houki breathes softly as she looks away with a red face. "Th… That was my first kiss."

"Did you enjoy it?" asked Raiden.

She nods bashfully. "Y-yeah… I liked it. Can we… k-k-kiss again?"

Raiden's answer? He turns Houki's face with his right hand as she looks up at him before he seals her lips, to her surprise again. But this time, she kisses back and kisses him more, slowly loving the feeling of his lips on hers. Slowly but surely, she gives in to the lust in her. But she retains enough will to hold back from going any further.

Raiden too holds himself back despite the growing side down below. Once he separates his lips from Houki's they were both panting somewhat heavily. And perhaps it was enough for one night.

"Can we… stay like this?" asked Houki bashfully. "I just need a few moments."

"Of course," Raiden smiles, taking Houki in his arms and laying on the sandy wet beach.

'Hina… Even if my true self is a hitokiri… I will never return to being one, that I won't. I will stay a rurouni forever, that I shall… As long as I have these friends of mine.'

It was a perfect night for two samurai. A lion and a vixen together in each other's arms.

UNKNOWN LOCATION…

Madoka Orimura returns home yet growls in frustration, smashing her fist to the wall, making a crater as her fist bleeds. Squall was right behind her but unlike her colleague, she kept a remote look.

"Damn it all!" Madoka bitterly said. "We could've ended this in a single swoop had things gone to plan! Udō Hina was defeated, and she would dare to take her own life?! Curse her! Tabane screwed us up… And we lost the opportunity to deal a crippling blow to Nee-san with the Silver Gospel!"

Madoka looks at a black monitor that displays on screen words in purple letters 'Sound Only' as she voices her complaints to the person on the other side.

"You were wrong, Master! So very wrong!" shouted an angered Madoka.

"No, I wasn't," A female voice calmly stated over the monitor. "We just weren't as prepared as we should have been."

"I agree," another voice said which sounded like that of an elderly man. "We underestimated them. Thankfully, the Silver Gospel was used as a test against them and not one of our own IS. And speaking of which, what about the IS pilot the Archon and I brainwashed? What is Natasha Fair's status?"

"Yes… why is she not with you?" asked the female voice revealed to be the Archon.

"She was recovered by the students," Squall revealed after a few seconds of hesitant silence.

"What?" The man cried out in shock.

"It was Ichika Orimura's doing," Squall explained. "He managed to overpower the Silver Gospel and destroy its IS core. We didn't have any time to salvage the remains now in enemy hands, nor the pilot still alive."

"This is absurd!" said the angered man. "And after all we did to make the IS as powerful as the Byakushiki. We even enacted the Silver Gospel's Second Shift early!"

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped, unfortunately," The Archon said, indifferent to the setback. "In any event, the Silver Gospel and Hina have served their purpose. Thanks to Tabane, we have acquired the data we need on the Academy's students, those with Personal IS. And with Akatsubaki with the Shinonono girl, everything is going according to plan with her."

"Power… Power," Madoka said to herself. She had a powerful IS and could've destroyed the students single handedly. The only problem was what her master had said: they were not prepared enough.

Plus, Raiden was also there.

Madoka grits her teeth in anger and frustration.

"Master, please let me use the full extent of my IS. Let me use it to destroy them all in a single swoop!"

"Oh?" asked the Archon as Madoka grips her hands and her mind flashes to Raiden.

"If he had not gotten in our way, I could've easily taken Nee-san on. I could've easily killed her! No, I will kill her! I must—"

"Naturally, you're upset," The Archon interrupted calmly. "But this was not a futile mission. We've learned a great many things. Gather your resources again and prepare Autumn's device. Take all the time you need. I must remain hidden in the shadows, which why I need you to be my face. A symbol of your own."

Madoka looks at the monitor, like she was seeing her master from behind the screen when she gave her final statement.

"Madoka Orimura, next time you will show the world the true meaning of fear."

And thus ends season 1. Truth be told, this was a pretty easy chapter to make despite the amount of words. Of course, I used both Rurouni Kenshin episode and the manga as references but I think it all paid off in the end. This chapter by in large encompassed episode 7 of Rurouni Kenshin and like I said in the previous chapter, it is one of my favorite episodes. So it was very much fun to write.

For those of quick summary nature, Ichika wakes up with the other first to learn his IS was hit by an EMP and is unable to pilot it to save Houki who has been kidnapped by a returning villain, Udō Hina a.k.a. Kurogasa. Raiden was the only one to go yet during the fight, he is pushed to the very edge and becomes Hitokiri Kingslayer for the first time in a long time. He very nearly kills Hina if not for Houki stopping him. Udō Hina takes her own life, the rest of episode 12 plays out, and it ends with Raiden and Houki on the beach spending a romantic night together as the latter discovers her feelings for him. Nowe I owuld love to see Izuru end the episode this way, unlike what he is doing as of late which is basically nothing.

And now to end it, it is a prelude for what is to come for season 2 i.e. Phantom Task. With their initial plot having failed, or perhaps succeed in some regard, Phantom Task is now deciding to go on the offensive. And Madoka has a master, the leader of Phantom Task whose identity at this time is unknown. But you have to admit with Madoka acting like Tomura Shigaraki in this scene, perhaps her master is similar to that of All For One.

And speaking of season 2, we will slowly get to see more of Raiden's backstory as his time as Hitokiri Kingslayer. Since the ending episodes take place in Kyoto, I figured that at some point, the Kyoto arc from Rurouni kenshin would be a perfect setup for our main character. For now though, we will have to get through episodes 1-10 of season 2 before moving on to Kyoto, as episode 11 begins with the train ride there. But before that happens, some Rurouni Kenshin episodes will take place before, both before and after.

Next episode is the season 1 OVA, which will mostly encompass the 2nd half of it while the 1st will be wholly self-made. And it will be another nice long break from all the fighting going on. And it will finally cement the pairing I made for this whole story between Houki and Raiden. Does this mean that they will be in an open relationship around the Academy? Well, I don't know about Academy rules regarding relationships but I would suspect the answer is no since there are only two guys there and the rest of the students are girls. But we will see in due time.

EDIT: Thanks to the 2023 series of Rurouni Kenshin, I made some adjustments tot he fight scene to better reflect the newer series. Enjoy!

Like, favorite, follow, and review at your leisure. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.