The Limits of Honor IV -Hunters

Anything in excess is never truly beneficial, and testosterone was no exception. It had been proven in the past that an abundance of the substance in one's system could lead to acts of extreme violence, so for one who wishes to remain in control of himself, a method of redirecting those energies is most helpful. While there generally existed a healthy balance of the substance in one's system, certain acts could trigger a sudden, almost obscene, rise in testosterone content, forcing the individual to either go on a murderous rampage, or find a young lady willing to lose the ability to walk normally for the next week. Testosterone, as Mike Tyson had shown on a number of occasions, was indeed a very dangerous substance. If someone could find a way to tap into and utilize the hormone, they'd probably be placed on a pedestal and worshipped as a pagan being by the general populous for all of eternity for finding an easy to obtain, yet dangerously potent, source of energy.

While normal fluctuations could be expected from time to time, there were some occasions where such a change could be described as anything but normal. The Fates would often direct their attention to a lone individual it would seem, and turn loose with every conceivable bit of hormonal torture they could muster. If the previous two options are not available to an individual, a healthy redirection of energies is probably the only thing that will keep a man's sanity intact.

Mani had fought with hormonal demons in the past, and had discovered that physical exertion of some kind was a more healthy alternative than the aforementioned murderous rampage. Push-ups in particular had been his salvation in the past -he would drop and exercise until the testosterone had loosened its grip on his senses. He would do push-ups accordingly, depending on his degree of affliction. If all went well, he would calm down before he passed out from sheer exhaustion.

"...247, 248, 249..."

It was not working.

Reuben wasn't quite sure what to make of the young ninja as he slid the room door open and stepped inside, opting for Mani to note his presence. After a few moments, the young ninja finally noticed that he had a slightly confused visitor.

"I shouldn't ask, should I?"

Mani shook is head. "You'd be better off if you didn't."

Reuben nodded slowly. "You have a job," he remarked, hoping it would be an end to the discussion for the time being. Mani said nothing as he readjusted his position on the ground, sitting sternly in a cross-legged pose. It was obvious that he was annoyed slightly, but he knew it would come eventually. Having no real idea of what was going on around him, the young ninja had been on edge since his arrival in Shinkyo. It had only proven to dampen his day when he was finally called to service for his mysterious employer, the Lady Noriko Takamoto. "Genjuro Yagami," Reuben eventually remarked once he noticed that the younger ninja was not going to speak.

"Should I know him?"

The Guild's ninja shook his head slowly. "You haven't had a reason to until now." As he spoke, Reuben flexed his hand and clenching it together tightly, his knuckles cracking loudly in the process. Mani wasn't sure if the action was supposed to be hostile, but nonetheless did not flinch. "Samurai, but in name only. He's a little lax in the upkeeping of that title. Operates one of the larger Syndicates in this district, and because of his title, also has close ties to the Shogun."

"So much for Bushido," Mani remarked to himself. He was actually somewhat surprised when he saw the elder ninja nodding slowly in agreement

"I say that if you're going to hold a title, you should be true to that title. You'll never hear me refer to that man as 'Samurai'." Reuben laughed dryly, shaking his head. "But it's not my position comment." He turned his attention back to Mani, still cross-legged on the ground. "All that you need to know is that he and Takamoto-san are... displeased... with one another. We're here to make sure that things do not get out of hand, and should that occur, we make sure that our employer comes out on top. Simple in concept, but I doubt things will work out as cleanly as that."

"And where exactly do I come in?"

"Your task is simple," Reuben responded. "Yagami has two daughters, but you only need to concern yourself with the younger of the two. You're to do nothing to her yet, save keep an eye on her. She won't come into play unless she has to -Lady Takamoto would prefer to keep this as clean and simple as possible." Reuben turned towards the door. "This evening, make sure you find out everything you can about the girl. If you can even gain her trust, that's all the more beneficial."

Mani paused mentally for a moment. It was a very odd request -it made sense to some extent, but that didn't make it any less odd. "What's her name?," he wondered.

"Aki."

"How will I know it's her?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to pick her out, I can assure you," Reuben calmly explained. "She likes to travel, and over the course of her journeys, she's picked up a few habits that defiantly set her apart from most of the girls on this island. Trust me, you'll know."

* * * * * * *

[Nightfall]

The sight of a girl sneaking over the wall surrounding Genjuro Yagami's estate under the cover of the darkness would have caught the eye of anyone paying attention, but fortunately no one appeared to be doing so besides Mani. He was having a hard time seeing the girl, but going by what Reuben had told him earlier, he knew that this was indeed her -Yagami only had two daughters, and he knew Natsumi was too dignified to do such things. Aki was swift at getting over the high wall, using a nearby tree to help her over -she definitely was no stranger to the act. Mani had trouble making out the details with the distance and the darkness, but could recognize that the figure was indeed feminine. She was dressed in dark attire, and carried her shoes in her hands -after jumping down to the other side of the wall and making sure she had not been heard, she put her shoes back on and took off down one of the streets.

<Showtime...>

It wasn't too difficult for Mani to keep up with Aki, as she didn't seem to suspect she was being followed. She seemed much more interested in putting as much distance as she could between the pagoda and herself, a factor that worked to the young ninja's advantage. Her hastiness is what kept him unseen. The way Aki moved through the back alleys of Shinkyo was not that of a nervous young girl, but of a young girl experienced in the arts of sneaking out late at night. Mani couldn't help but chuckle to himself -it would seem that teenage girls all over the multiverse sneaked out late at night, not just the ones he knew back home.

Tracking was a tedious job, no matter how unaware the target was. During the course of the whole experience, Mani had managed to pick up a detail or two about the young lady he was watching. Her hair was cut short, and one of her bangs extended far enough to almost cover her left eye completely. Her manner of dress was not at all representative of what he had seen while in Shinbi -she was showing more flesh than just about every woman on the island, combined. Her full lips were the color of a dark wine, emphasizing the very pretty face in which they resided. Light shadowing above her almond eyes made them seem all the more bright. She wore a black top that was tied just beneath her chest, her perfectly rounded breasts leaving a glimpse at her deep cleavage, the sleeves of the shirt extending to her wrists in wide-cuffed flourishes. Her bare stomach was flat, and a tight pair of shorts clung to her lower body as if she had painted her skin black. A wide strip of fabric hung down before the shorts, and Mani recognized the red symbol etched on it -'feline', in kanji. She was deeply tanned -he could see no lines, and knew that it wasn't from laboring out in the sun. There was a light shine to her skin, a smoothness apparent down to her slender legs. Crimson nails peeked at Mani from the open toes of her thickly-soled black sandals. Under different circumstances, he might have considered flirting with her...

Mani willed himself calm. He was in no position to start doing pushups again.

His target soon came to an inn towards the outskirts of Shinkyo. Mani continued to watch from an alley some distance away, taking care to stay in the shadows as he always had. His expert eyesight had no trouble picking out details in the darkness, but Mani caught himself doing a double-take at the scene. Before Aki stepped inside, someone came out to greet her. There were very few Mystics in Shinkyo, Mani had observed, which made the stranger's presence more unique. Aki was speaking to a tall, blue skinned female that defiantly was not human by any stretch of the imagination. The two spoke openly to one another, smiling and embracing like old friends that had not seen each other in quite some time. They continued this for a few moments before making their way inside the inn. Mani opted to follow, but suddenly tensed before taking a step. Two figures stepped out of the shadows some distance away from him. Upon recognition, he relaxed.

"Evening Mani," twin voices greeted.

"Evening Lexa, Landra." Both were attired exactly the same in much darker tones than Mani had previously seen them in, but Lexa's green hair, with Landra's red, was prominent enough for him to tell them apart. "Don't tell me Takamoto's losing trust in my abilities already," he casually remarked. "I haven't even had a chance to get started yet."

"Not so," Lexa responded with a quick shake of her head.

"Reuben sent us, on account on some unforeseen circumstances from earlier this evening," Landra finished. "We have a slight situation to deal with."

"What happened?"

Lexa brushed a loose strand of green hair from her eyes before stepping forward and motioning towards the inn. "Ms. Yagami's sister Natsumi was to be wed to the son of a certain wealthy merchant in a couple of weeks," she began. "Unfortunately, Reuben just got word that Mr. Yoichi was found in his home not too long ago, quite murdered."

"Natsumi Yagami has also gone missing," Landra added, stepping up a little further too. "Needless to say, Lady Takamoto was a little disturbed by these events, seeing as she didn't order them. We can't get close enough to Yoichi's estate to find out exactly what happened there, but a few of the local authorities are loyal to Takamoto. We'll know, but it'll be a matter of time."

Mani nodded. "So Reuben thinks Aki and her friend there might be next?"

"Perhaps. Even if she isn't, we can't afford to lose her now. She'd make a good bargaining edge if it came to that, but she's no good to us dead." Lexa cast a curious glance to her sister, then back towards Mani. "Did you say she had a friend?," she curiously wondered.

"Some Mystic woman. Tall, dark-blue skin, reddish-brown hair... I didn't get that good of a look at her."

"Interesting," Landra remarked. "We'll have to ask Lahz about her later. He knows of just about every Mystic on this island."

Mani nodded slowly, and both Lexa and Landra quickly noted that his eyes were beginning to wander about the darkness, in particular to the rooftops of the numerous buildings that made up the alleyway. "You didn't bring any of the others with you, right?," he asked, his voice noticeably dropping.

"No."

"I see." He motioned up with his head. "Then it appears that we have company."

* * * * * * *

The three figures on the rooftop above the mysterious trio traded glances amongst each other as the conversation beneath seemed to die down suddenly, confusion present in each of their eyes, the only part visible beneath their masks. That look of confusion was quickly replaced by a look of shock as the trio suddenly leapt onto the rooftop, numerous weapons in hand. The ninja held a black-bladed katana, the red haired one a pair of sai, and the green haired one a Kusarigama, holding the curved blade in one hand, twirling the chain it was attached to in the other.

"|You can either leave, or we can dance|," Mani calmly put forth. It didn't matter what he said. He knew exactly what was about to happen. Without another word, the two sides attacked.

Mani threw himself at the nearest of the strangers, which also happened to be the largest of the pack. A flying kick to its midsection did nothing more than stagger the massive creature, who quickly pulled out a blade of its own and lashed at Mani's head. With a quick back-handspring, Mani managed to catch the creature's swinging hands with both of his feet, which took the blade right out of its grasp. The massive sword flipped and twirled through the air, embedding itself deeply into the tiled rooftop some distance away. It was a unique blade, unlike anything Mani had seen before.

"Yagami!," Landra suddenly shouted as she sent one of the strangers flying off the rooftop by way of a kick. She motioned down to the street, where both Aki and the strange Mystic woman had come out of the inn. Needless to say, the sight of an all out brawl taking place on the rooftops above them had caught their attention.

Lexa tightened the chain around one of the other's neck and looked down at the street below. "Run, you stupid bitch! RUN!," she shouted, motioning wildly.

"|Get the hell out of here!|," Mani quickly added, kicking the massive freak yet again. Without a word, the two girls took off running, disappearing into the darkness of the night. Mani sighed for but a moment, as he realized that he still had bigger problems to deal with. As he prepared to start slashing, he was very much surprised as the creature turned tail and began to run. In a feat of agility that defied its size, the black-clad creature dove clean over the alley and onto the opposing rooftop, sending up a storm of broken tile upon landing. In an even stranger turn of events, a massive ebony tail shot out of the back of the creatures pants, and another pair of thin, clawed arms extended from the creature's waist as it scaled the sloping roof. Where the two slopes of the rooftop came together stood a lone figure, pointing towards the group.

Landra suddenly screamed as she felt the bolt of a crossbow enter her shoulder with a flourish of blood that was almost as bright as her hair. Lexa quickly darted past and grabbed her sister, sliding down to the opposite end of the tile rooftop with Mani right behind her. She looked at the bolt protruding from Landra's shoulder and cursed. "We've got to get her out of here," Mani quickly put forth.

"We're not going anywhere while that guy with the crossbow's still there," Lexa responded, motioning over her shoulder. "He'd pick us off one by one."

Mani sighed deeply. "If I can distract that freak, do you think you can get her out of here?"

"If we're quick."

"Get ready."

He suddenly leapt up and slid down the edge of the roof, turning away as a bolt struck a few feet away from his head. Zig-zagging across the rooftop, Mani took off towards the perpetrator, dodging bolt after bolt before leaping into the air and releasing a stream of shuriken. They took the crossbow right out of his hand as Mani landed on the same rooftop, several feet away. The man looked at Mani for a moment, his head nodding slightly. The massive freak was standing some distance behind him -he lunged forward, but was stopped as the man put up his hand.

"|I dare you to try that again|," he remarked. There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

Mani shrugged. "|If you want to be the only man in hell with 200 plus shuiken sticking out of his chest, then who am I to argue?|" Without another word, Mani released another hail of shuriken at the man.

Instead of trying to dodge them as he expected him to, the man quickly drew his hands up to his sides and breathed in sharply. He held his position as the shuriken found their target, striking his body repeatedly. They tore into his uniform in several places, but the man did not fall to the ground.

They had bounced off of his body. Every single last one of them.

"What the hell kind of...?!"

With a deafening 'KI-AH!!', the man streaked towards him. Before Mani could even flinch, he felt himself suddenly becoming airborne, most likely due to the crushing sensation of a foot smacking him on the side of his head. He twirled through the air and landed loudly on the rooftop, fighting unconsciousness as he managed to get a grip on the tile to avoid falling to the street below. Vision blurring, he groggily cast a long glance up at the figure, standing some distance away from him. "|Another time, kid|," the stranger calmly said. "|Sticking around and killing you would only mess with my time table, and I can't have that.|"

Mani blinked. "|Kid?|" His eyes began to focus, taking in the details of the stranger, in particular the tattoo peaking at him from under the torn shirt. He felt a trickle of blood running down his face.

"|Kid,|" the man repeated. "|Your technique is too flashy, and reeks of inexperience. The strength you put behind those shuriken tells me that it was a desperate maneuver, showing that you aren't used to working under this kind of stress. And if that look of shock on your face a few moments ago didn't say 'rank amateur', I don't know does.|"

"|You done yet?|"

The stranger paused and thought for a moment. "|Yeah, I guess I am. Seeya around, kid.|" Without another word he and his massive associate were gone. Mani did not move for several tense moments. Eventually, he slowly stood to his feet and slid back down to the streets of Shinkyo. With the headache he had now, he realized that jumping from rooftop to rooftop probably would have resulted in him falling to his death on the streets below.

* * * * * * *

The garden within the courtyard of Takamoto's estate buzzed softly with the sounds of the nocturnal insects that called it home, which seemingly never slept. Tonight, they would not be the only ones to spend the majority of the evening awake. A quiet meeting was taking place there on this particular evening. Ming, Lahz, Lexa, and Reuben spoke quietly amongst themselves, falling silent as the last of their expected company slowly made his way into the courtyard. Mani didn't say a word as he approached the group, holding some ice wrapped in a rag on a massive bruise on the side of his face.

"I heard you all ran into some company out there," Reuben began. His voice was audible but low, as he did not want to disturb those sleeping within the estate. Mani managed a slow nod.

"I found my left eye about two blocks away," he joked, a weak smile forming on his face. "How's Landra?," he wondered.

"She'll live," her sister answered. "I don't think she'll be doing much running around for a few days, but she'll live." Her response came out coldly. She was visibly agitated. "Damn it all to hell, Reuben, what did we run into out there?," she asked.

The tall man shrugged. He absently reached up and began to stroke his goatee. "Whoever it was, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Yagami's men."

"Howso?," the green haired assassin wondered.

"Things are happening too fast," he calmly began, taking a deep breath. "It's almost convenient." Reuben was greeted by confused gazes from both Lexa and Mani, opting him to continue. "Yoichi's death was less than an hour ago. Ten minutes later, I send you and your sister to track down Mani, which, by your account, happened about twenty minutes later. Almost immediately, you are attacked. Thirty minutes have passed by my count."

"It took you only twenty minutes to track me down?," Mani interrupted. "I couldn't have been that sloppy."

"We had you tailed. Sorry."

"..."

Reuben shrugged. "Not my orders, Mani." He slowly turned back towards Lexa, leaving Mani standing put with a pack of ice on his head, and his mouth wordlessly half-open. "Sometime later, Lahz and I actually ran across his missing daughter."

Lexa blinked. "Where?"

"The harbor. Dead."

Lexa winced noticeably. She leaned upon one of the handrails of the red wooden bridge. "God, Reuben... when was this?"

"About 15 minutes ago. There is no way Yagami could have learned of his daughter's death and tracked you three down in under 15 minutes."

There was silence as the impact of what Reuben had just said began to settle in. "Is it possible that Yagami knew where Aki was beforehand?," Mani wondered. "That would account for something." Reuben shook his head.

"Doubtful. Genjuro's not one to tolerate insubordination, even from his own family. If he knew that she was even sneaking out late at night, he would have put an end to it long ago. If those were Yagami's men, they most likely would have come inside the inn, beat Aki a little before dragging her back home, and had her friend raped as a warning. He's a royal son of a bitch that very few can cross, even if you're family." Reuben's hand reached up to his goatee once again. "And last I heard, he wasn't hiring Mystics. Yagami's a traditionalist when it comes to things like that. He's not terribly fond of anyone he considers an outsider. I doubt highly that your ebony-tailed friend from the rooftop is anything but Mystic." The ninja snickered lightly to himself. "I'm sure Aki's driving him up the wall," he casually remarked.

Mani moved the pack of ice slightly. "What's her story, anyway?"

Reuben cast a quick glance at Ming. The massive red-skinned Mystic nodded and stepped out of the shadows for the first time during the meeting. "Do you want the short answer, or the long one?," his deep voice questioned.

"Let's go short for now."

Ming nodded. "To be brief," he began. "Daddy Yagami and Aki have... issues... that I'll spare you the details on. Consequently, she spends a lot of time away from home, often times by Genjuro's request. Her latest trip took her to Mentira, where she met with a few of their more... unique... inhabitants."

Lexa laughed hoarsely. "Unique by Mentiran standards must be pretty damned weird," she grumbled. Ming slowly turned towards Lahz upon hearing the comment and growled something at him in the Mystic tongue, casting a quick glare back in Lexa's direction. The Commoner elected to remain silent, merely shaking his head slowly. Reuben simply smiled at the exchange, also electing not to comment. "Tell me about the Mystic Aki was meeting with," he remarked, turning his attention back to Mani.

The young ninja thought for a moment, and after noticing that thinking in his current condition hurt, he promptly stopped. He needed a bigger bag of ice. "Dark blue complexion, reddish-brown hair," he began. "Pretty damned tall. Even with those freakish heels Aki had on, she had her by at least a foot."

"And the man that kicked you?"

Mani proceeded to go into an obscenity-laced tirade about the man, explaining everything to the best of his recollection.

"I plugged the man with just about every shuriken that I had, and they just bounced off of him like I threw a bunch of cotton. Call me a prude, but that doesn't quite strike me as being, well, normal."

Reuben became silent at that point as his hand immediately stopped stroking his goatee. "That's enough for now," he responded quietly, casting glances between Lexa and Mani. "I've kept you two up long enough. Get some rest. I'm sure we've got a busy day ahead of us."

Lexa was gone without a word, and Mani couldn't help but linger for but a moment. Their release was sudden, but at the same time, welcomed. With a slight bow of his ice-packed head, he took leave of the group.

Reuben waited for a moment after the two had left the courtyard before turning towards Lahz and Ming. "I know exactly what you're thinking, Reuben," the Commoner began, keeping his voice low. "Unfortunately, I would have to agree with you."

"There was only one other human within the Drayhen. This couldn't have been anyone else."

"Mani, Lexa, and Landra should have all been dead then," Ming added with a shrug. "There's no way Saigo would have just let them go."

"He's always liked to play games," Reuben answered, sighing deeply. "Time tables, psycho-analyzing someone trying to kill him... there's no telling what's going on in that sick head of his. I don't think that was retaliation they ran into," he remarked coolly. "But we will run into it if we don't find out what's going on here."

Mani had heard enough. Slipping out of the darkness, he decided it was indeed time to get some rest.

* * * * * * *

"I am often times asked of events that have drastically influenced my life in some way, for better or for worse. And on most of these occasions, I will usually relay a tale either of the time spent battling with the minions of Lord Paradox, or something that involves Lily in some way, fashion, or form. However, there are very few who know of an experience I encountered late one evening in Shinkyo. I rarely speak of the ordeal with anyone -on those occasions when I've elected to do so, the room is often left in an awkward silence upon the completion of my story. I do not fault them for being so silent afterwards. I, myself, am usually left speechless as well."

"I could not sleep after a particularly taxing evening, and I found myself fading in and out of consciousness as I vainly attempted to rest. Be it from the massive bruise on my head or fragmented stream of consciousness from being so tired, I felt myself... slipping, for a lack of a better word. I am a firm believer of the presence of a higher plane of mental awareness (the proverbial astral plane, if you want to get technical), a place where our very consciousness may leave our bodies behind and do whatever it is a consciousness does without a body to hinder it -I'm no expert on the matter, so I won't embarrass myself by guessing. Back home, Master Renee told me once that while most individuals are never able to visit the astral plane on a consistent basis, very many actually slip in and out of it every once in a while -part of me thought she was making a joke after I had fallen asleep during a meditation exercise, but after this particular night, I began to seriously think about what she had said."

"I thought I was awake, then I thought I was dreaming -even now, I'm still not certain exactly what the heck I was doing. Regardless of what my mental state was, I recall quite vividly what I saw. As I rested within Takamoto's estate, lying in bed for what seemed like hours, I strangely felt that I wasn't alone. I slowly opened my eyes and gazed outward, seeing a figure shrouded in darkness some distance away from my bed, leaning on what looked like a wooden cane. I'm not sure how long I sat and stared at it, but eventually, I realized exactly what I was staring at. Canes do not end in curved blades."

"Scythes, on the other hand, do."

"The figure seemed to realize that I knew what it was by that point, because it spoke before I could. 'I have not come for you, ninja,' came a low voice that chilled my very soul. It felt as if a winter's breeze had escaped into the room while I was clad in just my boxers. As could be expected, I was quite unnerved. 'I have not come for you, ninja', it repeated. 'I will have my work cut out for me in this city, I've been informed, but you need not fear my presence this time around.'"

"I wanted to speak, but the figure seemed to know my very thoughts before I voiced them. 'I've been a constant presence in your life, ninja. And I will continue to be there. In time, I can assure you that we will meet again.'"

"'When?' It was all that I could manage at this point."

"'You know the rules are not that simple,' it calmly retorted. 'I have not seen the time when we shall meet personally, but because of who you are, and what you do, we will continue to cross paths. You deserve to know this much.'"

"And with those words, it was gone. I'm not sure how long it was after that, but sleep finally came and overtook me. And when I awoke the next morning, I felt light-headed when I was greeted with the news that Kyoko, Takamoto's beloved daughter, was dead."

"She had been murdered sometime during the night, by someone within Lady Takamoto's estate."