Chapter Six: Rogue Phoenix

Pain is difficult to deal with. Most people simply grunt it away or wallow in its misery. But both the coward and the courageous have their flaws. Anger doesn’t get you anywhere… nor does woe.

Yet when dealing with anger – most people release their tensions – it is way for them to get around it. The tears you shed in pain express your weaknesses, and the anger you display shows only your blindness. Most people would argue that anger though making you blind, the anger you muster through pain revitalizes you – making it capable for the bearer to bear more pain. Making it capable for the one in pain to conquer their fears and move on.

However, when you become a Ruzai assassin, they teach you that pain can be a weapon. Not through anger, and certainly not through depression… but certainly pain becomes a part of you.

For every ounce of pain you feel, there is an event that can change it. It’s not when you grit your teeth. It’s not when you snap your muscles. It’s not when you lock your jaw. It’s not when you clench your fists and yell to the world.

It is when you let reality seep in.

That one event is right in between the depression and anger of pain.

Your veins will cease to pulse.

Your heart will slow.

Your body will numb.

Your muscles will relax.

Yet… as hollow as you feel… you materialize. You know that whatever conviction you once held it worthless… and thus you are about to wander the world without conviction, without passion – yet not without intent, not without cause, and certainly not without claim.

It is that threshold in which you pass… where your woes turn into your vices and where your rage turns into your cunning.

What pain allows one to do… is become evil.

Lost in the oblivion of darkness, but forever strengthened by bitterness and forever empowered by the bottomless pit of anger.

I scoffed at myself.

Fate never changes. I couldn’t leave it all behind. I smirked. Not out of pity or stupidity for myself. But at my irony. I hated myself… yet, I found truth. And the truth is… no matter how hard I tried to escape it… I was always going to be a tool.

An assassin of the Ruzai…

I realized to be the Ichiro was a curse of immortality.

No matter what… nothing would ever change the past.

I would never see Erika again. I would never touch her, hold her, or kiss her.

Yet, hate was what consumed me. Hatred for oneself is what made me evil.

Revenge was no necessary; Death was not relieving; Living was the only earth I had, and that earth was in the depths of a frozen hell.

I looked around me.

The air was still.

The day was cold.

The land was barren in snow.

It had snowed quite a bit in the past day… and the Taamaya residence was covered.

The silence no longer took me. I was stuck in my own silent hell… and this one… reality… was a farce of a conquest.

The air didn’t numb me. The world hid nothing.

I had lost all my armor… because I’ve gained the immortality of evil.

At the end of the walkway to the Taamaya courtyard, the door was left open.

I could already see the people in the main room. They were all there, the Crime Council and… to my surprise… a Pandora. Little Machiko… I smirked. The little girl had grown… Her sister was not here… but then again, I had only seen the legendary Natsumi once in my life.

I slowly walked up to the entrance and removed my dress shoes. I through my black leather gloves other them and unbuttoned the buttons to my suit; I relaxed my white shirt and my black tie.

I showed no respect.

I kneeled now on my knees at the end of the table and threatened everyone there with my eyes.

“Such disrespect…” Ai said to Hajime… in a whisper… but I heard it.

And there she was… directly facing me… Suiren.

Her face emotionless. She was still the beauty she had always been… it a deceiving beauty. The truth that everyone had such a hard time accepting was that Suiren always had a beauty of innocence. It was tender, it was caring, it was graceful, and it the type of beauty associated with a mother. Yet, when adorned with a such a face… somehow, everything just didn’t connect. You didn’t know how to describe her.

“You’re no longer part of this organization.”

Silence.

Terse… brief… and to the point… Suiren had always been like that. Her voice belonged with this world… cold and piercing.

“Understood.” I answered… stoic, unmoved, expectant.

“Machiko.” Suiren looked to her side at the young girl. Machiko stood up and walk around the table to my side.

She stood there for a second looking at me, but I didn’t return her gaze.

Then she threw down a piece of paper… a letter of expulsion… with the crest of a phoenix on it.

That’s right… they couldn’t kill me… I’m the Ichiro, or at least, I was the Ichiro, doing so… would forsake the name of the Ichiro – no assassin in the Ruzai would look up to the Crime Council… they would cause civil unrest in their own organization.

I didn’t pay any attention to the letter though… my eyes scanned the room… Yamitaka Ai of the Ichiko House, Taamaya Konoko Hajime of the Taamaya House, Hiragi Kei of the Sureigawa House, Kana Sugo of the Kando House, Kana Shingo of the Riechi House, Tachigawa Rei of the Hana House… with the Kumi House now abolished, this was the Ruzai Crime Council – full and well.

And of course, there was Suiren Takashiro from the House of Kogami-Takashiro.

“That’s not all Takeshi.” She added nodding slowly to Machiko.

Machiko dropped another item on the desk in front of me.

Silence.

This one was considerably large… a large black envelope.

This amongst the Ruzai assassins was referred to as a “marks envelope”… in the black envelope was a list of hits… targets. Some times only one person, but far more times, more than one. In there was also a check card to an anonymous Swiss Bank account, and specifics on the target – if there were any.

Every target given to the assassins of the Ruzai syndicate came in these envelopes. The last one I received detailed the deaths of Erika’s family… and six other Interpol agents working under her father.

A similar envelope must have been given to Kazuki of the Taamaya House as well, who informed his master… and the mistress of the House of Ichiko, Yamitaka Ai.

I looked at Suiren.

“I’m no longer a part of this organization.” I said.

“Precisely, you are a Phoenix now, an exile from this organization, whom held a position of power – one who was disgraced – one whose affiliations have been cut and has had their lives spared out of pity and politics.”

Pity… that’s just like Suiren to pity me… but she may not have been far from the truth. Suiren possessed no fear – she knew the even if there was unrest amongst the assassins in the syndicate, no one ever dared question her authority, nor wanted to – she was unquestioned and fiercely admired by all. I on the other hand, posed little threat because Suiren understood my loyalties even upon hatred… she understood what was in my heart and mind… and truly to her… I may have been pathetic.

“Just as you said my lady, I am phoenix.”

“Only a phoenix can do this job.”

I looked at her.

“I have no right to accept, nor the will, nor the desire.”

“What you want is not in question.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Take the envelope – look inside when you’ve accepted reality.”

I looked at her.

“That wasn’t a command Takeshi…”

Pause.

Everyone looked at Suiren.

Her expression softened.

Her eyes met mine…

And that was the first time I’ve seen Suiren’s eyes as such… soft… caring…

“What’s in the envelope is for you accept at your discretion… it is not an order… not a command. It is a parting gift… and one last favor I wish to ask of man I grew up with… not as your master… but as your friend Takeshi.”

I looked over at Hajime.

His eyes glared at me… but it was different from a hateful glare… it was almost as if he sensed something… the same sense I had.

That what was in this envelope had not been disclosed by to the council… Hajime did not know. What was in the envelope… I slowly scanned the room… none of them knew... except when I looked at Machiko… the Pandoras knew something.

Something was going on here…

Something was wrong…

Suiren was asking me to push my feelings aside… she was asking me to confront my evils…

Something… was terribly wrong… if I was the only one Suiren could trust.

I stood up slowly.

There was nothing left to be said.

I bowed slowly, picked up the envelope and the letter of expulsion… and turned to walk away.

“Takeshi.”

It was Machiko.

I stopped.

And looked at her from the corner of my eye…

Slowly… she bowed…

A Pandora … bowing?

I moved away.

Something was terribly wrong.

Something was a tremendous threat to the members of that council…

Something… only a rogue phoenix could accomplish.

I smirked.

Fine. It didn’t matter.

What better way to wander the underworld… than doing so deaf, dumb, and blind…

Maybe I will see Erika soon too…

This is less of a stand alone piece in the series - so I apologize for those who are having a hard time. However, things will clear up... especially with a character like Naomi.

A lot will be happening in the next chapter. For those that slightly confused at some of the terms - things will be cleared up... again, unfortunately this is part of series - so if terms like "the Pandoras" don't make much sense right now, I apologize, however if you're interested, Adventus Thanatos Ruzai Legends probably has the best introductions to a lot of the parts of the Ruzai Syndicate for uninformed readers. And Adventus Thanatos Advent Complex is a completed story for those who are extremely interested.

There will be a lot secrets about the Ruzai syndicate revealed in the next chapter - so expect some MINOR spoilers for many of the other works under this same project.

Reviews are always welcome, however more importantly, I hope you've enjoyed the read.

Posts coming soon.

Kakyou.