Drops of Blood Part 1: In Darkness and In Rain By: Heike Detsune Eiji Eiji cautiously watched his target, a known yakazu messenger, from the roof of a local business as he walked down the streets of Tokyo. The man turned the corner to a deserted street and Eiji lept to the ground to make his move. He ran around the other side of the building and came out in front of the messenger."You're not going anywhere untill I get some information." Eiji said. "Who are you?" Asked the messenger, a bit startled by the swordsman's appearance. "Apparently you don't know how this works, let me fill you in. I ask the questions, and you awnser them. If you refuse to cooperate you die. Do you understand?" He replied as he slowly drew his sword. "Now what do you know about the organizations around here?" "I'll tell you nothing!" The man said as he lept at Eiji. The swordsman countered by side-stepping to avoid the attack, and slicing his sword down decapitating the messenger. * * * It was raining. A well dressed lady was looking out her window, sighing. She has been in Tokyo for quite a bit of time, but the rain was making her depressed. Too many horrible memories are crashing down on her as the raindrops fall on the ground. Suddenly, one of her guards came in. "Nishima Shukou is here to see you, Detsune-sama" the guard intoned. "Send him in" she replied, almost automatically. A man entered. Water was streaming off him and his hakama was so drenched that it might as well be on the deepest end of the ocean. Detsune found the smell of rain and mud blowing her way from him profoundly disturbing. "Shukou, please get off the tatami!" She said in a disgusted voice. "I have no time for that Higashino. This is serious. I have uncovered some information on a yakuza, and it seems to be that they are connected with Miretsu Hagahara in illegal ways." Shukou snapped. "Fine then. Tell me what you know." "This yakuza has been flexing its muscles in the shabbier parts of Yokohama for the past few days. I heard something about a messenger being killed, making them expand to here in Shinjuku. I believe that they are doing this so that they can be more careful with their messages. All I got on who was recieving them here in Shinjuku is the name Tajimi Korin." "Korin will not play without Hagahara. But it is possible that she is on her own on this issue." "I checked on that. You do know that Miretsu Hagahara has arrived from Nagoya, right?" "Of course I do! What do you think of me? I have my own spies, you know." "Then why wouldn't you know my proof that Korin is working with Hagahara now?" "Because the majority of them are in Nagoya trying to dig some dirt on you-know-who and the rest are resting from their excursion to Sapporo." "That explains a lot. Anyway, from the minute Miretsu arrived, he went straight to Korin's house. Tounges are wagging about it. Dont you listen to gossip?" "I abhor gossip. If you are willing to listen to gossip, you might as well believe that the emperor has nine wives including a burly captain and a banana peel. Gossiping is the job of my spies. They listen, investigate and report what is true to me." Detsune was looking at whole new possibilities at sinking Miretsu into scandal. She sent spies to all the places where the yakuza was reputed to be and also kept a special tab on Tajimi Korin's house. She was undergoing a surge of triumph when police barged in. "Detsune-sama, Sorry for inconveniencing you, but we are placing Nishima Shukou under arrest for murder." The captain's voice was pompous and Detsune had an urge to use a drug with amusing effects on him. "Murder of whom?" she asked as she suppressed her urge towards childish pranks. "The victim is unknown, but Miretsu Hagahara and the servants of Tajimi Korin testify that Nishima Shukou was the one that murdered him." "Detsune," Shukou whispered as he was being dragged. "Seek Eiji". And they left, melting into the wet shadows. * * * Heike Detsune was in a pensive mood. She had almost anything she wanted and she had enough money to start a war. With all this wealth and power, there was one limit: she could not find this "Eiji" character that Shukou told her about. "Detsune-sama" a guard came into the room as he spoke. "A dispatch has arrived with five of your spies concerning Eiji. "Five? I sent a dozen. Where are the others?" "They were killed, my lady. His whereabouts are unknown but he was sighted near the house of Tajimi Korin." "So he could be the real murderer. I'll look into this personally." and Detsune went to bathe. * * * The sky was clear. The sakura was in bloom. Detsune loved the outdoors. She danced around the broad avenues of Shinjuku looking at the gardens. Detsune was far from lighthearted at that time. Dancing around attracts attention, and that gave her the chance to analyze her audience closely. One suspicious character darted into a tavern. She decided to investigate. She was simply going to ask the man a few questions, but his appearance was apprehensive. Detsune held her breath and went into the tavern. She saw him alone on a table, probably waiting for an order, she deduced. Heike then approached the man. "Your name fine gentleman?" Detsune asked sweetly. "None of your business." Heike was taken aback by this man's bashfulness.She decided to take a different route. "May I buy you a drink?" "If it pleases you." Detsune ordered the finest, most expensive sake. It arrived at the table when she secretly spiced it with a few drugs that would make him more cooperative. "Now tell me fine gentleman, what is your name?" "I said, none of your- Eiji is my name. What about yours?" "Its not important right now. Do you know of any murders around Shinjuku?" "How dare you- I just killed some unlucky yakuza messenger, that is." Detsune quickly spiced the sake with a counter-drug before Eiji would fall flat on the floor before he stiffened up. Eiji drank the re-drugged sake and suddenly felt drowsy. Heike decided that she should get him to the Kage and get Shukou out before anything happens. * * * Eiji could not fathom what was going on. People were asking him questions that he answered truthfully; what would they do? Would they throw him in prison? Would they laugh at him? Whatever else he thought didnt really matter since they threw him in prison and he simply didn't care anymore. He simply drifted off into a deep sleep. Eiji awoke in a stereotypical cell. Iron bars, moldy straw, evil-tasting food and the rats; who can forget the rats? He did not mind being confined that much, but the rats were particularly irritating. They kept him distracted from trying to figure out how to escape. A woman stealthily approached the cell and set Eiji free. He was disturbed. Somehow he had seen that face before, but he could not figure out who she was. A man was behind her. "Hurry up, Higashino!" the man said in quiet but panicky tones. "These things take time, Shukou" Higashino told him. Higashino approached the suspicious Eiji and made him inhale a sweet drug. Eiji suddenly felt better. "What did you just do?" he asked suspiciously. "Its not important now. I know a place near here. lets go" was all she said. They walked the starlit avenues of Shinjuku all the way to a place that was elegant. On the steps going there, the group saw a horror. Three heads were neatly beside each other and tied with shiny blue ribbon. It read: "Lady Heike Detsune, an incentive to keep your pretty little nose out of our affairs." "My spies!" Detsune gasped. "Higashino, you are Heike Detsune?" Eiji asked, partly astonished. "We should get out of here. There are bound to be assassins." Heike dashed inside the house with Shukou, ostensibly to gather a few things while Eiji stayed outside dealing with assassins. He recognised one of the assassins and realized that his brother was after Detsune. But first, the assassins need to be dealt with. The battle was short and ugly and it ended when Detsune's carraige trampled over the last assassin. After that, they got rid of the heads and bodies. "Eiji! Get in! We're leaving!" Detsune screamed. "Why should I trust you?" "Because I need your help. All of Shinjuku will fall to the yakuza if we dont act! Please!" "All right, just for now. But no funny busines, okay?" "I promise." Eiji went into the carraige and the group fled Shinjuku, not knowing where to go. Shukou was driving the carraige and Detsune had a cold air about her. The tension was thick, but common purpose united them, if only loosely. As the moon gave way to the sun, sleep caught up to them and uncertainty would surely prevail this day. * * * [End Part 1/In Darkness and In Rain]