His brother. Zerzuke. He had always made a point of telling the clan what he felt they were doing wrong, and he'd always do it in the most blatantly offensive way possible. He always worked on his own terms. He wouldn't go anywhere near a mission that he didn't feel was worthy of undertaking. His teachers never failed to warn Kenji each and every day not to become like his older brother. Yet, here he was, doing the exact opposite his brother would do, and the result was this. Why...why did this happen!? He dropped his kunai and put a hand to his forehead, still kneeling, sweating perfusely. His vision was getting hazy, and he felt light-headed. He rose his head to look at Koshi.

"You...sound like my brother...I...hate you..." He managed to spit out, but strangely, there was a distinct lack of malice in his words.

With that, Kenji's body refused to work. The excrutiating pain had made him go into shock. He was at the mercy of this man, Koshi, who he had moments before had tried to kill.

"How do you intend to pay for the lost income from all this? You should have just left and hid somehwere."

Koshi turned, asking simply. "And would you have told the kid where I lived, knowing he wanted me dead?"

Isamu thought for a moment wondering why he asked. "No, I have some honor, you know."

Koshi just laughed, finishing his makeshift bandages. "Then the kid probably would have trashed your shop until you divulged my location. Sorry boss, but you got off lucky, feel free to dock my paycheck to pay for repairs, but I do plan to take the next few days off."

"How long?"

"Untill the kid recovers." Koshi stood, the assassin cradled in his arms as we walked out the door, the streets empty enough that he could take his normal path to the shack he had on the edge of town.

Isamu chased out the rest of the loiterers and went to work replacing the blood stained tatami, trying his hardest to be angry at the bouncer. Turning to the servant girl with the bandaged hand he made a single request. "Check up on him, Kiri."