Assassination Information

Shiroyama

I slowly pushed myself up on one hand, fully extending my arm. I held it still as sweat ran along my upside down body. I lowered myself slowly again until my nose touched the ground. I held the pose and then pushed off into the air. I landed on my feet and breathed slowly. I centered myself and grabbed a nearby rag to wipe off my face.

Footsteps came from the wooden stairs and I put the rag back onto the bench. I didn’t turn to look, instead I reached for Kure-sama and attached him to my side again. Only then did I turn to face one of my spies. He was an unassuming man, perfect for this sort of work.

“Mr. Monitor is here to see you.” The man even had an unassuming voice which would have been desirable for myself. However, Kure-sama changed the man or woman wielding its blade. My white hair and eyes were a testament to that.

“I’ll see to him.” I looked around the underground gym and focused on another one of my spies in the corner. He was kneeling on a jagged board clenching a bar with weights attached between his teeth. His punishment for failure to provide adequate information for Onibashi. I had his senior sitting close by to watch and make sure the punishment was enacted.

I climbed the stairs after my spy as he led me though the building. We were set up in a noble's residence in Edo that had supported the Meiji. The nobles and wealthy families resented the clans and often supported us. They supplied information and a stable supply of coin as they saw that the clans had taken their rightful place as rulers of Japan.

He led me to a sitting room and slid open the door for me. I stepped in to see a man sprawled on a western couch. He had messy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was smoking a cigarette and had a wide grin on his face. His baby blue suit was rumpled and his shoes were scuffed.

“Hey,” he raised a hand in greeting and took a drag of his cigarette. My spy shut the door behind me.

“Mr. Monitor, must you smoke in the house?” I opened the doors on the other side of the room to the garden, letting in the cool evening air.

“A better question would be, why do you not smoke in the house?” he asked flippantly.

“It contains a strong smell.” I sat across from him in a western chair. The noble that we had borrowed this mansion from had grumbled about us bringing in the western furniture but acquiesced to our requests. They were willing to tolerate our eccentricities as long as we helped remove the clans from power.

Which could be said to be the same of Sam Monitor. For one of his many jobs he collected things for his buyers overseas, whether that be people or items. Another was collecting information and selling it. However I had my suspicions that he was here under orders of the Brits to destabilize Japan in any shape or form.

“What information do you have to sell to us today?” I asked, not really caring about pleasantries.

“What? Not even some tea to wet my throat?"

“You wouldn’t be able to taste it with the cigarette in your mouth.”

“You know what? Fair. I’ve a suspicion that these things are killing my taste buds.” He leaned forward and placed his hands on the table between us. “I have big information for you this time.”

“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows and leaned forward as well.

“Yes, this isn’t about some failure of a god. No, this is about a clan head.”

“They don’t often leave their strongholds.” I murmured as I rubbed my chin. I had been planning an assassination for some time on the Kitsune clan head. They posed a challenge as illusions permeated their fortress.

“Oh yes.” He reached into his suit and pulled out some papers and laid them out on the table. “Tomorrow the Ryu clan head is visiting their skyscraper project. He’ll have guards with him but he’ll be at his most vulnerable.”

I picked up one of the papers and inspected it. It was written in Japanese for my convenience. “He’ll have six failed gods with him, all from his clan.”

“I doubt that’ll be much of a problem for you.” He smirked and chewed his cigarette. “Considering that you took care of Onibashi so handily earlier today. What’s a few failed dragons?”

“Failed gods are strong, more so when it is a group. It is not wise to underestimate them.” I put the paper down and picked up another which showed the floor plans of the skyscraper.

“All the more reason to get rid of them in one fell stroke.” He leaned back on the couch and crossed his legs.

“You’ll get your usual payment,” I murmured.

“Shouldn’t it be more since it’s a clan head?” he asked, cocking his head.

“You should be glad to be paid at all Mr. Monitor,” a feminine voice interrupted us. The door to the room slid open and my younger sister stood there. Towa was a darker skinned version of me but she had long black hair that was greying. She wore a deep blue kimono with red spider lilies on it. “We know that you’re playing a game higher than simply selling information.”

She walked in and stood behind my chair. She was one of the spare children born in my family in case I died. She had trained with Kure-sama enough times that her hair was greying and her eyes were a light amber instead of the brown she had been born with.

“Ah,” Monitor held a hand to his chest as if he had been wounded. “I only provide a service for monetary gain, my fair lady.”

“Save your breath.”

“You make a valid point,” I interrupted. “You’ll receive a small bonus.”

“Why thank you. Now, I have some more information if you are willing to buy it.” He held up his hand and held his thumb and pointer finger close together. “It’s small information though.”

“Your regular price then.”

“The princess of the Kirin clan vanished after the battle earlier today. And someone that looks remarkably like her has been gallivanting around town with only a single guard.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what they’re doing but they did have a run-in with the Aztec ambassador.”

“Interesting.” I placed the plans for the skyscraper back on the table. “Is there anything else to that?”

He shook his head with that grin of his. “Afraid not.”

I snapped my fingers and one of my spies came into the room. “Escort Mr. Monitor off the residence. Give him three times more than what we usually give him.”

“Why thank you.” Monitor stood up and gave a sloppy bow before being escorted by my spy.

“Brother,” Towa said as soon as Monitor couldn’t hear us. “Allow my team and I to go with you to assassinate the Ryu head.”

“No, that would be an unnecessary waste of life. Even if trained, I do not want normal men to fight against a failed god if I can avoid it. Even with the relics we hold.”

“Fine, as you wish.” Her tone was still and I smiled on the inside.

“Do not worry, there is still a task that you and your team can perform.” I gathered up the papers on the table and put them in a neat pile. “Track the princess of the Kirin clan. I hear that she is close to godhood and would have made our list soon enough. She cannot fight but be wary of her guard. I expect that she wouldn’t have someone ordinary at her side.”

“Yes brother.”