Mountains that are around and near Edo. Has a nice waterfall in and around them somewhere that creates a nice small lake with clean water.

*after some walking with aki taking point, Drei and Zhen were led to the Kuro Kaji Mts.*

Drei: "Alright, we're here. Now which tree is it? Or are we going to have to forcefully borrow your arm and bea the info out of you with it?"

*Aki had slowed down when they'd gotten further up the mountain. His leg was starting to bother him agian.* It's a little further... but I need to sit for a moment. *He sat down on a log and rubbed his leg where the arrow had gotten him. It wasn't completely healed yet.*
So what do you need that page for, anyway?

*Drei sat down and managed to get the balm from the satchel and decided now was a good time to apply it. She started peeling her bandages off and every now and then her arms would look like they had been burned some time ago.*

Drei: "Why do I want the page? The page has the training info on the 'Breaking Point' technique. I'm going to need that info so I can obviously learn it. I'm going to want as much training and techniques as possible so Kokyou can die quicker. Last thing i want is for him to be more powerful than I am."

*Zhen had all that time been standing and watching Aki for anything suspicious*

*He looked at Drei and saw that her arms were burnt.* What happened to your arms? *Asking more out of curiousity than looking out for her well being. He wondered if he should just let her have the page. Kokyou was a bit of a jerk, but he was also Edo's biggest supplier of sake.*

"The Amaguriken technique's training requires someone to pull small objects out of a fire. The point is to become fast enough to grab them without getting burnt. Its not easy."

*she began applying the balm and her face showed signs of relief*

"Needless to say, I've figured it out."

Well... that's good... I suppose. *Trying to make some conversation with the people who would like to kill him.*
So... when you kill Kokyou... are you going to take over the buisness of selling sake in this town? I might even be willing to help you in that case.

*she raises an eyebrow as if to say "huh?"*

"I could care less what happens to the business. After i get my sweet revenge, I'll go back to what I do for a living and die happy. Killing for a living isn't easy but it pays good. If you want his business take it. Its not like his girlfriend is going to be around afterwards anyway."

He's the only good supplier of sake in this town. You can't kill him and just leave the city dry. People go a bit nuts. Hell, you'll probably end up with Amethyst after you if you kill off Kokyou. Now all I'm asking is you take his buisness and keep the sake flowing to Edo. *He added with a nod. He didn't want the buisness himself, but as long as there was sake, he was happy.*

"Tell you what. This'll take a little longer than i thought. You go get it and come back here. If you're not back within, say, 2 hours, the 'cat' will return to town to hunt the 'mouse' again. If its a deal, you might want to hurry on."

*Aki stood up and tested his leg out before walking off in the direction he pointed.*
I'll be back in a few minutes... *He grumbled and walked further into the woods. Once out of sight, he sat down for a few moments and pulled out the page in his pocket. He threw some dirt on it to make it look like he'd hidden it, then got back up and walked back to where Drei and Zhen were.* I got it...

*Drei seems to have a pleased look on her face*
"Good boy. Now give it to Zhen and we can be on our merry way."
*Drei motions over to Zhen and she starts walking over to Aki*

~Oh thats right he didn't like being talked to like that.~

I'm not a dog... *Aki grumbled and handed the page over to Zhen. He did tell her before not to call him 'boy' and 'good boy' just made it sound like he was a dog.*
You should stick around and sell sake after Kokyou's gone.

*Zhen takes the page and hands it to the grinning Drei.*

"Wonderful. Now Aki I'm going to keep my end of the bargain." *turns back to Zhen again* "Kill him." *Zhen turns around and takes her mask off revealing her youthful smiling face* "Sorry. Business is business." *she puts the mask back on and pulls her knives back out*

*He then realized what was going on. He'd gotten her to promise not to kill him, but he hadn't gotten Zhen to promise.*
Uh... isn't there something we can work out that doesn't involve me dying in some way? *Looking a bit nervous.*

*Zhen stops and stands there looking like she's thinking. Her hand comes up and comes to a stop where her mouth would be on the mask*

"Well...lets see. You could kill yourself...no wait...um...Drei where's the book at?"

Drei: "In the satchel. Why?"

*Zhen turns around and walks towards Drei and the satchel*

Drei: "What?! Aki's over there. Go kill him!"

*Zhen puts a knife down and searches the satchel. Eventually she pulls the book out. Standing back up and turning to Aki she holds it out as if to show it to him*

Zhen: "Mr. Aki this is the answer!"

... ok... *Looking very confused and certainly not used to being called Mr. Aki, especially by someone who was about to kill him.*
What does the book have to do with anything?
~Especially whither I get to live or die. -_- ~

*Zhen puts the knife in her other hand away then takes her mask off showing her young face with a larger smile than last time*

"I'm GLAD you asked! Scythe Master sent me here to scold Drei and tell her to come back home, and he told me to get this book back from Ein. I've already delivered the message and now I have to book back. So~o...I'm going home!"

*Turning back to Drei who is not looking happy at all*

"I'll tell Master why you arent' comming home but I'm sure he won't be happy."

*Turning back*

Bye! ^_~ <3 *she runs away down the mountain*

*Drei stares dumbfounded and buries her face in her right hand*

Uh... bye....? *He had a very confused and bewildered look on his face. What had just happened? She was going to kill him, then found the book, and left... He thought Drei and her were on the same side, but apparently they only sort of were.*
So.... does that mean you're not going to kill Kokyou?

*she looks over at Aki and puts her hand down*

"Why would I change my mind? He's still going to get it. I've got the final piece to the puzzle now, no thanks to you."

*she starts bandaging her arms*

"Its just as well you took that page. Scythe gets his book quicker, and its not like I could have mastered 2 techniques at once."

*He gives her an arrogant smile.* See, you didn't know it, but it was a good thing I stole that page. You should be thanking me.
*He sat back down on the log from earlier.* A good way to do that would be by getting me some sake. You wouldn't happen to have some on you right now, would you? *Looking hopefully at her. With his leg bothering him, some sake sounded really good about now.*

"Right. Me. Thank you. If it wasn't for you my cover wouldn't have been blown and Kokyou would have been fooled a lot longer. Not to mention that little spar I had with Ein after I came back after you. My leg still hurts from that. Not to mention the blood trail cost me my hideout." *glare*

As I recall... you were going to try to kill me, for no reason. So who's fault is that now, hmm? *Glaring at her with a very stern gaze.*

"The penalty, er reward, for getting in my way when I'm in a good mood is death. My plans for revenge were suddenly on a roll so I was quite happy. And I'm not going to go letting you live. So don't act like you are."

Oh, you're just trying to blame me because it was your own damn fault. I would have let you kill Kokyou, but Nooo! You didn't want in witnesses. All I was doing was sitting there drinking sake and I would have been out of there the second the police showed up. I may be a General, but I still don't like dealing with them.

*she raises the back of her hand up to her mouth*

"Oh ho ho! And what if you happened to be one of his friends. 1 on 1 against Kokyou is enough of a handful. I couldn't have afforded anyone else jump in."

*she starts reading over the page*

You could have asked first.
*Grinning back at her. He wouldn't loose this battle of words. It was her fault and he'd let her know it.*

*She puts a finger to act as a place marker before looking at Aki*
"And what assassan goes around asking if people want to live? Witnesses to an assassanation should consist of the assassan only. Makes things easier that way."

*she resumes reading*

Ah, but a GOOD assassin can kill only their target without anyone else knowing or getting hurt or killed. *He smirked at her. He loved insulting someone without directly doing so.*

"Ah but a GREAT assassan takes no chances and leaves the cleanup crew something to do."

~What's up with these chinese martial artists?! Every training thing involves serious physical danger. -_-~

Pfft! Are you calling yourself a great assassin? *He then started laughing* You've got to be kidding. You're not even a good assassin. I've taken assassin training before and it was over a year ago and I bet I'm still better than you.

*Drei bends over and picks up the knife Zhen forgot*
I find it harder to believe that you are an assassan than you do me. You're in worse shape than me, and you're taunting an assassan? Either you're gutsy or just plain dumb."

*she goes on reading with the knife in her hand*

*He smiled.* Maybe a bit of both, though I'd like to think it was the first one.
*He paused for a moment.* So is killing Kokyou your only goal in life?

"Well it has been since he ruined what life I had 10 years ago. But at least I'm enjoying myself until I get him. Given a lot of people don't like it, but what do they know? They're dying."

You ever try not killing people? *He stood up and walked a few feet towards town.* You should find something else besides being an assassin. *He frowned* I knew someone a lot like you once... you should get out of being an assassin while you still have the chance and come out of it realitively unscathed. *His voice was completely serious now. None of that joking that he'd been doing.*

*She grinned and threw the knife so it would just cut a few hairs*

"Thanks for the advice but there's not anything other than killing that I'd enjoy. Besides, you can't ever leave the syndicate." *she smirks a bit*

You'll get bored with it eventually. You may also find revenge isn't what you wanted. *A few purple hairs hit the ground from the knife, but he seemed to be unphased. He then started walking back to Edo.*

*she grins some more*

~Ideals are just that: ideals~

GYUUUUUuuuuuu...... *It had just dawned on Drei that she was getting very hungry. It had also just dawned on her that to get to the food, she'd have to follow Aki.*

*She gets up, packs away the paper and follows Aki*

*Aki hears the footsteps behind him and looks to see Drei following.* What are you following me for? *He grumbled. He wanted to be done talking to her now*

I've gone cannibal and got hungry. What do you think? Its the only way back to town, and Its where the food is. Got a problem, dead-man-walking?

*she tries to walk faster than he is*