The streets of this infamous little town. Walk on them, walk by them, to wherever your destination is.

*picking up on actual, real-live, in-the-flesh, movement from the otherwise practically stiff ronin she kept her eyes on a mouse shuffling around the streets while she consider the reasons behind it* ....what are you remembering....*a memory was the only conclusion she came to that she figured would cause the ronin to show any sign of normality and life*

Small little memeories stirred within the battle-hardened head of Hayate. Yoshin was very strange, odd, and even a bit scary when Hayate first met him. Though that man had taught Hayate more about his past and about sword styles then anyone. Even Anzai, Hayate's old dojo master didnt teach him that much.....

".....an old man. One who could use a sword, and taught me a few new ways to use it against my enemies.....also taught me a little bit about myself.....something...I didnt really care to find out. But once I did, a few things became clearer....."

Hayate stopped running his finger on the tip of his ruined old hat.

"...he's dead now. Died in combat, by Moritsune's soldiers. This hat and his teachings are the only two things I have left of him.....his death really just strengthened my desire to kill Moritsune...."

Hayate slowly stared into Obsid's eyes. His own eyes held a strong hatred, and almost a cold dead tone.

"The only reason why I even live now, is to kill that man for all the things he's done.....other then that, I have no other purpose in my life."

Im sorry for your loss....but Its a strong and true ringing desire....*staring into the ronins cold eyes she saw a reflection of her own ambitions that had begun to fade from her mind* I have no doubt you will fulfill your purpose...*turning her attention back to haya, she focused her warm gaze upon his cold and hateful one and sat silently against the damp stone walls *

Hayate slowly shifted his gaze down onto the ground in front of him. Staring into it like he always does, a trademark move of the ronnin. Normally he never let too many words come out of his mouth. Though when asked the right questions Hayate did find out that he usually did have something to say. But right now the man simply fell back into the silence he was known for, simply looking down into the ground.

".....I will....I better...." Hayate slowly murmered to himself, as he raised his head into scanning the streets once again, going back into silence.

"No idea what he wants Ryu for. Sorry. I've been neglecting my information gathering as of late."

Okesa wasn't really sorry though. Truth be told, the only reason he even maintaned his contacts at all was to watch his own back if any other old enemies decided to rear their supposedly dead heads. As much as he'd like to, he'd already commited to many sins to abandon intrigue all together.

I wasn't lying when i said I was just a simple performer. Its the circomstances that have been.. complicated.

Even as he thought that however, he knew it to wasn't entirely true. That thurst for intrigue was even now begining to well inside him again. What he was truely tiring of was watching his new found attatchments suffer for his mistakes.

Yes, thats it. Risking my own stupid neck for thrills was fine up until i started putting my friends necks at risk.

"Hey," the bard said after a moment. "If you really want to know what Reiji wants, you can always ask him."

Umasaru crossed his arms infront of him. "Sure, you know how to find him? If I could do that, I wouldn't need to ask, and just fight him right there on the spot." Uma didn't mention killing him. That would undoubtedly be hard anyway. Reiji was as much a genocidal freak as the next person in Edo, Uma knew he would have his work cut out for him. "So do I take it that you don't really want him dead?"

"There's just no reason to. Besides, I don't really know if I could kill him. Not that I've tried, but its kind of telling that he's fought Ame numerous times from what I understand, yet he's still alive."

Of course, so have I

The thought made Okesa smile.

"No, when I said ask him, I was quite serious. I doubt he'd have any qualms explaining it to you. Just don't, you know, get him too upset if you do. I don't even think he'd be that hard to find."

"Hmph. Well, you know, Reiji isn't the kind of person to have a personal problem with someone like this anyway. Ryu was gone for quite a while and just got back, he'd of not had time to tick Reiji off, so I'll have to talk to him if only to find out who's pulling the strings and why." Uma then took on a thoughtful grin, then frowned. He just remembered he finally got to fight Amethyst, but it wasn't quite how it was supposed to be. Then again, what is?

Pulling the strings? Hah..

"Perhaps you should do that now while the trails still fresh. Around here, these things have a tendency of fading into unanswered mysteries as time goes on."

I won't tell you how to find him though. That should be easy enough. Besides, if I tell you, you won't learn anything.

The thought brought him back to his two yakuza teachers. He had thought there was no true loyalty within the yakuza, that the family idea was simply a scam made to keep everyone inline. And that may be true. Even so, the men Okesa was with believed in it. They worked hard to train him, risked their lives to help Okesa, and died to save him, even after he had betrayed them. Okesa didn't envy their slavery to the yakuza system, but he woudlnt abuse that kind of trust again.

Okesa wasn't really certain how his thoughts had strayed so dramatically from his conversation with Uma. Probably the lack of real sleep.

"Well, maybe if I could determine massive killings on a clock this would be easier... Hmm, but then he probably wouldn't be in a good mood to talk..." Uma asessed his options for a moment, then concluded. "It shouldn't be too hard to gain a little more information on him, then I could find him and have a talk."

"Try the sake shop. Sometimes he's there though rarely. If you wait long enough though, you'll probably see Ame stealing some, followed by Reiji attempting to restock."

Okesa leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Not to seem rude, but I havent slept in quite a while. I either sleep now, or I collapse later and, truely the former sounds more comfortable."

"You're going to sleep here? Surely there has to be more comfortable places than this." Uma looks around slightly, then back at Okesa. "Besides, who's really sure if this alleyway is secure or not... Unless you want me to set some traps." Uma looks around the alley again, thinking of things he could do to it. Without really thinking of it, he chuckles to himself a few times.

Okesa held up a staying hand.

"No, that's fine. I've been doing this for years and I'm still alive. I'll be fine"

Okesa chuckled quietly.

"Besides, theres no trap that judges intent. If I'd set traps before, you might be dead right now. "

"How would you've set traps if I've been with you this whole time? And you couldn't of set them before, because then you came in here also and would've been just as susceptable." Uma figures they're currently sitting in different spots, and changes the subject. "Well, I still don't think it's safe. I figure I could sleep anywhere, but then again I'm not a wanted man."

"Eh, it's a public area. Anyone could set off the traps. Besides, it's not my style."

"Anyway, go bother Reiji. I'm tired." Okesa said it jokingly, but it was probably apparent that he really was tired. A couple of days without any real sleep can do that to a person.

"Fine, fine. But just because if you get captured or something I'll have to save you doesn't mean you shouldn't alteast be trying." Uma grinned at Okesa, then walked off with a bland wave. Once he got back to the street, he looked each way slightly then remembered which way they came from. They probably weren't too far from where they were earlier, so Uma headed toward the Sake Shop.

*Kokyou and Ein take a short break repairing the sake shop roof and eat some more riceballs in front of the store*

K: we really need to take care of this sake crisis...

Tsuihou was in quite a predicament. There were very few choices here... either he could run and run away and ignore the problems here... or he could help an up-and-coming samurai lord find out some information that could possibly lead to the eventual demise of Mori. It wasn't in his nature to run from such a large problem... but it crossed his mind as he made his way back onto the streets of Edokyo nonetheless.

"Now... to find one of the people..." he began muttering to himself, "Ame, Reiji... and..." he was drawing a blank on the other names. At least he remembered a couple... he would most likely be able to find one of the two; but not knowing the others would certainly slow his search for answers somewhat.

*Eventually the 2 of them ran out of riceballs...and sake*

Kokyou: "Ein could you go get us some more rice and sake."

Ein: "Sure thing..." *she gets up and walks back to the back door since the front is crowded with debris. Kokyou on the other hand unsheathes his blade and begins inspecting it for any damage and cleans it with a cloth*

He eventually came across a sake shop... with no roof. There were two people there who seemed to be doing something about it and that's when things started clicking into place. Somewhere... (he couldn't remember where) he'd heard that Ame had a liking for the potent ricewine; the others he wasn't so sure about, but he was absolutely possitive he could at least get some info about ame from the pair. He approaches them nonchalantly, each hand hidden in the opposite sleeve to fight the slight bite in the air from the approaching autumn.

"Excuse me... but would either of you happen to know where I could find ame or rei-" Tsuihou's words caught in his throat as the recognition sparked between the man and the posters he'd seen a long, long time ago... he wasn't one hundred percent sure; but he was nervous enough to not finish stating the name.

*Kokyou was in the middle of cleaning his sword when the stranger walked up to him with the question*

K: *raises an eyebrow* "Ame you say? Well you just missed her a couple of days ago." *he sheathes his sword* "she was eating rice with me and ended up creating quite the commotion. *points to the building with 1/3 its roof behind him* She ended up caving in the roof before she left."

*Ein comes walking towards them with a bottle of sake and a bucket full of fresh rice*

E: "Kokyou-sama, you didn't tell me you invited a guest?" *she bows to the man and sits down next to Kokyou and begins to put the rice into balls and offers the first one to the stranger*

K: "Well he's just looking for our roof-crashing friend from the other day. That and someone else...I can't say i know any Rei characters...That is if I heard you right. You did say Rei did you not?"

Tsuihou gladly takes the offered food and managed to somehow swallow it whole without causing anything approaching a mess. He thanks her... and then the man asks him a question that could determine if this visit was worth it and he'd get some information, if it was worth it but he was about to be killed, or if this person wasn't him... and he could go on his way with some information on Ame... at least he knew Ame came here occasionally now. He coughs in nervousness anyway, but manages to keep a fairly convincing expression of calm.

"I... was wondering if you'd know where I could find Ame... and you just answered my question flat-out and I thank you for that," he offers a quick nod, "but what I really need to know; is if you are Reiji. Because I believe you are."

There... it was out of him; he braced himself for a fight mentally; knowing that if it was to come improvisation and concentration on their movements would be the key... and even if he didn't have to fight them, the practice of getting ready was a bonus in and of itself.

K: "hmm...well it looks my cover has been blown. It looks like i have no other choice but to kill you." *Just as he manages to get that out, he is swiftly and painfully slapped in the back of the head by his partner in crime sitting next to him.*

E: -_- "I told you. No matter how many times you do that to people, it still isn't funny."

K: *rubbing the back of his head* "Alright alright." *turning to the stranger* "I am the Reiji you seek, but at the same time I am not. What is it you need from the resident pyromaniac? hmm?

At his opening lines his hands go to the black and dark blue hilt of his katana, but then the mood seems to ease and he allows his hands to gradually go back into their opposite sleeves and away from the fine-edged blade.

"So the rumors... that you have more than one personality? They are true?" he wasn't quite sure, but the phrasing of the man's sentence left him wondering; leaning towards yes.

He suddenly sat down in the dirt in front of the shop, his right hand moving up to his chin as he began thinking the situation over, deciding after but a few moments to just ask him.

"If you are Reiji, or are part of Reiji... or vice-versa... or any other way you look at it; if you have access to these memories please answer my question. Is there anything you know about Moritsune? How his higher-ups operate, his intentions and goals... anything that could prove valuable."

K: "Well the rumors were true. I used to have multiple personalities....but I got that problem fixed a while back. I'm back to the way I originally was. Now as far as Moritsune goes i can't tell you much. For multiple reasons you know. First of all why do you want to know? Last idiot that tried getting information about him ended up dead." *he takes a drink of sake and pours his guest some*

He politely waves a hand and turns down the sake.

"I'm not particularly fond of sake myself... as for why I need to know..."

He sighed only to immediately allow a sardonic smile to cross his face.

"I've just been dragged into something... something big... and if I told you that not finding out would get my throat slit; would that sound too cliche to you?" He allowed himself a slight laugh and drank down the sake he'd poured for him... regardless of whether he liked the stuff or not; he was in a stressed state of mind.

"I do need to know... and if I'm dead either way; why not find the truth of it all, ne?" he shrugged about the comments, "I'm not particularly afraid to die... and I'd like to ask you this. Are you not going to tell me? And if you aren't, will it be because you can't or because you will not?" He let that hang in the air as he poured himself another half-cup of sake.

*Kokyou sits there for a few moments and thinks about what the man just said about his possible demise. No soner than after a sadistic grin showed up on his face, did the palm side of his partner's hand come flying at the back of his head again*

K: "Ok ok you make a good point...That and I don't care if that bastard sends his uber-samurai-zombies after me again anyway. Well like I said, I can't tell you much. I don't know much of anything about his higher ups or how they do whatever the hell they do. I do know that his second in command, Mugatou does have a thing for experimenting on people. His guards aren't your run of the mill, cookie-cutter, 10-yen a dozen, store brand idiots. They actually know what they are doing. *he pauses for some rice*

He downs the second cup of sake, letting out a slow, relaxed gasp afterwards.

"Mugatou, eh? Sounds like a taylor's name (cheap shot at zoolander)," he looks to the monstrosity outside of town, Mori's huge fortress.

"This... Mugatou is he operating in the same headquarters as Mori? What exactly do you mean by eperiment..." he took a breath, "actually... it's probably more important if you tell me about these 'uber-zombie samurai' and his guards. If I run into them, I need to know if I can plan to walk away alive; or at least know something about them other than their intent to kill."

He leans towards Ein and politely asks if he can have another rice ball then returns his full attention back towards the man who was once Reiji.

*Ein serves everybody some more rice*

K: "Well you don't have to worry about his guards or anything unless you get too close to the fortress. Get too close without good reason and you become a pincushion if you get what im saying. Now the Uber-zombie-samurai used to be my former samurai in the snake dojo. As you already know, Mori tried killing us all off cause of some grudge against us. What you probably don't know is that the survivors of the explosion were all taken back to the fortress to become human guinea pigs for Mugatou. He did his usual drug thing to all of them and ended up becoming a kind of 'puppet master'. They all got armored up and were sent out to kill the 3 survivors: myself, Hayate, and Anzai-sama. I haven't seen either of the 2 since. These...freaks...are the elite of the elite as far as skilled samurai are concerned after their little drug enhancements. Not to mention the fact that they all became mindless drones. Well the reason I don't sound too thrilled when i say i haven't seen either of the 2, is that we each had to deal with about 3 of these uber-fighters. I nearly made it out with my life. I don't know how many of these...freaks are still out there nor do i want to know. If you see anything like them, consider yourself dead on the spot. *he pauses to eat his now cooling off rice*

He smiles as he gingerly takes bites out of the rice ball, then he mulls over what he'd told him... particularly about the part with the two people not being heard from.

"Well... that you've not heard from them this long is probably cause for worry, though they may or may not have simply fled," he shrugged as if it were of no consequence, "I don't believe you are overestimating their desciption or skill in the least... but that last part about considering myself dead on the spot..." he stifled his laughter and managed partial success in doing so.

"There are certain things I don't consider myself, and that's one of them. If they're going to kill me, they'll work for it. And I'll be damned if my body doesn't go down without at least one of them and two bloodied comrades limp home," the smile that came accross his face was purely predatory as he stood, nearly finished with his prodding.

"I just need to know one more thing... can you tell me where I can find anyone else who can give me some information? Someone who could give me a lead or two would be alright with me as well."

K: "Well thats the thing. I haven't seen anybody who wants to do anything against Mori in ages. Ame's friend Obsidia.n has dissappeared. I haven't seen that bard in months. My greatest enemy-turned general for Mori- has fled the country apparently. Hayate as i said may be dead. And Ame, Well she bolted out the back door and I didn't see which way she went. Things have quieted down...for now. I might have to change that soon...

He nods and turns his back to the pair.

"I figured as much... not much stands in the way of that... (he mutters something that's obviously not complimentary by its tone) do they?" he sighed and looked up at the sky for a moment.

"Obsidian... that's another one I forgot about," he shook his head once, skolding himself, "I'll be trying to find those two... who knows maybe I'll even run into Hayate if he turns out to still be alive."

"I'll be on my way now... hopefully I can find some more answers, the ones you gave were helpful at least. Arigatou-gozaimasu... ja ne," he kindly waved his right hand as he turned and walked down the street, quickly lost in a small sea of peasants.

K: "Well that was a nice break from things wasn't it?"

E: "Yeah well i think your humor still needs work..."

*they laugh about it...well mostly Kokyou...and they finish the rice and sake and head back inside to clean up some more*

Okesa pulled himself off the crate and started walking again, letting the movement loosen joints taht wre now stiff from sleep. The bard hadn't done much the past few weeks aside from eat and sleep and walk. The fact that he was still able to do any of those things could be counted as a blessing.. but it still didn't make for a very interesting life.

Truth be told, his last conversationg with Umasaru had peaked his interest a bit. Having nothing better to do anyway, the bard decided to see what he could find out about Reiji and Ryu on his own. He didn't have any use for the information really. However, information used to be one of the bards industries, and old habits die hard.

Especially when theres absolutely nothing else to do.

Having decided, Okesa began his walk to the Sake Shop.

*Aki walked out onto the streets with Ame. He could handle the police if they came after her. He was a general for Moritsune and all, though he wasn't sure if they knew that. He didn't think Ame knew that either and it was something he'd rather her not know about. Well, if cops came they'd just have to fight them the old fashioned way.*
Any place in particular that has any robes you might want?

Ame would've had her hands in her robe pockets if, well, she wasn't missing her outter robes. Instead she had one arm at her side and the other on her sword hilt. Even though she walked casualy with her bro the unknown henchmen of an asshole general samurai jerkoff. There was a small bit of caution in her eyes. It was natural to Ame. Tis how she lived this long, after all.

"Feh.. Do I Look like I shop around every few days looking for clothes? Long as they're oversized, green. And have many pockets I'm fine.." Her eyes watched the people. It was only clear to one that knew her WELL that she put on the 'stronger attitude' act when around crowds and is alot nicer and pleasing to be around when alone.

Heh, didn't think you did. You should get some new clothes more often, it's a wonder you don't smell with as much as you wear those. *He smirked. He did know where a few clothes shops where, since he had to get a new trenchcoat and clothes a few times, since they seemed to get themselves ruined quite often.*
Hmm.. I think there's a store down this street. *But he didn't walk down that street, he just continued walking until he got to the alleyway that would put him behind that street.*

Ame grumbled lowly whilst walking with the theif, "It rains alot.. And.. Obsid usually cleans them for me.." after his first comment.

Fact, Ame had gotten to really like her robage. The whole 3 robe thing didn't only make her look more intimidating and bigger. But it was also very comfortible.. She worried there there'd never be another robe trio like that. Large enough to do it's purpose.. but light enough not to make her spontaniously combust in the summer - not talking about Reiji here.

When he pointed out the shop, Ame started going in that direction. What with her bandit qualities and all, she was ready to just barge in and take what she wanted.. But when Aki went past it and into the alley.. Ame was lost in complete confusion.. "O~oi!" Before putting hand to forehead and following him.

*He continued down the alleyway until he was in the back of the shop. He then turned to Ame with a smile.* It's usually better to take the back entrance, with any luck, no one will know we're here.
*He walked up to the door and kneeled down. Taking out some lock picks he started picking the lock. The lock gave a satisfied click and Aki then openned the door.*