Chapter 1- The Meeting in the Alley

Her silver revolvers shimmered in the moonlight. Their beauty was tainted by the crimson dye they were now painted in. Around her were six bodies. Two to the left, one to the right, one behind, and one in front of her. None had been given the time necessary to even draw their katanas. And to think, this was their ambush…

The woman slowly walked to the left and entered an alleyway. The shadows were hiding both corpses' faces from her. She was already positive though that one of these men was her target. She crouched down and examined them. Satisfied, she stood up and dashed out of the alley. The woman ran through the backstreets before finding cover behind a pair of trashcans. She could hear a police craft speeding by in the direction she had just escaped from.

She now found time to relax. Her mind fell at ease and her body followed, finding support against a tattooed wall. Her mouth opened wide and she began to gasp for oxygen. Sweat trickled down her face and legs. It was mixed with the blood of the men she had killed. Thirty seconds had passed since the police drove by. She quickly opened up her revolvers and began to reload them. She wasn't out of this yet…

This was Matako Kijima. She was a woman appearing to be in her late teens or early twenties. Matako had dark blue eyes and long blond hair. She let the majority of it hang down her back, but much of the length on her right side she tied into a pigtail. She wore a provocative albeit tasteful outfit: a pink kimono cut short at the midriff and a matching skirt that reached just below her thighs.

Her alias was the Red Bullet. The name derived from her blood soaked pistols, a reminder of her exceptional prowess with firearms. Throughout the underworld and on the government's blacklist, she was known for being a fast drawing beauty hired by the top crime lords. Of course, she'd take whatever paid well. Her usual missions were gunning down smaller pickings. Typically, these were crack heads asking to be iced for not paying a debt or dealers who got out of line. It wasn't unusual though for her to assassinate those higher on the food chain. But for these she charged extra.

Matako carefully followed her escape root. Her eyes and ears were alert to the faintest noise. She heard a cat scurrying off of a window seal. The police sirens were distant now. Kijima took the opportunity to slip away down a familiar street. Sensing the all clear, she began heading to a slum to hideout.

Suddenly a police car stopped up ahead. She was already well hidden behind a building. The door had opened and two officers now walked out.

"Let me guess…" she thought.

A blood hound leapt out of the car. The beast's nose quickly became glued to the pavement. It suddenly let out a deep bark and began to nose its way in her direction. Matako knew it had latched on to her aroma. There was no way it had missed the scent of blood she was tainted with. What a bad stroke of luck…

This wasn't the first time they had pursued her so thoroughly. Matako would simply shoot the hound from a safe distance and be on her way. She cocked her gun and began to survey the buildings for a good sniping point. That was when she heard it.

A scream echoed through the alley.

Matako stood frozen behind the building. Someone else was in the alley with her and the officers. They had just killed one. Matako wiped her gun with her sleeve. She tilted her gun slightly and aimed it so as to reflect the happening in front of her. The reflection was blurred but showed the stranger was facing away from her. One detail she could discern was that it was a man in a purple kimono. And he was raising his sword to take down another policeman. Blood splattered onto the asphalt. The dog growled and quickly pounced. The man moved to the side and avoided its lunge. His sword came down and hacked clean through the beast.

Matako was charmed by his skill. The man was clearly above their level.

"But just who is he?" she wondered. Why was he murdering the government's arms? It was a dangerous move. Kijima contemplated whether he was simply a deranged killer or if he had a beef with them. She wanted to know, but knew better than to stick her nose where it didn't belong.

She silently walked towards a safer direction. She wasn't afraid, but the last thing Matako wanted was the killer knowing her location.

One of the cops frantically came at her, blood was pouring out from his limbless shoulder. Matako drew her pistol. A figure had dashed past the side of the survivor. A moment later the officer was dead. Matako moved as fast as lightning. She knew another moment may cost her life.

Her gun was pressed against the side of the stranger's head. He stood still, not a muscle twitched.

"Don't move or I'll blow your brains out." she said.

His head suddenly turned to directly face her pistol. He was staring up the barrel. Not an ounce of fear had answered her threat.

"I said don't move!" she repeated, her finger ready to release the trigger.

"Drop the sword!" she said. This time the man listened to her.

"Now tell me who you are."

The man simply smiled.

Matako took a second to examine his features. The man had messy black bangs with a purple tint to them. They came down heavily on one side. Bandages were tied from the top of his right ear to the bottom of his left. Like his hair, they concealed his right eye. But his visible eye was what intrigued her. It wasn't its olive green iris, or its narrowness. What caught her attention was how it was scrutinizing her. His gaze made her feel uncomfortable, as if she were being violated. Suddenly his emotionless lips parted. A grin subtlety appeared. That's when she realized that her body had begun to feel cold. Matako wanted to leave the alley before it was too late. But a deeper desire had overwhelmed her. She wanted to at least know who this man was.

"Shinsuke… Takasugi" His voice was deep and smooth, but laidback.

"Shinsuke Takasugi?" Matako wondered silently, "I know I've heard that name somewhere."

"The Joui leader?" she said out loud. She smiled. "Are you kidding me?"

Takasugi merely smiled back. He continued to pay no heed to the gun against his head. His focus was entirely on her.

"I see you live up to your reputation." Takasugi said, "Your work back in the alleyway was most impressive. I could use such a skilled marksman in the Kiheitai."

"Eh?" she asked, "You're offering me a job?"

"That's the reason for my arrival."

"What sort of job? As in a hit?" Matako asked.

"No. A permanent position."

She was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Sorry, not my kind of contract."

Takasugi suddenly moved his hand to his belt. Matako reacted by pressuring her finger against the trigger. Takasugi showed no caution. He slipped out a pipe from his yukata's belt and began to smoke it. He let out a gentle puff of smoke and resumed.

"I don't expect to convince you so easily. If anything, it's something that will require serious thought. If you are to accept, it would… without a doubt be the last job you would ever take."

Matako's eyes squinted in discomfort. He was making her feel more uneasy by the second.

"You will think it over won't you?" he asked.

"Why should I? I've already declined."

Takasugi was silent once again. He wasn't searching for words as much as he was allowing her to anticipate his.

"Edo's changing. The world is burning. Should you accept you'll be able to survive the flames. Not just that, you'll be able to see and taste the fruit... of the new world."

"What? I don't get it. You sound like any other Joui terrorist. I'm not interested in joining any hopeless causes."

Takasugi said confidently, "Allow to me to show you then, the fruits of our labor. Meet me outside the Westroad Inn at six o'clock tomorrow. It's best you go now, unless you want to face more of Edo's dogs."

Matako knew he was right. Time was slipping away and she was present at yet another crime scene. It dawned on her a second later that the Takasugi fellow hadn't taken her 'no' for an answer. He was still planning an interview.

What's up with this guy?

Nevertheless, she slowly stepped backwards. Takasugi placed his pipe and katana back into their holsters. He serenely turned away and made off down a different route than he had come.

Matako kept her grip firmly on her pistols. She quickly resumed her retreat. As she reached her recruiter's hideout, the bandaged man's face reentered her mind. She found herself echoing the first words he had said to her: "Shinsuke Takasugi."

Author's Note: Thank you for reading and please follow! I've already got this story finished up and so will update faithfully! ^_^