On top a simply sturdy wooden eating table a tattooed man lay screaming in unbearable pain. A young girl was next to him desperately trying to ease his pain with no success. With each scream she became more panicked and terrified as well. The other men around him where scared and scary Yakuza men covered in tattoos, they saw Koji and Rei and immediately grabbed weapons from within their kimonos. " STOP!" shouted the monk, " she is a herbalist, she will help!"
For a moment it seemed like the world has stopped, a deadly silence hung on the room as Koji, Rei, and the Yakuza lieutenants sized each other up. But another pained scream from their leader made up their minds. " Help him" growled one, " but if this is a trick."
" It isn't" said Rei, bravely stepping forward.
Rei hurried over and looked at the wound. She had never seen anything like this, the Yakuza leader's right arm was crisscrossed with black lines as if his veins now ran with black blood. The black veins ran all the way down to his finger tips. A bloody bandage was tied to his shoulder and appeared to be the source of the black veins. " Is this from the invisible attacker?" asked Rei to the terrified girl.
She was only able to nod her head. " Okay I am going to need your help" said Rei, gently taking the girls hands into hers, " can you help me?"
The girl nodded, " Good" she said, smiling at her.
Rei set her satchel down on the bench and flipped the flap back. She pulled out a glass bottle and a white rag. She up ended the bottle into the rag and let the liquid soak in. " Okay, now I want you to put this over your father's mouth and nose" said Rei.
The girl took the rag and gently placed it over her father's face. At first he arched his back and howled into the rag but slowly he went limp and laid down on the table. " The bitch killed him!" shouted one of the lieutenants.
Koji saw the Yakuza men start to pull machetes from their kimonos. One of the lieutenants grabbed at Rei and she spun around. " You kill him you bitch" he snapped holding his machete close to her face.
Koji watched in shock as Rei slapped the machete out of her face without blinking. " Look at him you idiot" she snapped.
The lieutenant looked as their boss was softly breathing. " You really think I would come here and kill him?" she asked, " Koji."
" Yes" said Koji.
" If anybody comes within arms reach of me again, I want you to kill them" said Rei.
Koji turned his back to Rei and folded his arm. He put on his best bodyguard face and scanned the lieutenants looking for any sense that they would move.

Rei gently removed the blood soaked bandage and looked at the wound. It was old, the flesh around the edges was black and rotting, but there was no knitting or clotting, the wound just kept bleeding. Rei removed her surgical tools from her satchel, she had only used these on deep splinters never anything like this. Rei took a deep breath and turned to her young assistant, " I am going to need you to hold your father's arm and hold it tight" she said.
The girl nodded and took a hold of his arm. Rei took out the first probe and slipped it into the wound, he groaned in pain but thankfully stayed unconscious. Rei continued to push until she hit something but she wasn't sure if it was bone or the foreign object that was causing this vile infection. Rei took out another probe and slipped it into the wound as well. She gently traced around the object, it was as she feared lodged in the bone. Rei gently pressed the two probes into the north and south of the object. She took her hands away and looked as the probes stayed in place.
Rei looked around and saw that everyone, the monk, the Yakuza lieutenants and even Koji were gathered around looking awe as Rei worked. Rei swallowed hard and felt sweat start to trickle down her chest, she hated an audience. Rei removed her tweezers and slipped them into the wound. She took a firm hold of the object.
Rei began to gently pull hoping the damn thing would pop out. It was stubborn and Rei began to pull harder. It was still lodged in the bone so Rei put her foot on the sturdy table and pulled for all she could. There were a loud crackle and Rei stumbled back. A plume of blood splattered out of the wound splattering in Rei's face but Rei still held the tweezers which held the rough black rock. Rei set the rock down towards the feet so everyone would look at instead of her. Rei looked at her assistant, " You're doing good" she commented wiping most of the blood off her face, " what is your name?"
" Yuki, Yuki Yamasda" she replied, "he is my father, Jinzo."
" I'm going to close the wound now" said Rei, " I need you to take one of those pale leaves from my bag and start ripping it into little pieces. I'm going to use that to heal this infection."
Yuki nodded and found one of the moon ferns. She looked to Rei for approval. Rei nodded and Yuki began ripping the plant to shreds. Rei took her thread and large needle out. She looked at the black veins, they were still that bottomless shade of obsidian. She hoped it was just an infection from that strange rock and it wasn't a curse, or something that was out of her hands. " Is this good enough?" asked Yuki.
Rei looked at the finely shredded pile on the table, " Perfect" said Rei.
Rei took a small handful and put them in her mouth. She didn't have the time to take out the mortar and pestle, she was going to do it the way her grandfather did on the battlefield.
Rei made a face, this tasted worst than she expected, no wonder her grandfather liked spicy food, after twenty years of chewing this foul plant it was probably the only thing he could taste. Rei spit it out and put in the next mouthful. She gently pressed the plant into the wound and listened to Jinzo groan in his drug induced slumber. Rei slowly chewed and packed the wound full with the Moon Fern. She picked up the needle and threaded it with the strong thread. Rei sewed the wound tightly close and put a fresh bandage on.

Koji was impressed by her skill under the pressure, her hands didn't shake nor did she tremble. " Sake" she said.
Koji looked at her, " Sake, you know Sa-ke" she said.
The monk scurried away and returned with a small white porcelain bottle. Rei pulled the cap off and took a long drink. She swallowed with a rough cough, evidence she didn't drink much. " So how was it?" he asked.
" We'll find out" said Rei, " I've done what I can."
" Did that do it to him?"
Rei looked over at the black rock, " I guess" said Rei, " it was at the source of the infection."
" It isn't an infection?" asked the monk in a hushed voice, " it is his black soul consuming his body."
" What can you tell me about this injury?" Rei asked.
The monk took the small porcelain bottle from Rei and started to nurse it, " He came to the monastery four nights ago carried by those men you see now" he said quietly, " his arm was bleeding and he was in great pain. We are but simple monks and tried to plead with him to go see a doctor but the lord in the castle wants his head to decorate the city gates so we hid him."
" What about the black in his arm?" asked Rei.
" It appeared while we were cleaning the wound, at first it went unnoticed among those tattoos" he said, " by the end of the next day it was becoming visible but he didn't seem too much in pain. He was able to walk around, even converse with his men. It wasn't until the evening meal when he suddenly began to convulse and that pain over took him."
Rei looked back over at him, she was never much afraid that pain was the infection reaching his heart and doing god only knows what to him. Rei wasn't just worried for his sake, or that of his daughter. Rei and Koji could very easily be blamed for this. The Yakuza weren't exactly that forgiving and their torture methods could make even the most wicked warlord or secretive ninja clan shudder. " There is nothing else we can do here" said Koji, " best to leave and come back tomorrow."
Rei nodded and gathered up her instruments and put them back in the satchel. She made sure to wrap the strange black rock in a piece of cloth before putting it into her satchel. Yuki was sitting next to her father looking scared to death. " Here" said Rei, handing her a large cooper coin, " for luck."
The coin was a Wah, a coin used to ward off evil spirits. " Thanks" said Yuki.
" Where you with your father when he was hurt?" asked Rei.
Yuki shook her head, " Father liked to go on walks alone at night, everyone knew who he was so he never had any problems, until that night."
" Was there a regular way he went?"
" Yes, he would leave our house walked to the big cemetery on the edge of town and walk back" she said, " it was exactly one mile each way. Father was always worried about his health."
" Don't worry" said Rei hugging Yuki, " he'll get better."
Yuki nodded and went back to her father's side. Koji and Rei left her and walked for the main doors. " We will return tomorrow morning" said Rei, " I will check on his condition then."
The Yakuza lieutenant nodded, he seemed slightly in awe of Rei, not just for her large breasts but for her skill in handling the wound. The pair passed unchallenged through the yard of the monastery and out of the gates. " You think he really has a chance?" asked Koji.
Rei shrugged, " I doubt it, I have never seen anything like that" she said, " it could be an infection, it could be some curse, hell it could be a creature that is eating his heart away. Tomorrow will tell."
" You sound unsure" said Koji.
" I don't think he'll live to see the sunrise" said Rei, " and we are going to be in trouble."
Koji laughed, " Yakuza are punks, I've faced worse" he said.
Rei gave him an unsure look, his cavalier attitude did impress her but she wondered if it wasn't going to get them into more trouble.

The walk back to the castle was quiet, the spell of fear cast over the town had them both on edge. Their pace was quickened, every shadow could hold a host of enemies to assault them. They thankfully made it to the backstairs without being attacked by legions of monsters. They hurried up the stairs, Rei found the climbing up the stairs much easier because the sharp drop off to her left was now cloaked in the darkness of night.

Rei bid Koji a goodnight and went into her room. She set her satchel down and removed her daggers. She set them down and looked long and hard at them. She knew she barely had any idea how to use them. Probably would do more damage to herself than the any opponent but she did admit they made her feel more confident just having them strapped to her back. Rei took them out of their sheaths and looked at the glittering steel in the flickering candle light. She gripped the daggers, the blades pointing down. She gently did a few moves, attacking her shadow. The daggers were amazingly nimble, Rei who had handled nothing bigger than a kitchen knife found these daggers easy to handle. She did a few wide swings and felt a strange zing down her spine. She turned and saw Koji standing in the doorway, " Not bad" he said.
Rei blushed and looked at her bare feet. " You have promise" he said, slowly removing his sword, " now let's try a living target."
Rei was about to protest but then she looked at the space of room and realized they had enough room to sleep a large family. " Okay" she said, " but didn't your mother teach you never to fight in the house?"
" My mother told me a lot of things I never listened to" he said.
Koji dashed across the room and with very little force swung at Rei. Instinctively she blocked by crossing her daggers and pushing it aside. Koji swung again, Rei again blocked. She seemed to have the defending her part down.
Rei attacked, her swing was a little wide and a little too loose and Koji deftly blocked it and countered attacked. Rei stumbled back but stayed on her feet and managed to block the attack. She attacked again, " Tighter, don't swing your arm so wide" said Koji, easily dodging the attack.
Koji spun around her and knocked a dagger from her hand. She tried to counter but stumbled and yelped. She hit the ground holding her ankle. Koji sheathed his blade and knelt to see if she was alright. Koji leaned close to look at her ankle when she whispered, " Gotcha."
He looked as saw the other dagger pointing straight at his chest. Koji wanted to cry foul, mainly because that would never work for him. " Not bad" he said, " for a beginner."
Rei stuck her tongue out at him, " You don't have to get all sore Mr Fancy Ronin" she said.
" We'll have to practice more if you are going to hold your own in a real fight" said Koji, " but it is a start."
Koji mussed Rei's hair began to getting up, " Now, if you'll excuse me I have a soft mattress waiting for me" he said.
Koji got up and walked out. Rei smirked and sheathed her daggers. Rei found her pile of kimonos and found a short sleeping kimono and changed into it. She blew out all the candles before crawling under the soft covers. She closed her eyes and felt hands, not her own, inside her kimono. " Hello" whispered Asuka, " welcome back."
" Hm" purred Rei, " nice to see you too."
Asuka snuggled close, " You smell like a monastery" she said, " part of your investigation?"
" Not sure" said Rei.
Rei was over come with this strange feeling of not trusting Asuka all of a sudden. It was something in her voice, it didn't sound like interest, it sounded like she was poking around to find what she knew. Rei knew her brother was looking for Jinzo Yamasda and Rei suddenly didn't trust Asuka. " Hm, make sure to tell me when you do" she said.
Asuka gave Rei a quick kiss and disappeared. She didn't make a single sound. Rei rolled over and looked out the half open window as the summer breeze gently floated in. Rei didn't trust people, her mother always said it was from those awful books she read. She looked out at the stars, she was going to wait and make sure she knew who her allies really were. Rei nodded, that was the best course of action.

Asuka watched as Rei went to sleep, so she had brains to match those breasts. Asuka frowned, she thought with it being so easy to seduce her she would be putty in her hands. No matter, time was on her side, besides what could these two low born fools do to stop them. Asuka looked through the door at the other one, Koji. He was asleep, gently snoring. He was like all the others, a fool with a sword. She closed his door and walked back down the hall a worried expression stretched across her face. She knew Rei was no fool and if she didn't find out, Asuka knew she would die too.