1 Prologue: The Mysterious Samurai Girl

The night was shining beautifully bright. In the mist of the extraordinary beautiful deep forest were dead-like corpses on the blood stained soil ground. There was a little girl standing there clutching onto a silver monocular gun in her slender right hand. There was a young samurai girl standing opposite her covered in blood. Her eyes were so full of hate it was like she had already experienced hell itself. Moon lit to the color of crimson red drenched in human blood. The darkness of this cruel night did not seem to end any time soon.

Both girls gazed at each other, and then the mysterious girl holding the monocular gun took a step forward. Getting closer and closer to the bloody corpse. She sighed staring down at the pitiful victim then turned her attention towards the samurai girl. "Miss samurai, if I may ask did you kill these fine men?" as the young maiden with monocular gun said this she smiled at the samurai with her pure, emerald, crystal eyes glimmering in alluring night that could last for all eternity. Suddenly, then the before monocular girl could say a thing, the samurai bolted towards the girl attempting to slash open the monocular girl's throat open. Luckily, she paused for a second pointing her long, silver sword at her opponent's neck.

"When two opponents meet, they introduce themselves. It's a rule we go by." the samurai explained this while still pointing the sword at the other girl's throat. The girl was surprisingly astonished and somewhat amused, it was only then when she slowly began to laugh. "So even though you're about to assassinate your target you have to introduce yourself?"

"Exactly."

She rolls her eyes, "now that's just stupid, you that?"There was silence between the two girls. The monocular girl smiled, "Hikaru Suguro. I'm ten-years-old, I'm an assassin ranked ninety-three. Oh, and... do you also need my address little miss samurai?"

The irritated samurai hisses the she smiles back with a little sarcasm in it. "My name is Rentarou Kutaragi. I am also ten-years-old, I'm a samurai and my rank? It's ninety-two"

"Woo!" Hikaru blurts out acerbically with a smirk on her face. Does this mean that I'm your superior?"

"DON'T JOKE! I am the heir to the Kutaragi family. I WILL not be mocked by the likes of a lousy sniper like you HIKARU SUGURO!"

Rentarou's eyes raged with anger like a blazing fire of an angry phoenix.

Hikaru's smile fades away drastically. Then suddenly a dark aura emitted from Hikaru's body.

"Well, I think you should bloody watch what you say, Rentarou Kutaragi."

Rentarou paused. "Is there that how you speak to --"

"Yes" Hikaru cuts in.

Pulling her gun forwards while at the same time removing the sword from her throat with the tip of her finger, Hikaru readies her position to shoot Rentarou. She continues to speak, "you becoming the head of your respected family is just a sad joke." Rentarou already reaching her limit, she hisses at Hikaru.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I mean."

Rentarou snares at Hikaru "rephrase that."

"Fine, I'll rephrase it. You'd just be a liability." Hikaru smirks deviously.

Rentarou attempts to make a strike at Hikaru's head with her katana, but Hikaru avoids it with the side of her monocular gun.

Rentarou jumps backwards shouting out loud, "shall we test that theory?"

Sparking with excitement, Hikaru replies back yelling out, "perhaps we should!"

Both assassins begin fighting clashing their weapons. Bullets everywhere, every corner the trees were fatally slashed. The two girls were like dazzling fireflies. Darkness was like an embodiment of their grace. The blazing moon lit so bright it would be dissolved by the darkness.

Rentarou's hot, blazing, scarlet red eyes along with her long raven hair spreading as her movements and posture quickened like lightening. Despite only having only a monocular gun Hikaru dodged Rentarou's every blow and blocked her every attack using only her monocular gun. But now their fight was interrupted by seven dark figures that were gaining in on them.

"Tch. Must be reinforcements are coming!" Rentarou immediately sheathes her sword and turns to Hikaru.

"We will finish of this fight some other time! Then maybe I'll consider you a worthy rival!"

Hikaru caught right at that moment, glancing at Rentarou speechless only to see her foe lurk back into the blackening shadows of the forest. As the dark figures get even closer Hikaru accurately shoots all seven figures that soon appear to be dead hidden ninjas. Except for one that was standing

there half dying stretching out pointing at Hikaru. He looked like he was seeing a ghost. Trembling with fear he whispered something. "You are ..." Hikaru raged with blazing anger and shot him in the chest.

Clenching her fists she silently walks away. Her emerald eyes shone once more then fades away into nothingness. It was then she saw a young boy with radiant silver hair and crimson purple eyes wearing a jet black coat along with iris looking jeans and polished black shoes, standing there, he smiled gently as his skin glowed like simmering ice.

"Who are you?" Hikaru questions with suspicion.

"My name is Souma."

Silence lies between the two of them. The boy known as Souma walks past Hikaru. Then stops.

"I can smell blood." he turns his face to Hikaru. Hikaru stays in her position and glares at him.

"Your intimidation may work on others but it will not affect me." Hikaru snarls at him.

Souma smiles, "I know. Because..." he hesitates but continues "You're special. And much more gifted than you realize."

Hikaru laughs, "and you think you can tell the difference..?"

"Yes I can. It's very simple, you're easy to read. Want to know what else I know?"

Interested, Hikaru says "go on" without thinking.

"I know that you're a high ranking assassin."

"What else?"

Souma takes a deep breath closing his eyes then re-opening them again. "You have a rival bellow ranking. Even though you assassinate your targets. You show sympathy and you are always thinking if only they had lived a righteous life they would not have had to die. Right?"

Hikaru taken aback is now unable to say a single thing. Souma continues. "You're practically afraid to kill another person whether they did right or wrong correct? You don't even know what to do except follow orders. You're unsure of what's right or wrong anymore you ---"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! I don't want to hear anymore..!"

Souma looks at her very sternly, "you can't even tell people your real name."

Hikaru clenches her fists and looks up at Souma and grits her teeth. "Shut up! There's no way you can understand. You don't my history. You don't

know why I became an assassin, someone like you would never understand!"

Souma challenges her with a question, "oh really?"

Hikaru glares at him with bitterness. "Don't get ahead of yourself! Have you ever lost anything dear to you? Have you ever survived from near death? Have you ever been betrayed before? Do you even have the slightest possibility of fearing that an enemy could actually find out your true identity and expose it to the world? Have you ever been hated so much that you'd end up getting killed?"

Silence reaches across the trees and rocks around them.

Tina takes a deep breath, "no answer then? I thought so."

No matter what I do, I can't escape from destiny.

Souma takes his hands out and embraces it, he glances at Hikaru, "people do not have the ability escape from destiny or even death..." he says bitterly continuing on "but you must never give up trying. Don't give up trying to defy destiny. After all, when one loses a life it can never come back. Life has meaning to it. No matter how many times you suffer or how many times you fall. Pick yourself up and keep walking. Never look back. Keep going forward and don't lose heart, don't lose your sanity. If you do you'll lose everything."

Hikaru scowls agitated by his words, "there is never a time when people aren't dying. We are not an exception. You can't deny fate."

"Maybe so but it wouldn't hurt to try would it?"

Hikaru gives Souma a withering look and puts her head down. Souma smiles, "we may die someday but leaving some meaning on this world isn't so bad. Being acknowledged by this world and leaving a piece of evidence that you existed in this world. Sometimes it's better to be hated by people because even after you die they shall remember you the most that would be your prove of existence."

Souma walks away into the forest leaving Hikaru there. Hikaru runs after him shouting out loud "wait!"

He turns around. Hikaru catches her breath. "My true name is Hikaru Kamiya."

Souma smiles and walks on. Tears make its way down Hikaru's cheeks. She smiles as tears coming down her face blind her vision. She whispers to herself, "that's the first time I've ever told my actual name to anyone..." she looks up at the radiant moon. "Maybe I can defy destiny..."