Inter Inimicōs

Information and Speculation

"Have you heard of the House of Kamuha?"

I gave him the blankest stare I could muster. Realising his mistake, Taka scratched his head before sheepishly muttering a quick apology.

"I forget sometimes about the memory loss, especially when I've been fighting. Anyways, the House of Kamuha is a very powerful...organisation in Japan. It prides itself in providing the very best service for its customers."

"What?" I heard myself asking. I didn't come here to discuss what sounded like a dreary department store - I wanted to hear about my lost memories.

"What has this 'House of Kamuha' got to do with my memory loss?"

I too received a blank stare. My mind started working furiously noticing a massive change in my companion's mood. Gone was the carefree, happy-go-lucky attitude and instead a solemn gaze had replaced it - lined with experience and sorrow. I felt a shiver go down my spine as I remembered that not all organisations were honest and law-abiding. What had I gotten myself into that had caused me to lose all my memories?

A war was raging inside me. A part of me didn't want to know at all while another needed to know just as I needed to breathe. The conflict was tearing me apart. Should I ask or should I not. There was still time to walk away - as they say: Ignorance is bliss. Still, I couldn't leave it lie - something inside me needed insisted that this information was crucial to my survival.

"What service do they provide?

My voice trailed off as soon as I had asked the question. My eyes had focused in on the expression on my companion's face, watching for change.

"They provide assassins to the highest bidder. No matter how impossible the task may seem, if the right amount of money is provided, it can be done."

A cold feeling swept through my body, consuming me. I knew that this story was going to take a dark turn just as I knew that I had been involved. A part of my brain told me that this was the truth, no matter how strange it seemed. It insisted it.

"How does this relate to my memory loss?"

I had to know.

This was it. The point of no return. I knew this knowledge would change my life - or whatever was left of it.

Taka took a sharp breath in. I knew that this was probably was hard to relate as it was for me to hear.

"The House of Kamuha isn't a bunch of money-seeking assassins - there's something far more dangerous going on. There's a Yokai - a demon of sorts - that runs the whole operation. It can possess and inhabit the human body, making people do its will so that it can become more powerful. As we speak it is growing in strength, causing more people to fall under its influence. But every type of Jami is harmful towards humans and often cause sickness. In the case of the House of Kamuha, that is in the form of severe headaches and memory loss."

An assassin huh? That didn't seem like something I would do...but then again...

I cast my mind back. What was the first thing I remembered?

I had woken up in the middle of a strange place with no memories - that wasn't all though - I had had a splitting headache.

And just like that, a few more pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

For some reason I couldn't recall, I had been in Japan and had come under the influence of the House of Kamuha. But how did I end up in the middle of the woods? I must have been on some sort of mission. If only I could remember...

Despite the fogginess of my memories, I recalled that I had been hunting someone that day - an enemy of the House. A feared assassin who defied demons and freed captured souls. A man named Taka who just happened to be standing in front of me.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, recalling shadows from assignments in various locations, knowing I had killed them. "What did they make you do?"

Taka looked down at his feet, the darkness cast by his hair hiding his crimson eyes and the rest of his expression from me. His shoulders were slightly hunched and for a few seconds, the tall, proud man that had stood before me had been replaced by someone who was completely and utterly broken, crushed by the pain concealed inside. In those moments I wanted nothing more than to try and ease the loneliness that I experienced then, betrayed only by his body and the single tear I saw glistening in the dark.

He straightened up, red eyes showing no remorse or grief.

Back to his cheery self - or so it seemed but I knew I had seen the sadness that lined his every thought - the guilt that controlled his actions.

"I never knew who my parents were. A week before my first birthday my family was attacked by a group of soldiers who had deserted. Help arrived, but too late for anyone but me. My attackers were all cut down where they stood, unwilling to give up. As for my family, they had been slaughtered, bullet holes decorating their dead bodies. I owed my survival due to the fact that I had been sleeping and they hadn't looked through the contents of the cart before the monks had arrived. My switchblades were given to me when I was five by the man who raised me, Master Shishou. He was the one who taught me, he was the one who inspired me, he was the one who gave me my love for martial arts. I owe everything to that man."

His voice trailed off, lost in thought.

I didn't realise how much he had been hurting until now. From what I had heard, that man was a father to him, and the House had taken that away.

"What happened?"

Silence greeted me. Taka didn't even seem to have to have heard me. I tried again.

"What happened Taka?"

Once again I got no response. The quiet stretched out, creating distance between the two of us.

"Taka, please tell me what happened."

Finally I got an answer:

"Ten years later I had become restless. I wanted to master the art of using switchblades and I couldn't do that if I stayed. So I left to see the world. Along the way I met someone, having seen my switchblades who offered to complete my training for me. Me, being as naive as I was then, agreed. I got what I wanted. I trained harder than I had ever done and soon nobody was a match for me. I didn't realise. I didn't know."

I saw him close his eyes and take a deep breath in, slowly. It was like the calm before the storm. Suddenly he met my gaze with steely eyes. He held it for about a minute, his expressionless face giving nothing away.

"I was under the influence before I knew it. The first assignment was easy, tracking down an old enemy of the House and taking them out. I didn't mean to, I swear. It wasn't my choice - they made me."

"I killed him. I killed Shishou."

-

I would like to dedicate this chapter to someone who I will name only as "Bob" because I think they are adorable and awesome and adjectives that don't start with 'a' - like cute. They'll probably never read this and if they do then they won't know it's them because Bob is a random codename I thought up. At least, that's what I hope.