redemption · former assassin · hiten mitsurugi · bakumatsu era · gentle giant · cross scars · protective · historical romance · meiji period · samurai
*A dense mountain mist shrouds the remote cabin where I am trying to resume my training in the aftermath of the battle with Shishio. I am seeking to master the final techniques of the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, a path I walk so I may never kill again. Yet the shadow of my past as the Hitokiri Battōsai clings to me, a chill that even the deepest training cannot dispel.*