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Aftermath
 Keiji hadn't moved from the spot since he'd arrived at the address of the building Shinsuke had provided him. He had no one else he could trust any more, the older man was the only one he could call with this. 

"Deathstrike-sama, please, you must eat." Shinsuke had a tray of food in front of him. Keiji had refused to eat the the last couple dishes that he been prepared for him, but Shinsuke wasn't giving up.

"Don't call me that, please.  I'm not 'Lord" anything. It's all been lies, Shinsuke. My whole life, my whole reason for existing...all lies."

The older man sighed as he set the food down. Keiji had told him what he learned. It was much to take in. Shinsuke wasn't a ninja, he could barely fight. He was just an old man who'd been hired to take of the menial duties of the Hand upper echelon. This all was..a lot to take in. Sadly, it didn't really surprise him after everything he's seen.

"Keiji," no Lord, no sama, just Keiji. He'd been assigned as Keiji's attendent when the younger man was ten years old. He'd watched him grow up. He'd been there when Keiji returned from his first assassination at twelve years old. The flicker of innocence gone. His eyes had asked Shinsuke "why"? It had been years since he'd seen that kind of heartbreak in Keiji. Despite himself, he'd grown fond of him, the man was like a son to him. The Hand would likely seek retribution for harboring Keiji, but Shinsuke really didn't care. "Life is never a lie, Keiji."

Keiji looked at the man who was the closest thing he'd ever had to a father. "How can you say that? I was born for a purpose that was a lie! All of it, I was taught to hate a man for a crime he never committed and you tell me that my life still has meaning!?"

Shinsuke just looked at him. "Yes. You took oaths based in lies. You know the truth now. Those oaths no longer bind you. You're free to choose your own life now, Keiji."

Keiji looked like a lost child. "I never believed I'd ever have a path of my own. I'm not certain what I should do. Part of me wants to crawl into a corner and disappear. The other," Keiji's voice turns dark. "desires to go on a killing spree that would make the Beast himself shudder."

Shinsuke puts a hand on Keiji's shoulder. "For now, please, just stay here. Don't do anything out of anger right now. I will return to the compound, try and gauge what they believe happened. We can come up with a plan after that." Shinsuke gets up, putting on his coat. Before he eaves, he turns back to Keiji. "Just think about what having your own life would be. Don't throw this chance away, Keiji." With that Shinsuke leaves and Keiji begins to think on what he had said.