The Yoru Family

"You can't change anything unless you can discard part of yourself. To surpass monsters, you must be willing to give up your humanity." - Aki Yoru

History Retold
A ninja (忍者?) or shinobi (忍び) was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, and open combat in certain situations. Their covert methods of waging war contrasted the ninja with the samurai, who observed strict rules about honor and combat. The shinobi proper, a specially trained group of spies and mercenaries, appeared in the Sengoku or "warring states" period, in the 15th century, but antecedents may have existed in the 14th century, and possibly even in the 12th century (Heian or early Kamakura era).

In the unrest of the Sengoku period (15th–17th centuries), mercenaries and spies for hire became active in the Iga Province and the adjacent area around the village of Kōga, and it is from their ninja clans that much of our knowledge of the ninja is drawn. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (17th century), the ninja faded into obscurity. A number of shinobi manuals, often centered around Chinese military philosophy, were written in the 17th and 18th centuries, most notably the Bansenshukai (1676).

By the time of the Meiji Restoration, the tradition of the shinobi had become a topic of popular imagination and mystery in Japan. Ninja figured prominently in folklore and legend, and as a result it is often difficult to separate historical fact from myth. Some legendary abilities purported to be in the province of ninja training include invisibility, walking on water, and control over the natural elements. As a consequence, their perception in western popular culture in the 20th century is often based more on such legend and folklore than on the historical spies of the Sengoku period.

The Daughter of War
No one in the Yoru knows whether or not Aki Yoru was born and raised as a child of Bishamonten as she told her eldest daughter, Kyoko Yoru to tell her story for generations to come. Bishamonten (毘沙門天), or just Bishamon (毘沙門) is thought of as an armor-clad god of warfare or warriors and a punisher of evildoers – a view that is at odds with the more pacific Buddhist king described above. Bishamon is portrayed holding a spear in one hand and a small pagoda in the other hand, the latter symbolizing the divine treasure house, whose contents he both guards and gives away. In Japanese folklore, he is one of the Japanese Seven Gods of Fortune. Bishamon is also called Tamonten (多聞天), meaning "listening to many teachings" because he is seen as the guardian of the places where Buddha preaches. Unlike most females in early fuedal Japan who do housework and leave the fighting to all the men, Aki was more than all men put together when it came to fighting.

Burned into History
The best-known cases of assassination attempts involve famous historical figures. Deaths of famous persons have sometimes been attributed to assassination by ninja, but the secretive natures of these scenarios have been difficult to prove. Assassins were often identified as ninja later on, but there is no evidence to prove whether some were specially trained for the task or simply a hired thug.

The warlord Oda Nobunaga's notorious reputation led to several attempts on his life. In 1571, a Kōga ninja and sharpshooter by the name of Sugitani Zenjubō was hired to assassinate Nobunaga. Using two arquebuses, he fired two consecutive shots at Nobunaga, but was unable to inflict mortal injury through Nobunaga's armor. Sugitani managed to escape, but was caught four years later and put to death by torture. In 1573, Manabe Rokurō, a vassal of daimyo Hatano Hideharu, attempted to infiltrate Azuchi Castle and assassinate the sleeping Nobunaga. However, this also ended in failure, and Manabe was forced to commit suicide, after which his body was openly displayed in public. According to a document, the Iranki, when Nobunaga was inspecting Iga province — which his army had devastated — a group of three ninja shot at him with large-caliber firearms. The shots flew wide of Nobunaga, however, and instead killed seven of his surrounding companions.

The ninja Hachisuka Tenzō was sent by Nobunaga to assassinate the powerful daimyo Takeda Shingen, but ultimately failed in his attempts. Hiding in the shadow of a tree, he avoided being seen under the moonlight, and later concealed himself in a hole he had prepared beforehand, thus escaping capture.

An assassination attempt on Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also thwarted. A ninja named Kirigakure Saizō (possibly Kirigakure Shikaemon) thrust a spear through the floorboards to kill Hideyoshi, but was unsuccessful. He was "smoked out" of his hiding place by another ninja working for Hideyoshi, who apparently used a sort of primitive "flamethrower".

Fortunately, Aki Yoru was given the task to kill Oda by the emperor of Omi Territory and she succeeded unlike the past. Aki became a hero to all of Feudal Japan and the Yoru Clan was forever burned into history.

Eight Generations Pass
As eight generations pass in the Yoru clan, the clan is divided into two families: the Main and the Secondary. Why? The Yoru Clan's fifth generation were nearly wiped out from a disease, and as fast as it came, it went. From the Sixteen 5th Generation children only three survived. Those three were Taro Yoru, grandson of Nana Yoru and the twins, Yuki and Kimi Yoru, grandchildren of Aoi Yoru. The three of them adivsed that if this sudden situation ever happen again that they divided the family into two, main and secondary. Whoever in Main would be the immediate bloodline from Taro, and the second from Yuki and Kimi. 5 tubes of blood carried Taro's blood, seeing as that he was the purest of the three as the grandson of Kyoko's first born child.