Abducted by his teacher, Kenji, Takeo is condemned to work as an assassin, an enforced occupation that his father sacrificed his life to escape. Still he is determined to carry on the name of the Otori. At the same time, his beloved Shirakawa Kaede, heir to the Maruyama, returns home to a shattered family and an uncertain future, and quickly realizes that she can rely on no one but herself.