Legends of the Masked Series

Kasumi is an elite warrior, trained in skills that very little of the world even knows exists. The price for his skills is high, and they are not sold lightly. Given into the service of a famous scholar, Kasumi travels the world at his side, a secretive, deadly shadow, his only defining trait a mask that no one can remember in detail the very moment they have looked away...   When Kasumi and his master board a ship, Kasumi is certain he will be facing nothing more than a very long, very boring trip. But the companion his master is travelling with proves to be the most idiotic, most infuriating man that Kasumi has ever met, and the trip proves to be frustrating rather than boring.   Then everything goes wrong...

Once a highly regarded member of the Moon Clan, one of the secretive, notorious Masked, Naoki was afflicted by a terrible, incurable curse in the line of duty. Now, for the safety of the clan and all they protect, he spends his day exiled to a remote mountain region, far from the islands he once called home   His misery is briefly lifted when he chances upon a man being attacked by bandits—a man who proves to be far more than he appears, who needs the unique skills Naoki can provide, and can offer far more than Naoki ever dared hope he could find.