We all started to gather at Jia's building where Jia himself sat in the lobby. He waited for the rest of us to join him as little by little his top heads filled the room. Obviously the trio, Jun, Jo and myself where the first few there. Tai and Gabriel arrived next and Aya eventually arrived last. Once we were all there, Jia sat up from the sofa as he said,

"It would appear I have a curse on my head."

We looked at each other as Toki went over and sat beside him as he said,

"What you mean?"

Jia looked at him as he said,

"Why do you smell like candy?"

"Oh, I was at Mizui's place. Relax it was a poker game."

"Not that I would care otherwise. And what I mean is, I keep remember what Kaoru said, his threat to me. How he said that his death wouldn't be the end of my problems but the beginning."

Tai then stepped forward as he said,

"I should call Kumo for you Jia."

"Ah....yeah. Do that for me. And if he says something is going on...then it looks like we're going back to Hong Kong kids."

Akio and Toki sighed in annoyance as Jia said,

"I know, I know...it sucks having to go back after just getting home."

He grabbed Toki by the chin as he said,

"But I need my best and of course my animal to protect me."

Some of us laughed as Toki grinned and growled slightly as Jia let him go and then got up as he said,

"Time to move. Let's see if we could get in contact with Kumo."

Tai started going back to his office, on his cell phone already as Gabriel followed, making mental notes to himself as Aya and Akio decided to go up as well. Jia, Toki, Jun, Aoki and myself stayed downstairs as Jia said,

"You should all find something to do."

"What about you Jia?" Asked Aoki.

"I'm about to head upstairs."

Toki yawned as he said,

"When we leaving for Hong Kong?"

"Not for a while. You might wanna relax for a minute."

Jia got up as he then looked over his shoulder and said,

"Stay out of trouble. And do NOT go back into the Kabuki-Cho."

"I jus left. Give me some credit Li."

Jia waved him off as he went to the elevator to go upstairs. Jun went to his office downstairs as Toki slouched back on the sofa as he dug around under the cushions, Aoki sitting on the sofa across from him as Toki dug out the same ball as before and tossed it to Aoki.

"I hate fuckin Hong Kong."

Aoki caught it as he then tossed it back and said,

"I do too. It sucks."

"If you didn't like the females there you always got Aya."

"Spare me the sob story Toki."

I sat down on the smaller sofa, watching the two of them toss the same ball back and forth. At some point, I grew so bored I started zoning out and I didn't even notice when Aoki got up to go upstairs. By the time I did pay attention again, I looked over to see Toki throwing the ball by himself, catching it and tossing it back up, his feet on the table as he slouched back on the sofa.

"Where's Aoki?"

"Went upstairs to see his seiai."

"Oh..."

I yawned slightly as I checked my watch and saw it was getting late. I picked a little while we were playing poker, but I was still hungry. I wanted to get something to eat, but I wasn't sure if that was best at the moment. As Toki caught the ball again, his cell phone rang and he searched into his pockets and found it as he answered. After a moment, he said,

"Gotta head upstairs. Li wants to see us."

I got up as we both took the elevator upstairs. In the elevator, Toki leaned down, kissing my ear, tonguing it slightly as he bit the lobe, my earring clacking against his mouth as I felt a shiver run through me and I moved away.

"Stop it."

"Yeah you say that after I done did stick my tongue half way in your ear."

I rubbed my ear as I looked at him to see his usual smirk in place. Luckily we got to Jia's floor a moment later and we met up in his office. Jun had already gotten there, so had everyone else so they were just waiting for us. Once we closed the door and settled in, Jia said,

"Okay, so we got in contact with Kumo and after some quick conversation, a little time being on hold, Kumo found out that the city has been quiet, but there is someone settling in, about to start a war."

Gabriel came to Jia's desk and unrolled a map as he spread it out and then went into his coat pocket were he uncapped a red marker as he said,

"This is the New Territories in which Kumo and his associates have set up a huge barrier."

He circled the area with the marker as Tai explained.

"The barrier set up is by his syndicate, the North Star. It's where most of them have a residential area. Also, it's where most of us and more importantly, where you live Jia."

Jia nodded as Gabriel continued.

"Kowloon, the main vain that everyone likes to suck on. It can never really be claimed since the area seems to spread with greed."

The area was circled as Tai said,

"Kumo has set up front along side it and inside as well. The thriving center is still yours Jia."

"Hong Kong Island, as we know, faces Kowloon, so Jia, this part of the land is also yours."

"Central is controlled by us, Kumo watching over it."

Gabriel capped the marker as he said,

"And then there are the other hundreds of islands of the Outlying Island."

Tai looked over the three circled areas as he said,

"This is almost all of Hong Kong Jia."

"Right, so aside from the islands, I basically control everything."

"Everything important." Said Tai.

Jia shook his head as he said,

"No good. It has to be everything. Otherwise, they could take something minor and make it something big and I can't risk that."

Tai then said,

"So what's the plan?"

"I really don't want to go back to Hong Kong, but...I guess I'll have to. I won't take everyone this time. Just my killers and Aya. Tai, you run things while I'm gone, Gabriel, Jun, Akio, you guys stay behind. The rest of you are with me and we're going to Hong Kong."

With that, we were dismissed.

The next morning, I woke up to someone at my door. I got up, tying my hair back as I pulled my bathrobe over my shoulders, putting my gun in my pocket as I went to the door. I checked, seeing it was Kazuki. I opened the door with a loud yawn as I said,

"Ohayo."

"Hey Yuurei. Did I wake you?"

I nodded as I invited him inside. I closed the door behind him as I took out my gun and set it on the table as I said,

"I'm glad I didn't have to go look for you."

"How come?"

"I'm going back to Hong Kong soon."

"How come?"

"I guess Jia didn't tell you last night. We all found out last night there's something going on in Hong Kong so before it gets any bigger, Jia's going to help out Kumo."

"Ah...makes sense. Maybe it won't take too long."

"I'm hoping not. Last thing I wanna do is spend months in Hong Kong again."

I excused myself to use the bathroom so I could brush my teeth and such. When I returned, I tucked my hair behind my ear as Kazuki watched TV in my living room. He left the news on and got up once he saw me again. I yawned slightly as he hugged me and said,

"You look so cute when you yawn."

"Don't call me cute."

He laughed slightly as he kissed my forehead and said,

"So what is my Yuurei going to do today before he leaves me again?"

"I have to see Jia about when we're going to leave. Then, I'll have to make my arrangements and then I'll leave."

He nodded as he hugged me. As he did, I realized he just called me his Yuurei. I held onto him in return as I buried my face in the folds of his coat.

After I showered, dressed and went to get coffee with Kazuki, I went to Jia's building to see how things were progressing. Naturally, Jia wasn't there but Tai was. Once he saw me about to enter his office, he said,

"Good, you're here."

"Something up?"

"No, I just wanted you to know that you have to make your arrangements tonight. I got in touch with Kumo earlier this morning. He found out who was moving into some of Kowloon."

"Oh? Who?"

"Thang Mei Ling. A female."

"Another one?"

"Apparently. She's got a building army behind her."

"Hope she's just as stupid as Iida."

Tai gave a small laugh as he said,

"I sincerely doubt another woman in this game would be seriously that stupid."

Later on, the rest of the business heads came in and they began to plan and plot. I went to make my travel arrangements as I called Jo, waking him and telling him to do the same. Sometime in the afternoon, Jia came in with a half asleep Toki and he was filled in on what was going on. After everyone had their arrangement plans done and ready to go, Jia had Jo take us to the airport. Hisoka accompanied us to take the car back so whoever couldn't fit in the car Jo was driving was taken in the other by other lower head chauffeur. Of course, him following Jo was next to impossible since Jo drove like a mad man. Jo drove, Hisoka was in the passenger seat and Jia, Toki and myself were in the back. Aoki and Aya followed in the other car. Once we arrived at the airport, Hisoka took the car and left with the other lower head while the rest of us boarded our plane and went back to Hong Kong.

Once we landed, we went right to work, jet lag not being an excuse. Kumo meet up with us at the airport with some kid that looked like a much younger version of Toki. He shorter then him too. Though he wore jeans and a leather coat he had a serious, professional look to him, his face had that same bad look that Toki had. Kumo was still in his leather pants, leather coat and a white shirt underneath. He smiled, shaking Jia's hand as he said,

"Good evening."

"Hey Kumo. How are things?"

"Not as well as I'd hoped. Jia, this is Haku."

Haku bowed his head slightly, but didn't actually lower his head to Jia. It was almost like an act of defiance. Jia paid it no mind as he said,

"One of the ones working for you right?"

"Yup. Come back to my building, I'll introduce you to the rest of my North Stars."

Jia followed him as we all did. Two cabs, forty-five minutes later, we arrived back on Hong Kong Island. Jia followed Kumo inside his building as Kumo took off his coat, showing he was not professional at all. He then looked at a young man standing there, dark red hair short, somewhat spiked but falling over his eye slightly, looking slightly like a child but dressed sensibly. Although Kumo gave the image that he did not mind casual wear. It seemed so unprofessional. Kumo then said,

"Kurid, go find everyone else."

The young man nodded and went to find everyone else as Kumo said,

"I'd get everyone to meet in my office, but everything is still a bit of a mess."

Jia nodded as he sat down, taking out his cigarette case and opening it as he took out a cigarette and had Toki light it for him. Once he was done, he moved back and exhaled as he said,

"How many you got close to you?"

"Including Haku, five."

"Not too many to trust huh?"

"Nope."

A few moments later, Kurid arrived with four others trailing not too far. All of them looked pretty much, a run of the mill triad, although younger then most. Except one that was beyond pretty in words. Kumo did a role call.

He started down the line as he said,

"This is Neesa, the smart one. He's got a good head for numbers and paper work. He's fast too. This is Haku, my own little phantom, Floran the ditz that means well..."

Floran gave Kumo a look as Kumo sort of smirked at him as he continued.

"And this lovely piece of work is Inamie. I'll ask you kindly not to manhandle the merchandise."

Toki, Aoki and Jo looked him up and down as Toki smirked and said to Aoki,

"He's more your type. Pretty and refined."

Aoki nudged him as Toki laughed. Neesa wore his hair somewhat long, a light brown color, a red bandanna around his forehead, most of it hidden by his hair. He wore a suit, looking more professional then Kumo himself. As he put his hands in his pocket, I noted the wedding band on his finger. Floran, the fake blonde, also wore his hair long, falling slightly past his shoulders. He wore a suit as well though he didn't look natural in it and he lacked a tie and proper shoes. Like Neesa, he too wore a wedding band. Haku, who's hair was a striking white had golden eyes, proved to be contacts later on and was dressed down, looking as if he belonged on the streets somewhere. Finally Inamine, who had light brown hair that looked like silk as it fell around his face. What stunned me about this triad memeber was the fact that as he moved, what I thought to be extermly loose pants, turned out to be a long, loose black skirt. Around his slender neck was a choker, a star charm dangling from it. It was then that Inamie turned towards Kurid and said something to him in Chinese. Kurid looked back over at Toki and Aoki, gave them a glare and Aoki's face returned to stone and Toki continued to smirk at him before flipping him off. Kurid didn't seem to pleased about that. Kumo and Jia both noticed the rising tension between the two as Jia stepped in front of Toki and Kumo in front of Kurid as he said,

"So...shall we go to...an office that is less crowded then mine?"

"Sure, we'll go over some things. Take your business head and I'll take mine, you can fill me in."

Kumo nodded as he gave a gesture to Neesa and Jia turned to Toki as he said,

"Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT get into a fight with these people."

"What makes you think-"

"Toki! Promise me you will not fight these people."

Toki rolled his eyes as he said,

"Okay, I promise I won't crush the snot nosed little punk. Feel better?"

Jia sighed as he and Aya went upstairs with Kumo and Neesa. The rest of us sat down in the lobby, Toki taking out his cigarettes as he lit one as did Aoki and Jo. I sat down without another word as Floran, Inamie and Kurid watched us. Toki and Aoki kept glaring at Kurid, displeased with his actions. Each in his native tongue kept saying something to their associates as Toki and Aoki said,

"I bet that the pretty one belongs to him."

"Jealous jus like you."

"Fuck you."

"You are jealous you know you are. You'd break Jo's arm if the kid touched Aya."

Aoki nudged him slightly as Jo said,

"The uke goes with the seme. It makes sense."

It seemed Kurid's temper rose as he said,

"Hey you got something to say, say it to my face, I'm right here."

Toki exhaled his smoke, dropping his arm down from his mouth as he got to his feet and tilted his head to the side as he said,

"You got balls sayin that shit to me kid."

"I'm not scared of you."

Toki smirked as he said,

"Good. So when I'm done with you, you'll have a reason."

Aoki got up as did Floran and Inamie as Jo said,

"Toki, Jia said not to fight with them."

"I'm not. I'm waitin for the boy here who thinks he's grown to do some shit about all that shit he's poppin."

Kurid got mad and began to walk towards Toki but Floran and Inamie grabbed his arms and pulled him back. Toki took another drag as he said,

"Punk."

Kurid was tempted to go again as Floran said,

"Aye, aye, that's enough. Boss-san will have your head if you fight Kurid."

Kurid calmed down as Inamie tucked his hair behind his ear and sat down, bringing Kurid with him as Toki sat back down with Aoki. As for myself, I just minded my own business and continued to wait for my oyabun.

By the time Jia came back down, he let us know of the given situation.

"The bitch's name is Thang Mei Ling. We knew that, but what we didn't know is the size of her army."

Kumo continued.

"Whatever scum scrapped up from under Kowloon's drug, whore and gang pits were dredged up, polished up and made to work for Mei Ling. Unfortunately, there's many of those kinds of scum. But as we all know, scum like that is easy to clean away."

Jia nodded as he said,

"What I am worried about is what makes this woman think she can uprise against me. She has something."

"Aside from the size of the army...we won't know until later."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Find me the Yuuki Twins. I left them here last and I doubt they returned to New York."

We nodded as Kurid said,

"Shouldn't we go look for the Yuuki twins?"

I sighed to myself as Kumo said,

"What difference does it make if they look or you look as long as they get found."

Jia looked at Kurid as he said,

"Look, Kurid, I understand you feel threatened about me coming in here and telling your boss what to do, but remember one thing, he works for me. So you work for me. And if you question me one more time, I'll let my body guard do what he's been wanting to do since he set foot here okay?"

Kurid bowed his head slightly as he said,

"I apologize."

Jia nodded as he sent us off and we went to find the twins.

Jia was right, the Yuuki twins didn't go back to New York, but in fact had been living well in the New Territories. After some quick connections by the lower heads, we contacted them and had them brought into Hong Kong Island. We met at Victoria's Point as we watched the sun starting to rise. The Yuuki twins met us, Yasuhiro looking slightly tired as Toshiro wore the fedora this time. Both of them matched exactly aside from the hat as Toshiro bowed his head and said,

"Good morning."

"Good morning. We wanted to know what you two knew of Thang Mei Ling." Said Jo.

The twins looked at each other as they both said,

"She worked for Kaoru."

Then we were quiet for a moment as Yasuhiro said,

"There's a bunch of rumors about her. They say that she was Kaoru's protégée, the one he was training behind the scenes to take over in case anything should happen, others say she was nothing but his whore, his well paid mistress. Even one saying she had his kid and she had to get rid of it because it could have been a liability to Kaoru's plans and his marriage. It's all rumors though. All that's certain is that she did work for Kaoru. No one took her seriously because obviously she's a woman. But Kaoru trusted her enough to keep her out of his messes. Even up to his death."

Aoki then said,

"She could have been the one to help Lotus get out of the country with her kid."

Toki nodded as he said,

"Sounds like she was willin to do anythin for Kaoru."

The Yuuki twins nodded as Toshiro said,

"She was. Actually she is. She's apparently carrying out his word now."

"You two know where she could be now?" Asked Aoki.

"Anywhere but the New Territories." They both said.

Yasuhiro then said,

"Since the North Star put up a huge ring of protection around that mainland, no one could get in or out without them knowing. It would be too much of a risk for Mei Ling to try getting in and out."

We thought for a moment as Jo said,

"So that leaves Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and the Outlying Islands."

"If she wanted to hide, she'd do it in the islands." I said.

Toki shook his head as he said,

"Somethin tells me she's not tryin to hide."

The twins nodded as Toshiro said,

"We could start a search as early as now."

Aoki shook his head as he said,

"No, she's probably gone back into hiding. We'll do it tonight."

The twins nodded and after agreeing to meet with Jia at his building later that night we parted ways and headed home for some sleep.

That night, the Yuuki twins came to Jia, greeted him, bowing their heads as Kumo saw how in charge Jia the Yuuki twins. He merely watched as Jia said,

"Can you two find me Thang Mei Ling?"

"We can." They both said.

Kumo then said,

"Excuse me Jia, but I can offer assistance."

"Good. The more people looking for her, the better."

Jia and Kumo then decided to send us out into the city in pairs as the Yuuki twins went to work. The 36 Moons took Kowloon to search as the North Star took Hong Kong Island and the Yuuki twins searched the largest Outlying Island were Chap Lak Kok was. We walked around, Aoki and Toki paired up and split up, it left me with Jo. Jo then said,

"Toki hates that Kurid kid."

"Toki hates a lot of people."

Jo nodded as he said,

"Yeah, that's true."

We met up with some of the lower heads that constantly hung out in Kowloon to ask if anything new had been going on. They only responded that everything had been shifting and more people seemed to be looking for work. Jo and I took that as a hint that Mei Ling was moving through Kowloon somewhere. Slithering like a snake through Hong Kong's underbelly. As it reached one in the morning, Kowloon's peak hours where massage parlors stayed open and welcomed clients and whores began pouring out from the alleys, Jo and I began to cross the street. As we did, a car who obviously did not care about who it hit, stopped short, almost hitting Jo. Jo got mad and began yelling at the driver in rage when the driver didn't even bother getting out of the car. Jo stepped back and kicked one of the head lights out. He continued kicking at the car putting a dent in the hood and kicking in the front part of the car. The driver finally put the car in park as the door opened and a woman stepped out. Long thick black hair fell down her bangs as she wore a black leather coat with a red button down shirt under it. As she glared at us, she reached up to her face and swept aside her hair. It was then I knew it was Mei Ling, because on her cheek, exactly like Kaoru, was the tattoo, inked in black on her cheek, ketsurui. Jo knew it as well and she continued glaring at us as she then reached her hand in the car and withdrew a gun and aimed. We both pulled out our own guns as she stopped.

"Not just some punk kids huh?"

Jo and I continued aiming as the crowd that had started watching because of Jo now began to scatter. She then smirked and lowered her gun as she said,

"I'll assume you work for one of the syndicates here. North Star or 36 Moons?"

"None of your fucking business." Said Jo.

"Japanese...36 Moons. Just the ones. You tell your boss he'll deal with me soon enough."

We didn't stop aiming as she then put her gun back in the car, someone else in there with her as she then said,

"Now get out of my fucking way or I will run you over next time."

Jo flipped her off as he then put his gun away and I followed and we finished crossing the street. Once on the other side, Mei Ling got back inside and Jo called Aoki to let him know. I called Jia. We had just met our enemy.