The young man who's hair fell to his chin in the front and was angled to be short in the back, was sitting in a chair in the basement surrounded by all of us. Since taking him from the massage parlor, Jo and I noticed that he went willingly, no struggle. Jia came in as he stood in front of him as he said,

"Talk."

The young man looked up as he said,

"I am of little to no importance. I carry a gun that isn't used, look with eyes that aren't needed and work a minimal job with no gratitude. But I wouldn't change it for the world."

"What do you do?"

"I work for Mei Ling. My boss use to work for Kaoru."

"That's it?"

"More or less."

"So if you're so worthless why were in the massage parlor covering for whoever to take Mei Ling's supposed dead body out?"

"It was my job. But the problem is that I wasn't lying. Mei Ling is dying. She won't make it through tonight."

"Explain how she was even found."

"When she was shot, the echo of the bullet was heard from upstairs. I was sent down to see what it was and found her."

"And you brought her up."

"Yes."

"What's Eden to your people?"

"Mei Ling owned it through Kaoru. It was one of the places they hid in when cops, rival triad, or more frequently, you were after him."

"Smart bastard.....he was right under my nose..."

Jia took out his cigarettes as he said,

"So Mei Ling was there. Go on."

"She bled through most of the night. We weren't able to find a doctor who wouldn't report us or someone we trusted until the early hours of dawn. By the time we did find one, we had stanched most of the bleeding, but the doctor said she wouldn't live another night."

Jia sighed, tucking his hair back behind his ear as he said,

"I see. So if she's dying why bothering protecting her dead body."

"She's not dead yet. Or maybe she is and I don't know."

Jia nodded, exhaling smoke from his mouth as he said,

"Mikkie, Jun, Aoki, you three, go up, find Mei Ling, make sure she's dead and if she's not, kill her."

The young man sat motionless, looking down at his hands, clasping his fingers together, one locking over the other as he said nothing. After a few minutes, Aoki, Jun and myself left.

We went to work right away, starting with the massage parlor that Mei Ling's body was being cared for. After making the hostess talk, we found out that Mei Ling and her people had left. We stepped back outside as Aoki lit a cigarette and pushed his glasses up slightly as he said,

"We gotta find the Yuuki twins."

Jun contacted Jo who in turn got a hold of the Yuuki twins. We met them at the South side of Kowloon about an hour a half later. The Yuuki twins arrived, well dressed, both in black suits only Toshiro in a white shirt. Yasuhiro in black one. The two bowed their heads to us as Aoki said,

"Find anything else out?"

They both shook their heads as he said,

"No luck."

Yasuhiro then said,

"We tried finding out where she was, but we got word she skipped town."

"She didn't. She was shot and now her people are covering up the fact that she could be dying."

The Yuuki twins looked at each other before Toshiro said,

"We could find out what was going on. It's strange they would cover up her dying body."

"That's what we're all saying." Said Jun.

The twins looked at each other as they mumbled something and then Yasuhiro said,

"Did the North Star say anything?"

"No. Nothing yet." Said Aoki.

"We'll get on it." They both said before bowing their heads and leaving.

We went to work, looking around for anything that could lead us to Mei Ling. It wasn't until three in the morning when we got a call from one of the North Star that we got the break we needed. Jun's cell phone rang as we had sat down for a late dinner. Jun answered as he said,

"Yeah?"

He sat up straight and talked for a moment as he then nodded and hung up.

"We have to go."

"What's up?" Said Aoki.

"The twins found out Mei Ling's resting quarters."

"Did anyone even bother to question the one we caught?" I said.

Jun shook his head as he said,

"Jia said he doesn't wanna talk. It would take torture to get something out of him."

Aoki nodded as he set some money down on the table and began getting up as he said,

"Toki an me we'll get on that later. For now, let's find this dying or dead bitch and be done with it."

After paying the bill, we got up, left and regrouped with the North Star on Hong Kong Island. Kurid and Floran were standing there waiting for us, Inamie sitting on a bench, his long legs crossed, his arms crossed, skin showing on the side of his leg since he wore knee high boots and nothing else. He actually looked more feminine then Aya. At least Aya didn't run around in drag. Anyway, once we were all regrouped, Floran said,

"We saw a large group of Mei Ling's men run inside."

"They seemed to be rushing." Said Kurid.

Aoki nodded as he reached into his pocket and withdrew his gun as he said,

"Let's do this then."

After a quick plan, we separated and went inside one of the apartment buildings. We went alone, sneaking in and all of us reaching the floor we all agreed to meet on. I got to the floor first by elevator, stepping out carefully as I made my way down the hall as I looked around, listening out for my associates and my enemies. As I got to the end of the hall, I saw the guards standing outside, speaking in their native tongue as I quickly back tracked and leaned against a wall. I tied my hair up in a simple knot, twisting it and snapping the band to keep it in place, then taking out my gun and waiting. I saw Jun come up and he stood beside me and said,

"Been here long?"

"Like two minutes."

We continued to wait, Jun's D.E in his hand as we finally heard more footsteps coming up. I felt my phone shake in my pocket as I reached in, took it out and took a look. I then said to Jun.

"The Yuuki Twins met up with Aoki. The North Star are guarding the stairwells."

"Let's go then."

Gun in hand, Jun and I turned the corner and walked towards the guards. We didn't even bother raising our weapons when they saw us and started yelling at us. They raised their guns but were shot dead before they even took a step. Aoki and the Yuuki twins walked forward as they got to the door and knocked. As the door opened, Aoki yanked out the guard and shoved him to the floor as we barged in. The guards that didn't run tried to fight and were easily shot. As we walked inside, going down the hall as the North Star walked in behind us, already taking care of those that ran out, as Jun and I walked ahead, opening the back room door and saw Mei Ling laying there. She laid there, motionless, still and the entire room was quiet. Jun walked over to her as he touched her hand and said,

"She's ice."

"I'm that cold too. That doesn't mean anything."

"Good point."

Jun touched her neck as he said,

"She's dead."

I nodded as Jun then said,

"Why would they keep her dead body here?"

I shrugged as Jun lifted her arm and had some trouble bending it as he said,

"Rigor mortis is starting to set in. That means she's been dead since that night you shot her."

He then opened one of the drawers from the small table beside the bed as I said,

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for anything weird."

I went through the other table, finding nothing as I turned to the closet, searching that too but again, found nothing. I turned back to Jun as he said,

"Let's go. We should report back to Jia."

We left the room, closing the door behind us as Floran stood there, gun in hand as he said,

"Well?"

"She's dead."

"Oh...was she dead or did you guys kill her?"

"She's been dead."

"How long?" Asked Kurid.

"The body has rigor mortis. She's been dead since night one."

Kurid nodded as Aoki said,

"So, let's get back."

We did just that and left to report back to Jia and Kumo.

After explaining to Jia what happened and how Mei Ling was dead, both he and Kumo raised an eyebrow as Jia said,

"Why would they be keeping her dead body? That makes no sense."

"Kinda weird too." Said Kumo.

Jia wondered for a moment as Toki stood beside Jia, hands in his deep jean pockets as he said,

"What about the guy downstairs?"

Jia looked at him as he said,

"Uh...I don't know. What the hell good is he?"

"Nothin I see. Mei Ling is dead. What use could he be?"

"You should ask him if there's anyone else lurking behind Mei Ling." Said Toshiro.

Jia nodded in agreement as he turned to Kumo and said,

"Who's got the stomach for violence?"

"Among mine? Inamie."

We all looked at the dainty looking triad as he got up from the sofa, skirt falling back in place, again looking like long loose pants as he joined us. Aoki, Toki, Jun and Inamie soon headed downstairs while the rest of us stayed in the lobby. Jia and Kumo sat down, talking as Jia had a cigarette and offered Kumo one.

"Don't smoke, thanks anyway."

"You don't smoke?"

"The chemicals make me bounce out of wack. Any chemicals actually. So I don't take them."

"Ah...interesting."

Kumo nodded as Jia then said,

"So you don't drink, do drugs nothing of that nature?"

"I drink very, very lightly."

Jia laughed slightly as he said,

"Never met anyone in this business that didn't have the head for booze."

Kumo laughed softly as Kurid sighed, leaning back in the sofa as Jo yawned. The rest of us were waiting, bored as we waited for the hour to go by. During that time, the owners of the game came by, stopping in to see Jia, report to him on how they were doing and to give him his percent cut. Xiao Tien then said,

"What's all the waiting for?"

"We're trying to get some information, China Doll." Jia said as he swept his fingers under Xiao Tien's chin.

Toshimasa then sighed and said.

"Hope everything is going all right."

"I think it is." Said Jia.

The owners of the game stuck around, talking with Jia and Kumo as we all waited. When an hour had passed, Jun came up, some blood on his hands that he was still trying to clean up as he walked over to Jia and said,

"Nothing. The kid won't talk. We can't get him to talk. We're short of killing him as is."

Jia brought his hand up to his face as he said,

"I'm going to talk to him. Kumo, you coming?"

"Sure."

Kurid and I both followed them downstairs as we walked to the basement where a mess awaited us. Blood was spilled all over the floor, some speckled the walls as Aoki and Toki sat down talking to each other as the young man was on the floor, turning slightly as he stifled groans of pain. Jia then stood beside him as he said,

"If you're still able to talk make some sort of noise resembling a word."

The young man groaned as he said,

"Yeah..."

"Good. Listen, just tell us what you know. Make it easier for yourself. You got no one over you to kill you. So just talk and walk away with your life."

The young man started sitting up, blood dribbling from his nose and mouth, his eye already starting to swell shut as he looked up.

"No one is behind Mei Ling. That was it. Kaoru's plan fell short. He had too much faith in Mei Ling. But she was stopped."

Jia nodded as he said,

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Okay. It'll be much easier to find you if I find out you lied."

He nodded as Jia then looked over at Toki and Aoki and said,

"Drop him off in Kowloon somewhere."

As we walked back upstairs, Kumo said,

"So what now?"

"Well...nothing much now. We just clean up."

Kumo nodded as Aoki and Toki picked up the young man and began to go on their way with him.

A week went by as we cleaned up again. Jia was tired and bored of being in Hong Kong again. Kumo and Jia worked closely to organize again and to make sure that whatever was left of Kaoru's empire was cleaned away and dissolved. Paperwork was slowly diminished and Jia talked about going home again.

"I look forward to that."

"I've been lookin forward to that." Said Toki.

Jia smiled slightly as he pet Toki's knee and said,

"It's about time we get to leave. So, best to start thinking about going home."

He then dismissed us. I was on my way out of the door, walking through the lobby with Jun as we saw the Yuuki twins. They walked over to us quickly as Jun said,

"Something wrong?"

"Yes." They both said.

"What's going on?"

Toshiro then said,

"When that man wouldn't talk, we did some digging and found out why he proclaimed himself so useless."

"Why?" Jun asked.

"He was Mei Ling's brother."

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Definitions

Dai kor- Means brother in Cantonese