Jia was ready and prepared for the full repercussions of his actions. Shooting Yasuhiro in front of Toshihiro was going to bring a rise out of him and this would definitely do it. But we waited for over a week and heard nothing. When the lower heads did a search through every part of Tokyo and beyond the city, the two where nowhere to be found. We did a check of the hospitals but again, nothing was found. Jia worried for a moment and wondered what gave.

"Why would they suddenly disappear after such a threat?"

Tai looked at him as everyone else stood around his office. Most of us had just come in from the cold where it was raining and mixing with the slight snow fall we had in the previous days so it was turning into slush. So there was slush and water everywhere now. Most of us had on winter coats, gloves and carried umbrellas as we stood, still bundled up in Jia's office. I was tucking back my bangs behind my ears as Toki sat on the corner of Jia's desk as he always sat, his black parka falling off one of his shoulder to reveal the black sweater he had underneath. His hair was still flat, covered by a black knitted hat while his bangs hung around his face, the fake glasses still on his face. He turned to look at Jia, bringing his hand to his mouth as he removed the cigarette and said,

"Mou...they did they weren't comin after you Li."

"That's true. But why would the one leave his twin behind?"

"Maybe he died."

Jia nodded as Tai said,

"He's got a point. If one of them did die, the other would have to continue on. Nishiki is dead Jia, they're going through with their contract."

Jia nodded, inhaling his cigarette again as he said,

"They would go after anyone else inclined to work close to me."

Tai and Jia then picked up their heads and their eyes met as they both said,

"New York..."

Jia picked up his phone right away as Tai left and went across the hall to his office as the rest of us stood there and looked on, waiting for a response. We all waited in silence, listening as Jia called the Yami and the Itto Ketsuen. When Tsubasa didn't answer his business line, Jia called his personal line. After a while Tsubasa finally answered. He stated that everything was fine and had been for the past week or so. Jia was glad to hear it and then said he would be in New York soon anyway and then hung up. He called the Itto Ketsuen next and heard the same news. However, Jia had an uneasy feeling and once he spoke to Sozaburo, he hung up and said,

"We're going back to New York."

It wasn't as easy to do just yet though. Jia had to make checks through all of Japan to make sure the twins didn't slip into some other city and gotten any of the figured heads from other cities just for being allied with Jia. Plus, it was taking longer because now that Nishiki was dead, Jia was pretty much on his own. He trusted no one else in Japan so it was difficult for him to leave now. He nonetheless knew he had to go and take his top heads with him. After a few days of making everything final and deciding to deal with Nishiki's death later and we all left for New York the next flight out. I fell asleep as I always did there, too exhausted to care about of anything else. As I slept, my hand cradling my face as my elbow rested on the arm rest. I stayed like that for hours, not moving until Jun tapped me and I shot up.

"Nani mo?"

He pat my shoulder as he said,

"Relax. They're serving dinner."

"Oh...iie...thanks anyway."

I fell back against the seat, sliding down slightly as I started to close my eyes again.

When we arrived in New York some odd hours later, it was morning there. We took separate cabs into the city and I slept on my way there as well. When the driver let me know I was home, I paid him and then got out as I went to my apartment and changed before I crawled into my bed and fell asleep again. Later that night, I was awaken by my cell phone ringing. I peered up from my mass of pillows and blankets I cradled around me as I slept and then reached over to my ringing phone. I pulled it off the charger as I brought it close to my ear and turned it on as I said,

"Hai..."

"Jo, get up and meet us at Jia's building."

"Hai. I'm coming."

I hung up, not even really sure who that was as I got up, washed my face with cold water to wake up, changed into my suit, grabbed my things and lit a cigarette on my way out. I tied up my hair as I hailed a cab and went over to Jia's building. I was more awake when I arrived there and I saw the other top heads were there already. I pulled up my coat collar as I saw Tai standing, getting everyone in order as he counted we were all here. Aya then tucked his hair back as he said,

"Tai what's going on?"

"Jia found out a few hours ago that something happened to Tsubasa."

We all looked at each other as Jun said,

"What happened to the ningyo?"

"Jia's not sure yet. He went to find out. We're not sure but I think it's serious."

"Where were Ai'iro and Jiki when this happened?" Asked Aoki.

"I don't know. I just got a hold of all this information myself. Jia said it quickly to me as he and Toki and out the door. He said he would call me once he found out what was going on so I expect that call any minute."

"Then why assemble us here now?" Said Aya.

Tai shrugged as he said,

"That was the last thing Jia shouted to me as he ran out."

We all started to sit down, unbuttoning coats as we had cigarettes. Those who smoked anyway. We waited for about twenty minutes before Tai's cell phone went off. He answered, talking to Jia for a moment as he nodded and then hung up.

"Okay Jo, you get the car and drive Mikkie and myself to the hospital. Jia's not sure what's going himself but he says for the rest of you to search the city for the twins."

"Wasn't one of them shot?" Said Jun.

"Yes but...we'll search for both of them for the time being I guess."

We all then were dismissed as I got the car and Mikkie got in the passenger side, Tai in the back as I drove to Manhattan Central hospital. We went inside and called Jia once we were there and he told us what floor to meet him on. Once we got there, we saw Jia and Toki standing in the waiting room. Jiki and Ai'iro were there as well. Tai came in before me as he said,

"Jia, any word?"

"Not a damn word. What I do know is that Tsubasa is hurt. Seriously."

Ai'iro looked up as he said,

"We didn't know Tsubasa was in any danger. He called us from his apartment."

Jia nodded as he looked at Tai and said,

"Whatever happened, they got Tsubasa at his place."

"How'd they find him?" Asked Akio.

"The neighbors saw the door to his apartment open and called the police."

We nodded as we stood around waiting a while long. After another twenty-five minutes, Jia walked out and went to have a cigarette with Toki. They came back in time with the doctor as he looked at Ai'iro and said,

"He's alive."

Ai'iro and Jiki both sighed in relief as Jia nodded but the doctor continued.

"But...he's wounded very seriously and lost a lot of blood."

"How was he wounded?" Asked Jia.

"Knife of some sort. It cut him up very deeply and as long as he laying on the floor without any help, he managed to loose a lot of blood which is what we're worried about. Also the wound could have time to let infection set in."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Can I see him?"

"Just three of you. Mr.Takehito needs rest."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Ai'iro you wanna come?"

Ai'iro shook his head, black hair bouncing back and forth as he said,

"I can't....I can't see him like that."

Jia nodded, understanding as Jiki didn't even have to say a word. Tai was busy and Mikkie didn't care so Jia, Toki and myself went in. I was curious to see what happened to Tsubasa, which was the only reason I asked to come. Inside the room, once I closed the door behind me, I saw Tsubasa laying on the bed, his arm wrapped up in medical bandages and gauze, blood drying through in certain spots. He was pretty wrapped up and such but the worse part about it was that he had a huge white bandage on the side of his right cheek. The ningyo's face was sliced open and there was no way he could walk away from that without a scar. Jia saw that right away as he said,

"Oh shit..."

Toki smirked slightly as he said,

"Not the ningyo no more huh Li."

"Toki shut up."

I could see Toki was amused by the whole situation of Tsubasa's face being ruined. Jia sighed softly sitting down by Tsubasa's hand, picking up the usual cold hand as he saw red cuts and marks all over it. I could see he was wondering just how badly Tsubasa was hurt. I looked behind me and then opened the door slightly as I looked outside to the small holder on the door and pulled off the files from there and brought them back in the room. I took out my lighter as I squatted down to the floor and flicked my lighter on as Toki said,

"What you gonna do, light the shit on fire?"

"No. I'm going to find out how seriously hurt Tsubasa is."

Jia looked over at me as he said,

"How could you? It's medical writing. It makes no sense to me."

"I hung around Jun long enough to pick some of it up."

I started flipping through the paper, seeing Tsubasa's name, his birth date and seeing he was close to thirty-eight in fact. Wow he aged well. Anyway, the facts went on, how tall he was, his weight, his blood type as I then got to the report on his wounds. He had deep cuts on his sides as if attacked from the side and defense wounds on his arms and hands, bruises from where he fell or was banged up against something hard enough to break some blood vessels near his arms. He had cuts from something the hospital said could have been made from either a well sharpened kitchen knife or a dagger from the size and depth of the opening. The final mark came on Tsubasa's face. The start of the cut started near his earlobe and was ripped forward near the side of his mouth. He had suffered from massive blood loss and he would be out of it for days form the pain killers they were giving him. Jia listened while I said all this to him as he then said,

"So he's probably more hurt then they led on."

"These cuts sound so serious. The bigger ones could get infected and if they do then he's in even more trouble."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Those twins are here. I know they are."

"But how are both of them gonna get here if I shot one." Said Toki.

Jia shrugged as he said,

"Tsubasa's helpless I know that, but he's not so helpless that he couldn't take on just one of them. They're both here."

Jia looked down at Tsubasa as he then smoothed back the white blonde hair as he got up and pointed us out. I walked out first, Toki following as Jia came out last. he closed the door behind him as we went back to the waiting room. Ai'iro and Jiki were still standing as Ai'iro said,

"How is he?"

"He's well. Alive anyway."

"How badly is he hurt?"

"I don't know. He looks fine to me though. He wasn't in any pain."

Ai'iro nodded as Jiki looked a little more relaxed. Tai then said,

"Aoki called. He said that there's no word of the twins here."

"Fuck."

Ai'iro then said,

"I'll have the rest of the Yami look for them in every part of the city. They won't get away for too long."

The two then left as Toki looked at Jia and said,

"Why'd you lie?"

"And tell them what? That Tsubasa nearly got a chunk of his face ripped out?"

"Good point."

"They seemed calm when I said that. And it's not like I greatly lied. Tsu is fine and well."

Toki nodded as he said,

"Let's find these two huh. Can't be that hard to do."

Jia was angry that these two were actually putting a dent in him like that. By going after people working close to him when they least expected it, it was bring Jia aware to so many possible failures. He didn't even know who was after him yet. While everyone went back to finding the two, I took Jia back home. He was leaning in the seat, his head on Toki's shoulder as Toki had his arm around him as I drove them home. Once I arrived at Jia's apartment, I saw as Jia got out and so did Toki but it was only to say bye to him. Jia looked at him as he said,

"What do you mean, bye?"

"I'm going to work."

"Since when?"

"Damnit Li don't start."

"You leave now? Of all times."

"Damn, I'm goin to work like everyone else. I can't be skipping off on this bullshit. This is serious right?"

"So was everything else Toki!"

"Yeah well I'm helping out okay! No one was ever gettin this close to you before! You got two allies dead and wounded. One more is Sozaburo and then aside from us, there's not much left to get to you Li!"

Jia was quiet for a moment before he said,

"Okay...go. But be careful."

Toki nodded and after a slight pause, got back in the car as Jia then turned and went inside the building. Once he was out of sight, I drove on. Toki sat up, his coat rustling as he said,

"You know where we should go?"

"No."

"I have an idea of where they may be hidin."

"Care to share?"

"You gotta go to the Lower East Side."

"Okay."

So I did. I drove us to the Lower east Side of Manhattan. I parked on the side of an empty street as I said,

"Why here?"

"Better deals go down in the dark side Jo. You should know that by now."

"Yeah but why here? Why not some other borough."

"I got connections here."

Toki got out of the car as he then slammed the door behind him. I faintly wondered if I should follow when he leaned down near the window. I rolled it down as he said,

"Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

I nodded and rolled the window back up as I sat in the car, watching Toki as he went inside the bar we parked in front of. I went into my pockets as I got my cigarettes out and lit on as I sat back and waited. I kept looking out to the side, wondering what was taking Toki so long. As I waited, my cell phone rang and I answered, hearing Aoki's voice. He asked me where I was.

"Lower East Side."

"Why?"

"Toki."

"You had to pick him up?"

"No, he's working. He's got a connection here so he's going to look for the twins."

"Oh...about time he started working."

"What do you want?"

"Just wanted to know where you were because of the situation. Couln't have your running off alone.."

"Nah I'm with Toki. I'll bring him back with me though, I doubt Jia would want him running around on his own."

"True. Okay I'll see you in a few. Call me when you're ready to meet."

"Hai."

I hung up as I continued waiting for Toki. About twenty minutes later, Toki come out, cigarette lit as he came back to the car and got in the back seat as he said,

"Nothing. No one's seen or heard of the two."

"Aoki called."

"What he want?"

"Gotta meet up with him."

"Okay. Let's go then."

I called Aoki when I was ready to meet up with him and he told us to head back to Jia's building. Once we got there I asked him if he heard anything. He shook his head, tucking back his bangs as he said,

"What about you Toki? Anything?"

"Not a fucking clue. I gotta wonder who's after the ningyo and Nishiki. Jo, you talk to Sozaburo yet?"

"No, I haven't had the chance to."

"You should if I were you. With people going after Jia, they'll more then likely go after your fuck toy too."

I rolled my eyes at him, hating that he called Ichiro that. Nonetheless he was right and I excused myself as I called him. His phone rang for a moment as he then answered.

"Hi Jo. I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

"I was worried about you."

"That's sweet."

"I know you heard about Tsubasa and Nishiki."

"Yeah, I have. And I'm just as worried."

"Where are you?"

"Taking a cab home."

"I want you to be really careful."

"Jo, you act as if I don't know how to take care of myself. Remember, I only choose to be your uke and I only look fragile."

"I know. You can't blame me though."

"I know. Call me if anything though okay?"

"Yes Jo. I promise I will."

"Are you humoring me?"

"No, never lover."

I could feel him smiling at me as I shook my head and said,

"Ichiro!"

He laughed as he said,

"I'm not humoring you. I swear it. I'll call you if anything should happen."

"Okay...good. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay. Bye."

We hung up as I went back inside the back inside the building where Akio and Toki were talking. Aoki lit a cigarette as Toki then said,

"So, he aite?"

"He's fine. He was on his way home."

"Doesn't he have a little girl?" Asked Aoki.

"Yeah, his niece."

"He should be more careful then."

I nodded as I said,

"He knows."

We stayed at Jia's building for a while before Jun called Aoki's cell phone. Aoki answered and I watched as his expression change rapidly as he brought his hand to his face and said,

"Oh shit! Are you serious!?"

He was quiet, listening to Jun say whatever he learned as Aoki said,

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

Aoki hung up as he said,

"Jun found one of them."

Toki and I looked at him as Toki asked,

"How? We swept this city upside down lookin for them."

"It was another case of Jigoku. Looking for the person who didn't exists. The injured twin was right under our nose, he was in the hospital under an assumed name. Plus, no one knew it was him because his hair is all black now."

"Fuck so the name and description we were giving out and looking for don't exists." I said.

"Exactly."

"So if ones in the hospital, where's the other one?" Said Toki.

"That's what we still don't know. But Jun's gonna find out. We gotta go pick him up."

I nodded, taking out the car keys as we all got in the car and drove to the hospital Aoki told me. Once we got there, we parked in the garage and got out as we called Jun to let him know we were here. Jun told us to meet him upstairs on the Intensive Care unit. We got up to that floor and saw Jun standing outside a door, waiting for us. Aoki went over to him as he said,

"Well?"

Jun looked up as he looked around and said,

"I got an idea."

"What?"

"We need to do two things. One, find out who these two are contracted by and two, lure the second one out."

"Right."

"So, let's take this one."

Toki cracked his knuckles as he said,

"Fuck yeah. I've done this before. Let's get him the fuck out of here. I need a laundry cart."

Aoki laughed slightly as Jun sighed and said,

"Idiot. He's in intensive care. One wrong jolt and it could cause him more damage."

"So how we get him out then?" Said Toki.

"I say do the laundry cart thing. We'll be careful." Aoki said.

Jun sighed as he said,

"Fine. But I have to get him ready."

Toki and Aoki went off to find a laundry cart as I went in Yasuhiro's room with Jun. Jun began unhooking him from the medical machines monitoring him, being careful of his wound and to not wake him. Jun then sighed and said,

"He's so drugged up I doubt he would feel anything now anyway."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Untreated gun shot wound, massive blood loss, infection and internal damage. Toshihiro actually put him on a plane from Tokyo to New York, probably the same night Toki shot him. He could have died."

"Oh..."

Jun finished unhook and sliding the needles off of him as he then went to the closet and opened it up as he took out some socks and put them on Yasuhiro. He then dressed him, leaving his hospital gown on as he said,

"I don't want him dying then it being on my head later."

I nodded as he finished with my help and then he wrapped him up in the sheet that was on the bed. Aoki and Toki came in a while later as Aoki said,

"It's all clean."

"Oh how nice of you two to get a laundry cart full of clean sheets."

"Hey we could have gotten the one filled with piss and shit stained sheets." Said Toki.

Jun sighed and picked up the wounded twin as he brought him over to the cart and dropped him down carefully. Aoki and Toki then pulled up the other sheets, tossing them over his sleeping body as he Aoki then said,

"Okay, let's go."

We had to go about this carefully. Anytime a hospital staff member was close we had to stop and set the cart aside as if we weren't dragging it along with us. We got to the elevator and wheeled the cart in as Jun checked on Yasuhiro. Once we got out we wheeled it carefully out to the lobby where we got to the car and I got in the driver's side, Toki and Aoki maneuvering on getting Yasuhiro out of the cart without hurting him since when they grabbed his arms to hoist him up, he actually groaned in pain. Jun yelled at the both of them saying that he wasn't a doll to be dragged about and around like that. Toki got mad at him saying he shouldn't treating him with such care, that he was the enemy anyway.

"Yeah but it won't do us any good if he's fucking DEAD stupid!"

"Who the fuck cares of he dies. He dies, we got the other one!":

"But we need him to find the other one!"

Toki rolled his eyes as he looked at Aoki and said,

"Fuck it, let's pick him up real fast and I'll catch him."

Aoki nodded as he and Toki grabbed one arm each and lifted him up as Toki grabbed onto him and picked him up the rest of the way and then kicked the cart out of the way as he got in the car, Jun following as Aoki got in the passenger seat. I started pulled out and drove off.

Jun and Toki continued fighting the entire way back to Jia's building. Jun saying he was manhandling the one person that could give us information and Toki yelling at him saying that he gave way too much of a fuck about the enemy who was basically contracted to kill us all. Aoki finally turned around as he said,

"Hey, you two, you wanna shut the fuck up? The kid's drugged not dead."

Jun sighed, looking at Yasuhiro and then checking on him. He then said,

"He probably groaned because you two grabbed his bruised arm."

"And?"

"He's got needle marks there from the IV you idiot."

"Fuck you."

"Hell. Handbasket, put two and two together."

Toki glared at him as I finally got to Jia's building. Toki picked up Yasuhiro and brought him downstairs to Jun's make shift hospital as they laid him down on the small couch far against the wall. Jun made him comfortable as he then checked his pulse and his stats as he said,

"He should be fine. Seems fine anyway."

"You gonna leave him here?" Said Aoki.

"Yeah I'm gonna leave him here. He should be out for a few days at the least. Two, three days at the most while the drugs wear off. Once he's up, he'll be too weak and in pain to do anything else but listen to us."

Aoki nodded as I said,

"That's fine with me as long as I don't have to baby sit again."

Jun laughed as he said,

"Not this time Jo. I'll call Jia and let him know."

"Fuck that I'm going home anyway. I'll let him know." Said Toki.

"Whatever. He's here. He aint going nowhere." Said Jun.

We all then buttoned up our coats as Jun checked over Yasuhiro once more and then we all left him asleep and went back upstairs and left.