Jia wasted no time getting the Japanese to sign over their cities to him. He spoke to them in a calm collective manner, holding meeting after meeting with each, reasoning with them, telling them it would be pointless to fight against him. It would not only be a waste of life, but of time and money. Most of them understood reasoning and seeing Jia's points. They saw that Jia wasn't out to just rule them with an iron fist, but to make money for everyone. Though it was really more of a power trip for Jia who jokingly addressed himself as "King of the fucking Universe" from time to time. Although nowadays I think he meant it. Anyway for every five that agreed with Jia's logic, there was one who refused to meet Jia's standards. He said he had fought too long and too hard to make one city his and he was about to give it up to some power hungry oyabun. He said Jia's name didn't mean a damn thing and neither did the syndicate he ran. Jia tried reasoning with him once more before he just got angry and began arguing as well. Jia had little to no patience. Hell he was always fighting with Toki anyway, I didn't think his patience ran too long and when the final few heads of certain cities started saying no, Jia wasted no time in getting rid of them. He would roll his eyes and turn his back, walk a few steps and Toki, Aoki and myself would take care of them. He would then say,

"Fuck them. I don't have time for this bullshit."

Pretty soon, after a good two months of being in Cali, after being yelled at each time one of us who smoked started to light up somewhere public or getting dirty looks on the streets for smoking near someone, after standing in the Cali heat while we worked and getting Jia organized, we were done. I was actually not looking forward to getting done. Back two months when Akio said he had something to tell me once we finished working, I had kept the idea out of my head for the longest time. However whenever someone mentioned that we could be finishing up soon, that work was starting to slow down, I found myself panicking. Although I really didn't know why. Why was I panicking? Akio could have to tell me the most meaningless thing in the world and here I was, getting all worked up over what could have been nothing. But still, Akio was not one to make me wait if was something petty. So my stomach turned at the thought and I tried not to get sick over it...although when Jia let me know after two months that we were done, I had to excuse myself and run out of his office and to the bathroom where I threw up. I was on the floor, kneeling as I held myself up against the walls of the stall in the bathroom. I coughed afterwards, feeling sick still as I finally got up and flushed as I went to rinse my mouth out. I had no idea what had come over me. I pulled my bangs back as I turned on the faucet and looked at my reflection. I wasn't sick. I felt fine up until Jia said we were done working. I sighed, leaning down, tilting my head to the side to took a gulp of water. I rinse my mouth before spitting it out again and then taking another mouthful and doing it again before I turned off the sink and passed my hand over my mouth. I heard the door open a moment later as Jun came in and said,

"You okay?"

I nodded, letting my hair fall back in place as he said,

"You ran out of there pretty quick. You sick again?"

"I don't know. I feel fine. But then, like two seconds ago, my stomach turned."

Jun nodded as he said,

"If you're feeling sick later let me know okay. I'll have you checked."

I nodded as Jun then gestured me to come back out.

Anyway, we weren't done instantly. Jia still had some loose ends to tie up which required the business heads to look over some final thing, but it meant the other heads had nothing to do. So I spent as much time as I could out of the hotel room in case Akio came back. I started talking to Jun more, wondering what he was up to. Jun wasn't too talkative when it came to himself, but he did like talking about food with me. We talked about what we liked, what we could live on and what we hated. It was strange because it was such a stupid topic, but it made us talk. Jun then said to me,

"You stopped eating a while back."

"I wasn't hungry then. I'm still not now, but I got too skinny."

"I wish I could stop eating."

"Where does it all go?"

"I work it off. I don't allow it to sit so I don't get heavy."

I nodded as I said,

"Why'd you become a doctor?"

"I thought it would be good for me to be a doctor. I was only practicing medicine for a year before Toki came about."

"You and him were friends right?"

"A long, long time ago."

I shook my head as I said,

"I can't even imagine that."

"It was almost the same thing. I kept telling him how to take care of himself, he never listened. We argued, he did as he wanted, he came back hurt."

I laughed a little as I said,

"You went to Tokyo University?"

"For a while. I use to live in New York when I was younger. So I use to go to NYU. Then my parents wanted to move back to Japan so I went there."

"Oh...no wonder you have like a different accent."

"When I speak Japanese?"

"Yeah. At fist I thought it might have been an Osaka bend but..now I know why."

He nodded, yawning as we both sat in the lobby of the hotel. I then said,

"Where's Mikkie at?"

"I don't know. Probably sleeping. He hardly sleeps when we work so I wouldn't be surprised if he was sleeping now."

"Don't you slept?"

"I slept all day today."

I leaned back on the sofa as I said,

"Wanna get some dinner?"

He thought for a moment before he said,

"Yeah sure...come on."

So we both went to have dinner.

Later in the week, Jia had finished up loose ends, ran double checks over everything and finally handed over everything to Keisuike, telling him to call him if anything or to just contact Sozaburo should Jia be in Japan at the time. Keisuike thanked him for taking care of things so quickly and he wished us a safe flight back. Jia thanked him for his hospitality and soon we were on our way back to New York. Jia had to go back to New York mostly to clear things up with Sozaburo, run a meeting with the Itto Ketsuen, the Yami, Yuki and Takeo while he was there. We had not seen them in a while. Afterwards, we would be on our way back to Tokyo. I wasn't in a rush to go anywhere but to Ichiro's bed. My own wonderful plaything that had left my hand burning from his touch before...I was anxious to get back to him. I had avoided Akio by that whole week, only seeing when I woke up first thing or just passing him by, saying hi before we went our separate ways. I didn't hang around him long enough to make conversation. I didn't want to hear what he had to say. The very idea made my stomach knot up again. Anyway now that we were on our way back to New York with no other work to do, Jia had planned a celebration. Ren, who had been working just as hard as all of us, was more then grateful to go back home. He probably missed Kotei. A couple of hours later, we touched down back in New York. Jia sent us home first thing and that was what I did. I went to bed and caught up on my sleep, trying to get a somewhat decent sleeping pattern back. The next afternoon, I heard the doorbell and I rolled out of bed and went to answer. I did it quietly in case it was Akio and saw it was actually Ichiro. My beloved plaything was there, standing in some casual wear, black pants, white shirt a light coat over the whole thing. He smiled as I welcomed him inside. I yawned, covering my mouth as I said,

"I just woke up."

"Sorry I just came over. I had the chance to leave Katie with her nanny and I heard you were back in town."

"I am."

He smiled, taking my hands as he said,

"I'm glad to see you again."

I wanted to kiss him. I really did, but I had just woke up and my breath was horrible. I then excused myself to take care of that while Ichiro went to my room. When I came back, he was sitting on my bed, getting himself comfortable as he had taken off his coat and shoes. He reached up to his neck as he unclasped the usual choker he wore as he set it on my night stand. He was unaware I was watching him since his back was to me. He then reached to his shirt hem and pulled it up, inch by inch, his back was revealed, the evil deity guarding his back as it glared at me. I watched him toss the shirt aside as I then went to him, putting my hand on his back as he shivered and turned to face me. We kissed at the awkward angle as he said,

"You scared me."

"Sorry."

He laid down as I got on top of him, kissing his mouth, hungry for that touch again. Damn I missed that...I missed him. I felt his hands slip under my robe as he then reached up to my hair and pulled it down from the elastic band. I fell around his hands as we continued to kiss again. When we broke apart, he looked at me as he said,

"Jia's going to have a meeting with the Itto Ketsuen later tonight. Then a celebration tomorrow night."

"Oh the meeting with you is tonight?"

"Yes. Are you going?"

"Yeah. I'll go."

"And the party?"

"I'll go to that. I'll never pass up a party."

He smiled as he said,

"Didn't we meet at one of those parties?"

"Yeah...we did."

He laughed as he brought me back down for another kiss.

That night, I woke up to the sound of a cell phone. I didn't recognize the tone until Ichiro woke up. He got out of bed as he got his phone from his pocket as he answered. He spoke for a few minutes before he said,

"I'll be there in half an hour."

He hung up as he started getting dressed. I sat up as I said,

"It was Jia?"

"Yeah. He wanted to know what time we should meet. So I have to go home and change...or actually get a different shirt."

"Take one of mine. You don't have to go all the way home for that."

He smiled as he came back over to me, his pants on but undone as he straddled my lap and said,

"Jo, you're a sweet guy."

I laughed slightly as I said,

"It's just a shirt."

He laughed now as he said,

"That's not what I mean. I mean over all. You're sweet. Why would anyone let you go?"

I shrugged, knowing it was usually because of me. With my arms around his waist, his arms around my neck we kissed, savoring the taste that was only him, his lips so soft, thick under mine, his tongue soft and wet...I think his mouth was made for kissing. When he pulled back after a few minutes, he got off me so he could get dressed and I decided to do the same to join the 36 Moons for the meeting. We took separate cabs to not let anyone be wise to this fling I was still carrying with someone who like my boss as I then got to the Pearl Tea House. It was crowded since it was Friday evening and the top heads of three major syndicates in New York were meeting. Along with associates and such. I saw Yuki and Estuya, Ren and Kotei, Takeo, Karasu still sporting his now more masculine look, Ichiro wearing my clean white button down shirt and his coat and pants, the Yami, the ningyo still with deep marks near the corner of his mouth and near his ear lobe, Ai'iro and his violet eyes and the ever silent Jiki that had his still orange with black roots hair tied up. The rest of the 36 Moons was there as well and we all sat down to start dinner. It was more of a small celebration between friends now. Toki, Akio, Aoki and Takeo talking about their favorite subject, Jia, Tai, Yuki, Karasu, Ichiro and Tsubasa talking business, the rest of us mingling in different conversations. I was so glad to be among people I knew pretty well. Best of all my toy was there. Ichiro would throw different glances at me every now and then, his eyes slowly blinking as if he was winking in actuality and I would smile, feeling good that he was doing that. Plus I was also getting attention from Aya, since Aoki was busy talking with the pimp, the playboy and the manwhore. It was a good meeting. Jia did eventually get all our attentions during dinner to let us all know what had happened in California, how everything was taken care of and how Keisuike was taking care of everything there. Sozaburo was glad to know it, saying he knew that Keisuike was reliable. Ren also said everything was secure so we didn't have anything to worry about in Cali again. Jia was glad to know that. Then he announced he would like to go back to Japan by the end of next week since he was tired and wanted to go back to his real home. But he didn't pressure any of us to come back. With everything mellowing out by then, there was no need for us to rush anywhere now.

The next evening, there was the usual party as planned. Every yakuza in New York came out for these. It's when Jia and the rest of the oyabuns of New York rented out the top four floors of the Hilton and we drank, smoked and fucked the rest of the night. I was within a safe circle being, Mikkie, Jun, Estuya and Ai'iro. We talked about everything, from recent times to the whole deal with California, to even how Ren and Kotei were probably fucking. Estuya nodded as he said,

"I had to check in on the kid every now and then. All he talked about was how much he missed Ren."

"Didn't he always have a crush on him though?" Said Ai'iro.

"That doesn't always mean they're fucking." Said Mikkie.

I scoffed as did Jun as Estuya said,

"Nah but if they're not then they just got real close all the sudden."

We all looked over behind us as we saw Ren and Kotei standing in a small circle talking with Tai, Gabriel and Karasu. Ren had his hand on the small of Kotei's back as the little emperor leaned on Ren's shoulder. Jun shook his head as he said,

"It's Jia and Toki all over again."

For the most part, we all laughed, except Mikkie. Who never laughs anyway.

I spent most of the party talking to them, occasionally finding myself with the three full of mischief and Takeo as they talked about sex, howled at every pretty female that walked by and growled at Aya, Sozaburo or any other pretty guy that walked by. It was like they were teenagers at a mall or something. Anyway, I did managed to wander off from then once they started going to the bathroom frequently and Aoki and Toki decided to play their usual drinking game. I went to get a drink myself, talking to some girl as I did, then gradually going off to find my small group again. As I did, I felt someone take a hold of my wrist and I turned to see Akio. I smiled, having forgotten about what he said until he said,

"Come on, let's talk."

My stomach turned and knotted painfully as he led me out of the main ballroom. We went down to the last floor Jia had rented out and brought me to an empty room. As the door clicked closed behind us, I felt like hyperventilating. I swore I was going to pass out in two seconds. I tried to calm myself saying it was nothing, I was over reacting and more over, being really, really stupid. With that, I took a deep breath as Akio walked around me, not bothering to turn the lights on as he pulled back a curtain instead letting the sky be our light. I stayed in my place as I started patting down my pockets for my cigarettes. I took one out of the pack and with shaky hands, started to light it. I inhaled as I then heard Akio say,

"About time I managed to get you alone."

I swallowed a bump in my throat as I said,

"Yeah...been busy."

He nodded as he sat down and looked at his hands for a moment before he said,

"I gotta talk to you Baby-chu."

I nodded as I stayed where I was and said,

"About?"

He sighed, his shoulders rising a little as he said,

"You know...I was figuring that....it's not so bad."

"What's not so bad?"

"This...thing we had."

My heart started beating so fast and so loud I swore he heard it.

"Thing...?"

"Did you really not like seeing me?"

"I...I did...but you know it was just fucking."

I started to panic. I seriously started to panic. I didn't want to hear what he had to say and I started contemplating running out of the room and hiding. But I couldn't even walk much less run. My legs started shaking as I started to feel like I was going to hyperventilate.

"It was for the most. But you told me once that...you didn't want to feel anything."

"I still don't."

He got up and I took a huge step back, quickly and without thinking. I slammed into the wall behind me with a loud thud as I started to shake for real. He smiled slightly as he said,

"What's all that?"

"Nothing."

He took another step and I started to press myself against the wall, the cigarette in my hand burning quickly. He then got a little closer as he said,

"Give me another chance."

"For what? For fucking? Sure...I wouldn't care. Been a while since I was an uke though...gotta be careful and not tell Aoki...he would kill you wouldn't he?"

"For more then that Baby-chu."

"What else could you want from me?"

My eyes were wide and I was pressed against the wall and I was clutching at it like it was my life line. I had broken my cigarette by then and it fell to the ground as he laughed a little and said,

"For more then just fucking Baby-chu. I do..."

He paused, turning his head slightly, pulling back his hair as he said,

"Damn...I never said this before..."

"Well don't start now!"

He looked surprised as I really did start hyperventilating. I couldn't breathe. I started to panic and I felt sick to my stomach. I felt that if he did say whatever he had to, I would either fall to the floor or throw up again. He then said,

"Calm down....what's wrong?"

"Nothing...I just...I can't...and..."

I saw he started to get worried so I tried calming myself down, I tried breathing slowly as I said,

"I'm fine."

He nodded as he tucked his hair behind his ear and said,

"Okay...so..."

"Oh Akio please don't do this. Please. You have no idea what you're doing to me but if you do I guarantee I'll pass the fuck out."

He laughed as he said,

"Why are you so nervous? Should I be the one all nervous?"

"No....you don't remember what I said do you?"

"About?"

"About...anything having to do with a single person. The idea makes me sick to my stomach."

"Oh...yeah."

"Don't take it personally but after all that shit that I went through before...I can't afford to have my heart broken like that."

He nodded as I finally started to calm down. He then said,

"Come here."

I went over to him and he hugged me, rubbing my back to calm me down as I started to relax, my head feeling light as I rested against him. He then kissed my cheek and said,

"You okay?"

This lasted for a few minutes as I said,

"Yeah."

He kissed my mouth, softly, like he had before in California. He was still holding me close to him as he then pulled back and smiled slightly as he said,

"Calm?"

"Yeah."

I nodded as he brushed his fingers over my cheek as he then let go and said,

"Come on, let's get back then. I don't want Aoki thinking anything."

I nodded as I followed him out and we both returned to the celebration.