The next morning after having spent the entire night having fights and shoot outs on the front page of the New York times was the headline 'Gang Wars in New York: Back to the 1920s?' There wasn't much cause for violent, mafia like gang wars in New York since then...but now there was. I read the paper over seeing the war zone we left behind, the litter of dead bodies we had no time to hide so we just left them behind so there were chalk outline everywhere, white sheets covering the dead and pictures of the bullet holes in the car doors, the walls and the broken windows. Jia was pretty pissed off and as someone who uses their emotions to either fuel them or break them, Jia pretty much used them to fuel him last night. He got into an argument with Toki before we left, in the car ride there and on our way back. Toki had also shown up at the building when we got back and that just led to another argument. This morning, he was upstairs and anyone with any kind of sense was now on any floor but Jia's. Word has it that even if your on the opposite side of where Jia's office is on that floor, you could still hear them arguing. I decided to not even see for myself and stayed in the lobby for that entire morning. Even Tai has been seen wandering around downstairs because he does not want to get caught in any argument that has to do with those two. Akio and Mikkie were in the lobby with me that morning, neither one of them doing much since they had not been given orders. Akio sighed as he said,

"I wonder how long they're gonna keep arguing."

"You know Toki, always has to have the final word." Said Mikkie.

I put the paper down as I said,

"What are they arguing about anyway?"

"Toki's being an asshole, you know himself and he's pulling this I'm better then you, you can't tell me what to do bullshit on Jia."

Akio scoffed as he said,

"I don't know why though. Last time he did that shit Jia fired him and Toki cut off his fingertip to get back in."

I raised an eyebrow as I said,

"Yubitsume?"

"Hai. It's why if you noticed that he hides his left hand a lot."

"Oh...I never really noticed before."

Mikkie swept his hair back from his face as he said,

"They'll probably be there for another few minutes."

So we waited. When it was close to being eleven in the morning, the elevator opened and I heard more shouting. We looked over as Jia and Toki came out of the elevator, Jia in front as he pulled his coat, arguing with Toki about something that couldn't even be understood as Toki was fighting back. Jia stopped near the door as he said,

"Fuck you Toki! TAI!!"

We all ducked, hearing Jia raise his voice was not a pleasant thing to hear. Tai rushed out a moment later as he bowed his head and Jia said,

"You're in charge for today, I'm going home!"

"Fine go home you whinny little bitch don't expect me to be there!"

"DON'T BE THERE! In fact Toki don't come home at all stay all out all fucking night screwing some whore like you always do anyway!"

"Fuck you Li!"

"No, Fuck you Toki!"

He stormed out as Toki growled once more as he then went out too. They went in separate directions as we all looked at each other. Akio sighed as he leaned back against the couch and I said,

"So...what now?"

Tai answered me.

"Well, for the time being let's just hope Choong Jae doesn't do anything. We are not free right now to go to battle with the don of this syndicate fighting with his body guard."

"So...Tai...does that mean I can go home?"

Tai looked down at me as he then said,

"I guess. No one else can work right now and the lower heads are out in the city..so...yeah. Everyone's dismissed for today."

So, I went back home.

I couldn't believe that Jia and Toki would fight like that in front of everyone...and everyone was use to it which just gave me the idea that they had done this before. I burned some CD's later that night as I listened to them. After I dozed off listening to J, I woke up to hear my cell phone ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket as I heard Jia's voice on the other end. He asked me to pick him up. I got to my feet after I hung up with him and went to get him. I found him standing outside his apartment when I got there. He got in the passenger side and told me to just drive. He had no real destination and nowhere else to go...I was not really working. I gave a soft sigh as I said,

"Jia...want me to take you anywhere?"

"No, just drive for a while."

I did as told and just drove around Manhattan. He then lit a cigarette as he said,

"Want one?"

I took it as he lit it for me and then he leaned back against his seat. He exhaled, rolling down the window as he sighed and said,

"Never saw that before huh?"

"What?"

"Me and Toki fighting."

"Iie."

"It happens from time to time. You're probably wondering why I called you of all people."

"A little."

"I got no one to talk to besides Toki. I don't really talk to anyone on a personal level."

"Oh..."

"Relax. I'm not gonna ask you to have a cup of herbal tea with me and share your deepest secret."

"Okay."

"I just need someone else's company right now."

He exhaled, the cloud of smoke circling his head before going out the window. He then sighed and said,

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, don't you get lonely?"

"Sometimes."

Jia nodded as he sat up from the seat and said,

"You know what, take me to Tsubasa's place."

"Okay."

I then paused and said,

"I don't know where he lives."

He told me where to go as he then took out his cell phone, calling Tsubasa to let him know he was on his way over. I just drove. I stopped in front of an apartment on Park Ave. I looked up to see the beautiful building, reminding me of something you would see in a movie. Jia opened the car door as I was about to ask if he wanted me to go or wait. Before I even had the chance to ask he said,

"Wait here."

I nodded as he slammed the door and went inside the building.

Almost an hour and half went by as I sat in the car and waited. I had my mp3 player in my ear the whole time. I kept looking back and glancing at the building's entrance wondering what Jia was doing that was taking him so long...though I had a pretty good idea of what was taking him so long. I frowned, thinking how lucky he was. All these thoughts of Tsubasa came into my mind, the way his hair fell over his shoulder, how he looked up when he was sitting...and he was kind of short so he more or less had to look up to some people. He was so pretty and just...I could envy Jia for having the chance to have him. When an hour and a half passed, I saw Jia walking out of the entrance. He was lighting a cigarette as the doorman said good night to him. Jia walked around the car and opened the door as he got in. He leaned against the seat as he turned to me and smiled a smile that echoed Toki in the most disturbing way as he held his cigarette in his mouth and exhaled the smoke from the corner of his lip as he said,

"Hey."

I bowed my head sorta as he leaned his head back and looked so sated. He looked as if he was about to pass out at any moment. I started driving again as I then said,

"Jia...want me to take you anywhere else?"

He checked his watch as he said,

"Shit...I can't see anything..."

He went to his cell phone as he checked the time as he said,

"It's only two...might as well...um...I don't know what do you usually do at this time?"

"I'm usually sleeping."

"You're eighteen...how could you be sleeping?"

"I don't know anyone in this city."

He nodded as he looked back out the window. I thought I heard him mumble something to himself as he then stretched and said,

"God, I want a drink."

"Wanna go to a bar?"

"I don't like drinking alone."

I looked ahead at the road as I then said,

"I'll...I'll drink with you."

He looked at me as he then smiled again and said,

"Yeah?"

"If you want."

"Ne, arigato Aka-chan."

I gave a smile as he then directed me where to go.

In Chinatown, Jia owned a bar there. Since it was his, it was open all hours of the night. We went inside after parking the car around the back and sat at the bar. The bartender greeted Jia with a bow of his head. Jia gave him a wave as we sat at the bar and Jia said,

"Give me something strong."

"Anything sir?"

"Anything so long as it's strong."

He nodded as he looked at me and I said,

"Oh...um..whiskey straight."

He gave a nod as he went to get our drinks and Jia laughed as he lit a cigarette and said,

"Whiskey? Such an old man's drink."

"I couldn't think of anything else."

He laughed as he offered me a cigarette then lit it for me once I took one. He then sighed as the drink came and he took a long sip from his as he sighed again. I drank mine slowly, having more of my cigarette then my drink. He then said,

"Why do you want to go back home so badly?"

"Hm?"

"You want to go home. Most people have nothing to go back home to."

"Oh..."

I wasn't sure how to tell my boss that I wanted to go back home badly because I wanted to see Miya. I just shrugged and he answered for me.

"You have someone, not something to go back to right?"

"Anou....ah.."

"Yeah, you do. I can tell by the way you won't answer."

I bit my lip and took a sip of my drink.

"What's his name...or her name. Whatever."

"Miyabi."

"Elegance. What's he look like?"

"Kinda tall...my height more or less. Black hair, short in the back, long in front so it covers his pretty eyes sometimes. He's very bashful, has a weak, almost feminine demur."

"Your neko."

"My neko?"

"Uke. Whatever you wanna call it."

I felt my face get warm as I cleared my throat and said,

"We haven't..."

"Seriously? Have you ever?"

"Hai..."

I frowned looked back at my glass as he nudged me a little and said,

"No, Toki doesn't count. He'll fuck anything."

"Oh...sou ka."

"Ne, so you haven't fucked him yet."

I cleared my throat feeling almost awkward about this topic.

"Iie."

"You want to though."

"I guess. I just miss him a lot. He's my best friend. Known him all my life."

"Ah....I was like that with Toki."

"Honto ni?"

He nodded, putting out his cigarette in an ashtray as he drained his drink and then said,

"I've known him since I was middle school. I was too fascinated with him. How someone who looked and acted the way he did was so fucking smart."

"He's smart?"

He laughed as he said,

"Yeah...he don't act it though."

I nodded, finishing up my drink with a heavy sigh as he put his head down on the bar. I looked at him as I said,

"Jia...are you okay?"

"Hai...just thinking."

I noticed on the shoulder of his coat, there was a piece of hair...blonde hair. It stood out like gold against the black material. I reached over to it and pulled it off, watching as it slowly unraveled from his coat the fell in a gentle wave like it always did. Jia looked up a me as he said,

"Oh...Tsu's hair."

He took the strand as he let it go. I then said,

"You know Tsubasa very well?"

"Hai."

He got another drink. We didn't talk about much though I was tempted to ask him a lot...I just felt it wasn't my place to ask anything. We stayed at the bar for an hour, Jia knocking back about five drinks and myself only one since I was driving. Once he finished, I took him back to his apartment. He stayed in the car for a few moments, not getting out once we were in front of his building. I then said,

"Would you like to go somewhere else?"

He shook his head. It was three in the morning. He then sighed and said,

"No, I'll go home. I'll see you later."

He got out of the car as he the turned and said,

"Joryu...thank you for keeping me company."

I nodded as he closed the door behind him and went inside. As for myself, I finally went home and went to bed.

The next morning, I went to the building as usual only to see Tai was still in charge. Turns out Jia didn't come in at all because he was hung over. I stayed in the lobby again, my earphone in my ear as I sighed, wondering what to do with myself. I stayed downstairs for a while until I finally went upstairs to the conference room where I knew Tai would be in. I knocked on the door as I heard Tai's answer where I opened the door and said,

"Excuse me, Tai..?"

I saw Gabriel was sitting across the table from him as they had a few papers in between them, laying on the desk. Tai swept his hair back as he looked up and said,

"Hai...what can I do for you Joryu?"

"I was just wondering of I could do anything for today."

He looked back at Gabriel as Tai then went through some folders and then said,

"Um...yes. Do me a favor. Mikkie's not in today. He says he's not up to coming if he's just going to sit around all day. So...take this folder to him."

I walked inside and took the folder as I said,

"Oh, I'm not sure where he lives."

Tai picked up a pen as Gabriel gave him a piece of paper. He wrote down the address as he said,

"Here you go. After that, you can just go home. There's not much to do. Since the attack that we gave when we found out Choong Jae's people were here, he hasn't made a move since...so I guess we can just be careful."

I nodded as I then went on my way.

I've never been to Mikkie's apartment before. I wasn't expecting much, I was just sent to do a favor so when I went to Mikkie's door and knocked, I didn't think too much of it. At first I wondered if I should have called to check if he was around. I couldn't very well just leave the folder at his door. As I knocked on the door I looked down at the floor, my face still a little tender as I brushed my fingers over my cheek. The door opened as I heard something and much too my shock, I saw Toki standing there. My eyes widened slightly, almost dropping the folder in my hand as Toki had a cigarette in his mouth, shirtless and holding up his jeans, leaning against the doorway as he said,

"What you want?"

I saw Mikkie's hand pull his shoulder back as Toki then moved aside and Mikkie showed up, his hair pulled back in a messy bun, his bangs falling on the sides of his face, a pair of sweat pants on as his open robe revealed his pale body underneath. He looked at me as I said,

"Uh...Tai...Tai sent me to give this to you."

Mikkie took the folder as he looked at me and then quickly looked away, as if he was embarrassed by the whole situation. He then went back inside, shutting the door rather quickly as I then left.