The next morning after a long hot shower, I got dressed and then blow dried my hair. I smoothed it back and tucked it behind my ears before untucking it, remembering what Akio said to me. I checked my watch as I saw I had a few minutes to get into Chinatown and join the rest of the 36 Moons at the Pearl Tea House for breakfast. I grabbed my necessary items and headed out, taking the subway. I arrived at the Pearl Tea House a little later, slightly late so I didn't get to sit in and have breakfast. I stood outside with Ai'iro and Estuya along with Jun and Mikkie.

"You're late Aka-chan." Said Jun.

I nodded, taking my place as I said,

"How late am I?"

"Twenty minutes."

I flinched as I said,

"Damn...did Jia notice?"

Jun shook his head as he said,

"Nah, Tsubasa is drawing attention away from everything."

"I figured."

Ai'iro laughed as Estuya looked at Ai'iro and lit a cigarette as he said,

"How can you just work for a ningyo like that?"

"He's my friend. I've known him since forever. Besides, he calls no interest in me...I mean sexually."

Estuya laughed as he said,

"Funny, that's all he calls in me."

We laughed except Mikkie. Mikkie was looking off into space, void of any idea of what was going on. Jun didn't even bother him, leaving him off in his dream world. I then lit a cigarette myself and said,

"Is Toki here?"

Mikkie turned to look at me, I could see him in the corner of my eyes as Jun shook his head and said,

"Nah, the lazy sack of shit isn't here. He showed up for a minute to check how things where then took off again."

"Him and Jia fighting again?" asked Ai'iro.

"Hai. They got into a fight in Tokyo because of Ryuhei."

Estuya shook his head, his now chin length black hair moving like silk across his face as he said,

"Man what was his whore doing in Japan in the first place?"

Ai'iro answered him.

"Problems going on here man. Remember? Ryuhei was fuckin Kei and they broke up and that's why he bounced."

"Ohh right. I didn't think he'd run to Toki though. Of all people."

"Didn't really run to him. He didn't know we were in Tokyo. He just checked and after he did, he was stuck to him like fucking glue." Said Jun.

We stood outside for a while until the doors opened and Aoki stood there, a cigarette in his mouth as he moved out of the way. Everyone began filing out, Jiki, Yuki, Aya, Gabriel, Tai, Akio and then Jia and Tsubasa. The two were still talking, Tsubasa playing with his white blonde hair as he toyed with the idea of pulling it back as he gathered it in his hands and held onto it for a while as Jia said,

"Ryuhei's back in the city you know."

"Dangerous for him to be. Keiishiro is looking for him. Didn't he learn his lesson from Akihasa?"

"Apparently not.."

Tsubasa finally left his hair alone as he buttoned his coat in the front and said,

"The situation is not so serious that you had to leave Tokyo, Jia."

"I know, but I rather be here now and stop it before it gets any worse."

Tsubasa smiled softly, his pale pink lips turning upwards softly as he said,

"So sweet of you Jia."

Jia smiled as he stroked his cheek. I thought they reminded me of a couple...like lovers lost in their own world. I could almost smile at the beauty that is them. Jia then turned and went back to his usual self as he said,

"I want this Keiishiro guy found and killed. I want everyone working for him killed or turned over to the police...whatever happens to more convenient for all of you. I also want someone to find Toki and let him know what's going on. Aoki please do that for me."

Aoki nodded as he then said,

"The rest of you go do what's told. The sooner we can get rid of this problem, the sooner we can go back home."

Motivation. I sighed as I looked at Akio and he notioned us to go.

We walked around New York as I yawned, looking at Akio every now and then as I said,

"Where we going?"

"We're staying in Times Square."

I noticed the crowd as I checked my watch seeing it was late morning. I leaned back against a wall as I said,

"I don't think Keiishiro would make a move now. It's so early."

"You never know. It's why we're making a quick check."

"I didn't even get a chance to eat."

He laughed as he said,

"Damn Baby-chu you're so needy."

"I'm just hungry."

We stopped so I could get something to eat which happened to be a bagel and a cup of coffee. I lit a cigarette as I had my bagel. Akio laughed as he said,

"Multi talented you."

I looked down at my hands seeing a cigarette in between the fingers of my right hand where I also held my cup of coffee and a bagel in the left. I smiled as I kept eating and we walked. As I finished my bagel I held a piece left and I offered it to Akio

"I already ate Baby-chu."

"Just a bite. Please?"

I offered it to him, waving it to him slightly as he sighed and took the piece with his mouth. He took it inch by inch until he reached my fingers were he bit those slightly, licking the cream cheese of them as he said,

"Happy?"

I nodded as he moved back and we kept walking, my fingers a little damp from his tongue. Plus I was feeling hot now...and not because of the warming temperature.

In the early afternoon, we have covered Times Square and then some. We headed to Central Park where we sat down, taking a break as Akio took off his coat and put his sunglasses on. He sighed as he said,

"Nothing all day. I wonder if anyone else had luck."

"I doubt it. They would have called right?"

He nodded as he looked around for a while and said,

"These guys play at night. We'll have to wait until then."

He went into his pocket as he got his cell phone out and said,

"Call Jun. Ask him if anything happened on his end. Then call Aya. I'll call Jia and Tai."

I nodded and did as told. Once confirming that Jun and Aya had found nothing on their walk either, Akio told me that Tai and Jia had the same confirmation, I said,

"Well...what now?"

"Well, we do nothing now. We have to wait until night fall and it's only.."

He paused to check his watch as he said,

"One thirty."

I leaned back against the bench as I said,

"So...I guess I should go home. Take a shower or something. Get some sleep. I'm still a little tired."

"Sounds good to me."

I turned to see him looking at me, that seduction in his eyes since he had taken off his sunglasses. I felt my face get warm as he then smiled and said,

"I'm kidding Baby-chu."

"Oh...I know...I was just.."

He laughed as I stood up and said,

"Didn't you promise to undress me though?"

He turned back to me as he raised one finely done eyebrow at me. He smiled softly as he said,

"If you wish. We do have some time to kill."

I didn't know why I asked him to come with me. I guess because of lack of anything better to do. Besides all I could think about was him touching me like he did in Bangkok.

We got back to my apartment a few minutes later. After taking off my coat and setting it on the couch, I said,

"Sorry...place is kinda empty. I haven't been here much."

"Don't worry about it. Too much is clutter."

"Maybe we should have gone to your place."

He shook his head as he reached out to me and cupped my face. He brought me close to him as he made me tilt my head back slightly as he said,

"You gotta tell me when to stop."

I nodded.

"I'm a playboy, not a homewrecker."

"Isn't that kinda the same thing?"

He laughed as he nudged me slightly and said,

"Not really. Now be quiet."

I nodded again as I held onto his wrists as he kissed me. Telling him to stop would be hard, but I knew I had to, or risk doing something really stupid. I broke it off eventually and moved back as I said,

"I need to shower."

He nodded as he followed me to my room where he helped me get undressed. Just as slow and with the patients of a saint as before. His fingers and the side of his hands grazing my skin, his mouth close to my body, his breath gently reminding me how close he was to me. He left gentle bites on my legs, my shoulders and arms as if marking me to say I belonged to him. I would have agreed if not for Miya. Once I laid in my boxers, still tingling and burning, Akio leaned over me, his arms holding him up as he said,

"Unless you want me to keep going I think you should go take shower."

I nodded as I slowly started sitting up. Once I got up and started walking I said,

"I'll only be a few minutes."

"Take your time."

So I went to shower. Once I came back out again, clean boxers on this time, I saw Akio was laying on my bed, a cigarette in his mouth as he held up my wallet. He was shuffling through it a little, looking at the few cards and pictures I carried around. An ashtray laid beside him, a few shirt buttons undone as he noticed me.

"Hey Baby-chu."

I got a pair of pants on as I said,

"Hey."

"Miya's so pretty. He reminds me of Aya."

I sat beside him as I looked over at the picture he was seeing. It was Miya, looking as he always looked, beautiful in every way. He then turned the picture as he saw the one of Miya and me in high school. I heard him laugh slightly as he said,

"God, you look angry."

"I usually do in pictures."

"That's Miya?"

I nodded as he took the cigarette from his mouth and said,

"Looks completely different."

"I know."

He put everything back as I said,

"You have any pictures?"

"I stopped carrying almost all of them when my mother passed away. I got one though."

He went into his pocket, getting his wallet out. The expensive looking leather material looking slightly worn but still as beautiful as he got a single picture out. He handed it to me as I saw a nice looking slightly old woman. She smiled brightly as some guy was standing next to her in a police uniform. I said,

"Who's that? Your mom?"

He nodded.

"Who's the guy next to her? Your brother or something?"

He shook his head as he said,

"It's me."

"You?"

I remembered him telling me he was a cop before. But the guy in the picture looked nothing like the Akio sitting beside me.

"It looks nothing like you."

He frowned slightly as he said,

"I know."

"Why not?"

He sighed as he said,

"Long story."

I gave him back the picture, finding that was his excuse for everything. Long story...as if I didn't have time to hear it. I was curious as to why he looked nothing like his picture though he said it was him. At any rate he set his wallet down on the night stand as he turned back to me and said,

"Where's your shirt?"

"Didn't put it on yet."

"You should."

The tips of his fingers razed a line down my body which made me shutter. I cleared my throat as I said,

"What time is it?"

"Around two."

I nodded as he leaned forward to kiss me again. Total distraction. God he was such a good kisser. He was a total act of seduction...his fingers skilled and slow, his body warm...it was a strange feeling. I wanted to enjoy it more, but I knew if I lost all sense of what I was actually doing, I would make a mistake. Not that...this was any better, but it was better then anything I could do. He held me close, his hands in my hair as he smoothed it back, his mouth leaving soft kisses against my cheeks, my lips, his body keeping me warm from the air conditioned apartment, I smiled as he said,

"Why'd you have to be in a relationship?"

I laughed as I said,

"You just wanna fuck me. You don't want me."

He smirked slightly as he said,

"Not true."

"You want me for more?"

"Not true."

I laughed as I hit him and he in returned nudged me back. He laughed as he said,

"I don't know what I'd do with you afterwards."

"Nice."

"I'm being honest."

I smoothed my fingers over his face, brushing back his hair from his forehead since he rarely didn't have his hair in his face. I noticed then he had a faint, white mark, like stitches healed there once. It ran along the side of his face. It was very faint, you almost couldn't see it unless you were looking directly at the side of his face. He moved my hand away as his hair fell back in place. I didn't say anything and I had a feeling he didn't want me to. We spent some time together until both our cell phones went off. I got a call from Jun, his from Jia. We were told to get moving. I had to get dressed quickly as we grabbed our stuff and ran out and went to go meet everyone else up.

We headed to Jia's building and started going inside the lobby when I heard Toki's voice.

"Now why are you mad at me?!"

I could faintly hear Mikkie's response.

"I really don't want to talk about this here Toki."

"Well you won't answer my calls, you're not home, hanging out with fuckin Jun all the time when and where am I suppost to talk to you about it?"

"I don't know, just not here."

"So fuckin tell me why you're mad!"

"I'm not."

"Yes you are! God why won't you just tell me."

"It doesn't matter. Besides why do you care so much? And since when?"

"Damnit Mikkie why you have to say shit like that?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Yes you are!"

"I don't want to talk about it here."

Akio nudged me inside, telling me to stop eavesdropping. We went further inside the lobby as Mikkie came around a corner and saw us. He stopped for a moment, before he went on his way. Toki then came out from the same area as he said hi to Akio and then went to the elevator. I stood still for a while until Akio notioned me to go to the elevator. A few minutes later everyone was gathering in Jia's office. Yuki was there already, his long blonde hair tied back still as he lit a cigarette, Estuya standing beside him. I saw Takeo there again, his short layered blonde hair still falling over his defective looking eye as Tsubasa sat in the only chair across from Jia's desk. I admired Tsubasa for a few seconds before Jia said,

"Okay so, it's night time, I figured it would be best for Keiishiro to come out now."

Takeo nodded as he said,

"Nothing has been going through Queens. Rumors are floating though. Keiishiro was a low time business guy. He crossed the Yami into getting territory, unknowing it was really 36 Moons territory. What he doesn't care about is, once he did find out, he kept going. He's thinking highly of himself and has taken some of the more lowly street life to side with him. Street thugs that don't know what they're getting into."

"Like lambs to slaughter." Said Tsubasa.

Takeo nodded, his hair falling slightly out of place as he said,

"So...should we be merciful and give them a warning or...go on business as usual?"

We all looked at Jia as he said,

"Business as usual. They should know better then to walk into something blindly."

We all nodded in agreement as Jia dismissed us. On our way out, I saw Toki leaning against the wall near Jia's door. He had his arms crossed, one ankle over the other as a cigarette hung from his mouth, a bandanna tied around his forehead as his black hair stuck up in spikes, the blonde bangs falling around his face. He looked as if he was waiting for something. I didn't bother to find out what as I followed Akio downstairs and we went to work.