It was silent around us for weeks though fights took place all over New York. Jia could do nothing about it for a while since everyone close to him was still recovering. I was assigned to standing guard to Tsubasa. The ningyo was beautiful and calm a lot of the times. He was silent a lot and most of the time I was around him, he was sitting, working on some paper work or on the phone with Jia himself. My major problem was guarding him when we went out. I didn't drive for him, but sat as a body guard, sitting beside him at night when he was taken home. In the light of the moon, I saw his pale skin almost reflecting off the black leather seats, his white hair blending in perfectly with the light available. He was like a doll when he was perfectly still, almost like he was made of porcelain and looked just as fragile. I tried not to stare at him when I was around him, but it was kinda hard since he was so...beautiful. It was no one wonder everyone called him the ningyo. Anyway, I spent a few days traveling back and forth around New York with Tsubasa. He was a busy man. Every now and then he had to go to the hospital to see Ai'iro and Jiki, then to see Jia, to stop and eventually eat. I loved to watch him eat. He was so slow when he ate, taking tender bites from everything, patting his beautiful pale pink mouth with the napkin every now and then. I decided that it was more dangerous for us to be around each other then anyone else. I kept thinking about distracting he is...man what a hard job to have. Anyway, after a few weeks of being Tsubasa's body guard, Jia finally called me back in. Akio was back in action, his hands were much better and so was Toki. Aoki, who had probably suffered the worst of the three was still out, so Aya also remained out. There wasn't much he could do alone unless it was business wise, so Jia set him aside for later.

I was glad to have my partner back and the first day I saw him I hugged him, putting my arms around his shoulders and bringing him close to me. I heard him give a soft laugh as he hugged me in return and said,

"Missed me Baby-chu?"

"Yes."

I was honest. I did miss him. He laughed again as I pulled back and looked at his hands. They were a little darker then usual but he seemed to be working them like he normally has. He said,

"They're fine now. Thank God. Hopefully the darkness will go away soon."

I nodded as I said,

"More then likely it will."

He then stroked my chin as we went up to Jia's office. Almost everyone was back. Just the two missing for now as we all looked at Jia and he said,

"Finally, a month and a couple of weeks has passed since all this bullshit started and we finally discovered what we've been after."

Tai went on to finish the conversation.

"His name is Mazarkai Dai. He was an allie of Ebizo. In fact he was one of the heads that backed Ebizo when he took over Osaka. Mazarkai went to jail in Osaka when he was caught for extortion. He did some time in prison while everything was going down which is why he's been absent until now. He was recently hired by Keiishiro and usually Mazarkai would have turned him down since Keiishiro was nothing, but once he found out that Jia was responsible for Ebizo's demise and that he still controlled Osaka, he accepted the job and hence, here he is."

I was confused. I wasn't sure who these people were.

"Jia, who's Ebizo?" I asked.

Jia lit his cigarette as he said,

"Ebizo was a rival from Osaka. He killed the oyabun I had made a deal with when I first started taking over. When I was taking control of New York, he came to challenge me. He almost got me too if he hadn't made the mistake of taking me to a bridge to kill me. I ended up killing him instead."

I nodded, now understanding. Toki then said,

"Shit with Ebizo happened a while back Jia. You're telling me this guy is still loyal to Ebizo's word?"

"Yakuza are loyal especially friends Toki. You know best."

He nodded as he lit his own cigarette and Jia said,

"So...Tai. Where is this guy now?"

"Location unknown. It's almost like he's pulling the strings in Osaka."

Jia sighed as he said,

"I'll ask Nishiki if Mazarkai is still in Japan. If he is, we might have to go back sooner then I thought."

"And if he's not?" Asked Akio.

"If he's not then we'll flush him out here won't we?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

A week was spent trying to find out where Mazarkai was hiding. Jia called Nishiki to find out if he was in Japan, but it would take Nishiki a few days to find out. Yuki was now involved since Jia needed all the help he could get. Yuki didn't spare anyone from going out to find information. Everything and anything would help. Meanwhile, I myself was out working again with Akio, the both of us sitting in bars, smoking and looking for anyone who would provide information. It wasn't easy trying to lure people out and get information. Some were as loyal as Toki and even under the threat of death they didn't talk. It was hard to seek out any information on this guy. Those didn't speak, didn't even know who we were looking for. This man had made no connections. He just came here to get Jia and be done with it. A few days passed when Jia finally found out that Mazarkai was not in Tokyo. All of us back in his office, he told us one evening.

"He's here. But where is the question."

Tai then tucked his hair behind his ear as he said,

"His connections are few to non existent. We can't seem to find anyone that knows of him. We can't even begin to describe him since we don't know what he looks like."

Jia rubbed the sides of his nose as if he had pain there and said,

"This is getting to be annoying."

Tai bowed his head in apology as he said,

"We're trying Jia."

"Not you Tai, I know you are. I mean this guy. Why would he haunt me after Ebizo? Nishiki heard of him though. This guy was in jail for extortion but he was an expert when it came to fire arms and bombs and shit like that. He based his life on it. No one really fucked with him because he could blow shit up and make it seem like an accident. Car bombs, buildings, you name it."

Gabriel then spoke up,

"Does Nishiki know anyone that could know Mazarkai?"

"Maybe...this is too much trouble. Information is being hidden about him. I need to find someone who could know of him."

It seemed to be so much trouble. I was working with Akio the next night, the both of us having a late dinner as he held his chopsticks slightly loose, picking at his rice as he sighed. I looked at him as I said,

"What's wrong?"

"Can't stop worrying."

"About?"

"This shit with Mazarkai. He might kill one of us soon. He just blew away half of the lower heads in New York. Some of the Yami too. He's serious threat."

I nodded as I said,

"I know. But until we find him or something about him what can we do?"

He shrugged as he took a sip of his drink and then said,

"I'm more worried about you actually."

"Me?"

"Yeah...Baby-chu, I don't like the idea of you being involved in something so heavy."

I gave a little laugh as I said,

"I can take care of myself. I've proved it."

"I know...but I still worry about you. Everyone's gonna coddle you. You're the baby here, so everyone is gonna worry about you."

"I figured. I'm not mad at that though."

He smiled as he went on eating and so did I. A few moments later, his cell phone rang and he answered. He nodded as he said,

"What? Okay, I'm there in a few."

He stood up as he said,

"Come on."

"Where we going?"

"Jackson Heights. Takeo found some information out for us."

I got up and quickly followed him, the bill being paid on our way out. We got in the car as I started the ignition, barely snapping in my seat belt as I floored the accelerator and drove to Queens. Again, barely doing under sixty. Akio lit a cigarette beside me as he leaned back against the seat and said,

"How'd you learn to drive so well?"

"I have no idea."

He laughed as I pulled onto the bridge, weaving in and out of traffic as I took us to Takeo's apartment. The old run down looking building that was actually a cover for his luxury inside. Climbing the same set of dirty stairs and passing the same drunks and druggies, sweeping the cobwebs away from my hair, we got to Takeo's door. After Akio stated who it was, Sashi opened the door.

"Hey, come in, come in. Hey you bought the kid with you again."

I smiled as I said,

"I'm Joryu."

"Yeah, I remember. You look grown this time kid."

I gave a slight shrug as Akio said,

"And the prince?"

"In his usual place."

We walked into the living room as Takeo stood there, watching the TV. Unlike the first time I saw him, he was standing this time, fully dressed. He had two of his concubines sitting at his feet like his pets, another one on the couch asleep. Takeo turned to us as he said,

"Hey Akio, Aka-chan."

"What do you know Takeo."

"I went digging for you guys. Free of charge."

"Thanks. I'm sure Jia will appreciate that."

"The reason you guys haven't found Mazarkai Dai is because no one knows him as that. He's best and mostly known as Jigoku."

"Hell...fitting name." Said Akio.

"Exactly. Bringing all of Hell's fires with him where ever he may go."

"So...he's Jigoku, which is why we haven't found him."

"Exactly. Ask for Jigoku...you'll find him easy then."

Takeo smiled as Akio and him exchanged a hug as he looked down and said,

"Nice."

"My new pet. The other one is over there."

We both looked as we saw Ryuhei there. Not too surprising, He did say Takeo made him an offer. Akio then said,

"We owe you one."

"Oh...fun."

Akio nudged him as we then left.

We got back to Jia as Akio told him what Takeo had told us. Jia then slammed his hand down on the desk as he said,

"I knew there was a reason that we couldn't find this son of a bitch!"

"He was going by Jigoku. Now that we know who he is, tracking him for Tai and Gabriel shouldn't be hard." Said Akio.

Jia nodded in satisfaction as he said,

"I'll owe Takeo."

"He'll find a way to pay him back." I said.

Jia laughed as he said,

"That he will."

For two days, with the new information gathered it wasn't long before Jun and Mikkie brought someone in. Jun presented him to Jia as he said,

"This is Karasu. Kuroi "Karasu" Tsuzuki. A friend of our Jigoku."

Jia looked at this one called Kuroi Karasu Tsuzuki. His semi long light brown hair fell around his face, slightly over one eye, his eyes cold and dark, his lips in an acute pucker, almost as if he was holding something in his mouth. Jia said,

"What are you doing here? I couldn't find a hint before of Jigoku a week ago. No one would come forward. You got something to gain?"

Karasu nodded but didn't make much eye contact. He hardly spoke much, but when he did, he said,

"I owe a great deal of respect to anyone who can get away with going after Jigoku."

"Why they call you Karasu?"

"I feed off the dead."

Jia nodded as he said,

"You wanna see Jigoku dead?"

Karasu nodded. Jia then said,

"You were a friend of his. Why betray him?"

Karasu shrugged slightly, his hair falling back from his eye revealing dark cold eyes as if they were made of ebony as he said,

"I have a lot to gain from his death."

Jia nodded as he said,

"I don't know if I can trust you."

"You don't have to. I'll tell you where you can find Jigoku. What you do with that information is up to you."

Jia nodded as he said,

"You betray him for money and power?"

"I told you I feed off the dead."

Jia smirked as he said,

"Let's you and me talk then."

Jia notioned him to come to his office.

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Definitions

Jigoku- Japanese word meaning hell

Karasu- Raven

Kuroi- Black