I can't look you in the face.
Said it with my normal grace.
It was just another cure.
Never bothered just ignored.

Killjoys-- Rave & Drool


Takeru's POV


"Higgins, Robert," the plump bartender spoke loudly over the small crowd of people applying for the job. His Spanish accent was thick and I had to strain my ear to make out the simplest of words. I walked over to him, flashing him a smile of mine before I sat down in the chair he offered.

Instantly, he began drilling me with questions and I answered them all with the most confident and crisp voice I could muster. I was literally choking on the smoke fumes from all the cigars and cigarettes that every man in Spain seemed to use. "Can you serve and mix drinks?" the man asked me after a large smile crossed his dusty face.

I just smiled confidently as I got up, making my way over to the bar. One part gin, two parts tonic. The first drink I had ever consumed in my life. It had this sweet, almost sugary taste to it. But the gin leveled that out making it an enjoyable drink that I would never pass out on. Adding a squeeze of limejuice, I served it to him, adding three ice cubes for decoration.

Taking a sip, he seemed to be content enough and loudly told everyone in the bar to get lost. Dozens of men grumbled Spanish curses as they stepped out into the bright lights of the morning sun. He handed me a suit, one I would never have even glanced at, so much as wear. A tight leather vest and a pair of leather pants. He pushed me out of the bar, telling me my shift started at seven, threatening to fire me if I was late.

I sighed deeply as soon as the door slammed shut. God, leather… this was going to be a tight squeeze… I shuddered, knowing that personal taste had no room in the business I did. And it wasn't as if it would be the first time I ever wore the stuff. The pointless little argument I was having with myself ended abruptly as I saw police cars surrounding the hotel I was staying at.

Bright yellow police tape surrounded the doors, barricading people from crossing. There were several shaking people rambling accounts to burly looking policemen as paramedics attended to a few people. At once my thoughts screamed. Daisuke. I knew that he had something to do with this at once. He was always getting himself into unnecessary trouble.

Scanning the masses, I caught a glimpse of the tangled cinnamon hair that stood out in the crowds of ebony black. I rushed through people, lightly pushing my way toward him as I ended up near an ambulance. Daisuke was frantically trying to tell the paramedic that the gaping bullet hole in his arm was nothing, but no matter how much he cajoled, he wouldn't get his way. The man had a sedative in his arm before he could put up another word of protest.

That was probably the most effective way to shut him up that I had ever seen. A tipsy second later he just about passed out in the van. I laughed silently as I walked over, telling the paramedic that I was his brother (this took a lot of convincing) and he allowed me to go to the hospital where Daisuke would get his arm patched up. I scolded him mentally while I brushed a few strands of his hair from his eyes.

Upon arriving at the hospital the sedated Daisuke was left in an over crowded hospital where I had to wait with in a stretcher, crammed between people in an uncomfortable position. The air in the room was thick and clung to you the wrong way. It made you lightheaded and dizzy just waiting.

"A handsome man your brother is," the female next to me spoke up. My eyes fell on her, smiling coolly. Her Russian accent was highly out of place here, but her looks almost struck me down dead. A pair of shocking violet-gray eyes hidden beneath a head of wild cherry black hair that seemed to sparkle like stars at night.

"Yea, but I'm the cute charming one," I lied, extending my hand. "Robert Higgins."

"Call me Elle," she smiled, revealing a row of pearly teeth. I noticed the large cut on her arm immediately.

"Oh my God! Are you all right?" I asked concerned.

"Oh, this," she sighed. "Dah, I'm okay. Tis only a scratch. In Russia, this wouldn't even be looked at!"

I laughed quietly. "Yea, in Trey's mind this is nothing but a flesh wound. He's as stubborn as an ox," she giggled seductively; her voice was rich and mesmerizing. She slowly extended her hand, touching my shoulder as I flinched, pulling away from her immediately. "Oh, did I hurt you?" she gasped.

"No, no I'm sorry," I apologized embarrassed. "I'm fine," she looked at me quizzically. "You're lying to me," she spoke up almost instantly after scanning my eyes. "But dah, we just met. I hope to see you soon Robert," she smiled waving absently as she strolled right out of the hospital.

"Smooth man," Daisuke smirked, fully conscious as he managed to groggily laugh at me.

"How long have you been awake for?" I asked suspiciously. I knew that Daisuke had this little problem with eavesdropping. He couldn't stop doing it.

"About the whole time, oh cute charming one," he laughed full out, coughing instantly as he groaned. "Top ten things I'll never do again…" he muttered.

"What did happen Daisuke?" I asked, scratching at the area where Elle had touched me. I shuddered slightly before looking down at him again. The most scolding expression laced my delicate features. He winced as he opened his flaring chocolate eyes.

"They know we're here. Who ever the hell we're going after know about us," he sighed, sitting up while rubbing his arm. "This hurts like a bitch!"

"It should!" I exclaimed. "Daisuke you were shot for the love of God!"

"Okay, how many times have I been shot before?"

"Too many for my count. You're just a bullet magnet aren't you?"

"Hey! Last time I checked, I was pushing you out of the way of like, all of them!"

"Oh whatever, why are were arguing again?"

"Who knows?" he shrugged. "But I'm a tad nervous right now and I want to get out of this open space… crowded or not, we're like sitting ducks in here. And I don't want to be the target for another assassin. The guy they hired was a pro. He had everything planned out in advance. Room next to me was blasting rap music to keep the sound of the guns from alerting the authorities and they sprayed the entire room. There's a message there, I have no idea how to read Spanish, so looks like you're gonna have to do it."

"Do you remember what the message was like?" I asked, resting my back against the plaster coated yellow wall. "A certain word or something?" Daisuke just shook his head. I sighed, letting my shoulders slump. "Well, lets get you back out in the open. You're too stubborn to stay here over night like a sane person."

"Coming from you I take that as a compliment," he chuckled, sticking his tongue out.

"Take it as whatever you want," I rolled my eyes, pushing his back forward, chuckling the entire way. Discreetly as we could, we snuck out of the small hospital, happy to finally be free of the shack masquerading itself of as a hospital.

After informing me that we had no way of getting-a-hold of Mimi, I started to curse silently under my breath. This was so not good. We're being stalked by men with machine guns and rifles, with absolutely no way of calling in for back up. Not that we couldn't pull it off (we've managed in even worse conditions) but this was just ridiculous!

"So now, how did the interview go?" Daisuke asked me, once we had gotten back to the hotel, trying to find a way to get in.

"I start at seven. And I get to wear this fashion disaster," I retorted bitterly, holding up the leather material.

"Apparently Spain hasn't caught up with the rest of the world in this certain department. My God… are you honestly gonna wear that?"

"Have to."

"I envy you so much…" his voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I'll trade."

"No, I'd rather take the assassins after me any time… I would not be caught dead in that thing! God, my reputation would be ruined! I would have to kill everyone that saw me!"

"Once again, I'll trade you," we bickered like this for about another hour, finally finding a gap where the police weren't too highly concentrated. While Daisuke distracted them, with false fear that he couldn't find his 'brother' I raced up, peeking in just in time to catch the message. My eyes quite literally popped out of my head as I turned around, running back down to find Daisuke and tell him. He was outside, waiting patiently by a tree (which was hard for Daisuke considering patience was virtue he was born without) with a large smirk on his face.

"What?" I asked as I approached.

"I just got that girls number," he smiled arrogantly, holding up the phone number written light pink lipstick. He placed it politely in his pocket, patting it before looking back to me. "What did it say?"

"Viva y deje morir," I replied casually, shrugging as if I was the only one in the world that understood what it meant, when in reality I hadn't a blazing clue.

"And that means…" he probed further.

" Live and let die," I shrugged as he groaned.

"And that means…" he inquired again.

"No idea."

"You're impossible you know that?" he sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Yup."

"So what do we do now? We get to Pamplona and the second you leave for your job interview I get shot at by a balding man wearing lime green pants. Now, the message written on my bullet filled wall in bright orange paint says 'live and let die'. What the hell does that all men?"

"You're the brains, not me!" I shot out, chuckling softly.

"We are so screwed."

"Yup."

"Stop that!"


Later that night, I had to get ready for my 'job'. Pulling on the skintight leather, I groaned before fully covering myself in a floor length Gucci jacket. I trudged on, walking over to the Tangola. I inhaled sharply before removing the jacket and slipped it on the hanger in the coatroom. My 'boss' came over to me, instantly pushing me into the bar area.

The club was needless to say packed. Bright neon lights spun around the room while fog machines spewed out wave after wave of the heavy air. The music was very modern and blazing loudly in the background, so loud I winced. People were moshing, winding and making out in every possible direction. Not one person was standing still. Sadly, all those moving people became dehydrated really quickly and I didn't stop moving either.

It seemed that more people kept coming at me, all demanding the most outrageous drinks I had ever heard of. Gin and tonic with a splash of vodka, tequila with grape juice and some things I wasn't even sure mixed! But hey, whatever floated their boat. No skin off my back if they got sick from what they drank.

But after a straight hour of serving drinks, I needed to pour myself one. Since the tequila bottle was closest to me, I grabbed it and filled a small shot glass. Once the liquid entered my mouth, I spit it back in the glass. It was like drinking water! It was so diluted!

"So you're the new guy," a fellow leather-clad bartender smiled as he spoke to me. "You're supposed to add salt to the drinks. If not, you're basically drinking water. But only use the salt for drinks. The stuff we have here is lethal. We buy it cheap and sell if high."

"Thanks," I smiled warmly. "Robert."

"Miguel," he replied back. "Oh, but this is just between the rest of the bartenders and the manager. The salt is like, lethal, so only add it for the drinks, nothing else."

"What?" I blurted out.

"See, since we don't buy the genuine stuff, we have to improvise. By adding straight salt to the drink, it levels out the poison and the lack of flavor. It's not deadly and it's inexpensive."

"Thanks," I thanked again as I hid a bottle of salt. This could come in handy considering I remembered Daisuke had mentioned that straight table salt was one of the ingredients in the ashes that were on the stage from 'Jose'.

"Miguel! Water, quick! Get back to work!" someone shouted as the man sighed. He retreated over to where the voice had come from and he quickly began serving the bustling people their beverages.

I turned around to pick up a new bottle of bourbon just as a new voice interrupted my thoughts. "Tisk, I'm going to have to make a complaint about the service here. Simply horrible!" I shook my head despairingly.

"En que puedo servirle?" I asked in Spanish, smiling as he wrinkled his nose disapprovingly.

"Water," he replied as he took a seat, smirking like the fabled Cheshire cat. I grabbed the bottle of tequila that was still at my side and fished out a new glass from the cabinet. "Yo! I said water, not alcohol!"

"Might as well be drinking this," I offered as he batted it away. "But, because I'm so amazing and everything, guess what I found out?"

"That you truly don't have a clue," he retorted.

"Aw… so mean to me… but, I'll tell you anyways. Guess what the secret ingredient in all the drinks are here?"

"Enlighten me, oh wise one."

"Sodium Nitrate," I smiled as his eyes almost bulged out of his head. "See, they buy watered down, shit drinks. Then they add sodium nitrate to it and since there's still alcohol in the drinks, it kills off the poison from the salt and it adds flavor. Nobody's the wiser afterward."

"Sweet," Daisuke smiled, passing a hand through his hair. "So, how goes it here?"

"It goes. I can't wait to get the hell out of this though!" I pointed to my outfit.

"But it brings out the color of your eyes!" he argued mockingly.

"Daisuke Motomiya, are you making fun of me?"

"Now, Takeru, would I do such an awful thing?" the smile significantly widened on his lips.

"Yes," I spat flatly, spinning a drink halfway down the table to Miguel who had shouted for a Bloody Mary. I turned around to face Daisuke again, but as my head turned, he was nowhere in sight. But looking over to the side, I caught a glimpse of him dancing with a pretty, yet familiar looking brunette. Daisuke's wrists were completely clad in a long collection of neon bracelets (which were sold at the door) that gave away his every movement in a haze of blinking swirls. His shirt was a creamy pale gray and it switched to match the many shades of the lights that passed. Instead of his usual expensive dress pants, he opted for baggy green khakis with a blaring orange stripe that fanned out into blazing flames near his ankles.

"So, who does a girl hev to kill to get a drink around here?" a creamy voice filled my ears as a small smile broke out on my lips.

"George Bush," I retorted cutely as I slowly spun around to face the gorgeous face of Elle. She was wearing a light dress made of pale lavender silk that hugged to her every curve and by the looks from almost all the men in the club; I could honestly say she wasn't going unnoticed.

"Done! And vat do I have to do to get a dance?" her Russian accent was literally driving me crazy as she flashed me another one of her heart warming smiles that made my knees turn to jelly and caused butterflies to hold a boxing match in my stomach.

"You could ask me?" I offered. She giggled shrugging her head in the direction of the dance floor. Miguel saw this and laughed to himself as he waved me off. I jumped over the bar, holding out my hand to her. "Ignore the outfit."

"I think it makes you look simply sexy…" she whispered in my ear, coming so close I could feel her heated breaths caressing my skin. A part of me inwardly shuddered at how intensely close she was, but the other part screamed at me to take her in my arms. Lost in the music, we stayed entwined in each other's arms until I had a sharp tugging on my shoulder.

"We have to go now," Daisuke hissed in my ear. I barely had time to wave by to Elle as he dragged me out of the club.

"What was that all about?" I demanded, shivering in the cool night air. I hadn't realized how late it was really…

"Look at this," he said simply, handing me a folded bar napkin with an address written on it in light pink lipstick.

"Yea for you, you got a girls address. Why the hell would I care?" I waved the piece of paper around dismissively.

"No you idiot! Where have you seen that shade of lipstick before?"

I thought back, remembering earlier how Daisuke had showed me the piece of paper with the girl's phone number. "Earlier…"

"Exactly! So, what do you say about visiting my mysterious beauty? From what I remember, it's not too far away from here. I passed it on the way coming to see you!" without another word, he turned around and speed off, not even letting me voice my answer.

I sighed, rolling my eyes as I bolted off after him. Sometimes, there was just no reasoning with him. And there was especially no reasoning with him when he was like this.


Daisuke's POV


Looking down at the piece of paper again, I mentally laughed. 13666 Avenida De La Muerto. 13666, Avenue Of The Dead. I looked up at the building in front of me, suppressing a shiver that crept through my entire body as Takeru joined my side. This particular building looked as if it were constructed from the description from a horror novel.

The heavy door was a thick red stained balsam wood with a metal knocker in the shape of a demon. Gargoyles loomed overhead, casting their hideous shadows on the street and sidewalks. Their fierce looking jagged stone teeth seemed to be waiting for something. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Takeru smirked.

"If you're thinking that this is so very Scooby Doo, then yes."

"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we found Fred, Vulma and Daphnee in there tied to chairs with Shaggy holding a whip…" he trailed off, laughing. I extended my hand, pushing the door open and pressed down on the hidden flashlight that was in my watch to illuminate the room.

Gazing around, we saw nothing. The entire room was vacant and spiders and rats made this their permanent resting place. But there was a table in the far corner and an outdated telephone covered in cobwebs sat tranquilly. But as soon as we took a step inside, the phone began to ring. Looking over at Takeru suspiciously, I reached over to take the receiver. But the moment my fingers brushed across the dusty plastic, it stopped.

"Great, they hang up," my blond haired friend scoffed. An idea immediately burst into my head as I riffled through my giant pockets, praying that I didn't take it out. My fingertips came in contact with a piece of folded paper, as a sigh escaped my throat.

"Let's try this shall we?" I smiled; flashing the phone number I got in the pink lipstick. Picking up the phone, I dialed the number and on the third ring, the crystal voice of a woman answered.

"I knew you'd figure this out," she spoke. "Who are you?" I asked, motioning for Takeru to come closer. He took a hesitant step forward, but decided against it and sat near the door to keep a lookout.

"You already know me Daisuke Motomiya, because I know everything about you."

"Well then, since you seem to know everything, why don't you enlighten me?"

"Oh, I never said I knew everything," she replied crisply, in a mocking tone that made me smile. "Twenty minutes, in back of the Tangola. Don't be late Mr. Motomiya. Oh and watch out for your friend. There's an assassin about to shoot him in the head," with that, she hung up. I dropped the phone and darted for Takeru, tackling him to the ground just moments before a bullet whizzed by him, embedding itself in the wooden floor.

"What the hell?" he cursed, jumping up. I groaned faintly, letting everything finally absorb into my brain.

"Takeru, we're in trouble. They're trying to silence us. And these guys aren't idiots. They're professionals. They know what we're doing and they know where we're going to be next. That woman I met earlier, she knows too."

"Should we trust her?" he asked professionally.

"If I hadn't, you'd be dead right now and I'd be out of a partner."

"What else did she say?"

"To meet her in back of the Tangola in twenty minutes. Come on, I don't want to stay here, especially with the guy out there. I saw a window in back, come on."

Within fifteen minutes we made it back to the underground bar, (out of breath but we made it back nonetheless). Takeru had ran inside to change out of his outfit and I really didn't blame him. He was a rather modest spy… but as soon as he made it out, a figure appeared out of the shadows, lightly strolling to us with a rather sensual walk. "Hello agents."

We both stayed silent, waiting for her to get closer. My hand was on the trigger of my gun, waiting for anything to happen and I could see from the corner of my eye Takeru had his hands firmly on his well-hidden dagger. She was in more danger from him than me, so I let go of my weapon and took a step forward. "Who are you?"

"A secret… maybe you could guess," she laughed an eerie laugh. Without hesitation, she pulled back the hood to her dark cloak, letting her flowing curls escape, only to frame her gorgeous face. I could see that Takeru was as stunned by the beauty as I was. But for some reason, she looked so familiar… so, so…

"Oh my God!" Takeru gasped, his eyes wide. "Impossible!" she smiled sweetly, walking right in front of us. Here I was, still trying to place my finger on it. But then again, remembering things was always easier for Takeru. "Daisuke, her eyes, who does she look like?"

"I have no id…" I started, but stopped dead in my tracks. Her eyes were insanely familiar to me. "Oh man!" I suddenly exclaimed. "Are you… are you…"

"The one and only," she replied, striking a pose as her clingy red dress lightly swayed in the cool night air, hugging her in all the right places.


"So why are you helping us?" I asked her for what had to be the tenth time. We had long escaped the dreary alley and made our way inside the Tangola, sitting at a table far away from everyone else.

"Because, this has been going on far too long. Too many people have died and many have been corrupted. The same blood money has passed from hand to hand, stealing souls. And it's all because of me and my family."

"Yes, but everyone thought you were…"

"Dead! Hardly," she smirked as she stood up. Her hair bobbing slightly as she moved. "As a young girl, I ran away, faking a kidnapping. I was found by nuns in the sewers of Pamplona and have been raised by them ever since."

"What were you doing in the sewers?" Takeru asked suddenly.

"What were nuns doing in the sewers?!" I exclaimed, cocking an eyebrow. She winked at me as she sat up and made her way to the dance floor, just as a catchy, upbeat song began to blast out of the speakers of the bar. ATC's Around The World I believe.

"You see, my brothers and I were very close as children," she started off as I grabbed her arm and swung her into the middle of the dance floor. "But one day, something horrible happened and my father died. We had ate at that restaurant a million times before and my father loved the blowfish. He had never gotten sick from it before, but then one day he just fell over. My mother sued them. We were a humble family, but as soon as we got a hold of that money, something changed in my family. They became greedy and wanted to swim in the coins."

"I see," I acknowledged as I passed her off to Takeru.

"One day, I heard my mother talking to my oldest brother, Juan… the things they said… she said she was going to kill either Jose or myself! I feared for my younger brother and so one night, I put together a fake ransom note and escaped through the small door in the nursery that lead to the sewers the next day."

"So, that's why you were in the sewers," Takeru replied as I cut in, sweeping her off.

"Once again my family was in the lime light and after suing the nursery. But I was left alone and I couldn't go anywhere or else they would know I wasn't really kidnapped. I started to cry one night and out of nowhere, I was being carried off to a church. The sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Pamplona had heard me and carried me off."

"So that's what nuns were doing in the sewer," I noted, as the song ended. Mark Anthony's I Need To Know played almost instantly and I shuddered. Enough Latin/Pop music… I should be getting paid extra for this.

"But why would someone want to kill your brother?" Takeru asked her directly.

"Oh, my brother was a selfish little boy that grew into a spoiled rotten man. Lots of people wanted to kill him."

"Like Leonardo DiCaprio?" I asked.

"Yes, but for different reasons," she sighed. "Please, you have to help me! I have to save my family!"

"We'll try our best. We promise you," Takeru vowed, taking a hold of her hand. "But we have to figure out a way to get in your house before we do anything."

"Leave that to me," she winked, grabbing her cloak as she tore out of the building. I looked over at Takeru, who was still gaping. He shrugged to me as he darted off after her, leaving me stuck in the club. I sighed under my breath, rolling my eyes as I slowly made my exit. Having two crazy people run out in a frenzy was suspicious enough.

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