Outside, imperceptible from the courtyard, a black Mercedes roared past the school in the light of the late afternoon sun.

*-*-*-*-*-*

It’s been two weeks since the start of classes and Kaijuro was feeling better about transferring to Ryokuto Academy. The sight of a solitary black Mercedes outside the school had upset him, but since nothing out of the ordinary had happened after that, he decided to dismiss the incident as a result of first day jitters. Everyone he had met so far had been so nice and welcoming, he was able to shed his mask of wariness and just be himself.

He looked at his surroundings and smiled. To keep himself busy, he had signed up for a lot of extra-curricular activities namely the school band and track team. He had just come out of his last class and was warming up for his first training session with the team. To his left, Kazuya Hasukawa sat on the grassy center of the track oval stretching. He had been introduced to him by Shun and had taken an immediate liking to the fiery redhead.

"Good luck, Suka-chan! Kai-chan!"

Both boys looked up at the same time to see a boy with long, pink hair waving at them from the bleachers. Earlier that day, Kazuya had promised Shun that he will accompany him to the mall after practice. Apparently, Shun had once again spotted something he liked and wanted to get Suka’s opinion before actually buying it.

A whistle sounded and the members of the track team lined up at the staring line. Shun had taken a seat about half-way up the bleachers and was now munching on a bag of chips. Kaijuro had been amused at the amount of food Shun could consume at a time especially when he was bored.

Shaking his head, he knelt down and found a comfortable starting position. His face had taken a determined look and everything around him had faded into a blur of images and sounds. The only thing that existed to him was the finish line. Kaijuro heard the sound of the starting gun and sprang into action taking long strides, his muscles rippling with every step. The feel of the rushing wind on his face made him feel exhilarated. The atmosphere of acceptance that Ryokuto and its students offered him made him feel safer than he had felt in quite some time.

The feel of a piece of tape snapping on his chest brought him out of his musings. After taking a few steps to lessen his momentum, he turned to smile at his teammates. To his surprise, he saw the members of the track team, and even Shun, were staring wide-eyed at him with the track coach looking at his stopwatch and shaking it to see if it was broken. Kazuya was standing to his right taking deep breaths a wry smile on face.

"That can’t be right!"

"Are you sure the watch isn’t broken?"

"How in the world did he do that?"

A few members of the track team had gathered around the coach and were looking at the time. Shun was practically leaping his way over the bleachers to join them on the field. Kaijuro and Kazuya looked at each other and decided to join the others.

"What’s wrong?" Kazuya asked as he peered over his teammates’ shoulders.

"Hasukawa, you just beat your best time by seven seconds!"

A smile lit up Suka’s face. "If that’s the case, how come you guys all look like you saw a ghost float by?"

"Because," Sagarii, a fellow Greenwood resident, said, "Sutanage was able to match your time."

Kazuya gawked at Sagarii and alternated looking at the coach and Kaijuro who was also wearing a similarly surprised expression, although a lot milder.

"In case you didn’t notice, Hasukawa," the coach said, waving the stopwatch in front of him, "you and Sutanage crossed the finish line at exactly the same time."

By now, a panting and wheezing Shun had managed to get from the bleachers and flopped down on the soft grass. He looked up at Kazuya and Kaijuro who were standing a few steps away from him and was able to catch enough of his breath to wheeze out a sentence.

"Did...," wheeze, "did you know...," pant, "that you crossed ...," wheeze, "the finish line...," pant, "at the same time?"

Both Kazuya and Kaijuro couldn’t contain themselves and burst out laughing. Shun had run over to tell them what the team had just told them. The sight of Shun blinking at them, totally dumbfounded made them laugh even harder. Kaijuro was about to start teasing Shun when he saw a movement out of the corner of his vision.

In the blink of an eye, Kaijuro was moving. Two running steps had brought Kaijuro within reach of Shun. He picked up the smaller boy and turned sharply to the right. Their momentum made him lose his balance and sent them tumbling over the grass. Shun had landed face-first onto the grass and was about to start berating Kaijuro when a dull thunk sounded. Shun paled and nearly fainted, had Kaijuro not been there to support him. Kaijuro’s sudden maneuver had taken less than two seconds to execute and Shun was shaking from the realization of what would have happened to him if Kaijuro hadn’t shoved him into the grass when he did.

In the place where he had been sitting was the still quivering shaft of a javelin.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"The plan failed. He’s still moving about. I had planned to get him when he tried to save the kid. Sorry, sir."

The man looked through his binoculars and sighed. He had thought this assassination would be simple but the kid had proven to have more lives than a cat. But then again, it had been some time since he had been sent on a challenging mission and he had gotten more than he had bargained for.

He took one last drag on his cigarette and ground it under a steel tipped shoe. He looked at the small family portrait he had been given at the start of the mission. His target sat with his aging foster parents, a bright smile on his face. A red marker had been used to circle his face.

the man thought, placing the photograph in his jacket pocket.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Shun... Shun, are you alright?"

Shun had been taken into the school infirmary and Dr. Kazuhiro Hasukawa had just finished examining him. He had apparently gone into shock from his near brush with death and they were trying to snap him out of it. There had been a great fuss about what had happened and almost everyone had tried to get into the infirmary to see if Shun was okay. After Hiro announced that Shun was fine, everyone had filed out of the room, leaving Shun, Kazuya, Kaijuro, Shinobu, Mitsuru and Hiro as its only occupants.

Shinobu and Mitsuru had come as soon as they heard what had happened, after all, Shun was their next-door neighbor. Right now, Mitsuru was gently shaking Shun to coax him out of whatever part of his mind he had managed to lock himself up in. Shinobu, on the other hand, was studying Kaijuro.

Kaijuro had a look of deep concentration on his face and was oblivious to what was happening around him. That made Shinobu suspicious since Kaijuro was the one who managed to save Shun from being impaled by that javelin. Every member of the team had searched the track oval and the even the neighboring athletic fields and had been unable to find the point of origin of the javelin.

Shinobu thought as he continued to observe his friend.

"Sempai...?"

Mitsuru breathed a sigh of relief as the sparkle returned to Shun’s eyes. He had been afraid that the he wouldn’t come out of his trance. Seeing that Shun was definitely doing better, he took a seat next to Shinobu and the collective gazes of the room’s occupants rested on Kaijuro. Shinobu noticed that Kaijuro’s tension was once again building up and channeled his own mental energy to keep his volatile emotions from getting out of hand.

"Oi, Kaijuro."

The cloud of tension dissipated as Hiro snapped his fingers before Kaijuro’s face leaving him looking bewildered.

Kaijuro looked at the people in the room and sighed. "What?"

"Can you offer an explanation to what happened back there?" Hiro asked him.

"Hey!" Kazuya said, immediately jumping to his feet. He didn’t like the tone of his brother’s voice. Kaijuro had just managed to save Shun’s life and Hiro wasn’t hesitating to question him like he had something to do with what had happened in the field.

"I can’t," Kaijuro answered simply. There was no way he was going to openly admit what he thought was going on. It would only place them in danger. "It was probably some sort of freak accident."

Hiro crossed his arms and huffed. Kaijuro noticed Shinobu watching him out of the corner of his eye. He hated it when Shinobu did this. He had a way of stripping away pretenses and hit you where it hurt. Bad.

Determined to leave before Shinobu reached any conclusions, he stood up and made an excuse about needing to keep an appointment and left leaving one calculating and four bewildered figures staring after him.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Kaijuro decided to take a detour on his way home to his apartment which was about ten blocks away from the school. Stopping at a nearby convenience store, he picked up a magazine and pretended to read while looking at the street. Satisfied that there was no one following him, he proceeded to his apartment building.

"Konnichiwa, Sutanage-san," the guard greeted him.

"Uh, konnichiwa," he said absently.

"By the way," the guard continued, "a package arrived for you this morning just after you left."

Kaijuro looked at the guard quizzically as he was handed a box wrapped in silver and gold foil. Thanking the guard, he picked up his mail and entered the elevator. He examined the box for a tag, but it had none. When he reached his unit, he tossed his bag onto the couch and placed the mail and the box on the coffee table. He looked at the box. It seemed innocent enough, though he couldn’t think of anyone who would send him anything at this particular time.

He left the box on the coffee table along with the mail and decided to take a shower. He let the warm water run down his body and closed his eyes. So much of his life had changed in so little time. One minute, he was a happy, regular highschool student, the next he was running for his life. He had asked his adoptive father to transfer him to Ryokuto Academy so that his friends wouldn’t get involved in this mess. To his dismay, Shinobu Tezuka turned out to be also enrolled in Ryokuto Academy. He beat his fists on the wall in frustration. The last person he had wanted to get mixed up in all this was Shinobu. Remembering the incident on the track oval, he clenched his teeth in anger.

Kaijuro forced the thoughts out of his mind. He will find out what the hell is going on and when he does, someone will be very sorry.

Toweling himself off, he dressed quickly and started going through his mail. His foster mother had sent him mail asking him how he was adjusting to Ryokuto Academy and that his foster father sends him his best. A smile crept into his face as the images of the two people who had given him so much came into his mind.

Finally finished with the mail, he turned to the package. He turned it over in his hands and felt something inside slide when he shifted the box’s angle.

he thought, amused. She loved sending him stuff. With great care, he unwrapped the package. His smile faded and was replaced with horror as he struggled to control his quickening pulse.

"This can’t be happening," he choked as he pushed the box away from him but it was too late. The sight of the box’s contents would be indelibly stained in his mind.

Inside was the body of a dead white rabbit, much like the pets he used to keep as a child. The dagger used to kill it had been left stuck in its body. A card had been left inside and a message written in blood said, "You’re next."

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shinobu was trying to read an assigned chapter for his history class, but the words seem to mix into an incomprehensible jumble of letters. The incident with the javelin was still very much fresh in his mind. Sighing, he closed the book, propped his elbows on the table and started massaging his temples. He has never known Kaijuro to be secretive and from what he was able to observe in the infirmary, he knew that Kaijuro was hiding something. But what?

A soft knocking sound brought him out of his musings. Shinobu got out of his seat and opened the door. He raised a silver eyebrow at the boy standing outside and ushered him in.

A week after his brush with death, Shun was practically back to his old self. He had assured the others that he was fine and that the incident just jarred him a little. Right now, Shun was sitting at the center table and he had a worried look on his face. Shinobu took a seat opposite him and waited for him to speak.

"Sempai," Shun said, "what do you know about Kai-chan?"

The question itself was innocent enough, but Shinobu was surprised by it. With a slight smile, he said, "what do you want to know?"

"Oh, I don’t know," Shun propped his elbows on the table and cupped his face. "I was just a little curious, that’s all."

"You do know that curiosity killed the cat," Shinobu said, wryly.

"But the other half of that quote is: ‘satisfaction brought it back’ and I’m a bit concerned about Kai-chan."

Shinobu was amused by Shun’s answer. He was starting to get good at this. "Why should you be concerned about Kaijuro?"

Shun straightened and took a deep sigh. "Well, I think it started on the first day of class...."

Shinobu listened intently to Shun’s recounting of Kaijuro’s first day in Ryokuto Academy ending with Kaijuro looking dangerously out the window and sending waves of volatile energy to those nearby. Another thing about Kaijuro that reminded Shinobu of Mitsuru was his volatile temper but unlike Mitsuru, those around Kaijuro get a fair warning just by being near him.

Shinobu thought as Shun finished his tale.

Shinobu would do anything within his power to keep his friend out of whatever hot water he got himself into. He though back to their childhood together. Kaijuro was the adopted son of a millionaire business tycoon in Kyoto. Kaijuro’s own parents have been the victims of a murderer’s desperate attempt to escape the police. Mashitomo Sutanage had been Kai’s father’s best friend and decided to take the boy in and raise him as his own son since he and his wife had none of their own. As far as he could tell, the Sutanages had no enemies, and there was absolutely no reason why anyone would be after him. And then there was still the mystery behind Kaijuro’s transfer to Ryokuto Academy. He seemed to have made it a point to avoid Shinobu as much as possible from the very first day he had arrived.

"Sempai?"

Shinobu noticed that Shun was looking at him curiously. He rested his hand on Shun’s shoulder, smiled, and said, "don’t worry too much, Shun. Kaijuro can take care of himself."

He then ushered a much relieved Shun out the door and turned back to his book. At least now, he had more information to work on. Starting tomorrow, he was going to have to start digging into Kaijuro’s student files.

As Shun entered room 210, he suddenly realized that Shinobu never did answer his question.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shinobu ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Earlier that afternoon, Shinobu had returned early to Greenwood to change and have an early dinner and had returned to the student council office to research on Kaijuro Sutanage. It was already evening and there were no available records regarding Kai’s transfer to Ryokuto anywhere in the school’s files. All pertinent information regarding his enrollment were there, but the reason for transfer was suspiciously absent. It seemed as if someone took really good care to make sure that what happened in the past stayed in the past. He looked at his watch and noted the time.

he thought,

He had turned off the computer he had been using and was getting ready to go back to the dorm when he heard the soft click of a door being closed.

Shinobu blended himself to the shadows of a darkened hallway and waited. The form of a graceful black-haired boy passed his hiding place and made him more curious.

"Kai, wait up!"

Shinobu saw Mitsuru catch up to Kaijuro and realized that band practice must have just ended. Shinobu heard Mitsuru say something about their conductor having it in for Kaijuro and they both laughed. It looked like they were the last members in the building. Shinobu followed the pair out and waited. He saw Mitsuru head down the left side of the street and Kaijuro turned to the right, obviously headed for home. He paused at the intersection and contemplated which direction to take. He had yet to hear Kazuya and Mitsuru’s sides regarding Kaijuro and they could very well provide him with much needed pieces to this very frustrating puzzle.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he headed down the path of his choice. As Shinobu continued down the path, he hoped that his choice would pay off.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Kaijuro started walking faster as he left the school grounds. He had received five more death threats in the past week and he felt like he was about ready to go out of his mind. Whoever wanted him dead was getting VERY impatient. He couldn’t go to his adoptive father, he would only get worried and his adoptive mother would have had him shipped back to Kyoto. He couldn’t image getting them all worked up over him and, besides, he has to learn how to deal with his own problems.

He continued walking and noticed that the crowd of people were rapidly thinning. It was a Friday and apparently, most of the people just wanted to go home and rest. He turned a corner and paused beside a dark, twisting alley. He had contemplated using this shortcut many times, but it had been too early in the past and he had deemed that it would be safer for him to use the main road where the advantage of a crowd lessening the risk of him getting singled out. This time, it was different. He needed to get home NOW! With a deep breath, he walked into the alley.

He was almost at the end when a car pulled in. He had forgotten that some of the residents used the alley as a parking lot when necessary. He was about to try to squeeze beside the car when the car turned its lights on high, nearly blinding him.

"Turn that thing down, you idiot!" Kaijuro screamed at the driver. Using his hands to cover the lights. He saw the figure of a man step down and leaned on the roof of the car.

"This time, Kaijuro Sutanage, I’m gonna make sure that you’re dead!" With that, the man pointed his pistol and fired.

Kaijuro dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. He had just barely missed getting perforated by his bullets. He heard the man curse and fire off several more shots. Kaijuro dodged frantically and let out a strangled gasp as a bullet painfully grazed his left arm. There was no time to check on his arm, however. He didn’t know how many more bullets this guy had, and he didn’t want to find to find out by exposing himself. After what seemed to be an eternity, he heard a muffled curse and the clicking of an empty gun. He placed his hand on his left arm and felt the warm wetness oozing out there. He was bleeding.

Kaijuro clutched his arm and started to run even before he heard the roar of the engine. Given the rather narrow breadth of the alley, the car could only travel at a certain speed to avoid seriously damaging its body. Unfortunately, it was still at a fast pace. Boxes littering the alley slowed the car to some extent, but given the fact that he was losing blood and was staring to get weak, it was gaining on him fast. Kaijuro saw the end he had entered from. He thinks could make it, but the car was gaining on him.

Kaijuro thought, as his vision began to blur.

10 meters... 7 ... 4 ... 1....

He felt a strong hand yank his collar and pull him to the side, practically slamming him to the wall of the building. The car emerged to the thoroughfare, turned left and disappeared into the night. Kaijuro felt himself go weak at his near brush with death and turned to look at his savior.

"Now, are you ready to tell me what’s wrong?"

Shinobu was surprised when Kaijuro wrapped his arms around him and was even more surprised to hear a muffled sob escape from his lips.

Shinobu wrapped a handkerchief around his bleeding arm and let Kaijuro calm himself. He decided to walk with him home. From the way he was acting, he was definitely in no condition to be left alone.

*-*-*-*-*-*

*ping-pong*

"Ikeda-san, phone call."

Mitsuru looked up from his dinner (or rather Kazuya’s) and wondered who it could be. Shun had told him earlier that Shinobu went to the council room to finish some paperwork. Knowing Shinobu, he had probably been so engrossed in his work that he had already forgotten the time and since the school had announced an unexpected week long holiday for a teaching symposium, he wouldn’t have much reason to be back early.

"Hai," he said as he took the phone from the dorm supervisor.

"I won’t be coming back tonight."

Mitsuru was shocked to hear Shinobu’s voice over the phone line. "Where the hell are you?"

Shinobu sighed. He had expected Mitsuru to be upset because he skipped out on him. "I’m at Kaijuro Sutanage’s place." Silence. "Mitsuru, please," he said, " someone tried to kill Kai an hour ago, and I am not about to leave him alone."

"What?!" Mitsuru said incredulously.

"I’m serious." Shinobu looked at Kaijuro who was already almost catatonic lying in bed. "He nearly got run down in an alley on his way home."

"Do you have any idea who..."

"... would want him dead? No."

"I’ll tell the dorm supervisor that you’ll be sleeping at a friend’s." Mitsuru started to put the phone down when he heard Shinobu’s voice.

"Meet me here tomorrow. Bring Suka and Shun."

Mitsuru was about to ask him why he needed to bring them with him but all the remained on the other end of the line was the dull humming of the dialtone.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shinobu put the phone down and sighed. This was getting out of hand. When they had reached Kaijuro’s apartment, he was practically out of it. Shinobu had cleaned Kaijuro’s wounds and dressed them, having enough medical experience from the years he had spent with his psychopath sister. Given Kaijuro’s state, he had been forced to bathe and dress him. The total lack of any form of resistance or response from Kaijuro alarmed him.

Looking over his shoulder, his gaze rested upon the still form on the bed. He had used mental manipulation to drain away the tension from Kaijuro. The exercise resulted in a now sleeping Kaijuro and left Shinobu with a throbbing headache. There was no way he would be able to coax anything out of Kaijuro after what just happened.

He moved to an over stuffed chair and plopped down on it. He put a throw pillow on the head rest and leaned on it, never taking his eyes off Kaijuro.

Shinobu said to himself.

A thousand other questions whirled around in Shinobu’s mind making his headache worse. He turned around in his seat and flicked the switch on the lampshade shut, plunging the room into darkness. He turned over in the seat and found a more comfortable position. He would have to watch over Kaijuro. There was no telling when and how his assailants would try to get to him next.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"I tried to get him in the alley, sir, but apparently, he wasn’t alone," the man said over the phone.

"Incompetent! I ordered you to kill one teenager. It’s been four months and you tell me that’s he’s still alive?!"

"I am trying to do my best, sir," the man said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t used to getting this type of verbal abuse. He was, after all, the best hitman of the mob. "Trying to make his death look like an accident is a lot harder than it sounds especially when he’s surrounded by a lot of people most of the time. It’s easy to make a miscalculation."

"I am going to arrive at Tokyo tomorrow. I will personally see to it that this brat is out of my hair permanently."

The man heard the humming of the dialtone and hung up the receiver. This kid was so lucky, it was frustrating. No one should have this much luck in their hands. He tapped his steel tipped shoes on the pavement. His current boss has just announced that he will come to personally oversee the operation done. There was nothing he could do to change his mind.

He pressed the alarm on his car keys and opened the door. The best that he could do is hope that his boss would meet with the same fate he did. He started the car and drove off. At least his reputation would stay intact.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shinobu was startled out of his sleep by a groan. His back ached from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position and he stretched as he looked at the clock on the desk.

Midnight.

He heard Kaijuro groan again and he moved from the chair to loom over the bed.

Small beads of sweat formed on Kaijuro’s forehead and his eyebrows were knitted. He clutched the sheets tightly and tossed his head, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He looked like he was trying to escape from... something. Shinobu gripped Kaijuro’s shoulders tightly and shook him awake.

"Kai, wake up!"

"Wha...?"

Kaijuro sat up, looked at Shinobu and glanced at his surroundings. He had no idea how he had gotten from that alley to his bedroom and, most of all, no idea how Shinobu had come to be there at that time of the night. All he could remember was the blood and running. Running from that car.

"Kai, are you alright?"

He looked into Shinobu’s eyes and nodded. He had seen the genuine concern in those jade eyes. He lay back down on the bed and took a deep breath. His arm ached from the bullet wound he had received earlier. It was then that he noticed the bandage. He looked at Shinobu quizzically and when he saw him nod, he understood. Shinobu had been at the alley. He had pulled him out of danger, brought him home, cleaned his wounds and put him to bed. There was no way he would be able to keep this thing from Shinobu any longer. There are no other people in the apartment and when Shinobu became persistent, he would not give up until he found out what he wanted to know.

Shinobu moved to sit beside him. In the moonlight, Kaijuro looked almost like an apparition. The blood he had lost from the bullet wound had left him very pale and he looked so small -- not at all like the cocky Kaijuro that he had met on the first day of classes.

"So," Shinobu said, breaking the silence. "What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into that would warrant someone actually wanting you dead?"

"I don’t know."

That was NOT the answer that Shinobu expected. Kaijuro was starting to get to his nerves. "What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?"

Kaijuro looked at him sternly and answered, "I mean, I DON’T KNOW! Look," he said as he sat up and looked at him. "It all started when I was back in my old school. About a month before this started, Dad said that he was going to retire soon and wanted me to take care of business as soon as I graduate from college. Then, all of a sudden, strange things started to happen." Kaijuro looked down and clenched his fists. "At first, I thought all those were merely coincidental accidents. I mean, how strange would a can of paint falling off a ladder seem to you? What really made me start thinking that all these accidents only happened whenever I was around." He gave a bitter laugh and continued. "The guys all joked that maybe I was turning into a jinx, but we all shook it off as merely coincidence. Until..." he looked at Shinobu and asked, "do you remember Ishido?"

"Ishido Marita?"

Kaijuro nodded and continued, "When Ishido fell victim to a trap which had been obviously set for me, that was when I decided to leave. I couldn’t stay and let all my other friends get hurt."

Shinobu saw tears of anger in his eyes. "What happened to Ishido?"

Kaijuro blinked back the tears and looked him straight in the eyes, a grim expression on his face. "We were supposed to accept an award at a school festival. Ishi and I worked hard to finish a sculpture for the festival and the school president wanted to show his appreciation for our efforts. We were sitting at the stage waiting to be introduced when I was asked to take a phone call from home. Ishi decided to sit on my seat because the sun was glaring in his eyes." Kaijuro’s voice shook as he continued. "I came back in time to see a narrow wooden beam give way from the ceiling of the stage and slam on the back of the seat. The next thing we knew Ishi was flying through the crowd. He had suffered from a severe concussion and had been in a coma for a week after that."

"What makes you so sure that you were the target and not Ishi?"

"Because my name was written on the back of that seat," he said, looking angrily at Shinobu. Why didn’t he believe him? "And besides," he whispered, looking away from him. "I saw a man, in black suit just beyond the fence. He was the same guy driving the car that nearly ran me over in the alley."

Shinobu looked at Kaijuro who was now lying back down at the bed staring at the ceiling. No wonder he had been reluctant to talk about all this. Ishido was one of the friendliest boys they had known. Everyone liked Ishido and Shinobu and Kaijuro had appointed themselves his official bodyguards when they had been young. Shinobu could imagine the guilt that Kaijuro suffered because of what happened, and he knew that Kaijuro would carry that for a long time. Shinobu knelt beside the bed and cupped Kaijuro’s face, forcing him to look him in the eye. The pain of that retelling was evident in the way the gold and green flashed in his eyes.

"It’s not your fault," Shinobu whispered to him. "Ishi would never blame you, so why blame yourself. You didn’t know back then that you were the target, so why make your life miserable. You have to learn to let it go."

"I can’t." Kaijuro pushed him away and dropped his head fall into his hands. "The reason why I left my old school was to keep my old friends from being used in any future plots to get to me. They wouldn’t bother with the new friends I made in Ryokuto because using them wouldn’t make as deep an impact on me because I haven’t known them all that long." He looked at Shinobu and gave him a sad smile. "Imagine my surprise to find you there. I guess I couldn’t escape my fate."

"I have never seen you so grim." Shinobu moved to sit beside him on the bed and Kaijuro looked at him. "All this has robbed you of who you are. All the running, the fear, the guilt," he shook his head. "When I saw you, I thought that somebody possessed your body or something."

"I am so tired of running."

Shinobu looked at Kaijuro. He once again had his face in his hands and his shoulders shook. Shinobu remembered how he had felt when he siphoned out the bulk of Kaijuro’s potentially violent emotions. It looked like all that was left in him was a sense of hopelessness. Shinobu knew that Kaijuro had always been a survivor, but in the state he was in, he would likely start walking around aimlessly waiting for an assassin’s bullet to finish its job.

Shinobu wrapped his arms around his friend. Although it was most likely an unconscious action on Kaijuro’s part, he did the same. Kaijuro never uttered a sound, but Shinobu could feel him letting all of his emotions flow out. For now, this was all he could do for his friend. No matter how hard-headed Kaijuro would most likely be in trying to solve this problem by himself, he would still be there to support his friend.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Are you out of your mind?!!!!"

It was Saturday morning and just as he had instructed to Mitsuru over the phone, he had brought Kazuya and Shun with him to Kaijuro’s apartment. Kaijuro had decided to confess to them the circumstances of his transfer to Ryokuto Academy, much to Shinobu’s relief. Mitsuru had listened intently to his story and expressions of shock graced both Kazuya and Shun’s faces. None of them had realized the gravity of the situation.

After finally calming and persuading Kaijuro to get some sleep last night, Shinobu had started to think of ways to gather information. From the description that Kaijuro was able to give him, he was able to deduce that the man was a hired killer and the outfit marked him as a member of the mob. The mob had a lot of branches and connections and secrets were carefully guarded but any one of the members would readily serve up information, for the right price of course. This was exactly the plan that Shinobu had thought up and the four boys had just given him the answer he had been expecting.

"Do you realize how dangerous a situation you’re going to be putting yourself in?!" Mitsuru said, marveling at the apparent lack of reflection that Shinobu had given this plan.

"And after the hell we just went through...." Shun moaned.

"Sempai, are you sure there’s no other way?" Kazuya said desperately.

"You’re asking for an even bigger death wish than me." Kaijuro said, desperately trying to talk him out of it. "You know how much Nagisa would love to have you in her clutches."

Shinobu smiled. Earlier that year, during the summer break, Nagisa had somehow managed to kidnap Shun’s younger brother Reina, thinking he was a young girl, which is probably the most common mistake of people dealing with the Kisaragi males. But due to Shinobu’s stalling, and mostly due to blind luck, they were able to turn the tables on Nagisa and she nearly fainted when Shinobu pointed a gun at her head, and collapsed with relief when the gun turned out to be only a toy. Now, Shinobu was actually contemplating on using Nagisa’s connections to the mob to get their information.

"We don’t have any other choice," he said looking at the others. "We know that this killer works for the mob and my sister is as close as we can get to this organization without getting them all worked up. The reason I’m willing to take this risk is because if the mob finds out that a bunch of teenagers are snooping around in their business, all of our lives will be placed in jeopardy."

"But we can’t let you surrender yourself in exchange for information," Kazuya said desperately. "There’s got to be a better way to get what we need."

Shinobu arched an eyebrow and regarded Kazuya with an amused expression. "Who said I was going to be risking myself?"

Shinobu smiled, noting their confusion. Obviously, they had thought that he was going to give himself up to his sister. He loved taking risks, but he was never stupid.

"And how do you propose to get your information?" Mitsuru said, crossing his arms. "I’m making it clear right now that I will NOT play any active part in anything that directly involves Nagisa."

"You’re just saying that you don’t want to get stripped again," Shinobu said, a flicker of mischief crossing his jade eyes.

Mitsuru looked at him darkly and Shinobu gave him a wry smile. Mitsuru hated being reminded of what happened to him when he was in Nagisa’s clutches. Shun’s description of Shinobu’s sister as a psychopathic sado-masochist queen had hit the mark. They had done their best to steer clear of Nagisa from then on, until now.

"Mitsuru’s right, Shinobu," Kaijuro said, breaking the glaring contest between the two roommates. "For Nagisa to exert any effort in trying to obtain information, you must have something to bargain with, and the only thing that I could think of that she would be interested in is you."

"Although I find it flattering that Nagisa would want to be with me for someone who hates me so much," Shinobu resisted the urge to burst out laughing at the appalled expression on the four boys’ faces, "I will not be using myself to bargain with my sister."

"So, what will you be using, sempai?" Shun asked, quite curiously.

"I have something of hers."

Shinobu let it rest at that. They didn’t need to know what it was. He doubted if Nagisa ever noticed that she had lost it, but he knew that she would readily do all the inquiries if he dangled something more irresistible than a chance for revenge against him.

"Okay...," Kazuya said. It was quite obvious that Shinobu was never going to tell them what the mysterious item was. He didn’t feel bad, since the others were as much in the dark as he was (for a change). "So how are you going to meet with her?"

Shinobu smiled his famous wolf-smile and said, "I’ve already thought of the perfect plan."

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shinobu sat back on the exquisitely upholstered chair and smiled at the woman sitting before him. He had called her up that afternoon and told her to meet him at the Le Couer de Paris restaurant for dinner. He had had come alone, but he knew that she wouldn’t. He knew where her bodyguards have hidden themselves and could escape when he pleased. She knew it, and it grated on her nerves. But then again, that had always been the case between them. They had just finished dinner, a very quiet one at that, and Shinobu was biding his time, playing upon Nagisa’s impatience.

"What do you want, Shinobu?" the woman asked harshly.

"Now, is that any way to greet someone you haven’t seen for a while, sister dear," Shinobu said, sipping his wine, his smile never leaving his face.

The look of fury on Nagisa’s face made him smile even wider and he knew that this was going to be worth it. Mitsuru, Kazuya, Kaijuro and Shun had all looked at him like he had gone nuts when he said that he was going to meet with Nagisa alone. His sister, after all, had never been known to be a fair dealer.

"Since you seem to be in a hurry to leave," Shinobu said, leaning on the table, "I’ll get straight to the point." His eyes narrowed dangerously and Nagisa involuntarily shuddered at the sight. "I want information on an assassin. He’s on a mission to kill one Kaijuro Sutanage. I want you to find out who hired him and why."

"And if I don’t?" Nagisa asked haughtily.

"Then you’ll never get back something I took years ago."

Nagisa’s eyes widened as Shinobu dangled a safety deposit box key in front of her. Whatever it was that he had taken, it must have been valuable enough to merit being kept in such a secure place. Nagisa kept herself from attempting to strangle her brother and fumed. He was just the type to use this strategy.

Nagisa sighed and gave in. She HAD to get that key. "What does the killer look like?"

"Tall, stocky build, black hair cut in a military style, has a raspy, grating voice." Shinobu had asked Kaijuro to describe the killer to him earlier and took down all the details he needed to know. "Oh," Shinobu said, an afterthought coming to him. "He has a scar running from his right temple to his jaw."

Nagisa sat back and thought, running the images of all the hitmen she knew or have heard of. Shinobu saw her eyes widen a bit and knew that he had been right to get Nagisa to obtain the information. She leaned casually on the table and gave him a cynical smile.

"Whoever this Kaijuro Sutanage person is," she said, letting out a low laugh. "You might as well say good-bye to him. The killer is Wariujo Yagata. He is the best and most efficient assassin the mob has to offer. This Sutanage is as good as dead."

Shinobu thought grimly. Someone wanted Kaijuro dead and wasn’t sparing any expense to see the job done. "Do you know who hired him?"

"No."

"Find out," Shinobu said, standing up. "Once I have the information I need, you will get your payment."

With that, Shinobu twirled the key in his hand, pocketed it and left leaving a fuming Nagisa behind.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Sunday and Monday saw a flurry of activity in Greenwood. Shinobu had assumed command of the situation and was pooling all available resources to make sure that Kaijuro would be safe while his sister got his much-needed information.

He had just finished meeting with Aoki and Sakaguchi. He had instructed them to get portable communication radios or anything that could keep a group of people in touch with each other. They had been more than happy to help him since their own safety was also on the line.

In a recent attack, Kaijuro was nearly beheaded when one of the heavy sacks used to keep the scenery in the theater up came flying down during a dress rehearsal. Kaijuro was able to dive down and the sack smashed into the wall and barely missed crushing Sakaguchi’s face into a pulp. Shun had also been at hand and had wondered at the metallic bang the sack made when it hit the wall. When they opened the sack, they saw that the sand had been replaced with shot-puts -- the same shot-puts that were missing from the equipment lockers three days ago.

Shinobu had his head buried in a pile of paperwork, poring over a list of potential resource people when the P.A. chime sounded.

"Tezuka-san, telephone call."

Shinobu placed a paperweight on the pile on his desk and went down. He had appointed Shun, Kazuya and Mitsuru to be Kaijuro’s watchers and he was not to go anywhere without at least one of them with him.

Thinking it was Mitsuru calling to check with him, he picked up the phone. He was about to ask him what happened when a feminine voice spoke.

"I have your information. Meet me tomorrow at the park. Come alone."

"Now, sister dear," Shinobu said, unable to resist teasing her a little, "not even a ‘hello, how are you doing?’?"

"I don’t have time for games, Shinobu, you demon! Meet me at the park tomorrow and come alone."

Shinobu heard the bang of the telephone as it was slammed down and smirked. Nagisa was always bad tempered and he couldn’t resist pushing her buttons just for the heck of it. He was about to go back up to his room when Kazuya ran into Greenwood.

"Shinobu-sempai!"

Shinobu turned and looked at him. Kazuya had apparently run over and was trying to catch his breath. From the alarm on his face, Shinobu was assuming the worst.

"Suka, what happened?"

"Sempai... the dojo...," Kazuya said gasping.

That was all Shinobu needed to hear. He sprinted out the door to the direction of Ryokuto Academy with a still out of breath Kazuya close behind. The sight that greeted him was alarming.

From the outside of the dojo, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but inside....

Shinobu looked at the mess. The dojo was an old one story structure and was scheduled to be repaired during the winter break. Earlier that day, Kaijuro and Mitsuru had come to the dojo to do some sparring to try relieving some of their tension. Shinobu had had a bad feeling about it, but nonetheless, he didn’t try to stop them. Right now, he was regretting that decision.

The ceiling of the dojo had caved in.

Students of the Academy, most of which were residents of Greenwood, worked frantically to moved the debris out of the way. From the accounts of the people who were there when the accident happened, it appears that Mitsuru and Kaijuro were providing the audience with an excellent display of martial arts prowess when the beams started to give. Since they were no where near and exit, they had been buried under the rubble.

Shinobu started to help and was cursing himself for ignoring his gut feeling when a movement came from the center of the pile. As one, the students moved to the center of the dojo and started clearing up there. They found Mitsuru and Kaijuro under two pieces of wood that apparently had served as a shelter keeping most of the debris from harming them. The students fished them out of their shelter and Shinobu gave a mental sigh of relief.

Their gi’s were torn and dusty but the two boys looked okay, suffering only minor cuts and bruises, none of which would even scar after healing. Shinobu once again marveled at the amount of luck Kaijuro had with him. Hiro had come and was tending to their wounds while Shinobu looked up the ceiling. This was getting way out of hand and they had better solve this mystery before anyone else got hurt, or worse, killed.

*-*-*-*-*-*

The sun was already setting Tuesday afternoon when Nagisa’s black Mercedes arrived. Shinobu had opted to keep himself hidden within a cluster of trees and waited as Nagisa instructed her henchmen to their posts.

Shinobu shook his head. Nagisa never did learn that she will never get the upper hand when it comes to dealing with Shinobu. He saw her flip her wavy black hair over her shoulder and start tapping her foot. He wondered at how she would react if he let her wait for a while longer.

He smiled and decided against it. They were already pressed for time and after yesterday’s fiasco, Shinobu was in no mood to deal with Nagisa’s petty revenge oriented mind. He circled around the trees and came up to the meeting place from the path. Nagisa’s eyes sparkled in wicked delight when she saw that he had indeed come alone. It appeared that she would have her cake and eat it too.

"Well, sister," Shinobu said, smiling, "what have you been able to unearth for me?"

The words were pleasant enough, even bordering on sweet and it made Nagisa’s blood boil.

"Yagata was hired out by a man named Mikoshi Kobari about four months ago," Nagisa said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Kobari apparently made a lot of noise then about needing the best assassin to do the job and Yagata is THE best. The other hitmen were joking about the easy money Yagata was going to make out of this hit, but they shut up after a month went by and the target was still walking around unharmed. It seems as though Kobari wanted the kid’s death to look like an accident but despite Yagata’s best efforts, the kid still lives."

Shinobu thought, remembering the dojo incident. He had spotted several places where the supports were intentionally weakened and all that it took was a tiny explosive that wouldn’t even be heard unless you were listening for that sound in particular.

"Give me the key."

Shinobu looked at the impatient expression on his sister’s face. She never had any patience and her ego always demanded instant gratification. Shinobu’s congenial smile just made her even more enraged.

"I don’t have it."

Nagisa grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. Shinobu was playing another one of his games on her and she was in no mood for it. "What do you mean you don’t have it?" she asked him dangerously.

"You don’t really expect me, of all people, to accept your information at face value, do you?" Shinobu said, his smile fading into a look that sent shivers running down Nagisa’s spine forcing her to let him go. "I left it with a friend and I told that particular friend that I would be back in about," he looked at his watch, "fifteen minutes. If you do anything to me, you will never get the key. Try looking for a small key in a dorm with 199 students."

Nagisa was already boiling even before Shinobu turned his back on her. He knew that she wouldn’t harm him because he could easily make good on his threat. She would just have to wait. Besides, he thought, what good will the key do her if she doesn’t know which bank the box is in?

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Mikoshi Kobari?"

Shinobu nodded. "That’s the name I got."

They were back in Kaijuro’s apartment along with Shun, Kazuya and Mitsuru. The vacation week was almost over, and they were determined to finish this mystery before it ends. Kaijuro had a thoughtful look on his face. Kazuya was starting to pace and Shun was getting impatient.

"Mikoshi Kobari is my Dad’s business partner."

"At least now we know who sent that guy after you," Mitsuru said as he looked out the window. "But why would he want you dead?"

"Money?" Shun said.

"I don’t see why he would need money," Kaijuro said, "he became a full partner when my parents died and he has enough money to last him several lifetimes."

A gasp escaped from Shun’s lips and caught the attention of the people in the room. A dark expression crossed his face, and it was so uncharacteristic of Shun that they were more than a little concerned.

"I think I remember Kobari-san."

"What are you talking about?" Kazuya said, eyeing his roommate.

"It was about eight years ago, I think," Shun said, "a man named Mikoshi Kobari had tried to buy the inn from my father because he saw that it had a great location and business was always brisk during the holidays. Naturally, my father refused because our family has had the inn for generations. He tried underhanded tactics like spreading rumors to plain sabotage until the police were brought in. They were never able to file a solid case against him, but that had been enough to convince him to stop."

"But we still have no reason why Kobari would want Kaijuro dead," Kazuya said more than a little frustrated from their lack of counter action.

"Maybe we could force the information out."

They all looked at Shinobu with questioning glances and he smiled. This was his forte and he was going to make sure that everything would be solved before the holiday ends.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Kaijuro walked to Greenwood late Thursday afternoon. He and the guys and spent most of the day planning and he was scheduled to meet Aoki at the park near the dorm. Mitsuru, Shun, and Kazuya were all busy trying to organize the residents of Greenwood and Shinobu was doing some hacking to investigate some leads. They had arranged for Aoki to be his watcher for that day so that if anything happens, Shinobu and the others would know immediately. There was medium traffic in the walkways with people going home from work.

Kaijuro was a block away from Greenwood when he saw him. He had parked his car so close to Greenwood and was apparently making no move to make himself less conspicuous.

Kaijuro looked frantically left and right.

Fearing that they have done something to the computer expert, Kaijuro looked around for an avenue of escape. The only way he could go was back the direction he had come. He sprinted in that direction with Yagata at his heels. His left arm ached with the jarring motions, but he pushed the pain out of his mind. All the existed to him right now was the need to escape.

He turned several corners and continued to run. He noticed that the streets he passed had become suspiciously empty and knew that he had fallen for a trap. He would keep him running, tire him out, and when he was too weak to resist, take his time in killing him.

He cursed himself for leaving without having anyone to watch his back. He vaulted a low wall and looked through a crack as his pursuer passed by. Kaijuro breathed a sigh of relief and sat down within a clump of bushes to get some rest. If his suspicions were correct, and he did have Aoki, this would be the best time for him to go back and make sure that he was alright.

With that thought in mind, he got up and started walking back to Greenwood.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Kazuya was lugging the rest of the electronic equipment to the second floor. Sakaguchi was going to synchronize the frequencies of the radio headpieces and microphones so that they could easily make their move when the time comes.

He used his foot to push open the door to room 202 and laid the boxes on the floor. He scanned the room. As always, the arcade was full of students who were playing video games. He spied a note taped on Sakaguchi’s bed telling him that he went out for some stuff and should be back soon. Kazuya saw a flash of blue from the corner cubicle which had been set up to let the room’s two residents have some peace when they needed to get homework done. Kazuya walked over to the cubicle and froze.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE??!!!!!!"

Aoki practically jumped out of his skin and all the room’s occupants looked at a red-faced, and very angry Kazuya who looked like he was ready to deck Aoki. Aoki on his part was looking very bewildered. He didn’t know what could have caused Kazuya’s sudden outburst.

"Hey, Suka," Aoki said, nervously, "I was just checking out the new game Sakaguchi and I got. It’s really cool...."

"You were supposed to meet Kaijuro at the park a half-hour ago!"

Aoki looked at his watch and paled. He had been so engrossed in his new game, that he had totally forgotten about Kaijuro. He left the computer he’s been using and scrambled out of the dorm.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Kaijuro had made it back to Greenwood and there was no sign of Yagata anywhere. After a close inspection of the car, he had been able to deduce that Aoki was never in danger and breathed a sigh of relief. The only thing left for him to do was to get to the park and meet with him.

He continued walking, opening his senses around him so that he wouldn’t be caught unawares. Now that Yagata was out of sight, the place looked normal once again. He was just about to emerge into the park when an alarm went off in his head. He dove for the ground just as a bullet thunked into a tree above him.

Kaijuro thought frantically.

He rolled into a kneeling position just as Yagata pointed the pistol his way again.

Kaijuro’s heart sank. This time, there would be no one to hear the shots and come running to help him. The pistol had a thick black barrel attached to its mouth. A silencer.

Yagata saw the end of this long drawn out game of cat and mouse with Kaijuro at last within his grasp. Kaijuro’s next action surprised him as he dove for Yagata’s feet. This left him off balance and he fell on his rump just as Kaijuro got up again and started running.

Kaijuro’s heart felt like it was going to burst. He was running for his life once again, and this time, there was no Shinobu to get him out of this mess. He was almost to the park proper where he could get lost amidst all the afternoon strollers when he heard a dull clicking sound to his left.

He had become too intimate with that sound and knew it for what it was -- the clicking of a gun being readied to fire. He turned slowly to face him and was about to offer a sarcastic remark to Yagata when he noticed that this was not his previous pursuer.

It was another man dressed like Yagata and was also obviously hired to kill him.

He was three feet away from him and Kaijuro knew that he could never hope to move fast enough to avoid his bullets. He just stood his ground and waited. The game was already up.

Yagata then entered the clearing. The man greeted him without taking his eyes off Kaijuro. Yagata was obviously miffed at the notion that this guy was able to catch the prey he had spent four months trying to catch.

"I can see why it took you so long to catch this one," the other man said as Yagata tied Kaijuro’s hands behind his back and even at his elbows. "I’d say the boss definitely got his money’s worth out of his ‘investment’ in our services."

"I see that Kobari has gotten so twisted to need to hire assassins to do his dirty work and...."

Kaijuro never finished his sentence. Yagata back-handed him so hard his head snapped back and he lay sprawling on the grass. Kaijuro felt the sting on his face where Yagata had hit him. If he got out of this alive, he was going to have one hell of a bruise.

Yagata was grumbling curses under his breath and was readying his gun to finish the job when his phone rang. He tossed the phone to his partner and dragged Kaijuro to a sitting position by his hair. He was about to pull the trigger when the other man stopped him.

"The boss wants the kid brought to him alive."

Yagata looked at the other man incredulously. He had spent four months finding this kid to kill him and then the boss decides at the last minute to bring him back alive? Yagata released his frustration by back-handing Kaijuro again. After all, he had been instructed to just bring him back alive. He never said anything about his condition upon delivery.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Aoki verily ran out of the dorm and to the park as fast as his legs could carry him. Kazuya nearly killed him then and there back in the dorm when he said that he had forgotten about the meeting. Now, he hoped that nothing happened to Kaijuro during his absence so as not to incur Shinobu’s wrath.

He skidded to a halt and hid behind a stand of trees at the park’s edge. Two men in black suits were carrying a semi-conscious Kaijuro to a waiting black car. Aoki felt his heart sink as he saw the bruises and the small trickle of blood coming out of the edge of Kaijuro’s mouth.

He waited for them to leave before sprinting back to Greenwood. Even if it means putting his own health in danger, he needed to tell Shinobu what happened.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"YOU WHAT?!!!"

Aoki was getting nervous. Shinobu had just gotten in when he got back to the dorm. After telling his story, Shun and Kazuya were looking at him accusingly and Mitsuru looked like he was about to strangle him. He gulped down his nervousness and tried to calm himself. Shinobu’s lack of response scared him more than Mitsuru’s outburst. There was no telling what could be going on in Shinobu’s mind.

"Sempai," Shun said, looking at Shinobu, "now what are we going to do?"

"We’ll just have to find him."

The others looked at Shinobu like he had grown another head. Find him? In a city as big as Tokyo? It would be like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

"How could you be so relaxed?" Kazuya accused him. "This is our friend you’re talking about and he might not even last long enough for us to find him!"

"Calm down, Suka," Shinobu said and he pulled out what looked like a pocket game out of his drawer. "We can easily find him with this."

Aoki looked at the gadget and smiled. "A radar. Shinobu must have planted a homing device on Kaijuro and we can find him easily using this!"

"Exactly," Shinobu said, narrowing his eyes on Aoki, "no thanks to you."

"What are we waiting for?" Kazuya said, getting up off the floor. "Let’s get Kaijuro out of there!"

"Not just yet."

Kazuya gave Shinobu a questioning glance and he continued, "as you can see, the signal is still moving. We have to wait for it to stop before we can move, otherwise, we would only be wasting time."

It took about half an hour before the blipping stopped at one place. Sakaguchi immediately pinpointed the exact location and Shinobu and the others looked grimly at the place where they had brought Kaijuro -- the warehouse district.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Welcome... Kai."

The blindfold and gag were ripped off him and he came face to face with the man who had sent him through hell and back -- Mikoshi Kobari.

"Please, have a seat."

He was shoved onto a seat and tied to it. He tried the bonds but they held. These guys knew what they were doing. They must be in a factory somewhere and the place looked like a warehouse. Only one central light was on. Kai’s face was lifted up hard to face Kobari who was laughing like a maniac. Kaijuro had never thought he would see the day when this calm and composed person would look so sinister.

"Bring the girl in."

Kaijuro watched with morbid fascination as one of the thugs brought in a teenage girl with wavy blonde hair and large blue eyes. She was wearing a short yellow dress and one of the thugs had her hands behind her back. The light from the solitary bulb was enough for him to recognize the girl.

"Neri!"

Kaijuro bit his lip. Neri had been his ex-girlfriend back in his old highschool and he had broken off communications with her even before he left for Ryokuto Academy. They just had too many differences, that trying to save their relationship had proven to only have been a big waste of time.

The thug let her go and she immediately ran to him, tears streaming down her face. She gingerly touched the bruise on the cheekbone he had gotten from Yagata’s beating and hugged him.

"Kaijuro, I had been so worried about you," she said, her face buried in his hair.

"Neri, I...."

Kaijuro’s words were silenced by Neri’s kiss. Her lips felt warm against his and he remembered the times they had shared before this mess started. Kaijuro then wondered why Neri was acting this way. She was so close to him and seeming unafraid despite their current situation.

"Did that feel good?" Neri asked huskily, running her fingers down Kaijuro’s chest.

Confusion reigned in his mind as he looked at Neri. There was something very wrong about all this. His thoughts were cut short as Neri slapped him on the side of the bruise.

"Now, I definitely feel good," she said, sauntering off to join Kobari.

"Neri," Kaijuro gasped, his face was burning from the added pain of being slapped on the injured part of his face. "What the hell is going on?"

"It’s simple, actually," Kobari said, letting Neri sit on a soft chair that was brought in. "Neri Kariya is my niece."

The impact of those words were much more painful than the slap that Neri delivered. Niece?

"I was willing to let this play out for several years, Kai," he said, pacing before him. "But the old relic pushed my hand. You see, I’ve had my eyes on the company for years now, even before you were born. I was content to wait, but when your old man had to announce that after he retired, and you were going to take his place, I thought that I would just discredit you and take the company for myself."

Kobari moved to stand behind Neri and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I had an even better idea when I learned that Neri was your girlfriend. I had thought that if you married each other, we would be able to keep the money in the family, if you get what I mean. But no," he took four strides and yanked Kaijuro’s hair, forcing him to look at him. "You had to break up with her, and she came to me in tears. That was when I decided that killing you would solve all of our problems. The old man will be so heart broken that he would probably die when he finds out that you’ve killed yourself." Kai’s eyes narrowed dangerously as Kobari continued. "My lawyers will make sure that every yen you have will go to me, and don’t worry about your stepmother," Kobari’s laugh made Kai’s blood boil. "I’ll make sure she dies with her husband, the way I made sure that your parents died at the same time."

"What do you mean?" Kaijuro’s anger turned into shock.

"About your parents?" Kobari snickered. "Your parent’s death was no accident. I hired that killer to kill them and to make it look like they got caught in a shoot-out." Kobari’s smile widened at the unbelieving stare that Kaijuro was giving him. "I was the one who replaced you father in the company." His smile turned into an evil grin. "And now, I’m going to replace your new father."

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Are you sure that this is the right building?"

The remaining one hundred and ninety-six residents of Greenwood had come with Shinobu and the gang when they heard what had happened -- no one was going to take one of their own and get away with it. Right now, they were outside an abandoned warehouse. The building had four walls facing the points of the compass. The residents were divided into teams of fifty. The one on the north side was led by Furusawa and Tochizawa, on the west by Aoki and Sakaguchi, on the east by Shun and Kazuya, and on the south by Mitsuru and Shinobu.

"This is the right building," Shinobu said, looking at the radar he still held. "We have to get in without being seen and it would be best if they don’t realize that we’re there until all of us are already inside."

A cackling sounded on his headpiece.

"There are two guards on each of the four entrances," Aoki said over the radio. We should take them out first as quietly as we can before moving in."

Shinobu murmured in agreement. Kaijuro’s life was at stake and there was no way that he was going to let his friend die in the hands of a murderous bastard like Kobari. He took off his head piece and handed it to Sagarii.

"Mitsuru and I will take care of the guards," he said, taking out a small flashlight. "When you see the signal, tell the others to move in."

Sagarii barely nodded in agreement before the dangerous duo made their silent way to the building’s entrance.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Kaijuro was so enraged, he tried lunging at him and only managed to topple down the chair. He landed on his side and lost his breath as Kobari kicked him again and again laughing all the while. He stopped when he lost his breath, and looked at Kaijuro who was gasping and looking like he broke some ribs.

Neri got up from her seat and knelt down beside Kaijuro her delicate, angelic face masking the rotten core of her heart. She righted his seat, and sat on his lap all the while running her hands through his hair, on his face. She put her hands under his shirt and smiled when the pain was apparent on Kaijuro’s face. Yes, he had definitely broken some ribs and she was enjoying making him feel the pain.

Kobari let Neri have her fun. She had nearly succeeded in seducing Kaijuro once, and none of this would have been necessary if they had ended up in bed together. Kobari cursed Kaijuro’s father. If only he hadn’t trained him so well in the martial arts, he never would have had enough focus to catch on to what Neri had been trying to do.

"Neri, that’s enough," Kobari said, pulling the girl off Kaijuro and onto her feet.

"But uncle," Neri whined, her desire for revenge obviously unsated.

"I’ve given you too much time as it is." Kobari ignored the hurt look his niece gave him and turned to Kaijuro. "Damn you, Kai," he spat at him, "if you had only let yourself go that night." He shrugged his shoulders and gave him a slight smile. "Oh well, it’s too late for regrets. One thing that you obviously forgot when you broke up with Neri is the saying ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ and you did more than just scorn this woman." He said snaking an arm around her waist.

"Too bad I have to make your death look like suicide," Kobari said, his henchman pulling out a pistol with a silencer. "I would have loved to see you suffer a bit more."

Kaijuro closed his eyes and cursed himself for his stupidity when the lights in the building went on. Kobari’s eyes widened in panic as he saw two hundred students surrounding him, with four students, a small boy with long pink hair, another with short red hair, an athletic, auburn haired boy, and an intense silver-haired boy obviously their leaders. The silver-haired boy clicked a tape recorder shut and smiled.

"The game’s over Kobari. I have enough of your confession here to keep you in prison for several lifetimes."

Despite the impossible situation, Kobari was going to attempt to escape when he collided with Kaijuro. The redhead had untied him and Kobari cringed in fear at the fury in his hazel eyes. Kaijuro picked him up and shook him like a rag doll. To the side, Shun had managed to get a hammer lock on Neri’s arm and she wasn’t offering any resistance.

"You bastard," Kaijuro said, his fury mounting. "You have taken my parents away from me, intended to kill my adoptive parents and have gone so far as to use me for your own twisted games. Several of my friends nearly died because of your plots and I can see now that you will hold no price too high to get what you want even if it means shedding innocent blood."

"Please don’t kill me," Kobari begged. Outside, sirens could already be heard. Apparently, someone had already called the police.

"I won’t," he said, and with one final shake, put Kobari down. He was so frightened, his knees would no longer support him. "I’ll let the law judge you."

As the police took him away, Shinobu took him to a deserted corner to talk.

He put his hands on Kaijuro’s shoulders and asked him if he was alright.

"Aside from several large bruises and probably a fractured rib or two, I think I’m going to be fine." Kaijuro said, putting his hand on his sore ribs.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

Kaijuro shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know, but I’ll definitely go back to my old school." Seeing the look on Shinobu’s face, he continued, "not that I don’t like it in Ryokuto. It’s just that, I want to be there for Ishi and the others. And besides, I think I owe everyone there an explanation as to why I skipped out on them."

Shun, Mitsuru, and Kazuya joined them then, and Shun was obviously excited about something.

"Wait until you hear this!" Shun practically shouted. "Apparently, the police have had their eyes on Kobari for a while. They had raided his room while he was here and have established his connections to the criminal underworld." Shun smiled smugly and continued, "one of the officers said that they would most likely lock these guys up and throw away the key."

A smile of satisfaction came to the face of Kaijuro. Shinobu noted that this was probably the first time that he would experience true peace, knowing that the person responsible for the murder of his parents was going to have to face justice at last.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Shinobu looked out the window and yawned.

It was a new day and Mitsuru was already getting dressed. It had been a week after the incidents and Kaijuro had been taken to the hospital after the arrest of Kobari and his accomplices. He had been immediately transferred back to his old school, and last night, he had called him to say that he was doing well and Ishido wanted to know when Shinobu was going to visit them. Shinobu had promised that he would.

Shinobu watched Mitsuru getting dressed. For some reason, he had been feeling a bit lazy the past week. With a final stretch, he got up himself. Being the student council president, he must, of course, serve as a model for all the students of Ryokuto Academy and letting them see his becoming lethargic was not among the traits that he wanted to be associated with him.

On the other side of the wall, he could hear Shun lecturing Kazuya about consulting him first before inviting Miya to visit through the window. Shinobu shook his head and adjusted his tie.

Yes, it looked like it was going to be another typical day in Greenwood.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Later that day, at a local bank, Nagisa and A sat alone inside the vault containing the safety deposit boxes. She had received a small parcel with the key and the name of the bank earlier that day with a note of thanks from her brother. She rubbed her hands in anticipation, eager to find the item she had lost long ago to Shinobu. She fitted the key and turned it. The lid of the box clicked open to reveal... a sock? Nagisa turned the sock inside-out and a small letter that had been stuffed inside fell out. Nagisa was shaking in anger as she read the note.

"I’ll get you for this Shinobu if its the last thing I do!!!!!!"

At the entrance of the bank, the manager tried to think of an animal that could make such a shrill sound and watched as the water in his goblet settled down once again.

The End