Chapter One.

"Anna, is something wrong?"

The tiny blond strain was glaring down at her map of Japan, watching the shining red marbles swirl frantically across its surface. She was obviously trying to locate something, and was having the damnest time doing so.

"I have a feeling..."

"Huh?"

She didn't say more on the matter for a while, and Izumo Kusanagi figured it was best to leave her be. Polishing another piece of glassware, he glanced around the bar. Typically, the afternoon hours were quiet and content. There wasn't anyone to skate around the bar making a ruckus-Yata was out on a job with Rikio. Mikoto had been in his room the majority of the day, smoking and sleeping. Another normality.

Occasionally, a tall blond woman would step through the door and order a concoction of alcohol and some bean paste she was currently craving, which always made Izumo cringe, but never the less he still wondered if he would see her. The blue clansmen had been an interesting and beautiful specimen of a woman, and that always captivated him. He shook his head, more to himself as he placed the last glass away. Such thoughts were inappropriate, considering her cold demeanor and her rank as a clansmen.

Still, on afternoons like this, he found himself craving some kind of adventure. It wasn't as if being in HOMRA wasn't an adventure, but he was getting older. A few more years and he would hit 30. And the only thing he had managed to love so far was the beautiful, imported bar he had inherited. Love was difficult-he had had flings with women before. But what woman would settle and marry a bar-tending gang member? Only a lady who was also tied in the same circles.

He pushed the thought from his mind. HOMRA came first, this clan was his family. His rambunctious, disorderly, hot-headed family. The bell sounded, and a fair young man stepped through, twiddling with his ear piercing.

"Sorry, Mr. Kusanagi! I know you prefer we step in through the back during open hours. I didn't think about it til I was through the door!" Tatara Totsuka grinned sheepishly, his hand moving from his earring to scratch the back of his head.

"No matter, it's dead in here anyways," Izumo shrugged, wiping the already clean counter with a cloth. He had always been obsessed with the state of his bar. Each piece had been shipped over from England, back when his uncle had owned it. He had practically spent a childhood here, all the memories far too alive to be tarnished by carelessness.

"True," Tatara turned to Anna, who hadn't glanced up from her map. "Anna, what's got you so flustered?"

She snapped up to look at him with bright eyes as he moved to sit next to her on the couch.

"I can't tell you yet. It's a secret."

"A secret? From me of all people?" he laughed, smoothing her hair. "Well, if you ever need help with this little secret of yours, let me know."

The little princess smiled up at him before turning back to her map. Izumo took the opportunity to converse with Tatara further.

"Picked up any hobbies lately, Totsuka?"

"I'm so glad you asked!"

Tatara leaped from his spot on the couch and walked over to the stools, pulling himself into a seat in front of Izumo. "I'm thinking about taking up guitar again. I learned a bit in high school, but I got distracted with other things and didn't pick it up for a while."

The young mans grin turned mischievous. "With that in mind, would you let me play shows here?"

Izumo laughed, despite the reckless look Tatara was giving him. "If you don't mind playing for free."

Tatara shrugged his shoulders. "No sweat! The rest of the world loves money, but I could get by on joy alone."

Izumo turned to pour the young man a drink, laughing to himself. That was Tatara, care free and full of bright ideas and incredibly diverse hobbies.

"Mikoto."

Anna's small voice brought their attention back to Anna, who in turn was staring at the door leading to the staircase. Mere moments later, Mikoto Suoh grunted a hello as he stepped through the threshold into the bar. The Red King himself, gracing the small group with his sleepy presence and lazy eyes. Cigarette between his lips, Mikoto eyed the room and muttered a hello. The two blonds at the bar raised glasses to him.

"Sleep well, Mikoto?"

The king shrugged to Izumo, who in turn gave him a sideways glance. Being his closest friend, Izumo usually had an idea of when there was something thick on Mikotos' mind. Sure enough, The tall, lean red head slouched into the couch next to Anna, staring at her blood-made red marbles.

"No luck?" He muttered to her.

"No..." The young strain shook her head, exasperated.

"I think I know why..."

She glanced up at him as he pulled a roll of parchment out from the inside pocket of his jacket. Seeing his intention, she quickly scooped up her marbles and map as he lay another one down. Curious, the two blonds at the bar front stepped around to peer at what Mikoto had brought her.

"Is that...America?" Tatara eyes the map curiously, and Mikoto nodded.

With a determined look on her face, Anna set her marbles down on the table and began to concentrate, with some effort. She had never tried to search through another country before, this was unfamiliar to her. America was about as foreign from Japan as a country could get.

The room remained still, the sound of marbles rolling across the table becoming more deafening by the moment. Anna was so concentrated on the moment she barely noticed that Tatara had gently moved to join her on the other side of the couch, Izumo crouching for a better look at the states on the map. Seconds ticked by, one after the other, til the three around her were itching with anticipation.

"Oh!"

The four leaned over the table as the marbles began to steer themselves in a real direction, clashing with each other over a state on the waterfront to the far left of the map.

After carefully reading the name of the state, she leaned back, crossing her arms with certainty. "Hes in Cali-for-nia."

Tatara and Izumo shared a confused look. "Who is, Anna?"

Mikoto was the one to speak, his reply setting everyone at a standstill.

"The eighth King."

-.-.-.-.

"Alessa!"

Echo was practically beating the door with her fist, her loose blond hair flowing down her back and her hazel eyes filled with annoyance. "Girl, I swear to god, if you don't open this damn door-"

As if on cue, a tired looking younger blond pulled the door open, headphones loose around her neck and a guitar pick in her mouth. She raised a groomed eyebrow at the older woman as Echo slipped into the room, headed straight for the closet doors.

"That sequined top thing you wore last week, where did you put it?"

Alessa recognized that look in Echos eyes when she passed. It was the same look she got when she had a bright idea and couldn't contain it. Echo was always borrowing clothes for this reason or that. Though Alessa was a good bit shorter than her, their thin body structures were similar. The two practically shared everything.

"Why do you wanna know? Gotta hot date?"

Closing the door with a smirk, Alessa moved to sit on her bed while Echo sifted through hangers of clothes, lazily strumming the strings of the Fender she had laid on the comforter.

"Fuck, I wish. My shift starts in an hour, and my clothes are all over the floor right now. I can't find anything I wanna wear. So I came here to raid you, too."

Laughing, Alessa slipped from her bed side and in an mockingly regal fashion, pulled open the top drawer of her dresser. "You talking about this?"

She held up a sequined top piece, winking at the other girl. "Its more of a bra then a top, but it would look hella cute on you."

Echo rushed forward grabbing the top piece and hugging the shorter girl in a flurry of motion. "Thanks a bunch, you have no idea how long I spent ransacking my room for anything cute to wear."

"No problem, mi casa es su casa, or whatever."

Laughing, Echo fiddled with the running shirt she was wearing and pulled it over her head, exposing the blooming rose adorning her skin on her right hip.

Alessa had the same rose on her thigh, a symbol of her faction, the mark of their everlasting loyalty to each other and the others. Alexander hadn't asked them to get tattoos, but both women and other members of the faction had decided to anyways. Since the group had banded together a year ago, it became customary for each new member to be accepted and then paraded into the Wicked Ink tattoo parlor for Chance to give them the image of this same rose, anywhere they wished to have it.

Absently strumming some chords, Alessa thought back on when she had first become a member of this brigade of wide eyed, almost feral men and women. She hadn't met Alexander in the best of circumstances, and he still hadn't had any idea what he was doing with his 'gift'. Before the event at the bridge, Alexander had already been wealthy. He owned a new dance club, right below a blossoming hotel he typically rented out to out-of-town regulars and the dancers he would hire seasonally. Over time, he began to rent rooms out to members of the faction, and eventually it became a sort of headquarters.

"Earth to Alessa?"

Startled, the young girl cast her green eyes up to meet Echos. "What do you think?"

The sequin top fit snugly on the older woman, complimenting her skin tone while leaving enough exposed to be tastefully desirable without being raunchy. "Looking sharp. You'll melt hearts wearing that."

Alessa winked at her, playing a few energetic chords for emphasis.

"It's not their hearts I want to melt. It's their bank accounts."

"Shouldn't be hard to do. You're gorgeous and a lotta big spenders come through the Rose all the time," Alessa was about to say more, but a knock at the door started them both. Exchanging curious looks, Echo walked over to the door and pulled it open again. A teen of about sixteen stood before them, a crystal the size of a tennis ball resting in her hands. Her black hair made the shade of her face seem to glitter, and the colors of the rose on the side of her neck seemed to deepen.

"Ivy, didn't expect to see you out!"

The girl gave them a shy smile, before leaning against the frame of the door.

"I did not know who to tell my news to, since Alexander is so very busy, but I thought I would come to you, since you are his right hand."

Alessa leaned forward, slipping the guitar into its stand. "Go on, Ivy."

"Well, here is the story as I know it. We will be having guests soon. I searched for any other possibility, but it is something unavoidable. I suggest you wear your converse inlines the day after tomorrow, you will need them," the girl paused to take a breath, smiling as Alessa cast a glance at the custom shoes leaning in the corner. "Let Alexander know, if you see it fit, that he will be visited by he who is equal to him."

Alessa raised a curious eyebrow, but nodded to her. "Consider it done."

"Thank you..." Ivy turned to leave, but glanced back, breaking into a grin as she eyed Echo. "By the way, your room is a mess. In the next day or so, you may want to clean it. Especially if the path I see ahead is the one that happens."

With her air of mystery surrounding her, she was gone, and the girls were left to glance at each other in confusion.

"What the hell was that?" Echo was the first to break the silence.

Alessa gave her a wicked smile. "I dunno, but you better clean your room, missy."

"Shut the fuck up."