Little Lion Man

Summary: Four years after the Nonary Game, the Kurashikis are given a specific assignment: Rescue Hongou from a year's worth of torture. And soon, they realize that their long-hated enemy has become a shell of who he was.

Notes: This is just the prologue. Also, this has mentions of things in the sequel so if you haven't played VLR yet I'd be cautious. This story basically disregards the sequel's plot, however.

Disclaimer: Don't own 999.

"Can you remind me again why the fuck we're doing this?"

Aoi grunted as his shoes - his beautiful, black boots with white garnishing - fell victim to a pile of grime on the ground. He cursed under his breath; whoever decided to leave all this shit lying around was going to have to answer to him in a few minutes. His gun cocked, he peeked around the next corner, waving a hand out to stop his sister.

He could hear Akane sigh. "Aoi, this is the place Seven indicated. He's always been punctual, even in his hunches. And I'm certain that this is the location, anyway. Are you doubting me?" She crossed her arms, a detached look in her purple eyes.

"No. But I don't care if this is the right place. Don't you realize what we're doing?" It pissed him off when he got the call. How the detective managed to find them was still beyond Aoi, but that wasn't the part that bothered him. Seven had sworn not to press charges, for whatever reason (something about it being personal or some shit). But no, it wasn't the whole Nonary group seemingly knitting back together after four years. It wasn't seeing Seven or Lotus or Light or Clover again.

It was who he had to rescue. Of all people, the man who nearly murdered his sister had been captured from his jail cell about a year ago. And of all people, Seven asked the Kurashikis to bust him out.

They had gotten the call in the middle of the night. A ghost from the past, someone they both thought they had left behind in the Nevada desert years ago. One of them, anyway.

Aoi had been woken up by Seven's call, and nearly cursed him out right then and there. How dare he find them, how dare he call, how dare he ask anything of them after so long?

But he owed this man a debt, unfortunately, so he heard him out.

"It's Hongou," the hefty man had said in a hushed voice. "You know he went missing months ago, right?"

"Yeah," Aoi replied. As if he wouldn't know about something critical like that. He almost felt insulted.

Seven sounded out of breath. "I found him."

It turned out that Free the Soul had nabbed the old man. Aoi had heard of their sick cult before, but never thought Hongou to be affiliated with them. He had been a man of science, hadn't he? So what was he doing with those lunatics?

Aoi didn't know, nor did he care. He obviously did something to piss him off.

Once they located the lone torture site building, the Kurashikis' agency had secured the building, seizing employees on all floors with Soporil. It was up to Aoi and Akane to actually physically go in and drag Hongou out, but they didn't have to do the dirty work, thankfully.

Aoi hated it. He had protested, saying that whatever Hongou suffers is what he deserves. And deep down, he was sure the rest of the Nonary Game players agreed. Or, at least, he'd like to hope. All the same, his sister agreed to it. The little girl Hongou threw in the incinerator wanted to bust his ass out of the experimental lab or wherever they were.

Snake - no, Light - had tried to explain the situation to Aoi, but he still didn't understand. Nothing that went on in this grimy mess of a building could possibly be horrible enough for Hongou. And he was sure that once they got him out, he'd go back to suffering in prison until his miserable life runs out.

Aoi could only hope.

He turned back to Akane, his grip on the gun tightening. He had just gotten his sister back, securely and for good; he wasn't about to lose her again. However, he did know she could take care of herself, evident in the way she carried herself. She stood proudly and confidently, her gun still at her waist.

"Let's go, Aoi. The room is nearby," she murmured, stepping around the corner. Aoi followed swiftly, his eyes scanning the hallway.

A stray employee must have wandered off his assigned floor; it sucked to be him, but Aoi wasn't about to take any chances. He ran forward, firing bullets into the man's kneecaps. His screech of pain echoed in the hollow facility as he fell backwards and began to bleed all over the dirty floor. Aoi sneered down at the man, pointing the barrel of the gun in his face.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him before he could pull the trigger, however. Akane had a cold look on her face; he'd seen that same look countless times before. She wasn't happy with him, but was leaving him to his own choices. He shrugged in response, pulling his weapon away from the man as he whimpered on the floor.

Akane simply looked back at her brother, emotionless violet eyes piercing through him. "This way," she announced, pointing to the lone room in the hallway to the right.

The door was made of thick metal and was locked up tightly. Aoi jiggled the handle and hissed as it burned him, retracting his hand. "Damn it!" he exclaimed, kicking forward into the metal.

"This isn't your traditional door," Akane explained, crouching down, "I believe there's a certain way to open it… Aha!" She clasped her hands together, smiling. It was the first emotion she expressed since they came here, Aoi noted.

"Oh dear," she said, a wider grin stretching across her face. "Oh… oh my god." Her smile twisted upwards until she finally fell victim to a laughing fit. Tears pricked at her eyes as she laughed, holding her side as if she was in pain.

The sight bothered Aoi. He glanced at the door and back to Akane again. "What is it? What's so damn funny, Akane?!"

Finally, her chuckles died down and, placing a hand on her mouth to hide her smile, she replied, "N-nothing, it's just… t-the irony."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at the door closely, Aoi. What do we need to get through?"

The white-haired young man looked back at the door - the only thing between them and their most hated enemy. There was a simple handle, a deadbolt, and something a few inches away, on the wall. He walked closer, examining it thoroughly. And he couldn't help but let out a short laugh, as well.

"Oh my fucking god," he wheezed, "It's a fucking card reader."