Chapter One

The Meeting Room

Neil felt his stomach clench nervously and his hands slick with cold sweat as his footsteps echoed across the marble floor. His head started throbbing the moment his father had announced where they'd be going and his throat had gone so dry that hadn't been able to speak or make any type of sound- not that he'd ever dare to speak unaddressed in the presence of his father anyway- but he knew that Nathan Wesninski would expect his son to speak loud and clear, not cower or fret in front of all his friends.

He'd learned that the hard way… so he forced himself to swallow, easing the dryness while he forced his gaze away from the floor and tried to look calm as he was greeted with the familiar smell of old leather and whiskey.

The Moriyamas' meeting room was just across the living room. Neil always found it eerie that Kengo Moriyama would discuss crime, murder and conquest so close to where he sits with his family. But then again, his whole family was part of his criminal empire and Neil doubted that even his sweet wife wasn't privy to his business despite the sound-proof walls of the meeting room.

Smartly-dressed men greeted them as Neil and his father entered the cigar-filled room and he made sure to wipe his sweaty hands on his pants before offering his hand to firm handshakes and he made sure to plaster an unwavering smile as he was patted in the back. He felt his father's eyes on him as he confidently engaged in small talks and tried not to imagine the blood on all these men's' hands.

You'll be fine, he told himself. Be good. Obey.

But he felt the mantra screech into an immediate halt as Kengo entered, his three sons by his side. All dressed in dark suits, dark hair combed away sleekly. At his presence, the men who'd been casually loitering about, whiskey in hand, straightened up and took up their assigned seats.

It was always the same seats, unless a new partner or member was taken under the Moriyama wing- or claw, more like…

Neil sat next to his father and tried to keep his jittering nerves under control, discreetly inhaling calming breaths and clenching his fingers tight under the long, Mahogany table.

He watched as Ichirou, Riko and Kevin took their respective seats beside their father. Neil wanted to glance at them and distinguish whether or not they were as scared as he felt, but as always, his eyes stayed glued to Kengo in the way some would freeze at an oncoming freight of terror. Mr. Moriyama's expression never strayed from neutral but Neil had seen that a single flick of his wrist could mean a detached head or a ripped arm.

His dark eyes regarded everyone in the room with ease as he leaned back on his chair and rested his clasped hands on his stomach.

Neil felt his eyes water as the gaze swept over him for a second. Even his father tensed beside him as the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Then suddenly, his expression relaxed and formed an amused smile.

"Good afternoon, friends." The tension visibly eased. Kevin's shoulders slumped in relief.

Neil retreated to an empty, unhearing shell he was so used to. He'd been at enough of these meetings to know that he'd hear a bunch of haunting topics of conversation otherwise. He let his eyes wonder over the faces of the Moriyama sons, wondering what worse things they could have heard or witnessed. He watched the engaged frown on Ichirou's face and the smirking expression on Riko's face and felt sick to his stomach. Would he turn out to be like them? Would he be sucked into this world too?

His gaze landed on Kevin for a moment and he watched the younger son clench his jaws as his unfocused eyes stared resolutely ahead. Neil knew others wouldn't notice, but he did. He's been wearing that expression all his life after all.

Suddenly the other boy's eyes widened just slightly and Neil felt curious enough to listen in on the conversation.

"…foxes. Apparently, they've been successful ever since." A small, pudgy man was saying. His gold watch caught the light as he swallowed his amber drink in one go. Lenard Caruthers. One of his father's frequent contractors.

"Is it true then?" Nathan's voice was calm as he addressed the head. Not many would dare address Kengo, but his father was particularly close to the Moriyamas and was feared enough himself to do so. "Is she dead, Mrs. Minyard?"

"Yes, it's true. Her son murdered her." Kengo's loud voice sent a shiver through Neil. "My sources haven't been able to find much more information."

"So, her whole empire is under a boy's hands?" Nathan sneered.

"Don't be so quick to undermine him," Kengo glared. "His mother wasn't a threat to us but that family's empire was strong. It doesn't make a difference who the head is. In fact, we have something to watch out for now that he has the Foxes under him. "

Neil's attention perked up at that. The Foxes were a newly formed Exy team that Neil had been hearing of frequently- first for how much of a mess they were, and now for their slowly growing skills.

"Cut the head off, kill the snake" Nathan laughed as he puffed out smoke into the already clouded air. "Bullshit."

Kengo smiled at that as if that amused him too before leaning forward. "That was why I called for this meeting today. We need to keep an eye on the Minyards and the foxes."

"Kevin," he said suddenly and the boy startled so hard that Neil felt bad for him. "You'll be transferring to their team. We need inside resources."

Kevin's face visibly paled and Riko turned sharply to glare at his younger brother. None of them dared to say a word to the direct order as Kevin nodded.

"But" Campbell started, his brows constricted in a frown. "They'd never take a Raven willingly."

"Yes, they will." Kengo grinned, teeth yellow and gaze piercing. No one dares turn away what the Moriyamas have to offer. It was a form of disrespect that would surely mark them a threat and result in immediate death.

"We shall also be bound to them through an offer of marriage from our own." He continued.

Confused glances and mutters filled the wide room at that statement.

"I doubt that they'd see that as an offer of peace." Nathan tilted his head in contemplation.

"Doesn't matter." Kengo said simply. "They shall accept or they shall refuse." The last word was uttered with a promise of wrath and pain. Neil winced.

"So," Caruthers said confusedly. "Are they our enemies or friends?"

"Enemies." Riko hissed and his father shot him a threatening look. He slumped back in his seat. Riko was the captain of the Ravens and obviously looking forward to the Foxes' execution. He looks forward to death and pain, all in all actually.

"Neither, for now." Kengo said slowly as he raised his glass towards his son for a re-fill. "We've recently been able to identify his features and were able to follow him a while before the boy grew wise." He continued,

"We know now that he prefers boys."

Neil's blood grew cold and a wave of panic forced him out of his impassive expression. He felt his face crack like an ancient piece of bark as he fought to keep the façade on, but from the way Kevin glanced at him quickly, he knew that he was failing.

His hands were shaking in his hand and his lungs burned from trying to keep his breaths even.

Kengo's gaze snapped to him and observed him calmly around his raised cup of whiskey. As if he wasn't about to ruin Neil's life, reduce his very last hold on sanity to ash and dust. As if he wasn't squashing his last hold on freedom.

"How old is your son, Nathan?" Mr. Moriyama inquired without taking his dark eyes off him.

"Old enough." His father answered smugly. Satisfied that his son was chosen. "Nathaniel is 15."

The sound of his real name pierced through his panic and set him into a new kind of frenzy. He glanced at his father, the butcher. The auburn hair and blue eyes so similar to his. He peered through the tears in his eyes for any sign of mercy, of compassion. He wouldn't offer him to a murderer, would he?

"Father, please…"

The reply came in the form of a stinging slap across his face. The room went eerily quiet as Neil's whole world teetered at the edge of his vision. He felt disapproving glares like hot iron across his skin. He was wrong to show such blatant weakness, and as he looked at his father's bared teeth and flashing eyes, he knew he'd be punished later.

But all Neil could think was that his new position as a bridge between the two empires made him too vital and if he were ever to try escaping again, he'd be faced with not only his father's but Kengo's wrath as well.

He was never going to escape. Neil felt his throat closing up with the new realization but he swallowed and fixed his gaze on Mr. Moriyama.

"I'll do it."

***Author's Note***

Disclaimer:
Characters belong to the amazing Nora Sakavic!

Hello there :D
I read this amazing series and couldn't stop thinking about it, and what better way to indulge myself than writing a fanfic?

Leave reviews, let me know what to work on!