AN: This is the longest, most time consuming chapter I have ever worked on and I am just glad its done. I hope the timeline is more clear now but just in case I will go gack and edit some stuff on the past chapters to give a better sense of when things are happening. Honestly I have worked on this for so long and edited it so many times I am officially just giving up and posting it like this. I apologize if there is something I missed.

Thanks to Ashida for betaing and to Rekishichizu for her help with editing, timeline adjustment and suggestions to the plot.

I do not own Finder Series

*******VF*******

-Flashback- Three Weeks After The Confession…

At first Akihito was curious about Asami's behavior these last few weeks. 'After I confessed to love him the man has been acting… strange? I guess that's the only way to describe it, different certainly doesn't cut it.'

Strange… Asami had been acting strange. The golden eyed yakuza had been avoiding Akihito as much as possible. He spoke in hushed voices with Kirishima in the penthouse and when Akihito appeared in the room the two would go silent. This in and of itself would not have made Akihito worried, Asami was a crime lord and he a criminal photojournalist, there were things Asami would want to keep secret from him regardless of their non-verbalized agreement to stay out of each other's business.

No, it was the fact that Asami had not touched him in three weeks that worried him. That and the tired look on the man's face, he looked exhausted, worried even. Like a man fighting a losing battle between the sword and a hard place. He was worried about his golden-eyed lover and tried to do things to make him more comfortable when the man got home.

Normally he would not do these things but his lover just looked so troubled, he had to do something to make him feel relieved to come home, to take some of the tension away. Akihito would stay up and wait for him. The young man would welcome him home in the middle of the night when normally this late into the night he would be asleep. He would take the jacket off him along with his briefcase and put them away. Every night Asami would arrive to a warm welcome, a warm bath would be waiting for him, and a still warm meal was on the table regardless of how late in the night it was. Akihito would serve him a drink, would serve him a plate and once even massaged his tired shoulders.

He tried everything to take away that dark cloud over the dark-haired man but the more he tried the worse Asami seemed to feel. Once or twice he thought he saw the man look into the distance when he thought Akihito was not paying attention, in these occasions Akihito had thought he had seen a look of regret. He convinced himself that must not have been it – Asami Ryuichi did what he wanted and took what he pleased without regretting a single thing. It must certainly be something else.

He was worried about Asami, what else can he possibly do to help the man? He certainly could not go asking about his business and it must be something related to his business to have him in such a mood. Maybe there was a turf war and he had not heard about it…? But his informants would have said something about it then and he would have been all over it with his camera, ready to get the scoop. 'It must be something related to his business, but how do I ask?'

The next day he caught a couple of words from one of the hushed conversations between Asami and Kirishima. The words were a name, Honjio Yamato, and he knew that name. It was the name of an important businessman, the CEO of a company, and Akihito wondered if the man was giving Asami some trouble he could not solve the quick way –meaning a bullet to the head.

He wanted to do something to help; he wanted the regular Asami back, infuriating smirk and all. So he decided to get some dirt on Honjio, maybe if Asami had some leverage on the man he could solve whatever was bothering him.

His contacts told him Honjio frequented a gentleman's club in Shinjuku. He had not been there in a couple of weeks but was sure to be there tomorrow night, the man was a loose tongue when he was drunk and all he had to do was stay around and record any important information with a hidden recorder. He had taken most of his savings out of the bank to pay his contact who in return paid one of the employees at the club for an outfit Akihito could use to blend in as a new hire.

Akihito hated the costume, hated his bunny ears and the stupid tail on his ridiculously short and tight shorts. Most of all he hated the smacks on the ass from the costumers and the constant avoiding of frisky hands, but he would endure everything to help Asami. With a tray of drinks he approached Honjio's table and listened to the conversation he was having with his friends.

The man was drunk now and laughing at the top of his lungs. Honjio made a couple of comments about Akihito's derrière, smacking him really hard on it, but Akihito knew better than to complain, he needed to stay close. Akihito smiled at the disgusting man while silently cursing him for the smack. He winked at Honjio with the most charming smile he could summon to his lips. The men got excited about his response and, after some very crass 'compliments,' Honjio pulled Akihito unto his lap and began petting his thigh.
He wanted to punch the old fart for touching him and for the filthy things he was whispering in his ear. He felt filthy sitting on the man's lap like a pet and smiling at his remarks, but he would endure, he would keep filling Honjio's glass until he got something useful.

His patience had paid off, Honjio had been talking about underground dealings to his associates/friends, nothing specific but still enough to blackmail him by making him think you knew more than you actually did. He was about to leave the man's lap when a comment from one of the men had him sitting back down, pretending he had been adjusting his position to be more comfortable.

"So, Honjio-san, is it true you are marrying one of your daughters to the king himself?"The question had shocked him; Akihito knew there was no king in Tokyo other than Asami.

"Oh, you heard about that fufufu. Yes, my oldest daughter Miko is soon to marry Asami-san. We have not made anything official yet but we are negotiating the arrangements. Young love is such an amazing thing… he is quite taken with her I tell you, they only met three weeks ago and already things have progressed this fast. Oh to be young and share a night of passion on the first meeting…"

"You are lucky Honjio, many have tried to marry off their daughters to him but never succeeded, you daughter must truly be something else."

"That she is Somae-san, that she is…"

Akihito excused himself before he passed out from shock and lack of oxygen. He ran to the bathroom feeling like the very air of his lungs had been sucked out of it, he felt lightheaded and his whole body trembled in opposition to the very idea of Asami's betrayal. The words said by Honjio spun around and around his head along with his own litany of denial.

'Asami, he cheated on me? Impossible. The night after I confessed? There is no way. He… cheated on me, he is getting married to that woman. Lies, lies all of it. He cheated on me? Why? What did I do? It's not true, it cannot be true, why would he do that when he finally knows how I feel?'

Takaba took deep breaths and calmed himself down, he changed to his regular clothing and exited the club with his mind made up to find out the truth.

The Next Week… The Confrontation, One Month After The Confession

I was a nightmare, it had to be. The stills from the hotel video cameras he had done so much to get a hold of were lying to him. That was not Asami holding a woman's waist while another kissed his neck on the way to a suite. It was certainly not Asami kissing the woman on their way into the suite, and most definitely it was not Asami closing the door behind them.

The time stamp on the still of Asami leaving the suite showed that he had spent the night… with them. It had to be a lie, it could not possibly be true, but it was… Asami had cheated on him with two women, the night after he had gathered the courage to confess his feelings.

To rub salt on the wound of his already bleeding and tattered heart, Asami had gotten one of them pregnant. He could not confirm the information about the wedding but that did not matter now, it should be a given that he would marry the woman. She was going to give him a child, an heir to his empire of lies and corruption; he was sure now that it must be true. A man has to take care of the children he brings into the world after all, and Asami would always take care of the things that were his, like this child. They would probably want to get married before she starts to show. The woman was already two months pregnant and Asami had not said anything to him, nothing not even about the affair much less about the result of it.

Akihito felt broken, betrayed, and hollow. Like someone had taken his very heart out of his chest and the rest of his internal organs with it. He cried, he creamed, he broke things he could never afford and then he made up his mind to confront Asami about it.

Asami did not come home that night, he arrived to the penthouse mid morning the next day. Akihito was waiting for him, however this time there was no warm welcome, he did not take the jacket off him along with his briefcase and put them away. There was not a warm bath waiting for him, or a still warm meal on the table. Akihito did not serve him a drink, and would not serve him a plate, today there would not be a massage on his tired shoulders.

What welcomed Asami was a very quiet and serious Akihito – a rarity in and of itself – an Akihito with his face set in stone, not even an emotion betraying his inner turmoil. Asami looked at his lover and wondered about the unusual behavior.

"Asami, can we talk for a minute? There are some things I would like to discuss."

"Sure, kitten. What would you like to talk about."

"Your affair, your soon-to-be wife, your unborn child. Where would you like to start?"

His stomach sunk at the words spoken in a cold tone. He felt like a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar. He should have known he could not keep this a secret forever.

….

Things escalated quickly after a point and it was difficult for Akihito to keep his temper in check. He was throwing things in all directions and screaming at his unfaithful lover.

"What the fuck did you think?! Did you really think I would never find out? How long did you think you could keep something like this from me? I'm a reporter Asami, you should have known the moment you started acting different around me that I would investigate what was going on… and to think I was actually worried about you!"

Asami kept trying to explain, kept trying to calm him down, but there was no satiating Akihito's fury. His heart was broken, he had been betrayed after opening his heart, and the only way to forget about the pain momentarily was to drown it in anger.

"What the hell were you thinking? You know, for a powerful and intelligent crime lord you can be truly stupid to fall for the oldest trick in the book. I doubted my place in your life for so long. I doubted your feelings, hell, I even denied my feelings for you. When I finally worked up the courage to tell you how I felt I knew you wouldn't give me an answer, I knew, and I was okay with it because I knew I had to give you time to say things in your own way. And you know what the irony of it is? In a way you did, you have showed me what I really mean to you, and it is not enough for me to stay. Maybe this is also my fault, I made a mistake. Do you want to know what that mistake was Asami? It was not moving in with you, or trusting you with my life, it wasn't even loving you. My biggest mistake was trusting you with my heart, and I should have known better than that. Good bye Asami, I hope it was all worth it."

He kept throwing things, he kept cursing at Asami. For making him trust him, for making him fall in love, for making him give the man his heart, and for hurting him in such a cruel way. Asami spoke but he heard none of it. The man tried to hold him in his arms but for once Akihito was able to prevent it.

He was leaving the penthouse when his mind finally registered Asami's words; the man was asking him not to leave, to stay, to work things out. But his heart was no longer in his chest, Asami had ripped it out of him and stomped it into the cold ground. He would not stay, he would not try to work things out. He would not love the man anymore. Without turning around he let Asami know he would send for his things and not to come looking for him again. The last words to leave his lips before the door closed behind him were "I don't want to see you ever again." He prayed that Asami would leave him be so he could heal from such a deep wound to his heart, soul and pride.

-End of flashback-

How did life turned so fucked up? It all seemed to be going perfectly. He was happy, he was in love, and he felt cared for – treasured even. His job had been going well, he –surprisingly even to himself – had kept out of trouble, and no one had kidnapped or raped him. Things with a certain crime lord were going as well as things with a certain crime lord could go. How did things go to hell so quickly? He thought about the events that made it all into a shit-fest, starting after he said those three damned words. How he wished he could take those words back now. To have swallowed them to the deepest parts of his soul and prevented them from seeing the light of day.

It was late at night and he felt lonely without Asami.

"I guess it's too soon to be comfortable sleeping by myself." He said out loud.

Akihito looked around the room as he lay on the small bed. He could have gotten a bigger one, but a bigger cold bed would have only emphasized the fact that he was so alone. He tossed and turned thinking about the way things could have gone, the things that he would be doing with Asami right now if everything had not gone to shit because of that man's selfishness and disregard for his feelings.

"I need to get him out of my mind. He is going to be a father. He chose this and I should move on with my life." He said to himself. 'That woman, she must be around three and a half months pregnant now. Perhaps this is really what he wanted to begin with, it is something I could have never given him.'

He was lonely without Asami, he was cold and he was sad. He drifted slowly into a dreamless sleep, the last thought in his mind being 'When did I grow so attached to his presence? So dependent on him? I should have never said those words to him.'

****VF****

It was late at night and he had just gotten to his "home," that woman was already asleep in the guest room. He took a shower and went straight to bed. 'Such a big bed… such a big, cold, empty bed.' He thought as his heart sought for the warmth his mind already knew would not be there.

It was late at night and he as lonely without Akihito. It was not just the sex, it was the companionship, the care, the little details that would warm his cold heart and soul. It was the light he had cast away in his carelessness. It has been a month and a half since Akihito left, the penthouse no longer smelled like him and everything without him felt cold.

He thought about all the things they had gone through to be together, all the things they had survived, all the happy moments of domestic bliss and how they were no more. For the first time since he was twelve years old Asami let tears run down his cheeks at the loneliness in his heart and passed out on his cold bed soon after.

****VF****

That same night, a man sat in a dark corner of a dark bar. He was well into his cups muttering to himself, the bartender was already considering cutting him off. The man suddenly screamed in anger and the bartender thought better of getting close. 'Let him pass out and then I'll throw him out, he is not getting in anyone's face,'thought the stern-looking man behind the bar as he gave another beer to a salary man sitting before him.

"FUCK!" Screamed the man in the corner and the bartender's eyes were upon him again.

"FUCK! I told, I told him that was a stupid idea. I told him not to get involved, one just does not shit where he eats. But did he listen to me? No, he is just to cool to take anyone's advice, and now look at the shit that happened. I told him again and again not to get involved. I told him and he did not listen."

The man got up quickly and flipped his table before thrown his glass to the nearest wall and shattering it. The bartender decided it was time to get the grim-looking man out of his bar before things escalated. He asked three of the regulars who were not drunk yet to throw the man out.

"Stupid, stupid son of a bitch," he said looking at the men walking his way. "You see, I told him not to do it. I warned him of the consequences but he did not listen. He had his head all wrapped up in the clouds and saw no reason. There is just no way… it's just too stupid."

"Ok buddy, time to go home." Said one of the regulars as he held the man's arm in a tight hold.

"HEY! Aw, let go! I'm not done drinking yet, let go I tell you!"

The men grabbed him and after some struggling threw him out into the cold sidewalk. The man wobbled his way home, arriving later than it should have taken him. As he attempted to put his key into the lock of his door to gain access to his small apartment he missed the package sitting on the floor right next to his door. He finally got the door open and, after stumbling into his bedroom, passed out on top of the bed.

****VF****

The next morning a woman sat alone in a high class restaurant. She was drinking her morning coffee and reading the newspaper. Every so often she would look at the clock and make an annoyed face, she was going to be late if the person she was meeting didn't show up soon.

She had gone back to her newspaper and a smile crossed her lips when she got to the page announcing the tragic death of the youngest daughter of a company CEO in a strange accident. She read the article three times and that smile just grew a fraction bigger with each time. A man entered the restaurant hurriedly and franticly looked around for the person he was here to meet. Seeing her take a sip of her coffee he approached her table in hurried steps. The man sat down on the chair opposite to her and made his presence known.

"Madam, I am sorry I am so late to our appointment. Things got a little complicated and…"

"What do you mean complicated?" she said cutting him off. "You better not tell me that it's not done." She narrowed her eyes at him and the man trembled slightly.

"No… no… I finished it, I have it right here madam. Untraceable."

"And the other things?"

"Yes, with the specifications you asked."

"Good. Now give it to me and go away, I don't want to be seen with you. I will wire your payment to the usual account. Don't disappear yet in case I need more."

The man discretely handed her a small box before standing up and leaving the establishment. She smiled again, a devious evil smile, this was going smoother than she originally planned. She finished her coffee and paid for her breakfast leaving soon after. She had another appointment to go to and was already five minutes late for it.

****VF****

At the same time in a ramen shop, a blond young man spoke in whispers with an older man. The older man was wearing a long jacket and had his face lowered as if to hide from prying eyes.

"I'm telling you, there is something there. The guys at the precinct don't think so but I am sure something is going on. It's just too fishy and my gut is telling me to look into it. I mean, it's the fourth death somehow connected to them in two weeks. I can't look into it too closely because it would be too suspicious, and I know some of the other cops are dirty and this would call their attention. That's why I called you to do me this favor." The man passed a brown envelope to the younger one.

"This is all I have been able to gather and I trust you with it because I know how good you are and that you are clean. The payment we discussed will be paid by the mother of one of the victims when you deliver the information we need. Are you taking the job?"

"Yes, I am."

His contact did not need to know this but he has a personal interest in this case. He had already come across a suspicious death and in investigating it had been led to the same people.

****VF****

Kenta woke up mid morning. His head was killing him, he was thirsty, his eyes were sensitive to the light of day and he had missed work, but at this point he did not care. He stumbled his way to the bathroom and took a cold shower to help him wake up then made his way to the kitchen to find something greasy.

His mind kept drifting to the last conversation they had, the last time he had attempted to convince him to quit while he was ahead. But he had not listened and in a fit of anger left the small apartment closing the door behind him with a loud bang. Today he would see about the personal items left behind in the other room. Some he would give away, some he would keep and some would be sent to any family he had. He thought he remembered his friend mentioning a sister and mother in Osaka. Maybe the address was somewhere in the now resident-less room. He would look for it and send them his stuff later that week. For now he had to go cancel phones and other services as well as inform some people about the funeral and make arrangements for it.

He exited the apartment rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the light. That package still laid there next to the door but in his rush to get things done he completely missed it. There was just too much to do, he had a funeral to plan.

****VF****

Akihito had just gotten back to his small apartment, on his way back he had purchased a newspaper and some snacks. He placed the paper on the low table before his well-used secondhand couch and went to get himself something to drink. When he came back to the couch with his drink in hand he took the newspaper and read the headlines, looking for interesting news. His eyes stopped at an article about an accident, the circumstances of which told him there might be something else to the accident. He read a name in the article, a name he recognized, and saw a photo of a familiar woman along with it. 'Serves her right,' he thought, 'life pays you back for what you do.'

A realization dawned on him. He took the drown envelope that had been given to him earlier that day and emptied it on the table. His eyes opened wide as he read the information inside it and then he read the news article once more. This was all getting too fishy for his comfort and he decided to look into it.

****VF****

Asami was sitting in his limo on the way to Sion. He pondered about the feelings making his stomach heavy; sadness, loneliness, and over all, regret. No one would have guessed the inner turmoil in his heart or head just by seeing his face. His expression was as unreadable as usual and his image as pristine as it had always been, but he knew in his mind that what he felt in his heart, that sinking feeling in his stomach was regret. Regret for the way he disregarded the treasure he had been given. A treasure he did not deserve but had come to posses and now lost, perhaps forever. No, he would not think this way, he had to make things right with Akihito and somehow get forgiveness for his stupid mistake. He wanted things to go back to the way they were, he longed for the days of domestic bliss with his young lover.

When did he grow so attached? When did he become so dependent? It did not matter anymore. All that mattered was making things right with Akihito. Somehow he had to make the boy believe he was sorry.

He arrived at Sion and walked to his office seemingly with the confidence of a man who owned the very air everyone else breathed. In his mind, however, a myriad of accusations was floating around.

Asami Ryuichi sat behind his wooden desk in his office at Sion. A cigarette rested on his lips as he read the morning newspaper. A smirk was on his face and he suddenly had the urge to have celebratory glass of seventy-five year old scotch. 'So, one of the Honjio sisters is dead. That takes care of half my problems. Now, if only the other one would drop dead my life would be considerably easier.'

It did not matter though, in less than three weeks Honjio Yamato would deliver the goods he needed and at last he could get rid of him. Miko was another story though, that one he had yet to decide what to do with. He drank his scotch with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips wondering which suit to wear to the funeral. 'Fufufu, maybe I would wear something festive…' After all to him that death was something to celebrate about.

*****VF****

"FATHER!" Miko rushed into the spacious living room of a mansion outside Tokyo. She ran towards her father and hugged him burying her face on his neck as she cried. Her father was crying as well, the way he shook her as he mourned the death of his young daughter made her be glad she was not getting morning sickness as frequently as she used to.

"My baby, my little girl… how could this happen to her? And for us to find out in such a way. I should have known something was wrong when she did not answer my calls. My poor little girl, to die in such a way. They said she was still alive when the car when up in flames."

"Do they know what caused the accident?" she asked, tears still running down her cheeks.

"There were bottles of alcohol in the car; they are saying she must have been drunk and lost control of the car. That she must not have seen the person driving toward her."

"Did they find the person she collided with?"

"No, when the paramedics and firefighters got to the scene the other person was gone. No one has come to claim the car or to give a statement of any kind. The car had no license plate so they think it might have been stolen."

"Oh father, this is so tragic. My poor little sister still had so much to live for. What are we going to do about the meeting with the board?"

"Don't worry about that, I have already sent a memo to them and they understand the situation. The board has agreed you are the best candidate to successor anyways. Even if they hadn't… with what has happened… it's the only thing we can do. I am so tired child, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Don't worry father, I will take care of the company and our plan. You just stay home this week and rest. I will take care of the funeral arrangements as well. Would you like me to stay with you a couple of days? I don't want you to be alone under the circumstances."

"Yes that would be good, I don't want to be alone either. I need to calm down, this has been so hard on me."
"Sit down father, let me get you something to help you calm down and get some rest."

"Thank you Miko, you are a good daughter. I want you to know that even though you were not my favorite I still love you very much. Kaoruko was more talented but I always knew you would amount to great things too. Now everything rests on your hands."

"Thank you father, I love you too, and I understand Kaoruko was special to you. I want you to know it is ok, I never felt envy toward her."

"Such a good child, thank you."

"Wait here father; I will bring you something in a minute."

Her father nodded as he sat on the leather couch and she walked to the kitchen, fighting the smile that wanted to appear on her lips. In the kitchen she got a glass of water from one of the maids and from her purse she took out a small box. The box had various things in it – she took out a small container of pills and walked back to her father.

"Here father, this will help you get some rest and calm you down a bit." She said handing him one of the pills and the glass of water.

She led her father to his bedroom and laid him to rest on his bed, kissing him softly on his forehead. The man fell asleep shortly, his chest raising and falling smoothly as she played with what little hair was left on his head, the smile now visible on her lips.

She took out her phone and called a man she needed for the next step of her plan. She had been lucky to find him, he was just perfect.

"Ume-kun, it's me. Is my painting ready?"

"Yes Honjio-san, it is. You can pick it up any time this week, a beautiful replica of the original. It could easily be mistaken for it too."

"That is wonderful. I will see you on Thursday then. About the other business proposition I told you about, what have you decided?"

"It's not the type of thing I do and I could really get in trouble for it if someone finds out, but I need money to pay my debt and if you give me the amount you promised I should be able to pay it off. I will need some time to practice though, a week at least to make it perfect."

"Great then, I will bring some more documents with me on Thursday so you can look at it and practice doing it, it has to be perfect and no one can know it is a fake."

"I will start practicing it today from the one you already gave me then. By next week I should have mastered it.
The woman hung up the phone and exited the room thinking that luck was finally on her side.

****VF****

Takaba Akihito was looking through some of the information in the envelope along with the newspaper and some pictures he had taken while following a lead to this case. One of his informants had given him information about one of the deaths he was investigating. The informant had said this man was the last person to see the maid alive. It had taken a lot of favors and snooping around but he finally found the man and began following him to see were the lead went. The man was exiting his home, talking on the phone and getting in his car, Akihito got on his vespa trying not to lose sight of him. He had followed the man to a location he knew well: Asami's building… where he used to live. The man picked up some stuff from one of the penthouses in the building and took them to a big house outside of Tokyo.

He snooped around the place and took some pictures. In some of those pictures was a woman he recognized, a woman who had ruined his life, the woman who now lived with Asami Ryuichi.

'Somehow everything in this fucking city leads back to him.' He thought as he looked at the different pages before him.

Takaba continued to look at the details others had missed, the connections between seemingly unrelated incidents. He tried to connect all the dots, his gut told him all these things were connected but he could not figure out how. A man falls off a flight of stairs breaking his neck, a maid dies electrocuted, a bodyguard is shot defending his charge, a OBGYN commits suicide, and now the daughter of a CEO dies in a drunk driving accident. The only thing they all have in common is that they were somehow related to or worked for Yamato Enterprises.

"What the fuck is going on!"

****VF****

Kenta came back to his small apartment late in the afternoon. He still had a headache and was very tired. He was hungry too and contemplated what to make for dinner. He did not feel like eating but he knew he had to.
Kenta fished for the keys to his apartment in his pockets, he was carrying too much stuff and it made the simple task difficult. He was about to put the keys into the lock when out of nowhere a cat ran between his legs and scared him so much he dropped everything he was holding.

He was cursing his crazy cat-lady neighbor as he picked up the scattered papers, items and his keys. Next to his door was a package he had not seen before. He looked at the sender and was surprised to see it was from Kunao. 'Why the hell was my roommate sending himself packages? And since when do dead people mail stuff? While I'm at it…When the fuck was Kunao in Fukuoka? He must have sent this before he died, why?'

"I guess it doesn't really matter, I will just send it to his relatives in Osaka with the rest of his stuff." He said out loud and walked into the apartment placing the box on the table.