And I am back! Finals are over (YES!) but in a week or so I have my regents (DAMN IT!)... *sighs*

Big THANKS to Neoka and the three Guest's who reviewed!

Another round of THANKS to anyone who follow/ favorite my story! And if you can, please leave a review as well! (~^.^)~

Disclaimer: I love Misaki and I wish he was all mine... *sighs* but sadly he isn't... none of them are, OTL... except for Alice, Meru, Green King, Daichi, Yui, Haru... and more to come... probably...

Please review and I hope you enjoy it! *(^o^)*


Chapter 7: The Gold

"What?!" Alice screeched, pacing in a circle in Meru's bedroom. "How could he do that?! Does that man not understand what's at stake?!" Angrily punching the air, Alice gave another screech. "That's it. Approval or not, we are raiding Izumi Corps tonight."

Sighing, Meru ran a hand through her sunny yellow hair and tried to pacify the raging teen. Key word… tried

"Alice, you know you just can't do that. I have known the Gold King a bit longer than you did but he always did have a reason for his actions."

Turning a glare on her, Alice snarled, "And what? Leave those kids there? They've already been there for two nights since I had that dream, and god knows how many nights before they managed to contact me!"

"You think that I don't know that?" Meru glared at her. It was subtle but the accusation was still there, "I was the one there when I saved you from a similar situation nearly six years ago. I helped you through all those nights you couldn't fall asleep because you thought that they would come back for you. And for the love of –, I still have the scratches and bruises you gave me when I tried to drag- encourage you to go outside."

Scowling, Alice glared at her feet. It doesn't happen often but when Meru brings up shit from the past… damn, she is not a happy camper at the moment.

"I know you're angry and that you're feeling impulsive right now. And I know it's all because of what you went through that you feel so inclined to take matters into your own hands but I do understand the Gold King's hesitation at giving you his speedy consent… no, let me finish." Meru glared when Alice opened her mouth to say something.

Nodding approvingly when Alice snapped her mouth shut, Meru continued, "Izumi Corporation is a very large organization. It's very different from the small companies that you've burned to the ground thus far. They even have contacts within the Yellow Clan…" Alice sneered at the mention of that group, "… and certain executives from the Dark Clan. I did my own research and Izumi Corps is also supplying the Chinese Triads with drugs and various other transactions as well. If you go into this blindingly without the Gold's support, then the Yellow Clan and the Dark Clan would be hot on your tail. Not to mention the Triads. They're all human, not a strain or clansmen within their ranks, but they're still annoying as fuck."

Still scowling, Alice refused to meet Meru's gaze. Taking her silence as acceptance, Meru continued with her plan, "Tomorrow's Saturday, meaning no school. We'll go to the Gold King's tower… yes, both of us," Meru added when she saw the pleading look on Alice's face, "We'll get him to agree to a deal, mutual benefits, and you'll be well on your way to save the little munchkins. Agreed?"

Alice scrunched up her nose, "They aren't that young."

Raising an eyebrow, Meru glared, "Agreed?"

Glaring, Alice growled, "Does it matter? It's not like you'll let agree to anything else anyways."

"Agreed?"

Sighing, Alice rubbed her eyes, "If it makes you happy."

Taking that as an answer, Meru got up and walked out of the room, and came back in looking a bit flustered.

Trying not to laugh, Alice coughed, "Don't recognize your own room?"

Scowling, Meru pushed the snickering girl out and slammed her door shut. Feeling slightly better than she did when she walked into the room, Alice walked into her own room and groaned in annoyance. Of all days, her King chose to pass out on her bed tonight?!

Poking her King, quite unashamedly, a few times on his cheek, she gathered her favorite pillow and blanket before heading out to the couch in the living room. Though, not before she threw another blanket over the sleeping man. Staring at the dry and dreary mob of hair on his head, Alice groaned knowing that it was that time of the year again. Her King's sword had been steadily deteriorating for the past ten years.

When she had discovered the green aura's healing potential, she started to use it to restore her King's Damocles sword. It always worked… but over time it would start deteriorating again and she'd have to start over. She would do it several times a year but the pain that comes with the healing was not fun. Alice called it a healing property of the aura but, in all honesty, she was taking the Green King's rampaging power and storing it in her own body till it burns off on its own. It's a tiring process and one that leaves her incapacitated for weeks after.

Alice sank into the couch cushions, sighing at the way her body was rejecting sleep. Before her mind faded away, a single thought came to her mind; Did I ever mention to Homra that I was Sleeping Forest?


"Shh~ She's sleeping."

"King! You took her bed again?! Why do you always do that?"

"Saa… I wonder why…"

"She was already in a bad mood and now she's probably sleep deprived?!"

"Oh shut up!" Alice groaned, pulling her pillow over her face, blocking out the sunlight streaming through the window, 'Damn, I forgot to pull the shades before I went to sleep.'

"Oh, Alice… you're awake?" Meru asked uncertainly, like she was afraid the little girl was going to chew her up and then spit her out for disturbing her sleep. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Uhh…"

Face palming, Alice groaned, "Forget it. Start heating the pan, I'll make the eggs. What else do you want?"

"Pancakes."

"King?" Alice turned to the platinum blonde standing in the middle of the living room…staring at nothing in the air…

"Ah… umm… I guess I'll have some bacon with the eggs…" He started to stare at the corner of the ceiling again.

Sighing, Alice walked over to him and covered his eyes with her hand and dragged him away, all the while muttering, "Stop staring, you know you can't help them… and if you try, they'll attack you."

Blinking profusely, Shogo nodded and sat down at the table, staring across it at Meru. Noticing her King's gaze, she glanced up from reading the news on her PDA and stared at him for a while before following his gaze to her left shoulder and asked,

"Yes? Is there something on me?"

Smiling, he tilted his head to the side and chimed, "Nope," popping the 'p'.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Meru scoffed, "Then why don't I believe you."

"But there really isn't anything on you," Alice called from the kitchen. Slowing her bustling pace, Alice glanced at Meru long enough for her to see Alice's eyes blink from her usual color to a startling honey yellow before fading back to their normal amethyst hue.

'Weird…' Meru thought, 'Alice never uses her power like that willingly.'

"ru… MERU!?" Alice shouted.

"Hn… what?"

"Jeez… I was asking, when do you want to go? Personally, I think the soon we go, the sooner we'll be able to come back but… I don't want to see the Gold King so early in the morning."

"Oh… right," Meru muttered, "I was actually thinking after lunch…"

Alice blanched, "I'm not making lunch."

"We'll go out, then." Meru shrugged. She liked the teen's cooking but making her cook every meal was a bit unfair. "Alice?"

"Hn?" Alice looked up.

"I thought you hated that power of yours, why'd you use it before?" Meru asked, slightly tilting her head to the side, like it'll convince the red headed teen to tell her.

"Wanted to see what King was seeing…" Alice shrugged. "See if it was malevolent or benevolent…"

"Oh…" Meru nodded, thinking that Alice was too curious for her own good, "So which was it…"

"… pitiful…" Alice scowled, "It was a lady, around her thirties. Her husband killed her in this very house and she was screaming, shouting for her daughter…"

"Alice…"

"Hn?"

"Scary…" Meru sweat dropped.

"Not really… the lady was more pitiful than scary." Alice shrugged.

"Not the lady… you," Meru smirked and went back to eating her eggs. A moment of silence entered the room until a horrid snore rumbled through the room.

"Meru."

"Hn?" Meru looked up from her eggs.

"Get King to eat something before he falls asleep again." Alice sighed, watching her King's head abruptly drop towards the plate of bacon and eggs.

"Why me?" Meru whined.

"Because I cooked."

"Tch," clicking her tongue, Meru clicked underneath the table, connecting with one of the Green King's shin, forcing him to jerk awake. "Eat," Meru said and dug into her own plate.

"You could have shaken him awake…" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Too much trouble."


Two Hours Later

In the living room of their apartment, Meru and Alice sat side by side, staring at the television in front of them in monotony. They were watching this rerun of an American show featuring a talking sponge, starfish and other various ocean dwellers… there were also bubbles (talking ones too) and a… squirrel… under the sea…

Americans… they come up with the darnest things.

While Alice couldn't possibly fathom why this show was so popular, one glance at Meru and she understood that it wasn't so much the show… but the childhood memories that came with watching it.

When the screen turned blue and credits started rolling across it, Meru stood up, stretching and yawning, and said that it was time. Ignoring the smirk on Meru's face, Alice snorted and walked to her bedroom.

Once inside, Alice spent a whole minute just staring at her closet. For the first time in years, Alice had no idea what to wear. Should she wear what she usually does or should she wear something more formal out of respect for the Gold King. Torn between her favorite outfit and one that was slightly more formal, Alice tensed when a knock sounded from her door.

"Hurry!" Meru shouted from the other side.

Ignoring her outburst, Alice grabbed a gray long sleeved, button less cardigan and slipped it on. Ignoring the skimpy pink shorts that Meru had once said looks great with it, she pulled on a black skirt that stretched mid- thigh. Checking in the mirror, Alice strapped a gun holster on the upper part of her thigh and clicked a gun, fully loaded, into place.

Alice turned to walk to the door, grabbing a few talismans from her bedroom table, and opened the door to greet Meru.

Meru looked her over once, her gaze lingering on her right thigh before sighing, "We're going to the Gold Tower not to war."

"Better safe than sorry?" Alice shrugged, she trusted the gold clansmen as far as she could throw them without using her green aura, which is to say… not very far at all.

"Whatever you say…" Meru crooned, ushering her out of the apartment. King was sleeping again and Alice wondered if he would wake up before they came back. God forbid he did… Alice wondered just how many more clansmen would have joined. Honestly, the man was an idiot… an idiot who is just as gullible as he is trusting. All anyone needs is a good sob story and the man would make you a green clansman…


Homra

"Not that I'm complaining… but where are we all going?" Yata asked, tucking his skateboard under an arm. The moment he came into the bar today, Kusanagi- san clapped his hand together, saying that everyone was here and they proceeded to leave the bar. Even Saru had no idea what was going on.

The Red King and his clansmen were walking down the street. Seeing them make their way down the road, frightened civilians would stand to the side, hoping… praying that the temperamental Red King wasn't here for them. Soon, Homra fell into a familiar pattern, with their King leading up front and Anna to his left, clinging onto his jacket. Kusanagi stood to his right and Totsuka to his left, watching over the small child. The others were scattered around behind him, in an order that distinctively showed who was superior to the other.

"Hn? Oh, we received a summons. The Gold King wants us at his tower." Kusanagi recited what was written to them.

"Eh? The Gold? Isn't he like one of the first kings?" Kamamoto took a sharp intake of breath.

"What does another clan want with us?" Shohei mumbled.

"Does it matter?" Yata scoffed, "They're just another clan with another king but Suoh Mikoto is our King!"

"That's right." Kamamoto smiled at Yata's enthusiasm with Homra. He had hoped that over time, Yata would tone it down a bit… but it just might be too much to ask for.

"Demo… what would the Gold King want with us, with Homra?" Chitose mused.

"Hn… if the past was anything to go by then he'll probably have a special mission for us… or something," Totsuka shrugged, his easygoing smile back on his face. After Alice had left yesterday, the entire bar was silent to the point that you could even hear Anna breathe. Mikoto had left the bar, probably to let himself calm down… though the missing warehouses downtown shows just how calm he really was.

"If it was a mission…" Dewa muttered, "Who would go?"

"Hn…" Totsuka thought loudly, "Can't be me, I can't fight. Since the Gold King had wanted the whole clan here, then he doesn't want King so King is out too. Izumo would also be out since he should be with King…" Totsuka muttered to himself, "So next possible choice would be… Yata- kun and Saru- kun…"

"Hn," Fushimi sighed, "Why is it always me?"

"Eh?! I have to go with Saru?!" Yata shouted, surprised since Totsuka usually paired him up with Kamamoto. Saru needs to make more friends in Homra, is what Totsuka always said.


When the Red King and his clansmen arrived at the Gold Tower, their reception was most unexpected. Every Gold Clansmen in the area looked preoccupied with something else, their minds all elsewhere.

"What's up with them?" Yata jerked his head toward the dazed gold clansman leading them through the Gold Tower. Yata wasn't sure if he should be amazed that they were navigating the labyrinth like tower absentmindedly or annoyed that the gold clansman hadn't so much as looked at them before ushering them inside.

"I thought it was just a rumor but I heard people say that every once in a while, the Gold King's clansmen get dazed, like there is always something on their minds that's keeping them from focusing on their work." Kusanagi shrugged, fingering the lighter in his pocket. He really wanted to light a cigarette and take in a long drag, but the Gold King's warning to him, from the last time he was here, still rung clearly in his mind like it was only yesterday.

"Ah…" Totsuka shouted in recognition, "I heard the same rumor. Apparently whenever it happens, it's because there is this really beautiful woman coming to see the Gold King…"

"Or maybe, someone incredibly dangerous and the gold clansmen are wondering if their king is safe…" Kusanagi added.

"Or it could be both…" Chitose chimed in. Feeling the others stare at him in disbelief, he shrugged, "Beautiful and dangerous? It's like a match made in heaven."

"Your womanizing ways truly knows no bounds…" Eric muttered in English, bringing a smirk to many faces, except Yata who looked around confused, while Chitose huffed in indignation.

"Yubikiri- san probably wouldn't want to hear something like that… hn?" Shohei snickered at Chitose's paling face.

"You wouldn't…" Chitose grumbled, staring wide eyed at the red head in front of him.

"Maybe not… but I would," Bando smirked, imagining just what the womanizer's assassin strain type of a girlfriend would do to him. "Jealously is a very ugly thing unless used by a very capable person."

"Maria used to slice people to ribbons and tied the devil's knot with their intestines," Anna said, her face unchanging despite her disturbing revelation.

Gulping, Yata, all but whispered, "S-she told you that…?"

Anna shook her head, "I caught her thinking it when she saw Chitose flirt with another woman."

"O-oi, you should really watch what you say about other woman… especially since she could be watching…" Kamamoto gulped, glancing behind him warily.

"Maria wouldn't kill me… right?" Chitose chuckled nervously, when no one answered, Chitose turned to the little girl, who he knew wouldn't sugarcoat her words, "Right? … Anna?"

With a shrug of the little girl's shoulders, Chitose sweat dropped and paled significantly, forgetting for a moment that they were in the Gold King's Tower and Yubikiri Maria, despite her many connections, cannot enter the tower.

"Ah…" Totsuka said, pointing to the gold clansman who stopped in front of a door, "We're here…"

"FUCK!" a voice screamed from inside the room, a resounding crack as something smashed against the wall echoed throughout the whole tower.

"Not again…" the gold clansman groaned and slowly pushed open the door, only to slam it shut when a gold vase was thrown at it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Who the hell said I needed backup, that I needed HELP?!"

When the gold clansman edged the door open again, Yata almost wanted to shout at him to close it. Close calls with death seems to follow him everywhere lately…

"Ah, Haru- san, Coming in might not be a good time right now…" a different voice chimed from inside the room.

The gold clansman chuckled, "When is it ever a good time when she's here." And you could almost hear the smirk in the other person's chuckle. "Besides, the Gold King's guests are here…"

"Let them in Shimizu Haru," a powerful voice boomed from within the room. A glance at Kusanagi confirmed that the voice did belong to the legendary Gold King.

"You're just going to ignore me now?! Haven't you heard anything that I've said for the past half hour?!"

Anna's eyes lit up, remembering who this voice belonged to. The rest of Homra stood there, a bit confused at the familiarity of the voice and yet none of them had any idea where they might have heard it before.

Walking into the room, it was Yata who stopped first. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the girl in front of him. Her scarlet red hair fell in perfect waves around her, though there was a strand that stuck straight up, seemingly defying gravity. She was being held back by two gold clansmen who looked like they really didn't want to be caught in the middle when she finally snaps. Though she looks pretty close to her limit…

There was an abnormal bulge near her upper right thigh, but other than that… she was the complete opposite of how Yata remembered her to be. She was scary and had this murderous aura around her… and it was green?

That was the strangest part, the Mikoto- san's little sister that he remembered didn't have a green aura around her... what was going on?

Off to the side was an amazingly beautiful lady, her golden yellow hair was wrapped into a bun on her head. Her startling cobalt irises stared at each and every red clansman till she smiled and gave a short wave.

The red clansmen and their king stood there silent, staring wide eyed at the scene in the room, till one very brave, or perhaps he was suicidal, man called out…

"Ah! Alice- chan!"

The girl froze and turned around, her amethyst pupils widened in surprise before they flicked toward the blonde lady in the room, who now looked strangely irritated.

"Shit. This is really just not my week…"


I'd like to apologize beforehand for any OOC- ness of the characters. This is just how they act in the fantasies in my head.

Any review is greatly appreciated and helps keep me motivated! Any questions is welcome~ though, even I'm trying to figure out just what I'm trying to say...

And this concludes... their visit to the Gold Tower, let's see if Alice can manage to stay in the same room with Homra glaring at her...

Until Next Time! Ciao.

- xxtoushirou