Chapter 10

King of Fighters, Kyo Kusanagi, and Iori Yagami belong to SNK

The sun had grown high and strong in the sky by ten in the morning. There were several wisps of clouds above, and flocks of geese in arrowhead formations traced their way across the horizon. Kyo sighed and kept his eyes forward as he walked. The air was cool in his nostrils and felt fresh in his lungs - more so now than in the past several days.

Four days.

Four days had passed since he'd last seen Iori. Since he'd lashed out, snarled at, and hurt the other so deeply that the cool, unnerving calmness the other seemed to emit so constantly was all but shattered. In the spur of the moment, Kyo couldn't truthfully say he didn't want to hurt his rival - because he did. His actions were intentional and deliberately malicious.

But after a few hours, he had come to regret it.

And now, that a few days had passed without the slightest whiff of Iori Yagami, Kyo's guilt drove him out of his house to roam the streets. He had spent half of yesterday, and all of this morning searching. He had knocked on four wrong doors already… but when he finally thought he was in the wrong neighborhood, Iori answered the fifth door.

The man who opened the door looked like an absolute mess. His hair was mussed. His eyes were dilated. He looked pale and was sweating and breathing hard, as if he'd just gotten out of a fight. There were bags beneath his eyes and he looked incredibly stressed - perhaps even more so than when Kyo had left him that fateful evening.

The sight caused Kyo's heart to sink into his feet. He cursed himself and expected the door to be slammed in his face. When it wasn't, he was relieved - but more than a little confused. The fact Iori even looked happy to see him, confused him even more. Iori wouldn't let Kyo into the house - and left him on the doorstep. Kyo found that a little suspicious. Red flags went off in his head when he was sure he heard the telltale noise of somebody crying from inside.

Is he… is he torturing somebody? Did I drive him nuts?! Ugh, fuck…

So when Iori came back, looking neater - but still exhausted, Kyo was the one on razor's edge. He needed to be careful with his words, since this entire fiasco was his fault… but if Iori had locked some poor bastard in his house and-

He didn't want to think about it. After the double-hostage situation a couple of days ago, Kyo now knew assumptions weren't his strong suit. But… He mentioned that he lived alone, so… what other explanation is there? Is that why he didn't let me inside? I haven't seen him for four days… four days is a long time.

Kyo side-eyed the red-haired man who walked calmly beside him. He looked tired and worried and upset and relieved and glad… Kyo couldn't read him. Maybe he looked a bit crazy? Did he finally snap? A thousand different emotions and a thousand different thoughts were bouncing around his skull. Yagami was also extremely quiet next to him, and when Yagami got quiet, that meant something serious was occurring.

Something incriminating? Murder? Torture? Kidnapp- He stopped that train of thought. He didn't know what was happening… he wasn't sure he wanted to, but…

"Hey, uh… Yagami."

Beside him, Iori flicked a bit of ash off his cigarette and glanced at him. He was looking considerably calmer now than when he'd answered the door, but Kyo perceived he was still troubled. He continued tentatively.

"Are you alright?"

Iori nodded and looked into the distance as he addressed him. "Glad you found me. I thought I was going crazy."

He's nuts! I knew it! Oh shit! I've gone and snapped his brain in half!

Kyo did his best to keep his breath steady. If he'd truly driven Iori to commit… that, then was he responsible? Did he have an obligation to stop him? How many people has he already done this to? It'd been four long days. Kyo let out a shaky breath. He was tense and Iori seemed to sense it. The other man paused to look at him. He gave the slightest of frowns.

"What is it, Kyo?" The other's eyes seemed to bore into him. "What's wrong?"

Kyo gritted his teeth. He decided he needed to face this head on.

"Look, uh, I'm really sorry about what happened. I'll do my best to make it up to you, but don't take it out on innocent people, okay?"

The redhead looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Kyo breathed heavily out of his nose and then stopped walking. He jerked his head in the direction of Iori's apartment. The confusion never left his rival's face.

"I heard crying from your house… I don't know who that is, but please. Let him go. This isn't his fault. It's mine. I… I won't tell anyone, alright?"

Iori turned to look at him. There was a moment of silence.

Then there was a subtle twitch in Iori's face. Was that amusement tugging at the corners of his eyes? What was so funny? "I think…" He thought he saw Yagami trying not to laugh. Kyo was baffled. "I think you have the wrong idea, Kyo."

"The wrong id- Yagami! Those are innocent people! This isn't funny, dammit!"

He felt heat rising behind his eyes. He was angry, but more so at himself for allowing his rival to fall into such depravity. Torturing people? Even murde-

"You have the wrong idea." His rival took another drag from his cigarette. "You ever heard of K-drama? Maybe your girlfriend knows it."

Kyo blinked, then shook his head. He was becoming more and more agitated. He kept glancing from his rival to his cellphone to the apartment half a block away.

"Don't change the topic. How many people have you… Alright, alright… Listen. We need to fix this as soon as possible or you're going to jail. We need to do something. Did anyone see you? Have the neighbors been acting suspicious?"

Kyo's entire thought process at that moment could be described in a string of repeating 'Fuck!'s. He hissed through his teeth and was unconsciously wringing his hands in worry. He twitched and stared suspiciously at every car that drove by. Iori had always been there to save his ass, so Kyo wasn't going to leave him in these dire straits - even if he had gone psycho-murderer. After all, he had promised not to leave Iori alone again. He would stand by that… The problem was, Kyo had no idea how to deal with this kind of thing. None at all.

Iori stopped walking. Just didn't move. The mirth didn't fade out of his voice, but his tone grew serious. "Kyo, listen to me… hey, you can do that, right? Not like last time?"

Kyo cupped his hands over his face, shut his eyes and breathed deeply into his hands for a few moments. After he had calmed himself down sufficiently, he gave a silent nod - but didn't remove his hands.

"The crying you heard was from 'Other' you. He likes K-dramas. That's why I asked you about them."

Kyo blinked. Removed his hands to stare at Iori.

"What?"

"He's been watching them. Made a mess of my couch. Been crying his eyes out for three straight days. Don't see what the big deal about them is, but..."

He shrugged. Kyo thought he saw the corners of his mouth turn upwards.

"So you're not… doing anything illegal?"

"No, I'm not." An uneasy pause followed, but Kyo was too relieved to notice. He spun the situation over in his head and released a short chuckle. The very distressed crying wasn't from some poor innocent who had fallen into the hands of his now-insane rival; rather, it was a result of 'Other' Kyo sobbing over soap operas. Iori hadn't been driven insane. Neither had he murdered anyone. Neither was it Kyo's fault. It was beautifully anticlimactic. It was wonderfully unexpected. It was stupid. It was funny.

Apparently, Iori thought so too. His voice was amused.

"What did you think I was doing?"

Kyo pinched his nose and let out a sigh of relief. He waved the question away.

"Um, Nothing… Thought I might've driven you nuts. You looked a bit… crazy when you answered the door. I got a little worried."

"You can do a lot of things, Kyo but...I'm not that fucking fragile."

Kyo snorted and resumed down the road. Iori released a short chuckle and followed behind, quickly catching up with him to walk shoulder by shoulder. He puffed on his cigarette happily. It seemed Kyo's assumption had proven quite amusing, and Iori looked to be in high spirits. He broke the silence.

"Your girlfriend doing all right? Your folks okay? Were you able to give them an excuse for your sudden disappearance?"

Considering he had vanished right in front of Yuki in the tea shoppe during a date…. She had bombarded his phone with what felt like a million text messages and his mom had also called and asked him to call back. Of course, at that time, he was in the capsule hotel after making his rival's night miserable and by default, his own. He hadn't answered those messages or texted back because he was too busy excoriating himself for being a colossal dumbass and asshole to the one other person who actually gave two shits about him.

He'd simply returned home later that afternoon, at which point questions were asked and his mom served him an early dinner since he obviously looked wretched. Yuki had dropped on over a few hours later and wanted to know where he disappeared to. Since he didn't have a good answer - one that didn't make him sound crazy - he gave her some vague response and said he was tired. Needed to tuck in for the night.

With his guilty conscience, he didn't sleep well that night, either.

"Yuki's fine. Mom's just feeding me. Dad's Dad. What excuse do I give them, Yagami?"

The other man shrugged. "You're resourceful. I'm sure you thought of something."

"I didn't."

Iori continued working on his cigarette and Kyo knew that a second one was on the way soon. With how frequently his rival smoked and how quickly he burned through packs of them, Kyo was surprised it hadn't affected him in other ways. Then again, the Yagami blood curse made the possibility of cancer unimportant. It wasn't as if Iori cared either way. Sure enough, his rival finished his cigarette, disposed of it, and moved onto the next one.

"So 'Other' me's been staying at your place for four days?"

"Him and 'Taxi' both, intermittently. " A significant pause. Kyo looked at Iori, whose brow was creased. "'Other' you is okay but…"

Kyo frowned. Iori didn't tend to complain.

"But, what? Has 'Taxi' been too loony for you?"

Iori spun the cigarette between his fingers and glanced around. "Not here. We need another place to talk."

Kyo paused. He furrowed his brow in concern. What in the world could have happened to make Iori this cautious? There wasn't anyone else on this side of the street. All that he saw was a quiet residential neighborhood with its usual police box further down. Why did Yagami need to shift locations to talk?

Iori didn't offer any explanation. He simply sped up his pace until he turned into a narrow side alley. Kyo trotted after him. He felt a very peculiar tension in his rival's body language.

"Yagami...what's this about?"

The redhead took another look around the alley, raising his gaze up to the windows above them and dropped his voice. "Whatever I say, keep your voice down."

Kyo leaned against the other side of the narrow alley, facing his rival. He scrunched his face in confusion. He kept his voice low as requested. "What the hell is going on, Yagami? Did 'Those guys' do something to you? You're acting weird."

"Found out I'm a made man now. Yakuza. Last night."

Kyo choked on his spit.

"Yakuza? What the fuck?! What do you mean, you 'found out'? Do you sleepwalk or something?"

"'Taxi's' eighth in the Yakuza hierarchy here now. Which means so am I."

Kyo was still in disbelief.

"What?! Why the hell would he do that…? But how the hell is that your problem?"

"We look the same, Kyo. You think anyone else can tell the difference?"

Kyo covered his mouth and sucked air. Shit. Iori was right. If 'Taxi' was out and about murdering people - or whatever the Yakuza did nowadays - Iori was going to take the blame. Their situation was strange in the extreme - there was no use explaining it to the authorities. They'd laugh - and bring everyone in for questioning. Police interrogations were serious with a one hundred percent confession rate and he didn't know how well Iori would do under the strain of that, all the while declaring his innocence.

"Shit… you're not messing with me, right? Shit..."

"I'm not." Iori's tone was dead serious. "That's not the only thing, Kyo."

"What the hell do we do? What the hell… Wait- Just ask 'Other' me to beat the shit out of him so he stops. Then brush the entire thing under the rug. He's only been doing it for four days - right? Come on, let's get him off the TV."

Kyo made a motion toward the mouth of the alleyway. Iori grabbed him by the arm to stop him. He hissed, turning to face his rival.

"Four days and he's eighth in line. Kyo...I have illegal money at my place. From arms dealing and drug smuggling. You think I can deal with that without getting my ass thrown in jail?"

Oh shit. Drugs? Arms?

Kyo's voice was shaky. He cupped his hands over his mouth again and leaned back against the wall to think.

"... can we… burn the money?"

"He has connections. The Yakuza know the money's at my place. What do you think is gonna happen if I do that?"

"Shit, you're right…"

Kyo sighed and picked his brain from something that could possibly get his rival out of this mess. What happened to gang members who wanted out, and didn't end up in jail? Well, most of them just weren't caught… unfortunately, 'Taxi' wasn't the subtle type - and if he had managed to climb from zero to number eight in the organization in three days, he had probably left a trail of blood in his wake. He was going to be caught, and that meant Iori was going to suffer alongside him. It was inevitable… unless…

Iori continued in a grim voice.

"It's American dollars - enough to fill my mattress. International dealings. Kyo, if our police don't figure this out, Interpol will. I'm looking at hard time either way it falls."

"Yagami."

Iori looked up from the ground to meet his gaze. Kyo didn't know how he managed to appear so calm. If he had suddenly found himself to be a high-level criminal, he'd likely panic immediately. The fact Iori could be so calm about it meant his idea just might work. He nodded seriously as he shared his idea.

"Yagami, betray the Yakuza to the authorities in exchange for immunity, like in all those American drug movies. You're number eight, right? You've gotta know something! That way you can get yourself out of that organization, and you don't land yourself in jail."

Iori paused. He seemed to think for a moment.

"'Taxi' gave me some...evidence. It might work, but..." He sighed and lifted his cigarette to his lips. "The only issue is 'Taxi' himself."

The enthusiasm drained right out of Kyo. He grimaced. 'Taxi' was a complete nut and a scary one to boot. He likely wouldn't listen to reason and could hold a grudge. If he did that against Iori...

"He sees me as a 'younger' brother. Trusts me. What do you think will happen if I turn against him and he finds out?"

"Shit… all that bastard talks about is loyalty this, loyalty that… fuck…"

"Right." Iori's expression only grew grimmer. "I can fight him but I'd lose. You know that. I know that. Hell, he might even kill me. Some way to go, huh?"

Kyo leaned against the wall and looked to the sky. This day was getting weirder and weirder, and it was only ten-thirty. He had come stalking, looking for Iori. 'Taxi' was out and about playing with drug money. Iori was now a high-level mafioso, and 'Other' Kyo was -

Hold on...

"Get other me. Yagami! You've seen how my double fights. He puts 'Taxi' down in seconds - and 'Taxi' seems to do what he says anyhow. If we've got him on our side, we'll be fine. Just explain it to him - he seems like a pretty nice guy. I bet he'll help." Kyo chuckled. "I mean if he's crying over soap operas, if we give him a sad story about poor little 'You' being suddenly thrown into the criminal underworld, he'll give us a hand."

There was a shifting of something in Iori's expression. Kyo couldn't read it. "He likes to help. He just might...but…"

Kyo let his voice drop into a serious tone. He stared levelly at Iori.

"But what? You've got no options. Do you have a better idea?"

"He'll be going against 'Taxi'. Kyo...after what happened a few days ago, I think you understand what we're asking of him."

Kyo hardened his gaze.

"Better for him to go against that lunatic than us. We've gotta try, Yagami. It's either that - or just turn yourself in. I bet even fleeing the country wouldn't do much. You said they do international, right?"

"Yes. Drug money from Colombia. Arms from Iraq."

Kyo shut his eyes.

"Dammit… Yagami, let's get that bastard off the TV and talk to him. Come on."

Nooo, Jang Mae! He's not abandoning you, he just got abducted by aliens and got his memory wiped! You can't go be with that evil bastard Kang Sook! How could you do-

Kyo was curled up on the couch and hugging a cushion to his chest. The new stuffing Iori Yagami had filled the couch with poked uncomfortably at him through his pants, but he didn't notice. His attention was raptly focused on the drama that'd been playing nonstop on the glowing screen for the past 72 hours, and he wasn't getting tired of it.

Sure, he was certain that this exact same plot had happened somewhere around episode… 45, or maybe 405? But by now it was all a blur. He could enjoy the drama all over again. The best part was 'Nice' Iori didn't nag him. His rival lookalike was quite happy to curl up on the other end of the couch with a book and leave him be. Sometimes he watched, but usually got a glazed look in his eye after a few minutes. Kyo appreciated the effort regardless. Occasionally he even got up and brought snacks. As far as Kyo was concerned, 'Nice' Iori was an angel incarnate.

There was a thumping and Kyo briefly noticed the noise of the door closing and footsteps in the entrance. Two people had arrived in the apartment. He could get up and see who it was, but that would involve him getting up. He opted to use his powers of deduction to determine who was outside.

There was no screaming, so it wasn't Iori and his touchy faggot friend. 'Other' Kyo and 'Nice' Iori had just left and likely wouldn't be back for at least another hour… that meant...

…Actually, I don't know what that means… who the hell is- Ahhh! Jang Mae, no! You can't marry him! Noo!

Kyo's situational awareness went out the window as Jang Mae pronounced wedding vows to a person who looked exactly like her, except his hair was short. In the audience, another identical looking person - Lee Sook - was crying bitterly. He had gotten his memory wiped by aliens, but his heart knew his first love, Jang Mae! This was too cruel! Far too cruel.

But what now?! Lee Sook was standing up to protest the marriage! Is Jang Mae gonna remember him? Is- "Hey! Move!"

'Nice' Iori walked over to stand in the way of the television. At the same moment, the room's lights were flipped on. Kyo grabbed for the remote to pause his beloved show before angrily addressing the solemn man standing in front of him. He was aware that...'Other' Kyo was standing by the light switch. He cast him an equally annoyed glare before voicing his thoughts.

"You guys have no appreciation for a good drama. Why are you bothering me so late at night?"

'Nice' Iori crossed his arms over his chest and replied smoothly, while 'Other' Kyo walked to sit at the other edge of the couch. "I just need a word. It's important. Can you hear me out?"

Kyo paused. He had more complaints to give, but decided not to voice them. Both of the men were looking at him with grim expressions, and Kyo was beginning to think there might be something serious going on.

He sighed, uncurled from his scrunched up position, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He checked his watch for the first time in approximately a hundred episodes. It was 10:37 in the morning.

"Alright, alright. What's up kiddos? Something eating you?"

"Tell him, Yagami," said his duplicate, whose attention was focused on 'Nice' Iori. It appeared they had made up the rift caused a few days earlier. Kyo couldn't help but smile at that. He knew they'd be better than his soap operas.

"Has 'other' me told you anything about what he's been doing for the last few days?"

Kyo shrugged.

"Honestly, I thought he was out selling ass."

They stared at him. Kyo couldn't help but snicker.

"Okay okay, fine. Yeah. I think he joined a gang or something, and made a really gay friend? If you want in on the action, just ask him. I'm sure he'd be happy to get you initiated."

At the mention of the 'really gay friend', 'Nice' Iori turned an interesting shade of pink. Right. That had just happened not too long ago and obviously the other man was embarrassed to even think about it. He saw 'Other' Kyo looking on in confused silence. Thankfully, he was smart enough to not say anything stupid this time.

It took a minute but the nicer version of his rival finally got past whatever mental image was in his brain and spoke. "It's not a gang. Not the way you're thinking. It's the Yakuza. The branch here in Osaka."

Kyo shrugged.

"Ah, well his family runs the Yakuza back home. Sometimes they ask him to step in, so he knows the operation. I guess he was checking your Yakuza out. What of it?"

Kyo yawned and knitted his fingers behind his head. He propped his feet up on the coffee table and stared calmly at them.

"He's eighth here in the Osaka branch. I found out last night."

Kyo felt his face twitch. He was still smiling, but not out of amusement. The news was so unexpected that he had forgotten to change his expression.

"What?!"

"Because he's eighth, I'm eighth. That's why…" Here, 'Nice' Iori looked at 'Other' Kyo with an unreadable expression. "That's why that guy showed up earlier. Because apparently, I'm the same rank as him."

Kyo stared at 'Nice' Iori and grimaced. From the way he lived, it seemed the last thing he wanted to do was run a criminal empire - much less the notoriously involved Japanese Yakuza. Iori was a bit of a nut. He was from a big family with tons of political connections, and besides, Commander Heidern and Chiz were always covering his ass when things got hairy. He could murder someone in broad daylight, in the middle of Times Square, and not even be brought in for questioning.

So if he had climbed to number 8, he had probably killed a shit-ton of people to do it. Iori didn't have the same network in this world. Actually, he was a complete stranger. If he got arrested, nobody was making a call on his behalf.

Which meant he was fucked.

Which meant 'Nice' Iori was fucked.

"Shit, you're fucked."

"That was fast," the redhead standing across from him said, unwinding his arms to place his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I'm fucked but it's not just that. He's dealing with the arms trade and drug smuggling. Kusanagi, not sure what it's like back home for you, but how does Japan deal with offenders of that sort?"

"Yag can do whatever the fuck he wants. If they actually sat him down and counted up the stuff he did, he'd probably get like… a thousand years or something. But enough about that - how are you gonna fix this shit?"

"Glad you asked." Here, 'Nice' Iori leaned forward a bit, reminding Kyo of Yagami's unusual posture while fighting. "That's why we're here. Before I continue, are you aware there's illegal money here?"

"... I didn't, but I'm honestly not surprised. Where's it from?"

"The ones in the couch are from the Colombian drug trade. I was surprised out of my sleep last night just so he could stuff the mattress. That's from the arms trade in Iraq. So, am I fucked or am I fucked, huh?"

Kyo shut his eyes and cupped his face in both hands. He couldn't help but release a sad laugh.

"Well, he does speak Spanish… dammit, Yag you stupid bitch… are there any bodies in here? Did you check the freezer?"

His rival's duplicate released a dry laugh. "The fridges here are too small for that. And no, there's nothing like that here. Don't need any more shit like that."

Kyo grimaced.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the amount of shit getting thrown at you. Listen to me. Trash all the meat in your freezer. Riot's a collector. He tends to do weird shit like that."

"I'll take care of it, Yagami." His double had risen to his feet off the couch and gave his rival a singular look. "Kitchen's just further in, right?"

"Yeah. Dump everything, Kyo." 'Nice' Iori had removed a cigarette from the carton in his jacket pocket. He lit it with his flames and sighed. "Don't leave anything in there."

Kyo sighed again. His rival was really a piece of work. He could be the best friend you ever had. He'd kill for you, he'd die for you, but he came with so many problems, that sometimes Kyo felt it wasn't worth it.

Iori was a fucking battle addict. He didn't just want to win, he wanted to slaughter… and if he didn't, Riot broke out and did it anyways. Iori had joined the Japanese mafia for the same reason he spent time with IKARI. If he wanted to live any sort of normal life, he needed an outlet. And… well… at least he's going after criminals, but shit.

Kyo lifted his head and glanced tiredly at 'Nice' Iori. He really was a much nicer version… but Yagami had set the bar so low it was almost a worthless comparison to make.

"Do you...have political connections?"

'Nice' Iori partook of his cigarette and shook his head. "No. My family name only does so much."

Kyo jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen.

"How about him? You've gotta give me something, man… otherwise the only thing to do is just erase the entire system. And that's gonna be a fucking war."

At that, the other's eyes widened, startled. "The Kusanagi clan won't do anything for me. Not even if he wants to. And we aren't tearing the system down. Is that how you guys operate back home?"

"...Don't ask."

He saw 'Nice' Iori check himself, as if warned by his tone of voice. "I see." The younger man went for his cigarette again - it was as much a crutch as it was a habit - and change his tone. "You see...I was hoping you'd help."

"My help? How so?"

"I'm considering turning the evidence over to the authorities in exchange for immunity. But if I do that, he's going to find out who told and…" The redhead made a violent gesture with his hand, tracing the air with cigarette smoke across his throat. "I'd be digging my own grave. Wouldn't last the hour."

Kyo sighed and covered his face again. He knew what these two were asking of him. He knew it was likely the best option they had. It was reasonable… but Iori wasn't. Famously so.

"You want me to turn him over in your stead."

"I know you cover for him. What I'm asking of you." There was a quiet sympathy in the other's voice. "I wouldn't ask it of you if I could take care of it myself. But he will kill me and he'd kill Kyo, too, if he found out. I'm not letting Kyo die..."

Kyo pinched the bridge of his nose and held up a hand. 'Nice' Iori fell silent. He and 'Other' Kyo - who had returned from the kitchen - were both staring at him. He sighed.

Iori Yagami had gone ahead and ruined some more lives. That wasn't really a surprise. Actually, it was expected. The way things had panned out left 'Nice' Iori in an incredibly compromised position. His entire life, which he had painstakingly built from the ground up - was now ready to collapse about his ears… and for what reason? What horrendous crime merited such severe punishment? That's right. He had shown hospitality.

The world was unfair. There was no rhyme or reason to it - it was something that Iori firmly believed; it was something Kyo was still struggling to come to terms with. Kyo didn't give a shit about the random people that were cut down and burned by his rival's blood-thirst… well, normally he didn't.

But, he rather liked this pair.

So…

Kyo gritted his teeth.

He could betray Iori. He'd done it before. He'd hunted him down like a dog. He'd nearly slain him in the KOF ring. He nearly punched his head off while they were escaping SouthTown. He could betray the trust invested in him. He could spit on that unmoving bedrock of benevolence that had supported him time and time again.

He knew he wasn't a good person.

He could do it.

It'd hurt, but he could do it.

If he turned on his rival, if he stabbed him in the back, Kyo knew what the response would be.

Iori would rage.

… but he wouldn't come for revenge.

That was out of the question.

There was nothing Iori Yagami hated more than a traitor. He had let himself fall to many depths, but he had never betrayed his word. He'd remain loyal. To him, loyalty was more precious than life.

And that's why betrayal would be worse than death.

The silence rang in the room. Kyo felt two sets of eyes boring into him. These two men, younger than him by perhaps… three years? They were so fresh. Their hands were clean. They were innocent - they couldn't even imagine half the things he had done.

They didn't deserve to suffer.

"You kids… You have no idea what you're asking me to do. You don't know Yag. You don't know me. Not at all."

He watched their faces fall. 'Nice' Iori squeezed his hands into fists, crushing his cigarette. Beside him, a brief curse escaped the 'Other' Kyo from behind clenched teeth. Kyo sighed. He leaned against the back of the couch and looked to the ceiling. He gazed into the lights there. His voice was barely a whisper.

"You two… don't become like us."

A pause. He breathed deeply.

When he opened them, his eyes were hard. His voice was authoritative. He gave a command.

"Get me a phone. Put me on with the police. Give me all the information you have. I'll talk to them… and make it snappy before I change my mind."