I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands.
I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving.
Rated 'M'
GROWING PAINS Part 2
by chickypeg
Chapter 11: Caught
Flashback:
"It's no longer needed in that place...and I think it's because it's a strain."
Mikoto knew the small child sitting atop the horse well enough to understand her compassion for the creature. She could sympathize so well that animal.
However, he didn't want her getting any weird thoughts in her head like herself possibly no longer being wanted in Homra someday. It was her home with him, Tatara, Izumo and the rest of their rowdy clansmen.
So, he reached out and grabbed her by the back of her dress the way a lion would do to its cub.
"You're satisfied now, aren't you?"
Anna was their princess.
She belonged with them.
Presently:
It didn't matter to Anna that Mikoto and the others were going after Takeshi as well. They would find out eventually anyway when she informed them of what she had been up to for nearly two years without their knowledge or consent.
However, this did not mean that she wanted them to discover her and get in her way while she was carrying out her task. To get away with it, she required a proper disguise.
A disguise meant more that just a wig to cover her hair, or make up to change her skin tone: it also meant a change in personality. If she acted in a way that was completely 'unAnna-like', then it would be possible for her to fool them.
Anna was currently a bubbly redhead with tanned skin who was driving a motorcycle through the streets of Seneca.
Her marbles were safely tucked away in her jeans pocket. She had used them to locate Takeshi after going home to change. She had also contacted Satoshi to find out more about him.
This is what she knew: there were individuals in Seneca who were willing to purchase heroin. Not just any kind of heroin - high quality heroin. In other words, it would be trafficked as a powder.
A very pure white powder.
Takeshi's link to getting the heroin into Seneca was through a restaurant/nightclub owner by the name of Chiyo Goro. Anna knew of Goro. He was a handsome man with a snake-like personality. His black hair was always slicked back and combed neatly.
He was slim and always properly attired in a suit.
Goro had come into the maid cafe a couple of times and the way he looked at both Anna and Akemi made them feel disgusted.
He had been under investigation about two years before as someone had tipped off the police that he was associated with a drug ring. However, no evidence was found with his involvement.
Maybe it was stupid of him to get caught up in drugs due to the previous accusation, but people did do stupid things just to get more money into their hands.
Kei had not given Anna a lot of information on Takeshi as he had not wanted her to go after him.
Despite this, when she had still been in Shizume City, both himself and Akemi had done some investigating of their own as they were going to hand it into the police and get the reward for providing the information. They had collaborated with Satoshi and therefore he was the person who had given Anna the results of their investigation.
Satoshi was also the person who had some inside knowledge about Goro and Takeshi knowing each other. That was what Kei and Akemi had worked with when doing their investigations.
What they had discovered after planting bugs in Goro's restaurant was that Takeshi would supposedly be dining at Goro's restaurant. The real purpose of his presence there was because Goro was actually purchasing the heroin from him. He already had a list of customers in Seneca who were willing to buy the drugs. It would arrive in a truck but would be hidden in the guise of rice flour.
What Anna had to do was get the evidence of their activities, then she would beat up Takeshi, hand him in and the evidence and after a bit of processing, she would get the reward.
Of course she was going to split it with Akemi, Kei and Satoshi.
They had done a great deal of work after all.
"Mikoto-san, I need to speak with you!" Kei declared.
It had taken all of Kei's courage to approach the scary looking man. Akemi was terrified of him as she hid behind Kei, looking on nervously. This Mikoto was even more frightening than the the fourteen year old boy they had met in Middle School.
Mikoto looked at Izumo, who nodded. He slid out of his booth and Eric and Yata stood up.
"Would this, by any chance have to do with Anna going after Takeshi Sadao?" Izumo asked.
Kei was stunned. He and Akemi looked at each other, then snapped their attention at the group of men at the table.
"Y-you know?" Akemi whispered.
Izumo pulled out a cigarette.
"Let's go," Mikoto said.
"Go?" Akemi squeaked.
The tall man stood up, towering over the two teenagers. He didn't look like he was angry, but he was very intimidating.
Akemi clutched Kei's jacket tightly.
"You wanted to talk, didn't you?"
Black ash fell from the cigarette and onto the pure white snow.
Mikoto inhaled once more and blew out a stream of smoke. He leaned against the wall at the side of the building where it was empty, save for Anna's two friends, himself and his second in command.
Izumo stood a short distance away. Yata, Eric and Kamamoto had disappeared.
"Anna was upset," Kei told Mikoto. No one had spoken since coming outside a minute ago. Kei was silently thankful that JJ had gone to the back of the restaurant to clean up the kitchen, otherwise he would have wanted to know what was going on.
"Is that so?" Mikoto murmured.
Kei was disturbed by Mikoto's nonchalant manner about the situation.
He knew this man was scary.
He knew he could crack his head like an eggshell.
But that didn't stop his angry outburst, "Aren't you worried that something could happen to her? She's gone after a dangerous man!"
Akemi grabbed Kei, frightened for him as she knew knew the red haired man had a violent temper. Anna had always had good thoughts on this man but both Akemi and Kei had known of his short temper from when he was at the age of fourteen. There was no telling how much worse it was at an adult's age.
In response, Mikoto grabbed Kei by the collar, making him and Akemi gasp.
Mikoto's golden eyes gleamed.
He removed the cigarette from his mouth. However, he didn't raise his voice in any kind of way when he spoke. In a tone that was rough, he asked Kei, "Why didn't you stop her?"
"She wouldn't listen!" Akemi said then. Her blue eyes were watery as she looked at the man her best friend loved so much. "Do you have idea what's wrong with her? She came home miserable today. Anna, of all people was showing that she was upset about something. What happened? She went back to you guys and then she returns to us all messed up! What did you do?" she demanded.
Akemi was quite sure she was treading on thin ice here with the way she was speaking to this man.
Truthfully, she did noy think he would hurt her. She had seen gentleness in the way he had handled Anna when he had been somehow changed to the age of fourteen and had spent two weeks in Seneca. He was indeed very frightening even back then, but with Anna, he had been different.
He had been grumpy and gruff while being gentle which was almost...sweet. Akemi was quite certain he was concerned about Anna, and she was as well. She loved Anna like a sister and she knew how much Mikoto meant to her friend.
She also was very much aware that the more one cared for another, the more they had the ability to hurt you. Therefore, she was certain that Anna's strange behavior from earlier on could be attributed to something this man or the rest of his clansmen had done. Maybe she was being unfair in demanding what they had done to Anna, but Akemi herself was not pleased.
To the blond haired girl, she felt that Anna was someone who did not deserve to feel such distress.
Especially when it came from people who Akemi knew that the quiet girl loved deeply.
Mikoto let Kei go. He folded his arms as he turned his attention to Akemi.
"Where was she this morning?"
"She went to get her motorcycle license."
Mikoto blinked when she said that. He and Izumo looked at each other.
"Motorcycle license?" they repeated together.
Akemi and Kei nodded.
"Mikoto, do you think this morning-?" Izumo began.
"Yeah," Mikoto replied. Anna might have wanted him to come with her to get the license. What he didn't understand though, was why she would get this upset over him not coming. He knew that she probably got a bit annoyed with him, but he didn't think that that was enough to have her so distressed that her best friend claimed she was actually displaying her feelings.
Something else was wrong with Anna.
"Anna already has a bike. It's a red Suzuki," Kei continued. He didn't care anymore about hiding anything. Anna's safety was of utmost importance.
"She's already heading to Chiyo Goro's restaurant. That's where Takeshi is. If she wants to get the full reward, she has to present evidence of his activities."
"Does she know anything about the strain?" Izumo asked.
"Strain?" Akemi and Kei chimed, clearly confused.
Izumo let out a sigh.
"Ah, this has become troublesome. Mikoto?"
Mikoto shrugged.
"Take care of these brats," he ordered and calmly walked away, turning a corner that went to the direction of Goro's restaurant.
"Is he going after her?" Kei asked Izumo.
"Yes."
"Doesn't he need directions?"
"No. Mikoto will find Anna, don't worry."
Goro's restaurant was a building with three floors. The top floor was the dance area, normally opened up on Fridays and weekends for the nightclub goers. The first and second floors were dining areas. Anna was sitting on the balcony of the second floor, overseeing back of the building. On the ground below was the supposed rice flour transport truck. Men were pulling out large white sacks.
Takeshi was standing there with Goro. Takeshi had dark brown hair and very deep lines on his face. Like Goro, he wore on a proper suit.
One of the men offloading the items opened up a sack.
It revealed a very pure white powder.
Anna used the camera in her hand to zoom in and snap pictures of it.
She wished that she could get closer but she didn't think she would be able to. Thankfully, before anyone had arrived, she had planted a recording device under the lid of the trashcan outside. It was a very high tech one that herself and her friends had invested in because it could pick up sounds from a large distance away.
There were excited noises between Takeshi and Goro. Goro was obviously impressed with the fine quality of the heroin.
After all the sacks were loaded inside, the truck drove off.
Takeshi and Goro headed back inside.
Anna was about to go down to the first floor and confront Takeshi when, to her shock, she saw three people jump the black vehicle from the back.
Anna nearly cursed. She would recognize Kamamoto's red anywhere - it was bigger than the others'.
Yata pulled out his bat and slammed it into the truck's windscreen, smashing it.
Goro and Takeshi were inside already and therefore would not know what was going on because of how much noise was within the building itself.
Anna knew Mikoto had to be around here somewhere.
She needed to get to Takeshi before he or any of the others did.
It was like the strain was invisible; Mikoto did not see him at all.
However, he could hear him.
Tiny movements they were, swift and cutting through the air.
Using his sense of hearing, Mikoto utilized his fiery power to make a red flaming barrier when several spikes shot out at him and his men.
The spikes hit the burning shield, turning them to ash. The strain would have obviously become surprised, then afraid.
Like a lion, Mikoto could smell fear on the strain, his prey.
The Red King snorted.
This strain was dangerous. He was also very speedy. There was no way his clansmen were going to be able to handle the guy on their own, especially if the strain shot out poison needles.
They could deal with this guy at another point in time. Instead, he signaled for Yata to contact Shouhei and Bando who were in their red van which was fully equipped with computers, capable of tracking people. The pair were monitoring the town and Mikoto would have them track the strain.
Mikoto also knew it was running away but he didn't have time to handle this situation himself.
He was going to deal with Anna.
The third floor was where all the dancing was.
Monday nights were not usually dancing nights.
Not unless the owner had something to celebrate.
The room was dark save for the lights that flashed through the room as the DJ spun some wicked tunes.
Goro was a filthy man but he knew how to make money. The décor of his third floor fit that of a high class nightclub.
It was fully furnished with leather couches and expensive tables in the sitting area. There were also private areas that even had their own designated body guard.
The room was filled with well dressed, classy looking men and women.
Goro was sitting in one area with beautiful, long legged women crawling all over him as a celebration of good business with Takeshi.
Takeshi sat nearby with a drink in his hand. A woman was wrapped around his arm but he ignored her despite having a very satisfied smile on his face.
Indeed, he was like the cat who got the milk because he had just gotten a sweet deal with Goro. He was sure they would do business again soon.
Best of all, they hadn't gotten caught!
Takeshi was about to sip from his drink again when he saw a pretty young woman walk over to him. He swore she was no more than eighteen, but the club was age restricted to twenty.
What made this girl stand out was her clothing.
While other women dressed up sexily, this one had on jeans and a sweater.
As plainly as she was dressed, there was no denying that she was beautiful.
She put on a large, happy smile for him.
Goro grinned back.
Just who was this girl? The way she walked, the way she moved with that aloof look in her eyes made him think that she was certainly no ordinary woman.
Really, where did this person come from?
She walked over to him, much to his delight.
She smelled nice, like coffee and vanilla.
The girl leaned down and her red hair brushed his cheek.
What she whispered his ear made all those funny feelings inside of him disappear.
"Goro is scamming you. If you want to know the truth, follow me," she said to him.
Takeshi was not a person who liked hearing that a sweet business deal was actually sour.
Goro was distracted by the women who were climbing over him so it was easy for Takeshi to push away the female who was clinging to him and follow the red head at a safe distance.
But Takeshi was no fool either.
A beautiful girl in a town of the rich, carrying herself about like a wealthy person while wearing plain clothes was suspicious.
The moment they entered the room that led to the stairwell, Takeshi grabbed her arm.
Anna did not wince in pain from Takeshi's hold on her.
"Just who are you, honey?" he demanded.
Anna blinked at him. It wasn't hard for her to keep a neutral face on.
After all, she was a pro at that.
"I have information for you on Goro that I think you would like to hear."
Takeshi's grip tightened.
"Tell me now. We're all alone."
Anna reached out and slowly removed his hand from her.
"I would rather talk to you about this away from Goro's turf."
"Is this some kind of trap? I know the police are digging for evidence to send me to jail. Are you an undercover cop or what?"
Anna shrugged.
"I know stuff the police don't know."
"Like what?"
"That Goro plans to open up a new business with the money he makes from selling the heroin."
Takeshi frowned. Goro mentioned that only to him in the kitchen of his restaurant the other day. The girl must have eavesdropped but Takeshi doubted it. He would have recognized her if she had come into the restaurant the other day. Goro was also careful when it came to police. He kept an eye out for any of them coming in to check on him.
The police, as far as Takeshi knew, were aware that he was in Seneca and they maybe they had assumed that he was here to sell drugs.
They did not know he was tied to Goro.
Takeshi decided that maybe he could trust this girl a little.
He nodded slowly and allowed for the young lady to lead him away. He agreed to follow her from a short distance to ensure that no one found them to be suspicious.
Yata had been stunned at what he had read about Anna from that report. Anna, the small child who he used to buy pudding for, was a bounty hunter?
What the hell?!
She was small, dainty and neat.
She was pretty, she was beautiful and she was the princess of their clan!
Where in the world did she get the idea to become involved in such dangerous activities?! This was unlike her!
This was not the girl he knew.
And the lengths she went to hide it was even more stunning.
Anna was capable of doing this.
She had been leading a somewhat double-life; she showed them the elegant side of herself as the young female clansman who they treated with almost as much respect as Mikoto. They considered her to be ultimately feminine and believed that she should always be protected.
Heck, they even went as bodyguards with her whenever she had to go to the mall in Shizume City.
And now there was this side of her.
A side they did not know. Yata was currently the only other clansman aside from Izumo and Mikoto who had become aware of it and he was still in deep disbelief over it.
Their Anna was a bounty hunter who tracked down criminals, fought them, beat them up and had them dragged to the police station where she got huge sums of money as rewards for her activities. This Anna had the ability to keep that from the people who she grew up with as family.
It was like thinking you knew someone, and then something happens and you suddenly wonder just how much did you really know about them?
"Mikoto instructed you to just keep an eye on her. Don't intervene unless you think she needs help," Izumo ordered Yata.
Yata tsked. He still refused to believe that that red headed happy looking chick was their Anna.
As soon as Anna exited the side entrance of the restaurant with Takeshi which should have been empty, two tall muscular men grabbed her arms.
This did suprise her. She had not accounted for Takeshi's bodyguards being around.
However, her unpleasant shock was not shown her face. She merely gave Takeshi a blank look.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
Takeshi chuckled.
"Am I an idiot? Do you honestly believe I would risking coming out here with you? If you really believe that Goro is betraying me, then you better spit it out now, or I'll have my men force you," he threatened.
Two didn't seem too bad. She could handle them and get away without any scratches.
What she didn't think she could manage was the other three men who were coming toward her. She was definitely going to get some bruises from this fight. Everything had been going so smoothly up to this point. Really, she hadn't thought things through enough because most of her mind had been a rioting mess of negative feelings.
Before Anna could react, a familiar voice shouted, "Hey, don't be cruel to girls!"
Yata's skateboard pitched out of nowhere with him on it and he landed directly on the man to her left.
Anna used that moment to slam her opposite foot into the other bodyguard's face.
Eric and Kamamoto appeared.
Anna cursed softly.
They were getting in her way!
Takeshi was already running away with his PDA in hand, already calling for back up.
But Anna would not be undone.
She ducked as one man aimed for her.
She knew Eric was behind her and he would handle him.
Her goal was Takeshi so she chased after him.
She did cartwheel and landed her feet into his back, slamming him to the ground.
He made a loud of pain.
However, more guards dressed in black, appeared to his sides, ready to fight with her for the sake of their boss.
One of them tried to kick her as she straddled Takeshi's back.
She lifted her arms in a defensive position and blocked.
The other man reached out to grab her but she moved away in time so that he ended up falling over Takeshi, making the criminal groan in pain from the impact of the bodyguard's extra weight.
The one who was still standing received a swift roundhouse kick, making him fall to the ground. The one who was on top of Takeshi got up, about to attack her again but Anna pulled out her taser and pressed it into his side.
After she zapped him, he crumpled to the ground beside his boss.
"Are you going to come with me?" Anna asked Takeshi with a huge smile on her face. She needed to look as little like Anna Kushina possible right now so that her clansmen didn't recognize her.
She deliberately switched the taser on and brought it close to his face.
Takeshi gave it a terrified look.
A motorcycle pulled up then. Anna knew it was Satoshi. Behind him in a black car was probably be two of his friends who would help take Takeshi in. Anna nodded to him and he did the same. His friends grabbed Takeshi by the arms and dragged him toward the car that Satoshi's friends had come in. Anna quietly informed Satoshi about the recording device to the back of the building that had all the evidence that would sink both Goro and Takeshi. She also handed him the camera.
Anna was also quite sure that there were some Homra members handling Goro himself right now. Well, he hadn't been her goal. It had been Takeshi and she got what she wanted.
Anna also made note to speak to Kei about forwarding some of the reward money to Homra's main account.
"Hey, we did some of your work you know!" Yata protested.
Anna needed to act all bubbly and airheaded now - everything she wasn't.
So, with a grand smile on her face she spun around, giggled like an idiot and exclaimed, "I'll make sure to send you some of the reward money! Peace out!" She lifted two fingers to make the 'peace sign', winked and hurried off.
Before any of the members of Homra could stop her, a roar of a motorcycle could be heard. They saw the girl on a red bike, following the car with with the two guys and Takeshi were in. A short time later, the black motorcycle followed.
"Are we just gonna let that girl go?" Kamamoto asked.
Yata was gazing after Anna as she drove off, still in disbelief that this girl was actually Anna.
Izumo was standing nearby with his arms folded. Really, were the rest of his clansmen that clueless? That girl was obviously Anna. The fighting moves she had used were the very same ones they had taught her!
Anna headed straight to her apartment. It was eleven already.
She was supposed to have had dinner with Yuki Natsume and her family. Obviously, it was too late now and there was no way she was waking up the family to have a late night snack with them.
Well, she could always explain tomorrow. She was quite sure she was going to get a really bad scolding from the woman who had cared for her during her middle school years. Not only for missing dinner with them, but her reason for it.
A part of Anna dreaded how she was going to admit to her former principal what she had been up to, but she knew she had to stop hiding things. After her discussion with the older woman, she would decide what were her options for the future. The next step would be for her to talk to Izumo and come clean with him.
Anna had a sickening feeling in her stomach. She knew the bartender would not be pleased. He might even be in a state of disbelief! To think Anna was the girl who had beaten up a group of thugs and had sent their ringleader to the police was highly unimaginable!
Despite being a significant part of the Red Clan and had practically grown up bounty hunting with them, her guardian would have difficulty absorbing this information into his mind and accepting it.
There was a lot she needed to talk about.
She was still thinking about this as she pulled up in front of her apartment. Motorcycles were common in the area. Hence, no one would really be disrupted by its noise as they were accustomed to it.
After parking her bike in the garage, Anna walked to the staircase to the side of building that led to the first floor of the two storey building where she and Akemi resided in the Town. The landlady had some nice shrubbery planted a few feet away from the staircase which grew into a hedge that reached Anna's shoulder. It was a strong plant because despite it being thickly laden with snow, it had not bent or lost its neat shape in any kind of way.
As she neared the staircase, one of her marbles slipped from a hole in her pocket. The tear might have happened during the fight.
It rolled to a stop at the foot of the staircase.
Anna released an irritated sigh and moved to pick it up. As she stooped down, she froze.
Anna felt a change in the atmosphere. It was very chilly outside but suddenly, it felt thick, and hot.
Anna knew this heat.
She swallowed hard, especially when a black boot appeared in front of her marble.
She closed her eyes for a moment as she grasped hold of the marble. She wasn't prepared for this.
She wasn't prepared for him.
Then slowly, she gathered enough courage to trail her eyes upward, moving along the dark blue jeans that covered a pair of strong thighs.
Out of everyone in Homra, Mikoto had the hardest legs. Anna knew this for she had sat down on his lap a few times before, and she had even fallen asleep with her head on his legs on occasion with the scent of tobacco around her.
Anna's eyes moved to the white t-shirt and black jacket that hide the flat muscular chest she knew so well for she had spent years cuddled against that torso.
"You were drooling," Mikoto informed her after shaking her awake.
The girl blinked at him.
"I was not drooling," she said to him as she moved to kneel at his side.
Mikoto shrugged with his arms behind his head. "There's a wet patch on my t-shirt."
The preteen's eyes flicked to the white material just above his breastbone.
"I was not drooling," she insisted coolly.
"Ah? Then what do you think caused that?" Mikoto questioned. He wasn't really bothered by the drool. To be honest, he knew she was probably tired from helping Izumo downstairs in the bar earlier on and he wasn't too surprised that she slept so deeply that she had drooled on him. It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to embarrass her, it was just that he was curious to see how she would try to get out of this.
"Mikoto," she responded.
Mikoto blinked at her.
"Me?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. Then, he lifted a hand and held the pale flesh of one cheek threateningly. He hadn't pinched her quite yet but he was warning her already that he would do it if she said something cheeky.
And Anna did not hesitate to risk Mikoto's great pinch.
"Mikoto's red is pretty and warm and my breath is cold. When my cold breath mixes with your warmth, it creates moisture," she replied.
Mikoto stared at her for a long moment. Really, was this girl only thirteen? Thirteen year olds didn't speak like that.
Well, Anna wasn't a typical thirteen year old anyway...she probably had the mentality of a hundred and thirteen year old though.
He didn't pinch her.
However, he did shift his hand to her nose which he did deliberately give a small tug.
"You brat. There's nothing cold about your nose or your breath. Come here." he ordered gruffly and he pulled her down to him. Softly, he kissed her forehead.
Then he cuddled her against the large expanse of his flat, comfortable chest.
Anna's eyes finally arrived at the good-looking face of her favorite red headed man and they rested momentarily on his handsome mouth.
Sweet kisses in a small room haunted her dreams. Kisses that were not affectionate ones on the cheeks or the forehead. No; these were of a different kind of tenderness-they were kisses on the mouth. Gentle kisses.
Curious kisses.
Nonetheless romantic kisses.
But there was another kiss that she could not forget from this very same man. A deep kiss that could have gone on, had he had not pulled away.
Anna blushed slightly at the memory, but pushed away her thoughts when she suddenly took note of the way those thin lips curved upward.
She had expected to see Mikoto's angry expression.
Not the smirk he saved only for formidable enemies or rivals - like Munakata Reisi. Although Anna could not see the actual color of his eyes, she did see the odd gleam in his them. No, this was not anger.
It was amusement.
There was no way this could be a good thing.
A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
*The opening scene is from one of the chapters from K: Memory of Red (Chapter 7), based on AquaScans translations.
Thank you also, for those of you who follow, favorite and review this story. Thanks so much.