Here we go...we're in the home stretch now. There's only a few chapters of this story left. Hopefully, they'll all be up very soon. The closer I get to the end, the easier it's getting to write. I actually just started working on this chapter this morning, so if it comes out a little rushed...sorry. I read it over, and it looks okay to me. I wouldn't have posted it if it didn't. Hope it's up to the standards of the previous installments. Enjoy! Oh, and uh...please R&R. Thanks.

-Break-

I open my eyes feeling slightly disoriented. I slowly sit up, blinking the sleep away, and look around the strange room that I find myself in. It takes me a few seconds to place my surroundings, but when I do, I heave a sigh of relief. Dr. Tofu's clinic; not a hospital. The bullet has been removed from my shoulder, and the wound is expertly bandaged and well on its way to healing. It wasn't that bad to begin with; apparently the bullet just chipped off a piece of my shoulderblade before losing its momentum. But it still hurt like hell yesterday. It's a little sore right now, but not nearly as bad as I would have expected. Doc Tofu really is a miracle worker. I have no idea how he does what he does, but I'm thankful that he let me in when I showed up last night. It was late, and I could tell that he'd been asleep in his apartment upstairs. Still, when he'd opened the door and seen me standing there with my bloody shoulder, he'd ushered me inside immediately. He'd taken a cursory look at the wound before looking me straight in the eye and saying, "You're not going to be making a habit out of this are you? Because if you are, I might have to start charging you by the bullet."

No questions beyond that. He'd just gone straight to work. After he'd hit a few pressure points to ease the pain, he'd gone to work getting the bullet out. He'd done that with a minimum of fuss, and then had packed the entrance wound with some kind of funky smelling bright orange herb that he'd said would accelerate the healing process. Shaking my head in wonder at his uncanny healing abilities, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand up. My clothes, minus the ruined shirt, are sitting on a table across from the small bed, freshly washed. A clean white t-shirt sits next to the clean clothes. I walk to the table and pick up the garments. Resting on the table underneath them is the Glock 17 that I took from poor, dead Yoshi. Weed is gone though...shit. That's some strange shit. Gets rid of the weed, lets me keep the gun. I quickly get dressed, tuck the pistol into the back waistband of my pants, slip my shoes on and head towards the door. I hesitate for a moment, wishing I had something to cover up the tattoos on my arms. Nothing for it though. I'll just have to go as is. Opening the door, I take a moment to glance up and down the short hallway. Seeing no one there, I exit the room and head downstairs into the clinic. As I walk past the examination room, I hear Doc's voice. I stop for a moment, debating whether or not to knock, then decide against it. I'll give him a call or something later, and thank him then. The waiting room is empty, for which I'm grateful. The less people who see me here, the better.

I head for the door and step outside into the bright midday sunlight. It's a hot day, probably up in the nineties, but it feels nice. Summer will be over soon, and I'll miss it when it's gone. I hate cold weather. I take a deep breath and begin walking towards the Tendo Dojo. I walk quickly, keeping my eyes straight ahead, making eye contact with no one. Of course, that's a bit odd in this area of Tokyo. People here are accustomed to smiling and waving at those they pass on the street. Old habits die hard though. Making eye contact with someone you don't know in the NJ is a direct challenge, and is a good way to start a fight...or worse. Every time a slow moving car passes by, my eyes are on it, as if I'm waiting for...well, for something. I know nothing is gonna happen though. That don't make me feel any less nervous, walking all alone out here. My stomach growls, reminding me that I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon. I quicken my step a little more, hoping that I can get some food from Kasumi once I get to the Dojo.

I'm not sure how long it takes me to get there, but suddenly I'm standing in front of the gate to the Tendo Dojo. I hesitate for a moment, then sigh deeply. I walk through the gate and head up the walkway to the front door. Raising my hand, I knock firmly three times. It's only a few seconds before I hear soft footsteps coming towards the door. It swings open to reveal Kasumi, standing there in a long skirt, a pretty white blouse and her ever present apron. She smiles at me and says, "Welcome back Keona. Nabiki is in the bath. She'll be out in a few minutes. Would you like something to eat in the meantime?"

I step inside and nod gratefully. "That'd be great. I ain't eaten yet today."

"Oh, well then why don't you just sit down in the living room? I'll bring you something." she says brightly.

"Thanks Kasumi." I take my shoes off and head for the living room. As I sit down, I become acutely aware of the pistol tucked into the waistband of my pants. It don't feel quite right having it on me in Kasumi's house, but I don't have nowhere else to put it right now. I'll figure something out later. I ain't getting rid of it, that's for damn sure. Nabiki is just gonna have to understand. I ain't about to leave myself defenseless. Not when I still got my business to take care of. I'm almost done though. I'm almost finished. If I can get out of this shit alive, I'll put the gun down and never pick it up again. But I still need it for a while. Just a little bit longer. Just a few more days. Then I'm done. I'm out. Kiki's going legit. Ain't that some shit? Who'da thought?

-Break-

Akina stared down at the cold corpse of the Yakuza hitman, lying there on the floor of the hallway. A large pool of congealed blood was spread about his head and back, and two neat holes adorned his forehead, roughly a half-inch separating the two. Slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, Akina sighed and crouched down next to the man, doing her best to avoid stepping in his blood. Carefully lifting his head a couple inches off the ground, she saw the messy exit wounds in the back of his head, merged into one by the closeness of the shots. A piece of liquified brain oozed out of the wound, landing on the bloody linoleum beneath with a soft splat. Akina let his head down gently, then looked up at Yassine, who was coming out of the open apartment doorway behind Makoto from GnO.

Looking down at the body, Makoto said, "The forensics guys are dusting the place for prints right now. I'm heading down to the station to type up a report. This guy is Yakahito-gumi. That makes two of them in less than a month. I have a feeling this is gonna get worse before it gets better."

Yassine nodded her head slowly. "We'll see you later Makoto."

"Yeah, later. Happy hunting you two."

As Makoto walked down the stairs Yassine said, "I just got off the horn with city housing. This apartment is being rented by one Watanabe Koji."

Akina nodded her head. "What about the pistol we found? The one with the empty clip?"

Yassine shrugged. "One of the guys from ballistics took it back to the lab. It's already been printed, so hopefully that'll turn something up. Every bullet is accounted for though, and none of them hit the vic."

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky."

"Us? Lucky? Don't make me laugh. We never get lucky." Yassine removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

"Hey, we got lucky with the parking garage shooting. Managed to connect it to our first vic. Then we got ol' Bucki in the nightclub on the same ticket. If we can tie it all together with this we'd have-"

"One hell of a mess." Yassine finished for her. "We still need a killer, and the closest thing we've got to it is some guy with no last name, no vital records, and no one that knows anything about him." Putting her glasses in their protective case, she slipped them into the right pocket of her stylishly pin-striped suit jacket. "Well, shall we start interviewing the neighbors?"

Akina moved out of the way as two paramedics reached the top of the stairs with a gurney. As they loaded the corpse onto it and strapped it down, she nodded her head. "Might as well start right here." she said, gesturing at the door across from their open apartment. "She's the one who called it in."

"Right then." Yassine said. Once the body was removed, she stepped up to the door and knocked loudly.

A few moments later, the door opened, revealing an elderly woman who looked to be in her late seventies or early eighties. She squinted at the two detectives and said, "Yes? Can I help you?"

Yassine showed her badge to the old woman and said, "I'm detective Porphyres and this is my partner, Detective Ishikawa. You were the one who called the police this morning?"

The old woman nodded her head and stepped aside, saying, "Please, come in. My name is Ito Kaori."

"Thank you Mrs. Ito." Yassine and Akina stepped inside and the old woman shut the door behind them.

"Would you young ladies like some tea?" Mrs. Ito asked politely.

"No thank you." Yassine replied for both of them. They followed Mrs. Ito into her living room and took a seat on the couch when she offered. Mrs. Ito sat down in a padded rocking chair.

"What can I do for you?" the old woman asked.

Akina said, "We're hoping you can give us some idea what happened outside your apartment."

Mrs. Ito looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Well, it was late last night...I thought I'd heard something, but you know, I sleep with earplugs in. And the old ears just aren't what they used to be anyway. I decided that it was probably just some young person watching a violent movie or something."

Yassine interrupted her, asking, "When did you discover the body Mrs. Ito?"

The old woman looked sad for a moment, then said, "Well, it must have been around nine thirty this morning. I was going out to get some groceries, and when I opened the door I saw him just lying there in front of Keona's apartment."

Yassine felt as though she'd been sucker-punched in the stomach. "Did you say Keona's apartment?"

"Why yes." Mrs. Ito replied.

"We were under the impression that someone named Koji lived there." Said Yassine.

"Oh no...Keona is his name. He's a very sweet young man. He helps me carry my groceries when I see him. So polite." She smiled briefly, then the corners of her mouth turned downward in a frown. "His door was wide open, and I thought he might have been hurt. I called the police immediately, and then decided I'd better wait to leave until you all had finished up in there." Mrs. Ito looked back and forth between the two policewomen sitting on her couch, both of them open-mouthed in shock.

Yassine turned her head slowly to look at Akina. Akina shook her head in wonder at their sudden stroke of luck. Then she turned back to Mrs. Ito and said, "Mrs. Ito, can you tell us what Keona looks like?"

She thought about it for a moment, then said, "Well, he's about five feet, ten inches tall, with black hair and green eyes."

Yassine could feel excitement building within her. He was a perfect match, looks-wise. "Do you know if he's been hospitalized in the last few months?"

"Oh yes...poor boy, he was shot by some thugs while visiting his sister Aiko a few months back."

"Aiko?" Akina asked, excitement building inside her. She was busily writing all of the information down in her small notepad.

Mrs. Ito nodded. "That's right. Hotatsu Aiko, his older sister. Adopted though. She comes by to visit him sometimes. Such a sweet young lady. They recently lost their brother, you know?"

"Oh really?" Yassine replied. "That's very interesting." Looking over at Akina, she raised an eyebrow in silent query. At Akina's nod, she looked back at Mrs. Ito and said, "Thank you very much for your time Mrs. Ito. We'll be in touch if we need anything else."

"It's nothing at all. I do hope that you find Keona. I do so worry about him sometimes. He's a very sad young man. So much hardship for one so young." She smiled kindly at the two women before her. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Yassine shook her head. "No, I think that's all for now. You've been very helpful Mrs. Ito." Pulling a business card out of her pocket, she handed it to the old woman and said, "My desk number and my cell number are on the card. If you speak to Keona or see him, please don't hesitate to call me."

Mrs. Ito took the proffered card and said, "You don't think that poor young man had anything to do with this awful thing, do you?"

Yassine stood up and said, "I don't know Mrs. Ito. But we'll need to ask him a few questions as well, seeing as how the murder took place on his doorstep. Thank you for your time."

Akina stood and thanked the elderly lady as well. When they'd stepped outside, they looked at each other, their eyes wide with disbelief. Yassine shook her head slowly and said, "Tell me that didn't just happen. We did not get that break."

Akina blinked several times, still surprised at the ease with which it had come. "That...that was just crazy."

A broad smile spread slowly across Yassine's beautiful, doll-like features. "I think it's time to have another little chat with Ms. Hotatsu. Seems she wasn't being completely honest with us last time."

Akina grinned. Gesturing towards the stairs, she said, "After you."

As they got into Akina's car Yassine said, "You think that unrelated shooting on the sidewalk last night was as unrelated as we thought it was?"

Akina shrugged. "Couldn't say. But it wouldn't hurt to talk to the detectives working that case. Hell, the vic is even alive. We might be able to get something off of him."

Yassine smiled again, feeling better about the Red Oni case than she had since they'd first been assigned to it just over a month ago. "You know Akina? Life is good. Life is very good."

"Yeah...we may even get off work on time today. I'm sure Reiko would be thrilled with that, and I know my husband's missed me the last few weeks. The kids have been running him ragged while we've been working on all of this."

Yassine said, "Well then let's get going. The quicker we get the questioning done, the quicker we can put our daily report in, and the quicker we can both get home."

"Right. Off to work we go." Putting the car into gear, Akina pulled out of her parking spot and began the fifteen minute drive over to Hotatsu Aiko's house. They were so close to breaking this case wide open. She could feel it in her bones. It wouldn't be long...not long at all. Then they could be done with it. Back to the regular old, easy to solve drug shootings. And wouldn't that be lovely.

-Break-

Nabiki sat on her bed, staring at Keona. He was sitting next to her, looking down at their joined hands, saying nothing. "Come on Kiki-baby; what's going on?"

He finally looked up at her, his eyes dull, his expression guarded. Biting his lip, he seemed to hesitate. Finally, he said, "I've just got a few things I have to do, that's all...but I decided that when I'm done, I'm out."

"Out of what?" Nabiki asked, confused.

He sighed. "Out of the game...out of the life. I'm gonna be done completely."

Nabiki's eyes widened a little, and she sat back against the headboard. "You mean...no more guns, no more drugs?"

"No more. But I need a few more days before I'm done. I just have a couple of...loose ends that I need to tie up. That's all." He smiled at her then, and Nabiki felt like her heart would burst she was so happy. "I've got some money saved up, and I thought maybe we could go somewhere."

"Where?" she asked, unable to believe that she hadn't had to do anything. She'd been wracking her mind for days trying to think up some way to bring him around to her point of view. Now here he was, telling her exactly what she'd wanted to hear. A small part of her was still suspicious, but she had a feeling that he was being completely honest with her.

"Anywhere you want. I was thinking America or something."

"I've always wanted to go to America." Nabiki replied happily. "Still, what about my family?"

"We can visit whenever you want, and they can come see us too. I just...I can't stay in Tokyo. I don't know if I can stay in Japan."

Nabiki's brow furrowed, and she said, "You're not telling me everything, are you?"

Keona sighed, and looked back down at their hands. "I can't...I can't tell you everything, okay? You just have to trust me. It's for the best. I just need a few more days, and then we can be gone. Just please, trust me."

Nabiki's head canted slightly to the left, and she waited for him to bring his face back up. When he didn't, she reached up to his chin with her right hand and tilted his face up. She caught his gaze with her own and said, "That's a tall order to fill mister. You're not telling me much."

"Baby, I can't. But I need you to trust me. I promise, I'll tell you everything when I'm done. I just can't do it right now." Keona said, pleading as much as his pride would allow.

Nabiki stared deep into his eyes, searching for any trace of dishonesty. He wasn't being particularly forthcoming, but after recent events, she wasn't sure if she wanted him to be. She knew that when he finally did tell her what was going on, it wasn't going to be pleasant. In fact, she was quite sure that it was going to be downright awful. After almost a minute, she made her decision. "Okay."

"Okay?" Keona repeated, almost not believing that she was giving in so easily.

"Okay. But you'd better hold up your end of the deal." Nabiki said firmly.

He smiled at her, visibly relieved. "I will. I promise." Giving the hand he still held a gentle squeeze, he reached up and stroked her cheek with his free one. "I love you baby." As he lowered his arm, he winced slightly. He tried to cover it up, but Nabiki, as sharp as ever, instantly caught it.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked.

He shook his head. "It's nothing. Just a little scratch."

Nabiki frowned. "Kiki, what happened? Tell me." He mumbled something under his breath, too low for her to hear. "What was that? Repeat that, only louder."

He grit his teeth tightly. Seeming to come to a decision, he slowly pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a slightly blood bandage on his left shoulder. Reaching behind him, he pulled the gun out of the waistband of his pants and laid it down on the bed between them, gazing at it meaningfully. "I had a visitor last night."

Nabiki gasped and scooted quickly away from the weapon. Looking up at her boyfriend, she said, "Kiki...you didn't. Did you?"

His eyes hardening, he said, "I didn't have a choice."

Nabiki slowly reached out and gently touched the bandage. Then, looking Keona straight in the eye, she softly said, "You shot someone, didn't you?"

"I didn't have a choice." he repeated softly. "It was him or me."

Looking down at the gun, she said, "Is that what those loose ends are? You think you have to go kill someone? Is that it?" His jaw clenching tightly again, he said nothing. "Kiki, you can't...you can't do this!"

Picking the gun up slowly, he stood up and walked to the small workdesk that sat along the wall. Placing the gun on it, he said, "Just a few more days baby. Just a few more days. It's not for me. It's for Yasuo."

"Yasuo's dead Keona! He's dead!"

"I know that, dammit!" Keona snapped, his tone brittle and thin. "I was there, remember?"

"Do you really think he'd want you to do this?" Nabiki asked, a horrified expression on her face. For all that people in Nerima were always shouting about killing people, no one ever actually followed through. And there was a killer sitting on her bed in front of her. A real killer. And he was going to kill again.

"Yes I do! He'd do it for me!"

"Well he can't...so who's going to do it for you? Because you're going to die Kiki! You're going to die, just like him!" Nabiki almost shouted, desperately choking back the frightened sobs that suddenly wanted to burst forth.

"I ain't gonna die. But I have to do this."

"No you don't! You don't have to do anything you don't want to do!" she said, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

Keona went completely still, and a low, simmering hatred burned behind his glittering green eyes. "Fine...I don't have to do this...but I want to."

"Kiki, this is crazy." Nabiki said, lowering her voice. "You're not a bad person."

Keona took a deep, steadying breath. "Then I guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did."

Nabiki stood up and crossed the room to him. Wrapping her arms tightly around him, she buried her face in his shoulder and cried for all she was worth. Through her tears, she said, "Please don't."

Wrapping his arms around her and gently rubbing her back with one hand, Keona squeezed his eyes shut. "Just a few more days, baby. Just a few more days."

-Break-

Aiko sat on her couch, watching television, eating Chinese take-out. The last few days at work had been hectic, and she was grateful for the rest that the weekend provided. Keona had called her from the Tendo's earlier, letting her know that he'd be staying there for a little while. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she'd learned not to pry too deeply into her brother's life. There were certain things that she just didn't want to know. It had been that way with Yasuo too. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that all was not well. It was as if there was a dark raincloud looming above her head, just waiting to let loose it's contents.

She sighed as she heard a knock at the door. This was the third time today her show had been interrupted by a phone call or a visitor. Setting her food down, she stood up and walked to the door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see the two detectives from the other day standing on her front porch. The American woman smiled pleasantly at her. "Good afternoon Ms. Hotatsu. We have a few more questions. Do you have a few minutes?"

With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Aiko nodded her head and waved them inside. "Of course."

Once they'd all settled themselves in the living room, the Japanese detective leaned towards her, her gaze intense and uncompromising. "So, about Keona..."

"What about him? I told you, I haven't seen him in a while." Aiko said nervously. Her stomach was doing flip-flops inside her, and she had a feeling that she wasn't getting out of this as easily as she had last time.

"Really?" Yassine asked. "That's funny, because a Mrs. Ito that lives in his building said you drop by his place quite frequently. In fact, she mentioned that you were his adopted sister. That's a little strange, because as I recall, you said that he was just an old friend of your late brother...Yasuo, was it?"

Aiko nodded her head, her mouth going dry. "Yes...that's his name."

"So I guess what I'm wondering, is why Mrs. Ito would be under the impression that this Keona character was your brother." Yassine tilted her head to the side, keeping her eyes on Aiko. "Was there something you maybe forgot to mention the last time we spoke?"

Aiko's heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears, and her palms grew sweaty and slick. She clenched her hands reflexively and stuttered out, "I-I...I don't know what you mean."

Akina said, "Are you familiar with the term 'obstruction of justice', Ms. Hotatsu?" Aiko slowly nodded, but said nothing. Her face had gone pale, and she was obviously very nervous. Perfect. "Good, then I won't have to explain it when I'm forced to arrest you." It was an empty threat at the moment, but Aiko didn't need to know that.

Yassine gently said, "Ms. Hotatsu...Aiko, we want to help Keona. But we can't do that if we don't know where he is. There are some very bad people looking for him, and if they find him first he could be in some serious trouble. We just need to talk to him about the case we're working on. It's very important. He could really be a lot of help to us."

Aiko looked back and forth between the two women, her eyes wide with fright. "I don't-"

"Aiko, we need your help. Help us help him. If you know anything, please tell us." Yassine said. She almost smiled as she watched Aiko's will visibly break. They had her.

Aiko's breath came out in a great rush of air, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "Okay...okay." She took a deep, shuddering breath and said, "He's been mixed up with the Yakuza for a few years now. Yasuo was too. When Yasuo was shot, Keona was there. He was shot too, and he almost died. A few weeks ago, he was shot again. He went into hiding for a while when he got out, but then about a week ago he went back to his apartment in Katsuhara." Aiko rubbed at her eyes, trying to dry the tears that were threatening to leak out. "Earlier today, he called me and told me that something had happened...that someone had come for him. He told me that he was going to his girlfriends for a few days."

"Did he say anything else to you?" Akina pressed.

"No...no he didn't, and I didn't ask. I promise you, that's all I know." Aiko said.

"That's okay." Yassine said, her tone still calm and quiet. "Do you know where his girlfriend lives?"

Aiko nodded her head. "The Tendo Dojo in Nerima."

Yassine and Akina looked at each other, both of them trying to conceal their surprise. Nerima was a place that they both tried to avoid. Guns, gangs and drugs were one thing. Rumors of super-powered martial artists, chi blasts, rampant magical curses and giant pandas were another thing entirely. Looking back at Aiko, Yassine said, "Thank you very much." As she went to stand up, she said as an afterthought. "Oh, and her name would be?"

"Nabiki...Tendo Nabiki."

"Thank you for your time Ms. Hotatsu." Akina said as she and Yassine headed for the door. "We'll be in touch."