I squinted at the boy in front of me trying to simultaneously focus my mind and vision as my body roared in pain. Hidetoshi's brother? The boy in front of me looked like nothing like his older brother. He was short, scrawny, had kind brown eyes and untamable dark hair while his brother was large…menacing, muscular and had cold dark green eyes that seemed to act as daggers – daggers that would pierce your body till nothing was left of it. He frowned at me as I frowned at myself. Dark splatters began to paint my vision, slowly erasing the picture of the room and the boy in it. The last thing I saw before I went out was the boy running towards me.

"Hey!"

My body moved first, though all I could see first was darkness. At least I could move my body – that was a good sign. With my fingers, I felt the rough fabric of the bed sheets underneath me. Light began to pierce holes through the background of black. Despite the throbbing headache, I turned my head to see the boy sitting beside me holding a damp cloth to my cheek. He looked angry. And when he saw me staring at me, it set him off.

"Do you know how frustrating it is when you keep passing out?"

"Sorry," I mumbled trying to get up, but the boy roughly held me down.

"If you get up, you're probably just going to pass out again. Just stay still."

The boy turned around and exchanged the cloth he had been using on my cheek with another one. This time he poured disinfectant on it and pressed it firmly to my cheek. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from shouting out.

My mind was beginning to clear out, and I then remembered what he'd said earlier.

"Your Hidetoshi's brother."

"I tend to go by Sasuke," he replied.

"It seems interesting to me that you're helping me out, after he had eight or so people simultaneously try to kill me."

"Because I'm not like him."

I took note of his dark tone, but said nothing of it as he continued to disinfect my cheek.

"So tell me, was the guy who did this to you the one with the knuckle ring?"

"Yeah."

"I'm surprised he didn't do more to you. Guys usually come back with multiple layers of damaged cheek tissue and broken jaws."

"I thought I'd finished him off, so I was talking to one of my friends, and he came at me."

"I see."

Just then, a knock came at the door. Sasuke's hands faltered for a brief moment, before resuming what he had been doing earlier. The door opened, and a sturdy built man entered.

"Really Sasuke, helping out another newcomer? Your brother won't be pleased if he finds out."

"Don't let him find out then."

The man sighed.

"Sasuke, stop this foolishness, at this rate you'll be kicked out of the gang."

Kicked out?

"Good. I didn't want to be part of this hell-hole in the first place. In fact, just go straight to him and tell him that I've been taking care of all the newcomers since day 1."

"He won't be pleased…"

Sasuke whirled around, his eyes wild and angry.

"Do you honestly think I give two cents on whether he's pleased or not? Honestly if I had wanted to please him I would've gone through with the initiation task."

"Sasuke-

"No, get out."

"Sas-

"I SAID GET OUT!" he screamed and the man scrambled out in a blink of an eye.

The air was silent and full of tension. Neither Sasuke nor I said a word as he packed his things into his first aid kit. He shoved the white box under his bed as he sat on his bed.

"Who's Amu?" he said finally.

I looked at him with wide blank eyes.

"You said her name a couple times while you were out."

"Do you want to see a picture of her?" I sighed.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed.

I pulled out phone and clicked on the photo I had taken of her on the day I had asked her to be mine.

"Damn she's hot."

I raised a brow.

"How old are you?"

"16. But hey congrats man, you have a hot girlfriend."

"We're not dating."

"Really? Why?"

I stared at her picture again. Her childish eyes and warm smile…and I remembered.

"I was trying to protect her."

"Let me guess," said Sasuke moving in closer. "She found out and got hurt even more. And you didn't have the heart to leave her alone because you're still in love with this girl. She's probably still in love with you too but it's kind of awkward because you two broke up. I bet you that she's trying to stay away from you but can't. And you don't want to get into a relationship with her because you don't want to hurt her. Am I right?"

"Yeah…" Kind of.

"Well that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life."

I turned to face him and frowned.

"Why?"

"Because, you're both hurting yourselves now."

"I can't believe I'm talking about my love life with a sixteen year old," I mumbled under my breath.

"Hey!"

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all I thought as we both burst out chuckling.

Later

Sasuke was in the corner reading a book, while I just sat there going over the plan. We would have to take out Hidetoshi at some point, and at this point there was no way either one of us could get close enough to him without Sasuke possibly becoming involved. A knock came at the door and following that, Hitoshi waltzed in wearing a large dumb smile on his face.

"Ikuto I missed you. Kyouta and Ryuu are so dull," he cried.

"We are not dull Hitoshi, we just don't act like idiots," replied Kyouta trailing behind him.

"Where's Ryuu?" I asked looking behind Kyouta.

"He's still out."

"Still?" I asked shocked that a fully trained SWAT member would be out for this long.

"There were a lot of guys with those knuckle rings. He's really battered up," informed Kyouta.

"Does he need medical attention?" exclaimed Sasuke practically throwing his book aside.

"Um…I don't think so."

"Who's the kid?" asked Hitoshi.

"I'm Sasuke."

"Hidetoshi's little brother," I said at the same time.

I noticed Hitoshi about to open his mouth. I interrupted him quickly, knowing it would be something about the case.

"So what did you guys want?"

"Oh it's dinner time."

"Really? I'll save you guys a seat then," said Sasuke dashing out.

I turned to face Hitoshi.

"You're an idiot."

"What? Why? What did I do?"

"You were just about to spoil something about the plan," I whispered harshly.

"Hehe, sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Idiot," grumbled Kyouta.

I walked over towards the door and shut it.

All serious now, Hitoshi turned to face me, "Are you going to tell him Ikuto?"

"Tell who?"

"Sasuke."

I looked down to the floor, unable to answer.

"You weren't going to tell him that we were sent here to assassinate probably his only family member?"

"Code of conduct," I say coldly, but I instantly regret it as Hitoshi's eyes go dark.

"I'm going to dinner – I don't want to keep…Sasuke waiting…" he said storming out.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask Kyouta who was still lingering in the room.

"Well…it's really not my place to tell, but as the leader you should know. Hitoshi was in the same situation as Sasuke…his parents had died off in a car accident when he was hardly a kid. His older brother joined a gang, while Hitoshi lived off at an orphanage for a time being. His older brother, took him back and made him part of the gang once he was the leader – this is where Hitoshi got all his fighting skills from. Well, a SWAT team was sent in to assassinate his brother…Hitoshi had been out on a grocery errand. By the time he got back, his brother was dead…no one was in the building either. He found his brother lying in a pool of his own blood in his own room."

Silence loomed. It was hard for me to imagine happy-going Hitoshi in that sort of environment. The same went for Amu when I had first met her…

"I never imagined-

"Listen, I should go before Hitoshi picks a fight with somebody, but hear me out on this. Think over what you're going to do. In the end you're the leader and the decisions are up with you."

"Wait," I said as Kyouta wrapped his hand over the doorknob. "

The door slammed shut behind me and I slumped down onto the bed. Thoughts began roaming my mind, and before I knew it, I was dialing in a number on my cellphone. It was 9 p.m.

"Hello?" asked a groggy voice.

"Hey…"

The voice on the other end suddenly became alert and frustrated.

"Ikuto, do you know what time it is?"

"Oh sorry, do you want to go back to sleep?"

She laughed from the other end of the phone.

"I'm already awake now. So what's up?"

After a moment on debating on how I would present the situation, I decided to just say it all. Knowing Amu, she'd sort it out in no time, come up with a logical explanation, and manage to chew my head off.

"If you were assigned to kill someone, but that person had a family member…his only family member…would you tell that person that you were going to kill his only family?"

"Huh? Ikuto…what's this about?"

"Nothing," I mumbled deciding it was best not to give her the details. "So would you?"

"Well…from a SWAT point of view, you probably wouldn't tell the person, so there would be no interference in your mission. You'd get your target, carry it out efficiently, and the only one who would honestly be hurt is the boy who just had his family member killed…but the boy…he'd be crying. Who would he turn to now in this cold world? People aren't as warm and friendly as other think of them to be Ikuto. He'd most likely have to live on the streets, stealing food or spend a day or two under the rain starving as he watches people run across the street with umbrellas and bags of food."

"Amu."

"At the most desperate times, he'd ask people coming out of grocery stores for a dollar or two just so he could get a little morsel of food, but they'd lie to his face and tell him they have no money and walk towards their car with a cart load of food."

"Amu."

"When winter rolls around, he'll run through the rain, get soaked to the bone, looking for a space big enough that could give him shelter from the water. But even then, that wouldn't stop the cold wind from slapping him. He'd catch the flu, but he'd still have to carry his sibling to make sure she had enough food…since she's only a baby and –

"Amu!"

She stopped talking and the line went quiet.

"What?"

"He doesn't have a baby sister."

She was silent for a moment, before nervously laughing, trying to shrug it off.

"I was just answering your hypothetical-

"Those things happened to you and Ami didn't they?"

She was silent.

"Amu?"

"Yeah…they did. You should tell him Ikuto."

"W-wait, it's not about m-

She laughed and my heart eased up.

"You made it pretty obvious."

Both of us were quiet. I could hear her steady breaths from over the phone, and I was sure she could hear mine. Oddly enough, I felt so content just being able to hear her voice. When she yawned, I decided to the end the call.

"I should get going."

"Wait, I'm not tired."

"Yeah you are, and anyways, I need to eat. Goodnight Amu."

"Goodnight…Ikuto!" she exclaimed before I hung up.

"Yeah?"

"Come back home safe, okay?" she mumbled.

"Of course, I'll come back safe; I made a promise didn't I?"

"Yeah. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

When I hung up the phone, I looked at the ceiling with content despite my situation, and left for dinner.

Amu POV

After Ikuto's call, I simply could not fall asleep. I rolled out of bed and walked over to my desk, turning on the small desk lamp. There was a frame that was faced down. Just this one, I thought to myself as I flipped it up revealing a picture of Ikuto hugging Ami, Noelle, and I. Noelle…when would she come back to me? I looked at the jewelry tree where one branch was empty – nothing hung from it. Nothing would but the missing necklace that I had gotten from Ikuto.

Flashback

"Mommy! Mommy!" I exclaimed running into the kitchen where she was baking a cake for Daddy's birthday.

"What is it Amu?"

"How'd you know Daddy was the one?"

She stopped decorating and looked down to me, a soft smile on her face.

"What brought this on all of a sudden?"

Being prepared, I pulled out a picture book.

She must've recognized it because she smiled once more.

"He was the one who was always on my mind – in every thought. He was always in my heart in some form or another. I didn't have to act around him – he didn't need me to."

"So how did you know you were in love?"

"Simply put, he was on my mind and in my heart all the time."

End Flashback

He was on my mind and in my heart all the time. Am I really still in love with Ikuto?"

I looked at the frame and on a whim decided to leave it faced up. It was just one frame…one photo of the five of us. It didn't mean a thing.

The Next Day

"Ami, I'm heading out!" I exclaimed slipping on my sandals.

"Where?"

"To see if the files are ready yet!"

"Good luck!"

Later

"Why can't you just knock on the damn door like any other normal human being?" shouted the chief as he went into his usual rants and complaints every time I entered his office.

"Do I look like any other normal human being?" I countered taking a seat on one of the couches and making myself somewhat comfortable. "Where are the files?"

He squinted at me before opening a drawer and pulling out a manila envelope. He slid it across the desk and I picked it up pulling the documents out of their confinement.

"Have you read through these?" I asked once I notice a couple folds here or there in the documents.

"I did my own investigation."

"Okay? What is it?"

I slid the papers back into the envelope and looked at the man with full focus.

"None of my men currently own or had past possession of a Jericho 941 F-

"They could be lying!" I accused.

"If you would please let me finish. Yesterday, I issued a 'surprise' search at each of their homes. Two SWAT officers and I thoroughly searched their homes. To add on to this, I also read through a couple key witness reports."

"Witness reports? Why am I hearing of this now?"

"Once again, I received these yesterday."

He opens his drawer once more and pulls out several pages. He ripped a yellow sticky note off the first page and handed it to me. I skimmed it over quickly, but then my eyes caught on a sentence near the end.

"An unknown man in the crowd?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have her contact information?"

He picked up another sheet of paper from the stack.

"Good. Call her and ask her to come down to the station. Maybe she can give a description of him to the forensics."

He grumbled a response, but I paid no attention to it. Karyn and Anju would get justice.

Later

"What do I have to do?" asked the woman trying to sound confident though I could detect the worry and fear in her voice.

"Don't worry, we just need you to give us a description of the man you said you saw in the crowd on the night of the shooting."

She relaxed and looked at the person with easy eyes.

"So what did he look liked asked the man sitting behind the desk with a sketch book at hand?"

"He was tall…around 6'2" I believe. His hair was cut short. It barely reached his ears. Oh! There was a scar…it came from the top of his ear to the end of his jaw and he had this earring of a dagger with a pearl at its tip."

"Anything else?" asked the man frantically sketching.

"His had a high, broad forehead and a straight round nose. He had thin lips…oh but his eyes – I didn't catch his eyes."

"That's fine," I answered as the man slowed the pace of his sketching. "You saw quite a lot while it was dark."

The woman nodded and watched the man draw the suspect. With every line the suspect seemed to come closer and closer. Within a few moments he held up his sketchpad.

"Does he look familiar?"

"…it looks just like him," she muttered but her eyes were still searching till finally they lit in recognition.

"OH! That's right, I watched him shoot his gun, and just as I was about to say something to him he left."

"Left?"

"Yes. It was truck…It had 2 doors and I think it was black."

"A black truck…excuse me sir, could you run that sketch through the scanner and see if any matches show up from the database."

"Sure."

I grabbed the woman's hands.

"Thank you so much for coming in today."

"No problem, it's the least I can do after I heard what happened to those poor girls."

"Yeah."

A while later the man came back with the sketch and a piece of paper.

"You got a match?"

"I got three."

"Wow, do you mind if I borrow the database computer?" I asked taking the papers.

"Sure."

After leading me into the room, I lock the door and sit down in front of the computer. I type down the name of the gun and scan through to see if any one of the three men had previously purchased or owned a Jericho 941 F. All of them but the last man had. My heart skipped a beat as I drew a line over his picture. Next I type in the description of the car the witness had given me. At this point, my heart is beating frantically as I scroll down the list. At the very bottom, the man from the list appeared.

Hikaru Tenachi.

I looked from the name glowing on the computer to the picture on the paper.

I was going to get this guy, and he was going to spend a lot of time in jail. That was my ultimate goal. This guy was going down.


Author's Note

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Hey you guys, your lazy author is back once more with another chapter. I honestly do hope you guys enjoy this chapter, because it was honestly a pain to write -.- I was having difficulty with this because I would constantly switch from my laptop to my other computer and the file would continuously get deleted. I mean, one person can only rewrite a chapter so many times. But I did! And it's short - . – So I'm sorry.

And by the way, this chapter should've came out tomorrow, because I just came back from San Fran like an hour ago. I am soo tired like you guys have no idea. I've been there since 11 a.m. BUT! I did manage to get my hands on some adorable Rilakkuma items .

I have some VERY special people I need to thank for sticking out through the months of no new chapter. The ones who reviewed and messaged me.

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