Title: Thoughts

Summary: Even if they were leaders, there were secrets. Even if there were allies, there were disagreements. But when there are disagreements, there are deals.

Word Count: 3626

Notes: There's a spill of angst and gore in this! Also it's pretty Kaoru and Dai centered because since first weeks of being together, he still doesn't talk too much with the rest of the cast!

Emile/Canción belongs to polar-star-dorks!

Hanako/Lotus and Rin/Bullet belongs to polar-stars!

Comments are always appreciated and I love you soooo much!

The weeks were going smoothly, and it was so smooth that even the rest of the gang felt like there was something odd. What made all the incidents suddenly stopped? It feels like as if... there were no people aiming for them. That was quite impossible, especially the fact of how the bounty. They might have felt relieved, but there could be a downside to everything.

They couldn't name what was going on. They weren't able to be targeted for weeks now, even if there were a couple of stays inside the Kinokuni Household or the Isshiki Household- no one ever dared to strike them. Maybe it was the calmness before the storm? It as so relaxing it was uneasy... What the hell were the enemies planning?

The gang wasn't able to tell, and they couldn't ask the opinion of X-terminate who were in a current mission. Bullet had some details about the Districts- and it was something significant to know the next move. But why were the people who aimed for the heads of the two not acting?

They knew the reason once someone was shot dead in front of them.

All of the people who witnessed the sudden crime were in shock, but in an instant- all their weapons were brought out. Maybe their prediction was right, it was something to catch them off guard. Luckily, the people with them were smart enough to not think that. If there were something that could happen, Lotus already told them the plans, depending on what their next move may be. Currently, they had 8 plans, and they'd be able to determine which one they were gonna use by the letter that she would say.

"They haven't shot yet, I'd say we have to wait. If they shoot again, we have to go with plan D. If a knife, plan B. Of course, if it's going to a massive type of weapon, Plan H." Lotus spoke up and they all were listening to her. "Whatever happens next, you should already know what to do." She brought out a gun before looking over at Gaia. "Gaia, if you notice something... Tell it to the group."

"... Death." She muttered. "Raven, Bullet, Shot, Target, Cross." She stated more names of the gang members of X-terminate. "Above that building. They were the ones to shoot." Her voice didn't show a hint of being scared, it only showed that she may have felt safe.

"Are you fucking telling me that bitch is aiming for us?!" Eizan yelled and Nene held him the arm and pulled him back. "What the fuck are they doing?!" He never expected the gang to be traitors, but he interpreted it completely wrong. LA5T 5HOT5 knew that.

Canción shook his head. "I know Bullet wouldn't really do that. She's not that kind of person. Cross too." He began speaking up, wanting to defend his friends. "Death may act like that sometimes, but he's not that kind of person either... I actually think they were aiming solely for the person who we were talking to."

Aroon began sighing before bringing out his phone. "Let me talk to him." He placed his phone beside his ear. "He'd probably answer my questions. But as Canción said, Death wouldn't do such a thing. He might act all evil and shit, but it's him testing us." He heard the other side pick up the phone, and as always- there was playfulness despite him commanding Raven to shoot someone dead.

"Oh hello there Aroon~! We'll be going down soon!" He sounded enthusiastic, he even watched his members go down through the elevator. "I'll make my members go ahead! I still have to slice this bitch into several meaty pieces! He has planned to hurt our poor sweetheart and Isshiki-kun." He brought out his knife. "What method should I use? I accept requests~!"

Aroon felt his breath shorten, and his eyes closed tightly. The people around him noticed his reaction, an for an unknown reason- it felt like he was feeling regret. "Just stab him where it kills him instantly. You don't need to go further than that. Unless you want to get information from him." Once he says those words, he hears a chuckle.

"My, my. My previous leader has gone soft. But anything you say." He took some steps closer to the person who was tied up to a chair, gagged and blindfolded. "He's lucky that he fainted. He'd die without knowing he did. Anyway! See you later... Leader."

Death hanged up on the phone call, and the person who was on the other side quickly slipped his phone back into his pockets, his eyes getting pretty dark. "We have to wait until X-terminate gets here." He says this before crossing his arms. "Death will take a while."

"... You look rather pale, Stupid Red Hair Clips." Someone went closer to him, even holding his cheeks. "Damn! You aren't only pale, you're cold too!" He removed his hands from his face and Lotus instantly pushed Kuga to the side, cupping his face.

She became rather uneasy, even fixing his hair a bit. "I thought he was kidding, but you are turning rather pale. Do you need something?" She began worrying because the only thing she remembered him being pale was when he was shot near a vital area. "Were you shot somewhere? Were you stabbed and you hid it without telling us?"

"Lotus..." He brought out a tiny smile. "You really don't need to worry. I was just thinking of something." He held her hands before laughing a bit. "It was cute on how worried you were though. Made my heart skip a beat." He began teasing her, and she instantly pulled he hands away before going back to position, her face a bit red.

"Yeah. He's fine now. We don't need to worry." She knew that there was something bothering him, but with his reaction- she knew that he wouldn't tell her the reason. At least not when everybody is around. "However, what we should worry about was the sudden action of our allies."

Right after she said that, there were people coming out from the building. It was no other than the members of X-terminate, but their leader wasn't present.

"You see, our leader told us to go ahead." Cross says with an inexpressive face. "He probably wants to take care of the dirty business." They sighed before rolling their eyes. "He always does this nowadays. He only wants to make a small sign of "Don't mess with us." all over the crime scene. He should be more careful."

"I know our leader may be like that." Bullet brought out her shades before placing it on. "But you don't need to worry about him. He's not really the bad guy if you're considered as his ally." She tried to act cool and collected, but she felt panic rise as she looked at the glaring face of Eizan. She quickly focused on someone else, someone who was much more understanding. "We were doing things on the sidelines, but trust me- it's nothing that will negatively affect you."

Nene began thinking of the possibilities of what they were actually planning. "What you mean is that your gang- has been killing people against us?"

"Kinokuni, you're surprisingly smart for someone who's protected all the time." A woman tipped her hat before smiling. "But you got that right. Why wait for enemies to attack if you can just kill them off the bat?"

"X-terminate uses more questionable methods. Probably even more questionable than the big family gangs of Eizan and Kuga." Canción knew this information through interviews and research. "The person who decides what happens is Death, right?" He wanted to confirm everything, and as soon as Bullet replied with a nod, he continued. "He probably wants this alliance to be over with, so he's doing it in a quicker way."

Eizan brought the attention to himself by coughing. "Is he a goddamn idiot? If he were to do that then there's a possibility that we'll be considered as criminals when we get fucking caught. It doesn't help that we're tied as allies."

"I would agree with you for the first time, Greedy Shit." Kuga shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, yeah- Killing everyone left and right may make it more safe for us, but it brings too much damn eyes on us! Sudden death will bring us to the news and people could actually make a logical guess for who's doing all this shit!"

"I can't fucking believe you sounded smart for once, midget."

Before Kuga shot his gun, they felt another presence in front of them. It was no other than the gang leader.

"Very bold of you to assume that I'll allow myself or my gang members to be caught in such a cruel act! Me? Doing such reckless things? I'd never do that!" His hands were dirty with blood and he was currently wiping it ff with a handkerchief. "If I were to do a crime, I'll make sure I come out clean and if I do crime..." He grinned. "I leave no evidence. Not even bones."

Sometimes, they felt that the gang leader that they have to deal with was scarier than the enemies. It was now known that the reason why there were no people appearing to try and shoot them was because they died before they had a chance to. All because it was Death's command.

"Even if you know that you won't get caught, doing such a method is dangerous." Isshiki warned. "We don't need to kill all the people, you're probably not even a hundred percent sure that they're actually against us."

"Not a hundred, but about ninety. People inside the Yakuza are cruel are inhuman, Isshiki-kun. They can betray you at any moment without even any remorse in their hearts." He hissed. "Next time you know it, your family is-" He paused for a moment, even closing his mouth for a second. "... Forget about that. All you have to know is that we're supposed to eliminate them before they decide shit. We have to make them fear us."

"But-"

"What? You fear me too? You don't trust my decisions? What a waste of calling me a fucking ally!"

Death was instantly pulled by Cross, their expression not changing. "Calm down, leader. They never said such. You're overthinking." The male became quiet and he started to clutch his fists.

"... Good luck surviving against the Yakuza, you shits. Fifty percent are aiming their gun at you all, I bet you'll slowly die one by one if you don't do shit in advanced. You have to kill your enemies, potential enemies or else you'll die first."

50 percent? Was that accurate?

It wasn't a surprise that there was a dark atmosphere around them, but Aroon quickly pushed people aside as he grabbed the hand of the other gang leader. "Death." His voice was rather shaky, and this was something considered new from the male. "I have to talk to you. Question you a bit too."

The eyes of Death widened as he didn't expect it either. "What are you going to tell me? Say something like I'm just as shitty as the rest because I'm not a goody-two-shoes anymore? Tell me that I'm a fucking violent monster for choosing the better choice?! You-"

"Dai, shut the fuck up!"

It was normal for people to bring out their gun to shoot at each other when they were pissed, but the whole vibe was different because Aroon let go of him and only turned around. His eyes were filled with anxiety and his whole body trembling.

"... You used my first name." Death muttered. "You fucking used it."

"I'm pleading you. Just... come with me."

"Are you talking to me as Aroon?"

"... I'm talking to you as Kaoru."

The rest of the cast could only watch the two talk, a lot of different emotions were in each individual.

"The rest... Please go back to my house."

"Calling me by my first name..." Death got a cigarette and placed it between his lips. "Was uncalled for." He lit the cigarette up and he began calming down. After he was given time to walk around to a private bar, he was able to reflect on his action and words. "But what did you want to tell me?"

Aroon ordered a whole bottle of Patron Silver and he eyed the person he was with. "... I wanted to talk about confidential matters about the alliance. Something I don't want the other people to hear."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask if I forced you in doing this."

There was a silence between the two. "Because fuck, I think I did. I brought you to this kind of life. If it weren't for me even mentioning this to you, you still could have been the same Dai Adachi that I knew for years. If I didn't tell you shit, you wouldn't have ended up like this. You wouldn't think yourself as a damn monster, if it weren't for my shitty decisions."

"It's not your fault that I think this way."

"Then why are you acting that way?!" Aroon spat, before slamming the table. "Back then, you never said so much shit about yourself! Back then you... You used to be so fucking happy." He knew he got people to stare at him, and they probably thought he was ready to fight. Luckily, only a couple of people were in the bar- and they were actually some people inside the Chankul family. "I fucking destroyed you."

The ginger began scanning the figure in front of him, and he felt the guilt that he was releasing. "We haven't even drank yet you seem drunk." It was a sad smile present on the lips of Death. "Even if I have changed drastically, it's not your fault. The world is just cruel. You didn't destroy me. I chose my path myself, you didn't force me in anything."

"You're saying this with the dullest of eyes, Dai."

"..."

"You're lying. For the love of god, please be honest with me..."

The male began softening and even if some years passed by, he never failed to read him. "Fine. It was a half truth and half life. You might have brought me to this life by telling me about the Yakuza, you told me I could save my mother- but it didn't end up happening. You made me believe that my sole purpose of living is to do what I must. It's kill or be killed in this damn world and you made me realize this the hard way." Death finally spoke up. "But it doesn't mean you destroyed me."

"You sure?"

"Of course. I never lie, at least not to you. If something, you made me realize my ability of being a leader and a fighter. I may think I'm a monster, but that isn't your fault. It's my own thinking, and sometimes..." He became tense, not knowing how to word it properly. "I think you feel like one. Maybe more than me."

"Perhaps you're right."

"A bit curious on why though. But you don't need to tell me."

"I could, but can you promise to not tell it to anyone... Especially my gang?"

When that was the deal to hear his side, Death didn't know how to feel like this- He believed that the he trusted them most, and if there was something... he'd tell them first. "Promise."

"Remember when I asked if I destroyed you? I felt like I destroyed their lives. Sae could have been living with Rito and Hideko and feel more human than she'll ever feel around here. Emile could have been a famous musician if it weren't for me accepting him to join. Tetsuji could be in a better gang if it weren't for me telling about mine and Hanako could have followed her dreams and I..."

"I ruined everything."

The bottle of alcohol arrived and Aroon got the bottle, gripping it tightly. "And man, what if they think that and never tell me? I sometimes wish drinking and smoking would remove such negative thoughts but... it never does the trick." The only thing that could be hear in the room was the soft music that was present inside the bar ever since they came, and the gang leader of LA5T 5HOT5 allowed tears to flow down. "I'm glad you think differently... but damn, my mind won't make me think otherwise."

After the last sentence, Aroon began chugging down the alcohol straight from he bottle, even asking for one more once he finished. "I have no power to change your thoughts of yourself, but all I can say is that I disagree. Your gang seems to love you... I don't think they'd think that way."

"I hope they don't." He ran his hands through his hair, before sighing. "But thanks for telling me this. At least I confirmed that I wasn't manipulating you to do all of this. That I wasn't forcing you. That's actually all I wanted to know, sorry for getting off topic."

"No, it's fine. Makes me know that you still trust me." He grinned before patting his previous leader on the back. "But... are you sure that's all?"

It took a while for him to think, but something else popped in his mind. "Actually... There might be... It's about the alliance. Are you sure about joining it or are you not?"

"Well... Isshiki-kun asked me privately, he wants to make sure that everyone is going to survive. I think he wouldn't have picked me if it weren't for the amount of people aiming for him and Misses Eizan." Death shrugged. "They fear me, but sometimes I wonder if it will work. We have clashing moralities... But... I don't want to see anyone else die. At least anyone that I know." He gritted his teeth.

"That, I agree with. After the death of Mister and Misses Milas, I don't want to experience losing anyone again. Not with a violent death. Especially with people who I'm closest to."

"Hm... Fair. I do have a different reason, though! I may not be close to Misses Eizan, no-sirry! But... I know Eizan-kun will get close to her." He began chuckling. "So I think protecting her is worth it."

"That's... such a shallow reason. You're doing it for matchmaking purposes."

Death began laughing before nodding happily. "Yep, yes, absolutely! And who knows, maybe if she can look at me in the eye for once... We could actually get along. No one can tell the future. I felt the same with Julio-kun, Kiyoshi-kun and Shouko-chan." He brought up. "I thought that I wouldn't end up caring for them, and I'll kill them off if they turned out to be useless, but now- I can't bring myself to do so. I've always cared about Christelle and Rin, but those three were different. I guess we never expect who we'd get close to, yes?"

The bartender served another bottle to Aroon, and he slid it over to the person he was talking to. "You're right. We are allies, after all. We'll probably bond in one way or another. However, are you willing to at least adjust a bit? For the sake of others?"

Death accepted his offer and opened the lid of the bottle, his eyes closed and it took him a couple of seconds before replying. "... I'm willing to change it a bit, if you're the one to tell me. I won't accept it if anyone inferior tells me to do so. However, you have to make a deal with me. Are you okay with sacrificing something?"

He should have expected an answer like this. He would change his methods, but it had to come with an exchange. This was for the best of the group, especially to the people who they were protecting. He crossed his arms, thinking of what he may ask for... He knew how money hungry he was, maybe a thousand of dollars. "... If it's for them, then I believe it's worth it. I have sacrificed myself for Eizan and Kuga, my life in fact. I know you wouldn't go that far so bring it."

A little smirk was forming on the lips of Death, truly amused by his words. "That's my leader for you... Then..." The suspense grew as Dai began drinking a few sips of alcohol. Some drops of sweat was on the face of Aroon, hoping that the money exchange wasn't too high. "Probably just 1000 American Dollars." He stated. "Oh! Or ask Lotus out, that would work too!"

Immediately, Kaoru slid his whole wallet to Death, and this dissapointed the male. "... Have my whole damn wallet."

"Oh boo. you're no fun." Death rolled his eyes. "But deal."