Author's Note: When was the last time we checked in on the fine folks in the Red Rabbit storyline? Okay, we saw Keiichi and Shirley briefly last season, but then we got sidetracked with the main plot. This time, Red Rabbit will be part of the main plot. I will try my hardest to make it be so. Anyway, we get to see how Red Rabbit works this week. Plus, Izaya and Shinra seemed to have stumbled into quite the situations. We going to see someone we haven't seen in quite a while next week. For now, enjoy this week's halo.

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of drugs and sex trafficking

Halo Five: Red Rabbit:

Tandeki's relationship with the Red Rabbit Club is a peculiar one. Kitano first met Hikibi through a mutual acquaintance. The latter had just lost his wife. In fact, it was like a month after the funeral. Kitano was invited to a colleague's going away party. (He wasn't close to the guy, but he didn't have anything better to do.)

It was at this party that he met old widowed Hikibi.

The two men only met that one time. They weren't exactly friends. Kitano spoke with him on the phone once or twice. The second time was to strike a little alliance in the game.

So what exactly does an underground sex club have to do with a biotech lab anyway? Why none other than the oldest motive in the world.

Money.

Let's break down some, shall we?

First, there is the Heaven Branch.

They are the ones that supply Voluptas to the Red Rabbit. It starts with flowers that create a substance called scopolamine, also known as Devil's Breath. This chemical is a rather nasty piece of work. One person inhales it and they become a mindless slave. They could be under anyone's control for up to eight hours. Perfect for Red Rabbit's… um… slaves.

Over the years, these flowers have gotten more sophisticated. It was Daichi who perfected the substance to be more potent. Osamu came up with the way for the flowers to be delivered.

"Women like beautiful things," he said.

"Some might not like things like flowers," Daichi said.

"Well, that depends on their idea of beautiful," his partner said. The younger man nodded. Flowers would make things much easier for them all. Hikibi liked the whole set-up.

"Mysterious flowers from an admirer, huh?" he asked. "Sounds interesting." From there, the boys experimented with mixing scopolamine with different flowers. Some work perfectly. Others… not so much. Daichi and Osamu found that roses, lilies, camellias, lotuses, and poppies worked the best. Sunflowers didn't take so well. Same with hydrangeas. Lavender was hit or miss. They hadn't tried spider lilies and dahlias yet.

"We should try daffodils and peonies," Daichi said.

"Can we try cosmos too?" an intern asked. Osamu smiled and patted them on the shoulder.

"We will have to see," he said. The method of mixing scopolamine with the pollen is rather hush-hush itself. Only Daichi and Osamu know how to do it properly. They let their interns observe how to inject scopolamine into the flowers, but never mixing the substance itself. This operation has to be done right in order for it to work. Plus, the flowers have to have time to take. If they had one bad batch, all of the flowers would have to be thrown out. They would have to start over again. Hence why Daichi and Osamu had to be careful through this whole process. They took pride in their work after all.

Just like the other two branches, the men have interns to help them out. They get the supplies and check the flowers. Plus, there are other tasks that Daichi and Osamu give them when they are needed.

The Heaven Branch does other things with drugs, but we won't go into that right now.

Keiichi sat across from Shirley at his table. He remembered that first night she came to stay with him. She slept in his bed while he slept on the floor.

"You don't want to sleep with me?" she asked.

"No, I'm good," Keiichi said. The girl gave him a confused look.

"You sure?" she asked. He nervously laughed.

"Yeah!" the boy was quick to say. "I am fine, really." He grabbed a pillow and blanket and went to sleep on the floor.

Since then, he has managed to make it work. Keiichi sot out to save her. He couldn't explain it at the time. Shirley didn't know anything about Arisu. Still, he felt like he had to keep her away from those creeps at the club. So far, Keiichi has struggled to pay off her debt. Good thing for him, he had some help on his side.

"What is it?" Shirley asked. Keiichi came back to earth.

"Hm? Oh, nothing," he said. "Nothing at all." He reached forward and patted her on the head. Shirley broke into a little smile. She was starting to act like a normal girl. She was starting to talk to other people besides Keiichi and "papa". Shirley might have made a couple of friends during the summer. Soon, she would actually fall in love in a healthy way. Keiichi smiled.

Yeah, when this nightmare was all over Shirley could finally live a normal life. But first, he would have to pick up where Arisu left off.

Who gets the flowers to the women? Well, the Heaven Branch is part of the Tandeki Group. They are resourceful after all.

First, there was Heaven's Slave. They were good with the drug trade. Osamu took care of this part. Pretty soon, they fell under Tandeki's control. They were good at delivering the flowers. The women never questioned it. However, Heaven's Slave isn't the only ones on the payroll.

There is also Morita. He's basically the errand boy. He loads up the flowers in the trucks and gets the girls for the Red Rabbit. Daichi saw to it that way.

"Aren't you too harsh on him?" Osamu asked. The younger man glared at him.

"Hell no," was all he said. His partner knew not to ask any more questions. Daichi smirked to himself. He was going to make Morita miserable for kidnapping Chi a few months ago.

Meanwhile, Morita didn't know if he could keep this up any longer. He had to try and take revenge. Right now, he was on his own for this. Kanazawa was dead and Asanuma was in hiding. Morita found himself alone dealing with Daichi's petty wrath. The man gritted his teeth.

"I refuse to be some bitch to that pretty boy," he muttered to himself. Morita looked up to see Daichi glaring at him.

"What did you say?" he asked. The human trafficker forced himself to grin.

"Nothing!" he quickly lied. Daichi just glared at him before going back to work. Morita swore to himself under his breath as he walked out of the door. He would get away from this asshole one way or another. Daichi knew that he was mumbling under his breath. He would have to deal with him later.

Nanami doesn't know how long she can keep up the charade. Everything is not fine. Ever since she learned the truth, it was hard to go back to her cheerful self like before. Even her students, fiancé, coworkers started to see the cracks.

"Is something wrong?" someone asked behind her. Nanami leaped around with a gasp. Isamu stood behind her with a curious look on his face. The other teacher blinked at him.

"Oh, it's you," she said. Why does he do that? Where did he even come from?

"Are you feeling okay?" Isamu asked. Nanami blinked for a moment.

"Uh… yeah, yeah, yeah," she said. He raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," Nanami said. She started to slowly back away from him. Isamu started at her.

"What?" she asked. He smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing," Isamu lied. "Just a funny little thought." Nanami didn't dare to ask what it was.

"Right…" she said. She backed up to the classroom. Something inside of her turn her run away. His smile gave her the creeps. Nanami pleaded in her head for him to leave her alone. Isamu just stood there, watching her.

"Did you want something?" Nanami asked.

"Nah," her colleague said.

"Right…" she said again. Nanami turned and rushed down that hall. Those words rang in her ears again.

"I'll see you this evening, bitch."

Her students wouldn't stop asking questions.

"Are you okay, sensei?" Akane asked. Nanami forced herself to smile at the little mob princess. It hurt to smile by this point.

"Yes," the teacher lied. "I'm fine." The little girl didn't look convinced. Nanami felt her heart sinking. No… Please don't look at me. Akane wasn't the only one either. Her students all wondered if something was wrong. Nanami found herself running out of excuses.

She would come home and break down crying afterwards.

Her principal started to see something wrong as well.

"You don't look so good," she said. "Take some time off." Nanami stared at her with big eyes.

"What?!" she yelped. Her principal gave sympathetic look.

"Yamazaki-san," she said. "Your coworkers are worried about you. You haven't been looking so well. Just take some time off. It will be good for you." Nanami reluctantly stared at her.

"Okay," she said. Her principal patted her on the hand.

"You can come back when you feel better," she said. The poor teacher couldn't say anything back.

On the positive side, Nanami had Keiichi and Celty on her side. These kept her from going insane or trying to kill herself again. Keiichi was learning how to be more compassionate. Celty did a better job connecting with her.

"Have you ever met Arisu-san?" Nanami asked.

"[I don't think I have,]" Celty wrote.

"Oh," the teacher said. "That's okay." She tried not to sound so disappointed.

"[It's okay, we'll find her,]" the dullahan wrote. The teacher didn't look so convinced. She was sure that Arisu was dead.

Who are the girls at the Red Rabbit? They can vary in age, background, status, and looks. They are all in their 20's or older. No middle or high school girls. Hikibi and Daichi wouldn't allow it.

"Too risky," Hikibi said. "That would draw too much attention." Everything about Red Rabbit had to be done with care. The women could have no marks on their bodies. They had to be returned to their homes afterwards. All footage had to be turned over to the club. Meds were all nearby to help the women if things went sideways. The methods were solid.

How do they pick the women? It's mostly by request. They come to the Hikibi for a screening. Any men looking for young girls are automatically kicked out. So are men with dangerous fetishes. This screening has to be taken seriously. The ticket system outside adds an extra measure.

So, there can be tiny cracks in the system…

Close to midnight, Izaya's phone buzzed.

"Hm?" the information broker asked. He didn't recognize the number. Izaya hung up the phone and went back to his computer. The phone rang again. This went on two more times before he finally answered.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Izaya-kun! So good to hear from you! How have you been?" Yoemon's consciousness asked. The information broker frowned.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Let's play a little game," the professor said. This again?

"What do you want?" Izaya asked again.

"Play with me!" Yoemon whimpered. The information broker rolled his eyes.

"What kind of game?" he asked. The consciousness giggled.

"I'm going to ask a question and you are going to answer me honestly," it said. Of course, it would be one of those games. He didn't have a choice, did he?

"Fine," Izaya said. Hanging up wasn't going to be an option. Yoemon would just call and text on the other phones. Maybe ditching technology would have to be the only option.

"Okay," Yoemon said. "How many people are in Ikebukuro?" Izaya frowned.

"Really?" he asked. "Shouldn't you know that yourself? Aren't you supposed to be more intelligent than most humans?"

"Just answer the question, Izaya-kun," the consciousness said. "How many people are in Ikebukuro?"

"Fine," the information broker said. "2.7 million."

"Very good!" Yoemon said. "Next question! What is 8/2(2+2)?" Childish questions. What is he playing at?

"Sixteen," Izaya said.

"Very good!" the consciousness said. "Next question!"

"What is the point of this?" the information broker asked. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"How old is the Shinto religion?" Yoemon asked. Why did he have to have a huge creepy grin on his face? Izaya rubbed his forehead.

"It's been around since the late sixth century. Am I right?" he asked.

"Correct!" the consciousness said.

"Why are we playing this game?" Izaya asked. "This is lame."

"Okay, let me ask you this," Yoemon said as his tone changed. "Where is your little girlfriend?" That caught the information broker's attention.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said.

"Okay, fuck buddy, whatever," the consciousness said. "Where is she?"

"I have no idea."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying. I don't know where she went."

Yoemon pouted at him. "Surely you can find her. The great Orihara Izaya can find anyone he wants to."

"Not if they don't want to be found," Izaya said. He was about to hang up his phone.

"Don't you dare," Yoemon said. "I will call you on your other phones. You can't get rid of me. I just want one little thing from you."

"What?" Izaya asked.

"Just deliver Mari-chan to me, perfectly alive, thank you," Yoemon said.

"I thought you were so smart that you can work on the program yourself."

"I can't do it all alone."

"And why does it have to be her? Can't you get someone else to finish your programming?"

"Alas, she's the only one who can do it competently. The other amateurs don't know what they are doing. I have tried, trust me."

"And what makes you think that I can be the one to get her back?" Izaya asked.

"Because," Yoemon said. "She trusts you enough to sleep with you. It has to be you."

"She won't even answer her phone," the information broker said. "She told me not to call her. Mari-tan's even ditched her phone by this point. You might have struck out with this." The consciousness shook his head.

"Tsk, tsk," he said. "That's where you're wrong." Yoemon disappeared from the screen.

"Huh?" Izaya asked as he noticed the screen changing. He narrowed his eyes.

"I hear that you love humans, right?" Yoemon asked.

"Yes…" the information broker said. Something told him he didn't like where this was going.

"What if I were to take away your precious humans?" the consciousness asked. Suddenly, the power went out in the apartment. Izaya about jumped in his chair.

"What the…?!" he asked. The information broker ran to the door, but he found it locked. He tried to open it, but it wouldn't give. Izaya frowned. So this was how this was going to go. He chuckled to himself.

"Well played," Izaya said, looking around at the ceiling. Yoemon had to be listening somehow. Speaking of which, the dead professor popped up on the screen.

"You've been a naughty boy," he said. "I am grounding you until you do as I say."

"Heh," Izaya said. He pulled out another phone. To his dismay, the service had been disconnected. Same with his other phone. Yoemon laughed.

"See what happens when you defy me?" he asked. "Now, be a good boy and get her back." Izaya sat down on the phone and chuckled.

"Looks like you and I are going to have to get comfortable. Because I don't think I can get her back. You can't find someone who doesn't want to be found. Mari probably left the country already."

"Not possible. I haven't seen any activity on her passport. So, she's still in Japan. You just have to get her back and I will let you out in the world."

"And how do you expect this to work? I can't because you have me locked in. Plus, people will start wondering where I am."

"I figured you would say that."

The information broker frowned. "What did you do?"

"Ah yes, that. I already took care of all of that."

"What do you mean?" Izaya already knew that he was not going to like the answer. This menace had to go.

"Oh, I just messaged everyone in your contacts that you weren't feeling so good and that you were just taking some time off. You know something, it's so easy to impersonate you online. I just had to read your texts just to get your speech patterns right."

Izaya frowned. Of course, he did. "So that's it then? You're just going to keep me here until you force Mari-tan to come home?"

"That's correct, my dear boy," Yoemon said. He was grinning now. Did he have to look so creepy? Izaya folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine," said. "We'll see about that."

"We sure will," the dead professor said. "End call." The phone went black. Izaya stared at his phone.

"Heh," he said to himself. This was now a game of wills. Who was going to crack first?

Around three in the morning, Shinra awoke to a knock on his front door.

"Coming," the doctor mumbled. He barely slept anymore. Celty was concerned about this.

"[Are you sure that you are feeling okay?]" she wrote.

"Yeah," the doctor said. "I feel great." Shinra hadn't been sleeping in days. He's been eating normally, however. Still, Celty wasn't convinced. But she didn't say anything. She would have to work on that later.

"Who is it?" Shinra asked at the door. Low mumbling came from the other side. The doctor narrowed his eyes.

"What?" he asked. The voice spoke again with the same faint tone. The doctor opened the door to a crack. The chain remained in place. A man stood outside. From what Shinra saw, he looked so pale. He had his hands in his pockets. Shinra could barely see his face through those messy black bangs. Shinra narrowed his eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked. The man outside lifted his head.

"Are you Kishitani-sensei?" he asked. He didn't sound like he was from Japan. Eastern Europe, maybe?

"Who's asking?" the doctor asked.

"I need to speak to Kishitani-sensei," the man said.

"Are you looking for my dad or me?" Shinra asked. The man outside lifted his head. He spoke in a whisper, but his voice was so clear.

"Which one of you died?" the man asked. Shinra froze for a moment. Was this a reaper? Had they finally come to take him away?

The doctor almost unconsciously removed the chain from the door.

Now, he got a better look at the man. His visitor looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks. He still kept his eyes down. The man had his hands deep in his pockets. Black suspenders held his black pants in place. The man slowly lifted his head.

"I really need your help," he said in a low, raspy voice. Shinra looked down at the man's torso. Bright red stained the white wife-beater. The man coughed as he started breathing heavily. Shinra's eyes widened.

"Aleksy?" he asked. The man outside took a wobbly step forward before falling forward. Shinra managed to check him in time. The memories of this man came back to him. Were things getting that bad? Shinra pulled him into the apartment. He managed to sit him down on the couch. Aleksy took in heavy breaths.

"What happened to you? Are you okay?" the doctor asked. Aleksy gave off a breathy laugh.

"I'm fine," he said in a low voice. "Just please… Help… me…" Shinra quickly nodded.

"Right," he said. The doctor turned and walked down the hall. He came back with his kit. It didn't take long for Shinra to get to work. Aleksy smiled as he drew his eyes closed. The doctor moved his suspenders and lifted up his shirt. Shinra covered his mouth as he gasped. He could see the man's ribs through a giant hole in his side. The doctor didn't even question how he was still alive. He worked in silence to patch up his patient's hole in his side.

Shinra wound up staying by his side until sunrise.