(Sophia's POV)

It had been three days, three days since we broke up and Kozue's questions were driving me up the wall. I mean I'm impressed Baki held out as long as he did, keeping secrets wasn't his strong suit but come on, I was about five seconds from punching her or bursting into tears.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

I turn, glancing at Kozue. The girl was sitting beside me on her bed, the cold drink perched between her two fingers in an effort to not drop it.

"I'm not sure what there is to do. I made my choice and he made his."

"Oh come on Sophia, you're crazy about him."

I hug my pillow to my chest, her words cutting me deep "We're just from two different words Kozue... I don't belong in his. It's not the same as it is with you and Baki."

"But you were adapting just fine, right?" her questioning gaze bores into me and I cover my face.

I wasn't the one with the problem...

I toss the pillow across the room, sitting up quickly "I have to go see my brother."

"Sophia wait!"

I'm down the stairs and out of the house in record time.

I walk down the hospital, pulling my sweater closer to my body when I stop. The cold chill runs down my spine and I feel my eyes sliding to the door and then the room. Who the hell was it? And where were they? I gasp, feeling tugged into a nearby closet and shoved up against the wall. I react, tossing out my fist and feel it countered, then my other, feeling it pinned above me, and try to kick my attacker when all of his weight is forced upon me.

"Hey, Soph."

I pause, feeling that flush of heat, and wince at the sudden bright light flicked on above us "Doyle? What the hell?"

He sends me a cocky smirk "Rough week? You seem tired."

I kick my leg out, feeling him shove me against the wall, my leg now trapped in between his and my arms pinned above me "As I said before, it's far too early for you to best me."

I struggle against him, feeling tears rim my eyes "What do you want Doyle."

He smiles, looking down at me "I want to help." I feel his grip loosen, his fingers lowering my arms "I meant it, Sophia, I can help you." I look to the left "You need my help, why do you keep resisting me?"

"Oh, I don't know! Because you kill people! Because you escaped from prison! Because you are the last person I should be trusting with anything yet you can't seem to leave me alone!" I stare into his calm eyes, calculating eyes, and feel my lip tremble, more tears coming "... If I come to you I have to admit that it's really over..."

He released my leg, letting me stand, his hands on my hips "Sophia there is nothing left for you here. Everyone is holding you back." He watches my tears fall with an expression I couldn't quite place "Some people aren't meant to be there forever, some of them are simply passing through. Don't let them drag you down."

I feel my anger flare "I'm not weak Doyle!"

I shove him back, or maybe he let me I wasn't sure but the sudden lack of heat had me shivering. Doyle takes a few more steps back, simply staring at me, and sighs "... When you finally see things my way, come find me."

The lights flicker off and moments after I know I'm alone.

I wipe away my tears, leaving the storage closet, and turn, stopping in my tracks when I see a flash of red long hair. I feel my stomach turn, and shift, heading into the nearest elevator. Kureha was looking at a chart so I hoped he didn't see me.

The ride up was tedious, my eyes watching the glowing numbers before it rings, the door sliding open. I stop, coming face to face with Kureha, the male just as shocked as I was.

"Oh, Sophia."

How the hell...

I move past him, making my way down the hall "Sophia a word?"

"I don't have anything to say Kureha."

"Oh come on, why are you so defensive?"

I curl my fist "Kureha, you really don't want to mess with me today."

He smiles, grabbing my wrist "what's wrong, your mafia leader isn't turning into a prince?" I bite my tongue, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth "Oh come now? No sassy remark?"

I reach down, grabbing my weapon, and strike his wrist, twisting my body and flip him onto the ground. I stand there, tears running down my face, and watch his morph into confusion "Sophia?"

I turn, the tears running freely and run, not really knowing where I was going, and stop after a few minutes when I have nowhere else to go, my hands hitting the wall before me. I curl into myself the tears I'd refused to let out, spilling down my cheek. I sob deeply into the wall, my hands curling into fists and-

The high-pitched whistling echoed down the hallway stopped all my tears.
The heavy footsteps keeping perfect time to the flowing tune.
'Don't you worry child' by Swedish house mafia.

That arrogant little-

I clench my fists as the footsteps grow closer and strike, my fist aiming for Kureha's face.

A large hand clamps over mine "Upon the hill across the blue lake, that's where I had my first heartbreak,"
I feel fear grip my stomach "I still remember how it all changed, my father said"
It wasn't Kureha "Don't you worry child, don't you worry child."
I'm pulled closer to Dorian's chilling smile, the musical tone gone "Heavens got a plan for you..."

(Baki's POV)

I sighed, sitting on a pillow. We were at Mr. Tokagowa's and the man had been ranting for the last five minutes about how disappointed he was in us.

"The praise the glory, all that's worthless! In fact, even a warrior that loses a fight is pretty worthless too!"

My eyes snap up as Kaoru grabs his shirt lifting him off the ground "We already know that little man," he growls

Before I could do anything Mr. Tokagowa reacts punching him in the face and this time I move, grabbing his arm when his grip tightens

"Kaoru! That's enough."

His eyes narrow "You don't get to tell me what to do Baki, you made that very clear."

"Just because you're pissed at me doesn't mean you can take it out on other people. Show a little restraint."

Kaoru drops Mr. Tokagowa, shoving me back across the floor "The fact that you are still breathing is proof of my restraint..."

"Hey now, let's all calm down!" Retsu tries, his hands lifting in a show of peace "We can't be at each other's throats and be ready to face our enemies."

"Yeah guys, let's focus on the bigger picture here," Doppo smirks, clearly amused by the little show

My phone chimes and after a momentary glance I sigh

"What is it?" Retsu asks

"I have to go," I stand moving towards the door "Kozue says somethings wrong with Sophia."

I open the door and stop, coming face to face with Sophia. A thick hand wrapped around her throat kept her firmly trapped against Dorian's taller frame.

"Evening Gentlemen, am I interrupting?" Kaoru rises but Sophia's gasp, sharp and high pitched has him pausing. Dorian's hand tightens just a bit more before releasing, a silent warning to stay still. "It's so nice that you're all here. Excellent, I was worried I'd have to go hunting for the others."

Every pair of eyes narrows, each one pissed for their own reasons but no one willing to make a move with Sophia so close "You guys are all acquainted with Miss Sophia right?"

"Really Dorian? Using live hostages now?" Doppo smirks "that's not very manly of you."

"Manly? Maybe not, but effective nonetheless." He smiles, squeezing Sophia's throat again "Come on Gentlemen, make a move." He moves, grabbing a small metal container from his pocket the thin string now gleaming in the light "No? None of you?" he smiles his other hand moving to her hand, sliding the smooth wire over her flesh "Should I give you gentlemen a little incentive? Hmm?" his fingers pull on the string, the rope causing indents in her flesh "What should I take Doppo? A finger? A hand?" the string rises "An arm?... Or maybe a head?"

The string moves, unlooping and looping around her throat, the string tightening around her neck and cutting the flesh. I watch Sophia's face start to turn red, her eyes clenching tight when a hand lands on his shoulder. The room falls silent as Dorian turns, Katsumi now behind him "I've been looking for you."

He moves, kicking the box out of his hand and over to Restu while slowly shaking his finger, the rope instantly goes slack.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Sophia has such fine skin, It would be a shame to damage it..."

Sophia's POV

I turn, taking in Katsumi, and watch him move. My eyes follow his left arm to the bucket of gasoline Dorian had left outside, the flammable liquid sloshing around and gasp when he strikes, the bucket striking his chest above my head and the liquid covering us both. Dorian stumbles back, clearly shocked by this and I feel something smooth wrap around my wrist as Katsumi moves, knocking his feet out from under us. I'm pulled back with what I now realize is Retsu's hair and land against his frame, both hands wrapping around me protectively.

"Aren't you glad you brought the gasoline now?"

Katsumi was on him like some crazy animal, a wild look in his eyes. What the hell was going on? This isn't like Katsumi.

"Thanks for the other day," Retsu had removed his shirt, already wiping off the pungent gasoline but I could only watch the fight "You taught me a little something," the lighter flickers to life "I didn't know the difference between fighting for sport and real fighting. Being a dumb karate jock doesn't make me a karateka, I wanna thank you for that." he closes the lid and flips off of him with ease "If I lit you up then I wouldn't be much of a karateka would I?" he turns back to us, his eyes flickering over my frame and the thin cut still bleeding around my neck "But, you hurt Sophia."

My eyes widen as he lights the flame tossing it before us. Dorian goes up instantly, his screams of pain echoing through the room. Retsu jumps back, putting more distance between the flames and my now extremely flammable attire, Doppo, and Baki standing before me in another layer of protection. Despite the happiness I should have felt at the overwhelming protection, I was angry.

Doyle's words run through my head "Sophia there is nothing left for you here. Everyone is holding you back."

I realized at that moment that even if it was pointless, even if I had no chance of winning they would never let me fight. The boys wouldn't stand aside and let me fail they would jump in, protect me with all their might.

No matter how much I complained, I was never going to be a true opponent to them.

..

I gasped as Dorian tossed the grenade, feeling the weight of someone pushing me backwards. I could feel Restu on top of me and the hard hit of the ground as the blast takes us further. The air was sucked out of my lungs and my head ached, the blurry picture of smoke exiting the house as it spun. I glanced up, seeing a taller figure jumping off the roof and land before me, his thick hand moving towards me before it all goes black.

..
..

"You know, you remind me of myself." I spare a glance at Dorian, struggling against my ropes "young, full of fire." He tapes the gauze to the side of his face "I thought I could make a difference, little did I know..." he laughs a painful laugh, shaking his head.

"Let me go." We were in some stone room, probably underground.

He smiles a slightly bloody smile "and why would I do that? Hmm? You're the perfect bait, a fine cheese set out for the rats." He takes a sip of whisky and hands it to me "want a sip?"

I pull back "I don't drink."

"Why not?" He turns the bottle over "Your boyfriends a fan of this one, swiped it from his stash." I take in the bottle of wild turkey "not too bad if I say so myself." I roll my eyes, willing the tears away "what no sassy remark?"

"Maybe I have nothing left to say."

"Why? Because I cheated?" He smiles "are you mad I tried to kill your friends?"

"Please, anyone can throw a grenade."

Is that so? Well go a head then," he reaches behind me, undoing the rope with ease "take your best shot." I pull my hands in front of me, the painful tingles repeatedly striking my nerves "but if you thought you'll experience the same skill level you saw at the house then I feel sorry for you."
I wanted to kick him, to strike out a deadly blow but I couldn't, the sudden weight looming over us was suffocating
"you feel it don't you, finally realized the distance between our abilities. Sucks doesn't it?" He takes another swig as the pressure dissipates "feeling powerless." He looks at the bottle once more "you know, no matter what you do they wont let you fight."

"I know..."

..
..

I quietly picked at the food on my plate, watching Dorian do the same. He spares me a glance, his grey beard and smooth face. It was odd. This was odd, almost two hours of peace.
Take away the violence and he was just a man, someone's grandfather even. A part of me could picture him playing in the yard with his grandkids or painting the sun rise in the morning air. Such simple things he could have achieved had he chosen a different path.

"Why did you give it up?"

He spares me another glance "give up what?"

"A normal life. A family. Kids. Grandkids."

He sighs. Leaning against the wall carefully "because I realized I was destined for another path." He holds the whiskey almost tenderly, like he's reminiscing about old memories "I tried it, for a little while. The nine to five job, the house. But as the days dragged on the boredom set in. Deeper, growing with each day until it's suffocating all the happiness from your life." The air is thick, almost impossible to breathe. The silence no longer comforting as his eyes turn, holding mine. No anger, no hate, simply truth, one he fought a long time before accepting "you can try it, to act like them... but in the end, we both know you're not." I feel that ball catch in my throat "Soon, you will grow tired too."

Read and review people, peace!