After Kuon left on Sunday...

Sho Fuwa eased his aching body into the steamy warmth of his large soaking tub, a weary sigh departing his injured lips as the battered male rested his head against the plush bath pillow. Dammit, what in the hells made me think engaging Kuon in swordplay was a good idea?

The young executive closed his eyes and reached a bruised arm to the side table, attempting to grab the baggy of ice he'd set there moments before, but his hands found nothing but the smooth wooden table top.

"What-?"

"You were punishing yourself," came a woman's honeyed tones as a feminine hand plopped the ice on his mangled face.

Sho's heart missed a beat and he shrieked, "Gods dammit!"

Akemi nimbly leaped away from the splashes of water created by his frenzied limbs, unable to keep from sniggering as she watched the prestigious VP of the Fuwa Hospitality Group thrash about in perfect parody of a terrified teenage girl in a slasher film.

He attempted to rise from the watery receptacle by pressing his feet against the bath's slick walls, but they failed to take purchase and he dipped under the surface. Sho finally managed to lift himself up with his arms, sucking in a deep breath before spluttering, "A-Akemi!?" as he shook the water from his face and hair like a dog. His ice blue eyes saw only the blurry visage of a curvaceous female until he snatched the hand towel from the side of the tub and wiped at his face. The startled young executive gaped at his gorgeous assistant. A black gaiter hung loosely at her neck over a skintight black body suit that left little to the imagination. Akemi Adams looked every inch the femme fatale and while he knew in his bones she wasn't there to hurt him, he couldn't help but think… What a way to go.

The woman drew nearer, sensing her boss had regained most of his faculties, and ran a hand along the edge of the tub in a tantalizing caress, halting as she approached his face. "You really ought to do something about that bathroom window," came her sultry voice as she playfully bopped him on the nose with her index finger. She smirked, "Someone might slip through uninvited."

Akemi leaned in for a kiss and Sho felt her tongue invade his mouth, a brief candied sweetness gone too soon as she pulled back, gently placing a hand on his chest to end their embrace.

But Sho wanted more and she let him have everything he wanted.

Afterwards they lay cuddled in easy silence for a few minutes before Akemi finally spoke into his chest. "I came here to talk, but somehow," she chuckled slightly, "we always seem to end up in compromising positions. And you really ought to have had an ice bath, but I'm glad you didn't."

Her eyes turned serious as she raised her head and gave him a leveled look. "Anyway, talking. You think you're in love with your stepsister."

"How did you-?" he broke off his question. Clearly there was much more to Akemi Adams than he'd realized, which, incidentally, validated his grandfather's instincts. Again. I'm tired of lying anyway. "I'm sorry," he responded, letting Akemi soak up the truth of his words before he continued. "I-," he swallowed hard. "I don't want you to feel like you're being used. I like spending time with you…" he trailed off struggling to find the words.

"Mmhm, so that's what they're calling it these days," his assistant teased. "I know and I truly don't mind. We're consenting adults who share a mutual attraction after all." She flashed him a sweet smile, but he detected a touch of sadness in her eyes.

Sho couldn't help wonder about the strength of her feelings as he looked into her hazel eyes, sinking into their depths. Could I return them? Besides, if she knew everything I've done… He stared at his murderer's hands, fisting them as he brought his haunted gaze back to the soft contours of her lovely face. I don't deserveanything.

His voice was low as he spoke, "I do care about you."

Her penetrating eyes narrowed, becoming little more than slits. "I know. But?" she asked, though she thought she knew his reservations already.

He shook his head. "But I'm no good. For anyone." She felt his hand tighten on her back, the rough patches from hours of swordplay like sandpaper on her skin. "I killed someone," he confessed unable to meet her eyes for fear of what he'd see.

She lifted his chin, empathetic eyes meeting his without an ounce of judgement and felt him wrap his trembling arms around her. "Look, I'm not going to tell you it's all right- because it's not. But, we've all done bad things. Every single person on this planet has done something or perhaps even not done something that weighs heavily on them. There's always something."

Chin still gently in her grasp, she reached her free hand over, grasping his hand firmly so that their bodies touched at every point. "The way I see it, each human being has two options. The first being to let the bad in life weigh you down. Let guilt and bitterness and regret eat at you until you've become this thing you can no longer recognize."

A smile tinged with regret and something else she couldn't quite name took shape on his handsome face. "Done that already."

She nodded. "Option two: Learn from it. Try to become better. Find a way to atone. Focus on what you can do,going forward. Don't stay trapped, frozen in the past."

Akemi waited for a response, the heavy silence making her question whether she was right to have advised him. Finally, she heard him whisper, "I do. I want to atone. But, I'm a coward, Akemi. I know exactly what will happen to me if I take action, and I'm also afraid that innocents will be caught up in this." His gaze turned fierce. "I want to protect the people I care about, but I think I may already be too late... Akemi, how much do you know? Why are you really here?" He paused a moment as her previous words fully took root. "And what did you mean by, 'think you're in love with your stepsister?'"

The spy idly traced the delicate curves of the young man's ear, moving lower to his jawline. She half expected him to start purring with how he nuzzled into her touch. "I'll answer your third question first since I think that's the easiest at the moment- and it will partially answer the other two as well." She smiled knowingly. "Lin Michaels was incredibly affluent and also undeniably spoiled. The young woman had made many enemies on her own accord by simply treating people who had less money as less worthy."

Akemi felt his body stiffen. "That's not to say she was without her positives, but my point is this- you were both far too selfish to know what real love is. Yours was a shallow kind of "love" that people often fall into- infatuation. The shine soon wore off and your relationship began to wither, just as a flower withers once its' season is over. Adding fuel to the fire, family pressures on both sides exacerbated the situation. The mayor. The CEO." She moved back into a straddling sit so she could easily stare directly into his bewildered blue eyes. "Next the CEO, also known as Mikado in the world of organized crime, manipulated you into a confrontation that sent a very specific message to a man who had previously refused to accommodate him. Along with this message, the incident gave him leverage over his grandson and heir."

She held up fingers. "Two birds," dropping one as she finished, "One stone."

"Wait. You think my grandfather intentionally-!" At her words, the VP's jumbled jigsaw of a past suddenly reformed, creating a more cohesive image. Hayate Fuwa's own son had gone soft after meeting the love of his life so he'd wanted someone he could easily control. Me.

Akemi watched as her lover began to shake- this time with unbridled rage. His hands fisted behind her back, seeking to contain the swell of negative emotions threatening his control.

"Love is self-less Sho Fuwa. Not self-ish." The older woman tenderly stroked his face and felt some of the tension leave his body like balloon partially deflating. "You were stuck in a cycle of take, take, take and Kyoko Mogami was the first person to show you what real love is, right when you needed it the most. You were dazzled by it. Dazzled by her strength and compassion. You experienced real love for the first time in that moment and wanted to reciprocate."

She watched a number of emotions flicker across his face as her words took root. "So you were here for my whole conversation with Kuon." It was less a question and more of a statement.

"Yes," she nodded, "but I'd already uncovered much of what you revealed through my own means."

He grunted a response, seemingly still pondering what else he should say. "Is Akemi Adams even your real name?"

She flashed him a secretive smile. "No."

"Heh, figures. Well I guess I'll have to add shrink to your myriad of talents."

Her smiled widened. "Hmm, maybe." She changed the subject back, "Anyway, I think you'll find it easy to let Kyoko go now that she has someone else, though your little sister and your best friend are going to be a difficult combination for other obvious reasons."

His reply was a simple, soft, "Yeah."

"Ok, now that therapy hour is over, let's discuss what I'm really here for. I want to propose an alliance. An alliance with the goal taking out Hayate Fuwa and I believe we can do it without implicating yourself," she offered.

"No," he replied firmly, noting that she appeared taken aback at his response. "I mean regardless of any implication, any possible incarceration. I need to help you." Sho had that haunted look in his eyes again and Akemi could see he'd been hiding so much guilt beneath a polished surface.

"Excellent. Now, let me tell you about a meeting that took place at a library earlier today…"

x=x=x

Monday morning

Rick Schnee cursed under his breath as he brought the steaming cup of caffeinated cardboard that somehowpassed as coffee to his chapped lips. He was currently being chewed out by his middle-aged boss, a large man who once would have been referred to as burly, but whose body was now more flub than fab. No, age had not been kind to Director Harry Hayes. The wispy-haired man didn't appreciate any "foul language" from his underlings and rather looked like a fowl himself, sporting large round spectacles as he blinked rapidly in irritation at his subordinate. Unfortunately for Rick, he was still a subordinate, though he'd been promised a promotion-at least prior to the incident involving the recently transferred suspected serial killer, Antony Rossi.

Director Hayes continued his lambasting, literally spitting words as he called Rick's team incompetent, undisciplined, and amateurish, only with a whole lot more words. By the end of his delightful meeting with his boss, Rick felt as wrung out as a shirt cleaned with a washboard on the side of a river. Too bad I can't just hang out in the sun like laundry to dry he lamented.

Yep, Kuon's going to be buying me drinks for a whole month after dragging me into this mess, Rick mused as he finally exited the office. Though he didn't really mean it. Stopping a killer and saving lives was enough of course, but if he could use the situation wrangle some fine alcohol from his friend, who was going to stop him? Well, maybe Tina, he thought with a chuckle. His boss's berating would look like nothing compared to the verbal flaying his wife would give him. Though he knew she knew he actually kind of liked it when she acted like that.

Walking down the long hallway back to his office, he inhaled deeply, reflecting on the events of the morning. There'd been nothing he could say in his team's defense during the meeting. It was that fact that rankled the Agent the most.

Did they properly search the suspect, removing anything that could cause physical harm to self or others? Yes. He knew his guys were beyond thorough- they'd stripped him and checked his mouth for the god's sake. When he questioned his team, he could find no fault.

Was the suspect in a secured room under constant surveillance? Yes- aside from those thirty seconds where the screen went wonky, which naturally occurred on occasion, but was entirely suspicious given the circumstances.

In those thirty seconds their searched and supposedly secured killer had somehow shot himself right in the kisser, leaving a ginormous mess in the room that had the newer guy sprinting to the bathroom.

How had Antony Rossi hidden that pistol from them? There was no way he had hidden it on or even in his body. There was no flipping way. No, the only logical explanation was the he wanted to be least true.

He had a mole on his team. A sniveling little weasel hiding in plain sight this entire time and Rick had every intention of making the little rodent pay. Dearly. He would soon discover why people never wanted Rick for an enemy.

He could still see Kyoko Mogami's tear-streaked face when he closed his eyes. She'd been traumatized, naturally, but Rick was impressed she'd broken the bastard's arm. With most people that would have been enough to stop them, but Rossi had been too pumped up on adrenaline for it to keep him down, unfortunately. Rick thanked the gods again for whatever instinct had told him to call Kuon.

The young woman had given a brief statement with the promise of coming in a little later to chat at length. Kuon had lifted her with ease, buckling her in the passenger seat with such tenderness that Rick probably would have blushed if it weren't for their situation. Allegedly she was resting at Kuon's place, though he wondered if she'd somehow managed any piece of mind. Hopefully.

He sent Kuon a quick text. Hey. How is she doing?

Now then, he thought as he kicked his feet up on his desk and leaned back in his cushioned swivel chair, what's the best way to catch a rodent?