Huddled in an old parking garage, Takaishi Takeru pinned his hands between his knees to stop them from shaking. He'd never been so nervous in his life. Yagami Hikari was sitting next to him, staring with wide eyes. Her eyes were so big and she was so short that for a moment she looked like she couldn't have been more than ten. It was dark in the garage, the only light spilling from a window that was half-boarded up.

Motomiya Daisuke was standing at that window, watching the outside. In his hand was a .22 caliber, and he hadn't moved since they'd ducked into the building. The only sign that he was still alive was the slight movement of his shoulders as he breathed. He finally glanced over in Takeru's direction. He clicked the safety off on the gun and turned away from the window, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to relax a little. "I'm gonna go out and take a look around. Stay here with her," he pointed at Hikari.

Hikari shuddered violently and pressed against Takeru. The blonde put one arm around her, as if that would miraculously protect her from flying bullets.

Daisuke paused, leaning one hand on the collapsed boards that covered the only thing that remotely resembled a door, and debated the sense in going off. He wanted to get out of here, and the only way to do that would be to make sure it was all clear. And he had a gun and he knew how to handle himself. But Takeru and Hikari would be left unprotected. Something was kicking him in the ass and telling him not to go.

Finally, he shook his head and slid out the door, if that's what you could have called it. The garage was one of the first places he'd looked for when he moved to Odaiba. He needed somewhere to crash when stuff like this happened, and the abandoned garage, smack in the middle of an old car graveyard, made a perfect spot to sit and wait.

He had a feeling that he would need a new spot to sit after this.

Takeru shivered. He hoped Hikari didn't feel it, but he was shivering. He glanced at his watch again. Only a minute had crawled by – no, two – since he last looked at it. He was incredibly antsy.

"Takeru?"

"Hmm?" he jumped slightly as Hikari whispered to him. "What?"

"Nothing. How long has he been gone?"

"Seven minutes. Eight," he sighed at his watch.

The brunette shifted a little. "Will you go look for him? If he's not back by ten minutes? I'm scared."

The blonde chewed on his lip a bit. "I don't know. He said to stay with you."

"What if we stay here forever? What if we stay here and die! Oh my God! What if he's dead and they're coming for us right now!" Hikari yelped.

"Geez, would you be quiet?" Takeru placed both hands over her mouth. "If it makes you feel better, I'll go out and look for him. Okay?" She nodded, hands still over her mouth. "Good."

Folding her legs up in front of her and huddling forward, she watched the blonde as he slid out the same way Daisuke had gone. She hummed to herself quietly to ward off the incredible silence. Rocking back and forth, Hikari was increasingly nervous as seconds turned into minutes that crawled by. Part of her regretted sending Takeru out alone; what if he'd been killed, too? She'd be sitting here waiting for him for the rest of her life! "Pleeeease hurry back, Takeru," she whimpered.

Takeru shuddered. Every little noise seemed to threaten him as he slid through the junkyard, trying to make as few noises himself as was possible. Unfortunately, he was failing miserably and had tripped over things a few times, earning several bruises and probably tipping off whoever it was that was on the prowl for him. He paused to lean against a wall, trying to stop his heart from racing. Questions shot through his mind. "What the hell am I doing here? What is up with Daisuke? Why were there people shooting at me? Why does he like Hikari? She's kind of annoying."

Pushing everything down, he straightened up and turned the corner.

He was staring down the barrel of a gun.

Daisuke stood at the other end of it, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes before he looked utterly pissed off. Tapping the barrel firmly against Takeru's forehead, he snarled, "Don't you ever do that again. I could have killed you!"

Forcing down the vomit that had instantly risen in his throat the second he'd turned the corner, Takeru shook his head. "Hikari sent me to look for you. She got worried."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, there's no one here anyway," Daisuke tossed a look around the yard as he clicked the safety back on the .22. Something occurred to him as he jerked his head towards Takeru. "Wait, Hikari sent you to... God dammit! I told you to stay with her!" he shoved the blonde out of the way and raced off towards the old garage.

Takeru followed, desperately trying to match speeds. "But she was worried and she..."

"Fuck you, Takeru, you left her alone!" the darker boy yelled over his shoulder as he picked up the pace and left Takeru in the dust.

Takeru slid into the garage to find the boarded 'door' lying on the ground. He took a step inside to find Daisuke sitting on the floor, chin resting in his hand, and one incredibly pissed off look on his face. "Umm. Where's Hikari-chan?" the blonde asked nervously.

"The hell you think she is? Gone." One eyebrow went up. "Fuck you."

"Geez, how was I supposed to know!" Takeru bristled, his patience being shoved to the brink. "I don't even know where we are, let alone why we're here and what is going on! Why the hell are people shooting at me, Daisuke?"

Daisuke didn't even flinch as Takeru's voice rose. "Because you were with me," he replied flatly. "And they were shooting at me." The dark haired boy shoved to his feet, snatching the .22 that rested only inches from his hand. He lifted it up and aimed it point-blank at Takeru's head, one eye narrowing. "I should kill you right now."

The blonde stopped cold, swallowing hard. "Uh."

"I could kill you. One little flick of the wrist and there you go." A smirk twitched across his dark face. "Heh."

"T-They'd know."

"I could be gone by tonight."

"Shit, don't."

"I wasn't going to," Daisuke pulled the gun away and shoved it in his pocket. "Safety was on the whole time."

"God." Takeru wiped sweat from his forehead, then followed Daisuke as he walked outside the garage. "Don't do that. Scared the hell out of me."

"That was the point, Takeru," Daisuke shrugged.

"Where are we going?"

"We are going nowhere," the red-haired boy turned to scowl at the other. "You are going home. I am going to Taichi's to attempt explaining to him why his sister is now kidnapped or even dead."

"Why can't I help?" Takeru reached out and grabbed Daisuke's arm. "Daisuke, why can't I help?"

Daisuke stiffened, whirling around and ripping his arm out of the others grasp. "Touch me again and the safety will be off. You have helped more than enough, Takeru. Now go home."

"No. I'm coming with you."

"Why the hell are you so persistent? Get away from me."

"Come on, Daisuke."

Groaning, Daisuke rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Okay. Okay! You're coming to Taichi's and then you're going home. Do you understand? And that's it! This never happened and you don't know anything about it. All right?"

Takeru nodded innocently.

"And don't think this means we're friends. God." Daisuke shook his head and started jogging at a slow pace so the blonde could keep up. "God, you're slow as hell."

"I'm one of the fastest guys on the team."

"Then the whole team is slow as hell." Daisuke turned away and focused on the rhythm his feet made on the sidewalk as he ran, and the pattern they formed with Takeru's footsteps.

Ugh... The blonde was an annoyance. He was so insistent on hanging around with Daisuke. Casting a sidelong glance at him, the dark-skinned boy blew out a short breath of frustration. He was a tag-a-long. He picked someone to follow and then followed them until he got bored and moved on.

Daisuke hated tag-a-longs.

Takeru's main attraction to him was the fact that Daisuke was different from everyone else at the school. How stupid was that? Just because he wasn't a goddamn conformist he had to deal with this clinginess? It was like babysitting his nephew or something, walking around the apartment with the four year old attached to his right leg.

Which was an interesting thought considering Takeru was running on his right side.

Yamato had mumbled to him a few nights ago that allies were always good, but this... kid... this little preppy whiner... what kind of an ally would he make? Especially when he didn't listen to orders.

Shoving all the thoughts down, Daisuke turned and slowed as they arrived in front of a tall highrise apartment building. "Taichi is on the fourth floor." He stopped by the stairs. Takeru kept heading for the elevator.

The blonde looked back when he realized he was alone. "What?"

"I always use the stairs."

"And I always use the elevator."

"Then I'll see you on the fourth floor. Apartment 417." Daisuke turned and bounded up the stairs without a glance backwards. A minute later he could hear Takeru's slower footsteps on the staircase.

Tag-a-long.

Taichi opened the door to the apartment with a bowl of noodles in one hand. "Oh. Hey Dais, and... uh... Yamato's little brother. C'mon in."

"Takeru," he reminded the older boy. "My name's Takeru."

"Sure, kid. Sit down, I was just about to eat dinner."

Daisuke flopped onto the couch next to Taichi, and Takeru hesitated with an uneasy glance around the messy apartment before sitting stiffly in a chair. "Taichi-sama... we have... a problem."

"Mm? What did you do, Daisuke, fall into another tangled mess?"

"Not exactly. Stop that, put that food down. This is serious." Daisuke waited while Taichi, with much protesting, set the bowl on the table. "I met your younger sister today."

"Oh! Hikari? She's cute, isn't she?"

"Taichi-sama."

"Sorry." The older boy grinned lopsidedly.

"They found me, Taichi."

The grin was suddenly erased and Taichi leaned forwards. "What? How, where?"

"I don't know. But I was walking your sister and Takeru home and..."

The older boy grabbed Daisuke's wrist roughly. "Where is my sister." It wasn't a question. It was almost a threat.

"Gone."

"Where."

"I don't know. We went to the garage and I left Takeru with her. He didn't stay."

Taichi swept his glare onto the blonde, who was desperately trying to sink into the chair. He turned back to Daisuke, who was starting to wince a little at the rough grip on his arm. "Find her."

"We – ow – will, okay? Ow, Taichi, stop. Let go, that hurts."

In response, the grip only got tighter. "We start tonight."

"Taichiiiii... Ow! Okay! Okay! Let GO, please!" Daisuke yelped, trying to pull his wrist from the grasp of the other. "We start tonight! TONIGHT, okay?"

Taichi finally let go, shoving Daisuke backwards into the arm of the couch with a slight flick of his wrist. "Get up. We're going to Yamato's now. Actually," he rethought his statement, "stay put, I'm calling Koushiro first."

Daisuke half-glared after Taichi, rubbing his wrist to get the circulation back. He finally swung his gaze to Takeru and sighed. "Go home now."

"No."

"Takaishi Takeru, we had a deal."

"Why won't you let me help!" the blonde started whining again. "It's obviously a big deal! Please!"

His patience had been pushed. Instead of snapping and just shooting him like he'd previously considered, Daisuke gave him what he wanted. "All right. You're in. For two weeks. And after that two weeks, you never look at me again. If you do, I'll fucking... I don't even know what yet it's so bad. Deal?" he held out his hand.

"Umm... I would say deal and shake on it, but you said if I touched you again you'd shoot me."

Daisuke groaned. "All right. Forget anything previously told to you. It's time you were filled in a little on what's going down."

"In the car," Taichi interrupted, waving the keys. "We're leaving now. C'mon."

Takeru stared at Daisuke as they drove down the road. The car was silent. He'd been promised a story and he wasn't getting one. Instead, the only thing Daisuke had said since they'd gotten in the car was asking if Taichi minded him lighting up.

"You shouldn't smoke," Takeru finally said.

Daisuke, who was sitting there staring idly out the window with the light cigarette in his fingers, blinked a little. "Huh?"

"Smoking. It's bad for you. Shouldn't do it."

Daisuke yawned, then shrugged a bit as he took a drag, reminded of the fact that he had one. "Eh, you sound like my mom."

"Daisuke, you promised you'd tell me what's going on," Takeru said quietly.

"I will. I just have to figure out where to start." The dark haired boy sighed. "All right." Reaching up, he pulled down the visor, adjusting the mirror attached to it so he could see Takeru's face. "Let's start with... how I got into this. Look. Things suck sometimes. And sometimes you run out of ways to deal with it. I ran out of ways, so I went looking for an escape. Met this guy, his name was Rud. Said he had something to take the shit away. Twenty bucks and a few hits later, I was home free."

"You took drugs?" Takeru yelped, like it was the first time he'd ever heard of the idea.

Daisuke adjusted the mirror again, and Takeru could see his eyes in it's reflection. They were cold and blank. "Ecstasy. It was good. But then when I came back down shit sucked again, and I decided the only way to stop the shit was to stop coming down."

There was a long pause. Taichi glanced at the boy next to him. "He doesn't get what you're saying."

Snapping the visor shut, Daisuke flatly said, "I was going to overdose."

Takeru's eyes closed. "Why?"

"Because shit sucks, all right? I ran out of ideas," Daisuke's voice took on a tone of weariness, like this was something he'd explained time and time again.

"But why?"

"That isn't important, okay? You just need to know that in the process of my second deal, there was a bit of a... okay, I'll have to back it up again and tell you what I've found out.

"Basically there are two major drug gangs in this area. The Byen-cho and the Kaze. Kaze is big on drugs, but they usually send an agent over to buy it from the Byen-cho and then up the price. But since they've bought it all out from Byen-cho, people gotta go to them. They get paid well, buy some more, process starts again.

"Byen-cho didn't notice this 'til they realized they didn't have that many customers. It's a pretty big city, you know? So they start prying. They find out what's up. They get pissed. They want money, dammit, that's their shit, they should be getting paid that much.

"So they start upping the price on their own, thinking it'll cut Kaze down. Wrong-o, Kaze ups their prices too. Now when you want your shit, you'll pay whatever for it. So these prices aren't the deal – it's the friction between the two. You follow?" Daisuke reached up and snapped down the visor.

"I think so. Byen-cho is getting stolen from by Kaze and they're mad?"

"Bingo. See, Kaze doesn't enjoy the task of having to raise their prices much. It's a touch annoying and they're starting to lose a bit of profit. So they start trying to haggle through to Byen-cho.

"Doesn't work. Enter shoot out number one. This kid, Maioh, gets killed in the process, not to mention a few others. But this Maioh kid is the son of one of Kaze's big shits, Osaruka, so this is obviously a problem.

"Two weeks later, Byen-cho ups its prices again. Shoot out number two. Shoot out three and four follow up, more of the fancies getting offed... Very complicated," Daisuke tossed his cigarette out the window. "Now we get to the real problem, though. Osaruka had two sons – Maioh and kid goes by the name of Bass. Bass suddenly disappears."

"Kidnapped?"

"Ding ding ding. Give the boy a prize." Daisuke stopped talking to reach over and touch Taichi on the arm. The older boys grip had tightened on the wheel at the mention of the word 'kidnapped,' at he hardly relaxed at the touch. "We'll get her," the boy sitting shotgun mumbled.

"Can't Byen-cho just stop selling to Kaze?" Takeru interrupted from the backseat.

"How're you gonna tell a druggie from an agent?" Daisuke peered up at Takeru through the mirror. "You can't."

"Oh."

"Anyway. You get the basic deal of what's going on. Kaze wants the kid back. Problem is... Byen-cho thinks I'm in on Kaze's side. I was getting my shit at shooting number... uhh... six or seven, I'd have to recount. Anyway, they think I'm part of it. And Byen-cho... I know where Bass is."

"Can't you just tell Kaze, then?"

Daisuke rolled his eyes a bit, annoyed at the constant questions. "No, because then I'd technically be in Kaze. And shit, I don't want to be in a gang. I just wanted a hit of ecstasy. Thing is, I liked Bass. I knew him. I met him at the skatepark. He's not in with the Kaze and his dad likes it that way – but now I'm pissed because Byen-cho went fucking with my friend who wasn't even part of this. So I find out where Bass is."

"How'd you do that?"

Grumbling, Daisuke shoved frustration aside. "Byen-cho is high-tech. Lots of computer files."

"You hacked them?" a brief memory of the laptop sitting in front of Daisuke stirred in Takeru's mind.

"YES. I hacked them! God, stop asking so many damn questions!" Rubbing his temples again, the red-haired boy continued. "I hacked them and found out where Bass is. Except, since they're high-tech, they caught me. I thought I'd covered my tracks but I didn't. So now not only am I on Kaze, I'm a hacker. Whee."

Taichi chuckled slightly. Takeru didn't see what was so funny, but he didn't say a thing.

"Anyway. If you wanted to know who was shooting at me, it was Byen-cho. They think I'm one of Kaze's top agents or something. Their plan is that killing me will tick off Osaruka even more and provoke an all out brawl, one that'll end the whole thing. Except it won't, because Osaruka doesn't even know I exist.

"The problem was, before you and Hikari got involved, ripping Bass out of their security and returning him to Kaze unharmed. Except if I did that, option a, Byen-cho would catch me and kill me, or option b, Kaze would think I was Byen-cho and kill me."

"Geez." Takeru regretted opening his mouth as he caught Daisuke's glare in the mirror.

"Now it's an even bigger problem because I have to get out Hikari... which means getting out Bass, too. Two people at a time. I'll be caught no way. Dammit," he leaned back, slamming his head into the chair. "Ow."

Taichi sighed, pulling into a parking garage. "We'll figure something out. We have to."

"I'm still confused. Why did you have to get Bass out?"

"Because, Takeru. He's my friend." Takeru sighed a bit. "It was originally a very easy operation... it's gotten complicated very fast."

"No kidding," the blonde sighed again.

"Get out. We're here. Up to Yamato's, we'll figure this out." Taichi touched a light green car next to his as they climbed out. "Looks like Koushiro is already here."

"Good. We need everybody to figure this shit out."