Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Deeper Kyo and the characters in it. And I don't own Nero or Noritake. :D

A/N: Chiwa'su. Thanks again for the reviews. =) Again, this one's a bit late... hehe. Here's the fourth chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 4: Fathers and sons

The smell from his cigarette kills. No. It was not the smell, it was his attitude. The way he located his face too near to hers and the way he uttered those words. She wanted to strangle him, if he wasn't her boss. Kyo sat next to Yukimura. "I don't need her."

"I'm sorry Kyo-san, but it's an order from your father," Yukimura told Kyo as he looked at the stunned Yuya. She finally shut her wide opened mouth.

"Another attempt to annoy me? Fine then, but I'm sure you can look for another helper, Yukimura. A more diligent worker. Someone who is more reliable and will promise a good performance in everything," Kyo gulped on his sake.

"Wh.. What makes you think I'm not diligent?" Yuya finally uttered.

"You were fired from your previous job," Kyo replied, pouring some sake into his cup.

"You guys know each other?" Yukimura asked with a puzzled face.

"That doesn't mean I'm not diligent!" Yukimura was being ignored. "You don't even know me. You can't judge me just because you saw me being sacked. And… and.. just because I was caught up with some thugs and you saved –,"

"I didn't save you. Those scums were crowding the street"

"And…And calling my home a dump! That was rude. So you live a luxurious life… Do I look – "

"Ah… so you see the difference between our level and felt sorry for yourself for living in that trash house"

"You're such a brat!"

"… And a noisy, judgmental dogface"

"Okay… Okay… That's enough, both of you," Yukimura trying to stop them both from strangling each other with venomous words. "Yuya-san, didn't you say you really want this job, even after I've explained to you of how tough it can be with this royal pain being the boss," said Yukimura pointing at Kyo.

"Yukimura!" Kyo gave him a good glare.

Yuya sighed. She needed this job really bad but she already hated his guts. Of all the people in this world, why must it be this arrogant piece of work, she thought to herself. "I'm… I'm sorry. Look, I really… really… really need this job," her words ungenerously crawling out of her mouth blended with a slight sigh.

Kyo stared onto Yuya who managed to maintain a façade of indifference. She got some guts talking to him like that and she's not scared of his malevolence character. He thought about the coincidence of her being here and tried to relate to the messages. Kyo felt that he needed Yuya in order to look for the next clue for his ridiculous chain of conundrum. At the same time, he felt like he was being sucked into a world of pathetic-ness. He was being played by someone at some point and he was determined to find out who this person is. He so wanted to slowly torture this person.

"Very well then. You can start by clearing the table," Kyo pointed at his 'jungle of books and papers'. His brain was stricken by his act of succumbing to her plea.

"Thank you," Yuya bowed, hurried herself to Kyo's table and started filing and organizing the table. She kept reminding herself that this is necessary. "This job is necessary, the money is necessary, the boss's attitude can be ignored," Yuya quietly thought. Kyo let out a long sigh.

"Kyo-san, that mean-face of yours doesn't suit your warm heart," Yukimura tweeted and he was rewarded with Kyo's infamous death-stare.

It's only 9pm and Yuya was done with arranging Kyo's schedule for tomorrow. She knocked on his door and let herself in. Kyo was still signing some papers and reading some reports.

"Sir…"

"Kyo"

"K..Kyo. Is there anything else you need me to do?" she asked.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"No. Not now. I have another part-time job at 2am,"

"A strip club?"

"GOD no! What makes you think –" she sighed. "A drive thru,"

"Why do you need to go to another job? Your pay's not enough?"

"No. It's not that. I – "

"You can leave now."

"What? It's only 9pm."

"I'm leaving soon. You can leave now if you want"

Yuya looked at him. She felt a little guilty. She didn't want to tell him about being employed somewhere else but the contract didn't say that she can't be employed some other place and besides, her working hours was originally from 5pm to 12am. So it's not wrong. Yuya needed other jobs too. With school and all, she was only free to work after her classes. She needed money. Lot's of money. For school, for rent, for her living expenses but the most important thing is to find out what really happened to Nozomu, her brother. She didn't want to leave Kyo alone, not since he got a gazillion things to do and she was sure that he needed her help. She walked to him and refilled his empty mug.

"I'll be leaving now. Otsukare-sama," she told him and left.

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Shinrei walked out of his room and shut the door behind him slowly. The stairway was dark so he carefully took one slow step at a time and made sure that he didn't make any noise. As he reached the final three steps of the stairs, he tripped over the loose carpet, face hitting the ground. He cursed silently and blushed in the darkness. He was glad nobody caught him in such an embarrassing situation.

"Are you trying to sneak out again?" the squatting figure questioned the floor-eating Shinrei while looking blankly at the moon. Shinrei stayed still, face down. He didn't want to get up and he was hoping he could pretend to be dead. "Shinrei, you're not dead are you?"

"I'm not in high school anymore. I'm not sneaking out. I don't need to ask for permission to go out at night," Shinrei finally got up from the thwarting position and grumbled arrogantly.

"Then why are you acting like a cheese thief?" The figure stood up. His face illuminated by the moonlight.

"A cheese thief?" Shinrei looked at him intensely. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Didn't you say you hate to be here that you'd rather live in that dojo?"

"I was from the dojo. I left my toothbrush and toothpaste. So I came to get it," Hotaru looked at him with a straight face.

"I don't have time for this Keikoku. I'm running late," Shinrei walked to the huge door and disappeared. His brother walked up the stairs and then bent down to examine the loose carpet.

"This is dangerous. Even a rat can trip on its little feet. Be careful Shinrei, don't get caught," he murmured to himself and continued walking up the stairs. He stopped and turned to look at the door, "It's Hotaru, by the way."

Only God knew how he felt. His knees were shaking from excitement, his palms were sweating. His heart beat so fast, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. He stood in front of the door and contemplated on leaving. Shinrei was looking forward to this the whole week but why must he hesitate now? He received a text message from her earlier telling him that she already left work. He immediately called her and proposed to pick her up from her work place but she refused. Instead she told him to meet her at the fast food restaurant where they usually meet. He couldn't wait a second longer to see her. He missed her. Shinrei finally decided to leave the house and walked to his car when suddenly he was called by a familiar voice. He stopped but he didn't turn to look at the speaker.

"Are you going to meet that girl again, Shinrei-sama? Your foster father is going to be really upset," said Saisei.

"Saisei. I don't need to tell you or anyone where I'm going or what I'm doing. It's none of your concern," Shinrei stepped in his car. "And stop acting like my mother, because you are not." He slammed the door and drove off.

"Shinrei-sama…" Saisei clutched her chest.

Hotaru was observing the scene from the large glass window on the second floor. He knew he was not the only one who was watching Shinrei that night. He heard Fubuki talking to his associate in the other room and he didn't have to guess that it was about his brother who failed to complete his task. He walked closer to the room and leaned cautiously against the door.

"This matter needs to be taken care of immediately."

"Fubuki…"

"Shinrei failed to do it. He can never do it. Send someone else to do it fast, Hishigi"

"As you wish"

Hotaru walked away quickly as soon as he heard footsteps approaching the door. Fubuki and Hishigi were plotting something. Hotaru, despite the fact that he hated his brother, was not willing to let him suffer in the hands of the two evil minxes. If there was anyone who could ill-treat Shinrei it had to be him because torturing Shinrei was his job since he was born. "It's a cold night," he thought. "Maybe somebody should turn on the heat"

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"Oya oya, this is a rare sight. Didn't lose your way this time?"

"If you think it's a joke, it's not funny," Kyo swept his bangs to the side and sat at the end of the long dining table across Muramasa. His father gave him the 'holier-than-thou' smile and invited him to sit closer. His brother was sweating in the cold room and praying hard that they would have a peaceful dinner and nobody would chock on the lobster and may tonight's Noritake set be safe from harm. Kyo somehow abided his father's wish and sat across Kyoshiro.

"You were late. We had to wait for 2 hours. The food was getting cold but I'm glad you came. I was hoping that you could have dinner with us every night Kyo," Muramasa had started it. He pulled the trigger.

"If you'd not give me so many things to do, I might consider it," Kyo darted. His crimson orb stared those of his father's. The maids started serving the appetizers.

"If you'd go to work like a normal person and won't miss any meetings, maybe I would," Muramasa replied, still displaying the bright smiley face.

"I don't have to attend any meeting, this brat can go," Kyo pointed his fork at Kyoshiro.

"Well then, you can dream of getting less work if you keep on coming at 5pm," his father replied.

"Ok then. Don't expect me to show up here," Kyo leaned lazily in his chair as if he had lost his backbone. Kyoshiro swore that he saw a little pout on Kyo's frowning face. He rubbed his eyes and he wasn't dreaming. Kyo could act like a three year old but that would be rare. Really, really rare. And of course he would never do that in front of anyone especially not their father. Tonight somehow, the rare side of him appeared. The fact that he came to dinner tonight was probably because he missed Shima-bachan. He was exhausted and the last thing he needed was to have a stupid quarrel with his dad. This was why he hated coming here.

"I'm not the one who's missing the good food. Shima is not around anymore to cook dinner for you"

Kyo looked at his father. "Tch. So he knew," his mind spoke. He ignored his father's statement and continued eating. The dinner went well so far, nothing broken, no one chocked.

"Kyo, there is a letter for you. I don't know who it's from, must be from an old friend of yours if it's addressed here. I thought it's weird that people still send snail mail in this era" said Kyoshiro who finally managed to talk.

"A letter?" Kyo finished his dinner quickly and hurried himself to the shelf where Kyoshiro said the letter was. The first thing that came to his mind was – another message. He opened the letter and found a small card inside. On the card was written "NERO".

"Nero?" said Kyoshiro.

"What the hell are you doing? Your face is too near, idiot!" Kyo pushed his brother's head away from his face and quickly put the card back in the envelope.

"Nero? Was that supposed to be a message?" Kyoshiro asked him.

"That's none of your concern," Kyo walked to the hallway.

"Nero, The Roman Emperor?" Muramasa suddenly appeared carrying a cup of warm milk.

"Nero is also a burning software that allows us to write songs, data, bla bla bla on DVDs and stuff" Kyoshiro answered with the word 'genius' written all over his face. Another death-stare thrown to him as a present from his 'loving' brother. "What? It's true."

"Nero was infamous for his tyranny and –," continued Muramasa.

"And was believed to be associated with the Burning of Rome," Kyo finished his father's sentence.

"The Burning of Rome. The burning of ROM. Hahaha.. Nero burned Rome. Nero burns ROM," said Kyoshiro bursting into a small self-satisfying laughter, before he curled into his shell of refuge from Kyo's wrath.

"He also killed his mother, wife and unborn child. Why the sudden discussion on Nero, Kyo? Kyoshiro?" asked Muramasa.

Kyoshiro shrugged. Kyo didn't answer. The only thing that came in mind when he saw the word "Nero" was fire. Fire. The message this time was too short, too simple. Is it supposed to be a warning? Is there going to be another clue? Kyo buried his face in his hands. He thought he should retire for the night and told Muramasa that he would go back to his place. His father insisted that he stayed for the night and yet again, Kyo didn't rebel. He somehow had a bad feeling about the latest memo. Kyoshiro on the other hand was smiling like there was no tomorrow. He quietly thanked the saint of 'happy-family-dinner' for the peaceful night and for the surviving Noritake set. There was no sacrifice tonight. Nothing was broken and no one chocked. Kyoshiro was glad.

Kyo went to his room. It was tidy and the sheets were fresh. Maybe his dad was anticipating this so-called sleepover. He was about to take a shower when he received a call from Bontenmaru. "What is it Bon?" he asked.

"Remember that girl you saved that night? Guess what?"

"What?"

"She is Shinrei's woman!"

"So?"

"So??? Doesn't it bother you?"

"Go home and trash yourself in bed Bon. You're starting to sound like my next door neighbour"

"Which one?"

"I only have one, meathead. I'm hanging up."

"Wait, Kyo! There's something –" The line was dead. "Damn that Kyo. He hung up on me. Ah well, although I feel like a total stalker now, I'm gonna keep watch."

Kyo threw his phone on the bed and walked to the window. "Shinrei…"