私に薬の主人を呼んではいけない

by Kyoko0001

Fai doesn't think the term 'drug lord' is an accurate description of his line of work. Of course, it's hard to explain exactly what it is you do when you find out that your Tinder crush is an officer at the Tokyo police department. Modern Day AU. KuroFai. Mentions of other CLAMP ships here and there. Full list of warnings at the beginning of each chapter.

7. Chapter 7

NEW WARNING TAGS

I am insanely proud of this chapter. That being said I wanted to warn you all that there is going to be some uh? Violence? I don't want to give it away! Just know that the warnings that have been there since chapter 1 still apply. I have added warning tags for "bodily intimidation" and "Sexual harassment" and courtesy of my co-author "Kill kinks" "Murder vibes" and "Predator behavior"are also being added to the list.

I don't own Tsubasa

0o0o0

Fai needed to get his shit together and he needed to do it now.

His personal needs and wants were going to once again be shoved on the back burner while he reigned in his professional life. The first step to accomplishing that entailed getting to the office and getting his head back on straight. .

Apparently, it was time to say bye bye to his short lived sobriety because he could not have a repeat of last night. Funny, how the older he got, the worse his fuck ups became—you would think with as many years as he had under his belt in this field he would have a clue.

If only.

If only at 33, he had developed some semblance of self-control because it would have been pretty helpful. Nope—his brain seemed to insist on digging his hole deeper and deeper and if it went on as it had been, he was going to be taking a dirt nap six feet under with his twin.

As nice as that sounded, he still had people that needed him.

Fuck.

Fai swung the McLaren into his usual spot and put it in park before resting his forehead against the steering wheel and sucking down a few deep breaths. He needed to go into work mode before he even got through the door, because today was going to be rough.

He couldn't even think about Kurogane right now—or the fact that he had been dumb enough to let him get so close. That was a problem for after he got a handle on the troubles their newly dissolved friend had caused.

Not to mention what Reed's sudden disappearance meant for them. He knew it wasn't good—he just didn't know the extent of the damage just yet. He was hoping that this betrayal by one of his own was an isolated incident because he was not ready to fight a full out war right now.

Especially not if Reed was the one pulling the strings.

Fai had done it before, though—different enemy, same dance—he could do it again if he needed to.

The fact that he was blindsided by a packet of laced product the same night that Reed scurried out of his grasp?
It was looking like they were fucked. Fai had no intention of taking it lying down.

The first thing he needed to do was find his rat and make an example out of him. He was going to be getting his hands very dirty tonight—and once his people were reminded of exactly how Fai had managed to rule the Tokyo underground unquestioned, this should go away.

Depending on how far this little rebellion had gotten, of course. He was crossing his fingers that this was solved sooner rather than later. Having it settled tonight would be ideal, though, he understood, unlikely.

Fai looked into the rearview mirror and pulled a confident, easy smile onto his face. The act started now—he didn't know who he could trust so he had to have perfect control of the way everyone perceived him.

The sloppy drunk show last night had not done him any favors and he needed to make up for lost ground fast.

Fai hit the handle on the door and flung it open before gracefully climbing to his feet. He gave himself a once over in the polished paint of the car and once he deemed himself presentable, he tucked his left hand into his pocket and strolled slowly across the street to Kurōbā.

It was hours until they would need to start preparing for the night and still plenty of time yet until the meeting with his managers and key staff. He, as well as the rest of the staff, usually used the back entrance to get in and out of the building and there was no key—just a number pad that would disengage the dead bolt.

That was as high tech as the security at this place got. You usually didn't have to worry about people fucking with you when you were one of the most dangerous men in Tokyo—usually.

That - and he had gotten sick of having new keys made and changing the locks every time he had to fire someone… changing the code was a hell of a lot easier.

This place wasn't a dump by any means, but Fai preferred to keep things simple and easy on everyone. People didn't come here to look at clutter on the walls or to step around furniture. They came here to get fucked up and dance.

Each floor had a different theme and catered to a different crowd—except for the top floor. There, he had chosen limited, minimalistic seating around the edges of the room and right up next to the bar.

This left a large open space in the center of the room, perfect for a meeting.

Entering through the back door, Fai hit the lock behind him and headed straight to his office. Kurōbā had become the unofficial headquarters for his operation. Even though Fai mostly worked out of a mobile office to be able to handle all hiring, promoting and ordering for both legal and illegal substances personally—this was 'home', so to speak.

When he had acquired this building, the office space had been a storeroom that he had converted into five sizeable offices, a small break space and an even smaller storage space to keep the product needed for that night. This was the only club that Fai actually had a permanent office at, so this was also where his invoices, records, and server ended up being stationed.

Granted—the invoices, records and servers had come first. Fai had gotten sick of trying to do his taxes while sitting on the floor of the then records room, so he had ordered office furniture and organized the place after a few weeks of his ass falling asleep while he sat criss-cross-applesauce on the floor.

Kurōbā just so happened to be located near the center of downtown Tokyo, making it conveniently centered to the rest of his clubs, so using this as his hub had only made sense.

He pushed the door open and didn't bother to close it behind him.

What. Was. That. smell.

The blond scrunched his face up in disgust and quickly spotted what was out of place. The garbage bin that usually sat tucked under his desk was now behind it—pushed out to the middle of the open space between the desk and his filing cabinets.

What the hell had he left in there that—oh god.

Ew.

Sudden realization struck and Fai felt his hung over stomach squeeze.

That was puke.

Aside from himself and maybe two other people, no one had the code to get into this room and the last time he had been down, he did not remember doing that…

Then again—he had blacked out last night, now hadn't he?

Fai cursed himself quietly and held his breath as he gathered up the edges of the plastic bag and tied it off. It helped the smell and made it easier not to gag as he noped back out of his office, back out the rear door and tossed the sucker right into the dumpster.

Turning on his heel, he grabbed the handle of the heavy steel door and caught it just in time before it snapped shut and locked on him. Back in his office, the smell of vomit lingered.

Nope.

Fuck this.

He was hung over and cranky and stressed.

He was not gonna sit in a room that made his stomach feel like it was going to crawl up out of his throat and run off. Perks of always being on the move—all he had to do was grab his laptop case and leave.

In the hallway, blue eyes scanned his surroundings and he opted to snag the office diagonally from his. Not only was it thankfully empty—but it was a nice calming space.

Subaru spent a lot of time holed up in his office and had basically turned the ten by twelve foot space into a cozy little haven. Complete with a plush rug, overstuffed sofa and calming indirect lighting that kicked his office's ass any day of the week.

This was also his best stop to catch Seishiro since the two of them lived together and usually carpooled to work. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to have to hunt him down given recent events—but you never really knew with him.

Fai had assumed they were already in, given that Seishiro had called him—but he wasn't so lucky. It wasn't as though he was incapable of getting his own shit—he just preferred to keep his habit hush hush around his employees.

Seishiro and he had been working closely for many many years, so he went through him to keep things discreet. Did he need it bad enough to call his ass into work two hours early, though?

Fai settled down on the overstuffed couch and pressed the phone to his ear and pulled his laptop out with his free hand. Seishiro answered almost immediately, which was never a good sign.

"Well well. Look who didn't choke on his own vomit." Seishiro sounded far too cheery for the massive headache Fai was rocking and he held the phone a few inches from his ear and sighed. "Glad to see that your big bad police boyfriend saw you home safely. He has quite a glare, you know?"

"He's taken care of." Fai started typing in his password and wedged the phone between his shoulder and cheek to make use of both of his hands.

"I'm glad you came to your senses. Did you need Fuuma to grab the cleanup team again?" Seishiro's question confused Fai and his fingers froze for a moment, brows furrowing.

"Excuse me?" Had he misheard that? There was a few seconds of silence and he heard Seishiro sigh.

"You didn't really take care of him, did you?"

Oh. OH.

Fai didn't know how he managed to laugh when he was this hungover, but sometimes, he could not believe the things that came out of Seishiro's mouth. No, he had not 'taken care of him.'

"What am I, a black widow? I just broke things off and blocked him. Settle down." Fai pulled up his email and cringed at the number of bolded titles begging for attention. And it didn't look like any of them were spam or coupons…

"Maybe you should have been. That one might just come back to dethrone the big bad Fai D. Fluorite." Fai found himself rolling his eyes so hard they hurt.

Right. Big, sweet Kuro-chan who grumped around and turned into a grumbly cuddle bug the second you got him into bed was going to come hunt him down and arrest him…

"Any news on Reed, then?" Fai opened his update from last night and scanned over it quickly.

Thankfully, Seishiro was almost painfully brief in his reports, so it didn't take long to get caught up. Reed had disappeared from sight but he hadn't left the country and was probably holed up locally.

Better for Fai. He didn't really want to fly all the way to South America to root his ass out of whatever hole he decided to brick himself up in.

"Kujaku has. He and I are going to be in an hour before the meeting to go over our findings with you." Fai heard what sounded like a yawn and he tried to ignore the thoughts bubbling up in his mind.

He had to make it till 6 and then he would be able to focus.

He could do that.

No biggie, right?

"I just got in. No way you're coming in sooner?" Fai kept his tone disinterested and opened the first of the emails he had received from Kujaku.

Kujaku had not been kissed with the gift of brevity so Fai had a novel of information waiting for him to look over.

"I got home four hours ago, Fai." Even when Seishiro complained, he sounded annoyingly pleasant and Fai had to give him credit for that.

They were both used to running on no sleep, though, and they were running out of time. He also needed some fucking help to get his head on straight so he could keep both their asses out of prison. So was a sleepless night really that much to ask for?

"And?" There was a pause and Fai knew he had struck a nerve when it took nearly ten seconds for his head enforcer to respond. "We're all going to be working long hours. I need you here sooner rather than later. I am calling all the enforcers in early."

"I'll be in the office in 30." The phone disconnected and Fai set it onto the cushion next to him before focusing on his email again.

Kujaku had tested the baggie their John Doe had made the mistake of trying to enjoy and it had come back laced with—ohhh, poor bastard—rat poison?

Someone had thrown rat poison in there? And he had sucked that directly down into his lungs?

Fai shivered at the thought.

Who does that? Just put some fucking fentanyl or heroin in it and call it a day. No need to torture the poor person you were trying to kill.

Rat poison aside, it had been that one specific baggie that had been bad. Which was not actually what Fai was hoping for…

Aside from that everything else tested good. So they were ok to have the product back out on the floor as soon as Fai gave the go ahead, which he was reluctant to do—but he trusted Kujaku.

Fuuma had sent him an update—unlike his older brother, he was very good at keeping Fai in the loop. He and his team had gotten what remained of Seji Hondo out of the city undetected and had safely disposed of the chemicals according to procedure. He had pulled the tapes from Akai Heya and sent them over to be reviewed. They would be able to see the shipment arrive, the deal go down—and try and pinpoint if anyone on the floor had a hand in things.

They needed to know who had seen what, so they could deal with the issue accordingly. The police would be requesting them if they caught on to where Seji had last been seen—so they would need to know what they were handing over.

Fai scanned over the rest of his emails and thankfully, none were high priority. He snagged his phone again and dialed up Fuuma—he did not answer. Kamui thankfully did and Fai smirked once he recognized the voice.

"Fuuma's phone. What do you want."

"Hey Kamui. Fuuma sleeping?" Fai opened up the next of his emails—a simple question of who needed to be at the meeting and Fai shot off a quick response before moving onto the next one.

"He's in the shower. He stinks like chemicals thanks to you."

Oops.

Those smells had a tendency to cling to your clothing even if you wore the protective gear… Fai knew from experience how hard it was to get rid of-and Fuuma had been the one handling most of the heavy chemicals. Also the... uh… well, hacking and dissolving.

"Did he get any sleep?" He didn't need him here asap as long as he was here about an hour before the meeting.

"No, but he only came home to clean up. He and Kusanagi both pulled all nighters and are gonna be in soon." Kamui snapped and Fai sighed.

Getting so shitfaced that he needed to be taken home had been a dick move on his part…

"Ok, well, if he needs a few hours, tell him to get it. I just wanted to thank him for being on top of things last night." Fai sent off another email and shifted his cell to his other ear as he tucked one of his legs up underneath him.

"Next time thank him by not disappearing in the middle of the night to fuck your friend. We'll both be in soon. Need anything else?"

Fai was used to Kamui's short attitude and brushed it off. He had fucked up so he couldn't really blame him for being pissy.

"No. See you soon." Kamui wordlessly disconnected the call and Fai opted for texting Kujaku rather than calling him.

He was over at the warehouse already finishing up and would be by soon to go over things with a fine-tooth comb. He had all his people in and a good idea of what had gone down.

Which made Fai's job easier.

That was it for the pressing calls and Fai settled in to pounding through the security footage. By the time someone finally came into the office, Fai had taken to sprawling out on the couch—one arm thrown above his head and the other hovering over the mouse pad ready to pause the footage for a closer look.

He didn't bother looking up when he heard someone come to stand in the door—and he didn't acknowledge them until they spoke.
"Is there any reason you are snuggled up in here?" Seshiro was leaning against the door frame—his wool coat draped over one arm and Subaru standing just behind him.

"My office is airing out. Drunk me apparently got a little nauseous and did not take the trash out before stumbling home." Fai didn't make a move to get up just yet but paused the video he had been fast forwarding.

He did not like what he was seeing one bit.

"Drunk you was full of bad decisions and poor insights last night, it seems." His second in command came fully into the room and hung his coat up on the wooden coat rack before snagging Subaru's and doing the same with it.

His second floor manager snuck past Seishiro and slipped into his seat to get to work. Subaru was not as calm as his lover—he looked exhausted and annoyed.

For running on no sleep, Seishiro didn't look tired—but then again—Fai wasn't sure he was entirely human some days. In the last 17 years he had known the man, Fai was pretty sure he had never seen him drunk (that did not mean he had never seen him drink his weight in alcohol), tired or ruffled in any way.

He was always cool, calm and collected.

Fai used to admire him for that but after running the underground with him and clawing his way up alongside him?

Fai was a little freaked out by it.

"Yeah, well. That's nothing new. Probably why I don't drink much." Alcohol was far from Fai's drug of choice. He had drunken quite a bit in his younger days but now he was only a social drinker.

Well, social binge drinker.

Same difference, right?

"—anyway." Fai sat up and swung his legs over to rest his feet on the floor only to refocus his attention onto his computer. "—what are the chances you have a hookup for me before the day's delivery gets in?"

Fai didn't need to look at Seishiro to see his amused smirk, and he purposely kept his eyes focused on his laptop to avoid it. "I can take care of you—"

He let his sentence trail off and Fai quickly looked up—keeping his expression uninterested before refocusing. "—But?"

"How many hours did you manage to make it? You were obviously in withdrawal last night. Though your naive little police toy didn't seem to notice." Seishiro leaned against the desk and crossed his arms as he looked down at Fai with a perfect smile.

Was it that obvious?

Shit.

Nothing he could do about it now, though—he couldn't fight his way through this and go through withdrawal at the same time. It wouldn't end well and Fai would rather go to rehab later than go down in a hostile takeover.

"More than 24 but less than 48." Not even long enough to pass a piss test…

"Tsk. tsk. That is a new low score now, isn't it." Seishiro uncrossed his arms and reached into the inner pocket of his suit coat before pulling out an eight ball of snow for him.

3.5 grams of saving grace.

Fuck.

Fai was ashamed at how quickly he accepted it—but he managed to tuck it into his own suit coat and look back down at his laptop. This was not the person he wanted to show any signs of weakness in front of.

"So, I started doing some digging." Fai patted the cushion in the couch next to him in a silent command to join him and Seishiro did so without complaints. "I didn't find much in the footage from Akai Heya. Delivery was clean and typical. Daisuke is there to receive it and does what he is supposed it."

Fai fast forwarded through the delivery—the illicit substances came in right alongside the booze and once they were back in the store room, the head dealer pulled the product and took it into a small room to divvy up to the people who pushed the product on the floor.

They were looking to see if any one bit of the good was marked, perhaps—or treated differently in any way—but there wasn't anything. Daisuke followed procedure and didn't throw a single read flag—so Fai was willing to bet he wasn't involved.

"Looks fine to me. Who actually sold to him?" Seishiro's attention was hyper focused on the screen and he gave Fai a skeptical look as he pulled up another window—more security footage, but this time from the warehouse.

Fai had eyes everywhere even if his people were unaware of it.

"Daisuke himself. Which is why I didn't really suspect that he was involved… But I think I know who is." Fai hit the play button and dragged the time marker back to show Seishiro what he meant.

"This, though—" Fai pointed with his finger at the one person who stood out in the group of people cutting, measuring and packing product. They watched him pull something out of his pocket and dump it into one of the earring bags before tossing it onto the scale and evening out the weight to a gram with the actual product. "—that is a red flag."

"Do we even know who that is?" Seishiro adjusted his glasses and squinted at the slightly grainy footage as the person tossed the baggie in with the rest and handed them over to Kyle Rhondart.

"His name is Ryuu." Fai hadn't hired him personally, but he had gotten in on recommendation from Kujaku.

Ryuu was also the one who had gotten Syaoran his job with Fai—and they had had no issues with him yet. He was a little on the obnoxious side, sure—but that didn't make you a traitor.

Ryuu wasn't smart enough for that, anyways—someone was pulling the strings and Fai needed to find out who. In the meantime, he needed to deal with the one who actually was dumb enough to mix rat poison in with their product and ship it off.

Fai could not let that go unpunished.

The sad thing was that he knew Syaoran was going to take this especially hard. Fai didn't know if it was fear or money that had flipped his loyalty, but all Ryuu had needed to do was come to Fai.

Any time one of his own had approached him about someone trying to scare them into swapping sides—or bribe them—he had taken care of them.

He kept them safe and always offered to pay them at least twice what the competition had offered in reward for coming forward. Usually, those were the people he ended up promoting and keeping close—if Ryuu had only done that, Fai wouldn't have to make an example out of him.

Tonight was going to be a rough one.

"He's one of Kujaku's crew, right?" Seishiro and he continued to watch the tape of the product being loaded and sent off and Fai hit the pause button and set the laptop aside.

"Yeah. He hired on two years ago under his recommendation." Fai hadn't spoken to him much since the interview but he liked to say hello to Syaoran when they checked up on the warehouse. "He's a pawn for whomever our traitor is. I don't know how much support this person has—so we're going to be keeping information hush hush."

Seishiro nodded thoughtfully before getting back up and pacing across the room. "So how do we handle this?"

"Use him to make a statement. I don't want to, but I need to remind the newbies that I run a tight ship." Ryuu had made the mistake of picking the wrong side—and he wanted to deter any other young and dumb employees who might also have been persuaded into joining this little plot.

If they got out before Fai knew about it, they would be fine.

"What kinda statement are we talking?"

"You'll see. I hope it meets your approval." Seishiro had a tendency to find him too lenient and soft—but if Fai was being soft, he would have one of his enforcers quietly taking care of it—not putting on a show.

"I look forward to seeing what that brain of yours cooks up this time. What do you need from me?" Now that was a good question.

Fai would call himself paranoid for worrying about someone trying to pull some shit while he was conducting the meeting—but it had happened before. Hell—Fai had seen some serious uproars at these kinds of meetings before he had taken the reins. It was a possibility, and that is probably what his enforcers should be looking out for.

"I want you watching the crowd for reactions. You know what we're looking for. Guilt, nervousness or fidgeting. I want you to brief the enforcers. You, Fuuma, Kusanagi need to be on your toes tonight. Make sure you are all carrying." Seishiro perked up at that and Fai made sure not to pay it any extra attention.

They were not really a 'shoot em up' kinda crime group. He only allowed them to openly carry firearms when he thought that they might be met with a threat that would also be carrying—and it had been years since Fai had given the green light for that on their own turf.

"And you?"
Fai closed his laptop and got to his feet. Unfortunately, he would rather be overprepared versus underprepared, so yes—him, too.

"Yes. The three of you and myself. Understood?" Fai caught Seishiro's slightly shocked expression out of the corner of his eye as he left the room and headed back to his own office.

He was only slightly peeved as he noticed Seishiro following him, but didn't send him away.

"Are you being extra cautious or do you have reason to suspect—"

"Cautious." Fai cut him off and set his computer down on his desk. Thankfully, the smell had mostly dissipated—and it wasn't like he would be able to notice it once he got a second alone to 'recharge'.

Seishiro nodded and silently headed off to do whatever it is he was going to do. Fai didn't care. He closed the door, hit the lock and pulled the baggie out of his suit coat before heading back to his desk and tapping a good amount onto the polished wooden surface.

Out came the visa and Fai made four thin white lines of coke before snagging a bill from his wallet and twirling it up. Two lines for each nostril and a few seconds later, he tilted his head back and savored the taste of the powder hitting the back of his throat.

He had really fucking needed that and it was almost good enough to make him forget that he hated himself for that very need. But he had to get through tonight and he needed every card up his sleeve to do it.

Cocaine was nature's ultimate hangover cure and just as his teeth and lips were hit with that familiar numbness, the alertness he needed to survive the night was finally back. With his thoughts focused and no longer racing, he would be able to put on a hell of a show for his people.

The baggy went back into his pocket and Fai snagged a Lysol wipe out of his desk drawer and swiped it across the smooth surface of the wooden desk before tossing it in the trash.

Moving on, Fai sat down in his chair and refocused his attention on work.

An email to Kujaku letting him know that every single one of his crew needed to attend, no exceptions. An email to Hinoto telling her that she was going to need to see him before the meeting to discuss how they were handling last night's situation before he announced it. An email to his real estate broker letting him know that they would need to meet up tomorrow.

He answered a few text messages and was halfway through typing up a message to Syaoran, letting him know that he didn't need to come in tonight, when the brunette knocked on his office door before pushing it open.

The good news was that he had brought Fai a coffee—the bad news was that it was going to be hard to send him home now…

He didn't want Syaoran to have to see this.

"Is everything ok, Fai-sama?" Syaoran set the coffee down on the desk, as well as a small to-go box from the cafe with a turkey and cheese sandwich in it.

Ugh. Fai really didn't want him to have to see this.

"No. Sit, please." The smile fell away from his assistant's face as he settled in one of the leather chairs that sat across from his desk and looked at him with worried, wide open brown eyes.

Fai quietly pulled the footage back up on his laptop and rewound it. "I managed to get to the bottom of what really happened last night at Akai Heya." He paused and his assistant nodded slowly. "It was one of our own, unfortunately, and I am going to have to handle it tonight at the meeting."

"Ok." Syaoran relaxed a bit and Fai hit play before turning the laptop around so that he could watch the security feed from the warehouse.

He watched his assistant's expression closely as he focused on the screen and his brows furrowed as soon as he realized what was going on. When the short ended, Fai had not expected Syaoran to be blinking back tears as he looked back up at him with pure disbelief on his face.

"There—there has to be a mistake, right? Ryuu—Ryuu wouldn't kill someone, Fai." Syaoran didn't raise his voice but the way it shook was almost worse.

"Do you know what that product was laced with?" Ryuu was not the sharpest knife in the block, but you didn't mix rat poison into coke if you were not trying to kill someone.

Syaoran shook his head back and forth quickly and Fai watched him wipe a stray tear away.

"Rat poison. You saw what it did to that poor kid, Syaoran." It wouldn't have mattered who in their group had done it—they were gonna have to pay. It just so happened that it was Syaoran's childhood friend who had fucked up.

The brunette scrubbed at his eyes before looking up at the ceiling. Fai could understand the need to gather his thoughts after that bomb—Syaoran had already been shaken at seeing that kid convulse and slowly suffocate on the floor.

Which was totally understandable. That had been a terrible way to go. Fai wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy—and Syaoran's childhood friend was responsible for that.

There was a long silence and Fai was patient with him. He wasn't a veteran at such things like Fai or the rest of the managers and enforcers, so it was totally understandable. Eventually, he spoke again, though.

"What are you going to do to him?" Syaoran's voice came out barely above a whisper and Fai sighed.

Well… he might not want to do this, but he needed to. There was no way around it. No better way to make the same point and it needed to be done.

"Before I tell you—you have the option to opt out. I understand he is your friend and you don't have to see it." Fai could remember the shock of seeing exactly how examples were made in this business, and it was not something he would wish on him.

He had had a little less time under his belt than Syaoran now the first time he had seen someone be taken out. That had been for a mistake—not an outright show of rebellion. There was one blearing difference between he and Syaoran, though.

His assistant was not playing the long game and was going to get out—he didn't need to participate. Fai would prefer if he didn't.

"What are you going to do to him?" Syaoran leaned forward and their eyes locked.

Oh, he was not going to take this well.

"Exactly what he did to that kid." Fai didn't look away as his assistant sucked in a few quick breaths and more tears welled up in his eyes as the news sunk in.

Now—Fai knew it had been hard on him when he had seen a random stranger suffer that slow, painful death—and he knew it was going to royally fuck him up if he saw his childhood friend go out the same way.

"You can't." Syaoran's voice cracked and Fai locked his jaws.

He could. He would.

Fai wasn't going to budge on this.

"Please!" The brunette's hands balled into tight fists and Fai could see him starting to shake. "—You can't do that, Fai! That's—That's—"

"Terrible? Inhumane? Monstrous?" he answered for him, and Syaoran's sudden anger snapped into a look of pure betrayal. "I'm well aware, but that does not mean that it's up for discussion."

Finally, those brown eyes looked away, this time down towards the floor.

Syaoran knew that Fai treated him far more casual than most of the people in the ring. He had pull with Fai because of that—but his boss was going to do as he saw fit no matter how the boy felt.

"—like I said. You're excused. I don't want you to watch, because it is not going to be pretty." Syaoran shook his head back and forth quickly and Fai sighed.

Of course.

He might not realize it now—but he would later thank Fai for saving him the mental trauma… if he knew what was good for him, he would take Fai up on his offer.

"He's my friend!" His assistant shot to his feet, knocking the chair over as he did so. "You're going to—to—Fai, please let me talk to him!"

Yeah—No.

That was not gonna happen. Ryuu had no idea what was coming and he needed that shock factor. Nothing was going to change by Syaoran talking to him and frankly, Fai wasn't going to let his assistant make it any worse for himself than it already was.

It was time to take a step back now. He had already done the teen a favor by warning him at all. He had offered to let him skip—if he insisted on attending, he would need to deal with it.

"No." Fai grabbed his laptop and turned it back around and started looking over the new emails that had come in. He needed to escalate this. "I would prefer it if you went home. If you insist on staying, you need to keep your shit together."

"It has to be a misunderstanding! Ryuu wouldn't do that—"

"Syaoran. If you don't calm down, I will have Kusanagi take you home and keep you there." Fai watched his assistant's jaw snap shut and his shaking worsen. "What's it going to be?"

There was a long pause. Syaoran was looking at him—well, he was looking at him like Fai was about to murder one of his good friends in cold blood.

Fai did not meet his eyes and continued to scroll through his email.

This was business. Plain and simple. No room for feelings in this line of work.

"I'm staying." the brunette's voice sounded absolutely broken when he answered after almost a minute and Fai hummed in acknowledgement.

Syaoran sure as hell wasn't making this easy on him.

So be it. Fai had extended as much slack for Syaoran as he could on the matter. If he wanted to stay and play with the big boys—he needed to act like one of them.

"Then I want you to go to the bathroom and splash your face with some cold water. Take a walk if you need to. Hell, I'll get you a shot from the bar if that will help you—but you are not going to talk to Ryuu." Syaoran nodded slowly and Fai sighed before continuing. "—I want you to stay in the offices until the meeting starts, understood?"

"Yes, Fai-sama." It took all of Fai's mental strength not to cringe at the hopeless whisper.

This was business. Syaoran needed to learn that—Fai needed to remind himself of that.

"—And if you can't keep it together, I need you to step out. I can't worry about you while I am dealing with this, ok?" He hoped Syaoran was smarter than to attempt to intervene, but it was going to be hard for him.

"Ok…" Syaoran finally peeled his eyes away and left the room to do as he was told—leaving the door open behind him as he went.

Fuck, this night was gonna suck.

He found himself reaching for the baggie in his suit jacket again. Making a fist with his left hand, he tapped a bit of the white powder out and held it up to his nose, snuffing before stashing it again.

The next few hours seemed to go by in a blur and Fai was thankful for that. He wanted tonight to be over—he wanted to go home and crawl into bed, to not think about what he was about to do.

Before he knew it, he had met with his enforcers and warned them what to look out for—made sure Hinoto was on the up and up about the fate of Akai Heya and gotten the bad product back from Kujaku.

Kujaku had also regretted to inform him that Kyle Rhondart was not answering his phone and had yet to show up for the meeting. Fai couldn't say he was surprised and set that aside as his next thing to look into once he took care of their current issue.

The last thing he had to do before heading out was to arm up, which felt like a blast from the past. Nothing crazy—just a small Weihrauch HW 22 tucked into the back of his trousers, concealed by his jacket. His enforcers were far more open about the fact that they were carrying and Fai hoped it showed just how serious he was.

Excusing himself to the bathroom, Fai shook off his nerves by running his hands under icy water and taking another hit—enough lines put him in the I-don't-give-a-fuck zone and he gave himself a long hard look in the mirror as he swallowed at the slight burning in the back of his throat. The numbness had spread to the roof of his mouth, his gums, lips and nose—and he had to consciously remind himself not to clench his jaw.

He could do this. If he didn't do this, he was going to look weak. Fai needed to do it himself—and he needed to make sure he showed off a deathly calm as he did so. If he did this right, he should scare his people shitless—he should be able to put out this fire before it started to blaze—he would save lives on both sides.

This sucked. He didn't want to do this but he had to. Tonight would go over—and hopefully he wouldn't need to do it again for quite some time.

Fai tugged on a cheery smile and looked for any cracks in his mask—years of practice made the task of killing his emotions and going on auto-pilot easy enough—and he found none. He was the chipper, quirky, murderous Fai D. Fluorite—head of the Tokyo underground and your worst nightmare.

Well—here went nothing.

Fai was met by Fuuma, Seishiro, Kusanagi and Syaoran when he left the bathroom and entered the break room. Seishiro and Fuuma were matching his easy smile. Fai could recognize the excitement in their eyes—it had been a long time since something this "interesting 'had happened.

'Interesting' was where they excelled.

Kusanagi nodded at Fai in acknowledgement and he made a point of looking over to his assistant. Kusanagi had nerves of steel and even though he didn't like this anymore than his boss—he wouldn't so much as bat an eyelash at what was about to happen.

Syaoran—well, Syaoran not so much. He was already glaring down at the floor, hands balled into tight fists. He refused to look up at Fai, but the blond couldn't worry about that now.

Wordlessly, Fai led the way up the hallway and shoved the door open. All eyes snapped over to him and the quiet conversation that drifted across the room silenced as his people set eyes on his expression.

The veterans who had been with Fai for more than 5 years knew what was about to go down. Well, they didn't know the specifics of what he was planning to do—or who had fucked up bad enough to warrant this kind of meeting—but they knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

The newbies who had been lucky enough to come into the fold in a time of peace picked up on the tension in the room—the locked jaws and defensive postures from the higher ups—and zipped it.

Quick learners.

Good thing, too, because they were popping a lotta 'first time murder witness' cherries tonight.

His head enforcers fanned out—Kusanagi keeping close to his right side as they walked across the room, footsteps almost deafening in the overwhelming silence of the room. He always preferred to have Kusanagi specifically at his back during times like these.

Seishiro and Fuuma might be just as good at their job… but Kusanagi had a calm energy that helped Fai keep it together. That and he had specifically instructed him to keep a close eye on Syaoran. Poor kid still had his eyes locked on the floor—following Fai's feet so he knew where to go.

He should have gone home.

They reached the center of the room where Kujaku was waiting for them with the table he had requested to be set up. His people filling in around him and Fai and while he needed them to all have a view of the show—his nerves spiked at being closed in.

Fai only smiled more brightly as he walked around the table, fingers trailing along the smooth surface as he scanned the room. Ryuu was here and standing just in front of Fuuma—which was ideal.

He might try to run—and Fuuma would make sure he didn't get far.

The poor kid was looking around the room confused—searching someone out—but not outright nervous. Like Syaoran, Ryuu hadn't been around long enough to know first hand how dangerous this business really was—and he was about to be the example Fai would use to remind his people.

Fai scanned the room as he circled the table. This was a show, after all, and he was going to make it as suspenseful and entertaining as possible. Criminals were not always the easiest bunch to keep focused—he needed them to listen, understand and, most of all, remember.

Subaru and Kamui were standing by the bar—both watching him with anxious eyes. They had nothing to fear from Fai and they knew it, but they had also watched both of their men arming up—and they had both been present the last time one of these meetings had ended in a blood bath.

Yuto and Kanoe surprisingly were patiently waiting together around the perimeter of the group—their underlings crowding around them as they watched Fai with hard set expressions.

Those two had had a bad falling out a few years back and Fai did his best to avoid having them in the same place at the same time—but he couldn't worry about them. They were not a priority for him now…

Oruha was someone he had not expected to see. She had done a hell of a job losing the baby weight and she was looked as elegant as ever while she stood in the middle of the crowd. Ran—another one of his managers—was standing just behind her and all but glaring openly at Fai.

Ran was good at his job but he did not trust Fai—neither did Gingetsu—but he was better at keeping his expression neutral. Gingetsu had a little more practice with Fai's usual song and dance—before Fai sent him over to run Hādorain he had been one of Fai's enforcers. An unfortunate accident had left him with serious mobility issues but he still towered over most of the people in the room with an intimidating presence.

Kazahaya, Rikuou, Kakei and Saiga were, as usual, thick as thieves and standing front and center. Rikuou and Saiga had been rocking the enforcer gig since before Fai's time—and he had quickly made Kazahaya and Kakei into managers of their own joints soon after his take over.

They very rarely caused him any issues and usually did their own thing. Fai was not surprised to see them chill as hell, even given the rest of the managers' tensions—Saiga and Kakei had been in the business since before Fai was born and they had seen more than a few changes in leadership.

They knew they had nothing to worry about when it came to Fai, and they knew they hadn't fucked up. .

Hinoto, Kohaku, Kuryu, Hisui, Touki, Ranshou, Ryuuki were all also present and were watching with emotionless expressions—but they were watching him like hawks. He also spotted several others of his managers scattered throughout the crowd and Fai made sure to give each and every one of them a moment of eye contact before leaning against the table and clearing his throat.

There was no more he-could-do-this bullshit playing through his mind any longer—he would do this—he would take his time—he would drive his point home. All the key players were here, and it was time to get this show on the road.

"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come and visit." Fai smiled so brightly that he had to close his eyes.

It would make him seem at ease—like his heart wasn't about to beat out if his chest. It had been a while—years—since he had had to close down his humanity and drive the pretty little psycho act home.

"—I know last night was stressful for all of us. Especially for the cleanup crew and the poor folks at Akai Heya." Fai nodded in Hinoto's direction and she nodded back.

Although she was keeping a straight face—and for such a tiny, sweet thing, she was tough as nails—he could tell that she was on edge. Red rimmed eyes and face even paler than it had been last night. Fai might have been sharp with her last night, but he bore no ill will towards her or her underlings. He didn't suspect them and he had told her as much earlier.

You could tell who was in the know and who was not by the looks of surprises that swept across the room and Fai let his smile fall slightly to match his words. "—When I got a call last night that there had been an accident—"

Fai watched Ryuu out of the corner of his eyes—watched the boy's brows furrowed as he continued to search through the crowd. He also chanced a glance at Syaoran and so far, the boy was holding up.

Kusanagi was standing directly behind him and Fai did not miss the firm grasp he had on the teen's shoulder, holding him in place as he stared at his friend with a distraught expression. He might just need to use that death grip to hold the poor thing in place.

"—as you can probably imagine… I was pretty upset. We took care of it, of course. Well, we're still taking care of it, but I just wanted to make sure that we are all on the same page again." Fai paused for effect and made a point of scanning the room—locking eyes with his managers especially.

He trusted some more than others, and he didn't know if one of them may have flipped loyalties. Given that Ryuu was the pawn, they had choices—a little warehouse grunt who packed and measured—it was unlikely.

It didn't hurt to put the absolute fear of god into them every once in a while, though. Call it a friendly reminder, if you would.

Fai turned the brightness back up—his tone again becoming chipper and almost carefree. "Before the serious business, though, I want to start things tonight out by congratulating the manager of Akai Heya. Ms. Hinoto kept a cool head and did exactly what I expected her to do."

All eyes turned to the petite woman and she did not shrink at the attention. Averting her eyes down respectfully, she offered a soft thanks and Fai nodded and hummed in acknowledgement before continuing.

"As soon as there was a suspected overdose, she and her crew contacted me immediately so we could take care of it before it escalated. As I am sure you are all aware—" Fai again scanned the room. Ryuu was getting very pale at this point. "—it sadly happens every now and again in our line of work."

His managers, enforcers and head dealers knew that there had been an OD that had been fishy and that's why Fai had ordered all snow pulled and sent back to Kujaku for testing.

Word spread like wildfire but it also changed like in a game of telephone—who knew what type of crazy rumors were floating around by this time. The newbies were dumb enough to murmur amongst themselves at his last sentence but all Fai needed to do was quirk an eyebrow to have stone cold silence wash back over the room.

"There are a lot of hazards in our line of work." He mused and grinned brightly. "There is just so much that could go wrong when we aren't careful after all. I'm old~" chuckling, he wrinkled his nose in amusement and Fai didn't miss the few of his veterans smile. People he brought up with him as well as higher ups that had helped him climb, knew just how impressive it was that the blond had lasted in his job as long as he had.

"—So trust me when I say that I have seen a lotta shit. " His playfulness seemed to help ease the mood.

Good.

This will have a bigger impact if they weren't expecting it. He wanted them comfortable. Fai might be the only person on earth to play 'good cop, bad cop' alone but it fit the slightly off his rocker persona he was going for.

"But—in all my years working the floor, of running this ship and smoothing the bumps in the road… I have never seen an overdose go down quite like that. That… Well that was something else." Fai paused again to gauge the group's reaction.

Ryuu was looking around almost frantically now and Fai made sure not to look at him directly. He couldn't see this coming—Fai was being extra careful with how he brought this issue up, and it wasn't time to reveal his hand just yet.

"Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to be done. Poor kid was doomed before I even got there, but watching him… choke and writhe on the floor had been an experience, let me tell you." Fai shrugged and walked around the table so that his back was facing Ryuu now.

"We're probably going to have the police sniffing around as early as tonight—the second they show any suspicion, I am going to have to close the doors of Akai Heya. Not to punish Hinoto or her employees—this is to keep them safe." Murmurs broke out across the room and Fai let them whisper.

He had never shut a club down before—certainly not one of his highest earning joints—but he couldn't risk it. His drug ring had gotten too big to know each one of his waitresses, dealers and bouncers who had seen something weren't going to talk when the police came sniffing.

That was why he had pulled Hinoto into his office, to give her a heads up. Her and her people were going to be integrated into other clubs for a few months and Fai was going to set up a new spot for them.

It couldn't happen instantaneously.

I took time to find the perfect location—clean enough cash to avoid an audit of the purchase of the building and furnishings—and to complete a remodel and fully stock the place. While that went down, Fai and Yuuko were going to have to create a complex maze of shadow corporations, LLCs, and alliances to get a new tax ID number to keep things from leading back to himself.

There was also the massive amount of time it was going to take to demolish the patchwork of legal tape they had used to keep Akai Heya going. Which included firing—and hiring—every salaried employee at wherever he ended up transferring them to.

It was a process and if he didn't do it right, he was going to be royally fucked come tax season…

Of course—his people didn't need to sweat the little details. That was not why he was bringing it up.

Once their anxieties sufficiently spiked, he continued.

"Now, now." Fai purred and looked about the room—making sure to focus his sweet gaze on the employees of Akai Heya. "Wipe those worried looks off your faces, my little angels. Such naive innocent little things, aren't you? We're all family here—and families stick together. So, you don't need to worry about mommy leaving you out to dry."

Another pause and the murmurs died down.

No—Fai took care of his people and almost all of them knew it.

"Of course… I am aware that sometimes, my little ones have a hard time seeing the big picture, but let me take a moment to reassure you all that I'm doing what's best for you. I am already in the process of getting new accommodations together for you. In the meantime, I will relocate every single employee to other establishments and give them a nice bonus for their trouble while I deal with all the nonsense that goes along with opening a new club." Fai smiled through the mixed reactions he received.

Oh—how long had it been since he had seen that much jealousy?

It was exactly what he wanted.

Fai's go to for rewarding his people was a big fat check—it was their favorite kind of reward and he knew it. He had been very generous with his bonuses as well—even for the waitresses and drink runners.

"—Come now, I know those looks I am getting. You're wondering why on earth am I rewarding them if they're the ones that fucked our no OD streak, aren't you?" Fai walked around the table again and it looked as though Ryuu had settled back down a bit.

He had managed to lull him into a false sense of security.

"You see—Hinoto has been with me for a while—she knew all she had to do was come to me and I would take care of her. That's what I am here for, after all. To take care of you all." Fai turned back around slowly and made a point to lock eyes with Ryuu.

"—you can always come to me when you fuck up. I am a very forgiving person when it comes to mistakes." What little color that had returned to Ryuu's face faded away and Fai let his smile fall—his eyes harden—and his tone became serious. "—I can forgive almost anything, but in this case… well, one of my kittens not only strayed—I can understand the appeal of something new and shiny. I can even forgive a momentary lapse in judgement. Happens to the best of us, after all—"

Fai leaned back against the table and pulled out the little baggie that had killed Seji Hondo from Okinawa. "—but what I can't forgive is someone pulling this kind of outright betrayal… against their own family." The very same one that Ryuu had laced with rat poison.

He held Ryuu's gaze just long enough to see the teens breath start to pick up before slapping back on a cheery grin. "Anyhow—"

That was enough of that for now. It was time to take care of business.

Fai threw his voice so that he sounded playful, and again scanned the room for a feel of where everyone stood on the sudden subject change. "I have a little bit of trivia for you all."

The newbies looked suddenly confused and his veterans stiffened. The only one who actually knew what he was planning to do was Syaoran and he currently had his eyes glued on the floor in front of him.

Not even Seishiro knew just how big of a statement Fai was planning on making.

"Who here can tell dear old mommy Fai why we should never, ever play with rat poison—and especially not ingest it?." He made a point of setting the baggie down onto the table and again rose to his full height, grinning like a cat as he watched the confusion sweep across the room.

They hadn't announced yet that it had not been an OD, at all—but a deliberate act. Now was a perfect time, though, just to ensure that everyone was on the same page.

No one dared to speak and that didn't suit Fai at all. Pushing off the table, Fai strolled casually forward, the crowd parting like the red sea to make room for him.

Picking a target was easy enough—who specifically they were did not matter—they just needed to be standing behind Ryuu, close enough for him to hear their answer should they mumble. Fai was good with names—but it was impossible to remember everybody in the drug ring by name.

Nokoru he knew though—by both name as well as face—he was a rising star at Kyushen and Fai has been keeping an eye out for a suitable promotion for him.

"What about you, Nokoru? Can you tell the class why playing with rat poison is such a bad idea?" Fai spoke loud enough for the entire room to hear and watched as Nokoru looked slightly confused for a moment before managing the obvious answer.

"Because it's poison?" For having the right answer, he sounded quite unsure—but he had done what Fai needed him to do.

"Ah! Such a smart boy!" the blond reached out and patted the top of Nokoru's head and flashed the kind of grin one might expect from a mother praising her toddler before he continued his casual stroll—keeping close enough to have Ryuu in the corner of his eye as he picked his next victim.

"Since it's poison—we probably don't want to eat it, hm?" Oh, those shocked expressions he had just earned himself were really something else.

Fai made a mental note of who in the crowd did not seem all that surprised by the odd topic. He did not like the numbers, but no one with considerable rank made the list, thankfully.

"Next question." Fai stopped at random and grinned at the Shinbo—another one of his boys. He was still green behind the ears and took a step back when Fai focused his grin on him. "Would my sweet Shinbo like to tell everyone what we are supposed to use rat poison for if not to taste test it?"

Shinbo looked around nervously and Takako, his manager, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and urged him to answer with a tight smile. After clearing his throat, he managed a very shaky answer. "Rats?"

"Cor~rect!" Fai tweaked his nose between his pointer finger and middle finger before turning on his heel, flaying out his arms. "Rat poison is for Rats! What—a—surprise."

Strolling slowly away, Fai could almost feel the tension in the air. The only sound filling the silence was of his Salvatore Ferragamo Oxfords clacking against the floor as he went.

He made a slow, wide loop around the table and people continued to give him a wide allowance of space as he went. "—and what kind of mommy would I be if I let rats run amongst my sweet children?" No one answered him but he wasn't looking for a response—he wanted to let that sink in, and give them time to start connecting the dots for themselves.

"Rats carry all sorts of disease after all… It's best to take care of them before they have a chance to spread it." Fai could see as some of his managers started to catch on to his little game—each of these reactions slightly different.

He had a wide array of personalities working for him, and he received a mixed reaction—most leaning towards slight fear at the thought of why Fai might be putting so much emphasis on rat poison.

"Now my next question is a little tougher." Fai paused and gave a thoughtful hum before turning his attention to Kujaku who was wearing an easy smile.

He knew he had nothing to fear from Fai and smiled back pleasantly.

"Our dear Kujaku here might just know the answer to this one being the little Brainiac that he is." Fai knew for a fact that he did given he had walked his boss through exactly what had happened to that poor bastard from the second he had sucked the shit down into his lungs.

It was not pretty.

"What exactly happens when we are silly enough to—Oh, I don't know—mix rat poison in with cocaine and sell it to a customer?" Fai kept his tone innocent as though it were the most innocent question in the world.

"They die." Kujaku matched his mood and sounded almost excited to feed the group that tidbit of obvious information and Fai had to give him props.

"What?" Fai raised a shocked hand to cover his mouth and didn't miss the green look that washed over Ryuu's face. "Who. Would. Have. Thought."

His tone turned more and more serious with each word and held the teen's gaze. It started to sink in that he was royally fucked—and Fai didn't know if he was ballsy for holding his ground or just scared shitless.

Didn't matter.

Fai started walking again—turning to look back around after breaking eye contact. He took his time in heading back towards Ryuu—passing him by to smile at Fuuma who was doing a good job of keeping his excitement in check.

"Hi Fuuma." the blond's tone was back to innocent and playful, and he could see his rat trembling just a few feet away from him.

"Hi Fai-sama." Fuuma answered sounded even happier than Fai—smiling wide enough that he had to close his eyes.

"Can you tell your siblings what happens when we're silly and kill a client?" Fai batted his eyelashes and Fumma played right along with it responding in a chipper, sing song voice.

"Hunt them, find them, make them pay."

"Exactly." Fai let his smile fade, changing his mask to look a tad bit worried. "That's a lot of work, though, hm?"

It had been a lot of work—for them, at least. Fai putting the information together today hadn't been too bad, but they didn't need to know that.

"Yes." Fuuma shrugged as though it were no big deal. "—But it's so much fun. Right, brother?"

The whole room turned to look at Seishiro who was strategically blocking the only available exit, given that the door that led to the offices had been deadbolted.

Seishiro—unlike Fuuma and Kujaku—did not smile and play along.

Seshiro looked dead serious and raised an eyebrow at his brother as though he were done with everyone's shit. "I happily leave the dismembering up to you. Ruins my clothes."

Now—Fai didn't mean to laugh at that answer—he was usually better at controlling his reactions. It fed into the crazy vibe, though, so he didn't try too hard to keep a straight face.

Fai was the only one to find Seishiro answer to be funny, though.

Then again, he was one of the few people in the room to recognize the twinkle of mischief in the older man's eye to know that he was being playful in his own way.

After he had gotten the last of the giggles under control, Fai ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "We don't want to ruin Fuuma's cloths now, do we?"

While Fuuma's clothing was actually the least of their worries—the least amount of details exposed about what they really did with the bodies they ended up with occasionally was best kept to privileged ears only.

The idea that they dismembered people was enough to have most of the newbies watching with wide eyes full of horror.

"Ruined outfits, closing clubs, relocating employees, late nights… Who knows what other recent troubles—all because… we have a rat…" Fai made one last slow lap around the room to let his words really sink in and process.

Now was the time to really up the act—deal with the threat in a way that no one present would ever be able to forget.

"Because I love all of my sweet kittens… what am I to do when a rat is foolish enough to hide amongst my children and stay in my house?" He was about half way through his last lap now and he let that question marinate for a moment, taking care to focus on the people who had managed to make it on his shit list earlier.

Just in case they were a little less on the sadistic side, and a little more on the guilty side.

He couldn't be too careful, now could he?

"Now that this kitty cat has found him—" He was about 3/4ths of the way back to Ryuu, and he was seriously hoping the kid did not barf from nerves. He was looking very very green now.

At least if he was going to do it, he hoped he was polite enough no to get any of it on Fai… He was already risking getting covered in bodily fluids by handling this himself—but vomit is one he would like to avoid if at all possible.

"—The only thing that comes to my mind—" Ryuu was looking at him as though he had hell on his heels.

Which, he might as well since that was where Fai was about to send the poor bastard.

"—is to pounce." He was surprised by just how much sweetness he managed to pack into the last word of his sentence.

Fai was standing just in front of Ryuu now and was looking down at him with the kindest expression he could manage. The teen's breath was puffing out in quick breaths now and he broke eye contact to look around the room desperately again.

Whoever had put him up to this had abandoned him to his fate.

After an impossibly long moment, Fai reached up to cup the boy's face and let his smile fall, expression turning sad—almost remorseful—as he forced Ryuu to once again look him in the eyes.

He let tension rise further, until the air of the room was almost suffocating. No one dared make a peep and silently watched, some with fear, some curiosity and some with sadness as the kid held his breath under his boss's scrutiny.

Fai searched his terrified eyes for a moment. He might be putting on a heartless act at currently, but this was his least favorite part of his job. He wished that Ryuu hadn't forced his hand—but there was nothing that he could do given the level of betrayal.

All their asses were on the line now and all, because this naive teen had trusted the wrong person. There wasn't a single ounce of his being that believed that Ryuu had come up with this scheme alone.

Fai didn't know who had put him up to this, he had suspicions, though—Rhondart being connected was obvious and more than likely Reed. Ryuu was the pawn they had used to make their power move and Fai unfortunately had to take him out.

There was no other option.

"Hello Ryuu."
The teen let out the breath he had been holding at Fai's words and glanced around one last time but didn't answer him.

That was ok.

"Didn't you know you could have come to me?" Fai frowned at him and waited for a response—brushing his thumbs over the boy's cheeks in an almost tender fashion.

When he continued to play the silent game, Fai furrowed his brows and pursed his lips into a sorrowful frown, genuine regret over the situation springing forth as he watched the boy trying to remain calm.

"Silly boy." The blond shook his head slowly. "If you had only told mommy about the bad friends you were making on the playground, I could have saved you."

This was the major point he needed to drive home to everyone. Well—the second major point. The first being that you better not fucking cross him.

"Fai-sama, I—"

"Shh shh shh." Fai cut him off and gave a mournful smile. "Do you know that you are breaking your mommy's heart right now, sweetie?"

Ryuu was silent again, not that Fai was surprised. The tears collecting at the corner of his eyes were a nice touch, though—Fai hadn't been terrifying enough to make someone cry in a hot minute and it helped drive the point home.

"Now—tell mama why you felt the need to lace my product with something so... " Fai paused and wiped at the tears collecting in boys eyes. "...barbaric? Then hand it off to be sold to my clients?"

"I didn't know." Ryuu's voice cracked and it took a lot of work to scoff rather than cringe at that answer.

It was in fact very likely that whomever put the poor kitten up to this hadn't told him what he was putting in that bag. It didn't change the outcome, but it sure did up the guilt at having to do this to one of his own.

He had broken one of the biggest rules—he hadn't come to him. There was nothing Fai could do.

"You didn't know?" It was not easy to keep the act going, but Fai managed an understanding tone and nodded at the boy slowly. Almost as though the blond was listening to the teen tell him that his friends had played a mean joke on him.

Ryuu shook his head back and forth slowly, as much as he could with the way Fai was still cupping his cheeks to maintain eye contact.

"You didn't know that that you were lacing my product?" He was again back to being sickeningly sweet with his words. Understanding turning to a tight, annoyed smile.

Fai knew what he meant, but this was a carefully choreographed dance and he had to follow the steps.

Ryuu's eyes went wide and his breathing became that much more panicked at the apparent misunderstanding. "No—No I know I fucked up, Fai-sama! I-I didn't know it was rat poison! I thought it was just going to make them sick… not… not kill them."

"Fucked up is putting it tamely, wouldn't you say?" Fai changed to a scolding voice and Ryuu swallowed. "Now now, little Ryuu. This is not the time to be dishonest with me. You say you didn't know it was rat poison?"

"No! No, I swear, you have to believe me!" the teen's voice cracked and more tears slid down his face.

Well, they were at least establishing that there were more parties involved. Some good was coming out of this.

"I would love to believe you, darling… But did you really just grab a random thing off the shelf in some basement and decide to use it to cut a product people suck down into their lungs?" Fai didn't think it was possible for the boy's eyes to get any wider, but they did widen with horror at that suggestion. "Didn't it occur to you that that was a dangerous game to play?"

"No…" Ryuu hardly choked that response out and Fai waited patiently for him to continue. "I—I mean, that's not… that's not what happened."

So, the truth was coming out.

The teens scrunched his eyes closed and Fai gave him another half minute or so to continue before prompting him. "Pray tell. Where did you get it, little one?"

The sweet act did not seem to ease Ryuu much, and he took a few deep breaths before opening his eyes and doing his best to look anywhere but at Fai.

"My dear, I am a very very patient man—but let me assure you—you will not like what I do to you if you test me. Tik tok." Fai could guarantee that he could think of more creative and painful ways to punish him if he wanted to play games.

Ryuu was lucky that Fai hadn't had Seishiro and Fuuma question him. There wouldn't be enough of him left for Fai to make an example out of, and it would be more painful by far. Granted, he was not offering the teen a quick and easy death by any means, but he would go much more quickly than the days it took Seishiro to sate his sadistic side.

Nearly a minute passed, and Fai was about to open his mouth again when Ryuu finally looked into his eyes again. "They told me it was just going to make him sick… to—to send you a message… I swear I didn't know he was going to die."

"Ah—see, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" The smile was back again and Ryuu relaxed a bit.

Fai didn't want him to get too comfortable—but he wanted the people watching to think that Fai might just offer him mercy for the truth. "—Now—who is 'they', Sweetie?"

This answer didn't come any more quickly and it was another waiting game. Rather than another threat, Fai offered the teen a simple reassurance as he wiped at his tears again. "It's ok to tell me. I will handle them, so you don't need to worry about snitching… You can always tell mommy dear when people are trying to bully you, love."

"But—"

"Hush now. If they were really that big and strong, they wouldn't be using a sweet kitten as their proxy. I am bigger, bader and scarier than them and I can assure you—" Fai tilted his head slightly to the side and watched his words sink in. "—They won't get a chance to touch a hair on that pretty little head of yours."

By the time Fai was done with him and Fuuma had cleaned up the mess? There wouldn't be any hair, or a head for them to touch. Ryuu was going out the same way as their john doe had last night.

Fai had not been kidding when he told his assistant he was going to do the exact same thing to him.

Ryuu's look turned pleading and Fai sighed and nodded in understanding. "This is awfully scary, hm?"
The blond dropped one of his hands back down to his side and tucked it into the pocket of his slacks. "But if you don't tell me—I'll have to get the information out of you in a more creative way and I really don't want to do that…"

The teen's breath hitched, and Fai shrugged. "—So, I'll give you one more chance. I'll even let you whisper it in my ear so it's our little secret. How does that sound, honey?"

Ryuu nodded his head just a fraction—the terror was wafting off of him in waves and Fai had to mentally take a step back now so he could finish this job. Leaning in, he caught the barely audible name and he couldn't say he was surprised.

So, Kyle Rhondart was at least a step above Ryuu—and Fai had never taken him as a leader—which meant that Reed really was the one pulling the strings, here.

Wonderful.

Leaning back on his heel, Fai didn't bother to smile—he had gotten what he needed. "That's the only name you have?"

"Y—Yes." Ryuu looked back down at the floor and Fai nodded in understanding before taking a deep breath.

"You know I have to punish you, right?" The teen shivered but nodded. Fai leaned in one last time and kissed Ryuu's forehead before taking a full step back and holding out his hand. "C'mon. Follow me."

Fai got his first good look at everyone's expression.

Damn. He had pulled it off.

There was no way any of them would see this coming… Even Seishiro, Fuuma, and Kusanagi looked as though they were buying the 'merciful leader' act. Fai was not brave enough to see if his play acting had convinced Syaoran that he had changed his mind about his friend's fate.

Ryuu took his hand and Fai led him to the center of the room and over to the table. Dropping his hand, he snagged the baggie and he could hear people gasp as he dumped the remaining contents of the bag out onto the table and snagged his wallet out of his back pocket.

Fai made a mental note not to use his visa for cutting his own lines until it had been thoroughly washed—and formed up the tainted powder into 3 neat lines. He didn't know if he would get through them before the first one started kicking in, but it would be interesting to see.

"F—Fai-sama?" Ryuu's voice shook as he watched Fai snag a bill next and twirl it up into a makeshift straw before handing it over with a motivating smile.

"If you would accept your punishment like a good boy, please." What little bit of color there had been washed from the teen's face and murmurs broke out across the room.

Whispers of people asking their neighbors if Fai was serious—if he would really make the kid snort rat poison in front of them—didn't he just say he was going to protect Ryuu?

"Fai-sama, please!" Ryuu was looking around frantically again. No one was coming to save him. He might as well just get it over with. "You can't do this! Please!"

"Oh— I'm sorry. You must be confused. Did you think you had a choice in the matter?" Fai leaned against the table and gave Ryuu a serious look—all warmth falling away from his posture and expression.

The teen stared at him for a long moment—his breathing getting faster and faster as the reality of the situation began to set in. "But—"

"Hm—" Fai hummed, cutting him off with a harsh glare. "You don't think I am being fair?"

"You—you said you—you would protect me…" Ryuu was sobbing now and while Fai's heart was breaking, he kept his face firm as he crossed his arms like a disappointed parent.

"I did. I won't let the people you betrayed me with touch you. You're all mine, darling." Ryuu took a step back—then two—on the third he backed right up into Fuuma. The pleasant smile his enforcer flashed down at him only proved to escalate the panic and Fai was surprised Ryuu was still on his feet, given how terribly he was shaking.

There was nowhere for him to go—even if he did make a run for it, he was the traitor in a room full of wolves.

"Please…" Hopelessness was starting to bleed into his tone and Fai knew that he had to up the ante a bit.

Sure, he could have Fuuma or one of his other enforcers hold him down and force him. That might be what most of the onlookers were expecting to happen. After all—even if someone held a gun to your head—surely, getting shot was better than snorting poison, right?

Fai was pretty confident that he could get Ryuu to do it all on his own, though—using the same tool that had always been his greatest weapon.

Fear.

That look of pure fear in his eyes—the fear that he would rather poison himself than see what else Fai had in store for him—that is what was going to ensure his control over every person in the room.

Even if there were more people involved in this little scheme Rhondart had cooking up—would they be dumb enough to continue?

Well, you couldn't say that Fai hadn't warned them.

"Need a little encouragement, my dear?" Fai stood. He was almost sure that Ryuu was going to pass out if he didn't slow his breathing down.

He looked absolutely pathetic—face flushed beet red with tears and snot dripping from his cheeks and chin as he hunched in on himself—refusing to meet his boss's piercing blue stare.

That was fine—he didn't need to look at Fai for him to push him closer to that edge.

"Since you shared your secret with me—" Fai took a few strides forward and closed the distance between him. "I'll share something with you."

The blond leaned forward and cupped a hand to the teens ear in a smooth sweep. He paused for a moment to let the tension build while Ryuu held his breath. When he was sure that he had the boy's full attention, he mustered up the coldest voice he could manage and spoke just loud enough for him to hear.

"Now, I know you think I'm being unfair… But let me let you in on a little trade secret. I know you've noticed that the police look the other way when it comes to our operations… ever wondered why?"

Fai paused for a second to give him a chance to answer if he felt the need—when he was met with silence, he curled his lips into a smile and continued. "—that's because of very strict policies. They learned years ago what happens when they try to plant a rat in my ranks… they get sent back in a body bag, or, if my enforcers get a little too… excited.. they either don't come back at all or, if the boys get really excited, they come back in many small bags."

Fai glanced up at Fuuma who had a firm hand on Ryuu's shoulder and practically purred— "Of course… those are outsiders… I know you haven't been around enough years… but you should have seen what they did to the last silly kitten that betrayed me."

Fai leaned back and looked down his nose at the teen. "So—you have two choices. Accept my mercy and enjoy the little concoction you created… or I will turn you over to Fuuma and Seishiro and they can do as they please… My way might not be the quickest death, but trust me—after the first day with those two, you're going to be begging whatever gods you pray to to end it."

Ryuu didn't move, at first. Fai stepped back far enough to give him some breathing room and he could practically watch the thoughts racing in the poor boy's head. Then, he looked across the room at Seishiro—Fai assumed he was wearing the same cold face as usual but didn't follow his gaze to confirm. After another moment, he turned to glance over his shoulder at Fuuma, who has still grinning like a cat.

Finally, he accepted the rolled up bill from Fai and the blond stepped aside to give him better access.

"'Atta boy—you know how it's done."

Fai felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as Ryuu bent down over the table. A quick glance around the room showed him a mixture of pure shock and fear—and he made the mistake of looking towards Syaoran and Kusanagi.

His assistant was no longer watching—instead, he had his face hidden in the enforcer's shirt and was shaking like a leaf as Kusanagi held him in place.

Fai should have made him go home…

The distinct sounds of Ryuu snorting the line snapped Fai's attention back to the task at hand and he was not at all surprised that he ended up coughing violently as the powder hit the back of his throat.

Fai would assume that rat poison would burn like a bitch—though he was fine without knowing for sure. He let him cough for a moment and as soon as he started catching his breath, Fai tapped the table with his index finger next to the other lines. "C'mon—finish up."

Rat poison was basically a heavy-duty anticoagulant—which would take time to kick into effect—not much, given the dose, so he needed to finish before he dropped. "It'll be your quickest death. You don't want to linger now, do you?"

Ryuu switched sides for the next line and it was followed by more violent coughing and Fai did not miss the speckles of blood that coated his palm when he pulled his hand away from his mouth.

About the equivalent of one of the lines Fai had cut for Ryuu was more than enough to kill the poor bastard at Akai Heya—his reasoning behind having him finish off the bag was as much to make a statement to his people that Fai was not to be fucked with as to speed up the process.

"Trust me… you are going to want the third."

Ryuu took his advice and Fai took another moment to look about the room. From the looks on his people's faces, he had indeed made his point. They got that they were not supposed to fuck with him—they would probably never forget.

That was probably for the best, because Fai didn't have much more of the soulless crazy act left in him. Ryuu's coughing became violent and though he had planned to wait until he went down, Fai stepped forward and gripped the teens shoulders to help support him as he took a step back from the table.

"I'm sorry." Fai spoke softly as he felt the teen lean the majority of his weight on him and he helped lower him into a sitting position onto the ground. "If you had just come to me first… I wouldn't have had to do that."

He ran a soothing hand up and down Ryuu's back and his coughing only became worse—face flushing ever more red as he tried to cover his mouth. Fai ignored the whispers and stares of his employees as he fished out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully pried the boy's hand away from his face and wiped away the blood tenderly.

"It's my hope—" Fai address the crowd, raising the volume of his voice to ensure that he was heard while helping to support Ryuu as more coughs wracked his body. "—that you all learn from Ryuu's mistake. I haven't had to punish someone in a very long time and believe it or not… This is not my favorite way to spend an evening…"

Ryuu was now gasping between coughs and all Fai could do was run a hand up and down his back as he held him steady as spasms washed over him—settling on the floor next to him and allowing the boy to lean against his chest when he could no longer support himself.

"I'm a fan of positive reinforcement—not this. This is painful—and messy. Especially because I know Ryuu is well liked by many of you." It was surprisingly difficult to concentrate and speak over the sound of the poor thing gasping, but what could he do?

"The next time someone gets the bright idea to lace my product with rat poison—or any other kind of poison, for that matter, please remember this… because don't think for a moment that I won't catch you—or punish you accordingly. When our dear Kujaku told me what that coke was laced with—"

Ryuu's spasming got worse Fai had to pause and lower him to the floor as he started seizing. He could already tell the difference between the dose from last night's fuck up and the amount Fai had forced Ryuu to take.

From the time that the OD has been discovered at Akai Heya and his arrival at the scene, almost an hour had passed and the poor bastard had continued to linger on for quite some time after he had shown up.

"—well, I cringed. Then he explained exactly what had happened to the Akai Heya client and I knew this was going to be hard to watch. You all need to see this and understand—" Fai wiped the blood that was running down the corner of Ryuu's mouth away as he continued. "— and remember this, next time you get the idea to cross me."

These sporadic seizures were especially hard for him to watch and Fai found himself reacting out of instinct. The suit coat came off and was folded to keep the teen's head from crashing against the floor—and he had Kujaku move the table back to give them more room. "—and if you're going to do it, maybe try and pick something a little less painful and… well, bloody?"

Fai was interrupted by a pained, gurgling groan from Ryuu. The convulsions had settled mostly for now, and the blond smoothed a hand over the boys now sweat drenched hair. "I know. It will be over soon, little one. Just get through the next minute, ok?"

It would take a hell of a lot longer than that, but Ryuu didn't need to know that.

Fai wiped more blood from Ryuu's face and refocused on his people—avoiding the sight of Syaoran entirely. "Dear girls and boys, we've reached the point where his lungs are starting to slowly fill with blood—since rat poison is a concentrated blood thinner, he's bleeding out inside of his body."

Another round of convulsions started and Fai waited them out before offering more comfort. "There you go. Just get through the next minute, now—I promise it will stop hurting soon, sweetie." Ryuu's head lulled to the side, a mixture of blood and drool sputtering out of his mouth while he struggled through gurgling coughs.

"Of course, if he's lucky, he might pass from a heart attack caused by the immense stress—or the bleeding in his skull might put enough pressure on his brain to either kill him or make it so he at least can't feel himself slowly suffocating…"

Given the very pained sounded noises coming from the teen? Fai was willing to bet he was not so lucky.

He would probably go very closely to how their customer had—hopefully a little faster, but he would likely choke and cough until he couldn't anymore, then slowly suffocate. Fai hoped he would lose consciousness soon.

The point had been made and while he couldn't put the poor thing out of his misery in front of the group—he could have Fuuma do it in private.

A heavy silence fell over the room as they all watched. Fai stayed by Ryuu's side until he finally lost consciousness—running a hand through his hair and coaching him to do his best to relax and not fight against the muscles spasming—offering reassurance that it was all going to be over soon.

—and it was.

Not as soon as any of them would have liked, but when the teen was finally still and his eyes finally closed, Fai was as ready as the rest of them to be done with this. The weight of his actions had not hit him yet and he didn't want to be surrounded by accusing eyes when it finally did.

Carefully, he scooped Ryuu up into his harms and got to his feet—one arm hooked under his bent knees, the other wrapped around his torso below his shoulders. He didn't care that he got blood, spittle and snot on his shirt—and Fuuma didn't protest about the mess, either, when Fai carefully passed him over.

He waited until Fuuma had made it to the back before bending over to pick up his suit coat from the floor and draped it over his arm. Fai finally turned his focus to Syaoran. He had taken a step away from Kusanagi and was now watching after the door that Fuuma had gone through.

Kusanagi had the sense to keep him as far away from what was about to go down as possible—So the blond felt comfortable wrapping things up and sending everyone on their way. They were getting closer and closer to opening time and he needed to get Ryuu's mess cleaned up and the body situation handled.

Fai cleared his throat and was about to run a hand through his hair before he noticed the erroneous blood and drool on his fingers and couldn't help but grimace. Fai was not a squeamish person—but he started to feel his heart race as he remembered that he would have to go and meet Yuuko soon.

There wasn't time for a shower—he could wash up in the restroom and change, but he wasn't going to be able to get clean until he got home tonight.

Why that of all things was triggering his anxiety, Fai didn't know, but he felt his skin crawl at the thought.

"Ok, kids… New metal scars aside—Don't do anything stupid and force me to punish you. If you know more about who put Ryuu up to this—or if someone tries or already tried to convince you to do something as dumb as lacing my product—just tell me, alright?" Fai sighed as he headed towards the door that led to the offices.

Seishiro followed on his heel, as he expected—as did Syaoran and Kusanagi. It took him three tries to get the code right due to how shaky his hands were.

Fai had to take a deep breath and consciously slow himself down so that he didn't speed walk up the hallway. He closed the door behind himself before anyone had a chance to follow him in—and that was a clear enough message that he needed a moment alone.

He HATED this part of his job—but it wasn't the first time things had gotten 'messy' and it wouldn't be the last. He had everything he needed here at the office to get presentable again—and he could send the bloodied clothing with Fuuma to be disposed of.

First thing first, though—he needed to wash up as best as he could.

Fai locked the door to the bathroom and wasted no time in heading over to the sink and hitting the hot water. He felt like there wasn't enough hand soap in the world to help him feel clean at the moment—but that didn't stop him from trying.

He probably went through 3/4ths of the soap in the dispenser during his wash, rinse, repeat routine and it did not do much to quell his racing heart. But it did give him something to focus on aside from Ryuu. It had just been business—he had had no choice.

Fai would have to go check on Syaoran after this—he would probably have to give him a few weeks off work to process and grieve—as far as he was aware, his assistant had never lost anyone close to him. The first time was never easy—especially if you had to watch it happen…

No—he would assign Kusanagi to keep an eye on him and Fai would just have to make do without an assistant until the poor thing was having an easier time. The entire time Syaoran had been working for him, he had done a pretty decent job of keeping him away from the uglier side of things and between last night and today—well, the poor kid had been through too much.

Maybe it would be best for him if Fai moved him to the cafe until things had settled on this side of things…

Fai only shut the steaming water off after his hands were bright red for the repeated scrubbing and dried them quickly with paper towels. With the way his heart was still racing, it probably wouldn't be wise to top up—but he desperately wanted his control back.

He was digging his coke out of his suit coat and was reaching for his wallet before he remembered that he should be careful not to accidentally take himself out the same way he had just taken out Ryuu.

More hot water.

More soap.

More scrubbing.

The soap dispenser was much closer to empty by the time he deemed his visa clean enough and Fai was racking up neat lines and twirling up a clean bill when his phone vibrated in his pocket—he ignored it to get what he needed.

It helped and it didn't. The act itself had been calming—but if he pushed his pulse rate much further, he could very well overdose. Coke only did so much for your mindset before it started having the opposite effect. Panic and paranoia were not going to help at all.

He had enough of that on his own without any help, after all.

As he leaned against the sink and checked his phone, he sighed as he saw a missed call from an unfortunately familiar number.

Fai had half of the higher ups in the Tokyo police department under his thumb and either someone on his payroll there was reaching out to warn him—or they were calling him about the missing boy. They were only a few hours away from the 24-hour-mark—so it was probably someone letting him know that he should expect company.

Which was fine—he had people coming after hours to clear out the entire building—he was going to have to send Hinoto the job assignments for her crew before he called it a night—but he had a few crises to deal with before he had time for that.

If push came to shove, he would just pay them like usual, even if they didn't come in. He was that over the entire situation, at the moment.

Fai opened up the voicemail and listened to it carefully. Twice. He had guessed correctly—they were going to be by to look around tonight, which meant that he was going to have to finish up with Yuuko and be back at Akai Heya before they arrived. He had already accounted for the fact that he was going to have to swing by there later, but the time limit on the task only added additional weight on his shoulders.

Since all his key players had been at the meeting, his emails and text messages were extremely light and he responded to them quickly as he waited for the burning in his eyes and the tightness in his throat to lessen before he finally popped the lock and opened the bathroom door.

Why was he not surprised to see Seishiro there…?

Fai had not missed the way his head enforcer had been watching him during his speech and he knew, given the way he had been followed back into the office area, that Seishiro had an issue.

Fai had no clue what he wanted. He wasn't so sure he had ever seen Seishiro look at him like this before—he just was sure that he didn't want to be left alone with him. The blond knew he wasn't angry—that wasn't his deal, for sure… Amused? Surprised? Annoyed?

He was usually pretty good at reading the near emotionless man, but he honestly had no idea what to expect. Which for Fai was especially nerve wracking. He knew just how loose of a cannon he could be when his mood became unstable.

"Sorry, did you need to use the restroom?" Fai tugged on a brilliant smile as he stepped aside, excusing himself.

He was not about to show how unnerved he was.

That would only encourage Seishiro.

"No. I was waiting for you." Seishiro took his glasses off and tucked them into the breast pocket of his shirt.

Perfect. Because Seishiro totally didn't only take his glasses off when he was gonna pull some shit. Not shady at all.

"Can I help you with anything, then?" Fai slipped past him and headed towards the hallway. He wasn't in the mood to deal with games. He needed to get presentable and on his way, here, pretty soon.

Seishiro followed on his heel and Fai was not thrilled to have him that close—especially not behind him—not with the strange way he was acting. He should probably go find Subaru. When his head enforcer listened to anyone, it was his lover.

Sure, he was probably being paranoid—his nerves were shot and that last hit was kicking in a little too well.

"You didn't tell me you were going to do that." Seishiro followed him all the way to his office door and his heart rate really spiked when he typed the code in wrong on his first go—there had not been much room between them and by the time his shaking fingers managed to re-type the correct code and the lock popped—his head enforcer was so close that he could feel his breath ghosting across the nape of his neck.

While still trying to maintain calm, fluid movements, Fai reached for the handle and just barely got the door open before he felt a large, warm hand over his own and the wooden door was jerked back towards his face, slamming closed.

If he hadn't been on edge already, he sure as hell would be after the heavy wooden door almost smacked him in the face as well as the loud crack of the wood hitting the metal frame. Fai closed his eyes and counted back from three while taking a deep breath before answering.

"I thought you would have enjoyed the surprise." This was not the first time he had found himself in this situation with Seishiro—and it surely wouldn't be the last.

He had a thing for cornering people and the best thing to do was to ignore it.

Easier said than done when you were on the verge of a breakdown.

"It was an exquisite pleasure watching you twist all of them around your finger... me included." Fai was not expecting Seishiro to touch him—that wasn't usually his thing and it took all of the blond's self control not to flinch when he felt a hand grip his hip firmly.

"You and Fuuma are the only ones who got any enjoyment out of that." Fai didn't dare move. He kept his tone emotionless and didn't react as the fingers on his hip pressed against the skin there with bruising pressure. "Is that all you needed?"

"Yes and no." Fai involuntarily shivered as hot breath puffed against the back of his neck, Seishiro's lips just barely ghosting against the skin there as he answered.

This was not a good spot to be in, and there was little Fai could do—he had to wait it out until his enforcer lost interest. Seishiro got bored quickly when you didn't play along—he just had to stay calm and play it cool.

"I have to get changed and be on my way. So, if you wouldn't mind~" Fai honestly thought he was in the clear when Seishiro pulled his hand back away from the doorknob and he was about to reach for it again when Fai felt a hand ghost over the blood stains on the front of his shirt.

Seishiro traced the damp fabric and Fai's instant reaction was to lean back and away from the unwanted attention, causing him to press flush against the taller man.

Which was exactly what Seishiro was trying to get him to do.

The hand on his hip stopped him from leaning forward again and Fai took measured breaths as the man's other hand ran up from the blood stains—up his chest—then finally to trace over the fabric of his shirt collar.

"I'm not done with you." Seishiro whispered directly into his ear this time, and Fai was very aware of just how vulnerable he was in this situation.

Fai didn't answer.

He knew better than to react and did not protest when the taller man used his toes to kick Fai's legs slightly apart and slipped his thigh between them. Apparently, he had put on a hell of a show, because he could feel just how excited Seishiro was over the act.

Fai took a few more slow, measured breaths and Seishiro moved his fingers even higher to grip the blond's throat.

This was bad.

"It was hot…" the taller man kept his fingers there for a moment—applying the slightest bit of pressure. "That twisted little show of yours gave me quite an itch."

The hand that was around his neck dropped down to grip his other hip and Fai still stayed silent. He was not in a good place to deal with an over excited Seishiro at the moment and this was escalating far too quickly—and there were very few people in the building that would be able to help.

"Let. Go." Fai flinched at the anger that saturated his tone. Seishiro chuckled and used his death grip to push the blond against the door—bringing his leg up higher as he did so. On bodily reflex, Fai just barely managed to bring his hands up and keep his face from slamming into the door. It gave him a bit more room to himself but he still felt cornered.

This was bad.

"No." The taller man leaned forward and Fai hadn't felt this trapped in—well, a while. Between the hands holding his waist close to the taller man's and the way Seishiro was using his weight to press Fai against the wooden door, he was hardly keeping the calm act together.

The terrifying thing was that if his head enforcer wanted to take this further—Fai could do very little to stop him. As soon as he tried to run or fight, he might as well kiss his ass goodbye, literally—there was little in life that Seishiro enjoyed more than a good hunt and he was already far too worked up for Fai to have any semblance of control over his behavior.

He had to continue to hold his ground.

"It's been years—" Seishiro used his left hand to slide up Fai's stomach to again trace over the blood stains on his shirt as he hummed low in the blond's ear. "—since I've seen this side of you…"

Well—that was because Fai got no enjoyment out of that sort of thing.

It definitely didn't make him horny and the way the taller man had him pinned and was pressing his very obvious erection against the blond's ass—Fai's breathing was starting to quicken right along with his heart rate.

"I'm not in the mood, Seishiro. Back the fuck up."

He didn't.

Seishiro chuckled again and bit the nape of his neck—teeth scraping across his neck just above the collar of his shirt, tickling the baby hairs at the back of his neck, the dampness of the taller man's mouth leaving goosebumps on his skin.

Fai was hardly keeping the panic at bay, now. He hated feeling trapped—Seishiro had pushed him before, but never this far—and Fai didn't know what to do when holding his ground didn't work.

He knew he couldn't run.

He couldn't fight.

Was he supposed to just take it?

"Where did all that bravado of yours go, hm?" The hand that had been tracing the pattern of blood that had caked the front of Fai's shirt slid lower.

And Fai lost it. His forehead fell against the door and he barely had the sense to swallow the whine that was trying to work its way out of his throat, but his entire body started to tremble as warm fingers traced along his waistband.

Fai repeated that he just had to hold his ground over and over to himself. If he didn't react, Seishiro ought to get bored—he just had to hold his ground.

His resolve broke when fingers dipped below his waist band—his breathing was coming out in little puffs and Fai was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack when he heard the door that separated the offices swing open.

He must have looked all but awful because the look Subaru and Kamui gave him, one might think that they had just walked in on—well…

Actually, that was an appropriate reaction, given the circumstances.

Subaru was quick to react and Fai had no idea what kind of magic he worked, but before his racing thoughts could slow enough to process his surroundings—Subaru was standing besides he and Seishiro, whispering something in the taller man's ear and giving him a serious look.

Then, he was gone. It was just Fai and his two managers left in the hallway as he struggled to get himself back in control.

A gentle hand on his shoulder helped him step back from the door and Fai locked eyes with Kamui for a moment before the younger man broke eye contact to look him over for injuries.

He wasn't hurt—he would probably have bruises from the tight grip on his hips—but Fai was already rocking bruises there from the amazing sex the last few days…

"I'll get you water…" Kamui headed down the hall towards the break room and Subaru took his place—offering an apologetic smile.

He didn't say anything, just silently followed Fai after the blond punched in the key code to his door and fled into his office to get a moment of peace. The silence persisted as he sat down in his chair and rested his head down onto his folded arms and focused on breathing.

He heard Subaru open the door for Kamui after there was a soft knock and Fai sat up to accept the bottle of water from his 1st floor manager. His hands were shaking almost violently—but he managed to get the damn thing open and took a few sips before setting it aside.

5 years ago, he probably could have taken this all in stride and be onto the next problem—this was frustrating.

The few minutes of quiet and the water helped him feel a little less like his heart was about to beat out of his chest and Fai finally cleared his throat. "Thanks for jumping in. I'm a little overwhelmed."

"Understandable." Subaru, who was sitting in one of the leather chairs on the far side of the wooden desk, offered him a sympathetic smile but didn't look up from his hands. "Are you done for the night, by any chance?"

"No. I have a meeting with my attorney to jet to, I'll have to swing past Akai Heya and then finish a few other things. Keeping busy usually calms me down, though, so it will be fine." It would distract him until it came time to go home, at least.

He would have to get creative to keep himself calm, then, and he was not about to call Kurogane for drinks again. Not only could he not deal with a hangover three days in a row—but running to a police officer hours after he had committed murder was not the best idea.

Even if he did give the best hugs.

"I'll help you get ready to go… I think Kamui needed you for something really quick, but we can figure it out, right?" Subaru turned to look at his brother who had taken to leaning against the door.

Kamui shot Fai a serious look and sighed. "We can if you're too busy. Fuuma asked me to come and tell you that Ryuu is lingering. He needs a good hour to get him ready for… disposal… and he wanted to know how he should handle it."

Oh.

Well, shit.

No, that was pretty important, they were going to have people showing up for the night pretty soon and while Fai delegated a lot of responsibilities to Subaru and Kamui—they were not really trained in how to deal with this sort of thing.

"No. I'll handle it. Subaru, will you wait here for me?" Fai had to deal with Ryuu and Fuuma—but he did not want to try and get Subaru away from Seishiro later, given the mood he had been in...

Thankfully, Subaru didn't have any issues with that and Fai shut him away safely in his office and away from his overexcited lover before following Kamui to the back storeroom where Fuuma had already gotten set up.

They were not exaggerating—poor thing was still holding on and the sound of his gurgling gasps was something Fai would never be able to unhear.

Note to self—never kill someone with an anticoagulant again because the sound of them suffocating on their own blood was terrible. It was not as bad as it could be, of course… though the seriousness of the situation was somewhat ruined when Fai picked up on the distinct sound of the angry birds theme song playing.

Fuuma was leaning against the far wall, already suited up in plastic from head to toe, complete with gloves, mask, and booties for his feet to keep the mess of clean up from getting on him. Apparently, while he waited for Ryuu to hurry up and finish suffocating—he had found the down time fitting to enjoy a quick game.

Leave it to Fuuma to get Fai to crack a smile even at his current level of stress.

Kamui was far less amused and stomped across the room only to stop a few feet away and glare up at his lover quietly. Fuuma didn't acknowledge him and continued staring at his phone—the barest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Fai knelt down next to Ryuu and ran his fingers through the boys sweat soaked hair as he watched how the annoyance practically wafted off of Kamui at being ignored. They did not hit the two-minute mark before he lost his cool and crossed his arms over his chest. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

"Trying to get past my stuck part." Fuuma only glanced up for a second.

There was no doubt in Fai's mind that Fuuma knew exactly what he was doing. Unlike Seishiro, his younger brother had a goofy playful side that served to make his inner serial killer all the more terrifying when it came out.

"Ryuu is fucking dying over there on the floor. You don't think you could at least turn the fucking sound off?" Kamui reached out to snatch the smart phone away but Fuuma was faster and held the device above his head and out of reach of the younger man.

That alone would have been funny enough but Fuuma did not take his eyes off the screen and continued to play—both arms raised above his head as he continued to flat out ignore Kamui.

"Asshole!" Fai was sure that Kamui was going to jump for it—but his manger opted instead for kicking at his lovers shin childishly—Fuuma side stepping that as though he had been expecting it.

"Such a prickly little kitten today." Fuuma swiped with his finger across the screen and Fai sighed and focused his attention down to Ryuu.

While their bickering was usually amusing to him—they had a situation they needed to deal with. His attention quickly snapped back when he heard Fuuma grunt, and he glanced up to find Kamui holding the phone and Fai wasn't so sure he wanted to know how the younger man had gotten a hold of it.

Keep away with Fuuma was not an easy game to win. "I'm not a fucking kitten and you know I can't stand this noise." His manager quickly muted the phone before handing it back and Fuuma frowned and accepted it.

"Not denying the 'prickly', love?" He leaned back against the wall and went back to his game and Fai didn't get to see Kamui's reaction—but he heard the younger man growl in annoyance.

Fai got to his feet and snagged one of the plastic tarps from a bin that was part of the cleaning crew's supplies and went back to kneel down at Ryuu's side. The poor thing had been through enough—it was time to put him out of his misery and get on with the night.

"I'm not prickly, either—you're just obnoxious. How would you feel if you were trying to die and the fucker who is two minutes away from cutting you up is playing the most annoying game on the planet while he waits?"

Kamui had a point. Fai would probably find that pretty annoying.

"Well, if I was him—I would be thankful that the person waited till I was actually dead before he started hacking me up. He can play whatever game he wants so long as I'm dead when he goes to town." Fuuma also had a good point in Fai's eyes, but this entire situation was fucked.

Fai was ignored as he laid the tarp out on the floor next to Ryuu and he quietly lifted the boy up and settled him down again into the center of the plastic—still not earning the bickering couple's attention.

"Yeah, well, some people actually give a shit. Of course, you wouldn't—I bet if Fai-sama would murder you himself for not wearing that monkey suit, you would probably enjoy getting disgustingly messy while you work, you sicko." Fai smoothed Ryuus hair back one more time before pulling the small Weihrauch HW 22 out that he had tucked away earlier and whispered a quite apology before pressing the revolver's muzzle to the center of his forehead. The back of the head, at the base of the skull, would be best—but Ryuu was trembling too badly and this would minimize the splatter.

"Babe, I told you I was sorry. I didn't mean to get the acid on my shoes, but it's a messy job. Spills hap—"

Fai pulled the trigger and Kamui and Fuuma finally shut up. Their heads snapped towards him and they watched Fai with wide eyes as he used his sleeve to wipe at the blood that had splattered up against his face.

It would have been smart to grab some of the disposable plastic coveralls…

Fuck.

There was a long moment of silence and Fuuma finally shrugged and stepped forward—holding out a hand to help Fai to his feet. "Duty calls, I guess."

"Get him gone in the next hour, if at all possible." Fai accepted—his ears were ringing and that overwhelming panicked feeling was back.

"Can do, boss. You ok there?" Fuuma didn't let go of Fai right away and it was hard not to tug his hand away and instead offer a reassuring smile.

"I've got a busy night ahead of me, so keep me posted, ok?" Fai was very much not ok, but he was not going to admit that to him at the moment.

Fuuma wasn't as bad as Seishiro—but that didn't mean he was going to show the man any weakness.

"Sure thing. Kamui will help ya get cleaned up, alright?" No—Fai would send him away once he was back in his office, but he didn't want to deal with a debate.

"I have my phone on me." With that, Fai turned on his heel and marched out of the backroom.

He was sure to keep his expression emotionless as he strode back through the main room—anyone who had stuck around had surely heard the distinct sound of a gunshot—and all eyes were on their boss as he strutted back to the offices without so much as batting an eyelash.

It helped play up the image he was trying to project—fear was what he needed from them, currently.

Kamui punched in the code to get back into the offices, much to the blond's relief. He picked up on the fact that Fai did not want to be followed. He simply held the door open and offered a reassuring pat on the shoulder before his 1st floor manager disappeared into his own office, closing the door behind himself.

Fai did not spare a moment before heading into his own. He almost paused when he caught the distinct sound of his assistant crying down in the break room—but seeing Fai even more bloodied than before wasn't going to help him.

He needed to get cleaned up and be on his way… but before he left, he needed to hand off orders to Kusanagi.

Fai got the code on his door on the first try and almost slammed it shut behind him once he was safely inside again. Subaru looked up from his phone and frowned hard at him—eyes focusing on his bloodied face and the splatter pattern that stood out in stark contrast against the white fabric of his dress shirt.

Subaru wasn't silent for long but stood from his seat and made his way over to one of the cabinets. "I hope you don't mind, but I sent Seishiro out to see if he could get a lead on where Rhondart might be hiding… He needs to work out some of that energy."

"I appreciate that." Fai watched him pull one of the suits that were hanging in plastic out of the cabinet—holding it out and inspecting it with a critical eye before draping it over his arm and looking through the ties he had hanging.

Fai didn't keep much at the office—just enough to make sure he could be decent for nights like tonight.

"I haven't seen him like that in a while… hopefully, Fuuma is a little more together?" Subaru kept his tone conversational and after selecting a tie, he closed the cabinet and walked slowly back towards the desk.

Fuuma was just as excited—but he got to take his 'frustration' out on the body.

"He's keeping busy." Fai again had to stop himself before he ran a hand through his hair.

He was just about desperate for a shower at this point.

"Good. What time is your meeting?" the 2nd floor manager draped the clothing over the back of the office chair and grabbed a package that had not been there when Fai had left. "It's with Miss Yuuko, right?"

Fai nodded slowly and watched Subaru tear the package open and pull out a baby wipe. It was no shower—but it was better than nothing, he supposed.

"Yes. We're meeting at 9 over at Garasu-ka." Which seemed like plenty of time—but there was so much that needed to be done. Fai reached out to grab the wipe from his manager only to have Subaru grab his hand and start to clean the gore away.

"A lot to do beforehand?" Fai nodded slowly but didn't pull away.

He and Subaru had always been close—after Yuui's death, he had seriously distanced himself personally from him—but Subaru always knew when he was unsettled and usually helped to calm him down.

He had an uncanny ability to read people and somehow had always been able to see through all of Fai's masks and shields.

Usually, it bothered him—made him feel exposed—but times like now, it was nice. There was no point in playing brave around Subaru. All he had to do was get a good look at his boss to know where his head was at.

"I need to make sure Syaoran is ok—I know that was hard on him." Fai had picked up on the fact that Subaru had been watching his assistant more than the 'show.' There was no way the boy's distress had slipped his notice.

Subaru nodded and turned the blond's palm over in his hand and started wiping the back of his hand as well before dropping it and reaching for the other.

"He needs time off to process." Fai agreed—he was too afraid to just send the boy home. He would have to have someone keep a close eye on him. Not that he thought Syaoran would ever betray them—but he was taking this even harder than Fai had assumed he would.

He should have sent him home.

"I know. I think I might reassign him for a few months." Perhaps permanently, if he really couldn't handle this line of work.

"Good call… You should take it easy for a while, too. It's been a bit since you've had such an intense night." Subaru finished with his other hand and tossed the wipe in the waste bin before pulling another one out of the package.

"I had to… you know that, right?" Fai really hated having to pull a move like that. The rat poison had made a hell of a statement, sure—but at what cost to his mental state?

A bullet to the back of the head would have been a hell of a lot less traumatizing for everyone.

"Yes. I also know that was hard for you to do." Subaru used an even pressure as he wiped at the smeared blood on Fai's face and the blond closed his eyes and tried to focus on getting his trembling to settle.

It was hard for him to do…

He would have wrapped his arms around his stomach to try and stop it from fluttering and flipping, but his shirt was so dirty—he was itching to strip it off and get into something dry—almost as much as he wanted the hot blood off of his skin.

Subaru took his time cleaning off his cheeks, forehead and neck and Fai was extremely grateful for how thorough he was being. If he had had to do this himself, he would be stuck in front of the mirror for hours scrubbing—that was usually how it went, though.

The fact that he had to be in a meeting soon was the only thing saving him from scrubbing his face, neck and hands raw.

The long silence finally ended when Subaru finished up wiping away the majority of the blood and swatted Fai's hands away when he tried to reach for his tie to loosen it. His manager took care of that for him. "Let me. You just need to keep breathing."

"I wasn't aware that I had stopped." Fai didn't manage a smile, but that comment earned him one.

The tie came loose and Subaru tossed it right into the trash bin along with the used baby wipes. Good call—they would send them with Fuuma to be properly disposed of.

"You have a hard job, you know. You spend all day and night worrying about your people—let me help you." he spoke quietly—eyes soft as he started to work the buttons free.

Subaru did his own share of worrying—but Fai appreciated the sentiment.

"Hm, first Kuro-chan and now you… everyone is in the mood to spoil me, it seems." Fai didn't realize what he was saying until it had already left his mouth.

It didn't escape his manager's notice—but Subaru didn't react right away. He nodded slowly and continued to work the buttons free until he had gotten the last one loose. Carefully, he helped Fai ease out of the shirt without getting too much gore on his actual skin—and the shirt joined the tie in the wastebasket.

It wasn't until Subaru was wiping away the crimson liquid that had seeped through the thin fabric of his shirt that he spoke. "Kuro-chan is the one who left all of these marks, then?"

Oh—right, he had almost forgotten about the love bites. There was no judgement from Subaru on that front—not given the very claimed state that Seishiro kept him in.

This was nothing in comparison.

Fai liked it a little rough—but Seishiro could be downright sadistic in bed and Subaru was into it—those two had been together since Fai and Subaru's highschool days and for whatever reason, they worked.

"Hm… he's been spoiling me rotten. Shame he plays for the wrong team." Green eyes glanced up at him before refocusing.

"He is very handsome." Had Subaru met him last night? Fai couldn't remember… "—what's he like?"

Fai hummed in thought for a moment.

Kuro-chan was… complicated.

"He's very—well he is a very good man. I hope he finds someone who makes him very happy one day." Kuro-chan was far better off without Fai—he and Biggs would be fine officers.

Subaru nodded and motioned vaguely for Fai to finish undressing while he turned to grab the fresh clothing. "He did not like the way Sei-chan was testing you yesterday. I thought he was going to jump him for sure."

"To be honest, I have no idea what happened, but I am glad he didn't." Sure—Fai didn't know Kurogane too terribly well yet, but he knew he was one stubborn bastard—probably just as stubborn, if not more stubborn than Seishiro.

"You had it under control as usual. I overheard this morning that you broke things off… I was pretty surprised." pulling the plastic up and over the thick wooden hanger, he draped it over the desk to be taken care of later. "—I haven't seen you smile like that since before the car accident."

Fai felt his breath hitch—Subaru locked eyes with him and Fai had to blink a few times and count back from 10 in his head before answering.

Ouch.

He did not need to hear that tonight.

Both his fathers and now one of his oldest friends had pointed that painful truth out.

"What would you have me do? He's a police officer. I like him a lot, but I can't quit my job for a man I met a little over a week ago—our line of work doesn't work like that." Subaru nodded again, pulled the shirt off of the hanger and started working the buttons free while Fai finished undressing.

"No—but he gave you the look." His manager held the shirt out to him by the shoulders and Fai turned so that he could slip one of his arms inside.

"If it's the look Seishio gives you, then I will pass—I have enough would be serial killers to babysit—I don't need another." Subaru chuckled at that and Fai slid his other arm into the shirt before he pulled it up on his back.

"No… like the way your stepfather looks at your dad." Fai froze and Subaru quirked an eyebrow. He knew he had hit close to home with that one. "I know you know what I mean. I've never seen someone be able to look so… devoted before. That's how Kuro-chan looks at you."

"Well as much as he annoys me sometimes—Taishakuten is good for my father… So, it doesn't matter how Kuro-loo looks at me… It's not even comparable." Kurogane would probably be a good thing for him, sure—but Fai was a VERY bad thing for Kurogane.

Fai might be in the business of murder, drug trafficking, selling skin, bribing politicians and officials—but he was not in the business of breaking hearts and ruining lives if he didn't have to.

Kurogane was better off without him. There were no ifs, ands or buts about that.

"You do remember that Taishakuten broke up your parent's marriage? He fucked your mom to prove to your dad that she was a shitty person, then manipulated him when he was vulnerable to weasel his way into his good graces. That is about as dysfunctional as a couple can get, Fai." Subaru turned back around and grabbed the matching pair of slacks and tossed them over to his boss. He snagged the bloodied pair and they joined the rest of the clothes in the bin.

He wasn't wrong. Fai's family was good at dysfunctionality—it was pretty much their favorite pastime at this point, but Tai was also the one to stick by Ashura after the accident and help hold their little family together.

"Fair point—but if it hadn't been him, Sashi would have screwed someone else and dad would never have known… besides, he is always there. He goes to every appointment and waits on my dad hand and foot. He even deals with me and my shit to keep my dad's stress level down." Taishakuten was an asshat—but he loved deep and hard and was basically a saint.

Fai loved his father with all his heart and soul, but he was not an easy person to live with, that was for sure.

"You don't think Kuro—Fai, what is his actual name?" Subaru sighed and grabbed one of the baby wipes to clean away the splatters of blood that were on the black leather of the belt while Fai pulled on the pants and buttoned them.

"Kurogane."

"—well, you don't think Kurogane would do that for you?" Subaru inspected it closely before handing it over to him as well.

Fai felt his heart flip and he frowned hard as his shaking hands tried to line the end of the belt up with the loop. "Actually—I am almost positive he would… Kuro-sama is a very good man—far too good for me and he deserves someone better."

"You deserve to be happy." Subaru reached out and took the belt from him and got it through the loop on his first go, and rather than making Fai turn—he made a slow loop around his boss.

"You just watched me force a kid to snort rat poison. Sure about that?" Fai got the feeling that Kurogane would have had A LOT to say about that.

He was too good of a person to understand the hard decisions Fai had to make every day here… While they both tried to keep the city safe—Fai did not do it by the book and Kuro-chan liked his rules.

"That was hard to watch—but Ryuu did that to himself. What would happen if you let this rebellion go on, Fai? How many more laced baggies would have made it out to innocent customers?" Subaru left Fai to buckle the belt and grabbed the dirtied suit coat off the floor and started fishing through the pockets, setting the contents on the edge of the desk.

"Kurogane wouldn't understand. It wouldn't work and I need to keep everyone safe. He is safest without me around—and you all are safest without him around." Fai was the one to reach around and grab the clean jacket to pull it on.

"I won't push you. It was nice to see you so happy last night, is all… It was also nice to see Sei-chan get possessive over you like that… It's been a while since you've made him jealous like that." his manager wore the smallest of smiles as he handed over his wallet and keys.

"Is that why he was so… well, Seishiro-ish earlier?" Fai did not want a repeat of that—so it was probably a good thing Kuro-chan was gone.

"Well, not only did you scold him in front of your new friend—but then you decided to put on a show for him today with Ryuu and it got him… bothered. Thanks, by the way—he is going to be a nightmare when we get home." Fai did not miss the fact that Subaru had not handed back his coke—it was still sitting on the edge of the desk and he tried not to eye it too openly.

"What do you do when he gets like that?" Fai wrapped his arms around his stomach—talking was helping him feel more grounded.

He was not going to think too hard on the fact that talking about Kurogane is the thing that finally helped him push the sound of angry birds and Ryuu choking on his own blood out of his mind.

"Ignore him if he gets out of hand. I am hoping chasing Rhondart will get most of his energy out... You just got this baggie a few hours ago, right?" Subaru fingered the edge of the small earring bag—keeping his green eyes respectfully down cast.

"Yeah." Fai wouldn't lie about that—Subaru would just ask Seishiro if he didn't believe him, anyways. "I needed a boost to put that mask on."

"I don't blame you… it's just… last night you told us you were quitting." Subaru handed it over and Fai tried not to look too eager as he tucked it into his pocket.

Had he?

Well, he had meant to, that was for sure… if shit hadn't hit the fan, he would be about halfway through coming down.

"Sorry. Things got messy and I need to be on my game." Fai offered a small smile, grabbed his phone off the table as well—the only notifications were from his parents and Yuuko.

Good.

He didn't need any more problems.

"Don't apologize. You're doing a good job, I just wanted to make sure you're ok. If you can, take it easy the rest of the night…" That was Subaru's very kind way of saying that he was keeping an eye on Fai's intake.

Probably a good thing.

He doubted Seishiro would give a shit if he OD'd because he was pushing too hard.

"Did you want to come with me to check up on Syaoran? Or do you need to head up to the second floor to oversee prep for opening?" Instructions for Hinoto would have to wait—he could probably wrap those up when he stopped by to meet the officers that were going to be sniffing around.

"I should be heading up. If you need a quiet place for him to recoup his nerves, I think Hisui was looking for a new assistant."

Fai was aware. Hisui's last assistant had been recruited to run his own club a few months ago. It wasn't a bad idea when you thought about it—but Fai would want Syaoran back from the 3rd floor manager of Kurōbā.

Syaoran might just be tempted to stay with him, given the lack of danger, and Hisui wouldn't let his talents go underappreciated.

"I'll keep that in mind." Fai and Subaru quietly exited his office and he had to keep his hands clenched into fists as he made his way down the hallway towards the sound of deep murmuring and distraught sniffling.

Oh boy, this was his fault.

Fai strode confidently into the break room and found Syaoran sipping water slowly while Kusanagi talked in a quiet, low rumble—too low for Fai to make out what he was saying. Two sets of eyes snapped to attention.

Kusanagi gave him a sympathetic nod, and Syaoran just ripped Fai's heart out of his chest and shredded it into a million pieces with the utter fear and hurt that dripped from his expression.

"Hey." Fai didn't offer a smile. It wasn't appropriate.

He kept his eyes downcast and kept his face reserved as he approached them, frantically trying to decide what he wanted to say to try and fix this.

Well—Fai was actually very aware that there was no way to 'fix it' now. He should never let the kid stay… This was going to change their dynamic no matter how much he hated it…

Such was life, though—when it rains, it pours.

Syaoran set his water aside and wiped the tears off of his face before standing up straight—eyes glued to the floor and stone cold silent as he waited for Fai to continue. "I think you're done for tonight. You need to go home and take a breather, ok? I'm worried about you."

Fai reached out to place a comforting hand on his assistants shoulder only to pull it back when Syaoran flinched away from the gesture—backing right up and slamming against Kusanagi's chest in his attempt to get away.

Yeah—Fai fucked Syaoran up good…

"W—what are you guys doing with him…" Syaoran side stepped Kusanagi and probably would have continued to back himself slowly away if his enforcer didn't hold him in place with a strong arm.

"Hey now. We talked about this, Syaoran." Kusanagi didn't let go and let the teen lean back against him. "You can't think like that. Fai-sama did his job to keep you and everyone else here safe."

Hopefully, his assistant could accept that with time, but Fai vividly remembered the first time he had seen his boss punish someone. Fai hadn't known that kid well—but he would never get the sounds of him begging for his life as the last man in Fai's shoes had had a gun to his forehead.

Granted—Fai took the punishment game to a whole new level—but he hadn't had an underling try and off him in a while because of it. Syaoran had no intentions of climbing the ranks and was probably pretty desperate to get as far away from this drug ring as he possibly could, at the moment.

Fai would let him go in a heartbeat, but it wasn't safe until they had the Reed situation handled.

"He was my friend. I deserve to know." He managed to muster a bit of force in his tone and Fai was seriously torn.

No point in lying—all Syaoran had to do was go to the back storeroom to see exactly what Fuuma was doing. "What was that gunshot?" Syaoran pressed after too many moments of silence from his boss.

"I didn't want him to linger any longer. I put him down and Fuuma is going to take care of him per procedure." Fai was very well aware of the fact that he was keeping almost all of the emotion off of his face and out of his voice.

Sometimes it was better not to 'pretend' that you cared after pulling a stunt like he had—that's the way it would come off, and it was not what poor Syaoran needed.

"He's not a dog, Fai… You don't put people down." his assistant's words cut like a knife.

Syaoran was always so upbeat and happy—he had never seen him angry like this. It wasn't as though he didn't have a right to be—he had never lost someone close to him from what Fai understood and it wasn't easy.

Fai had lost a few friends in this line of work—and it was one of the few things that made him angry these days. All his life, he had never been someone prone to anger—he knew Syaoran was similar in that aspect.

He supposed it was better that he was reacting at all versus retracting in on himself and bottling things up… but it was hard to watch.

Thank god for Kusanagi.

"He was suffering. It was the right thing to do—I had nothing against him but I couldn't let him live." Fai didn't try to get closer. He knew Syaoran needed space.

"Because of you." his assistant finally locked eyes with him and Fai had to take a deep breath and remind himself what it would be like to be in Syaoran's shoes.

He was just a kid—he didn't need to understand.

"Yes. I am aware." Fai turned his attention to Kusanagi who was still giving him the pity frown. "I want you to take him home and keep an eye on him. I'll update you on your duties tomorrow."

"Gottcha." his enforcer nodded and Syaoran was back to scowling down at the floor and trying to hold back his tears.

"Syaoran, you take as much time off as you need. If you wanna come back, let me know—we can ease you back in at the café or by working under another one of my managers. Ok?" His assistant at least nodded.

There was that.

0o0o0

Well?

What did you think?

I personally didn't think I could ever write something like that but holy cooooow! I actually wrote this back in the beginning of August and was to lazy to edit. I didn't reread again until about a week ago and I blew my own self away with the vibes of this sucker. Like. Ouch. Poor Fai baby!

I got to really lay down some world/plot building bricks though, and I can't wait to hear all of your guesses as to where this bad boy is going! A lot of new information and characters as well as really breathing some life into Subaru, Seishiro, Kamui, and Fuuma's characters and dynamics. I cant WAIT to start dropping hints about the back stories of the main players and how they are connected. No Kuro in this chapter or the next but he will be making his return don't worry my sweets!

Shout out to Malabava my co-author!