Revised 1/9/2019

Ichigo pressed the knife closer to the intruder's neck, drawing a few more beads of blood, his body tense. Those were the last words he had ever expected to come out of the intruder's mouth. He had given up finding the people responsible for his parent's death at this point, he had assumed they'd died off. Yakuza didn't exactly have long life spans after all.

"Tell me now what you know, or I will simply assume you have nothing of particular interest and end your life right here, right now. That, for me, would be no hardship." Ichigo could tell his words had affected the already terrified man, his body had begun to tremble even stronger, if that was even possible, in fear. Fear because they both knew he had no information of what he spoke of. It was evident it the nervousness in his eyes. It was the nervousness of a liar. Ichigo was filled with cold rage at the knowledge that this man had dared speak of things he knew nothing about. How dare he cheapen the memory of his family like that.

"I-" Ichigo didn't even bother to try and let him make excuses, or offers, he simply slashed his throat, and got up from his cooling body, turning towards Kisuke, his usually amber eyes glowing a haunting yellow. Kisuke knew that look, and he was worried. He thought he had suppressed that part of Ichigo better than that, it shouldn't have been able to make an appearance unless in a life threatening situation. This was not good, not good at all. Ichigo was confused at Kisuke's silence. The usually jovial man looked startled for some reason and the assassin couldn't figure out why. All he did was kill the guy, that was his job, so what was his boss so worried about?

"What's that look for Kisuke? Has your iron gut weakened since you stopped going out on jobs to become a ringleader?" Ichigo decided to tease the man to try and clear the unsettling silence that had settled over the room, but it did nothing to ease the tension.

"Ichigo, I know you are a world class assassin, but despite that you've always had a kind heart. It is one of the things that baffles me about you Ichigo. Despite all you've been though, your heart is still warm, and despite your job, you care about human lives. But what I just witnessed… Ichigo, that man's only crime that we know of was approaching the shop in a suspicious way, and mentioning your family to try and save his life. It hardly warranted slashing his throat. Plus, if he was indeed a bad guy, we could have at least got more information out of him." Kisuke's eyes had gone a bit sad as he gave his mini lecture. Ichigo could see the reasoning behinds Kisuke's words, but the man had tried to use him, use his family, there was no other punishment for that than death. Ichigo was furious that Kisuke would think he could be so heartless. Before Ichigo could argue his point though, he sunk to his knees, his whole body shaking. A feeling of overwhelming weariness overcame him and before Ichigo could make a sound he was passed out on the floor. A thought crossed his mind before he finally gave into the darkness, and he found himself wondering where it had come from, it didn't sound like him. None of what had just happened sounded like him.

'The fucker deserved it King'.

Kisuke, after settling Ichigo into the guest room's bed, closed the door quietly, and padded down the hall into the kitchen to put some water on to boil. After that was done, he went into the main entry way to dispose of the body. When he got there though, he was surprised when he spotted Jack, their own blue haired thief, kneeling down by the unknown man. He cleared his throat to get Jack's attention, but knowing his skills, he probably already knew Kisuke had stepped into the room.

"Who's this poor dude?" Kisuke sighed and shook his head, eyes tired and sad. He suddenly looked much older than he had the last time Jack had seen the eccentric man.

"I don't know, he triggered the intruder alarm, and Alex took care of him when he entered." Jack could tell that wasn't all that had happened from the unease that had crept into his eyes as he gave the least amount of information he could possibly give while still explaining why there was a body lying there. He decided not to pry though, for he assumed, and quite rightly so, that it was personal. Kisuke could sense Jack wanted to ask what was bothering him, and was more than relieved when the thief decided not to pry, and simply got up from where he was still crouching at the body and walked casually over to the blonde shopkeeper. Jack decided it was best to change the subject from the dead man… well at least slightly.

"So, Alex is here?" Kisuke shifted a bit, uncomfortable, but answered anyway.

"Yeah, he's just in a guest room resting. We've been trying to gain more information about the hogyoku." Again, Jack noted the vagueness and how Kisuke carefully chose his words. "So, you must be here for a reason… I suppose you've gathered some new information?" At Jack's nod of confirmation, Kisuke continued to speak. "Okay, well first things first, we've got to clean up that body." As soon as the words had left Kisuke's mouth, the kettle let off a high pitched whine, signaling the water was boiling. Both men jumped slightly at the loud noise in the quiet house, before they grinned at each other in amusement.

"You go take care of that kettle, I'll take care of the body. Then as payment for my good deeds, you can make me a cup of tea." Kisuke nodded and went to make three cups of tea, but made a quick stop off at the room Ichigo was in to see if the young man had woken and to warn him that Jack was here with information, and that they'd be discussing it in the kitchen if he felt like joining them. After waiting a few seconds and receiving no reply, he simply left for the kitchen.

By the time Jack had entered the kitchen, there were three steaming cups of tea sitting on the table, and even a little plate of snacks. He had just sat down when Ichigo entered the room looking to be in a bad mood, and instead of sitting down, he grabbed his cup of tea and stood leaning against the counter, sipping the hot liquid tentatively, his whole body seemed to relax a bit as he did so. Kisuke was relieved to see Ichigo in the room, he'd thought the man was still passed out, that would have been a bad sign, it would mean the seal was even weaker than he originally thought. Sat down across from Jack and hands folded in his lap Kisuke ignored his tea for the moment, eager to hear any new information.

"So Jack, what do you have for us?"