Pairings: BernardoXGian, IvanXGian, LuchinoXGian, GiulioXGian, AobaXClear, AobaXVirusXTrip, AobaXRen, AobaXKoujaku, AobaXNoiz, AobaXBakshi, VirusXTripXGian, AobaXGian

Warning: Contains minor hints of rape, violence, extreme swearing and heavy scenes of smut.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dramatical Murder or Lucky Dog 1. All rights go to the respectful owners

Chapter 7 - Common Ground

Morning came just as quickly as the night had and filled the sky with gray clouds. The sun that had just begun to rise, turned the cruise ship that Noiz and Koujaku were on, into a pink silhouette if seen from a distance. Its powerful light reflected off of the windows of the boat, causing a bit of light to shine through the small gap in the curtain in Noiz's bedroom.

He had just gone to bed a couple hours ago and still had a tired look in his eyes as he tried to wake himself up. The suit he was wearing the other day was now resting on the back of a vanity chair near the vanity table. He sat up in his bed and rubbed the bit of sleep stuck in his eyes. 'Just one more day, about time...' He thought as he got up from the bed and headed into the bathroom that was connected to the room.

The bathroom was a mix of white and blue tiled walls while the floor had been a nice shade of beige carpeting. The bathtub had been decorated with a gold carving on the side of it and looked like it must have costed a fortune. Noiz looked at the watch on his wrist that read 9:30 A.M. He had been asleep for only four hours but he still felt a tiny bit rested because of it. He had been working on an assignment for his brother back home and had finished it off quickly as to get it out of the way before meeting Aoba in Daivan.

He wanted all obstacles cleared before dealing with the other crisis. Noiz took off his watch and his pants and underwear, laying them on top of the bathroom counter. He let out a yawn as he pulled a bathroom towel off of the towel rack that hung just beside the bathroom door. Because there was very little warmth coming from the heater in the bedroom, the bathroom was unsurprisingly cold and caused Noiz to rush for his morning routine.

He started the shower and got in, pulling the white curtains over so that he was not exposed to the cold air. Once the hot water swept across his pale skin, his body temperature began to rise along with the heat. The steam slowly fogged the bathroom mirror and drifted out into the bedroom.

After showering and clearing his mind for the morning, he put on a new suit and tie that had been laid out already prepared from the night before by some of the men on the boat. It was a black suite and looked to be made of the same expensive material that his old suit had been but was specially inscribed with the organization's name 'CR-5' stitched into the inside of the jacket. He fixed the black tie and loosened it to his liking before finally putting on the shoes that matched with the outfit. He then let out a yawn before leaving the room to get something to eat in the dining hall.

Koujaku also seemed to have had the same plan in mind and looked as though he too had just gotten up and was also dressed in the same attire as he was. A black suit and tie with black shoes. However, the look on his face showed the disapproval of having to wear something other than his normal kimono outfit. His dark navy blue hair had been tied up into a knot at the back with the red hair pins he had used previously to help hold it together with a little tuft of hair sticking out at the bottom of the knot.

His bangs as usual, hung over the right side of his face. Koujaku had always had his hair like that but also had the back of his hair hanging off his left shoulder with the red pins in the back. Thinking back on the image of yesterday, Noiz remembered the man practicing his swordplay out on the deck of the cruise ship just the other day.

He truly did look like something from a samurai movie and could see why he had the habit of trying to protect Aoba like he was a princess. It was because he just had that sort of habit bred into him kind of what he himself had to put up with. He had been raised on manners and courtesy because of his family name and what they stood for in terms of status.

The man had been glaring at him since he first noticed that he was also walking in the same direction as him. Noiz did not return the glare nor did he pay any mind to his staring either. His thoughts had been on the same path they always had been. The twins whom had escaped without a trace. Noiz was still trying to rule out the possible ways for which they may come back, but because he did not know the ins and outs of the city, he would have to wait until they actually reached it to understand it better.

They both found their way to the dining hall without so much as a word to each other and sat down at separate tables. Some of the men on the boat had also just gotten up and were preparing their suit cases with guns and ammunition. Some of the men did not have their glasses on yet and from just a glance, Koujaku could see that some of them had not gotten enough sleep.

'If I were to be stuck watching a couple of weirdos, I'd be tired too...' Koujaku held in a smile and refrained himself from looking at Noiz again.

Although the man was insufferable at times, it was hard to stay mad at a man who did not say much back to you. He pushed his fingers at the cloth that covered the table with his fingers, playing with the material that reminded him of silk sheets.

Beni pecked at his cheek like he would have done if he were Aoba. He used to wake the boy with the same trick but now Beni had gotten into the habit of doing it ever since. "Message for ya, pee brain!" Koujaku frowned at the sudden nickname that Beni had given him but he checked the coil that was wrapped onto his wrist in the form of an arm band.

He tapped one of the buttons and soon a bright and light blue and transparent screen popped up in front of his face. His inbox was empty minus the new message that had been delivered to him. It was from Mink. He and Mink did not have a particular interest in each other nor did they want to and he still did not trust him and could not see why Aoba had been so persistent on keeping him as a comrade.

The man was silent and always a bit of a lone wolf the same as Noiz and did not seem eager to play with the rest of them if things got rough. But receiving a message from him was certainly surprising. Was the situation becoming even more complicated than he had thought it was? He clicked the message to read it and saw the details spilled on the screen.

'Aoba has gotten his headaches again and might need his medicine soon. He's worried about something other than those twins. I think that guy is coming back but I don't know. The guys over here think we should rely on that computer geek for help. The car they were driving was found in the water so we're back at square one. They also managed to get Aoba's dog and he should be here after you guys show up.'

'Not sure how long Aoba has until this head thing completely takes over him with pain alone. He's been sleeping non-stop. Also...I kissed Aoba. Get here fast, Red.'

Koujaku could feel the back of his mouth grinding together in anger. The message was both helpful and a curse to his mood. He thought for once that the man would not get under his skin so much as Noiz had but it was obviously a dream not coming true in the future. He slammed his fist down on the table gaining a glare from Noiz who had been sitting at the table behind him and looked to have been in deep concentration before getting interrupted by his sudden slamming on the table.

"The morning just started and you're already getting edgy. Now's not the time for you to get pissed." His voice remained cool, calm and collected as though the sound from earlier had not even reached his ears.

The two men sat still for the moment and continued glaring at each other before returning to their own business at their respective tables. 'What is that guy thinking? Kissing him while he's like this...has he no sense of shame at all?' Koujaku thought but soon dismissed the question in his head as he remembered what the man's personality was like three years ago.

He had been bossy despite being the most mature out of all of them and yet he too had been saved from Aoba's power, scrap. He clenched his hands together until his nails had dug into his skin. When it came to Aoba, he could not help but feel anger towards the others who had what he perceived to be hostile personalities. Noiz was the first one to get under his skin and then Mink being the second person.

The two of them had gotten under his skin quite a bit three years ago and even though they had split up for the past three years, he found their personalities had not changed that much. But neither had his and he knew it. He was obsessive and overprotective when it came to Aoba, but even then it clearly did not help the boy in his time of need and that guilt had stayed with him all this time.

"Noiz, if you saw the message I got, you would be just as pissed and edgy as I am. Mink's made a move already and who knows what he's going to do next time. Aoba's headaches have gotten to him and the only ones who know much about his medicine are Tae and those bastard twins." Noiz remained unseated and unfazed by the sudden declaration from Koujaku. He was typing away at a fast rate on both his normal laptop and his hacking computer. The man was staring at the message as he had relayed the information to him, reading it at the same time of listening to him. 'I forgot...hacking genius...' Koujaku thought and quickly shut the coil off.

The only thing left for them to do was to arrive at Daivan and see for themselves what sort of people that Aoba had been mixed up with. If it was the mafia, then Koujaku did not think things would go well no matter what their intentions were. He only hoped the two men would not try anything while they were still arriving to the city.

A high pitch voice sounded through Noiz's coil that was on his watch. Curious, Koujaku studied it and kept watching to see what the sound was for. It was a blue screen that now displayed for all to see, showing both Noiz and Koujaku a layout of an empty room. The video footage was full of static but in bits and pieces, they could both make out the two figures standing in front of a window.

Koujaku got up from the table he was sitting at and made his way over next to Noiz. "This is...what is this, Noiz?" The man did not reply and continued watching the screen. It was obvious who the men were as there was only one cube at the time who had found the men and had been the only allmate to have been eaten by their snake. Had the cube not been completely destroyed after all?

Their voices came in loud and clear and soon enough the men that were just milling around in the dining room stopped their conversations with each other and looked to Noiz and Koujaku and their contraption. The men were interested in the screen that was transparent but visibly showcasing the footage as though it was a live broadcast and currently it was just that.

"Their allmate probably couldn't digest it like any normal snake could. This must be the piece of camera that I stuck in my allmate's computer programming. Guess they're not too bright after all." Koujaku could tell that the man's cocky attitude had been renewed since the message and he seemed more focused than ever before as though something lit a fire underneath him.

Although they could not make out what they were saying in the distance, it was obvious to all who were watching the screen that the two men were not alone in that room aside from their pets. There were two more men standing behind them standing side-by-side. A man with a suit and tie and wearing a hat that went along with the suit . The other man wore a dark and bright pink vest that seemed to be exposing his chest and had quite a bit of tattoos running along the side of him. It was hard to see their faces at the current angle but Noiz was hoping to adjust that.

He typed in a few things on the computer keyboard and waited a bit. Soon the camera itself began to move forward. Koujaku looked from the screen and down to Noiz who had been fixated on moving the camera even closer. 'He must have put in a remote control option! Would explain why they move so damn fast like that. Like they had minds of their own separate from those of an allmate.' He returned to staring at the screen and soon they were both able to see the twins as clear as day.

The camera itself must have been extremely small to not be noticed by the snake that was now slithering and curling its body around Virus's leg. The twins were remained standing still, continuing to act as though they were in charge of things and running the show. Noiz let out a small sigh as he pointed the camera, moving it around to show the surrounding area. It looked to be a warehouse of some sort with nothing inside except a few barrels.

This was not enough for them to go on and it made things more difficult if they were not even in the city yet so they would not be able to check the location. The tracer chip that had been implanted into the cube had already been broken down and turned into bits of metal in the most likely scenario even if he was able to control the camera. Koujaku could not help but grip his hand tight on Noiz's shoulder as though to give him a hint to stop what he was doing.

They were in too deep to get this far and it was as good a chance as any to find their new hideout. He was telling Noiz in his own way that this would be enough to get a head start before they found the remote controlled camera. But Noiz remained unmoved and sat still for a moment without moving the camera another step.

He was obviously in deep thought and highly concentrating on the many possibilities of openings they might be able to find. But he had no choice but to accept Koujaku's idea in retreating and finding a place to store the small camera before the snake or the lion could find out that it was active. Noiz moved the camera back to where it originally came on and let it sit there. Whether he wanted it to keep running or not remained a mystery. He wasn't sure what to do after seeing his camera still in perfect working condition. Whether he wanted to use it as a tracing device or as a distraction so that they could find the warehouse in time.

Noiz switched the power to the camera off after making sure it would be well hidden from the view of the twins and the newcomers. Koujaku was also beside himself on the next step. He too knew it was more important in finding their location than worrying about someone who they could not help if they were so far away. So at the very least the two of them felt it was only right to try and find their hideout one last time.

Koujaku sat back down but this time at the same table as Noiz. Putting their problems with each other aside, they ushered some men to come by to sit down with them. "Tell your boss we have a new chance at their location, although I'm not promising anything." Noiz suggested and watched the man he told this to, get up in a hurry and rush in the other direction of the captain's room that was on the second floor of the cabin.

"You forgot to add the two newbies that we saw in the video. What if they're part of an enemy gang, they could have told us who they might be!" Koujaku exclaimed. However his anger did not seem to interest Noiz in the slightest and the man continued to type away at his normal laptop.

A flapping sound soon caught his attention and the small red bird that had accompanied him on the trip, flew itself onto the table. He pecked at Noiz's hand once or twice before flying back to Koujaku's shoulder. "I said not to get so edgy in the morning. I didn't think mentioning it would help much if we don't know their exact location. As far as they're concerned, they could be in any building that could happen to look like a warehouse on the inside. So before we go making promises we can't keep, I suggest you shut up."

There it was again. Noiz and his cocky attitude that managed to get under Koujaku's skin. A bit of silence grew between them and Koujaku soon found himself staring at the table with an empty expression. He was angry at not having been able to be by Aoba's side while he was in this much danger and knowing who the men that took him were, caused him to feel even more irritated with his useless ability at trying to protect him.

He gripped the table cloth in his hands and kept them like that for some time before finally getting up to leave for the deck, bringing along the sword that was wrapped in cloth and strapped to his back. Beni, his bird allmate, watched him cautiously. He did what he could to snap his master back into reality with his constant pecking but it could only do so much and sometimes did not work 100% of the time.

The bird looked back as they left the dining room and through the door and for a split second, thought he could see Noiz's hands gripping the table cloth just like his master had done a few seconds ago. "Hm...so he too can make such a dumb look..." Beni said to himself.

"Sorry?" Koujaku asked him and quickly looked down at his left shoulder where Beni was sitting. The bird ruffled his feathers and shook its head without saying anything. Koujaku smiled and patted the bird on the head with his right hand. Beni could not help but smile along with him.

Pain. A throbbing and excruciating sensation that ripped through his entire body and had started from his head and continued down. Aoba had been experiencing this sort of pain for years but never something as hurtful as this. He felt like he had a mixture of both a fever and a flu while having one of his headaches all at the same time.

Although it was rare that he got sick aside from his headaches, it did not mean he was immune to illnesses. He was flat down on the bed at the moment and could feel his muscles tensing up at every pulse that his heart made. His headaches were getting to the point of taking over anything he could and would be thinking of and saw to it that he thought of nothing else.

Clear had escorted him back to the room but was unable to help ease the man's pain except stay nearby while he writhed around in agony on the bed. Aoba clutched at his chest where his heart was and cried out. "C-Clear! It hurts...it hurts!" Clear had never seen Aoba look so frail and pained like this before. It was all new to him and it made him all the more anxious to find the men responsible.

But it was a slow progress and so far there had been no word on Gian and Ivan's current mission on finding the location where the car had been dumped. He held Aoba's free hand tightly with his own and tried his best to soothe him. He had been singing his song for Aoba since they got in the room but so far even his song was not helping Aoba's condition. "I'm sorry, Aoba-san. I can only do this much for you...Aoba-san..." Clear kissed Aoba's hand and began to sing once more.

It was a song that he sang to Aoba back at Platinum Jail when the Alphas had tried to sing their brainwashing melody on the television screen. It had affected Aoba quite a lot and Clear was able to rid the man's head of the song with his own. But now it wasn't working and seemed to have zero effect on his headaches.

He only hoped that the man named Bernardo would be able to sedate him with something strong to knock him out for a while until they could resolve this properly. Soon Aoba's body stopped shaking after a while and was slowly looking as though it was listening to his voice like it had in the past.

He kept singing as long as he felt was needed to keep Aoba's pain at bay. Whether it was from his body remembering the melody or if it was because Aoba himself willed the pain out somehow, he would keep singing regardless. The singing grew louder with each note and caught the attention of both Luchino and Mink who had been chatting with each other up until now.

Bernardo had returned to his phone room and was busy getting calls from his random employees while Luchino had been going over the many warehouses that he knew of and had been to in the past year. He was instructed to pinpoint which of the warehouses were not totally abandoned and to see if he could dig something up from the ones that might still be usable as hideouts.

It could have been any number of them but even so it was a start. Mink was not instructed to do anything but he insisted on helping with mapping out a plan from the warehouses that they would visit. Because he and Mink kept hearing the song, it was hard to focus on the work in front of them. Mink wasn't angry as he knew it must have been the only solution that the robot could come up with for helping Aoba and his pain but he also knew the consequences of not finishing this kind of work.

"This music sure if peaceful. Is it a famous song from your island?" Mink could tell that the man was trying to start a normal conversation and could tell that Luchino must have known how he was feeling.

He put the papers that he had been holding in his hands down onto the coffee table and stared at him. "It's designed for a sort of brainwashing technique. He's the only one able to do that kind of thing, kind of like Aoba's power to control people with his voice. But I won't go too far into that." Mink went back to drinking the coffee that had been brewed for him earlier.

The two of them had been sitting and listening to Clear's song from the lobby of the floor that Aoba's room was on. "Can you use it on those guys that we're after?" Luchino asked. He seemed interested in the topic and did not look to be the type to give up on asking the same type of question. Mink would have to humor him.

"I asked Aoba that but he told me that they would not be effected by his voice or his brother's eyes. They were specially altered to work alongside Toue so both their eyes and ears have been worked on in some way to repel that kind of power." He looked down at the cup of coffee and stared at the liquid before continuing.

"Even if it was useful against them, they have allmates that prove to be problematic despite being more used as animals rather than computers. Kind of like dealing with a smart A.I. that knows no fear against the humans type of thing." Luchino nodded in understanding of what he was saying.

Mink set the cup down on the table and got up from the couch, heading in the direction of Aoba's room. Luchino followed after him. He had never heard of a brainwashing ability before and was interested in seeing this power up close and personal. He was a busy man but even busy men had to take a break sometimes.

They both went into the room cautiously as they did not know what to expect and saw Clear had stopped singing before they got there. Mink waited a bit before stepping up to the bedside. Aoba's body had stopped shivering and his chest had gone back to normal from his rapid breathing. His hair however, was a mess and he could see sweat forming all over his face.

"Master is finally asleep. Mink-san, Aoba's pain is worse than it was before...not even my song could help him this time except at the end!" Mink watched Clear ball his hands into fists on his lap. Although he was a robot he looked pretty human to Mink.

Luchino had gone to the other side of the bed and was looking the boy's body over. He was covered in sweat and the color of his face looked as though it had just been drained and was being brought back from the dead. Whatever the boy's illness was it must have been rough for him to go through. "So defenseless...just like Gian." Luchino couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth and used a hand to brush a hand across the boy's face, wiping away a bead of sweat from his cheek.

It was true that the boy looked defenseless but as he was not alone he could not act like he wanted in front of the others. Not that he had anything in mind in particular, it was mostly because they had never seen someone from another country in so long aside from their fellow mafia family members. Right now, Aoba and his friends were a form of relief from his every day life out in his racket of work.

"Kou...jaku...!" Aoba's voice snapped Mink and Clear out from their thoughts. The man flinched at the pain that was going on through his head again. It looked as though his sleep had only lasted a few minutes.

Clear looked like he was on the verge of crying while Mink was too stunned to say anything. He had never seen Aoba at a breaking point except for the times when he had been rough to him back before taking Toue down. Luchino saw their expressions and then saw the one on Aoba's face. Without thinking, he put a hand to the boy's eyes, covering them so that he could not see.

"You...what are you doing?" Clear asked him. It was obvious that he was ready to risk his life should the case call for it. Luchino looked down at Aoba and his hand that covered his eyes.

It had been don subconsciously and he merely felt that if he could not see anything, he would soon calm down somehow. Aoba had stopped fidgeting with his hands and seemed to be calmer than before. He noticed a pattern after just doing this one action. It was something he had witnessed a lot of the times he had to deal with women from Ivan's racket.

A lot of women were treated badly and were returned with traumatic stress from being locked away in something or tied up for long periods of time. Was this the same sort of treatment that Aoba had been subjected to? Luchino felt there was at least some sort of connection and finally removed his hand.

"Aoba! Did those guys do that to you? What I just did to you now...is it the same?" At first Aoba looked as though he had been resting his eyes and was about to sleep.

But he replied to the question. "Virus...no...they, did this to me. They...locked me away and blindfolded me. But it's...been so long so I can't remember a whole lot..." Mink was astonished at seeing Aoba talk so calmly without being in pain. He was beginning to think the boy would not recover unless they got some of those pills in him.

A few tears soon escaped the corners of Aoba's eyes and fell down the side of his cheeks to the pillow lying underneath his head. Luchino brushed the hair that looked like it was sticking to his forehead, away from his eyes but remembered to do so in a gentle manner.

"Don't worry. We have the best security of this city. We'll find them and kill them for their mistreatment of you. This is the most excitement my men have gotten since my jailbreak." Luchino said with a laugh.

Aoba didn't respond and continued to hold the sheets of the bed while Mink and Clear stood by silently. "I'll go and call up Ivan and the others and see if they're done with their 'shopping'." Luchino took his hand away from Aoba's forehead and soon pulled out a cellphone from his coat pocket while leaving the bedside and headed for the door.

Clear soon went on the other side of the bed while Mink stayed at the other. They weren't sure of much except for finding the twins as they were hoping that finding them would lead to some answers as to why Aoba was like this now. After hearing what the red head had said about being traumatized, Mink could only guess that they must have treated him as they would a woman in a sense.

"I...I can't...forgive them...ng!" Aoba's breathing had become rapid once more and he was clutching at his chest like he was before. Mink quickly pushed Aoba back down and grabbed hold of his hand on his chest.

This made both Clear and Aoba look up at the man in surprise. Sensing this was the only thing they could do for him now, Clear did the same with Aoba's other hand and held it tightly trying to reassure the man that he was not alone. "Stupid idiot. No one's asking you to forgive them or telling you to go back to them. Just stay where you are and we'll take care of it." Although his voice was hoarse and cold, Aoba started to feel a little calmer after hearing those words.

His eyes grew heavy again and he soon fell asleep like he had done with Clear's singing. Mink had never seen anyone so exhausted before since the time he saw Aoba using scrap. Clear on the other hand looked to be troubled by something. Mink let go of Aoba's hand after he noticed Aoba was in a deep sleep and looked over at Clear.

"He'll be fine. He's tired that's all there is to it." Clear had not let go of Aoba's hand and was staring at it intensely. He seemed to be visibly shaken by something but by what, Mink couldn't tell.

Mink walked over to the other side and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Hey. He's fine." This time Mink used a stronger tone with the words. It was not as though he wanted the boy out of the room but he could sense something was wrong with his mood.

"If master does not wake up...he'll die. Mink-san, he shouldn't die for those people..." Clear stated and soon released Aoba's hand and stepped backward, stepping away far enough until Mink's hand slipped from his shoulder.

His hands were balled into fists that hanged intimidatingly at his side while his shoulders looked to be shaking out of anger. Mink let out a sigh, walked up to Clear and pulled him out into the hallway by the collar of his shirt. Once they were far from the room and in the lobby of the floor, Mink sat him down on one of the couches.

Clear did not look up nor did he seem to want to meet the man's gaze. "You're right, he shouldn't have to die for them. But neither should you. And I doubt that Aoba wants to get the news of you getting killed by them." Mink sat down next to him and crossed one leg over the other, leaning back up against the back of the couch.

"But I'm-" Clear was about to say something before Mink cut him off. "A piece of metal, I know. But that doesn't mean you can't die...or did you forget what happened at the island?" He looked at Clear's reaction to the question.

It was true he technically died back at Platinum Jail when he stuck the knife into the side of his head to override himself from the block that kept him from attacking his own kind. And because of that action, he had to subject Aoba to the state of him falling apart in pieces. Clear put his hands to his head and grabbed at his hair. It was foolish to think that a man like Mink who had very few words usually, was the one to comfort him. "Master has good judge of character, huh?" He smiled and let his hands drop to his lap.

Mink said nothing but smiled as well and the two of them sat there without saying another word to the other. All that had needed to be said had already come and gone.

A/n: Poor Aoba! Seems like things are getting spicy in regards to those nasty twins!