A/N: I want to take a moment and thank you all who have been reading. Those who have commented and favorited and just the all-around support while I write this story. It means a great deal to know where your thoughts are but it also means a lot to just know that you are enjoying the story.

-Oxford - Thursday: Part 3-

Kyoko was glad to be off the stage, she never felt so nervous, she wasn't even sure if she had done a good enough job. It wasn't as if she hadn't felt a moment of sadness wash over her but to pretend to still be hurt by Shoutaro to the point she couldn't move on bothered her. She felt eyes on her and slowly she looked down at Maria who wasn't truly looking at her she supposed but her dark children. "Aunt Kyoko..." she said softly and she turned, Ruto had taken a few steps back to leave the two young women some privacy. "Did you really mean what you said about Ren?"

Kyoko smiled softly down at her, "Yes. Mister Tsuruga is a good guy but you already know that don't you Maria. You can see people like me." Maria looked down slightly.

"I can tell a little. The darkness in someone." She whispered the last part and Kyoko lifted Maria's chin to look at her.

"That's important Maria, not everyone who has darkness inside of them is bad. Just like not everyone who shows nothing but the light is good. Everyone is a mixture of the two. It is our job to look into their soul. It's the only way we can protect ourselves and those we love." She kissed Maria's forehead, "But you have years still ahead of you to learn that." She smiled as she pulled away, "In the meantime, you have Father, Ruto, your Papa and me, our whole family" she paused for a moment thinking about Ren and she knew he would protect Maria, she smiled warmly "and Mister Tsuruga."

Maria looked at her smiling softly, Kyoko was sure she was thinking about Ren. 'Perhaps it's normal to have such crushes on older men at her age' she really wasn't sure, when she had been Maria's age, it was just Corn. 'No that was still a few months away from now' she looked back down at Maria some 'At this time I thought love was Shoutaro because he and the Fuwas showed kindness. I wanted a family and they were as close as I was going to get.' Yet Corn wasn't around and hadn't been around for a long time.

"What's the matter, Aunt Kyoko?" Maria looked at her carefully as Kyoko smiled softly back.

"I was thinking of a boy I met when I was about your age." She stood up and Maria took her hand.

Maria, "Do you mean?" She could feel the disgust that was coming off the little girl at her side.

"No," she said walking further away from that stage, away from that crowd. "This boy had hair that was blonde, that sparkled like diamonds." She said looking down at her and smiling softly, "Eyes that were like emeralds... but the most amazing thing about his eyes was how they seemed to turn into such rubies." She closed her eyes for just a moment as they walked, "He was a Prince I believe when I was a child. A fairy prince, one night I realized I was in love with him, I understood what love really was. I wanted to always be with him... just to see him smile." She looked down her eyes narrowing slightly, "But in the end, I didn't belong in his world either."

Maria looked at her, the grudges seemed to circle around her, "That's okay Aunt Kyoko" she said trying to cheer the older woman up. "You belong in my world." Kyoko looked down at her startled slightly "and I'll always be here alright? You can depend on me" she looked back up at her, "I love you very very much." Kyoko knelt down picking up the girl and holding her tightly.

"I love you too Maria and I'm glad I belong in your world. I don't know what I would do without you."

Maria looked up slightly at the ceiling for a moment, "well you would be awfully alone with dealing with Grandfather."

Reino and Miroku sat next to each other, the little office room was bare, there was a small projector screen that could be used to hook up a laptop, a table to sit a total of five maybe six people and some ferns in the corners of the room. "Did you see the news?" Miroku's voice carried well in the room as Reino looked towards him, "Seems we are now friends with Ren Tsuruga" he chuckled softly as he shook his head.

"We are no ones here." Yet that would apparently change soon thanks to Tomi forcing them into the world of showbiz. His head turned as the door opened and walked into an older man followed by Kyoko.

"Hello, Lady Kyoko!" Miroku said cheerfully, it was a bit forced and even she seemed to notice as she shook her head at him though Reino noticed the faint smile that played across his features, it was amazing how her smile seemed to brighten the room around her. Even more, than Natasha's seemed to be able to do.

Todoh Susumu eyes trailed over the two young men in his office, he had to admit they were rather handsome at least when it came to their features. Then again he had been told much the same thing when he had been the younger man himself. It was a possible career path, like joining law enforcement the small thought of how his parents and other family members would have reacted to him saying he was going into showbiz, would likely have been worse than when he said he was going to become a lawyer. "Hello, my name is Todoh Susumu, I'm Kyoko Takarada's lawyer." His eyes fell on the Miroku as he set his briefcase down, "I take it you are here to be the witness, Miroku Fujinuma?"

Miroku looked at him for a moment surprised crossing his features before he realized that this man clearly knew what he was doing, "You did your research it seems. I'm friends with both of them, it seemed only fitting that I am the witness."

"I'm sure, but please do not lie to me Mr. Fujinuma, I know very well you and Miss Takarada only met last night, along with Mr. Kobayashi and your other three friends," he said simply as Kyoko sat down in her seat. Miroku stared at him but his eyes fell upon Reino instead, "but it seems that you Mr. Kobayashi have something that my client desires from you." There were two clicks as he opened his briefcase and pulled out his laptop. "We are here today to see if we can come to an agreement about your personal skill set and payment."

Reino's eyes narrowed slightly before he looked up towards the ceiling, "Mr. Kobayashi is my father's name. I go by just Reino" not that his father's name didn't carry weight in Japan.

Miroku smiled some "and likewise I just go by Miroku it's easier that way."

"I'm sure," he said pushing his glasses up his nose his eyes turning toward Kyoko for a moment as she looked at him. She nodded her head before turning back towards Reino "First things first, I wish to apologize for last night." She said bowing her head slightly, "I would like to apologize to all of you properly perhaps with dinner tonight?" Reino turned to look at Miroku who shrugged his shoulders, "It would be with my family and several friends" she said lifting her head to look at them both, "I will be cooking giving my thanks for last night as well. Though I am very sad that I have caused you all trouble."

Reino wasn't sure if this was real or not, it seemed so strange to him. Wrong somehow, that wasn't how it was supposed to work. There had to be something more, he felt Miroku brush against his shoulder and his head turned towards him but Miroku was not looking at him, "We would be honored all of us." He frowned slightly as he sighed, he wasn't sure if this was a good idea but Mirkou had seen the request on his phone, he didn't hide much from his best friend, someone had to have his back when he was working on other things.

Kyoko smiled "Wonderful. Now, I would like to see exactly how long your spirit drug can last."

Reino eyes turned towards her for a moment, "Can I ask exactly what you need it for?"

Kyoko turned to look at Susumu as the man turned to look at him, "I'm afraid that can't be stated at this time. What I can do is see about getting permission for such information to be given out. At this time it I can tell you it is for Miss Takarada's health and well being."

Reino had a feeling there was more to it than that. Yet he wasn't exactly sure how far he could push, "How long do you need it to last?"

"As long as possible," she said simply. "So how long can it be held?"

Reino sighed as he leaned forward, "Depends really, I need one of your grudges" if Susumu was surprised by this talk he made no notion of it whatsoever, yet he saw Kyoko's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. There was something in her eyes, something that worried him slightly not enough to be scared or fearful but troublesome all the same. "You see with one of your grudges, I can, in theory, keep contact with a part of your very being, your soul we can say." Not that they were her soul but they still held a tight connection to them, "It won't be as strong as when I'm in physical contact with you but in theory, it should still work. Depending on that the distances isn't too far between us. I'll be honest, I haven't actually tried, you are the first I've ever seen with grudges that strong." Strong enough that they could take on physical form.

Kyoko closed her eyes he noticed her taking two deep breaths before she opened them, "Very well. I want a test run today. I assume you can in your theory handled this without my help."

"All you have to do is get angry enough that they responded." She looked down as he said those words.

"No, not just that..." there was a heavy sadness in her voice. Reino wanted to say he was amazed, yet the light around them was dimming, this seemed to cause Susumu to look upwards slightly before slowly turning towards the girl next to him. As if he was just double checking that it was her and not a malfunction in the system. He watched as the first one, then a second appeared followed by several more. They wrapped around her like a cloak, they were trying to comfort her there small arms holding her in small hugs.

In theory, she should be drowning in the darkness, unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel but he watched in amazement as she tilted her face towards one it's small cheek and hers nuzzling each other in affection, 'That is not normal' he rose from the seat. "Excuse me then." He said reaching out and taking one of the grudges, it tried to pull away from him. Get back to the only being that mattered. "It's for her good" it slowly settled then staring at him before looking fondly at the woman. 'Not normal at all.'

The young woman felt a hand touched the side of her face, she had been blindfolded and gagged before the black bag was slipped on her face just to make sure. Her wrists were tied tightly behind her they were starting to feel numb, yet it was the fuzzy feeling in her head that scared her the most. She had been drugged, there hadn't even been an attempt in a real fight. A real struggle, not that she hadn't when she had felt them, but what clues would be given to show that she had been taken from her home?

Even as the bag was removed from her, even as the man voice seemed to echo around her. She was trying to figure out a way out, a way to get back home. Her father had taught her a lot of things, befriend them wait and plan your escape, listen to every word they said it could give you hints about what they wanted, what they planned. Who they were should she get away, and she planned to get away.

"I'm going to remove this gag, it's alright if you want to scream, no one will here you here." There was a warmth that came from his voice. A kindness but she knew it was fake, no way a man who was truly warm and kind would do such a thing. The gag was removed and she felt the tears already falling soaking into the blindfold.

"Please, I don't know what you want. Yet if you just let me go home." she couldn't help the tears, "I won't tell anyone. I promise." He ran his hand down the side of her neck wrapping it around the back of her neck and into her hair. If she had been with her boyfriend he would have been moving forward to kiss her but this man was not doing that. At least not yet but the thought scared her. It wasn't as if she hadn't done a lot of different things with her boyfriend, she was far from a virgin. Yet she knew deep down what he was going to say before he even got the words out.

"Well if you treat me real nice" she shook her head, this couldn't happen. Her mind tries to focus on what her father had told her, anything to would help her get out of this as he grabbed her arm pulling her towards him. "You know how to do that don't you?" she shook her head again. The tears wouldn't stop as she whimpered as his hand moved between her legs. "With this right here..." she felt his mouth on her neck as she found herself falling backward onto what she could only guess was a bed.

"Please, no. Anything but this, I'll do anything else." Relief washed over her as she felt him move from her a heavy sigh escaped his mouth.

"Well, I won't force myself on you." Hope, there was hope after all.

"Thank you... Thank you." She heard the footsteps, she truly believed he was going to just leave her here alone.

"Alright, boys turns out she doesn't want me." Fear again washed over her as she hears several men enter the room. There was some whispering but she couldn't make out the words, hope that it wouldn't be too bad, that he and whoever else, was here would just go back out the door they entered."You might as well have some fun."

"What's the rules Snake?" The officer looked towards the large man as he cracked his neck. His real name was more or less lost to him when he had been bought by the Master as a gift for the Straw Sandal when he had risen as the Dragon of the family. It was an honor, the five poisons all belonged to someone, Heth belonged to White Paper Fan, he was the Spider. Yet no one called him Spider, at least not like they called him Snake. He was a mask, always a mask of someone else. Yet at the end of it all, that matter was that he was the Snake one of the five poisons of Rozu, a man with skills of his own.

"Well don't kill her. Otherwise, do whatever you want. She doesn't seem to like us, nice guys." There were a few chuckles, he watched as she began to struggle but it was not going to be an easy task to try and fight her way through five men. His eyes turned towards the door, 'Even if she did there is still the three out there.' That was his biggest problem, he just didn't have the heart he supposed to force himself upon women. 'Maybe I'm guessing soft in my old age?' Then again it wasn't like he didn't have his choice of those who had been fully trained by men like Heth, 'Good looks, awful personality' he thought 'But he does have a skill that is hard to come by, the only other one I've ever seen with that level is the Young Master' It was said the Master seemed to have had the same skills not that anyone knew for sure. No the only thing he knew for a fact was the difference between the two, the Young Master whoever he touched always seemed to want more and more of him. Where with Heth, they were willing to be touched by thousands of other men to never be touched by him again. 'Yet he wants Kyoko' he thought his eyes falling onto the girl on the bed her clothes more or less torn, his boys had a system he supposed. They always shared well the women he gave them. Heth's girls were always so willing for them so happy to not be with Heth anymore. It made it easy to transport them but he knew they really liked it when they fought back.

Snake eyes turned towards his phone, 'Looks like I might be heading back to the office' he sighed heavily, 'and here I was hoping to get some' his eyes darted towards his men, "Keep her quiet, if she looks like she might scream, slit her throat" It would be a shame of course if that happened because she fits perfectly to Kyoko, there were differences but by the time they were done. It would be hard to even notice those differences.

"Got it Snake," said one of them he heard her gag and he didn't have to look up to know exactly what had happened to keep her quite. He opened the door as shutting it behind him as he answered.

"Jia Mianju here," he said far too cheerful but it was who Jia Mianju was, an easy going happy man. A family man even if his wife was no more, he still has his beautiful little Cinderella, he didn't hate his job just some of the things in his job. He blended into the world but that was more because of his skills not because of anything that made Jia special.

"Hey, Jia... It's Sam." The man on the phone was trying not to sob and he knew exactly why that was. "Um, Sam Patterson."

"What's wrong Sam?" He was always amazed at his own skills to sound like he actually cared. The truth was he didn't care at all. Sam was to blame for what was going to happen to his daughter. He should never have shown her photo, not that he hadn't shown Ella to him in hopes of finding another girl who could fit better. He had done it with every officer that had come to him since he had been ordered to bring in Lady Kyoko. It wasn't just Heth that wanted her now, the Young Master wanted her but only if he couldn't get that one thorn of hers. He wanted her to punish Heth not because he was interested in the girl. Now he was, she fit within his type. She had class, she was strong and innocent and if he had to wait for Heth to get bored, he would. Actually, Sam's daughter was his type, she fit too. 'Such a shame, I might have been willing to let things go a different way if she had accepted me' he thought sadly.

"Um, Alice's mother called. One of the neighbors saw a couple of guys carry her out of the house. Didn't get a good look, a silver SUV though." Jia was sure that Sam was trying to keep it together. "I think it's the same guy, but I guess it's really guys now." Snake eyes turned towards the door his eyes narrowing slightly.

Concern melted from his voice, "Sam, don't worry. We'll get your girl back. Tell me where you are." He got the address, seemed he would be going to the ex-wife's house, not that Sam could work on his own daughter's case which was likely why he had been called. It was, in theory, his case, not that he was actually really trying to solve it, just make sure they didn't get caught. "I'll be there soon." He said hanging up as he looked behind him, "The SUV been spotted, need to burn it, make sure no fingerprints and that it can't be traced back here." He really hated the idea he might have to move not only his guys but Heth as well. Heth didn't have men, not like him, Heth had women. A difference between them. He turned his neck as he opened the door.

A/N: There are five so-called poisons in Chinese mythology and they are meant to stand for certain aspects of poisons: The Snake, Scorpion, Centipede, Toad, and the Spider. In some cases, the Spider is replaced by the Lizard. As for the White Paper Fan and the Straw Sandal, I'm using the Chinese Mafia titles among using other bits and things from elsewhere [like the Five Posions]