"You know your boss is playing with fire again."
That deep, silky baritone hit Kisame like an ice cube sliding down his spine, and he turned slowly around, tossing his smoking cigarette onto the floor and crushing it underneath his steel-toed boot.
A shark-like grin spread over his teal features when he caught sight of the speaker, leaning up against the wall in a deceptively relaxed stance.
"Hey, Itachi-san," he greeted the familiar blacknette, just barely refraining from rolling his eyes at the typically cryptic statement. "I'm surprised to see you here; considering the bounty the Snake's put on your head, I never thought you'd show your face again."
(Somewhat) predictably, the Reaper's eyes stayed closed and his expression remained utterly blank in the gloom of Kisame's bedchamber, causing Kisame to let out a humourless snort.
"I recognize that attitude," he scoffed, shaking his head before continuing to press. "Why are you here, Reaper? You aren't Hebi's pawn anymore, so why do you care if he's 'playing with fire', as you so eloquently put it?"
Itachi's eyes gradually began to open; but, of course, it wasn't much of an improvement since his dark coals were just as insipid as the rest of his face.
This time, at least, he actually provided a response, though.
"It is no concern of mine, but it should concern you," he pointed out enigmatically.
Kisame raised a single, barely visible eyebrow. "And why is that?"
Itachi met his faintly bewildered stare, unblinking, and though it wasn't the first time the Reaper had looked at him like that, Kisame still had to suppress a shiver.
"By turning Kai Hiwatari into a vampire, he signed his own death warrant-and the warrant for the destruction of his entire organization. As long as you stand with him, you run the risk of falling victim to that."
At first, Kisame didn't quite understand what he was trying to say-one vengeful vampire couldn't really be that much of a threat-but then, the fact that Itachi was here put the pieces together for him.
"You're working with him," he surmised with a mix of shock and bemusement, eyes widening a fraction at that realization.
Itachi tilted his head forward slightly, affirming his statement.
"And I am not the only one," he added honestly, a dark gleam entering his swirling obsidian voids as they continued to bore holes into Kisame's face. "Your now other most powerful insurgent has joined us as well."
" Kanda?" the shark quipped-but he already knew the answer. Next to Itachi, Kanda was the most powerful member who had gone rogue.
He paused a beat, then asked, "Why are you telling me? Turning Hiwatari was his play, after all. I didn't have a say then, and I certainly don't now, so you should be telling him."
Itachi pushed himself fluidly off the wall, stepping just far enough out of the shadows so Kisame could see the slight shift in his inscrutable expression as he replied.
"As you so knowledgeably pointed out, I am not the snake's pawn anymore-and this warning is not meant for him."
Kisame's frown deepened as he slowly figured out Itachi's hidden meaning and, with that, the reason for his unexpected visit.
"And what do you expect me to do about this? If I leave the Eidolons now, I'll be hunted, just like you were-and I don't really feel like looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life," the shark declared, crossing his arms over his chest.
For a moment, it wasn't clear whether Itachi had actually heard, since his eyes were focused on a point away from Kisame's tall, blue-skinned figure. But then, he responded.
"I am not asking you to leave the Eidolons. All I require from you is information."
"About what?" Kisame asked, simultaneously surprised and not surprised that that was all Itachi wanted from him.
Itachi's unblinking gaze returned to him, giving him the peculiar sensation of being x-rayed.
"I want to know where the Noah of Wrath is going to be tomorrow," he stated, his alabaster features giving nothing away. "Find that out for me, and that will be the only part you have to play in this upcoming war. At least, as far as I'm concerned."
Kisame was silent for a moment while he weighed his options. Betraying a member of the Noah by revealing information about him was definitely a risky move-but then, so was denying a request from the Reaper. Even though they'd been almost friends while he was still an Eidolon, Kisame had no doubt that Itachi would still do something horrible to him if he didn't comply.
The consequences of either choice were not appealing; but, if he were honest, he feared Itachi far more than he feared Skinn-which made his decision pretty simple.
He inhaled deeply.
"No promises, but I'll see what I can find out," he replied finally in a deceptively neutral tone, pretending like he wasn't only consenting out of self-preservation.
Itachi's dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the non-committal response; but other than that, it was impossible to tell what he thought about Kisame's answer.
"You may not want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, but whether you leave the Eidolons or not, you will have to," he pointed out as he drew his hood up and turned to exit Kisame's quarters.
He paused at the doorway, though, and shot his former partner one last look.
"You have more than one choice to make here, Kisame. I hope you make the right ones."
Before Kisame could say anything more, he was gone.
Kanda didn't know what to make of the scene he'd just overhead; hearing the Shark capitulate to aiding Uchiha so easily was even more baffling that what he'd witnessed outside with the guards.
Itachi Uchiha was just a walking, talking enigma; Kanda didn't know what to think about him, and he didn't like being in so in the dark about someone he was supposed to be working with.
Needless to say, he was felling more than a little consternation when Itachi and the incendus arrived at their agreed rendezvous point, the latter several minutes later than the former.
"What the hell happened to you?" Kanda demanded of Kai, not wasting any time with pleasantries; his gaze, however, was only partially on the vampire-the majority was focused on the Reaper.
He didn't know how he expected Kai to answer, but he wasn't surprised when the younger simply met his eyes blankly and lifted one of his shoulders in a careless shrug.
"I had some business of my own to take care of," he said evasively, tone making it clear he wasn't going to say anymore than that.
Kanda rolled his eyes at the vague explanation; he would have gotten angry if he didn't know that he could also be this hard to get answers from. And, if there was one thing he wasn't, it was a hypocrite.
Shelving the matter for now, he shifted all of his attention to Itachi.
"Did you get what we were looking for?" he queried instead of commenting on Kai's statement, though he already knew what Itachi's answer was going to be.
"I will," Itachi responded lowly without looking at him, eyes half-closed as he began to already make his way back to the compound. "I found a lead on where Bolic will be tomorrow. I expect it to pan out pretty soon, and then, you'll have what you need to eliminate your first target."
Kanda couldn't stop his eyes from narrowing at the confidence in Itachi's voice; he was speaking like he could see the future or something. But how could he possibly know for sure that Hoshigaki would actually give him what he wanted?
He didn't have a chance to ask, though, so he simply fell into step behind the Reaper and the incendus, following them back to their base in silence.
As they did so, Kanda took the opportunity to analyze their mission; it had been a guise to figure out if he could count on his new allies to have his back, and it had only been a partial failure in that way. Itachi had done what he'd said he would-though Kanda was still a little suspicious of the 'how'-but Hiwatari had just up and vanished on him. Not exactly the way to treat someone you'd asked to team up with you; but, considering the incendus' behaviour, he probably wasn't used to being on a team, so Kanda was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
For now, at least.
When they arrived back at the compound, the three separated, and Kanda returned to his quarters to think about what had just occurred.
He hadn't actually made a decision on who he wanted to go after first, but the Noah of Wrath was definitely someone he'd been considering. He and his partner, the Noah of Pleasure had never been people Kanda had tolerated very well, even when he'd been on their side. And, according to Allen, they'd tried to get to him several times in order to lure Kanda out of hiding; luckily, Allen had been able to evade them-but that endeared them to the Panther even less.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Kanda pressed his lips together while he considered the best way to take out Skinn. Taking him by surprise would probably be his best bet; he wouldn't be prepared to defend himself, and that would give Kanda a definite advantage.
But, for that plan to work, Kanda would need to know where Skinn was going to be-and Skinn couldn't know that he knew.
As if in answer to his thoughts, a few moments later, there was a knock on his door, and when he opened it, he found Itachi standing there with an olive-coloured folder in his hand.
"These are all the details of the mission Skinn will be carrying out tomorrow," he said before Kanda could utter a word, holding the folder out to him. "He will be alone-but I advise you not to be."
Kanda's brows arched as he took the folder from the elder man.
"Thanks, but I think I can handle this on my own," he retorted curtly, not even taking the time to consider the suggestion.
Itachi gave him a long, piercing stare-but he didn't try to convince Kanda to change his mind; he didn't even give an indication that he cared. He merely handed the folder over before turning and disappearing down the hall.
Kanda closed the door once he'd gone and turned on the lamp by his bed before opening the folder to examine its contents.
There were two sheets of paper inside, one of them describing the mission-a trip to extort equipment out of the head of some shady dealer-while the other contained the specs of the targets residence, where he would be the next day. And therefore, so would Skinn-and Kanda.
He landed on the roof of the midtown high-rise, the hood of his robes pulled low to conceal his face from view.
The information Itachi had gotten from his 'lead' had proven true-the Noah of Wrath was inside the building across the street, alone, on a mission. Kanda had been watching the place since early that morning, and he was ready to make his move.
However, it wasn't until Kanda saw the Noah start to exit his current location with a grin on his dark-skinned face that he drew his gleaming katana, deciding it was time.
He ran.
Arriving at the edge, he sprang off it, body arcing gracefully and sword trailing behind him. His boots hit the street below in a crouch, and he immediately sprung to his feet, making his way to the back of the building where Skinn was currently walking out to his exfiltration point.
He waited until Skinn was far enough away from the line of houses that no one would see before moving to block his path-and then, he didn't wait anymore.
He didn't waste time with words; he just lunged, aiming his katana directly for the Noah of Wrath's heart.
Skinn didn't realize what was happening in time to react-his plan to take him by surprise worked-and he couldn't defend himself as Mugen plunged straight into his chest, driving him to his knees.
Kanda loomed over him, eyes gleaming beneath the rim of his hood as he pushed the sword in further, face staying completely blank as blood began to trickle out of his victim's mouth.
"Panth-er?" the elder man choked out, grin sliding off his face as his gaze widened in uncharacteristic shock.
The samurai leaned forward, making Skinn's upper half bend backward as he brought their faces within inches of one another.
"This is for all the things you've done to Allen-and to me," he hissed, yanking Mugen out of Skinn's chest with a sickening squelching sound and kicking him onto the ground.
He was just about to leave when he heard something unexpected.
"Well, I didn't think anyone was strong enough to kill one of the Noah, but apparently, I was wrong," a distinctly Asian accent spoke from behind him, causing him to whip around, brandishing his sword and spattering blood onto the sidewalk.
Another man appeared from the shadows; a man shorter than him, with raven black hair, held back by a silk bandana and bound in a white tail that hung down past his waist.
That in and of itself was unusual, but it was the distinctly feline, slitted amber eyes that gave away the fact that this man was not human.
Those cat-like eyes raked over Kanda shrewdly.
"So," he continued in a deceptively casual drawl. "You're the great, fabled Panther, the second person to get away from the Eidolons and survive longer than a day. I would think you'd be hiding in another country, not in the heart of the ghosts' operation, killing one of their members.
Kanda's upper lip curled.
"Obviously, you're wrong about more than one thing, then," he retorted coolly, raising his sword higher in an obvious threat. "So, why don't you get out of my way, and I won't have to give you the same treatment?"
The other, however, seemed undaunted, and simply raised an eyebrow, fangs poking out of his upper lip as he continued to scrutinize Kanda like he was a mildly interesting museum exhibit.
"No, I don't think I will," he stated languidly, the glow in his eyes intensifying as his lips twisted into a cruel facsimile of a smile. "Because, you see, I happen to be one of the ones you're running from. I should have introduced myself earlier; I am Ray Kon, the lamia who had the pleasure of turning Kai Hiwatari. And you, Yu Kanda, are coming with me."
He made to pounce-presumably to capture Kanda-but some unseen force stopped him in his tracks.
And then, a third voice rang out from the mouth of the alley.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that."
Both Ray and Kanda's gaze snapped toward the source of the voice, Ray's narrowing as the shadows coalesced into the lanky form of a third man, taller than both of them, with simmering mahogany eyes that made it clear he was another vampire. And, judging by the tattoo on the left side of his neck-one that Ray bore as well-he was also another lamia.
The Chinese vampire's visage darkened with a mix of suspicion and annoyance.
"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded sharply, eyes flashing with unconcealed ire as he glared at the interloper.
The stranger met his glare disdainfully.
"How impertinent you are, Ray Kon, not to recognize one of your lifelong betters," he said, revealing a smooth, lilting voice that seeped into Kanda's ear and gave him a strange urge to bow. His brows furrowed; who was this guy?
A second later, he found out.
"I, as you should well know, am Kaname Kuran."
Ray's suspicious expression morphed abruptly into one of shock.
"You're one of the legendary Vampire Lords," he exclaimed in a tone of forced calm; then, his changed again, this time into one of consternation. "Why are you protecting him?"
He jerked his head distastefully in Kanda's direction; Kanda wasn't offended, though. He wanted to know the answer to that question himself.
Kaname's pale mouth quirked in a frigid smile.
"Why, because the Panther and I go way back; but, as to why I'm protecting him from one of my own, I made a promise to do so-one that I cannot break," the Vampire Lord explained, a cryptic gleam in his garnet orbs.
Kanda's frown deepened, while Ray seemed oddly offended.
"Lord Kiryu will not approve of this," he pointed out in a sudden colourless tone, but there was an undercurrent of venom to it, like it was meant to be a warning.
If it was, Kaname seemed largely unaffected; in fact, he seemed almost amused, letting out a singularly mirthless laugh at Ray's statement.
"Zero never approves of anything I do, so that's nothing new," he said, waving a slender hand in a careless gesture. "And I'd rather suffer the Knight's displeasure than the Reaper's wrath."
In an uncharacteristic, momentary lack of control, Kanda nearly dropped his sword. The Reaper-Uchiha? That was who Kaname had made the promise to protect him to? But why would the Reaper even care?
His eyes slanted back to the scene playing out before him, seeing the Chinese lamia raise a single dark eyebrow in evident bemusement.
"Is that so?" he challenged in what was almost a snarl, taking a step toward Kanda again, apparently free of whatever power had been holding him back. "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to."
Burgundy eyes darkened at the-this time-obvious threat, and Kaname exhaled softly before also advancing in a deceptively lazy manner, hands in the pockets of his leather trenchcoat.
"Your leader, the Hiwatari boy, wants this one's life, doesn't he?" he addressed Kanda without looking at him, loping toward the other lamia with deliberate slowness.
Kanda's forehead creased even more-if that was possible-at that question, but he answered, anyway.
"Since he turned him against his will, I would imagine so," he responded a bit warily, wondering why the Vampire Lord was asking.
Kaname nodded, and, faster than the eye could see, he smashed his fist into the younger vampire's face, causing him to crumple onto his knees.
"What the fu-?" Ray's exclamation was cut off by something that looked oddly like a muzzle being shoved into his mouth, making him gag and rendering him unable to fight back as Kaname pulled a length of leather from his pocket and lashed it around his eyes.
"Would you like him unconscious, or not?" Kaname called, holding Ray immobile by his hair.
Kanda simply stared, feeling an unfamiliar sense of puzzlement.
"Why are you helping me?" he queried, turning his sword toward the brown-haired lamia, just in case this was some kind of trick. He'd heard what the brunette had said earlier-but that didn't mean he had to believe it.
Just like with all of Ray's provocations, though, Kaname didn't bat an eyelid.
"Like I said, I made a promise to keep an eye on you-and it's one that I have to keep," he repeated flatly, and with no trace of deception.
"Why?" Kanda continued to press insistently, still not entirely convinced.
"Because the Reaper asked me to," the brunette stated simply, "And trust me, he's not the sort you want to say no to."
He stopped speaking for a moment, then, noticing Ray trying to get to his feet, and startling Kanda by grabbing him on other side of his head and snapping his neck, knocking him into unconsciousness.
"Keep out of trouble, and I won't have to interfere," he finished, then, dropping the now motionless Eidolon to the floor at Kanda's feet. He withdrew a small vial of some light blue liquid from his jacket and held it out to Kanda. "This will keep him down. He's all yours."
Kanda took the vial from him, and the Vampire Lord turned to leave.
"Wait," Kanda called after him, lowering his sword and running around to stop the brunette from leaving.
Kaname met his gaze blandly, and garnet and sapphire clashed in a silent battle of wills until Kanda spoke again.
"Why would Uchiha ask you to protect me? He doesn't even know me."
Kaname stared back at him, pale features unreadable, for nearly a full minute before replying.
"I suggest you ask him yourself," he said softly, effortlessly sidestepping the panther's slim form before departing without another word.
After he was gone, Kanda's attention turned to unconscious lamia, debating what to do with him. He didn't need the extraneous cargo, but, on the other hand, he could be a valuable source of information. And, like he'd told Kaname, he imagined Hiwatari would appreciate having him as a captive after what he'd donet to him.
Deciding it would be more prudent to take Kon with him, Kanda sheathed Mugen, and slung the comatose form over his shoulder before leaping back up toward the roof.
As he made his way back to the compound, his mind returned to what had just transpired with the Vampire Lord, and all the questions it had raised.
Why had Uchiha asked Kaname Kuran to protect him when they'd only just met? And what had made the King consent? What kind of power did the Reaper possess that even one of the legendary Vampire Lords would be afraid of saying no to him?
Kanda clenched his jaw in frustration. He wasn't used to confusion like this, and it was definitely past time for him to do something about it. He needed to find a way to get some more information about Itachi Uchiha.
And he had a pretty good idea of where he might be able to do that.