STORY WARNINGS:
YaoiMale/Male.
Rating: Mature. ADULTS ONLY. Contains graphic violence, some coarse language, explicit sexual content both consensual/non-consensual, forced/willing submission, bondage, BDSM, edging, safewords, aftercare, adult themes, guilty pleasure fantasy where you want someone to be a bit too forceful.

A/N: Happy New Year to all! May 2018 be a year to be proud of. *\(^^)/*

Now for the aftermath of the shooting. It's hard to be too surprising here, and it's a slower pace than the previous high-octane chapter, but hopefully you'll enjoy it all the same. This was another of those monster chapters that I split in two - and since it's the New Year, here's a special double update. (^^)

Here's part 1. Part 2 will follow in a few hours after final editing.

~ Nyx ~

DISCLAIMER: The Finder series and all recognisable characters belong to Yamane Ayano sensei.


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Chapter 12

Dick 1 and Dick 2.

Akihito had his own names for the two detectives. He only knew them by sight, but the way they eyed him like gum stuck on their shoes whenever they saw him dropping in on Yama-san in Major Crimes was enough to make him dislike them already. The feeling was mutual. They were bound to be more professional about these things usually but when they spotted him in the wreck of his apartment it had started with an unsympathetic, "Oh. It's you."

It was all downhill from there.

Once they established the bare bones of the case – Asami's version, of course – the police were quick to secure the crime scene while the forensic team took them all aside separately. When it came to Akihito's turn they bagged up his clothing and took swabs from everywhere – his hair, face, hands, under the fingernails, even from his nostrils.

Still on edge from the shooting, Akihito was hyperaware of everything around him. Every loud noise or sudden movement nearby sent him leaping out of his skin, and he was practically a nervous wreck by the time one of the techs brought him over to the cluster of police vans that was serving as a makeshift base of operations. Waved past one van with the blond giant and the two other bodyguards, Akihito almost wilted with relief when he climbed up into the next van to find Asami on the opposite bench. Because no matter the dangerous secrets he'd been trying to keep, something deep inside him that had nothing to do with being sensible or logical associated Asami with being safe.

Well, he was safe from everyone else, he supposed. Asami had proven that. He was only in danger from Asami himself.

He could feel Asami's gaze on him. But he couldn't bring himself to look back, nervous as hell the way everything had been left up in the air. So many questions, so many answers he didn't want to give. But that didn't stop his eyes from skittering around the tall man like a moth to a flame. How the hell did the guy still manage to look commanding in a plastic blue forensic suit? Akihito personally was doing a great impersonation of a human marshmallow.

Dick 1 was already there, tapping his pen irritatingly slowly against the notepad. "So what were you doing here... at 4 in the morning?"

Detective Sakazaki's tone was sickeningly suggestive as he stood by the open back doors of the van. He clearly knew Asami and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was on some personal vendetta. His slicked back hair and goatee had an air of slimy used-car salesman about him, and pretty much every word that came out of the thirty-something cop followed the same flavour. So far he was doing a superb job of living up to the secret moniker Akihito had given him.

"We had a charity event and I gave Takaba a ride home." Asami's simple explanation conveniently overlooked a massive chunk of the timeline.

Not that Akihito was about to point that out. Empty handed, with every single item of possession being taken as evidence, all he had to distract himself with were the folds of his blue outfit. He'd had no time to decide whether he would – or even could – go along with Asami's fabricated version of events. But he was already in deep shit with Asami as it was. Until he'd committed either way, he wanted to avoid pissing the bastard off any further and he tried not to give anything away as Asami smoothly lied his ass off.

"Not that it's any of your business," Asami added.

Sakazaki sneered, giving the blond a leering once-over that made the hairs stand up on the back of Akihito's neck. "It's like that, is it?"

On second thoughts, maybe the name Creep suited him better.

"Knock it off, Sakazaki. It's obviously not going to be like that, is it? Is it, Asami-sama?"

That was Dick 2, although now that Akihito had seen Detective Sudoh interacting with Asami, he was considering revising the name to Lovesick. Because Sudoh was pining, there was no other word for it. Beautiful, almost effeminate Detective Sudoh with his tailored suit hugging his trim figure was more often draped over Asami than not. He exploited every excuse he could to lean close to Asami, all while casting pointed glances at Akihito.

They were both blonds, but whereas Sudoh's every movement was willowy and graceful, Akihito was currently as twitchy as a squirrel on crack. As if he needed any help demonstrating that, just then several car doors slammed at the same time, sending his whole body jolting and his heart almost ricocheting out of his chest. His head banged on the van roof as he leaped up, which promptly made him collapse back onto the bench again. And only then did he belatedly realise how much he was overreacting.

"Shit," he muttered as he dropped his head and tried to get his breathing back under control. Which he did, grabbing onto the only solid thing close to hand while the crinkling of plastic accompanied a reassuring caress up and down, up and down, unceasing over his arm...

Asami was rubbing his arm... while he clung to Asami's knee...

Akihito scrambled back with a jittery laugh. "Ah sorry, don't mind me. I'm just being stupid."

"No one's arguing with you there," Sudoh muttered under his breath. They all heard it though. Yep, that was Dick 2 alright.

Akihito's eyes flashed but Dick 1 stepped in before the two of them could start an altercation. "So what kind of charity event has the illustrious Asami-san occupied all night?" Sakazaki mused.

The 'san' honorific most commonly used between equals was a blatant slight in place of the more formal 'sama' that people tended to opt for when addressing the business mogul. Except for Akihito, of course. He frowned, suddenly wondering if Asami found him as coarse as Akihito found this detective... But surely Asami would have picked Akihito up on it if it pissed him off? He was hardly the type to hold back, after all he hadn't been shy about threatening Akihito over the encrypted thumb drive or the laptop.

"Was it... personal?" Sakazaki leered.

"With this punk? Don't be ridiculous," Sudoh scoffed.

Akihito occupied himself with watching two forensic technicians emerge from his apartment building with two black cases, probably containing more pieces of his life. Why was Sudoh working this case? It was a conflict of interest if there ever was one. But Sakazaki merely rolled his eyes and Akihito wondered if this was a regular occurrence. Maybe Asami engineered it this way somehow to bias any investigations, Akihito joked silently to himself with a thread of hysteria that might have manifested into a cackle if he wasn't running on empty.

"That has no relevance to this case," Asami replied with the same even control.

"You were involved in a shooting and it's our job to establish all the facts in the lead up and the aftermath. We'll be the judge of what's relevant."

"As I already told you, my bodyguard did the shooting. Takaba and I were merely bystanders."

"Of course." Sakazaki's brown eyes ran over Akihito like a piece of fungus under the microscope, but he continued addressing Asami. "So being merely bystanders, when the lab analyses the swabs and clothing we took from you, we'll find no trace of GSR, right?"

Asami's face was the picture of innocent puzzlement. "GSR?"

The glee that came over Sakazaki was so obvious it was practically another coating over the slimy face. "Gunshot residue. It's a little thing we like to use in forensics to prove that someone has recently fired a gun."

Paramedics had given Akihito temporary dressings on his arm and feet until he could be treated more properly at hospital. He squeezed his arm, just enough to redirect his attention and not give anything away.

"Oh, I see," Asami mused with his own theatrically affected comprehension. "In that case, then yes, of course, you will find GSR on me." There was a pregnant pause. "I was at my private gun range with several of my security detail earlier this evening. My guards and I would all have GSR on our hands."

"A private gun range!" Sudoh gushed like it was a dream come true. Akihito raised his brow at him. That was practically a sex voice.

Sakazaki levelled a hard look at the totally unflustered businessman. "A private gun range?" he repeated flatly.

"Yes," Asami confirmed as though it was perfectly normal.

"Then presumably you also own a firearm?"

"Yes."

"Which is?"

Asami gave him a look. "A Česká zbrojovka handgun. Your forensics team has it."

"That's a rather... specific choice, isn't it?"

"It's an innovative design produced with unrivalled manufacturing processes. Are my personal preferences in firearms also relevant to the facts of the case?" The mockery in Asami's voice was subtle but it wasn't lost on any of them. Akihito and Sakazaki, at least. Sudoh was probably oblivious.

"Has it been fired recently?"

"Yes. My bodyguard, Suoh, he used it when he shot the intruders."

Akihito found a fascinating crease on his marshmallow suit.

Sakazaki levelled a hard stare. "Your bodyguard shot the intruders? With your gun? While you were next to each other? And you and your bodyguards would all have GSR on your hands?"

Even to Akihito the brazen words Asami was calmly delivering were sounding more and more ridiculous by the second. Surely Detective Dick 1 would just pop the big fat balloon printed LIAR with a big fat needle...

Sakazaki sneered without humour. "How convenient. I presume you have a licence for this firearm?"

"But of course. By special dispensation."

"But of course," Sakazaki imitated. His eyes narrowed. "And what about the gas leak evacuation, which just happened to be for Takaba's floor and the floors above and below? Another convenient coincidence?"

"Perhaps building maintenance can help you there," Asami shrugged.

Sakazaki fumed in silence. Akihito jolted when a uniformed officer rushed by speaking on his radio, but otherwise he kept his head down and avoided looking at anybody. He was being so quiet that if Yama-san could see him now the gruff detective would think him critically ill, at death's door for sure. He'd never held his tongue so well in his life.

Sudoh cleared his throat. "We should get you all back to the precinct so we can take a full signed statement. We'll need every little detail, of course. Perhaps I can take you through yours, Asami-sama."

He blinked up at Asami with a smile teasing his lips that was about as subtle as a meteor landing on a house. Akihito wanted to smack it off his beautiful face – and then scowled for thinking such a thing. What the hell had come over him?

Luckily he was too busy being annoyed at himself to react all guilty when Sakazaki suddenly focused on him. "I'm sure you just want to get this all over and done with as soon as possible, Takaba. Why don't I escort you to the hospital? We can start on your statement at the same time."

Sakazaki's thin smile gave Akihito the creeps. He could feel the weight of Asami's gaze boring into him but he still couldn't meet those eyes that would have seen right through him.

Akihito floundered inside, still without the foggiest what he was going to do. He shuffled to the edge of the bench as he was motioned out of the van.

"It's a pity Yamazaki's not on duty," Sudoh remarked snidely with mock sympathy. "You could've cried on his shoulder. It's terrible what happened, you must be so frightened."

Was Asami making the connection with the name from the phone call he overhead before? Akihito didn't dare look over. He did, however, turn to Sudoh after a moment. "You're very pretty," Akihito commented. He smiled all sweet like. "I guess that's how you get away with being so vapid."

Asami made an odd sound that turned into a cough. Sakazaki wasn't so discrete, barking a loud laugh.

Sudoh looked from one to the other, frowning, knowing it wasn't anything complimentary but not actually knowing what the word meant. He clearly didn't want to ask but with even Asami's eyes glinting in amusement, he ground out, "What... what's that?"

Akihito hopped down from the van, quoting innocently, "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."

"What the hell's that?" Sudoh pressed angrily as a smile played on the corner of Asami's lips.

Sakazaki guffawed without grace as he led Takaba away. "He's calling you a bland idiot, you idiot."

Behind them they could hear Sudoh's furious grumbling and Asami's murmured reassurances about Takaba not knowing how capable Sudoh was at his job. That certainly wasn't the impression Akihito had had, or maybe Sudoh just turned into a useless pile of goo around Asami. Or maybe this was more manipulation on Asamii's part...

They were nearly ran over by an unmarked sedan that screeched to a halt in their path, almost giving Akihito a cardiac arrest.

Sakazaki scurried to attention and snapped a salute. "Superintendent General Matsui."

"Detective," was the gruff return from the distinguished salt-and-pepper haired man who alighted. "What happened here?"

Holy mackerel, it was the Chief of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department himself. His uniform was serious business. Hard lines marked a harder countenance. Akihito had the distinct impression that this man didn't play games like Dick 1 and Dick 2. The name rang a bell – where had he heard it before?

"Sir. There were seven intruders bearing firearms, they were targeting Takaba Akihito here. Asami Ryuichi was with him at the time and it appears that one of his bodyguards shot them all dead."

Matsui immediately picked up on Sakazaki's cynicism. "Appears?"

"The facts have yet to be established. I am taking Takaba-san to the hospital to treat minor injuries and for his statement."

"The others?"

"In those two vans there." Sakazaki indicated where several police officers watched the open doors from a short distance.

"The deceased?"

"We have yet to identify them."

"Very well. As you were. I want a full update back at the precinct."

"Yes, sir."

Sakazaki lost no time herding Akihito to a police car and into the back. As the door was slammed closed, Akihito looked back through the window to see Matsui stop by the van they'd just left, receiving salutes from every officer he passed. He said a few words to Sudoh before waving him off. As the blond detective rushed off somewhere, Matsui remained by the van, exchanging words with Asami but standing sideways on and barely looking at the crime lord, before giving courteous nod, holding it a fraction too long to simply be a nod. He moved on to direct some officers to push back the reporters and members of the public craning their necks at the police cordon.

Sakazaki slid into the driver's seat. "It'll be quick to the hospital at this time of morning, there's little traffic."

Akihito was reeling at the exchange he'd just seen. That hadn't been a first meeting. That was a meeting between two people accustomed to not drawing attention to being seen together. And that nod – the Superintendent General had been bowing to Asami...

Then Akihito remembered where he'd heard the name before. It was Asami on the phone, in his office just before he'd abducted Akihito to his own home to pull apart the bullet-riddled laptop: Warn Kuroda and Matsui. I don't want the police anywhere near this.

A chill raced up his spine. Just how far did Asami's influence reach?

Akihito glanced up as they drove past. For just a brief moment he was struck by Asami's gaze – molten gold ensnared him in the dusk light, searing with warning, encircling him with reassurance, inescapable both.


Akihito didn't want Sakazaki leaning all over him. The guy's breath stank, his aftershave was cloying and the goatee even tickled his cheek a few times as the detective crowded him over the seat. Akihito was fighting not to gag.

"I told you, it was all a–"

"All a blur," Sakazaki broke in, exasperation colouring his tone as he finished the habitual phrase. "So you've said. Many times."

Akihito didn't know how many times they'd already been over it, both at the hospital while getting the gash in his arm stitched closed and having his feet cleaned of splinters and glass, and here at the precinct. Sakazaki was determined to try and trip him up, but Akihito was saying so little that there wasn't much to trip over.

"Is Yama-san here yet?"

"I told you, his shift doesn't start till later."

It was another repetitive exchange and Sakazaki replied without even bothering to check the time. Before they could launch into another loop of what really happened with the assailants, there was a sharp rap at the door and a uniformed copper stepped in to hand the detective two manila files, one significantly thicker than the other.

Sakazaki eyeballed the top sheet inside of both with a glint of triumph. It was fleeting at most, gone in the blink of an eye, but with his defenses already cranked to max, Akihito didn't miss it. Sakazaki slammed the files down beside each other on the table, leaning back where he sat beside Akihito, the chair turned to face him, hemming him in with spread knees.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. You seem like a decent kid, and I know you try and do things for the right reasons." He made a great show of sighing heavily and drooping his shoulders and tone as though in regret.

Akihito eyed him with extreme suspicion.

"I don't know what you know about Asami Ryuichi but he's a person of interest in another investigation. Another shootout." Sakazaki tapped the thicker file. "You must have heard about the three yakuza members being gunned down last week. The evidence seems to suggest they were caught trafficking children and went down in a gun battle with a rival gang, possibly a feud between two branches of a single organised crime syndicate. But there's a witness who curiously reported seeing the same men in a meeting with a Diet member, Kondo Tetsuya, just before he took supposedly took his own life. Now that's a remarkable coincidence, don't you think?"

Akihito didn't dare move. Or breathe. Was that true? It was Kondo that Asami had shot dead in the video. Why had Kondo met with the human traffickers that Akihito suspected Asami had also dealt with? What the hell was going on?

Sakazaki leaned even closer. "What's even stranger is that we also have witnesses who place an unidentified man fitting Asami's description at the scene of the shooting, actively involved in the shootout between the two gangs. Now, we all know that Asami is an upstanding citizen with no connection to organised crime, so this is just baffling. In your opinion, would you say Asami could shoot someone?"

Akihito had never had his walls up so high. "In my opinion? In my opinion, anyone can. You simply pull the trigger, right?"

Sakazaki's face twitched with the effort to suppress his temper at Akihito's continued lack of cooperation. "At a practice range, yes. But this was a frenzied shootout with bullets flying everywhere, hundreds of rounds, except this one unidentified person shot and killed three men, all kill shots, without wasting a single bullet. They were precision shots, Takaba. It was more than simply pulling the trigger." Sakazaki sighed. "If Asami is a murderer, we need to know. Anything you can tell me will help with his profiling, and help get a dangerous man off the streets."

Akihito turned slowly to look at him. "So you have no hard evidence of Asami being at this other shootout and want to pin him on tonight instead?"

The mask of brotherly concern dropped away and Sakazaki stared coldly, tired of the good cop act. Akihito would have bet his next pay check that Sudoh usually filled that role.

"If he's killed anyone, even in self defence, we need to investigate accordingly. If you lie, you'll be an accessory."

Sakazaki flicked open the thinner file and shoved it in front of Akihito, sending it spinning a little across the metal table. Akihito froze as he saw the contents. They were his court records. His sealed and redacted court records, now unsealed and unredacted...

"Wh- Where did you get these...?"

"I had a judge grant an emergency release of the records in view of the nature of the case." Sakazaki sneered. "You were running your own investigation into Asami so you must have had some suspicions already, if not hard evidence. Right? What do you know?"

Akihito stared mutely at the spread of papers in front of him.

"You're already in the middle of serving a community sentence. But if you help with our investigations, we might be able to come to some arrangement. Speak to the judge on your behalf, request for leniency in view of your cooperation. Or," Sakazaki murmured, leaning right into Akihito's personal space, "we can even have your record expunged, total pardon, if you have information that gets Asami locked up for good. A clean slate." The slimy voice dropped alluringly. It made Akihito feel sick. "What really happened tonight? Asami's not here now. You can tell me. It was Asami who killed those men, wasn't it? Not his bodyguard?"

Akihito still remained silent.

Sakazaki waited, and waited, but when a reply was still not forthcoming, he snapped right into Akihito's ear. "Asami's a murderer and you're helping him if you hide that fact. If you're an accessory to murder, it'll be jail term. Not only that, but who knows, maybe the perps in your secure new home will find out exactly who you are, and I'm sure there'll be several there who'd love to thank you personally for your help in rehoming them there. Don't you think so?"

Sakazaki let that unsavoury thought hang in the air for a minute before he was trying to tempt Akihito again, his voice sickly sweet. "All you have to do is give me something. Just say that you saw Asami kill them – hell, say they surrendered and he still killed them! Just give me something, Takaba."

Akihito sat frozen.

Asami's life, for his own. Throw Asami under the bus so Akihito wouldn't be thrown in jail and be murdered by the very people he'd helped the police lock up... Between a rock and a hard place, if there ever was one.

Asami had saved his life, there were no two ways about it. Threatened it too, but he'd always known where he stood with Asami. Betray, and be shot. Lie, and be punished. An eye for an eye. And a man of Asami's calibre would have done it himself. But this sleazebag who was purportedly an enforcer of the law was devious and underhanded and threatening him with revenge from the dregs of society that Akihito had helped lock up. And Sakazaki didn't even seem to care if Akihito exaggerated the truth...

Wondering when he'd started using words like 'calibre' and 'Asami' in the same breath, Akihito tried to swallow but it felt like swallowing glass. He knew what he had to do, the only course of action that sat right with him. So why then did it feel like he was cast adrift with no anchor?

"Can I have some water?"

Sensing a decision made, Sakazaki leaned close, dropping his voice. "Talk to me, Takaba. You're safe here. What do you know?"

So Akihito told the truth.


"The assailants and Asami's men, they're all jumbled together in my head, I don't know who came in when and I didn't see. There were so many bullets flying around and I was scared, I had my head down. All I know is, at the end, there were seven bodies and Suoh was holding the gun. There's nothing else I can tell you."

That was the statement he gave. Akihito had taken a page out of Asami's book and there were glaring omissions in the narrative, but it was all technically true.

Sakazaki was livid. He was shouting and gesticulating wildly, spit flying out of his mouth, when the Superintendent General himself barged in and dragged the detective out.

They returned minutes later, Sakazaki blatantly still furious with Akihito, but bowing his head and muttering apologies for his behaviour. Matsui led Akihito out to the waiting room with assurances that Asami would also soon be finished. Akihito hadn't really wanted to see the daunting chief of the Met PD, knowing everything would likely get reported back to Asami, but at least with his authority he was able to sign the release of Akihito's phone, keys and wallet when asked.

Akihito didn't stick around. Repeatedly refusing offers for trauma counselling but eventually taking the folded leaflet just to shut them up, he was gone as soon as they confirmed he was free to go.


Bundles of blankets and coats softly rose and fell, the occasional leg or arm strewn about, all to the rhythmic, overlapping drone of snoring. Akihito glanced about Kou's living room and began tiptoeing through, careful of both sleeping bodies and the abrasions on his feet.

At least the kitchen was a separate room with a door. Shutting out the slumbering overspill of Kou's all-night party, he hit the lights only to discover someone out cold in here as well. But the guy didn't even twitch, just continued snoring and drooling as Akihito stepped over him and set about making coffee. Kou had one of those instant hot water dispensers, near-boiling water on tap. Akihito grabbed a mug and shook the coffee straight in. Strong. Super black.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Seeing the caller ID, he experienced a heaviness he wasn't used to feeling with this friend as he stirred his caffeine kick.

"Hey."

"What the hell?" came the immediate yelling from the other end as though they'd been bursting to shout at him. "It just goes from bad to worse, doesn't it? I told you to stay away from him!"

"Good morning to you too, Yama-san."

There was an unintelligible grunt. "Geez, Takaba!" There was a long pause, and an even longer sigh. "Are you ok?"

"Have you calmed down now?" Akihito added three sugars. He reckoned he deserved a bit of calorie-high oomph after the night he'd had.

"What the fuck are you asking me that for, of course I haven't calmed down! You were involved in a shooting!"

Akihito smiled tiredly at the gruff concern. He added another spoon of sugar. "Nishizuma was after Z4m4 M1r0."

There was dead silence on the other end, just the snoring in the kitchen. "...What?"

"I thought you'd know."

Yamazaki grunted. "Sudoh was being all pissy so the boss sent him off somewhere. And Sakazaki hasn't let me near his notes, he seems to hate me for some reason."

"He always hates you."

"More than usual."

"Hmm. Must be because I kept asking for you. And I completely pissed him off. So by extension, you completely pissed him off."

"Gee, thanks." Papers shuffled. "Hey, punk... You ok? I heard you weren't hurt but... you sound spaced out."

Akihito hissed as the coffee burned his tongue, blew across the steam, and took another tentative sip. "I've barely slept. People shot at me. I'm processing."

"Right..."

"And I was hurt. I had to have eight stitches. And I hurt my feet. And I have bruises..." He trailed off as he remembered that the finger-shaped marks on his hips were from before the shooting, from certain... bedroom... activities...

"You're fucking with me right? You're complaining about eight stitches and sore feet when Nishizuma was trying to pump you with lead?"

Akihito stilled at that outburst.

Even the seasoned detective seemed to regret it. "Takaba I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put it like that –"

"Asami saved my life."

Silence from the other end again, even heavier this time. There was something in Yamazaki's voice when he finally replied. "How'd you mean?"

Akihito let out a hollow laugh. He wondered if Sakazaki had tried to tap Yamazaki's phone. "He shielded me when the bullets started flying, until his guards took control." Again, no lies. Just extremely selective truth. "You'd be having this conversation with my corpse if it wasn't for Asami." That, though, was cold hard truth that didn't need any padding.

"Hey, Takaba... You know that doesn't make everything right, you know? Everything we know about him, he's still guilty."

Oh, he knew, alright. He knew all too well.

"And we still have to bring him down."

"We? What happened to you insisting that I move on to a new target?"

"That was then. This is now. If you've seen anything, and I'm not saying you have, but if you have... he doesn't leave witnesses."

Akihito thought back to the witnesses Sakazaki had mentioned, the ones who'd allegedly placed Asami at the gang shootout –

His thoughts suddenly caught up with the obvious omission he hadn't spotted before. If those witnesses were still alive, they could have testified, and Sakazaki wouldn't have needed Akihito's possibly embellished evidence from a self-defence killing. Were they still alive? What kind of mess had he gotten involved in? He leaned weakly on the counter.

The gruff voice waded in between his thoughts. "You know that leverage you mentioned before – "

Akihito froze. "I told you –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you didn't mean it like that. But just suppose you did... wherever you have it, just keep it safe."

Akihito slurped some more coffee instead of answering.

"Don't put it anywhere someone can steal it."

"You're worrying over nothing."

"But V1P3R –"

"There's nothing, alright?" Akihito blurted, before sighing. "Look, it doesn't matter anyway so don't sweat it, ok? The stress isn't good for your wrinkles and you already look like my grandpa."

"Takaba –"

"I have to go. Do me a solid and see if you can get anything out of Sakazaki, yeah? I need to know if Nishizuma's still after me."

"Takaba –!"

"I'll catch you later. Bye."

"Ta–"

Akihito killed the call.

He grabbed his keys out of his pocket and tossed them on the counter next to his phone. There were four keys – his apartment and mailbox, Kou's apartment, and his parents' house, dangling from a metal Daruma [round bearded red Dharma doll, often a talisman of good luck] keychain. He ran his nail under the curve of the Daruma's chin and pushed, and it popped back to reveal a small compartment underneath. Akihito shook it upside down until a miniature memory chip fell out.

The footage of Asami shooting Kondo dead – what would Yama-san and Sakazaki say if they ever learned that the evidence they so desperately sought had been in their possession, hidden right under their nose? Asami's life as he knew it was in Akihito's hands, in the memory chip lying on the kitchen counter.


The smoke alarm blared rudely through the sleepy morning. Some bolted awake and rushed about trying to flap the smoke away from the smoke detector, others stumbled about in search of water or the bathroom. Or a bucket. There were twenty people rushing or staggering about with varying levels of lucidity and coordination, and it was into this frenzy that the cops arrived. It was pandemonium.

Akihito could have done without the sight of the police charging in again. But drawn out of the kitchen by the sudden uproar, he caught Kou's eyes across the sea of flailing bodies tumbling about amongst the uniformed officers and they burst out laughing...

Until he saw Yama-san wading his way towards him through the heaving mass, followed closely by Sakazaki.

He knew why they had come. And that was the harrowing moment – not the mugging or the shootout, not anything to do with Asami, but here and now when his long-suffering mentor, someone he'd trusted and even considered a friend, had broken their unspoken but inherent understanding of confidence – that was when something died in Akihito.

It was a cold day when he thought he could understood a little of Asami's take on betrayal.


"When you're done proving yourselves wrong, you're going to put Kou's place all back together and clean up."

Akihito glared as the two detectives and three forensic technicians tore his friend's apartment apart. Of course he was furious with them, but he was also furious with himself for bringing Kou into this. He shouldn't have come here.

"Where is it, Takaba?"

"I told you, there's nothing to find!" Akihito yelled back to Dick 1 digging around in the bedroom.

Kou was sprawled out on the settee. He dropped his head back over the backrest and rolled it from side to side, looking around. "Why do I have my table there? It's all the way on the other side from the kitchen."

Akihito scrunched his face up. "Kou, I'm sorry."

"I should move my table. It's on the wrong side of the living room."

Akihito peered closely at his friend, wondering if he was losing it.

"Dude, chill," Kou laughed it off. "I needed a good clean up after the party last night anyway, it's no biggie."

"We're going to find it anyway," Yamazaki insisted from where he was pulling apart the bookcase across the room. "You might as well tell us and save your friend all this grief."

"You're the ones who're going to clean up!" Akihito yelled back. He was about to apologise to Kou again but his friend was already waving him off. Akihito sighed. "So who were they? Your new friends?" He hadn't recognised most of them before they'd been searched and sent away by the forensics guys.

Kou shrugged. "Met them at Dracaena last night. Think it started with a drinking game, or maybe it was a dare? Bah, I can't remember. They were a good laugh though, you missed all the fun."

But Akihito had barely heard beyond the first few words. "Did you say Dracaena? Club Dracaena?"

"Yeah...?" Kou looked confused.

"That's..." It was one of Asami's clubs operating under the Sion Global umbrella. "What the hell were you doing somewhere so high class?"

"Don't sound so surprised about it!"

"Says Mr tank top and trousers with half a leg missing."

"Hey! This was your fault last time you stayed, you were so trolleyed you were convinced Takato's paper cut needed a bandage! Made from my trousers!"

"Stopped the bleeding, didn't it?" Akihito grinned.

"It was a fucking paper cut! Besides, you're not dressed much better. What's up with the grey and grey?"

The smile faded. "It's all they had," Akihito said quietly. The sweatshirt and joggers were police issue spares. He hadn't had time to change before the police had gate crashed.

Kou frowned, suddenly serious as he sat up. He'd never seen his exuberant friend looking so troubled and unsure. "Aki? You ok?"

The shadows of confusion were almost tangible in the hazel eyes. "... I don't know."

Kou opened his mouth to ask more but something surged through Akihito, a prickling heat that rushed with a hundred legs up his spine and left him quaking, and he knew who was behind him even before Kou stared wide-eyed over his shoulder and Sakazaki's slimy voice sing-songed from the bedroom doorway.

"Well, well. Asami-san, I was wondering when you'd show up."


Kou stared between Akihito, the detectives and the stunning man who looked like a million dollars in his dark three-piece suit and flanked by intimidating guards. There was something of the dark side of the moon about the guy.

"I take it one of your informants at the precinct tipped you off," Yamazaki griped.

"Informants? Who would that be?" Asami asked perfectly innocently.

Akihito couldn't seem to be able to pull his eyes away. Asami wasn't letting up, clearly coming straight here once the police had released him and he'd gotten changed. Akihito was screwed. Royally. In so many ways.

Sakazaki folder his arms. "Come to check on your pet? Were you worried he'll rat you out after all?"

"You make it sound as if there's something underhanded going on. I only came to see how Takaba is holding up."

Yamazaki wasn't about to let it slide that easily. "How did you know where he was? Are you having him followed?"

Asami eyed him patronizingly. "His apartment was destroyed. This seemed a reasonable guess."

"Actually this is perfect," Sakazaki sneered. "You're right here, all ready to be arrested when we find what Takaba has found for us."

Golden eyes slid over to the young man, and although the expression seemed mild, when their eyes met Akihito felt like the intense gaze punched a hole right through him. Inside, under his cool exterior, Asami was simmering.

"And what would that be, exactly?"

Yamazaki sneered at the supposedly innocuous question. "Knowing Takaba, it'll be damning. He called it 'leverage'."

Asami didn't look at him but Akihito still felt the force of his intent like a train. It was one thing for Nishizuma's men to drop the bomb and reveal his secret online persona, but it was a whole other shit and fan to be alluding to his working with the police in front of Asami. Did he mention he was screwed?

He doesn't leave witnesses.

With Yama-san's words echoing in his head, Akihito turned to his friend watching them all wide-eyed. "Kou, weren't you going to go look for a new bike today? You should go."

"He's staying right here."

"Yama-san –"

"He's a witness and your friend. We need to question him about what you've told him."

"I haven't told him anything!"

"We'll have to see, won't we?"

"Then talk to him later!"

"He's not cleared to go. If he tries to leave, we'll arrest him too for aiding and abetting."

Akihito stared in disbelief at the detective he'd known for so many years. "Why are you being such a dick?"

Yamazaki wasn't moved. "You're the one withholding evidence. All you have to do is produce it and there'll be no issue."

One of the forensic technicians approached with a transparent evidence bag from the kitchen.

Sakazaki held it aloft for them all to see as his face twisted. "What the hell...?"

Tiny, singed, burned out bits of what might have once been something electronic lay at the bottom of the bag.

Akihito's gaze slid involuntarily to Asami's. The taller man looked back, his face oh so carefully void of any expression. It made Akihito's gut plummet even more.

"Where did you get this?" Sakazaki asked the tech.

"From the microwave, sir."

There was a furious grunt before Yamazaki grabbed Akihito by the front of his sweats. "What the fuck did you do?"

"What are you doing? Get off me!" Akihito tried to shove him away but he couldn't loosen the grip on the jumper.

Yamazaki was all up in his face. "You destroyed it? You fucking destroyed it?"

Akihito gave a crooked grin. "And what would 'it' be? 'It' could be anything that 'accidentally' got smashed to bits and fried."

Sakazaki rounded on the alarmed tech. "Can you get anything off this?"

She spread her hands, glancing uncertainly at the other detective manhandling a civilian. "We can try, sir, but it's not likely. The microwaves would most likely have vaporised the wire traces that hold any data."

"Shit!" Sakazaki tossed the bag back to her. "Try anyway!"

Yamazaki shook Akihito by the sweatshirt. "What was it, you stupid punk? Huh? What the fuck was –"

"That's enough, don't you think?" Asami coolly twisted the detective's hand off Akihito and flicked it away, the movement appearing easy but backed by deceptive force. It was enough to drive Yamazaki back a step. "This is unprofessional."

Ironically, it was Sakazaki who was the voice of reason as he yanked Yamazaki back from blowing up at the crime lord. The giant blond bodyguard was looming way too close. And knowing Asami, he could turn this into a case of police brutality and easily get them kicked back to traffic duty.

Yamazaki shook the other detective off, regaining some self-control but still fuming at Akihito. "Asami was your target, Takaba. You don't use the word 'leverage' unless you had something damning, and don't even think I'll let you off with your lame-ass evasion again. What was it?"

Akihito's eyes flew back and forth between Yamazaki and Asami. "What the hell, Yama-san, he's standing right here!"

"Couldn't be more perfect. Just 'fess up so we can clap him in chains."

A memory struck Akihito and he stared at Yamazaki as though he was seeing the detective for the first time. "My God, it's like with the Sato group all over again."

"Sato? What are you –" Yamazaki suddenly stopped, his mouith forming an O. "That was completely different. Sato's lieutenant deleted the files before you were able to get to them. This is you, wilfully destroying evidence!"

"But you were just as mad then! And you kept pushing me when I told you it was too risky, I nearly got caught! You don't care about me at all, do you? All you care about is getting the intel."

"Of course I care, you punk, we've been working together for nearly ten years!"

Akihito threw up his hands. "Great, why not throw that out there too? 'Cos this is what you do, right?"

"What I do what? All I've ever done is watch your back!"

"Then what the hell's with your shitty attitude?"

"You sold out!"

Shocked silence greeted Yamazaki's bellow.

Akihito was so furious it took him a while to find his voice again. "I sold out?" he breathed. He was so mad he was shaking. "I sold out? Who's the one who told Sakazaki what I said? We don't repeat what we tell each other. Ever. But now you threaten my friend and you're bringing all this shit up in front of Asami. Why don't you take a good hard look in the mirror, Yama-san. You fucking sold me out!"

Yamazaki was too lost in red to hit the brakes now. He charged full speed ahead in scathing derision. "But Asami's innocent, right? Why would it matter what we said in front of him, he wouldn't do anything to you, would he?"

Akihito was stunned to stillness, his anger swept aside by bitter, aching betrayal. This was the detective who'd watched out for him since the beginning, who'd taught him to protect his anonymity when he was still wet behind the ears, who'd tipped him off to corruption and made arrests based on Z4m4 M1r0's intel.

The shattering of their trust sounded in his ears like crystal being smashed to smithereens. His voice dropped with strain. "But you believe he could. Whatever's true or not, you believe it. You're deliberately putting my life on the line to try and force my hand. You're putting the evidence first. Just like you always have."

Yamazaki only now seemed to sense the damage he'd caused. He stepped closer, his hand half reaching out, half to reason – "Takaba, you know I didn't mean –"

Pain shadowed Akihito's face and burned his eyes. "I thought we were partners, Yama-san. Whatever I owed you for keeping me out of juvie, you've just wiped it clean. We're finished."