A/N: Akihito's in trouble (are we surprised?). Third day in a row for a new chapter! :D I'm taking a break for my birthday tomorrow so unfortunately it won't be four chapters in four days, sorry :P It's a heavier chapter again but unfortunately we need the drama to make the fluff all the sweeter!

By the time Akihito had deemed it safe to head back to his scooter and head home, he only had time for a few hours' sleep before he was up and off to the police station. He had carefully cleaned out the wound on his hand, it wasn't too deep to need stitches but it hurt like hell and ran across the top of his palm, just under the joints of his last three fingers on his right hand. He had patched it up as best as he could before grabbing what little sleep he had time for. The trip to the police station had been uneventful, the photos were enough evidence to issue a search warrant on Kikkawa's properties to try and get enough concrete proof to put him away for good. The officer at the station had warned him to lay low for a while as Kikkawa was not going to be happy about being caught and Akihito was inclined to agree with him. He had mentally promised not to lose his guards for a while and take a few safer commissions until it all blew over. His editor was exceptionally pleased with the photos he had taken, the ones that the police had cleared to go to press, and had promised him a big bonus for such a scandalous scoop.

He was now sitting outside a hospital taking photos for a magazine commission. He had worked with this particular magazine regularly for a while now as their main photographer, it was a small scale magazine with its focus being on soulmates. They included any new scientific research in that field, lots of speculation and many personal stories both heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Once again he was working on a much sadder story. Now having his own soulmate, these stories struck a much deeper cord with him. He aware just how lucky he was to have even met Asami and that they are able to see each other regularly. He fidgeted with his camera, the wound on his hand pressing against it in a painful way. The poor girl in front of him was starting to cry already, barely having begun her story and he snapped off one last picture before lowering the camera, not wanting to be rude. No doubt the photo that would be used would be the one with the tears for maximum heart-wrench though.

"I work here in the emergency room as a nurse. He was in a car accident and was brought in by ambulance." She paused to take a shuddering breath before bravely ploughing on. "He was barely conscious and there was so much blood. The doctors were desperately trying to hook him up to fluid and oxygen and I just reached out and grabbed his hand, trying to offer some comfort you know? He was so scared. That's when it happened." She had to stop for a few minutes to get herself back under control. "Our c-chests lit up and like, flashed. He seemed to be less scared while I held his hand. It was like time stood still for those few seconds and I heard him whisper 'thank you'. After that time suddenly went double time and he was whisked away to the operating room. H-he… He d-died on the table." Her sobs renewed and the interviewer sat down beside her and gently gathered the girl into her arms and rocked her while she cried.

The interviewer was an older lady by the name Mae, whose goal in life was to find her own soulmate and record the joys and sorrows of other people's soulmate stories. She was the owner and head editor of the monthly magazine. It was just her and Akihito for most of the interviews and while she was always incredibly comforting to the criers, he was always left standing off to the side feeling incredibly awkward. The girl finally quietened down and sat back up, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, Mae always came with a pack handy; people were just as likely to break down in tears of happiness as they were in sadness.

"Do either of you have soulmates?"

Mae shook her head, "I'm still searching; maybe one day I'll find my other half."

Akihito hesitated before answering with a soft yes. Mae looked at him in surprise, he had forgotten to tell her seeing as it had happened after their last shoot. "I only just found him recently, it's been a few weeks now."

"What's it like?"

He sat down on the girls other side. "Uhh, well… It's been kinda crazy. It's like nothing's changed and yet everything's changed. The first week was like a dream. I think if something had happened to him then, I would have just laughed it off as one big, crazy dream and been fine. But now… It's only been like what, three weeks? Yet it feels like months already. I feel like I'm in too deep and it's terrifying and yet somehow I still manage to not feel scared." Akihito paused for a minute and tried to gather his thoughts. "We are very different. I don't know him that well yet but he's very possessive and controlling and filthy rich. I'm the complete opposite," He barked out a laugh. "I'm rebellious and reckless and I care more about my freedom than any amount of money in the world. We've just started to butt heads and I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble after disobeying him yesterday." Mae looked at him with raised eyebrows and he ducked his head in embarrassment, mumbling; "I don't like being told what to do."

The girl was pulling at the hem of her t-shirt, not looking at either of them as she spoke; "I'm a little jealous but… Do you believe that you get a soulmate for a reason?" She didn't give them a chance to answer before continuing. "I do. I think that I was able to ease his passing. It still hurts. Oh, it hurts so, so much but there was no fear in his eyes after that. He seemed almost peaceful, like his life was complete so it was okay for him to move on. I don't know what that means for me. In some ways, I wish it hadn't happened so that even if I didn't find my soulmate, I could still have hope. I could still believe that one day I might find that person. Now though… Now I don't know what I have left."

"You'll just have to live and find out." Mae gave the girl another quick squeeze. "Now, you aren't just living for yourself, you're living for him too. You have to live for all the things that he never could. There's still lots of people out there for you to find a special someone, and you can love them for your lost soulmate too."

They talked some more after that, Akihito snapping off a few less teary photos before they parted ways, interview complete. He didn't escape getting scolded by Mae for not telling her about his new found soulmate and had to promise to fill her in with the whole story another day over coffee. She had to head back to the office to help another editor otherwise he was pretty sure he would have be dragged away and force to spill the beans then and there. Akihito promised to edit a few of the photos and send over the best candidates as soon as he got home. He waved her off and headed off in the direction of his scooter, thoughts a swirl once again. He was becomingly annoyingly familiar with this feeling of uncertainty and confusion. He still wasn't entirely sure what to make of his new soulmate and their relationship.

VFVFVFVFVFVFVF

Photos sent off and feeling rather peckish, Akihito decided to go for a walk in search of food. It was mid-afternoon and he had been so busy that he had forgotten lunch. Akihito felt a little guilty as the phone in his pocket buzzed again but he didn't make a move to pick it up. Asami had been trying to call him all morning and he had been avoiding his calls. He knew that he was in trouble and he knew that he was making it worse by not picking up but he just couldn't bring himself to answer. He was aware of the guards following him at a discreet distance and honestly he was surprised that they hadn't been ordered to forcibly drag him back to Asami. He could only assume the older man was busy and was going to come and get him himself once he had the chance. The phone stopped buzzing and he let out a little sigh of relief. Communication was relationship 101, his mother had drilled it into his head all throughout his teens and he was wilfully ignoring the lesson. But he was conflicted. He had been told in very uncertain terms not to test Asami's patience and it still rankled being told what to do but at the same time he couldn't ignore the older man without consequence. He knew this. Akihito didn't know what was going to happen but he wasn't about to back down. He valued his freedom and loved his job, he wasn't about to let Asami walk all over him and try to take it away.

But he wanted to know more about the man. He wanted to watch as the cold mask slipped off while he spoke with him, as he was surprisingly open in his affections. He wanted to see that rare smile, not a smirk, a real smile that was gifted on him on occasion. He was already falling hard for Asami. All week he had lost his guards but he knew last night was different. Last night Asami had pretty much told him his patience was wearing thin with his games. Last night's scoop had been dangerous, he wouldn't be able to hide the injury on his hand and that would make it all the worse.

His head was still in the clouds and Akihito was just walking aimlessly, hands in his pockets and not paying attention to his surroundings at all. He lived in a fairly quiet but relatively respectful neighbourhood and was therefore very surprised when he suddenly found himself thrown to the ground. He hit the footpath with a heavy thud and had the wind knocked out of him. He looked up to see five men start to surround him only to be surprised once again when all three of his guards barrelled into them. He sat up and watched with no small amount of awe as Ueda personally took out three of the brutes with terrifying precision and the remaining two guards that took slightly longer to arrive quickly dispatched the other two until there were five thugs on the ground, some groaning in pain.

"Are you alight Takaba-sama?" Akihito groaned and took the offered hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.

"Not you too. Can we stop with the Takaba-sama? Akihito is fine." Ueda looked genuinely surprised.

"I'm afraid that would be disrespectful of me Takaba-sama. But are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. You guys are really quick you know." Ueda gave him a small nod and pulled out his phone. Akihito groaned again.

"Can we not tell Asami?" He paused and stared at Akihito. "Please? He really doesn't need to know."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Takaba-sama." He hit a few buttons and held the phone up to his ear.

"Now you sound like a broken record." Akihito scuffed his shoe along the pavement and glanced at the other two guards, they weren't faces he had seen yet.

"Asami-sama, Takaba-sama was just attacked a few blocks from his house. We have taken out all the offenders and he is unhurt. They do not appear to be affiliated with anyone, would you like me to take them in for questioning?"

"Wait, I know who probably sent them!" Ueda turned to look at Akihito, still obviously listening to Asami on the other end of the phone. He remove the phone from his ear and pressed a few buttons before holding out the phone in front of himself.

"Asami-sama, you are now on speaker."

"Akihtio."

He winced at the cold tone of voice and quickly started talking, hoping to end the conversation as fast as possible. "Kikkawa Noaki. I um… I took some photos of him during a dirty deal last night and handed them into the press and the police first thing this morning. It gave the police enough evidence for search warrants on all his properties. It was also in time to make the morning press run so it's probably out to the public by now as well." He held his breath while he waited for Asami to reply.

"I know the type of establishments that man frequents. Is that why you lost your guard yesterday? Why you're been losing them all week? So I wouldn't find out the danger you were putting yourself in?" He didn't reply. The words of denial stuck in his throat, he couldn't seem lie to Asami. Not when it was all true.

Ueda spoke up; "Is that how you injured your hand?"

"Akihito…" Akihito flinched at the growl in Asami's voice. He was in for it now.

"Udea."

"Yes Asami-sama?"

"Bring him back to my penthouse, I'll deal with him soon."

Oh shit. Nope. Akihito's fight or flight response kicked in and before he knew it he was running back to his apartment. He heard a series of shouts behind him but it just spurred him to run faster. He didn't even know why he was running. He was going to have to face Asami at some point and this was just making it even worse. He was his soulmate after all. But that was the problem. He didn't want to face the consequences of his actions just yet. Didn't want to deal with the anger and flashes of worry and concern in the older man's eyes. He just wanted to go back to how it all was before, less confusing, less questions. Yet the past already felt like another lifetime. It seem grey and drab in comparison to how he felt when he was with Asami but at the same time he was already warring with trying to keep his freedom from suffocating. He couldn't lose that. He would lose himself if he lost that. But he would lose himself if he lost Asami too.

He had made it back to his apartment and took the stairs two at a time. He fumbled with the key in the lock and threw himself into the building before slamming the door behind him. He locked the door and slowly backed away, staring at it with his heart trying to beat out of his throat, waiting for one the guards to try and get him. He stood there waiting and the minutes stretched out but nothing happened. He felt himself sag in relief. If they were going to, they would have by now, they were fast enough to have already arrived. Akihito flopped down on his lumpy couch and covered his face with his hands. Why had he run? He's made it so much worse. Too late now. He was a little surprised that Asami hadn't tried to call him again but he figured that he had probably gotten the message that he wasn't going to pick up by now.

He wasn't sure how long he lay there for when a sudden noise at the door startled him. He jumped to his feet and began to back away. The door flew open and Akihito's eyes went wide. Asami himself was standing in the doorway and he was pissed. His eyes were flashing and there was a dark, angry aura emanating out from him. Akihito noticed there was a gun with a silencer in his hand, still smoking ever so slightly. He must have shot out the lock. He watched, rooted to the spot as Asami carefully detached the silencer and pocketed it before holstering the gun. The burning golden eyes locked onto his and Asami slowly stalked forward, Akihito stepping backwards at the same pace, unable to tear his eyes away from the dangerous man in front of him. He felt his foot hit the wall and suddenly he bolted off to the side trying to make a break for it but Asami caught him and slammed him back against the wall. He pinned the photographer in place and stared at him for a minute, face far too close for comfort.

"Asami…"

Asami remained silent, only grabbing his hands, eyes narrowing when they spotted the crude bandage on his hand, before removing his tie and deftly tying his hands together. He picked Akihito up and threw him over his shoulder, moving to exit the apartment. Akihito thrashed around wildly for a few seconds but Asami just clamped down on his legs and his hands were rendered ineffective by the binding. He went limp in defeat and didn't move as he was thrown in the back of the limo. Looks like it was time to pay up for all the running away.