A/N: so I typed this entire thing up on my little iPad mini so I apologise if there are any mistakes!

Akihito pulled up on his scooter outside the newspaper office that he freelanced for. He was ready to drop in the photos he had taken the night before to his editor. If he was honest, he wasn't entirely sure that the photos and article would make it to print. Generally politicians would bribe the paper to stop the press from running the article. There wasn't enough evidence to take into the police to actually make charges so the only thing the paper could do was slander against the name and reputation of the person caught in the photos. It irked Akihito no end that taking the bribes was considered a legitimate source of income for the paper. It felt as shady as the people that he caught in his viewfinder but he couldn't do anything until he had more concrete proof of misdeeds and corruption.

He had dithered over which photos to hand in for a good part of the night before finally giving in and calling Asami. It dug at his conscience, he was a journalist, he shouldn't worry over who was caught in his viewfinder. If someone was doing something shady and happened to get caught, they deserved what was coming to them. But now Asami was in the picture. He had his soulmate to consider and he didn't want to cause the man any trouble. It was tearing him apart with what to do. He had many photos clearly showing the manager of Dracaena and a number where his face wasn't shown but everyone else was. Which did he hand in? His decision was made when Asami was more than happy to throw the man under the bus.

"He was stupid enough to dabble in underground dealings and get caught. He can take what's coming to him, it matters nothing to me. I can get a replacement for him any time. Even if it doesn't go to print like you think might happen, I've already got an investigation underway into his activities. I do not appreciate my staff moving in circles with human traffickers and potentially tarnishing the reputation of my clubs. And if he has stooped low enough as to betray me and sell information on Sion then he has far more to fear than ending up on the front page of some newspaper."

The dark tone of Asami's voice had sent shivers down Akihito's spine. It was clear that betrayal was something Asami took very seriously and by the sounds of it, personally. So it was with no regret that Akihito took all the photos into his editor along with a small article on who the people were. He had learned that the self important looking man with all the cash was Ichikawa Kinmochi, a small time politician who had been rumoured to take bribes but had never had any darker gossip against his name before now. Akihito hadn't known for sure that he was involved in the trafficking circuit until Asami had mentioned it but between that comment and the intel involving people potentially moving in on the remains of Kikkawa's network, it was clear that Ichikawa was trying to move in on the space left after the arrests and make himself some dirty money. Looks like this was another person to add to his list to try and bring down permanently.

Akihito made his way into the busy building that housed all the permanent newspaper staff and quickly made his way to his editors office. It was almost nice to not be followed by his guards into the building. Not that they were bad people by any means but sometimes it really felt like they were babysitting him. He only had time to wonder if they were discreet enough to not get noticed loitering around outside before he was knocking on a familiar door. There was a muffled yell to enter almost immediately and Akihito let himself in.

The office was hazy with smoke and papers and folders were strewn across the wooden desk and filling cabinets that took up most of the room. The editor himself sat in a large office chair that had seen better days and looked up at Akihito's entry. He grinned, large and greedy and sat back in his chair, ignoring what he had been working on to give his full attention to the photographer. The man was large, belly straining the buttons on his shirt and what was left of his hair was in disarray. A half smoked cigarette hung from his thin lips and an over flowing ash tray sat at his elbow. It must have been a busy morning if the editor was chain smoking again.

"Ah, Takaba! I hope you have some juicy gossip for me this morning!"

"Yamamoto-san." Akihito approached the desk and handed over his USB stick. "Some interesting photos I took last night. The tip off was that some people are trying to move into what's left of Kikkawa's territory."

The editors face lit up and he eagerly accepted the USB. Inserting it into his laptop and hurriedly pulling up open the photos, Yamamoto was practically bouncing in his seat and crowing in delight.

"Oh, looks like Ichikawa is being a bad boy huh? Excellent work Takaba. I'll make sure to pass any leads through to you about this guy and put a bonus into your account. This on the tail of Kikkawa's arrest? People are going to eat it up! You have a base article with all the names already?"

Akihito nodded and pointed out the document stored amongst the photos.

"Needs a bit of work but it's got all the info the editing team needs." He turned and slapped Akihito on the shoulder over the desk. "You just keep bringing in stuff like this and you'll be the star of the paper in no time."

Akihito blushed a little and stammered his thanks. Yamamoto copied the documents across to his computer and handed back the USB drive.

"Speaking of juicy photos, we got a tip off that might interest you."

Akihito slipped the storage device back into his pocket and turned back to his editor in interest. "Yeah?"

"Asami Ryuichi."

Akihito froze at the name. His heart leapt into his throat and he had to force himself to calm down as the man continued on oblivious to the photographers discomfort.

"Apparently there's some meeting going down at the warehouses in a few days time and his name is attached. I know you've chased him before and if anyone can get some dirt on him, it's you."

"I… Uh…" Akihito's thoughts where whirling. On one hand he wanted to know all the parts of his soulmate, all the dirty bits included and it wasn't like he had had much luck asking Asami directly. He had also warned Asami that he would find out eventually even he had to chase him with his camera. It would also stop the editor giving it to someone else to potentially uncover. If anyone was going to expose Asami it was going to be Akihito. No one else was allowed. And yet… He wanted to find out from the man himself. He wanted the trust that came with the shared knowledge. He wanted Asami to trust him enough to show all of himself to Akihito willingly. Willingly baring the depths of his soul.

Akihito pulled himself from his musing and looked up at his editor. There was also a very good chance that just like the last time he had tried to chase the elusive man, it was all a set up to cover the real details and would just lead to wasted hours and effort. Also what would he tell the team? 'Oh, yeah, I'm just trying to catch your boss red handed. Help me out?'

"Ah, I think I'll pass this time."

"Really?" Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at him in surprise. "That doesn't sound like my gung-ho Takaba."

"Honestly, every time I tried to catch him it just ended up being a set up." Akihito rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "A lot of wasted hours for nothing and I really like to eat you know? No photos means no pay. I like actually being able to pay my rent for once."

"Hmm. I suppose that's true. I'll pass you anything I hear about Ichikawa though, I know you like to get them behind bars and not just bad mouthed in the tabloids."

"Thanks."

With a small wave, Akihito made his way out of the building and back towards where he parked his scooter. He even managed to avoid talking with Mitarai on his way out. The man had something of a grudge against him for singlehandedly getting the scoop on Kikkawa and subsequently getting all the glory. Since the massive public blow up and arrest, Akihito would be lucky to get off with an evil look from his rival. Often he would be subject to stupid taunts and high handed remarks before escaping the office.

He nodded to Kamiya who was one of the guards on duty today and accepted his helmet as it was passed over. His mind was still swirling with thoughts of his soulmate. How long had he known the man now? Barely a few months yet it felt like so much longer. He wanted to know more about him. What had caused the painful nightmare? What darkness lurked behind his masked façade? He sighed as he pulled on his helmet and sat on his scooter, preparing to leave. He had tried talking seriously with the man so many times since the nightmare and got shut out or distracted each time. It was time to ask his friends what to do, he had run out of ideas on his own.

VFVFVFVFVFVFVFVF

"Aki-chan!"

Akihito rolled his eyes as he sat down with his coffee at the table his friends has already claimed. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

Kou shrugged. "But it suits you, you know?"

"It really doesn't." Akihito replied dryly. "How have you guys been anyway?"

"Good. It's nice to be able to have this catch up as normal and not worry about your safety when you can't show up." Takato glanced over at the two guards grabbing takeaway coffees and moving to sit at one of the outside tables. "I'm guessing they are from the team you mentioned over email?"

"Yeah." Akihito sighed. "I can't go anywhere without them. They generally stay outside if I'm going into a house or a small shop but if I go to the mall or supermarket they come with me and it really feels like I'm being babysat."

"At least your safe." Akihito pulled a face at his friend. "I'm serious Aki. Your job alone is enough to have scary people after you. We were pretty worried when you said you nearly got beaten up after you got that politician arrested. Asami-san was obviously worried as well. Isn't it nice to have someone care about you?"

"Maybe." Akihito sighed and laid his head on the table.

"Trouble in paradise?" Kou leaned forward and poked Akihito's shoulder.

"Who said it was paradise?" Akihito snorted. "It's just been one big whirlwind of craziness."

"Man, you've got a rich sugar daddy who wants to give you everything and who is apparently good enough in bed to make you blush at any mention of it."

"Kou!" Akihito squeaked and buried his rapidly reddening face in his hands.

"See?" Kou grinned at his flustered friend and Takato shook his head, hiding a smile.

"You know, money doesn't mean less problems. Pretty sure it usually means more problems, just of a different kind."

Akihito shot Takato a grateful look as he finally lowered his hands from his still flushed face. "I don't care about his money. It's him I care about and I still can't get him to talk about that nightmare." The photographer frowned; "And when I dropped off the photos from last nights stake out, Yamamoto-san said he had received some intel that had Asami's name on it. I mean, I know he's not exactly clean, his names been bandied around the police station often enough and he never denied it when I brought it up. I just… Have mixed feels on it all. I turned down the intel but… I want to know. I want to know him regardless of what he's like under the stupid mask he wears. I want him to tell me though and he won't let me in."

There was a moment of silence as Akihito let his head drop back onto the table with a muffled thump and a small groan. He pulled at his hair in frustration only stopping when he felt a gentle pat on the shoulder. He looked up to see both of his best friends looking at him with serious expressions.

"You've mentioned the nightmare thing before, you still haven't found anything out about it?" Akihito shook his head and Takato frowned.

"That was when your soulmate sense went off right?" Kou leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on the palms of his hands. He continued talking after his friend nodded. "That's pretty serious. It must be something pretty big. It has to be more than just a nightmare right?"

Takato nodded in agreement. "Maybe it was a nightmare based off a memory?" Akihito looked at his friend in interest and he continued. "You know how you can dream about things that have happened right? They tend to get pretty warped and distorted but they are often far more powerful that just any old dream or nightmare."

"Oh!" Kou exclaimed. "Like how people who have had really bad accidents get nightmares of what happened later?"

Takato nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's something like that and it's just too painful for him to talk about? Like dredging up old memories. To heal properly you are supposed to talk about it and come to terms with it but I've heard a lot of people struggle with that."

Akihito leaned back in his chair frowning. "That makes a lot of sense actually." He spoke slowly as though trying to sort his thoughts out as he spoke. "It kinda makes me sad though. To have been though something so painful that even he doesn't want to talk about it. Asami is pretty shameless," He flushed slightly as Kou waggled his eyebrows at him. "He can talk about pretty much anything without batting an eye but then with all the underworld stuff, he never denied anything yet he refused to tell me at the same time. I guess his reaction to stuff he doesn't want to deal with is to not talk about it."

"Do you really want to know about all his dirty dealings?"

"What do you mean?" Akihito looked at Takato in confusion.

"Well, what you don't know can't hurt you and as a journalist, aren't you supposed to turn anyone in if you find dirt on them? Like some kind of unspoken code?"

Akihito chewed on his lip as he thought. "I… I do want to know." He took a deep breath and continued on more firmly. "I want to know everything. He's my soul mate right? If anyone is going to find him out and turn him in it would be me. I don't actually know if I would turn him in." He admitted thoughtfully. "But I think if anyone should, it should be me. But I want to know all of him and get rid of that stupid mask he wears that covers his feelings."

"Does he have any friends that you can ask to get some help with getting him to talk?"

"I don't really know if he has friends." Akihito frowned. "I think he said that he has known Kirishima his secretary for the longest from his staff. I can ask him I guess."

"It seems pretty important to you to figure it out so it doesn't hurt to ask."

Kou nodded in agreement. "Yeah and when do we get to meet this mystery man hmm? Maybe we can help guilt him into talking to you! And I really wanna meet the person who can make you blush so easily!"

Akihito groaned as he felt his cheeks heating up again. "I appreciate the help but I doubt he's going to feel guilty or talk to you guys about anything. At the moment he's pretty busy anyway, I haven't actually seen him in person for a few days. We've talked on the phone a little but that's it. I really want to talk about this in person though."

"You've got a key to his place right? Why don't you just go and stay over if you miss him."

Akihito spluttered. "Miss him? It's not like that, it's only been a few days."

Neither of his friends look convinced. "We do know what it's like to not see your soulmate in person. You start to miss them pretty quick."

"Yeah Aki-chan! No need to be shy! He gave you a key for a reason. Just show up and stay over even he doesn't come home till late. I'm sure he'll love coming home to find you in his bed." Kou grinned and Akihito groaned at his increasingly red face.

"Even if you can't get an answer right away about the whole nightmare memory thing, he's still you're soulmate. Your other half. You have every right to want to spend time with him. Maybe hanging out will help him loosen up and spill."

"Yeah, yeah." Akihito waved off both of his friends who were grinning at him. "I get it. I'll talk to his secretary tomorrow as well maybe. See if he can give me some help. You guys need to stop being mean to me though."

"Aw but Aki-chan we aren't being mean! We're totally good friends. You just blush way too easily. It's way too fun."

"Whatever." Akihito sighed and spoke quietly. "Thanks for the advice though."

"See! We're the best friends ever Aki-chan!"

"Lose the chan already!"