Title: The Beginning of All Commotions - Act 7
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Greece/Japan, mentions of other characters and minor pairings in later parts.
Rating/Genre: PG-15 for this chapter / Mafia-AU, Humour, Action.
Warnings: Slight crack, gang warfare, language, booze & smoking.
In this act: In which family grievances arise, bromance occurs and Yong Soo is still not very sorry... sorry, sorry, sorry.

~.*.~

vii.

February 14, 2kXX. 15:03 PM

"'Look, look, look at those two couples passing by…'"

Step, tap, step, tap–

"'I can love like that too but!'"

Step, tap, step, tap–

"'Wooooooo ooh ooh~'"

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, clap–

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle

–freeze!

"'I am so lonely!'"

The youth parading down the sidewalk didn't quite notice the amount of stares the passers-by were throwing in his direction. Or rather, he did notice the stares, but he didn't mind it much, not when he could revel in the attention coming his way. He'd always enjoyed being in the limelight, and it was hardly any different now.

Some of the passers-by looked on in great amusement, while others wore the most quizzical looks upon their faces. A group of school girls, dressed in grey shirts and blue plaid skirts, chuckled among themselves and pointed discreetly when he skipped past them, singing out as he did so.

Yong Soo couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, of course – he had his bright, blue and red headphones clamped over his ears, and the music was blasting so loudly that even the stray mongrel sniffing at the corner of the street perked its ears up and glanced towards his direction.

But all of these things didn't matter to Yong Soo, not when he was busy perfecting his best moves and keeping the groove. So he continued singing and dancing along the curb, kicking up a medley of dried leaves and litter in the wake of his shuffling feet, almost as if he were fleshing out his own personal MTV with each move.

"'Me too, lovey dovey dovey uh uh uh uh!'"

Shuffle, shuffle, slide

"'Lovey dovey dovey uh uh uh uh!'"

Shuffle, shuffle, slide

"'Don't leave me alone now…'"

Yong Soo whirled around on his heels, before coming to a stop when he faced the school girls, winking mischievously at them. As they tittered and squealed among themselves in mock bashfulness, he wiggled his hips, stretching out one arm to mimic shooting an imaginary pistol at them. That set off another bout of giggling from the girls.

"'Lovey dovey dovey uh uh uh uh!'"

Step-forward, step-back

"'I will definitely find you, I'm melting, dying!'"

Shuffle, shuffle slide

Twirl, twirl, twirl–

"'Where exactly are yo–'"

And he came to an abrupt halt just as he finished his spin, right before another man.

He very nearly cried out in surprise; he hadn't noticed there was anyone standing so close to him. He might have apologised for having nearly bumped into the stranger, and then continued on with his singing and dancing, but he caught the other man's gaze and unfortunately for him, he recognised that gaze.

This time, he did yell out (almost like a girl, except not really) as he leapt back from the man, arms flailing about before him in dramatic shock.

"Kiku!" Yong Soo said, once he'd recovered enough from his initial consternation, and pulled off the headphones from over his ears. "A-Ahahaha, hey fancy bumping into you here, cousin!"

Kiku didn't blink, frowning ever-so-slightly as he lifted a hand to adjust the silk tie around his collar. "Hello, Yong Soo," he said simply, keeping his gaze levelled with Yong Soo's. "I believe we need to talk."

"Talk?" Yong Soo squeaked, sweeping his gaze wildly about, as if in a bid to avoid eye contact of any sort. "O-oh well see, I'm kind of running late, so I don't think I can do talks right now, yeah? Maybe I'll see you around when I get home. Like uh, in a week or never, haha. So well, um, bye!"

He spun around again, trying to make a dash for it, only to run crashing into another man who had been standing a little way off behind him – a man much taller and bulkier than Kiku, who had eyes as green as the sea and a mop of thick, wavy hair the colour of chestnuts.

"Ow, ow, owww!" Yong Soo wailed, rubbing at his face and his nose, which had gotten a little squashed from his head-on collision with the man's brick-wall of abs.

"Oh, sorry about that," the taller man said, leaning forward a little to check if Yong Soo was all right.

"The sooner you tell me what I need to know, the less tiresome this will be for either of us." Kiku spoke again, moving to close the gap between them.

"Whatever it is that you think I did," Yong Soo blurted out, "I didn't do it, okay? So there, hah!"

Kiku only raised an eyebrow. "And that is usually what a person guilty of misconduct might say…"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! You can't prove anything either!"

"You are assuming that I'm already accusing you of something."

"Well, you are! You're always accusing me of things, and it's not fair because Yao always takes your side."

Kiku frowned harder, momentarily closing his eyes. "That is only because I spoke nothing but the truth then and you were being irresponsible – much like how you are being irresponsible now."

There it was again, Kiku and his talk of responsibilities. Yong Soo could never get about the guy, he was always so uptight about every little thing, down to the very last detail. Maybe it had something to do with them not being actually related – if Yong Soo were to be blunt about it, Kiku was nothing like the rest of the family in temperament and disposition. Heck, even Yao had more of a sense of humour, and that, in itself, was saying a lot.

"Oh come on, not that again," Yong Soo said, grimacing. "Man, you really need to learn to chill out. You're always acting like an aged man, but you aren't even that old!"

"And you never seem to grow up at all." Kiku retorted.

"Hey! At least I'm taller than you, so I still win." Yong Soo smacked a hand victoriously over Kiku's head, as if to further prove his point and to emphasize their difference in height to the world. "Nyaahaha!"

Kiku sighed tiredly once, before he shifted his left arm and then–

"–ahahahaha… ack!"

Yong Soo coughed, staggering backwards from a short, sharp blow to his middle when Kiku casually, but firmly drove the pommel of his sword hilt against his sternum.

"Ow, ow, owwww!"

"I suggest that you own up to your mistakes now," Kiku's voice was still soft, still calm, but the edges were beginning to crystallise with the slightest hint of vexation, "and perhaps Yao will be kind to you this time."

Ugh, that was the other problem with Kiku. Not only was he always behaving like an old stick-in-the-mud, but he was constantly threatening Yong Soo with one thing or another. Yong Soo honestly felt that the guy just needed to get laid and–

Kiku jabbed him a second time.

"OW!" Yong Soo yelped, raising his palms outward in a show of defeat. "Okay, okay, fine. Stop poking me already."

"Will you return heirloom now, before you land yourself into further trouble?" Kiku asked, as he re-adjusted his sword back at his belt once more. Yong Soo knew it wasn't so much a request as it was an order, and well, that was going to be a bit of a problem at the moment.

"Uh, weeeell," he swallowed uneasily, scuffing the ground with his shoe. "See, about that... There was a, er, let's call it an 'incident' of sorts, shall we? And uh, as luck would have it, it occurred just before you two arrived! What a coincidence, huh?"

"..."

"So like, I met the most beautiful lady ever to walk upon this town, and her eyes were like the stars sparkling in the heavens, and her hair like silken locks of silk!"

"...I see."

"She was so enthralled by my good-looks, she was completely all over me. I tried to stop her of course, but she said I was terribly irresistible! And that I was tranquil as a forest, but a fire within." Yong Soo let out an appreciative sigh, just from recalling the words, and though he couldn't help but puff out his chest proudly, he was still modest enough to allow a slight blush to colour his cheeks.

From the corner of his eyes, Yong Soo could see Kiku exchanging confused glances with the taller man, but he continued on. "And there was a look of distress in her eyes that I couldn't ignore! Because how can a man ignore the tears of a maiden?"

He lifted one hand upwards to the sky, fingers curled into his palm in a show of resolve and determination. "A man must be courageous; swift and with the strength of a raging fire, but still mysterious like the dark side of the moon! And above all, a man must be chivalrous, even when chivalry is dead! So I revived her belief in chivalry once more and did the rightful thing!"

Kiku felt the side of his jaw twitch. "You gave it to her."

"Out of the gesture of my own goodwill!" Yong Soo exclaimed. "Kiku, dude, you're my cousin and I really love ya, but you should seriously go out more. Self-pleasure and imaginary digital intercourse can only go so far in the climax department, ya know?"

Oh yeah, he went there. On hindsight, it probably wasn't the best thing to be saying. It was one of his funnier quips, and Yong Soo prided himself on possessing both swag andwit, but insinuating his cousin's lack of bedroom antics out in the open like that? Probably not the best thing to be doing.

But Yong Soo being Yong Soo, had never been one for tact, let alone consideration – at least, not when dealing with Kiku. And so he continued hopping and skipping about, chortling loudly and being decidedly very pleased with himself, while Kiku tried his best to maintain relatively composed, even as he was clenching his fist in an attempt to restrain himself from reaching for his sword again.

"Sup guys, what's with all the commotion?"

Uh-oh.

Yong Soo froze mid-step through a prance and a skip at the sound of a new voice. At about the same time, he saw Kiku's fingers faltering just before the hilt of his sword, brows furrowed slightly. Further off behind Kiku, the tall man who Yong Soo had smashed his head into earlier stood up straighter; his initial laidback demeanour now replaced with something a little more alert and hostile, green eyes narrowed as he gazed at the approaching figure.

"Everything all right over here?" the newcomer chirped again. There was an air of cheeriness to the voice, but even underneath that all that, Yong Soo didn't miss the confident and authoritative tone – a police officer?

Yong Soo's face split into a wide grin as he was immediately struck by a new idea.

"MISTER POLICE OFFICE, SIR!" he cried out sharply when he heard the sound of boots crunching against the gravel. He wheeled frantically around, arms outstretched, to face the newcomer. "MISTER OFFICE, SIR! PLEASE HELP? THIS MAN HARASS ME MUCHLY, AND MAKE I AFRAID. I NO UNDERSTAND RANGUAGE WELL. PLEASE HELP!"

Only to have said police officer gape at him for five whole seconds, before throwing his head back into a hearty guffaw.

Yong Soo's face fell, dejected, when he finally saw who it was. "Oh, it's you. Ah well, so much for trying my luck, eh?"

"Sorry to spoil your fun, Soo, but it's kinda hard to pretend I don't already know you." The man clicked his tongue, winking at Yong Soo. "Besides, if someone is 'harassing' you, that usually means you're the trouble-maker. Also, what the heck is 'ranguage' suppose to mean? Is that like, Asian for English or something?"

A tall, bespectacled young man wearing a boyish grin stood before the trio, one hand placed at his hip, while the other held up Super-Sized cup of soda. His short, blonde hair stuck up at the back, as if he'd had a habit of crossing his hands behind his head while leaning back into his chair, and there was just a touch of earnestness in his bright, sky-blue eyes. Pinned on the front of his navy-blue uniform was a silver tag with "A. F. JONES" emblazoned over it in bold, black letters.

"Officer Jones," Kiku began, dipping his head in a short bow. "Apologies for causing such trouble – my cousin isn't always quick enough to realise what a handful he is, despite his liveliness."

"Duuuude, how many times have I told you? You can drop the 'Officer' crap." The man chuckled lightly as he gave Kiku's shoulder a soft punch. "We've agreed on this before. Between us, we're just 'Alfred' and 'Kiku', right buddy?"

"A-ah, you're right. My apologies for that, Mister Alfred."

"Pffft! Geez, Kiku, you haven't changed much, have you?" Alfred gave another uproarious laugh, ruffling Kiku's hair good-naturedly. "Still polite to a fault!"

Kiku gave Alfred a wry smile, before politely side-stepping a little, just in case Alfred decided it was a good time to headlock him into one of his signature bone-crushing hugs. He glanced over at the tags and badges adorned over Alfred's shoulders. "I see you've been promoted. Congratulations."

Alfred's grin grew wider, the glow in his eyes brighter. "The promotion came in two weeks ago, right about after we managed to round up that drug ring over at Mackellan's."

He paused for a moment, before leaning towards Kiku again, slinging an arm over the other man's shoulders and pulling him closer so that he could whisper conspiratorially into his ear, "That information-broker lady friend of yours? She knows everything. Like seriously, fucking everything. Don't think we could have managed it without her help."

"Miss Grimaldi is very resourceful." Kiku agreed, squirming out of Alfred's hold.

"Damn straight she is." And as if he'd just recalled why he was there in the first place, Alfred straightened up, glancing past Kiku and over at Yong Soo, who was now trying to show the tall, broad-shouldered man what seemed to be dance moves.

"Who's the Big Guy? And what's going on between you and Soo? A couple of school girls got all worried about the yelling and thought I should take a look."

"His name is Herakles; he's helping me out with a few things." Kiku said, frowning slightly as Yong Soo attempted a shuffle move and a twirl – left foot, right foot, tap and twirl – while Herakles only continued to watch on somewhat curiously.

"Hercules, huh."

"It's 'Herakles'," the tall man called over from where he stood. "I'm Grecian. 'Hercules' is the Roman version."

"Herakles, Hercules… they are all Greek to me, Big Guy." Alfred said, chuckling at his own joke, before rummaging through his pockets to pull out a handful of candies wrapped in colourful plastic wrappers. "Anyway, I take it that Soo's done something really messed up again?"

"You've become more observant over years too, Mister Alfred." Kiku said, lips curved upwards into the tiniest of smiles. He accepted one of the candies Alfred offered to him. "Unfortunately, it seems that Yong Soo has, against his better judgement, given away the very thing we've been searching for."

"Oh yeah. That was really pretty girl, though – I can't say I blame the guy for crumbling under her spell. I mean, I might have done the same, ya know! Haha!"

Kiku blinked, halting in the midst of opening the plastic wrapper. "You know who she is?"

Alfred popped a couple of candies into his mouth. "Yeah! I was patrolling by New Piccadilly Café when I saw Soo talking to this lady sitting by herself. I would assume whatever it is you and Herc are looking for, she'd be the one to have it right now."

"I see." Kiku said simply. Then, once he'd finished his piece of candy, he glanced over at Herakles, giving him a nod. Turning back, he gave Alfred another quick, short bow. "Excuse us, Mister Alfred, but we'll have to leave right away. Your help is greatly appreciated however, and I'll be sure to thank you properly the next time."

Alfred only gave a short laugh, thumping Kiku over his back. "Dude, Kiku, come on. I've said it before; you don't have to be all serious business around me all the time, especially when there ain't no other cops around."

He held out his right arm towards Kiku then, fingers curled into a fist. "You and me, bros for life, yeah?"

Kiku allowed himself a soft chuckle this time, and holding out his arm forwards, lightly tapped the front of his fist against Alfred's. "Yes. Thank you."

Once Kiku and Herakles bade their goodbyes and began making their way down the street, Alfred finally turned his attention back to Yong Soo, who had his music blasting again from the headphones dangling around his neck.

The two caught each others' glances, sizing each other up, and then–

"You know that dance you showed me the other day?" Alfred asked, waggling his eyebrow mischievously at the youth.

"The one you got served with?" Yong Soo countered, lips curled into a smug, sidelong grin.

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "Better watch your words, kid. You might just regret it and be the one–"

And just like that, Officer Alfred F. Jones broke into a dance, sliding and shuffling his feet, popping and waving his arms around. "–to be singing SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY!"

"Oooooh!" Yong Soo shrieked in mock horror. "This is on."

And with that, he proceeded to whip out his own best moves. No way was he going to lose to someone who thought ranguagewas actually a word.

'*'

"I have to say, you're acquainted with the most intriguing of characters." Herakles said, looking back over his shoulder at the two figures skipping and swaying about animatedly in the middle of the sidewalk. "Not to mention a really interesting cousin."

"I would like to remind you, Mister Karpusi," Kiku coughed lightly, keeping his gaze firmly on the road before them, "that I am adopted."

~.*.~

:::

Notes

I've been a little sick the last couple of weeks, so if this act seems to have more crack than the previous ones, well, I suppose that may or may not have been the result of my slight fever. Er.

The first song YongSoo was dancing and singing to is T-ARA's Lovey Dovey: www(dot)youtube(dot)com(slash)watch?v=6ELl3OhrvTk

And yes, Yong Soo and Alfred decided to have dance-off in the end, to Super Junior's SORRY, SORRY: www(dot)youtube(dot)com(slash)watch?v=4okKSigjyc4

Also, I didn't quite manage to slip it in, but Alfred and Kiku used to be roommates back when the two were in college. They've been BFF-bros since that time, and continue to be good friends, despite the nature of their jobs.

Also, also, here's a couple of shout-outs to the anons who commented on my fic:-
midori-tsumi - Thank you SO much for your reviews on several of my fics; they never fail to put this huge grin on my face, knowing that a reader enjoys them so much. I'm really flattered!

anon who commented on mafia-au fic - Hehehe, yes those were Sherlock and DRRR! references XD I like making sneaky-references in my fics pfft. And I'm thrilled that you like my take on Giripan here, especially since I don't think these two get written in action/adventure-AUs much. Thanks for your wonderful comment :D

I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter!