Summary: Akira tries to take his next victim, Yukimura with his capsules but gets a phone call from Yuya. It turns out she and Mahiro have found Benitora and Akira is furious…

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Deeper Kyo. Duh, what the hell do you people want from me?

The Bartender

"My, what an awful day!" Yuya exclaims as she steps onto the bus and shakes the drops of rain from her black umbrella. Her nurse's uniform was soaked and her bare legs shivered in the cold.

"Mmm, I know. Summer's just ended it seems." Mahiro followed and paid her fare, her heavily pencilled eyelashes blinking the water from her eyes. Her clothes were also soaking wet, her long leather jacket dripping and her jeans clinging to her lean slender legs.

They sat down in the front seats of the near-empty bus, Yuya pulling the nurses cap away from her fair hair with a sigh.

"I can't wait for this term to end, then I can start my real job and not all this pointless training."

Mahiro giggled slightly. She too went to the same college as Yuya, but she studied Medical Psychology and not nursing. Her course took longer and was harder as they had to learn all the basics of nursing and medical science as well as psychology.

"Be lucky you don't have to carry as many books as me." She took her heavy bag from her shoulders and laid it on her lap, shaking her sodden wavy hair.

"You want to come back to my place for coffee or back to your own place?" Yuya offered.

"Coffee would be nice." Mahiro smiled. She lived near one of the worst parts of the suburbs, not to far away from Benitora and Yukimura. Her house had been broken into many times but she could defend herself pretty well. Yuya however lived in a house close to town with Kyo whom she rented a room from. Well at least that was what he liked to think. Most of the time she never paid her rent.

A drunken man near the end of the bus stared at Mahiro with an evil glint, but they ignored him. They talked for most of the journey home, chatting and giggling about recent events. Yukimura had almost gotten fired from his part time job again for harassing one of the waitresses and Bontenmaru singed off his eyebrows from the grill. They had not seen Benitora in five days and were growing worried again. Sasuke was getting increasingly depressed because his girlfriend had dumped him and Kyo was constantly in trouble with the law. Akira was starting his first year of college studying Forensic Science and so far he was thoroughly enjoying it. They vaguely thought Okuni was pregnant after her refusal to go drinking and her sudden longing for chocolate and red meat.

Yuya reached into her handbag and took out her vibrating phone. She flipped it open and put the receiving end to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Listen, Dogface," Kyo's low voice growled at her through the phone, "I need you to pick up some more vodka on your way back."

"Ugh, I'm already on the bus home!"

"Well then get off a stop early."

"It's pouring out!"

"Good, you need a wash. Now do as I say." He spat and hung up the phone. Yuya snarled and jabbed her hone back into her handbag. Where did he get the nerve to speak to her like that?

"Something wrong?"

"Ah, just Kyo being an ass." They stood up and waited for the bus to stop at an overcrowded street. Yuya opened up her umbrella and Mahiro pulled up her hood as they stepped out in the cold rain. For nearly ten minutes they queued just to get a litre bottle of Smirnoff for Kyo and made their way back down the street, still chatting away.

Many hasty eyes followed them down the street as they walked; the perverted glares boring into them as they walked passed the rundown bars and off-licences. Finally they turned the corner of the road where Yuya lived and Mahiro released a slight sigh. Barely three months ago she had been pulled into a back alley and molested by a group of men while making her way home from work that night. Had Yukimura, Benitora and Bontenmaru not been just walking out of the bar at that moment and stepped in to beat the living daylights out of everything they saw she might not have survived. This particular incident left her terrified of going anywhere on her own. Who could blame her?

Mahiro released her nervous grip on Yuya's arm with a sigh and relaxed. Yuya ignored it, knowing what pain she has been through and let her regain her pride for a moment. Together they walked up the bare garden of a small, but select house with Kyo's large black and red motorcycle wrapped in clear tarpaulin in the driveway. He had been banned from driving it for three months for speeding, but that still did not stop him. She rapped her free hand on the small wooden door of the house for a second and waited.

Big baleful eyes greeted them as the average sized, but relatively built man answered the door with the polite smile he always seemed to have. The left side of his forehead was slightly blue and a plaster covered the wound.

"Yuya-san!" Akira exclaimed. "And Mahiro, always a pleasure. Come in quick out of the rain!" He hurried inside to let them in and passed them towels to dry of. He took their jackets and hung them over the warm radiator. Yuya smiled at him, grateful to have a nice welcome coming home from the pouring rain.

Yuya walked into the dimly lit living room and was pulled onto the brown leather sofa… or Kyo's lap rather as his strong hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her close, one cheeky hand sliding out from behind to grab her unattended, yet sodden breast. Akira stared for a second and his eyebrow twitched. He turned away, disgusted.

"You're a little wet, dogface." He growled in her ear. The rough material of his baggy black jeans rasped off her bare legs and her riddiculously short nurse's uniform rode upward. She squeaked and smacked him furiously away. She thrust the bottle of vodka at him with a contemptuous glare.

"Here's your alcohol." She spat and walked into the kitchen to make Mahiro some coffee. Kyo grinned widely and set his feet up on the coffee table, his big boots clinking off the carved wood as he held a book infront of his face and drank deeply from his bottle of Bulmers, laying the Smirnoff beside the table for later on.

"Here." Akira was behind her, holding up a thick woollen blanket. He wrapped it around her shoulders from behind and ran his hands up and down her arms in a warm embrace. She moulded against him as he warmed her shivering frame and sighed. He breathed in her warm smell and closed his eyes; the smell of light perfume and that wonderful scent that was pure Yuya filled his head.

"Thanks." She muttered. "You want some coffee?"

Akira nodded and sat down beside Mahiro, whom he had also given a blanket to.

"Kyo?" She shouted to him in the sitting room. "Want some coffee?"

"I can hear you talk you idiot, you don't have to shout. And no." Came the snappy reply. She tutted and rolled her eyes, turning the kettle on with the blanket draped around her shoulders like a woolly cloak.

She passed the mugs of coffee around and sat down, her tired feet tingling in relief as they rested. She sipped the warm liquid and closed her eyes, allowing the steam to run up her nose and face. Ah, caffeine.

Mahiro stared at Akira, who had a dazed, dreamy look in his large eyes. Those irises bore into Yuya with a certain level of hunger, need. She shifted away from him slightly, that look all too familiar. Her shifting seemed to awaken him and he shook his head slightly, picking up his mug of coffee and drinking.

"How did you cut your head, Akira-san?" Yuya asked.

As if with reflex his hand jumped to the bruise over his left temple and covered it. "This? Oh, you know, I fell getting out of the shower a few days ago." He lied.

Kyo sniggered from the living room.

"Want me to look at it for you?" Yuya's hand reached out to touch his wound but he pulled away with a smile.

"No, it's okay… really Yuya-san."

Mahiro narrowed her eyes suspiciously but continued sipping her coffee.

"Busy day?" He rested his head on his hand and ran his fingers through his long, fair hair. It ruffled around his face in the sort of boyish grace that so made him attractive in an innocent way, much like Yuya.

"Nah, just miserable." Mahiro answered and sipped her coffee, draping the blanket further around her body. The heating was on but she was still very cold. Yuya murmured in agreement.

"Hey, Akira-san." Yuya rounded him on. He perked up, all intent on listening to her. "You talk to Bontenmaru a lot right? Is Okuni pregnant? They did only get married a few months ago, but still…"

"Yuya!" Mahiro exclaimed. Akira snickered.

"What? It's a general question. Come on, you can tell me." She moved closer in the table. Akira watched as her lips parted slightly and her big green eyes glinted on the information he held. His smile grew slightly. Mahiro watched with one raised eyebrow.

"I have no idea. Honestly." He shrugged and rested his elbow back on the table.

"Come on, you can tell us, we won't say anything." She moved in closer again.

Mahiro decided to change the subject before she saw that sickening look of need run through Akira's face for much longer.

"Shouldn't you be worried about other things?" She asked.

"Like what?"

"Like… um…"

Yuya narrowed her eyes suspiciously and a cheeky smile played on her lips. "You're worried about Benitora aren't you, Mahiro-san?"

Akira twitched slightly and suppressed a devilish grin. He continued to look like he was listening but still his mind ran through how the "Tiger" was more than likely feeling at this moment. It has been three days. Really the dose should have been stronger, but Benitora struggled so much…

Mahiro became flustered and shook her head, her wavy hair shaking slightly and falling about her face. "No, no… well of course I am, but not like that… eh…" Yuya started laughing.

"Admit it, you're worried!"

Mahiro hung her head. "Well, you remember what happened last time." She whispered slightly. "I was so worried when I found out he had to go to the hospital."

Akira held the snigger back behind his teeth. Looks like it's about that time for him to go again, Mahiro-san.

He looked at the clock on the wall and jumped up, realising he was nearly late. "I have to go." He flustered and grabbed his jacket, pulling the hood up over his head.

"I'll see you later, Yuya-san. Take care." He nodded at them and smiled. "And don't worry, Mahiro-san, I'm sure Benitora is fine."

Yeah… fine. He thought with a mental laugh. Infact he's probably dead by now…

He nodded to Kyo and turned the handle on the front door, closing it gently behind him and walking out into the worsening rain. Who's next? Ah yes, the bartender…

Yuya took Mahiro's hand across the table and clenched it. "If it's really bothering you, why don't we go and see him? He only lives a few minutes away."

"No, no you're still soaking wet and I have to get home and…"

"Mahiro." She laughed and clenched her hand again. "Relax! I'm worried too. I worry all the time about everyone. Now finish your coffee and we'll head out when you dry off a bit, okay?"

Mahiro smiled. "Okay, mother."

-(Break)-

A deep sigh escaped Akira's lips when he walked into the fancy bar, his coat dripping wet and shivering slightly. The wooden floor clinked under his heels and the dim lighting gave him a drunken feeling. With what would be a sort of soft gold light as the chandelier glowed overhead, it made him feel slightly dizzy. He approached the bar and sat down on a stool infront of the bartender, whom had his back turned.

Long black hair danced around his shoulders and he juggled two bottles of Archers Peach Schnapps with expert grace with his long, muscular arms. He wore a black shirt that complimented his well-toned body and black working pants. His tongue stuck out of his mouth in deep concentration and he turned, spinning and flipping the bottles between his fingers. This man, blessed with a certain beauty and grace, with dark seductive eyes and a smile that warmed the very air around him was an excellent barman and a shameless flirt. His well spoken, optimistic nature and tone was both appeasing and refreshing to be around. At the ripe age of 35, he hoped to raise enough money to open his own cocktail bar and Akira thought the title of entrepreneur suited him perfectly.

"Akira-san!" Sanada Yukimura stumbled slightly. One of the bottles dropped but he caught it just before it smashed and put them back behind the bar. "I didn't even see you come in. How are you?"

"Fine, Yukimura-san fine. I see you're rather eh…" He looked around the empty bar. "Busy…"

A smile spread across his handsome face. "It's been like this for a while. Must be the weather."

They made small talk for a few minutes about recent events and Akira swirled the little capsule around his mouth, getting ready…

"… And I'm still worried about Sasuke. I mean he really, really liked that girl. I told him; 'You're only 15, there will be others.' But he's still very upset. He's stopped listening in class too and his teachers are complaining that's his work is slipping. I don't know what to do with him." Yukimura finished.

Akira placed and hand on his chin. "You're better off letting him get over it himself. If you try to smother him he'll just push himself away from you."

Yukimura hung his head and sighed. "I… I guess you're right…" He stopped to pull a pint of Millers for and old man at the bar and took his money. Akira waited until the old man left the bar to ask Yukimura the question he came here for, but Yukimura spoke first.

"Could you tell Yuya to go see Bontenmaru when she gets a chance. Turns out he burned his arm off the grill in work and didn't treat it." He rolled his eyes. "Typical. Anyway, he thinks it might be getting infected and he doesn't feel like forking out for a doctor, so pass the message on won't you please?"

Akira nodded and held the capsule under his tongue. He took out his phone and looked at the time. Five minutes…

"When is your break, Yukimura-san? I need to talk to you… privately."

Yukimura looked at his watch. He shrugged and looked around the bar. "I need a smoke anyway. Meet me in the alleyway near the back in a few seconds."

Akira nodded and dropped off the stool, heading for the door while Yukimura went behind the bar and grabbed a packet of cigarettes. He pulled his hood up and stepped out into the rain. The blood rushed around his body at terrific speeds but he stayed calm, almost bored. Benitora would act violent, but Yukimura would be more polite than anything else, he was sure of it. Not only that, but he liked winding Benitora up. It was a sort of masochism he had, really.

He turned the corner to see Yukimura light up a smoke under the dark green awning in the littered alleyway. His tight leather jacket hung open in a chic sort of fashion and he flicked his long hair way from his eyes. Taking a puff of smoke with a sigh, he blew the smoke out, looking haughty and unruffled, gesturing for Akira to come under the awning.

Yukimura's expression was worried. He placed a gentle hand on Akira's arm, looking contently into his eyes. "Is something wrong, Akira-san? What is it you need to talk about?"

Faking, Akira used an expression of anxiety, closing his eyes, hanging his head and shifting slightly. He was glad that Yukimura's politeness was much easier to work with than Benitora's vicious rage.

"I… just don't know who else to turn to…"

Almost fatherly, Yukimura moved in closer and placed his hand gently on his shoulder. "What is it?"

Akira released a sigh and shook his head. "I think… I think I'm in love, Yukimura-san." A smile ran over his face, his confidence growing tenthfold when he heard Yukimura laugh slightly.

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" He giggled and flicked the ash from his cigarette.

With an injured look, he raised his head and stood stronger, facing him. "No! It's who I'm in love with. I… I don't understand it!"

Yukimura placed both hands on Akira's shoulders. He looked up into those dark eyes, holding the little capsule between his teeth. Yukimura's eyebrows furrowed, his warm expression easily captivating to the eye.

"… Who is it that you are in love with?"

He took a deep breath and looked deeply into those big, dark eyes. His eyelids grew heavy and he made his body shiver slightly. "I… I think I… I'm in love with-"

Akira jumped as his phone rang loudly and vibrated against his leg, making the right side of his jeans shake.

"Dammit!" He spat and hastily took out his phone. Yukimura lowered his arms, laughing slightly. The tense mood lifted so suddenly it made him feel dizzy so he took another puff of his smoke to calm his nerves.

"Hello?" Akira walked two feet away. He was positively fuming that he forgot to turn his phone off. How could he be so foolish as not to notice? His face was red, his arms shook with contempt, but he quickly calmed as he heard Yuya's voice on the other side of the phone.

"Akira-san!" He heard her cry.

"Please, please…!" He heard Mahiro sob in the background and what sounded like running water and a shower.

"I need your help!" Yuya exclaimed. She sounded panicked. "Something's wrong with Benitora. Akira… I think he's…"

"Calm down." Akira ordered her, keeping his voice as calm as possible and making sure Yukimura couldn't see while he smirked widely. "What's wrong with him?"

Yuya started sobbing, obviously scared. "I don't know… h-he's burning up and he won't s-stop shivering and… and I d-don't know h-how to help him and…"

WHAT?

"Yuya, listen to me. Have you called an ambulance?" Akira secretly hoped she didn't. His anger rose to the point where the grip on his phone was so tight he started hurting his ear on the receiving end. The first mistake was making the dose weak, and he vowed not to make that same mistake again.

"Y-yes…" She sobbed. "But they didn't say when th-they would get here and…"

"I'll be there as soon as I can!" He hung up his phone and turned to Yukimura with a frown.

"Something more important has come to my attention. I'm afraid we will have to continue this later."

With great haste, Akira pulled up his hood and made his way back into the rain.

"Wait!" Yukimura called after him. "What's wrong?"

"No time to explain!" He called back and sped off through the storm, following the route back to the place he had hoped he never had to go again until the tiger's life was over. To Benitora's house.

Jumping slightly, his watch vibrated, alarming him that time was up. He pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and spat out the capsule into it, throwing it down into the overflowing shore.