Barium

"Hey dad, did you miss me?"

"A-Akaito!"

"Akaito!?" Kaito whipped his head back. A man who looked about Kaito's age stood at the door. From his hairstyle to his face shape he could have been Kaito's twin. Except where Kaito had sapphire eyes and cobalt hair, Akaito bore ruby red orbs and flaming locks.

"Ah, and here's Kaito-nii." The red head's calming demeanour and friendly tone instantly cooled down the tension in the room. "Ah, and who's this?" Len had to look around before realising the statement was directed at him. It was the first sign of anybody properly recognising his existence since he entered the house.

"Um, this is...Len…" Kaito awkwardly introduced him to his father as well. "Len, this is my father, Taito and my younger brother, Akaito…"

"Ah, it's n-nice to m-meet you, T-Taito-san, Akaito-s-san." Len had stuttered almost five times, and his voice may have even cracked at the end. The cross-dresser blushed, mortified.

"Oh, nice to meet you too, Len-san!" Akaito smiled. It was hard to believe there had even been a fight in this room not even five minutes ago. In fact, the unnatural atmosphere resembled more of a…

"Are you like, Kaito-nii's fiancée or something?"

Time stopped for poor Len. Kaito sweatdropped. Akaito continued to ramble.

"Ah, and is this like, a meet the parents thing? Wow, Kaito-nii," Akaito moved to his brother's side to pat him on the back. "I didn't know you had it in you! Haven't seen your face in over a year, and I come back to this!" he grinned mischievously, then leaned in to whisper: "So how far have you gone with her?"

Kaito blushed beet red, snapping Len out of his stupefied state. "I-It's not like that at all!" the blue haired man all but screamed.

The comical scene was interrupted by something that could have been said to be even more ridiculous. Kaito, Len and Akaito turned around in wonder.

Taito was laughing.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Akaito laughed good-naturedly. "I'm so sorry for that, Len-san. I completely misunderstood your relationship."

Len and Kaito could do nothing but laugh along. The conversation had moved to the dining room, with all members seated around a small round table. Saucers of tea were handed out to everyone. It seems Kaito's mother, Kaiko had finally decide to brew some. All in all, the previous scene had reverted away from disaster at an ungodly speed.

"So Kai-nii has decided to seriously rebel against our family, especially our policeman father, but dad's too busy with his own things to even care about nii-san." Akaito recounted.

"Ah, truth be told, Kaito was actually right on the mark," admitted Taito, who seemed far less frightening with a smile on his face. "We've actually been bogged down by a rather large and puzzling case, however it's been labelled top secret so I can't divulge anything more than that."

"Police personnel are scarce as it is," commented Akaito. "These days people are all looking for jobs in the technical industry. Science, mechanics, computers... Since the technical revolution, they've been evolving at a rapid pace. Nobody has time for anything like art anymore."

Len remembered back to the National Museum of Tokyo. No doubt there were plans to tear it down by now. The top fifty companies in the world were mostly technology-based, since natural resources, such as oil, had already long been abandoned for more efficient technological alternatives. New energy sources discovered by science now fuelled the economy. Progress was fast, Tokyo continued to progress forward. The result was a sprawling metropolis, a world leader in both technology and science. Because the laboratory that paved the path for such a future, was based in that very city.

"Kamui Corporation has plans to buy that land for another of their research facilities, I believe," continued Akaito. "No doubt, at the rate they've been growing they're going to need it."

"You're surprisingly knowledgeable in this field," remarked Len. He did often check up on current affairs, it helped earn his living after all, however, he usually only sparingly glanced at anything irrelevant to his lifestyle. Politics, economy, real estate…the boy was largely ignorant of anything concerned with those topics.

"Well, it's important to his job I guess," said Kaito, "Akaito is a lawyer after all."

Akaito's ruby eyes sharpened. "Big companies are some of my best clients," he slyly said, "they don't just want to win anymore, they want to win big. They'll extort as much as they can, even from small companies." He leaned back in his chair and stretched. "That's probably what's going to happen with that poor Museum, and that's why I've flown in." It was not anything out of the ordinary for the lawyer to be gone for months on end. To achieve so much at his age could be no easy feat.

His parents must be really proud, thought Len. On the other hand… he cast an accusing and highly disapproving glance at Kaito. This son's pretty much nothing but trash…

"Well little brother, I'm glad you're here," Kaito was unfazed by Len's glare. "Your nii-chan's in some pretty deep…trouble, you could say…"

"I can guess, that's probably why this petty thief is in the policeman's house. How tragic." The light conversation seemed inappropriate for such a heavy topic. But perhaps that was just how things were done in this household… "Nevertheless, there really is no right or wrong when it comes to justice. Plus I really can't refuse a request from my nii-san…" Akaito reverted back to serious mode. "I'll probably be able to stay for a couple of weeks, a month max, Kamui Corporation has their case in two days, so-"

"Toshio Hirata has requested a trial as soon as possible." Taito interrupted. "It is to be held tomorrow morning."

"Ah, bribed the court with money huh," Akaito did not miss a beat. "Figures. The world revolves around money after all."A conclusion seemed to have been reached already. The younger brother stood from his chair, yawned and stretched again. "Well, looks like we'll be quite busy tomorrow. Better sleep now. Good night."

The lawyer exited, neat and polite. Only after he left did it become apparent a great many things had happened that night. Len suddenly felt incredibly exhausted, yet at the same time it was as if a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I guess that settles it," Kaito also stood. "That little brother of mine really is something." The man's cheery demeanour had finally returned. With an overly innocent smile he turned to Len. "Hey, Len-chan, want to sleep over?"

"…don't be ridiculous." The boy didn't have the heart to flare up like he usually would. "Dell-san is still waiting. So are Miku-chan and Rin-chan."

"You think I'm letting you stay over after everything you've done?" Kaito's father also contributed his input. "You ungrateful son, get the hell out of here."

"I was joking." The old Kaito has well and truly returned. He ushered Len out the door. "Well then, see you tomorrow~"

The door closed, and silence reigned once more. Yet Kaiko heard her husband's next words, muttered quietly under his breath, just barely audible.

"Welcome back, son…"

Thank you for reading ^^