"What?" Three voices exclaimed.
"But your file says-" Omi started.
"So you're a traitor then. That's why Persia sent you here." Ken snarled at the same time, fists clenching.
"They were the traitors, not I." Aya replied, his face expressionless.
"There's no way in hell that you could kill three highly trained operatives." Ken laughed. The amethyst eyes narrowed, but before he could speak his pocket began to ring. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and held it to his ear. He listened for a few moments then hung up.
"Manx has a job." He turned and left the kitchen. The three men looked at each other then followed him into the living room where he was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Any attempt to discuss the previous matter was met by silence. Finally Manx arrived carrying four envelopes and a DVD.
"Where are your phones and why aren't they on?" She snapped. "I had to call poor Aya, who's supposed to be getting settled." The men looked at each other then began digging through pockets looking for the items in question. "Oh, never mind that now." She handed Omi the disc. "Put this in." He took it sheepishly as Ken and Youji got comfortable in their normal chairs. As soon as the disc was in the player an image popped up on the screen. There was a man standing at a desk with his face was completely in shadows and sunlight streaming through the slits in the closed blinds at his back.
"Weiss." The man's gruff voice issued from the speakers. "These are your targets." The image flashed to those of a woman and a man. "Mimiko and Juubei Misaki. They run an operation in which they buy young children from poor countries and resell them as slaves on the black market. These children are beaten, raped, and forced to do whatever the buyer tells them to do. Most don't survive as long as two months." Images of horribly maimed children flashed across the screen while he spoke then cycled back to him. "Hunters of the night. Deny these dark beasts their tomorrow." The screen fuzzed out.
"That's horrible!" Omi covered his mouth with his hand and looking as though he was going to be sick.
"So are you in?" Manx asked.
"Aa," Aya finally spoke. Moving away from the wall he took one of the envelopes from her and walked upstairs. She handed out the rest of them to the others.
"Any questions?"
"Yeah. What happened to his other team?" Ken asked. "He said he killed them." Manx's eyes widened.
"He actually said something?" She grabbed the back of the couch. "What did he say?"
"Only that he killed them."
"Did he say why."
"He said that they were traitors." Omi replied. "So what did happen?" Manx sighed folding her arms.
"I got a call from him telling me that he had fixed the leak, at first I didn't understand what he meant, but before I could ask he hung up. When I got there his teammates were dead and he was standing there covered in blood, not all of it was theirs. He was hurt pretty badly." She shuddered rubbing her arms. "It was brutal. He gave himself up quietly, in fact he hasn't spoken a word about it since that phone call. All he did was hand me his sword and a disc." She frowned looking down. "On it was irrefutable proof of his team's betrayal. He had secretly filmed them making deals to sell information about our organization, and our operative's whereabouts." She looked back up at them. "Through further digging we found out that they were responsible for some of your mission failures, not to mention the bombing of one of our operation centers."
"Why didn't he just turn them in?" Omi asked.
"That's what Persia would like to know. He wants you boys to find out." She looked each of them in the eye. "Aya Fujimiya is highly trained and very dangerous."
"That little thing? He looks so fragile."
"Looks can be deceiving Ken-kun." She smiled. "Be nice to him, as I said before; he's been through a lot." She turned around to leave. "Oh, and Abyssinian knows this case well. It was the one he was on before the incident. Ta, ta loves." She said over her shoulder before continuing through the door. After she was gone the boys just stood there and looked at each other. Aya came back down the stairs pulling on a jacket.
"Where are you going?" Ken asked standing up. "We need to talk." The red head barely glanced at him before walking through the kitchen door. "Hey I'm talking to you." Ken followed him angrily, with Youji and Omi hot on his heels. "Oi Fujimiya." He yelled stopping Aya at the exit. "What the hell is your problem?" He snapped grabbing his arm.
"Right now? You." The red head glared. "Let go." Something in his eyes made Ken comply and take a step back.
"We really need to talk." Ken said calmly after taking a deep breath. "Manx said you know this case." Aya relaxed slightly.
"The information is in my car." He opened the door. "Which is where I was headed." He walked out leaving the three assassins behind.
Aya entered the third level of the parking garage he'd left his car in and, sensing movement to his left, ducked and spun, leg out. It connected with the knee of a rather beefed up man he recognized from Juubei Misaki's security detail. Aya eyed him warily as the other man struggled to his feet. "Knew you'd come here eventually." The man spat looking him over, a slow evil grin twisted his lips. "Juubei said look for a scrawny redhead, but he never said you were this pretty." The grin turned feral. "I'm gonna have some fun with this." Aya wasn't as ready as he should have been when the man lunged for him, but he managed to stay just out of reach. The man licked his lips making Aya's stomach churn. He sensed someone behind him and threw himself to the left then turned to face his two attackers. "Isn't he a pretty little thing, Fumi?" The beefy man asked.
"He sure is Kenji." The new man sneered. "I almost had him too." Aya suppressed a shudder at the look in their eyes. He didn't dare look away; these men were trained fighters and were watching his guard to go down. He flicked his wrist as Kenji sprung forward. A small dagger shot out of the spring loaded sheath to his hand. He then grabbed Kenji's wrist and buried the blade deep in the man's ear before ripping it back out an spinning to face his friend's charge. 'Fumi' screamed with rage and leapt at Aya, who sidestepped easily and plunged the dagger into the back of his attacker's neck; severing his spinal column. The man died instantly and fell to the ground next to his friend. Aya calmly cleaned the knife on Kenji's shirt. When he straightened he heard a step behind him and spun. He stopped, his blade centimeters from slashing Ken's throat. The man's brown eyes were wide as he pulled away and reset the knife in it's sheath.
"I guess I owe you an apology." Ken's voice cracked.
"Don't bother." Aya replied walking past him. He saw Youji standing a little ways away staring at him in shock.
"So, uh, why were those guys after you?" Ken asked, catching up with him.
"They worked for Misaki." Aya replied digging his keys out of his pocket as they got to his white Porsche.
"Why would Misaki be after you?" Youji asked.
"I have information he wants back." Aya unlocked the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Ken squeezed into the back while Youji got in the front. Aya started the car and peeled out of the parking garage without bothering to buckle his seatbelt. He sighed, noticing a black sedan following him. "Hold on." He said quietly then sped through a red light and then down a side street.
"Jesus!" Ken exclaimed. "Are you trying to kill us?"
"I have a tail." Aya glanced in his rearview mirror in time to see the black sedan crash into the corner of a building. "Had a tail." He corrected then took a round about way back to the Koneko and pulled into a parking spot at the back.
"You're insane, you know that?" Ken snapped as they all got out of the car. Aya shrugged as he walked around to the trunk and popped it open. He grabbed the black bag holding the computer he'd gone through great lengths to steal then took a deep breath and followed Youji and Ken inside. The brunette was silently fuming, but Youji's eyes were all over him making Aya feel uncomfortable. He handed Omi the bag then went upstairs to his room and locked the door. He heard Omi gasp downstairs. There was a muffled conversation then three sets of footsteps on the stairs and a knock on his door.
"Aya?" It was Omi's voice. "Can we talk?" Aya took a deep breath closing his eyes. He didn't want to talk. Not to them, or to Manx. Why she thought he'd open up to these men he'd never know. "Please Aya." He schooled his face into a neutral expression before opening the door. Omi held the laptop from the bag in his hands. "Where did you get this?"
"Is it important?"
"Well, yeah, all of the Misaki's information and records are on here."
"No. Is how I got it important?" Aya folded his arms. He felt cold all of the sudden and he just wanted them to leave him alone.
"Hell yeah, its important." Ken said aggressively.
"Why?" He watched their faces go blank as they all searched for a reason. "Look, I don't want to talk about it. I'm not-" He trailed off looking away.
"The details aren't important." Omi said quietly reaching out to touch him. Aya flinched away instinctively and a look of concern filled the teen's face. "Aya, are you ok?"
"Fine." He lied. "Just tired." He couldn't stand the way they were looking at him. Even Ken's anger had been replaced with mild concern.
"Ok." Omi chewed on his lip. "I guess we don't have to talk about this now." Aya refused to meet his eyes. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine." Aya hid his shaking hands behind his back. "Like I said, I'm just tired." Omi's brow furrowed but he nodded the shooed Youji and Ken away before closing the door. Once they were gone Aya collapsed to his knees shaking uncontrollably and trying not to remember what had happened the night he'd helped his old team leader steal the laptop. Tears burned his eyes blurring his vision, but he refused to let them fall. He couldn't break down; not now, not here. He didn't want his new team to see him weak. They already assumed he was useless, and maybe he was. His old team had screwed them over time and time again right under his nose. He heard another soft knock at his door and slowly got to his feet. He could tell it was Youji, and that pervert was the last person he wanted to face right now. He walked to the open window and slid a leg out, then dropped to the ground. He'd come back when he was under control.
Youji knocked on the door again. "Aya?" He tried the handle. The door swung open to an empty room. He checked the bathroom and found that empty as well. When he came back into the room he saw the open window and sighed. His little redhead had flown the coop. He shook his head and left the room, closing the door behind him. Ken and Omi were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Our little plan won't work. He jumped out the window."
"What?" Omi gasped. Ken just frowned.
"I wonder what his deal is." The brunette folded his arms.
"It probably has something to do with those bruises on his face." Youji's brow furrowed. He'd caught a glimpse of the full bruise in the car. It had disappeared into Aya's hair and down his collar.
"I don't know." Omi bit his lip. "But we'll have to wait to find out until he gets back."