Hello... it's almost been a year since I've added to this. I was going to drop it since there didn't seem to be that much interest in it, but a couple of readers have been *gently* prodding me to continue this story. So here we are again.

I really enjoy writing about Kirishima and Suoh. Thanks for the push!

Feint

. .

. . . . .

Suoh shifted awkwardly as he tried to find a comfortable position in the cramped airplane seat. The petite person sitting next to him did not have the same problem. Not only that, but the smaller man had also fallen asleep leaning up against Suoh, which made him feel even more confined. Suoh glanced at Yamato and sighed.

Well, at least one of us is comfortable...

Suoh tried distracting himself by staring out of the window but there was really nothing to see- just an endless dark blue ocean below. He leaned his head against the window, closed his eyes and thought back to what had happened the day before.

Of course he had known Kirishima would exact revenge for the trick they had pulled on him, but Suoh had been stunned by the sheer viciousness of it.

Sitting in the board room and being grilled in front of the recording secretary- IN DETAIL- about those things I did to Kirishima... that was pure hell! I'll definitely think twice before going up against THAT sadistic bastard again.

The relief he'd felt when it was revealed the whole meeting had been a cruel prank on Kirishima's part, was cut short when he found out Kirishima intended to put Yamato through the same torture. Suoh was determined to talk Kirishima out of it, but Kirishima wouldn't hear of it. In fact, he wouldn't even meet Suoh's eye.

It was then Suoh realized something was oddly off about Kirishima.

Kirishima finally turned to look at him and Suoh noticed there was something strange about his eyes. He tried to get a closer look, but Kirishima turned his face away before he could see.

Annoyed by Kirishima's obvious ploy to avoid looking at him directly, Suoh suddenly lunged with a speed that caught Kirishima by surprise. He pinned Kirishima against the wall and grabbed his chin to prevent him from turning his head away. It had been difficult to tell with the fluorescent lights reflecting off his glasses, but now he could see it clearly. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his pupils were abnormally dilated from prolonged stress and anxiety.

Is this about that South American Capo's captain again? You still think Julio's a threat? Even at this distance...?

You hear alarm bells going off in your head... that's what's making you crazy, isn't it?

A low rage began to grow within Suoh. Enough already...!

Suoh opened his eyes and stared out the airplane window again. A lone wisp of cloud floated by.

I'm gonna silence those alarm bells for you.

Permanently.

. . . . .

Kirishima's nightmares continued to plague him night after night. He finally gave up trying to lie down in bed and spent his long evenings sitting in a recliner, reading. He would nod-off several times during the night, managing to snatch 10-minute stretches of sleep at a time before being jolted awake yet again by bad dreams.

Even still, he thought he was getting enough sleep to get by.

Unfortunately, as the week progressed, Kirishima caught himself making small errors. Most of the time he was able to fix them without anyone knowing, but he knew some of the staff was beginning to notice. His downfall came when he was participating in a meeting with Asami and the CEO of an overseas company. Kirishima had addressed the CEO by the wrong name.

He repeated the same mistake again a few minutes later, which earned him a significant side-long glance from Asami. Kirishima apologized quickly, and mentally repeated the man's name in his mind, over and over, so it wouldn't happen a third time.

After the meeting ended, Asami asked Kirishima to remain behind. Kirishima began to apologize for his mistake, but Asami held his hand up and stopped him.

"You're not looking well, Kirishima. When's the last time you took some time off?"

"I'm fine... I didn't sleep well last night. Tomorrow, I'll—"

Asami slowly shook his head. "You won't be here tomorrow, nor the day after that. You're taking the rest of the week off."

"Sir, that won't be necessary—" Kirishima began to protest, but he was quickly silenced by a sharp look from Asami. He knew there was to be no further discussion about it. He felt completely humiliated, but he managed to keep his expression neutral so it wouldn't show. "Yes sir." Kirishima knew Suoh was supposed to be returning to work the next day. "I'll arrange for Suoh to take over for me while I'm off. Will that be all, sir?"

Asami gave him a quick nod before reaching for his cigarettes. Kirishima turned to leave.

"Kirishima..."

Kirishima stopped and turned back around. "Sir?"

Asami lit his cigarette. He raised his eyes and gave Kirishima a piercing look. As he exhaled, a cloud of smoke created a hazy fog between them. "Give me your gun."

This order stung Kirishima hard, but he kept his expression blank as he reached into his suit and pulled out his gun. He laid it on Asami's desk.

Asami drew on his cigarette again and exhaled, causing the fog to become denser. "I mean it when I said you're taking the week off. You're no use to me in the condition you're in right now."

Asami gave him a wry smile, "You should take your leave somewhere along the ocean. I happen to know of a rather nice beach-side resort..."

Being reminded that he had pulled a similar stunt on his overworked boss a year ago, actually caused Kirishima to smile. "Yes sir. I know that place well..."

. . . . .

Kirishima sat at the table, staring at the clear plastic bag which contained a number of brightly colored pills.

"I highly recommend this," the foreign man had told him. "Not only will they help you sleep, but it will be a sleep SO deep, you won't even have dreams. It's a little expensive, but I promise you'll feel A LOT better after taking this..."

And completely illegal, which probably means it has a high addiction rate.

Kirishima sighed.

I have to get some sleep... my job depends on it!

He opened the bag and fished out two pills. He held them in the palm of his hand and examined them.

This is how it starts... trying to find a quick solution for a problem, but then you become dependent on it...

Kirishima clenched his fist closed.

"Damn it!" he growled. He grabbed the bag and headed toward the bathroom. Once there, he shook the contents of the bag into the toilet, watching as the pills dropped into the water. He flushed.

Well that was a total waste of money... I'll have to find another way.

He sat in the recliner and closed his eyes.

Think of something calming... a green meadow with a gentle breeze blowing through the trees... the sounds of leaves rustling... insects buzzing... birdsong...

Asami looked somewhat out of place among the greenery. His usual jungle consisted of paved streets and tall glass-covered buildings...

At least he's safe in this place. Julio would NEVER think to look for him here!

But then he saw the stalks of bamboo slightly part as the barrel of a rifle poked through. Glittering through the dense vegetation were a pair of eyes that he KNEW belonged to Julio. He ran toward Asami, but it felt like he was moving in slow-motion. He felt a surge of fear, thinking he would not be able to get there in time, but he did manage to reach Asami and shield him just before the sharp report of gunfire rang out. Kirishima prepared to fill the intense burn of bullets ripping through his body, but for some strange reason he didn't feel a thing. He turned his head toward the direction of the shooter, but he couldn't see anything because Suoh was standing in front of them, blocking his view.

Suoh fell to his knees. Blood began to seep through his shirt.

YOU IDIOT! What did you do that for?! I had Asami fully protected!

"And I'm protecting you..."

Suoh's voice woke him with a start. He expected to see Suoh standing in the room... but the darkened room was empty.

This new dream left him deeply troubled.

. . . . .

Kirishima was too restless. It was impossible to relax.

I need to take a peek in the office just to make sure everything is running smoothly... and I want to see Suoh with my own eyes.

Kirishima had purposely taken a ring of keys with him. Of course other employees had spare keys, but his was the master key ring which held the keys to all the offices and nightclubs. Suoh would be needing it.

There was no doubt that Asami would see right through his ruse, but he knew Asami had a meeting scheduled downtown that afternoon, so he shouldn't be running into him.

Before he left, Kirishima realized he had dressed in a business suit out of habit. Knowing that he had to at least give the impression that he was on leave, he removed his blazer and tie, and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.

Arriving at the office, he was surprised to see Chiba sitting at his desk instead of Suoh. Chiba was on the phone and looking somewhat haggard.

Suoh's not here?!

Kirishima felt a wave of uneasiness. Chiba finally hung up and the phone began to ring again immediately. He started to pick it up, but Kirishima placed his hand over Chiba's. "Let it go to voicemail..."

Chiba sat back in the chair and let out a breath. "It's been crazy here all morning! I don't suppose... you've been recalled from your vacation to take over...?" Chiba looked at him hopefully.

"No, I'm afraid not. I just forgot to drop off the keys. Where's Suoh?"

"Oh, we had another attempted break-in at the warehouse. We caught them in the act this time, but they've managed to run off. We're trying to track them down right now, but we're kind of short-handed... with Oda accompanying Asami, you on vacation, and then Yamato is—"

"I understand. I'll go find Suoh at the warehouse and see if I can lend a hand."

A panicked secretary burst into the office. "Chiba, the printer is down... AGAIN. And I need to print some paperwork... NOW!"

"Yeah, I'll get on that right away..." Chiba glanced wearily at the phone as it began to ring again.

Kirishima turned to the secretary. "Send a copy of your file to my computer. Chiba will use the printer in here to print out your report." He smiled reassuringly at Chiba, "Just take it one task at a time and you'll do just fine."

Chiba smiled back at Kirishima gratefully.

Kirishima couldn't resist. He frowned at him. "What are you waiting for, you idiot? Answer the phone!"

. . . . .

Kirishima arrived at the warehouse. He was surprised to find Yamato with his arm heavily bandaged and in a sling.

"What happened to you?" Kirishima asked.

"I got shot," Yamato replied.

"You already managed to get treated... and return back here?" Kirishima said as he looked at him, confused.

"Well..." Yamato quickly averted his gaze.

"Where's Suoh?"

"We caught three men trying to break in. Suoh—"

Just then, Nakano walked in with a smaller man. Nakano had the man's arm bent behind his back. The man kept his head down and was gasping hard as he struggled to break free.

"You keep that up, and you might accidentally break your arm..." Nakano said coolly. The man stopped struggling, but still kept his head down. He was trembling.

Mayeda burst in, panting, and frowned as he looked at Nakano. "Ah! You caught one of the weasels! No fair, you got youth on your side. I lost my guy... damn it... !"

Kirishima walked over and grabbed the man's hair and pulled his head back so he could get a good look at him. The face that stared back at him couldn't have been more than 16 years old. He had several piercings in his ears, one in each eyebrow and one through his lower lip.

Eh?! It's just some punk kid...

"Thanks Nakano, I'll take it from here..."

Nakano let go of the teen's arm. Kirishima grabbed him roughly and threw him against the corrugated metal wall. The impact made an impressive sound, which was just the effect Kirishima was after.

Kirishima placed his hand next to the teen's head and leaned in close to him. "I honestly have no patience for playing games today. You'll either spill everything you know right now, or I'll just assume you have no intention of talking. If that's the case, I can go ahead and start cracking bones now. My preferred method is to go from smallest to largest. Toes, fingers... one at at time.. then your arms, legs... you get it, right? I once accidentally killed someone trying to break his femur... you know, that big bone at the top of your leg? An artery busted and he bled out..."

The teen began speaking fast, in a trembling voice. "Th-this guy paid us 10,000 to act like we were breaking in here, an' then run when you guys saw us. H-he wanted us to draw the guards away from this place. He told us to keep you guys chasing us, but don't get caught, and if we could do that he would give us another 25,000..."

"What's the name of the man who hired you?"

"I-I don't know... I swear!" the teen flinched when he saw Kirishima's face break out in a scowl. "He never told us! He said we didn't need to know..."

"Who else was with you?"

"My-my friend... and the other guy, I don't know him. He was one of that guy's goons. He said to leave the biggest guard to him."

"We'll catch your friend here shortly. You care what happens to him, don't you?" The teen nodded. "Then you'll tell me what you can about the man that hired you. Where did you meet him? What does he look like?"

"We were just hanging out in front of a shop in Shinjuku when he approached us... he asked us if we wanted to make some easy money, We had NO IDEA you guys were... you know... with one of those... organizations. He's just a typical old man yakuza type. YOU would know... right? Grey hair, balding in front, kind of overweight..."

"Any discernible marks, like moles or scars? Some quirk in his mannerisms...?"

"Yeah. He has this long bullwhip he likes to threaten people with..."

"A bullwhip?" Kirishima's eyes widened.

The teen nodded. Kirishima turned away from the teen with a worried look on his face.

"You know who this is?" Mayeda asked.

"We turned away a bothersome person trying to gain entrance to Sion a couple of months ago. He returned later with a bullwhip. Suoh took him down, but he had a difficult time of it. We suspected the guy was hopped up on some kind of stimulant..."

"What? That REALLY happened...?! That story Suoh was telling at the bar—" Yamato stopped awkwardly, realizing he was referring to the same night they had played the trick on Kirishima.

Kirishima's mind was somewhere else though. "The break-ins are just a ruse. Suoh's been their real target this whole time. Damn it... which way did Suoh go?"

"North," Yamato said.

Kirishima turned to leave, but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. "Wait..."

Yamato was looking at him with concern. "I heard you're supposed to be on vacation this week... but you did come here armed, right?"

Kirishima growled in frustration. Normally, he was the one who remained level-headed enough to think things through clearly. It irritated him that one of his subordinates had to do it for him. "No... I'm not armed," he conceded reluctantly.

Yamato reached into his sling and fumbled with something. He pulled out a black sheath and handed it to Kirishima. "Here. Strap this to your forearm..."

Kirishima pulled a slim knife out of the sheath and examined it. It looked wickedly sharp. He slid it back into its sheath and then pulled up his sleeve and strapped it to his arm. "Thank you..." he said.

This is no time to be impulsive. Slow down and focus...

"Mayeda, you come with me..."

"You can take Nakano too..." Yamato said. Kirishima glanced at the teen and then Yamato's injured arm before looking up and raising an eyebrow at him.

Yamato sighed and then walked over to the teen. He kicked out in a half-spin and took the teen down by striking the back of his legs. The teen landed on his butt with a grunt. Yamato knelt down and grinned at him. "He won't be going anywhere. We're going to hang out together and have a little chat about his 'life choices'..."

. . . . .

Kirishima, Mayeda, and Nakano headed north, stopping now and then to listen next to the warehouses' walls or to peer into any windows. It wasn't long before they came to a small intersection among the buildings.

Kirishima furrowed his brow and scanned the surroundings. "Mayeda, go right... Nakano, you keep going straight ahead. We'll keep in touch by texting. Do NOT confront them alone..." The other two grunted their responses and took off running. Kirishima turned left.

The street between the warehouses narrowed and then came to a dead end. Disappointed his path had ended so quickly, Kirishima turned back around and begin to retrace his steps, but he stopped when he heard a small sound coming from one of the warehouses.

He walked up to the wall and put his ear against it, but he could hear nothing. Just as he was about to back away, he heard a muffled snapping noise.

There wasn't an entrance from this side so he quickly made his way around the building and found the door. He put his ear up against the door and listened again.

*Snap*

Kirishima tried the doorknob and found that the door was not locked. He cursed to himself when the door made a creaking noise as he began opening it. He stopped and pulled up hard on the doorknob as he tried again, hoping this would help reduce the friction against the hinges. The trick worked and the door opened soundlessly.

He peered around the door and saw what appeared to be a disused front office inside. There was another door on the opposite side of the office, which was partially open. Kirishima peered through it. Though the lighting was faint, he could make out several pallets with wooden crates stacked upon them. He slipped through the door and made his way through the space of the warehouse, using the stacks of crates as cover.

This particular warehouse had two sections that converged at a right angle, making the building "L-shaped". As he carefully made his way to the opening of the second section, he heard a loud crack echo throughout the building.

Bullwhip...

He peered around the corner and saw two men standing next to a yellow crane. Another large man was slumped within the middle of it, his arms tied to either side of the metal frame. He was shirtless and there were red streaks running along his backside. All of them were positioned with their backs to Kirishima.

Kirishima ducked his head back around the corner.

All right... I've found Suoh. Now I just need to get Mayeda and Nakano here...

Kirishima started to reach for his phone, but he froze at the unmistakable sensation of a cold metal gun barrel being pressed against the back of his head.

A man's voice hissed in his ear. "If you so much as FLINCH, I won't hesitate to blow your brains out!"

. . . . .

. .

"Julio... who the hell is Julio?!" I can hear you saying.

He was the guy that had Kirishima on edge at the beginning of this story. Asami and Co. went to [South American country] to work out a trade deal. Julio was the second-in-command who took a strong dislike to Asami.

Suoh told the story of the whip guy he had to rough-up back in Chapter 7.

The teens were paid in yen. 10,000 comes out to a little more than US$80.00.