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Chapter 25

Akihito's POV

"Kiyomi, stop posting pictures on Instagram! You know your father doesn't think that it's safe right now! And Mayuri...stop encouraging it!" Akihito scolded both his daughter and friend as they snapped pictures beside him. Mayuri turned to him and stuck his tongue out.

"Don't get a stick up your ass like Kei, it's really making you seem like a mom." The fashion designer teased.

"Well unlike Kirishima, I AM a mom. And can't you be a little more serious about this? We have to be careful right now, you know this." He of all people should know this Akihito thought to himself

Mayuri groaned, rolling his eyes but his expression turned serious for a moment. "There's a difference in being careful and letting fear run your life. Might just be me being salty, but I really don't want him to take anything else away from me, or make me afraid to something I want to do." The photographer sat there for a long moment, taking in what the smaller man said. He could see the validation in his point, but at the same time he had two kids to worry about. Being overly cautious was kind of becoming the norm. Especially with a psycho man on the loose who tried to kill them.

Before he could say his piece, Kiyomi piped up from beside them, "I'm sorry...I didn't think about it. Please don't fight over this." She mumbled, looking down in guilt. That's when he remembered that Kiyomi really was only eight, and even a small argument like this would seem like a fight.

"It's okay Sweetie, it's not your fault. This is a weird situation to begin with, and besides Mayuri and I aren't fighting, I promise." He assured her gently.

"If you're sure..." Kiyomi trailed off and soon after the limo fell into mostly silence, the only sound coming from the one year old who was playing with the toy attachments on his car seat. Finally, they arrived into the basement parking lot of the hospital and pooled out one by one, Akihito and Rin helping each of them out. Once they got Mayuri settled into his wheel chair, the photographer finally looked around noticed the abundance of guards. He turned to Rin with a questioning look.

"Hey Rin...did Asami hire more guards or something?"

The guard glanced around before nodding. "He did, Takaba-sama. Asami-sama felt that with all four of you having your appointments today we should have extra security. If it's bothering you I can inform the guards to hide themselves better." Rin offered, but quickly Aki shook his head. In the past it would have annoyed the absolute fuck out of him, but right now it made him feel safer.

"No, it's fine. I was just curious. And besides, I guess that keeps you free to help me with the baby." Said baby was currently squirming on his hip, not really happy about being carried or going to the doctor.

"Of course, Takaba-sama! I can go ahead and take him from you if it helps?" Akihito was always reluctant to give Masa over to anyone else, but knew that it would be hard to carry him, push Mayuri, and keep an eye on Kiyomi all at the same time. So he nodded, allowing the guard to take the toddler from his arms. And with that they all headed up the elevator to their first stop: Masahiko's appointment.

Well that was a thing Akihito sighed as he leaned back in the hard plastic chair, currently waiting on Mayuri's doctor to come back into the room. Masa's appointment had been an absolute nightmare. He didn't want to be touched, couldn't be distracted with Peek-A-Boo and then when the shots came in...oh god it was awful. Aki swore the entire hospital heard the toddler's screams, and it took almost Kiyomi's entire check-up to get him to stop crying. Masa ended up throwing up...and then it started again. Luckily though, the doctor said he was fine. Still delayed a little bit, but catching up. The only problem was something the doctors already warned them about. Their son would probably always be on the small side, which honestly Aki could care less. As long as it didn't pose a threat to his health, why did his size matter? His and Kiyomi's appointments had gone a lot smoother, and with nothing really interesting happening once he finally got Masa calmed down. They had some blood tests done, their vitals and such checked, and were sent on their way after a short bout of questions concerning their overall health and diet. They were both fine, back to healthy weights and their doctor seemed pretty happy about their change in diet and lifestyle. Nothing to be worried about, thank god.

Akihito bounced Masa on his lap, allowing the toddler to play with his hands. If it kept him happy he would do just about anything. "Mamamamamama..." His son's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, hazel eyes lowering to settle on his sons face. He looked so unhappy.

"What is it baby?" Aki asked softly, gently brushing a few soft black strands from the baby's face. He didn't receive any more words in reply, instead an exasperated grunt. Masa was still...working on his communication skills. They were getting there. Luckily, Akihito had a scary kind of "spidey-sense" when it came to his kids, and with one look he could tell what the problem was. Masa was hungry. "Hey Rin...can you take the kids to the car and get them some food? There's a sushi place right across the street that Kiyomi will eat at, and Masa has some food in the baby bag..."

"Takaba-sama...I'm not supposed to leave your side." Rin objected.

"I know, but come on Rin, Asami has this place decked out like a fortress. There are guards crawling everywhere not to mention the hospital has its own security team. We'll be fine. Just wait for us in the parking deck once you have the kid's food, okay?" Still looking reluctant, Akihito knew he had to push a little more. "Please Rin, Masa's hungry and I know Kiyomi is too. I'll text you as soon as we're done, okay?"

Rin gave him a short nod, but the photographer could tell he still wasn't happy about it. Well, he wasn't either but he couldn't let his kids starve...plus neither of them needed to be here for Mayuri's appointment. Kiyomi could get scared by some of the things the doctor said. Rin left after gathering up both kids, leaving just him and Mayuri in the room as they waited on the doctor.

"Are you nervous?" Aki asked after a moment, concerned that the other was being so quiet; especially when he was usually so talkative.

Mayuri looked over at him and gave a small smile, shrugging. "Not really. I've already come to terms with everything." Akihito was about to interrupt him to give him a firm scolding on giving up, but Mayuri raised a finger to silence him. "I'm not saying that I'll never walk again, I'm saying that I don't know and I've come to terms with not knowing. If I walk again then that's great and wonderful, a miracle come true. But even if I don't...I'll still be okay." The blonde slowly nodded.

"Well...you're going to walk again. I know you will, you've already made some progress. You said you've been getting feeling back in that leg...and that's a good sign."

Mayuri chuckled, shaking his head. "There's that Akihito stubbornness we all know and love. With that innocent confidence, you could convince even a blind man he would see again." Aki rolled his eyes.

"Don't be an ass, I just know you, and the others know you even better. If they all believe you're going to walk again, then I know you're going to." Mayuri was about to reply with some funny quip, but the opening door brought silence to the room as the doctor entered to finally give them the results of the tests.

"The scans show that your bones are healing nicely from the recent surgery, and the plates are holding in place. The only problem we see is the breaks to your spine. They're healing a lot slower than normal, but you know this from our last visit. Still, this is likely due from whatever kind of at home rehab you've been doing. Try to do less strenuous things and less times a day, just until your spinal injury has healed. If you don't it could do some serious damage and set you back. From the looks of it, it should be a couple more weeks and then you can go back to what you've been doing." Aki turned his gaze Mayuri, and he could tell it wasn't exactly the news he was hoping for.

"So as long as he lets himself recover some more, you think he'll be okay?" Akihito didn't want to just come out and ask the one thing on all their minds, worried that if the answer wasn't what they were hoping for that it would pain Mayuri. He knew what the designer said, but even so...no one wants the bad news, even if they think they're ready for it.

The doctor looked down at his clip board, as though the answer were written down somewhere on those printed sheets. "In my professional opinion, with the progress he's made and the fact he's getting some feeling back in that leg...I think it's possible. I can't give a definite answer, but I can say that with every visit the chances improve." Once again...not exactly what they wanted to hear, but at least it wasn't bad news. It just felt like they were at a standstill. Six months...he had thought surely by now they would know. But with all the surgeries that had to be done and the little setbacks...who knew when they'd know? The rest of the visit went by in almost a daze, the doctor giving them the usual spill and prescribing some new pain medication that ultimately Mayuri wouldn't even get filled. In a weird way, the pain helped him...or at least that's what he told all of them. Aki understood, because he had felt the same way when he was in the hospital with cancer. The pain reminded him that he was still alive, and that he was fighting.

After packing up the papers left with him, he began wheeling Mayuri out of the room as he took his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Rin as promised before dialing Asami's number. He had also promised his lover he would call to let him know how all of them are. Asami answered on the third ring. "Hey Asami, just finished with Mayuri's appointment and we're heading down the elevator." Aki chirped, switching over to his Bluetooth so he could have his hands free, slipping his phone into the back of Mayuri's wheelchair. Inside the elevator, he hit the button for the basement floor.

"How are the kids? Oh, and you're on speaker."

"They're fine, currently with Rin in the limo. Kiyomi's appointment went fine as usual, Masa made it as difficult as possible…so also as usual." Asami chuckled.

"That's good, and how did Mayuri's go? Did we get any news on his condition?" Aki glanced down at the man in question, biting his lip.

"Nothing we didn't already know, but we'll explain more over dinner tonight. I'm thinking about making pizzas…Kiyomi wanted to have her friends over for a sleep over." At this point they had pretty much accepted that the three friends were basically inseparable. Every weekend they were hanging out, either having sleep overs or just going to the park. "Oh, are Fei and Kirishima coming over tonight? I know Fei is in town right now…"

"He's currently sitting across from me…but no, they're going back to Kei's apartment tonight. So don't worry about making them dinner." Akihito wasn't sure if he was happy or disappointed. On one hand he liked having a full house because they were all becoming such a close family; even Asami and Fei were getting along better. Though on the other hand it was nice to have less people to clean after.

Akihito opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly stunned into silence. When the elevator opened, he was met with eight black SUVs with tented windows surrounding the doors. Immediately his finger started spamming the button to send them up, eyes wide. "Asami! Asami Jun is here!" He yelled into his ear piece as the doors shut, his hands gripping the wheelchair's handles.

"He's what?! Are you sure?"

"Dammit Asami, I wouldn't fucking say that if I wasn't sure! Get in touch with Rin NOW! He has the kids!" Akihito snapped, his knuckles going white from the tight grip he held on the handles.

"Kei! Get in touch with Rin NOW!" Moments later he heard Rin's voice from another phone. It was a little distorted, but he could still hear him. This was right about the time the elevator doors opened again, only for him to spam the button 'til it closed again. Jun and his cronies had taken the stairs…and stairs were always faster. Shit shit shit!

"Asami-sama, I'm already aware of the situation. I'm going to get a guard to watch the kids and I'm heading in."

Before Asami could say anything, Aki did it for him. "No! Rin don't you dare leave the kids! Get them somewhere safe!"

"Takaba-sama, I can get all four of you to safety, just trust m-"

"NO! No no! You take the kids, and you fucking drive!"

"But Taka-"

"ASAMI! Give him the damn order, because if anything happens to our babies I swear to god I will never forgive you! Either of you!" There was a short silence, before Asami's voice came through.

"Rin, get the kid's somewhere safe. That's an order." For the first time since knowing the overly passionate guard, he heard a long line of angry swears come from the man before:

"Fine." Akihito heard the familiar sound of a line going dead, meaning Rin had hung up. I'm sorry Rin, but I'm not letting my kids get put at risk.

The door to the elevator opened, and this time he saw no one. Taking his chance, he pushed the wheelchair forwards and started running. Find a place to hide….find a place to hide. "Akihito, stall anyway you can. I'm already in the car and we're heading towards you. The guards have been alerted and are going to cut them off." Asami informed him, giving the blonde a little hope. "And if you can…get to the ground floor. That's where most of the guards are." SHIT! SHIT SHIT! Aki turned on his heels, his eyes falling on the elevator. Someone was coming up.

"Okay….Okay but I can't take the elevator."

"Aki, leave me here and run." Mayuri finally said something, and honestly Akihito had wished he didn't.

"Excuse me?! No! No I'm not leaving you for that creep to get you!" Akihito snapped, already running for the stairs. He would…he would figure it out. Besides, getting him down stairs would be easier than up.

"Yes! I'll be fine, just get out of here!"

"No! It's not happening!" Akihito said again, and he could hear Suoh in the background of the call yelling something. Oh yeah, we're on speaker.

"Akihito, tell Mayuri to shut up. Both of you are getting out of there, no self-sacrificing allowed."

"Asami agrees, so sit tight and stop talking stupid." He told the smaller man as he tilted the wheelchair onto its back wheels, taking the stairs much faster than he ever would be comfortable with on a normal occasion. But desperate times and all that.

By the time he had gotten down the third flight, he heard the doors open followed by rapid footsteps coming down. "Fuck! Mayuri, hold on." Safely going down the stairs was no longer even a concern, now it was just getting them down the stairs as fast as possible. The bumps down jostled the entire wheelchair, and at one point he thought he heard a whimper from Mayuri. I know it hurts…I'm trying…

"They're going down the stairs boss!" A voice came from above them, and immediately Aki rang out a stream of curses. We're so close! One more flight! The men were gaining on them, but right on time they made it to the door and with the help of Mayuri, the door was pushed open and they were running down the white halls once again, this time headed for the entrance. The photographer could hear

It wasn't until he heard his lover's voice raise that Akihito realized Asami had been trying to talk to him this entire time. "Akihito, what's going on?!" From the desperation in his voice, he realized Asami must have asked this multiple times.

"Sorry! We're being chased by at least three guys, if not more. I've gotten us to the main floor, and I'm heading for the doors now."

"Good, you'll be safe with the guards there. We're ten minutes away now." Usually ten minutes didn't seem like long, but right now it felt like forever. Akihito was basically running towards the front, but as he rounded the corner of a hallway he skid to a sudden stop. There were bodies…bodies of nurses and doctors littering the hallway…and then he heard a gunshot.

"Fuck! Asami I can't go that way, t-they're already there! What do I do?!" He felt trapped, knowing those men weren't far behind them, and now forwards wasn't an option. No more stairs, no more elevators.

Asami was quick to give orders, but even he knew they were completely pulled from the crimelord's ass. Still, a shitty plan is better than no plan. "Get into a room and hide! If they find you, stall as much as you can." Not having to be told twice, he went into the first room he saw, shutting the door as quietly as humanly possible behind them.

Immediately he recognized this room as the place they did x-rays, the machines in the room being all too familiar from the broken bones he had in the past. He quickly lifted Mayuri from the wheelchair as carefully as possible, getting them into the closed off area where all the screens were. "O-Okay...we're in a room." He said quietly, setting Mayuri down on the floor before getting down beside him. There was nowhere else to hide…they just had to hope they wouldn't be found before Asami got there.

"Just stay quiet unless something happens, we're close." Akihito closed his eyes and let his head fall back, listening to a muffled conversation that was happening on the other line, his hands shaking in his lap. That was until he felt Mayuri grab his hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"…It's going to be okay." Mayuri whispered beside him, trying to reassure him. Swallowing thickly, the blonde gave a weak smile in return.

"Yeah, I kno-"

The click of the door interrupted him, and immediately he stiffened. Oh no…not now. Please god, please no…. "I know you're in here…just come out and make this easy." Suddenly the comforting, reassuring squeeze Mayuri was giving him turned into a painful death grip. When neither of them moved or made a single peep, the lights turned on, so bright it blinded both of them. "Fine, the hard way it is."

"Asami, I'm sorry." He whispered, racking his brain for anyway out, but there was none. Even if this damn room had a window, there was no way he could get both himself and Mayuri out of it. Not in time, and definitely not without damaging the still recovering fashion designer. He could hear the men in the other room moving things around, trying to search and find them. It wouldn't be long before they checked the last, obvious place. They were going to get captured, and Asami was still at least seven minutes away.

"Akihito, is there any way you can stall them?"

"….No." His voice cracked, and he felt hot tears trying to fall. No, not over this asshole.

As though he were right beside Asami, watching his face, he knew that the man had a pain-stricken look in his eyes as he spoke next. "Go with him, and don't do anything stupid. I'll find you, I promise. Do what you have to do, okay? I don't…I don't care what. Both of you, just do what you have to in order to survive. We can't lose either of you." He could hear loud footsteps right outside the door, those evil men sneering and taunting them.

"Just find us." Akihito whispered, just as the door opened and four men stomped their way into the room. Jun stood in front of them, looking smug as he gestured a hand to them.

"Grab them and let's go. We've wasted enough time in this fucking place playing cat and mouse." Two of the large men stepped forward, grabbing them up roughly. His ear piece fell to the floor, but he barely noticed due to the panic rising in him when the man threw Mayuri over his shoulder.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOTS, YOU'RE GOING TO HURT HIM!" He screeched, starting to kick and throw punches to try and get to his friend who was quite clearly experiencing a lot of pain from all the jostling.

Jun reached out and grabbed him by the hair, yanking on it roughly. "Lower your damn voice kid! What are you even talking about?!" Is he that fucking stupid?!

"Mayuri is still healing from you hitting him with a fucking car and he just had another surgery a fucking month ago! If you're too rough with him, you could paralyze him permanently!" Akihito snapped, glaring daggers at the former yakuza who looked ready to rip his head off.

Still, the man seemed to acknowledge what he said. "You heard the little whore, be gentle! And so help me, if you break Mayuri, I'll break you." They rounded the corner towards the stairs and elevator, and with each step Akihito felt his heart beat faster and faster in panic. This wasn't the first or even third time he had been kidnapped, but something about this time was different. Even knowing Asami would stop at nothing to find them, he couldn't ignore the pit in his stomach. A bad feeling, something of instinct that told him this wasn't going to be like last time. There would be a weird change of heart like Fei, or a cartoonishly bad kidnapper who gets found in a few hours. No…they were being kidnapped by a man who the great Asami Ryuichi hasn't been able to find for months, a man who was able to disappear without a trace and the reappear right at the perfect moment to get them. This time was different.

The smallest of them snorted humorlessly, giving his older brother the most hate filled look Akihito had ever seen in his life. It was the look of someone who would literally murder the person in front of them if they had the chance. "Ironic coming from the person who put me in a wheelchair." Mayuri muttered bitterly, earning a glare from Jun. They were now exiting the elevator, the trunk of one of the SUVS opening to reveal two more men in the back, both holding rope and zip ties.

"That wasn't meant to be you." Without another word, Jun walked around to the front while Akihito was carelessly thrown into the trunk; Mayuri more gently so. Despite the pain radiating from his back and head, he refused to make a sound as he kicked and punched the men trying to cover his face with a rag. Akihito wasn't going down without fight, even if fighting was basically useless. Still, he wasn't just going to let it happen. He nailed one of the guys in the side of the head with his fist, and clipped the other with his foot a few times before he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head.

Everything went black.

Rin's POV

"Yeah, I've taken care of everything…I'll be back as soon as I can….Yes, yes I promise to be safe….I love you too Yoh…Call you when I can." The call ended, leaving him alone in the car with his internal rage.

The rage he felt was indescribable, unlike anything he had felt before. Rin had felt anger and rage, but never like this. Never to this degree. The person he swore to protect, the boy he owed a great debt too, had been taken under his watch. Never had he failed so horribly or taken something so personally in his life. Takaba Akihito was his charge, his responsibility, and he had failed him. Someone had to pay the price for that…and he would find them and make them wish they were never born. Luckily for him, finding people and taking care of business was his specialty.

Rin had worked many jobs in the past, but none of them were as personal as this one. He owed a great debt to Akihito, one that the photographer didn't even realize himself…and honestly Rin wanted to keep it that way. Working as his guard was the one way he could atone for his biggest sin, the one thing in his past he actually regretted. The job he took twenty years ago in France, when he himself was just fourteen. Back then he was too young and never asked the right questions, so it had never struck him to ask if there was a kid involved. And though he didn't pull the trigger, if it weren't for him taking that job they never would have been there that night. The money was high, and it seemed so easy. His only job was to get in, steal the ring, and get out while the thugs took care of the rest. "The rest" ended up being unneeded bloodshed…and that was on him.

It had been two hours since Akihito and Mayuri had been kidnapped, and in those two hours he had gotten the little ones to safety (Fei and Haruka were instructed to take care of them at the Asami estate) and took care of getting some things in place. Now he was on his way to the warehouse where they were interrogating two of Jun's men they managed to capture before they fled the scene. If he were anyone else, it would be unimaginable what Asami was already doing to them. But…being who Rin was…he would have done worse.

Arriving at the warehouse, he stepped out of his car and walked past a few fellow guards standing outside on guard. Nodding at them, Rin stepped inside and his eyes immediately fell on the two tied up and bloody figures in the center of the room. Asami, Kei, and Kazumi were all standing to the side, speaking in low voices. "Any luck?" He spoke up, approaching the three men.

"…No, not really. The only information they could give us was the first stop Jun and his men made, but he's already been there and left by now." Asami spoke bitterly, lighting a cigarette. If Akihito saw it, he would be most displeased. But honestly Rin wanted to light himself one at the moment, so he really couldn't blame his boss.

"That's an accurate assumption, considering the amount of time that has passed." Rin crossed his arms over his chest, meeting Asami's eyes. "I can find them though, you just have to trust me."

The crimelord frowned, raising an eyebrow as his golden eyes sized him up. If you had trusted me in the first place, this wouldn't even have happened. "How do you plan on finding them?"

"…I cannot say, but I'm the best chance you've got. I need you to trust me, because to find them I need to go rogue."

"I don't even let my most trusted men do things without my knowledge, why would you be any different? We don't even know anything about you." Despite the man's words, Rin could see it in those piercing orbs that Asami was considering it.

"Every good leader knows that sometimes your best option is the one with the most risks. I can find them a lot faster than your men can, I just need your permission because once I go under radar you won't hear from me. Not until I have something." Actually I don't, but I'd rather not make another enemy.

Asami glanced at his two most trusted friend, searching on their faces for this opinions on the matter. It was clear they were all hesitant, but also not unwilling. "…You have two days." That was all he needed to hear before he left in silence, disappearing from the warehouse as he fished one of the burner phones from his pocket. Without even looking at his hand, he dialed a number and raised the phone to his ear. They answered on the third ring.

"Who's this?" A gruff, angry voice came from the other line.

"It's me. I'm calling in one of my favors."

"O-Oh…y-y-yes of course s-sir!"

They always sound so scared…

That's because they should be.