It was around noon by the time Izaya got back and immediately gravitated to his backpack by the couch when he walked in. He was desperately in need of a shirt now that an autumn chill had swept in from the west. Orihara resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he noticed from the corner of his vision that Shizou was sitting on said couch with his usual scowl. The raven didn't bother to even look at him fully; he knew the blonde was glaring at him.

"You still haven't eaten, Shizu-chan?", the informant commented more than asked as he realized that he couldn't smell or see any evidence of food having been cooked.

The raven got no response, as he expected, and walked to the pantry with a sigh. Orihara absolutely did not want to cook anything for Shizou. He was a grown man and should be able to take care of himself after all, but talking about what had happened and the new plan over breakfast would be the perfect opportunity. Getting on his good side was very crucial if he wanted the blonde to even listen to him. Even though he hated him, the bartender was extremely useful to Izaya at the moment.

Shizou was essential protection. He was able to ward off squads easily if it came to it. SS class squads were a different story, but those squads were only deployed to recapture sliced hybrids if escaped. They knew how to deal with super-strength since many hybrids were built with that ability. It would be an easy job for an SS squad to take down Shizou. Child's play really. It would be highly unlikely that they'd run into them though since Heiwajima wasn't in their system as an escaped, so that was the least of Izaya's worries.

Once he'd opened said pantry, the informant's eye was immediately caught by two cans of tuna. Excitedly, Orihara pulled the cans out and set them on the counter. He could hardly contain his excitement at the great find. It wasn't fatty tuna, but it was still tuna and that was good enough for him. Looking around for a can opener, the raven opened drawers and threw open cabinets. He searched and searched, but didn't find what he was looking for. With a frown, he turned his head to the bartender watching silently from the couch.

"I found some tuna, Shizu-chan. I need you to come open the cans.", the informant stated as he turned fully to the blonde with a can in hand.

"I can't open them. I tried a few days back.", the bartender explained honestly as he looked the raven straight in the eye.

"What do you mean you can't open them?", Orihara scoffed as he glared at the blonde while he placed a hand on his hip.

"I mean I can't open them."

"How are you going to sit here and tell me a brute like you, who rips street signs out of the ground and hurls vending machines, can't open two tin cans of tuna?", the informant asked with a quirked brow.

"Yes."

Izaya sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why is that so?"

"I'm not angry.", Shizou shrugged as he turned back to the raven.

A look of despair crossed Izaya's beautiful features before he realized that getting Heiwajima angry was his specialty. Orihara just had to make the blonde mad enough to open the cans, but not so mad that he decides to bring the whole cabin down. Looking up, the informant noticed that the blonde was turned to the window, completely disregarding Izaya. The raven scowled in irritation before an idea presented itself. The weight of his pocket knife, that he'd picked up from his backpack after being put in a situation earlier that could have ended badly without it, had given him the scheme. A sure way to piss the blonde off.

Sinking to the ground, the informant crawled slowly and silently to the bartender; careful to put hardly any weight on his right shoulder. Izaya hated himself for what he was about to do. Putting himself in such a vulnerable position and getting so close to the monster was never a good idea. Shizou had gone at him seriously every time he managed to tick him off, so he felt as though he should expect to get killed. Still, he went on with the plan anyway, completely against his better judgement. Man, he was becoming suicidal… Once he was close enough to the blonde that he could touch him, Orihara spoke to the taller man.

"Can you at least try to open the cans, Shizu-chan?", the raven cooed as he pushed up onto his knees in between Shizou's legs, the length of his body running against the bartender's most sensitive area, "I'm starving and I need you to feed me."

Shocked brown eyes stared down at Izaya as if he'd grown a second head. There was an awkward pause as the protozoan tried his absolute best to get his brain to reboot. Never had the raven came at him in such a sexual way. It was unnerving and frankly it was terrifying. There had to be a catch here. There had to be a catch. There's no way Izaya would-

"If you don't... then...", Orihara began as a knife materialized in his left hand, "I'll have to resort to extreme measures."

There it was. That catch. The raven solidified what he said by taking the tip of the blade and lightly pressing it to the crotch of the bartender's pants. It wasn't touching his length, but it was still horrifying. Izaya was suddenly pushed onto his back and abandoned as the blonde practically ran away from him; a peeved out look on his face.

"What the fuck are you doing!? Are you insane?!", Heiwajima roared from the corner he'd pushed himself into, "I'll seriously kill you if you ever do anything like that again!"

"But Shizu-chan, I'm hungry.", Izaya pouted in the cutest way he could possibly muster while holding his pocket knife threateningly in his hand.
"I'll open the damn cans so drop the act, Flea!"

Keeping a watchful eye on the informant, the blonde slowly crept along the wall. Once past Orihara and in the kitchen the bartender grabbed two bowls out of a cabinet irritatedly and squeezed each can's sides until the top popped off. He then emptied a can into each bowl, snatching his own up angrily as he went to go sit in the living room again. So badly, oh so badly did Heiwajima want to just punch Orihara's lights out, but Shizou didn't want to touch him even if it was in a spout of violence. How could he have been so stupid to think that such a dangerous little parasite was suddenly tamed by tragedy?

Izaya frowned at the now visibly ticked off bartender. Maybe getting him mad that way was a bad move. It was fun, but still it was the wrong move. How would he be able to talk to him like this? Grabbing his own bowl, the raven walked to the loveseat across the way from the couch the blonde was seated on. The informant was quiet as he began eating, allowing time for the tension in the room to loosen. How should he proceed? How did he even open the conversation? If he screwed this up, then Heiwajima wouldn't even think of coming. Something told him that he'd already messed up all his chances with that last act, but he knew he had to at least try. Kida was right in saying that pairing up with Shizou was the difference between life and death.

"I'm leaving.", the raven said suddenly, making the blonde in front of him look up.

There was a short silence as the bartender looked at the informant steadily, his anger suddenly seeping out of him.

"Where will you go?"

"South. They're making another camp out of this city and more and more squads are pouring in. I'm going with an ex-soldier named Kiyoshi Kazuki that I met at the stream. He's meeting me at the bridge with two horses tomorrow at sundown.", Orihara explained as the blonde raised a brow, "One for himself and one for you."

Heiwajima looked at Orihara blankly as he paused his eating.

"Are you stupid, Flea? An ex-soldier? He's probably trying to lead us into a trap."

"He's not trying to lead us into a trap.", Izaya said with so much conviction that it scared him a little bit.

"And how do you know?"

"I just know. I can read humans as you would a book, if a protozoan like you is even capable of such a feat."

A vein popped up on Heiwajima's forehead as anger surged through him again.

"You're going to just get us both captured! You can't just blindly trust someone you met not even a few hours ago!"

Suddenly the air around Orihara became serious as he stared straight into Shizou's eyes; his ruby orbs like red fire.

"Shizou.", the raven began, making the blonde start at being addressed by his first name, " I have a history of manipulating the playing field so everything works in my favor. You know that first hand, don't you? When has it ever ended badly for me? I admit that I probably need more time to figure Kazuki out, but there are, in fact, squads milling around. He could be telling the truth and if he is then we'd be captured and soon."

"But, like I said, we can't just run out to the bridge only to get captured or killed.", the blonde stated.

"I know. I have a plan. Are you willing to listen before you make any rash decisions?"

The silence from the blonde was enough to tell the raven that he could proceed. He had one shot, so he better make this plan seem practically fool-proof.

Aoba gasped for air as he felt a hand wrap around his neck and hold him up off the floor of the carriage. He glared at the blonde woman in front of him as he refused to let his grip on his pocketknife loosen. To the left of him, Kuronuma could hear Kida yelling obscenities and trying desperately to break free of Simon's grasp; trying desperately to get to him.

"Drop the knife.", Varona demanded coldly as Egor watched silently in the background.

The small teen had tried to slit the man's throat not even a few seconds before. Seeing that Simon and Dennis would rather let them go and the tall blonde was the only one who was set on taking them to their impending doom, he decided to get rid of the assassin and earn their freedom. Obviously the plan failed and now the edges of his vision were going black. In a last attempt at rebelling, Aoba grit his teeth against his need for air and the pain around his neck as he lifted his arm with the blade in it to bring it down on the side of that long, slender neck.

Just in the nick of time, a firm hand grasped his own as Varona let go of him as if she'd touched boiling water. A sickening crack was heard as Egor pushed the teen's hand back at an awkward angle. Kuronuma let out a throaty cry as Masaomi quickly became a little more than livid.

"Let him go!", the blonde yelled at the assassin as the man gripped the smaller teen's hair and slammed his head into the wall with so much force it made Aoba's vision go completely out for a moment.

Without letting his grip loosen, the tall male pulled the teen up to his eye level by his hair. Brown eyes still blazed with anger and resentment even when squinting in pain while cold, calm blue eyes looked at him as if he were absolute dirt.

"That was out of line.", the Russian man stated as he reached in his pocket for his own knife and brought it up to the teen's face, "I'm guessing you already know that I can't let you live after that. We have no room for rebels."

"Do it and I'll fucking kill you!", Kida nearly screamed as he managed to fight his way to his feet and catch the older man's attention, "Maybe I won't be able to do it now and maybe not for years, but I will fucking kill you! No matter where you run or what I have to do, I will make sure I find you and when I do, you'll wish you would have killed yourself when you had the chance!"

Masaomi was shaking with absolute rage as the man regarded him with little emotion.

"Let. Him. Go.", Kida demanded as his gaze burned into blue eyes, trying to force him to listen with only the power of his eyes alone.
Egor let the arm holding Kuronuma up drop as he turned fully to Masaomi and walked towards him, dragging Aoba along with him. Masaomi stood his ground as he lifted his chin up high in challenge, daring the man to do anything.

"I don't take orders from anyone but my superior. I only need to come back without being empty handed.", the man stated as he looked down at the blonde.
"I'll bite my tongue and then you will come back empty handed."

"What happened to you wanting to hunt me down and torture me?"

"Something tells me that someone will do that job for me if I go through with this instead.", Masaomi said dangerously.
Egor's eyes softened a bit. Something about Kida reminded him of himself when he was a teenager himself. Blindly devoted and passionate and often putting his own life on the line for the one he'd sold himself to.

"You are loyal, Volk, and too reckless. One day you'll pay the price for it and many times over.

Kida let his anger drop to a silent burn as his eyes held a blank and simmering look.

"But today isn't that day, is it?"

"No.", the Russian laughed," It is not."

Egor then, with all the grace of his long and strong limbs, lifted Kuronuma and dropped him at Masaomi's feet. Simon immediately let the older teen go as Kida dropped to his knees and looked the smaller teen over. The blonde hardly paid attention as Varona and the dark skinned man left, his focus set on flipping Aoba onto his back. Kuronuma's eyes were tearing up from the pain radiating up his arm and his head was swimming.

"Shit", Kida cursed, "I think it's broken."

Kuronuma simply let out a groan in response as Masaomi gently placed the smaller teen's injured arm over his stomach. A dark bruise was beginning to form around the shorter male's neck and the blonde found himself getting mad at the fact that the teen's skin was marked in such a way. It looked like there had been a noose around his neck and that didn't sit well with Masaomi. Sitting down against the wall, the blonde held Aoba up by his armpits and pulled him into his chest. Kida wanted to make sure that the underclassmen didn't try to pull another surprise attack or get murdered while they slept, so keeping him close was mandatory now.
Looking up, the second-year saw that Egor was watching him curiously. His knife was in his hands again as he twirled it around absentmindedly, reminding Masaomi of what almost happened. His anger was fully reignited when he felt the teen against his chest squirm uncomfortably, his wrist twisted in an awkward way and causing him extreme pain.

"You couldn't disarm him any other way?", Kida spat more than asked.

"I was going to kill him anyway, so it didn't matter which way I disarmed him.", the tall Russian responded, his demeanor nonchalant.

Suddenly the blonde remembered something about the camp, that unhealthy subjects were shot through the head. What counted as unhealthy to them?

"Wait… does his broken wrist mean he's considered 'unhealthy' now?", Kida asked with fear showing in his orbs.

"Don't worry little Volk, they will overlook it.", Egor answered as his blue eyes danced with amusement.

Masaomi scoffed at the pet name he'd been given, but didn't question it as he shifted in an attempt to make things easier for Aoba.

"Will they put a cast on it?"

"As soon as we get to camp."

"Which is how long from now?"

"The ship will take eight hours to pull into the port near Vanino and then a day from there to Yakutsk and after that another day and a half to the camp.", the Russian replied simply.

"That's too long to wait! They'd have to reset it by the time we got there!", Kida complained as a look of despair crossed Kuronuma's features.

Egor laughed at the pair's antics as he moved over to a bag and began to dig around.

"For now, we have a removable cast. Varona fractured her wrist in a fight awhile back, so that is why we have one. You are very lucky that I didn't break his whole arm."

Masaomi blinked and then pulled his lips into a frown, something was off here.

"You broke his wrist knowing that you had that, didn't you?", Kida said suspiciously. "You weren't going to kill him even if I'd hadn't have said anything...You were just going to scare him straight!"

"I'm beginning to think that you're nearly as smart as your little boyfriend." , Egor laughed again.

"Do you just enjoy messing with us, you asshole?", Aoba said through grit teeth, his head lifting up with great effort.

"Yes, but mostly the volk. He has strong reactions", the Russian said as he threw Kida the removable cast.

Masaomi caught the black object and looked it over a moment before looking down at the first-year's wrist with reluctance.
"I don't know how to set it…", Kida said waveringly.

There was a short silence as the blonde pondered over what to do.

"I can do it, but do you trust me?", Egor asked.

"No.", the upperclassmen replied immediately, "Can you get Simon back here to help?"

Standing up, the assassin walked over to the closed end of the carriage and opened a small window to where the other three were sitting. Denis was steering the team of four horses while Varona and Simon watched for any sweepers. The tall man said something in Russian to Simon and then Dennis before the carriage stopped and Simon walked around back to help. Aoba didn't want to let the dark skinned man close and tried to squirm away, but Kida held him tightly; bear hugging him.

"I trust him, so let him help Aoba.", Masaomi said sternly as Kuronuma let out a gasp when a hand suddenly grasped his arm.
The first-year let out a little cry as Simon diligently set his wrist. Kida hated the sound and kept shifting every time the smaller teen made a pained noise. He didn't like that the smaller was hurting and he could do nothing to ease the pain. It made him feel useless and defective, like he did when he was unable to protect Saki not once, but twice.

"Done. It is all better now!", Simon exclaimed as he finished putting on the cast.

"Thanks.", the blonde said graciously as the man left to return back to his post.

Aoba relaxed against the older teen as the pain in his wrist dulled to a painful throb. He was immediately grateful that Masaomi had pulled him into his warmth because now he drew comfort from it. The cold air rushing in the open end of the carriage was making him shiver slightly. "Kida…"

"Hmmm?", the blonde responded as he looked over at the shorter teen.

"Promise me.", Aoba swallowed, "Promise me that you'll stay by me. It's important now than ever that we stick together."

Kuronuma had no idea where his sudden unease came from. Suddenly the thought of Masaomi leaving his side was terrifying. Having to face all this alone would be hell and Aoba felt for all the people that DID go through this all alone. Don't get him wrong, the first-year was a fiercely independent individual, but Kida had proved that without his intervention things would have been worse off. Maybe he wouldn't have been killed, but his punishment wouldn't have been light.
Kida hesitated for only a moment and only because Aoba was acting so strangely; pushing his body closer and tightening his good hand into the fabric of Masaomi's jeans in a silent plead. At the end of the day, Kida supposed, Kuronuma was a kid. Maybe not so much a kid, but fifteen. His element was the streets of Ikebukuro and anywhere else he was a fish out of water. New was a foreign and scary concept to him. Aoba didn't operate as well when he was stressed out over his ever changing surroundings. Of course, he'd never show it though.

Masaomi was more at ease. Having spent a lot of time outside of the city, he was used to not being well within the city-limits of the place he grew up in. Though he wasn't as smart or scheming, Kida knew how to live a fleeting and fast paced existence. He could adjust his way of life on a dime and just keep moving forward, while Aoba lingered further behind in adjusting.

Together, the first year had found, he was able to transition more easily. When Kida was calm, it transferred to him and kept him from panicking like he did when Aoba had willingly walked away from the blonde a week back. Pride kept him from looking for Masaomi, even though he'd never been so lost. Kida's presence was necessary for him to operate correctly. Just him being around made Aoba feel more at ease. Kuronuma guessed it was probably just the familiarity of Masaomi. The blonde, in a way, was home. The last part of Ikebukuro that hadn't changed or collapsed in on itself, the last living memory Aoba would ever have, was Kida.
"I promise.", Masaomi said firmly, looking into the first-year's uncertain eyes as he felt Kuronuma's grip on his jeans loosen and his body relax.
And with two simple words, Kida's fate was intertwined with Aoba's until the end. The promise seemed simple enough, but Egor knew better. Masaomi had unknowingly sold his soul to the first-year. Now he was completely bound to the smaller. Wherever he went, Kida would follow. Every want and desire Kuronuma had would be carried out indefinitely, all riding on one simple promise. All on the sense of loyalty Masomi carried for the first-year. Or maybe it went deeper than that. Maybe Kida was like many he'd seen before. Maybe the blonde had lost someone important and felt as though he had to fiercely protect the last thing he had left. Emotionally bound as well as bound by his word.

This blind loyalty was deadly and coupled with that recklessness was just asking for trouble that was fast-approaching. That devotion would be put to the test as soon as they walked through the gates of the camp. Life there was definitely no walk in the park and brutality lay everywhere. The stronger you proved yourself to be, the better. The first few days were always the worst. Your position was the lowest among all the hybrids until you proved yourself worthy of a high rank. Masaomi would have to fight for both himself and more than sometimes fight for Kuronuma.

"Brace yourself, little Volk…", the Russian man murmured as he turned his knife over in his hands and watched the pair carefully.

Kazuki sighed as he looked up at the evening sky and pondered over whether or not he should bring Raiju for Izaya's, hopefully not, boyfriend. It only made sense to take his now deceased father's horse, but the stallion was no easy ride. Much like his brother's horse, the coal black Anglo-Arab was picky about his riders. Sukeban, in particular, had been so difficult that Kazuki himself couldn't ride her so it surprised him when he found that Orihara had even been permitted to sit on her back for longer than three seconds.

Seeing that Anglo-Arabs in the defense had a bad streak of being hard-headed, no one dared to take Raiju up as a riding companion. No one wanted to deal with such a troublesome horse. Now Kiyoshi used him simply as a pack-mule, a job completely unfitting for him. Hopefully, he'd be promoted to his original one; that is if he even let Shizou near him.

A loud bray returned Kiyoshi from his thoughts as he looked behind him to see his dapple grey Holsteiner and his father's coal black Anglo bickering over an apple someone had tossed them.

"Hizoku, let him have it. You've had three today already!"

At the sound of his rider's voice the dapple grey horse lifted his head and let out an innocent whiny as if he hadn't just been viciously biting at the slightly shorter horse next to him over something so trivial. Raiju simply continued with what he was doing, disregarding Kazuki as walked over to greet them.

"You have to stop picking on him.", the brunette said to his bully of a horse as he pat him affectionately, "One day he'll decide he's had enough."

The coal black stallion snorted as if in agreement as he finally lifted his head and reached out for the soldier, wanting to be pet. Kiyoshi obliged him as his dapple grey stallion protested by turning up dirt with a hoof. When the taller stallion tried to push the shorter out of the way with his nose to absorb all the attention, the green eyed man pushed the Holsteiner away.

"Your little rebel is spoiled rotten.", a voice spoke up behind Kazuki making the man turn.

"Lieutenant.", the brunette said ducking his head in respect as he was so vigorously trained to do. If it weren't a habit so deeply ingrained in him, the soldier wouldn't even bother with the small little gesture. He didn't respect the shorter man in the least for the things he'd done.

"I see they've put you on stable duty again.", the man stated coolly, "Can you explain to me why you were assigned?"

The brunette knew lying was pointless and responded without any hesitation.

"I went against a direct order, Sir."

Lieutenant Momoru sighed as he ran a hand through his glossy black hair, slicking it back while his grey eyes looked at the soldier in front of him with irritation lighting in his eyes.

"That's the third time now, Private. What was the order this time?"

"To put down a crippled elder, Sir.", the brunette replied with a dark tone to it.

Even though Kazuki had refused to put a bullet in the elder's head, the job was done by another. All the while, Kiyoshi couldn't, wouldn't do anything. He felt like a coward. He was too scared to go completely against his superiors.

"You are too soft, Private.", the man said dangerously as his grey eyes grew even colder, "I expect you'll harden up soon or there will be repercussions."
"Yes, Sir.", the brunette responded as he ducked his head again.

The shorter man looked at him for a few long moments, analyzing him with suspicious eyes before the Lieutenant decided he had better things to do than repeatedly get on a weak-willed Private's tail.

"Well, that will be all. Back to work.", the male said before he stalked off, Kiyoshi staring after him.

Suddenly tomorrow felt like a long time to wait. Kazuki almost convinced himself to leave several hours early, but if he was noticed missing then they'd come searching. He'd then be found and only god knows what would happen next. With anxiety making an appearance, Kiyoshi continued to walk down the line of tied horses. He checked them over for injury, brushed them clean of dirt and grime, and then fed them. It was an easy job and the brunette began to wonder why this was even a punishment. It was nice and calming around the big creatures, their soft snorts and other noises soothing when your nerves were grating. Having watered all the horses earlier, Kazuki found that he had nothing left to do. He hadn't been assigned another job so at this point, he was free to do as he liked. That must be because his squad leader was probably sick of taking him on runs only for him not to do his job.

Turning to the one in charge of looking over the temporary headquarters for the new camp, the soldier told him that he'd be going to find a house somewhere in town so he could sleep and that he was bringing his horses with him. This wasn't a suspicious thing since many of the men had staked out places of their own. Privacy wasn't always granted in this line of service so any chance to be alone and finally be able to jack off, was jumped at. Kiyoshi prayed that his superior thought he was doing just that and not preparing to leave. Quickly, the tall male grabbed both the horse's saddles and put a bridle on Hizoku. Kazuki put the second bridle in his saddlebag and instead left Raiju's halter and leadrope where it was.

Untying Hizoku and Raiju from the hitching rack, the brunette walked them out of the condensed area. Once he'd gotten into and open enough space, the man attached the end of the coal black stallion's leadrope to the horn of the dapple grey horse's saddle. Afterwards, Kiyoshi climbed up on the Holsteiner's back and urged him forward at an easy trot. The green-eyed man knew exactly where he was going, a house he'd staked out three days ago that was a stone's throw from the bridge and jam packed with everything the soldier needed as far as supplies went. Food and water had been graciously stocked up and sleeping bags and blankets had been scavenged, so all he needed to do now was wait.

He'd call in sick tomorrow morning, via his long-range walkie talkie, that each squad leader had given to their members so they could stay in touch even when far away, and stay home all day tomorrow. Kiyoshi would take this time to pack up his salvaged goods and check the horses and their gear before leaving. Out Of nowhere, the brunette's mind wandered to thoughts about Izaya. The man had been like a dream when he saw him walking beside his brother's beautiful palomino. The way the raven walked was surreal, his movements so smooth that he might as well had been floating above the ground. And that perfect skin, how beautifully it had glowed in the filtering sun. His black hair had looked shiny and soft even from far away. Kazuki feared he was losing his mind or that this man wasn't human. A spirit? No. An angel? Possibly, but there was a sense of lurking mischief in the raven's ruby eyes that told him differently. Human, but just hardly so. Human, but slightly above.

Maybe it was his eyes that had reflected that answer. The wisdom hiding behind Orihara's flirtatious demeanor, like he was thousands of years old instead of around twenty. His eyes bright and clear, like the informant could see right through him and read his every thought. Maybe it was just how perfectly sculptured his body was. Every muscle creating contours in all the right places. Such perfection wasn't human. Was he a god? Hardly. But how could Kazuki know that Izaya had the characteristics of an Incubus? That Orihara was capable of draining the life out of him easily if he wanted to?

The man was so caught up in his Aphroditus-like looks that he couldn't see the informant for what he really was. Dangerous and always plotting. But maybe the way he came across to the brunette was another side of him. The raven felt no need to hide from the taller man, no need to lie to him. Maybe Kazuki didn't know about how he usually was because he'd only ever seen the good in Izaya. He had no reason to suspect any ill-will had ever omitted from Orihara in any stage of his life.
The irritated snorts from both Hizoku and Raiju broke the man from his thoughts for the second time today. Kiyoshi sighed, knowing that his dapple grey stallion was up to no good again and bullying the smaller until a fight broke out. Kazuki wished he could just separate them, but strangely enough the pair hated being apart. They were practically attached by the hip even though their friendship was a little poisonous. The brunette watched from the window as the coal black Anglo Arab finally decided enough was enough and went at the taller horse seriously. His bite was entirely vicious and made the taller horse let out a weird noise as he jerked away completely, his ears swiveling back and forth nervously as Raiju's ears went flat against his head. The hierarchy had changed in just one moment. The black was the more dominant one now.

"See? What'd I tell you?", Kazuki chuckled as his horse began to try and turn away from the now terribly angry coal stallion.

Kida woke up the next morning stiff and forced to move, quite literally by Simon, as he and Kuronuma were finally permitted to leave the carriage and even given some food. There was a thick fog surrounding them, even thicker than the morning they'd been captured. The faint sound of seagulls shrieking from a little off and the smell of salt in the air was enough to tell them where they were.

"I thought we weren't supposed to be here until sundown…", Masaomi murmured as he took a bite out of the bread he had been given, staring out to where he guessed the water was, judging by the sound of waves crashing against rocks.
"We got a message asking us to hurry, so we ran the horses all through the night without stopping. They want to try making a new hybrid that the Defense has already perfected.", Dennis explained.

"Wolf hybrids. Shifting wolf hybrids.", Simon added to the left of them.

"And they want to use you two as guinea pigs for the first attempt at recreating them." Egor piped up as he walked past them, towards the dock.

Masaomi felt Aoba bristle beside him, but thankfully he didn't try to strangle the tall man in his already weak state.

"You've got to be kidding me… That's impossible! Do you know how much genetic tweaking and splicing you'd have to do to pull that off? Plus, there's hardly any room for success. Our bodies most likely will reject the new Dna like people do a transplanted heart. We'd die!", Kuronuma hissed, his body shaking in slight fear though he hid his fear well behind his rage.

"And so the thousands upon thousands who have had similar things done to them are just special then? They have a fifty-fifty success rate and most lean towards a successful operation.", Varona said with a neutral tone though she was glaring at Aoba with her piercing blue eyes.

Kida, seeing the look from the usually neutral female, moved discreetly between them and sorta herded the smaller a little further away bit by bit. The last thing the blonde needed right now was Aoba getting beaten so badly that he'd be put down as soon as they got to camp. After moving the troublesome first-year, Masaomi looked out to the clearing coast. This was it. Once they left, they'd probably never come back. The blonde jumped when he felt the shorter lean into him, his lips just a mere millimeters from his ear.

"We should run for it.", Kuronuma whispered softly, his breath slightly tickling Kida's neck.

"They have horses and guns, Aoba, it's not a good idea. Plus your wrist is pretty messed up.", Masaomi whispered back, his eyes darting between all three of their captors.

"I don't need my wrist to run.", Kuronuma said as he rolled his eyes ,"Plus, look at the state of those horses."

Kida's eyes darted to the horse team. All of their heads were down and they were panting heavily in exhaustion. One pretty bay mare in particular was trying to lay down, but the tracks kept her from doing so as she stumbled to and fro. Another mare with a pure white coat's knees were buckling heavily while a bulky blue roan stallion had somehow managed to lay down though his tracks were still attached; his body in an awkward angle and his neck jerked up in a painful position. The last horse, a strawberry roan stallion was still standing but breathing so shallowly that there wasn't a doubt in their minds that he would soon die. They had all been run to the point of collapse and without treatment half if not the whole team will die.

"They won't be going anywhere anytime soon on horseback. They're finished.", Aoba sighed.

"We can't risk it! They haven't been giving us any water or hardly enough food, so chances are that we won't get far either. Not to mention that they are all armed and trained assassins. We have no supplies either, so if we do manage to get away we'll just die", the blonde hissed.

"Look. I want to leave just as badly as you do, but right now isn't a good time. Don't get yourself shot in the back because you were too hasty."

Kuronuma's glare made Kida flinch a bit and the first-year looked as if he were going to say something in retort when the sound of a gun being fired to their right made their heads jerk around. Varona had shot the white mare between the eyes and now the once graceful creature was lying in a heap; it's body limp and in an almost impossible angle. The rest of the team hardly even flinched as their positions remained the same. They accepted their fates without complaint. The blonde woman moved along to the next, the blue roan, and pressed the barrel of the gun to the stallion's neck. The horse paused its panting and gave a tired sigh before the assassin pulled the trigger again. This kill was messier since a major artery had been hit and blood splattered onto Varona's face, neck, and clothes. She studied the horse curiously as the animal gasped for air for a few torturous seconds before it died. The blonde Russian moved on.

She shot two more times; each time pausing for a few long moments when she pressed the gun to each of the weary animal's heads. The blonde woman was looking for a reaction, any show of fear. The assassin got no reaction each time and her lips pulled into a disappointed frown. After the deed was done, Varona stared at the corpses in morbid fascination; her head innocently cocked to the side as she watched thick, red liquid seep into the sand. Aoba and Kida watched in a mix of absolute horror, shock, and disgust. There was something very wrong with Varona and suddenly Kuronuma wished he'd hadn't been stopped when he'd tried to stab her through her neck.

With all thoughts of escaping erased, Aoba found himself walking towards the dock, towards their impending doom. The blonde followed a little behind him after a moment's pause, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he kept sending intimidating looks back at the Russian woman behind them who paid him no mind. The hostility the woman had exhibited towards the first-year earlier now deeply worried Masaomi. Obviously the Russian was a little less than mentally stable, so one wrong move could mark the end for either one or both of them.

"Good timing.", Egor said shortly as he saw them approaching, "Get on the boat. It is time to go."

Kida nodded shortly as he stepped on without hesitation while Aoba lingered behind. The shorter teen took one step forward and then turned around to look at the land he was born on. Kuronuma was smart enough not to believe he'd ever set eye on this country again and honestly it scared him. As soon as he climbed aboard, his fate would be sealed. He'd never live a normal life again. Never walk the streets of Ikebukuro again. Hell, he wouldn't ever be completely human again once he left here.

"Aoba", Masaomi said sternly behind him, making him jump, "It all doesn't matter anymore. It's the past. We need to focus on what's ahead of us and stay mentally present, as you put it."

Kuronuma stayed as he was, staring at his homeland longingly for a few long moments before he let a smirk etch his features. Turning around, he faced the taller blonde and the reality of their situation.

"I really hate when you're right.", he chuckled as he walked past Masaomi and onto the boat.

-Prologue For Next Chapter-

"You're stupid if you think this is anything other than a trap.", Shizou grumbled as he and Izaya looked down at the bridge from on top of a hill.

"You never know, Shizu-chan," Izaya smirked, "That's why we're checking things out early"

"If they were formulating an attack they'd have some things set up by now or at least be in the area…", Orihara said thoughtfully as he pulled his backpack strap so it would rest more comfortably on his shoulder.

"And if they are?", the blonde asked, arching his brow as Sukeban pushed her nose into Izaya's cheek.

The mare didn't enjoy being lead around by the bartender instead of the informant and was pestering the shorter man to retrieve her from the blonde.

"Then we'll sneak across the bridge while they aren't expecting us. I'll throw you on the back of the horse to absorb all the bullets, since they don't do much to you."

"Me? Taking bullets for you? You're funny , Flea.", the male responded as Izaya promptly ignored him.

Heiwajima sighed heavily in irritation as he watched Orihara look back and forth before jogging down the hill, his steps light and silent. The bartender had tried to tell the man time and time again that stealth wasn't his forte, but those inquires had fallen on deaf ears. Casually, the heavier-set man walked down the hill after the little flea, the palomino walking in an extended fashion beside him. When the taller man had caught up with the shorter, the raven glared at him.

"You could be a little more serious about this, you know. We could actually die if you so boldly walk through the town like you own the place, Protozoan."

Shizou's lips quickly pulled into a frown as his lips parted to retort. Before the man could speak, though, a loud whinny sounded from somewhere extremely close. Sukeban's ears swiveled forward at the sound and suddenly let out her own whinny in answer as she became anxious. The mare walked forward towards the call and became frustrated when she was stopped by the leadrope she was attached to. The blonde exchanged a look with Izaya and then let the Palomino's leadrope go. They hadn't been able to tell where exactly the noise had come from, but Sukeban sure had an idea. They watched as the horse turned a corner a little way's up the street and the pair promptly followed her. When they turned the corner, they were met by the sight of the bridge and a row of houses running down the street opposite of it.

"There's two of them…Is Kazuki here?", Orihara asked mostly himself as his gaze wandered to the mare who was busy socializing with two stallions.

A dapple grey and a coal black.

"Are we going to bust into the house or can we just leave now?", the blonde asked, fed up beside the shorter male.

"We're going to bust in of course! We didn't come here for no reason, now did we?~" Izaya said in a singsong voice as he made his way boldly to the front door.