Title: Last Train
Author: nikki_ntm
Beta reader: Shattered Apocalypse
Chapters: 7/20
Genre: Drama/Adventure/Suspense
Rating: M for language, violence and disturbing themes such as bullying, crime and disease.
Characters: Axel, Saïx, Larxene and Marluxia amongst others (Lea, Isa, Seifer and Org. 13).
Pairings: Implied past/present/future pairings, mainly past Axel/Larxene, current Leon/Arlene, and implied one-sided Isa/Lea.
Setting: Modern Japan (yakuza-themed)

A/N: I hope you're enjoying this story. I just want to thank you for your support! Comments and reviews are like always much appreciated.

Happy New Year, everyone!

x

Chapter 7: Cryptic Clue

It was difficult to know if it was very early or just really late, not that time mattered in this small bar in one of Kabuki-cho's many alleyways. The air was stuffed with cigarette smoke and the smell of spilled alcohol. Marluxia sat on one of the stools by the bar and looked down into the small bowl of nuts intently while his new assigned partner circulated around the manager.

"I-it's all I know. I swear. C'mon. I would never lie to you. Never."

The manager was of middle-age, although he didn't dress like it. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt that had been white once upon a time and he wore a bandanna to keep his thick, black hair out of his face while he tended to the bar.

Marluxia looked up again with a bored look on his face. This wasn't half as fun as it would have been if his protégé had been here to do the dirty work.

"Good God, man. Leave him with a couple of teeth, what else can he possibly know?"

Xaldin stood back and eyed the man he had nearly beaten into a pulp. Not his best work, but he had to admit that Marluxia had a point.

"Well, this was a waste of time then. We have no names on either people or places."

"The man Saïx talked to is a regular. We just have to wait him out. When does he come by?" Marluxia turned to the tied up manager, the bowl in his hands.

"Uh, around seven."

"He must work nearby. Why don't you pour us a drink, manager? My throat's all dried up."

The manager nodded and watched them both walk past him. He squirmed and spit out some of the blood in his mouth. Marluxia sat down on one of the comfy armchairs, watching Xaldin do the same.

"You should untie the manager, Xaldin. If you hadn't scared my protégé away, I could've made him do it."

Once the manager had been untied and served the drinks Marluxia had ordered, the two yakuza members sat and waited patiently for the man Saïx had been talking to. Xaldin wasn't much of a talker, and if his drink was anything to go by, he wasn't much of a drinker either. Xemnas sure knew how to find boring people to surround himself with; this family craved a new leader, Marluxia thought.

"So, Xaldin, while we wait for the mysterious informant, how is it that Xemnas suddenly decided that you would make a good working partner for me?"

"You're treading on thin ice, Marluxia. You weren't supposed to meddle into this Saïx-business."

"Why not? I'm a member of the family. I was concerned for the integrity of our boss. I knew that it wasn't wise trusting Saïx as the second in command."

Xaldin snorted, "Skip the act. Our orders are strict. We have to bring Saïx back alive. Same goes for Axel, although I think you can beat him up a little. You don't think straight with so much pent up anger, and jealousy makes you do things that could get you in trouble."

"I'm not jealous."

"Good to have cleared that out. I'm guessing that we won't be looking for Larxene anymore then?" Xaldin seemed proud with himself when Marluxia said nothing and clutched the glass in his hand, glaring back at him.

"Why is it such a big deal that Saïx is gone? Xemnas has all three senior bosses on this and he's refusing to give the post as the second in command to someone else, even though he knows very well that we need to be as strong as we can be during these times. The other families are talking, Xaldin. We're gonna lose our control in congress if Saïx's desertion becomes public knowledge and if Xemnas comes off as weak."

"What do you suggest, Marluxia?" Xaldin leaned back in his chair, propping his elbow on the high armrest, "Xemnas' orders are definite, and yours aren't. We know that Xemnas would never jeopardize the wellbeing of our family. That is why we have sworn our allegiance to him."

"You don't know why you're doing this, do you? You're just here to keep an eye on me and obey the boss just like any other dog would. I can offer you freedom, Xaldin."

"Saïx and Axel are coming with us alive, Larxene is off the map, and you will do as you're told. No one in this family owes you any explanations. It is what it is, Marluxia. If I ever need to draw the conclusion that you are straying from our mission, I'll put an end to you."

A cough averted their attention. The manager stood by their table, and as soon as they looked at him, he turned to motion towards the entrance, where a scrawny old man stood, having no other choice but to come in, thanks to Xaldin's men who stood guard by the door.

"Bring him over," Marluxia said and watched the manager urge Dr. Even to their table.

~ooo~

"I spy with my little eye something..." Kairi looked out the road ahead of the car as they slowed down at the red lights, "Light blue!"

Axel took a handful of gummibears and hummed as he tried to spot something of the color. Saïx wasn't even paying attention to them anymore. They had been playing I Spy for the last two hours. It had gotten boring really fast, but at least Kairi was talking, and Axel didn't want the tension in the car to affect the girl when it had nothing to do with her.

"If you're thinking of the sky again, we're through playing this game," Axel said, his mouth full of gummibears. He turned his head slightly to see Kairi hold back a giggle as she shook her head. "Right. Something light blue. The officer in that corner over there."

"That's not something, Axel. I would've said someone if I meant a person." Kairi leaned against Axel's seat, "It's something you can eat."

"That's light blue?"

"Yeah, light blue. If you look a bit harder, you'll see it."

"Ah! There it is! It's that ice cream. Wow, look at that. I thought they had gone out of business." Axel turned in his seat as they passed by a small shop selling the light blue ice cream he had eaten when he had been a kid.

"It's sea-salt ice cream. There's a shop where I live that sells lots of sea-salt ice cream. It's really cheap too." Kairi sat back in her own seat and bit at her lower lip gently when Saïx glared at her.

Axel sighed and turned his attention to the surroundings. So this was Kyoto. The old imperial capital of Japan, the center of Japanese culture, and quite the tourist trap if the large tourist buses they occasionally saw were anything to go by. The city seemed rather peaceful in daylight, although that might have had something to do with not being in the unofficial, modern red light district of Kyoto.

They drove past the large gates of Shimabara, where people were walking by, stopping to read the large sign outside and learn about its history. It was strange to see old and new so close together. There were concrete buildings next to traditional Japanese houses in wood, old shrines next to small shops and people going about their business like it was nothing.

Saïx parked the car in a small car park. The address that Kairi had tattooed on her ankle should have been around here somewhere. They all stepped outside, slamming the doors shut. Kairi stretched her arms, looking around while Axel made sure that the doors were locked.

"You recognize anything?"

"Um." Kairi rested her hands onto her hips and tried to find anything that would make her remember the place she might have called home, "Not really. Maybe if we walk down that way?"

No sooner had she turned to look down the road she had chosen that she saw a familiar face look back at her. It was an old lady, dressed in a wide purple dress with white spots, and carrying a bag of groceries. The old woman hesitated and squinted to make sure that her faulty eye-sight wasn't playing tricks on her before she hurried towards Kairi with her hand over her heart.

"Ohmaa?"

Axel watched confused as the older lady embraced Kairi and mumbled things that couldn't possibly be Japanese. He strained his ears to catch anything that could offer some explanation as to why they were being so tearful, other than that they both knew each other.

"What are they saying?"

"How should I know?"

As soon as both Kairi and the old lady had composed themselves, Kairi led the old lady to Axel and Saïx with a smile so bright it was hard to imagine how shy she had been just the day before.

"This is my mother. Not by blood, but she's been taking care of me since I got here. She's the only mother I've known." Kairi squeezed her hand and leaned her head against the old woman's shoulder.

"Did that memory just hit you?" Saïx crossed his arms and made Kairi look away quickly.

"Ma'am, it's nice to meet you. We found Kairi at a gas station. The shock must've made her forget where she lived, but fortunately she had a tattoo with an address and all, which brought us here. I – you speak Japanese, don't you?"

The older woman smiled and bowed her head, "Yes, I do. I'm grateful that you've brought my child back to me. I was worried sick, wondering where she had gone off to; she never goes anywhere without telling me first. Please, let me invite you for dinner. It's the least I can do for you both."

"I'm not one to turn down a homemade meal."

"Great!" Kairi beamed, "Let's hurry home and start with dinner. I'm starving."

"That's 'cuz you said no to everything but the gummibears." Axel quickly added. He didn't want Kairi's mother to think that they hadn't had the courtesy to give Kairi anything to eat. "It's the truth. It was either the gummibears or the sea-salt ice cream we saw on the way here, which reminds me; Kairi, I need to see the little shop of sea-salt ice cream you mentioned earlier."

The old woman laughed, "We do have some of that ice cream at home. I always make sure to stock up since Kairi likes them so much, although it doesn't seem to be a very popular flavor, from what I've noticed."

"It's an acquired taste," Axel agreed. He reached for the bag Kairi's mother was carrying, "Here, let me take that. It looks heavy."

"Oh, thank you. I don't think I've introduced myself. My name is Su-mi."

"I'm Axel and the guy behind us is Saïx. He doesn't say much."

"Is he shy?" Su-mi asked curiously and Axel smiled at her as politely as he could.

"Yeah, sure. Let's call it that."

Kairi's home hadn't been that far away from where they had parked the car. It had been about a fifteen minutes' walk from there and it was a very cozy. It was two stories high and big enough for two people to live there fulltime. The strange thing was that the bedrooms and the only bathroom were downstairs while the kitchen and the living room/dining room were upstairs.

Su-mi and Kairi were cleaning up the table and serving the dessert in the kitchen while Axel and Saïx stayed put by the low table.

"This shôchû was great. It's not an expensive one, is it?" Axel asked and reached for the bottle to look at it closer.

"It's not shôchû," Su-mi called from the kitchen, "It's soju from Korea."

"It sure tasted like shôchû," Axel mumbled, sniffing the mouth of the bottle while trying to find the similarities that were obviously there. He turned to Saïx with a wide smile, "Mind to pour up for me?"

Saïx only glared at him.

"How long are you going to be like this?" Axel asked in a low voice, putting the bottle back onto the table.

"Like what?" Saïx asked back with an uninterested look on his face.

"Like an asshole. If you're mad at me, fine, but at least come out and say so. Get it all out of your system so that we can at least share a meal in peace."

"We did eat in peace. I was quiet, I didn't bother anyone -"

"It's not about you being quiet or not, it's about you giving out these vibes that are making everyone uncomfortable. These people were kind enough to invite us into their home, feed us, and make us company. You could at least try to seem interested."

"But I'm not." Saïx leaned in closer, his voice becoming more heated, "I'm not interested in these people or what they can do for us. I'm not sure if you recall this, but we've been screwed over by Ansem and we have a little less than four months to figure out what the hell it is he wants with us, all the while our brothers are out there, hunting us down to put a couple of bullets in our heads. We don't have time to play house, Axel. We've been in Kyoto for hours and we haven't even begun to search for the places we need to find."

"Would you like some more soju, Axel? I have a lot more, but I usually don't offer my guest more than a shared bottle since not many can hold their liquor these days."

Saïx sat back when Su-mi walked in and served them their desserts. The dessert didn't look like anything Axel had eaten before. Su-mi had called it Pavlova – a dessert made out of meringue, whipped cream, strawberries and sliced bananas.

"Is that a challenge, Su-mi? No one can hold their liquor like I can, I have an iron stomach."

Kairi walked in, amused by what she was hearing, "Axel, I don't recommend what you're doing. Mom is the current champion of the one-shot contest at the local pub."

"Yeah? But I'm the number one champion of everywhere when it comes to shots, so bring it!"

Su-mi smiled mischievously and tapped her finger against her chin as she pondered about it for a few moments, "Well, if you think that you're up for it, I'll take on the challenge. The one to drink most shots of soju wins and gets to eat the rest of the cake for breakfast. How's that?"

"That is a deal. I love cake in the morning," Axel said with a grin. He took a mouthful of the Pavlova on his plate and was surprised by how soft and sweet it was. Su-mi turned to Saïx and rested her hands on her hips.

"How about you, Saïx? Are you in on the competition?" She had been trying to include Saïx into the conversation the entire time they had been sitting by the table and Axel was hoping that Saïx would ease up and stop being such a buzzkill.

"I don't drink."

"Ever?" Su-mi asked surprised.

"Someone's gotta be the responsible adult, no?" Axel laughed and was relieved when Su-mi shrugged and went back into the kitchen to fetch some more soju for the competition.

"Stop making excuses for me," Saïx snapped in a low hiss, but Axel ignored him and sighed tiredly while looking at Kairi, hoping that she wouldn't take Saïx's unbearable attitude to heart.

Su-mi quickly came back, holding a bottle triumphantly, "This is your last chance to retreat, Axel. I won't be merciful once the competition has started. What do you say?"

"I say, stop yappin' and let's get this show on the road." Axel held his cup up high and with both hands, earning a chuckle from Su-mi and Kairi.

"Consider yourself warned," Su-mi said, opening the bottle and pouring the soju into Axel's glass as she sat down by the table. Axel poured her a cup before they both decided to do a quick toast.

"May the best one win," Axel said.

"Gan bae!"

~ooo~

Axel tossed and turned in the squeaky fold-out bed when he tried to fight against the sleep that had such a tight grip of him, not wanting to let go until he had finished the nightmare that was currently torturing him. The cold hands against his exposed arm were what brought him back, and he sat up in the bed with a gasp. He was still dizzy and his mouth felt dry.

"Wow, you're a heavy sleeper," Kairi said in a whisper, "I've been calling you for five minutes. Are you hungover?"

Axel rubbed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"Did you have a fight with Saïx?"

"What? No. No, I didn't. Why?" Axel's voice was still heavy with sleep, but he was reluctant to lie down again.

"Oh. Um, he left a while ago. I thought it was because you had a fight or something."

"He left?" Axel felt suddenly awake and he hurried out of bed, "Where? Where did he go?"

"I don't know, he didn't say. I just heard someone walking around, and when the door closed, I looked out and saw Saïx walk away." Kairi watched Axel pace around the room, as if he was searching for something he couldn't quite remember the name of, "Did he take something?"

"The car keys." Axel stopped to run his fingers through his hair in an attempt to not scream out loud, "He had the fucking car keys. Shit. When did he leave?"

"Twenty, maybe thirty minutes ago?"

"Shit!"

"But if he had taken the car, I would've heard it. No one is out at this time. All the cars from the main road can be heard from here, but the only sound that I heard was when he closed the door."

"Are you sure? 'Cuz I don't think he stepped outside to see if the ice cream shop was open." Axel was sure his head was going to explode. He quickly looked through his pockets to make sure that the little yellow book Arlene had given him was left and once he found it he was reminded that Saïx had the note Dr. Even had written.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. I can't even blink without him finding ways to screw me over," Axel mumbled as he put his shoes on, "I have to find him. If I don't, I'm screwed. He has the list, the car keys, and the money." Saïx had probably even taken the gun, Axel added as a mental note.

"Where are you going to look? Kyoto isn't a small town, y'know and if he has money then he could have taken a cab or a bus."

"Yes, Kairi, I know, okay? You're not helping, you're just adding to the panic."

"Sorry."

"He must've known where he was going and figured that it was close enough to not take the car. But where? Kairi, don't you have a map somewhere?"

"Before I woke you, you were mumbling in your sleep," Kairi said and put her cover tighter around herself, "Maybe that's what he heard and set out to find it."

"Find what?"

"The soiled doves," she said, "Don't you remember? You kept repeating it in your sleep. You had to find the nest of the soiled doves, you said. I thought that the soju really had done you in, but maybe it's of importance?"

Axel gulped, "I said that? I had to find the nest of the soiled doves?"

Kairi nodded as she yawned widely and rubbed her eyes, "It doesn't make much sense to me either."

"Kairi, don't you remember?"

"What?"

"That's what you said to me when we found you at the gas station. You told me to find the true nest of the soiled doves. You have to know what it means."

"But I don't remember being at any gas station, Axel. And I don't know what the message means. Maybe you dreamt that I said it, maybe that was why you kept repeating it. The cups you and mom were drinking out of have doves flying to their nest painted on them. I thought that you had gotten it from there."

"Where did you buy the cups?" Axel looked at Kairi intently from where he stood and held his breath, "Kairi, c'mon, you have to remember this. It might be the only lead."

"Um..." Kairi began, "It was a set. Mom bought them because it was one of the few that came in seven. She bought them the first time she took me out on a sightseeing of Kyoto. We were in Shimabara."

Axel reached for his cap and put it on, turning to Kairi before he left, "Kairi, stay here. I have to go and get Saïx. I'm not sure if we'll come back, but I'll try. At least to give you and your mom a proper goodbye."

"I wanna go with you!" Kairi frowned as Axel walked to the front door.

"No, you have to stay here, Kairi. Take care, okay? No more fishy trips to the middle of nowhere." Axel smiled at her and hurried out of the house. He was running down the street as fast as he could, feeling the burning taste of the soju at the back of his throat. The night was still and the streets were empty.

The true nest of the soiled doves. It made sense now, he felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner, but at least he knew where to look for Saïx. He ran past the car park and saw that the car was still there. There was a sickening feeling in his gut and he sincerely hoped that it was the soju and nothing else.

He didn't stop for a break until he stood in front of the large, red gates that marked the entrance to Shimabara; the home of the prostitutes and outcasts of old Kyoto; the nest of the soiled doves.