Disclaimer: Nuramago and the characters belong to Shiibashi-sensei, luna only owns the plot in this fanfic

Warning: AU, language, implication of illegal drug abuse, oOC characters (for a necessary purpose), etc…

Beta: mittens_220 (LJ) or pika318 (ff net). Thanks you very much for beta-ing this story, dear!

A/N: I am so very sorry for the long wait! Like I said in my other updated fan fic, I'm kind of addicted to drawing at this moment, so I have to put off the writing for awhile. Now, thank you very much for reviewing and reading the previous chapter! It's an update just for you dear readers! ENJOY!

Chapter 21: Truth, Thorn, and Total Trouble

Rikuo was still with Yura, helping to sort out the information they have gathered so far in a single mind-map.

"Do you think this has covered everything so far?" Rikuo asked, showing the big chart to Yura who was still preoccupied with the file in her hand.

"Huh?" Yura looked up slightly and a bead of sweat dropped from the back of her head when she saw the big board in front of her. "Since when had ya made…? Moreover, where did ya get the board?" she asked, stunned slightly.

"Huh? I found it in your room, Yura-san," Rikuo said, appearing totally innocent despite the fact that he had entered Yura's room without permission.

Yura didn't really mind, though. After all, there was nothing in her room aside books and case files anyway. She wasn't exactly like a girl in general after all. "Well…" Yura then took a break from her reading to look over the chart Rikuo had made. She widened her eyes a little bit as she found some familiar names in there.

"Akifusa-nii's name is one of the suspicious individuals…? Why? Even Pato-kun…?" Yura asked, turning to face Rikuo, demanding an explanation for what he had done.

"Well… I compiled the names of the people who were brought to Keikain Family, but don't have any blood relation to the main family. If there's a leak of information or the suspicion of treason inside the family, it's common sense to suspect people that will benefit the most by ruining the family, right? The Keikain family is very big and even though your family is in law enforcement, the fundamental structure of the family is almost the same as a Yakuza family. More successors mean a lesser chance in getting the position of the head of the family. The victims so far are from the direct line of the main family, so it's a high probability that the suspect is from the branch family line," Rikuo explained.

"Wait, ya think it's about the dispute of taking the family's head title?" Yura almost dropped her jaw as she caught the meaning. "That's impossible! Everyone has the same amount of chance to get the title as long as they have capability!" she shouted in undertone, not wanting anyone else to hear something as absurd and as controversial as this. "Moreover, there's just NO WAY Akifusa-nii would do something like this! He's the kindest, the most reserved man in this family! He has no interest whatsoever in the head title! He just wants to protect the civilians in Kyoto from the ruthless thugs and yakuza in this area!" she argued more.

Rikuo was silent for a moment hearing Yura's argument and his expression was unreadable for a moment before he mumbled "Hmm… he's similar to me, huh?"

"What?" Yura gave a ridiculous look as she heard it.

Rikuo smiled slightly now. "Yura-san, you know… you can't really trust a person that appears too nice and looks too perfect in everything," he said, looking at Akifusa's picture now. "Your impression on that person will cloud your judgment and the most suspicious man will look the least suspicious that way," he said, looking as if he already had the answer.

"Rikuo-kun… what are ya thinking…? Who are ya talking about now?" In Yura's perspective, somehow, Rikuo wasn't talking about Akifusa at all.

"If it's allowed, I'd like to see and talk with Akifusa-san, just the two of us," Rikuo said, not bothering to answer Yura's question.

Yura couldn't help feeling worried seeing Rikuo's expression. What was he going to do?

"Okay," Yura said slowly. It was annoying, but she was curious and her curiosity won over her worry. "But you'll let me hear yer conversation and interfere if ya go too far," she said the condition seriously.

"As you wish," Rikuo nodded in agreement, a small confident smile adorning his face. He then turned to pour the hot tea in his cup, but the cup suddenly broke into two.

"WHOAH!" It surprised Yura and Rikuo who immediately lifted all the files on the table to rescue them from the steaming hot tea.

"What was that about? Was the cup too cold or something?" Yura asked, staring at the broken cup ludicrously.

Rikuo was silent again, focusing on the dripping tea on the floor. "Maybe…" he said slowly. "I have a bad feeling about this…" he couldn't help whispering the last line.

Anyone would have missed that line, but not Yura who had sharp ears. She wasn't superstitious, but she couldn't agree more with Rikuo's thought.

0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0

Rikuou groaned slightly when he regained consciousness. Slowly, he opened his eyes and immediately, he felt like his head was slammed by a hammer. "Ow…!" His head hurt like a bitch.

The Sandaime of Nura Gumi couldn't help crouching on the bed he was on right then. He knew he was on a bed because he felt the soft mattress and he knew he wasn't in any hotel because no hotel had that kind of comfortable mattress. He closed his eyes again and inhaled the fragrance on the pillow. It smelt very nice, fresh and fruity, almost the same as Rikuo's…

Rikuou immediately opened his eyes wide and jerked up as he remembered about Rikuo. He regretted that action immediately because now the imaginary hammers had multiplied ten times in weight, pounding from inside his skull as if they wanted to burst his brains.

"Fuck—!" Rikiou clutched his head like his life depended on it. He didn't recall he had ever had this kind of headache in his life. He didn't even get a hangover from drinking for god's sake!

Wait! What the hell happened such that I—!

"Oh, you've woken up?"

Rikuou turned his head around so quickly that he thought he would snap his neck at the source of the voice. It seemed that the door of the unfamiliar feminine looking room was on his left because now, he could see a giggling half-dressed woman on the doorstep.

"You're such a sleepy head," Koromo Gitsu chuckled, looking at Rikuou with mirth in her jet-black eyes.

"You…! Why…? This…?" Rikuou's brain was trying to catch up with this situation. After all, he had woken up in unfamiliar surroundings, naked, with a barely dressed woman that he barely knew.

"No way, you don't remember? We had so much fun yesterday in this room and you didn't even remember? How cold! You're the worst…" Gitsu pouted slightly, looking disappointed.

"What?" Rikuou widened his eyes at that, his face turning slightly paler. "That's… IMPOSSIBLE!" he denied hard. There was just no way…! As drunk as he was (if he indeed had been), there was just no way he would sleep with her.

Rikuou already had Rikuo. This was just plainly impossible!

"You don't believe me? I have the pictures and the video if you want to recall it," Gitsu smirked and Rikuou widened his eyes even more at that.

"You…! What are—! Why did you do such a thing…!" Rikuou looked at the woman in disbelief. Why…? She had such a lovely appearance, just like his beloved mother, but… why did she do such disgusting things?

"Why… because I like you, of course, Nura Rikuou-kun," Gitsu smiled happily at him and Rikuou's head almost exploded because his cover as Yoru was already blown.

"How did you—?" Rikuou was shocked. If his eyes widened even more, he was sure his crimson colored eyes would pop out of their sockets.

"Fufufu, I did my homework. Well, my subordinates did almost all the work, but I was surprised to know that you are the Sandaime of the Nura Gumi from Ukiyoe. They said your turf is very wide in central Japan. I can't help it. You fascinate me. I just have to HAVE you," Gitsu said, smiling softly, the way Yamabuki always smiled when she was alive.

"You…! You know who I am, and you still kidnapped me anyway?" Rikuou narrowed his eyes at Gitsu. "What's your intention? Did you… were you behind the merging of the yakuza families in Kyoto and around the Kansai Region?" he asked directly now. There was no point keeping his purpose on getting to know her slowly and discreetly after his identity was blown.

"Nope, that's not me," Gitsu said, smiling again suspiciously.

"Liar! You must have something to do with it!" Rikuou accused.

Gitsu smirked now. "So what if I do have something to do with it? It's not like you can do anything about it," she said, looking very evil at that moment that Rikuou couldn't even look at her face without cringing. That was his mother's face she was wearing after all, but he never thought that his mother would be capable of looking that evil. He didn't want to see that.

"Even so… why are you doing something like this? What's the intention of merging them all under one name? Are you trying to create an army or something? What are you going to use them for?" Rikuou asked further. He didn't understand what her intention was.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," Gitsu smirked more, combing her long hair aside, revealing more skin to Rikuou who immediately looked away. She visibly widened her smirk at his reaction. "Oh, my… are you shy? How cute," she giggled and Rikuou was pissed off.

"Don't use that voice and that face for doing something as disgraceful as this, woman! Aren't you ashamed?" Rikuou growled feeling disgusted.

The smirk widened even more on Gitsu's face if it was possible. She walked slowly swaying her hips approaching the bed where she then climbed up and leaned closer to Rikuou who was trying to back away despite his headache and his sluggish body.

Gitsu looked at Rikuou's crimson eyes and smiled. "That's right… feeling bad aren't you, dear Rikuou? I want to see more of your painful disgusted look seeing the face of your mother being a total slut," she laughed now and Rikuou wanted to slap her face so bad.

Rikuou had even raised his hand but for some unfathomable reason, he couldn't bring himself to hit her.

"Fufufu… you can't hit this face, can you? Such a softie… and you call yourself a Yakuza boss? That is just so cute," Gitsu giggled more before she reached her hand on Rikuou's chin to bring his face closer to her.

"I'm going to make your life a living hell. I'm going to isolate you from everyone you love. I'm going to make you suffer so bad you'd beg to get killed instead, Nura Rikuou…!" Gitsu smirked wide before she laughed again evilly, like a total lunatic that even Rikuou couldn't help feeling that his entire life would be a mess because of her.

Rikuou didn't understand. Why did she want to destroy him so badly? What did he do to her? What was that ominous hatred he felt from her eyes? He didn't even know her before he came to Kyoto!

"You're free to go if you want to," Gitsu said taking all her clothes off before getting new clothes from her wardrobe. "Well, if you don't care about the video and the pictures of our night together, of course," she laughed again at that.

Rikuou glared at the woman heatedly. "As if I'd believe something like that! Even if I was drunk, I'd never sleep with you!" That Rikuou was sure of. After all, he wasn't interested at all in her besides the fact that she had his mother's face. If he slept with her, it was like he was sleeping with his own mother, right? That would be disgusting!

Ah, but I slept with Riku… and he's my half brother…—suddenly, Rikuo felt very uneasy. Did he really have a tendency to love his own flesh and blood romantically? He indeed loved Riku as a lover, but he never remembered loving his mother or father in that manner!

"That might be true… but what will your beloved brother think if he sees them, Nura Rikuou?" Gitsu asked again, smirking mischievously at him and Rikuou widened his eyes again at that.

"Ah… what—?" Rikuou paled at that. That fact was supposed to be a secret. No one should know that he had a brother! "I don't have a brother!" he denied hard, but unfortunately, he lacked the ability to pretend like Rikuo, so even in his own ears he sounded like a child trying to feign innocence after breaking his parents' plate or something.

"Really?" She threw a sarcastic look along with a sarcastic tone at Rikuou. "After all of these, you're still going to try to hide it? I know almost everything about you and your Nura Gumi, Nura Rikuou… even the history of your parents and your brother's," she said, fixing her uniform tie.

"Who the hell are you?" Rikuou couldn't help asking, miffed and mystified by this shameless mysterious woman.

"As if I'd tell you~!" She said, laughing. "Now scram. If you don't want your brother to find out about our little affair, you will be a good boy and do as I say, okay?" she giggled again before she walked elegantly to the door and then threw him another smile before she got out and closed the white European style door lightly.

"Shit…! As if I'd become your puppet…!" Rikuou punched the mattress. "Fuck! I have to do something to get that negative and destroy all the evidence! I can't let Riku see… whatever she had captured in that stupid video or picture…! I don't even remember doing anything with her!"

Rikuou bit his thumb nail for a moment before he decided to dress as well. Sulking and thinking about something he didn't understand was wasting time. Now he needed to think about how to fix this problem.

Rikuou then looked at the big flat screen on the wall and turned on the television. He found the news and was surprised when he saw the date. It was Sunday now.

…

…

What the fuck happened to Saturday?

0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0

Rikuo was mighty pissed off.

That bastard Rikuou…! He told him to report at least once a day! What happened at Saturday? The damn idiot didn't even contact the family he brought with him to Kyoto! Now it was already Sunday and tomorrow all Rikuo's friends from Ukiyoe would join him and Yura for their class trip! There was no time anymore!

"Rikuo-kun?"

"What?" Rikuo snapped at the girl that called him.

"Sheesh, no need to be so defensive…," Yura pouted at him before she put a tray of cookies on the table.

"Ah… sorry, I…" Rikuo felt bad immediately for snapping at Yura who brought him snacks.

"Why are ya getting restless, Rikuo-kun? It's like ya more on edge than I am," Yura asked, looking confused and little bit peeved.

"Uh… well…" Rikuo didn't know how to answer that. He was just worried about Rikuou, but he didn't want to show that in front of Yura, that he lost his cool easily because of Rikuou.

However, it seemed Yura was quite sharp because she already caught the vibe. "Worried about that Yakuza boss?" she huffed, looking annoyed.

Rikuo flinched slightly at that and smiled nervously at her, agreeing silently.

"I honestly don't understand what ya like about him. Surely, he looks gorgeous, but he's a yakuza, a bad person," Yura grumbled, looking even more irritated. "And yet ya look very honest… the most honest when it's about that guy…! It irks me!" she scratched her hair curtly at that. "Why… a person as good as ya… with someone like him…! There's nothing logical about that arrangement!"

Rikuo chuckled slightly as he saw the frustration in Yura's eyes and heard it in her tone, but he couldn't help smiling ruefully when he responded to her. "There's nothing logical about love, Yura-san…"

Yura widened her eyes at that, looking at Rikuo with a surprised look. "Are ya really… in love with that guy?" she asked again, as if she were hoping that it was just a moment of insanity. After all, they were still young, teenagers that could make a lot of mistakes in their life.

"I might have made a lot of mistakes… but one thing I'm certain of… is that Rikuou and I… we… aren't a mistake," Rikuo touched his chest, where his heart beat and shivered just by mentioning Rikuou's name.

Yura looked like she was about to object, but she wisely held her tongue. Although, Rikuo knew her expression well to know what she was thinking.

You're going to regret it someday….

0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0

Rikuou was trying not to be too conspicuous when he got out the room. He felt like a gigolo or something after that. This was just so wrong on so many levels he wanted to barf. Why on earth the mighty Nura Rikuou had to try to hide his presence in someone else's house. He was a Sandaime of Nura Gumi for heaven sake!

Still, even though Rikuou was trying, he still caught the attention of some people. After all, his appearance was… Wait a damn second!—the silver-black haired Sandaime had just walked past a big mirror on the hallway of the moderately big house and he couldn't help gaping at the fact that his hair color had reverted back to its natural silver-black.

It seemed Gitsu (or her subordinates) had removed the black dye from Rikuou's silver colored hair. What on earth did she do that for?

There were so many questions swirling inside Rikuou's head. This was very odd and peculiar. Gitsu wasn't a yakuza… she was a daughter of the CEO of Koromo corporation, right? Then why did she…? Also, there was the issue of her hating him. What was that about? What made her so… keen to destroy him?

While Rikuou was mulling over everything in his head, a little girl suddenly came out of nowhere and stepped on his foot. Rikuou almost yelped in pain at that. He cringed slightly before he looked down to glare at the kid who glared back at him.

"Idiotic barbaric yakuza," the golden eyed girl with wavy long black hair thrust her tongue at Rikuo before she dropped a snake on his feet and then ran away.

Rikuou set a ridiculous look at the kid who was still mocking him while running. He looked at the snake on his feet. It was a boa, but still a baby snake since it wasn't that big. Sandaime didn't particularly dislike the reptile, but he didn't like it either. It reminded him of that green haired guy from Zen's Yakushi Gumi whose name he didn't really remember.

Rikuou didn't get why the girl dropped the snake there. Did she want to scare him or something? He kicked the snake away coldly before he continued walking. Rikuou actually met a lot of strange people on the way. They didn't particularly do anything to him, but their stares irked him so much.

Getting increasingly irritated because he was watched like some kind of spectacle, Rikuou turned to one of the guy with half mask and glared at him. "What?" he barked.

The man dressed in a black suit and had black spiky hair chuckled. "As one of Gitsu-sama's toys, you're quite interesting," the man said.

A vein popped on Rikuou's head. "Toy…?" he almost hissed at that.

"Such a wild looking boy…, just like a stray kitten, I bet she had a lot of fun messing with you," he chuckled again and Rikuou snapped at that.

Sandaime reached at the man's collar and grabbed it, yanked him down a little so they could be in eye-level. "Listen to me you piece of good for nothing! I'm no one's toy and I swear to god if you insult me more than this, I'm going to kick your ass so hard you won't be able to sit for a fucking month!" he growled while glaring threateningly at the guy.

A bead of sweat rolled down the guy's cheek. "You expect me to take you seriously when you're walking around in this house like some kind of boy toy?" he smirked now.

Rikuou's patience had just snapped. He shoved the guy down and he was about to punch the life out of him when his collar was yanked behind by another guy, bigger and bulkier and considerably older than the black haired man on the ground.

"Let go of me!" Rikuou shouted angrily.

"You sure you want to cause a ruckus here, Nura Gumi's Sandaime? You are alone in an enemy base without any backup whatsoever. What gives you an idea that you can get out of here alive? If it wasn't for Gitsu-sama's order, we would have snapped your neck right now," the older man whispered gravely and Rikuou gritted his teeth while glaring at him now.

"It's still better than succumbing to that woman's sick intentions! What are you guys doing, working for a lunatic like her? I'm positive that the both of you are strong individuals… so why?" Rikuou actually didn't have any personal grudge towards them. Heck, he didn't exactly know them. He just could feel that both this man and that man had powerful presence.

It was Rikuou's instinct as a fighter. He just knew they were strong in combat as well.

The older man slowly put Rikuou down again on the floor. Rikuo turned to face the taller, gray haired man directly and a pair of dark green eyes met his ruby ones. "Please excuse our rudeness. At this moment, you are Gitsu-sama's guest, so we aren't allowed to talk to you directly," the man said coldly and Rikuou almost shivered under his sharp mature gaze.

"Ibaraki, stop messing around. You know the rule," he then turned to the younger black haired one that he called Ibaraki and the younger huffed.

"You're such a stick in the mud, Kidou-ossan," Ibaraki said while standing.

"And get rid of that knife," the 'Kidou-ossan' man narrowed his eyes at Ibaraki and the guy smirked, promptly trying to hide his knife once again behind his suit.

Ibaraki glanced at Rikuou who stared at the knife conspicuously as he hid it. He smirked again then. "You're lucky Kidou-ossan had yanked you back, or else… this baby would have nested on your liver," he laughed slightly as he walked following Kidou who already walked away.

"These guys are insane!" Rikuou huffed in annoyance at that.

After calming himself down, Rikuou continued walking around the house. As much as he wanted to leave, he still had a job to do after all.

As Rikuou looked around more closely, it was actually a big European style house with marble walls and ceramic floor. From the height of the top window, Rikuou measured that this house had at least three stories. There are a lot of expensive paintings and furniture adorning the hallways. The door of each room was at least twice his height, painted dark red. The red carpets and curtains were also made of expensive materials.

Of course… the Koromo Corporation was very rich after all. He still hadn't gotten any answer to why Gitsu merged a lot of Yakuza families together… and if Koromo Corporation was indeed involved, what was their main objective?

Just as he was about to turn at the junction of the hallway, Rikuou's ear caught a faint conversation from behind the last door that connected the hallway with another room.

"… That's not the deal!"

Rikuou looked around slightly to make sure that no one saw him as he moved closer to the door and eavesdropped.

"Ara? You don't have any proof that that was our doing."

Rikuou heard Gitsu's voice. She sounded smug and annoying even though the voice belonged to Rikuou's mother.

"I'm not an idiot that can't put two and two together! You promised that you wouldn't do anything to them! You lied to me!"

Rikuou felt that he knew the voice. Had he met the owner? But where…?

"Hoo… what a ridiculous accusation… 'I' really didn't do anything, you know. It was an 'accident' after all. I wasn't even there when it happened," Gitsu chuckled. "Moreover, you were the one who revealed their identity to their enemy, right? There was no proof whatsoever that I was involved in this case. If this got out, you'd be the one to blame. You couldn't bring me down with you, after all, without me around, who knew what would happen to that beloved-beloved brother of yours?" the woman laughed mockingly now, sounding totally satisfied.

Rikuou gritted his teeth as he heard it. She used other people's weakness to blackmail them! He was about to barge in and yell at her when he remembered that he was in a tight spot as well. He needed to know who the mole was after all.

"You are the worst!" the man shouted at her and her laugh seemed to increase in volume.

"Oya, we have a guest?"

Rikuou widened his eyes as he remembered who he was.

"I'm Keikain Akifusa…"

Reddish amber eyes… silver platinum blond hair… a kind smile and friendly personality… He was one of Yura's precious Keikain family members, the guy in the police uniform, Keikain Akifusa.

My God… I didn't expect that the mole would be him of all people…! I meant, he looks very nice and all!—Rikuou thought in disbelief. If he wanted to guess blindly, Akifusa would be the least he would suspect. After all, he was very friendly and good with people. He had a similar air to Rikuo after all.

"You can say whatever you want, but you shouldn't forget that it's for your brother's well being. You don't want something to happen to that genius kid, do you?" Gitsu spoke again and Rikuou could almost see the expression on Akifusa face just from the pregnant silence that followed the conversation.

Akifusa must have felt very pissed and angry at his own helplessness.

"Please… just let me see Pato for a while…" Akifusa sounded resigned. That Pato guy had to be very important to him if he was that desperate.

"Okay. You can see him as a reward of your great job," Gitsu chuckled now, and Rikuou heard the steps nearing the door. He stepped back for a bit before the door was opened and he immediately stared sharply at Gitsu's face.

Gitsu blinked slightly seeing him. The black haired woman looked up slightly, meeting Rikuou's ruby eyes with her onyx ones. "Bad hobby, Nura Gumi's Sandaime," she smirked at him.

Rikuou didn't say anything at that and he chose to set his gaze at the man behind Gitsu. Akifusa flinched slightly meeting his eyes, seeming to be surprised before his reddish amber ones looked away from Rikuou's gaze.

Akifusa didn't seem to recognize Rikuou. Well, his hair was of a different color and he wore sunglasses the first time they met in front of Keikain Residence, so it couldn't be helped. The silver platinum blond man was visibly distraught, just like what he thought he would look.

"Which one of us has the bad hobby, now?" Rikuou couldn't help replying sarcastically to her. After all, she was the one who blackmailed people for her own amusement.

Gitsu giggled at that, but didn't seem to want to argue. She just walked away after making sure to say "Follow me, Judas, your salvation is waiting for you in the other room," to Akifusa who glared heatedly at her.

As Akifusa walked passing Rikuou, the silver-black haired Sandaime couldn't help asking "Is he really worth betraying your whole family?"

Akifusa stopped walking for a while to smile very sadly at Rikuou. "He's my world… the only one I won't give up for anything at all…" he said, conviction and belief shining from his reddish amber eyes.

Rikuou was silent for awhile until Akifusa turned forward once more and started to walk away. "I'll help you out," he said slowly, earning Akifusa's attention again. "As an exchange… I want you to come clean to your family… your involvement in the accident that killed your brothers," he continued.

"What…?" Akifusa turned to face Rikuou again, looking slightly stunned and bewildered. "Why… would you…? Aren't you with her…?" He seemed unable to comprehend what just happened. An enemy had just offered to help him out.

Rikuou had to admit that it was like a joke, but the Sandaime was deadly serious about it. "You must atone for your mistake, and I will get your brother back," he said surely and Akifusa looked touched for a moment.

"Really…?" Akifusa whispered, as if he was afraid that their conversation might have been heard by some devils.

Rikuou nodded. "Just make sure to tell Yura and Rikuo the situation… I'm sure they'll understand," he said again and Akifusa widened his eyes as he heard it.

Akifusa seemed to be surprised about something. He was probably debating inside himself about accepting the offer or declining it, or mulling over the fact that how the guy knew Yura and Rikuo in the first place, or if he could believe in Rikuou's words at all. However, it didn't take long to get an answer because Akifusa took a deep breath before he looked certain as well.

"Understood. I accept the offer," Akifusa said before he turned around and resumed his walk to follow Gitsu to wherever she led him to. After all, he had nothing to lose in this bet.

"It's okay. I'll do something…" Rikuou said before he realized that he needed to know where the other hostage was held so he could save him later.

Well… even though I'm so gorgeous and eye catching…, walking around stealthily is my forte. I can lower my presence to the point they won't even notice me walking beside them….

Then Rikuou followed Gitsu and Akifusa as well, already trying to execute the spontaneous plan to get away from that house as well as saving one of the good guys from Gitsu's evil clutches.

0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0

Rikuo was on the verge of smashing his glass as he got a call from Shouhei.

"Sandaime didn't come back to the hotel," Shouhei reported. "It was as if he just disappeared without any trace. Should we call back up to look for him, Rikuo-kun?" he asked, sounding worried.

Rikuo was in a dilemma. He didn't feel so good about this either. He was worried to death as well after all. But, if he asked for backup from the main family now, and if they made a big deal about this… there could possibly be a war between Chubu Yakuza and Kansai Yakuza. After all, the Nura Gumi will have to step into the territory of the Kansai Yakuza.

But it has been too long…! Why didn't you contact us, Rikuou?—Rikuo couldn't ignore that Rikuou didn't… or couldn't contact them. What if he was really in a situation where he couldn't move freely? What if his cover was blown, somehow, and he was captured?

"Rikuo-kun?" Shouhei called again. It seemed Rikuo had been silent for too long.

"Sorry, Shouhei-nii. Can you and the guys look for him by yourself just a little bit more before asking for any backup? I'm worried if we make a rash decision… It might turn into war if the Kansai Yakuza misunderstood our intention in infiltrating their turf," Rikuo said slowly.

"Alright. I'll tell Kubinashi and the others to hold the information first and to continue searching until it's necessary to call for back up," Shouhei replied, agreeing Rikuo's decision.

"Thank you, Shouhei-nii," Rikuo said good bye before he hung up.

Rikuou…!—Rikuo held his cell-phone tightly before he slipped it back into his pocket. He then walked back to the room where he and Yura did research on the evidence regarding the accident.

When Rikuo was back to the room, he suddenly got the urge to go outside. "Hey, Yura-san, why don't we go to the location where the accident occurred? Maybe we'll find something that wasn't written in the report," he suggested.

Yura turned to face Rikuo with a wondering look. "Even if we go there now, it's been quite awhile, ya know? There'll be nothing left. It was cleaned up after all," she said slowly.

"No problem. At least it will give us some new perspective if we are at the crime scene," Rikuo insisted surely.

Yura was silent for a moment before she sighed deeply. "Well… it doesn't hurt to look harder," she responded to it positively with a smile.

Rikuo smiled back at her. They then told Masatsugu where they would be going and went out to where the accident happened.

Apparently, the accident was in an alleyway. Rikuo and Yura walked around the place looking here and there and finally, Rikuo found something peculiar with the place.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Yura asked as she seemed to notice Rikuo's look.

"No… in the case file, it was mentioned that your brothers were driving from there, right?" Rikuo pointed at the direction of where they had come.

"Yeah," Yura nodded.

"And the truck came from this way," Rikuo pointed at the way, right at the junction of the three ways road.

"Yes," Yura nodded again.

"Then that's strange…" Rikuo mumbled as he saw the skid mark on the road.

"What is strange?" Yura asked again.

"You didn't realize? The skid mark on the road… there's only one skid mark and it came from the truck. Your brothers didn't bother to hit the brakes when they got into the accident?" Rikuo asked.

Yura widened her eyes at that. "Eh…?"

"If your brothers didn't hit the brakes, then it could mean several things. One, they committed suicide. Two, the brakes broke, which meant that they were either very unlucky or someone or some people sabotaged their car. Or three… they couldn't hit the brakes even if they wanted to, which meant… there was a third person in the car," Rikuo said, giving out some possibility.

"Third person… I didn't think about that possibility," Yura bit her thumb nail. "So… the possibility of inside involvement had just gone up…!" she looked a little scared as she said that.

Rikuo then looked up at the mirror pole on the middle of the side road at the junction. He saw the three ways at once from there and he imagined how the accident happened. He could set several scenarios on how he would make it look like if he wanted to create an accident there.

"It's probably pre-mediated too…" Rikuo mumbled slowly at that and turned to Yura once again. "How about the talk I want to have with Akifusa-san? Has there been any answer?" he asked then.

"I haven't been able to contact Akifusa-nii. He's a little bit busy at this moment. He's kind of hard to get in touch with lately…" Yura answered, looking depressed.

"I see…" Rikuo sighed slightly before he offered his hand to Yura. "Let's go to drink something warm before going back to your house. I'm sure it will at least make us feel better," he said.

Yura could only nod and take his hand, accepting the offer.

0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0

Rikuou glanced inconspicuously at the room where a red hooded child was playing alone with some dolls on the carpeted floor after Gitsu and Akifusa left the room. Well, the kid had a bad taste for playing dolls with such scary features, and at first, Rikuou thought the kid was a girl because the child had such a lovely appearance, with below-shoulder length black hair and a pair of reddish amber eyes which looked exactly like Akifusa. But Akifusa was also very lovely, yet he was a guy. Rikuou really couldn't judge people's genders by their looks.

Only… the kid's expression was kind of vacant for some reasons.

Rikuou approached the kid and sat slowly beside her. "Hey," he greeted her and she looked up from her toy. "How are you doing, little girl?"

The kid blinked slightly as if she were contemplating about something before she responded with the toys in her hand. "Boy," he said, offering a male lion to Rikuou's before he went back to his own world.

Rikuou blushed slightly, totally embarrassed that he had been wrong in guessing the kid's sex. But he quickly recovered from that and coughed lightly. "Why are you staying here then, little guy?" he asked then.

"Pato," the kid said, not even bothering to look at Rikuou again.

Has this kid been drugged or something? He only spoke one word each time—Rikuou thought in concern before he tried to check on the kid.

"Sorry for this," Rikuou said before he touched the kid's forehead. He wasn't in some kind of fever, and he looked calm enough.

"Night," Pato said as he reached for Rikuou's hair, pulling it slightly. "Moon…"

Was he talking about my hair color?

"Blood…" Pato said, looking at Rikuou's eyes now.

Rikuou flinched slightly at the mention of the red liquid of life. Surely, his eyes looked like pools of blood in color, but it was as if the kid could guess that Rikuou lived in a bloody line of work or something. It was rather creepy.

However, now was not the right time to mull over unnecessary things. He had to get this kid out of the house. He promised Akifusa after all. Moreover, he needed to look for the pictures and videos Gitsu had shot. Even though he knew it was definitely fake, he just didn't want Rikuo to see them.

Rikuou didn't want to risk his relationship with his beloved Rikuo after all.

"Akifusa wants to bring you away from here," Rikuou said to the little kid then. "Would you go with me, Pato?" He just guessed that that was the kid's name.

Pato was silent for a moment, seeming thinking something. "Thorn…" he spoke slowly, but Rikuou didn't get what he meant.

"I'm still taking you away from here. Akifusa is desperate to get you out," Rikuou said, insistent.

Pato looked down. "Help…" he whispered lowly, still expressionless, but Rikuou thought he understood what he was feeling.

"I'll help you both," Rikuou said, grasping the boy's smaller hand before he stood and then pulled the boy up with him. "Let's go," he said, lifting the boy bridal style.

Pato closed his eyes, holding onto Rikuou's chest and shoulder.

0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0

It was in the middle of the night and Rikuo just got a call from an unrecognized number.

"Who the hell is calling in the middle of the night…?" Rikuo muttered, slightly annoyed because he had just fallen asleep after three days of sleepless night because he was worried about Rikuou.

"Yes," Rikuo answered his cell-phone.

"Ah, Riku?" Surprisingly, it was Rikuou's voice.

"Rikuou! Where the hell have you been these past days! I told you to get in touch with and to give the guys report at least once a day!" Rikuo screeched in undertone. Well, he couldn't help it. He was very surprised because he got a call from Rikuou after a few days of being unable to locate the Sandaime… in the middle of the night to boot. Also, the fact that he was sleep-depraved coupled with the constant worry about Rikuou… the dam broke.

"Sorry, emergency came up," Rikuou spoke, rather rushed for some reason, and he sounded out of breath as well.

"Rikuou? What happened?" Rikuo was officially apprehensive now, hearing such urgent tone from his half brother.

"Can't speak too much… anyway, I need you to come here now. 103256, later!"

Then the line died.

"What the—! Here WHERE?" Rikuo was confused. Rikuou didn't make any sense! What the hell did 103256 mean?

Anyway, it seems Rikuou needs help somehow… with something… 103256? If he's telling me to go there, then it must have something to do with a place. Since it's in Kyoto, maybe it will help if I see Kyoto map now….

Rikuo hurriedly got down from his bed and walked straight to the table. He opened a drawer under the desk to find any useful map. Finding one, he spread it open on the table after he got rid of some papers on top of it earlier.

It must be related to the map… 103256… 10? Tenth road? Then this 32 probably… crossing line 32 of the train track? And 56… at the fifth park… at 6 o'clock direction!—Rikuo hurriedly took his jacket, slipped his cell-phone and wallet, grabbed a coat and went out to the place where his half brother was trying to show him through the code.

Rikuo didn't bother waking Yura up because it was in such a short notice. Besides, Rikuo didn't want to disturb her beauty sleep in the middle of the night, so he went alone to the park downtown, at the 10th road.

Rikuo ran as fast as he could, his breath turning into white puffs in the cold winter night air. He wanted to see Rikuou as soon as possible to relieve the anxiety and worry he had felt these past days. If he could just see that Rikuou was okay…

Rikuo arrived at the park exactly 15 minutes after Rikuou's call, but for some reasons, he couldn't find Rikuou there. He wanted to call around, but he was also worried if somehow, Rikuou was hiding himself on purpose. Maybe he was being followed or was on the run or something.

Rikuo discretely walked around the park. It was very quiet in there, except the screeching sound of the swings that were pushed by the cold wind. However, Rikuo didn't expect that he would see someone on the swing. A little kid with red hood… Rikuo instantly noticed who that was.

He walked to the child sitting alone on the swing and kneeled beside him. "Pato-kun…?" he called the kid softly. "What are you doing sitting alone at a place like this in the middle of the night?"

Pato was silent for awhile before he looked up slightly, facing Rikuo. He took something from his pocket, a piece of paper, and then offered it to Rikuo. "Answer," the kid said slowly.

"Answer…?" Rikuo took the paper and saw a single line there.

The mole is Akifusa.

Rikuo widened his eyes at that. It was Rikuou's handwriting and his suspicion about Akifusa was strengthened by Rikuou's message. But… why didn't he show up by himself? Why did he ask the kid to deliver the message…? He's Akifusa's little brother to boot… Wait. Where on earth did Rikuou find Pato in the first place…?

Rikuo hadn't been able to solve all the questions swirling in his head, but he knew better that Pato was somehow the key to it. Maybe the kid was in danger or something…!

"Pato-kun, let's go home," Rikuo said offering his hand to Pato.

The kid looked upward to his eyes, setting his vacant gaze and expression to him. He looked at Rikuo's hand for a long time before he spoke faintly again. "Moon… night… blood…."

Rikuo blinked. "Huh?" he looked at Pato confusedly. He knew that Pato needed special education because of his condition, but he didn't understand what the kid was trying to say.

"Danger… break…" Pato closed his eyes and his body slumped forward.

"Whoah!" Rikuo hurriedly caught the boy before he could collapse on the ground. The boy passed out on his hold. "Oh no! His body is so cold!" Rikuo hurriedly hugged the boy to at least warm him for a little bit.

Rikuo couldn't let them be outside for too long. He had to warm Pato's body up before the boy suffered from hypothermia. "What the hell was Rikuou thinking, using a kid like Pato to deliver messages?" he huffed as he lifted the boy and hurriedly ran back to the main street.

The hospital nearby should be open for 24 hours. Rikuo would bring Pato to the hospital, so the boy could get checked. Who knew… maybe he was injured or worse.

"Hang on, Pato-kun…! You'll get help soon…!"

End of Chapter 21

Tbc…

A/N: Sorry again for making you wait for a long time. And again, this chapter is a lot shorter than the previous one… ugh. I just can't continue for this moment because I'm still thinking about how to shorten the massive plot that's swirling around in my head…! Oh, and for you guys who had expected some gore in this chapter because Rikuou was captured last time, sorry. I just couldn't write that kind of thing… I didn't have a heart to do that to our dear Rikuou… Anyway, what do you think? Please tell me in your reviews!