I swear that I'm not dead. I had a hard time with this one (hence the shortness of it), plots for other stories, and then I had a baby in late March. (Yay for sleepless nights and vomit showers.) Anyways, enjoy.

Quietly getting in through the door, Shin switched his shoes for slippers before finding some for his guests. The house was dark, and he knew that Sayoko was somewhere in that dark, waiting to reprimand him for being an idiot. He didn't blame her though. He knew he had pulled a dumb stunt, and paid for it when he ate asphalt, but he knew that he was the bad little brother who was going to pay anyways. The trio just entered the kitchen when the lights came on. Sayoko turned the lights on from the hallway.

"Shin, you're okay?" she sounded worried.

Shin lowered his head in shame before she came over to hug him. Then came the slap to the back of the head as he expected.

"How could you? I've been up all night, worrying on whether you were dead somewhere or not. Then these two showed up asking about you." She turned to the others to offer them tea or coffee after seeing the look on Shin's face.

"I'd hate to have met your mother." Brandon leaned into Shin's ear.

"I wouldn't be sitting here if my mother was here. I'd be in my room." Shin sighed, "Does she know why you both are here?"

"Yes, to some extent. Michelle doesn't know if your family knows about the armor or not."

Shin nodded, "She does."

"Shin," Sayoko called out, "Can you grab the china set?"

He stood to grab enough dishes and cups to set the table. It didn't take long for the tea to be served. Sayoko then excused herself. She had to go to bed now that she didn't have to worry about her troublesome brother. Not long after she left, the two agents started to ask questions about where to start looking. Shin sat quietly, tapping his fingers, before speaking. He didn't want to drag the others into this, but without calling Ryo, he didn't have a way to talk to Kayura. His thoughts were broken up by a letter that was tossed to him.

"I have something that you might be able to help me with." Michelle said, "It doesn't have anything to do with the armors, but it does have something to do with you, I believe."

"It's a letter from Mr. Blanc, but you already know about our relation." Shin sighed, reading through the letter, "He sent me a job offer?"

"Yes."

"And…"

"Well, I need someone near him and you're perfect."

Shin sighed, dropping the letter on the table, "I'm not going to spy on my father."

"Okay." Michelle said.

Brandon snorted, "That's it? You're not going to pressure him?"

"No." she answered, getting out of her chair, "I am heading to bed. It would be the best if you two did the same."

The men glanced at each other before Shin stood.

He swore that he locked the bedroom door. Shin was again awakened by Naomi by her jumping on his head. Remembering who he would deal with, he chose to not throw her off the bed. This time. Getting up, he checked the door. Yep, she broke into the room somehow.

"How did you open this?" Shin asked.

He just received a grin from the young girl. With an eyebrow raised, Shin looked at the door again.

"Yes Shin, it's a door." He heard Sayoko say.

Shin gave her a look before asking Naomi how she got in again. The child produced a thin piece of wire and pointed to the small hole in the knob. Quickly taking the wire from her, Shin picked her up and tucked her to his side. Arms and legs flew around as Shin ran out of the room tickling her. He went around trying to find a good place to put her before running off, and decided that his sister's room was a good place. Unfortunately for Sayoko, she was still in bed trying to sleep when she was tossed into the air and heard laughter from the other side of the bed. Shin had tossed the girl on the bed and then jumped onto it. He then got under the covers and snuggled up to his sister. Naomi did the same.

"What are you two doing?" she sat up quickly.

Shin grinned, "Someone woke me up, and so I decided to wake someone else up. And I thought that I should apologize for last night."

He then received a pillow to the face. Then he had to cry out 'mercy' when she wouldn't lift the pillow. Naomi thought it was funny and jumped onto Shin's stomach.

"Shin, apology accepted. Now come on, we have guests, and Taro wants a lesson before you take off to do the armor thing."

"Okay." Shin wheezed out after the girl ran out of the room.

It was late at night when Kayura showed up. Shin had contacted Ryo about talking to her, and she wasn't going to let any of them down by not responding. When she asked about why she was needed, Shin explained. She gave to two agents a look, before telling him that she suspected the missing armor to be destroyed, but they insisted on seeing proof. So they spent the next the next few hours riding out to the spot where the armor of Venom was seen last.

Instead of the calm it had the first time Shin saw the lake, it felt scarred. Everything around them still had remains of the fight against Masafumi. Shu had really messed the place up and the land was not happy. The trees were tossing small rocks at them. He felt bad that he had the underarmor to protect him and the others didn't.

"At least the water is still clear." Shin tried to joke.

"It is." Kayura said before looking at the two agents, "You can let them know that they are free to look for the armor."

Walking around the crater, Shin soon found himself sitting down, staring into it. He could hear the agents curse from being hit by rocks and other objects that the trees were tossing. He tried not laughing at them, but when Brandon was hit square in the face and went off on a rant, he couldn't hold it in.

"I'm starting to hate this bloody place." Brandon said, standing behind the warrior.

"Hmm." Shin hummed. His eyes were closed as he was taking in the sounds of the water and cursing from the others.

"There's something in the crater." He heard the Englishman say, "I don't suppose you could get it?"

Shin opened his eyes to look down. There was something reflecting light from under the water. He then jumped in to retrieve it. Coming back up, he held one of the swords. He had a strange feeling that it was the one that was used on him. And he knew the water was still filled with the venom. Kayura and Michelle caught up just in time to watch Shin pass out into the cleaner lake.