I 'dragged' the girl to the room I shared with Sasuke. She trembled and struggled against me – screaming every now and then. The men who were nearby smirked, yet little did they know that the two of us were acting. I slammed the door shut, not caring whether Sasuke woke up or not. The girl took a seat on my bed while I changed out of the gray shirt and put on a white one. I probably wouldn't ever wear that shirt again now. Sighing, I threw it in the trash and fought against the urge to pull out a cigarette.

Sasuke woke up immediately looking from me to the girl. His eyes were wide with anger when he saw her sitting on the bed with the clothes she had been wearing. Immediately jumping out of his bed, he stormed up to me and grabbed me by the shirt pulling it up in the process.

"Are you fucking kidding me Ikuto? You went on a raid. A RAID!"

"Dammit!" he shouted punching the wall with his bare fist. "Didn't you hear me when I was telling you the story earlier? I-

"Sasuke, sit down…I need to tell you something."

Quieting down, he let go of my shirt and wandered over to his bed. I really did wish I could light a cigarette right now. Instead, I dragged my hand through my hair and leaned against the wall, my hands folds over my chest.

"I'm not your average gang member," I began slowly remembering what Kyou had told me about Hitoshi and Amu's words of advice. "And neither is Kyou, or Hitoshi, or even Ryuu. We're a part of the SWAT, and we were sent here on a mission."

"Liar!" he accused.

Not bothering to say anything, I merely pulled out my badge and handed it to him – letting him study for as long as he needed to. I continued.

"My mission is to kill Hidetoshi and rescue every single girl and women he's captured on a raid."

The fingers that had been tracing the imprints on the badge stopped. Sasuke looked up at me slowly.

"You're…going to kill my brother?"

By remaining silent, he got his answer. He threw the badge at me, but I caught it easily.

"You and everyone else came here to take away the only family I have left…I…I-

"I'm sorry."

"The hell you are!" he shouted standing up immediately. "You and all your friends suddenly show up out of nowhere and like I fool, I actually believe that I could finally make friends. No one's ever tried to understand how I felt, or made any remote indication that they wanted to talk to me. ME! Not as Hidetoshi's inferior little brother, but me – Sasuke and-

"You seem jealous," said the girl pulling up one of the sheets to cover herself.

I tossed her one of my black t-shirts and she flashed me a smile of gratitude.

Sasuke clenched his fists at his side, his head facing the ground.

"I-I know my brother has done a lot of awful things, but I don't believe he deserves to die for them-

"He pulled a knife on you for Christ's sake and killed that girl you loved!" I shouted.

"He's family!" he argued. "He wasn't always like this…only after our parents died."

"Sasuke you have to understand-

"He's all I have left!" he shouted tears cascading down his cheek. "S-so can…y-you please wait for a while…s-so I can a-at least s-say…g-goodbye?"

I walked up to him and pulled the younger boy into my chest. He grabbed onto my shirt and began sobbing quietly. I smiled faintly and placed my hand on his head.

"You're a good kid you know?"

The Next Day

"Damn – my back hurts," I groaned as I tried to sit up.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed the dark haired girl sitting up and looking at me with guilty eyes. "It's my fault really. I-

I held up a hand and grinned.

"It's fine really. It's not like I was really going to send you back out there anyway. And I wasn't going to let you sleep on the floor either. That reminds me; I never got your name."

"My name? You want to know my name?" she asked in disbelief.

It hit me then, with where she came from hardly anyone would care for her name. Only for what she could offer – her body.

"Yeah."

"My name is Mayumi."

I smiled; she seemed so happy just to tell someone her name.

"Do you have a last name?"

Her dark browns knitted together in frustration.

"I-I don't remember."

I nodded my head, not wanting her to relive any memories that would potentially prove to be hurtful. I pulled myself up from the ground and sat on the bed next to Mayumi. She pulled down the black t-shirt I had given her last night in hopes to conceal her already concealed body. I sighed. Sleep was still eating away at me.

"Hey Mayumi…I'm going to go to sleep…okay?" I asked my eyes already drooping.

She scooted over and I laid down falling asleep immediately.

Later

Sunlight pierced holes through the darkness and I could hear distant yet slightly audible voices shattering. It hurt to move I realized uncomfortably. I was greeted by the ceiling first. Grumbling, I turned over to my side to see Sasuke and Mayumi talking. Sasuke's eyes landed on me first, and I expected him to look away and ignored, instead he grinned widely.

"Oi, it's about time you woke up sleepy head."

Mayumi turned around as well and greeted me with a smile.

"Good morning."

"Hey Masumi," he grumbled. "It's not morning anymore you know!"

She pouted.

"Yeah, when someone wakes up they don't want to hear 'Oi, it's about time you woke up'. They'd rather hear 'Good morning'. It's a matter how pleasant it sounds to the ear."

"Oh really? And is that a preference or actual information,"

"It's both!"

I chuckled leaving them both to turn around silently.

"You two sure do get along."

They both flushed deeply, an action that reminded me of Amu. I really did miss her. Sighing, I opened my phone and stared at the picture I had taken of her. The same I had shown to Sasuke days earlier. I missed her honest attitude. Her determination to save other people at the price of hurting herself. Her pink hair and honey gold eyes that always seemed to believe in others. To see the light not the darkness. And most of all, I missed her love.

I continued to gaze at the picture, my attention focused on her happy demeanor and her carefree smile. Sometimes, I wondered if she still truly loves me as I still love her. Maybe she'd already moved on, forgotten about him completely. Yet her words still ringed in my head.

Come back home safe, okay?

She wasn't mine to own, I thought re-thinking the whole scenario that was drawing itself out in my head. But I wanted her. I selfishly wanted to keep her to myself and only to myself. Yet, because of that, I'd get carried away…like I did in Paris and we'd fight. Maybe she truly didn't want to be with me anymore and that was what scared me at times. Knowing that I possibly loved her more then she loved me. But what scared me the most was thinking that she'd leave me behind completely and find someone else like Kain…or even Tadase.

I shook my head and looked down at the picture again, smiling this time. No, Amu wasn't like that. I knew her well enough to say that about her.

"Hey Sasuke, what's he doing?"

"Probably drooling over his hot girlfriend," he said snickering.

"I can hear you guys."

"Can I see her picture?" asked Mayumi.

"Sure."

They both ran over and grabbed the phone gently from my hands. Their eyes glossed over the photo.

"She's really pretty," Mayumi began.

"And hot," finished Sasuke.

"Hey!"

But in the end I couldn't help but smile. I was truly selfish wasn't I?

Amu POV

"Achoo!" I sneezed quietly.

"What if I 'm getting sick?"

Ami raised a brow.

"Most likely, someone's talking about you."

"Like who?"

"How should I know? At any rate, when are you going to let me stay home by myself now?"

"Not anytime soon," I mumbled quietly so neither Kukai nor Utau would hear me.

She grumbled quietly as Utau brought a tray of milk and cookies. Noelle trailed behind her, but stopped when she saw Ami and me. Her eyes widened and her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly.

"Noelle," I whispered lightly holding out my arms.

A single tear slid down her cheek and she ran into my arms burying her head in my chest as she sobbed.

"A-amu"! she hiccupped. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too sweetie. And I'm sorry about what happened, okay?"

"C-can I come back home now?"

My heart broke at her face.

"Not yet," I said and at this Utau raised a brow. "There're a couple things I need to fix. But when I finish, you're coming home as soon as possible."

Wiping her tears away, she grinned, and jumped onto Ami's lap. The two began talking as though nothing had ever happened. Utau turned around to leave but called my name. Frowning, I followed her into the kitchen to see her leaning against the counter with her arms folded over her chest. Kukai sat in one of the chairs filling out paperwork. They truly did look like a married couple.

"Okay spill it Amu."

"Spill what?"

She raised her brown again.

"I haven't had much contact with you since the whole ordeal, but please don't leave me in the dark. What's going on? Why won't you let Noelle go back with you guys?"

I clenched my fists.

"Someone is threatening me."

Utau's eyes widened and Kukai suddenly turned around.

"Threatening you?"

"Yeah. At first I thought it was Hikaru…because the night he was arrested I got a phone call. But I don't know how he got my number. Then I found a note on my desk at work telling me I was going to lose everything and anything that was precious to me. And that slightly made me doubt it was Hikaru, but it's not impossible for someone to have others do their dirty work. But…a while ago I had another threat delivered to me. It was way before I found about Hikaru though."

"I'm going to kill this bastard!" shouted Utau.

"Yeah…everything points to Hikaru but the very first threat. I didn't know Hikaru, so who else would threaten me?"

"Maybe it was TaeYang," provided Kukai.

I frowned.

"I doubt he's the type of person who'd send me a threat when he's in jail while separated by thousands of miles."

"Amu, maybe you should think about getting a couple cops to guard the house during night."

"No!" I shouted. "Noelle is safe here, but I can't put Ami through that."

I watched Ami and Noelle laugh from the kitchen. No, I wouldn't put them through that.

Ikuto POV

"We'll have to take turns watching you I guess," shrugged Sasuke.

Mayumi looked at him as she slipped on a pair of dark sweats.

I on the other hand shook my head. Sasuke raised his brow.

"What? We have to watch her or she'll possibly be raped."

"And since when do any of the gang members listen to you."

Sasuke's eyes darkened yet I knew he agreed. The three of us left the room together and grabbed breakfast. Ryuu, Hitoshi, and Kyou were already seated when we arrived at the table. Hitoshi was ignoring me as usual and Ryuu must have a bottomless pit for a stomach because he was scarfing down food again. Sasuke leaned close so none of the other men would hear.

"Hey, so I talked to Ikuto. You guys aren't allowed to kill my brother yet."

Hitoshi spit the food that he had been chewing out of his mouth and Kyou's eyes widened in shock. Only Ryuu acted as he had been before and continued eating.

"You told him?" exclaimed Hitoshi looking the most surprised of them all.

"I know too," grinned Mayumi as she chewed her food.

"I'm not an emotionless prick. I just needed time to think it over."

Just as Hitoshi came to say something, the man from before came to our table.

"Ikuto, Hitoshi…Hidetoshi wants a word with you. You too Sasuke."

The man's mouth turned up in distaste as he said Sasuke's name.

We got up and followed him, but just before I left I leaned in towards Kyou and Ryuu.

"Watch Mayumi okay?"

"No prob-lem," said Ryuu as he chewed his food.

Just as before the man opened Hidetoshi's door, announced that he had brought us, and ran out. Sighing, I stepped forward – Hitoshi and Sasuke trailing behind me. I really didn't feel like being here at the moment.

"Good job on the raid last night Ikuto," said Hidetoshi sounding pleased though it was hard to tell from the ice that covered his voice.

"My pleasure," I managed stiffly.

"Anyways, I have another mission coming up tomorrow night. You proved yourself well, so you're coming with us again Ikuto. Hitoshi, you're a good fighter and I'm sure your temper can be useful. And Sasuke…you need to pull your weight around this place."

"Yes sir," he said gruffly.

"Good. Now leave."

The Next Day

"God, I hate him so much," muttered Sasuke pulling on a dark t-shirt.

I shot him a hopeful smile and he frowned at me.

"You guys can't kill him."

Sighing, I stripped out of my white tank and pulled on a dark t-shirt as well. Mayumi fiddled with the hem of the t-shirt I had given her last night.

"So both of you are leaving?"

"Don't worry, I'm having Kyou and Ryuu spend the night here and watch over you."

"W-what if they…I don't know them r-really."

"They're SWAT, and being with them for the past couple of days, I doubt they'd do anything to harm you."

She gave me an unconvinced look but said nothing on the matter.

"Ikuto and I are leaving Mayumi. Watch over things okay?"

"Okay, be careful."

"Pssh, Ikuto and I are made of steel. Nothing's going to hurt us, right Ikuto?"

I chuckled.

"Yeah. We'll be fine and so will you."

Later

The plan was to meet at the warehouse again and just like the night before, we were the last ones. The men shot me a disgusted look. A rather scrawny man with jet black hair and dark green highlights walked over towards me and lifted me up by the shirt.

"Look, I don't know what kind of funny shit you're trying to play here, but don't fuck with us. Coming late two times in a row and bringing the runt with you," he said shooting Sasuke a revolting look. "I'm surprised the boss himself hasn't done anything-

"That's enough," snapped Hidetoshi punching the man in the face. "Anyways, here's the deal, we're going to yet another warehouse. It's not a raid but a gang…it's a fight. A simple fight between two gangs. We're going to win and take the money and maybe the women. Ready?"

"YEAH!" everyone shouted running out of the warehouse.

"I'm sick of this," muttered Sasuke following them.

xX Outside the Warehouse Xx

"Are you ready?" I asked nudging Sasuke lightly.

"Yeah," he muttered but I could tell by his eyes that he was worried.

"It's okay kid, fighting is loads of fun."

"Yeah for you Hitoshi, you're a fighting machine."

"Hell yeah. All fists and that's it. And none of that knuckle ring crap – that's cheating."

Chuckling, I looked down to Sasuke to see the worry that had framed his face gone. I mouthed Hitoshi a thank you and he nodded.

"Look men, we're going to fight, and we're going to win!" shouted Hitoshi.

"FUCK YEAH WE ARE!" they shouted storming into the building.

We ran in behind them and watched the scene unfold in front of us. Punches were thrown relentlessly. Bodies and blood were already beginning to litter the floor.

"OI Ikuto! Behind you!" shouted Hitoshi who was already, much to his joy, engaged in battle.

Cursing, I pushed Sasuke behind me, wanting to spare him from battle and held my hands up in front of my face in defense as the man continuously began to throw punches at me. Through squinted eyes, I took note of his hits. There was a gap between every punch. Smirking at my victory, I continued to keep my hands by my face. When the gap became present once more, I quickly brought my hands down and delivered a punch straight to his face. The man fell down with a grunt.

Just as I turned around to check on Sasuke, another man filled the place of the guy who was currently groaning on the ground. I raised a brow. I hit him once in the face; there really was no need for him to continue his agonizing groans. The man standing in front of me now was the same as before – there were gaps in his punches and in a matter of minutes he was laying on the floor beside the other guy. From the corner of my eye, I saw Hitoshi beat down the last of the six guys he had been fighting simultaneously. After punching the last guy down, he met my gaze and grinned. In his hands were several rings.

"Seems like they all pretty much have knuckle rings – want some?"

I took one of them and stuck them on my left hand while Sasuke shook his head.

"You don't want any kid?"

"I fight fair."

Hitoshi ruffled his hair and grinned once more.

"Good kid – Heads up, more pests."

By this time, the three of us had engaged in battle. At that very moment, a group of men ambushed Sasuke as he pushed one of the fighters down.

"Sasuke!" I shouted only to be punched in the cheek that had been starting to heal.

Cursing, I began to fight more seriously, but the fighters kept coming in a repeated succession.

Later

"That was fun," muttered Hitoshi exercising his sore shoulders in circular motions.

Frowning, I looked at Sasuke who was covered in injuries from head to toe.

"You should've taken the rings," I mumbled.

"I fight fair," he repeated.

"You're right, you do fight fair. It's the other fucking idiots that don't know shit about fighting. But, I understand where Ikuto is coming from."

Just then Hidetoshi and two other men appeared with wide grins on their faces. There was no need for them to tell us that we'd won. It was all pretty obvious.

Back At the Base

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Mayumi running up to Sasuke with wide frantic eyes.

I smiled faintly and sat on the bed as she quickly retrieved the first aid kit that had been lying under Sasuke's bed. She had just finished bandaging the last wound from the many he had received, when a knock came at the door. Without waiting for a reply, it flung open. One of the men who had been standing beside Hidetoshi earlier looked from me to Mayumi and finally rested his steely gaze on Sasuke.

"Sasuke your brother wants you."

Groaning lightly enough for Mayumi and me to hear, he gently pushed her hands away and got up.

"Watch her for me," he muttered before the closed door behind him.

xXx

It was around midnight when the door creaked open and something fell to the floor with a semi-audible 'thud'. Mayumi, being the light sleeper she is, immediately turned on the light and screamed.

Author's Notes

Dun. Dun. Duuuuun. Hehe, yeah I left you guys on a cliffy and I'm probably making you guys crazy at this point. Okay, I don't think I really have much to say now. So…

Thank You To:

Yukiiii-chan

AmutoFanGirlx3

Xerra Phene

Animefreaksrock96

Sam2413

TinkToxiixix

AniiMai

xMoonlight

XxHate's-A-Strong-WordxX

Crystalapril735

XeMi-ChIx

Beachangeloflove

Kisshu-ichigo

i-is-monstarr-rawr

anon

NellyLuna252

Aznpride16xx