While Kusanagi and the rest of HOMRA made preparations for Anna's birthday party, Mikoto was in charge of keeping the young Strain entertained, which wasn't proving to be too much of a hassle. Anna was wise beyond on her years, seeing as she wasn't exactly human and her every day life wasn't exactly normal, but she could also play as hard as a kid could. Mikoto didn't mind watching the television shows Anna was interested in, but the more time he spent alone with the young girl the more he wished he could have some extra help.

It wasn't just the fact that Anna was currently seated behind him, playing with his usually styled hair, but it was the fact that she refused to compromise on anything. She was in a strange mood, the Red King thought anyway, seeing as she usually didn't act so ichildish/i, but he reasoned that the weight of the current matters was weighing down heavily on her, he could only wish that she didn't have to be involved with such things.

His head began to feel foggy after about two hours of Anna's beauty regime being implemented on him, he was one hundred percent certain it had nothing to do with the panic he felt at the idea of one of his clansmen walking in to see him with barrettes in his hair, but more so from the fact he was absolutely drained. Anna, seeming to notice this after sometime, began taking the clips out and instead settled on brushing the King's hair until it laid flat like it usually did without any TLC.

"You're not feeling well," Anna mumbled as she rest her head on her King's shoulders, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"No, I'm not," he confirmed as he patted her head reassuringly, but he feigned a smile. His father-like instincts telling him to not worry the young girl any more than he already had.

"Are you just tired? You've been sleeping a lot lately," she whispered quietly, almost nervous sounding for reasons the red haired man couldn't pinpoint.

Her statement made his skin crawl. He couldn't deny the fact he had been spending more time awake than asleep, but it did bother him a bit, contrary to popular belief. He just felt constantly tired, no matter how much sleep he got he would be exhausted when he woke up again. He could only wonder if it was due to the fact he was a ticking time bomb, maybe his Weismann levels had something to do with it as well.

"I'm all right, no need to worry, I'm just tired and a bit stressed." Mikoto said reassuringly as he fought off a yawn, "I think I need a nap, though." He gently shook her off and in turn crawled up to the couch, grabbing the pillow and blankets Yata and Kamamoto had been using he made himself comfortable. Anna looked over at him after a few minutes.

"I'll just stay here and watch TV, you can go to bed, Mikoto." She offered with a smile as she brought her knees to her chest, eyes focused on the pictures moving across the bright flat screen.

"Ngh, I'm all right..." was the groggy reply she received, and even the Strain was completely oblivious to the fact that the Red King was starting to feel even more ill than he had earlier.

Mikoto mimicked the young girls actions, bringing his knees closer to his body until he was in the fetal position. A wave of nausea swept over him and he had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this way but it had been long before he was a King. King's never got sick, it was just a fact of the power they were granted, but Mikoto knew it was because of his powers that he was here in the first place. He was indeed, much worse off than he had previously thought.

"Your Red is dim, Mikoto..." Anna began as she clambered over to her King, crimson eyes raking over him quizzically.

"Is it?" He gasped out, not meaning to sound half as weak as he did, when a particularly hard wave of pain swept over him he gripped his head between his hands.

"It's like a candlelight, not an inferno..." Anna responded coolly, though Mikoto could detect the worry that seeped into her voice. "I'm getting Kusanagi."

"No!" Suoh replied too quickly, "they have enough to worry about. This will pass soon enough, I just need to rest."

"Then rest," the young girl bit back, huffing at the man's refusal of help. Mikoto didn't have the energy to respond, instead he found himself immediately drifting off into the darkest sleep of his life.

"Mikoto," said man's eyes slowly peeled open as he out of unconsciousness, Izumo's concerned face being the very first thing he saw upon doing so. "Munakata and Seri are here, they wanted to speak with you in regards to the measures they've implemented."

"Why?" The Red King snapped, his head still swimming, his surroundings almost blurring together as he sat up too quickly.

"They said they would be back, remember? It's only nine o'clock," Kusanagi shot back as he helped hoist his King off of the couch. "Boy, what's got you so worked up?"

"Huh?" Was Mikoto's confused response, "I'm fine?"

"Look in the mirror would ya?"

So with shaky footsteps he went to the only mirror in the wreck room, which was full length and stashed in one of the room's four corners. He didn't understand what he was supposed to be looking it and could only hope Izumo wasn't making a jab about how lifeless his hair looked. He checked himself over for a minute before looking his reflection in the eye, his breath catching awkwardly in his throat as he did so.

"That's weird," Mikoto mumbled as he blinked a few times, trying to shake the red glow from his eyes. It seemed dimmer than it usually did, but why on earth it was sticking around was something he couldn't comprehend. He wasn't even trying to make it happen, he was trying to gt rid of it after all, but the glow around his pupils refused to go away. "Where is Anna?"

"Asleep, I came in here and she was passed out next to you, I took her to bed already. Yata and Tatara are keeping the Blues company downstairs and Kamamoto ran out to grab some dinner." Izumo answered fully as he walked back over to the couch and retrieved his friend's jacket, "want this?"

Mikoto took it with a nod before pulling it around his shoulders, "stall them for five minutes, I need to pull myself together."

"Mikoto?"

The concern in his friend's voice was apparent.

"Go," he demanded with a wave of his hand as he stalked out of the rec room and headed towards his bedroom, not stopping until his feet hit the threshold of his bathroom. He made quick work of washing his face in the coldest water possible, trying to rid some of the heat he felt under his skin but the water evaporated on contact though he didn't will it to do so. He wondered how his clothes didn't catch fire as he hastily styled his hair, not trying to look like complete and utter ishit/i to confront his enemy turned ally. Bedhead had never been a good look on him.

Sighing heavily, he flipped the lights off and exited his bedroom, making haste of descending the staircase despite the part of his mind that screamed at him to take it easy. He ignored it, like he usually did.

"Suoh it's not like you to keep us waiting," Munakata said dryly, clearly unamused by the situation. If Mikoto's eyes hadn't already been illuminating the dimly lit room than they certainly would be now.

"I don't rush for anyone, don't take it personally." Was his dazed reply, his head still spinning from his rapid descent down the staircase. His clansmen absentmindedly clawed at their HOMRA markings.

"Why the hostility? To think we worked our asses off all day for you and this is how you thank us..." Reisi countered as he grabbed a glass of water that had been on the bar, he offered it to the Red King who stared at him blankly. "You look like shit, Suoh. Are you not feeling well?"

Mikoto hated how he could never lie or get one over on the Blue King, but it was a part of the job description he guessed. Being practically immortal, only being able to be die by the hands of your own kind had its perks, but it also had it's pitfalls. Munakata always knew when the Red King was bluffing, but it worked the opposite way as well. Suoh momentarily wondered if it was because Reisi knew him all itoo well/i or just because of their status, but he didn't ponder it long. He took the extended glass and drank it's contents without a word.

"You're sick," Reisi stated in a matter of fact tone, "Seri have the guys in the van prep for an examination of his Weismann levels."

"Si-"

"That won't be necessary, Seri." Mikoto responded with a dismissive smirk, the blond woman merely frowned.

"I don't take orders from you," she countered as she stepped outside to alert her King's subordinates in person. The tension in the room grew thick and awkward and did little for Mikoto's impending migraine. Taking a seat on the couch beside Yata, he tossed his head back- eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling until Seri returned and informed them the Blues were ready to run a few tests. Suoh went reluctantly, not trying or in the mood to cause a scene.

The Blues in the van visibly tensed upon the Red King entering, none more so than Saruhiko who looked at odds with himself as Munakata instructed Suoh to remove his coat, which he did as quickly as he could. So he wouldn't have to activate his sanctum they placed sensors on his pale skin, instructing him to lie back on the cold metal table and relax as they looked over his numbers. Munakata's frown didn't go unnoticed by everyone else.

"Your levels are erratic, going from extremely high to extremely low...I've never encountered such a variation." He said with a sigh that shook his broad shoulders, "it doesn't seem like you're going to to explode at any moment, though. Your Sword of Damocles isn't present either..."

"So I'm as unstable as usual then?" Mikoto said coyly as he plucked at one of the more annoying placed censors on his forehead.

"More so than usual, we will just chalk this up to stress but I'd like to contain you for the time being until you are more stable."

"Not going to happen."

"Figures," Reisi seethed as he removed the nodes from the other man's skin, his fingers occasionally lingering too long for the Red King's liking. In the past, this would have been completely normal for the two of them but that was no longer the case. It wasn't Mikoto's proudest time in his life, but at one point Reisi and himself had been romantically involved with one another.

If you could call an occasional late night rendezvous romantic.

It happened a grand total of five times and each time Mikoto had regretted it almost immediately afterward, but he had gone back for more like Reisi had been a drug. It was only when he feared Munakata was starting to have other feelings for him, ones that weren't fueled by intense hatred, that he called it off. Simply refusing to meet with him ever again unless they were going to fight and do only that. Mikoto didn't do relationships, he was a selfish man and he had told the Blue King this way ahead of time.

He didn't feel responsible for any emotions the Blue King had for him, and he certainly didn't return them.

He still hated Reisi Munakata. Always had, and always would. Nothing would ever change that, not even the handful of times they had had sex. If anything, that just made him hate the other man even more.

"Well if you'd go ahead and relinquish your power then maybe you wouldn't have this problem," Munakata said blandly as he tossed Mikoto's jacket to him.

"Still not gonna happen," he countered swiftly, sliding the coat over his shivering shoulders as he made himself comfortable on the icy table. "You really don't know me at all, do you?"

"No, I do. I just forget you're a raging idiot who won't listen to reason," Munakata dared as he looked back over to the monitor Saruhiko was working on. "If you knew you could grant your powers to one of your clansmen would you do it?"

"Directly to them?" Mikoto asked for clarification purposes, finding the whole conversation a bit trivial- considering he would never willingly part with his aura.

"Yes, in theory."

"Probably not," Mikoto answered honestly as he fought to keep himself awake.

"Do you not trust them enough?"

"It's not that, I just wouldn't subject them to this more torture. My boys are a lot like me after all, they'd be terrible Kings, just like I am." Suoh answered with a roll of his eyes, "besides, I'm a selfish man. I don't think I need to remind you that, though."

Munakata visibly tensed, causing the Red King to smirk and everyone else to look at the leader of the Blues in confusion.

"So realistically, how am I supposed to become more stable? I feel like shit," Mikoto asked with a yawn, shaking off his pride in favor of getting an answer to his question.

"I advise you and your clansmen to stop using your powers as often as you do, take at least three days with no exertion then we will see how you're fairing. I know tensions are high and your stress level is through the roof but you and your clan don't need to be highly active at the moment anyway, you're all walking targets." Reisi replied with a smile, something that made the King of Fire pissed off beyond belief.

"Duly noted," he commented with a deep sigh, "so any news?"

"Not at the moment, but we've implemented all of the things we mentioned earlier. We will find this man if he dares show his face around Tokyo." Munakata answered weakly, as if he was troubled by something.

"He's quite young looking isn't he, Red King?" Seri asked, waiting for Suoh to nod in confirmation- which he did. "So perhaps we should canvas the local junior high and high school locations as well?"

"That's a wonderful idea, Seri." Reisi said with a smile, one his lieutenant blushed profusely at. Mikoto rolled his eyes, desperate at this point to escape the van he currently felt trapped in.

"Can I go now?"

"Yes yes, you're free to go. But I mean it Suoh, take it easy and have your clan do the same until you're feeling better. You're so unstable your own loyal subjects are killing you..." Munakata said with an eery laugh.

"How ironic..." Saruhiko mumbled under his breath, eyes widening a bit when the Red King shot him a glare- letting him know he hadn't been as quiet as he had tried to be.

"Loyalty doesn't mean much in the end, does it Fushimi?" Mikoto spat, anger boiling his blood until his already red eyes glowed even more intensely, his vision blurred at the notion. He wondered where this rage was coming from, he had never held the fact Saruhiko left over his head or resented him for it but now he couldn't help himself. He really was sick.

"I'll call you if there are any developments, get some rest, Suoh." Reisi said- almost nervously- as he tried to draw attention away from his now flustered third in command.

"Ah," was all Mikoto returned as he exited the van on unsteady feet, he hastily made his way back inside the bar. Ignoring the pleas to know if he was all right, he flung himself down on the couch, laying his head back as far as it would go until he hit something that was definitely not the armrest. He looked up apologetically as Yata stared down at him, a dumbfounded look on his face.

"So...how did it go?" Izumo asked as he came out from behind the bar, turning the OPEN sign back over to CLOSED in the front window.

"Nothing new, but he said he'd inform me when that changed." Mikoto answered in earnest as he felt his lids begin to droop, he was still exhausted and it was getting harder and harder to fight off the urge to sleep. He wondered how long it would be before he had to sleep throughout the entire day, he also wondered if a medically induced coma would help him catch up on the sleep he never seemed to get (despite the fact that was all he ever did) but he shook his head to clear it of the thought.

"I was talking about your health, smart ass." Kusanagi sneered as he stood impatiently in front of the couch, "if they had found the alleged Colorless King then you would've been on your way with the Blues to retrieve him, I don't need you to tell me they haven't found him when that's pretty much obvious."

Mikoto's eyes snapped open as he turned a bit to face his lifelong friend, he had never seen Izumo so blatantly annoyed with him, and to his surprise, his friend looked shocked at his own outburst.

"I think your mood is rubbing off on all of us, I'm aggravated too and I couldn't even begin to tell you why." Tatara offered weakly as he brought his knees to his chest in one of the recliners across from the couch, "please King, just tell us whats going on."

"I'm fine so you all can stop worrying so much," Suoh answered after a brief pause in the conversation, "my Weismann levels are fluctuating from dangerously low to dangerously high so I need to take it easy for the next few days in order to stabilize them. That means no one in the clan is to use my aura until I'm feeling better, send out a text or something to inform everyone. Only use it in case of a life threatening emergency, otherwise I'll wind up killing everyone on this side of Tokyo."

"Wow, that's not good..." Tatara mumbled as he looked over at his ailing friend, "Mikoto all of this stress isn't helping you any, I'm sure...but we're safe in here, aren't we? I mean we didn't think twice about you walking outside because Munakata was with you but as long as we stick together and stay here we should be fine...you don't have to worry so much."

"I do have to worry this much, actually." Mikoto said too quietly, something completely unlike him, but his energy levels were draining at even more rapid rate than usual. His cloudy vision wasn't helping him much either. "You seem to forget that I have you and everyone else to protect...but you're the one who reminded me of this all those years ago so I don't know why you're going against your words now."

"My apologies, I didn't mean it like that." Tatara clarified almost nervously.

Mikoto grimaced. "Ah, well I think I'm going to get some sleep. Izumo take care of that text, will you?"

"Of course," Kusanagi responded as he whipped out his cell phone, quickly sending out a message to all the members of HOMRA, minus the few that were already present.

The Red King let out one last yawn before he sat up, removing his head from the warmth of Yata's lap- something that caused a shiver to roll down his spine, a sensation he hadn't felt in quite a long time. He swung his legs off the side of the couch as he attempted to stand, his shaky legs nearly buckling on him if it weren't for his Vanguard's quick reaction time.

"Shit," he cursed as he pinched his brow, trying, yet failing, to shake the fatigue his body had sent crashing down onto him. Yata didn't wait for an invitation to help the King to his room, he did so with steady hands and a patience the Red King didn't even know he had possessed. He felt like he was always learning something new about his clansmen, whether it was good or bad depended on the person involved but he couldn't say Yata's helpful side was necessarily a bad thing. He actually appreciated it, though he would likely never vocalize that.

"Mikoto-san, do you want a glass of water or something?" Yata asked as they finally made it to the older man's bedroom, where Mikoto clambered under the sheets as quickly as he could after kicking off his shows and shoving his coat down his shoulders. He shuddered against the room's chilled air, the bite of winter had never bothered him before, but now, even with the heater cranking warm air into the bar/home he felt chilled to the core.

"No, I'm okay," he lied as he leaned against the black headboard of his bed, eyes half lidded as he looked at his third in command. "I saw Saruhiko in the van," he said out of the blue, trying to ignore the fact he was more than ready for bed. Yata's calm face morphed into an irritated scowl.

"Was he bleeding or dying?"

"No."

"That's a shame," Misaki said with a laugh, "but I guess I'll just have to change the fact he's unharmed next time I see him."

"That's the spirit," Mikoto said with a small smile as he watched the familiar fire he shared with his younger clansmen return into the vanguard's eyes. He'd emphasize it again, but Yata really did remind him of a younger version of himself. Though he had been so much worse than skateboarder.

"Get better, Mikoto-san," Yata suddenly exclaimed with a frown, "I don't like this feeling I'm getting so I can only imagine how bad you must be feeling at the moment."

Mikoto watched the Vanguard leader claw at his HOMRA marking for a moment before he let out a shuddered breath, hands clenching into fists before he released them.

"I'll admit, I'm slightly concerned myself. I didn't think Kings could get sick, but I guess even I can't escape my own power." He laughed bitterly, "all of this stress doesn't help, but I'm a bit amazed that I'm so capable of destroying everything, even myself. It's extremely ironic."

"Mikoto-san?"

"Sorry, I guess my heads a bit messed up from feeling so poorly." He said awkwardly as he tried to recover a bit of his pride, hating the way the words tasted when they came tumbling past his lips.

"I was actually going to say you were being a bit talkative tonight, but that's not exactly a bad thing." Yata said with a light laugh, "I wish you'd talk more often, Mikoto-san. I mean, you talk but I just wish that you...I mean I..."

"Wish I would speak more with you?" Suoh asked with a raised eyebrow as he began to lower himself back onto his pillow, he didn't need to see Yata's face to know that had been what he was trying to ask. "I promise we will talk more if you can promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Stop calling me Mikoto-san when it's just the two of us."

It wasn't the first time he had asked but Mikoto had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time either. Yata's promise was the last thing he heard before he found himself back in the snares of unconscious oblivion, nightmares and Anna's vision plaguing his mind on repeat until everything eventually faded into black.