A/N: And here we are on the 10th chapter! What a milestone! Can't believe almost two years have passed already. As a special note, I wish you all another Happy Lunar New Year! It's the year of the Rabbit! That's my year :D In JCA's canon, the Rabbit's power is super speed. I believe in Chinese culture, the Rabbit is a symbol of prosperity while universally, the animal is a sign of good luck. Let's hope 2023 brings lots of good fortune!

9:30 AM PT, San Francisco, United States

Ice felt his soul evaporate up and from his body and disappear. At the same time, his now-followed body grew twice as heavy as he sank deep into his seat. The blond put his head into his hands to keep his breathing and his cool. Ice could feel his heart pumping in his ears and his eyes bore into the table in front of him.

DJ's hands were on his head as he stared off wide-eyed at the nearest wall in shattered disbelief. His hands were slightly shaky and his brain was currently floating in a state of disassociation. The large man could've sworn his body temperature had dropped some degrees because his veins felt stocked full of hot ice. He couldn't even muster the energy to sit down, let alone move.

Ice sharply inhaled as he picked up his head and looked at the phone on the table. Cobra was still on the line, but he remained quiet to allow his friends to take in this information and respond. "Please tell me you're jokin'," Ice gravelly rumbled. "Please say it's a prank, bro."

"On my grandma's grave!" Cobra insisted.

Ice had a thought to retort, but the words failed to come out as he massaged the bridge of his nose. He was preoccupied with the many thoughts swimming through his mind that he didn't feel the tears that pricked at his eyes.

"Just start from the beginning, Cobra. Don't leave nothin' out," DJ ordered.

"After you two went to work, I drove over to D's house to do the mornin' check like Ice said yesterday, right?"

Ice and DJ nodded. "Right." - "Yeah."

"The drive to his neighborhood was fine, barely any morning traffic to deal with."

"Yuh-huh." - "Okay."

"I pulled up to the curb at D-Man's and parked the car. I turn my head to look outside and saw that the parkway was empty and Darek's car was gone."

"Shit," DJ wheezed out, feeling a dark pit weighing down in his stomach and into his lower gut. One hand combed through his hair and the other was placed on his hip as his eyes glared holes into the floor in extreme worry.

"I look in the garage and on the sidewalks. I went into D's crib to see if anyone had broken in and the place looked fine, like exactly how we left it yesterday."

"Goddamnit!" Ice lashed out in rage and slammed his bare hand down on the wooden table. He could barely feel the painful tingling in his hand afterward as he rubbed the back of his neck with both hands. "We are so fucked," he near whispered in his realization.

Darek's car was one of the most prized possessions he held and cherished—a black Ferrari 360 Modena. It was a two-seater, rear-wheel drive sports car with a 6-speed gated manual transmission. He had gotten the car over a year ago and made sure to take the best care of it. He washed his car regularly, change the oil when needed, check the tire pressure and rotate them regularly, and kept the inside of his car spotless and smelling good. The Ice Crew themselves had admired the car for its chic design and qualities, but even they knew not to touch it unless their boss asked them to. It wasn't just jarring to the boys that the car was gone, but that they had seen it merely hours ago.

"The car was there when we came last night, right?" Ice asked and looked at DJ. He looked in the air for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah it was," confirmed Cobra.

"So basically, between when we left and when you got there, the car got jacked?" Ice then asked.

"I'm thinkin' it's a targeted hit. When D-Man's here, his stuff is safe. The day after he's gone, it's gone too." Cobra spoke up.

Ice intently listened to Cobra's explanation with his hand cupped to his chin, steadily bopping his head up and down to understand what he was leading to. "S'like whoever did it knew he was gonna be gone," the blond muttered.

"Think we should report it?" Cobra sheepishly asked as he turned to look at the empty spot in the driveway where Ferrari once stood. At the same time, he hated looking at the spot because it was so daunting for him to see in real-time.

"NO!" Ice and DJ screamed back through the line.

"I won't hesitate to hang the three of you off the Golden Gate Bridge if I return to a mess," the memory of Darek's threat over the phone dangerously rang back in Ice's mind as he shot up in his chair and shook his head at DJ.

"One: you know D don't fuck with cops like that. Two: we tell 5-0, an' they'll tell Darek cuz it's his property. Then he'll come straight back here in a first-class flight to beat our asses!" Ice spat. "He even told me the night before his flight that if he comes back to us fuckin' his shit up, he's gonna hang us from the Golden Gate Bridge."

A shiver rolled down DJ's neck. "And we know D-Man'll do it, no second thoughts about it," DJ said and rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't all that familiar with Darek's family (save for Seymour), but he knew them well enough to understand that they made up a prominent family-run organized crime group that was active in many countries. Many of the family members were arrested for crimes like fraud, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and much more. The Ice Crew also knew Darek too is an active member. They knew of his petty past crimes that were now wiped clean, and they were especially entrusted to keep his current criminal activities under wraps. Darek was a tempered and intimidating figure who commanded obedience and respect; if anyone were to cross him, he wasn't afraid to personally get his hands dirty to remove them—the Ice Crew fully included. "I don't suffer traitors well", a familiar quote of Darek's that proved this. The mere thought of Darek's reaction at discovering the new overseas was enough to horrify DJ, a typically stoic figure; he couldn't even bring himself to think about what would happen when the boss returned to the States to confront them.

"Even if the cops don't tell D, s'not like they'll be much help. You know they move slow when it comes to theft crimes," Ice said. "Darek and his fam could do a faster and better job."

"Yanno... " Cobra started off in a slightly hopeful tone as a thought slowly took form in his mind. "Darek did install some security cameras a coupla months back when there were some break-ins around his 'hood-"

"-And D-Man put Deej in charge of surveillance," Ice mentally followed Cobra's lead, feeling the hope in him rise as he picked his head up to look at DJ. "There's gotta be some recording of the perps."

Cobra snapped his fingers at the idea. "Sound like a plan."

9:20 PM HKT, Hong Kong

Darek's flight landed at the Hong Kong International Airport on time. The weather outside looked dark grey and wet; the dark clouds had completely covered the sky and the rain poured down as far as Darek could see from his window. He felt like a robot as he got off his plane in a single file line. He could hear the pitter-patter of rainfall hitting the roof of the boarding tunnel as he passed and saw the water drawing down both sides of the windows. He duly took a mental note to grab an umbrella before he left the airport, still remembering the list of gifts his uncle suggested.

The arrival process drew itself out, from the immigration inspection to grabbing his baggage and to customs to have his baggage checked for any trafficking of drugs or any other suspicious materials. Once Darek was cleared, he went to the nearest store to buy his umbrella, then took his bags to leave the airport. It was once he stepped out onto the Hong Kong streets that the young man could feel a rush of chilly air hit him and a couple of raindrops hit his head. Darek shivered as he set his umbrella up over his head to cover him.

"I'm home," Darek muttered with a deep sigh. It had only been a year since he visited Hong Kong, but that seemed like such a long time ago, especially since he hadn't lived in the country in quite a few years. Despite the weather being dreary, cold, and down, Darek felt good to be home again. At the same time, it tickled his stomach the wrong way because his family wasn't too far away now.

Darek took his phone from his pocket to look at the time and quirked an eyebrow at the five missed calls from Zuo. Some calls trailed back to over five hours ago and the most recent one was over half an hour ago. "Any voicemails?" he asked as he looked through the voicemails category. When he found it was empty, Darek didn't think much of it: "[A voicemail is a waste of time,]" Darek remembered Zuo once saying with a dismissive handwave at the thought. "[And the person will call me back once they have seen my missed call anyway.]"

"I mean, I'm here already," Darek said with a harmless shrug as he placed the phone back into his pocket. "Whatever Unc wants, he can just tell me when I get there."

9:43 PM HKT, Hong Kong

"{And what do you mean "be on my best behavior"}?" an insulted Sheng asked in Mandarin.

"{You know exactly what I mean, Sheng,}" Midori responded with a roll of her eyes as she jadedly inspected her fingernails.

She, Seymour, Xavior, and Zuo were in Zuo's home office talking over the phone with Sheng and Chang in a three-way conversation using Midori's phone that was on speakerphone. The conversation was in Mandarin, their native language. The home office was a large room with wide space and a tall ceiling; the room was big enough for everyone (especially Midori) to walk around without overcrowding one another. The floors were wooden, save for the large carpet underneath the main desk where Zuo sat. The desk was clean with only a lamp in a corner. Behind him was a large window that was partially covered in drapes. To the left and right of it were two bookcases, one full of books and the other of valuable antiques. There was a loveseat couch that Midori sat on and took up most of the space. Seymour sat on the armrest with his back laid close to his sister while Xavior sat in a single chair positioned closer to Zuo's desk. They were the only people in the office; Zuo's and Midori's children were elsewhere in the household making sure not to disturb the elders as they talked amongst each other.

"{I'd much appreciate it, Dori, if you didn't talk down to me like I'm your child,}" Sheng snapped. He was calling in from the Helsinki Airport in Finland on an overlay, where his flight would take off for Hong Kong in five hours and he would arrive at Zuo's in the afternoon.

"{And I'd appreciate it if you didn't "Dori" me and play dumb,}" came Midori's retort. Midori Kondo was a large and bulky woman, the tallest member of the family at 7'1. Her coffin-shaped acrylic nails were painted in a deep shade of red which Midori picked to make sure they were clean. She had blue mud spread all over her face save for her eyes and mouth doing a mud treatment. Midori's dark hair was wrapped up in red rollers and a hair net to secure it all altogether. She had on an emerald-green silk evening robe with long sleeves that came down to just below their knees and had a matching pair of house slippers.

"{It is not wrong of her to suggest you keep your temper once you get here,}" came Zuo's seconding as he took a sip of his hot chamomile and ginger tea. Zuo Lan was a tall and lanky man, the second-tallest family member at 6'4. He had pale skin and dark long hair that was tied back in a half-up-half-down style. He had a thick beard sprouting down from both sides of his chin. A pair of thin and wiry spectacles sat on his head away from his face. He wore a purple robe and a deep red nightgown underneath with black slippers.

"{My temper is not that short!}" Sheng defensively sputtered out.

"{Last I remember, your son has quite the tongue,}" Chang confidently replied. He was calling from the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The latter and his two children were set to land in Hong Kong the following early morning. "{And it didn't come from your ex-wife.}"

"{Leave my ex-wife out of this unless you want me to bring yours up,}" Sheng seethed.

"{Don't you dare go there!}"

"{Speaking of sons,}" Xavior spoke up to change the conversation before it turned heated between Sheng and Chang. "{Sheng, how do you feel about Darek coming?}" the man asked with slight amusement in his smile. Xavior Feng was a darker-skinned stout man with a bit of a hunch in his posture. He had thick eyebrows, a patch of chin hair under his lip, and a double chin that covered his neck. The man had dark red iris' and a slight yellow tinted sclera. His dark hair was styled up into a pompadour style. Xavior was in a matching purple and gray pajama shirt and pants with purple bedroom slippers.

"{Darek's coming?}" Chang asked.

"{He's supposed to be here in half an hour,}" Seymour replied, matching the sneaky grin from Xavior. He was the only member in the room who wasn't in pajamas since he arrived just over an hour ago. He was still in his button-down shirt and khakis but had exchanged his sneakers for some fluffy brown slippers that one of Zuo's children loaned to him. His eyes had bags under them as the young man was visibly tired from his long journey.

An awkward silence emerged from Sheng's line, shortly followed by the tiny chortles and chuckling of Midori, Seymour, and Xavior at the irony of their brother's added dilemma. They didn't have to see Sheng's face to know he was lost for words, though they wished they could've seen his reactions.

"{Of-Of course not!}" Sheng did his best not to stutter out. "{I am... aware he's coming. I know he has a better relationship than I with everyone and has been attending the past few holiday reunions, right?}"

"{Tch, got that right,}" Seymour chimed in. "{Your son's more family-oriented than you, bro.}"

"{Says the one who's still not married or has a kid,}" Chang shot back at Seymour. The smirk fell from Seymour's face and the quiet laughs of Midori and Xavior got louder, as it was Sheng's turn to join and laugh at someone else's misfortune than his own.

"{Get off my ass!}" Seymour called back with a faint blush coming across his face. "{I like being single and having my freedom!}"

"{And what about carrying on your family name and legacy?}" asked Sheng.

"{You say that now while you're young, wild, and free,}" Midori said to Seymour with a raised brow. "{But what about when you're old and lonely?}"

"{Getting married and having a buncha kids isn't a guarantee that you're gonna be well taken care of when you're old,}" Seymour shot a glare at his sister. "{Just look at how close Sheng and Darek are. And Xavior's wife divorced him three years after they tied the knot with no kids. And Chang-}"

"{And what about me, you little fuck?!}" Chang snarled.

"{Watch your mouth,}" Zuo said sternly.

"{Do not speak on me like that!}" Sheng yelled.

"{Thank you for the gentle reminder, Sey,}" Xavior cynically replied with a scowl.

"{You're welcome,}" Seymour smugly beamed.

"{Okay, so you have a point,}" Midori did her best to hide her chuckle at the unhappy responses of her brothers. "{But you didn't have to go and bruise their egos like that, Sey.}"

"{I know you can't be tal-}" Chang pointedly started to say.

"{Enough!}" Zuo's yell reverberated in the office space, curtly killing the conversation right then. Everyone knew better than to continue with their bickering lest they got a verbal lashing from their eldest brother. Zuo took a moment to clear his throat before speaking up again in a more level tone. "{Having a family is more than just attachments and leaving a name for future generations. It's a life-changing decision that is nothing to play with," the man sternly expressed. "There are far too many people who bear children for selfish reasons and unfit immoral people who have kids just to mistreat them.}"

"{Exactly,}" Seymour bragged as he rested his head back on the couch. "{I'm happy where I'm at, no need to change it up.}"

Zuo shot an irked look at his younger brother, wiping the smugness from his expression entirely. He didn't need to let Seymour know he was out of line for his earlier jabs at his siblings, and the older man made a mental note to pull him aside later to speak to him about it. "{Now, back to the previous discussion, Sheng,}" Zuo said to draw his attention. "{I have called Darek a few times, but he has not called back.}"

"{Do Dan and Bao know?}" Sheng asked.

"{We told Dan when he came in, but I don't think he understood it that well. The man was like a jet-lagged zombie when he came in,}" Xavior reported. "{He dropped his bags in the entrance and blindly followed one of Zuo's daughters upstairs where he picked a random bedroom, plopped right on the bed, and was knocked out. We're probably going to have to tell him again in the morning. That is, if he hasn't seen you in person by then.}"

"{Did you leave Darek a voicemail?}" Midori flatly asked Zuo, for she was 90% sure what his answer would be.

"{No need,}" the older man dismissed. "{Darek will eventually see that I called him and call back.}"

Midori let out a sigh and shook her head while Xavior pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "{And if he doesn't?}" an exasperated Xavior contested.

"{Bao hasn't been picking up her phone either, and I know she and her daughter are coming soon,}" Chang reported. "{But I'm not sure if she knows yet.}"

"{I know she doesn't know,}" Midori factually corrected. "{Bao would've definitely called in by now to say how she felt about the news.}"

"{Sounds like Bao,}" Seymour agreed with a nod. "{Darek is the only one who really doesn't have a clue.}"

"{Looks to be the case,}" Zuo said.

"{Well, what if Darek does know, but he's being hardheaded and ignoring everyone on purpose?}" came Sheng's suggestion.

"{I spent a good hour talking to him when we were both in Japan waiting for our next flights. From what it sounds like, the last thing he would expect is to see you,}" Seymour pointed out. "{And I know the kid enough to know he's really not gonna be happy when he does.}"

"{Well, if he's not picking up his phone, then it's not really our fault. We tried,}" Xavior commented with a shrug. "{This is like going into a forest not reading the "Beware of Dangerous Bear" signs, then being surprised when you get attacked by it.}"

"{We'll just pull him aside when he gets here and let him know what's going on. And if Darek wants to go, he has enough time to book a flight before you get here, right?}" Midori asked.

"{So what is the reason you've decided to grace us with your presence this year, hm Sheng?}" Xavior curiously cooed as he played with his chin hair. "{Weren't you supposed to be in the Netherlands on some kind of "business trip"?}"

"{I was, but it got put off to next month because of some last-minute changes,}" Sheng replied.

"{So basically, we're an afterthought?}" Seymour scoffed. "{In the past, you've always been so busy that you couldn't even tell us you weren't coming.}"

"{He's probably gotten himself in trouble and is looking for us to bail him out,}" Chang gruffed.

"{Again,}" Midori chimed in.

"{Didja get remarried? Or you have a kid you're hiding away?}" Seymour asked.

"{Stop with the ridiculous assumptions!}" Sheng snapped.

"{You cannot blame us for being curious,}" Zuo dryly responded. "{You have always had selfish tendencies.}"

"{Must you always bring up my past?}" Sheng rasped.

"{It's not just the past though, it's a pattern,}" Chang spat.

"{"Those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it",}" Zuo answered.

"{Wasn't it you who always said to me "you learn from your past, you don't live in it"?}" Sheng quickly retorted.

"{You are conveniently leaving out the part where I said to "keep the lessons the past taught you", which you do not,}" came Zuo's snark.

Zuo had reminded Sheng of that quote time and time again when the latter was a married man and Darek was a child. As much as the consistency of the message annoyed Sheng, it never truly left his mind. It only hit harder to remember once his wife left him and all throughout the divorce. Then came the growing rift between him and his son. Sheng tried hard to mend the broken relationships in his family, but he found his old ways were truly hard to kick. Remembering all the olden times kept Sheng from talking back as he ran his hands through his hair to destress himself. "{Whatever you say, Zuo,}" came his quiet acknowledgment. There was no point for Sheng to keep going back and forth with the topic, as he had to save his energy to last the rest of his travels.

There was an awkward silence lasting for several seconds, this time with no instigating snickers in the background. At that point, the call had been going on for almost half an hour and everyone was drained of new ideas to talk about. Seymour took it upon himself to let out a long and exaggerated yawn, stretching his body onto Midori who in turn, used her elbow to nudge him off of her. "{Well, if there's nothing else to talk about, I'm going upstairs and draw me a nice hot bath,}" he said as he took to his feet and headed out the office, calling over his shoulder, "{Safe journey and try to keep dry when you get here.}"

"{I'm beat as well,}" Xavior stretched out his legs before taking his stand as well. "{You wouldn't happen to have any more of that mud treatment, would you Do?}"

"{It's the blue container on the nightstand in my room,}" Midori said. "{You better not use it all up either.}"

"{Don't worry,}" Xavior with a wink as he left the office.

"{See you in the morning,}" Chang curtly said as he ended the call, not waiting for anyone to get another word. Only Midori, Sheng, and Zuo were available.

"{This is going to be some reunion, isn't it?}" Midori's eyes flashed toward her elder brother. Zuo's head was down to his desk as he gave a soft concurring hum and nodded. "{Sheng?}" she asked, checking to see if he was still on the line.

"{Yes?}" he answered.

"{I'm going to be honest when I say I don't completely trust your reason for coming,}" the large woman said as she slowly smoothed out the surface of her nails. "{But it's not my place to check you on that.}"

"{You are entitled to feel however you want, Do,}" an exasperated Sheng responded.

"{That being said,}" Zuo drawled out and picked up his head to look at the phone as if he were face-to-face with his brother. "{for you, your son's and our sakes, you better come with good intentions.}"

Zuo's request kept Sheng quiet, which satisfied Zuo and Midori to a degree because it appeared that the message was sinking into Sheng's consciousness. It took ten seconds for Sheng to let out a defeated, "{Fine.}"

"{Good,}" Zuo concluded. "{We will see you tomorrow.}"

"{See you tomorrow,}" Sheng replied, then hung up.

"{What do you think?}" Midori asked as she stood up to get her phone from the table.

Zuo laid back in his chair and released a deep exhale from his nose. "{Sheng has always had an avid mind. So, I am not quite sure what to think.}" He took a moment to massage his tired sockets. "{But I will be sure to keep my eyes and ears open on him.}"

"{Same here,}" Midori nodded as she took her exit.

10:17 PM HKT

Once Darek got all his things together at the airport, he set off into the heart of Kowloon, knowing that the street markets would be full of items to buy. It took half an hour from the airport to Kowloon and over half an hour to buy everything, due to him having to the heavy rain, bargaining for decent prices, walking up and down the streets, and Darek being indecisive about what was better to buy. This task took a lot longer than he thought causing the young man to mentally kick himself; as each passing minute made him want to stop everything and head straight to his uncle's place, take a hot shower, and find a room to sleep off his jet lag. However, the mental image of his disappointed aunts and uncles once he showed up to the reunion with nothing to give. So Darek's only choice was to suck it up and do the best he can.

After Darek bought his last item, a gift basket of kumquats and oranges, he went to the nearest street and hailed himself a cab by raising his hand at the passing red cars known as taxi cabs. It took a full minute of Darek doing this to finally get a catch; a bright red taxi with a white top swerved in closer to where the young man stood and parked himself.

The window rolled down on the left where a skinny middle-aged man with tan skin and thick glasses threw out a used cigarette on the street, careful not to hit Darek. "[Where to?]" he yelled out in Cantonese.

"[361 Kwai Long Street, Kowloon Tong]," Darek responded.

The driver looked up in thought for many seconds, then nodded and opened his car door with his umbrella to come around and open the passenger side for Darek to get inside. The driver then took Darek's luggage to the back to pop open the trunk and place his things inside. Then he went back to his driver's seat and closed the door. "[With the traffic around, it'll take about fifteen minutes to get to your destination.]"

"[That's fine,]" Darek said as he took out his phone.

The man put on a blinker to signal him getting back on the road and looked back and forth from the mirror, waiting for the right moment to converge before setting off. "[You have a lot of gifts and fruit there,]" the man said as he looked up in the rearview mirror at the gift basket sitting beside his customer.

Darek's eyes flickered up from his phone to the driver. "[Uh, yeah. It's for uh, a family get-together thing,]" came his lazy response.

"[So you must've come a long way to be here then, right? Where did you travel from?]"

"[America.]"

"[Where in America? New York, California, New Jersey? I know there's a lot of Chinese people in those areas.]"

Why can't he take a fuckin' hint? Darek withheld a groan as he continued to look at his phone. He wasn't in the mood for small talk, even if the driver had a personable attitude. "[California.]"

"[That's nice! I've only seen California in pictures online, but it looks like a beautiful place! You're very fortunate to be living there.]"

"[Sure.]"

"[So you must be fluent in English.]"

"[Yeah.]"

"[Were you born in America?]"

"[No, I grew up here.]"

"[Oh that's nicee! Are you in your 20s or 30s? Maybe 40s?]"

"[20s.]"

"[Are you single or married]?"

"[I'd appreciate some peace and quiet on the ride. I'm too tired to talk,]" Darek bluntly cut in with a frown and laid his head back in his seat.

"Oh! Of course!" the driver apologetically nodded and instead slightly turned up the volume dial to softly play some music in the background.

15 minutes later...

The driver turned a corner and moved the car to be parallel to the curb and stopped. "[We've arrived at your destination,]" he said and looked up at Darek in the front mirror.

Darek turned his head out the front and side windows to see the large white walls set up beyond the sidewalk that stretched throughout the street. He recognized this, as it was the main wall separating the outside from the inside of Zuo's vast property. "[Yup,]" he breathed out.

"[Okay, 44.20.]"

Darek looked to the air to calculate the cost of the ride and did his best to translate the cost of Hong Kong dollars into US dollars. That's like five dollars, he thought to himself in surprise as he grabbed his wallet from his back pocket to look through his bills. In San Francisco, the ride would've been twice as expensive, Darek thought. He pulled out a 50- and a 10-HKD note to hand to the driver. "Here."

The man sits back to count the money and shakes his head. "[The ride is 44, not 60.]"

"[Just keep whatever's left for yourself,]" the younger man said with a small hand wave.

"[How generous!]" the man grinned. "[Let me get your things.]"

The driver then got out of the car and set up his umbrella to come around the trunk of the car. Darek propped open the door and opened up his umbrella to cover his head and followed the man to the back. On the other side of the street where the taxi was parked, Darek saw another taxi of the same red color coming down to park next to the other street's sidewalk. He heard some chatter in the background between the passengers and the driver but didn't mind it and walked to the trunk of the car to join his driver.

As the older man gingerly took out the first bag, Darek worked to usher it to the sidewalk. Fortunately, their cab was parked beside a large tree that provided some protection from the rain so his things wouldn't get soaked. "[I believe this is the last of it,]" the man said as he hoisted up the final bag to personally hand over to Darek, then closed the car trunk.

"[Thanks,]" Darek said with a subtle nod.

"[Thank you for riding with Central Taxi. Enjoy the rest of your night, and Happy Chinese New Year!]" the driver gave a final bow to Darek and stuffed his money into his back pocket. He then went back to his car to sit in the front seat and checked both ways on the street before driving off into the night, leaving Darek standing alone on the sidewalk holding up his umbrella.

The young man let out a strained sigh as he looked at his two travel bags and his large gift basket. "It had to be raining," Darek dryly grumbled as he grabbed his family gift bag first and tucked it under his left armpit, then worked to secure both handles of his travel bags in his left hand while keeping his umbrella above him in his right hand. Once he was able to keep everything secure and stable in his grasp, Darek gingerly walked to the farther side of the grand gate and press the cold metal doorbell on the stone wall.

There was a subtle clicking from the intercom that went off next to Darek's ear, startling the young man out of his train of thought. "[This is the Lan residence. How may I help you?]" a deep and feminine voice came from the machine.

"It's me," Darek said in English into the intercom. He knew it was his aunt Do on the line because her Cantonese was not that strong. It'd be better for him to respond in English since they were both fluent in the language.

"Who?"

"Darek!"

"Speak up! I can't hear through the rain!" Midori blasted.

Damn doorbell, Darek thought with a facepalm. "I said-"

"Darek?"

Darek froze in his words and half-turned his head to look behind. There were two women, one young and one older woman, standing just a few feet behind him, holding their belongings close to them while sharing an umbrella. The older woman looked up at Darek with a knowing smirk. "I had a feeling it was you standing there," came her greeting in English.

Darek's head slightly jerked back in his surprise once his eyes fully laid upon the older woman. Ah fuck, he thought with an inner groan. It was then that he felt his body slightly deflate once he recognized who she was. "Aunt Bao!" he said in a fake enthusiastic tone, doing his best to plaster a genuine grin on his face. "Eh, long time no see."

A/N: [Cantonese], {Mandarin}

Tchang Zu = Chang Zhu

Shen Du = Sheng Du

Xiao Fung = Xavior Feng

And that concludes the shorter-than-expected chapter! The Ice Crew have a new car theft, theres Bao's, Xavior's, and Midori's official introductions, and the first time Sheng has appeared (in voice) so far. The last of the Demon Sorcerers to appear are Chang and Dan with the former on the way and the latter KO'd. Their introductions will come in the next chapter or 2. The scenes with the Ice Crew and the DS siblings made working on this chap go by so fast! I enjoyed every step of the way in developing those scenes.

For my Gemstone readers, I'd like to thank you for being patient with me! I'm estimating the next chapter will be out by the end of next month.