Realistic or Modern Fixers: Japan Edition

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

Candy wasn’t a stranger to the world of criminals, at least not ever since her parents died, but all of this with the Suits and her friends was all getting so insane she was struggling to keep track of everything. This all seemed so much bigger than it she could have ever imagined and the more they dug the more they found out was connected. I
Crows father was involved for Christ sakes! It was all such a mess. And apparently Lee was involved too and Candy dated him for a year without even noticing. “I’m sorry I got so worked up, this is just all a lot. I know what you guys do is for good but this seems a lot more heavy than anything I’ve seen you guys get involved with in the past. It’s scary…” she sighed as Crow smoothed out her hair and she took the tools from him gently.

“I’d actually love that. I just need to not be a part of this for a few hours.” Candy made a grand gesture to everything around her before turning to look over at Crow again. “And don’t take that as I don’t love being here with you. And the others.” She quickly rushed to add the last part as her face went pink. “Le-let me go get dressed okay!”

Candy rushed away as quickly as she could with her still hurt ankle and made her way to her room where she hurriedly got dressed. Her mint colored hair was pulled into two messy space buns and a few sparkly hair clips were placed randomly to secure flyaways. In exchange for her normal pajamas she wore a white tank dress with a mesh cloudprint dress overtop and some chunky white sneakers. After she was ready she met Crow back downstairs near the door to the garage, “Can I pick what fancy car we drive? Since you can’t with your bum arm and all… not that you can really drive anyways.”

The two of them were on the way with Candy following Crows directions. At a stop light she peered at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment before speaking up. “I don’t really know him. Earlier you said that you didn’t know me and Lee knew each other, and I guess in hindsight I really don’t. He was just a guy who hung out at my parents bar a lot during my first year of college, right before everything happened. He and his friends would come to play darts or pool a lot and he took me on a few dates.” The light turned green and Candy turned her attention back to driving as she continued, “I never thought it was super serious, but towards the end he got really possessive and I cut it off. I thought that’s why he was at the house last night, it’s been a long time but he’s done creepy shit now and then since we broke up. A month after I even had to call the cops because he broke into my place and waited for me to come home so we could talk. Then he’s left letters and flowers. He hasn’t done anything in a while but when I realized it was him last night I thought I put you all in danger, that’s why I jumped in. I didn’t think he would actually do anything I thought he was just making a show of being a fucking psycho again.”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

Akari couldn’t believe what she was seeing, when Asa had stood up to pay the officer she didn’t quite understand what was happening but soon she was given a front row ticket to the show. “A-asa! Stop it!” She jumped in her seat when the first impact happened and her hand flew to cover her mouth. Part of her knew it was wrong to let Asa carry on like this but another part of her, a dark scary part, was thinking that she enjoyed this, that this was just what this fucker deserved after all the shit he had done in his life. Akari knew her brothers weren’t great either but it was because they were raised by this piece of shit, beaten and berated until they conformed to what he wanted. At some point she just went numb for a moment, like her brain couldn’t decide which part of her should win so she simply decided to not decide. She only tuned back in when her father started to speak. He shared his knowledge of the Suits and how not only her mother but Emi’s dad as well we’re involved.

“Okay.” Akari stammered, it was all she could manage after the intensity of the last few minutes. She stood from her seat with a small wobble before letting out a deep sigh to regain some composure as she followed Asa out of the building.

It was only when she was in the passenger seat of the car did Akari finally let anything go, but it was an unexpected response. She started laughing, uncontrollably, so hard that her stomach hurt and tears started to well in the corners of her eyes. There was far too many emotions happening inside of her right now so this just had to be what happened to let some of it out. “Y-you beat up my DAD. You beat up my dad IN A PRISON. You bribed an officer. Oh my god!” Akari let out a shriek of laughter and doubled over, holding her hand to her stomach as she did. “I just watched you commit like 17 felonies right in front of me and I want to do now is go get a drink somewhere that NO one will know me. So can I be selfish and ask for another ride?”

Akari finally slowed on the laughter and looked over at Asa as she asked her question, “There’s this dump of a bar we drove past on the way in. As much as I love Candys I just want to be free from it all for a bit longer to process what we learned today.”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

Maybe Akari was right, maybe Kage should get a new job because recently this whole assassin thing was going piss poor for him! As Kage and the man from the building made their way through the back roads, he would occasionally check in the rear view mirror to make sure Emi was still breathing. She looked okay but would have one hell of a bump and a headache when she woke up. This was why Kage preferred to work alone on this sort of thing, if you had another person with you it could be used as black mail. It was why he tried his hardest not to get close to anyone.

“You know asshole your buddy wouldn’t have died if he wasn’t ALSO trying to kill someone, ever think of that?” Kage grumbled as he threw the car into park down at the shipyard, all around them were containers that loomed in size. He knew this wasn’t good, this venue wasn’t normally were good hearted and hardworking people hung out. There was a reason so many tv shows and movies used shipyards as the scene for criminals to carry out their evil intentions.

“Alright bud you got your ride here now get out of the car and go on about your day okay?” The man laughed and took his gun and pointed it towards Kage before reaching over and grabbing the keys. He was ordered to get out of the car and go wait by the edge. Kage sighed but did as he was told, all he hoped was that the guy would just leave Emi alone in the back seat. For now it seemed like that’s what he was going to do, he simply got out of the car as well and threw the keys across the lot as far as he could while still keeping his gun on Kage.

“Now call your little friends and get Daisuke down here so I can finish the job we started.” Kage looked at the man and let out a loud chuckle, “You think I’m fucking kidding?! Ill kill you right here!”

Kage simply shrugged his shoulders and tried to buy some time for Emi to wake up so she could get the keys and get out of here before this guy got real mad. “Even if I called them they wouldn’t send Daisuke down here to die. Im expendable, he’s not. If I die they just hire another gun. So this plan of yours isn’t exactly sound bud.” The weather around them was starting to get rough and a few cracks of thunder roared out. The rain was coming down hard within a matter of seconds and Kage only hoped the noise would wake Emi up despite getting knocked out cold.

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

“You know why I’m always willing to come to your rescue right?” Daisuke said after listening to Zuki’s explanation of everything. He had taken a seat across from her at the bar with his own glass of whiskey and just let her get everything out before speaking up. “It’s because from the very first time I defended you I could tell you were like us, I have never once questioned your judgement with the shit you’ve done and I’ve never once judged you for anything you’ve told me. But dammit Zuki I’m going to question this!” He put down his glass a little rougher than he intended, flinching at the noise it made before reaching out and grabbing her face between his hands firmly to make her look at him.

“You have seen the shit we pull for a while now and not once did you ask us to help you? Why? Because death is the only way out of that gang? Okay. We can kill you like we killed me, we can make it better, more believable! Why do you think you have to do this alone?” Daisuke scolded her and he felt a bit of jealously flair up in his chest, “Can you trust that guy to teach you but not trust me to to help you out of this mess? What else have I been doing this whole fucking time?!” It was rare that Daisuke was so serious but when he was it was kind of scary. That scariness only got worse when the bar doors opened and the sound of heels came clicking against the floors.

The voice that he dreaded rang out and Daisuke dropped his hands away from Zuki as Esme climbed up into the seat next to him. “How are you even here?! Why? Why are you here? This place is not open. Zuki is not your bartender. Go home.” He glared over at the woman next to him before turning to Zuki, “She’s not going to fucking leave is she?” He sighed and jumped off the barstool, “Zuki sit, I’ll get her a WATER, because this is a BAR and if you want anything sparkling you’ll get tonic and liquor.” Daisuke moved behind the bar and pulled out a glass, using the tap to fill a glass of water before putting it in front of Esme. “Zuki I didn’t get the chance last night but this is Esme, a family friend and delusional woman who thinks we’re getting married.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

Maybe Emi was a liability? She was constantly getting in the way of Shadows work. This time she was so determined to be helpful! All she wanted to do was prove she could be helpful to the group. All she could do was have visions, ones she couldn’t control and ones that most of them didn’t believe. Was she always going to be this useless? Her parents always said that she’d be a better trophy wife than anything in life. Emi didn’t want that. But…maybe they was right. Maybe she should give up the fixers and just go back home. At least then she wouldn’t drag them into anymore danger.

Just as the thought crossed her mind the sound of the rolling thunder made her jolt awake. The first thing she felt was the overwhelmingly painful headache she had. The cat was spinning and she felt like she was going to vomit. Wait-car? “Shadow?” They were on a stakeout. She listened to him, tried to fool the guy, and she got knocked out as a result of it. So where were the two of them? Slowly Emi stood and stumbled from the car, her hand holding her head as she tried to make everything stop spinning. The cool rain seemed to help her regain her composure. In the distance she could see the tatted up man and Shadow near the ledge. The man held a gun to the white haired man and she was terrified he would shoot. Emi looked around for something to help her save Shadow. Escaping didn’t even cross her mind, why would he think she’d run away? She never ran away, not unless instructed. He needed her help!

Just as she found a 4x4 she quickly picked it up and used the sound of the rain and thunder to hide her steps as she ran across the way to the two men. It was then that the man pushed Shadow in the water and she felt immediately panicked. The water had heavy waves and the sky was dark, but surely he’d be able to swim to the top? Despite the 4x4 being heavy she managed to pick it up and give it one good swing, the swing hitting her assailant in the back of his head and dropping him. “You guys aren’t nice at all!” With that she dropped the board, took the gun from the guy and peeked over the side of the water. Why wasn’t he coming back up?

Something was wrong. Quickly she pulled a knife from the guys pocket before taking a deep breath and jumping in the water. Emi wasn’t great at much but she was a decent swimmer. Immediately she swam down until she could see the familiar white head of hair. He looked like he was trying to swim to the top but something had hold of him. She swam closer, noticed the kelp wrapped all around his leg, and was thankful she grabbed the knife. She flipped it open and began to cut the kelp, only it was hard to cut with how thick and slimy it was. One by one she sawed through the greenery and felt the need to breath, but she couldn’t stop. Shadow stopped struggling and she started to cut faster and tried to slice through it all in one go. Good news? She freed him from the kelp. Bad news? She sliced a huge gash into her hand. It stung but she couldn’t focus on it.

Emi wrapped her arms around him and swam with the tall man to the surface. She gasped for air and smacked Shadows cheek a few times. “H-Hey wake up this isn’t funny!” But he wasn’t waking up. Emi quickly got him to the docks and managed to push him up on it before climbing up after him and beginning to do CPR. She wasn’t certified but she had seen it done on TV before. Compressions, breaths, repeat.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

This was the first time she had seen Daisuke so angry. It made her heart break and she felt ashamed of herself. She never meant to be selfish and try to fix this herself, it was just literally all she knew! Yes she knew what they all were capable but she didn’t want to drag them further into her mess. If she had someone coming for her then being close to them would only put them in danger. Zuki didn’t want to put them in danger, especially Daisuke. He wouldn’t even let her look away from him, she hated letting him see her so weak. The sight of him this angry only broke her cold heart and made tears come to her eyes. “I-I’m sorry. I trust you more than anyone, I do. I just-“

Esme appeared and Daisuke released her, allowing Zuki to quickly wipe away the tears with the back of her tatted up hand. Just as she was about to get the girl some water Daisuke was jumping up and barking orders. “O-Okay.” She was in no position to argue with him right now. While she had no problem playing bartender for his guest he was already heated, so she decided to just listen to him. As she sat at the bar she looked over at the pretty girl in pink, listening to Daisuke as he introduced the girl. Family friend? Emi had said something about arraigned marriages being common for the upper class. That had to be the situation here. “Oh, I’m Hazuki. Nice to meet you Esme.” Zuki was still reeling after the emotional interaction moments ago, so when she felt her phone ring she couldn’t help but flinch. She pulled out the phone and seen that it was Emi.

“Emi, what’s-” The girl was panicked and yelling and Zuki ended up pulling the phone from her ear so she didn’t go deaf. In the girls babbling all she could make out was that Shadow nearly drowned and they were on their way to the hospital and to let Daisuke know. “Yeah don’t worry, we’re on our way. Try not to crash.” With that said Zuki hung up and stood from the barstool. “Esme, Daisukes friend is headed to the hospital. Mind giving us a ride?” Zuki’s car was half way across town and she wanted to make sure they got to the hospital as soon as possible.

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

At first Asa thought that Akari would reprimand him in the car, give him an earful on how wrong he was for what he did. As he slid into the drivers side though he found her doing the exact opposite. She was laughing so hard he swore he saw tears! It brought a smirk to his face as he just watched her and started up the car. “What? No stern lecture? My dear officer, I believe the Fixers have officially corrupted you. Condoning my felonious behavior, I like this side of you.” Asa’s cold steel eyes watched her reactions and all he could was keep smirking. “That was actually nice compared to the thug I used to be. By the definition I was a ruffian.” When she mentioned the bar he gave a small nod and shifted the car into drive.

The bar was indeed a dump. But, hey, it wasn’t too far from the jail and he needed a drink just as badly as she did. Asa did NOT like being violent. It reminded him of his dark days, the days where he had no goals other than scoring deals on drugs and getting into fights. They weren’t his proudest days, but they were apart of his history and he could never outrun them. That’s why he always insisted he wasn’t a good person.

“Couple of beers, and keep ‘em coming.” Asa acknowledged the bartender as he sat in a stool at the bar, giving a small yawn as he looked around. Man, Candy’s was the Taj Mahal compared to this place. But beer was beer, and they’d keep it on the down low about going to another bar. “Your dad seemed like a lovely person. Think he was telling the truth? Your mom and Emi’s dad being part of the suits?” In his pocket he could feel his phone vibrating but instead he just drank the beer that was handed to him. Whoever it was could wait. “Are you okay? My parents are dead but I couldn’t imagine one of them talking to me like that. No wonder Emi didn’t like his ass.”

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

Despite Candy reassuring him the she still liked to be here with him and the others he couldn’t help but to feel bad. This whole Suits deal was more than they were used to. An occasional gang member, crooked politicians, but they had never taken on a whole organization like this. It was scary, especially knowing how capable this group was. He hated that he dragged the girls into this, and he hated the fact that Crow was going to see the end of the Suits. Even if it meant his life. They had taken so much from most of his friends and he had to make sure they met their end. “Take your time.” Crow gave her a small wave before he went to get changed himself.

Crow put on a tee shirt with some superheroes on it before sliding a black hoodie on over it. A pair of black jeans and some name brand shoes and he was headed down to the garage, his face heating up when he seen Candy looking so cute. “Car? Yeah, pick whichever one you want.” He gave her a small smile and followed her to the car of her choice, giving her directions on the way to ice cream. He was unusually quiet as he stared out the window. That is, until he heard Candy start to speak. He quickly looked over and raised his brows as she spoke. Crow didn’t ask about the relationship but it had been weighing on him…now he felt like an asshole for being so stressed about it. “I’m sorry,” those weren’t the first words he wanted to say to her, but he was sorry that she had to go through that. He was sorry his security system failed and that Lee got in to bring up these painful memories for her.

“He’s an asshole, and I’m really sorry he put you through all of that. I’ll make sure he can’t get in next time. Bigger walls, turrets, cameras for underneath the cars. I’m telling you what, not even a squirrel will come in without me knowing!” Crow gave her a determined smile as they continued to drive and boasted about the new security protocols he’ll have in place. Soon they arrived at the ice cream parlor and they went inside. It was a cute, classic little parlor with every flavor of ice cream. His phone started to ring and he looked down at it. Emi? “Here do you mind ordering for me? I have to take this. I want a four stack, chocolate vanilla fudge and caramel. Extra whipped cream and cherries. I’ll be right back.” With that said he handed her some cash and stepped outside. On the phone was a panicked Emi, and all Crow could do was sigh and make out what she said in her ramblings. “Daisuke is on his way to the hospital right? I’m tied up on some business, we’ll be there when we’re done okay? Call me if anything changes.” He felt bad for lying to her but, Candy needed this break. Emi would have Daisuke and Zuki there with her.

“Sorry about that, we’re all good now.” They’d eat the ice cream and then head to the hospital. Candy already ordered, there was no need to waste the ice cream unless someone was dying. Emi did CPR, and Shadow would hate to wake ip with everyone making a fuss over him.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

“You don’t have to do all that, at least leave the squirrels some peace of mind.” Candy couldn’t help but chuckle as they pulled into the small parking lot of the little ice cream shop Crow had directed her to. It was a cute little place away from all the hustle from the city and honestly it was so relaxing to just see something that hadn’t been touched by the insanity of downtown. Inside Candy took her time looking at the different flavors in their little displays and after a few minutes she heard the chime of Crows phone ringing. “Yeah sure! Take your time.” She smiled brightly as he left the shop, turning back to the clerk to order their treats.

After getting Crows insanely sweet ice cream order and her own cup of mint chocolate chip with cherries on top, she found a little table in the corner to sit in while she waited. It didn’t take him long and when he returned his face didn’t give away anything that seemed serious so she chose to not ask about the phone call. “You know if you keep eating all this junk and sitting at your computer all day, I won’t have to worry about a gun taking you out.” She grinned at him as she pushed his ice cream across the table towards him as he took a seat. “In all seriousness though, thanks for getting me out of the house after last night. Even the drive just helped calm me down a lot.” Candy sat up and leaned across the table to peck a quick kiss on Crow’s cheek before sitting back down and focusing on her ice cream.

———

“I still cannot believe you didn’t tell me that was what the phone call was about!” Candy scolded Crow as she stood in the kitchen, she was making everyone’s lunch today since Emi was still at the hospital with Shadow. It was the next afternoon now, after they finished their ice cream and got out to the car yesterday Crow had finally let Candy know what was going on and they raced over to the hospital. Honestly she understood why he didn’t tell her but still, the poor guy could have died! “I guess the thing to focus on is that he’s okay and that the doctors say he can come home soon. Now eat your lunches and don’t complain that it’s not in cute bento boxes.” She placed plates around the dining room table for everyone who was at the house before sitting down with her own plate with a sigh.

“Crow I know you did the buddy system for safety but I’m really starting to wonder if we should even be leaving the house unless necessary. I mean these people seem to know so much more about us than we thought and everyone keeps getting hurt every other day…” She hated to admit it but it was true. They were working themselves crazy to try and get some information on who this gang was but they were coming up empty, and the one lead they had led to Shadow nearly drowning. Not to mention the fact that Lee was still out there somewhere and had already snuck in once… “I want to help you out too with whatever updates you said you want to make. If you really want to go as far as you said I can build the hardware you just need to let me know what it needs to do okay?” She tried her best to put on a smile before taking a bite of her food and sinking into her chair slightly. All she wanted was for everyone to be safe, but she knew they couldn’t just ignore what they knew and go back to pretending like the Suits didn’t exist. Those guys were to dangerous and scary and had made way to many peoples lives hell to go unpunished… she just wished it wasn’t this hard.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

“Ruffian?” Akari puffed out her cheeks as she held in a curt laugh, Asa had opened up to her in the last about his life before the fixers a bit but the use of the word ruffian near caused her to spit take. “I need you to never say that word again, my god.” She swallowed the laugh and used the car ride to regain her composure, watching the dreary sights out the window as they drove towards the bar. Outside it seemed like the sky was getting rather dark and when they parked and stepped out of the car Akari noticed the wind was whipping around fiercely. “Wow I didn’t realize weather called for a storm today! Let’s get inside and wait it out I guess…”

The bar was a dump like the expected but honestly sometimes it was better this way. This way people kept to themselves and didn’t watch you or stare, nope everyone here was here for one thing and that was to drink. Asa ordered for the two of them as Akari took a seat and the moment the beer was in front of her she chugged the whole thing and handed the bartender back the glass. “He wasn’t kidding.” The woman simply chuckled and left to get a refill before returning with a full glass, this time Akari slowed herself.

“That was mild for him, trust me he’s said much worse shit to me in my day. It’s just been so long since I had to listen to it… it put me right back in that place you know?” She took a large drink before continuing, “I don’t know why he would lie. And despite Emi’s parents taking me in, which I’ll always be thankful for, her dad wasn’t the best person so it wouldn’t shock me.”

The two of them spend the better part of the day exactly like that, drinking and swapping stories of their past trauma and trying their best to laugh at it now. At some point they realized that between the sheer amount of booze and the storm outside that neither one of them was in any shape to drive and the bartender called them a cab to a hotel down the block and said they could leave their car overnight.

———

“Ow.” Akari woke up with a throbbing headache and under some of the worst blankets she had ever felt in her life. Where was she? She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and began to get her bearings, the last thing she remembered clearly was getting to the motel the night before with Asa and then- “Oh god.” She turned and looked next to her and as if to solidly her horror she found Asa sound asleep. “Oh nononono… Asa get up! What time is it? The others have got to be freaking out! Where is your phone or my phone?” Akari slapped the man on the back as she jumped out of the bed and began searching around for her things. At the foot of the bed she found her sweater and skirt and yanked them on messily but when she checked her pockets she found that her phone was dead.

“Of fucking course, ASA! Get up! My phones dead and I can promise you Emi is going to kill me for not coming home last night and I’m trying to save your ass from certain death too!”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

This was definitely not the way that Kage thought he would leave this world, after all the bullshit situations he had been in? Pushed off a dock and stuck in seaweed would not have been his top pick for ways to die. He had survived being shot at, blown up, in car wrecks, who knows what else. And this… this was what did it. Honestly Kage wasn’t sure how long he had been stuck underwater, at some point it went from freezing cold to numb and painful to foggy. For a while he could remember struggling against the waves and trying to get his leg free from whatever ensnared him but it was just all to wild and he had been breathless for far too long to use the brain power he needed.

—

Later that night was when Kage woke up for the first time after nearly drowning. He had been informed by a nurse that his friend Daisuke had come earlier to visit and ensured him that everything had been taken care of with a wink. She also let him know that the cute young lady that had come in with him had refused to leave and put up a fight when Daisuke told her to go home and rest, she had been given dry clothes and a cot because the staff was too scared to tell her any different. That news had actually made Kage chuckle despite the intense burning in his throat, he turned to see Emi passed out on a cot on the other side of his hospital room and couldn’t help but get a kick out of the idea of her yelling at Daisuke.

“Wait, dry clothes. You don’t mean she” The nurse simply cut off Kage with a knowing look before telling him to get back to sleep and they could talk more in the morning.

—

The next day it was around 11 when Kage woke up again, this time it was to the doctor in his room and a nurse taking another sample of blood. He had been without oxygen for so long that at this point they just wanted to keep him under observation until they were sure his body was operating correctly again. Once they were done they made their way out and Kage gave them a quick thanks.

“Hey.” Kage spoke softly but loud enough for Emi to hear if she did happen to be awake, “Are you awake over there crazy woman?”

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

After Akari and Asa got home they found out what happened. When Emi and Shadow got home she scolded the two of them for letting their phones die at a time like this. She didn’t ask where they were though, and for that he was thankful. He didn’t really want to explain that they got trashed and slept together. It wasn’t that he was ashamed or anything, it was just that it was awkward especially at this time. And that was how the next month started.

Crow had said that they had to lay low for the next few weeks. The Suits were gunning for them and nearly took out their strongest man, they needed to strengthen their base and make them think that they were pulling back. They could go to work, go get groceries and that was pretty much it. It was getting to the point that Asa was going to go crazy. Despite how big the house was it didn’t seem big enough. Emi and Daisuke were loud personalities, and Crow was about 7 different personalities in one loud and obnoxious body.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the pool, booze, and Akari he’d have gone insane. They never specified what they were but it seemed to happen almost daily at this point. Asa enjoyed her company; she was beautiful, smart, and had a good sense of justice. He made sure to tell her every now and then that he himself wasn’t a good man but she seemed to brush off of his words. They had gotten close; he knew pretty much most of his past at this point and she still wasn’t afraid of him. And vice versa. Her one requirement to continue what they were was that Emi didn’t find out. Asa wasn’t one to run his mouth. Save for the one time Zuki found them in the pool house they were rather successful in keeping it a secret.

“Akari! If you don’t hurry up we’ll be late to work.” Asa stood at the bottom of the stairs looking down at his, his other hand tucked neatly in the pocket of his crisp grey suit. Today they had to leave a little early to make Asa’s consultation for a facial reconstruction, he swore he told her last night.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

Was locking down in the house ideal for everyone? No, no it wasn’t. They were all strong personalities and didn’t blend well for long periods of time. Daisuke, Asa, and Akari left for work most mornings and Candy left at night for the bar. Pepe was doing a great job with security and that let Crow relax just a little with Candy gone. He made massive plans to fix up security during the night and Candy helped him during the day. They walls were already tall enough so he just had to worry about the security angle. Cameras were nearly doubled around the perimeter, there were even cameras installed in the ground to inspect underneath cars. The camera used to see the driver now had voice analysis, and his computer system could count the number of people on the property thanks to a heat sensor satellite that looked over the property.

As happy as he was with how everything was going he was concerned. How was he going to keep everyone safe? Emi had been training with Shadow so he didn’t have to worry about her so much, Candy had Pepe to guard her, but the Suits seemed very capable of getting them. He was now finally able to move his arm again so he had started using the gym more. Even though Candy always made fun of the way he ate he actually was in very good shape! …speaking of. Candy was so confusing. He respected her, he trusted her. He felt more for her than he did anyone in his whole life and that made him want to protect her more. He actually had fun upgrading everything with her and he missed her like crazy when she went to work. For an occasional break from their heavy work load he was more than happy to play video games with her, even hanging out by the pool on nice days. He tried to reassure her that everything would be fine in the end; their rag tag group could get anything done. It was just going to take time.

On Crows down time he tried to open up his dads old files saved on his computer. The man was a genius though and he couldn’t seem to figure out the code, it had to have something on it to help them though. “Asa it’ll be fine if you play hooky for the day! You guys go out way too much. Take a few days off.” Crow didn’t look up from his laptop, finishing up the last piece of bacon on his plate. “Candy how’s the bar going? Pepe doing a good job keeping out the troublemakers?” Crow was relaxed in the head of the table chair in his typical sweats and jacket, his dark hair with teal tips tied into a bun on the top of his head.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

Emi couldn’t tell you how she managed to drive all the way to the hospital that day. Between tears, figuring out the gas and brake pedals, making calls, and checking on shadow she was just happy she didn’t hit anyone. She wouldn’t let them put the 15 stitches in her hand until she made sure he was okay. After yelling at Daisuke and giving up on calling Akari she crashed on the cot in Shadows room. Her sleep was plagued with nightmares so she didn’t sleep much. Actually the next few weeks she didn’t find herself sleeping too well.

While she was stuck at home on Crows lockdown orders she had asked Shadow if he could train her in self defense. If she could have defended herself then none of this would have ever happen! Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so useless to the team. She had even baked him cute little cat cookies to bribe him! It was a bit rough at first, she seemed as hopeless as ever but she slowly got the hang of it. She found herself hanging out with Shadow outside of training, surprisingly more than Akari. Something was up with her but she wouldn’t say what! It was driving her crazy, but she liked hanging out with Shadow. He wasn’t so bad when he wasn’t scolding her, and even then he did it for her own good. The girl truly liked being around the hit man.

“People have jobs Crow, they can’t just take a few days off when they feel like it.” Emi yawned quietly as she finished up packing the fridge with everyone’s lunches. She wasn’t wrong, but it was funny coming from the journalist who hadn’t been out interviewing anyone in a while. She just recycled some content and looked things up on social media. Lately Emi had been less spunky and more tired, something about being stuck in the house was draining her. “I do think we need to go on a vacation. Somewhere warm so we can just sit around and have a drink. Or five.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

The month fucking sucked. Daisuke seemed almost happy that Zuki wasn’t allowed to roam free outside, meanwhile she had people she had to meet to save face with the gang. So when she actually did have to go and do her day job she had to take Daisuke, and the girls loved him. The others queens thought she had gotten a boyfriend and that mortified her even further. The girls had even given Zuki a name for her next target, but with Daisuke attached to her side that was impossible. A few nights a week she took Daisuke on her stakeout with her, though making her move with him would prove difficult. That, and she didn’t want him seeing her kill anyone. She didn’t want him seeing that part of her.

They tried to think of ways to get her out. A mission gone wrong, a fake target, assassinating her? Zuki wasn’t famous, she wasn’t popular, and she wouldn’t end up on the news if she died. How would the higher ranks know she was killed? Maybe she could get Lee to see her die? Speaking of. He had become a thorn in her side. Since telling Daisuke everything she had avoided Lee’s texts. Once a week they always got together to spar and this past month she had completely ghosted him. He…wasn’t thrilled. Whenever he blew up her phone Zuki did her best to hide it from the others. Technically she didn’t have to communicate with him for her job, it was always just because they were friends. So she tried to cut her ties with him.

“Daisuke is Esme going to be at your office today? Should we bring her a lunch too?” With a small smirk Zuki walked down the stairs, adjusting the black crop top hoodie she wore. She had black shiny leggings on and her favorite black boots, her black hair fixed up in a messy bun. Whenever Zuki tagged along to the office Esme showed up to talk wedding plans, even asking Zuki to be one of the bridesmaids since Daisuke liked her so much. It was kind of comical but she tried not to entertain the girl too much since it sincerely bothered him. His friends at the office, however, always egged Esme on. They all wanted invites to the wedding.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

“I’m coming calm down you overpaid Uber driver!” Akari shouted down the stairs as she quickly made her way down them, today she had taken a bit longe than usual to get ready. After Asa dropped her off she had to make an appearance in court for one of the cases she was working on so her boss told her to try and “look like a woman and not a college aged boy.” So today she had woken up early to pin back some of her hair and do some light makeup, her outfit was a knee length brown plaid skirt with a tan turtleneck with some tan flats. “You act like you CAN be late for you, you run your own practice.”

Akari and Asa had gotten a lot closer in the last few weeks, in more ways than one. At first it was just fun, they were both adults and that was that. But Akari had to admit that recently it was getting hard to separate feelings and she hated that for herself. When she first got roped into living at this place she told herself not to even attempt friendship with any of these psychos but now she was sleeping with one and trying to smother the feelings that she got every time he looked at her a certain way? It was frustrating! But ever since that day when Asa defended her in front of her father she felt butterflies, weird little sick twisted butterflies but still…

“Yeah like Emi said Crow, unlike you people have to actually go out and work for a living. You don’t yell at Candy for going to the bar because you’re too busy making eyes at each other.” Akari fake barfed as she slipped past Emi and grabbed her lunch for the day. “Thanks boo.” She patted her friend on the head and then she was off to work.

The two of them made their way into the city and about halfway her phone chimed with a voicemail. “Hmm, weird I didn’t even hear my phone go off.” She pulled it from her purse and looked at the screen, the talk to text was still loading in but when it did her eyes went wide. How did her dad even know her number? “It’s my dad, he called from the prison. He said I don’t have to believe him but that this shit goes deeper than we think. There’s an address too, not sure what. Then he says to make sure I bring my ring… what the fuck does that all mean?” The idea of having to go back and see that man again made Akaris body go cold.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

The next few weeks after Shadow’s near death and the break in went off without any major problems. Candy and Crow spent a lot of their time working on upgrading the security around the house and when they weren’t doing that they played video games or Candy would head to work at the bar. It was honestly kind of peaceful during all that, they all went on about their lives and had meals together when they could, it was like a real family. Well a real family plus Esme occasionally.

“You could stand to go our more like the others, you can’t just stay home or at the bar and call that living you know.” Candy walked by and flicked the knot of Crows hair before sitting at her usual spot at the table to eat her breakfast. “The bars been good, Pepe is doing a great job although he seems the have a crush on Esme which is unnerving… but besides that fine! Completely and totally uneventful.” Honestly Candy had been worried that Lee would have come around after the break in but their had been no signs of him yet.

“Have a good day guys!” She waved as Asa and Akari quickly headed out the door and turned her attention to Emi, “Oh man a vacation on the beach sounds so nice, like a nice normal vacation. I remember when I was a kid, my parents and I would vacation in this little 3 bedroom cabin with a bunch of my parents friends and their kids. It was cramped but so fun, it was like a sleep over every night and the beach was right outside our door.” She let out a sigh as she day dreamed and sat back in her chair. “God remember what it was like to relax? Be a kid and have no worries. I miss that life.”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

There had been a lot going on for Kage the last few weeks since his near death. For everyone else a lot of things seemed to calm down but for him it was the opposite. On the outside he was recovering and spending his days helping Emi defend herself better but inside? Oh inside he was an emotional train wreck. He still hadn’t come to terms with seeing Kai again, or with letting Kai get away. He didn’t know how to explain to the others the history between him and his brother without it coming out wrong. Who would admit they want to kill their own brother? How do you explain to people you care about that taking down your brother was one of the driving forces behind your adult life but when given the option you blew it so now others are in danger because of you? He felt like a psycho and a failure all at the same time. Maybe Emi should have just let him drown…

“You could stand to take a few days off.” Kage scolded Emi lightly as she yawned, “Someone else around here can cook too, it doesn’t always have to be you. You need to learn how to chill out. Maybe that will be your next lesson.” Honestly training Emi has been the highlight of his day, he was able to do some good with his skills rather than always bringing death. She had kind of forced him out of his shell a little more than he was comfortable with but he was getting better slowly. Hell he may even be more of a people person that he thought. Or maybe it was just that he liked being around her.

Kage sat and ate his breakfast while the others talked amongst themselves. His focus was once again back to the ever flowing mission plan in his brain, they needed to do something to get a leg up on these people. Hell they didn’t even know that the Suits real mission was! Just that they were a bunch of powerful assholes who do powerful asshole things.

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

Daisuke had actually grown to quite like the girls that Zuki protected, well maybe he liked the flattery they gave him. Plus he got to hang out with Zuki, that was always a good time! Plus it meant he could get away from Esme for a while. He didn’t mind the woman, at least before all this marriage shit, but now she was almost insufferable! And she was EVERYWHERE. At his work, his house, his bar. Was NOTHING sacred?

“Of course she’ll be at my fucking office and no we aren’t taking her lunch.” Daisuke grumbled as he finished his breakfast and took the plate into the kitchen. “I don’t know why you entertain her, she’s too much. IM A LOT and I think SHES TOO MUCH.” He groaned and grabbed his lunch with a quick thank you to Emi before he and Zuki headed out the door.

Daisuke had been trying his best to come up with a way to get Zuki out of the gang but everything he came up with got shot down or told it was too risky. Honestly he really wanted the others input on things but he was scared of what they would think or say if they knew. He trusted those guys with his life but… he didn’t know how much they trusted Zuki. “While we drive let’s run over our brainstorming again, there’s got to be some idea out there that’s good enough to at least start from right? I feel like we’ve thought of everything under the sun.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

“Have a good day!” Emi gave a bright smile to Akari as she pat her head and walked away, though the smile fell when her friend left. Something was definitely going on and she just wasn’t telling her. They didn’t have any secrets before! At least, not that she knew of. It was sort of the pot calling the kettle black though, Emi didn’t confide in Akari about Emi’s contemplation of leaving the group. Speaking of the pot. “You’re really telling me to take a day off?” Emi put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow at Shadow. “You pretty much spend all of your free time planning the next move. I see it on your face, you’re doing it right now. Aren’t you? Candy is busy working hard, Akari’s too busy to cook, and you boys and Zuki can’t-”

Suddenly Emi’s hurt and her vision shifted to a gruesome scene. A car going 80 miles an hour crashed into another car head on. The cars were completely wrecked, but that wasn’t the most disturbing thing. She knew that car. It was Doc’s. She couldn’t see inside the car at all, but there was so much blood. When Emi came to she fell to her knees and felt like she would vomit. Quickly she group called Akari and Doc but after a few rings she had gotten their voicemails. “No!” Emi stumbled to her feet and ran to the table in a panic, her hand grabbing Shadow’s and pulling him up. “Crow, Candy, try to get Asa or Akari on the phone and tell them to pull over the car right now. I need you to drive me to the station as fast as you can. I can explain later.” She knew Shadow didn’t believe in her but there was no time for him to doubt her. “Please.” Her voice was desperate as she begged him, her doe like eyes already filled with tears.

—

Ten minutes. That’s all it took them to get to the scene of the accident. The movement of highway had been blocked off by the massive head on collision. It was clear by the little backed up traffic and the smoke pooling from the car they had just crashed. Why hadn’t she had the vision just five minutes sooner? Before Shadow could even fully stop the car Emi was unbuckling and jumping out. She ran past the few cars stopped and to the smoking cars, the smell of gas and rubber burning filling her nose. It was just like she seen in her vision. “Akari, Asa, you better stay alive or I’ll be so mad!” Emi ran through the broken glass and smoke to try to try and help her friends out of the car.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

“How about we retire, get married, and run away to where they’d never find us?” Zuki gave a small smile at her delusional idea. She didn’t see the point in thinking up ideas anymore, the girl would be stuck there no matter what. “I hear Hawaii is nice. I’ve been stuck in this city since I was brought here, and you look like you need some sun too.” Zuki slid on her large sunglasses with a heavy sigh. As amazing as it would be to run away together she had to get back to reality. It was a silly little daydream. “Okay, I get killed on a mission. Even if I try to kill a big client though I doubt they’d air my face on TV. Emi could swing for the papers but there’s no guarantee that the uppers hear about my death. I could get Lee to kill me? There’s no guarantee he’d stab me or shoot me where we plan, it runs the risk of me really dying at that point.”

Zuki leaned against the window of the car as she stared out at the other cars passing by. “Or we just tell Crow and we hope he lets me leave quietly? Cut off contact with you guys. You guys getting hurt would be worse than me actually dying.” Zuki loved the fact that Daisuke tried to think of ways to get her out. But he had his own problems to be worried about right now. “Enough about my dilemma, shall we discuss how we get you out of this whole Esme thing? Didn’t Emi break things off with you? Just do that with her. Problem solved.” She looked over at him as he drove with her usual calm and stoic face.

 

[Sir Damien]

Asa

As he drove sipping on his coffee Asa listened to Akari go on about the voicemail. Her dad, huh? That guy deserved more than the broken nose he got. Now he was trying to be helpful? “Hey it’s alright, we’ll go check on it later. You have court today, right? Just focus-“ Asa looked over at her for a second, his hand had deposited the coffee and in turn stretched out to pat her head. That’s when it happened. In one of the gaps on the freeway a car crossed over into their lane going well above the speed limit. The man moved intentionally head on to theirs, and the moment of impact caused five of the six airbags to deploy. The one that didn’t? Asa’s drivers side faulty airbag. The cars came to an immediate halt and Asa’s face landed roughly into the steering wheel, instantly losing consciousness.

Part of him wished he would have stayed unconscious. When he came to ever bit of his body hurt- from his shattered nose and face, to his cracked sternum and skull. He had to focus to recall what happened through the horrible smell of smoke and gas. Gas? “Akari.” Asa choked out and groaned loudly. He looked over at his passenger and did his best to assess her. Right now his vision was blurry, he had to focus on getting them out. It was then he heard Emi’s voice. “Oi, Emi? Is Shadow with you? Pull Akari out first, I think our doors are jammed. Quickly if you can. Get her to safety first, far away from the cars. Then come get me.” His voice was hoarse and raspy from all the trauma to his throat but he couldn’t not say anything. If anything lit on fire… he didn’t want to think about that. If they started to smell fire once Akari was out he’d just tell them to get back.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

“Oi Oi Oi! Making eyes at each other? I’m fining you for disrespecting the boss! That’s a dollar in the jar!” He didn’t deny it, but that didn’t stop his face from lighting a bright red. “What’s wrong with the home and bar? It used to be just home for ten years. 18 years before that I was pretty much a shut in with dad, too. I say the car is adventurous and broadens my horizons.” Crow smiled cheerfully at Candy as he shook off Akaris comment. Soon Daisuke and Zuki were on their way out and it left the usual four in the kitchen. When did Shadow become part of the usual meal crew?

“Hell, maybe we can get Esme to go for Pepe? Give Daisuke a little break for some time at least. All jokes aside, I’m glad that he’s working out. ” He finished up his plate and proceeded to walk it to the sink. She went on about vacations and it made Crow smile to himself. He and Emi had been cooking up a vacation idea for a while, that sounded like something everyone would enjoy. Maybe not a tiny cabin, Crow needed some space. Maybe a boat? “Dad and I never went on vacations, all we did was study, and tinker. We did relax by the pool, watch scary movies, and read comics though, that was fun.”

Shadow was scolding Emi and she was sassing him back before she collapsed in the kitchen. She wasn’t down long but when she did get up she was barking orders like she had seen something. Crow 1000% believed in her visions, they were always right! “On it!” Crow flipped on his goggles, dialing the pairs numbers and looking up the GPS of the car. He could just stop the traffic lights by hacking the lights, keep them in a standstill. Unfortunately it seemed they had just pulled onto the highway. There went that plan. And then he got the voicemail box, there went that plan.

With that said he called the authorities they’d need an ambulance or two, that there was an accident. They’d be there hopefully before or right at the time of the accident. “Should we take off so we can meet them at the hospital?”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

Akari wasn’t sure what happened, one moment she heard Asa’s voice besides her and the next moment everything went black. Her body instantly hurt all over, her face felt burnt and for a few minutes she was completely unable to catch her breath. Slowly her vision came back to as the airbag deflated a bit in front of her, she could finally take in a deep breath but it was filled with coughs and the smell of smoke. It finally caught up with her that they must have been in an accident… Without thinking Akari reached over and tried to open the door but it was jammed shut. Her brain switched quickly from confused to focused. She assessed herself, her arms were working, her vision was okay, her head hurt but nothing felt broken, one of her legs was stuck due to the crumpled front end of the car and she couldn’t feel much in it but that could be good or bad. She was covered in a lot of deep lacerations but thankfully it seemed like the airbag kept her from death. Next she turned to Asa and Akari instantly let out a small scream.

“O-oh my god!” Clearly his airbag hadn’t deployed, he was all bloodied and looked like he was running on nothing more than adrenaline. They needed to get out of here, they both needed to stop their bleeding but Asa had her worried. She unbuckled her seat and adjusted as well as she could to reach over and use her sleeve to try and clean up some of the blood dripping down his face. As she did she heard him call out to Emi and she was shocked to hear her friend was here.

“What? No, you’re in much worse shape than me ! You need to get out and go to a hospital Asa!” Of course, Emi went and got Shadow to help her and Shadow listened to Asa over Akaris yelling. It took a bit of maneuvering but eventually she was out of the car and Emi was hauling her off to an ambulance while Shadow went back to help Asa. She didn’t even get to wait to see if he got out okay! The stupid EMTs wouldn’t listen to her that he needed medical attention first, they said another ambulance was already waiting to take him and they needed to leave with her. Akari knew she was being difficult but dammit she was worried!

It didn’t help that no one could get her updates once they arrived at the hospital. Nurses kept saying they would find out and get back with her but they needed to focus on her for now. Apparently her injuries were a lot worse than she thought, she had lost a lot of blood, the leg she couldn’t feel was shredded up by the metal of the car and she needed surgery to repair an artery as well as who know how many stitches. They quickly took her back and Akari wasn’t sure how long it was until she woke back up in her hospital room.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

“What’s WRONG is that there’s more to life than home and the bar, you could even attempt to GO to one of those restaurants you guys order take out from all the damn time.” Candy chuckled and stood from the table to begin loading the dishwasher but before she could even make it fully into the kitchen Emi was freaking out about something. “Wait what?”

Emi was gone before she could explain but Crow jumped into things before Candy could even get her cell phone out of her pocket. Instead she just walked over and listened in on what he was doing, watching his laptop over his shoulder and giving a small whimper when she realized what had happened. Asa and Akari had gotten in an accident and judging by Crows tone it wasn’t looking good. “Shit.” Candy sighed, biting at her nails. Asa was like her brother, the two had known each other as children has stayed close most of their lives. He was a crass old man but the idea of anything bad happening to him really scared Candy, hell even the thought of Akari being hurt.

“I’m going to get them some clothes to come home in then yeah let’s head out.”

They were still in the waiting room hours later, Candy was sitting cross legged on one of the chairs with the duffel bag she had packed for the two sitting in her lap. “It’s been 45 minutes since they’ve gotten us any updates. What in the fuck is going on?”