Realistic or Modern Fixers: Japan Edition

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

When Daisuke first showed to represent her Zuki thought he was just some pretty boy lawyer who was in way over his head. She quickly found that he was passionate, brilliant, and charming. There wasn’t a single person that she had met that was like him. After everything the poor girl had been through since she had been brought to the city she never thought she could genuinely like someone. Somewhere along the line she found herself falling for him. Zuki was a criminal though, there was no way someone like him would ever end up with a girl like her. Part of her also felt like she didn’t deserve to be loved, she had a horrible past and made a living off of killing people. So she was just content on being able to be around him.

“Yeah a nap, sure, I’ll be back in a sec.” Romance wasn’t a thing she knew. She worked at shops in the past, and so long as the gents were nice and didn’t hit you it was a good day. Daisuke worried about her, he watched movies with her, spent time with her, and now was even offering his sweats? This was a whole new ballgame. Zuki grabbed a pair of sweats and a hoodie before going to the bathroom and quickly getting changed. The sight was almost comical; Zuki had always been a thin girl so Daisuke’s clothes were long and baggy on her. They were comfortable though. “Asa comes home today? My money is on Emi hitting him. I’ll even pay her to hit him.” After tying her sleek black hair into a bun she laid back on the bed with a small yawn. “I think Esme likes the bar because she’s been flirting with Pepe. I even heard they exchanged numbers. Odd couple, but cute.”

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

Asa gave a small wave to Candy as she went after the confused Crow. He’d be good, he just wanted to apologize and hoped he didn’t make everything worse. He didn’t even acknowledge the whole scar comment, he was too focused on the task at hand. “Well the idiot doesn’t take hints. For a certified genius he missed out on the whole social cues…” Asa rubbed at the back of his neck nervously as he looked at Akari. Where to begin? Asa, the hard as brick stone cold man was doubting himself and it was clear as day with the look on his face. “I’m sorry.” The words blurted out and, for a moment, he struggled to say anything else.

“You didn’t deserve that. I’m a fucking hypocrite. I smash your dads face in for talking to you like that and I-I went and did the same damn thing. I just couldn’t handle the thought of you getting close. I like you Akari, I really do. Probably a little too much. You’re smart, witty, drop dead gorgeous, and you have an amazing sense of justice. I like you enough to want better for you. I want a guy to treat you nice and to sweep you off your feet. You deserve romance, shit like that. And- will you just sit down and get off of your leg? I can’t focus, seriously.” With a heavy sigh Asa approached Akari and pulled out a chair for her. “Please.” His words sounded desperate, and it was clear that he was worried about her. He even had bags under his eyes to indicate all of the sleep he didn’t get at the hospital. “All I’ve ever done is push people away. I have a temper and a low tolerance for bullshit, and despite all that you still found it in yourself to worry about me. I was scared. I don’t know how to properly treat someone I like because I’ve never liked someone. These feelings are fucking confusing and I don’t know what to do with them.”

Asa reached into the pocket of his slacks with a wince and pulled out the ring he had fixed up from her apartment. “I never quite found the time to give this to you. After the fire I paid a guy to find it, it was pretty roughed up but I had it restored. Even if you don’t want me tagging along on your investigation anymore that’s fine, I just. I hope we can go back to being friends? Acquaintances even if that’s all you want. I worried about you every day, and I feel like complete trash being such an ass to you. Do you want to hit me or something? Would that make you feel better? Anywhere but the nose or chest right now. Come on, I can take it. I deserve it.” Asa sat the small black box with the ring in it in front of her and then braced himself to be hit, even closing his eyes as he waited to be struck.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

The man was home for five minutes and he was already pulling a fast one on Crow? “He’ll get a free pass for tricking me, but only if he fixes things with Akari.” Crow gave a heavy sigh as he sat next to Candy on the ledge of the pool, sticking his feet inside the heated water. Having such a lively bunch of people in the house made getting up everyday and facing the challenges they did worth it. Hell, Candy finally decided to move in and he had been trying that for years. It was temporary since things were so dangerous, but he was just happy to have her here. Though he did think about what would happen when she and the others did leave…he didn’t like to think that far ahead.

When Candy spoke the color drained from his face. How did she know? “I thought we were being pretty covert about our plans! How’d you figure it out?” The man chuckled for a moment before he gave a small nod. He wrapped his arm around her and brought her close, his head leaning against hers as he spoke. “You’re too smart Candy. You figured it out. We’ve been trying to plan a vacation for everyone. Somewhere away from the city, Emi said it had to be on a beach. We couldn’t figure out if we want it at a resort we rent out or some nice luxury cabin or something. All I know is I want a boat—a nice one! But you said you something about a cabin when you were growing up, so I was leaning that route. But this group of people needs space so I doubt we’ll be sharing bunk beds or anything. Oh! Since you know do you want to help plan it? I was trying to surprise you, but honestly I could use your help.”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

"A surprise?" Candy giggled and went to look at Crow as he spoke but before she could even turn her head he was leaning his against hers. It caused her face to flush bright red and her mind to turn to static for a moment before her thoughts caught up with her once again. "You and Emi are about as subtle as a bull in a china shop. But it's not a bad thing." Honestly it was one of the things she liked about him. As Crow explained the plan he and Emi had been cooking up, Candy listened and hummed in approval here and there. "Oh really? I would love to help you guys out! I haven't been on a vacation since-" Before her parents passed.

"Anyways, yeah I'd love to." Candy smiled and kicked her feet around in the water a bit. She hoped everyone was a little less awkward by the time they all went on this trip. Hopefully Asa and Akari would be on speaking terms and not driving everyone nuts.

"Woah!" As she thought about them Candy looked up from the water and in through the sliding glass door, Asa was holding something out to Akari that looked like a ring box. "What did he go from bullying her to proposing? What the hell?" She let out a laugh and turned her attention back to the warm water in front of her. "Well at least those two seem to be getting along, that would have been a super uncomfortable vacation if they were still not speaking."

"A nice cabin sounds amazing, resort too but I think it would be great to be away from other people. Something more private where we can all just hang out and not worry about the strangers around us you know?"

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

Honestly Akari was prepared for the worst, her body was tense and she was trying her best to prepare herself to hold in tears. But when Asa spoke and his voice was gentle she was shocked. The more she watched him the more she realized he looked so broken, he had bags under his eyes and he just looked sad in general. He began to explain himself and Akari watched him cautiously, refusing to accept an apology too quickly. But when he told her to sit down because he was worried she couldn't help but let a small smile slip.

Asa continued after she took a seat and mentioned his emotions and feelings, he had complimented her way too much and she could feel her face warming. "Asa slow down. It's okay really, I just-" She tried to tell him that she accepted his apology but he just kept going on and soon he was pulling out the ring from his pocket and explaining the process he had gone through to find it and Akari felt herself tear up. God why did this man keep making her cry? She wasnt a crier dammit!

"Asa I want you tagging along, why else would I have been so worried about you? Or so upset when you pushed me away?" Akari stood from the chair she was forced to take as he rambled on about hitting him. Honestly she probably should, and it might feel pretty good actually, but she would only feel bad about it later. "You're an idiot you know that? You just insulted Crow's intelligence yet here you are telling me to hit you after your stay in a hospital? Stupid." He closed his eyes and Akari chuckled, "Okay fine, here I go." She stood on her tip toes as best she could with her banged up leg and softly planted a kiss on the scar he hated so much.

"I thought that when we started whatever we started it would be easy following those no strings rules. I didn't intend to end up liking you so much, trust me cop falling for criminal plastic surgeon was not on my bingo card for this year. But I did, and I do... So I dont know what to do with these feelings either but I don't want you to push me away again okay?"

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

Daisuke was nearly half asleep by the time that Zuki came back from getting changed. It took a lot out of him to not laugh though when he saw her, she was much shorter than he was and he knew that but seeing the clothes that fit his 6’3 body on hers was near comical. But it was also cute… and for a second Daisuke let himself fall victim to it.

Daisuke rolled after she laid down and laid his head against her chest, draping an arm over her and letting out a yawn as he listened to her talk. “I think you’re right on that. I’ll pay her double to hit him in the balls though.” Daisuke was great friends with Asa over the years but he had known Akari longer so, she won. “What? I’m now getting cheated on by women I don’t even like? What a win for me.” Honestly though, good if Esme likes Pepe. He hoped they would run away together to a land far far away then maybe Daisuke would be free to live his own life again.

-

Daisuke wasn’t sure how long he had slept for but when he woke up the sun was going down outside of his window and his body was wrapped around Zuki. He really wasn’t even sure how his weight didn’t suffocate the poor girl but he rolled away from her and sat up in the bed carefully as to not wake her up.

He was embarrassed that he lost a bit of control there but he felt the most rested he had in weeks. That and Zuki looked so calm right now, ever since he found out her secret she had looked so worried and stressed about everything every time he saw her. It was nice to see her like this, calm and without a care. Daisuke reached out and gently pushed some hair from her face before sighing. Of all the people for him to fall for it had to be her.

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

“You did WHAT?” Emi was going so fast with everything that it took him far to long to catch up to what she was talking about. By the time he finally realized she was already knocking on the door and Kage had very little time to react. “God dammit Emi, go hide. NOW.” He whispered fiercely to her before shoving her around the corner just as the door began to unlock and open. Kage turned and saw the slightly surprised face of his brother before it morphed into a sinister smile.

“Expecting someone else?” Kage growled before pulling back and sending a fist straight into his face. The two men got into a brawl that Kage was thankful started before Kai was able to get back into the apartment to gather any form of gun. Of course it was possible that he already had one on him but he was simply hoping that wasn’t the case. The fight had spilled into the hallway and it went on for a while, each of them exchanging blows and neither one ever going in for anything more deadly than a fist.

Eventually they slowed out of sheer fatigue and Kai did what he did best, play dirty. He threw Kage to ground and finally pulled out the gun he had hidden in his boot before pointing it down at the man. “Fine. Kill me, just stop playing whatever game you’re playing with Emi and the others. Get your kill and move on.”

That was when things got scary.

“You think I want you DEAD?” Kai let out a wicked laugh, “Oh Kage that is too funny. No little brother I want to BREAK you. I want to break you and make you join us and realize how your talents are wasted. How our mother made us dim our light for her ideals. I’ve realized you must care about that little bitch who hit me and I’m going to find a way to make her suffer while you watch. This was just plan a, gain her trust so it really hurt. But you caught me so I’ll find a plan b. Then I’m going to take back what’s mine from that stupid tech wiz of yours, and then I’m going to make you and Luna realize where you really belong.” Kai fired a shot into the floor besides Kage’s head and pulled the fire alarm in the hall to ensue panic before making his escape into the apartment and down the fire escape.

Kage couldn’t move for a minute, partially because of all the people trying to get out of their apartment and to safety but also because of the sheer shock he was in. But eventually he remembered that Emi was HOPEFULLY still somewhere around the corner hiding and that made him stand up. “Emi? Emi where are you?”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

Yesterday all Zuki did was lounge around the house with Daisuke. They got a few hours of sleep, watched more movies and even got some takeout. Asa and Akari weren’t as entertaining as she thought they’d be but it was still the perfect day. Hell she wished every day she could spend like that, she loved getting some down time with Daisuke. She had even fallen asleep again after they ate the takeout. Unfortunately though they had to go back to their normal lives, so in the middle of the night she woke up and went to her room to get ready for the day.

At first everything started out normal, she went around town and made her rounds to go check on the girls. However, at the last shop she found two men in blue waiting for her. They told her she was under suspicion for a murder that occurred yesterday afternoon and that they had to take her in. For once Zuki didn’t do it, she had spent the whole day with Daisuke and a house full of people! After being arrested a dozen of times for crimes she actually did commit Zuki learned to just be quiet and go with them, so that’s what she did. Had she been set up? Framed? The cops didn’t seem to want to answer her when she asked what happened so she just had to assume this was a warning from the guys above. Daisuke got his warning from Devereau, did he somehow find out about Zuki being involved with the Fixers? Was this his way of saying don’t fuck with their operation? Would she ever be able to get out of this crooked organization?

Usually Zuki asked for her phone call, this time though she went straight to the holding cell. Should she even call Daisuke? Were the suits going to track who she called? After a couple hours of just laying on the bench and staring at the ceiling one of the familiar cops knocked on the cell. “Hey, we notified your lawyer. Time to go.” Well, at least they called Daisuke instead of her? With a heavy sigh Zuki sat up and walked out the cell with the officer, holding out her hand and taking back her bag of items. She tucked the phone and dagger back into the pockets of her cargo pants before she walked out into the exit area of the station where she typically met Daisuke.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

Was it wrong that she tried to see the good in people? Emi didn’t think so. Not until Kage yelled at her. A little girls naive dream. Emi had only wanted to reunite the family, and it wasn’t as if she had been the one to look for Lee. He found her, and she thought he was genuine! Life growing up was lonely, she had friends but her parents were always too busy for her. They had wanted a boy but got her, so she always felt like she wasn’t good enough. That’s why she always tried so hard to make people happy. Maybe she tried a little too hard this time, Kage was furious with her. She had apologized a few times in the car but besides that they didn’t exchange any other words. They were friends, right? Did he hate her now?

The next day she went back to her usual routine and tried to act like nothing was wrong. She made breakfast and for everyone, and despite her puffy eyes from crying she acted like nothing was wrong. It wasn’t so much as crying because of Kage (maybe just a little) but her dad had texted her. There was a dinner tonight and it was mandatory that she attended, and per usual she could bring one person. Her one person was always Akari, and she had plans with Asa of all people! Emi was just happy to see Akari happy so she didn’t ask her to bail on her plans and come with Emi. Everyone was busy, there was only one other person she wanted to go with her to such an awkward event.

“Shadow?” With a deep breath she knocked timidly on his door. It was the usual time they trained but she assumed he would have been to mad to do anything with her. “Are you busy later? I have to attend a family dinner and Akari usually goes with me, but she’s busy… I know you’re really mad at me, and I’m sorry, I really just wanted to help you. If you could come with me tonight I promise never to bother you again! So just. Yeah. I-I need you.” Emi was pleading through the door hoping he’d say yes. If not she would go by herself, but that sounded awful.

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

But I did, and I do… Those words kept echoing in his head. Was that was this was? Did Asa fall for her too? He had to of. This was uncharted territory for him and, to be honest, it scared him. He didn’t want to fuck it up again. Akari was…well, she was important to him. He wanted to protect her at all costs, that was his primary goal now that he was out of the hospital. So, as he prepared for the day ahead of them he had to give himself a pep talk. This was just a simple mission, nothing would go wrong and they wouldn’t get hurt. Asa was just recently cleared to drive and the professor had dealt with the insurance to get him a new car. Akari had her ring to unlock whatever they needed, everything was in place.

“A storage unit?” Asa furrowed his brows and threw the car in park. “I hate to say I was expecting something more ominous. Like an evil lair or something?” He stood from the car and moved quickly to the trunk to pull out a wheelchair. Movement still hurt but he hid it pretty well, he refused to take the painkillers prescribed because of his history. He just had to suck it up. Once the wheelchair was set up he moved to the passenger side to help Akari get out. “Did the old man say anything about a unit number? And you promised Emi you’d be careful on this adventure, so sit down and I’ll push you around.”

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

Everything was back to normal! Well, semi-normal. Crow even congratulated Asa on his proposal, though he earned a punch to the face for that one. In all honesty, Crow deserved it. Emi was a little off but she said she was fine, and Shadow seemed more angry than normal. But that was his usual normal before the girls came over? Now they just had to put the finishing touches on the vacation plans. He was even researching the perfect way to ask our Candy! Everything was going to be perfect.

Until after breakfast. He received an email from an unknown sender, usually he deleted things like that but in the title it read ‘Hideki Karasu’. Not even Candy knew his real name let alone his last name. No one knew his name! The email was a fucking mystery too. He spent the next hour trying to decode it, only to realize that it was in the same code that his father and him used to leave messages. It made him extremely nervous and on edge. Your father hid you for a long time Hideki, you’ll come home soon enough.

To say Crow was freaking out would be putting it lightly. “Okay, it’s booked! A big cabin, a big boat, woods, waterfall, pool, beach. If they can’t find something they like then they’re lost causes, I swear.” Crow leaned back into the couch with a cheerful smile. “Hey, do you need clothes for the trip? You and the girls should go out shopping. It’ll be my treat. Just, take Shadow or something to keep guard. Or Pepe. Someone scary and intimidating.” Since he was mulling over the whole email it made him realize he hadn’t told Candy his name. He was going to ask her to be his girlfriend, she had to know his name first right? “Hey, uh, I haven’t told you my real name yet have I?”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

"Hmm?" Candy hummed as she clicked pause on the game she was playing on her laptop and looked over at Crow as he spoke up besides her on the couch. Everyone was out doing their own thing again today and that left Candy home with Crow yet again while she waited to go to work. "Oh yeah, probably could use a new swimsuit and some vacation clothes. It's not like I've had the need for any in a while so I'm sure all my old stuff is either lost or too small." She set her laptop down next to her to pull out her phone and send a text to the other girls quickly about setting up a shopping trip so they could all get what they needed for the trip. "Well Emi and Shadow are on the outs it seems again so I'll talk to Pepe tonight and see if he wants to help out. Though him coming probably means that leech of his will come along too." Seriously Esme and Pepe were getting serious, they looked so strange together but honestly she had never seen a couple more openly into each other than they were.

"You're name?" Candy nearly choked on the words and had to clear her throat to continue, "Y-You havent!" Honestly she had always been curious and a while ago when she first met all the guys she had asked Daisuke if Crow's real name was Crow but Daisuke told her that even he didn't know. It always felt wrong to ask, or want to know. Crow was always a very private guy about his past and his life in general up until recently, it felt wrong wanting to know when the guys he had been around a lot longer than her didn't even know. "I mean, you dont have to either! Don't feel obligated or anything. I-I know you do a lot to keep your identity kind of secret. I would love for you to share it with me but, I don't want you to worry about it either." Candy gave him an honest smile and reached over to squeeze his hand.

The crew had found out a lot about Crow's past recently despite his attempts to keep it hidden, he had been successful for so long and then along came Lee and fucked a whole lot of shit up. "Just, share with me whenever you're ready okay?"

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

It was a fairly quiet car ride as she and Asa made their way to the address her father had mentioned in his voicemail. Thankfully Crow was able to recover all of the files from her phone that was destroyed in the accident and send them to her new one. The storage unit wasn't far from her childhood home, it was a familiar neighborhood that made Akari's skin crawl with bad memories. "My dad got arrested for monetary crimes Asa, not for running a league of super villians or anything." Akari chuckled and rolled her eyes at Asa's reaction to the storage unit. "Personally I'm having a hard time imagining my father ever coming to a place like this of his own free will, normally this would be below him. Though I suppose he probably made some poor staff member handle it." Asa got out of the car and went to grab the wheelchair that both he and Emi insisted they bring out of the trunk despite Akari's perfectly fine ability to walk.

Akari took Asa's arm to help her out of the car and into the wheelchair, it wasn't worth the fight to try and get him to leave it behind. "Yeah, it's unit 3-K, so looks like that way." Akari pointed to a sign that read three above a hall that extended for what seemed like forever. The two of them made their way down it and soon found the correct unit. She reached forward and punched in her mom's birthday for the passcode and let out a nervous humm as she heard the mechanism unlock.


Who knew what was in this room? Honestly it could all be some elaborate way for her father to make her feel stupid but something about it felt too complicated for that man. Plus Akari's whole life she had been so curious about her mother so there was no turning back now, even though she wasn't expecting great news. She pushed the door up and stood slowly from the chair with a small wobble as she stepped inside, there was far too much shit in there to try and work around it with the chair. "This is all shit from our house, so much of it too. I really thought they took everything when my dad was arrested..." Akari looked around in awe, so much of this stuff was just a faint memory at this point that it was so surreal to see it. Family portraits, old furniture, tons of boxes. One box had Akari's Room written across it in Sharpie and she could see a bunch of old stuffed animals sticking out the top and she felt embarrassed for a moment before shaking her head free of that and focusing on the task at hand.

"Okay, let's start looking for anything labeled with my moms name. That would be the best place to start right? Her name was Himawari, it meant sunflower..." Her mother's name used to sound so beautiful and gentle to her but now it just felt foreign.

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

Yet again Kage made himself out to be a giant asshole but you know what? Maybe it was a good thing. Before when he had made Emi upset she didn't know the danger they all had revolving around them well enough to make a smart choice in the situation she was in, but now? Now she had been around this shit for MONTHS and still felt fine walking into the apartment of the man who BROKE INTO THEIR HOME, HELD HER AT GUNPOINT AND SHOT UP THE PLACE. Clearly she felt FAR too comfortable around it all and maybe Kage was to blame. Maybe he let her get too close, maybe he was naive to think he could have people in his life that weren't accustomed to the bullshit he dealt with regularly. Emi wasn't built to deal with this shit, she shouldn't have to either! Emi was better than all this, she was sunshine and good and everything that he loved about her was the reason he needed to push her away. Kage was dark and dangerous, his past was filled with more skeletons than a cemetery and she didn't belong in that world.

So, while Kage felt terrible about making Emi visibly upset, he ignored it. He went home and shut himself in his room again like he should have been doing this whole time. He obsessed over finding where Kai went, he looked up any records he could find on that apartment and found it rented out to Lee such and such, clearly an alias his brother had been using for a while but every trail Kage followed went cold eventually.

Kage had been finally sleeping when the knock came to his door and woke him up. He stayed in bed though when the voice began speaking. "Dammit" He sighed and rolled over in the bed, pulling his blanket up over his head in an attempt to shut her out. It had been one day and it was already hard for him to keep this up. This was why it was bad they got close, he wasn't supposed to let himself get attached to anything or anyone. But then she said something that broke him and he felt himself nearly deflate into the bed. Emi said she needed him and it was like his heart broke into a million pieces and his body was up and at the door before his brain could tell him to let it go.

"I'll go." Kage said simply as he opened the door and looked down at her, avoiding looking her in the eyes and staring at her shoulder instead. "Just let me know when, I'll get dressed and we can go. Okay?"

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

"No listen, I am telling you there is no way that it was Sazuki, what? What do you mean?! I have a solid fucking alibi for her!" Daisuke yelled into the phone from where he sat in the car. They were releasing Zuki on bail but were refusing to drop any charges until a trial occurred. They were claiming they had solid proof that she had killed someone as well as several eyewitnesses but there was no fucking way! Even if she hadn't been at the house with him all day, there was no way Zuki would get caught let alone leave several eyewitnesses. The whole thing was screaming The Suits but there was no way that Daisuke could tell the cops anything about that without making things worse for everyone involved!

Normally Daisuke would waltz right into the station and walk out proudly with Zuki but something told him that would be dangerous this time around. If this had anything to do with The Suits then the two of them couldn't risk getting caught together out in public. So what did Daisuke do instead? He played a ballsy move and told his driver to take him AND Esme to the police station. He still wasnt sure if Esme knew anything about her father but for now she honestly just seemed naive to it all, so he was going to make use of her. Esme had been so worried about Zuki getting arrested so it was easy to ask the woman to come along to to get their friend out of jail. He told her he would stay in the car and handle some phone calls and asked her to run in and bring Zuki out to the car once she reached the waiting area.

It felt like forever before the two women were back and climbing into the back of the car. The moment the back door shut Daisuke moved in the backseat of the limo to pull Zuki over and into his arms, squeezing her possibly a little too tightly and resting his head on the top of hers. She had never been arrested for something he couldn't simply talk their way out of before, this time they weren't even going to let her bail out if it hadn't been for Daisuke arguing with a judge for two hours about how this whole thing didn't fit Zuki's usual MO. Daisuke was only thankful that he had gotten a judge that didn't hate his guts today. "Are you ok? Has anyone said anything to you? Did you know this was coming? Tell me whats going on."

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

After a moment of standing at the door Emi considered leaving. She didn’t hear a response and she thought that he was just giving her the silent treatment. After sneaking around behind his back she deserved it. However, to her surprise, he was opening the door and agreeing to go with her. After wiping away the tears that had been forming and she found herself throwing her arms around him, her face burying into his chest as she hugged him tightly. “Thank you thank you thank you!” With a small sniffle she pulled away and gave a small nod. “Okay, can you be ready in an hour? The sooner we go and get it done the sooner it’ll be over. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Emi ran back to her room and began to root around her closet. Her parents expected her to look and dress a certain way and since the fire she didn’t have very many options. She settled on a knee length A line black dress. It was soft, long sleeved, and it had a black sash tied around her thin waist. Paired with black heels, a simple diamond pendant necklace with matching earrings, a small winged eyeliner, mascara and a red lipstick. She pinned her hair so that the maroon waves fell down one shoulder. It was probably the most mature outfit that Emi owned. “What do you think Gus?” Emi looked down at the fluffy cat for his opinion. The cat gave a small meow and Emi smiled cheerfully. “Right! Thank you.”

With that said she took off downstairs to wait for Kage, having taken the whole hour to get ready. Emi was always dressed in bright cheerful colors, it’s probably the first time the group had seen her dressed so maturely. His option was important to her, hopefully he didn’t think she looked funny. “Oh, Candy! I got your text, I’m free tomorrow for shopping. I could go for some new outfits if we’re going on vacation.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

While Zuki expected to see Daisuke she knew why he sent Esme. Smart. “Zuki are you okay? Did they hurt you at all?” Esme cupped Zuki’s face and looked her over, almost making her laugh. Maybe Esme was just the type of person to care about people with all of her heart? The notion was rather odd to her but she didn’t exactly hate it. “I’m fine, really I’m fine.” After a few more words Esme was holding Zuki’s hand and escorting her out to the limo. “Do you guys just really drive around town in a limo?” The whole day was wild and had her on edge, she couldn’t help but laughing quietly at the limo. So extra! But that was the kind of life people in the suits lived.

As soon as she was in the back her eyes landed on Daisuke, and before she knew it he was squeezing the breath out of her with his hug. Tears formed in her eyes and she found herself hugging him back, her face resting against his chest so that he didn’t see her cry. “I’m fine, I’m sorry that this happened. It really just started out as a normal day but they picked me up on my last stop, like they knew where to find me or something. They said I they had reason to believe I killed someone, but I don’t even know who it was.” Zuki never cried. Since she was brought here she learned tears didn’t solve anything, so it didn’t make any sense to her why she was crying now! Maybe she was just scared about being taken away from Daisuke? All because of some stupid decision she made years ago to join the Suits. The thought made her hug him a little tighter.

“I figured that it was some kind of warning from above to stay out of their way. I don’t see it going very far, so long as I keep to business as usual they’ll find someone else to blame.” Zuki parted from the safety of his hug and wiped away the lone tear on her cheek. Then she remembered that Esme was in the car and felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Candy wanted to take them shopping? “Do we want to go get a drink at the bar and talk? Esme, the girls and I are going shopping tomorrow, you can come with. I think Pepe works today, doesn’t he? Does he have tomorrow off? He can come chaperone us.” That seemed to light Esme’s eyes up. “Driver, take us to Candy’s!” Well, that was easy. With a small smile she sent a thumbs up message to the text, following with letting the girls know Esme was going to join them.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

When Candy squeezed his hand he found himself lighting up a bright red, typical of whenever they found themselves holding hands or being real close. He pondered on not telling her his name. The boys and him started the Fixers five years ago. He trusted them enough to let them into his home, he trusted them enough to do criminal things with them. It was always his name he protected. Why? It was just a name, they couldn’t hurt him with it. His parents were dead and Crow had always been a shut-in. To be honest, he loved Candy. He loved seeing her everyday, he loved spending time with her, he loved hearing her talk just about anything. She was his most important person. Why couldn’t he share his name with her? He’d have rather her found out from him than the mystery sender of the email. “Ah, it’s no biggy. I trust you more than anyone. Just don’t go calling me it around the others.”

With a small nervous chuckle he leaned into Candy’s ear and gave her hand another squeeze. “Hideki Karasu.” With that said he pulled away and put on a small smile. It felt good to be able to tell her? “But yeah, Crow for short.” Soon enough he could hear heels tapping on the stairs and he looked over to see who it was. Who was home? “Emi? Is that really you? Where’s the yellow?” Was it just him or was she dressed up? That made him think for a long minute. “Well Candy, do you want to hit the town or anything before you go to work? Get something to eat for dinner or something? Wherever you want. It’s not often we go out and I’m jealous every one else is leaving!” Crow hopped up from the couch and held out his hand to help her up.

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

“We’re fighting all these bad guys and I just once want to see some evil lair. Crow promised me at least one.” He was half joking, but if he did find one he wouldn’t be mad. “3-K, got it.” Thankfully she didn’t argue about the wheelchair and he was able to quietly push her down the long hallway. She was right, seeing her dad here would be an odd sight. Seeing her dad anywhere but jail would have been weird since that’s where the asshole belonged. Soon enough he was parking the chair and she was punching in a code to open the door.

How much shit could you fit into one unit? “Let me know if you need help.” Asa’s steel gray eyes watched her as she moved into the unit and he followed after her. He stopped when he seen the Akari’s Room box and he couldn’t help himself. “Himawari, right.” Asa glanced nonchalantly into the box and noticed the stuffed animals. How adorable. He plucked a stuffed rabbit out of the box and looked at it, he could see Akari as a sweet little girl holding on to the bunny. “Did bunny have a name? I heard girls name their stuffed friends.” Hey, he had to make light of their situation right? She was clearly tense and stressing out.

It was then that a box in the corner with the words Hima- but the rest was cut off and covered by another box. Asa placed the bunny back in Akari’s box, letting out a small pained grunt as he moved the boxes out of the way. After moving the three boxes he was able to reach the box. “Found one.” It was rather large and was extremely heavy, so as he moved the box out into the pathway for Akari he could tell he’d feel this in the morning. “The honor is all yours.”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

“Hmm?” Akari turned from where she was standing to see Asa holding the small stuffed rabbit and her face went bright red. “His name was Bean. He was actually a gift from my eldest brother back before he was taken over by my fathers business. My dad never let us have pets but I went through a phase of begging for one, I wanted a rabbit. My dad of course wouldn’t get me one but… my brother got me him.” She cleared her throat and turned around and started looking back through the boxes.

When Asa spoke up again Akari turned and viewed the large box with wide eyes. Honestly she was shocked her father had kept so much of her mothers things. Her entire life she had been shielded from all things that involved her mom. Akari was never sure if her father was just too pained by her death, or if he just never really cared for her at all. She moved the small distance to the box and placed her hands on the top of the cardboard, hesitating a bit as she did. Everything Akari ever had questions about could be in her hands right now. Wanting to know her mother. Wanting to know what the card was. Wanting to know what happened to her family… it wasn’t a good one but it was all she had back then. Then it was just gone…

Akari let out a deep breath and opened the box, the top was filled with pictures and nearly knocked the breath out of Akari. Photos of her mom framed, wedding photos, family photos with her brothers… “I’ve never seen any of these. Jesus he really wiped her from that home when she died.” She removed them and carefully placed them to the side on top of another box, the last one was of her and her mother. It was a memory Akari no longer could recall, she was still an infant and in the arms of the woman who had a smile on her face that didn’t exist in any of the other photos. Tears started to well but Akari pushed them away and placed the photo to the side to focus in the task at hand. After that there were some items of clothing and trinkets, then finally she found a strange looking box. It seemed old and antique at first glance but as she pulled it out she realized it was much more modern. It had a high tech locking mechanism that hid under a large ruby on the top of the box. When she spun it to the side she could see all the little metallic fittings and an indent in the middle that was the same shape as the peculiar emblem on her ring.

“This is insane.” Akari suddenly blurted as she looked down at the box, “You might not get an evil lair but apparently you’ll get crazy locked boxes and secrets.” She pressed her ring into the indent and listened as the mechanisms all clicked and the top of the box popped open. There was three small diaries inside, two looked worse for wear than the others, there was also about 5 different flash drives and a tablet. Akari took out the most worn diary and turned it over in her hands a few times before opening the first page. Instantly she got the shock of her life, maybe she should have started somewhere else.

Quickly she closed it and shoved it at Asa. “I-I can’t. Asa the first page is a fucking HIT LIST. The first page!”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

I trust you more than anyone. As if that sentence alone didn’t make Candy’s heart beat out of her chest, Crow had leaned forward close to her now and she felt as if she may die right then and there. “H-Hideki.” She spoke softly after he told her, her hand squeezing his back as she did. It was such a small thing but to her it was so precious, it didn’t make him a different person but she felt like she knew so much more now. It was silly but she couldn’t help it, she was giddy to share something with him that others didn’t know. “It’s nice to meet you Hideki. I’m Cho, though you already knew that despite me never telling you, you sneaky bastard.” Candy laughed and gave his hand one last squeeze before letting go at the sound of footsteps.

Candy was sure her face was still quite red when Emi came in the room. “Oh of course! That’s wonderful.” She sputtered in response to Emi as she looked at her friend wide eyed. Honestly she was shocked that Emi even OWNED anything that adult looking let alone that she was standing there wearing it. Her phone dinged in her pocket and Candy pulled it out quickly to see a text from Zuki confirming her and Esmes agreement to the shopping trip. Besides her Crow was mentioning going out and an idea hit Candy.

“Yes! I know just the place!” Candy jumped up from the couch without a thought and hurried to put on her shoes. “Sorry to run out on you Em! You look beautiful though and I hope you have a great time going wherever you’re going !” She finished getting dressed and grabbed some keys quickly from the large assortment Crow had before yelling at him to hurry up.

Crow shared something intimate with her and there was somewhere she had wanted to take him for a while but just hadn’t had the time. Part of her was kind of scared he would think she was strange but… she wanted to show him her home. Of course she had been living with the fixers for some time but her apartment truly was her sanctuary, and it was one no one but her had ever been in.

Upon arrival to the bar she made sure to park in the back so that if anyone came around they wouldn’t know Candy or Crow were here. In the back of the bar there was a locked gate that lead to her fire escape, Candy punched in the code and opened the gate. They headed up the iron stairs and found another door locked by code as well. “This is my place. I know I harped on you for needing to get out more and this doesn’t exactly fit the bill but, I’ve wanted you to come over and see it for a while now.” Candy turned and punched in the code for her door and opened it into the dark space that remained mostly untouched since the day of the shooting at the bar.

Inside Candy turned on the light and suddenly they were emersed in a world of pink, blue and purple. Many different neon lights were around her walls and posters covered nearly every inch. She had a large TV and her computer. Her bed and a large beanbag chair were the only furniture other than all her gaming gear. “I know it’s kind of lame compared to your home but.. it’s where I’ve always felt most myself.”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

When Emi hugged him Kage went tense, his body turning to stone as she clung to him and thanked him. Of course his heart and stomach were a whole different thing, his stomach felt sick from how bad he felt but his heart was beating loudly despite his brain telling him no. She told him to be ready in an hour and he simply nodded and watched as she walked back to her own room.

Kage knew this was probably a bad idea but he couldn’t tell her no and it wasn’t like he could go back on his word now. So all he could do now was get dressed. She seemed worried about this dinner so he did his best to try and not look like a scary hit man but it wasn’t like he was well versed in dining with high society and this didn’t have the wardrobe to do so. Instead he just tried his best to dress like Daisuke, that had to be at least passing right? He found himself a black dress shirt and black slacks near the back of his closet, he had no suit jacket but he at least had patent leather dress shoes and a nice belt. He took his long white hair and brushed through it, pulling it back into a bun so it was out of his face.

After getting dressed he headed downstairs, nearly taking the whole hour to find the clothes let alone get into them. Downstairs he found Emi standing with her back to him while Candy and Crow were gathering their things to head out the door. Well at least he thought it was her, it had to be right? Crow and Candy left and Kage moved forward and cleared his throat to get her attention. “Emi?”

When she turned around Kage was nearly floored. It wasn’t that she wasn’t always pretty and cute but, looking at her now she was gorgeous. No that sounded wrong, she was always gorgeous just right now she looked like a woman and not a girl? God! It was fucking with Kage’s head and his thoughts were all so stupid and he couldn’t think of what to say. “Ready to go? “ He choked out the words and ringed his hands in front of him nervously, a habit he didn’t even know he had until now. “Uh, I’ll drive just tell me where we’re going.”

Kage moved to grab the door for them and unlocked one of the many cars. “Oh and you look beautiful Emi.” He couldn’t look at her as he said it and simply kept his eyes trained forward, “Now let’s go have what I’m gathering will be a rather unpleasant dinner.”

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

“Don’t apologize!” Daisuke scolded Zuki softly and kissed the side of her head without really thinking. He didn’t want her to feel bad about this, she shouldn’t feel bad about this! “We will figure this out okay? Don’t worry about it. I’m not scared of them and they just royally pissed me off.” The truth was that Daisuke was terrified, before all this shit happened he had naively thought that they were untouchable. He thought they would always prevail and be the good guys! But as soon as their started to open this door into the suits he quickly realized how wrong he was.



Zuki pulled away from him and Daisuke released his tight hold, watching her as she wiped away a tear that he had never once seen her shed. “Zuki…” He sighed and sat back roughly in his seat. Daisuke needed to come up with a plan, he had posted her bail but soon enough they would need to be seen in court unless he could get them to throw out the charges by then. “Just, keep your head low like you said. We will hope they back off and I’ll work on the legal side of things. I hope you’re right and they take their sights off you.”



“To the bar? Really? That’s your next plan of action?” Daisuke couldn’t help but laugh as the driver took orders from Zuki and headed towards the bar. As the drove he snuck a look over at Esme, he expected her to be upset about the way he and Zuki had just been acting but there she was chatting away with the girl like she hadn’t a care in the world. Just a few weeks ago she would be hysterical about Daisuke hugging another woman.



“We’re here. Girls go in first and I’ll go in the side entrance. I don’t want to risk anyone seeing me with Zuki…”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

When Candy and Crow ran out Emi waved to them with a bright smile. “Have fun you two!” That was when she heard Kage’s voice. As soon as she spun around to see him she found herself speechless. This was the first time she had seen his hair out of his face, and definitely the first time he had been so dressed up. For the first time in her life she was speechless? Her cheeks turned a bright red as she tried to find the right words. Was he nervous? She didn’t think she would ever see him nervous about anything, but his stance and hand motions made him look nervous. “Y-yeah! Ready as I’ll ever be.” A bashful smile took over her lips as she followed him out, though when he complimented her she froze. Her heart was going to beat right out of her chest before they even got in the car!

“As unpleasant as the dinner may be, I got to see your handsome face and you dress nice. Best day ever in my book.” Despite her positivity she was absolutely sweating the night. She hadn’t been to her parents home in almost two years; they had birthday dinners that were in public places just for the sheer fact she hated going to the house. They were always up to something! As she directed Kage to drive the few blocks she felt herself panicking. What bombshell were they going to drop on her tonight? “Thanks for doing this. Really. I owe you.” Soon they were pulling up to a tall gate with a number pad outside of it. Emi unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over Kage so she could punch in her birthday, her face turning red at how close she was to him. With that done the gates opened and let them go up the winding path to the large manor.

The house was obnoxiously large. While Crow’s home was nice and had all the latest and greatest gadgets, this house reeked of expensive and luxury. Emi hated it, she liked being expressive and bright and vibrant. Her family never let her do that. “Try not to hate me because of my parents, okay?” And with that said she took a deep breath and led the pair up to the large wooden double doors. As soon as she was inside she could see the tall older dark haired man with his arms crossed and his foot tapping. He was in a designer suit and his hair was perfectly slicked back. “Emi, about time-“ The makes voice stopped when he noticed Kage was with her, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. “That’s not Akari. Well, no matter. I guess your little boyfriend can meet your new husband tonight with you. I heard about the apartment fire and we’ll be discussing you moving back home as well. Anyways. Come in, sit down. Make yourself comfortable. He should be here shortly, we’ll do introductions when he’s here.” With that said the man walked upstairs.

Emi was speechless. It was just like her dad to jump her sigh a million pieces of information at once. “Uh, yeah, okay- wait husband?” But the man was gone before she could even process everything. “Pleasant as ever… Want a drink?” With a heavy sigh Emi walked into the large dining room and straight for the liquor cart. She wasn’t a big fan of drinking but it looks like she was going to need one.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

As Esme let her attachment to Daisuke go she was becoming more and more bearable. When the girls went into the bar Esme quickly found herself going over to Pepe, leaving Zuki to go get their booth for the group. It seemed like it would just be Daisuke and Zuki sitting around drinking, which was fine with her. By the time he had made his way into the bar she had shots lined up for them. If he didn’t drink his well, then she would. “It’s just bullshit. After all of the people I’ve killed I’m going to get locked up for one that I didn’t even do?” Zuki sighed heavily as she leaned back into the booth. Already she had consumed three shots of vodka and it still wasn’t drowning out her overwhelming feelings. “Y'know, I’m a little jealous of Esme. She’s able to love people just so openly without being shy about it. I know she drives you insane sometimes but she’s kind of like Emi? Annoying but endearing. And at least she’s turned her attention from you to Pepe. Gives us some more time together.”

Zuki was obviously in some sort of depressed mood she had never been in before. Usually she didn’t feel anything, but now she was afraid to lose her freedom. She was afraid of losing her friends and the only man she had ever loved. “Hey, Daisuke?” Was this the place to say it? The place wasn’t too busy, no one was near the booth and Esme was busy serving the few patrons in the bar while chatting it up with Pepe. “When I suggested we get married it was to help you out, but I’ll admit I was being a little selfish. I didn’t think I stood a chance with you, and I can’t help that I’ve fallen in love with you over these last few years. I didn’t know how to tell you, but if I’m going to be locked away for the rest of my life I might as well be honest.” With a deep breath she threw back two more shots. “Do you want more shots? It’s been a rough day. Flag your girl down and tell her grab us a few more.”