Peach and Demon Collab Part 1

"That is a very valid train of thought. I'm sure we're both horribly busy," (Mikami somehow doubted Shunsuke would ever be as busy as he was) "so we might as well take this opportunity when it's presented to us." He set his now finished drink back down, wiping his face once before meeting Shunsuke in the eyes again.

"Busy? Well while I'm sure the levels of paperwork are worlds apart, I do have to agree. Unlike the orderly blues it's a full time job keeping track of each and every member of HOMRA. Not to mention everything that's been happening lately. It's exhausting don't you think? All of this added tension and work?" Shusuke smirked not elaborating on what he meant. However, he did assume Mikami had his own suspicions. Still it wasn't like the Blue King could simply listen to the words of the Red King who was in the predicament he was in. Still he was sure that the suggestion to move would be taken.

At the suggestion of a change in scenery, Mikami could tell that the two were on the same wavelength about what was about to happen. "I think a change of scenery would be appropriate." Mikami never really sought out a fight. He'd had to step in on fights some of his clansmen were involved in before, but they never lasted long. No matter how strong a member of a clan was, they would never beat a king. But for some reason, the saber at his hip was growing more tempting as the moments passed.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, surely a message to him about the current situation. It would have to wait. The other blue clan members would take care of things just fine. He trusted them. Besides, something was telling him that HOMRA wasn't behind this. The way that two of their members rushed out of the cafe made him wonder just who the culprit could be. Something as dangerous as a bomb didn't seem to fit the Red's. They were violent at times, sure, but a bomb in places that would hurt civilians was unheard of.

"I say we should leave and find a more appropriate place to talk. Wouldn't want to cause the people around here anymore confusion than they're already being put through." With that, he turned towards the door, beyond positive that the Red King would follow.

As Mikami thought for a moment Shusuke remained silent. He was calm for now, but he was itching to trade blows with the Blue King. Being enemies at the moment was just an excuse. He'd probably have wanted to take him on just as much even if they were friends. He finished his drink waiting for Mikami to speak before nodded in agreement. "I'll allow you to lead the way. Though I do wish you were at 100%." He said referring to how Mikami looked as if he hadn't slept properly in a bit. It wouldn't stop the inevitable, but it would diminish a bit of the fun. At least it would in Shusuke's mind.

He followed after Mikami calmly leaving the cafe his hands resting casually in his pockets. "Tell me something. Have you ever really looked at your clan. The way they can respects us. Fear us. Envy our power. Yet not know the true fear we have." He said calmly making conversation as they began their journey to a more private and "safe" location. "They look at us with very little understanding of the Sword of Damocles or our situation." Of course, he was speaking assuming that Mikami knew of the story of Damocles.

Mikami allowed himself a glare at the Red King. Although it was expected that a touch of makeup to mask his dark circles under his eyes wouldn't fool one of the few people he stood on equal grounds with. "My physical state is of no concern to you. I assure you I've been far worse off than this." A few nights of sleeping on the couch wouldn't effect his physical state to badly. Although the guilt was beginning to effect him mentally. "If I couldn't handle this, I wouldn't be fit to lead Scepter 4." Turning back around, Mikami kept on walking towards a series of warehouses and alleyways he knew to be abandoned during the day. They were filled with all kinds of people who led typically undesirably ways of life once the sun went down, but during when it was up they were almost completely empty.

Mikami tensed as Shunsuke brought up the one subject he hated thinking about. He had thought about their situation many times, often in the middle of the night, long after Kouki had fallen asleep. He understood why Kings weren't supposed to get attached. In fact, he'd never heard of one having a real family before him. It was a dangerous game to play. For years he'd been careful. Always careful. "I can say with confidence that I have thought of those things before. I would wager I've been a King longer than you, which has given me plenty of time to think." He didn't add the 'and there are people actually depending on me' part on, even though he was thinking it. The clan would be okay if he was gone. The same couldn't be said for a certain five year old. "A lack of understanding keeps them safe and it keeps us safe. Attachment and sentimentality makes one's judgement clouded." You're a damn hypocrite Mikami. One of the biggest hypocrites you've ever met.

Seeing and hearing Mikami's reaction to Shusuke's comment regarding his physical state caused the younger of the two kings to chuckle. "My apologies Blue King. It seems I've struck a nerve." His brief moment of laughter, however, ceased almost immediately upon his observation of the surrounding. This would work quite nicely. Though there would be many who'd need to find a new place to play for the night. He could tell at least this much. "I supposed it's to be expected that someone of your caliber could easily find a suitable place to hold our meeting." He shook his head. "Still I hope your body can hold up." He commented again, perhaps to simply enjoy irritating the Blue King. It was interesting to see how a man of his stature might be capable of releasing the calm guise he'd held for so long. And after the glare Shusuke knew it was possible.

Still even without the impending battle the conversation was interesting in his own right. There was that word again. Always popping into his mind. Interesting? He shrugged it off when he noticed Mikami tense up in response to the subject of the Kings and the Swords of Damocles and all that stuff that the Kings went through. His response wasn't exactly what the young King expected. He assumed since they seemed to be so different that their view points would be worlds apart. However, it was half true. He agreed with half of what Mikami had said. Only half. "Sure the lack of knowledge of our clansmen, but isn't it true that attachment and sentimentality can help keep one grounded? Give them something to strive for? To protect?" He stopped after that thinking about it for a moment. He couldn't help, but feel that what he was saying might seem naive and childish. But he held onto it. Perhaps Mikami had been like that once. Perhaps. But would he understand now?

"You can choose attachment and sentimentality if you so wish. It won't be you hurting in the end. It'll those people you're trying to protect." It was far from the first time Mikami had ever had thoughts along these same lines, arguing with oneself over what was right. "Think about it this way," he said, stopping and turning around to face his adversary, hand on the saber at his hip. "Scepter 4 existed before me. Scepter 4 will continue to exist after I am gone. They will find a new King." He drew his saber, pointing it at Shunsuke. "But what will become of HOMURA once you are gone? My clansmen will mourn my death, but they will move on. Will yours be able to?"

Mikami chuckled a bit. Not at the situation, but at his own hypocrisy. How can you preach being unattached when you are the most attached of all? But would you really do things differently? If you could go back would you have abandoned Kouki or walked away from being King? You're a liar and a coward. He looked directly at the Red King. He was young, naive. There were people you had to protect that you couldn't make your clansmen, that you couldn't protect by giving power. They were in danger just by being near. "The top is a very lonely place. And the fates have put us at the top." There was a certain twinge of sadness at the edges of Mikami's voice, like he felt sorry for himself and the others unfortunate to bear the crown he also bore.

Finally Shusuke stopped walking. "Tell me... Why is it that you don't seem to fully believe what you've been telling me?" He stopped himself from questioning further. "Forget it. I assume you wouldn't want the likes of me prying into your life." The Red King was silent for a bit after that. He was thinking. He'd yet to respond to any of Mikami's question. But there wasn't a yes or no answer. Until finally he smiled and began to laugh a bit. "You know. I've thought about that before. I have to admit I haven't ever really taken the time to worry about what would happen to HOMRA. However, my clansmen, Saito, Rin... All who join. They all share my beliefs to an extent. I have no doubt that they would be able to continue their lives. A leader would most certainly rise and whatever legacy I manage to leave behind will have had some impact." Shusuke finally stopped and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Now let me ask you something." He took a moment to gather his thoughts and finally spoke again. "When you died. After the mourning, after a new King has risen, will your legacy... your beliefs carry on? Would your memory remain? Or would it be forgotten? Would you be able to look back on what you've done and feel satisfied and know full well that what you believed and stood for wouldn't simply be replaced?" Shusuke didn't really know if what he was asking made sense. It did in his head, but aside from that he couldn't help, but wonder if he was making sense to Mikami. Whatever. He thought before letting out a small sigh.

To say Ayano Nakano was having a bad was like saying elephants were slightly bigger than average. First off, the subway station that she lived near was now 'under maintenance' or something, which probably meant someone had gone in an wrecked the place. Again. So Ayano then had to find a cab -after thirty minutes of hailing them she managed to finally snag one- and then report to her office, only to find that Kumini-san had yet again put all of the paperwork he needed to do on her desk. The time went quickly by as she attempted to move of the mountain of paperwork over to her 'out' box.

If her day wasn't completely horrible, she then received word about bombs going off downtown. Bombs. While she didn't like leaping to conclusions, she still left her office cussing out the Red Clan and organizing people. That was when she noticed that Kumini-san was nowhere to be found.

"Where is Kumini-san?" Ayano asked as pressed her hand against her face.

One of the lower ranking officers answered her. "I heard he went out to a cafe with Cho Sasagara."

"Fantastic. The man in charge is out for coffee. All right, I want high ranking officers at the bombs sites and the lower ranking members to start looking for places other bombs could be placed. Assume nothing," Ayano said this primarily so that the officers would start pointing fingers at Red Clan, "and help as many civilians as possible. Move!"

She was glad that at least one perk of her job was to yell at people whether or not they liked it. Another was definitely that no one could argue with her orders or disobey them. Ah, the perks of power... it was almost enough to make up for her awful morning. Almost.

"Status report!" Ayano barked, moving to where the techs were bent over computers. "Where's the worst of it?"

"Near the Blue King's home, ma'am. I believe that the tenants inside are badly injured." the man said, still typing furiously on his keyboard.

"I'll head there then, keep watch and inform me if the situation gets worse." Ayano said, moving back to her office to grab her saber and gear. Without a second thought Ayano was out the door and in the field. It didn't take long to get to the apartment complex, thankfully, but it was still a mess. Smoke and flames were everywhere, and Ayano had to sort out the chaos from the facts.

Fact: she was pretty sure that most of the damage had been done to one side of the building. Fact: there was a girl and a badly burned boy just outside of the wreckage. Fact: the girl looked like the princess of Red Clan. Fact: she was going to have to avoid causing an incident. Fact: she likely was going to cause one anyway.

She moved closer to the pair, trying to see what she could do. SCEPTER 4 officers had followed her and could attend to the rest of the mess. Right now she had to figure out what a Red Clan member was doing here in the first place. The kid was inconsequential right now. "Hey! What are you doing here?" her tone probably came across as a little too rude, but honestly she was done with all the nonsense that had gone on today. "Did you guys cause this or what? I've got a lot of damage control to do, and hopefully making sure I don't start an incident with HOMURA is the start of it."

She was close enough to see the kid was badly burned, but if she remembered right the princess of HOMURA was a strain of some kind, likely she was healing him. She couldn't see him clearly enough to make out any sort of distinguishing features, but he looked familiar almost. Maybe it was because she'd seen him at a park something. She always liked going to parks or watching kids on playgrounds, so maybe she saw him there.

Ayano snapped out of her thoughts, "listen, I'm terrible at diplomacy. Just tell me yes or no and we can get you both to hospital ASAP."

Rin had just finished singing to the boy when she looked up at the woman who had approached them. The woman was a member of the blue clan and the second-in-command to be exact. The woman then asked if the red clan was behind this. That cause Rin to blink and shake her head no. Rin looked at the woman, her emotions no longer being present in her body. Her face blank of emotions now, her facade now present once again.

"You won't be taking us anywhere. The red clan is in charge of me, I am in charge of him." Rin said without emotion in her voice. She just stared at the woman making it obvious that if this woman touched her or the boy it would cause some problems between the blue clan and the red clan. Rin remained silent without letting her face and voice show the amount of pain that she was in. If the woman thought the boy was bad now she should have been there when his arms were burnt, it was his worse injury that he somehow transfered to the princess of HOMRA.

Kouki Kumini
Kouki looked up at the lady, eyes wide and filled with tears (because no matter how soothing someone's voice was it would never be enough to sooth the pain of a broken wrist and badly burned skin). "A blue knight..." he said very quietly. Once, when he'd asked Mikami where he went every day, Mikami had replied with that he was a King with lots of blue knights that carried swords and protected people, so he had to go and protect people too. He'd latched on to that idea. Maybe he'd jumped to that conclusion because he'd lost his glasses in the blast and couldn't exactly see clearly and clearly the lady in front of him was wearing a lot of blue, but it was hard to tell. Instead, he just let the girl talk. He was surrounded by people he didn't know and was in some pretty bad pain, so being inquisitive wasn't the first thing on Kouki's mind.

As Rin said that they wouldn't be going anywhere, a thought crossed Kouki's mind. If this lady really was one of the blue knights his Dad had told him about, maybe then she would know him. And then maybe she could get him to come here and then he could make him stop hurting. Between sobs, he looked at her again, trying to muster the courage to talk her. "Miss...," Kouki said as he wiped some of his tears away, only for them to be quickly replaced by more. "You don't know my Daddy, do you?"

There was a spark of hope in the back of his mind, desperately wanting to believe that she would say yes. He didn't want to be around people he didn't know anymore.

---

Tadashi Sakurai

Tadashi watched from a safe distance. He'd gone back to his bike shortly after the bombs had been dropped off where they were supposed to be, just to make sure his baby was still there. As soon as he made sure she was still there, Tadashi went back to the site of the bombing. As soon as he saw the damage he'd been partially responsible for, Tadashi's stomach dropped and he felt like he was going to throw up. There were so many people hurt. Without thinking about it, he moved his hands to cover his ears, trying to block out the sounds of people in pain and the ambulance sirens. He'd known people were going to get hurt, but they weren't supposed to get hurt like this. There weren't supposed to be children sent away in ambulances.

He took a deep breath, telling himself to do his job. Matsura was sure this was what they had to do, so he'd do it. In truth, Tadashi held his King on a bit of a pedestal, if he was being honest. He really couldn't place why either. So Tadashi put on a brave face and continued on with his job. Right, he had to draw the Red's away from the scene so that team that was planting the bugs could plant them. After doing a quick look around, Tadashi determined that the Blues were around now too. "Damn, this makes things complicated." What he did notice though was that there was no trace of either King. Well, that was a slight plus.

Figuring it was better to assess the situation first, Tadashi walked over to one of the Blue clan members, trying to look as innocent as possible. They shouldn't really know what any of the green members looked like apart from maybe the King. After all, they'd been pinning everything on the Reds and keeping a rather low profile otherwise. "Hey cutie," he said to a woman with gray hair in a Scepter 4 uniform. "What's going on here? Is there anything I can do to help?" Tadashi might not be that great at information gathering, but he'd at least give it a shot.

Cho was concerned for Mikami. She shouldn’t have left him alone… then again, she knew that he would be able to handle the situation on his own. Her gaze flicked over the rest of the Blues that had gathered there, making sure that they were following her. The look that she gave them was not filled with the sort of friendliness that she offered back at the headquarters. Now was not the time for carefree smiles and voices filled with happiness. Mikami had left her in charge of the group of officers, and she was taking her job seriously. For if she messed up… she didn’t know if she could forgive herself.

Just as she was made her way down the street, someone approached her. It was a young man about her age, maybe a little older. He called her “cutie” and began to question her. Her sharp, amber gaze settled on him, dull and serious. Cho didn’t know who the stranger was or what his intentions were. His face was one of innocence, yet she had her guard up. ”Who the hell are you?” she asked him, her hand trailing down to her saber. She would pull it out in an instant if it she had to. ”And an explosion happened. Can’t you see?” With her free hand, she waved to the area behind her. Her eyes remained focused on him.

The stranger was asked if he could help, and Cho shook her head in reply. ”We’ve done everything we can, so far.” she explained dryly. ”There isn’t anything else to do. The injured have successfully been loaded onto ambulances and the people have been cleared out.” The officers behind her seemed to be getting impatient as they waited for her, but she ignored them for now. It was rare that a civilian was offering to help. Once she found out his intentions, her hand released its grip on the hilt of her sword and lowered it to her side.

”I didn’t expect a civilian to come up to me and ask if I needed help.” Cho said, finally offering him a smile, albeit a small one. Now that she knew that he wasn’t a threat, she could finally relax a bit. ”Thank you for your offer, but we really have everything wrapped up already.”

Ayano wasn't amused by the sudden declaration of war if she took them to a hospital. She tried to keep her annoyance off her face, but ended up just looking like she was about five seconds away from punching the princess of HOMURA. She stepped away, counted to ten, then repeated herself. "I'm just trying to suggest a doctor. If you wanna get an infection from those burns," Ayano could barely see the burns at the edges of the girl's sleeves, "then be my goddamn guest. I'm just trying to be polite."

Then the boy said something so quiet that Ayano couldn't make out the words, but he looked so sad. She felt bad for him, the poor kid had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then he asked if she knew his father. The truth was that she probably did, but without a name she was unlikely to know who. She wasn't even sure who had kids or not either, so that made it all the more difficult to figure out who it was. "I probably do, but I'd need his name. I know a lot of people, so I might know him." she smiled and tried to ignore the annoying girl. Who got all huffy over being asked to go to a hospital or get care if you're injured anyway?

Kouki Kumini
A spark of hope lit up inside Kouki, although it was mostly masked by involuntary tears from the pain. Somehow, Kouki wills himself to think about the question. Daddy's name... He's not entirely sure he knows the answer, because to him, Daddy has always been Daddy (or some other form of the title, like just Dad when he's angry with him for not coming home enough) so why should he need another name? But part of Kouki also knows that his father has to have another name, because he's only Daddy or Dad to him. So he thinks and tries to remember what other people have called him. It's hard. He's distracted by his throbbing wrist and the way his pants are clinging to his burns. He's afraid of all these people and can't really get over that. Shaking his head and wiping away the tears that have accumulated on his cheeks and near his eyes, Kouki tells himself that he has to remember, because this lady might know who he's talking about.

And then it hits him. He remembers pretending to be asleep last night and listening to Miss Akemi talk on the phone with his dad. He remembers her calling him Kumini and that's all he needs. Looking up at the lady again, he takes a deep breathe before finding the strength to tell her what he's just remembered. "Kumini. Miss Akemi calls Daddy Kumini." Kouki is hesitantly hopeful after that, because above all else he wants this lady to know his father, but can't shake the fact that maybe she won't. Then he'll just be alone and scared again.

---

Tadashi Sakurai

A seemingly playful yet somehow knowing smile stretched across Tadashi's face. It was, partially at least, an act. He'd never been good at dealing with the reality of any situation, much less one that had been caused, at least in part, by him. So he pretended like it wasn't. After all, guilt wasn't too desirable in his line of work or in his romantic pursuits. "Yeah, that would definitely be an explosion. But no need to get so on edge. I'm not here to hurt anymore." He looked away for a brief moment. Really, it was just long enough to break eye contact. "It's not like I'm gonna hurt anyone."

He thought about it for a moment. The Blues had complicated things. It was supposed to be the Reds he was distracting but this lady, who happened to very cute, was definitely not a member of HOMURA. A member of HOMURA probably wouldn't have punched him at least twice by now. Tadashi wondered if Matsura had accounted for this much involvement from Scepter 4. He probably did, Tadashi decided. After all, Matsura was smart like that. "If you say so," he said in response to her telling him there was nothing he could do.

"Those damn Reds though. Always causing issues and making more work for everyone else. I feel kind of bad for you guys though. Always having to clean up their messes." Tadashi thought that maybe that would be enough to clue her in on the fact that he wasn't just some pretty face (although if she wanted to get more acquainted with his aforementioned pretty face, Tadashi probably wouldn't complain much). Actually, he probably knew more about what was going on than she did. Tadashi found some kind of satisfaction in that. After all, he wasn't usually the most on top of things.

The princess of HOMRA said nothing, she just simply stared at the women. She watched as the small boy on her lap spoke to the boy about his father. "Kumini. Miss Akemi calls Daddy Kumini." She heard the boy say. To Rin the name sounded familiar but she could have just heard the name as she walked on the street with Shu and Saito. Speaking of Shu and Saito she was starting to long for someone from her clan to come and help her. She wasn't that comfortable right now. Rin didn't like dealing with other clans-members on her own. She was getting nervous.

As the young boy had spoken and Rin went into her own thoughts, a member of her clan had walked up to the group going unnoticed by Rin as she was thinking and in her own world at the time. "Rin-chan." The member said after clearing his throat, "Saito has sent me to bring you back to the bar." The HOMRA member said. Rin could sense her fellow clansmen's emotions of uncertainty with the blue clan's second-in-command here, confusion with why there was a young boy on Rin's lap, and concern for Rin since the fact that her sleeves were sticking to the burns on her arms was very obvious now. Rin looked at her clansmen and nodded before looking at the boy. "Please come with us. We can help you with your wounds and will immediately set out and search for your father. I can promise you that we will connect you with your father again. We are more trustworthy then the people in blue for your situation right now." Rin said, the last sentence spoken in a whisper that only the boy could hear. The 'situation' part having the underlying message of both the boy wanting his father and the fact that Rin knew the boy was a strain and she didn't want the blue clan taking the boy and possibly finding out about him being a strain.

When the kid said 'Kumini' Ayano did a mental double take. No. But. Kumini-san's too young... unless there's something I don't know about... there's no way this kid... could... be... then it hit her. He looked like the Blue King. It was made difficult by the red hair, but those blue eyes were so distinct that it was impossible to say that he wasn't related in some way, and the 'Blue Knight' comment clicked too. He'd probably said he was the Blue King to him and the kid picked up on knights. Not to mention that this was where the Blue King lived. I'm an idiot for not seeing this sooner!

"Please come with us. We can help you with your wounds and will immediately set out and search for your father. I can promise you that we will connect you with your father again. We are more trustworthy then the people in blue for your situation right now." the girl's words hit her like a sack of bricks. The realization that she was stuck in a no-win situation hit her like a falling grand piano. If she took the kid back to headquarters, she'd risk an incident with the Reds. Again. If she left him with the Reds and the figured out who he was...

Ayano cursed quietly under her breath. In the end, she decided to let the kid choose. It was the least dangerous choice. She wasn't above a little bribery to get him on her side, however. "Hey, I can help you find your daddy, get you fixed up, and I keep a secret stash of candy in my desk. What do you say?" Ayano closed her eyes and smiled sweetly, only closing her eyes because otherwise, she'd be glaring daggers at the Red princess.

Here's the collab between me and Peach. My stuff is in bold. Enjoy and let's move along.

Something made Mikami want to tell Shunsuke why he didn't believe a word of what he was saying. He thought that maybe his adversary would understand better than anyone else would. Their position was a hard one to fathom, and Mikami had long accepted the fact that the only other people who would understand his plight were the other kings. And here was one, all but asking for Mikami to explain all of the issues with his life to him. He just couldn't though. His personal life had been such a well kept secret up until this point that there was no way he could reveal everything to a man he'd just met.

Mikami smiled a little bit when asked if someone would remember him, if someone would carry on his beliefs. It more than likely wouldn't be his clansmen, seeing as he didn't hold very close relationships with any of them. But there was someone and there would always be someone. "I can't say that very many people would but I can assure you that I know of at least one that would." He paused slightly, lowering his sword so that it was resting on the ground, hands placed gently on top of the hilt. "There are some things you could never fathom to know about a person. The thought of it would never even cross your mind."

"I suppose that's true." Shusuke spoke with a smile after listening to Mikami's words. However, now came a more pressing point in their meeting. The casualties had been taken care of and there was little more to say regarding the small talk. He sighed. He was kind of enjoying speaking with another King. "Looks like we've run out of things to talk about for now Mr. Blue King." The red haired young man chuckled slightly finally taking his hands out of his pockets. "At least that's the case regarding the meaningless chatter." He smirked and cracked his knuckles. It was about time they got down to some more pressing matters.

"I have a request." Shusuke began calmly letting his hands rest once more at his sides after cracking them and becoming more serious once again. He was sure Mikami wouldn't agree to it. It was kind of outrageous. But he was willing to fight for it. "As far as the recent incidents involving our two clans go. I want the Blue's to stay out of it. I don't have any evidence right now, but these attacks haven't been the Red Clan." He paused for a moment as his red aura began to form around himself and his Sword of Damocles took shape in the sky high above him. "However, it is Red Clan business. If you don't want any harm to befall you or your subordinates, I suggest you listen to this particular request." With that he became silent awaiting the response of the Blue King.

Mikami smirked. He'd had enough of the soul searching questions that he was hardly call casual conversation. Shunsuke's request left a bad taste in his mouth. Mikami knew that the other King's request was at least thirteen kinds of illegal (he didn't have a law school degree for no good reason). He would be in some serious trouble with the people that funded Scepter 4 if he just started ignoring HOMURA's activity. "I'm sorry, but, legally, I can't do that. Scepter 4 is an organization created to combat crime, and if we have to investigate your clan to get to the bottom of the crimes we're investigating, then we have to do it."

Blue aura flared up around his saber, which was now in position for a fight. "But, if you were able to tell me more about why I should let everything involving your clan get brushed under the rug, I might have more incentive to let some of your clan's activities go under the radar." The thing about Mikami was that he loved having information. If he'd fallen down the wrong path when he was younger, he probably would have ended up as an underground information broker. "Attacking my clansmen will get you nowhere. They are prepared to defend themselves and the moment you attack them, we will have more than enough cause to go after yours."

Along that same line, Mikami waited patiently for Shunsuke to make the first move. Blue aura was primarily defensive, after all. While Mikami could wield it offensively very well, he'd always thought it best to let his opponent make the first move.

"Sorry, can't provide you with any real information until I know for myself what's going on." Shusuke said calmly, shaking his head slightly. "Oh well..." He shrugged before swiping his hand upward diagonally from the left to the right sending a wave of the red aura at Mikami. "Can't say I didn't try the diplomatic approach." Now Shusuke had no regrets about initiating the battle against another King. "Just remember, I tried to be civil." He smirked and charged forward using the initial wave of red aura as cover. Once he was close enough to Mikami he would throw a powerful red aura enhanced punch aimed at the Blue King's face.

Mikami's blue aura flared up around him, protecting him from the oncoming wave of red aura. The wall of aura around him gave the Blue King enough time to move his sword in front of his face, covering it with his own aura and using it to block his enemy's attack, before pushing off and sending the two of them away from each other. From that point, he launched a series of rapid strikes, sending thin slices of blue aura towards Shunsuke. Staying calm was key to fighting, and the act of remaining calm had never been a challenging thing for Mikami. His eyes narrowed as he waited for the Red King's next move.

"Heh, I'd expect no less from another King." Shusuke said with a slight chuckle a smirk on his face as he weaved through the majority of the strikes coming from Mikami. Shusuke finally sent another wave of red aura to collide with Mikami's final strike causing a sort of mini blast wave kicking up a fair amount of dirt and smoke. "Let's kick this up a bit." Under this cover Shu picked up a few items cluttering the alley way and threw them in the blue king's direction amplifying their speed and destructive power with the red aura. However, he was more partial to physical combat. So as the little smokescreen began to clear he would be seen flying towards Mikami having jumped. He spun while in mid air and threw a kick aimed at Mikami's head.

As the wall of dirt and smoke yet up, so did another sphere of blue aura around Mikami. As much as he hated to admit it, the entire fight was rather exhilarating. The barrier shattered at the impact of the last item, leaving Mikami defenseless. He forward rolled to avoid Shunsuke's kick, just narrowly missing the man aiming for his head. "You really enjoy aiming for my head, don't you?" Mikami asked sarcastically as he sprung back onto his feet right out of the roll in something like a back handspring. It's a shame I went to law school. I could have been a gymnist. As Mikami launched another series of quick attacks from his saber at Shunsuke, Mikami ran counterclockwise away from the wall that he had almost hit when he jumped up. It wouldn't do to be cornered.

Shusuke couldn't help but love the action. But still he had a feeling that he and the Blue King had much more to show. "Oh I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop?" He asked referring to the aiming at the head. Shusuke didn't let up though. He weaved through the rapid sabre strikes and even blocked a few by using the red aura to defend again the blade with his bare hand. Next he threw two simultaneous punches. On aimed at the face and one at the gut. The idea behind the move was that the opponent would focus on the attack to the face and miss the attack to the gut thus taking damage to the abdomen. But Shusuke figured Mikami was too smart to fall for this. So he would quickly follow up with a powerful kick to the gut if Mikami dodged or blocked the two initial attacks.

"If you'd please," Mikami said through a quiet laugh. He read right through Shunsuke's attack. He dodged the one aimed at his face buy ducking and blocked the one to his gut with the hilt of his saber. In one continuous motion from the block, Mikami brought his saber around in a circle, creating a spiral of blue aura in an attempt to block any more on coming attacks. It was more a preemptive move than anything. The red clan had always been offensive and the blue clan had always been defensive so why should that change now. He'd definitely consider this some of the most fun he'd had in years.

Thoroughly enjoying the battle Shusuke decided not to pull back after his kick had been so beautifully blocked. Rather he would send a total of eight powerful punches all aimed at Mikami's torso. It wasn't just punches though. He wouldn't have stop after those. He threw five more consecutive kicks with the final one holding quite a bit of explosive power. If no other attack when through this one would at least send him flying because of the propulsion of the blast it would generate on impact.

Mikami parried or blocked each of Shunsuke's successive attacks. If blue aura hadn't been so geared toward rapid attacks, which he was currently using to block the Red King's attacks, this fight would have been much more challenging than it currently was. And despite another successful block with his saber, the last kick from his adversary sent Mikami flying backwards, out of the alleyway and into a somewhat busy street. He got up, dusted himself off, and looked back at Shunsuke, who was a good distance away now. "That last one kind of hurt." The blue king was just a little to absorbed in his attacks to be fully aware of the people that looked on with curiosity.

Shusuke couldn't afford to let the blue King fully regain his footing. "That last one was supposed to hurt!" He shouted as he charged forward. He swiped his hand a few times sending multiple waves of the red aura at Mikami. He didn't stop running though. Soon he jumped, his foot pressing against the top of a dumpster and he continued the run up onto the side of a wall for a little under ten seconds before kicking off. He was coming down hard aiming to slam his foot into the blue king's shoulder. Blocking might still hurt as this time he couldn't go flying. Unless you counted flying into the ground. So dodging would be the best option. Shusuke had faith the Blue king wouldn't lose here. He was better than that. Though it was likely if this continued collateral damage would increase exponentially.

The waves of red aura sent at him were either gracefully blocked or dodged as Mikami focuses most of his attention on the incoming Red King. Really, what he was going for was a nice tactic. Blocking wasn't an option and dodging would limit his reaction time. But there was one thing that was extremely hard to do mid air and that was dodge yourself. The Blue King decided that the best tactic was to neither dodge nor block the attack, but deflect it. With more power than was necessary and with near perfect timing, Mikami swung his saber in an arch over his head, adding the force of his Blue Aura behind it, hoping to send the incoming red king flying off towards the wall (and hopefully not the flowershop that was right next to the spot he was hoping to hit). It really was a risky tactic. After all, if it failed he'd be receiving a rather strong foot to the shoulder.

Just as Mikami had planned Shusuke ended up taking the brunt of a counter attack and flew into the wall. There was a crash and a bit of smoke, but out of the small hole in the wall the red king's figure and laughter could be seen and heard respectively. "You sly bastard." He barked laughing cheerfully. "I would have never expected you to fucking counter." He was so engrossed in the laughter. his eye closed and his head tilted back as his voice rang out and he ran his finger's through his hair. How could he survive this and still be fine one might ask. Well that was simple. In addition to physical training and ability he had the red aura. Just as the blue King had the blue aura the red aura could do many amazing things. Looking around there were people running scared.

Now there was a hole in the building he'd just walked out of. That would suck for the people who lived there. Who knew if someone got hurt. They were on the edge of the Blue and red territory. Though they were in the blue, but just barely. The red king scoffed. As much as he was enjoying this he got the feeling that he and Mikami should call it a day before things got really serious and they destroyed the place. "Blue King. Let's call this one a draw for the day." He said calmly. "Have your subordinates retreat and return to your territory while i tie up any loose ends regarding the most recent incident. The hardest part should have been done by now anyway. And you have enough to worry about." That much was true. Aside from the damage to the alley and now the more public area there were likely to be a few people hurt around here. There were many a stray attack during their battle after all.

"Isn't that right?" He asked in somewhat of a smug manner. What he'd said was true after all. If the blue king didn't comply it would be beneficial for his side at all. Where as the Red King could take enjoyment in the battle and destruction regardless of the people. Right now he was thinking more of his clan bearing with the blue while trying to figure things out. Besides. he had his own business to take care of with the suspected Greens. Even a king can't do as he pleases at his own leisure sometimes. He thought justifying his actions to himself as he dusted off himself. Huh... I wonder how many people just recorded us... He could enjoy the video, but it didn't look good for the blues. They'd probably have to find and take down any videos that reached the net. But he was sure he didn't have to tell Mikami that. "So will you comply?" He asked referring to the pseudo orders he'd given the blue king a moment ago. He was rather impatient now that he had to cut the fight short.

Right. Stopping seemed like the logical course of action. It'd been fun, albeit a bit destructive (he internally cringed at explaining this to the finances people), but there certainly were more pressing issues at hand. He was interested in finding out what his subordinates had dug up at the crime scene, hoping that it would amount to something. Then there was the issue of covering all of this up. Political officials would have a hay day with him once word got out that something like this had happened. It would be no easy task for the tech department, but he was sure they could do it. He'd give them an extra day off or something. After all, no one else was to blame but him. Mikami sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "I suppose I should do that. They've been without direction for a while now. I suppose we will have to call this a draw." He looked away, surveying the damage caused by the two of them. "It was, dare I say it, entertaining though."

While waiting for Shunsuke to respond, Mikami pulled his phone out of his pocket. The protective case had been well worth the investment, else it might not have survived their fight. He'd excepted lots of calls and texts from his subordinates. His face turned pale as he noticed his neighbor had sent him a message. Frantically, his eyes scanned the contents. Desperation was clear on his face. "I'm sorry, but I have to go," was all Mikami said as he turned and nearly sprinted away. The enjoyment from the fight was all but gone now, the messages from his clansmen entirely ignored. He had far more pressing matters to take care of.

Shusuke was somewhat confused after the Blue King left. He'd looked more desperate than during the fight. Something important must have happened on his end. He chose not to waste any time. He had to get the other blues out of his territory and he had to see if he could dig anything up. This was going to be a most tedious task indeed. He sighed and got moving heading back towards where the incident had occurred. It wouldn't even take too long to get there because he was moving fast. he wasn't wasting any time. he had to get things handled. But first he had to find Rin. No doubt saito had gotten busy. Might not have been able to get her just yet.

Minutes passed. Not very long. Just enough for things to have been calming down a bit by the time he reached the scene. There were whispers. From his clan. Most some form of cheer because of his presence. Other whispers were those of disgruntlement over his presence. The Blue's most likely. "Nobody attack the Blues! They'll be leaving now to join their king." He announced calmly. He glanced around for a moment continuing to scan the area. "RIN!" He roared looking for the young Princess of HOMRA. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" He barked.

Kouki Kumini

Kouki's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, confused and completely unsure of what decision he was supposed to make. The lady in blue (his lack of glasses prevented him from making out any real distinguishable features) reminded him of his dad, even if it was just the color scheme of her outfit. But, at the same time, the younger girl had made his arms stop hurting. While that counted for a lot, the way that the lady in blue spoke was a lot more comforting than the girl. But both of them had promised to make him feel better and help him find his dad and that was really all he wanted out of this. He wanted to be at home, with his dad, and never have to deal with something as horrible as this ever again.

"I-I don't know." He whispered quietly under his breath. Kouki down, not looking either of his companions in the eye. All of the sudden, he couldn't stand being in the girl's lap anymore. She was too close. Making a decision was suffocating him. Kouki wiggled out of the girl's lap, and almost immediately regretted the decision. Actually standing made the burns on his legs hurt worse. The boy immediately fell to the ground, using his injured hand to catch himself and that just made things even worse. He wanted someone to tell him what to do, Kouki realized as he sat on the ground with a fresh bout of tears coming from his eyes. Making decisions right now was too much.

---

Elsewhere, in his frantic rush to check every hospital that victims of the explosion had been sent to, Mikami did remember to send a message to his subordinates telling them to head back to Scepter 4 territory. It was best to let the Red's have their way for now, lest things get more messy. Mikami himself had enough on his plate right now, what with trying to locate his more than likely injured son.

Rin stood up as she heard her king call her name loudly. She picked up Kouki from the ground and mentally winced as she did so, she adjusted him so he was on her back for a piggy back ride, "Please hold onto me," she stated calmly but without emotion. The red clans member looked at Ayano. "We will take care of him. You are overstaying your time in the red territory. You may come with us and speak to Shu but he will probably not be that happy." The clansmen said as Rin and him walked towards the bar. When they arrived Rin walked inside and set Kouki on the sofa in the bar. "Please go tell King that I am in here." Rin asked her fellow clansmen. He nodded and headed outside and up to Shu. "The princess is inside the bar King." He said simply bow slightly to his King.

Rin went to the back of the bar and got the first aid kit. She came back and got out bur cream. She gently applied it to his leg burns and then wrapped the burns with gauze and wrap. She then gently wrapped his wrist in sports wrap to support it for the time being. Rin then poured some child pain medicine into the small measuring cup making sure to have the right amount for someone Kouki's age. "Please drink this. It will help with the pain." Rin said setting the cup in front of him before cleaning up the first aid kit and putting it away. She returned and sat down across from him in a chair. As Rin waited for Shu she rolled up one of her sleeves slightly revealing the burn the boy had transfered over to her. Rin quickly covered it back up. She'd deal with her pain later. For now the young strain in front of her would have her full attention.

For however long that Saito had blanked out for, the boy finally snapped back into his conscious as the lingering smoke cleared up. "Huh," he mumbled as he saw that the Blue Clan had dispersed from their territory, their reeking presence finally evaporated.

"Oh yeah," a thought clicked within Saito's brain as it jogged his memory. "The midget. Gotta check up on her."

As Saito turned towards the direction in which he had sent the clansman, his feet stopped mid-step as he watched the midget, who was carrying a second midget on her back, trudged into the bar. He blinked twice, his hands quickly rubbing his eyes as he was left somewhat baffled by the bizarre sight that he came to witness. "I need coffee," he sighed as he rubbed his forehead as a familiar figure stormed past him, and stopped in the middle of the street.

"Shu!" Saito gasped, relieved to see that Shu was not injured, or at least, from his prespective. He ran to his best friend's side as he heard him ask where Rin was, another clansman attending to their King as well. "I saw the midget wobble into the bar with some other midget on her back," he explained, looking back towards the entrance. When he turned back to face the King, his vision caught yet another familiar figure in its sight; Ayano Nakano, the lieutenant and second-in-command of the Blue Clan, who was supposed to be his sworn rival due to their designated roles, yet he found more challenge in Chew.

Even so, seeing the lieutenant lurking around their territory ticked Saito off. "Yo, the rest of your fraternity left already!" he called out, his arms extended to his sides as he taunted her. "Get outta here and back to paperwork, scumbag!"

Sticking his tongue out, Saito wheeled around and casually pranced into the headquarters, his eyes surveying the area in order to make sure that nothing was damaged inside. "Balls, man," he randomly commented on the silent atmosphere of their bar, flipping his phone out. With a few clicks and swipes, he quickly set an alarm for a few hours from the present, and yawned. "I need a vacation. At least, in America, I wouldn't need to worry about random explosions next to midgets on the street..."

Saito drew a long groan, trotting over to the couch and hovering over Rin, studying the male midget that she had brought in. "Man, these midgets are breeding one by one when I'm not looking," he scratched the back of his head as he laughed nervously. "Damn, midgets are gonna take over the world someday like that movie with the monkeys..." And I don't know what I should be more afraid of.

Things were getting back into shape fairly quickly. He merely glanced at the Blue Lieutenant. He figured he wouldn't have to say anything to her. Mikami had no doubt sent his orders anyway. Without anything else to do or say he allowed the majority of his clansmen to handle the outer situation and headed to the bar. Things seemed to be calming down. But what had Saito meant when he said...

"Oh..." He paused almost doing a double take when he saw Kouki. "Rin. Explain." He said calmly. He wasn't mad or anything. It was easy to tell that. Just confused. "Saito... I need two things." He sighed running his fingers through his hair. "First is a drink. Second is for you to pick up our order from the cafe from earlier." He still remembered that after everything? Of course. He was hungry.

Meanwhile he turned his attention back to the two little ones. They needed a doctor. He pulled out his phone and within a few moments a text was sent out. "I just sent for one of my friends. A personal physician of sorts. So don't worry about anything like being in pain." He said to Rin and then to Kouki in a reassuring and kind tone. "Just try to relax and not think about being hurt for a bit." Shu could see that Rin had done a little first aid, but the situation called for more. So that's what he called for.

Kouki Kumini

The small child didn't put up much of a fight, or rather any fight at all, as Rin carried him away. His usually vibrant eyes were dulled and slightly red around the edges. In the end, he mostly gave up and just slumped against Rin. He was tired and mostly just wanted to sleep, hoping that when he woke up his Dad would be there and that nothing would hurt anymore. There were hints of sadness in his eyes as he was carried away from Ayano, hoping that he'd made the right choice and went with the right person. There was a chance Kouki would have fallen asleep if the burns on his legs and wrist weren't still causing him a lot of pain.

Maybe it was because they were inside now, but being in the HOMRA headquarters was oddly comforting. There were lots of people here, but it was better being out on the street. The couch he'd been set on was comfy too. As the girl did something too his legs, they started to feel better. In Kouki's young mind, he assumed it was her doing entirely, but that wasn't really the case. In reality, his powers were kicking in, draining some of his energy and leaving Kouki in a drained and sleepy state. He looked at the people that had gathered around him with groggy eyes. Or rather, he tried to look at them. All he could really make out was that the girl was still there, and had been joined by two more, much taller people. The one, he noted, reminded him of his Dad somehow, but Kouki couldn't place why. Still, when Kouki was addressed, he nodded in response.

Rin stood up and gripped Shu's sleeve as she looked at him. "He was hurt in the middle of the street and no one saw him but me. So I saved him and took him to a safe place. I did my best to help with his wounds but then he..." She paused not wanting him to worry about her since she had burns now. "I found out he was a strain." Rin said looking at the boy then back to Shu.

"Then the blue's lieutenant came and wanted to take both of us to the hospital. I said no which made her angry with me. Then the boy asked if she knew his father and said his father's name was Mikami." Rin said looking down. "I'm sorry for running away. I wish I had stayed. I didn't like being alone..." Rin said starring at her feet.

Ayano didn't want to leave the kid in HOMRA's care, but staying would be against Kumini-san's orders. So she stood there, trying not to clench her fists as that annoying second-in-command of theirs taunted her. She growled and came close to losing it, but instead turned on her heel and started back towards Blue Territory. It did no good to antagonize HOMRA right now, even if they had who she thought they had. So she grit her teeth and prepared to call Kumini-san. He'd probably want to know about if some kid said that he might be related to him. And if she did let him be given over to the Reds.... she'd have to deal with the blowback. Also the paperwork, but she'd cope with that later.

One ring... two rings... How does one every say that they let the other's kid be kidnapped by the enemy? 'Whoops, I didn't know that was your kid, but I think letting him stay with the crazy clan will work for now? another ring... I know you're busy, but at least pick up, this is important!

She ended the call and opted for a quick text instead. Need to talk, think I found your son?! Hopefully, he'd be at headquarters now, if not, she'd have to find him and find him soon so they could figure out a new plan. Clearly, the situation had changed from explosions in the streets to dealing with the reds in a calm and orderly manner. She was probably gonna have to avoid punching anything for a few days... this was gonna get worse before it got better.

Shusuke let out a sigh after listening to Rin. He noticed two things right off the bat. The first was how she switched from what the young boy did to what he was. She was hiding something. But knowing he was a strain was one thing and that was another. The second was the name Kumini (just pretending you put the right name XD). His eyes locked onto the boy for a moment. He looked tired. He also resembled the person who was now on Shusuke's mind. I think I figured it out. He thought as a few realizations came to mind. This wasn't good. "Everyone leave." He paused. "Rin stay. Saito too." He glanced at the boy again before kneeling in front of him. He placed a hand on his head and looked into his eyes.

"Try not to sleep until you're checked out by the doctor. We don't want anything bad to happen to you. Your dad'll worry." The Red King tried to speak in as kind and soothing a voice he could before smiling. "And don't worry. We'll make sure to get you back safe and sound once you've healed up." He was talking mostly to calm Kouki, but also waiting for the rest of the clan to head outside. "My name is Shusuke Kamishiro. Do you mind telling me you're name?" He asked in an attempt to get to know the young man and keep him awake for the moment. He had to go about things in a delicate manner now. Especially if the kid was who he thought he was.

Mikami Kumini

To say Mikami was frantic would be an understate meant. Public transport systems were running behind schedule because of the mess the explosion had caused, meaning he hadn't really made it much of anywhere since he'd left Shunsuke. He'd just about had a breakdown on his walk. He almost though about ignoring his cellphone when it rang for what had to be the hundredth time that day. Luckily, he didn't. The Blue King's eyes lit up and then immediately dropped again. His lieutenant knew where Kouki was, and that was good. That was more than good, actually. Mikami rationalized with himself. He couldn't be in too bad of shape if all that Ayano had said was that she'd found him.

On the other hand, that meant she was now aware that Mikami had a son, something he'd worked his hardest to hide since he got the position.

He texted her back, simply saying Come to my office right now. We need to talk. He supposed to could have been worse. It could have been another clan that found Kouki. Maybe it was the paternal instinct deep routed within him, but Mikami couldn't help but worry that something was wrong. He just had this bad feeling about it. Although that could be due to the fact that his son was just caught in an explosion. With that, Mikami resolved that the best course of action was to go back to headquarters and figure things out, instead of just speculating.

Maybe he was walking faster than normal back to headquarters, and maybe he didn't stop to greet the secretaries like he normally did. Oh well. That were more important things to take care of than being nice right now.

---

Kouki Kumini

Kouki liked the man with really red hair. Kouki was more comfortable around him. He wasn't as cold as the girl was. "Okay," he said quietly, nodding as he did so. The girl had called him a strain, and he didn't know what that was, but the way she talked made him think he should e worried about it. Using his uninjured hand, Kouki reached down and rubbed his leg. "It's okay. My legs don't hurt that bad anymore. Just my hand." A week smile pulled at the young boys lips. "Kouki...my name's Kouki." But really, knowing names wasn't important right now. But then he understand the meaning of the man, whose name was apparently Shusuke, words from before. "You know my daddy then?" Kouki's eyes lit up as much as possible for a boy who was still in pain and really tired. But the man had told him to stay awake, so he couldn't fall asleep now.

"He's probably worried. Daddy worries a lot. He pretends he doesn't but I know he does." He was absentmindedly rubbing his wrist, trying to soothe away the pain but not really succeeding.

Things were going well, Ayano sarcastically thought. So she took a deep breath before going into headquarters, waving briefly at the secretary. She was going to have to yell at her boss. Well, not have to, but someone needed to teach him about how dangerous secrets could be. Also if she was going to get fired for accidentally letting his kid get kidnapped, she might as well yell. She straightened out her clothing before going in.

"Okay, so I have bad news and good news." Ayano said, walking quickly to the desk, "the good news is that your son is fine. He's alive and being treated right now." Ayano took a breath before continuing on. "The bad news is that the princess of HOMRA has him. Last I saw they were going into their bar. So, this means that by now some of them might have figured out he's your son, or are going to shortly. I tried to stop them, but was called back before I could."

Ayano was talking quicker and quicker by the end of her speech so she took another breath to calm down. "Also, your neighbor has been killed. Your kid mentioned a Miss Akemi so I looked into it. I thought you ought to at least know." She grit her teeth and launch right into her final point. "Finally, what the hell were you thinking?! I know that it would have looked bad to have a kid depending on you, but dammit if I had known he was your kid for sure I would have tried harder to get him back from the Reds! You're lucky that he hasn't been killed yet! Now he's involved in all this, and I hope for your sake that you have a way to get him back quickly, or we're gonna have to deal with a hostage situation!" she paced the room as she spoke, storming back and forth angrily.

It was hard for her to tell who she was more angry at, Kumini-san or herself for not charging in to save the kid.