Entanglement

Co-written with Aya Frost.

A/N: We would like to thank all of our wonderful readers and those who take the time to write reviews. We are thrilled that everyone is enjoying the story and we hope that you will continue to read and leave us your wonderful notes.

As they stepped inside the bar Reiko twisted the sleeves of her shirt in her fingers trying to get a handle on the nervousness. There were a lot of people and the bar was so full of smoke it was difficult to see much less breathe. She could tell who was yakuza and who wasn’t simply by the dress and the mix was quite even. A lot of eyes turned towards them and most lingered making Reiko step closer to Ruka and Suke though she was suddenly left alone as Ruka moved away. He had wrapped a possessive arm around Daisuike's waist pulling the other man close. Couldn’t they stop touching each other for just two seconds? Sighing Reiko ran a hand through her hair, keeping focused on their backs as they made their way through crowded room.

Daisuike gently removed Ruka's arm as he tried to spot Hayate in the crowd. It was a typical late night and he could see Haru behind the bar mixing drinks. He moved through the crowd, those that knew him bowing or saying a greeting of some sort. Seeing Kenta serving drinks he stopped him.

"Where is Hayate?"

"He's back in the back in the private rooms."

"He's working?"

"Yeah, he should be done in just a bit, they were wrapping things up last I knew."

Daisuike nodded. "When you get a chance I'll take a rum and coke and Ruka will have an Absolut Pleasure. Get Reiko something fruity."

"Hai hia!" Kenta moved off to deliver the drinks on his tray and Daisuike tried to find a place to sit.

"Booth or table guys?"

"Booth." Both of them spoke in unison and grinned at each other. Trying a different approach this time Ruka put Suke's arm around him wondering if it appeared he was definitely the dominant partner, if he could still touch. The idea of boosting his Ouji-sama's ego by making him more dominant and the controller kind of got Ruka bit hard. He really wanted to fool around, loving the thrill but if he couldn't he wouldn't.

Daisuike moved away from Ruka intent on getting to the one open booth he saw. Before he could get there he was stopped.

"Hey Kobayashi!"

"Fujimaru." Daisuike didn't look up, he did not want to talk to the other enforcer right now. He went to move on but Fujimaru stepped in the way. Daisuike backed away a step not happy at being blocked. He’d been avoiding the man for nearly a year now and did not want to have his evening ruined anymore than it already was. Fujimaru was about the last person he wanted to be around. Though he couldn't be rude to his former sensei, even if he hated the man.

"That's a good look for you. You should quit this job and be a host or something." Fujimaru was smirking at him then pointedly looked from Ruka to Reiko obviously trying to figure out which one of them Daisuike was there with. Daisuike moved to prevent Ruka from touching him again as he started to introduce them. If he gave Fujimaru the wrong impression things might not go well.

"Ano . . . Fujimaru this is Ruka and Kurosaki Reiko."

"Ah! Akira's Reiko. Nice to finally meet the pretty lady. So Suke . . . you going to go take care of those boys tonight or you want me too?"

"What boys?"

"You haven't heard yet? There are some high school punks who think it's funny to mess with our stuff."

Daisuike narrowed his eyes thinking. Why would Hayate call him for something like that? He looked back up as Fujimaru went on.

"I guess they set fire to old man Fuji's shop, with him in it."

Daisuike's eyes widened. Why hadn't anyone told him? Something was nagging at him though but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Why would a high school gang be interested in torching a tofu shop? "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, some of our boys happened to be in the area and was able to help. They got him out and saved most of the shop, but that was the third place they've attacked in as many days. They are making us look bad." Fujimaru shrugged. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your evening. Nice to meet you Ruka-san, Kurosaki-chan."

The moment Fujimaru left, Reiko looked directly at Daisuike frowning. "I don't like him. Like at all. I kind of wanted to punch him right there." Reiko crossed her arms watching the scene around her some. Something felt wrong though and she didn't like it. Her gut was never wrong.

Ruka sighed looking from Reiko to Suke, "I gotta agree. Things seem off slightly, but I dunno what." He didn't like the way that guy looked at Suke either but there was an odd look in his eyes, something that didn't quite meet up. That and he wasn't sure he liked the idea of Suke hurting high schoolers. It was going to take a lot for him to get used to the idea that his lover enforced things.

Daisuike didn't say anything. Everyone took an instant dislike to Fujimaru, even Daisuike couldn't stand him. He always felt that he took his job too far. Daisuike knew exactly how Fujimaru would handle the punks and if he didn't get to them before Fujimaru did they were going to end up crippled for life. If they were lucky.

He pulled out his phone as they got to the booth and sent a quick text to Hayate. He needed to know what was going on. As soon as he sent it he had one come in. He read it over and frowned. It seemed one evening to himself was all he was going to get.

"I have to go guys."

Reiko frowned looking at Daisuike but slowly nodded, "Will you be gone long?" If she had to leave she actually wanted to look into something. There was something bothering her.

"I'll take her home if so. Would you want me to wait for you? I don't mind." Ruka frowned himself not enjoying this whole thing at all.

"Whatever you guys want to do. I really don't know when I'll be home." Daisuike slid out of the booth his mind already switching to what he was going to have to do. High schoolers or not they needed to learn that acting like this had some very serious consequences. "I'll have my phone on me."

He was not looking forward to this at all, but they weren't that far away right now. He glanced around seeing Fujimaru talking with another one of their guys. He needed to go now.

"I'll call you when I'm on my way back."

"Okay. . ." Ruka watched Suke go. It had to be tough on him and he knew that his lover probably had a lot of mental issues after all the things he had to do. Ruka didn't even want to think of what Suke did. It bothered him and he needed a drink. A strong one. "I need a drink."

"I want mine too, so I'll go ask Kenta for them." It gave her the opportunity to talk with Kenta about the asshole they'd met earlier. Getting up from the booth she headed to the bar flagging Kenta down smiling. He really was cute. Akira of course was a lot cuter, but Kenta was different.

"Na! Kenta-kun!" She grinned leaning over the bar smiling at him. They'd never got to talk before and he seemed nice enough. Might as well try and get as much info as she could while she got the drinks. That and if she got to talk to a cute guy why the hell not?

Kenta glanced over blinking slightly seeing Reiko. She was too damn pretty. "Hai, what can I do for you Kurosaki-chan."

He looked past her frowning as he saw Daisuke leaving. "Ano . . . where is Kobayashi-san going? I've got his drink ready."

"Too slow!" She laughed at him shaking her head before sighing looking down, "He's got business to take care of. He'll need the drink afterwards." If Kenta didn't know why Suke was going he wasn't very high up or didn't deal with things like that. Licking her lips she reached out snagging her own drink from Kenta's hand.

Taking a sip she smiled at him, "That's really good. Ne, got a question for you Kenta." She brushed some hair from her face, not liking that it had fallen from it's style some, "Who is Fujimaru? Do you know?"

Kenta snorted. "That fucking kiss ass. He's one of the other enforcers but he's a lower rank. Jiro won't promote him. Fucking bastard gets off on hurting people too much. Kobayashi-san is really good at what he does, a lot better than Fujimaru. He gets results a lot quicker without fucking killing people. Why?"

That seemed bad. Would also explain the look in Fujimaru's eyes when he had looked over Suke though. Jealousy was not a pretty color.

"Ah, just curious since he approached us. I hadn't met him before." Smiling softly again at Kenta she curiously wondered what his life was like outside the Yakuza. Was he like Suke and had no life? It seemed kind of sad.

"Ne. . . Do you know about the high schoolers?"

"High schoolers? What fucking high schoolers?"

Before Reiko could respond Hayate walked up. "Kenta! Where did Suke go?"

"Ano, Kurosaki-san said he's got business to take care of."

"Shit! Where did he go?" Hayate's voice was low and urgent. "I had to talk to him, he could be in danger."

"Wait what?" Reiko was instantly up shoving the sweet drink aside, "Fujimaru said he had to go take care of some High schooler- Fuck!" Reiko instantly bolted from the bar scrambling after the direction Suke had left, fumbling with her phone calling him. She had to contact him, she had to reach him before something happened.

***

Daisuike cautiously approached the shop. It was getting very late and it was closed with no sign of movement. So where were these high schoolers that were supposedly trashing the place. He waited in the shadow of a nearby building for a bit just watching. Must have been a false alarm. That was the problem with letting the shop owners have his number. Every little thing and they'd call him.

Sighing he was just about to leave when his phone buzzed. He frowned seeing Reiko's number and pushed away from the wall. He was just about to answer it when there was a sudden racket from down the street. He swore softly and shoved the phone back in his pocket. She would have to wait.

"Fuck! He isn't answering me!" Reiko cursed as she looked around the bar and spotted Ruka trying to make his way toward her.

"What's wrong?"

"Give me your keys."

"What?"

"Give them to me!"

"Why the hell-"

"Ruka, you may have just met me and I may not look like a delinquent, but I am. If you don't give me your keys, I'll take them." She narrowed her eyes at him her hand out. If he didn't give them to her in a minute she'd kick his ass and take them.

"Fine-" Looking over he looked at Hayate who was catching up as well as Kenta. "Are you guys coming along too? I'm driving." He looked at Reiko, "You know I can get there faster than you can." Reiko didn't argue with that.

Hayate looked at Ruka, "I don't care how fast you drive but we need to go now! Shit! This was why I was wanting to talk to him. Come on Kenta, I already told Haru you were coming with. I don't know how many guys they've got."


"Fucking hell!" Reiko shoved Ruka out the door. Immediately she climbed inside the car. Next was Kenta and Hayate and Ruka got in at the same time. Ruka didn't even bother waiting until they were all buckled to take off and Reiko slammed back against the seat wincing. Probably not a good idea for Daisuike's lover to be on the rescue squad.

"Where are we going?"

"The tofu shop?" Reiko looked at Hayate scrambling to get her seat belt on. Ruka wasn't joking when he said he'd get there faster. She was going have a bruise on her shoulder where she hit it.

"No, there is a little cafe down from there. One of the other shopkeepers said he saw a group of guys checking it out earlier today. There are no high schoolers." Hayate seriously wanted to punch something and was glad he was going to get the chance. No one messed with his friend and go away with it, even another clan member.

***

Daisuike peered down the alley careful to keep out of sight. These guys definitely were not high school kids. One of them had a crowbar he was using to try to open the side door with while two others stood nearby. Daisuike narrowed his eyes. Only three? Should be easy enough.

***

"Ruka you're going the wrong way!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

With a heavy sigh, Ruka instantly turned the car changing the sides of the road easily, shifting gears and taking off just as fast. He wasn't going to follow the law getting there, he was in protector and racer mindset.

Reiko yelped a bit as she slid across the seat colliding into Kenta smashing him against the side of the car. She hadn't even gotten her seatbelt on properly, having been distracted by where they had needed to go.

"Itai. . . Sorry, are you okay?" She smiled at him basically having to remove herself off his lap.

Kenta nodded not looking at her as he pushed away from the side of the car. It would have been a lot nicer if it wasn't painful. This Ruka guy really knew how to drive that was for sure.

"Slow down, we are almost there. I'm not exactly sure that they are at that particular shop." Hayate told Ruka, his grip tight on the door handle. This guy would make a good get-away driver.

***

Daisuike slid one of his throwing knives out of it's hidden sheath and held it loosely. Moving silently down the alley he got within throwing distance. The men were still trying to pry the door and not paying attention. Where was their lookout? Or were they just that dumb?

"Forget your keys?"

***

Ruka glanced at Hayate frowning as he slowed down a bit then saw the cafe parking. He was out the door the moment he stopped the car and Reiko jumped out after him. Grabbing him she shoved him back toward the car.

"You have to drive. Stay." Ruka was about to protest when Reiko interrupted him, "Suke will need you to take care of him if he's hurt. If you get hurt then he'll be upset."

That calmed Ruka and Reiko nodded taking off towards the cafe kind of wishing she had some sort of weapon but knew she was best with her hands and feet.

***

"It looks like you forgot your back-up." One of the guys turned to him a smirk on his face. "Ko-ba-ya-shi-san."

Daisuike glared instantly tensing. "Who are you guys?"

"Doesn't matter." The guy shook his head the smirk never leaving his face, his eyes looking at something behind Daisuike.

Daisuike's eyes widened slightly and he turned, knife poised. The man coming up behind him was ready for him, grabbing Daisuike's wrist before he could slash him with the knife.

"Boys shouldn't play with such dangerous weapons." The man twisted his arm viciously and Daisuike dropped the knife as he was forced to turn or get his arm broke. He growled obscenities at the man as his arm was yanked behind his back, but it was mostly for show. He already had slipped another knife free in his other hand. He let the man force him forward a step or two before driving the slim blade hilt deep in the man's thigh.

"Fuck! Fuck!" The man immediately let him go dropping to the ground holding his leg. Daisuike whirled around and kicked him once in the head. Kneeling beside the prone and now quiet form he yanked his knife free.

"You guys are making a very big mistake."

Reiko was already looking around and heard the commotion in the alleyway. Running towards it she saw Suke standing next to a guy on the ground, the knife in his hand glinting in the low light. It didn't bother her as much as the sight of the three men warily encircling Daisuike. Clenching her fist she knew they just needed to get out of there. She had a sick feeling in her stomach and it wasn't going away. Shifting uncomfortably she saw one of the guys look towards her.

"Daisuike, you okay?" She didn't make a move to head down the alleyway, she didn't want to try that yet.

Daisuike didn't take his eyes off them men hearing Reiko. There were more footsteps coming up behind him as well.

"Daisuike!" He glanced back seeing Hayate and Kenta near Reiko. What the hell was going on?

"I've got this covered guys."

"Do you now?" He turned back to see the three men advancing toward them.

Daisuike bent down picking up the knife he'd dropped and they all stopped. "You guys are well within my range and I can nail you before you even think about drawing your guns. I will if you don't leave right now."

The three of them started to slowly back away. "This isn't over Kobayashi!"

Reiko sighed relaxing for a second seeing the guys leave. She was glad that Daisuike was okay. When she heard that Fujimaru had basically set him up her heart had stopped. That guy was dangerous and she wasn't sure what they could do about him. Though they could always take it to Jiro. But what was he trying to do?

Shaking her head she walked towards Daisuike, "Hey, you okay?" He hadn't answered her before and she was worried about him.

Daisuike slowly turned to look at her then over at Hayate and Kenta. He was trying very hard to keep his anger in check but his patience was beginning to wear thin.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Suke there are some things going on you need to be aware of."

"And all three of you had to come track me down at work?"

"Suke this is serious. Fujimaru is after your position. This whole thing was a set up." Hayate gestured around the alley.

"If it was that dangerous why the hell is Reiko here?"

Reiko tried not to let the hurt show on her face and quickly masked it with anger since it was the only way she could deal with it. Why was he being so mean about this? She just wanted to help him. She knew she was capable of helping him. So why was he acting like she was just a little kid? Hell, Kenta was barely older than her.

"Because I want to be here! I was worried about you." She frowned at him, "They couldn't stop me if they tried."

Kneeling down Daisuike wiped the blade of his knife off on the unconscious man's pants and sheathed the clean knife. The other one would need to be properly cleaned and oiled before being put away. Standing he walked toward the trio. He stopped in front of Reiko looking down at her.

"I don't mind your help Reiko, but this isn't like those scuffles you and Akira get in. This is serious business." He gestured over his shoulder. "You do realize I just stabbed someone?"

Glancing over, Reiko looked at the man then at Daisuike, her eyes hard. She was in a bad mood. Why was he treating her like a kid? Sure, the thought that there was a man bleeding on the pavement behind him bothered her, but it wasn't like she could change it. It was his job. Her frown deepened as she looked at him. She wished she could see his eyes, but the alley was too dark.

"So? You disembowel people when you get serious." She turned from him stalking towards the car pushing past Kenta and Hayate before stopping to look back at him, her eyes shadowed.

"You just better not let Ruka know."

Shit.

Ruka.

He suddenly felt numb the knife nearly slipping from his fingers. If Ruka ever found out . . .

"Suke-" Hayate and Kenta were looking at him expectantly.

"Go back to the bar."

"But-"

"Back to the bar." Hayate flinched, Daisuike rarely ever raised his voice, even when they were interrogating people. You just never heard the man get upset, but something had upset him now.

"Okay. What are you going to do?"

"I have a mess to clean up here, now don't I?"

Hayate nodded slowly and gesturing for Kenta to follow him headed back to the car.

When Reiko got to the car she stared at Ruka who stared back for a moment before slipping out of the car letting her in.

"Where's Ouji-sama?"

"In the alley."

"Why isn't he-"

"I don't care."

Ruka frowned figuring talking to her would be nearly impossible if she was in this kind of a mood. Spotting Kenta and Hayate coming back he he frowned even more. Suke wasn't with them. When they got closer Ruka stepped forward.

"Where's Daisuike?"

"He . . . eto . . . he's finishing up some things in the alley. He'll meet us back at the bar in just a bit." Hayate couldn't meet Ruka's eye. He wasn't exactly sure what Daisuike was doing, but it probably wasn't pretty.

Ruka frowned and shook his head.

"I'm not leaving him."

"He said to." Reiko was fuming mad refusing to look at Kenta as he slipped into the car.

"And I said I'm not leaving him!"

"Fine!" With a hiss in anger she shoved the seat in front of her up and opened the door stepping out, "I'll fucking walk to the bar."

Ruka glared but didn't say anything staring towards the alleyway. "If you want to drive to the bar I'll wait here Hayate. Just don't scratch my ride."

Hayate looked at the car. "Ano, I don't think that is a good idea Ruka-san. This area can be rather dangerous at night and I know Daisuike wouldn't want you out here."

"Then you can either stay with me or we can try and pick up Hime-chan before someone else does?" He glanced towards where she was walking down the street. As pretty as she was he doubted with the 'Fuck with me and I'll fuck you up' aura she was giving off, no one would try and get her, but he was torn.

On one hand he didn't want to leave her alone but he wasn't going to leave Daisuike alone either. He loved him, Hime-chan was just someone who he liked.

Hayate sighed. "Kenta go with Reiko. I'll stay here with Ruka."

"Ano . . ."

"Just go already."

"Hai." Kenta sprinted after her.

Hayate turned to look at Ruka, studying him for a long moment. "Are you really serious about Suke?"

Ruka smiled faintly as he leaned back against the hood of the car on his elbows. Tilting his head he sighed softly, the smile still there.

"Of course. You don't think if I wasn't I'd be here?" He chuckled softly, "If you knew me you'd be asking what the hell I was doing here. No one who wasn't serious would be here. Not with knowing that their lover could possibly be dismembering a guy in that alleyway and disposing of the pieces to cover his tracks." There was a grim smile on his face and he really hoped that wasn't what Suke was doing but even if it was he wouldn't say a word about it.

Hayate shook his head. "That's not what he's doing at the moment. But don't think he hasn't. Reason I was asking is Suke and I are pretty close. I've worked with him for four years now and he's like a brother to me. But lately . . . something's off with him. It's hard to tell when something is bothering him, he tends to keep everything inside, but he's not been himself lately. I was just hoping that he'd finally found someone that could help him."

Hayate raised his head to look at Ruka his eyes cold and distant. "You hurt him and I'll kill you."

Ruka raised an eyebrow at Hayate and couldn't help but smile. If he meant physically he was screwed already but he knew what he really meant.

"I have no plans on hurting him. No matter what he does I am not going to abandon him either. I already promised to fill that void in him. I never go back on my word." Ruka smiled looking towards the alleyway again just wanting to take Daisuike home.

Daisuike sighed as he came out of the alley. He wanted to get as far as possible from the scene before the cops came. He wasn't sure why he'd decided to let the guy live, maybe it was the fact that he knew he wouldn't be able to face Ruka knowing he'd just killed someone. Now he needed to get out of here before the cops and paramedics arrived. He stopped seeing the car, Hayate and Ruka standing next to it. What where they still doing here? They'd already seen him so there was no avoiding them. He didn't look at either of them as he walked up.

"We need to leave, the police are on their way."

Ruka stared at Suke for a moment then stepped towards him taking in the sight before him. The smell of blood was very strong and he could see that the jeans were soaked with it. Oh well, it was just clothes. Reaching Ruka touched his cheek leaning in to kiss him on the lips lightly.

"Come on. We'll go get you cleaned up. And grab the kids. I can still see them." Stepping aside he looked at Hayate, "You two get back, sorry."

Daisuike tried to keep from touching anything. Instead of making him feel better Ruka's kiss had made the guilt worse.

"Just hurry it up. I don't feel like spending the night in jail."

Ruka frowned hearing Suke's words, feeling a bit hurt by them. Removing his jacket he passed it back to him, "Use that." When there was no feeling of someone taking it, he snapped. "It's just clothes! Take it damnit!" He dropped it. If Suke didn't catch it the jacket then it'd lay where it fell. Turning the car on he faced forward feeling sick to his stomach.

Driving towards where the kids were, he rolled the window down. "Get in you two." He blinked seeing Reiko with a fistful of Kenta's hair. He wasn't about to ask what they were doing.

"What the-Kenta! You aren't supposed to be playing around."

"Sorry."

"Just hurry up and get in the car." Hayate sat back folding his arms across his chest. He glanced over at Daisuike not liking the dead flat look to his eyes. It was as if Suke was gone and nothing but a shell left. Picking up the jacket he set it on Daisuike's lap but there was no response at all. Sighing he wondered what could possibly have happened to make him like this all the sudden.

Reiko blinked watching as Kenta slipped into the car and she blinked again frowning. With a sigh she moved in on his lap settling herself. She turned slightly towards him.

"Ano, is this okay?" By the look in his eye it wasn't but she didn't have really any other options. Her eyes catch sight of Suke and she bit her lip seeing the look in his eye. He was just not there with them and she felt bad. Turning back around she hung her head fidgeting a bit trying to get comfortable.

"An-ano . . . can you stop moving?" Hayate smirked, lucky Kenta getting a pretty girl on his lap.

Hayate glanced through the front window seeing the cop car coming toward them. "We better leave, but try not to look like we are fleeing the scene of a crime."

Daisuike stared out the window. He needed to seriously think things over. Reiko’s comment couldn’t have been truer. He couldn’t involve someone like Ruka in this kind of life.

"Not a problem but Hime-chan-" He grabbed her forcing her upper body onto his lap making her flail a bit but stilled as he put his hands back on the wheel. "Being on Kenta's lap might get us pulled over." He continued to drive past the cop cars heading towards the bar again.

Reiko glared up from where she was basically laying across Kenta's lap, the armrests and Ruka's lap. This was uncomfortable and she was going to hit the first person who pissed her off.

Daiuiske decided that he should probably go home and get cleaned up once they dropped Hayate and Kenta off. He hated it that he'd probably ruined Ruka's nice clothes. He knew how much he hated getting blood on his own clothes. The blood was starting to dry and make his skin itch. Normally he would have worn gloves to lessen the risk of an infection but he wasn't carrying any with him tonight and he hadn't had time anyway. He watched Ruka's reflection in the window, memorizing the shape of his face. He finally had to look away the ache in his chest sharp enough to bring tears to his eyes. Ruka probably was disgusted by him. Who wouldn't be?

Ruka sighed as they got to the bar and as Reiko leaned up to get out so Hayate and Kenta could go out Ruka whispered to her. With a small nod she smiled getting out of the car with Kenta letting Hayate out. Once they were all out, Reiko slammed the door shut and grinned as she watched Ruka sped off.

"So who's buying me a drink?" She smiled at Kenta and Hayate rocking back and forth on her heels. "Cause I dun got any money on me."