The Promise and the Threat

Co-written Aya

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write a review we greatly appreciate them. And yes Reiko is a bit nuts, especially where Akira is involved, but who wouldn't be. ^^


Reiko felt sick as she climbed another set of stairs panting as she tried to catch her breath. She wasn't sure how many places she needed to check before she found Akira. Fujimaru's men were moving around a lot but there was one place that seemed to have a different activity than the others and she assumed it was where Akira was.

Which was the room she was at.

Biting her lip she moved against the wall and quickly snuck a peek inside before whirling back around, her heart thumping painfully in her chest. Akira was indeed there. Albeit with just his boxers on and handcuffed to the bed. She hadn't gotten a good look at him but she assumed he was probably hurt. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

Pulling her phone out she called Ruka.

"Yeah?" He had been watching her climb the ladders and was worried sick about her. What if someone saw her? She was in some serious danger and there was nothing he could do to help her.

"I found him."

Ruka inhaled sharply, "Really? Okay, come back down and I'll call Jiro and we'll get him out."

"I- I can get him though Ruka! He's right there!"

"No! No you can't Reiko. Those men nearly killed Daisuike. Unless you want to be hurt in front of Akira and cause Jiro more trouble you'll come down." His words seemed to pierce her and she nodded slowly.

"F-Fine. . ." Closing the phone she let out a small breath. One last look at Akira before she left. Maybe- Maybe he'd see her and know it was okay. Moving to look back into the room she let out a small yelp seeing the face of the man who had abducted Akira and beat her staring straight back at her with that horrible grin he had before.

Ruka sighed as he closed his phone calling Jiro up to let him know they had found Akira. It made him happy to have at least some news as to what was going on and knowing he was helping.

"Hey, Reiko found the room Akira's in. I'm having her come down and wait until your guys- What? No! Shit! Fuck! Fuck, Jiro! They found her!"

Akira jerked in surprise hearing the glass shatter and the scream. He tried to raise his head off the bed and see what was going on, the unmistakable sounds of a struggle going on right next to him. That had sounded suspiciously like Reiko. She wouldn't endanger herself like that . . . would she? He twisted around trying to see what was going on as the bed was jostled. His eyes widened and a sickening jolt of fear pierced him. Reiko was fighting one of the men. He tried to yell at her through the gag yanking as hard as he could against the cuffs, but it did little good.

Why was she here by herself? Where was Jiro? How could he let Reiko put herself in so much danger?


"FUCK! That girl . . . I swear I'm gonna beat her." Jiro was running for his car now. "Stay out of sight Ruka, but don't leave. I have guys on their way."

"Hanase!" Reiko screamed at the man struggling to get free. How could things go from perfectly smooth to so fucked up so easily? Her eyes for a split second caught Akira's and it pained her to see his fear in them. She had to fight for him. This was why she was here.

Throwing a punch to the guy's face she grinned as it connect bringing her leg up to kick him only to yelp out in pain as he grabbed her leg. There was a mad smirk on his face as he twisted it shoving her backwards.

Off balanced she stumbled crashing to the ground next to the bed scrambling to try and stand but the man was on her in a second kicking her in the face. It hurt so bad and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to stay focused long enough to try and save Akira, but she had to. She had to save Akira!

Ruka slammed his fist against the steering wheel feeling so useless and stupid. How could he have let her go by herself? If anything happened to her it would be his fault.

"Chikusho!" Tears of anger blurred his vision as he slammed his hands against the steering wheel repeatedly. "Chikusho!!"

Hayate spotted a car at the end of an alley that looked entirely out of place. He edged forward looking up at the building, hoping that no one was watching out the windows. As he got closer he recognized Ruka. He looked very upset and was staring up at the building Hayate was across from. That had to be were Reiko was.

He sprinted for the car, ducking down beside the driver's side door. He hoped he didn't scare Ruka, but he couldn't risk being seen. He tapped on the glass trying to get his attention.

Ruka yelped staring in shock at the window and blinked.

"Hayate?" He tried to keep his voice low and the fear out of it. "Did Jiro give you all the updates?" Ruka clenched and unclenched his hand worried about Reiko. He had been able to hear her scream from here and it scared him to death.

"Hai. I'm just waiting to see what happens. Her contact Ichi is supposed to have something set up as a distraction. I have several guys placed around the building and more are on their way. We can't risk them killing Akira before we get to him." He looked up at Ruka taking a quick breath. "Reiko has put him in even worse danger doing this. I just hope they think she is acting alone or we will go in just to find their bodies."


"Look who it is." Fujimaru chuckled as Gorou held Reiko. "Your pretty little girlfriend came to save you. Although . . ."

Fujimaru walked closer taking Reiko's jaw in his hand and forcing her head up. "I have to wonder how she found you so quickly, Akira."

Stepping back slightly Fujimaru backhanded her across the face grinning at Akira's muffled yelling.

"You and I need to have a talk Reiko-chan."


"I think Ichi is keeping an eye on things. The first distractions are bombs. Should we go and set them off now? I see one of Ichi's contacts and I think they're waiting for Reiko's signals but. . ." He felt sick. If they were killed he was going to murder that man with his bare hands. He didn't care if he was thrown in jail, they'd never find his body.

"We can go set them off early."


Reiko lifted her head, a bloody grin on her face as she tried to not whimper from the backhand. It hurt worse than the punches. This was going to be very dangerous but her own safety wasn't in mind anymore. Her life didn't matter anymore. All she had to do was stall long enough for Jiro to get inside the building. And then Fujimaru was dead.

"Well I did try and call you before but you wouldn't pick up. So why should I have a chat with you now?" She laughed a bit, "Guess that shipment doesn't mean shit to you, ne? By the way, why the hell would you call Jiro about the shipment? How would he know about the shipment anyways? He wasn't the one who order it's blockage and removal."

Reiko just smirked at him waiting for anything he could try and dish out.

Hayate looked around. "We need to get with them, if Reiko has been captured she won't be able to give a signal. Do they know who you are? I'm afraid if I go try to talk to them, they might think I'm with the Fudoka."

"I don't know, I think they know who I am." Getting out of the car Ruka straightened himself trying to look presentable and closed the car door. His stomach was doing flips. What if they wouldn't do it unless Reiko gave the word? It fucked everything over and he was scared Reiko and Akira were going to be hurt.


Fujimaru cocked his head to the side looking at Reiko. "Daisuike ordered it moved. I already know that. I just want it back."

He stepped away gesturing for Gorou to have her sit in one of the chairs. Gorou forced her to sit and quickly tied her to the chair. Akira was trying to sit up in the bed and Fujimaru walked over to him a nasty grin on his face.

"It's kind of sad that you are going to suffer for his decision. He suffered a lot too though. I always wondered what it would be like to use my talents on someone like him. He didn't disappoint me."

He turned back to Reiko the wicked smile still firmly in place. "I wonder how long you will hold out before you break."

Reiko stared at Fujimaru in horror for a moment. He was. . . He was going to- She felt incredibly sick. Not in front of Akira! He couldn't do that to him! But he was and she had to think fast or else she would be in a world of pain. Not like she cared, she just didn't want Akira seeing it.

"So what if Daisuike ordered it? He didn't know shit where it was. I'm only the only one who does and can get to the contact who has it in their possession. You think by doing this I'll tell you?" Struggling in the binds she glared at him.

"Let Akira go and I'll tell you where it is and you can continue with what you plan to do if that is what you want." She knew how sick Fujimaru was and she hoped she could appeal to that side of him.

Fujimaru laughed. "Oh that is too good. You mean to tell me that I tortured Daisuike for nothing. I spent hours trying to get him to tell me and he didn't even know. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted."

Akira jerked against the cuffs, rage burning in his eyes. This man was fucking sick and Akira was horrified to think about how much Daisuike had suffered.

"At least I got rid of my competition and showed Jiro that I'm not a push over." He grinned at Reiko. "So, I let Akira go and you'll tell your contact to cough up the goods? Is that it?"

Reiko glared at Fujimaru. He was far more stupid and sick than she thought. This asshole was going to be in a world of pain very soon. Once Jiro got here this man's head would roll and she hoped that he suffered for every injury he had given Suke and Akira.

"If you free him and allow him to go home and leave him alone I'll tell you exactly what you want. It's as simple as that." She shivered slightly. The look in Fujimaru's eyes made her sick. She had to guarantee Akira's safety though. "I want a guarantee that you'll leave Akira alone though."

Fujimaru shrugged. "I couldn't care less what happens to the little shit. I just know that Jiro would sooner cut his own balls off than let anything happen to him. He's probably shitting bricks right about now."

He turned from Reiko to look down at Akira. Moving over to the bed he yanked the gag free. "I let you go and you leave. No trying to be a stupid fucking hero or I'll put a bullet in her brain. Got it."

"H-hai." Akira's throat hurt from all the yelling he'd been doing and he was terrified that if he left Fujimaru would just go ahead and kill Reiko.

"Gorou, uncuff him and take him downstairs."

Akira desperately wanted to take a swing at Gorou but he was so stiff and sore from being stuck in one position for so long he could barely move. He got one last glance at Reiko before he was hauled out, the door shutting behind them.


Ruka blinked as he was about to speak with the man blinking as the building door's opened. What came next shocked to him to high hell. Staring, he blinked seeing Akira, who was barely clothed, shoved out the door. Why was he being let go? What was going on? Where was Reiko?

"Hold on." Instantly when the door shut Ruka sprinted over to Akira grabbing him and at the same time ripping his jacket off to cover Akira up. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's Reiko?!" He basically carried Akira to the car moving around to the driver's side. Hayate was still there hiding and when the other man saw Akira his eyes went wide. Setting Akira down he stared at him touching his face and hair.

"What happened Akira! Where's Hime-chan?"

Akira felt horrible, his head was spinning and all he could think about was Reiko. He'd been forced to abandon Reiko to that sadistic freak. "She . . . she's inside. She told Fujimaru to let me go and she would tell him where the shipment was. He'll kill her once he's got it. I'm sure of it. We have to do something!"

Hayate nodded. "I think it's about time for that distraction."

Ruka nodded, "Okay, just lay down in the back okay Akira? I'm starting the car too since we'll need it once everything goes down." He smiled at Akira stroking his hair softly, "You're a very brave person you know that Akira? Reiko must be very proud to be able to call you her friend."

A feral grin appeared on his face as he stood heading back to the contact. This was going to be extremely difficult if they didn't listen to him.


Reiko stared at Fujimaru trying to figure a way out of this. She didn't want to tell him where the shipment was but she was honestly now scared for her life. There was so much going on in her mind she wasn't sure what to do.

Biting her lip, which she instantly regretted doing, she lowered her head trying to think through the pain that was building in her system. The new beating was starting to really hurt now and the old one wanted to make itself known too.

"I. . . I have to call my contact in order for him to give me the exact location. . ." Reiko lifted her head slowly staring at Fujimaru. Something told her that even if she told him the location he was going to kill her anyway. The way he was looking at her made her nervous. She never wanted to admit it but she was scared he would torture her like Daisuike and the thought made her want to crawl out of her skin.

Fujimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. "No tricks. I've got more than enough guys handy and it would be way to easy to find a half naked purple haired freak. He can't have gotten to far anyway. You fuck this up and I'll bring him back here and torture him to death while you watch. Got it."

Reiko's blood went cold as she listened to him. It almost made her hesitate with her plan. She had to do it. Ruka was there anyways. He had to have gotten Akira and had him safe. It was all just so fucked up. It didn't stop her from wiggling her hands free though. Once she was able to get her hands free she'd kick this guys ass.

Slowly she nodded, "H-Hai. . ." Her body was starting to shake a bit and as Fujimaru went to grab her cellphone she yelped as an explosion went off, shaking the building. They hadn't even had a chance to recover from the first shock when another one went off, bigger than the first shaking the entire room and tossing Fujimaru off balance. Lashing out she kicked Fujimaru as hard as she could in the thigh to shove him over. Quickly she jerked her wrist free from the binding and moved to untie her other wrist. She had to escape and fast.


Akira yelped cowering in the backseat as the explosions went off. It was so loud. Dust surrounded the car and for a long moment everything was obscured. He saw someone run by the car in the haze but had no idea if it was one of their guys or not. He would have given anything to know if Reiko was alright.


Fujimaru staggered trying to keep his balance. "What the fuck? You little bitch!"

He grabbed for Reiko, but she was already moving. "I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to hunt down that little freak and kill him!"

Reiko was about to yell at Fujimaru. No one touched Akira and got away with it, but she decided yelling at him wasn't the right thing to do at the moment. Her priority was to get outside and to the car. Her whole body hurt and trying to run hurt. Thankfully she had kicked him, hopefully that kept him slower than her.

Stumbling along she could hear him cursing and she prayed she could make it. Once outside of the apartment she looked around trying to figure the way out and started down the hallway hearing yelling going on. Whatever it was, it sounded like a brawl and she could hear the distinct echo of someone running up the stairs.

Who would be running up the stairs?

She didn't have time to think as she stumbled crashing to the floor, her leg just giving out from under her. Scrambling to get up she looked back seeing Fujimaru already right on top of her.

Jiro nearly tripped over Reiko as he ran. "Reiko! Where is Akira?"

"Jiro!" Fujimaru had skidded to a stop seeing his old wakagashira.

"You are dead Fujimaru." Jiro stepped past Reiko, intent on getting to Fujimaru who was backing away.

Reiko stared at Jiro and Fujimaru for a moment as she sat up carefully, the tension was almost to a choking level. Biting her lip she rose to her feet carefully. It gave her some relief that Jiro was there and she knew that everything was going to be okay now that he was there. Even if all hell broke loose, she knew she could rely on Jiro. Though at times he looked ready to break himself.

"Akira is downstairs. He should be with Ruka." Holding her arm to her chest she wasn't sure what to do. Should she wait for Jiro or head down to Akira and Ruka? She desperately wanted to be with Akira but she wanted to help Jiro. This guy needed to suffer and be in a world of hurt for what he had done to them all.

Jiro nodded slowly his eyes never leaving Fujimaru. "Go check on Akira, Reiko."

He didn't really want her to have to see what he was planning on doing to Fujimaru. Two more guys appeared behind Fujimaru and Jiro frowned.

"Hurry up and get going Reiko."

Reiko stared as she watched the two guys came up behind Fujimaru. 3 against 1? Those odds weren't good at all and it bothered her. She couldn't leave Jiro alone. Somehow she had to help him. By the time she got help and they got there anything could happen to him.

"Akira will be fine without me. Let me help you. . ." The pain she had been was a distant thought as she stepped closer to Jiro. Narrowing her eyes she glared at Fujimaru but kept an eye out for the other two as well. If she could just get even one of them down it would be fine.

Fujimaru chuckled. "You going to let a girl help you Jiro? I'd expect that of someone who has a kid for his second. Or did."

"She's smarter than all of your guys put together, baka. And Daisuike is still my second and always will be."

"He . . ." Fujimaru grimaced. "Shit, I knew I should have slit his throat when I had the chance."

"You won't ever have a chance to hurt him or anyone else again."

"We'll see about that." Fujimaru backed away, the two guys coming forward. Fujimaru took off running in the opposite direction as the two men lunged for Jiro and Reiko.

Reiko's eyes went wide as she watched the men come at them seeing Fujimaru take off. That wasn't about to happen, not as long as she could. Ducking under the man's grab she kicked him and took off after Fujimaru pulling her phone out. Sending the signal for the second half of the distraction she pocketed the phone taking off after Fujimaru again.

He was fast and she wasn't sure she'd be able to catch him and that worried her. Seeing him duck into a hallway she hopped the stairs catching up to him tackling him. She wasn't going to let him get away, even if her lungs felt like they were on fire and the pain was starting to come back.

Jiro ducked under a swing and with two quick punches sent the man stumbling back into his companion. He spotted blue streaked hair headed down the hall and swore. Reiko was as hot headed as Haru sometimes. A swift kick kept the man down and another second more and he'd dispatched the second one. There was a thud and loud cursing from down the hall. Jiro started forward only to be tackled from the side by a man coming out of one of the rooms.

Reiko grinned for a moment as she got Fujimaru down. Hearing his cursing she smirked. At least she wasn't the only one having a bad time. Slamming her fist into his face she just hoped she could hold him down and beat on him long enough for Jiro to come after them.

"I'm going to make you wish you had taken care of me before the explosions." Her voice was dark and low, her intent to make him suffer evident.


Hayate was getting nervous. Jiro was taking a long time and Reiko wasn't out yet either.

"I'm going on in guys. Stay here." He looked from Ruka to Akira. He didn't like the thought of leaving them, but he needed to make sure Jiro was alright. Any one who could take down Daisuike was someone to be especially wary of.

Jiro managed to throw the man off. He lurched to his feet wincing as his arm throbbed where he'd landed wrong. There were two more men converging on his location. He took a deep breath readying himself as the three of them came toward him.

Reiko yelped in pain as Fujimaru punched her knocking her to the side. He was desperate to escape not even really trying to hurt her, but she wasn't about to let him go. Ignoring the blood dripping from her lip she lunged at him again, grabbing him and digging her nails in anywhere she could to hold onto him.

Pinning him down she let out another cry of pain as he got the upper hand slamming her back to the ground. This fight for dominance was going to lead to one of them becoming seriously hurt and if it was her she hoped at least Jiro could take the asshole down before he got away.

"Jiro!" Hayate yelled seeing him holding his own against three men.

"Find Reiko, she went after Fujimaru." Jiro slammed a fist into one man's face and he dropped like a rock.

Hayate nodded and ran down the hall, unsure of where to find Reiko. The sounds of a struggle reached him and he turned a corner just in time to see Reiko get hit. She wasn't giving up though, even in the face of being beaten by the much larger and heavier man. Hayate ran forward knocking Fujimaru away and hauling Reiko up. He started to turn back to Fujimaru when there was a blow to his back and he staggered forward.

"Tell Suke I'll be waiting." Fujimaru shoved Hayate forward yanking the knife free as he did so. He didn't wait to see what happened and took off running headed for the nearest exit.

Reiko stared at Hayate as he staggered forward basically collapsing. Trying to catch him she stumbled to her knees holding her arms around him. Feeling her hand slick she looked over his shoulder staring at her hand.

It was covered in blood.

With wide eyes she started to shake. Fujimaru had stabbed Hayate and he was getting away. What was she suppose to do? Her mind was racing and she felt sick, the blood kept pouring and soaking his shirt along with her hand. Trying her best she pressed her hand against it trying to get them both standing. She had to get him to the car.

When she was unable to stand she stumbled back trying to adjust Hayate better so she could put better pressure on his wound. That's when he started coughing and her eyes went wide seeing blood on her pant leg and the floor. Reiko's entire body went numb for a moment and she started to tremble.

"Jiro!" The strangled cry that left her lips made her feel so pathetic but she couldn't do anything. She was basically trapped under Hayate who was bleeding in her arms.

Jiro whipped around hearing Reiko's panicked shout. What had happened? He blocked a punch and sent the man crashing to the floor. He had to make sure Reiko was alright. The sight that greeted him made his body run cold. Hayate was on the floor next to Reiko, blood splattering them both.

"Fuck!" He grabbed Hayate lifting the smaller man and carrying him. "Let's go Reiko! Run!"

It took Reiko a moment to understand what was going on as Jiro grabbed Hayate from her. At Jiro's command she nodded following after him as best as she could. Her body was screaming in protest but she had to run.

"Ru-Ruka's car is parked downstairs!"

As they descended the stairs she shoved the door open for him rushing to Ruka's car. She could see Ruka staring in horror at the three of them and quickly shouted at Akira to move. Ruka threw back the seat making room for Jiro and Hayate seeing Reiko slow to a stop staring at them all.

"Hime-chan! Come on. We need to get you all to a hospital." When she made no move at all he blinked. "Reiko!" Again she made no move to come closer, simply staring straight forward. There was an odd look in her eyes and that was when Ruka noticed the tremble in her body as well as the blood.

Rushing before he grabbed her basically carrying her to the passenger's seat having seen Akira get in after Jiro and Hayate. "Can she sit on your lap?" There wasn't enough room for them all and they needed to leave quickly. Seeing Akira's meek nod he helped adjust the two of them before running around to the driver's side. Once in the car he took off slipping into his racer mindset pushing the car a bit harder with all the weight in it.

Jiro kept an almost painfully tight grip on Hayate. He'd yanked his shirt off and was pressing it to the wound. He wince as Hayate coughed, trying to breathe, blood dripping off his chin.

"Just hang in there Hayate. We will be to the hospital in just a minute. Just hang on."

Akira clutched at Reiko as the car sped through the streets. He felt sick his whole body trembling as he buried his face in Reiko's back trying to take some comfort in the fact that she was safe. So much could have gone wrong, so much had gone wrong. Why did she always do this to him? Risk herself like this? It wasn't like this was one of their after school fights with Masaki and Junpei, this was serious. Fujimaru was a murderer who had tried to kill his brother. Why did Reiko think she stand up against guys like him? Didn't she understand how it terrified him?

Ruka yanked his phone out of his pocket shoving it to Reiko who didn't respond to him. When he shoved her and she still didn't react he handed the phone to Akira.

"Call the hospital. Tell them we need a stretcher when we arrive. Our time is 5 minutes." Ruka focused on shifting gears again weaving in and out of traffic. The hospital was at least 10 minutes away but the way he was driving they'd get there maybe even sooner than 5.

Akira called the hospital telling them the information. Hayate looked very pale when Akira looked back at him, his eyes squeezed shut as he struggled to breathe.

"Sorry . . . sorry Jiro."

"Shut up. Don't even try to talk Hayate. We are going to get you patched up good as new."

"Sh-shouldn't have turned . . . my back . . . stupid . . . "

There was a soft noise coming from the passenger seat and Ruka glanced over wondering what it was. He couldn't figure out what it was having to keep his eyes mostly on the road. Ruka cursed softly watching as Reiko tried to curl up gripping her head with both hands finally realizing what the noise was. Reiko was crying, although softly.

Pressing the gas pedal harder against the floorboard he wished there was something he could do to help. Everything was just so messed up. Shaking his head he peeled into the hospital entrance slamming the car into park. Jerking the door open he pulled the seat back helping Jiro carefully move Hayate. Immediately they were surrounded by hospital staff, Hayate being taken from them.

Ruka sighed looking at Jiro then back to the car. They needed to get Akira and Reiko into the hospital as well but he was slightly afraid of what might happen if they tried to separate the two of them.

"Should we move them or give them a few moments?"

"Just give it a minute."

Akira didn't look up hearing Ruka and Jiro talking. He didn't want to let Reiko go. He'd never seen her cry and it sent a stabbing pain through him. He'd do anything, anything at all to make her feel better. He'd rarely been this close to her, and had never held her like this and it was disconcerting for him. It made him never want to let go, but he knew she needed medical attention.

"Reiko," He whispered, taking the sleeve of Ruka's jacket he gently wiped at her tears. "Come on, lets get you inside."

Reiko nodded weakly as he spoke, trying to stop crying but everything was finally getting to her and it hurt. Everything from her head to her toes to her heart hurt and ached and she wanted it to go away. As they climbed out of the car Reiko clung to Akira using him as a support even if he needed one himself.

Sighing Ruka saw them get out and both of them looked ready to collapse. Glancing at Jiro he walked over to the two of them scooping up Reiko taking him from Akira's hold grinning as he looked at Akira. He looked strangely adorable wearing the jacket. It just reached mid thigh on him, the sleeves too long and made him look much younger.

"Sorry to steal your flame but we need to get you guys inside."

Jiro caught Akira as he stumbled. The stress of the whole situation was finally crashing down on him and he was starting to shake. He gently picked up Akira smiling sadly at the shocked expression. He hated to see Akira hurt, hated it with a passion he could taste. In the lights of the hospital he could see the bright purple bruises already starting to form on the pale skin and he swore that he would get Fujimaru if it killed him.

"I'm sorry we took so long Akira."

Akira just shook his head, tears bright in his eyes. "I'm just glad you came. How is Daisuike?"

Jiro was silent as they walked into the hospital, unsure what to say.

"He's been better."


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*hanase: informal language 'let go' 'let me go'
*chikusho: spoken to self 'damn it'