The town lit up with gaudy street lights and neon shop signage as soon as night falls. The streets filled with men and women engaging in nightly activities. Incense, cigar, booze and cheap perfume wafted through the air—a norm in the red-light district. Female workers caked their face with makeup, wore skin-tight and revealing kimonos that barely covered their body, showing off their cleavages and accentuating their selling points, enticing customers to spend a good time with them.

A few catcalled and flaunted their assets as Akashi Seijuurou walked past, trying to get him to sleep with them. He ignored all of them and gave a cold stare whenever one of the girls got too close to his personal space. Walking briskly through the crowd, he arrived at the red-light district's most popular brothel, Kiseiki.

The moment he stepped his foot in, squeals assaulted his ears and immediately after, his vision was blocked by a surge of human bodies and had his air supply cut off. There wasn't any time to react. Women tugged coyly at his arm and suffocated him by smothering his face into their chests. When he tried to get out of his predicament, the women tightened their hold.

How the hell are they so strong?

Akashi gave up trying to escape and surrendered himself to these women. They are his source of information after all.

Kiseiki is a brothel that caters to men and women of all ages with a variety of preferences to choose from. Into older women or older men? Younger boys or girls that just passed 18? No problem. Fetishes? Absolutely. However, it must be consensual between both parties and notified beforehand for preparation of any props needed. It must also abide to the rules that no harm may come unto its workers. Minor grazes or cuts are acceptable during plays. Any fatal injury or danger imposed on the workers, say goodbye to your night life.

Kiseiki is notorious for its harsh punishment on its customers whenever they violated the rules.

Word has it that one man who tried to whip the life out of one of the Kiseiki workers received ten times the amount of whips that he had to be sent to the hospital's emergency unit. In addition, he got whipped in the groin that his junior could never salute him anymore in his entire lifetime.

All these were done by the owner, who was walking down the stairs with elegance. A cough from her dissipated the crowd around Akashi.

"Akashi-kun." The lady greeted. "We've been expecting you. Please come to this room."

She ushered the him into the room reserved for exclusive guests.

"Thank you Riko-san." He took the pipe from her hands. "Beautiful and alluring as always."

A bed fit for the emperor with a large painting above sits in the middle of the large Japanese styled bedroom. The wooden floorboards are sleek with shine, the curtains drawn closed for privacy and table lamps with delicate florals atop sheer material lit up the room. The corner of the walls is filled with intricate designs, as though Akashi and Riko are enclosed in a picture frame.

A hint of jasmine fills the room. It is known to calm the nerves, boost confidence and act as an aphrodisiac.

Akashi sits on the cushion with Riko opposite him, a wooden coffee table separating the both of them.

The doors slide open, revealing a big chested pink haired woman clad in white floral kimono. She serves both of them tea before taking a seat beside Akashi and giving him a peck on his cheek.

"Riko-san." Akashi starts. "Anything new with the case?"

Riko sighed.

"Few of my girls fell victim to the drug. The similarities between them was that they were young, around 18-25 years old, short haired and slender. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get hold of the perpetrators as the girls have not woken up while receiving treatment in the hospital."

Akashi took a sip of his tea. The refreshing taste cleared his mind.

"What about the test results?"

"It came out today." The pink haired lady said, passing him a sealed envelope.

He opened up the envelope and took out the documents inside, reading it meticulously.

Traces of a drug that stimulates sexual desire was found in the blood streams of the victims. The drug is a much stronger and dangerous stimulant than the common aphrodisiac drug found in the district. Possible signs include hazy or cloudy eyes, heavy breathing or panting, sexual frustration and unusual behaviour. Large doses may result in patient going into shock and eventually death.

"Momoi-san, can you find out more about the clients who spent their time with the girls who were drugged?" Akashi asked.

Momoi grinned and spewed all the information from the time of arrival to the background information of the men and even provided photographs of the men. This is why Akashi likes her. Such a hardworking and resourceful lady.

Amidst this busy district, someone is circulating a drug known to cause the victim to be extremely good in bed. However, side effects such as excessive vomiting, stomach aches and being disillusioned can land them in hospitals. If not treated early, they have a possibility of dying. Some have died from hallucinations and dehydration from loss of fluids when vomiting.

Akashi names this drug Sapphire. Samples collected from the victims all show a dissolved blue substance in their bloodstream.

These few days the number of cases reported are on the rise and Akashi is looking into this matter.

"If any of these men comes again, ring me up. Detain them." Akashi ordered. "I will come to interrogate them."

Riko's and Momoi's eyes lit up, a little blood thirsty and sadistic.

"Don't kill them."

Akashi finished his tea and left.

He patrolled the area, looking around to see if there is anything out of the ordinary.

A shout from the alley on the right caught his attention. Several rough menacing voices echoed through the dark alley, piquing Akashi's interest. It certainly entertains him on how people are fighting on his turf. The side of his mouth curled upwards as he walks towards the alley. As he is nearing, he felt a hard impact against his chest.

Akashi looked down and saw a horrific sight. A boy not older than him was trembling and panting hard, tightening his hold on Akashi's bigger frame as the voices draw nearer. His blue hair was dishevelled and matted with some traces of blood and grime. Akashi could see an evidently bald spot on the right of the boy's head with few patches of blood. Blood and tears marred the boy's face and his lips was busted open. By the look of it, it would take long to heal.

When Akashi made eye contact with the boy, he received a signal that seems to say 'save me'. Akashi's gaze trailed further down the boy's body and saw that he was his kimono was ripped open and in a mess that it is slipping off his small frame.

The boy grabbed onto Akashi for his dear life. A small whimper escaped the boy's lips as the voices grew louder—just a few feet away from where he is.

Anger surged through Akashi's body. Nobody is allowed to pick on the weak. Especially not under Akashi's watch.

Akashi took off his outer coat and covered the boy up. He avoided seeing the boy's body. If he saw any more than this, he wasn't sure if those bastards would still be alive later on.

As the redhead formulated plans to torture the men painfully and slowly, the perpetrators came out of the alley looking around and shouting at each other to 'find that boy'.

Akashi smirked. They just stepped into the lion's den.

"There he is! Get him!"

One of the men who spotted Kuroko hiding behind Akashi's back and lunged towards the redhead.

Clearly, they do not know who he is.

Without batting an eye, he immobilised the men with a few touches to their pressure points without accidentally killing them with enough pressure. Within seconds, they dropped to the ground, confused and groaning in pain, unable to move.

Akashi took out his phone and dialled a number. Within the first ring, the other party picked up.

"Daiki." Akashi said. "Get the car. Bring some medical supplies, clothes, food and water too."

What a lucky day.

Thank you for reading! The summary may not seem exciting but do anticipate for more :)