Author's Note: Woohoo! Two chapters up in twenty-four hours! I feel great, like I actually accomplished something. I finally got to write a chapter with Scepter-4 and I'm pretty confident that I kept them in character. If I didn't, sorry! Moving along, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and specifically:

Sleepyface

Who answered my author note's questions in the second chapter. Those are still up people so please give your opinion! Also, once we reach twenty-five reviews, I will open a poll for a special one-shot featuring Akane and one of the guys! The twenty-fifth reviewer will get to choose the theme and you, my dear readers, will get to vote for the person! Look forward to that!

Enjoy!

Chapter Four- Blue Da Blue

Mikoto woke that morning to hear scuffling, banging, and the sound of a certain hot-headed skateboarder cussing quite profusely. The lion yawned and rose, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. He opened the door leading into the hall and a familiar white haired Strain tumbled in, hugging a teddy bear to her chest. Mikoto blinked at her, then shrugged and followed the little girl down the stairs, only to pause at the landing, golden eyes wide in shock.

Yata currently had a taller, blue haired teen's white collar in his fist and was shaking him furiously but the man seemed unfazed, instead grinning wickedly at the shorter. The skateboarder had a fist pulled back, preparing to punch the third-in-command of Scepter-4 until Rikio dragged him away, kicking and screaming. The Blue merely straightened his collar and called out to Yata.

"Mi~sa~kiii. Still losing your temper so easily, I see. Just like a little kid…" Yata struggled harder to get to him and Rikio was forced to pin him against the counter.

"Fucking monkey! Come over here and I'll show you exactly who's a fucking little kid! I'll bash your damn head in!"

Seri sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Izumo shot her a look as if to say, 'You knew bringing him here was a bad idea, this is on you'. The woman stepped in between the two and held out a hand to keep her comrade back. Fushimi clicked his tongue in annoyance but stepped back anyway, hand resting on the handle of his saber. Seri turned to look at the Red King but her words were for the whole of Homura.

"As I informed you last night, we are here to retrieve Akane and bring her back to the headquarters. Consider that, from this moment on, Akane is no longer your responsibility and is, in fact, in the custody of Scepter-4. Of course, seeing as you all are so attached to her-" Fushimi snorted. "-you will be able to see her when I escort her personally to this residence. Now, Akane, if you will…"

She waited patiently as the brunette slowly made her way over next to them then turned and led the other two to the door. Akane hesitated and glanced back with a sad expression, her brown gaze lingering on each of them in turn. Seri placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her to face away from the Homura members. Totsuka let out a startled gasp and reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

"Wait!" He called and jogged over to the trio to hand the paper over to Akane.

"It's Kusanagi-san's phone number. If you need anything-" Totsuka glanced at the older blond who interjected with 'Or just need to talk', a sincere look on his face. The honey blond nodded as Akane took the paper and carefully folded it so it fit into the pocket of the borrowed jacket Izumo had given her earlier that morning. She zipped up the tan jacket and bent down to retie her shoe (an old pair of Yata's) then tapped Totsuka on the shoulder to keep him from leaving. He turned to look at her and she flung herself at him, the young man barely managing to catch her.

"Whoa!"

Akane pressed her cheek against his chest and he laughed, chest rumbling as he did so.

"Yeah, I'll miss you too, but I'm sure they'll let you come by soon," he said and felt her nod. Blushing, she pulled away and scurried to Seri's side, where she stayed as the other Homura members called out 'goodbyes' and 'good lucks'. Fushimi clicked his tongue once more and they left the bar with all its fiery Homura associates behind.

"-and here is where the Captain's office is. If you cannot find me or Fushimi-kun, you may come here. The Captain has informed me that he is willingly to aid you with anything you may require. Now, while I work, feel free to take a look around. However, please notify me if you plan on going anywhere. My lunch break is at 1:05 so we will eat then. I brought a bento box for you. In fact, it has some of my favorite red bean paste in it, which I'm sure you'll love…"

The lieutenant rambled on and on, and even Akane was beginning to grow tired of listening to her. She tugged desperately at the woman's sleeve until she stopped talking and glanced down at her. Fushimi, taking the chance of the distraction, slipped away. Seri seemed to understand and led the girl to her desk, where the two sat down and the older picked up a stack of paper, pen in hand. As Seri read over the papers without a sound, Akane let her eyes explore the room. It was simple, with a single desk for the female lieutenant, a window on the wall to their right, and the door to their left. Besides the desk Seri sat at and the chair Akane occupied, the room was devoid of any other furniture.

For the first half hour, Akane purely watched the woman's facial expressions as she read over the reports, sometimes annoyance would flicker in her eyes, sometimes (but rarely) relief. Nearly every paper caused the woman a sort of irritation.

At nine, the door to the lieutenant's room flew open and in stumbled a brown haired young man, waving about a flimsy stack of papers.

"Lieutenant! I finally finished that report you told me to do a week ago!"

The woman glanced up and held out her hand, her face blank.

"Good. Now hand it over. Remember, if it does not meet my standards, you are going to completely re-write it." The man swallowed nervously, but kept the wide grin on his face, which Akane had to give him credit for. He stood in front of her desk while she scanned it, fidgeting.

"Akira Hidaka…" The man straightened up, hands at his sides.

"Yes, ma'am!" Akane was surprised he didn't salute her like she expected.

"This...is…" The woman trailed off and both Akane and Akira leaned forward in suspense. Suddenly, the woman slammed the papers down in fury and stood up. Akane let out a soundless yelp and jumped back, she was so caught off guard.

"This is absolutely the worst report I have ever seen! You are to immediately return to your desk and redo the submission! You will not leave that room until it is completely finished and meets my expectations, do you understand?!" Akira Hidaka let out a groan and took the outstretched paper before bowing under the woman's harsh gaze and heading towards the door.

"Lieutenant, do you think you could-"

"OUT."

He jumped and quickly fled the room, tailcoat fluttering behind him. Seri shook her head and sat back down, sneaking a glance at the mute brunette. Akane had taken an interest in what was outside the window and was leaning with her nose pressed against the glass, her hands splayed beside her face. The blonde chuckled to herself.

"What do you see, Akane?" The brunette pointed excitedly at the window, her eyes wide. Seri stood and walked over to the teen, placing her hands on her shoulders. Akane tilted her head to look up at her, lips not quite in a smile. Observing the view, Seri began to explain.

"I see. Yes, that would be the Third Squadron, headed by Yujiro Benzai. He is quite capable, I must say. They appear to be running through their training techniques, right on schedule as always." The two watched the men train and exchange blows with practice swords. Akane bounced on her toes, exhilaration crossing her face.

"Would you like to go down and see them?"

The Captain was just placing the last puzzle into his puzzle when the door opened and in stepped Fushimi Saruhiko. With a click of the teen's tongue, the stack he had been holding was placed onto the wooden desk without a sound. He spun on his booted heel to leave when the man behind him spoke.

"What is she like?"

Fushimi 'tsk'ed under his breath at the question but he had no confusion about who the blue haired man was asking about.

"Boring," he replied emotionlessly. The man behind him chuckled lowly.

"Awashima-kun seems to have taken quite a liking to her. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought they were friends from a long time past or perhaps sisters." All he received as an answer was an impatient click of the tongue. Munakata smiled behind his palm. If there was one thing he enjoyed doing alongside puzzles, it was annoying his favorite subordinate.

"Can I go now? This is just a waste of time. If you want to know so bad, find out yourself," the teen muttered and through the tenseness of his shoulders, Munakata could tell that something was bothering the third-in-command. Nonetheless, the Captain waved a hand and dismissed the younger male.

"Yes. You may leave now, Fushimi-kun. Thank you for bringing the file I requested."

The sound of his footsteps echoed all the way until he was down the hall and even then, the Blue King could tell where the agitated ex-Homura member was. Knowing Fushimi, his aggravation most likely stemmed from a particular red-headed skateboarder under the rule of Mikoto Suoh. Despite once belonging to the Red Clan (though Munakata knew Fushimi would scoff at the world 'belonging'), the third-in-command seemed to have no lingering attachments to the rowdy group that was Mikoto's inner circle. Often enough, Munakata found himself wondering whether the teen regretted his decision. He certainly fit in Scepter-4 and got along well enough with the others, but how deep did that façade reach? Maybe what he needed was someone as damaged as him, other than that Yatagarasu…

Once his mind was made up, Munakata smiled and returned to his puzzle, the face of a golden eyed lion staring right back at him.

By the time Benzai's squad had finished with their training, the clock had ticked past ten and Akane was growing hungry. Since she hadn't eaten breakfast due to Seri and Fushimi's such early arrival, the brunette's stomach currently was in a growling-fest. The others laughed whenever her stomach would make a noise and Akane would turn a flushed red, hiding behind a very confused lieutenant. Tatsuya Enomoto, a man with black-framed glasses and a ponytail to match, ended up handing over the last of the onigiri from their breakfast to the teen. She took them gratefully, albeit without a word, and munched on them as she and Seri headed back to the blonde's office. It was a relatively quiet and calm day, without incident (save for the horrible report). No Strains had been giving the clan any trouble so even the Captain had time to do whatever he wished. Lunchtime came and passed, Seri completed her quota of work for the day, and now the blonde was telling stories of pastimes to the tranquil teen. Akane was a very good listener and would react appropriately to each tale in her own mute way.

"The cat was named Kurochan by Yoshino Yayoi, a friend of mine. She works in the General Affairs Section of Annex 4. Maybe sometime we can visit her." Akane seemed to like the idea of a cat wandering around the building of Scepter-4 and began looking under each piece of furniture in Seri's office for the animal. Sadly, she never found it and returned to sit cross-legged in the middle of the room.

Around three o'clock, the two females were granted a surprise visit.

"The Captain wants to see you in his office," Fushimi told Seri and she stood up to leave, but not before asking about Akane. The teen clicked his tongue.

"I was told to watch her," he muttered in response and regardless of his attitude, Seri knew she could trust him.

When the door was firmly closed, Fushimi headed over to the lieutenant's desk and sat down, setting a stack of papers on top. He began working on them and as he flipped through the stack, Akane watched him, intrigued by this new person. Regardless, she had met him when he accompanied Seri to pick her up from the bar but the whole way here he hadn't spoke a word, instead opting to click his tongue at everything.

Fushimi paused in his work and glanced at the brunette in his peripheral vision, making sure to keep tabs on her, not that he really cared. She was currently staring straight back at him, her brown eyes steady on his blue ones. Fushimi clicked his tongue and returned to his work, only to notice she was still look intently at him a good ten minutes later. The nineteen year old was beginning to grow annoyed. Five minutes later, it got to him.

"Tsk. Don't you have something better to do than just staring at me, like a coloring book?" Akane frowned but turned away and Fushimi let out a relieved sigh under his breath. He hated when people gawked at him. It made his skin crawl. Unless, of course, it was his precious Misaki…

The rustling of papers startled the third-in-command from his thoughts of the skateboarder. Akane had taken the paper he had been holding from his hands and was reading it with interest.

"Hey, give that back," he seethed and Akane danced away from him, still grasping the paper. The chair screeched against the floor as he leapt up and lunged at her, attempting to take back the document.

"Damn it…" Fushimi pushed himself up from the desk and stalked around it, anger in his eyes. Akane shifted from foot to foot, waiting. The two raced around the room, Akane evading Fushimi's swipes and he cursing in vehemence. At last, the Blue gave up.

"Keep it," he panted and sat back down, resuming his work from earlier. This time, though, he made sure to keep his eyes peeled for any latent thieves. As soon as Akane began edging closer to the desk, Fushimi would raise his head and glare at her, icy blue eyes narrowed in warning. However, for Akane, this had become a very entertaining game.

When Fushimi's phone went off and he pulled it from his pocket to check the message, Akane made her move. She darted forward and snatched the manuscript from his left hand. Fushimi jerked up in surprise then swore loudly enough to wake the whole building.

"You…!" This time, the chase wasn't as long. Fushimi had had enough.

He growled a quick "Fushimi, batou" and drew his sword from its sheath, stalking towards the younger teen. Akane's eyes grew wide and backed away slowly. Fushimi cornered her between the desk and himself, a wicked smile transforming his features.

"Now then, why don't you give me those papers…?" When a there was only a half a foot between them, Akane pulled her last resort.

She kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. Hard.

Fushimi doubled over with a groan. His sword clattered to the ground, the silver blade sparkling in the bright sunlight. Akane immediately went for the saber and clutched it to her chest, keeping its owner from having the advantage. The male was still clutching his stomach, breathing through his nose with each breath.

The door to the room swung open and in stepped the lieutenant, followed by a dark haired man in a professional looking uniform. They froze at the sight of Akane mimicking swinging the sword like she had seen the training squadron do earlier and Fushimi leaning against the desk, an arm still around his midsection. Seri turned to ask the silent question both her and her superior had in mind.

"Fushimi…?"

The teen slumped to the floor and Akane paused in her new hobby, point dangerously close to his right eye.

"I can explain…."

He turned his head enough to see the blade, nearly going cross-eyed as he did.

"…Maybe not."

Author's Note: A little bit of humor in the end. Next chapter, Homura will be back and perhaps a bit of a rivalry?! Coming soon! Don't forget to review!