A week after the rescue at the Nagoya warehouse, Yu, Naoto, Ryuuji and Taiga sat in the living room of the Shirogane estate. Taiga was busy devouring the pork cutlet her fiancé had prepared while the others stared in amazement at the sheer amount of food the tiny girl could consume. "Takasu-san's cooking really is good." Naoto commented. "I'm not surprised you like it so much."

"Definitely. Mind giving me the recipe for this, Takasu-san? I'm always looking for new dishes." Yu finished the last of his own cutlet, noticing that Taiga had already eaten three times as much as he had.

Ryuuji nodded and replied, "Sure, no problem. Hopefully Shirogane-san likes it as much as Taiga does."

Sighing, Naoto reproachfully said, "How many times have I told you, call me Naoto! Taiga does, so why won't you?"

"Because you still haven't started calling me Ryuuji like I asked you to. I figure we're all friends by this point." The fearsome-eyed young man directed his sharp gaze at Naoto, who to her credit remained completely unfazed.

Managing to get the last few bites of pork down her throat, Taiga chimed in, "You two need to lighten up. Everything's good now! Let's get along!"

Slow applause rang out from the doorway as a cold and sinister voice drawled, "Everything's good indeed, now that I've found you. My lovely girls, Naoto and Taiga – I had hoped to see you days ago. But I suppose I had to let destiny run its course." The speaker was a tall, elegant young man with fiery hair who leaned against the doorframe, eyes half-closed and a smirk on his lips.

"Woah, how did you get in here?!" Ryuuji asked before considering a better question. "And who are you anyway?"

Stepping into the room proper, the intruder's chilly smirk became slightly more pronounced, giving him an almost predatory look. "You don't recognize me? Peasants. You should be honored to be in my glorious presence." Pure malice seemed to radiate from him as he loomed menacingly over the gathered crowd.

"Kagetsune Ashiya." Naoto stood, reaching for her revolver as she spoke. "How did you get into my estate? The security should have been too much for you."

Kagetsune laughed, a sound that struck fear into all their hearts. "My dear Naoto… It was simple. I'm not as weak as I look; the Zaibatsu's R&D division has provided me with some interesting methods of boosting my body's performance." Behind his rectangular glasses, Kagetsune's emerald eyes glinted dangerously.

"Don't call me Naoto!" The girl detective shouted, aiming her gun at his chest. "You have no right to address Taiga or myself so casually!"

Completely unfazed despite the weapon pointed at his heart, Kagetsune slowly walked forward. He showed no hint of fear as he approached her, which in turn sent chills down Naoto's spine. "My lovely Naoto, put that down before someone gets hurt. My body has been strengthened to the point where such a meager thing as a bullet to the chest is like a spring wind." His dauntless approach intimidated Naoto into not firing, giving the Ashiya patriarch the chance to grab the barrel of her revolver and crush it closed by tightening his fist.

The young woman's eyes widened in terror as her weapon was ruined by Kagetsune's effortless motion. "Y-You're a monster…" She breathed. "How can a man possess such strength…?"

"As I said, the Ashiya Zaibatsu's chemical research has pushed me to the peak of human perfection and beyond. I've taken enough drugs to make myself unstoppable – my wounds don't bleed and I feel no pain. I could fight ten men to the death with no significant injury. And since fighting no longer holds any joy for me, what with being the strongest man on Earth, I have to get my satisfaction in other ways… Hence my pursuit of Taiga and yourself." A fiendish cackle burst from Kagetsune's throat as he licked his lips in a very predatory fashion.

Yu and Ryuuji stood, ready to fight as the silverette ordered, "Get out, Ashiya. If you lay a hand on Naoto or Taiga, I won't forgive you." Ryuuji said nothing, only nodded and cracked his knuckles.

To Yu's surprise, Taiga stood and glared with pure hatred at the corrupt executive. She reached for one of Yu's spare katana he had loaned to her, grasping it with both hands and asking, "You want to help beat this guy to a bloody pulp, Naoto?"

"Definitely." Though she no longer had a weapon, Naoto wasn't a complete stranger to unarmed combat – not quite at the level of her famous grandfather, but skilled enough.

"Hahaha…" Kagetsune laughed again, a dry, eerie chuckle. "Such lovely girls and so spirited too… I can only imagine what such hot-blooded maidens will be like when I have you in my arms…" Reaching to where his coat was fastened at his throat, he threw the garment aside to reveal t lean, muscled torso covered in countless scars. "The Yanagi brothers are dead… That traitor Kouzei will be … I just have to kill Narukami and Takasu, then the two of you will be mine."

Driven to the point of blind rage by Kagetsune's remarks, Ryuuji lunged and threw a heavy punch toward his foe's face. To his surprise, his fist was caught in mid-swing and he himself was tossed effortlessly across the room. "Know your place!" Kagetsune snarled. "I am invincible! A god among men! You are nothing compared to me, so stand down and let me take these girls without resistance!"

"Like hell!" Taiga jumped onto the table and ran across it, slashing viciously at Kagestune's face. He didn't bother to block this one, merely stepping to the side and letting the sharp blade cut into his shoulder – and confirmed that he indeed didn't bleed.

Kagetsune ignored his new wound as he faced Yu, seeming perfectly serene once more. The silverette accepted the challenge, feinting at the Ashiya family head's face before going for his legs. Kagetsune's response was to kick him in the chest and send him flying. Even as he performed the powerful blow, Naoto ran in and aimed a well-placed kick of her own at his crotch, only to have him shift so that she struck his thigh instead. His muscles felt like she was kicking stone.

"Ugh…" Yu staggered to his feet, clutching the Totsuka Blade and forcing his way through the pain of at least one fractured rib. "Naoto, Taiga, stay back!"

"Don't worry." The girl detective winced from the impact of her foot against Kagetsune's rock-hard musculature. "He won't hurt us. He wouldn't risk harming his precious prizes." She got in close to the enemy, restricting his movements due to his unwillingness to strike her.

Smiling coldly, Kagetsune commented, "You know me surprisingly well, given that we've never met. I couldn't lay a hand on one of my precious mistresses." Grabbing Naoto's collar, he lifted her and lightly tossed her aside, getting her out of the way without hurting her. "But I won't simply let you get in my way either."

Ryuuji struggled to his feet again, not used to being in an actual fight. He watched Kagetsune as he stared Yu down, waiting for an opening – an opening that came when Taiga slashed at him again. The cruel Ashiya sidestepped once again as Ryuuji began running toward him from behind, grabbing him in a headlock. "Now!" Ryuuji grunted, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold him for long.

"You wretch!" Kagetsune struggled against Ryuuji's grip, trying to find a way to dislodge him despite the awkward positioning. Another pair of arms grabbed his legs as Naoto dived to help restrain him, adding the dilemma of how to free himself without seriously injuring the girl detective.

"Yu, let's go!" Taiga swung at Kagetsune with definite murderous intent, slashing open his chest deep enough that one of his ribs was exposed. The injury didn't seem to slow him down at all, however, and the next moment he had hurled Ryuuji across the room again.

Naoto knew she wouldn't be able to hold the devil of a man back now that he could reach down and dislodge her. Tightening her grip, she closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever was to come… But nothing did. Looking up, she saw Kagetsune frozen in shock as Yu's Blade of Totsuka impaled him through the chest. "H-How?" The man choked out as his chemically-enhanced body failed to respond.

"The sword of the gods can beat any mortal man." Yu responded. "This is the Totsuka Blade. Sound familiar?"

"That… explains it. My body's weakening… That divine sword must be purging the drugs from my body." Kagetsune coughed violently, his legs collapsing beneath him. "Damn you… I was going to have everything… Naoto… Taiga… They were to be mine. You…" His last breath escaped him as he slumped forward, his eyes clouding over.

Yu, Ryuuji, Taiga and Naoto all looked down at the man responsible for all the trauma they had gone through. The nightmare was finally over.

Yu and Naoto were married at the Shirogane estate in a modest ceremony, as requested by the Shirogane heiress. In accordance with the detective family's tradition, Yu took the Shirogane name with the rest of the investigation team, Isamu and Chiaki Narukami, Kazuhiko Shirogane and Ryuuji and Taiga in attendance.

Two weeks later, Ryuuji and Taiga held their own wedding in their hometown. Yu and Naoto were invited as guests of honor, and witnessed Ryuuji's mother Yasuko sobbing tears of joy as Taiga officially joined their family.

After Kagetsune's death at the hands of his would-be victims, control of the Ashiya Zaibatsu passed to his closest living relative, Kouzei Kagami. Determined not to fall into corruption as his wayward cousin had, Kouzei had all the enhancing drugs the R&D department had created destroyed, shifting their focus to medical research. Though he lacked the business sense that Kagetsune had possessed, his frequent donations to charities and public renewal projects earned him the love of the public, who gave him even more of their business than his predecessors had attained.

Kagetsune's words had proven incorrect, as Ayumu Yanagi had faked his own death upon hearing of Naoya's. As the sole remaining Yanagi, he swore to do penance for his actions, though the evidence of his coercion by Naoya and Kagetsune led to his criminal charges being dropped. In a twist of fate, he was accepted by a talent agency and entered the world of fashion as a male model, eventually winning the love of the agency's star Ami Kawashima.

Yu, Naoto, Ryuuji and Taiga remained fast friends for the remainder of their lives. Their names were eventually combined into a phrase referring to an unbreakable bond – Yu, gentle child; Naoto, honest child; Taiga, or tiger; and Ryuuji, dragon child.

Gentle honesty, tiger and dragon.