Three reviews this time instead of just the one...we're making progress at least. :P

Anyway, I'd like to thank 1The0Anonymous0Writer1, Wolfspirit 44, TykkiMikk and All'roundCowgirl for adding this story to both their favorites and their alerts as well. I'd also like to thank Kage no Kenshi and zookster for adding this to their alerts. Also, once more I'd like to thank Wolfspirit44, along with shootlumos and Shadowhawk as I very much appreciated your three's reviews.

Wolfspirit44: Yeah, I was a little irked with the somewhat sudden ending myself. I'd of at least liked to see a scene where Yin awoke to find herself in the presence of Hei and the two have at least a few seconds worth of a reunion before it ended. You know, end it on high note, since at this point whatever plans there are for season 3, if there are any, don't seem to be coming to fruition.

shootlumos: I'm glad you like my story. And unfortunately I know all too well how scarce good Hei and Yin stories are, since I've been trying to collect as many as I could in my favorites section for roughly three to four years now. I have less than twenty stories to show for it, none of them longer than a couple thousand words. Izinami is indeed quite dark, malevolent and all around evil, even though most of time she remains passive, which in it of itself is creepy. But I'm getting off topic, so I'll stop here for now.

Shadowhawk: Yeah, Izinami is certainly determined to find them, that's for sure. As for Yin having any new powers...well, you'll see. Also, thank you so much for reviewing both chapters. :)

Also, just so you guys know, I've decided to make this OVA-like story five parts long, as there's just too much to fit into four parts.

Now then, here's part three of Darker Than Black: The Star Of The Undying, please read, enjoy and review.

Hei stood outside a clothing store, his back to the door as he stood prone, his eyes moving from place to place, as he tried to figure out where else he could apply for a job. He had already tried close to a dozen different places, problem was he had no resume and no proof of experience. To make matters worse, besides his passport, he had no means of identification, so the notion of hiring him for any kind of work was ludicrous to just about every employer in the world. He knew this from the beginning, however he wouldn't let such trivial things stand in the way of him providing for and taking care of Yin.

There was no food to speak of back at the apartment, as two plates of scrambled eggs was all their next door neighbors had spared, not that it mattered as there was no way of warming anything up with their busted microwave. And then there were the clothes, none of which had any hope of fitting Yin in the slightest, every piece of clothing the two could spare being too big for her. So the young raven haired man needed some kind of job and a bit of cash as well before he went back to the apartment.

Suddenly Hei had the feeling that he was being watched, that there were eyes on him, and with living the life he had so far, he knew not to ignore the feeling. So for about three seconds, without even giving the faintest hint of movement, his eyes scanned his surroundings so he could spot whoever was spying on him. Then, without any warning, he looked up, in doing so he spotted a familiar pink haired girl, the one he had seen drooling over him many a time in his favorite noodle shop back in Tokyo.

Kiko's eyes widened as the raven haired man's eyes met hers, and a chill went down her spine at the expression on his face, it was cold and stony, almost as if he didn't care for anything in the world. She didn't know it then, but what Kiko was looking at was the face of a stone cold killer, even if that was only partially attributed to who he was. And his eyes...they were almost dead, which was probably the most disconcerting thing to her.

In an involuntary reaction, the pink haired girl eeped and fell over, mostly because of shock, partially because she had never seen anyone look like that, let alone the guy she always saw smiling at the noodle shop. As she scrambled back to her feet, she couldn't help but think, "How could he have possibly known I was staring at him, let alone where I was?"

Once she was in a position to look out the window once more, she found the same spot he once stood was now empty, and he was nowhere to be found, even as she tried a few other windows so as to try and locate him. After several seconds of this, she stopped roughly in the middle of the part of the room she stood in, and allowed herself to calm down. Deciding to shake off the incident, after mulling it over for a minute or so of course, she put the strange occurrence out of her mind and headed to the kitchen, before her boss ate her share of the food.

Hei held a bag of Chinese takeout and over his right shoulder were a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeve white button up shirt, the signature Lee Shengshun ware, both in his size, that he had stolen, as he unlocked the door to Yin's and his apartment. Just before he opened the door though, he heard a crash come from the inside. In response to this noise the raven haired man damn near took the door off it's hinges as he burst inside, his eyes immediately locking onto the location where Yin was supposed to be. However instead of her being on the bed where he left her, she was on the floor, dozens of broken pieces of glass lying in front of her, a few of them actually on her person. She was conscious, but her face was blank and she didn't speak even when she saw him.

Without a word Hei closed the door, discarded the bag and clothes onto the floor, came to Yin's side and began checking her over, making sure she hadn't gotten herself cut, brushing any and all pieces of glass on her person off as he did so. As he did this he realized her clothes were almost completely soaked, the cup of water he had given her had to have been almost three fourths full for her to get this wet. "Yin, are you alright?"

The silver haired doll simply nodded her head in response, opting to not give a verbal reply.

That alone told Hei she wasn't going to speak, at least not for a few minutes. "We need to get you out of those clothes, it's too cold for you to keep them on while they're wet. And since that's the case, I'll go ahead and start the shower, so as to get that out of the way and you can get some rest afterwards."

As he finished saying this, he lifted her up and placed her on the bed, sitting her upright as she could handle that much, before beginning to undress her.

He started with her tank top, grabbing the bottom and gently pulling it over her head and off her body, her lifting her arms in the process to make it easier to do so. Her bare chest was now exposed, and yet there was not even a flicker of the dark haired man's eyes, as he had already moved on to her skirt, after placing the tank top to the side on the bed. Once he had removed her skirt, he hooked his thumbs into her panties and began to slide them off her, placing them in the pile with her soggy skirt and soggy tank top, they too being somewhat wet from the spilt water, after removing them.

Even though she was stark naked in front of Hei, she showed no signs of embarrassment, no flickering of the eyes, no reddening of the cheeks, nothing.

Now that she was nude, Hei entered the bathroom and started up the shower, before returning to her side and lifting her into his arms. He carried her to the shower, placing her into it in a sitting position, her back up against the wall. He then removed the blue button up shirt he was wearing, placing it on the side of the sink, so it didn't get wet while he bathed her.

Thirty minutes later all the hot water was gone, Hei was soaked, the jeans he was wearing a darker shade of blue since there wasn't a single dry spot on them, and Yin was finished with her shower. Unfortunately they both had to air dry, as there were no towels.

Hei placed her on the bed once more, before slipping the new white button up shirt he got over her head and pulling it down over her body. Since it was his size, her arms were all but consumed by the sleeves, only her hands being visible, and that was only because he had adjusted the shirt a bit to make it so, so if she moved a bit the sleeves would cover her hands as well. The shirt also worked as a nightgown of sorts, as it was just two or so inches shy of reaching her knees.

He then entered the bathroom once more, removing the soaked jeans and placing them in the sink, grabbing the blue shirt and exiting the small tiled room in nothing but a pair of black boxers. He put the shirt away for the next day, grabbing the new jeans from the floor and doing the same thing with them, before pulling on the only other piece of clothing he had taken from the neighbors, a grey pair of sweatpants. They had been a little too small for the man, Gerald was his name, so they'd never been worn, and while they weren't Hei's exact size either, they were better than nothing. While he was still shirtless, it would just have to do.

He then got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up the shattered glass plate and cup, making sure to get every piece as the carpet could hide the presence of one or two if he wasn't careful, putting them all onto the counter, right next to the broken microwave when he was done. He then fished out every napkin he could find from the box of Chinese take out, even a few which had slipped out into the bag, and used them to clean up the water that had dripped off of Yin and him onto the bathroom floor.

After disposing off the now useless napkins, Hei reentered the room Yin was in, turned off the television, which was on some four'o clock news program, and came to her side, avoiding the mild sized wet spot on the carpet from the water. He then crouched down, to where they were eye level even though she was sitting on the bed and finally asked, "You wanna tell me what happened now?"

The young girl retained her silence for several more moments, before finally replying, "I tried to get up."

"Why-" Before the raven haired man could finish asking why she needed to get up, she answered him, "So I could put my dishes away."

"Why would you try to do something like that? Your body is weak right now Yin, it shouldn't have been possible for you to stand, let alone come over to me mere hours ago. You passed out from exhaustion from just doing that, so doing anything more than rest is out of the question."

"But I don't wish to be a burden to you."

Hei's eyes widened considerably at those words, and his tone became disbelieving, "Yin, why would you ever think of yourself as a burden?"

"I have been blind my entire life, even when I became a doll I still could not see, however I've always been able to take care of myself. You've always protected me, always kept me safe, and the only thing I could do to help was to use my specter to keep a lookout. Even still, you didn't have to worry about taking care of me, at least not how you have to now. I can't get out of bed, I can't clean up after myself, I can't even bathe myself properly, you're going to have to take care of me as if I was a child. Even though I can now see, I've never been more useless to you."

Tears began to descend the silver haired seventeen year old's face as she finished speaking. Most people would be confused at this sight, as her face was blank, it portrayed no sadness. However Hei could read her eyes, and he could see she was indeed quite upset.

The black haired man's tone was almost dangerous as he replied, "Don't you ever say that again."

The firm way he said this, and how close his tone was to the one he used when he was the Black Reaper, got Yin to meet his gaze. So with her full attention on him, he spoke once more, using a tone that combined love, firmness and finality all into one, "You've never been useless, not in the slightest. Without you, I never would have made it this far. Yin, you are my world, my everything. If it hadn't been for you...I would have taken Amber up on her offer to be with Pai, her and everyone else. Without you Yin, I would cease to exist."

As he said all this to Yin, he wiped her tears away, as he never wanted to see her cry.

Judging by her eyes, he knew his words had some kind of effect, as she looked a great deal less sad. "Hei..."

With him crouching and her sitting they were roughly at eye level, so she placed her hands on his face as she leaned in and put her lips against his, engaging him in her second kiss, their second kiss. It lasted several seconds before the silver haired girl pulled away, though only slightly, as their lips were a mere inch and a half from each other.

Hei was the one to engage the kiss this time, as he closed that less than two inch distance. This one quickly grew heated, as before either knew what was happening, he had her lying on her back, while also being on his knees over her on the bed at this point, not breaking lip contact with her once as it happened. Her arms were now positioned around his neck, as it made things a bit easier.

It remained hot and heavy for about a minute or so, before, on instinct, Hei spread her legs with his right knee, in doing so brushing up against her womanhood, causing her to gasp. This caused the raven haired man to abruptly pull away, panting only slightly as their lip lock had lasted a little while. He stared down at her, searching her eyes for a sign that he had crossed the line, as the noise she made had made him feel like he did. After a second or so, he could see it, even if it was only a tiny amount, she was feeling fear, as well as confusion.

Yin didn't know much about being intimate, only the basics really, so she wasn't sure why Hei had pulled away, or why he now looked so unsure of the situation. She was admittedly somewhat overwhelmed by what had been happening, but there was nothing she wanted more in the world than for him to be happy. The only thing that came close was how much she wanted to be one with him. So she would have gladly done anything he wanted her to, or let him do anything he wanted to do to her. However him pulling away like he just did, had her wondering if she had done something wrong. Just as he was searching her eyes, she was searching his, trying to figure out what had made him pull away. She was worried, afraid even, that she had done something wrong, or he had some kind of second thoughts about them being together...it was not entirely irrational, however it didn't make much sense, it was her old emotions surfacing, it was because she could feel. Most people had called this evolution, but it felt more like who she was before was returning to her, if not entirely, at least partially.

After almost half a minute of silence, it was finally broken by Hei, "I'm sorry, I should have restrained myself. Your body isn't ready for this, not with how much it needs to readjust to, and it seems neither are you. Please forgive me Yin."

As Hei was about to get off the bed, Yin grabbed a hold of his right hand with both of hers, causing him to meet her gaze. "Hei...I want to be one with you...more than anything..."

Hei paused at those words, before looking down into her eyes to see if she truly meant them, or if she was merely speaking them for his benefit. He gazed into her eyes, silently searching, until finally, after what felt like eternity, but was actually only a dozen or so moments, he got his answer. So as a small smirk emerged across his face, he leaned down and kissed Yin's forehead, before pulling away and getting off the bed.

Just as he was about to walk away, Yin spoke his name once more, "Hei..."

It was strange really, amazing even, how Yin, who was supposed to be an unfeeling doll, could express such an array of emotions with a single word, happiness, sorrow, fear, confusion, she has expressed all of these feelings with just an utterance of the three letter name, Hei, his name. And stranger still was the man the name belonged to, who was somehow able to understand everything about her when most could barely comprehend the multitude of ways she could say his name, and yet mean anything from 'Be careful.', to, 'I'm frightened.'. This time though, when she spoke the name Hei, it meant neither of those things.

The raven haired man stood still for only a moment longer, just long enough for him to say, "I'm glad I didn't frighten you Yin, but regardless of what you or I want, your body isn't strong enough for such things yet. Once you're better, then we can proceed..."

After saying this, he pulled the takeout from the bag, and brought one of the two boxes to Yin, handing her a pair of chopsticks as well. "I know it's cold. but you need nutrition if you're going to get better, so eat up."

Following his own advice, the young raven haired man opened up his box and prepared to dig in, however he stopped after the first bite, as his was not cold as he expected it be, rather it was lukewarm, meaning it still tasted somewhat pleasant. Since this was the case, just as Yin was going to take a bite of hers, Hei gently took it from her and handed her his, to which she gave him her equivalent of a questioning look, which once again meant it was all in the eyes. "The one I gave you is warmer, so it'll taste better."

It was almost as if this answer wasn't good enough, as Yin was still staring at him, but after a few seconds she spoke, "Thank you."

And just like that she turned her attention back to her food and began to eat, though at a snail's pace.

Hei gave a small smile in return to her words.

Hei sat with his back against the front door once more, the moonlight peeking in from the window just a foot or so from him, stretching halfway across the bed Yin lie in, barely allowing the tendrils of pale light to flicker across her face.

Even though it was approaching midnight, and he'd still yet to have a full night's rest, he was wide awake. This was because of two reasons, first was the fact that Yin had yet to fall asleep, he knew this because her breathing hadn't reached the right rhythm, and second was because of what said silver haired doll had told him. "Even after that, Yin is still connected to that damn thing..."

"Hei..."

The dark haired contractor's eyes immediately located the soft spoken girl, where he saw her sitting up in the bed, the shirt he had put on her hanging off one of her shoulders, her left one to be more specific. Her violet irises met his dark blue ones, and once again he knew what she wanted merely by looking into her eyes, however he wasn't so sure that it was the best idea. "Are you sure?"

Instead of speaking the young girl opted to nod her head instead.

Seeing as it was what she really wanted, Hei could not deny her, so he got to his feet and made his way over to the bed she lie in. His eyes were still locked with hers, even as he crawled into the bed beside her.

He pulled the covers down so he could take the empty space next to her under them, which he didn't hesitate to do. She immediately cuddled up to him, pushing herself into him before he could pull her to him, which would have taken him by surprise any day before yesterday. In return he pulled the blanket back up, before wrapping her in his arms and embracing her, not only to give her warmth, which was important for him to do with how cold it was becoming day after day, but also to provide her with comfort and peace of mind, something he desperately wished for her to have every minute of every day, but could not be so because of the situation at hand.

Despite not being able to fall asleep for the past couple of hours, mere minutes after being engulfed by Hei's embrace, Yin was able to slip into a deep slumber.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched her do so, as he was glad he was able to provide her with what she needed to be comfortable enough to sleep. It would take another hour or so, but Hei too would fall into the dreamworld, not before looking to the door and double checking he had both locks locked though.

"Yin..."

Yin's vision was blurry as her eyes fluttered open, but she was conscious enough to know where she was, in bed with Hei, his arms around her.

"Pai..."

She was wrapped in the warmth of the only one she loved in the world, and yet she was concerned, though not for herself, only for him.

"Suou..."

She pulled away from him, though only the bare minimum required for her to move her head.

"Amber..."

Looking up at his face, she saw he was asleep, though she already knew that from the way he was breathing, the rhythm he had giving it away.

"Carmine..."

The reason for her concern had initially been because he had spoken her name, so she assumed something was wrong, but now that she knew he was asleep, she feared he was having some sort of nightmare. While she only knew three of the names he had spoken, she faintly recognized another, while the fifth was a mystery to her. She knew he had lost both Pai and Amber, then there was everything that had happened between them, and she had an image of Suou from when her specter, controlled by Izinami at the time, had followed them, she also knew her blood was on her hands, as Izinami had caused her death. But Carmine, she knew nothing of...

That's when it came to her, "Havoc, that's who Carmine is. Hei was there when she died..."

Now sure her loved one was having some kind of nightmare, Yin pulled away a bit more, before pulling herself up to where her nose almost met his, placed her hands on both sides of his head and placed her forehead against his, hoping to give him some comfort. While she wasn't sure why she was doing this rather than holding him tight, something inside her told her to, so she did. And as their foreheads met, both she and he began to glow an ethereal bright blue that was tinted white, and it continued to grow brighter for several seconds, before reaching it's peak brightness, flooding the entire room with said light. And as her mind began to go hazy, Yin pulled away and slid her hands down, wrapped her arms around Hei's neck and buried her face into his chest as her eyes closed and she went still.

A boy with jet black hair and dark blue eyes, who looked to be in his preteens, was on his way home from school. He wore a pair a blue jeans, a long sleeve white button up shirt, a green jacket and a pair of black and white sneakers, he was also lugging around a stuffed full backpack of the same color as his jacket.

He had a small smile present on his face, as today had been a good day. But it faded as his thoughts turned to a problem at home, "Sis has been strange for so long now, distant, cold, withdrawn, and nothing I do seems to help. I can't remember when it started, but I haven't seen her so much as smile since that meteor shower last year, let alone laugh. I used to be able to make her laugh all the time, but now...she just stares at me blankly whenever I talk to her, so forget being funny. I can't get any kind of reaction from her, and neither can Mom or Dad, they said things would be okay, but I'm not so sure. All she ever does anymore is eat, sleep and go to school, she doesn't watch TV, or play games, or even hang out with her friends. And then there's what that guy Dad brought home a few days ago said...what was his name again? Kain? Kiba? Oh yeah, Kaiba's his name. I overheard him say something to Dad about a contractor, but why would he be talking to Dad about a guy who prepares everything for a new building to be constructed?"

His train of thought was lost as he came across a cross walk and the light turned green when he was halfway between sidewalks, he panicked and rushed the rest of the way, only to turn around and find there wasn't a single car in sight. This was rather odd, as this street was almost always busy. Nevertheless the young boy brushed it off as a stroke of luck and continued on his way home, careful not to get lost in thought along the way as it had almost caused a serious incident only moments ago.

Soon enough the young boy reached his house, only stopping to glance at the fancy black four door vehicle in the driveway, which he had never seen before. Shrugging it off as one of his Father's colleague's, he turned the knob, opened the front door and proceeded to enter, speaking as he did so, "Hey Dad, is one of your business buddies here? Because-"

"What the hell are you doing!?"

The twelve year old was cut off by his Father's voice, though he wasn't in the front room. Never hearing his Dad speak like that before, the young boy went silent. Forgetting to close the door and take his shoes off, but remembering to shrug his backpack off, he made his way to the living room, where the sight of his Father, Mother and little Sister on the barrel end of a six inch colt python, which was held by Kaiba, greeted him. He tried to keep himself from gasping at the scene, though he failed, thankfully though the sound of the muffled intake of air was covered up by the man with the gun's voice, "I'll tell you what I'm doing Hiro, I'm acquiring an asset for my organization. That girl of yours is a Contractor, a bonafide human weapon, she'll prove to be a very nice addition to the military force we're amassing."

The boy's father, Hiro, stood at roughly six foot, he had somewhat broad shoulders, and a somewhat muscular build. He too had dark black hair, having passed that onto his son, wearing it in a similar style, as well as blue eyes, though not nearly as dark as his son's. He had fair skin and a strong jaw line. He wore a pair of khaki business pants, a black leather belt, a white short sleeve v-neck shirt, and a pair of brown dress shoes.

As for the man across him, Kaiba, he stood at five ten, with an average build. He had black hair, though not as dark as Hiro's, in a fade cut, hazel eyes and fair skin. He was currently wearing a black business suit with matching shoes.

"What on Earth are you talking about!? Human weapon!? My daughter is no such thing! A Contractor she may be, but she's still a human being!"

"So you did know! I guess I should have known, you have shown up on our radar quite a bit in the past ten years, but seeing as you've no part in any sort of organization, we thought you ignorant and that it was mere coincidence we kept crossing paths. It's now obvious that wasn't the case. What about your pretty Wife here? Does she know anything regarding your activities these last ten years? Does she even know what a Contractor is? Or what happened when the stars disappeared a year ago?"

Turning his attention to the woman in question, he then asked, "Do you Priscilla? Do you know anything about what we're talking about?"

The boy's mother, Priscilla, stood at about five eight, with a thinner than average build. She had somewhat dark brown hair that flowed down to her mid back, and very dark brown eyes. Her skin was on the paler side when compared to her husband's. She wore a long pink dress, not too fancy but not too formal either, judging by the fact she was wearing it, she and Hiro had probably planned to go somewhere. She also wore some not so high high heels.

"I do."

"I see. What about little Xing here? Does she know what she is?"

The boy's younger sister, Xing, stood at roughly four eight, and had an average build. She had her Mother's hair and blue eyes, darker than her Father's, but lighter than her Brother's. She, as well as her Brother, shared their Mother's skin tone. She was wearing a nice white dress, almost matching her Mother's, though more suited for her younger age. She had nice black dress shoes on as well.

Priscilla was the one to answer that as well, "To an extent, yes."

"That'll make things easier then."

After saying this, Kaiba reached out and grabbed a hold of Xing's hair, before yanking her to him, eliciting a pained squeak from the young girl.

That action managed to break the young boy out of his stupor, as anger filled his being, and he failed to think of what would happen if he tried something like this. "Just what do you think you're doing to my little Sister!?"

Kaiba's attention was immediately on the twelve year old, who was now charging at him. Without even trying, he put the kid down, giving him a quick elbow to the abdomen with his gun holding arm, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to double over in pain.

Xing's eyes widened at this, Priscilla called out his name in concern, "Hei!"

And Hiro charged the man himself. "How dare you hurt my children, you sunuva-"

He never got to finish his sentence, as the sound of a gun going off cut him off.

Before he could reach Kaiba, the same man he had allowed into his home out of the goodness of his heart, pulled the trigger and put a sizable hole in his head, causing him to drop the floor with a thud and blood to begin pooling around his face. "You've always played the hero Hiro, and this time, it's come back to bite you in the ass."

Priscilla became hysterical in a mere moment, "HIRO!"

She got to her knees beside her husbands body and called his name several times, as if that would bring him back, tears racing down her face all the while, before looking to the one who had killed him, "YOU BASTARD! I WON'T-"

She too was cut off mid sentence as a bullet was put in her head, causing her to fall back and hit the floor with a thump just as her husband had, more blood beginning to stain the white carpet that line most floors of the house.

Hei had no air in his lungs, so he was incapable of crying out, but his eyes were wide and tears were streaming down his face, as both of his parents fell before him. He couldn't grasp it, they had been alive only moments ago, and now they were both dead...gone forever. It had happened so fast, but for the dark haired twelve year old it couldn't have been any slower, as with the mental trauma it had inflicted upon him, it had all transpired in slow motion to his eyes.

Making sure his grip on her hair was tight, Kaiba prepared to drag the girl out of the house, "Now then, we need to be on our way."

Those words pierced Hei's eardrums and his head shot up, where he saw the man about to begin pulling his sister along, to somewhere he wouldn't be able to follow. His whole world was crashing down around him, his Father and Mother were both dead, and this man was going to take the only family he had left away from him, his little Sister. He couldn't let that happen, he wouldn't allow it, he refused to!

Fighting through the pain he got halfway to his feet, before throwing all of his weight into Kaiba, taking the man by surprise and tackling him to the ground, causing him to lose his hold on Xing, but he did manage to keep ahold of his gun though. At the same time he tried to pull the trigger, so as to kill the very kid who had just tackled him. He succeeded, in pulling the trigger at least, as the gun fired, but the worst thing the bullet did to the young kid was to cause a loud ringing in his ears. The bullet ended up going through a picture, and the wall behind the picture of course.

Kaiba quickly began trying to force the kid off him, but he wouldn't quit, doing everything he could do to keep the man down. He grew tired of trying to wrestle the brat fast, so raised his left arm enough to get a half decent shot at him and pulled the trigger once more. Once again he missed the dark haired twelve year old, as the shot whizzed past his head, though just barely missing skin, it did take a few strands of hair with it before hitting the wall behind him and putting another hole in the house. "Damn it kid, hold fucking still!"

Though he wouldn't have obliged him if he had, the fact of the matter was that the twelve year old's ears were still ringing, he couldn't hear anything. However he could tell that the man had fired upon him once more, and his fight or flight instinct kicked in again, so he lunged at the gun, throwing himself off of the man's abdomen and onto his left arm as he tried to wrestle the revolver from him. However Kaiba's grip on the killing tool was tight, and soon enough he had his other hand grab a hold of a fistful of the kid's green jacket, with which he would yank the kid off of his arm, so it would prove difficult to obtain the weapon.

The first attempt to pull him off was unfruitful, the second moved him a bit, and the third attempt almost fully dislodged the feisty preteen. So Kaiba was going to make a fourth attempt, however Hei began lashing out, kicking at the man, trying to keep his right arm away. He made several grabs for the child, but with his flailing legs, it proved difficult. Even still this only lasted a few moments, as with one misfired and lucky kick, the twelve year old ended up slamming his right foot into the man's throat, damaging his trachea, cutting off his oxygen intake for several moments, and causing him to let up on his grip, allowing the preteen to finally free the gun from his grasp.

While the twelve year old scrambled to his feet, Kaiba was doing the same thing, though at a slower pace, while gasping for air the entire time. Unluckily for him, the dark haired kid got to his feet first, so his breathing ragged, he gripped the weapon with both hands, and proceeded to fire just as the man managed to get to his feet.

The bullet left the chamber and ended up ripping right through the flesh of the man's left thigh, causing the man to swear loudly as he fell back onto his ass from the pain. Even with the pain he was in, his thoughts immediately went to keeping it from getting worse, so he quickly applied pressure to the wound so as to minimize the chance of him bleeding out.

Hei was almost in the same position, as he had stumbled back and nearly fell over from the kickback from the large magnum, but he just managed to stay on his feet. And as he caught his balance to prevent from falling over, Kaiba began pulling himself to his feet, saying this as he did so, "I'll get you for that kid, believe that!"

Hei's fear and panic levels somehow reached another level as the man regained his footing, so he aimed and fired once more. This time the bullet ended up ripping and tearing through the man's left knee, causing him to cry out in pain as he lost his footing, more specifically his left leg wasn't able to hold him up so he lost his balance, and he fell forward, hitting the ground near face first.

This time the kickback did knock the preteen down, but he quickly recovered, getting to his feet only a moment or two later.

Now that he had wounded the man, the raven haired twelve year old quickly turned to Xing and grabbed a hold of her right hand with his left, keeping the gun in his right with a tight hold on it's grip. "We have to run Pai!"

And they did just that, out of the living room, out the front door, and right out of the house.

Kaiba rolled himself over onto his back, as he divided each of his hands between keeping pressure on his thigh bullet wound and knee bullet wound, and managed to get himself into a sitting position, cringing in pain as he did so. Not knowing whether the shots had gone all the way through or not, he looked at the wall that had been behind him when he had been standing, and felt some relief upon seeing there were two bullet holes in it. Since the shots had gone all the way through, he was in less danger than he could have been.

Putting as much pressure on the wounds as he possibly could, Kaiba began to force himself to his feet, swearing profusely as he did so. It hurt like a bitch to stand on the injured leg, but he did it anyway and began to limp to the front door. Before he could exit the house, he ended up tripping on a green backpack and having to force himself to his feet once more. This of course caused him to begin cursing rapidly and repeatedly until he was standing once again.

As he got out the front door, he quickly searched for the two, his eyes darting everywhere, allowing him to barely notice the two turn a corner. But he had noticed them, and that's all he needed. So he limped to his car, opening the driver side door and entering the vehicle once he had, all the while saying to himself, "I came here with a job to do, and I'm not leaving till it's done goddammit!"

Jamming the keys into the ignition and starting up the car, he prepared to chase down those two kids.

Hei was damn near dragging Pai along as he rushed down the street around the corner from their house, her feet only moving at all because she had been told to run. He was moving as fast as he possibly could, pulling his younger sister along with him, the gun he held feeling like it was weighing him down with how heavy it was to someone of his age, who had never even wielded a BB gun before. Yet he dare not drop it, as it was all he had to defend Pai and himself with.

The young boy's eyes were searching frantically for anyone in the area, so as to call out to them for help, but even though it was the middle of the afternoon, there wasn't a single person or car in sight, which was far too strange to be a mere coincidence. The raven haired preteen didn't get any time to think about this though, as the same car that had been in his driveway had just turned the corner, and was now racing towards him and his sister. Knowing who was in the driver's seat without even thinking about it, the twelve year old cut through a back alley, which was far too narrow for any kind of vehicle to fit through, which forced the man to go around.

Hei led Pai through the back alley for a handful of moments, avoiding trashcans and clotheslines all the way, before they came out the other side. Once they had, they made a bee-line for the right, hoping to travel a couple of blocks and hopefully reach the police station, at least that was what the male of the two was hoping to do. However that hope was cut down, as the same black car they had lost moments ago quickly came screeching around the corner of the direction they were running, leaving skid marks on the road and causing smoke to appear from the friction the brakes had caused the tires to create.

The two preteens quickly scrambled back the other way, courtesy of the older one of them, as the younger was just following, and tried to race back to that back alley. But that car was now barreling at them at high speeds, so they'd be cutting it close, if they even managed to make it that is.

As they reached the alley they had come out of, Hei didn't even have to look back, as the sound of the car's engine was close enough for him to know he only had a split second before it reached Pai and him, so without even thinking about it, he shoved her into the back alley as the car slammed into him from behind, taking him off his feet, and causing him to tumble across the front of the car to the back and off onto the pavement. It happened so fast that you could have blinked and you would have missed it.

The car came to a shrill sounding halt, swerving, but only after plowing into the kid, so as to come to a stop but spin the car around so the front was facing the preteens. The windshield had been shattered into pieces upon impact, so glass was all over the street and in the car itself, hell there were even a few pieces on Kaiba, which fell off and onto the road as he exited his car, having thrown open the door as he did so and neglecting to close it afterwards.

He now had bandages wrapped around both bullet wounds, though quite sloppily, as he had haphazardly applied them while driving.

He hobbled over as fast as he could, but came to a stop a few feet from the face down in a small puddle of his own blood and deathly still dark haired kid, as out of the corner of his right eye he spotted Xing. So he turned to face her to see if he had seen what he thought he saw, and as he watched tears fall from her face and hit the concrete of the back alley she stood in, he knew he had indeed seen correctly, she was crying, and with one of the saddest expressions anyone had ever seen on her face as well, it almost made him feel sorry for her...almost.

What happened next though, almost no one could could have seen coming.

"Hei...Hei...Hei..."

No response came from her older brother, not the first time she called his name, not the second, nor the third, however she dare not approach him, as she feared what she would find out if she did. Little did she know, that he was hovering between a state of unconsciousness and actual consciousness, making him aware of what was going on around him, but unable to do anything about it. And with how little any of his functions worked in this state, he might not even remember some of it, at least not for awhile.

The reality of the situation soon sunk in, and Xing in turn sunk to her knees, before throwing her head back and releasing an ear splitting cry, so loud that the whole neighborhood could hear it, despite the fact that no one was around. And it was by no means a short scream, it was quite a long one, much to the wounded man's annoyance.

However something quite stunning and intriguing happened as she continued to cry out, her eyes began to glow red, and she, as well as the surrounding area, all began to glow an ethereal light blue with a slight white tint, and as this happened, the glass that was lying about everywhere reverted to it's original form of sand, by breaking down piece by piece, until several seconds in every single window in the vicinity all burst into sand, spilling about all over the place. In addition, all the buildings made of wood began to noticeably rot, while the front end of the black car began to slowly get closer to the ground, it making all kinds of metal scraping kinds of noises as this happened.

As all of this happened, Kaiba had his ears covered, but did not move to stop the young girl, as he was far too enthralled by the ability she was displaying. Not that it mattered though, as before anything else significant could happen, her cry came to an end, the glow disappeared, her eyes returned to normal, and she slumped over as she fell into a deep slumber.

Removing his hands from his ears, the wounded man couldn't help but say to himself, "Holy shit...I hit the jackpot with this one."

With her older brother dead, and her unconscious state, things were significantly easier at this point for the limping man. Little did he know, as he began moving closer to Xing, that the same boy he thought dead began to move.

His ears were ringing once more, having returned to normal in the alleyway before, not that it mattered now. His vision was blurry, and all the blood was blocking his left eye, and most importantly, every part of his body was in agony. Over a dozen bones had been broken upon impact with the car, and when he hit the windshield it shattered, so he had several gashes where pieces of glass used to be, not to mention his head was busted open from both the front and the back. Despite all these injuries. and the ringing in his ears, it was the sound of Pai crying out that had brought him back to a state of full consciousness.

So the first thing he did once he was able to move, was to lift himself off the ground just a bit with his arms and look back to the alleyway where he had left her, only to see her unconscious and the same man who had just nearly killed him about to grab a hold of her. And at the same time, he himself noticed the dark haired twelve year old looking at him, as both of their eyes widened, they both looked toward the gun which had slipped from the younger one's grip when he got run over, which was lying several feet to said boy's right. Both then quickly scrambled for the gun, Hei pouncing on it, and Kaiba leaping toward it in spite of his injuries.

In the end it was the injured preteen who got ahold of it, rolling over onto his back as the wounded man pinned him down, knees on either side of him, as he prepared to wrestle the gun from him. However he didn't even get the chance to lay his hands on said weapon, as the dark haired twelve year old held the grip tightly with both hands, with the barrel of the gun placed right between the eyes of the injured man, the kid's finger on the trigger. This kid had a kill shot on him, there was no way out of this, and he knew it.

Time seemed to move at a snail's pace, as the two looked dead into the other's eyes, one with a shocked expression on their face, and the other with a look that would kill if it could. And as time seemed to slow down, the wounded man took in the appearance of the kid who was just a single moment away from ending his life. More specifically what his face looked like at that current moment, most of which was bathed in blood, along with his hair, which was sticky with the red substance. The only part of his face not smothered in his own blood was a small portion of the right side, extending from his eyebrow down to the end of his right nostril, allowing him to see with his right eye, unlike his left, which was shut tight, so as to keep blood from getting in it.

Finally Hei pulled the trigger, but to his shock and dismay the revolver clicked, revealing it was out of ammo. What both he and the man with the gun in his face forgot in the heat of the moment was that they were using a six shot magnum, and had already fired all their ammo back at the house. Nevertheless the preteen pulled the trigger once more, only to hear that telltale click once more.

That second click seemed to snap Kaiba out of whatever trance he was in, as a scowl crossed his face and he snatched the gun from the twelve year old before proceeding to pistol whip him with it, knocking him unconscious.

With that he forced himself to his feet, bringing the body of the unconscious dark haired punk along with him on the way up, saying to himself as he did so, "How'd ya like that, you damn brat."

The wounded man limped his way to his car, before popping the trunk and tossing the kid carelessly into it and proceeding to slam it afterwards. "And stay in there!"

He then hobbled over to the one who was actually important to his mission, lifted her off the ground and took her back to the car and lied her down in the back seat, before climbing back into the driver's seat once more, where he was allowed to finally breathe a sigh of relief. "Damn brats, almost more trouble then they're worth...than she's worth, cause that punk's useless to me and my organization. I'm gonna enjoy paying the little shit back for what he's done to me when we get there, that's for sure."

Since the keys were still in the ignition, all Kaiba had to do was put his foot on the gas pedal, his hands on the wheel and they were on their way to wherever he was taking them.

Hei didn't come to for a long while, but when he did, all he saw was black, that was of course because of the black hood that was over his head. He knew it was so because of the texture of it and how it rubbed against his face. At first he was stricken with fear and panic, but thoughts of his sister forced him to calm down somewhat, as he had to find her and make sure she was okay. So now somewhat calm, he began using his other four senses besides sight, so as to ascertain that his hands were bound together with rope behind his back, he was lying on a steel floor and there were other people in the room with him. He didn't get to assess his situation anymore than that however, as someone had somehow noticed his consciousness, and proceeded to raise him off the ground, but not entirely, and place him on his knees.

And as they did the preteen couldn't help but scream in agony, nearly falling over because of the intensity of it, but he managed to keep himself up. This surge of pain had emanated from his right leg, he knew that all too well, as it continued to throb and ache even after he managed to stop himself from crying out.

Only a second later the hood was removed from him, the light of the room blinding him for a few seconds until his eyes could adjust to the sudden brightness of his surroundings. The first thing he saw once his eyes had adjusted to the light levels was his little sister, who was not even teen feet across from him, also on her knees, though with nothing over her head. "Pai!"

Clearly not thinking, he shot to his feet, despite how much his body cried out in protest as he did so, so as to close the distance between them and make sure that she was okay, but before he could make it more than three feet his legs gave out on him, especially his right one. A cry of pain escaped his mouth just before he hit the ground, as standing on his injured legs had just made them worse, and he knew it, though he obviously hadn't thought his actions through when he chose to spring up like that.

Out of what some might call morbid curiosity, Hei, who was now silent but still in pain, the fact that his teeth were grit so tightly evidence of that, rolled over, with some difficulty, and looked down at his body, so as to see just how bad of shape he was in. And while he wasn't able to really discern everything that was wrong with him, he found out he was in worse condition than he had thought.

He was covered in blood, that much was obvious within a moment, his jacket and shirt being stained all over with said sticky red substance, he could also see several gashes in his upper body and one or two on his legs, and it was safe to assume they were from the glass of the windshield. The fact that he couldn't even stand, and that his jeans, particularly the right leg, were soaked with blood that hadn't come from the gashes in his legs, told him he needed medical treatment, badly.

Not giving him more than a handful of moments to calm himself, someone came to his side and forced him back up onto his knees, as well as turning him to face his sister once more, causing him to hiss in extreme discomfort as they did.

During this third bout of pain his eyes were, of course, shut, so after opening them he saw that there were more people in the room than he had thought. Besides him and his sister, there were four other people in the room. Two soldiers decked out in black combat gear, both toting assault rifles, Kaiba, and a fourth, unknown man. Of course since he hadn't looked at who had pulled him up to his knees, he didn't know which one of them had done it.

This unknown man appeared to be in his late thirties, stood at five eleven, had a slightly wider build than most, but not to the point of being overweight, auburn hair in a buzz cut, green eyes and fair skin. He wore an old time black and faded light blue suit, with matching tie, black dress shoes, a long brown trench coat and a black fedora.

Just as Hei was going to speak to this yet to be named man, Kaiba shoved the same hood he had put over his head into his mouth, so as to keep him quiet for a little bit, as he had quite obviously grown tired of his screams.

The unknown man then looked at both preteens for a few moments, before turning to Kaiba and speaking, "You said you had found one contractor Kaiba, just one, so who is this?"

"He's her brother, I brought him along because I didn't have the means to dispose of him at the scene."

Quirking his eyebrow, the thirty something asked, "He's the one who gave you so much trouble?"

"I-uh, well-"

Not giving the man a chance to explain himself, the hat wearing man said aloud, "Interesting..."

He then approached the dark haired twelve year old and examined him, without actually getting too deep into his personal space, at least for the first few moments that is. Soon enough he grabbed the boy by the chin, and used it to move his head side to side, examining his injuries thoroughly. After letting go, he ran his eyes across the rest of his body once more, before turning to Kaiba and speaking, "He's quite a mess, just what did you do to him Kaiba, hit him with your car?"

As a bit of nervous sweat began to roll down his forehead, the injured man answered his boss's question, "Uh-I, well actually, yes Sir, I did."

Looking skeptical he asked, "Are you serious?"

Not sure where this was going, he answered back, "Yes, I am."

After that there was an almost awkward feeling silence for several long, drawn out moments, before, trying to regain his composure, the wounded man spoke once more, "I don't plan to allow him to live any longer than is necessary, I was just about to take care of him in fact, after I put the contractor in confinement of course."

That statement seemed to get the unnamed man back to the situation at hand, "Speaking of her, do you've any idea what kind of ability she possesses?"

"Well Sir..."

The younger one of them then lent closer so as to whisper a few things, and when he pulled back, the older one turned to face the young girl, speaking aloud as he did so, "I see...that is intriguing indeed. Nevertheless, we'll have to run a few tests just to make sure. Now then, get her to her new room."

"Right away Sir." He nodded his head as he said this.

Kaiba then came to Xing's side, and proceeded to pull her to her feet by her bound hands, "Come now Xing, it's time to show you to your new home."

The dark haired twelve year old finally managed to force the cloth hood out of his mouth, and began to his voice his protests, "What do you think you're doing!? You're not taking my Sister anywhere!"

The wounded man didn't even pretend to listen to preteen's objections, as he continued towards the door with Xing in tow.

His voice grew louder as he continued, "Did you hear me!? Let her go! You can't take her away from me!"

Once more there was no response to his words, and as tears began to form in his eyes, he began to grow desperate, "Fucking listen to me!"

The dark brown haired girl didn't offer any resistance, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet and led away from her brother, but as she drew close to the door out of the larger, spacious and rather empty steel floored room, she looked back at her big brother with sorrowful, almost pleading eyes, and yet no tears came, even as she mouthed the words, "Goodbye Big Brother."

Hei couldn't take it anymore, he let out a fierce cry, "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

That outcry drew everyone's attention, two individuals in particular.

Tears were racing down his face, and his expression was one of extreme anguish as he began to beg for all that he was worth, "Please...PLEASE! Please don't take her away from me, she's all I have left, I need her, I need my little sister, I need Pai, don't take her from me...please. I'll do anything, ANYTHING YOU ASK, just please...don't take my little Sister away..."

After that he hung his head, he still continued to speak, but it was all unintelligible sobs, as he was crying too hard to speak.

Silence reigned for a few moments, before the unnamed man responded to the dark haired kid's outburst, "If you really mean that, it can be arranged."

Both Hei's and Kaiba's head snapped to the hat wearing man with a look of disbelief on their faces, both asking the same question but with two entirely different tones...

Hei's was hopeful, "Really?"

Kaiba's almost sounded disgusted, "Really?

"Yes really. Now then, Kaiba, if you would, kindly show these children to their new room."

The injured man proceeded to sigh loudly, "Right away Sir."

Just before the he shut the door, Kaiba said, "Welcome to The Syndicate kiddies."

Once the door was slammed shut, Hei pulled his younger sister into a tight embrace, almost as if any second someone would come and try to take her away again, "Pai, I'm so glad you're okay."

He pulled away for a moment, just enough to look into her eyes while still holding her, "They didn't hurt you did they?"

The younger girl shook her head no, allowing her brother to breathe a sigh of relief. "Good."

The twelve year old then took a moment to look around what was supposed to be their new room, there were of course four walls, a floor and a ceiling, all steel and all grey, a door and two beds, both with blue sheets and blankets, no windows however. The room was barely big enough for two people, and that was only if you only gave them beds, which they had. There was only the bare minimum amount of room to move around, all in all it was more appropriate to be called a prison cell rather than a room.

The dark haired kid stepped away from his sister for a moment, one hand on the wall closest to him so he could keep himself vertical, while he used the other free hand to try and turn the door knob, so as to open the door. It was locked though. "Of course it's locked, why wouldn't it be?"

Sighing in annoyance, the preteen then moved on to trying to find some kind of weakness in the walls, using one of them to keep himself on his feet the whole time.

"Hei, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to find us a way outta here."

"But you can't! We can't leave!"

Whipping around to face her, the older boy had a look of aggravated disbelief on his face, "What!? Why not!?"

"We're no match for them Brother, they're bigger, stronger, and they have weapons. You're hurt and can barely walk, I can't carry you and even if I could, I wouldn't be able to move fast enough to get us out of here. If we try to escape, we're sure to die. Besides...where else do we have to go?"

"What did you just say?"

She gave no answer, so he asked once more, louder this time, "What did you just say!?"

"Think about it Brother, Mother and Father are dead, we have no home to return to, no other family and no way to survive on our own. We should stay here, it'll be safer that way."

The way she had almost no emotion once so ever on her face, no sadness or tears in her eyes, and how she said it so matter of factly, it...it...it pissed him off!

Hei ignored the pain it caused his legs, his right one especially, when he used both hands to grab a hold of his little Sister's shoulders, and got in her face, "How could you say that!? These people, they destroyed our family! They kidnapped us, and who knows what they're going to do to us!? Can't you understand!? They've taken everything away from us!"

Even after all that, there was no visible change in Xing's demeanor, it was almost as if she didn't care.

The older of the siblings then began to violently shake the younger one, "They killed Mom and Dad Pai, don't you care!?"

That's when the dark brown haired girl looked into her older brother's eyes with an almost blank stare, and spoke eight words that shook his world to the core, "I'm not so sure that I do Brother."

Hei's shaking of his younger sister ceased, as his eyes grew wide with shock, horror and disbelief at her cold words. The last pieces of his world were threatening to come down around him, he was at his breaking point...and he had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

That's when the sound of the door unlocking snapped him out of it, and both his and his Sister's attention was pulled to the one who opened the door, the unnamed man. "Come with me for a moment, would you?"

As Pai moved to step forward, he spoke once more, "Not you young lady, I was speaking to your older brother."

Not even able to think straight, the dark haired kid simply limped out of the room, one hand on a wall at all times so as to take away some of the pain from doing so. The hat wearing man closed the door behind him, before proceeding to lead him down the hallway to another room, inside of which was an infirmary with the works.

The coat wearing man gestured for the only person in his company to sit on the infirmary bed, which the young boy did, though with an almost blank look on his face. He was brought back to the situation at hand as the nameless man spoke, "We've surveillance in every nook and cranny in this building, so no matter where you go, we can either hear you, or see you. In your case it was both, though the camera was hidden so I can't fault you for not noticing it with how young and inexperienced you are."

"Then you heard-"

Not allowing his young companion to finish, he said, "Yes, I did. I know that you're intent on escaping, and that you obviously have no idea why you and your sister are here, or what she even is for that matter."

"What are you talking about? What she is?"

"Don't you know? She's a Contractor my young friend."

"That's what you keep calling her, but I've no idea what that's supposed to mean! A contractor is an occupation, a job, and that's obviously not what you're referring to! So tell me, what the hell is a contractor!?"

The hat wearing man couldn't help but chuckle, "No, your sister certainly isn't that type of contractor."

Taking a seat across from the bed the dark haired preteen sat on, the unnamed man spoke once more, "Look, we've obviously gotten off on the wrong foot here. In order for you to stay with your sister you have to work for us, and if you work for us we need to be able to trust you, just as you need to be able to trust us. So why don't we begin working on that bond of trust? We'll start simple, you tell me why you call her Pai, and I'll tell you exactly what a contractor is."

Unsure of all of this, Hei hesitantly asked, "Why do you even care..."

"James, please, call me James. And as for why, the answer is very uncomplicated, I'm just curious. All I know about the girl is her name, and I certainly know that it's not Pai."

After that the twelve year old hesitated to speak again, but after a few seconds he gave in, "It was just a fluke, it's stupid..."

"Go on."

Despite not exactly wanting to, he did so, "She was really young, three I think, and I came up with the idea that her name should have been Bai. Since I was black, I thought it was only right for her to be white, especially since half her clothes were that color, though that might have been my parents's fault. So I started calling her Bai, eventually she started to copy what I said, but instead of Bai, she'd say Pai and...well it just stuck."

An amused smile crossed James's face, "I see, that is quite endearing."

The smile disappeared though, as he said, "Now then, you fulfilled your end of the bargain, and now so shall I."

Looking into his young companion's eyes, he continued, "A Contractor is..."

To Be Continued...