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Here is the last chapter, hope you enjoy. Many thanks to everyone who followed, faved, reviewed, and just read the fic. You all rock!

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Chapter 5: HOMRA and Scepter 4

"Why does it have to be like this?! Every time I feel like we take a step forward we end up taking two steps back!" Hidaka yelled, raking her hands furiously through her scruffy brown hair.

Kamamoto's face was sad but not apologetic, "because you're Scepter 4 and we're HOMRA," he said quietly.

The irony that he, a member of HOMRA, was sitting calmly and quietly, while she, a member of Scepter 4, ranted and raved, was not lost on Hidaka but right now she was too angry to care.

"Why do we have to fight each other?!" She demanded. She dashed furiously at her eyes as angry tears sprung into them. "We almost won on Christmas Eve! I've said it before and I'll say it again, maybe if we spent less time fighting each other and more time fighting together we wouldn't have to deal with this!" She was grinding her teeth now and Kamamoto's face was stony, emotionless, Hidaka had never seen him look like that before.

She ground her teeth until they squeaked, stupid Reds.

No, it wasn't the Reds' fault. Or rather, it was, but the Blues were equally to blame and the Greens even more so. It wasn't fair to blame just the Reds.

A few of the younger members of Scepter 4 had gotten into a scuffle with a pair from HOMRA, they'd been so busy being antagonistic that none of them had noticed an ambush by jungle. The two Reds were members of HOMRAs inner circle; Erica Solt and her boyfriend Kouske Fujishima, so they'd walked away relatively unscathed and even managed to drive the Greens back, so actually Hidaka knew she should actually be grateful to the Reds. But she wasn't feeling grateful at all.

The youngsters from Scepter 4 hadn't been so lucky. They were being driven to hospital now.

Hidaka blinked back tears as she watched the three of them get loaded into three ambulances. Idiots! They're just kids!

Gods Hidaka was mad at the Reds and her own Clan right now but she really, really HATED the Greens!

"There's no use denying it, we can make nice and smile pretty but unless something big forces us to work together our Clans will always clash. And even then the animosity doesn't fade. It's just gets covered," said Hidaka bitterly.

"You're right," Rikio agreed.

"I for one don't want a friendship with anyone from HOMRA if it means that anytime our Clans go near each other this happens!" Hidaka gestured at the blood-stained concrete.

"Neither do I," Kamamoto agreed slowly, "you take care of your Clansmen Ak-Hidaka," he amended at the last second.

Tears pricked Hidaka's eyes as she noted the use of her surname again, like they were strangers. "So that's it then?" She asked. "We're just going to admit that we can't settle our differences and walk away? We're not even going to try and fix this?" She swept her arm around to indicate the ruined scenery around them.

"You said it yourself, we have differences we can't fix,' Rikio replied, "and why are you asking me? You're the one who's already made your choice." He glanced over at Goto who was talking to one of the medics.

Akira cringed inwardly, he knew, how did he know?

Feeling their eyes on him, Goto turned to glance at Hidaka. He smiled at her and she smiled back, warmth filled the air between them. That was how Kamamoto knew, he could see it on their faces.

"I'm sorry," said Hidaka quietly, "I never meant to hurt you. I liked you too."

Rikio grimaced, but then he smiled, "that's okay. It's not like I expected anything, we aren't star-crossed lovers like Yata and Fushimi or anything." He chuckled quietly and, despite herself, Hidaka's lips twitched at the idea of Mr. Fushimi and Misaki Yata from HOMRA being star-crossed lovers.

"And this is bigger than just you and me. Our Clans have differences we can't reconcile just because the two of us were, or are, friends," he continued.

"You're right," Akira agreed with a sigh, calming slightly.

"Maybe something will happen, like Christmas Eve, and our Clans will have to put those differences aside.

Maybe... maybe one day we can be friends again," Kamamoto's voice caught slightly.

"Maybe one day," Hidaka agreed.

"But until then, you take care of your Clan and I'll take care of mine," said Kamamoto.

Hidaka straightened, "alright then. Until the day when we can see eye to eye we'll follow the rules." She knew as well as he did that that day might never come but she was an optimist, she just had to believe in them.

"And until that day we'll break those rules, that's what they're for," said Kamamoto with a grin.

"Then we'll stop you," Akira promised. "If any of you are seen on our territory again, even you, we'll have no choice but to respond with force."

"Of course you won't," said Rikio with a smile, "agreed. And if any of you are seen on our territory again we'll use force. Even you. Especially you."

Hidaka smiled back, "agreed."

They bid each other farewell and walked back to their respective Clansmen, "did you straighten everything out with the Red Clan" Benzai asked, "you looked pretty mad there for a second."

"No. Everything's back to normal," Hidaka assured her honestly. Louder she called, "this isn't your territory Red Clan, you'd better clear off."

Solt and Fujishima looked troubled at Hidaka addressing them that way but Kamamoto grinned, "yes my Lady," he said, a teasing note in his voice.

Hidaka rolled her eyes at him and turned back to her own Clansmen, "so we're back to hating HOMRA." Summarized Akiyama.

"Yup, pretty much," Hidaka confirmed happily. Seeing their own askance looks she smiled wider, "c'mon guys! We have nothing to worry about! It's only until our two Clans can work together! We'll be friends again one day! I know it!"

Benzai and Himori glanced at each other, communicating through their eyes, "if you say so," muttered Akiyama doubtfully.

"You're optimistic," said Benzai quietly, sounding equally as doubtful.

The two of them left, "Akira, are you sure about this?" Goto asked, looking worried rather than as though he thought she had taken leave of her senses.

"Do you trust me Ren?" She asked.

"Of course," he said immediately, no hesitation whatsoever.

Hidaka linked her hands behind her back, and kicked one of her legs, "then trust me, it'll be fine! One day."

"Okay," he said, "if you're sure."

They left, Hidaka's chest kind of hurt, but she was smiling, at least things were back to normal, and they'd see each other again, she was certainly sure of that. But it was never easy losing a friend.

The others went back to the building but Hidaka begged off for a bit, she could use a break, and went to get herself a coffee.

She got herself a drink and sat down on a bench not too far from her work building, breathing the steam in deeply.

She sighed, sometimes it sucked to be her and the second she stepped back into that building was going to be one of those times, she could be forgiven for wanting to put it off for a little bit longer.

"Umm... Miss? Excuse me, are you okay?" An unfamiliar, timid voice asked her.

Hidaka looked up as a teenage girl sat down beside her, she had brown hair with two silver hair ornaments hanging off the ends of two locks on either side of her face and kind eyes. She looked kind of familiar, Hidaka thought she'd seen her before. Couldn't place where though.

She smiled, remembering the girl's question, the expression on her face must've really been something if random strangers were asking if she was alright, "I'm fine, thank you, just...brooding." She sipped her drink.

"Must have been some incredibly intense brooding then, are you sure you're alright?" the girl asked, concern lacing her every word, Hidaka smiled.

"Oh yeah, it was, but I'm okay, or I will be," she said.

"Do you want someone to talk to?" The girl asked sympathetically.

Akira actually considered that, this was a totally random stranger, no connection to Clans, HOMRA or her, if anyone could judge apathetically it would be someone like that.

"Well there was this guy," she began, the girl instantly gave her a sympathetic smile and patted her hand, Hidaka laughed, "no, not like that. Well kind of, but mostly he was my friend. But he was part of a... gang," she said.

"That sounds frightening," the girl gasped, she was listening attentively to Hidaka's every word.

It did to ordinary civilians, didn't it? But Hidaka shook her head, "they weren't bad, just misunderstood, they never frightened me anyway."

"That's good," said the girl, prompting Akira to continue.

"But, well, I'm kind of a police officer," said Hidaka, emphasis on 'kind of.'

"I can tell," the teenager replied, nodding with a smile at her blue uniform.

Oh, of course, that was what normal people assumed, Hidaka wanted to hit herself, come on brain, work please.

"Yeah..." she continued, squirming uncomfortably at the half-lie, "and long story short I thought when we weren't being cops and gangsters we could still be friends. But I guess I was wrong."

"That's a shame," said her companion sadly, and Hidaka nodded.

"That's the thing, it is a shame," she agreed. "They've given us lots of trouble over the years and we've hassled them too. We've gone out of our way to annoy each other and it's only ever ended with both sides being hurt. If we could just get along it would do everyone a world of good. But we just can't settle our differences."

"And why is that?" The girl asked innocently.

Hidaka thought for a minute, and then shrugged, "we, I, can't put any attempts at friendship over my cl-colleagues," she said, changing her word at the last second.

She had almost said 'clansmen.' Come on Akira! Think first! Then talk. "And he felt the same. His gang always came first. We couldn't see past our prejudices long enough to give the opposite group a chance and we wouldn't ever stop fighting if we couldn't put a possible friendship over automatically siding with our own group and we just ended up going around in circles. As always."

"I see," said the girl, did she? Because Hidaka was pretty sure what she had just said had made absolutely no sense at all.

"Well maybe something will happen that will force you to reconcile your differences~" she suggested happily, a sing-song tone in her voice. "None of you seem like you really want to keep fighting, maybe all you need is a little push!" She swung her legs.

"Maybe," said Hidaka thoughtfully, thinking it was probably going to take more than 'a little push' to get HOMRA and Scepter 4 to reconcile their differences. They'd had a big push to work together on Christmas Eve and then they'd still lost. But who knew? Maybe this girl was right and when jungle decided to launch their final plan or something, the Red and Blue Clans would be forced to work together again. But still, that wouldn't make them like it. Despite her annoyance at both Clans, Hidaka felt a small smile tug at the corner of her lips, HOMRA and Scepter 4 might be annoying but they were damn consistent.

Unexpectedly the girl reached over and tucked a lock of Akira's short, scruffy hair behind her ear, "if the Red and Blue Clans actually manage to work together they might stand a chance," she whispered, "but that doesn't seem likely. I think the Red Clan is awful."

What?!

Hidaka's head whipped around, tons of questions on her lips, the girl jumped up, smiling. "Well, I have to get back to class at Ashinaka so I should probably get going! Good luck! I really hope everything works out for you!"

Only then did Hidaka realize the girl was wearing a Ashinaka High School uniform, she had probably known from the beginning exactly what kind of 'police officer' Hidaka was and after that it wouldn't exactly be rocket science to figure out what this 'gang' was either. Oops. Hidaka laughed and shook her head.

A flower shop, that was where Akira found herself. It was a quaint little building she often passed on her wandering but had never actually been in before.

There were flowers and greenery all around her and the little old lady behind the counter smiled kindly at Hidaka as she walked in. There were cards by each type of flower telling the reader of that flower's meaning and pretty soon Hidaka had already picked out one that represented herself and was giggling as she picked out a flower for each member of her team.

The camellia meant graciousness; that was her Captain, who was one of the most gracious people Akira had ever met, always polite and charming, even to the Red Clan and the Gold King who treated her as though she was the bratty granddaughter he had never wanted. Hidaka, who had a hard time not saying whatever was on her mind, really admired that about her Captain.

The Lieutenant was Jasmine; the trailing vines and tiny flowers looked delicate and breakable but the old lady who ran the place assured Hidaka that it was actually quite a hardy plant, Jasmine flowers meant grace and elegance and if that didn't describe Seri Awashima then Hidaka didn't know what did.

Mr. Fushimi was a difficult one, partly because Hidaka had a hard time imagining anything about him that would relate to flowers and partly because all the meanings of flowers seemed to be good things and Mr. Fushimi seemed to hate even implying that he might have any good qualities whatsoever. But Hidaka knew they were there, very, very deep down.

His honesty, brutal though it might be Akira couldn't deny that Saruhiko Fushimi was the last person she would ever expect to lie to her. He might be rude but he had always told her the truth and Hidaka really appreciated that. He did care about them too, she knew, though he'd never actually say it out loud. He'd always been there, when Andy had been hurt by a bomb in Enomoto's locker and again when she'd been attacked and left to die by members of a Strain crime ring, when Benzai had gotten hurt in a scrape with jungle and for Hidaka herself on more than one occasion. But there was more to it than that. Though he always looked out for them when they were hurt the way he protected them most was by trying to ensure they never got in situations that could cause them harm in the first place. He always took on the worst missions, alone, he was always the one who drew enemy fire when they were up against a strong opponent and he was constantly working, constantly on the alert for every possibility so the rest of them were in as little danger as possible.

Hidaka walked past a bunch of crocus flowers which meant foresight and smiled, okay, that worked.

Himori got a daffodil for chivalry, and Benzai got a Star of Bethlehem for hope, they were two of the gracious, gallant people Hidaka had ever met and their steadfast optimism and confidence even against overwhelming odds was truly awe-inspiring.

Kamo was a cosmos flower, which meant peaceful, his serenity amongst the crazy was well and truly appreciated, and if it weren't for his constant level-headedness many members of the special squad would be far worse off than they were now. Especially Domyoji.

Likewise, Domyoji herself was a daisy for innocence. There was a reason why, at twenty years old, she was considered the baby of Scepter 4, and that wasn't just because she was the youngest (excluding Mr. Fushimi who was a few months younger). She had a purity and incorruptibility about her that all the others lacked that made them all want to protect her which was awkward to try and do as she was so selfless that she would readily die for every single one of them.

Enomoto and Fuse were easy, Enomoto was a hyacinth for sincerity, a kinder and more genuine person it was impossible to find. Fuse was a gladiolus for strength of character, which was pretty self-explanatory, it suited him.

Goto... Hidaka paced back and forth down the aisles, there were several she thought suited him in one way or the other but they were all generic flowers that could be applied to pretty much anyone. Happiness, peace, etcetera. Nothing that applied to Ren specifically, he wasn't overly sincere like Tatsuya or innocent like Andy.

They just didn't suit him.

She walked up and down again then stopped at a larkspur stem, the blue-purple colour of the many-flowered plant was what had caught her attention. The card said larkspurs represented a 'beautiful soul.' Hidaka smiled, she had found the plant that fit Goto.

"Huh!" A lot of weird things had happened to Ren Goto over his years of working at Scepter 4 but never before had anyone tipped a bundle of flowers over his head while he was trying to work. They cascaded down around him in a flurry of different colours and smells. He glanced up to see who had dropped them on him, he should have guessed...

"Hey."

"Hey," Hidaka replied, sitting down next to him.

Goto picked one of the flowers off of his head, a pretty white daisy, one of the few flowers which had been dropped on him that he could identify with any certainty.

"Dare I ask?" Asked Goto, holding the daisy up, a daffodil fell from his shoulder to his lap.

"Oh, that one's Andy's," Hidaka replied, "daisies mean innocence."

He held up the daffodil, "Akiyama," Hidaka informed him, "chivalry."

They went through the bunch of flowers Hidaka had bought, with her explaining the meanings of each flower and who she had bought it for.

Goto looked down at the larkspur Hidaka had picked for him with kind eyes, Hidaka was a sweet person, few could do the things she did and do them with a smile after losing a friend.

He noticed another flower on the ground by his foot, "what about this one?" He asked, picking it up.

Hidaka took the proffered flower with a grin and held it under her nose, it was a tulip, a yellow one.

"This one's mine," she said smiling.

"What does it mean?" Goto asked.

Hidaka swallowed and summoned up her courage, "it means 'hopelessly in love'." She told him.

Goto's mouth fell open slightly, he'd admitted he was in love with her before but Hidaka had never said the words back and they both knew it.

"I love you," she whispered.

Goto hugged her tightly, "I love you too."

They stood like that in each other's arms for a second, both unwilling to move.

Hidaka rested her head on Goto's chest, "are you really alright?" He asked her, "with everything that happened with HOMRA? Those kids are going to be fine, you know."

"I know," Hidaka replied. She had already looked in on the members of Scepter 4 who had gotten into the fight with Erica, Kouske and the Greens.

"And I'm fine with it," she continued, letting him go. "We've worked on the same side before, we didn't win, but at least we tried. I'm sure we'll, eventually, be able to co-exist in the future without the threat of imminent death above our heads."

Just then Akiyama ran into the room, Benzai on his heels, "there you are, we've been looking for you, come on, everyone's in the computer room, we need to talk." Just this morning they'd been laughing and joking, now Benzai looked worried and Himori's face was deadly serious.

"What's going on?" Hidaka asked, her heart rate picking up.

"The Captain's been fired."

And BAM! The end, hope you enjoyed guys!

So, speaking of the end, what did you guys think of the end of the show? I'd love to hear your thoughts guys.

Bye!