Alice

All of us had gone pretty much straight to our rooms when we got back to Murucho's after seemingly endless hours of questions being asked. From what I knew, Shun was the last to be interrogated, and that was it. None of us really spoke about what the police Chief asked us.

Although some of us dropped little hinted questions, but we were all too tired to catch them. I noticed that Shun was awfully quiet on the ride back in the limo. Had his questioning gone wrong? I knew Shun wouldn't want to talk about it in front of everyone, but he might tell me if it were just the two of us. He knew that I wouldn't betray any of his secrets if he didn't want me to. I chased after him when we got back.

The others didn't seem to notice as they headed back to their rooms for some rest from this stressful day. "Shun! Wait up!" He turned around, and I could see that he wasn't expecting for me to be running up behind him. "Alice?" I stopped a few feet short from him. I told him, "I noticed that you were quieter than usual on the ride back. Did everything go well during your questioning?"

Shun had been in the middle of this mess, and everything had been circling around him. When he didn't say anything, I went ahead and told him, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want or if you can't." I started to think that maybe Chief Tanner told him not to tell us about what was said between them.

Shun stuck his hands in his pockets. He really looked like he didn't want to talk about it, but at the same time he did. Which only added to my assumption that Chief Tanner told him to stay quiet.

I said, "You don't have to, Shun." He looked up at me and said, "I know, but I want to. I'm just worried about you or the others would think if I did." I took a step closer to him and said, "If you want to tell me then you can. I won't tell the others either. You know you can trust me, Shun."

He nodded his head and then leaned against the wall of the hallway that we were standing in. Shun then looked around to make sure that nobody like Dan or one of the others were walking by the hall going to one of their rooms. He sighed and said, "They might still send me to jail. Turns out that I had more charges against me than I thought."

I stared at him as if he were speaking another language. There was no way that they could do that to Shun. He was innocent in all of this. I then remembered about his past, and reminded myself of some of the things that he had done before the past few weeks. I asked him, "What are you going to do?"

He shrugged his shoulders and told me, "Wait and see. That's all I can do right now. If they decide to take me to jail, then I don't have much choice anymore. I'm tired of running from it. I just want to get it all over with." I placed my hand on his shoulder and told him, "Well, it's all almost over."

He smiled and said, "Thank goodness." I laughed and looked back up at his face. We then found ourselves leaning closer to each other, and I felt our lips meet. For so many years I wanted this to happen, and now it finally was. I found the reasons for it a little out of the ordinary; Shun running from the police and me being jumped by a gang, but I wasn't complaining anymore.

When we broke the kiss, Shun asked me, "When all of this is over….What about me and you?" I was taken aback for a moment as my brain tried to register what he was telling me so soon after our kiss. Like an idiot I asked, "Me and you?" Shun nodded his head and told me, "Yeah. If by some way that I don't get sent to jail, do you think there would be a chance for us?"

I felt my face warm up. Shun had done so much for me, and risked so much for me as well. I pushed myself up on my toes, and planted another kiss on his lips. I dropped back down to my feet, and saw that his eyes were still slightly wide with surprise. I smiled and said, "That answer your question?" He blinked a few times before smiling. I told him, "You really should smile more often." He chuckled and said, "I'll try for you."

Shun

Alice and I stood in the hall and talked for a while longer after our kiss. I glanced down at the clock on my phone. According to the time on it, night would have already fallen outside and signal another end of another day. I yawned, and felt the day finally catching up on me.

I said, "I'm going on to bed a little early." Alice nodded and said, "I think everyone else has already fallen asleep themselves." She was probably right. When we got back most of the others went on back to their rooms, and all looked drained from the suspense and stress of being under a serious interrogation.

I gave Alice another quick kiss and told her good-night, and she did the same to me. I probably shouldn't have started something with her just yet until I knew if I was truly going to jail or not, but I couldn't let this slip through my hands again.

I wasn't about to lose her again. I walked down to the new guest room that I was staying in since mine had a busted door from when the police tried to apprehend me. I wondered how much it would take for Murucho to repair the door.

Knowing him, it was probably some special and rare imported wood door from another country. When I finally got back to my new room, I laid right down on the bed and shut my eyes.

Shun

It was one of those groggy mornings for everyone. By the looks of things, some of the others most likely hadn't slept well last night. The only ones who looked well rested were me and Alice. Hmm. I wonder why. I smiled and sat down on the couch next to Alice.

We were all gathered in a sitting room that was in the main lobby of Murucho's mansion. Dan let out a yawn, and then stretched out on the couch, totally ignoring the fact that Runo was sitting next to him and now he had propped his legs up across her lap.

She stared at him for a minute before she narrowed her eyes at him, and then hit him in the stomach. Dan then shot up, and fell off of the couch and landed on the floor. Runo snapped at him, "I'm not your footrest, Dan!" I laughed along with the others at Dan's expense.

Kato then stood in the doorway and said, "Somebody is here to-" Before Kato could even finish speaking, Ron came barreling into the room. I stood up from the couch and looked at him. "Ron? What the hell are you doing out of the hospital?" There were still bandages on his arms, but that was about it. He said quickly, "They let me out this morning, but I have something to tell you guys!"

All eyes were on Ron, and even I thought he had surely gone mad somehow. He then continued. "Before I left I saw a news report. The police have already caught Colt, Eric, and Ceram!" I felt my own eyes widen, and I asked in a shocked tone, "Already? How did they find them so quickly?"

Ron couldn't stop smiling. This was as big for him as it was for me. Both of us had been unfortunate victims in the game called crime. "Turns out that they put up pictures on them on the news last night, and Ceram's own gang saw the report and turned them in! I guess we weren't the only ones fed up with his crap."

This was better than I could have ever thought. The people that Ceram thought were loyal to him, were just waiting for a chance to turn on him and hand him over to the police. All of us were standing now, and were listening to Ron finish telling us how Ceram, Colt, and Eric were already in custody and undergoing intense investigation.

Even though the proof was piled against them, they had to have a fair questioning. It wouldn't matter. They were as good as done, and going to straight to prison most likely. Ron then started to wobble on his feet, and Dan and I quickly caught him and walked him over to a couch.

I asked him, "Did you really get discharged from the hospital." He tried to do an innocent face when he said, "Not exactly. But I just had to tell you guys what happened." Murucho seemed to have thought of something and said, "How did you know where we were at?"

Ron rolled his eyes and said, "Duh. You're a Marakura. Everyone knows where you live." Murucho shrugged and said, "I didn't think about that." I shook my head and told Murucho, "Get Kato to get the limo ready so we can take Ron back to the hospital before he does something stupid."

Ron narrowed his eyes at me, and I smiled. Murucho nodded his head and ran off to find Kato. The loyal butler to the Marakura's showed up, and walked with Ron outside. Not long after they left out, Chief Tanner and several other officers walked in. "By the looks of you all, I'm guessing that you've heard what happened."

We all nodded our heads and smiled. I was just happy that they were finally off the streets, and I was very pleased with the way that they were turned in. Chief Tanner nodded his head and looked at me. "This just leaves you." I held a steady, dead-on gaze with him.

I wanted him to be able that I wasn't going to fight, but I was at least going to try my best to find another alternative. Dan looked back and forth from me to the Chief to me. "Wait? What are you two talking about?" Without looking away from Chief Tanner I said, "There's still a chance that I might go to jail for past charges."

There was a simultaneous, "What!" Alice walked up beside me and said, "There has to be some way that Shun won't have to go to jail." I glanced at her and said in a soft voice, "This is my fight." I saw that she understood what I was trying to say.

This was my problem, and I didn't want to drag her down with me if I did fail. Chief Tanner clasped his hands together and said, "I talked with my superintendent, and was able to talk him out of sending you to jail." The others were talking, and already celebrating.

In my opinion, it was still to early. I asked, "But what will happen instead?" Chief Tanner looked at me, and knew that I would ask this question. "We don't know yet." Murucho chimed in and said, "What if I could pay for the charges he has?" I looked down at him with surprise plainly written on my face.

"Murucho, you don't have to do that." He said back to me, "I know I don't have to, but you're our friend, Shun. We don't want to see anything else bad happen to you. All we want is to see an end put to this." I couldn't help but smile. This was why I was happy to have the friends that I did.

They may have their quirks and issues, but in the end they would all help out one another in whatever way they can. Chief Tanner rubbed his chin and said, "I suppose that you could pay them off, but he'd still have to show up for court. That's just the law."

Murucho walked past me and looked up at the Chief and said, "I'd be more than happy to pay for any fines for the charges." I smiled and mouthed a thanks to him. Murucho smiled and said, "You've helped me out in battles more times than I can count. It's the least I can do."

Chief Tanner nodded his head and told us, "If you do pay off the fines, he still has to go to court, but he can't go to jail. He might get more fines slapped on him after his court hearing, but that's only natural." Murucho told him, "I'll pay for those too."

Another nod came from the Chief, and he said, "Alright. So be it then. I'll report this back to my superintendent, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can." We all watched them leave Murucho's mansion. I let out a heavy sigh when I was sure they were gone.

Alice hugged me, and I could hear the others talking about what happened and how happy they were that I wasn't going to jail. I was in my own thoughts though. Finally, it was at an end. Thanks to Murucho and others who were on my side.

Shun

I had just finished up my court hearing. Murucho had paid all of the fines for my charges, and it hadn't even done a dent in his bank account. I walked out of the courthouse and was face to face with the usual media hounds. Since I had been plastered all over the news and the story of corruption against me leaked out, I had gained for attention than I really wanted.

I ignored the reporters that were asking me all kinds of questions that I could care less to answer. I could already see the stares and looks that I would be getting in my future. I would always be that guy who was in the gangs. That always seemed like what people stuck with.

It didn't matter that I fought and risked my life for the girl that I loved. No. People always kept the bad part of somebody's past in their minds. I didn't care though. I wasn't going to jail anytime soon, and Alice was safe. I pushed my way through the crowd of reporters, and got into the limo that Kato was driving as usual.

Dan and the others weren't allowed to go to the court hearing for some long and complicated reason. So, they decided to stay at Murucho's until I got out of the courthouse. Like Chief Tanner had told me, the judge had slapped another fine on me. Which Murucho said he would gladly pay as well.

I did feel guilty about having Murucho paying for my fines, and I even insisted that I would pay him back. It might take me a while, but I'd eventually and hopefully have everything returned to him. Kato pulled up to the mansion, and I hurried inside.

I saw Dan and the others standing around in the main lobby, and Ron and his little sister were also there. Allison had finally gotten the last of her medicine, and was better than she had ever been. She still needed to have daily injections for the rest of her life, but at least she wasn't going to die anytime soon. Alice came running up to me, and hugged my neck.

I hugged her back, and kissed the top of her head. I heard her say, "I'm so happy this is all over finally." I said back to her, "I am too." Dan and the others came running up to me, and attacked me with hugs and questions about how the court hearing went.

I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with them. It was late at night, and Alice and I were still in the sitting room on the couch. Murucho left the TV on, and a news report came on. The gangs were at it again. As usual. Some things would never change in the world.

No matter how hard somebody tried. But I had changed mine. I had left behind an impossible life, fought for Alice by going back to it, and beat all the odds that were stacked against me in the end.

And there was no way that I was going to allow anything to happen to my new life; one without the gangs or crimes of my past. I finally had my clean slate, and now I was able to go onto the next chapter and see what the story foretold for me.

ah. another story done. ^^ and just in time before i leave to go pageant dress shopping in a little bit. ^^ lol. again, thanks to all who have reviewed on this story. y'all mean a ton to me. and same to those who added the story to their alerts of favs. ^^ keep a look out for my next story Wolf's Howling. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~