Well… Long time no see guys. Uh. It's been a while. A long while. Like three years. – Bleh! I'm so sorry it has taken this long to get an update. The last three years (my college days) have been a mess and I'm slowly starting to have more and more time. I've felt horrible for just leaving this fic open ended, but I really wanted to finish this. So here is the next installment. – I have finals in a few weeks and then I graduate, so hopefully there will be another update within the next month. (Instead of three years. ehehe.)

Also, I want to apologize if there are some inconsistencies with the earlier chapters in comparison to this chapter. I've re-read all the chapters, and even posted them on Archive of Our Own, as well as re-read the manga as much as I could. But as you know, it's been three years.

Once the woman had entered the car, she directed Takano to turn around the corner before stopping at a three story hotel a mile down the road. There they sat in silence before Takano let out a heavy sigh.

"So, are we going to go in or not? I'm more than happy to just talk here," Takano said, feeling a lot more comfortable in his own car with the strange woman. He didn't know if his confidence could hold up once he was removed for familiar territory.

"We need to go in. My employers can still see me," She said as she opened the car door and got out. Takano didn't move and the brown haired woman let out a sigh before leaning down to look at Takano through the window. "Come on four-eyes! I don't have all day."

Sucking in a deep breath, Takano quickly got out. He just wanted to get this over with. If he could just get some information out of this woman, then maybe he could find Ritsu.

Right. This was all for Ritsu.

"There we go!" She cooed as she made her way into the hotel.

The distinct smell of tobacco and alcohol lingered in the air as Takano followed after the woman. The building had to have been built in the sixties! It was old and falling apart! And the more Takano stood in the structure, the more he began to smell mildew. This place was disgusting!

Takano chose to simply stand with his back against the wall as he watched the woman get a key from the person at the front desk. She smiled back at the man behind the counter and then turned to Takano. Motioning with her head towards the hallway, she then began to walk. Takano simply nodded and followed. At room 107 they stopped and stepped inside. It was dark, and still smelled, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the editor would have thought it to be.

As soon as the door latched behind him, Takano flipped on the light and put himself between the prostitute and the door.

"Okay. We're alone now. Stark talking. How do you know Ritsu? Where is he? How is he? "Takano blurted out. His cool and calm demeanor was seeming to chip away with every second that passed by.

"Whoa! Calm down Cowboy!" Ai said as she sat down on the bed, looking at Takano with her big brown eyes. "I know Ritsu because he dropped off right in front of me by a strange man," She said hesitating at the younger man's name.

"Yokozwa!" Takano muttered under his breath as he stared back at Ai.

"I didn't catch a name. But he was a tall guy with a long face and black hair," Ai said with a small hum. "He said he had something for me. He just opened up the back seat and there was just this kid. I tried to refuse him but they guy just dumped him on the street by my feet and took off!" She said with a small shrug.

"So you just took him back to your boss?" Takano asked, his voice rising a little bit.

"No," Ai said quickly as her gaze turned deadly. "I know you don't know me. But I'm not that kind of person. I-" she began, pausing briefly. "I wanted to call the police and get him some medical help. Hell, he wasn't even conscious when he was dropped off. I actually thought he was dead at first," Ai admitted.

"So why didn't you do that? Why didn't you call the police?"

"My employers saw what had happened and they were on us in seconds. I couldn't do anything."

"You still could have called the police!" Takano interjected as he took a few steps closer to Ai, though the woman seemed unfazed.

"Yeah. A prostitute is going to call the police on her place of work," She said, rolling her eyes.

"You could see he was clearly in trouble, right? How could you not help out someone who was clearly in need?"

"Look. You're not here to argue with me about the sex industry and how it works. You want your friend, right?" Ai said, trying to get Takano off track. He she didn't want to talk about it. Perhaps it was because she felt guilty. Ai really wasn't sure.

"Right," Takano said after taking a long pause. "Okay, so where is he?"

"Miss Okajima's. It's pretty much a brothel," Ai replied. "Its front is the Okajima Hotel, just two miles down the road. Kura Okajima is the owner of both. Though, she is called Mistress for non-traditional customers."

"A brothel?" Takano asked. He figured this might have been Ritsu's fate, but he really didn't want to believe it. "What does he do-"the man began but Ai cut him off. She knew exactly where he was going with the question.

"He is a worker. He pleases guests." Ai said as she cast her gaze to the ground. She felt horrible for Ritsu, but there was nothing she could do. She felt so desensitized to the ways of her job.

Silence hung in the air as Takano crumble in on himself. He collapsed to the ground, covering his face with his hands as he tried to process what this woman had said to him. It was one thing to think about it, and know that it might not be true. And it was another thing to have it confirmed. It just made everything else more…real.

The only sound that could be heard at this point was the sound of Takano as he let out small gasps of air.

"He's not doing so good either," Ai said, her eyes still casted down. Takano just peered at her from behind his hands with a quizzical look. This suddenly changed and his face darkened. Before he could say anything else, though, Ai continued speaking. "He's pretty skinny now. It's a mixture of malnutrition and the drugs. And he's sick," She said, he speech growing quieter as she spoke.

"Sick? What do you mean?" Takano asked, trying to ignore the fact that Ai said Ritsu had been given drugs.

"His throat is pretty infected. He's been suffering from some pretty high fevers lately as well. I'm sure he has a few STDs. Okajima doesn't screen the brothel customers like she does for her street business." Ai said with a heavy sigh.

Takano continued to stay silent after Ai had finished speaking. He was just trying to process everything without having a mental breakdown. He was going from one minute looking for Ritsu, to finding a woman who knew who he was, and then the next he finds out that his lover is being used as some sex object. It was a little hard to handle.

"You know he talks about you though. He says your name quite a bit. Takano, right?" She said. Ai thought that's what the man said his name was. "It's mostly just him mumbling random words. But your name comes up." She said, her eyes suddenly flickering up to Takano. "You're his lover, aren't you." She then said, her words hanging in the air.

"Yes," Takano said weakly.

"Do you want to see him?" She then asked, making Takano's eyes grow wide.

"What?" he asked, his mouth falling open.

"Do you want to see him?" She then asked, leaning forward so that their faces were only about a foot apart. "You'll have to pay for a visit, just like you have to pay for mine. But it won't draw attention. You can see him. I'm sure he would like that." She said with a smile.

"Is-" Takano muttered, trying to form sentences. "How is he? Mentally. Do you think he can handle it?" The black haired man asked. He desperately wanted to see Ritsu, but if it would send him over the edge, he didn't want to push him.

"He's really out of it. It's the drugs doing really. But I don't think it would hurt." Ai said with a shrug.

"You know, it doesn't matter if I see him or not, though. I'm going to the police after this." Takano said. Why was this woman telling him all this stuff when she knew what Takano was going to do.

"I know," She said, pressing her red lips together. "I just figured you might want to see him first. It may take a while to get the police organized," She offered. "But you better act quickly. He's either going to die or be sold off."

"Sold off?"

"Yeah. It happens quiet frequently with popular workers. Or if they get too sick, Mistress sells them to someone else so she doesn't have to take care of a body."

"This. This is disgusting!" Takano interjected as he stood up, rage in his eyes. "How can you stand idly by while this is going on? Don't you feel guilty?"

"Of course I do." Ai replied. "But I'm a part of the system to. Just because I made a distinct choice about working in this business doesn't mean that I have the freedom."

"Do you think it might have been a mistake to pick this as your profession?" Takano grumbled.

"Every day," Ai replied with a sad smile. Extending out her hand, she held it in front of Takano. "Come on now. Let's go see your boy, huh?" She asked, the sad smile still on her face.

"Right," Takano said as he took her hand and stood up before pulling her up from the bed.

"Oh. I'll need some form of payment to pay for this room…and to give to my bosses when we get out. How does two fifty sound?"

As Takano drove down the street to the brothel, Ai explained as much as she could to Takano about what they were about to do. The Mistress knew Ritsu's identity, so anything about working with books would through up a red flag. If by any chance they met the Mistress, Takano was to say he was a man on business who had met up with Ai. While talking, Ai mentioned that they had a male worker, and Takano wanted to use his services.

But the fact was, Takano wasn't sure if he could do this. He was scared. Not because of the location he was in. But of the state Onodera might be in. He was a fighter, that was for sure. But from what Ai said, it sounded like he was pretty broken. Could Takano handle it?

"Oh. I forgot to meantion," Ai muttered as they walked into the hotel, bypassing this front desk and heading towards the back of the building. "He has a different name here. They call him Inu," She muttered.

Takano opened his mouth to ask her why the hell she didn't say anything before, but suddenly an older woman's voice spoke up, cutting him off.

"Ai! How is my best employee doing today?" The woman asked with a smile as she gave the brown haired woman a hug.

"I am fine. Thanks for asking," Ai said as she gave Takano a wide-eyed look that the man really couldn't decipher.

"Good! Good!" The woman said as she turned to look at Takano. "And who is this handsome gentleman you have here?" She asked, her eyes scanning over Takano.

Now that she was head on with the editor, he could see all of her features. She was old, that was for sure. She had wrinkles everywhere. Her eyes were small and close together and the only thing Takano could think was that she had a very small face in comparison to her head.

"Oh, this is Mr. Kobayashi," Ai said with a smile as she turned to look at Takano. "I met him down the street and I just happened to mention that we had a male worker and he was very interested. Is Inu free?" Ai asked as she wrapped her arms around Takano's left arm.

"Oh excellent!" the Mistress said with a smile. "I'm so happy to do business with you Mr. Kobayashi! Inu just had another customer about ten minutes ago. I can sent Ai in there to get him ready for you and-"

"Oh, there really isn't any need for that," Takano said, cutting the older woman off as she spoke. "I like them dirty," he said with a wink.

"Oh, I see," the older woman chuckled as she turned so her body was facing the east hallway. "Then it will be two hundred for fifteen minutes."

"I'll need an hour," Takano said, pulling out his wallet and fishing out a handful of bills.

"Oh! Big spender I see!" She laughed, taking the money. "I'll send Ai in with you anyway to make sure he's not a complete mess. If you need anything, anything at all, just let us know." She said with a smile before nodding to the both of them and walking away.

They stood in the middle of the hallway for a moment before Ai took Takano's hand and led him down the opposite hallway. "Here." She said as she reached a door. "You ready?" She asked, looking to Takano before opening the door.