Hello guys! (very) long time no see!

I'm reaaallyy sorry for not updating anything for almost 2 years, i was really busy with national exams and university entrance exams.

And i'll be busier in the next 6.5 years because i'm now a medical student (yay i'm going to be a doctor!)

but i'll do my best to keep updating this fan fiction until it ends, though it'll surely take a long time ^^"

anywaaays, i'll be very VERY happy if you can tolerate any lateness of chapters and keep reading this fan fiction until it ends :):)

I'm sorry if there are some grammar failures and OOC-ness.

Enjoy!

Illusion

"It's an emergency, sir."

Reishi looked at the young man who was holding a PDA carefully. "What's the matter, Fushimi-kun?" he asked him using his usual calm tone.

"Reports have been accepted lately which said a strain might've barged in and caused some damages towards some underground organizations' headquarters. And based on our investigations, those attacked organizations were the ones that opposed us; clans." Saru stopped to breathe in some air in then continued, "Seems like that strain's on our side. But still, we have to find out about it and its purpose in attacking those organizations." Saru lowered his hand that was holding the PDA and moved his dark eyes to meet Reishi's violet one.

Reishi wrapped an arm around his abdomen and lifted his hand as he held his pointy chin between thumb and forefinger. "Hmmm…so what's crucial about it? In my opinion, it's a quite normal case." His brows slightly furrowed.

The young man smirked, not very visible but Reishi could see it.

And it was a devilish smirk.

"Is that so? Then, my mistake, sir." He bowed down slightly, not even giving a hint of respect and genuineness.

Reishi twitched after realizing what Saru's real intention was. He had to admit that this boy was a smart-ass who could easily read good situations and know how to ruin them in a very innocent way.

Someone as annoying as Saru really got on Reishi's nerve.

'This….brat…' he cursed Saru as he snorted and folded his arms.

He now believed Saru had considered him as one of his 'rival'. Interesting. Reishi was somewhat happy with it since Saru had begun to take him seriously. it meant that the brat would do anything to get the Aphrodite, since he really hated to lose, and casted aside their statuses as captain and subordinate.

Now that was what Reishi called a 'game'.

A smirk appeared slightly on his face and was noticed by the two young adults. Akane didn't think of it as anything that matters but Saru knew what was going on through his superior's head.

His challenge was accepted.

Saru smirked once more.

"Well then, Fushimi-kun. Tell me the details." He turned his body around and walked toward his desk to his super comfy chair as he talked. Akane moved from where she stood to the front of Reishi's desk and Saru followed her. The red haired girl faced her comrade as she prepared herself to listen to what he was going to say.

"It is said that the strain was somewhat invisible. But some of them managed to see his appearance. They said he wore everything black; coat, boots, and even his hair. He was as fast as the wind and his fighting skill was beyond average. He was thought to fight with a weapon that was still unidentified. Also, they stated that somewhat they could hear weird high-pitched voices inside their heads like giggles and those sounds are capable of making them dizzy. It was reported that they felt as if the world was spinning." Saru stopped and moved his eyes to Reishi. "Seems like this strain is a first class strain, sir."

Reishi pushed his glasses up and rested his chin onto fists. "Seems like it is. But I believe I've never heard a strain with such power exists. Based on your report, it seems like he has a power with multiple categorizes; psychological and force power. A multi-talented one, perhaps?"

"A mutant one." Saru said as he set his eyes on the PDA.

"Multi-talented, Fushimi-kun."

"Yea whatever."

Akane shifted to look at the data on the PDA Saru was holding. She skimmed it and tried to memorize all the facts about that strain. Finished. "So what's your plan, sir?" Akane moved her eyes to Reishi.

Reishi pushed his glasses upward and put his knuckles under chin. "Do as you please," he gave the girl a faint smile.

"So what are we going to do, Saru-kun?" Akane tailed the young man as they were walking through a corridor toward the control room. He was reading the data carefully and didn't bother Akane's question for once. He kept walking in silence and acted as if there was no one near him. This pissed off the red haired girl.

"Saru "

"Shut up."

Annoyed, Akane hit the back of his head and made him stopped his feet and glared at her. "What's wrong with you?!" Saru growled as he caressed the spot where Akane hit him.

"What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you?! You ignored me your partner!"

"I was concentrating!" he then exhaled excessively and clicked his tongue. "Really, you're…" Saru decided to stop his sentence, as he didn't want to pick a fight with this girl anymore. It was enough already for him to feel the loneliness of being away from her.

"What?" Akane glared at him.

"Nothing, Medusa." Saru then set his eyes onto the screen of his PDA again and continued to walk, making the redhead lady snorted in annoyance.

Akane then started to tail him. She crossed her arms and took a glance at the PDA. "So, what's your plan?"

"Looks like we're going to do it later in the midnight."

"What?!" Akane stopped walking as she looked at Saru in confusion and shock.

Saru turned his body and moved his gaze from the PDA to the shocked partner. "It is rumored that he was going to attack a certain mafia's den tonight." Saru showed his PDA to Akane. "It's here."

There showed a map of Shizume City with a blinking red dot on it. Akane touched the screen and zoomed in the map so that she could see the place more precisely. "Hey, it's a couple blocks away from Homra." She told Saru, still staring at the map.

"So?"

"So," Akane removed the PDA away from her sight so she could meet his dark hues. "Don't you think Homra has already known about this? I mean, they must have been aware too."

"So?"

Akane sighed at her partner's idiocy.

"Like seriously, Saru-kun? This is so not like you." She sighed again. "Well, don't you think that Homra will make a move too?"

"No."

"Wha-Why?"

"Akane, if what you meant by 'Homra' was the Red Clan, it's a no. There's no Red King so there's no Red Clan anymore, whose job was indeed to deal with mafias and such. If you were talking about our previous mission where we met Homra and fought with them, it was because their precious little princess was the victim. In this case, they don't have any important business such as the Anna's case, so I'll say that they won't interfere us."

Akane began to understand after listening to Saru's explanation. It was true that 'The Red Clan, Homra' was no longer here. The Homra now was only a bar filled with a bunch of ex-red clansmen who called themselves as a 'family'.

Yes, Homra was only a 'family' now.

"I see…" Akane stared down to her raven boots. "Too bad, working with Misaki was really amusing, though."

"TCH!"

Akane moved her gaze to Saru in shock right after she heard his tongue-clicking sound that was awfully loud. Saru was tapping his PDA quite vigorously that Akane could hear the tapping sound.

She smirked at his behavior. "You mad?"

"NO." he was still tapping his PDA.

And by that, Akane laughed out loud as if Saru wouldn't smack her head for doing so.

Akane stared down to her black and gold colored sneakers as she waited for Saru's signal. The older guy was standing across her, along with his beloved PDA, which he always stared at. They were currently in an alleyway near the place of the mafia that would be attacked by the abnormal strain. Feeling a bit bored, Akane began to observe the guy's appearance.

He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater with a pair of black jeans and black combat boots. He also brought his black wool shawl and wore it around his neck. Saru looked stunningly handsome in that outfit. His body looked even more slender than before and seriously, it was too perfect to be true!

"What are you looking at, pervert?"

"Wha-hey that's not nice!"

"You were imagining things, right? Pervert." Said the handsome Saru without batting an eye on the flushed redhead.

"NO! I did NOT!" though indeed she was mesmerized by his perfectly shaped body.

She betted that he hid some faint-shaped abs under that black sweater.

"Stop that, Akane. It feels as if you're undressing me with that look."

Hearing what Saru just said, Akane's face turned deep red. "WHAT THE HELL?! YOU SHAMELESS IDIO-"

"Sshh! You're making too much noise, Medusa!" Saru glared at Akane and she stopped shouting instantly.

Akane looked away as she tried to hide her red face. "I didn't look at you that way!" she insisted something that was contradicting the real event.

"Whatever." Saru didn't look at Akane and kept his eyes on the PDA instead.

As Akane was paying more attention to their surroundings than Saru, Saru moved his eyes and secretly observed the young lady before him.

She wore something similar to Saru's black turtleneck sweater and a pair of black jeans. She wore a pair of sneakers, though, and she also wore a maroon wool shawl around her neck and let her hair left untied. Indeed, before they met up at the lobby, Saru had told Akane to wear all black so that they could camouflage easily. But he had no idea that Akane would wear something similar to his.

She looked beautiful, though.

Well, with those fierce honey eyes of hers, she looked like a vampire who was hunting for foods.

Feeling as if being watched intensely, Akane turned her head to Saru and found him peering at her behind his thick-framed glasses. "W-what? Now's your turn to be the perverted one?" Akane sneered awkwardly as her cheeks were tinted in red.

"No." right after he replied her, Saru saw a man walked toward the building where the mafias were staying. In a calm but swift movement, Saru shifted himself to Akane's side. Luckily, it seemed like the man didn't see him.

"What's wrong, Saru-kun?" Akane looked up to meet his eyes since now she was no longer in the same height as him.

"A man was there, heading toward that building." Saru moved to Akane's front side and peeked at the building. There he found the man standing calmly in front of the door as if waiting for someone to open it for him from the inside. He was wearing a cream-colored trench coat and brown fedora hat. The strain was supposed to wear all black and judging by what he was doing, it was certainly that he wasn't the abnormal strain.

Suddenly, the man moved his head toward the alleyway where Akane and Saru were silently observing. In a silent, quick, and reflexive movement, Saru pushed himself to Akane and tried as hard as he could to hide himself from the man's sight.

"S-S-S-S-S-Saru-kun….you a-are…..too close…." Akane could feel her face heated as she felt Saru's breath on her ear and his hard and lean body on her soft one.

Akane felt as if she would die in no time.

"Ssshhh! He looked this way." Saru calmly moved his head to the other side of Akane's head so that he could still observe the man silently, still in the position where it looked like he was pinning the redhead onto the wall and going to do something perverted.

"S-S-Saru-kun…." Akane was trying her best to not scream on his ear.

And she was also trying her best to calm her heart down.

Saru was keeping an eye on the man when suddenly, the door opened and the man quickly went inside the building. His behavior showed that he knew someone was watching him. He might just tell his mafia friends about this and by that, Saru knew that he and the redhead should be more careful from now on.

Realized something was thumping so hard against his chest, Saru retreated himself from the girl he unconsciously embraced. Looking at the super flushed girl before him, Saru's cheeks heated in a second. "W-What the hell…" he sheepishly scratched his not itchy head as he averted his gaze.

"I was the one who was supposed to say that, dumbass!" Akane faced her back to Saru as she was still feeling embarrassed and acted as if she was keeping an eye on the building.

Her eyes spotted something black flashing toward the building and the next thing she heard was a loud crashing sound.

Saru turned his gaze to the building as he heard that too.

"Saru-kun?" Akane asked for the signal to make a move and Saru approved it by giving a brief nod. The two of them dashed toward the left side of the building and searched for a way in. An opened window was spotted. The room looked dark from the outside and seemed like there was no one in there. What a perfect entrance.

The only problem was, the window was on the third floor, and it was so high.

"Saru-kun, should I try my parkour ability now?..." Akane asked her partner, half joking.

"Sure."

"Eh?" She turned her eyes to Saru. "I was joking, though."

"Do it now if you want to do it. We have no goddamn time to make decisions!" And by that, Saru jumped to a closed big steel garbage can on the back and did the other parkour moves until he finally got inside the building via the opened window. "Hurry!" he told Akane from up there.

"Why….DID YOU LEAVE ME YOU BASTARD?! ARGH!" And by the power of anger, Akane followed Saru's parkour moves and arrived at the opened window and went through it. "Don't you ever dare leave me like that anymore!" Akane pointed at him angrily. Saru only shrugged at her threat.

"Let's continue. I'll handle the mafias downstairs and see what they're keeping here. Medusa, you deal with the strain. Got it?"

"Wait! Hold on! Saru-kun, I don't have any weapon with me! I think you should deal with the strain and I'll deal with the mafias downstairs."

"What? No. Strains are bothersome." Saru then took out two throwing knives and handed it over to Akane. "Here, use these. Now you can fight the strain, right?"

"B-But it's an abnormal one and I don't possess any-"

"See ya." And then without bothering what Akane was saying, Saru darted downstairs with the remaining throwing knives inside his sleeves.

The redhead could only stand and remain unmoving as she stared at the stairs where Saru headed to like an idiot. Dealing with an abnormal strain without any super power might not be a good idea. She could be killed in the first second they met! And in fact, Akane wasn't ready to die yet.

But she didn't have any choice, did she?

But wait, she fought Reishi, right? The Blue King.

And she won!

After remembering that she had once defeated Reishi, Akane regained her confidence back and was pretty sure she could win this fight. She then dashed toward the highest level of the building and got ready to kick the abnormal strain's ass.

"GAAAHHH!"

Akane kicked the door that connected to a dark room where the screaming voice came from and saw 5 men lying helplessly on the ground with bodies full of scars and blood. She then looked for the culprit and saw a figure of a man standing not far across her, near the broken window. Akane couldn't see him clearly but she knew he had piercing light blue eyes and a gaze that looked as if he was going to devour her.

Feeling intimidated enough, Akane unconsciously stepped backward but then she realized that she needed to capture him.

Her heart began to thump in fear.

"W-Who are you?!" Akane forced her voice to come out.

She didn't receive any reply from him. As she waited for the man to answer her, her head began to feel dizzy. Her visions were blurry and the world looked as if it was spinning.

The strain was using his ability on her.

"S-Stop…" Akane was too dizzy to remain stood on her feet that she fell onto the bloody floor. "No…." she held her spinning head. She knew she was unable to fight in this state but she didn't have any choice. She must get that strain!

Akane looked up to see the abnormal strain. He was slowly fading away.

"WAIT! NO!" Akane tried to stand up but then the vertigo beat her. "DAMN!"

Suddenly she heard a high-pitched giggling voice. It was so loud as if it was inside her head.

Wait, what?

Akane then realized something.

The strain wasn't only one. There were two strains!

Akane was certain that the high-pitched giggling voice inside her head belonged to a girl, not a man. Therefore, right now, Akane was fighting with two strains at once.

Oh dear, how nice.

Right before the man faded entirely, Akane threw one throwing knife at him but unfortunately, he stopped its movement by his power. Didn't want to give up yet, Akane ran toward him with the remaining powers within her and tried to stab him right into his ribs. But then again, he used his purple colored power to prevent it.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Akane asked him impatiently as she started to lose all of her energy. She then swung the knife across his face and even though he tried to dodge it, it managed to leave a light cut on his cheek. The man stepped backwards as he held his throbbing cheek. Blood streamed down on his pale cheek. Akane felt like she was going to win this, even though it wouldn't be an easy winning.

"Hey!" The man moved his piercing light blue hues to meet Akane's menacing honey ones. "If you don't want to answer me with words," Akane pointed the throwing knife at him. "Then answer me with a fight!"

"Aahh…drugs again." Saru kicked a wood that was blocking his way and continued to walk toward some destroyed shacks that contained white colored powders. He covered his nose and mouth with shawl to prevent from inhaling those dangerous things. "Cocaine?" He then observed it.

Saru cleaned up all of the mafias downstairs only in 15 minutes. They were so powerless and pathetic. All he did was only throwing his knives (engulfed in aura, of course) and then they all went unconscious.

How could they call themselves mafias?!

The fight was too boring for Saru. If only he had listened to the redhead, maybe he would have had a good time; fighting someone that was as strong as him.

Saru took out his PDA and started searching for the captain's number and dialed it.

After some seconds passed, the captain's voice was heard from the PDA. "What's the matter, Fushimi-kun?" he asked his underling with a slightly hoarse voice, indicating that he had just awoken from his sleep.

"Sorry to call you this late, Captain. I found drugs stored in the basement of a certain building that is used for a particular mafia's headquarter. The building is near Homra. What should we do?"

"Drugs?" Reishi questioned, a bit confused. "I suppose we should let the police handle it. After all, those drugs don't have anything to do with the strains we are currently hunting." He ended it with a slight grunt.

"Roger that."

"Fushimi-kun,"

"Hm?"

"Since when have you been calling-" Reishi stopped halfway and then continued, "Uh, forget it."

Knowing what his superior intended to ask, Saru smirked devilishly. "Captain, if it's regarding how I call MY PARTNER, I've always been calling her AKANE," or Medusa, Saru thought. "I've never even once called her by her last name because she permitted me to call her BY HER GIVEN NAME without using honorifics." His smirk widened as he planted those words into Reishi's head.

Saru waited for his captain's response.

Nothing.

There was only dead silence between the two of them.

"…."

"Capt?"

"Hurry up finish your work, Fushimi-kun." And after that, the Captain hung up. Saru flinched at that sudden action.

"Huh? So he can be mad at something like this too? So childish." He stared at his PDA's screen and proceeded to call the nearest police station. Right before he touched the dial button, he stopped his fingers and thought about it for a second. Akane was probably still dealing with the strain. It wouldn't be good if the polices interfered.

Saru shoved his PDA into his jeans' pocket. Yeah, he would call them later.

Right now, he got to check the redhead's condition. After all, she was fighting with an abnormal strain. But since she had defeated the Captain once, maybe she was able to defeat this strain too.

But he was worried somehow.

It felt odd.

Saru turned on his heels and dashed toward Akane's place with full power.

'Please be alright, Medusa!'

"KYAAAHHH!" Akane fell on her back as she shielded herself with Saru's blades from the strain's attacks. She rolled over to the side so now she was lying flat on her stomach. Her back was aching so badly that it almost made her fell unconscious. But she must keep fighting!

Akane supported herself with both of her arms and brought her legs to stand straight on the ground, blades were already hidden under the sleeves. She moved her hand to the wall and tried to balance herself as she peered at her opponent.

He was the same as her; breathing hard and standing with the support of his weapon. An unidentified weapon, they said, but Akane had figured out what kind of weapon it was.

A Katana.

"You-"

"Are you okay, Kurosuke?" it was the strain girl's voice.

'So his name's Kurosuke…' Akane thought.

"I'm okay…" he glanced at the exhausted young girl across him. "She's one hell of a fighter, though." He wiped the blood off of his lips.

"Hey!" Akane cut their talk. "Show yourselves, girl! I know you're there!" Akane shouted as she threw a menacing gaze toward the guy and to his surroundings.

"Eeek! Kurosuke, she's scary!"

"Oh! And," Akane held her-still-throbbing head. "Please cut that out will you? My head is hurt. Stop using your ability, miss invisible."

"Kurosuke?" the girl asked her comrade.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Neko. She's dangerous."

"WAIT!" Akane lifted her other hand, gesturing for them to stop talking. "Wait! I think we are on the same side." Akane removed her hand from the wall.

"What do you mean?" the guy lifted an eyebrow at her.

"I mean," Akane started to walk slowly toward the strains. "You're here to punish mafias who are doing bad things, right? Like the one who collects illegal weapons or maybe drugs or something." She was still approaching them while softly trying to take their heart.

"That is one of our missions, but not our main goal. And please, stay where you are. We're not very comfortable with our distance." He pointed his bare katakana toward Akane.

Akane lifted both of her hands. "Whoa, easy. I'm a good girl with good intention~" she gave a bright smile while still approaching them.

"I don't really think so. After what you did to me." He kept his eyes open at the redhead.

Akane stopped walking. She stared at the raven-haired strain with her nicest smile.

He didn't show any approval to cooperate with her. What should she do now? Should she strike him down? Oh wait that wasn't a good idea. He was already anticipating it. Maybe she could start with getting rid of that super sharp katakana from him. Yeah that would do.

"Sorry. You seemed dangerous so I attacked you. But then I realized that I was wrong. You're nice; I know that. So…" Akane walked toward him and then slowly put her point finger to the edge of his katakana. "Please put down this cute katakana." She added with a smile.

A devilish smile.

"Ack! you " right before he could finish his sentence, Akane took out a blade that was hidden under her sleeve in a swift movement and lashed it to the katakana and succeeded in making it flew away to the other side of the room. She then yanked his white shirt and powerfully head-butted him. It was enough to make him groaned in pain and blurred his visions. "Y-you-"

But then again, before he could finish his sentence, Akane turned him around and brought his arms to the back, she held them strongly with one hand and the other was wrapped around to his abdomen. "FUFUFU~ stay still, will you?" Akane spoke right to his ear and he could feel her soft breath.

His cheeks turned red, still dizzy.

"Ugh…you-"

"AKANE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Suddenly, a dark haired man with full-framed glasses showed up from the broken door. "AKA-eh?" Saru's eyes widened at the sight before him.

Akane was….HUGGING A MAN FROM BEHIND?!

AND…

WHAT?!

"BLACK DOG WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Saru shouted at the young man in Akane's arm. Totally not calm.

"Whoa?! Kurosuke, he's from the blue!" suddenly a girl with long pink hair appeared near Akane and the half conscious man in her arm. "Kuroh! Kuroh!" she shook his arm to wake him up.

"Uh? Fushimi Saruhiko? What are you doing here?" he questioned the older guy and still looking all-comfy in Akane's tight hug.

"The hell? Answer me first! Why are you here?" He walked in quick paces toward Kuroh and snatched Akane away from him. "Are you the abnormal strain?"

"Abnormal? What?" Kuroh questioned back as he held his throbbing forehead. Neko hopped to his side and clutched his sleeve. "We're normal!" she shouted at Saru with her signature high-pitched voice.

"Aaah how troublesome." Saru ran his fingers through his dark hair and sighed.

"Saru-kun,"

"What?"

"Your hand," Akane pointed at his hand that was still gripping hers tightly. "It hurts."

Saru then threw away her hand and folded his arms into one. "Sorry." He said without looking at her and looking at Kuroh and Neko instead.

"Tch." Akane massaged her arm gently. "What a nice apology." She sneered and Saru only replied it with a deep sigh.

"Fushimi, is she also from Scepter4?" Kuroh asked him, still massaging his forehead.

"This girl?" Saru pointed at her with his thumb, making Akane turned his way. "Unfortunately, yes."

And by that, Saru received a whack on his head.

They were already outside the building and right now, the place was full of polices. Saru had phoned them and now they were handling the rest; the drugs and stuffs. Saru and Akane were both discussing about this mission and how they would write it as a report to the Captain when Kuroh and Neko approached them.

"Ryuji-san," Akane and Saru turned her head toward Kuroh, the one who called Akane. The redhead then walked toward him. "I deeply apologize for what happened. If I had known you, I wouldn't have done such things. Please forgive me." He bowed down.

"Sorry…" Neko followed Kuroh.

"It's okay! It's okay! Me too. I'm sorry I attacked you like that, Yatogami-kun and Neko-chan." Akane bowed. "If only I had known you beforehand." She gave Kuroh and Neko a sweet smile.

"By the way, why is it only the two of you?" Kuroh asked her.

"Oh? It's because this is…erm…you can say an 'underground' kind of mission and it seems only me and Saru-kun who are able to do it nicely."

"I see…" Kuroh nodded faintly.

Suddenly, the pink haired girl lifted a hand at Akane. "Can I call you Akane-chan?" she asked with a rather excited tone.

"Eh? Of course," Akane turned her gaze to Kuroh. "You may call me by my first name too and it's okay to drop the honorifics." She added with a smile.

"Ah, same goes to me, Akane." Kuroh gave her his charming smile.

'Oh, he's cute, alright.' Akane thought.

Neko threw her arms around Akane's neck and clung on her. "Akane~nyaaaa~" she rubbed her cheek against the older girl's in a spoiled manner.

"What's wrong, Neko?" Akane held Neko's body as she giggled. "Cut it out! It's ticklish!" she burst into laugh as Neko kept rubbing on her cheek to Akane's.

"Neko, stop…" Kuroh stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Neko's body and the other one tried to release the girl's grip, and brought her to his side. "Sorry, Akane…" He turned to the girl beside him. "Apologize, Neko."

"Sorry…"

"No no no! it's alright!" Akane added with a slight giggle. "Oh yeah! By the way, what's your main goal? Maybe I can help you."

"We're looking for our king, Isana Yashiro." Kuroh answered.

Isana Yashiro?

"You're Silver Clan's clasmen?"

"Yes!" now was Neko's turn who answered.

"Wait, from what I know, The Silver King was killed on The Ashinaka Gakuen Accident, right? Isn't he supposed to be…..nowhere to be found?" Akane asked curiously.

"That was what I thought at first. But then again, he's The Immortal King, isn't he?" Kuroh explained.

"Oh yeah that's right," Akane made a thinking gesture. "So then, both of you believe that he's still here?"

Kuroh and Neko nodded in unison.

"If only Shiro didn't let himself to be possessed and killed by The Red King." Neko added gloomily.

Akane fell silent.

She knew that The Silver King died in Suoh Mikoto's hands. But she just couldn't believe it. Not until the silver clansmen mentioned it themselves.

A king's life is a thug life.

That was what Akane thought.

"Erm…if I may know, how did The Red King killed your king?" Akane asked again.

"We don't know the details. But we all know Suoh Mikoto used all his remaining powers, which was still super strong." Kuroh answered her again.

"Erm…Kuroh…"Akane fidgeted as she was hesitated to ask this question but she asked anyway. "Do you know…who killed The Red King?"

Kuroh stared right into her honey orbs. Something wasn't right, this girl was odd, he thought.

"Akane, I'm sorry but I've been thinking about this a lot," He tilted his head to the side. "Are you perhaps…a relative of Suoh Mikoto?"

"Eh? No."

Kuroh stared at her intensely.

"Really?"

"Yeah. My family name is Ryuji not Suoh, remember?"

"You can just change it."

Akane sighed excessively. "Kuroh," she shoved her hand into the pocket of her jeans and took out her ID card. She turned it around and showed it to Kuroh. "See? It's Ryuji Akane, not Suoh Akane." She pointed at the field which had her name written on.

Kuroh and Neko stared at the ID card. Indeed, it was written there 'Ryuji Akane' and it was an official ID card. Kuroh then straightened his body and looked at the crimson haired lady. "My apologies, Akane. Sorry for not trusting you and being rude…" he bowed.

"It's okay! Don't sweat it… indeed, with my hair and eyes colors, anyone would guess me as his relative." Akane put her ID card back into the pocket.

"Yeah, your appearance resembles him a bit." Kuroh chuckled. "And by the way, I thought you were older than me by a year. It seems like we're on the same age." He smiled nicely.

"Oh~ so I look like an old lady to you?" she leered at him with a smirk plastered on her petite face.

"No that's not what I mean! It's because you're really close with Fushimi-san and I thought you were his high school friend." Kuroh explained carefully in panic.

"I see.." Akane pouted slightly and folded her arms into one.

"I also thought you were his girlfriend…."

Akane reflexively turned her head to Kuroh. "Repeat."

"Eh? I'm sorry….So you ARE his girlfriend." Kuroh corrected hesitantly. He actually didn't stress the word 'are' but it was heard as if that word was stressed in Akane's ear.

"A-" Akane cleared her throat. She could feel her cheeks heated and that wasn't a good thing. "I neither am nor was his girlfriend. We're just partner." She forcefully formed a nice smile that totally looked awkward.

"But you suit each other~~" Neko added cheerfully.

"EH?" Now her face had the same color with her hair. "W-W-W-WHAT?! NO "

"You guys are noisy."

Akane turned her head to the back and found her partner right behind her. She immediately looked away as she didn't want him to see her cherry colored face.

"Ah, Fushimi-san," Kuroh greeted him.

"Both of you, we wont arrest you for what you've done," Saru spoke in a flat tone, as flat as his expression.

"Nyaaa?! What have we done?!" Neko protested.

"You may think that you've done nothing, but actually you 'made a ruckus' in the underground world." The older man explained carefully, like a pro.

"Is that so? We're sorry then…we only wanted to help cleaning this city and look for Shiro." Kuroh clarified with a depressed look on his pretty face.

"Look for your King? He's dead already." Saru coldly replied.

"Their King is immortal, Saru-kun. You're so cold." Akane explained.

Saru only hummed as his response and he threw his gaze to his surroundings.

"Anyway, if you want to find this 'Shiro' guy, please do it quietly. And please, stay away from the underground world." Akane lifted and showed her palms to Kuroh and Neko gesturing what she had said.

"Roger that, nyaaa~" Neko did the salute pose.

"Good." Akane moved her eyes to the older guy behind her. "How's with the police?"

"They're handling it. Technically, our job here's done." Saru folded his arms as he buried half of his face into the black muffler around his neck. "Let's go home." He then turned his body around and walked away.

The redhead turned back to the silver clansmen. "Errr… seems like Saru-kun and I will be going first." She chuckled. "It's nice to know you guys," Akane adjusted the red muffler around her neck. "Well, please excuse us. Thank you very much for helping us in cleaning up the town." She slightly bent her body forward and followed by the two silver clansmen. "See you later! Bye!" Akane then waved at Kuroh and Neko as she ran toward Saru who was already quite far from them.

"Bye bye Akane~" Neko waved back enthusiastically.

"Thank you very much, Akane, and sorry!" Kuroh waved at Akane as he tried to talk louder so Akane could hear his apology.

"No problem!" Akane make an 'OK' gesture by her hand as she kept running.

"Saru-kun, you didn't bid farewell to Neko and Kuroh." Akane was already walking beside him.

They were currently heading toward Scepter4 HQ. It was getting super cold and Akane could feel her feet became a bit numb. She shoved both of her hands into jeans' pockets and buried her nose into her crimson muffler.

"Saru-kun,"

"It's not necessary, is it?" he coldly replied.

'He's as cold as the night, alright.' Akane thought as she tightly shut both of her eyes. "Ooohh! It's reeaalllyyy cold!" Akane purposely tensed her body as she tried to prevent herself from feeling the cold.

Saru took a peek at the redhead beside him.

He could visibly see her-that was supposed to be pale but had turned red-ear as she tucked her crimson hair behind it. The skin under her eyes had also turned red, so were her cheeks.

Poor her.

Indeed it was very cold, but somehow Saru had already accustomed to it.

"Shhhhhhhhh-sooooo coooolddddd." Again, Akane cried under her muffler.

Feeling sorry for the redhead, Saru shifted himself closer to her. He stuck his arm to Akane's, making the lady turned her head to him. "Saru-kun?" Her cheeks were flushed, either because of the freezing temperature or Saru.

"It's cold, right? Stay still." He slowly wrapped his arm around the redhead's back and to her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Nice. It was warm.

"SSSSSSS-SARU-KUN?!" Akane panicked, as she didn't know what kind of reaction she should display. She peeked to the place where the guy put his hands on. "YYYY-YOUR "

"Tch. You said yourself that it was cold. Now stop being noisy."

It was true that she said it. BUT SHE DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO TURN OUT THIS WAY.

Saru then intentionally pressed her body to his in order to gain more heat and started to feel warm on his side. He never thought Medusa would be this comfortably warm. He should have done this since the very beginning!

Saru hummed at the coziness of her warmth and unconsciously started to lean his head onto hers.

On the other hand, the redhead was feeling extremely hot and struggling to maintain her calmness.

She did feel pleasant, but not her heart.

"Akane,"

"Y-YES?" she turned her head to Saru in a quick movement.

"There's no need to be nervous."

Akane's face became even more flushed. "I DID not…" her voice trailed off as she began to admit it.

Feeling that she had nothing to say to defend herself, Akane tilted her head downward, trying to hide her shameful tomato face.

It was like a dream for her being held closely in his arms, feeling the warmth of his body temperature and the gentleness of his touch. Akane didn't exactly know what to feel. She didn't know whether she should feel joyful or miserable. Saru was implicitly giving her hopes but it was still unknown whether he really meant that for he truly held the same feeling as hers or it was just her being overly sensitive.

It did feel as if he was giving special affection towards her, though. But still, Akane also doubted it.

She couldn't keep guessing like this, could she?

"Saru-kun," Akane braced herself to know the truth. "Why do you do this to me?"

"Hm? You said you were cold so I'm warming you." He innocently answered.

"No, I mean," Akane hesitated for a second but then continued, "Why? Why are you…..embracing me like this?" Akane buried her face deeper into her crimson muffler as she tried to hide her flushed face. She somehow wasn't ready for the answer, be it what she expected or not, but on the other hand, she was aware that she needed to know.

"Why are you embracing me like this?"

Saru didn't answer it right away. He was silently observing the redhead from the corner of his eyes. Her ears were red maybe due to the coldness of the air around them and she had successfully covered her face entirely, which didn't please Saru. He wanted to know what kind of face did this lady make at the moment. Was she happy?

Hmm, or was she not feeling comfortable with what Saru was doing.

'She hates it that much?'

Saru sighed at the thought that made him feel depressed instantly. He slowly loosened his hug on her and pushed his glasses upward.

"Saru?" she muffled his name.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I do this because you're my partner. It would be a hassle if you catch a cold tomorrow."

By that, Saru had hurt himself by lying to both Akane and himself.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I do this because you're my partner. It would be a hassle if you catch a cold tomorrow."

Akane went dead silent after hearing his response. She felt as if she was being drowned in icy water that she couldn't even maintain her breathing pace. Her mind went blur at his piercing words and it was as if her heart had been torn into very small pieces and nothing could fix it anymore.

She wanted to give a very happy-go-lucky reply, like she had always been doing, but she just couldn't force her mouth to open anymore.

She had been frozen by his reply.

"Oh." Was just what Akane could say to Saru.

After that, she continued to walk along with him, as he kept his arm around her waist, not as close as it was and without any warm feelings.

She was emptied, killed inside.

In the end, it really was only Akane who was being overly sensitive. She shouldn't have put on her feelings on the line from the very beginning. It was very stupid of her.

But well, now she had decided to forget about her feelings and just being the ideal partner for him that was capable of giving a hand when he needed it.

Though deep within her heart, she still wished for him to look at her way, even for a second.

Akane exhaled some white puffs and chuckled sourly.

"Stupid."

After arriving at Scepter4 Headquarter, both Akane and Saru directly headed towards Akane's room first. The headquarter was already dark and to prevent them from tripping or bumping onto something, Saru had suggested to hold each other's hand and walk side by side. Akane didn't give any comment and obediently approve his idea. She neither turned stiff nor made an awkward high-pitched voice this time. That somehow surprised Saru.

After walking in silence for some time, Akane and Saru finally arrived at the front door of Akane's room. She calmly released Saru's hand and turned her body to face him. "Thank you very much for today, Saru-kun." She politely bowed at him. "Hope you get a good night sleep." She forced a nice smile.

"Yeah." Saru replied coldly, as usual.

"Well then, I'll go into my room now. Bye." Akane waved her hand slightly as she turned her body facing the door, trying to hide her awful expression.

Suddenly, she felt her hand being grabbed.

"Akane,"

She didn't turn her head, or her body. "Yes?"

"Did something happen?" Akane could feel a hint of worry in his statement.

She decided to turn her head around ever so slightly, couldn't even see his face. "No." She let out a chuckle to make the atmosphere less heavy.

"Then let me see your face."

Akane froze at his words. She didn't cry but she didn't want to see his face right now.

She didn't want to feel a sharp pain on her chest right now.

"Akane-"

"What?" she finally turned her head around and looked at him right into his blue orbs. "Do you miss me that much that seeing me for a whole day isn't enough?" Akane playfully replied him, restraining her tears.

"Tch brat. I just want to know whether you are fine or not." He silently observed her face. "Your eyes were red. Are you having a fever?"

Akane was shocked to know that he could still see her face in the middle of the dim-lighted room that she knew had turned red. She reflexively touched both of her eyes with a hand and could feel the coldness of her fingers. "I don't think so. I don't feel sick or anything."

Damn she could feel a tear coming from one of her eye.

Looking at the suspicious act of the redhead, Saru was certain that she wasn't feeling good. Saru then stretched out his arms and tried to compare her temperature with his by touching her forehead.

Right before he could land his hand on her forehead, Akane shook off his hand, which surprised the guy.

"What the hell, Akane?!" He finally snapped. She was indeed weird today.

"Just-" Akane chocked as she tried to maintain her voice that had started to tremble. "Just leave me alone." She quickly looked for her room key in the pocket and opened the door while keeping her face remained unseen by the confused guy. "Good night," she then went inside the room without waiting for his reply.

"Wait Aka-"

"And goodbye."

"Kurosukeeee~" Neko childishly wrapped her arms around Kuroh's body from the back as she started to feel cold. "I wanna go home now~" She buried her face onto his back.

"Well, we're currently heading home, Neko." Kuroh patiently replied the girl. She responded him with a long hum.

"Ne~Kuroh," Neko peeked at him from his shoulder. "Akane's weird, you know."

"Weird?" Kuroh threw his gaze towards the cat-lady.

"Uh-huh." She raised her pointy finger, an arm still wrapped around Kuroh's abdomen. "Akane's very nice and beautiful. But somehow," Neko then stopped her sentence as she hesitated to continue it.

The raven haired man started to feel curious. "What?" He asked impatiently.

"Akane is somehow scary." Neko mumbled behind his back, but he still could hear what she said.

"Scary? What do you mean?"

"Umm.." She began to hesitate again but then continued with a very ambiguous answer, "I don't really know how to put it, but it feels like there's something dangerous inside her." Her facial expression showed that she was worried over the redhead lady she had just met.

"What do you mean?" Kuroh had become more curious regarding this topic.

"I don't know, Kurosuke! I know Akane's very nice but at the same time, something within her scares me..." Her voice trailed off as she recalled the memory when she saw Akane for the first time. She did cling onto Akane, and it was her way to figure out what was inside Akane, though she got nothing from it. "But she's nice, Kurosuke..."

"I know..." Kuroh then caressed the girl's head gently and got a tight hug as a reply.

By that, Kuroh knew that Ryuji Akane wasn't just some ordinary girl who joined one of the clans that was created by Shiro. He believed that she hid something from everyone and that something was dangerous; as what Neko had said. Maybe he could find the answer when he met Shiro.

But in the meantime, he knew that he had to keep an eye on her, though he did believe she was a good girl inside.

'Just who are you, Akane?'

That's the end of this chapter.

Hopefully i could update the next chapter fast, since I'm in my holiday now~

Anyway, let me know your thoughts about this chapter.

Correct me if I'm wrong or anything ;)

xoxo, see you later! :)