--First Arc: Showdown's Doorstep--

Glaring daggers at her brother for something he just said which caused her great offense, Ruby began a shouting match with her brother.

-"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T START TRACKING DOWN THE MAN WHO CAUSED THIS!?"

She screamed, her voice was filled with rage and pain, she loved Ai in every sense of the word.

And, here he was, in front of her, her own dear brother, who shared her love of Ai 1 for 1, telling her that they must drop any reason to do anything further.

-"Ruby, stop screaming.

I'm telling you, we have no reason to do any of that.

Why aren't you listening to me?"

Aqua's tone was filled with a hint of desperation, he didn't want his sister to grow up living under the effects of revenge and rage, rather, he wanted her to have a happy life unlike Ai.

He knew Ai didn't have a good life, ever since he saw that man, ever since he saw her brother.

Ever since he saw those lifeless eyes of his, those same eyes that Ai would a few moments later share.

Something deep inside him told him to just forget it all, that, it would come to him eventually.

But, even with all these deep thoughts, and in massive self-contradiction, Aqua also wanted to inexplicably kill the cause of this..

He wanted to do the most horrible of things to that person, all the images flashing in his mind of how he would execute such deeds, all in the span of a second.

The mind of an enraged child was truly horrible.

Or would it be the mind of an enraged fan?

In the midst of all these thoughts, Ruby was still screaming at him, he had lost his focus on reality for but a moment, and, during that, Ruby's temper had skyrocketed.

-"-OU! WHY AREN'T YOU RESPONDING! STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THIS!

YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!

AQUA!"

She had overstepped her boundaries by a mile, after all, how could she spout such uncaring things?

Aqua did not care? How could she even think that?

And, to represent his current anger with her words, Aqua broke down.

A sudden trigger in his mind laid it to waste, he could not even think straight, so he fell backwards and curled himself and began crying non-stop.

Each tear that his eye let out made his sister's eye open wider, and each word he said made her heart shatter into more and more pieces.

He could not even form full sentences, his words hidden behind a barrier of breathless speech.

-"I... I CAR-..

I CARE!

I WANT HIM... I WANT HIM TO DIE! I WANT HIM..

I WANT HIM TO SUFFER!-

YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I WANTED TO DIE ALONG WITH HER-..

SO I DON'T MISS HER!

JUST PLEASE.. I WANT TO FORGET IT..

LET ME.. LET ME BE FREE OF THIS..!"

His tears had filled the floor, he kept trying to talk, but he coughed whenever words were about to come out, he tried so much he was about to puke from over exerting his speech system, and sooner or later he would pass out crying.

Ruby's expression was that of a horrified statue, she didn't know what to do, she never had experiences like this, not here, not in her past life as a bedridden child.

She just stayed frozen, like a time-halt had occurred to her, nothing in her mind would go through, the best way to describe her brain right now is a traffic light that had jammed and got everything messed up.

-"Aqua! What's wrong?!"

Miyako, now known as President Miyako, entered the scene, and immediately headed to Aqua and hugged him while setting him up, she was trying to get a grip on what happened, while also wiping his tears that would not stop.

All of this, and Ruby was still standing mortified.

Her brother whom she thought was unshakeable, just broke down in front of her.

Her idea of her brother was similar to that of a pillow, no matter how much you throw it around, it will always come back to its senses, that's what she hated.. That's why she slipped her tongue and said what she said...

But, the reality came smashing down on her imagination..

She felt horrible for having made her brother feel like this, she was inconsiderate..

But above all..

She now knew that he also shared her desire to kill that man..

Dropping to her knees in front of Aqua and trying to mend the situation as best as she can, Ruby starts endlessly apologizing with tears falling slowly from her eyes.

Every "AQUA I'M SORRY!" was met with Aqua's refusal to even look her in the eyes.

His true self had finally shown, a cowering cub with the front of an unshakeable lion.

-"Ruby, it's fine, just go to your room! I'll handle it!"

-"No! I'm sorry Aqua! Please! I'm sorry!"

Endless begging from Ruby, so much so she also began to lose her voice, she was shifting her tone from muffled crying to shrieking at one point.

If Ai could see this, she would be broken, torn apart at seeing what a simple mistake ruined the lives of each and every one of the people dearest to her..

It took well over 30 minutes for both of them to pass out from crying, which lead to Miyako putting them both to bed, she put Aqua in her own bed and Ruby in a different room.

Perplexed as to why this would suddenly happen, Miyako's train of thought landed on one conclusion, one certainty.

-"Sigh, so that must've been the topic..

Ai's true murderer..

Aqua probably cracked under the pressure..

Poor kids.. What divine selection of the gods would make that happen to them?

I need to call Ichigo.."

Proceeding to do what she said she thinks needed to be done, she calls Ichigo asking him for advice.

Ichigo picked up the third time she called him, it was obvious he was moving quickly and was in a hurry.

-"Ichigo?! You finally picked u-"

Miyako's relieved words were split apart when Ichigo responded in a very busy tone.

-"Miyako, make it quick, I'm not in the position to be talking on the phone right now."

She was saddened by her dear husband's way of talking, she missed his past self before Ai passed away, she wanted him to return and help manage the company but for now, her question was straight forward.

-"...Alright..

The kids they..

They almost attacked each other today when they were arguing about the conductor of the murder.. The man who caused it..

What do I do..?

I need you Ichigo.. Please.."

Of course, she exaggerated, Aqua and Ruby would never hit each other, siblings with that deep of a bond would never do such a thing, but, she wanted to use anything she could to bring Ichigo back.

-".. Miyako, I'm sorry, I cannot return."

Call hung up.

-"Ichigo.. You really sounded like you yourself were planning something..

...

Please be safe.."

Miyako clutched the phone in her hands close to her, and closed her eyes.

--Location: ???

Time: ???

-"It should be time..."

A man wearing glasses coupled with a short haircut and a hood entered something similar to confined area...

"Kurai-Kun, we meet again.."

The man talking, Ichigo, sat down, on the opposite side of the metallic table, was a tall man with short black hair.

The man, Kurai, spoke to Ichigo, his tone was aggressive and annoyed, if he was given the chance to leave on the spot, he would do it with a middle finger raised.

-"Get on with it, you careless fuck."

Ichigo, to be quite frank, was not expecting Kurai to be like this at all, but he would try his best to smooth things over with Kurai, so he can accomplish his real goal.

-"Kurai-Kun.. You k-"

Kurai slammed his fist on the table, shutting Ichigo up before he can continue.

-"Kurai.

I'm not your friend or colleague or someone that wants to know you.

Kurai."

Ichigo, understanding that Kurai did not want to be called "Kurai-Kun", continued on.

-"Alright, Kurai.

I want to talk about Ai."

Kurai's eyebrows twitched at the audacity of this man.

-"You, are you out of your mind?

You expect me to help the man who let Ai die?

Go to hell."

Kurai was overreacting, while Ichigo really was not there for Ai, what could he possibly have done?

It was Kurai's way of trying to convey his anger, by finding any remotely related person to Ai and blaming them.

So, Ichigo took it to heart, he understood that Kurai was, in fact, a good brother.

To calm Kurai down, and using his businessman tactics, Ichigo tackled the issue from a different side.

He needed Kurai on his side desperately.

-"Please, listen to me."

Ichigo got closer to Kurai.

"Ai left behind two children.

I think you already know, but, that's not all.

Those children are currently suffering trying to murder the cause of this, the cause of your imprisonment."

Kurai arched his eyebrows a little bit, and gestured for Ichigo to continue.

<Yes, finally got to him...< p>

He's willing to listen...>

Ichigo's thoughts were filled with victorious cheers, but, his work was not remotely done.

"You don't want to see two children ripping their lives apart... Do you?

You don't want the remainder of the family to suffer.

I know the look on your eyes.

Ai had it once.

She once asked me about you, and I told her everything you told me to tell her down to the last word."

Kurai widened his eyes a little bit, he expected that to happen, but, to hear it now..

"When I told her, she lost all hope for a moment, her glint faded, but, it returned the next second.

Be like her, Kurai.

Be strong in times like this, I know you're coping.

Ju-"

Ichigo's monologue was cut off once more by Kurai.

-"Gahh! Just get on with it! What do you want? Spare me your sweet talking, please!"

Kurai gave in, he was willing to hear what Ichigo was going to say, keyword being hear.

Kurai's personality is a work of mystery, it's always acts on his impulses.

That was Kurai's set-apart from his family, he had no unique looks, no bright and bubbly personality, but, he was very blunt.

Ichigo smiled now that was getting his way, and gave his proposal.

-"How about you tell me little by little what Ai's life was like.. Starting from the end of it."

Kurai raised his right eyebrow and looked very weirdly at Ichigo.

Then he understood.

He understood exactly what Ichigo wanted.

He wanted him to give Ichigo information to build on, so that Ichigo may find the killer through slow work over the course of an extended period of time.

Since they were in a prison, they could not discuss it word for word, so, to improvise, Ichigo proposed that.

He wanted to hear everything.

But, they had no time to do so, as visitation times were at an end for the day.

A guard came to call for Kurai's return to the inner facilities.

-"... We'll talk next time."

-"It was good meeting you, Kurai."

This would be a once in a very long time chance at talking, as Ichigo is not related to Kurai, and he had barely managed to get a visitation pass since he was, legally, Ai's guardian.

Kurai left after being cuffed, and Ichigo also left, a little satisfied.

But honestly, he was horrified at how Kurai looked.

Kurai has grown quite a lot since he last saw him, last time he saw him was when he was a 15 year old, now he was 24.

He, in Ichigo's eyes, looked like an actual serial killer.

Blank black eyes, a simple hair style of the darkest black, and a physique that could be classified as the physique of someone who has trained for a long time.

Ichigo walked through the streets near his house where Miyako was, talking to himself.

"This secures one way..

I will find you.. And I will kill you..

No matter what the god-damned cost may be.."