Toru, who was sipping his steaming

Toru, who was sipping his steaming hot green tea, replied, "Asami sama bought it for Takaba sama at Ginza."

An audible gasps came from the two friends. "It - it means that this is the real black diamond!" Kou quickly placed the phone back on the table.

"How much was the phone?"

"It was priced at – "

"TORU!" Akihito raised his voice, halting the guard from divulging further information.

Kou waved a hand at Toru. "Never mind, I can look it up on the Internet later."

Takato went behind Akihito and locked his arm around Akihito's neck. "You lucky bastard!"

A soft knock on the sliding door broke the scuffle. The woman in pretty kimono came into the room, carrying a huge platter of sashimi. Akihito was thankful that the lady came at the precise moment to distract his friends or he would have to endure endless humiliation from them.

By the time they had finished with their meals, Akihito was relieved that his friends seemed to have forgotten about the tickets and the phone.

The manager was appalled when Akihito requested for the bill and immediately went on his knees with his head bowed so low that it touched the tatami mat. He apologized to Akihito profusely and gave his assurance that he would improve the quality of the food and pleaded Akihito not to inform Asami about his incompetence. The photographer tried to reason that the food was excellent and he simply wanted to pay but the manager wouldn't have any of his explanations. After ten minutes of futile explanations, Akihito gave up. He thanked the manager and went outside the restaurant to join his friends.

"That was a great meal!" Takato said, rubbing his belly.

"Thank you, Aki-chan," Kou draped his hand on Akihito's shoulder.

Akihito slapped his hand away. "Stop calling me that! Please remind me why you guys are my best friends because you never seem to stand on my side," he sulked.

"Aw, stop sulking Aki-chan. You know we love you," Kou winked.

"Ew, stop it! You're grossing me out," Akihito laughed.

"Where is Toru san? Kou and I bought a small gift for him," Takato said as he retrieved a small box from his bag.

"He went to get the car," Akihito answered, rubbing his bare hands together for some warmth. He realized he hadn't give Toru his present either. He had bought the guard a pair of warm socks and it was the only item he could afford since he spent almost everything on Asami's tie.

"Takaba?" A voice called out, halting Akihito from his thoughts. He looked up and tensed when saw Ishida Atsuki walking towards him with a fake smile plastered on his mouth.

Akihito hated Ishida. A fellow photo journalist like himself, Ishida is attached to a rival tabloid newspaper whose specialty involved fabrication of news. As much as Akihito hated to admit it, Ishida is good at what he does. He has sharp instincts and took great shots, although most of his shots were heavily altered before printing.

"What a surprise!" Ishida sauntered towards him, a back pack swung behind his shoulders. He looked around the restaurant and whistled. "Working?"

"No, what are you doing here?" Akihito replied curtly.

Ishida took no notice of Akihito's rude reply. "On my way back from work," he smiled.

Akihito knew that taunting smirk. He had most probably taken some very good shots and was dying to show them off to Akihito. Fortunately for Akihito, Ishida's brains were no bigger than a bird's and with an ego as the size of a mountain; it was easy to taunt him to spill his guts.

"Oh?" Akihito raised an eyebrow and gave him a 'I-don't-believe-you' look. "Really? What sort of work did you have today? Stalking film stars for their secret rendezvous Christmas dinner?"

Ishida took the bait instantly. He pulled Akihito aside, away from Kou and Takato and unzipped his camera bag. He retrieved his camera, pressed the replay button and pushed it onto Akihito's hands. "Check this out," he breathed heavily as he spoke, excitement clearly written all over his face.

Akihito froze when he saw the shots. Asami stood in a warehouse, flanked by Kirishima and Suoh by his sides. He was holding a packet of white powder which Akihito assumed to be drugs.

"And look at this," Ishida said excitedly as he pressed the next button.

A Chinese man with bad dressing sense had his gun pointed at Asami. Akihito noted that Asami was looking too calm for a man who had a gun pointed at him.

"And finally, the best picture goes to this!" Ishida announced pompously as he pressed the next button again.

Asami was seen crouching next to the Chinese man with a gun pointed to the man's cheeks. Akihito's hands went weak. Asami had just called him, announcing arrogantly that he had finished his business meeting. Could it be this was the meeting he was referring to? Akihito shuddered a little and was thankful that Ishida was too preoccupied to notice his pale look or his trembling hands.

"Great isn't it?" Ishida bragged as he showed Akihito a few more shots.

"Ho—How did you manage to get these?" Akihito asked when he finally gotten his strength back.

Ishida gave a wide smile when he noticed how shocked Akihito was. Not wanting to miss the chance to prove that he was better in the industry, he quickly revealed his sources, "One of Asami's men told me this."

Akihito's eyes widened at the statement. Asami's guard betrayed him?

"I had to bribe him and it didn't come cheap. I have to admit, I was quite surprised when he called me personally to offer the information. I wondered if he's with the police." Ishida continued.

"Akihito! Are you all right?" Kou shouted.

"Yeah! I'm just talking to Ishida!" Akihito shouted back, trying to mask his nervousness.

Ishida kept the camera in his bag pack. "Takaba, looks like I won this round. Your stories on Inoue Kyousuke and Sion might have been successful but this is the cream of the crop! I have to get these to the editor, ASAP. See you around!" Ishida mocked and left the photographer standing on the same spot.

Kou and Takato immediately came over the minute Ishida left. "Hey, buddy you all right?" Takato asked when he noticed how pale Akihito looked.

Akihito didn't answer Takato. He was too busy thinking about the photos Ishida had just shown him. He hadn't realized that seeing a gun pointed at Asami would affect him so much. He knew the yakuza had dangerous dealings but seeing the evidence with his own eyes shocked him to the core. He swore his heart nearly stopped just now, thinking what would happen if Asami was shot.

But that bastard called an hour ago and said that his business meeting had been successful. That meant that he was all right, wasn't he?