Part of it," Fei Long crossed his l

Part of it," Fei Long crossed his legs, smiled. "I thought since I'm here to discuss business, I might as well enjoy his services again. Has he improved by the way?"

Refused to be led around by the Chinese, Asami decided that he'll play the game. Slowly, he took a drag of his cigar, savored the flavor in his mouth before blowing it out gently.

"Definitely, since I've been retraining him personally to my liking, his skills are now top notched," Asami smirked, "But I'm afraid we won't be repeating our onsen activity, Fei Long. I've been generous enough to let you sample him but don't forget, he's my property."

Fei Long let out a laugh. "So possessive, and here I thought I could see Akihito again since I am, in a way, captivated by those hazel eyes of his."

Asami felt his temper raised a notch but he hid his displeasure. Exposing his vulnerability is dangerous, especially with a man as intelligent as Fei Long. He replied, as calmly as possible. "Quit the small talks, Fei Long. You're wasting my time."

The Chinese leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "All right. Mah Wing Shing is dead, Tung Shing is annihilated and his drug empire in China had fallen. The police launched an all-out war against drugs, causing the entire drug operations to be on a standstill."

"And this concerns me because –"

Fei Long's lips curved a smile. "I heard what you did to Mah, Asami. Thanks to you, drug operations in mainland China were forced to shut down, therefore channeling most of the operations to Hong Kong instead."

Asami returned Fei Long's smirk. "That doesn't explain why you're here, Fei Long."

"I'm here to offer you a business proposition. You need a new supplier and I'm here to offer you exactly that."

The yakuza placed his cigar on the ashtray. Crossing his fingers, he replied, "I'm in no hurry to find a new supplier, Fei Long. I'm sure you've done your homework, I have a supplier now."

Fei Long leaned backwards. "One who's not very good at what he does," the Chinese interrupted. "Lu Qian is an extremely cunning man, just like Mah. I'm sure you've done your homework about him too," Fei Long threw back the words at Asami.

Asami curved a smile. "You're desperate, Fei Long. I wonder why."

That hit the mark, Asami thought as he watched the leader of Baishe twitched a little. If it were merely a business proposition, Fei Long could have contacted him through other means. To have him personally fly to Japan, Asami could only draw up two possibilities. He is either here because he needed this business arrangement badly or he wanted Akihito.

And the yakuza originally thought it was the latter. However, when Asami managed to hit Fei Long's weak spot, he finally realized that the leader of the Chinese triad wasn't here for the photographer but to secure a deal. Whatever reason it may be, Asami was about to find out why.

"You don't have to know about that, Asami." Fei Long began to lose his cool a little.

"I heard Lu Qian is slowly gaining influence in Hong Kong so you came to me, hoping that I'd switch supplier to secure Baishe's position as the kingpin of Hong Kong and China."

The slightly defeated look on Fei Long confirmed Asami's suspicions. The yakuza let out a small, victorious laugh that he knew would further infuriate the Chinese triad leader.

The guard behind Fei Long growled and drew out his gun, "How dare you make fun of our boss?"

Suoh had his revolver in his hands before the guard could even raise his gun at Asami. "I wouldn't suggest that, if I were you," the bulky guard growled.

Unperturbed by the sight of the gun, Asami continued calmly, "You know I don't have to work with you, Fei Long. As long as I'm willing to pay, I can get my supplies anywhere I want."

Yoh spoke in Cantonese, ordering the guard to keep his gun. The man refused, tightening his grip on the gun as he argued in the Chinese dialect.

Kirishima was not fluent in Cantonese but he understood that the Chinese guard was belittling Asami. Without waiting for Asami to respond, Kirishima took out his gun and pointed it at the shorter guard.

"One more word about Asami sama, I'll put a hole on your head," he warned.

"Chen, I will not tolerate insolence. Keep your gun now or I'll tie a rock on your feet and dump you in Tokyo Bay myself."

Fei Long's orders had the guard cowered.

"Kirishima, Suoh, keep your guns," Asami spoke without looking at his men.

"I apologize, shall we continue?" Fei Long said rather charmingly. "Asami, sooner or later, Lu Qian will cheat you, just like Mah. Pass the baton to me; I will ensure that your shipment arrives on time and in full.

Asami knew Fei Long was right. He heard many things about Lu Qian but for the lack of a better option, he went to the Lu. He thought of working with Fei Long, only he hadn't formulated a perfect plan to approach him. As if luck was on his side, Fei Long contacted him first, allowing him to rethink and regroup his strategies.

"Promises like that are not convincing enough to make me switch supplier."

"A five percent reduction on the rates, would that suffice?"

Finally achieving what he wanted, the yakuza smirked. He rose from his seat gracefully, buttoning his coat.

Fei Long stood up smoothly, extending his hand, "Do I take it that you've agreed?"

Asami shook the offered hand, "We have a deal."

Fei Long withdrew his hand. "Now that we've reached a favorable conclusion, shall we celebrate our new business partnership over a drink?"

"We can head down to the club for a drink," Asami offered, playing the perfect host as he walked to the door.

"Why not invite Akihito? I'd like to see him."

Asami didn't bother hiding his displeasure. "I've said this before and I'll say it again, Akihito is mine."

A smirk grace Fei Long's lips. "You're too possessive. I fail to see what Akihito sees in you."

Ignoring the yakuza's deadly glare, Fei Long continued, "Well, pass him a message for me, will you? Tell him if he's tired of you, he can come to me in Hong Kong."

Asami told himself not to be led around by Fei Long. He regained his composure and smiled thinly. "That won't be possible because I will not let him go. I'd rather drag him to the pits of hell with me than send him to you."

Fei Long looked at Asami in annoyance. "Asami, you're really an unlikable person."

Xx Business as Usual xX

"Akihito, you're too good at this!" Takato grumbled as he gulped down his beer.

Akihito laughed cheekily, pushing the mahjong tiles to the center. "I'm the best!" he gloated.

"I'm getting drunk, Akihito," Kou said, covering his mouth to stop the reflux.

Akihito scooted nearer to Toru, eyeing him. "How come you're good at mahjong too? I thought you were in the army?"

Toru pushed his set of mahjong tiles to the center. "We play occasionally when we were off duty."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Akihito sulked. "No wonder you agreed to play with us despite knowing the penalty. You never drink while you're on duty."

His guard gave him an apologetic look. "I apologize, Takaba sama."

Akihito waved his hand. "I don't mind, since I won most of the rounds anyway," he grinned.

Kou finished his can, crushed it before dumping it into the make shift bin next to him. "Damn, there goes our plan," he groaned.

The photographer had a nagging feeling that his friends weren't up to something good. "What plan?" he asked suspiciously.

Takato rested his head on the table. "Kou and I thought of getting you drunk so we can tie a huge ribbon around you and present you to Asami san when he comes back."

Akihito sprang up from his seat, blushing. "Hey, that's not even –"he halted when he heard the familiar 'You've got a mail' ring tone on his phone.