The night reigned silently; the sounds of the highway in the distant

stretches of Tokyo were a lullaby to anyone that listened. Four men and one

woman walked down the street, glancing at the empty street they walked

alongside. They seemed nervous and they should be.

The small group stopped outside of a nice house and walked up to the front

door, still glancing around. The woman, she had red waist-length hair and

sunglasses covered her eyes, even though it was nighttime. She handed the

card to a blue-haired man. His hair reached just below his shoulders and was

tied back, his blue eyes concentrated on picking the lock of the house.

The three other men stood watch. One of the men had ear-length blond hair

and blue eyes, while another had shoulder length red-brown hair and

aquamarine eyes. The man that stood beside him had chin length black-blue

hair and dark green eyes. The soft click of a door unlocking and a door

swinging open got their attention.

The blue-haired man handed the card back to the woman and entered the dark

house, dagger in hand. He came back out in a few minutes and gestured for

them to come in. No one was home. The group stepped into the living room,

looking around.

The walls held pictures and one wall held a tapestry of a samurai and

dragon fighting. A leather couch was pushed up against a wall with end

tables at the ends of the couch. A lamp stood on one of the end tables while

the other held magazines and a small potpourri candle. A wood coffee table

stood in the center of the room, holding some more magazines and a book on

sea animals. Two chairs, one a recliner and the other a regular chair, faced

the couch.

The blond man looked into the dining room, spying the fine china in the

cabinet. A mahogany table stood in the room with six chairs around it. The

very small chandelier that hung above the table glittered in the moonlight

that came from the window in the kitchen. He went back into the living room.

"So, Amazon, we start?" A man spoke. It was the man with aquamarine eyes

and he was talking to the red-haired woman.

Amazon nodded. "You and Kinjiro take the bedroom that we saw when we came

in. Seiji, you're on your own as usual. Thugs, you're with me." The

blue-haired man nodded and joined her

Seiji nodded in agreement and moved stealthily down the hallway. Four doors

stared back at him, and he opened the nearest one. It was an immaculate room

with twin cast iron beds, the dark metalworking's almost ebony in the velvet

night. One was covered with a green bedspread and the other a dark navy. On

the nightstand between the two was a picture of five young men, smiling. He

scowled, searching the room for anything of value.

"What's this?" he whispered to himself and pulled open the nightstand

drawer. Two silver balls gleamed at him, he picked them both up and examined

them more closely. One was icy cold, and the other pulsated with a strange

heat. Maybe I can sell it later to some superstitious old woman, he thought

and shoved them into his pocket. He turned to go, but his blue eyes caught

the picture again. Wait, that was..

Sage! His light colored eyes darkened with seething anger. He hated his

cousin and avoided all contact with him as much as he could, even as

children. He pridefully sniffed his nose at the charity money Sage sometimes

sent, and burned the notes pleading for Seiji to come home.

"Nice to see you, itoko. (Cousin)" He growled and plunged his knife into the

carved oak stand and slipped into the next room. A bathroom, the counter

littered with various hair supplies and the ground covered with mountains of

cloths.

He quickly shut the door and saw Yoshio and Kinjiro go into the other room,

while Amazon and Kenji, finishing their raid on the main rooms, took the

fourth. He caught Amazon's eye and nodded to the outside, their signal that

he would keep watch.

Yoshio opened the door to find what must've been Jekyll and Hyde's room.

One half had a twin bed with a light blue spread. Resting atop it was a

silver ball, and he grabbed it without thought. He checked the rest of the

room. There was also a small writing desk, with a computer. He considered

taking it, but realized the hassle it would be to drag it out. Besides, they

probably have a trace chip on it anyway. He moved on. The walls were

covered with marine posters.

"Kinjiro, you find anything yet?" He whispered. His partner's blue-black

hair was darker than usual as he waded through piles of junk and clothes.

"Think we could sell this?" he picked up a game console and a controller.

"Sure, throw it in." They tossed the system into the bag they brought along,

and Kinjiro pushed back some of the junk. "I don't see much else. Wait,"

Kinjiro reached for a glowing orange marble. "This looks expensive enough,"

he murmured and tossed it in. "Here, and take this lamp." He added that in

there as well.

Amazon and Kenji pushed open the last door. She hated thievery, but it was

the only way to provide. Even in a big city, every job was either taken or

required a car and insurance and other luxuries beyond the small group's

reach. At least we'll be able to rent an apartment soon, and then maybe we

can get a decent job. Instead of that crappy old house that we bought

dirt-cheap and had to repair. Their bag was already half filled with stuff

from the living room and kitchen, and they were inspecting this final room.

Amazon knew they didn't have much time, so quickly did a one-over on the

room. There was one large bed with a trundle-bed pull out underneath. It was

draped unceremoniously with a fiery red coverlet. Soccer cleats and a ball

took up the space on the floor, as well as a muddy soccer uniform. He too

had a desk, but no computer and only stacks of schoolbooks. On the wall hung

a picture of a teenage boy, his dark black hair ruffled in the wind as he

played with a huge white tiger. She touched his face gently. I feel like

I've seen him before.

"Think we could pawn this?" Kenji asked and held up a light silver ball,

breaking her thoughts.

"Sure, why not. But I think that's about it. C'mon, we don't have enough

time for anything else."

He nodded his agreement seeing nothing else and rapped on the room where he

knew Yoshio and Kinjiro had raided.

"Yo, we're going!" He called and the team slipped back into the dark night.