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"OH, YOU MUST ALL BE friends with Keigo. As this gentleman said, my name is Takemitsu Hiro, heir to the Takemitsu Group, and Crème de la Crème's rank 11. This might be a surprise, but I am also...Keigo's cousin. Welcome to Tokyo, Maximilian Sinclaire. It's definitely been a while."

    Everyone looks at Max with complete shock. Even Keigo was surprised. They weren't expecting the two of them to know each other, let alone have a shared history together. But what confused them the most wasn't their past relationship but the confused and shocked expression on Max's face too. Max knows who Takemitsu Hiro is because he's seldom shown in the news, but based on what the heir said, it seems like they've met before, which Max doesn't remember at all. This only means that they met before Max had his memories erased.

     "Hiro, what are you doing here?" Keigo finally asks.

     Hiro, who was wearing a silky black shirt, adjusted his sleeves before looking at his cousin with a sweet smile. "Do you really think I'll just let you bring a bunch of heirs on my territory and not inform me about it?" Hiro says, speaking in their language that only the two of them, as well as Asahi, understand.

     "Asahi, what are they talking about?" Nox, who was sitting beside Asahi, asks in a soft voice.

     Asahi tries to hear their conversation better and then looks at Nox and the others so he can explain what they're both talking about.

     "What are you planning to do to them?" Keigo then asks with a nervous expression.

     Hiro stares at Keigo before patting his shoulder. Right after, he turns his head to Max and the others to stare at them. Kingston, Gengxin, and the rest of the guys in the group were starting to get nervous. Magnus, who couldn't even look at Hiro, accidentally dropped his phone because of how much his hand was shaking. Because of this, the men that Hiro came with suddenly pulled their guns out and pointed the deadly weapon toward them, almost making Magnus shit his pants.

     "K-Keigo...I'm going to fucking kill you after this," Ari whispers as everyone freezes in their place while the guns are pointed in their direction.

     All of them became completely quiet, but after a while, Hiro started laughing. And then, he instructs his men to put their guns down. The men followed and hid their guns back, making everyone sigh in relief while Magnus quickly grabbed his phone on the floor.

     "Nitori-san!" Hiro then calls out, and the old man who owns the store walks out of the kitchen to face the terrifying heir. "Prepare a grand feast for our guests. I'll pay for everything later."

     Nitori nods his head and bows to Hiro before heading back to the kitchen. Right after, Hiro snaps his fingers, automatically making his men head out of the store to wait outside, almost making it look like they're guarding the store.

     "I don't want my cute little cousin to get embarrassed, so order anything you like. It's on me," Hiro says with his surprisingly sweet smile. But right after, he looks back at Keigo with a much more serious expression, nodding his head towards him like it was a signal. Keigo didn't even have to ask as he stood from his seat, and then he and his cousin walked out of the store so they could talk properly. As soon as the two of them were gone, everyone instantly looked at Max.

     "Who was that guy?! His men literally just pointed guns at us!" Kingston says in a panic, seconds away from calling his family so they can take him back home.

     "I...I don't know. I mean, I know who he is. He's one of the most famous heirs in Asia, but I don't remember ever meeting him," Max explains, making Kingston and the others sigh.

     "Great, we're stuck in a country with a gangster as a host. This can't get any worse than that," Gengxin says, pulling out his phone to message his assistant about the situation that they're in. Fortunately, Asahi stopped him in time before he could even send the message.

     "I suggest you don't do that," Asahi tells him. "We're in their territory right now, and even if you send a battalion to take you, it won't be enough. The whole country is practically protecting this family. If you don't want any trouble, I suggest you keep this encounter a secret until we get back to London."

     Gengxin was doubtful about what Asahi said and still believed that it was best to let someone know about this. But despite that, he hid his phone away and listened to the warning.

     Everyone eventually kept quiet until Keigo returned to the store. They were expecting Hiro to follow behind him, but to their surprise, Keigo went back alone, and Hiro and his men got back inside their van and left.

     "W-Wait, where's he going?" Ari confusingly asks as Keigo returns to their table.

     Keigo had a sad expression on his face, which made his friends look worried. But as soon as Keigo sat back down, he suddenly slammed a large amount of cash on the table, surprising everyone. "Look what my cousin gave me! Now we can eat a ton!" Keigo excitedly says, confusing Max and the others.

     "W-Wait, Keigo, are you okay? What happened with Hiro? Did he say something to you? Did he threaten you?" Max asks, and Keigo looks at him confusingly before answering, "Huh? No, why would you think that? It may not look like it, but Hiro and I were very close in the past. He's actually the one who introduced me to Mr. Nitori's shop."

     "Then why did you look so scared earlier?" Nicolás then asks.

     "Well, I thought he was going to ruin this for me and embarrass me again like what he did when I was a kid, but he didn't. He had to leave because something urgent happened," Keigo explains.

     "Is that so?" Max asks. He was still confused about how this all went down, but seeing how Keigo was okay, and Hiro eventually left, I guess this trip won't be as troublesome as they thought.

     "Now, let's eat all the ramen we can until our stomachs burst!" Keigo excitedly shouts.

     After the mayhem that happened earlier, everyone eventually loosened up and tried their best to enjoy the moment. Nitori-san, who singlehandedly cooked all the dishes for them, brought the ramen to their tables one at a time even though Ervin and the others insisted on helping him.

     When the noodle soup was now in front of them, all of them just stared at the bowl without saying a thing.

     "I don't know why, but this is making me feel emotional," Nox jokingly says. "We traveled all the way here, got welcomed by one of the most powerful men in the country, and even had guns pointed at our heads, and that was all for this very moment."

     "Maybe we should have a sip at the same time," Magnus then suggests, and surprisingly, everyone agrees.

     "Alright, we'll have a taste in three...two..."

     As soon as Ari said 'one,' everyone grabbed their spoons and finally got a taste of the ramen that they'd all been waiting to have. As soon as the flavor touched their tongues, everyone in the shop became completely silent.

     No one said a thing, and the quietness made Keigo swallow down the lump in his throat because he was waiting for his friend's opinion about the dish he thoroughly enjoyed when he was a kid. But amidst the silence, they suddenly heard a sound... the sound of someone crying.

     The twelve of them immediately turned their head, and to their surprise, they saw a tear falling from Kingston's eyes.

     "Dude, are you fucking crying right now?" Ari teases and Kingston immediately wipes the tears in his cheek before defending, "N-No, I'm not. The steam just went to my eyes."

     As soon as they heard Kingston's answer, everyone instantly burst into laughter. Even the quiet ones, Gengxin, Asahi, and Ervin's brother Edward, started laughing too.

     "Keigo, this is really good. Thank you for bringing us here and sharing the taste of your past with us," Max then says, and Keigo's cheeks instantly turn red.

     "Yeah, it's pretty good. Mr. Nitori did an amazing job," Felix then says before looking at their cook. "This was amazing, Mr. Nitori!"

     Nicolás and the others started praising the dish as well and thanked Keigo for bringing them here. Keigo knew that they were over exaggerating so he wouldn't feel too bad, but Keigo was happy with the reaction nonetheless.

     Looks like their Japan trip was worth it after all.

...

"Damn, I'm full," Max says after finishing another bowl of ramen. "Keigo, is there a store here where I can buy some cigarettes?" He then asks.

     Keigo, who was still busy eating another dish that Nitori-san served to them, looks at Max and nods his head. "There is. Let me accompany you."

     "No, it's fine. You can just finish your food. Don't worry, I won't get lost," Max confidently says, wiping his mouth with a tissue paper before standing from his seat. Keigo told him where the nearest convenience store was, so Max wore his dark shades and cap again before walking out of the store.

     As he got out, Max pulled his phone from his pocket. Since Max wasn't able to buy a SIM card, he wasn't able to check for any new messages, which he could only assume were mostly from his brother, Marcus. Thankfully he was able to send a message to his butler earlier before they got on the plane, so if anything were to happen, someone would know where he was.

     "Found it," Max says as he spots the convenience store that Keigo mentioned. He puts his phone back inside his pocket and walks closer to it. But just as he was about to push the door open, a black van suddenly stopped behind him. And before he could even react, someone put a bag over Max's head before forcefully dragging him inside the van.

     "S-Shit...what do you think you're doing?! Let go of me!" Max asks, trying to struggle free, but the men are too strong for him to push away.

     The van eventually starts driving off, and as soon as Max sits down, someone pulls the bag off his head, surprising him as a familiar figure welcomes him with a smile.

     "Maximilian. Did you enjoy the ramen?" 21-year-old Takemitsu Hiro, the heir to the Takemitsu Group and Crème de la Crème's rank 11, casually greets. He was sitting in front of Max while two women in sexy attire sat on both of his sides.

     "What the fuck are you—"

     "Now now, there's no need to get mad," Hiro says as the woman on his right hands him a glass of wine.

     "No need to get mad? You fucking kidnapped me! And just when Keigo was telling us that you two were close, so I assumed you weren't a complete asshole, but I guess I was wrong," Max angrily says while Hiro takes a sip of his wine, acting all calm like he didn't just do something illegal.

     "Come on, what makes you think I'm kidnapping you?" He asks.

     "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're a yakuza, an organized crime syndicate?" Max sarcastically asks, making Hiro laugh this time.

     "Hey now, you're making it sound bad. We still have businesses all around the country. And besides, I'm no different than Jontell Rosario, who's in a mafia family. Maybe they ruined their family name a little after the Stepanov bombing incident, but that doesn't really change anything," Hiro explains before finishing the wine and handing the glass back to the woman beside her.

     Max looks around the van to check if he'd be able to escape. Unfortunately, two of Hiro's men were sitting beside him while the others sat at the back and front of the car. If he does something crazy, they'll definitely be able to stop him. All Max could do now was accept defeat.

     "Alright, I give up. What the hell do you want with me?" Max finally asks, putting a smirk on Hiro's usual sweet face.

     "That's more like it," Hiro says, snapping his fingers and automatically making the van stop. Right after, everyone inside the car heads out, leaving Max alone with the powerful heir. As his men surrounded the van, Hiro looked back at Max seriously and told him, "This opportunity is very rare. It's not every day where I can converse like this with you. I believe our meeting here is fate, and our past led us to this very moment."

     "I don't remember a past with you," Max honestly says, and Hiro doesn't seem a bit surprised.

     "When I saw the news about Madam Luna's passing, I instantly knew something had happened to you. The media didn't really reveal it, but my family was informed that you were with her in the car. It's a miracle you survived, but I guess your memories were erased as an exchange," Hiro says with a heavy sigh, a bit frustrated that Max doesn't even remember meeting him.

     "Your mother visited our main house once," he then reveals.

     "S-she did?"

     "Wow, so you really don't remember anything," Hiro says in amusement before resting his back on his seat. "Yes, she came here a few years back. If I recall, she came only a few weeks before the Stepanov bombing incident occurred."

      "What?" Max asks in shock.

     Recently he just found out that his mother met up with Madam Agostina Rosario, and now she has met up with the Takemitsu Clan too? What on earth was his mother plotting? Why did she meet up with these powerful families just days before the death of the entire Stepanov Clan?

     "That was around eight years ago, right? So I was thirteen, and you at that time were only nine years old," Hiro continues to explain.

     "I was with her when she came here?" Max asks in shock, and Hiro nods his head to confirm it.

     "You visited and stayed for a couple of days at our main house, so my mother forced me to play with you. You were a smart kid, so it wasn't much of a pain," Hiro shares before suddenly unbuttoning his shirt. Max didn't know what he was doing, but then Hiro pulled his shirt to reveal a mark on his chest. It was the symbol of the Fleur De Lis, a symbol branded to all the kids under Crème de a Crème.

     "Our time together was short, but I remember one time when you were writing something, you suddenly approached me and put an x mark on this symbol before putting an x mark on the same symbol in your arm," Hiro explains, consciously making Max touch his arm where the marking can be found.

     "You were a kid, but then you said to me...we are not animals to be branded," Hiro reveals, and as soon as he said it, a memory suddenly flashed in front of Max, making him gasp. It was a memory of the very scene that Hiro just mentioned to him. It seems like he wasn't lying at all.

     "What was my mother doing here? What were we doing here?" Max finally asks.

     "You think Madam Luna killed the Stepanov Clan, don't you?" Hiro suddenly asks, making Max's eyes widen in shock.

     "I...I don't know what you're—"

     "The bombs found at the Stepanov mansion...they were manufactured by the Alexeev family, which was then purchased by the Rosario family, and then was resold to Luna Lemieux. And in that party, there was you, Gavriil Alexeev, Grey Cullen, and Cindy Lin." Hiro reveals, surprising Max because he wasn't expecting him to know all this, especially when he only found out about this himself not too long ago.

     "I don't know about you, but don't you see a pattern here?" Hiro asks him.

     Max furrowed his brows in confusion, but then, he eventually realized something terrifying that made his jaw drop. He had been confused since these pieces of information all started coming to him, but now, he was slowly putting them all together.

     "Maximilian, my family believes that someone out there...is targeting the members of Crème de la Crème," Hiro finally says, making Max cover his mouth in shock.

     "N-No, this can't be. It doesn't make any sense. Why would someone even—" Max stopped and tried to process everything. How did he not make this connection before? All he thought was that the bombing incident was all because someone wanted to kill the Stepanov Clan, but he never realized that it wasn't just the Stepanov Clan.

     Viktor was never only the target.

     It was all of them.

     "I don't know why, but something in that party...the day the bombing incident, something was supposed to happen. It wasn't just a mere family reunion. Why were you all there in the first place? What was going to happen during that night, and why did someone desperately try to stop it?" Hiro asks Max as Max's head starts to get overwhelmed.

     He couldn't remember a single thing that happened that night, nor anything after his mother's death. But did Max know something too?

     "So you're telling me that someone out there is trying to kill us? To kill...all of us?" Max says, and Hiro takes a deep breath and grabs the bottle of wine before taking a sip directly from it. Right after, he wipes his mouth, and then he looks out of the window of his car and says, "4 years ago, I was invited to enroll in J.S High."

     "What did you just say?"

     "Along with Viktor, Grey, and Gavriil, I was supposed to enroll there too," Hiro reveals, making Max look at him in complete shock. "I wasn't able to because my father opposed it, but now I realize why my family never made me leave the country. Other than the fact that I'm heavily protected here..."

     "They wouldn't be able to reach you," Max finishes, and Hiro takes a deep breath and nods his head before looking back at him.

     "Maximilian, I don't want to scare you, but as the kid who made me realize something important in the past, I want to share this with you," Hiro says with a serious expression. "Whoever is trying to kill us is probably involved in the five brotherhood houses. So whatever you're trying to accomplish in that school...I believe it leads you to a much greater goal. J.S High...might be much more connected to your past than you thought."

- END -