Akihito unintentionally comes into possession of a data disk that everyone wants. Thinking it must be bad, he wipes the data. When Fei Long comes looking for the information, he kidnaps Akihito’s friends to pressure him to get the information from Asami. Takaba goes to Asami for help and is rebuffed. What follows is a truly steamy sex scene between the two and Asami drugging Takaba afterwards to keep him from finding Fei Long. Only, Takaba is stubborn and goes after his friends. The Mangaka goes to a new level with this volume and introduces a gripping story arc that will span multiple book and force the evolution of their relationship: The Arc of Truth. The two groups go head-to-head in a shoot-out, with Fei Long and Asami both injured and Akihito trapped in the middle. Fei Long escapes to Hong Kong, but he takes Akihito as a hostage.

Though I really enjoyed the direction the story turns, I found this volume a trifle disappointing with about a third taken up by a side story with different characters. The high quality from SuBlime is still evident in this volume, with color insert and the deluxe edition bonus Finder story at the end. The closing story is a sexy, cute story of Akihito prank calling Asami while drunk on New Year’s and the consequences of interrupting Asami’s sleep. A solid entry in the series, but I hope future volumes cut out the side stuff. ( )