Author's Note: New story. As I mentioned in the other fic, this and my Petals in the Wind story are my project to celebrate both Valentine's Day this month and White Day next month. Both of these stories will be about eight chapters long (more or less) and will hopefully be updated once a week from now until the end of March. For these two romantic holidays, I wanted to explore two sides of romance: humor and drama. This will be the more dramatic one with Petals being the more light-hearted one. Timeline-wise, this takes place after the last volume of the manga.

Anyway, I hope my readers enjoy both of these fics. :) Please let me know what you think: do you enjoy humor or drama? Or both?

I don't own City Hunter or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who reads/follows/reviews this. It is always appreciated.

Chapter One

"I can't believe this," Kaori Makimura huffed as she slumped down in the passenger seat of Ryo's Mini-Cooper. "You know, this is why I am in charge of picking out our clients. Not one thing has gone right during this job."

"Shut up," Ryo grumbled as he yanked the wheel around to navigate a tight corner of the road. "If you remember correctly, I didn't really want to take this job in the first place. You're the one who pushed me into it."

"Only because we desperately need the money," Kaori shot back. "And the reason why we do is because you keep scaring away most of our clients. Not to mention the fact that our savings took a hit when you decided a week ago to celebrate some absurd anniversary by hitting as many bars as you could."

"I'll have you know that the anniversary of Nekomama's grand opening is not absurd," Ryo scowled. "It's as good as any reason to celebrate. I'm the Stallion of Shinjuku. I have a reputation to uphold."

"You mean, you had a bunch of hostesses to chase after," Kaori sulked.

Ryo growled slightly at her, but did not say another word as he went back to concentrating on his driving. Kaori then looked out the window as she thought about the events that had led them to this point.

Three days ago, Kaori had gone to the blackboard at the Shinjuku station to check for any possible clients and was shocked to find Ryo already there. One thing that did not surprise Kaori, however, was the fact that Ryo was holding a woman's hands and was trying to get her to join him for a cup of tea.

"Hey, Kaori-kun," Ryo giggled before waving at her. "This is Akemi-chan, and she needs a bodyguard. Akemi-chan, this is my younger brother, Kaoru."

After delivering a needed blow to Ryo's head with one of her larger hammers, Kaori made sure to invite herself along for tea so that the three of them could discuss the particulars of the job.

The request turned out to be a straightforward one: Akemi had recently left an accounting firm that she had worked at for three years for a better position in a larger firm, and her former boss was harassing her.

"It's not just business with him," Akemi had told them. "From the very first day I started working there, he tried to get me to become 'more than co-workers' if you understand my meaning. He was so persistent about it; even though I had told him more than once that there was no way that I would ever date my boss, especially with him being almost thirty years older than me."

"Wait, thirty years older than you, and he's trying to make you his lover?" Ryo replied. He then put his hand to his chin and nodded sagely.

"Definitely a pervert," he said. "And not someone you should associate with."

"And trust me, he knows all about perverts," Kaori chimed in with a smirk. Ryo glowered at her, but Kaori only smirked even more in response.

"Anyway," Akemi continued with a nervous tone to her voice. "I've tried to move on with my life now that I got a job elsewhere, but recently there have been all sorts of deliveries sent to my house and to where I work: flowers, gifts, letters and cards. All of which were from him. At first I tried to explain to him that I wasn't interested, but he wouldn't listen. Then I tried to ignore it and would send everything back to him, but now I'm getting these threatening phone calls, and I am pretty sure that I am being followed."

Akemi reached across the table and put her hands onto one of Ryo's, causing him to grin and lean closer to her.

"Saeba-san, Kaori-san, I'm asking you to help me get rid of him so I can be happy and make a new life for myself," she added. "Please make him leave me alone."

Ryo grabbed her hand and stood up from his chair. His expression was clearly meant to be serious and heroic, but Kaori could only find it comical.

"Leave it to me," he said. "I, Ryo Saeba, will get rid of this obstacle to your mokkori happiness."

"You mean to her overall happiness, right?" Kaori sighed.

"Same thing," Ryo smiled as he shook his head. "Everything will be better soon. Just you wait and see, Akemi-chan."

"Ah, ok," Akemi nodded nervously.

"So, when do you want me to pick you up for our date?" Ryo laughed as he pulled Akemi closer to him.

"Saeba-san? What are you….?"

"Ryo, stop that," Kaori scolded, pulling on the edge of his jacket. "What on earth are you thinking?"

"Don't you see, Kaori-kun?" Ryo asked. "I'm helping Akemi-chan solve her problem. After this guy sees her go out on a date with me, I'm sure he will realize that he doesn't have a chance, and he'll give up. It's as simple as that."

Ryo moved even closer to Akemi and his grin became even more lecherous.

"Now, it's just a matter of figuring which hotel we should make into our mokkori love…."

Ryo was about to say more, but was halted when a hammer strike slammed him into the floor of the café.

"Or maybe now it's a matter of doing the job you're supposed to do," Kaori yelled at him. "You moron."

Ryo frowned as he stood back up and motioned at Kaori to walk a couple steps with him to the side. Once she was there, he leaned close and whispered into her ear.

"Something's not right with this client," he said. "I don't think this job is a good one."

"You think she's lying?" Kaori whispered back.

"I'm not sure what it is, but my instincts are telling me that something's up," he replied. "I think we should pass on this job."

"Maybe you're right," Kaori nodded. "Something does seem kind of…odd about her story."

"Good," Ryo nodded. "I'm glad that we were able to agree on this." Ryo then took a step back, his smile returning.

"Now, let me get back to planning my date with Akemi-chan," he laughed. "I know for a fact that a new hotel recently opened up where the bedrooms actually have…."

Another hammer smashed Ryo further into the dent that was already on the floor, and Kaori found herself saying something she later wished she hadn't.

"How many clients are going to scare off with your bad habits before you learn something?" she snapped at him. "Just for that, you are definitely taking this job."

"But Kaori-chan….," Ryo whined as he crawled out from under the hammer.

"You keep quiet," Kaori snarled. "I should have known better than to listen to you." She then turned toward Akemi and put a hand to the back of her head while laughing nervously.

"Don't worry, Akemi-san," she said. "I know he looks a little unreliable, but you can count on us to take care of everything for you."

"Um thank you," Akemi smiled. "I think."

Kaori let out another sigh as her mind continued to go over everything that happened after she agreed to this job. Akemi ended up staying in their guestroom at their apartment, and there were the usual antics from Ryo, that she had expected. Soon, however, there were other things that made her start to wonder if accepting this request had been a mistake.

They tried to track down the sender or the address that was the source of the gifts and letters, but had found nothing indicating who it was or even that they were even sent to her in the first place. When they asked Akemi more about the things that had been sent to her, she became evasive.

"I didn't keep anything," she had told them. "But I swear, I did get a bunch of stuff in the mail. There might not have been any name or address on any of them, but I know that it was him."

At first, Kaori chose to believe her, but when she and Ryo began to poke around at the firm where she worked, they discovered that just about all of her former co-workers had no idea of anything like what Akemi described going on, and Kaori's suspicions grew. These suspicions grew even more pronounced when Ryo mentioned that he saw the former boss in question partying with some hostesses at a bar that Ryo often frequented himself.

'Not exactly the actions of someone determined to win one woman's affection,' Kaori had told herself at the time. Later, she found out that Ryo had the same thoughts as her on the matter.

Ryo swerved around another corner, and Kaori grabbed at her seat belt in an effort to calm her nerves. Earlier that day, she and Ryo had made the decision to confront Akemi about all of the discrepancies in her story and in the evidence they had found thus far, but she had disappeared from their apartment building. Two hours later, a voice on the phone had informed them that Akemi had been kidnapped and had set up a ransom drop at a group of abandoned warehouses on the outskirts of Harumi. Kaori had fetched a briefcase, and Ryo filled it with a surprise of his own for the kidnappers before tossing it into the backseat of his Mini-Cooper.

Kaori was hesitant to go without additional backup, and while Ryo didn't say it, she suspected that he was too. Still, Ryo's pride as a professional had been offended and his obligation to his female clients had been piqued. So despite their misgivings, they made preparations to meet with the kidnappers and were currently speeding toward the warehouse district they had been told to go to.

As Ryo pulled up to the address in question, Kaori noted how deserted and isolated the area appeared to be, and she was glad that she had gone through with one last precaution before walking out the door: a phone call to Miki asking her to send Umibozu and Mick to the same address if no one heard from either her or Ryo after five hours. She hadn't told Ryo that she had done this, and Kaori hoped that it would turn out to be an unneeded step, but right now, she was confident that she had made the right decision.

Ryo parked the car, and both he and Kaori got out and surveyed the area in front of them. Kaori watched as Ryo's expression grew serious and he narrowed his eyes.

"Kaori, you should stay with the car," Ryo said as he shut his door.

"No, Ryo," she said. "We should…."

"Kaori, stay with the car," he barked at her. "That's an order. Don't come out with the briefcase until you see me arrive with Akemi-chan. Do you understand?"

Kaori clenched her hands tightly in frustration, but did not argue with him. She knew that when Ryo used that tone of voice, he was agitated, and a part of her was afraid of what could be making him react that way. Instead she nodded and slowly got back into the car. After she shut the door, Ryo gave a nod of his own and pulled out his Magnum before rushing off toward the warehouse in the center of the area.

Kaori sat in the car and strained to see or hear any sign of Ryo after he disappeared from sight, but found nothing but silence and growing darkness for several minutes as the sun began to set. She started to wonder if she should do something when the sound of gunshots caught her attention.

'Ryo….'

Unable to wait any longer, Kaori scrambled out of the car and ran toward the direction of the gunfire. Not long after she reached one of the warehouses, the sound died down, and Kaori crept along as quietly she could while looking for Ryo.

'What happened?' she wondered. 'Did the kidnappers show up? Is Akemi-san all right?'

'Is Ryo…is he….?'

Kaori swallowed hard and shook her head. She knew that this was not the time to dwell on her fear. This was the time to act and to live up to her responsibilities as Ryo's partner. She pulled out her gun and continued her careful trek along the corridors of the warehouse where she had last heard gunshots.

She continued on for only a minute more when the sound of footsteps speeding toward her caused her to tighten her grip on her gun and spin in the direction of the noise. She gasped when she saw Ryo running toward her, fear evident on his features.

"Kaori!" he shouted at her. "It's a trap. Get out of here now."

Kaori opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Ryo grabbed her just as a hail of gunfire rang out. She felt Ryo half-drag, half-carry into a run alongside him as they dodged the bullets raining down toward them.

"You were supposed to stay with the car," he yelled at her as they ran.

"There's no way that I'm going to do that while people are shooting at you," she shouted back. "I'm your partner."

Ryo glared at her, but remained silent as they continued to try to get away from the people shooting at them. Eventually they turned a corner and the area around them became silent. They crouched down near the ground for over a minute and tried to listen for any movement as they struggled to catch their breath.

"When I give you the word, you head back out toward the car," Ryo said as he re-loaded his gun. "Take it and get out of here."

"No, I am not leaving you," Kaori insisted.

"Kaori, don't argue," he said. He then stopped and looked down at the ground for a moment before glancing over at her with one of his trademark sardonic grins on his face.

"Don't worry, Kaori-chan," he laughed. "These amateurs are nothing to a pro like me. I'll be fine. You get some help and by the time you get back, I'll have all of them ready to deliver to Saeko."

"Ryo, I…."

A faint clink of metal reached Kaori's ears, and instinctively, she jumped from it while shoving Ryo away as well.

"Watch out, Ryo!"

"Kaori, don't…."

Another series of shots cut him off, and wrapped his arms around Kaori and leapt and rolled away from the gunfire. He staggered along another corridor, panting the entire way while not loosening his hold on her in the slightest. He did not stop running until the sound of the bullets was a distant noise in the background, and he was able to sneak into an area behind a stack of crumbling, wooden crates and slumped down into a sitting position on the ground. Kaori pulled herself out of his arms and sat down on the floor beside him.

"I think we lost them," she said. "Maybe we both should get out of here and come back with Saeko so that she…."

Ryo continued to sink down onto the ground and wordlessly fell over onto his stomach with a groan.

"Ryo? Are you all right?" she asked him. "What's wrong?"

Ryo did not answer and continued to groan and struggle to breathe and Kaori immediately became alarmed. She carefully helped him to roll over onto his back and gasped as her hands brushed across something warm and sticky on the lower left side of his abdomen. Once he was on his back, she could see a growing red stain on his shirt and her eyes widened at the sight. She then looked at her hands and saw that they also had blood on them.

"Ryo!"