Assailant

Akai Shuichi was anything but careless, but in that split second, everything felt out of his control. It had happened too quickly, and - for the first time in his life - he didn't see it coming.

"Don't move," a voice behind him called. Calm, stern, feminine. But not at all gentle. He registered the unmistakable feel of a cold, hard gun pressed to his head.

He didn't move an inch, his keys firmly plastered in his hand. The thought crossed his mind instantly - he considered whipping around and swiftly stabbing the offender, using his keys as a weapon and using their fleeting moment of disorientation to knock the gun off their fingertips. He was sure she was no match for him, physically at least. But the fact she had managed to crawl up behind him undetected made him falter, he was doubtful now - who was this woman? And did she bring anyone else with her? What did she want?

He asked just that, "What do you want?"

"I want you to walk straight ahead, you'll see a car, stand behind it."

He tried not to let it distract him how alluring her voice sounded. This wasn't the time.

He didn't move.

And then he felt her press her lips to his ear from behind, "Move," she hissed. And the gun pressed firmly to his head made him shift his body forwards towards the car.

She stopped him by firmly gripping his bicep when they reached the car. And before he could so much as utter a word she threw a blindfold over his eyes. He almost laughed at how cliche this was. A part of him wondered why he didn't turn around and end this all now. But he knew it was because, in all honesty, he was curious. And bored. And that was a dangerous combination on him.

"You did that quickly," he observed, "you do this often?"

"Get in the car," she snapped, yanking the door open before pushing him in roughly. He noted his assailant was short, shorter than him at least when she'd brushed past him to yank the door open.

Shuichi didn't know why he didn't resist, even at this stage. He could've stopped this, but he didn't. A part of him felt that the reason he didn't bother to act was that he felt he could easily overpower this girl at any time. And wasn't it his duty as an FBI agent to catch the bad guys, not run away? He could always have her take them to wherever it was they were going and end things there. It wasn't even anything to worry about. But later he would realise that it was - something to worry about.

He was feeling tired, all of a sudden, and his eyes began to feel heavy. Right before his eyes shut, he heard the woman's phone ring, then her disjointed words speaking into the phone, "already have... test subject... Gin."

Gin.

When he woke next, it took him a while to realise what exactly was going on. He was tied to a chair, his hands firmly clasped behind his back with cold metal handcuffs. His eyes were still blindfolded, but he could tell by the feel of the surrounding temperature that he was in an enclosed space. He tried for a while to release himself, but it was to no avail.

He heard footsteps approaching.

"Hi," the feminine voice said, this time her voice sounded melodic. It made him wonder, briefly, what she looked like. "You're looking a bit mellow," she teased, "maybe this'll cheer you up?" She held in front of him a mug - a black coffee, extra hot.

And then it all came back to him -

He was in a hurry, and the barista sure was taking her time with him.

"Anything else for you, sir?" She said, her eyes slowly glanced down his body and back up to his eyes. She was brave, this one.

"No, thank you," he'd said. And then he watched her shout to the other barista to make a "Black Americano, extra hot" to which the second barista had replied with a "coming right up!"

He couldn't see her face. The back of her head was partly covered by her cap. When she was doing making his drink, she slipped it to him at the counter, not meeting his gaze.

He took the drink and headed for the car park.

"Barista girl," he said simply. But his mind raced back to the moment in the car when she'd said it - Gin. The man him and the FBI had been hoping to catch for so damn long. He was even planning on infiltrating the Organization as a last resort. But this woman... who was she? Was she part of them? Was she going to take her to where Gin was? He suddenly didn't feel so powerful anymore. If she was one of them... then she wasn't stupid. And she was dangerous. And this suddenly became much more profound than he'd initially thought.

"You have a good memory," she whispered. She set the mug down on a table nearby, leaned forward into the chair and released his handcuffs. For a second, he caught a whiff of the scent of her hair, and it bothered him then that he couldn't see what she looked like. Why did it even matter to him, anyway? He felt a strange yearning, for what, he wasn't sure. As though he was craving a cake but could only taste a lick of the icing. What a strange way to think of this.

She'd drugged him. At the coffee shop. That's why he'd been so... nonchalant about everything. He'd been out of it. He felt he still was, though his thoughts were getting a bit more coherent now.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder. It was only a slight touch, a gentle feminine hand on his shoulder but my, did it feel good for him. When was the last time he'd even been touched by a woman? A year? Two? He didn't even remember anymore, probably because he hadn't given it much thought. FBI work didn't care for anyone's personal lives. There was no time for a relationship. He'd have the occasional fling every now and then, but even that was too much to have on his plate.

Her fingers were delicate, he could tell, her hands small. Smaller than his. He could overtake her if he wanted to, he could pin her down, handcuff her to something and bolt for the door.

Her hand left his body.

"I'll be back in half an hour," she said, and her voice faded as she added, "I need to attend to something."

She left him uncuffed, still blindfolded. He sat there in silence, not daring to touch the coffee she'd left behind.

When she was back, he could tell that she... had showered? He caught the smell of soap and shampoo. It didn't make him feel any less discomfort, considering his position. Who would shower at a time like this anyway? How did she trust him to just sit there and not attempt to kill her or break out the door? For a moment, he briefly regretted not having removed his blindfold earlier, when she was out of the room. At least then it wouldn't seem so.. perverted if he'd done it now.

"You still have your blindfold on," she observed. She sounded clinical, as though he was her test subject. In fact, he recalled now that that was exactly the word she'd used on the phone in the car. Test subject.

"Didn't want to be a rude house guest," he mocked, though his voice lacked the humour to carry this forward, "you left it on me, so I kept it on."

"Mhm," she hummed, "obedient."

At that, he chuckled, his first genuine show of emotion, "Believe me," he said, "only when I want to be."

He couldn't see her reaction, but he wished he could.

Shiho's face flushed.

Fuck fuck fuck... what had she gotten herself into? This was a complete and utter disaster. She didn't know what the hell she was doing.

Baka, muttered her inner voice, you don't know what the hell you're doing!

If I didn't do this then Gin wouldv'e, she convinced herself, and Gin wouldn't have been as kind as me.

Nonetheless, she regained her composure and reminded herself that this man could not, in fact, see her. She took a moment to observe him, he was tall - of course, he was, that was one of the reasons she'd picked him. His hair was jet black, short, he was in a beanie when she'd encountered him - one that she'd knocked over as she'd shoved him into the car. He didn't know that she'd felt bad about that and had quickly picked it up and stowed it away with her before she drove off. She was keeping up appearances, after all.

He was handsome, a bit too handsome, it would've been distracting had she not been in this miserable situation. She was thankful his blindfold was still on, that he hadn't actually taken it off even though she'd given him the freedom to, otherwise he'd have seen the look on her face as she stared at him.

"Enjoying the view?" he said suddenly, breaking the silence in the room.

Shiho faltered, her eyes wide and cheeks reddening. Could he... could he see her? No, no way. He's bullshitting.

She scoffed. "There's nothing to enjoy," she deadpanned, though they both knew that was far from the truth.

"I see," he sounded almost disappointed, "so you didn't strap me to this chair to fulfil a dirty fantasy of yours?"

At that, Shiho's eyes furrowed in anger, though to be fair - she'd just kidnapped a guy. Who was she to be angry? For someone who's been kidnapped, he was taking it surprisingly light. She noted that he hadn't drunk the coffee, or even attempted to leave his seat, though he was now untied. She didn't know who he was, so why was she comfortable letting him sit like this in her house, untied?

"No, sorry to disappoint you," she said, her voice stern and calm, despite her state of mind, "but you're not here to fulfil any fantasy."

"Shame," he murmured, and she saw his face twist into a slight smirk, "so why am I here?"

Who was this guy? She'd expected someone to cower in fear, beg to be let go, but this guy didn't even seem in a hurry to leave!

"You're here for an experiment," she said simply, "I'm a... scientist." She felt strange saying it out loud. It's not every day you explain to your captive why they're needed.

"Right," he said, though he sounded like he didn't believe her, "a scientist and her captive..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence for the both of them to know what he was thinking. Something dirty.

Eh, looks like you captured a pervert. Well done. Her inner voice remarked sarcastically.

She flushed and snapped at him, "For the final time, that's not why you're here," she crossed her arms, not that he could see, "much to your disappointment."

At that, his face which had previously been looking straight ahead looked up at her from his seated position. And then he stood up. It was so swift and sudden she retreated back until she felt her body hit the back of the couch in her living room. The man was right in front of her now, even blindfolded, he was terrifying. And she suddenly felt afraid. He was a mere few centimetres away from her now.

"What are you going to do with me?" He whispered, his voice low and dangerous. Despite what he'd asked, Shiho felt his question was the exact opposite. Can you guess what I'm going to do to you?

"I'm a scientist," she continued, her voice surprisingly strong, she tried not to let it distract her how close he was standing. "I work for a... company, I'm creating a medicine. It's in its early stages, and we need... human subjects."

Shuichi frowned, human subjects? What the hell was she saying?

"I need to monitor your for 3 days, before administrating the sample."

A pause.

"And then?" He asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"And then... you leave."

She was lying. They both knew. She was going to kill him.

It was silent for a moment. Shiho stared at the man in front of her. There were several things she noted as odd - firstly, he wasn't even trying to escape. He hadn't even attempted to make a move on her, let alone tried to reach for the door after she'd left him earlier (she knew, she'd watched him for a few minutes). His only sign of rebellious nature was him actually standing up to speak to her, and even then he hadn't laid a finger on her. And now here he was... stood, accepting... contemplating? What was he contemplating? Was this the moment she'd been so anxious for, the one where he'd strike back?

Secondly, he was clever. A bit too clever for her liking. Although he'd spoken only a few lines to her since his capture, they were very... strategic. He'd immediately realised she was "barista girl" as he'd so calmly put it, not mere minutes since he'd woken up. She felt that after every sentence she'd uttered, he'd orchestrated a very specific response, and given her just that. Though to any other onlooker, it wouldn't have seemed strange. Flirty, even, but not odd. But this man didn't look to be one to flirt, at least, not in situations like this. He was.. doing something. He was testing the waters, perhaps trying to see how far he could go... but go for what, she didn't know. She had kidnapped him, not the other way around. So what was he possibly playing at here?

Thirdly, he still hadn't taken off the goddamn blindfold! This was something he certainly would've done by now... but, why didn't he? Was he playing a game? Was he trying to phase her? Suddenly, an image of her trying to physically fight this guy while he was blindfolded conjured in her mind, and in that image, he was winning. He was winning, blindfolded. What was he trying to show off? That he had some Daredevil skills lying around?

I wouldn't be surprised, her inner voice mocked again, have you seen what he looks like?

Shiho internally dismissed that thought, though it did make her realise she actually didn't know what he looked like without the blindfold; she hadn't really registered his face back at the coffee place. Probably more frightening, she surmised.

Shiho determined that the man she'd captured was no ordinary man, and these three days certainly weren't going to be as easy as expected.

Shuichi noted that, given this absurd situation, he had 3 main priorities (in no particular order).

1. Get this girl to lead him to Gin

2. Gather enough intel on the Organization to be useful (deadly, hopefully)

3. Escape alive to tell the story

From his brief interaction with the girl, he wasn't able to quite glean her character. She'd claimed to be a scientist, so she must be intelligent. She was calm when she spoke to him, he didn't phase her in any way. She didn't care for him, and from the way she spoke, either she was a really good actor or she genuinely didn't care who she hurt to get to her goals. If she was indeed a member of the Organization like he had suspected, then he was sure it was the latter. Judging on that and on the fact that he was determined to use this opportunity to gather more intel on the Organization, he decided it would be best if he followed through with what she said. For now. Which was primarily way he'd realised it would be foolish to try to escape. If she was using him as a test subject then it seems that she had picked him at random, probably following a vague criteria of "is he a male" and "does he look healthy enough", which meant that not only did it not matter who he was but it certainly made no difference to her if he was dead or alive. She could always find someone else to replace him. He wasn't special, she wouldn't keep him alive if he was a nuisance to her. That was primarily the reason he was so... calm. Non-disruptive. He was observing, calculating and he certainly wasn't rash. She'd given him permission to take off the blindfold, albeit he hadn't. She hadn't taken it off of him, either. Either she enjoyed having him blindfolded or she was afraid of him. Could she really be, though? Could she be afraid of someone she herself had captured?

For now, he was going to do as she said.

One thing she didn't know though. He was an FBI agent, and she was no match for him.

Would he kill her if it got too far?

He decided that he would.

One thing this man didn't know, regardless of what game he was playing at, she was Sherry. She was a member of the Black Organization. She was lethal. And he had no idea.

"Your blindfold," she said, and she tried not to let it bother her how close he was. "It's still on."

"Want me to look at you that badly?" He said, his tone dangerous, a small smirk on his face.

"You're missing out," she bit back, though she made no attempt to take it off of him. Why was this guy so arrogant? Was this his way of trying to get some enjoyment out of a shitty situation? If anyone was crazy here it was him, not her!

"Then take it off for me," he said, his voice suddenly gentle. For some reason, it made her face flush.

She tried not to let it show when she said, "you're capable of doing it yourself, no? Or does a grown man like yourself need a woman doing everything for him?"

A teasing smirk played across his features, "Not everything," he said, his tone dirty, "but some things are better with a woman's touch."

Dirty bastard.

She was angry at him, and frustrated, and he was pissing her off. So in a sudden swift motion, she pulled the blindfold off his head, wrapped it around his neck and pushed him up against the wall. Hard.

In the second it took for her to remove the blindfold, he was suddenly pushed hard against the wall, the blindfold now threateningly tight around his neck. He realised it was difficult for her to push him up against the wall, he was too big for her. But he'd angered her enough to do that, and it gave him satisfaction for some reason. He could've stopped her, he'd seen it coming, but he didn't want to break her. Not yet. The blindfold was tight around his neck, and she was flush up against him, pulling at it even further. Hurting him. He could easily rip the thing to pieces and throw her across the room, but he let her have her moment.

It was the first time he'd seen her face, and he decided it would've been better if he'd stayed blindfolded. Perhaps it was the shock of it all; him being in this position with a beautiful woman pressed up against him that made him feel hot between the legs. She was feisty, and angry and frustrated, and he suddenly had the urge to show her just how equally frustrated he was with her. The thought vanished as soon as it had come, his practical brain taking over. He reached up and hooked his hand under the blindfold, holding it tightly and away from his neck. Her grip loosened.

"I could kill you," she said, slowly, her eyes on fire. He didn't doubt her one bit. "I could do a lot of things to you."

His eyes darkened with something she couldn't quite put her finger on. His voice was low when he whispered back, "I could do a lot of things to you too."

HELLOO EVERYONE! I know I haven't updated my DC stories in a while but I had this plot bunny which I just had to write! I hope you guys enjoy this, I felt that Shuichi x Shiho needed a bit more love in the fandom! Let me know what you think guys :)!