Tsunade sighed deeply, letting her warmth breath meet the cold air surrounding her on the city's wet sidewalks. The air was still moist from the rain, as surprising as it was to not be snowing in this weather. By this point, she was used to the short skirts and high heels. She had been doing it for 10 years, knowing it was dangerous, but it was a risk she was willing to take for pleasure. Of course, not the pleasure of being the prostitute most men believed her to be. Instead, she sought the pleasure of dragging them to the ground and flashing her badge to watch the expression on their faces change in an instant. A career like that never seemed to get old.
She walked along the alleys behind the old opera house, waiting for some perverted old man to pull his usual stunts. There was pretty close to nothing she hadn't seen among these streets, but she always had a few condoms and bullets with her just in case. Then, like clock-work, she heard a low voice from the darkness.
"Hey baby. Ain't you cold in that get up?"
She looked up at the back steps of the opera. The horseshoe that had been hanging there for as long as she could remember glittered in the moonlight and illuminated two figures. One was tall and slender with fire red hair and a smooth, yet strong face. The other was a bit shorter and more muscular with blonde hair that reached a little past his shoulders. He must have been the one that called out, judging by the cocky grin that spread across his slightly scruffy face.
Tsunade rolled her eyes, not expecting to be stopped by these unusually hormonal and obviously sexually deprived men.
"Don't you two have a job or something that you should be sleeping to get ready for? It's slightly past your bedtime on my watch."
The blonde laughed and stepped down to her level before approaching her.
"I used to be a soldier, yeah. Before I backed out for a real taste of life. And look what I got. A damn shabby apartment on the side of some old yutz's place where his dog pisses on my stoop. Not the high life I was expecting, y'know?"
Tsunade noticed the other man turn away and grunt. She put her eyes back on the blonde that was clearly examining her slightly over-exposed and exaggerated cleavage.
"If you have such a horrendous life, how do you expect to pay me?"
The blonde laughed again and focused his eyes on hers while he touched her cheek lightly with the back of his hand.
"I'll just pay you a different way, baby."
"Back off, Kurz."
The red haired man had leaned off the side of the building. His eyes were fixed directly on the other man.
"Stop being such a prude, Aya. We're not going to find another woman this easily."
Tsunade raised her hand and slapped away that of the man named Kurz.
"You won't get your hands on me, either. I hate to destroy your hopes, but you're under arrest."
Tsunade pulled the badge from her pocket and held it to Kurz's face.
"Pullin' a fast one on me babe? Not bad for a chick. But I'm not putting an arrest on my record sweetheart."
Kurz pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at her face. As Tsunade reached for her own gun, she felt something sharp prick her arm. She moved her eyes down and saw Kurz holding a knife directly over where her gun was held.
"When I said I used to be a soldier, I must have failed to mention that it was under the direction of Captain Teletha Testarossa. You won't trick me. Drop the charges, babe."
Tsunade flinched. Even in the cold weather, she felt a bead of sweat forming on her brow. Otherwise, the only warmth left on her body was the warm stream of blood flowing down her arm from where it was stabbed. Suddenly, a blade appeared next to Kurz's throat. It was slightly damaged with bloodstains running across it, showing quite a bit of use.
"I told you to back off, Kurz. And I hate doing things this way. But either drop your weapon or feel mine."
Kurz laughed, "Aya. You can't be serious. You don't make a very good assassin, and regardless…"
"And you never made a very good soldier, if you must know. Always begging for attention from the Captain…Flirting with any women you could find to tame your feeling of rejection. You're still doing that, Kurz. Because it tears you apart that the Captain chose Sousuke over you."
Kurz dropped his gun, which hit the ground solidly by Tsunade's foot. She looked at his other arm, shaking in fury, with knife still in hand.
"Leave my Captain out of this!"
Kurz thrust his knife toward Aya, but Aya grabbed his wrist and held it in place in front of him. In that second, Tsunade grabbed her set of handcuffs and locked them on the wrists of the plainly defeated ex-soldier Kurz. Aya looked at her, puzzled. She laughed slightly.
"I use these for more than one thing in my career."
Aya smiled back at her, sheathed his sword at his waist, and released Kurz's wrist. At that point, a small boy with red hair a bit more mild that Aya's approached them. He said nothing, but stared at them with a confused look upon his face. Tsunade turned to him, still holding onto Kurz.
"Are you lost? You shouldn't be wandering around places like this at night…"
His blank stare turned into one of almost fear.
"I'm sorry…My name is Daisuke. My house is right over there. This is just a faster way to get home…"
He nodded his head toward a building straight ahead and slightly off to the right. Tsunade nodded in response and looked to Aya.
"Aya, will you please escort Daisuke home? I would hate to see anything happen to him, and I trust he's safe with you."
Aya looked at the boy, then back at Tsunade.
"Of course. But be wise. No one should be out here, really. Not since the string of murders recently."
Tsunade threw the struggling Kurz to the ground on his stomach and stepped on his back to hold him. She gave Aya a puzzled look.
"Apparently you haven't heard. There have been two different murder chains going on. They say one is all men, the other all women. No one is sure if they're connected or not. But one thing is certain. It's not safe around here anymore. For anyone."
Tsunade absorbed his words while he and Daisuke walked away. She led Kurz to her car and drove off toward the station for much more reasoning than she had left with.