He could feel his breath coming out in short pants, his feet carrying him towards a currently unknown location as she led him through a myriad of twists and turns through the crowded Shanghai streets. His eyes narrowed, darting left and right to see if he could pinpoint the target instead of letting Satsuki guide him through the earpiece. Despite how good of a computer whiz she was, he would much rather chase down someone he could actually see. Still, he knew that at the end of the day, he would trust his life with the girl on the other line, and so he kept on running, his toned form squeezing by people and objects along the way.

"Left," she said curtly, her voice reverberating in his ear as he made a sharp turn at the corner, crashing into one of the stands set up beside a small store and sending a (probably antique) vase toppling onto the floor. He could vaguely hear the man shouting "Hui lai!" but Daiki paid the man zero attention as he finally caught sight of the target. The fucker just had to run right into rush hour traffic in one of the busiest cities in the world. Eh, it's not like he'd get in trouble for breaking any valuables while on the job anyway. After all, what's another possibly priceless vase on top of a 6 million dollar, one of a kind Lamborghini he decided to borrow and just happened to destroy during his last mission? Of course, that doesn't count the amount of property damage he had caused either and –

"Left again."

Right, right. The mission. Focus.

Following her instructions, he was thankful to find that this street was much clearer of pedestrian traffic and his eyes immediately zeroed in on the target just ahead of him. A predatory smirk graced his features, and he leaned inwards slightly as the adrenaline began to rush into his body. It was practically the final stretch after all, and Daiki could feel the excitement begin to course through his system of yet another successful capture. Not many could outrun him. It was a simple fact that he had learned over the years he had spent doing this job.

Unfortunately, this particular mission wouldn't be so easy, and Daiki's eyes immediately widened when he caught sight of exactly where the target was heading to.

"Oi, oi, Satsuki," he said gruffly, the words slightly hindered by how heavily he was breathing. "He – "

"I know, Daiki," was her immediate response, and he couldn't help the small smile that flittered across his face at her exasperated tone. No doubt she was rolling her eyes at him at the moment too. "I'm leading you to your parked motorcycle just up ahead. Be sure to place the tracker on the van as it passes by you though."

"Roger that." There wasn't much he could do about the target climbing into the open van in a flurry, and it slamming shut with the occupant inside. But as it began to speed towards him in an effort to run him over, Daiki performed his classic move. It was almost as if he defied gravity itself as he ran forward and executed a beautiful aerial flip just over the top of the van, not forgetting to stick on the tracker just as Satsuki had instructed.

He landed on the ground perfectly, but wasted no time as he immediately pushed himself back into a brisk run, knowing that the more time he wasted, the farther away the target was getting.

"Make a right and your motorcycle will be right there."

Upon seeing his precious bike, Daiki couldn't keep the dangerous grin from forming on his face. He just couldn't help it. His bike was his baby, and he fucking loved riding around it, especially on missions when the thrill of the chase coupled with the loud thrum of the engine.

"Daiki, stop ogling Akemi and get on the stupid motorcycle already!"

Oh, was he ogling again? God, but he just loved hearing Satsuki getting jealous over Akemi.

"Stop ogling it just to spite me now!" she complained, and he could distinctly hear her muttering "Stupid Dai-chan" under her breath and he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"You do realize the world doesn't revolve around you, right Satsuki?" he asked her as he swung his leg over the side of his bike effortlessly. Daiki revved up the engine, kicking up the stand and immediately set off without waiting for an answer or a direction, knowing that Satsuki would merely redirect him if need be.

"These guys are complete amateurs," she commented, and he could distinctly hear her typing away on that giant computer they had set up this morning in their current hideout. No doubt she was currently getting annoyed at the fact that these guys weren't as much as of a challenge as their prior targets. He remembered her gushing over the fact that they had some sort of heavily encrypted whatchamacallit that she had to decode but he tuned her out a little after he stopped understanding whatever she was saying. "They're not making any turns to try to deter or confuse us or anything. It's almost as if they're…" Her voice trailed off, and his brows furrowed as a heavy feeling began to settle in his gut. There was that slight quiver in her voice, one that told him that she was starting to get worried over something or other, which was completely ridiculous!

It was times like these when he wished he could actually be there with her during a mission. There have been many moments when she had yelled out for him during a fight (a small gasp that distracted him or a whimper that made him wince with worry) and he wished he could've been there to berate her. He'd be fine, he would've told her. He's had so much training that he could protect himself from anything the enemy sent flying at him. As such, she didn't have to worry about him at all because no matter what came at him, he would come back twice as hard.

"Almost as if they're what?" he asked curiously, noting that she hadn't said anything for a while. That feeling at the pit of his stomach began to grow, and his grip on the handlebars tightened minutely as he waited for her answer. His clenched his teeth harshly and he did his best to stay focused on the road and push down that reflex to turn his bike around to head back to their operations center. He couldn't let himself be distracted now, not when they were on a mission, especially one of this caliber. But that fact didn't keep the concern from entering his voice, the slight cadence on his otherwise slow drawl. "Almost what, Satsuki?" he pressed again, needing to hear her say that it was no big deal. That nothing was wrong and it was all going according to plan.

"Dai-chan," she breathed out, and he swore mentally as that one word caused his grip to slip for a second off the handle. He waited with bated breath, but that pit in his stomach had grown into a full blown hole, ready to suck up his internal organs if he didn't take in another breath. "I think they're coming after me," she all but whispered, and despite oncoming traffic, he turned his bike back around without any further thought, his countenance shifting drastically as he raced against an unknown clock. Were they already there? Did he have enough time if he went as fast as he could? How could neither of them have known?

His body tensed, his entire body leaning forward as he pushed himself to go faster than he already was. "Satsuki, hide," he told her urgently, revving his engine, once, twice, and speeding through a red light like there wasn't a car coming towards him at 40 miles per hour.

"B-but – "

She tried to protest, and he knew she wanted to keep helping, to continue pushing them towards their ultimate goal, but right now the only thought rushing through his mind was to keep her safe, that no harm would come to her. Ever.

"Hide," he pushed one more time. "I know you want to find these guys, but for all we know they could be right down there next to you right now. They're trained, Satsuki. We both know exactly how trained they are. I can't – " I can't lose you. I can't imagine doing this without you. I can't imagine my life without you. I can't – "I can't get there in time to protect you," he breathed out instead, noting that he was now passing by the intersection he had first mounted his bike. "Please, Satsuki. Hide."

It was silent on the other end, and he had to entertain himself with thoughts that she hadn't just gotten taken, that the silence was because she was thinking and taking his words into account and not because she was just silenced indefinitely. His brows furrowed, and he mentally calculated how much longer it would take before he would get back to their base before three whispered words shook him out of his thoughts.

"Okay, I will."

His eyes shut for but a moment in relief before they hardened again, hoping that he got there before their targets did. Despite the fact that she only assumed their targets were heading back to her and not just leading him on a wild goose chase, Satsuki was rarely wrong, and that was what scared him the most because he knew they were on their way to her. And they had a head start. There was no doubt in his mind that they would arrive first, that they would have time to search for her and possibly find her before he could even land a blow at their heads for even thinking about touching her.

He knew he had to steady himself because this was a mission and he couldn't let his personal feelings get involved. They were all risking their lives working for the company. It was what they were trained to do from day one, but just imagining himself opening the door and seeing her laying on the floor covered in cuts and bruises made his blood boil with his determination and anger. He had to make it in time. He just had to. He would never forgive himself if she –

Daiki grinded his teeth together, shaking that last thought away from his conscious mind. He would get to her. There was absolutely no room for error as the abandoned building came into view.

It was the perfect place for their base of operations. It was abandoned not too long ago after the prior company was shut down for fraud, and it was a good 20 stories high. Overall, it was an ideal place for a hideout because it was so tall. Satsuki could see the city herself without being seen.

However, now the height was merely a hindrance. The elevator had been shut down a while ago, and so not only did have to climb the stairs, but he was pretty damn sure that there would be lackeys stationed on every floor to deter him from even getting up to the top floor if they had arrived that far in advance.

But he would deal with that once the situation arises. For now, Daiki drifted to a halt next to the building, his tires making a screeching noise before it finally came to a stop. Throwing himself off of the bike, he took off the helmet and threw it off to the side, at this point not caring where it flew because he knew that time was of the essence and he had to move as quickly as possible in order to save – apprehend the target.

Pushing open the door, Daiki could hear the broken lock banging against the screen with the force he used but paid it no attention. He had already begun to make his way to the stairs, praying to whatever was up there that Satsuki was still safe and unharmed. Luckily there wasn't anyone guarding the entrance to the staircase which meant they weren't here yet, didn't have that many people, or in the worst case scenario, had already left. He severely hoped it was not the latter.

He paused right as he got to doorway, moving so that his back was against the wall as he pulled out his gun and took off the safety. He had to assume that he was in the worst situation possible and so as he kicked open the door, his gun was out in front of him, finger resting on the trigger.

His eyes were dangerously narrowed as he climbed up the multiple floors, quickly but cautiously as to ensure that no one would be able to gain the upper hand from behind him.

By the time he reached the 19th floor, he was already breathing slightly harder than usual, but did not let that deter him. His footsteps were lighter now, hoping that he would at least have the element of surprise on his side. As he approached the final turn before the last staircase to the door for their base, he came to a stop, crouching down and peeking around the corner to find that they did have one person stationed in front of it. The grip on his gun tightened, and the fact that he couldn't use it to kill someone unless absolutely necessary weighed on his mind. He'd just have to be faster than the other guy, and Daiki was pretty damn sure they placed their weakest link on the outside.

Still in his lowered position, he quietly and swiftly made his way up the stairs, coming up to the lackey right as he turned and let out a "wha – ". Before the lackey could finish whatever he was about to say, Daiki had already slammed the butt of his gun into the man's head, effectively knocking him down towards the floor.

Wasting no time at all, he kicked the guard in the gut, moving him away from the door and opened it with more force than he intended to in his haste only to be greeted with five guns pointed in his direction and Satsuki held tightly in their target's grip. Their base was small, about the size of a decently sized office with Satsuki's equipment pushed off to the far wall. As such, all five men, plus Satsuki, were only about 3 feet away from him, which didn't give him much of the advantage at all.

So much for a surprise, he thought sarcastically, bringing up his gun as well even though it made no difference if he didn't have a plan. Although he should have scanned the five men in the room to see what was the best way to approach the situation, his eyes immediately locked on to Satsuki's form, checking to see if anything was amiss, if she was hurt anywhere at all. It felt like a 3 ton weight lifted off his chest when there was no serious damage on her. Just a few bruises here and there which would heal in no time.

Finally, his eyes locked on her and the first thing he saw in them was guilt. Daiki's brows furrowed and his mouth opened as if wanting to say something, but instead she spoke first. "I tried," she whispered, as if he were the only one in the room, like her arm wasn't being squeezed to death at the moment. Her brows were furrowed like she was pleading for him to believe her. Was she stupid or something? Of course, he believed her. She was the strongest person he knew and the fact that she didn't think that he knew that. Well, that just had to be rectified.

"I know you did, Satsuki," he told her sternly, but his eyes displayed both warmth and pride as he could see her doing her goddamn best to fight off all five attackers at once. He could even see a bruise forming on a few of their faces, and one of them definitely had their knees bent slightly to quell the pain in his nether regions.

She smiled softly and he knew that she understood.

However, his attention was diverted when his main target threw Satsuki forcefully to one of his men, and Daiki had to physically restrain himself from making any sudden movements that could potentially harm her in the process. He had to be smart about this, and although that was usually Satsuki's forte, he had been through the rigorous training their company put them through too and one could say that Daiki's animalistic instincts took the forefront in these situations.

The target tilted his chin up, eyes peering down in an effort to look more domineering than before. A smirk formed on his lips, and he crossed his arms, letting out a small scoff. "I heard you were the best in your field, and so I knew that once I outsmarted you and your partner here, I'll be free from all this running and hiding. I just didn't think it'd be this easy to do so." He laughed then, one of those forceful laughs where you knew he was doing his fucking best to make it the most evil laugh you've ever heard only for it to sound like a choking hyena. Some of his subordinates ended up chuckling along with him to be supportive, but if anything, it was just giving Daiki more time to think through his plan.

"Don't count them out so easily," he murmured, though it was loud enough to cause the other men to stop their useless laugh fest. "Even if you were able to take me out, which is highly unlikely by the way, you have another thing coming if you think you're just gonna get out of here Scott free."

The target's brow raised, a sinister grin spreading across his face as he gestured to Daiki with his gun, waving it back and forth as he spoke. "You think you can beat me? Ha! That's hilarious. Who do you think tricked you at the station to follow the wrong person? Who do you think came up with the plan to lead you on a wild goose chase in the city?! Who do you think figured out that the best way to capture you was to capture her?" The target shook his head condescendingly, the back of the hand holding the gun resting on his forehead as he let out a deep sigh. His eyes then focused back on Daiki, and he pursed his lips before speaking again. "I have been winning this entire time and now, I'm about to call checkm – "

It was then that Daiki made his move. The target's long explanation giving him ample time to think of the best plan possible to apprehend all five men and help Satsuki out of the lackey's grasps. He first performed a roundhouse kick to the main target's head, knocking him to the ground so that he did not have to listen to the idiot's mindless drivel until later. Daiki then moved on to shoot one of his bullets at the kneecap of the man holding Satsuki, effectively bringing him down and releasing her so that she could help him take care of the other three guys. They were lucky that the room was so small that none of the henchmen were willing to fire their bullets lest they shoot one of their own, and so Daiki made quick work of the next guy. Kneeing the man straight in the gut, he followed that by throwing his head against the wall before turning around, ready for his next opponent, only to find that Satsuki had already finished them off instead.

Daiki raised a brow at her, arms crossed as he tilted his head to the side. "And you didn't save any for – " The words, however, died in his throat as a gun appeared next to her head, an arm snaking around her pale neck as their original target's bloodied face came into view.

The target's eyes were wild, a snarl ready to escape from his lips as he bared his top row of teeth to Daiki in crazed triumph. Daiki couldn't move. His arms were frozen stiff as he watched their target press the gun right to her temple. He almost couldn't breathe as the target turned his head to face him. He was just on the floor! How could he have gotten up so quickly when Daiki was pretty sure he knocked him out? "You think I go down that easy, huh? Well think again! I spent too much time planning all this through for you to just be the hero and save the – "

Just then, Satsuki's hand shot up from behind the two, latching onto the target's wrist and twisting it downwards towards the floor. The target cried out in pain, his hand dropping the weapon before Satsuki brought her knee up to meet his head in a sickening crunch. Releasing him then, she dusted her hands off with a flourish before turning to meet Daiki's stunned eyes with a bright smile.

"S – Satsuki…" he stuttered out, still in shock at what just happened.

She tilted her head, eyes blinking owlishly as she waited for him to applaud her for a job well done. "Yes Dai-chan?" she nudged, clasping her hands in front of her.

"H – How … How could you have done something so risky?!" he ended up shouting at her, unable to comprehend how she could have literally risked her own life in that one move. The gun could have gone off! If she were a second too late, her head would be –

Her soft laugh cut off his inner tirade, and he stared at her in confusion, his mind trying to process everything that was going on. "Oh Dai-chan," she said admonishingly, hands placed on her hips as she shifted her weight to one leg. "The safety wasn't even off when he put the gun to my head. You know I don't do anything without calculating every single possibility first."

His cheeks turned red at her comment, and his eyes shifted towards the equipment still safely tucked to the side. "Y – Yeah well, you still could've gotten hurt," he murmured, a pout quickly forming on his lips.

"Awwwwww," Satsuki cooed, inching closer and closer to the navy-haired agent, "Were you worried about me?"

His face scrunched up, his eyes choosing the ceiling as their next focal point. "Tch, as if." Daiki crossed his arms in front of him, trying to look as cool and collected as possible.

Satsuki couldn't help but let out another bout of laughter, shaking her head as she moved to one of the drawers, pulling out a few handcuffs before turning back to face her partner, eyes glittering with amusement. "Thank you though, Dai-chan. I know I can always count on you."

If possible, his cheeks burned brighter and he cleared his throat and turned his head to the other direction. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just cuff these guys and go yeah?" he said gruffly, hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck in discomfort. But despite the air of nonchalance he was trying to give off, Daiki had to admit that he was immensely relieved now that their initiative was completed.

Satsuki was safe. And that was all that mattered.

Now if only he could get her to stop fucking teasing him!

xxx

"Good job on the capture, Aomine-kun."

Daiki could not tell you exactly how high he jumped in fear at that very moment as the resident ninja (which was amazing in itself since they were all trained agents to begin with) made his appearance known. He slammed his hand onto his desk in frustration, brows creasing and eyes closing as he tried to quickly calm himself before facing his long-time friend and coworker. Meanwhile, he wondered how it was even possible Tetsuya managed to sneak up on him so successively in his small ass cubicle every single time. Turning slowly with the air of annoyance he was so well known for, Daiki nodded his head sharply at the small blue-haired boy. "Thanks Tetsu. How'd your mission go?"

"Well. Thank you for asking." The younger boy's eyes then slowly meandered towards the ceiling, his countenance taking on a thoughtful air. "Although…" he began, and Daiki swore that his head tilted even further as the memory began to float into Tetsuya's mind. "Kagami-kun did manage to get caught by the police again."

And suddenly, a loud, obnoxious redhead popped up from behind the wall of Daiki's cubicle, narrowing in on his smaller partner in large strides. "GAHHH KUROKOO I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA TELL HIM!" he cried out, outstretching a finger to point at Tetsuya and Daiki during his tirade. His bright red eyes (were they glowing?) then locked onto Daiki's and he took in one deep breath before announcing, "Don't think this changes anything Aomine. We're one away from catching up to you and your record."

"Actually, we are now two away after their latest capture, Kagami-kun," Tetsuya bluntly pointed out, eyes focused on his partner as if waiting for his reaction. Daiki was pretty sure that was what the little brat was doing. He always did know how to get a rise out of his partner.

Daiki slipped around them, making his way down the small hallway between the cubicles. He nodded his head as he passed Shintarou and Kazunari who seemed to be in the middle of arguing over who was going to drive to the airport next. It was ridiculous though because everyone knew Kazunari was going to drive anyway. Himuro and Atsushi were in the break room as per usual and Daiki murmured a quick thanks when Himuro congratulated him in passing. He didn't even bother with Ryouta and Yukio since the latter seemed to be getting a kick out of torturing Ryouta again…literally. Seijuurou was always the lone wolf, never picking himself up a partner, and so Daiki merely nodded at him as he walked by, which was acknowledgement enough for the both of them at that moment.

He finally made it to Satsuki's cubicle (he was never quite sure why they placed them so far apart), and pausing at the doorway, he knocked on the flimsy panel beside him out of respect. It was also because she had yelled at him every single time he didn't knock (which he found stupid to begin with), but that wasn't important.

She had already acknowledged that he was there. He could tell because she just closed two of her unimportant windows, but her back was still facing him as she continued typing something on the computer.

"You ready to go?" he asked, leaning against the fragile wall with care.

"Mmhm," she hummed, which usually meant that it would take about five more minutes before she was all packed up and ready to head out. It was fine though. Daiki didn't mind waiting for her. For most people, hell yeah, he would never have the patience to stand around and do nothing, but with Satsuki it was different. He didn't mean for it to be, but after spending practically his entire life with her, there was bound to be some exceptions when it came to their relationship.

Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't bug her to hell in the meantime though.

"You done yet?"

"Nope."

"How about now?"

"Dai-chan…"

"…Now?"

"The more you talk to me the longer it'll take~"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"How about now?"

"Okay! Yes!" She saved the file and began the process to shut down her computer. "Happy now, Dai-chan?"

He put on his most smug expression, watching as she packed up her belongings and huffed her way towards him. "Well?" she asked, gesturing for him to move out the way so that they could head on out. When he didn't move from his position, Satsuki rolled her eyes, forcefully turning him around and then pushing him towards the garage. "Ughhh Dai-chan, you always do this."

Daiki let out a long yawn, shrugging his shoulders as he continued to let himself be pushed towards the exit. By now, everyone in the office was used to their behavior and so no one really went out of their way to make a comment about it. He chuckled lowly, angling his head back slightly so he could look at her. "You can stop pushing now Satsuki. I'm walking aren't I?"

He could practically hear her pouting through her tone as she said, "Yeah, but what if you stop in your tracks again like you did last time? Do you know how embarrassing it was to walk right into your back in front of everyone?"

"I promise I won't do it again," he drawled, earning him a small grunt of frustration from the pink-haired girl behind him. Thus, she didn't let up until they were right beside his Ferrari and he nearly fell over when she suddenly released him, but he couldn't help but chuckle the entire time.

He unlocked the car and once they were both seated, he asked, "So, your place or mine?"

As if everything that just happened was forgotten, she hummed softly, "Hmm," tapping her finger on her chin, eyes narrowed slightly. And jeez, could she stop with the goddamn lip biting?! "How about we go to your place, eat at that really nice restaurant near mine, and then mine?"

"Sounds like a plan." With a smirk firmly planted on his lips, Daiki couldn't put his car into gear fast enough. He smoothly pulled out of his parking spot, all the while thinking to himself:

Fuck, their celebratory nights were the fucking best.

AN: Reviews are always appreciated (: