Author's Note: This story takes place (timeline-wise) one year after Makimura's death. So about the time of Season Two of the anime. Note also that I am using the anime versions of various names and facts.

I do not own City Hunter or its characters.

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

Additional Note: Aniki is Japanese for "older brother" or "big brother". Basically, it can be applied to someone that a younger person looks up to as well as by actual family members. :)

Tearful Celebration—One Year Later

It was a grey, overcast sky that hung over the cemetery that morning. A lone figure slowly walked along the path that wound around the graves for a while before finally stopping in front of a head stone. The man stood there for a long time before finally placing a small bouquet of flowers onto the gravesite.

Hideyuki Makimura

1958-1987

After laying the flowers down onto the ground, Ryo Saeba stood back up and continued to stare at the headstone. Today marked one year since his friend and partner had been gunned down by a vicious drug syndicate. Ryo had managed to eradicate the people responsible, but that meant nothing as far as easing the pain he felt in his heart over the loss.

Ryo glanced up the sky and frowned at the clouds that he saw. It had rained on the day that Makimura had died and seeing that dark sky only served to deepen his melancholy.

He would never forget the sight of his partner staggering over to his apartment, bleeding, dying from his wounds. Ryo knew that Makimura was a strong, brave man, but even he had been shocked that Makimura had managed to make his way there on foot with the injuries he suffered. Looking back on it now, Ryo knew what had kept Makimura alive during that last trek to his home: a desire to get revenge, concern for his partner, and worry over his sister, Kaori.

"Please, Ryo…please take care of Kaori…."

Ryo watched as a petal from the flowers he had brought broke from the stem and floated away in the wind. He had accepted Makimura's requests to destroy Red Pegasus and to take care of Kaori without hesitation. It had been a simple thing to demolish the drug syndicate in one night. Taking care of Kaori, however, was far from a simple matter…

He frowned again as he stared at the ground. Ryo often wondered what Makimura would think if he found out that Kaori chose to take over her older brother's job. He tried to remind himself that Kaori was always her own woman and that it had been her decision to join him in this work. Besides that, Ryo put forth his best efforts to protect her in as many ways as possible from the darker aspects of his world whether it was actual threats to her safety or the more subtle threats to her soul.

Still, staring at the gravesite, Ryo couldn't help but feel some twinges of guilt at dragging Kaori into this world. He knew how much she meant to Makimura, and after spending this last year with her, Ryo was starting to get a sense of why she was so precious to him.

Ryo gritted his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't like to think too much about how he felt about Kaori mostly because his feelings for her were as strong as they were convoluted. He was unable to hide his attraction to her on the night he met her, but once he realized who she was, Ryo tried his best to hide what he felt out of deference to Makimura and their friendship. After Makimura died and Kaori had become his partner, Ryo felt even more pressure to conceal what he felt.

The problem was though, that there was no way he could keep his emotions hidden all the time, no matter how hard he tried. Saeko had seen through him when he accused her of using Kaori as bait for him on a case. Ryo suspected that Reika and even Umibozu had figured it out as well and that frustrated him. It seemed like the only person still in the dark was Kaori.

Ryo sighed and opened his eyes. In his mind, it was imperative that she did not know his true feelings for her, so he figured that as long as he succeeded in concealing his heart from her, it didn't matter what the others thought. After all, he cared little for what most of the world thought of him anyway.

Ryo took a step back and continued to staring at the head stone.

'I'm sorry, Makimura,' he thought to himself. 'I wasn't able to protect you the way I should have. But I promise that I won't make the same mistake with Kaori. As long as I am alive, I will make sure that nothing or no-one can hurt her.'

Suddenly, Ryo looked up. He could hear the sound of footsteps approaching him, and he instinctively rushed to hide himself from whoever was coming. A minute later, he saw who it was and his eyes widened in shock.

Walking along the path was Kaori, a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She stopped at her brother's grave and let out a gasp of surprise before her eyes softened and a sad smile appeared on her lips.

"Ah, I guess Ryo stopped by here before I did, aniki," she said as she sat her flowers down next to the ones that were already there. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You were his friend and partner, after all."

Kaori knelt down in front of the grave while Ryo continued to watch her silently. A part of him knew that he should either leave or make his presence known, but he found that he couldn't move from where he was.

"I can't believe that it's already been a year since you…." Kaori's voice trailed off and she shook her head before continuing.

"So much has changed this year. I'm living with Ryo now. You were right about him being a pervert. I constantly have to keep watch over my lingerie and undergarments. And I still think he's managed to steal a few pieces."

Ryo began to blush and chuckle a little. Even though he frequently covered up his attraction for her by telling her that she looked like a man, he still couldn't stop himself from getting excited over her bras and panties…especially when he imagined her in them. He even had nicknames for some of his favorite pieces, but made sure to keep that fact to himself.

"I'm trying to do a good job as his partner," she added. "I know that I could never be as good as you or take your place…but I will continue to do my best because…because I think I am starting to learn why you took so much pride in your work and in being his partner. I mean, he is lazy, and a pervert and he is careless with money, but…he is also so much more than that. More than words can describe."

Ryo felt his jaw drop. When Kaori asked to take her brother's place as his partner, Ryo had figured that it was a way for her to stay strong in order to get past her loss as well as a way to honor Makimura's memory. After that, he thought that she stuck with it because she enjoyed the chance to help others and the excitement that the job brought to her life. It didn't occur to Ryo that one of the reasons she continued on as his partner was because of him.

"Today's my birthday," she said. "You know, I almost forgot about it. I was only thinking about coming to see you today. Then I looked at a calendar and I remembered that it was my birthday today too. Isn't that strange? That I could forget something like that?"

Kaori started to laugh, but soon her laughter turned into weeping.

"To be honest, I don't care about my birthday," she said as she tried to brush the tears from her face. "Because I can't think of anything that I really want except…except to see you again. I wish you could celebrate with me, aniki. I…I miss you so much."

Soon Kaori gave up and put her face into her hands and continued to cry while slumping down close to the ground.

This sight made Ryo's heart clench. The truth was that he had almost forgotten himself that it was Kaori's birthday today and not just the anniversary of Makimura's death. He then thought back to the previous year and contemplated the fact that, other than the night of her last birthday, he had not seen Kaori cry once over her brother's death. Nor did she lament the lack of any sort of celebration or acknowledgment of her birthday. Instead, she always put forth a cheerful face and approached each day with determination. She did her best to move past her grief, even though Ryo knew that it could not be easy for her at all.

Watching her sob while kneeling in front her brother's grave was painful for Ryo. He hated to see her cry and did whatever he could to make her stop whenever it happened. Sometimes that involved distracting her by doing or saying something to make her mad at him and other times he tried to comfort her by trying to find the right words to say or by just quietly being there.

'This isn't the way it should be,' he told himself. 'Kaori shouldn't have the rest of her birthdays shrouded in sadness and loss.'

Ryo quietly walked away, deciding that it was best to let her have some private time with her brother.

Later that evening, Kaori came home and went to her room to change so she could do some chores before making dinner. She was surprised to see a large, festively wrapped package on her bed. She opened it up to find a blouse and mini-skirt inside.

'These have to be from Ryo,' she told himself. 'But why? Did he remember my birthday?'

Kaori held the clothes up and put them against her. She could tell that the sizes were correct and was surprised at how good Ryo's taste had been in the selection. It still seemed like an odd thing for him to do, and she continued to ponder it until suddenly a memory came to her.

It was about a year ago, not long before her birthday actually. A friend of hers was missing, and Kaori had run off to investigate her disappearance. Her brother had ended up hiring Ryo to find her, and the two of them managed to uncover the kidnapping ring that had taken her friend.

During the investigation, Kaori had mentioned to Ryo how her friend had promised to buy her a mini-skirt for her birthday. Kaori never did get the mini-skirt…not that she minded. All that mattered to her was that her friend was all right, and that the criminals who had taken her had been caught.

Kaori looked at the clothes in her hands, stunned.

'Did he…did he actually remember that? From over a year ago? No, no, what am I saying? This is Ryo. There's no way he would remember or even care about a detail like that, right?'

'Right?'

No matter what she told herself, Kaori knew that she couldn't deny the way this gift made her feel.

She then decided to make sure that Ryo knew exactly how she felt about it.

"Hey, Kaori-chan," Ryo called out to her from outside her bedroom door. "I'm hungry. Let's have dinner." Kaori stepped out of her room, and Ryo goggled at the sight.

She had put on the blouse and skirt that he had bought her and had put on a little make up along with fixing her hair. He had known that the outfit would look good on her when he picked it out, but he hadn't been prepared for the sight of her wearing it.

"Thank you for the gift, Ryo," she smiled slyly at his surprised expression. "Well, what do you think?"

For a moment, Ryo couldn't speak as he took her in. He wanted to tell her how he really felt upon seeing her, but his mind would not let him.

"Kaori, I am very impressed," he said. Kaori's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"I am impressed indeed," Ryo said, nodding his head. "I didn't think any man could pull off wearing a mini-skirt, but you do it very well. It's amazing really."

Seconds later, Ryo was struggling to pull himself from a large dent in the wall that Kaori had created by pounding him into it with one of her hammers.

Kaori stormed off toward his part of the building and was about to go to the kitchen when she saw a spread of tempura, sushi and sashimi laid out onto the table.

"What…what's all this?" she asked out-loud.

"Well I thought it would be good to take a break from your cooking for once, because we are out of stomach medicine," Ryo said as he walked into the room behind her. "So I ordered some takeout." Kaori turned toward him, her eyes ablaze with anger.

"Ryo," she growled, her hands already wrapped around the handle of another hammer.

But then she paused in mid-swing. She thought about the outfit she was wearing and the food laid out for them and began to reconsider her feelings.

'Maybe I'm being too harsh. Ryo did buy me a present and a meal for us to enjoy. He probably did all of this for my birthday, even though I know that he'd never admit it. He just wouldn't.'

"Well…maybe I can forgive just this once," Kaori said as she put her hammer away. "Besides, this food really does look good. It'd be a shame to waste it."

"Yes, yes," Ryo agreed eagerly, relief evident in his eyes. "Yes it would. So how about we eat?"

The two of them had a pleasant meal together, and Kaori was happy to discover how light her heart felt as the evening went along. She had expected to have to spend the day alone and was glad that she could find a respite from the sorrow she still felt over her brother's death.

After the meal was finished, Kaori went up to the roof. The clouds had parted, and the sun was beginning to sink. Ryo soon followed and stood next to her.

"Ryo, thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you for…remembering." Another sarcastic reply was on the tip of his tongue, but Ryo kept it to himself.

"You're welcome," he said, his tone sincere.

"Ryo…next time…next time will you go with me?" she said. "To visit my brother?"

"Yes," Ryo replied. "I promise."

Kaori smiled and leaned against him. To her surprise and delight, he put an arm around her and they watched the sun go down and the lights of the city twinkle like stars all around them.