Disclaimer: I don't own Rioichi nor Henriette Cooper or the Geisha. They belong to Sucker punch/Sanzaru games. I do own the plot.

Threats of the law.


Rioichi was tucking Henriette into bed as he pulled the covers up around her small body while he gazed over her miniature form while sitting beside her on the futon. The small raccoon girl looked up at her father worriedly as that confidence he usually had in his eyes were gone. Her lips pulled into a worried frown as she tilted her head to one side "Are you alright, Papa? You have been fretting over me the entire day."

It was true. Actually, Rioichi insisted that he slept on the floor beside her and Henriette knew for a fact that her father never worried about her this much even if he was usually calm. The adult red panda raccoon forced his brows into a surprised look as he put on a fake toothy smile. He knew he was being too over protective but he couldn't relax knowing that the sweet daughter he cherished with his entire being could be taken away instantly within a second! Rioichi could not bare the thought of life alone as he already lived alone for a small portion of his life and being alone was a sad life. The raccoon adult sighed as he placed a warm hand upon Henriette's forehead, causing her spirits to seemingly lift a bit.

"I apologize for worrying you, my young Shiroibara. I just cannot rest my head knowing that bigoted rhinoceros could snatch you away from me at any moment." Rioichi admitted even if the tips of his ears lowered apologetically and his eyes were mirroring the emotion his ears gave off. The ninja master sighed as Henriette reached up towards him, clearly wanting to be picked up by her father. He olbidged and Henriette smiled lovingly at her father and stroked the top of his ear to assure him "Worry not, Papa. If I do get captured in the night, I would awake and call for you and besides I know that you would just find me anyway if I do get captured."

"Yes, but if I do take you back then I would be breaking the law and would probably be suspected of my thieveries." Rioichi pointed out simply "I do not want you to go with Madame Geisha but I do not wish to sour our legacy either."

Henriette looked down in deep thought. It was clear that her father was stressed by this and his mind was checking each possibility to prevent this as if it was frantic to find a loop hole for this problem. He seemed to grow steadily more panicky as he couldn't find a plan out of this even if he were to move out of the village, he couldn't simply move out of Japan with the fewer gold yen he had earned throughout the years.

"Hmmm...This is a problem, Papa. I do not wish to go either yet I also hate you going through this stress for me." She sighed as her ears fell sadly. Rioichi spared her a kindly smile as he leaned forward and gave her a small nose rub as he held Henriette in his thin yet sturdy arms "You are worth it, Henriette. Never forget that."

Henriette giggled as soon as her little black nose came into contact with Rioichi's and she closed her tired eyes as she felt her small body nestle inside her father's arms and she eventually drifted off into a blissful sleep as a warm smile formed upon her furry lips and her light grey fur gleamed against the warm candlelight that flickered as it sat upon the bedside table.

Rioichi allowed a heavy sigh to escape his throat as he too let his eyelids droop a little from the bitterly sweet atmosphere. Somehow he felt like something could break this happy moment at anytime and it was no secret to whom that person would be as Madame Geisha's mean spirited words from earlier that morning echoed inside his mind in a discordant whisper.

"Just beware, Raccoon. This battle has only just begun..."

The ninja master looked down at his daughter with wistful eyes. He always feared the time whence Henriette would be in an unfair position where she might be snatched viciously from her home and the thought of his daughter being unfairly abandoned like he had been would not be an option in his eyes as he held the little raccoon female inside the warm embrace his arms provided even if he nestled in the warmth the nearby candlelight provided.

Rioichi knew that he could not promise himself nor Henriette that everything would be alright. That was true. But he was going to fight harder than he ever had before if it would prevent Henriette from becoming a Geisha.

Eventually, he fell asleep with his russet tail curled up around his sleek, slender body as he laid down upon the bed with the candle's flame flickering out as if it could sense the two sleeping souls near it as it blew out to leave a small raise of smoke from the tip of the wax candle and it honestly left a gentle atmosphere.

The next morning was very quiet as Rioichi carried a small tray towards a two seated table. The tray the raccoon carried carried two plates of piping hot Sushi and a tea pot that was piping hot from the spout as the sweet scent of its organic jasmine fragrance graced the shop to create a delightful morning smell even if the nice morning atmosphere was soiled by the unpleasant silence.

Henriette placed two china teacups neatly upon the table's round yet flat surface, feeling a bit sad as her big eyes were full of worry for what her future was to be. Even if the young 5 year old was clever for her age, she had no idea what was going to happen if Madame Geisha had gotten her squeaky clean hands on her. She could sense that it wouldn't be good.

Sitting herself down at the table, Henriette stared at the empty teacup in front of her absent mindedly as Rioichi gingerly placed the tray he held down and poured some of the tea he had created in his daughter's teacup before he sat down in his own chair opposite Henriette and poured himself some tea as well.

The two raccoons ate and drank their breakfast in an uncomfortable silence as they ignored the light sunlight beaming from the windows and reflecting off of the statue of Rioichi holding a pair of ivory chopsticks with a bamboo plant sitting by its side.

The only noise that could be heard in the room was the breathing and the occasional sigh from the pair of coons. Father and daughter simultaneously finished their meal and excused themselves from the table before they went to do their morning tasks but something was very different.

Henriette was walking through the route towards her bedroom and discovered that her father was shadowing her. Turning on her feet, Rioichi abruptly stopped cold in his tracks as he looked down at Henriette whom raised a sharp brow of annoyance, clearly fully aware that her father was still paranoid judging merely by his actions.

"Otosan, must you shadow me?" Henriette asked irritably but Rioichi didn't say anything but gave her a look of concern as a certain aura mixed with a unique blend of both distain of the terrible fate that should hopefully not befall them. Rioichi gave her a pleading look, clearly giving her a puppy dog look.

Henriette raised both her brows in surprise at what her father was doing. He was trying to get her to allow him to follow her every movement without her snapping. Henriette knew better that her father had oddly enough played the begging game better than she had and that was fairly odd considering that in the family it was usually the roles reversed.

The small female raccoon gave an irritated shake of the head as she rubbed at her temples with pudgy fingers and glared at her father with her bad eye cloudy with annoyance while her good eye was filled with heavy aggravation.

"Oh, fine..." She said in defeat "I shall allow you to follow me but just do not get all over protective, please?"

"I promise, Henriette." Rioichi smiled cheerfully as he had his daughter's consent to be her 24 hour body guard. He swore to guard her and not allow her out of his sight even if she did try and shake him off. But before he could hurt his daughter, he decided to take her out for a treat to get her used to the idea "Would it make you happier if I took you with me on the next heist?"

Henriette froze as she couldn't believe what she had just heard. She had to blink twice as she tried to comprehend this. Did Rioichi Cooper, the coolest yet most over-protective dad in all of Cooper history, just OFFER to take Henriette with him on a dangerous heist?! She pinched herself in the arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming as her teal eyes lit up excitedly.

"Are you joking?" Henriette asked, an almost excited layer making itself known in her high pitched adorable voice. Rioichi nodded and watched as his daughter danced around excitedly in place, clearly the happiest she had ever been in ages. Rioichi knew he had to take Henriette on her first heist someday and what better way than to start now?

He smiled happily as his little girl finished her cheerful little choreographic movements of rejoice before the russet furred ninja master turned on his feet and walked towards the entrance with a warm hand offered out towards her. Rioichi always felt his heart melt like butter in the microwave when he saw that smile on Henriette's face as the depressing atmosphere had been lifted as soon as he saw the happiness on the little coon's face.

His rusty brown eyes carefully trailed her every movement as Henriette skipped towards Rioichi and took his hand into hers as Rioichi suggested "Come, my young Shiroibara. Let us go to the market place and see what today brings us."

Henriette giggled excitedly and stretched her arms up into the air with her tail swishing happily behind her "Heheheh. Okay, Papa!"

As the two raccoons happily marched towards the large doors of the Sushi restraunt, they both knew that as long as they had each other that all would be fine. But little were they aware of the trouble that beheld them on the way that threatened their very relationship.


A/N: Oh no...What will happen next? It seems that the coolest Ninja master is getting a bit panicky about Henriette being alone but what else? What will threaten their very family!? Find out soon!

Anyways, what do you think of the fact that I made Henriette a responsible yet caring daughter? You'd be surprised of what she does to people she hates, though. Trust me.

Please review!

-Chloemcg