Partners Once Again

Riki's curiosity got the better of him, but he put up a staid front. "Hiro. About what you said earlier. What exactly do you mean by someone else joining us on our mission? Mitsuki's away, so there can't be someone else in our team. We're not going to wait for anyone else to show up if you're playing around. Besides, we have to start the mission before it's too late to do anything about it."

While the leader of the renowned band of thieves in Japan had spoken his part, someone's footsteps drew near towards Le Renard Noir. Whoever was walking was unseen, except for their lower legs which both wore faded black quarter hose-length socks and a pair of black ankle boots that sparkled throughout the night, illuminated by... Well. There wasn't much light outside, but there it was like the radiance of light shining all over [and from an unknown source, too]. Perhaps, it was a silvery blue colored light. Yet, the brown and gold rhinestones on them made the earth's roads gorgeous and captivating at such a dangerous time.

Despite the fact Riki didn't believe his words, Hiro kept smiling in a casual manner. "Riki, I'm not playing with you all. I'm serious about what I told you. If you still don't believe me, just wait and see. Even if you ask me more about our friend, I can't tell you because it's a secret. For now, at least."

Riki was dumbfounded by Hiro's reply. It took a moment before he could react; however, when he tried to respond, the owner of the mysterious footsteps entered the bar. Riki, Kenshi, and Takuto held their heads up and looked near the entrance. Hiro and Atsumu smiled, knowing what was about to happen next.

A facial expression full of astonishment overcame the three when they saw who it was. They could not believe their eyes, but it was indeed true they had seen…

"RINA?!" they shouted in complete harmony.

The young woman with long blonde hair [which extended down to her upper thighs] closed her large honey-colored eyes, tilting her head slightly to her right. Simultaneously, she had put her right hand up and smiled faintly.

"Did you guys miss me?" she asked them, dressed in a set of black and white clothes of her own.1 She was ready to begin the mission as they were.

Riki's eyes widened. "Is that really you?" He smiled at his old friend, tears forming in his eyes. "I can hardly believe it. Here you are standing right in front of us, and you haven't changed all this time. It's… good to see you again, Rina."

"It's nice to see that you're still the same old sap, Riki," Rina replied. "Of course, none of us have changed since then, have we? We're still comrades after all these years. I mean, I never left the Black Foxes—unless you counted me out after I had to go back to Neon."

"Now why would we do that?" Kenshi inquired. "You've always been a part of the team, Rina." He smiled, relieved to see the blonde they all knew from the past. "You never even left our hearts and minds since the last time we saw you."

Rina's eyes narrowed. "Reeeeaaally. What was that you were saying about not having another member besides Mitsuki-san? Hmm? Don't you dare think that I didn't hear what you said earlier. My hearing's not like the average person, Kenshi." She glanced at Riki with an angry frown. "You of all people should know better than to say that there isn't any other member in our team, Riki. It sounded as though I never existed in your lives. Did you ever care to consider how I would feel about being cut from the Black Foxes?"

At that moment, Riki paused, realizing the fault of his actions and words. "…" He stared blankly, but decided to speak up about the matter. "I'm sorry, Rina. I didn't know you would show up here in front of everyone. You've been an important companion to us for some time now, and yet I blurted out such insensitive words. I'm sure I must have shattered your feelings for not figuring out what Hiro meant until now. However," the leader of the Black Foxes cut himself off, switching his apologetic expression to a tender smile, "you're still our first female member, and that hasn't changed since the day you came into our lives. You're Rina Tokuhara, and no one can ever take your place even if they tried to."

Seeing Riki's sincerity, Rina couldn't help but smile back. "Riki… It's been so long since I was here. I'm glad I got to see you all again. I've missed the time we had together, but despite what's happened in the past, I look forward to the present and future instead."

With the situation settled between Riki, Rina, and the rest of the team, it seemed as if everything was the same. However, there was something brewing up in Takuto's heart. He was not happy about how things turned out, and his core overflowed with pain from Rina's presence.

His eyes were shadowed and he frowned at the same time as he muttered his next words. "…Why did you come back?"

Rina and the others looked up. She stared at him, taking note of his expression. Then, she spoke up.

"Takuto, I—" Before she could say anything else, Takuto cut her off.

The light blond had an aggressive expression patched onto his face which represented his anger. "The guys, Mitsuki, and I have been doing well without you after our relationship ended over three years ago, and yet you decide to show up all of a sudden. What's with you?! Are you really here to help us out, or are you going to ruin our mission? I can't believe you would arrive just before we've gotten to the destination. You've been stirring things up for me today, and you're still doing it! Why don't you go back to where you came from and leave all of us alone for a change?! We were known as the Black Foxes before you joined us in the first place, so just get out of here before you distract us any further, you got it?!"

With a somber expression on her face, Rina said, "Look. I didn't come back to this world because I felt like surprising everyone without any warning. In fact, I never had the intention of seeing you again, Takuto. I have my own reasons for being here, and they don't lie with wanting to build up a storm for you or anyone else in this city. Try to at least understand that."

"That's right, Takkun," Hiro agreed with a stern expression of his own. "I was the one who called her to help with the mission. It's not Rina's fault for being here, so don't put the blame on her. Taking your anger out on your ex isn't going to solve your problems. Let's just go already and get the painting back for Pete's sake!"

A look of surprise appeared on Takuto's face as he stared at Hiro. "Wait, what do you—"

"Not now, Takuto!" Kenshi shouted. "We're running out of time! We'd better hurry before the art dealer makes his move."

"Just stick with Rina for the time being and let's do this!" Riki commanded.

While Takuto was still baffled, the guys nodded and everyone except for Atsumu headed toward the location of the painting.

XXX

Inside a large mansion, there were velvet red walls, carpet, and a ceiling; the stairs had dark brown wooden frames, but the steps were made out of marble. Riki and the others, excluding Takuto and Rina, were about to begin, with Riki initiating the mission.

Instead of grinning victoriously, he had a serious expression on his face. "It's show time. We're ready to start, guys."

"Roger that, Leader," Hiro winked with his left eye and a cute smile was on his visage.

Kenshi nodded and gave a pleasant-sounding offer. "If anyone tries to stop us, I'll take them out in no time at all."

"Right," Riki answered sternly. "Hurry straight down the hallway. We'll circle around behind the stairs to the door at the end and break in."

The three of them ran forward to the right of the staircase and commenced their parts of the mission. Meanwhile, the two blonds were sitting in the back of the van, observing the scene. They silently gazed at the computer screen. After a few seconds, Takuto gave a set of instructions.

"Riki, there's an alarm in the room you're heading for. When you arrive at it, wait for twenty seconds. I'll disable it." He began to type at an astoundingly fast rate.

Riki nodded. "Alright. I'm counting on you, Takuto."

"Got it." Takuto finished typing and stared at the screen with precaution. "Go."

At Takuto's command, Riki, Hiro, and Kenshi opened the white doors (with golden handles) and ran inside. They walked up to the painting of a young CEO with mint hair that reached the middle of his neck and periwinkle eyes, wearing a normal black suit and tie; the man in it had a serious facial expression, but he was still beautiful along with his pale skin. The object of interest was on the wall in front of them, and Hiro examined it.

"…Huh?" the youngest member's eyes widened in confusion.

"What's wrong, Hiro?" Riki asked.

"…! It's a counterfeit," Hiro said, pulling himself away from the painting.

"What?" Kenshi blurted out in bewilderment.

A solemn expression ran across Riki's face. "Are you sure it's fake, Hiro? There wasn't another one that looked like the one in this room."

"I'm positive it's a false copy of the actual painting," Hiro frowned. "Someone may have taken the real one from this spot. I can sense something different about it."

"Then," Kenshi uttered with an anxious look on his visage, "what are we going to do now?"

Riki sighed, and his shoulders slumped. "Guess we don't have much of a choice here. We'll retreat and return to the restaurant for now. We're going to have to report to Boss about the situation when we get back."

Rina stared at the screen in the van for a few seconds. All of a sudden, her eyes widened, realizing something dire. "…!" Her expression became dead serious in an instant. "Guys! Get out of there right now!"

Takuto looked up and turned towards his right. "Huh? What is it?"

"The room's going to give away soon, Takuto!" the young woman informed her former lover.

Takuto's eyes widened. "What?!"

"There's no time for them to escape normally. I'll have to help them!"

She immediately teleported into the room the three male members were in; they looked at her with surprise plastered on their faces.

"Rina?" Riki said in an astonished manner. "What are you doing here?"

Rina frowned. "The room's going to explode in a less than a minute."

"Wha—"

Before Riki could express his shock, Rina swiftly put her left arm around him; her right arm was around Kenshi. After she had taken hold of them, the two grown men were now facing the floor. They had to comply since they knew Rina was correct. Hiro glanced to his right and smiled. Then, he and Rina sprinted towards the entrance as fast as they could on foot. Due to the fact she was holding both Kenshi and Riki, Rina didn't have enough power to teleport with them back to the van. Additionally, if she did, they would more than likely crash into Takuto and his laptop, sending them toppling and suffocating the light blond. They reached the front door, leaped out, and the entire building exploded, spreading debris everywhere. What used to be a beautiful creation was now an obliteration.

As the four of them turned their heads toward the destroyed mansion, Rina let go of Kenshi and Riki, and placed them safety to where their feet and shoes touched the ground again; the backdoor of the van opened and Takuto came out of the vehicle.

"Are you all okay?" he asked. There seemed to be some hint of worry in his facial expression that had broadened eyes when he stepped into the outside world. "I saw what happened on the screen."

Hiro smiled kindly. "No, we're fine. In fact, that was actually pretty awesome just now."

Riki nodded. "Yeah. It's all thanks to Rina for coming to our rescue."

"If she hadn't been there, we would have been goners tonight," Kenshi added. With the back of his right arm, he wiped off the sweat on his forehead. "Phew! You should have been there, Takuto! It was a blast that made my heart pound faster than ever before!"

Seeing his friends' gratitude, Takuto realized he was wrong to have judged his ex-girlfriend. He knew she was a good person, but he couldn't muster up the courage to say anything amiable about her in front of everyone. Although Rina wasn't an ordinary girl, she did what she could to save the guys from dying, and that was what mattered the most.

Takuto lowered his eyes, sinking into his thoughts.

Man… What was I thinking, trying to argue with her after she came back to this world? His shoulders slumped and he glanced at Rina before looking back down. Anyway… I'd better say something before it's too late.

He looked to his left, averting his gaze from everyone. "…Thanks. For saving them."

Rina, who was still staring at the place the mansion was, looked up and turned her head clockwise. "…" She didn't say anything, but she gazed at the hacker as if she were trying to see through him.

Riki's eyes widened. "Takuto…" A smile appeared on his face with comprehension since he knew of the light blond's difficulty of expressing his true feelings to others.

If only things were back to what they used to be like, he thought. I'm sure Takuto would be better off returning to his old self, but there's only a small part of him that's still there from the past. However… He looked down, acknowledging how things currently were. It's not a completely bad thing. Rina came back, but it's thanks to Hiro. That little rascal. He's always full of concern for Takuto, but he's not the only one. We've all worried about them as well.

Riki looked up and smiled once more. "Let go home. I'm sure everyone's tired."

Takuto gave a nod, while his gaze was still facing the ground. "Yeah. We can't stay here for long, anyway."

Hiro and Kenshi smiled when they saw Takuto's expression.

"I'll drive," Kenshi offered. "I wasn't of much use during the mission, so it's the least I can do."

"You always drive the van when we go on missions, Kenny," Hiro beamed. "It's about the only thing you can do when we go on them!"

"Hey!" the sniper exclaimed. "It's not the only thing I can do, you know! I can also fight when there are enemies around, Hiro, You're the one who checks the art, so we each have our own parts to fulfill."

Takuto sighed. "Whatever. It's already late, so let's just get into the van already."

"There's nothing like Takuto's complaints to keep us on track, huh?" Riki chuckled.

Takuto was back to his usual nonchalant attitude once he heard Riki's words. "Shut up. I'm just as exhausted as you guys are. Plus, I was sitting at the back seeing as I always do that during our missions. The old man's waiting for us with food, so we should fill our stomachs before going home for the night."

"Yeah, we know," the leader replied.

Rina, Hiro and Kenshi went ahead of the others as they all got in the van. While everyone else was chatting inside, the female member was a hundred percent silent, staring at the car floor in the back. Takuto was looking at her, but didn't say a thing to Rina. When they reached Le Renard Noir, they got off and Atsumu welcomed them back. The atmosphere became lively again with the large amount of food that was laid out on one of the tables in the center of the interior.

"Well that was a success!" the bar owner began with a broad grin; he was holding a glass of beer in his right hand and was as enthusiastic as ever. "To tonight's mission as well as to Rina's return to our group! Cheers!"

"CHEERS!"

Everyone else but Rina [who didn't have any food or a drink in front of her] held up their beverages and clanked them together for the celebration.

Before they began eating and drinking, Takuto pointed out with a smirk, "It wasn't actually a success since we didn't get the painting back."

"It couldn't be helped tonight," Hiro stated. "We fell into a trap and almost died in the innermost room."

Kenshi nodded. "If it wasn't for Rina, we'd be all over the place in particles. The mansion exploded when we were about to get out."

Rina smiled. "I did what I could to get you guys away from being terminated in there. It wasn't much, though, so you don't have to keep saying anything about me."

"But it's true!" Kenshi proclaimed. "You were the only one who detected the explosion and saved us from being blown to bits and pieces. You should get all the credit for what you did!"

"I wonder why the mansion exploded," Hiro said with bewilderment. "We checked it before we went there and didn't find any bombs or dynamite planted inside, so it's something that's been intriguing to me ever since we got out."

"Hmm…" Riki's face became serious shortly afterward. "The painting was switched with a replica before we went on the mission. Who exactly could have done all those things? Someone must've planned the explosion and alteration. They may have known we were coming and set us up with a trap to get rid of us."

Takuto frowned. "About that. I checked once we were on our way back, but I didn't find much about it. We might have someone targeting us, or any of the other works of art we're after, so it seems almost like a game to see who can get to the destination first."

"We can't do much about it now that it's been swapped," Atsumu reminded the group. "I'll try to get some info about this tomorrow. Anyway, let's dig in, guys!"

Everyone nodded.

"Let's eat!"

After their late dinner the owner of Le Renard Noir and the art student washed the dishes, while the rest of the group was about to part ways from one another.

"Well, see you guys tomorrow," Kenshi smiled. "It was nice seeing you again, Rina. Have a good night's sleep once you get home."

Rina smiled back lightly. "Thanks, Kenshi. It was nice seeing you guys, too. Make sure to take some time off from time to time."

"Ahaha," the firefighter chuckled. "Will do. Bye." He gave a motionless wave with his left hand and walked home to his mother's restaurant.

Riki turned his head towards Takuto and Rina with a stern expression. "Takuto, make sure to walk Rina all the way to her apartment. Don't be half-assed about it, either, you hear me?"

"Yeah, I know," Takuto responded with indifference. "It's not like I would leave her out on the street so some weirdo could take her somewhere. You should at least trust me more, Riki."

Riki frowned. "With you, I'm sure any one of us would worry whether or not you're doing things right. You always say something that make the people around you depressed, sad, and/or angry because you're too inconsiderate. Try to keep things in moderation."

"I will," Takuto replied. "You should get back before you get a headache from drinking that glass of beer. You should already know what you're like when you get drunk and try to go home. It's not the best part about you every time you decide to drink alcohol."

There was a sigh from the twenty-seven-year-old man, but he smiled shortly after that. "Thanks for trying to save me some trouble. I'll see you guys later."

He walked out and made his way home, leaving the ex-couple standing next to each other.

XXX

The former lovers hadn't said anything to one other during their walk. Rina was in front of Takuto for a portion of the way to the blonde woman's apartment. It took another fifteen minutes before they reached the bottom of the complex.

Rina stopped and turned around. "This should be fine. Thanks for taking me here."

"It wasn't because I wanted to, you know," Takuto commented with a stoic quality to his voice and composure.

Rina kept smiling as she looked at the programmer. "I know. You don't really have to say anything about it. I just wanted to let you know that I'm glad you at least took the time to get me back to my place safely."

"Is that really all you wanted to say?" Takuto asked. "You usually offer me something to drink whenever I walked you here."

Rina lowered her eyes and exhaled. "You'd say that it's a bother with how you are now. I'm certain of it since we're not dating anymore."

Takuto sighed. "Man, what a pain. I even took the time to ask. You could at least give me a cup of tea, you know."

"Alright, you can come in if you want."

"Whatever. I'll just take what you can prepare for me."

They both walked upstairs and stopped in front of the second door. Rina took out her apartment key and opened it, letting them both in. She took the key out and closed the door behind them, locking it immediately. After they took off their shoes, Rina headed in to the kitchen and began preparing a small sienna ceramic pot of tea for Takuto, who took a look inside the room and sat down at near the wooden table. He waited for a few seconds before looking toward his right. He could see Rina's figure moving in the kitchen a bit, but he felt somewhat anxious to be in his ex-girlfriend's shelter.

How did I even get myself into this situation? He asked in his mind. I only wanted to get some tea, but it still makes me uneasy to be around her. What's with me, anyway?!

As the light blond scolded himself internally for staying inside his past lover's home, Rina poured some green tea into two exquisite cups that didn't seem to be made out of glass, but something much rarer and expensive, which reflected the light of a gemstone. They were like two light green emeralds, rather than just ordinary cups. Then, she picked up the tray they were on and walked over to where Takuto was sitting, setting it on the table, and placed a cup in front of him before serving herself.

"Here you go." She smiled at the twenty-four-year-old man.

Takuto nodded, having returned to his typical nonchalant expression by the time Rina arrived. "Thanks. I know I've caused you some trouble tonight." He looked down and frowned. "You had to save Riki, Kenny, and Hiro's lives during the mission, too. And… I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier. It was just—"

"—an impulse, right?" Rina had a forgiving expression as she gazed into Takuto's eyes. "We can start over and be friends this time if you'd like. I don't mind if you don't want to, and if you hate me, I'll bear with it. I'm a part of the Black Foxes as well, and I'll continue to stay in the team, even if we get into fights."

"Rina…"

Rina closed her eyes; she kept smiling and lowered her head faintly. "No matter what happens, Takuto, I'll always support you. You don't have to think about me or anything, but I'll keep thinking about you, and I'll always wish for your happiness. We were comrades in the past, and we came to be comrades in the present and future. As long as we have each other, everything will be alright."

Takuto gave another nod and put his right hand on Rina's head. "Yeah."

Rina held on to Takuto's arm with her right hand and they stayed like that for a while.

XXX

Meanwhile, there was a figure inside a museum. It was a female whose eyes were shadowed and covered with her orange bangs. The room she was in was filled with a large amount of rare artifacts and works of art from all over the world.

"Now," she said with an emotionless tone of voice that matched her stoic expression, "I have to hand these items over to the authorities and capture the ones who stole them from their rightful owners. That'll be enough to bring them to justice for now. However, I'll have to continue my duties and turn in anyone who opposes the peaceful life of the civilians in this city, especially the Black Foxes who are rumored to be stealing for good. They may be doing Robin Hood's job in their own way, but that doesn't mean they're not criminals." She looked up, revealing her big, beautiful agate eyes.

XXX

1) The entire description of Rina's mission attire is around the end of episode 1.