Author's Note: As promised, here is the next chapter. :) I hope that my readers enjoy it.

I do not own City Hunter or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing this. It is always appreciated.

Chapter Four

The next morning, Yumiko woke up and stretched. She looked around to see that Kaori had already gotten up for the day.

That thought reminded her of her conversation from the night before. Yumiko contemplated how she now had two complex clients who she needed to find love matches for.

'Saeba-san isn't going to do much to help me with my search for a match for him,' she mused. 'And while I believe that Kaori-san will try to be more helpful, I would have to find a man who would be understanding of the work that she does and the fact that she has to spend her days around a man like Saeba-san. Ah, both of these cases are not going to be easy.'

Yumiko sat up in bed. Despite her concern about the difficulties she faced, she was still determined to see both cases through and find matches for each of them. With all the other worries she had about attempts on her life and the possible destruction of her business, Yumiko found it somewhat soothing to have some additional work to occupy her mind.

'It may be a challenge, but I know that it's not impossible. Just like Saeba-san, I can see the red thread on Kaori-san's finger as well. There is someone she is destined to be with and I am going to find him.'

Yumiko got out of bed and picked out some clothes for the day. She wanted to take a shower, but was apprehensive of the idea.

'I wonder where Saeba-san is right now. Is he still hanging from the rooftop?' she wondered. 'He might not be by now. And if I try to take a shower…who knows what will happen.'

Yumiko let out an exasperated laugh and decided that it would be best to let Kaori know what she planned to do before taking that shower.

'What a strange life,' she thought to herself as she walked out of the guestroom. 'But…I suppose it's not so bad. Not so bad at all, actually.'


"City Hunter?" the man behind the desk said. "Are you sure?" Mitsuru, the man who had stood in the alley the night before nodded his head.

"I'm sure of it, Boss," he said. "I followed Takeuchi to the apartment building where he lives. She must have hired him to protect her."

"City Hunter, Ryo Saeba," the boss said, leaning back in his chair. "This complicates things." Another man, Haruhiko, stepped forward.

"Boss, City Hunter or not, he's just one man," he said. "How much of a threat can he be to us?"

"Fool," the boss replied. "Ryo Saeba may be just one man, but he is far from an ordinary one. Men and entire organizations that dared to cross his path have been completely destroyed. No, he is not someone who can be taken lightly. We must exercise caution." The boss paused and looked back over at Mitsuru.

"Have you been able to find those files?" he asked.

"No," Mitsuru answered, looking downward. "We searched her office twice and could find nothing."

"I see," the boss replied. "She must have hidden them somewhere secure. Chances are, she's the only one who knows where they are. I had thought about asking you to kidnap her and bring her to me, but now with City Hunter as her bodyguard, that plan will not work. Despite all of this though…I must have those files."

"Boss, let me try to take him out," Haruhiko said. "Then we can get the girl and force her to tell us where the files are."

"No," the boss said. "A direct attack will not work. We need to find a different way." The boss settled into his chair and was silent for a couple of minutes. He then sat back up, a determined look on his face.

"Boss…." Mitsuru said.

"There might be one way," the boss said. "But it is a dangerous one. If we go through with it, we will risk earning Saeba's wrath. Still, it is our best chance of getting those files." The boss then turned toward Mitsuru and Haruhiko.

"Listen carefully," he said. "I have a plan. Make sure to follow it to the letter without fail."


Meanwhile, back at the apartment building, Ryo wandered around aimlessly. A couple hours earlier, he had tried to peek in at Yumiko while she was showering and was promptly rewarded by another pounding courtesy of Kaori and her one hundred ton hammer. After that, Yumiko settled in at the table to get some work done while Kaori went to do some grocery shopping.

Ryo groaned and tried to work the kinks out of his joints. He thought about trying something with Yumiko now that Kaori was out of the house, but then he remembered the wager along with Kaori's stern warnings and decided against it.

With nothing else to distract him, Ryo was bored. He thought about playing some video games, watching TV or even sneaking in some porn in his room, but none of that was particularly appealing to him right now.

He walked into the front room and found Yumiko still studying some files and making some notes. Ryo admired the fact that she still wanted to work and that she seemed to be keeping a level head despite the threats to her life and her business.

'She may be making a handsome salary from her work, but it's clear that it's not only her profession,' he mused. 'It's her calling, her purpose in this world. For her, her business is her life.'

'…I can already sense the thread on your finger, Saeba-san…'

Ryo absentmindedly touched his pinky finger and frowned. When Yumiko told him that she sensed the red thread on his finger, he had been tempted to tell her that she was mistaken. Granted, the research he had done on her had given him proof of the intuition she claimed to possess, but he could not bring himself to believe what she was telling him. He had been able to shrug off her comments with a joke, but he hadn't been able to forget about them.

'Would you like to know where it leads?'

Ryo walked back into the hallway and leaned against a wall. He had been willing to take part in her wager to find him a date. He was not convinced, however, that the thread she sensed led to anywhere in particular. He had long since given up on the notion that he could have a deep lasting relationship with a woman. It was simply too dangerous for them and too difficult for him to allow that sort of bond. Thus, he had learned to be happy with any fleeting moments of pleasure that he could find through mokkori. A bitter smirk appeared on his face.

'You are wrong this time, Yumiko-chan,' he thought to himself. 'There is no romantic destiny for a man like me: a man who has lived his entire life in the company of guns, blood and death. No woman deserves to be tied to a life like that.'

Ryo ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He didn't like to think too much about things like this and longed for some kind of distraction. Suddenly, his stomach growled.

'I didn't get much of a breakfast thanks to Kaori and her hammer,' he grumbled to himself. 'And who knows how long she's going to be gone. I guess I'll have to find something for myself.'

Ryo left the hallway and started toward the kitchen.

"Hey, Yumiko-chan," he said with a smile as he walked by her. "Would you like something to eat? I could make us both something."

"No, I am still pretty full from breakfast," Yumiko said without lifting her head. "Thank you though."

"Ok," Ryo shrugged as he walked into the kitchen. He then began to rummage around in the fridge and the cupboards for anything that looked good.

As he dug around in the last set of cupboards, his eyes caught sight of a small, colorful box wedged into a corner. Curious, he reached up and carefully pulled it out. He opened it up, and his eyes widened at what he found inside: a collection of chocolates.

'What's this?' he wondered. 'This doesn't look like it came from a store.'

He examined the chocolates closely and noted that each piece appeared to be hand-crafted. The chocolates were simple in appearance, but Ryo could tell by looking at them that they were probably elegant in flavor.

'These were definitely homemade,' he thought. 'But where and when did Kaori get something like this? Unless…unless she made them herself.'

It was then that Ryo realized what he was holding: a box of chocolates that Kaori had made as a gift for someone for Valentine's Day.

He looked down again at the box in his hands. Despite his sarcastic remarks, Ryo admitted to himself that Kaori's cooking was good and satisfying to eat, even though it could never be considered gourmet. Kaori was not very graceful in her culinary pursuits, but these chocolates had a beauty to them that could never be matched by an expensive box of chocolates that could be purchased from a store. Ryo figured that it must have taken her hours to make chocolates like these, and he was impressed at the results.

'A labor of love. That's what these are.'

That thought produced an unexpected ache in his heart. Something like this would not be a Valentine's Day for a friend or a co-worker; this was meant to be a declaration of love. Of a romantic love.

Ryo ran a finger along the edge of the box. Deep down, he knew it was selfish, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling jealous of the person who Kaori had made these for. He thought that he knew about everything important in her life, but now he was faced with evidence that there was someone out there who had captured her heart. Someone who had inspired her to make a wonderful gift like this.

Ryo continued to stare at the contents of the box. He knew that he had no right to lay any sort of claim on her personal affairs. After all, he had made it a point to keep some distance between the two of them. If she was in love with someone, he knew that he should let her go and allow her to find happiness with that person. He knew that he should put these chocolates back and forget about them.

He knew all of this…but none of it was enough to stop him from reaching in, pulling out a chocolate and biting into it.

As he had suspected, it was just as delicious to eat as it was pretty to look at. He began to pull out chocolate after chocolate, stuffing each one of them into his mouth. As he ate them, he could have sworn that he could sense the love that Kaori had put into these chocolates and that made them even more irresistible to him. He couldn't stop himself from devouring them. Each piece sated his hunger and gave him a brief moment of warmth deep within himself.

"Ryo! What….what are you doing?"

He had just popped the last chocolate into his mouth when he heard that voice. He turned toward its source to find Kaori standing in the doorway, her face white.

"Those…those were….those were…." she spluttered. She then narrowed her eyes and began to grind her teeth together.

Ryo gulped hard, swallowing what was in his mouth. He knew that what he had done was wrong, but he couldn't find the words to apologize nor could he bring himself to tell her why he had done it.

"Oh these, I found them in that cupboard up there," he blurted out. "Let me guess, some old Valentine's candy that you had bought for some guy and then forgot about? Maybe because he thought that you are a guy? It's just as well that you didn't give these to anyone, Kaori-kun because I think I'm going to need some medicine to calm my stomach now. Whatever place you bought these from deserves to go out of business."

Ryo automatically flinched, half expecting any moment now to receive yet another blow from one of her hammers. Instead, he was shocked to see her continuing to stand there and gasp, her face turning red.

"I…I…." she said in a whisper. Her usual fiery anger melted away and her eyes filled with tears. He then knew that he had gone too far this time and was filled with guilt over causing her pain. Ryo opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off when she spun on her heel and ran out of the room.

"Kaori!" he shouted as he ran after her. Kaori ran by Yumiko who stood up.

"Kaori-san, what's wrong?" she said. "What happened?"

Kaori said nothing as she dashed past both of them and ran down the steps toward her room. Seconds later, Ryo heard the door slam, and he knew where she had gone.

"Saeba-san, what happened to Kaori-san?" Yumiko said. She then glanced at the box that he was still holding in his hand.

"This," she said as she advanced toward him. She snatched the box out of his hand and examined it.

"This is a box for chocolates," she said. "For Valentine's Day chocolates. Then I was right. There is someone who Kaori-san is in love with." She then saw a faint smudge of chocolate on his face and began to glare at Ryo.

"How could you?" Yumiko said. "I thought she was your partner. Don't you care about her at all? How could you ruin a gift like this? How could you gobble up something that was supposed to be a way for her to express her feelings? Don't you think she deserves to find happiness with the man she loves? "

Ryo said nothing. His expression was blank mask, and he showed no reaction to her words. Yumiko turned away from him.

"You may be an excellent bodyguard, Saeba-san, but you are a poor excuse for a partner," she said.

"Would you like to cancel our wager?" he said quietly. "I promise that there will be no penalty for you." Yumiko was startled by the question, but did her best not to show it.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Whatever you might think of me or my abilities, I know that I am right. And maybe I can't fathom how I will be able do it right now, but I will find a suitable date for you. I will win our bet, fair and square. You will see."

"Fine," Ryo said. "Then will you go somewhere with me in a little while?" Yumiko turned back toward him.

"Where will we be going?" she asked.

"Nowhere special," Ryo answered. "I just need to talk to someone about some suspicions I have. And I think you will be interested in what he has to say."

'