Author's Note: Next chapter. February with Valentine's Day and March with White Day (in Japan) are both coming up soon, so right now I am working on a project to celebrate these two romantic holidays. I hope to start posting it in a little over a week, so I hope everyone will enjoy it along with updates to my two currently open fics. :)

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. :)

Eve: Thank you for the review, as always. :) No, I hadn't forgotten this one. It's just been a tricky one to plot and write because there's a lot I'm juggling with it, but I am pleased with how it is unfolding, and I am glad that you are enjoying it too...As to what happened with the meeting with Mick, well I can say that you will find out before long what happened, but it may not play out the way you might expect. ;) Anyway, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this update as well.

Chapter Seven

"Ryo-chan, I think I speak for everyone around here when I tell you that something horrible has arrived in Shinjuku…something that just about everyone is afraid of whether they'll admit it or not."

Ryo nodded as he walked along the street with Yumi, a stripper from one of the local clubs that Ryo frequented in Shinjuku who had been a friend of his for a while.

After he had failed to catch up with Mick, Ryo had gone back to the Cat's Eye to say goodbye to Ayako with the promise that he would meet with her again soon. He then went back toward the heart of the Kabuki-Cho Ichiban Gai district to see if he could find out any information about the recent murders in Shinjuku. As he had expected, his usual contacts did not have much useful information other than to let him know about several people who had gone missing recently along with some vague rumors.

While he was there, he happened to run into Yumi, and she begged him to take a walk with her before her shift started at the club where she worked.

"There are so many crazy rumors flying about," she continued. "Most of them are about some guy who they say is the one the cops are looking for, you know the one who killed Yuko and her roommate, Shoko."

"They found Shoko-chan?" Ryo asked her. Yumi bowed her hand and took a hold of Ryo's arm.

"No, no of course not," she said. "Those cops don't care anything about finding some hostess from a bar around here. They never find any of the ones who have disappeared here recently. And let's face it, there's no way that any of those people are still alive."

Yumi gripped her hands tightly to stop them from trembling for a moment, but then went back to caressing Ryo's arm.

"All the girls here…we keep trying to tell each other to do things like make sure to always be with someone while going out and to avoid isolated areas," she said. "But honestly, I think we're just trying to avoid thinking that what happened to those other people could happen to us too, and that there's nothing we can really do about it."

Yumi rested her head against Ryo's shoulder. Ryo smiled and guided her to walk closer to him.

"Walking here with you, it's the first time in weeks that I've felt safe," she said. "I know that there are some people around here who are actually comparing this guy to you. Not that they think it is you, mind you…at least most of them don't think it's you. It's just this guy seems just as…I don't know as skilled and maybe even as invincible as you. It's almost as if he's an evil version of you. At least, that's what they think, but not me, Ryo-chan. I know that you'll get this guy. There's no doubt in my mind. That's why I wanted a chance to spend some time with you, so I could feel safe for a moment from this guy, this monster who's running wild in our city."

"Yumi-chan, isn't there somewhere you could go until this is over?" Ryo asked her. "Some people you could stay with or something?" Yumi laughed and squeezed his arm.

"Concerned about me? That's sweet," she said. "You know, you're the only guy, the only decent guy, who comes to see me."

Yumi paused and Ryo was about to ask her what was wrong when she looked up at him with a smirk.

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen you around here much these days," she teased. "What's going on, Ryo-chan? Have you got something else occupying your time? Or, maybe I should say someone else?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ryo laughed. "There's just been a lot of work stuff here recently, and then I just needed some time off to…." Yumi moved to face him and placed her index finger onto his lips, her smile growing.

"Don't try to smooth talk me, Ryo Saeba," she said. "Your mouth says one thing, but the look in your eyes says something else entirely. I've been around the block enough times to know what that look means: you're in love. So, who's the lucky girl, huh? Not someone around here, I bet."

"Yumi-chan, you've got it all wrong," Ryo said, holding up his hands toward her and laughing again. Yumi stared at him for a moment before realization lit up her eyes, causing her to laugh as well.

"Oh, I get it now," she said. "I should have known, really. Don't worry, Ryo-chan, your secret is safe with me. And don't worry about me. After tonight I plan on leaving town for a while. I've got a cousin in Osaka who has a kid who is sick. She can't be home all the time, so I offered to stay with her to help out for a while. I probably won't be back for a month or two."

"That's good," Ryo nodded. "By then, I should have this taken care of."

"You better," Yumi said with a curt nod. "We're all counting on you, Ryo-chan. You know, there's a reason why we all let you slide on your debts so much around here."

"Maybe it's because I'm devilishly handsome," he grinned at her. "Or maybe it's my charm or my reputation as the Stallion of Shinjuku."

"Well all of that is a little bit of it," she smirked back. "But no, none of it is the real reason, and I know that you know it."

The two of them strolled back to the entrance of the club Yumi worked at, and once they were there, Yumi let out a long sigh.

"I don't suppose I could persuade you to come in and watch my show tonight," she said.

"I'd like that," he grinned again. "But I've got some other people I need to track down."

"Work before pleasure," she said. "I get that. But you better make sure to come by and see me again when I get back."

"I will, I promise," he smiled. Yumi smiled back in response and then leaned up onto her tiptoes so she could kiss him on the cheek near his mouth. Ryo briefly closed his eyes as her lips brushed against his face and giggled as he let his hands wander to her waist.

"Maybe I could spare some time for a little mokkori before your show starts," he said. Yumi laughed and pushed his face away with the palm of her hand while wriggling out of his grasp.

"Ah, don't kid me, Ryo-chan," she said. "We both know that's not going to happen, not while you have that look in your eyes. But thank you, for saying it just the same. Now, you run along and get to work on stopping that guy. And oh, Ryo-chan, make sure to say hi to your partner, Kaori-san for me."

"Kaori?" he said. "But why?"

"Oh no reason," she winked at him. "See you later."

Yumi waved at him one last time before ducking into the club. Ryo stood outside in front of the entrance for a full minute before finally walking away.

Just as he walked away, another man appeared in an alley across from the club. The man lit a cigarette and grinned as he blew out the match. He then leaned against the wall and settled in to watch and wait.

Watching for his latest prey to wander out into the darkness. Waiting for the moment when he could begin the next step in his game with Ryo Saeba.


Reika wandered into the Homicide Division's office, confident that she would find her sister working at her desk even though it was late at night. Sure enough, she spied Saeko typing away at her computer, and she walked over to stand in front of her desk.

"Still working that series of homicides in Shinjuku, onesan?" Reika asked as she sat down in a chair next to Saeko. "Has Ryo been able to give you anything to work with yet?"

"Actually yes," Saeko said as she looked up. "He told me to look into not just confirmed homicides, but also missing person reports around Shinjuku."

"And?" Reika said, leaning close to peek at the computer screen.

"Turns out he was onto something," Saeko said. "From what I can tell, the disappearances start around the time the killer was thought to have slipped into Tokyo. In fact, there are actually more disappearances that point to him than confirmed deaths. Recently though, the pattern has become even more fixed…and more troubling."

"What do you mean, troubling?"

"From what I can tell, all of the latest homicides coincide with another missing person report from roughly the same area where the body was discovered," Saeko answered. "And it all fits with what we know about this latest victim since she was reported to have been with her roommate around the time she was killed."

"So, you're saying that at around the same time he's killing one person, he's kidnapping another one?" Reika said.

"It seems that way," Saeko nodded. "And so far, none of the people who went missing on the same night as these murders has ever resurfaced, alive or dead. So the question becomes, what is he doing with these people?"

Reika shuddered as she studied the screen with Saeko for several minutes.

"By the way," Saeko said, looking up. "What brings you by here anyway? I doubt you just came to see how I was doing on this case."

"Ha ha, well I was curious to see how you were doing," Reika smiled at her before becoming somber again. "But I…I also wanted to apologize. I'm sorry about what I said about Makimura, and I…."

"Don't worry about it," Saeko said, waving her hand. "The one you should be apologizing to is Kaori-san."

"I'm still working on that," Reika said, her face red. "And…there was another reason why I stopped by."

"Oh?"

"I need any information the police have on a woman named Ayako Jinguji," Reika said.

"Did Ryo put you onto this?" Saeko asked. "Is it related to my case?"

"Well, I don't like to talk about my clients, but yes he did," Reika replied. "But I don't think it's related to your case at all."

"Ayako Jinguji," Saeko said. "That name sounds familiar."

"It did to me too," Reika said. "And I figured out why. Turns out she's a private investigator like me. In fact, she worked for a pretty well known veteran of the business, Hideji Tsuchiya, before her boss was in some kind of fatal accident. That and the fact that she was adopted by the head of the Jinguji family and Concern after her parents died are about all I've been able to find out of any importance. I'm not really sure why Ryo is so interested in her."

Saeko lightly tapped her fingertips against her desk for a moment as she tried to place where she had heard the name. A flash of inspiration soon came to her, and her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Reika asked her.

Saeko did not answer. Instead she furiously typed away on her keyboard, pulling up more than one file and checking them against each other. After a few minutes of this, she finally realized why the name had seemed so familiar, but that realization did nothing to ease her agitation.

"Look at this," Saeko said, tilting the computer screen toward Reika slightly. "Tsuchiya's death was ruled an accident, but the police still investigated it due to the fact that he was working on some high-profile cases in conjunction with the department at the time. In the end though, the detectives working the case were not able to find anything definitive."

"So it might have been a hit made to look like an accident," Reika said. "Still, I don't see what's so significant about it."

"The department was so concerned about the cases he was working on that were going to court, they didn't pay much attention to one other case he had taken on not long before he died," Saeko replied. "It turns out that Tsuchiya was looking into a couple of low level thugs who were said to be part of a larger drug organization who was looking to make inroads into Japan. A drug organization that originated in Central America."

"Central America?" Reika responded. "Wait, do you mean….?"

"Exactly," Saeko said. "Union Teope."

"You think that Union Teope are the ones who had Tsuchiya killed?" Reika asked.

"Sadly, I know all too well how easy it is for them to get to just about anyone," Saeko said, her face grim. Reika nodded in response. She knew exactly what Saeko was referring to with that statement and did not feel the need to remind her sister of the loss she knew Saeko still carried with her to this day.

"It can't be a coincidence," Reika said instead.

"I don't think so either," Saeko said. "The question is, what, if any, connection does Ayako Jinguji have with Union Teope now? And how exactly is she involved with Ryo?"


After a couple more hours of mostly fruitless investigation, Ryo walked back into his apartment building and headed straight up to his floor. There, he found Kaori sitting near the window, watching the sky. She did not move as he walked closer to her, and he frowned.

"Kaori," he said. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come back until now. I was checking on some leads on that case for Saeko and I guess time sort of got away from me."

"It's all right," she said. "I understand. Did you want something to eat? I have some leftovers in the kitchen."

"Sure," Ryo shrugged as he sat down on the couch. He watched Kaori nod and stand up while still not looking at him.

"Kaori, I…."

"I'll go warm them up for you," she said, her back to him. "Go ahead and relax."

She then walked into the kitchen, leaving a worried and confused Ryo in the front room. His confusion only lasted for a moment though when he thought back to last night and this morning.

'I suppose I should have seen this coming,' he told himself. 'After what I did to her last night and how I avoided her all day today, it's really no surprise that she's mad at me.'

Ryo sighed and slumped down on the couch. It was during times like this that Ryo realized how much he preferred it when Kaori used her hammer on him when she was mad. Usually then, he knew exactly what he had done wrong, and often once she had managed to pound him into the ground, she would let go of her anger and move on.

Granted, none of that made the hammer strikes any less painful or made it so he wouldn't continue to try to avoid them, but in a perverse sort of way, Ryo was comforted by this routine. There was the obvious fun he had with the game they had made of teasing each other and the thrill of the chase as he tried to escape. But even more than that, Ryo often took it as a sign that she cared and was actually somewhat flattered that she was jealous of him attempting to mokkori with other women.

Far worse for him were times like this: times when it was clear that Kaori was upset, and when she withdrew from him and refused to talk about what was bothering her. It was times like those when Ryo feared that she was seriously contemplating making changes in her life, including walking away from him and the dangerous world he lived in.

They were also the times when Ryo knew that Kaori was often grappling with something more painful and closer to her heart, and he wished there was something he could do to ease the hurt she felt. The problem was, right now, she was also pulling away from him and that made it much harder for him to do anything to help her.

Ryo fell forward and rested on his stomach. He was now beginning to wonder if perhaps he was not being proactive enough in this situation. He had wanted to wait until Kaori chose to approach him first with either a reproach or an offer to reconcile, but this waiting was starting to chafe on him.

'Being on the defensive all the time has never been the way I do things,' he told himself. 'Why should it be any different in this situation?'

Decision made, Ryo chose to wait until after he had had something to eat to do anything. A few minutes later, Kaori brought out several plates of food for him, and Ryo immediately rushed over to the table and devoured all of it in minutes. As he finished the last scraps of his meal, Ryo pondered how he was actually far hungrier than he had originally thought, and he was grateful that Kaori had thought to make him such a large meal for when he got home.

After he was finished, he waited until Kaori cleared the table and had had time to be finished with the dishes before positioning himself outside the kitchen and waiting for her to come out. The moment she reappeared, Ryo grabbed her and enveloped her in his arms.

"Kaori," he murmured. He then began to kiss her and hold her as tightly as he could. Soon, he was swept up by a need that he didn't even know was growing inside him. The taste of Kaori's lips, the warmth of her body against his, the scent of her skin all melded together into a balm that his heart desperately needed right now.

At first, Kaori seemed receptive to the attention, and Ryo was certain that he had done the right thing in making the first move. As Ryo grew bolder and more passionate in his advances, however, her demeanor changed. She tried to pry Ryo's hands apart, but he would not let her go.

"Ryo, stop it," she said between his kisses. She pushed herself away from him, but Ryo continued to cling to her.

"Kaori," he said. "I'm sorry about this morning…and last night. Let me make it up to you now." He then went back to kissing her, his every movement fueled with an escalating sense of urgency. Kaori swiftly put a stop to this, however, by shoving Ryo as hard as she could and backing up against a nearby wall.

"Ryo, I said stop it," she snapped at him. "I don't want that, can't you understand?" Ryo's mouth dropped open in shock and his eyes widened at the ferocity of her tone.

"I…I'm sorry," he stuttered out. "But…Kaori, why….?"

"You mean, why don't I want to jump into bed with you?" she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe some of us need more out of life and out of love than just a round of mokkori whenever the urge strikes."

As the words left Kaori's lips, Ryo's expression immediately changed from confusion to anger and hurt, and Kaori put a hand over her mouth.

"So, that's how you see me and what I do," he nodded, his tone hard yet brittle. "The Stallion of Shinjuku who only cares about the next mokkori opportunity and nothing else."

"Ryo…."

"I suppose I can't blame you for that," he continued with a slight nod. "It's been a major part of my life for so long, maybe that's all I know at this point. Maybe that's all any one will ever see in me." Ryo took a step toward her, and Kaori flattened herself against the wall and shuddered at the dark glint in his eyes.

"Maybe I was a fool to think that anyone would ever think any differently," he snarled. "And maybe, I should stop deluding myself into thinking that things will ever change."

Kaori's eyes grew wet as she turned away and dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ryo could hear the sound of footsteps in the stairwell, and he figured that she was going back to her floor to spend the night. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard another door slam on the floor below him before silence filled the hallways.

Ryo clenched his hands into fists and retrieved his bottle of whiskey from the cupboards, determined to finish the rest of it tonight and get drunk in the process. He sat down on the couch with his bottle and a glass and began to down one drink after another in rapid succession. As he drank, he pondered how he still could not figure out what he should do next and the resulting frustration that continued to burn inside him.

In another way though, Ryo was somewhat relieved that Kaori had chosen to leave him alone for the night. It made it so he wouldn't have to face what he had done to her the last time they had slept in the same bed for a little while longer.

Over time, the level of whiskey in the bottle continued to shrink, and Ryo felt his mood continue to spiral downward in tandem. He thought again about how he had spotted Mick, and Ryo wondered what he was doing here and why he hadn't made contact with him. As far as he could remember, Ryo thought that the two of them had dissolved their partnership on good terms, but now he wondered if perhaps he had missed a mistake that he had made with Mick, and he began to ponder just how bad he really was at navigating close personal relationships.

"Saeba-san, haven't you ever wanted to get out of this life?"

"Haven't you ever longed for a normal life where you could live like everyone else…?"

Ayako's words suddenly echoed and his head, and Ryo sat his glass down and rubbed his temples. He hadn't responded to her comments aloud, but in his mind he had thought about how there had been many times when he had wished that he could lead an ordinary existence, that he could escape his past and who and what he was and live like a human being instead of a killer. At times, he even dreamed about walking away from this life and disappearing to a place where no one would know him so he could live a solitary existence away from anyone and everyone who ever knew of Ryo Saeba.

Ryo sighed and poured himself another drink, draining the last of the liquor from the bottle. Whenever he did start to have dreams like that, his own memories of what he had done in the past would squash them before they would get too strong, and he would be forced to face the realities of his world: that Ryo Saeba and all that came with that name was an integral part of who he was inside, that he could never undo what he had done in the past, and that his past would never permit him to lead a normal life. Not ever.

"I know that there are some people around here who are actually comparing this guy to you."

"It's almost as if he's an evil version of you."

Ryo tilted his head back as he swallowed the last of his whiskey before dropping his glass to the floor and swatting the empty bottle against a nearby wall. He watched it sail by and shatter as it made impact, and he laughed bitterly as he watched the shards of glass fall to the floor. He then fell back onto his back on the couch and stared at the ceiling while Yumi's words replayed in his head.

At this point though, he wondered if Yumi, or anyone else, knew for sure if this killer was really any different than him or if they were entirely sure of which one of them was the monster they should fear.

For that matter, Ryo himself was somewhat unsure if there truly was a difference between him and this killer or if the two of them were simply different versions of the same evil.