CHAPTER 10: THIEF!

Suzume and Heiji were walking down the hallway of the local department store. The two had been walking floor after floor for about an hour already.

"How long does it take ya to shop?" Heiji said, putting his hands behind his head and looking at the ceiling.

Suzume snapped. "Are you just going to complain or are you actually going to help?" she said.

The two glared at each other. Everyone around them looked at them and could feel the sparks fly between them.

"Couple feud?" someone whispered.

"Maybe…." another said.

Suzume and Heiji didn't listen to the bystanders, but they just simply stayed focused on their glaring. But Suzume got distracted when she looked over Heiji's shoulder, which she could hardly see over since he was much taller.

The thing that caught her attention was a women with short brown hair. She looked around the age of thirty or so and she was wearing a business suit. On her shoulder hung a purse and on her wrist was a watch. The women kept looking at the watch and she looked very nervous because she kept playing with her purse.

Suzume narrowed her eyes at the women's behavior, but was thinking she shouldn't approach her.

"Kei?" Heiji said, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" Suzume said, snapping out of her suspicions of the women.

"What's up?" Heiji actually looked a little curious.

"Nothing," Suzume said, glancing back at the women. "Let's get going."

Suzume then walked away with Heiji behind her.

After a while of walking there was some shouting. Suzume tried not to notice until she heard a women shout, "Thief!" Suzume glanced over her shoulder and saw a man, dressed in black, running toward her with a knife. He was wearing sunglasses and a black hat, so most his face was covered. Hanging from his shoulder was the purse Suzume saw earlier. Strange enough, Suzume was standing right in front of the stairs that the man was heading toward.

Heiji noticed this, but he was feet away and wasn't able to reach her, even if he started running at that moment. "Kei, move!" he shouted.

Suzume stood there, her hands in her pockets and her eyes closed, her face towards the ground.

The man grind. "You better move girly!" he shouted as he bolted toward her. After a few more steps, she still didn't move. "Big mistake girly!"

Heiji saw the knife get tighter in the mans hand. "Kei, move! NOW!" he shouted.

Suzume still didn't move, in fact, all she did was take one hand out of her pocket.

The man got closer to Suzume and was about to strike her with the knife.

Suzume opened her eyes and the man looked into them. They were narrow, and it seemed like they were filled with hatred and killer intent. Her eyes were worst then death at the moment. The man tried not showing her fear and tried striking Suzume with the knife, but she stopped him with one hand. Her hand had caught his hand and stopped it in mid air. The next moves no one was able to see due to her amazing speed. But by the time people saw, she was out of breath and the man was on the floor.

Heiji stood there, trying to recall what he just saw. He was the only one able to see her moves. After she grabbed the man's hand, she punched him in the stomach. When he was bending over, she kneed him in the jaw and then kicked him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. Right when the man hit the ground he was scared to death.

"I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you," Suzume said, the same look in her eyes. Just by moving her fingers, her knuckles cracked, which scared the man even more.

"Alright!" the man yelled. He held up the purse. "Just don't hurt me anymore!"

Suzume grabbed the purse and smiled. "Thanks, but I'm sorry to say, I can't have you running off." She then kicked the man across the face and he became unconscious.

Heiji ran over to Suzume and grabbed her by the shoulders. He looked her in the eyes and saw all the anger and killing she had earlier was gone. Her eyes were back to the sweetness they always were, or what Heiji thought was always sweet. "Are you aright?" he said, a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. "I'm perfectly fine…"

Heiji looked Suzume over and saw a deep cut on her arm. "Kei, you're not alright," Heiji said, looking her directly in the eye.

Suzume felt her heart beat get quicker. "Hattori-kun, I'm fine. It's just a scratch." Suzume shook off Heiji and began to walk away.

The women came running towards Suzume shouting, "Oh thank you! You don't know how-"

Suzume cut the women off after handing her the bag. "Actually I do," she said, smiling. "So what seems to be the problem?"

The women's eyes widened. "W-What d-do y-y-you mean?"

"Well," Suzume said, "a purse filled with money, a letter sticking out of your pocket, and the strange moments you were making earlier. I think there's something going on."

Heiji walked up right after Suzume said that. "Kidnapping?" he said, hands in his pockets.

The women looked around and then looked back at them. The women nodded and said, "Who are you?"

Suzume smiled. "Just some people who can help with the problem."

The women nodded. And looked around again. "But we can't talk here, they might be watching."

Suzume and Heiji nodded and followed the women as she walked quickly down the hall.