A/N: Sorry I've taken so long to update. I've been so busy with university. I hope everyone remembers where we're up to in this story!

Also, I've noticed that a lot of people keep guessing who the murderer is - which is great! However, don't get too excited about it since this is my first time writing a mystery fic, so the clues are kind of bad... This is the type of story where you need to read the whole thing twice in order to recognise the hidden clues. I hope this message doesn't throw anyone off from waiting until the end. If you can correctly guess who it is, then I'd honestly be so amazed.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Tecmo and Team Ninja. Please don't sue me.


BREAKING CHAINS

Chapter 11

As soon as Hitomi entered her apartment, she immediately headed over to the answering machine. When she pressed the flashing red button, a message from her father appeared which told her to call him back as soon as she could. In an instant, Hitomi dialled her father's number on the phone and waited for him to answer. It was only 7pm, so it was possible that he had finished teaching his students by now.

"Hey, Hitomi," his deep voice spoke.

"Hey, Dad. Sorry about not answering your call before. I was at work," Hitomi confessed. "Anyway, why did you want me to call you?"

"I wanted you to call me so you could give me your friend's phone number. She never showed up at the dojo, so I thought I might give her a call and confirm an orientation meeting with her instead."

Hitomi gulped. She completely forgot to tell her father that Kokoro had been murdered.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you… Kokoro was murdered a few days ago," she told him. "I'm afraid you will have to look for another instructor."

"Oh…" her father replied awkwardly. "Well, that's too bad. Who on earth would kill a young woman like that? I feel sorry for her parents."

"So am I," Hitomi replied. "I plan to solve this murder as soon as I can."

"Of course. Do whatever you can to find the murderer. Good luck."

After hanging up the phone, Hitomi was going to cook some dinner until another thought came to mind. She headed over to the phone once more and decided to invite Leifang over. The detective really needed someone to talk to right now.

When Leifang finally arrived, the two friends headed over to the couch and decided to watch some tv. Hitomi couldn't help but observe her best friend from the corner of her eye. The university student was fidgeting as she watched the tv. Something wasn't right.

"What's wrong, Leifang?" Hitomi asked. When she received no answer, the German girl switched the tv off. Leifang glared at her.

"It's just Kokoro," she admitted. "When I last saw her, she was so happy about standing up to her mother. I feel bad because I was so angry about her getting a raise…"

"You didn't know she was going to die," Hitomi replied. "No one did."

"... I know, but I feel guilty for being so negative when I last saw her… And here I am, making everything about me again... I'm pathetic."

Hitomi reached over to the coffee table and handed Leifang the box of tissues. From the looks of it, she didn't realise that a few tears had trailed down her cheeks. The Chinese woman formed a small smile as she wiped her tears away.

"You're not pathetic," Hitomi assured her friend. "By the way, the scentless detergent you bought for Mila helped us find the murder weapon."

Leifang was confused. "How?"

"You know how we thought that the scentless detergent had no smell and that it would make the dishes have no scent?" she asked. Leifang nodded. "Well, it turns out that the detergent doesn't remove the previous scent. Eliot and I were able to smell the blood from a mile away."

"That's great!" Leifang clapped. "I'm starting to feel useful, after all…"

"That's the spirit!" Hitomi smiled. She was glad that she could cheer her friend up. She then decided to change the subject in order to catch up properly. "So, how is everything going with your science degree?"

"Not that great," Leifang frowned. "My assignments are stressing me out and it's making me lash out at people. You saw how I reacted to Kokoro's raise the other day…"

"I'm sure the stress will be worth it."

"Or maybe it won't, Hitomi," Leifang sighed. "I might drop out and do an acting course instead. I've been practicing more. Here, let me show you…"

Hitomi couldn't help but giggle as Leifang spent the next half hour reenacting famous movie scenes. She hated to admit it, but Leifang was a terrible actress. The detective secretly hoped that her best friend would stay in her current course.

Leifang laughed as she sat back down on the couch. She seemed to have enjoyed her comedic routine. "It feels great to catch up with you again, Hitomi."

Hitomi smiled in response. "I agree," she said. "The only person I've been talking to lately is Eliot. I've been meaning to talk to Hayate some more as well…"

Leifang rolled her eyes. "Just tell him how you feel, already. It's been, like, ten years now."

"Like you should talk," Hitomi glared, throwing the tissue box at Leifang. She flinched in response.

"Okay, I think that's enough boy talk since we're both kind of delusional," Leifang admitted, turning the tv back on. "Let's watch some tv!"

Hitomi turned her head to the screen in front of her. Although she was watching the television now with Leifang, her mind was somewhere else. Truth be told, Leifang was actually right about Hayate. Hitomi had known him for ten years now. She had a crush on him the moment he first approached her on the playground. He was a few years older than her, but that didn't stop her from liking him.

How ridiculous was it that she still didn't have the guts to tell him how she truly felt? Hitomi always told herself that she couldn't ruin their friendship. The detective stood by her rule until she noticed how jealous she was whenever Lisa, or any of his other past girlfriends were mentioned. He never even had the urge to ask her out, so maybe it was a one-sided kind of love. In a way, she had already accepted that.

With a hint of sadness in her eyes, Hitomi leaned her head onto Leifang's shoulder. Making sure to fill the best friend duty correctly, the university student wrapped her arm around the karateka's shoulders in a comforting fashion. They remained that way as they continued watching rom-coms for the rest of the night… Until they both fell asleep, of course.


A week had passed since Leifang spent the night at Hitomi's apartment. Since then, she hadn't spoken to anyone else other than Eliot, and occasionally Rig as she passed him in the hallway. When she accepted her job as a detective, she didn't know that her social life would suffer in the process.

The young woman was currently inside her office, typing away at the keyboard of her old computer. Other than the clicking sound coming from the keyboard, the only other source of sound inside the room was the miniature television set at the corner of the room. Tina's championship match was currently being broadcasted live.

Hitomi continued to type away on her keyboard until she saw Gen Fu walk past the open door. He was currently releasing a teenage boy from his interview. From what Hitomi had heard from Eliot, he was being questioned for severely bullying another boy at school.

"You are free to go," his wise voice could be heard in the background. It was a few moments later when he stopped by Hitomi's office. "How are you and Eliot doing with the cases?"

Hitomi jumped from being frightened. "Oh! You scared me!" she said, clutching her chest. "Well… we're kind of struggling right now, but we will get to the bottom of this."

"That's the spirit," the old man replied. "It took me a while to solve my first case, too. Now look at me… There are people in this town who trust me. At the same time, there are also a lot of people who are wary of me… But that comes with the job of being a police officer."

"I understand," Hitomi said, taking in his words. "It's a little frustrating at the moment, but we will find the murderer."

"I have complete confidence that you will," Gen Fu replied. He then turned around and made his way to his own office.

Hitomi stared at where Gen Fu had been standing. She continued to recall his words once more. He was right, and at the same time, she knew she had to be patient with her cases. If there was one thing she knew, it was that the truth would come out eventually.

A loud noise then grabbed Hitomi's attention. She turned to the television and smiled when she noticed that the loud noise was the announcer revealing that Tina had won the championship fight. What made her laugh was the fact that Bass had run onto the stage in order to hug Tina and congratulate her. All in all, Hitomi was glad that her friend had won the fight. She knew how badly Tina had wanted this.


After her shift at the office, Hitomi made sure to visit the Seaside Market in order to do some more grocery shopping. She had purchased a carton of eggs when she felt a familiar aura. As she turned around, she noticed that Leon was staring at her all the way from his stall. Hitomi gulped as his gaze bore into her soul.

Now feeling more uncomfortable than ever, Hitomi decided to approach the man in order to find out what was going on. Just as she was about to speak, the Italian man cut her to the chase.

"What have you found out about Rolande's case?" he asked. His tone hinted impatience.

"U-um… Well…" Hitomi started. She couldn't help but feel intimidated by his stare. "A slight progress has been made, and-"

"A slight progress?!" he cut her off. "My wife died almost two months ago! You people should have figured out who murdered her by now!"

Hitomi tried her best to ignore all the stares she was receiving. She was becoming overwhelmed by the situation.

"I-I get that, but there have been some obstacles along the way," she admitted. "By the way, I understand that Eliot approached you about a drug theory. I just wanted to know if you were telling the truth or not."

At that moment, Hitomi knew that she had irritated Leon.

"PISS OFF!" he screamed at her.

Surprisingly, even to herself, Hitomi wasn't offended by Leon's behaviour towards her. Avoiding the stares of every other customer was a little bit easier this time since her mind was on Hayate's drug theory. She came to a stop once more when she saw Brad Wong in the distance. He was currently dancing next to some hungry chickens.

Once they shared eye contact, Brad lazily waved at Hitomi with a smug smile on his face. Hitomi responded by waving back, but put her arm down as soon as Brad fell to the floor. The chickens ran away in a hurry.

In an instant, the young karateka hurried over to Brad. It didn't surprise her when she found him laughing at the sky. The man was clearly drunk. Even so, Hitomi helped him to his feet and offered to take him home.

"No," he said, putting up his hand. "I'm okay. I… I can get home just fine from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Brad answered. "Being drunk is like being sober to me now… My brain is strong enough to control the liquor."

"Okay, if you insist," Hitomi shrugged. "Make sure you get home safely."

As Hitomi turned away from the drunk man, she collided into someone else. Both she, and the mysterious person, fell to the floor. Hitomi quickly got on her feet and grabbed her grocery bags. As soon as she was about to grab the last one, someone else already picked it up and handed it over to her.

It was the mysterious person… Or woman, now that Hitomi had a clear view of her.

"I'm so sorry for bumping into you," the woman apologised with a frown.

"Oh no, that's okay," Hitomi replied, taking the grocery bag from her. "It was my fault. I should have watched where I was going."

The woman standing in front of her was tall and had a voluptuous build. Her skin was a nice brown shade which reminded Hitomi of chocolate. Her short brown hair was parted neatly on the side, and Hitomi could tell that her choice of clothing was expensive. This woman was clearly rich.

"Well... I'd better be heading off," the woman said, now taking her leave.

Hitomi stared as the woman hurried over to the nearest stall. She couldn't help but feel intrigued by the woman. There was something about her that made the karateka want to know her more. She then shook her head and formed one last smile at the woman before continuing with the rest of her grocery shopping.


Later that night, Hitomi made her way over to the bathroom in order to brush her teeth. Just as she finished applying the toothpaste on her toothbrush, the phone rang. With an exhausted sigh, the detective ran over to the living room and answered the phone.

"H...Hello?" she huffed.

"Hey, Hitomi!" Tina's southern accent drawled from the other side. "I'm not sure if you watched the championships today, but I won!"

"I saw the match," Hitomi replied. "You did great!"

"Thanks! Anyway, do you remember when we were in the diner last week and I said I was going to throw a celebratory party when I won?..."

Although Tina couldn't see her, Hitomi nodded her head. "Yes."

"Well, I'm planning the party and you're invited," Tina said with excitement. "The party is going to be in two days at the coliseum. Make sure you get there around 6pm!"

"Okay! That sounds grea-"

However, Hitomi wasn't able to finish her sentence since Tina hung up on her. Normally, the karateka would be mad if someone hung up on her while she was speaking, but she understood Tina's situation right now. Since she was a celebrity who wanted to invite half the town to her party, the pro wrestler had a lot of calls to make.

Even though she was in the middle of trying to solve two murder cases, Hitomi was up for a little partying. She really needed to get her social life back. Maybe this would be the perfect way to get a head start.


A/N: So Hitomi finally met Lisa... without knowing her true identity. Will they meet again? And will Hayate know about this? Find out in the next chapter!