A/N: Ahhhhh, thanks for all the reviews/follows/favourites so far! It makes me so happy to know that people are enjoying my story. I'm planning to add each and every character one by one because it would be chaotic if I added 30 plus characters in one chapter. So don't worry about a certain character not appearing, because they will.

I don't really have much else to say, so I'll end it here. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

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

BREAKING CHAINS

Chapter 1

The next two years were definitely the hardest Hitomi had faced. Every day seemed to be an even bigger challenge than the last, but like Eliot had said, it was worth it. During her time at the detective course, Hitomi made a new friend. Her name was Momiji and she told Hitomi that she wanted to become a detective so she could avenge her sister who died a few years ago. Her murder case still hadn't been solved.

The detective course also required every member to be at their best physical peak. It was at this moment when Hitomi was truly thankful for her karate lessons. Although she was already fit, it was not good enough. She, along with everyone else, would be exhausted after each physical session. Overall, Hitomi had learned a lot along her journey. Investigating a dead body was something Hitomi was intrigued to do, and she couldn't wait to go back to her hometown.

After exchanging numerous goodbye hugs with Momiji, the two promised to keep in touch. It was after they swapped phone numbers, e-mails, and addresses when both girls went their separate ways.

The car ride home took longer than expected. Being on the other side of the country, it took Hitomi at least four days to drive and sleep each night. Her secondhand car wasn't the most comfortable to sleep in, but she had no money to spend on a motel. She ended up signing a lease a while back, and all her money had gone towards the moving company to place some furniture inside her new apartment.

The reason why Hitomi had rented a new apartment was because she needed to find a living space that was closer to the police station. That way, if she was needed for any emergency, then she would be there in a hurry. Her father was sad that she had decided to live on her own, but he understood her intentions.

Once when Hitomi made it outside her new apartment, she parked her car in one of the residential spaces. She tried her best to carry two boxes at a time up the flight of stairs. Luckily, she only had four boxes in total, so she only had to go downstairs once. When Hitomi successfully dropped her last two boxes, she looked at the time on her watch.

8:03am

Hitomi sighed due to exhaustion. She was tired since she didn't get much sleep last night. She was too excited to finally arrive at her new apartment. The German girl then dug through the pocket of her jean jacket for her apartment key so she could finally see what the inside of her new home looked like.

"Need a hand?" a deep voice called.

Hitomi jumped and let out a small scream due to being startled. Turning around, she took a sigh of relief as she saw a man in front of her. He was a tall, Caucasian man who looked as though he were in his mid to late twenties. He wore a black sleeveless hoodie which exposed his muscular arms and torso. Hitomi couldn't help but stare at his tattoos.

"Oh my gosh, you scared me!" she panted. "But help would be greatly appreciated."

"Great," the man smirked, picking up one of the boxes.

"I've never seen you around here before… I'm Hitomi," she smiled, turning the key through the lock. The door swung open and the newly announced detective was amazed with her new apartment. The interior consisted of red, brown, and white. Hitomi was thankful to see that the moving company had successfully attached the fridge, as well as her couch, in the right places.

"My name is Rig. I've never seen you around here, either," he said, placing the box on the couch. "I live right next door to you. I only moved in here two weeks ago, so I'm still new around here."

"That makes sense," Hitomi said, grabbing another box. "I just came back from a two year course. I'm the town's newest detective."

"Detective, eh?" Rig repeated. Hitomi didn't know why, but she was getting a creepy vibe from him. "I guess you better not look at my past records."

Hitomi laughed at what she hoped to be a joke, but Rig didn't laugh along with her. He just looked at Hitomi with a blank expression. Hitomi cleared her throat awkwardly and changed the subject.

"So, what brings you to DOATEC City?"

"I have relatives here," Rig answered. "I also wanted to start a new life, so here I am."

"Here you are…" Hitomi repeated awkwardly. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Rig, but I have a long day ahead of me, so I might as well unpack my belongings. Thank you for your help."

Just as Hitomi led him out of the door, Rig turned around with a cool expression on his face. "By the way, I usually have my music blasting through the stereo whenever I'm at home. I hope that doesn't bother you."

"It won't," Hitomi smiled. "I'm a deep sleeper and I'm always awake by 5am. But thank you for telling me in advance."

"No problem. I'll let you unpack."

After closing the door, Hitomi decided to put away as much of her belongings as she could. She decided to get everything over and done with so she wouldn't have to do anything later. It wasn't until three hours later when she suddenly craved for some lunch.

"Okay, that should do for now," Hitomi dusted her hands. "I can do the rest later."

Hitomi's favourite place in the world right now was her kitchen. She couldn't help but squeal at the new area she had all to herself. She still needed to plug in her microwave and blender later. She went over to the fridge to see what ingredients she could use to make her lunch. However, her face fell as she only saw a bruised tomato inside. The German girl took the tomato out of the fridge and put it in the bin. What would she do now with no food?

Hitomi had three options. The first option was to visit Rig next door and ask him for some spare food. She thought the idea was weird since they barely knew each other, so she scratched that out. The second option was to go to the diner to eat a quick meal. That also wasn't a good idea since it would cost around ten dollars for one meal. The third option was to go to the market and buy some groceries. Hitomi decided to go with this option since she would be able to find many discounts as well as buy food for the entire week.

When Hitomi finally arrived at her destination, she looked at the wooden sign on the side. The words Seaside Market were engraved on it. For some reason, the weather was always sunny at the seaside market. This was because the market was placed right on top of a beach.

Hitomi walked past numerous crates and wired cages. There were many mini markets to shop at since they were scattered everywhere. It turns out many people depended on the popularity of their business in order to pay their own rent. Hitomi was planning where to begin her shopping adventure until something caught her attention. Standing just a few feet away was Kasumi. She was currently browsing through some items at one of the stalls.

When Hitomi had approached her, Kasumi's shocked expression was quickly replaced with a warm smile.

"It's so good to see you!" she said, hugging Hitomi tightly. "How was the course?"

"It was really good!" Hitomi told her. She then looked at the girl standing next to Kasumi. It was Ayane and there was something very different about her appearance.

"I see you've dyed your hair purple, Ayane. It looks nice!"

"Thanks, I guess," Ayane mumbled. She then turned to Kasumi. "We should go."

Hitomi smiled at the two sisters since she had never seen them get along before. Two years surely did make a difference.

"But I still need to buy this crystal ball," Kasumi told her.

"Well then hurry the heck up! We don't have all day…" Ayane said, crossing her arms. She then pulled a disgusted face at Hitomi since she was still smiling at them both. "I'm going to the car…"

When Ayane made her way to the entrance of the market, Hitomi smiled brightly at Kasumi.

"I can't believe you two are even on speaking terms now. When did this happen?"

"A while back, actually," Kasumi answered. "We just started talking more and now we're more civil towards each other."

"I'm glad you two were able to solve your differences," Hitomi said. She then looked at the stack of tarot cards in Kasumi's hands. "Are you into fortune telling?"

"I have been for a while now. That, and baking."

"That's great. We should bake together sometime!" Hitomi offered.

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Kasumi smiled. She then leaned slightly closer towards Hitomi. "Also, don't tell Hayate this, but he's been counting down the days until you get back… He was smiling a lot this morning."

"O-oh… That's uh..." Hitomi was at a loss for words. She could feel her face heating up and she honestly hoped that Kasumi didn't notice. However, from the sudden smirk growing on Kasumi's face, Hitomi knew that she noticed.

Hitomi and Kasumi continued to converse about their experiences throughout the last two years until Hayate appeared. Hitomi was glad to see one of her closest friends once again. She noticed that he was holding a miniature cactus.

"Oh, Hitomi… I totally didn't know you were coming back today," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Hitomi instantly looked over at Kasumi who proceeded to roll her eyes. Hitomi could feel a blush making its way on her face once more.

"It's nice to see you, too, Hayate," Hitomi chuckled. "So, how has the dojo been?"

"Its been going really well. Your father is still looking for new instructors, but we're coping just fine."

"That's great. And I didn't know you were into gardening," she noted, pointing at the cactus in his hands.

"Oh yeah," he chuckled, twirling the miniature ceramic pot in his hands. "I bought this from Leon. He didn't seem too happy to see me, though… He shoved the plant right onto my hands and told me to leave."

"Hayate, go easy on him," Kasumi told her brother. "His wife just died!"

Hitomi was in shock from what Kasumi had just said. She had bought several plants from Leon and Rolande's market stall before. She had heard some rumors stating that their business included selling drugs, but Hitomi refused to believe that was the case. Even so, it was hard for her to believe that someone so kind and welcoming could die so young.

"Wait, Rolande is dead?"

"Yes," Kasumi confirmed. "She was murdered behind the gym two weeks ago. It's so sad, and Leon hasn't been the same ever since."

Hitomi couldn't believe her ears right now. She couldn't think of any reason as to why anyone would kill Rolande, let alone behind a gymnasium. She decided to not think about it too much and thought it was best to distract herself by shopping for her groceries.

"Well, I better start shopping. It was nice to see you both again!"

"Hitomi, wait…" Hayate said, looking somewhat hopeful. "Maybe we could meet up at the diner sometime soon and catch up."

"I agree. The three of us should catch up," Kasumi said with an innocent smile… A little too innocent.

"But aren't you busy, Kasumi?" Hayate turned to his younger sister.

"Busy? Busy doing what?"

"Oh, I don't know… Busy with busy things to take care of," he said with a glare.

"... Oh yes. That's right… It turns out I won't be able to make it whenever you two decide to meet up."

"How unfortunate," Hitomi chuckled, waving at them. "Okay, I'll see you two later!"

Hitomi ignored her rumbling stomach as she scanned through multiple stalls. She decided to do her grocery shopping from the very end of the store and make her way back to the front.

The first stall she went to had a number of shelves at the back. Old books and antiques were scattered along each row. But what truly caught Hitomi's eye was the large cabbage on the table in front of her. The old man who was occupying the store greeted her.

"Hello. Would you like to buy anything?"

"Yes! I'd like to buy this cabbage, but is there a chance I could get a discount on it?" Hitomi begged.

The old man didn't seem so sure. "Oh, I don't know…"

"Please? Just a little discou-"

"I'll buy the cabbage for the full price," a feminine voice interrupted from behind.

"You have a deal!" the old man said with a smile.

Hitomi, now clenching her fist, was surprised and quite angry that someone else had the nerve to steal her cabbage. She looked over to the culprit with the preparation to tell them off, but she was surprised when she realised who it was.

"Leifang?"

A/N: I wonder what will happen next! :3 How will Hitomi react to Leifang stealing her cabbage? Will Hitomi and Hayate meet up? Will Ayane and Kasumi continue to be civil? Stay tuned for the next chapter!

On another note, I want to talk about Rolande. Some of you guys might recognise her as "Lauren", but I grew up playing the games by addressing her as "Rolande". I think Lauren is the correct name and Rolande was a mistake due to some translation errors. Anyway, I realised this when I was halfway through the story. I already wrote her name a million times and can't be bothered finding them all. Plus, my OCD will kill me if I changed it to Lauren.

Thanks for reading! If you want, tell me what you think in the reviews!