A/N: Hello, and welcome to one of the longest chapters in this story! It would be a good idea to grab some food and sit in a comfortable seat since there are almost 6000 words to read. Have fun and tell me what you think at the end!

Also, if you're a fan of Hayate/Hitomi, then you might like the first half of this chapter. :3

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

BREAKING CHAINS

Chapter 12

After waking up at 11am and getting changed afterwards, Hitomi had planned to go to the gym. Luckily, it was her day off today, so she thought this would be the perfect chance to get back into her old fitness routine. Even though she practiced her karate on some mornings, she couldn't help but feel as though she needed to expand her horizons some more.

Once when Hitomi made it outside the gym, she became sidetracked. Instead of heading inside, she looked over to the diner. It was open for business.

From what Hitomi could see, there only seemed to be one person inside, but she couldn't tell who it was… Naturally, Hitomi followed her instincts and decided to check it out.

When she made her way inside the diner, Hitomi saw that the only other person inside was Leifang. She was currently distracting herself by sweeping the floor, even though there was no dust in sight. When the waitress looked up at Hitomi, her full lips turned to a smile. She was glad to finally have a customer.

"What can I get for you, Hitomi?" she asked, now making her way behind the counter.

"I'm not here to order anything," Hitomi told Leifang. "Why is the diner open?"

"Well, its been over a week since Kokoro's murder, so Johnny thought now would be the best time to reopen the diner..." Leifang replied. Her face then fell. "Unfortunately, he was wrong."

Hitomi took a seat on one of the stools. "To be honest, I don't think anyone would like to eat where someone was murdered."

"I know and it's not fair," Leifang pouted, crossing her arms. "Someone was murdered at the gym and that stupid place is still making more money than ever."

Hitomi couldn't help but smirk at her friend. Even though Leifang had a point, she wasn't entirely correct.

"The difference between the diner and the gym is that Rolande was murdered outside of the gym. Kokoro was murdered inside."

"I guess you have a point…" Leifang admitted. "But this whole thing is so dumb. Why the hell would anyone even think to murder Kokoro?!"

Hitomi shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea… But look on the bright side. Tina is hosting her party tomorrow. In a way, everyone can finally relax for a few hours and have some fun."

"To be honest, I don't even know why I was invited to her party," Leifang admitted, now beginning to wipe the already-clean counter with a rag. "Tina and I don't exactly like each other…"

This was true. Tina and Leifang had always bickered over the silliest things in the past. Hitomi frowned since she knew that a lot of opposites usually attract and get along really well. Both of her friends were definitely opposites, but they didn't get along in the slightest. It was almost like a rivalry.

Hitomi's thoughts were interrupted by repeated banging sounds. When she found the source of her distraction, it turned out that it was just Leifang stuffing the napkins into the napkin holder. She did it in a rough fashion, which told Hitomi that she was frustrated. The German woman couldn't blame her. After all, this is where everything had changed…

It was truly horrifying to think about. Just a week ago, Kokoro was hanging from the ceiling only a few feet away. This is where she was planning to change her life… Where she was attacked… Where she took her last breath.

Just as it seemed like a miracle had happened, the doorbell rang. When the customer entered the store and approached the front counter, Hitomi was happy to see that it was Hayate. For some odd reason, he was wearing sunglasses. It was cold outside.

"Hayate, why are you wearing sunglasses?" Hitomi asked him.

Hayate lowered his sunglasses to make a quick glance at Hitomi. He then covered his brown eyes with them once more. "Because I don't want to be recognised at the crime scene."

Leifang glared at him. "How dare you! The diner is still a safe place!"

"I know! I know!" the karate instructor held his hands up in defense. "But everyone else doesn't think so… Anyway, I'm only here to buy some marrons glaces for Ayane."

"Why didn't Ayane come and get it herself?" Hitomi wondered.

"Because she's too chicken to be seen here, apparently," Hayate rolled his eyes. "But whatever. I don't mind doing some big brother duties."

"That's very nice of you, Hayate," Leifang said, trying not to giggle.

"I know. At least she can now tell everyone what a reliable, handsome brother she has."

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "You're so full of yourself, Hayate."

"Hitomi, please. I am the wind." [1]

"You know, that quote has never made any sense to me…" Hitomi admitted. "You've been saying it ever since we were kids."

"I guess it just grew into a casual saying," Hayate admitted with a chuckle. "Anyway, I'd better get going."

Hitomi watched as Leifang handed Hayate the bag of marrons glaces. "Don't run into Lisa while you're delivering those sweets to Ayane," she said. Playfully, of course.

"Stop being so jealous," Hayate joked in return. "I'll see you and Leifang at the party."

And with those being his final words, Hayate left the diner.

Hitomi found herself staring at the door for a short while. She really missed how she and Hayate were able to joke around. Her face began to turn red as she thought back to their old memories together. Once when the German girl came back to reality, she turned around to find Leifang staring at her with an arched brow.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing…" Leifang replied, dangling her fingers over the counter, "except that, maybe you could have told Hayate how you felt right there."

The detective sighed at her friend. "Now wouldn't have been a good time."

"Why not?"

"Well, for one, you are right here and would ruin the moment," Hitomi told her. "There is also the fact that a waitress was murdered here a week ago."

Leifang was now silent. "... You have a point."

"Exactly," Hitomi chuckled. "Anyway, I should go and train at the gy-"

"Hey, ya'll!" a familiar voice beamed. Hitomi saw that it was Tina. She was curious to know why the female wrestler was at the infamous diner.

"Hey, Tina. Did you come to eat here?" Hitomi asked her.

"Nope," she answered with a smile. She then turned to Leifang. "I came here to order some platters for my party tomorrow."

Leifang scrunched her brows in confusion. "You know someone was murdered here… Right?"

"I know," Tina replied, normally. She then readjusted her black beanie before continuing. "In my opinion, food is still food. I don't care what happened here as long as there isn't any blood in the food."

"There's no blood in the foo-"

"And it would be even better to honour Kokoro," Tina said, cutting Leifang off. "I'm sure she would have loved to be part of the party. In a way, I want to do this for her as well."

Hitomi smiled at the pro wrestler. "Oh wow… That's a really nice idea, Tina."

"Thanks," she replied, flicking her hair. She then turned to Leifang once more. "I want there to be twenty plates of food at the party tomorrow. I don't care what food you put on there. Just make it taste good."

"Twenty plates?!" Leifang asked in shock. "That would be really good for the diner's overall business!"

Tina flashed a pearly white smile. She was glad to be of help for the diner's reputation. Hitomi was also happy that Tina had ordered so many plates. She knew how much the Armstrong duo loved to eat there. The karateka was sure that Johnny would be grateful for Tina's generosity.

After when the pro wrestler paid her total fee, she left the diner. It turns out that she still had many people to call. A few minutes later, just as when the diner was quiet again, Mila entered the front room. She was already wearing her green maid dress and held her backpack over her shoulder. What seemed different about her this time is that there was a bandaid above her left eyebrow.

"Oh great, you're here!" Leifang smiled at the MMA fighter. She then proceeded to take her apron off. "My shift is over, so I'm going to try and find Jann Lee. I think he said he was going to the coliseum before…"

"Are you going to tell him how you feel?" Hitomi asked him.

"Of course not, Hitomi," she replied. "Do you want to help me spy on him?"

Hitomi chuckled at her friend. "No, thank you. Besides, I was planning to have a chat with Mila."

The Chinese woman shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Hitomi and Mila both smiled like mentors as they witnessed Leifang running across the street. They had never seen the waitress run so fast before. Her reasons to stalk Jann Lee were probably serious this time.

"I wonder if that's all she ever does…" Mila wondered, now witnessing Leifang almost being hit by a truck. Thankfully, she avoided the vehicle and continued to run.

"Nope. She likes to read once in awhile, too," Hitomi joked. Her expression then turned serious. "Are you feeling any better, though? From the other day, I mean…"

"Hm?" the waitress wondered. It then clicked to her. "Oh, yeah! I'm fine now. Thank you so much for comforting me that day. I really appreciate it."

"It was no problem," Hitomi replied. "To be honest, I was surprised that the diner even reopened today."

"I was surprised, too," Mila admitted. "It was Johnny's idea, actually. He was supposed to work today, but he asked me to take over his shift again since he had to see his brother. Apparently it was some kind of emergency…"

The mention of Johnny's brother made Hitomi think of Rig. Was this possibly his father, or another uncle? Either way, she hoped that the emergency was solved and no longer serious. It would be terrible for another bad thing to happen this time around.

Hitomi observed Mila as she placed the rag into the nearby sink. The detective couldn't help but stare at her eyebrow. When Mila turned around to face Hitomi once more, she noticed that the German girl was staring at her new accessory.

"After when we had our talk at the gym, I began to spar with Tina," she explained, pointing at her bandaid. "I guess you can say she punched me a little too hard…"

"Hm, about that… You two seem to like spending a lot of time together…" Hitomi observed.

"Yeah. We're friends," she smiled. "I also spar with Zack a lot, too, so I'm glad to have made some friends here."

"A lot of people are nice around here," Hitomi told her. "It's very easy to make friends with them, in my opinion. By the way… Are you going to Tina's party tomorrow?"

"Yes!" Mila gushed. Hitomi was taken aback by her sudden change of attitude. "I've always wanted to meet Bass Armstrong. He's so amazing! He's my inspiration and my role model, and just… UGH!"

Now that she recalled the events from the other week, Hitomi remembered Mila mentioning Bass Armstrong in an inspired tone. She was honestly surprised by this girly side of Mila. She never expected such a behaviour to come from the spunky waitress.

"I've met him before. He's really nice," Hitomi told Mila. "I'm sure he'll like you since you seem to be good friends with Tina."

"Oh, I really hope so!" Mila squealed. She then began to jump up and down in glee.

Once again, Hitomi was really surprised by Mila's attitude. She also thought that Bass would be grateful, as well, to meet a fan who was really inspired by him. Hitomi hoped that the two would be able to meet at Tina's party. She figured that they would be able to get along really well.

It felt as though an eternity had gone by when the next night finally arrived. Hitomi was really excited to attend a party and let loose since she had been so stressed lately with all these murders to solve. She, as well as Eliot, really needed a night off from their duties. The karateka hoped that Eliot would have some secret dance moves hidden within him as well.

After deciding to dress in casual attire, Hitomi checked herself in the mirror. Her denim jacket matched with her jeans, and her yellow eagle shirt gave her a fresh appearance. Her pink headband was pushed through her hair, which revealed more of her peachy, oval face. Once when she applied her brown combat boots, she left for the party.

"Here's to a night of fun and ridiculous dancing," she voiced her thoughts. Luckily, no one else was around to think that she was crazy enough to talk to herself.

By the time Hitomi arrived inside the D.W.A coliseum, she noticed that there were already some people there. The large wrestling stage in the middle of the room was mostly empty. A small pile of thin cables were scattered at one corner of the stage.

Hitomi scanned the coliseum in order to have a more proper look of who was already there. She noticed that Rig and Bass were having a friendly conversation near the stage. Marie Rose was also there. She was currently chatting with a short girl with pink hair. She couldn't note anything else about her appearance since her back was facing the detective.

Eventually, Hitomi's eyes laid on Zack. She tried her best not to laugh at his appearance. His beard was dyed green, and his usual bald head was now replaced with a fake mohawk of the same colour. Zack was usually known for his outrageous style. According to Eliot, he once dressed as a silver alien for Mei Lin's birthday party. It didn't take long before Gen Fu had kicked him out. This was because his antenna began to scare the children (and most likely the parents, too).

Nevertheless, Hitomi ran over to her good friend and gave him the biggest hug. She had missed his jokes while being away. A part of her hugged him so tight as well because Niki had left him out of nowhere. It was a shame because Hitomi really liked Niki. Zack was so serious about his relationship with her and they were both planning to get married soon. Hitomi remembered how she used to tease Zack for being so in love and how she would suggest she would be the best Aunt to their babies. Too bad it would never happen now…

"How are the investigations going?" Zack asked once they ended the hug.

"I don't even want to talk about work right now," Hitomi replied. "By the way… How are you dealing with the whole Niki thing?"

"Like you just said, I don't want to talk about it," he mimicked. Hitomi lightly punched his arm.

"Zack… I'm really worried about you."

"There's no need to be worried," Zack told her. "I'm happy. I've been living my life. Sure, these past few months have been tough, but life goes on!"

No matter how happy Zack seemed, she still didn't believe him. He'd just lost the love of his life a few months ago. There was no way he would be able to move on so quickly.

"Well, I'm here for you if you ever want to talk," she smiled, warmly. "What Niki did to you was not right. She made a big mistake by leaving you behind."

And just like that, Hitomi seemed to crack his shell. Zack's face fell and he looked defeated. It was clear he was putting on an act before.

"I don't get it, Hitomi. I loved Niki so much," he said. "I would have named an island after that woman because that's how much I loved her. I don't get what I did wrong…" [2]

"She doesn't deserve you, Zack. You'll find someone better, and I'm sure Niki will get what's coming to her someday."

A wide smile appeared on Zack's face. He then placed his arm over her shoulder. "How the hell did I survive two years without you?!"

"I could say the same about you," she laughed. She really missed being able to talk to Zack. With work in the way all the time, it was hard to catch up with him. The only time she saw him before was when she questioned him about Rolande's murder in the diner.

Hitomi was then surprised since Zack began to lead her over to the other side of the coliseum. She soon found herself being led towards Tina and Helena. The closer Hitomi got, the more she could hear their conversation. It turns out that the two blondes were actually talking about their successful careers.

"Hey, ladies," Zack said with a cheerful tone. "Look who I found."

"Hitomi!" Tina beamed, reaching over to hug the karateka. "I'm so glad you came to my party!"

Once when they ended the hug, Hitomi looked over at Helena who acknowledged her with a kind nod. She seemed to be content, but her green eyes told Hitomi that she was still saddened by Kokoro's death. That was natural, of course, since the young woman was her sister.

Hitomi's thoughts about Helena were soon interrupted as Tina began to wave at someone behind them. The detective turned around to see Rig. He waved back at Tina before continuing his conversation with Bass.

"Isn't he just so hot?! I think he likes me, too!" she gushed.

"A man with tattoos is not attractive," Helena argued. "At least, not in my books."

"You need to expand your horizons a little more, Helena. People like Rig are mysterious but very badass," Tina winked. She then sneaked a peek at Rig once more.

Hitomi turned to Rig as well. He was still chatting with Bass until Mila appeared out of nowhere and pushed him to the side. The young MMA fighter then began to jump up and down with joy as she was finally standing in front of the man she had always idolised. The detective noticed that Bass was confused by what was happening. His mouth slowly formed into a smug smile when he realised that the waitress was actually a hardcore fan and not some weirdo.

The karateka continued to observe her surroundings while Zack attempted to impress both Helena and Tina with some magic tricks. A small smile appeared on her face when she saw Hayate. He was talking to the woman she had bumped into the other day. Once when Hayate made eye contact with her, he smiled and ushered her over.

When Hitomi approached the pair, she smiled at them.

"Hitomi, I'm glad you're here," Hayate told her. He then jerked his thumb over to the mysterious woman. "This is Lisa."

Hitomi's face fell when he said that. Her heart began to thump louder than usual, and she could also feel her stomach churn. She felt nauseous, but she had to be strong.

"It's nice to meet you," Lisa said, extending her hand. "Hayate has said so many things about you."

Hitomi shook Lisa's hand. "It's nice to meet you, too," she replied.

This was terrible. When Hayate first mentioned Lisa, Hitomi was expecting a plain looking woman with average features. She was clearly wrong since Lisa basically looked like a supermodel. Even though they had broken up, Hitomi still felt threatened by the competition.

"So, Hayate tells me that you are a detective," Lisa said. "How does it feel to investigate crimes?"

"Investigating crimes can be frustrating sometimes, but it's definitely something that interests me."

"I believe your job is part of an interesting field," Lisa replied. "You sound very passionate about it."

Hitomi smiled at Lisa's words. "I really am… And what do you do for a living?"

The karateka already knew that Lisa was a doctor, but she didn't want to tell them that she already knew. If they found out, then they would know that she and Leifang occasionally talked about her and Hayate.

"I'm currently a doctor at the DOATEC City hospital."

"Oh," Hitomi said in fake surprise. "That's a really good job!"

"It really is," Lisa replied. "I love to help as much as I can. The other doctors and I hope to change the lives of many people, and it is usually a success."

All Hitomi could do at that moment was smile at Lisa's response. Deep inside, Hitomi felt like she was being stabbed in the heart. She felt like she couldn't compete with Lisa since she was obviously a beautiful genius who saved lives. How could she beat that?

Hitomi also remembered Leifang telling her that Lisa was the only female doctor at the hospital. She also knew that Hayate always had a strong liking for intelligent women, so Lisa definitely won that battle there. At the same time, Lisa had the full package. She could see why Hayate had dated her for so long.

Hitomi could sense something odd at the corner of her eye and turned around to see Tina glaring at Lisa. The karateka turned her gaze back to Lisa, who sighed with defeat.

"I'd better go and clear the air with Tina…" she told them. "Excuse me."

Once when Lisa had gone over to Tina, Hayate decided to strike a new conversation.

"So, what do you think of Lisa?"

"She's… great," Hitomi admitted. "... I can see why you dated her."

"What do you mean?" Hayate asked.

"Well, she's pretty, and fit, and smart, and clearly mature… Do I need to go on?"

"I see what you mean, but we've already broken up. We're just friends now."

"Friends?" Hitomi repeated. "That usually doesn't end well for both parties after breaking up."

"I know, but we're both mature enough to handle things," Hayate replied. It then clicked to him. "I hope you're not jealous."

"... Maybe a little," Hitomi admitted. She could feel her cheeks reddening. She had never admitted anything like this to Hayate before. It was so scary, yet so fulfilling at the same time.

"Don't be jealous. She's got nothing on yo-"

A few voices suddenly blared over Hayate. The pair both turned around to see Tina and Lisa bickering. Helena was also standing nearby, clearly distraught by the scene. From what Hitomi could faintly hear, they were arguing about Lisa using Tina as a false alibi. Hayate quickly ran over to the other side of the room in order to separate the duo. He then instructed Helena to take Tina outside to cool down; which she did.

All Hitomi could do was stare in awe at the scene that had just happened in front of everyone. She just hoped that the remainder of the party wouldn't be this tense because she came to have fun and not stress out.

Another hour had passed and the tense vibe was replaced with an energetic atmosphere. All the other guests had finally arrived and everyone was currently dancing to an upbeat song. Hitomi soon found Leifang through the crowd and the two friends danced together. Colourful lights were flashing everywhere, and the dance floor was packed with many people.

When the current song had ended, Tina made her way on top of the empty wrestling stage and called for all of the music to stop. Once when the coliseum was quiet, everyone paid their attention to Tina in order to listen to what she had to say. Hitomi figured that this was the big news she wanted to announce in the diner a few weeks ago.

"Hey, ya'll! I hope you're enjoying the party!" she spoke into the microphone. The whole crowd cheered in response.

Tina chuckled at the positive response. "Anyway, I told a few people that I wanted to host this party because I have some news I want to share with you all…" she then took a deep breath before continuing her announcement. "As of today, I have quit my career as a wrestler. I have decided to move forward by signing a contract with a modelling agency!"

Hitomi looked at Tina in awe. She had no idea that the pro wrestler had even considered changing careers. The detective always thought that she was happy with her current occupation. She looked over at Leifang who rolled her eyes at the announcement.

"I must admit that I was inspired by Helena. I owe all of this to her," Tina continued. "I would also like to thank my family and my friends for supporting m-"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Bass' voice boomed. He made his way onto the stage and snatched the microphone away from Tina. "YOU CAN'T BE A MODEL!"

"Yes, I can!" Tina argued. "You said I could do whatever I want."

"I meant you could do whatever you want with wrestling! You can't just do something you've never done before," Bass snapped at her. "What if you hate it?!"

"Then I'll become an actress."

Bass' face was reddening with anger. "An actress?! I didn't train you for ten years to become an actress!"

"I just want to expand my horizons, daddy! I want to be good at other things!"

"Well, I won't allow it! I'm not going to see you fail!"

"But I'm not going to fail!" Tina shouted.

All of a sudden, the music began to blare once again. Hitomi looked around the room to find the source of the sound and noticed that Zack had begun his DJing duties. The detective was thankful due to the awkward atmosphere creeping up on everyone. And so, everyone slowly resumed their energetic dancing once more as Tina and Bass continued to have a yelling match on the stage.

It was a short while later when Hitomi witnessed Tina walking away from her father. She headed over to Rig, who was nearby, and attempted to dance with him. The pro wrestler was dancing in a sultry way, but he didn't seem to be as interested. Hitomi assumed it was because Rig was a good friend of Bass and he probably didn't want to ruin that by flirting with his daughter.

Hitomi tried to fix her concentration on something else, and luckily succeeded when she found Hayate. She noticed that he was already looking at her. He gave her a small wave, and she smiled as she gave one in return. However, their moment was ruined as Bass' muscular figure walked through them and caught Hitomi's attention. Her eyes followed him and she witnessed him approaching Tina and Rig. Tina, who was offended, argued with her father some more.

"You're ruining my night!" she yelled.

"I'm not ruining your night! I'm trying to save you from this ridiculous dream!" Bass argued.

"My dreams are not ridiculous! They are real and they are achievable!"

"You're being delusional," Bass told her. "Think about your future! You're going to ruin your career!"

Tina had nothing else to say and simply gave Bass the cold shoulder. She walked past him and headed over to the backstage area. Bass gave up on his daughter and decided to voice his concerns to Rig instead. Hayate, who was nearby, looked concerned about the situation.

"Kasumi and I might go home now," he told Hitomi. "Ayane wanted to stay here, so I guess I'll be hoping that she arrives home safely."

"I can drive her home," Hitomi offered.

"That would mean a lot to me," Hayate replied. "Anyway, I'd better go and tell Tina that I'm leaving. It would be rude to not say goodbye to her…"

Hitomi nodded in understanding as Hayate made his way over to Tina. She soon saw Eliot in the distance with Brad Wong. The detective made her way over to the pair and began to dance with them. She felt great since since she was starting to have fun once again. Eliot was a weird dancer, which is something Hitomi had not expected. He seemed awkward with his moves, which told her he wasn't very confident.

When the song had finished, Ayane approached the trio. She seemed reluctant to show any kind of emotion as she focused her attention on Hitomi.

"Hayate told me that you were going to drive me home?..."

"Yeah," Hitomi smiled. "Is that okay with you?"

"I guess so," the violet haired teen replied. "Thanks."

Hitomi noticed that Eliot was smiling a lot more than usual. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he seemed to be fidgety.

"So, Ayane, how many siblings do you have?" he asked. Hitomi thought that was a weird question to ask.

"Two…" she said, weirdly. "Kasumi and Hayate. They're both here at the party right now."

"I've met Hayate, but not Kasumi," Eliot admitted. "What does she look like?"

Without a word, Ayane headed over to the backstage area for a short moment and soon dragged Kasumi over to the group. For some odd reason, Kasumi seemed excited to meet Eliot.

"Hi, I'm Kasumi," she smiled, taking his hand and shaking it. "We actually met last week near the diner. You and Hitomi were questioning us about Kokoro's death."

Eliot was surprised by Kasumi's kind attitude. He had expected her to be as pessimistic as Ayane. "O-oh yes, that's right! I can see now that you two look alike."

Brad then pushed his roommate to the side and also shook Kasumi's hand. "Well, hey there, pretty lad- Ow!"

The middle aged man yelped in pain as Ayane jabbed his waist. "Stay away from my sister, you freak."

Brad crouched over and clutched his stomach, weakly. "G-Got it…"

Kasumi seemed to be touched that her younger sister had defended her from a possible predator. The warm smile on her face soon faded to black. Hitomi was confused… Everything was black. It turns out the power had been shut down.

In an instant, many voices became louder. The tones of their voices told Hitomi that they were worried about the lack of light. Hitomi tried her best not to get annoyed since a lot of people were bumping into her.

"Who keeps touching my legs?!" Eliot's voice shouted.

"S-sorry…" A drunk voice replied.

"Brad!" the young man shouted. His tone revealed anger, yet also a slight hint of surprise.

What concerned Hitomi was that she eventually heard a few banging sounds. It was an odd sound to hear at a party. Her other senses were heightened since she couldn't see.

An overall five minutes had passed when the lights finally came back on. The German woman turned around to see Lisa at the DJ booth. She smiled in triumph as she fixed the power control. Apart from that, everyone seemed to be okay. People were now calming down from their shock, and some people even began to dance once more, even though there was no music being played.

Kasumi smiled at Hitomi. "Well, I'd better go back to Tina and Haya-"

However, she was interrupted by a manly scream. Hitomi turned her head and noticed that it came from the backstage area. Acting on her policing instincts, Hitomi ran over to the room and was surprised at what she saw.

Right in front of her eyes were the two dead bodies of Tina and Hayate. The female detective tried her best not to scream at the sight. They had been alive only a few minutes ago.

The detective felt the door slam against her back. Looking behind her, she saw that Kasumi was trying to make her way inside the room. The slight crack of the ajar door gave her eyes enough access to find Hayate's body. Her eyes widened and she was even more determined now to open the door. Hitomi decided against this as she didn't want Kasumi to be even more distraught, so she tried to close the door on her. Surprisingly, Kasumi gave up after a few tries. She then ran away, possibly to find Ayane.

Now that she was almost alone, Hitomi's eyes trailed over to the two other people in the room. Bass and Rig were standing in shock against the door on the other side of the room. They both looked at Hitomi in shock, instantly knowing how bad the situation looked.

Hitomi glared at Rig and Bass. Her friends were both dead, and one of them was most likely the murderer.

A/N: Uh oh! :( I'm not gonna lie, I really didn't want to get rid of them... But for the sake of this story, I had to.

Stay tuned for next time!

...

[1] - I couldn't help but add an actual DOA quote hehehe. You'll find quite a few of these hidden within the story.

[2] - I love making subtle DOA references. Zack technically named a beach after Niki, but it was close enough.