A/N: I'm back! I didn't want to update this story because... well... you'll see why. :(

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

BREAKING CHAINS

Chapter 21

Hitomi found herself avoiding Rig the next few days. She would always record in her notebook whenever he would play his music and when he would shut it off. She tried her best to find a pattern in order to see what times he liked to head out. After failing to find a pattern, the karateka sighed. She decided to stop avoiding the bartender and actually approach him. After all, that would be the only suitable way to move forward.

It was almost 10am right now and the music was blaring loudly from Rig's room. Hitomi anxiously made her way out of her room and over to his front door. She took a few deep breaths before she finally knocked on it. Soon enough, the bartender answered the door. His face fell when he saw that it was her.

"Did I do something wrong again?" he asked.

"Maybe," Hitomi answered, curtly. "Can I come in?"

Rig opened the door completely and allowed for the female detective to step through. "Of course."

Hitomi made her way over to the couch and took a seat. She patted the seat next to her and ushered for Rig to join her. Once he sat down, she looked at him directly in the eyes.

"Please tell me you didn't murder Gen Fu, Bass, or anyone else."

"I didn't murder anyone," Rig repeated.

"Then tell me where you were the night Gen Fu and Bass were murdered."

Hitomi could tell that Rig was now annoyed. "I went to the Seaside Market, okay? But it was empty because of the whole dog incident."

Hitomi arched a brow at the bartender. "The Seaside Market always closes at 5pm. What were you doing there late at night?"

"I can't say," Rig replied.

"Do you at least have an alibi? Anything that can help clear your name?"

"No," Rig answered. "Like I said before, the Seaside Market was empty."

Hitomi wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. "Rig…"

"I swear it wasn't me," he replied. Without another word, he walked over to the other side of the room and began to lift a pair of dumbbells. It was obvious that he was frustrated.

Hitomi observed the bartender from the couch as he continued to exercise. "You know, you should try and use nunchucks sometime. They have a different form of power, if that's what you're looking for."

"Trust me, I've tried nunchucks before," Rig huffed. "I tried it once a few years ago and ended up whacking myself on the face… I haven't used one ever since."

Hitomi giggled. "It takes a while to get used to them."

The karateka then stood up from her seat and headed over to the stereo. She turned it off, which instantly caught Rig's attention. He dropped the dumbbells, and they fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Why'd you do that for?" he asked.

"Because I think we should use this time to get to know each other," Hitomi answered with a faint smile. "Have you realised that every time I'm here, it's because of my police duties?"

"Really? I've never noticed," the bartender replied with a smirk.

Hitomi giggled as she made her way over to the couch once more. Rig followed. Now that there was no music, it would be much easier for them to have a conversation.

"So, before you mentioned your father lives in DOATEC City... What is he like?"

"We get along pretty well," Rig answered. "I visit him sometimes, but that's about it."

"Do you… happen to visit him whenever a murder takes place?"

"Hitomi…"

"What?" Hitomi shrugged. "Look, I'm trying to help you out here. Just tell me where you were each night and you'll be off the hook. Even if what you were doing was illegal, I'll let you go."

Hitomi frowned at her sudden choice of words. She had no idea why she would even offer to ignore Rig's suspicious activities. Ignoring a possible crime would definitely put her job on the line.

Rig frowned at the young woman. "I would tell you but I can't."

With a sigh, Hitomi decided to let it go and not press things any further. If Rig was later found guilty as the murderer, then there would be no need for her to feel bad since she tried to help him multiple times. She noticed how the bartender seemed to be unusually quiet. He began to fidget with hands, which was an odd behaviour for Hitomi to witness.

"Look, I need to get changed and go to work. Do you mind leaving?"

"Yeah, sure," Hitomi nodded. "How long is your shift?"

"I'm working until midnight," he sighed. "Standing for a lot of hours really hurts my back. I think I might look for another job soon."

"Well, good luck with that," Hitomi said, revealing a small smile. "I need to go to work as well, so I'll see you later."

"Yeah. We should hang out more like this. It's… kinda cool."

"I agree," Hitomi replied. "Okay, well, I'll see you later."

After a long day of completing files at work and helping an elderly woman retrieve her tabby cat from a tall tree, Hitomi was glad to finally be free. She checked her watch, which read 5:02pm. With enough free time on her hands, Hitomi decided to go to the hospital in order to visit Hayate once more. She was hoping that he would be able to make some progress on his memories.

As she entered the ground level of the hospital, Hitomi's smile faltered when she saw Rig on the other side of the hallway. She immediately recognised him due to his hooded jacket. Hitomi could see that he was in a hurry since he pushed several people out of his way.

"Rig? I thought you said you were working until midnight?..." she asked him. However, the bartender just stormed past and ignored the karateka. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the heavily tattooed man as he continued walking towards the exit. "Well, that was rude..."

When Hitomi made it over to the fifth floor, she immediately headed inside Hayate's room. However, her face fell as she realised that the room was empty. She assumed Hayate had gone outside for his usual walk with one of the nurses. With nothing else to do, the karateka decided to go somewhere else in the meantime.

As she headed down the stairs to the fourth floor, Hitomi was glad to see Ryu and Ayane talking in the distance. They were the only two other people on the fourth floor. As the female detective made her way over to them, she could hear a little bit of their conversation.

"Well, do you like her, too?"

"Now is not the time to be discussing this, Ayane..."

"Geez… You can be such a douche sometimes, Ryu," the purple haired teenager replied, hitting him on the shoulder.

When Hitomi finally approached the pair, Ayane's mood suddenly turned sour. Hitomi wasn't surprised, though. Ryu, on the other hand, seemed to be distracted by something else on his mind. Nevertheless, he acknowledged her.

"Has Hayate gone for a walk?" Hitomi asked. "I checked his room but no one was in there."

"Nah. Lisa moved him to another room to do some tests on him," Ayane answered. "He'll be back soon."

"I'm glad," Hitomi smiled. "So, why are you two on the fourth floor?"

"I was looking for Ryu and found him here. I wanted to tell him about the tests," Ayane informed her. "Kasumi already headed over to the room…"

Now that everything had gone silent, Hitomi was able to note how awkward the situation was. What made her feel suspicious was the fact that both Ayane and Ryu seemed to be tense.

"Are you two okay?"

Unfortunately, the detective received no answer. Ayane and Ryu just shrugged in response. Hitomi sighed. She knew that Hayate and Kasumi were the ones who usually liked to talk.

"Ayane… I hope you can forgive me for asking you this, but… Where were you on the night that Gen Fu and Bass were murdered?"

The purple haired teenager glared at Hitomi. "Are you serious?! I didn't like those morons but I was in Hayate's hospital room that night," she replied bitterly. "Ryu was actually there at the time."

"It's true," Ryu confirmed.

"Okay, thank you," Hitomi smiled. She then turned her attention to Ayane once more. "Then why were you playing mind games with Bayman when he interviewed you?"

"Because I was obviously being questioned for stupid reasons. Of course I would be annoyed," she huffed, crossing her arms.

"You shouldn't do that," Ryu lectured. "That would only raise more suspicions against you."

Ayane huffed in response. "Well, I know that now..."

Hitomi decided to bring the topic of conversation back to Hayate since they were starting to get off track.

"So, how is Hayate doing? I haven't seen him in a few days."

"It depends what you mean," Ryu replied. "If you mean physically, then his shoulder has almost healed completely. And if you mean mentally, then he's beginning to remember some small things. He's making a good recovery."

A large smile grew on Hitomi's face. However, that smile soon fell when she heard someone wailing down the hallway.

Hitomi frowned as she recognised Honoka from afar. She was in her nurse uniform, wandering aimlessly around the area. She eventually fell to the floor and remained there as she continued to cry. Hitomi immediately ran over to her. Ryu and Ayane followed from behind.

"Honoka, are you okay?" Hitomi asked.

"Were you fired?" Ayane guessed. "Because it's about time…"

"S-Someone…"

Hitomi couldn't hear what Honoka was saying due to her frequent sobs. "What did you say?..."

"S-Someone was m-m-murdered! U-Upstairs!" she cried.

Hitomi kneeled next to the crying girl. "And you left the body on its own?"

"N-No…" she whimpered. "Lisa was the one who… who f-found the body… She t-t-told me to find someone to help… I'm so glad you're here, Hitomi…"

The karateka helped Honoka get to her feet. She really needed to find the body so it could be inspected. "Can you please show me to the body, Honoka?"

The nurse nodded in response as she wiped away her tears. "O-Of course…"

Hitomi, Ayane, and Ryu followed Honoka from behind as she headed up two flights of stairs. Fortunately for the four of them, no one else seemed to be on the sixth floor. Hitomi honestly wasn't in the mood to control a large crowd again. Thinking back to Bankotsubo's murder case at the Seaside Market made the female detective shudder.

The four of them continued running until Honoka suddenly came to a stop. She pointed at one of the rooms from afar. Seeing that the door was wide open, Hitomi cautiously made her way over to the room. As she got closer, a large amount of blood could be seen. Right at that moment, she turned around and instructed for Ayane and Ryu to stay with Honoka. Thankfully, they listened to her.

After taking a deep breath, Hitomi made her way inside the room. The first thing she saw was Lisa. The doctor was sitting in a fetus position right in front of the door. She looked frightened and unusually queasy. The next thing Hitomi looked at was the figure on the hospital bed. A large, white pillow was covering their face, but Hitomi's heart stopped for a moment as she recognised the long locks of auburn hair underneath as well as the pink dress.

"K-Kasumi…?!"

Due to the hallway being empty, it unfortunately meant that Hitomi's voice was loud enough for Ayane, Ryu, and Honoka to hear. Not even a second later, Hitomi found herself forcing the door against Ayane and Ryu who were trying their best to make their way inside.

"You have to let us in!" Ayane shouted as she banged her fist against the door. "She's my sister!"

Ayane continued to bang her fist on the door until Ryu decided to intervene. "Ayane, we are just distracting Hitomi from her job. We should leave her to investigate."

"But… But Kasumi…"

Ryu sighed. "I know… We'll come back soon."

"O-Okay, fine…"

Hitomi frowned as she pressed her ear against the door. Once when their footsteps faded away, Hitomi opened the door and was relieved to find that Honoka was still standing there.

"Would you mind helping me with Lisa?" Hitomi asked. "She seems to be very traumatised."

Honoka gulped as she attempted to look at the karateka with determination. "I'll do what I can!"

Feeling very thankful for Honoka's support, Hitomi led her over to the traumatised doctor. Lisa was still on the floor, staring blankly at Kasumi's dead body. Honoka tried her best to get Lisa to stand up. Once when she successfully did so, she led her out of the room.

"We're going to go to the meeting room so you can get a glass of water," she told her employer. Lisa was too shocked to respond.

Now that she was alone, Hitomi sighed in relief as she closed the door. She then dug her phone out of her pocket and dialled Eliot's number. She was glad that he decided to answer his phone quickly for once.

"Hey, Hitomi."

"Eliot! I have a problem…"

"What is it?" the British man asked. "Oh no, is it another murder?"

"I'm afraid it is," Hitomi replied. Her eyes suddenly felt heavy. "It's Kasumi. I'm with her body at the sixth floor of the hospital. Please meet me here as soon as you can."

"Sure thing. I'm just up the road anyway. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Without another word, Hitomi ended the phone call and dusted her hands. Her eyes fell onto Kasumi's body once more. Hitomi tried her best not to cry. She had known Kasumi ever since she was ten years old. They were good friends and were even planning to bake together soon. She wiped the tears that had escaped from her eyes and began to write down the investigation report.

INVESTIGATION REPORT: "The victim is Kasumi Tenshin. Age: 19. Her body was discovered at 5:28pm in the hospital room 6B. The cause of death was a knife impaled at the heart."

Hitomi shuddered as she looked at the dead body. She decided to leave the pillow on Kasumi's face for now as a sign of respect. The first thing she noted was the knife stabbed in Kasumi's heart. There were no other visible injuries so far, so that was possibly the cause of death.

As Hitomi slowly took the knife out of Kasumi's chest, she gritted her teeth when she noticed the knife had the same golden dragon pattern. She was frustrated because she had seen the pattern before. She was desperate at this point to know where.

Hitomi attempted to make her way to the other side of the hospital bed, but paused when she noticed she had to walk through the large puddle of blood in order to do so. With a quick shake of the head, Hitomi stepped through and carefully made her way over to the window. She walked slowly in order to avoid slipping and injuring herself in the process.

The next thing Hitomi's eyes laid on were Kasumi's hands. The left one was relaxed, whilst the right was scrunched into a fist. The karateka thought nothing of it and paid her attention to the pillow on top of Kasumi's face. After when Hitomi removed the large pillow, she let out a slight yelp. There was nothing strange about Kasumi's face, other than that a tennis ball was placed next to her head. At this point, it felt like the murderer was handing out these clues to Hitomi on purpose.

Hitomi's thoughts were soon interrupted as the door swung open. She turned around to find Eliot standing there and sighed with relief. The British man headed over to the dead body in order to observe it. Hitomi noticed that his face turned significantly more pale as he studied the tennis ball.

"It looks like the murderer is shoving these clues in front of us on purpose," Hitomi guessed. "Maybe they think we haven't guessed that they were the person who robbed Helena's mansion."

"Oh, so they're making fun of us?..." Eliot replied. His face then turned red with anger. "We'll show them…"

"That's the spirit," Hitomi smiled. She then showed him her notebook. "I've already written the investigation report. Check it out."

After observing the investigation report, Eliot began to inspect the room. Eventually, he came across some footprints that consisted of blood. He noticed that it was a bootprint. The young man continued to follow the trail and eventually came at a stop in front of Hitomi's shoes. He slowly looked up at the young karateka with a glare.

"What?" she asked.

"I thought your footprints were made by the murderer."

"Oh, sorry," Hitomi replied with a wave of her hand. "When I first entered the room, there were no footprints."

"Hm… So the murderer was careful…"

"Exactly," Hitomi agreed. She then led Eliot over to the window. "I'm pretty sure this is where the killer most likely escaped… Why would a window be left open if the room had no one inside? It just doesn't make sense."

"That's true," Eliot said, now deep in thought. "Or maybe… the window was already opened and the killer thought the sixth floor was too high to plan an escape... So they tried to blend in with the crowd and leave in a hurry…"

As Eliot had uttered those words, Hitomi's memory flashed back to when she had seen Rig in the hallway even though he told her that he was working at the bar until midnight. He avoided her and rushed past her in a hurry. With another sigh coming from the karateka, she decided to inform Eliot about everything. He, too, didn't seem pleased about Rig's position right now.

The two detectives then proceeded with their investigation once more when they had finished their discussion about the bartender. After taking the tennis ball from the bed, his eyes averted over to a bump that was forming on Kasumi's temple. The bump was small and reminded the male detective of Kokoro's old head wound.

"Kasumi's head bump is similar to Kokoro's," he told her. "I think she might have been hit with a cylindrical object as well…"

"I've already looked everywhere," Hitomi panted. "There is no sign of a cylindrical shaped weapon."

"Perhaps the murderer took it with them," Eliot concluded. He then placed the tennis ball and embroidered knife into a clear bag. He knew these items would be important later on.

After searching the room a few more times, Hitomi and Eliot came to the conclusion that there were no other clues inside the room. As they exited the room, Eliot thought it would be best to let Ayane and Ryu know about the progress of Kasumi's murder. The karateka then dragged her partner over to the cafeteria. Thankfully, Ayane and Ryu were still there. They were currently sitting at one of the tables with signs of anger and panic written all over their faces.

The two detectives took a seat across from Ayane and Ryu. The tense atmosphere quickly changed when Hitomi slammed her hand on top of the table.

"You two were acting very weird before Honoka appeared… Is it possible that you already knew Kasumi was dead? I demand some answers!"

"Wh-What?..." Ayane asked. Her tone sounded genuine. "No. That's not it at all…"

"Then what is it?" Eliot asked her.

The violet haired teen cleared her throat before answering. "I tried to find Ryu so I could let him know about Hayate's new tests… I also wanted to find him because he and Kasumi had a fight."

"Ayane wanted to see how I was feeling," Ryu explained.

"Right. That's why everything was so awkward," Ayane replied. She then sunk into her seat. "I... uh... also had a fight with Kasumi just before she died…"

"You also mentioned Lisa before," Hitomi mentioned, changing the subject. "Did she tell you and Kasumi that she was moving Hayate to the room 6B?"

"Yeah," Ayane nodded. "Kasumi told me that Lisa had left her a note inside Hayate's room. The letter said that she was going to do some more tests on Hayate since he was starting to remember a bunch of stuff."

Hitomi then turned her attention to Ryu. "What were you and Kasumi arguing about? This might be very important."

Ryu sighed and stood up from his seat. "It doesn't matter. Now, if you both don't mind, I need to go…"

"It was a lovers' quarrel," Ayane lowered her voice as Ryu left the room. "It's so stupid."

"I… I know, right…" Eliot replied, trying to sound cool. Ayane just stared at the British man.

Hitomi honestly felt bad for Eliot. Now was not the time to impress Ayane. After all, her sister had just died. There was no way that she would be willing to flirt with him right now. But even though there was a slight progress to Kasumi's death, Hitomi knew she needed to find the note that Lisa had left behind. The karateka truly believed that there would be some sort of clue there. There was also a higher chance that Lisa was the murderer now, but she secretly hoped not for Hayate's sake. Either that, or she was being framed.

A/N: I've already started typing the next chapter, so I'll make sure to update soon. But yeah, thanks for reading! Hopefully you guys enjoyed it!

...

INVESTIGATION #6 CLUES

~ Knife wound: The cause of death. Another knife with the same gold print was found at the scene. This relates to Hayate's shoulder injury and Bass' murder.

~ Right hand: Scrunched into a fist. It's nothing important... Right?

~ Tennis ball: Placed next to the Kasumi's head. Most likely relates to the robbery that took place at Helena's mansion.

~ No footprints: Hitomi confirmed that there were no footprints before she entered the room.

~ Head injury: It looks as though she was hit with something small and possibly of a cylindric shape. This injury could possibly relate to Kokoro's murder.

~ Note: Ayane mentioned that a note had been left in Hayate's hospital room.

...

Explanation #8: I hate admitting this but I never planned for Kasumi to survive. My only reason for this is because she's my favourite character and I didn't want to appear biased by keeping her alive. But yeah, I wasn't going to keep all three siblings alive. Either her, Ayane, or Hayate would eventually die and I chose her. I know I said before that Hayate definitely isn't going to die, but what about Ayane?... I guess we'll see in the near future.