While the rest of the world embraced their dreams, Shuichi was still tossing in darkness. He was no stranger to insomnia, it was the companion that won't quit whenever his brain begged for unconsciousness. This time, however, his brain didn't beg for sleep. He wanted to be awake and needed his brain to light up and think.
He couldn't forget Shiho's request earlier today. He promised her that he'll stop Gin for her, but Gin was no easy villain to take down. He can't stop him by simply beating him up, the member will certainly emerge back even worse than before. The only way to conquer Gin would be if he kills him, but that was out of the question for the agent. Another possibility would be getting him captured by the FBI, but the agency still refuses to do so. In fact, Shuichi was ordered to investigate more, to dive deeper and uncover the boss's identity before they could capture any members.
In the past weeks Shuichi had spent in the US, he reported to the FBI his progress. The agent didn't tell them much about the drama between Shiho and Gin and himself. He did tell them that he's not getting along with him but didn't give any details as to why. The FBI, being aware of how close Gin was to the boss, were certain that this member could open new doors to their investigation. For that reason, their instructions were strict and clear, and very reasonable too; Shuichi was to stay on the good side of Gin, to try and get closer to him, and even if he couldn't achieve that, to stay on his neutral side and not make of him an enemy.
For the man who always considers his mission a priority, Shuichi had to grudgingly accept. Yet he wanted to convey his promise to Shiho. But before he could do so, he needed to think of a sure way that will get rid of Gin's danger forever without having to risk his connections with the organization.
Shuichi was pained to realize how scared Shiho was despite her playing the role of a fearless woman. He wanted to make her feel safe, to protect her, but with Gin and the FBI and the conflict of interest, it seemed like there was no way for him to achieve what he wanted until it suddenly struck him! His greens that were getting heavy from sleep suddenly turned wide awake as a faint smile tickled his lips. He finally got an idea! It might not suffice to stop Gin but it will make Shiho feel safe, and that in itself is a victory.

(~)

Unable to wait any longer, Shuichi drove to Shiho's apartment soon as he finished his morning coffee. It was still 8 am, probably too early except that he didn't care.
When Shiho heard the door knock, she was still in the bathroom. Her hair was wet and her whole body steamed from the warmth of the shower. She was a bit confused for nobody comes to her house at this hour usually, not even Gin. The redhead walked out of the bathroom wearing a beige bathrobe when she heard the door knock again.
"Coming." She yelled.
She was relieved to see Dai's face through the peephole, her confusion however was not yet cleared.
"Good morning." She said when she opened.
"Morning..." Shuichi said before noting what she wore. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."
"Not at all. Come in."
The agent got inside and closed the door behind him. As they proceeded to walk to the inside, Shiho could feel he was in an especially good mood from the look on his face.
"So, what brings you here this early?"
"Actually Shiho, I was wondering if I could borrow you for the day."
"Borrow me?" She looked at him wonderingly.
"Yes."
"For what?"
"It's a surprise."
Slowly and hesitantly, her lips twisted into a smile. "Interesting!"
"So are you in or not?" Shuichi asked, taking a seat in an armchair. He watched her eyes fill with curiosity as they stared at him back, yet a hint of confusion still manifested in them.
"I'm in. Just need to call the lab and put on some clothes."
Shuichi nodded. Shiho took two steps before stopping again.
"There's fresh coffee in the coffee pot, suit yourself."
She turned and continued walking towards her bedroom. Just when she was about to disappear into the room, she heard him speak.
"Ah Shiho, wear something comfortable." ...

Fifteen minutes later, they were both hitting the road. Shiho breathed in the smell of the morning, it had a different feeling for her, the sun seemed brighter, people seemed happier, everything looked better with Dai by her side wanting to spend time with her. Not knowing where he was taking her was a fun experience. She knew that wherever they end up being and whatever the surprise turns out to be, as long as she's with him she'll like it and be happy. She wondered if it's like this to be with him every day, and envied Akemi for it.
"You're gonna pass by your apartment?" She asked when they took a turn that leads to Dai's apartment complex.
"We are going to my apartment, it's the final stop."
"Oh."
"The surprise's in there." He stole a look at her from the corner of his eye. "I hope you didn't get your hopes high, I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointed now."
"I don't think I could be disappointed. Whatever it is can't be worse than a day at work."
"You've big faith in me as I see."

Shuichi parked his car and they both hopped out. They headed to the elevator and got off at the highest floor, exactly where he doesn't live.
"You don't live here." Shiho noted.
"I partially do, just follow me."
She did as told, walking a long hallway until they reached a set of stairs that led them to the rooftop of the building. The view of Tokyo looked so beautiful from up there, Shuichi caught her staring at it which made him smile.
"That's actually part of the surprise, do you like it?"
"Yes." Shiho unconsciously reciprocated his smile. Well, She had the same view from her apartment, but looking at it with Dai was something else.
"As for the other part. I need you to hit me." Shuichi's smile disappeared and his serious face took over again. Confused, Shiho still smiled at him with puzzlement.
"What are you saying?"
"Come on, try it. If you want to stop Gin, then the first thing you should do is learn how to stop him yourself. You need to learn how to fight." His hands formed fists, taking a defensive position.
"And you're gonna teach me how to fight?"
"Yes."
"I was trained by the organization actually, so no need for that."
"Then let me see what they taught you, hit me." Dai insisted, voice filled with determination.
"Dai san, I can't."
"Come on, try it… "
Shiho threw a weak punch, so slow it got blocked by Dai with ease.
"You can pretend that I'm Gin if it makes it easier." He added.
The redhead inhaled deeply. She always wanted to hit Gin, so maybe pretending that he was in front of her will unleash all of the frustration within her. She approached Dai and started punching him repetitively, but they all went in vain as he continued blocking them all.
"Harder, harder" Dai yelled, and Shiho did as told. There came a point when she was hitting him as hard as she could, she was seeing Gin instead and her strength was boosted by hate.
"Harder" He yelled again. But no matter how fast or strong her punches were, Dai kept blocking them all.
"Now stop." Shuichi said, bringing his hands down from the defensive position. He was too late to notice the abrupt punch that hit his jaw, ignoring his orders.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Shiho gaped. She was seeing Gin in Dai and felt frustrated that none of her attacks landed on him, just like in real life, Gin always got away with what he did and she's never been able to get to him. So when she got a chance she took it, only with the wrong person. She was embarrassed to look at Dai till he spoke.
"It's okay." He just said, through their loud pants.
Shuichi's left hand formed a fist that he rapidly sent to Shiho's abdomen. When he stopped, his knuckles were touching her skin, but he stopped at the right moment to not cause her pain. Shiho's eyes were wide, staring down at Dai's fist in surprise.
"Your attacks are weak and unorganized, your defense reflexes are unexisting. Whoever had trained you didn't do it well."
"It's been so long since I was trained. I've been more focused on developing the drug lately."
"Despite that, a well-trained person would at least know the basics, which you obviously don't. Look, first, you need to learn how to defend yourself, how to block attacks, and then we can move on to attacking opponents. Now hit me again and let's study the techniques that I use for blocking. But don't pretend that I'm Gin this time." He smirked.

(~)

Shuichi swung his right fist sending it towards Shiho. In a fast move, she managed to block it with her forearm. A hint of a smile appeared on the agent's lips reflecting how proud he was of her, but that didn't stop him from sending her another with his left arm, only seconds after the first. If she ever gets to fight Gin, he won't show her mercy, and so he had when he trained her.
Dai and Shiho continued meeting every night, it's already been ten days since they first started. They had to reschedule their training sessions because they both have work in the morning. So each night at 10 pm, right after Shiho finishes her work in the lab, she heads to the rooftop of his apartment building where she finds him waiting for her. It became her favorite part of the day, she patiently waits for the nights to come just for that hour to spend training with Dai.
Unfortunately, Shiho failed to block the second attack. Dai was left-handed so his left arm was impossible to block, it had incredible strength and speed. The fist landed on the right side of her abdomen, causing a groan to escape her lips. However, Shiho didn't give up. She immediately restored her balance and sent a strong hit to his jaw, but before it could reach him, he held her fist mid-air and turned her around, locking her arm behind her back.
"Not bad, Miyano." Shuichi said, close to her ear.
Just when he freed her arm thinking the round was over, Shiho suddenly turned to face him. She placed both of her arms on his shoulders and tried pushing him with all of her strength, but his legs stood stubbornly holding him upright,
"I like the element of surprise you add." Shuichi added. He copied Shiho's position by placing his hands on her shoulders then slowly forced her to fall to the ground by turning her to the side. "See! that's how it's done."
Shiho, who found herself sitting on the floor didn't give up still. When Dai brought her down, he bent to not let her fall violently. Shiho took the opportunity of him bending and grabbed him by his shoulders and laid on her back, pulling him down along with her. It was easier pulling him than pushing him as he fell down easily. But before she could turn him to her side, Dai placed his hands on the ground, one to her left and one to her right gaining stability. He found himself kneeling on all fours, on top of Shiho, right between her spreading legs, and once again, he was steady as a mountain.
Nevertheless, the redhead still looked insisting. Shuichi was hovering over her, only the length of his long arms keeping their faces apart. Shiho wrapped her legs around him and used her hands to bend his elbows, causing him to lose stability. For the fraction of a second that he did, she rolled him over to the side and landed on top of him with a victory smile.
"You mean that, is how it's done!"
"It would be if I didn't help you do it."
"You're just saying that because you lost." she snorted.
"Oh really!" He said, before rolling her on the ground and laying on top of her again. For another time, Shuichi found the length of his arm as the only distance between his and Shiho's faces. "Then try moving me now."
Shiho tried breaking his balance only to fail. Until she heard him announce. "Let's end it here today."
Shuichi was still in his position, kneeling on all fours with Shiho underneath him. Both of their chests rose and sank with their pants. He was trapped between Shiho's legs that were creating two mountains to his right and left, he was waiting for her to bring them down so that he could move away but she didn't. Instead, he was faced with her mesmerizing eyes, staring at him steadily.
"Why are you doing this, Dai san?" She abruptly asked.
"Doing what?"
"Helping me."
"You need help, I'm trying to do what I could."
"I mean, you don't have to that. I'm only you're girlfriend's sister so you don't have to invest all of this time and effort to help me. But you still do." Shiho said while still panting. This had always been on her mind. Throughout her life, nobody cared to lend her a hand except Dai, and what better occasion to ask him this than now when she had him trapped.
"You're not just my girlfriend's sister, Shiho. I thought we're friends."
Shiho took a second to let his words sink in before lowering her legs to the floor's level, allowing him to move to the side. Which Shuichi did immediately. He rolled to her right and laid on the floor near her. They both stayed like that, looking at the sky above them and catching their breaths.
"Beautiful night." Shuichi noted.
Shiho was looking at the stars as well, but not to enjoy their beauty, she was more absorbed into thinking. She turned on her side and faced Dai with a smile. Shuichi noticed her turn with her curved lips through his peripheral vision, so he turned his face towards her.
"What?"
"Dai san, tell me something about yourself."
"You're talkative today." He noted, turning back to face the stars. Shiho stared at him as he spoke. "...and why do you want to know something about me all of a sudden?"
"I just realized that, despite knowing you for so long, I don't know anything about you."
"That's not true…"
"It is."
"You knew my favorite drink."
"You knew my biggest secret, that's not a fair comparison."
"You didn't tell me about that," Shuichi smirked with entitlement. "I discovered it by myself."
"Yeah yeah let's not get off track."
"There's nothing to tell, Shiho. My life is not that interesting." He muttered, staring at the sky expressionlessly.
"I'm sure there's something."
Shuichi placed a hand behind his head to support it and sighed. "...What do you wanna know?"
Shiho jumped immediately to the question that made her wonder most. "Why did you get into the organization?"
Shuichi thought for a moment as she kept her eyes focused on him, tracing his face bit by bit, waiting for the answer.
"It was for the money. I was looking for a job and failed to find one that suited me, by the time I joined in I was running so low I wouldn't have been able to pay the next month's rent."
"What about your family? Didn't you have a family to help?"
Shuichi turned to face her. "You asked for one thing."
"It's the last question." Shiho tried, a hint of a puppy face tracing her youthful face. She really wanted to know about his family for she lived without one herself.
Again, Shuichi stayed silent in thought, he turned his face towards the sky again.
"I did, but they were busy with their own problems."
"What are they like?"
This time Shuichi didn't protest, in fact, he answered readily, as if he wanted to talk about them.
"I have a younger brother, he's really intelligent, I think he's the smartest in the family." He started. Shiho who was laying on her side watching him noticed the weak smile that tickled his lips when he mentioned his family members, it warmed her heart. "And a younger sister, she's pretty sharp too but she has a long way to learn ahead of her. And my mother, she's a very strong woman." He turned to face her suddenly. "She's kind of like you in a way."
"Really?"
"Yeah." At that moment, Shuichi turned on his side to face Shiho who was already lying on her side facing him. "Your turn now."
"I didn't know we were taking turns."
"We are."
"And what do you want to know?"
"Have you ever met Anokata?" Shuichi asked, it was a bold question from his part but he felt like Shiho was unusually open to talking today, so he needed to make the most out of it to help his infiltration.
"No!" Shiho answered, feeling a little annoyed. He was supposed to ask something about her, but his mind was on different people entirely. It appears he's not as curious about her life as she is about his. "Almost none of the others too. He likes performing from behind the curtains."
As he stayed silent for the next while, Shiho kept staring into his eyes, so closely as they were. His proximity was confusing her brain.
"And What about Vermouth? I heard she's related to him, is it true?"
"I already answered your question." Shiho said, turning to lay on her back and facing the starry sky. She felt disappointed. He got the chance to ask her two questions, any two questions, and all he cared about was other people but not her.
"But you got two questions, that's not fair."
"I don't know."
"Hm." Shuichi propped himself to a sitting position. "...It's getting too late, we both have work in the morning."
Biting her lip, Shiho sat up. Dai who was already standing landed her a hand and helped her to stand up so they leave.
"You're not bad, Shiho, you're doing very well actually. But the technique isn't enough on its own if you have a weak physique. You should start working out."
Just like that, he deviated the conversation back to their workout, which Shiho had to constantly remind herself that it is the only thing between them. Her feelings are only her problem.


Next Chapter: The breakup...