In the Kamiya Mansion, Tai Kamiya's secretary named Mimi Tachikawa entered Tai's master bedroom. As she slowly opened the enormous doors to his bedroom, Mimi saw Tai watching the fire burn with vigor in the fireplace while he had a glass of wine in his hand. Tai stood in front of the crackling fire, standing as motionless as a statue. Mimi knocked on Tai's opened door.

"Mr. Kamiya? It's past 1 in the morning. Is something the matter?" Mimi asked.

"No, Mimi... everything's fine." Tai said dryly. Noticing a sense of despair from her boss' voice, Mimi walked inside to get closer to him.

"Mr. Kamiya, if something's wrong, then you should-"

"Mimi, just call me Tai, okay? You calling me Mr. Kamiya kinda makes me sound like an old man. You've been working for me for over 6 months now. You've earned the right," Tai said.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kami- I mean, Tai. Are you worried about your sister, Kari? I'll have some of the men look over Kari and her date if you give the orders," Mimi said, now standing next to Tai.

"No, that's all right, Mimi. I know that Kari is in good hands at this time of night. She may not know who that young man is, but I do. And believe me, she's in perfect hands. It's just that.... it's just that I wish..."

Tai began to close his eyes and lower his head.

" ... I wish I was there to protect her...."

Mimi noticed a change in Tai's voice before he finished his sentence. What made her heart sink a bit was when she noticed a teardrop go down Tai's face and leave a trail. Mimi felt sympathy for him as she saw his tear get reflected by the fire. When Tai mentioned "her", he wasn't referring to Kari.

"Mimi.... today was the day my love and I were to get married. After a long struggle to see who will win her heart, I ended up victorious. She and I were so happy together. We shared each other's secrets, each other's happiness, each other's souls. On the night before the wedding..." Tai was cut off by the memory of how his wedding day never came to be. Feeling for Tai, Mimi gently placed her hand on his shoulder as Tai opened his eyes and another tear streamed down his other eye.

"... on the night before the wedding.... I found her lying on the floor.... lying in her own pool of blood."

A slight pause filled in as he remembered the details. Tai began to choke from his tears.

"She... she didn't deserve it. She was as sweet as honey, as pure as the stars. When I found her on the floor, she had a skull-dagger dug right into her heart. I... I knew immediately who did it...."

Tai's sadness was beginning to be swirled with rage as he pictured the wielder of the dagger. Tai took a few steps away from Mimi's sympathetic touch and looked fiercely into the fireplace. Forming a "V" with his eyebrows, he stared coldly into the fire.

"That murderer is nothing like T.K. He's a barbarian. Rather than let go of her, he forever took her away from me! I will never forgive him for what he did to her a year ago! I WILL SEE TO IT THAT HE AND HIS ENTIRE CLAN WILL BURN TO ASHES!!!"

Feeling the rage overpowering his anguish, Tai let out a shout and threw the glass of wine into the fireplace. The fire rose higher as it tasted its fuel. As Tai watched the fire build up, he envisioned the murderer of his love burning in the pits of Hell.

But that didn't help much. That didn't bring his love back. Feeling his anguish crashing over him like a tidal wave, Tai collapsed on his knees, covered his eyes and cried. Mimi felt her jaw tremble and her tears streamed down her eyes when she watched for the first time how much pain Tai was in. Immediately, Mimi kneeled with Tai and took him into her arms. Tai welcomed her embrace and held onto her, feeling like a lost child who finally found his mother.

"She.... she was also my best friend. She... she didn't deserve it..."

"Shhhhhh..... it's okay, Tai. I'm here for you. I'm here..."


------------------


As the crescent moon shined over the city, T.K. watched the moon as he was lying in bed with Kari. Kari was sleeping like a baby as she was wearing her silky lingerie with nothing underneath. The only thing T.K. had on was his black-silk underwear. T.K. knew that they couldn't go all the way to home base, since he didn't have a condom.

So they settled for third.

T.K. smiled as he watched Kari sleep through the night. His smile grew a bit wider as Kari unconsciously lied on her left side to face him. Kari seemed so much at peace, just like Sleeping Beauty. T.K. imagined himself as Prince Charming who would awaken her with a kiss and take her into his arms.

But tonight, T.K. had no intention of waking her up with a kiss. He had no intention of sweeping her off her feet and taking her to his realm. What he had the intention of doing was making her sleep forever.

And all it will take was one bullet.

As his smile faded away, T.K. slowly took the covers off himself and quietly got out of bed. He gently placed the covers back onto Kari so she wouldn't wake up and notice what was to happen. As he got to his clothes piled on her chair, he took his sunglasses out of his pile and put them on. Wasting not time, T.K. took his handgun out of his trench coat, walked back to Kari, pulled the gun's chamber, and aimed the gun right at Kari's head.

All he needed was one bullet, one bullet through the temple of the skull.

Kari won't feel any pain, for death will come long before pain could. And where will pain exist in instant death? T.K. felt he was doing Kari a favor by using her slumber as a pain-killer.

One bullet, just one shot and he'll receive his pay. T.K. cocked the gun's hammer.

((.... don't deny what your heart tells you...))

T.K.'s hand began to tremble. His heart began to grow sick as he tried to keep his gun steady on her skull. The muzzle of the gun was 3 inches away from the side of Kari's head. T.K. then saw Kari smile a bit while still fast asleep.

(She's so .... perfect. She's beautiful, she's smart, she even loves Kung-fu flicks! But... but I have to do this. I... I can't refuse an assignment I have accepted...)

((That's not what your heart is telling you, T.K. If you pull the trigger, you will kill off your heart, leaving you as nothing more than a soulless corpse that wonders the earth. Forget about the assignment. She's yours, T.K. Take her. Take her now...))

Nobody will hear the shot. He can discared the body easily.

((Take her...))

All he needed was one caliber. T.K. slowly began to squeeze the trigger.

((She's your soul-mate. It's your destiny...))

Slowly, T.K. released the trigger and lowered his weapon. Looking like he witnessed someone's head chopped off by an axe, T.K. walked back to his pile of clothes. With a trembling hand, T.K. put back the gun's safety lock and carefully placed his weapon back into its holster.

T.K. removed his sunglasses. As he felt a chill through his body, both hands trembled uncontrollably when he couldn't believe what he was about to do. T.K. tried to calm the trembling down.

".... T.K.?" Slowly, T.K. turned his head. Kari was half-awake, sitting up from bed and rubbing her eyes a little.

"Are you all right, T.K.? You look so... preoccupied. Why don't you come back to bed? No sense of leaving in the middle of the night. Besides, I really love your company," Kari said. Kari lifted the covers, inviting him to return to bed. After running his hand through his hair, T.K. slipped into bed and laid down next to Kari. When Kari pulled the covers back on, she wrapped her arms around T.K. and fell asleep.

T.K. knew the consequences of failing to take down a target. As he felt Kari's heart beating against his chest, the consequences he knew were of no concern to him. That, he'll focus on another day. All he cared about was being with her. Feeling warm again, T.K. gently held onto Kari and closed his eyes.



.... to be continued.