Author's Note: For the love of everything evil, I've finally got it!! *long sigh* In all honesty, I'd already had this chapter finished and ready to post. Unfortunately, the internet at my house had been becoming screwy, thus causing such a late post date. So, for everyone who's been wondering where this chapter was... I apologize for the delay. Dumb internet. If you're reading this, then it means that I managed to post it before my internet went crazy on me again. But now that it's finally up, you people can stop threatening me. ^_^
Anyway, I'm no good with fight and action scenes- don't even know what half those martial arts moves are called. But I managed.
To Gatafairy- I wasn't too sure on Rika's mother's English dub name. But that's what my friend told me her name was and so I went with that. Plus, upon watching one of the Digimon Tamer episodes, I also heard the photographer guy, or whoever it was, call her Makino and so there was my confirmation. Besides, Makino Nonaka doesn't sound too bad, does it? ^_^
Disclaimer: ....... yada....... yada...... yada..... yada...... yada......
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~Chapter 5~
The Kayath Grande Hotel.
Rika looked on in disgust before she slipped into the building through one of the open windows. She smirked. Such careless people. So easily burglared. Not even an alarm system around. Apparently they hadn't heard of the great Midnight Fox.
The thought of the fact that there might be a trap crossed her mind, but she knew she'd be able to get out of it. Either way, trap or no trap, security or no security, she would have her item: The Shinjuku Ancient Blade- The Krita Yuga.
She remembered the details of this certain heist. Before Yamaki had said anything to her about it, she had already planned to come here. It was sickening to her. From inside sources, Hypnos was able to find out that a professor at the University of Tokyo was in debt by thousands and so in order to pay it off, he sold one of the prized artifacts of the university's museum to a black market that agreed to, in turn, sell it to anyone who was artifact greedy. The professor was supposed to be pretty wealthy too, but not since he'd taken on private gambling with mafias and gangs. Then everything went down hill. The guy even went as far as selling his own adoptive sister to a whore house just so he could find money for daily necessities that weren't even necessary. At least not to the common person.
Yamaki told Rika that they'd already sent one of the agents from the Hypnos of Japan to help out the poor girl. According to inside sources, she wasn't even a legal adult yet. Just a child. How a man could be so heartless was beyond belief, but it had been done.
Rika's job, now, was to retrieve the wrongly sold artifact so that Hypnos could return it to the University of Tokyo or somewhere better. The rest, Yamaki would take care of, which included exposing the heartless man who'd done the wretched deed. How he would do that wasn't Rika's business. She was only doing her job- taking back the artifact.
The stealthy Midnight Fox sneaked across the front lobby of the hotel, not even bothering to worry about alarm systems or security guards. From what Yamaki had told her, there was only one security guard in the whole of the building... and that was all the hotel manager planned on having. Apparently, the Krita-Yuga had been a rather costly buy and so extra security was out of the question.
If Rika remembered correctly, the one security guard had been hired by the professor himself, to make sure that the artifact was safely delivered and displayed to the public. Of course, if the professor wanted his money, then he'd have to guarantee that his sell was successful. No item, means no money, which in turn meant that he would soon be living in the streets. But that was only if he were lucky. If not, then he may not even be able to live at all.
The shine of the petite blade finally caught the night thief's attention. Rika looked on in content. There it was, settled in a case in the center of the hotel lobby. Where it would be open to display for the public the following morning. The Krita-Yuga stood a good one foot long as it rested against the red velvet stand. The handle, embroidered with gold and silver designs with a yellow chord dangling from the head of it. An amethyst rock sitting in the center. The blade's sheath rested beneath it, the same designs as the handle- gold and silver with one amethyst rock accentuated from the rest of the designs. A light blue cloth strap was sprawled loosely to the side of the sheath. It was the weapon of any high class warrior.
Downgraded to a monkey display, Rika thought angrily. She took a few steps forward, taking care not to leave the safety of the shadows near the wall. She still kept in mind that a trap may have been lain for her. Though careful as she was, even a great thief needed to watch her step. Anything could happen.
Rika's leather gloved hand traveled swiftly down to the pack that hung from her side. She produced a miniature glass cutter, guaranteed to cut through any type of glass- quickly, quietly and carefully.
She took a step forward, but stopped in her tracks when she heard the sound of footsteps and what sounded like mumbling, coming closer toward the lobby.
"... why I should be the only guard," the male voice became clearer as the security guard neared the front. His footsteps off rhythm as he seemed to stomp at an angry pace. A light flashed into the front lobby, barely shining over Rika's figure as she dove behind the counter for cover.
"You'd think they would hire more security guards for such a priceless artifact," the guard grumbled under his breath. He stopped in the center of the lobby and studied the Krita-Yuga. He stepped closer and placed a hand on the glass, "Now, that is one awesome blade." The guard continued to drool over the magnificent item as he seemed to imagine what it'd be like to own such a thing.
Rika groaned, Great, is he going to stand there all night? She scowled at the idiot guard and figured that the best she could do was knock him out and quickly take the artifact. After all, she didn't have all night. She glanced around the lobby and noticed how the moon's rays didn't shine in certain places around the counter. With the guard distracted in his own daydream and the shadows shielding her perfectly, Rika knew she had the advantage.
She shook her head, not understanding why Yamaki had chosen her for this assignment. It looked way too easy. No other security guards and not even a hint of alarm systems. Was there a catch to this or was this heist really that important that they needed to make sure it didn't fail? There had to be a reason why the cities most infamous and skilled thief was asked to take on this simple task.
With her fox-like movements, Rika silently leapt across the floor until she was directly behind the security guard who was clearly still in dreamland. She rolled her eyes, raised her hand and, with a swift movement, she slammed it into the side of the man's neck. Immediately, he fell to the ground, not even knowing what had hit him. Rika looked on sympathetically at the man. In the morning, he'd be in a lot of trouble for not watching the priceless artifact. But, it served him right. It wasn't not her fault that he was working for a heartless twit. And it especially wasn't her fault that he wasn't a very good security guard.
Rika didn't spend too much time pitying the poor fool. Quickly, she set the glass cutter onto the display case and expertly spun the hairline blade around until a smooth circle was removed from the case. She then reached in, grabbed the sword by it's handle, then pulled it out, with the sheath following soon afterwards. She placed the sword into it's sheath and looked at it satisfactorily. Now, it was time to go. She could admire the item when she reached the light of the full moon outside of the hotel.
How she came in, was how she went back out. The night thief professionally climbed the wall up to the same open window she'd entered through and then landed silently on her feet outside of the building.
And yet another heist, completed by none other than Rika Nonaka, she eyed the item contentedly before wrapping it up in a burlap cloth and tying it around her shoulders for easier carriage. And like she usually did after each robbery, she looked back toward the building wondering when people would start to learn. If they wanted to stop the great Midnight Fox, LA's infamous mysterious night thief, they would have to stop overestimating their luck and underestimating her ability. After all, it'd been seven years and she was still able to run wild. Shouldn't they learn by now?
***
It was fortunate that there was a full moon tonight. If a night thief were to steal from the Kayath Grande Hotel, there were only two ways she'd be able to leave the building- either through the front door, or through the side door in the blocked off alleyway. Either way, she'd be walking out into the lighted street where she could be seen clearly. That was exactly the way Midnight Fox would be exiting the building. By way of the lighted street, with her head held high, just challenging anyone to capture her and turn her in.
And of course, Detective Henry Wong would be there awaiting the arrival of Midnight Fox after she took care of her job. She would've never guessed that there would be anyone waiting for her to emerge from the hotel at all. That was because Midnight Fox was always a few steps ahead of the police who tracked her. At least until now.
The dark haired young man leaned against the wall of a nearby building as he watched the Kayath Grande across the street. He yawned, feeling quite bored already, but any sign of stirring from the building and he would be on full alert. He almost regretted showing up so early. He wasn't even sure if Midnight Fox would make her move here tonight, but he wouldn't allow himself to overlook any lead whatsoever. He'd been following this thief for a year and he intended to be the one to close off the case.
Henry shivered. Still, it was cold and he was tired after a long day. Especially after his lecture from the commissioner. It almost made him wonder why he'd become so dedicated to his job in the first place. It wasn't exactly high paying and it was one helluva dangerous job. He'd be facing the possibility of physical injuries and the daily nagging from his mother and father about how he should've become a teacher like his older sister. Life was tough.
About to stifle another yawn, Henry finally caught sight of what he had come for. For the first time since Midnight Fox came into existence, she would be confronted. And if Henry could help it, she would be arrested too.
The boy sighed sadly. For a whole year, tracking the infamous Midnight Fox had been his whole life. And now, he couldn't believe that this case might actually come to a close. He was rather enjoying finding out anything he could from this female thief. But besides that, Henry was clear about what Midnight Fox did.
That she didn't truly steal for her own pleasure. That she had been helping the community in secret. That she had become a hero in many of the people's hearts. And also that she'd been making it easier for the police force to bust black underground market activity and arrest a few of the biggest drug lords and black market conspirators. She'd also helped rid the city of some very disgusting people- high society rich snobs who only thought about the best way to screw over the people and the government.
But what she did was still illegal. And because Henry was a law enforcer, he couldn't let the thief run wild the way she did. It wasn't like there was no other way to take care of all the things Midnight Fox had accomplished. As much as he didn't really want to arrest her, he knew that it was what he had to do. It was like the game of "Cops and Robbers" that little kids played. The "cop" would always be the good guy who was to capture the bad guy who was always the "robber." It was his job to arrest a thief.
Not even bothering to leave as quickly as possible, Rika stepped lightly into the streets and then proceeded to saunter the rest of the way to her hidden vehicle. She was in no hurry. It wasn't as if she had to run from anyone. The only security guard should be out for another few hours and no police officer had been able to track her very closely since the beginning of her career.
"Well, hello, Miss Midnight Fox."
At least that was what she'd assumed. Apparently, the one cop that she'd neglected to take into account was the one who'd been coming closer on her trail. And here he was now. Who was this guy anyway? If he'd been able to figure out where she intended to rob, he must be really good!
Rika sighed and looked at the detective standing in front of her. She tilted her head slightly, trying to get a good look at this man. For some reason, he felt so... familiar. Even his voice had made her feel a sense of familiarity.
The cop stood a good distance from the night thief, not allowing her to get a good look at his face. All she could tell was that he was dressed in all black- black pants, a black t-shirt under a black leather jacket- much like herself, except for the fact that he wore no sunglasses. Midnight Fox had opted for a pair of dark glasses rather than a mask for this night. She looked so much cooler in sunglasses anyway.
"So I finally get to meet the one and only," Henry smirked at the thief before him. He studied the young girl, from her dark clothing to her auburn colored hair hanging in a low ponytail to the pair of sunglasses hiding her face, "It's a little dark out to be wearing those don't you think?"
Rika rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She just shook her head, "What do you want? I'm on a tight schedule."
Henry blinked a few times, hesitating before speaking. Was it just him, or did that voice sound like...? He shook his head. Couldn't be.
"Look," Henry took a few steps closer, "I'm sure you know exactly what I want so I'll be straight forward. You're the infamous Midnight Fox. I'm a detective. I've been following you for the past year. Now that I'm finally able to catch up to you, the only thing for me to do is arrest you. So why don't you make my job easier by just coming with me."
"As if," Rika shook her head almost laughing aloud, "You? Arrest me? You have got to be kidding. Not even any of your senior officers were able to arrest a 'little girl' such as moi. What makes you think you can?"
"Because I'm different," Henry stated simply. He was walking closer and closer as he spoke.
Rika watched him as he took each step. She narrowed her eyes, guessing what his trick was. He would keep her distracted, keep her talking and hope that she wouldn't notice him when he whipped out his handcuffs or his gun. She wasn't that easily fooled. She scoffed inwardly at his stupidity. Any closer and he would be paying a visit to the nearest hospital.
"And how different are you?"
"I just am-" he couldn't finish his sentence as he had to move quickly to block the oncoming blow that Midnight Fox had suddenly thrust at him. Then another came as the girl's knee headed toward his stomach, of which he also easily blocked. Again and again, the night thief threw blow after blow, aimed at either the detective's head or his stomach. Again and again, the cop was able to block each attack.
Rika finally stopped, taking a step back into a fighting stance. She eyed the detective before her who had taken a similar stance, himself. So the cop wasn't so foolish after all, "So you know a few moves. Not bad."
"I've been training since I was ten," Henry proudly stated, "You're not too bad yourself."
"Charmed," Rika lowered her arms, "I've been training since I was ten, myself. But that doesn't mean I can't kick your ass. Let's see what you've got, Punk!" With that, she lunged at Henry at a fast pace, again, each punch aimed for his face.
Henry, using his quick reactions and his skill, was able to block each blow that came at him. Face. Stomach. Face. Stomach. Occasionally, she'd try to slip him up by aiming elsewhere, but he was ready for it. She attacked and he defended.
He had to admit, this night thief was quite the fighter. Not only was she fast, but she was also strong. Each of her blows were forceful. Each of her movements were rhythmic and tactful. The girl wasn't kidding when she said she'd been training since she was a very young girl. Midnight Fox truly did live up to her title.
But there was something bothering the detective. He knew that it may have just been coincidence, but it seemed that each of the night thief's moves, he had seen somewhere before. They were familiar. As if he'd fought someone with these same forceful movements before. But where...?
*flashback*
"Not bad," he nodded in approval. His chest heaving from the vigorous work out that he and his friend had just completed. He stood up straight and bowed to the girl as she too did the same.
"Wanna go at it again?" the girl ran a hand through the sweaty strands of her hair. The two had been going over each of their martial arts routines all morning- either showing a one person demonstration, or sparring with each other.
The dark haired boy smirked, "We've been at it all morning. You sure you still have the energy?"
"More than you ever could," she replied. With those words, she positioned her arms in a fighting stance, prepared to, once again, kick her friend's butt. Her violet eyes twinkled in the afternoon sunlight as a warm smile formed on her face. It was tiring, but she was still having a great day.
The boy nodded, "Let's see what you've got then." He too positioned his body into a fighting stance and eyed his friend carefully, watching for any sign of movement. He'd been taught before to make sure he knew the other person's intentions before attacking.
The girl's smile was wiped off her face as she began by dropping herself to the ground and sweeping her leg out to trip her contender before he even knew what was happening. A serious expression replaced her cheery one. That was her usual attitude. She then quickly stood back to her feet, prepared to counter whatever move that her friend would have for her.
As soon as the boy fell onto the ground, as expected, he hopped back up to his feet immediately, but found himself being attacked with an inverted roundhouse. He placed his arms in front of his face blocking each of the hits. He then grabbed onto one of his friend's legs just as she followed her roundhouse with a high kick to his face, and flipped her around, causing her to do a log roll in the air as she dropped to the ground.
With her strength and quickness, the girl was able to guide one of her hands to the ground first and push herself back up to her feet so as not to fall on the ground and become vulnerable to any other hits while she was down.
He smiled and immediately attacked her with a series of kicks and punches of which she was able to block.
*end flashback*
Rika almost growled angrily as hit after hit was blocked effortlessly by the detective. She continued to attack however. She knew that as long as she kept throwing punches and kicks at him, he wouldn't have a chance to counter without getting hit in return. She would just have to try to wear him out, or find a weak point to his movements.
Not having the patience to wait that long, though, she opted to trip him. The thief dropped herself to the ground and swept her leg out, taking the man completely by surprise as he felt himself toppling over and heading toward the ground. As soon as she'd tripped him, Rika jumped back to her feet and planned her next attack, but watched in surprise as the detective was able to immediately jump back to his feet. Not even hesitating to think, Rika attacked with the next move that came to mind. She did an inverted roundhouse that she would follow with a high kick to his face. That high kick ought to put the man's lights out. Then she could be on her way.
The detective watched, wide eyed as attack after attack came to him. Why did this feel so familiar? Was it all just coincidence? Lots of people knew these moves. Then why did he sense such a feeling of familiarity?
Henry held his hands out in front of his face to block the kick as it came to his face. Then, as he subconsciously expected, a high kick was aimed at him. He acted on instinct and grabbed onto the leg as a feeling of deja vu overcame him. Without a second's thought, he'd already twisted the thief's leg around, causing her to flip in the air as she headed toward the ground. But with her quickness, she thrust her arm out and managed to push herself off of the ground and onto her feet.
As Rika landed on her feet, she almost did a double take as she stood there, quickly going over those last few moves in her mind. She blinked a couple times in hesitation before realizing that the detective was coming at her with an uppercut. She snapped out of her momentary lapse and managed to block the blow.
Rika growled as the detective continued to come at her with blow after blow. She almost snapped at herself. Her momentary hesitation had made her vulnerable to the series of punches and kicks that she now had to defend herself from. How could she have been so careless?! Rika Nonaka had never let her guard down before. No one person had ever been able to match her skill, speed and strength. No one!... that is except for...
Rika shook her head, to rid herself of any thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking about him. She had to kick this sorry detective ass so that she could leave. She'd already wasted precious time humoring the jerk by staying and "sparring" with him. Him...
The girl narrowed her eyes at the detective's face, studying it as she continued to block the endless wave of punches and kicks. Him... Rika looked over the detective's face- the dark hair, the hazel gray eyes... such familiar features.
She gasped and her eyes widened. No, it can't be, Rika thought, causing her to miss the blow coming to her stomach. The girl doubled over in pain, falling backwards toward the ground, silently cursing her luck and her carelessness. Mostly her luck. Of all the places. Of all the times.
Henry blinked in confusion after sending the thief sprawling onto the ground. That was odd. The whole time, Midnight Fox hadn't seemed to be that easily defeated. But all he had done was throw a punch at her stomach and that was all it took to beat her. Had she intentionally done that? And for what reason? Or had she been distracted? It seemed that way. He knew that she should've been able to block those punches easily. It was as if she hadn't seen that blow coming.
He walked over to her and looked down in concern. He hoped that he hadn't hurt her too badly. It would certainly slow her down, but he never intended to hurt anyone, "Are you okay?"
"You..." Midnight Fox only narrowed her eyes at the boy staring down at her. There was a look of anger in her eyes... and fear? Henry blinked in confusion once again. Was that fear he heard in her voice? Is that fear he's sensing from her? But why? He held out his hand to help the girl up, but received a stinging slap in return as the night thief pushed his offer away forcefully.
"I don't need your help," she said coldly. She sounded different than before. Before she only sounded annoyed with him. The high and mighty, egotistical attitude that he expected from any infamous thief. But now... now, he seemed to detect a hint of hatred in her voice. A cold, harsh hatred. Did all this come from his managing to knock her down? Was her pride really that important to her that she would hate anyone who showed in any way that they could match her ability?
Rika stood to her feet and narrowed her eyes angrily at the boy in front of her that she finally realized was her childhood best friend... the boy she had loved and still loved. She swallowed the lump that began to form in her throat. What would she do now? Did he know who she was? It had been ten years. Even she hadn't recognized him at first, but that's because she'd attacked him before she could get a good enough look at his face. Until she actually managed to see it up close, she didn't even know it was him. Chances are, he had no idea who she really was.
"Are you alright?" the detective repeated.
"I don't need your sympathy," Rika answered in her harsh tone. She stepped back. She knew what she had to do. She would finally be able to take out all of her anger and hurt on one of the many who'd caused it. She hadn't wanted to think of the past. She hadn't wanted to remain there or to even be reminded about it. Now that she was, she would bring the past to a close.
Henry only looked at her in surprise, but didn't have time to speak when she suddenly lunged at him with a jump kick. He immediately raised his hands in defense, pushing the girl away from him. She did a flip in the air and landed gracefully on the ground into the splits. Her auburn hair flipping behind her head.
He blinked a few times. Now where had he seen this before? Henry looked at Midnight Fox's features, studying them once more. His mind replayed each of the thief's fluid movements clearly. Every move was so familiar to him. He just couldn't understand it.
His eyes widened in shock as it finally hit him. His heart stopped in his chest and he caught his breath. Why hadn't he noticed it before?
*flashback*
After lunging at him with a jump kick, the girl was pushed back away from him, doing a flip in mid-air and falling, gracefully, into splits. He smiled at her, his body still in a fighting position. He noticed the cold and seemingly angered look on the girl's face.
He chuckled. He'd known this girl so long that he knew her expression was just the seriousness she put into things such as this. That was her attitude. She wasn't angry, but rather, she was just being very serious.
"You honestly don't believe I can beat you?" she smiled, her violet eyes now twinkling, though her serious expression still remained.
He shook his head, "Only if you really can," he challenged. He remained in his stance, waiting patiently for her to attack him. If he knew her correctly, she was always the aggressor. She would most definitely attack first.
The girl half smiled. She quickly swung her back leg to the front, leaned back and, with her arms, pushed off of the ground, jumping up onto her feet into a different fighting stance. Her eyes twinkled, still, "Let's go."
Before he knew it, his friend had already lunged at him.
*end flashback*
Snapping back into reality, Henry realized that Midnight Fox had already lunged at him, taking advantage of his space out. Quickly, the detective raised his arm over his head... before the girl even attacked, as if he'd anticipated the blow from above.
Rika gasped in surprise as her hand came down onto the readied defense. Quickly, she pulled her arm back, while at the same time, kicking her leg toward the side of the cop's head... only to find that he'd been prepared for that blow also as he twisted around, dodging it fully. He faced her and watched as she immediately thrust her palm forward, heading straight toward his face.
Henry couldn't believe it. He stared at her as he stood, not moving. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as memories continued to invade his mind... Why hadn't he noticed before?
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Okay, I have to admit. That was the worse chapter I've written for this whole fic so far. I apologize. Ugh! It's just that I wanted to be able to throw in the action plus a lot of the emotional tension, but I now realize that emotional tension is not my thing just as much as action isn't. I mean, I can easily choreograph action, but to write it... That's different.
So, I apologize for this sucky chapter. I'm going to try my best to write the next few ones better.
The fic will be coming to a close after another five or more chapters as the plot begins to dramatize and thicken.
And if anyone is wondering, I borrowed the name Krita-Yuga from the game 'Soul Calibur.' So, no I do not own the Krita-Yuga. I only borrowed the name, so the weapon described is in no way similar to the actual Krita-Yuga from the game.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. ^_^