Thanks to all who reviewed! I appreciate it a lot! : ) *nothingtodo is all smiles* Hope you'll enjoy this chap!
PS: BTW, I made some grammar and stupid mistakes in the last chapter. Replaced it with the fixed one. You can read it again if you want / or if you're particular about grammar mistakes. Heh heh! I'm only human!
Maemi: Am continuing! What made you think I'm going to stop there?? : ) And yeah, Mitsui = undercover agent *continues drooling unashamedly* : )) *suddenly notices a sulking Rukawa-kun* But of course, my fav is still Rukawa…
: Sorry. You didn't tell me your name so I put a blank! Thanks a lot for reading this!
Joy: Arigato! More surprises? Were you expecting any???
Tiran: *looks at Tiran defensively* Hey, Mitsui will make a GOOD (and sexy) policeman!!! Ha ha!
Sll: Man, you are nuts over Micchy-san. : ) But then again, so am I. *once again notices Rukawa sulking* I mean, um… ah….
Second chapter
"We couldn't find you," Luna tried to explain, flipping fat chunks of money in her hand. "You were out for one of those stupid stroll of yours. What did you expect us to do? Tear down this place stone by stone to look for you?"
"No," Kiara said sulkily. "I expected you to at least walk for a couple of metres around the block. It's not like I go strolling as far as the next continent."
"Just drop it, Kiara." Pit said, hooking his arm lazily over one tattered couch. "There'll be other times. Let's order in pizza. I'm hungry."
"You go order it cause I won't." Luna said promptly. "I'm too exhausted."
"So am I." Pit said, suddenly fixing his face to look weary. "Oh, Kiaaaaraaaa…"
"Shut up." Kiara scowled, firmly crossing her arms across her chest. "After what you did, you think I'm all eager to be your slave for the evening?? Get your brain fixed, Pit."
"That's too bad," Pit sighed mournfully. "I saw this ad about this awesome new topping. I thought we could all try it, but well, since you're not willing to be errand-girl, I guess we'll miss it."
Kiara sat thoughtfully, unaware she was slowly being trapped. "What … sort of topping?"
"It's called 'Mexican Cowboy'. Handfuls of mushrooms, piles of pineapple, tons and tons of double cheese," Pit licked his lips ecstatically. "Not to mention the pepperoni and sausages and –"
"Give me some money." Kiara muttered, and then escaped the building eagerly, racing off for the nearest Pizza House.
Luna laughed. "Mexican Cowboy?"
Pit shrugged.
"She'll be furious when she gets back, you know."
Again, Pit shrugged. "That's okay. She's gorgeous when she's mad, and it's not like you and I are not used to it."
"Smart," Mitsui summed up to Sergeant Akagi after he exited the bank. "Not even a speck of dust left."
Akagi muttered under his breath. "You disappoint me, Mitsui. For all your reputation –"
Idly, he took out a torn piece of clothing. "But I found this."
Akagi stopped mid-sentence. "What is it?"
"You disappoint me, Akagi. For all your reputation, I would've thought you would recognise something that you wear practically every day." He smiled mockingly at Akagi's frown. "It's fabric. Old. Washed out. Dark red. Cotton."
Akagi snorted. "Research it."
Mitsui ignored the abrupt command. "No vehicles were used. Robbers are somewhere near. Probably the same ones who broke in last month and the month before. There's sort of a pattern. They seem to attack at the third week of the month. Of course, that's not definite. Could be a coincidence. Also, suspected to be young. Witnesses say the robbers are not very big. Medium-sized, and definitely in their teens, but very mature for their age to be able to pull this off."
"Hmm." Akagi grunted.
Mitsui narrowed his eyes. "You're not listening. You're sleepy. Go home."
Before Akagi knew it, he was shoved into the police car. Mitsui winked at him before walking back to the crowd of police officers who were making themselves busy by shooing the gathering crowd away. Akagi had to agree. He wasn't much help anyway. Bringing the car to life, he sped off.
Mitsui breathed in relief. The ape was all but crawling all over his back.
Kiara was steaming. She had waltzed up to the counter of the Pizza House demanding for a Mexican Cowboy, only to be returned with a startled look by the cute and girlish staff. "Come on," she had impatiently tapped the counter with her fingers. "You know the Mexican Cowboy. That new topping you're offering."
It took ten minutes for the exasperated girl to explain to Kiara that no such topping existed. Finally, realizing she'd been fooled, Kiara placed an order for a spicy pizza with extra chilli and extra garlic, and lasagne for herself.
Viciously cursing but secretly looking forward to get back so Luna and Pit can have their much-anticipated pizza, she swung around a corner and blinked at the bright red and blue lights attacking her eyes.
She realized she was near the bank. She watched the policemen scurry around and couldn't quite manage to hide the smile. Good luck, she wished wickedly. You might need it.
She thought about using another road when the curiosity of what her friends had done won her over. Usually, she was the tactician, the one who planned how a robbery was to be done. But today her friends had done it without her and she would like to see how well they fared.
She edged inconspicuously nearer and nearer to the marked spot. Ignoring the policeman who was shooing the crowd away, she went on forward and peered inside for as far as she could. Not bad, she decided grudgingly. Looks like they did well without me after all. She didn't know if she was very happy about that. Then she smirked. Still not smooth enough, guys. There were fingerprints over the safety box that the policemen were busy working with.
Of course, they always wore false fingertips prints bought at a trick shop when they did this sort of thing. But they rarely left any clues behind under her watchful eye. Luna and Pit definitely needed some improvement – and her.
She was too absorbed in delighting with her friends' flaws that she didn't notice the officer had crept up to her until it was too late. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked coolly.
She jerked slightly, but managed to compose herself. Putting on an enthusiastic expression, she whirled on him and took no more than a second to study him. Gorgeous. "Oh, hello. Am I in your way? Sorry about that. I'm Yoko. I live here. I'm a reporter for my school, and I thought this incident would be explosive news in my school paper. I crept in for a quick look – you know, to describe it later in paper. Am I doing something wrong, officer?"
He looked at her. He was a skilful liar, probably one of the best, and he could distinctively tell when a person was lying. And she was definitely lying, though very expertly. "What school are you from?"
There was a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. He bet she hadn't expected that question. "Bokotu High, of course," the reply was smooth, untroubled. "It's just around the corner. Nice little place, though the headmaster and I don't get along very much." She smiled.
"I see. You're too close to the scene of the crime. Mind if we step somewhere else?"
She gestured at her pizza. "I have to get home. Pizza getting cold. Sorry for bothering you. Interesting case. It'll be a hit report. Nice to meet you." She turned, apparently unhurried and relaxed.
"Nice to meet you too," he replied. "Yoko."
The way he said her 'name' sent warnings to her head. But she ignored it, and nonchalantly walked away, whistling.
"Police swarming all over the place," she grunted as soon as she arrived at the bleak room they'd reserved for themselves in the abandoned construction site. "Thanks to the two of you, practically leaving clues all over the place."
Luna looked hurt. "We were very careful."
"Apparently not careful enough," Kiara said bluntly a she shoved the pizza to them and settled with her own lasagne. "Talked to one of the officers. Seems like a smart-ass." She paused. "He's got a great bod."
Luna snorted, taking a slice of pizza. "Trust you to look at every man in that way."
Kiara nodded in agreement, undisturbed. "Yeah. Trust me to do that."
Then –
"Bloody cow! Burning hell!" Pit cursed loudly as he leaped to his feet, spitting pizza to the ground and desperately grabbing around for water, followed by Luna who cursed more violently. "What on bizarre earth is this??? What the hell did you order, Kiara?? And where the hell is the water?"
"Mexican Cowboy," Kiara smiled. "And I forgot to buy some water. Sorry."