************
"Great work with the job last night, Sor!"
Sora glanced up to see Kari pop into her office, followed by her brother and the Chief of Intelligence, Koushiro Izumi, or more commonly and easily known as 'Izzy'.
"Sora does it again!" Tai whooped. "You ruled that joint!"
"It wasn't very wise of you to go in by yourself, though," Izzy remarked disapprovingly. "Many things could have gone wrong last night and you would not have had back up to…" He paused, looking blank. "…To back you up."
Tai laughed heartily. "I love it when brains like him get plugged up. It makes such a funny sound." Izzy glared at him.
Sora quipped cheerfully, "Luckily for me, nothing went wrong."
"You seem to have an incredibly handy sense of the probability then," the red-haired computer genius sniffed. "May it continue to aid you on your little rendezvous with the Sayonara gang."
Sora grinned at him. Although Izzy always appeared haughty to people who didn't know him, she knew him better than that. The man was proud for her. They didn't look it, but they were very close friends.
"Ignore the nerd, Sor!" Tai piped up. "Congratulations. Another one for the record, eh?"
Sora smiled. "Thank you. Now will all of you please give me some peace? There are still some things I have to attend to." She waved a disgruntled hand toward a stack of paperwork.
"Tch," Kari scoffed. "You never do your paperwork, Sora. You just toss them into the fire."
Izzy looked shocked. "Is that why you were so insistent on having a fireplace installed into your office?"
Sora shrugged. "I have my little whims. So if you won't believe that I'll be doing my paperwork, then give me time to bask in the rich afterglow of my latest triumph over criminal evil. Alone, of course. I can't have you guys soaking up my glory." She paused then added, "By the way, if you see Inspector Ichijouji, tell him I'm busy doing paperwork."
Izzy began spluttering indignant phrases. Kari laughed, grinning at Sora. "Sneak."
"Sora," Tai protested. "Let us bask, too. We don't get as much glory as you do!"
"Get moving, folks!" she announced and leaned back in her seat, propping her feet unto her desk. "I feel the rays pouring in. Too much is dangerous for inexperienced peasants like you. You might get bravado cancer."
"Detective, you must know that there is no such thing as bravado cancer." Izzy, of course.
Tai threw a folder at Sora while Kari snatched up one of the teddy bears Sora kept around her desk, ready to pitch the fluffy little thing at the Detective. Sora dodged both projectiles and glared at them. "In my own office," she muttered darkly. "Of all the—"
They grinned at her. And she, unable to help herself, grinned back.
As soon as the trio had left her office, Sora let the smile slide from her face as her expression took up a pensive look. She sat herself properly and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples.
She needed to think. She then let her thoughts return to the night before during the gang raid at the dock warehouse…
Who was he?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She had very unwillingly left her car behind in the shadows of the highway area once she knew which building the thieves had entered. The squad would know where to go. She made sure of that.
She walked down through the lanes, checking her watch. It would still be some time before her expected backup would arrive—provided they wouldn't make any random stops for donuts, of course.
Sora paused. It would probably a little more time before they could get here, then. The officers of Odaiba had a strange fascination for donuts with the mystical holes in the center…
At the moment Sora thought no more of donuts and mystical centers, feeling her blood coursing adrenaline through her veins at the prospect of a raid. Swiftly, she made her way to the warehouse number 37. Her prey's hideout, apparently.
Sora smiled, her hand coming to a rest on the hilt of her gun. She was as fond of her gun as she was of her car, although her gun was seldom required in her dealings with the corrupt and desperate. She usually managed things diplomatically or intellectually and without much projectile action, much to her disappointment.
It wasn't that she enjoyed blood and guts; no, Sora hated the thought of wasting good bullets. It was just that she would never get the chance to try out several shooting tricks she had learned over the past few years.
She looked around. Quite obviously, she couldn't enter the warehouse through the front gate. That would cause some excitement, but it would also mess up any chance of sneaking, and Sora loved to sneak, for some reason.
There! She saw some cargo boxes on the side of the structure, forming an impromptu staircase to the warehouse roof.
She narrowed her eyes. 'Now isn't this rather convenient?' She scowled. Maybe she was being overly suspicious, but she didn't ever trust the easy ways in and out of a situation. Her frown deepened. There was no other way, unless she decided to come in by the main entrance, guns blazing.
The idea actually had some appeal to her, but she brushed it aside, thinking of what Inspector Ichijouji's reaction would be if she decided to do so.
She walked over and suddenly sprang up, silently landing on the first crate briefly before moving on to the next. When Sora reached the final crate before emerging onto the rooftop, she climbed up and warily glanced around.
There on the rooftop was a solitary set of descending stairs, entering the building. Around it were the exhaust pipes and the air vent opening. She grinned and swung herself up when she caught sight of the air vent.
Going down the staircase would be risky; she would probably encounter trigger-happy gang lackeys with minds devoid of thought going that direction. So she had to go the other way.
She pocketed her gun, thinking about the mess crawling around in air vents would do to her jacket. Air vents were never kept squeaky clean, especially in dumps like this.
Sora frowned. She liked her jacket. Maybe she could go back to her car to—
BANG! There was a shrill scream coming from below. It was high-pitched and young—
Sora started in surprise. She suddenly recalled the number of missing children reports and ran the list of abducted little girls in her mind as she hurriedly discarded the idea of returning to her car. Her jacket would just have to go into the wash for the next few months.
'The sacrifices I make for this job…'
She walked over to the air vent, taking out a little flashlight. With it, she managed to detect the screws which had fastened the screen down onto the mouth of the air vent.
'It's times like these I'm glad Tai forces me to bring these little odds and ends whenever I'm on the field…'
Fishing around her jacket pocket, she produced a little case of handyman tools. After examining the screws, she took out an appropriate screwdriver and got to work unfastening the screen.
Soon enough, the screen clattered to the floor, making very little noise, much to Sora's relief. She was getting rusty, forgetting to muffle all possible sources of noise. She peered into the air vent and saw only darkness.
She sighed. Why were these criminal places always so dark and grimy? For once, she wanted to see a headquarters with pink wallpaper and neat rows of flowers.
On second thought, maybe not. Pink wallpaper??
Sora exhaled again and carefully climbed into the vent, wincing at the oily feel of the obviously unkempt air vent tunnels. Haltingly and very primly, the detective began to crawl.
The air vents were large enough for her to watch her step and make little noise whenever she moved, but they were small enough that when she did make sounds, she wouldn't be heard.
Much.
At last, she saw a patch of light and reached a grate screwed onto the wall. Peering through the grid, she saw no one. Just the staircase from the rooftop.
She grinned and unscrewed the slimy grate—her grin slid off rather quickly at this point. Placing the dirty grate behind her, she lowered herself down, landing easily on her feet.
"You could have easily went down the stairs, but I guess you policemen enjoy adding unnecessary complications."
Sora froze. She swore that she hadn't seen anyone in the room when she looked in through the grate. Well, the screen was dirty enough to obscure several things from her sight, but she doubted that it could hide a human in the small patches of grime she had to see through.
She straightened and turned around.
It was a man with noble features who looked around her age. He was sitting on a chair by the staircase. In the dim light, his spiky hair seemed colorless but his blue eyes were very visible, for some reason.
He looked startled for a moment, and then his expression settled into a slightly amused one. "Well, policewoman, in this case."
She felt for her gun. "Who are you?"
"Not so loud, Lady," he said, the corner of his mouth turning up. "The walls aren't completely stable and one can easily eavesdrop through crumbled mortar."
"What do you want?" she demanded, although in a harsh low voice.
He shrugged. Something suddenly caught Sora's eyes as she warily turned her gaze from the mysterious man and traveled the room to land on a heap of bodies piled up on the floor next to an equally large mound of guns, knives and other weapons the men must have carried before they were put out of commission.
"Did you…?"
The man chuckled softly, grinning slightly. "No, no. I merely knocked them out for the meantime. They would disturb me very greatly."
"What do you want?" Sora repeated, growing angrier. What was his deal? She tightened her grip on her pistol.
She had recognized the face of one of the bank robbers among the pile of bodies. They were Sayonara gang members. But, unless he wasn't a part of the mob, why would he harm his own? And if he wasn't part of the Sayonara ring, what on earth was he doing here?
He was dangerous, she thought irritably. Who could knock out that many armed people and, as far as she could see, sustain no visible injury? He must have done it very quickly, she concluded. At the first sign of trouble, the members must have gone to sound the alarm of an intruder.
He smiled thinly. "Didn't you ask me this question a while ago? The authority, these days…"
Sora suddenly brought out her gun and held it ready, aiming it towards him. "I asked you again because you didn't seem to hear my question." She flashed him a smirk. "I'm giving you the benefit of a doubt, by the way. Now talk."
"About what, Detective?"
She blanched for a moment then narrowed her eyes, glaring balefully at him. How did he know her rank? "It's obvious that you're not one of the Sayonara," she said, ignoring his question. "Why did you attack them and why were you waiting for me?"
He grinned at her, showing perfectly aligned teeth. "I advise you not to infiltrate their main offices in this building by going through that door." He pointed to the single door leading further into the warehouse. Sora scowled, noting that he did not answer any of her questions.
"Do you think you can stop me?" the detective challenged. She knew enough martial arts to fend herself off. Besides, she had taken yoga before and made it a point to learn where the sensitive spots of the body were.
He laughed after sending a brief glance toward the pile of unconscious bodies. "I probably could, but it is not my intention to do so—at least for tonight. I'm telling you to go on and take the air vents. The best way to win this entire partial operation is to do it by rousing as little commotion as possible, therefore, it is not wise to go that way, on account of the many obstacles you will encounter."
She stared at him. Some of the moonlight from the outside filtered into the room, illuminating his hair and making it seem more shiny yet pale and translucent and lit up his face. He was fair and very attractive. His sapphire eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight.
"Why are you helping me?" she demanded. "What's your deal?"
He gave her another smile, standing up from the chair. She tensed and watched suspiciously as he crossed into a patch of blue moonlight, moving in front of the exit stairs. "You'd better go now, Detective. The Sayonaras haven't been too gentle with the poor girl." He turned his back on her and walked up the stairs.
She frowned and ran after him, feeling strangely tingly. "So there is a girl there?" She emerged out on the roof.
He was gone.
The tingling faded and she ran to the railing at the edge of the building, looking down. Nothing.
Sora let out an obscene curse and stalked back inside. Should he follow his warning? Could she trust the shadowy blue-eyed man? She scowled and realized that she had no other choice. He was probably simply stating the obvious. Who on earth would rush into the narrow corridors of an old warehouse full of gangsters?
She easily maneuvered herself back into the ventilation systems and resumed her crawling, the steady stream of curses coming from her mouth as she thought of the mess her jacket must have looked like.
It wasn't difficult for her to find her way around the warehouse. There were only two ways, usually—backward and forward. Sometimes, a left or a right. She peeked out of several grates and indeed, she saw many gang members who seemed to be on guard patrolling the hallways.
So the mysterious fellow was telling the truth.
Sora narrowed her eyes. Just what she needed. Another complication to add to the mountain of technicalities she recognized. Who was that man and why did he help her out?
She went on and soon encountered a ventilation tunnel that opened up into the biggest part of the warehouse—where the goods newly arrived from the docks would usually be stored before sending them off into the grocery stores if this wasn't the headquarters of an infamous band of criminals.
She stole a look through the grate and saw many men in the enormous room. There was much noise going on here, so Sora figured that she wouldn't be heard if she unscrewed the rusty grate, unless she planned to let it slip five feet down to the floor, though it was certain that Sora was no butterfinger.
She wiped her fingers carefully, just in case.
Sora dropped down silently, landing behind some boxes stacked near the wall. She crept to the side and peered over the edge. She saw a lot of men and an occasional woman or two milling around. Some were counting the newly stolen money while others were engaged in muttered conversations, polishing their guns or playing poker or some other game which frequently placed their money in much danger.
She frowned. They were playing a game considered as illegal gambling.
But they weren't the people she was looking for. As much as she wanted to barge in and arrest them for practicing illegal gambling, she had pinpoint several people first. She craned her neck, attempting to see past the gambling cronies to the other end of the room.
There.
Sitting on a black plastic chair was a little girl surrounded by burly-looking gang members. She was blindfolded, but for some reason, Sora was able to see the tears that had stained the not-too-clean cloth that was tied across her eyes. Sora wondered how she was able to discern the barely visible tear tracks, as she was in the extreme opposite side of the room. Her hair seemed to hold some faded luster—she had been here for some time, Sora guessed.
The suspicions she had come up with upon climbing into the ventilation systems were now confirmed. Judging by the girl's features, Sora had found the missing Hidenaki girl. She had been lost for three weeks. The girl's parents had practically taken up living in the police station, hoping that someone would find their daughter. They never would have guessed that the small girl had been captured by the notorious Sayonara gang.
But why was she kidnapped in the first place? Toki Hidenaki's parents weren't rich. They weren't even into business—they merely ran a little shrine near the center of town.
The blindfolded captive turned her gaze in Sora's direction. Her lips remained in their solemn line but she made the tiniest of nods, acknowledging her. She knew Sora was there!
Sora quickly ducked back behind the crates. How did the blindfolded girl pinpoint her location? For that matter, how did the girl know that Sora was even there? Her frown deepened. This certainly was no ordinary girl. Her thoughts fled back to the pale-haired stranger she had met earlier. He also unnerved her.
She narrowed her eyes in frustration. Sora wasn't the one who fantasized about strange phenomena. Kari was. She so didn't need this right now.
Or ever.
Sora forced her thoughts to return to their original skeptical track. What was she thinking, anyway? The kid's blindfold was probably transparent enough for her to see through it. 'Then why bother blindfolding her in the first place? Besides, you still don't know how she knew you were crouching behind these crates getting your pants dirty,' whispered the annoyingly deprecating voice in her head. 'And what about that blue-eyed man from upstairs, hmm, Detective?'
She scowled, pointedly ignoring the logic in her mind.
'Hmph,' sniffed her mind. 'You're just jealous that I can be more open-minded than you can, you pathetic steel trap, you.'
Sora ignored that, too. She took another look at the girl, noticing something she hadn't before. Toki's face was slightly bruised. A thin, barely visible line of blood streaked her hairline and there were rough marks on her arms and legs.
Sora's teeth clenched angrily. How dare they abuse such a young girl? She groped for her gun and slowly brought it out, paying no attention to the frantic protests of her inner voice.
'NO! NO! You stupid blockhead!!' it yelled, along with several other expletives Sora decided not to notice. She observed the scene, sizing up the situation. There were seven men lazily surrounding the girl. Two of them looked incapacitated with drink while the rest lazed around, attempting to achieve their two companions' drunken state, it seemed.
She ran along between the large crates and the wall to get closer to them and paused behind a vault. She raised her gun—
A man suddenly burst into the room, causing many of the people to whip out their guns and point them toward the poor underling. Sora paled slightly. She had misjudged the members of the Sayonara gang. They all looked so inattentive. How could they have brought out their guns so fast?
"It's me, all right?" the underling snapped. "Got something I know you'd wanna hear, Boss. Some dude just told me that there are cops somewhere in this building! I think they're snooping around."
"WHAT?" a man had stood up from behind a wooden table. There was nothing on his table but an admirable magnum .75. Sora assumed that he was the boss, since he had the largest gun. "Where is this informant of yours? Can he be trusted?" The man's baleful eyes burned into the underling's suddenly nervous ones. "I know how easily you are bribed, Watta."
The man seemed to lose all his color at once.
Sora narrowed her eyes. She was certain that this informant of poor Watta's was the same one who had told her how to avoid the people in the halls. He ratted her out! So whose side was he on? He had helped her out, but what of this sudden change? Why did he tell them that she was here after helping her into the main center of the warehouse?
Well, he didn't exactly tell them that she was here. He had said that there was an entire squad of cops snooping around, not just one confused and extremely angry detective.
'When I'd get my hands on him...'
"I don't know, Boss!" the man squeaked. "I was outside takin' a smoke when he popped out from outta nowhere! I lost my smoke somewhere in that stinky sewer and when I fired my gun at him 'coz I was pissed off, he sidestepped my bullet! He broke my gun and said that there were cops somewhere in the HQ, boss! I dunno, but there's sumthing strange 'bout that weird man."
The boss growled angrily, "You weren't alert enough, Watta."
Sora suddenly heard gunfire and hurriedly peered around the vault. And there on the ground lay the dead Watta with a bullet hole in his forehead. The man he called Boss was putting down a slightly smoking .75 and saying, "You shouldn't waste good bullets and guns on freaks," to the man apparently wasn't alive to answer.
Toki Hidenaki let out a small cry.
"Shut the girl up," the boss ordered his other men. They advanced upon the small Hidenaki.
Sora's eyes widened. She wouldn't let the girl be harmed any more. She leaped up—
Toki Hidenaki turned toward Sora and a sudden gust of wind swept through the warehouse, sending the carefully counted yen flying. Sora's urge to let out a raged war cry vanished and she nearly fell to her feet when she heard a loud wailing siren. The warehouse was bathed with blue light—red light—blue light...
The backup police squad had arrived!
She winced. Did they have to be so blatant about their arrival? The flashing lights were bad enough, but that stupid siren pounded into her ears with the delicacy of a raging bull.
"Get the girl out!" the Boss yelled to several of his underlings. They complied quickly, grabbing Toki and charging out another door.
Sora hissed and leaped up to follow.
"Who the hell is she??" someone yelled in alarm.
She raised her hand in greeting and vanished through the door, dodging the bullets that riddled the door behind her as she slammed it shut. Quickly jamming the doorknob with a chair, she paused for a moment to listen through the door. None of them were coming after her; they were too busy with the infiltrating cops outside.
She smiled slightly in satisfaction and looked around her. She was in a plain hallway that turned left several yards away. There was nobody here. She cursed and ran and down the corridor. She peered around the corner and saw that someone was stooped down to the ground, bent over his show. He looked up and saw her. She paled and charged out around the corner, hoping to catch him by surprise.
And catch him she did. "What the—"
Sora slammed the hilt of her gun down on his head and he slumped to the floor, unconscious. Sora noted that he was not dead and moved on.
Eventually, following the one-way corridor, she emerged outside to the west area of the warehouse. The moon shone down, giving her enough light to see several dark shapes piling into a car. She let out a filthy remark and ran down the path to the car.
But she was too late. The driver revved up the engine and it began to peel out of the driveway.
Sora stopped. There was no way that she could catch the car. She fingered her gun for a moment then carefully took aim and the car. She pulled the trigger.
'You'd better not miss,' murmured her inner voice.
BANG! The bullet tore into the back wheel of the car, causing it to careen fender first into the warehouse wall. Sora walked out from the shadows and out from behind a tall stack of crates, holding her slightly smoking gun ready. "Come on out," she called.
The car doors opened after a minute or so and two men stepped out.
Sora smiled brightly. "Everyone in that car is now officially under arrest. Please put your hands in the air. Anything you say can and will be used against you." She paused. "It would be best if you remained silent, though," she added.
One of them suddenly brought out his gun, aiming—
BANG! Sora had gotten there first, however and the gun clattered to the floor several feet behind the man. He shook his hands, cursing violently.
Sora clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Now, now. Don't speak like that. If your mother would hear you…"
"You're a good shot with that, girl," the other man said, eyeing her in a way that made Sora wonder if killing him would be considered a mortal sin. "But you'd better scram. I'm not up fer killing girls t'night."
Sora arched her eyebrow. "Don't have the stomach for it? And here I was, thinking that the Sayonara gang was chock full of strong brave people who wouldn't bat an eyelash to mass genocide. Could I have been wrong?" She shrugged. "There's a first time for everything."
"Damn you!" he yelled, raising his gun.
But Sora was already moving. The shot whizzed past her as she zipped toward him. She grabbed his gun and artfully twisted her arm and sideswiping his legs. The gun came free in her hand as the man fell to the ground.
"You're gonna get it, girl!"
Sora suddenly remembered that there was another thug around. She turned her head and saw him charging at her with the gun she had shot from his hands. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the man whose gun she had taken into unconsciousness and stood up, facing the other gang member.
A smile crept up to her lips when she saw him.
"Drop the gun," he stated. "Both of them."
Sora complied, releasing the other man's gun and pulling out her own. She looked at it for a few moments.
"Drop it!" he said sharply.
She glared at him and did so. "If it gets any scratches—"
He leered at her. "Good girl." He aimed his gun. "Now I will kill you."
Sora arched her eyebrow. "Don't I get any last words?"
The thug snorted. "Why bother? Nothin's gonna stop me from killin' you. You're gonna die tonight, lady."
"Come on," she prodded. "It's the least you can grant a doomed girl. I'd be terribly grumpy when I would go to Hell if I wasn't allowed to enjoy the remainder of my life in the light of death."
The man looked puzzled by her words but shrugged off his confusion. "Sorry officer." He readied the gun.
Sora sighed. "Well, this is it, I guess."
"Yeah—what?" The man stared at the gun in his hands.
Sora grinned maliciously. When she had first shot the gun from the man's hand, she also caused the bullet to shatter the trigger mechanism. "I really didn't want to do it to your gun, my friend. That's a pretty nice model. I'm sorry."
And with that, she sped forward, kicking high and snapping the gun from his hand by instinct, since she really didn't need to. After all, disarming him of a useless firearm would be rather pointless, wouldn't it? She caught the gun (again, out of habit) and jammed her fingers into a nerve in his neck.
He stiffened for a moment and collapsed.
Sora sighed, looking at his ruined gun. "Such a pity," she murmured. She tossed it onto the comatose man's body and picked up her own gun. She studied it carefully…a scratch! She glared at the cataleptic man and kicked his side for good measure. Unfortunately, he wasn't awake to give her a satisfying groan of pain, so her anger still remained discontented and very vindictive.
A scream suddenly cut through the night air from the east.
Sora cursed and recalled Toki Hidenaki. She ran over to the car and peered inside. Empty! They had escaped while she was taking care of the goons.
She ran towards the area where she had heard the scream. The noise seemed to be coming from the docks. As she ran, she readied the gun and hoped that Toki was still all right, thinking about the reprieve she'd get if the girl was hurt. It was bad enough that she took independent action in every step of her night, disobeying her superior's commands.
She reached the docks and cast a searching glance around. There they were. The man had his back to her, but she could see that he was holding the Hidenaki girl in the usual way people held hostages.
"Hey, buster—take one step closer and the brat's gonna get it!" he was saying. Sora briefly wondered who he was speaking to. Her gaze swept the area and suddenly stopped to rest upon the dark figure standing at the foot of the pier.
Upon closer scrutiny, she realized with an aggravated start, that it was her mysterious blue-eyed helper, who also helped the Sayonara. She noted with much irritation that she still could not see his face, nor the real color of his hair. She needed an ID scan run on him. There weren't that many blue-eyed people in Odaiba, Japan. She frowned and controlled herself from shattering the crate she crouched behind.
She would deal with him later. Right now, there was the problem of wresting the girl from the clearly panicking thug. By the way, she noticed, with some relief, that the girl was very much unharmed. Blindfolded and bruised, but not bleeding profusely from any recent wounds.
Good. One less log to add to the fire she would receive back at the station.
She stepped out into the open behind the gang member. He was taller than she was, although he was smaller than the blue-eyed benefactor. Her eyes met the pale-haired man's and the corner of his lip turned upward. She glared at him and signaled for him to ignore her.
He grinned and Sora groaned inwardly. He said to the Sayonara, "Let go of the girl, now. She is nothing to you, and you know that."
"Whaddaya mean, punk?" the thug snorted, causing Sora to smirk at the irony of that. "She's my ticket outta here. You ain't no officer, so you have no business with me at all."
The other man nodded, looking thoughtful. "You're right on that score. I'm not with the police, or any law organization, for that matter. But there's a score I have to settle with you gangsters."
Sora arched her eyebrow. So there was more to this story than she thought. He wasn't just some meddler who found it amusing to play with them. She speculated what his beef was with the Sayonara.
"I'm no gangster!" the Sayonara yelled. "I'm just a driver."
"If you aren't part of the Sayonara gang, then just let go of the girl." The mysterious man shrugged. "It wouldn't matter to you whether you have the girl or not. You can go if you leave her."
"No-oh," the lackey snapped. "I ain't fallin' for yer schmuck. I'm not gonna fail this one."
The other fellow's eyes suddenly brightened into a clearer blue and he let out a smile that caught Sora's breath for a moment, before she growled several choice oaths under her breath and continued to watch.
He asked the nervous man, "What's so different about this time that you actually believe that you can succeed? All of the other times, you just failed again and again and again and—"
"Shut up!" the mobster snapped. He grabbed Toki's neck and held his gun (a .45 caliber pistol) to her neck. "I'll shoot her right now!"
Sora wondered if they knew each other or if Blue-eyes was just playing a very astute psychological game some officers played to get their criminals behind bars. She'd played the same game herself to a few scumbags and it was almost as effective as the more tiring physical approach.
"Unless you fail it, too," the shadowed man chuckled. He spoke in an oddly gentle voice. "Besides, I haven't moved a single step. You'd have failed your little threat as well. But it doesn't matter, does it?" he mused. "Just one more to add to the rapidly growing pile..."
"Shut up, damn it!" the Sayonara screamed, waving his gun in the air. "I won't fail ever again! I'm not going to shoot her!"
Sora caught her opportunity. She rose from behind the crate and announced, "You don't know how glad I am to hear that," and fired her gun at his in a replica of her trick with the other Sayonara.
He let out a curse which she hoped the little girl didn't hear and turned around, inadvertently letting the girl go.
Sora laughed with delight and lunged, swinging her gun into his face. He reeled back from her blow but was able to come back at her surprisingly quick. He lashed out at her and she ducked, sweeping his legs out from behind him and dove forward, propelling the man away. She rolled to her feet quickly and waited.
The man stood rather shakily from where he landed and glared at her. Sora smiled sweetly at him. "You can give up now, if you want." With an inarticulate roar, the mobster charged at her.
The detective sighed. "Oh, well, if you like it that way—don't worry, it won't ruin our relationship in the slightest way—you'll still get the dirtiest cell I can find, if you're good." She sidestepped the gang member's lunge and clothes-lined him against the crates, which burst open under his body.
"Must you persist with all this useless banter?" the pale-haired man asked her in an exasperated tone. He was kneeling by Toki Hidenaki, who was still blindfolded at the moment but seemed to be watching Sora's little game.
"I'll do my job the way I do my job," she shot back. "Now leave me alone."
"Of course. By the way, he's behind you."
Sora whirled around and skipped back several feet. She completely leaned back, slapping her hands on the ground. The Sayonara reached her when suddenly her feet exploded forward, slamming him squarely on the chest. The man, his breath knocked out of him for the moment, fell back and Sora neatly flipped to her feet. She dusted her hands off, smiling satisfactorily.
"A good fight—Damn!"
The Sayonara's legs duplicated her side-sweeping move and she toppled, cursing her inattentiveness all the way. She sprang to her feet but was unable to duck the plank that he had picked up from the jumble of crates. It hit her on the back of her head. She stumbled forward and barely had time to dodge his next hit. She looked up to see him reach into his jacket and draw out a knife. His hand plunged—
'Oh, damn—'
Only to be stopped by a hand paler than his as it held back the knife.
Sora looked beyond him and saw the tense handsome face of the blue-eyed man. She was startled that he could move so fast from far across the docks. He wrenched the knife out of the thug's grip and crashed its hilt upon the back of the Sayonara's head, knocking him out of the game. The man let the knife slide to the floor and looked at Sora for a few moments, studying her.
He suddenly smiled. "The girl is over there." He turned and began to walk away. "'Bye."
"Hold it!" Sora hastily stood up. "Who are you? Why the hell did you clue in the Sayonara? Whose side are you on, anyway?"
He grinned at her. "Aren't we full of questions tonight?" He winked at her.
She ignored the little shiver down her back and snapped, " Answer me now!"
"I'll see you around, Detective." He paused. "By the way, the headquarters of the Sayonara gang is all the way across town. You wouldn't know it by looking at it. This is just one of their facilities." He laughed. "Good luck in finding it."
"Wait!" Sora commanded, but he already had disappeared into the darkness. She stepped forward to follow him but stopped, hearing the girl groan. Sora had a little debate with herself at the moment and let out a little angry growl before hurrying over to Toki.
She decided that she could chew rocks later.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sora sighed in frustration. Who the hell was he? What was he doing around the Sayonara gang's little hidey-hole? She deduced that he couldn't currently be one of them, since he had helped her out at first and at the end, therefore betraying them. It was also entirely possible that he was once a member of the Sayonara gang, or that he was a member of another rival group.
She rested her elbows on her cluttered desk, massaging her head in a futile attempt to dispel the headache brought upon her by her mental fishing. She recounted the events of last night.
He had said that he had something to deal with concerning the gangsters. What did he mean by that? Sora guessed that this business he had to take care of was one of the main reasons why he played with all of them in a game that Sora grudgingly admitted was played admiringly well. He was an excellent gamer, and she, being one herself, saw it clearly.
Sora scowled. If he had some beef with the gangsters, then why the hell did he clue them in as well? Why did he tell them that she would be there? Hold it—how did he even know that she would be there? If she recalled it correctly, he somehow did. He even knew her rank and had seemed to be waiting for her when she crawled out of the ventilation shafts.
He was powerful, she was certain. Who could knock out so many men and come out scotch-free? She was also convinced of his intellect. He was incredibly intelligent. The ways he analyzed and manipulated the hapless gangster and drove him mad were strokes of pure genius that Sora couldn't help but admire.
So he was both physically and intellectually gifted. The mysterious blue-eyed man could be considered dangerous. Sora groaned and banged her head against her desk. Just another complication to add.
And she really needed to get her paperwork done.
************
The yes' and the no's:
Yes, it may be boring. No, I don't care.
Yes, the more interesting parts come later. No, not too soon.
Yes, I will continue with my lagging pace. No, I won't take a month to get a story out all the time.
Yes, the other characters will pop up in the later events. No, this is not a self-insert story.
Yes, it looks like the typical police story. No, it's not.
And at last:
Yes, I'm probably pissing everyone off. No, I don't give a damn.