Japan, Downtown Nagasaki, DAY 0, 22.23 hrs.

It was late at night, and the streets were a scattering of shadow and light, emanating from the stores that were open, and the others just starting to close. Couples, teens and young sweethearts alike were heading home, kissing every so often, some saying good night and parting ways. One could hear the honk of a horn, or the scream of an irate woman yelling at her husband for staying at work too late while the children bothered her.

On the corner a young girl clad exclusively in black leaned against a brick wall in the shadows, barely visible. She wore a leather trench coat, sported a leather gloves, shiny suede boots, a spandex top, sleek leather skirt, and topped it off with a baseball cap, tilted slightly to the side, a pair of sunglasses, and a toothpick stuck between a fang and two teeth.

Across the street from where this young woman stood in the shadows was a man beginning to lock up his jewelry shop for the night, clad in exclusively blue clothing, eventually turning off the last light. As the man made his way towards the door, the girl stepped out of the shadows and into a nearby phone booth, placing the change in it and picking up the receiver. The store manager was fiddling with the lock on the door, having trouble getting it to open. The young lady skillfully typed in a number, so swiftly it seems as though she had practiced, and then put her arm up against the window, propping herself up, and masking her face. The phone inside the shop began to ring, and the man sighed. He fumbled his way in the dark to the front desk, leaning behind it and grabbing the phone, lifting the headset to his face.

"Hello? Shijiu Priceless Jewelry."

No sooner had the manager whispered this than behind him appeared a young boy dressed in all black, very similar to the girl outside in the telephone booth. He wore a leather trench coat, leather gloves, a muscle shirt, cargo pants, and basketball shoes, topping it off with sunglasses and a beanie as well.

"Konichiwa" the boy spat, smirking as he looked at the man quiver a bit, edging behind the counter. "What, you have to get yourself a gun? You still don't know whether I'm a threat or not!" The young boy whined, sarcastically, upset that the man was going for a gun rather than chatting first. The man in blue gulped and lunged for the drawer behind the counter but was cut off by a foot connecting with his stomach, knocking the air out of him and slamming him back against the wall and putting cracks up and down the wall where he hit. "I don't think so! Now, get out of here, or I will be forced to take action."

The man looked at the young boy and taunted, "What are you going to do? Are you going to shoot me or something?" His laughter ended as the boy just smirked himself.

"No, I won't shoot you" he whispered. The man looked a tad frightened, his body shrinking up against the wall. Then in one swift move, the boy jumped back, let the man drop slightly, and then planted the side of his foot directly to the side of the man's head, a cracking sound that signaled the snap of his spinal chord. A woman outside shrieked in terror as she saw the man crumple over out the corner of her eye in the dim light, and heard the snap. The boy cursed to himself, hearing sirens in the distance. He turned around and, in the dark, took off, slowly pushing past room after room until he reached the stairwell. There, he heard the voices of police shouting and arguing back and forth.

"Suspect is approximately two meters in height, clad in all black, charged with murder and manslaughter." The boy again cursed and started to pick up his pace, swiftly running up flight after flight of stairs. Suddenly, an officer shouted out to others, three stories below the boy, alerting the other officers he was climbing. The boy cursed a third time and rushed up the rest of the way to the second to top floor, looking quickly at the numbers on each door, then bursting through the door labeled '612' into a specific apartment. He pushed through the mess of furniture, nobody in the apartment, and worked his way to the back of the family room, moving a picture to the side, revealing a safe. The perpetrator was panicky, his paws shaking as he moved towards the safe, hearing the racket on the police radio in the distance. The boy took a claw out and started to work the lock up and down, listening to the noises his claw made as it clicked around in the keyhole. Satisfied he pulled his claw out and started to twist the knob. 23-12-31, and the safe opened, revealing a shining blue emerald, the size of a baseball, in wonderful condition.

The boy took a small case out of his coat and placed the emerald inside of it, but only after kissing it tenderly. He was soon yanked out of his fantasies, hearing men clamoring outside as they neared the top of the staircase. The boy quickly put the case in his coat and burst out the door, just as three officers reached the top of that flight of stairs. All three officers took their guns and pointed them at the boy, one mumbling into his radio for immediate backup.

"PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" one officer demanded. The boy, with his back to the officers, slowly placed his hands over his head, his fingers interlocking as he did so, time seeming to slow and prolong this simple act of arrest. His breathing was labored and his chest puffed out and squeezed in as he fought to steady it, obviously the adrenaline was building. All three of the officers were also panting heavily, but they were relieved that they had the young criminal in their control. "NOW, GET ON YOUR KNEES!" Again, the boy slowly fell to his knees, closing his eyes and breathing quickly. Two officers approached the boy with a set of handcuffs. Just as one officer reached the boy's hand with the cuffs, the boy connected his elbow to the man's groin, sending him to his knees in pain. The second man pulled out a gun and was about to shoot when the boy used the handcuffs to clock the man upside the head, knocking him over the edge of the railing. The officer fell fifteen stories to the ground, with a loud crackling at the end as his body splattered and bones cracked on impact. The third man crouched down and let loose his bullets. The boy ran up the last flight of stairs, closely followed by the third officer, calling for backup.

The Criminal burst out of the door and onto the rooftop of the building, seeing red and blue lights in the background. He started to take off, running across the roof of the building, the third officer now joined by four more. The officers smirked as the boy reached the edge of the building, readying their weapons in case he tried to return fire, but were surprised as he leapt off of the rooftop. The officers scrambled to the edge of the roof and looked over the ledge, just in time to see a dump truck speed off, filled with only sponge and padding, going approximately 70 mph, rocking back and forth.

"Suspect approaching Northbound on Main street at high speeds, pursue with caution" one officer instructed to the others in the chase. As the trash truck sped down the street, three vehicles appeared quickly behind it, catching up to it. The three cars suddenly screeched as a motorcycle burst out of the sponges and padding taking off. "SUSPECT HAS REVERSED DIRECTION! SUSPECT MOVING SOUTHBOUND ON MAIN STREET NOW BY MOTORCYCLE!" one of the officers in a squad car screamed into the radio. Two of the cars pulled back and turned around, giving chase to the boy on the motorcycle, the third following the dump truck.

The two officers struggled to keep up with the boy, who was weaving in and out of traffic, onto sidewalks, through alleys, eventually losing one in an overnight newspaper stand. The dump truck spun around and took off down a street heading east, never slowing down at all. The patrol car attempted to keep up with it, but trucks slammed into the side of the patrol car, letting the dump truck get away.

"DAMN IT!" the officer in the crashed car yelled, slamming his fists on the dashboard of the wrecked vehicle. "WE HAVE LOST SIGHT OF THE ACCOMPLICE!" the radio emitted. The officer driving the third patrol car desperately worked to stay right behind the boy, but he soon turned down a narrow alley, too narrow for a police car, but just wide enough for a motorcycle to go through. The officer watched helplessly as the boy took off on his motorcycle, with nobody and nothing to follow it. The last officer opened the door and bent over the edge of the car door, gawking in amazement. His partner joined the officer, off into the alley that the boy escaped down.

"I've never seen anything like him," the first officer stated bluntly. His partner just nodded in affirmation. The first officer, unsatisfied, turned to his partner and continued. "How old do you think that boy was? No more than sixteen human years, tops! Gangs have existed for hundreds of years, even the eldest and wisest are unable to get away with robberies like these." The officer's partner again nodded. The officer sighed and rested his head on the rim of the door. "How many more…?"

"I beg your pardon?" the partner officer said.

"How many more will happen?"

"How many more what?"

"ROBBERIES DUMBASS! This band of CHILDREN has robbed town after town, sending the dominating gangs crying to their mommies with their tails between their legs!" The officer then shakes his head in frustration. "Who on earth could stop them…?" leaving the question dangling, with an uneasy silence amongst the two, until the other officer decided it was time to head back to the station.


Japan, Outside Nagasaki, DAY 0, 23.46 hrs.

"Good going Shadow. This was a close one though," the girl who once stood in the shadows earlier and dialed the number said, talking to the boy who had taken the emerald. They were both riding now in a black viper. The girl was driving, with Shadow in the Passenger seat.

"Yeah, I suppose, but it was worth the risk, Cherish," he said, looking down at the case lying in his lap. He tossed it to and fro in his lap, admiring the casing, never opening it up, and almost fondling the edges of it, before placing it in the glove compartment, leaning back into the seat afterwards.

"And so are you" another girl said, popping out of the backseat to give the boy a quick peck on the cheek. The boy blushed, attempting to compose himself quickly thereafter by flipping his collar up. He desperately struggled not to show his affection, to keep a hard composure and unbending, but was still unable to hide his continually reddening face. She took her hands and curled them around the boy's chest from behind the seat, hugging him tightly, smirking, as he blushed even further. She nuzzled into his neck, listening to him stifle a purr, his carnal emotions giving in, leaning his head back some to give her more room to nuzzle.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed" a bubbly girl said, also joining the third as they peeked in between the two front seats to speak to the other two. She patted Shadow on the head, making him blush only further, so red that it looked as though he had heat stroke.

"Cut it out, Sakura" Shadow whined as the fourth girl came up and pecked him on the cheek as well, hinting that she wanted to go a bit more around the side of his face. Sakura and the third girl giggled together as Shadow sank lower and lower into his seat, suddenly ridden with extreme embarrassment. Cherish snickered as she saw this out of the corner of her eye, desperately trying to keep her eyes on the road, but failing miserably. After several minutes of continued torture and flirtatious affection, Cherish decided to butt in.

"Sakura, Krystal, leave him alone. He just evaded the fuzz in full force, and he doesn't need your little antagonizing…" Cherish chided, resulting in two pouts, but then adding in "for now." Both Sakura and Krystal snickered and nodded their heads, leaning back in the seat as the four continued in their speeding automobile through the winding streets of Japan.


Japan, Downtown Nagasaki, DAY 1, 1.21 hrs.

Snap

A camera took a picture of the lighted jewelry room, noting the little resistance that had taken place. The photographer carrying it turned and pointed his camera at the crumpled man lying up against the wall, blood now coating his upper body and still flowing from his nose, mouth, and ears. He stepped over some number markers and some advertisement papers, working to the back of the storeroom. The Photographer went through the two or three rooms and entered the staircase, now taking pictures of the bloody blob in the center, bones poking out of several parts of the body.

One man walked through the doorway behind the cameraman and made his way out to the front, confronting a man in a suit with a pad of paper. "The man in the back is Deputy J. S. Chang. Records show that a man going by the name of Bo Li owned this shop."

"How did you find this out?" the man with the pad asked.

"The initial Victim's brother stepped forward. He lives in the apartments up above."

"Any history of affiliations?" the man asked, never taking his eyes off of the carnage lying propped up against the wall.

"Well, his brother told me that he associates with a local gang going by the name of 'The Samurai'. It owns a number of shops in the area. Most of the members live in the apartments above this store."

"Do you suspect this is a gang affair?"

"No, not at all, a witness officer told me that the suspect was one like he had never seen. There was absolutely no description available, everything but bits of his face, and his arms were covered in black leather, satin, or some other material. He was a young boy, fast and professional."

The detective with the writing pad crouched on his knees for a second and looked at the cracks running up and down the wall. He wondered to himself how anyone so young could do such damage. He did it with such ease, such stealth, and such precision. The detective also questioned why anyone so young would do such things. "Do you have a location on the getaway vehicles?" he inquired, still never making eye contact.

"Yes, we have the location for both of them."

"And?" the detective prodded, hoping for some strand of clue or evidence to link up this invincible robber.

"And…they have both been abandoned, absolutely no evidence whatsoever, no fingerprints, only a few bits of hair" the man stated, handing the crouching man a bag containing a few strands of amber hair. The crouching man looked at it and let it roll back and forth on his hand. "Do you have any conclusions detective Kawasaki?" The detective shook his head.

"This is puzzling. I, too, have never seen anything like this in my life."

"Detective!" a man beckoned who was examining the man up against the wall. "Look at this!" The detective did as he was told and gasped. Part of the man's backbone was protruding from the skin, bent and cracked, almost threatening to snap in half.

"This kind of damage is something I've never seen." The detective closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to put things together. Two young teenagers walked in and picked up the victim carefully, setting him on the stretcher, then taking it slowly and carefully back outside, into the emergency vehicle meant to transport him to the morgue. Two elder medics walked in with a hammock-like sling, scooting the officer's mangled pile of flesh and bone onto it, and taking it back to the same vehicle.

"Detective, are you ok?" the man inquired, slouching a bit to get a glimpse of his expression.

"Yes, I'm just, disturbed. This sort of thing is barbaric. The dangerous thing is how perfect this seems." Mr. Kawasaki sighed and then got to his feet. "We will wait until the morning to continue. There is no evidence here at all; the only thing we have to go by is the testimony of the woman who called the police and the lab results after analyzing the two victims." He shook his head and turned to the door, walking out of the door and inserting his key into the car. The engine revved and Mr. Kawasaki rolled down the road towards his home, tired from this emergency wake up call, and thoroughly upset with the situation. He turned on the radio and listened to the late night news reports.

"And this evening, thirteen people lie dead, many more wounded from gang fights across the country. Most astounding was yet another shooting in downtown Tokyo, a shootout between the two competing gangs, harming more civilians than gang members. Representative Lang Chao said this earlier this evening at a press interview…"

"Things are becoming so out of hand that I'm not sure what to do. Every day someone dies because of gang war, and its often more than one person, typically an innocent civilian. I will do my best to bring the streets to order, but I'm afraid that only a miracle can save Japan now, having to deal with violent crimes almost every day…"

And oddly enough, detective Kawasaki's head played that phrase over and over; "only a miracle can save Japan now." He thought of the possibility, remembering the proverb his mother would teach him to use when classmates at school would harass him, 'Fight fire with Fire'. He knew it was crazy, but if somehow, someway, he could get whoever was responsible for tonight to cooperate, the problem of gangs in Japan could end, because everyone is aware, that all gang activity is centered on Tokyo. If the gangs could kill each other off in Tokyo, or better yet cooperate, the rest of Japan could take the hint and life would become peaceful again.

This boy was a threat, a threat that had broken down the chain of command and security of gangs all across Japan. He strutted into gang territories over and over again, leaving death and destruction in his path, getting away clean each time. But Tokyo was the strongest and closest knit. At his expense, a solution could be in sight.

He arrived at his house and took off his suit and pants preparing to go to bed with his wife, but then quickly stopped as he got another idea. He grabbed the phone book and walked off to the phone, dialing a number he found. He waited and sulked a bit when he heard the answering machine message. When the ranting of the message finished, Mr. Kawasaki spoke. "This is Detective Kawasaki of Precinct 11 and I would like to let you know that I think I may have an abstract solution to your problem. If you could get back to me as soon as possible, I would appreciate it."

Kawasaki hung up and sighed, resting his head in his hands. After a few minutes of silent sobbing he got up and went to bed with his wife, kissing her forehead and then crawling in next to her, thanking the gods that at least they were safe, for now…


Japan, Abandoned Parking Lot, DAY 1, 2.21 hrs.

"Sakura, come on, we need to sleep" Shadow whined as she lavished his neck with kisses.

"Seriously Sakura, hurry up, you've been kissing on him for like an hour already, and I want my turn, and I'm so sleepy" Rike said, stifling a yawn. Sakura did absolutely nothing but take one hand away from his chest, which she was currently rubbing and held out her hand, signaling 'five'. Rike sighed and laid her head back on the seat, rubbing Shadow's ankles and shins in her lap.

"Would you keep it down back there?" Cherish whined from the front.

"Yeah, please, honestly, if you're gonna do that stuff get a motel" Krystal added, in the Passenger seat.

"Listen, you got to have him last week, and we didn't complain, so I think you should be able to put up with us" Rike spouted spitefully.

"You have got to be kidding me," Cherish said as Shadow purred loudly, filling the entire car with his rumbling voice box.

"Ok, time's up Sakura" Rike said, tapping Sakura on her bare back.

"Uggh, ok, fine, but we are sleeping together; you don't get him for the rest of the night."

"Morning" Shadow said matter-of-factly, getting a snicker from Cherish and Krystal.

"Same difference" Rike said as she removed her shirt and lay herself down gracefully on Shadow, tracing her claws along his sides and playing with his bottom lip with her tongue. Sakura got tired of hearing the two exchange moans and sighs and purrs and took his tail and played with it as he swished it back and forth, giggling every so often as it kinked in her hand.

After an hour passes, Sakura pulls off Rike, and the two girls squeeze in, Sakura underneath Shadow, his head resting in her lap, and Rike on top of Shadow, her head resting on his chest.

'Ugh, these women, all they think about are love and intimacy' Shadow thought to himself. 'But, it isn't that bad, sure I have to put up with the bad taunting, but the good makes it worthwhile, not to mention being fought over' smirking at the end at how he seemed to be an addictive drug to his four partners in crime.

"What a way to celebrate a successful operation"

"Speaking of celebration, what do you plan to do for your birthday Shadow?" Cherish asked from up front. Shadow whined through his nose, and Sakura pushed Rike off of his lips, letting him take in some much needed oxygen. After gasping for the air, he looked over in Cherish's direction.

"Not sure" scoffing as he said so, imagining what sorts of things the girls were probably thinking of.

"Yes, but you deserve a happy little celebration yourself, maybe a bit of clubbin'?" Cherish suggested.

"Sure thing" Shadow said.

"The best of Japan's night clubs are in Tokyo, that's a bit of a ways though, it will take at least a day to get there" Sakura points out.

"Then that gives us two day's time to sight see there, doesn't it?" Rike says, moving her right hand to replace her left. Shadow groans and gives up, closing his eyes and trying to sleep through the overbearing attention. Shadow then purrs as he feels Sakura's two hands start to massage his two ears. "Aww, I love you're cute little purr" Rike says.

"Come on, let me go to sleep" Shadow whines.

"Have it your way" Rike says, relaxing against Shadow's firm body as he too relaxed, eventually both of them falling into slumber.

"Thank the gods" Cherish, sitting in the driver seat muttered and then closed her eyes, all five falling asleep as the clock ticked reading 4:00.