We Are the Men in Black

by Velgamidragon

AU inspired by DragonlordRynn's "Black". The Organization is secretly the Japanese branch of the Men in Black and APTX-4869 was intentionally made to shrink its victim. Kudo was shrunk for his own protection, and Sherry shrunk to protect Dr. Agasa and go into hiding. Vermouth was behaving suspiciously as of late, and Gin was determined to find out and expose her secret agenda.

8. Three Days with Heiji Hattori: Part 1

Author's Note: Brief warning, I don't know anything about guns or shooting, so please don't point them out because I don't care enough to make any corrections on that score. This chapter and the next are mostly filler chapters to help break up the plot a bit. Gin and Sherry are actually behaving nicely for once.

This and the next chapter take place along the timeline of "Three Days with Heiji Hattori", episode 479, but don't occur anywhere close to where the events of those episodes took place.

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Three Days with Heiji Hattori: Part 1

"Well, well, well, it looks like you're finally making some good progress on finding Kir, even without my help," Haibara said into the cellphone at her ear with a smug smirk on her face. "But I'm surprised at you, Gin. I didn't think it would take you this long to find out she got into an accident while being chased by the FBI and is now in a coma."

"I was exploring all potential options and I might have found her sooner if I'd been allowed to investigate her disappearance as soon as it occurred instead of several weeks later," Gin said bitterly.

"Now, Gin, there's no reason for you to be so grumpy about it. Vodka was only looking out for you and making sure you didn't run yourself ragged while you were still recovering," she said placatingly and sat herself down in her favorite chair by the TV. "Akai got the better of you this time, but now you're aware he's around and active, and you'll be better prepared for him at the next confrontation. Your lung has since healed up just fine and I'm sure you're back to chain smoking like you'll die if you don't. Your pride was the only thing that suffered a serious blow."

"What are you, my psychiatrist now?"

She quirked an eyebrow, still smiling. "I can be, but then you'd have to start paying me to psychoanalyze you and write up drug prescriptions."

"Sherry, you already do that for fun."

Haibara giggled behind her hand. "Hm, so I do. So, when are you going to start paying me again?"

"I'd rather pay you for something far more enjoyable than that."

Haibara felt herself blush a little, but kept it out of her voice. "Now, Gin, behave or I won't tell you the real reason I called this time."

"Hm? What's that?" he asked.

Haibara's smile widened and she reached up to twirl a stray strand of hair between her fingers. "Well, it just so happens that Heiji Hattori and his not-girlfriend childhood friend, Kazuha Toyama, will be visiting Kudo and Ran from Osaka this weekend and they made plans to go temple viewing while they're here. It'll be an all-day event, then Hattori and Toyama will return to Osaka early the next morning."

"Ohh? Do tell."

"You wouldn't be aware of this, but every time Kudo and Hattori end up together in the same place, a big case always occurs that requires the both of them to put their heads together to solve it and they always end up spending more time together than they intended. A planned half-day event quite easily manages to turn into a full-day or even a day-and-a-half long case," Haibara explained with an amused chuckle. "There's no way Kudo will find me with someone I'm not supposed to be with, if you can spare the time that is."

"Kir's in a hospital somewhere in a coma, but she's not going anywhere any time soon, now is she? I believe I can spare some time from the search for her." She could hear the smirk in his voice as he spoke. "So, shall I pick you up at your place Friday morning and expect another twenty-four hours in your company, Sherry?"

Haibara's heart soared like a balloon full of hot air. "Yes, and since I now know that the antidote will only last twenty-four hours and know exactly where Kudo will be and what he'll be doing, I won't take the drug until after you pick me up and I want to go out and do something that I never get to do as a kid."

"Well, there's a lot that you can't do as a kid because you're either not old enough, big enough, or mature enough. I already know one of the things we're doing, but that's a given, so are you going to give me a hint as to this other thing you want to do?"

"Actually… there are two things, but first: do you still have my Harley and my gear?"

"Your…?" he started in surprise and then groaned. "Sherry, you know how much I hate you riding that infernal thing."

"I'll take that as a 'yes', then. You like seeing me in my tight-skinned riding gear well enough."

"That's literally the only good thing about your love of motorcycles."

"Well, too bad, because I want to race you: you with your Porsche and me with my Harley, just like we did for my eighteenth birthday." A challenging glint came into her blue-green eyes. "Unless you've no longer got the nerve and don't want to risk your precious baby getting a scratch on her perfect, polished paint job."

If Gin were a bird, she was sure his feathers would be ruffled. "You're on, Sherry. Just don't expect me to go easy on you, love."

"I'd be insulted if you did," Haibara scoffed. "But apart from that and the long-night ravaging I'm expecting, there's one other thing I want to do. Don't worry, you'll like this one: I want you to take me to a shooting range. I haven't even held a gun since the day I first met Conan and I'm worried my skills will get rusty."

"I'm not," Gin said and she could tell he was smiling softly. "You may have already learned the basics of how to shoot by the time I got to you, but I taught you how to apply those skills in real time and helped improve your accuracy. If that's what you want though, I'd be more than happy to find a shooting range for you. Want me to find the type I first taught you in?"

Haibara felt a thrill of excitement and nodded vigorously. "Yes, definitely," she said. "Would you mind picking me up around 10 o'clock on Friday?"

"It would be my pleasure, Sherry. I'll see you on Friday then. In the meantime, stay safe."

"You too, Gin. I love you, bye."

"Bye, Sherry."

She ended the call and as soon as she did, she nearly squealed with delight and spun around in a circle hugging herself tightly. She was going on a date, a real date, for the first time in months and she would get to see Gin as herself again! As Shiho Miyano, not Ai Haibara! It was pure luck that she found out from Kudo that Hattori was coming to visit and spend the whole day with him and his timing could not have been more perfect! Oh, but she would have to go out and buy a new outfit to wear for the date. The red dress she first arrived in was still the only thing she had that would fit her as Shiho Miyano, and that just wouldn't do. She still loved the fancy dress Gin had gotten for her and let her wear the last time she'd been with him, but she needed something more casual for this particular date. Well, there was no rush. She had plenty of time to go shopping and find something that suited both her plans for the day and her impeccable sense of style.

()()()()()

"Hey, guys, does Ai seem happier than usual lately?" Ayumi asked her friends Mitsuhiko and Genta after they had parted ways from Haibara and Conan.

"She does, doesn't she?" Mitsuhiko said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, she didn't scold me like she usually does when I got eel rice all over my shirt again today," Genta exclaimed.

"I wonder what happened to put her in such a good mood," Ayumi said aloud, looking skyward.

"Conan's been in a good mood all this week too," Mitsuhiko pointed out, looking suddenly worried. "Do you think that's somehow related to Haibara?"

"No way!" Ayumi said so forcefully, Mitsuhiko and Genta both took a frightened step back from the tiny girl. "I noticed that about Conan too, so I asked him. He said that Heiji and Kazuha were coming to visit this Friday and they were all going temple-viewing."

"Well, it looks like that's not it," Genta said with an annoyed huff.

"That's true…" Mitsuhiko said with a relieved sigh. "But we do have a long weekend since we don't have school on Friday this week. Maybe she made plans too?"

"Keh, plans without us? We're her friends, aren't we? What could she be doing that doesn't involve us this weekend?" Genta said skeptically.

"Genta, you make it sound like Ai's not allowed to be having fun unless she's with us," Ayumi laughed.

"You sure do," Mitsuhiko agreed with a smile. "But this is good, right? Remember when Haibara first transferred into our class? She was so serious, it seemed like she'd never had fun in her life, and now look at her!"

"Yeah, let's have her tell us what she does over the weekend when we go back to school on Monday," Genta suggested.

"Yeah!" Mitsuhiko and Ayumi agreed with enthusiastic shouts.

()()()()()

Friday morning had arrived crisp and bright and just like the last time she'd gone out with Gin, Haibara packed a bag of child-sized clothes, which also included the one adult-sized set that she would be wearing during her date today, and left the house to stand at the corner street where Gin would pick her up. She kept glancing down both ends of the street for any sign of the black Porsche and checking her watch only to find maybe a minute had passed since she last looked. It was incredibly frustrating and it didn't help that she was feeling sick. Of course, the only reason for that was due to the drug she'd taken about an hour ago to induce cold-like symptoms, otherwise the prototype antidote wouldn't work. At least the symptoms would be gone when she transformed back into an adult. Haibara was so preoccupied, she somehow completely missed seeing Gin's car turn onto the street, but there was no missing either the engine's distinctive noise or the two short horn honks. Her face broke into an excited grin and she waved at him.

He gave her a quick wave back, but didn't take his hands off the wheel again until he'd stopped the car right in front of her and got out. "Sherry," he said fondly as he knelt down in front of her.

It was good that he did. She didn't have to humiliate herself by having him demand to pick her up like a needy child in order to hug him properly. However, just as she moved to do so, she halted and stared at his face with wide, surprised eyes. "Gin, what happened?"

His own eyes widened slightly. "What?"

She pointed. "That new scar across your left cheek, how did you get it?"

His expression instantly changed from startled to annoyed. "Oh, that. I forgot you haven't seen me since I got it. Akai nicked me with a sniper round from 700 yards away in our most recent encounter with him the same day Kir was captured. I nearly lost my eye instead."

"Oh…" she breathed, staring thoughtfully at the new scar for a second more before she threw her arms around his neck and his own came around and engulfed her small body.

"I'm glad you came," she sighed happily.

"It's good to see you too, Sherry," he murmured into her ear then drew back to gaze down at her. "Come on. Let's get you back to your normal self so the real date can begin."

"Alright, but I have to ask you to take me somewhere relatively deserted before I can do that. I need to be able to change into adult clothes before I take the antidote, otherwise I'll ruin the clothes I'm wearing now," Haibara explained.

Gin smirked and stood tall and impressive in his black long-coat. "I think I can manage something like that. Do you prefer the back seat or the passenger seat?"

Haibara moved forward and pulled on the lever that would move the driver's seat forward and allow a person enough room to be able to slip into the back. "I'll have more room back here for the transformation, but don't worry…" She shot him a playful smirk just before she climbed into the back. "I'll move back into the front to keep you company once I'm an adult again."

And with that, Haibara finished getting into the car and Gin returned the front seat to its previous position before getting in himself. She waited until she heard the engine turnover and saw the scenery outside begin to move before delving into her clothes bag.

"Sherry, is that another Fusae designer bag? How many of those do you have now?" Gin asked in astonishment.

Haibara blushed and scowled at the back of his head. "Shut up and keep your eyes on the road. You're driving."

"Seriously, Sherry, I think you had at least four when you left and I still don't know why you even had that many, so what could you possibly need another one for? Or are you just collecting them as a new hobby of yours?"

"You're a man, you wouldn't understand," she muttered evasively, still blushing as she finished pulling out the clothes she would be changing into.

She peeked out the side window, but didn't see any other traffic on the road, and then glanced back at Gin, but his eyes were still focused on the road. Feeling ridiculous and a little annoyed at herself for being so hesitant, she exhaled sharply and pulled her shirt off. She had the body of a child and nobody could see her, but there was no reason for her to be so embarrassed about being naked in the first place. She hadn't been this shy about her body since… since Gin first made love to her three years ago, and her cheeks flushed an even darker red at the memory as she hooked the bra together at the back. It hung loose now, but she'd fill out into it once she was back in her adult body. Then she slipped on the new shirt she'd bought: a white and dark gray, horizontal-striped, long-sleeved shirt. Naturally, she was swimming in it, but she pulled up the sleeves until her hands were free and took off both her shorts and underwear. She put on the bigger underwear and khaki-colored capris at the same time because there was no way they were going to stay on at this size without holding them up.

"Alright, Sherry, does this place look deserted enough for you?" Gin asked suddenly.

She startled and looked around. They appeared to be at some kind of empty construction lot for a new building and she nodded. "Yes, this will do. You can park here."

No sooner said than done, Gin killed the engine and half-turned to face her. He took one look at the too-large clothes she had put on and arched an eyebrow. "So, if you didn't want a deserted place to change clothes, why'd you have me bring you here?"

From within her bag, she fished around for a bit until her hand finally closed around a plastic bottle and pulled it out for Gin to see. The bottle was labeled as medicine, but the contents were actually the white-capsuled APTX-4869 antidote. She held it up and Gin's eyes obediently fixed upon it, his brow furrowing slightly.

"You've seen me go through the transformation process from Shiho to Haibara twice now," she said in a low, solemn voice. "Going the other way isn't any better and I don't want to distract you while you're driving."

His face contorted and worry flickered briefly in those green eyes of his. "Sherry-"

"-Don't," she cut him off sharply. "It won't help."

She opened the lid of the medicine bottle and shook one of the capsules into her open palm. The antidote in hand, she took just enough time to reseal the medicine bottle and shove it back into her bag before forcing the white capsule down her throat. Five seconds of silence, then the familiar bone-shattering explosion wracked her tiny body. She screamed and clutched at her chest frantically, her heart being the starting point of her agony. She had been through this transformation process five times already, but it didn't make going through it this time any easier to bear. She closed her eyes both because of the pain and to block out Gin's horrified gaze. The pulsing spasms grew more frequent and more intense, along with the squeezing tightness that compressed her tighter still. Just as she thought she could no longer bear it and would surely crack, the pressure snapped back and she suddenly expanded, the stretching, ripping sensation of every muscle, bone, ligament, tendon, and organ in her body forcing pained tears to her eyes. It stopped as suddenly as it had begun, mercifully over, and all that was left was the pain still lingering in her body. She wearily noted that she'd sprawled across the entire back seat and was panting heavily. At least it was mercifully quick, unlike the transformation back to childhood that she knew awaited her in about twenty-four hours.

"Shiho! Shiho, talk to me!"

Who was shout-? A hand suddenly gripped her shoulder tightly- Ohh right, Gin was here. As she felt herself starting to be turned over onto her side, she finished rolling all the way over onto her back and smiled weakly up at Gin. His green irises were tiny pinpricks of fear and he looked just as pale and shaky as he did the first night he watched her shrink. It seemed watching her transformations didn't get any easier for him either. She reached out and cupped his cheek with her right hand, her thumb brushing over the new scar there.

"There's no need to look at me like that. I'm okay now," she said between breaths.

Gin sighed heavily and with the hand still holding onto her shoulder, he pulled her up into a sitting position. His other hand drew a handkerchief out of his left pocket and he began dabbing the sweat off her face.

"Gin, come on-" she protested with a slight laugh.

"-Stay still." His voice was cold and sharp and his expression was inscrutable. Sherry fell silent at once, letting him work. After he finished, he put the cloth away and caught the back of her head at the nape of her neck with his large hand. He brought her close and she thought he might kiss her, but instead, he pressed his forehead against hers and simply held her. "I don't like seeing you in pain like that," he said eventually, his breath warm on her face.

She nodded slightly, brushing his nose with hers as she did so. "I know," she admitted just as quietly. Then… "You climbed into the back?"

Gin sniffed in mild amusement. "Had to, didn't I?"

"No."

"Wanted to then," he amended, and he was definitely smiling now that she no longer looked, sounded, or felt like she was dying.

Sherry chuckled and with her hand still laying upon Gin's face, she tilted her head back a notch and gently kissed those thin, pale lips of his. He returned hers just as leisurely, if not a bit more demanding per his personality. There was no sense of urgency in their kiss nor any hint of the sexual tension that had consumed them with the first kiss of their previous reunion. There was only tender affection to be found. Admittedly, the lingering pain and horror of the recent transformation may have played a big part in killing any immediate desire to act upon their more primal urges.

Sherry pulled back after a while and offered her lover a sly smile. "Now that I'm an adult again, isn't there a shooting range you're supposed to be taking me to?" she asked.

"At least you bounce back quickly," he muttered and turned around to climb back into the driver's seat. "It'll take us over two hours to get to the place I found. It's far from here, but closer to the location where we'll be racing later, so I hope you don't mind."

"No, no, I don't mind at all," she said somewhat distractedly. While there was no doubt she had filled out into her clothes after transforming, she still had to make a few adjustments for them to fit comfortably on her body.

After that was done, she climbed through the middle and slid down into the passenger's seat next to Gin. He eyed her wardrobe choice appreciatively. "You look nice, though I'm somewhat surprised at the lack of red."

Sherry shrugged and reached into the back for her clothes bag to retrieve the shoes she would be wearing: white loafers. "This was what I felt like this time. Besides, my hair should have enough natural red in it to satisfy your fascination with the color. May I assume my Harley was brought near the racing location as well?" she asked as Gin drove out of the empty construction lot.

"Yes, I had Vodka drive that evil contraption of yours, so it's ready and waiting, and in good shape."

"'Evil' is a strong word," she said, giving Gin a reproachful look.

In response, Gin gave her a side-eye. "Kir's in a coma right now because she got into an accident with a motorcycle, remember?"

Sherry waved it off. "She was being chased by the FBI, that's a special circumstance."

"Sherry," he said in a warning tone.

"Gin, I know how to drive it and I'm not reckless!" she groaned. "Do you think I don't know how much more dangerous it is for motorcyclists on the road compared to cars? I heard it all from Akemi before she even let me get the bike!"

Gin didn't appear to react to her outburst, but he didn't say anything either, at least not immediately. When he spoke again, his tone was unusually somber. "I have to worry about you, Sherry, even more so since your sister's passing. Do you remember how she felt about my feelings towards you? Akemi didn't approve of my interest because you were so young at the time and I was so much older than you."

Sherry nodded. "I remember. She had a fit when I told her the first time you kissed me. I didn't realize she'd react so badly, so I started getting sneaky and didn't tell her anything about my relationship with you after that."

"You told her?! No wonder she found out so fast!" he exclaimed in astonishment. "She was much kinder to you than she was to me. She just about had a conniption when she finally cornered me about seducing her sweet, innocent, naïve baby sister, and that was just for a kiss. She was a terror when she discovered I had started sleeping with you. To this day, I still have no idea how she found out so quickly."

"Akemi didn't mention anything to me about it!" Sherry said, surprised to hear this.

Unfortunately, she could easily think of how Akemi made that discovery without her telling. Back then, Akemi's and Akai's relationship had been very serious at the time, and Sherry may have borrowed a few of her sister's birth control pills until she had her own, but she wasn't going to tell Gin that. It wasn't like it mattered anymore anyway…

"Well, that's the only time I was ever legitimately afraid of your sister," Gin sighed morosely. "If I was going to go that far with you, I had to be serious about wanting a real relationship with you, and not just using you for sex, because you really were too young to know better. Akemi promised a very slow, painful death for me if I failed to treat you right or ever broke your heart. Your sister entrusted me with your safety and well-being, and I never once fell short of her expectations where you were concerned. Even now, I feel that if I let you get hurt under my care, I would be letting her down from beyond the grave."

Sherry looked down at her lap, lost in thought. Akemi and Gin had been friends before she'd even met the man and she knew that friendship had been strained due to Akemi's dislike for his pursuit of her, but she had no idea how perceptive Akemi had been of everything going on or how protective she'd been of her.

"I miss her," she said quietly after a bit.

He didn't say anything, but his right hand reached over and squeezed her knee. He missed her too.

None of the other topics they discussed in the car on the way to the shooting range were nearly as heavy-hearted as the one about Akemi had been. They even got into an argument about soccer teams: "What do you mean you support Big Osaka? You've never cared about soccer before! Don't tell me it's because of that new player, Ryuusuke Higo!"

While a 2.5-hour drive wasn't a short one, it had at least been tolerable, even somewhat pleasant given her present company. The shooting range Gin had apparently found was in the mountains just outside the local town. Gin stopped the car and she got out, gazing at the outside of the building with a skeptical expression. The building looked old and was starting to show signs of wear on the roof and walls in particular. One of the letters in the building's name sign was missing the outer cover. Despite the careworn appearance, there were still a hefty number of cars in the parking lot.

"It doesn't look all that impressive on the outside, does it?" she commented.

"Well, you asked for me to find one similar to where I first took you and I'm sure you remember what kind of place that was," Gin said with a sly smirk and pulled out a large black briefcase that had been hiding under his seat.

Sherry arched her eyebrow and gave him a smirk of her own. "My dear Gin, you're not going to be gambling, are you?" she cooed.

He placed the briefcase on the roof of the car and leaned on it himself. "Is that not the reason you specifically wanted me to find a place like last time? I wasn't able to participate in the gambling going on then because I was actually teaching you how to shoot properly, but now, you want to kick ass, take names, and win some easy money while doing so. Am I wrong?"

She shook her head happily. "No, you're correct, as usual. Since first impressions and appearances are everything, how do you recommend we enter in there in such a way that I get a strong odds difference against me and we make the most of your money?"

Gin's brow furrowed in concentration as he stared at her. Silently, he beckoned her to come around the car to where he was standing and she did so. His eyes scrutinized her whole figure with the objective detachment of an officer taking in information and strategizing how to make the best use of it.

Slowly, the crease of his brow eased up until it vanished behind his thick bangs. "I know what we'll do, Sherry," he said at last.

He approached her and leaned down to whisper in her ear what the plan was. She listened, occasionally nodding, and her expression slowly brightened with excitement.

After he finished describing the plan, he pulled back slightly and met her eyes. "Understood?"

"Yes, sir," she said with a cheeky smile. "I can't wait to put it into action."

"Good, and while we're in there, I'll be Kenzo Saya and you'll-"

"-I'll be Elena Shinran," she said preemptively.

Gin raised an eyebrow. "Your mother's name and the combined first names of Mr. Kudo and Miss. Mouri?"

"Don't judge me. You picked Pisco's first name for yours," she said with a deadpan glare.

Gin ignored her retort. "Well, shall we be on our way, Sherry?"

"Give me a moment to get in-character. I'm not used to playing a meek, defenseless little damsel in distress."

"No, I don't think anybody has ever used those words to describe you," he snickered.

Sherry tuned everything out and focused only on the persona she wanted to adopt: defensive, a bit snappy, weak, scared, defeated. It was almost the exact opposite of how she perceived herself and though she was a little bit nervous, she was more intrigued by the idea of playing someone different. No wonder Gin enjoyed pretending to be a dangerous assassin so much.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road," she said at last, a determined look in her blue-green eyes.

()()()()()

"Oi, oi, Ume, you're not usually this bad a shot. You're not letting me win on purpose, are you?"

The man being addressed, Ume Tatsuya, glanced over at his companion and best friend since high school, Shiro Wada, and shrugged indifferently. "I told you before you even picked me up that I didn't feel like coming."

Wada harrumphed and activated the safety lock on the semi-automatic pistol he was holding before setting it down. Wada was a good deal taller than him, but not nearly as broad. Despite being nearly twenty-five now, he still had the scrawny, gangly look of your average teenage boy, yet he was deceptively strong for his appearance. "And I told you when I came that you can't spend the rest of your life in your apartment moping about that damn woman," Wada said pointedly. "You're too soft, I've said it a million times already, and I also say you're well shot of her. You don't need a controlling bitch like her in your life."

"Don't talk about Hitomi like that!" Tatsuya snapped automatically.

Wada rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll wait 'til you're finally over her before I start insulting her to your face. Come ooon, Ume, you have a gun – you can vent everything out without actually killing anyone. Well, I'm out, so I'm gonna go buy us some more magazines. You can wait here if you'd like."

"No, I'll come," Tatsuya said. He activated the safety on his own pistol before hurrying after his friend.

He had just joined Wada at the counter, when the door opened and two people came in, a man and a woman. He only intended to give them a quick glance, but he found his eyes riveted on the pair. The man, who walked just ahead of the woman, was dressed almost entirely in black from his hat to the long-coat to his shoes and he carried a large black briefcase in his left hand. He was tall, much taller than Wada even, and he could have easily been 185 cm tall. His hair was like nothing he'd ever seen on another man before. It was long and straight, reaching all the way down to the man's thighs and it was a very light blond, nearly silver. It didn't even look like it had been dyed or bleached that pale. Between his height and his hair, there was no way this man wasn't mixed-race. He couldn't be completely foreign because when Tatsuya finally saw his eyes, barely visible behind long, thick bangs, their shape was Japanese even though their color was dark green. As soon as he saw them though, he wished he didn't know what this man's eyes looked like. They were bottomless, unfeeling, icy chasms that promised death to any who gazed into them. Tatsuya had never given it a thought before, but he was certain that if demons ever walked among mankind and took on a human form, they would look like this man did. He was so distracted by the demon man's arrival that he didn't even realize he was coming right over to the counter where he and Wada were both standing.

"Shiro, hurry up and let's get back!" he whispered desperately under his breath.

"Don't lose your nerve, Ume!" Wada hissed back, but his own fear of this black-clothed menace betrayed him in his voice. "B-Besides, he's going to the other guy working the counter. We're fine."

He turned back to finish buying the extra magazines for their weapons, leaving Tatsuya to stare in stupefied horror as the man in black approached the other counter worker just to the left of where they were standing. The employee gulped and stammered. "W-Welcome, how m-may I help you today, sir?" Tatsuya felt so sorry for the poor man.

The man in black didn't answer, but stared up at the board on the back wall instead. After a while, his eyes narrowed and a smirk tweaked the corner of his mouth. A dreadful shudder ran down Tatsuya's spine at the sight.

"You're in luck, Elena," he said. His voice was deep and rough, and his speech had an odd rhythmic cadence to it that might have been described as soothing if it didn't sound as black as sin. He cocked his head to the side and the smirk had widened into a full-on grin. A predator's smile. "They have the Smith & Wesson Model 5906 that you so prefer."

Tatsuya had been so narrowly-focused on the green-eyed demon that he completely forgot that he hadn't come into the building alone. The woman was standing to the right of the man in black and slightly behind him. Now that he could see her up close, he realized how young she looked, like a girl fresh out of high school or maybe even still in her third year. She was slightly taller than the average Japanese woman, but still dwarfed by the impressive height of the man next to her. Her clothes were nothing eye-catching: just a white and dark gray horizontal-striped long-sleeve shirt and khaki-colored capris, but her hair more than made up for her plain clothing choice. It was a wavy bob cut, a direct contrast to her companion's long locks, and a unique, gorgeous brownish-red color. He'd never seen anything like it before and it seemed to be her natural hair color. Or at least the roots of her hair didn't indicate otherwise. Was she also mixed-race? She must be; Elena wasn't a Japanese name, but she didn't look much like a foreigner. The color of her eyes was a strange greenish-blue color and Tatsuya found himself staring avidly at her. She was incredibly beautiful, but her expression seemed so… closed off… like there was nothing residing behind those greenish-blue eyes.

At being addressed by the man in black, she looked at the board that he had been reading from and quirked an eyebrow. "So they do," she said. Tatsuya found himself somewhat taken aback. Her voice was cold and sharp, and just as emotionless as her expression. Was that normal for a girl her age? "And how much is it going to cost me for you to actually let me use my preferred weapon of choice, Saya?" Her tone was still very dry and deadpan, but there was no mistaking the bitter snap that had edged its way in at the end. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. This would not end well.

It happened so fast, he didn't even see really see it, despite standing right next to the two. One minute, the man and woman were at a standstill next to each other. The next, the young woman was shoved forcefully against the counter with the tall man's right arm pressing against the back of her shoulders pinning her to the counter and his left hand clenched tightly around her left wrist pulling her arm straight back. The black briefcase clattered loudly to the ground when it fell. The young woman cried out in terrible agony and Tatsuya found himself physically torn between rushing to her aide and running as far away as possible in the opposite direction. His body compromised between his two desires by not moving at all.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, I won't do it again!" she whimpered frantically.

The man in black gave a soft sigh. "You don't even know what you're apologizing for, do you, Elena?" He pushed on her left shoulder joint.

"Ahh! Please, let go! You're going to dislocate my shoulder!" she screamed anew.

"Remember, that's Mr. Saya to you, my dear. I do like your spirit, but your debt has not even been half-paid yet, so you could stand to be a little more respectful to the man whose money allowed you to save your sister's life," he said in low, even tones. "But regarding your question about how much it will cost you to use your preferred weapon, since this is a gun you know well and are comfortable with, I expect you to bring in double- no, triple your normal quota: 150,000 yen."

A shocked gasp escaped her. "150,000?! But that's impossible! I'm not skilled enough to get good odds and win that much. Please, Mr. Saya- Ahhhh!" Her desperate plea was cut off by another pained outcry as Saya pulled her left arm up even higher.

"Well, it doesn't matter to me either way, but it's truly for your own good, Elena. The longer it takes you to pay me back, the longer you remain in my employ, and I was under the impression you wanted nothing to do with me." Those green eyes glittered maliciously and the feral grin from earlier returned. "Unless, perhaps, you've changed your mind and would now be willing to accept my alternative offer?" he continued, his voice even lower and more dangerous still. "You'll pay off your debt much faster that way, I assure you."

Tatsuya had no idea how she managed to do it, with the amount of pressure being applied to her arm and shoulder, or why she chose to, but Elena glanced backward over her shoulder at Saya with such fire burning in her eyes, it was a wonder that Saya wasn't scorched in an instant. "I stand by my decision when you first proposed it to me. My answer has not changed," she said clearly, without even a hint of a tremor in her voice despite the incredible pain she must have been in.

Saya shrugged his shoulders, but his grin remained as a wicked smirk. "Have it your way then, but if you fail to make your quota today…" He leaned forward over her body and whispered directly into her ear.

Tatsuya was standing fairly close, but still nowhere close enough for him to hear what that awful man was saying to her. However, he would have to be blind to miss the paralyzed, fear-stricken expression that came over her face and the satisfied expression on his when he pulled back and finally released her. Her left arm snapped around to her front like a rubber band and she backed away from the counter and Saya, holding her shoulder with her right hand.

A finger tapped him on the shoulder. "Ume." He jumped in his skin and whirled around, but found only Wada staring at him in concern. "Hey, man, I got the new magazines. Let's go," Wada said in a quiet whisper and started walking back to the shooting range.

Tatsuya quickly followed after him. He didn't look back until he was safely at his station, and he took another look at the girl, Elena. She hadn't moved any further away and she was still holding onto her left shoulder. It must have hurt like hell.

"That's messed up," Wada said heavily.

Tatsuya's brown eyes flew from the auburn-haired woman to his friend. "What is?" he asked, thinking he knew what Wada was referring to.

Wada was examining the new magazines and reloading one of them into the pistol. "That. What we just witnessed back there. I don't know how she managed to find someone like him, but that girl's in major trouble. You saw his eyes too, didn't you?" Tatsuya nodded silently and Wada continued. "Maybe she does owe him money, but you don't get eyes like that just from being a sleazy loan shark. No, if I were to guess, I'd say he's a seasoned murderer. Maybe even a professional assassin."

"A what?" Tatsuya gasped. His mouth fell open in shock.

Wada gave him a deadpan look. "Why are you so surprised? You saw how quickly he moved to put her in place when she talked back to him and he was clearly enjoying seeing her in pain." He sighed again and shook his head. "No girl deserves to get mixed up with a guy like that, not even your former girlfriend, Hitomi."

Tatsuya couldn't talk to him about it anymore because that was the moment Wada decided to put on the ear protectors and eye shield and then undid the safety on the pistol, ready to continue shooting. Tatsuya turned back to his own station and fingered the new magazine cartridges absent-mindedly. His thoughts were entirely consumed by the auburn-haired young woman and the violent manhandling he'd just witnessed. Wada was right. It was messed up. No woman- no person should ever be treated that way, so why had he just stood there and let it happen? Wada often accused him of being soft-hearted, but that didn't make him a pushover. On the contrary, he'd gotten himself into plenty of trouble in middle and high school for calling people out on their mistreatment of others. Once in high school, Wada had always been the one to bail him out when he got in over his head, but he had nobody to help him in middle school, yet, he'd done it anyway. What made this time different? This Saya person was just another bully mistreating a woman. Except that this bully was about 27 cm taller than him and could probably snap him and Wada in half with minimal effort and suffer no compunctions about doing so. Okay, so maybe he recognized that taking on Saya as he had done with others in the past was way beyond his or Wada's league, but it still didn't sit right with him. There must be something he could do to get Elena out of that situation.

Unable to help himself, he looked back over his shoulder and was startled to see her walking into the shooting range. She was alone; Saya seemed to have wandered off to the gambling ring. Their eyes met for the briefest instant and he quickly averted his eyes, pretending to be checking that his pistol was assembled correctly. He heard her walk past him and Wada, and he chanced a glance at her retreating back. She stopped at an open station second from the far left and he watched her discretely from around Wada's tree-like figure. From what he could see at this distance, he could tell she knew what she was doing. That was not surprising if the conversation he'd overheard between her and Saya was any indication. This was apparently not her first time handling guns. He noticed she wasn't holding her shoulder anymore and was surprised that her left arm movements weren't stiff. Was she just that good at masking the amount of pain she was in? He seriously doubted it didn't hurt anymore.

Incensed beyond belief, Tatsuya left his booth and made his way outside the shooting range to the mini bar just to the right of the counter. "Excuse me, sir, but could I have a small bag of ice?" he asked of the bartender.

The bartender looked at him questioningly, but nodded. "Yeah, sure, just hold on a moment."

"Thank you, sir," Tatsuya said, and the bartender disappeared into the back. Tatsuya didn't have to wait long. The bartender came back shortly after with a small plastic bag full of ice and wrapped up in a red cloth.

"Here you go, sir. I won't charge you for the ice, but I expect you to return the cloth once you're done," said the bartender.

"Yes, sir. Thank you so much," Tatsuya said gratefully as he accepted the bag and walked back into the shooting range.

Part of him desperately wished that the back wall of the shooting range wasn't made of see-through glass. There was no escaping Saya seeing him approach Elena, for it would be foolish of him to think the man in black wouldn't be watching her closely, but his fear of the repercussions was less than his concern for the girl's well-being. He hesitated for a brief moment, just enough to gather his courage (or recklessness as Wada called it) and strode past his own booth and Wada's. He didn't stop until he was standing right outside hers.

"Um, excuse me…"

That was all he'd managed to say when she whipped around and fixed him with a piercing stare. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"I… I just wanted to give you this ice… for your shoulder, since…" he trailed off hesitantly.

She gave a derisive sniff and a smirk eerily similar to Saya's graced her lips. "Oh, yes, you had a front row seat to that little power display of Saya's, didn't you?"

"Ah, well, I… was that what it was?" he stammered meekly.

A mirthless laugh escaped her. "Quite so. Saya gets a huge kick out of ordering me around and forcing me to submit to him, but I'm used to it by now."

"It's not something you should have to get used to," he said angrily and shoved the bag of ice into her hands. "Nobody should be hurt like that by another person."

At first, she stared at the red-wrapped bag of ice in her hands with wide-eyed wonder like she'd never seen such a thing before, but then turned her face up to him again. Her expression was guarded once more and he could discern nothing of her emotions. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Ume Tatsuya," he answered at once. "And you are…?"

"Elena Shinran. And that's Miss. Shinran to you," she said sharply, echoing Saya's own words back to her from earlier. Did she even realize how much of his mannerisms she was emulating? He doubted it was done consciously.

"Yes, Miss. Shinran," Tatsuya agreed.

Her guarded expression gave way to outright suspicion. "Alright then, Mr. Tatsuya, what do you want?"

"Eh?"

"You don't know me. This is the first time we've even met, yet you're giving me ice for my injured shoulder, so what are you after?"

"Uh, nothing. I'm not after anything, I swear," Tatsuya said quickly, waving his arms hands in front of him.

"You have to be," Shinran insisted, taking a step forward. "You can't honestly expect me to believe you're giving me this ice simply out of the kindness of your heart!"

"Er, why not?" he asked.

She gaped at him dumbstruck. "W-Why not?" She repeated and shook her head vigorously, her suspicious expression returning in full force. "Because it just isn't done! Men don't do things for women without expecting something in return, so why are you giving me this?!"

Now it was Tatsuya's turn to gape at her. Did Shinran honestly believe that? Had she never been treated well by men in her entire life? Not all of her feelings could be attributed solely due to Saya's presence.

"Because it's the right thing to do," he said simply.

Slowly, the creases in her brow began to fade away and smooth out the longer she stared at him. Her greenish-blue eyes dropped to the bag of ice still in her hands and she pressed it against the top of her left shoulder joint. "Thank you," she muttered quietly. There was a pinkish tinge in her cheeks that had definitely not been there before. "But you're an odd man, Mr. Tatsuya."

Tatsuya rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh, you're welcome. I'd like to think that being nice to other people is more normal than you apparently believe it is though."

Shinran shook her head twice. "Not in my world, at least not among men."

"And what about women?"

It was like somebody had flipped a switch. Her eyes suddenly shimmered like the morning sea and her smile was wide and full, a genuinely happy expression. She looked… cute! "My older sister," she said immediately. "Our parents died in a fire when I was little, so my sister ended up doing most of the work of raising me. Do you know, she was actually the one who taught me how to use a gun in case I was ever in a bad situation all alone and needed to defend myself." She patted the barrel of the gun proudly with her free left hand.

Tatsuya smiled slightly. "You really love your sister, don't you?"

Shinran nodded shyly. "She's the kindest, gentlest, most forgiving, and wonderful person I've ever known. There's not a star in the sky that shines brighter than her." Her warm expression vanished as suddenly as it appeared. "And I'll do whatever I have to to free us both from Saya's grasp."

"Earlier, he said something about his money saving your sister's life?" he asked tentatively.

She nodded again, just one sharp incline of her head. "Yes, she got into a bad car accident a while ago. The car was completely totaled, but she had to have multiple surgeries for bone repairs, organ transplants, blood transfusions, and skin grafts. It was too expensive for me to pay, even with my sister's money available to me, but I was getting desperate. She was my only family and I was terrified I would lose her and be left all alone. It was around that time that Saya found me. I don't know how he found out about my situation or why he sought me out. Maybe he knew I wouldn't be able to refuse him. I was scared. I knew that borrowing money from him would be dangerous, but the fear of losing my sister was more powerful than my common sense, so I accepted what he was offering. It's been eight months now. My sister has long since recovered from her various surgeries and I'm still paying back the original amount of money I borrowed from him, plus the interest."

"And you're paying him back with the money he makes gambling on your shooting ability," Tatsuya exclaimed in realization.

Shinran sighed heavily. "Yes. I've always been able to make my quota before, but now that it's been tripled…" Her left hand clenched tightly over her pistol's guard. He could see her shaking. "The S&W 5906 may have been what I was first taught to use, but I'm not that much better with it compared to other pistols. I don't honestly see how I'll be able to make 150,000 yen today."

Her head was bent down, but she wasn't looking at anything in particular. He leaned sideways, trying to get a better view of her expression. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, staring blankly ahead and hitherto lost in her own personal world of horrors.

Maybe it was because he'd seen a glimpse of the thick, impenetrable walls around this young woman's heart that seeing her so deeply terrified caused his tongue to loosen, but Tatsuya had no idea what truly caused him to ask the question that fell unbidden from his lips, "Did he threaten you? If you don't make that 150,000 yen today?"

She glanced at him, then quickly averted her eyes. "Not… my life…" she admitted slowly.

Tatsuya understood without further clarification and it infuriated him. How dare that man- that monster manipulate this young woman as if she was just some toy for him use and play with as he chose, break on a whim, and discard once it ceased to entertain him?! "Can I-?"

"-Even if you had that much on you, Saya would never accept it. I wouldn't have worked for it after all. Your money would only help if you took the opposing side of his bet and you lost," Shinran said with a bitter smile, guessing his thoughts before he'd even finished speaking. She removed the ice from her shoulder and handed the bag to him. "Now, please leave. It's been nice talking to you, but I have to warm up and get some practice shots in before he starts laying down the wagers."

Tatsuya took the ice and backed up, but didn't leave. He watched her put on the ear protectors and the eye shield. She loaded the weapon, turned off the safety, and took aim at the target. She fired once… twice… the entire 10-round clip… and his eyes grew wider with every shot. She got really close to the bullseye a couple times, but overall, her shots were… well… there was no other word for it… erratic. He now understood why she was worried she wouldn't be able to make the 150,000 yen quota set for her today.

"I can help," he said before he could stop himself. "I can give you advice and help you improve your accuracy and precision."

Shinran turned around and lifted away one of the earphones. "Did you say something?"

"I can help you improve your accuracy or even your precision while shooting," he repeated. "If you'll let me, that is."

She raised one skeptical eyebrow at him, but then looked back at her target and sighed, "I suppose it can't hurt. I'm not going to make it like this anyway."

Tatsuya couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Great! Now first of all…" he began as he moved into the booth with her.

()()()()()

As Tatsuya had predicted, Gin was keeping a very close eye on Sherry, though not for the reasons he believed. It was painfully obvious to Gin that the short man that had been watching Sherry as she entered the shooting range was interested in her. How could he not? She was beautiful, spirited, and the altercation they'd set up at the counter undoubtedly made him think she was some kind of tragic princess in need of rescuing from the vicious black dragon, a true damsel in distress. Gin was actually quite impressed with the way she'd decided to play the role; she'd done it in such a way that it was not too much of a stretch for her true personality.

It was almost predictable that the short man had left the shooting range a short while later after watching her to request some ice and give it to her for her supposed injury. Gin had smirked then. Sherry's acting had been spectacular. Of course, he hadn't really hurt her and every move he had taken to seemingly increase the pressure on her shoulder had been all visual with no true force involved, but she had played it up brilliantly. Even he might have believed she was being ruthlessly tortured if he had merely been a spectator. He had watched her self-appointed knight in shining armor approach her and give her the ice, or try to because it looked like she was giving him some trouble about accepting it. So, she was taking a distrustful angle, was she? She eventually accepted it because, of course, the knight has to be able to reach through to the princess, even a jaded one.

Her knight didn't immediately turn to leave, but… Sherry didn't make any move to turn him away either. Without warning, her whole countenance completely changed. It was bright and happy and way too fucking adorable. It was an expression that he used to see frequently whenever Sherry had talked about Akemi in the past, and was only sometimes directed at him. Gin frowned slightly and sat up a little straighter in his chair near the gambling ring. He strongly doubted she would be talking about him in such a favorable light in this situation, so why was she talking about Akemi? Was she creating the backstory of what he'd meant when he said his money was the reason her sister was still alive? She was clearly drawing this guy in and leading him on, but why? What was she up to?

He removed the cigarette from his mouth and held it between his fingers as he watched the pair. They were talking for a while now. He wished he could hear what they were saying, or at least hear what Sherry was saying, but he was too far away and he had a hunch that her knight might scurry away in fear if he approached them. Or maybe he wouldn't if it was to protect a beautiful woman? That would certainly be interesting.

'No matter. Whatever you're up to, I'll let you have your fun, Sherry. Just try not to blindside me too strongly, love," he thought fondly as he settled back in his chair and watched the crowd around him when she raised the gun for her 'practice round'.

There was no fun in watching her fake being a relatively poor marksman, but these naïve saps had never seen her before and had no idea what she was capable of. They were going to have to make some split-second evaluations of her ability based on an intentionally very poor shooting performance. Some of the people here were downright obvious about watching her while others were subtler, but it was all the same in the end. Sherry was fresh meat that they were ready to rip into, but then, he was ready to sink his teeth into them as well. While Sherry was to let these jackals grossly underestimate her skill, he too, would be letting them underestimate him. Since he'd brought her with him, it was only natural for him to bet on her as her sponsor, no matter how poorly she fared. He didn't care how much money he lost from this or even if he got it all back: gambling was much more fun when you had the deck stacked in your favor.

"Hey, you."

And so it began. Gin glanced in the direction the voice had come from. It belonged to a man of about Vodka's height and build, except even broader in the shoulders. The purple muscle shirt and black biker jacket he was wearing were already stretched due to the man's breadth, but even more so because of his large pects. His equally-large arms reminded him of a gorilla and they were crossed over his chest. He wore metal studded bracers on his wrists. His hair was dyed blond and spiked up into a mohawk with so much gel, it made his hair look like an oil slick. Gin couldn't tell if the guy had been aiming for a punk look or was just trying to be intimidating, but he was not impressed either way.

"You talking to me?" Gin asked silkily, peering out from behind his bangs at the blonde punk.

The punk's jaw clenched and his black eyes widened slightly, but Gin had to give him credit, he didn't show any other signs of fear. "I am."

"And who am I speaking to?"

The man narrowed his eyes. "A regular. Banju. And I've never seen you around here before."

His stilted speaking style reminded Gin of Korn and was just as verbose. The implicit question was obvious. "Kenzo Saya, from out of town. We're just stopping by."

Banju seemed satisfied with that answer and jerked his head over at Sherry. "You came in with that redheaded chick, right? What's her deal?"

Gin raised one mocking eyebrow. "Ohh? You want to know about little Miss. Elena Shinran, do you? Very well, I'll be sure to speak loudly enough that everyone present will be able to hear me. That way, I won't have to repeat myself at least ten more times, yes?"

Banju looked sulky at this and everyone else in the gambling ring was giving Gin their full attention now that they no longer had to pretend they weren't interested in what he would say. He smirked darkly and brought the cigarette back up to his mouth. "To summarize our relationship in simple terms, I am Elena's sponsor. She has no training with any type of rifle, but has used a large assortment of pistol models. Her preference is for the S&W 5906 that she's currently wielding today and she has a lot of raw potential to develop as a marksman. However, that being said, she's still young and relatively inexperienced, so she has a long way to go before she reaches my level."

"Is that right…?" Banju said with a curious glance over to Sherry's location.

Gin looked her way too and a scowl briefly crossed his features – that guy was standing way too close to her! – before it disappeared behind his mask and he forced himself to rein in his possessive feelings. There was no need to be jealous, he knew firsthand that Sherry was not an easy woman to win over. Still… what was her end game with this guy? He stayed put just long enough to let her practice with a few extra rounds and let the competition size her up before he stood up.

"Alright, Elena, that's enough. We don't want you to use all your magazine clips on practice rounds, now do we?" he called out to her once she'd stopped firing and removed her head gear.

Mr. Knight jumped away from her like he'd been electrocuted and stared at him in horror. The sight pleased him immensely, especially given that this guy was flirting with his woman. Sherry, on the other hand, turned to face him slow and deliberate. Her expression could be best described as stony, but he could read in her eyes what these strangers who didn't know her could not: the fire and excitement of a challenge.

"Then I guess I'm ready," she said in a perfect affectation of casual indifference.

Gin smirked. "Then let's get started."

()()()()()

Sherry was glad that she had decided to talk to Tatsuya and let him 'offer advice' on how to improve her marksmanship. Someone who was a bad shot was either completely ignorant or incredibly skilled. Pretending to be semi-competent and acting on another person's advice to do better was a fun challenge. She couldn't wait until the end though, and she had an idea of how she wanted to finish off her time at the shooting range today. Round after round she shot the pistol and Gin won or lost based on the nature of the bet he'd taken and her performance. She had no idea how he was doing on his end; she was just shooting and the only thing she was focusing on was not falling into a pattern. Sometimes, he called out specific goals for her to aim towards, but otherwise, she was just aiming and shooting wherever she pleased, relishing in the knowledge that even after all this time, she could still hit exactly what she was aiming at. She had just finished another magazine clip and was about to reload a new one when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped her head around, but found it was only Tatsuya standing there.

Somewhat disappointed, Sherry removed the ear protectors and set them down on the shelf where the remaining magazines were stored. "What is it?" she asked.

"I wanted to see how you were doing on ammunition," he said tentatively.

"I've got plenty," she reassured him. "And if I end up needing more, Saya will buy them. I probably won't be allowed to leave until I either make my quota or the range closes."

Tatsuya's mouth set into a hard line and he frowned at the ground as soon as she said that. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen," he muttered quietly and left her booth without a word of explanation.

Puzzled, but not too fussed, she unloaded the empty magazine container from the pistol and picked up a new one from the shelf to reload the handgun with a fresh clip. That guy liked her way too much for having only just met her, but she supposed she was to blame for that. She had instantly pinpointed him as one of those 'shining knight' kind of guys as soon as he'd approached her and she'd purposefully fed him those lies to activate those protective instincts of his. Her own behavior confused her slightly though. She was tired of lying as Ai Haibara and yet, here she was, shamelessly making up stories to some naïve sap for the sake of her own amusement. She really was an awful person. What a pair she and Gin made. She suddenly heard his laugh and nearly fumbled the gun in shock. What?! Gin rarely laughed! Surely, she must be mistaken! She walked out of the booth and peered through the glass that made up the backdrop of the shooting range. There he was, standing near the gambling ring and bent forward, laughing his heart out. With a start, she noticed Tatsuya was also standing right in front of him looking quite serious. Wonderful. What had he said to Gin to make him laugh like that?

Gin calmed down of his own accord and regained his impressive stature, but his eyes were still dancing with mirth. "It's impossible. Whatever pretty little words Elena might have said or however infatuated you are with her, she knows that she can't hit the bullseye seven times in a row. Even you must see that she doesn't have the skill for it, and yet you're betting 10,000 yen on such an outcome? You must be joking because I doubt you're that stupid."

"I'm dead serious," Tatsuya said firmly. "I bet 10,000 yen that she will hit the bullseye seven consecutive times."

Gin's head tilted back slightly and his eyes fixed on Tatsuya with haughty amusement. "Hmm… but perhaps you are that foolish…" he said quietly. "Very well, if you're so determined, then I'll accept your wager and I'll take great pleasure in watching her fail to meet your esteemed expectations."

Sherry tried not to be too irritated with Gin for saying it was impossible for her to shoot that well. He knew darn well she could, but he had a role to play. Still, it gave her an idea… She knew exactly why Tatsuya had placed such a high wager on such a supposedly-impossible task. He was trying to lose in order to help meet the fake quota, just as she'd suggested before she'd begun her practice rounds. She replaced the protective gear for her eyes and ears and aimed at the target with the new rounds in her gun. Knowing the details of that particular wager didn't alter her performance in the slightest and she continued to keep half an ear open for when Gin called time. It couldn't be much longer now.

After a while when she was reloading her gun again, she heard a muffled knocking on the glass behind her. She turned around to see the source. It was Gin, casually leaning against the glass and looking pleased. She lowered the ear protector headset to rest on her shoulders so that she could hear him.

"You've met your quota. Looks like you did much better than usual today. I wonder… was it because I allowed you the S&W 5906 or was it due to the friendly advice you received from your latest admirer?"

This was it. Now was the moment she had been waiting for. She squared her shoulders and faced him head-on with a stern look. Gin raised an eyebrow at her, a silent question. She deliberately looked away to a distant spot to his left. "Hey, you sir in the cash office at the ticket counter, what are the odds on my being able to perfectly match every shot in a full magazine clip for a Beretta M1934?" she yelled.

The entire building fell quiet, punctuated by soft whispers and murmurs all around. Sherry could feel Gin staring at her intently. At last, the cash office manager gave her an answer, "The odds are 1 in 1000 at best."

"Understood. I'll take those odds and challenge Mr. Kenzo Saya here," she declared, pointing dramatically at Gin. "I bet 10,000 yen that for an entire 7-round magazine of your Beretta M1934, I will perfectly match every shot of yours that hits the target."

The room exploded into a buzz of excitement, but she continued on, speaking louder to be heard. "And if I win, Mr. Saya, then I will have won 10,000,000 yen. I will repay the original amount I borrowed from you, plus the accumulated interest and the 10,000 I'm using to make this bet, and when I do, I will be forever free of you."

Gin's eyes widened slightly and his jaw slackened, his mouth hanging open a little. Then his expression cleared and a deep chuckle escaped him. "How audacious of you… using money that you don't even have to make this bet in order to escape me, but… if you insist on this foolish venture, then I'll accept your bet." A cruel grin contorted his features and he continued on, "However, if you lose, then I will never let you see your sister again and you will belong to me for the rest of your life. I will be kind enough to absolve you of the remaining debt that you still owe though, so it won't be a total loss. Do you still wish to walk this path, Elena?"

She wished he wouldn't look at her like that, like he was a predator about to feast on her flesh. Now was not the time for her to be admiring how sexy her lover looked when she was supposed to be afraid of him. She inclined her head once in response to his question. "I do."

The grin remained and from within the black briefcase, he withdrew 10,000 yen and held it up before her eyes. "I'll be right with you in a moment," he purred and turned on his heel to walk back to the ticket counter and place the bet on her behalf.

With Gin's back to them, Tatsuya returned to her side looking both impressed and concerned. "I can't believe you just did that," he said shakily.

Sherry ducked her head, affecting a bashful demeanor and idly twirled a strand of hair about her fingers. "I can hardly believe it myself, but… you inspired me, you know. When Saya came over here and started taunting me about whether I'd done so much better today because of the type of gun or because of you, I just thought 'How would Tatsuya respond?' and I just… challenged him on the spot as my first instinct," she said shyly.

A light blush colored Tatsuya's cheeks and he stared at her in amazement. Ooh, she may have overdone it that time. "Did you really?" he asked.

"More or less…" she said vaguely. Emphasis on less. "Saya's coming back now. You should go. Don't worry, I'll be alright."

She could tell he didn't quite believe her, but he thankfully left at her request anyway. Gin had just entered the shooting range and was casually making his way over to her. She moved out of the booth so that Gin would have plenty of room. No words or any other type of communication passed between them as they moved except for one shared, meaningful look. And then Gin was too far ahead for their eyes to meet. He withdrew his Beretta from the shoulder holster under his coat and aimed it at the target at the end of the range. He fired, shifted his aim by the smallest of margins, and fired again seven total times in rapid succession. A deathly silence had fallen over the building long after the final bang stopped echoing, and Sherry understood why. On the target, the yellow bullseye had six new holes equally-spaced out along the edge with a seventh through the perfect center of the target. Even she was impressed, and she knew how good Gin was.

Gin popped out the empty magazine and reloaded the Beretta with his own ammunition hidden in one of his many pockets. Once it was loaded and the safety back in place, he slid the handgun back underneath his coat and turned to face her with a smug smirk on his face. "You think you can match that?" he asked condescendingly.

"I know I can," she replied, just as haughtily.

"We'll see now, won't we?" he murmured and left the booth to allow her in for her turn.

Sherry took up her position and checked over her gun once more before raising it at the target. This was the moment she had been waiting for all day. She carefully set her sights on the very center bullet and held the weapon steady, remembering everything Gin had ever taught her about marksmanship. She released a slow exhale of breath and squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

No new marks appeared on the target and the existing holes didn't change in size either. A faint smirk crossed her lips. The normal assumption in such circumstances would be that she missed the target entirely and Sherry was certain that many in the audience were thinking that. She adjusted her aim for the bullet just above the center and fired again. Again, no new bullet holes. She repeated the process for the remaining five bullets until she had finished. She took a small step back and admired her handiwork with no small amount of pride. The target looked no different from how Gin had left it and she turned around to face the stunned crowd behind her.

"If anyone wishes to verify the accuracy of my shots with those of Mr. Kenzo Saya, now is your chance to do so," she called.

One of the staff called an official stop to any further shooting – he needn't have bothered, everyone had been too busy watching her – and entered into the shooting field with a tiny tape measure, tweezers, and a magnet. He knelt down in front of her target and though his back was to her, she imagined he must be measuring the radii differences and checking to see whether there were even two bullets present in each hole. Eventually, he stood up and turned around.

Sherry knew what he was about to say the instant she saw his expression and it was no surprise at all when the staff member said, "The centers of all seven bullets from the S&W 5906 perfectly match up with the centers of those from the Beretta M1934."

Sherry tilted her chin up into the air and met Gin's gaze unflinchingly. "I win," she said.

It was a good thing nobody but her could see Gin's face. There was no mistaking the proud shine in those green eyes as he wordlessly presented her with the ticket to collect her winnings. The entire facility burst into noise. Some people were exclaiming over the shots in outrage, others in amazement or disbelief, and some people were collecting on their bets. She should be doing that too. She put the safety lock back on and left the booth, leaving Gin behind. Sherry passed Tatsuya and his friend, who were both staring at her dumbstruck and she smiled to herself. This. This was what she had been after the whole time, to see the stupefied expressions on everyone's faces when they realized she outclassed them after having grossly underestimated her abilities. The money from the gambling was just a nice bonus. She made her way through the throng and approached the ticket counter, giving the ticket to the cash officer and wondering if they had enough to pay her.

It turned out they did and they gave it to her in a thick manila envelope. Not really the safest way to handle that much cash, but it would be in Gin's bullet-proof briefcase soon anyway. With the money now in hand, she turned back around to relocate Gin and found him just outside the shooting range along the back edge.

She came up to him and thrust the envelope into his chest. "There. You have no hold over me any longer," she said in a determined voice and spotted Tatsuya standing only a short distance away off to her right, watching her. A sly smirk slid across her face. Perhaps it was time to end this charade. With reckless abandon, she reached out and grabbed a hold of the front of Gin's turtleneck, bringing him down to her level with their noses only an inch apart. "Now you're mine," she said and kissed him fiercely.

It was as if a dam had broken. The tension that had been building back up between them since they left the car surged forward with a vengeance, and they clung to each other like twining vines. It was with great difficulty that Sherry at last pulled herself away from Gin's embrace and turned to face Tatsuya with a haughty smile playing her lips. His jaw was slack and his eyes spoke of incomprehensible contradictions. 'What was going on and why was she kissing him?' was what she imagined he must be thinking. She pressed herself firmly against Gin's side and wrapped one arm around his waist while his own arm came around her shoulders in return.

She cocked her head sideways, still smiling. "Thank you for your monetary contribution, Mr. Tatsuya. You've proven to be very entertaining."

"W-What are you talking about?" he stuttered.

Her smile deepened into something slightly more sinister. Sherry slipped out from under Gin's arm and swayed her hips as she approached the stunned Tatsuya, stopping only when she was half a meter away from him. "It was all an act, of course, from the very moment my fiancé and I walked through that door," she said silkily.

Tatsuya's mouth opened and closed and although no sound came out, she could make out the words 'act' and 'fiancé'.

"Oh yes," she continued on in airy manner. "You see, we both knew that we wouldn't make as much money if everyone knew how skilled we really are. Kenzo naturally looks like a man who would be proficient with a gun, but not me. However, we both knew that if anyone here suspected our true relationship, then they might guess I knew more and was just faking my poor marksmanship. Besides, the real reason why we came here was because I wanted to see all of your stupefied faces when I shot seven perfect marks in a row."

"You mean… you were lying to me the whole time?!" he exclaimed.

Sherry shrugged. "Naturally. Oh, but playing with you was an unexpected treat. I've never had the chance to play the role of a femme fatale before, and you fell for the act perfectly hook, line, and sinker. It was not part of the original plan we concocted, but fortunately, my Kenzo is adaptable and has plenty of faith in me. It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tatsuya."

A familiar hand closed around her shoulder once more and she let Gin lead her out of the building back out into the parking lot and blinding sunlight. Once they were by the Porsche, Gin set the briefcase down on the black asphalt, then caught her under the arms and picked her up, spinning her around in the air.

"Sherry, you devilish, delightful woman!" he crowed. Her feet had barely touched the ground again when he pulled her flush against his chest and returned her passionate kiss from earlier.

She moaned into his mouth, feeling elated, but reluctantly pulled herself away from the lip lock once more. "Don't think you can get away with trying to seduce me right now," she warned with a stern frown and a sharp prod to his chest. "I need lunch and then a race first. And maybe dinner if I can wait that long."

Gin looked slightly disappointed when he sighed, but said, "Understood. We can look at the map and discuss the race location while we have lunch, and afterwards, we can go pick up your bike."

"Where exactly did you store it, anyway?" Sherry asked curiously as she stooped down to retrieve the briefcase and handed it to Gin. She was not aware of him owning any property in the area nor of any MiB-sanctioned locations nearby.

"Chianti actually owns a mountain villa not too far from here. She, Korn, and Calvados all used to visit it together when Calvados was still alive. Now it's just her and Korn who use it," Gin said. He opened the front door of his car and slid the briefcase back under the front seat. "When I asked her if I could temporarily store your motorcycle and gear at her villa for the long weekend, she wasted no time in throwing the spare key at me along the words 'Tell Sherry to have fun for me'. Chianti sends her regards by the way."

"How sweet. Please thank her for me when you return the keys," she said with a slight smile.

She walked around to the passenger's side and slid into the car with a gasp. The inside was hot and stifling inside, and she could already feel sweat breaking out across her forehead. She reached for the window crank and rolled it down as far as it would go. A fresh breeze blew in through the now open window and she sighed happily. It was still hot in the car, but the cool wind did wonders to make it less so.

"So how was it, Sherry? Did you get what you were hoping to here?" Gin cranked his own window down before turning the key in the ignition.

Sherry propped her elbow up on the door frame and rested her chin upon her open palm as she gazed out the window. "I did, thank you. I was able to prove to myself that I haven't lost my shooting accuracy. I was able to prove to others that I'm not a force to be underestimated with just because I'm a young woman. And lastly, I was able to toy around with a man's heart like the femme fatales in those old American film noir style detective movies you love so much. You made the comment once that I had the right personality to pull it off, remember? I wanted to try it out at least once."

"I can't believe you still remember that; it was a long time ago," Gin snickered.

She nodded in acknowledgment. "Yeah, I was fourteen and Akai was still in the Organization back then. He hadn't been granted his codename yet at that point, had he?"

"No, he wasn't given the name 'Rye' until near the end of his time with us. It's a pity he proved he couldn't be trusted. He would have been an excellent asset with his intellect and sniping skills."

"But what went wrong?" she asked, turning away from the window to look at him. He was already smoking again. "You've inducted plenty of other secret agents before into the secret that is the Men in Black, so why did it fail with Akai that time?"

Gin exhaled heavily. "Bad timing, unfortunately. Do you remember the Fujiin serial sniper murder case two years ago?"

Sherry frowned in thought. "Maybe… was that the one where a Labroidean disguised as a human started calling himself the Wind God and sniping off high-profile figures from within tall buildings in major cities, killing six people by the time he was stopped?"

"That's the one. Shuichi Akai wasn't codenamed back then, so he was unaware of the alien aspects of the story, but he played the pivotal role in stopping the Labroidean from killing any more innocent victims. It was because of his quick thinking and exceptional skill with a sniper rifle that he was finally granted his codename. It should have been only two days later at most that I would then meet with him and reveal the truth about the Organization as the Men in Black. No NOC that's reached codename rank to this date has ever had a trap prepared for me in that short amount of time, and I bet that Akai wouldn't have either, if the meeting had happened when it was supposed to…"

She took in the sight of his taut expression, his narrowed eyes, and stiff shoulders. Even though two years had passed, the events that had occurred back then still bothered him. "What happened?" she asked slowly. "Akemi may have known more than she let on, but I was kept mostly in the dark about the whole thing. All I knew was that Akai had become Rye and then not long after, he was banished from the Organization after failing your loyalty test by summoning the rest of the FBI to try and trap you."

Gin smiled that same fond, distant expression that overcame him every time he started thinking of Akemi. "Ah, your sister was always very perceptive, but with her being so close to Akai, I couldn't have kept it a secret from her even if I tried. Knowing that, we both agreed that for your sake, it was best you not know what Akai was involved in until the investigation had been completed. By that time though, it was too late and Akai had already forced our hand to remove him from the Organization. I suppose there's no point keeping it secret any longer though."

"What did Akai do?" Sherry pressed, leaning towards him in her seat, both equal parts eager and nervous to hear the tale.

"It was only the first evening after he'd been codenamed that I had ordered him to meet me so that I could fill him in about the true nature of the Organization. I didn't want to risk him informing his superiors of his promotion before I got to him, so the sooner I got it done, the better. Knowing how he was and how unbelievable the existence of aliens is, I had prepared a counter-argument with accompanying evidence for everything he could throw at me that might prove I was lying. But he never showed up. I waited the whole night, but he never came. The following morning, I got a call from my sister that Scotch had been killed that night and Rye was the prime murder suspect."

Sherry gasped and drew back, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. "Murder… Rye?" she stammered in disbelief.

Gin gave a solemn nod. "I thought the same when she told me that. While I didn't get along well with Akai for a number of reasons, he was not a murderer. He would always try to find ways of completing assignments with the smallest number of casualties possible – 0 if he thought he could get away with it. The idea of him murdering a fellow codenamed agent out of the blue like that just didn't sit right with me. However, Bourbon had arrived at Rye's and Scotch's location mere moments after Scotch died. He found Scotch slumped against the ground with a bullet through his phone in his breast pocket and Rye standing before him, sprayed with Scotch's blood and holding a still-smoking gun in his left hand. According to Bourbon, the first words out of Rye's mouth when he appeared were 'Traitors shall be punished'."

She couldn't deny that the case sounded fairly open-and-shut, but there had to be more to it than that. Gin had mentioned an investigation had taken place. "What more did you guys discover?"

He huffed in irritation which was accompanied by a puff of cigarette smoke. "A mess, and one that may have been avoided entirely if Akai had shown up for my meeting like he was supposed to. The investigation had to be conducted in secret without Akai's knowledge because there wasn't supposed to be anything suspicious about a loyal member of a secret crime syndicate killing a spy. The gun was in Rye's possession, but the lack of blood splatter on Scotch's right thumb suggests he may have been the one to pull the trigger and committed suicide. While more plausible than the theory that Rye killed him, it still doesn't make sense and Bourbon's still convinced that Akai killed Scotch."

Sherry frowned and cocked her head to the side. "You mean Bourbon didn't solve the case? That doesn't sound like how Akemi always described him to me."

"No, he didn't solve it. In fact, the case has remained unsolved these past two years. There were many suspicious points, such as Akai failing to meet me at the scheduled time and had instead pursued another codenamed member who happened to be a NOC like him. The other was the contradictory evidence. Akai's words to Bourbon intimate that he killed him, but he also didn't know the truth of the Organization, so may have just said that to protect himself. However, Scotch committing suicide with Akai's gun doesn't fit with Scotch's character assessment by Bourbon's testament. The autopsy found some kind of odd drug in Scotch's system, but it was at such low levels that they couldn't identify it, so the clinicians didn't think it had any relevance. With no new leads, the case went cold and the internal investigation was dropped."

"And it was after that when you rescheduled the meeting with Akai?" Sherry asked.

"Yes, but by that point, Akai had been Rye for nearly a month and still didn't know about the Men in Black. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd already informed his superiors about his new status and had everything arranged to take advantage of it at a moment's notice. The odds of success were against me, but I still had to take a chance on him." He removed the spent cigarette and extinguished the remaining embers in the ashtray. "You already know what happened next."

"You arranged for a meeting with Akai at the shipping yard, but sent an old man in your place to scout out the situation. He came back and informed you that Akai was there, but a foreigner, probably another FBI agent, came out of hiding and warned him away because it was too dangerous," she recalled from memory. "It was that same night that Akai was outed as a member of the FBI unsuitable to use as a liaison and you had Akemi and I moved to prevent Akai from being able to ambush us at home."

"That about sums it up. I haven't had to deal with him for two years and now he's suddenly back with a vengeance," Gin groaned.

"Do you think he found out about Akemi?"

"Vermouth seems to think so and I don't feel inclined to disagree with her on that score. Working around Shuichi Akai's meddling will definitely be problematic. Ah, here we are. Will this be suitable?"

Sherry looked out the window past Gin and saw him pointing out a family restaurant on the left side of the street. "Yeah, that looks good, but can we park in the shade this time?"

Gin chuckled. "I will if I can." And with that, he turned into the restaurant's parking lot and Sherry started rolling her window back up when a thought suddenly came to her.

"Hey, Gin, this might seem a bit out there, but do you suppose there could be a connection between Scotch's unconfirmed suicide and Calvados's suicide, or do you think the two incidents are unrelated?"

He was busy parking, so he didn't look at her, but his brow furrowed. "Off-hand, I would say they're separate events. The only thing they have in common is that both agents committed suicide and they have living, very close friends that are so convinced they would never do such a thing that they believe it's more likely they were killed by the only other agent present. I can definitely see why you'd wonder if there was a connection between them. However… two suicides by codenamed agents in three years… That is unusual…" He stopped the car in the parking space and turned to her, giving her a brief smile. "Thank you, Sherry. You've given me something more to think about."

"Glad to be of assistance," she said with a wry laugh, but felt herself glow with pleasure. She'd said something that Gin thought might be worth investigating.

---

The Harley mentioned in this chapter is a callback to when Haibara mentions owning one in the Lupin III vs Detective Conan: The Movie. I don't have particularly strong feelings about that movie either way (except for being extremely skeptical about how the hell Fujiko found out Haibara's codename was Sherry or the name of the drug she was working on, even if she did somehow manage to learn she was once a part of the Organization).