As Ryo woke up from his seat before the table, he heard the doorbell of the café ring. Ryo spoke a bit louder "Hello Saeko! I could sense you following me. What's the matter? Do you have to tell me anything? You seem alarmed. Anyway, lets save our talk for the last. There seems to be an emergency" and pointed at the drink on the table and took it in his hands. Saeko exclaimed "XYZ! It's been a pretty long time since I had seen this! Seems like someone is back on business. So? What's…..?" As she spoke, Ryo covered her mouth with his left palm, and put the fore-finger of his right hand on his own mouth as a sign for her to be quiet. After a moment, he removed his palm, but Saeko never spoke a word. Ryo had his favourite toy in his hand. He pulled up the hammer, and proceeded towards the manager's room. As he neared it, both of them could hear voices, two of them. One was young, and the other was that of an old man. The young voice was threatening… and…. With that.. Ryo thought he heard….. No, he must be wrong, he thought. He parted the door, and could see the manager tied on the couch of his room. There was a long shadow on the other end, but the face of the other person couldn't be seen. Suddenly the shadow disappeared, and shortly after that, Ryo heard a window pane break. He signaled Saeko to go after the man, while he himself went in the room boldly, to help the old man, tied on his couch. He pulled the hammer of his gun, down and then within a flash, untied his ropes. The old man, evidently wanted water. Ryo reached for the water jug on the center-table and poured him out a glass from it. He finished it in one gulp, And after he did so, he was panting for breath. The first word he spoke in his panting made Ryo's hands go numb. He spoke in between his panting "K…aori!" Ryo's eyes widened, but he didn't give it a second thought, and kept looking at the old man intently. By then, the old man had somewhat recovered, He spoke again "That man, He had Kaori with him. He isn't a normal person Ryo! Beware. This man is no less in wits than you! Kaori seemed to behave a bit differently this time. She didn't seem to recognize me. She was as if a servant to him. He was caressing her, and she didn't even protest to that. I am telling you Ryo, there's something really amiss with her." Just then Saeko entered, apparently out of breath, "I am sorry Ryo. He wore a mask. He had Kaori, and he had a gun on her head. He even kissed her! But the surprising thing was that she didn't protest at all! There's something very fishy with the situation." The old man rose up from the couch, and said with a smile on his face, "So the XYZ did work after all, after so many days, huh! I didn't think it would work but he was impatient to see you!" saying this he pointed to the young waiter who had served the rosy-red drink to Ryo. "He wanted to see the great CITY HUNTER! When he asked me whom to give the drink to, I explained through signs, 'The person with blue overcoat and black trousers.' And fairly enough he got you." Ryo was listening to the old man with a faint smile on his face, but suddenly, he leaped towards the young waiter in a flash, and within the blink of an eye cocked his own pistol on his head. The waiter froze in his place, even Saeko was taken aback by the turn of events, but she knew that nothing Ryo does is without a reason. He definitely has a reason behind this too! So instead of panicking, she came to Ryo, and looked at him questioningly. Ryo said nothing, except "Hold him tight, Saeko. He is one of them!" The waiter tried to say something, but before that, Ryo gave a gentle squeeze on his right shoulder. The boy groaned in pain and sat down clutching his shoulder. Ryo had that faint smile again, he turned to the manager of the café and asked pointing at the waiter "He is newly appointed here, if I'm not mistaken?" The old man nodded in a "Yes." Ryo said "I thought so." then he turned towards the boy and said "You must be a little careful about your belongings, and especially your injury! I noticed that your right shoulder was injured when you served me the XYZ! (XYZ is a cocktail that is said to be served to the city hunter by anyone in case of dire need of his skills to save anyone's life. The formula of preparing it is yet unknown. The only persons that know it are Ryo, Saeko, Kaori, Umibozu and the Manager of this café.) The young boy suddenly blacked out even before Ryo spoke those words. By the time Ryo finished, he was unconscious. Ryo was a bit surprised, but he didn't say anything. The Manager of the café called the other waiters and workers of the café and put them to the rescue of this boy.
Meanwhile, Somewhere In Japan, Kaori was in a room. The room was well furnished with valuable antiques worth crores. There was a man sitting on the opposite side of the table she was in. He looked at her smilingly, but Kaori's inner self cried out inside her mind "Where are You Ryo? I need you now!" but she was surprised to feel that even she was smiling! Then she noticed the table, it was full of mouth-watering dishes. "Eat, my sweetheart! Eat to your heart's content! Don't feel shy! Everything's for you. Go on please!" said the other man from over the table. Kaori was fighting within herself to break fre of the magical bond that seemed to entwine her tightly. As she looked at his blue eyes while he spoke, she lost count of her own moves. It seemed that she was enjoying her meal. She started eating voluptuously!
