Fruits of Labour, Targets, At It Again

"Finally my one months steady hard work will bear fruit..." Haji thinks staring at the kitchen sink before turning on the tap and watching the water build up without a plug in the drain before thinking "I blocked the drain, it took a lot of work, constantly dropping hairballs down there, knocking over the kitchen oil so it'd run down the drain, even getting Yukio to give me some stuff to make the blockage much more solid!"

"With this my plan to get rid of Yasuo will FINALLY work!" Haji thinks as he stops the tap and watches the water VERY slowly draining away as he thinks "Now I just need to expose the wire on the refrigerator while the power is off and I can kill him and get out of here on the same day I get rid of my current target..."

Haji jumps down and quickly runs over to the refrigerator's plug and pushes the switch with all his might, barely managing to flip the switch as he thinks "Augh..., it's embarrassing to not even be able to flip a censored switch!!"

"Now that the power is off I can do this quickly!" Haji thinks as he runs over to the cable and begins to bite at it.

As Haji gnaws on the cable he begins to open the plastic and expose the rubber inner sleeve before exposing the plastic inner cables as he thinks "Augh Censored!! This stuff tastes far more disgusting than I ever imagined it could, I'm glad I'm not swallowing this stuff, who knows what havoc it would wreak on my organs if I swallowed any!"

As he finishes tearing open the plastic coverings of the copper wires Haji hears someone coming and quickly runs over to the switch and forces it back into the ON position thinking "Censored!! I thought today was the day after Yasuo's latest death march!! Why are there still assistants here today!!??"

As soon as Haji hears the humming of the refrigerators motors and mechanisms roaring back to life with the influx of electricity Haji quickly grabs the electrocuted rat Yukio prepared for him and places it next to the cable section out of sight.

As soon as he's positioned his fall rat Haji runs out the flap before anyone can see him as he thinks "With this all the preparations are complete!"

"Now I can go bag my main target and then get rid of Yasuo finally!" Haji thinks as he makes for the main road and starts looking around for a specific van.

Haji spots Yasuo's van with the side door open again and runs over but suddenly stops seeing Ichiro headed for Yasuo's on foot from the direction the van is in as he thinks "Censored!! Now of all times!? That cop is someone I need to deal with right after I deal with Yasuo!!"

After Ichiro passes Haji watches him head down the road in the direction of Yasuo's house unaware of Haji's presence as he turns the corner while Haji thinks "That Censored Cop, I keep having to keep having to watch myself when he's around, it makes it hard to relax let alone get anything done!"

After confirming Ichiro isn't coming back Haji heads for the Van and gets in before Yukio closes the door and says "Wasn't that the cop you are so wary of?"

"Yep, that's the guy, he seems to be on his way to see that Human I live with, he is his brother after all." Haji replies via a tablet Yukio set up for him to use before hand and looks at him seriously while continuing "He's irrelevant right now, I've confirmed the prep work for the murder on my end is done, how about you?"

"The plan is all set, we just need to arrange the variables so that the plan will work out just as we want it to." Yukio replies with a sinister tone despite the almost playful look on his face before continuing "After we get rid of these two targets we can go after the Prosecutor, the Jury, the Executioner, even the witnesses and investigation team, and of course that gamer dork."

"That Censored Gamer is right after Yasuo and this guy, I'm getting him for sure this time!" Haji says via the tablet clearly angry that his nemesis is still breathing and actively showing it on his face as he says "If I were still human I'd personally kill him in his favourite game and use that as the trigger for the means to kill him IRL, curse this body...!"

Yukio laughs a bit as he heads back to the driver's seat saying "Maybe you'll still get your wish Haji, you never know!"

"You're up to something again aren't you Yukio!" Haji says via the tablet with a look like he understands what Yukio's words mean but isn't sure he's right about what he intends to do.

"You'll find out later Haji." Yukio replies as he puts on his seat belt, starts the engine and starts driving calmly before going off toward a different part of the city.

After reaching the destination Yukio parks the van and says "Haji, come up here."

Haji looks up at him confused as he walks over and jumps up and looks out the front window as Yukio says "Over there, that car parked over by the big gaudy looking building, does look it familiar?"

Haji takes one look at the car and nods with a seriously ominous look as he thinks "That car was at that warehouse from the other day, so it was the secret target of that last job."

"You recognise it then, that car belongs to the judge who sentenced you to death." Yukio explains calmly as he sits in the driver's seat casually looking at the car before saying "The warehouse belongs to a business rival who runs a transport and procurement service, the judge hired him to obtain and deliver that car safely from overseas."

"So he ordered that luxurious tank of a car from overseas thinking that it'd keep him safe from me did he?" Haji thinks with a serious look in his eyes as he looks over the car noticing how low to the ground it's riding as well as a slight colour to the glass.

As Haji looks over the car he realises it's riding so low due to the weight of the well hidden armour plating and the run on flat tires before looking directly at the judge as he exits the building the car is parked next to and thinks "That thing will be nothing but an extremely expensive, four wheel drive coffin when I'm done with you..."

"That pseudo tank wouldn't have protected him from you when you were human but now it might be tricky." Yukio says as he stares at the car with a look like he knows the gory details of the car's specs before saying "Knowing you though, you'd find a way to get it done."

"He's right, I'd find a way to get rid of that guy and turn his car from his safe haven to his undoing." Haji thinks as he stares at the car intently before thinking "If I put my mind to it then I could put a squirrel up his exhaust, chew through the brake lines, maybe even do something to the AC system or plant a snake in the car, something that would get him."

"I know what you're thinking, you know a few ways of getting him even in that heavily armoured coffin right?" Yukio says as he watches the man get into the car calmly without the slightest sign he's noticed them before Yukio says "So, do you want to literally drive that car into a freshly dug grave at the bottom of Tokyo Bay with him in it?"

Haji jumps down and goes back to the tablet before using it to reply by saying "Tempting Yukio but not practical even as a joke."

"Hahahaha, you're right, that would be too overt for us to pull it off and not get caught even if it would be fitting!" Yukio replies cheerfully before saying "That said, a quick, quiet and relatively painless death is too good for this guy after the way your death was live streamed on the internet for everyone to see."

"Your right, they also let me dangle and choke for several minutes rather than get the weight calculations right to get it over with quickly the Censored's!!" Haji replies with a look of clear anger in his eyes, snarling and growling from the memory of his death before saying "The Scum!! You're supposed to use that equation based on someone's height and weight relative to the drop distance when hanging someone to ensure a cleanly snapped neck but they completely ignored that with me!!"

"You must have really suffered when they did that." Yukio says calmly yet with a look of fury in his eyes as he says "Guess there's something to be said for those explosive addicted gaijin psychopaths method of lethal injection."

As the judges car drives off Yukio restarts the engine and says "We'll worry about that subject after we get rid of the guy that sentenced you to that..."

As Yukio follows the car the judge pulls up to a courthouse building and enters the car park area as Yukio and Haji park across the road.

"I know you didn't follow this guy all the way here without some kind of plan, so what are we doing?" Haji asks via the tablet with a curious look on his face before saying "I know you have something in mind other than just watching him drive around town so tell me already."

"Not yet my furry little friend." Yukio replies as he starts the engine and begins to pull out saying "No need to get your tail tied in knots, I'll tell you what I'm up to once we get to the next stop."

Yukio drives calmly through the streets with Haji in the back of the van looking confused as he uses the tablet to say "Just what are you scheming this time Yukio, you aren't planning to put that body camera on me and that earbud in my ear again are you?"

Yukio simply giggles cheerfully as he replies "You're right, I do plan to use those again but only so I can help you get that guy with your own paws..."

"What do you mean by that?" Haji replies via the tablet with a serious yet curious look on his face.

"It's simple." Yukio replies with an evil mischievousness in his voice as he continues "We both know you wouldn't be satisfied with it if I took control of that car and drove it into a mine field or into an artillery practice range during a live fire exercise marking it as a test target so I'm plotting something far more fun."

Haji just stares at him not knowing what he's plotting but getting the idea that it's to let him get the judge himself.

After a few minutes of driving Yukio pulls over and parks the van before saying "Haji, come up here and take a look across the street, the red sign with the golden writing."

No sooner than Haji jumps up he sees the sign and recognises it as a Chinese Restaurant which does takeaway orders and deliveries before jumping down and using the tablet to say "I think I get what you're up to now, though I still hate that body camera and earbud."

As he pulls out again and drives toward a nearby alley Yukio calmly replies "I get why you'd not be a fan of either one but they're necessary evils as some people like to say."

After turning off the engine Yukio moves into the back of the van and picks up the body camera collar and the earbud from their cradles and puts them on Haji saying "Setting up a means of two way communication is proving trickier than I'd like but I'll keep trying to figure it out."

"Just get these things in place Yukio, no offence but I just don't like being touched by a guy." Haji replies via the tablet with a displeased look as Yukio fiddles with Haji's ear trying to get the earbud in.

After getting the earbud in and the collar on Haji Yukio picks up a packet rigged to a tiny compressed air canister and says "This will be your murder weapon for today, bite the trigger with all your might when I tell you and we'll get that judge without an issue."

"Understood, I'll wait for your signal to do it." Haji replies via the tablet before he takes the device from Yukio, holding it carefully in his mouth with his teeth on the trigger.

Yukio opens the door for Haji as he says "I'll support you from here just like usual, don't worry about security cameras, I've already hacked all the wireless devices in the place."

After hearing Yukio's instructions on the plan Haji jumps out of the van and runs to the alley with the staff entrance of the Chinese Restaurant before looking up at the door and thinking "Censored! It's an electronic lock!"

"Don't worry about the locks Haji, they upgraded to those due to an email from the judge so they could keep you out." Yukio says in Haji's ear via the earbud before suddenly the sound of typing fills Haji's ear as Yukio says "They may have eliminated the pins and shear line rendering your lock picking skills worthless but not my hacking skills as those things are networked and linked to the camera above the door."

After a minute the door buzzes and opens as Yukio says "If you want your closed circuit security system to remain secure then, don't use it to charge your phone, fools!"

After hearing that Haji runs in the open door which closes behind him as he thinks "Moron's seriously charged their phones via their closed circuit system? Are they brain damaged or just stupid..."

After entering Haji looks around to make sure there are no staff around before heading toward the kitchen as Yukio says "Your target is the 4rth wok on the middle work surface of the kitchen."

Haji sneaks into the kitchen and sees a bunch of people moving around cooking food in woks, using bamboo steamer baskets and cooking chopsticks to stir large pots while others prepare ingredients in different parts of the kitchen.

"The phone call should come any moment." Yukio says calmly as Haji wonders what phone call he's talking about from his hiding spot before suddenly someone answers the phone and after some back and forth says "One Egg Fried Rice with extra Soy Sauce and a side of chicken balls!"

Suddenly the head chef heads to the fourth workstation and brings out a wok with coloured tape on the handle and a bottle of vegetable oil and adds it to the wok before leaving the wok unguarded as he goes to the fridges to get ingredients.

"Now!" Yukio suddenly says before continuing "Go use the device on the Woks contents!"

Haji quickly runs over and jumps up on the work surface and aims the device between his teeth directly at the wok before biting down hard on the trigger causing it to spray a strange powder all over the Wok before he jumps down and hides again.

No sooner than Haji hides, the Head Chef returns and begins working on the order as Yukio says "Nice work, head for the door and I'll let you back out, just don't get seen."

"Stop, hide Haji!" Yukio suddenly says, causing Haji to hide near the door and catching some loose fur on his hiding spot before he suddenly hears a buzz and a man in a restaurant uniform enters.

"Go now, it's clear!" Yukio says after the man enters but before the door can close behind him allowing Haji to escape.

After escaping the Chinese Restaurant Haji returns to the Alley with Yukio and his van in it and gets in the van calmly and drops the device and uses the Tablet to say "Hurry up and get this gear off of me, the earbud is making my ear itch!"

Yukio walks over calmly and closes the door before taking the collar off of Haji and removing the earbud from his ear and returning them to their docking station and cradle saying "Don't tear your fur out Haji, the mission went perfectly, I'll get us back to the Courthouse before the show starts."

"I'm looking forward to it, after smelling that powder I'm pretty sure I know what you're up to and what the plan was." Haji quickly replies via the tablet before giving his ear a good scratch now that the earbud is finally out of it as he thinks "I don't know who made the material on those cushions but they Really make sensitive ears itch."

While Haji is scratching his itchy ear with his hind leg Yukio sits in the driver's seat and puts on his seatbelt and turns on the engine and pulls out of the alley.

After several minutes they arrive back at the courthouse and Yukio parks nearby and say’s "Feel free to join me up here."

Haji jumps up on the dashboard and watches the traffic around the courthouse and after about 55 minutes suddenly a man wearing a jacket with the Chinese Restaurants logo riding on a Vespa equipped with a food carrier parks near the courthouse and walks in carrying the food carrier.

After a little while the Man emerges and gets on his Vespa before driving off in the direction of the Chinese Restaurant without a care in the world.

After the man leaves Haji and Yukio pay close attention to the courthouse before suddenly an ambulance rushes up to the front steps of the courthouse.

After seeing the arrival of the Ambulance Yukio starts the engine and pulls out as Haji jumps back down and via the Tablet says "That judge was likely dead before they found him and knowing you his epinephrine pen and anything that ambulance has won't save him."

"You're right, I had Isi sneak into that ambulance before it went on shift and swap their epinephrine with salt water." Yukio replies calmly as he drives back in the direction of Haji's neighbourhood continuing "That Judge had a nasty Peanut Allergy, just one nut could half kill him without epinephrine, that much dust was three times the lethal dose, he's done for."

After getting near Yasuo's house Yukio pulls over and opens the door to let Haji out after saying "I'll be in touch about the other targets as soon as I have a game plan in place."

After getting out Haji starts walking back to his house as he thinks "After getting rid of the judge I'm eager to get rid of Yasuo and eventually Ichiro!"

Upon reaching the door Haji hears the water running within and thinks "Sounds like someone is in the kitchen."

Haji opens the cat flap and begins to step through but notices a strong smell of water and a slight scent of ozone.

"Wait... OZONE!!??" Haji thinks using his hind legs to stop himself and his front to cling to the edge of the inside of the flap narrowly avoiding falling face first into a large puddle of water all across the kitchen floor as he thinks "That was way too close, I was nearly hoisted by my own petard!"

Haji hears Yasuo coming and quickly uses his hind legs to pull himself back out of the flap as he thinks "I need to find an open window so I can get in and watch this happen!"

After narrowly avoiding death by electrocution Haji looks around for a window and manages to find an open window in Yasuo's office and sneaks in and enters the main part of the house ignoring all the drawing equipment as he thinks "I'll worry about my curiosity about Yasuo's work after I kill him."

As Haji walks through the house to the kitchen he sees Yasuo standing next to the puddle oddly staring at it like he's not going to step in it as Haji thinks "Why is he just standing there and not worrying about cleaning that mess up?"

"Guess that dead rat must have eaten through the wire and gotten electrocuted while I was answering the door." Yasuo says as he turns around and starts walking toward the Bathroom.

"Haji!" Yasuo says as he turns around and sees Haji standing there and grabs him before holding him close and saying "I bet you're hungry but don't worry, I'll cut the power and put you down next to your food while I clean up that mess."

After saying that Yasuo walks over to the Circuit Breaker by the bathroom and turns off the power to the house as Haji thinks "Censored! That rat must have floated out while I wasn't here!"

After Yasuo turns off the power suddenly his cell-phone rings with Ichiro's ringtone causing Yasuo to put down Haji.

As Yasuo releases Haji he runs to a slight distance away and listens in on the conversation as Yasuo pulls out his phone and answers the call only to hear Ichiro say "Yasuo, you need to be on guard!"

Yasuo gets a surprised look as he asks "What do you mean be on guard? I live in a pretty safe neighbourhood, you know."

"That Serial Killer might not be dead! The guy we executed may have only been a fall guy!" Ichiro answers clearly upset before saying "The Judge that sentenced him is dead, he was found unconscious in his chambers suffering the effects of a peanut allergy without any trace of peanuts in sight and died on the way to the hospital, I tell you this was him, he's back again!"

"Hold on, even if he is back again why would I need to be on guard!?" Yasuo asks surprised at his brother's insinuation that he might be in danger before Ichiro answers "You're my brother and I'm the lead detective, he might go after you to get to me, has anything suspicious even if it seems like an accident happened?"

"Now that you mention it, I nearly got electrocuted after a rat chewed through my refrigerator's power cable." Yasuo replies calmly with a sceptical look on his face.

Suddenly Ichiro goes silent before saying in a deadly serious tone "I'm sending over an investigation team with a CSI tech, don't touch the scene until they clear it."

Haji listens to the whole thing intently as he thinks "This is a problem, that Cop is too quick on the uptake for his own good..."

"I need to contact Yukio ASAP and let him know about this development!" Haji thinks as he listens to Ichiro say "Keep an eye out for anyone or anything suspicious, we both know you live in a good area but one of your neighbourhood cats has gone missing recently and I heard a dog has been acting funny after a head injury."

"You're not saying that serial killer is living in my neighbourhood are you?" Yasuo asks with a concerned note in his voice.

"I really shouldn't tell you this but there were sightings of the suspect we executed in your area and we discovered an apartment the serial killer used as a safe house in the area so he might be." Ichiro replies with a worried tone causing Yasuo to go pale, imagining that one of his neighbours could be plotting to slip in through an open window and slit his throat.

"You don't think it could be that nice lady who moved in just down the street and brought me a nice looking batch of Soba Noodle do you?" Yasuo asks, clearly freaked out by the idea it could be the woman he answered the door to not 20 minutes prior.

"I'll have someone look into it but just to be safe hand over the noodles to the CSI tech, I'll inform them to put a rush on them." Ichiro says with a clear note of concern in his voice before saying "Until they arrive do not enter the kitchen or answer the door to anyone Yasuo, you're my only brother and I may not get along with you some times but I don't want you to be murdered."

"I understand and feel the same Ichiro, I'll wait for your guys with Haji until they arrive." Yasuo replies calmly.

Before Yasuo hangs up the phone Ichiro says "If he's there then please put him somewhere out of the way of the investigators, I trust you to know why."

"I'll put him somewhere safe, don't worry." Yasuo replies before hanging up as Haji thinks "This just got complicated..."

To Be Continued