The first heist

"Ugh, we need more employees," Rika groaned as she collapsed onto a booth.

"I will not allow an amateur into our kitchen," Masaru stated.

"No, I mean like servers. That way we can focus more on cooking instead of doing both cooking and serving all the time."

"I was able to manage cooking today by myself just fine."

"Yeah, and I only did the serving because you baked better ice cream than me. Besides, one chef and one server won't get us to 5-star status like you want."

"Fair point. The problem is there are few who can meet my criteria, and those that already do have restaurants of their own to manage."

"Well, then why not just focus on servers? It would get customers in and out a little faster."

"Meals should be enjoyed. I have no problem if customers stay to slowly indulge on and appreciate the meal."

"I meant so we could get them their meals faster. People don't like to be kept waiting for their food. Do I have to beat you in a cook-off to convince you?"

"No. In fact, no more cook-offs for this week or the following. We need to be wary of our supplies and finances," Masaru sighed.

"Heh heh, guess we've been going overboard. In that case, how about we start with one or two servers. That way, we can focus on cooking and potentially get more customers in a business day."

"Fine."

...

After locking up for the night, Rika left the restaurant and went to a shady apartment complex. She descended to the underground level and knocked on door B122. A girl dressed in gothic punk attire with stitches covering her face and body opened the door. "What do you want?" she growled.

"Hey Stitch, I'm here cause I wanna hire someone for my restaurant," Rika smiled.

"Huh? There's no one here but me. Don't tell me-"

"I'm not here to recruit you. I actually wanna put a down payment on something."

"All right, come in," Stitch growled.

Shiori "Stich" Saihou was an underworld doctor. She was a skilled physician and master seamstress. Her most prominent features were her stitches, side shave, and sewing needle tattoo that eclipsed her right eye. Some believed the tattoo was put there to conceal a nasty scar, but Shiori denied the rumors. As for the stitches, Shirori simply had a fetish for sewing herself up. The stitches also helped turn away lustful gazes and gave her a more intimidating appearance.

"You know it's been a while since I last saw you. Have you seriously been at cooking school this whole time?" Shiori asked as she sat down in an armchair.

"Just graduated this spring and opened the restaurant a few weeks later," Rika replied.

"I've seen it. It looks fine with the lights out."

"You can always come for a bite when we're open."

"I'd have to put on a ton of makeup, so hell no."

"But you're already wearing a ton of makeup."

"I don't like covering my stitches with makeup. Besides, this is my natural complexion. I just do lipstick and eyeshadow. Now what do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could fix up a girl in cold storage."

"Cold storage? Who is it?"

"A girl that was nearly killed almost a decade ago. I think she'd make a perfect waitress."

"Why?"

"Cause she's cute and has massive tits."

Shiori shot Rika a death glare as she clutched one of her B-cup breasts. "You saying I couldn't be a cute waitress!? There are plenty of folks that prefer girls with small breasts over a melon-tit succubus like you!" Shiori glared.

"You're not suited for serving people in that way. You- MMPH!?"

"Don't insult my cup size you bitch!" Shiori glared as she sewed Rika's mouth shut with her thread weapon.

"I meant you wouldn't do well serving food. That and you'd probably have to spruce yourself up more than you'd want to if you don't want Masaru to panic and think I dragged in some maniac," Rika explained as she cut the threads binding her mouth.

"The snobby guy, right? Comes from an elite gourmet family, bit of an introvert; yeah, no way I'd get a pass from him. So why this girl?"

"Well, because I'd prefer to see the poor girl smiling rather than snoozing in a block of ice. She deserves to be happy again."

Shiori gazed oddly at Rika but decided to just go straight to the payment. "I take it, it’s something I can fix?" she asked.

"Correct. And for a little more motivation..." After placing the down payment on the table, Rika then pulled an ice cream pudding out of the lunch box she was carrying with her. Shiori looked unamused and emotionless as Rika placed it before her. However, she began moaning with impatience and then gave in and began eating the dish in a cute girly manner.

"MMMM! OISHI! I wanna eat dis all day!" Shiori smiled. It was like she had become a completely different person. Rika was one of the few people to know that Shiori had two major insecurities. The first was her small breasts, and the other was that she didn't like people seeing her act girly.

"Looks like my little sister loves my dessert," Rika teased.

"Shut up! I'll fix your bitch! Now go bring her here. I wanna eat my sweets!" Shiori glared as her face went bright red.

...

Rika stood in front of a cryogenics lab garbed in a skintight black catsuit and mask.

"To think YOU'D be the one to suggest stealing something. But what could it be? Could it be research data?" Dastard mused as he arrived.

"Nah, though if you wanna snag it be my guest. I'm after someone that's been frozen here," Rika stated.

"And shall I refer to you as Dominatrix then? Or maybe Whip? Neko-chan?"

"Yeah, go with Whip," Rika shrugged.

"Then off we go! Remember, first we steal and secure it, then we come back for the grand reveal!"

Rika was surprised by how effortlessly Dastard was able to take out the security system. "Guess he must have more experience than I gave him credit for," Rika thought.

The two split up to each secure their targets. Rika quietly walked down the corridor filled with pods of cryogenically frozen people until she reached a wall. "Pretty sure I remember how to unlock this," Rika thought as she moved her hand along the wall.

Eventually, Rika triggered the hidden door to open, and proceeded inside to the hidden room which contained 4 pods of frozen people and approached one containing a girl with large breasts and platinum blonde hair. The girl wore foreign attire and had a nasty gash on her stomach that had been crudely bandaged with scraps of her clothing.

"Hey, sorry I got you hurt so badly. I was just a dumb little brat. Well, to make it up, I'm taking you to a place where you can smile again," Rika somberly smiled as she mustered her strength to remove the pod containing the girl from the room. "Glad these things were designed to be portable. Plus, it's slim and not too heavy. It should be able to last until I get to Stitch," Rika thought as she tied the pod to her back and made a dash for it. She then met up with Dastard at the exit point.

"Hoh? You stole a person? Well, I have the research documents. I think I'll keep them, but sell pictures of them on the black market," Dastard laughed.

"It's someone I know, she took a hit for me, but we couldn't heal her, so we froze her. Luckily now, there's someone who can fix her with ease, but I gotta hurry before she completely thaws," Rika stated.

Dastard was unable to get a good look at the girl inside but allowed Rika to go as he left to bring the documents to his hideout.

...

"Giving me a frozen treat and asking me to fix up a girl that was frozen? Sometimes I don't know what to do with you," Shiori sighed.

"Can you fix her?" Rika asked.

"Yeah, can't believe those idiots back then couldn't fix some simple gashes."

"Simple!? Nearly all her internal organs were crudely sliced!"

"Yeah, and that shit's nothing for me. Though, she won't be moving around for a few weeks at least, so no working until she's healed."

...

At the cryogenics lab, police swarmed the exterior of the building as the sun began to rise.

"What is the meaning of this!? Why are there police here at this private establishment!?" the head researcher huffed as he straightened his coat.

"We received a report that there was a 'bombshell' here," a female officer in a business suit with long grey hair stated.

"Preposterous! We are a legitimate and respected private research facility!"

"Why good early morning ladies and gentlemen!" Dastard shouted as he stood atop the building with Rika.

"DASTARD!? Were you the one that called us!?" the officer shouted.

"Why yes! As for the bombshell, I've stolen your research notes! Oh, and my assistant took one of your human popsicles as well. Good night! I've got to get some sleep!"

The head researcher went pale as Dastard threw smoke bombs down at him and the police. In the confusion, Dastard and Rika flew away on paragliders. "We part ways here. I look forward to our future thefts," Dastard laughed as he flew away.

"Hey, it wasn't so bad after all. And I got something out of it," Rika smiled.

As some of the police tried to chase after Dastard and Rika, the head researcher then rushed inside the lab and sunk to his knees as he discovered the missing capsule. "No, why her!? What will I do!?" he agonized.

...

"Ri- Rika!?" Masaru gasped as Rika groggily walked into the restaurant.

"Oh, hey Masaru. Got no sleep. Ready to work," Rika groggily smiled as she struggled to stay awake.

"Alright! We'll hire more staff! Just sleep on the booth. I'll do everything. Cooking, serving, serving, serving... I think maybe we'll only do take out today."