Staying by your side

Outside, Pete checked his watch before sighing. "Gracie's vitals are gone, and Sidney's barely clinging to life. Guess I'll have to storm in and-"

BOOM!

Pete had failed to notice an explosive that had been thrown at him from behind. He was killed instantly as his killer stared at her work.

"Well, that's one down, two to go. You ready Izumi?" Hanabi asked.

"Izumi's ready," Izumi affirmed.

Hanabi nodded and the two vanished before appearing in front of the restaurant. "Looks like a battle took place. Shit! Someone might've been caught up in it!" Hanabi shouted as she and Izumi cautiously rushed inside.

At the same time, Masaru had walked back to the restaurant after failing to get in contact with Rika. Upon seeing the damaged door, he immediately rushed inside, causing, Hanabi and Izumi to hide under a table as he ran towards the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, his face went pale with shock.

"W- What happened!? AH! T- There's a corpse! There's blood everywhere- RIKA!" Masaru shouted as he immediately rushed to the barely conscious Rika and kneeled in front of her.

"Ma... Masaru? Sorry... I made a mess," Rika weakly smiled.

"RIKA! NO! YOU CAN'T DIE!" Masaru tearfully shouted.

"Let us help," Hanabi said as she and Izumi appeared behind Masaru.

"D- Did you two do this!?" Masaru tearfully glared.

"No... Hanabi’s good," Rika meekly muttered.

"I assume she got in a fight with the Hasselhan sisters. We were commissioned to hunt them down, so luckily, we have the antidote for the poison they carry with them," Hanabi stated as she injected the antidote into Rika's arm.

Rika's breathing immediately stabilized as her discolored skin began to return to normal. "Ugh, thanks. I owe you big time," Rika groaned as she attempted to stand up.

"Don't even think about it! Rika, what happened!?" Masaru asked as he sat Rika back down.

"Sorry. Those two showed up and attacked me. I ended up killing them and- ...! There's still a sniper-"

"Hanabi already killed him," Izumi smiled.

"K- Killed!?" Masaru trembled.

"Ah, Hanabi's actually my distant cousin. She ditched the family and became a bounty hunter with her partner, Izumi," Rika stated.

"Bounty hunters!?"

"Yeah, we're a duo known as Izuhana," Hanabi stated.

"Rika, is that woman dead?" Masaru asked as he pointed at Gracie's corpse.

"Sorry, I had no choice but to kill her. Her sister's probably frozen to death in the freezer too," Rika sighed.

"In the freezer!? Rika, did I not tell you I don't approve of killing!? Couldn't you just immobilize her!?"

"It isn't so easy. In the assassin world, it's kill or be killed. That deranged lunatic also had me on the ropes for a bit. If I hadn't killed her when I did, the poison would have kicked in at the worst possible time and I'd probably be the one dead on the floor of the kitchen."

Masaru was taken aback by Rika's grizzly statement. Sirens then began to blare in the distance as Rika leaned her head back into the counter.

"Sorry. I can never erase my killer instinct. Especially if my life or the lives of those I care about are in danger. Looks like this is it for me. Even if I don't die, there's no way I'm talking my way out of this mess," Rika weakly smiled as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"NO! Rika, since when did you become one to give up!?" Masaru glared as he hoisted Rika to her feet.

"But look at this mess! How can I explain this to the police!? Plus, if your sister's the one that comes-"

"I'll handle them. Tell your cousin to clean up the mess!"

"She's got a point. If they find that blood, you'd both be in trouble. Sorry, they likely came because of the explosion. There may be a way out of this, but Rika probably won't like it," Hanabi stated.

"Do it gently or have Izumi do it," Rika sighed.

"Huh!? What do you mean 'do it gently'!?" Masaru asked.

"We're gonna make it look like WE were the main perpetrators and you two just got caught up in our mess. But to do that, we'd have to make it look like you were involved in the skirmish, thus we'd need to rough you up a bit," Hanabi stated.

"Very well. I don't want to scold Rika from behind jail bars so hit me with your best shot!"

"Thanks Masaru," Rika smiled as Izumi punched Masaru in the face before knocking him out.

...

"This is the police! Release the hostages immediately!" Himawari ordered.

"I want a nice getaway car, and a 100,000 in euros," a disguised Hanabi sneered in a masculine voice as she held her knife up to a bound and gagged Rika's neck.

"Damn lucky she had her disguise kit on her. Now we might get out of this," Rika thought as she acted her role.

As Himawari signaled her men to move forward, Hanabi chucked a smoke bomb out the window before using the diversion to make her escape. She effortlessly evaded the police and rendezvoused with Izumi who had already pulled up the getaway vehicle. Hanabi dove into the backseat as Izumi sped away with none the wiser.

After removing her disguise, Hanabi gazed down at the bound and gagged Sidney shivering in the seat next to her. "Well, you're in for a world a pain for what you did. After I pump you clean of info, your ass is dead," she glared.

"I wish I had frozen to death back there," Sidney thought.

"Mmph ngh mmph!" Rika tearfully pleaded as Himawari glared at her.

"The bomb looks real. Have the bomb squad come in," Himawari ordered.

...

"Well seems like you had quite the ordeal. Now mind telling me what happened?" Himawari glared as Rika and Masaru were freed.

Masaru slowly regained consciousness as Rika tearfully embraced him in a hug. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know those customers were trying to rob us!" Rika cried.

Her tears were genuine, but not for the reason she stated. Though the act was enough to alleviate any suspicion Himawari had, until she examined the kitchen.

"And who is this?" Himawari glared as she stared at Gracie's corpse.

"One of the robbers. They had a falling out and killed her in a fight," Rika stated.

Himawari nodded and immediately headed for the freezer. "I see some blood in here too. I don't think it's from the corpse. You two don't look like you were held in the freezer either so who's blood is it?" she glared.

"One of the robbers. I told you they had a falling out and got in a fight. But when Masaru came back and tried to surprise them, they stopped fighting and beat him up before tying him to me."

“This whole scene reeks of suspicion. The bomb attached to you also turned out to be a dud. Was all this-“

"Commissioner! Some reinforcements have arrived. Apparently, SHE's amongst them," a female officer with short red hair reported.

"Tch. Then we're done with the questioning. Have forensics analyze as many of these blood samples as well as the time bomb and corpse," Himawari growled as she stormed away.

Outside, Himawari glared as she was approached by a woman with short chestnut hair. "Ara, fancy seeing you here, Commissioner Rikuma," the woman smiled.

"Likewise, Detective Yuzume. Nice to see you're back from your overseas mission," Himawari glared as she headed to her squad car.

As the female officer with red hair attempted to leave, Yuzume immediately clamped her hand over her shoulder. "I heard an intriguing scandal happened while I was away. Apparently, officer Yumeko Yamaguchi along with her sister and Chief Sakaguro, kidnapped and tortured one of this very restaurant’s employees. However, it was reported that Yumeko tragically died in action before she could be questioned. Now, care to tell me why you've changed your hair, Yumeko?" Yuzume smiled.

Before Yumeko could so much as sweat, she found her face slammed into the hood of a squad car as Yuzume handcuffed her.

"Yuzume, why are you arresting an officer?" Himawari glared as she rolled down the window.

"Because this is Yumeko Yamaguchi. I'm surprised you couldn't tell," Yuzume smiled.

"She is? I'm sorry, but I’m tired and can't see the resemblance."

"My apologies. Though I'd have thought you'd have been able to recognize her due to her being one of your main subordinates alongside the Inohara sisters and Purin."

"Are you trying to imply something? I'm not in the mood for this."

"Not at all. I was just stating my mind. Have a good night, Commissioner."

"Likewise."

As Himawari drove off, Yuzume shoved Yumeko into the back of her squad car and took her picture with her phone. “Looks like we’re done here. Now let’s take her to prison for some questioning” she ordered.

...

Once the police had left, Rika and Masaru headed home.

"Rika, I don't approve of you killing, but I won't ask you to handicap yourself if you find yourself in a life-or-death fight. I don't want you getting hurt or killed just because you tried to incapacitate rather than kill your attacker. However, I would still encourage you to try not to kill as best you can and try not to make a big mess of things, if possible," Masaru glared.

"Heh, thanks for the scolding. I'll be smarter in the future," Rika smiled as she kissed Masaru on the lips.

"Ri- RIKA!?"

"Sorry, but that's just how I feel. Thank you for staying by my side. Considering my family's gonna be trying to drag me back, I'll probably be roped into an even bigger brawl than this one."

"Must you fight though? I don't want you to get hurt or arrested."

"No choice sadly."

"Why can't those bounty hunters fight for you?"

"Fight for me? Well actually I don't have any issues with that. In fact, what better way to serve my family their humble pie. My father always taught me to use whatever means necessary to accomplish the mission successfully, so that's what I'll do. I'll use his own teachings against him assuming my original plan to best him fails. Thank you Masaru, here's another kiss," Rika smiled as she once again kissed Masaru on the lips.