Heated Encounters

Yagita went to the garage, to the trunk of her car, and looked through the bag that was given to her by Aihara. She picked out the shotgun and a few grenades, and ammunition, then closed the trunk and then proceeded to the drivers seat.

She tried calling Fuhira again but it still went straight to voice mail.

Slightly annoyed, she thought, [I really don't understand why he doesn't carry a radio (walkie-talkie),Damned fool] She drove off towards the address on her own afterwards.

Her captain, Imahaya Akanori looked at Yagita's laptop screen trying to remember where he had seen Zazuki before.

A particular incident came to his mind. One that happened when he was still a regular police officer patrolling the streets.

On that day, a lot of police officers, roughly 20 gathered trying to apprehend a single suspect after a robbery.

Although all of officers were armed, they weren't able to do anything and in the end, they were all beaten and Zazuki escaped.

[If this 3 character is anything like Zazuki, those two might have a very hard time] he thought, and leaned back on his chair, with his hand on his chin [on the other hand, they're two of the best detectives this department has seen] He sighed and logged out of the database.

So as to not arouse suspicion, When she got to the street the house was on, she parked several metres away, tapped her bracelet once more, activating her protective armour and made her way towards the house by foot.

As she approached the house, she thought to herself, [Should I wait? So we raid together. Can I really take him on alone? While I wait he may escape? No, I can do this.]

The house looked old and abandoned. The hedges untrimmed and misshapen, the waist high gates outside the house rusty and missing bars. The windows were boarded up with wood as opposed to glass which had all been broken. The door looked like it had seen better days too.

She slowly walked up to the door and twisted the door knob. It was locked. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a bobby pin and silently picked the lock.

She removed a pistol from its holster and stepped in slowly. Inside was much worse than the very worn out exterior of the house, ripped couches, broken tables, left over food on the floor.

To Yagita, it just confirmed that there was someone living there. She continued to slowly move through the house, her gun held in front of her, she moved to the toilet, then the kitchen. There was nothing there. She came back to the living room and then walked up the stairs, she checked the bathroom...nothing.

There were 3 bedrooms upstairs, she searched the first one, looking through closets and underneath the bed. When she was certain there was no one in that room, she moved to the next one.

As she opened the door, a gun was fired.

Due to her training, when she opened the door, she moved aside. This turned out to be a good move as shotgun pellets loudly ripped through the already worn out door, causing chunks of wood to fall to the floor.

She heard footsteps running towards her and quickly dashed forward just in time as 3's diamond fist broke through the wall.

Yagita turned and fired three times into the part of the wall where she assumed his torso would be.

There was a loud thud as his body hit the floor.

As she stepped into the room, 3 pulled a throwing knife strapped to his ankle and threw it with tremendous force at her.

She ducked but he used that momentary hesitation to his advantage and tackled her.

She countered this by using his body weight to throw him to the side, but in the process, she dropped her pistol.

As they both got back to their feet, 3 smiled and got into an offensive stance with his arms in front of him. He knew he held the advantage in close combat. Yagita was aware of this too after seeing him send Fuhira flying.

"Now we play according to my rules" 3 said, confidently.

"Says who?" She responded, as she got hold of the shotgun slinged across her back. 3's eyes widened, he jumped backwards but Yagita fired the gun. The force of the pellets sent him crashing into a table behind him.

[What's with that gun? What abnormal power] he thought, dusting bits of the shattered pellets off his diamond covered chest and stomach.

As Yagita raised her gun again, he rolled backwards and dove behind a sofa just as the shot hit it.

Angered, he picked up the sofa and threw it at her. It slammed hard into her causing both her and the sofa to go through the wall behind her.

3 slowly walked up to her, picked her up by her hair and threw her down the stairs. As she landed, she hit her head and stopped moving for a few seconds.

Before he proceeded downstairs, he noticed he was bleeding where the bullets from the pistol hit him earlier. [Crap, I thought I hardened in time. I have to finish her off and get out of here]

Just as he was about to walk down the stairs, something landed in front of him.

"Huh?" He muttered to himself, just as the flashbang grenade in front of him went off.

He was hit by the resulting concussive wave and blinding light of the grenade.

He staggered backwards, holding his head with his eyes closed. Yagita ran up to him, pulled a taser from one of the many compartments of her trousers and put it on his neck. He crumpled to the floor.

She slumped against the wall, breathing heavily as blood flowed down her face.

About 15 seconds later, she pulled out handcuffs but as she was about to put them on his hands, he sprung to his feet and grabbed her by the throat, and before she could react, he coated his arms in diamonds and slammed his fist into her face a few times, till she stopped trying to pull his hand off her throat. However, he didn't let go as she continued to go pale.

"What do you think you're doing to my partner?"

Fuhira said angrily, as a dark shroud enveloped him. He stretched his hands and a black orb slammed into 3's chest. To him, It felt like he was on fire so he quickly removed his jacket and threw it to the floor as it continued to burn, and rapidly turn to ashes.

[What was that? Okay, now I really have to leave. Right now] he thought.

As Fuhira charged up the stairs, 3 thought of a way to get out of his current predicament. He looked at Yagita on the floor who was gasping for air and coughing. He noticed a fragmentation grenade that rolled to the floor when she fell.

As Fuhira rapidly closed the distance, he picked up the grenade, pulled off the pin, threw it towards Yagita and sprinted in the opposite direction.

Fuhira's eyes widened as he realised what would happen in about 5 seconds. He looked at 3 and fired his revolver at him just as he jumped out of a bedroom window, then back down at Yagita. He was annoyed at the fact that he wasn't going to be able to chase after him.

He picked her up and ran in the other direction, down the stairs. He had just carried her out of the front door when the grenade exploded, sending bits of wood everywhere, including the front door.

He put the now unconscious Yagita in the back seat of her car and drove her to the hospital. Thoughts of 3 escaping never leaving his mind. He notified the captain of what happened as he arrived at the hospital.

As soon as the nurses took her, Fuhira sat in the waiting room thinking to himself.

[If I got there sooner, this wouldn't have happened. Why didn't you wait Yagita? That bastard, I can't believe I let him escape yet again. Now Yagita is hurt] He buried his head in his hands, filled with emotions of anger and regret.

A few minutes later, Imahaya walked into the waiting room.

"Fuhira, you okay?"

"Captain? What are you doing here? "

"I came to check on my two best detectives. How you doing?"

"I've been better, Cap. She's in there because I wasn't there to back her up."

"Don't be too hard on yourself Fuhira, she's alive because you intervened. We came close to capturing him once, we will do so next time. " [As I thought, he's definitely Zazuki's descendant]

They both went back to sit down and waited for Yagita to wake up.

3 staggered into the entrance of the group hideout, where three others were having a conversation, making a lot of noise as he did so. 5 turned around and laughed. "What happened to you? Who beat you up?"

Number 6 walked up to him, "you look horrible. What happened?"

3 dropped to the floor, breathing heavily.

"He's been shot." 1 said, walking towards them,"who did this to you 3?"

In a croaky and exhausted voice, 3 responded "The detectives from the museum"

"how did they find you so quickly?" 1 asked

"1, this isn't the time for this. 3's injured" 6 said, ripping his blood soaked T-shirt.

1 continued, "See 3, this is why I told you to always have a partner. To avoid shit like this happening but you and your dumb ideals. Look where that's gotten you"

"Thats enough!" 6 firmly said,"if you're not going to be helpful, leave"

1 scoffed and walked off. Afterwards, 6 placed her hands on his chest and muttered something. A spell. White circles of light appeared where her hands were.

As she healed him, she said quietly, "Those damn detectives are more resourceful than we thought. They may end up becoming really problematic"

As he healed, the bullet in his belly was pushed out and the wound closed up, so did the bullet wound in his back from where Fuhira shot him.

Several minutes later, 1 came back as 3 sat up, fully healed. 6 spoke first, "That darkened spot on your chest took too long to heal. What happened? "

"No idea 6, that detective shot something at me. His ability I guess. My Jacket was burnt to a crisp in seconds but I don't know, it was black. What kind of flames are black?"

1 scratched his chin."That detective seems troublesome. I'll look into this power but from now on, 6 is your assigned partner. No further discussion. Something like this cannot happen again"

3 sighed, "I was just caught off guard. I don't need a babysitter 1"

"This isn't up for discussion 3 "

"Fine whatever"

"You're welcome by the way" 6 said, "ungrateful ass"

3 stood up, revealing a set of large pecs and a very well toned body. He shook his head, and walked towards the hidden entrance of the hideout.

5 laughed again, "All those muscles and you waltzed in here half dead "

"5, I'll advice you not to piss me off right now "

"oh, scary" 5 sarcastically said, as 3 walked out

6 sighed and picked up the bloody t-shirt from the floor.

As 3 left, he couldn't help but remember the words his grandfather Zazuki told him ["Whatever you do in life son, remember this. Having a partner always ends up in a big mess. I've seen countless people lose their edge and get killed because their partner got hurt. Don't let that be your story. That's why i do everything alone"]

[The old man is right. I don't need a damn partner. If that male detective didn't have a partner to look out for, I'd probably be in jail right now. That just proves it.] he thought.

A few hours later, Yagita woke up with a very bad headache and a clogged nose. A nurse walked in while she sat up.

"Take it easy Ms Ryoshi, you don't want to stress yourself too much"

Yagita looked out of the window, seeing it was dark outside, she asked "How long have I been out?

"You were unconscious for about 15 hours. Your partner is still out there. Should I send him in ?"

Yagita nodded, and in a matter of seconds, Fuhira entered the room.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I've been better. I thought I'd be able to apprehend him myself." She laughed,"I guess not"

"Don't blame yourself. If I had gotten there faster, this would not have happened"

"No don't do that, it's me wanting to prove that I can be the number 1 detective that got me here. I should've waited. That doesn't matter now though, he's beaten and injured. There's not many places he can go to, we can get him "

Fuhira agreed with a nod but thought to himself

[She does so many amazing things I forget that she's a normal human with no powers or special abilities. She's very impressive. As her partner I've got to do a better job of protecting her]

"Well, now I know you're awake and okay, I'm going to continue the chase. I'll keep you updated "

He left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She couldn't help but compare herself to him. [I'll never be number 1 at this rate. How pathetic. I need to get much stronger than this. I just don't know how]