The Cool Grip
by James Harris
Important - This story is for general entertainment purposes only. City Hunter, Ryo Saeba and all related characters are property of Tsuaka Hojo and respective licensing holders, no copyright violation is intended.
Author's Note - OK, I admit it, I'm totally blocked on my Part 3 of my Saint Seiya story (`Requiem' in case you forgot the title). So I figured the best way to shake the cobwebs out was to start on a simpler, more light hearted romp with everyone's favorite hentai gun for hire!! Let me know what you think by email at: roberjr@bgnet.bgsu.edu
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It was the type of spring day that Saeko Nogami hated to be stuck indoors for. Perhaps that's why she decided to leave the office, or maybe it was the suitor that had been standing in her office. Another one of her father's ill-fated attempts to get her married off against her will. She felt sorry for the man she just lied to in order to get out of the office, he didn't even get a chance to tell her his name. This was just to nice a day to be stuck in the office filling out paperwork. The Shinjuku section of Tokyo was refreshing in the spring and she would be damned if she was going to miss it!!
<Besides>, Saeko thought, <even detectives need to live a little>. She walked casually down the crowded street till she came to an all to familiar location. She looked up with a sly smile and walked through the door of the Cat's Eye. It was time for Saeko Nogami to mess with Ryo Saeba's mind.
No sooner had she walked through the door than Ryo had become affixed to her hip. "Saeko-chan!! You've come to keep your promise haven't you?", said Ryo in his maniacal schoolboy boy voice. It would have been so easy to throw him into the wall or through a window but she wasn't Kaori. No, Saeko had come to play.
"Oh Ryo, Police work is so grueling, I just can't take the stress!! Let's run away together and and run naked on the beach!!". At the mention of the word naked Ryo's ears twitched and his eyes perked up. Saeko was ready to manipulate poor Ryo like never before.
Ryo removed himself from Saeko's waist and stood up straight. He looked in her eyes, the crazed hentai was melting away into `The Stud of Shinjuku' that she knew all to well. He drew closer to her and sighed deeply. "Have you come to tease me sweet Saeko-chan?" he asked sadly, "Do you enjoy hurting me? Why must I be made to suffer in this way?"
Saeko stumbled through her next words clumsily, already her plan for manipulation was in jeopardy. "B-b-b-but Ryo, I-I-I've come to pay my tab for Mokkori!!"
Ryo chuckled softly to himself and shook his head, "Come now Saeko-chan, what fun is the pursuit of mokkori with you if you acquiesce so easily? Mokkori is more than just my hobby... IT IS MY PASSION!! NO IT IS MY ART!!", he then tried to demonstrate his art by reaching for Saeko's breasts.
It was then that a very familiar sensation overcame Ryo's entire body. It was the weight of 100 tons of pure mallet wielded by the one woman in all of Japan who could heft such a thing. Kaori Makimura stood there in anger with both her hands firmly gripping the handle of the mallet. Rage painted her tomboy face. "IF MOKKORI IS AN ART THEN YOU MUST BE IT'S PICASSO!!" she screamed.
Ryo recovered quickly and pointed an accusing finger at his partner, "DAMN RIGHT I'M THE PICASSO OF MOKKORI!!! WHY DON'T YOU LIGHTEN UP LEAVE ME TO MY ART?"
Saeko was stunned, when she was serious he acted like a fool, but now that she reversed the table, he caught on right away. <Damn you Ryo!>, she thought, <How do you know when I'm insincere?>. Ryo turned away and took a seat at the counter and returned to his coffee. Kaori stormed away to the back of the Cafe, no doubt to make use of Miki's practice range. Saeko was left speechless and more importantly upset that Ryo had not even tried to seduce her like he normally did. She then spun on her heel and left.
The cool spring air soothed the mounting anger in her breast. <Curse you Ryo, after all you put me through I try to play you this once and you turn me down!! ME!!!>. She headed east, walking and swearing under her breath the whole way. The odd thing was that she had no idea of where to go next. When she finally bothered to examine her surroundings, she realized that she had stumbled into a convenience store and was examining the dried ramen section. Before she had been angry but now that she was lost Saeko Nogami was FURIOUS!!
She was all set to leave when she heard a voice of gravel make a simple demand. "ALL OF THE MONEY!! PUT ALL OF THE MONEY IN THE BAG!!", said the Voice. <Damn!!>, thought Saeko, <Not A robbery!! Not now!!>. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she ducked behind the aisle. Reaching in her pocket Saeko took out her compact and held it to the side to get a look at the suspect. What she saw was nothing she hadn't been trained for; some local gang member holding up the owner of the market with a sawed-off shotgun. The punk in question was dressed in a jean jacket and bright orange pants, his hair was dyed black save for a green stripe running down the middle.
Saeko shut her compact and returned it to her pocket. If she didn't act now the perp would get away and she wasn't about to let that happen. In a single motion she spun around the corner, reaching for her shoulder holstered Smith & Weeson .38 . This was her first mistake for in her own anger she had forgotten that she had left her side-arm in her office in order to take the day off. Her second mistake was not scouting the area, for tucked in the corner down the aisle was the perp's henchman.
By the time she realized her first mistake she had already managed to yell `Freeze!!' . The first perp spun on his heel and let off a shot that blew off a rack of dry cereal. Saeko ducked behind the aisle again panting frantically. <What am I doing?> she thought, <I left my sidearm at the office, curse me for being stupid!!>. Already she heard the footsteps of the perp coming towards her. Though she was without a gun, Saeko was hardly defenseless. Deftly, she reached under her skirt and pulled out one of her throwing daggers. She smiled inwardly as the cool grip caressed her palm. This was not an ideal situation, this much she was beginning to realize. With each approaching footstep, Saeko became more anxious to let her blade fly.
Then the voice of gravel spoke. "Come out little lady, Seijii ain't gonna hurt you", the voice said mockingly.
Saeko tensed the grip on her dagger and leapt across the aisle. In one fluid motion she threw the dagger and with her free hand reached for another. The blade hit its mark, drinking deeply into the shoulder of the perp. But he managed to get a shot off from his Shotgun and this time instead of cereal being blown to bits there was a splattering of blood. Saeko was hit, her left leg was twitching from the shotgun shell that connected with it. Any attempt to stand now would be futile, she was now a sitting duck. Her hope was not completely lost though, the dagger had connected and the thug would no doubt try to remove it. This bought her time, to do what she had no clue.
She began to count down from 10 in order to concentrate. The concentration helped her to ease her frantic mind and prevented her from going into shock from loss of blood. The concentration also made her aware of the second perp as she heard his footsteps coming from the next aisle over. The second perp was close, no doubt he left the front to try and hunt her down now that his comrade was injured. Sweat beaded Saeko's brow, getting out of this situation was next to impossible. The second perp rounded the corner and pointed a .357 Magnum at Saeko's head. Pure instinct took over as Saeko took her dagger and thrust down into the punk's foot.
What happened next Saeko would later only recall as a blur. The second perp screamed in pain and reeled back. He let off several wild shots, then it was all darkness. Saeko heard the sound of sirens and screams as she drifted to unconsciousness. The last thought running through her mind came as no big surprise to her. All she could think of was Ryo Saeba.
When Saeko regained consciousness she found herself in one of her least favorite places, a hospital. Her vision was hazy but there was no mistaking the antiseptic smell of sterile sheets and the sound of a krinkly bed. Saeko hated the hospital, he hated even more than usual since she was the patient. A familiar voice rang in her ears, she tried to turn to the voice but found herself to weak to even do that.
"Take it easy Saeko-san, everything is going to be alright," said Kaori, "Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am?"
"K-Kaori," Saeko replied in a dry cracked voice, "What am I doing in here? What's going on?"
Saeko attempted to sit up but her whole body screamed in agony, it was then that Kaori's face came into view, as she helped Saeko get comfortable. "You were shot in a robbery, some thugs held up a supermarket and you tried to stop them" said Kaori in a concerned tone.
Then all of it returned to Saeko in a flash. The thugs, her daggers and a brutal shotgun blast that tore through her leg. Everything was clear now, especially the reason for the cast on her leg. Saeko looked upto Kaori and softly whispered, "Where is Ryo?"
Kaori bit her lip nervously, she desperately wanted to tell Saeko where Ryo was but opted for an easier way out. "I'll tell you later, right now get some rest. You need the rest after what you've been through."
Saeko wanted to protest but something in her listened to Kaori. She nodded slightly and shut her eyes, dozing off towards convalescence. Kaori wrapped her arms around herself and walked out. She knew that if she didn't try to hold herself she'd break out screaming. For now it was best that Saeko-san not know where Ryo Saeba was. Kaori was sorry that she knew where Ryo was and what he was upto. She just couldn't bring herself to tell Saeko that despite all her effort the 2 punks still got away. It was because of this reason that Ryo was not at the Hospital. How could Ryo waste time visiting Saeko when he had to track down the scum who did this to her. <God help those 2 dirtballs once Ryo finds them>, she thought, <because they'll need all the help they can get once he finds them!!>
The key for Ryo, however, was finding them. He had been to Doc's and tried to gather what information he could from the old man but all that was known was the police and media report. Doc had nothing for Ryo to go on. All he had were nudes of Akira Hokuto and Manami Toyota, which Ryo immediately snatched up and put in his wallet. But besides fulfilling his hentai/mokkori needs Doc was useless. His gut was telling him to go back to the scene of the crime but there was no way the police at the scene would let him past the barricade without some official identification. The only 2 people who got a look at the thugs who shot Saeko were Saeko, who was in the hospital, and the supermarket owner, also in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds and a heart attack that forced him into a coma.
Ryo took a deep breath and began to piece the puzzle together. <2 punks shoot a cop, the cops surround the place but the morons still manage to escape. How can the police be that sloppy?>. His thoughts were making his head hurt, he needed to come up with something and fast or Saeko would never be avenged and the thought of a beautiful woman being unavenged for a crime made him want to scream. He wandered back to the Cat's Eye hoping that Kaori might have gotten a clue but fell into a deeper depression when all he saw was Umibozu.
As he walked through the door Umibozu grunted to him. "Tell me Falcon, how can 2 creeps shoot Saeko and escape from the scene of the crime when the scene itself was essentially cordoned off?", Ryo asked defeatedly.
Umibozu put down the glass he was cleaning and shook his head, "Gross ineptness. At times, it seems that the only competent cop is Saeko-san".
Ryo took a seat, trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together were really hurting his head and he needed a clear head to be effective for Saeko. It was then that a familiar scent of perfume and gun oil wafted into the Cat's Eye. The scent would normally send Ryo into a wild frenzy of lust and mokkori peddling. The voice that was attached to the scent came out angry, in fact it was furious. "RYO!! HOW CAN YOU JUST SIT THERE WHILE SAEKO IS LYING IN THE HOSPITAL? WHY AREN'T YOU OUT HUNTING HER ASSAILANT?"
Ryo spun his seat around to face Reika Nogami, Saeko's younger sister. If any man had spoken to him in such a tone he would have hit him, but this was no man, it was a beautiful woman and Reika at that. No, Ryo Saeba faced her and looked her squarely in the eye with the fierce determination that had earned him the reputation of being the best in his field.
"What would you have me do Reika-chan? I have no leads, Doc had nothing for me and both victims are unconscious in the hospital. You expect me to just find these 2 morons with no leads? Surely as a detective you must know that working along those guidelines is next to impossible. For now, all I can do is wait for Kaori to tell me how Saeko is doing. Otherwise, I'd recommend you do the same and try to relax."
Reika stared at Ryo, the shock on her face quickly melting to frustration and then sadness. Ryo tried to remember if he had ever seen Reika cry but he came up with no such memory. Reika broke down, crying on Ryo's shoulder , the wet, salty tears staining his blue sport jacket. Ryo gently drew her into his arms and walked her to a booth. Ryo knew that Reika and Saeko had never exactly seen eye to eye on certain issues but nothing could break the bond of blood that the sisters shared, not even himself.
"Ryo, if we do find the punks who shot her, what will we do to them?". Reika asked simple question, but simple questions seldom had simple answers in Ryo Saeba's life.
He looked at Reika with a blank expression on his face for he had no answer. Would he kill them? Could he kill 2 men for hurting a woman that he never truly resolved his feelings for or who had never resolved feelings for him? Before thinking was making Ryo's head hurt, now it was making his head THROB!! It was then that the cell phone in his coat went off. He knew it could only be one person. "Tell me what's going on Kaori?", he demanded before the voice on the other end could even ask him how he was feeling, "How is Saeko?"
He heard Kaori take a deep breath, then she spewed forth the news he was waiting for. Saeko was alright, she had come to but was resting now after talking very briefly. Reika looked at Ryo with a pained glance but that faded into a sigh of relief as Ryo smiled and made an `OK' signal with the fingers on his free hand.
"Any luck in finding the scum yet?", Kaori asked bluntly.
Ryo shook his head in response to the question and grunted in the negative. "I've tried all the leads we have available and Doc's shooting blanks for information today. I guess we'll have to rely on Saeko's memory for a description."
"BAKA!!", Kaori shouted into the phone, "We have another option..."
Ryo groaned, the comatose store owner was not really an option in his mind. "Kaori, the old man is still layed up isn't he?"
"Ryo,, I really wonder how you manage to get anywhere without me!!" She chuckled, "You haven't even thought about running a background check on the old geezer have you?"
Ryo leaned his head against the window as he sighed in frustration, "Oh come on, you really don't think this is an insurance scam do you? You've been watching to many American detective shows. If you want I can have Doc run a check on him but I doubt it will turn up anything. What's his name?"
"Kintaro Tengu, at least that's the name the hospital has him under."
Ryo wrote the name down quickly and told his partner to wait for his call. He then looked at Reika with a gentle smile, "Your sister is fine but you knew that already," he said, "I'm going back to Doc's to try for a lead. You want to tag along?"
Reika looked up at him, wiping the tears away from her eyes. Her gentle eyes didn't match her determined face. She stood up and kissed him lightly on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "If you hadn't asked, I'd shoot off your kneecaps."
With a wink and a smile she was out the door and Ryo was left there trailing in her dust. <It's women like her that make mokkori worth pursuing>, he thought happily and ran after her to catch up.
They were at Doc's five minutes later waiting for information to come through the computer. Doc was meticulous in his information gathering and once he had the name, began checking every source he could use. The information on Kintaro Tengu came up and Doc's jaw hit th floor. Not only did he find something on Tengu, he found something that would make Ryo's head spin. "Ryo, you'd better come check out this information!!" the Old Man bellowed, "If it's accurate Saeko has gotten herself into situation that may put her life in jeopardy".
Ryo came running in and looked at the computer screen. The display showed a file on Kintaro Tengu and his `market'. As he read the file, his heart sank into his stomache with each paragraph. It turned Tengu was running a front for the Triads, an off shoot of the Hong Kong Mafia. The market was a front for a drug pushing operation and had been under Tokyo police investigation for months. Ryo turned to Doc, beads of sweat running down his head, "Tengu was working for the Triads in the drug market!! But...", Ryo's voice trailed off as he fit the pieces to the puzzle together. <If Tengu was running drugs then the Yakuza must have found out and sent those punks to deal with him. Saeko was just a victim of coincidence, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. If she got a good look at the punks then she's STILL in danger!!>
Doc looked at Ryo nervously and rested his hand on his chin before speaking, "Saeko now has to deal with Yakuza coming after her in order to keep her quiet. Ryo, this is big... really big!! Saeko just blew months of undercover work by stopping that robbery!!"
Ryo spun in a fluid motion and bolted out the door as fast as he could. Time was of the essence, if he didn't get to the hospital Saeko was as good as dead!!
End of Part 1
