It was past midnight as Airi made her way to her father's office, looking surprisingly awake for the hour that it was. She was no stranger to these light night assignments, always ready to get up and to work at any time of day. She had to be with the kind of work that she did, killing in broad daylight was almost always a recipe for getting caught.

     Rin looked up from his computer when the door opened, and he was on his feet and out the door almost immediately. "I'm surprised you're ready so fast, you usually take a bit longer," he noted with a soft chuckle, the father and daughter walking down the hallway together.

     "First Kaito and now you, I do not take that long to get ready! And besides, this should be a short trip so I didn't want to waste time with hair and makeup. Hopefully the paparazzi is sleeping at this hour," Airi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up at her father. She was a bit shorter today, having ditched her usual heels for black combat boots, matching with the rest of her all black apparel, but still a stark contrast from her pink hair.

     Rin couldn't help his amused smile when he heard his daughter, stepping into the elevator with her and hitting the button for the lobby. "You know we're just teasing. But if getting all dressed up is what makes you so good at your job, then keep doing it. You're doing something right, Airi, your work speaks for itself. Not only to me, but to the rest of the Board as well. I'm sure of it."

     Airi felt her heart warm when she heard her father, smiling up at him in return. "You really mean it?" She asked excitedly. She adored her father, he understood her better than anyone else, and he was the person she admired the most. Knowing that she had his approval meant more than anything.

     "Of course, am I the kind of person who says things they don't mean? If anyone can run this company better than me, it's you. You have everything it takes, and more. And I'm so proud of you," Rin said softly, his eyes shining with the kind of fatherly pride that most people could only dream of receiving. There was no doubt that he truly believed every word that he was saying.

     "You're going to make me cry, getting all sappy before we go out," Airi grumbled, though her smile never faded as she looked up at her father.

     Rin chuckled when he heard her, before the elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped out together. "You're right, I suppose now isn't the best time for this. But always remember that no matter what you do, no matter how badly you mess up, I will always believe in you," he said with an affectionate smile. "Now come on, let's go get this over with so we can go to sleep."

     Airi smiled back at her father as they made their way across the lobby together, a slight bounce in her step. She wanted to give him a hug and tell him how much his words meant to her, but that could all wait until later.

     For now, they had to focus on the job at hand. She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head to keep her hair concealed, the two of them seeming to blend in with the shadows as they walked the deserted streets to get to their destination.

     They walked in comfortable silence together, both of them mentally preparing for what they needed to do. Airi only turned to her father once their target grocery store was in sight, pulling the gun out of her holster. "Just say the word when you're in position," she instructed, her father simply nodding his acknowledgment.

     They were in front of an innocent looking grocery store, closed to all customers at this hour, but the two of them were far from customers. The moment they stepped in front of the store, two employees stepped out of it, one of them removing their name tag. "Sorry, we're closed!" One of them piped cheerfully, giving the two of them a small smile.

     "Funny, I don't remember asking," Airi replied, giving them a smile of her own before she lifted her handgun and fired a shot at them.

     The shot was no louder than a whistle as it headed straight for the man's chest, though he merely smirked as it hit him and then ricocheted back at her. Airi managed to step out of the way of its path, her pleasant smile never fading. "I don't believe that your guns sound half as good, or fire half as smoothly," she said, keeping her gun aimed at the two of them.

     "But our katanas are much more modern than yours," the other male countered, resting a hand on the waistband of his pants. It was only then that the sheath for his sword was visible, and he pulled the weapon out without hesitation.

     Airi watched both men in front of her closely, the three of them eying each other, before she swiftly moved her gun to the side and shot her father in the arm. The men started in surprise, before they simply stopped moving, Airi completely still as well. The only one moving was Rin, who grabbed one of the men's hands and used his fingerprint to reactivate the sliding glass doors, before pushing him to the ground.

     He cradled his arm with his other hand, a hiss of pain escaping him as he made his way through the store. Everything was frozen the way it was, even the fly hovering over the apples in the fruit department, not a single soul was moving. Nobody within a ten mile radius was moving, such was the power of Rin Nakamura's curse.

     And all it cost was being shot.

     He ran as fast as he could towards the back of the store, to where he knew the manager's office would be. His arm was bleeding badly, it had soaked through the fabric of his shirt sleeve and was starting to drip onto the floor, but he didn't have time to deal with it. The clock was ticking, there was no turning back now that time had stopped.

     Rin only had three minutes of time being frozen before it all went back to normal, no matter where he was, or what kind of shape he was in after being shot. He had to get to the office, get the item, and then get back to Airi all in three minutes.

     Luckily he had over twenty years of experience hurrying places after being shot.

     He let his arm fall limp by his side before he grabbed his own gun off of his holster and shot the lock on the door of the office, letting himself inside. "Where could it be..." He murmured out loud, opening various cabinets and drawers to find a very specific object that he was looking for.

     As the seconds ticked by, Rin found himself getting desperate, he knew he was running out of time. He used his good arm to start pulling books out of the bookshelf behind the desk, before he grabbed one that seemed a little too light to be the final Harry Potter book. He opened it without a second thought, and he couldn't help his sigh of relief when he saw the gold cell phone inside of it. He snapped the book shut, just in time to hear a low laugh coming from the previously dark computer screen.

     "Oh Rin, did you really think it would be that easy to find the detonator?" The male voice asked, clearly amused even without being able to be seen. The computer screen was still dark, but the voice was clearly coming from there.

    Rin blinked in confusion, though that didn't stop him from continuing to make his way to the door. He now had less than a minute to get back to the storefront and get out with his daughter, he didn't have time to waste.

    "I wouldn't leave if I were you. After all, it would be a shame if something were to happen to your daughter," the voice said threateningly.

     That was the one thing that could have made Rin pause, was the thought of anything happening to his oldest child. "What did you just say?" He asked quietly, pausing in the doorframe of the office.

     "The clock is ticking, Nakamura. Your oldest child, or the detonator to activate all of the bombs in the city. Choose."

    Rin clenched his jaw when he heard the voice, shaking his head as he broke out into a run. "How about neither?" He hissed under his breath, keeping the book tucked under his arm as he sprinted towards the store entrance. He didn't know what the voice had planned for his daughter, but he intended on getting there fast enough that they'd never have to find out.

The voice on the computer chuckled with amusement when he heard Rin's receding footsteps, pulling out a golden phone of his own on the other side of the screen. "Very well, have it your way," he said, his voice echoing throughout the empty office.

     "Five..."

Rin was sprinting through the aisle to get to the door, sweat beading on his forehead. He could see Airi and the two men on the other side of the door, all he had to do was run a little faster to get there. Just a few steps more, he was going to make it, he was right outside of the door.

    "Maybe if you had waited, I would have given you more time. Three, two, one-"

The voice was cut off as a fiery explosion went off right in front of Rin, blocking his way out. He turned in time to hear the sound of multiple other bombs being set off, his heart pounding so loudly that he could hear it. His time was up, and time was unfrozen, but what had happened to Airi?

     "AIRI!" He yelled desperately, trying to convey some kind of message to her, but it was no use. He had always cursed his average height, but he couldn't see over the flames, and the fire was coming from seemingly all directions. "Airi, run!"

Time had unfrozen for the woman outside, right in time for her to see the flames coming from the storefront, and realize that her father was not next to her. "DAD!' She yelled, unable to hear his cries from inside. But he couldn't hear hers either, not when he had backed away from the entrance to try and find a way out.

The Angelis Mortis was always known for being a step ahead of everyone else in the technology industry. But their biggest competitor had finally figured out how to take the lead.

     "I'll kill you for this, Aurum!" Airi screamed outside of the building, her vision blurring with tears as she watched the burning building. It was no use calling for help, she knew that her father was dead the moment she had come to.

Someone had leaked the information that they were coming for the detonator tonight, to make sure that Aurum no longer held anything over them. But who had it been?

Airi didn't have time to stand and dwell in front of the store, not when she knew that authorities would be here any minute. How would she explain that she and her father had been at a store so late at night, how would she explain that it was his charred body that they would find inside? Such a respected businessman and his daughter at such a store at night? It wasn't even believable.

So she pulled her hood over her head and started to run, running away as fast as she could. The wind hurt her chest even more, and the tears seemed to sting her cheeks, but she had to run to keep their secrets safe, to get back home and tell her mother- her mother.

Airi barely registered when she was finally back inside of their building, not wasting a second to catch her breath as she cried. She hadn't stopped crying, she could hardly believe that this was all real.

How could this assignment have gone so wrong? They had purposefully picked this day and this time, they had done research, this was so much easier than many assignments beforehand! How had their enemies found out about them? How was it possible to be set and time it so perfectly?

Airi knocked at her mother's apartment door desperately, starting to hyperventilate as her knocks became more frantic. Why wasn't she answering? Was she dead too, was her entire family-

     "Airi! Airi, what's wrong? Where's your father?"

Airi stared up at her mother with tears streaming down her face, trying to force the words out of her mouth but she was unable to. She just looked up at her mother, her beautiful mother who had doted on her husband for years, and begged her to understand.

Words weren't necessary to further explain what the look on Airi's face said, and that was when her mother pulled her into her arms and the two women started to weep together. Airi knew she would have to explain what had happened soon, they would have to make up a story for the tabloids about why there was no body and no viewing was possible.

But now was simply the time to mourn the death of Rin Nakamura, who died too soon and left too many behind.

How Airi wished she had given him a hug when she had the chance.

~~~

i would have had this chapter done a few days ago, but i have been watching haikyuu and it has taken over my life. i just finished season one and i will probably start season two after i post this XD

also i will be doing my best to get back to regular weekly upates, but i am moving into my dorm and starting college soon! so we will see what happens.

like always, remember to vote + comment and see you next update!