Murderous Love

Chapter 2: Almost caught!



Jou was carefully sneaking up to what appeared to be an extremely heavily guarded estate. Black eyes were constantly looking out for guards or guard dogs. Having reassured himself none were in his immediate vicinity, he climbed over the wall and walked up to the main mansion. He chose one of the windows at the front as his entrance into the house.



‘Hmpf, locked. Like a simple lock can stop me. Idiots.’



He grabbed the black-coloured pouch hanging around his waist and started looking for his set of lock-picks. But before he found them, the sound of a branch breaking alerted him of nearby danger. He quickly closed the pouch again and sprinted towards the nearest tree. As fast as he could, he climbed up to the third branch several feet up and lied down on it on his stomach.



Through the leaves covering his form, he could see a guard patrolling the front of the house where he had stood only seconds ago. Instead of continuing on his round, the guard stopped at the window Jou had been planning on opening. He saw the guard talking through a headset to what probably was the security room. He couldn’t hear what the guard was saying though; the man stood too far away from the tree.



The guard was looking down at the ground, and Jou’s footprints going up to a bundle of trees. Keeping his face down to follow the footsteps, the guard didn’t see the black eyes watching his every move. The guard stopped right below Jou. Making sure his aim was correct, Jou jumped off of the branch and landed on the guard, knocking him to the ground and unconscious.



‘Pathetic. He should have been watching his surroundings instead of focusing solely on the ground.’



Brushing off the dirt on his black tight-fitting bodysuit, he walked back up to the window. He opened his pouch again and took out his set of lock-picks. Choosing the right one, he quickly got the window open. Putting his tools back into the pouch, he scanned the area around him one more time to make sure nobody had seen him.



‘This is going better than I expected. Hmmm…That is kind of strange considering whose house this is.’



He climbed through the window and quickly discovered he had made a huge mistake. There, in the room, stood three armed guards, each one pointing a gun towards Jou’s chest. Behind the guards stood another man, a wealthy man by the name of Osei Nokaro, who didn’t care about anything else than his money. This man was Jou’s current target. He had been hired to kill him. He would have even done it for free, but he needed all the money he could get.



He raised both his hands in sign of surrender. He had a dagger fastened on his belt hanging around his waist, but he couldn’t use it against those guns.



“So you are the legendary Dark Raven…It’s a pleasure finally meeting you.” Nokaro said gleefully. He had done something no one had ever been able to do. He had caught Dark Raven. He had caught the one person everyone believed to be uncatcheable. And now he was going to make him pay…



“I wish I could say the same, but I don’t really socialise with my targets.” Jou was fuming. He couldn’t believe he had walked into such a stupid trap. He should have known this would happen when he saw the guard talking through his headset earlier. He must have alerted the rest when he had spotted the footprints on the ground.



‘I’m such an idiot. I hope I can make it out of here alive. Dammit. This assignment is a complete failure. Now I have to return the money too. I really could’ve used that money.’



“Since you know my name, why not you tell me yours? It would only be fair, right?”



“You wish. Although I might as well tell you since I’m still going to kill you and last time I checked, dead men can’t speak.”



Nokaro chuckled. “I think you might have hit your head when you jumped down that tree and landed on one of my guards. I have you caught and there are three men pointing their guns at your chest. How could you possibly kill me now? You should’ve been more careful. I really hoped you would prove to be a real challenge for me. I’m truly disappointed in you.”



Jou attentively took in his surroundings. Behind Nokaro were two doors, both closed. On his left was the window, still open, but difficult to climb through without getting hit first. Behind him were a couple of closets and on his right stood a couch and a few small tables with chairs. On the floor was a thick carpet. By the looks of it he was standing in some sort of entertainment room.



“Now then, I think it’s time we start having a bit of fun, wouldn’t you agree?”



“Depends on what you call fun.” Jou didn’t like the smile on Nokaro’s face. And he really didn’t like that smirk.



“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.” Nokaro turned his attention to the guard standing in front of him. “Remove his weapon and bind his wrists and feet and make sure they are tied secure. I don’t want him to escape; not before I’ve had the chance to have some fun with him first.”



The guard was slowly approaching Jou. Jou didn’t hesitate. When the guard was close enough, he made a grab for the gun tucked in the guard’s belt. He held the gun in an iron grip. No way was he going to let it drop. Dropping it now could mean his death. After he had grabbed the gun he pushed the guard towards the others. Using the distraction and chaos, he made a dash for the couch. The guards were better than he thought they would be. Instead of losing their focus, they had simply pushed their colleague away and had started firing at Jou. Jou hadn’t been fast enough. A bullet went through his leg and another had grazed his upper arm. But Jou didn’t pause to inspect his wounds. He checked the gun to see how many bullets there were left.



‘Looks like I’ve got enough bullets to kill the guards, but not enough to take out Nokaro too. No big deal. I still have my dagger.’



Jou waited until he heard one of the guards switching magazines. Making sure his aim was perfect he shot down the first guard. He ducked quickly back behind the couch, two bullets flying over his head and into the wall behind him. He waited a couple of more seconds before taking down the second guard. He ducked again, but apparently not quick enough. Another bullet grazed the side of his head. Blood started dripping down the side, but Jou didn’t pay it any attention.



‘Only one bullet left. Nokaro isn’t armed. He’s depending on his guards. I have to make sure I kill the last guard. Then I might still be able to complete this mission.’



Jou waited until he heard the soft thud of a magazine landing on the carpet. Hoping the bullet would hit his target, he fired. The guard dropped down onto the floor, dead. Jou threw away the gun and focused on Nokaro. The only problem was that Nokaro wasn’t there anymore.



‘Dammit! The bastard must have left the room when that guard hit my head.’



He was about to follow after his target when he heard footsteps coming towards him.



‘Shit, reinforcements. Guess I do have to come back later to kill him after all.’



Jou headed towards the window and climbed out of the house as fast as he could. Blood was still flowing out of his wounds, his leg bleeding the worst. Once outside he made a run for it. He reached the front gate of the estate without difficulties and ran 6 blocks farther into an alleyway before allowing himself some time to rest.



‘Too close. Way too close. I need to be more careful or I’ll end up dead in no time.’



Jou pulled himself together again and walked up to the motorcycle hidden behind some garbage containers. He opened one of the bags hanging off the sides and pulled out a rope. He checked his leg wound and found blood still flowing out. Seeing no other choice, he took his dagger and ripped his pants open around his upper thigh. Growling at having to buy a new bodysuit, he threw the now useless trouserleg in his bag. He wrapped the rope tightly around his leg above the wound to stop the bloodflow. After making sure the rope would hold, he put on his helmet and straddled the bike. With the turn of his key, the engine roared to life. Wasting no time and not looking back, Jou left the alley with screeching tyres.



--



Nokaro was waiting in the entertainment room for his men to return with Dark Raven.



“Sir, we checked the entire premises, but it looks as if Dark Raven managed to escape.”



Nokaro growled. “You idiots. Why did I hire you if you can’t do your jobs…Fine. Find him and bring him to me…alive.”



“But sir, we don’t know his true identity.”



Nokaro smirked. He walked over to one of the closets and opened the door. He grabbed a small box from the top shelf and lifted the lid. Inside were some cotton swabs and some antiseptic fluid in a bottle. He grabbed a cotton swab and closed the lid again, placing the box back on the top shelf. He closed the door and walked over to the back of the couch. There, on the carpet, were several bloodstains from when Jou had been shot. He rubbed the cotton swab over the red liquid and gave it to the guard.



“Take this to our lab and find out his true identity. As soon as you have a match, report back to me. I’ll send Tenchi after him.”



“Yes, sir.”



The guard left the room immediately.



Nokaro was smirking. Soon he would know who Dark Raven really was and not only would he kill him, he would first torture those closest to him and make Dark Raven watch their deaths…But first he had someone else to take care off tonight.



--



Jou pulled up in front of a small cabin hidden in the woods just outside of Domino City. He turned off the ignition and took off his helmet. He brought his hand up to ruffle through his hair, but flinched when he felt his head wound stretch. He got off the bike and went up to the small house. He unlocked the front door and entered his home, closing and locking the door behind him. He put his keys on a small side table next to the door and went into the living room. He removed the pouch off of his waist and his dagger from it’s sheath and placed them on the table next to his other weapons. After having made sure all weapons were accounted for, he walked to the bathroom.



The cabin was small, but it had everything Jou needed to live comfortably. There were only 5 rooms in total. The largest room was the living room, which Jou also used as his bedroom. In the room stood a couch, a table, a coffee table, a small television so he could monitor the news and two big closets. The second largest room was the kitchen. It was big enough so Jou could place a small table and chair there without them being a hindrance when he cooked.



The third room was the bathroom. He had a shower, a toilet and a basin, but no bathtub. The fourth room was used as a storage room/pantry. Anything he couldn’t store in the other rooms was placed here, including food. The fifth and last room was his study. This room was always locked. Inside, there were a desk with a laptop and printer, a second desk buried under a pile of research papers, a large bookcase filled with books about martial arts and weapons and two desk chairs.



A couple of minutes later he re-entered the living room in a towel carrying a first-aid kit and a small basin filled with water and a cloth. He walked over to the couch/bed and placed the kit on the small coffee table standing in front of it. He turned and went back into the bathroom and came out again with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He walked back to the couch and sat down, sighing deeply.



“I’m such an idiot. I finally get the change to revenge their deaths and I blow it.” Tears formed in his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand. Sighing again he bent forward and took the cloth, wringing most of the water out before gently cleaning the wounds on his leg and arm. He checked his leg wound again and found the bloodflow had stopped. He carefully took off the rope and breathed out a sigh in relief when it didn’t start bleeding again. After the wounds had been cleaned, he opened the kit and pulled out some antiseptic cream. He rubbed the cream on the wounds and covered them with a bandage to keep the salve from sticking to everything else. For his head wound he needed a mirror though.



He cleaned up the small table and placed everything back into the bathroom cupboards. He leaned towards the mirror to inspect how bad his head wound was. The first thing he noticed though, were his black coloured contact lenses and his wig. Chuckling lightly, he opened one of the drawers and took out a small bottle with lense fluid and a small container. Quickly removing the lenses and cleaning then, he put them away in the container and looked back up in the mirror at his now ambercoloured eyes. Next he took off his black wig, revealing blonde hair underneath, and placed it on top of the counter. Pulling his hair back, he leaned towards the mirror to inspect his head wound. It was better than he had first thought. The bullet had caused a flesh wound, but the wound itself wasn’t deep enough to cause possible hemiraging. Jou took a fresh cloth and cleaned the wound as best as he could before applying some antiseptic liquid. He hissed as he felt the alcohol working.



Jou decided to let the wound breath so it could heal faster. Switching the towel for his boxers, Jou grabbed a pillow and a blanket out of a closet in the living room and lied down on the couch. Thinking back one more time on what had gone wrong that evening, Jou felt his eyelids becoming heavy and fell shortly after in a deep dreamless sleep.



--



It was early in the morning and all was quiet. Jou was lying on his couch, snoring softly. Unfortunately for him, his cell started ringing. Jou being startled awake, fell of the couch and hissed when he felt his wounds stretch. Quickly recomposing himself, he made a dash for his cell lying on the coffee table.



“This is Dark Raven. Who is this?”



“This is Seto Kaiba. I want to hire you.”



Jou gasped. The one man he had never expected to hear from ever again, was calling him and telling him he wanted to hire him.



“S-seto?”



“…Jou?”



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A/N: I know it's been almost 2 years. I did warn you updates could take long. I hope you enjoyed reading it so far.


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koalared: I did submit it at ADL. Thank you for your vote. Try looking for Little_Dragon on this site. I submitted it with that group as a First Chapter and it was chosen. You can read what they made of it there. The title of the fic is the same as is the first chapter. But the rest of the story follows a whole different plot.



Akane: I'm glad you like it. Thank you.



Lee: I never saw a story with a plot like this and decided to give it a try. And I will finish it. I never start something I don't intend to finish. Thank you for the review.



icestar: I'm happy you like it. Thank you.



PuppySlut: *chuckles* Pushing me won't work. Ask my family. I do things when I want to do them. Nice try though.



Hikari Raine: Guess you'll have to wait till next chapter to see Seto's reaction. Thank you for the review.



pooky: Is this enough? *smiles*



BlackBolt: I never abandon a fic. I don't start things without finishing them. It's just a question of when it will be finished though. I'm glad you like it so far.



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