More Than A Bank Robbery

Once Shiori gets inside, she takes her shoes off and steps into the living room. Her mom is in the kitchen.

Hamasaki "Hi sweetie, you doing okay today?"

Shiori "Yeah I'm fine."

Hamasaki "Get any chocolate this year?"

Shiori "No but I gave some."

Hamasaki gets a shocked look.

Hamasaki "You gave somebody chocolate?! Who?"

Shiori "It's not what you think. I didn't do it cause I like him or anything. He's just been really nice so it was as thanks."

Hamasaki "Hikigaya…"

She says with a big smile on her face.

Shiori "Mama, please don't…"

Hamasaki "I won't, I won't. … I'm thinking about inviting over the Oshiro's again. Because poor Asami is single and this holiday can be hard for her."

Shiori "Mama! You said you wouldn't!"

Hamasaki smiles and waves her hands back and forth defensively. In Hikigaya's house, Asami pulls out her phone as it starts ringing.

Asami "Hello? Ah, Hamasaki! What's that? You're inviting us over for a Valentine's dinner? Why, of course we'd love to come. You don't mind that there's an extra head this time, right? Great! We'll see you in a couple hours!"

She hangs up the phone. She turns to look at Hikigaya whose mouth is wide open. She spoke in a way to make it obvious that this was happening.

Hikigaya "Mom! We spent New Year's with them! Now I gotta spend Valentine's too?"

Ace "Aw, c'mon little bro. It's not that big of a deal."

His big sister comes into the living room and puts her arm on his shoulder.

Ace "Besides, I want to meet this girl you've been telling me about."

She smiles at him. He rolls his eyes.

Asami "Well it's good to see you're on board. Now go on you two. Get ready cause we're heading over in just a couple hours."

They both head off into their rooms.

Later that night, after Takanou got home and Hamasaki finished cooking, the Oshiros came over. Hamasaki and Asami hugged each other as usual then she hugged Takanou.

Riku "Hikigaya is back!"

He runs from the hallway with his arms out and then dives, headbutting Hikigaya in the tummy. Hikigaya lets out an "Oof!" then grabs hold of Riku in his arms.

Hikigaya "You little punk! You're gonna grow up to be worse than your sister."

Riku sticks his tongue out which Hikigaya responds by doing the same. After he puts Riku down he looks up to meet eyes with Shiori. He blushes a bit, noticing her hair is done differently and she's dressed a bit fancier than usual. Shiori notices him staring and blushes a bit before getting irritated.

Shiori "What are you looking at? You pervert."

Hikigaya, still blushing a bit, grits his teeth.

Hikigaya "Yeah right. I was just spacing out, that's all!"

Shiori "Hmphs!" and looks away from him and heads toward the table. Hikigaya exhales as Ace leans over to him.

Ace "Wow, I like her already."

Hikigaya "Please, shut up."

She giggles as they take a seat too.

Asami sits next to Hamasaki as usual. Riku is next to Takanou. Ace next to Riku. Shiori next to Asami and then Hikigaya between Ace and Shiori.

Asami "Everyone, this is my daughter."

Ace "It's a pleasure to finally meet all of you! Call me Ace."

She smiles at them. Shiori happens to turn and look at her, noticing a scar under her left eye. She stares at it for a moment.

Takanou "Your mom has told us lots about you."

Ace "All good things, I hope."

They laugh for a bit. Riku, Hikigaya and Shiori are less involved in their conversation as they are each 13 years old or young and the others are 20 and above. As they talk about Ace for a bit, Shiori gets an opportunity to pitch in.

Shiori "How did you get that scar?"

Hamasaki "Shiori! Don't be rude!"

Ace "No, no. It's okay. I don't mind. I got hit in the face by a flying baseball bat not too long ago. Pretty crazy, huh?"

She laughs about it. Shiori doesn't react much. The others notice.

Asami "Uh, did you know that one time when she was little, she struck out a whole team in baseball? All players were struck out by her at least once that game!"

Takanou "Really? That's pretty impressive!"

Ace "Aw, well I can't play that good anymore. I mostly play for fun these days. My college has a killer baseball field."

They continue talking about college and other things as Hikigaya leans over to Shiori.

Hikigaya "Hey, you okay?"

Shiori "Yeah, I was just curious."

Hikigaya looks at her then focuses on her eyepatch a bit. He realizes it's her left eye too.

Hikigaya 'Maybe she was trying to relate to her injury?'

While they talk, Riku turns and looks at Ace. She notices and looks down and smiles at him. His eyes light up and he smiles back. He then does a finger gun at her so she does two back at him while sticking her tongue out. Riku opens his mouth wide with a smile. They play around a bit more until eventually everyone finishes. Once they all finished eating, Takanou, Asami and Hamasaki go to the kitchen to start cleaning up. It is roughly 8 p.m. About Riku's bedtime. He is sitting on the floor watching TV when Shiori comes in from the kitchen.

Shiori "Come on Riku. It's time for bed."

Riku "I don't wanna."

Shiori "Please don't do this now. Just go to bed."

She comes over to him and turns off the TV.

Riku "Nooo! Turn it back on! I'm not even tired!"

Shiori "Yes you are. You're just a child, you need your sleep now let's go."

She grabs him around the belly and he holds onto the carpet, yelling for her to let him go. Hamasaki looks over and is about to get involved when Ace leans forward from the couch and places a hand on her back.

Ace "Let me try."

Shiori looks at her then steps back. Ace crouches down next to Riku who is looking surprised.

Ace "If you don't get to bed, I won't be able to come back anymore. You're gonna break my heart like that?"

A single tear rolls down her face as she closes her eyes and looks away. Riku looks concerned.

Riku "No! Don't cry! I'll go to bed so that way you can come back all the time, okay?"

Ace looks back at him with a smile before standing and scooping him up under her arm.

Ace "Alrighty then. Let's get you to bed big man. Which one's his room?"

Shiori directs her to his room and she puts him to bed. Shiori looks dumbfounded that it worked so well. Hikigaya doesn't bother to pay attention as Shiori sits down next to him on the couch.

Hikigaya "She used to do that to me all the time. Thinking back on it now, it made no sense for her to never come back since she was my sister who lived with me."

Shiori just turns her head and looks at him unamused. He just shrugs. Hamasaki is very impressed and Asami nods to her.

As the night progresses, Shiori and Hikigaya fall asleep on the couch with full tummies while the parents drink and converse at the bar connected to the kitchen.

Takanou "So Ace used to be quite the player huh?"

Asami "Yeah, she was so passionate about the sport growing up. But as kids do, she just lost interest in making it a career. I'm glad she's found her foothold in something though."

Hamasaki "It seems like it can be pretty dangerous though, the sport. How long ago did she get that scar?"

Asami "I'm not entirely sure when it happened, actually. It happened after she left for college but before she started writing Hiki."

Hamasaki "I see. I'm glad she didn't lose her eye…"

Asami "Oh that reminds me. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to Shiori's..?"

She asks quietly, trying to be respectful about it.

Hamasaki "Oh, that. She doesn't like to talk about it much to anyone, including us. One day when she was really little, just in her 3rd year of elementary school, this group of 5th years beat her so bad…"

Asami "Oh my… That's horrible. I'm sorry she had to go through that."

Takanou "Yeah, it was really rough the first couple years. But after a while she got used to it. We still don't know why though…"

They look over to her sleeping on the couch. They turn back.

Hamasaki "The truth is…"

She whispers something to Asami that makes her eyes widen a bit. She looks at her stunned for a moment as Hamasaki nods. Asami then smiles a bit.

Asami "That crazy girl…"

Some time later. A man comes out of a house happily with a bottle in hand. He waves goodbye to some other people still in the house. It is pretty late and he is obviously drunk. He comes to his car parked on the street and pulls out his keys. He struggles with them for a moment before going "Ah ha!" and looking at the car key. Before he is able to unlock the door he hears a loud thud fall next to him. He looks over and squints. He sees a large person stand up beside him. It's Watchdog.

Drunk "Hey, what're you doin' here?"

Watchdog "I'm sorry sir, I can't help but notice you plan on driving home while very drunk."

Drunk "I'm not drunk, you jerk! I'm just a little silly but it's okay cause I live just down the way there."

He points down the road while wobbling then turns back to look at Watchdog.

Drunk "Besides, don' you have bigger things to worry 'bout than lil ol' me?"

Watchdog "I try to protect people the best I can. That doesn't always mean fighting the big criminals. Sometimes it's helping out people like you."

The drunk man stares at him for a moment with a slightly surprised look while he wobbles.

Drunk "Oh. I see. Yeah that makes sense I s'pose. Okay, you got me this time. I'm just gonna…"

He wobbles back a step before passing out and falling over. Watchdog grabs his arm before he hits his head on the sidewalk though. He puts the man on his shoulder and walks back to the house. He knocks on the door and waits for an answer. A young man answers the door, there seems to be a get together inside, not quite a party but people are obviously drinking and having a good time.

Young man "Hey- Watchdog! Oh man, what are you doing here?"

He says excited that Watchdog is here.

Watchdog "I caught this guy trying to drive home. He passed out before that could happen though."

He carefully puts the guy into the other man's arms.

Young man "Oh I'm so sorry about that. I knew we should've kept him here. I'll make sure to keep an eye on him. Thank you so much, you're the best!"

Watchdog nods as he takes a couple steps away from the door then jumps high into the sky then from building to building. As he is jumping someone comes flying next to him with her large black wings.

Fullsky "Well well, look who it is."

Watchdog "Come around here often?"

She giggles as she swoops from behind and grabs him. They land on the roof of a large building. Once they land, Watchdog adjusts himself.

Fullsky "You know, Valentine's Day wasn't too long ago. Why haven't you taken me on a date yet?"

Watchdog "I don't know. Been busy I guess."

Fullsky "Aw too busy for me?"

She wraps her arms around his neck and slides her leg up his. He grabs onto the bend of her knee as their faces are only centimeters apart.

Fullsky "How do you plan on making it up to me?"

Watchdog "I could think of a few ways…"

He says as she places a kiss on his mask. Suddenly alarms go off. They rush to the side of the building to see the bank down below with a broken window and a small group going inside.

Fullsky "A bank robbery just for me?"

Watchdog "Only the best for you, my love."

They say sarcastically as they jump down. Two people stay behind and begin breaking into the atms while the others head to the back to attempt the vault. Fullsky and Watchdog walk over the broken glass. Fullsky leans against the pole and Watchdog steps closer a bit.

Watchdog "Didn't anyone teach you stealing is wrong?"

Fullsky "Unless you're stealing from the greedy rich."

Watchdog "Ah, well yeah there is that."

The thieves turn and look at them for a moment then back at each other then back at them. They quickly pull out their guns and start firing. Watchdog dodges left as Fullsky goes right. She swings out her wing and smacks the one thief into the atm machine knocking them unconscious. She looks over to see Watchdog behind a stone pillar for a moment before picking up a stone from the ground. He cocks back and throws it hard into the roof in front of him causing it to bounce off into the floor and right back up into the forehead of the thief. The thief stumbles back a bit as Watchdog comes out from behind the pillar and punches the man into the wall by stretching his arm out. This knocks out the thief as Watchdog retracts his arm. He looks at Fullsky.

Watchdog "Pretty cool right?"

She smiles and shakes her head as a thief from the back jumps at Watchdog with a knife in hand. Before they could strike however, Fullsky shoots ice shards from her hand and nails the thief to the wall. They struggle to get free but can't. Watchdog looks at her surprised.

Watchdog "Where did that come from?"

Fullsky "It's a cool new trick I learned. You like?"

He smiles at her as his eyes widen for a moment. He quickly turns only to be hit by the large vault door and smashed into the street. Fullsky darts her head toward the hole it came out of. A large man comes walking about. Roughly a little less than three meters tall. There are stones all around his hands and up his arms a bit. Two other normal sized people follow behind him.

Fullsky "Well aren't you a big one."

Keeper "Fullsky."

Fullsky "You know me?"

Keeper "Yes. Commander told me you and your lapdog might show up. He told me to eliminate you should you get in our way."

Fullsky "I'm honored to be so infamous among you criminals."

Keeper "Soon you'll be nothing more than a tale lost to the wind!"

He swings his large arm down at her so she jumps back out into the street and flies up with her wings. Keeper steps out as well and looks up at her. He then opens his left palm and lifts his hand up. The road and other stones from around his hand begin to lift. She gets a surprised look on her face.

Fullsky "What's the Syndicate want with money anyway? Running low on cash?"

Keeper "Our intentions are beyond you. Mm!"

He points his palm towards her then clenches his fist. The stones and debris he was lifting crush into large balls and begin firing at her. She dodges around as more and more fly. She realizes the building behind her is getting pelted as well.

Fullsky "No!"

She turns and crosses her arms before spreading them out causing her wings to grow even larger. As the stones shoot towards her, her wings catch them all and she falls to the ground. Keeper smirks as he looks up to see the vault door flung high into the sky. Keeper quickly lifts his hands up to catch the door before it smashes him through the ground. Watchdog stands over it with a bit of blood coming from his head.

Watchdog "Damn, this thing is heavy."

The other thieves watch him then open fire. He quickly dodges one way and stomps the head of one into the floor before jumping back over and punching the face of the other. All the small thieves are now dealt with. Watchdog exhales as the vault door gets lifted up. He quickly turns to see Keeper flip it over. He is only a little stretched. Watchdog sighs.

Watchdog "This is gonna be a real fight, isn't it?"

Keeper then swings both of his arms down towards Watchdog . He jumps back dodging only for an arm of stone to grab his ankle and smash him into the ground.

Keeper "I do not understand Commander's concern with you two. Had he sent me the first time, both of you would be dead by now."