Chapter 23: Cafe Heist: Finale and Aftermath
Kimika and Toga walked home in silence, though it couldn't exactly be called silent since Kimika was breathing heavily and barely staying on her feet. At one point, she simply collapsed to the ground, too weak to get up. She groaned, complaining of sharp pain all over her body, especially in her back and abdomen. Toga immediately ordered her to lift her shirt and tank top.
Kimika was slightly embarrassed but, gritting her teeth in pain, did as she was told. Under her clothes, Toga saw bruises scattered all over her body, but they were especially concentrated where Kimika had complained of pain.
Toga couldn't help but curse herself for not killing that guard on the spot and for dragging Kimika into this mission without better preparation. All she could do now was carefully touch the injured areas, hoping there were no fractures and that these were only the results of blows.
Each touch sent new flashes of pain through Kimika, and, beyond that, Toga's touches made her feel something unfamiliar, something she'd never felt before. Luckily, though, Toga didn't find any signs of fractures. Of course, she understood that she wasn't a specialist in identifying fractures, so she couldn't be 100% sure, but she advised her friend to rest, promising to find someone to treat her if things got worse.
After getting Kimika home, practically carrying her on her back, Toga wanted to go in with her to help but hesitated, remembering Kimika's mother. Saying her thoughts out loud, she was about to leave when Kimika suddenly recalled something important — that her mom had called her.
Checking her phone, she saw a missed call and a few messages from her mother, saying she wouldn't be home until the next afternoon. Excitedly telling this to Toga, Kimika noticed her friend's eyes light up with relief and excitement, an impish smile and blush appearing on her face, which hinted that this wasn't entirely good news.
When they entered the empty house, Kimika tried to convince Toga to leave her alone, but she stubbornly insisted on helping. Despite her grumbling and protests, Toga mercilessly dragged her into the shower to help her wash and inspect the bruises once again.
And this wasn't even the worst part—once in the shower, Toga, wasting no time, swiftly cut Kimika's clothes with a knife, leaving her completely exposed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Kimika screamed as loud as she could, covering herself with her hands.
Seeing her cute attempts to shield herself, Toga couldn't help but fall in love with this sweet, innocent kitten all over again, struggling to resist the urge to pounce on her and do something terrible.
"I? I'm just helping a little defenseless kitten get rid of her dirty clothes," Toga said as she locked the bathroom door and approached her friend, forcing her to back away from the closed door.
"And now, weak little kitten, you need to calm down and let your owner — oh..., I mean… well..., why not? You can't escape from me anyway," Toga added, her voice sounding firm and authoritative, leaving no room for defiance. She fully revealed her intentions to her helpless friend, with no desire to hide them.
Kimika was as red as a tomato at the very thought of standing completely naked in front of her friend, not by her own choice, with no strength to escape. She felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, especially since Toga had called her a "little kitten," emphasizing that she now seemed like the property of this predator, even as she hoped this was all some unfunny joke.
So she tried to refuse with both words and pathetic attempts to break free, but it only made things worse, as Toga began to act even more aggressively. Her escape attempts seemed to add fuel to the fire; Toga, with a predatory grin, saw this as a sign that her little prey was not giving up and was trying to flee.
Every protest from Kimika confirmed that she didn't want to submit, which only lifted Toga's spirits further. She enjoyed this, even more than if Kimika had simply become a helpless prey ready to obey.
"Well, don't squirm so much! I'll be gentle!" Toga said with a sly smile, her voice sounding too carefree for the situation. "You're just like a little kitten afraid of water."
"I'm not afraid of water!" Kimika replied, her voice carrying more shame than protest. "I'm afraid of you!"
Toga slyly narrowed her eyes, carefully examining her friend. "Afraid of me? Oh, stop it; your words are just fueling my appetite. It's getting harder and harder to resist eating you, especially when you look so cute, like a little cornered kitten."
Kimika, who was blushing from her ears to her fingertips, couldn't suppress an annoyed and helpless sigh. Her attempts to cover herself looked silly and absurd — in her current state, it was impossible, especially as Toga effortlessly took her hands away with a smile, leaving her unable to hide.
She continued to wash her, doing it with such tenderness that it felt like she was just playing with a living doll. At the same time, she acted with both caution and firmness, giving Kimika no chance to resist, as if claiming the right to her body. Every movement was confident and controlled, making Kimika feel completely at her friend's mercy.
"Toga, you're acting like a maniac!" Kimika whispered, feeling her face start to burn even more.
"A maniac? I am a maniac, and you know it," Toga laughed, gently pinning Kimika to prevent her from escaping and softly rinsing the shampoo off her. "Oh... you don't appreciate my efforts... if you only knew how hard it is for me to hold back."
Hearing this, Kimika couldn't understand what exactly Toga was holding back from, and her face reflected this bewilderment, which Toga couldn't help but notice.
Despite the incredible shame and awkwardness, Kimika resigned herself to the fact that Toga was being unceremonious, almost disregarding her feelings. The only thing that provided her with a bit of comfort in this situation was that Toga eventually allowed her to wash her intimate areas by herself, although Kimika realized that if it hadn't been for her request, Toga would undoubtedly have done it herself.
In the end, she stopped trying to escape and simply endured the situation, hoping that it would all be over as soon as possible.
During the process, Kimika desperately tried not to look in the mirror to avoid accidental glances at herself and to avoid being even more ashamed. However, Toga never stopped teasing her at every turn, joking about how "Kimika looks like a little cat being forcefully bathed" and how "now they look like they're in a movie with an interesting sequel."
The best part was that this situation only increased Toga's joy and satisfaction, as Kimika didn't understand the last joke so much that she even asked, "Which continuation?" To which Toga briefly replied, "None, it's just a joke," not wanting to share the details with her friend, who would have to figure them out on her own.
And Toga made the happiest discovery for herself in a long time: her four years of effort had paid off. Kimika turned out to be completely innocent when it came to more mature and romantic topics. This realization brought Toga an incredible sense of joy.
Over these four years, Toga had methodically and gradually reduced Kimika's interest in romance. She never started conversations on these topics and always found a way to steer the conversation to something else.
Kimika, who had only two friends — Toga and Izuku, whom Toga had successfully distanced from her — could not learn anything about such matters through the TV or the internet. Since they spent almost every day together, from morning till night, Toga never gave her a chance for such thoughts. Even when they weren't together, Toga always found tasks for her, leaving no opportunity.
And now, this had finally borne fruit. Kimika was completely "pure" on these matters — so much so that even a child would know more than she did. And even now, she only felt embarrassed because she was naked in front of her friend, not for any other reason. And Toga finally felt that her strategy had been successful.
For Toga, it was a real pleasure — gradually and methodically taking away all of Kimiko's "innocence." If before, Toga had slowly pulled her into the criminal world and introduced her to the cruelty of it, now she felt like a true creator, capable of breaking all the barriers of her friend, both morally and in other senses, step by step.
"Don't worry, little kitten Kimiko," Toga said with a self-satisfied smile, watching as Kimiko no longer tried to shield herself, as if she had gotten used to it or simply stopped resisting. "You'll quickly adjust to this. And maybe, you'll even start asking for more and more yourself," she added quietly, just for herself, hiding from Kimiko the heavy future that awaited her.
It was her little secret to prevent her friend from escaping or being prepared for future realities, which would only diminish all the pleasure.
After the shower, Toga helped Kimika get dressed and settle into bed, no matter how much she didn't want to. However, she couldn't fall asleep for a long time, but eventually, under the influence of complete exhaustion and the fact that Toga began to gently stroke Kimika's head, she surprisingly found it really helped.
Kimika, barely keeping her eyes open, looked into Toga's eyes and smiled as she said, "I feel like a child because of your caresses, but I'm not a child."
Toga, feeling the painful burden of lying to this small innocent girl, replied, "That's what only the best friends do. There's nothing childish about it, and most importantly, you like it. So sleep, little one."
Calmed down, Kimika finally drifted off to sleep with an incredibly sweet face, her softly slightly pouting lips showing no hint of fear.
Toga, watching her with a predatory glint in her eyes, felt a strong impulse for a moment to do something more, something she had never allowed herself to do before, but she held back, at least for now.
Continuing to stroke the sweet little Kimika, she tightly embraced her, unwilling to let go even in her sleep with her firm grip, and she too fell asleep, feeling the warmth of her body nearby.
~~~ Detective Tsukauchi ~~~
Today was an ordinary, quiet day without any significant incidents, and Detective Tsukauchi was incredibly pleased about it. He was looking forward to the night shift, which he loved—finally, he could relax with a warm cup of coffee and an exciting nighttime view.
However, at that very moment, the sound of shattering glass echoed, followed by the piercing sound of a car alarm.
Along with several other police officers and heroes who were also on night duty, he moved toward the sound.
It was a new café that had quickly gained popularity due to its safe and convenient location, as well as the incredibly delicious food that even he and all his colleagues enjoyed.
But now the scene looked entirely different: most of the panoramic windows were shattered, and through them, it was clear that chaos reigned inside, as if a hurricane had swept through. Together with his colleagues, they cordoned off the perimeter, watching as the heroes checked the premises for criminals.
After some time, a message came through the radio: there was only an injured person inside, so they called for an ambulance.
Tsukauchi inspected all the rooms, particularly the guard's room, where they found a barely alive man. He noticed the disarray everywhere, and the computers were destroyed. However, he was confident that the specialists would be able to restore everything and review the camera footage.
In his mind, a theory was beginning to form that this attack was not aimed at stealing money but was likely intended to create chaos to allow the cafe's competition to rise to the surface.
On the walls, he noticed two faces that seemed like signatures: one with claws and the other with clocks for eyes. Next to them were the words "Tsukima" and "Tokima," which could be translated as "Blood Demon" and "Time Demon," respectively.
Tsukauchi couldn't recall any cases with such signatures or criminals with those names. But he knew that he couldn't know them all, and perhaps these two had already been active somewhere. All he could do was wait for the specialists to arrive and show the camera footage.
A few hours later, Tsukauchi was at the police station, where he received all the textual data and recordings related to the case. This case fell into his lap because he was the first to arrive, and his goal was to solve it to prevent further crimes.
Ideas were already brewing in his mind about where to start, and he couldn't wait to investigate these mysterious signatures and their meanings, hoping to learn more about these two, if there were no others, of course.
And now, together with his colleague Saeka Hoshino, he was reviewing footage from the cameras.
At first, they saw someone throwing stones at a window and the guard, who upon noticing this, went to the scene.
"This could be a fatal mistake for the guard," Tsukauchi said, intently watching the screen. He condemned the guard's carelessness, as he was putting himself in danger and jeopardizing his life. "He could have entered the range of a quirk. You can't just go out without a thorough check."
To their surprise, nothing happened. The guard continued to calmly inspect the area.
"Looks like everything is fine," Saeka noted, but their attention quickly shifted to something unusual. They noticed a figure appearing in the surveillance footage, entering the blind spot in the backyard of the café. Soon, this figure illuminated the screen, emerging from the restroom, shrouded in a hood and a clumsy hat, as if trying to hide something.
"Most likely, there was an open window that allowed the criminal to easily enter the building," Saeka suggested. "I wonder what's under that hat? Maybe some visual mutations, like unusual hair, a third eye, horns, or something else?"
"It looks like he's really nervous," Tsukauchi remarked. "He's probably a complete rookie." To confirm his words, they saw the criminal constantly fidgeting, glancing around, and making many unnecessary movements that only highlighted his insecurity.
At first, the figure tried to open the back door in the yard but couldn't manage it. This made him panic even more, which was evident even through the camera. After that, the figure began to leisurely check each room until he made his way to the second floor. Meanwhile, the guard was already starting to return.
When the figure entered the security office, they soon saw the doorknob turning.
"She's going to come out!" Saeka exclaimed, noticing the guard ascending the stairs, indicating a potential confrontation. She also noticed how the criminal, likely hearing the guard, decided to hide inside.
Unfortunately for them, there were no cameras in that area, so they couldn't capture what happened next.
However, they continued watching the footage, and soon they heard two distinct screams: the first presumably belonging to the criminal, and the second to the guard.
"This can't end well," Tsukauchi whispered, watching the screen. After a while, they saw the criminal emerging, looking significantly battered, constantly stumbling as if he were incredibly frightened, falling during his escape.
"It seems the guard won, but…" But they already knew what had happened to the guard.
Meanwhile, the criminal headed for the back door, where, upon unlocking it, they revealed another figure — an accomplice — who immediately began to examine him. Tsukauchi, concerned about their interactions, noted,
"It seems they have a close relationship; they're not just two strangers to each other."
"Now they're both together," Saeka added, intently watching the screen.
To their surprise, despite the accomplice's worry, the figure nervously pointed to the second floor and quickly headed in that direction, with the accomplice doing the same.
Once they entered the guard's room, the criminals spent some time there.
Tsukauchi, carefully watching the screen, remarked, "Maybe at this moment, the accomplice is bandaging the guard. That explains why they aren't coming out of there any faster. But then where did the guard get those new injuries that were inflicted much later than the first ones?"
He pondered, trying to make sense of this complicated case, as none of the theories seemed conclusive.
Saeka nodded, though questions were brewing in her mind. "But why do they need to do this? It doesn't seem like their plan involved killing the guard," she noted. "What was their actual goal?"
Tsukauchi pondered, trying to piece all the details together. This thought was also troubling him; there was so much that was unclear in this situation, and each new element added even more questions.
When the accomplices finally emerged from the security room, they began ransacking all the rooms as if searching for something, which was likely their main goal.
"The guard is still alive, and there's no money here, so what are they looking for? And what's the point of all this?" Saeka wondered.
As if finishing their task, they saw the accomplice instructing the rookie to head for the door while he turned back to the guard.
"This is probably the moment when the new injuries were inflicted on the guard," Tsukauchi said, sensing the tension pulsing in the air. "But why do this?"
"Maybe he was trying to take revenge for the rookie's injuries," Saeka suggested. "Or perhaps it was an expression of anger or some desire."
Tsukauchi pondered her words, as the situation became increasingly convoluted. Were these criminals merely a group of robbers, or was there something more behind their actions? And, worst of all, what were they planning to do next after this incident?
Then, turning to the rookie, they stepped outside, where the accomplice appeared to smash a window with a knife, and the latter threw something into a car to activate the alarm, clearly to attract attention.
"This is a plan," Tsukauchi said quietly, watching their actions. His heart raced as every step they took could lead to dangerous consequences for innocent civilians. What would happen if an unsuspecting person happened to be here? What would they do then?
He couldn't stop thinking about it, and to his relief, he knew that, besides the guard, there were no other known victims. Tsukauchi assumed that this was the rookie's first job, while the accomplice, judging by his actions, was no novice at all. After a brief pause and reviewing everything they had on the case, Tsukauchi suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "This is the one I'm looking for.
The accomplice is the 'Vampire with a Smile!'" he added, recalling the characteristic bite marks on the victims' necks and the face on the criminals' signature.
However, his colleague, Saeka, was concerned about something else—the rookie's face on the signature.
"I have a theory," she said, taking a brief pause. "It seems that the rookie, or rather Tokima, has a quirk related to time or variable speed, judging by the clock faces instead of eyes on their signature. It's a rare quirk, and it's likely true, since the guard said he suddenly began to move slowly when Tokima left eye started glowing a blue, cold color, and some of her attacks were extraordinarily fast."
"Yes, I think that's the case," Tsukauchi confirmed.
"So, what do we have?" Saeka began, thoughtfully raising her gaze to the screens. "The return of the "Vampire with a Smile" and her new partner, who seems to have a time-related quirk. We only know that they are both girls and that Tokima might have visual mutations on her head — possibly something related to her eyes. Judging by her signature, she might have clocks in her eyes or instead of them. But if she was covering herself with a hood and a hat, there could be other details — unusual hair color, horns, or something else." Saeka crossed her arms, pondering how to unravel this chain of mysteries.
"And the fact that the guard put up a fight against the rookie, leaving him with many bruises and possibly fractures. Let's notify all the nearby hospitals to report if anyone comes in with similar injuries," Tsukauchi added, watching the footage intently.
"We also need to check everything for traces; maybe there are fingerprints or blood remnants left from the struggle. Tokimi is a rookie; she must have made some mistakes," Saeka said decisively.
Tsukauchi felt a burning desire to catch these two as quickly as possible, before the rookie delved deeper into the criminal world and began to act as ruthlessly as the "smiling vampire" — mercilessly leaving behind dead bodies and erasing all traces. He had been trying to catch this vampire for over a year, and now he was convinced: bringing in a rookie had been a fatal mistake. This decision would undoubtedly be what ultimately led to the vampire's downfall.
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Yoo-hoo! Сhapter of 3500 words (not counting my comments)! While I could have split it into two parts, I think you wouldn't want that, and I didn't expect it to go from the planned 2500 words to 3500...
I almost died describing the bathroom scene with the characters — it was incredibly cool, in my opinion, because it revealed some details about Kimika, like how she's "completely pure" in romance and adulthood, thanks to Toza, who, by the way, was one of the reasons Izuku distanced himself from Kimika... Oh, and don't ask how Toga managed to make Kimika a complete zero in romance (because she could have watched something on TV, heard it, or accidentally found out in some other way), it's all magic!!! MAGIC!!! (and the author's help), it's more fun this way, right?
Yandere dominant Toga... Help the poor cat gather strength to come up with her phrases and words... And it seems I'll have to write 18+ scenes... give the cat some strength and food... So, write under this chapter whether you need it. If yes, the scenes will be there, but very short, up to 1000 words, because writing them will be very hard and long, especially since the cat has no experience in this area, and will have to watch such scenes with people. AND HE'S A CAT... HE DOESN'T WANT THIS, NYYYYAAAA!
Oh, and about the detectives — what do you think, should I introduce some romantic line between them? Of course, short, not for the whole chapter, just to mention them... or something like that. I haven't seen this in other works, so I think it's an interesting idea!
I also want to inform you that two chapters come out every day on my Patreon! Here, only one is released, but on my Patreon — there are two a day, hee-hee-hee. Come by so you don't miss new chapters and can read them faster than anyone else! patreon.com/Zoi4erom
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