“Thank you, come again!”

Dan and Kitty left Hiroko’s restaurant and wandered down to a garden park near the east river. They marveled at all of the tall buildings in midtown while strolling to the oasis. Kitty held Dan’s arm for the walk. Dan noticed.

“Kitty?”

“Yo?”

“Any reason you’re holding my arm?”

“Spite, why? You got a problem?” she squinted at him.

“Ahh, not at all.”

“Heh heh! Good answer.”

The odd couple stopped at a bench to talk while children ran through the park. As soon as Kitty sat down, she wasted no time.

“So you like that crazy girl, eh?” she asked.

“Reyna?” Dan smirked, “Umm...I can’t say.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“I..” He grit his teeth. “I’m tired of my actions being second-guessed. Always questioned, and being made to feel as if I don’t know what’s going on all the time.”

Kitty frowned and stared at him, “Huh, huh, all of that you feel is called being alive!” she snapped. “So get used to it.”

“Yeah, you’re so quick with an answer you didn’t let me finish what I was saying. Thank you for that!” he shot back.

“Tsk,” she looked away, “Go on, Dan. And don’t get philosophical, the day is too nice for that.”

“Alright, I’ll keep it simple. You see, Kitty. My id and my reptilian brain are all messed up,” he said.

“Eh?” she turned with a grin, “Is that right?”

“Yes?”

“What’s troubling you?”

“Reyna Rai.”

“Heh heh, that girl is always trouble!” said Kitty, “But what’s your problem with her, and why did you ask me to defend you in the Ramen shop? She wanted to talk to you."

“I needed your help back there because Reyna’s stuck in my head,” he muttered.

“Hahaha!” Kitty burst out laughing. “Jeez Dan, for a complex math-man you sure are simple. And I already knew that. I just wanted to see if you’d admit it, heh heh!”

Dan cracked a grin, “Yeah, I know you did. And yes, I’m behaving like a teenager but it’s the only way to know the truth.”

“The truth?” Asked Kitty, “Well, Rifle Girls are deceitful by trade.”

“Of course they are,” said Dan, “They’re assassins. That’s why I have to go about this way.”

“I understand,” Kitty whispered. “But you know you messed up, right?”

Dan lowered his head in shame. Here it comes.

“Hahaha, you’re such a square, Dan!” she laughed, “You went and caught feelings for that dangerous Reyna!” she slapped his back hard.

Ow! Damn, you girls are rough!

“Yeah, laugh it up!” He shook his head, “Going by your logic if I make a human connection with someone I’m just a square. So maybe it’s not a terrible idea to move forward and out of the lives of you and your killer girlfriends.”

“Heh, if that’s what you want there’s no sense bitching about it now,” she said standing up and stretching.

“Right.”

Dan watched Kitty bend down to touch a yellow flower in the garden. While hunched over, a gun barrel poked out of the back of her jacket. Dan shook his head. These chicks!

“Kitty, do you think I made a bad call?” he asked.

“Nah, I don’t know. I probably woulda did the same thing. But I wouldn’t expect somebody like you with your fancy degrees to pull a juvenile power play like that,” she answered, and picked the yellow flower out of the garden.

“Hey, you're not supposed to pick those flower-”

“What?” her eyes shot at him, and she shifted to one leg, super adorable.

“Heh, nevermind,” he said.

“Anyway,” she continued, with her flower in hand, “If your actions today get you the desired results then the ends justify the means, don’t you think?” She sat down next to him with her eyes pondering the next words.

“Yeah, it’s just. I didn’t want to be an asshole about it- Mmph!”

Kitty suddenly stuck her tongue in his mouth. And like a good-bad-girl, she held him down against the bench. But Dan didn’t resist. By this latest forced kiss, he knew it was better to lay back and accept it than to struggle.

After a good six seconds, she let him go, slightly. He lowered his eyes and frowned at her.

“Why’d you do that? To spite Reyna and show me your power?” he asked.

“Yup!” She kept her arms wrapped around his neck, “And other reasons.”

“Reasons? Such as?”

She smiled, “Do you know why bad girls love you, Dan?”

“Bad girls what?” He wasn’t sure of the question.

“Not all of them. Cause you ain’t my type, Dan,” she said with a head shake, “I mean you're handsome as hell. But you’re too smart and too dense at the same time. Like a Pennsylvania hayseed. But I do understand your need for straight clarity. I really do!” She held on to him.

“Ah well...sorry I can’t please everyone...but ...why do you think someone loves me?”

“Heh!” She chuckled, “You see, girls like Reyna, Tara, and me. We don’t get to meet guys like you, Dan. Mostly we just associate with egotistical hoodlums whose balls are bigger than their brains. Too many cross the line and wind up dead, you know, business and all.”

“Right, always business with you people. And what do you mean you don’t meet guys like me?” Dan pointed at the crowds on the sidewalk. “Look around you. This city is filled with guys like me. Guys who work hard every day, guys who care about the environment around them, guys that get upset at crimelords who hold woman as slaves-”

“And how many of those squares would run in a warehouse and kill two men with a Glock nineteen, Dan?”

“Ah…..”

She shut him down, “Right, and how many of those same guys like you would stand here concerned about whether or not a villain like Reyna Rai was being truthful in her feelings toward them, knowing full well who she is, and what she does?” She lowered her eyes. “But you, you’re genuinely concerned about her, as a person. Ain’t you, Dan?”

His eyes met hers, “Yes, I am.”

“That right there. That’s why bad girls love you, Dan...As cute and square as you are, you love us right back, and you’d kill to protect us. And at this point, you must know Reyna does like you...but still...in your doubt...you still offered her a face-saving way out of this relationship with that little scene in the restaurant...a back door...making it all your fault.”

Dan lowered his eyes, “Kind of a bitch move, right?”

“Meh, a little bit. But damn you.” She stared in his eyes, “I can’t believe that crazy Reyna can get somebody like you. So now I want you!”

“What?” Dan yelped as Kitty sat down close to him. He backed up on the bench, “B-But I thought I wasn’t your type.”

“You’re not, but my sister wants you, and Reyna wants you, and you want Reyna, and I hate that!” She leaned in to kiss him again.

Eeep! He stood up to prevent it and changed the subject. “You know Kitty. I told you I’m tired of being second-guessed. And I take offense to being called dense. Just because I don’t wear my wit on my sleeve doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on.”

She shook her head confused, “What’s going on, Dan?”

I Figured The Rest Out

Kitty sat back with a cute smirk as he switched gears and decided to tell her about herself. Just for the lulz.

“You see, Kitty. Another reason I was happy to meet with you was-”

“So you could complete all the routes and kiss all the girls?” she teased. “Like a dating sim?”

“What? No...wait, you play dating sims?” He asked.

“Heh heh, don’t get distracted. Tell me what you figured out, Sherlock.”

“Right!” Dan stood with confidence. If he wore glasses he’d push them up.

“Naturally as an accountant, mathematician, and generally OCD weirdo, I need things to balance. And in my deductions of that incident that happened...some questions were never truly answered.”

Kitty frowned at him, “So you think I can satisfy your need for closure?”

“Mmm..yes, but you don’t have to explain anything,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“I don’t?”

“Nah, just confirm if my math is correct.”

Kitty’s eyes squinted, “Heh, I’m listening, Dan.”

He took a breath, “You were the one who killed Artie Salbon and his bodyguard in Brooklyn, weren't you? And you were the one that started this gang war. And Rica was calling you for confirmation of all activities….because a fourteen-year-old, as brilliant as she is, wouldn’t have that much control. So she’d refer right back to her big sister who helped her call plays.”

An evil smile spread across Kitty’s face, “Now why would you say something like that? Maybe my sist-”

“Tara doesn’t operate at that level of minutia, also Tara and Reyna are closer than you and Reyna. Which is why Reyna didn’t have too much of a clue of what Rica was doing. If Tara were calling the plays Reyna would’ve known more.”

“Heh, well-”

“I also think you were the one who convinced Tara to storm Emil’s house with Leo Varbic in tow and execute him in front of Emil in his room. Tara shotgunned him to the face, am I right?”

“Heh heh,” Kitty licked her red lipstick, “Why would you blame me and not Tara?”

“Because when you called me that Friday night you kept asking me if I’d heard from Reyna...After I asked her to capture Leo Varbic alive, you contacted her to bring him to you and Tara at Emil’s. After that Tara didn’t think twice to blow him away.”

Kitty stood up with a smile. She strutted to Dan and gently grabbed him by his collar. Placing her mouth next to his ear to whisper, “You think you got me all figured out? Hee!” She kissed his cheek. “You do realize all those men had it coming. Whether you approved or not, Dan."

He grinned, “Your answer is fine. And these days I don’t care about any of those dead men. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity about the events, and prove that my equations added up.” He looked at her, “And to show you that I’m not so dense.”

She smirked, “Fine, you win. You’re a smart ass, I get it. And all you figured out was that I’m that chick who takes care of her family. Seems to be the kind of girl you like, yeah?”

Dan nodded, “That may be the case.”

“Heh, you’re a funny guy!” She stood in front of him with her flower and a gun in her waist. “But I gotta head out now, Dan.”

“Ok.”

“Thanks for lunch.”

“No problem. Thanks for being my bodyguard today, Kitty.”

“Hee hee, anything to make Reyna jealous. And I do hope your equations work out,” She caressed his face. “But let me ask you a question.”

“Ask away.”

She moved in close. “My kiss, what did it taste like?”

“Like the sweetest mint.”

“Hmm!” evil grin, “And was it the best kiss of all those girls...including Reyna?”

He smiled, “You said one question, Kitty.”

“Heh, heh, you’re a smart ass ain’t you?”

“I try,” he answered, and understood. Between Reyna, Tara, and Kitty...Rica’s gonna grow up smoking hot and totally OP!

Kitty gave a last twirl before leaving, offering final advice as she walked toward the park exit.

“Last thing, Danny.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s always just business...until it’s not….you got me, brutha?”

"Ah!" He understood. “Yes, I got you, Kitty. Thanks again.”

“Hai-ya, anytime, hee!” She smiled, and exited the park, clutching her stolen yellow flower.

Dan sat down on the bench for a few moments more as Kitty vanished into the city. And he remembered...

They love you because you love them back…

That was the problem. He didn’t want to love a bad girl. He just couldn’t stop thinking about her and missed her terribly.

But I gotta know the truth...