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Ryoko Takeuchi had always been a stickler for rules. By the Book. Following the regs. Her fellow officers began calling her Dependable Takeuchi, a nickname she’d accepted with a great deal of pride. “Perhaps too dependable,” Sugishita had bemoaned when they were dating. Ryoko Takeuchi never took a night off. She was always on duty. “You don’t have to bring your gun when we go out to eat,” he’d tease, but she never listened. Following rules and upholding regulations was her life. She’d never known anything else. Her spotless record and excellent grades had earned her a position at a large bank after graduation, but she’d forgone that opportunity to work with the police. She wanted to help people. She wanted to do the right thing.Usually.But sometimes a rebellious streak would creep up inside of her. A tiny spark of yearning to bend the rules. Just a little. Not because she needed to, but because she never had before. There were times when Ryoko Takeuchi yearned to be a rebel. To do something naughty, something wrong, and get away with it.It was this tiny part of herself that had made the affair possible. He had exploited this chink in her armor almost effortlessly, coming to her at night, seeing her when it was forbidden. She always felt a delicious rush of adrenaline when she glanced out the TAC office window at night and saw a shadow flit by. Even in the beginning she’d been drawn to him, to his power, and she found it intoxicating how they traded kisses at night and bullets by day.Had anyone else seen it? Would they suspect? Would they be found together? It would surely be grounds for dismissal. He was the enemy, after all.Fraternizing with the enemy. How scandalous.It gave her a quick little thrill to think about it. She would fantasize about her teammates finding them in the grove behind the building, about someone stumbling across them during one of their secret interludes, even though she knew it was unlikely. Improbable. Doubtful.Still, she imagined. Koume finding them together in the office closet. Yaegashi spying them behind a clump of trees. Kusanagi seeing them in the car. Kusanagi joining in—Well, that was another fantasy for another time.They were silly, implausible fantasies, all of them, and she relished them like pearls, polishing each one to a vibrant shine, basking in the glow of her naughtiness.And, to his credit, he always kept it exciting. She was never sure exactly how or when he would approach her. Once he had literally swept her off her feet as soon as she stepped outside the TAC back door. Another time she went home without incident and, upon unlocking the door, stifling the disappointment she felt at not seeing him, had been pleasantly surprised to find him in her kitchen cooking muffins.Perfect muffins, of course. That had earned him his pet name. Ryoko flushed slightly, thinking of what else that night had earned, and snapped her briefcase shut. She’d been waiting for him now for several days and she felt certain she would see him tonight. As usual, she was the last one to leave the office, and she turned off the lights. The light switch made a loud click that seemed to echo across the long, empty hallway, followed by the resounding taps of her heels against the tiled floor.She was nearly to her car in the parking lot when there was a soft rustle somewhere in the darkness. She hesitated, her hand straying her the gun holstered in her suit jacket. It might be him, and then again, it might not. Rebel or not, she was better safe than sorry.“Muffin?” she called.The resounding silence answered and, after a moment, she resumed walking, glancing furtively towards the shadows. She was halfway there when something grabbed her ankle, hard, and she lost her balance, falling to her knees, the concrete stinging her skin. Her briefcase skidded across the lot and she shifted her weight, reaching for her gun.She found herself jerked roughly into the bushes before she could draw and, within seconds, her gun arm was pinned to the ground. He smiled wolfishly at her with his perfect, white teeth, and she felt that daring little thrill creep through her yet again.“Miss me?” Murakumo asked, lowering his face to hers.“Oh, Muffin, you naughty Aragami you,” she whispered, giving him a scandalously passionate kiss.It was going to be another perfect night. She just knew it.