"...Halle, are you okay?" Kunihiko shot her a worried look as he watched her down another whole glass of gin in one go.

"Sorry." Halle briskly apologized, looking pretty glum as she stared down at her legs. "It's been a long day..." She slammed the glass down on the counter and clapped her hands together, facing the guys in front of her with a new resolve. "Okay, I'll tell you guys everything."

"Are you okay with that, Halle?" Yuta looked concerned as well, as suggested from the look on his face. "You don't need to spill your personal life to us. You did just meet us."

"No, no, I'm alright." Halle forced a bright smile onto her face, toughing out her feelings. "I promise I'm fine."

"Don't push yourself, okay?" Takao gave her a sympathetic smile, and he watched carefully as Halle took in one big, deep breath.

"Okay, so..." Halle rose her head up to look at everyone. "Uncle Kunihiko already knows this, but I was engaged to a man named Makoto Igarashi for over a year, but we had been together for five." She rested her head in the palm of her hand depressingly. "I was twenty-one and fresh out of college when I met him." She sat up again and looked off to the side, trailing off a little as she was taking things slow.

"It's okay, Halle." Yuta frowned a little, sending her reluctance to re-live what must have been a bad memory. "Take your time."

Halle sighed bitterly with a smile on her face. "I'm sorry... I'm pathetic getting all worked up like this, aren't I?" She covered her face with her hands, harshly rubbing at her eyes to wake herself up. "Anyways... I was supposed to be getting married in three days, so I didn't renew the lease for my apartment, and I was going to move in with Makoto this evening." Her hands fell down to her lap, and she balled them into tight fists. "He was supposed to come over to my place today and help me pack, as well as my best friend and maid of honor, Asumi."

"So what happened?" Yamato looked confused about where this story was going.

"Well..." Halle took in one deep breath, bracing herself for finally saying the words out loud. "I took the day off to get my stuff in order without telling Makoto, and because I wanted to surprise him, I came home earlier than planned." She reached up and rested her hands on the top of her head, and as soon as she did, Halle masked her sadness with a silly smirk as she winked at the guys. "And that was when I caught my fiancé in the act of cheating on me. In my apartment. With my maid of honor. Three days before our wedding."

"Ohhh!" Yuta almost looked physically wounded by that crushing reveal.

"Harsh..." Ren simply frowned, giving his two-cents worth.

"Okay, I actually feel pretty bad for you." Yamato admitted with his eyes wide, dropping any trace of his arrogance and pride that he had up earlier.

"I'm so sorry..." Takao looked like he was the one who had experienced this pain as he sympathized with her. "That's awful..."

Saeki just shrugged his shoulders as an indifferent look came across his face. "If you ask me, I think it's good you found out his character before it was too late."

Kunihiko shot Saeki a warning glare before turning back to Halle. "That bastard..." He balled his hands into tight fists, barely able to control his anger. "What did you do to him?"

A dark, twisted smile found its way to Halle's lips, and it sent a shiver down Kunihiko's spine. "Oh, you shouldn't ask what I did to him. You should really be asking what I did to her."

The guys all gulped nervously just a little at that question, but Takao was the first to voice his worry. "What did you do, exactly...?"

Halle opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly, a bicycle messenger walked into the bar with an envelope in his hand, looking around for someone. When Halle saw him, she just sighed and waved him over.

"Are you Halle Mitchell?" The man asked her, warily looking the strange biker-chick woman up and down who was sitting on the bar's counter with bloody gauze wrapped tightly around her arm.

"Yeah, that's me." Halle sighed sharply, holding her hand out to him. She honestly didn't look surprised at all as a look of defeat crossed her face. "Well, I knew this was coming... Alright, go ahead and hit me with it."

The man frowned apologetically to her before briskly placing the envelope down in her hand. "Sorry, ma'am, but you've been served."

"Yeah, yeah." Halle paid him no attention as she waved him off, already tearing into the envelope curiously.

Takao just widened his eyes in shock as he slowly stood up from his chair. "Halle, what did you do...!?"

Halle paused while opening the envelope long enough to innocently beam at Takao as angelically as she could. "Why, I punched her in the face so hard that I broke her nose, of course!"

Yamato spit out the swig of beer he just took in a massive spit-take as Yuta completely lost his shit and busted out into a fit of giggles. Kunihiko sighed in defeat and slapped his forehead, not surprised. Saeki was impressed, Ren widened his eyes in shock, and Takao looked almost completely horrified as he worriedly looked at Halle.

"Alright, let's see what the damage is..." Halle winced a little as she cautiously unfolded the papers, and she dropped her jaw as she suddenly jumped up from the counter in shock and stood flat-footed on the floor. "What!? $20,000!? The hell!?" She threw her hands up into the air in horror as she let out her exasperation. "Geez, where did the skinny whore get this estimate from? Am I paying for a boob job as well as the broken nose!?"

Kunihiko just sighed again as Yuta doubled over laughing, and the other guys tried to keep their cool at Halle's sudden outburst.

"Hey, Halle..." Kunihiko bit back his smile as he tried to calm himself down enough to face the situation seriously. "Takao's a lawyer. You should have him represent you."

Halle snapped her eyes wide open and looked from Kunihiko to Takao hopefully. "Would you actually help me? Because unless I do at least fifty more high-paying jobs, there's no way I can afford to pay out $20,000 after what I spent on my now-cancelled wedding..."

Takao smiled kindly and walked over to her, outstretching his hand towards the letter she held. "Here, let me see that." He took the letter from Halle and briefly skimmed over it with a serious look on his face. "Ah. Her medical expenses appear to only be around $5,000 total."

"What!?" Halle's angry voice reached a whole new octive as she squeaked that. "Where the hell did she come up with that extra $15,000 then?"

Takao just sighed as he flatly deadpanned, "she's suing you for punitive damages as well."

Halle just blinked at him as she processed that. "Oh. Well, shit."

Takao almost snorted at that reaction as he handed her the letter back. "I can represent you if you like. I'll do whatever it takes to get these charges dropped. At the very least, I can reduce your damages to $5,000; just enough to cover her medical expenses."

Halle stared at Takao in absolute awe as she clapped her hands together, looking completely hopeful once again. "Can you really do that!?"

Yamato took this opportunity to butt in as he simply looked up from his beer. "Takao's the best there is. If anyone can help you, it's him."

"Thank you so much!" Halle excitedly clapped her hands together, then quickly slumped her posture and frowned. "Oh, but I can't pay you... As I mentioned earlier, I'm pretty much broke at the moment."

Takao expected this answer, and he just smiled. "That's alright. I'll take on your case pro bono."

Halle's whole face erupted into the brightest, most stunning grin ever as she excitedly leapt into Takao's arms and wrapped hers tightly around his neck in a big hug. "Oh my god, thank you so much! Seriously, you're my hero."

"Whoa." Yuta laughed a little under his breath, looking the two up and down. "Didn't realize you were so smooth, Takao."

Takao was awkward at first at Halle suddenly jumping on him to hug him, but he grinned bashfully as he returned the hug and looked over at the other guys. "I just saw the look on her face, and before I knew it, I was already asking about her case..."

Yamato just shook his head and lightly chuckled to himself, turning his attention back down to his beer. "That's the lawyer in you. Always wanting to help people in need."

Kunihiko suddenly thought of something at Yamato's words, and as he watched Halle release Takao from her death grip of a hug, he cautiously crossed his arms over his chest. "Actually, I have an idea of a way Halle can repay you, Takao. Aren't you kinda in the same boat?"

Halle's eyes darted back and forth between her uncle and Takao as her confusion set in. "The same boat...? What do you mean?"

Takao widened his eyes in shock, and he shook his head no as a warning to Kunihiko not to say anything further. "Kuni, that's..."

Kunihiko grinned a little as he gave Takao the nudge he needed to speak further. "Come on, you might as well tell her at this point."

Takao looked hesitant as he stared down at the floor for a moment, but then he finally came to a decision as he placed a hand on Halle's shoulder. "Halle."

"Yes?" The seriousness in Takao's face made Halle correct her posture, and she just stared at him with wide-eyes at his sudden shift in mood.

"There's something I'd like to ask of you." Takao beat around the bush a little, nervous about how well she'd take this.

"...okay." Halle laughed a little nervously, then clapped her hands in front of Takao in order to prompt him to continue. "On with it. Spit it out!"

Takao looked directly into her lavender eyes as he decided to just go for it. "Will you be my fiancé?"

Halle's smile shattered as she stared at Takao in complete shock. "...what."

Ahhhh, sorry long time no update! This hasn't been one of my priorities in a while, but it is now!

So, anyways... Holy shit, right? Poor Halle XD I can't even imagine what she's going through. So much happened in this chapter! Her ex fiancé is a total scumbag, poor baby is being sued by the bitch who broke up her engagement when Halle already spent whatever she had on a wedding that's no longer happening, and now a stranger just proposed to her. What's in store for our heroine next? You'll just have to wait patiently to see!

Read, review, and enjoy :)