This is just something I concocted in the spur of the moment, really, so don't judge too harshly. This is going to be a bit of a summer project, so I hope I'll be able to complete it before school starts. As always, reviews are very encouraging! Oh, and I don't own Green Hornet, whatsoever.

It had only been five months since the birth of the Green Hornet and his silent chauffeur, but it felt as though it had been longer than that for Britt Reid and his companions. Things were quickly sorted out after Britt Reid had been publicly "shot" by the Green Hornet for vengeful reasons. It had been proven to be an easier task than thought, but Britt didn't take much time to smugly announce that he told everyone that it would be, "easy-peasy." Kato, who'd been a little doubtful about the plan, avoided the man until the excitement of the whole ordeal had simmered down.

Now, the three friends – Britt, Kato, and Lenore (or Casey, as everyone was calling her these days) – were enjoying a pleasant, sunny afternoon by the pool. "No better way to do it," Britt was saying as he swallowed some gin and tonic. "When I do anything, I do it in style." Kato merely rolled his eyes, and Casey snorted. "You people's lack of faith in me is rather disturbing, if I do say so myself."

"You really have to let that go, Britt," said Casey, as she sipped her martini. "Maybe we were a little doubtful, but what's done is done. Let's enjoy the day and drinks."

After a quick toast, the two men both watched the pretty secretary as she slipped off her bathrobe and dove into the water. "Damn," muttered Britt, quickly hiding his face with another gulp of his drink. Kato, on the other hand, had a glass of milk that he finished off with one nip.

"Say, Kato—"

"You can call me Ikano," interrupted Kato, as he replaced the cup onto the table. As usual, his expression was partly stony-faced, but there was definite friendliness to it.

"Huh?"

Kato shrugged. "We are friends, now, so I think we should use given names. Ikano's my given name."

The look of confusion was quickly replaced with a pleased air. "Ikano it is, then. Sounds like some samurai name or something," Britt said, grinning. He raised his glass, and added, "A toast to the kung fu samurai-guy, Ikano." He then lowered his glass and finished off the drink.

In the chlorinated water, Casey resurfaced and propped her elbows on the tiled edge of the pool. "Why don't you lazy bums get in the water? It's really nice in here," she said, swiping away the strands of sopping wet hair from her vision.

It didn't take much to convince Britt. In an instant, he pulled off his t-shirt and dove into the pool. "You had me convinced there, baby," he said when he re-emerged.

"That didn't take much," she replied, rolling her eyes.

Kato, however, remained on the land, fully clothed and content as it is. "Get in here, Ikano," Britt called out, gesticulating for his Oriental companion to come in, but the young man simply shook his friend. Frowning, he commented, "Man, that name really doesn't suit you. Sorry, pal, but you're just the one name-type guy."

Still, Kato didn't show any sign of wanting to join his two friends. "I think I'll just go back inside."

"Pussy," Britt muttered as the man left, taking his glass along with Britt's and Casey's. It never ceased to amaze Britt on how much his friend was afraid of water. He was like a cat, that one. Out of all the things that he could do, he couldn't even do something as effortless and easy as swimming. In a way, it was rather amusing, but he didn't continue his pestering. He could bother him later.

"Does the Green Hornet have any plans, tonight, Mr. Reid?" Casey asked, taking no note of Kato's departure.

Britt shrugged and made a sound of indecision. "Depends, does Ms. Lenore Case have any plans with a certain Mr. Reid, tonight?"

For a second time, Casey rolled her eyes and swam away without an answer. Shaking his head, Britt couldn't comprehend why she could not go for that. Most women went crazy with smart, smooth lines like that. The secretary was imperturbable, it seemed, and she even acted this way to Kato. It didn't occur to the reporter (or maybe he didn't want to come to terms with it), but it was possible that Casey simply wanted to remain 'just friends', a single, heterosexual man's nightmare.

Unlike Britt, Kato had accepted this. There were other fishes in the big pond. Britt was very persistent, but that wasn't unlike him. It was trait that he'd inherited from his father, and this woman wasn't someone he was going to let slip away. He swam towards her. "C'mon, just one date," he said, his voice on the edge of a whine.

"Forget it, baby," she responded, her tone light-hearted, but sarcastic. "And I have plans, anyway."

"What plans?" Britt exclaimed, almost immediately. Horror bubbled inside of him. This couldn't be happening!

"You know—"

BANG.

The sound was as sudden as it disappeared, but the ringing did not stop inside of Britt's head. If he wasn't mistaken, that was definitely the sound of a gunshot. As soon as the shock wore off, Britt tore out of the pool in a speed so quick that he surprised himself. "What the hell was that?" he hollered to Casey, as she followed suit.

"I don't know!"

The two began running down the mansion's hallway in the direction of the gunfire. Fear cloaked Britt's heart, and he couldn't help slowing down when the prospect of the shooter possible looking for the two occurred to him. Cursing his overactive imagination, he finally made it to the kitchen where the gunshot seemed to have come from. He immediately froze up when he halted, just to find that he was standing in a pool of dark, crimson blood.

Britt turned around to face Casey, who'd just entered the kitchen and also noticed the blood. "Kato," they both said at the same time.

Short, but it's a prologue. Good? Bad? Ugly? Tell me what you think in a review.