Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Mai Hime, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. Also, this is an alternate universe fic with yuri content, if that's not thing I suggest skipping it.
Nao Yuuki, Agent of H.I.M.E.
The Highest International Mercenary Elite or HIME base in Fuka was a beautiful place, the former school now converted to serve as a central hub for the powerful organization. Men and women hurried to and fro, going from the dorms to the school buildings, now used for training or administrative services. The mountains around the remote Japanese town served as a fitting training ground where teams of HIME faced off against each other in combat.
The slim redhead drew the eyes of many of the handsome young men, but as soon as they recognized her as Nao Yuuki they carefully looked away. Nao was the personification of youthful beauty, but she was also known for having a rapier wit and a evil mind that had embarrassed more than one unworthy suitor. The rumor was that she didn't like men, but no one seemed able to confirm that.
"Hey, Nao!" one of her few friends called, the light brown haired woman trotting over, her black haired shadow in tow.
"Hey Mai," Nao smiled wryly, "Hi Mikoto."
"Nao!" Mikoto nearly pounced on her, the tall, slim black haired woman hugging her. "Lunch was delicious!" she declared as she looked down at Nao, "You should have been there!"
Nao had to fight a chuckle. Mikoto was one of those straightforward, energetic people whom you either loved of hated to be around, filled with passion about the things they loved. "I had a knife throwing test," she explained, "or I would have been there."
"Passed?" Mai asked, her smile warm and confident as she walked between the tall Mikoto and shorter Nao.
"Of course," Nao smirked. "Knives are my specialty, you know."
Neither woman mentioned how they had first met, Mai and their leader Shizuru Fujino having found Nao on the street, the redhead robbing men at knife point. Nao had attacked them both instinctively, and only Shizuru's superior skill with a katana had saved Mai from serious injury at the mildly mad Nao's hands.
Nao had calmed down a lot in the two years since, but Mai could still see traces of the nearly feral young woman inside her. "Has the Headmistress decided on a graduation assignment for you?" Mai wondered.
"If so, the rumor mill is suspiciously silent," Nao admitted. Of course, around HIME the rumor mill was Chie Harada, the black haired ops officer who was a deadly covert agent in the field. Of course, she was silent to anyone outside their organization and was considered one of the most reliable operatives they had.
The 'graduation assignment' was a near tradition among the HIME, supposedly started by their founder Mashiro Kazahana. Once a agent's training was brought to a certain level they were sent out on a assignment, in part to gage their abilities. While not necessarily lethal the first assignment was usually dangerous, and a unwary or unprepared agent could find themselves washed out... or even dead.
"You'd better check out some covert armor," Mai offered the perspective of a senior agent, "and maybe some guns...."
"Nah," Mikoto shook her head, "stick with knives."
"Oh?" Nao looked at her thoughtfully.
"You're sneaky," Mikoto smiled at her warmly, "and you're good at it. Guns are noisy and very hard to sneak around with, even with silencers."
"Point," Mai admitted.
"Huh," Nao looked thoughtful. "Wonder how much I'll get told in advance? If it's a seduction job I have a couple of nice, slinky dresses...."
Mikoto snickered, "If those are the dresses you showed Aoi, I wouldn't call then nice."
Nao shrugged, "Okay, they make me look like sex on two legs. Happy?"
Mai laughed. "Where did you find them, anyway?" she demanded. "I could use a dress or two like that..."
"Not telling," Nao winked.
Not long afterward the summons came to the Headmistress' office, and Nao reported in a bit nervously. Shizuru Fujino had her usual little smile on her face, her manner calm and serene as she sat behind the desk, her long brown hair flowing over her shoulders.
"Miss Yuuki," Shizuru smiled warmly, "it's good to see you doing so well. Would you like some tea?"
"No, thank you," Nao said, shaking her head, "but I can make up some for you if you like."
Shizuru smiled slightly, "No, that's all right." She studied Nao a moment, "You like to get right to things, don't you?"
Nao bit back a impatient comment then nodded. "Yes. Ma'am," she admitted, "sorry."
"Fair enough," Shizuru drew a file from one of the desk's drawers, "It's a retrieval job, a fairly simple task for your first assignment...."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Bullet fire rang out in the night, shots peppering the wall as Nao ducked, the woman dressed in a simple black bodysuit. "Simple task," she muttered irritably as she swiftly pulled a knife from the pouch on her leg. Taking a quick look she drew back her arm and tossed, the slim blade humming through the air before it struck the slightly stunned soldier, taking him in the throat. 'That just leaves two,' she thought bleakly.
"What was that?" Saeko Kuga asked, her black hair falling into her eyes.
"Never mind," Nao muttered. The scientist at District One was the subject of Nao's retrieval job, the developer of exotic weapons that a employer of HIME was rather interested in. Of course Nao suspected the Headmistress of having other motivations as well, it would be typical of Shizuru Fujino.
Saeko took Nao's arm as she started intently into her eyes, "I won't leave here without my daughter, Miss. I don't care if it gets me killed, I will not abandon her again."
Naio grit her teeth as more bullets hit the wall they were cowering behind. She could probably knock Saeko out, but hauling a unconscious woman out of the facility would be impossible. Which meant... "Where is she?" Nao had to ask.
"They're holding her in the cryonics facility," Saeko said quietly. She added, "Please, I'll pay whatever you want...."
Nao nodded slightly, "I'll do it, Ms. Kuga. But you have to follow my lead, all right?"
"Yes," Saeko nodded eagerly.
"Hey guards!" Nao yelled out to the men firing at them, "I want to make a deal!"
A few moments later Reito Kanzaki warily watched as the two women emerged from cover. "Come forward slowly," the black haired man cautioned mildly, "we wouldn't want anything unpleasant to happen."
"Right," Nao said as she kept Saeko in front of her, keeping a close eye on the blonde boy beside Reito. She walked up to them slowly, then in a sudden gesture shoved Saeko into Reito's arms. Spinning about she hammered the blonde in the chin with the base of her palm, then struck with the blade she had carefully hid in her other hand.
"Gods!" Saeko made a choking sound as the boy fell backwards, one of Nao's blades jutting from his temple and probably plunged into his brain. She looked warily up at the other man, "You are...?"
"Reito Kanzaki," he bowed slightly, "undercover operations. How do you do?"
"Save it, Cassanova," Nao said to him flatly, "there's a hitch in the plan. We need to get to the cryogenics facility."
Reito listened to Saeko, nodding slightly. "All right," he saud briskly, "I planed some demolition charges around the facility. I'll use those and my other talents to provide a distraction."
"Don't get killed," Nao ordered as she picked up a rifle and lead Saeko away.
'Such a kind girl, deep down,' Reito noted as he pulled out a remote control and detonated the administrative building of the District One research center. As he watched the panic he ducked into the shadowed corners, using his silenced pistol to drop soldiers at a distance as he mused, 'I hope that kindness doesn't get you killed.'
Saeko winced as the first explosion went off, both young women running from areas of cover across open areas then back to the shadows. "It's just ahead of us," she told Nao softly.
"The building with all the guards?" Nao sighed, seeing five armed men loitering in front. They seemed more casual than good guards should be, but with the open area around the building it would be difficult to sneak up on them.
"Yeah," Saeko admitted. "I don't know why they didn't go check out the explosions...."
Nao looked down at her black costume, mind racing. "Hold on a minute," she said as she began to tear the cloth, "I have a plan...."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"So then," Shizuru looked over the field report, "you stripped down to your underwear and ran across the zone towards them?"
Nao squirmed uncomfortably under Shizuru's amused glance, dressed in a simple shirt and jeans. "Men don't think too well dealing with nakedness," she said with as much dignity as she could muster, "it slowed them down enough I could stop them."
"Fair enough," Shizuru conceded. She read over the report, "You both busted Natsuki Kuga from captivity, found Reito before he could blow too much more up then made it to the extraction point. Would that summarize things well enough?"
"Yes ma'am," Nao answered. She hesitated, "I know things escelated far beyond the mission brief, but it was beyond my control."
Shizuru laughed, "I didn't call you in to lecture you, Nao, in fact I wanted to congradulate you. You did very well, as well as any of my experienced agents."
Nao smiled, "Thank you ma'am."
"I've talked to Mashiro Kazahana and the other members of the board," Shizuru added, "they've agreed to bump you past the probation period and into full fledged HIME status." She smiled, "Well done."
"I'll do my best," Nao said, hurrying out once she was excused.
"Indeed you will," Shizuru murmured, already having ideas of how to use such a interesting agent....
To be continued?
Notes: It's really HARD to make up a acronym for HIME. Heh! But I think the concept worked all right, and I may do a follow up at one point. Maybe a crossover with Agents of SENSHI?