A/N: I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in the real world.
Melting the Darkness in Shirakage Mouse's Heart
"Chief," Penfold began crossly at Danger Mouse in the kitchen. "I believe it's best that you don't program the Danger Flat's laser guns to activate in all of the bedrooms, for your personal Saturday morning alarm and workout session." He also pointed to his charred self. "And I don't think it's fair that your best friend or the other Danger Agents should get dragged into the reality of having their beds be set on fire too."
But the grinning white mouse agent waved a dismissive and confident hand to the hamster in spectacles. "Nonsense, Penfold. Aside from the fact that the Secret Service has to buy new mattresses for HQ every Sunday, I really don't see a reason why the rest of my fellow agents should sleep in safely, except for me alone."
Suddenly, Colonel K's hologram popped up in front of the two inseparable rodents.
"Ah, DM. Had a good Saturday morning workout before breakfast again? Well, you two better eat up. I'm assigning you a very crucial mission, on behalf of a special request." The chinchilla then averted his gaze and frowned. "Or was it an urgent favor...?" Deciding to ignore his scatterbrained memory, he resumed discussing the matter politely again. "Well, anyway, Jeopardy Mouse needs your help, DM."
Danger Mouse's eye widened as his face lit up happily. "Ha! We'll be on our way to New York soon, Colonel. What's the disaster? Hydrant? Quark? Prof. Ham Hams?"
Colonel K answered with a pleasant smirk. "Actually, DM... Jeopardy Mouse will be arriving here to our HQ to deliver the mission to you personally."
DM furrowed his brow in confusion. "Huh...?"
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"BABYSITTING!?" He argued in utter disbelief at his American rival agent on the settee. "My mission is to babysit your foster cousin, Jeopardy Mouse!?"
The brown furred purple haired mouse rolled her eyes at him, as if his outrage wasn't bothering her in the slightest. "Trust me. If I had it my way, you would be the last thing on this planet that I'd offer this mission to.
"But it's not like my cousin's a child, Danger Mouse," she retorted defensively. "Another reason for her to be in London is for her new job offer in the city. She's an excellent scientist with three majors in Psychology, Botany, and Chemistry. And I'm sure Professor Squawkencluck won't have any opposition in letting Prof. Shirakage Mouse bunk here with you."
DM rolled his eyes and sighed. "Good Grief. Just what we need: A boffin studied mouse to nerd out with Squawk."
Penfold, however, gasped in fear as he melodramatically placed his paws to his specks. "Jeopardy Mouse, your foster cousin is The Prof. Shirakage Mouse...!? As in, 'the brilliantly smart, but devilishly tempered Japanese Tailed White Mouse, whose draconian, wicked sense of humor made her notorious enough for the world to ban her from ever becoming a Secret Agent for Japan', Prof. Shirakage Mouse!?"
Jeopardy Mouse deadpanned. "Yeah. That's her, Penfold."
He went into a terrified panic. "Aw, Crumbs! Not her! I sometimes wonder how her temperamental reputation hasn't branded her as a villain by the world yet!"
"'Shirakage...'" DM mulled over the name. "Doesn't her name mean 'White Shadow' in Japanese? And how on Earth is a rare breed of white mice related to your family, Jeopardy?"
JM fiddled with her phone while answering. "My Auntie and Uncle were on vacation in Japan. They were staying in a rural town's small resort hotel at the time, when an earthquake struck a nearby village. They found an orphaned infant in the rubble, but the birth parents weren't so lucky in escaping Death."
JM then held up her phone's screen side, showing DM a picture of her and a black haired white furred mouse with a tail, smiling at each other as little kids.
"Awww~~~!" Danger Mouse and Penfold cooed over the 7 year old kids on the phone. "She's about your age then, Jeopardy?" Penfold beamed kindly.
The American spy nodded. "She was cute when we were children. But not anymore."
Jeopardy Mouse's face clouded. "Shirakage attended Boot Camp with me every summer. And she signed up for the most extreme classes in Weapon's and Martial Art's Combat. By the time she reached her teenage years, my cousin's moody glares were scaring a lot of people. But that satisfied her enough so that she wouldn't use her hidden assassination skills on the innocent."
Danger Mouse and Penfold paled in terror. "Uh," DM smiled nervously. "Did I hear you right, Jeopardy? Surely, you didn't say that your yearling cousin had been trained to kill her targets, aie?"
A chill swept through the sitting room as JM shook her head. "She can kill, Danger Mouse," she replied darkly. "That's why she chose a career in the field of Science when the world forbade her to become a secret agent for her birth country.
"You don't know her like I do. And it's also because of her creepy attitude that the American government has made it a top priority for you to treat her well in Great Britain."
Penfold gasped. "Oh, carrots! Why is Prof. Shirakage Mouse scaring the Yanks for!?"
Jeopardy Mouse glanced away, a hint of regret stayed in her gaze. "Our politics in the States has gotten kind of..." she hesitated for a moment to find the appropriate word in her sentence. "...complicated lately. My cousin has never appreciated over the historical facts of how divided the world's nations have been amongst each other, due to violence and corruption.
"Regardless of your nation's Brexit dilemma, Danger Mouse, Shirakage Mouse believes that the current changes in America is getting worse by destroying trust and the diplomatic bridges it shared with its neighboring allies. And the chaos in Washington is affecting her mood swings and emotions.
"So, to get straight to the point, Shirakage's not doing too well in America. And needs to be employed here in Britain where her head may cool down ASAP."
DM smirked. "Ha! It sounds more like she needs a change in scenery. And she's probably uptight because she hasn't traveled the world as much as us, Jeopardy."
Penfold narrowed his specks at his cocky best friend. "Chief, you're so oblivious to Jeopardy's ruthless cousin that you've never even bothered to look into her data profile or Science articles."
"Don't worry, Penfold," he assured confidently. "I'm sure I'll know what I'll be dealing with when I get my first look at the American raised Mouse boffin." He then turned back to his rival. "So when exactly will this so called 'Scary Shirakage Mouse' be arriving at HQ, Jeopardy?"
"Oh, I'd say about..." JM paused nonchalantly before concluding bluntly. "...now."
"'Now'!?" DM and Penfold repeated simultaneously in disbelief.
"Now," she repeated as the electronic door to the stairs slid open, revealing an ecstatic Prof. Squawkencluck gushing around the bored, pouty newcomer.
Danger Mouse's eye widened in gaping awe, as he saw the tailed white mouse's stunning sapphire blue eyes. Not only was she wearing a feminine outfit. But her attitude portrayed a sense of rebellion against fancy high heeled shoes; the sneakers below her high knee sock leggings was evidently clear to anyone who would have seen her.
Her eyes had a hardened gaze on her face. And a tight lipped sneer implied to DM that she seemed a bit displeased within her surroundings; yet the funny thought in his head was that Shirakage made her surly expression seem a little more cute.
"Cor!" Penfold breathed at the fully grown female cousin of JM. "Professor Shirakage Mouse sure does look a lot prettier than I imagined her to be in person. I'm really glad she's not scary cross. Right, Chief?"
He turned to his best friend, only to find the WGSA missing from his spot in between Jeopardy and Said confused cowardly hamster. "Chief...?" He repeated, wondering where he'd gone off to.
A scowling Jeopardy Mouse tapped Penfold's shoulder and pointed to the center of the room by the door. The British secret agent mouse had already bowed and kneeled before his assigned client.
"Ohayo Gozaimasu, Madam Shirakage Mouse," he greeted her suavely as his courtesy expressed a stud fueled grin on his face. "I understand you're new in Town."
Penfold and Jeopardy both rolled their eyes and groaned simultaneously, "Oh, Good Grief!"
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"You're unbelievable, Danger Mouse!" Jeopardy groaned. "My cousin just met you, and you're already hitting on her!?"
Shirakage stood between her two packed suitcases. Arms folded and averting her miffed gaze to her right, she continued to quietly ignore the English Mouse's stare.
"Don't lose your knickers, Jeopardy," DM smiled calmly. "Nobody falls in love with someone at first sight...especially secret agents on bodyguard duty."
Penfold peeked his head out from the settee's lift. He, DM and Jeopardy were comfortably sitting on the sofa. But Shirakage didn't move from her spot outside of the lift's diameter. When her glaring gaze suddenly made contact with Penfold's, the hamster squeaked and cowered into a ball from her line of sight. "Oh, Eck!"
Jeopardy Mouse sighed and turned to her Japanese foster cousin. "Shirakage, I told you to not glare at my friends when we were riding my Robo Ravens on the way here. Did you forget that Danger Mouse's best friend, Penfold can get scared easily?"
A shivering Penfold peeked out to look at the now crouching female white mouse. Her glare had softened to look more stoic and expressionless. He continued to shiver as she unzipped one of her bags to fetch a small box.
Shirakage held out the box towards Penfold and opened the lid, revealing a Bento lunch dish of fried chicken filled rice balls.
"Here," she offered gently without emotion in her tone. "A token of my apologies, Penfold-San."
Penfold beamed happily at the Japanese meal, as if nothing had scared him in the first place. "Cor! Thanks, Ms. Shirakage Mouse," he replied as he helped himself to one of the rice balls.
Danger Mouse bumped his elbow cheekily at his American counterpart. "Ha! The Madam doesn't seem so scary now, huh, Jeopardy. She just shared a bit of her lunch with Penfold."
He then stood up from his spot on the settee and cleared his throat. "Shirakage, my Dear," he addressed her kindly. "Why don't you stop sulking about on your feet and come join us for an afternoon tea time? You do wish to become acquainted with your new flat mates and bodyguards, don't you?"
The white tailed mouse turned to her new charmed bodyguard and stared wordlessly into his amber eye.
"Shirakage," Jeopardy coaxed her warily. "Sit with us, and you can have some Diet Cola to make up for the tea on their table" She ended her bribe in a sweet beaming tone.
"What...!?" DM interjected incredulously. "Jeopardy, what makes you so certain that your cousin can't drink tea at all?"
She shrugged her hands upwards, gesturing an unknown answer as Shirakage reluctantly sat down next to her. "You got me. Shirakage may have been born Japanese. But my aunt and mom had raised her to be more Western in our family. And for reasons only known to her, she won't even drink Green Tea from Asia."
Danger Mouse and Penfold flabbergasted as Jeopardy tossed her foster cousin a can of caffeinated Diet Cola.
"Our honored flatmate...is a Tea Averter...?" DM asked, his voice still in shock. "My word, I feel absolutely sorry for you, my Dear Shirakage-San. To think that a beautiful Madam with an Asian descended background had been brought up by the American traditions of fast food and sweets."
Shirakage gazed at the sympathetic British agent mouse with her stern sapphire eyes before glancing towards the side of the room. "Nature vs. Nurture, Danger Mouse-San. I do, however, drink caffeinated coffee in the morning. But it can't be too hot or bitter without sugar and milk in it."
As she took a sip from her cola can, Professor Squawkencluck suddenly appeared before the group of four and sat next to Shirakage, her specks glowing at her new Bestie.
"Can you believe it!" She exclaimed gleefully. "The Professor Shirakage Mouse will be residing here at HQ...to work at King's College as a Botany Researcher and a Chemical Synthesizer!"
The black haired white tailed mouse smiled lightly to them. "Professor Squawkencluck here had given me her sincere apology. Her private flat lacks the space it needs to house a guest, I'm afraid. Even Jeopardy Mouse desired me to bunk with her instead, as a first choice."
That's when the female chicken scientist narrowed her specks with a stern, warning glare, immediately causing DM and Penfold to stiffen fearfully on the settee.
"You guys better treat Professor Shirakage nicely during her stay here," she demanded seriously while pointing her feathered finger at them. "Make sure that the Loo is clean; don't do anything to gross her out, or make her feel uncomfortable. Understand, Mouse...?!"
The two male rodents gulped loudly and nodded in silence. Seconds later, Penfold turned to his new flatmate.
"Um...so, Professor Shirakage Mouse, when will you be starting your new job in London's King's College?"
"Tomorrow," she replied bluntly after swallowing a bite of her white soft rice filled Inari bento dish. "It's important that I get my belongings settled into my new living quarters as soon as possible before then."
Danger Mouse grinned cheekily towards her. "My my. Looks like someone wishes to live the life of a busy bee. And I must add that you're expressing the most docile behavior in which I've ever seen from a rare Japanese white tailed mouse."
The females deadpanned at DM, then Shirakage glanced at Jeopardy. "You were right, Cous. My new host is crushing on me," she muttered audibly.
"Wha-!?" He spluttered a jaw dropping noise in a flustered manner. "Excuse me, Madam! How can you possibly know that I fancy to court you into a serious relationship with me!?"
Shirakage Mouse shrugged her shoulders half heartedly. "I just know...once I saw you smile at me like that."
"I beg your pardon...!" He frowned offensively. "I smile slyly at everyone, mind you!"
She shrugged again. "If you say so, Sir." And took another bite of Inari.
"Shirakage isn't wrong, Chief," Penfold piped up to his scowling friend. "It has been a long while since you've had a lady friend in your life."
"Penfold!" DM snapped fiercely in embarrassment. "Shush!"
He returned his cross glare towards his new flat guest. "Now, look here, Shira-San. You will be residing here at the Headquarters of the British Secret Service! I am the World's Greatest Secret Agent, who has been assigned to watch you, on behalf of my American colleague's wishes. So you shall treat me, the host of our flat, with respect!"
The unamused female white mouse pursed her lip in pondered expression, wondering if she should apologize to DM. But her gesture didn't go unnoticed by him, and the anger grew on his face.
"OI! YOU'RE NOT TAKING ME SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU!? IS THIS SOME SORT OF TWISTED MIND GAME THAT YOU FANCY MUCKING ABOUT WITH PEOPLE!?"
"Come on, Shirakage," Jeopardy Mouse complained calmly to her. "Please don't do this again. According to Penfold, Danger Mouse can get very pissed off easily sometimes. So apologize to him before he pops a blood vessel."
Conceding towards her American yearling's suggestion, Shirakage Mouse sighed deeply. Then she stood up and bowed her head before her enraged host. "Gomen na sai, Danger Mouse-San," she said sincerely in her native tongue.
DM's anger quelled immediately and he smirked coolly again. "There's a good Chapess. I knew that all you needed was a bit of finesse from Jeopardy here."
Shirakage sneered slightly and shifted her uncomfortable gaze to her cousin. "Am I done here? Can I put my cases in the guest room now?" She asked her quickly, a sardonic impatience laced in her tone.
"Oh! Can I help her with her bags, Jeopardy!?" Prof. Squawkencluck begged the purple haired mouse like an excited child. "PLEASE~~~?"
She rolled her eyes to the side with a subtle sigh. "Sure, why not."
Danger Mouse watched Shirakage and his boffin colleague carry her belongings up the stairs by the wall of the sitting room. Once the two women were out of sight, he turned his head to Penfold and Jeopardy Mouse.
"Well, your foster cousin does possess a charming feisty side in her personality, Jeopardy."
"I assume that I can place my trust in you to care for Shirakage, Danger Mouse?" She stated skeptically at him with a suspicious stare.
DM puffed away any worrying doubts with a confident smirk. "My word is my bond. She'll enjoy our Guest room for a beautiful Saturday night sleep..."
"HEY!" A loud angry shout from upstairs startled the three of them suddenly. "WHY THE FUCK IS MY GUEST ROOM'S BED ALL CHARRED UP FROM A FIRE!?"
"DANGER~~~ MOUSE~~~!" Professor Squawkencluck bellowed angrily from the same direction as Shirakage's displeased shout.
The Mouse Of Disaster grinned sheepishly as Penfold and Jeopardy Mouse glared at him disapprovingly.
"Oops..." he squeaked.
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Danger Mouse grunted as he moved Shirakage Mouse's new mattress into the guest room. Colonel K had ordered him to feng shui the room, which involved using his strong arms in lifting the furniture.
By the time he had finished tidying up Shirakage's sleeping quarters, DM panted heavily, collapsed on the floor's new rug in a sitting position, and wiped a bead of sweat from his small brow. The mouse felt exhausted. He hadn't worked so hard to death like this, since the Colonel ordered him to bodyguard Baron von Greenback, his daughter Delilah, and the Queen of Goldlandia.
"Are you feeling alright, Danger Mouse-San?"
Still panting tiredly, DM turned his head to see the calm, quiet and sad looking Japanese tailed white mouse, standing in the doorway. She stared to the side after his eye fell on her shy, solemn sapphire orbs. She was also holding out a small tray of orange juice in a drinking glass.
"I thought you'd want a refreshing drink after using your muscles so late in the evening for me," she offered kindly as she joined him on the rug. "Here. Penfold told me that you...um, fancy the taste of orange juice."
DM smiled and laughed in relief. "Thank you, Shira-San." He was actually so thirsty that he gulped down his beverage a little too fast. As one of his gulps accidentally forced the liquid near the wrong tube in his throat, his face froze comically and he coughed out his lungs for air.
"Easy," his flat guest said gently, while patting his back. As DM's small coughing fit died away, Shirakage smiled at his teary face. "Wow. You must have been very thirsty, DM-San. I'm also really glad you agreed to set your Danger Flat's laser guns to only invade your own bedroom every Saturday morning from now on."
Danger Mouse blushed sheepishly. "Yes, well, if I hadn't done that for all of the other agents who sleep here, then the Colonel would have eaten my badge for breakfast. And I'd be sacked for good."
DM's breath had evened itself out again after he finished his orange juice. However, the exercise that had given him a huge workout, also allowed fresh air to linger in his nasal cavities whenever he rested. His nose twitched erratically as Shirakage took away his empty glass from his paws. She placed it and the tray down on the floor to her right, and Danger Mouse buried his face into his left arm to smother a high toned sneeze.
"ChOO!"
"Bless you," she said, turning back to him. But she blinked as the secret agent mouse hovered his hitching, gasping jaw above his raised arm.
"Gasp~~~! Heh-heh-Ah'tiSSHHHOOO!"
"Bless you," Shirakage Mouse said again, more sympathetically this time, as DM rubbed a finger under his moist nostrils. "That was a nasty sneeze. Are you alright?"
He sniffed wetly and gave her a nervous smile. "So sorry. Snf. Post workout allergies, I'm afraid. Snf. But it isn't that awful. Staying in shape just means I'm getting more oxygen into my muscle tissues and lungs. And I only sneeze for a few..." His reassured expression wilted, his eye losing focus due to a persistent itch in his nose again. "...huh...a few-CHOOO!"
Shirakage giggled. "Forgive me, Danger Mouse-San. But you sound a bit funny when you sneeze."
Blushing from embarrassment, DM frowned displeasingly and glanced away. "I don't see why you should find my sneezing fits very amusing, Madam Shirakage."