The minutes before a mission began were always the worst for Haise Sasaki.
There was just too much time to think. To wonder if he'd made some kind of mistake during the planning phase; some fatal flaw that he had somehow managed to overlook. Time to run through a thousand, "What if?" scenarios in his mind? Like what if he screwed up and got himself killed; or, god forbid, got one of his colleagues' killed?
The very thought made his stomach plunge like a runaway elevator. Dying was not something he wanted to do anytime soon; but it was an ever present risk of being an Investigator. Whenever you went out into the field you were taking your life in your hands. He knew and accepted that. The thought of one of his comrades paying the price for his mistakes however, chilled him to the core. He was certain that he would be crushed by the guilt that he would surely feel.
Of course such an error would have consequences beyond the emotional. Haise was well aware that there were those within the CCG that were very much opposed to the idea of him being an investigator. There was little doubt in his mind that they would cease upon such a tragedy as an excuse to get him fired.
Though he knew that would be the worst case scenario; the idea sent chills down his spine. The CCG was all he had. Without it he would be alone; a man with no past, and no future.
Nothing left to separate him from-
"You're nervous."
His mentor's voice pierced through the fog of his dark thoughts. He looked up to see Mado regarding him with a neutral expression from across the cabin of the van. She had obviously seen right through him; rendering any attempts at denial a futile effort.
Instead, he put on what he hoped was a confident looking smile and asked, "How can you tell?"
"You've been scratching your head for three blocks. You only do that when you're feeling troubled."
Sasaki hadn't even realized that he was doing that until she pointed it out. He pulled his hand away from his head and placed booth hands in his lap, hoping that he wasn't exhibiting any other nervous ticks he didn't know about.
Mado smiled, "You don't have to worry so much. Just keep doing what you've been taught, and you'll be fine. After all; you've survived this long haven't you?"
"I guess…" his answer wasn't convincing even to him. He expected the older woman to scold him; or maybe offer a little more comfort.
Instead she asked, "Rank 1 Sasaki. What is our current objective?"
The question caught him off guard. Sasaki was certain that Mado knew everything about their mission; right down to the smallest details. But the expectant look in her eye told him that it was probably a good idea to just answer the question.
"Our objective is to arrest Tsuchiya Tono." Sasaki quoted the briefing he'd been given verbatim, "In connection with the sale of classified material."
Mado nodded, "Tell me about him."
Sasaki repeated the information he had read in the man's file almost verbatim, "Tsuchiya Tono. Age 42. Single, no children. Former data analyst for the CCG. He went into hiding six months ago after stealing a wealth of classified material from a CCG database."
"The bastard almost got away with it too," sneered Mado, "Tell me why he didn't"
"Two weeks ago the police arrested a self-proclaimed, 'Facilitator,' of illegal goods and services. During interrogation he claimed to have set up a meeting between an ex CCG employee and a third party. The suspect then picked Tono out of a photo lineup; confirming him as the seller."
"And now here we are."
It took a moment for Sasaki to realize that she wasn't just referring to the end of their conversation; and that they had also arrived at the location given to them by the informant. He blinked twice and turned to look at his mentor.
Mado was smiling politely at him, "Still nervous?"
Something clicked in his head and he finally realized what Mado had done for him. This time he actually felt the confidence projected in his smile, "No. I'm good."
"Glad to hear it," the senior investigator grabbed the case that held her quinque and opened the door of the van, "Are you ready?"
Sasaki nodded, grabbed his own quinque, and leapt out of the van.
Tsuchiya Tono stomped out his fourth cigarette in twenty minutes. Before he had even finished grinding it out, he had his fifth one out of the carton and in his mouth. Seconds later he was taking his first drag off it; and for a few minutes he was able to beat back his anxiety and feel something close to calm.
What the hell was he doing here? How the hell was it that it had been six months after he'd stolen those files and he was still in Tokyo? The plan had been so simple. He would use his access as an analyst to steal some classified material, sell it to the highest bidder, and then spend the rest of his days drinking cocktails on some tropical island somewhere.
It was that damn, "Facilitator's," fault, he was sure of it. Tono had wanted to move immediately, but that jerk had convinced him to wait. Said that the goods were still too hot. Better to wait a few months until things cooled down.
What a load of shit.
A loud bang caused Tono to drop his half smoked cigarette to the ground. He looked frantically around for the source of the noise, but to no avail. He took several deep breaths and silently cursed his middleman once more. He was the one who had chosen this decrepit old apartment complex at the edge of the 20th ward for the meeting. The building was basically a giant twenty story square with a courtyard situated in the center. Though the courtyard was lit by the moonlight, the floors remained shrouded in shadow.
"Tsuchiya Tono?"
The analyst had almost managed to get his heart rate back under control when the voice broke the silence of the night. Once more he scanned the floors above him, but to no avail.
"Are you Tsuchiya Tono?"
The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Twice now it had said his name. He had no idea whether the voice was friend or foe; but he figured that he would only make things worse for himself if he stayed quiet.
"Y-yes, I'm Tono," he stuttered, "Are you the buyer?"
A few moments passed, and Tono wondered if he had said something wrong. His sweat began to soak through his dress shirt, and he wondered if it was too late to make a run for it.
"Turn around slowly."
Tono nearly jumped right out of his skin when he heard the voice coming from behind him. Never the less; he did as he was told and turned to face the source of the voice.
Standing no more than twenty feet away from him stood a figure that had to be six feet tall if he was an inch. He, (Or at least from the tone of the voice he assumed it was a he,) was clad all in black, save for the mask he was wearing. The top half of said mask was designed to look like the head of the wearer was covered in mummy like bandages, while the bottom half looked like the bottom part of a human skull. In his right hand he carried a large silver briefcase.
"Do you have it?" asked the masked man.
Tono puffed out his chest, and tried to sound more confident than he felt, "Show me the money first!"
The masked figure was still as a statue for a few moments before he tossed the briefcase through the air; landing at Tono's feet. Very slowly, the analyst knelt down and undid the clasps on the briefcase. He smiled the biggest smile of his life when he saw the contents of the case.
"Your turn."
Tono cleared his throat and shut the case. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small jump drive. He tossed the drive underhanded, and the figure snatched it effortlessly out of the air. The masked man then held it up in front of him, appearing to inspect the device.
"It's all here?" asked the Man.
Tono scoffed, "Do you want to check?"
The figure's gaze snapped back to the analyst, "Do I need to?"
Before Tono could stutter out an apology he was interrupted when another figure landed between him and the other man. This one was much shorter than the other one. This one also wore a mask, a top hat with a pair of large goggles over the eyes.
"They're here!" yelled the new one. Then before anyone could react he jumped to the right, easily reaching the second floor and then disappearing into the shadows.
"Whose here?!" shouted Tono, panic rising in his chest.
"The CCG," the masked man said matter of factlly, 'You've been followed."
In the fraction of a second it took for Tono to turn his gaze toward him the masked man had already closed the distance between them. He grabbed the analyst by the throat and lifted him up as though he weighed nothing. He tried to beg the other man to let him go, but he couldn't draw in enough air to form the words. The masked man stared at him for a second before turning his head away
"I'm sorry."
There was a loud snapping noise, and the last thing Tono felt was a sharp pain.
Sasaki saw the lookout for just a moment before the man retreated back into the apartment complex. He cursed and sped up, nearly leaving Mado behind him.
"What is it?" she shouted.
"We've been made!"
When he was ten feet away from the entrance Sasaki saw that the front gate leading into the complex had been chained shut. Knowing that they were short on time; and stopping to fiddle with a padlock would just slow them down even further, he made a snap judgement. He increased his speed even more before leaping into the air hitting the gate with a flying kick. The chains snapped under the impact, and the gates tore themselves from the hinges.
The white haired investigator slid to a stop just in time to see a tall figure wearing a mask release the body of their suspect from his grasp. By the time the corpse hit the ground Mado had caught up. She was already drawing her quinque as she came to a stop. The segmented whip like quinque lashed out at the figure.
The masked man leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack. He then jumped to the left, landing on the second floor balcony before pushing off again and landing on the fourth floor on the right side of the building.
Sasaki didn't hesitate. He repeated the process the masked man had used just seconds before. The two men bounced back and forth over the court yard as they ascended the complex. Sasaki wasn't slow; but the other man had a head start, and he disappeared over the edge of the twentieth floor with the investigator in hot pursuit.
As he reached the eighteenth floor Sasaki heard to voices talking to each other.
"I'm not leaving you!" the first voice said. It was high, but masculine. Almost like Juuzou's.
'I'll be right behind you, just go!" the second voice was much deeper. Most likely the masked man, Sasaki thought.
Sasaki reached the top to find the masked man waiting for him. There was nobody else in sight, so he assumed the owner of the other voice got away.
The remaining man's face was inscrutable beneath his mask; but Sasaki could feel his gaze on him just the same. He relaxed his posture and put on his friendliest smile, "I don't suppose you would consider surrendering?"
The masked man did not answer. Instead, he rushed forward. Sasaki had anticipated that response, and already had Yukimura 1/3 out of its case. He discarded the case as he drew the quinque, and smoothly transitioned from the draw to slash at his opponent. Sasaki swore he could see the moment where the masked man realized he had miscalculated, and would not be able to dodge the swing in time.
The man's response was to not even try. Instead he got his left arm up in the path of the blade. The razor sharp quinque sliced clean through the appendage at the forearm, but the ploy had worked. He had given himself enough time to surge forward and punch Sasaki with his right hand.
The air exploded out of Sasaki's lungs and he was sure he heard a cracking sound from his ribs. The impact went him flying away from his masked opponent, over the courtyard, and past the edge of the roof on the other side. The investigator was quick to react however, and his Kagune burst from his back to latch on to the edge of the roof, preventing him from plummeting to his death.
The immediate danger having passed; Sasaki allowed himself to dangle limply from his kagune. He gently prodded the spot where the masked man's fist had hit and winced with pain. He wasn't worried. He had survived far worse injuries during training. By tomorrow morning all traces of the wound would be gone.
"You planning to hang there all night?"
He looked up to see Mado standing on the edge of the building, arms crossed, staring down at him. He blushed a bit in embarrassment and began to pull himself up. When he got near the top Mado extended a hand; which he gratefully accepted.
Once he was back on solid ground his mentor asked him, "He get away?"
Sasaki nodded, "Yeah. And it's, 'They,' plural. There were at least two of them."
"So basically we failed to capture anyone involved," sighed Mado, "Damn."
Sasaki grimaced and looked down at his shoes. Before he could disappear into his own head Mado clasped a hand on his shoulder, "Let's get back. If we hurry we might be able to finish doing the paperwork before midnight."
Sasaki smiled and nodded, sparing one last look at the severed arm of the masked man before he walked away.