I thought about this one day and thought it would be funny. I hope you all enjoy.
Swapped bodies:
In the countryside of Narita, airplanes land and take off from the airport in the partly sunny afternoon.
In the luggage pick up area, people arriving in Japan swarmed around the vicinity waiting for their stuff. A plump man that reeked of body odor walked on through. He had long mangled brown hair and his unshaven face had food or unidentified things smeared on it. He wore a white shirt, which was covered in ketchup and different types of food, and blue jeans that were ripped with oil stains and dirt marks.
As he passed by commuters, they raised their hands to their nose from the stench he gave off. A woman ran over to a recycling bin to puke in it.
The plump man exited the airport to head over to a taxicab and entered it. The taxicab man turned to face him, as he opened his mouth to say something, but instead grabbed his nose to plug it from the decaying-like smell.
"Where—where to?" the taxicab driver asked, his voice sounding groggily from the lack of air through his nostrils.
"Tokyo," the stinky man said.
"Tokyo? You want me to drive you all the way to Tokyo?"
"Is that a problem? If it is, I'll give you double of what the fare is."
"Eh, no. No problem." I just have to remember to close down my fare so I can clean up the smell later. The cabby thought to himself. "Where in Tokyo?"
"Don't care. You choose."
The cabby nodded while rolling down his window to get some fresh air, and pulled away from the curve. He drove out of the airport property to travel through the countryside, and hopped onto the freeway to head for Tokyo.
An hour later they arrived at the city. The cabby pulled off on the first exit, drove around for a bit to round off his meter, and came up to a building.
"Is this fine, mister?" he asked.
"That's fine," the plump man said.
The cabby told the plump man his fare. The plump man pulled out a wad of cash, gave the cabby doubled the price, and exited the car. A businessman entered the taxicab and closed the door.
"Ah, what stinks?" the businessman said. "I'm getting out of this thing!"
Before the businessman did, the plump man looked at the car, highlighted in blue, and some how caused the air to quiver, as the two men looked on startled while passing out.
The plump man walked away from the vicinity. As he headed down the street he noticed dog waste on the ground. He squatted over it, picked up the mess, and smeared it on his shirt, pants and face to pay his price.
---
Kirihara Misaki drove through the city listening to her CB for any information on Contractor activity. It had been quiet after the Yakuza brawl, which made her bored. She wished something would happen to extinguish her long hours.
However, her mind kept on swirling around the day she had spotted Li holding a bra. His back area looked similar to the guy at the shrine she knew to be BK201, but he couldn't be. Li had shown too much emotion at Alice's party to make her think he was BK201; especially at how his stomach had growled: unless that was his payment.
"We have report of a Contractor active in Ueno," said Kanami through the CB. "Messier code, ST657. We weren't able to get a fix on his location."
"What's his or her ability?" Misaki asked.
"Unknown at this time."
"Copy that. I'm heading over there now."
She turned on her siren, did a U-turn in the intersection, and headed for the area. Within minutes she reached the area and saw a taxicab man arguing with a businessman. Misaki pulled over and exited her vehicle.
"I'm Section-Chief Kirihara," she began with while flashing her badge. "Is there something wrong?"
"Yes there is!" shouted the businessman. "We've..."
"We're fine, officer," said the taxicab man.
"Oi, what're you doing? She can help us here!"
"Or throw us in the loony bin. Who's going to believe us? We figure this out ourselves."
"And what do you know besides the economy?" questioned the businessman, as he pointed a finger at him.
Misaki looked at him baffled he would say that to a taxicab man, but she shrugged it off and said, "If you've seen or know anything, you can tell me."
"Sorry, officer, but no," said the taxicab man. He looked over at the businessman. "Now take me home."
"I thought you didn't want to ride in the cab?" shouted the businessman.
"I have no choice now."
"Fine!"
The businessman sat behind the driver's seat, as the taxicab man took the back while holding his nose. Misaki's eyes slanted at their actions, but then she turned while plugging her nose at the stench coming from the cab. She would rather take in a whiff of tobacco than that smell.
The cab drove off with Misaki walking back to her car and sitting in it.
"We have report that ST657 is active in Suidoubashi," said Kanami.
"Copy that, on my way," said Misaki. "I do believe I had encountered two men who had spotted ST657. They are heading south bound in a taxi cab, license plate 1A-6488."
"Copy that, Chief," said Saitou.
Misaki drove towards the district and traveled through it to see nothing out of hand. Something was bugging her about the Contractor. Who was he or she, and what was his or her power?
She couldn't find anything and nothing else happened over the past two hours. She decided to head back to Headquarters for the night.
As she drove, Misaki noticed a familiar green coat and black hair. She looked at the man as she passed to see the person was Li. Her heart began to pound heavily while she remembered seeing him at the store the other day. Should she stop and say hello? Maybe he would think she was some kind of stalker if she did that. She liked him, and Misaki didn't want him to hate her.
She decided to roll the dice and try her luck, as she pulled over and breathed out a sigh. Misaki didn't know what it was, but whenever she was around him her strong composure withered away like sakuras blowing in the wind.
Misaki gathered her emotions, exited the vehicle, and stepped before Li. He looked at her baffled, but then he smiled with delight that seemed to warm up her heart.
"Kirihara-san, how have you been?" he asked.
"F—fine. How have you been?" she stuttered.
"I've been all right."
"So… did the bra fit your friend's girlfriend?"
"Ah, hai. Thank you and your friend for the help."
"Our pleasure," she babbled. "So… where are you heading to?"
"Home. I just got done with work."
"If… if you like… I could drive you home."
Misaki's heart started to ache as she thought he would decline her gesture.
He nodded and said, "Hai, I would like that very much."
Misaki smiled with delight while she averted her eyes from him and guided Li over to her car. He opened the passenger door and sat in the seat, as Misaki settled behind the wheel. Sweat dripped down the side of her head from her nerves since Saitou had been the only guy she had had in her car. She went to insert her key in the ignition hole, but she kept on missing it.
Li looked at her baffled, causing her to giggle from embarrassment, and then finally slipped the key in to start up the engine. She pressed down on her brake, but she forgot to push down on the clutch and grinded first gear. Misaki looked on startled, and then giggled again while she put her left foot down on the clutch. She revved up the engine slightly while releasing the clutch and headed to his place.
As she shifted gears and worked her way through traffic, she thought desperately to think of something to say, but nothing came to her mind. She wanted to say something about the party, but that had been a terrible ordeal, and she had already mentioned about the bra. Misaki found it awkward that she could easily start up a conversation with someone she didn't know, but with Li it was a completely different story.
"Nice car. Yours?" Li asked.
"Oh, ah, hai," muttered Misaki since she was caught off guard. "I had some modifications done to it for my job."
"I would like to drive a car like this, but I can't drive a stick."
"It's not hard to drive as long as you're coordinated. It can be a blast to drive as well, but it can get annoying when you get someone hovering back and forth around the speed you have to switch gears with."
"Really? I think I'll stick with automatics."
They arrived in front of Li's apartment moments later. He stepped out of the car, bent over to look at her, and said, "Thank you for the ride."
"You're welcome," she said.
Li closed the door in which Misaki wondered if she should leave or get out and ask him out to eat somewhere. It wasn't proper for a woman to do such a thing, but she didn't want to miss an opportunity to spend some time with him. Perhaps she might ask him to call her on the number she had given him a while back.
She said, "Screw it," and exited her vehicle to round it. Li looked at her curiously, as Misaki blushed while she tried to look into his eyes.
"Eh, Li-kun, I was wondering if… if…" she began to mutter. "Would you like… maybe sometime…"
A plump man walked out from the darkened night. Misaki and Li looked towards him and could smell he had a bad case of body odor. He stopped a few yards in front of them, glared at them, and then highlighted in blue. Misaki and Li's eyes widened. Misaki pulled out her gun to aim it at the odorous man, but she felt her body freeze, as the air seemed to shake somehow.
Misaki and Li passed out.
---
Hei's head was pounding as though he had too much to drink. His eyes slowly opened to take in the sky above him, and to his surprise he had on glasses. Hei sat up holding his head while trying to blink away his anguish, and then noticed his shirt was buttoned at the top. He looked down to see he was wearing a blue suit, and his chest had boobs. His eyes widened, as he felt his hair touching the mid section of his back.
Suddenly he saw himself lying before him.
"What—what the heck?" he said, as Misaki's voice echoed out, but it had a slightly higher pitch to it. "What the heck just happened?"
His body stirred awake and sat up while holding his head. His body looked over at him and stared on shocked. His body looked down at itself and his voice said, "What's going on? Did—did that Contractor swap our bodies?"
Hei looked at himself knowing Misaki was in his body, which informed him they were in a big pinch; especially if Misaki somehow called on his power. He wondered how he was going to sneak his way out of this one.
He pretended to act stupid as he said, "Contractor? What's that? Is that stinky man the reason why we swapped bodies?"
"Misaki, come in!" shouted a woman he recognized as Misaki's friend. "ST657 is active in Shibuya! Misaki, are you there?"
"Li, answer that," said Misaki.
"Me? I can't do that," he said.
"You have to since you're me."
"But you can tell them what had happened and then take care of things."
"If I do that they'll suspend me since I'm not… myself… right now. You have to help me and be me."
Hei kept from frowning and saying, 'don't be me too much.' He rounded the car, sat in the driver's seat, and said, "He—hello?"
"No! Don't say it like that," said Misaki, as she rounded on him while whispering. "Say my name first."
"Oh, eh, this is Kirihara-san."
"Don't use san, and try to speak with a deeper voice," Misaki whispered.
"Oh, sorry, Kirihara-san," he said to Misaki. Hei returned to the CB. "What is it?"
Misaki frowned as she shook her head.
"I just told you," said Kanami. "ST657 was active. Are you all right?"
"Ah, hai." He looked over at himself and muttered, "What should I say, Kirihara-san?"
"Tell Kanami I'll check it out," said Misaki.
"Alright," nodded Hei and repeated the words.
"Affirmative," said Kanami.
Misaki reached into the car to turn off the CB and gestured for Hei to exit her car. He did so and looked at her baffled.
"We have to continue our daily lives," she began. "I need to go to your work, and you need to go to mine."
"What? But can't you tell, I mean, I tell them you're sick until we figure things out?"
"I won't be able to figure things out if I don't get information. You have to drive my car and live at my place, and I need to live at your place."
"I don't like this, Kirihara-san."
"Don't call me Kirihara-san, at least not in public," said Misaki. "You have to call me Li-kun, and I need to call you Kirihara-san."
"Ah. Eh, how about we both stay at my place for tonight."
Misaki looked at him baffled. She made his cheeks blush as she looked away from him.
"Eh, all right," she said.
They headed for his room, as Misaki started walking bow-legged and frowning. She then cringed and hunched over from a sudden pain.
Hei looked at her baffled and asked, "Is everything all right?"
She blushed and said, "How—how can you guys walk with something between your legs?"
Hei made Misaki's eyes widen while her face perked up, and then he made her cheeks blush while scratching the back of her head.
"Practice," he said.
His landlady opened her door, peeked through it, and spotted Hei and Misaki.
"Ah, Li-san! Got a girlfriend!" she asked.
Misaki blushed, but shook it off, as she remembered she had to be the one to respond.
"Ah, we're… we're just friends," she said.
"Oh, really. You have to start somewhere."
Misaki giggled as Hei scratched the back of Misaki's head. His landlady returned to her office while closing the door. They ascended the stairs, as Misaki continued walking awkwardly, and using the railing for support. Once she reached the top she remembered something.
"Son of a… I forgot my gun," she said. "I'll meet you in your apartment."
"Eh, I need my keys," said Li. "They're in my left pocket."
Misaki fished through his pocket, pulled out his keys, and handed them to him. He turned around to open his door, as Misaki carefully headed down the stairs. She found her gun, picked it up, and headed back.
"I was wondering when you'd get a chance to be alone," said someone.
Misaki looked around and saw a black cat with a red collar. She continued her search for the one who had spoken, but she didn't see anybody.
"Is everything all right?" said the same person.
Misaki looked back at the cat; thinking it had spoken, but she had to be wrong.
"Oh, it's that stupid cat again," said Misaki's own voice.
She looked back to see herself walking passed her and grabbing the cat by its tail. The cat meowed in pain and looked at Li displeased. The cat began to scratch and hiss at Misaki's body.
"My landlady hates this thing," he said, making the cat stop and look on startled; at least that's what it seemed. "I'll take care of it. I'll meet you up in my room. I left the door unlocked."
"All right, Li-kun," she said, causing the cat to gasp and sweat.
Hei smiled and walked off. As they got out of sight Hei released Mao's tail to let him down. Mao looked up at him baffled, wondering if what he was thinking was true, and wondered if he should speak.
"Relax, Mao, it's me," he said, as he made Misaki's voice sound deep. "Apparently a Contractor swapped Misaki and me around."
"Seriously?" Mao asked startled.
"Hai."
"This is bad. Huang called for a meeting tomorrow morning. That's why I sought you out to inform you."
"About what?"
"I don't know, but we have to tell him about this so he can inform the Syndicate."
"You can't tell Huang or the Syndicate about this."
"What? Why?"
"If you tell him and he tells the Syndicate they'll get rid of Misaki and me. Tell Huang I'm sick and that you'll relay the message to me. I need time so I can find the stinky man and make him swap our bodies around."
"Stinky man?" Mao asked while tilting his head baffled.
"He's the Contractor who swapped us around."
"What about the cop woman? She's you, and if she gets out of hand…"
"I know. Let me worry about that. She wants me to take her place since I'm in her body and get information on ST657. You keep an eye on her here. If Huang approaches… me… keep him away from… me."
"All right. Eh, what about Yin?"
"I have the funny feeling she already knows. I'll speak with her at the park tomorrow night."
"All right. Eh, how's it feel to be in a woman's body?" Mao teased.
"You tell me since you should have more experience," shot back Hei.
Hei ascended the stairs and entered his room to see himself about to open the closet. Misaki turned his head to look at her body baffled, as Li removed Misaki's shoes.
"Eh, you don't have any furniture?" she asked.
"Sorry, but I don't bother with the stuff since I'm always working or at school," he said, making her voice sound high pitched.
"Speaking of that, I need to know your class and work hours."
"Eh, well, you don't have to worry about my schooling; I can catch up on what I missed. But I work at a McDoness as a cook. My hours are noon to close."
"You work at McDoness?" chimed Misaki. "Do they give you free food?"
"Only a discount."
Misaki sighed, stepped away from the closet to sit against the wall, and looked at him sternly.
"I guess I have to tell you about Contractors so you aren't shocked tomorrow," she said, and gave him a quick version.
"No way! So that's why we have that crater thing behind the wall," he said.
"That's only the tip of the iceberg. Eh, do you have an extra futon I could sleep on?"
"Hai," he replied.
Hei walked over to his closet and slid it open to see his mask, knife and wire were on top of everything. He breathed out a sigh of relief she hadn't opened his closet and seen his stuff. However, she would have if he had spent a second longer talking with Mao.
He opened a loose floorboard that revealed many other masks and blades and placed them inside. He closed it, pulled out an extra futon, and set it on the floor.
Misaki laid on it to pull the covers over her. Hei settled on his futon and then flinched as he realized Misaki's glasses and hair tie were still on. He removed them, noticing his eye vision dissipated, and laid his head down to get some sleep.
To his surprise, as he slept through the night, he had dreams of his past.
---
Misaki woke with a startle as Li's stomach growled loudly. The noise wasn't what had startled her, but the pain. She wrapped her arms around it to clinch away the abyss feeling she was experiencing.
Li woke up while searching for her glasses, grabbed them to place them on, and looked at her baffled. He smiled at her from what she was feeling.
"How can you handle this hunger?" she asked.
"Food," he replied.
Li stood to walk over to his counter and began cutting and cooking some rice. After ten minutes and two loud growls, he handed over the food to her. She took the chopsticks and began digging in. As she ate, Li cooked some more rice for her to eat.
After Misaki ate ten bowls she settled down since the hunger had dissipated.
"How long do you last until you get hungry again?" she asked.
"Usually around lunch," he replied. "Eh, there's also something we need to discuss."
"Like what?"
"We… ah… we… we… need to shower," he blushed.
Misaki looked at Li lost for words. She took a whiff of Li's body and knew he was right. She hadn't thought about that and, to her uneasiness, he was going to see her naked body, as would she see his.
"Eh, ah," she babbled while she made Li's cheeks turn bright red. "Just, ah, don't touch anything too much."
"I could wear a blind fold and you wash your own body?"
Misaki stared at him dumbfound while she felt Li's body burned red from thinking of washing Li; even though it was her own body.
"Eh, no, it's all right, unless you have a problem with me washing your own body."
"I, eh, don't mind," said Li.
Li began to enter his bathroom, but he stopped to look back at himself and said, "Eh, should I bother closing the door?"
Misaki blinked at him, and then sighed while saying, "I guess it doesn't matter."
Li stepped into his small bathroom; leaving the door open, and removed her clothes. He stepped into the shower, as he tried not to stare at her body, and turned on the showerhead.
Misaki sat against the wall and waited patiently for Li to finish showering. The situation they were in was bad. What if they couldn't swap bodies? Would they have no choice but to tell the Foreign Affairs what had happened so they could make capturing ST657 the main priority.
Li finished his shower while putting on a pair of clean boxers and her business clothes. Li's heart began to race as she thought of her body wearing his underwear. She hoped he had cleaned it properly. Suddenly she noticed the top three buttons were loosened.
"Bu—button up my top part," demanded Misaki.
"Why?" Li asked.
"It shows too much skin."
"I think it makes you look sexier."
His face burned red and walked over to him to button up two buttons to hide her chest.
Misaki entered the bathroom and removed his clothes. She snuck a look at his manhood and blushed at it. She shook away her uneasiness and began to clean his body while she watched what she touched. Misaki liked the feel of his chest, and she couldn't believe how smooth his collarbone was. She never realized how muscular his body was because of the amount of food he ate. It made her wish she had tried asking him out sooner and wondered if she still should after all this trouble passed. Suddenly an unsettling emotion overwhelmed her to where she turned on the cold water to calm it.
She let out a breath of relief at her quick wits, and she reminded herself to watch what she was thinking.
After she finished, Misaki exited the shower, dressed in a change of clothes, and entered the front room.
"We need to stop off at my place so you can put on different clothes and get some different undergarments on," said Misaki.
"All right," said Li.
"And I think now would be a good chance to learn how to drive a stick."
"Ah, right."
They exited room 201 and descended the stairs. They walked over to the car with Li entering the driver's side and Misaki sitting in the passenger seat. Li went to turn on the engine, but nothing happened.
"Push down on the clutch with your left foot," said Misaki. "It's the far left pedal."
Li did what was said with the car roaring to life. She then instructed him to hold the clutch down and put the car into first. After he did she instructed him to press on the gas slightly and slowly let up on the clutch. Unfortunately he was too quick on the clutch and stalled the car.
Misaki sighed and knew this was going to take a while.
Li restarted the engine and repeated the first step. However, he stalled it again. He repeated his actions and began to move the car as it jolted, but it didn't stall. As the engine revved Misaki told him to release the gas and press on the clutch. He pushed down on the clutch, but he forgot to release the gas. He put the car into second as it wined from the fueling it received, and he let up the clutch to get the car moving faster.
Li repeated his actions for a third time, letting go of the gas, but forgetting to use the clutch as her gears started to grind.
"CLUTCH!!" she yelled.
Li instead slammed on the brakes and stopped the car.
It was going to take a miracle for Li to learn how to operate a manual car in a few hours.
---
Mao sat on the bench in the park while Yin stood like a statue before him. The clock on the small brick building read ten o'clock. Moments later Huang entered the park puffing on a cigarette and stepped before Mao. He looked around the place puzzled, and then gazed at Mao perplexed.
"Where's Hei?" he asked.
"Sick," said Mao.
"Sick?" questioned Huang, as his eyes slanted, and then he narrowed them. "Contractors don't get sick. What's he up to?"
"Hei is," said Yin. "He was up all night. Throwing up every hour."
"I hardly believe that."
"It's true, Huang," said Mao. "He wants you to tell me what the mission is so I can tell him."
"What do you think I am? A delivery boy?" Huang yanked off his hat and threw it at Mao. Mao hopped back barley missing it and cringed in fright. "How dare he! I was sick that day in spring, but I still showed up. You get that no good Contractor down here so I can give him his mission face to face!"
"Hai," nodded Mao, and scurried off.
Mao had no idea how he was going to play this one out.
---
Li had somehow made it to her apartment with her car in one piece. She guided him up the stairs to enter her apartment room, and she gestured him into her room to give him the outfit she wanted him to wear on her body.
"You have a lot of blue suits, Kirihara-san," he said.
"And you with blue jeans and white button up shirts," Misaki shot back.
After he fitted into clean clothes they descended to her car.
"Drive my car to my work and I'll take the JR line back to your place," said Misaki.
"Eh, how about I drive you back so you don't have to walk?" he gestured.
"No time the way you drive. I'm—you—have to be at the Foreign Affairs in twenty minutes. Remember, you are supposed to know about Contractors."
"I can't believe there're people out there that don't act on emotions."
"Be careful, Li. If there's a call out concerning a Contractor, let Saitou and Kouno handle it."
"All right. Eh, can I ask you one other thing? Why don't people know about Contractors? I mean surely someone had to have spotted at least one?"
Misaki looked at him for a second, and then averted his eyes away from her body. She looked back into her own eyes and said, "I'll tell you later. Just be careful."
Misaki began to walk off. Li entered the Porsche, started it up, and grinded her gears to find reverse. She tried to ignore it, but she had a difficult time since the bones in the body she was borrowing were shattering from the noise. He backed out the car, and grinded the gears again to find first.
She stepped onto the JR Line to ride back to Li's place. She hated riding the train since there were so many perverts, but Misaki didn't have to worry about that since she was in Li's body.
The only plus she had going for her being in his body was that she had adapted to walking with family jewels. Unfortunately she'd forget about them in one split moment and step wrong.
The train pulled into the station near Li's apartment. She exited it, descended the stairs to depart the station, and headed back to the apartment. As she walked towards it Misaki began to pass a small park where a plump man and a girl wearing a purple and black dress stood. The plump man noticed her and started to approach her.
Misaki flinched as she realized he was smoking a cigarette.
"I've been waiting twenty minutes for you to show up, Hei!" he said. "'Bout time you showed up."
"I beg your pardon, sir?" she asked.
"Don't play dump with me about being sick! And what's up with calling me sir!"
Misaki looked at him baffled as she wondered what this man's problem was. She figured at first he knew Li, and he was mad at him about something he did, but he had said Hei.
"I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong person, sir," said Misaki.
Suddenly Misaki remembered her thoughts from yesterday, and she began to wonder if Li could be BK201. Perhaps this man was one of his contacts.
The man grinded his teeth to snap his cigarette as his face burned red.
"Why you! If you weren't a Con…"
"Dad, he's not brother," said the girl, as she walked up to him. Misaki looked at the girl stunned. "Sorry, sir. Dad is sick and forgot his glasses. You look like Brother with your hair and white shirt."
"What the heck are you blabbing about, Yin?" the plump man asked at her angrily. "Are you two playing games together now?"
"See. Real sick. Bye, sir."
The girl named Yin took the plump man's arm and began guiding him away from Misaki.
"Wait one second. Let me go, Yin, so I can reprimand Hei!" he shouted.
Misaki felt relieved to know he was mistaken Li for someone else like she had mistaken him for BK-201. She didn't know why she started suspecting him anyway. The emotion she was feeling from his body was enough to let her know he wasn't a Contractor. Not to mention she hasn't seen any observer spirits; even though she didn't know what they looked like.
Misaki huffed out her exhaustion and headed for Li's apartment. Once there she entered the place and lay down to relax.
---
After Hei pulled away from Misaki he began to shift through the gears easily. He wished he hadn't said he couldn't drive a stick, but because he had to act like Li, Hei had to say something stupid.
He reached down on the shirt and loosened the buttons again since he didn't feel like being choked.
Moments later he pulled into the Foreign Affair's garage and parked the car. He exited the vehicle and closed the door, but then he remembered Misaki's purse. He opened the door and grabbed the purse to put it over Misaki's shoulder; feeling a little awkward.
Hei walked to the elevator, hit the call button, and waited a few minutes. The doors opened to allow him to step in and hit the fourth floor to ride the elevator up to it. The door slid open in which he stepped out and walked over to a desk to have a seat. Saitou, who was a table over, stood and walked over to him.
"Oi, Chief, why are you sitting there?" he asked.
"Eh, is there something wrong, Saitou-san?" Hei questioned.
"Eh? Chief, are you all right?"
"Hai, why do you ask?"
"Eh well, you always sit over there," Saitou pointed at the seat next to his, "and you just called me san."
"Oh, sorry about that. Long day yesterday and I didn't get a lot of sleep."
"Is that so, Chief. By the way, Commander Hourai asked to see you in his office."
"Right. Eh, which way to his office again?"
Saitou's eyes slanted curiously, but he smiled and said, "Good one, Chief. You're trying to keep me on my toes this whole time with your act."
"You busted me. Now as a bonus, show me which one is the commander's office."
Saitou nodded and pointed straight ahead. Hei nodded his thanks, stood to walk towards it, and knocked on the door.
"Enter," said the man behind the door.
Hei entered to see Hourai sitting behind his desk.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Hei asked.
"Hai, I wanted to talk to you about ST657," he said. "It seems we believe he might have the power to swap a person's personality into another."
"What proof do we have of that, sir?"
"I'm surprised you'd asked me that question after all the people we rounded up to wipe their memory."
"Oh, right, sir. I'm not feeling well today."
"Very well. We are going to put our full attention on finding him. If we can capture him we're going to try to force him to return everybody to his or her normal state. However, we are to use extreme caution around him. I don't need you ending up in Saitou's body, and he in yours."
"Eh right, Commander. Is there anything else?"
"No, dismissed."
Hei bowed and exited the office to head over to Misaki's desk. He looked at the stuff she had been working on, but it had only been Misaki's co-workers reports.
An hour into work Hei needed to pee. He stood from the desk and headed for the restrooms, but he didn't know where to look. He scurried along the floor looking at signs to see if any of them directed to the bathroom. Unfortunately there was none.
He spotted a man in a red coat with blond hair walking towards him in which made Hei stop him and ask, "Eh, where's the toilet?"
"The toilet, Chief?" the man said peculiarly. "Oh, you're testing me now like you had tested Saitou earlier. It's a floor up."
"Oh, right, thank you, and good work."
Hei charged up a flight of stairs, ran around the floor, and found the restrooms. He let out a sigh of relief and entered the men's bathroom. Saitou stood at a urinal while he relieved himself and looked over at Hei. He turned his attention forward, and then back at Hei flabbergasted.
"CHIEF??" he shouted.
Hei stared at Saitou dumbfounded, and then he realized what he had done.
"Oh crap! Sorry, Saitou-san!" Hei embarrassingly yelled.
He stormed out of the men's bathroom and entered the right one. He entered a stall, lifted up the toilet seat, and zipped down Misaki's pants. He started to reach down for his manly pride, but he again remembered his situation.
Hei frowned while he pulled down her pants some more, set the seat down, and sat to pee. It was going to be a long day for him.
----
"ARE YOU SERIOUS??" shouted Huang at Mao after Mao explained the situation about Misaki and Hei. "HE'S HER AND SHE'S HE?? I need to inform the Syndicate."
"No don't. Hei wants us to give him some time to find the Contractor and make him swap their bodies around again."
"It'll do no good since I'm here to tell Hei to kill him."
"What? Why?"
"Because he's making too much of a ruckus with humans. If he's dead, the Syndicate won't have to worry about him."
"What about all those humans that were swapped? What're they planning on doing to swap them back?"
"Nothing. They're not worrying about that. Those people are just minor casualties."
"As well as Hei and the Foreign Affairs woman."
"Whatever. You see Hei—Kirihara—or whomever, let him—her know he has… oh for crying out loud! Tell Hei to find a way somehow to kill ST657, and he has twenty-four hours to do it before I let his and Kirihara's secret out."
Huang stormed out of the park. Mao looked over at Yin and asked, "How's he doing at the Foreign Affairs?"
"Fine," she said, with her foot in a puddle. "Kirihara Misaki is at Hei's work."
"Oi, Yin, you're watching her too? She could see your spirit. Now that I think about it, the lab ones as well."
"It's all right. I'm staying out of her visual. Lab Dolls are as well. I asked them to."
"What? Yin, I had told Hei he never seemed to bore me. It seems you both seem to never bore me."
---
Misaki exited Li's apartment while shocking his fingers on the door. However, it hadn't hurt her. She could have sworn she hadn't dragged her feet. When she made it to his work, she reached for the door to receive another shock, which also didn't hurt her.
She began to find it odd.
Misaki ignored it and ordered a few burgers to eat. After she finished she headed to the back room to start work. Li's co-workers found it odd with Misaki's performance since she kept on asking questions about how to cook the food.
"Oi, you all right, Li?" a co-worker asked.
"Hai, just not feeling good. That's all."
Two hours into her work the lower portion of Li's body indicated it needed to pee. Misaki removed her apron and headed for the bathroom. Without realizing what she was doing she entered the women's bathroom.
"AAAAHHHHH!! PERVERT!!" yelled a female customer.
Misaki jumped out of the bathroom while placing her back against the wall and shouted, "My apologies!"
She entered the men's bathroom to see two guys relieving themselves in urinals. She thought about standing before one and peeing in it, but she didn't trust her aim, and the thought of holding Li's private thing made his cheeks perk up red.
She instead entered a stall, dropped his drawers, and went to sit down, but she instead fell in.
"Ah, don't guys know how to put the seat down?" she muttered, as she climbed out of the toilet.
Misaki set the seat down and settled on it to do her business. After the last drop had been let out she stood while fitting on Li's pants. She flushed the toilet and exited the stall to see the two guys looking at her baffled. She walked over to the sink to wash Li's hands; wondering what the men's problem was.
Suddenly she realized they were giving her an awkward stare because of her comment. Misaki cursed at the thought and stormed out of the bathroom.
Two hours later Li's stomach growled loudly; making her wish she was back in her own body. Misaki cringed while holding Li's stomach in pain.
"Not again?" shouted Li's manager, as he stormed over to her. "I can't have your appetite scaring away my costumers. You're fired!"
Misaki sighed. She ordered a few burgers to eat; hopefully to shut up Li's stomach, and left the restaurant.
---
The brain Hei was using began to ache from all the reading he had to do to where it was going to explode. He didn't understand how someone could sit in front of a desk and look at a computer screen all day.
The phone in Misaki's purse rang. He opened the purse to pull out the phone and flipped it open to say, "This is Kirihara-sa… this is Kirihara."
"Misaki, you all right?" a woman asked.
"Hai, I'm fine. Who is this?"
"Kanami. Did you forget to check your caller I.D. or something?"
"Oh yeah, sorry. What's up?"
The line was quiet, as if the person on the other side was surprised Misaki would say, "What's up?"
"I'm calling you to see if you could meet me for lunch?" she asked.
"Ah, sure. Where?"
"That restaurant just around the corner like always."
"Oh, all right. I'll see you in a bit."
Hei closed the phone and returned it to Misaki's purse. He stood from Misaki's chair to head downstairs and out of the Foreign Affairs. Moments later he arrived at the restaurant to see Kanami waiting for him.
"You got here quick, Kanami-sa, eh, Kanami," said Hei.
"It's my day off, remember?" said Kanami. "And are you sure you're all right?"
Hei nodded. Kanami stared at him for a second, as though to see if he was lying, and then shrugged off her worries. They entered the small place and sat down across from each other in a booth. They picked up menus to look over to see what they were going to have.
A few minutes later a waitress walked up to them and said, "Hello, My name is Nina, may I take your order?"
"I'll have your teriyaki steak," said Kanami.
"And I'll have ten, eh, a bowl of ramen noodles," ordered Hei, remembering to order one since he was in Misaki's body.
Kanami looked at him peculiarly. Hei sheepishly smiled while averting Misaki's eyes away from Kanami. He wondered if she found it odd that her friend was about to order a lot of food.
"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked. "You don't seem like yourself."
"Ah, that's because I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, Kanami. I kept on tossing and turning last night."
"Really?"
Hei nodded. Kanami stared at him with narrowed piercing eyes. She shrugged it off and said, "So, have you spoken to that guy who was buying his friend a bra?"
Hei made Misaki's cheeks turn red with embarrassment. To think she associated him as the man buying a bra.
"Eh, ah, hai. I saw him yesterday."
"What did you two talk about?"
"Nothing much. Sh—I gave him a ride home, we said goodnight, and that was it."
The waitress arrived with their order to set the dishes before them. Hei and Kanami gave their thanks and began eating their meal. Kanami looked up from her dish to watch Hei eat and narrowed her eyes at him again.
"Misaki, how about we go shopping after we're done eating?" Kanami asked.
"Sure," agreed Hei.
Kanami dropped her chopsticks while sitting up straight and said, "Who are you?"
"Wha—what are you talking…"
"You're not Misaki."
"Wha—what makes you think that?"
"Well, for one: You didn't order anything greasy and only one bowl at that. Two: you didn't protest about going shopping with me. And three: I heard that ST657's power is to swap people's minds around. Who are you?"
Hei was amazed Misaki's friend had figured it out. He didn't answer her question at first, but then caved in, and said, "I'm Li."
Kanami's eyes widened and then narrowed them, as she smiled devilishly. "I take it she gave you more than a ride home. So why were you two around each other?"
"Well, ah," he began with while scratching the back of Misaki's head. "What I had said was true. Apparently she wanted to ask me something and this smelly guy appeared. He glowed blue and now I'm her and she's me."
"So she told you about Contractors."
"You know about them too? Why don't people know they exist?"
Kanami stared at Li flabbergasted with her lips pursed, and then she averted her eyes since she didn't want to give him the bad news. He was surprised at how Misaki and Kanami didn't want to hurt Li's feelings since he was so nice.
She looked back at him and said, "She hadn't told you that part, did she. Li, people have seen them; it's just that we know how to wipe peoples' memory. We use a thing called M.E. Don't take this personally, but as soon as you and Misaki return to your bodies, she'll have to bring you in to wipe your memory of seeing a Contractor."
Hei looked at her dumbfound, as he pretended to act surprised about the news. He gazed down at the table making Misaki's appearance seem depressed.
"Li, I'm sure the thought of such a thing is killing her, but that's her job," said Kanami. Hei looked back at her. "I'm only telling you this so you aren't surprised when Saitou, Kouno, Matsumoto and Ootsuka say something about it. One other thing, please don't tell Misaki I told you about M.E."
"All right," nodded Hei.
"And also." Kanami smiled devilishly at him. "What was Misaki really doing at your place?"
Misaki's cheeks turned even redder.
"Well, um…the truth is..." Hei muttered, and told her about Misaki spotting him on the streets.
"Really?"
Hei realized that was probably the wrong thing to say to Misaki's friend.
"So after the whole fiasco with the smelly man, did you invite her in your apartment?" she asked.
"Well…ah…no," he said while looking down at the table.
"You're lying. She spent the night, didn't she?"
"Eh…ah… it's not what… you're thinking."
"Well, it doesn't matter. You agreed to go shopping with me so you can't back out of it."
Misaki's phone rang. Hei pulled it out of Misaki's purse and answered it relieved they were interrupted.
"This is Kirihara," he said.
"Good job, Li-kun," said his own voice on the other end.
"Kirihara-san? Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"Well, um, I'll explain later. Any news about ST657?"
"He hasn't been active. But they know he can swap peoples' minds around."
"Really. Come meet me at your apartment."
"What? Why?"
"We need to talk."
"Hai." He hung up the phone and looked back at Kanami. "Sorry, but Misaki wants to see me. I'll take a rain check on the shopping thing."
"What? No you can't! You promised and you might forget later!" shouted Kanami.
"Sorry, Kanami-san."
Hei pulled out some yen for his meal, bowed, and stormed out of the restaurant before Kanami could wrap him up quicker than he could with his wire. He entered Misaki's car and drove off. He was nervous from the way Misaki had sounded. He hoped she hadn't bumped into Huang or she accidentally used his power.
He pulled up to his apartment, walked up to his room, and he entered it to see himself sitting near the window looking depressed. He closed the door, removed Misaki's shoes, and stepped onto his tatami mat.
"What is it, Kirihara-san?" he asked, as he felt Misaki's heart pound heavily against her chest.
"How can I say this?" she said. Misaki got on Hei's knees and bowed to the floor. "Sorry, Li-kun, but I got you fire from your job."
Hei looked at her puzzled, but then he smiled and said, "My stomach growled on you, didn't it?"
"Hai."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I get fired all the time because of it. Half the time I'm surprised I get hired from all the jobs I put down on my applications."
"But you told me you get hungry again around lunch, and I didn't eat anything," said Misaki, as she looked up at her body. "I'm really sorry, Li."
"It's all right," he said with a smile and slightly tilting Misaki's head.
Misaki stared on flabbergasted but turned it into a smirk. She sat up straight and asked, "Anything else concerning ST657?"
Hei told her everything about the Contractor.
"Hourai's making him main priority?" questioned Misaki. She placed Hei's hand under his chin to think about the situation. "I should have known he would do that."
"Eh, Kirirhara-san," spoke up Hei. "Could you please not think so much? I don't want wrinkles when I get older."
Misaki looked up at him startled, but she smiled and said, "Sorry. Force of habit. Did anybody at Headquarters get suspicious of you?"
"No. Although I don't think Saitou liked it when I walked into the men's bathroom."
"You walked into the men's bathroom?" Misaki asked, and then chuckled. "Now I don't feel so bad. I did the same thing."
Misaki grabbed her purse and began fishing in it. Moments later she pulled out two earpieces and held out one to him.
"Put that in your—my ear so I can hear what's going on at the Foreign Affairs," said Misaki. "That way I'll know if you find ST657."
Hei frowned at it, but he placed it in Misaki's right ear to hear a click sound.
"Where'd you get these from?" he asked.
"That's not important. You best head back to the Foreign Affairs."
"Hai, I'll see you later."
Hei exited his apartment, descended the stairs, and entered Misaki's car. He was about to start it up, but stopped from Mao jumping on the hood.
"We need to talk," he said.
Hei frowned at Mao, but then he smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't want to buy any candy today."
Mao titled his head at Hei peculiarly while he started the car. He shoved the stick into first without the clutch for a performance gig for Misaki before pressing down on the clutch. He revved up the engine and popped the clutch to peel off, throwing Mao over the roof to slam him flat on his stomach on the back of the vehicle, and forcing him to dig his nails into the car's back grill.
Hei drove off recklessly, grinding Misaki's gears in the process, as Mao's body imitated a wave wake.
"Wha—What the heck?" Mao screamed.
---
The midday sun beat down on the Foreign Affairs building. In the garage Mao lay on the ground breathing heavily from his joy ride.
On the forth floor, Hei sat next to Saitou while looking over reports that had been sent by Misaki's colleagues. Ootsuka had seemed to have the best writing skills; making him wonder where she had picked it up, and frowned at Saitou's report since the grammar was poor with misspelled words.
How did he become a detective for the Foreign Affairs? Maybe he should quit and work with Gai since they would make a perfect team. They at least make up half a brain with Kiko included.
Kouno's report wasn't great either, but it wasn't as bad. Hei felt sorry for Misaki for having to work with them, but he was also pleased since it made his job ten times easier.
The phone on Saitou's desk rang. He picked up it and said, "This is Yuusuke Saitou. What? ST657 is active near Harajuku! We're on our way!" He hung up the phone and looked over at Hei. "Chief!"
"I heard. Let's go," said Hei, as he stood.
Saitou, Kouno and Hei descended to the lower levels and headed for their cars. They sat in Saitou's car with Hei taking the back seat.
"Chief, you're not going to take your car?" Saitou asked.
"Nah, I'd thought I'd ride with you two," smiled Hei.
Kouno and Saitou looked back at him flabbergasted.
"Are you all right, Chief?" Saitou asked.
"Hai, I'm fine," assured Hei, "but my clutch pad isn't. Let's go before ST657 runs off."
Saitou and Kouno looked away, as Saitou started his car to drive off. They arrived before the JR line within minutes and exited the car. Misaki's phone began to ring, making Hei fish through Misaki's purse and pull it out to answer it.
"This is Kirihara," he said.
"Li-kun, I found ST657," said Kanami, causing Hei to flinch at her voice. "He's in the Meji shrine."
"I thought you said you had the day off?"
"I decided to come in and give you a hand, and an excuse to call you."
Hei made Misaki's cheeks blush and said, "A—ah. Thanks, Kanami. I'll let Saitou and Kouno know."
He hung up the phone and relayed the message.
"I'll wait here for you both to bring him back," said Hei.
"What? Chief, what's wrong with you today?" Saitou asked.
"Yeah? Why are you cowering at apprehending ST657?" questioned Kouno. "Are you afraid of getting your body swapped with Saitou's?"
"I—I'm not," said Hei. "I'm—I'm staying back just incase he gets passed you two."
"Don't be silly, Chief," said Saitou. "He won't get by us three."
"We should split up…" began Hei.
"You are afraid of getting your body swapped," laughed Saitou. "We stay together."
Saitou pushed Misaki's body forward, which caused Hei to stumble, but he caught his balance and headed into the shrine. To his surprise he saw himself standing before the Sake jugs.
"Ki—Li-kun!" muttered Hei to himself.
His body stiffened and turned around to look at him, Saitou and Kouno startled. She forced his face to smile and scratched the back of his head.
"Ki—Kirihara-san," stuttered Misaki. "It's—it's been a while. How have you been?"
"Fine," said Hei.
Misaki looked on flabbergasted, as she noticed the top three buttons on her shirt were loosened. She narrowed his eyes at him for exposing her skin again.
"Li-kun! You still look thin," said Saitou. "I'm surprised your belly hasn't exploded."
Misaki and Hei giggled at Saitou's comment.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"We're here to capture a really bad man," said Hei.
"A really bad man?"
"Hai, he can swap…"
Saitou threw his hand over Misaki's mouth to stop Hei from blurting out the person they were after was a Contractor.
"Eh, we have to go, Li-kun," giggled Saitou.
Hei, Saitou and Kouno headed for the temple. Once they reached it they began to look around. Kouno walked off into the crowd, as Saitou and Hei stuck together like glue.
A plump man began to push his way through the people, making Hei turn to face him while pointing and shouted, "That's him!"
Saitou looked at the plump man, as the plump man turned to stare at them. His eyes widened while recognizing Misaki's body. He frowned as he started to highlight in blue and his eyes burned red. Saitou pulled out his gun to aim it, but Hei knew he wouldn't succeed in time.
Suddenly Hei's body rammed into Saitou to knock him aside, as ST657 unleashed his power. Hei and Misaki's body stiffened while the air shook, and then they fell unconscious.
The Contractor looked on flabbergasted, and then snorted while running off.
---
Misaki was being shaken by Saitou as he said, "Chief, Chief, are you all right? Are you still you or are you Li-kun?"
She opened her eyes to see she was gazing up at Saitou and Kouno through her glasses. Misaki then realized her buttons were undone and sat up to button them up. She gazed around the vicinity to see people screaming and running around scared.
Misaki kneeled next to Li and started shaking his shoulders to wake him. His eyes blinked a couple of times before he woke up to gaze into Misaki's eyes. She smiled down at him.
"What—what was that?" he asked while playing dumb.
"The bad man I told you about," said Misaki, as Misaki helped him sit up. "Stay here where it's safe. Saitou and I will take care of him."
"Ah, hai."
"Saitou, let's go."
"Hai, you're still you," said Saitou.
"Hai. I guess he must have needed to look in our eyes or something."
Misaki charged off with Saitou and Kouno following. Hei narrowed his eyes at their departure wondering what he should do. Suddenly he saw Yin holding a briefcase and standing next to Mao in the distance. He stood to head over to them while throwing out the earpiece Misaki had placed in his ear.
He stepped before them and asked, "How'd you know I was here?"
"Yin," said Mao.
"Why are you here?"
"To tell you Huang knows about you and Kirihara and that you only have less than nineteen hours left to find ST657 before he tells the Syndicate. But, I guess we don't have to worry about that. Your stuff is inside the briefcase Yin's holding."
Yin held out the case for Hei to take it. He turned on his heels to run off and change somewhere privately.
---
Misaki and Saitou ran through the alleys, passing small restaurants, clothing stores, and other places without finding him.
"For a big guy he can move," said Saitou while aiming his gun around.
Misaki frowned as she kept a sharp eye out.
Believing he was gone, Misaki and Saitou put away their guns to head back to the shrine. As they took two steps ST657 exited from a restaurant staring at them devilishly.
"You are so persistent," he said to Misaki.
The Contractor glowed blue to perform his power, making Saitou and Misaki gasp in fright, but before he could release his power BK201 swung down from a rooftop and kicked him across the face. ST657 stumbled back and glared at BK201. He began to glow blue again, but the Black Reaper socked him across the face, and then roundhouse kicked him. The Contractor's eyes rolled up into his socket and fell backwards to shake the ground.
Misaki whipped out her gun and pulled back the hammer while aiming it. BK201 looked over his shoulder with his haunting mask.
"He's coming with us, and so are you, BK201," said Misaki.
He stood in silence for a few seconds.
"Sorry," he finally said.
He whipped out his cable line to hook to a pole and wheel upwards, as Misaki fired. She looked up to see he was gone, but then she heard Saitou cringe in pain. She turned around to see Saitou falling forward unconscious with no one around.
Suddenly BK201 landed behind her to put her in a lock hold. She tried to fight him off, but his hold on her was like a vice grip.
"Thank you," he said in her ear.
Misaki looked on startled and then she was shocked.
---
The next day Hei lay on the bench in the park while Huang began to run off his mouth. Yin sat on the slide listening to the discussion as Mao sat before Hei.
"The Syndicate has forced ST657 to swap everybody back," he said. "They weren't pleased he was still alive, but they decided to have RT354 control ST657's body to perform his power. After the last two people are back in their bodies he's going to have his memory wiped out and work for us."
"So all this mess is kind of a plus for the Syndicate," said Mao.
"Not really. The cost to use M.E. on all those people who seen ST657; including the people in the shrine, was too expensive. Which reminds me, Hei, if you encounter that police woman again, pretend you don't remember anything."
"Already thought about it," said Hei.
He stood from the bench and headed for his apartment. When he reached it he saw Misaki and Saitou waiting for him, making him put on his Li face as he trotted up to them.
"Kirihara-san, it's been a while," he said. "I haven't seen you since the store."
"Eh?" she asked dumbfounded. Her eyes gazed down at the ground, but then she looked up at him slightly pleased. He figured she was happy that she wouldn't have to be the one who had to wipe away his memory. "Oh, right. How have you been?"
"Fine. What brings you by?"
"We're here to…" began Saitou.
"We're here to check up on your foreign papers," said Misaki.
"Oi, Chief." Saitou whispered, as he looked at her dumbfounded.
"It's all right, Saitou."
Hei nodded and entered his room to gather his papers. He returned moments later to hand them over to Misaki. She glanced at the paperwork for a second, and then handed them back while smiling.
"Thank you, Li-kun," she said.
Misaki and Saitou descended the stairs and entered Saitou's car.
"Chief, I know you like him," said Saitou. "I do too, but Li-kun did see a Contractor."
"Saitou, someone else got to him first," said Misaki.
"You sure, Chief?"
"Hai, I'm sure."
"So how long until your gears and clutch are fixed in your Porsche?"
"Two to three weeks since they need to be imported."
---
Later in the month Misaki had received another day off. Kanami had taken the opportunity to stop by her place and make her go shopping with her.
"Why are you dragging me along?" Misaki asked, as they walked through a store.
"Because you promised!" said Kanami.
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did when we had lunch together a month ago. I had asked if you wanted to go, you had said yes, but then you got a phone call and split."
"Eh, well you see…"
"You're not talking your way out of it, Misaki. You promised you would, so deal with it."
Misaki sighed; knowing it had been Li who had made the promise, not her.