Packing for the trip to Yokohama turned out to be more difficult than Misaki would have anticipated. Her natural instinct was to fold a couple of her usual suits into her small gym bag. She would be working this weekend, and in her world, that meant wearing a suit. Casual clothes were for relaxing. But even if this was technically work, it wasn't supposed to look like work. A romantic weekend with a fake boyfriend…how was she supposed to pack for that?
Sighing in annoyance, she remembered what Li had said - that Lan was more than just a code name. He had a point, naive though it sounded. This assignment was going to be challenging on more than just a technical level, but maybe that small distance from herself would help. How would Lan, computer systems expert and burglar on a date, dress?
She chose a pair of nice jeans and, after some deliberation, a couple of blouses that she rarely wore because they showed a bit too much skin for the office. And she rarely went anyplace that wasn't the office.
Would Li think - she shook her head abruptly. It didn't matter what Li thought about her outfits; this wasn't a real date, it was an assignment.
And anyway, she had no interest in dating Li. He was sweet, of course, and certainly cute, but aside from that there was nothing about him that attracted her. She tended to be drawn towards men that were confident, and could stand up to her directness; Li was nothing like that.
Of course, confident men usually turned out to be arrogant, and more often than not what she initially thought was backbone would simply be aggression in disguise. It had been a long time since she'd gotten past the first date; maybe she ought to try someone a little different.
But not Li; he was too different. Easygoing to the point of malleability, she doubted that he had ever stood up to anyone in his life. He was still letting this damn Chinese mafia organization control him, after all.
It had been strange, though - during lunch she'd noticed a marked change in his demeanor, a sort of gain in confidence as they'd discussed the details of the assignment that had surprised her. He did say that he had a bit of experience with breaking and entering, which lent an air of expertise to his words; but even so, he hadn't sounded quite like himself. Had he been he slipping into his Fui cover identity already? She wouldn't have expected something like that to come so easily to him, and in any case, he'd appeared to be unconscious of it. Maybe that was just how he normally acted among the mafia members that he knew.
Speaking of Chinese mafia… Misaki paused in her rifling through her workout clothes to think. She'd first met Li at Qing Long Tang's hotel - was that the organization that he belonged to? It seemed likely. With the murder of the boss and all his lieutenants, the family had been thrown into chaos; stealing Fujiwara's data could be the first step in a power grab by an underling, trying to put his organization back on the map.
It could also be the perfect time for Li to defect. Qing Long Tang was dead, and couldn't protect him - or control him - any longer. Misaki resolved to broach the subject to Li as soon as this assignment was over.
In the meantime, she resumed packing. To ease Li's mind, she pulled out her navy blue department-issued sweatpants that she wore during team judo training sessions. After some digging, she managed to find the long-sleeved black tee that she used as underarmor in intramural softball games. The combination looked a bit burglar-y, she supposed.
Burglary. She sighed, and with great reluctance, she left her badge, police ID, and credit cards on her dresser, leaving nothing but cash in her wallet. With even greater reluctance, she added her phone to the pile. The Director had told her that he would ensure that her responsibilities were covered over the weekend - to think of it like a vacation. The problem was, Misaki hadn't taken a vacation in years; and the last time that she had, she'd kept her phone with her at all times. Just in case. But, if - god forbid - she and Li were caught, a phone full of police contacts was the last thing she wanted to be found on her.
Her gun, however, she packed, along with an extra magazine. The idea was to get in and out without attracting any attention, but she would be damned if she let Li and herself walk into an unknown situation without some kind of protection. Whatever his early experience with the mafia had been, she seriously doubted that he knew how to handle firearms. And in any case, guns were illegal in Japan for anyone except police.
Next, Misaki threw together a small bag of toiletries; then she hesitated.
Pajamas.
Normally she slept in an old, worn t-shirt in the summer; in the winter, she added a pair a flannel bottoms. Lately it had been so warm that she'd eschewed even the shirt for nothing but underwear and a soft sleeping bra. That was definitely not going to work for this weekend. It was true that she didn't know Li all that well, really - his involvement with this assignment just proved that even further - but she did trust him to behave like a gentleman. It was just…it'd been a long time since she'd had an actual boyfriend, of the sleep-over kind, and now here she was preparing to spend the weekend with a man who was basically a stranger. That he was attractive in a naive, sweet sort of way just made it worse.
In the end, she opted for her sleeping bra, t-shirt, and a pair of gym shorts. She would probably die of heat stroke, but at least she would be able to keep her modesty intact. And Li's, too. He was always so polite and circumspect - just talking about holding hands at lunch had set him blushing - and she didn't want to accidentally make him uncomfortable.
Ensuring that everything she might need was in her gym bag, Misaki zipped it up, then regarded herself in the dresser mirror. Her suit jacket was too formal, not to mention hot. She shrugged it off. After a long moment's consideration, she pulled her hair out of its customary ponytail and twisted it into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. It would drive her crazy, but at least she didn't look quite like herself anymore. An old necklace, and a smidge more eyeshadow than she normally wore, and she was practically a different person. Lan, is it? she thought to herself. Well, good luck.
~~~~o~~~~
The platform at Shinjuku station was packed with weekend commuters when Misaki arrived. She was a little late - her indecision about her wardrobe had cost some time - but as she gazed around at the jostling crowd, she couldn't see Li anywhere. Had he gone to the wrong platform? Gotten lost? If he couldn't manage something simple like being in the right place at the right time, they were in trouble. She held her bag with both hands, tapping it impatiently against her knees, and craned her neck to see around a clump of students.
Then she heard a familiar voice call out, "Lan, there you are!" And turning, she saw Li wading through the sea of people, smiling and looking…different, somehow. Older. He was, as usual, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, but the clothing was newer and of better quality than that which he'd had on just two hours ago. His posture was subtly changed too, but she couldn't quite put her finger on how.
"Hi," she managed to say as he reached her. The Li that she knew would have stopped at a friendly but respectful distance; this Li slipped an arm around her waist for a brief squeeze and pecked her on the cheek. His lips were warm, and her heart skipped a beat at the feel of his hair brushing her forehead.
"Did you have any trouble getting here? Here, let me take that." With a kind smile, he reached down and took the gym bag from her unresisting hands, pairing it with the black one that he was already carrying. "Everything alright?"
There was a slight strain beneath his easy smile. Misaki blinked, then mentally pushed away her surprise. That had been way too much public affection than she'd ever allowed from previous boyfriends; but, the point was to look like a couple. She could deal with it. "Yes, sorry - it was just a long day."
"Well, you can spend the weekend relaxing, and forget about work for a while." He slung both bags over his shoulder in an almost graceful movement that exposed the edge of a well-defined triceps.
Misaki abruptly realized that she was staring "Yeah," she said. "I'm looking forward to it."
Focus, Misaki, she scolded herself. You're here to complete an assignment - taking down Fujiwara and getting Li out of this mafia business are all that matter.
The platform was too noisy and busy for casual conversation, so they waited for their train in companionable silence. Every now and again Misaki would sneak a peek at Li, trying to understand how he could be so changed and yet exactly the same in just a space of two hours. At one point he caught her looking; she averted her eyes quickly.
Then just as quickly she realized that as Lan, she was allowed to stare. She turned back; he was gazing at the wall across the tracks, a faint blush on his cheeks. There was the Li that she knew. The sight made her relax a little; if this was hard for her, then it was certainly difficult for him.
She remembered what he'd suggested during lunch. Taking a deep breath, she reached out and took his hand. He offered her a relieved smile, and interlaced his fingers in hers. They were in this together, after all.