The director sat in his neatly furnished office, tapping his soft, wrinkled fingers on the mahogany desk. As of the moment, he was contemplating the words of his two best MIA agents. An Interpol agent had been showing up on some of their missions, claiming international domain.
Curious, he thought, very curious. Having made his decision, he picked up the phone to called Interpol. He used a direct line. After brief greeting and introductions - ignoring the sputter from the other side that came after he introduced his title - he asked the main question. Did Interpol send someone to London recently?
"Ah, yes, recently, I believe so." The representative of Interpol answered haltingly. "Yes, a woman was transferred to the MIA headquarters. She was escorted personally, sir. A source told us she was your consultant." To himself, the man muttered, "Since when did the MIA hire a consultant, I wonder?"
They had obviously been duped. It was a smart play, either side convinced the conman belonged to the other. "Since when, indeed." The director sat back. Yes, it was a smart play - until the two agencies started talking to each other.
"Is something wrong?" the Interpol representative asked, confused by the man's silence.
Should he involve the Interpol in this situation? "No," He answered softly, "could you send over your file on my, uh, consultant?" The director's mind was quickly turning. To infiltrate the MIA, there had to be a strong motive. A strong motive that he will need to weed out from the person with a smart play of his own.
There was a pause. "Uh, we don't have a file, sir." As if to quickly defend the efficiency of their organization, the man added, "She was picked up and deported - I mean, escorted - quickly to London. There was, uh, there was no time for an investigation. It was all done within two hours."
"Is that including the flight from Switzerland?" the director let on a slight smile.
"Sir? Uh, I mean, three-three hours." The man was starting to sound very nervous. "Including the flight sir."
"You at least have some transit paperwork, don't you?" The MIA director asked seriously, pushing up his rectangular glasses. They had to have something for him to work with.
"I could certainly-" The man on the other line, sitting in his Switzerland office was cut off suddenly by the dial tone. "Director?" He looked at his phone as if it had three heads. He shook his head, muttering to himself. He placed the phone down. Perhaps the director will call back.
In Britain, meanwhile, the director was having the same difficulty. In fact, he was thinking the same thing. The director of MIA placed the phone down gently and waited. Perhaps the other line will call back.
No more than a minute later his personal phone rang. With furrowed eyebrows, he took out his personal phone from his coat pocket. Now that wasn't the line he was expecting. The unknown number was not what he was expecting either.
Cautiously, the man picked up, not saying a word.
"I heard you're looking in places you shouldn't be." Came the dark, chilling voice. It had been a while, but the director of the MIA immediately recognized the voice.
"Persona." He greeted unenthusiastically. "Just when I was starting to forget the sound of your voice."
He heard the other line fume. But the Alice could not be strayed from his point. "I ask for your silence."
"Regarding?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Persona growled angrily.
The MIA director whirled his chair around, looking outside his window. "You know it's rude to interrupt conversations?"
"You'll give me what I want." The Alice was so confident.
The director of MIA sighed wearily. Suddenly, all fifty years of his life were weighing on his shoulders. "You've taken everything from me, Persona. Now my speech? What is your leverage this time?"
"Your daughter." With a loud click, Persona hung up immediately afterwards. He left the director of MIA breathing unevenly and gripping the arms of his chair for support. Thank goodness he was already sitting.
.
.
.
In Plain Sight
Aspirator
.
.
.
.
Syaoran breathed a deep sigh, running a hand through his messy auburn hair, fixing his black tie, and then stuffing his hands into his tuxedo pants pockets. Eriol, meanwhile, adjusted his bowtie. He smiled amiably as the pair made their way into a fancy hotel's ballroom.
"I hate parties." The lighter haired agent grumbled sulkily. "Especially when they're this early. Eight in the morning? Seriously?"
"But you get to make up a name, isn't that fun?" Eriol smiled, nodding politely at internationally acclaimed doctors, scientists, and researchers. They both scanned the room for any suspicious characters.
Eriol's eyes stopped at one particular woman. She was wearing a light green gown with a low dip, showing her back, and she was entertaining an Indian couple, both physicians. "She looks familiar." Eriol pointed out and Syaoran furrowed his eyebrows. "You recognize her?"
"I don't memorize the back of people's heads." His partner responded grumpily.
"Then let's approach her." The two men marched towards the woman, Syaoran eyeing her bare back and familiar golden locks. "Hello." Eriol greeted brightly.
The woman whirled around, her soft golden curls bouncing along with her. She froze mid-turn, however, as if remembering she was still talking to someone. She turned her back to the agents once again. "Sorry," she muttered to the physicians. They smiled kindly, saying their final few words before ambling off.
She whirled back, her emerald irises landing first on Eriol then Syaoran. "Uh, hi."
"Sakura." Syaoran blurted, as soon as his golden irises zeroed in on her bright orbs.
"Syaoran." She responded just as quickly. Catching herself, she pointed to her name tag, "I'm actually Alicia Kettering, here. A neuroscientist."
There was a quick pause while Sakura looked the men up and down. "You look handsome." She complimented lightly. Sakura shifted her gaze at a grinning Eriol. "And you, Eriol, you look dashing."
"Thank you." Eriol managed to say before his partner regained her attention.
"You too." Syaoran uttered, short of stumbling over his own words.
Sakura smiled up at Syaoran, "hm?"
"I mean - not handsome - not that you're not - I mean you are essentially gorgeous -." Syaoran cleared his throat. To cover up his stumbling, he asked smoothly, "Now how did I know you will be here?"
"You didn't." Eriol quietly muttered, earning a split-second strike to the abdomen from his partner.
"You're in a room full of doctors and scientists from around the world?" Sakura asked with a knowing smile and a hopeful gaze.
Syaoran nodded, keeping a strong link with her via eye contact. "And you happen to specialize in that around-the-world sort of thing."
"And don't forget curiosity." Sakura really had a sense of humor about the ongoing tension between her and the rest of the team. The pair stared at each other, keeping the eye contact strong even when the conversation was obviously dying.
Feeling very out of place, Eriol spoke up suddenly, "I'm Dr. Felix Gezuar, if you're curious."
The pair snapped out of it just as suddenly: Syaoran looking down on the ground gesturing to his partner as if to introduce him, and Sakura turning her gaze to Eriol with a polite smile.
"Oh, I see." Sakura lifted her glass of champagne as a gesture to his nametag. Politely, she commented, "Gezuar, yeah. Very creative."
Just when the trio was about to fall into an awkward silence, they were saved by the announcer lightly tapping on the microphone. The crowd turned to the stage. He was a man of average height wearing a velvet black suit, without a tie. The first few buttons of his clean white button up was undone. Though he looked very young, he had an oddly styled light grey hair that was slicked back for the occasion. He smiled at the crowd, notecard in hand. "Morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome, to our unconventional formal function. It feels odd to say this but, breakfast - not dinner - is on the table to your right. Your entertainment tonight is Alicia Parekeh, professional pianist, the London School of the Arts String Quartet, bringing you contemporary twists on classical music, and last but not least, Reo Mouri, a worldwide sensation." He paused. It seemed he was making the last part up because he stuffed his notecard in his pocket. "In reverse order." He grinned. "Thank you and enjoy!"
Throughout the announcements, Sakura bit her lip to remind herself to control her facial expressions. These were definitely not the Alices she was expecting to encounter.
When the highly educated occupants of the room began re-starting up their conversations, the trio turned back to each other.
"I've got to go," Sakura started, not quite a conversation. "Something I need to check with the security and that sort of thing." She lied, very apologetically, to her friends. "I'll be back soon." She grinned, turning and strutting off. She made sure to make a roundabout path across the room, greeting various doctors and scientists, and of course, actually make conversation with security, before sneaking backstage.
The two MIA agents had stopped watching her back by the time she struck up conversation with the first security personnel.
"Charming, aren't you just?" Eriol commented as they shifted their gaze over the room's occupants, checking for anything suspicious. "I think the stuttering made quite an impression."
"Shut it." Syaoran scowled.
"Now, now, you're not going to pick up any highly intelligent women with that dark frown on your face." Eriol teased. "Oh, wait, you've already picked one, haven't you?"
"I said, shut it." His partner hissed before stalking off to the breakfast table.
Meanwhile, Sakura was sneaking backstage. She was, of course, not as inconspicuous as she liked, but then again, the Interpol badge in her pocket should give her free pass to anything.
Reo Mouri was a perfectionist. Well, with his appearance anyway. He sat in front of the mirror, fixing his dark hair for umpteenth time that hour. Nobody understood why, for he was going for the sexy messy look. He caught sight of the Interpol agent tiptoeing in, from his mirror. "Oh my God, it's her."
His featured singer, with light blonde locks to her shoulders and bold red lipstick, rolled her light blue eyes. Her name was Luna Koizumi. She turned around, catching sight of the same woman. "Here we go."
"It's the Princess!" He couldn't hold in his exclamation as soon as the woman approached. Luna looked entirely embarrassed. Reo was not, even bowing low to Sakura. "It's always an honor, Princess."
"Yeah, yelling out her codename really loud, that makes an impression." Luna snarkily remarked.
Sakura smiled tightly, also looking embarrassed as she shifted her gaze around the room. None of the other performers were paying attention. She sucked in her breath, trying not to grimace. "Yeah, hi." Sakura lowered her voice, as Reo leaned in eagerly and Luna stepped forward curiously. "I'm undercover right now, so I can't guarantee being able to help you. If we cross paths, you're gonna have to treat me like the enemy. You got it?"
"Got it, definitely." Reo nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay." Sakura nodded. With another nod, one that signifies greeting, she stated, "Luna."
"Sakura." The woman greeted back, lifting her chin loftily.
"Good luck." Sakura muttered before turning around and almost running into the announcer. "Hayate!" She greeted quietly. "Never took you for an announcer."
"Me neither." The man fixed his velvet blazer. "I kind of like it, actually." He paused. "Not as much as combating though. Moving as fast as the wind, now that's fun."
As Sakura walked off, Hayate walked forwards. He pointed to the pair, "you're up." Closer, he muttered, "you're first so you have free reign for the rest of the evening. Signal me when you're ready to get our mission started." With his back to the normal people, he rubbed his palms together, grinning enthusiastically. "I'm excited."
Both Reo and Luna patted his back exactly once at the same time as they passed by him, heading to the stage. No more than thirty seconds later, they were ready, Reo standing front and center holding the microphone. Luna standing off centered and to his left. He scanned the crowd, stopping short, then covering the microphone with his hand, he whispered to Luna, "who's the guy with her?"
Luna started to say, "Who-" but stopped her gaze shifting to the crowd. Sakura was standing next to a tall, handsome auburn haired man. They were exchanging swift dialogue and looking happy. Sakura was laughing at his words and he was letting out a small chuckle every so often. The dark haired individual standing next to the-guy-next-to-Sakura is looking both amused and uncomfortable at the same time, pushing up his glasses every so often. Luna shook her head. "You're hopeless."
"Does he look familiar-"
"Can we get started-"
"Do you think he's part of that undercover thing -"
"It's probably not what it looks like, Reo."
"If it looks like something then it has to be something." Reo brought a hand to his head, close to pulling at his hair. "Something's happening!"
Luna looked uncomfortably at the audience, who was looking uncomfortably at the singer. Luna sighed. She grabbed the sensational singer by the shoulders, turning him towards her, and shook him. Then she slapped him on the cheek, causing the entire room to gasp.
Reo shook his head. Clearing his throat. "Thank you. I needed that." He turned back towards the audience. He grinned, "Just a warm up routine." he laughed awkwardly loudly, then cleared his throat again. "Okay, let's get started." He cleared his throat for the third time, stepping back.
He stepped forward just as he brought the microphone to his lips and sang. With his first few words, he already pulled in the audience, like some sort of enchantment.
.
.
.
Back at the MIA Headquarters, the A Team were keeping themselves busy. Mostly.
Natsume was a secretive man. As familiar as he is with his team, he's not much of a talker. Still, sometimes, Koko wished he was more open. Though he knows Natsume's just that type to keep things to himself, to bear his own burdens, Koko feels like that is what friends are for. Friends are for sharing burdens and concerns with. But no, Natsume keeps it to himself.
Chin in hand, Koko was 'watching' the scarlet-eyed individual. The same man sitting at the far corner of the large table toying with an orange stone necklace hung delicately around his neck. Yuu, sitting beside Koko, and without even looking up, quietly muttered, "you're staring."
"Oh." Koko quickly looked away, "thanks."
Yuu shook his head. "It's a bad habit," he lightly reprimanded. "You don't even blink."
"But a blink makes all the difference." Koko argued back. "You blink and you miss an eye twitch, you miss the one telltale sign that the suspect is annoyed or angry."
Yuu looked up, glancing anxiously at Natsume. "I don't think he's annoyed or angry."
"It's Natsume." Koko quietly uttered back, "I'm 99% sure he has control over every muscle in the body. Even the ones I can't pronounce."
Yuu took another quick look at the aforementioned man. Just as quickly, he came to the conclusion, "He misses her."
"Well, duh. He's looking at an orange necklace. Who else do you know has a name whose definition is orange?" Koko rolled his eyes as if that fact was as obvious as an elephant in a desert, "but what is it?"
"What is what?" Yuu didn't look up this time. They say third time's the charm, and he didn't want to be caught by Natsume.
"That necklace he's wearing."
Yuu leaned closer to Koko, whispering, "I don't think he wants to talk about it."
"He can hear you." Hotaru bluntly stated, ceaselessly typing on her new laptop exactly halfway between the pair and Natsume. She lifted her head just barely to make eye contact with a guilty Yuu and a not so guilty Koko. "Congratulations, you get the title of Captain Obvious and Sergeant Loud."
Yuu shamefully looked down. Completely opposite, Koko leaned forward, both arms now placed on the glass table. He looked directly at Natsume. "So I know you know what I want to know. Thing is will you let me know what I want to know that you know?"
Natsume didn't miss a beat. "No."
"It's not a stone." Hotaru casually revealed, not at all aware that she had just dropped a bombshell.
Yuu, Natsume, and Koko are now all staring at her. She paid no attention as she continued furiously typing on her keyboard.
"It looks like a stone." Koko finally spoke up to get her attention.
"Yes, but he's held it up to the light plenty of times." Hotaru still hadn't looked up. "He knows there's something weird about it." When she finally lifted her head, she looked at Natsume. "It's not a stone."
After a moment of contemplation, Natsume reached under his shirt to take it out again. He twisted it between his index and thumb. The sunlight passed through the stone, lighting up its interiors in whorls of orange and minuscule strands of -
"There's something in it!" Koko jumped up, excited at his revolution.
After one more swipe at the keyboard, Hotaru closed the lid of her laptop and set it aside. She finally focused her full attention on the discussion. "We need Nonoko's mineral expertise."
Koko immediately looked to his right. "Mochu, go get -" but the chair next to him was empty. He whipped back to Yuu. "Where'd he go?"
"Went to hang out with Anna at the lab."
Koko glanced around the room. "And where's Kits?"
"Went to hang out with Anna." Yuu repeated patiently.
The psychologist major looked back at a blank faced Yuu. "Then why aren't you hanging out with Nonoko?"
Yuu furrowed his eyebrows. Where is the connection in the conversation here? "She's exploring the MIA's arsenal of microscopes."
"So Kitsuneme's competing with Mochu for Anna," Koko finally connected his train of thoughts. "But you're competing with microscopes." He shook his head sadly. "Look at you, not even trying."
Yuu gave the man an unamused look before standing up and marching off. "I'm going to go get Nonoko."
When the door closed, Hotaru snickered quietly and Natsume smirked. The technician commented, "way to offend the most patient person in the team."
Koko grinned.
No more than five minutes later, Yuu returned with Nonoko. The rest of the team had tagged along out of curiously.
Natsume - very reluctantly - handed his necklace off to her, and she looked at it with a fascinated curiosity. Without taking her eyes off it, she was handed a microscope. Apparently, Yuu had the right mind to grab one on his way back.
After a few tense beats of her examination, she finally spoke up. "It's not natural." She turned towards the team, her voice no longer muffled, "you're right, there is something inside it. It's incredible - tiny - just itty bitty clumps of wire. "
"-like a mini version of a microchip." Hotaru interrupted.
"Not that they're already small enough." Anna interjected.
"yeah," Nonoko nodded, turning back to the microscope. Her voice was muffled again, "the stone itself, though, definitely not natural. It's made like some kind of crystal and silicon - it's incredible…" She trailed off as she adjusted the microscope some more.
"And?" Hotaru asked impatiently, "how do we get the microchip?"
She twisted the stone around slowly. "There is a slit - can I-" She looked around as if to look for something, but Anna was already handing her some surgical tools.
"No." Natsume burst out firmly as soon as he figured out what she was about to do.
The room froze. Yuu spoke up placatingly, "I don't think it's a good idea to take the liberty of experimenting with Natsume's belongings."
Nonoko slowly, sadly handed the surgical tools back to Anna. She looked at Hotaru, Natsume, then the stone. She held it now, as if not knowing what to do with it.
With the most perfect timing, Sakura walked in the room. She scanned the room, assessing the situation quickly. "Found some evidence?"
"Where were you?" Koko nosily asked.
"A mission." Sakura answered dismissively. She ambled closer, and surprisingly, a few of the team gave way for her to take a look at the object. "What's that?"
"A microchip." Kitsuneme helpfully answered.
At the same time, Nonoko scientifically replied, "We're not sure." She took out of the microscope stand and held it up in plain sight.
It was a good thing Koko doesn't blink when he observes because he would've missed Sakura's split-second expression freezing in shock. Her face changed quickly, however, to an open look. "Interesting."
"What do you know about this?" Koko asked quickly. He wasn't going to let go of that split-second expression.
"I might've come across one of those on an Interpol mission." She stepped closer, and Nonoko dumbly handed it over. "Whose is this?"
"Natsume's. Do you know how to open…" Koko's question faded when Sakura had put the stone between two index fingers and two thumbs. She then squeezed, twisted, and out popped the mini microchip. She rested the opened thing in her palm, holding it out to the gaping team with a quaint smile.
Hotaru narrowed her cold eyes suspiciously at her, but gingerly took the mini microchip out.
"Curious." Sakura had muttered lightly to herself as Natsume took the stone back from her palm. "it's yours?"
Natsume nodded once, watching her cautiously.
"Where did you get it from?" Yuu asked the question Sakura was about to ask.
Hotaru turned to grab her equipment, tinkering with the small set of wires connected to the circuit board. She hooked up a few wires to it with mini pliers.
Natsume begrudgingly uttered, "Mikan."
Sakura's response was barely half a second later. "How did you take that from an Alice?!" She almost slapped her forehead then - she was so shocked she just blurted it out!
Koko frowned. "How did you know she was an Alice?"
"How do you know her?" Yuu asked at the same time.
"I didn't take it." Natsume growled.
There was a pause before Sakura responded in a sheepish voice, "I - Interpol may have brushed with the sort too many a time." She spoke vaguely.
"But how do you know her?" Kitsuneme pursued.
"She hasn't been an Alice for the past four years." Anna added in explanation.
"What? You think I've been in the Interpol business for only four years?" Sakura scoffed. Yeah, Hotaru thought, she's being vague.
"You said you didn't know anything about the Alices." Mochu stated in disbelief.
"I don't," she defended, "We only figured out her identity. What's with the protectiveness, anyway? She good to you?"
Hotaru hooked the wires up to her laptop, watching the mini microchip with one eye as she tried to electronically gain access to it.
No one answered Sakura. Hotaru muttered a few curses as she switched back and forth from typing on the keyboard and tweaking with the wires.
"What? What?" Anna asked curiously as she hovered over my shoulder.
Hotaru sent her a glare that backed her off, but answered, "there's something in it."
"Obviously," Natsume scoffed, his voice further away, "why else would it be a microchip?"
Surprisingly, Hotaru went to Sakura for help here. "Do you know how to open this part?"
She shrugged helplessly, "the last stone had a key in it."
The technician scowled, turning back to my work.
Suddenly, there was noise from the hallway, diverting the team's attention. The team quickly inferred that their British friends are about to join the party.
Sakura brightened. "Ah, they're done with their paperwork."
"What?" Koko spoke aloud what all the Americans were thinking.
Unmoved, Sakura sat down cheerfully. "I came up here first because they had paperwork to do." Apparently that didn't help explain anything. "You should sit down, they'll explain."
.
.
.
"So let me get this straight." Yuu sat up, placing his palms down on the glass conference table as the other ten members of the team sit calmly around him. "You two," he pointed to the two genuine British agents, "went on an MIA mission, and found her there." He then pointed to Sakura.
Sakura looked at the accusing finger then at the accusee. Cheesing as if caught eating cookies from cookie jar, she admitted, "Yes." She looked to the two men sitting beside her. She kept up her Italian facade. "That's correct."
"And why?" Anna asked.
"Why was I there?" Sakura clarified. At the American's encouraging nod, she explained, "I'm Interpol. The mission involved international diplomats. Interpol needed someone to be there, and I was in the area."
"Interpol," Yuu repeated. "Right, okay, go on."
"On two missions," Syaoran held up his fingers lazily to visualize his point, "we've stumbled upon who we believe may be Alices, both international scandals in which Sakura lended a hand."
"You think?" Hotaru questioned, calling out his skepticism.
"I can't say confidently." Syaoran sat back. "Their dress and tactics, certainly, scream Alices, but I can't be sure. Not unless I see the tattoo on their ankle." After a pause, he revealed, "also, they were almost too easy to defeat."
"That's what we're trying to figure out now." Sakura added. "We're bringing this to you so you can analyze their movements and help us determine if this is a path worth pursuing."
"We can't say much about the first mission." Eriol explained. "Other than a nasty bump on the head," and he winced reminiscently, "and nicked formulas from a high-class research institute, nothing's wrong."
"How can you say that?" Nonoko gasped, a scientist herself, "a scientists hard work has been stolen."
"That's just the thing," Eriol shook his head, "nobody's claimed it. Nobody knows what it is that was stolen."
"Then how did you know something was taken?" Kitsuneme asked.
"We were there." Syaoran explained impatiently, as if they were going in circles in their conversation. "Someone obviously went to a lot of trouble for something in a radioactive room Eriol was guarding."
"Must be highly secretive research."
"Or someone was silenced," Mochu mimed a finger gun to his head, making the sound of a gun shot with his lips, "boom."
"What was the play?" Natsume asked professionally.
So Eriol and Syaoran explained the ten men attacks, plus the one woman that seemingly came out of nowhere and knocked out Eriol. The one woman that actually got what she came for. The other ten men seemed to be diversion of some sort.
"They wore all-black, favored hand to hand combat…" Eriol trailed off with an indecisive shrug, concluding the explanation openly.
"But that could be anyone." Sakura spoke up. The team then all turned to Hotaru and Natsume, who they apparently designated as the Alices experts.
There was a long pause as Hotaru and Natsume contemplated the play. Hotaru looked up with a decisive glint in her eye.
It was Natsume who spoke up, "it's too elaborate. No. Too messy, too much going on to be the Alices. They like quiet, minimal, nobody knows until it's gone."
"Not how I experienced them." Mochu mumbled. "Blowing up errything errwhere."
"Special case." Natsue dismissed him quickly. "In these kinds of target operations, the Alices are very consistent."
"But they had an MIA agent posted at every radioactive door. You can't steal from one of them without an elaborate plan." Kitsuneme reasoned dubiously. "You take out one and the other MIA agents come running to stop you."
Sakura hummed disagreeably. "I think the mistake the MIA made, no offense," she turned to her right side, continuing after Syaoran's indifferent shrug, "was posting only one person in front of every door. That's weak security. One sniper, and the one guard in front of the door they wanted is shot down. He didn't have a chance to communicate and look, a free door." The other ten nodded, understanding quite clearly despite her thick Italian mask. "Or, scenario two, lead the guard away somehow, maybe with a little smoke down the hall. Intruder's in and out before the guard comes back, and when he does come back, he has no idea it's gone."
"Quiet, minimal, nobody knows until it's gone." Yuu nodded. "So that's how you think the Alices would've done it?"
"Eleven man team seems a little bit excessive to me too." Sakura molded her face into one of confession. As long as she guide the team away from the Alices' operations, she had done her job.
"So we agree it's not the Alices." Hotaru redirected the conversation impatiently, "And the second mission?"
Eriol sat up. "We were at a party full of internationally renowned scientific diplomats."
"So who's the target?" Hotaru cut in.
The Brit hesitated. "Well, essentially it was a Dr. Shizune Yamanouchi."
"Essentially?"
"It was the same play with our first mission." Syaoran explained. "Two performers were walking around nicking little things here and there. A pearl necklace here, a ring there, a wallet, a phone, it goes on. We were off dealing with them, then caught sight of the announcer trying to usher Dr. Yamanouchi out of the ballroom."
"We caught him, of course. We got security and Sakura deal with all three of them while we take Dr. Yamanouchi somewhere safe." Eriol smiled victoriously. "Now we just need to talk to her."
"Wait -" Kitsuneme held up a hand, sitting up. "You got them? So why don't you question them? The three people you said were orchestrating this whole thing."
Sakura looked uncomfortable and the two MIA agents glanced at her almost pityingly.
"Lost them." She mumbled.
"You lost them." Natsume repeated dubiously, with a sort of condescending coldness in his voice that made her grimace.
"Nothing much I can do when knocked out cold, okay?" She lashed out in self-defense.
"She got a bit of a," Syaoran at least attempted to help out with her situation, pointing to his right temple. "you know. I'm surprised she could walk straight, really, just look at it." He squinted at her bruise as she rubbed it self-consciously.
Yeah, that. Sakura remembered the silent argument she had with the three Alices to get them to at least knock her unconscious to make their escape look viable.
"So you have doctor." Hotaru was back on track, less interested now that they've digressed from the subject of Sakura's faults. "Aren't you going to talk to her? What are you two doing here?" Hotaru rose her impatient brows.
"MIA's processing - some things take time." Syaoran responded defensively. "We're still a government agency. Keep your pants on, would you?"
The American glanced at each other amusedly, save for Hotaru. She was not at all amused.
"It'll be done in a trifle." Eriol assured. "We've only just arrived. We thought we'd update you some."
"Thanks." Yuu muttered politely.
Just at the right moment, Rika poked her head in. "Boys, you're up." She called with a smile and a jerk of the head before disappearing.
"See?" Eriol gestured to the now closed door with a cheerful grin. He followed happily after Syaoran.
Sakura watched them apprehensively. She seemed to be contemplating an action. Abruptly, she stood up, going after the Brits with a hasty, "I need to talk to them.."
Koko watched her every movement with interest until she disappeared behind the opaque glass door. He quickly turned to Hotaru. "Figured her out yet?"
.
.
.
Sakura speed walked to catch up with the men, stopping them in the middle of the hallway. "Hey - wait!"
Syaoran glanced back at her. He paused, half-turned. "You wanna join in?"
"No." She responded earnestly, stopping in front of the pair. "I think this is where we talk boundaries?"
"Really?" Syaoran frowned. "Right now?"
"It's a good time as any."
Syaoran glanced at his partner. Eriol shrugged, speaking to Sakura, "You can have ten minutes with the doctor."
"You're joking." She crossed her arms.
Syaoran glanced at the other end of the hall, the direction in which they were heading, then back at her. He shifted his feet. "That's a sweet deal." He told her.
Sakura shook her head, "No, Interpol wants her." After a pause, she added, "at headquarters."
Both men's jaws dropped.
"You shipping her off to Switzerland?" Syaoran exclaimed incredulously. "She's a victim not a criminal, there's no need for deportation."
"Flying." Sakura corrected, "and all the same. It's a safety issue."
"Witness protection." Eriol half stated, half asked.
"Of that sort," Sakura nodded professionally, now just going along with the conversation. "Yeah."
Syaoran apparently couldn't believe it. "You really want the doctor?"
"Yes." Sakura answered firmly. "Interpol does." She corrected.
The two MIA agents glanced at each other, then her.
Five minutes later, the two different agencies parted ways, with Sakura grinning victoriously. She immediately dialed Tsubasa, walking far away from the conference room or the men's earshot.
When he picked up, she immediately asked, "you heard about Dr. Yamanouchi?"
"Oh yes, I heard." He responded with an angry undertone. "Master's pissed. Two Elites and one Level Eight being outwitted by two MIA agents?" Tsubasa raged. He was an Elite himself, he knew what training they had gone through. "Unbelievable! And you don't want to know what their punishment is."
Sakura fiddled with the end of her shirt nervously. "I sort of told them to leave when they had the chance -"
"In danger of being caught too?!"
"No," Sakura defended quickly, looking around then hissing quietly, "well, only Reo - but better they lose the doctor and save all three than have the doctor and lose one Alice." Because she knew that with an Alice in custody, the Master's going to order an assassination on one of their own.
"Oh, him, the Level Eight." Static came over the line, indicating that Tsubasa had sighed. Sakura faintly picked up a, "why am I not surprised?" She didn't comment on it of course, because she knew they will end up discussing the man who just couldn't pass the Level Nine test however much he tried. And they're talking about a very high two digit number here.
"Look," Sakura steered them back to the subject she called him about, "I negotiated and MIA's letting Interpol have Dr. Yamanouchi. So, put together a team pretending to be Interpol, fake an ambush in the middle of the journey and bam, done. We got her."
"Yeah, thanks for taking care of it." Tsubasa spoke dryly, "One problem, MIA only agreed to send her after they talk to her?"
Sakura breathed in uncomfortably, reluctantly admitting, "yeah."
"That can't happen."
"I know."
There was a moment of silence. Tsubasa finally responded, "Alright, fine, we're sending in interference." He hung up.
Sakura walked back to the door feeling like she failed an assignment. Her heightened sense of hearing picked up parts of the A Team's conversation as she neared the conference room, not at all improving her mood.
"She's not Italian." Koko was saying, feeling confident in his contribution. He is the psychology major and has taken several courses in linguistics.
Of course they would talk about her the moment she left.
"Yes, obviously." Hotaru dismissed him impatiently. "She's not registered at all anywhere."
"A ghost." Natsume interpreted.
"No, not really." She disagreed. "Her Interpol ID, yeah, but I can't reach her background records or anything."
"Can't reach?!" Kitsuneme exclaimed dramatically "Is that possible for the great Imai?!"
"If I hack Interpol's highest clearance level, we're about to be a problem for them." Hotaru scowled. "We can't be anyone's problem - we're dead."
Sakura decided it was time to show her presence."You could've just asked."
The team jumped, whipping to the door to find Sakura calmly sauntering in. Natsume looked understandably annoyed but also with a hint of admiration. How had she come up so quietly without him sensing or hearing her?
"Fine, answer this," Hotaru crossed her arms. "Who are you really?"
"You don't believe me."
"Not the Italian accent. Nor the Interpol agent bullshit."
"Good, the Italian accent is really wearing my tongue out." She finally responded in a British accent.
"Who are you?" Hotaru repeated, asking a question completely different from her name.
"You should believe the Interpol agent bullshit." She remained unaffected by Hotaru's animosity.
With conviction in her voice, the American responded curtly, "I don't."
Sakura hummed, as if to say, you will. Still standing, she stuck out her hand to Hotaru. Officially, she stated, "Sakura, from the private sector, pleased to be of your acquaintance."
"Dropped the last name?" Hotaru made no move to meet the expectant hand. "Interpol doesn't have a private sector."
"That's what they want you to think." Sakura responds, lifting her outstretched hand in a reminder that it was still there.
"That explains the high Interpol clearance level you were talking about." Anna commented to Hotaru.
"At least I have a first name." Sakura belatedly answered the technician. With a sigh, she dropped her hand. "We used to operate by numbers. We still do, for certain situations."
"Such as being on the phone?" Koko asked, remembering clearly her first phone call.
"Exactly." Sakura smiled. She looked around the room, seeing apprehensive, confused, indecisive, and torn faces. She'll earn their trust, she thought, she will get there.
.
.
.
"She's scared." Eriol evaluated. They were standing outside the interrogation room watching Dr. Yamanouchi fiddle with her hands and run it through her hair multiple times. "Maybe we should've asked Koko to come on down here."
"We're putting her in an interrogation room, of course she's a little confused." Syaoran responded. "It doesn't concern them yet." He wisely commented on the American situation.
"You can't talk to her without a lawyer." A new voice entered the conversation. She held a briefcase in one hand, a few slips of paper and her ID in another.
"We're not interrogating her." Syaoran turned to the new voice. "She's a victim, not a criminal - why is everyone - anyway, who are you?"
"You're holding her without a plausible reason. That's false imprisonment, a federal crime." She didn't argue, she only stated. She was soft spoken, her head slightly bowed, even as she talked to them. She stuck out her hand with the credentials and ID. "Nobara Ibaragi."
Being the file handler of the pair, Eriol took the ID and credentials. He glanced over it quickly, looking up at the woman. "Oxford." Eriol remarked. "Impressive."
"Thank you." She gingerly retrieved her credentials.
Syaoran watched her sharply as Eriol smiled a forced one and gestured that she may walk in the door.
"Who called a lawyer?" Syaoran blurted as soon as she closed it behind her.
"Did you spy a phone on her? The doctor?" Eriol returned with a forehead frown of his own. "They would've patted her down when they processed her - don't you think?"
Syaoran only frowned in answer. He leaned back, crossing his arms. "Say she did call her. You're a lawyer, you get a call. You come running in a hurry -"
"You wouldn't grab your resume on a whim." Eriol followed his train of thought. "Or a suitcase."
"That sort of thing you'd have to look for." Syaoran stood up straight, letting his arms by his side. "What's in her suitcase?"
Eriol turned quickly, attempting to open the door only to find it locked. He didn't have to glance at his partner to know Syaoran was already taking a few steps back. Eriol cleared out of the way just in time for Syaoran to kick down the door.
Seems like they were just in time, for they met wide, frightful blue eyes of Dr. Shizune Yamanouchi, a venomous needlepoint only millimeters from her neck.
.
.
.
Syaoran marched in the conference room authoritatively, Eriol followed after him with a gentler stride.
"We caught someone." Syaoran announced the moment the door closed behind his partner.
The Americans straightened, attention devoted to him.
"A Nobara Ibaragi, came and tried to sedate the doctor with a needle of some sort." Eriol explained.
"How?" Hotaru asked.
"Said she was a lawyer." Syaoran sat down in the chair, deciding that the discussion may take a while. "We let her in to talk to her client, thought something was off about it, and walked in on her about to silence our doctor."
"So what about Dr. Yamanouchi?" Nonoko spoke up.
"We handed her off to Interpol." Syaoran glanced at Sakura as he said this, and she nodded knowingly in response. "She's not safe here, apparently."
The Americans, who saw the exchange, exchanged looks of their own. They were all thinking the same thing. Should we tell him?
"So?" Syaoran asked. There was a wave of looks around the room and indecisive opening and closing mouths. "What?"
"There's, uh, there's something you should know." Anna spoke up, glancing not-so-subtly at Sakura.
He repeated roughly. "We miss something?"
Koko pointed at Sakura bravely, "she's British."
"Is she now?" Syaoran glanced up at Sakura, who offered a smile. He glanced at his watch. "Alright." He didn't have a reaction at all. "So about the -"
"You don't sound surprised." Anna exclaimed, conversely being the one sounding surprised.
"Are we supposed to be?" Eriol gave them that I-know-something-you-don't smile again.
"She's British." Kitsuneme emphasized disbelievingly.
"Yes, I think you've made it quite clear." Syaoran nodded, trying again to move on, "Anyway we're-"
"But she's British." Kitsuneme repeated, this time slapping his hand on the table.
Eriol sat down comfortably, looking up at the open jaws and incredulous faces. "Well, what do you want?" He changed his facial expression to one of shock, "We leave for one hour and now she's British?! Good Lord, is England now France, too?!"
"But-I-we-" Yuu stuttered, glancing at Nonoko, then Koko.
"How did you know?" Nonoko asked what Yuu had meant to say.
"We saw it the first day." Syaoran responded, now a little irritated at their habit of interrupting his sentences. He glanced at his watch again, he had places to be! He stared at them blankly. "What, did you think we were daft?"
"First Hotaru, now MIA." Koko threw up his hands. "I need to find a new specialty."
Meanwhile, Kitsuneme took offense to the comment. "Are you saying we're," Kitsuneme scowled, mocking him in a British accent, "daft?"
Syaoran gave a look that said, that's a big leap to take. But what came out of his mouth was, "if the shoe fits-"
"You-" Kitsuneme growled.
"Boys!" Anna called out, waving her arms about as if that'd stop the upcoming fight.
"What he's trying to say," Eriol cut in, "is that we're in the espionage business, and naturally, we can spot it when the opportunity presents itself." He offered Sakura a reassuring grin. "It was good, the Italian accent and such, just not good enough."
"So," Syaoran veered the conversation back on topic for the third time. "The lawyer." He glanced at his watch again. "We're on a bit of a timeframe. We still have to report to Mr. Kinomoto, personally."
Sakura suddenly sat up, straight as a ruler. "Sorry, who?"
"Oh," Eriol quickly assumed they didn't know who his partner was talking about. "The director of MIA."
Sakura's expression did not change, rather, it worsened. She paled a few shades, there was an urgency in her eyes, and almost a fear. In a shouted whisper, as if she didn't want to find out yet was desperate to know, she uttered, "his name?"
"Well, he likes to keep his identity quiet, you know." Eriol scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "normally we call him Mr. K and such. Not many people know his full name, you see, and I don't really know if I should-"
"Tell me." Sakura leaned forward, her expression a mixture of desperation and panic.
"Fujitaka," Eriol jumped, startled by Sakura's expression. "Kinomoto…"
She paled a few more shades. Sakura's expression was a cross between being floored by the revelation and as if she had just seen a ghost.
"...why?" Eriol ended his statement in confusion.
"I - I - just…" Good thing she was already sitting down. "I - um…" She leaned back slowly, blinking. "Sorry, it's all - I was told he was...um, he wasn't around anymore - I just…I'm..."
She trailed off dazedly, not staring at any particular spot. Syaoran hadn't taken his eyes off of her, half concerned, half confused.
Hotaru glanced at Koko, who nodded at her. She wasn't acting.
"Is she an Alice?" Natsume asked suddenly, curious about Sakura but not enough to veer off topic.
Syaoran turned back to look at Natsume, blinking as if he had just lost his train of thoughts. Good thing his partner didn't.
"The lawyer." Eriol mentioned, just to get his partner back on track. "Hasn't said anything since the arrest, really." He answered. "We don't know. She's a legitimate lawyer- her background checks out."
"So the question should be, does she work for the Alices?" Koko inadvertently corrected his team ringleader.
Syaoran opened his palms up in question. "Right now, the question is, do you want to be there to find out?"
"We're about to go interrogate her."
"If she's connected to the Alices in some way..." Yuu brought up a good point.
"It's better we don't show our faces." Nonoko softly finished the thought.
"It could jeopardize our position." Anna looked to Hotaru for confirmation as she said this. Hotaru only nodded.
With a look around the room, the British realized that the Americans have come to a census. Syaoran cast a lingering glance over Sakura, who was still sitting dazed in her chair. He wondered if he should ask, but was pulled out of the room by Rika's voice.
"Syaoran?" She asked, holding the door open for the pair. Eriol was already halfway out, looking back at him with a mysterious smile.
Syaoran shook his head slightly to himself, walking out after the MIA employees.
.
.
.
"It's been five hours." Eriol stated, half-impressed, half-exasperated.
"Not one word." Syaoran agreed, staring at the woman through the window glass.
"Syaoran!" Sakura called, running down the hall.
Interrupted in their discussion with other MIA agents, Syaoran and his partner turned. Eriol's both eyebrows rose.
"You have still have the lawyer?" Sakura asked, bearing the hopeful smile of a child about to ask a big favor.
Eriol nodded slowly. Two questions lingered in his mind. How did she find them so quickly?
"Alright, so what is it now?" Syaoran asked. But by the mirth in his eyes, he was close to a teasing mood. "Ship our little catch off to Swahili?"
"Five minutes." Sakura looked urgent. "Just five."
Syaoran's slight smile dropped. He quickly noticed the phone in her hands, and active number. Silently, he opened the door for her. Sakura gave him a quick smile and nod before marching towards the woman.
Nobara looked up. She blinked, her gentle face showing neither frown nor smile. Rather, she was confused. Did they think sending in a woman will make her crack? She does have pretty eyes, though.
Sakura wordlessly handed her the phone, causing an even more puzzled crease in Nobara's forehead. The undercover Alice purposely sat on the table in front of Nobara, so that her figure blocked the MIA agents' view of Nobara.
Neither of the MIA agents could see Nobara's expression change as realization dawned on her. Her soft grey eyes flashed up to Sakura in surprise. She only listened, because Tsubasa had instructed her not to say anything, not to give anything away. In the same way, Nobara wordlessly handed the phone back to Sakura when Tsubasa finished.
.
.
.
Back in the conference room, Hotaru was tinkering. By the frown and the concentration in her forehead, she was tinkering the hell out of the itty bitty microchip.
She hooked the wires up to her laptop, watching the mini microchip with one eye as she tried to electronically gain access to it.
Judging by the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, the team had turned their attention to Hotaru. She muttered a few curses as she switched back and forth from typing on the keyboard and tweaking with the wires.
She adjusted one, cursing even more harshly as a spark flew and she jerked her finger back.
For the second time that day, the British agents barged in the room.
Syaoran looked around immediately, his eyes not landing on the one he was looking for. "Where's Sakura?" He blurted.
Koko looked around, too, finding her missing. He then looked expectantly at Yuu.
"Why do you always look at me?" Yuu grumbled. He glanced up at the Brit. "She left about an hour ago."
"Just left without saying goodbye." Mochu frowned, disappointedly.
Eriol spoke up, "she came to see us," he checked his watch. "That was half an hour ago."
"Then you're the last ones who saw her." Yuu decided for them.
"About Sakura-" Koko burst out, having been waiting for the Brits' return to ask of her. Since they were already on the topic, he couldn't wait much longer. "She told us she did it to test us."
"The cover?" Syaoran frowned, pausing too to meddle in the side conversation. "She said we exceeded her expectations. Took us two days and you, five."
"She gave you the same reason for her cover then?" Kitsuneme pursued needlessly.
"Yes." Eriol confirmed, already knowing where this discussion was heading. "It was a test."
Yuu frowned. They weren't wrong in being suspicious, were they? "And you believe her? Why?"
"I would've done the exact same thing." Syaoran answered firmly without space for argument.
Eriol nodded in agreement. Perhaps in their field, the investigative sort, they prefer research and fact over speculation. But for the spies, well… "I'd want to know how good the team I'm being assigned to really is." They'd want to see it for themselves.
There a long pause as the Americans thought about this. It made sense, after all.
Yuu, wanting to break the contemplative silence, turned the subject around, "So how's the interrogation going? It's been more than five hours."
"Yeah, about that." Syaoran turned to Natsume, who looked up from watching Hotaru. "Does anyone else know of your living arrangements?"
Natsume frowned, looking at his team.
"Other than them." Syaoran waved his hand dismissively.
Meanwhile, Eriol spoke up with admiration on his tongue. "I don't know what Sakura told her - or who Sakura was with on the phone - because they got her to talk. We spent five hours on Ms. Ibaragi, not a word. Interpol spends five minutes, and bam, she wants to talk."
"But only to you." Syaoran walked closer to Natsume. "About something called an Aoi."
Koko promptly fell out of his chair. Multiple jaws dropped. Hotaru whirled around so fast, she might've gotten a whiplash. And Natsume stood up abruptly.
.
.
.
Meanwhile a dark figure hovered just inside the shadows of a cozy residential street. Clad all in black, the figure perched on the ledge of a flat's window, three floors up. There was a slight pause, before the figure made its way illegally into the flat.
Not long after, a car arrived in front of the apartment building. Parking by the side of the street as he always did, the director of MIA stepped out wearily. He made his way to the door, already thinking of a certain liquor bottle to down and his bed to occupy. He climbed the stairs with a sigh, completely oblivious to the figure already waiting patiently in his flat.
Fumbling with his keys for a moment, he unlocked the door, letting himself in and taking off his coat.
The figure in all black stirred in the shadows.
.
.
.
A/N: and I say no CCS nor GA knowledge is required to read this story because if I had any reference to canon, I'll try to explain it, such as what I'll be doing below. And in advance, I apologize for the boring after credits scene today.
Canon - pertaining to the original story in which a fanfiction is based upon.
.
.
.
The interviewer looks around. Now it was just her and the director, sitting in high chairs. "Where's Mr. Inspiration today?"
"Oh," the director shrugs, waving a hand dismissively, "sleeping in his trailer, probably."
The interviewer laughs. "So from watching the most recent episode, I saw some guest appearances from canon. You know, Shizune Yamanouchi and Nobara Ibaragi, both Gakuen Alice characters."
"Yup," the director nods professionally, "that's correct." After a pause, she decides to add, "they're obviously not going to get a lot of screen time, you know, mostly because there's just so much going on. Also, the pace of the plot moves on extremely quickly."
"Right. From earlier episodes we saw Ruka Nogi from Gakuen Alice and Rika from Cardcaptor Sakura. She mentioned Naoko, too, though the lovely 'secretary' still hasn't gotten screen time." The interviewer reported. "What's your say on, you know, these guest appearances?"
"Well, you see, I'm trying to include as many characters as I can from canon. Most likely all CCS characters will be included. And, well," Aspirator lifts her hand, leveling off her palm, "with Gakuen Alice, there's just too many characters from the manga and anime. I'll try to include them all. But like Naoko, I may just have them mentioned in. For example, I might set a teddy bear in a scene as a nod off to Mr. Bear from GA."
"Right, right. And mentioning Naoko as the more paperwork loving 'secretary' of the MIA floor is a reference to her as the bookworm character in the original canon."
"Exactly!" The director points to the interviewer with an understanding nod. "And the thing with these characters is that I'm not going to depend on characterization from the original story because I want to develop these characters myself. So actually, my viewers (readers) who have not read the canon have a little advantage here, because they don't have the bias that canon-readers do have. By the way, with Naoko, I'm planning on having her be more included in the story, and have a little screen time too. "
"The same amount as Rika, the other secretary?"
"Around the same, yeah."
"What about Tomoyo?"
"Oh, yes, I love Tomoyo." The director gushes. "I mean, I guess, the actress too."
The interview laughs. "So you'll be including her a lot more."
"Definitely. I can't promise anything, but I'll definitely try to have a lot of Eriol-Tomoyo moments, because, honestly, I love them."
"Alright." The interviewer clasps her hands together. "Thank you for talking to me today."
"No problem, no problem at all." The director smiles.
