A coincidental scene

By:misa-chan46


It was supposed to be an ordinary day for Sasaki Sumire.

An ordinary day meant that she would cook breakfast for Azuma at around six in the morning. He would come bounding down the stairs and give her a great big kiss. They would sit down on the small kitchen table eat their breakfast. It would mean that as Azuma drank his coffee and read the newspaper, Sumire would bring out a sleek device from her apron pocket. This was the phone that the agency gave her. It allowed her to contact people anywhere in the world without being traced. It also allowed her to call Misaki, since the latter didn't have a regular cellphone.

If it was an ordinary day for Sumire, she would use the phone to check if she had any reports on the missions she organized. She would find that there was nothing to worry about, and that she only needed to visit the agency for a few hours. She would shower together with Azuma, get dressed and leave for the office.

If it was the usual routine, she would speak with the different departments and gather their reports for the head. She would then talk with the head about the different things she would have observed while she made her daily rounds. The head would also probably tell her to ease up on the jobs, since she was technically on maternity leave. Sumire would probably answer that gathering reports and distributing agent files was hardly a job. By then, it would be around lunchtime already, and she would drop by Misaki's desk and invite her for lunch. After having lunch, she would go home.

That is, if it was an ordinary day for Sumire.

Instead of waking up at six in the morning, Sumire woke up three hours past midnight to the cacophony of the distress tone of the agency phone. She quickly got the phone from her bedside drawer and shot an apologetic glance at Azuma, who was blearily rubbing his eyes. She shot out of the house as fast as she could and revved up her car's engine, not caring if she was only wearing a nightgown.

Sumire dialed the distress caller's number while she sped away to the office.

Ring…

Sumire cursed as a truck appeared out of nowhere and honked its horn.

Ring…

"Damn it, answer the phone Misa," she muttered. A black car sped by, its driver waving at her.

Ri—beep beep beep beep…

She looked at her phone incredulously. "Did she just deny my call?" The black device suddenly flashed and displayed that she had one unread message.

"I'm at the office… I know you're on your way here. I'm sorry I didn't answer the call… I don't trust my voice enough right now. You'll see why," Sumire read out loud.

Sumire stepped on the accelerator and arrived at the office in record time. The office was completely deserted except for the blond woman standing at the corner desk in the women's division. "Misaki," she said breathlessly.

Misaki's head turned at the voice. She broke out into a watery grin. The latter ran toward the pregnant woman and enveloped her in a hug. Sumire broke the hug and turned to look at Misaki. The former surveyed the latter quietly and commented, "You look like hell."

And she did look like hell. Her blond hair was disheveled and her make-up was smudged everywhere. It wasn't obvious, but Sumire knew that she was barefoot because she seemed shorter than usual. Her gown was torn from the hem up until the knee. Her forearm had a small gash and her forehead had a small bump near the hairline. One of her contacts was missing.

Misaki waved the comment off and sat down on the floor. "I'm sorry I called you out here in the middle of the night. I just needed to tell you what happened last night before boss does."

Sumire nodded and motioned for her to continue.

The blond took a deep breath and looked at her hands. "But before I start, are you fine? I hope Aoi isn't making a big fuss," she said worriedly. The other woman chuckled, "Misa, rushing to the office isn't exactly going to induce labor, you know. Aoi won't be coming out for another two weeks." She lovingly patted her tummy before turning to face the blond and nodding.

Misaki cleared her throat and began.

"After you gave me the documents, I headed up to the rooftop. It's a funny thing actually, but I met Tora Igarashi," Misaki chuckled. Sumire's jaw dropped and she slapped Misaki's thigh. The latter winced, "Ah, lay off the thigh please. I had a rough landing."

Sumire apologized immediately, but Misaki waved it off. "It's fine, it's fine. Anyway, you had a crush on Igarashi when you met three years ago, right? He called you 'Summer' and swept you off your feet with perfect financial reports and champagne!" Misaki teased. The other woman blushed, her eyes darting downward to meet the grey of the carpet. She pouted, "It's not fair of you to bring up stuff like that! It was a weak moment. Moving on?" Sumire poked Misaki playfully.

The two women gave themselves a minute to laugh about it, until Misaki broke the laughter with a small cough. She continued, "Yeah, moving on. The boss won't be too happy, but… I was drugged by a blond guy five minutes into looking for Usui. When I woke up, I was in one of the suites of the hotel. I woke up very confused and my head was very muddled."

Sumire looked at her with utmost attention, and kept her eyes locked into Misaki's figure. The blond felt the need to do something with her hands, so she traced the contours of her desk as she continued. Misaki said, "I knew I didn't have weapons, so I started looking for ways to escape."

Misaki turned to face Sumire again, only to be met by the palm of the latter's hand. Sumire looked at her incredulously and beckoned for Misaki to come closer. When Misaki got to half a foot's distance away from her, Sumire got the hem of the torn up gown and pulled it up as far as decency would allow.

"Hey, cut it out! You're my best friend, yes, but there's no need to—"Misaki protested, only to be interrupted by Sumire.

"Shhh."

There in the middle of her thigh, an empty gun strap shone raven in the dim light.

Sumire looked at her, aghast. "He got your gun?!"

"Yeah, I guess he took it when I was asleep. When I woke up, I didn't feel it on me anymore."

"He got. Your gun. Misaki, you know what this means."

Misaki nodded and blushed furiously. She muttered, "Yeah. Allowing the enemy to disarm you during a mission is a big no-no. Boss will be mad."

Sumire's brows furrowed together. The pretty pink bow on her flats caught her eye. A moment later, she was hitting Misaki's shoulder with the top of one of her flats.

"Idiot! Are you that dense? And I thought you were smart. You keep thinking about work, work, oh and more work! But you forget that to remove the gun, he had to raise your gown past the middle of your thigh!" Misaki's face blanched at this, and she buried her face in her hands. Low moaning sounds could be heard in their vicinity.

Sumire wore her flats again, sighed and crossed her arms. "It's a good thing he didn't find the hidden pocket in your gown for the phone. This is really weird though, I mean.. you're the one who's supposed to be mad, but you don't actually give a damn," she mused.

Misaki gave her a weak smile. "I don't have the energy Sumire. You would also be zapped if you were in my face." Sumire looked at her curiously, "You're never this tired after missions. Why would I be zapped?"

The blond sighed. "The one who interrogate me was named Samuel Rothschild. He's a brunette with brown eyes. He has a pointy nose, and his cheeks were hollow and almost gaunt. He had a tall and slim build."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Then what's the problem?"

"He resembled him so much. The way he smirked, the way he laughed, how he looked at me curiously. Damn it Sumire, it was like he was Usui in disguise," Misaki said angrily.

Sumire thought for a minute before she turned to Misaki's computer and opened her worldwide database. The database was connected to every computer in the office. Any file one agent opened would also be open in another computer. Sumire said soothingly, "Misaki, he's a generic face in a million. I don't recall Usui ever having a pointy nose and, he's blond and has hazel eyes. Lots of people are like that." Sumire's fingers fluttered across the matte keyboard.

The blond argued, "He could have easily had his hair dyed, and those eyes could have been masked by contacts. I don't know about the nose though, but I'm sure that could have easily been arranged," she deflated for a second before continuing, "You may be right, though. Last night, the drug was administered by mouth-to-mouth contact. At the rooftop, I was so sure that Usui was the one who kissed me. He couldn't have changed hair colors that easily. Rothschild could really be someone else."

Sumire nodded absently, "Mhm. But hey now, we can do a background check on this Samuel Rothschild you're talking about. We'll see." She hit the enter key, and the worldwide database file showed an angular face with a head of average length brown hair. She gasped in surprise, "Misa, is this him? He's handsome! But nothing like Usui."

Misa snorted, "Yeah, it's him alright. But you don't really see the resemblance?"

Sumire peered at the screen and perused its contents. A red bubble at the bottom of the screen caught her attention, but she quickly hit its exit button so she could continue reading the file. Misaki didn't notice.

The pregnant woman slowly shook her head after she was done reading through it again. "No, I'm sorry Misa. This Rothschild guy isn't Usui. He has a legitimate file." She turned to look at Misaki's face. The expression on the latter's face was cold, calculating and unfeeling. Sumire reached out her hand to pat Misa's shoulder, but thought otherwise when the blond suddenly stood up and turned off the monitor. The white and red screen (the bubble had popped up again) suddenly darkened to black.

"Enough about Rothschild. Shall I continue with what happened?" she said. Sumire nodded and motioned for her to continue.

Misaki paced around the area, breathing heavily, "So I was looking for ways to escape, when I felt that the drugs were wearing off slowly. When I woke up, he tried to question me, but I wouldn't give him any info. We were both awfully confusing." She shook her head slowly and brought a hand up to her temple, "Even I made myself confused. I was trying to tell him that I was just an innocent heiress who was captured, but he kept insisting that I was a spy. I knew I had to abandon the mission then because it wasn't going anywhere; I didn't have weapons, he didn't have weapons in sight. I figured that he would kiss me to administer the drug, just like the guy who captured me on the rooftop did. So I either seduced him or annoyed him. Well either way, it worked!"

Sumire looked at her blankly. Misaki cleared her throat and continued, "I seduced him, and it was a long shot, I admit, but he shook out my hair while he was kissing me, and a pin from my hair dropped into my hands. It was easy to pick the lock of the handcuffs when I got it."

The pregnant woman looked at her skeptically and chewed on her lip. Sumire said, "He kissed you. And you're pretty sure that he was giving you a drug?" The blond nodded hesitantly.

Sumire breathed heavily through her nose. Her voice came out hard and unbelieving, "You don't even know what drug it was! Misaki Ayuzawa, you are becoming more reckless by the minute. You're crazy! I— aaah!" she quickly put a hand over her baby mountain and moaned. Misaki stopped pacing and rushed over, kneeling down and putting a hand over the bump gently.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. He's just kicking at your recklessness, that's all. Anyway, I think I can guess the rest from here. You picked the lock, you jumped out the window, you went all the way to the office and called me. Am I right or am I right?" she said, her breathing evening out slowly.

Misaki nodded , her eyes downcast.

Sumire let out a deep breath and swallowed. "Let me recap. You get a mission to assassinate someone, then you realize that this person is –or was, actually Usui, so you talk to your boss and he allows you to seduce him so you can recruit him instead. You go in at the hotel to look for him in the masquerade, and instead you get drugged by someone who you think is Usui ,and you faint. After that, you wake up in a hotel room to a man who resembles Usui, the Rothschild guy. You play mind games with each other while he interrogated you, then you're suddenly struck with the idea to seduce him so he would give you drugs and kiss you, which ultimately gave you access to the pin in your hair which allowed you to escape." Misaki nodded once again when Sumire finished speaking.

The latter placed a gentle hand on Misaki's shoulder. Her voice was low and sympathetic, "You know that you failed the mission. You neither recruited nor assassinated Usui. I can't lie to boss about this. I'm really sorry Misa, but this went too far. The situation's too complicated. Now we have one unknown guy and Rothschild to worry about. Hey, but really now," she was quick to amend, "I'm sure I can convince boss to lessen the punishment. Maybe you can even get half of the payment for this mission. You did go through a lot of trouble."

Misaki buried her head in her hands, her body as still as stone. Sumire patted her back gently, "As a friend though, Misa. Are you really okay? I know Mr. Capture Guy, Rothschild and Usui are really confusing you. Maybe it's time to take a break. To clear your head and rest after this stupid mission."

An alarm on the computer suddenly beeped quietly. Sumire stared at it quietly and stood up. Misaki followed suit. The latter's eyes were dry, in opposition to Sumire's.

"That alarm, did you set it so we wouldn't stay too long?" Sumire said, her voice shaking.

Misaki shrugged, "I dunno. At least I'm responsible for the time I spend here. Some idiot left their computer turned on overnight, can you believe it? Doesn't know a thing about saving electricity."

Sumire hugged her in earnest and whispered, "I'm really sorry Misa. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. I'll send the letter about the probation status tomorrow afternoon."

There was nothing Misaki could do but nod without complaint.

Both women headed out of the doorway. The moon shone brightly in the cloudless sky. Stars dotted the bluish purple space. Sumire sat down in the driver's seat and patted the seat beside her. "You want a ride home?"

Misaki shook her head and placed a tiny smile on her face, a ghost of her usual façade.

Sumire closed her eyes and smiled softly before starting the engine. Her car faded into the distance.

The blond started the silent walk going home.


Somewhere in the middle of the office, there was one computer left turned on. An angry red bubble flashed at the bottom of the screen.

Attention! We would like to inform you that this file was forged. This person does not exist. We apologize for any inconvenience.


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi! I really, really, REALLY HOPE that this cleared up most of the confusion! Gah! I was tempted to skip this French title and go with the title 'RECAP'. I really had trouble writing this because I didn't know which part you were most confused with! Usui's recap will be available soon, I'm working on it. Sheesh.

I have a new quiz on my profile, it's really important. Drop by my profile and answer the survey! It's about old story drafts that I'm thinking about reviving into short stories. My next story will either be Maid-sama or Harry Potter, so if you're an HP fan, wait for the announcement of my next fic!

Does any of you know the HP story "Deprived" by The Crimson Lord? That story was the bomb! PM me if you know the story.

Also, PM me. Please. I'm very lonely.

Review and tell me what you think!

~misa-chan46