Chapter 7 – City of Eternal Spring

AN

Sorry for the slight delay in posting this chapter which I'm sure upset both of you reading it J. I get to demonstrate my ignorance of a whole new country this time, namely China. Seriously, if I've dropped any cultural or geographic clangers here, accept my apologies in advance. I am but a poor, untraveled Brit who is reliant on the interweb for knowledge.

Thanks to Arnel for checking over the chapter. Hope you start to cool down soon!


A loud crashing sound made Misaki wake with a start. Momentarily, she had no idea of where she was or what was happening, before a lithe figure vaulted over her and she realised it was Hei.

Belatedly, her police instincts cut in and she lunged for her rifle which was propped up against the edge of the bed. She could hear confused shouts and curses, but nothing was clearly visible in the darkness. She reached for the bedside light.

"Hei, lights coming on!" she yelled in warning before flicking the switch.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness but when they did she saw the ship's unwelcoming captain, Aindrea Charisteas, lying on the floor with one of Hei's wire traps wrapped around his legs. The Black Reaper himself was crouched over the man with his knife pressed firmly to the captain's throat. The door to their cabin was open and she could see three other sailors crowded in the entranceway, all armed with large spanners or pipes. Lying discarded on the floor next to the captain's hand, however, was a large revolver.

Misaki quickly levelled her rifle at the nearest sailor.

"Drop your weapon," she bellowed. "Do it… now!"

The sailors ignored her as they all glared at Hei, evidently trying to decide if they could rush him before he slit their captain's throat.

A single shot rang out and the closest sailor to Hei screamed and dropped the metal pipe he'd been holding, before falling to his knees and clutching his arm. Misaki smirked in satisfaction that her carefully placed shot had impacted exactly where she had intended. The remaining two sailors turned and stared at her in surprise.

"Drop your weapons," she repeated, wondering why the men were staring at her in such a strange way before it occurred to her that she was stark naked. "Drop the weapons and back off! This is your last warning."

The next man in line; a huge, bald man wearing filthy coveralls, finally got the message when Misaki aimed her rifle directly at his head. His expression turned from bewilderment to fear and then anger. He dropped the spanner he'd been holding and shuffled backwards a few steps.

"That will be good enough," Hei called to her. "Now, let's find out why these fine gentlemen decided to visit us at such an early hour, shall we? Well, Captain, what were you planning? Answer truthfully or I'll cut you into little pieces."

"Go to hell, you bastard!" the man yelled. Hei slammed Charisteas's head into the floor.

"I won't ask you again," Hei hissed.

"You're a filthy Contractor, aren't you?" Charisteas accused him. "I would never have let you onto my ship if I'd known what you are, you piece of shit. I will kill you! I will kill all your type!"

"How do you know about Contractors?" Misaki demanded, the barrel of her rifle never straying from the sailor standing in the doorway for a second.

"A Contractor killed my brother in cold blood. They are inhuman, I say, and you are his whore! You deserve to die, too. Do you think you'll ever get off this ship? My crew will…aaaaggghhh!"

The Captain screamed as Hei discharged a huge burst of electricity into him. The sailor's head seemed to shake for a moment before it slammed heavily onto the metal floor. Hei stood as wisps of smoke began to rise from Charisteas's body.

"Well, are you going to attack me?" Hei demanded of the cowering sailors gathered around the door. They all wore expressions of horror on their faces. "Well?"

"There are sixty men on this ship," the bravest of the sailors pointed out in a stuttering voice. "You can't kill us all! One of us will get you."

"Only sixty?" Hei scoffed. "Didn't you hear your Captain? I'm a Contractor. I could kill every man on this boat in minutes. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"Then what would you do? You can't sail this ship by yourself, even assuming you know how to! You'd be stranded in the middle of the sea."

"I know how to operate a radio," he countered. "I'm sure I could send a distress signal and make up some bullshit story about what happened to you all."

The crew looked at each other with fear in their eyes, clearly unable to decide what to do next.

"However, one thing that is common to all Contractors is that we think rationally. I have no need or desire to kill any of you. The Captain here was different because he was clearly intent on taking revenge for his brother and there was no way he would have backed off. Do any of you have similar problems with Contractors?"

"We'd never even heard that such things existed until a few hours ago," the sailor confirmed. "We only came with Aindrea because he said you were a risk to us all."

"That's crap," Misaki interrupted. "All we want to do is get to the Philippines. It wouldn't make any sense to mess with the crew that's taking us there, would it?"

"She's right," Hei confirmed. "So, I'm going to offer you all a deal. Take us where we want to go and we'll stand by the same terms and conditions agreed upon previously, and I guarantee not a single member of this crew will be harmed. Try this crap again, however, and I'll start killing people at random. Keep coming at us and I'll kill you all."

"Think about it," Misaki urged. "Even if you get lucky and take us down, the organisation we work for won't be happy and you'll all be hunted for the rest of your lives. On the other hand, if you just take us to the place you're going anyway, you'll get us out of your hair and have a nice cash bonus to boot. Your choice."

"We don't have a problem with that," the lead sailor agreed nervously. "We had nothing against you guys, anyway. It was just the Captain who made us do this."

"Good, then we have a deal," Hei confirmed. "Now, take the body of this fat piece of crap and throw it overboard. When you get to port you'll report that he got drunk and fell overboard by himself, okay? Oh, and in the morning I want someone to come and replace the lock on this door. I don't want any more unexpected visitors, got that?"

"Yeah, no problem," the man agreed, staring at the body of his Captain.

Hei backed away and the three sailors fearfully entered the room. Hurriedly, they grabbed Charisteas' legs and dragged him out of the cabin. Hei slammed the door shut behind them, before pulling the small table over and wedging it against it. It wasn't as good as his trap, but it would give them notice of anyone trying to get in.

"What do you think?" Misaki asked, lowering her rifle at last.

"I think they'll behave themselves, but we'll watch them carefully, anyway. I doubt they have the courage to attack us head-on, but they might try something cute with our food or drink.

We'll go to the galley at random times, conduct unexpected inspections of the cooking area, and make crew members taste our food, too."

"Great, so we'll have to watch our backs for the next three weeks. I was looking forward to actually relaxing a little during this trip," she complained.

"Once the lock is replaced we'll be able to relax in here without too much worry," Hei pointed out.

"Hmm, just what form of relaxation are you talking about, here?" she challenged.

In reply, Hei just smiled at her, the first time she could remember him doing so while not pretending to be someone else. For some reason, that simple gesture almost made her heart burst with happiness.


For all her concerns that the three-week trip was going to be stressful, if she was being honest with herself Misaki would have had to admit that she had the time of her life during the remaining sea journey.

As Hei had suggested, they both kept a close watch on the crew of the Atago Maru which, at times, reverted to the level of bullying. Being a senior police officer, Misaki was used to having the respect of those around her but she had to admit that intimidating a whole ship-load of rough and ready sailors did give her an odd buzz of satisfaction. She always took her rifle with her whenever she left the cabin and she could hear the muffled whispers of the men whenever she walked past. Not that they would have said anything to her face, but the fact that she had taken a Contractor as a lover seemed to fill the sailors with a mix of awe, fear, and loathing. Their reaction to her was nothing to the outright terror Hei induced in them, but it was fun to watch, nevertheless.

The second reason she enjoyed the trip so much was Hei himself. More accurately, it might be described as their changed relationship that gave her so much pleasure and, to be blunt, the vast amounts of sex they engaged in.

Considering that there was virtually nothing in the way of alternative entertainment about the ship, sailor intimidation notwithstanding, it was perhaps not surprising that the two of them took the opportunity to explore their changed circumstances, not to mention each other's bodies, at every available occasion. Misaki would never have described herself as promiscuous in a million years and, in fact, was a little bit prudish, but with Hei that all changed. They seemed to be locked in an ever-escalating game of who could cause the other the most pleasure, a game Misaki wasn't going to back away from. Some of the acts she performed on her new lover were things she had previously sworn that she would never do for any man. With him, however, the rule book had been shredded and she was ready and willing to do almost anything for him.

Needless to say, some of the things he did to her nearly defied all description.

All in all, the days seemed to pass by like fleeting clouds and she was genuinely surprised when the acting Captain of the ship came and told them they would be making port the following day. This filled Misaki with conflicting emotions. On one hand, she was keen to get on with her mission and find her father. On the other hand, she was worried that the closeness that she and Hei had developed might begin to wither out in the real world. Once the Captain had left, she immediately turned to her lover.

"Hei, I think we need to talk about a few things."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Firstly, are you absolutely sure that you want to come to China with me? This will be a very dangerous mission and the chances of success are slim. You don't have to risk yourself if you don't want to."

"Misaki," Hei began slowly. "You heard what that girl Ama said. I don't think there's a single thing more important in the whole world right now than finding out what Madam Stargazer has to say. I've invested heavily in this myself, remember. Besides, you'd last two minutes alone in China. I'm your best bet for finding your father."

"Okay, I accept that," she agreed. "On a more personal note, what about us? Was this all about just scratching an itch, or are we actually together now?"

"Do you want us to be? Having a Contractor for a boyfriend isn't exactly going to make you popular, you know."

"I don't care about that," she snapped. "Look, if I'm honest with you, I started to develop strong feelings for you when you were pretending to be Li. When I found out who you really were, I admit I was shocked and upset, but I quickly realised that those feeling hadn't changed. I know what you are and what that means, but I still want to be with you."

Hei was silent for a long moment before he turned and looked at her with mournful eyes.

"If I was stronger, Misaki, I would push you away. You say that you know what being a Contractor means, but I highly doubt that you do. All my life, the things that I truly love have been slowly taken away from me, one by one. My sister and I were taken from our parents the moment Bai started to display her powers. I went with her because I would have done anything for her. Anything. But it didn't matter how hard I tried to protect her, I lost her in the end. For a while, it was three of us; me, Bai, and Amber. Amber was my lover, but she sacrificed herself to prevent all us Contractors being wiped out, as you saw for yourself. Yin…I vowed to protect her with my life and yet… she was taken from me, too. Even little Suou who I ended up thinking of as some kind of surrogate daughter is gone. Everyone I ever cared about has been taken from me."

"Hei, I…" Misaki began.

"No, I know what you're going to say," he interrupted her. "After all, you're a Police Chief, and a damn good one, at that. I know that this is your battle as much as it is mine and that you are well able to protect yourself. All the same, I think if I lost you, too, that would be the end of me. Contractors are meant to be rational and put our own survival above everything else, but sometimes I wake up in the morning and wonder why I'm even bothering. I might as well take one of my knives and slit my own wrists."

Misaki lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"I promise that you won't lose me. I'll be with you from now on, I promise."

"You can't promise that and I can't promise that I can stay with you, no matter how much I want to be. That's one of the things about being a Contractor, Misaki, we don't get happy endings."

She held him tight but had no words of comfort to offer.


It was only a moderate surprise to Misaki to find a large, black limousine waiting for them as they stepped off the ship. As soon as they appeared, the driver exited the vehicle and opened the rear door, gesturing for them to enter. What did surprise her was that it was Madam Oreille herself waiting for them in the back.

"Well, Misaki," she said by way of greeting, "I send you out with a platoon of highly-trained mercenaries and your return with Hei. I'd call that a very good deal, actually."

"Oreille," Hei growled. "You going to try and sell me out to the C.I.A. again?"

"Oh, calm yourself, Hei," she admonished him. "That was just business. We're playing a much more important game now. I can't say it's too much of a shock for me to see you're mixed up in all this. Quite how you managed to arrive here in the company of Miss Kirihara is another matter, though."

"That is a very long story," Misaki informed her.

"Oh? Well, I do so love a good story. I have booked rooms at a good hotel near here so I suggest we head back there and discuss this matter in comfort. I'm sure that dreadful ship was a most trying experience for you."

"Yeah, especially after the Captain tried to kill us," Misaki spat.

"Really?" Oreille noted in mild surprise, peering over the top of her purple-tinted sunglasses.

"He found out that was a bad move to make," Hei added.

"I'm sure he did. Well, this is most unfortunate. I shall be sharing stern words with Mr. Bravo when I next speak to him. All the more reason to get you two back to civilisation. I'm sure you'll want to get out of those dreadful clothes, take a nice, relaxing shower, before having a good meal. We can talk after you've done that."

"I picked these clothes," Misaki protested.

"Of course you did, and I'm sure you tried your best, dear," Oreille assured her. "I'll arrange for my personal shopper to get you something less… plain. Oh, and before you speak, Hei, no, the clothing will not be bulletproof."

"In that case what I have on will be good enough," he replied with a shrug.

"Philistines. I'm surrounded by Philistines," Oreille moaned as the car pulled away.


Several hours later, Misaki had showered, changed clothes, and eaten a very large meal. She was truly back in civilization and it felt wonderful. There were still a few things not to her liking but she would sort them out in due course.

She now found herself in Oreille's private suite with a cup of rich coffee in her hand. Hei sat next to her but had chosen tea. Their choices when it came to hot beverages was really the only major divergence in taste that they had. She supposed it was down to their differing professions: as a cop, she often needed a significant caffeine boost to get her through a long shift. As an assassin, he needed a steady hand and the calming effects that tea provided.

Oreille sat before them, reclining in a large, plush chair with a glass of white wine in her hand. She smiled at them as they sipped their drinks.

"Now that you're both feeling more refreshed, I think we should get back to business," Oreille began. "I'm simply dying to know what happened in South America and how the two of you ran into each other."

"Very well, I suppose I'd better begin," Misaki volunteered.

She began to explain how she and the mercenaries had been ambushed by the Chinese Army, how she'd fled on foot and encountered the strange girl who called herself Ama and her warning that the Mikata Documents were incomplete, and only Madam Stargazer held the missing answers. Misaki then briefly described their journey back through the wastelands of South America and their sea voyage back to the Philippines, but she could tell that Oreille had largely stopped listening after the events near Heaven's Gate were explained.

"This girl… Ama? You accepted her word without question?" she challenged them.

"There was something about her," Misaki began. "You should probably ask Hei about it. He seemed to accepted her word straight from the off."

"She wasn't human," Hei supplied, surprising Misaki. "She had power… not an earthly power, either. I can't really explain it, but I'm pretty sure she came from the other side of the gate."

"The other side?" Oreille repeated, looking as shocked as Misaki had ever seen her.

"Yes, I dare say that I'm the only living person who has ever passed even partially through the gate. The feeling I had… the emotions it conjured up in me… I had the same feeling looking at that girl."

"Hei, I saw you pick up Yin and walk away with her in your arms," Misaki began, "did you take her…"

"Don't ask me about that," Hei snapped. "I can't tell you anything. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I fully understood what I saw or experienced that day. It was just completely outside of anything I've ever encountered before and I wouldn't even be able to begin to describe it."

"Interesting," Oreille pondered. "Madam Hoshimi, eh? I confess, I rather lost track of her shortly after they closed the National Astronomical Observatory. I had meant to put some resources into tracking her down but, well, other things happened and I admit I rather forgot about her. Are you sure your father is the only person who knows where she is, Misaki? I'm sorry to say, but trying to rescue him will be a virtual suicide mission."

"If Hei is with me, I believe we have a chance," Misaki said firmly.

"Really? Well, BK-201, are you ready to risk everything to try and get to Naoya Kirihara? I don't recall you ever being too keen on returning to your homeland."

"We have no choice," he replied bluntly. "This is too important not to try."

"Very well," Oreille agreed. "The more I think about it, the more I believe you're right. I'll arrange for the appropriate documentation for you both and make travel arrangements. Once you get to Yunnan, however, you'll be on your own."

"Make us newlyweds," Hei suggested. "I'll be a Chinese businessman who spent time in Japan and met Misaki there. We fell in love and married on a whim, now I'm returning home with my new bride. It would explain why she can't speak much Chinese."

"That could work," Oreille allowed. "I'll have to give you credentials of someone fairly prominent in the Communist Party, though. I doubt the authorities in China would be very happy with a run of the mill businessman turning up with a foreign bride, otherwise."

"Good idea," he agreed.

"Hmm, it will take me a little while to rustle up some decent papers and I get the feeling we don't want to rush this. It might be a week or two before I can put everything in place."

"That's fine," Misaki interrupted. "Oh, by the way, while we're here in the Philippines, we'll only need the one hotel room. Hei can move into my room."

Oreille raised an eyebrow.

"Why, Miss Kirihara, I'm positively shocked. I would never have taken you to be a person who sleeps with the enemy."

"Hei isn't my enemy," Misaki responded. "In fact, even you would have to admit we're all on the same side now."

"True, but perhaps I know rather more about his history than you do. Or maybe I don't. I'm not judging you, Misaki, and, Heaven knows, you've always been rather obsessed by him."

"I was just doing my job," Misaki protested. Out of the corner her eye she could see Hei smirking ever so slightly.

"Yes, you just tell yourself that, dear," Oreille responded, leaning forward and patting Misaki's knee in a condescending way. "Still, I'm not going to tell you what to do with your life and, besides, having Hei back on the team is a huge bonus. I've always thought of him as the best Contractor out there."

"So, you'll get us the documents and whatever intel is available on this prison camp Misaki's father is being held in?" Hei asked, ignoring the compliment.

"Naturally, and, assuming you're moving into Miss Kirihara's room, I can guess what you'll be doing while you wait for it," Oreille smirked.

Hei just glared at her.


Misaki peered out of the window of the car, somewhat surprised at what she saw. Not half-an-hour before they had landed at Kunming Changshui International Airport, and that had been a surprise in itself. She was used to busy, bustling airports, but Hei had informed her that Yunnan was the poorest province in China and was riddled with poverty, drugs, and crime. As a result, she hadn't been expecting the huge, immaculately clean airport. From the guarded expression on Hei's face, she gathered he hadn't been, either.

They were maintaining the façade of being a newlywed couple, with Hei acting as a highly successful businessman who had found himself a pretty Japanese wife and was now returning home. To maintain the illusion, Hei was dressed in an expensive, tailored suit and his usually untamed hair had been groomed into a fashionable cut. Misaki was playing the role of the dutiful wife, in a knee-length skirt, matching jacket, and high-heels. She clung protectively to his arm, projecting the image of a new bride who had just landed herself a handsome, successful man and was going to make damn sure he didn't get away.

As they had walked through the airport with an attendant bringing their luggage close behind, Misaki couldn't fail to notice the many glances they were receiving. Some were admiring, perhaps noting the attractive young couple with approval, while some were outright hostile. She'd puzzled about this for a while until she noticed that the approving looks were coming from the obviously more affluent travellers, while the hostility was coming from those that looked more down-and-out.

At first, this had shocked her as the police in Japan normally garnered respect from the country's citizens and she found herself completely unprepared to be glared at just because of the way she dressed. After a while, however, she secretly started to enjoy herself. They did, it must be said, make a striking couple and Hei seemed more than capable of stepping up to the role of an important businessman. While she'd first fallen for him when he'd been posing as the affable but scruffy Li, she had to admit this persona was highly attractive, too. The man scrubbed up well.

After handing the attendant a lavish tip, Hei had summoned a taxi almost effortlessly and instructed the driver to take them to the best hotel in town. There was a metro service into Kunming, but people of their social standing would never have lowered themselves to use it.

So much for the great communist revolution.

Kunming itself was also exceeding her expectations. A small part of her was almost resentful that the city could match any in Japan, except her beloved Tokyo, of course. There was rather more air pollution than she was used to, however, and a hazy smog hung over the place, partly obscuring the multitude of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings that seem to stretch out endlessly before her. Even so, it was an impressive place.

"This city really isn't how I pictured it from your description," Misaki muttered to Hei.

"It isn't what I expected, either," he admitted. "Yunnan Province has always been known as the poorest in China and I've heard tell of major drug problems and even an AIDS epidemic. Mind you, this is the first time I've ever visited the place and I did leave China a long time ago, so things have obviously changed since then."

"Where do you come from?" she asked, realising she'd never asked him before.

"A place on the outskirts of Shanghai. Mind you, I expect that's changed a lot since we left, too."

"Perhaps we could visit it again, one day."

"No, I've no desire to go anywhere near that stinking hole ever again," he growled.

Presently, the taxi pulled up outside a lavish hotel that went by the name of the Green Lake Hotel, no doubt due to the expanse of water next to it. The place was opulent and obviously quite exclusive, but Hei managed to secure them a room without much difficulty despite them not having reservations. In his current persona, he oozed power and money, and the staff practically fell over themselves to help.

They soon found themselves in a rather lovely room that had soft lighting contrasting with the dark, intricately-carved Chinese furniture. Normally, Misaki would have been delighted to find herself in such a charming room, but she had other things on her mind. Now that they were here in Kunming, the idea of rescuing her father was starting to seem very real and she was eager to get started.

As soon as the bellboy had closed the door behind him, Hei immediately went into his normal routine of checking the room thoroughly for listening devices or hidden cameras. This time, Misaki joined him, using her keen policewoman's eyes to search every crack and crevice in the place. Only when they were satisfied that the place was clean did they sit down and relax.

"This is a good base of operations," Hei noted as he fixed them tea. "I talked to the girl on the reception desk and she said they can arrange for a rental car for us. From here we're pretty close to the main highway that will take us out west. We're only about forty miles from the site of the prison camp, so we can drive over there easily and do some preliminary reconnaissance."

"I'm surprised the place is so close to a major city," Misaki admitted.

"It's co-located with a major army base not to mention it accepts inmates from all over Japan and neighbouring countries, so it needs to be fairly close to a major airport."

"That's a good point," she admitted. "So, we can head out first thing in the morning?"

"Yeah, we'll just act like we're tourists going hiking in the mountains which shouldn't raise any suspicions. For tonight, we'll just eat and rest up for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is likely to be pretty taxing."

"Hei… can I just say how much it means to me that you're doing this with me," she began. "I know you have other motivations in all this, but I don't think I would stand a chance in hell in rescuing my father without you. Thanks for risking your life to do that."

"You're right, I am primarily interested in the information your father can give us but, well, I guess we're partners now, and that means something to me. When I worked for the Syndicate, I admit I didn't always follow orders quite as strictly as I should have, and sometimes I made bad choices simply because I thought I was doing the right thing, but this? No, I have no doubts that this is the right thing to do, no matter how risky it is."

"Thank you," she said simply.

"No problem," he replied. "Why don't we get changed and head down for an early dinner? I'm feeling pretty hungry."

"So what else is new?" she teased.

"Hey, you can put it away pretty well, yourself."

She rose off the bed where she'd been sitting and threw her arms around his neck.

"I guess that's why we make such a good pairing," she told him. "We share so many common interests."

"Yeah, that and you're so handy with a gun. That helps."

"It certainly does," she agreed, before kissing him deeply.

They didn't make the early dinner sitting, after all.