Talking through headsets...
Thoughts
/flashback/
"It's been a while, Wai. It's good to see you again."
Wai gave Manx a smile. "So, is there enough room in this already overflowing team for me?"
"For an elemental user? There's always room. Do you want to continue using your old code name?"
Wai nodded. "'Chartreux' will be fine. And Ken, stop glaring at me."
"I'm not accepting you as a teammate, Wai."
"Then I suppose there's a chance that I'll end up dead, Ken."
"You... sneaky bastard! You can't do this to me!"
"It's not my fault you won't let go of your past, Ken. I'm doing this for you."
Ken grabbed Wai by the arm. "Wai... Please... Don't put yourself in this position... I don't know what I would do if I lost another friend..."
"Ken, I'll be fine, don't worry too much about it."
"Wait... WHAT ABOUT MY CLUB!"
Wai grinned. "Don't worry. I'm sure Manx wouldn't mind if I continued to be a bartender there. If I went near any of the flowers in the shop trying to take care of them, they'd die, anyways."
Manx smiled. "Of course."
"So... What's... his 'elemental power,' Manx?"
Manx then turned to the rest of the group at Omi's tentative question. "Ice."
Ken grinned. "Exactly why his drinks always turn out so perfectly chilled."
They all stared at him. Ken... was smiling. Grinning. He had something on his face that... wasn't a scowl. Or a glare. Schuldich smiled when he saw that Crawford was frozen, staring at Ken.
Yotan! Match-maker time!
What? Schu... who?
Ken and Crawford, DUH!
Everyone's attention shifted to Yohji when he choked on his coffee, coughing. "Yohji-kun! Daijoubu?"
Omi rushed over and hit his back. Yohji nodded, managing to eek out a small, "I'm okay."
Are you crazy, Schu? KEN and CRAWFORD? That's like... like... having pistachio ice cream with sour cream!
Crawford's the sour cream, right?
SCHU!
Yotaaaaan, come oooon
NO. This is going to be a disaster.
Yotaaaaaaan!
Fine. But if something goes wrong, it's your fault.
Okay!
Ken stared at the roses he had laid out before him. Ran had told him to get rid of the thorns and make a bouquet out of these flowers. What was I supposed to use for the thorns...? K'so! Why is it that I can memorize dozens of codes in the span of minutes and I can't remember what tool I'm supposed to use for these goddamn flowers even though I've been here a week already!
"Ne, Crawford! Looks like Ken needs some help with the roses!"
"Then go help him, Schuldich."
"Can't. I'm with my adoring fans right now."
Crawford sighed and walked over to Ken. He watched him for a couple seconds before pulling something out of one of the drawers and handing it to Ken.
"Here. Use these to cut the thorns."
"Oh... thanks." Ken turned to the roses and started cutting off the thorns. Crawford watched his face for a couple of seconds before going back to do his own work.
"Time to close, guys. Sorry, girls! You'll have to come back tomorrow."
"Eeeeh? But it's only 3! Why do you have to close now?"
Yohji gave all the girls a wink and a dazzling smile. "We didn't get much sleep last night, ladies. We need our beauty sleep, don't we?"
"Eeeh Okay, then! See you tomorrow, Yohji-kun, Schuldich-kun, Ken-kun, Ran-kun, Crawford-kun!"
As the girls milled out, Yohji closed the shop and headed down to the den with everyone else.
"Crawford will be with Ken, Schuldich with Yohji, Omi with Nagi, Ran with Wai."
"So all we need to do is get this disk?"
"It won't be so easy. They know what it holds and that there are a lot of people who would do anything to get it. They'll have plenty of guards, traps. They also have one of the world's best security systems. This is why we need all of you on this mission. Here's a blueprint of the building. Remember - destroy their cameras before they see you. They're connected to a satellite so if they see your face, they'll know who you are - even if you destroy the building."
"All right. When do you need this done by."
"We need you to do it tonight. There are too many people trying to get their hands on this disk."
"All right. But no paperwork if we need anything."
"Of course."
Manx left the den and headed to Persia's office.
"They have the mission?" Persia stared at his blinds, not facing Manx.
"Yessir."
"Did... you tell him?"
"No, sir. I thought that if I did, Ken might go searching for Akira there instead of focusing on the mission."
"All right. I trust that you know Ken well enough to know not to tell him."
Sorry about the lack of updates everyone! That last part about Akira kind of just popped into my head at the last minute evil grin
I'll be updating soon, though, next week if not in the next couple of days!
Chartreux: Actual cat breed, French. If you want to know more about it, try this website:
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