Chapter Nine
Mimiko was still asleep. As far as the Kotaro was aware, she hadn't woken once since she'd gone to bed yesterday afternoon. He stared at her over the edge of the bed. He was only checking, but he felt a bit nervous about doing so. What if she woke up and saw him peeping in? Would she be mad?
"Kotaro," Jiro called from the other room.
Kotaro obediently went to see what his brother wanted, making sure to mostly close the door behind him. "She's still asleep," he announced as he entered the kitchen.
Jiro had his shirt sleeves pushed up, a knife in hand as he sliced some pale vegetable. He still wore his gloves, even though he was cooking. "I'm not entirely surprised," he said. "Yesterday was a very trying day for her."
The blond went up on tiptoes to try and see what all was going into the steaming pan on the stove. "But it's almost time for breakfast! I'm sure she's got to be awfully hungry. After all, she did miss dinner."
The Silver Blade stirred in some spices. "You are not to wake her," he reminded. "We just have to give her time. She'll wake when she's ready."
Kotaro smacked his lips at the enticing smell coming from the pan. "But she'll miss out on your cooking again," he complained.
"It's all right," Jiro smiled. "We can save her some for when she does wake. She's been very tired lately and needs her rest."
Kotaro sighed. "I know. I know," he said grumpily, then he perked up. "Say, do you think I could go play at Sei's house today?"
His older brother didn't pause in his stirring, but he'd flinched ever so slightly. Sei was one of the few who could have sealed Mimiko's memories. Of course, it was also possible that someone else had done it as well, Cassa for example. But he quickly discarded the thought. She wouldn't have done something like that. It was against her nature to care about a human's whim unless it somehow furthered her own, even if she had still been reasonable at the time.
Jiro sighed as he wiped the knife clean. "I don't think that's such a good idea," he said. "I'm sure he's fairly busy right now. Why don't you go play in your room until breakfast is ready?"
"Fine," the young Black Blood sulked. "I'll just go lock myself in my room until something exciting happens."
Jiro just shook his head in amusement as his little brother left the room. What he wouldn't give for a little less excitement, he thought. Maybe he would personally request vacation time for Mimiko and himself once this was all over. He couldn't let her out of his sight, even when things weren't conspiring against her.
-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Hibari couldn't stop glancing at Chihuru's empty computer station. She hadn't seen the girl all morning, and she was usually one of the first ones there. She thought about the girl's strange behavior the day before. Now she began to wonder if it hadn't been something more than just anxiousness for a hot date.
The compromiser thought for a bit longer, her mind spiraling into various possibilities. What if she'd fallen somewhere and hurt herself? What if she'd been waylaid by a vampire on the way to her date? There were a million "what ifs". But one thing was certain, Chihuru was not at work and no one had heard from her. She'd asked her coworkers.
Filled with worry, Hibari went in search of one of her superiors to report the problem. If something had happened to the girl, she didn't want to be blamed for keeping secrets about it.
-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Mimiko woke to the smell of something cooking. She couldn't place the scent, but whatever it was, it was wonderful. Her stomach growled at her, reminding her that she hadn't eaten in a while. It was almost hard to believe that she actually felt hungry.
She felt stiff all over as she looked around the darkened room. It felt so good to just lie there. She snuggled up into the blankets, content to stay there until someone announced that food was ready.
Her thoughts were muddled, the memories of last night confused in her mind. She vaguely recalled having another nightmare, of Jiro comforting her until she'd fallen asleep again. She vaguely remembered...
Mimiko sat up with a jolt, then swayed as a bout of dizziness hit her. She put a hand to her head. "Ugh." She closed her eyes for a moment. I just sat up too fast, she told herself and gave herself a minute to compose herself before trying to stand.
She was a little wobbly on her feet, but then her knee did throb a bit and she blamed that as she reached for her crutch and slid her robe over her shoulders. She ignored the band-aide that Jiro must have put on her wrist sometime after she'd drifted off. It didn't bear thinking about.
Her legs trembled a bit as she made her way to the door, then leaned against the frame for a moment to rest. It was all so stupid, she decided, everything that had happened. She shouldn't let it get to her anymore. She could shrug it off and would. Squaring her shoulders, she made her way into the kitchen.
Jiro looked up from his cooking in surprise as he heard the clack of the one crutch against the floor. "Good morning, Mimiko," he greeted as he stirred. "I wasn't expecting you to be up for another few hours." He eyed her critically, pretending to pay more attention to the heating food than to the compromiser. He noticed how pale she was, the two points of red on her cheeks from last night that hadn't gone away. It was obvious that she was still tired.
Mimiko stood in the middle of the kitchen, leaning heavily on her crutch. "Morning," she yawned, trying to stifle it with one hand. "What smells so good? I'm starving."
Jiro smiled slightly. Being hungry was a good thing. Perhaps all she needed was some good food and some time. "Breakfast will be ready in just a few minutes," he informed her. "Why don't you take a seat at the table?" He noted her posture, wanting her off her feet, but not daring to swoop in and make her sit. She'd complain that he was acting like a mother hen and he wanted to see just how much of a strain she'd sustained from last night before he took matters into his own hands.
The compromiser nodded. Sitting sounded good. She almost wished she had the second crutch to keep her upright while she shuffled towards the table, which suddenly seemed a mile away, or possibly a mirage.
The Black Blood turned back to the stove. He felt confident that he would be able to hear if anything were amiss as she made her way towards the table. He should have plenty of warning. Besides, it would be good for her morale to give some measure of trust in her ability to move without problems. He noticed that the clack of her crutch was slow. He blamed that on her being tired.
Halfway to the table, Mimiko stopped. Dizziness washed over her again and she clung to her support to keep from swaying. She closed her eyes, willing the walls to stay put. Why did it suddenly feel like the room was spinning?
Jiro turned to check on her just as her knees suddenly gave out and she went down, falling towards her left. There was a loud thunk as she hit the floor, the crutch banging against her a moment later. "Mimiko!" He dropped the spoon and rushed to her side too late to catch her.
She lay without moving, eyes closed. He could hear her breathing as he pushed the crutch aside. He took off a glove to feel her skin as he listened to her heart beat weakly. Her hand felt colder than usual in his, and when he brushed the hair from her face, her forehead was far warmer than it should be.
"Mimiko," he said urgently as he gently rolled her to her back. He was afraid to shake her. She was so pale! He probed the side of her head, finding a lump forming where she'd hit the ground. Not good, he groaned as he looked around the room for help. "Kotaro!"
The young Black Blood grumpily opened his door at his brother's call. He stopped, sniffing the air. Something smelled kind of funny. What was it? He walked a few paces as he sniffed. Did that smell like something burning? He followed the scent to the kitchen, jumping back. "Ah!"
Jiro looked up at his brother's outburst, but Kotaro wasn't looking at him. His focus was turned towards the stove. Crap. His attention had been so focused on Mimiko that he'd forgotten that he'd left the stove on. Smoke began to fill the air as breakfast burned in the pan. He didn't stop to think as he used the Hide Hand to send the pan sailing into the sink, denting the metal of both. Water spurted from the faucet, making steam rise into the air from the now broken pipe but that could wait until later.
Now that the immediate threat was taken care of, Kotaro walked into the room. Noticing Mimiko, he went over to investigate. "Hey, brother, why's Mimi asleep on the floor?"
-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Jinnai finally found a moment to read the file Rinsuke had brought him the night before. A lot had happened that had kept him from being able to look over its contents. A compromiser had gone missing. Various mishaps between vampires and humans had occurred and he'd had to send out compromisers to smooth things over. It had been a very busy morning.
But now he'd wished all of those distractions hadn't come as he sat and read the contents of the folder. The sender was definitely a Black Blood. It had, once again, been very obvious. But the reports also confirmed what he'd feared. The faction they'd fought many times in the past ten years was behind this, though he still wasn't sure why they were after his foster daughter.
He tapped the folder with one finger. Kain had gone out to investigate a warehouse. He hadn't reported back in yet. It was entirely possible that it had nothing to do with what was going on, but, then again, it was also entirely possible that it did. And they still hadn't found Chihuru. Word was that she hadn't been home since yesterday afternoon, when she suddenly disappeared.
He pressed the intercom on his desk. "Kichi, has Kain's team reported in yet?"
"Not yet," came the reply.
Jinnai tapped in thought, then pressed the intercom button again. "Will you let me know the moment he does?"
"Sure, Chief."
He sat back in his chair, pulling the file back over. He wanted to analyze it before he called Jiro about the results.
-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Kanaye bent over a table, a map opened in front of him as he studied a particular section of the Special Zone. Everything was almost completely in place now. The plans were all but set. All he needed was a moment of weakness to sneak through the guards around the building marked as their target.
"Mimiko Katsuragi," he mused. Soon it would be all over. It was a definite bonus that Jiro Mochizuki, the Kin Killer, was there as well. Such a shameful vampire did not deserve to live, one who killed his own kind so rashly, not to mention that he was also a sympathizer with the Company. But he would be the difficult one to get around.
A young vampire entered the room, standing at attention. He had trained them all so well, his own personal army. Each one would willingly die for his cause. "What is it," he asked as he looked back at the map.
"Sir," the vampire spoke up, "we've just learned that the compromiser has been moved."
Kanaye looked up, his gaze intent. "Where?"
The young Black Blood ignored the shiver that ran down his spine at the look. "An ambulance arrived half an hour ago and left with her inside, followed by a whole contingent of guards. They're now at the main hospital."
Kanaye smiled. It suddenly made things much easier. He had people in place there already. "Tell our group that there's been a slight change in plans."
"Sir." He saluted smartly, then left the room to inform the others.
-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
A small contingent of the Suppression Team, led by Kain, scouted what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. They were in search of the missing compromiser, but a random tip had led them this building while other groups continued the search elsewhere.
"I don't see any heat signatures," one of the lieutenants commented as he lowered his binoculars. "I don't think anyone's here."
Kain sniffed the air. "Nor do I, but I smell vampire. A large host has been here recently and I want to know why." He signaled his men to move in, keeping pace with the front line.
-xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Jiro pushed back the curtains of the hospital room to look outside. He could see several uniformed guards on the grounds. Despite the added security, he still felt very uneasy. He wasn't sure why. Something wasn't right somewhere. It was something he felt in his bones. He returned to Mimiko's side.
She was still unconscious, an IV plugged into her arm. They'd given her some blood earlier, something he was a little chagrined about, but he'd only done what was necessary at the time. He'd known the risk. But she would recover. The concussion and bruises would heal, even though they worried him now. If only he'd been just a little faster, a little more observant.
Thankfully, Kotaro was staying with a friend, Kelly Wong. The female vampire had helped them during the Kowloon invasion and had become something of a friend to both Mimiko and himself. She'd been more than happy to keep an eye on the young Sage while they sorted things out.
"Mimiko," he called softly to the unconscious girl. "I'm so sorry." He clenched a fist. If only he'd caught that vampire who'd tried to break in all those nights ago, things might have ended differently. They wouldn't be where they were now, Mimiko covered in bandages in a hospital bed.
Jinnai strode down the hallways of the hospital. He'd just gotten word of Mimiko's incident and had to make sure everything was okay. He passed by several members of the Suppression Team keeping the hallways secure. They saluted as he passed.
He burst through the door to Mimiko's room. He saw Jiro first, his back to the door, black shirt standing out against the white walls. He noticed that his red coat was draped over a chair, along with his hat. "Jiro," he called, "how is she?"
Jiro turned. The Red Blood in front of him looked like he hadn't slept in days, and probably hadn't. His hair was slightly wild from his rush over. It was not just the concern of a boss of friend that shown in his eyes, but fear. "She'll be all right," Jiro assured. "She has a concussion and more bruises, along with slight anemia, but she should be fine in a few days."
Jinnai put a thankful hand to his heart as he let out his held breath. There was another reason why he'd come though. "Jiro," he said again, "the lab results came in from those flowers. We need to talk."
A nurse entered the room, pushing a large cart in front of her, which she placed near the door. Ignoring the two men, she took out a stethoscope and started listening to Mimiko's heart.
"Maybe outside?" Jinnai glanced at the nurse, then indicated the door. "We can have one of the Team step inside to keep an eye on her," he added at Jiro's obvious reluctance.
"Three," Jiro stated, arms folded, his voice firm.
Jinnai nodded. "Fine. There's a room down the hall we can step into where no one will bother us." He went into the hallway, signaling two of the guards over and explaining what he wanted. They saluted, then slipped into the room, Jiro leaving as they entered. "This way," Jinnai said, walking away.
