From Paris: Tokyo, Japan:

La closed the manila folder, satisfied with the information she'd gotten. It wasn't a lot by any means, but enough for her to start. She reasoned within herself that she was not sneaking and had every right to the documents Dominic had on his computer. Although, knowing the truth made her a bit unnerved. She reached to turned off the printer then the computer. Brushing her fingers over the old oak of her fathers old desk, La paused as long lost memories tried to press their way forward.

"He'd sit here for hours…" she mused aloud. Her fingers traced the seams, trailing along until she reached the corner of the desk. A ridge that shouldn't be there made her lips curl upward. She'd made that scratch by accident, when she was five.

"I was in such a hurry. Father was furious…" the desk had been a refurbished antique that her father happened upon. Her fingers ghosted over the spot again and she could almost hear her father yelling. His voice was deep and authoritative but not condemning. That was the first time her father told her about patience.

"Well, this is the first door in this house that was actually open." La jerked her head as Mao walked into the room.

"Curiosity killed the cat." La retorted with a smirk and moved her hand from the desk.

"Good thing I'm dog today then. Speaking of which, you should be more careful when you're poking around in someone's office." Mao casually walked towards her.

"This is my house, I don't have to sneak around." La said despite knowing the truth. Quickly she picked up the manila folder and walked from behind the desk. Switching of the light, she held the door open for Mao to follow her out. They walked down the corridor in silence which La was grateful for. But knowing her companion, the silence wouldn't last long.

"I'm curious," Mao started, trying to keep up with her pace," If Dominic is the business behind NYCO, than what were you and Mathieu?"

"That's a complex question." La said and turned a corner. " I'm a contractor. I do hired jobs as a contractor. I'm sure you can understand that." she looked down at Mao who nodded in the affirmative. As they rounded another corner, La paused the conversation for a moment. Withdrawing a key from her pocket she let Mao in first than closed it behind herself. He took it upon himself to jump on her bed and make himself comfortable. Being a dog, he'd gotten into the habit of circling a spot several times before getting comfortable, as he did just then. La threw the folder on the nearby nightstand and walked to the mirror. She opened the container that held her hair bands and retrieved a blue one.

"And Mat?" Mao pressed on.

"Is my doll." La said matter-of-factly. She pulled her hair up from the back, then with her other hand brushed the excess from her face and into her hold.

"I'm guessing you're not one for morning conversation." the dog joked seeing as he wasn't getting very far.

"Not when someone is fishing for information," La countered, "I'm not my brother. I am not so trusting."

"I've noticed," Mao said and watched as she pulled the fist full of hair into the tiny band. Once she was done, he continued. "You're mistrust seems to extend to him too. Not that it's a bad thing, being on guard has its advantages and disadvantages." He raised up on all fours when La proceeded to walk towards him. She leaned down, pressing her palms into the bed to face him.

"What are looking for?" she asked, dropping her voice just a bit.

"Tell me everything you know about contractor and doll evolution."

"I know enough." she responded quickly, "Why? Does this have to do with why you and Hei went after Mat?"

"It might," Mao offered but said no more. La looked away for a moment, pondering if she should reveal NYCO research information. Her eyes fell on the manila folder that contained some pages regarding that very topic. What could it all mean? Why is her brother being so secretive with her about such trivial information. She herself was an evolving contractor, it isn't as if she would not find out on her own later.

"And the Mitaka Documents?" He asked, pausing La's inner thoughts. She eyed the contractor curiously, going through memories to see if the word came to mind. She opened her mouth to answer but a knock at her door drew her attention.

"La, its time to go." Dominic said from behind the door. La looked down at Mao who was waiting for the answer to his question.

"I don't," she admitted, "but I'm guessing you do. And," La said grabbing her suitcase, the envelope and the dog, "It's something important."

"More than you know." Mao commented as they existed the bedroom.


"Here, take mine," La said, handing her food off to Hei. She was never one for airplane food and seeing as her companion, whom she was aware of his appetite, had requested only one dinner; felt generous enough to give him hers. Hei looked down at the tray of chicken and steamed vegetables than to the woman who was staring out of the window.

"Keep it," he offered, pushing it to the furthest end of his eating tray and sitting back. La glanced at him through the corner of her eyes. In the dim lights of the plane, she could barely make out his features but could tell that he had his eyes closed. A gentle rock of turbulence made the tray titter closer to the edge. Their gathering at her home didn't dim her perception of him, and this move made her more suspicious.

"You're still hungry, eat the food." La finally said and shifted her weight so that she was closer to the window. She didn't like him being selfless, so unlike the contractor who tried to kill her on several occasions.

"You haven't eaten anything since we left Istanbul." Hei didn't open his eyes to respond to her. When he didn't move the food, she felt the matter was settled. She closed her eyes, choosing instead to focus on the envelope clenched in her grip and not her companion's odd behavior. Resting her head against the window, the coolness of night chilling her forehead, she sank further into her seat. Her mind attempted to wander back to the contents of her manila envelope until a gentle brush against her thigh caused her to jump up. Hei momentarily paused his movements and looked at her questionable before proceeding to reach for her eating tray. La sat stock-still as she watched him unhook the latch, her heart beating faster than normal. Her hand unconsciously pulled the envelope closer to her as the tray fell forward. When Hei leaned slightly away to reach for the food, La responded quickly.

"I don't like airplane food" she admitted and forcefully closed her tray back. Hei looked her, his expression blank and unreadable. La imagined she looked like a disobedient child, caught doing something wrong and she looked away quickly, unable to hold is gaze. The thumping in her chest rose slightly as she could feel his eyes still on her, causing the hairs on her neck to tingle. Stop staring at me. She chanted mentally until she heard him shifting in his seat, the familiar sound of the clear foil from the food being pulled back. Satisfied, La quietly released a sigh of relief and curled herself as far away from Hei as possible, less he tried to reach for something else.

It's not as if I'm doing him a service. La reasoned. The bland airplane food didn't suit her palate and she knew that Hei would eat anything, regardless of it's taste. If one put it into context, it was like giving away scrapes, or so La decorated it in such a fashion.

"May I take your trash sir?" a flight attendant asked.

"Yes, please." Hei responded in a tone La knew he used for his alias. She peeked over at him, noting that he had eaten the food as she suspected. The man smiled and said thank you. Hei extended the same courtesy as the attendant walked away. La closed her eyes again, turning her attention back to important matters.

There is no way, at this aptitude, I can access the information I need to find. La thought with disdain. She had read the contents of her investigation ten times over during they're flight and found nothing. Not one reference, not one citation to anything remotely connected to the Mitaka Documents. And, even more so, much to her displeasure, there was a file number mentioned that she didn't recognize and referenced her co-worker James. For every research attempt, there was a matching file number to keep them organized. One particular file number, M4TL421, had no reference; yet it appeared several times in recent documents with James as a participant. A careless move. She thought half-heartedly. If it were a secret, surely Dominic would have be smart enough not to name someone.

La rubbed her fingers over the edge of the envelope and gazed at the darkness beyond her window. M4TL421, why is Dominic and James hiding you? And what are these Mitaka Documents? For a moment she thought to ask Hei of these infamous files but dismissed it completely. As soon as we land I'll get to the bottom of this.


Attention passengers, the Pilot has official turned on the fasten seatbelt sign. Keep your seatbelts securely fasten until the aircraft comes to a complete stop and the pilot turns the sign off. Please turn off any electrical devices aside from cell phones. We are currently 5 minutes away from Haneda Airport. Thank for flying with us. Tokyo he Youkoso: Welcome to Tokyo. The flight attendant announced over the speaker. Hei leaned over to look out of the window at the city that he hadn't seen in years. The sky was a deep blue, indicating day break and a sense of nostalgia washed over him. As the plane veered left, dipping it's wings towards the ground, Hell's Gate stood out among the skyscrapers and traditional rooftops. It taunted him, recalling why he'd left in the first place. Flashes of all the things he'd done, the people he'd hurt and lost made Hei frown. There is nothing to be found here for me anymore. He gripped the armrest as the plane shook from the outside wind.

"Hei?" a voice called him, and he blinked. Hei directed his eyes towards La who was frowning at him, the airplane blanket pulled up to her chin. His eyes darted between her and the city airport that was quickly approaching.

"Are you okay?" she asked him with mock concern and hit of irritation. Hei turned away from both her and the window. Fingers still gripping the armrest, he closed his eyes.

"I don't like landings." he admitted as the plane jerked and bounced as it hit the ground. A roaring sound from tires speeding across the cement drowned out any noise on the aircraft and Hei's own thoughts. The forced pressed his back to the seat until the plane slowed and came to a complete stop.


Hello all! I do apologize for the late update. I have been debating rather to continue this story or not. A lame excuse for not updating but the truth nonetheless. I've decided that I will! So rejoice lol.

-CeCe ^_^