Chapter 10: The Spy

The Lodge Club

2 weeks ago

After doing another shot with my friends, I followed them back to the dance floor. The warm feeling in my stomach and throat was spreading, my nerves have subsided and was replaced by euphoria. I could feel myself loosening up and getting carried away with the upbeat music. A few guys tried to join our own little circle, grinding and dancing behind us.

Before continuing the night, we lounged around one of the tables near the bar and took a rest. I sipped on my cocktail while the rest of the girls took shots. A drink was sent our way a little bit after and placed in front of me. The waitress pointed at the handsome brunette hanging by the bar. He lifted his glass in my direction and gave me a seductive smile. I was hesitant at first, wasn't there a rule to never take a drink from a stranger? Seeing the attractive male making his way towards us, my friends encouraged me even more.

"Drink it," they chanted.

"Don't worry, we got you girl," feeling assured, I went ahead and took a sip

"Hi, Ladies. Are you guys having a good time?"

"Would you mind if I steal your friend for a minute?" he offered his hand.

"Not at all," the girls giggled in response

I gave him a small smile and he pulled me towards the dance floor

"Aeron," he shook my hands

"Rin."

"Nice to meet you, Rin."

"You don't seem like a party person," he commented.

"Yeah, I am not," seeing him waving at a few people we passed by, I slightly shook my head, "It seems like you know your way around here."

"I come here occasionally," he slightly scratched the back of his head and gave me a shy smile. He ordered us a drink and my friends waved at us from a few tables ahead.

"Here try this," he offered me a drink. Without any second thought, I gulped it down.

"Let's go," he gently held me by the arm and stirred me to the back of the bar. A moment later, I felt my head getting heavy.

"I am feeling dizzy," I grabbed his arm for support.

"Don't worry it is just the alcohol," despite his assurance, I felt something was not right.

"I need to go back to my friends," I protested, trying to writhe out of his hold. Even with my strong protest, I felt myself slowly loosing consciousness.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine," with his pacifying words as my last memory, darkness enveloped me.

Present

S.F.I Academy

The institute resumed to normal operation yesterday after the announcement. The other agents returned to their assignments while the rest were briefed for their next missions. Despite the big revelation everyone was trying their best to put aside their worries and focus on their tasks.

With both teams present, Jiro passed the folders around the table, "There have been three cases of death in the city these past few weeks,"

The folder contained pictures of lifeless women in their twenties, bodies covered with slashes and faces almost unidentifiable.

"The same kind of drug was found in their bodies. We believe that this was done by the same person or group of people. They were all last seen at The Lodge, a pattern was observed and the killing was done two weeks apart. A group of women identified one of the suspects and was last seen with the most recent victim- Rin Ito. We believe that they will target a new victim this weekend, you have to find evidence and make the arrest,"

"How about the other two victims. Where they also last seen with this man?" Shizuko flipped through the report.

"No. They were separated from their friends and was never seen after," Jiro replied

"There might have been some kind of operation to isolate them from their friends and slip drugs in their drinks," Kuuga suggested.

"Maybe, that is your job to find out," Jiro turned off his laptop, "This will be your last mission before your probation is lifted, I hope that there will not be any mishaps this time," he gave each of them a fleeting look before distributing the attaché case which contained their new weapons and gadgets.

"Takumi since you still need time to recover we decided to make you sit this one out," he added as he returned to his seat.

"No. I want to take part in the mission," Takumi replied

Jiro furrowed his eyebrows, "You only have one month left until the end of your probation. You need to be in the best shape as possible,"

"I know. I will take any role, just don't leave me out."

Misaki rolled her eyes at his statement.

Jiro took a deep breath realizing that he couldn't talk him out of it, "Fine, you will be on standby and you can't take part on the chase,"

"Fine with me," Takumi replied.

After wrapping up their briefing, Jiro hurriedly left for his other meeting. The room became quiet as the two teams were left on their own, Misaki looked up from her seat noticing the tension between the other team. Tora excused himself after and the rest of the guys remained seated on their seats. The friction and disaccord started after the allegation of Kanou and Yukimura which intensified their doubt on Tora.

"We need to talk," Hinata cleared his throat once Tora was out of earshot.

"Let us not judge him too quickly," Takumi immediately cut him off, "This is not the time to suspect each other again," he added, reminding them of a similar incident from a few weeks ago.

"What is happening?" Misaki asked as she watched their discussion.

The boys exchanged a look, wondering whether to let the other team in on their speculation. Takumi nodded his head at his team.

"Tora has been very suspicious these last few weeks," Yukimura explained

"He left for a couple of days without telling anyone and has been taking private calls. I don't want to assume that he is the spy, but we need to get down to the bottom of this," Kanou followed up.

"Lets just keep an eye out on him," Kuuga said and everybody agreed.

-xx-

June 24, 2016

The Lodge Club

Since the suspect was targeting girls, Misaki's team went undercover as civilians. Their roles let them observe much closer or the best case of scenario attract the attention of the suspect and deal with him personally. Tora and Yukimura took the roles as bartenders while the rest of the guys were on a look out.

It was a Friday night and everyone was out to have a good time. Misaki's team blended in and danced along with drinks in one hand, a few boys slowly got closer to the girls and began grinding on them. Misaki who was feeling frisky that night, fully committed to her disguise and danced with a civilian.

"Starting to get a bit touchy there, Misaki," Takumi muttered on the other line, carefully observing them from the bar across. Misaki snickered and returned to her task.

Shizuko and Sakura split up from her after a while to check the other parts of the club. Sakura hung around the bar in hope to find the suspect while Shizuko walked around the area. Thirty minutes into their operation and Kuuga spotted him.

"Target acquired. Moving to the floor. Misaki he is on your left,"

He seemed to be eyeing the girls on the floor, possibly searching for the drunkest of them all or maybe looking for a particular girl to play around that night. Misaki was determined to get his attention. With her cocktail in one hand, she walked towards him while pushing people out of her way. She purposely bumped into him and spilled all of her drinks on him.

"Oh my gosh. I am so sorry," she gushed as she tries to wipe his stained polo shirt with her hands.

He stopped her hands and her gaze moved up to meet a pair of brown eyes. He wasn't too bad in the eyes and rather very attractive in person.

"Don't worry about it," he shouted over the loud music

With his 6-foot height she had to stand on her toes to get closer to his ear, "No. No. Let me get you a drink," she grinned

"How can I refuse an offer from a beautiful girl," he winked. Misaki internally shook her head, if he was actually the suspect, how can such a charming man do something completely deranged and ruthless. But his looks alone can attract many girls and makes it easier for him to do such crime.

"I am Aeron,"

"Akira," Misaki shook his hands and they headed to the bar.

Takumi was sitting a few chairs from where they were standing, close enough to intervene if the suspect tries something on Misaki. She ordered him a beer while he strike up a conversation.

She showed her flirty side and began enticing him, "Did you come here alone?" she fixed the collar of his shirt

"I'm with a few friends, how about you?"

"I came with my two best friends, but they just left me to hang out with some guys," she faked a pout

"I will keep you company tonight," he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. His other arm reached for the drink given by Tora.

"Want to dance?"

She nodded her head and they went back to the floor. With his hands moving sensually around her body, she grinded with him. She threw a look to Takumi's direction once in a while and he was looking directly at her with a blank expression. His gaze alone stirred some kind of emotion inside her. Why does she suddenly feel guilty? She was only doing her job, she closed her eyes and returned her attention back to her company.

"Keep an eye on him, see if he puts something in the drink," Kanou instructed on the other line

"He only has a beer in one hand," Shizuko moved closer to the scene

"Here, take a sip," he moved the bottle to Misaki.

"It's alright. Maybe later," she politely declined his offer in fear that he already drugged the drink.

"Come on. Let's have fun, tonight."

"Is it safe?" Takumi asked

He smiled at Misaki and continued to urge her, wanting to gain his trust she finally took a sip from the bottle.

Kuuga moved closer to the scene to get a better look when he noticed another man giving Aeron a signal from a distance, "Don't drink it," Kuuga exclaimed

Misaki's eyes slightly widened in surprise, she tried her best to remain calm. She looked up at the suspect and he had a grin plastered on his face.

"His accomplice is moving out, they've already drugged her," Kuuga pushed the other civilians out of the way to get to the suspect

"Shit. How did that happen?" Shizuko asked as she moved out from her post.

"I thought Yukimura and Tora was responsible for keeping an eye on their drinks," Sakura was rushing to their direction.

Misaki felt a slight buzz followed by a heavy feeling in her head. She slumped her forehead against his shoulders, hand forming into a fist as she tried her best to stay awake, "Evergreen," she mumbled, feeling the effect of the drug in her body.

Takumi dashed to the floor after hearing her distress call, it was their code when an agent feels in danger and requires a backup. His jaw clenched as he followed the suspect hurriedly rushing to the exit.

"Everything is fine," Aeron mumbled in her ear as he stirred them to the back

"No. No," she tried to get away from his hold but she was slowly losing consciousness.

"Everything will be fine. I got you," with his arms tightly holding her they made their way out of the bar.

She was starting to feel frightened as she was also slowly losing feeling in her body, "Takumi," she cried out.

She could hear her team giving signals to make the arrest, the sounds around her was becoming faint and her eyesight was getting fuzzy. After a while she felt herself being pulled out of the man's hold and replaced by familiar arms holding her steady.

"It's alright. I am here now," he whispered in her ears. In his secured and safe arms, she succumbed to the darkness.

-x-

Police arrived at the scene and arrested Aeron and the rest of his crew. The paramedics also arrived and sent Misaki to the hospital. Luckily, they were able to catch Aeron before he got into their vehicle with Misaki in his arms.

They were all in distraught after the arrest, feeling incompetent for putting another member of their team in danger from a careless mistake. The group exchanged a knowing look as they walked back to their van, their suspicions getting stronger that Tora might be behind all the trouble after all. Takumi who was the most upset threw a glance at Tora's direction when he noticed him pulling out his gun and pointed it towards the others.

Takumi automatically reached for his gun, "Drop your gun," Takumi exclaimed.

The others stopped on their tracks and looked back at the commotion, after seeing Tora's intention they were in defence as they pulled out their guns and pointed it at Tora as well.

He looked at each one of them before narrowing his eyes at the person in front of him, "I am not your enemy,"

"What the hell are you doing?" Kanou furrowed his brows, "Drop your gun, NOW," he yelled out.

"Aren't you guys curious why something always goes wrong during our missions?" Tora disregarded their warnings, his eyes solely focused on one person only, "It is because we have a spy in our very own group, working for the enemy under our noses,"

Tora stepped forward while they carefully followed his step not faltering behind but his next move took everyone by surprise.

"Who are you working for?" Tora's voice was laced with anger as he grabbed him by the collar. The person's arms fell to his sides dropping his own gun in the process.

"What are you talking about?" everyone was stunned watching the exchange between the two.

"Release him, Tora." Hinata commanded

"Tell me who you are working for or I will not hesitate to shoot you in the head," Tora pointed his gun against his temple.

"Yukimura," Tora's grip on his collar tightened, "Tell me the fcking truth!"