Title: Karmesinrot Rache
Mission: 03 Rennen - Race (Dead Last)
Time: Kapitel, AU
Date: 12-04-01
Karmesinrot Rache ate, slept, and lived together, creating a near normal schedule with the exception of two new missions to sharpen their teamwork. If one didn't count that, their home life was stabilizing in Tokyo.
However, Jade's intuition told her to expect a turbulent storm to ruin the calm they achieved. She could already feel it approaching, like the moist winds scattering the leaves before a hurricane.
Kayla solved calculus problems at her desk under Jade's daily guidance, oblivious to Jade's inner thoughts. Her voice swept over Jade, startling the older girl. She had asked Jade to check her answers. "This look right," Jade read the equations on the computer after Kayla's Braille-based computer system translated the figures she wrote on her electronic notepad. Everyone in Karmesinrot Rache could read Braille with their sense of touch but it was just faster to have numbers instead of dots. "Try the next five problems for me?"
"Okay," Kayla agreed easily, picking up the silver metal stylus again. She went back to work diligently without a complaint. Kayla was dedicated in her studies. It was easy to teach the hardworking girl. As Kayla scribbled away with her computer analyzing her writing, Jade couldn't help but wonder about her teammate's encounter with their boss.
"Chimera hasn't changed his mind, has he?" she asked.
Kayla replied evenly without looking at Jade, "His orders are always absolute."
"But to leave Weiß alive?" Jade freed her crossed legs, throwing them over the edge of the bed. She stood to pace behind Kayla's chair. "It doesn't make sense. We're assassins!"
Kayla's sightless eyes rolled towards the ceiling in exasperation at her friend's impatience. In a gentler voice, she soothed Jade's worries. "Chimera will explain everything later." Kayla gave Jade an encouraging look.
"Like Hell he will," Jade scoffed at Kayla's effort. Chimera's practice of withholding information in every mission resulted in Nanami's and Kirei's job to figure out the crimes of the target after their composition of the mission report. "One of these days…" Jade trailed off, stopping by the window to glare at their neighbor's homes, trying to see through the buildings for Chimera's residence.
"You'll kill him," Kayla finished Jade's favorite heartfelt vow. "But think about it." Jade turned to the girl with questioning eyes. "This may be recon before the mission."
Jade's mouth twisted. "The order to kill better come soon," Jade said darkly. "It'd better."
Nanami and Kirei marched through the halls of the local high school. In the information packet about Weiß, Chimera attached Bombay's academic records. Since Karmesinrot Rache was in Kritiker territory, Kirei would be enrolled into the same high school as the youngest assassin with the goal of discovering the reason why he was Tsukiyono Omi and not Takatori Mamoru.
Nanami and Kirei created two new government profiles for themselves to assimilate into society with some creative thinking combined with hacking skills. Kirei became a transfer student whose host family moved to Tokyo in the middle of the semester. Kirei walked in, nervous as any new student thrust into an unfamiliar environment, to the school's main office with all papers and medical records in hand.
Her Japanese wasn't perfect but she knew enough to answer all the questions the staff imposed on her. Nanami answered the remaining questions as Kirei's "legal" guardian in the country, posing as the older sister of the pretend brother who went to the United States in Kirei's place. Nanami milled in the lounge until a secretary led Kirei away to her new homeroom. When Kirei left her sight, Nanami resumed her share of the reconnaissance by driving to Magicbus Hospital to check out their security under their employment as an intern.
Omi's daydreaming was rudely interrupted by a swift jab to his side from a fellow classmate. He returned to the real world in time to hear his teacher in mid-sentence.
"-make an announcement," he said grandly. Omi blinked away lingering daydreams, wondering what prevented the class from learning, not that the other students minded. "We have a new student today. Please welcome Kakumei Kirei-san to our class."
Kirei, dressed in plain white shirt and a pleated gray skirt, walked calmly through the door. The uniform wasn't Omi's school. She hadn't had time to buy the proper outfit before arriving for her first day. Omi's eyes widened at the girl when she showed her face to the class.
"My name is Kakumei Kirei. I'm seventeen years old. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kirei bowed elegantly to everyone after the customary introduction. Kirei gazed at the faces of the students before her with mild unease. Today was her first time in an official Japanese classroom. The class stared with intense interest, drowning in the sight of curly, amber hair and hunter green eyes framed by long lashes. Kirei smiled shyly at the class, sensing their wonder.
"Kakumei-san, please take the seat by," Fuji glanced around the room for an empty seat. "Tsukiyono-kun," he decided. The boys revolted quietly, shooting jealous looks at Omi as Kirei slid into her new seat. The rest of the homeroom period flew by. Kirei kept her head down when their instructor took his leave. "That's all. I will see you at lunchtime!" Fuji told them, packing his things. "Remember to pay attention in your other classes," he called out before the bell's musical ring declared the end of homeroom. The lag in classes presented the students four minutes to talk to each other. The closest to Kirei introduced themselves before politely interrogating her.
"What school did you come from?" a girl asked, leaning over to Kirei's desk. "Did you move to Tokyo or something?"
A second student offered, "Would you like to have lunch with us?"
"Would you like to date me?" a boy asked her boldly from across the room, half joking, half not.
"Takeshi-kun!" The girls slapped his arms playfully since he asked a girl out on a daily basis.
"It was just a question. She doesn't have to agree. Unless you want to, do you?" the chastised youth, Takeshi, asked hopefully.
Kirei played the part of an intimidated student well, cringing visibly away from the verbal onslaught. She looked at everyone from lowered lashes, wondering whose question she should answer first. "I came from Kobe with my host family."
Omi noticed her discomfort after catching her eye. A silent plea for help passed between them. He turned to his overbearing classmates to say firmly, "Stop scaring her! Give her some breathing room."
The remainder of the break did not involve her directly. Her classmates chattered over her head until the arrival of their history teacher. Kirei tapped her pen against the desk in boredom, listening to Sanada lecture about the Imperial families. Kirei stifled a yawn through her worst subject. She doodled until history ended. When she saw the chance, she gave Omi an appreciative smile to thank him for his effort.
Magicbus Hospital's gray-white exterior was an eyesore to the girl who hated everything owned by Kritiker. It was Nanami's task to gather the information inaccessible through the use of the computer about the police hospital. She was an employer garbed in a light green scrubs underneath a white lab coat. If anyone stopped her, she only had to show the ID on the lanyard around her neck.
"Ah, I knew it." Nanami tried the last of locked doors of the building's filing rooms. She noted the types of keys and electronic identification systems mentally. When she got home, she would use her resources to identify the security systems.
"Are you lost?" a voice asked. The woman had a frown on her face after catching Nanami at the filing rooms' door.
Nanami turned, flashing a fake nervous smile. "Yes I am." She paused, feigning uncertainty. "I think," she added meekly. "Ishida-sensei told me to bring him the patient files for this afternoon. I don't know why I can't get into the room."
The doctor's frown vanished to be replaced by understanding. "Oh, you're Ishida-sensei's summer intern." She smiled at Nanami. "You still need to get an access card from Personnel. But if you need anything from these rooms for now, just knock and someone on duty will open it for you." To illustrate her point, the worker flashed her own access card before swiping it through a rectangular machine. The door unlocked with a soft click.
"I didn't know that." Nanami bowed her head gratefully, following the woman's lead into the room. Now I do, she thought smugly, counting workers manning the computers. A guard checked their IDs before allowing them to stay. Nanami paused by the work schedule, memorizing names and shifts.
Jade's homemaker skills were the best of the four, an attribute the others teased the crass leader about on occasion. After an inventory of their food stores, Jade kicked the refrigerator door close, juggling bread, sandwich meats, and lettuce in her hands. She needed to go grocery shopping before their refrigerator dropped in the red zone.
The leader cooked, cleaned, and killed in the same way: efficient and fast. Every now and then, an impulsive flair would pop up to reemphasize the girl's skills. But today, Jade kept the flair and attitude under wraps. There wasn't anything she could do about it with their options so limited.
"Oh, what good deeds have I done," Kayla said from the doorway when the tart smell of mayonnaise reached her nose, "to receive sandwiches for lunch?" Kayla gave Jade a warm smile, she was merely teasing.
Jade returned a wry one as Kayla washed her hands at the sink. "I know that was sarcastic." Jade scolded lightly. "Bordering on it but still sarcastic."
The two girls ate in the kitchen, pouring their attention on past missions between bites. They searched for possible mistakes in "what if" situations until they covered all aspects of the circumstances if they were not careful. They looked over the mission documents to collaborate on the mission report.
When the last of the report was typed up, Jade brought out the files of their new enemy. Besides the array of photographs, the papers were in black and white. Jade flipped through them until she found the one for Abyssinian. A small snapshot of him in a green apron was stapled in the corner. "Fujimiya Ran has a sister named Fujimiya Aya in Magicbus Hospital," Jade read out. She marked it with a note for future reference. "I hope Nanami has that place covered."
Kayla frowned at the name. "Magicbus Hospital is hard-core Kritiker territory," Kayla commented thoughtfully. "It's also a private police hospital."
"If Chimera wants us to destroy Weiß, his sister might be a useful as a bargaining chip." Jade tapped the image of a smiling Fujimiya Aya. "The leader's reasoning will be compromised when she's in our hands." Jade's guts twisted after a silent thought, That is if he actually cares about her. Some people didn't give half a damn about kin. Jade was from an entire family of them. But Abyssinian didn't seem like the type. His teammates cared for his life enough to give out valuable information when their leader was trapped in Nanami's ring of fire.
"Jade!" Kayla cried loudly. "You can't possibly think of using a comatose girl as a bargaining chip." Kayla glared at her. "You can't! That's not very fair!"
"I will if Weiß is wrong," Jade said firmly. "Kayla, it's not about fair when you deal with Chimera's targets. If everything was fair, we wouldn't be assassins! Our targets would be properly prosecuted and in prison!" Her words didn't appease Kayla. The blind archer still glared at her stonily. "I would never hurt the girl-" Never, she thought firmly. "-but if things get desperate, you know what must be done." Jade understood where Kayla was coming from but Chimera wouldn't. "What have I always told you?"
"The mission is what matters," Kayla repeated in dark tone. Suddenly she pushed her plate away. "Jade, I'm going to my room."
Jade studied her friend intently with a tiny frown on her face. The best thing she could do was give Kayla time to accept her words. "I'll clean up."
Kayla walked out wordlessly, taking the cold atmosphere with her. Jade dropped her eyes back to the image of Fujimiya Aya, bursting with life before she was imprisoned in her hospital bed.
I know you're thinking the worse of me, Jade fingered the thick edges of the photo. I don't even have to read your mind to figure that out. Without any effort, the purple-haired girl's smile pressed itself into her memory. But I made an oath to myself I wouldn't let any person suffer for another's pleasure. She gave up on the reports. Her concentration on her work broke. Kayla's self-imposed isolation stung. Jade used the restless energy to clean the large house vigorously until everything looked brand new.
The cool weather gave the high school a chance to save money. Most classrooms opened their windows to invite the playful winds indoors. Those near the windows had a harder time concentrating on the lecture.
Kirei stifled a yawn behind the English teacher's back. English was her first language so the lessons in grammar didn't interest her. Kirei felt another yawn escaping her mouth. But she clamped down hard, destroying it to listen to her teacher's announcement.
"This English project will be done in pairs." Yamamoto strolled around the room with a bright smile on her face. "The first draft of the report will be turned in next Wednesday." She paused by a student who failed to hide his groan of dismay. "Yes, one week." She glowed with anticipation. "The end result will be worth 30% of your semester's grade," she said with enthusiasm. She continued on as if she was handing out Christmas presents. "You will have a partner because this project takes effort. I expect a ten page paper with a brief presentation comparing and contrasting one American and one Japanese author on this list for the final draft. Your first draft should be three pages and I want to see sources, everyone."
The class stared at the papers filtering from the front of the classroom. The list of authors and their assigned partners were already decided. Kirei snuck a glance at the boy in front of her, wondering who he'd gotten as a partner.
"Thanks," Kirei said when Omi turned around to give her the stack.
"You're welcome." Omi returned the smile before facing forward.
Kirei lowered her gaze to find her name written in katakana. "Shit," she muttered in English. She had trouble reading the names of her classmates. The kanji had always tripped her up, especially the ones used for Japanese names. But the name listed beside hers was familiar. She had spent the last day staring at it. But her partner made the first move.
"Kakumei-san."
"Eh?" Kirei looked at him with a blank expression. "What is it, Tsukiyono-san?"
"You're my partner."
Kirei acted startled. "Oh!" She giggled, pointing to Omi's name. "I guess we are, Tsukiyono-san." She poured her attention on the paper, reading the names of the Japanese authors. She recognized none of them. The katana used for the English writers were easy to read phonetically but hard to put together. "Je-Jefuri- Chaseru?"
"Can you read kanji well?" Omi hadn't had a chance to talk to her again after the first interaction. He honestly didn't know what to expect of her. "We're studying Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Geoffrey Chaucer."
Kirei couldn't help her wince from forming. "It's that obvious?"
"Do you want to meet at the school library after class to work on this project?" Omi asked gently.
"That's fine with me," Kirei agreed.
Omi was glad inside. It was a neutral environment with adult supervision. Yohji would never stop teasing him if he brought a girl to his apartment. Her body language, personality, and inviting manner drew people to her as friends. Already, she was a popular girl in class just because she was foreign. Before the week was up, she would have the names, emails, and cell phones of almost every classmate. The boys were dying to get hers. As she gained their trust, she gained information about Tsukiyono Omi.