Chapter 9 Swords and Secrets
Not one member of the Red Shield understood why Joel had suddenly decided to trust Kata, or why Kata had suddenly become part of Saya's team. She was with Saya almost as constantly as Hagi was, which was no small feat, and no one understood Kata herself either, least of all David. David was now questioning the man who was both his leader and his friend as to why Kata was apparently an honouree Red Shield member.
"Joel, this girl is obviously dangerous! Why on earth are we letting her get close? We should just have Saya kill her and be done with it!" David said stiffly, facing Joel solemnly. Joel had a soft smile on his face, and was swirling a glass of water around in his hand.
"What's that saying, David? Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer?" Joel looked up and met David's anxious eyes.
"For now, I believe it is beneficial not just for us but also for Saya to allow Kata to stay." David stuttered wordlessly.
"Bu-But!"
"David, I'm sure you noticed her effectiveness in battle. At this present moment, she is a better killer than Saya, and certainly much more capable of killing Diva."
"For all we know, she could be Diva! The only eye we can see is blue, just like hers!" Joel looked up with a smile.
"I believe that Diva's nature is far to ingrained for her to try and pass herself off as someone like Kata. At the very least, I cannot see Diva eating a pocky, can you?"
Kata watched as Saya battled Hagi for sword practice on one of the highest decks of the ship. She stood at the side, leaning on a railing, and Kai was also watching, a pointedly far distance from Kata. Riku was helping Lewis in the kitchen, and David was standing further away, glaring and half watching Hagi and Saya and half in his own world. Kata shook her head, finishing off her pocky with an exasperated bite. The movement did not escape Hagi, or Saya, and both paused to look at her, Saya out of breath. Kata shook her head yet again, striding forwards with her hands on her hips, looking like an angry teenage mother.
"Honestly! Hagi, I'm ashamed of you. What on earth have you been doing?" Hagi stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face, while Saya glanced back and forth between them, confused.
"Saya, you're rusty. Seriously." Kata said shooting a glare at Hagi that obviously showed who she blamed for this. Saya blinked, before sheepishly looking down at her sword.
"I…I know I'm not very good, but Hagi is helping me." She said, wanting to defend Hagi. Kata rolled her eyes.
"I never said you weren't any good, I just said that you were rusty. This is because Hagi is lazy." Hagi's eyes narrowed minutely, as Saya looked at him, her mouth a perfect circle of surprise.
"Here," Kata grinned devilishly. "Let me show you just how lazy he's being." And with that, Kata drew her baton-swords. As she unsheathed them, Saya stood back, while Hagi didn't move.
"Right. Hagi, try and cut me. First blood wins." Kata said, her stance suddenly poised for movement. Hagi didn't move, but Kata wasn't backing down, and continued to stare at him with a taunting smile on her face. Finally, Hagi gave in. By this time, even David's attention was aroused; Kai was looking back and forth between Hagi and Kata and trying to decide who he wanted to win.
Kai's jealousy of Hagi meant that he was hoping for Kata, but no way was he voicing that opinion out loud. Hagi threw a knife in a blur of movement, but Kata was behind him suddenly, one of her blades aimed towards his neck. Hagi barely brought another knife up in time, as Kata grinned and used the force of Hagi's retaliation to flip over his head, her other sword swinging around to his side as she did so. Hagi finally gave in properly; the bandages slipped off his monstrous hand and, forming his chiropteran hand into a blade, he swung it at Saya.
It was breathtaking, literally. They slashed, cut and parried at each other, but neither landed a blow for almost five minutes. Then Kata, who had been smiling throughout, became bored, and ducked under Hagi's arm and whirled out of reach once more, nicking his cheek slightly as she did so. There was a silence, as Hagi tried to regain his breath, blood trickling down his cheek even as the cut healed.
"First blood. I win." Kata said teasingly; but Hagi didn't react. Saya began to clap, and soon the Red Shield members who had gathered in awe, including Julia, Lewis and Joel, joined in, and the deck rang with applause. Both Hagi and Kata looked slightly shell shocked, and neither reacted until the applause finally died down, at which they shared a smile.
David, however, hadn't been clapping at all, and now he strode forwards angrily, his face furious. Stalking up to Kata, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
"Admit it! You're not human are you? You were moving faster than Hagi was there, and he's a chevalier! Spit it out! What are you?" David growled. Murmuring uneasily, the other Red Shield members hurried back to their various jobs. Joel stepped forwards, about to stop David, when Kata began to laugh, and then she did the least expected thing. She opened her mouth, and dancing away from David, she began to sing. The sound that came out of her mouth was pure, but not at all like the haunting melody that Diva sung, and as the lyrics became clearer, even brought smiles and chuckles to everyone's faces:
I'm malicious, mean and scary.
My sneer could curdle dairy;
And violence wise, my hands are not the cleanest
But despite my evil look, and my temper and fighting
All I really want to do is sing
To everyone's disbelief, a genuine, beaming smile lit up her face as Kata sang; Hagi shook his head slightly indulgently, as Saya grinned, ecstatic.
Can't you see on the stage performing Mozart?
My voice echoing round the ceiling till it gleams
Yes, I'd rather be called deadly, for my killer show tune medley!
Thank you!
Here, Kata gave a mock bow to the assembled Red Shield members, Saya and Hagi.
'Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream!
I've got a dream! I've got a dream!
See, I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem!
Though I do like breaking femurs
You can count me with the dreamers
Like everybody else, I've got a dream!
Suddenly looking incredibly mischievous, Kata sidled up to Kai and began to sing to him specifically; gesturing to various places and plastering a very convincing comically disgusted look on her face.
You've got scars and lumps and bruises,
Plus something there that oozes
And let's not even mention his complexion
But despite his extra toes and his goitre and his nose,
He really wants to make a love connection!
Can't you see him with a special little lady?
Rowin' in a row boat down the stream?
Though he's one disgusting blighter
He's a lover, not a fighter- Kata was suddenly behind Kai; his precious gun in her hand. Kai gave a shout, but Kata danced out of the way, still singing.
'Cause way down deep inside he's got a dream!
Kata threw Kai's gun back to him, giggling, before continuing with her song.
He's got a dream! He's got a dream!
And he hopes one day romance will reign supreme
Though his face leaves people screaming, there's a child behind it dreaming!
Like everybody else he's got a dream!
Joel would like to quit and be a florist
Collins does interior design
Julia is into mime
Lewis's cupcakes are sublime
Riku knits
Hagi sews
Diva's chevaliers do little puppet shows
And David here collects ceramic unicorns!
Before everyone's startled eyes, Kata deftly delved into David's shirt pocket to retrieve a tiny ceramic unicorn; laughing, she gave it back to him as he blushed.
I've got a dream! I've got a dream!
I just want to see my family as one big team!
And with every passing hour, I'm so glad Diva left that tower- here her voice dropped so low that no one could hear it but Hagi, who frowned and stiffened slightly.
Like all you lovely folks I've got a dream!
We've got a dream! We've got a dream!
So our differences ain't really that extreme
We're one big team!
Call me brutal, sick, sadistic and grotesquely optimistic,
'Cause way down deep inside, I've got a dream!
I've got a dream… Yeah!
Breathing hard, Kata beamed happily.
"There you go, David, that's what I am." Joel, Riku and Lewis were laughing, Saya was too, Kai and David looked grumpy, but Kai held a grudging respect, and even Hagi had a smile on his face. David harrumphed and stormed off, while Joel wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.
It really wasn't that funny, but the sheer ludicrous unexpectedness of Kata's singing made everyone laugh. Kata beamed again; it was the best kind of response. She then gazed up at the sky, a soft smile on her face, still humming to herself as a gentle sea breeze blew across the deck.
David was further incensed when he arrived at the meeting room later that day to find not only both Saya and Hagi sitting at the meeting table, but Kata too. David growled and strode straight up to Joel.
"Director, I strongly object to…that girl being here." He said stiffly. Kata laughed, her supersonic hearing of course picking up these words.
"How funny, 'cause I strongly object to you being here." Kata said lazily, her blue eye gleaming at him in the meagre light. David bristled, but Joel intervened before he could blow it.
"Stop it, both of you, sit down David, and we shall get started." Joel said complacently, but his voice held a ring of command that ordered obedience. So, disgruntled, David sat down while Kata smiled charmingly at him. Saya glanced nervously between the pair, while Joel squashed the urge to sigh, and then ignored both of them.
"Right. We have reasons to believe that more information about Delta67 can be found in Russia, so I suggest deporting Saya, David, Lewis, Kai, Riku, Kata and Hagi to Russia to investigate." Joel began firmly, but before he could really get started, Kata interrupted;
"Russia? It snows in Russia," Kata said frowning. "I hate snow." She muttered to herself. Everyone stared at her, while Kata thought in silence.
"Can we skip Russia? I can tell you about D67, and we can stay here, where it isn't Russia and it doesn't snow?" Kata suggested hopefully, but she was met with stony looks.
"I'm sorry, Kata, but we can't trust you enough as our only source of information." Joel said gently. Kata snorted.
"Of course. This is why I hate the Red Shield." She muttered, ignoring the disapproving looks she got from both David and Lewis. Joel cleared his throat and continued.
"Anyway, the plan is to send Saya, Hagi, David, Lewis, Kai, Riku and Kata to Russia to investigate."
"No. Sorry, but, if you don't mind, I'm gonna bail on this one." Kata said, standing up with a soft scrape of her chair and a yawn. Everyone stared at her for a second.
"Actually, we do mind." Joel said indignantly, a frown creasing his young face. Kata went very, very still. Joel, however, plunged on, despite an outright warning look from Hagi and an uneasy one from Saya. "We need you to go and back up our fighting force, so, if you don't mind, you'll be going." Joel said, and, satisfied, was about to continue, when Kata was suddenly perched lazily on the table in front of him, examining her nails, her blue eye gleaming slightly.
"Actually, I'm bailing. You cannot tell me what to do, can you now, Joel Goldschmidt?" Kata said pleasantly, her eye gleaming brighter. Joel swallowed slightly, trying not to show any fear.
"You're a member of the Red Shield, and I am director, so-"
"Ah, but I'm not a Red Shield member, am I? No. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall ever swearing loyalty to your damn Red Shield. I didn't promise to do your dirty work, or collect Intel for you or fight for you." and Kata leant close, her eye definitely shining a very unnaturally bright shade of blue, her voice deadly and barbed. "I am not your dog, Goldschmidt. So," Kata sat up, her eye normal, and hopped off the desk, suddenly cheerful again. "I'm not going to Russia. I'm ditching, so have fun in the snow, 'kay?" Kata practically skipped around the desk, stopping to give Saya a quick kiss on the cheek before continuing to the door, which opened as it sensed her. "Bring me back an icicle, huh?" Kata said cheerfully, smiling back at them as she stepped out the door. Saya stood up suddenly, drawing all eyes.
"Wait! Where… Where are you going?" She asked forlornly. Hagi's expression grew slightly tender. Slightly. Kata's smile widened.
"To be Himi for a while." She laughed, and then she ran out of the meeting room, her laugh still echoing. David ran out after her, but she was gone.
"I can't see her, sir, but that doesn't mean she's not just hiding." David said, his face set. Joel was looking slightly shell shocked; he took a lot of risks, but none of them had ever backfired quite like Kata. Hagi smiled slightly.
"She is no longer on the ship." He said quietly. Everyone turned to stare at him.
"Well… Where the devil would she go?" David exclaimed angrily, no one doubted Hagi's word; if he said Kata was gone, Kata was gone.
"She can't be swimming, can she?" Lewis mumbled to himself. Hagi squashed a flicker of a smile.
"She probably is. I believe her coat is waterproof."
The meeting was disbanded, and the Red Shield headed to Russia, ignoring the problem Kata had become for the moment, intent on discovering not just more about D67, but for Saya it was a trip down memory lane.
Kata wasn't in the best mood as she draped her dripping coat over the back of a hotel chair to dry. Not quite so waterproof after all. Sighing, she ruffled her hair with a towel, as the steam from her recently vacated bathroom twisting into the room. The towel rumpling down onto her shoulders revealed her hair, still damp and sticking out even more than usual; both eyes were reflected in the blank TV screen as Kata sat down on the bed and began to put on her underwear.
One eye, a beautiful, cold, deadly blue, the other a sharp, raging red. The red eye was even more interesting for the long, bright red scar that ran down the side of it, narrowly missing her pupil. Finally, Kata had underwear on, and she then pulled the last thing that any of the Red Shield would ever have expected to see her wearing on; a dress. A pale lilac one that had a little bow on the neckline, short puffy sleeves and a crocheted bodice, with a flared skirt coming down to her cover her knees. Slipping on a pair of white sandals and slipping her collapsible swords into the only thing that would have reminded you of Kata; a brown leather thigh braces, designed to hold her sword handles under her skirt. Kata took a deep breath, and then let it out; brushing her fringe back over her red scarred eye.
"Transformation to Himitsu complete." She muttered, before with a smile she left the hotel room; firmly locking the door behind her. Greeting the porter in perfect French, Kata strolled along the streets of a charming French town, until she came to a huge park, which was so grand and covered in ordered flowers that one half expected Marie Antoinette to come waltzing down one of the paths. Kata's pace sped up slightly, but it was somehow more girlish; there was a light spring in her step as she continued down the paths, following a well known route and losing more and more people as she went, until she finally arrived at a massive gleaming greenhouse. Smiling, she skipped up the steps, and when she next raised her head, her eye met a pair of light blue, gently humorous eyes twinkling at her.
"Ah. Himitsu." Nathan Mahler said deliberately, smiling and opening the door for her. Kata eyed his outfit; a purple frilly shirt that showed his midriff, a pair of pink jeans and white boots that belonged on an extremely girly cowgirl, before striding past him without a word. She wound her way through the green house; half hearing Nathan announcing her arrival to the others. Reaching her destination, she sat down by an apparently sleeping figure lying on the steps. The person turned her head slowly, her waterfall of dark hair shifting with the movement.
"Himi…?" came her voice; innocent and confused like a child's. Kata smiled and stroked the girl's hair.
"Yes. Good morning, Diva." Diva blinked at Kata, her bright blue eyes still sleepy.
Well. I finally managed to get it up. Sorry it took so long, I had writers block and then I went on holiday so I had no access to a computer :(
I also apologise for putting the song (I've got a Dream, Disney's Tangled) in, but when I saw Tangled I could really imagine Kata singing it, and I couldn't resist... -.-' but the fact she sings is a plot point, so it's not completely random...
please review, and I'll try to be quicker with the next chapter!