As Kubota approached the shop, he saw that Kou had closed up. Just as he was about to pound on the door, though, it opened. He shoved in, nearly knocking Mai over, and headed straight to the back room, leaving the girl to lock the door again behind him.

He found an ashen-faced Tokito stoically enduring Kou's stitching of a long, deep cut that ran from wrist to elbow.

"What happened?"

"I caught up with Mai and we argued." At Kubota's raised eyebrow, he amended, "Okay, I yelled at her and, well, we weren't really paying attention and a bunch of guys jumped us." He hissed as the needed plunged though his skin again. "We would've been fine if my hand hadn't," he glanced at Kou, "gone stupid."

The doctor's hand stopped. "Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"No."

Kou let out a longsuffering sigh, finished the last stitch and began to bandage Tokito's arm.

"Kubo-chan." There was a pause that commanded Kubota's attention. "They'd have killed me if Mai hadn't been there. We were down to the last two guys before I weirded out. That's when this," he indicated the bandaged arm, "happened. Mai took that guy out, but then the last guy came out of nowhere with a baseball bat and I… I couldn't do anything! And he was gonna… and then Mai… and he hit her, Kubo-chan! He was gonna hit me and she made him hit her instead."

Kubota tried to ignore the horrible sinking feeling in his gut, like he'd just run off a precipice. "She's okay, though, right? I mean, I just saw her."

"I don't know." His eyes were filled with misery. "He hit her so hard I thought she wasn't going to get up again."

"Where?"

"Across her back."

Kubota turned to investigate, only to find that Mai had not followed him. He went to find her.

She was lying on the bench in the shop, staring vacantly into the room. She didn't acknowledge him until he said her name and knelt beside her.

"You okay?"

Her only response was to stare into the distance again.

Kubota heard Kou's efficient steps behind him and shifted to give the doctor room. Tokito came up beside him, arm in a sling, and they watched as Kou helped Mai sit, then checked her pupils and gently moved her head this way and that, a look of deep concentration on his face.

"Would you allow me to examine your back?" He held out his hand and she took it with a weary nod, allowing him to lead her to the spot just vacated by Tokito.

Now that he was paying attention, Kubota saw how gingerly she carried herself, how stiff her movements were. As she settled, he saw that the bottom of her shirt was torn and ragged. "What happened to her shirt?"

"She tore it up to wrap my arm."

'That was her favorite,' he thought and determined, at the first opportunity, to get her a new one. Or three.

Then Kou revealed her back and all thoughts of a pleasant shopping day fled. Angled from one shoulder down to the lower ribs on the other side was an angry-looking bruise, purple darkening to black over her spine and fading through a myriad of colors to yellow at the outer edges.

"Holy shit." Tokito's voice cracked a little on the statement.

"I'm going to check for broken bones. Kubota-kun, you may want to hold onto her."

Kubota positioned himself in front of Mai, unsure where the doctor expected him to find a grip that wouldn't cause her more pain.

The point became moot at Kou's first prodding touch. Mai flung herself at him with a gasp and all he could do was catch her as best he could. For the next few minutes, he stood with Mai clutching at him, digging holes in his shirt with her claws. Tokito stood next to him and their voices were a duet of low, soothing noises as Kou worked his fingers over her back, assessing the damage.

"Remarkable," he pronounced as he pulled her shirt back down. "Other than the bruising, there seems to be no damage at all."

Kubota barely heard him, noticing only how Mai slumped against him, trembling. His phone chose that inopportune moment to ring. He considered ignoring it, but Tokito took Mai awkwardly from him so he could answer.

"Makoto, you need to come to the station."

"Now?"

"Yes. Your reporter friend brought in something you need to see."

Kubota sighed. "Okay. Let me drop Mai off at home…"

"No. It only affects you because it affects her. All three of you need to come."

Kubota's gaze traveled over his cats, both injured, both exhausted.

"You sure this can't wait until tomorrow?"

"I don't think it can."

Kubota sighed again. "We're on our way."

Tokito eyed him suspiciously. "On our way where?"

"Kasai's got something that can't wait."

"You can't be serious."

"Wish I wasn't."

"Is this absolutely necessary, Kubota-kun?"

"Well, Kasai seems to think so."

Kou frowned. "Then tell him that I don't want him to keep them long. They need rest."

"Will do. Thanks, Kou-san."

"My pleasure, as always."

The train ride to the station wasn't as bad as Kubota had feared. They found a free bench and he ended up with a cat asleep on each shoulder. He felt guilty prodding them awake as their stop neared, but relieved that they both appeared a bit more energetic after the brief rest.

Kasai was waiting for them. His eyebrows shot up at the state of Tokito and Mai. "What happened?"

"They've had a really bad day. Can we get on with this?"

"Right. Come with me."

He led them through a warren of hallways, places Kubota had never been. He smiled amiably at a particular officer who watched him with ill-disguised hostility.

Kasai finally stopped before a door marked "Firing Range" and badged it open. The place was deserted.

After closing and locking the door, he handed Kubota a folder. "That's what Takizawa brought us." Inside were photocopies of what appeared to be photographs of documents. Upon closer examination, Kubota discovered they were case notes. On one page, a younger version of Tokito stared back at him with terrified eyes. Mai was on another page, her photo labeled "#77 (Lucky)". In between were other nameless faces, a great many with FAILED stamped across them. He was surprised when Mai's hand appeared on a page, fingers ghosting over a stamped face. Her eyes were sad.

"Someone you knew?"

She nodded.

"Kubo-chan, what does 'failed' mean?" Tokito asked quietly.

A tear slid down Mai's cheek as Kubota offered, "Well, let's just say that all the W.A. cases we've come across were probably failed, too."

Tokito looked horror-stricken as his arm went around Mai to comfort her.

Turning back to Kasai, Kubota asked, "Did these come from Taki-san's contact on the American military base."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, we can't get any more information from her."

"Why's that?"

"She was found murdered early this morning."

"…I see. Was this everything, then?"

"No. There's something else you need to see."

He gently drew Mai away from Tokito, then placed his hands on her shoulders with a sigh. He closed his eyes and two words, in English, left his lips.

"Action Agent."

Mai's eyes fluttered closed and Kasai released her. When her eyes opened again, they were confused and she rolled her shoulders against the pain of the bruise. Then she stood ramrod-straight, focused on some point off Kasai's right shoulder and snapped a crisp salute which he belatedly, and somewhat awkwardly, returned.

"What's happening, Kubo-chan?"

"I'm not sure."

Kasai seemed unsure himself, now that the girl was standing at military attention before him.

"Um… at ease," he told her and she slipped into the more relaxed stance with practiced ease. The detective shook his head a little and seemed reluctant to continue, but offered her a service weapon anyway.

"You know your way around one of these?"

She glanced at the piece and nodded once.

"Show me."

She took the weapon and inspected it, checking the action and testing the sights as the others, at Kasai's instruction, put on ear protection. Mai then donned her own, took a stance at the firing station and proceeded to empty the clip into the target hanging in the distance. Kasai pulled it in, and then sent out another, and another, each farther out, and Mai destroyed each with chilling accuracy. Kubota noticed that she didn't bother with body shots – all her groups centered on the head of the target. One shot, one kill. Every time. Judging from the rather chalky cast of Kasai's face, he'd noticed, too.

After the third target, she surrendered the weapon and seemed to be waiting for further instruction. The detective gestured for them to leave the ear protection on – they weren't done yet.

He led Mai to a table where a large black case rested and motioned her to open it. She popped the clasps and lifted the lid to reveal a sniper rifle.

Kubota was well aware of the effect his smile could have on others and now, watching Mai's lips curl up at the sight of the weapon, he suddenly thought he knew how those people felt.

Mai lifted the rifle from its case with something akin to reverence. Then, at a nod from Kasai, she expertly field-stripped it, inspecting every piece critically before reassembling it, slinging it over her shoulder and looking expectantly, even eagerly, at the detective. He studied her for a long moment before leading them out a side door to the range outside.

There were several targets already set up at varying distances, all of which seemed equally impossible to hit.

An officer who'd apparently been waiting for them stepped up, ready to be the girl's spotter, but she waved him away. She settled the gun on the ground, supported on its bipod, and positioned herself, prone, behind it. She focused her attention somewhere between herself and her first target and, after a moment, Kubota realized she was watching the movement of the grass to determine wind speed. She adjusted the sights, snugged the butt of the gun against her shoulder and went perfectly still.

The shot, when it finally came, made them all jump, but Mai calmly made several adjustments before taking out the second, and then third, targets.

They removed their ear covering and the other officer was sent to retrieve the targets as they headed back inside. When the officer returned, they found that each had a single shot to the head. Kasai, who had orchestrated the demonstration, seemed the most taken aback by it. "Damn, the girl is lethal." Mai's smile seemed to tell him he'd be wise to remember that fact.

Tokito shifted uneasily. "I don't like this. Can you turn off this agent thing and give Mai back?"

Kasai ran a hand through his hair. "I did have a fighting demonstration set up…"

"No. We've seen her fight. Tokito's right. We need Mai back. Now."

"Right." He turned to Mai and said, "Agent dismissed."

Once again, her eyes fluttered shut, but then flew open in surprise as the weapon she was still carrying slipped off her shoulder and clattered to the floor. She stared at it in horror, hands over her mouth. She backed away from it slowly, as if she feared it would jump up and attack her. When Tokito touched her shoulder, she spun around in panic before realizing it was him. She allowed him to tuck her under his arm while Kubota made himself a comforting presence at her back.

Kasai approached, cautious under Kubota's watchful eye, and laid a hand on Mai's shoulder. "Do you remember what just happened, sweetheart?"

She shook her head and began to tremble.

"I thought as much."

"What was the purpose of all this?"

"We all, myself included, needed to see the extent of this. To determine if anything was exaggerated or outright false."

"Was anything?"

"No. She really is a weapon."

As if in response, Mai sagged against Tokito and Kubota carefully gathered her up.

"I'm so sorry."

Kubota couldn't figure out if his uncle was addressing Mai or all of them, then abruptly decided it didn't really matter.

"C'mon, I'll drive you home."

As they followed the detective, Kubota wondered at himself and his penchant, lately, for carrying Mai around. 'Then again,' he thought, 'if people would just leave her alone, I wouldn't have to.'

When they arrived in the parking garage and found Kasai's car, Kubota, unwilling to relinquish Mai, folded himself into the back seat. Tokito, unwilling to be separated from them, followed, leaving Kasai to act as chauffeur.

Once the detective had safely navigated into traffic, he said, again, "I'm so sorry, but I felt that a demonstration would have a greater impact than simply telling you what we'd found out."

Tokito thought a moment. "So, basically, the Americans are trying to create some kind of super-soldier?"

"Well, judging from what we've seen today, I'd say they succeeded, at least with Mai. And, to a lesser extent, with you."

"She's more than just a soldier," Kubota observed. "She's an assassin."

"I think you're right. From what I've seen, she's the pinnacle of what their little program is trying to accomplish. And it doesn't seem like they've been able to replicate the results so far. She's extremely valuable and I think it's safe to say they'll stop at nothing to retrieve her, if and when they find out where she is."

"Well, if they manage to take her, which is unlikely, we'll stop at nothing to get her back."

Kasai thought back on the carnage Kubota had left in his wake to recover Tokito and thought that the Americans would be better off just leaving Mai where she was.

Much better off.

They all slept late the next day, but Mai especially. Kubota had expected as much, so didn't become concerned about her until the day started creeping into evening without her emerging from her room.

He knocked on her door. "Mai? You awake?" When he got no response, his concern deepened and he warned her, "I'm coming in."

He opened the door to an empty room. The bed was neatly made and her phone rested atop a note on her pillow. He snatched the paper up just as Tokito came up beside him and they both read:

Dear Kubo-chan and Toki,

I'm sorry, but I can't stay with you anymore. You're not safe around me. Even I don't know what I may be capable of and I couldn't bear it if either of you were hurt because of me. Thank you so much for everything.

I love you both.

Mai