Getting on the roof was easy enough; breaking the down the door the led to the inside of the building was as simple as picking the lock. Well as soon as Kojiro was done with it at least. It was if they wanted us to break in. As glad as I was that the assignment was going to be easier than I first imagined, something seemed wrong. The creepy kind of wrong where you feel like you're walking into a trap of sorts. The fact that I was with one of my murderers didn't make things any better.
"Are you finished yet?" I asked, making sure I sounded as irritated as possible.
"I'm trying to do this as quiet as possible" Kojiro spat back, irritated "Have you ever heard of stealth?"
"If we hang out here long enough they're bound to catch us" I retorted, shifting Yuunagi's weight as I fixed the strap from its case on my right shoulder.
"If they wanted to catch us then they would need to go through this door" he snickered "We get rid of them and we can get in" he must feel like this is a brilliant plan "Makes our job easier don't you think?"
Hardly. If we were caught they would most likely hit an alarm or something. I was about to argue back when I heard a click followed by Kojiro smugly waving the lock in front of my face. Real mature.
"We're in! Not a bad job eh?" That smug git. After all this is over I'm breaking his head "Now follow my lead" he says. I don't think so. I strode in front of him; ignoring everything he just said and will say.
"Who broke into whose warehouse again?" No response other than a frown "That's what I thought. You're following me" I said as I walked down a flight of stairs, hopefully leading somewhere important.
We quickly realized that this mission was going to be a walk in the park. There was absolutely no one guarding the place. Although I could have sworn there were people walking in here during the morning; I shrugged it off, thinking that they could be on the other floors. The entire floor was a big storage area. There were shelves littered around everywhere with no clear pattern to them and there were boxes of who knows what scattered everywhere. It was like someone just moved in.
Seeing as we didn't want to work together in the first place, we split up for the time being trying to search as much of the room as possible. He went to check out the boxes while I look through the shelves. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to find in them but they should be more organized than random boxes. I skimmed through the row after row of thick clearbooks and file organizers, hoping to find at least one tiny pack of drugs but found nothing important.
As I moved onto the next shelf I could feel a slight shiver on the back of my neck. I whipped around. Someone was watching us, I could feel it but I couldn't see anyone or anything that looked alive. I glared at the invisible threat, thinking I could chase it away by just looking at it but the unnerving panoptic feeling remained.
I would have gone to investigate more but then in the distance I could hear Kojiro groan in annoyance "I don't think they're on this floor."
I had to agree on him on that one. The only thing we were finding here was junk and dust. I took a final glance at the shelf, half-hoping to find something useful and only noticed now how there was a particular name scribbled on the spine of nearly every file.
Tatsumiya M.
I picked one up and skimmed through the pages. It was filled with detailed records of her past jobs, accounts of who she worked for, where the job took place and even how much he got from the job. It was crazy! I shook my head in disbelief. It couldn't be. She makes sure that she no one can record what she has done. She is supposed to be undetectable. Was someone targeting Mana?
"Hey shortie, are you coming or what?" Kojiro's unbearable voice snapped me out of it. He was already near the staircase leading downwards, occasionally looking down the stairs like he was expecting someone to charge at us, "I'd like to finish this quick if you don't mind."
I left the files as they were and strode to where he was standing. Kojiro was part of a criminal organization, maybe he knew something and as much as I don't want to ask him of all people, I really didn't have a choice. "Hey dog" No response "Is someone out to get Mana?"
"Are you kidding me?" he scoffed "That woman has helped and betrayed nearly everyone in the business. She's bound to pick up a few enemies that way and-"
"Anyone in particular?" I cut him off. If someone were really targeting Mana then we're all in trouble.
"None that I can think of right now" he paused "If someone was out to get Tatsumiya then they haven't had much luck don't you think?"
Mana is alive and well, that much is true but what if they were just waiting for the right time to attack? Judging from the all those files, and the possibility that the other shelves have similar content, they knew too much and whatever they're planning is dangerous.
"Why'd you ask?" His voice seemed all business, as if he could sense the danger I was feeling.
"Nothing. Just wondering." There was no need to tell him of all people anything right now. Mana is the first person I should speak with about this issue.
We descended down the stairs and were once again met with a storage area. With no arguments, we split up again to search for drugs but instead of focusing on the job, I was too transfixed on the files neatly lined up on the shelves. I picked a few up and decided to look through them. Some were filled with profiles of past clients while others were lists and descriptions of the weapons Mana owned. If they had all this intel, who knows what they have planned for Mana.
No sign of the drugs were found on this floor as well. Not that I was trying hard or anything anyway. And as we walked down another flight of stairs my mind was drowning in everything that was happening lately. I nearly died; I'm working with the person who tried to kill me; I found out my boss has enemies (though to be honest I should have figured that out sooner); and then there's that kiss…
I never really gave it much thought recently. Not that I forgot about it, how could I forget something as amazing as her lips touching mine? But I've just been so confused lately. I've been telling myself that the kiss was only a thank you for saving her but I doubt a kiss is a normal sign of thanks. I don't even know if I like her that way, or if she even likes me the way I think she does. Konoka hasn't even said anything about that kiss yet and it's driving me crazy! More so than how crazy she usually makes me feel. Although I have to admit, I really wouldn't mind if it happened again.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I could hear a hushed voice call. Completely forgetting I was on a mission for a second, I turned and almost asked who was there, only to be pulled into a dark room roughly and crash landing on the hard floor.
"What the he-"
"Shhh" It was Kojiro, "Do you want to blow our cover?"
"What happened?" I asked, as he peeked through the slightly agape door.
"Didn't you hear those voices coming our way?"
I obviously did not.
"I don't know how many there are but it sounds like there are a lot of them" he explained, still on the lookout for signs of danger, "I say we wait here until they get close enough and jump 'em."
Wow. The dog actually has a plan I can agree to.
Picking myself up from the ground, my eyes looked around making sure Kojiro didn't throw me in a modern torture room by 'mistake.' I didn't know what I was expecting to see -although if we saw the drugs in here that would be great- but I wasn't expecting to see a simple looking bedroom. But with the two single beds on opposite walls and the study tables and cabinets in a mirrored arrangement, the room looked more like a dorm room. It didn't look occupied though.
"No one's coming this way" I heard him whisper. He doesn't conceal his annoyance well, "Let's just jump them now."
"Wasn't staying here and waiting for them your idea?" As much as I'd like to get this job over with, stealth is still our primary concern.
"We'll be here all night if we don't do something now" He said, cracking his knuckles, "I don't know about you but the sooner you stop breathing the same air I do, the better."
I rolled my eyes at him. I wasn't going to argue with that logic.
I unsheathed Yuunagi, getting ready for battle. Kojiro gave me a small nod, signaling he was ready, and I responded with one back. We might not like each other but at least we understood each other to some extent.
"I heard the voices on the corner to the left" He said, "Ready or not here we go" before I even got chance to suggest a plan; the dog burst through the door louder than a marching band on a parade. How can I work with this?
Nevertheless, I followed him and as we made a sharp turn on the said left corner we were greeted with… no one, nothing. Stranger still was that we could still hear the voices of people talking and laughing. What the hell was going on?
We followed the voices down the hall, past the rooms and even down the stairs. I was starting to think that being with Kojiro for this long has made me insane. The voices always seemed so close but we could never reach them. When I finally got my hands on these guys I would definitely enjoy it.
"Move it, shorty!" What did he just call me? "We're losing them because of you!"
"Excuse me?" I've had it with this guy! Screw running behind him, I picked up my pace like it was no big deal and was running ahead of him "If you weren't so damn loud then maybe we could have sneaked up on them!"
"Are you saying this is my fault?"
We were still running.
"I'm saying all of this is your fault. And if you had just stayed in jail then maybe I could be at home right now."
From what or to where I couldn't give a damn anymore.
"Well sorry for cutting off your time with your girlfriend!"
I just want him out of my sight!
"She is not my girlfriend!"
The running ceased and our breathing became more visible but we were by no means tired. But I was tired of this situation, tired of him. Why was I subjected to sacrifice even one minute of my life with him? Just one stab was all it took for me to end him. It was that easy.
Before I could even attempt to murder him, I heard slow, rhythmic clapping headed in our direction. If this was someone I could kill then this person came at the right time. We both turned to the direction of the clapping, probably with the same idea in mind. I expected a grunt, maybe a kid who didn't know what he was getting himself into but instead I saw a tall, tanned woman frowning at the both of us. I knew this frown; I only see it when I've screwed up big time. I guess this is one of them.
"You two," she said as she stood nearly a meter away from me and Kojiro "I think I've seen enough."
…=============…
Well here it is! Wow I never thought I'd get this done at all but thank goodness for short school breaks. This story has taken a turn that I never planned at first so I hope that even with that change you guys will still like where this is all headed. I would like to thank all my old readers for sticking with me and for the new readers, welcome aboard! I'll see you all next time guys! (Review if you have time~) Stay classy!
Dana-chan out~!