-Michiru-
"Are you sure it is ok for me to stay here?" Riko asked as they entered Michiru's apartment.
"Of course Riko-ba-chan." Michiru laughed. "The apartment is easily big enough for the two of us and it would be ridiculous for you to get your own place just for the few weeks that you are in Tokyo. Also, I can't let you stay that long in a Hotel while you are this close and I am hardly at home anyway, so you won't have to worry that we will get onto each other's nerves." Michiru chuckled as she walked towards the guest room to show it to her aunt.
"Ok, you convinced me. By the way, you have a really nice place Michi-chan." Riko commented.
"You don't have to be polite ba-chan. I know that it is sparsely furnished." Michiru snickered.
"No, I like the open space, it gives you plenty of space to paint with no distraction." Riko justified her comment.
"Also one way of putting it. By the way, friends of mine have asked me over for dinner, would you like to join us ba-chan?" Michiru asked her aunt.
"Oh no. You young people have fun. I will just meet up with Kakashi-kun at some Izakaya tonight that he loves so much….I think it is called Yamaguchi's…" her aunt tried to recall.
"Oh, what is the occasion?" Michiru asked.
"I still owe him dinner." Riko winked.
"The food is amazing there, but be careful with their sake selection. It is vast, superb and can be quite lethal." Michiru chuckled.
-Kakashi-
He was waiting patiently in front of Yamaguchi's until a Taxi pulled up in front of it and Riko got out of the car.
"Evening Kakashi-kun." She greeted him casually.
"Evening Senpai, let's get inside." He ushered her towards Hiroshi who led them to a small private booth in the back.
"Just all the recommendations of the evening and cold beers." Riko ordered after they were seated.
"Don't you want to have a look at the menu at all?" Kakashi asked her.
"No point. Akira has never put the best dishes onto the menu and we are too old to toil around with normal dishes." Riko waved away easily. "So how did your department hold up with you being absent for four days?" Riko asked him in return.
"Nothing has burned down yet, but I was meaning to ask you. Do you know why Takashi is coming back?" Kakashi asked his former tutor.
"You know my department only deals with things that have never happened." Riko answered evenly.
"Is something 'not' happening here?" Kakashi continued to ask her.
"If I told you, then it would have not 'not' happened, but what I can tell you is that the person who has taken Tomoko and Haruki from us will definitely wish his parents had not spent that fateful night with one another to bring him into existence." Riko smirked.
Their drinks and appetisers arrived and Riko nodded appreciatively towards Hiroshi before sending her regards to his father, Akira.
"Is Takashi aware of what you are doing?" Kakashi asked tentatively.
"Unlike your department, my department is part of the IIA but utterly independent. The magic of probable deniability." Riko raised her glass before taking a good sip of it.
"So he really doesn't know what you are doing?" Kakashi asked impressed.
"It is my business what I do and no one will nor wants to know what that is. We all sleep better that way. All Takashi gets to see from me is the yearly budget request and the assurance that all my actions are for the greater good." Riko smirked.
"And he just trusts you like that?" Kakashi asked doubtfully.
"I know most of his most precarious skeletons in his closet. If I wanted to bust his chops, I could do so anytime i felt like it, but I haven't and I won't, at least in my life time. If he wouldn't trust me, he would have stopped sleeping at night a long time ago." Riko chuckled.
"So you really think the main assassin of my sister is here?" Kakashi asked before he started to drink his beer.
"I know I am close. It is only a matter of time before he slips up." Riko stated evenly before she reached for the sashimi.
"You are sure it is a he?" Kakashi continued to ask calmly before he started to eat.
"Yes. If it were a woman, Haruka and Haruto would have joined their parents on the same day to minimise suffering, or at least Tomoko would have been spared for her children." Riko pointed out calmly.
-Setsuna-
Setsuna arrived early at Makoto's apartment and rang its bell.
"Welcome Setsuna." Makoto greeted her at the door.
"Excuse my intrusion." Setsuna smiled and stepped into the cosy apartment.
Ami and Michiru were already there and Setsuna joined them at the table while Makoto brought out the last sushi plates she had been preparing for them.
"It all looks very delicious." Michiru praised Makoto.
"Please go ahead with eating, I think Minako and Rei will be fashionably late like usual." Makoto encouraged them to start eating.
Ami poured each of them some sake when Michiru casually asked her if she had heard anything of Kakyuu.
"No, I haven't. I actually wanted to ask her something about Ayumi's research but when I tried to contact her, her assistant had told me that she had gone on a sabbatical and would not return any time soon. In the meantime, her father will be filling in her position. If I remember correctly, Dr Abe Senior is supposed to arrive back in Tokyo next week." Ami recalled. "Why do you want to know?" Ami asked in return.
"I was just wondering since I haven't heard from her in a while." Michiru answered casually.
"Shouldn't you have met Haruka's gang in Kyoto? They usually spent Obon there with Kakashi." Setsuna noted surprised.
"Yes we did meet, but only very short. I just wanted to ask her for the pictures we took that night at the river, but she hadn't gotten back to me yet." Michiru explained.
"Maybe you should ask Hotaru for copies of those pictures." Setsuna suggested. "She has most likely more time and would love to see you again." Setsuna winked.
"That's a good idea. I probably should." Michiru mused.
Suddenly the doorbell rang again, announcing the arrival of Minako and Rei.
"I tell you, this is not good news." Rei told Minako.
"What isn't good news?" Ami asked the new comers.
"Rei just told me that she overheard on the yearly Tenoh clan visit to their family grave that Takashi Tenoh had announced that he would be moving back to Tokyo for good." Minako explained with a deep frown.
-Michiru-
Takashi Tenoh had not been back for a full day yet and already the first heads were rolling.
This morning Kakashi had been put on forced leave from his position and Setsuna had been put in his place as the head of the International Security in addition to her duties of head of Security and Research, due to rumours of foul play that had resulted in the death of a foreign agent.
Ami had been put on a sabbatical to polish up on her skills and as indirect punishment for not noticing what Ayumi was up to, even though they were only sharing laboratories and not any work by any means.
And now it was her turn to be called up to the provisional office, Takashi Tenoh had assigned himself until his official office on top of the building would be remodelled and furnished.
Michiru stood in front of the conference room, nervously thinking over all her actions, if there was anything she could be reprimanded for and if anyone besides Kakashi and her aunt had spotted them hugging, when suddenly the door opened and Takashi ordered her to come in.
"Have a seat Kaioh-san" He instructed her as he went through some paperwork on the big conference table.
Michiru obliged and sat down opposite to him and waited for further instructions.
"I need you to put the training manual, that I asked you to write, on hold and do this investigation for me instead. A while ago foreign agent had entered the country on a secret, unsanctioned mission and has died as a result. At least that is the suspicion that has been carried to me. He came under the guise of being a tourist and has officially died while trying to rescue people from a burning building outside of Osaka. The result of this fire was 35 dead including himself and no survivors. Our Chinese contacts suspect that all of that was not just a simple accident and that their man, Kin Zhao, was wrongly killed. I would like you to find out everything that there is to know about this case with Agent Kino as your assistant. I expect a thorough report by the end of next month at the latest." Takashi explained to Michiru her new ask as he passed her a file.
"Understood Tenoh-sama." Michiru nodded.
"One more thing Kaioh-san. Please, make sure that all agents under your care refrain from contacting Mizuno-sensei. The doctor needs to concentrate on the topic that she has been assigned for her sabbatical." Takashi reminded Michiru sternly before he dismissed her.
"Understood Tenoh-sama." Michiru stood up and left the room.
-Setsuna-
Setsuna just got back from work and was utterly worn out with the double duties that were assigned to her.
At least she got to keep Minako as well as Rei as her assistants and contrary to Kakashi's regular complaints about Minako's work ethics when he wasn't watching her, she was extremely efficient and knew exactly what was going on at all times.
Setsuna dropped her bag on the dresser in the hallway and walked towards her couch, where she dropped her worn body.
"At least take off your jacket before it gets wrinkled." Kakashi snickered from the shadows of her bedroom, where he was hiding.
"What are you doing here? Are you not supposed to be under surveillance and in your home, resting away your annual leave that you forgot to take for the past eight years?" Setsuna asked him surprised as he came closer and sat down next to her.
"Just say how it really is. I am not on leave, I am as good as suspended, if not even fired and until then he just wants to jail me by forced house arrest. The old man has always hated me." Kakashi replied calmly. "Officially I am on my way to a private property in Sweden, Haruka had bought when she quit the agency. He didn't say which place I could stay at to rest and where better than to find rest in the fjords there with my disgraced niece?" Kakashi smirked.
"You shouldn't antagonise him." Setsuna warned Kakashi. "He can be very unpleasant if he wants to be, and not just towards you." She added with a sigh.
"I will be keeping my head very low and I won't be that far away either." Kakashi reassured her.
"When are you leaving?" Setsuna asked him concerned.
"I should be on the plane any minute now." Kakashi chuckled as he looked down onto his watch. "I can't stay long. I just came to tell you that this is not a goodbye. Take this and only use it if absolutely necessary." Kakashi gave her a small flash drive. "It will turn any device you use to a secure line to my private phone." Kakashi explained.
"How long will you be gone?" Setsuna asked Kakashi quietly.
"Too long to be separated from you, and not long enough to be out of Takashi's reach." Kakashi smiled melancholic before he kissed her tenderly. "Whatever happens and whatever you hear, trust me, you know me best. I will be back soon, my future wife." Kakashi smiled his irresistible school boy grin.
-Ami-
Her sabbatical was only limited to a month but it was up to the director to reinstate her when he would see her as suitable enough again to resume her duties. Even after Setsuna's protest, Takashi stayed adamant to send his message that there would be no messing around or leniency for even the slightest of failures while he would be there.
After having gone home, she had found a note among the things she took with her after her dismissal from the agency. It was a simple note, but Ami recognised the handwriting to be Kakashi's.
'midnight, bring go bag, Kabukicho.' Was all the note said.
She was on a forced sabbatical and so was he, so there was really nothing to lose, she thought to herself as she took the metro on the most round about ways to make sure no one was tailing her to Kabukicho.
After being assigned to research various blood tests and to catch up on current stem cell research, which she knew all there was to know about already, since she always kept up to date, she couldn't fall much lower and there was really nothing much she could be doing at home. So she decided to do as she was instructed and was now wandering around an area in Tokyo that was the least like her.
The lights blinked bright, the music was obnoxiously loud and hosts and hostesses tried to pull her into various establishments. But Ami just kept walking pass them until a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Ready to fight off whoever wanted to hold her back she turned around, only to be facing Hiroshi, Atsuko Yamaguchi's grandson.
"Please follow me, Mizuno-sensei", he beckoned as he walked into and through a host bar that was close by them. Behind the bar, a small delivery car was waiting for them and he opened for her the door to the back storage. She quickly climbed inside as she saw Kakashi already sitting in there.
"Ami, want to do something useful during your sabbatical?" Kakashi asked her with a serious tone.
"Of course." Ami confirmed.
"Great, take us to that new Ramen store." Kakashi called out to Hiroshi. "We need to eat well first." Kakashi winked.