"You're insane."
=oOo=
"You cannot be serious about this," Ranno hissed into the receiver of his phone and I found myself growing even more and more intrigued by what was going on. "Rescuing the boy is one thing, Rianellie, but-" Hah. So I was right, but… Who needed rescuing this time around? From what I've heard from the twins, my mom was more than capable in taking on the things we do, so why did it look like she was asking Ranno for help?
My boss struggled to spit something out – most likely to lash at the person on the other end of the line – but his expression was slowly easing out and it looked like we were going to help. "…Give me some time to think about it, Ria… I'll hear from you then." That was practically a yes, and with that, Ranno ended the call and slipped his phone into his coat. A sigh left his lips and lo and behold, he turned towards my general direction. "I do believe Ylana taught you better than that, Demina."
I flinched. He didn't sound mad, but that didn't mean he wasn't. Besides, he could be just fishing. Ugh, but he called me out, so he knew it was me.
"Aren't you the least bit curious as to why your mother called?"
I flinched again. Sneaky little asshole. Grumbling, I put down the box I had carried in with me, stepped out of the shadows and crossed my arms. "How'd you know I was here?"
"It was faint, but I could still sense your aura," he simply answered before he grabbed a nearby chair and sat himself down. "Grab a seat, Mina," my superior hummed, gesturing to the rest of the plastic chairs all stacked up in one corner. "I don't know what your mother was thinking, but if you want to be a part of this, you'll have to listen, and listen well."
Frowning a bit at how cryptic Ranno had suddenly become, I grabbed a chair of my own and sat myself across from him. "Does my mother always wear you out like this?" I callously asked, eyeing my boss. He needed a good night's sleep, or maybe a cup of coffee, or maybe a lot less of my mother.
Ranno found the question funny and chuckled a bit. "Not always, but she's been like this since our Academy days," he honestly answered. However, the relaxed expression he had immediately disappeared and the squinty-eyed man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Your mother wants us to rescue a boy."
Shrugging, I told him, "I heard. So who is it? And what's so special about him that my mom can't handle it by herself?"
"Aster Rikino," he replied without missing a beat.
My brain lagged a bit on that part. The words 'rescue' and 'Aster' didn't sit well with me since it also meant that he was in trouble. My 'brother' was in trouble. And he needed saving to the point not even my mom could handle it. "W-What? Aster? But… What happened?"
My superior opened his eyes and leaned over the nearby table to push the box over to me. Now that I was up close, I could read the words on the label perfectly. But even though I could, I didn't make any sense to me. When it was obvious to Ranno that I didn't understand, he went on explaining. "The Schede," he began, reading off the only two words on the box. "Today, they are a fairly known group of mercenaries that are very similar to us." The man shook his head. "No… Maybe a more accurate description is that they are the reason I formed this agency."
Come to think of it, Hibiki and Ylana did mention something going down that led to Ranno setting up the agency. But I didn't think of it then since I didn't actually expect that bit of trivia to pop up in my future.
"Ria was a wreck when she lost you," he grimly said. "All she could think about was getting you back by any means necessary and if she couldn't, she had sworn to take down everything related to the people who took you away." I didn't know how to answer, so I just settled with a nod. I had heard this before – the Suki had told me about it – but it sounded a whole lot darker now that Ranno was telling the tale. "Almost seven years ago, Ria had associated herself with the Schede in hopes of gathering information for her cause. Back then, they were as infamous as the Phantom Troupe and received numerous clients. You could say that seven years ago, the Schede were at the top of their game."
"But…?" I drawled. There was a huge 'but' attached to that statement and I knew it.
The older man sighed. "But several of the Schede's clients suddenly… disappeared and rumors began to spread. The most notorious of which was that members of the Schede were using client information for their own purposes."
Inwardly, I groaned. "Mom." If she was going to pull something like that, then the least she could do was try not to get caught.
Ranno nodded. "It was, without a doubt, your mother's handiwork, and when suspicion had turned to her, she did what she does best: disappear… It was around that time that her name debuted as one of the names on the Underworld's blacklist. The hunt was on, but Rianellie couldn't keep running for ever. No matter what the people said, she was still, after all, human and as her friends, we couldn't help but reach out a hand when she turned to us in her time of need. In our own ways, the twins and I managed to get rid of her tail for her and to keep an eye out for her, I set up this agency."
Scowling even deeper, I said, "So this whole thing is a front? That this is actually some sort of radar for my mother's sake?"
My boss shrugged. "No, not exactly. It was for my sake as well. Thanks to my involvement seven years ago, my superiors had grown wary of me and I opted to resign before things grew out of hand. With a family to sustain, no job to provide income and skills no ordinary man possessed, I took a gamble and decided to enter this world."
Everything Ranno was saying didn't sit well with me, but it was all so plausible. My mom's record wasn't really the cleanest, but that was completely different from believing Ranno. Sure, I did some digging after my memories came back and what Suki had told me was consistent with what I saw on paper-slash-screen. But all of those were verifiable up until she left Valine with Shigeru. Everything after that was bordering speculation and most probably hearsay.
Then again, my mother wasn't the issue here. Not right now. It was Aster. My almost, sort of, practically brother who had gone missing four years ago and needed a good beating.
Aster.
Saving Aster from whatever shit he had gotten himself into was the priority.
I cleared my throat and put on the most natural-slash-unsuspicious face I could. "So, Aster needs saving, right?" Ranno considered me for a few moments before he nodded.
"He does. Thanks to what Ria did, the Schede isn't what it once was and they have reason to suspect that one of them has been in contact with her. "
"And obviously, they don't like her and they're out to get her, because no one in this world can ever let go of things," I mumbled, mostly to myself, but I was well aware that the man sitting right across from me could perfectly hear me.
A sigh escaped the man's lips and he continued. "According to Ria, the Schede has been keeping a close eye on your brother since an incident earlier this year, when he was sent to Umbel with two other comrades who failed to return." I blinked. Oh. Then that meant… But I couldn't help it back then. There was nothing else I could do. "You were pushed to your limits, Mina. What's done is done."
Right. What's done was done. There was no point in mulling over it. "…We're in, right? We're going to get him, right?" I couldn't help but ask because if we were gonna help, this hit a little too close to home and it kinda made sense to remove someone from a request that was too personal.
Grunting, Ranno got up onto his feet and began cleaning up, putting the papers back into the box. Well that wasn't good. "Hey, we are going to save my brother, right? And I'm going to tag along, right?" My boss still wasn't answering. "Ranno. I have to save him."
"I have no qualms with us rescuing your brother, but the way your mother wants it to be done is something I doubt you can handle," he finally said as he placed the cover back on the box.
"And I don't care," I argued. How many times did I have to repeat myself that I was willing to do anything and everything to get him back? The man's already narrow eyes narrowed even more up to the point where I couldn't see his eyes anymore. It was funny, really, and any other day I would've said something about it, but now wasn't really the time to piss my boss off. Not when I was this close to seeing Aster again.
"You'd be staining your hands for no other reason than being given an order."
I didn't flinch. "Then it'd be just another day of work," I chimed, keeping a straight face. "My hands are already too dirty for me to care anyway." Still, Ranno didn't look all too convinced, but I had a feeling he wasn't planning on forcing me to stay behind. Besides, if he was going to drag in Hibiki, Ylana and the twins, that meant what they were planning was something big and that Ranno needed all the people he could trust.
– hah, just came up with that nickname right now – didn't even try to argue anymore after that and we soon made our way out of the dimly lit room. Ranno's apartment was on the fourth floor so we parted ways at the staircase.
"Ria's given me three days to come to a decision," he said as I took one step down. "The four of us will talk about this tomorrow noon to discuss our course of action. I'll be informing Suki and Yuki as well and once your mother contacts us, we'll start moving. Understood?"
I turned a bit to look at him and nodded. "Yes, Sir. Have a good night." Ranno returned the greeting and then walked away.
When I got back to my room, the first thing I did was get the bath running. Ever since I got back a few hours ago, I hadn't taken the time to wash off the day's dirt. My fridge would have to wait. Whatever thing that could be rotting in there could rot for another few hours. I was gonna take a bath and get some shut eye. After the well-deserved cleaning and changing into something warm and comfy, I stole a glance at my phone and I found myself raising an eyebrow.
Huh.
Kurapika hadn't called me for a few days now. After all, he did say that he was going on some trip with Light Nostrade by the end of the month. He was busy with work, probably, but a simple call or a message would've been nice. A thought then crossed my mind and I couldn't help but slap my forehead. I forgot I had to talk to Ranno about filing for another vacation. Of course, earlier wasn't really the best time to bring that up, but I had to remember to mention it.
Ah, but with what was going on with Aster and my mom and this Schede people, I doubted whether or not Kurapika's proposed plans could push through. In the end, I decided to just leave the Kurta a message to keep him posted before throwing myself face first on the bed. He could get to that whenever he was free.
=oOo=
Ylana slammed her cup of coffee onto her table as soon as Ranno walked out the office. Our 'meeting' went pretty smoothly if anybody asked me – except for the part where he said, 'you know the drill', because I so did not know the drill and when I asked, everyone effectively ignored me – but based on the look on Ylana's face, she wasn't too happy with what was going on. "So we're doing this again, huh?" Hibiki sighed as he leaned back against his comfy chair. It was true. That chair was nice.
"Apparently so," my senior-slash-Nen-master grumbled. I watched with mild interest as she and Hibiki started an unusually civil conversation about my mother. It was entertaining to hear them agree on something – they're mutual interest and-slash-or irritation towards my mom – but only to a certain degree since I kinda started getting a strange feeling. "We're working for her again."
Blinking, I put on a small frown and raised a hand. "Sorry, but I was under the impression that you guys and my mom were… Well, I dunno… Friends?" Ylana gave me her straight face as an answer. "Acquaintances?" Now even Hibiki was crossing his arms and shaking his head. Alright. I felt like an idiot.
The older woman sighed and flicked the lone lock of blonde hair from her face. "Actually, Rookie, we've never actually seen or talked to your mom," Hibiki explained. "The arrangement is that she talks to Ranno and Ranno talks to us." He then shook his head. "Records about her are pretty accurate until several years back, but that's all we know."
"Simply put," Ylana interjected. "Rianellie Lovell is as good as a ghost. No one knows where she is anymore. No one knows what she looks like anymore… But she will be there when you least expect it."
At that point, I started to get a tad bit confused. My mom's basically a stranger to them, but they go through a hell of a lot to clean up after her bloody mess. They were practically being used and I was pretty sure being used wasn't a good experience. So why?
"It's because of loyalty," she answered, seeming to read the thoughts right out of my head. I turned to Hibiki and the man just smiled.
"Believe it or not, Ranno grows on you," he awkwardly chuckled. "He's mean, yeah, but he's a loveable oaf." The blonde pointed a thumb towards Ylana. "Even ice queen over here can't go against his orders, and she was his senior officer back in the day." I raised an eyebrow.
"I should've sewn your mouth shut a long time ago," Ylana sighed before finishing off her cup of coffee and getting up. "We have a few days before Rianellie contacts Ranno again, so there won't be an official order until then; however, I don't expect Ranno to have us wait around any longer. Hibiki?"
Said man pulled out a phone. "Booking the tickets as we speak. An hour and a half good enough for you ladies?" he asked as he dialed a number and pressed the device to his ear.
Ylana nodded. "You wanted to know what the drill is, correct?" More likely than not, she was talking to me. I hesitantly answered with a slow nod. "Whenever Rianellie stirs up something, Ranno sends us ahead to do surveillance. We're going to Ornido."
=oOo=
Going to Ornido.
Hah.
Well that sounded like a grand idea. Getting used to the area. Trying to get a grip on what was happening… Yeah. It was the best idea… if anyone wanted to become a human popsicle! Damn it! I've had my share of mountain climbing, trekking, running and all the other bloody, goddamn activities that would normally cause an average person to pass out if done in one day, but this? Oh no. I, Demina Lovell, was not gonna put up with this.
Apparently, Ornido was a village up in an all-year-round snow covered mountain range and mind you, I was not fond of the cold. Not when it was trying to kill me in this goddamn blizzard. If it was being nice and asking me if I wanted to build a snowman, then sure, go ahead, but the white stuff wasn't playing fair and Hibiki, Ylana and I were at the back a not-so-insulated truck, going up the slope that was as smooth as the sea in the middle of a tsunami, at a turtle's pace.
Oh gods, I think I'm gonna be sick.
But despite all the mean, bad, not-so-pleasant thoughts running through my head, there was only one thing echoing over and over again in my head.
I was so gonna beat Aster up.
But I-slash-we needed to save him first, and to save him, I-slash-we needed to get through this snowstorm in this truck and reach the town of Ornido. God knows how those people survive up here.
"Can't handle the cold, lollipop?" Hibiki teased from the other side of the truck. I shot the man – who was by the way, buried in around five layers of clothes – a glare. But instead of stopping, he reached his arms out to me. "Why don't you snuggle over closer to me and keep each other warm?"
"I hope this blizzard kills me… or you," I muttered. "Hopefully you." Still grumbling to myself, I scooted over to Ylana to ask the one question everyone hated to hear, but I just had to say it. "Are we there yet?"
I heard a sigh come from the older woman who kinda, by default, was the leader since Ranno wasn't around yet. Ylana lifted a portion of the thick-but-not-thick-enough canvass that separated us from the harsh, cold winds outside to take a peek. "We should be there in another half hour." I groaned.
Keep it together, Demina. You need to get your brother to give him a good punch to the face. Incentive, Demina. Incentive.
Of course, I was still overly concern for Aster's welfare, but right now, my sisterly concern was greatly outweighed by my sisterly irritation.
Half an hour felt like an eternity, but even when we reached Ornido, the storm was still kicked into high gear. We settled ourselves in a nice, warm inn, thank god, but we still had a job to do so we were out in the cold again. Thankfully, the storm had eased up by then – it didn't want to freeze us to death as much as it wanted to a while ago – but it was still hell of a lot cold. If this was how it was around here in mid-autumn, I wondered how it was in winter.
On a surprising note, our phones could still manage to pick up a signal in this isolated place, and as proof, Ylana sent a text message and received one in return. "It's Yuki," she informed us when she looked up from her phone and probably saw the curious looks on mine and Hibiki's faces. "She and her sister are already on their way here. She says they'll be arriving later tonight."
"And Ranno?" Hibiki asked.
"He has already left Colarina, but he's waiting for Rianellie's call before he goes up the mountain," she answered. "Service is available in Ornido, but not on the roads leading up here. Until then, we're expected to cooperate with the twins and keep watch of the Schede's hideout."
"Which is where, exactly?"
Ylana turned around and pointed at a lone, large house – alright, it was a mansion – sitting on a slope higher up the mountain. Talk about suspicious. "We do not know what is up there, so keep your wits about. For now, we will maintain a minimum distance of five hundred meters from the property and avoid the Schede at all costs. Understood?" Hibiki and I nodded in unison. Sitting in the middle of a snowstorm to watch a nest filled with not-too-friendly people holding my brother as a prisoner should be fun, very fun indeed.
