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Part 4:
The door to the Captains' office burst open. "Captain Gotoh, si... Where
is Captain Gotoh?"
Gomioka blinked, looking up from the paperwork he was engaged on. "Eh?
Didn't you know? Captain Gotoh was called away on an investigation, as was
Captain Shinobu. I'm in command of both units until they return."
Ohta blinked. "And where is Lt. Takeo?"
"She's conducting an independent investigation. Same crime, but a
different aspect of it."
Ohta smiled widely. He didn't know Gomioka all that well, and the veteran
pilot of the first unit certainly didn't know him all that well. But
Gomioka was inexperienced, and might be enough of a pushover to actually
allow what he was considering.
"Well, then, sir, I guess I'm supposed to bring this request to you.
Please, sir- may I engage in firearms drills?"
Gomioka sighed. He'd been expecting this. "Well... okay. But no
live-ammo drills."
Ohta's eyes darkened considerably. It looked like he was running into the
same opposition he always did. "Sir! Shouldn't we be prepared in case we
need to battle another labor of equal or greater force than our own?"
Gomioka smirked. "Our labors are at the top of the line, at the moment.
They can handle anything."
"Sir, what if we have to face another police Ingram? Especially one
piloted by one of our former officers!?"
Gomioka set down the papers he'd been looking over, and gave Ohta a hard
look. "Now come on, Officer Isao. Do you REALLY expect Ms. Izumi to
engage us in combat?"
"YES!" Ohta cried. "Before she broke Asuma out of prison, I might not have
thought her capable of it. But now that I know to what lengths she would
go to protect her partner-"
"Ohta," Gomioka sighed. "I'll level with you. Captains Gotoh and Shinobu
are on their way to proving Officer Shinohara's innocence. It appears it
may all be a big frame up, involving upper-echelon officers of the police
department... including our own Chief Fukushima. He's already admitted to
falsifying some reports that may be part of the cover-up of a theft, and
Lieutenant Kumagami is working with a close source that may be able to find
direct evidence of the true culprits guilt. We won't NEED to fight them-
we'll have them cleared of all charges before any battle takes place."
"Sir, if that was true, then WHY did Shinohara run? It makes no sense!
He's a police officer- he should have known better. No, I believe Asuma's
guilty- his own escape convinces me of that!"
Gomioka sighed. "Whether he's innocent or guilty, there will STILL be no
life-fire gun drills today, Officer Isao. Even if I agreed with you about
the need- which I don't- it is not in my power to authorize the ammo
usage." He picked up his papers. "Unless there's something more, you're
dismissed."
"I can't BELIEVE that you, a fellow labor pilot, would deny me something
which you must KNOW we need!" Ohta ranted. "If I was you, I'd find some
way past the red tape and mmmph! MMMMPH! MMMH MMH MMMMMH!"
Hiromi and Shinshi rushed in to the rescue. Hiromi clapped a hand over
Ohta's mouth while Shinshi started bowing to Gomioka profusely as they
backed the enraged labor pilot out of the office.
"We're sorry, sir," he explained. "We let him out of our sight for a
minute. Won't happen again!"
When the door closed, Gomioka shook his head, smirking. "Weird crew. It's
amazing that Gotoh's able to get ANYTHING from them."
Sighing, he turned the page of the sheet listing the daily orders he was
reviewing. At the top of that sheet, in large print, highlighted, and
underlined multiple times, were the words, "Under NO circumstances is
Officer Ohta Isao to be allowed ANY life-fire practice with the firearms.
Violation of this directive will result in your immediate transfer from
Special Vehicles to a lesser position... like meter maid."
* * * * *
"You REBUILT the damn thing?" Takeo demanded, standing next to Wong. They
were in the construction bay of his floating base of operations, watching a
newly-rebuilt Griffin receive some fine-tuning.
"Well, we weren't planning to use it against your team again," Wong
admitted sheepishly. "It's really just an experimental model, a
demonstration of what our boys in development can produce. Besides,
considering all the infighting that goes on in Shaft International, it's
probably a good idea for me to have something like this around for personal
security."
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "You need a LABOR to protect you due to corporate
infighting? Just what kind of enemies do you have in Shaft?"
"Well, I DID have to fight off four of 3-S's Abraham labors back during the
first trial runs of the Griffin, because your people discovered me," Wong
recalled. "And occasionally someone will bring in a Brochen or something
and try to use it against me." He shrugged. "What do you expect from a
company like Shaft?"
Before Takeo could formulate a response to that, one of Wong's subordinates
ran into the room and delivered a note to him. "Important message, sir,"
the man said. "From one of your contacts in headquarters."
Wong looked at the memo in his hands, skimming the writing. He looked up
and smiled at Takeo. "Well, that was sooner than I was expecting."
"What?"
"It seems we've found the location where Shaft is storing the police
firearm used in the murder. If we can get to it before they clean the
barrel, your team should be able to clear Asuma with a simple ballistics
check."
Takeo raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realize that this will probably
destroy Shaft, don't you? They will be so harshly penalized by the
government that they won't be able to remain intact."
Wong continued smiling. "Not destroy, but merely fragment. Why, chances
are section seven will become an independent company under my charge!" He
nodded to her. "Come on, let's go round up your two friends and we'll
strike against the facility which holds this vital piece of evidence.
We'll probably need their help... and the help of their labor. The Griffin
can't do this alone- at least, not nearly as easily."
* * * * *
Gotoh lit up his cigarette, smiling slightly. "Job well done, if I do say
so for myself," he commented.
Shinobu grimaced. Gotoh had a lot of bad habits, and smoking was one of
the worst of them. Usually, she was able to ignore it, but when they were
in an enclosed space together- like a car or, in this case, the tiny
waiting room for a prison warden's office, she couldn't help but pay
attention to it.
Fanning she smoke out of her face, she asked, "What job?"
"Noa's attack. Did you see the two 97's as we were coming in?"
Shinobu shook her head disgustedly. "Those things didn't stand a chance
against an Ingram."
"I disagree," Gotoh rebuked. "If the pilots in those 97s were good enough,
they could have given an Ingram considerable trouble. After all, they
outnumbered her two to one, and had the advantage of knowing the landscape
reasonably well. I daresay your Gomioka might have stood a chance of
slowing an Ingram down... if that Ingram was piloted by anyone other than
Noa." He paused, allowing her time to comment. She didn't- actually, she
was rather impressed with the female labor pilot, herself, but she didn't
see what made Gotoh comment on how well Noa's piloting was in this
incident.
When he was convinced Shinobu wasn't going to say anything, he continued,
"I was referring to the precision of her assault. Did you notice that
neither labor had any EXPENSIVE damage done to it? Just damaged knees in
one and a cut power line in the other. This amount of restraint DESPITE
her obviously irrational mood at Asuma's arrest and DESPITE being in combat
with two labors at once." He paused. "If anything, her anger made her
even better. Which, while she usually fights better when angry, is unusual
in that she's usually more destructive when mad."
Shinobu considered that briefly. "Maybe she'd calmed down before getting
into the fight?" she theorized.
"You don't calmly break someone out of jail," Gotoh noted. "But perhaps
she wasn't ANGRY so much as filled with another emotion..."
His voice trailed off, and Shinobu wondered what it was he was thinking.
She was about to ask them when Inspector Matsui rejoined them from the
wardens office.
"Thanks for waiting," the inspector said. "I think my interview was rather
successful. Come on, let's head back to your car, Gotoh."
The three policemen stood up and slowly made their way out of the prison.
"What did you learn?" Shinobu asked curiously.
"Enough," Matsui said. "He confirmed what the Deputy Commissioner of Penal
Facilities admitted to ordering- that Shinohara not be allowed to change
into plainclothes before his incarceration, and his bribing some of the
more viscous thugs in the cell Shinohara was placed in to try and arrange
an 'accident' for young Asuma."
"Of course," Gotoh said. "Whoever planned this knew that there was no way
the evidence would stand up in court."
Matsui nodded. "Right. At any rate, with everything else we've got, we
should have a relatively easy time clearing his name... provided we can
find the murder weapon. Until we find that, a lot of this stuff could be
considered somewhat circumstantial."
Shinobu blinked. "A conspiracy to murder someone in prison could be
considered 'circumstantial'?"
Inspector Matsui shook his head. "Not exactly, but it doesn't mean that
there was a conspiracy to frame that same person. Could just be the police
trying to eliminate a potential embarrassment. If we could confirm,
though, that the weapon that Shaft managed to obtain was, indeed, the
murder weapon... well, that would go pretty far in clearing Asuma's name."
"So how do we find that weapon?" Gotoh asked.
Matsui grinned slightly. "Well, hopefully, that's what your Lieutenant
Kumagami will handle for us."
* * * * *
Noa was startled awake when her pillow suddenly decided to sit up.
Blinking sleepily, she exclaimed, "Huh, what?!" when her head hit the
floor.
"Sorry," Asuma apologized as he quickly disentangled himself from her.
"But I hear a helicopter landing outside. Make that TWO helicopters."
"Two helicopters?" Noa echoed, the sleep leaving her voice. "Then... it's
probably not Wong, is it."
Asuma shook his head. "No- probably not." Rolling out of the futon, he
ran over to where their clothes were stashed and quickly tossed her an
outfit before he started getting dressed himself. "Keep quiet, but get
ready to leave in a hurry."
Noa nodded and hurriedly started slipping on her underwear. She was just
reaching for her blouse when the door opened and in walked Takeo and Wong.
"Oh, terribly sorry," Wong apologized. "I thought you'd be up hours ago-
it's already the afternoon, after all. Long night?"
Takeo noted Noa's half-naked state (and flat-eyed, shell-shocked gaze), saw
a shirtless Asuma, and blushed. "Um... if you want, we can leave and give
you two a chance to get dressed."
Asuma shook his head, slipping his hands into the sleeves of a shirt.
"You're back several days sooner than I was expecting, so you must have
important news. If it's that important, I don't want to wait to find out
what it is."
Takeo noticed Wong eyeing Noa, who was still just in her underwear and had
added a blush that was going all the way down her neck, and gave him a
short elbow in the side. "Hey!" she exclaimed, annoyed on Noa's behalf-
and maybe just a tiny bit jealous. "Concentrate on business, here!"
Noa, finally shaken out of her stupor, "Eep!"ed and ducked into the
bathroom, taking her clothes with her. "I'll change in here," her voice
echoed out from its confines. "I'll still hear whatever you guys say."
Wong, still rubbing his side, frowned at Takeo briefly before turning his
attention back to Asuma. "Well, we have some good news. Pack your bags
and get your things ready- we found the facility which is storing the
weapon that killed your father. We brought a special helicopter which can
airlift your labor to our ship, and from there we'll head for the target."
He smiled again. "After all, you'll probably want to be present as we
clear your name."
Noa emerged from the bathroom, having dressed in record time. "You mean
this is it?" she asked.
Wong nodded reassuringly. "Yes, we're about to take action. Why don't you
go and start your labor to get it outside, okay? Once it's on the ship,
we'll give it a maintenance look-see, free of charge, but we need to get it
there, first."
Noa nodded, and started outside, but Asuma grabbed her by the shoulder
before she took more than a step.
"I don't trust him," he whispered to her. "So once you get Alphonse
loaded, download the movement data to your backup disk and dump the
computer's memory core. Then hide the movement disk- somewhere on your
person, if possible."
Noa nodded. "Right." She squinted at him before she left. "Start
packing, though- I'm looking forward to clearing your name. But don't
forget anything." Without thinking about the implications of her actions,
she gave him a quick peck on the side of the mouth and winked at him before
bolting out the door.
Asuma flushed as both Takeo and Wong shot identical knowing smiles at him.
"What?!" he exclaimed defensively.
Takeo just shook her head in amusement. "Come on, Romeo, let's start
packing up your little lovenest, okay?"
Asuma's embarrassment grew, but he started packing anyway. When he had
recovered his composure, he turned to Wong. "Ya know, I have a hard time
believing you're really helping us, even WITH all of the reasons you gave.
Are you sure you aren't getting anything out of this?"
Wong laughed. "Of COURSE I'm getting something out of this!" He gestured
to Takeo. "Didn't she tell you not to trust me? If she didn't, I'm
ashamed of how lackadaisical her police work has become since I've been
around her!" At Asuma's dumbfounded look, he took pity on the younger man
and explained. "Do you really think my engineers haven't DREAMED of having
a chance to look through one of your labors up close and personal? I don't
know how much of what we find will be new to them, since I suspect that you
just told your girlfriend out there to dump the Ingram's hard drive, but by
helping you out I'm doing my job to the best of my satisfaction. So, of
course I'm getting something out of it."
Noa returned before Asuma had a chance to respond. "Alphonse is loaded up
and ready to go. How much more packing do we need to do?"
"We're pretty much done," Wong announced. "If you'll help us carry a box
or two out to the helicopter, we'll be ready to go in just a few minutes."
Noa nodded, picking up a box and heading outside, Asuma carrying two of his
own boxes on her tail. Wong and Takeo continued to pack up.
Just before she was going to close her box, Takeo spied one last item that
she could pack up. Grabbing the box of condoms, the glanced inside. As
she had suspected, a couple of them were missing.
* * * * *
Gomioka sighed, taking care of some paperwork as he manned the phone at
Shinobu's desk. She and Gotoh had just called, letting him know that the
two captains were returning to base and should be back in about four hours.
Thankfully, no calls had yet come in while they were out, but he still had
to keep waiting for any possible incoming calls.
A snore from the desk across the room disturbed his reverie. In order to
keep him from annoying his teammates with rants against Asuma's escape,
Gomioka had drafted him into answering Gotoh's phone. Thankfully, the day
had been so light that Ohta drifted off to sleep with the inactivity. The
only problem was that Ohta snored. Loudly. VERY loudly.
"Gah! What a buzzsaw," Gomioka muttered, turning back to his paperwork.
Thanks to discussions of the possible formation of a third unit, his
workload had been tripled. Thanks to his being given interim command of
the SV2, he was having a difficult time keeping up, and was VERY glad of
the peace and quiet. Ohta's snoring, however, was not something he'd
factored into the equation, and he was constantly being distracted by the
annoying sound.
The phone on Gotoh's desk rang, startling Ohta awake. He quickly answered
it, and Gomioka was very glad for the reprieve from the constant
disturbance that was Ohta.
That reprieve didn't last long. "They're going to be WHERE?!" Ohta
exploded, quickly scribbling something down. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"
Slamming the phone down, he grabbed the piece of paper and jumped out of
the desk chair. "Lieutenant Gomioka, sir!"
Gomioka sighed. "Yes, Ohta?"
"A call from headquarters, sir! Noa and Asuma are expected to be at this
address by 1600 hours, and we are to scramble to apprehend them!"
Raising an eyebrow, the other police officer stood up and walked over to
get the paper Ohta was waving. When he saw the address, he frowned.
"Hmm... how do we know they'll be there?"
"Apparently, there was an anonymous tip, sir!"
The frown grew. "Really? And how do we know this isn't just an attempt to
distract us so that someone can commit a more serious crime?"
Ohta blinked. "I... don't know, sir. But we've been ordered to scramble
both units, sir!"
Gomioka sighed. "Oh, very well. Go tell Sakaki to prep the labors for
immediate action."
Ohta saluted. "Yes, sir!" he cried, and started out the door. Gomioka
considered things for a moment.
"Wait! Belay that!" he ordered. "You get everyone up and ready to go. I
want to talk to Sakaki about something else, as well."
"Yes, sir!" Ohta acknowledged, then bolted from the office.
Gomioka frowned. "Hmm... now, who would know where Noa and Asuma are going
to be OTHER than Noa and Asuma?"
* * * * *
Noa smiled as she leaned into Asuma. His arm was around her, and the young
couple was standing on the ships deck watching the scenery pass by as they
sailed to their destination. One short mission, and they'd be able to come
out of hiding. And then... maybe she could 'introduce' her father to her
boyfriend (it might be cute to see her father's reaction when he discovered
that the boy who had come to take her home from the grave of Alphonse the
First had won her heart). That might make vacations at home bearable- and
might finally be enough for her father to stop bugging her about quitting
the SV2 and finding a husband. Briefly, Noa wondered if Asuma was going to
ask her to marry her at some point. She wasn't sure he would- he didn't
seem to be the sort of person who would think of that kind of thing. And
to her, it didn't matter any more- she and Asuma were together, in a way
she never thought possible, and she loved it. They hadn't actually said
those three special little words to each other, yet, but that was only a
matter of time. And maybe a matter of resolving this situation they were
in- something which Noa was very glad to finally be doing.
Asuma had been rather quiet since they'd left the cabin- almost as if he
was brooding. He seemed to want to talk to her about something, but was
reluctant to say anything. She could sense it wasn't because he was
nervous about whatever he was going to say (which, she was certain, meant
that he wasn't thinking about popping the question to her just yet), but
felt that he just didn't want this moment to end. She didn't, either, but
it was obvious there was more reason for him bringing her up here then just
a nice cuddle.
"Asuma," she began.
"Hmm?"
"What is it you want to talk about?" she asked. "I know you brought me up
here for some reason, and I don't think you're enough of a romantic for
THIS to be it," she said, giving him a slight squeeze.
"I'm afraid you're right- I don't think I've got a romantic bone in my
body," Asuma replied. "I just wanted to talk to you about this 'mission'
we're going on."
Noa smiled at him. "Well, I certainly don't mind being held by you while
we talk about it."
Asuma half-smiled at her. "I don't mind it, either." His face got serious
and he continued. "Noa... I'm a little worried. I don't really trust
Wong- I don't know what it is he's trying to get out of helping us, and I
don't trust his promises. I'm not even sure we can trust his information."
Noa looked at him in surprise. "I don't trust him, either, but he's right
when he says we don't have any choice. Besides, what do you think we can
do about it?"
Asuma sighed and shook his head. "There's nothing I CAN think of to do
about it. But I... I just want you to be careful, okay? Don't trust the
Griffin. In fact, if we find the murder weapon like we're hoping to, don't
touch it OR let the Griffin touch it, okay? You don't want to ruin the
ballistics, or else this will all be pointless." He swallowed nervously.
"And... look, don't sacrifice your life for this, okay? It's not worth it,
whatever the situation. I'll be happy enough living in hiding with you,
okay?"
Tears almost came to Noa's eyes at that statement. "And you say you don't
have a romantic bone in your body. Asuma, I-"
A door just three feet away from them clanked open, startling the couple.
Takeo walked out, noticed how they were holding each other, and giggled
slightly in embarrassment. "Oops- didn't mean to interrupt. Asuma,
Richard wants to talk you about something."
Asuma sighed, looked an apology at Noa, and disengaged himself. "I'd
better go see what he wants. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Noa looked at him expectantly, but frowned when he just ran through the
door.
Takeo noticed Noa's expression and chuckled. "You were expecting a
good-bye kiss, weren't you?"
Noa flushed. "Well... I should have known better. He just TOLD me he
'doesn't have a romantic bone in his body.'"
Takeo smiled. "Well, that's to be expected. I imagine he has his upside,
though."
Noa smiled. "Yeah... he's just wonderful."
Takeo's eye twinkled. "So... how good is he in bed?"
Noa coughed, startled. "Er, what do you mean?"
Takeo's smile widened, taking on that characteristic smirk which reminded
Noa and Asuma of Richard Wong. "Well, while we were packing your room up I
discovered that a couple of condoms were missing from that package I sent
you. What else did you use them for, an art project?"
Noa blushed deeply. "Er... well, okay. Yeah, we... eventually went that
far." She giggled in embarrassment. "Just a few hours after I told him I
wasn't ready for it, too. He promised he'd let me set the pace, and I did.
I moved a bit faster than I thought I would... and, quite frankly, I'm
glad I did." She paused, not looking at Takeo. "I don't really have
anything to compare it to, but I think we were good together. We seemed to
fit each other perfectly, and... well, I don't want to give too many
details, but I think we both enjoyed it very much."
Takeo nodded. "I'm glad for you."
"Takeo," Noa hesitated. "Asuma's... very worried about Utsumi's
motivations in helping us, and thinks I'm in serious danger from not just
this strike we're making on the Shaft warehouse, but also from the Griffin.
You know Utsumi pretty well- as well as I know Asuma, I think... um, just
how much do I really need to worry?"
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you can say I really know Richard
that well. I don't think he'll intentionally hurt the two of you, but he
doesn't usually think about that sort of thing when he makes his plans.
But if you think I know him as well as you know Asuma, well... you're sadly
mistaken."
Noa looked out at the sea, leaning against a piece of railing. "Didn't
you, er, sleep with him, too?"
Takeo sighed, joining Noa at the railing. "A long time ago, yes. I didn't
really know him well enough, then, and he's changed some since I last saw
him."
"Do you think I know Asuma well enough? Do you think I got into this
relationship with him too quickly?" Noa said, almost frightened.
Takeo laughed. "Hardly. You two are so attached to each other around the
SV2, everyone assumed you've been lovers for some time. If anything, you
two know each other too well- now there's nothing new for you to learn
about each other!"
Noa blinked. "You really think so?"
Takeo's smirk returned. "Remember when you had that toothache?"
"Don't remind me," Noa grimaced. "That was VERY painful, and Asuma wasn't
much help at all with all his teasing."
"Hmm," Takeo mused. "You might be surprised to know that, until we found
out from Asuma that it was a toothache, everyone assumed that he'd gotten
you pregnant and you were upset about it."
"WHAT!?"
"Why do you think everyone was trying to force him to make up with you?"
Takeo laughed. "Even after he told us it was just a toothache, some of us
thought he was just covering up until you overdosed on Shinshi's pain pills
and fell asleep in the staff meeting. Well, we finally believed him when
Gotoh asked him directly what was going on with you- after Gotoh drew a
watch on your wrist. Oh, that was funny..."
Noa blinked. "You mean Asuma really DIDN'T do that to me?"
Takeo just laughed harder. "Oh, my.... Gotoh does have some sense of
humor, doesn't he?"
"Well, I didn't think it was funny!" Noa huffed. She paused, reminiscing
to that incident. "He always teased me a lot, but he helped me when he
thought I needed it."
"Eh?"
"Asuma. He teased me the whole time I had that toothache- and rode me so
hard I puked when we had to go into action- but he helped me out a lot,
too. When I was ordered to wax Alphonse- which was shocking in and of
itself, since I never had to be ordered to do that- I fell asleep on his
shoulder. It was those stupid pain pills that did it to me, but I wasn't
able to stop myself. I heard him gasp right before I passed out, and saw
him stretching out to catch me in case I fell." She paused. "Good thing I
didn't."
Takeo smirked. "You know, we always thought your relationship with him was
kind of twisted, since it seemed so linked with your labor. Did you know
once, when he was trying to wake you up, you called him 'Alphonse?' You
told him to shut up, so you obviously heard him talking to you and realized
it was his voice."
"Hey!" Noa snapped. "My love for Asuma has NOTHING to do with my love for
Alphonse! I think of Alphonse as a pet, nothing more! Asuma's...
different." She paused. "And if you think my relationship with Asuma's
twisted, what about your fling with Utsumi, the master of labor crime?"
Takeo gaped at her. A thousand replies went through her mind, but Noa's
honest anger eliminated half of them. In fact, only one burned its way
through her mind.
"It wasn't just a fling," she muttered softly.
"What?"
"I said it wasn't just a fling," Takeo repeated. "My relationship with
Richard was SO much more than a fling... that I just don't think I'll ever
get over it enough to find someone else."
Noa blinked, her anger gone. Shifting to face the older woman, she asked,
"Do you still love him, then?"
Takeo smiled, once again taking on the Wong-esque expression. "Tell me
this, Noa. If Asuma HAD killed his father, and you KNEW he had killed his
father, would you stop loving him?"
Noa blinked. "Well... when I broke him out, I knew that he hadn't. I just
knew it. Still, he asked me why I was so sure he didn't. I asked him, to
his face, if he had. At that point, I knew that even if he said 'yes,' I'd
stick with him. I didn't know WHY I was planning to stick with him, but I
knew that doing so was something I was looking forward to." She paused.
"I guess the answer to your question is yes, I would still love him. Even
if I didn't realize it."
Takeo nodded. "Richard Wong has done everything you could possibly think
of that I would disapprove of- except maybe sleep with someone else- and
despite all of that... despite all of that, I still sometimes think I want
to spend the rest of my life with him."
Noa coughed. "You might want to let Hiromi know that."
"Huh?"
"He's got a crush on you, I think. Just like you say everyone thought
Asuma and I were together, everyone seems to know Hiromi likes you but
you."
Takeo smiled sadly. "Hiromi's a nice guy. Very gentle, I guess somewhat
handsome. But... he isn't Richard. I'm sorry about that, and I hate to
disappoint him, but it just won't work."
"And your relationship with Utsumi will?"
Takeo paused. Trying to change the subject, she said, "Say, why don't we
go see what the boys are talking about? For some reason, they always seem
to want to leave us girls out of everything."
Noa knew what Takeo was trying to do, but decided to let her do it. After
all, she didn't want to be apart from Asuma any longer than she had to
right now. Something about this upcoming mission was starting to worry
her, even if she had been looking forward to it just a while ago.
Something about Asuma's warning... about the chance of having to fight the
Griffin... about the fact that Asuma was worried, himself. Perhaps it was
just nerves, but she felt the need to reassure him, and to be reassured
herself.
Besides, Takeo seemed to need a chance to talk to Utsumi herself.
* * * * *
"Ah! Mr. Shinohara, welcome!" Wong greeted.
Asuma grimaced. For some reason, Wong's constant cheerfulness was starting
to get on his nerves. "Utsumi," he acknowledged.
"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?" the elder man said, noticing the
sour tone in Asuma's voice.
"Not really, no," Asuma admitted. "Noa and I were just on deck, admiring
the scenery."
"Oh! Terribly sorry," Wong said apologetically. "I know how precious
moments like that are. I just thought that, as a courtesy to you and to
help you make plans for the encounter, I should give you a few of the
performance specifications for the Griffin."
Asuma took a proffered folder, but his eyes didn't leave Wong's. "Oh? And
how, exactly, do you know how important a moment like that is? For some
reason, I have a hard time seeing YOU as being able to know something like
that."
"You wound me, my dear Mr. Shinohara," Wong complained theatrically. "Do
you really think of me so poorly as to assume I don't know anything about
matters of the heart?"
"No," Asuma said evenly. "However, while I may not be a romantic or
anything like that, I can appreciate a few moments of peace right before
you know you're about to risk your life for something. I can't see you
caring about anything enough to knowingly risk your life for it, so I don't
see you ever HAVING a moment like that to appreciate it."
Wong paused, his smile fading. "I have, though. There was something I
cared for like that, once. Someone."
Asuma snorted. "You expect me to believe that? Look, everything I know
about you tells me that you let other people take your risks for you. When
have you ever had to worry about never having a chance to see someone
again?"
Wong turned the most serious expression Asuma had ever seen at him. "When
I tried to resign from Shaft for Takeo." He paused. "I failed to resign
from Shaft, and I didn't see Takeo again for several years. So not only do
I know what it's like to be in your situation with Ms. Izumi, I also know
what it's like to have a moment like that, and then actually lose what it
is you're fighting for."
Asuma was having a hard time keeping his skeptical attitude, but still
couldn't quite take Wong on his word. "How do you 'fail' to resign from a
company, and how in the world would that keep you from Takeo?"
Wong's smile returned. "The last day I saw her- that is, the last time I
saw her before my security agent shot her- I swore to her that I would
return to her after resigning from the company. She'd been begging me to
quit for some time, and finally I was able to say 'yes,' I would quit. So
I went in to work, walked into my bosses office, and handed him a letter of
resignation."
Asuma snorted. "What happened, did he make an offer of a promotion?"
Wong nodded. "At first. My own division, a vice-presidency, a huge raise,
stock options, the works." Wong laughed. "I said no."
That surprised Asuma. "Then, what-"
"Apparently, they'd been keeping me under surveillance for some time. They
knew my weakness," Wong answered before the question could be asked. "They
knew Takeo was a cop on loan to Interpol, and they knew that she'd made
contact with me in order to spy on Shaft. She was a security risk, they
told me. If I quit, they warned me, her life would be forfeit. But if I
stayed with the company, accepted the promotions, and promised not to go
back to her... well, then they'd spare her life." He broke eye contact
with Asuma, and started staring at his feet. "You've been asking me since
I met you in that lodge what I was getting out of this. I'll let you know,
now... if I can free you by showing that Shaft assassinated your father,
then Shaft will be destroyed and I will be free of its yoke. If I am free
of Shaft, then... then I can return to Takeo, and tell her I've kept my
promise. I am sure there will have to be a period in which I will need to
earn her forgiveness, but once I've done that I can ask her to marry me,
like I was planning to however long ago it was I handed in my resignation."
He paused. "Never trust me, my friend, but know I am telling the truth
this once. What I'm getting out of helping you... is Takeo."
Neither of them said a word for quite some time. Finally, though, Noa and
Takeo arrived and broke the silence.
"There you are!" Noa cried. "What have you two been talking about?"
Asuma coughed. "Not much. Just going over the specs for the Black Labor,
so I can help come up with a strategy better."
Wong nodded. "Indeed, but we seem to have drifted off into idle chatter.
I suggest you two go and have some fun. We've got a long day... say, have
you been to your cabin yet? I suggest you go- I ordered the chef to
prepare a special meal for the two of you." He gave Asuma a wink.
Asuma got the hidden message in the wink. "Um, good idea... I think."
Noa nodded. She wanted to give Takeo and Wong some time alone, herself.
"I think so, too. Come on, Asuma- I'm hungry!" Grabbing Asuma by the arm,
she dragged him off in a run.
Takeo giggled. "Were we ever like that?"
Wong looked at her, eyebrows raised. "'We?' I don't think 'we' had much
of an opportunity to act like that. We were too busy doing other things...
more, er, mature things."
Takeo gave a very unladylike snort. "Maybe we would have been better off
if we'd had more fun like they're having. What IS this 'special' meal
you've had prepared?"
Wong's eyes twinkled. "Oh, only the best. The best sake money can buy,
premium Kyoto beef, the freshest shrimp around, and, because I figure Asuma
will be needing the boost before they leave that cabin, a plate of raw
oysters."
Takeo looked confused. "Raw oysters?"
Wong nodded. "The Viagra of seafoods. They've only got a few hours before
they're going into action- I figure they'll need that one last 'time'
together."
Takeo laughed a little at first, then hesitated. In a rather more serious
tone then she'd been speaking with him before, she began, "You know, I was
chatting with Noa, and realized something. I think we need to talk."
Wong tensed, but nodded. "Yes, I think we need to talk, too. There are a
couple things I think you'd better know I'm planning."
* * * * *
"Shinobu?" Gotoh said softly, shaking the other captain slightly. "Time to
get up. We're back."
Shinobu blinked her eyes awake. "Eh, what?" she said sleepily. She tried
to stretch out the crick in her neck- she always got one when sleeping in a
car.
"We're back. Time to go in and see if Gomioka has any messages from Takeo
for us."
She yawned. "Maybe she's been able to wrap up the case without us. This
whole investigation disturbs me."
"Doubtful," Matsui said pessimistically from behind Gotoh. "I imagine it
will take either a very high placed source in Shaft or a stroke of the
greatest luck in the world for her to have found the weapon already."
"Inspector Matsui," Shinobu intoned. "Has anyone ever told you that you
have no sense of subtlety?"
Matsui grinned. "Nope."
"Consider yourself notified," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Gotoh led the trio into the SV2 headquarters building, but before they
could even reach their office they were intercepted by Sakaki.
"Captain Nagumo," he said, approaching Shinobu. "Lieutenant Gomioka left
this note for you. My mechanics and I have followed his instructions to
the letter."
Shinobu scanned the letter Sakaki handed to her, a frown growing on her
face. "Inspector Matsui," she said absently.
"Yes, ma'am?"
She pulled a key out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "Go up to my
office and use that key to open the top right drawer at my desk. In it,
you'll find a labor movement disk. Bring it to me."
"Er, why?" Matsui said, somewhat surprised.
Shinobu stared at him hard. "It appears as if I'm going to be needed as a
labor pilot."
* * * * *
A few hours after their first sojourn to the deck, Noa and Asuma left their
cabin to make a second. On their way out the door, though, they bumped
into Takeo and Wong.
Takeo blushed upon meeting the others, and withdrew a hand which had been
held inside Wong's. That only drew attention to the fact that they had
been holding hands, however, and so she blushed even further.
Wong coughed politely. "Oh, my. Well, we were going to be getting the two
of you ourselves in a few minutes. We've arrived- in about fifteen
minutes, we'll be docking at our destination, and... well, we'll see what
happens after that. I suspect there'll be a fight of some sort, but we may
be able to avoid that."
Asuma's eyes widened slightly. "Prep time, then?"
"That is correct," Wong acknowledged, nodding.
Asuma cursed slightly under his breath. "Come on, Noa- back to our room.
We need to get our equipment ready," he ordered, giving her an apologetic
glance. It seemed they wouldn't have that last moment on deck, after all.
Noa nodded, and the two of them started back down the corridor to their
stateroom. "Was I seeing things," she said, the moment she was out of the
other couple's earshot, "Or was Takeo... 'acting different' towards
Utsumi?"
Asuma half-smiled. "Yeah... I think they made up or something. But do you
really want to spend our last few moments before a potential fight talking
about them?"
Noa's face lit up like a candle. "You mean you want to talk about us?" she
said, opening the door to their cabin.
Asuma blinked. "Um... that wasn't what I was thinking of-"
Noa's face fell. "Oh."
"But if you'd rather do that than figure out ways of surviving what's up
ahead, I don't have a problem with that," he finished, pulling out the
suitcase which held their headset radios and Noa's helmet.
Noa flushed. "Um, sorry. I guess that IS more important."
Asuma paused as he was adjusting his headset. Not meeting her eyes, he
sighed. "Maybe it isn't." At Noa's surprised look, he explained, "Look,
we have a few things we might be able to go over, but they'd just be
reminders of things I'm pretty sure you won't forget. But we might not
succeed in this, and if we don't we need to decide what we're going to do."
Noa slowly moved over to the suitcase, pulling out her own radio and
helmet. "We-ell," she said, drawing the word out as she thought. "If this
doesn't work, then I'll do whatever you need me to do."
Asuma sighed. "If this doesn't work, then there's probably no chance of
ever clearing my name, you know. We'd have three real options. The first
is for us to remain refugees in Japan forever- and as many fond memories as
I have of your family's would-be ski resort, I don't think we can keep
hiding out there for the rest of our lives. The second would be for us to
leave the country- forever. Go somewhere that Japan doesn't have an
extradition treaty with, and see if we can't forge a new life their. It
would mean learning a new language and getting new careers, but it's
probably preferable to the first option."
Noa adjusted her helmet, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she
prompted him, "And the final option?"
"I can surrender to the police. I'd be arrested, and probably jailed for
life, but at least you'd most likely be able to get out of being sent to
jail, which would allow you to live the rest of your life without being on
the run. You could see your family and friends, and probably yo-"
"Stop!" Noa screeched, startling Asuma. "Asuma Shinohara, if you even
THINK that I'm going to abandon you after I've gone this far, you've got
another thing coming. If we DON'T succeed in this, then I wouldn't mind
living in another country for the rest of our lives, as long as it was you
I was living with. But I WON'T accept any plan which takes you away from
me, got it?"
Asuma continued to look somewhat amazed at Noa's outburst, but soon
regained his composure. "It was just an option, and not one I particularly
cared for, either. But I figured you deserved a chance to think about it."
He smiled at her. "But don't worry about it- all we need to do is prove
that the murder weapon belongs to Shaft, and you won't need to make that
decision."
Noa nodded. "Right. I won't let those bastards who framed you get away
with it!"
'Good,' Asuma thought. 'She's mad- whoever tries to stop her doesn't stand
a chance. But she'd better relax for the moment- she doesn't need that
anger interfering with her until she's in combat.' He paused. 'Well,
there's one thing I can think of to tell her that might help... too bad we
don't have more time, or there's something else we could do, but that'll
have to wait.'
"Noa?"
Noa met his eyes with a fiery gaze. "Yes, Asuma?" she stated fiercely.
"I don't know how all this will turn out, but there's something I think we
need to say to each other before it happens. Something I'm pretty sure we
know already, but we still should say the words first." He took a deep
breath. This was hard for him, but he had to say it. It might be his last
chance. One thing that Wong's story of his and Takeo's failed courtship
told him was not to wait for things like this, as the opportunity might
never come again. "Noa, I know we haven't said it yet, but I know it, and
I hope you know it, that I... that I love you."
Noa's face softened considerably. "Asuma...."
Not able to come up with an adequate verbal response, she grabbed him up
into her arms and started kissing him. Hard. As if it might be the last
time she ever could.
The kiss was still going on when Bud Reynard, the young pilot of the
Griffin, burst into the room. He pulled to a stop, blinked at the pair,
and whistled. "Go for it, you two!" he cheered. "I'd ask to see more of
this kind of action, but you need to get into your Ingram, big sis, for
another kind! Seems we have a few other labors to play with before we can
find that gun."
Noa and Asuma broke apart in surprise, blushing badly. "Um, I'll be right
there," the female half of the team said, pulling on her helmet. Asuma
sighed, taking a moment to relax before he had to get into position,
himself.
Richard Wong, accompanied by Takeo, entered the room as Asuma was glancing
around for one last check, trying to make certain he hadn't missed
anything.
"Are you ready to go?" Wong asked him. "We probably should be heading to
the observation deck, so we can get good seats for the upcoming round of
entertainment."
Asuma snorted, leaving the room and following the other man. "I'd hardly
call 'desperately trying to regain my innocence' to be 'entertainment,' but
yeah, I'm ready to go."
Wong pouted jokingly, leading the trio down the corridor and up a set of
stairs. "Oh? Well, perhaps you ARE under a lot of stress over this
incident, but I suspect the upcoming battle will be quite interesting to
watch from an impartial standpoint. I can already tell you there are going
to be more contestants in this little game than we were initially
expecting."
"There are?" Asuma said in surprise as they neared the door to the
observation deck. "Who?"
Wong opened the door and continued on to the edge of the open-air platform.
"Ah, smell that sea air."
They hadn't quite moored at the pier, yet, which gave them plenty of time
to survey the scene before any action had to be taken. Handing Asuma a
pair of binoculars before donning one of his own, he pointed.
"Check over there, by the loading dock, behind all those crates. You
wouldn't be able to see it from shore."
Asuma squinted. "Hmm... a labor carrier of some kind. I don't recognize
it- certainly isn't one of the standard Shaft carriers."
Wong nodded. "Nope- it just happens to be an Interpol labor carrier. And
check out the labor standing next to it."
"That's odd... I can't identify that one at all. It looks fairly advanced,
but doesn't really look like an experimental..."
"It's not. And I'm surprised at you- your the son of the founder of the
largest labor corporation in Japan, and you don't even recognize one of
your foreign competitors' labors?"
Shinohara shrugged. "Not all of them. I know every model in the companies
which have ever tried peddling their wares in Japan, but if they haven't,
well, I really haven't paid much attention."
"Ah, that explains it," Wong nodded. "It's an American model. After you
successfully proved your own company's defect with the Hyper Operating
System some months back, the New York City police opened bids for high-end
labors, excluding Shinohara Heavy Industries and all other competitors who
had adopted the HOS, and turned down the contract your company had to
supply them with the Zero's."
Asuma nodded, still looking at the unusual labor. "I'm familiar with that
much of the situation. I'd hardly call it MY company, however- I would
never have marketed a labor if I knew that it was defective, hoping to fix
the problem later with 'upgrades' which didn't take place until after
hundreds of billions of yen's worth of damage was done."
"Chrysler, an American-based car company, developed the eventual victor of
the New York City Police contract- the CPJ-7 'Rumbler' model. Unless I
miss my guess, the pilot of that Interpol labor may very well be a friend
of yours. Then again, you aren't exactly in a situation where you can
trust your friends, are you?"
Asuma grimaced. "I can trust Noa. And when it comes to most of the
others, I think I can trust them to be fair- and to act the way I think
they'll act in a given situation."
Wong glanced at Takeo, who was idly picking at her nails, obviously bored
with the whole conversation. "Well... yes. I suppose you can sometimes
predict how people will act," he replied wistfully, remembering a certain
conversation in a laundry room some months back. "In addition to the
American labor, there's our two labors, plus I can make out a team of four
Shaft Security Systems' Abraham labors, and at least two Brochens. There's
obviously more here that my company is trying to protect than I knew." He
smiled. "It should be an excellent test of our two labor's fighting
skills."
"This isn't a test," Asuma growled.
"Sure it is!" Wong exclaimed. "Yes, maybe there's more to it than a simple
test, or demonstration, but it is nonetheless a great opportunity to see
how my new, improved Griffin handles itself. I could also point out that
it should be a good test of your little girlfriend's piloting skills, but I
assume you don't really care about that."
"Noa's the best labor pilot out there," Asuma sounded out through clenched
teeth. "I don't need a test to tell me that. If she wasn't, your old
Griffin would have crushed her."
"Perhaps," Wong admitted, his smile unwavering. "I suspect you and your
friends had something to do with that, as well, though. Especially you,
from what I've seen. But right now, that's unimportant- we have a 'game'
to prepare for. Hmm... do you want me to give you the specs of each of
those labors, so you can do your job as Noa's 'backup' better?"
"Just the Rumbler's. I know the others by heart."
"Ah. That's easy- physical strength roughly the equivalent of the Saturn,
speed roughly equal to the Brochen, and a very primative neural net system
for the software. She may carry a firearm of a smaller caliber than the
Ingram's, but Americans usually have better cared for guns with higher
quality ammunition and more accurate marksmen in their Patlabors. Japan,
for some reason, doesn't see the need of training its labor pilots to use
the tools it gives them."
Asuma shrugged. "I dunno about other units in Japan, but we deal with
urban combat more than anything. Despite the protests of one Ohta Isao,
using our labors' guns in city limits usually gets more complaints than
letting the criminals get away." He paused. "Noa's a terrible marksmen in
practice, but when you let the adreneline start pumping in her, she can be
one of the best. Once, she ended a hostage situation by firing a bullet
inches away from both the hostage and the hostage-taker. The concussion of
the blast knocked the supposed gun- which was actually an umbrella- right
out of the guy's hands. As I recall, that was Takeo's first assignment
with us."
Silent up until that point, Takeo moved over to join the talk. "I remember
that. Considering the reputation Section Two had before I joined up, I was
astonished to see someone of Noa's skills as part of it. I quickly learned
the reputation wasn't because of a failure to produce, but because the
person I was put in charge of was usually a bit too much of a hothead.
Ohta can be really sweet sometimes, and when he's calm enough he can
actually work pretty well, but... well, he doesn't seem to have control of
himself all that often, it seems."
There was a slight lurch indicating that the ship was properly moored. A
member of the freighter's crew joined them a moment later. "Chief Utsumi,
sir!" he saluted. Wong frowned slightly at the formality but motioned for
the man to continue. "Docking is complete, sir. We can be ready to raise
and activate the two labors in exactly three minutes, sir."
Wong looked at Asuma. "Well, this is your party. Are you ready?"
Asuma switched on his radio headset. "Noa, can you read me?"
"Loud and clear."
"There are seven labors visible from the dockyard. Two Brochens, four
Abrahams, and an American labor which may or may not get involved. Can you
handle it?"
There was a pause. "I don't know," she said. "The Griffin can probably
handle the Abrahams easily, and I've been able to handle multiple Brochens
before- but it will be dangerous, especially if the American labor gets
involved. I don't think it would hurt to try, though. Alphonse hasn't
ever let me down, yet."
Asuma smiled slightly, Noa's voice dropping some of the tension his
conversation with Richard Wong had created. "Okay. Get ready- we're going
to deck up you and Bud."
"Roger."
Flipping off his mouthpiece, he turned to Wong. "Raise 'em."
* * * * *
Kanuka Clancy was surveying the harbor's facilities with a keen attention
to the goings-on around her. As of yet, no-one of importance- either here
or at home- knew that she was even in Japan, and she hoped to keep it that
way for a while. Hopefully, when everything was done, she'd be able to
return to America without anyone knowing she was gone.
She wasn't AWOL, exactly- after all, one of her perpetually ongoing
assignments was to track the movements of Shaft Security Services, evaluate
their performance, and investigate them for illegal activities at home or
abroad. Three-S had suddenly positioned a full detachment of it's forces
in this harbor, and officially (if she had to give an official reason), she
was here to look them over. And if it turned out that she was on hand to
help out an old friend who was in a bit of legal trouble- unofficially- so
much the better.
She'd seen the ship as it was coming in, and knew she'd recognized it from
somewhere. It wasn't until the two labors rose out of it that she
remembered where, though.
"The Griffin!" she gasped in surprise. And not just the Griffin, either,
she realized, but Alphonse as well. "What are THEY doing here- TOGETHER?"
she asked herself aloud. Had Asuma gone over to Shaft in the hopes that
they'd find a way to keep him safe? If so, why was Noa involved- surely
she wouldn't agree to something like that willingly. Well, she might if
they promised to keep Alphonse intact for her... but still, that didn't
seem in character for either of them. Neither did murder, for that matter.
Well, Kanuka knew better than to intervene before she knew what was going
on. She settled into her hiding place to watch the proceedings just as
Alphonse and the Griffin leapt down off of the tanker and onto the dock.
The Abrahams approached Alphonse and the Ingram tentatively, and then the
labors met...
* * * * *
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Part 4:
The door to the Captains' office burst open. "Captain Gotoh, si... Where
is Captain Gotoh?"
Gomioka blinked, looking up from the paperwork he was engaged on. "Eh?
Didn't you know? Captain Gotoh was called away on an investigation, as was
Captain Shinobu. I'm in command of both units until they return."
Ohta blinked. "And where is Lt. Takeo?"
"She's conducting an independent investigation. Same crime, but a
different aspect of it."
Ohta smiled widely. He didn't know Gomioka all that well, and the veteran
pilot of the first unit certainly didn't know him all that well. But
Gomioka was inexperienced, and might be enough of a pushover to actually
allow what he was considering.
"Well, then, sir, I guess I'm supposed to bring this request to you.
Please, sir- may I engage in firearms drills?"
Gomioka sighed. He'd been expecting this. "Well... okay. But no
live-ammo drills."
Ohta's eyes darkened considerably. It looked like he was running into the
same opposition he always did. "Sir! Shouldn't we be prepared in case we
need to battle another labor of equal or greater force than our own?"
Gomioka smirked. "Our labors are at the top of the line, at the moment.
They can handle anything."
"Sir, what if we have to face another police Ingram? Especially one
piloted by one of our former officers!?"
Gomioka set down the papers he'd been looking over, and gave Ohta a hard
look. "Now come on, Officer Isao. Do you REALLY expect Ms. Izumi to
engage us in combat?"
"YES!" Ohta cried. "Before she broke Asuma out of prison, I might not have
thought her capable of it. But now that I know to what lengths she would
go to protect her partner-"
"Ohta," Gomioka sighed. "I'll level with you. Captains Gotoh and Shinobu
are on their way to proving Officer Shinohara's innocence. It appears it
may all be a big frame up, involving upper-echelon officers of the police
department... including our own Chief Fukushima. He's already admitted to
falsifying some reports that may be part of the cover-up of a theft, and
Lieutenant Kumagami is working with a close source that may be able to find
direct evidence of the true culprits guilt. We won't NEED to fight them-
we'll have them cleared of all charges before any battle takes place."
"Sir, if that was true, then WHY did Shinohara run? It makes no sense!
He's a police officer- he should have known better. No, I believe Asuma's
guilty- his own escape convinces me of that!"
Gomioka sighed. "Whether he's innocent or guilty, there will STILL be no
life-fire gun drills today, Officer Isao. Even if I agreed with you about
the need- which I don't- it is not in my power to authorize the ammo
usage." He picked up his papers. "Unless there's something more, you're
dismissed."
"I can't BELIEVE that you, a fellow labor pilot, would deny me something
which you must KNOW we need!" Ohta ranted. "If I was you, I'd find some
way past the red tape and mmmph! MMMMPH! MMMH MMH MMMMMH!"
Hiromi and Shinshi rushed in to the rescue. Hiromi clapped a hand over
Ohta's mouth while Shinshi started bowing to Gomioka profusely as they
backed the enraged labor pilot out of the office.
"We're sorry, sir," he explained. "We let him out of our sight for a
minute. Won't happen again!"
When the door closed, Gomioka shook his head, smirking. "Weird crew. It's
amazing that Gotoh's able to get ANYTHING from them."
Sighing, he turned the page of the sheet listing the daily orders he was
reviewing. At the top of that sheet, in large print, highlighted, and
underlined multiple times, were the words, "Under NO circumstances is
Officer Ohta Isao to be allowed ANY life-fire practice with the firearms.
Violation of this directive will result in your immediate transfer from
Special Vehicles to a lesser position... like meter maid."
* * * * *
"You REBUILT the damn thing?" Takeo demanded, standing next to Wong. They
were in the construction bay of his floating base of operations, watching a
newly-rebuilt Griffin receive some fine-tuning.
"Well, we weren't planning to use it against your team again," Wong
admitted sheepishly. "It's really just an experimental model, a
demonstration of what our boys in development can produce. Besides,
considering all the infighting that goes on in Shaft International, it's
probably a good idea for me to have something like this around for personal
security."
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "You need a LABOR to protect you due to corporate
infighting? Just what kind of enemies do you have in Shaft?"
"Well, I DID have to fight off four of 3-S's Abraham labors back during the
first trial runs of the Griffin, because your people discovered me," Wong
recalled. "And occasionally someone will bring in a Brochen or something
and try to use it against me." He shrugged. "What do you expect from a
company like Shaft?"
Before Takeo could formulate a response to that, one of Wong's subordinates
ran into the room and delivered a note to him. "Important message, sir,"
the man said. "From one of your contacts in headquarters."
Wong looked at the memo in his hands, skimming the writing. He looked up
and smiled at Takeo. "Well, that was sooner than I was expecting."
"What?"
"It seems we've found the location where Shaft is storing the police
firearm used in the murder. If we can get to it before they clean the
barrel, your team should be able to clear Asuma with a simple ballistics
check."
Takeo raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realize that this will probably
destroy Shaft, don't you? They will be so harshly penalized by the
government that they won't be able to remain intact."
Wong continued smiling. "Not destroy, but merely fragment. Why, chances
are section seven will become an independent company under my charge!" He
nodded to her. "Come on, let's go round up your two friends and we'll
strike against the facility which holds this vital piece of evidence.
We'll probably need their help... and the help of their labor. The Griffin
can't do this alone- at least, not nearly as easily."
* * * * *
Gotoh lit up his cigarette, smiling slightly. "Job well done, if I do say
so for myself," he commented.
Shinobu grimaced. Gotoh had a lot of bad habits, and smoking was one of
the worst of them. Usually, she was able to ignore it, but when they were
in an enclosed space together- like a car or, in this case, the tiny
waiting room for a prison warden's office, she couldn't help but pay
attention to it.
Fanning she smoke out of her face, she asked, "What job?"
"Noa's attack. Did you see the two 97's as we were coming in?"
Shinobu shook her head disgustedly. "Those things didn't stand a chance
against an Ingram."
"I disagree," Gotoh rebuked. "If the pilots in those 97s were good enough,
they could have given an Ingram considerable trouble. After all, they
outnumbered her two to one, and had the advantage of knowing the landscape
reasonably well. I daresay your Gomioka might have stood a chance of
slowing an Ingram down... if that Ingram was piloted by anyone other than
Noa." He paused, allowing her time to comment. She didn't- actually, she
was rather impressed with the female labor pilot, herself, but she didn't
see what made Gotoh comment on how well Noa's piloting was in this
incident.
When he was convinced Shinobu wasn't going to say anything, he continued,
"I was referring to the precision of her assault. Did you notice that
neither labor had any EXPENSIVE damage done to it? Just damaged knees in
one and a cut power line in the other. This amount of restraint DESPITE
her obviously irrational mood at Asuma's arrest and DESPITE being in combat
with two labors at once." He paused. "If anything, her anger made her
even better. Which, while she usually fights better when angry, is unusual
in that she's usually more destructive when mad."
Shinobu considered that briefly. "Maybe she'd calmed down before getting
into the fight?" she theorized.
"You don't calmly break someone out of jail," Gotoh noted. "But perhaps
she wasn't ANGRY so much as filled with another emotion..."
His voice trailed off, and Shinobu wondered what it was he was thinking.
She was about to ask them when Inspector Matsui rejoined them from the
wardens office.
"Thanks for waiting," the inspector said. "I think my interview was rather
successful. Come on, let's head back to your car, Gotoh."
The three policemen stood up and slowly made their way out of the prison.
"What did you learn?" Shinobu asked curiously.
"Enough," Matsui said. "He confirmed what the Deputy Commissioner of Penal
Facilities admitted to ordering- that Shinohara not be allowed to change
into plainclothes before his incarceration, and his bribing some of the
more viscous thugs in the cell Shinohara was placed in to try and arrange
an 'accident' for young Asuma."
"Of course," Gotoh said. "Whoever planned this knew that there was no way
the evidence would stand up in court."
Matsui nodded. "Right. At any rate, with everything else we've got, we
should have a relatively easy time clearing his name... provided we can
find the murder weapon. Until we find that, a lot of this stuff could be
considered somewhat circumstantial."
Shinobu blinked. "A conspiracy to murder someone in prison could be
considered 'circumstantial'?"
Inspector Matsui shook his head. "Not exactly, but it doesn't mean that
there was a conspiracy to frame that same person. Could just be the police
trying to eliminate a potential embarrassment. If we could confirm,
though, that the weapon that Shaft managed to obtain was, indeed, the
murder weapon... well, that would go pretty far in clearing Asuma's name."
"So how do we find that weapon?" Gotoh asked.
Matsui grinned slightly. "Well, hopefully, that's what your Lieutenant
Kumagami will handle for us."
* * * * *
Noa was startled awake when her pillow suddenly decided to sit up.
Blinking sleepily, she exclaimed, "Huh, what?!" when her head hit the
floor.
"Sorry," Asuma apologized as he quickly disentangled himself from her.
"But I hear a helicopter landing outside. Make that TWO helicopters."
"Two helicopters?" Noa echoed, the sleep leaving her voice. "Then... it's
probably not Wong, is it."
Asuma shook his head. "No- probably not." Rolling out of the futon, he
ran over to where their clothes were stashed and quickly tossed her an
outfit before he started getting dressed himself. "Keep quiet, but get
ready to leave in a hurry."
Noa nodded and hurriedly started slipping on her underwear. She was just
reaching for her blouse when the door opened and in walked Takeo and Wong.
"Oh, terribly sorry," Wong apologized. "I thought you'd be up hours ago-
it's already the afternoon, after all. Long night?"
Takeo noted Noa's half-naked state (and flat-eyed, shell-shocked gaze), saw
a shirtless Asuma, and blushed. "Um... if you want, we can leave and give
you two a chance to get dressed."
Asuma shook his head, slipping his hands into the sleeves of a shirt.
"You're back several days sooner than I was expecting, so you must have
important news. If it's that important, I don't want to wait to find out
what it is."
Takeo noticed Wong eyeing Noa, who was still just in her underwear and had
added a blush that was going all the way down her neck, and gave him a
short elbow in the side. "Hey!" she exclaimed, annoyed on Noa's behalf-
and maybe just a tiny bit jealous. "Concentrate on business, here!"
Noa, finally shaken out of her stupor, "Eep!"ed and ducked into the
bathroom, taking her clothes with her. "I'll change in here," her voice
echoed out from its confines. "I'll still hear whatever you guys say."
Wong, still rubbing his side, frowned at Takeo briefly before turning his
attention back to Asuma. "Well, we have some good news. Pack your bags
and get your things ready- we found the facility which is storing the
weapon that killed your father. We brought a special helicopter which can
airlift your labor to our ship, and from there we'll head for the target."
He smiled again. "After all, you'll probably want to be present as we
clear your name."
Noa emerged from the bathroom, having dressed in record time. "You mean
this is it?" she asked.
Wong nodded reassuringly. "Yes, we're about to take action. Why don't you
go and start your labor to get it outside, okay? Once it's on the ship,
we'll give it a maintenance look-see, free of charge, but we need to get it
there, first."
Noa nodded, and started outside, but Asuma grabbed her by the shoulder
before she took more than a step.
"I don't trust him," he whispered to her. "So once you get Alphonse
loaded, download the movement data to your backup disk and dump the
computer's memory core. Then hide the movement disk- somewhere on your
person, if possible."
Noa nodded. "Right." She squinted at him before she left. "Start
packing, though- I'm looking forward to clearing your name. But don't
forget anything." Without thinking about the implications of her actions,
she gave him a quick peck on the side of the mouth and winked at him before
bolting out the door.
Asuma flushed as both Takeo and Wong shot identical knowing smiles at him.
"What?!" he exclaimed defensively.
Takeo just shook her head in amusement. "Come on, Romeo, let's start
packing up your little lovenest, okay?"
Asuma's embarrassment grew, but he started packing anyway. When he had
recovered his composure, he turned to Wong. "Ya know, I have a hard time
believing you're really helping us, even WITH all of the reasons you gave.
Are you sure you aren't getting anything out of this?"
Wong laughed. "Of COURSE I'm getting something out of this!" He gestured
to Takeo. "Didn't she tell you not to trust me? If she didn't, I'm
ashamed of how lackadaisical her police work has become since I've been
around her!" At Asuma's dumbfounded look, he took pity on the younger man
and explained. "Do you really think my engineers haven't DREAMED of having
a chance to look through one of your labors up close and personal? I don't
know how much of what we find will be new to them, since I suspect that you
just told your girlfriend out there to dump the Ingram's hard drive, but by
helping you out I'm doing my job to the best of my satisfaction. So, of
course I'm getting something out of it."
Noa returned before Asuma had a chance to respond. "Alphonse is loaded up
and ready to go. How much more packing do we need to do?"
"We're pretty much done," Wong announced. "If you'll help us carry a box
or two out to the helicopter, we'll be ready to go in just a few minutes."
Noa nodded, picking up a box and heading outside, Asuma carrying two of his
own boxes on her tail. Wong and Takeo continued to pack up.
Just before she was going to close her box, Takeo spied one last item that
she could pack up. Grabbing the box of condoms, the glanced inside. As
she had suspected, a couple of them were missing.
* * * * *
Gomioka sighed, taking care of some paperwork as he manned the phone at
Shinobu's desk. She and Gotoh had just called, letting him know that the
two captains were returning to base and should be back in about four hours.
Thankfully, no calls had yet come in while they were out, but he still had
to keep waiting for any possible incoming calls.
A snore from the desk across the room disturbed his reverie. In order to
keep him from annoying his teammates with rants against Asuma's escape,
Gomioka had drafted him into answering Gotoh's phone. Thankfully, the day
had been so light that Ohta drifted off to sleep with the inactivity. The
only problem was that Ohta snored. Loudly. VERY loudly.
"Gah! What a buzzsaw," Gomioka muttered, turning back to his paperwork.
Thanks to discussions of the possible formation of a third unit, his
workload had been tripled. Thanks to his being given interim command of
the SV2, he was having a difficult time keeping up, and was VERY glad of
the peace and quiet. Ohta's snoring, however, was not something he'd
factored into the equation, and he was constantly being distracted by the
annoying sound.
The phone on Gotoh's desk rang, startling Ohta awake. He quickly answered
it, and Gomioka was very glad for the reprieve from the constant
disturbance that was Ohta.
That reprieve didn't last long. "They're going to be WHERE?!" Ohta
exploded, quickly scribbling something down. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"
Slamming the phone down, he grabbed the piece of paper and jumped out of
the desk chair. "Lieutenant Gomioka, sir!"
Gomioka sighed. "Yes, Ohta?"
"A call from headquarters, sir! Noa and Asuma are expected to be at this
address by 1600 hours, and we are to scramble to apprehend them!"
Raising an eyebrow, the other police officer stood up and walked over to
get the paper Ohta was waving. When he saw the address, he frowned.
"Hmm... how do we know they'll be there?"
"Apparently, there was an anonymous tip, sir!"
The frown grew. "Really? And how do we know this isn't just an attempt to
distract us so that someone can commit a more serious crime?"
Ohta blinked. "I... don't know, sir. But we've been ordered to scramble
both units, sir!"
Gomioka sighed. "Oh, very well. Go tell Sakaki to prep the labors for
immediate action."
Ohta saluted. "Yes, sir!" he cried, and started out the door. Gomioka
considered things for a moment.
"Wait! Belay that!" he ordered. "You get everyone up and ready to go. I
want to talk to Sakaki about something else, as well."
"Yes, sir!" Ohta acknowledged, then bolted from the office.
Gomioka frowned. "Hmm... now, who would know where Noa and Asuma are going
to be OTHER than Noa and Asuma?"
* * * * *
Noa smiled as she leaned into Asuma. His arm was around her, and the young
couple was standing on the ships deck watching the scenery pass by as they
sailed to their destination. One short mission, and they'd be able to come
out of hiding. And then... maybe she could 'introduce' her father to her
boyfriend (it might be cute to see her father's reaction when he discovered
that the boy who had come to take her home from the grave of Alphonse the
First had won her heart). That might make vacations at home bearable- and
might finally be enough for her father to stop bugging her about quitting
the SV2 and finding a husband. Briefly, Noa wondered if Asuma was going to
ask her to marry her at some point. She wasn't sure he would- he didn't
seem to be the sort of person who would think of that kind of thing. And
to her, it didn't matter any more- she and Asuma were together, in a way
she never thought possible, and she loved it. They hadn't actually said
those three special little words to each other, yet, but that was only a
matter of time. And maybe a matter of resolving this situation they were
in- something which Noa was very glad to finally be doing.
Asuma had been rather quiet since they'd left the cabin- almost as if he
was brooding. He seemed to want to talk to her about something, but was
reluctant to say anything. She could sense it wasn't because he was
nervous about whatever he was going to say (which, she was certain, meant
that he wasn't thinking about popping the question to her just yet), but
felt that he just didn't want this moment to end. She didn't, either, but
it was obvious there was more reason for him bringing her up here then just
a nice cuddle.
"Asuma," she began.
"Hmm?"
"What is it you want to talk about?" she asked. "I know you brought me up
here for some reason, and I don't think you're enough of a romantic for
THIS to be it," she said, giving him a slight squeeze.
"I'm afraid you're right- I don't think I've got a romantic bone in my
body," Asuma replied. "I just wanted to talk to you about this 'mission'
we're going on."
Noa smiled at him. "Well, I certainly don't mind being held by you while
we talk about it."
Asuma half-smiled at her. "I don't mind it, either." His face got serious
and he continued. "Noa... I'm a little worried. I don't really trust
Wong- I don't know what it is he's trying to get out of helping us, and I
don't trust his promises. I'm not even sure we can trust his information."
Noa looked at him in surprise. "I don't trust him, either, but he's right
when he says we don't have any choice. Besides, what do you think we can
do about it?"
Asuma sighed and shook his head. "There's nothing I CAN think of to do
about it. But I... I just want you to be careful, okay? Don't trust the
Griffin. In fact, if we find the murder weapon like we're hoping to, don't
touch it OR let the Griffin touch it, okay? You don't want to ruin the
ballistics, or else this will all be pointless." He swallowed nervously.
"And... look, don't sacrifice your life for this, okay? It's not worth it,
whatever the situation. I'll be happy enough living in hiding with you,
okay?"
Tears almost came to Noa's eyes at that statement. "And you say you don't
have a romantic bone in your body. Asuma, I-"
A door just three feet away from them clanked open, startling the couple.
Takeo walked out, noticed how they were holding each other, and giggled
slightly in embarrassment. "Oops- didn't mean to interrupt. Asuma,
Richard wants to talk you about something."
Asuma sighed, looked an apology at Noa, and disengaged himself. "I'd
better go see what he wants. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Noa looked at him expectantly, but frowned when he just ran through the
door.
Takeo noticed Noa's expression and chuckled. "You were expecting a
good-bye kiss, weren't you?"
Noa flushed. "Well... I should have known better. He just TOLD me he
'doesn't have a romantic bone in his body.'"
Takeo smiled. "Well, that's to be expected. I imagine he has his upside,
though."
Noa smiled. "Yeah... he's just wonderful."
Takeo's eye twinkled. "So... how good is he in bed?"
Noa coughed, startled. "Er, what do you mean?"
Takeo's smile widened, taking on that characteristic smirk which reminded
Noa and Asuma of Richard Wong. "Well, while we were packing your room up I
discovered that a couple of condoms were missing from that package I sent
you. What else did you use them for, an art project?"
Noa blushed deeply. "Er... well, okay. Yeah, we... eventually went that
far." She giggled in embarrassment. "Just a few hours after I told him I
wasn't ready for it, too. He promised he'd let me set the pace, and I did.
I moved a bit faster than I thought I would... and, quite frankly, I'm
glad I did." She paused, not looking at Takeo. "I don't really have
anything to compare it to, but I think we were good together. We seemed to
fit each other perfectly, and... well, I don't want to give too many
details, but I think we both enjoyed it very much."
Takeo nodded. "I'm glad for you."
"Takeo," Noa hesitated. "Asuma's... very worried about Utsumi's
motivations in helping us, and thinks I'm in serious danger from not just
this strike we're making on the Shaft warehouse, but also from the Griffin.
You know Utsumi pretty well- as well as I know Asuma, I think... um, just
how much do I really need to worry?"
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you can say I really know Richard
that well. I don't think he'll intentionally hurt the two of you, but he
doesn't usually think about that sort of thing when he makes his plans.
But if you think I know him as well as you know Asuma, well... you're sadly
mistaken."
Noa looked out at the sea, leaning against a piece of railing. "Didn't
you, er, sleep with him, too?"
Takeo sighed, joining Noa at the railing. "A long time ago, yes. I didn't
really know him well enough, then, and he's changed some since I last saw
him."
"Do you think I know Asuma well enough? Do you think I got into this
relationship with him too quickly?" Noa said, almost frightened.
Takeo laughed. "Hardly. You two are so attached to each other around the
SV2, everyone assumed you've been lovers for some time. If anything, you
two know each other too well- now there's nothing new for you to learn
about each other!"
Noa blinked. "You really think so?"
Takeo's smirk returned. "Remember when you had that toothache?"
"Don't remind me," Noa grimaced. "That was VERY painful, and Asuma wasn't
much help at all with all his teasing."
"Hmm," Takeo mused. "You might be surprised to know that, until we found
out from Asuma that it was a toothache, everyone assumed that he'd gotten
you pregnant and you were upset about it."
"WHAT!?"
"Why do you think everyone was trying to force him to make up with you?"
Takeo laughed. "Even after he told us it was just a toothache, some of us
thought he was just covering up until you overdosed on Shinshi's pain pills
and fell asleep in the staff meeting. Well, we finally believed him when
Gotoh asked him directly what was going on with you- after Gotoh drew a
watch on your wrist. Oh, that was funny..."
Noa blinked. "You mean Asuma really DIDN'T do that to me?"
Takeo just laughed harder. "Oh, my.... Gotoh does have some sense of
humor, doesn't he?"
"Well, I didn't think it was funny!" Noa huffed. She paused, reminiscing
to that incident. "He always teased me a lot, but he helped me when he
thought I needed it."
"Eh?"
"Asuma. He teased me the whole time I had that toothache- and rode me so
hard I puked when we had to go into action- but he helped me out a lot,
too. When I was ordered to wax Alphonse- which was shocking in and of
itself, since I never had to be ordered to do that- I fell asleep on his
shoulder. It was those stupid pain pills that did it to me, but I wasn't
able to stop myself. I heard him gasp right before I passed out, and saw
him stretching out to catch me in case I fell." She paused. "Good thing I
didn't."
Takeo smirked. "You know, we always thought your relationship with him was
kind of twisted, since it seemed so linked with your labor. Did you know
once, when he was trying to wake you up, you called him 'Alphonse?' You
told him to shut up, so you obviously heard him talking to you and realized
it was his voice."
"Hey!" Noa snapped. "My love for Asuma has NOTHING to do with my love for
Alphonse! I think of Alphonse as a pet, nothing more! Asuma's...
different." She paused. "And if you think my relationship with Asuma's
twisted, what about your fling with Utsumi, the master of labor crime?"
Takeo gaped at her. A thousand replies went through her mind, but Noa's
honest anger eliminated half of them. In fact, only one burned its way
through her mind.
"It wasn't just a fling," she muttered softly.
"What?"
"I said it wasn't just a fling," Takeo repeated. "My relationship with
Richard was SO much more than a fling... that I just don't think I'll ever
get over it enough to find someone else."
Noa blinked, her anger gone. Shifting to face the older woman, she asked,
"Do you still love him, then?"
Takeo smiled, once again taking on the Wong-esque expression. "Tell me
this, Noa. If Asuma HAD killed his father, and you KNEW he had killed his
father, would you stop loving him?"
Noa blinked. "Well... when I broke him out, I knew that he hadn't. I just
knew it. Still, he asked me why I was so sure he didn't. I asked him, to
his face, if he had. At that point, I knew that even if he said 'yes,' I'd
stick with him. I didn't know WHY I was planning to stick with him, but I
knew that doing so was something I was looking forward to." She paused.
"I guess the answer to your question is yes, I would still love him. Even
if I didn't realize it."
Takeo nodded. "Richard Wong has done everything you could possibly think
of that I would disapprove of- except maybe sleep with someone else- and
despite all of that... despite all of that, I still sometimes think I want
to spend the rest of my life with him."
Noa coughed. "You might want to let Hiromi know that."
"Huh?"
"He's got a crush on you, I think. Just like you say everyone thought
Asuma and I were together, everyone seems to know Hiromi likes you but
you."
Takeo smiled sadly. "Hiromi's a nice guy. Very gentle, I guess somewhat
handsome. But... he isn't Richard. I'm sorry about that, and I hate to
disappoint him, but it just won't work."
"And your relationship with Utsumi will?"
Takeo paused. Trying to change the subject, she said, "Say, why don't we
go see what the boys are talking about? For some reason, they always seem
to want to leave us girls out of everything."
Noa knew what Takeo was trying to do, but decided to let her do it. After
all, she didn't want to be apart from Asuma any longer than she had to
right now. Something about this upcoming mission was starting to worry
her, even if she had been looking forward to it just a while ago.
Something about Asuma's warning... about the chance of having to fight the
Griffin... about the fact that Asuma was worried, himself. Perhaps it was
just nerves, but she felt the need to reassure him, and to be reassured
herself.
Besides, Takeo seemed to need a chance to talk to Utsumi herself.
* * * * *
"Ah! Mr. Shinohara, welcome!" Wong greeted.
Asuma grimaced. For some reason, Wong's constant cheerfulness was starting
to get on his nerves. "Utsumi," he acknowledged.
"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?" the elder man said, noticing the
sour tone in Asuma's voice.
"Not really, no," Asuma admitted. "Noa and I were just on deck, admiring
the scenery."
"Oh! Terribly sorry," Wong said apologetically. "I know how precious
moments like that are. I just thought that, as a courtesy to you and to
help you make plans for the encounter, I should give you a few of the
performance specifications for the Griffin."
Asuma took a proffered folder, but his eyes didn't leave Wong's. "Oh? And
how, exactly, do you know how important a moment like that is? For some
reason, I have a hard time seeing YOU as being able to know something like
that."
"You wound me, my dear Mr. Shinohara," Wong complained theatrically. "Do
you really think of me so poorly as to assume I don't know anything about
matters of the heart?"
"No," Asuma said evenly. "However, while I may not be a romantic or
anything like that, I can appreciate a few moments of peace right before
you know you're about to risk your life for something. I can't see you
caring about anything enough to knowingly risk your life for it, so I don't
see you ever HAVING a moment like that to appreciate it."
Wong paused, his smile fading. "I have, though. There was something I
cared for like that, once. Someone."
Asuma snorted. "You expect me to believe that? Look, everything I know
about you tells me that you let other people take your risks for you. When
have you ever had to worry about never having a chance to see someone
again?"
Wong turned the most serious expression Asuma had ever seen at him. "When
I tried to resign from Shaft for Takeo." He paused. "I failed to resign
from Shaft, and I didn't see Takeo again for several years. So not only do
I know what it's like to be in your situation with Ms. Izumi, I also know
what it's like to have a moment like that, and then actually lose what it
is you're fighting for."
Asuma was having a hard time keeping his skeptical attitude, but still
couldn't quite take Wong on his word. "How do you 'fail' to resign from a
company, and how in the world would that keep you from Takeo?"
Wong's smile returned. "The last day I saw her- that is, the last time I
saw her before my security agent shot her- I swore to her that I would
return to her after resigning from the company. She'd been begging me to
quit for some time, and finally I was able to say 'yes,' I would quit. So
I went in to work, walked into my bosses office, and handed him a letter of
resignation."
Asuma snorted. "What happened, did he make an offer of a promotion?"
Wong nodded. "At first. My own division, a vice-presidency, a huge raise,
stock options, the works." Wong laughed. "I said no."
That surprised Asuma. "Then, what-"
"Apparently, they'd been keeping me under surveillance for some time. They
knew my weakness," Wong answered before the question could be asked. "They
knew Takeo was a cop on loan to Interpol, and they knew that she'd made
contact with me in order to spy on Shaft. She was a security risk, they
told me. If I quit, they warned me, her life would be forfeit. But if I
stayed with the company, accepted the promotions, and promised not to go
back to her... well, then they'd spare her life." He broke eye contact
with Asuma, and started staring at his feet. "You've been asking me since
I met you in that lodge what I was getting out of this. I'll let you know,
now... if I can free you by showing that Shaft assassinated your father,
then Shaft will be destroyed and I will be free of its yoke. If I am free
of Shaft, then... then I can return to Takeo, and tell her I've kept my
promise. I am sure there will have to be a period in which I will need to
earn her forgiveness, but once I've done that I can ask her to marry me,
like I was planning to however long ago it was I handed in my resignation."
He paused. "Never trust me, my friend, but know I am telling the truth
this once. What I'm getting out of helping you... is Takeo."
Neither of them said a word for quite some time. Finally, though, Noa and
Takeo arrived and broke the silence.
"There you are!" Noa cried. "What have you two been talking about?"
Asuma coughed. "Not much. Just going over the specs for the Black Labor,
so I can help come up with a strategy better."
Wong nodded. "Indeed, but we seem to have drifted off into idle chatter.
I suggest you two go and have some fun. We've got a long day... say, have
you been to your cabin yet? I suggest you go- I ordered the chef to
prepare a special meal for the two of you." He gave Asuma a wink.
Asuma got the hidden message in the wink. "Um, good idea... I think."
Noa nodded. She wanted to give Takeo and Wong some time alone, herself.
"I think so, too. Come on, Asuma- I'm hungry!" Grabbing Asuma by the arm,
she dragged him off in a run.
Takeo giggled. "Were we ever like that?"
Wong looked at her, eyebrows raised. "'We?' I don't think 'we' had much
of an opportunity to act like that. We were too busy doing other things...
more, er, mature things."
Takeo gave a very unladylike snort. "Maybe we would have been better off
if we'd had more fun like they're having. What IS this 'special' meal
you've had prepared?"
Wong's eyes twinkled. "Oh, only the best. The best sake money can buy,
premium Kyoto beef, the freshest shrimp around, and, because I figure Asuma
will be needing the boost before they leave that cabin, a plate of raw
oysters."
Takeo looked confused. "Raw oysters?"
Wong nodded. "The Viagra of seafoods. They've only got a few hours before
they're going into action- I figure they'll need that one last 'time'
together."
Takeo laughed a little at first, then hesitated. In a rather more serious
tone then she'd been speaking with him before, she began, "You know, I was
chatting with Noa, and realized something. I think we need to talk."
Wong tensed, but nodded. "Yes, I think we need to talk, too. There are a
couple things I think you'd better know I'm planning."
* * * * *
"Shinobu?" Gotoh said softly, shaking the other captain slightly. "Time to
get up. We're back."
Shinobu blinked her eyes awake. "Eh, what?" she said sleepily. She tried
to stretch out the crick in her neck- she always got one when sleeping in a
car.
"We're back. Time to go in and see if Gomioka has any messages from Takeo
for us."
She yawned. "Maybe she's been able to wrap up the case without us. This
whole investigation disturbs me."
"Doubtful," Matsui said pessimistically from behind Gotoh. "I imagine it
will take either a very high placed source in Shaft or a stroke of the
greatest luck in the world for her to have found the weapon already."
"Inspector Matsui," Shinobu intoned. "Has anyone ever told you that you
have no sense of subtlety?"
Matsui grinned. "Nope."
"Consider yourself notified," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Gotoh led the trio into the SV2 headquarters building, but before they
could even reach their office they were intercepted by Sakaki.
"Captain Nagumo," he said, approaching Shinobu. "Lieutenant Gomioka left
this note for you. My mechanics and I have followed his instructions to
the letter."
Shinobu scanned the letter Sakaki handed to her, a frown growing on her
face. "Inspector Matsui," she said absently.
"Yes, ma'am?"
She pulled a key out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "Go up to my
office and use that key to open the top right drawer at my desk. In it,
you'll find a labor movement disk. Bring it to me."
"Er, why?" Matsui said, somewhat surprised.
Shinobu stared at him hard. "It appears as if I'm going to be needed as a
labor pilot."
* * * * *
A few hours after their first sojourn to the deck, Noa and Asuma left their
cabin to make a second. On their way out the door, though, they bumped
into Takeo and Wong.
Takeo blushed upon meeting the others, and withdrew a hand which had been
held inside Wong's. That only drew attention to the fact that they had
been holding hands, however, and so she blushed even further.
Wong coughed politely. "Oh, my. Well, we were going to be getting the two
of you ourselves in a few minutes. We've arrived- in about fifteen
minutes, we'll be docking at our destination, and... well, we'll see what
happens after that. I suspect there'll be a fight of some sort, but we may
be able to avoid that."
Asuma's eyes widened slightly. "Prep time, then?"
"That is correct," Wong acknowledged, nodding.
Asuma cursed slightly under his breath. "Come on, Noa- back to our room.
We need to get our equipment ready," he ordered, giving her an apologetic
glance. It seemed they wouldn't have that last moment on deck, after all.
Noa nodded, and the two of them started back down the corridor to their
stateroom. "Was I seeing things," she said, the moment she was out of the
other couple's earshot, "Or was Takeo... 'acting different' towards
Utsumi?"
Asuma half-smiled. "Yeah... I think they made up or something. But do you
really want to spend our last few moments before a potential fight talking
about them?"
Noa's face lit up like a candle. "You mean you want to talk about us?" she
said, opening the door to their cabin.
Asuma blinked. "Um... that wasn't what I was thinking of-"
Noa's face fell. "Oh."
"But if you'd rather do that than figure out ways of surviving what's up
ahead, I don't have a problem with that," he finished, pulling out the
suitcase which held their headset radios and Noa's helmet.
Noa flushed. "Um, sorry. I guess that IS more important."
Asuma paused as he was adjusting his headset. Not meeting her eyes, he
sighed. "Maybe it isn't." At Noa's surprised look, he explained, "Look,
we have a few things we might be able to go over, but they'd just be
reminders of things I'm pretty sure you won't forget. But we might not
succeed in this, and if we don't we need to decide what we're going to do."
Noa slowly moved over to the suitcase, pulling out her own radio and
helmet. "We-ell," she said, drawing the word out as she thought. "If this
doesn't work, then I'll do whatever you need me to do."
Asuma sighed. "If this doesn't work, then there's probably no chance of
ever clearing my name, you know. We'd have three real options. The first
is for us to remain refugees in Japan forever- and as many fond memories as
I have of your family's would-be ski resort, I don't think we can keep
hiding out there for the rest of our lives. The second would be for us to
leave the country- forever. Go somewhere that Japan doesn't have an
extradition treaty with, and see if we can't forge a new life their. It
would mean learning a new language and getting new careers, but it's
probably preferable to the first option."
Noa adjusted her helmet, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she
prompted him, "And the final option?"
"I can surrender to the police. I'd be arrested, and probably jailed for
life, but at least you'd most likely be able to get out of being sent to
jail, which would allow you to live the rest of your life without being on
the run. You could see your family and friends, and probably yo-"
"Stop!" Noa screeched, startling Asuma. "Asuma Shinohara, if you even
THINK that I'm going to abandon you after I've gone this far, you've got
another thing coming. If we DON'T succeed in this, then I wouldn't mind
living in another country for the rest of our lives, as long as it was you
I was living with. But I WON'T accept any plan which takes you away from
me, got it?"
Asuma continued to look somewhat amazed at Noa's outburst, but soon
regained his composure. "It was just an option, and not one I particularly
cared for, either. But I figured you deserved a chance to think about it."
He smiled at her. "But don't worry about it- all we need to do is prove
that the murder weapon belongs to Shaft, and you won't need to make that
decision."
Noa nodded. "Right. I won't let those bastards who framed you get away
with it!"
'Good,' Asuma thought. 'She's mad- whoever tries to stop her doesn't stand
a chance. But she'd better relax for the moment- she doesn't need that
anger interfering with her until she's in combat.' He paused. 'Well,
there's one thing I can think of to tell her that might help... too bad we
don't have more time, or there's something else we could do, but that'll
have to wait.'
"Noa?"
Noa met his eyes with a fiery gaze. "Yes, Asuma?" she stated fiercely.
"I don't know how all this will turn out, but there's something I think we
need to say to each other before it happens. Something I'm pretty sure we
know already, but we still should say the words first." He took a deep
breath. This was hard for him, but he had to say it. It might be his last
chance. One thing that Wong's story of his and Takeo's failed courtship
told him was not to wait for things like this, as the opportunity might
never come again. "Noa, I know we haven't said it yet, but I know it, and
I hope you know it, that I... that I love you."
Noa's face softened considerably. "Asuma...."
Not able to come up with an adequate verbal response, she grabbed him up
into her arms and started kissing him. Hard. As if it might be the last
time she ever could.
The kiss was still going on when Bud Reynard, the young pilot of the
Griffin, burst into the room. He pulled to a stop, blinked at the pair,
and whistled. "Go for it, you two!" he cheered. "I'd ask to see more of
this kind of action, but you need to get into your Ingram, big sis, for
another kind! Seems we have a few other labors to play with before we can
find that gun."
Noa and Asuma broke apart in surprise, blushing badly. "Um, I'll be right
there," the female half of the team said, pulling on her helmet. Asuma
sighed, taking a moment to relax before he had to get into position,
himself.
Richard Wong, accompanied by Takeo, entered the room as Asuma was glancing
around for one last check, trying to make certain he hadn't missed
anything.
"Are you ready to go?" Wong asked him. "We probably should be heading to
the observation deck, so we can get good seats for the upcoming round of
entertainment."
Asuma snorted, leaving the room and following the other man. "I'd hardly
call 'desperately trying to regain my innocence' to be 'entertainment,' but
yeah, I'm ready to go."
Wong pouted jokingly, leading the trio down the corridor and up a set of
stairs. "Oh? Well, perhaps you ARE under a lot of stress over this
incident, but I suspect the upcoming battle will be quite interesting to
watch from an impartial standpoint. I can already tell you there are going
to be more contestants in this little game than we were initially
expecting."
"There are?" Asuma said in surprise as they neared the door to the
observation deck. "Who?"
Wong opened the door and continued on to the edge of the open-air platform.
"Ah, smell that sea air."
They hadn't quite moored at the pier, yet, which gave them plenty of time
to survey the scene before any action had to be taken. Handing Asuma a
pair of binoculars before donning one of his own, he pointed.
"Check over there, by the loading dock, behind all those crates. You
wouldn't be able to see it from shore."
Asuma squinted. "Hmm... a labor carrier of some kind. I don't recognize
it- certainly isn't one of the standard Shaft carriers."
Wong nodded. "Nope- it just happens to be an Interpol labor carrier. And
check out the labor standing next to it."
"That's odd... I can't identify that one at all. It looks fairly advanced,
but doesn't really look like an experimental..."
"It's not. And I'm surprised at you- your the son of the founder of the
largest labor corporation in Japan, and you don't even recognize one of
your foreign competitors' labors?"
Shinohara shrugged. "Not all of them. I know every model in the companies
which have ever tried peddling their wares in Japan, but if they haven't,
well, I really haven't paid much attention."
"Ah, that explains it," Wong nodded. "It's an American model. After you
successfully proved your own company's defect with the Hyper Operating
System some months back, the New York City police opened bids for high-end
labors, excluding Shinohara Heavy Industries and all other competitors who
had adopted the HOS, and turned down the contract your company had to
supply them with the Zero's."
Asuma nodded, still looking at the unusual labor. "I'm familiar with that
much of the situation. I'd hardly call it MY company, however- I would
never have marketed a labor if I knew that it was defective, hoping to fix
the problem later with 'upgrades' which didn't take place until after
hundreds of billions of yen's worth of damage was done."
"Chrysler, an American-based car company, developed the eventual victor of
the New York City Police contract- the CPJ-7 'Rumbler' model. Unless I
miss my guess, the pilot of that Interpol labor may very well be a friend
of yours. Then again, you aren't exactly in a situation where you can
trust your friends, are you?"
Asuma grimaced. "I can trust Noa. And when it comes to most of the
others, I think I can trust them to be fair- and to act the way I think
they'll act in a given situation."
Wong glanced at Takeo, who was idly picking at her nails, obviously bored
with the whole conversation. "Well... yes. I suppose you can sometimes
predict how people will act," he replied wistfully, remembering a certain
conversation in a laundry room some months back. "In addition to the
American labor, there's our two labors, plus I can make out a team of four
Shaft Security Systems' Abraham labors, and at least two Brochens. There's
obviously more here that my company is trying to protect than I knew." He
smiled. "It should be an excellent test of our two labor's fighting
skills."
"This isn't a test," Asuma growled.
"Sure it is!" Wong exclaimed. "Yes, maybe there's more to it than a simple
test, or demonstration, but it is nonetheless a great opportunity to see
how my new, improved Griffin handles itself. I could also point out that
it should be a good test of your little girlfriend's piloting skills, but I
assume you don't really care about that."
"Noa's the best labor pilot out there," Asuma sounded out through clenched
teeth. "I don't need a test to tell me that. If she wasn't, your old
Griffin would have crushed her."
"Perhaps," Wong admitted, his smile unwavering. "I suspect you and your
friends had something to do with that, as well, though. Especially you,
from what I've seen. But right now, that's unimportant- we have a 'game'
to prepare for. Hmm... do you want me to give you the specs of each of
those labors, so you can do your job as Noa's 'backup' better?"
"Just the Rumbler's. I know the others by heart."
"Ah. That's easy- physical strength roughly the equivalent of the Saturn,
speed roughly equal to the Brochen, and a very primative neural net system
for the software. She may carry a firearm of a smaller caliber than the
Ingram's, but Americans usually have better cared for guns with higher
quality ammunition and more accurate marksmen in their Patlabors. Japan,
for some reason, doesn't see the need of training its labor pilots to use
the tools it gives them."
Asuma shrugged. "I dunno about other units in Japan, but we deal with
urban combat more than anything. Despite the protests of one Ohta Isao,
using our labors' guns in city limits usually gets more complaints than
letting the criminals get away." He paused. "Noa's a terrible marksmen in
practice, but when you let the adreneline start pumping in her, she can be
one of the best. Once, she ended a hostage situation by firing a bullet
inches away from both the hostage and the hostage-taker. The concussion of
the blast knocked the supposed gun- which was actually an umbrella- right
out of the guy's hands. As I recall, that was Takeo's first assignment
with us."
Silent up until that point, Takeo moved over to join the talk. "I remember
that. Considering the reputation Section Two had before I joined up, I was
astonished to see someone of Noa's skills as part of it. I quickly learned
the reputation wasn't because of a failure to produce, but because the
person I was put in charge of was usually a bit too much of a hothead.
Ohta can be really sweet sometimes, and when he's calm enough he can
actually work pretty well, but... well, he doesn't seem to have control of
himself all that often, it seems."
There was a slight lurch indicating that the ship was properly moored. A
member of the freighter's crew joined them a moment later. "Chief Utsumi,
sir!" he saluted. Wong frowned slightly at the formality but motioned for
the man to continue. "Docking is complete, sir. We can be ready to raise
and activate the two labors in exactly three minutes, sir."
Wong looked at Asuma. "Well, this is your party. Are you ready?"
Asuma switched on his radio headset. "Noa, can you read me?"
"Loud and clear."
"There are seven labors visible from the dockyard. Two Brochens, four
Abrahams, and an American labor which may or may not get involved. Can you
handle it?"
There was a pause. "I don't know," she said. "The Griffin can probably
handle the Abrahams easily, and I've been able to handle multiple Brochens
before- but it will be dangerous, especially if the American labor gets
involved. I don't think it would hurt to try, though. Alphonse hasn't
ever let me down, yet."
Asuma smiled slightly, Noa's voice dropping some of the tension his
conversation with Richard Wong had created. "Okay. Get ready- we're going
to deck up you and Bud."
"Roger."
Flipping off his mouthpiece, he turned to Wong. "Raise 'em."
* * * * *
Kanuka Clancy was surveying the harbor's facilities with a keen attention
to the goings-on around her. As of yet, no-one of importance- either here
or at home- knew that she was even in Japan, and she hoped to keep it that
way for a while. Hopefully, when everything was done, she'd be able to
return to America without anyone knowing she was gone.
She wasn't AWOL, exactly- after all, one of her perpetually ongoing
assignments was to track the movements of Shaft Security Services, evaluate
their performance, and investigate them for illegal activities at home or
abroad. Three-S had suddenly positioned a full detachment of it's forces
in this harbor, and officially (if she had to give an official reason), she
was here to look them over. And if it turned out that she was on hand to
help out an old friend who was in a bit of legal trouble- unofficially- so
much the better.
She'd seen the ship as it was coming in, and knew she'd recognized it from
somewhere. It wasn't until the two labors rose out of it that she
remembered where, though.
"The Griffin!" she gasped in surprise. And not just the Griffin, either,
she realized, but Alphonse as well. "What are THEY doing here- TOGETHER?"
she asked herself aloud. Had Asuma gone over to Shaft in the hopes that
they'd find a way to keep him safe? If so, why was Noa involved- surely
she wouldn't agree to something like that willingly. Well, she might if
they promised to keep Alphonse intact for her... but still, that didn't
seem in character for either of them. Neither did murder, for that matter.
Well, Kanuka knew better than to intervene before she knew what was going
on. She settled into her hiding place to watch the proceedings just as
Alphonse and the Griffin leapt down off of the tanker and onto the dock.
The Abrahams approached Alphonse and the Ingram tentatively, and then the
labors met...
* * * * *
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