Author's Note: We haven't checked in on Russia for quite some time now. Well, here we are. This kind of feels a little bit like filler, but I made it work. There needs to be a little bit more of Russia if I can figure out what to do with them this season. I might have something for Halloween. Speaking of which, I have been busy with the Dark Alice Halloween special and it's coming along nicely. Same with Death and All His Friends. I will start on the Tea Leaves Halloween special after I finished Death. I don't know what I am going to do next week, but it will come to me. For now, enjoy this week's match.
Match Sixteen: Sirena:
Meanwhile, Ivan and his team are hurt at first. Their prototype was a success. They are going to let her run loose in Ikebukuro. But first, there needed some tests done. That wasn't on Ivan's mind, however.
He pulled out his phone.
"It's me," Ivan said. He looked out the hotel window. Li Yin was asleep in bed. She had a great time visiting Kiku and Sena.
"They were okay," she said. "Kiku didn't talk much on the last day." Ivan knew the reason, but he wasn't allowed to share it with his wife. It played in his favor.
"Yeah, the test was a success," Ivan said. "She'll be ready to debut in the next few months." The Russian man paused.
"What? You want it sooner?" he asked. "Okay… what for? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But…" Ivan sighed.
"Fine," he said. "I will tell the others. Anything else? No? Okay, good night." Ivan hung up the phone. He turned back to Li Yin sound asleep. She turned over under the crisp cotton sheets. Ivan walked over to the bed. Looked like they were going to be staying in Japan a little bit longer. His wife wasn't going to mind. She wasn't really a fan of the cold anyway. The Russian man leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
"Good night," Ivan whispered. But he didn't go to bed. Instead, he quietly walked out of the room.
The boss wasn't happy. Vozrozhdeniye was trailing behind. Tandeki was advancing like first place could be taken from them at any time. They had the tadpoles and the Dis Program. Mam was catching up on their own. Lucky for Vozrozhdeniye had a way to keep up. Now, the boss wanted more.
Ivan had his doubts. But he knew better than to keep his mouth shut. The boss only wanted results after all. That's all it was. It looked like Ivan had no choice. He pulled out his phone and made another call.
Up in the frozen lands of Russia, a man got a call while overlooking the empty lands of nothing.
"Yeah?" he asked. The call didn't have to last long.
"Understood," the man said. He hung up and went into his shack. He paid no mind to the shadows floating in the sky.
The man was going to need a few things before he left the country. He walked past his radio by the front door. The man reached under his bed and pulled out a locked black box. He could turn the combination with his eyes closed. His prized possession lay waiting inside. The man reached in and pulled out his gun. It felt good to be holding it again
"My partner," he said to himself. When was the last time he used it? He was told that it would be useless in this case. Still, the old man loved to take it with him. Gave him a sense of power in a way. Kind of a good luck charm. He managed to outlive his comrades. This job was going to be no different.
The old man packed up his gear. Gun, knives, poisons, bombs, and even firebombs. He wasn't expected to come back to his apartment for quite some time. The man finished his breakfast for the morning, took a cold bath, shaved, and got dressed. The old man took one more look around his shack before heading out to the city.
-Tokyo-
Ivan turned and walked back into his room. He probably should get to bed. Another day of tests waited for him. Might as well get this over with. Ivan crawled into bed next to his wife. He would be gone by the time she woke up.
He gave her one more kiss on the forehead.
"Good night, darling," he whispered. It didn't take much for Ivan to fall right asleep.
It was going to be a long morning today. At least there was no fog here. Not that it mattered to Ivan. It was all going to end anyway. He just hasn't told his wife the truth yet. However, she can tell that something is wrong. She may have been young but she wasn't stupid. Ivan was going to have to sit her down and talk to her.
"How is that little wife of yours?" his boss asked.
"Oh. She's doing well," Ivan said. "I drop her off to see her family."
"So you haven't told her yet?" he asked.
"No," the Russian man said. "I'm not going to tell her just yet." He looked at the rest of his team. Some were looking at the notes on their tablets. Alisa had her eyes on the sky. Karp and Katerina stood under the shade, smoking. The others were talking to each other. Their siren hadn't come back yet. They had time.
"That's really bold of you," his boss said.
"How so?" Ivan asked. The other man chuckled on the other line.
"Women know more than you think," he said. "They can figure things out just by looking at a situation."
"Hm?" the Russian asked.
"The question is what will your wife do when she figures it out," his boss said. Ivan thought about that for a moment but didn't have an answer.
"We'll talk later. Let me know of the latest progress," the boss said. He hung before the other Russian man could speak. Ivan looked at his phone.
"Yes," he said to himself. Ivan shoved his phone into his pocket and walked over to the group. That's right. It's going to be another long day of work.