Shikaeshi, Part 3
I don't own Weiss. If I did, there would be more nudity. ^.^
The tak tak of fingers hitting the keyboard greeted Ran as he made his way down the spiral staircase the next afternoon. Omi was working on the new mission.
"Omi? Could you do me a favor?"
The young man turned and regarded him with a curious expression. "What?"
"Could you look something up for me? A name?" Omi nodded. "Sure thing. What's the name and what do you want to know?"
Ran knelt down by the boy and murmured a name. "Narita Masako. She'd be about thirty now, I think. And I want to know everything."
If Omi recognized the name from the night before, he did not mention it. Instead, he opened up a search engine and began looking for information. Almost immediately, two notices popped up.
"Here's an obituary, and a small piece on her death in Yomiuri."
Ran nodded. "I know about those. What about family? A death certificate? Things like that."
Omi typed more commands into the computer, opening a different search engine. Nothing came up.
"That's weird." Omi murmured to himself.
"What?" Ran was anxious. He had a feeling…something wasn't right.
"Well, except for those two notices, there isn't anything else about her. It's almost like she never existed…no birth or death certificates, no credit reports, no police record, she never paid taxes or rented an apartment…nothing at all."
A chill swept through the red head, a though settling in his mind, too disturbing to ignore. "Check one more thing for me." He said quietly.
Omi waited, fingers poised above the keys.
"Check the Kritiker database."
Omi looked sharply up at Ran, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Ran- san, you know I can't just randomly search Kritiker files."
"Just do it. If you get in trouble, I'll tell them I made you." The implication was clear. If he didn't, Ran would make him.
Omi sighed and opened up a connection to the Kritiker high security database. He maneuvered through several firewalls before reaching the main system. Hesitating slightly, he entered Masako's name into the search box. The computer searched for a few seconds and then began flashing a message.
ACCESS DENIED. LEVEL 1 CLEARANCE ONLY
Omi looked up at Ran with wide eyes. "Whoever this person was, Ran- san, she caught the attention of Kritiker."
The red head's face was closed as he carefully asked, "What is level 1 clearance?"
"Highest level clearance. Someone like Persia would have had access to it. I could try to get in, but the security is tighter and I would probably get caught." Omi replied uneasily.
Ran nodded. "Don't worry about it." He said and turned away, walking quickly up the stairs and out of sight.
Manx looked at her watch again, feeling a slight stirring of irritation. Damn that Ran, she thought, he asked for this meeting and now he's late!
The children's playground where he had demanded they meet was deserted in early evening. The wind played gently with the merry-go- round and swings, making it seem as though invisible hands moved them. Manx shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Who is Korat?"
Manx stifled a shriek and turned to where Ran had seemingly materialized, placing a hand above her hammering heart. "For the love of…you scared me to death!" She exclaimed, taking a deep breath to slow her heart rate.
He didn't acknowledge her, repeating the question instead. "Who is Korat?"
She placed her hands on her hips and gave him an irritated look. "You know I can't tell you that!" She hissed.
He took a step forward and glared at her. "I'll tell you what I think," he began, his voice low and dangerous, "I think her name is Narita Masako and that she had something to do with my parent's deaths."
Manx shook her head. "I don't know anything about that." She said evasively.
"Maybe you don't…but she does. I want to meet with her."
She again shook her head. "I can't do that. Weiss is not to have contact with her, except through me."
He took another step forward. His posture was menacing and for a moment, she couldn't help but wonder if he was going to hurt her. "Ran…I'm sorry…but I can't tell you anything." She stood her ground, arms crossed.
"Call her."
She looked at him, surprised. "What?"
"Call her and tell her that I want to meet with her."
"Why?"
"It is imperative that I speak with her…about the mission." He added as an afterthought.
Manx raised an eyebrow. "You can talk to me about the mission." She said.
He clenched his fists. "Please…" He grated out. "Call her. Tell her that I want to meet her."
Her eyes widened. Had he just said please? She was now intrigued enough to do him the favor of calling Korat. "All right." She said after a moment's hesitation. "I'll call her. But if she refuses to meet with you then that's it, okay?"
He nodded and crossed his arms, waiting while she fumbled through her purse, finally producing a tiny cell phone from its depths with a triumphant noise. She turned her back on him and dialed a number, seemingly from memory and, after a moment's pause, began talking in a low, rapid voice. Finally, she turned around and gave him a slight nod. "She says she'll meet with you."
Fifteen minutes later, Ran was in his car driving fast along the Shuto Expressway towards Azabu Juban Street. A small piece of paper with Korat's address scrawled on it was clutched in his hand. His assumption must be correct, he mused, since she had agreed to meet with him.
She lived in a fairly new building situated next to a lush park. It was well secured and no doubt rather expensive. Idly he wondered where Kritiker got the money to pay for things like this. A large, stern looking doorman let him in with no explanation. Either security here was more lax than he thought or he knew that a guest was expected. Probably the latter. He walked into the bright, well-lit lobby, past the 24-hour convenience store with its garish advertisements for ramen and candy, and marched to the bank of elevators, punching the up button with a vengeance.
Korat's apartment was eight floors up, occupying a corner of the building that looked out towards Tokyo Tower. He hesitated only slightly before knocking forcefully.
The door opened and he knew in a split second that his hunch had been correct. She looked a little older, more tired, but there was no doubt in his mind that this woman had once been Narita Masako, his father's secretary.
"Good evening, Ran-san." She said, stepping aside to let him in.
He saw red. He grabbed her by the throat and shoved her against the wall. "Why aren't you dead?" He hissed. For a moment, her clear green eyes widened with shock and fear, but just as quickly, they narrowed. Her grasping hands reached out and grabbed onto his shoulders, supporting her as her right leg swung forward and kicked him hard in the groin. When Ran saw red again, it was for a different reason.
He dropped her and sunk to the ground, silent in his agony. Massaging her neck, she stepped past him and shut the door. "It's good to see you, too." She said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
"Masako…you bitch…" He wheezed, standing up.
She led him into the living room and indicated where he should sit, watching with an amused glint in her eyes as he gingerly sat down on her overstuffed couch trying desperately not to wince.
"My name isn't Masako, it's Hanae. Shiro Hanae. And I only kicked you in the balls because you were choking me. Tit for tat. Would you like some ice?"
He shook his head and she plopped down on the large wing chair beside him. "Now I suppose you'll be demanding answers." She said, leaning her head back and studying the ceiling. "I told Morimoto that it would be a mistake to put us together, but he said there was no one left who could understand this case, Estet had killed a number of high ranked operatives, so… here I am and there you are." She finished her sentence with a sigh and studied her hands, waiting for him to say something.
"Does this new case have anything to do with my parents?" He asked her, amethyst eyes boring into her. She shifted uneasily. "Yes and no."
He leaned forward, not breaking his gaze for one second. "Explain."
She blew her bangs out of her eyes and fiddled with a button on her sleeve, not sure how to address the issue. "Well…," she cleared her throat. "Your father had the misfortune of being an honest man in a dishonest business. Kritiker approached him about a year before he died, asking him to become an informant for us. Takatori Reiji was running an embezzling scam with the bank Fujimiya-san worked for and he was the only man at his level who wasn't on Takatori's payroll. After some convincing, he agreed and we arranged for his former secretary to `get sick' and then I came in." Her voice took on an almost clinical sound as she described the actions that ultimately led to the destruction of the Fujimiya family. "For almost a year, he provided us with information that directly linked Takatori to millions of yen that disappeared from the bank. But Takatori found out and set us up. He arranged for your father to take the blame and planned out the assassinations of your parents, you, your sister and myself. I was ambushed in my home and nearly killed, I managed to call Persia before I passed out, but he got to your house too late…" She stopped and looked at Ran. His face was pale but the mask was firmly in place. The only indication of his true feelings were his eyes, which blazed with anger.
"What does this have to do with our current mission?" He asked, his voice tight. He had a feeling, but he wanted to be sure.
"The man who betrayed your father and me to Takatori was Kuro Akira." She said. As if with a will of its own, her hand rose up and traced the thin scar on her neck. "Apparently he decided it was worth more to work for the bad guy." For a split second, Akira's face smiled down at her, her own horrified expression mirrored in his empty eyes as he slit her throat. She shuddered and came abruptly back to reality, realizing with irritation that her hand was on her neck. She dropped the offending hand into her lap and focused her attention on Ran, who was sitting on the couch, seething.
"Manx told me that your sister has almost completely recovered, I was relieved to hear that." She said, hoping to turn the tide of the conversation.
"She will never completely recover." He replied in an angry voice. "She lost nearly three years of her life, her parents…"
"And her brother." She finished for him.
He was silent.
Hanae sighed. "Why don't you go home, Ran? I'm tired and you don't look much better." She stood and waited for him to do the same, but he did not. When he at last spoke, his voice was hoarse with fury.
"I thought that when I killed Takatori that I would be free…but I'm not. And, despite my better judgment, all I can think about is hunting down this Kuro Akira and killing him slowly. But it won't help me to sleep at night, and it won't bring back my parents…"
"Or your innocence." Hanae said softly. "I know, Ran. I understand. But killing Kuro isn't your job, it's mine. And becoming an assassin for your sister's sake ended up killing you. But I can't offer you any solace. The guilt never leaves and the dead will always haunt your dreams."
He rose and looked at her. "How do you sleep at night?" He asked.
She smiled. "Badly."
Kuro Akira scrolled through the document on the screen of his computer and chuckled. This politician was a very bad man with expensive and rather kinky taste. He was certain that there would be some people who would be interested in paying a large amount of money for this information. Still chuckling, he closed the file and opened a new one.
His reading was interrupted by a tap on the door.
"Come in!" He said, a hand sliding under his desk to grasp lightly the handle of a gun he kept there. In his line of work, he could never be too careful. Fujiwara Reiko slunk in, wearing something that left nothing to the imagination. He let go of his gun and leaned back in his chair.
"Reiko, my dear, you look like a very expensive prostitute." Akira said cheerfully. She smiled slyly at him and flipped a large envelope onto his desk.
"And you are my pimp, darling. Here are those surveillance photos you requested. That tacky red head met someone at the airport, and apparently, Kritiker thinks that with this girl, they have a fighting chance against us." Akira slid the large glossy photos from the envelope and studied them carefully. "Hmm…Hanae, you look as good as ever." He mused out loud.
Reiko slid over to his side and gave the photos another look. "Do you know her?" She asked, pouting prettily.
"She's an old friend." He replied. "They really must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they think she's going to save them." He tossed the photos on his desk and smiled up at Reiko. "They had to ship her off to Europe to avoid a scandal a few years back. Kritiker had her pushing papers in Germany, running surveillance on Estet leaders' dogs." He laughed heartily. Reiko smiled and moved to sit on his lap. She perched precariously on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in to drop small kisses on his neck and ear.
"Reiko, you never nibble my ear like that unless there's bad news." He said, pushing her away, if somewhat reluctantly. "Tell me."
She sighed. "Am I that transparent?" She asked, feigning sadness.
"Almost as transparent as your blouse. Now talk."
She frowned and hopped off of his lap. "Kritiker has authorized your little friend in those photos to use lethal force against us."
Akira looked slightly perturbed. "Hmm…they really are desperate. Who are they using? Crash?"
Reiko shook her head. "Weiss."
"The same Weiss that was responsible for the demise of Estet and Reiji Takatori?" He asked.
"The same."
"Well, shit."
"There's more." Reiko hesitated, biting her lip.
Akira leaned back in his chair again and gestured for her to continue.
"Kuro-sama…does the name Fujimiya mean anything to you?"
"Fujimiya…Fujimiya…sounds awfully familiar." He tapped his forehead with his finger. "Where do I know that name?"
"Four years ago, Kuro-sama. He was the banker you helped Takatori set up." Reiko offered.
"Right, right. Takatori killed him and his family, right?"
"Not entirely. Fujimiya's two children survived. His daughter, Aya, was comatose until a year ago and his son…Ran, he apparently swore revenge on Takatori and was recruited by Kritiker. He's one of their top assassins and he is the leader of Weiss."
Akira sighed and rubbed his eyes. "First Hanae and now this…I swear Reiko, things are just getting way too complicated. I should retire."
Explanations, Etc.
Okay, let's see....
Yomiuri is a newspaper in Tokyo (although I think it has national distrobution)
Akira's last name is Kuro, which means black
Hanae (Korat)'s last name is Shiro, which means white.
Crash is the name of another assassination team run by Kritiker. It's like Weiss. It's from the manga. I think that Ran worked in Crash before he worked in Weiss, but I'm not entirely sure.