CHAPTER 3 - Zwei Welten [Two Worlds]
The Weiss's steps created ripples on the wet ground as they made their way through the large sewer tunnels. Darkness, dampness and stench swathed their surroundings.
'This leads to Saigo's lair right?' asked Ken as he waded across the heel-deep black waters pooling around their heavy boots.
Yohji answered with a laugh. 'You bet all right,' he said. 'Doesn't it smell so perfect?' he commented, sniffing the reek scent hovering in the air. 'Damn, it so matches with my new perfume…and I thought I was supposed to be on a date tonight.'
No doubt. Yohji was a girl-magnet, very suave indeed. Radically speaking, he spent, perhaps half of his life running after girls, or vice versa, and every night he lay with a new lover…well, every other night. His life was based on pleasure, cigarettes and alcohol, girls not to mention, cool clothes…the rest of the Weiss wasn't sure if Yohji was actually serious about being an assassin. Maybe his only motivation was his sinister past. No one knows if he had already gotten over it.
Yohji's candid tone and intentional sarcasm had Ran quite annoyed. He spent the whole time in silence, just as he always did, however he seemed to be consumed deeper in his thoughts than his norm. One can tell just by a glance of his eyes, which were pensively staring at the vastness of the tunnel ahead.
Suddenly the four boys stopped, and Omi looked up. A manhole covered with a steel door was above them, its latch bolted lock the door. It was connected to a rusty set of stair bars attached to the mossy tunnel walls. Omi surveyed the manhole, squinting his eyes at it then back at the other three with approximate calculations swarming in his thoughts.
'It's closed, if that isn't obvious enough,' he said automatically. 'Good thing is, we can open it…bad thing is, chances are they would know we'd be visiting.'
'Hai,' agreed Ken, furrowing his brow. 'Opening it sure will be noisy. So…where does it lead to anyway?'
Omi opened the map clutched in his gloved hands. He shook it for a moment and examined it quietly before answering. 'That leads directly to the artillery stock room,' he replied.
'That has to be good,' said Ran, speaking for the first time. 'Sure doesn't sound like a busy place to me…'
'It isn't,' confirmed Omi. 'Lets just hope no one is in the stock room at this very moment.'
Yohji chuckled, sounding quite amused. 'We can always silence them when necessary anyway,' he said.
*
'Saigo contributes too much to our market to let go of.'
She shifted her eyes from her boss to Jin, her 'lover'. He loved her all right…or rather probably mistook lust for love. He was fond of making those moves at her, making her sick of course, but she never got tired of the attention he offered. Although she despised him as much as she despised...[she dared not think about it], it was fun to have him around…at times anyway.
As of the moment his eyes and ears were all tuned to their boss, codename Falke. He seemed to be intently interested in Falke's words, contrary to his usual self-centered, indifferent, derisive self. His smile faded to the abyss of his serious pretense, while he listened and stared fixedly at Falke.
She could not deny however, he wasn't all bad looking. In fact he was gorgeous, if she said so herself. His tresses was jet black, always flawlessly gelled atop his head, with a few wisps hanging limp from the top of his forehead to his thick brows. He had the most sinful eyes, and a gaze as deep as the mystery, which bound his smile. His mouth was thin and set, barely revealing any other emotion than passive pleasure. Tall and muscular was his body, tanned by the sun, shaped by everyday workout.
Then he caught her staring at her.
For a split second he snickered, then went back to more important business. His sudden change of features stole her back to reality, and she felt blood rush to her cheeks. Her humiliation triggered a sudden surge of anger through her, knowing she had added to this jerk's massive ego again.
'Kei.'
Kei jerked toward Falke, who was facing her with a glare. 'Where have you been?'
Some guys snorted.
She scowled. 'Hai?'
'I said you need to be involved in espionage on Saigo's territory and safeguard that market from the dogs,' he practically growled. 'I want you to do that job since you are a woman…'
Inwardly she felt annoyed at the apparent chauvinism.
'…and the youngest. They would hardly suspect you,' he continued, giving her a sharp look.
Obediently she nodded. 'Hai.'
*
Finally the last of the four, Yohji, climbed out of the sewage, into the darkness of the stock room.
*
Saigo's lair wasn't at all a welcoming sight.
It was an old warehouse in the middle of urban Tokyo, almost hidden behind tall, industrialized buildings. Most people didn't even know it existed. Most people didn't even care if they knew it did. For most who knew, it was nothing but a crappy old place for stray cats to live in.
The perfect place to hide smuggled goods.
Kei rounded the building's outer walls for signs of any intrusion. She rolled her eyes, wondering what she would be doing if it weren't for this task. She probably would be sitting in a Jacuzzi with her friends in a spa…enjoying life while it lasts…but this was inevitable. It was either do or…die.
Her footsteps were barely heard as she sneaked into the front door of the warehouse. Saigo Tatsuma's welfare shouldn't be much of her concern, for her he was only a millionaire buyer who purchases almost all of their stocks and sells them at...who knows where. There were still a lot of millionaire buyers out there…what difference would it make if he died suddenly.
However Falke forbade her to meddle with Saigo's personal businesses---that is if he was about to be assassinated in front of her eyes, she had to do nothing and just report what she saw. It would be far more dangerous, Falke told her, since if she got caught, it meant more trouble. She wasn't alone though, if there were people to save the poor Saigo from the hands of his death, it would be Jin and the rest of her accomplices.
Perhaps Falke did not trust Kei enough to protect Saigo literally.
The Weiss's steps created ripples on the wet ground as they made their way through the large sewer tunnels. Darkness, dampness and stench swathed their surroundings.
'This leads to Saigo's lair right?' asked Ken as he waded across the heel-deep black waters pooling around their heavy boots.
Yohji answered with a laugh. 'You bet all right,' he said. 'Doesn't it smell so perfect?' he commented, sniffing the reek scent hovering in the air. 'Damn, it so matches with my new perfume…and I thought I was supposed to be on a date tonight.'
No doubt. Yohji was a girl-magnet, very suave indeed. Radically speaking, he spent, perhaps half of his life running after girls, or vice versa, and every night he lay with a new lover…well, every other night. His life was based on pleasure, cigarettes and alcohol, girls not to mention, cool clothes…the rest of the Weiss wasn't sure if Yohji was actually serious about being an assassin. Maybe his only motivation was his sinister past. No one knows if he had already gotten over it.
Yohji's candid tone and intentional sarcasm had Ran quite annoyed. He spent the whole time in silence, just as he always did, however he seemed to be consumed deeper in his thoughts than his norm. One can tell just by a glance of his eyes, which were pensively staring at the vastness of the tunnel ahead.
Suddenly the four boys stopped, and Omi looked up. A manhole covered with a steel door was above them, its latch bolted lock the door. It was connected to a rusty set of stair bars attached to the mossy tunnel walls. Omi surveyed the manhole, squinting his eyes at it then back at the other three with approximate calculations swarming in his thoughts.
'It's closed, if that isn't obvious enough,' he said automatically. 'Good thing is, we can open it…bad thing is, chances are they would know we'd be visiting.'
'Hai,' agreed Ken, furrowing his brow. 'Opening it sure will be noisy. So…where does it lead to anyway?'
Omi opened the map clutched in his gloved hands. He shook it for a moment and examined it quietly before answering. 'That leads directly to the artillery stock room,' he replied.
'That has to be good,' said Ran, speaking for the first time. 'Sure doesn't sound like a busy place to me…'
'It isn't,' confirmed Omi. 'Lets just hope no one is in the stock room at this very moment.'
Yohji chuckled, sounding quite amused. 'We can always silence them when necessary anyway,' he said.
*
'Saigo contributes too much to our market to let go of.'
She shifted her eyes from her boss to Jin, her 'lover'. He loved her all right…or rather probably mistook lust for love. He was fond of making those moves at her, making her sick of course, but she never got tired of the attention he offered. Although she despised him as much as she despised...[she dared not think about it], it was fun to have him around…at times anyway.
As of the moment his eyes and ears were all tuned to their boss, codename Falke. He seemed to be intently interested in Falke's words, contrary to his usual self-centered, indifferent, derisive self. His smile faded to the abyss of his serious pretense, while he listened and stared fixedly at Falke.
She could not deny however, he wasn't all bad looking. In fact he was gorgeous, if she said so herself. His tresses was jet black, always flawlessly gelled atop his head, with a few wisps hanging limp from the top of his forehead to his thick brows. He had the most sinful eyes, and a gaze as deep as the mystery, which bound his smile. His mouth was thin and set, barely revealing any other emotion than passive pleasure. Tall and muscular was his body, tanned by the sun, shaped by everyday workout.
Then he caught her staring at her.
For a split second he snickered, then went back to more important business. His sudden change of features stole her back to reality, and she felt blood rush to her cheeks. Her humiliation triggered a sudden surge of anger through her, knowing she had added to this jerk's massive ego again.
'Kei.'
Kei jerked toward Falke, who was facing her with a glare. 'Where have you been?'
Some guys snorted.
She scowled. 'Hai?'
'I said you need to be involved in espionage on Saigo's territory and safeguard that market from the dogs,' he practically growled. 'I want you to do that job since you are a woman…'
Inwardly she felt annoyed at the apparent chauvinism.
'…and the youngest. They would hardly suspect you,' he continued, giving her a sharp look.
Obediently she nodded. 'Hai.'
*
Finally the last of the four, Yohji, climbed out of the sewage, into the darkness of the stock room.
*
Saigo's lair wasn't at all a welcoming sight.
It was an old warehouse in the middle of urban Tokyo, almost hidden behind tall, industrialized buildings. Most people didn't even know it existed. Most people didn't even care if they knew it did. For most who knew, it was nothing but a crappy old place for stray cats to live in.
The perfect place to hide smuggled goods.
Kei rounded the building's outer walls for signs of any intrusion. She rolled her eyes, wondering what she would be doing if it weren't for this task. She probably would be sitting in a Jacuzzi with her friends in a spa…enjoying life while it lasts…but this was inevitable. It was either do or…die.
Her footsteps were barely heard as she sneaked into the front door of the warehouse. Saigo Tatsuma's welfare shouldn't be much of her concern, for her he was only a millionaire buyer who purchases almost all of their stocks and sells them at...who knows where. There were still a lot of millionaire buyers out there…what difference would it make if he died suddenly.
However Falke forbade her to meddle with Saigo's personal businesses---that is if he was about to be assassinated in front of her eyes, she had to do nothing and just report what she saw. It would be far more dangerous, Falke told her, since if she got caught, it meant more trouble. She wasn't alone though, if there were people to save the poor Saigo from the hands of his death, it would be Jin and the rest of her accomplices.
Perhaps Falke did not trust Kei enough to protect Saigo literally.