Chapter 5: A Woman's Work

Testing, testing. Yeah, it's working fine. Came the stern reply of Ryu's voice. He was to be working the most of the technology, while Haruka was at the real physical test making sure not to mess up anything. Ryu sat in an unmarked van outside, tapping away at the keys furiously while Haruka waited impatiently in the bushes outside Tomoe Inc. Hurry up will ya!? she grumbled in a not-so-much-of-a-whisper tone. Yeah yeah keep your panties out of a twist. He replied; had Haruka been in range his teeth would've been knocked out faster than he could count. Got it, 2467. Go! The blonde nodded, grabbing a black duffel bag and heading through to the back door. *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* The door clicked open and Haruka sighed in relief, she was sure Ryu was gonna try something stupid.

Power going off in five. A soft voice came from her earpiece. She counted quietly to herself, and sure enough, in five seconds all lights and power went out. Softly treading the ground she pulled herself into a vent, moments later the power returning. Squeezing her way through she looked down on her map; turn right. Look to the right, a wall. Houston, we have a problem! she contacted Ryu in a panicky voice. What now?! They gave us the wrong map! I have no idea where I'm going! Hang on ... She stood there silently when she suddenly felt something pressing against her. It was slowly moving upwards over her body, when it reached her chest level she glanced down; a pair of red eyes stared back at her as a huge rat rested itself on her. She nearly screamed, had Ryu not replied just then. Ok, I got it. Head straight, when you get to the fourth left, take it, that'll head straight to the vault. Hello? Haruka? There was suddenly a loud clang of metal followed by a panting breath, Fourth corridor to the left, got it. She replied in a raspy voice. Are you ok? Fine ...

After some serious clambering, she looked down a vent shaft staring inside the vault, the plates were kept in the third safe from the top, two over from the right. She gently lowered two mirrors, redirecting the infrared sensors. Once you're in the vault, we'll lose communications from it's massive security. She replied, attaching several gizmos onto the sides of the vent shaft. Remember, don't mess this up. Ryu added as a last afterthought. Thanks for the encouragement. She replied sarcastically as she attached a rope to her harness. In 3, 2, 1. Haruka dropped through the shaft and into the vault, stopping when she reached the proper safe. The blonde reached into her bag, pulling out a small computer and another small black box. She affixed the box onto the safe and began typing in a few codes, waiting for the lock to open up. Momentarily it clicked, and she quickly replaced the computer into her bag. Opening the safe, she reached in producing the two mint plates, placing them into her own bag and putting back in two counterfeit ones; ~if I didn't know better, I wouldn't be able to tell these apart.~ she muttered to herself. She zipped up her bag and was about to close the safe when her d-ring suddenly snapped from the rope, falling towards the security rigged floor. Reacting as fast as she could, she grabbed onto the open safe with her foot, preventing contact from the lasers millimeters away. Exhaling a sigh of relief softly, she glanced upwards where her rope hang motionless above her. Stupid crappy school supplies. she grunted, swinging herself back up to reach the rope.

Oh crap. Ryu gasped to himself, monitoring Tomoe Inc. security cameras. A man was heading towards the vault, already at the preliminary security measures. Come on Haruka, faster! he whispered. He stared in shock as the man reached the second round of codes, halfway through the retinal scan.

Haruka was fumbling with the rope on her harness when she heard several beeps from the other side of the door. Son of a-- The blonde cursed to herself, furiously attempting to get the rope attached.

The man was finally at the last security measure, pressing in the final code, and Haruka still hadn't made contact with Ryu. He nearly died from lack of breathing as the door clicked open. The man dressed in black was about to step in when he dropped his key card on the floor, slowly bending down to pick it up. As he stepped into the room -- I'm up, mission completed. Ryu wiped his forehead and sighed, Whew ... that was close. Is that a hint of worry I hear in your voice? Haruka grinned, crawling back through the labyrinth of vent shafts. He replied quickly. Then it must be a touch of panic. Come on now, don't hide your feelings. No! It wasn't anything! Just hurry up and get your butt back in here. I'm right here. Ryu jumped out of his seat as Haruka appeared behind him, throwing the bag inside. I'll just love telling your friends that you were worried about me. You wouldn't dare, because there was no worry in my heart! Oh, so now we're onto your heart-

A/N: Don't forget to push that little button below that says ! *grin* Thanks for reading, more to come soon!