M I S T
C h a p t e r T w o - T h i r t e e n
( I n t e r l u d e )
7:38 am
Wednesday, March 13th, 1998
Deadline Office HQ
International Bureau of Investigation Japan Main Headquarters
Hinterland of the Keihin Metropolitan Area
Aya walked into the main office slowly. She was late, which was not a way to start a day. She got some glances from the others, but she could only assume that they understood. She and Tsushima had talked for so long the other night that time had just slipped away. He left on his own so that Aya could get some sleep. And here he was, sitting at in the conference room reviewing the case. She honestly didn't know how he did it. Manage to stay alert at all times even when he himself had only three hours of sleep last night. As she entered the bright conference room, Tsushima turned to greet Aya. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" he asked sincerely.
Aya knew that she didn't appear to have been sleeping that much. Her hair was dishevelled and her eyes were very close to bloodshot. She collapsed onto a chair, and gazed at her partner tiredly. "If I said yes, would you believe me?" she asked instead.
"Sorry for keeping you up so late." he apologized.
Aya shook her head "No.... I enjoyed it a lot. I just, I just wish it were the weekend." she replied.
After that, she had a lapse in consciousness. Tsushima caught her, before she could fall out of her chair. He just let her rest in his arms until she awoke again. "Maybe you should go back home today, we can get a replacement." Tsushima suggested, not showing a hint of exhaustion.
"No. I can't abandon the team, we have to continue the case..." she refused.
"Aya, you need some rest, you can't be falling asleep while investigating. Just go home, we'll find someone." he urged calmly.
"No, we could just stay in the office while the others do the field work... Can't we do that?" she pleaded.
Tsushima sighed. "Alright, and I'll stay here with you, but I'm still going to get another agent in on this assignment." he compromised.
Aya nodded before she dozed off again. Tsushima carried her sleeping form to a couch and laid her there. He found some blankets outside of the conference room and put some on her to keep her warm. Then he went to find an another agent.
10:59 am
Main Lounge (Main Floor)
International Bureau of Investigation Japan Main Headquarters
Tsushima looked through one of the local newspapers, while sitting in a chair on the main floor. He found a story of the bombing on the front page. It wasn't everyday his case was on the front page; but then again, it wasn't everyday a bomb went off in a public place. He glanced at his watch for the third time in the last ten minutes. He had requested the most competent and most available agent. The headquarters had contacted the one in Osaka. And they put one of their agents on the next flight to Tokyo.
Even though he had been trained to be calm and patient, his patience was wearing thin. Just then, another person came out of the elevator to and signed in at one of the front desks. "Agent Hasaki, I was called here to relieve another agent." Tsushima overheard the new arrival say to the receptionist.
Tsushima got up and made his way towards Hasaki. The lounge wasn't as crowded as it usually was, so it was easy to get there. "Agent Hasaki?" Tsushima addressed from behind.
The average height man with short black hair turned around. "Yes?" he responded.
"I'm Agent Masaki, you're with me." was all he told him as he walked towards the elevator.
Hasaki followed him silently there.
Deadline Office HQ
International Bureau of Investigation Japan Main Headquarters
Upon entering the office, the new agent got more then a few glances in his direction. Feeling kind of uncomfortable, Hasaki urged Tsushima to take him into the conference room. They found Aya still asleep on a couch when they entered. Hasaki stopped in his tracks. 'She's beautiful.' He thought to himself.
Tsushima walked towards the couch and paused, unsure of how to wake his sleeping partner up. He then decided that shaking her a bit would do the job. "Aya." he whispered softly as he shook her a bit.
This got Aya into the state between consciousness and unconsciousness. She stirred a little, and then slowly awoke. "Hmmm?" she moaned quietly.
"The replacement's here." he told her, pointing to Hasaki.
She sat straight up. "Oh, hi, I'm Agent Brea... I think the case summary's on the desk if you need it." she greeted with a smile.
"I'm Agent Saiyumi Hasaki. Pleased to meet you." he said with a smile.
Tsushima glanced oddly at Saiyumi; his tone seemed a bit... shaky to him. He then turned his attention to Aya again. "Aya, do you need any lunch, or anything like that?" he asked in an overprotective voice parents would use.
"Well, I'm a bit hungry... have the others left already?" she inquired first, still drowsy.
"Not yet, I guess I could get them all some lunch as well, if that's what you're asking." he responded.
"Well, yeah I guess. Can you get me... never mind. Just get me something I'd like. And get something for Agent Hasaki." she added.
Tsushima glanced at Saiyumi again, who was just listening to the dialogue. "Alright. But remember, you still owe me for yesterday and Monday."
Aya stared at her partner. "I'll pay you back on Friday, I told you that already." she replied, sounding annoyed.
"Just making sure you didn't forget, I'll be back in a while." he said, getting up from his kneeling position.
He stopped at the door. "You might want to review the report Agent Hasaki." he suggested, without looking back, and then he exited.
Saiyumi sat down in one of the seats, and picked up the report. "So, are you from this HQ or the one in Osaka?" Aya queried.
This caught Saiyumi slightly off guard. "Osaka."
"Interesting. I hope we'll be able to get along, that makes thirteen of us now." she said mostly to herself.
Saiyumi nodded, then got back to the folder in his hands. He flipped through the case file, though his mind strayed to the room's other occupant fairly constantly. Aya felt the discomfort. She turned to him "Is something wrong?" she asked innocently, her blue eyes searching his darker ones.
"No." he stated shortly, as if wanting to kill any conversation.
Aya knew when she was being lied to, but decided to let it go. He was a good liar that was for sure. She lay back down on the couch, and waited for the silence to end.
Several minutes later, some commotion was heard in the main office, then after a while, Aya's partner walked into the room, and set the bags of McDonald's on the table.
Aya sat up again. "You sure took your time." she greeted.
Tsushima rolled his eyes "When you're ordering food for twelve other people, its going to take a while." he said in a dark tone, different from his usual.
Tsushima glanced at Saiyumi "I just got you two Big Macs, some fries, and a coke." he told him.
Saiyumi nodded. Tsushima glanced at him strangely.
"What did you get me Tsushima?" Aya asked.
"I didn't have enough money to get you anything, and I figured you could survive on what you had for breakfast." he answered sardonically.
"So you got me the usual huh?" she deduced verbally.
Tsushima took out Aya's meal from the bag. "Yeah."
He gave her a Teriyaki Burger, and she gave him the desired reaction. "What the hell!!??" she yelled.
Saiyumi almost covered his ears. Tsushima just cracked up, laughing his ass off. Aya glared at her partner, her blue eyes turning icy.
After Tsushima recovered... which took a while, Tsushima took the Teriyaki Burger. "I was joking Aya..." he turned to Saiyumi "Do you want this Hasaki? You could give Aya one of your Big Macs." he suggested.
Saiyumi, hesitated, he didn't particularly like the Teriyaki Burger... but then again he knew Aya would probably find it unpalatable, to say the least. "I don't know... I kind of like my..." he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence because a pair of ice blue eyes burning through the back of his skull.
Tsushima turned back to Aya, who was still furious, shifted her steely gaze towards Tsushima, who didn't flinch one bit. Saiyumi gave in. "Fine, fine," he said, giving Aya a glance. Her glare swiftly changed to an overly sweet smile. He could tell it was fake. "Thanks for volunteering, Saiyumi."
Saiyumi was slightly startled by the use of his first name. It was rarely used by anyone. He decided to ignore it. He grudgingly handed her one of his Big Macs, and received the Teriyaki Burger. He mumbled something incomprehensible.
Tsushima got up and dug out another Big Mac for Aya, and handed to her. She ate slowly, while Saiyumi grimaced. He bit into Teriyaki Burger and glared at it. Tsushima took out his two Double Big Macs, and ate hungrily.
Noises could be heard from outside, Duo attempting to steal Wufei's meal, no doubt.
12:45 pm
This somewhat uneventful morning proved to be just what Aya needed. She had regained most of her strength, and was now ready to do some work. She glanced at a listing of the people killed in the bombing that the local police had managed to identify. She read the list silently. "Giam Daniel, Yabuta Keiko..."
She looked around the room, but her partner was nowhere to be found. She opened the conference room door to look into the main office. She spotted him. "Tsushima?" she called.
Tsushima, who had currently been looking over some photos, turned to face his partner. "Yes?"
"Can you look at something for me?" she requested.
It was quiet, but busy. Heero and Trowa studied the possibilities of what bomb could have been used and mostly explosive issues. Everyone was investigating from his or her specialty. Tsushima entered the conference room to aid Aya. Aya handed him the list of people. "Have any of the families of the victims been investigated?" she asked.
This caught Tsushima off guard. "Why would we do that?" he asked, confused.
"These people might have been killed to get to one of the family members. I mean, come on Tsushima, we already know that this was no accident, this was a bomb that went off. Also, we found jewellery and guns, most likely from the shop we were doing surveillance on before this. Then, this name," she pointed to "Nakajima Hideo". "He worked for the Mokusatsu Conglomerate. The IBI has done countless investigations on assassinations that were suspected to be carried out by this company. And it's obvious it has ties to the underworld. Back in the States even the NYPD knows about them, and their fierce rivalry with other big corporations." she explained, rather lengthily.
"So you want to do a full investigation on all of the victims?" he asked.
Aya nodded. Tsushima sighed, "You'll have to share this with the rest of the group to see if they agree." he told her.
She agreed to that as well. Tsushima was a bit confused with her rationale, but investigating out in the city beat sitting in an office pushing papers all day. "I was going to contact some outside help, but I think it can wait." Tsushima said to himself.
Aya looked up from the file she started to read. "Who?"
"An old friend who helped me on some cases, he stayed in New York for a while." Tsushima stated.
Aya paused, thinking back to last Christmas in New York, and Maeda. He had told her he lived in Tokyo, and he knew some people down in the IBI. She also remember all the charms he had given her, and the special bullets she had used to help stop the Ultimate Being. But then she got unwanted pictures of thousands of people turning into a large blob, and the charred bodies she had seen.
She desperately tried to shut out those memories. 'You've got a new life now, with a new partner in a new place.' She kept saying to herself mentally.
"...might know you, he mentioned..." Tsushima paused "Aya, are you alright?" he asked when he discovered she was phased out.
Aya broke out of her state. "...I guess, just bad memories, that's all." she told him.
Tsushima eyed her, then nodded slightly in understanding. "I guess. So that makes thirteen members in this Special Investigation Team?" he asked.
Aya nodded. "That's right. But I never liked that number. I'm not really the superstitious type, but I have a bad feeling about that number, and this case."
"I think you're worrying too much Aya, but if it make's you feel any better, we could do the whole investigation tomorrow."
Aya paused... "Alright. But what time is it?" she asked.
Tsushima glanced at his watch, then hesitated. "...Exactly 13:00" he said.
Aya then froze, was this a message, or an omen...
C h a p t e r T w o - T h i r t e e n
( I n t e r l u d e )
7:38 am
Wednesday, March 13th, 1998
Deadline Office HQ
International Bureau of Investigation Japan Main Headquarters
Hinterland of the Keihin Metropolitan Area
Aya walked into the main office slowly. She was late, which was not a way to start a day. She got some glances from the others, but she could only assume that they understood. She and Tsushima had talked for so long the other night that time had just slipped away. He left on his own so that Aya could get some sleep. And here he was, sitting at in the conference room reviewing the case. She honestly didn't know how he did it. Manage to stay alert at all times even when he himself had only three hours of sleep last night. As she entered the bright conference room, Tsushima turned to greet Aya. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" he asked sincerely.
Aya knew that she didn't appear to have been sleeping that much. Her hair was dishevelled and her eyes were very close to bloodshot. She collapsed onto a chair, and gazed at her partner tiredly. "If I said yes, would you believe me?" she asked instead.
"Sorry for keeping you up so late." he apologized.
Aya shook her head "No.... I enjoyed it a lot. I just, I just wish it were the weekend." she replied.
After that, she had a lapse in consciousness. Tsushima caught her, before she could fall out of her chair. He just let her rest in his arms until she awoke again. "Maybe you should go back home today, we can get a replacement." Tsushima suggested, not showing a hint of exhaustion.
"No. I can't abandon the team, we have to continue the case..." she refused.
"Aya, you need some rest, you can't be falling asleep while investigating. Just go home, we'll find someone." he urged calmly.
"No, we could just stay in the office while the others do the field work... Can't we do that?" she pleaded.
Tsushima sighed. "Alright, and I'll stay here with you, but I'm still going to get another agent in on this assignment." he compromised.
Aya nodded before she dozed off again. Tsushima carried her sleeping form to a couch and laid her there. He found some blankets outside of the conference room and put some on her to keep her warm. Then he went to find an another agent.
10:59 am
Main Lounge (Main Floor)
International Bureau of Investigation Japan Main Headquarters
Tsushima looked through one of the local newspapers, while sitting in a chair on the main floor. He found a story of the bombing on the front page. It wasn't everyday his case was on the front page; but then again, it wasn't everyday a bomb went off in a public place. He glanced at his watch for the third time in the last ten minutes. He had requested the most competent and most available agent. The headquarters had contacted the one in Osaka. And they put one of their agents on the next flight to Tokyo.
Even though he had been trained to be calm and patient, his patience was wearing thin. Just then, another person came out of the elevator to and signed in at one of the front desks. "Agent Hasaki, I was called here to relieve another agent." Tsushima overheard the new arrival say to the receptionist.
Tsushima got up and made his way towards Hasaki. The lounge wasn't as crowded as it usually was, so it was easy to get there. "Agent Hasaki?" Tsushima addressed from behind.
The average height man with short black hair turned around. "Yes?" he responded.
"I'm Agent Masaki, you're with me." was all he told him as he walked towards the elevator.
Hasaki followed him silently there.
Deadline Office HQ
International Bureau of Investigation Japan Main Headquarters
Upon entering the office, the new agent got more then a few glances in his direction. Feeling kind of uncomfortable, Hasaki urged Tsushima to take him into the conference room. They found Aya still asleep on a couch when they entered. Hasaki stopped in his tracks. 'She's beautiful.' He thought to himself.
Tsushima walked towards the couch and paused, unsure of how to wake his sleeping partner up. He then decided that shaking her a bit would do the job. "Aya." he whispered softly as he shook her a bit.
This got Aya into the state between consciousness and unconsciousness. She stirred a little, and then slowly awoke. "Hmmm?" she moaned quietly.
"The replacement's here." he told her, pointing to Hasaki.
She sat straight up. "Oh, hi, I'm Agent Brea... I think the case summary's on the desk if you need it." she greeted with a smile.
"I'm Agent Saiyumi Hasaki. Pleased to meet you." he said with a smile.
Tsushima glanced oddly at Saiyumi; his tone seemed a bit... shaky to him. He then turned his attention to Aya again. "Aya, do you need any lunch, or anything like that?" he asked in an overprotective voice parents would use.
"Well, I'm a bit hungry... have the others left already?" she inquired first, still drowsy.
"Not yet, I guess I could get them all some lunch as well, if that's what you're asking." he responded.
"Well, yeah I guess. Can you get me... never mind. Just get me something I'd like. And get something for Agent Hasaki." she added.
Tsushima glanced at Saiyumi again, who was just listening to the dialogue. "Alright. But remember, you still owe me for yesterday and Monday."
Aya stared at her partner. "I'll pay you back on Friday, I told you that already." she replied, sounding annoyed.
"Just making sure you didn't forget, I'll be back in a while." he said, getting up from his kneeling position.
He stopped at the door. "You might want to review the report Agent Hasaki." he suggested, without looking back, and then he exited.
Saiyumi sat down in one of the seats, and picked up the report. "So, are you from this HQ or the one in Osaka?" Aya queried.
This caught Saiyumi slightly off guard. "Osaka."
"Interesting. I hope we'll be able to get along, that makes thirteen of us now." she said mostly to herself.
Saiyumi nodded, then got back to the folder in his hands. He flipped through the case file, though his mind strayed to the room's other occupant fairly constantly. Aya felt the discomfort. She turned to him "Is something wrong?" she asked innocently, her blue eyes searching his darker ones.
"No." he stated shortly, as if wanting to kill any conversation.
Aya knew when she was being lied to, but decided to let it go. He was a good liar that was for sure. She lay back down on the couch, and waited for the silence to end.
Several minutes later, some commotion was heard in the main office, then after a while, Aya's partner walked into the room, and set the bags of McDonald's on the table.
Aya sat up again. "You sure took your time." she greeted.
Tsushima rolled his eyes "When you're ordering food for twelve other people, its going to take a while." he said in a dark tone, different from his usual.
Tsushima glanced at Saiyumi "I just got you two Big Macs, some fries, and a coke." he told him.
Saiyumi nodded. Tsushima glanced at him strangely.
"What did you get me Tsushima?" Aya asked.
"I didn't have enough money to get you anything, and I figured you could survive on what you had for breakfast." he answered sardonically.
"So you got me the usual huh?" she deduced verbally.
Tsushima took out Aya's meal from the bag. "Yeah."
He gave her a Teriyaki Burger, and she gave him the desired reaction. "What the hell!!??" she yelled.
Saiyumi almost covered his ears. Tsushima just cracked up, laughing his ass off. Aya glared at her partner, her blue eyes turning icy.
After Tsushima recovered... which took a while, Tsushima took the Teriyaki Burger. "I was joking Aya..." he turned to Saiyumi "Do you want this Hasaki? You could give Aya one of your Big Macs." he suggested.
Saiyumi, hesitated, he didn't particularly like the Teriyaki Burger... but then again he knew Aya would probably find it unpalatable, to say the least. "I don't know... I kind of like my..." he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence because a pair of ice blue eyes burning through the back of his skull.
Tsushima turned back to Aya, who was still furious, shifted her steely gaze towards Tsushima, who didn't flinch one bit. Saiyumi gave in. "Fine, fine," he said, giving Aya a glance. Her glare swiftly changed to an overly sweet smile. He could tell it was fake. "Thanks for volunteering, Saiyumi."
Saiyumi was slightly startled by the use of his first name. It was rarely used by anyone. He decided to ignore it. He grudgingly handed her one of his Big Macs, and received the Teriyaki Burger. He mumbled something incomprehensible.
Tsushima got up and dug out another Big Mac for Aya, and handed to her. She ate slowly, while Saiyumi grimaced. He bit into Teriyaki Burger and glared at it. Tsushima took out his two Double Big Macs, and ate hungrily.
Noises could be heard from outside, Duo attempting to steal Wufei's meal, no doubt.
12:45 pm
This somewhat uneventful morning proved to be just what Aya needed. She had regained most of her strength, and was now ready to do some work. She glanced at a listing of the people killed in the bombing that the local police had managed to identify. She read the list silently. "Giam Daniel, Yabuta Keiko..."
She looked around the room, but her partner was nowhere to be found. She opened the conference room door to look into the main office. She spotted him. "Tsushima?" she called.
Tsushima, who had currently been looking over some photos, turned to face his partner. "Yes?"
"Can you look at something for me?" she requested.
It was quiet, but busy. Heero and Trowa studied the possibilities of what bomb could have been used and mostly explosive issues. Everyone was investigating from his or her specialty. Tsushima entered the conference room to aid Aya. Aya handed him the list of people. "Have any of the families of the victims been investigated?" she asked.
This caught Tsushima off guard. "Why would we do that?" he asked, confused.
"These people might have been killed to get to one of the family members. I mean, come on Tsushima, we already know that this was no accident, this was a bomb that went off. Also, we found jewellery and guns, most likely from the shop we were doing surveillance on before this. Then, this name," she pointed to "Nakajima Hideo". "He worked for the Mokusatsu Conglomerate. The IBI has done countless investigations on assassinations that were suspected to be carried out by this company. And it's obvious it has ties to the underworld. Back in the States even the NYPD knows about them, and their fierce rivalry with other big corporations." she explained, rather lengthily.
"So you want to do a full investigation on all of the victims?" he asked.
Aya nodded. Tsushima sighed, "You'll have to share this with the rest of the group to see if they agree." he told her.
She agreed to that as well. Tsushima was a bit confused with her rationale, but investigating out in the city beat sitting in an office pushing papers all day. "I was going to contact some outside help, but I think it can wait." Tsushima said to himself.
Aya looked up from the file she started to read. "Who?"
"An old friend who helped me on some cases, he stayed in New York for a while." Tsushima stated.
Aya paused, thinking back to last Christmas in New York, and Maeda. He had told her he lived in Tokyo, and he knew some people down in the IBI. She also remember all the charms he had given her, and the special bullets she had used to help stop the Ultimate Being. But then she got unwanted pictures of thousands of people turning into a large blob, and the charred bodies she had seen.
She desperately tried to shut out those memories. 'You've got a new life now, with a new partner in a new place.' She kept saying to herself mentally.
"...might know you, he mentioned..." Tsushima paused "Aya, are you alright?" he asked when he discovered she was phased out.
Aya broke out of her state. "...I guess, just bad memories, that's all." she told him.
Tsushima eyed her, then nodded slightly in understanding. "I guess. So that makes thirteen members in this Special Investigation Team?" he asked.
Aya nodded. "That's right. But I never liked that number. I'm not really the superstitious type, but I have a bad feeling about that number, and this case."
"I think you're worrying too much Aya, but if it make's you feel any better, we could do the whole investigation tomorrow."
Aya paused... "Alright. But what time is it?" she asked.
Tsushima glanced at his watch, then hesitated. "...Exactly 13:00" he said.
Aya then froze, was this a message, or an omen...