Author's notes – Hey everyone! It's after break, and school is back in full swing. The up-side? No finals and no final projects. While Schally and I are both drowning in schoolwork, among other things, we were able to get the next chapter ready. All credit for this chapter goes to Schally, of course, because she wrote it. And if you haven't already visited her site at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/7934/bseed.htm, go visit now!

Rated – PG-13 for swearing and violence

By – Merc and Schally

Chapter 4 by - Schally

Chartreuse Seed

            The Yuzo Technology Institute, though only moderately guarded, housed some of the most sophisticated research equipment in the world.  It was here that the TAC had taken temporary residence.  Though the YTI lacked certain homey touches—such as rickety ceiling fans and jammed lockers—it more than made up for the deficiency by lodging the largest biotechnology facility in Japan.  Since the Institute had only moderate security Akina was not being held there but rather in an undisclosed hospital under the watchful eye of Koume.

            The woman walking through the glass entrance doors was unaware of these details.  All she knew was that there was something being housed in the Institute—something familiar.  Instinctively, she knew a mitama, or something like it, was here.  Logically, she knew the TAC would be here as well.

            The woman breezed through the security-checkpoint without hesitation, her heels clicking rhythmically against the tiled hallway.  She tucked a stray lock of scarlet hair behind one ear as she checked her watch.  4:15 p.m.  The flight had taken longer than anticipated.

            "Hey, wait—that's authorized personnel only!" one of the guards barked, jogging after her.

            "Authorized for TAC only?"

            "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to—"

            The woman briskly opened the door, stopping with a click just inside the doorway.  Sugishita looked up from his laptop mid-keystroke.  He didn't recognize her at first.  Perhaps it was the outfit.  She was now wearing a black dress jacket and skirt, a white blouse, and conservative heels—a far cry from the racier leather outfit of her younger years.  Or perhaps it was the passage of time and her transformation from a teenager to a woman.  But when he took in the bright crimson hair, the slightly pointed ears, and the confidence in her stance, it all came back to him. 

            "V-Valencia?" he stammered, standing so suddenly he knocked his chair over.  He blinked at her for a moment, then motioned for the guard to leave.  "It's okay, Valencia is authorized," Sugishita murmured, shutting the laptop. 

            "That's Ms. Tachibana to you, Director," the woman said, giving him a small smile.  "I've come to see the mitama."

*          *          *

            "You've really grown up," Sugishita commented as he and Valencia ascended the stairs to the bio-laboratory that Matsudaria and Yaegashi were using for their research.

            "And you've really grown old," Valencia replied, her Japanese carrying only the faintest trace of an American accent. 

            "Aha," Sugishita said, rubbing the back of his head.  "You're a tough lady."

            "You had any doubt?"  Sugishita coughed into his closed fist and Valencia smiled at him again.  "Ah, I see.  Perhaps wisdom does not become age."

            "Ms. Tachibana!  How could you be so cruel to me when I've missed you all these years?"

            "I've missed you too.  And I regret the circumstances for our reunion.  How is the Kushinada?"

            "Fine.  Resting."  Sugishita opened the door to the lab for her.  "Her parents are the ones we're worried about."  He shut the door behind them and motioned for Valencia to follow him up the broad metal flight of stairs.  At the top deck both Matsudaria and Yaegashi were hunched over a computer monitor engaged in hushed conversation.  Around them, the large circular desk and the surrounding tables were covered in papers and electronic equipment.  A lone empty coffee pot sat in the far left, and next to it, several wadded-up urine sample cups.

            Sugishita tsked loudly, causing both to look up.  "You mean to tell me that the government was able to give you use of this research station and all this equipment but they couldn't even buy you proper drinking cups?"

            "Ms. Tachibana!" Yaegashi said, surprised.  He bowed quickly, and when Valencia extended her hand to shake, he hastily removed the latex glove on his right hand to accept.

            "It's good to see you," Matsu said, following suit and shaking next.

            "I wish the business were entirely pleasure," Valencia said, giving both a small bow.  "May I see it?"

            "Certainly."  Matsu took a step back from the monitor, revealing a digitally-enhanced image of a crimson mitama.  "How are you feeling?"

            Valencia leaned over, staring at the bright screen.  "Uneasy.  You were right, doctor."  After the destruction of Valencia's artificial mitama Valencia had maintained contact with Matsudaria for research purposes.  Valencia's body had reacted violently to the loss of her mitama, and Matsudaria warned her that though the seed itself was gone it's hold on her might linger for years to come.  "I can feel the pull of the mitama.  It's not as strong as it was before, but my seed-sense is still there."

            Matsudaria smiled at her use of the TAC's inside-term for the heightened perceptions caused by the implantation of a mitama, but as her gaze flickered back to the monitor, her expression became more somber.  The fact that Valencia had sensed the presence of this mitama overseas in the U.S. made her anxious.  Had the original blue seeds been as powerful?  It was impossible to say, and yet here was Valencia.  If the crimson seed had such a strong pull on a woman who was no longer implanted with an artificial mitama, what sort of effects would it have on Momiji, who had been previously implanted with a real blue seed?  Or Kusanagi, who still possessed eight?

Matsudaria rubbed her forehead and sat down in the nearest chair.  "At first we suspected that this mitama might be genetically manufactured, but now I'm not so sure."

            "This mitama is more difficult to analyze," Yaegashi added, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.  "There seems to be some sort of interference with our equipment.  An aura of some type or some kind of wave frequency.  The blue mitama were parasitic—they required a host organism in order to function.  But this mitama seems to emanate its own energy."

            Valencia's hand strayed absently to her chest, her index and third finger hesitating over the spot where the artificial mitama had once been implanted.  She glanced over at the glass case at the other end of the circular table.  "Is that it?" she asked, and Yaegashi nodded.  Valencia studied the case for a moment and approached it, her hand still poised over her chest.  "It feels strange…"  Valencia hesitated, then winced, her fingers digging into her chest through her blouse.

            "Ms. Tachibana?" Matsudaria asked.

            Valencia fell to the ground on her knees with a loud thud, still clutching her chest, and a heel broke off of one of her shoes. 

            "Ms. Tachibana!" Sugishita rushed towards her from where he had been sitting near the door.  Valencia's body convulsed and the three TAC members all reflexively shielded themselves as a force wave crested across the room, shattering the glass case and scattering the shards across the room.

            "Ms. Tachibana!" Sugishita yelled again, and the lights went out.

*          *          *

            "And Makoto?" Kunikida asked.

            "He's fine.  He woke up earlier for a few minutes before going back to sleep.  I tell ya, the kid's a bag of springs.  He'll be spooning down Jell-O before you know it."  Koume cracked her gum noisily as she held the cell phone between her shoulder and cheek.  "The twins are with him now."

            "Are they--?"

            "Fine.  Just some bumps.  Cuts, scrapes… Hell, they're my kids.  They can take a beating."

            There was a sigh over the phone—no doubt of relief—followed by the clearing of a throat.  Kunikida knew Koume well enough to know that her nonchalance was simply her own way of dealing with the stress of the previous day and he took a degree of comfort from it.  "And Momiji and Kusanagi?"

            "No clue, boss."  Koume leaned over in her chair to peer into Akina's room through the open door.  The girl was sleeping, one leg sprawled off the edge of the bed while her arm was dangling to the side, Momiji-style.

            There was a brief moment of silence and Koume could hear the sounds of late afternoon traffic through the receiver.  "We'll join you shortly.  But first—"

            "Hey, don't worry.  Stop and see Makoto," Koume interrupted.  "I've got everything under control."

            "Ah, yes, well, I've got no doubt," Kunikida said, clearing his throat again.  "But I've arranged for you to have some company."

            Koume popped her gum.  "Yeah?"

            "It was sheer luck that Sakura happened to be in the country on business—"

            "Luck?  Sakura?  You gotta be kidding me!"

            "Koume, now isn't the time to be choosy."

            "Look.  You want Sakura here, fine.  But I take no responsibility for what happens to her if she gets on my damn nerves."

            "…Fair enough."

            "Did I hear my name?" a voice cooed from down the hall in badly-accented Japanese.  Koume glanced up to see Sakura Yamazaki walking towards her, as flamboyant as ever in a tight yellow sundress with matching pumps and enormous hoop earrings.

            "It's her.  Get here soon," Koume muttered, hanging up.

            "It's rude to gossip, you know.  Not that I blame you."  The Shinto priestess waggled her finger mere inches from Koume's nose.  "My, my.  That old thing?"  She gave Koume's pink jumpsuit a look over.  "Some things never change."

            "Tell me about it," Koume said, standing up so quickly that Sakura had to double-step backwards to keep from bumping heads with her.  "First you were dressing too old for your age.  Now you're dressing too young."

            Sakura gave a loud laugh.  "Don't be silly.  Now, where's the darling little sacrifice?"  She reached out for the doorknob and Koume pushed her own hand forward, slamming the door shut. 

            "Don't you ever call her that," Koume said.

            Sakura pulled her hand away.  "As long as the possibility is there we can't ignore it.  I don't like the idea any more than you do.  But it's not about that."  Sakura blinked twice.  "Dislike me all you want, Sawaguchi.  Hate me, even.  Just don't let it interfere with the well-being of that kid in there."  The seriousness of her tone faded as she added, "I was runner up for godmother, you know."

            Koume studied her for a moment.  For all of her arrogance and lurid nature, the priestess really did care.  She just had a funny way of showing it.  "I bet," Koume said dryly, opening the door. 

            "It's true."  Sakura breezed into the room and let out a delighted "oooh!" when she spied Akina's sleeping form.  "Oh, she's even more adorable than the pictures.  A couple of unusual contributions from mister mitama, but you know what they say about ducklings and swans."

            "Not really."

            "What would you know?"  Sakura stooped to tuck the blanket up around Akina's shoulders and froze, the muscles of her arms tensing as her hands hovered inches from the blanket.

            "What?" Koume asked.

            "Shhh," the priestess hissed, looking at the window out of the corner of her eye. 

            Koume's hand instinctively grasped the handle of her gun.  Sakura was motionless except for the subtle flick of her thumb towards the window, followed by the extension of one finger.  Koume gave a barely perceivable nod and walked along the side of the room opposite Sakura and Akina, staying close to the wall and stepping carefully over a  trashcan.  She dashed in front of the window, gun raised, and trained on the first thing she saw—a figure in the trees.

            "Shit--!" Koume said, and Sakura was already turning, seemingly producing a talisman from nowhere.  The priestess threw the talisman onto the window and mumbled something under her breath.  As the talisman began to glow, signifying that the window was protected, she peered out at the tree for a better look.

            Kusanagi stared back at them, his face blank, his cat-eyes dilated to near nothingness.  He made no facial expression but his exposed mitamas glowed with a strange greenish yellow light.

            Koume kept her gun trained on him, waiting for him to make the first aggressive move, but he merely stared at them before disappearing back into the trees.

            Koume lowered her gun and glanced over at Sakura.

            "I don't suppose you could explain that to me."

            Sakura was already putting on her glasses.  "Call Kunakida.  We need to find another place."

The End of Chapter 4

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the next installment! If you're wondering why this fic is called Chartreuse Seed when the mitamas are red, you'll find out soon enough. Please review, it's Schally and my's incentive to keep writing. Again, PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'll give you a cookie if you do. ^_^;