Is That You? By: OtakuSailorV

Chapter 20:: A Secret Society Revealed

The screen stopped fuzzing in front of Takata, and he turned his attention back to the screen sharply, watching it in irritation. As four faces appeared separately on the screen, he rose and greeted them with a confident smile. "Good evening Gentlemen. . .and Lady."


The four figures nodded their heads at him, their mouths in thin, drawn looks. They all seemed eternally bored, especially the one woman who's picture was in the upper left hand corner of the screen,

Her light colored eyes were half-lidded against her short tan-brown hair. She appeared ruffled by being summoned to such a conference with her peers, and this mood made Takata feel nervous for of them all, she was the most moody and dangerous to his position.

"It is nice to see you all well and safe again." He said, rubbing his hands together, his back bent in a slight bow as he smiled at the four persons before him.

His subordinate, the Agent Dakasu's eyes danced with a smirk that did not come through on his lips. He was amused by his Boss' attempts to flatter and get in good with the higher-ups. They did not appear fooled either, and the woman quickly sighed, bringing her head up off her fist that she had laid it on and gave him an icy look.

"Get on with it already. Tell us what is going on down there!" She grumbled loudly, not caring for his little dance to impress them.

One of the men looked sidelong at her picture and chuckled at the look of horror that crossed Takata's face before he bowed deeply and continued on. "Yes, quite right, so sorry."

Shifting through his papers, he sighed to himself before addressing them again in a calm, collected manner. The woman, who went by the name of Himitsu Nagawa, had placed her head on her fist again, giving a tilt to her head and making her short hair spill slightly to one side. She still seemed annoyed, but Dakasu could see that she preferred the man's manner now than to his former behavior.

"Everything is going according planned," He began, but Himitsu cut him off.

"That's interesting. I thought that you were having trouble with your Agents, Takata?" She said, head-on-fist still. Her eyes flashed as she spoke which kindled a flash in Takata's as well.

He was taken aback by her intrusion and startled that she knew when he had told no one of the Agent Hikari's insubordination. Looking over his shoulder, he briefly glanced at Dakasu, but the boy's eyes were blank and unreadable. "Well, yes, but that is a minor thing-"

"It is not minor!" Himitsu challenged, slamming her fist down on her desk as she ground her teeth at him. The small man eeped; frightened by her completely. "Anytime there is a sign of rebellion, you should squash it before it gets out of hand, Takata!"

The woman seemed enraged now and slammed her fist again to emphasize the word 'squash.' As she spoke, the man in the lower left block continued to chuckle from behind his hand, his already narrow eyes coming together in amusement. The woman had no idea how much she was frightening the man she was chastising.

When she stopped to take a breath, the up until then unnamed man took the time to intervene before she got too out of hand. "Calm yourself, Nagawa-san."

Looking downward at his picture out of the corners of her eyes, she sat solemnly back in her chair and nodded, forcing her temper to calm. Pleased that it had not taken an argument to get her to settle, he then turned back to a quite miffed Takata. "Please, tell us of what has transpired."

"The girl's name is Hikari Oukami." Takata sighed and ran one hand through his hair before continuing. Now that Himitsu was out of the way, he felt more confident and at ease. "She was a very good Agent up until a month or so ago when she was assigned to this particular job."

Himitsu's eyes widened a touch at the name of 'Hikari Oukami,' but other than that, she gave no real reaction to his words.

He dropped off and one of the other gentlemen tried to get him to talk. This man, in the lower left-hand corner, underneath Himitsu's box, had gray-white hair and a bushy mustache under his sharp nose. His face was wrinkled with age and when he spoke, it was in a dry, wheezing tone. "She was assigned to take the," He paused to wheeze for breath, "Outer forest sector and meet the incoming Hope there, wasn't she?"

Takato nodded definitively. "Yes." He gestured to the wall behind him and it immediately lit up, showing pictures of Tiger, Mocchi, Hare and the others. Behind them and to one side stood Pixie, Holly and Genki. All of they were smiling as if they were happy. The two unnamed old men gasped in wonder, but Himitsu just sighed in boredom as the other young man in the lower right hand box rolled his eyes at both Takata and Himitsu.

As Takata went on to explain who each person was and what powers they possessed, Himitsu muttered to herself. "Ugh, this is the most boring meeting of them all."

Himitsu, like her name might have suggested, knew every secret already and found it boring to have to sit through these meetings time after time with the two old men that were amazed by everything, and the young man that was constantly trying to flirt with her. She halted in annoyance when she heard his chuckle. Obviously, he had heard her quite clearly.

"Yes, I think he likes to hear himself talk." He added, glancing upward at her box and giving her a soft smile.

Himitsu returned the grin. She had to admit, he was a good enough companion and someone to talk to during the meetings, but other than that, she held no interest in him.

"I think it best you pay attention now, Sakino." She said, her eyes dancing with amusement and sarcasm.

His attitude didn't falter though, and he returned her sarcasm with his own. "Well, shouldn't Himitsu-san be doing the same, hm?"

Himitsu smirked, so, he knew that she had connections. . .


His head was pounding; he was aware of every beat of his heart in the back of his mind. Genki was somewhere between wakefulness and deep slumber. His body and mind both felt groggy and weak.

Genki's forefinger twitched as the sleep started to recede from his mind, helping him to regain consciousness. Groaning, his eyelids started to flutter open. The world was initially smeared and blurry, but it soon sharpened. As it did, he let out another groan, for the world was spinning and making multiples of itself now.

Finally, after closing his eyes again briefly, he opened them again to find that the world had indeed stopped spinning but was now blotted out by an unfamiliar face. Two bright, large eyes peered into his own with curiosity at an uncomfortably close range. "Guten Tag." The owner of the eyes greeted.

Genki cried out and started away as the gleaming eyes swung away sharply, the owner was smiling brightly. "Hikari! Alle! Er ist gut!" The boy called to someone outside of the room door.

The fair-haired boy jumped off the edge of Genki's bed and stood ready for something that he seemed to be anticipating with earnest joy.

Genki took the time to looked around. He appeared to be in a hospital room, laying in a hospital bed, with bandages on him. Blinking at all this, he wondered how he had gotten here and who this boy with the foreign language and tongue was. "Uhm, uh, sir-" He faltered in Japanese, trying to find a way to communicate.

Surprisingly, the boy turned his way and smiled even wider. Before he could say anything of relevance, the sound of feet was heard and he turned his head back to the door. "Alle kommt." He confirmed.

Without another word, Holly and Hikari were in the doorway, followed closely by every monster but Golem, who could not fit down the hallway. They were all beaming with relief, but Holly showed the most emotion. Small tears of joy welled into her bright brown eyes as she ran to Genki's side and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're ok, Genki." She said with a small laugh.

Genki smiled, one eye shut from a slight pain in his head at Holly's grip, but he didn't complain. He was relieved to see them all ok as well. Looking up to the others, he petted Tiger's head and gripped Mocchi into a hug with his other arm. "I'm glad to see you guys too."

Then, he noticed for the first time that his hands and arms were bandaged in places, and that there was a strange awkward heaviness to his head. Looking to Hikari with a questioning gaze, he saw her grin honestly, but nothing besides that. The boy beside her was still grinning too, but if someone had been looking close enough, they might have seen jealousy in his eyes for a brief moment.

"But, how did I get here?" He asked and then turned to the strange boy who he didn't know the name of. "A-and who are you?"

The boy made a flourishing bow. "Ich heisst Seisuke." He proclaimed proudly.

Hikari dropped her fist on the top of his head. "Talk so that he can understand you, Seisuke." She told him before turning to Genki with an exasperated look. "This is Seisuke, he's from Germany and is a fellow Agent."

Genki nodded, grinning at the older boy as he rubbed his head, making a face at Hikari's turned back. "Uhm, your cheek. . ." He started, staring at the large red spot on Seisuke's face. Like his hair, his skin was also fair, so the red stuck out like a sore thumb. It looked like it might bruise.

Seisuke frowned and touched his cheek briefly before looking up. "That has to do with why you're here." He said a little sternly, looking accusingly at Hikari who didn't seem to feel his eyes on her at all.

"How did I get here? And how is Pixie?" He asked hurriedly, looking up to his red-haired friend. Pixie smiled softly and nodded.

"I'm fine." She assured him.

Holly took up the chance to tell Genki how he had come to this place before the conversation got too off-topic again. "You and Pixie had just been knocked out when Hikari came racing toward us. She directed us to a hospital and we took you there while Tiger and Hare finished what was left of the enemy monsters. Of course on our way to the hospital, Mr. Seisuke showed up and. . ." Holly dropped off, not wishing to speak unwell of him while he was in the room.

Hikari scoffed, her arms were crossed and she apparently had no problem with speaking badly of her fellow Agent. "This idiot got in the way and refused to move. You two looked in bad shape so it's not like I had a choice." Hikari obviously was trying to defend her position on something. Though it was painfully obvious to the rest, Genki remained puzzled.

"You mean you. . .?" He asked, pointing to Seisuke's bruised cheek with a small, amused smile.

Hikari sweatdropped, arms still crossed, brows knitted in annoyance. "Yes, she's very violent! She punches really hard when she gets angry." Seisuke rubbed his cheek, groaning at the pain.

"Oh shut up, you were going to stop me to make sure I didn't 'go any farther' and jeopardize their lives!" Hikari grunted at him indignantly.

Seisuke and Hikari gave each other death glares for the longest time before anyone else spoke.

"Uhm, thanks." Genki said, finding that he thought he would never say that word to the girl after learning what she was up to. Hikari nodded at him as if to say 'it was my duty, no need for thanks,' but she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.

Holly smiled softly, glad that they were all on equal terms now. She was afraid when Seisuke had shown up that there would be even more anger and tension between everyone. Looking out the window at the dark night sky, she briefly wondered: where were the stars this night?


German Dictionary

"Guten Tag" – Good day

"Alle! Er ist gut!" – Everyone! He is ok!

"Alle kommt." – Everyone comes.

"Ich heisst. . ." – I am. . .

Here, the word 'heisst' is another word that uses the 'ess-tset.'

Ah, another chapter done. I hope I didn't let Himitsu and the others take up too much of the story again. But if they did, they'll soon be taken out of the lime light at any rate.

Speaking of time, guess what everyone? This fiction is reaching its one year anniversary! Yep, on December 20, 2003, I published this story on ! Weird, huh? And I still haven't finished it yet too. . .Ah, at any rate, I shall be adding in a little 'special birthday chapter' on the anniversary to celebrate. It won't be from the story, per-say, it'll be kinda like the cast is at a party. If you know what I mean. Well, you'll see if you don't.

Thank you for the continued reviews and support, minna-san. I truly appreciate everything you've done for me.

See you all soon. Ja'ne!!

Review Please.