OKAY. SO FIRST OF ALL, THIS ISN'T A LONG UPDATE, NEH? AH! BUT FOR ME IT IS! SORRY IF IT TOOK SO LONG…UGH, WRITER'S EXCUSES…YOU KNOW WHAT ARE THOSE…SO MANY…ANYWAY
SUTEFANI-CHAN: AH! NOW THE MOMENT OF TRUTH! KENSHIN, SANO…BRACE YOURSELVES
KENSHIN AND SANO: (GULPS)
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RUROUNI KENSHIN, ITS CHARACTERS AND PLACES AND PLOTS. ABOUT PRESIDENT MATSUSHITA – I MADE THAT UP.
WORKING UNDERCOVER by Sutefani-chan
CHAPTER 3
The three entered the room as Soujirou closed the shoji door behind them and locked it. Then he slid another closed, a rather bigger and sturdier one behind it. He grinned at the confused three, "Don't worry, it's sound-proof."
President Kamiya stood up from his seat and approached Hiko. Hiko gave him a salute and brought his hand down.
"Mr. President, sir," greeted Hiko as he shook hands with the president.
"It's been a long time, Chief Hiko," said Koshijiro Kamiya.
A long time? Just what does that mean? Wondered Kenshin with a confused look.
President Kamiya turned to the two. He somehow noticed Kenshin's confused look.
He continued, "Chief Hiko and I once served the army when President Matsushita was still in rule. He was a major lieutenant and I was lieutenant colonel back then. You two must be those two agents Chief Hiko's been boasting about."
Sano almost choked. Boasting? He turned to look at Hiko but Hiko ignored him.
"Mr. President, this is Agent Himura Kenshin and this is Agent Sagara Sanosuke. They're the ones called for the 'special assignment'." Hiko said as he lowered his voice. Then the two shook hands with the president.
"Of course. Soujirou, is it all set now?" called the president to Soujirou who was at the end of the room, guarding the door.
"Hai, Kamiya-sama. The doors and walls are sound proof as they should be."
"Good. Take a seat, gentlemen," motioned President Kamiya to the three as he sat on his own seat. The three newcomers did as they were told and occupied the three seats in front of the desk, facing the president.
Kamiya Koshijiro went on, "I think both of you know the reason why I had you sent here and that is to carry out a very special and top secret mission."
The room became silent as the two became attentive on what the president was about to say as they sat comfortably but politely on their chairs.
"But first of all, if you're ever wondering why both of you were chosen to carry out this mission, it's because that we believe you two have the potential and the qualifications needed for this assignment. You were especially handpicked by Chief Hiko, and was approved by Commissioner Hajime Saito of the Shinsengumi Patrol and me…"
"…This is top secret and is not of the ordinary, and so I'm addressing it to you personally. The only people who know about this mission are General Yamagata, Executive Secretary Okina, my personal right-hand man, Seta Soujirou; Commissioner Saito, Chief Hiko and yourselves."
The clock hanging on the wall ticked slowly as the two waited for the moment of truth, straight from the president's mouth.
"Gentlemen, I need your full cooperation on this one. I'm asking this from you…personally…"
"…Gentlemen, you are to serve as the personal bodyguards of my daughter, Kaoru."
Kenshin and Sano both gave sullen shocked faces.
This is it? This is the special and top-secret mission? Kenshin frowned.
"You want us to hang with your daughter?" said Sano aloud absent-mindedly.
"Sagara!" warned Hiko, giving Sano a stern look.
"That's fine with us, " Kenshin suddenly said nonchalantly. All heads turned to look at Kenshin.
"There's nothing wrong about being Secret Service agents, right? And besides, there's nothing wrong about protecting the first daughter. As a matter of fact, we've been dreaming of finally having a more exciting and a more decent assignment instead of rescuing a cat, don't we, Sano?" he turned to Sano.
Sano sighed. You, and that bad habit of yours. "I guess so."
Kenshin clasped his hands together, " I think it's all set. Now, we may leave," and he got up from his seat.
Sano smirked at the attitude shown by his partner. He could tell that Kenshin was irritated and annoyed. Sano was somehow very familiar with Kenshin's attitude. That's what you get when working with someone for almost a year and a half.
Hiko held out his hand and blocked Kenshin's way. "No, it's not over yet. " Kenshin raised his brow at him, "So there's more to it?" Sano's smirk faded. He leaned closer.
President Kamiya brought his hands together and heaved a sigh, "This is not as easy as it sounds. Please try to understand first the situation before you give any reaction."
Kenshin had no choice and sat back to his seat, "Gomen." He muttered.
"Do you know why this is not as easy as it sounds?" said President Kamiya, "It's because it's just not the matter of following my daughter wherever and whenever she goes, wearing black suits and dark sunglasses. We have to take drastic measures on this."
He went on, " Just recently, I've received a threat from an anonymous person saying that he/she will cause chaos particularly harming my daughter if I don't watch it. We have speculations that this threat might come from terrorist groups but we are not that so sure. Of course, my daughter doesn't know anything about the matter…"
"…Also, another reason to this is that my daughter isn't the one who is likely obedient and she doesn't like being followed around all the time by Secret Service agents. She's been giving my agents a hard time – always. Just this morning at the mall, she had been reportedly running from her bodyguards and played 'hide and seek' with them that it took them 2 hours after they've found her. My daughter's turning 18 this next week and so we have to take full precautions. Because of all of this, it leaves us no choice but to bring this assignment to a far too different one from the ordinary."
Kenshin's eyes widened. Is he thinking what I'm thinking it would …be?
"Gentlemen, you are to protect the first daughter, serving as two but SPECIAL Secret Service agents…through disguising yourselves as the siblings Kamiya Kazumi and Kamiya Sakura, Kaoru's female second cousins."
Kenshin and Sano's jaws dropped. This was not happening in their oh-so-normal lives, they thought. They expected decent assignments and this one went overboard. At first, they were really looking forward to doing this assignment but when the president told them what they were going to do, suddenly the enthusiasm fade away. Everything was turning upside down.
BAM!
Sano suddenly stood up and slammed his fist hard on the desk, glaring at the president who was greatly shaken.
"Are you crazy? Do you expect us to agree to walk around with your daughter looking like a bunch of gay-wannabes? Heck no! We've expected a more decent assignment ever since we started off and now saving a darn cat from falling off a darn tree is even more decent and acceptable than baby-sitting a hard-headed, spoiled brat –!"
Just then, Sano froze when he heard an unsheathing of a sword. He turned around. Soujirou had drawn his sword out and smiled at Sano, "I'm sorry, but if I were you, you should watch your words, Sagara-san."
"No, it's okay, Soujirou. There's no need for that," assured President Kamiya. Soujirou put his katana back to its sheath. Kamiya Koshijiro leaned his back against the chair's backrest and heaved a sigh, bringing his fingers to his chin.
"I understand you. I know; it's not very easy protecting the first daughter disguised as women, pretending to be her cousins. But this is a very special mission, and it is one that will bring you great honor and great responsibility to your country, and to yourselves. We've studied your profile and your background, and proven as it is, you two are the perfect pair for this mission," he spoke.
"And," Hiko finally spoke, "we decided to keep your real identity and this assignment hidden so as to save you from further embarrassment."
Sano faced Hiko, shocked. "And you know all about this?"
"Of course. It is my duty as your boss and Chief of the Shinsengumi to know your mission beforehand."
"And you kept it from us in the first place so as for us not to back down from the mission completely. Is that it, shishou?" said Kenshin.
Hiko smirked at him, "I thought you would never realize. Of course, baka no deshi."
"As the president of Japan, I'm asking this of you for the safety of our country. As a father, I'm asking this of you for the sake of my daughter."
Kenshin gave it a thought as he rubbed his temples. Should they go on with this? Serving as Secret Service agents and protecting the first daughter were enough, but disguising themselves as women? This was getting out of hand.
And yet, a voice in his head told him that they vowed to serve the government and their countrymen no matter what. It would be a great honor to serve the president, risking his/her life for the peace and the sake of Japan. Sounds patriotic, he thought, and yet he had no other choice. After all, their job consists mainly of unselfish bravery and commitment to Japan, doesn't it?
He sighed heavily before he eventually gave in, "President Kamiya Koshijiro, sir, we fully accept the mission laid out for us and are ready to risk our lives for the sake of your daughter and for the sake of Japan, even if we have to look and act ridiculous in front of the whole country." he thought the last part.
Sano stare at him like Kenshin was a fugitive from a metal institute, "Are you insane?"
Kenshin went on, ignoring Sano, "We assure you that we will carry out this mission like professionals and as good agents of the Shinsengumi Patrol, just as we vowed with all our hearts, souls and minds on the day we –."
"KENSHIN!" Sano protested once more.
"…Vowed to be part of the Shinsengumi Patrol. Himura Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke at your service, sir!"
"KENSHIN!"
"Sagara!" hissed Hiko.
President Kamiya closed his eyes and gave a slight nod.
"I am truly grateful to hear that you fully accept the mission laid out to you. From now on, you are to serve as undercover bodyguards of the first daughter, Kamiya Kaoru." Then, he suddenly dropped his voice, almost to a whisper, " I am truly, truly grateful. I don't know how to ever repay your bravery and loyalty to the country."
Sano almost choked at the word 'bravery'. It was over now. By the short speech that the president had given to them, it appeared to Sano that the president had just fully entrusted the mission on their hands, and that they're fully accepting it, all thanks to Kenshin.
He sighed in defeat. You, that bad habit of yours and your ballistic head…
"Yes, we fully accept the mission with…uh, when do we report, sir? We're ready, sir."
"Well then, you are to report tomorrow at the Shinsegumi Headquarters at exactly 10AM. Instructions shall be given out tomorrow," said the president as he stood up.
Hiko and Kenshin stood up also, since Sano was already standing, and all of them gave the president a salute.
"Yes, sir," Sano and Kenshin both said, then they put down their hands to their sides. With that, Soujirou led them out of the room. Kenshin felt his stomach gave a lurch. He didn't know why he just did that back in the room, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He sighed heavily.
Tomorrow, our lives are gonna change forever, Sano thought grimly.
Today, our lives had just changed for the worst yet to come, Kenshin worried.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: SO, HOW WAS IT? I KNOW, I KNOW…IT WAS QUITE A LONG UPDATE – BUT I PROMISE I'LL UPDATE SOONER! I'M CURRENTLY HANDLING THREE FANFICS ALL AT THE SAME TIME, BUT THE LATEST ONE I HAVEN'T POSTED YET…ANYWAY…ON TO THE REVIEWER NOTES…
DID YOU LIKE THE TREAT? HEHEHE…A BIG, BIG 'THANK YOU' TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED…OH YEAH, AND ANOTHER MASSIVE BAG OF BERTIE BOTTS! (Courtesy of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling – I do not own any of it)
Kawaiimeeh, Aldailyn, kao-chan, inugurlz (I'm so glad you loved the first batch of Bertie Botts!), devildog-90 (really? I don't know that movie), pinkstar146, livworld, kasumi977, kik-ting, erica6060 (yes, as a matter of fact, Aoshi is going to be in this fic! Watch out for him…hehehe) and Innocent Battousai.
Nixy-chan: hmm…why were the suits chasing Kaoru? Hmm…why do you think? Hehehe…
Enchantedsleeper: how come Soujirou lives in the, err, presidential palace (which is sort of like the white house)? Don't worry; we'll get to that part as the story goes…
AND WITH THIS, I MUST GO NOW. SAYONARA! MWAH!