Stronger Than Fire

By: Aviantei

Chapter Nine

It wasn't even four days before Emília texted him the signal to meet up—one that Renzo hadn't been expecting to get until the week's end. Part of his brain automatically jumped to paranoia. He hadn't been performing that badly, had he? Sato Riku had easily made friends with his fellow coworkers, merging into the social life at the remote base much easier than Shima Renzo could even begin to think of at the Illuminati. Maybe it was a difference in attitude, but Renzo thought he had actually been making progress.

Instead, Emília leaned against the wall, her facial expression that of the Illuminati's Intelligence Head. Already, Adelaide Hardy was gone, and Renzo knew what that meant. "You can't be serious," he said. "I thought that the parameters were set for a week. You're saying that we're—"

"Right now," Emília said, tapping a finger on the air. "There's no point in keeping them around any longer," she reasoned, easily dropping Renzo's heart into his stomach, his elevated pulse wreaking havoc. "We already mined their research as far as we can go, and I've nearly stripped their computers down looking for data. We even have access to their collective research server, so finding the other facilities is a done deal." She forced eye contact onto Renzo, who was too stunned to look away. In contrast, her voice softened. "This is how things are, Kid. It's always better to get out before you get in trouble. Every day in enemy territory increases your chances of getting caught."

While it made him feel the slightest bit better about the current situation, the implications for his larger mission replaced the weight tenfold.

Renzo composed himself with great difficulty. If he had learned anything, it was that screwing up wasn't an option. It didn't matter whose sake it was for, because no one would be happy if Renzo screwed this up, and in that scenario he ran the chance of being dead. "Alright," he said, his lungs taking liberties in his ribcage, shaking his voice. "But what about the backup? This is rather sudden, so are they even in position?"

"I requested it specifically," Emilia said, pulling a hair tie off her wrist and refastening it into the familiar bun/ponytail. Brandishing her hairstick as if it were a weapon, the wood returned to its rightful place in her hair. There definitely was no going back. "To be honest, I have a tendency to expedite missions, so the squad's been staying in the area. Officially, Arlie listed them as part of the 'in case of emergency' section…"

Hoping the metal could send some sort of signal to his brain, Renzo began to assemble his k'rik, stashed inside his shirt. "How soon, then? Will they start or…?"

Emília frowned, finger sliding across her touchscreen phone as if it were ice skating. "They're late," she said, but it didn't sound despondent. "We're going to start without them, but we should be fine. I could take this small of an area on my own, but with two of us, it should be a cinch. We'll go in opposite directions, then rotate around the perimeter. Once the backup team shows, we can reconvene with them, okay?"

"Got it," Renzo mumbled. Nervousness managed to be secondhand. He didn't need to worry too much about what he had to do. The goal was to make escape impossible for the members staying here, and even Emília had said that keeping them alive was preferred, just in case they were smart enough not to trust all their knowledge to computers. All of them would be taken into custody by the Illuminati. Unconsciousness would work just fine. He could do unconscious.

"You ready, Kid?" Emília looked as lighthearted as ever, gracing Renzo with a supportive pat on the shoulder. A few taps of her freehand on her phone. "I disabled their security system. Just make sure to keep count of the number of people you get, and everything will be fine."

And like that, she ran off, leaving Renzo with no choice in direction and a delayed "Yeah…" falling off his lips.

One last deep breath. Ready to go, he spun around, only to find Viviana in his vision.

"What…" She was a small girl, part of the research team. She was lacking a filter at times, but really she was nice. "Riku, what was that all about?" He had faked a crush on her for the sake of the mission. In all honestly, part of that had probably been real attraction. "What are you two—?"

A familiar black flame, his k'rik extended. Yamantaka's attack got her right through the chest, and Viviana collapsed in painful recollections.

"Sorry," Renzo said, guilt draining his energy as much as his familiar, "but there's someone else I like better."

He didn't look back, running in his intended direction. There were less than twenty people at the base, including the fake Adelaide and Sato. Renzo and Emília could easily contain them. He would just count to eight, then see if the squad was here or call his boss's phone.

With their ability to stay awake, he erased their names as well. Each black flame burned up their memories to him, reducing them to a number. They counted upward easily, Renzo tearing open doors and scouring rooms with fire before confirming the presence or absence of a body, then moving on. Viviana was zero, the next One. Two, Three and Four. Starting to run out of breath at Five. Still, he could keep moving, so he didn't stop.

At Six, he could feel his eyes cloud over. It had been a while since the Festival, since Inari, but he still remembered passing out, seeing Izumo. A smile cracked his lips, even as his face hurtled towards impact with the floor.

This time, the vision behind his eyelids was no different.

Emília had learned long ago that physical capability was every bit important to infiltration as brains. There was no sense in being a punching bag, even if having a small build had more potential in terms of body and disguise flexibility. Regardless of all of that, though, having enough physical prowess to be able to imitate different levels was necessary for success.

That also included the capability to fight. Putting Tamer aside, as she lacked the natural ability, Emília could easily qualify for all of the True Cross's meisters, as well as several other classifications within multiple third-party organizations. Immobilizing confused people in a panic was nothing compared to what she had trained to be able to do to demons.

"Hey, Hardy, are you okay?!" Only a small set of people were left that would refer to her that way. It was that confusion that she had used to knock out the rest. Jevrem, the brunette that had given Emilia and Renzo their tour of the place, ran up to the person he would still see as Adelaide. "You gotta be careful, there's—"

He stopped short. A look of recognition crossed his features, but it was different from the look the others had given her upon realizing she was the traitor, the reason they were all running. It was a deeper sort of recognition, almost personal, one that sent a bubble of laughter shooting from Jevrem's lips like champagne.

"You're her," he said, almost to himself. "You're really her. Emília Nussbaum…"

Politely, delicately, in complete respect for their situation, Emília smiled.

Jevrem ran, and she dutifully followed.

As she expected, the Kid was face down on the ground, k'rik just barely still trapped between his fingers. She was glad to see him working so hard, but on the other hand, pushing his limits like this was going to make things get real old, real fast. Sure, it wasn't like every mission would require him to do this sort of neutralization, but that didn't mean they had to limit his options.

"You really aren't suited to your familiar at all."

She had meant to scold him, but there wasn't a point. And even if there had been…Emília had to admit she was smiling, anyway. It had been short, but this was actually fun. Working with Shima Renzo, and pulling off a mission so spectacularly. She really did miss the days of being a standard agent, getting shipped around the globe at random.

Kneeling down, she disassembled the k'rik and rolled Renzo onto his back in order to out the weapon back into place. She pulled him up into a sitting position, his neck rolling. She tried to drag him in for a piggyback, but his weight easily made the attempt useless. Deciding that maybe she could use a few extra muscle training sessions, Emília settled for propping the kid up on her shoulder and dragging him along beside her.

The small size of the base had its advantages, but the only one Emília cared about was the short distance it took to get to the entranceway. Several Illuminati members were scouring the area, and she just barely missed getting Renzo knocked upside the head by one rushing into the building. Isidora Rios, the captain of the current raid squad, waved Emília over. "We can get you some help with him," the dark-haired woman said, and Emília shook her head.

It was silly just how much the sway of the beads reassured her.

"Nah, I'll take care of him," the Intelligence Head said, bouncing Renzo on her shoulder. The kid didn't budge a bit in protest. "He's not really injured, just needs some rest. I can look out for my subordinates all on my own, kay?"

Isidora snorted, and Emília's smile made the shift to a grin. "You're so full of it."

"But, getting the professional stuff out of the way, the Kid and I left our belongings out in the living quarters. Most of the clothes and stuff doesn't matter, and I still have my technology, but do try not to lump everyone's junk together, okay? That would just be a pain in the ass later."

Isidora was good at keeping the minimally required amount of professionalism, and not much else. "Noted," she responded through gritted teeth. She waved her arm to the south side of the base. "The med car's over that way. Do try to get mixed up with the hostages, will you?"

"Sólo podías desea Estaba tan estúpido," Emília quipped cheerfully, then resumed her transport of Renzo. She waved off the med team once she got there, placing Renzo on the bed inside the back of one of their vans and shutting the door behind her. If anyone else got hurt, they better hope there was a second van waiting for them.

Unconscious, Emília didn't have much to say about the kid. Some people said you could see a person change from the lack of awareness that being awake forced on you. She had no interest in looking for such things. From the past two incidents, he would wake up soon enough, so she just had to wait.

Letting his head rest so close to her legs would probably get his heart and adrenaline rushing in no time.

Still, the rest of the van was boring to look at—pretty much a nurse's office with extra straps so things didn't go flying. It was peaceful, though, completely soundproof from the operation going on outside. Meaning that nobody would be aware of what happened in here, too, just the two of them.

Groaning a bit, Shima Renzo's eyes flickered open as he managed to wake up.

"Man, I gotta stop doing that…" he mumbled in Japanese.

"Good morning," Emília said, trying to force his awareness back to English. "Did you have a nice nap, Kid? I figured you wouldn't appreciate the ground, much, so I brought you to a nice bed instead. Sorry, they were fresh out of nurses' costumes. You would think the recon division would keep at least three of those damn things around."

Even half-dazed, Renzo looked confused. "Did something happen?" he asked. Looking every bit like he was going to reunite with the ground, the kid forced himself up into a sitting position, holding himself up with an unsteady arm. "You never talk to me like this." In a start, Emília realized he was worried about her.

Had something happened? No, it hadn't. She gave him a half-hearted noogie, probably spurring on a headache by the way Renzo winced. "I figured I'd play around with you," she retorted. "If I made reality seem like a dream, you'd be more willing to get up, right?"

"Heh, I guess that's right." Looking over to Emília, Renzo spent the next few minutes looking her over. "Your hair looks better this way," he said, sounding distracted. Emília raised an eyebrow, causing him to splutter. "No, that was lame, just forget I said that, just—" He pulled his hands forward to bury his face his face in them, fingers brushing across Emília's thigh in the process. She couldn't pick apart just how much of his blush was from what event. After a deep inhale and a frustrated "Aaagh!" Renzo asked, "How'd the mission go?"

Emília stood up, stretching her arms out in front of her. Even at this point, she still felt antsy? "It was a success. Give the recon team a few hours, they'll finish their sweep, and we can head back with the rest of them." Turning around and placing a hand on her hip, she continued, "Hey, what do you think about your proficiency with Yamantaka?"

"Huh?" Renzo extracted himself from his hand shield, looking every bit like the kid he was. "Yamantaka? What about him?"

Okay, maybe it was unfair to give him another self-analysis assignment at this point. "I just think it's strange. Usually, when it comes to familiars, they're bound to their tamer by an innate ability. Even if the demon is powerful, they usually don't effect the one that summoned them this much. But you pass out, no exception. It's troubling."

Renzo looked down to the mattress, not saying anything. Well, Emília guessed she didn't blame him.

"Listen, this is something critical, but I don't want you to worry about it," she said. Renzo's mouth flapped silently, practically screaming that those two phrases didn't go together at all. "I'm sure the Science Division could help you out. Why don't we look into it once we get back?"

Jevrem Marin was feeling worn out, but that didn't matter any. Having just barely escaped from the raid on the Britain base, he wanted a vacation, or possibly a nap. But those sorts of things just didn't happen, and definitely not at a time like this. Hesitantly, he stepped into the room, wondering how quickly he could get this over with.

Nothing was particularly intimidating about the room—it was nicely furnished in mahogany and magenta, and the fireplace gave off a nice, even homey glow. It was the man sitting at the opposite side of the room that gave Jevrem the sensation that he could be consumed at any second.

Cassander Meisner.

"The base was compromised," Jevrem said, knowing that Meisner had no time or patience for things like beating around the bush. "Adelaide Hardy and Riku Sato were both spies, but any traces of their identities are gone. Even the forms and data we used to approve them are gone. The Illuminati took the entirety of the base, and even our external severs don't have any of our data except for what was backed up at other facilities two months ago. Not even a single trace of security footage."

There wasn't anything else to say. They had been completely and entirely defeated, though Meisner didn't like spending time on assessments like that, either. In the position of power, it was in his authority to determine those things. Someone like Jevrem, a mere research leader, not even in the top percentile of his rank, would do well to just state facts and keep his mouth shut otherwise.

"Hm," Meisner intoned, chin resting on the back of his hand. "It sounds as if it were a thorough job." Jevrem felt his eyes widened and tightened the pressure on his mouth. Such compliments were incredibly rare from Meisner's mouth. "The Illuminati has gotten bolder, but also more of an information powerhouse. We will have to act soon…but that doesn't concern you."

Please, please just let me leave, Jevrem pleaded, not even caring if the older man could read him like a book. He wanted to leave so badly, so escape the pressure even one of Meisner's indirect looks could cause.

"Anything else of interest to report?" Meisner said. In most cases, this would be a trick question. Reporting was to be done thoroughly and correctly the first time. Failure to do so was no good. Jevrem instinctively went to shake his head, but stopped.

There was something, and it was important.

"She was there," he reported, trying to keep the shakes out of his voice. "Emília. Emília Nussbaum."

Jevrem wasn't sure what to expect, but Director Meisner smiled nonetheless. "I suppose that explains our current situation, then," he said. "You're dismissed. I'm sure you'll be reassigned in time."

Jevrem didn't waste any brain power on thinking over those words. He turned and escaped the door before the Director could change his mind.

Love was a funny thing, mostly because it was impossible to define properly. It was too broad, to individualistic. But it did make people do incredible things, good and bad, and that seemed to be the one thing everyone could agree on. He really didn't know too much about it personally, because, even while he cared for people, cared for girls, his hate was really too strong for love to come through.

It probably wouldn't always have to be like this, but he didn't know what to do otherwise. The first girl he had gotten serious about—like, really serious—he had betrayed, hadn't even gotten close to at all. Everything else was just frivolous, and no one else had really caught his eye.

He didn't want to give that feeling to anyone else. His love was Izumo's, even though she would never accept it, would tear it apart and throw it back in his face. That was the end of it, so there was no point in even trying to get it back.

All things considered, love itself probably no longer existed.

[NOTES] Huh, I kinda left a lot of stuff ambiguous this time around. Well, this is a story about two liars, so I guess it's appropriate.

Hm, I think this arc was a bit rushed, but it serves its purpose. The important characters got names, and we'll be seeing more of them eventually. Besides, there are bigger fish to fry than some little assignment in Europe.

Also, [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm] is coming to an end! I'm going to be posting the final chapter in my project this weekend, so I'll actually have another (gasp) completed story to add to my collection (and hopefully add to my credibility). But the people who are really awesome are every one else in SOSS. If you're looking for something to read, there's a good chance you'll find something enjoyable there. :)

In any event, the tenth chapter will be up in two weeks, so I'll see you then!

[POST] 022416