A/N: This chapter didn't need as much fixgin as the previous one but some contant has been altered and added here too. (like the mysterious boy)
Chapter 2.
"Alright, I have to calm down now…" Jodie muttered to herself, stopping in the middle of the corridor and taking a deep breath. She had been hurrying to the hospital room that FBI used as a meeting and planning room. The woman was carrying the calendar of that girl who lied in coma in the room next to Mizunashi Rena's hospital room.
"But how is possible that she knows what some of the organization members look like. Especially about these members who we already know… They are pretty high-ranked… And how does she know about us?" Jodie frowned. Should she really tell about the girl to the other FBI agents? The girl was in coma just like Mizunashi Rena. Probably because of hit-and-run incident… but it was still far too big of a coincidence.
"Maybe… I won't tell about her yet. I don't know that much after all and it seems like she won't endanger us right now… In any way… Yes, I must not do hasty decisions." The woman turned around, heading back to the girl's hospital room. She put the calendar back to the girl's bag and left. Behind a corner a young boy looked at her retreat before slipping into the room himself.
The boy went through the girl's bag. He locked some files and numbers from her phone and snatched a set of keys. One of the keychain decorations had emblem from Kyoto's flag on it. Seeing that there was nothing else incriminating there, the boy sat on a chair by the girl's bedside.
"Hello, little sister. We can't meet for a long time yet but remember these instructions… They are the same I gave you before you came to Tokyo. Number one: You are not Kagemiya Hoshi here. You are Okiya Tsukiko. Number two: lie about everything they ask you. And number three: Find one person you'll trust explicitly. Good luck."
The boy left the room and the girl.
Kaikyone Sakiko walked on the corridor of the hospital. Two weeks had passed from the day she had found that young girl. Time to time she came to see if any improvement had happened in the girl's condition. The woman always brought something little with her to liven up the dreary and sterilized room. Usually flowers or paper cranes. Sakiko stepped in the girl's room after knocking the door twice. No one was there. As usual.
"Mumei-chan… I brought some flowers this time. I hope you like them…" The woman said and put some buttercups to a water glass. The old and withered flowers had already been collected away by the nurses. Sakiko had taken to call the girl 'Mumei-chan' (meaning 'no name') since she didn't know her name but didn't want to call her 'girl' all the time. She sat on a chair next to the girl's bed. Sakiko had a lot of time to use because her three sons had already left home and her husband died several years ago. She still owned a music store in Beika-cho but she had considered in selling the place to one of the employees there.
The girl breathed evenly but didn't show any signs about waking up. Heart monitor beeped steadily. Sakiko got on her feet slowly. It was the time for her to go home. She was taking a step towards the door when she heard a quiet voice. The girl was mumbling something in her sleep.
"Mumei-chan…?" Sakiko approached the bed and leaned closer to hear what the girl was saying.
"Hime-san, wake up before the crows arrive. Please…" The girl whispered urgently before falling quiet again.
"Mumei-chan, you are the one who should wake up." Sakiko smiled, smoothing the girl's cheek gently before leaving.
Next April
Jodie yawned. She was again in the room of that unconscious girl. And once again a bunch of questions floated in her mind. Who was this girl? What did she know? Was she a spy? And why there weren't any signs about her identity?
"Should I already give up? How can I find anything about her if all I know is the hair color and she fact that she can draw quite well?" She hadn't told other FBI agents about the girl. Not mentioned with a single word during those months they had been at the hospital.
The female agent closed the door behind her and began walking randomly around the corridors. Patrolling. It was patrolling, not aimless wandering. Sometimes she stopped to give some orders and advices to other agents who were keeping a watch. After a while, when she was finishing a conversation with James Black, a Japanese woman came to talk to her. Jodie recognized her as the one who had given the girl's bag to her at the beginning. They'd talked occasionally if they crossed paths but otherwise not actually interacted. Jodie did know that the woman's name was Kaikyone Sakiko.
"Sumimasen… but could I talk to you?" The woman asked politely.
"Of course, Kaikyone-san." Jodie nodded. As the woman spent more time with the girl than the agent, she usually had some news about her. The good and the bad. "James, could you wait a bit?"
"Sure." Black took a step back for illusion of privacy.
"It's about the girl… Since you are her friend I thought you should know…" Sakiko began.
"Sorry, but what makes you think I'm her friend?" Jodie interrupted. "I'm not denying it, just curious, as you are the one that led me to her in the first place." The girl did know her name. Fake name only, thankfully.
"I found a drawing of you when I tried to find out what was her name… Anyways, two weeks after the girl came here, she spoke." Sakiko told her.
"Did she wake up then? I haven't seen her awake and the doctors haven't said anything of such." Jodie frowned.
"Ah, no…" The old lady shook her head slightly. "Only a brief sentence in her sleep was all I could hear."
"What did she say?" Jodie asked.
"Hime-san, wake up before the crows arrive. Please…"
"Hime?" Jodie repeated. While the way of address wasn't anything recognizable for her, the context and the circumstances made her draw alternative conclusions. That girl had arrived to the hospital about an hour after Mizunashi Rena! How it was possible that she knew about the reporter? Or was this yet again another coincidence? It couldn't be!
"Well, I have to get going now. Thank you for looking after her, too. Take care!" Sakiko bowed shortly and left.
Dumbfounded and wrong-footed, Jodie slowly turned back to address Black about their previous topic of conversation. Whatever that had been…
"Jodie-kun? Who is the girl that woman was talking about?" Black asked a bit warily. It wasn't good that an agent was distracted during such an important mission as the one they had going on at the hospital.
"I… I don't know much about that girl…" Jodie tried to gather her thoughts. What exactly was is that she even knew?
"But at least something?" Akai remarked, appearing behind Black.
"Shuu, when did you arrive?" Jodie asked with a hint of surprise in her voice. Damn Akai and his stealthy steps. She hadn't heard anything when the man had sneaked to them. Was he a ninja or something? Even Black seemed a bit startled.
"A few minutes ago…" Akai shrugged. "But you were so deep in your thoughts that you didn't notice it. What is this all about?"
"There is a girl in this hospital in a coma. She was brought here on the same day than Mizunashi Rena about an hour later. I heard that she most likely had been hit by a car but since no one witnessed it, it's just guesswork. I have no idea who is she as she has no identification with her, nor has anyone tried to contact her cell phone I found from her bag." Jodie explained.
"And you got involved in this how?" Akai asked.
"It just happened. The details don't matter in this case." She waved her hand dismissively.
"Is there anything else about her? Than her words we just heard from that woman? Kaikyone-san? Or the fact that apparently she was led to make contact with you because of some drawing…" Black asked.
"Yes, the pictures in her calendar, including the one mentioned." Jodie said quietly. "The people she has drawn all over the pages and scrap papers between them… Makes this all complicated. It's probably better if I show you. The room is just around the corner."
"Well, what a coincidence… Right next to Mizunashi's room." Akai smirked when Jodie opened the door and they stepped in.
"Yeah…" The woman walked straight to the table where the bag was and opened it, letting the men following her to close the door behind them. She fished out the calendar and offered it to her superior. "Here."
Black took the calendar and began flicking through it. He froze when he saw some of the drawings. "This… How?" He uttered before passing the calendar to Akai. When the other FBI agent saw the pictures, he just chuckled a bit but didn't otherwise comment or react to them.
"Shuu?" Jodie asked carefully.
"Nothing. She could have seen these organization members at streets but haven't had any ideas who they actually are. Besides… This date here…" He pointed at a picture of Gin and Vodka. "An associate of mine told what happened then. A bomb in shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto. He wasn't in the train but his friend did give comprehensive description fitting to these two."
"So you think she could have been involved there? Maybe even be that friend?" Black asked.
"Exactly." Akai nodded. He gave the calendar back to Jodie who put it back to the purple shoulder bag. "My opinion is to ignore her for now. She is still in a coma and won't harm us. And if no one has tried to contact her, it means no one misses her."
"But isn't it weird that there is no signs about her identity? And what were those weird words then? She could know something about Mizunashi." Jodie argued.
"It's not my head-ache. Like I just said, she is still in a coma. She won't endanger our mission here if she isn't even awake. And if she happens to wake up… we shall think about it if it is while we are still here."
Jodie and Black left the room. Akai told them he was going to stay there for a while to look for clues just in case. The girl just slept on peacefully and nothing indicated that something could have been wrong with her or the entire situation.
"So, what brings you here? And how is possible that no one has asked about you or tried to contact you? Are you even connected to Midorikawa?" Akai asked aloud even though he knew the girl wouldn't answer. "I guess you are not going to wake up." He continued. The girl didn't react in any way. Akai walked a bit closer but stopped when the girl frowned. A weak voice spoke quietly but Akai could hear a hint of urgency in the voice.
"Hime-san, wake up already! They are coming. They are here soon!"
By an instinct Akai grabbed the girl's shoulder and shook it carefully.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked her but she was again deep in her sleep, the lines on her face smoothing out once more. "Won't you wake up?" He added a bit quietly before leaving the room. He needed to think about this carefully. 'Hime-san' was a name used for Mizunashi Rena by one person only after all. And that person had told Akai about the shinkansen. But Midorikawa Shugo was hard person to question. He always managed to slip away either physically or metaphorically.
A/N: Shinkansen will not be addressed anytime soon. But I needed a good explanation for some stuff. Honestly, just read this fic and continue to the sequel once I publish the first chapter of it. :)