-Kakyuu-

"I am going to give you a triple shot now just to make sure that you are fine until we get back home. I know with all the packing and so on we won't get back until late night and you won't let me do proper check-ups on you every three hours so you have to deal with this. As soon as we are alone, we do a proper dialysis and start the new therapy." Kakyuu told Haruka before she injected blonde's arm.

"Ouch, my muscles are still sore all over from the stretching in the hot spring." Haruka complained before she pulled down her sleeve. "Aren't we done now?" Haruka asked surprised as Kakyuu readied another injection.

"I said triple shot." Kakyuu stated calmly as she filled another syringe.

"Couldn't you have not done it all in one go?" Haruka asked with a sigh, as she pulled up her sleeve again.

"Pants." Kakyuu instructed curtly.

"No…." Haruka protested and started to shake her head like a child.

"Yes." Kakyuu insisted.

"But…" Haruka tried to find a way out of it.

"Yes, your butt." Kakyuu interrupted the blonde.

Haruka sighed and pulled down her pants.

"Bend over." Kakyuu instructed Haruka.

"If you say it like that, I am not surprised that you are not getting any…" Before Haruka could finish her sentence, Kakyuu had jabbed her butt.

"You were saying?" Kakyuu smirked sardonically as she injected the blonde slowly.

"What have I ever done to you?" Haruka pouted.

"You make me worry." Kakyuu told the blonde before she administered the last injection into Haruka's left thigh.

"Ouch" Haruka pouted some more while she was rubbing her butt and thigh like a hurt toddler.

"Don't be a baby." Kakyuu told her patient calmly.

"I am not being a baby but I'm pretty sure you would never be this harsh on Hime-chan." Haruka argued.

"Yes, I would never be that harsh on Hotaru-chan because she always eats her vegetables without complaining." Kakyuu chuckled.

"Hey, I do that, too." Haruka objected.

"Far from enough." Kakyuu returned unimpressed.


-Michiru-

Michiru was overlooking the schedule for the sending off of the Council members and their staff and Haruka was just floating around, casually shaking hands here and there and joking around with the guards. Each Council person leaving would have half of their men and two of their own team accompanying them to wherever they would get onto their transport of choice to leave the country. As soon as all council members would have left the remaining guards would be sent off. Only Kakashi was exempt, since he was going to stay for the extra day off.

Daniel stepped up behind Michiru as she was confirming with Taiki that the last three council members that Minako, Rei, Makoto, Ami, Seiya and him had accompanied, had just boarded their different private jets and they would be returning right now.

"So, I take it, this is goodbye." Daniel said as he stood behind her.

"Well, it is not as if Tenoh-san said that you can't stay..." Michiru started with a light smirk. While he was fun to hang out with, he was nowhere close to as much fun as Haruka was. But she couldn't deny that, with him around during the blonde's absences, she at least felt like she mattered to someone who wasn't her parents.

"It's ok Michiru, Tenoh-san had made a pretty good point. Also, I have heard that no one has ever survived to tell the tale of defying her logic and reason." Daniel admitted sheepishly.

"I guess so." Michiru nodded understandingly and secretly relieved.

"How about you accompany me to airport at least. It would give us more time to talk about the new compositions you are thinking about writing." Daniel suggested hopeful.

"That sounds nice, but I still need to wait for the return of my people, so I can wrap this up" Michiru explained to him.

"Of course, I understand." Daniel nodded empathetically. "There is no rush to leave now anyway." Daniel smiled happily.


-Haruka-

Haruka had seen Michiru, from afar, talking with Daniel and immediately turned around to go to the kitchens. Yumi was inside talking to her staff, who were helping her great-uncle's people to clean up before they would leave with their mistress.

"Tenoh-san, has everything been to your satisfaction?" Yumi asked her as she entered.

"Yes, everything has been superb Myamoto-san." Haruka replied as she looked around for a possible snack.

"Is there anything else I could get you before I go?" Yumi asked softly.

"A cup of tea would be nice." Haruka nodded.

"Please follow me to the tea room then." Yumi told her and led the way out of the kitchen. Shinobu went ahead of them with the equipment needed for the tea ceremony and Haruka's favourite sweets to accompany the tea.

Yumi took the longer way around the garden, to give Shinobu time to get the tea room ready for them.

As they arrived, the water was already on the small stove and all utensils were in place.

Yumi sat down gracefully in her Kimono to make tea, while Haruka sat down on the cushion opposite to her and enjoyed the sweets laid out ready for her.

Haruka enjoyed watching Yumi making tea. It always relaxed her to watch the other move with such grace and purpose without making a spectacle.

Soon her tea was ready and Yumi passed her the bowl with the wonderfully steaming and smelling tea.

While she drank, Yumi got up and sat down next to Haruka.

"You look tired." the Yumi noted softly.

"Yea, but your tea always helps me with that." Haruka chuckled before she finished the slightly bitter tea.

"Want to lie down and rest for a bit?" Yumi asked and offered Haruka with a pat on her lap to lie down and rest.

"Yes, please" Haruka agreed before she lay down and put her head in Yumi's lap.

"What's on your mind?" Yumi asked as she caressed Haruka's blonde mane.

"Nothing." Haruka replied as she closed her eyes with a light smile on her lips.

"Remember when we used to do this every day?" Yumi asked her as the tea master let her fingers run through Haruka's hair.

"Hmmm." Haruka confirmed with a content nod.

"You used to come after every training session that annoyed you and tell me about everything that went through your mind." Yumi reminisced.

"Hmmm." Haruka nodded lightly again.

"I wonder what happened to that." Yumi mused.

"You got married." Haruka stated evenly.


-Michiru-

Michiru was looking for Haruka, just to find the blonde lying with her head in Yumi's lap, facing the garden. The blonde's eyes were closed and the tea master was caressing Haruka's head without saying a word.

Michiru was about to turn away again, when she heard Haruka's voice, clearly addressing her.

"What is it captain Kaioh? How may I be of service?" Haruka asked evenly as the blonde sat up slowly.

"I just wanted to confirm with you a couple of items on the check list before we wrap up the mission." Michiru replied with a matching calm.

"Ok." Haruka nodded before she turned to Yumi. "Thank you for the tea. I will see you off soon. Please be waiting for me at the entrance." Haruka told Yumi before she got up.

"I will see you then." Yumi agreed before she stood up and left.

"Should I come over to you or will you come over to me?" Haruka asked Michiru across the silent garden.

"Well, I am the captain here, am I not?" Michiru reminded Haruka.

"Right, captain." Haruka smirked before she crossed the garden to stand right next to Michiru. Michiru could clearly smell Haruka's perfume and was tempted to straighten out the collar that was slightly lopsided, but stopped herself.

"So what do you need confirmed, captain?" Haruka asked Michiru, with a distance in her eyes that made the violinist feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Did you relay all this information to the guards yet?" Michiru passed Haruka a sheet.

"Yes." Haruka confirmed.

"And did you arrange for the compensation for Myamoto-san?" Michiru continued.

"Yes" Haruka nodded again.

"And did the security sweep of the building turn up any anomalies?" Michiru proceeded.

"No" Haruka replied indifferently.

"Have there been any complications or complaints in the past days?" Michiru enquired, ignoring Haruka's blatant disrespect.

"No." Haruka answered disinterested.

"Have all Council members vacated?" Michiru continued undeterred.

"Yes." Haruka nodded again.

"Has the mediator left?" Michiru asked evenly.

"Sure." Haruka shrugged.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Michiru asked sternly.

"A yes." Haruka sighed.

"How can you be sure? I have been looking for him all week and I have not spotted him even once." Michiru pointed out.

"That is the whole point. For all you know, he could have hidden in the tea staff or the lunch crew, or be the gardener. The mediator is the go between for the good side with the underworld. It has always been safer for the mediator to hide in the shadows and only to be known to the ones who need him." Haruka explained nonchalant.

"So how can you, of all people, be sure that he is no longer on the premises?" Michiru asked suspiciously.

"It's my job to know what others don't" Haruka shrugged calmly.

"So tell me." Michiru insisted.

"Trade secret." Haruka smirked. "Whoever needs to know already knows. Take it or leave it. I don't care if you believe me or not." Haruka replied indifferent.

"Fine." Michiru conceded.

"Was that it?" Haruka asked insolently.

"No, I am going to accompany Ferguson-san to the airport after this." Michiru informed the blonde.

"Fine." Haruka remarked snide before she walked away towards the entrance of the Onsen.


-Setsuna-

Setsuna had been brooding over the issue of the security breach nonstop since Kakashi had brought it to her. She had been going through all possible angles and people involved when it suddenly struck her.

Setsuna needed to call Kakashi immediately to share her realisation. She dialled his number feverish, but there was no answer. With her phone on one of her ears she kept redialling as soon as she got to his voice mail as she rushed out of her office and to her car.


-Haruka-

She had just seen Yumi off and Michiru had also left a while ago with Taiki to accompany Daniel and the rest of the security off to the airport.

Haruka slowly walked back into the Onsen when she heard the faint but yet incessant ringing of Kakashi's phone.

She followed her ears and finally stood in front of his room.

"Oi, old man, pick up your phone!" She called through the door.

No answer.

Puzzled she entered his room to find him passed out on the ground.

She rushed to him to take his pulse when suddenly her world went black.


-Michiru-

Michiru was driving back to the Onsen next to Taiki, who was his usual stoic quiet self.

"May I ask why Yaten and Seiya were following us this entire time?" Michiru asked casually.

"A precautionary measure." Taiki replied curtly.

"Precaution for?" Michiru continued to ask.

"If we knew what we are going to face, we wouldn't be precautious, but we would be prepared." Taiki replied cryptically.

It was nearly impossible to ever get a straight answer of any of Haruka's team members.

Maybe they had been around Haruka for too long and Haruka's evasiveness had rubbed off on them, Michiru thought to herself as she looked outside the window.

They had nearly arrived at the Onsen when a black Audi TT cut in front of them and drove through the gate to the Onsen.

Taiki sped up and caught up with it before both watched Setsuna getting off the car and rushing inside.

They quickly followed her and Michiru asked her "Setsuna, why are you here?"

"Where is Kakashi and where is Haruka?" The urgency in her voice and demeanour was unmissable.

"Haruka should be just around here somewhere and Kakashi said he would have a nap before lunch." Taiki informed her as they rushed inside.

"I have been trying to reach him this whole time but there was no answer." Setsuna explained.

Minako came rushing towards them. "Kakashi is passed out in his room and we can't find Haruka anywhere." She told them with a slight panic in her voice.

All of them hurried to Kakashi's room to find him being tended to by Kakyuu.

"He has been knocked out by an extremely strong sedative, I already gave him an antidote for it, but it will still take a minute to kick in." Kakyuu informed them.

"Where is Haruka?" Setsuna kept asking. "Has anyone seen her?" Setsuna looked around for clues.

Everyone just shook their heads. Suddenly Michiru noticed something shimmering under the tea table and she reached for it. It was Haruka's phone, on which Hotaru was trying to call her, and next to it Haruka's blood splattered communicator.

"What's going on Setsuna?" Kakyuu asked her sternly as she got up from Kakashi's side.

"We have all been targeted by random mercenaries these past weeks, just to distract from the actual target. The actual target had been Haruka all along and it was all just to try to get her into a vulnerable situation." Setsuna explained.

"Do we know who it is?" Kakyuu asked her alarmed.

"Yes" Setsuna answered, grief stricken.


-Haruka-

Her head was pounding and her whole body was aching. 'Didn't Kakyuu say that the boosters should counteract the headaches as well as the muscle spasms and keep it all down until late at night?' Haruka asked herself as she tried to move her body. This pain was different though, it felt more superficial than the deep tissue muscle aches, she usually experienced. Her hands and feet seemed to be restraint in a sitting position and she could hear the familiar humming of halogen light tubes used for lighting.

This was not good.

She tried to recall where and what she was doing before it all went blank for her. Onsen, she remembered being at the Onsen and something else. Kakashi…there was something about Kakashi. Suddenly she remembered. She entered Kakashi's room and he was lying motionless on the floor. Trying so hard to remember, her head responded with more pain. Groaning, she cringed before she tried to open her eyes.

"Welcome back." A familiar female voice greeted her. "I hope your head didn't take too much damage from being hit by the chair, but considering how thick it can be, I doubt this scratch could even harm you in the least." The blurry figure in front of her snickered.

Haruka's throat was dry and besides the metallic taste of blood it was hard to talk, nonetheless she managed to utter "Ayumi".


-Kakyuu-

"I don't care why Haruka got kidnapped!" Kakyuu interrupted the discussion that broke out in front of her. "The fact is that Haruka is gone and that we need to get her back as soon as possible before her system fails her." She saw everyone looking at her confused and only Taiki went paler as realisation dawned on him.

"How much time does she have?" Taiki tried to ask as calm as possible.

"From this point onwards maybe eight hours if she is lucky, ten at most before the muscle spasms will get unbearable. How much time she has after that, before her heart or her lungs give in, I don't know. All I know is that we have no time to waste. Taiki, you get back home and prepare the clinic for the worst case and Yaten you join him and scour all satellites for a signal of this." Kakyuu passed him a number. "This is the ID of the new tracker I implanted in her last week, which should work while her heart is still beating. It can only give you a limited amounts of pings since it is supposed to decompose any time soon so try your best. I don't care about what the rest of you will be doing but I am getting my kit ready and I am going to get her back." Kakyuu walked determined out of the room and rushed to get her medic kit. Setsuna and Michiru rushed after her.

"What are you planning to do?" Setsuna asked her.

"There is a limited number of places Ayumi could have gone to without being detected, so I am going to canvass them all." Kakyuu said evenly as grabbed her emergency medic kit.

"But those are too many to check within such a short time span." Setsuna told her, despairing slightly.

"Not when you know whom to ask" Kakyuu had grabbed Haruka's phone, which she took out of Michiru's hands earlier, and unlocked it to call Yumi.

"Yumi, Haruka got taken, check everywhere you can, if she is there." Kakyuu instructed her curtly and hung up.

"What will Myamoto do with this, they are sworn to keep out of all affairs." Setsuna reminded Kakyuu as she entered Haruka's room and pulled out her medic bag with all the last injections she had on hand for Haruka.

"I don't need her to get involved I only need her to tell me where Haruka is or isn't to save time. She will do everything to get Haruka back, she owes Haruka her life." Kakyuu reminded Setsuna as she double checked her emergency rations on boosters at hand.

"What can I do to help?" Michiru asked her concerned.

"Either help finding her or get out of my way, we don't have time to waste." Kakyuu's patience was out of the window after a whole week of tending the blonde's every need, to get her through all this pain and the meetings, she was not about to lose her now to this oversight.

She rushed to the entrance where Seiya was already waiting for her.

"You will need a driver. Taiki and Yaten are already gone." He told her as they went to the Aston Martin, Haruka had driven here. "Where to now Kakyuu?" Seiya asked as he sat down on the driver's side.

"The closest off-list black side you know of." Kakyuu instructed him determined.


-Michiru-

Setsuna had held her back from following Kakyuu and it was her, who dragged Michiru back to Kakakshi's room.

"We need to do something Setsuna!" Michiru insisted.

"Yes, but with our means and methods and not theirs." Setsuna said firmly.

When they got to Kakashi's room Ami and him were already busy working on their laptops.

"I have eliminated all our active black sites; none are in use by anyone we couldn't verify." Ami informed them as they stepped in without averting her gaze from the screen.

"The last recorded pings headed north of Tokyo." Yaten's voice came from Kakashi's phone. "I cannot give you more specifics until I am back in the tower." Yaten explained.

"Good, so we can eliminate all these areas and focus up here. Twelve sites left." Kakashi concluded.

"Myamoto texted me she had last seen Haruka four hours ago, giving Ayumi a maximum of a four-hour head start." Taiki added.

"Please concentrate on the road Taiki, if we die, we won't get Haruka back any sooner." Yaten could be heard urging the tall brunette.

"We cannot think that we have ten hours to get Haruka back, we have maybe half of that, since she has to be IN the clinic in ten hours at the latest, otherwise we will just be returning her corpse." Taiki continued undeterred and the screeching of wheels could be heard from the other end of the line.

"Taiki is right." Kakashi agreed.

"Why don't you ask your Yakuza connections to help with the search." Makoto suggested.

"Absolutely not!" Kakashi stopped her. "Do you hear me Yaten, Taiki? No further involvement of anyone besides Myamoto, Yumi. Got that?" Kakashi insisted.

"Got it." Yaten and Taiki confirmed in unison.

"But we will find her faster with more people looking for her." Rei interjected.

"No. That is my final decision. Otherwise you will just destroy Haruka's legacy and that is the last thing she would want." Kakashi said sternly.

"That leaves eight sites, assuming Ayumi has stopped in that four-hour radius." Ami interrupted them all.

"I go and check out the closest one to us." Michiru announced.

"I am coming with you." Minako joined.

"I am coming, too" Makoto added.

"No" Ami interjected. "We need to split up into two groups at least to make this search effective. We do not know who else Ayumi has with her, nor what defence systems she will have engaged and if we all run to the wrong site it will be a wasted trip." Ami continued to explain.

"I take Setsuna" Kakashi said evenly as he got up. "Michiru, you take Minako and Rei. Ami, you stay here and keep us updated with your findings and Makoto you stay here as well and keep her safe in case anyone turns back to get to Ami." Kakashi instructed everyone.

"Understood." Ami and Makoto agreed.

"Kakayuu, just eliminated E6" Yaten's voice announced from the phone.

"Leaves seven sites. Let's go." Kakashi left the room.


-Haruka-

"So, you do remember who I am. That's something." Ayumi snickered as she sat opposite to Haruka.

Haruka blinked slowly and let her eyes wonder around.

Solid concrete walls surrounded her and the smell of disinfectant lay heavily in the air. She was in one of the decommissioned interrogation rooms of the agency, judging from the lighting and the setup.

Question was just which one.

"SpongeBob." Haruka said evenly.

"Excuse me?" Ayumi asked puzzled.

"I see you are new to this." Haruka smirked. "I will try to be slower with the explanations then. It is usually good etiquette for people to figure out a safe word first before they start the whole tying up thing. For beginners I usually use SpongeBob" Haruka chuckled. "Easy for kids to recognise." Haruka smirked.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Ayumi asked Haruka menacingly.

Haruka sat up straight in her chair and stretched her shoulders, the best she could in her situation, to alleviate the stiffness and ease her headache.

"Well, not really, considering the lengths you went through to get me here, I am expecting a rough ride." Haruka continued to smirk. "By the way, I do prefer leather over metal chains, they have a nicer feel and are less noisy." Haruka rattled with her restraints.

"Noise is really the last thing you should be worrying about right now." Ayumi's irritation slowly showed.

"Oh, so what should I be worried about? Do you have some sort of foot fetish that Haruto kept secret from me?" Haruka continued agonising her captor. "If it's like that then let me tell you, I prefer Macadamia oil massages over the whole baby oil thing. It will be healthier for you when you kiss my feet and seriously the smell of baby is hardly sexy." Haruka trivialised her situation.

"Do you know what kind of pain you have put me through?" Ayumi asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, you seem eager to tell me and I seem to have nothing better to do right now than to listen. So shoot, because if you are planning to bore me to death with your silence, you are on a good path." Haruka replied amused.

"Don't you remember?" Ayumi raised her voice.

"Remember? I am blonde and you wacked that little bit of sense up there hard with a chair, so right now I don't even remember what day of the week it is, let alone how and why I am even here. Did I accidentally eat your dessert last night or even your dinner?" Haruka suggested.

Haruka smirked just before she was struck across the face by Ayumi.

"Not so smart Ayumi, I probably already have a concussion and you as a medic should know that THAT won't help jogging my memory." Haruka kept her unapologetic smirk in place.

"You know, Haruka, I have been watching you for a long time." Ayumi took over the conversation. "You have always been a hopeless skirt chaser and no girl in the agency was safe from your advances." Ayumi told her bitterly. "All except me." Aymu glowered at Haruka.

"Well, you were special." Haruka chuckled with a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't bullshit me Haruka, I have heard you talking to your brother about me behind my back. You called me weak, spineless and unstable. But look who is weak now? Definitely not me. Look!" Ayumi walked over to a steel table at the side and lifted it with one hand.

"Wow, I never knew that lonely nights had such an effect on women as it did on men." Haruka sneered. "Maybe you should have tried the whole cat thing. I hear it works wonders for the lonely mind." Haruka suggested unimpressed.

"You know the Russians offered me 30 million to sell you to them, if I manage to capture you, but I refused." Ayumi remarked condescendingly.

"Makes sense, though the South Americans would probably have offered you something around the 50 million." Haruka chuckled. "So where am I off to next?" Haruka asked nonchalant.

"Nowhere." Ayumi replied calmly. "You took away the love of my life and now I am taking your life in return." Ayumi smirked sardonically.

"Ok, hurry up, otherwise my headache will beat you to it." Haruka replied indifferent.


-Yumi-

Yumi had just hung up with another one of her sources with frustration. This was now the fourth, with negative results. She was about to call another one when suddenly the door opened behind her and her grandfather stepped into her room.

"Ojii-sama" She greeted him surprised with a deep bow. "I haven't been told that you would be coming to the tea house today." Yumi excused her failure of welcoming him at the entrance.

"I didn't plan on doing so, but what is it about this rumour that I hear of you asking around for Tenoh-san's whereabouts?" Her grandfather asked her sternly.

His presence filled the room like an avalanche that was about to crush her.

"We Myamotos never get involved in the matters of either worlds. We have sworn an oath that we are here to provide a safe place for the exchanges of ideas and thoughts, meant to be shared in private, free from fear of persecution and judgement from the outside." Her grandfather stated firmly.

"Yes, ojii-sama." Yumi nodded obediently while she gritted her teeth.

"I am not finished." He continued. "We Myamotos also repay our debts. I do not want to hear of this again, not even the slightest whisper, so leave no trace." Her grandfather said without changing his strict demeanour before he turned around and left her to her own devices again.

"Sasaki-san" Yumi said quietly.

"Yes, Myamoto-sama?" Her loyal servant answered her call by opening the door to the inner garden and bowing to her from the other side.

"You have heard my grandfather. Take the best with you and leave no trace." Yumi instructed her evenly.

"Understood, Myamoto-sama." Shinobu bowed again.

"I want to know everything. Leave no one out and come back safe Shinobu." Yumi said grimly.

"Yes, Yumi-smama." Shinobu bowed, got up and disappeared again.


-Haruka-

Swallowing the blood that had accumulated in her mouth she watched Ayumi getting frustrated with her lack of fear and respect, that Haruka showed her.

On the beeping sound of her watch, Ayumi suddenly walked out of the interrogation room.

This was now the second time that Haruka had seen this.

It seemed that Ayumi had to leave at regular intervals to make or receive calls and texts, that meant Haruka was in a well-insulated black site. Of those there were only four in the greater Tokyo area that didn't use active signal jamming that could be paused or modified. E4, E6, E9 and the old E2, that was situated below the new E17. Only E9 was still active and therefore unusable for Ayumi, without being detected. For the decommissioned ones this was too big to be E4, so she had to be either in E6 or E2. Both were about three hours away from the Tenoh tower by car and E6 was about an hour away from the Onsen and E2 more than three hours. So in the worst case scenario she would have six hours before the pain would set in, less if she would start to feel stressed.

Haruka couldn't do much while Ayumi was gone because she had a camera well trained on Haruka which was running the whole time. Haruka could see the red blinking light through the old two way mirror and wondered whom Ayumi was talking to on the other side. Haruka looked around inconspicuously for something she could use to undo the lock of the chains around her wrists. Wrists...she was still wearing Hotaru's bracelet! Carefully she tried to break the wire of the bracelet without dropping the beads. She had finally managed to collect all beads in one hand while holding the wire in the other when Ayumi came back with a self-congratulatory grin on her face.

Whatever was going to happen, Haruka was not allowed to lose her temper, losing her temper would lead to a rise of her heart rate and shorten the effectiveness of the boosters that Kakyuu had given her earlier.

"You know; you are one of the worst parasites that I have ever encountered." Ayumi told her.

"Oh? Well you are the expert in that field. I am glad I am distinguished even in your eyes, considering you usually only encounter those things in Petri dishes." Haruka kept her calm.

"I never understood how your brother could put up with you and your weak constitution and where you even took the nerve to call others weak when it was you who needed booster shots every week, slept till late at every chance you got and had no discipline whatsoever. It was always Haruto who had to pick up the pieces, write your reports, schematic the mission plans, drag you home from whoever's bed you got lost in again, cooked and cleaned for you." Ayumi recalled.

"What can I say, I like living the life and he was the perfect twin." Haruka smirked.

"And you took him from me." Ayumi said bitterly. "But you will feel the pain that I have been feeling for the past three years very soon. I will take the one and only thing you have ever loved, right in front of your eyes. And in contrast to you, I will let you watch it all close up." Ayumi grinned malicious.


-Yaten-

He had never seen his brother drive like that.

He was supposed to be the calm and collected one of the three of them, but this was the most reckless he had ever seen him.

They had just pulled into the parking floor and Yaten immediately reactivated the perimeter security. Without losing any time, Taiki rushed to the clinic floor, while Yaten rushed to his work station. His system was up and running and he searched all satellites for a sign of Haruka with no luck.

Suddenly the emergency alert for Hotaru went off.

Yaten knew that there was no way that Hotaru would pull on her kitty pendant accidentally or just for fun.


-Michiru-

They had just cleared one of the black sites and were heading towards the next. Everyone was quite tense and Rei was driving at full speed through the windy streets.

"I have noticed for a while that Haruka wasn't well, I just always thought we are talking about years or decades left in her life and not days and hours when she would say that we need to live life to the fullest. I should have seen that Haruka is severely sick." Rei said stoically as she took another curve at break neck speed.

"We should have all known." Michiru remarked deep in thought.

"I don't think we could have. If Haruka is determined to keep something to herself, she will. No amount of pressure or persuasion would get it out of her." Minako explained to them. "She was born as the perfect agent, grew up breathing and living the agent life from the cradle and she will to do that till she makes it to her grave. She wasn't like us to choose it after having lived outside of the agent life." But before she could continue to elaborate, her phone rang. "Any results Yaten?" Minako answered her phone.

The conversation was short and Minako just kept nodding.

"Rei, how long will it take for us to get to E17?" Minako asked the raven haired driver.

"About two hours." Rei answered curtly.

"We are on our way Yaten." Minako said before she hung up.

"But that is an active site and no one is there." Michiru interjected.

"E2 isn't and it is underneath it." Minako explained.


-Haruka-

Haruka leaned back calmly. There was no way Ayumi would get to Hotaru so easily and even if she did, Hotaru knew how to call for help and the boys knew to concentrate all resources on rescuing her little sunshine and abandoning everything else in the process.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned back and looked at the ceiling while her hands kept focusing on opening the lock of her chains. The wire was a bit too thin and too weak, but patience would get her there eventually.

"You don't seem in the least worried, Haruka." Ayumi remarked.

"Why should I? You are proving your strength to me by killing a toddler. Could anyone be impressed by that? If anything, you are doing me a favour with it, since then I know at least that nothing worse can happen to her when I am gone." Haruka said dryly.

Ayumi's watch beeped again and she left the room wordlessly. This has been now the eighth time, so Haruka had a solid four hours left before it would get pretty uncomfortable, but probably still bearable. Just a bit more and she would get herself out of there just fine, she thought to herself, maybe even get home in time to sneak one of Kakyuus precious puddings before the red haired doctor could stop her from eating one.


-Ayumi-

She walked back into the building quite pleased with herself. This is what she had been dreaming off for years. Now it was her turn to make Haruka feel like the worthless human being that blonde had made her feel for as long as she had known of her existence. She walked down the stairs and into the interrogation room in which Haruka was sitting placidly as if she was on vacation. But this would change now. Grinning she pulled out her phone and showed the clip on it to Haruka.

"Haruka-papa, I'm scared I want to go home." The voice of Hotaru echoed through the empty room while Haruka watched the little girl sitting tied up on the back seat of a car.

Ayumi watched with satisfaction how Haruka started to frown as she watched the video clip.

"Don't worry Haruka-papa. I promised that you would witness her demise live in front of you, so I am having her brought here. So you can say goodbye, unlike me. After all, it isn't little Hotaru's fault that you are a monster." Ayumi said with self-satisfaction.

"You know if you wanted to kill me so badly why didn't you do so when I was still at the agency? You had ample opportunity then." Haruka asked evenly.

"I did try. But you are like a cockroach, you just wouldn't die. I administered you a lethal virus with one of the booster shots you got weekly, but nothing. I even engineered it to specifically attack your DNA only, so that it wouldn't be contagious for your brother in any way. The virus was supposed to thrive in your blood and attack all your cells, leaving only flu like symptoms, so that you wouldn't take it seriously. You were supposed to slowly die within a month or two, or on one of your missions so that I could be there for Haruto and console your brother over your tragic death. But nothing happened. Eventually Haruto proposed to me and I gave up on hoping you would die. SO YOU KEPT ON LIVING AND LIVING AND LIVING AND THEN YOU KILLED HIM!" Ayumi lost her cool and suddenly Haruka started to laugh maniacally.

"What's so funny?" Ayumi asked Haruka suspiciously.

"Your virus has been pretty effective, if you ask me, it causes me headaches, muscle spasms, slow reaction times, occasional loss of my touch senses, occasional loss of hearing and sight, loss of muscle strength, tremors, fevers and on the field any of those could be lethal, indeed." Haruka said while trying hard to supress her laugh.

"But you are still alive and working well, as I can see." Ayumi remarked.

"Yes, because Kakyuu has always been a way more brilliant doctor than you could have ever been." Haruka replied chuckling.

"How so? She still hasn't found a cure for you, if you are still suffering from it." Ayumi pointed out defiantly.

"Indeed, but do you know what aplastic anaemia is?" Haruka asked her provocatively.

"Of course I do; it is a rare disorder in which your damaged bone marrow affects your blood count." Ayumi said defensively.

"Did you know that my brother had it? Did you know that to cover that up so that he could live a normal life and become an agent like our parents. I have been giving him small weekly blood donations every week since our parents passed and weren't around anymore to provide him with that any longer? And who do you think gave him that crucial bone marrow transplant, a month before his proposal to you, that gave him hope to have a normal life and even to get married?" Haruka smirked sardonically.

"That can't be…." Ayumi said with disbelief as the implications dawned on her.

"Oh yes, you complain about your pain, but your pain will never be as great as mine since the day. I held my brother in my arms when he was losing control over his body and wringing in pain, begging me to end his life right there, right then." Haruka said with gritted teeth and suddenly Ayumi heard the click of a lock.


-Michiru-

They had just joined the others, all waiting for them in front of E17, while Ami was letting down the endoscope camera to check the situation inside of E2.

Suddenly Yaten called Kakyuu.

"What is it Yaten?" Kakyuu asked him.

"I finally got signal of the tracker you implanted on her. Her heart rate is through the roof." Yaten said alarmed.

"That can't be." Kakyuu said with disbelief as she leaned down to Hotaru. "Hotaru-chan, you used the right safe code words right?" She asked the little girl imploringly.

"Yes, just like Haruka-papa and I practiced. 'I'm scared' for Seiya-ji and 'I want to go home' for Kakyuu-nee" Hotaru confirmed.

"I don't know what is going on in there, Kakyuu-nee but Haruka's off the charts." Yaten said urgently.

"We can't wait." Kakyuu decided.

"Ok, Seiya and I go in first, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Setsuna stay here and the rest follow me." Kakashi said firmly.

They got all ready to infiltrate as quiet as possible, but they encountered no opposition. Only heard loud crashing noises coming from further down. When they reached the bottom floor that had been sealed for years they found Haruka with chains around her feet and wrists, her hands firmly around Ayumi's throat. The room looked positively tossed and Ayumi was dead but Haruka made no move to let go of her corpse.

"Haruka!" Kakyuu rushed to the blonde's side closely followed by Michiru and Seiya.

"She, she…" Haruka grunted through tightly gritted teeth.

"Let go Haruka!" Kakyuu commanded the blonde strictly.

"Can't" Haruka grunted in response.

Just then Michiru noticed that Haruka's muscles were locked in place and cramping.

Kakyuu pulled out a syringe and injected Haruka in her neck and the blonde slumped into Michiru's arms. Seiya helped her to pick Haruka up and Kakashi rushed to his side. Haruka's breathing was laboured and her face was blood and sweat covered. Her eyes were unfocused and her hands started to tremble.

"I'm sorry" were the last words that passed Haruka's lips before she passed out and all the tension in her body disappeared. Kakashi and Seiya had a hard time keeping her upright while they dragged her out of the room.

"Get her out now, we don't have any time spare anymore." Kakyuu hurried Seiya and Kakashi to carry the blonde upstairs. The men carried her outside followed by Michiru and Kakyuu. Even with Haruka's driving skills, they might not make it back to Tokyo in time, Michiru thought anxiously to herself, but when they arrived back at the surface, Haruka's helicopter was waiting for them, operated Yumi and one of her servants.

Kakyuu rushed them to carry Haruka to it and flew with Kakashi ahead to the Tenoh Tower, leaving behind Michiru and the others.

"Seiya-ji, what's wrong with Haruka-papa?" Hotaru came running towards them.

"She has been working really hard, so she is just going home ahead of us." He tried to reassure the child, but she wasn't your regular toddler and turned to Michiru.

"Will Haruka-papa be ok?" She asked Michiru and Michiru could feel the knot in her throat grow ever bigger.

She crouched down, picked up the little girl, before said as calm as she could, "Why don't we go home and ask her that?"

"Come on, I drive us home." Seiya suggested.


-Minako-

She bserved her surrounding carefully and took the camera. It was still recording and she switched it off. Setsuna had joined Rei and her down in E2 and inspected the mess that Haruka had made. "Rei, please go upstairs and call the clean-up crew." Setsuna instructed the raven haired woman before she turned to Minako.

"We better secure all evidence." Minako said absent minded.

"What are you talking about. All this never happened." Setsuna replied evenly. "That camera is yours isn't it? I hope you give me a summary of that movie as soon as you have evaluated it. I hope you will be enjoying your two weeks of vacation agent Aino." Setsuna instructed Minako and the blonde nodded understandingly. With that Minako knew that Setsuna still suspected another vulnerability in the agency and still had to make sure that all was in the clear before they could return to normal. She doubted that it would be a vacation to stay with Haruka, but to be there was better than to go home and to pretend that nothing had happened.

"The cleaning crew will be here in an hour." Rei informed them as she came back down.

"I'd say you better hurry then and take everything you need." Setsuna said to Minako before going upstairs again. Minako got busy taking every recording that was there with her and Rei helped her wordlessly.


-Kakyuu-

Since they got onto the helicopter Haruka's heart had stopped beating twice and Kakyuu had to reanimate her twice in the last 30 minutes. They flew as fast as they could towards the tower but Haruka was still unresponsive. Kakyuu knew that this was an extremely bad situation. With no medication to lower the virus count the virus had a free reign to attack all of Haruka's vital organs and make its way to the brain.

"Haruka!" She kept calling intermittently between checking the blondes breathing and her heartbeat. Taiki had made provisions that a defibrillator and a ventilator were present, but that would be of no use if Haruka would die on her right now and she knew that she didn't have enough strength left for another heart massage.

"Kakyuu, tell me honestly, how bad it is." Kakashi asked grimly as he held her blood drenched hands in his own.

"I don't know. The last time we even came close to this situation was after her trip to Paris, but back then she was awake and I got her hooked up with time to spare. It had never been this extreme that she wouldn't even react to a double dose of boosters. If her own immune system gives up now, we will be done for." Kakyuu replied with anguish in her voice.

Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you have always been trying your best to keep her alive and if Haruka is something, then it is bloody stubborn." Kakashi said reassuringly.

"I don't want to lose her, too, Kakashi-ji" Kakyuu said quietly under her breath.


-Michiru-

Michiru was sitting on the backseat with Hotaru who was hugging her teddy bear tightly while Seiya drove them back to the Tenoh Tower.

"Hotaru-chan, why are you here?" Michiru asked the little girl who had been caught up deep in thought.

"Some of the security men at my uncle's house told me that they want to drive me to Haruka-papa and they said if I don't come along quietly, they will hurt my aunty." Hotaru explained her. "But Haruka-papa and I have played that game many times before. It's easy. First I have to go along and I am not allowed to forget my teddy. Then when no one is looking I have to use our secret and then I just need to wait."

"What is your secret?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Well it wouldn't be a secret anymore if I told you, Michiru-nee" Hotaru said with a serious demeanour that only a four-year-old would be able to pull off without looking conceited. "Even you don't know, right Seiya-ji?" Hotaru addressed their driver.

"No idea what you are talking about Hotaru-chan." Seiya replied unfazed.

"So how does that game continue." Michiru asked Hotaru.

"Well, I just do what people tell me and don't make them angry and then Haruka-papa comes and gets me." Hotaru grinned wide. "And if she can't then either Taiki-ji, Seiya-ji, Yaten-ji or Kakyuu-nee will come and get me and then I need to say our secret code when I talk to Haruka-papa so that she has to guess who came and got me." Hotaru explained.

"Oh, that sounds like a fun game." Michiru told Hotaru. "Maybe I can play with you that game some time as well?" Michiru suggested.

"I need to ask Haruka-papa first, because then you need a secret code, too, otherwise Haruka-papa won't know who won." Hotaru continued to explain.

"Have you had a chance to talk to your uncle and your aunt yet?" Michiru asked her.

"I did, Kakyuu-nee called them for me and they told me to come home soon, but I told them that I want to visit Haruka-papa first. They made me promise to listen to do what my uncles or Kakyuu-nee tell me to, then I am allowed to visit. I have been a good girl, I am allowed to visit Haruka-papa, right Seiya-ji?" Hotaru asked their driver.

"How about you have your nap now first and I see how good you have been." Seiya proposed.

"Ok Seiya-ji. Sorry Michiru-nee, I need to sleep now, because I want to see Haruka-papa soon." Hotaru looked at Michiru apologetically.

"Of course, Hotaru-chan, you just sleep." Michiru said understandingly.

When it looked like that exhaustion had finally caught up with Hotaru and her teddy bear slowly slipped in her grip, Michiru turned to ask Seiya "What really happened with Hotaru?" She asked Seiya who sped through the speeds at the maximum speed limit.

"It seems that Ayumi had bribed some of the newer recruits of the Tomoes' security detail to snatch Hotaru for her." Seiya said evenly.

"And how did you know she was taken?" Michiru continued to ask.

"Haruka tracks everyone under her care. We all have our emergency beacons." Seiya said easily. "So it was a simple following them and overpowering them when we were sure where they were heading. Two birds with one stone. We got Haruka's location and little Hotaru away from those morons in one go." Seiya explained.

"And where are they now?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Who knows..." Seiya replied cryptically.

"And who is taking care of the Tomoes right now?" Michiru continued to ask.

"Their security detail."Seiya replied curt.

"I thought they couldn't be trusted." Michiru interjected.

"Not all are simple guns for hire like the ones who betrayed them. Some were chosen by Haruka personally and no amount of money can sway them, because true loyalty doesn't have a dollar tag to it. They were just unfortunately scheduled by their, now retired, manager who wasn't vetted by Haruka." Seiya explained.

"Who retired him?" Michiru asked Seiya.

"If, hypothetically, I would admit knowledge of the executive forces at play there, I would get retired as well, so I have not the slightest idea if you ask me like that." Seiya replied nonchalant.

"Can those forces be trusted though?" Michiru asked sceptically.

"Haruka does and therefore I do." Seiya replied evenly.


-Kakyuu-

They weren't far from the tower anymore when Haruka suddenly went pale.

Frantically Kakyuu removed her tie and opened her shirt completlely to see if she had missed any injuries and noticed a swelling in the blonde's abdomen. Haruka must have somehow gotten internal injuries inflicted to her, either from torture or the fight she was in earlier, of which she was bleeding out on now.

Kakyuu knew that she was in no condition to conduct the surgery on Haruka herself in this state. She had been suffering sleep deprivation for too long and she couldn't be sure if her hands would be steady enough to make the right incisions, let alone if her tired eyes would spot the injuries in time.

Desperate for more energy, she grabbed the last booster she had saved for Haruka in case her heart would give in again. If she took it now, then she would be ready for the surgery, but if Haruka's heart gave in one more time before they arrived, there would be no means to revive and stabilise her again, as long as they were still in the air.

She needed to keep a cool, just a few more minutes and they would land, then she would either inject Haruka or herself.

They approached the tower and she could see Taiki already waiting for them with a stretcher.

Taking a deep breath, she injected herself and experienced immediate pain running down her arm. Kakyuu always admired Haruka for taking these as unfazed as she did. Still dizzy from the injection, she felt the landing of the helicopter and braced herself for what would come next. Taiki and Kakashi quickly put Haruka onto the stretcher and wheeled her to the elevator with Kakyuu as their lead, a bit dizzy and slightly nauseated, but standing straight nonetheless. Slowly Kakyuu's vision returned to normal and she saw someone unexpected waiting for them at the elevator.

"DAD!" Kakyuu exclaimed.