Agents of HIME

Guns

Natsuki Kuga wanted to think of herself as a normal, twenty something young woman.

A gun in each hand Natsuki blazed away, running through each clip in moments, She lowered them as her spotter yelled out, "Guns down!"

"Ugh," Natsuki sighed as she put the safeties on then sat the guns on the table.

The spotter collected the targets and blinked. "Holy crap," she muttered.

"What?" Natsuki asked, though she suspected the answer.

"Not perfect bullseyes," the spotter muttered, "but all in the center circles. How...?"

Natsuki sighed. "I have a knack..." she shrugged.

Yes, Natsuki wanted to be 'normal.' Sadly, she had a talent with guns. Especially hand guns. Put a pistol in her hand, she could hit a target, even with a unfamiliar weapon.

And HIME, of course, was interested.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So, Miss Saeko. How is your new position working out?" Shizuru asked mildly as they met in her office.

Saeko Kuga gave her a look that could be best described as wary. "Quite well," she admitted, "now that First District aren't trying to steal my work."

"Your 'universal cure.' I hadn't thought such a thing was possible," Shizuru noted. "Is it true you tested it on your daughter?" she asked disapprovingly.

Saeko gave her a flat look. "They injured my daughter, quite seriously. The only option I had at the time was the serum," she said.

"Yet after that she was stuck in cryogenic suspension," Shizuru said. "Why?" she asked.

"The serum, basically, encourages much faster healing and cell growth," Saeko said with a sigh. "What else has rapid, uncontrolled cell growth?"

"What?" Shizuru asked.

"Cancer," Saeko said flatly.

Shizuru paled. "Oh dear," she said quietly. "Is that why you asked us to keep her here under observation?" she asked.

"So far, there's been no complications. But I was rushed trying the serum on a human being, and we don't KNOW what could happen," Saeko admitted. "It should have been tested ten years from now... if not longer."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hiii!" the tall, somewhat gangly woman waved.

"Uh, hi. This is where the unarmed combat test is...?" Natsuki had to ask.

The taller black haired woman with spikey hair smiled, "Yes, I'm your tester, Mikoto. Nice to meet you." Cheerfully she continued, "Now, you have no unarmed training, right?"

"Other than a self defense class when I was younger," Natsuki admitted.

"And you're awful with knives, apparently," Mikoto added teasingly.

Natsuki rolled her eyes. She had tested both in attacking and defending with mock, rubber knives and apparently she was awful at it. She couldn't attack or parry worth a damn. Tho weirdly she could throw them really accurately...

"Okay," Mikoto said as she put on padded gloves and made Natsuki don safety gear, "I want you to try to attack me."

"Do I HAVE to?" Natsuki sighed.

"Or I could attack you if you want," Mikoto shrugged.

Deciding THAT was a bad idea, Natsuki kicked out at Mikoto.

Now, Mikoto Minagi was used to having a huge advantage in a fight. Being raised by your crazy Grandfather in combat since you could walk tends to DO that. But she was still faintly surprised by how FAST Natsuki could move. Mind you she telegraphed the kick and Midori could dodge easily, but she was fast...

Natsuki, on the other hand, was ALSO marvelling at how fast Mikoto was. Her punches and kicks weren't even coming close to landing.

Finally Mikoto stepped back, "Okay, we're done."

"Well that sucked," Natsuki panted.

"Actually you have a lot of potential," Mikoto congratulated her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shizuru watched Saeko go, then returned to her desk.

Her next apointment arrived in just a few minutes later, the attractive young woman pushed in in her wheelchair.

"Welcome, Mashiro-san," Shizuru nodded to HIME's financial sponsor.

Mashiro Kazahana nodded politely. Behind her came Fumi, her bodyguard and manservant. Shizuru always felt vaguely nervous around Fumi... while she was confident in her own skills, she knew Fumi could probably kill her with ease.

"How did your meeting with Kuga-san go?" Mashiro asked.

"Fairly well. She is, obviously, unwilling to immediately start testing her serum on humans," Shizuru informed her.

"I see," Mashiro nodded. "Are the test results THAT bad?" she asked.

"So far, all the animal test subjects have died of pseudo-cancer other than Natsuki heself," Shixuu told her.

"Ugh," Mashiro made a face. "I need that serum," she gestured to her useless legs.

"You also need to be cancer free, mistress," Fumi noted mildly.

Mashiro nodded reluctantly. "What does she think of Natsuki joining HIME as a agent?" she changed the subject a bit.

"She's not thrilled, but Natsuki clearly can't just try to return to a normal life, now," Shizuru noted. "And she IS skilled," she added.

District One was still out there, even though HIME had hit them hard in destroying their main headquarters. Their leaders wanted Saeko and her serum, and would obviously go after Natsuki too. Her returning to a un-guarded life was impossible, for now.

"So we'll use her as a agent and guard her. And if needed she can be leverage for us to push Saeko for results," Mashiro said, smiling coldly.

Shizuru restrained herself from commenting on THAT.

"How is the Suzushiro operation going?" Mashiro asked.

"Rena and Nao have hit three of the five locations. Should be done in a few days," Shizuru told her. "So far, no one has figured out they're not who they seem..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"AAAAAAH!" the woman in the passenger's seat wailed.

Natsuki grinned as the battered jeep wove through the traffic cones. "Oh calm down, it's not THAT bad," she chided.

"Slow down a bit, at least," Aoi Senou complained.

"Yeah, yeah," Natsuki eased off the gas a bit.

The driver test course was a fairly standard route. You had to do various driving maneuvers between rows of cones, and if you knocked them down you lost points on your final score. All fairly simple and straight forward.

Aoi, however, hadn't expected that Natsuki would be so daring and just floor it through parts of the course. She also REALLY liked drifting through the corners.

"Eeeep!" Aoi clutched the dashboard as they went sideways through a turn.

"Heh," Natsuki grinned and floored it down another straightaway.

"Mommmmy..." Aoi wailed once more.

They pulled up to the finish line, where a visibly amused Chie Harada was waiting. "Nicely done," she said, checking the stopwatch, "50 seconds for three laps. That may be a new record."

"Don't compliment her!" Aoi complained. "That was terrifying."

Chie patted her girlfriend on the back. "There, there," she comforted her.

Aoi sighed and relaxed a bit. "How did she do on the cones?" she asked.

"Only knocked down five," Chie noted. "Not a record, but pretty good."

"I'd do better on a motorcycle," Natsuki noted mildly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So, what do you think? Can she be a effective agent?" Shizuru asked the group, somewhat later that day.

"I'll certify her for markmanship," Elliot Chandler, the spotter who worked with Natsuki noted. "Her pistol scores, especially, are remarkable."

"She sucks with blades," Kyouko Shimabuki, the trainer for knives and swords said, "but that isn't necessarily a hinderance for a agent."

Mikoto added, "She's completely untrained in hand-to-hand, but she is very fast and agile. Give me some time to work with her she should manage fine."

"She scared the piss out of Aoi," Chie noted cheerfully, "but she's a very good driver. She just needs to be drilled on evasion and combat driving."

"All right," Shizuru nodded, "we'll touch up her training, then discuss it next month."

To be continued...

Notes: Mashiro is much less nice than in anime canon. On the other hand, she IS running a mercenary group so. Heh.