The fat woman behind the counter gave an insincere smile and passed Nanami her copies of the paperwork. "There. Now just follow the directions in the guidebook to log on and sign up for your classes."
Nanami smiled, blue locks bouncing. "Thank you, ma'am." She said happily, stuffing the papers in her purse.
"Quite welcome." The woman said dully. "Next!"
Nanami turned away from the counter. Deciding the library would be the best place to sign up for classes, she headed toward what was the oldest building on campus. The computer lab was located there and there would be someone to help her figure out how to log on. She wasn't the greatest with computers; Masafumi had never let her touch one.
The community college had accepted her. Despite her lack of a formal education, she had passed their entrance exam. True, she had barely passed it and all she was eligible for were remedial classes, but she had passed it. It was reason enough for the smile of pride that was spread all over her face. Her strides were long and confident as she made her way to the library.
"Excuse me? Ms. Hibino? May I talk to you for a moment please?" Nanami turned around and her eyes widened in curiosity at the red-haired woman who had spoken.
"Yes…" She answered hesitantly. She might not have been the best of assassins, but she possessed enough skill and sense to be wary of strangers. Especially those she had never seen before and knew her name.
The overly busty woman gave a smile that was not entirely reassuring. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to offer you an opportunity."
"What kind of opportunity?"
The woman gestured towards the library. "Let's talk in there." She led the way, several men stopped to look at the glamorous older woman in an impossibly short skirt walked past, followed by a confused, equally short-skirted girl. She held the door open for Nanami and they entered.
For the oldest building on the campus, the library was very modern. Computer stations were set up in every corner and the non-impact printers spat out papers at an incredible speed. The overhead lighting lit up the whole building and the new bookcases were tall enough that ladders were needed to reach the top shelves.
The red-haired woman seemed to know her way around and led Nanami to a dusty little corner of the library. Everybody else was congregated around the large wooden study tables in the front so they were alone.
The woman sat at one end of the table and gestured for Nanami to sit at the other end. She did, but held on to the strap of her purse figuring that if anything got weird she could swing it at the woman's face.
"Please excuse me, I haven't introduced myself." Her voice was low but forceful. "I am Manx and I have an opportunity for you."
There was something about this woman that wasn't right. Opportunities were good things; they meant you would be happy when you took or gave them. This woman, Manx, didn't look like she expected Nanami to be happy. She looked stern, like she had given this speech a hundred times before and had trained herself not to show emotion.
Nanami resolved to try and do the same for the remainder of the conversation.
"I'm from an organization called 'Kritiker'. I believe you have met some of our agents." She paused to let Nanami soak this in.
Kritiker…Kritiker. The name was certainly familiar. She could remember Hel and Neu discussing it in low, furious, tones, glancing around to make sure she wasn't paying attention. And this woman said she had met their agents so….
"Schwartz!" She gasped out, a little too loudly. This meant Nagi! This meant they could live together! This meant…
"No. Kritiker has no information on the whereabouts or condition of Schwartz." Manx said. "I'm talking about Weiss."
Nanami's resolve not to show emotion crumbled. She remembered the chance meeting with Yohji a few weeks ago and hissed out his name.
Manx blinked. "You know their names?"
"They weren't that careful about using whatever codenames you gave them." Nanami snarled. "Aya, Yohji, Ken, Omi." Schoen had made certain she memorized the names of the men who had murdered Masafumi.
For the briefest moment Manx looked surprised. "Kritiker must ask that you don't reveal whatever else you know about Weiss to anyone." She said evenly.
Nanami rolled her eyes. She could do nothing to Weiss on her own and they both knew it. "What do you want?"
"Kritiker would like to offer you a job."
Author's note- It all belongs to Project Weiss. I own nothing.
Tot is a very sympathetic character to me. We know that she had been abused by her biological father. The question of her treatment by Masafumi is also suspect. He kisses her on the lips when she was seventeen with the mind of a child. Given the creepy look on his face he enjoyed it. What else did he do to her? Was she originally a lab experiment? It's possible he's the cause of her mental state in the series.
Nagi did something when he caused the mansion to collapse. Not only did he bring her back to life but the look in her eye when she rises from the rubble suggests he healed something else.