Chapter 2

That night Ken dropped by Joe's trailer. The Condor wasn't surprised to see him there.

"You're stressing out over this mystery thing, aren't you, Ken?" he asked, the moment he had seen who was at the door.

"Is it that obvious?" Ken sighed. "I don't know why Jun got this crazy idea into her head. I just wish that it would go away."

"I don't think that's going to happen, Ken." Joe grinned, waving his envelope under the Eagle's nose. "She's put a lot of work into this already. Have you even read the background information she included in these things?"

"Yeah..." mumbled Ken. "That's what concerns me."

"Let me guess." Joe smirked. "You're nervous because your character has a crush on Jun's character."

"Uh..." the deep red color staining Ken's cheeks gave the Condor all of the answer he needed.

"What's the problem, Ken?" Joe asked bluntly. "You do have a crush on Jun, don't you?"

"Well..." Ken stared at the floor. "It's not something I want to talk about."

"You have to talk about it sometime." Joe pointed out. "Although frankly, I'm not sure why you're talking about it with me. Why don't you just tell Jun you like her?"

"It's complicated." Ken muttered.

"Complicated my ass. You're just wrapped up in some stupid idea of professional distance. That may work in other jobs Ken, but not for us. Face it: we are each other's lives. We're together all of the time. The normal Commander/Officer rules don't apply."

"That's easy for you to say." Ken grumbled. "You're not..."

"I'm not what?" Joe growled menacingly.

When Ken blanched and refused to respond, Joe answered for him.

"I'm not bloody Gatchaman, is that it?" he yelled. "I'm not in command. I'm not G1! Damn it, Ken, I thought you'd gotten off that ego trip long ago! If that's the way you want to play it..."

"No, Joe, no!" Ken protested. "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that you're generally a more impulsive person than I am. You don't usually care about the long-term consequences of your actions, while I..."

"You obsess over all of the possible 'what-ifs' until the moment has passed you by." Joe smirked, his anger cooling.

"Look, I'm just afraid that if I have to pretend to have a crush on Jun, that..." Ken's voice trailed off.

"You're afraid that you'll go get carried away and tell her how you really feel about her." Joe finished for him.

Ken nodded sheepishly.

"I was hoping I could convince you to switch characters with me." Ken blurted out.

"You want me to play the quiet guy with a crush on Jun?" Joe was surprised.

"It's just for one night." Ken pleaded. "You can do it for me, can't you?"

"Well, I've always thought Jun was pretty hot." Joe mused. "And if I'm playing Hy then Jun's got to flirt back with me." The Condor began to grin at the possibilities.

"I'm in." he said, grabbing Ken's hand and shaking it vigorously.

"Great..." Ken said, wondering if he had done the right thing.

88888

"Hey, Ryu, can I talk to you about something?" Jinpei asked the Owl that night, as they were finishing up a pizza back at the Crescent Coral Base cafeteria.

"What is it, Jinpei?" Ryu replied.

"I'm not too keen on this whole 'playing a girl' thing in Jun's mystery game." Jinpei blurted out. Why do I have to be the girl? It sucks!"

"I can see why you'd feel that way, Jinpei." Ryu commiserated.

"I was wondering if you'd like to switch characters with me." Jinpei suggested.

"What?" Ryu sputtered, bits of masticated pizza flying across the table. "You want me to play a girl?"

"Well... it might make you more sensitive. And I'll bet you could pick up lots more women if you were a sensitive guy!" Jinpei wheedled.

"I don't know..." Ryu was skeptical.

"I'll buy your meals at the Snack for a week." Jinpei offered.

"Two weeks."

"All right." Jinpei sighed. "You drive a hard bargain, Ryu." But the Swallow was smirking as he switched envelopes with the Owl.

After Jinpei had left, Ryu looked at his envelope. He really didn't want to play a girl.

On impulse, Ryu left the cafeteria and walked by Dr. Nambu's office.

A familiar-looking envelope was still in the Doctor's inbox. Quickly, Ryu switched the contents of the two envelopes. He moved away hastily when Dr. Nambu came into his office.

"What are you doing here, Ryu?" Nambu asked suspiciously.

"Uh, Sir, I was just wondering if we had to participate in Jun's murder mystery game." Ryu mumbled, looking at the ground. "I'm not too excited about the character she gave me."

"Ryu, I think this is a good opportunity for the team to work on their acting skills. This could come in very handy during undercover missions." the Doctor lectured the Owl. "We will all be attending, and doing our best to throw ourselves into our parts."

"Yes, Sir." Ryu gulped, muttering a quick goodbye and dashing out of the office, the character details for Al A Mode clutched tight in his fist.

Once he had left, Dr. Nambu opened the envelope Jun had had sent over. Almost immediately, his face blanched, but after the little lecture he had just given Ryu, he knew he would have to put his all into this.

"All right, Kozaburu." he said to himself. "You're going to be the best damn waitress you can be."