Chapter Eight
The party had gone well. They had mingled, drank wine, chatted to numerous others, drank wine, contacts were made, drank more wine, danced, switched to champagne, got in some good information on the Archive and drank a bit more. All in all they had fun, tomorrow would certainly make their hours of mingling one to regret. They had indulged a tad too much in the wine, Nagisa more so than Shizuma. The etoile wondered if the woozy agent had spent any time socialising in her other missions, granted she had a knack with people, getting them to talk. However with the finer nuances she seemed to lack in abundance. It was all pushed firmly to the side at the moment, as she was holding on tight to the staggering girl.
Nagisa could not hold her drink well, with all the swaying she did when walking not to mention the drunken ramble she mouthed off. A mess! Shizuma kept a strong arm around the red heads waist as she tried to open their shared room. Thankfully Nagisa was docile enough to be led, as she was deposited on the bed, whilst the etoile herself got her nightclothes to change into. It only took her a few minutes to change into her silk white negligee, in the bathroom as they agreed; Shizuma came out to be greeted with a surprise. Depending on your taste. Wide eyes were lustfully staring at what was happening before her.
Nagisa in her drunken world was clothed only in her black lace underwear, as the final part of her dress slid to the floor. To the drooling etoile she looked beautiful, wanting more than anything at that moment to touch, caress and taste the sight before her. Shizuma fought a losing battle with her rising urges, as she saw Nagisa reach for her bra clasp, knowing she couldn't control herself for what was to come. Storming back into the bathroom, she closed the door quickly and quietly leaning her back heavily against it. After a moment or two, she lifted herself off the door towards the sink, turning the cold tap on full. Thoroughly soaking her face with the cool water did nothing, to get the images out of her mind.
Shizuma looked into her reflection trying to put some order in her jumbled mind. 'I know I'm attracted to her. It happens to me often; I pick a girl, have some fun with them and leave us both with some good memories. So why is this one so different? Why do I try so hard to gain her smile and to hear her sweet laugh? It's probably just the booze doing this to me. A good night's rest should clear my head fine.' Shizuma dried her face and was ready to get some shut eye. Nagisa had fallen fast asleep, all covered and snuggled in her bed, as Shizuma came out of the room. When her head hit the pillow her dreams were anything but peaceful. The night seemed to want her to keep on surprising her.
It must have been early morning, since it was still dark outside as Shizuma jolted awake. The cause was an intruder in her bed. The culprit was the drunken red head. Shizuma's eyes watched in wonder as Nagisa, obviously still very much asleep, got under her covers pressing her back against Shizuma's own. There was nowhere for the woman to run, her mind buzzed her with different scenarios, each getting more and more ravishing. Shizuma half wondered if the young woman was doing this to her on purpose, but one look at the sleeping face by her, knew that was untrue. Shizuma turned on to her side to face Nagisa, gently since she didn't want to wake her, continuing to watch peacefully the sleeping woman. It was a good thing too that Nagisa was wearing her oversized bed t-shirt, the trouble she would have caused further. Shizuma once more got comfortable, still facing the intruder, as she positioned herself closer, enough to feel the warmth of the other. Letting Morpheus take her easily away.
A loud short scream and something hitting the floor woke Shizuma from her pleasant dreams. Her sleep filled eyes looked towards the edge of the bed, where most of the top sheets were tangled, crawling over to peer over she saw a heavily blushing redhead looking awake confused and in some amount of pain since she was holding her head in support.
Stealing a glance at her clock it read 8:23 "It's far too damn early to be awake just yet" she complained as she lay back on her bed, trying to get back to sleep.
"What the hell am I doing in your bed?!" Nagisa groaned loud sitting up carefully
"You tell me. You came into my bed last night" turning her gaze to the gobsmacked woman "Care to share those thoughts?"
Nagisa just gave her a glare, as best as her pounding head could give, making her way steadily to her feet.
"No. I don't think I will." She was about to say something else, before she shook her head ever so slightly, making her way to the bathroom.
Shizuma watched her go, as she realised a part of her wanted to know what she would have said, even if it was another dismissive sentence. 'Nothing is ever really simple with that girl. I wonder what it is about me, which she dislikes so much.' Shizuma closed her eyes trying to get back to sleep, only to be jolted awake yet again by the redhead. Shizuma saw that Nagisa was now fully dressed and seemed to be over her hangover, ignoring her as she went about her routine. Shizuma decided that any more sleep was not going to come so decided to join the land of the living, getting up and dressed to brave a new day. The etoile had just finished putting her clothes in order, from the corner of her eyes she saw Nagisa astutely ignoring her as she keyed in a few words on her laptop then left to go stand on the balcony in the warm sunny rays. Shizuma didn't know what she had done wrong, everything she seemed to do only irritate the woman. 'It's about time I found out. Better now than later.'
"What is it about me you dislike so much?" Shizuma got straight to the point.
Nagisa turned to face her, as she tore her eyes away from the scenery to rest upon her partner. Turning fully around she leant back onto the balcony railing, crossing her arms and her face showing a set expression. Shizuma continued to stare at her, her hands clenched tightly to her sides. The room became thick with tension, both women knowing that the conversation to follow wouldn't be a pleasant one. Nagisa was the one to break the ice. Heaving a sigh she shook her head slightly.
"I don't dislike you Shizuma. Far from it. You're probably very nice underneath your false faces and attitude. Just don't expect me to be like every other conquest of yours."
"What do you mean false…"
"Oh please stop lying about it" Nagisa cut her off "You know exactly what I mean. Don't try and tell me you've always been like this. I know for a fact you haven't."
Shizuma was getting edgy, this conversation sounded very familiar. It was about to get a lot worse as her temper grew and flared dangerously.
"You don't know anything about me" Shizuma scathingly replied
"You're right I don't. But tell me honestly, why do you keep pretending that you're ok with all this?" gesturing towards Shizuma
Getting angrier Shizuma retorted "Who says I'm pretending? More to the point why should I share it with you?"
"Maybe because I care. We are supposed to be working as partners during this mission…" Nagisa explained
"Oh now were partners. Who's been giving me the cold shoulder all this time?" Shizuma breathed heavily
"How was I supposed to be? You kept pushing so strongly it's the only way I know to react. So sorry if I wasn't like all the others" Nagisa told her placing one hand on the railing
"Oh please flirting with you was just a way to keep me occupied, as for a partner I think I could have found a better replacement in the short time to suit you."
"Oh right. This is coming from the woman who can't keep a partner for more than a mission." Nagisa sarcastically accused her "experiencing it myself I understand why. Men are intimidated and the women well, you love em and leave them."
Shizuma nearly lost it completely when Nagisa said that. Her whole body shook with anger, her mind was clouded by it too as her words spilled out so fast she barely knew what she said.
"My sex life is my personal business. No one has ever complained about my skills. Furthermore what would a naïve girl know about me? I bet you have never experienced a real partner at all in any way. You could easily get them killed with how little you seem to know." Shizuma barrelled out
Nagisa stood still with one hand clenching at the railing in a vice grip, so hard was it that her knuckles were white. Her red eyes were teary but she refused to let them fall. Shizuma slowly cleared her mind, realising what she said and seeing the hurt locked away in Nagisa's eyes, knowing no way in which to apologise.
"You're right I am naïve. I guess I have a bad habit of trying to see the good in people I meet. Boy was I wrong about you. You are everything the rumours say you are." Nagisa breathed heavily now as her tears were freely falling from her eyes.
Nagisa slowly moved from the balcony to step indoors, giving a wide berth to Shizuma as she stepped on past. Shizuma made no move in doing so. She watched as Nagisa walked swiftly by, putting things together in a bag before heading towards the door. A thought of panic briefly washed over her, as she spun around to face her partner.
"Where on earth are you going?" Shizuma quickly demanded, inwardly flinching at the harsh tone.
Nagisa with her hand on the door handle didn't turn to face her. Her back was rigid at the tone that Shizuma used and her voice was toneless as she spoke her reply.
"Why should you care? Besides I get my partners killed as you so lovingly pointed out."
Nagisa was about to say something else before she abruptly flung the door open hard, hitting the wall with a loud thud and walked quickly out. Shizuma hung her head, it all happened so quickly. Words flung fast and hard and her tongue worked faster than her mind. Slowly she walked over to the door, closing it with a soft click. 'Damn! I'm such an idiot. Why did I say that? Curse my quick temper.'
Shizuma was a bundle of nerves when she answered her phone, her mind not giving up anything useful in which she could use. There was no putting it off either, her report had to be given and the fact her mislaid partner was absent, was something she had to work around. It had been fully a day since their argument and she had walked out of there room. Looking at her phone she hit the answer button, still wondering if she had a job after all this was through.
"Etoile" the cool voice answered sharply "Can you tell me why I reached one of you and not the other?"
Shizuma bit the inside of her cheek to stop any retort from spewing out. Her mind worked quickly in coming up with an answer.
"Different avenues of different thoughts. She's pursuing one angle I'm another." Which in her mind was true just didn't really go into any detail.
There was silence a little on the other end of the line, which as unusual for Miyuki since she always cut right to the chase. Shizuma picked up grumblings on the other end but no distinct words, her lie she quickly figured out, didn't sail.
"I'll let it slide for now, but it's not helping your cover or the mission for it to remain like this." A deep breath was heard taking in before her voice came back on "What have you been working on, we received the plans from Nagisa earlier and that was all until we lost signal."
Shizuma eyes grew wide when she heard the last part, as she tried to force her logical mind back on track.
"Nagisa was going to work on face recognition on the people attending the party the other night, especially on a figure seen both at Melinda's manor and the right hand of our host that night. I'm checking up on angles in town, he's quite a popular figure."
Shizuma and Miyuki talked a bit more and when the call ended the etoile decided to do a bit of snooping around the small town. Talking to the locals and even some holiday makers, she gleaned very little. This wasn't so surprising at all considering who she was following. Any new information she got was that there was some workers were seen at the harbour way in the early hours of the morning. 'What a waste of day. Nothing helpful at all.'
Shizuma switched the TV on as she came out of the shower; it was late evening now and it had been two full days without her partner by her side. It was funny how quick you adjust to new people. Shizuma was drying her hair, when she heard her phone ring. The tone was ringing and Shizuma was in a state trying to find it, after chucking it away after M's phone call, she never thought of finding it afterwards just in case. Lifting clothing off the floor she found her undamaged phone still calling out as she quickly hit the accept button without looking at the caller ID.
"Hello Shizuma here." Shizuma answered a little breathlessly
"Turn onto the news etoile" a familiar voice told her tonelessly
Shizuma was startled at hearing Nagisa's voice, nonetheless did as she was told knowing it must have been urgent to call her. Keeping her phone by her ear she switched the channel over and nearly dropped the phone in shock.
"Breaking news just comes in. Earlier today the Greek government has announced an official lockdown of all ports and airlines in and out of the country and isles. The military have been drafted in to help local police in keeping peace in surrounding areas during this time. No official statement has been given at this time…." The newsreader has been given new information from off-screen; looking a little startled himself at what he has just read. "My apology for just now new information has just come in. News of secure information held by the government in an intense secure mainframe holding, all the government intelligence has been hacked into. Sources within the top establishment reveal that they have no current leads. So until further notice the lockdown will stay in effect. The hotline on the screen is for any information you may have. We will keep you fully informed on any new updates. In other news…"
Shizuma clicked the TV off, slumping to her bed in disbelief at what she had just heard. The Trojan Horse had been activated and the information that The Archive had gained could be very deadly in his possession. Not to mention that the country is now acting like it's under some martial law. Shizuma pondered the fallout still clutching her phone near her ear; even then she failed to know her name being mentioned.
"Etoile! Are you there or not?" Nagisa growled down the phone
"I'm here. Do we know what information he recovered?" getting into her agent mode
"Yes. All military bases and naval boats currently on tour. The routes they take and other possible missions they might be sent on. Also he took what the government knew about foreign vessels out there and what little they know about routes they take." Nagisa listed for her.
"Why would he want to know about that?" Shizuma muttered aloud
"Who knows? I'd best be off" Nagisa drawled
"Wait a minute!" Shizuma nearly screamed down the phone to her missing partner "Now look, we have to work together on this. Forget personal issues we might have with each other, but this needs to be settled fast before he strikes again."
"And what does that have to do with me? You find the son of a bitch, deal with him and collect the data he stole. Don't need me around. Best do it fast too; he's working to a schedule." Nagisa outlined it for her.
"Look here. I will meet you by the café down in the harbour in an hour. You best be there and we'll discuss this." Shizuma growled to her before ending the call abruptly.
Shizuma let out a heavy sigh, as tossed her phone onto her pillow before slumping back onto the bed. Bad news all around. The only thing missing was a Miyuki scolding that would certainly round it off nicely. A familiar annoying ringtone rang through the quite room; Shizuma turned her head to glare at the device. 'Shit! I should know better by now. Be careful of what I wish for.' Shizuma reached for her phone to risk a look at the caller ID, groaning aloud when she recognised it. Miyuki Rokujou knew just when to call.
"M nice of you to call" Shizuma faked a happy tone
"Cut the crap etoile." Miyuki briskly told her "The Trojan Horse has been tested as I think you have already figured out. It's making all governments twitchy at best."
"Yeah I saw the news just now. Who are they blaming?"
"No one is pointing fingers at anybody yet. I think they all know it's an outsider doing it. The information is too specific for an agent within to want to take note of."
"Look at you M, sounds like you want to come back on the field. I'll love the company." Shizuma teased her
"You have a partner Etoile; I hope it's all sorted out. I'll let you get on; I want regular updates on what you find out." A click ended the call.
"Hopefully it will be" Shizuma muttered to herself.
Shizuma was the first to arrive at the café, choosing a table that faced the sea she ordered ouzo for her nerves. The sweet aniseed taste filled her mouth as she kept her eyes peeled for a familiar redhead. The hour mark passed and Shizuma began to get impatient, tinged with a little worry. Her focus was mainly on the street along the café, the harbour walkway and the barely seen road just to the side and no sign of Nagisa. Her drink was half empty and a shadow fell on her, blocking out the last of the sun's rays.
"May I sit?" a tone asked her shyly
Shizuma whipped her head to the side to fall upon Nagisa; the woman had come without her noticing. Her attention drifted from the uncomfortable face to her attire. A white cotton top with a deep scarlet skirt that came just below her knees, making her look quite alluring in the dusk light. It certainly made Shizuma feel that way. Shizuma nodded her head to the seat opposite which Nagisa took quickly and quietly. A waiter took her order of juice, within a few minutes she was served, the entire time passed in silence. The lanterns came flickering on and local music came out the speakers.
"How did you know about the data he collected?" Shizuma cut to the chase, figuring it best to start with work
"That's not the issue" Nagisa took a sip of her drink "What you should be asking is why he decided to test it on that particular mainframe."
"You lost me there." Shizuma told her
"He could have hacked into any database in the entire world, why did he decide on that one? Hell, even I got in with a lot of luck so why did he need the Trojan Horse to do something a hacker can do given the time and equipment." Nagisa shrugged her shoulders glancing out to sea
Shizuma stared at the agent before her. She didn't know what to say to that confession, deciding it was best to move right along. It did give the etoile some pause however, if Nagisa could do it without the virus, why did he alert everyone to the fact that he had it. Taking a long sip of her drink she spoke up yet again.
"Is this something to do with what you've been working on?" Shizuma asked her roundly noting people sit close by
"Like you said to M, different avenues of thoughts." Nagisa answered the same way
"Spoken to her lately?" she asked lightly
"An hour or so ago" Nagisa shrugged her shoulders turning to look at the customers
Shizuma let it be silent for a while, knowing she had to start on the uncomfortable conversation soon enough. Folding her arms to warn off the chilly breeze, she set her eyes firmly on her partner, who continued to look around her surroundings. Not once did she glance her way, or was even uneasy being in her presence after their row. Huffing a little, Shizuma decided it was now or never, someone else had that in mind too.
"M says I need to apologise. The problem is I don't know why" Nagisa spoke softly
The woman was stunned when she heard this, that Miyuki had told her to apologise without knowing the full facts. It didn't sit right with her, true a friend sticks up for her own but with this Shizuma felt she needed to apologise more.
"Miyuki tends to get protective a little, we've known each other since Miator and even partnered together, before she followed the higher chain. There's no need to apologise…" Shizuma tried to explain
"Really? Nice to know. Why have you asked to see me?" Nagisa demanded nicely
Shizuma gave her a hard stare as she spoke firmly "Because whether you like it or not, we are partners and we were asked to solve this. I don't get a lot of the data mumbo jumbo and clearly you don't get sent on a lot of these missions either. So shall we just get this done and we don't have to see one another after this is through."
Nagisa shook her head at this, making the etoile wonder what she said wrong. Thinking back on what she said, finding nothing wrong waiting patiently for the woman to give her reply.
"Us working together? We'd kill each other before too long"
"Look Nagisa, I'm really sorry about that. My temper gets the best of me sometimes and before I know it I tend to speak before thinking."
"Don't apologise what you said was perfectly true anyway" gulping down the rest of her juice
Shizuma didn't know what to do. What could she say to that confession? Shizuma decided to let it go, promising herself to find out at a later date. A familiar irritating tune struck the silence making the two agents jump a little. Shizuma sighed as she fumbled in her trouser pocket for her phone that seemed intent on disrupting her for this mission.
"Shizuma" answered her phone quickly jerking the phone away when she realised who was on the other line "What can I do for you Tamao?"
"I'm calling about the plans Nagisa sent over to us, is she there?" hinting among other things
Shizuma looked over to Nagisa who like herself was looking startled at hearing who was on the phone. Handing her phone over, she resisted for a short while making sure Nagisa looked into her eyes, a request lingered in their which made Nagisa nod her head.
"Tamao why are you calling Shizuma to get to me?" not happy with the idea at all like her partner
Shizuma could only hear the one side of the call, which to be truthful wasn't very much since Tamao was the talker of the two in this conversation. Nagisa bobbed her head once in a while, even rolled her eyes at something. All in all it made her irritated. It wasn't until the end when Nagisa looked really uncomfortable, even going as far as to clench her fists so tight that she nearly drew blood. Shizuma knew from the beginning it was a sign that she was getting uncomfortable or irritated. Reaching over to sooth her, Nagisa drew her hand sharply away, not wanting any contact. Inwardly it hurt Shizuma but nothing showed, as she watched Nagisa end the call and pass over her phone. Taking it from her and putting it safely in her pocket, the etoile found the air around them thick with tension.
"What did Tamao want?" Shizuma asked her
"Plan talk is about all really, sending me the data on what she could gather" Nagisa told her quickly
"It was a long conversation just for that. Still keeping things from me, when it will make our jobs so much easier otherwise." Shaking her head
"I don't need to tell you our personal talk Miss Hanazono." Nagisa sharply told her rising from her seat "I think we've talked enough tonight, I'll keep in contact with you and send you what I found out. Have a good evening."
Shizuma fought down her temper as she watched Nagisa walk away from the café. The darkness did little to hide her from her sight; rising quickly depositing some money on the tables for her drinks she swiftly jogged after her. The agent quickly caught up with the red head down by the harbour.
"What is it that you want from me?" Nagisa shrilly asked of her
Shizuma got in front of the angry agent and made sure to stop her from going any further. The only lights now were from distant lamps, plus the occasional one dotted on the railing running alongside them. Shizuma saw the hurt on her face, even how uncomfortable she made her feel. The etoile didn't dare touch her only held up her hands to slow her down, which thankfully the redhead did, with arms crossed and head hung down low did she wait for the older woman to speak. Shizuma chose her words with care as she looked at her.
"Look Nagisa please hear me out." Waiting for her approval before continuing "I know you're angry with me, I don't really know why and I'll wait until you're ready, if you're ever to tell me why. I am sorry for saying all of that before, I truly am."
It was silent for a time, the sound of the tide gently lapping in the distant. Nagisa kept her head down for a long while, whilst Shizuma looked earnestly on. 'I just need to hear it from her. If we can just become …what the hell I need her on this mission. We can work on our relationship, what there is of one, along the way.'
"Nagisa?"
"I'll get in touch with you tomorrow, just don't expect much from me" she softly told her as she hurried away
Shizuma let her go. It was a start and hopefully it will grow on that. Shizuma walked back to the hotel, dodging some party goers who were looking way too drunk.
Shizuma heard tapping as she slowly awakened to another warm day. As far as she knew, in her sleepy mind, it wasn't raining it was something else. Peeking above her sheets, the tapping paused for few seconds before resuming their speedy tempo. Yawning aloud she pushed down her cotton sheets, from her head and clumsily seated upright. Rubbing her eyes to try and rid the sleep from them. Sniffing the air she smelt coffee, fresh from what she could tell, which made her wary. She hadn't ordered any. Shizuma grew suspicious fumbling with her pillow to find her insurance.
The tapping came from the opposite bed, swinging sharply round, she aimed her gun at the intruder with the safety off. In a flash she lowered it, clicking on the safety without taking her eyes off the woman in front of her. Nagisa was sitting with her back against the wall tapping away at the laptop, looking undisturbed with being morning target practice. The etoile now knew where the noise came from not to mention the coffee, which was on the table ready to be served. No words came out, though a whole load flew around in her head. Nagisa's red eyes snapped to the speechless woman before resting back on the screen, a small smirk made itself known.
"I thought I was the anti-morning person in this room" Nagisa joked softly
Shizuma was wide awake now, as she looked over to her realising in a way that Nagisa was here to help without needing to say anything. Nor would the agent make her say the words, it was clear that they were now working together, with the past for now, would remain that way until it needed to be addressed. Shoving the sheets away from her, Shizuma pulled herself up on her bed to sit on the edge facing her returned partner. It was a good thing she put on her nightclothes the previous night.
"Why don't you serve the coffee while I go and get changed." looking to the time before getting up completely.
"No problem." Nagisa nodded to her still continuing with her tapping
"I hope you're not hacking into some secret site" she tried to joke
Nagisa looked at her fully then cocking her head to the side "Not this morning no" then carried on her key tapping.