I do not own Virus Buster Serge. Kenji and Sunny are mine.

Chapter 3- Celebration

"C'mon, Mirei! It's 8:30 all ready! Let's call it a night. I know a great little restaurant just a couple of minutes from here that…" Sunny tugged at Mirei's arm as she pleaded with her.

Mirei broke in. "…I've still got three more messages to answer from the office in Switzerland about the interface compatibility drivers, and I definitely need to check the updates from Saharan Africa's latest tech report…"

Sunny narrowed her hazel eyes at Mirei, and put her hands on her hips.

"Mirei, all of that can wait until morning. You are Team Leader, and we can't officially celebrate without the team Leader. Besides, we're all starving. All of us that are left, anyway. At this point, that's you, me, and Kenji-kun. Everyone who's sane all ready went home."

Mirei sighed. "Oh, all right. You win. I don't want your death by starvation on my hands."

Sunny immediately brightened. "Good! Let's go!"

"What about Kenji?" Mirei asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'll call him. He ran down to see if he could catch Suritami or Heinkels still at their desks- we still need their compatibility reports for the Serenity series peripherals." As Sunny spoke, she cocked her head to one side, and Mirei knew she was dialing Kenji. Sunny's eyes drifted as she connected the call through her implant.

"There. He'll be up in a minute." Sunny said as she returned to her desk in the middle of the room and started putting on her jacket.

"But you didn't say anything." Mirei replied.

"Oh, just beeping him's enough. "

Mirei arched her eyebrow. "Wow. You have him well-trained." She responded wryly.

The two of them made their way to the elevator. As they reached it, the bell dinged, and the doors slid open.

"Great timing, Kenji! We're finally going to eat!" Sunny cheerfully called as she stepped into the elevator before Kenji could respond.

"But, I don't even have my jacket! And I left stuff out all over my desk!" Kenji sputtered pleadingly as he looked first at Sunny, then at Mirei.

Mirei just shook her head and stepped into the elevator as Sunny pushed Kenji back and jabbed the button for the first floor simultaneously.

At the restaurant, Sunny kept up a running dialogue about the triumphs and trials of Sonata' s launch day.

"… and they even said Sonata is breaking all of Serenity's records in the Federated Territories! No one buys implants in the Federated Territories! It's great! Of course…"

Kenji leaned over to Mirei and whispered. "Uh, sorry, Mirei. I know you are probably tired, and you don't…"

Sunny stopped and looked at Kenji. "Do you have something to add?"

"Well, uh, I just think maybe we've talked enough shop for one day. Maybe Mirei would like to enjoy her drink in peace until the food comes."

Sunny blushed, and put her hand to her face. "Oh! I did it again, didn't I? I'm such a blabbermouth! I'm so sorry, Mirei-san! You are such a forgiving Team Leader! Please, don't think badly of me."

Mirei shook her head and took another drink of sake. "I don't mind. The sales figures were impressive today. That's why we're here, right? To celebrate?" Mirei paused a moment, and lifted her cup into the air. "To team Sonata! Onward and upward!"

Kenji and Sunny echoed Mirei as they held their own cups in the air. All three of them smiled at the toast.

The three coworkers continued the companionable banter through dinner and two more bottles of hot sake.

"So, Mirei," Kenji asked, turning to look Merei in the eye. "Is this going to be the most memorable date in your life? I mean, so far. You are the youngest Team Leader in Atlas history, and you just had your first major project launch with total success. That's big." Intensity and alcohol shone on his face.

"Well, yeah. It is a big day for me. It's big for a couple of reasons. Sonata's one." Mirei replied, a bit unsteadily.

"What's the other?" Sunny asked breathlessly as she leaned in to Mirei.

Mirei drained the last drop from her cup. "Well, it's my birthday today, too. My twenty-first. Sonata's birthday, and my birthday. So yeah, it's memorable."

"Mirei!" Sunny squealed. "Why didn't you tell us? I feel like a fool! I would have…"

Kenji broke in. "Wow! Happy birthday, Mirei-san! Many happy returns!"

"Thank you both." Mirei answered. "I've had a great evening with you two. That's recognition enough. But now, if you'll excuse me, I'm really tired, and kinda tipsy, and I think it's time to go home."

Mirei stood, and began to bow to her coworkers. As she did, she lurched forward. Kenji leapt up and grabbed her arm, and steadied her.

Sunny giggled. "Yep. It's official. You're drunk. Why don't you let Kenji-kun escort you home? He only lives a few blocks away from you."

"Oh, it's fine." Mirei began." I'll just call a cab."

"That's not necessary, Mirei-san! Let me go with you on the train! We'd be going the same direction anyway, and it's so much cheaper." Kenji offered.

"Well, I guess..." Mirei trailed off, as she looked at Kenji. Kenji was Sunny's age- an earnest, open faced fellow with a warm smile who was always eager to please. Mirei made it a policy not to get too familiar with team members outside of work, but she had to admit, she would feel better having someone go with her.

By the time the two of them made it to Mirei's apartment, she was having a hard time staying upright.

"Ohhh. I feel like the whole world is spinning. Wait. It is spinning, isn't it? Silly me." Mirei said as she leaned against the corridor wall.

Mirei had a hard time using the unlock command on her door as well, and finally had to manually input the code.

"Uh, are you going to be all right, Mirei?" Kenji asked as she staggered through the door.

Just then Mirei tripped, fell face-first on the floor, and giggled.

"I'll take that as a 'no'" Kenji mumbled as he walked over to Mirei and offered her his hand.

"Sometimes I see people who aren't really there." Mirei said in a conspiratorial whisper as Kenji guided her to the sofa.

"Did you know I had my brain badly scrambled, Kenji?" Mirei asked.

"Mirei-san, I think you've had way too much sake, and it's really affecting you…" Kenji nervously replied.

"No, NO!" Mirei shook her head violently. " Its not the sake. This is true. I was a member of STAND. In New Hong Kong. We fought Virus. Or so they tell me. I only remember bits and pieces. I have dreams, I see faces. I remember that I… that I had friends. But I don't remember THEM. My old implant… it got fried, it fried some of my neural pathways. I'm all alone. I don't even have memories to keep me company."

As Mirei finished, tears welled up in her eyes.

"You have all of Team Sonata, Mirei. And me. Always me. I'm going to say this, because you probably won't remember it in the morning. I… like you Mirei. I always have. I know it would never work, with us, but I …"

Before Kenji could finish, Mirei leaped on his lap, and covered his mouth with her own. She kissed him deeply, achingly, pouring her entire self into the wet, probing kiss. Kenji moaned, and sank lower into the sofa. He wrapped his arms around Mirei as his body responded to her touch. He began to fumble with the buttons on her light blue silk blouse, then he hungrily reached inside the shirt to rub and caress her firm breasts. Mirei broke free from the kiss and cried out, as she pulled the short, tight skirt she was wearing up and repositioned herself so that she was straddling Kenji's leg . She began to grind herself back and forth on his quaking knee as he managed to pull her shirt completely off and free her breasts from the lacy restraints of her bra.

Images flashed through Mirei's mind. She saw a handsome young man with chin-length brown hair and golden, almost feline eyes. She saw his hand reaching for hers, and heard him call, as if over a great distance.

"Mirei... I… don't know how to…"

"Jouichirou. Oh, Jouichirou!" Mirei called out.

She opened her eyes, but the man with the golden eyes was gone. In his place was a pale and shaken Kenji, his short, dark hair mussed, his pupils dilated, and his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Mirei." he said, the one word both a question and a statement.

In response, Mirei slid off of Kenji's knee, back to the sofa beside him. Her cheeks burned as she scrambled to put her shirt back on. He turned, shamefaced, and looked the other way. Neither spoke for a couple of minutes.

"I better go." Kenji said as he lifted himself off of the sofa. "Will you be OK alone?"

"Um, yes. I'll be fine." Mirei quietly answered.

Kenji began to walk to the door.

"Kenji?"

"Yes, Mirei."

"I'm…sorry. That was so inappropriate of me. All of it. I… I don't know what came over me." Mirei fumbled over the words.

Kenji looked over his shoulder at Mirei as he walked out. "Whoever Jouichirou is, he's a lucky guy."

"Is he?" Mirei wondered as she wrapped her arms around her and shivered.