Chapter 20 - A New Mission
Vermillion slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while. Morning was breaking, and the sunlight was illuminating the hotel room where the two assassins had found a temporary home. She glanced at the side of the bed next to her, where Hive had slept off his alcohol binge, but there was no sign of him. She yawned and sat up. Right, he had fallen off the bed last night; maybe he was still sleeping there.
"Good morning, Hive."
No response. Not even a contented snore. Something was odd. Usually, she was the one who got up first. Okay, maybe he was on the balcony with a cigarette in one hand and a coffee in the other. Well, for now, she had to get up, because today was an important day.
She got out of bed, got dressed and went into the bathroom. It seemed to her like she was alone in this hotel apartment. She brushed her teeth and washed the sleep from her eyes before leaving the bathroom and looking out the window onto the balcony. Still no sign of him. He must've gotten up earlier and was probably in one of the hotel bars on the ground floor. She sighed heavily as she thought about how she could get him out of his drinking problem in the most effective way.
She returned to her double bed and was about to go outside when something suddenly rang. It wasn't the room door, that was for sure, because she recognized this ringtone. It was her phone. And indeed, as she followed the sound and peered from Hive's side of the bed, she found it lying on the floor.
"What the hell?"
She picked up the phone and looked suspiciously at the location. What was her phone doing here? Especially on his side of the bed? Hold on, did that mean...
"Gotcha!"
Before she could form another thought, a hand gripped her lower jaw and threw her onto the bed with such an aggressive force that her head struck the headboard.
She let out a surprised scream of pain as she stared at the person standing in front of the bed, approaching her with a phone in his hand.
"Hive, what..."
He tossed the phone onto the bed.
"Don't play games. You know exactly why I'm here.", he said as he began to strangle her with both hands around her neck.
"Grgggh..."
"You were busy last night, weren't you? HUH? WEREN'T YOU? RIGHT?", he screamed, shaking her head violently with every word.
"Who is the person you were talking to? TELL ME, OR I'LL KILL YOU!"
She couldn't utter a word, only desperately trying to break free from his grip. No chance, his grip was too strong.
"VERMILLION!"
"Grrrhh..."
She felt his grip loosen slightly. Vermillion coughed several times.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about.", she managed to say.
"Your cellphone history says otherwise. The games are over, Vermillion.", he said, taking the phone from her hand.
"'Unknown Number'... Who is this? WHO! IS! THIS?"
No answer. All she could do was stare into his deranged eyes. She should have known better. It wasn't over with him.
"H-Hive..."
"I was such an idiot."
He threw the phone away.
His hands clenched and squeezed her throat even harder than before. Now it was getting really critical as her oxygen supply was almost completely cut off.
"Grrrkhh..."
"You're all just nothing but liars.", he muttered.
Her vision grew increasingly blurry as she desperately fought for oxygen, but this time, Hive didn't let go.
"Ha-... H..."
It was a slow and gruesome process. A painful, wheezing sound was the last thing she could manage to let out.
"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING...!"
She looked around. The hotel room she was in was filled with bright sunlight from the outside. She rubbed her neck. No signs of violence. She breathed quickly, almost hyperventilating. Vermillion stared at the ceiling, in sheer disbelief of what just happened. Was it all just a dream? She was still alive, that was for su-
A contented snore from the other side of the bed interrupted her train of thought. Right. Where was Hive? She crawled to his side of the bed and saw him lying on the floor where she had found him last night. She sighed with relief and sat back on her side of the bed, possibly to recover from the shock. However, a glance at the wall clock made her jump again.
"It's already 9:30 AM, damn it!"
Impatiently, Vermillion rushed to the side of the bed where Hive was sleeping and tried to wake him up with all her might.
"Get up, Hive, we've overslept."
"Just a few more minutes... let me sleep a little longer.", he mumbled sleepily. She sighed heavily.
Hive yawned as they walked along the sidewalk after leaving the hotel.
"Oye, Vermillion.", he said.
"What is it now?"
"Why have we been taking missions from China recently?"
"Since last year, there have been several partnerships with organizations from places like Beijing and Hong Kong, as you probably already know."
"Uh... yeah, I guess."
Vermillion rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"The money we receive from our completed missions is paid back to us. That's why we work for them."
"And what about the organization?"
"What?"
"You know which one I mean."
"No, we don't profit from them. They're only funding for themselves, along with the White Lotus."
"So, we just have to do their dirty work.", muttered Hive, spitting at the ground in pure disgust. Vermillion glanced back at Hive without turning around. Based on his past, something had traumatized him so much that he didn't want to talk further about the organization.
("I was such an idiot.")
He would kill her without hesitation. She considered the thought several times. Hive was unpredictable. Was that what scared her, or had she just imagined all of this from him?
"Vermillion, stop.", he said. She paused and turned to him. She saw a burly man with a smoking cigarette in his mouth, who had followed them and was now standing closely behind Hive. Vermillion recognized this man.
"Don't do anything stupid, or we're in trouble.", she said and approached him. Hive looked at him grumpily as he tossed his cigarette to the ground and extinguished it with his shoe.
"Vermillion and Hive, at your service.", she replied, while bowing to him. Hive just stood there, watching her.
"Hive, you too."
"Huh?"
"Hive!"
He stared suspiciously into the man's eyes. Then he smiled.
"What the hell are you doing? Bow to him immediately!", she whispered angrily, but Hive ignored her command.
"Are you following us?", he asked, turning to the man with wicked anticipation.
"Is this your partner, Vermillion?", he responded in a deep, rough voice.
"Y-Yes, I apologize for his behavior.", she said and angrily whispered to Hive again: "Get yourself together, you idiot."
He grinned.
"Are you with the client?"
No answer. Instead, the man grabbed Hive by the throat with just one hand and began to strangle him. An astonished gasp escaped Hive as he realized with surprise how easily the man lifted him off the ground. The man didn't take his desperate struggling seriously, no, he regarded him with a curious look.
"Hive!", Vermillion cried out, visibly alarmed.
"One wrong move, and I could easily snap your neck, just like this…", the man said, demonstrating it in front of her by making Hive's neck bones crack.
"I'm begging you, please forgive him for his behavior!"
"Humans really are quite fragile beings, aren't they?"
A grinning smile appeared on the man's face as he roughly dropped Hive to the ground.
"I was lucky that the streets are almost deserted at this hour, or things could have turned out differently.", he remarked, adjusting his tie. Hive gasped for air and coughed vigorously.
"Are you okay?", she asked, concerned, and tried to approach him, but he pushed her hand away.
"Damn you... frickin' bastard!", Hive exclaimed, his face contorted with anger, as he managed to get back on his feet. The man took a small device from his jacket pocket and pressed a button. A shrill beep sounded from the speaker.
"One wrong move and both of you are dead, understood?"
Hive immediately stopped. Vermillion stared at his shocked face.
"Do you... do you want to kill both of us? Here and now?", she asked.
"Here and now.", he confirmed.
"Hah... Go ahead and try.", mumbled Hive.
Both men glared angrily at each other until the burly man returned the device to his jacket pocket.
"Well, now..."
"It's just a bluff. You can't kill us, am I right?", Hive replied, ready for a fight. The man smiled slightly.
"The decision to kill contract workers is not mine to make. Don't get me wrong, if I didn't give a single crap about my boss, I would have done it long ago."
Hive touched his throat where the man had recently strangled him.
"Tell me, who sent you?", he demanded.
"Master Cheng."
"Cheng?"
"Master Cheng, if you please..."
Vermillion stepped in.
"Hive, this is Hu Lie Cheng, one of the most influential Chinese cartel bosses in eastern China."
"That's right. He sent me to pick you guys up. He has a new assignment for you."
"Please take us to him.", she said, bowing. Hive rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Very well.", the man said and signaled for them to follow.
They entered a high-rise building and went through the entrance hall to the reception desk located to the right of the entrance. When the man arrived at the receptionist's desk, he showed her his ID card, which he had attached to a lanyard in his pants pocket.
The woman nodded in understanding and pressed a button on her desk, speaking something in Chinese into a microphone. A murmuring approval came from the receiver as she turned to the man in front of her and gave him a signal. He nodded and turned to the two assassins.
"Master Cheng welcomes you. You may now enter his office. Please follow me to the elevator."
"Thank you."
"Now we gotta take an elevator too? This Master Cheng doesn't beat around the bush.", Hive muttered. He seemed rather disinterested in this whole affair, at least that's what Vermillion suspected. But a mission is a mission. It is what it is.
The elevator doors closed. The man pressed a button with the label '6'. There were a total of 7 floors.
"How high is this building, anyway?", Hive asked as he discovered the numbered buttons.
"Hive...", Vermillion whispered angrily and gave him a nudge from the side.
"Can't I at least ask?"
"It's nearly 85 meters, as far as I know. The seventh floor was recently added.", the man explained.
"Got it.", Hive mumbled, as someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Here, take these.", Vermillion said, suddenly handing him a few sheets of paper from her bag, which she had been carrying with her since their first meeting after months.
"What're those for?"
"Important documents. They're crucial for our reporting, and we need to deliver them to him."
"To whom?"
"Master Cheng."
"Sixth floor.", the elevator speaker's automated voice said, and the door opened in front of them. The three left the elevator and walked down a corridor.
"Since when do we do reporting?"
"Since last month. We haven't seen each other for a while, so you wouldn't know. I should have told you, sorry for that."
"I understand that, but..."
"Master Cheng, they're here.", the man said and extinguished his cigarette in an ashtray, before hearing a disgruntled murmur from inside the room, prompting him to open the office door.
"And you both better keep your damn mouths shut.", he added with a cold tone and both assassins fell silent as if on command.
In front of them appeared an office with a wide light-brown woody desk and a wealthy chair behind it, on which a rather portly man in a tuxedo-like outfit was sitting, seemingly busy writing on something. His gaze remained fixed on the paper, as if he wasn't letting himself get distracted from his work. Without hesitation, the two assassins entered and while Hive surveyed the room, Vermillion went straight to the man.
All three of them bowed and behind them, a woman in a maid outfit appeared, bringing a coffee to the man behind the desk, bowing as well and taking her position behind him. Hive could clearly tell she was there to serve as their translator and his suspicion was confirmed when the man finally looked up from the paper and turned to the woman.
Indistinct words were exchanged in whispers and Hive watched as the woman nodded, the man shifted his gaze to Vermillion and she returned to her position.
"Master Cheng welcomes all of you and wishes you a pleasant stay here in Beika. This is the Reitsuten Building, one of the largest and wealthiest skyscrapers the city has to offer.", the woman said.
"You as well, Master.", Vermillion obediently replied. Hive just looked at her sullenly. So, who exactly was this man and why did they all show him such exceptional respect?
Another exchange of words between them. The interpreter nodded again and continued.
"As many highly esteemed tourists have been in this small part of Japan lately, it's challenging to find and figuratively speaking, 'occupy' high-ranking buildings like this. Therefore, Master Cheng would like to apologize for any inconveniences."
"But Master, you don't need to do that. We understand, right Hive?" said Vermillion. Hive wasn't paying attention, as usual.
"Oh, uh... yes."
Just in time for an answer. Her annoyed look told him that much. Hive rolled his eyes. The burly man behind them gave him a threatening signal with his clearly dissatisfied expression.
"It seems you've already met Number 8. Then I don't need to introduce him again.", the interpreter replied. Then the Chinese man beside her suddenly stood up from his swivel chair and cast an appraising gaze around.
"Number 8? You don't mean...", Hive asked.
"I thought you already knew him.", the translator responded.
"Apologies, that's my fault. I haven't introduced him yet. He's not familiar with him.", Vermillion said and bowed.
"Hive, this is our Number 8, codenamed White Noise. He is the Master's younger brother and his highest-ranking bodyguard.", she continued and White Noise greeted him with such a strong handshake that Hive winced in pain, shaking his own hand afterward.
"Pleased to meet you.", the massive man mumbled and Hive shot him an annoyed look.
"White Noise will be passing your missions down from the top in the coming days. Please, do not disappoint him.", the interpreter said.
Master Cheng snapped his fingers, placed a few sheets of paper on the table and turned them towards Vermillion. Vermillion took the sheets and read them carefully.
"A cargo ship?"
"Correct. Two weeks ago, one of our cargo ships left the French border and will arrive at Beika Port tonight. The ship is an Orion SII of the 50-meter class. Detailed instructions will be given to you by White Noise.", the woman explained.
"What kind of cargo?", Hive asked curiously.
"That remains secret. You are not authorized to receive that information."
"Your only task is to defend this ship, specifically the cargo within.", White Noise answered.
"To defend? Against whom?"
"We're not the only organization interested in the cargo.", said another female voice behind him. As Hive turned to the voice, he saw a woman wearing a tuxedo and her black hair that covered her right eye.
"Number 2?", Vermillion exclaimed in surprise. The woman behind them smiled.
She bowed, walked past the three of them and approached Master Cheng. The woman placed a small stack of papers on the master's table and continued her speech.
"The Hondo Family is an organization, that is a member of the widely spread Yakuza in Japan. Since last month, they have been a thorn in our eyes as they have been hijacking and robbing further shipments. In most cases, the ship crews are either all captured, or shot one by one. These scoundrels, however, are cautious enough not to make any mistakes, which makes it difficult for the Tokyo police to put any evidence of their raids on the table."
"But Master Cheng... Are you sure we can handle this without any of us getting killed? Without reinforcements, it would be a suicide mission!"
"You don't need any additional reinforcements.", the interpreter said calmly.
"What?"
"Hive is reinforcement enough, isn't he?"
Vermillion laughed helplessly.
"We're two against I-dunno-how-many of these people! How can we stand a chance against them?"
"Don't worry, Vermillion. I can handle it easily.", Hive replied with a grin.
"Don't you gas yourself up, you idiot! Especially YOU have no right to play the hero here!", she shouted angrily at him.
"I can assure you that Hive is one of the best our organization has to offer. Have faith in him.", the interpreter said.
Vermillion glanced briefly at Hive, then gave up and sighed.
"Okay, if that's what you expect from us, we won't disappoint you.", she replied with a heavy heart and bowed before Cheng once again.
The Chinese man signaled to her, and the woman behind him responded immediately.
"You may now leave this floor."
"Very well, Master.", Vermillion said, turned her back and signaled for Hive to come along.
The two assassins left the office, and the entrance door closed. Silence prevailed until...
"How did the operation go, Nerve?", Cheng spoke in Chinese. His voice sounded rough and seemed more annoyed than angry.
The woman in the tuxedo smiled.
"But that's exactly what I'm trying to tell you, I really saw her! There was a girl about Ran's age, who looked exactly like Ayumi!", Mitsuhiko replied as he tried to explain the situation to Genta, while they were on their way to Professor Agasa's place. They were going there so Mitsuhiko could provide him with the necessary evidence.
"Maybe it's just a new case, and the girl needs our help.", Genta replied, his arms crossed thoughtfully.
"That's possible, but something doesn't feel right here."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"When was the last time you saw Ayumi?"
"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"Just answer the question."
"Since the day before yesterday, I guess. The last time I saw her was when we were in her room, right?"
"I heard from Ai that she's currently at the professor's place. However, when I went to see him, Ai told me that I couldn't go to her."
"Wait a minute, Mitsuhiko. Why isn't she at home if she's been so sick?"
"That's exactly what I'm getting at, Genta. You saw for yourself how weak and ill she was. I find it really strange that she isn't recovering at home as usual, but at the professor's place."
"Maybe the professor developed some medicine for her."
"Nonsense. Conan said he put a whole bunch of medicine bottles on the dresser next to her, don't you remember? They should be more than enough, right?"
"You're right."
"So, I really think something fishy is going on."
"Mitsuhiko."
"What is it?"
"Do you really think this girl and Ayumi are connected?"
"No, I don't believe so. Even though she looked similar to Ayumi, I'm pretty sure she just passed by. Darnit, I should have stayed with the professor longer yesterday instead of going home."
"Isn't spying illegal?"
"Don't blame me, this is a serious matter."
"Be honest, you just wanted to sneak a peek at Ai, didn't you?", Genta teased, grinning from ear to ear.
"Wuh-w-what... what are you talking about?! No, of course not!", he exclaimed with a red face, waving his hands wildly.
"Are you absolutely sure? You have a crush on her, don't you?", Genta said and made kissing noises with his mouth near his nose.
"Stop it, Genta! Never... Y-You maybe, not me!"
"Not at all! Ai and me? Hah, not in the slightest!", Genta replied defensively, crossing his arms in protest, though he realized his face was also turning red.
"Ah-ha, your face is clearly getting red. So, that means you're lying, obviously!", Mitsuhiko triumphantly exclaimed, pointing his finger at Genta. That was the final straw.
"You're red in the face too… Aghh, just you wait when I'll get you!", he said and chased after him. Mitsuhiko quickly realized he might have gone too far, and ran off. Genta was right on his heels as they headed to Professor Agasa's house.
- Chapter 20 END -
Authors Note: It's been a while, so I'll get straight to the point.
I'm currently working on Chapter 25 (German/Original) and will be finishing it next week. (Will be posting it a week after)
I'm only going to translate Chapters 20 and 21 for now, since the case I'm currently working on, is yet to be finished. Additional reseach is required as well, so I'll take my time for it. I look forward to your comments for more ideas on how this story can or might go. Maybe I can find something to add to the story and scenes or characters to expand upon.
Since the Original FanFiction has been written in German, most of the dialogue might lose on quality over the course of this chapter and unfortunately I haven't found a way to fix it. Please note, that I'm not a native speaker yet still try my best to give you the best translation possible.
Thanks for reading this chapter and have a good day.