As promised, here's part 5. I'll start on Part 6 today. It's going to be
a rather long part, but I expect to fly through it rapidly, and MIGHT be
able to finish it before the end of the weekend (and the end brief break in
my schedule that was allowing me to write fanfics instead of deal with real
life issues). I also might not, however, and if I don't... well, who knows
when I'll get time again. If I get far enough, I might be able to finish
it up late some night, but we'll see. The major real life issues WILL come
to an end someday, hopefully soon, however, and then I'll be on pace to
finish some of my other fanfics as well.
Anyway, enjoy.
* * * * *
Takeo sat down next to Wong, removing her skis after a long, hard day of
going downhill. She sighed briefly as she recalled her vehement objection
to skiing with him. Of course, he was easily able to just ignore all of
her arguments and rent skis for the two of them, anyway. Then, of course,
she let herself be convinced to ski with him, after all: "It'll help
maintain our cover," he'd explained, "We don't want people wondering why a
helicopter flied up here and then left without someone from it visiting the
famous ski slopes... unless you WANT people to come and investigate around
the area of Noa and Asuma's cabin."
Takeo bought into that hook, line, and sinker. Then, of course, he spent
the entire day they were skiing hitting on her. The only pause had been
when they took a short break to fill up Noa and Asuma's new care packages.
His one comment about the extra things she'd added (which had included
feminine hygene products for Noa (just in case), some books she knew Asuma
liked, and a couple other odds and ends) had been on the box of condoms-
"I'm surprised you're carrying a thing like that around," he'd said,
smiling like always. "You wouldn't happen to have been thinking about
using them, would you?"
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got. Here he was,
still hitting on her like the events of the past year just hadn't happened.
It seemed like he was hoping a few jokes would ease all of the betrayal
she'd felt at his running out on her, and that that would be the end of it.
Things would be back to normal, and forget all the little details like how
she'd be forced to arrest him on sight again when this was all over.
Well, he was wrong, and she was about to let him know and let him know just
how wrong he was, dammit! Just as soon as she figured out how to tell him,
that was.
Furiously, she grabbed her skis and slammed them onto the return counter
for the ski rental place, almost breaking them in the process. With that,
she stormed out of the room, trying to project her displeasure with the
world to anyone who might be paying attention.
One of the few people who WAS actually paying attention happened to be her
intended target: Richard Wong. Noticing the cloud over her face as she was
leaving, he quickly jumped up and followed her (he'd actually finished with
his own skis several minutes beforehand, he was just waiting for Takeo to
catch up). As it turned out, however, his rushing after her caused
EVERYONE to pay attention. The immediate rumors that started spreading
noted that the nice young couple which had arrived by helicopter that
afternoon was having a rather nasty fight. Some of the other men in the
ski lodge were hoping the couple would break up so that THEY could have a
shot at the cute ski-bunny who'd arrived so suddenly in the middle of the
day, but who had apparently been attached to the wierd foriegner with the
odd smile. At any rate, Takeo and Wong were the talk of the whole place in
a matter of minutes.
Wong finally caught up with her in the lobby of the lodge, looking a little
flustered. "Takeo, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" he asked.
"Nothing! I'm not upset," Takeo snapped. "Let's just get out of here,
okay?"
Wong scratched his head, confused. "Get out of here? Where are we going?"
"Home, of course! Where do you think?"
Wong still looked confused. "How do you expect us to get home? It'll get
dark before we get the helicoptor warmed up, and it isn't equipped for
night flying."
Takeo clenched her fists, closing her eyes. "You mean... we have to stay
here overnight?"
"Well, we could always head back to Noa's cabin, if you'd prefer, but I
suspect your friends wouldn't like that," he answered, his smile returning
for the first time in this conversation, albiet hesitantly.
"And, let me guess, you only rented one room."
"Well, I don't really budget more than one room for business trips to ski
lodges," he replied.
Takeo sighed, defeated. "Fine. Where's this room of ours?"
"Right this way!" Wong gestured with a flourish, and started leading her
through the hallways of the lodge. They stopped at a door, and he used a
card to open the electro-magnetic lock. "Allow me to escort the lady
across the- eh?"
Takeo totally ignored his gallant gesture, just walking right past him into
the room. She grabbed a sheet and a pillow off of the one bed and headed
over to a sofa. "I'll spend the night here, thank you," she said, lying
down.
Wong followed her in after a second, letting the door close behind him.
"Um... if you want, but it might get kind of cramped."
"I'll be fine, as long as you stay in the bed where you belong," she
grumbled, turning so that she wouldn't be facing him as she slept.
Wong sat on the bed, his smile falling again. "Did I do something wrong?"
he asked. "Why are you acting so... hostile?"
Takeo sat up, spinning around to face him. "Look, did you really think it
would be all that easy?"
Wong blinked. "I'm afraid I just don't understand. What are you talking
about?"
"Listen," Takeo said, taking a deep breath. "We may have been lovers back
in Hong Kong, but that was over the day you never came back. It was even
more over when I found out you didn't even quit Shaft like you said you
would. If you think that, just because we have a temporary truce, I'm
going to go back to the way things were just because you con me into
spending the night in the same room as you... well, let's just say you're
SADLY mistaken."
Wong blinked. "Um... Takeo, check the closet."
Takeo blinked. "Why?"
Wong sighed, and walked over to the closet. Opening it up, he gestured to
the fold-away bed that had been placed there. "I was planning to sleep on
this, but if you insist on using the sofa, I'll be happy to take the
regular bed..."
Takeo blushed slightly. "You mean... you weren't just assuming we'd be
sharing the same bed?"
"Well, I admit I was hoping you wouldn't mind if we did," Wong admitted,
his smile once again returning. "But I was prepared either way."
Takeo's blush disappeared, but she still looked somewhat embarrassed. "I'm
sorry... it's just that, with the way you tricked me into this ski trip and
that crack you made about the condoms I got for Noa and Asuma... and then
there was just one hotel room, and one bed, and..."
"Like I said, I was hoping you wouldn't mind," Wong said. "And I'm not
sorry for what I said and did- the ski trip was unavoidable, and that joke
was just too good not to make- but I'm certainly not going to ask you to
resume our former intimacies if you don't want to." He paused. "I am not
the most admirable of men- I do many crimes against the world merely for my
own gain, and I have no qualms about hurting those I care about if they are
in my way- but there are certain lines I will never cross. I will not
allow your co-worker to be successfully framed for the murder of his father
because my employers crossed one of those lines. I will not force you into
anything you are not ready for, because THAT would cross one of those
lines."
"You most certainly AREN'T the most admirable of men!" Takeo snapped. "You
lie, you steal, you cheat, you betray... but you're still better than I've
been treating you." She took the blanket and the pillow, and walked over
to the closet where he was standing. "Tell you what: You're paying for
this room and all, so I should be the one to get the rollaway bed. You
take the regular bed, and consider that my apology, okay?"
He paused, considering her offer. "Okay, deal," he said, heading over to
the bed. His expression took on some feigned disappointment, however. "I
guess hoping that you'd sleep with me in apology was too much, wasn't it?"
Takeo, who knew him well enough to know he'd been planning some sort of
zinger like that, merely swatted him with her pillow hard instead of
slapping him like she otherwise might have. "Yes, it was. Now get to
sleep- and if you even THINK about dreaming about me, I'm going to toss you
off the helicopter tomorrow... while we're in the air."
As he started to make his way under the covers of his bed, he blinked.
"Wait a minute- it's my helicopter. How are YOU going to get ME thrown
off?"
Takeo smiled evilly- oddly reflecting Wong's own expression. "Oh, I'm
pretty sure I could think of a few ways. I've had to toss the occasional
man out of a window in my time. And if I can toss Ohta out the window when
I'm drunk, I'm pretty sure I can toss you out of a helicopter door when I'm
sober. Or maybe even THROUGH the helicopter door."
Wong hesitated. That sounded... painful. And serious. "Um, yes, ma'am."
* * * * *
Matsui was not really surprised to find Gotoh sleeping in the Captains'
Office when he returned to the reclaimed land the day after the questioning
of Section Chief Fukushima. He WAS, however, a little surprised to find
that Shinobu was in the same office and NOT complaining about the laziness
of the other captain.
"You're letting him sleep on duty?" he said curiously.
Shinobu giggled slightly. "Actually, he's off duty. I've never known him
to go home when I'm here- instead, he just sleeps in the office and fixes
himself coffee and soups using his teapot and a sterno heater."
Matsui blinked. "Odd... oh, well. It's a good thing for me that he IS
here, at any rate... I need to... discuss... a few things with some other
higher-ranking officials, and need him to help me out."
Shinobu frowned. "Would I be able to help?"
"Well... not unless you're willing to leave the base while on duty."
Shinobu nodded fiercely. "This whole mess didn't seem all that real to me
until I heard that stuck up Fukushima's admission. Yesterday, I wouldn't
have been willing. Today, though... just tell me what we need to do, and
I'll call Gomioka in here to take over while I go do it."
"If you're going to do that," Gotoh, who looked like he was still sleeping,
said, "You'd better let me write a few extra orders. I'm going too, after
all, and so Gomioka's going to be in charge of both units for a while."
"Your awake?" Matsui said, startled.
Gotoh finally opened his eyes and sat up. "Been awake the moment the door
opened. I'm a pretty light sleeper."
"Well, then... write out your orders and let's go, shall we?" Matsui
suggested, trying to recover his wits.
* * * * *
Takeo sat in the ski lodge's cafe, munching on some pastry or another she
had bought for breakfast as she skimmed over the newspaper headlines. The
night had gone rather quietly after she'd made that threat to toss Wong out
of the moving helicopter, and now there were plans to head back after
lunch... she wanted to go after breakfast, but the departure time was
totally out of her hands.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor caused her to look up from
the paper, and was somewhat surprised to see a total stranger taking a seat
next to her. He was a rather handsome man, wearing a slightly seductive
smile to go with his ski outfit. He'd taken what seemed to be his
breakfast with him when he came to sit next to her, and seemed to be
setting himself up to hold some sort of conversation while eating.
"Hi," he said.
"Hello," Takeo said hesitantly, turning her attention back to the newspaper
in an attempt to show her didinterest in holding a conversation.
"I saw that fight you had with your boyfriend, yesterday," the man said.
"My boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend!" Takeo said, startled.
"Oh? Then who is that guy who's helicopter you flew in on?"
Takeo started to answer, then realize she didn't actually have one. Saying
he was a co-worker wouldn't sound true- not for someone who took her in on
a helicopter. "My ex-boyfriend, sort of. But that was a long time ago-
this is the first time we've seen each other in... well, almost half a
year. And the last time we saw each other didn't end very well." Well,
Takeo felt it didn't go well- being dumped into the laundry basket
certainly wasn't her idea of a good ending.
The stranger's smile grew to show his gleaming teeth. "Indeed? Then
you're unattached... good." He made direct eye contact with her. "Perhaps
you'd like to go skiing with me, today? Especially as you and your...
companion... seem to have had a falling out."
Takeo, who was starting to get a bit annoyed at having her breakfast
interrupted, shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't have time," she said as
politely as she could. "I'm supposed to leave at noon for a business
meeting."
The man's smile slipped a little, but he didn't give up. "Indeed? Where
do you work?"
Takeo got a smile of her own. She knew a line that chased away most of the
more annoying men she knew. "I'm a cop for the Special Vehicles, Second
Section... in Tokyo."
"Really!?" the man said brightly, his smile regaining the lost ground and
then some. "I live out by that Chinese restaurant you guys always order
from. What a happy coincidence, don't you think?"
Takeo's smile held, but the teeth that were showing started grinding. This
guy was relentless... and his persistance was starting to get annoying.
When Wong- the only other guy who she'd ever noticed hitting on her- first
approached her, he always knew when he was wanted and when he wasn't. This
guy just didn't seem to care. Was there any way of getting rid of him?
"Um... really? Well... that's good to know... um," she hesitated.
"Excuse me," Richard Wong said, approaching the table. "It appears that
we'll be ready to go sooner than expected- seems the helicoptor can leave
right now, if you want.
Takeo nodded. Turning to the man who was annoying her, she quickly said,
"Well, I'm sorry, but it seems I'm going to have to cut this conversation
short. Bye!"
Without giving the man a chance to respond, she rushed to stand up and
nearly dragged Wong out of the room with her.
"I take it my intervention was rather timely, eh?" Wong commented.
"Let's just say I'd prefer your company to his. Let's get packed and get
ready to go, okay?"
* * * * *
Asuma sighed, putting down the manga he'd been reading and standing up.
"I'm bored. Wanna go wax Alphonse or something, Noa?" he asked,
stretching.
Noa glanced over at him anxiously. There was something he'd been avoiding
for some time, and she was starting to wonder about it- what was he feeling
about his father's death?
It almost seemed as if he was totally unaffected by the fact that his
father was murdered. Well, that wasn't true- she DID recall him looking
kind of saddened back during the boat ride to Hokkaido when he recalled the
memories of sailing with his father, but outside of that there'd been
nothing from him. And that hadn't lasted long- just until he sighted
Wong's ship.
Noa had initially put his avoidance of the topic to all the stuff that had
been going on- their neet to escape, Wong's sudden appearance, and their...
recently discovered closeness. But they weren't on the run at the moment,
Wong wasn't likely to show up any time soon, and they weren't really doing
anything that would make their 'closeness' get in the way. She had thought
that once things settled down, he'd be able to think- and talk- about his
father's death. But he hadn't said one word about it since they'd arrived
at the cabin, and he seemed to be going on as if everything was normal...
well, as normal as being stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere could
be.
"Something," Noa answered. "Asuma... why are you so unconcerned about your
fahter's death?"
Asuma stumbled. That was sudden. "What?! What brought that up?"
"Well, you haven't said a thing about it since it happened, and I'm
starting to get worried, that's all," Noa explained.
Asuma looked... well, hurt wasn't the right word. Offended, perhaps.
Almost angry. "So you're starting to think I did it? That I really DID
kill him?" His voice showed some of the genuine hurt her question had
caused, however.
"What? NO! Of course not!" Noa quickly replied. "But... well, you don't
seem to have reacted to his death much at all. But if you're bored, I
thought, well, you might want to talk about it."
"Why would I want to talk about it?" he growled angrilly.
This was not going well- it reminded Noa of that big fight they'd had over
his father back when she first discovered that they weren't getting along
well. They hadn't spoken socially to each other for days after that
incident, and she really didn't want the same thing to happen to them this
time. Not talking for days in a situation where they had no-one to talk to
but each other would be hell. Still, this was something Noa felt she HAD
to get him to talk about.
"Because... because I care about you, Asuma!" she exclaimed. "I don't want
something like this eating away at your insides. I know that fighting with
your father all the time tore you up, because you always got mad whenever I
brought him up. Angrier than I ever saw you. But I also know that you
WANTED to make up with him, especially after I saw you run after him that
time we visited your brother's grave. He's DEAD, Asuma, and you never had
time to reconcile... don't tell me you don't feel anything about that!"
Asuma winced as if stung. "Geez, Noa... what ARE you trying to do? I KNOW
my father died before we could return to being the family I wanted to be,
but I've been trying to not think about it."
"Sorry," Noa apologized. "I don't want to hurt you, but I'm afraid you'll
be even MORE hurt if you don't get this off your chest. I'm TRYING to
help."
Asuma glared at her. "You should stick to piloting Alphonse. You're not
very good at this... especially with the way you spring this sort of thing
on a person so suddenly." He sighed. "This is the SECOND time you've
blurted out something about facing up to my feelings with my father- you
really should learn to ease this sort of thing into the conversation, you
know?"
Noa smiled guiltily. He didn't seem quite as angry as he had been, and he
DID have a point. "Sorry, Asuma... but I still think we should talk about
it."
"Well... talk about what?" Asuma asked. "I mean, it's not like there's
anything I can say about it. My father's dead- nothing will change that.
I didn't have time to reconcile with him- nothing will change that, either.
So, well, it might hurt a bit to think about it, but what can I do? Why
should I hurt myself even more by thinking about it, when I can't do
anything about it?" He paused. "I'd rather worry about the present, where
you and I are stuck out in the snowy mountains, where all we have to do is
find ways to combat the boredom of life in a hideout while we wait for
others to find the evidence it will take to allow us to go home. I'm just
afraid that if we don't find new things to do soon, we'll annoy each other
to death."
Noa blinked at him. "Hey, are you saying I'm annoying?"
Asuma smiled. "Of course you're annoying. Doesn't mean I don't like you,
though." His smile changed a bit, showing less humor and more
understanding. "Look, if it'll make you feel any better, we'll head over
to my father's grave when this is all over, and maybe I'll have a chance to
mourn. But right now, while we still don't know how all of this is going
to end- however peaceful it is at the moment- I'd rather worry more about
how to survive each day with my sanity intact than worry about what can't
be fixed."
Noa nodded. That made sense, but it still seemed like a rather... cold...
way to look at things. "Asuma... if it was ME who was dead, and not your
father, would you still be acting so casually?"
Asuma blinked. "If... if it was you? That would never happen, though.
Anything that would get you would also get me, as closely as we work
together."
"That's not an answer," Noa said.
"No, I guess it isn't," Asuma admitted. "But it's something I can't really
think about. I wondered, back during the first Griffin incident, what
would happen if you couldn't handle it- if it killed you before I got there
to back you up. I couldn't even imagine it- after all, you're probably the
only thing keeping my life stable, and you have been since we met. I can
tell you I wouldn't be the same, that's for sure. It's different with my
father's death, though... I don't have to redesign my life to replace him,
because he was never really a part of it." He shrugged. "I guess you just
mean more to me than him."
Noa glanced out a nearby window. The sun was nearly down. "That's...
well, sweet, sort of. It wasn't really a nice way to put it, though."
"Sorry," he replied.
"But I mean it- it's really sweet. Especially since you don't seem to
consider staying HERE to not be a major adjustment in your life, but the
idea of being without me would be one." Noa smiled at him. "It's almost
nightfall... doesn't this mean I should be the boss, soon?"
Asuma blinked at the apparent change of subject. "Well... I guess, but
that's not really what I meant..."
"Good!" Noa replied. "There's something ELSE I want to talk about, but I
think you're going to have fun with this discussion..."
* * * * *
The door to the Captains' office burst open. "Captain Gotoh, si... Where
is Captain Gotoh?"
Gomioka blinked, looking up from the paperwork he was engaged on. "Eh?
Didn't you know? Captain Gotoh was called away on an investigation, as was
Captain Shinobu. I'm in command of both units until they return."
Ohta blinked. "And where is Lt. Takeo?"
"She's conducting an independant investigation. Same crime, but a
different aspect of it."
Ohta smiled widely. He didn't know Gomioka all that well, and the veteran
pilot of the first unit certainly didn't know him all that well. But
Gomioka was inexperienced, and might be enough of a pushover to actually
allow what he was considering.
"Well, then, sir, I guess I'm supposed to bring this request to you.
Please, sir- may I engage in firearms drills?"
Gomioka sighed. He'd been expecting this. "Well... okay. But no
live-ammo drills."
Ohta's eyes darkened considerably. It looked like he was running into the
same opposition he always did. "Sir! Shouldn't we be prepared in case we
need to battle another labor of equal or greater force than our own?"
Gomioka smirked. "Our labors are at the top of the line, at the moment.
They can handle anything."
"Sir, what if we have to face another police Ingram? Especially one
piloted by one of our former officers!?"
Gomioka set down the papers he'd been looking over, and gave Ohta a hard
look. "Now come on, Officer Isao. Do you REALLY expect Ms. Izumi to
engage us in combat?"
"YES!" Ohta cried. "Before she broke Asuma out of prison, I might not have
thought her capable of it. But now that I know to what lengths she would
go to protect her partner-"
"Ohta," Gomioka sighed. "I'll level with you. Captains Gotoh and Shinobu
are on their way to proving Officer Shinohara's innocence. It appears it
may all be a big frame up, involving upper-echelon officers of the police
department... including our own Chief Fukushima. He's already admitted to
falsifying some reports that may be part of the cover-up of a theft, and
Luitenant Kumagami is working with a close source that may be able to find
direct evidence of the true culprits guilt. We won't NEED to fight them-
we'll have them cleared of all charges before any battle takes place."
"Sir, if that was true, then WHY did Shinohara run? It makes no sense!
He's a police officer- he should have known better. No, I believe Asuma's
guilty- his own escape convinces me of that!"
Gomioka sighed. "Whether he's innocent or guilty, there will STILL be no
life-fire gun drills today, Officer Isao. Even if I agreed with you about
the need- which I don't- it is not in my power to authorize the ammo
usage." He picked up his papers. "Unless there's something more, you're
dismissed."
"I can't BELIEVE that you, a fellow labor pilot, would deny me something
which you must KNOW we need!" Ohta ranted. "If I was you, I'd find some
way past the red tape and mmmph! MMMMPH! MMMH MMH MMMMMH!"
Hiromi and Shinshi rushed in to the rescue. Hiromi clapped a hand over
Ohta's mouth while Shinshi started bowing to Gomioka profusely as they
backed the enraged labor pilot out of the office.
"We're sorry, sir," he explained. "We let him out of our sight for a
minute. Won't happen again!"
When the door closed, Gomioka shook his head, smirking. "Wierd crew. It's
amazing that Gotoh's able to get ANYTHING from them."
Sighing, he turned the page of the sheet listing the daily orders he was
reviewing. At the top of that sheet, in large print and highlighted
multiple times, were the words, "Under NO circumstances is Officer Ohta
Isao to be allowed ANY life-fire practice with the firearms. Violation of
this directive will result in your immediate transfer from Special Vehicles
to a lesser position... like meter maid."
* * * * *
"You REBUILT the damn thing?" Takeo demanded, standing next to Wong. They
were in the construction bay of his floating base of operations, watching a
newly-rebuilt Griffin receive some fine-tuning.
"Well, we weren't planning to use it against your team again," Wong
admitted sheepishly. "It's really just an experimental model, a
demonstration of what our boys in development can produce. Besides,
considering all the infighting that goes on in Shaft International, it's
probably a good idea for me to have something like this around for personal
security."
Takeo raised an eyebrow. "You need a LABOR to protect you due to corporate
infighting? Just what kind of enemies do you have in Shaft?"
"Well, I DID have to fight off four of 3-S's Abram labors back during the
first trial runs of the Griffin, because your people discovered me," Wong
recalled. "And occasionally someone will bring in a Brocken or something
and try to use it against me." He shrugged. "What do you expect from a
company like Shaft?"
Before Takeo could formulate a response to that, one of Wong's subordinates
ran into the room and delivered a note to him. "Important message, sir,"
the man said. "From one of your contacts in headquarters."
Wong looked at the memo in his hands, skimming the writing. He looked up
and smiled at Takeo. "Well, that was sooner than I was expecting."
"What?"
"It seems we've found the location where Shaft is storing the police
firearm used in the murder. If we can get to it before they clean the
barrel, your team should be able to clear Asuma with a simple ballistics
check."
Takeo raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realize that this will probably
destroy Shaft, don't you? They will be so harshly penalized by the
government that they won't be able to remain intact."
Wong continued smiling. "Not destroy, but merely fragment. Why, chances
are section seven will become an independant company under my charge!" He
nodded to her. "Come on, let's go round up your two friends and we'll
strike against the facility which holds this vital piece of evidence.
We'll probably need their help... and the help of their labor. The Griffin
can't do this alone- at least, not nearly as easily."
* * * * *
Gotoh lit up his cigarette, smiling slightly. "Job well done, if I do say
so for myself," he commented.
Shinobu grimaced. Gotoh had a lot of bad habits, and smoking was one of
the worst of them. Usually, she was able to ignore it, but when they were
in an enclosed space together- like a car or, in this case, the tiny
waiting room for a prison warden's office, she couldn't help but pay
attention to it.
Fanning she smoke out of her face, she asked, "What job?"
"Noa's attack. Did you see the two 97's as we were coming in?"
Shinobu shook her head disgustedly. "Those things didn't stand a chance
against an Ingram."
"I disagree," Gotoh rebuked. "If the pilots in those 97s were good enough,
they could have given an Ingram considerable trouble. After all, they
outnumbered her two to one, and had the advantage of knowing the landscape
reasonably well. I daresay your Gomioka might have stood a chance of
slowing an Ingram down... if that Ingram was piloted by anyone other than
Noa." He paused, allowing her time to comment. She didn't- actually, she
was rather impressed with the female labor pilot, herself, but she didn't
see what made Gotoh comment on how well Noa's piloting was in this
incident.
When he was convinced Shinobu wasn't going to say anything, he continued,
"I was referring to the precision of her assault. Did you notice that
niether labor had any EXPENSIVE damage done to it? Just damaged knees in
one and a cut power line in the other. This amount of restraint DESPITE
her obviously irrational mood at Asuma's arrest and DESPITE being in combat
with two labors at once." He paused. "If anything, her anger made her
even better. Which, while she usually fights better when angry, is unusual
in that she's usually more destructive when mad."
Shinobu considered that briefly. "Maybe she'd calmed down before getting
into the fight?" she theorized.
"You don't calmly break someone out of jail," Gotoh noted. "But perhaps
she wasn't ANGRY so much as filled with another emotion..."
His voice trailed off, and Shinobu wondered what it was he was thinking.
She was about to ask them when Inspector Matsui rejoined them from the
wardens office.
"Thanks for waiting," the inspector said. "I think my interview was rather
successful. Come on, let's head back to your car, Gotoh."
The three policement stood up and slowly made their way out of the prison.
"What did you learn?" Shinobu asked curiously.
"Enough," Matsui said. "He confirmed what the Deputy Commisioner of Penal
Facilities admitted to ordering- that Shinohara not be allowed to change
into plainsclothes before his incarceration, and his bribing some of the
more viscious thugs in the cell Shinohara was placed in to try and arrange
an 'accident' for young Asuma."
"Of course," Gotoh said. "Whoever planned this knew that there was no way
the evidence would stand up in court."
Matsui nodded. "Right. At any rate, with everything else we've got, we
should have a relatively easy time clearing his name... provided we can
find the murder weapon. Until we find that, a lot of this stuff could be
considered somewhat circumstantial."
Shinobu blinked. "A conspiracy to murder someone in prison could be
considered 'circumstantial'?"
Inspector Matsui shook his head. "Not exactly, but it doesn't mean that
there was a conspiracy to frame that same person. Could just be the police
trying to eliminate a potential embarrassment. If we could confirm,
though, that the weapon that Shaft managed to obtain was, indeed, the
murder weapon... well, that would go pretty far in clearing Asuma's name."
"So how do we find that weapon?" Gotoh asked.
Matsui grinned slightly. "Well, hopefully, that's what your Luitenant
Kumagami will handle for us."
* * * * *
Noa was startled awake when her pillow suddenly decided to sit up.
Blinking sleepily, she exclaimed, "Huh, what?!" when her head hit the
floor.
"Sorry," Asuma apologized as he quickly disentangled himself from her.
"But I hear a helicoptor landing outside. Make that TWO helicoptors."
"Two helicopters?" Noa echoed, the sleep leaving her voice. "Then... it's
probably not Wong, is it."
Asuma shook his head. "No- probably not." Rolling out of the futon, he
ran over to where their clothes were stashed and quickly tossed her an
outfit before he started getting dressed himself. "Keep quiet, but get
ready to leave in a hurry."
Noa nodded and hurriedly started slipping on her underwear. She was just
reaching for her blouse when the door opened and in walked Takeo and Wong.
"Oh, terribly sorry," Wong apologized. "I thought you'd be up hours ago-
it's already the afternoon, after all. Long night?"
Takeo noted Noa's half-naked state (and flat-eyed, shell-shocked gaze), saw
a shirtless Asuma, and blushed. "Um... if you want, we can leave and give
you two a chance to get dressed."
Asuma shook his head, slipping his hands into the sleeves of a shirt.
"You're back several days sooner than I was expecting, so you must have
important news. If it's that important, I don't want to wait to find out
what it is."
Takeo noticed Wong eyeing Noa, who was still just in her underwear and had
added a blush that was going all the way down her neck, and gave him a
short elbow in the side. "Hey!" she exclaimed, annoyed on Noa's behalf.
"Concentrate on business, here!"
Noa, finally shaken out of her stupor, "Eep!"ed and ducked into the
bathroom, taking her clothes with her. "I'll change in here," her voice
echoed out from its confines. "I'll still hear whatever you guys say."
Wong, still rubbing his side, frowned at Takeo briefly before turning his
attention back to Asuma. "Well, we have some good news. Pack your bags
and get your things ready- we found the facility which is storing the
weapon that killed your father. We brought a special helicopter which can
airlift your labor to our ship, and from there we'll head for the target."
He smiled again. "After all, you'll probably want to be present as we
clear your name."
Noa emerged from the bathroom, having dressed in record time. "You mean
this is it?" she asked.
Wong nodded reassuringly. "Yes, we're about to take action. Why don't you
go and start your labor to get it outside, okay? Once it's on the ship,
we'll give it a maintenance look-see, free of charge, but we need to get it
there, first."
Noa nodded, and started outside, but Asuma grabbed her by the shoulder
before she took more than a step.
"I don't trust him," he whispered to her. "So once you get Alphonse
loaded, download the movement data to your backup disk and dump the
computer's memory core. Then hide the movement disk- somewhere on your
person, if possible."
Noa nodded. "Right." She squinted at him before she left. "Start
packing, though- I'm looking forward to clearing your name. But don't
forget anything." Without thinking about the implications of her actions,
she gave him a quick peck on the side of the mouth and winked at him before
bolting out the door.
Asuma flushed as both Takeo and Wong shot identical knowing smiles at him.
"What?!" he exclaimed defensively.
Takeo just shook her head in amusement. "Come on, Romeo, let's start
packing up your little lovenest, okay?"
Asuma's embarrassment grew, but he started packing anyway. When he had
recovered his composure, he turned to Wong. "Ya know, I have a hard time
believing you're really helping us, even WITH all of the reasons you gave.
Are you sure you aren't getting anything out of this?"
Wong laughed. "Of COURSE I'm getting something out of this!" He gestured
to Takeo. "Didn't she tell you not to trust me? If she didn't, I'm
ashamed of how lackadasical her policework has become since I've been
around her!" At Asuma's dumbfounded look, he took pity on the younger man
and explained. "Do you really think my engineers haven't DREAMED of having
a chance to look through one of your labors up close and personal? I don't
know how much of what we find will be new to them, since I suspect that you
just told your girlfriend out there to dump the Ingram's hard drive, but by
helping you out I'm doing my job to the best of my satisfaction. So, of
course I'm getting something out of it."
Noa returned before Asuma had a chance to respond. "Alphonse is loaded up
and ready to go. How much more packing do we need to do?"
"We're pretty much done," Wong announced. "If you'll help us carry a box
or two out to the helicoptor, we'll be ready to go in just a few minutes."
Noa nodded, picking up a box and heading outside, Asuma carrying two of his
own boxes on her tail. Wong and Takeo continued to pack up.
Just before she was going to close her box, Takeo spied one last item that
she could pack up. Grabbing the box of condoms, the glanced inside. As
she had suspected, a couple of them were missing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
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