~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

/.../ - thoughts

//...// - flashbacks

==...== - typing/email/words on a screen

~...~ - written words

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Omi hung up the phone after waiting on hold for twenty minutes trying to get in touch with someone in Kritiker. Manx's cell phone was not responding, a rarity for the redhead even when they were not in a mission situation. He had been waiting for a secretary at the police station to connect him with his uncle, but the rather slow-witted man had been unable to tell Omi where Persia was or if he was even still in the office.

Across the room, Yohji was trying a different contact's number, a woman named Birman who was only to be called if Manx was absolutely unreachable. The basement door burst open and an exuberant figure in a dark suit came flying down the stairs. Reflexively, Omi had three shurikens in hand before the figure made it to the bottom of the staircase and was recognized as Ken.

"I got it!!" The brunette crowed, waving a black disk around and grinning like a maniac. Yohji whapped him on the back of the head and motioned for him to be quiet. Once Ken had glared at him and lowered his voice, Yohji resumed speaking into the phone.

"What's going on?" Ken asked Omi as he loosened his tie.

Omi leaned closer as Yohji listened carefully to whatever the person on the other line was saying.

"Saoshin's still standing, and we haven't heard anything from Aya-kun." Ken's eyes widened.

"Has anyone called Manx?"

"We've been trying, but no one is picking up. Even Persia isn't around." Omi gestured in Yohji's direction. "Yohji-kun's trying our backup contact now."

"Backup? Oh, that 'Birman' woman?"

Omi nodded. Ken cursed softly, turning the disk over in his hands. Omi gently took it from his hands before he inadvertently broke it.

"You got the name, Ken-kun?" The reliable, calm mode kicked in and it was back to business. Sometimes, Omi hated being the rational one who focused on the mission first, but other times --like now-- he was glad for it.

"Yeah," Ken muttered, distracted. "It was in Nakamura's office. Their contact is Fujiyuri Shigeru."

"You're joking." Omi was surprised by the information and not afraid to show it.

Someone up that high in the food chain funding something so heinous with government money was almost unimaginable. Fujiyuri was considered by most to be as straight edged as politicians came. He was one of the few politicians who acknowledged the people and did not simply pander to the bureaucrats. Deceiving so many innocent people was unforgivable.

Ken shook his head.

"Nope, Fujiyuri's the asshole in this one."

Yohji snapped his cell phone shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, his glasses long gone, abandoned to the coffee table.

"Well, Manx is on her way."

"Manx-san?" Omi looked skeptically at the older man. "Where was she?"

Yohji pulled out a cigarette and rolled it between his fingers.

"Birman didn't say. Just that she's coming over right now." The cell phone flew in a gentle arc, landing with a bounce on the green couch cushion. "Should be here in ten minutes or so."

"What happened to Aya, Yohji?"

"How the fuck should I know?" The blonde demanded, dark green eyes flashing. "We had comm silence until he got out because that's how the mighty leader wanted it! All I know is that he hasn't signaled yet and there's no way it should be taking him this long!"

"Yohji, calm down," Ken held up his hands placatingly. "I didn't know."

"That's what you get for being late." Yohji snapped around his now-lit cigarette. "Where the hell were you anyway?"

Omi watched Ken's jaw tighten while Yohji continued to nag. The brunette was not a patient one, and whatever leeway he was granting the older blonde was quickly slipping away. Whenever Ken clenched his fists, he was determined to make use of them.

"I was working, dickhead!"

"We have the name of the MITI contact, Yohji-kun." Omi interjected.

Some of the tension lines in Yohji's face smoothed away as the news sunk in. The news probably also saved the basement room's expensive equipment from being victimized by a fight between the two older members of Weiß.

"Fantastic." Yohji said, flopping down on the couch and taking a long draw off of his cigarette. "We'll just turn it over to Manx when she gets here and then go after Aya."

"I don't think we should wait for her."

Both Omi and Yohji glanced at Ken apprehensively.

"You nuts, Kenken?" Yohji asked, peering at the brunette from over the back of the couch. "Persia will have a conniption fit... not to mention our heads if we don't tell her about this."

Ken sat on the bottom stair and rested his elbows on his knees.

"When Manx tells him, what do you think our orders will be? Persia doesn't give a damn about us and you know it; all that matters is the mission."

The determined look on Ken's face snuffed any protest Omi may have made in defense of his uncle. Omi was well aware that he was the only person in Weiß who considered Takatori Shuuichi to be a decent human being, despite the fact that he had sent Omi to kill his two brothers. It had taken him time, but Omi saw the necessity of the assignment. Compared to Hirofumi and Masafumi, Persia was a saint. However, Omi was willing to believe that Fujiyuri's death meant more to anyone in Kritiker than Aya's life.

Yohji tapped the ash off of his cigarette into the coffee cup that served as a makeshift ashtray.

"So, what do you suggest we do?"

"You and Omi take care of Fujiyuri and I'll go get Aya. Fujiyuri's famous; it's not as if it'll be hard to find him." Omi nodded hesitantly, seeing the logic in Ken's plan.

"True enough, but where are you going to look for Aya-kun?" Ken tossed him a grin that looked more like a grimace.

"Take a wild guess."

~*~

A short love note from Yohji and an envelope greeted Manx when she arrived at the empty flowershop. Turning the finely printed paper over in her hands, she tried to understand what was going on, and why Weiß was acting on their own. The second question was simple enough; their first instinct was to protect their own, so they had to be off on some half-cocked attempt to rescue Aya.

The note and the envelope still refused to make sense, however.

~Sorry to have missed such a lovely lady. Here's a story in exchange.~

And 'exchange' was underlined. She opened the envelope and inside was a clipping from an old Asahi Shimbun. Skimming the article, she found several letters underlined, many of them being 'i's 'u's an 'f' and an 's', among others. Manx ran her fingers over the writing, deep in thought.

Another word for 'exchange' was 'trade.' Manx's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. They had managed to find Saoshin's sponsor in MITI.After several moments of cursing Weiß's sick sense of humor and piecing together the letters into something that did not resemble a word for pickled radishes, Manx gritted her teeth angrily. The circled letters spelled "Fujiyuri Shigeru."

Shredding the paper in her hands and dumping it down a sewer grate, Manx stared off down the street, maybe subconsciously looking for a glimpse of Yohji's roadster or Ken's motorcycle.

"Good luck, Weiß." She murmured to the empty neighborhood, knowing that they would need all the luck available for their two missions.

~*~

Aya knew from past experience that there were worse ways of being woken than being kicked in the arm, but they were few and far between. Forcing his eyes open, he fought down a wave of nausea as his vision was stabbed with hideously bright lights. His head ached so badly he could barely think. He was bound hand and foot, his arms secured tightly behind his back, a chain linking the handcuffs to a pair of shackles on his ankles. The bonds served to keep him in a kneeling position, his back arched painfully.

Breathing in short, ragged gasps that served to bring him more pain, he attempted to focus on the sea of formless noise swirling around him. With more concentration, he identified different pitches and inflection, and decided that he was hearing voices. The next step would be to attempt to understand them.

His intense focus was interrupted by a hand grabbing his chin roughly, turning his face to meet the malicious gaze of a slightly overweight woman who would have been attractive save for her uncanny resemblance to a hawk ready to devour its prey. She favored him with a chilling smile of satisfaction when she was sure his attention was solely on her.

"I'm sure you know how much damage you would have caused, had we not caught you, my little samurai." Her eyes sparkled. "Doubtless that was part of you plan." The woman let go of his chin and Aya felt his back muscles spasm.

Biting back a cry, he followed her with his eyes as she circled him. He noticed for the first time how many people were in the room, and how many of them were behind cameras. Images of the snuff film rocketed through his memory and his heart began to pound. She finished her circle and stepped out of his field of vision.

"I don't know who you work for, little samurai, and I know you will not tell me. So I turn you over to Makiko's capable hands."

Aya hissed as a blindfold was laid across his eyes, plunging the world into a noisy blackness. It was in many ways more frightening than being able to see the sound stage. More frightening when he did not expect the agonizing metal kiss of the blade until it pressed into his side and made a slow journey across his abdomen.

~*~

Yohji had determined years ago that the world was not controlled by men, gods or anything else humankind had used to define the natural order of things. The rule which guided existence was no rule at all, and the only masters of the universe were chaos and entropy. A person could expect something to happen, and while all the evidence pointed to it being plausible, something would be pushed just slightly out of place to create a situation that was completely unexpected.

For instance, both he and Aya had expected something to happen to Omi and Ken, with them being forced to stand on the sidelines and do nothing. Aya being apprehended was out of the question. Yohji had also surmised that Fujiyuri's highrise apartment building would be difficult to break into, considering the twenty-four hour doorman and various expensive alarms.

However, dressed as they were, Omi in his black suit and Yohji in a professional-looking navy sportjacket and khakis, the doorman failed to stop them as they walked inside. When the elevator doors closed and they began their long ascent to the fiftieth floor, Yohji's mind was focused solely on the death of the corrupt politician Fujiyuri Shigeru.

Omi, however, was more interested in the security system that protected the minister's home. The younger blonde pulled a small wire-cutting kit from the black jacket's inside pocket and fished around for the proper tools.

A soft tone accompanied the gentle rocking of the elevator car as it settled on the penthouse floor, doors sliding open with nary a sound. The two assassins were equally silent as they found apartment five-oh-eight-nine and prepared themselves to do what they did best.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Notes:

1. Botan and Birman make appearences before their actual introductions in episode 17, wai wai!

2. I know Omi doesn't use shurinken in the anime. But he uses them in the manga and I like them.

3. The Asahi Shimbun is the national Japanese newspaper.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Short notes, because I'm going more with action now. However, Kawamura calling Aya "little samurai" should give some kind of indication as to what is going to happen to everyone's favorite Pumpkin... *shudder*

I'll write up part five soon!!