Friday1.2

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran sat at the kitchen table with a cup of matcha that had long gone cold. His cell phone rested by his left hand.

He hoped he had made the right decision.

Where was Manx?

Where was Birman?

Kritiker had new leadership, Ran found he couldn't quite call reassignment suspicious. Each Kritiker team had always had very specific handlers.

So why couldn't he shake the feeling he should worry that the two women were unreachable?

In earlier times he would have been grateful. They weren't his favorite people to deal with.

But having to rely on Sato in this way...

He hoped his instincts were right. That Sato was telling the truth. That he shouldn't trust his sister's placement to anyone else he didn't know on a personal level inside Kritiker.

He wished it had been Manx.

Perhaps he should ask Sato.

Perhaps they should have done so earlier, before the man had 'died'.

Outside, the glow of morning sunlight was brightening.

It was too late to dwell on it.

The one thing Ran was sure of was that this was a decision he should have made months ago.

His certainty didn't make the prospect of his sister's absence hurt any less.

Comments

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji awoke before the alarm went off, which was exceptionally rare, especially given it being an hour he considered ungodly early (in other words, pretty much any time before 10 AM….) He hadn’t slept well.

That wasn’t exactly unusual though.

He dressed as though he were headed to the shop, although he was actually already in mission mode. His watch glared at him, it seemed to loudly broadcast his day’s intentions. Until recently he had never worn it apart from his mission wardrobe. He wasn’t used to seeing it so blatantly visible on his naked wrist, without a long sleeve camouflaging its presence. He supposed there was nothing about it to signal to anyone that it was anything other than an ordinary watch, but nonetheless it made him feel uncomfortably conspicuous.

He looked in the mirror and sighed, noticing how tired and gaunt he’d been looking lately. Recent events had really not been generous to his appearance. Almost equally worrying was how little he’d managed to find it in him to care.

He pushed back a stray lock of hair (which promptly fell back into place, refusing to stay managed,) and shrugged, resignedly making his way down to the kitchen to try and wire himself into a more human mood with some coffee.

Ran looked even worse than Yohji felt. Yohji frowned slightly but didn’t say anything, letting his hand lightly brush the other man’s shoulder as he made his way to the counter.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran looked up at the contact. He'd heard Yohji enter, knew it was him by the fall of his step, hadn't expected the subtle touch instead of a cheerful morning greeting.

For the first time, he realized he should be grateful for the man in the kitchen with him. The sudden clarity made him almost dizzy, after how strongly he'd convinced himself this was something Yohji wanted, not him.

He watched Yohji go about the habits of his morning silently.

He knew it was a mistake to put too much value on this, on him, but it was a surprise to him to realize that there was a slim, slim chance that things wouldn't be as they were when his sister was no longer at the Koneko.

He wouldn't be completely alone.

It had never occured to him to find comfort in that.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

He didn't have the energy or motivation to make himself a proper breakfast so Yohji scrounged around until he managed to find a half empty box of crackers and a slightly over-the-edge banana. None of them had really taken the time to think about things like grocery shopping with all the drama going on.

He sat down with his mug and took a bite of the less-than appetizing fruit. His face scrunched up in distaste and he set it down again. Maybe he'd stop and buy something to eat on his way to the subway station.

Once he'd properly disinfected his mouth with coffee he fixed his attention on Ran. There was something ominous about the way he'd perched his cell phone on the table. He pointedly stared at the phone before meeting Ran's eyes, raising an eyebrow in silent inquisition. He wasn't going to verbally pry. Not when Ran looked that miserable.

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi rolled over in his bed and stared at his clock for a few minutes before his mind registered what time it was. He wasn't sure when he'd actually fallen asleep, the only reason he knew he had gotten sleep was because he felt more awake then he had last night. That and the sun was shining in through his window. Rolling over onto his back Omi lay there for another few minutes debating with him self if he should sleep for another couple hours or actually get up. The thought that he still had a lot of stuff to do on the computer day in order to find out what school the youngest Schwartz member went to. He let out a long sigh and forced himself to sit up. Getting himself dressed he grabbed his laptop and headed down to the kitchen. He'd get started on his search while eating breakfast.

Omi skidded into the kitchen pausing when he saw Aya and Yohji in there. "Morning.' He said to them as he set his laptop on the table quickly setting it up before he set to getting him self some toast.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji barely noticed Omi's entrance, even though he had come downstairs with the original intent of waiting for his youngest teammate. He was too distracted by Ran's unpredictable behavior.

He'd thought he'd been inviting an argument. Instead he was getting...breakfast?

He had never seen Ran voluntarily cook without his sister already present. It was almost worrisome.

Almost. Yohji was too hungry to argue good fortune. Ran did in fact happen to cook better than he did, in spite of not frequently practicing his talents.

Did Ran think we wouldn't be coming back from this 'mission'?

He would kill to know what Ran had really intended to say after 'I...'

He bit his lip and watched as Ran moved about the kitchen. "There's not much to like," he agreed dejectedly. He supposed he ought to tack on some sort of encouraging statement of confidence. But he didn't feel like lying. He didn't have an especially good feeling about any of this.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran finished cooking with efficiency and shoved a plate in front of both Yohji and Omi, who he acknowledged with a short nod. He threw the rest of his tea out into the sink with an abrupt flick of his wrist and leaned on the sink to stare out the window.

He didn't like this feeling. All the decisions they'd made were both unwanted and inevitable, not real choices at all. If anyone retrieved the disk, it should have been Sato himself, but the man had already failed. But he believed him when he said how dangerous the recording was, he understood Schwarz couldn't be allowed to have that. But sending them directly against the team was not something that had been tested in the past.

Ran couldn't help blaming him for the decision about his sister, too.

If Yohji and Omi did not come back, he would truly be a dead man.

He turned back to them and the rest of the room after a moment, crossing his arms to wait.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran observed Ken's expression change inexplicably as he entered the kitchen. He was relieved to see him back - he hadn't known he was gone - and they needed a full house for the mission. Back up was necessary for all missions, but this was more important than most. He was also relieved that Ken seemed to realize that, since he'd come back in time even to open shop.

He would have said those things pointed to something of a recovery, but he couldn' t understand what he was seeing on Ken's face.

He gave a short nod to the stove. "Ken. There's breakfast."

[celtic-kitsune.livejournal.com]

Omi looked at where Yohji was pointing on the map and nodded. "I'll try around there then." He pulled the laptop back over and started typing quickly. Every now and then taking a bite of his food.

He paused looking up quickly when he heard the door open. He had been assuming that all of them were home, so he was more then a little surprised to see Ken walk in. He frowned as he watched Ken's expression. It was yet another reminder that Omi still hadn't talked to him, and now with the mission he didn't know if it was the right time. //as his friend I should explain myself...// Omi thought.

"Morning Ken-kun." He said. "Anou...Ken-kun. Why don't you eat some breakfast before you open the shop? And then if I could. I'd like to talk to you." The last part was out before Omi knew what he was saying and stop himself. For him missions had always come before personal life, because it had never ended up good for anyone when personal life and 'business' - no matter what it was - came together.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

((sorry guys... :/))

Aya-Chan had woken up with a headache. And it didn't get any better when she spotted the small duffel bag sitting by the door, holding all of her possessions. She'd spent forever moping around her room, not ready to go downstairs and face Ran and the others yet.

But in the end, she forced herself off her bed and headed toward the door to her room. A backward glance, and then she closed the door behind her. Her first stop was Ran's room. She wanted to take one last look, and burn the image in her mind. She knew it was selfish, but small memento behind before closing that door as well: a picture, frayed around the edges, of a very excited young Aya-Chan clinging onto the arm of a slightly disgruntled but obviously relenting Ran.

Finally, grabbing her bag, she headed down the stairs, a large, albeit fake smile on her face.

"Morning!" She was not going to throw drama and angst at them. She'd be happy... until the end.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

[*hugs!* did Aya-chan take the picture or leave the picture?]

Ran couldn't help but smile at his sister's appearance, though he might as well have been running his katana through his stomach for how he felt.

"Good morning," he greeted her. He gestured toward the stove. "I made breakfast." He set a plate down at the table for her.

He kept his eyes on her as she entered the room, intent on memorizing everything about his little sister while he still had her.

[bcmanx.livejournal.com]

It felt like years since she had seen this store front. Ages ago. But, miraculously, the flowershop was still here. Even with the shutters drawn it still felt inviting. She chuckled to herself - Yohji had never seen the charm of this cover operation. It was totally innocuous, entirely unconventional - the perfect cover for a wetworks team. Persia had even laughed when she brought the plans to his desk.

Her smile faded to shades of melancholy with the bittersweet memory. It had been a long time since she let herself think of him or of the team just on the other side of this flower shop door.

With a quick check in the mirror she took a deep breath and focused on here and now. She approached the security gate but opted instead to make her way around to the alleyside door. Perhaps it was foolish to want to suprise a team of assassins in their own home, but she was fairly confident she would be well received.

With a few creative uses of her credit cards, she let herself in and followed Yohji's distinctive voice to the kitchen. She eavesdropped for a moment or two, stifling a small chuckle. Without fanfare she stepped forward, poised in the doorway to the kitchen, unable to keep the smile from beaming across her face.

"Do you have room for one more?"

Gone was the old familiar suit and heels replaced with more casual attire though no less stylish. Her auburn hair was straighter than it had been before, and longer. She pulled the sunglasses from her face, her brown eyes meeting each of theirs with fond familiarity.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

The sound of a voice he had literally written off as dead by now caused Yohji choke to on his rice.

"Holy fuck!" He sputtered when he finally managed to swallow and regained his ability to breathe.

He was more conflicted than he expected to be at the sight of her. He'd spent so much time wishing she was still around that he'd assumed a reappearance would cause nothing but relief. He was surprised to find himself mildly pissed off.

He'd worried a fair bit. She had so thoroughly vanished that he couldn't have helped assuming that something bad had happened to her. He had allowed himself to get increasingly cynical about the inner workings of Kritiker over time.

She looked fine though. Better than fine. If anything her more casual appearance only enhanced the natural good looks Yohji had always appreciated. And on top of that she looked smug. Her disappearance had obviously been consensual.

"Knew you couldn't stay away from me forever," he quickly covered, wide manufactured grin back in place.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran stumbled over his chair he pushed it backwards and leapt up so quickly. Relief washed over his features, tempered by shock. "I've been trying to get a hold of you! How-?"

His surprise was so great that he didn't manage to cloak the frown directed toward Yohji as he immediately hit on Manx. He didn't have time to dwell on his reasons for it though, not at the moment.

He would not have to send his sister away with a stranger who was supposed to be deceased. He trusted Manx more than anyone within Kritiker.

He recovered from whatever he was directing at Yohji and gave his sister a smile. Aya-chan knew Manx, ever since the fall of the tower.

She would be cared for. It was small solace, but it was the best he could hope for.

[bcmanx.livejournal.com]

"Leverage?" Manx did not like the sound of this. At least their leverage did not also include Aya this time. From her new position within Kritiker she had heard whispers and rumors of considerable changes occurring closer to the home office. Somehow, she just knew, that the organization was somehow responsible for flushing Schwarz out of hiding in plain sight. "Well, it seems we have plenty to discuss... later..."

She passed a glance to Aya, a small smile for the girl then a cautious look to Yohji. The less Aya knew, the less she overheard, the safer she would be.

She sipped at her tea again, catching a strange look on Ken's face from the corner of her eye. She let her gaze casually pass over him and immediately grew concerned. The long pause between Ran's request and Ken's actual move to follow thru was obviously filled with some intense internal dialogue. The angry shake of his head had her pausing mid-sip, only remembering to lower her cup as the brunette finally exited the room.

She looked to Ran and then Yohji, her expression both concerned and clinical.

"How long has he been... struggling?" Manx was entirely aware of the full extent of the injuries Ken suffered at the hands of Beserker. It was amazing that he survived with as little lasting damage as he had. But, as they had feared, the damage would creep in slowly, only making itself known after the physical damage had healed.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

“Fuck, where have you been?” Yohji was caught between relief that someone who might have the connections to get Ken proper help was now aware of his condition, and utter dismay for the same reasons. He trusted Manx more than anyone else in Kritiker, and he was fairly sure that her intentions were…well….better than anyone else’s in Kritiker. Too bad his trust in Kritiker had pretty much evaporated at this point.

“If you can see it that quickly, we really could have used you around here,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I really only noticed a few days ago, but I think it’s been building for months. He’s been hiding it really well.” His gaze shifted to Ran nervously, wondering how smart it was of him to so readily admit this. But it was too late to take back now, and he was getting too worried about the alarming rate that Ken seemed to be declining to feel he could afford the time of excessive caution. “He’s getting worse, and it’s happening fast now. And not too surprisingly he’s not very receptive to the idea of professional help.”

[bcmanx.livejournal.com]

Manx looked to Aya, reaching to grip her hand with a supportive smile. This issue would need to be dealt with first - to assuage Ran's fears. She couldn't image how hard this was for him. But, to her mind, this was not nearly as important, or dire an issue as Ken.

"I have someone who will help you with all of this... you won't be alone." She patted at her hand then looked to Ran, ready to face his inquisition. It wasn't unexpected nor unwarranted in this case.

"I did not come here for this reason. I was expecting to meet your new handler to discuss this but I haven't been able to reach him. I had no way of knowing the need was immediate. But no matter, as I said, I need to make a few calls - the arrangements have already been made - we just need to adjust the timetable." There was nothing but confidence in her voice, her posture was nothing but relaxed, assured.

She looked back to Aya. "I'll arrange for my team to pick you up in, say, two hours. You'll be taking a long flight - you might want to prepare a carry on bag, a book to read maybe." She looked back to Ran. "As long as that is acceptable to you."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran was surprised, but gave a short nod for his part. He looked to his sister inquiringly. It needed to be done; but he wanted her to be happy, or at the very least willing.

He hated that he had to ask so much of her. She deserved to be spoiled, safe, normal.

Unbidden, that familiar, estranged feeling of belonging to a loving family came and was repressed. She deserved that again, however hard it was going to be for him.

[kuchren.livejournal.com]

Aya looked up in surprise when Ran mentioned to not say anything on the phone that would give her away. Her head immediately snapped to look at Ran, giving him a silent, questioning gaze. Did that mean she could call?

She wasn't sure what exactly she'd envisioned when she heard that she was to move. Though Aya's image of what would happen was more like being stuffed in a cage for safe keeping.

She turned to look at Manx. "I... have everything packed," she said finally, forcing out a smile. "I don't really have much, just that small bag over there."

Two more hours... she could tell that her presence was not entirely welcomed and that they were skirting around many topics. But she was holding onto the selfish urge to stay put. At least until either they left or they forced her to leave. After all, these would be her last two hours with them.

[bcmanx.livejournal.com]

"That's everything, is it? Well then, when you reach your destination I'll make sure you go shopping!" It was a brief bit of levity. Aya would need a proper closet packed with clothes if she was going to blend in to her new surroundings. Manx smiled warmly at Ran - it wasn't as if he hadn't provided well for her - no one could ask for a more devoted brother. But the girl deserved to just live a normal sometimes boring life. Something she would never have here. This move was the most selfless act she had ever seen from the surly redhead and she had no doubt it was the best thing for Aya.

And this was the apropriate time to leave the siblings to say their goodbyes.

"Yohji, would you accompany me to the basement. I need to make my phone calls and there are things we need to discuss."

She stood, wrapping a hand over Aya's shoulder then reached to tuck a finger under her chin. It was no wonder Ran had turned into the man he was today - Manx couldn't say she'd do much different to protect innocence such as this.

She looked to Ran with a silent moment of admiration before continuing. "I believe I'll be breaking with tradition today. I think I will be here quite awhile. Could I trouble you for a pot of tea? No hurry though..."

She glanced between Yohji and the doorway, silently instructing him to lead the way.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

"You betcha," Yohji affirmed, relieved that he might get a chance for a properly private discussion. He hesitated a moment, giving Aya-chan a long glance. He knew she wasn't going to disappear before he returned--not if Manx was in fact the one taking her away--but he couldn't help feeling like he was forfeiting his chance at saying goodbye. Stupid, paranoid, surprisingly sentimental. It was kind of strange to find that he was actually going to miss her, considering how much energy he'd wasted on envying the girl.

He brushed the thoughts aside and headed down towards the basement without looking back.

[bcmanx.livejournal.com]

[ exits to Friday 1.6 ]

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

[exits to Friday 1.6]