(1) Sunday1.20: Something has happened!

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The sun has set and the flickering glow of streetlights reflects off the Koneko's doors, alleys shadowed in the night.

A blond Japanese man with a pleasant face framed by square glasses, medium frame clothed in a crisp beige suit, walks purposefully down the deserted sidewalk. He has a suitcase in one hand, he carries a can of coffee in the other. When he reaches the flower shop, he places the suitcase on the ground, bends over and opens it. With precise ease, he enters a series of commands. Within a matter of minutes, the building's security programs, Weiss' and Kritiker's both, are disarmed.

He picks up the suitcase and slips inside the back door, placing the suitcase on the kitchen table and repeating his motions. The alarms are reset. He dumps the rest of his drink down the sink and throws out the can before taking a seat facing the door, hands folded neatly in front of him on the table, waiting for Weiss to return.

Comments

[pichi.livejournal.com]

Omi’s mind had only half-returned to reality as he punched in the security code and unlocked the back door into Koneko. His mind replayed scenes of the movie, drifted in and out of his own imagination, an escapism in which he seldom indulged, and that he wasn’t quite ready to give up for the night.

Until he opened the door and saw waiting inside someone he did not know, sitting at the table, watching the door as though perfectly at home. Immediately he sprung to alert, his first instincts naturally calling out danger. This was an unsolicited visit by a stranger, and only after that did he additionally register that he’d gotten inside without tripping alarms.

Were Omi not quite as tense and quick to jump to conclusions, he’d have perhaps considered this detail and the man’s relaxed posture to a reaction beyond heightened wariness. As it was, confidence like that-- sneakiness like that-- first made Omi think of Schwarz. They’d just dealt with an ambush from them that morning and Aya-chan was right there. Omi’s hands were on his darts in the blink of an eye, though he didn’t pull them out yet.

“Who are you?!” He demanded, still standing in the doorway. If there was any threat behind them from the outside, he was confident Ran would be ready for it. “This is our home-- you have no business here!”

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The man's eyebrows went up and his body started, but he relaxed into a pleasant smile as his dark eyes settled on the youngest Weiss.

With a slow movement he let go of the case in front of him, extending his hands toward Omi, palms up. "I have no weapons," he stated, his voice medium-pitched and warm. "And to the contrary, all my business is here."

He rose from the chair in a smooth movement, still slow enough not to alarm the boy in front of him any more. Keeping his eyes on Omi's, he reached one hand into his front jacket pocket and came out with a business card, off-white, with a pager number on it and nothing else. He stretched it towards Omi.

"My name is Yutaro Sato," he gave a small bow that made his glasses shift down his nose. Still bent, he looked up to glance behind Omi towards the door. "I come on behalf of our mutual employer."

[pichi.livejournal.com]

Omi didn't believe him-- why should he instantly trust a stranger with inexplicable access to his home? The man reached inside his coat, and Omi's first thought was he's got a gun. His grip on the darts tightened, and he readied his feet to jump away from the door should one indeed be drawn.

Business card. Or what would be a business card, if it had more than a number on it. He felt no more charitable towards this man yet, even after giving a name and claiming to be from a mutual employer. Kritiker?

The glance past him to the door naturally inclined Omi to check over his shoulder for anyone behind him. No one. He quickly returned attention to Yutaro, or so he claimed to be.

Nope, still didn't trust the guy. He'd violated it already just by showing up unannounced and waiting in their kitchen when Omi knew that no one was there to even let him in.

"Any mutual employer we might share has our cell phone numbers. Why weren't any of us contacted in advance about your coming here in that case?"

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

"Leadership has changed, Mr. Tsukiyono," Yataro straightened. He reached up and adjusted his glasses with both hands, tugging them back with two hands. "It's been decided that minimum correspondence is in our best interest."

He glanced behind Omi again but said nothing, seemingly waiting.

[pichi.livejournal.com]

So he knew his name. Omi's posture stiffened, a bit more nervous now. There had been overall less correspondance than before, none of it having seemed any sort of inconvenience so far. It made things simpler in fact. But this...

Omi's confusion softened his tone. "But why wouldn't we even be told about a visitor? Wouldn't it have been in everyone's best interest to know so we could be here?" Or so as not to risk something like a dart going right into the man's neck with no chance for explanation?

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

"It wasn't necessary," the Kritiker agent's tone was gentle. "I didn't mind waiting."

[pichi.livejournal.com]

...He was completely missing the point! But Omi didn't quite feel comfortable bringing up his darts, or the simple fact that this did NOT a good first impression make.

He half-wished Ran would hurry up and join him. The other man's presence would have been really reassuring right about now. On the other hand, if he came up, so would Aya-chan, and Omi wasn't sure he wanted her near this guy yet.

Omi backed halfway out the door. At the very least, he should warn him that someone unexpected was there. "Aya-kuuuun!" He called loudly, so that his voice would carry. "We have a visitor!"

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

...Visitor?!

Ran, without thinking, put a hand on Aya-chan's shoulder and guided her back into the car.

My sword is in my room.

All the alarms had been set. Hadn't they? "Aya-chan," he said, violet eyes serious, "lock the doors and hide if someone comes. I'll be right back out."

Possibly extreme. Possibly he'd have to do some explaining when he came back. But whoever could get through Omi's alarm system...

He looked quickly around the room and finally grabbed a piece of piping from the wall. He tucked it in his coat and made sure the car door was shut before walking inside.

Omi stood half in the doorway. Behind him was a medium-build blond man, one of his hands on a suitcase laying beside him on the table.

"Who is this?" He growled to Omi, not bothering to address the intruder.

[pichi.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness. Despite the alert tension Aya carried with him-- natural without further clarification from him-- Omi felt better having his teammate beside him. Aya was both strong as a fighter and an internal pillar of support to Omi. He flashed a somewhat uncertain look at Ran, and stepped back inside, reducing his voice back to a normal volume and a more typical tone of gentle explanation.

"He says he's from a mutual employer. He knows my name and somehow got past the alarms, so it makes sense that he is but..."

It would have been nice to have a little warning about this. At least to not give us a heart attack.

"Who is it you have business here with, Sato-san?" Did Ken and Yohji need to be available too? Could Ran leave and stay with his sister?

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The man looked somehow happy, as if Omi had correctly answered a question he hadn't even asked. "Are Mr. Kudoh and Mr. Hidaka soon coming?"

He turned his quiet smile on Ran, who gave him a look bordering on icey hatred. "My name is Yataro Sato, Mr. Fujimiya."

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The man in front of them was already grating on Ran's nerves, talking in circles in a manner that was practiced enough to seem straightforward.

Ran took a step forward, one fist clenched. He wasn't far from punching him. "Who do you work for?"

[pichi.livejournal.com]

Mister. Mr. Mr. Mr. It was so strange hearing this older man call them all that! It seemed like a petty thing to be unsettled by.

But he -was- from Kritiker, right? Of course, he hadn't actually proven that, only supplied two pieces of evidence to suggest as much: he knew their names (but then so did most visitors of the flower shop, and no code names had been used so far), and somehow or other, he'd gotten past the security system, either disabling and reactivating it, or never setting it off at all. The whole thing simply made him uncomfortable.

Once the man proved himself from Kritiker, Omi would trust him. In the meantime, he felt more inclined to follow Ran's instincts and maintain a healthy degree of distrust. He assumed Aya-chan had been told to stay away; good. For the moment, Omi didn't answer the man's question, but assumed a position beside and slightly behind Aya, ready to back the man both literally and figuratively.

Aya, he trusted.

[7bladed.livejournal.com]

There was that look again. A look that the old Ran would never have had. Mainly because there had been no reason for the old Ran to have had a look like that.

Confused and a little scared, Aya-Chan peered nervously out the window from within the locked car. I wonder...?

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The man smiled at Ran, the look still pleasant. He had a plush mouth that stayed soft at the edges, and indeed, his face, though his body was toned, stayed boyish. "As I told Mr. Tsukiyono, I come from your other place of employment." A slight frown dented the corners of his mouth. "You do only have one other employer, don't you? Maybe I should be clearer. I only wasn't sure if Miss Fuji..."

His words were cut off with a choke, an arm pressed against his throat. His eyes widened behind his skewed glasses, staring up at the swordsman who had suddenly shot across the room.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

"I don't like games!" Ran snapped. He pressed the man into the table, knocking his briefcase to the floor. The man made a move to grab it, eyes alarmed, but Ran held him still. "My sister is not your business. Tell us the name of your employer or I will kill you."

[pichi.livejournal.com]

Omi's eyes widened, his gut instincts telling him to stop Aya immediately-- they didn't kill unless it was a target! And in fact he took a step forward as though to intervene on the man's behalf. But, Aya...

Aya meant business, and maybe this really would clear up a few things. Omi wanted more solid proof of the man's connection. And he saw that grab for the briefcase. Something important must be inside it. He moved over and grabbed it up, taking a couple of steps back to hold it proverbial hostage off to the side.

"His sister obviously isn't in the room right now. I think you should answer the question."

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji should have been more alert as he entered the Koneko. On almost any other day, the tense atmosphere and permeating sense of sheer wrongness would have had him poised with his watch within seconds of opening the door.

But Yohji's mind was still stuck in a broken loop replaying the past couple hours spent with Ken. He'd managed to walk several steps into the kitchen before Omi's voice broke through his introspection.

The scene in the kitchen was about the last thing he expected to see. He slowly took in the stranger (baffling-ly composed,) Aya (appearing acutely homicidal,) and Omi (possessively clutching a briefcase Yohji had never seen before)....

Not sure what to make of it all, Yohji found himself simply gaping, Ken's hand still amiably clutched in his.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Sato's eyes flicked to the door as the other members of Weiss appeared. Body bent backwards and held stiffly still, he gagged, "Wonderful. Mr. Fuji-" A ragged gasp cut the name off as Ran pressed forward. "Kritiker," he choked out instead.

The swordsman lightened his weight and stepped backwards, arms loose by his sides, still ready to fight.

Sato straightened without bothering to fixed his mussed suit, his glasses still askew. He bowed to the newcomers, then turned back to Ran. "As I told Mr. Tsukiyono," he said in the same pleasant voice as before, albeit without the smile, "I am your new liason to our mutual employer. Yutaro Sato." He bowed again.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Ken watched the scene with the stunned air of someone who opened a bathroom stall only to find it occupied. It didn't last long, however, as training kicked in with a vengance.

"Credentials." He snapped briskly, taking another quick scan of the room to see if there were any *other* little surprises lurking in the corners. Not that he thought Ran and Omi weren't capable, but it never, ever hurt to check.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

"Kritiker."

The single word was like a bucket of ice to the face. Yohji's reflexes finally snapped into gear; his hand dropping contact with Ken and flying to the vicinity of his wrist, should Ken's demanded credentials fail to appear or convince them.

His gaze returned to Ran and Omi, trying to read their expresions now that the situation was clearer to him.

[pichi.livejournal.com]

Omi rather lost his focused seriousness on the intruder when Ken and Yohji walked in. The initial relief and reassurance that their presence brought quickly dropped as Omi noted-- with no small degree of surprise-- that their hands were joined. Why would they be holding hands like that? They were grown men. Only couples held hands like...

That was more than Omi could handle without any warning at all. Ken and Yohji were...? He looked up at Yohji in complete confusion. Yohji liked girls! Didn't he? And... And with Ken!

Omi shook his head and looked back at Sato, more shaken than before. There was too much happening at once and no time to let any of it sink in. Ken and Yohji dating, and a stranger in the home claiming to work for Kritiker, and all after that morning with Aya-chan and...

Where was Aya-chan anyway? It finally occurred to Omi that she hadn't come up with her brother. All the rest of them were up there, which meant she was--

Alone.

Omi dashed for the door and tossed the suitcase at Ken. “Hold onto this ok?”

Three trained assassins. They could handle one man. Someone needed to make sure he wasn’t a decoy for an ambush. They were in a horrible set-up defensively, with all four of them directing attention to the same thing.

I called him up here... It’s my fault if...

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Oh, crap.

The onslaught of questions in Omi's shocked gaze was enough to start Yohji on a headache all over again. Perhaps he and Ken should have been a bit more discreet, upon walking into the shop just now, he thought regrettably. At least until they had become a bit more settled in...well whatever it was exactly that they had going on.

"Discreet" had become somewhat of a foreign concept to Yohji though, in recent years at least.

And he hadn't in the least expected to walk into the kitchen and find himself confronting both Omi and Aya. Let alone both Omi and Aya engaged in dealing with a dubious intruder.

Well, crap.

It looked like he was going to have to sit down and have a chat with Omi when this ordeal was settled. Lucky, lucky me....

Omi however, took that opportunity to pull a disappearing act, sparing Yohji from further dwelling on that topic. With Omi suddenly MIA, Aya was the only one left to turn to for some insight as to what had been going down before he and Ken made their unsuccessful entrance. Yohji switched back and forth between regarding Ran, and the now somewhat rumpled man who stood between them.

[plotbunnytiff.livejournal.com]

Ken grabbed the suitcase as it was thrown at him. He completely missed the shocked look Omi sent his way, so focused on the stranger that the subtle glance flew by him.

One thing he certainly didn't miss, however, was the implication behind this guy's late night visit. Employment. Missions. If he was who he said he was, it meant an element of danger was coming back into the mix. This could be...trouble. He set the suitcase on the counter, stood back a little, and after inspecting it inch by inch, carefully opened it and rifled through the contents.

OOC

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

(Ken probably can't just open that briefcase, as a sidenote...)

Expanding the thread, for those who check this via email...