Re: Tokyo Tower

**Sera Masumi** Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:42 am

Bourbon hummed himself as he watched the area through a camera. The minions weren't aware of them and didn't even know they had companion there. Bourbon took the radio.

"Hey, did you forgot to check the area?"
"Eh? No..."
"Then maybe you should do that..."
"Yes, sir! Right away!"

From the screen he saw how one of the minions left elsewhere, towards waiting FBI agents.

Into the trap... Bourbon smirked.

**Kir** Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:13 am

Jodie tensed as she spotted two men dressed in dark clothing holding guns walking toward her hiding spot. She cautiously clicked her communicator twice, indicating that unknowns were in the area.

The other FBI team replied with two clicks, indicating that they acknowledged her signal. Turning, she motioned to her fellow agents to get ready for a confrontation. They nodded, their faces grim.

Jodie noticed fresh blood on one of the men's fingers and wondered where it had come from. He didn't look wounded; in fact, he was chuckling with his partner over "the TV reporter."

Taking a breath, she jumped up and shouted, "Put your weapons down and your hands up!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kir jerked at the sound of gunshots, sending spasms of pain through her body. What . . . what is happening? She tried to sit up, but collapsed.

She heard footsteps, and then a woman with short blond hair and glasses came into her narrow tunnel of vision. "Oh my God," the woman gasped, her blue eyes widening. "Mizunashi-san?"

Agent Starling. Kir felt herself slipping into unconsciousness again.

**Sera Masumi** Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:55 am

"Oh my! This is awesome!" Bourbon laughed. "I can't believe this actually worked!"

-- --
Jodie saw when Mizunashi fainted and run to her.
She is in much worse shape than before... We have to get her to a hospital immediately.

"Check the area! There must be someone else here!" She ordered the other agents.

-- --
"No use... There is no one." Bourbon smirked. "But wait until Kir wakes up... I bet you'll be shocked."

**Kir** Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:04 pm

As Jodie carefully examined Kir for any bugs or weapons, she found a small envelope. "What is this?" she wondered aloud as she opened it. When she saw the picture of Masumi-san, she gasped.

"Starling-san, the area is clear. Apparently there were only those two," one of the agents reported over the radio.

Jodie swallowed hard and struggled to find her voice as she stared at the photograph Masumi-san's body. "Roger that," she said finally. "Agent Black will transport Kir to the hospital where Camel and I will personally watch over her."

**Sera Masumi** Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:42 pm

"If you don't stop grinning I'll rip that grin of yours away." Gin muttered as Bourbon observed the happenings through the screen.
"Oh, I'm sorry if your great and mighty egoness doesn't like when my plans succeed." The younger man said, still smirking. Vermouth giggled.
"It seems they swallowed our little lie." She stated. "I'm going to check our new friend now. She must be confused about the recent happenings."

-- --
The door opened and Sera saw a woman's figure at the doorway.
"Who are you?" For some reason she had mixed feelings about that woman. Like she had wanted to run away from her but at the same time be embraced into her lap.
"Don't worry... I'm on your side." The woman said with a gentle voice and walked closer. "Are you alright?"
Sera looked away. "I don't know... Guess so..."
"Come with me. Let's get you some warm clothes. And you should wash that blood away, too..."
Sera nodded. What else she could have done?

When they wlked throught the corridor to another room Sera asked: "Who was that another woman? She seemed to know me... And talked something about my brother..."
"You don't need to worry about that. She'll be fine. Although you won't be seeing her anymore. And about your brother... He is dead." Vermouth half lied and half told the truth. It was the best way to answer in that situation.
"Like I thought..." The girl mumbled.

**Kir** Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:43 pm

After transporting Kir to the hospital, Jodie and Camel stood outside an operation room. The surgeons and nurses had been told that Kir's name was Sakura Suzuki. Two common names similar to Jane Smith.

"I've never seen a beating as bad as that one," Jodie murmured to Camel. "The torture they put her through . . ."

"It was pretty bad," Camel agreed. "Probably the only good thing about this is that it will be easier to give her a new identity and face."

Black walked up to them. "How is she doing?"

"They just put her in surgery," Jodie replied, reaching into her pocket and holding out the envelope. "I found this on her."

**Sera Masumi** Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:31 am

"What... This..." Black couldn't say anything when he looked at the photo.
"Yeah... It seems they found out about the message she sent me and..." Jodie couldn't continue.

-- --
Okiya glanced at his phone. Sera had tried to call him once several hours ago((or even a half day ago... I dunno)) but hadn't waited for him to answer. He had tried to call back but had got only a voice mail that the number wasn't available.
What has happened? She should be at the hospital... He thought and decided to go and check the situation there.

**Kir** Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:58 am

Vermouth led her to a small suite that had a living room, small dining room, kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom. She let Sera use the bathroom; when the girl stepped out, her face freshly washed, Vermouth smiled. "You look better already. Let me get you some clean clothes." Walking to the main door, she pressed a call button, and an underling appeared. "Clean clothing for this girl," she requested.

The underling bowed before leaving. In a few minutes he had brought a shirt, pants, and underclothing that looked about Sera's size. "Thank you," Vermouth told him, shutting the door. "Here, go change in the bedroom. I'll wait out here in the living room." She didn't tell Sera that the suite was filled with cameras and listening devices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okiya arrived at the hospital and overheard two nurses discussing the strange foreigners who were outside of an operation room. "I hear that some woman got mugged," one nurse said. "And that her face was so damaged that it was impossible to recognize her."

The second nurse gasped. "How horrible!"

Who was hurt? Okiya quickened his steps, possibilities running through his mind, none of them good. He hoped that Sera-chan wasn't hurt in some way . . .

**Sera Masumi** Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:37 am

Sera took the clothes to the bed room. When she was changing the shirt she got a bad feeling.

"Let me check you, Sera-chan." A man's voice said and held her from the collar of her shirt.
"I could've doen that by myself, you know."

What was that? A memory? Sera held her hand on her forehead. She felt dizzy again. Soon it was over. What the hell was that? ((But no, Sera isn't regaining her memories yet))

Sera finished the changing and went to the living room where Vermouth was waiting for her.
"Are you okay? You look a bit pale."
"I'm... I'm fine." Sera stuttered a bit. "I just..."
"You just what?"
"Nothing..."

-- --
Okiya found his way to the corridor where Jodie, Camel and Black were. Black was still looking at a photo in his hand.
"What has happened?" Okiya asked when he was close enough.

**Kir** Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:07 am

Black started and slipped the photo into his pocket. "Just a photo of a witness," he replied.

Okiya frowned; their downcast facial expressions indicated otherwise. "What happened? I heard that a woman got injured."

"Yes," Jodie looked around and then lowered her voice. "Mizunashi-san and Masumi-san were kidnapped from the hospital several hours ago. Masumi-san just texted us Miznashi-san's location. The woman was badly beaten."

Okiya felt his stomach clench and his fists tighten at the thought that the B.O. had gotten their hands on his little sister again. "What? Why didn't anyone tell me?" he snapped. "Where were the FBI agents?"

Jodie blinked at the anger in his voice. "We weren't aware of your whereabouts or how to contact you," she said quietly. "We weren't even sure if we could trust Kudo-kun, since it appears that someone disguised himself as Kudo-kun to fool the FBI guards."

"Where is Masumi-san now?"

"We do not know. She said that we shouldn't worry about her." A muscle in Jodie's cheek twitched.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'll need to keep a close eye on her . . . Hopefully her memories haven't returned. I hate babysitting. Vermouth smiled and walked to the dining room chair. "You look a little pale. Does your head hurt?"

Sera nodded, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah."

"I'll get you some painkillers for that. How's your nose doing?"

Sera frowned, and touched her broken nose. "Hurts. What happened to it?"

Vermouth saw an opportunity. "That woman from earlier broke your nose," she lied, getting out some aspirin and a glass of water.

**Sera Masumi** Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:39 am

They are not telling something... What has happened to Masumi? Okiya thought. I have to ask Mizunashi later...

He nodded shortly and stood quietly still. After some minutes Camel suggested he should go home but got only an angry glare from him.

-- --
Sera had a mess inside her head. She tried to figure out what was going on. Something was out of it's place and it made her feel dizzy.
No, I shouldn't worry about it... Whatever it is... I just have to forget. If I remember, it'll hurt...

Vermouth returned to the room. She saw Sera sitting on a sofa. The girl was still pale but unlike a moment earlier, her eyes were empty and glassy again.
She was near to remember something, I guess... Well, from her eyes I can see she didn't remember it...

**Kir** Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:56 am

It was almost pathetic to see how this once-articulate girl had been reduced to a creature that didn't seem to know anything. Vermouth helped Sera take the medicine, and then she sat the glass of water down on the coffee table. "What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I don't know," the girl said in a monotone.

"Well, would you like to watch a movie? We have some movies that you'd probably like." Vermouth got up and opened a cabinet. She didn't tell Sera that the movies were carefully selected to convert her into a loyal member of the Black Org.

"I don't know."

Vermouth chose one movie, slid it into a DVD player, and then turned on the T.V. "Well, you'll probably like this one. It's one of my favorites. I'll be in the kitchen making dinner if you need me" After adjusting the sound and starting the movie, Vermouth took the remote with her into the kitchen.

**Sera Masumi** Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:56 pm

The movie started. Sera didn't really follow it, just looked at the direction where the tv was.

What's with that movie? The picture is fuzzy sometimes... She thought. Must have been done with a bad quality or then it's a pirate movie...
She glanced to the direction where Vermouth had gone. She said this movie is one of her favourite ones but is not watching it... Weird... And she even took the remote with her...

Sera continued watching the movie. It was numbing to watch. And made her head hurt again.

Tired...

**Kir** Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:22 pm

The doctor finally came out of the operation room, his face weary. "Sakura Suzuki is stable now," he said, using the generic alias for Kir that Jodie had told him. "She probably won't wake up until tomorrow, and even then she may not be coherent."

"What was wrong with her?" Okiya asked. When the doctor looked at him curiously, he made up an excuse. "She's my sister-in-law."

"Oh, well, she had a collapsed lung, several broken ribs, a broken nose, broken collarbone, several gun wounds, and internal bruising. I'm surprised that she's still alive," the doctor replied. "She will be moved to a private room shortly."

"Thank you," Jodie said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vermouth prepared a simple macaroni and cheese dinner out of a box and mixed crushed sleeping pills into the food. She peeked out into the living room once in a while and saw Sera staring blankly at the television screen.

Pouring some juice into a cup, she put the macaroni and cheese on a plate and brought them out Sera and put them on the coffee table in front of her along with a fork and some chopsticks. "I'm afraid that this is all I could find in the kitchen. I'll get better food tomorrow."

Sera stared down at the gold-colored noodles; something about it seemed familiar, something American. Why am I thinking about America? Have I ever been there? Her head hurt. Picking up the chopsticks, she started to eat.

**Sera Masumi** Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:22 pm

"This taste..." Sera mumbled as she ate the noodles. There was a weird side-taste in them but she coudn't really describe it.
"What's up? Don't you like it?"
"Ah, no... This is good. Just a feeling..."
"A feeling?"
"All the time... I get this same feeling. Like something would be out of its place... but it's probably nothing." The girl tried to explain. She place the plate on her lap. "But it still keeps bugging me even though I try to forget it."

Was that sadness in Sera's eyes? Vermouth stayed quiet. When she had watched Sera through a camera when the girl had been in the cell, she had noticed one thing. The girl had tried not to show any emotions in front of Bourbon or anyone else. Only when she had been with Kir she had allowed herself to cry but that's all.
But because she doesn't remember anything she don't know whom to trust. Now she allows that sadness to be shown so does that mean she has started to trust in me... The woman thought. Well, step by step... that's the best way to the success.

Sera felt her eyelids heavy. It wasn't long until she had fallen asleep. Vermouth took the half empty plate and the chopsticks from the the girl's hands.

"Yes, sleep away your tiredness. Tomorrow is a new day. The first day in your new life." The woman smiled.

**Kir** Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:22 pm

"Daddy, look at what I made!” Hidemi held up a small, slightly smashed crane. The busy restaurant drowned out her voice so she tugged on his coat to get his attention.

Daddy turned back to her and smiled, his stern face softening. “That’s pretty, Hidemi,” he said, smoothing back her bangs. “Can you make me another one while I talk to these men?” He nodded toward some strangers wearing overcoats.

“Hai!” She beamed. Daddy liked her origami! Kneeling, she started folding another piece of paper that Daddy had brought for this purpose.

The men talked in low voices and one patted Daddy on the back and smiled before getting up. Then Daddy started to follow him out the restaurant door.

“Daddy, where are you going?” Hidemi asked.

“It’s okay, sweetie, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He ducked out the door.

A strange tightness filled her chest; Daddy never left her alone in a public area before. “Daddy? Daddy!” she called, beginning to panic. The partly-finished crane fell to the floor and she reached down to get it, but her arm refused to move. “Daddy!”

Kir jerked awake, her breathing erratic. Her eyes darted around the stark white room, and then she realized that an oxygen mask covered her nose.

“Shh, easy. You’re safe.” A familiar face leaned over her.

Agent Starling. Kir glanced down and saw that her arm was in a sling. “How . . .how many hours?” she rasped.

“Twelve. You spent three hours in surgery, and then the rest in this private hospital room. The doctors gave you pain meds,” Starling replied.

Was it really Starling-san, or some B.O. member in disguise? Kir narrowed her eyes.

**Sera Masumi** Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:28 am

"We got a message that said where you were so we managed to get you back." Jodie explained to Kir.
"Who sent it?"
"..." The female agent stayed quiet for a second. "Masumi-san did."
Kir gasped. So it was true that Masumi had sent the message. But most likely they didn't know the content of it... Otherwise they would've ordered some other place...
"Say... Mizunashi-san... Has something happened to her? We found a photo from your pocket..."
"They killed her. After finding out she had sent the message." Kir said, avoiding to look at the other woman.
"... There is someone who wants to talk with you. We haven't told any details for him yet."
"Who?" Kir asked even though she already had a good guess who that person would be.

**Kir** Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:00 am

Okiya turned around when the hospital door opened and Jodie poked her head out. "Kir is awake and coherent."

"Thanks." Okiya stepped past her and entered the room. Kir looked as though she'd been hit by a several semis, but at least she was awake. He shut the door, not letting Jodie in. "What happened?"

"Bourbon disguised himself as Kudo-kun and fooled the FBI agents. The B.O. members knocked us out and carried us to their new hideout." Kir spoke slowly and paused often. "I don't know where it was."

Okiya nodded. That was the usual m.o. of the organization when they captured someone.

**Sera Masumi** Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:01 am

"Did something else happen?" Okiya asked.
"Well... they wanted to know everything about my background and employers." Kir started. "But Masumi-san... She lost her memory I guess, so she was left alone. What I managed to understand about the situation Bourbon made sure no one touched her..."
"I can hear a 'but' coming next."
"She regained her memory and told the FBI my location." The woman took a sharp breath. "And they killed her."

Okiya didn't say anything. The understanding filled his mind slowly. Sera was dead. Killed by them.
He sat down on the nearest chair and buried his face to his palms.

"A-..."
"Don't say anything... Please, don't say anything." The man whispered. Kir turned her head to look out from the window.

"I'm sorry..."

**Kir** Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:17 am

They sat in silence for a while. Kir racked her brain for any motive to why the B.O. would have let her live. It would have been easier for them to kill her than return her to the B.O. She felt herself slipping into unconsciousness again, but managed to rally herself enough to say, "Akai-san . . ."

"What?" he snapped.

"I've been thinking . . . There is . . ." She attempted to keep talking; however, her body wasn't cooperating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okiya watched Kir lapse into unconsciousness again and clenched his fist. It wasn't her fault that his little sister was dead. It looked like Kir had tried to protect her. Getting up, he stormed toward the door, hit the wall with his fist, and stalked out past a startled Jodie, Black, and Camel. "She's unconscious," he said tersely.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Jodie pointed down at his left hand; he looked down and realized that he was bleeding from hitting the wall.

"I'm fine. Just leave me alone." The Black Org was going to have hell to pay.

**Sera Masumi** Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:30 am

"..." Jodie didn't say anything but the expression on her face made Camel as what she was thinking.
"Just... why is he so worried about Masumi-san? When the first kidnapping happened he just said he had talked with her. He appeared and after getting the details he left. Then he appeared to the hospital right after we had got them back and talked with Mizunashi-san and Masumi-san privately. And on the top of all this they didn't want to talk about anything how they originally managed to flee." The woman replied.
"What do you mean?" Black asked.
"There is something more behind the name Okiya Subaru than only a university student who happen to have good reasoning skills."

-- --
Sera woke up. She noticed she was still there, in the living room sleeping on the sofa.
That weird taste must have been from sleeping pills. Why did she use them? Nevermind... She sat up and rubbed her forehead. The head ache was gone.

Someone knocked on the door. Bourbon stepped in. He had a coffee mug again and was smiling.
"Hello! Did you sleep well?"
"Guess so..."
"Come with me. I'll take to the others."
"'kay..."
"Hmm... you need a new name though... How about Secco?"
"Why that name?"
"Not a special reason. I think it suits you."

((Secco is very dry type of vermouth wines. Bourbon chose that name because of Sera's dry attitude and empty eyes... Or something like that...))

**Kir** Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:12 pm

Bourbon led Sera to a training room where several large men waited; he wanted to test her reaction and see if she remembered her Jeet Kune Do skills. After giving them a nod, he walked to a corner of the room and crossed his arms.

One man stepped forward and tried to punch Sera in the face. She instinctively dodged the man's hand and kicked his feet out from beneath him. When a second man tried to attack her from behind, she whirled and blocked the punch, then counter-attacked him.

Good, Bourbon thought, watching the fight, She has quick reflexes and a lot of strength.

**Sera Masumi** Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:27 pm

It felt natural. The way Sera blocked the attacks and made counter-attacks. It was all natural and she didn't even need to think what she was doing. Like her body had moved on its own.

After a while the all men were down and Sera was standing in the middle of the room, breathing heavily. Bourbon walked to her.
"Well, done. I'm impressed about your skills. I knew you were good, but that good. Wow!" The man smiled to her. Sera looked at him and gave a faint smile to him.
"Thank you. I just... don't really know what happened."
"That's okay."

That felt good... Getting rid of frustration... And even the head-ache is staying away... Sera took a deep breath and smiled herself.

**Kir** Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:15 pm

Kir woke up a few hours later when a doctor - she recognized him as the hospital administrator from before - was checking her vitals. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She licked her dry lips and murmured, "Hurts."

"Hurts? Hurts where?"

"Everywhere."

"I'll get you some more pain medicine." He made a few notes on his clipboard. "I also want you to drink some water. I'll ask Black-san to make sure you get some continuously."

She nodded, closing her eyes. I wish I could contact Akai-san and tell him that I'm not exactly sure if Masumi-san is dead . . .

**Sera Masumi** Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:26 am

Okiya sat in his car. He wasn't going anywhere. Where he should have gone? He looked at his left palm that was still bleeding. Sighing, he took a bandage and started to wrap it around the palm.
Was that photo Black hid to his pocket... Was it something related to Masumi? Khh... The organization will pay. First Akemi and now Masumi...

Someone knocked on the window. Jodie. Okiya opened it.
"May I talk?"
"Go ahead. I'm not sure am I listening."

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