Agent 22 [2/?]
Once his hands had healed, Ohno found himself doing more chores around the cafe. Nothing that forced him to interact directly with the customers, much to his gratitude, but pretty much anything that entered Nino's head was fair game. He'd dealt with laundry, dishes, spills, and almost anything that Nino didn't particularly want to do. He was grateful that Busboy was around, so that at the very least he didn't have to pick up broken glasses. He didn't trust himself not to cut himself. Blasters he wasn't worried about but he'd cut himself on slivers of glass enough times in his life to know that it wasn't his strong suit.
It was good that his hands had healed after only three days because he was beginning to wonder how long Nino would be able to tolerate a cripple on his workforce. Even Ohno knew that he was basically useless those first few days but he had a reenforced immune system from the academy and S-spray and gaf had really been all he needed. When Nino regarded him with raised eyebrows as he appeared downstairs without his hands bandaged on the third day, he tried to explain it off as good genes and a knack for burning his hands from previous engine work. Nino shrugged it off but Ohno wasn't entirely sure he believed it. He had to be careful around Nino; the boy was actually rather quick on the uptake and giving him too much information could be dangerous.
He had been cleaning up a small spill on the countertop when Saphrina found him that morning. One of her arms reached around to tap him on the shoulder and he looked up into her too blue eyes. He still wasn't used to that; he had never actually met an Alainn before her and there was something really unsettling in the way her piercing blue eyes actually seemed to pierce whatever they looked at. He will tell her that a few nights later with a few drinks in him and she'll laugh it off but never quite look at him the same way.
"Bossman wants you," she said, nodding towards the back corner of the entrance area, where Nino's office was located. Ohno made a questioning face and she picked up on his inquiry. "No idea," she shrugged. "Maybe he wants you to clean the windows or something?" Her eyes narrowed and she smirked. "Or maybe you're going to join the wait staff."
Everyone here was mean, Ohno decided mentally. Or, at the very least, much too used to teasing each other.
Nino barely looked up when he entered his office, signing what looked to be an awful large stack of paperwork. Ohno found it odd that out in this corner of space, most of the business was still done on paper. In more civilized parts of the galaxy, like his home planet Tokyu for example, everything had been transferred over to electronics centuries ago. He had only seen paper before as one of those weird relics that his mom liked to collect.
"Sit down," the younger man gestured at the chair on the other side of the room. Ohno shuffled over, kind of collapsing into the padded leather that seemed to engulf him. It was a nice chair but worn, probably having been used for a couple centuries at least. It reminded him of this entire place: nice at one time but much too used.
With a flourish of the pen, Nino signed one last sheet and set it on top of the ever growing pile on the right side of his desk. What all of that could be for, Ohno couldn't even imagine. Was he buying a new building to upgrade? Hiring new staffers? Doing some kind of taxes? He still wasn't sure what paper was used for and how important the work done on it was. His wondering was cut short, however, when Nino put the pen down and finally looked in his direction.
"I need to get groceries," he said simply and Ohno blinked. All that build up for groceries?
"Okay," he nodded in response.
"I need to get a lot of groceries," Nino expanded, "and I don't have enough arms or a big enough cart to bring it all back. So you're coming with me to help."
"Oh, alright," Ohno agreed. "We're going down to Central, like when you ran into me that first time?"
"Um, something like that," Nino frowned. "But not as hectic and you bumped into me."
Ohno let it go; Nino was the boss, after all.
"Anyways, be downstairs at 13:00. I have a little bit more to do here before we leave."
Ohno nodded and ducked out the door, missing Nino reaching down to a desk drawer and grabbing yet another stack of paperwork. It was probably for the best; he would have only spent the rest of the afternoon wondering about that as well.
-------
The more he looked around, the more the place wormed into him. Ohno was used to sterilized environments, the cool clean lines of the academy or the efficient geometry embodied in every building on Tokyu. Although his own home had been often called "rustic," it was nothing compared to the space station.
It had probably been very state of the art when it was built. There was the feeling of past greatness in the sign posts, in the many grey boxes that seemed to line the ceiling (although Nino had assured him that they were homes when he had asked, seeming amused that Ohno knew nothing of space stations; in truth, he'd only been on a few and none longer than to file a report or chase down a criminal) but along with the the buildings that had obviously been there since its launch, something about the place seemed to be crumbling. There was no pristine feeling like on Tokyu; if there had once been, it had long since faded.
Despite all that, however, there was something that this space station had that Ohno had never felt at the academy or at home. There was something comfortable, something lovingly used that he had never experienced. People came and went through Tokyu; people lived here.
"We're turning, spacecadet," Nino nudged him, dislodging him from his thoughts. Sure enough, Nino was turning down a side street and Ohno had been heading forward. He took a quick hopstep to follow the slighter man down the back road; Nino chuckled in response.
"Anything in particular so absorbing that you can't remember directions?" Nino wasn't looking at him, eyes darting about the street as if looking for a landmark but there was a weight of attention bearing down on Ohno's shoulders. Nino was strange like that; even when he was focused on something else, he was also still focused on you.
"Just taking in the station," Ohno shrugged, knocking his right knee into the back of the cart accidently. "I've never been on one for very long. It's kind of weird. I still don't get how people live on the ceiling."
"Like I told you," Nino sighed, although not sounding very annoyed to be repeating himself, "the center of gravity is in the very center of the station, so it pushes outward equally on all parts. If you just keep walking forward for a really long time, you'll make a full loop. At one point, you'll even be on the 'ceiling'."
"....that's just so weird," Ohno shrugged and Nino laughed good-naturedly. Of course, Ohno understood how the principles of gravity worked on space stations on paper and Zeta Class Captain Ohno Satoshi never would have spent so much time puzzling it out but Ota Toshiro could be as mystified by it as he actually was.
"I thought freighters took days to refuel at stations," Nino threw out, pulling something out of his pocket and consulting it before making another right hand turn.
"Oh yeah," Ohno agreed, frowning at a nearby store that seemed to be selling questionably legal goods. Oh well, he didn't have to worry about things like that anymore. "At least four days for the big ones."
"Then how come you haven't been on a station for long before?"
The question was innocent but Ohno saw his misstep. Broog, he was getting too comfortable. A week ago, he wouldn't have made that stupid of a mistake.
"Don't leave the ships much," Ohno shrugged, trying to look unassuming. "Never had much interest in exploring the stations."
Nino nodded, a thoughtful look on his face but Ohno was unsettled. Nino wasn't dumb; he bought Ohno's story for now but he couldn't keep handling everything so haphazardly or else the boy would catch on. The bounty on his head must be huge by now, if they still thought he was alive. Nino could definitely use the money, if not every occupant of this floating scrap hill.
"We're here," Nino announced not long after, pulling up in front of what looked like an ordinary grocer's. It was run down (but what wasn't here?) and the sign reading "Galaxy's Best!" in fading gold letters hung sideways but the windows were clean and Nino walked in without a backwards glance. Ohno hurried to follow suit.
There was kind of a strange smell inside but the food looked fresh, or as fresh as it could be, considering he didn't think there was anywhere to process food on the station, meaning the food was probably shipped in from a nearby system. Ohno wasn't entirely sure where the nearest system was. He stomached that thought by remembering he'd eaten worse in his life.
"You there, Trax?" Nino called into the depths of the store. The man looked rather unfazed by the surrounding atmosphere but that was probably because he'd been here before. His foot tapped lightly on the tile floor, making pinging sounds with every breath.
"Where else would I be, Nino?" a melodious voice called back, a shadow moving towards them from a back room that Ohno hadn't noticed before. Nino rolled his eyes as the figure took its time getting to them. There was a slight click of claws on tile and so Ohno wasn't too surprised when another Manx walked into the light of the store. He was smaller than Aiba, with short blond hair and a longer tail but he was unmistakably one of those smoother talkers. "How can I help you, dear friend?"
"Cut the crap, Trax. I don't have time to deal with you right now." Nino held the scrap from his pocket out to the Manx. "Can you fill this order or not?"
"Let me see," the Manx smiled, eyes scanning the page and Ohno suddenly felt that the creepiness of the shop came not so much from the place itself than its owner. Whereas Aiba inspired confidence with his kind, if self-serving, words, this Trax seemed to be working on a whole other level. It was unnerving and he unconsciously took a closed stance.
"Nino," Trax drawled, giving the man a lazy smile that caused Ohno to take a step closer to his employer, "why do you ever doubt me? Give me two minutes, you pretty little thing." And with one more sleazy glance, he returned to the back room.
"Is he--?" Ohno started but Nino put a hand up, shaking his head.
"Not now. I'll explain after we leave."
Ohno wanted to know now, have an idea how he should be dealing with this situation but Nino was the one in charge so he nodded and took a step backwards, despite keeping a hard eye on the doorway Trax had disappeared behind.
"Protective much?" Nino shot him a small smile. This might be a little out of character for Ota but Ohno didn't care; he was on edge.
"Just don't like the guy," he muttered under his breath, trying to at least release the tension in his arms. It probably looked like he was going to take him out when the Manx came back; he wasn't, of course, but it was comforting to know he could if he wanted to.
"No one does," Nino shrugged, his tone lighthearted but his eyes on the doorway. "But he's the only one in town that can handle an order that size. And of that ... specialty." Ohno raised an eyebrow but Nino didn't say anymore. Maybe he didn't want to know.
Trax reappeared a few minutes later, wiping something off his hands and onto his pants, looking a little put out but quickly slathering on his greasy smile.
"You're all set, lovebug," he addressed Nino and Ohno felt dislike course through him. "I sent some of it ahead with one of my kids so we don't creep out your new errand boy." He nodded towards Ohno and Ohno frowned. "The rest is in your cart."
"Thanks, Trax," Nino nodded, although he didn't look particularly thankful.
"Don't thank me, honeypuff," Trax shrugged. "Thank your friend Aiba who tipped me off you'd be coming in. And your pretty face, of course."
"Thanks, Trax," Nino repeated, as no nonsense as possible. "I'll make sure you get your payment the usual way."
"Looking forward to it," the Manx smiled lazily, a look in his eyes that Ohno didn't like. Before he could think too hard about it, though, Nino had grabbed his wrist and tugged him out of the shop.
"What did you mean by 'his payment'?" Ohno asked, blinking at the standardized lighting that hit his eyes.
"That would fall under the category of "Things You Don't Want to Know About," Sunshine," Nino winked at him, although there was something in his eyes that Ohno wasn't comfortable with. He turned a corner around the shop to find his cart loaded up with boxes that Ohno couldn't identify. He hoped it was food inside them. Nino nodded at the cart and Ohno caught on, grabbing the handles and yanking to get the momentum he needed to start the thing rolling. Nino waited a second before walking beside him, directing them back to a main road that would lead back to the cafe.
"So," Ohno started after a few minutes of walking in silence, "are you going to tell me what that was all about?"
"I wasn't planning on it," Nino answered honestly. "I suppose after being creeped out by Trax, though, you deserve a little bit of an explanation." He paused to make sure Ohno was following as he took a left.
"Aiba tipped me off yesterday that a pleasure cruiser was going to be stopping off here in the next few days."
"Why would a pleasure cruiser stop here?" Ohno frowned. "I mean, I didn't think those things even stopped in this part of the galaxy."
"It's going to break in hyperspace," Nino shrugged. "This is the closest place to get repairs for a ship that size."
"Wait, it's going to break?" Ohno asked. Nino nodded. "But how do you know?"
"Aiba has his ways," Nino laughed, not offering anymore than that. Not for the first time, Ohno began to wonder about his mysterious savior. "The important thing is to be prepared for it. That's a lot of new customer potential, at least for the next few days."
"So we just bought...?"
"Supplies," Nino returned, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. "Can't be caught unprepared for these kinds of things. This could be very good for business, if those 'pleasure seekers' live up to their name."
-------
"What's up, Sakurai?" Jun asked, jogging up the older agent's booth. He'd gotten a message from the second in command earlier that evening, requesting his presence at the cafeteria. He knew that Sakurai must be changing it up because he figured something out; there was probably already a spy at the library by now. The higher ups thought Captain was dead but that didn't mean they wouldn't keep an eye on the remaining members of his old team.
"Sit," Sakurai nodded towards the seat across from him, taking a sideways glance to see if there were any other cadets near them. The older man was much better at surveillance than Jun had ever been, years more experience, but Jun was pretty sure that there were no spies in the cafeteria, despite the fact that Sakurai was being kept under heavy watch. Maybe it was just his naivete but surely they could eat in peace?
"I need you to do me a favor, Matsumoto," Sakurai turned back to him, a very serious expression on his face. Jun felt himself lean back a bit, surprised at the sudden intensity.
"Yes, of course," he nodded. "You know I will. What do you need?"
Sakurai sighed softly, the look of the weary gracing his features before he pulled what looked like paper out of his back pocket.
"Where did you get paper?" Jun asked, confused. He was pretty sure the only paper left on Tokyu was in the archives somewhere. Sakurai just smiled fondly at the sheet, as if it were an old friend.
"Let's just say I have my sources. If I had made notes on my B, it would have been traceable." He put the paper down on the table between them and spread it out, so that Jun could make out the scrawl that Sakurai had covered it in.
"Now, this is the best I can make out the last few days Captain was on record. He was detained on Alpha 4 and transported as far as quadrant seven before they lost tracking on him."
"Yeah, I've read the report, too," Jun nodded, trying not to sound too annoyed at this lack of new information. "They lost tracking of him in quadrant seven, despite the fact that he had to still be on ship. And then when they got to Omega 83, he disappeared completely. HS7 units managed to catch up with him on some freighter bound for Alpha Centra 54F but he disintegrated when they fired their blasters at him."
"Yes, yes, that's what it says in the official report," Sakurai nodded impatiently. "But what if that were wrong? What if Captain managed to get out when the freighter was stopped over at that way station? He could still be alive."
"Unlikely," Jun blinked. "HS7 may be fresh out of the academy but I believe them when they say they saw his ashes. I know it's hard to think of the Captain like that but..."
"But what if they just think they saw his ashes?" Sakurai rejoined. "Ohno's been an agent for longer than those kids, longer than you, longer than me. I bet he can fake a death and HS7 would be none the wiser."
"Sakurai," Jun tried, feeling really sorry for his senior. He knew how hard this must be for him but being in denial couldn't possibly help.
"Don't give me that tone," Sakurai frowned at him. "I know how I sound and I know what you're thinking. But I've been with the Captain for way too long to think that it's just over like this. Which is why I'm following him."
"You're what?"
"I'm going to retrace his steps, see if I find something HS7 missed. They're still kids; it's entirely possible. And if I do find Ohno, I'm going to bring him back, so that we can get through this mess and get him back in the field. He's the best agent M-Net has in active service. I refuse to believe he's a traitor."
Jun just stared at his senior in disbelief. This was crazy, risky and dangerous, let alone the fact that it was enough to get the older man court-martialed himself. He knew how close Sakurai and the Captain were but to go to these lengths?
"I'm not asking you to do much," Sakurai continued, obviously trying to ignore what must have been a look of shock on Jun's face. "All I need from you is a good cover. Come up with something for why I'm gone so that they don't question you too badly. I'll try to make the trip as quickly as possible. At the very least, give me a good head start."
"I can't do that," Jun shook his head, mentally cursing himself for his stupid loyal nature. "The Captain was my Captain, too. I can't let you go alone."
"I need back up, Matsumoto," Sakurai's voice was stern. "You might not be a rookie anymore but you're nowhere near rank enough to get out of this unscathed. This is foolish for me but it would be suicide for you. Your only job is to make sure I make it out of here with enough time to get to the Beta Quadrant."
"I'm standing firm," Jun shook his head, still inwardly confused as to why he was doing this. "We're a team, the three of us. What use would I be if I gave up when the going got tough? Toma's trustworthy; he can be our alibi."
Sakurai sat across from the younger man, seeming to size him up with a dark stare. Jun tried to puff himself up, make himself look trustworthy and ready for action. This was about loyalty and duty, two things he prided himself on. If they were going to get back the Captain, he was coming, too.
"Fine," Sakurai sighed. "Tell Ikuta that we're leaving in two days. I still need to get supplies and that should give the two of you enough time to come up with a good story. Meet me at the docks at 0600 in two days." And with that, the older man abruptly rose from the table, making his way out of the cafeteria without a backwards glance.
Jun watched him go, wondering if he just made the biggest mistake of his life.
~
Sorry about the delay; Midterms ate me. Glossary is up here and will be updated as needed. Enjoy! ♥