Agent 22 [4/?]
The wagon made its rickety way behind Ohno with no little sound of protest. It had to be old, Ohno reckoned, and definitely was past its usefulness. Nino was never one to throw out something that wasn't completely broken, though, and so it was with that wagon that Ohno was sent out of the shop that morning for some extra fruit and vegetables.
The ship was shoving off later that night which gave them one last chance to milk the tourists for all they were worth and given the way they were paying the past few days, they were worth a lot. Delos alone had gotten over two months' pay in tips in the past four days and Ohno didn't even want to think about how much Saphrina had managed to pocket. The weird moans coming from behind the plants were the extent of what he wanted to know about that.
A sharp pain to his right foot brought him back to reality. He'd been thinking so much he almost missed the turn and had slammed his foot into a nearby building. The centrapod that ran the small supply store gave him a dirty look as he nodded his head and went on his way. A small mental note was made so as to avoid that store in the future; that guy never really gave him the time of day.
Two left turns and he was on the right block. He was still a little mad at himself for zoning out like that. It was true that his tendency towards going spacey was a problem he'd been dealing with since his earliest days in the academy (he'd even had to go to extra classes to try and snap him out of it) and he'd thought he'd managed to conquer the instinct. Of course, days off could involve lazing about pretty much anywhere for hours but on mission, he was always fully present. That's how he'd gotten Zeta Class.
He'd start acting like he was on some kind of extended vacation, he'd noticed. That was the only explanation. He spent most of his time zoning out, pouring drinks, and watching Nino glare at facts and figures through the crack in his office door. This was temporary. He had to move along in two weeks. He had to.
"Cutrone for your thoughts?" a voice called from his right. Ohno looked up into the curious eyes of Aiba, still dressed as if he were a character from an old children's story. To add to the effect, he had added what looked like a sword to his belt. Oddly, Ohno thought, it kind of suited him.
"Oh, hi, Aiba," Ohno greeted him, feeling awkwardly open in the street like this. He hadn't seen the Manx in over a week and he had forgotten how easily the man could creep into his sensibilities. Even now he had that inquisitive look on his face that Ohno knew was dangerous to his identity when mixed with Aiba's naturally charming nature. As much as he kind of liked the guy, he'd have to be on his guard.
"Hey, Ota," the other man smiled, sidling up towards him and matching his pace. "I haven't seen you in awhile."
"No, I guess not," Ohno agreed, keeping an eye open for the grocery shop. It would be just like him to walk past it and not notice for twenty minutes.
"How's life over at Nino's treating you?" Aiba asked with a grin, as if he knew something Ohno didn't. "Everything well?"
"Everything's fine," Ohno replied, sort of confused by Aiba's manner. "I'm just at the bar so it's fine."
"Yeah, I don't think Nino would let you be wait staff," Aiba grinned.
"I don't want to be wait staff," Ohno replied, a frown on his face.
"Well, regardless," Aiba shrugged, giving Ohno a look the agent felt he should be able to decipher, "even if you wanted to, I don't think you'd find yourself there."
Ohno frowned but couldn't think of a response to something he wasn't entirely sure he understood so he just kept walking, a slightly confused frown on his face.
"Not biting, huh?" Aiba mused to himself before taking a hop step closer to Ohno and addressing him again. "Make much money off the tourist liner?"
"Yes, actually," Ohno turned to Aiba, a look of curiosity on his face for once. "I was wondering about that."
"Shoot," Aiba invited, a small smile on his face.
"How did you know that pleasure cruiser was going to show up? It just broke down in space; there wasn't any schedule or anything."
Aiba regarded him for a second, tailing twitching behind him in time with the movement of his eyes, looking up and down Ohno. Finally, he gave a small sigh before his face became once again inviting but passive.
"I have my ways," he replied mysteriously, giving Ohno a grin that he'd rather like to wipe off the Manx's face. He hadn't had to deal with many Manxes in his career but they were always written about as being infuriatingly charming and Ohno was feeling that full force. He fleetingly wondered what his team would make of Aiba and suppressed a laugh at the mental image.
"If you say so, Aiba," he shrugged, figuring it wasn't worth the effort and tightening his left hand on the wagon's handle. Aiba returned his nonchalance with a bright grin, as if he had completely turned his mind to happier, less curious things.
"And everything's fine with Nino?" he asked again, with the voice of a giddy schoolgirl. Ohno fixed him with a strange look.
"Yeah, Nino's fine. Everyone's fine," he repeated himself, watching Aiba laugh at some personal joke. "You could come by and see him if you want."
"Oh, I will," Aiba nodded, the remnants of whatever he had found so entertaining shining in his eyes, "but not for a few days. I need to talk to you, anyway."
"Me?" Ohno asked in confusion, feeling like he was missing some whole other side to this conversation. "Can't you just talk to me now?"
"Oh, no," Aiba shook his head quite seriously. "This is talk that won't be important for another 48 hours."
"....oh," Ohno replied. "Well, alright."
"Speaking of which," Aiba looked up and to the right, as if there were something to see other than a rather unexciting section of the station, "I should be going. But I'll see you in 48, Ota."
"Um, yeah," Ohno nodded. "I'll see you."
Aiba dashed off, as if something were waiting for him and Ohno stopped for a second to watch him go. He felt as if a lot had happened in the past five minutes but he had only caught the surface level of it. There was something about Aiba that Ohno just didn't understand and although his agent training told him to delve deeper into it, his deeper, Ohno-ness told him to just let it go. And the first thing they did learn in academy was to go with your instincts.
Ohno shrugged and gave a small heave of the basket, an eye open for the grocery store.
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"Tell us more about the freighter," Saphrina slurred, shaking her Martian cocktail in Ohno's face, the alcohol splashing out of the glass as one of her many arms tried to wipe up the mess and the other three flailed about with her words. Ohno leaned back a little at the outburst but not too much, the alcohol long since having put a strange hold on his reflexes.
"What about it?" he asked honestly, fixing her with an inquiring look that seemed to stop Saphrina's tongue. She sat back for a second to think of what she did want to know about the past of Ota Toshiro. Apparently, she wasn't quite sure.
It had been Saphrina's idea in the first place to have this party. The pleasure cruiser had shipped out a few hours earlier and so she proposed to close the place a little early for a little celebratory/Welcome Ota staff party. Nino was normally opposed to the idea of wasting alcohol on staff who didn't pay for it but when even Delos had pressed him, mentioning that Ota had been there for over a week now and they had never properly welcomed him, he had relented, on the condition that if too much was consumed, it was coming out of their paychecks. They had agreed, knowing by the duck of Nino's head that this was the one night he wouldn't actually be checking how much they drank.
"Did you really not have any friends who noticed that they left you on our God-forsaken station?" Delos asked, a little more chatty with some alcohol in him. Ohno considered this for a second, trying to think of what Ota would say. When an answer didn't come to him, he shrugged and said the first thing that popped into his head.
"I guess not."
It was so earnest that Saphrina burst into giggles at the remark, spilling the remainder of her drink on Delos to her right. The centrapod didn't seem to mind, though, just sparing a sideways glance at the Alainn before turning back to the conversation.
"Someone must have noticed," an emphatic voice sounded from Ohno's right. Nino clutched a small glass of beer in his hand and he looked completely serious as he looked up into Ohno's eyes. Noticing the question in them, he just nodded, as if he agreed to something Ohno wasn't sure he was asking.
"Bossman doesn't normally drink," Saphrina whispered loudly across the table. "Says it's bad for his constitution. I think he just says that cause he's a lightweight."
"Oi," Nino frowned, giving Saphrina a hurt look that just caused her to laugh again. "i just don't think it's right to drink on the job."
"Or ever," Delos finished and Nino just glared, curling inward on himself in his chair. Ohno shot him a concerned look (he was almost falling off at this point) but Nino didn't seem to notice, concentrating on balancing.
"I need another drink," Saphrina noticed and excused herself to make her way towards the bar. Delos backed up a little to accommodate her and she stumbled her way across the floor.
"Aren't you happy you came here, Ota?" the centrapod gave him a sympathetic smile and Ohno couldn't help but return it. Delos didn't speak much, it wasn't in his nature, but he seemed to have taken a liking to Ohno and he appreciated it.
"Of course he's happy," Nino replied, words slurring together ever so slightly as he leaned over to Ohno, slumping against his right shoulder. "I'm sure I pay him better than that stupid freighter ever did." He looked up at Ohno for confirmation.
"Oh, er, yeah," Ohno nodded, not able to give those big, brown eyes an answer they didn't want to hear. "Much better."
Nino grinned, ear to ear, and snuggled against his arm in response, a mumbled 'thought so' pressed into his sleeve.
"Bossman also gets touchy-feely the more he drinks," Delos informed him over the table, a sideways grin on the centrapod's face. Ohno nodded through reddening cheeks.
"He gets cuddly," Saphrina agreed, sitting back down, "but not that cuddly." She fixed Ohno with a grin that he didn't really want to think too much about. He hastily tried to change the subject.
"So how did you end up here, Saphrina?" The Alainn considered the question for a second before shrugging.
"Found myself at the station a few years ago without enough pocket change and more than enough history. Bossman took me in and I never felt a reason to leave." She followed the statement with a small, affectionate smile towards Nino and a swig from her new glass.
"That's pretty much all of our stories," Delos agreed. "You don't really go looking for this; Ninomiya's finds you and then you just .... stay."
Ohno couldn't say he disagreed with this logic. It made sense. As weird as this place was, it was beginning to kind of feel like home, in a strange, strange way.
He turned his attention to the lump at his side, intending to ask Nino his story, before being faced with the slumbering visage of his boss. He shot a look over to Delos and Saphrina, curious what to do with a sleeping Nino, but both of them just shrugged, a kind of barely contained laughter on their lips.
"I think you need another drink, Ota," Saphrina finally suggested and Ohno couldn't find a reason to turn it down. He hadn't drunk this much since his cadet days and Saphrina, despite not working the bar, was very good at mixing drinks Ohno would never have thought of.
He reached down to readjust Nino so that the boy looked more comfortable, head slumped onto Ohno's chest as the agent reached forward to take the Magma Saphrina was offering him. Nino sighed in his sleep and clutched at the fabric of shirt and Ohno blamed the extra fluttering in his belly to the liquor.
-------
There was a lump in his bed; it was the first thing Ohno noticed upon waking up. It was soft and warm and slumped on top of him so much that he was having the slightest trouble breathing. Instinct kicked in and was instantly awake, scanning the room for potential trouble. Seeing nothing in his immediate eyesight, he turned his eyes down to the weight on his chest.
Nino was still passed out, hair mussed about his face and mouth open ever so slightly, light snores audible every ten or so seconds. He was still in his clothes from the night before as was Ohno, he noticed a moment later. He didn't remember coming to bed the night before and he definitely did not remember Nino joining him.
A hand unconsciously tugged at Ohno's collar, pulling him back down to the bed. Even asleep, Nino apparently ran the show. Despite his confusion as to how he got himself into this position, Ohno's final diagnosis was that it wasn't a horrible place to be and so, contented with this, he slung an arm around Nino's waist and went back to sleep.
-------
"Have you seen this man?"
Sakurai held up the photograph to the fiftieth person since they got to the planet. Jun was beginning to think this was a hopeless endeavor. Even though they had proof that Ohno had visited this planet before, they had yet to find a witness. If they couldn't find anyone on the first stop of their little tour, there was little hope of this mission being a success.
Sakurai was determined, though, and had stopped almost every man in every bar in the port city. Jun was being very careful to hide his growing lack of motivation but he had a feeling his senior knew what was going on. He'd told Jun that he could wait back at the hotel three times already that day but Jun never turned back. Why did he come if he wasn't going to be any help? At the very least, he was emotional support.
This barkeep leaned forward to get a better view of the picture and Sakurai's breath caught for a second in anticipation. Did they finally find a--
"No, sorry, boys," the man shook his head. "Wish I could help you but can't say I recognize him."
"Thanks, anyway," Sakurai replied politely through thinly veiled disappointment. He slumped ever so slightly and came over to join Jun at the counter.
"Sorry," Jun offered but Sakurai shook his head.
"It's okay. We'll find someone that's seen Ohno at some point. I know we will."
Jun didn't respond; he didn't know if he had anything positive to say.
The two sat in silence for awhile. Sakurai ordered a drink and sipped quietly, mind thousands of miles away. Jun's mind, meanwhile, was on the strange instrument in his pocket.
It wasn't until they were getting up to leave that they heard a small voice calling to them from further in the bar.
"You guys asking about that Ohno character?"
Sakurai looked up quickly, eyes darting around the room to find the source of the noise. He spotted a youngish man, dressed roughly, waving at them from one of the booths. Without even sparing a backward glance to Jun, he headed over. Jun rolled his eyes, following Sakurai.
"Have you seen him?" Sakurai didn't mince words as he sat down. The man looked both ways quickly and nodded.
"'Bout three weeks ago. He was here with a couple of other guys, real agent-types. Looked like they were on some kind of mission."
"Captain wasn't on mission," Jun thought aloud but Sakurai shushed him.
"Anyway, him and the other guys came in here to get a drink one night. I didn't think much of it. The only reason I remember your guy is because the others kept teasing him, calling him weak-willed or something."
"Do you know what their mission was, by any chance?" Sakurai asked, eyes hopeful.
"Sorry," the man scratched the back of his head. "They never did mention that, as far as I could tell. But the fact that they didn't say also kind of seemed fishy to me. I don't know. You guys probably know more than I do."
"Is that all?" Jun asked dryly, not really liking what this information implied.
"That's it," the man nodded. He paused for a second before grinning widely. "What do I get for giving you guys the goods?"
Jun sighed, eyes widening when he saw Sakurai opening his wallet.
"What are you doing?" he hissed under his breath. "You're paying this lowlife?"
"He gave us information," Sakurai shrugged, handing the man a few cutrones. "Thank you so much," he added at a regular tone. The man nodded and dashed off, not looking back.
"So now we know what?" Jun asked. "That Captain was here?"
"He was doing something," Sakurai replied. "And there were other agents, apparently. Funny. It doesn't mention that in the report."
"I think there might be quite a few things that aren't in the report," Jun frowned and Sakurai nodded.
"Well, onto the next?"
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I know this took awhile but at least we have some mysterious!Aiba and ohmiya? Hope you like~ ♥