Tokyo Tower

I shouldn't feel responsible for her. She chose to follow this path, Rena thought with a frown. However, her conscience tugged at her. I'd want someone to protect Ei-chan if he were in the same mess. And if the B.O. caught the girl, she could reveal everything she found out. Then she and Agent Akai would be dead. Well, maybe not Akai-san.

One, they could pretend to kill her. But that probably wouldn't work the second time.

Two, Masumi-san could stop contacting her and lay low. The B.O. would stop watching her if she didn't do anything. Of course if she was anything like a certain FBI agent, there was no way she would do that.

Third, Masumi-san could go back to America and lay low. The FBI might be able to protect her. But would she accept? Ei-chan didn't.

Rena sighed, rubbing her forehead, and then reached for her phone. Dialing a number, she waited until a man picked up. "Yes?" He had a very American accent.

"Jim, please," she said tersely in English. Usually she would never ask for Agent Black in that way, but she was in a hurry.

There was a pause, and James Black's surprised voice came on. "Mizunashi-san? What is it?"

"It's the sister of a mutual acquaintance. She needs some help."

For a minute Sera thought about sending a message to Mizunashi, thank her about everything and tell thay could not keep contact anymore.

"But maybe she has already realized it..." Sera put her cell phone in the table and sat on the floor, right next to the window.

At the times like this... I really hope I could go back in the time.

---
Sera changed her clothes and left the hotel. This time she was wearing her usual boyish clothes but still made sure her hat was shadowing her eyes.
"Only a walk around Haido Park. Nothing else..."

Vermouth smirked as she watched the boyish-looking girl pass her in the lobby and walk toward Haido Park. Not a bad disguise, but still nothing compared to mine. Setting the newspaper that she'd been reading aside, she held her hand up to her ear and said softly, "Target walking toward Haido Park. Wearing blue jeans, brown jacket, dark fedora."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Black agreed to take Masumi-san under FBI custody, Rena hung up the phone and sighed. Hopefully the girl would have the good sense to agree to go with the agents and get out of danger. I can't do anything more for you, Masumi-san. My hands are tied.

Sera walked around the park aimlessly. She had a feeling someone was following her -or at least keeping an eye on her- but for some reason didn't care about it.

Luckily there is this much people here. If something happens there'll be a lot of witnesses... But also the possibility for someone to be from the organization is bigger... She thought as she observed the surroundings.
Suddenly her cell phone rang. Sera stopped and picked it up.

"Hello?"
"Masumi-san?" The caller was Jodie.
"Yes..." Sera answered and also thought where that woman had gotten her number.
"Where are you?"
"In Haido Park. Why?"
"What!? You know very well that-"
"I know what?" Sera interrupted. Jodie paused, surprised about the icy tone in the girl's voice. "Do not dare to boss me around. I do know what I'm doing."

----
Jodie stood quiet. She was relieved that she wasn't talking to the girl face to face.
She surely resembles her brother... I can imagine those same words coming from Shuu's mouth... Or at least he'd tell it by his stare...

Finally, Jodie cleared her throat. "A mutual acquaintance seen on television asked us to offer the witness protection program to you. The organization is slowly closing in and she feels that you are in great danger."

There was a pause. "I would have to break all ties with friends and relatives, correct?"

"Right. You would be given a new identity, a new life," Jodie replied, wondering what the girl was thinking.

Sera's grip around her phone tightened a bit and she gritted her teeth.

"There is no use to back-up now. If I give up at this point I'll regret it the rest of my life."
"I'm not asking you to give up anything-"
"Except my current life. I have already gone through it once. I don't want it to happen again."
"..."
"Besides... I'm already so deep in this mess that it's impossible to act like nothing has happened."

Jodie slowly closed her eyes and blew out her breath. "Could you do me a favor and put my phone number on your speed dial? At least this way you'll have a way to contact me quickly."

"Fine, I will. Although I don't see what good that will do." Sera sighed.

"At the least, it will make me feel better." Jodie looked up and saw Black tapping his watch. "I need to go. Please keep me posted." She flipped her phone shut and walked to her boss. "What is it?"

"Mizunashi contacted me again. The Black Org is planning to attempt a similar kind of assassination like they did with Yasuteru Domon," the older man replied. "It's set at 1500 in two days."

Jodie nodded as she recalled the botched assassination attempt that had allowed them to capture Mizunashi in the first place. "I'm surprised they would use that plan again."

"Their back-up plan is different, but they believe that the only thing that went wrong with the first one is that it started to rain. These next few days will be sunny with no chance of rain."

"Where will the assassination take place?"

Sera pocketed her cell phone after saving the FBI agent's number. She looked around in the park and walked to the nearest bench. The sun shone nicely on her face.

I wonder... What will happen next... She closed her eyes and leaned behind. A lot of people walked past her, chattering happily. Kids, adults, men, women. All kind of people.

With nothing big to worry about...

"At the Beika Center Building," Black replied, spreading out a map. "Mizunashi will be interviewing a prominent businessman."

Bending over it, Jodie quickly found the area. "I'll scout out the place and find the quickest routes. Have you contacted the businessman's company?"

"Yes, both Kudo and I did, but we were laughed off. Apparently they are used to death threats and warnings," Black said, handing her a small folder. "Here is all the information that we could gather on the target."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rena sighed as she scanned the research that the Black Org. had prepared for her. She hated assassinations, but they were necessary to continue her cover in the group. I wonder . . . when I get out, will I still have a soul?

Slipping the information in her bag, she began researching the man on her work computer; it wouldn't look good if she suddenly had a lot of information about him, but hadn't looked him up herself.

Evening was coming. The sun was starting to set. Sera opened her eyes.

Did I fell asleep?

She rose up and looked around. The most of the people were already gone but there still were some. The same who had been there when she had come.
"Seven... Pretty much..." She mumbled.

To think they see me as this big threat... Sera almost smirked while thinking that but kept her poker face on and headed to the shadows of the trees nearby.

Rena waved good-bye to her colleagues as she left the television headquarters, the B.O.'s research and her own research tucked in her bags. Tonight she would begin preparing the questions and then get them submitted for approval tomorrow.

As she started driving home, her phone rang and she glanced at the identification number. Gin. Reaching over, she answered it. "Yes?"

"There's been a change in plans. The assassination will take place tomorrow at 0400. And you're going to pull the trigger."

Sera heard a silent whisper behind her. Someone was talking to his phone. In English.

"Okay, tomorrow 2pm? And Mizunashi will do it? Roger that-" The line sounded like it had been cut in the middle way but Sera wasn't sure. She turned around carefully but didn't see anyone.

That person is probably behind the trees and doesn't see me right now. She thought and took her phone from her pocket. She sneaked more deep in the shadows before choosing Jodie's number. The woman answered immediately.

"Hello? Masumi-chan?"
"Is something happening soon? Something you are already aware?"
"Yes, in a few days..."
"That's false information. Something will happen tomorrow at 2pm." Sera explained quickly.
"What? How do you know?"
"I'm still at Haido Park and some guys have been shadowing me. A moment ago one of them got a call and I happened to hear what he was saying..."
"Did-, did you hear anything else?"
"The one who will do that something is Mizunashi and-" Sera heard a little snap behind her and paused. She turned around quickly to see a man standing in front of her. The man who looked just like her brother but had a burnmark on his right cheek. "You..."
"Masumi-san?"

Sera was frozen still. It was a mistake. Without any hesitation the man took several steps forward and pushed the girl against the nearest tree, pressing a cloth on her mouth and nose. Sera was surprised how fast everything happened. She had had no time to react at all.

"You... imposter..." She mumbled before the darkness filled her vision and she collapsed on the ground.
"Masumi-san? What happened? Masumi-san!?" Jodie's shout was heard from the phone when the man picked it up and hung up the call.

The Akai imposter picked the limp girl up and smirked toward the trees. "Nice bit of misinformation, Vermouth."

"Did you like that?" Vermouth emerged from the trees, clicking her phone shut. "I thought that the time change was perfect."

"The FBI won't know what hit them when they realize that the businessman is getting murdered at 4 am instead of 2 pm." The kidnapper carried Masumi-kun to a nearby black car, and bound and gagged her so she couldn't move, and then stuck her in the trunk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What? Masumi-san has been kidnapped??" Shinichi snapped, sitting up from where he was enjoying a Sherlock Holmes mystery at Dr. Agasa's house.

"Yes, just a few minutes ago while talking on the phone with Jodie. We've placed an anonymous tip to the police, but since it was the Black Org, we're pretty sure that they're not going to find anything. Can you come to the Beika Hotel?" Black-san asked.

"I'll be there." Shinichi grabbed his jacket, scribbled a note, and ran out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rena glanced at her watch. Since she was supposed to go to the B.O. headquarters at 2 am, she decided to go to bed early. Although she was used to having crazy hours, being up that early was still brutal.

Sera opened her eyes. For a moment she thought them were still cloed but realized then that it was pitch black around. She tried to lift her head to better position but couldn't. She felt too dizzy and tired. Her hands and feet were tied with something and even her mouth was covered with a piece of tape.

What happened? Where am I? She closed her eyes since it was no use to keep them open.

How long time Sera laid there, she didn't know. She only managed to figure out that she was inside a car trunk. And that the car was going somewhere.

Brother... Mayde I wasn't aware enough... I should have been more careful... She fell asleep.

On his way to the hotel, Shinichi called Okiya-san. When the man answered, Shinichi quickly filled him in on the details.

Okiya-san didn't respond for a moment except for heavy breathing. When he did, Shinichi could hear the anger in his voice. "I'll be at the hotel."

"Okiya-san, are you sure? It's too early to reveal yourself."

"She's my sister. Of course I'm going to be at the hotel. Just as Okiya-san." The man hung up before Shinichi could respond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sera woke up when the car finally stopped and the engine cut off. Sera heard a car door slam shut, and then the trunk lid popped open, revealing darkness. A hand reached down and tape covered her eyes and earplugs were put in. They must not want me to know where they are, Sera thought as someone hoisted her over his or her shoulder and carried her away. She tried to use her nose to sniff the air, but could only smell gasoline, oil, and a hot car engine.

We must be in some sort of parking lot . . .

A bit of mumbling, light coming through the tape, more smells... That was all Sera could sense. Her head hung limply and her body felt still tired and powerless.

What was that drug in the cloth? It didn't smell at all so it wasn't chloroform...

The person, who carried Sera, was still walking and didn't seem to slow down at all.
He is not tired... Must be trained well. I'm not the most light one.

Sera heard a door opening and closing. Then she was put on the ground/floor but wasn't allowed to sit. She heard some more mumbling but then the door opened and closed again.

Silence... Did they leave this room? Or only the other one?

Shinichi saw Black-san and Jodie-sensei standing in the hotel lobby, worried looks on their faces. "What happened?" the high school detective asked, skidding to a stop.

"Masumi-san apparently was in Haido Park when I called her. She relayed information concerning an assassination, and then I heard sounds of scuffling and the phone dropping. When I called out to her, someone hung up," Jodie-sensei replied. "The police are searching the area."

A car pulled up to the curb outside the hotel, and Shinichi saw Okiya-san leap out of the vehicle and dash into the lobby. The man spotted them and came over, his normally calm face agitated.

Jodie-sensei frowned. "Okiya-san? Why is he here?"

"Yesterday I talked with the girl who was kidnapped ," Okiya-san explained. "Besides, I am very good at investigations."

"Do you remember anything else?" Shinichi asked the teacher/FBI agent.

Jodie-sensei nodded. "Masumi-san mumbled, 'You imposter' before the connection was terminated."

Shinichi glanced at Okiya-san and knew that both were thinking the same thing. The burnt Akai imposter had probably kidnapped Masumi-san.

"What kind of information Sera-san managed to tell you?" Okiya asked then.

"She told that the time of an assasination has changed. She told it was heard from someone who had been following her." Jodie explained.

Okiya stayed quiet for a moment but said then: "It was probably a trap for her. To see if she has any connections forward. There is no reason for the organization to let someone outsider to hear information that is true. Especially if they see the outsider as any kind of a threat."

"But some bits of that information might be true. In order to make it sound real." Shinichi added. "What exactly did she say?"

---
The door opened again. Someone grabbed the front of Sera's jacket and lifted her up. The earplugs were taken off and the tape over her mouth was ripped away. But she still wasn't allowed to see anything.

"Okay, tell me... Who the hell are you?" An icy male voice said. The voice stood calm but was filled with fury.

"She said that something was going to happen at 2 pm and that Mizunashi was going do to it," Jodie-sensei replied.

Shinichi frowned, thinking deeply, then looked at Okiya-san. The other man replied, "It's probably true that Mizunashi-san is going to do it. There would be no reason for them to lie. If Sera-san hadn't known about Mizunashi-san or the organization, she would have ignored the phone call."

"Wait, how do you know about this organization? And that Mizunashi-san is a part of them?" Jodie-sensei snapped.

"I told him already," Shinichi intervened. "That's not important. What's important is figuring out where they took her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite the situation, Sera grinned slightly as she stayed silent. Obviously they considered her a threat.

Then something hard backhanded her across the mouth, snapping her face to one side, and she felt blood trickle down her chin.

"Name," the voice ordered.

"Go to hell," she snapped, earning another backhand.

"Are you trying to act bravely?" The voice continued. If Sera's eyes hadn't been covered by that tape, she would have shot a death glare to the man. Instead she was hit against the wall.

"Khh... I'll never tell it... to you..." She managed to say before she was thrown to the other side of the room.
"Your attitude doesn't really fit to your situation." Sera was lifted up again. "So annoying attitude I would say. Just like one certain FBI agent's..."

Sera couldn't help it that she gasped when she heard those words. Brother... Is he talking about my brother?

"You seem to know what I'm talking about." The voice said. "Now, your name. Please..."

Okiya-san was silent for a moment, and then he said, "Most likely, they would have taken her to their headquarters to interrogate and keep an eye on her. They wouldn't have wanted to risk her getting away."

"It's too bad we couldn't have asked her to wear a GPS," Black-san said.

"No, the organization would have checked her for bugs and GPS chips. They wouldn't want her knowing their location." Okiya-san abruptly turned and hurried toward the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jodie-sensei called.

"I have an idea that I want to check out," Okiya-san replied over his shoulder.

Shinichi stopped the American woman from going after Okiya-san. "It's something he needs to check out alone."

"But isn't that dangerous?" Jodie-sensei protested.

"He'll be fine," Shinichi replied. "We should figure out the people that Masumi-kun has been in contact with over the last few days."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terrified that she had betrayed her brother to the Organization, Sera kept her mouth shut. The man grew furious at her silence, and hit her in the nose. Pain burst behind her eyelids, and she became certain that he'd broken her nose. A few teeth might be loose too, she thought.

"Aniki, she's not talking," a familiar voice said.

Vodka. Sera lay slumped against the floor and felt her interrogator's presence above her. "If this girl will not talk, maybe this will help her," he said.

Suddenly, she felt a syringe plunge some sort of medicine into her neck. She gritted her teeth as a warm feeling filled her body. They've given me truth serum!

The interrogator grabbed her by the hair and pulled her toward the middle of the room, forcing her to stumble behind him. She felt her body slam into the chair, and then the man called Aniki leaned over her.

"Well, I guess you are more willing to answer now." The man said. Sera bit her lip to prevent answering. Shea heard a door opening once again and a female voice asking: "Hasn't she spoken yet, Gin?"
"Not yet. But just gave her truth serum. It should make her talk." The man, Gin, answered. "What are you doing here anyways?"
"Just curious. This girl is indeed interesting." The woman grabbed the tape that was still covering Sera's eyes and pulled it away.

Shit... No... Sera thought.

-- -- --
"I guess we should go to her room to check if we can find out anything." Shinichi suggested. "At least it's more likely than staying here."
"I agree. I'll go to ask for a spare key." Jodie headed towards the receptionist's desk.

Sera recognized the woman as Chris Vineyard, a famous American actress. If she's willing to let me see her face like this, I'm not going to get out of here alive.

Vineyard-san smiled warmly, and bent down to Sera's level, smoothing away the blood dripping down her nose. "Honey, it would be easier for you if you answered. Gin can get brutal when he doesn't get his way. I should know." She winced and shot an almost fearful look at the man, who stood glowering at her. "What's your name?"

Sera wanted to spit at her, but was afraid that if she opened her mouth, her name would come out. Instead, she clamped her mouth together.

"You're so stubborn . . . you see, if you answered this one little question, I could get you medical help. The doctors would fix your nose in a nice, comfortable room with a soft bed and pillows." Vineyard-san continued to talk, her soft, melodic voice painting pictures of warmth, safety, and familiarity as she cleaned up Sera's face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The FBI agents and Shinichi went up to Masumi-san's hotel room, and Jodie-sensei used the spare key, her gun at the ready. At Black-san's nod, she shoved open the door and the agents checked the area.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

Holstering her weapon, Jodie-sensei looked around. "Well, the room's pretty organized."

"Just shut up..." Sera mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. "Like I'd believe you..."
"Hmm... why you are keeping your eyes closed?" Vermouth smiled the the girl. "I just took the tape off that you could see around."
"..." Sera couldn't answer. The truth was how much she resembled her brother but obviously she couldn't say that.
"Well, well, well... would you talk if I tell you what do we already know about you?" Vermouth offered. Sera turned her face away from the woman's observing eyes.

-- -- --
"Is this really her room? It looks too tidy for me." Jodie mumbled.
"Yes, it is. I came to talk with her about a week ago." Shinichi stated.
"What were you talking about?" Black asked.
"Nothing special..."

They looked around. Jodie noticed some papers next to Sera's computer.
"What are these? Print-outs?" She took them and started to read. "What the-?"
"What now, Jodie-kun?" Black asked immediately.
"These are print-outs about e-mails she has sent and received. But these addresses... She has been using two different addresses to contact Rena Mizunashi..."
"She what...?" Shinichi and Black both paled.
"And what I can see from these... The first address is deleted now but the other one... that is signed under the name Samure Misa... She has met Mizunashi twice... The previous time was this evening..."
"But why print-outs? Has she deleted the messages from her phone or something?" Black asked.
"That'd be the most safe choice." Shinichi mumbled as he found a notebook stuffed under the girl's bed. The notebook was filled with details the girl had noticed during the past three-four weeks; how her investigation had been going. "Is she really this careless? Someone night come here and find this..."

A knock at the door woke Rena up. Yawning, she grabbed her pistol and padded out to the entrance and peered through the peephole. A Black Organization minion stood outside. Unlocking her locks, she opened it slightly, keeping her weapon trained on him. "Yes?"

"Mizunashi-sama, there's an emergency down at the television station," the minion reported, keeping up the ruse that she was a television reporter. "You are to escorted at once."

"I'll be right there. Let me get dressed first--"

"There's no time." He reached into his pocket.

"Unless you want me to shoot you through the door," she said in a lower voice, "You will let me get dressed."

He hesitated, then nodded and stepped back, his hands up in the air. "You have 5 minutes."

As she hurriedly dressed, Rena wondered why the B.O. would send for her when it was hours before the planned meeting time. A cold feeling slid down her back. Something was wrong. Very wrong.