Shadowed: Chapter 2
Jadeite Higashikaze had watched the blonde man work tirelessly for days, barely pausing to eat and drink–in fact, he _didn't_ bother to eat, just drank. Dark circles were under his eyes from going almost a week without sleep, and he was almost dropping off, but he was determined to finish the job. Smiling to himself, Higashi tapped on the glass a few times, very loudly.
When Zoicite Nishikaze looked up, his eyes widened to see the person dangling outside the building at two in the morning, and he immediately pulled out his gun. Opening the window, he made sure his finger was on the trigger and demanded, "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing outside my window?"
"I'm spying on you, Zoicite. Or perhaps I should call you Nishi."
"What do you want?"
"A partner. If you stop pointing your gun at me and let me talk. I'm Jadeite Higashikaze, call me Higashi. I've been sent on a mission..." When he finished his story around half an hour later, he asked plaintively, "Can you let me in now? I'm getting tired of hanging out here. Besides, someone might shoot me. And trust me, if I'd been meaning to kill you, you'd be long dead. Do you realize that you're so absorbed in your work that you haven't noticed me peering in? I had to tap quite a few times before you heard me. I was about to smash through the glass."
Glowering at him, Nishi lowered his gun and stepped back. As he hopped in and closed the window fluidly, the other man nodded to himself and smiled. Perhaps there was merit in his suggestion...and Nishi hated doing dirty work by himself. "How much do you know about me?"
"Everything," Higashi replied nonchalantly, dusting off his hands, "but it's your friend Kita I'm interested in."
"Kita's an interesting fellow. I wouldn't call him my friend, though. We're acquaintances. And he's my employer, to boot."
"True, true. Treats you better than most people, though. Hasn't killed you in the five years you've been working for him. And you're familiar enough to call him by his nickname."
"It's more of an alias," Nishi offered, still not willing to give up the verbal parrying.
Sighing, the other said, "I'm normally a very patient man, Mr. Nishikaze. But I'm afraid that we're going to run out of time soon. Now, will you do this mission with me or not?"
Looking at his emotionless blue eyes steadily, the blonde finally sighed and nodded his acquiescence. "All right." Holding out his hand, he warned, "You'd better not cross me, though."
"Who, me? Never. I don't cross people. You trust _me_ on this one. Have you hacked into their security system yet?"
"Yeah. I'm almost through to the files we want."
Smiling, Higashi said, "It's nice to know I'm included now. Are you covering your tracks? You know that senshi of Mercury has a high level of intelligence. I bet they expect leaks like this all the time."
Shrugging, he replied, "Yeah, but I've been told she got hit by an acid blast from some daimon recently, from my ah...sources, let's say. I've been careful enough but not too careful. She's probably laid down for a month or so."
"Suit yourself. I understand perfectly about your ‘sources.' By the way, you ever heard of a Minamikaze?"
"Yes. The world's heard of him. Not that there's much of the world left."
"Just checking. He's a dangerous fellow, I've heard. Don't know him personally."
Neutrally, Nishi responded, "So's Kita. I'm just glad that I trust him–marginally."
"Do you trust me?"
Green eyes shining with amusement, he shrugged again and laughed softly to himself for a few minutes, sending chills up the other's spine. Finally, he replied, "Marginally, as well."
~*~
Higashi panted in exertion, sweat dripping down his well-muscled form. Glaring balefully across the long room at his newly-made partner, he would off his cramps, panting heavily. The other man was seated, headphones on his ears and visor over his eyes, fingers tapping speedily away at the latest simulator. He got his models upgraded nearly every two months from past favors and Kita's influence. Walking over to the thick glass wall, he tapped insistently to get Nishi's unwavering attention. Still not looking away the screen, he held up a hand to ward off the distraction, frowning darkly at something. After a second, he glanced up very slowly, seeming paralyzed. Turning from a medium tan-gold to pure white, he mouthed noiselessly, "Get in here."
Feeling a ball of ice form in his gut, Higashi obeyed. "What happened?"
"Someone's discovered that I've hacked into the mainframe computer...it looks like they haven't found me, but I'll have to get a new access sequence just in case. They've changed all the codes–and I thought we had enough solving them every two weeks!"
Trying to keep his cool, Higashi kept his eyes emotionless, carefully moving aside a jumble of tangled wires on his bed. "How long will it take you to crack them?"
"At least three days. They're a lot more complex than the others were."
"Too long. It's got to be now, before that senshi recovers. We're positive Venus and Jupiter will be out, and Mars can't be that hard to disable. What about the King and Queen?"
"Where are you going?" Nishi asked, raising an eyebrow as the other pulled on his jacket and boots.
Smiling rather crookedly, the blonde retorted, "To make a deal with an old ‘acquaintance' of mine, to borrow your delicate and politically-correct phrasing. You stay here and decide what to do with Purple and White."
Disliking the odd note in his voice, the green-eyed man shivered slightly. Readying himself to send an e-mail to one of the diplomats the rulers would be meeting with (who owed him a favor), Nishi called, "Who are you seeing?"
Looking back, Higashi's tall frame drooped slightly. "Minami."
"Nephrite Minamikaze?! You're crazy! And you never told me you knew him intimately, calling him Minami..."
"Let's get some things straight. I _don't_ know him _intimately_. I've only met him once, by chance. And why didn't I tell you? You never asked."
~*~
"Kunzite Kitakaze. Zoicite Nishikaze. Jadeite Higashikaze. Hm....this is very interesting. North wind, west wind, east wind. Now, where does the south wind fit in? Kunzite, Zoicite, and Jadeite. Each of these are mineral names and can come in a slightly greenish form...again, very interesting."
"It's an interesting world, master."
"Yes, it is." Long fingers tapping idly, he ordered, "Now leave me in peace."
"Yes, master."
A dark smile spreading over his features, the man whispered, "I'm coming for you, old fellows. Old stones. You might say that the devil has come to collect...and a very crafty old devil he is, too. Not crafty enough, though, it seems. If I were truly as smart and as powerful as they say...otherwise I would have realized it long ago..."
"Master?"
"What is it _now_?"
"Someone is here to see you...surprised the guards. Jadeite Higashikaze, master."
"Ah...so the first has sought me out. How fortunate and convenient for me. Let him in."
~*~
"You _didn't_ tell me you were working with him. You _didn't_ ask my permission," the silver-haired man raged.
Impatiently, holding the receiver with his shoulder as he double-checked his equipment, he replied, "You didn't ask."
"Don't smirk. It's not becoming, and I can hear it in your voice. Are the plans set in motion?"
‘Thirteen hours, twenty minutes, fifty-four seconds and counting. The wheels are rolling," Nishi reeled off, rolling his eyes in exasperation about their code phrases.
"I'll trust you, then, and not ask anymore questions."
Sullenly, the blond-haired man muttered, "You should."
"Right," he answered pleasantly, "now, the discussion is closed, and good luck. Hope you'll be around to talk to in the future. Stop sneering."
"Your confidence astounds me," Nishi remarked dryly. "Good bye."
~*~
Jadeite shivered slightly as he slipped into his tight black clothing, which was bulletproof, waterproof, fireproof...the list went on and on to ensure his safety. He recalled his meeting with Minami all too well, and although the brown-haired man had agreed to what he wanted in the end, there was something distinctly disturbing about him and his uncanny, dark blue eyes. Securing his mask, he checked to make sure that all his weapons were in their holsters. Only his azure blue eyes were visible...
"You ready?"
Turning around, the blonde nodded curtly to the other. Nishi would be staying in their headquarters, monitoring his status and communicating with him through an ear and mouth piece. Using the codes Minami had cracked for them, he had been able to hack into the Palace Security and had created a direct link to the security feeds. He would see the entire palace and be able to throw in a few system errors and bugs that would ensure that Higashi would not be seen. "Yeah."
"Good. See you."
"What, you're not going to wish me luck?"
Nishi raised an eyebrow sardonically, a habit he knew the other hated. "You want me to wish _you_ luck? It should be the other way around. You're the best-trained and most famous assassin of all the Outreaches...and you want luck."
Acidly, he commented, "I prefer ‘professional hit man.' So nice to have compliments and free praise. Until we meet again."
"You better hope we do. If we don't, Kita will have my head. And probably that Minami friend of yours, too." As he left, scanning the crowds surreptitiously, the blond-haired man settled back into his chair after making sure the doors and windows were locked and covered. Fingers flying across the keyboard, he pulled up the blueprints of the palace, a well as monitors of all entrances to the palace. "Hi–you check?"
"Yeah. Of all the other codes in the world...you had to choose hi?"
"Well, it _is_ the first part of your name–besides, it's very fitting. You like fire, and that's what it means. If you ask me, you need a good scorching. Now concentrate! Now, the East End entrance...it looks like a flat crystal wall, but go up to it and use that first crystal I gave you to find the door."
Digging through his pockets with some very inventive curses, Higashi looked in dismay at the twenty crystals stashed on his person. "Um...what color is it?"
Sighing, the other replied, "Clear. When you hold it up to the wall, it'll turn red if you've hit the door."
"You gave me three clear crystals."
"Which one did I give you first?"
"I don't remember! You think I'd remember a dumb thing like that?"
"Idiot! You're supposed to be a professional killer!"
"Yeah, not some geek that keeps tracks of crystals and in which order they were given to him! How about I just try all three?"
Blanching, Nishi tried to remember if anything particularly bad would happen if he used any of them... "Fine. Just hurry up, please. The guards _do_ make regular excursions around the perimeter, and one's scheduled to come in around ten minutes."
Nearly dropping his crystals, he muttered a curse word and got quickly back to work. Meanwhile, back at "headquarters," Nishi sat bolt upright when he discovered another flaw in their beautiful, previously perfect little plan. Together, at exactly the same moment, they exclaimed, "S—!"
"What?"
"What?"
"I got the door!"
"Great. The only problem is, someone's discovered the link...and we're about to get into some very deep trouble."
"Oh, *obscenity*."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Is there anything you can do?"
"Not really. If I cut the link, you die. If I don't cut the link, you die anyway."
Sighing, Higashi slammed his head against the building and muttered, "Could things get any worse?"
"You idiot! You touched the stupid building, and I told you that only the gloves on your hands could touch it without activating the alarm!"
*beep, beep*
"I hate you."
"It's not my fault you're an idiot. Get moving. Try to get to the top of the spire."
"Do I _look_ stupid to you?"
Acridly, Nishi replied, "Do you really want me to answer that? No one's going to look for anyone on top of that crystal needle."
"And do you know why? Because no one would be that stupid _or_ suicidal!!"
~*~
Rei shifted position nervously, eyeing the ambassadors greeting Endymion and Serenity. Somehow, Ami had managed to worm her way out of this appearance, and since Venus had insisted that Jupiter come along with her on some mission or another, she was obligated to make an appearance as the only choice. Currently, they were babbling on about food supplies and how they were interested in building more greenhouses...the only up side to this meeting was that it seemed there was a little hope for the world. A few greenhouses were beginning to succeed, with a little luck and some power from the Silver Crystal. Too bad she didn't think that the majority of the world was worth saving.
‘Rei-chan. We've got a problem with those inept morons in security. You have to leave right away and come with me.'
Looking sideways at Serenity, the raven-haired woman nodded curtly to her king and queen. ‘Usa-chan, Ami-chan says she needs my help. I'm going.'
‘Okay, Rei-chan. But try to be discreet, ne?'
‘I'm always _discreet_,' she replied dryly. ‘What's the problem?'
‘Someone hacked into our database around a week ago, but I lost their authorization number when they realized what happened. And I changed those stupid codes, but those idiots obviously don't come up with new ones as often as they should! Now, we've got another leak, probably from the same person, and something's happened to the security cameras.' Sensing Rei's annoyance, she said, ‘Exactly my sentiments. You want to do the honors of frying them, or should I freeze them?'
Before she could telepath her answer, the alarm went off right above her head, and she pressed her fingers to her eyes. "Kami-sama!! We have to fix the volume of those things before we all go deaf!"
Sighing, the other suggested, ‘How about I take care of this hacker, and you deal with whatever idiot has set off the alarm this time?'
‘Deal. People seriously have no lives nowadays!'
‘What do you expect?' Ami asked acridly, ‘it's Crystal Tokyo.'
~*~
Author's Note:
Ah, we're back to these? I stopped this after a while, because I reread mine and decided they were embarrassing. However, I decided this chapter needs some clarification. Like, a lot of clarification. Questions! First, what happened to the senshi? I'm not telling yet. What happened to the world? Who's taking revenge on the senshi? To tell the complete truth, I have no idea. It isn't Nephrite, so stop glaring at him and me. Okay, time to address more questions. Um...isn't this world a little messed up? The senshi are dancing with people while most of the world is starving? *cough* Um...so there are discrepancies. So sue me (please don't). So, please give me feedback. ;; I never get any feedback anymore...*sighs* Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the very strange and messed up chapter 2. I tried t throw in some levity, but I don't think it worked very well. Trust me, life gets deeper later on. the problem is, I don't know what's going to happen–the good thing is, neither do you!! Freshly revised with obscene and disturbing selections taken out. Hope you approve!
Shadowed
