Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ K2: A View to a Truth ❯ Chapter 2

Keitaro watched as the woman in the black dress slowly move the bangs away from his eyes. Her eyes were still hidden, but her smile was present as she seemed content in having his head on her lap.

 

Once again, they floated in the clouds, an everlasting blue sphere. The U-Agent couldn't really think of anything other than her face and presence.

 

“We really should stop meeting like this…” he murmured.

 

“Do you dislike me?” she asked. Keitaro shook his head.

 

“No… I think you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen…” he replied. “But… I still don't know who you are.”

 

“You wouldn't,” she stated. “It's been a long time since we last seen each other…”

 

“I would have remembered a beautiful face, luv,” Keitaro mumbled. She just smiled at that, and shook her head. He smiled in turn. “What?” he asked.

 

“You're really a smooth talker, aren't you?”

 

“Only when I'm being truthful…” Keitaro replied. “You are beautiful, and damn me for not remembering you.”

 

“Well… here's a clue…” she began. “What we're doing here… it was my fondest memory.”

 

Keitaro could only nod blankly at that. He still could not remember doing this to any women he met. Kitsune spends more her time doing him in than spending something as sweet as this. Mutsumi would be a likely candidate, but they haven't spent much time together. Last time they did, it was during Christmas dinner…

 

“This is also my last memory…” she added.

 

“I… really don't remember,” Keitaro mumbled.

 

“I know…” she mumbled back as the whole world began to brighten. “I know.”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

Keitaro woke up in his seat-bed in a private train going through the tracks in very early morning. He pressed a button on his arm rest, and a small light sparked to life. He blinked a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness.

 

“Excuse me, sir K2?” one of the attendants arrived at his side. “Trouble sleeping?”

 

“No… just odd dreams,” Keitaro replied. He looked towards his watch, and saw that it was 5:34 AM. “Approximately, when will we arrive at Tamano, Okayama?”

 

“In an hour, sir. Shall I get your gear prepared?” the attendants asked.

 

“No, they its okay,” Keitaro mumbled. He didn't want anybody touching his tools before any mission. Except probably KU, and that's only because she's the inventor of most of them.

 

“Breakfast?”

 

“Something light if you don't mind,” Keitaro replied. The attendant bowed before he took his leave. Keitaro watched outside his window as the evidence of the first rays began to show itself… the day was going to start soon and so will his mission.

 

Thinking back at his dream, Keitaro briefly wondered about that woman again.

 

“Who are you?” he asked to no one in particular.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

The private train stopped at the Train Station in Tamano, where a black Mercedes was parked, waiting for him. The attendant who was on the train escorted him towards the car, carrying a duffel bag which he put in the trunk, and handed an envelope to Keitaro as he boarded. The agent looked at it and thanked the man.

 

As the Mercedes drove off, Keitaro opened the envelope, and read the last minute details of the mission sent by H.

 

K2:

 

You will be driven to a fishing pier, where you'll meet up with Seta-san. We have contracted him for this particular mission. He'll bring you halfway in the sea, carrying KU's Personal Submarine under his hull. I think you can manage the rest.

 

You will meet the Goddess at the Supply Room… KU will provide you the location as soon as you are clear. Her name is Nitasha, Third Class Warrior Goddess. Your passwords, as always, never specific, though will be concerned with this statement… “Always dark before dawn approaches.”

 

Good luck on the mission, and burn this note after reading it.

 

H

 

Keitaro opened the window, rolled the paper in a small cylinder, and borrowed a cigarette lighter from the driver. He set the message on fire, and placed it slightly outside the window, allowing it to burn for a moment until the flame was near his fingers before he let go. The paper turned to ashes and spread through the air.

 

After a few moments, the Mercedes stopped in front of a pier, and Keitaro let himself get off. Going towards the trunk, and extracting his duffel bag, he was greeted by a man with unwashed brown hair, and his stubbles showing he hadn't been shaving for a few days… but even with his rather unclean look, Keitaro always felt it fitted Seta.

 

“Hey, part-timer!” Seta greeted. Keitaro could only shake his head.

 

“Still calling me that, Seta-san?” he asked.

 

“Well, every time we meet, it's usually just for part of the time,” Seta replied with a grin.

 

Seta and Keitaro had met in two occasions, and they were before Keitaro had received his K2 codename. The former was an archeologist, but also a contractor, Jack-of-all-trades kind of fellow which took odd jobs for Urashimas and probably the other factions. They first met when Seta had asked his grandmother for a favor, and had exchanged some pleasantries.

 

The second time was when Keitaro was being trained to fight, and Seta was his sparring partner and sensei. The man knew Jeet Kune Do, the martial arts of the famous and late Bruce Lee, and had taught some of its principles to him. But Keitaro didn't exactly finish their training… that's when Seta started calling him part-timer.

 

“I've gotten message from Haruka-san,” Keitaro stated. “It seems we're going to have another `part-time' job together, eh?”

 

“Yup,” Seta agreed. “Come on; let's get your day started.”

 

The man proceeded to lead Keitaro towards a rather worn down looking boat. The U-Agent noted that the state of the boat seemed to reflect the state of its owner with a small smile, and boarded.

 

Seta had removed the rope which connected the boat to the pier, and began to start the engine. After a few revs, there was a hum and shifting of the floor, signaling its start. In minutes, Seta skillfully launches the boat away from the pier, and slowly accelerated as they proceeded to the ocean.

 

“I still wonder how you can drive these vehicles without much difficulty, yet you can't keep a steady hand or foot for your van,” Keitaro shouted his comment a bit, so it would be heard over the revving noise.

 

“Now, now, part-timer,” Seta shouted back. “Shouldn't you keep your head on your mission?”

 

“I am!” Keitaro declared. “But I've seen you total your van five times already!”

 

“We've only met twice!” Seta complained.

 

“Every time there's news on an exploding van, I know it is you!” Keitaro smirked. He watched as the man grumbled a bit before he changed the subject. “Hey… how's that kid you've been taking care of?”

 

“Sarah? She's an amazing kid,” Seta replied. “You should meet her once at least…”

 

“When I'm not too busy!” Keitaro said.

 

“Saving the world?” Seta asked.

 

“Been there, done that,” Keitaro grinned.

 

“Busy with what then?” Seta asked.

 

“You can say I've been busy sleeping around.”

 

“Part-timer, I didn't know you were that lazy!” Seta replied. Keitaro could only laugh a moment about him missing the innuendo. This was one of the few reasons why Haruka and Seta still haven't gotten together… the man tended to be a bit naïve at times.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

“Well… this is your drop-spot,” Seta declared as he switched off the engine.

 

Keitaro briefly looked around, and nodded. “This is a good location. No witnesses,” he stated. Opening his duffel bag, he grabbed out his gun holster, which held two guns and multiple clips. The vest held daggers for throwing and close combat, and a pocket which would holster his PDA, where KU connected the satellite imaging there.

 

There were also some flash grenades, fragment grenades, and some C-KU plastic explosive, which he probably won't be using… though KU insisted he'd bring it. She is probably using him as a testing agent for her new weapon… she promised it would bring out a bigger bang than the standard C4.

 

Seta had grabbed another bag as Keitaro began to arm himself. The younger man checked his watch, his two guns and vest if it had any spotty manufacturing errors (you can never be too sure with any equipment). When he was good to go, Seta handed him the other bag.

 

“KU sent me this,” Seta said. “Your diving suit and your communicator; water-proof, she said.”

 

The communicator looked like his standard earpiece unit, and placed it on his ear. The diving suit, though, was impressive. It wasn't one of the tight wet-suits; it looked more like an Astronaut's suit. It had two layers, and the zipper was designed in a way to make it for easy opening, yet air-tight and water-proof. The head piece was a spherical glass, attached to the oxygen tanks behind the suit, which minimizes the risk of tangling.

 

Keitaro was definitely impressed.

 

“She must have pulled all the stops,” Keitaro muttered.

 

“Nah… I've seen her come up with more impressive stuff,” Seta grinned. “I would know, since she invented tools to help me in my excavations.”

 

Keitaro helped himself as he wore the diving suit, and when he was finally finished, Seta checked to see of there were any irregularities or holes before securing and zipping up the suit.

 

“Time?” Keitaro asked. His watch was underneath the suit.

 

“7:15,” Seta replied.

 

“I'm late…” Keitaro muttered as he secured his headgear. Going towards the edge of the boat, he sat down, and looked towards the man who smiled at him. “I guess we part ways again eh?”

 

“We'll meet again, no worries,” Seta smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

 

“Maybe we can have tea next time,” Keitaro said before he flipped back, and hit the water.

 

When the bubbles cleared, Keitaro spotted the personal submarine KU had made under the hull of the boat, secured by a web of metal lines. Releasing it, he secured two safety chords in his suit, and grabbed the two handlebars. He pressed a red button, which turned the screen on, revealing KU.

 

“You're late, K2s.”

 

Su's voice sounded clear and crisp in his communicator. Her image in the screen wore a small smile.

 

“Sorry about that, luv, but seas were rather rough,” Keitaro muttered. He didn't know whether he could hear her or not, but she seemed to as she gave a nod.

 

“Well… time to start, eh?”

 

“Yup,” Keitaro replied. “So… how do you operate this thing?”

 

“I'm driving.”

 

“Aren't you a bit young?” Keitaro teased.

 

“If I remember correctly, the last thing you drove crashed into a gate, squeezed through a tunnel, and then exploded.”

 

“Ouch, don't wound me like that,” Keitaro mocked a depressed look. “Besides, my car never went through a tunnel… or even exploded.”

 

Su laughed.

 

“I wasn't talking about your car.”

 

“You are going to be a bad influence to dear Shinobu-chan in the future,” Keitaro shook his head. “May the lady now drive me to my location? I have a date with a goddess you know, and I heard those Celestials are quite temperamental. Wouldn't want to be late.”

 

Su just grinned.

 

“No worries, K2s, gonna take you there in a jiffy!”

 

“Try not to crash on the rocks,” Keitaro teased. The sub twirled in retaliation.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

Abandoned Facility

 

20 minutes later…

 

“Bravo-00 doing our last round, over,” one of the guards stated towards their Radios.

 

“Bravo-00, this is HQ, copy that, over.”

 

“What's with this patrol?” another guard commented. “We've been asked to do our rounds thrice already.”

 

“Dunno,” the first guard replied. “From what I've heard, there might be some sort of rescue party to get that demon.”

 

“Really?” the second guard asked.

 

“Just rumors, actually.”

 

The two guards slowly made their way towards one the doors in the corridor they were patrolling. One of the guards entered, and looked around, before motioning the other guard to come in. They were in a bathroom.

 

“Remember, we're on high alert, so check every stall,” the first guard stated.

 

“Roger,” the other replied.

 

The two guards systematically began to open the stalls as part of their routine patrol, and when they were done, they moved on towards the other rooms. One of those rooms was a shower room, where they patrolled the perimeter. They failed to notice a slight silver glint coming up from a large drainage hole with a cover that had metal grills on top of it.

 

The silver glint was actually a blade, and was quite reflective. It hid out of view when any of the guards came too close, or noticed it protruding. Everything seemed in order for them, so the first guard went towards his radio, and opened the frequency.

 

“HQ, this is Bravo-00… everything's clear,” he stated. “Our patrol is done.”

 

“Roger that, Bravo-00. Return to your regular post.”

 

Outside, the two guards were walking away, their patrol now done, not noticing fingers slowly protruding in the spaces on top of the cover. The cover was lifted, and slowly, and silently shoved towards the side.

 

Keitaro came up from the hole, now removing his diving suit. He had followed KU's guidance to the letter, and so far, everything was going well. Placing his suit on the ground in the far corner of the room, he grabbed his PDA, and checked out where he was…

 

Somewhere, up above in space, was a satellite looking down towards his location, and it gave him a bird's eye view of where he was, what and who were around him. Handy thing, Keitaro thought… it was like having his own personal radar system.

 

He grabbed one of his guns, and screwed in a silencer. On his other hand, he grabbed a knife, and went towards the door. He threw his knife outside, and it created a noise and an echo as the blade hit some of the tiles.

 

“What was that noise?” one of the guards called.

 

“It's probably nothing,” the other said. “Come on… let's go.”

 

“No, wait… I'm gonna check this out first…”

 

The other guard complained, but couldn't do anything as his partner began to move towards the place where the sound originated from. Deciding it was merely nothing, he stayed in place while the other diligently continued forward.

 

Keitaro was watching the movement through his PDA, and waited until the guard was just about to cross the open door when he moved. Life a snake, he swiftly grabbed the guard using his arms around his neck. He grunted in surprise, but was swiftly brought down on his knees, and a crack was heard as the agent broke the guard's neck.

 

“Hey… you okay? I thought I heard you say something,” the other guard called, walking down, following his partner.

 

A muffled shot. The man went down, dead. Keitaro ran towards the fallen guard, and grabbed him by the shoulders and armpit. He dragged him towards the shower room, and threw him right in the hole where he entered… it was also the same hole where he placed the first guard.

 

Checking that everything's okay, he spoke softly, “I'm in.”

 

“Gotcha, K2s… now… get to the supply room. It's marked at your PDA map.”

 

Keitaro grabbed his PDA once more, and checked where he was and how far he would have to travel to get into supply room. After calculating the distance, and his travel route, he climbed up the stairs silently and slowly keeping one hand on his gun and the other on a knife.

 

The abandoned facility was very much like a maze. There were multiple doors, some which led to other corridors which also had doors as well. Keitaro was reminded of that vampire Lord's castle when he was there with Laharl before… or that underground maze of Hinata-sou where the Stone of Dreams was hidden. He had to check his PDA at times to make sure he was going in the right direction.

 

KU was silent, and Keitaro didn't think much of it. He actually liked it better that way… his thoughts were clearer and helped him relax… ease in the environment. He had passed two guards without them noticing his presence, and wasn't slowed down a bit.

 

Finally, after another few minutes, he found himself in front of the supply room door. Putting the knife back into its sheath on his vest, he opened the door slightly, and slowly entered the room. It was dark.

 

He checked his surroundings for a moment before he heard the unmistakable sound of a blade leaving its sheath, and raised his gun at once towards the appearing shadow behind him. There was a blade pointed towards his neck, its metal shining brightly for some reason.

 

“Hiding in the dark?” Keitaro asked.

 

“Don't blame me… the dawn has yet to approach this room…” a woman's voice spoke, clear, calm and collected. The moment she said the sentence, they both dropped their weapons.

 

“Nitasha?” Keitaro asked.

 

“Obviously,” the goddess replied as she stepped out of the light. She had shoulder length blonde hair, and her eyes were sharp, and focused intently on him, probably studying him. “You're that K2 agent?”

 

“In the flesh,” Keitaro gave a small smirk.

 

“I expected you to be bigger… with all those rumors about you around,” the goddess declared.

 

“Not all of them are true… the good ones are, but the bad ones are terribly misleading,” Keitaro offered his hand. She looked at it for a moment before she ignored it and moved towards the door.

 

“You're late, so let's not waste time,” Natasha declared. “I've been itching for some action already.”

 

Keitaro didn't think too badly at her snubbing him… she was a Celestial after all… and they were mostly a very odd bunch. Besides, she had a point… there was no time to waste.

 

“Gotcha,” Keitaro replied. “So… how do you work?”

 

“Excuse me?” the goddess asked.

 

“I do my work with silence, stealth, and usually alone,” Keitaro explained. “How do you work? I need to know to think how we can proceed.”

 

“I work in any way I can,” the goddess replied. “But since I've been ordered to follow your lead, I'll let you decide how we go on.”

 

“Fair enough,” Keitaro replied, grabbing his gun. “We move with swiftness and silence. From what I've heard, they like to kill the demons through torture.”

 

“Kinda sadistic, eh?” she asked.

 

“Very much.”

 

“Well, from our position, the demon representative is probably held in their torture room, about two floors above here…” she stated.

 

“How would you know that?” Keitaro asked.

 

“I've had a nice… chat with one of the patrol guards here,” she replied with a wicked grin. Keitaro looked at her oddly for a moment before he shook his head. She continued. “Anyway, the way towards the room is littered with guards. It seems someone had leaked part of our rescue mission and they are on high alert.”

 

“That makes things rather hard,” Keitaro muttered as he grabbed his PDA. Using that, he checked the map of the facility, and showed it towards the goddess. With her directing, he located the torture room, and scanned its surroundings.

 

True to her word, going there through the corridors was going to be impossible for him to pass. It was littered with guards, and if the two which he had killed earlier were any indication, they had radios. Even if the goddess would clear the way for them, their enemies might just grab and take off with the representative, or worse, just kill him.

 

The torture room was located at the very end of a hall in the third floor, with a small window, barred with thick steel rods. The walls were reinforced concrete, and there were no vents that would lead to the place directly. It was a very isolated room, in Keitaro's opinion. That would work against them.

 

Suddenly, an inspiration hit him. Looking at the goddess, he asked, “You can fly right?”

 

“Yes,” the goddess looked at him oddly. “Why?”

 

“You can carry me, right?” Keitaro asked.

 

“You're prolly light to me,” the goddess replied. “Again, why?”

 

“Well, there came a rather weird idea in my head…”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

Tokyo

 

It was a nice homey restaurant, and the waitresses were attractive… some wore very modest yet beautiful maid outfits; it was one of the main attractions of the restaurant. Laharl though, liked the homey atmosphere more than the waitresses, though most were stunning…

 

Having left Hinata-sou after three days from being rescued from the clutches of the so-called Golden Maiden, he had spent some leisure time teaching at Mahora, and checking projects (Mana had given a rather flimsy one, much to his expectations). Right now, he was being called for a favor, yet again by Kami-sama.

 

Miyabi, currently a Fourth Class goddess who's angel had been killed by Keitaro Urashima, was going to meet him again in the morning. Laharl always wondered if Kami-sama wasn't doing enough hard work to find her a replacement to heal her mind, or because she, herself, didn't want to be helped.

 

If it was the latter, he could only do so much. He can heal minds, but, like doctors… he can't heal completely those who don't want to be healed. Nor did he want to… he'd rather go home and play his PS3. Or maybe hang around Yue… she's always fun to tease, especially in front of her friends.

 

He felt a slight energy flow coming from outside. The signature was similar to a mana teleporter, something a goddess would use. Leaving some money on the table, Laharl went outside towards the back, expecting to meet the blonde goddess only to come face to face with a long, black haired goddess, whose brown eyes looked at her surroundings confused.

 

“Who are you?” Laharl asked.

 

“Uh… it's dark… before dawn?” the goddess replied, rather stupidly. “Where am I?”

 

“Tokyo…”

 

“… That's… very far from Kagawa…” she muttered.

 

“Very…” Laharl agreed, his head nodding a bit. “Uh… who are you, and why are you here?”

 

“Nitasha… I'm supposed to be a U-Agent's backing support for the rescue mission of a demon representative…?” she was unsure of her reply.

 

“What time was the mission supposed to start?” Laharl asked.

 

“Why should I answer that?” she asked back, her voice now losing its meekness, and now getting stronger. Seems her confusion wasn't distracting her anymore, and given thought to keeping the mission a secret… though in Laharl's opinion, that secret was shot to hell when she already told him what she was supposed to do.

 

The hybrid could only look at her. “I… need to make some calls,” he muttered before grabbing his cell phone to call KU. What in the hell is going on?

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

Abandoned Facility, Kagawa

 

The wall of the torture room exploded with a loud bang, and bits and pieces of concrete with some metallic shrapnel scattering in the air and ground. The guards in the room went on high alert and aimed their guns towards the smoked hole.

 

In the center of the room was a much roughed up demon, unconscious, and was bleeding from head to toe, with many blades stabbed to his skin. Around him was the torturer, a man working for the Golden Maiden.

 

A small bouncing thing emerged from the smoke, and exploded in a bright light and loud bang, blinding and deafening those in the room for the moment… a moment which Keitaro and his partner goddess needed.

 

Swooping inside the room, Keitaro, who was carried by the goddess aimed his guns at the two guards in front, and shot them dead before he was let go to roll on the ground, grab his knife and cut the demon representative free, while the goddess grabbed her blade out and began to hack the other guards with dance-like moves, turning around, and wasting no movement, like she was doing a kata.

 

The plan was as followed… the goddess would carry Keitaro and fly towards the outside of the torture room wall, where he'd use those C-KU Plastic Explosives to bring down the wall, use a flash bang grenade to blind-side the guards inside. Then, Keitaro would free the demon representative while the goddess would take care of the guards.

 

“Need more time, K2 agent?” the goddess asked as she noticed the guards in the hall were gathering outside, probably coming in at once and fire.

 

“No, I'm done,” Keitaro replied as he sheathed his knife, and grabbed the unconscious demon. “Get us out of here!”

 

“No need to tell me,” she replied, as she grabbed out what Keitaro identified as a teleporter. She put her arms around Keitaro, who had his hands around the demon representative and muttered some incantation.

 

Keitaro noticed that everything was becoming bright, so without second thoughts, grabbed his explosive grenade, pulled the pin out with his thumb, and threw it towards the door before everything became blinding. They disappeared.

 

A second later, a group of guards rushed in, only to find a grenade on the floor in front of them. It exploded.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-

 

Tokyo

 

“Play that again…” Laharl stated as he listened in closely.

 

KU had told Laharl that Keitaro was already on his mission, and was playing back some of the conversation he had with the goddess with him.

 

“I've been itching for some action already.”

 

“Shit…” Laharl cursed. “KU, tell G and H that the mission is sabotaged. And tell them to call Heaven… someone probably messed up with the Yggdrasil, either by accident or purposely. Now!” and he hung up.

 

“What's going on here?” Nitasha asked.

 

“Come with me…” Laharl grabbed the goddess' hand, who pulled away.

 

“No! Don't you try and manhandle me, you lowly demon hybrid!” she snarled. “What is going on here!?”

 

“I know about your mission with the K2 agent,” Laharl muttered.

 

“… You do?” she asked, nervous.

 

“Yes… K2 and Nitasha were supposed to be at Kagawa, rescuing a demon representative, right?” Laharl had heard from KU, who easily trusted him with that info. When the goddess nodded, he continued, “Well, the K2 agent is has now rescued the demon representative with his goddess partner, and now probably at the extraction point…”

 

“Wait… wait… that's impossible!” Nitasha declared. “I am supposed to be his partner!”

 

“Obviously,” Laharl replied.

 

“Th… then who is he with?” the goddess asked.

 

“Miyabi… the one who was supposed to meet me here…” Laharl replied. “And… she hates K2.”

 

To Be Continued…

 

For those expecting that… :P it was a given. ;) See you next chapter.