~~~

This is it. We are already planning our first mission as a pair team. Takashi received the intel early this morning: a small, nearby town has had an abnormal number of missing people reports over the last two weeks. At first, it was thought to be the work of a skilled kidnapper, but now, some people are saying the missing people have been 'spirited away'. So, there is quite a cause for concern now.

Thinking about the mission they had been given made Yukiko realize how they choose to act will determine the fate of all these people. She slept during Takashi's explanation earlier. She didn't understand why he was so worked up about it all at the time, but she thinks she does now. He already knew it. Some of these missions... no, perhaps even all of these missions will put people's lives in their hands.

Perhaps I should have been a little more respectful, instead of dumping food on him... Although, that was undoubtedly hilarious...

She sees Takashi approaching their table in the corner of her eye, but she pretends not to notice him. She's not ready to apologize. He'll just have to deal with the cold-shoulder for awhile longer here. Then it occurs to her that he's walking unusually slow. She lets her hand dangle off the side of the chair. Takashi doesn't stop, and continues walking right behind her chair. As he passes, Yukiko feels something pressed into her hand; Her fingers close around a wad of paper.

Like I thought... Here we go.

She looks around the table, realizing only Ren is still there, and briefly wonders when Leo and Momoko left.

"Come on," she tells Ren, "We should hurry,or else we'll be late."

Yukiko collapse on her bed after classes and takes out the slip of paper Takashi had put in her hand at lunch. She unfolds it, and reads its contents.

"We'll leave tonight. Meet me behind the gym at 11:30pm. Wear something flexible, and not your uniform. We must return before dawn, so time is of the essence. Don't be late. Very few teachers here are aware of our activity, so try not to get caught."

"Try? Do I appear as one who cannot even sneak around?! That blasted Takashi..!" she gripes to herself.

After some debating, she decides to go into town to buy special gear, some of which isn't even allowed at school. Luckily, due to her special circumstances, Yukiko is exempted from dorm checks unless there's proof or a bunch of assured claims that she's hiding something. She pulls out an old backpack that she no longer uses, deciding it will be her mission bag from now on.

She sneaks out of the academy grounds, and walks in the back alleyways. It's a dangerous-looking place that any normal person would avoid. That's why it is the perfect place for the shop that serves those of the Underground. She finally finds a small flight of stairs leading slightly below ground level to a door with a crappy wooden sign that read, "The Buzz-Off Store."

I should compliment their naming sense.

A small bell tied to the top of the door rings quietly, catching the attention of the shady looking cashier. He stares at Yukiko from the corner of his eyes. He was clearly looking her over, perhaps wondering if she found the wrong place since she is a young girl who is clearly not a regular. She glances at him and nods slightly, keeping her expression cool. He quit staring.

She roams the aisles, looking at all of the incredible tools sold: the tools of the Underground. She walks past aisles lined with some normal and some not-so-normal weapons. Countless types of guns, explosives, swords, daggers, spears, glaives, and bows filled the shelves of one aisle. Amongst them, she also catches sight of scythes, axes, nunchucks, whips, and even metal fans with a razor sharp edge. On the farther end, Yukiko thought she also saw backs of kunai and throwing stars.

Another aisle is lined with incredible gear, some of which Yukiko had never even imagined. The grappling hooks, hollow books, water dissolving paper, rear view glasses, voice modifiers, distractions, smoke screens, and caltrops reminded her of the many spy movies she used to watch. She also saw all kinds of night vision goggles, invisible ink pens, stun guns, laser trip wires, video remote-controlled cars, lock pickers, and spy watches. She expected most of these. However, what surprised her the most was how many types and disguises there were for the hidden cameras, motion detectors, cellular jammers, key loggers, tracking devices, document scanners, lasers, sound amplifiers, communication devices, and voice modifiers. Yukiko was absolutely amazed with how much was here. 

She picks up many things that she believes would be useful. Right before paying for everything, she notices a belt made for holding some of them so she grabs that as well. After buying the tools, she puts them all in the backpack and quickly returns to the dorm before the eight o'clock curfew.

She immediately empties all the contents of the backpack onto her bed. She grabs the tool belt first and starts filling up the pockets with the smoke screens, small distractions, invisible ink pens, tiny cameras, stun gun, explosive powder, lighter, pocket knife, and lock pickers. She snaps on the hair clip with the built in screw drivers, wrench, ruler, and cutting edge. Then, she puts a communication earring on her right earlobe. She slips the rear view glasses in her pocket. After looking over the remaining gear, she slips the binoculars, sound amplifier, and voice modifier back into her mission bag. Looking around the room, she grabs a few more items that might prove useful: a flashlight, first aid kit, snacks, a notebook, regular pens, and masks. She puts the flashlight on the belt as well, then put the belt in the mission bag along with everything else. Yukiko knew she couldn't wear the belt out. It might attract unwanted attention if they have to walk around people. It could also be troublesome to explain if the unlikely, where she actually gets caught before leaving academy grounds, happens.  

She looks at the clock. It's ten minutes after nine.

I guess I should take a nap. Takashi wrote that time was of the essence because we had to return before dawn broke. In other words, he basically implied that this mission could potentially take all night. Maybe every mission does. Sleep will also be of the essence here.

She sets her alarm, then plops on the bed to sleep. For once, she actually fell asleep immediately, which she is extremely grateful for. Though she's reluctant to get up when her alarm goes off at eleven. She considers ignoring it but remembers what Takashi said about time. If she is late, he'll surely say something really annoying. Cursing the day that she got involved with that guy, Yukiko drags herself out of bed and gets dressed. She chooses a white tank top, black skirt with matching tights underneath, and her favorite long black combat boots. She also slips on a hoodie and fingerless gloves of the same color, and ties her hair up in a pony tail before finally grabbing her mission pack and leaving.

Lights out was at ten, so nobody is supposed to be wandering around anymore. The person on night duty only walks around about once every hour. That's why getting out of the dormitory is easy if someone can avoid them and be quiet enough. The real challenge is getting across the academy grounds without being discovered by the night guards or anybody else.

After Yukiko gets outside, she walks in the shadow of the dormitory building created by the large floating lights that appear around the walkways when it's dark out. She scans her surroundings and finds one guard nearby, walking slowly and looking around. When he walks near Yukiko's dormitory, Yukiko hugs her backpack and drops to her stomach on the ground so that she was hiding it underneath her. The guard carefully combs the shadows where she hid. She stares at him, then he begins staring at her. Neither of them move. However, his eyes soon wander and he continues his patrol elsewhere. He didn't actually see her. She let go of her breath, not sure since when she had been holding it.

She runs from one shadow to the next, hiding from the guards in this manner all the while until she finally reaches the gym across campus.

"When I said to wear something flexible, I meant to wear something you can move well in," Takashi says quietly as she approaches.

"What? I am wearing-" she cuts off when she realizes he's staring at the boots she had chosen to wear.

"These are a lighter and more comfortable kind. They're custom made for this sort of thing," she explains.

"If that's the case, then I suppose there's no problem. However, I do not wish to hear complaining later about your feet hurting, nor to be constantly saving your tail because you can't move fast enough. Remember that."

"Roger that, boss," she mumbles irritably.

He shrugs away from the wall, and starts walking towards the wooded area a little further behind the gym. Glaring at him for a minute, Yukiko trails right behind him.

Our first team mission begins now.