"Right," she agreed with a sigh. Then she reaffirmed her resolve. Whatever it took to figure him out, she'd do it! That Saotome Ranma ... not only ignoring her seduction attempt, but turning it back on her, why.... She found it strangely exciting, and clung to that emotion, marching forward.
Sure, there were men who had been resistant to her charms, and even some few who were immune. But none who were able to simply throw it back on her. She couldn't help but be intrigued. "He's kinda hunky, too," she mumbled, as she slid her card through a reader, opening the door to the lobby.
"What's that, Nanami-chan?" Makoto asked from behind her.
"Ah! Uh, nothing, Makoto," she assured him with a nervous laugh. The two remained in silence as Nanami boarded an elevator, swiping her card through another reader. Then the elevator took them to her supervisor's office, and she swallowed nervously again.
The lobby before his office was filled with hardware and the pent-up non-covert special operatives. Currently, a glowering Mini-May greeted her as the elevator opened. "I wanted to see that first hand!" she complained. "You have footage of the tower blowing up? Gimmie!"
Makoto held the camera up, out of her reach, and said, "No tower footage!" Mini-May backed off, but pouted fiercely. "Just an interview with the guy who destroyed it."
"Mine!" Mini-May exclaimed, tackling Makoto to the floor, rolling over him, and then bounding off the back wall of the elevator with the camera. Her hand slapped the 'close-door' button as she passed it, and Makoto had only enough time to protest before someone in the lobby pressed the call button, and the elevator shot downwards.
Having moved a step ahead of Mini-May, Nanami was clear, and shook her head. "Now I need to wait for him to come back," she grumbled. "Mini-May, I need to give that to the boss."
The enthusiastic explosive expert had already removed the cassette from the camera, and had slipped it into the VCR in the room's corner, a few of the other special operatives looking up in interest. "Nuh-uh," the diminutive blonde said. "I wanna see this!"
"Nanami!" Masamichi's shout rang through the walls. "My office! Now!"
Nanami shot Mini-May a dirty look, and said, "Fine. You watch it? You make sure it gets down to processing so we can pull up records on these people."
Mini-May nodded absently, and Nanami crossed the lobby, swallowing before opening the door. Masamichi sat behind his desk, cigarette hanging from his lips unlit as he typed at his computer. "Sit," he said tersely, not looking up.
Wincing, she did as instructed, taking a seat opposite the man. "Sir?" she asked tremulously, after a minute of him merely typing.
"What have you got," he asked, looking up expectantly. "Who is our mystery 'covert operative'?"
"His name is Saotome Ranma, and he's staying at the Tendo Dojo, in Nerima, Sir," she said respectfully. "He's a martial artist who's been training there for some time."
Masamichi grunted. "And his reason for claiming affiliation with us?"
"Ah ... I ... didn't get around to asking," Nanami said in a small voice.
Her supervisor stopped typing, and looked up at Nanami, raising an eyebrow. "I assume you have a good reason for this."
"W...well.... I, uh, arranged a more private interview later," she said, thinking frantically. "He has accomplices -- girls, of course, so I can't do much directly -- and I'd like to try and infiltrate them during the interview tonight."
"Hmm," Masamichi mused doubtfully, turning his attention back to his computer. "Saotome Ranma. Well, that name sets off a few alarms. Here we go, school record ... discipline problems ... attendance issues...." He shot a look at Nanami, grimacing. "Nerima is a ... 'trouble' sector, Nanami. You know that, right?"
"Ah ... Mishima Heavy testing ground on the north side of the city, right?"
"Among other things," Masamichi said dismissively. "I'm going to allow your infiltration request, but this may take several months. The Prime Minister has expressed that if this Saotome Ranma can be added to our ranks, he should be ... provided he's not a spy. We need you to make sure that there's no risk of him being some kind of plant, or double-agent trying to infiltrate us."
"Months?" Nanami asked in confusion. "But I was going to interview him tonight and--"
"And if you can't get everything answered, then you and Makoto are transferring to Furinkan to watch over him until we can ascertain what his goals are," Masamichi said, smiling. "However, because of the danger that Nerima is, I'm not sending the two of you in alone."
"You're not?" Nanami asked in relief. "Well, my amplifiers, right? I think--"
"You'll always be in contact range of at least three of them, though as usual, you'll want to avoid direct contact with them," Masamichi assured her. "But no. I'm sending a minder to keep you safe in the field."
"Er," Nanami managed. "Um. Who?"
Masamichi took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. "The Diet is aware of the danger that Saotome could be to our reputation. Therefore, they've authorized extended roll-out of a special operative, if you can't get your answers tonight."
"Oh, no," Nanami groaned. "Please, tell me it's not Mini-May!"
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(Posted Thu, 28 Jul 2005 05:38)
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