Saturday, October 10th
"WHAT?!"
Karma has to bite his lip to keep from grinning; now is the not the time to be teasing Nagisa. "Not alone of course. Ritsu will help and there will be Special Forces surrounding the premises in case we need a hand. But we're going to be the head of the operation."
"Karma. Explain."
Karma's mouth twitches at the command, but he obliges Nagisa. "So a few days ago teach called and asked me to take on this assassination. Basically the government recently confirmed that Mikoto Takimi, a well known public figure, has had tentacles implanted in him. They've decided that he is a threat to humanity and they've given the order to have him eliminated, and since we have the most experience and we're perfectly positioned for an assassination, we've been asked to do it."
He glances at Nagisa and finds him paying careful attention, his mind obviously working at a high speed as he absorbs the information. Karma takes a moment to appreciate the keen focus in his friend's sapphire blue eyes. Nagisa had cut his hair at the start of school, but it's been making a steady comeback and Nagisa now has modestly long hair for a boy. Currently it frames his striking eyes and adds to the general effect of intense concentration and seriousness emanating from the boy. Karma brings his attention back to his briefing.
"Our target is hosting an event this evening. Obviously I'm invited, so the plan is for us to find a quiet moment when he's vulnerable and take him out. And that's about all I know. I'm sure teach'll fill us in on the details when we get there. Speaking of which..."
Karma turns into a large parking lot and Nagisa looks around in surprise. Apparently he'd been so focused on Karma's explanation that he hadn't noticed as they came up on a large, rectangular, modern looking building. Personally it reminds Karma very much of a hospital, but maybe that's just because he's spent too much time at those, patching up after fights.
"This is the address. Teach said to show an ID at the front desk and we'd be shown to where he's waiting for us. You ready to go?" Karma tucks the car key into his pocket where it clinks merrily with the handle of a blade.
"Ready as I can be, I guess."
Karma nods and opens the door, emerging from the belly of the car. On the other side he can see the top of Nagisa's head, indicating that his blue haired companion has also exited the vehicle. Together they make their way to the entrance of the building where the doors slide open for them.
Right before they walk in Nagisa seems to remember something. He turns to Karma in panic, his blue eyes flashing with alertness.
"Karma," he whispers, "I don't have any identification on me! I thought I was just going to a coffee shop or something!"
Karma places a reassuring hand on Nagisa's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
Nagisa hesitates, then nods, and they walk in.
The first thing Karma notices is the space of the room they walked into. It's a large atrium at least three floors high, and the extensive windows only make it look bigger. Tall metal columns support the ceiling and balconies wrap around the walls, lined with doors and entryways to different rooms on the respective floors. Karma has a feeling that the guard rails are made of bullet proof glass.
Uniformed people (likely soldiers but possibly scientists or any type of government worker really) walk briskly through the atrium and balconies, and while a few of them cast curious glances at the out of place newcomers, most of them don't notice that they're there.
The second thing Karma notices is the desk positioned right inside the doors where a receptionist is shuffling some papers. He walks up to her, putting on his best smile.
"I'm Karma Akabane." He slides his driver's license onto her desk. "And this," he gestured behind him to Nagisa, "is Nagisa Shiota. We're here to see Tadaomi Karasuma?"
The receptionist inspects Karma's license, then nods and turns to Nagisa. "ID?"
Karma steps slightly in front of Nagisa, blocking the receptionist's line of vision. While up until now his smile has been charismatic and friendly, it now becomes slightly harder and more intimidating. "I'll vouch for him. He didn't realize he'd need an ID and it doesn't sound like we have time to go back and get it."
The woman hesitates, then nods. She returns Karma's driver's license and beckons over one of the (probably) soldiers. He comes over quickly, eyeing Karma and Nagisa surreptitiously.
"Take them to Karasuma, he's expecting them."
The soldier nods and says unnecessarily, "Come with me."
Karma fights the urge to roll his eyes. He can already tell he isn't going to like this guy.
The soldier guides them through the building, which is quite frankly more maze than anything else. Karma keeps an eye out, taking all of it in. He's reasonably certain he could find his way out again, but he's glad that Nagisa's here so he can rely on the blue head's excellent memory and observational skills.
Along the way Nagisa makes a few attempts at conversation, but the soldier replies only with monosyllabic responses. His silence conveys an air of seriousness that hadn't been there in the car. Karma can feel anticipation building up in him. This is real. He and Nagisa are really going on another assassination.
Eventually they come to a pair of heavy metal doors. The soldier holds them open for Karma and Nagisa, and together they step inside. They've entered some sort of training hall. Nearest them Karasuma is looking through some papers spread out on one of the long metal tables that are scattered throughout the room. In the center is an open area with removable padding, and along the edges are racks of weapons and training dummies. As Karma is taking all of this in the soldier leaves, shutting the doors behind him.
Meanwhile Karasuma looks up and nods in greeting. "I'm glad you made it, Karma, Nagisa. I trust Karma has briefed you on what we're doing?"
Karma watches as Nagisa swallows and nods. "He told me we're assassinating Mikoto Takimi because he's been implanted with a tentacle seed."
"That's about the gist of it. You don't actually have to kill him; I know neither of you have actually taken a life before. As long as he's totally incapacitated the Special Forces can take him in, but it still might be necessary to straight out kill him."
"And what about the target?" Karma cuts in. "You said he was definitely evil over the phone, but the files you sent only gave basic information."
Wordlessly Karasuma hands each of them copies of the papers he had been looking at.
Karma reads the title. "Target Tentacles?"
"That's what we're calling this operation. The government has been in turmoil ever since we discovered about Mikoto Takimi. The orders and operation details just came in early this morning. To answer Karma's question, Takimi's after power. Quite a few of his political rivals and personal adversaries have disappeared in the past few weeks. We suspect that the two are connected and there's a team working right now to collect evidence. They'll be at his house tonight taking advantage of the event while we take out the target."
Karma listens attentively as he skims through the documents. It doesn't look like Takimi has had any military training, so if they can just get past his tentacles he should be pretty easy to subdue.
Karma looks up from the documents as Karasuma resumes speaking.
"So, what do you say Nagisa? Karma's already agreed, but I know it's a lot to take in. Will you do this for us?"
Karma could practically see the wheels turning in his friend's head. He elbowed him. "Come on, Nagi. It'll be fun like old times."
Nagisa sighs. "Right. Fun." He says in a dubious tone. But Karma can tell he's already made up his mind. Nagisa isn't the type to sit on the sidelines if he can help save lives, and with the recent disappearances Karma knows the decision is practically made. Nagisa proves him right a moment later when he lifts his eyes to meet Karasuma's, his expression dripping in bloodlust. "I'm in."
Karasuma nods, having expected it. "Great. Then let's start preparing. We have a perfect assassination to pull off."
________
This chapter is longer as promised :) I hope that somewhat makes up for the shorter sections.
In the next few chapters Nagisa's going to be forced to cross dress as Karma's date in order to have a reasonable excuse for attending the event. Any ideas on what he should wear...?
As always, thanks for reading and happy 2021!
–Laika