Karasuma entered Building A of the Ministry of Defense headquarters with his briefcase in hand. Though he held himself as tall and proud as always, exhaustion lined his frame. He could fight innumerable enemies or raid enemy bases with ease, but dealing with the media was an entirely different beast.
At least it was over. All of it—the good, the bad, the unbelievable—and life would slowly be returning to normal. At the start of this madness, he would have been all too happy for this moment, but now it didn't feel that rewarding.
Well, there was nothing to be done but to soldier on.
The walk to his office took at least double the usual time as various colleagues approached him to talk. It was a stark difference from the cold way his higher-ups were treating him; they were still unhappy with how he had undermined their authority to aid the students, while others knew little about that and only cared that they were still alive to see another day.
Finally, when he had reached his office, he found Sonokawa waiting for him. She and the rest of his subordinates had been handling things at the ministry while he was busy, for which he was immensely grateful.
"Sir," she greeted him and he nodded.
"Catch me up on things."
"The collaborations and projects surrounding the target have been disbanded, but the ministry is planning a last set of covert operations to ensure that details of the anti-matter research are fully destroyed. Also, all contracts with international assassins have been cancelled..." Sonokawa paused, looking uncertain for a moment before she plowed on, "Including with Irina Jelavić, whose immunity on Japanese soil will be revoked in one hour, the moment her flight takes off."
Karasuma froze. Irina... he hadn't spared a thought for her.
"Her flight?"
"JL23, sir. Tokyo to Belgrade, Serbia, via the Haneda Airport."
Of course, now that things were settled, Irina would leave. He knew it. Months ago, he had told her exactly that—that their time together would end with either the world or the mission. He had been prepared for it...
But in the midst of everything, during the last assassination plan and later, somehow it had slipped his mind. The last he had seen her was just a few hours earlier, during the graduation ceremony.
He didn't even remember when she left, having been too occupied with the media and his fellow agents at the time.
Did the students know? She hadn't contacted him.
"Sir?" Sonokawa's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Right, JL23. To leave in an hour. From the Ministry of Defence, the airport was about half an hour by car...
"Sonokawa, please excuse me."
He turned, took in a breath, and rushed out the door, deaf to the startled sounds of the people around.
Getting past security and all the queues was a simple matter of flashing his government employee ID at the airport guards. There were only ten minutes left when he reached the boarding gate. He was almost out of breath too, less from exertion and more from the panic swirling in him for every second he lost.
He couldn't spare a single one.
He scanned the crowd, looking for a head of blonde hair or a glimpse of azure-blue eyes. Within a few minutes, he found her leaning on a wall, dressed in a modest navy cardigan and reading a book. There was a wheeled suitcase next to her, the only luggage she was carrying in addition to her handbag.
It looked too little for a woman who had been living in the country for over a year.
He approached her, only halfway to her when she looked up from her book and her gaze fell on him.
She froze, nearly dropping the book, and he steeled himself.
"Irina."
"Karasuma," she replied.
"Sonokawa told me." Why didn't you, he refused to say, but both of them heard it loud and clear.
"I only learnt it two hours back myself, when Lovro called." She glanced at the gate, and then back at him. "I guess this is goodbye. Pass my regards and stuff to the kids too."
"Do it yourself." There was a sudden sharpness in his voice that took both of them by surprise.
Her flinch was the only visible reaction she had to his tone, before she responded calmly, "We both know I can't be in contact with them. It's dangerous for everybody."
"Is this what you want?" he asked, softer. Somehow it felt like admitting defeat.
"Does it matter? I go where the job is." She shrugged, affecting an impressive air of nonchalance. Too bad a year of working alongside her had clued him in to her little tells, like the stiffness of her gesture and the faint pressing of her lips.
She had spent an entire year chasing after him. At first he had found it annoying, then slowly it had become amusing... and then adorable. But he had kept reminding himself that it was too risky. She would disappear and that would be the end of it. That was what he prepared himself for.
Suddenly he didn't feel so prepared though.
For months, he had been deluding himself thinking that it wouldn't matter if she left, that things would be back to ordinary and that would be fine.
But if there was one thing the Assassination Classroom had taught him, it was that ordinary was lacklustre. A failure to experience new things and push boundaries. She had pushed his boundaries plenty, carrying with her a warmth and carefreeness that softened his walls until over time she crashed them down entirely.
It was stupid and senseless and selfish... but she couldn't leave. Not after everything they had gone through together.
"You said you go where the job is, right?"
She gave him a confused look and he couldn't help but doubt himself. Emotions were never his strong point... what if this was a mistake?
"This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight JL23 to Belgrade..."
No, there was no time to think. Only to act.
As she turned away, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her back, careful not to use much force. Their eyes locked and the words fell from his mouth without further thought.
"Come work with me. At the Ministry of Defence. They wouldn't think of turning you down, and I can assure you the Intelligence Department wouldn't probe too much into your past. Even during peacetime, your skills are useful. And with them, every day, you'd be working to save people, more than you've killed, and you can pray for your victims at the shrine. You'd be able to keep in contact with the students..."
...and with me.
Irina was still, her face a blank mask in which he couldn't find any cracks. Was she considering it? Did she find it ridiculous? He couldn't know at all.
"What's that about a shrine? You know I'm Christian, right?" she said at last, with an endearingly confused expression. "And I don't have any relatives here or anything..."
"This is the final call for JL23 for Belgrade. Passengers on this flight should be onboard through gate number 51."
She couldn't leave. If she did...
"Well, there aren't any churches near my house. I'm afraid you'll have to settle for the shrine."
He watched the confusion on her face slowly morph into understanding and shock, her eyes widening. Irina's lips parted and Karasuma could easily imagine that shrill scream of hers that would no doubt attract the attention of everyone around them.
So he had to silence her.
In a second, he covered her mouth with his.
In that second, he thought he could feel his own heart beat, thumping rapidly against his ribcage.
Irina leaned in, grabbing the lapels of his coat and pulling him closer, and both of them ignored the thud her book made as it fell. His sharp senses honed onto her—the sweet taste of her red lipstick, the heady scent of cinnamon and cedar—letting everything else fade away.
It was only once they stopped, needing air, that he realised her face was a flaming red. He gave her one long look then abruptly walked away, already anticipating her response.
She didn't disappoint.
"Hey, where do you think you're going? You can't just kiss a woman and leave!" she shouted, and he could hear the quick footsteps following after him.
Irina was staying.