It was the middle of the day when Araya suddenly called her saying that he and Hayato would be coming in less than four minutes for a mission.
"You can't be serious. That's literally no notice. I haven't even been briefed yet," she told him.
"Do you already have your go-bag?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"I do... but that's not the point!" She exclaimed.
"Then what is? You're ready to go, aren't you? You've got everything you need."
Mariko pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't just pick up and leave whenever the hell I want now. There are people expecting me to be home."
"What you mean Hawks?"
"Yes! What the hell do you think is gonna happen when I just don't come home?"
"You're starting to sound like Hayato," he groaned.
"I do not sound like a middle-aged married man thank you very much," she scoffed.
"I take offense to that!" Hayato yelled into the line.
"That's true, your voice is a lot cuter. I'm still coming to pick you up though. Be on the roof in two minutes and leave your cell," he told her.
Mariko cursed as she hung up on him. She practically sprinted to her bedroom as she called Keigo and grabbed a black duffle bag from under her bed. "Damnit pick up," she muttered. It went straight to voice mail. "Fine. Keigo I have to go for a little while. I'm not exactly sure how long I'll be gone though... hopefully not too long. I won't be able to talk either after this... Anyways, don't start a search party or anything. I'll be with Hayato and Araya so you know I haven't been kidnapped, not technically anyway. I promise I'll try to come back soon. Stay safe out there," she said quickly as she ended the message. She threw her phone onto the counter and sprinted out the door.
As soon as she made it on the roof, she saw the helicopter floating right above her. It didn't land but it did drop a ladder for her to climb. Mariko slung her bag over her shoulder and quickly climbed up. She practically collapsed in her seat, a bit breathless from all the running. It'd been a while since she did this kind of exercise.
"Nice of you to join us," Araya said, handing her a headset.
"You bastard since when was five minutes enough notice to tell me we had to leave for a mission?" she growled.
"You only needed five minutes didn't you?" he asked.
"No. But it doesn't matter now anyway. Just brief me on what we're doing," she said quickly changing the subject. She had a feeling that if she continued the conversation, things would turn ugly.
"We found the I.D of one of the delivery men who is working at the new base. He's willing to talk to us at a secure location of his choosing today and tell us where the delivery is going to be made in Japan," Hayato explained.
"He's not in Japan then? She asked. "Where are we going?"
"Chongjin, North Korea," he stated.
Mariko nodded slowly. They would definitely have to be careful there.
"Araya handed her the delivery man's personal profile as well as a geographical map of the city and landscape. "Most important thing when going to North Korea?" he asked.
"Make sure no one ever finds out you were there," she parroted.
The dark-haired male nodded in agreement.
"Good."
For a while, they rode in silence, Hayato even fell asleep. Suddenly, a thought came to her and she turned to Araya. "You know Hawks's gonna freak out when he realizes I'm gone... You did that on purpose. Why?" she asked.
"Knowledge of the missions is limited to members of the Alpha 5 tactical squadron," he shrugged.
"You did this to pressure him into teaming up?"
Araya smiled childishly, "Smart huh?"
"You're such a dick. Fuck you," she spat.
"Been there, done that. I think we both agreed it wasn't in our best interest," he waved dismissively.
Mariko glared at him and flipped him off.