Silence In Numbers: File One (38 page)

“We’ll see her tomorrow, I’m sure. She needs to know about this whole situation.”

“I ain’t gonna be the one to tell ‘er.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi arrived at headquarters, but nobody wanted to speak to her. There was almost an aura about her, one that warned everyone to stay the hell away. Her hands were kept in fists as she simply slammed the door out of her way and stalked through the hall to her office, shutting the door hard enough for the sound to echo. Reno peeked out of his own office just enough to look down the hall. “I guess she heard about Hitomi…”

The other three entered the hall, having heard the sound quite easily. Law folded his arms, shaking his head. “It’s not jus’ that, it’s Ayane, too.”

“And her father,” Sano added.

“Not to mention the other attack last night,” Rufus continued.

“So…” Reno stepped out. “What you’re saying is, don’t go near her at all, and we really shouldn’t even be talking about her right outside her office like this?”

The door opened and Reno literally
dove
, headfirst, back into his office. Katsumi stepped out and put a hand on a hip, glaring at the others. “What are you doing out here? Don’t you have work to do?”

Law shrugged. “Nothin’ to do but wait right now.”

Katsumi folded her arms. “Oh, really? Have you lost all initiative? Don’t you three want to get things done and over with? Oh, I’m sorry…” She moved a foot forward and shoved Reno’s door open, sending him sprawling from where he’d been listening behind it. “You four?”

Reno stuck his head out again. “I wasn’t hiding, I was… checking the door.”

“I don’t really care. What you
weren’t
doing is
helping
.”

Sano moved forward. “You’re kinda being a little harsh, Captain.”

“Major,” she corrected as her lavender eyes focused on him instead.

Sano raised an eyebrow. “Major? Really? You got promoted?”

“Why do you sound so surprised about that?”

“I just… I…”

“We aren’t used to you being shown the acknowledgment you deserve,” Rufus offered.

“Yeah,” Sano nodded, “that.”

“I’m sure,” Katsumi muttered. “The point is you’re all getting on my nerves and nothing is getting done.”

Hey, Law,
Sano said over their cyber link.
Could you pick her up and carry her somewhere for a chat?

I can only do that when she doesn’t mind it. As it is now she’d break my nose. Or my neck.

Great.

“And now you’re just staring,” Katsumi sighed. “What a
great
response.” She turned away, going back into her office. “Get back to work,” she said as her door slammed shut behind her.

Reno stood up and scratched his head. “Well… Just like old times, huh?”

“It’s worse than old times,” Sano said. “She was just shut off and cold then.”

“Right, and now she’s
angry
and shut off and cold.”

Rufus shrugged. “Can’t blame her. Perhaps we should get to work.”

“On what? There’s nothing we can do.”

“Find somethin’ then,” Law replied.

Reno turned back into his office. “Actually, I have an idea…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“My husband is a coward,” Lenora Hillford said as she selected Katsumi’s number in her phone. Of course, she knew Reno hoped she’d have a better chance at helping with things, but she still found it funny how frightened he was.

“
What.
”

Then again
, Lenora thought as she winced at the tone in the voice that answered the call,
maybe he wasn’t exaggerating
. “Hi, Katsumi,” she said in her friendliest tone. “It’s been awhile since I’ve heard from you.”

She heard Katsumi sigh. “Lenora, this really isn’t the best time.”

“Is tonight a good time? Early evening?” Lenora bit her lip. “I was hoping we could have all of you over. Or just you, if you don’t want to deal with the others.”

“I… Would it take long?”

Lenora smiled. “No longer than an hour or so. Just a short thing, you know? I’d just like to see you.”

“…Alright. But have the others come by after I leave, I don’t feel like dealing with them tonight. And only an hour, I have to get to the hospital afterwards.”

“Yes, of course.” Lenora softened her voice. “How is Ayane, by the way…? I’ve been worried…”

“I’m…” Katsumi seemed to catch herself, and after that she seemed far more tired than angry. “We’re both grateful for your concern. To be honest, I’m worried, too…”

“Are her injuries getting worse?” Lenora said with a hint of panic.

“No, she’s recovering… for now. It was… close,” Katsumi said in a shaky voice. “She’s okay… for now. Who knows how long that will last.”

Lenora frowned. “I’m sorry. Look… Lianne wants to stay at a friend’s house, I can send Reno out with the others and it can just be us tonight. We can talk.”

“I would appreciate that, actually… Though I can’t promise I’ll be the best company.”

“Nonsense. It’s settled, then. Can you be here at six? I’ll just get something light and casual for us to eat.”

“That’s perfect. I’ll see you then. And… thank you.”

Lenora smiled. “Thank you for accepting.” She hung up the phone and sighed with relief, grateful that she’d succeeded as she texted Reno the plans.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reno grinned at the text. His wife never failed, ever, at anything. It was really quite remarkable. He was in the middle of replying when his door slowly opened and Katsumi stepped in. “You called her, didn’t you?”

He froze mid-text, blinking nervously. “Uh… I mean… Well, it’s kind of… Haha, you see, what I mean is-“

“Thank you,” she said, interrupting him.

He blinked again. “I… Um… You’re welcome.” Katsumi nodded and left, and he grinned, hopping up on his desk to do his ‘celebration dance’. “Who’s the man? I’m the man! Who’s the man? I’m the man!”

“That’s quite the spectacle,” Rufus said from the doorway, surprising Reno and causing him to fall off the desk, tumble over his chair and bring it
and
a shelf down with him, along with everything that had been
on and in
the shelf.

“Ow,” Reno said from under the pile of items. “I hate you.”

“I know,” Rufus said as he left. “I just like earning it.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi arrived exactly on time that night, as she always did. Unlike last time, this time she simply wore a white t-shirt and black jeans and jacket. She felt a lot more comfortable in general than the last time she’d been here as she walked up the porch steps and knocked on the door. The warm whites and yellows of the house were a bit more to her liking this time; they still exuded a strong feeling of family, but this time she let it reinforce the fact that there were good, loving families in the world, and this was one of them. Maybe even she and Ayane could live in a place like this someday, worry-free. Lenora opened it and smiled kindly. “Your timing is impressive,” she said as she stepped out of the way. “I’m glad you came.”

“I almost didn’t,” Katsumi admitted as she stepped inside. “I really want to be alone… But I thought this would be a good idea.”

“I hope so. I want to help, you know that,” Lenora said, shutting the door. “I just made a pizza. I hope that’s okay.”

Katsumi smiled. “That’s perfect. I don’t want a fancy meal or anything like that tonight.”

They just ate in the den, keeping everything simple. They had the TV on but neither of them was really watching it. The volume was kept low and it was really just there as a minor distraction. Katsumi needed those kinds of minor distractions sometimes to make emotions seem more distant than they really were. “I know you’re scared for Reno because of his job,” she was saying, keeping her eyes on the television. The screen was showing some kind of old black-and-white movie she didn’t know the plot to; Lenora apparently liked the “classics” channels.

“Every day,” the brown-haired woman said with a look at Katsumi.

“So you probably understand at least somewhat,” the major continued. “I react to fear with anger myself.”

Lenora nodded. “I heard you’ve been a little… um… short?”

“Is
that
what they’re saying?” Katsumi mumbled with a smirk. “Anyway, I’ve… It’s been a long time.” She looked at Lenora. “When Aya and I first started running, my first thought every morning was ‘we didn’t die last night’ and my last thought every evening was ‘we didn’t die today’. Every day had that chance; every day we walked the edge of a knife, praying we didn’t fall. He could’ve found us at any point, and he did several times. It was always a slim escape, a near-death experience. For the first few months we didn’t even try to think about the future. Looking back, I can see we didn’t think we’d have one.”

Lenora turned and pulled her legs up onto the couch beside her, focusing her attention on Katsumi. “But that changed?”

Katsumi nodded. “I got tired of nothing but fighting, running and hiding. It was unfair that all we did was survive, so I wanted to make it fair myself; Aya deserved a better life, she didn’t deserve having hers ruined just because of our father. One day I just… woke up, I guess,” she shrugged. “I decided we’d make our
own
happiness if no one was going to give it to us. After that things were better, happier. We started our own traditions, found ways to buy or make gifts for each other, called each move to a new location a ‘vacation’. Some of those days worry didn’t factor in, but it was always in the back of our minds. We’d relax, but stay alert. We’d smile and laugh, but glance at any passers-by cautiously. We’d have dinner in a nice restaurant, but sit in the back out of view of the windows. We didn’t let caution rule our lives, but it definitely guided them.”

“It sounds like that would get really stressful and tiresome.”

“You’d think so, but humans can get used to anything. It was sort of like…” Katsumi looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Have you ever gone through a long, extremely busy work day, focusing on getting everything done, and only once you get off work, get home and see your bed do you realize how tired you are?”

Lenora smiled. “I’m a nurse, of course I have.”

Katsumi nodded. “That basically happened to us. We did a lot of different things; eventually we joined the army, thinking Father wouldn’t follow us to a battlefield, and he didn’t. As we worked our way up the ranks we realized our Father had finally given up the decade-long chase, and that’s when everything hit us. We had to re-learn how to live like normal people, and neither of us have it down yet. That’s why we do things like pull a gun on people jumping out for a surprise birthday party, and reactively attack people who wake us up suddenly. We aren’t used to normal life and I don’t think we ever will be.”

“I can see how such a long, intense period of your lives could have such a strong effect. You seem to be doing a pretty good job of it, though.”

Katsumi sighed. “That’s the problem.” She rubbed her face tiredly. “I lost some of that armor I’d built up during that time. We expected danger, death and injury every single day. Not a year went by without both of us nearly dying. We got used to it. We hated it, but we expected it.”

Lenora’s expression changed to understanding. “So when this happened to Ayane, you weren’t prepared for it.”

Katsumi nodded. “It scared me a lot more because of that. And it was…” she laid her head back. “It’s stupid of me, but I’d begun thinking things were almost over. I let myself start thinking of what to do after. Aya and I were even supposed to go looking at a new place to buy and move into today.”

Lenora looked sad as she laid a hand on her arm. “That’s not stupid. You need something to look forward to or there’s no reason to fight. Reno talks about how seeing me and Lianne at the end of the day is what forces him to do everything right and with as much effort as he can. You can’t face someone like your father unless you remind yourself of the freedom and happiness that will come after you win.”

“You’re right, but the problem is it just adds more hopes for him to dash.” She looked at the brunette. “I don’t think I can beat him, Lenora... Every time I try one of us just comes closer to dying. Eventually he’s going to get tired of it and kill us, and I can’t do anything but watch it happen. It’s unfair, but in the end, what can you do when it’s
reality
that’s wrong?”

“I… don’t have an answer for you. I can tell you that you’ll win, but in the end I can’t know that. And we both know that the hero doesn’t always win in reality. All I can say is… None of us have ever met anyone stronger than you. I admire you, my husband admires you, and we know the others on your team do. The hero doesn’t always win, but somehow
you
always find a way to. So I guess you’ll just have to learn to trust yourself as much as your sister and the rest of us do.”