The spy sized her up suspiciously. “Are you imagining something very offensive right now?”
“Of course not,” Kaname protested. “Everyone has their circumstances. Cheer up!”
“For some reason, I don’t like your tone...”
“Besides, you get to do some artistic expression in this job, too,” Kaname nattered on.
“I told you,” he finally burst out. “I don’t want to be in show business!” This was more or less how all of Kaname’s interactions with Wraith had gone lately. No matter who she was dealing with, be they mercenary or spy, she seemed to have a real talent for disrupting another person’s rhythm.
Kaname called on Wraith whenever she wanted to know something, and sometimes just when she was bored. He and Sousuke hadn’t actually met yet; Wraith had stubbornly insisted against it, and they’d reached an agreement that she wouldn’t call him out when Sousuke was nearby. From the way each of them talked, Kaname had a vague idea that some bad blood existed between Wraith, of the intelligence division, and Sousuke, of the operations division.
“So, did you look into it?” Kaname asked, broaching the subject she’d had in mind.
“Somewhat. I’m not privy to everything that happens in the operations division, so I can’t be sure, but... the Tuatha de Danaan battle group currently have no operations scheduled around Christmas that we know of,” Wraith told her reluctantly. “Though they do appear to be preparing for a party of some kind.”
“Hmm... I see.” Kaname’s mood plummeted. She’d thought maybe the reason Sousuke wasn’t coming on the cruise was because he had a mission with Mithril, but if there was nothing scheduled...
Had he canceled their trip to go to some party with his squad, then? It was understandable that he’d prefer to spend his time with the people he faced danger with daily—and with her. She could have just questioned him about it, of course... but with their relationship in an awkward place right now, Kaname had found that she couldn’t lay into him as aggressively as she once had.
“What kind of party is it, I wonder...” she mused, mostly to herself.
“How should I know?” Wraith retorted, sounding surly. “You should be more concerned about this make-up class trip of yours.”
“Did you look into that, too?” Kaname asked next.
“Yes. According to our analysis, the ship should be safe,” Wraith confirmed. “Its background is clean. Though there’s no guarantee the enemy won’t try a repeat of Sunan...”
“A seajacking, you mean?” she clarified.
“Yes, but the chances of that are extremely low. I believe the enemy organization has learned its lesson about the incredible mobility, power, and covertness of the TDD. They probably won’t try to abduct you like that again. But the trade-off there is...” Wraith paused.
“Is... what?”
“Well... it means that you’re that much more likely to be targeted in your everyday life,” he admitted reluctantly.
Kaname said nothing.
“But they haven’t come after you yet,” Wraith went on. “So we can assume they’re biding their time. They may be confident that they can dispatch both myself and Uruz-7 any time they want to, and abduct you then.”
“You seem very unconcerned about that,” Kaname observed.
“I’m just stating the facts.”
“You guys are biding your time with me too, right?”
Wraith fell silent, as he always did when this subject came up.
Trying to restrain her nervousness, Kaname spoke again, her words pointed. “If you ask me, you intelligence division guys are as shady as ‘the enemy.’ And outside of Sousuke and Tessa, the operations higher-ups seem pretty questionable, too.”
“Your doubts are understandable, Chidori Kaname... I hope you can trust in my good faith, as well,” Wraith sighed. “I would be in deep trouble if the top brass knew I was contacting you one-on-one like this.”
“I appreciate it,” Kaname told him sincerely. “You should drop by my house sometime, by the way. I’ll whip up a little thank-you meal. You like hot pot?”
“I love Korean hot pot... Wait, did you hear what I just said?!”
“Yeah, yeah. ‘Don’t call unless it’s an emergency,’ et cetera. I get it, okay?”
“Heaven’s sake...” Wraith let out another sigh. Then he turned and began to walk away from Kaname. But he paused once more on his way and said, “Anyway, be careful on the trip. I’ll be infiltrating the passenger roster just to be safe.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks,” Kaname said, while wondering what ‘he’ would be dressed up as this time. As she watched Wraith leave the shop, she tried to imagine the cruise without Sousuke. I guess he does find Mithril more important than me... Now in a melancholy mood, she left the shop without buying anything.
The air outside was cold, and her breath came in white puffs. These were the shortest days of the year, and the sky was already pitch black, but the shopping street was still bustling. Christmas songs played, and the place was lively with chatter and laughter.
“Ah...” she exclaimed softly, as she caught sight of Sousuke, standing in front of an old shoe store across the street from the shop she’d just left. He slowly walked toward her through the throng. Her first thought, rather than consider that he’d seen her meet with Wraith, was to wonder if he’d decided to go on the cruise after all.
“Wh-what were you doing over there?” Her response came out curtly despite herself.
“I was waiting for you to come out. A suspicious man entered the store and then left... but it appears you were unharmed,” Sousuke said.
“O-of course I was,” she retorted. “Put that stupid gun away!”
“Hmm...” Sousuke returned the gun he was holding, hidden behind his bag, to the holster under his jacket. He hadn’t recognized Wraith, then—or perhaps
