Unit HAZE

Part 2

Part 2
Michael Henderson and his co-pilot, Steven Longhorn, were beginning to lower their altitude in order to land at the airport in London.
That was, however, until their attention was drawn to behind them, where the sound of a door being closed emanated from.
By the time they had made out the figure of a man, Michael Henderson felt a heavy pressure on his forehead. He could not see what it was, but Steven Longhorn could.
It was a gun.
The gun was made of plastic, but that did not mean it couldn't kill. The gun was likely plastic so that it would not set off metal detectors at the airport.
"Fly us to Buckingham Palace." The voice was speaking English, and the words were like knives.
"Why? You don't mean........!"
"Crash us into that place or I shoot." His grip on the gun tightened.
"Idiot," Steven Longhorn spoke up, "what's the point of doing what you say if we die anyway?" His tone was mocking the hijacker.
But in response, the hijacker smiled.
"I may be an idiot, but I know how to fly a plane. I used to work as a pilot years ago."
"What stopped you?" The pilot was not buying for time. He was genuinely interested.
"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you can live for a while longer, or die here."
The pilot tried to look brave, but inside he was terrified. They had been trained what to do in this situation, but that became void if the hijacker could fly without them. They had been trained that they should convince the hijacker that they needed the pilot, but this one did not. The hijacker could have been lying, but could they afford to take that chance?
Michael Henderson took a deep breath and prepared to speak.
But he was stopped by the sound of the cockpit door being swung open.
A figure rushed forth and subdued the hijacker in a headlock. With their other arm, they swiped the pistol from the hijacker and hit them on the back of their head, knocking the hijacker unconscious.
The whole thing took five seconds.
After ten more seconds, the crew came back to reality.
What they saw was an Asian boy with neat dark blue hair. He was chewing on something, and when he swallowed it, he spoke.
"Forget everything that just happened," he spoke English, "just land us at the airport." He reached into the hijacker's back pocket and pulled out a rectangular piece of plastic. "Your flight attendants should look after these. You're just lucky that I saw him coming in here." He started to leave, most likely to look for the owner of the card.
"Then, how did you get in here?" It seemed the boy had no card of his own, and that door could not simply be kicked down. So how?
"If you don't continue flying, I'll make you wish I hadn't saved you." The hero was now threatening them!?
He walked away, closing the door behind him.
What just happened? They had no idea, but there was an unconscious man on the floor and a gun in the cockpit.

Near the snack bar was a room used by the flight attendants. Since the plane would be landing soon, all of the attendants would be with the passengers, so it should be empty. But inside was an unconscious man dressed as a flight attendant.
Izuka compared his face with that on the card, and then carelessly tossed it onto his body. The others would probably assume that he fell asleep, or something like that.
Izuka bought more peanuts then returned to his seat. Marika was still asleep.
"Marika-chan~" he poked her cute face playfully, trying to wake her up.
"Uh...........?" Her eyes opened ever so slightly.
"We're landing soon, so wake up." Marika rubbed her eyes slowly and let out a big yawn.
"How long was I asleep?"
"For the majority of the flight."
"Ahaha, sorry about that~"
"No problem. Also, how come you call me 'Izuka' in your sleep?"
"!?" Her face turned bright red. "Uummm........! D-do I do that?" She tried to play it off.
"Yeah. So, how come?"
"W-well.........."
-attention passengers: we will be landing momentarily, so please stay seated and wear your seat belts. Thank you.-
The voice of a woman spoke before Marika could, saving her.
"Whatever. I have a few days to question you, so I'll drop it for now." He rubbed Marika's head playfully, causing her to pout.

After the plane had landed, Izuka and Marika left the airport, with Izuka calling for a taxi to take them to their hotel.
"Tsubachi-kun, you speak English quite fluently, don't you?"
"Y-yeah. Being multilingual has its advantages." Izuka actually spoke English, Japanese, Russian, Mandarin and French. This was required for him to be an active unit member.
The taxi arrived quickly, and the pair wasted no time in getting in. Izuka only had a small bit of hand luggage, so all that needed to be stored in the back were Marika's bags. She had packed a lot for this trip.
"Hotel Grandiose please."
"Hotel-! That place is the most expensive place in London!" The driver looked into his mirror and saw the passengers. And Asian boy and girl that seemed to be close. Close enough to be taking a trip to London together. Close enough to be staying in a top notch fancy hotel. "Let me guess: honeymoon?"
"No! Why does everyone say that?!"
"What did he say?"
"N-nothing. Just confirming some details........"
"Well, it's not far, so the fair won't be too much. How you gonna pay?"
"Do you have a card reader?"
"Of course. But I don't know if it will work with a foreign card."
"I'll manage. This is a multinational card, so it should still be good here." The card actually worked everywhere in the world. It adjusted automatically to different machine codes, and so was usable anywhere.
The taxi drove off, arriving outside the hotel after a mere few minutes. The only reason why they had not walked was due to a lack of knowledge of the area.
"Well, thank you for your service." Izuka inserted his credit card into the reader and pressed a specific set of numbers. The device took the taxi fair out of Izuka's international bank account, allowing for quick payment. But not everywhere would take payment like that, so he would need to find an ATM at some point.
Marika took her bags to the room whilst Izuka checked in at the lobby. Once he got the key, he met up with Marika outside the room. The room was number 58. It had a nice window view yet wasn't too high up.
Izuka carried the bags in as Marika admired the luxurious room. It had a large bed with soft silk sheets, a huge tv, a shiny bathroom with a large bath and even a balcony. Everything about the room was beautiful and over exaggerated.
Izuka sank deep into a sofa, letting out a satisfying sigh.
"Um......." It seemed like something was bothering Marika. She was red for some reason and avoided directly looking at Izuka.
"What is it?"
"Um.......you see......" She wiggled her hips before continuing. "Where do we sleep?"
"Eh?" Izuka made a strange noise in response to the obvious question. Of course, they would sleep in the-
That was when he noticed. There was only a single double bed. So what were the sleeping arrangements?
"!........u-uumm.........y-you can have the bed! I'll sleep on a sofa or something."
"U-u-unless..........."
"?"
"U-unless you........want to...........share..........." It took all of her energy to say these words.
Izuka was shocked that she would suggest something like that, but then realised that she was still waiting for an answer. He could not think to say yes or no. He loved Marika but did not want to pressure her into anything. However, she seemed adamant that Izuka would not sleep on the sofa. If he said no, she would give the bed to him. He felt that was unfair.
"............s.........." He struggled to even say one word. ".......s........sure.........."
"Really!?" Her eyes held a mysteriously happy glint for some reason.
"W-well, it'd be a selfish if one of us were to use the entire bed............so..........."
"Y-yeah, that's right............." After that, an awkward silence consumed the room. Now that they had arrived, what were they supposed to do?
"Ah, I'll have to get going soon, so I'll take a shower and then be back later. After that, it'll just be the two of us."
"Oh, right........I forgot this was a business trip for you.........." Marika sat on the bed, looking upset for some reason.
Izuka walked into the bathroom and locked the door.
A while later, he emerged from the bathroom, looking no different from when he went in. He immediately noticed the sleeping figure in the large double bed.
"Honestly, you slept on the plane. Do you sleep this much normally?" He asked despite knowing he would not get an answer. "Well, I'll be off. I'll be back before the evening, so you can do what you want until then." He set beside her and gently kissed her cheek. That small interaction seemed to give her comfort, as her body relaxed. "See you later, Marika-chan."
"......................don't keep me waiting................Izuka-kun............" She answered to his words. But after a moment, he realised that she was speaking in her sleep again, since she called him by his first name. But then, 'don't keep her waiting' for what?
Not wanting to think much of it, Izuka left the room. He locked the door but left an obviously placed key on the bedside table next to Marika. Not long after leaving the room, he had left the building altogether, and soon had travelled several streets. He had been careful to choose a hotel that was quite a distance from the organisation entrance he was planning on using.
The building was an abandoned bus depot. Bus number 704 had no wheels, and so its base was directly touching the floor.
After a supposedly inactive security camera checked his identity, the floor of the bus opened like a trapdoor, revealing a staircase.
Back in Japan, they used an elevator, so a primitive thing such as a staircase seemed odd.
Izuka took caution when walking down the stairs. Although the bus was rusted and black, the stairs were clean and pure white. That sudden transition hurt Izuka's eyes.
After going so far, the entrance closed again, obviously to prevent unwanted visitors.
It took several minutes to reach the brightly lit corridor that Izuka was familiar with. He cursed the person who invented stairs in his mind.
He quickly found the door labelled 'ENIGMA dorm', but ignored it and continued on to the door marked as 'cafeteria'. This room was only ever populated by one person. Everyone else would just bring food from the surface. There was not even anyone working in there, so Izuka began to question why the room existed in the first place. Of course, it was a way of keeping a certain person away from other people.
Without a hint of hesitation, Izuka pushed the door with his left hand and entered the room.
Inside were multiple empty tables and chairs, neatly set out without a speck of dust in sight. The only inhabitant was a pale boy wearing a lab coat.
The boy made no effort to look at Izuka; he just continued to sit there with his head in his hands.
"Clean.........clean...........clean........." A few words came out of his trembling lips.
Izuka wasted no time and firmly grabbed the boy's shoulder, making him twitch.
"Haruke, snap out of it."
The boy named Urushiro Haruke rotated his head ninety degrees, using his eyes to scan Izuka. His pure black eyes and unhealthy skin would discourage most, but Izuka remained still.
"Izuka-senpai. I was told you'd be visiting, but I can never tell when you're around." Izuka decided to take a seat opposite Haruke.
Since Haruke had noticed him, Izuka began to get a strange feeling, which he always had when he was around Haruke.
"Even after knowing me for so long, are you still trying to read me?"
"Sorry. My swarm really doesn't like the magnetic field around your body, so I'm just searching for a way through." His voice was dull and slow, as if he was suffering from sleep deprivation.

Urushiro Haruke controls a swarm of nanobots that he uses to extend his five senses. Being only a mere fifteen years old, he is the second youngest operative in any of the units. When talking with someone, he has a habit of reading the brainwaves of people; looking into their memories, checking the condition of the body, and so on. Due to this behaviour, he is isolated from others, spending his time using his swarm to clean. Since he uses so much effort cleaning, he rarely sleeps.

Izuka and Haruke stared at each other, waiting to see who would speak first.
Haruke scratched his charcoal hair unsteadily. The fact that he could not read this person always made him feel uneasy.
"............tell me, why did you arrive by plane? Surely it would've been simpler to have used the high speed railway."
"I'm using this as some time off with a friend. I'm trying to be normal for a while, so let's make this meeting brief."
"I've never liked planes. The constant interference of radio waves makes it difficult for my swarm to relay information." Haruke continued, completely ignoring Izuka. "But on the ground, there is nothing I can't find out. So, senpai, how did it feel to stop a terrorist attack?"
"So you know about that.........."
"Nice job, by the way. Only the pilots knew that the attack even happened. I don't know what you did, but they haven't told a soul." He smiled creepily as he shuffled his chair right up to the table.
"Can we just get this over with?"
".............so boring..........."
"?"
"I can never have any fun with you. So, what did you want?" Haruke looked like a different person. He sat up straight, folding his arms to seem more professional. This was the real Urushiro Haruke.
"Have you and your unit been......observed recently?"
"Hmmm........so someone else finally caught on, huh?"
"So you knew?" Izuka leaned in closer.
"Yes. All of the units have been watched closely for about a month now. The person behind it probably can't tell that nothing gets past me."
"When did you catch on?"
"Last week my unit was dispatched to halt the development of a prototype cyborg project, codename: DemonHeart. It focused on creating robotic limbs that humans could control as part of their own body."
"Like you with your swarm?"
"A little," Haruke sat back on his chair, putting one hand in his lab coat and gesturing with the other, "these limbs were actually accepted by the brain as part of the human body. I don't know why you'd want that though........" He place his chin in his free hand, leaning in towards Izuka.
"How were they observing you?"
"They were using something similar to my swarm, but just as cameras that operate on all wavelengths. I took them out though."
"Any trouble with the job?" Izuka fired question after question.
"There was a brief confrontation with a couple of scientists using the technology they made. They were dead in a few seconds."
"Did you-?"
"No. All of the technology was either destroyed or taken by the clean-up team." Haruke had cut off Izuka as if he knew what he was about to ask, even though Izuka was one of the few people that he could not read.
On a side note, the only people he couldn't read were the entirety of unit HAZE and his comrade, Seishin Tatsuro.
"Well, to keep a long story short, we have something that we'd like Tatsuro to examine." Izuka leaned in closer and stared Haruke directly in the eye.
"Sure. My unit will head over to Japan immediately. Look after Britain whilst I'm gone."
"By the way, keep it quiet during your work." Izuka added.
Without warning, Haruke stood up, fully revealing his almost skeletal figure. Before Izuka could say any more, he had already darted out of the room at a high speed.
When he himself stood from his own seat, Haruke poked his head back through the cafeteria doors.
"Also, good luck with your honeymoon."
"It's not our honeymoon!!!" Izuka raged, charging with all his might. Upon finding that Haruke had vanished, he gave up.
He had no weapons, but he did still have his magnetism gloves and boots.
He used his right glove to collect a large number of nanobots, then crushed them in his palm.

(Owowowowow! Geez, just because I made a little joke! Now I need to make more!) Haruke thought whilst running, making absolutely no noise at all. He would gather the rest of unit ENIGMA and then head for Japan.
However, he was not merely doing this because Izuka had asked him to.
The reason he had so quickly decided to leave was because his swarm had detected something of interest in Japan, which he wanted to investigate personally.