Cloak and Dagger

Case File #5

A rare sight of stars fanned the inky expanse of the Japanese night sky. A soft whisper carried on the breeze, almost song-like. Down below, tiny silhouettes milled about in the chilled air, weaving in and out of the dapples of illumination from the sidewalk street lamps.

From the height of a four-story apartment building, a glass paned window lifted up and open, the outside frost now a contrast to the indoor, electronically stimulated heat. From the interior, a darkened figure shuffled its way closer to the open square, dragging something of measurable heft. Straining with the object's weight, the figure shoved the lump ungracefully up on the sill and promptly shoved it off.

The figure panted heavily, obviously not accustomed to heavy weight lifting. It released a noiseless shiver and opted to lean forward and gently close the window, effectively separating cold from warm.

(=^-^= )

On the other side of town, a certain restaurant and bar had closed up for the evening, promising to open as an office building come late morning. Dark corridors remained dark, void of sound and motion. The internal housing had gone silent over an hour ago, every current occupant pushed to exhaustion which led to near-instant sleep once their heads hit their respective pillows.

The ashen blond had been given his own room since the passing of time, now nestled comfortably in a twin comforter in one of the recently remodeled chambers. Thick down blankets kept him cozy as the season began its third transition into the brisker weather. Clutched in his child hands remained a favored stuffed cream hued bunny that was recovered from his prior living residence in Osigawa.

The brunette across the hall slept noisily, unladylike snores escaping her open maw every few seconds. Unaware of her rumbles were her comrades who thankfully were heavier sleepers or placed far enough away from the room in question to be affected by such a clatter.

Downstairs in a separate part of the building lay host to a restless bouncer clad in fleece pajamas with blue clouds representing her lack of childhood kept secret from the other members of the squad. From the doorway, it almost appeared she was having a nightmare. Savage dreams from which she was unable to wake up from. This continued for several minutes before the woman finally fell slack, unmoving and resumed a regular breathing pattern.

Back upstairs, the final housed member curled up, oddly comfortable in his sanctuary of a foreign bed. The room, kitty corner to his own, was roughly the same dimensions with differences in placement of furniture. The dresser in this chamber had been shoved up on the far wall, furthest away from the glow of the moon through the window. The bed frame and mattress had instead been placed beside the ominous closet that loomed on the right side. In hindsight, there should have been no disturbances and nothing should have been there to jolt him from the depths of REM.

Yet somehow...

Space unicorn

Soaring through the stars

Delivering the rainbows

All around the world

A growl rose in the man's throat, hoarse and dry from sleep as his arm shot from the covers to slam into the offending device ringing at such a god awful hour of the morning. When he finally gripped the electric object with enough force to lift it from the nightstand, he didn't have the patience or energy to read the caller ID and went straight to answering it.

Answering it with probably the rudest sounding introduction in the man's history, mind you.

"Listen buddy, you have any goddamn idea what time it is?"