Saturday, 13th June 2009

"Are you sure we are at the right place?" The agent, Fury assigned as their pilot, asked for an empty runway as they arrived at their destination. Irmina popped up behind and looked through the windshield, and nodded. "There's no one here."

"I'm meeting one person. He owns the place, and I promise you it's not empty." Irmina smirked as she checked on her katanas and handed Natasha's firearm to her. She could tell that Natasha was not happy to be here, in her home country, one that gave her so much trauma. "Don't worry; we're here for like 15 minutes. Also, don't arrest him."

"Why would we arrest him?" Maria inquired.

"Let's say his job is not exactly legal, and he's not on any wanted list, so there is no reason to arrest him. He's a good man trying to earn a living in his own way. It's hard for people like him to live like normal people." The three agents left the Quinjet and walked over to the open hanger, and they could hear some Russian being spoken. Irmina smirked as she noticed Nikolai and removed her mask. Completely forgetting that it was the first time that Natasha had not seen her face yet. Maria looked at Natasha with her brow raised and noticed that Natasha was practically enchanted. "Николай."

Nikolai jumped and pointed a gun at Irmina, but Irmina undocked the barrel, letting the bullet pop out. "Mina?" Nikolai asked as he refocused his vision. "Mina!" Nikolai cheered as he pulled her in a hug. Irmina laughed as she finally returned the welcome hugs. "You returned my hug! You're free?"

"Yeah, something like that." Irmina chuckled while Maria and Natasha scanned the beautifully decorated hanger. It had two floors; the interior was designed like a loft. A car sat in the corner of the hangar, close to a small plane and a motorcycle. The three agents were shocked when Nikolai started to bawl his eyes out. "W-what's happening?"

"I'm so happy for you." Nikolai sobbed while Natasha smiled, with Maria confused. Russian was not one of her languages.

"Okay, that's enough; you're getting my shirt wet. Have you kept up with them?"

"Right, your family is more important than me." Nikolai scoffed as he took out a very secure box and opened it. The word 'family' had gotten Natasha interested in their conversation. Maria noticed Natasha and asked what they were saying. "They've been well, and Makoto has the Kyudo Championship coming up in two days. There's more." Nikolai paused and took out a picture of Akari proposing to her girlfriend.

Irmina gasped as she took the picture, tears begging to fall out. "Maki is married?"

"Not yet. She's married in a week. So I've heard." Nikolai turned to look at the two agents, intrigued and looking at photos splayed out on his table. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my friend. Hold on." Nikolai ran to the second floor while Maria and Natasha looked at Irmina.

"He's giving you something. He's very generous." Irmina shrugged as she started to arrange the photos, catching a bag Nikolai threw at her head with no warning. Irmina scowled as she packed everything into the bag. When she opened it, she noticed cash. Lots of cash.

"Here you go!" Nikolai panted as he handed Maria and Natasha a bottle of whiskey and vodka. The bottles of alcohol were expensive and had the highest grade. "She doesn't get any because alcohol had no effect on her stupid serum." Irmina scoffed and rolled her eyes as she slipped the bag full of photos and cash onto her back. "Here."

"A knife?"

"You're very good with it. It's made for you. You like the weight, the grip and the length. You would use it now but for good this time since you're an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I will try not to do anything stupid and get on the wanted list, so you don't have to arrest me."

"How did you know she was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"The bird outside," Nikolas informed as he pointed to his cameras. "And who else would recruit this psycho except for S.H.I.E.L.D." Maria chuckled as Natasha was impressed with his correct conclusion while Irmina snorted and hugged him. "This is new. You hate this, but I will savour it." Nikolas joked while Irmina rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

"I'll try to visit more. Don't get into trouble." Irmina said as she backpaddled out of the hangar and pulled Maria and Natasha with her.

"Okay, Grandma."

—

"So the Japanese from that time was your family?" Natasha asked as she interrupted Irmina's inspection of her katanas. They had about 15 more minutes before they reached Osaka. Natasha had a lot of questions, and so did Maria, while Irmina just wanted to sleep. 

"Something like that."

"Now you have you tell us more, can't leave us on that."

"We have a busy body." Irmina pointed at the agent, that was trying very hard not to listen. He couldn't believe he was one of the few who could see her face. "As long as you don't get around telling people, I'm fine." The agent nodded as he sighed in relief. He was interested too.

Who would not be interested? An 85 years old assassin that has been a weapon in her entire life had a family.

"Did you only meet Maki?"

Natasha nodded as Irmina showed her a picture of Maki. Maria gave her a quizzical look at the former Hydra Assassin. Natasha focused on the radar in case anyone wanted to shoot them down. "After World War Two, I ran. The moment we knew the war had ended, I escaped. I ran as far as I could. Since no one knew who I was, it was easy to run and hide."

"How did they find you?" Natasha asked with nothing but curiosity.

"Bushida-sensei found me somewhere in Spain after a few months. He didn't question anything and took me in. I was so hostile to him that he had to knock me out. Yes, a super soldier was knocked by a Japanese Airman. To be fair, I was scared out of my mind, and any man I saw was an enemy. I was utterly weak and a mess. He took me to Japan and secluded me for months. In the months I was in seclusion, I met his daughter, Aki."

"How did you—" Maria pondered before she was cut off.

"She's a rule breaker. She didn't care about her father's rules and visited me every night."

"Uh—sorry to interrupt, but we're in Osaka."

"Land us here. We could stay there for the night, then head to the estate."

"We don't have enough cash." Maria reminded.

"Remember Nikolai being generous?" Mari and Natasha nodded as Irmina opened her bag and showed her the ridiculous amount of cash in her bag. "Micheal, right?" The agent nodded as he ensured that no anyone would find the Quinjet. "Put on the jacket. You need to blend in."

"I'm coming with you?"

"Course, wouldn't want you to miss the fun, don't you?" Micheal lit up as he quickly put on the jacket.

The four agents walked through the night crowd, watching everyone closely like how they were trained. Irmina had her hood up to hide her blonde hair to avoid attention. The three agents with her were able to relax more than she did.

Because Irmina considered everyone an enemy, she made quite a bit of enemy.

On accident.

"Wait, follow me. I'm sure we are very hungry," Irmina voiced as she headed towards a ramen shop she went to three years ago. The Chef still remembered the German as she poked her head into the empty store. He was about to close. "Still open?"

"For Mina-kun? Of course!" The Chef excitedly announced as he wiped her spot for her. Irmina smiled widely as she opened the curtains to show the other agents joining her. "You brought me more customers! You just made my night!"

"Mina?" Natasha mused as she took a seat beside Irmina.

"I have a different name for different people. Well—sort of." Irmina explained as she ordered a bowl of ramen and some side dishes. Irmina eats a lot in one meal; it's what her body requires and wants. She saw the agents struggling to order since the menu was all Japanese. "You want to trust me with ordering, or do you want me to explain every item to you?"

"Order for us, please," Maria said, and Natasha nodded as they shut the menu while Micheal ordered for himself. His senior agents looked at him, surprised and impressed. Irmina ordered them as she accepted her side dishes.

"I took Japanese in high school," Micheal informed as he accepted his side dish from the Chef, who was complimenting his Japanese.

"That was not in your file."

"Yeah, I forgot to put it in," Micheal stated shyly.

"Do you eat this much all the time?" Maria questioned Irmina, receiving some drinks and side dishes for herself and Natasha. "Just curious."

"Yep. My body needs and I'm hungry all the time. Didn't happen before I first went into ice, though." Irmina informed and thanked the chef for the food and dug in, waiting for their ramen. Maria and Natasha did the same thing and said the same thing as Irmina and Micheal. "So if I'm approved for missions, you'll see me packing some food."

"Enjoy your meal!" The Chef said as he placed their bowls of ramen in front of them. Irmina caught up with the Chef and updated her about everything that had been going on for the past three years as she enjoyed his ramen. She was even informed that the Bushida family came here recently.

—

"Hello," Irmina greeted with a smile and bowed lightly as the receptionist returned the greeting and bowed while the three agents behind scanned the place. The receptionist recognised the assassin as she served her needs.

"Two rooms," Maria ordered as Irmina sighed, bowing her head and then looked at the receptionist and got two rooms as Maria ordered. Irmina hates being told what to do and usually fights those who give her orders until they force her hand. Now she has to get used to being ordered around since she is basically a rookie. "Don't think you can escape that easily."

"You'll find me anyway, tracker on the katanas." Irmina shrugged as she took their keys and tossed one key to Micheal. Micheal is getting his own room, and the other three share a room.

"How did you even know?" Micheal asked while Maria and Natasha groaned, confused Micheal with his question.

"Well, now I know," Irmina chuckled as Micheal puffed out his cheeks, clearly realising his mistake. "Also classic spy move."

Natasha rolled her eyes as her tongue pressed against her inner cheek. Natasha kicked Irmina's shin and snatched the key out of Irmina's hand. Irmina winced as she used the wall to support herself as rubbed her shin in pain. Maria raised her eyebrows as she watched the banter before her as Micheal held back himself, still intimidated by the two foreign assassins. Micheal entered his room as Maria pushed Irmina into theirs.

"So, how are we doing this?" Maria asked as she set her stuff down on the bed while Irmina set her stuff by the window and Natasha beside, scanning the area and thinking of every escape route with Irmina.

"The floor is fine," Irmina said, already sitting on the floor. Irmina took her katanas and unsheathed them, and started to inspect them.

"Good, I don't want to share," Maria shrugged as she plopped down on her bed. Irmina chuckled and got comfortable on the floor when Maria tossed her a pillow.

"Thanks."

"We could share the bed," Natasha suggested.

"Nah, it's fine. I prefer the floor." Irmina smiled as Natasha shrugged at her response and let her be. Maria left them for a walk to get some snacks, and Natasha propped her up, watching Irmina care for her katanas. Irmina plucked out the trackers and tossed them to Natasha, who caught them with a smirk.

"Don't touch my katanas. I hate it." Natasha's smirk was gone as she sat up. "Sorry, that was harsh. I don't like it when people tweak my stuff. Hydra doesn't touch them either because they know I would notice the changes."

"Happened before, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, those guys were paralyzed or dead—" Irmina paused and looked up at Natasha, surprised to see a smirk on her face. "You're the second that gives me a response like that." Irmina chuckled, putting her katanas back into their sheaths.

"Like what?" Natasha smirked.

"Like you're proud or impressed, smirking. Not scared with what I've told you or hell, that I'm not a monster for my actions."

"We're both assassins. And you're not a monster."

"Neither are you," Irmina said, locking eyes with Natasha. Natasha smiled genuinely as Irmina let herself fall onto the floor and sighed in relief.

"You're not going to shower?"

"Do I smell?" — Natasha shook her head at her question, playing with the trackers in her hands — "Then no. Good night Agent Romanoff." [In Russian]

"Good night Agent König." [In German]

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