text33358;"""Drinking with decency is an art. In this context, \""with decency\"" doesn't always mean \""moderately\"".""" text33359;"""In Himitsu's case, drinking with decency meant not drinking at all!""" text33360;"""I opened my puffy eyes and rolled over with great effort.""" text33361;"""The sun was coming up, the clock read quarter to six.""" text33362;"""We had to get up!""" text33363;"""I shook Himitsu by the shoulder, but she just kept sleeping peacefully.""" text33364;"""Wake up!""" text33365;"""I said loudly in her ear.""" text33366;"""Himitsu opened her eyes and stared at me, confused.""" text33367;"""Time to go!""" text33368;"""What? Where?""" text33369;"""Time to get out of this country!""" text33370;"""Get out…?""" text33371;"""Don't you remember what happened yesterday?""" text33372;"""Yesterday… I think Kagome-san's grandfather arranged a farewell dinner for us…""" text33373;"""Blessed is she who knows no hangover!""" text33374;"""A final bender, I'd say!""" text33375;"""Her eyes widened.""" text33376;"""I sighed heavily and stumbled to my feet.""" text33377;"""Ten minutes later we had already packed our few belongings and were saying goodbye to Kagome.""" text33378;"""Again, with a clear mind now: are you sure?""" text33379;"""If it'll somehow hurt Kobayashi Corporation, you can count on me!""" text33380;"""At the very least, they won't be happy.""" text33381;"""I looked around the restaurant, but nobody was paying attention to us.""" text33382;"""The documents are under the futon.""" text33383;"""Got it. When you arrive in the USSR, just call here and ask for Iwamura-san.""" text33384;"""Just… But your phone might be tapped. Besides, an international call would immediately raise suspicion.""" text33385;"""Yeah, I guess.""" text33386;"""Kagome thought a moment.""" text33387;"""Then I'll just ask Kyosuke to drop by your place.""" text33388;"""The fat guy?""" text33389;"""A man with a big heart!""" text33390;"""I smirked and gave her my hand.""" text33391;"""Kagome was embarrassed at first, but shook it nonetheless.""" text33392;"""Himitsu bowed deeply:""" text33393;"""Thank you for everything! And thank your grandfather on our behalf!""" text33394;"""Sure. Except after yesterday he'll be sleeping until noon.""" text33395;"""…""" text33396;"""We walked outside, I called Kyosuke from the nearest telephone box, and gave him detailed instructions: what, when, and where.""" text33397;"""Of course, there was a chance they were tapping his phone as well, but over our years of friendship we came up with all sorts of words and phrases whose real meaning was known only to us.""" text33398;"""With that, all preparations were complete.""" text33399;"""I sat on the short stone barrier that separated the pavement from the water.""" text33400;"""This doesn't seem very safe. Especially next to a restaurant where they sell alcohol.""" text33401;"""Did I really get drunk yesterday?""" text33402;"""Himitsu stood next to me, twisting her hands in anguished realization.""" text33403;"""A little, maybe.""" text33404;"""Still, there was something wrong with this plan.""" text33405;"""Or, maybe, the whole plan was rubbish!""" text33406;"""Irina had agreed to my conditions too easily, Himitsu was able to steal those documents too easily, Kagome was too confident that the documents would be safe with her.""" text33407;"""Why had I even agreed to all that…?""" text33408;"""Was I just carried by the flow? Too tired to think for myself?""" text33409;"""There were too many variables — and I couldn't put them together into a single understandable system.""" text33410;"""Niko-kun…""" text33411;"""Himitsu took me by the hand, but said nothing else.""" text33412;"""What else was there to say? We could only wait.""" text33413;"""Finally, a car appeared in the distance, slowly driving in our direction.""" text33414;"""I automatically stood up and walked towards it — who else would be here at such an early hour?""" text33415;"""Himitsu was holding my hand tightly and walking next to me.""" text33416;"""When it had just twenty meters until it reached us, another black sedan leaped out of an alley, tires screeching. A man holding a machine gun leaned out the car window and opened fire on the first car.""" text33417;"""The gunfire sounded like someone trying to play a simple tune with spoons.""" text33418;"""Bullets pierced the windows, glass raining down in a fine mist.""" text33419;"""Almost immediately, the first car returned fire.""" text33420;"""The whole scene took no more than a couple seconds, but I froze, holding Himitsu's hand tightly, unable to do away with the feeling that I was the odd element out in this picture.""" text33421;"""As if I just accidentally found myself on the set of an action movie and was afraid to leave so as to not disturb the actors.""" text33422;"""A moment later both cars had become sieves and the gunfire had fallen quiet.""" text33423;"""Somewhere on the edge of my conscious self I started to hear a voice, a deep bass — as if someone turned an equalizer to low frequencies:""" text33424;"""Niko-kun…""" text33425;"""Then louder and clearer:""" text33426;"""Niko-kun!""" text33427;"""I came to my senses and broke into a run, dragging Himitsu along.""" text33428;"""…""" text33429;"""I didn't know if anybody was left alive after all that shooting, but if there were, they'd be coming after us!""" text33430;"""We were rushing past opening stores, past fish sellers, slipping into alleys and side streets.""" text33431;"""Catching surprised looks, we didn't drop our speed — the two cars now resembling Swiss cheese were left far behind.""" text33432;"""Finally, I stopped to catch my breath.""" text33433;"""Himitsu was covered in sweat, her hair disheveled and stuck to her flushed face.""" text33434;"""What was that, Niko-kun?""" text33435;"""In any case, my suspicions had not been unfounded — everything couldn't go that smoothly!""" text33436;"""I don't know… Apparently, the Russians got attacked. Or they attacked someone.""" text33437;"""So what are we going to do now…?""" text33438;"""We can't rely on them anymore!""" text33439;"""That money would've been so useful now!""" text33440;"""We need to get out of the city. Then we'll see.""" text33441;"""I still had some change in my wallet — enough to buy two tickets out of Tokyo.""" text33442;"""Then we would act according to circumstances.""" text33443;"""Himitsu was standing still and coming to her senses.""" text33444;"""One thing was clear — we were being hunted!""" text33445;"""It didn't even matter by who.""" text33446;"""Most importantly, they wouldn't leave us alone, and we had no one else to count on.""" text33447;"""Perhaps Irina made a mistake, or, maybe, it was something else — these questions would only be of interest to conspiracy theorists.""" text33448;"""I felt like an object, a mere addition to the papers left at Gifts of the Sea.""" text33449;"""That folder was valuable in and of itself, people were ready to kill and die for it, while our lives were expendable!""" text33450;"""Think again: did you notice anything unusual yesterday at home or on you way back? Try to remember everything! Maybe you saw someone suspicious?""" text33451;"""Niko-kun, I don't know… I'm scared!""" text33452;"""I hugged Himitsu and held her close, feeling her whole body tremble.""" text33453;"""My main task now was to protect her, not to get to the truth of what had happened.""" text33454;"""It seemed to be quiet — no traces of that slaughter.""" text33455;"""But someone definitely needed us. Alive.""" text33456;"""If we could simply give those damned documents away….""" text33457;"""Suddenly I noticed suspicious looking men in black suits in the distance.""" text33458;"""Six AM on a Friday in this district and clothes fit more for a business meeting didn't make for a good combination.""" text33459;"""Luckily, they were far enough, and it was unlikely they'd notice us behind the vending machine blocking their line of sight.""" text33460;"""We have to go.""" text33461;"""I said quietly.""" text33462;"""But where, Niko-kun…?""" text33463;"""Himitsu seemed completely desperate.""" text33464;"""For starters, forward.""" text33465;"""I had no time to persuade her, so I just had to drag Himitsu along by force.""" text33466;"""…""" text33467;"""A few suspicious guys, easily identifiable as Japanese agents, were hanging around the train station, barely even trying to hide.""" text33468;"""We had been skillfully backed into a corner, our every escape route systematically cut off.""" text33469;"""You might wonder, what's easier than hiding in a massive city?""" text33470;"""Not when several intelligence agencies are hunting you.""" text33471;"""The Japanese were guarding the way ahead, while the Russians most likely were on our heels, and I was no longer so confident about their intentions.""" text33472;"""On one side, were cut off by the sea, while the other was blocked by dense rows of short houses, crowding like an army of dwarves at the foothill of Erebor.""" text33473;"""I could already tell this was the end, but didn't want to scare Himitsu even more.""" text33474;"""The station was getting more crowded, and it was a good opportunity to disappear in the crowd, but, at the same time, it would be harder to notice our pursuers.""" text33475;"""Besides, for me, with my height, it was nearly impossible not to stand out in a group of short Japanese people.""" text33476;"""I decided that we'd better avoid open spaces.""" text33477;"""We went off the street leading us to the station and found ourselves in a straight narrow alley that was going in the same direction for a good hundred metres.""" text33478;"""If enemies were to appear on the other end, we'd have nowhere to run.""" text33479;"""I looked back — the black suits were approaching.""" text33480;"""Niko-kun…?""" text33481;"""Himitsu looked detached — apparently, she had run out of energy to worry and partially come to terms with what might happen.""" text33482;"""Will they kill us?""" text33483;"""No, no!""" text33484;"""Then what will they do?""" text33485;"""I couldn't find the right words to respond, and it made no sense to keep repeating that everything would be alright.""" text33486;"""We walked quickly forward and soon successfully reached the end of the alley.""" text33487;"""Then came a strong punch to my gut…""" text33488;"""I doubled over, saw sparks before my eyes, lost my balance, and the whole world grew dark for a moment.""" text33489;"""The next second I was already being dragged somewhere.""" text33490;"""I found myself on the back seat of a car, where Himitsu's cry made me come to my senses:""" text33491;"""Niko-kun!""" text33492;"""A huge man was holding her tightly by the arms.""" text33493;"""Help! Murder!""" text33494;"""I shouted instinctively, but they paid no attention.""" text33495;"""They were acting quickly and coherently.""" text33496;"""\""Professionals\"" – slipped through my mind.""" text33497;"""While I was trying to break free, my brain was feverishly analyzing the situation.""" text33498;"""Himitsu was being dragged away from the car.""" text33499;"""Niko-kun!""" text33500;"""She shouted for the last time, before somebody put a handkerchief on her face. With chloroform, probably.""" text33501;"""The next second, she went limp in the hands of the goon holding her.""" text33502;"""I made one more attempt to break free, but somebody immediately handcuffed me.""" text33503;"""What are you doing, bastards?! We had a deal!""" text33504;"""I wasn't silenced as painlessly as Himitsu – with a hit to the back of my head.""" text33505;"""And, already fainting, I realized that the few words I heard at that moment were not in Russian."""