Chapter Text
"You know, when I received your text, I entertained the idea that you might still not come, but I'm pleased to see that was not the case."
Himeko fought hard to contain the annoyed grunt she wanted to let out upon hearing that cocky tone that was so characteristic of Kafka.
She was used to feeling some distraught or annoyance when she was in the company of the stellaron hunter, but after the talk she had with Welt, her emotions had amplified to the extent she now couldn't bear to be in her presence without wanting to snap at her.
"I messaged you for a reason, right? If I hadn't planned on coming, I wouldn't have contacted you in the first place." Himeko glared at Kafka, as, despite wanting to have some sort of control over her feelings, she found it to be a more challenging task than what she had anticipated.
Kafka tilted her head and slightly narrowed her eyes. "You seem annoyed, which it's nothing new when it comes to our exchanges, but I can tell it's worse than usual."
Of course, she would be able to read her right away. "You are imagining things, anyway, we have places to be, haven't we? So lead the way."
"Oh I will, but not before we settle whatever the matter with you is."
"Don't provoke me, Kafka, my patience is hanging by a thread, and the last thing I need is your nagging."
Kafka hummed. "You know that answer only makes me want to be persistent." She stared at Himeko for a few seconds as if trying to see right through her. "Are you annoyed because you have to keep on lying about our encounters?"
She observed her closely to detect any kind of discomfort with her question, but there was no reaction on Himeko's part. "Perhaps it's not that, the last time we saw each other, this was quite a sensible topic, but you seem indifferent now, almost as if…" she trailed off before a mischievous smile appeared on her face, "did you tell them?"
"Whether I did or not is none of your business."
Kafka shrugged. "You are right, it's not."
Even though there was more Kafka wished to say, she knew now would be a good time to stop pushing the navigator's buttons to not piss her further. She walked away, and as soon as she wasn't facing Himeko anymore, the navigator allowed herself the chance to momentarily lower her guard, sighing before catching up to her.
As soon as Himeko was sent the location she was expected to go to, she wasted no time investigating where exactly Kafka wanted to meet her. She found out their meeting point would be in the surroundings of a small commercial district far from the center of the city and close to the coast.
After a while of walking with Kafka, it became clear why they had met in such a place as the stellaron hunter had led her outside an abandoned discharge port.
"This place is in shambles," Himeko commented, scanning her surroundings.
"It has been abandoned for years, so its state is to be expected, but the fact that no one comes here anymore makes it the perfect place to do business, especially because it still has good access to the sea."
The moment Kafka finished speaking, Himeko's phone rang with a notification of a new message. Upon opening it, she saw a picture of his friend on the same port, reunited with some people she assumed were the ones he was doing business with.
"They only reunited here to deliver the goods, and once they were in the possession of your friend, he took them to his vault," Kafka explained once she was sure Himeko saw the photo.
"Is the vault close by?"
"Yes, it's located underground and we can access it through…" Kafka looked around before pointing to a storehouse. "There."
Going to the signaled place, they discovered the inside of the storehouse looked like a mess, just like pretty much everything on the outside, but after moving through the debris and junk, they found what looked like a fortified door on the ground.
Kafka crouched down and started brushing her hand over the door, clearly looking for something, and when she found it, she pressed down to reveal a digital panel.
Pleased with her discovery, she pulled out a small circular device from her pocket.
"This little guy will hack this digital lock, allowing us not only to enter, but it will also prevent any signal from being sent, warning that we have broken inside. However, I can't assure you it will stop any kind of defense system from being activated since that is controlled by a computer located here in the vault."
"Let me guess, that computer is what we have to hack to get the information you seek."
Kafka hummed. "Precisely. Are you ready to get inside?"
Himeko nodded, and with her okay, Kafka put the device atop the digital panel. Lights started flashing on the device, and a metallic click was heard after a few seconds, signaling that the lock on the door had been released.
A pair of stairs appeared from within the door, and once it had opened completely, Himeko and Kafka started their descent.
When Kafka had mentioned a vault, Himeko couldn't help but create a mental image of what it might look like, but now that she was in it, she realized it was nothing like what she had imagined.
To call the place a vault would be to undermine it, as Himeko would say it reminded her more of a museum's exhibit area.
In some ways, it was similar to Herta's exhibition but bigger and with way more relics than she had.
"See, I wasn't lying," Kafka cheekily said.
Himeko huffed but didn't say anything as both continued moving forward.
"Don't you think this seems too easy?" Himeko asked.
"Perhaps, but it's a good thing that…" Kafka didn't manage to finish her sentence since she was interrupted by an alarm going off.
Red lights flashed all over the place, and from the ground, metallic panels started to rise, closing in on each relic as a way of protecting them, and once the relics were out of view, seemingly from out of nowhere, dozens of robot guards appeared before them.
Despite the sudden ambush, the stellaron hunter and the navigator were able to take down their enemies with ease, and once the battlefield was clear, they agreed on quickening their pace before they encountered another surprise.
At the end of the seemingly endless hallway, they found another door with its respective digital panel by the side.
Just like she had done with the one before, Kafka put the circular device atop the panel, and in just a few instants the door opened for them.
On the other side, they found quite an empty office as there wasn't much in there besides a desk and a computer.
"Let's see what we find, shall we?" Kafka said as she and Himeko approached the computer.
After a quick search, Kafka managed to find files detailing the transactions Himeko's friend had been making, as well as emails that he had exchanged with his…providers.
"As you can see, here is all the proof you were looking for, and now that you have seen that, it's time for me to get what I want." Kafka closed all the files she had opened, but instead of searching for something on the database, she once more used her mysterious device, plugging it directly into the computer.
"What are you doing?"
"Making a copy of everything on this computer, I told you information was what I wanted, and that is what I will get."
Once more, Kafka had made sure not to reveal more than necessary, as she hadn't bothered to give Himeko any clue of what she could be after.
"I don't suppose you will send me a copy too?"
Kafka grinned. "I will send you a copy of everything you saw in regards to his business, but nothing more."
"Of course you will, do we have to wait much longer or…"
"It's done," Kafka affirmed, pulling the device from the computer, and before Himeko could say anything else, she grabbed one of her guns and shot the computer.
"Why would you do that?" Himeko spat angrily.
"Relax, he won't need it anymore, and I can't risk you trying to make a copy of its database, too. Speaking of which," This time, she threw her device on the floor and just like she had done with the computer, she shot it too. "You won't need this either."
"Before you throw a tantrum, the device was only needed to transfer the data to an external source, and once the process was done, the device was rendered useless."
Himeko glared at her. Even though she should have expected Kafka to anticipate that one of her motives for agreeing to come along with her would be to discover things about what she was after, the fact that she made it impossible for her to know that, not only annoyed her but also made her feel like she had lost her time, despite not leaving empty-handed.
"Whatever, let's get out of here."
Fortunately for them, their exit went smoother than their break-in.
"You have been awfully quiet tonight," Kafka said once they left the port.
"I don't feel like talking."
"I can respect that, but I just find it strange, you are behaving differently than usual."
Himeko scoffed. "We met a few times, and you already think you have figured me out? If you ask me, I think that is quite pretentious coming from the same person who told me she didn't want to assume when it came to me."
"I'm not assuming, I'm simply pointing out what I see. Since we met, you have been acting off, and based on the little talk we had before, I'm inclined to believe it has to do with you telling your crew we have been meeting."
Himeko crossed her arms. "I don't remember telling you I did, I just said it was none of your business."
Kafka gave her a knowing look. "If you want to go with that, then I will play along, but if there is something you want or need to tell me, I suggest you do it."
Himeko could either keep on lying since Kafka already knew she had told the express crew everything, or she could be truthful and say what was tormenting her.
"There is something I still don't understand about you, and it's the fact that you keep coming to me. You had a reason to do so before, but once I answered your questions, there was no need for that anymore."
"You went to a party you weren't invited to, talked to me, and made me come here when it wasn't necessary.”
While she spoke, Himeko started getting closer to Kafka till she ended up standing just a few steps away from her.
"What are you truly after, Kafka? Is it Stelle?"
Kafka chuckled. "Stelle? Is that what they believe?" She took a step forward. "What do you believe?"
"I don't know what to believe anymore."
"Well, if you need me to clarify that for you, I will say that my link to Stelle is something I can't easily explain. Our paths will continue crossing whether we want it or not, but me seeing you has nothing to do with her; otherwise I would have spoken about her more often, but I haven't, have I?"
"No, you haven't." Himeko reluctantly admitted.
"Is there any other reason you or your crew had to come up with to explain why I'm doing what I am?"
Welt's suspicions came to mind. Kafka's behavior was already confusing but when you added the possibility that she might be interested in her, It raised a lot of questions, not only about the nature of her intentions but also about how Himeko would feel if that possibility was real, which was the part she was trying to avoid thinking the most as the last thing she needed was to add another layer to their complicated…whatever it was they had.
But right at this very moment, under the watchful gaze of Kafka, whose expression she couldn't read, Himeko concluded that maybe she had to leap if only to leave the circle of uncertainty she was living in.
"Just one." Alright, here comes nothing. "Is it because of me? Am I the one you are after, the one you want?"
Her voice hadn't quivered, managing to speak with pure conviction, but even if she hadn't stuttered, that didn't mean she wasn't fuelled with nervousness and a slight sense of fear over what Kafka's answer would be.
Kafka's expression remained impassive, as if Himeko's words didn't have any impact on her, but after a few seconds, she finally gave a hint of emotion. Her eyebrows relaxed, and her eyes acquired a softer look.
"It had always been you, Himeko. Nothing else matters but you."
Himeko's heart jumped inside her chest. She was well aware Kafka could just be playing with her, pretending to show a softer side to make her walls fall, but she wanted to believe she had spoken with the utmost honesty, if only to satisfy a selfish part of her that wanted Kafka to be after her.
Perhaps those same feelings she had at the moment were what Kafka wanted to evoke in her, but she had no time to think rationally, as all she could do was to surge forward, crashing her lips with Kafka's.
Kafka hadn't been prepared for the navigator's eagerness, so she slightly stumbled backward over the force of her impact. She quickly managed to find her footing, putting her hands on Himeko's hips before returning her kiss with the same intensity.
There wasn’t a trace of tenderness in their kiss; if anything, it was as if both were fighting, pushing, and pulling at each other. It was raw, angry, but also passionate.
They were so lost in each other that Himeko didn't realize they were moving backward until her back collided against a cold surface, but even if she was now trapped between Kafka's body and the surface, she didn't seem to mind it at all.
With this new change, Kafka pulled one of her hands away from Himeko's hip to hook it behind the navigator's leg, and only when she lifted it to her hip did Himeko return to her senses.
To break free from the Stellarton hunter’s grasp, she bit her lip till she could taste blood, and only then did Kafka release her as she took a step back.
Himeko had difficulty catching her breath, her heart was frenetically beating, and she stared at Kafka as if she had just seen a ghost, but even if she looked scandalized, the same couldn't be said about Kafka, who just smirked before licking her bloodied lips.
Himeko chastised herself for finding that gesture hot.
"This was a mistake."
"Was it?"
"Yes." Himeko ran her hand through her hair, noticing how messy it had gotten from their little makeout. "This shouldn't have happened. It was a moment of weakness, but that is all."
"You and I are done. After you send me the files, I don't want you to look for me or contact me anymore. Did I make myself clear?"
Kafka frowned. She was ready to argue, but when she took a step forward, she was stopped by Himeko.
"Don't get close to me."
She did as she said, and as Kafka looked at her, she saw an expression she hadn't seen from her before.
Fear, even though she didn’t understand that emotion, she had seen it in others many times before not to be able to recognize it. It had never bothered her that others saw her that way, but now that Himeko was the one who feared her, Kafka realized how much she despised it.
Not wanting Himeko to notice how affected she was, she quickly covered it up by turning around.
"Very well, you will receive the files later on."
With that said, she walked away, leaving Himeko alone.
Even if she couldn't see Kafka anymore, it took Himeko a while to compose herself, and only when she felt good enough to leave did she return to the express.
Everyone was patiently waiting for her, hoping everything would turn out well.
After she finished explaining what had happened, March, Dan Heng, and Stelle returned to their rooms while she and Welt were left alone, and once it was just them, the navigator allowed her mask to fall.
She looked at Welt, and no words needed to be said for the man to walk close to her, circling his arms around her.