Undercover Antics

By Icka! M. Chif

It all started when Megure pulled me aside to ask a few questions before the mission briefing. 

He looked slightly on the nervous side as he explained a rough outline of the case. He needed a pair to go undercover to gather information on some information brokers. This meant posing as a pair of newlyweds. I was the logical choice to play the wife, but since this case required a bit closer quarters than most, he was reluctant just to assign me a partner.

That was one of the reasons why I respected Megure a lot. Not just the fact that he reminded me of my father, but he cares about the people under him. 

It also had the trappings of someone playing matchmaker. Not that you know anything about that, do you? Oh, don't give me that innocent look! I know what you do behind my back!

Alright, sure. On with the story.

He handed me a file folder of the people he was considering to send. I flipped through it, not surprised to find both Takagi's and Shiratori's files on the top. I went through the other files, but I didn't know the rest of the men well enough to want to. Which narrowed it down to Shiratori and Takagi. 

Shiratori is a good officer, charismatic and on the fast ladder to the top of the force. He'd most likely be an attentive 'groom', almost doting and obviously caring. I'd probably end up playing the 'blushing bride' the majority of the time, supposedly swept off my feet by him.

Takagi, on the other hand, is a good detective with very good instincts, despite the fact that he's a bit on the innocent side. As a 'groom', he'd probably be still in the awestruck 'pretty-girl-likes-ME?!' stage. Which meant I'd be the bemused bride, making sure that his head was still attached to his shoulders. 

I thought about it for a minute, then handed him a file back. He seemed vaguely surprised by my choice, but agreed when I explained my reasoning. We also agreed not to let it on that I had chosen a partner for this masquerade. The station had enough gossip running around as it is.

Not that you would know anything about that, right? Yeah, that's what I thought.

What Megure had failed to mention was that we're staying in one of the honeymoon suites of a 4-star hotel. Very big, very posh, and it was all on the police's tab. I wasn't going to argue. I also knew I had made the right choice as soon as we left the hotel lobby. A little light teasing and the girls working the lobby where fawning over what a cute couple we were.

Takagi really is cute when he blushes. 

... Did I say that out loud? Oops.

Why did I pick Takagi as my partner for this instead of Shiratori? Actually, him blushing does have something to do with it. Oh, stop laughing you! Really, you're reading too much into this.

It's simple really. If the assignment had called for someone who had been married a couple of years, then I would have chosen Shiratori. He's got that more mature air around him. But Takagi's got that innocent charm around him. And he blushes so easily if you tease him a bit, so he's believable as a newly wed. 

Oh, stop laughing.

Anyway. We went upstairs and unpacked. It was a western style room, this huge bed dominating the room. Wipe that smirk off your face, we just used it as a place to put our bags. The equipment was set up and ready in no time, leaving us to the boring part of stakeouts. The waiting. Takagi had come prepared, and brought a deck of cards with him, so we spent the next several hours playing Rummy.

He's not bad at Rummy. Seriously. One of these nights after work, we should get together and play cards.

You just -had- to bring up strip poker, didn't you?

We hit a tangle about 11 o clock, when the suspects commented on how quiet we were being. The walls were fairly thin between the 2 rooms and evidently most newlyweds are 'worse than jackrabbits'. We just stared at each other for a moment as my mind when completely blank. Fooom! All thoughts right out the window.

Fortunately, Takagi had an idea. He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the bed with him. You're smirking. Stop it. I told you already, it's not what it sounds like. 

Okay, so I was a little surprised and may have gasped. So sue me. No, I will not get you a lawyer! Do you want me to tell you what happened or not?

Thank you. 

We're standing on the bed, he's grinning mischievously and starts bouncing up and down, causing the springs to start squeaking. 'Twelve little monkeys jumping on the bed' type thing. Then he bets me that he can jump higher than I can.

What did I do? Start jumping, naturally. I almost fell off when I started, so we ended up grabbing each other's wrists for balance and jumped up and down on the bed. The whole thing started to shake and the head board kept hitting the wall. It was pretty funny, the 2 of us acting like kids, trying not to laugh the entire time. 

Then Takagi hit his head on the ceiling and fell backwards on the bed. That's why I called his name. He was fine, just a bit of a bump on his head. He was kind of embarrassed about that, his only comment was that he won the bet. For which I slugged him on the shoulder for. 

He's such a big kid sometimes. 

So I check the headphones and the suspects had been convinced, even drunkenly cheer us on. The perverts. 

Takagi offered to take the first shift of the night, I agreed. I took a quick shower, put on my pyjamas and fell asleep on the couch on the other side of the room. Yes, -the other side-.

He woke me up for my shift about 3:30. How? By shaking my shoulder gently and threatening to get the ice cubes. What were you expecting? No, wait... don't answer that. From that grin on your face, I don't want to know.

We traded places and I listened until about 8, then ordered breakfast. By that time, we had enough information, so we packed everything up and were out of there by 10. Got back to the station and started making our reports. You know the rest.

Yes, yes, that it. Nothing 'exciting' or 'juicy' happened. You can ask Takagi, he'll tell you the same.

Oh, you did? Do you believe us now?

Good. Maybe you can help me rescue my partner then? Several of the men took him away 'to talk' and I could have sworn I heard him screaming a while back. I mean, it's nice that they're protective and all, but I'd really prefer my partner to be in one piece. 

-fin-