Chapter Text
Anya carried a smug expression as she marched through the halls of Eden Academy, still glowing from the success of her plan. Hehe, this will be a peace cake! I have Sy-on boy’s secret now! This is so easy! I keep secrets all the time! Like Chichi being a spy or Mama being a hitman!
She then briefly fantasized about what would happen next…
DAY 1
“Grrr I don’t trust you peasant but I will let you know I like a tellyvision show for girls,” a simplified cartoony version of Damian said.
“Your secret is safe with me, Sy-on boy!”
DAY 2
Damian was glowing. “Wow Anya, you have not told anybody you are such a trustwordy person! I think I can tell you anything!”
Anya’s mind was on fire. Sy-on boy is my friend now! Time to write down everything he says!
DAY 3
“Anya, I think dogs are better than cats!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled furiously. Information!!
DAY 4
“Anya, I think peanuts are very tasty!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled furiously. Information!!
DAY 5
“Anya, my favorite color is actually pink!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled furiously. Information!!
DAY 6
“Anya, I think Bondman is so cool!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled furiously. Information!!
DAY 7
“Anya, I have a crush on you!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled furiously. Information!!
DAY 8
“Anya, my mom likes sports, just like yours!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled furiously. Information!!
DAY 9
“Anya, my dad likes frogs, just like yours!” Damian said.
Anya scribbled even more furiously. Super duper information!!!
DAY 10
Loid stood in front of Donovan in his doorway. Behind Loid was a ginormous cage full of a million bajillion frogs.
“Hello Mr. Desmond, would you like my entire collection of frogs?” Boss lady paid a lot of money for these frogs…
“Why yes, I would!” a gleeful Donovan said. “I now have everything I would ever want in the world! I no longer feel like committing war!”
[WORLD PEACE ACHIEVED]
Anya could see victory in the palm of her hands; she didn’t even need Bond to confirm her hopes! But this was not the end… she tried to remember what Becky told her to do next.
“And you should do what Lisa did and try to understand more about his secret so you can be the one to comfort him! He’ll be impressed by how trustworthy and smart you are and become friends with you instantly! And then you’ll be lov—”
That’s right! Anya thought. I need to learn more about this show! And of course, there was only one other person she knew who knew everything about Berlint in Love.
In the Eden Academy cafeteria…
Anya arrived at the lunch table with the pin, a notebook, a pencil, and the same smug, triumphant expression she had plastered on her face since Damian’s reveal.
“So?! Did he tell you a secret?!” she asked, already knowing the answer.
Anya put her fists on her hips, closed her eyes, and looked up proudly. “Why yes, he did! But I’m not telling you what it is!”
Becky squealed and nodded. “Don’t worry! I promise not to ask!”
“Good!” Anya said, and then she turned serious as she opened her notebook and set the pin on the table face down. “Now, Becky. I need you to tell me everything you can about Berlint in Love!” She recalled that Becky’s monologues should have already told her everything. “I, uhh, need a reminder!”
Now Becky was excited for a different reason. “Oh my! Why the sudden interest, Anya?”
Anya fumbled for a bit. “Um… No reason! I just… need more lessons on how to… make Sy-on boy my friend!”
“I know exactly what you mean. After you become friends, you want to take your relationship to the next level, right?”
“Yeah, sure!” Anya had no idea what she was talking about, but she nodded anyway.
Becky once again squealed with joy. “Ok ok, so now I’m going to reteach you everything about Berlint in Love. Do you want the quick version or the long version?” Please pick the long version please pick the long version please pick the long version!!!
Anya was scared of what the “long version” entailed, and given that she needed to advance Operation Strix as soon as possible, she had no choice but to disappoint… “The quick version, please!”
Becky’s smile deflated a little bit, but she was still eager to talk to her friend about the show again. “As you wish!”
She cleared her throat as she prepared a monologue straight from the heart. “Today we shall go over Berlint in Love, in a nutshell.”
Ooooh nuts, Anya thought. She wrote “BERLINT IN LOVE NOTES” at the top of her notebook in big bold letters as she prepared for the whirlwind.
“First, we must start with Vincent…” Becky began.
For the first five minutes, Becky’s voice came to her in reverb. “...parents… cheated… inheritance… amnesia… cheated… brand new car… love triangle… evil twin… Valentine’s Day… another brand new car… dreams… cheated… several girlfriends… destroyed the car…”
Anya pushed back against her faux-power to translate the monologue into gibberish, desperate to jot down as much as she could about the show. After some recent practice, her handwriting was actually legible to people other than her for once, but Becky was too engrossed to see her notes.
Then suddenly, something happened. The haze went away, and every word became clear as day.
“... and that sets the stage for the butcher arc,” Becky said as she launched into another section.
Anya didn’t know how it happened, but her inhibiting faux-power was finally gone! For the next few minutes, she held onto every word and scribbled notes as vigorously as she could. The secrets of Berlint in Love, once hidden under a layer of confusion, were within her grasp. Now, she still couldn’t fully process every single plotline, but she was getting a basic understanding of the story with a few “lessons” along the way.
“And as we know from that episode, you can’t trust a man who sneezes too much. It means they’re hiding something!”
“You should never park your car near your ex’s driveway. Or by the side of one of their pools. Or in their bedroom”
“If a man only hugs you for less than five seconds, it means they don’t actually care for you!”
“Anya is a dummy!”
Surprised by this sudden tangent, Anya stopped writing for a moment. “Wait, what? Why did you say that?”
Becky’s eyes widened. “Hold on… you’re actually paying attention now?”
“Uhh, wh-what do you mean? I pay attention all the time!”
Becky laughed. “No, you don’t,” she said with a smile. “Anya, I’m not stupid. I know you’re not always listening. It’s actually really obvious.”
A few weeks earlier, in the cafeteria…
“...and the funny thing is that it never would’ve happened if he just knew how to parallel park. What do you think you would’ve done, Anya?” Becky asked.
“Yeah. Yeah.” Anya just stared ahead and nodded.
Becky blinked. “Um, Anya? I asked what you would’ve done?”
She nodded again. “Yeah. Yeah.”
Becky realized what was going on, and she developed a smug expression. Interesting…
A few days later in the Class 3 room, before class began…
While in the midst of one of her Berlint in Love monologues, Becky kicked off her scheme.
“Hey Anya, do you think Loid will marry me?”
Anya nodded blankly. “Yeah. Yeah.”
Becky nearly swooned before turning around to see Damian walk into the room. “Hey Anya, do you think Damian is kind of cute?” She said this a little louder to make sure he could hear.
Anya nodded. “Yeah. Yeah.”
A flustered Damian walked up to his seat, choosing not to acknowledge this, and Becky snickered. “Hey Anya, do you think I’m the smartest, prettiest girl in the entire school?”
Anya nodded. “Yeah. Yeah.”
“You’re so wise, Anya!” Becky said with pride. She just couldn’t contain her laughter, and neither could the kids sitting behind them.
Anya pointed at Becky. “You betrayed me!”
“That’s just payback for not listening to me, Anya!” Becky said, shrugging.
Although Becky was smiling, Anya was still worried she had offended her. “I’m sorry, Becky. I really wanted to listen but Berlint in Love is too comp lee cated and I can’t understand any of it! You talk just like my dad.”
Becky gasped. SHE JUST SAID I TALK LIKE MY DARLING LOID!!! This thought was so loud that Anya physically recoiled. Then Becky calmed down for a bit and let out a small laugh. “Don’t worry, Anya. One day you will be mature enough to understand the complexities of love!”
She paused for a moment.
“But thank you for trying, Anya. Even if you can’t understand half of it, it’s still fun to talk about things with you. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry, Becky! You know, this is really interesting to me now…” She set her notebook down on the table and looked over her notes. “But I still don’t understand some of it.”
Becky scoffed. “Oh, that’s fine! We can go over more details in the next few lessons!”
Anya blinked. “The what?”
“The next few lessons!” Becky reiterated. “Lunch is almost over, so we can go over it again tomorrow. You’ll need to learn everything you can if you want to learn how to impress Damian!”
Anya was uncertain, but if it could help Operation Sticks… “Of course!”
Becky noticed the face-down button pin and reached over for it. “Ooh, what’s this new pin that you have, Anya?”
Anya’s eyes widened. “No, wait!” But Becky had already picked it up and turned it over to see a solid gold button pin with Vincent’s face on it.
Becky gasped. “No way! Is this…?”
“I-It’s not what you think!” Anya insisted.
Becky’s mind was on fire with possibilities. Could this be a gift for Damian? But wait, why would Damian want a Berlint in Love pin? And it’s made of solid gold… and Loid isn’t married to me yet so her family can’t possibly afford something like this… And Anya suddenly wanted to know more about the show… Hold on…
Anya panicked but couldn’t think of anything to derail Becky’s train of thought from barreling towards its conclusion.
Could it be that Damian… actually likes Berlint in Love?! Oh as much as I want to ask Anya, I can’t let her lose his trust!
The bell rang for everyone to leave the cafeteria, but Anya wasn’t paying any attention to that. She blanched, and while Becky wasn’t aware of her telepathy, she knew very well what Anya had just realized. “Don’t worry, Anya. It’s nothing!” She winked, and when she turned to head to class, her face went white. Damian was standing behind them.
He caught a glimpse of everything. A panicked Anya. A winking Becky holding the Vincent button pin. A notebook with the words “BERLINT IN LOVE NOTES” written at the top in big bold letters. He could only come to one conclusion.
“You told her, didn’t you?”
Becky’s eyes widened as she realized what she had done. Anya panicked, holding both of her hands up and shaking them. “No! I promise I didn’t!!”
“Wow. I can’t even trust you with something like this.” An angered Damian stormed off with the rest of the students who were leaving the lunchroom.
“No, wait!” Becky stood up and yelled as he left. She turned to a downtrodden Anya still stuck to her seat.
“I’m so so sorry, Anya. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” She ran off to confront Damian.
Later that day...
Eric opened the doors to an empty, abandoned warehouse. “Mira and I are always careful with where we meet, and we plan the locations months in advance. We also rarely use the same place twice in a year,” he explained to Franky and Yor.
Eric led them to a particular spot on the ground a few steps past the center of the warehouse, then he kneeled down and whistled a pattern of notes. To Franky and Yor’s surprise, a well-concealed trap door opened right in front of Eric. A blonde woman with disheveled hair emerged.
“Eric!” Mira greeted him with an incredible warmth.
Eric smiled. “Hey Mira! How has my favorite Nordrian fugitive been doing?” he said.
Mira scoffed as she climbed out of the trap door. “Don’t start with that joke again.” Before she could say anything more, she noticed the man and woman behind him. Despite Eric’s earlier statements, Franky and Yor were still surprised to find she really didn’t seem wary of them at all; in fact, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank goodness. You brought some new friends this time. I was starting to get bored of you, you know,” she teased.
Eric’s face had turned to shock. “Bored? Of me?! You take that back!” he whined, and Mira snickered.
“Hello miss,” Franky greeted. “I’m Eric’s friend, Franky. And this is a client of mine.”
Yor bowed in greeting. “Hello, I’m…” She paused for a few moments, recalling that she and Franky had been careful not to reveal her name up to this point. “I’m the client, and we need your help, miss.”
Mira’s eyes glowed a little. “Ah, a request that involves me somehow? This is already better than all of my past few checkups with Eric.”
“She doesn’t mean it!” Eric insisted.
Ignoring him, Mira crossed her arms. “Though I have to say, I am a little concerned that this client is holding a pair of daggers. If you came to make me do something by force…” She frowned and her eyes quickly turned menacing. “...I won’t back down easily.”
Even Yor was caught a little off guard by this, but she held her ground as she explained. “I was told that some of the people I would contact for this job may have a target on their back. These are to protect everyone in this room right now.”
Mira’s eyes softened. “I see. I don’t know the extent of your skill, but if you think you can take on Nordrian hitmen, be my guest.”
“Hopefully, it won’t have to come to that,” Yor said.
Mira nodded and her smile came back. “I hope you’re right. Anyway, what is it that you need?”
She showed her the picture of the son and daughter. “I need you to forge documents with state seals for a young man and woman to escape to Nordria. They need new identities and new homes. Eric told us you still have contacts in the government.”
Mira scanned the photo and turned serious. “I see. So you’ve come here through my doctor and you’re asking me to risk my life to make contact with my small circle of very cautious friends still lucky enough to be alive and still above suspicion in the Nordrian government, just to help whisk away two kids we don’t know.”
A pause.
Mira beamed and clapped. “That sounds amazing!”
Franky breathed a sigh of relief, and Yor did so too although internally; as a professional, she remained stoic through it all.
Eric looked more closely at the picture. “Hey, wait a minute. That’s the son and daughter of Victor Vian, isn’t it?” Franky perked up at the name.
Yor nodded, deciding it was now safe to disclose the circumstances. “The Vian family is collapsing after an attack from their rivals, the Poulos family. Victor died in the attack, leaving behind a son and daughter who are at risk. I’ve been tasked with finding someone to help them escape.”
Eric was angered. “I’ve treated some of the Vians before, including these two as regular civilians. They’re clean. They have no ties to the family’s crimes yet they’re still being targeted?”
“I find it interesting that they’re choosing to go to Nordria,” Mira said. “It’s not exactly an Ostanian’s ideal vacation spot. There must be something valuable there, an important secret that these two know and that the Poulos don’t. A massive inheritance, perhaps?”
“I’m not aware of the reasons,” Yor responded. “All I know is they need our help.”
Mira nodded. “Very well. I’m already scheduled to be in touch with my contact soon, so I will inform them then. We can contact each other later through Eric, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to have my checkup with him first.”
Yor smiles. “I understand. Thank you, Mira.”
“Anything for one of Eric’s friends,” she said. “About time he made some new ones.” Franky chuckled.
Eric huffed at this as he set his bag of supplies beside the open trapdoor. “Anyway, it’s time for your checkup, madam.”
“Alright alright,” she said as she sat down over the trapdoor, allowing her legs to swing freely. “You know we don’t get to meet very often, there’s no need to rush this.”
“I mean if my checkups aren’t interesting enough for you,” he bantered as he kneeled down and got out some of his equipment.
“Well this one certainly is. I’ve been wanting to see some fresh faces for once,” she countered. Mira looked over at Franky and Yor, who were now just relegated to standing there. “Don’t be shy! Just because you’re clients of mine doesn’t mean you can’t join in.”
Franky and Yor looked at each other for a moment before they walked over and sat by the trapdoor.
“Now that’s better,” Mira said. “It’s really not too often that Eric brings anyone over.”
Eric looked at her. I wonder why that is?
“You know,” Franky began. “Eric told us you’d be happy to see us, but we’re still a little surprised. I’d figure getting too attached to people is dangerous for you.” Considering how most spies followed the “trust nobody” philosophy, he figured actual wanted fugitives must have it much worse.
“Yes, I understand,” Mira said. “It’s dangerous for me to trust anyone given where I’m from. But I didn’t stay alive and escape just so I could do nothing but survive. If there’s nobody I can call a real friend, well…” She sighed. “I may as well be dead.”
“Wow, I finally invited some people over and you give ‘em a downer like that?” Eric chuckled. “Besides, that’s a bit selfish, isn’t it? You’re still trying to change Nordria from here, right?”
“Ahh, my Nordrian pals in the government will be just fine without me. Sometimes it feels like the only reason they’re keeping me around is for sentimentality. A little reminder of our childhoods. I’m really just preventing them from doing their job — logically, there’s no reason for them to keep me alive anymore,” Mira said.
“Don’t say that!” Yor said, and everyone turned in surprise to see an impassioned look on her face.
“You care for each other, don’t you? What other reason do you need?” She remembered a time when Yuri accidentally hurt himself and she bandaged his wounds while he apologized profusely. Through tears, he asked if he was just being a burden to her.
“I’ll never get hurt again!” Yuri declared. “I’ll become so strong and I won’t be a burden anymore!”
Yor smiled as she embraced him. “You’ll never be a burden to me, Yuri.”
“Besides,” Yor continued. “You’re a person in danger, and that’s all that matters. No reason is necessary. Who would have the heart to leave you like that?” She looked at Eric. “Eric told me something. He said he became a doctor so everyone could be as far from the grave as they could be.” She looked back at Mira. “Stay alive for him. I can tell he cares for you, too.”
Mira looked at a smiling Eric and turned back to Yor. “Thank you for telling me that,” Mira said. “You don’t know how much it means to me, the comfort of other people, people like you. Deep down I think I already knew all the things you said are true, but it’s good to have someone else to confirm it, right?”
She looked at both Franky and Yor. “Look, I know both of you must think that trust is a dangerous thing for me. My lifestyle isn’t exactly a dream, but let me tell you. When you spend your days adhering to this rulebook that says you can’t truly trust anyone, and that you can’t get too attached to anyone… it makes it a hell of a lot more satisfying when you find people who just throw that book right out the window.”
Franky and Yor pondered on this as Eric blushed. “I’m very flattered tonight, guys. Seriously, I am.”
Mira laughed. “Don’t get full of yourself. I still haven’t shown you where I live.”
“How many more check ups until I get knowledge-of-a-fugitive’s-hideout privileges?” he asked playfully.
“If you can bring me more like this one, then maybe I’ll consider it,” she said.
“I’ll try…” Eric said. But as he finally reached into his bag to start the checkup, Yor’s eyes sharpened.
“Wait,” Yor said. She looked behind them, where her senses had been alert enough to detect noises coming from behind the warehouse’s door.
“Somebody’s here.”