Read Or Die Fan Fiction ❯ Read or Dare! ❯ Chapter 5

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Agents Undercover

The Librarian arrives

The campus was crowded in the morning, students moving over to their first classes, while mixed among them a few of the teachers, running behind and rushing to make it to their classes. But all of that was as usual. There was a rustle, students looking in surprise as the man skillfully navigated his was through the crowds, nose firmly buried in a book. Longish brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his clothes semi formal in dress shirt and pants. A bit overweight he still looked reasonably fit as he smoothly navigated onward. A woman stepped in front of him, so he dodged left. She echoed the move, and he tried to dodge right, but in vain.

Reluctantly he looked up from his novel, glasses gleaming, and he smiled suddenly as he said, "Yomiko."

"Shane-san," Yomiko beamed up at him cheerfully, "it's good to see you."

"How's the substitute teaching job?" Shane smiled as they fell into step, the dark haired woman holding a book in her hands, too.

"Going well," Yomiko smiled, "how's the library?"

"It needs some work," he pushed his glasses up, then Shane smiled slightly, "but it's slowly improving."

He hesitated, deciding that the crowd's noise was sufficiently loud to quietly ask, "Have you heard from Joker yet?"

"No," Yomiko answered softly, "I guess that means we keep looking."

"Guess so," Shane agreed. He gave Yomiko a look, a slight smile tugging at his lips, "So how's Nancy been?"

Little circles of red appeared on Yomiko's face as she said with as much dignity as she could muster, "She's fine, thank you."

The bell rang, and both bolted as Shane yelled, "See you later, Yomiko!"
Walking along campus Shane smiled, thinking of the events leading them here to this remote island campus. Investigating a Dokusensha base in Europe he, Yomiko and Nancy had discovered records of rare books, possibly several priceless works, spirited away by Dokusensha agents to a secret location. However, the records were frustratingly incomplete, and a advanced team of agents had been unable to acquire the books.

Joker, after some research, decided a more long range plan might be wise. Working with his various contacts he arranged for the librarian job at the college to come vacant, as well as a teaching position. Shane and Yomiko, it seemed, would fill the jobs while also persuing rumors of the lost books, as well as fielding any requests for their special skills from the Royal Library.

‘Well, here we go,’ Shane thought as he reached the multi story university library. He smiled slightly as he pushed the doors open, walking over to his new desk and setting his carry bag down. He savored the scent of books, looking around a moment to take in his new domain. The computer banks gleamed as he checked them over, moving on to where the book shelves were. He reluctantly accepted the necessity of the computers but still, there was nothing like holding a book in your own two hands.

“Mr Llewellyn,” the assistant at the check out desk smiled shyly, “I unlocked as ordered, and the other staff are shelving last nights returns.”

“Thank you, Nodoka,” Shane nodded, seeing the first year blush red.

Walking towards the rear of the library Shane heard a sound, a frown appearing on his face. He reached into his pocked, drawing out a piece of paper. Between his fingers it stiffened oddly, a razor edge forming as he moved forward.

The student sat at a private table, her head bent down over a book, a fierce frown on her face. Obviously she wasn't finding what she was looking for. “Damn it,” she scowled, slamming the book she was reading roughly closed.

Feeling a bit sheepish Shane slid the paper away before clearing his throat and asking, "Good morning, is there anything I can help you find?"

The girl frowned, waving around a slip with a Dewey decimal code on it, "The programming books are completely messed up."

"May I?" Shane took the sheet thoughtfully, "Let's take a look, Miss Miles."

"How did you know my name?" Kelly Miles looked at him in surprise as they walked to the appropriate section.

Shane knelt down beside the rows of books as he said absentmindedly, "I looked up the users who took the most books out and compared that to yearbook photos." He slid some books forward, reaching behind to search the gap between the front and back shelves, "Ah hah!"

Kelly blinked as he put the slightly dusty book in her hands. She looked up at him with an curious expression, "You're not the most normal librarian, are you?"

"Suppose not," Shane shrugged, giving her a wave as he left her to her work.

Yomiko's First Day

Yomiko bolted, her long coat flapping around her as she heard Shane call out, "See you later, Yomiko!"

Happily the brown haired teacher bounded through the campus and into the hallways of the English department, dragging her usual cart of books behind her. The second bell rang, and Yomiko blurted, "I'm going to be late!"

With a surprising burst of speed from such a avowed bibliophile she barreled down the hall, startling several latecomers and making a leather jacket clad woman swear at her softly. “Watch it,” she snarled.

"Sorry!" Yomiko's voice came from farther down the hall.

Rio looked after her, a clearly irritable look on her face. "First time I've seen a teacher be that late," she muttered, wishing she had a smoke right about then. She frowned, looking towards where the woman had bolted off to as she quietly she asked herself, "Now where have I seen her before?"

Meanwhile, in one of the English classes the natives were getting restless. Siobhan Ward sighed, her head resting on her desk as the copper haired woman complained, "I could be working on something right now, not sitting here waiting." The members of the class seemed oddly unconcerned that she was a cyborg, her arm gleaming metallic on the table.

"Yeah, well," Dan Wisner shrugged sympathetically as he said, "English is one of the required courses to graduate, so we're stuck with it."

Suddenly the door to the classroom slammed open and a woman leapt inside, "Hello, everyone, sorry I'm.." Wham! She tripped over her long coat and crashed face first to the floor.

"I'd give that entrance an eight point five out of ten," Siobhan said dryly, actually looking mildly interested.

Dan got up out of his desk as he worriedly peered at her, "Do you think she's all right?"

With her cheerful grin still intact the woman got to her feet, straightening out her crooked classes. She beamed at them, "My name is Yomiko, Yomiko Readman, and I'm your new English teacher."

"I'm just glad she isn't the coach," someone muttered.

"Your first assignment," Yomiko continued on with a bounce to her step, "is to write a book report on your favorite novel. Ten pages, and it will be due in a week."

With that Yomiko took a seat behind her desk, produced a paperback novel from her shirt pocket, and began to read. There was a long moment of silence as the students sat there and gazed at the intently reading teacher, wondering if there were more instructions coming.

"Guess we start now," Dan said as he got a paperback out of his bag and began reading.

"You know," Siobhan dug around her bag for a book, "I think this is going to be an interesting class after all."

The woman paused in the hallway, looking inside at the intently reading woman, then she continued on. "I really need a smoke," Rio muttered. She had remembered where, exactly, she had seen Yomiko's face before, and it meant her job here as a covert operative might have just gotten harder.

The photo had been part of a briefing file on a semi-covert operations group originally based out of Britain. The Great British Library Special Missions group, silly name, but it's agents had a reputation for being eccentric but effective. And Yomiko Readman was an agent for them, with the unlikely codename of The Paper.

'So what do they want here?' Rio thought to herself grimly.

To be continued....