Let's Begin

Night had always been favourable to Mizuki when traveling. For many years he had wandered through darkness, avoiding the light and all it had to offer. It wasn't that he preferred it, on the contrary, he just knew it meant less problems in the long run. Traveling during the day had proven too many times to be a mistake, especially when anyone could recognise his face at any given moment. Spies, assassins…even public officials. He huffed indignantly at the thought and hopped from one stone to another, careful not to slip into the pond he was crossing. The sun would be long to rise again at this time. He hoped by then he will be at his destination…perhaps a slight amount of haste would do? It wouldn't do to lag behind now. Not when so much was at stake…and not when the light of the moon would soon be swallowed up by darkness.

The light of the rising sun shone beautifully over the campsite as Michael and Kurt watched interns and archaeologists alike scramble to complete the excavation site before Evelyn returned with Takao. It had been a rather sleepless night for the brother. Evelyn had decided to arrange all the paperwork and set up with little to no sleep, only stopping to top up on caffeine before soldiering on again. Why had it been sleepless for him you wonder? Well apparently, Evelyn had decided to use his tent as her workspace. "Mine doesn't have the room!" She said…

Michael rubbed the bridge of his nose and yawned, desperately trying to see through half-closed eyes. Kurt nudged him between the ribs when he noticed a rather sleek looking black car roll up to the site. It wasn't hard to recognise who would be in it and with a last look at the panicking staff, he trudged towards the passenger side window.

"Mikky!" Of course, he groaned inwardly, the name stuck. His sister beamed up at him through the rolled down window and was almost hopping in her seat. Instead of waiting for Takao to arrive she had insisted on meeting him for breakfast to discuss some important details before they began the proper work. With a small but tired smile, Michael opened the passenger side door.

"Good morning, Ev. Ohayou, Takao. Did you have a good breakfast?" Evelyn nodded her head vigorously as Takao nodded in greeting and affirmation. While Michael's sister shuffled out the car and shut the door, the dark-haired man plucked his keys from the ignition and checked his phone. Once he was sure nothing had been missed, he bobbed his head once and exited his car.

"Evelyn has some very interesting views, Michael." His eyes followed the young woman as she made a beeline for the command tent. His eyes crinkled in warmth, and he turned towards the brother "I'm interested in seeing where it takes us."

"She sure has..." he sighed "there's been too much for her over the years, I just hope this is her shining glory." Taking a hand, he pointed in the direction in which Evelyn had disappeared to and began to guide Takao through their project.

"I know, my friend. It's been many years since the incident and many more since your parents." A slow pause followed before he continued "We have been friends for as long as I could remember, it is good to see you again." Takao smiled and clapped a soft hand on Michael's shoulder. It was returned with a flash of a grin.

"Too many years to count, man."

Both men took a trip around the grounds, Michael explaining how things would be done and what they were looking for. As they drew closer to the command tent, the sounds of excited laughter reverberated through the air. Michael, in a moment of sheer tiredness, groaned outwardly and grimaced when Takao awarded him with a questioning look. He murmured a quick "she stole my sleep" and offered a hand for the other man to go through first, following closely behind before going straight to the coffee machine.

Evelyn was flitting around the tent talking animatedly with the rest of the staff, papers stuffed in her arms and her gear outfitted ready to begin work. A little too excited, her brother thought. He passed a cup of coffee on to his friend who graciously took it with an "arigatou". Only when she heard the expression of thanks did she stop and swivel towards the two newcomers, a smile plastered on her face. Takao took a sip of coffee.

"I understand you are all excited to start the expedition today, however I would like for you all to take into consideration that it is only possible as long as we stick to the guidelines and rules we were given. It is of utmost importance we do not stray from these…" The silence that followed Takao's speech was followed by a short cough. "As the Japanese government could easily retract their offer and close down the excavation immediately." His eyes scanned the room, taking in each and every face with a calm disposure. He could see quite a few familiar faces within the group and observed their quiet excitement with some humour, motioning towards Michael and Evelyn with a flourish and a short bow. "I'm fairly certain you are all in good hands, so please listen carefully to everything they say from now on."

The siblings bowed politely in response and as they rose Evelyn scooted into the spotlight. An excited buzz surrounded the brunette lady, and her brother could almost see her feet floating periodically off the ground. She brought up the papers she had been clinging to and started to pass them out to everyone within the tent. "So, most of you know what we're going to do, but just to be sure and so no one comes up to me asking "what's next?" I've given out copies of the plan. These are strictly confidential, so if I find out anyone has disrespected our mission, I will personally see you off this Island with my foot up your ass." She squinted her eyes at some of the newer members, threat evident, and then focused her attention on Takao. "If everyone is clear with what you've been given then we'll start in an hour. See you then folks!" From the moment she finished the tent began to burst with noise as people gathered up their papers and steadily filtered out, eventually leaving all but a few bodies left. Michael made a target for the coffee again with Takao and snagged a butter roll on the way, almost stuffing it whole in his face. Evelyn choked on a laugh, and he looked up at her in confusion.

"Whaf? Imf hungfre!"

"Apparently! Wanna save me one before your black hole of a stomach devours them all?" Lightning zapped between them, and her brother gave a scoff, crumbs flying everywhere, throwing a roll directly at her head. She caught it clumsily with a wink then turned to their Japanese friend. "I've made copies for your men as well, but…I'm not the expert in translating so you'll have to forgive my mistakes if you find any, "Takao smiled and nodded, "and if you need to ask anything, please go ahead."

"Arigatou Evelyn. I will pass these to my men," looking between the two of them their friend gave a smile and waved a hand, feet taking him towards the door, "Matane!" As he left Michael took a heavy flop onto the nearest chair, a breath of relief causing a few errant crumbs to once again cause a storm. He wiped his mouth and looked up at his sister, lips stretching so wide Evelyn thought he'd split his face. She couldn't help but match it with one of her own and almost skipped over to the drinks, pouring herself something that looked remotely like the colour of grass. Taking a sip from her mug, she turned and graced her brother with two of the most sparkling frost blue eyes he'd ever seen. They twinkled with determination.

"You ready for this, big brother?"

[Arigatou - Thank you]

[Matane - Bye, see you later]