What made this team unique was that it was entirely composed of Enforcers. Enforcers were special agents assigned the specific task of finding people who had evaded capture and bringing them to justice. They were also often sent out as assassins when someone was beyond the legal reach of the Shynian government.
The other three intelligence teams each had an enforcer on them, but for the most part, they were charged with protecting the other members of their individual teams. Shinta�s team would be different, since their job would be to find out who the perpetrators of the most vicious types of crimes were and bring them to justice.
Since the people they�d be sent after wouldn�t be getting a trial, there�d be no need to find physical evidence. Catching them in the act would be more than enough to give them cause to carry out the sentence.
That wasn�t why Shinta was nervous, however. He was used to his job by now and he was certain the same would be true of the other members of his team. He was nervous because, after seeing them yesterday, he had begun to wonder if they would take him seriously as their leader.
True, he�d be the oldest and most experience member of the team. However, he�d also be the smallest and most harmless looking. In the past, he�d had other agents judge him by his physical appearance and assume he was not up to the job he�d been assigned. His slender physique and soft-spoken nature often caused people to confuse him with a girl or a young boy. He was worried that the same would happen with his team.
Hearing a noise, Shinta�s head bobbed up and he smiled weakly at the first member of his team to step into the conference room. He recognized him immediately, having met him the day before under informal circumstances. �Hello, Omi,� he said, speaking in a soft voice.
Blue eyes blinked in surprise. �Hey,� the younger man exclaimed. �You stopped by the flower shop yesterday!�
Shinta nodded. �I wanted to meet you,� he explained. �I was told that I couldn�t tell you about today at that time.�
�Why were we called here?� the second man asked. His shoulder-length hair was flowing about his shoulders and his eyes were obscured by dark glasses.
�Why don�t we wait until everyone is here,� Shinta answered. Pointing at one of the chairs, he added, �Take a seat, Youji.�
Omi and Youji glanced at each other for a moment; then stepped into the room all the way and sat down at the table. Two men followed closely behind them � one with red hair and the other with brown hair. The redhead frowned thoughtfully at Shinta, as he took a seat beside Youji. His companion flopped down next to Omi and began whispering softly to him.
Shinta smiled at the redhead and said, �Good morning, Ran.�
Ran grunted and asked, �Who else are we waiting for?�
Himura looked away, to glance at the folders in front of him. �Ayemi Sasaki,� he answered softly. �But we can really start right now, since there�s something I need to tell the four of you in particular,� he added.
�What�s that?� the fourth man asked, speaking to Shinta for the first time.
Shinta looked up and shrugged. �You�re all being reassigned,� he replied; then settled back to wait for the four men to calm back down. He knew what they�d be thinking and he figured he wouldn�t be able to say anything until they�d spoken their piece.
As expected, Ken surged to his feet. �What?� he exclaimed.
�You can�t be serious,� Youji stated firmly.
Ran simply stared at him in shock and amazement, while Omi�s face fell showing tremendous displeasure. �But� I like working with the others,� he pouted, wings drooping. �We�re a team!�
Shinta looked up and smiled as Ayame silently stepped into the room. �Take a seat,� he offered, pointing at the remain chair. As she seated herself, Shinta gave Ken a pointed look. Taking the hint, the younger man sighed and flopped back down beside his friend.
�I didn�t say the Agency was breaking up your team,� he explained patiently. �I said you were being reassigned.�
�What do you mean?� Ran asked softly.
Shinta smiled warmly at the younger man and said, �The Agency is quite pleased with the results of the other intelligence teams. So pleased that they wish to form another.� He glanced around and then got to his feet. �That team will consist of the four of you, Sasaki and myself,� he explained.
�A team?� Omi asked. �But the other teams do more than just� um�� he faltered and turned to his comrades, wings fluttering with uncertainty.
�Execute justice,� Ayemi finished softly.
Shinta nodded slightly. �That�s why you were chosen for this team,� he said. �All of you have training outside of the skills needed to be Enforcers. On this team, you�ll use them to not only� �execute justice�,� he stated, sending a smile toward Ayemi. �You�ll find your target for yourselves.� He shrugged and added, �Or we will, since we are a team.�
�Okay,� Ken said softly. �So� we won�t just be regular Enforcers anymore.�
Shinta shook his head. �Indeed, we won�t,� he agreed. �I�ll act as team leader. Omi will work as my assistant, as well as being the team�s aerial surveillance and intelligence extraction expert.�
�He was kind of doing that anyway,� Youji said softly. �For us.�
Shinta nodded. �I know,� he stated. �You will be our chief investigator, as well as one of the crime scene specialists, Youji.�
�Been a while,� he said, grinning. �This could be fun.�
Shinta rolled his eyes, already finding himself liking the taller man. Turning to Ran, he said, �Ran, you will mainly work with Youji on crime scenes and occasionally assist Omi with communications. Is that alright?�
Ran frowned slightly. �What about once we�ve identified our target?� he asked.
Shinta chuckled. �These jobs are only during the investigative stages of our assignments,� he explained. �Once we have a enough evidence, we�ll be free to move in on a target.�
�What about me?� Ken asked softly.
Himura locked eyes with him and asked, �Do you feel up to doing undercover work again?�
Ken sat back thoughtfully and then looked up at the team�s leader. Shinta could see the inner turmoil in the younger man as he tried to come up with an answer. �You don�t have to �� he started.
�No,� Ken interrupted. �I � I can handle it,� he stating nodding.
�Good,� Shinta replied, smiling warmly. �Ayemi will assist you and also help Omi with surveillance.� Himura glanced around at the people that made up his team and smiled. He felt a little foolish for being nervous earlier. He�d obviously underestimated them when he thought they�d judge him on appearances alone.
�One last thing,� he said softly. �In the field, we�ll use codenames to refer to each other. You four already have yours,� he said, glancing that the four men. Turning to Ayemi, he said, �You�ll be known as Somali.�
�What about you?� Ken asked.
Shinta shrugged. �I thought I�d let you pick,� he said. �No one ever picks their own codename, do they?�
�Singapura,� Omi said softly.
Youji scowled. �Okay� why?�
Ken chuckled. �It�s a tiny little cat,� he explained. �And our esteemed leader is��
�A tiny little man,� Ran finished, a small smile playing at his lips.
Shinta sighed and fought back a smile. �Fine,� he said. �Just remember this: Cats � even little ones � have very sharp claws.�
�Yes, sir,� the team chorused.
Himura nodded. �We�ll meet tomorrow morning to discuss our first case,� he said. �See you then.�
End