Iheartgod175 presents:

The Ferret Who Knew Too Much

Published: December 5th, 2013

Rating: T (for violence, murder and emotional trauma)

Summary: Yuuno Scrya's life comes crashing down when a woman named Mrs. Froy gives him what he thinks is a normal to-do list. Said to-do list happens to contain plans for an assassination. Yuuno at first is in doubt, but then Mrs. Froy is murdered by two famous art-collectors who are really assassins part of a secret organization. When he does some digging into the case, he learns that their target is one of his closest friends, but before he can open his mouth to say anything, he's blackmailed into keeping silent. Now caught up in this scheme, Yuuno must use the dangerous knowledge he possesses to stop this assassination before it's too late...

Author's Note: Wow. This is new. Completely departing from the lighthearted Dear Nanoha Fans, I present to you a mystery in lieu of Alfred Hitchcock-with Yuuno as the "innocent man involved in crime". Will I continue it? Not sure. It depends on how many reviews you leave. I really do watch too many mystery films...

Disclaimer: As before, I don't own Nanoha. It belongs to Masaki Tsuzuki and Seven Arcs. If I did, I would put Yuuno and Chrono in more roles.

Chapter 1: The Beginning of Yuuno's Problems

The whole thing started with Chrono walking in with his usual, impossible demands.

"I need this one, this one, this one, oh, and that one, before your shift is over," the admiral said.

Yuuno stared at the sheet, and then at Chrono like he'd just come from outer space. "That's over a hundred different books!"

"It's only two extra from yesterday." The admiral shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Don't you think that maybe I have other things to do?" Yuuno asked.

"Of course not. You don't have a life, after all. Now get to work, ferret boy," Chrono said, and walked away.

"This is just great. I was just planning to get off from work, too…" Yuuno got up from the desk, and went into the back to start sorting through the number of books that Chrono needed. One of these days, he was going to find a way to pay Chrono back for this...

Right when he was starting to pick up the first three off of Chrono's list, the doors opened and Arf peeked inside.

"Yuuno, there's a man waiting to see you. He says that it's urgent that you come out here right away," she said.

Yuuno sighed. At this rate, he'll never get anything done. "I'll be there in a minute," he replied tiredly. Placing the books on top of a chaotic stack of paperwork, he walked out of the back room to greet his new client.

The man standing in front of the desk wore something more akin to a secret agent, complete with a fedora, a black trench coat, and sunglasses. He looked up when Yuuno made his way over.

"Hello sir. How may I help you today?" he asked in his best professional voice.

"I've come to pick five books that I reserved three weeks ago. December the ninth, I believe." The man's voice was deep and hollow.

"December the ninth...Ah!" Yuuno snapped his fingers as he remembered. "I did set aside some books on the Saint Kaiser for a man named Atenza..."

"Yes. Atenza Polonez, to be exact. I'm kind of in a hurry, so could you get them for me?" he said.

"Of course. I'll be back in a moment," Yuuno said, and dashed into the back room to pick up Polonez's order. Despite him nodding distantly, Yuuno could tell that the man was somewhat antsy with how much he seemed to pull at his sleeve and looking up at the clock with a groan.

He looked over the counter, and yelled, "Hey Blondie! Hurry up, will ya? I don't have all day!"

He wasn't lying when he said he was in a hurry, Yuuno thought bitterly before chuckling at the derisive nickname. It was, at least, better than ferret-boy.

When he brought the books out and told him when the due dates would be, Polonez hardly noticed. He tossed a few coins on the table, grabbed the books and walked out before Yuuno could finish his sentence.

"Well, that guy sure was weird. I'm not getting a very good vibe from him," Arf said. Her face was twisted into a frown.

"I agree. But now that that's taken care of, I need to take care of these books that Chrono asked me to get," Yuuno said, heading into the back.

"How many books did you get?"

"Three."

Arf smirked. "Looks like someone's going to be working overtime~"

Inside his office, Yuuno groaned. "Don't remind me."

The whole thing continued later on in the day when Yuuno decided to take a break.

"I've already found a little over half of these books," he declared, groaning as he stretched. "I should at least take a half-hour to eat lunch." With that, he got down up from his chair and walked out to leave the building.

No sooner had he made it around the desk than he felt something crumple under his shoe. He looked down to see a small sheet of paper sticking out under his right foot. He bent over to pick it up...only to see another hand reach down to pick it up at the same time.

He looked up, surprised, and found himself staring into the eyes of danger.

This danger happened to have deep, ocean blue eyes, blond ringlets around her head, and an hourglass figure. Clad in a pink dress that came above her knees, she looked like a harmless, typical dumb blonde- at first. But the eyes that stared into his was proof that this lady was no innocent angel.

"Pardon me," she purred, her words making him melt like butter, "but I believe that this is mine."

"O-Oh, uh..." Yuuno hurriedly straightened as though he had a spine ailment. "S-Sorry. I was just picking it up, is all."

Her mouth curled into a mischievous smile. "That was very...thoughtful of you, Mr. Scrya."

He blinked as the words rolled off her tongue. "Y-You know who I am?"

"Of course. Everyone in my elite circle knows who you are," she replied. "Your research has certainly made a splash with the history buffs."

"H-Honestly, that's not really my best work..."

"You're far too humble. On the contrary, I think that it's the best you've ever done," she continued. "You should be proud."

If Yuuno went any redder, he would more than likely explode from the heat. "T-Thank you..." he muttered, scratching his cheek nervously. "Ms.-"

"Ah, it's Polonez. Mariel Polonez," she said.

"Wait, so that means you and Atenza are siblings, right?" Yuuno asked.

"Yes. How did you know?" she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Uh...facial connections, I guess," he replied.

"Well, tonight, we're having a dinner party with several other famous archaeologists tonight, and I happened to drop this grocery list," she said. "You don't mind if I run off now, do you?"

"Uh, n-no! No, not at all!" he replied. "I wouldn't want you to get held up because of me..."

"Well, Mr. Scrya, it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you around," she said, giving him a very coy look that said, 'You don't know it yet, but you're mine.'

And with that, Mariel sauntered out of the room, leaving an utterly bewildered librarian in her wake.

When the doors closed, he suddenly remembered that ten minutes had passed before he had to be back on duty. Regaining his composure, he threw on his jacket and ran out the door.

When he came back from his break, he found another person standing at his desk. This person was a short woman who carried a huge suitcase that had papers sticking out of it. Judging by how she was looking about to and fro, Yuuno could only assume that the woman was lost.

He cleared his throat to get her attention. "Excuse me, ma'am, can I-"

He was quickly cut off when she ran up to him and shoved a receipt-sized paper into his hand. Her brown eyes looked into his with an anxious urgency.

"Please tell Mr. Scrya when he returns from his lunch break to read over this. It'll be worth his time, I can promise you," she said.

"Miss, I'm Mr. -"

"Please, mister! It's really important for him to see! I would like to give it to him myself, but I've got a train to catch!" She hauled her suitcase up and started charging towards the door. Once again, Yuuno was left standing in the middle of the floor flabbergasted.

"Geez, it's like everybody's in a hurry," he muttered, walking back to the office. He looked on the table that was holding seventy of Chrono's 104 books.

"34 more to go..." Yuuno thought to himself, and tossed the sheet of paper on the desk...but that was when he saw something that made him stop and turn around. He went over to the table to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

The receipt that the woman had given him seemed to be some sort of grocery list. Why she said that it would be worth his time was a mystery to him. He decided that it wouldn't hurt to see what the fuss was about, so he started reading.

To do list:

1. Gather the rest of the ingredients for dinner party.

2. Host dinner party.

3. Head home with Atenza.

4. Discuss, finalize and review assassination plot.

5. If any time is left, go for a movie.

"...Wait, what?" That was all Yuuno could say when he was finished reading the list. Nobody he knew-especially a bombshell like Mariel-would have assassination plots on their "to do" lists; and then have the nerve to follow up with a movie. This had to be some sort of joke.

But then he started to remember what had happened the last few hours. Atenza's dodgy behavior. Mariel's dangerous, oh so fascinating personality. The frantic woman who'd been there not even ten minutes ago.

It was all starting to make sense now. The Polonez siblings were more than just attractive people; they were assassins.

And he'd just let one of them walk out of his office.

His face paler than the sheet in his hand, Yuuno set himself to work at a feverish pace, managing to get all the books down at a speed that would make Fate envious. The whole while, he couldn't help but think of that grocery list.

That woman had been right. That thing was important for him to see.

But he got the feeling that maybe he wasn't supposed to see it at all.

"...Is this some kind of joke, ferret-boy?" Chrono asked, looking at him with an incredulous stare.

Yuuno couldn't help but smile. "Nope. I got all the books you asked for at the end of my shift, plus a few extra."

Chrono stared at the massive pile of books towering before him, and swore under his breath. "Next time, I'll drive you into the ground," he growled as he started to pick up the books.

Yuuno went over to shut down his computer, but that's when he noticed a new message in his inbox. He hardly if ever got mail from anybody, so he clicked on the message. It was from a person named "eyeluvart34"

From: Melissa Froy

To: Yuuno Scrya

Subject: SOS

Mr. Scrya, in case you don't recognize me, I'm the lady who came in looking for you. You know, the one who looked so lost. It was only after I left that I realized who you were. I must apologize, but I didn't have any time to explain while I was at the Library.

The 'grocery list' that I handed to you is a copy of Mariel's. These people are not who you think they are. They are assassins, part of an underground ring of criminals who want to kill the higher ups at the TSAB. They know I know about their plot; I'm a spy sent from the TSAB. That's why I'm on the run. I need you to do me a favor and get in contact with one of the admirals there. They'll be able to take care of the situation. Please take care of this matter quickly. I'd hate to learn that my news was for nothing.

Thanks.

Melissa Froy

Yuuno felt cold. And not because of the heat being turned off in the room. Froy's message had pretty much confirmed it. It had confirmed everything.

"Yuuno...are you alright? You look sick." Chrono looked over at the librarian, who was paler than a ghost. Despite his own problems with the man, Chrono did consider Yuuno to be a good friend of his.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay," Yuuno lied, quickly shutting off the email. He turned to Chrono and gave him his best fake smile. "There's nothing to worry about."

Chrono didn't seem convinced. "You look like a dead man walking."

As far as I'm concerned, I am one, Yunno thought bitterly, but kept his thoughts to himself.

"Really, Chrono. I'm fine." Shutting off the computer, Yuuno gathered up his things and headed to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

And thus, it was sealed with another message not meant to be seen.

The man was thrown against the side of the wall, gasping for breath as he had the wind knocked out of him. His attacker picked him up and shoved him up against the wall, a knife pressed under his throat.

"What were you thinking?" the other man growled. "Allowing her to escape? She could have passed out information about us on her way out!"

"I-I-I'm sorry, Boss, I wasn't thinking!" the man pleaded.

"We can see that." The second voice definitely belonged to a female, her voice dripping with honey. "But we haven't come to talk about a stupid spy who escaped. She's being taken care of right now."

"Well," the man snapped, "did you get the money, or not?"

The second man started sweating. "Look, I know I've been running short, but I...you don't understand. There were these other guys that I had to pay back..."

"You've wasted our time. And that is something that I don't take lightly."

He released the man, and the girl behind him pulled out something from her purse. Sweat trickled down the man's chin as he saw the silver flash of a gun.

"I'm afraid this is the last time we'll be working together, Jacks. But before you go, Mariel wants to give you your present."

Mariel Polonez pointed the gun directly at Jacks' forehead. "Merry Christmas, Jacks."

And then she pulled the trigger.

Yuuno stopped when he heard the gunshot that ran out through the street. Foregoing all safety, he took off running down the street, hoping to find out what had happened.

He turned the corner...and stopped when he saw the people in front of him.

Atenza. And his sister. They were currently walking out of an alleyway, possibly from where he'd heard the shot. A trickle of blood made its way down the cracks in the sidewalk.

Atenza scoffed. "What an amateur. I hope you weren't planning on keeping him as one of your boy-toys, Mariel," he said.

"Of course I wasn't. Why do you keep saying that?" she retorted.

The two walked across the street without so much as looking in Yuuno's direction. They went into an apartment complex not too far from the alley, silent as the night.

Yuuno stared at their retreating forms before numbly continuing on his way home. He climbed up the stairs to his apartment, unlocked the door and stepped inside his darkened house. He turned on the hall light before closing the door.

As the events of the day flooded his mind, Yuuno slumped to the floor and buried his head in his hands.

"I am so screwed," he said weakly.

That he was.

So, how was that? I think I did pretty well for my first attempt of the mystery genre. Criticism is welcome, but no flames please.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and please read and review!

God Bless, iheartgod175