Chapter 1: The Reunion
It doesn't matter what absurd strategy he would take and he definitely doesn't care who the target is, Souma Yukihira would make it all work no matter how impossible the mission may seem to be.
All missions that were given to him were done with great success and not once did Souma ever fail. After all, he learned from the best, the agent whose name could make any politician or murderer shake in fear, Saiba Joichirou, his mentor, his agency leader and also his father.
One would say he gained popularity through his father, but no, he made quite a name for himself.
Foxbite, the name the secret-agent world has given him. Some say it's because he's as cunning and as wild as a fox, while others say it's just because of his red mane and foxlike eyes.
There's just one other name as popular as his, The Hopping Hare, an agent known for their speedy, accurate executions and impeccable escape plans. He hasn't met the agent yet, but Souma never loses to anyone. Nevertheless, Souma doesn't care how he got his name or whoever comes his way as long as he stayed as one of the top agents of the world, then it's enough.
Foxbite is known to study his targets very well and doesn't leave out any information including the smallest details. When he's sure that he had mastered the situation and tried out every possible outcome, he would go out there and being one known for improvisation, he'll just let hell break loose.
But not tonight, unlike most of his missions this one isn't assassination, it's the standard 'steal and get-out' as Souma has put it. And he's standing right at the entrance of his target.
Dressed in his black suit, he casually entered the crowded party scene. Wealthy businessmen, nobles, and influential people littered the Nakiri Mansion. Of course, why wouldn't it be? It's Nakiri Senzaemon's celebration for 50 years of Totsuki, a prestigious culinary school in which he is the director of. And how did he gain entrance? Why, of course, not only is he an alumni of Totsuki but he also graduated as its First Seat! He could have made a great career being a chef, but his love for danger and challenges urged him to follow his father's footsteps.
Well luckily, no one has recognized him yet.
"Yukihira Souma!", a familiar voice called out.
'Shit, I'm an idiot for refusing a disguise', Souma thought as he turned his head and instantly recognized Takumi Aldini sporting a glare and an accusatory finger at him.
"Yo, Takumi. Long time no see".
"And you have the guts to act nonchalant, after all these years?!" and Takumi flared in anger, turning red looking as if he'll burst from sheer fury.
"You haven't changed a bit. Now, what did I do?"
"You left without a trace and didn't even bother saying goodbye! Everyone looked for you, where were you when Tadokoro –" Takumi trailed off, wondering if he has the right to tell Souma what happened.
And Souma's heart jumped at the mention of her name. He's an agent, concealing your emotions is a basic task, but why? Why is it so hard not to get excited hearing some news of her?
He coughed a bit and casually asked, "When what? What happened to –"
"Nii-chan! I thought you're over Yukihira?" Isami cut in, waving at Souma.
"Don't say it like I'm Yukihira's ex-girlfriend! Cause' I'm not!"
"Come on, nii-chan. We have many people to say 'hi' to. We're going on ahead, Yukihira-san enjoy the night!"
Souma waved at the brothers and went back to his mission, a bit disappointed that he wasn't able to indulge himself on Megumi's whereabouts. But he isn't here to join in their merriment or to reunite with old friends. He is here to steal an ancient onyx ring which belongs to Azami Nakiri and he can't wait to find out what kind of security is waiting in store for him.
'Time to explore this big-ass mansion', Souma adjusted his suit and discreetly walked away from the party.
Golden topaz eyes scanned the surroundings and spotted a familiar mass of red hair leading away from the crowd. Even though, there are some notable changes in his appearance, there's no mistaking it, it's him.
Megumi Tadokoro couldn't forget him, even if she desperately wanted to, but that doesn't mean she wasn't able to get over her stupid crush on him. Her heart still fluttered at the sight of him but then she remembered why she wanted to forget him in the first place.
Souma Yukihira, her cooking partner, her bestfriend, her confidant in everything, the man that she secretly love and also the man who left her the morning after he fucked her brains out. She used to believe that they 'made love' but after what he did, he made it clear to her that they simply fucked, nothing more.
Although her admiration for him has turned into utter hatred, of course, there are still lingering feelings running around and she hoped it won't be rising up to the surface once again. Especially now, that she's on a retrieval mission and she's damn sure that Souma is here for the same reason that she's also here.
The name Souma and 'Foxbite' wasn't quite hard to miss when you're aware of the agent world. She understood Souma's disappearance a year later when her mother was killed. One of their creditors saw her potential and offered her a job to be an agent to pay off their debts and to exact revenge on the robber who dared to take her mother's life.
'Killing two birds with one stone, as they say,' Megumi recalled.
That's when she discovered everything, but that doesn't mean she had forgiven him completely. She's an agent but she still managed to not break contact with their friends, instead of being unreasonable he could have at least left an explanation! Besides, breaking other people's hearts is not an excuse to being an agent. What is he trying to accomplish by hiding from them, anyway?
From then on, Megumi Tadokoro gradually changed, taking on missions, left and right, until she was finally able to fulfill her debts and slit the throat of her mother's murderer. However, she did not stop being an agent, she quite got used to it and learned to love the challenges that came with it.
It's quite a miracle, actually, that she hadn't crossed paths with Souma considering that they both came from two rival agencies. The inevitable finally happened. They were here not for merriment and not for meeting old friends but for Azami Nakiri's prized possession.
"Megumichii! You're spacing out again!" Yuki snapped her finger in front of her face, worried that Megumi was like this because Takumi told them that Yukihira was here.
Megumi blinked and clutched her heart in her hand, "Oh sorry! Yuki-chan. I-I just need to go to the bathroom."
Megumi made sure that she's out of sight before making a left turn in the hallway following the redhead.
"Oh poor Megumi, I'm sure her heart can't handle seeing Yukihira again," Ryoko said as she watched Megumi dash away.
The bluenette smoothed out her off-shouldered black long gown that had a high slit exposing her right thigh which hugged her body quite nicely. She popped out a deep red lipstick, reapplying it to her lips and released a couple of pins, letting her hair spiral down gracefully.
'Time to dirty Souma's clean mission records,' plastering an innocent smile on her beautiful face, she gracefully trotted the halls.
And so The Hopping Hare trailed after Foxbite.
'No wonder my client wants this,' Souma made quick work in sealing away the ring in an enclosed container disguised as a pain reliever and shoved it in his pants' pocket. He came prepared and placed a replica of the ring in its place, just as if nothing happened.
"Wouldn't want Azami-san to find out that his favorite ring is lost, would we?" with one last look he inspected his work. When he's satisfied, he closed the closet and retrieved his ticking device, well they'll find out eventually but with the replica, it would take days to notice something was off.
This mission turned out to be boring. Exploring the mansion actually took more time than stealing the ring. Souma doesn't know if Azami Nakiri is too stupid to not put up more security in his properties or he's just too rich to care if one of them is missing because he can buy a new one anyway.
"Maybe he's both, too stupid and too rich." he mumbled to himself as he held his thumb up to his chin as if in deep thought and took the flight of stairs down to the second floor of the mansion.
In the corner of his eye, he saw movement.
At this point, he became aware that he was being followed and whoever it is, better be prepared. He made a sharp turn to the right and stayed close as possible to the wall waiting for his follower. He grabbed its hand, turned it around to face the wall and trapped its struggling body against his own.
"By now, you should've realized that following me wasn't really the best idea", Souma was about to knock his intruder unconscious when he noticed blue hair coupled with a familiar squeak.
"Tadokoro?!" he reluctantly released her frame and turned her around again to study her.
She still look as good as the day he last seen her, except that she's gotten more, how should he say this, well, more developed in many areas. His eyes roamed her body one last time before finally meeting her eyes.
It's funny how Megumi actually pictured their reunion to be more dramatic than this.
Megumi is aware of the quick glance Souma did on her body and she intends to keep him distracted. She raised one of her brows in a questioning manner, "Pinning me against the wall? Souma-kun, I didn't know that was how you greet people."
"Well, I just thought you were someone else. Can't be too careful, you know."
Souma looked on as Megumi rubbed her wrists where he pinned her against the wall.
Suddenly, Foxbite has gotten out of Souma's system entirely replacing it with the old him, the one that cared for Tadokoro's wellbeing, ignoring the fact that she could be a potential enemy. After all, the Tadokoro that he knows won't even hurt a fly.
"Shit, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you Megumi?" he grasped her hands bringing it closer to his face, and inspected it thoroughly.
"Oh you have no idea, Souma-kun", she was tempted to reply, but instead kept her mouth shut. It would do no good if this man became suspicious of her.
"Next time, you should approach me properly, Megumi." And he brought her hands to his lips, giving it a light peck while looking her in the eyes.
The rare moments where he would call Megumi by her first name was her absolute weakness. She can't help but gaze at his handsome features. She tried to remember what she came to do but was failing miserably, suddenly her body acted on its own.
"Souma-kun," she gathered his face into her hands trying not to get this act affect her feelings. She continued in her usual sweet voice, "I'm fine, you always worry too much."
The redhead simply looked into her eyes drowning himself in them, searching for any hint of anger. He's a bit surprised that Megumi isn't mad at him, the first thing he expected she would do was to lash out at him considering what he'd done years ago. But who was he to complain when she chose to treat him like this instead. They have a lot to talk about and he clearly has some explaining to do but…
"I missed you, Megumi," he couldn't help himself and he embraced Megumi lovingly. After all these years, he truly, really, missed her.
The way Souma's face looked so happy in seeing her and the way he embraced her which clearly shows how much he missed her, gave her second thoughts in carrying out with her plan. Being conscientious never really left her personality. A small part of her mind says that it's just her undying love for the redhead making itself known by suggesting that she should just leave the mission and reconcile with him.
But no! She had to be strong! She has changed! She's no longer the naïve Megumi that he could play at the palm of his hands. She's been waiting for this moment for quite some time now and it would all go to waste if she backed out. Besides, her client depends on her, they had trusted her to retrieve the long lost heirloom of their clan which Souma now held in his pocket. The Hopping Hare would never turn her back on her clients!
And so Megumi steeled her resolve.
"I missed you too, Souma-kun," she returned his embrace which now seemed suffocating to her. Her hands traveled to his scalp, massaging it and pulled him in for a fierce kiss.
The redhead immediately responded by bringing them even closer, moving his lips against hers. He roamed his hands against her waist and pushed her back into the wall, she gasped out of surprise and opened up her mouth to let him in.
With one hand holding on to Souma's neck and the other reaching out on the side of her thigh for the sleeping potion, Megumi in her most seductive voice, hotly whispered in his ear,
"I still love you but…I'm here to simply settle matters with you, Foxbite."
Souma's eyes widened in shock and before he has time to react, there was a slight sting on the side of his neck, quickly glancing at Megumi holding an empty syringe in hand. At that moment, he realized how wrong he was for crossing out Megumi as an enemy.
Megumi didn't wait for Souma to register the situation. She pushed him away, kicking him in his chest, which sent him staggering backwards. The bluenette aimed for his face and out of reflex, he caught her arms and pulled her body towards him, again.
She tried wringing her arms away but he's too strong. Megumi knows this, she is well aware that she cannot win against Souma in terms of force. That's the reason why she injected the sleeping potion first before engaging him in combat. She's just wondering why it takes so long to effect.
Souma was about to jab one of Megumi's pulse point to knock her out when his vision blurred, stopping his movements. He blinked several times before registering a knee colliding in his gut, releasing Megumi's arms in the process. Souma felt his senses slipping away making him lean to the wall for support.
"I didn't t-think you were this angry t-to try and poison me." Souma's trying to fight whatever it is that Megumi injected him with but he's losing the battle. He felt his body getting weaker by the second which is now slowly sliding on to the floor.
"Even in this state, you're still smug. Aren't you? Foxbite," Megumi walked slowly towards him, the sound of her heels echoing off the hall, she stopped and crouched down to meet his face and continued, "Don't worry, it's not poison. Haven't you heard? I love you too much to just kill you off."
"I-I'm hah…gonna…go after you, Megumi," He said panting seeing the glint in her eyes and for a moment he thought he saw guilt in them.
Megumi reached around his pockets and smiled when she found what she was looking for, the container of Azami's ring.
"We're..n-not..done, nobody…hah..could b-beat me and just…get away with…it." Souma was on the verge of passing out but Megumi was a bit surprised he lasted a few minutes, the potion is said to knock a person out for a few seconds. 'This is Souma's strength and stamina as Foxbite!'
She looked up again at those mesmerizing yellow topaz eyes, "Well, good luck in finding me. I'm the Hopping Hare after all. I jump to one mission after the other."
And Souma's eyes finally gave in to unconsciousness, the upper-half of his body leaning on the wall and the other half lying on the floor.
For the last time, she caressed his face, memorizing the feel of his lips and engraving every feature of his face on her mind. Everything that they have as of this moment has taken a turn for the worst, everything will change from here. Now, they both know each other's secret life.
"Sweet dreams, Souma-kun." Megumi kissed Souma one last time before walking away.
She was right about everything, except that this is not the last time that they will see each other again.
A/N: So this is my contribution to the SouMegu fics since there are so few of them and I like this pairing so much. I'm sorry if they're a bit OOC and you can leave any suggestions if you like! Reviews are very much appreciated.
This will be a two-shot but for now, I'll just upload the first chapter since it can stand on its own and I still haven't wrote the second chapter because of school.