Niou Masaharu frowned and began cleaning his gun. It was a comfort thing in times of crisis.

"I have to be a bodyguard for who?"

Sanada sighed. One of Niou's tendencies after being assigned to a mission was to ask immediately what it was, again. It all came from his meticulous plans. Everyone understood if one tiny detail went awry in the process, it would crumble as easily as a peanut-butter cookie. (That was courtesy of Marui, who adored sweets and was only punished one way: seventeen hours locked in the surveillance room without sweets.)

"Princess Sakurakouji."

Niou whistled. "What a mouthful."

Sanada sighed again, more out of impatience. "Niou, read it in the god damned car, will you?"

"All right, ojii-chan," Niou said, exasperated, and jerked the portfolio from his employer's hands. "But first, let me pay a visit to Y."

"You're delaying more time!" Sanada said sharply, but it was all for naught; whenever Niou made up plans to do something he refused to listen to someone else. Sometimes it was endearing, but most of the times it was annoying and made Sanada irritated the next time he saw Niou.

-x-

The occupent of the penthouse was startled to see Niou.

"How did you know where I live?" She pursed her lips, irked by his very presence.

"Two and two make four, Y. Or should I tell the security what your real name is... ?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Utter another word and you shall die."

He smirked at the subordination of the boss; she was a good two inches shorter than he was. But nevertheless, he learned not underestimate people under his size. Yukimura Seichii was a good example: she looked delicate, but her dark blue eyes revealed the years of training, fighting, and losing precious comrades under her eye.

"What brings you up here?"

"Oh, I was curious. I was just wondering if, you know, you were really married to my employer."

She smiled, which was really quite rare unless you counted the sadistic smiles she showed when she was busy interrogating suspects in the agency.

"Surprising, isn't it? Yagyuu was the first to figure it out, but he wasn't good enough to reach my real name."

"Not really. You two are together all the time, you're head of the academy, he's vice-head. I just dug a bit deeper after I found out your real name."

"That nose of yours will get you into trouble, Masaharu," she warned sternly. "Look what happened to Fuji."

"She's not dead," said Niou impatiently. "And she's not insane; she's too calm for that batshit."

"You worry too much, Y."

"And you're not careful enough. I'd hate to lose such a talented member. Good Lord, I haven't had such a unpredictable yet reliable member like you."

Niou sighed and began taking out the bullets of his gun, and put them back in again. He always centered his comfort habits around his gun for some reason. But when he was an orphan, and was realized for his potential physical and mental ability, Y had taken him in as her student and if she was feeling sentimental enough, her own child. With Y, he understood love, violence, and the necessities of kicking the hell out of the bad guys. Sometimes the line between wrong and right wasn't clear as he'd liked it to be, but he did a good job and fullfilled everybody's expectations.

Niou Masaharu worked in an agency that Y had started. Originally, she belonged to a clan that had served generations of the Sonozaki family as their lifelong companion and bodyguard. But apparently her sister, Akane, had filled in the only open position, leaving her without the traditional job. Not wanting to waste the years of her young life in constant training, she had opened a top-knotch police academy that also specialized in intelligence and government information. They were sort of like the Prime Minister's first people to go to when he thought he he needed to know something. It was only ran by seven people. Generally when one was dead, another was replaced (but woe betide, Yukimura was in charge of the interview process).

"You'll find another one someday to replace me," he said curtly. "God bless him whoever he is."

Niou was generally not a pessimist. Y did not like pessimism because of the Sonozaki's belief that pessimism made a person's ability decline. But often she allowed people to worry because that was a different matter than being cynical.

He stocked the bullets in his gun, and then walked to the elevator, punching the down button.

"Well, see you, Y. Yagyuu is expecting me."

There were frown lines on Yukimura's face, making her look older than she looked. "Be careful, Niou."

-x-

Yagyuu Hiroshi was twenty-one, which was relatively young compared to the other employers in the academy. Fresh out of his teenager years (he still considered the age of twenty to be a teenager) he had a taste for expensive/fast/both cars, which stemmed from his previous hobby before he got picked up by Y: drag racing. Y first saw his potential after she had witnessed him making a hole-in-one his first time golfing. Dismissing it as luck, he later cemented his reputation by shooting a clip into Y's most trusted bodyguard.

He was the closest thing to a best friend that Niou could ever have, and while Niou was grateful, the two were sometimes at odds. Yagyuu was smart and classy, because he used to belong in that sort of environment until he got fed up with it and started hanging around with the shadier side of the law. Niou was only street smart as far as smart was concerned, and he was incredibly reckless. But usually Niou respected Yagyuu because there was something that you couldn't not respect with Yagyuu: maybe it was the fact that he got everything but rejected it all in the name of life, or perhaps it was those glasses that rested on his high, aristocratic nose.

"Sakurakouji-hime, huh?"

Niou nodded and looked out of the Lambourgini's window.

"I talked to her yesterday, briefing her on the details of this arrangement. She's a beautiful girl."

"More beautiful than Carmelita?"

A pause, then--"Niou, none of that here."

Carmelita was an attractive bartender that lived a few blocks away. Niou had noticed Yagyuu on his breaks making excuses to extend it a couple minutes, he was quite busy, and could Marui take care of some of the work he had today?

Niou sighed, and flipped through the portfolio. "Alright, I think I have a photo. Let's see... more paperwork, blah blah blah... aha."

He located a square mug shot of Sakurakouji. He supposed she was quite pretty from the front profile, but he had never given much thought about the opposite sex in general; every person in the academy was male except for Y, and she had made quite clear from the beginning that she did not tolerate sexual relationships. They got in the way and the enemy was bound to use the loved one as leverage. That was also another reason why most of them were orphans.

"So why do I have to be a bodyguard to this old hag?"

Yagyuu's face looked pained. "Niou, she's the daughter of Itakoji Toda."

"Who's he?"

Yagyuu sighed. "You know that in the Diet of Japan, there are two parties: the House of Councillors, and House of Representatives."

Niou nodded; he was fluent in political jargon and had heard all of it before but thought it best to not interrupt Yagyuu in the middle of an explanation.

"Itakoji-san is particularly powerful in his influence; not only is he part of the Liberal Democratic Party, he has support from not only one prefecture, but many. Many business regulations about trade and fairness are all his credit. He is not only a political member that fullfils most of his promises, but he is also tolerant of other nationalities, making him popular in public. His approval rating is very high."

Niou digested this and then asked, "Well, if her daddy's a politician, why is she a princess?"

Hiroshi smiled faintly. "It is because she is often used as a wager against prominent families. Think of Elizabeth the First--why do you think she remained single?"

"Because she thought it was more beneficial to offer other countries with her hand in marriage and withdrew it when it was too late," answered Niou. "Oh! Now I get it... so basically she's just a tool to help her dad succeed with all these rich bachelors and stuff?"

"Yes, in theory. The truth is that her father is very concerned with who she will marry; he knows that quite a lot of people will only look at her because of her political advantages. He wants you to protect her from that."

"From what?" said Niou incredulously. "Die-hard stalkers and a mountain of roses?"

"Well, no. Itakoji-san recently has been concerned about the backlash of public response. He just passed a bill that will curb the amount of mandatory hours of work."

"That's good; I could always use more days off."

Hiroshi shook his head. "You don't understand. Some conservatives are protesting that it is a sign of Westernizing."

"So?"

"They're fanatics, Niou. We don't know what will happen, and Ikanoji-san doesn't trust his own security right now."

Yagyuu pulled up neatly to the driveway to a lavish hotel lobby, where Niou got out of the car, accompanying the purple haired man to the front desk.

"Hi," said Niou to the receptionist. "I'm signing in as Niou Masaharu."

Her eyebrow raised a tiny fraction of an inch, then she switched to her usual professionalism and said, "Just one minute, sir." She turned away from him and made a phone call--"Room one oh one, please. Yes. Yes. Thank you, and good bye."--then faced him again. "Sir, here is your room. I will inform the mistress you are here."

Niou did not change his expression until he and Yagyuu got in the elevator. "I have to live here?!? It's only a half an hour to get here!"

"Yes, but Itakoji is concerned that in any case of emergency, you will not be able to reach Sakurakouji-hime in time. He apologizes in advance."

The silver haired teenager huffed. "He should be... the pay better be good this time."

The doors opened and Niou went to his suite, sliding the slot card in until the light blinked green. "I didn't even bring anything."

"Itakoji-san will supply you with whatever you need, as long as you supervise Sakurakouji-hime." Yagyuu had wanted to linger a bit longer, but Y was an impatient type of woman. "I have to go. Anything you want to say before you spend six months in hell?"

"Sure. Marui's not allowed to crash my room back home, and Jackal better send me a postcard from Brazil."

"Alright, I'll pass on the message. Have a good day."

The door shut with a satisfactory click, leaving Niou to mull over his situation. It definitely wasn't the worst, like the time where he had to go to the Himalayas for some extra training. But he would have preferred familiar terrain; the political range was something uncomfortable to him. He doubted that he would able to notice his social errors that were hidden in the unwritten laws of society.

A sharp rapping on the door interrupted his thoughts and he was already irritated with the whole deal already. "Coming!" he yelled, and opened the door.

He had expected a demure version of a princess, elegant yet refined. But outside was a smartly-dressed woman whose first reaction was to put her mouth in an open O.

"Uh... hi?" Niou offered tentatively.

Her eyes contorted with anger, and before he could dodge, her hand---

SMACK!

Author's Note: Hey, it's been almost six months since I wrote! This whole thing was unplanned, but if it's rushed or anything, please tell me. :) I like concrit.

I'm also looking for a beta if anyone's interested.