:O Omg I'm really sorry for the delay in posting this part! It took me more than a week to write, 'cause first I was busy with plushie-making, and then I fell ill. T-T Hopefully the writing style is up to scratch in this one… It's particularly long, too, if that helps.
To all who have not read the previous four parts in the series (starting from Mr. Left), I highly recommend that you do.
Get Backers does not belong to me in any way.
This Way, Mr. Left
By Aquarius Galuxy
… Eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Thirteen steps to the landing of Lady Poison's apartment.
The hint of a smile twitches the corners of thin lips upwards. At this witching hour, there is naught but a single soul awake. Perhaps, of course, with the exception of Lady Poison. The witch child herself.
White-sheathed feet click smartly on cement flooring, barely reflecting light from the flickering fluorescent lamps. Two rows of identical wooden doors flank the greyish corridor, each as drab as the exterior of the building itself. A small window puts the passageway to an end in the near distance. The jet-black shadow of the fire escape lingers just beyond, glinting pale cobalt in the diminished moonlight.
Unfortunately for Lady Poison, the observer has decided that a formal visit is in order. Though the chance that her poison perfumes may just ruin his best suit – incidentally also white and purple – is enough to tip the scales in favour of putting it off for some other time.
With a casual shrug, the man continues on his path, counting the doors to that of Kudou Himiko's. Somewhere downstairs, an insomniac fills the silence in with the buzz of a television set.
And unfortunately for Kagami Kyoji, Lady Poison has chosen to wield the element of surprise in her own hands. Taped to the door is a small rectangle of paper. Blond eyebrows lift by a fraction. He withdraws a hand from his pocket and reaches for it, if just to satisfy his curiosity. There is one word scrawled on the surface in blue-black ink, handwriting too messy for a Lady.
Rooftop.
But Kudou Himiko is a Lady like no other. And it is precisely this reason which has his intrigue captured steadfast. Kagami Kyoji allows his lips to quirk upwards by a fraction.
The note fits easily into the white folds of his coat pocket. He turns on his heels, striding down the passageway. It will be, he suspects, most interesting to engage Lady Poison in her own game. Two sets of fingers curl into pockets of demon dust.
The central stairwell is as empty as he has left it. Pale, intangible beams splash across the white-painted walls and concrete steps. A gust of air rushes through the enclosed space, stirring settled dust from shadowed corners. It is almost as if the wandering souls of Shinjuku have come to spectate on the imminent face-off.
Kagami Kyoji climbs the stairs at his own leisure. The noise of the television set fades with each footstep, so that the sharp clicking of leather shoes on smooth flooring resonates in the hollow of the stairwell like a blade through thin air. The rooftop exit draws close.
Unexpectedly – to the observer himself, even – he pauses right before the hinged wooden panel that separates the landing from the rest of the roof.
Lady Poison is on the other side of this door, violet eyes flashing, perfumes at the ready. That much the man is prepared to handle. But there is another possibility, which may well endanger his interests tenfold. A light frown in concentration sends shallow creases across pale skin.
It is only too clear that the Lady has the alliance of Mido Ban, the witches' descendant. Though whether she chooses to make use of that to her advantage… The observer lowers his gaze to below that of eye level. The game will draw to a close if Kudou Himiko nails him to the hunter's gibbet in the one minute he is ensnared.
Slender fingers rest on the thin metal handle, pressing downwards. It is almost a handful of heartbeats before the wooden panel swings out fully with an extended creak.
Pale moonlight paints the rooftop an exquisite shade of silver. Lilac eyes sweep indolently across the grey cement floor, over low parapet walls and apartment buildings in the distance. A lone figure is propped on the wall just ahead of the stairwell.
Shadows dance their merry way over sharp features as the woman rises from her roost like a hawk readying for its kill.
"Finally here, are you?"
Thin lips curve upwards. The firm voice that rings out across the rooftop captures his attention like no other. A small step forward brings him into the whitish glow of the moon, leaving the distance between them large enough just so his presence does not threaten her… yet.
Lady Poison is once again in her form-fitting suit. Sparks dash across her violet eyes, not quite masked by the shadows of her forest-green hair. One slender arm is raised to chin-level. A glass vial rests delicately between three fingertips. The blond suspects that she has chosen to unleash the Acceleration Perfume first, to clinch the advantage over him.
How very enthusiastic of her, indeed. "I see that Mido Ban is not providing aid tonight."
Even so, Kagami Kyoji is fully aware that his taunt holds barely an ounce of truth unless Lady Poison chooses to set his facts straight. The night is quiet – there is barely any crawl of movement in his immediate radius.
"Leave him out of this." Violet eyes narrow, almost glittering under indifferent moonbeams. Relief eases the mental tension he is barely conscious of. Curled fingers shift inwards in a slow dance that eases the cork from its glass nest. Not for the first time tonight, the observer reminds himself to sidestep the bewitching spells Kudou Himiko unknowingly targets him with. "What happens here is between you and me."
In a manner that brims with attractiveness on her part, of course. The man takes another step forward, pressing the rough wooden door shut behind him with a soft click.
Ivory fumes permeate the air just ahead of Lady Poison's features. Steady gazes, one a shade apart from the other, remain locked. Violet eyes flash suddenly with the intake of tainted air.
The man acknowledges that the aura around his subject has mildly intensified. It will be, however, a great pity if he were to allow their encounter to end within the first few minutes of the prelude.
"How did you know of my visit tonight, Lady Poison?" he ventures, slipping his free hand into his pocket. Minute grains graze slim fingertips. He inclines his head to a side, by a fraction. The gesture succeeds in stalling the second breath of the catalyst to the finale.
A slender eyebrow lifts. "It wasn't that hard to figure it out. You came exactly one week after the bear was left behind. Another week later, and voila!" A flick of the perfume vial. "I'm seeing you again. It doesn't take a genius to expect you."
The half-moon that hangs low in the sky now finds itself with countless glittering contenders for its territory. An errant hand slips back into its white-lined residence.
"Are you suggesting, then," the observer pauses for a heartbeat. Perhaps, it is unwise to assume that a prolonged exposure to the Lady's charms will have a null effect on his interest. He continues, "that I drop by more unexpectedly in the future?"
Not surprisingly, Lady Poison has caught his bait in a way fitting of the hunter's prey.
"I am suggesting-" a large draw of whitish mist, "-that you cease these visits from now on!" And Lady Poison has, quite possibly, matched up to his speed. He sees her foot lift from the cement flooring, sees her cork the perfume vial. Almost as an afterthought, she snaps, "You pervert!"
But even with two sniffs of the Acceleration Perfume, Kudou Himiko is unable to surpass, or even match up to, the inhuman reflexes of Babylon City's ex-resident. The observer watches as she sprints towards him. Clouds of demon dust gather around his form, thick enough for shards to coalesce. But they do not form a solid mirror.
Instead, the man circles the moving form of the Lady, leaving a shadowy image of himself behind, right to the point where she draws her right arm back for a punch.
The image dissolves with a scatter of demon dust, seconds before a tanned fist is thrust towards where Kagami Kyoji previously was.
Fine streaks of crimson splash over a tensed forearm. There is an audible gasp.
"I see that Mr. Left has been entrusted into good hands." The observer stands back and views the display. A hint of amusement sends the faintest spark into lilac eyes. It is her headstrong attitude that has won his intrigue. This tenacity, he thinks, makes her a good protector, if not a trustworthy one.
The woman swings around in disbelief. "How did you…"
Arched eyebrows draw together on a creased forehead. Violet depths narrow and darken; the corners of pinkish lips tilt downwards. Kudou Himiko, the man decides, is most alluring when her temper quickens.
He continues with his vocal observation, because the Lady will obtain the answer to her question in time. "However, I do not appreciate the note you've stuck to your window."
"You've been spying on me." The vial of Acceleration Perfume faces the wisp of a breeze that has started up. But Lady Poison hesitates in uncorking the vial. It is clear all around that the third whiff possesses an effect so disastrous it is best saved for the direst of situations.
"I suggest you refrain from inhaling another dose of that perfume." He transfers his weight to the balls of his feet, allowing his guard to fall ever so slightly. "Mido Ban isn't here to rescue you… Unless you'd like me to do the honours?"
"I'll make sure to thrash the bear up and then burn him this time," she growls, shifting on her feet. Beads of crimson leave bloody paths over her forearm, losing their brilliant intensity to the pearly sheen of moonlight.
"Ah, you've thrashed him up, and you've almost burnt him to ashes. But twice he ends up next to your bed." The man withdraws a hand from his pocket and allows it to rest at his side. Slowly, he starts on his feet, towards her.
Robbed of speech, Kudou Himiko tightens her hold on the perfume vial. As much as pride decrees Kagami Kyoji be injured, if not dead, the Acceleration Perfume will not save her now. Nor will she be able to hurt him, because the woman finds herself unable to move.
He is right before her in the span of a blink, too close for comfort. Her heart pounds a strange tattoo; heat and cold flood her senses at the same time. Warmth fans across the contours of her cheeks. Somehow, she knows that he will not bring her harm.
"And why is that so, Lady Poison?" the man murmurs, almost sensually. He fills all but her vision; there is but a trace of emotion in the lilac-hued gaze. Something warm – something small – touches her lower lip, and draws a tingling trail across. Violet eyes widen from shock. The woman stiffens, her mind stumbling like a racehorse with a gunshot wound to its leg.
But hurt him she must, in return for the confusion he has caused her.
With an unnaturally large effort, it seems, she rips herself from the trance he has placed upon her. There must have been a change in her expression, because surprise whispers over Kagami Kyoji's countenance. She feels her face contort in a ferocious glare.
The annoyance built from the previous week surfaces again. Kudou Himiko jerks away from the man, raising her balled fist and throwing a punch at his cheek with renewed speed. Adrenaline courses through her veins.
With the rush of air against torn skin comes an anticipation that she is not quite able to withhold. Pride swells in her chest, that she has finally caught him off-guard. Vaguely, though, she wonders at the lapse in his speed, and why he hasn't attempted to escape.
Until her fist connects sharply with something hard. Her mind races for a split second. Glass? The smooth countenance of the man in white and purple cracks soundly into jagged halves, and then quarters. He crumbles into minute particles.
Demon dust.
Realisation blinds her awareness for a moment or two. In that period of time, the glittering powder scatters in an imaginary wind and disappears from sight. Traffic buzzes in the streets below; the half-moon gazes calmly at her from an empty sky.
By the time Lady Poison recovers from the shock of her prey's swift escape, the rooftop is empty, with the exception of herself. Smooth features twist into a snarl.
"Damn you, Kagami Kyoji."
-X-
So… How was it? Merry Christmas, everyone!