The characters in this story belong to Kohske sensei! All of the other original content belongs to me.
Sorry, I have a bad habit of going into Japanese mode when I type. So There may be a few words in here that I missed to translate. Also, as far as Warwicks, name goes. I know that in English his name is suppose to be spelt Worick. However, Warwick is the spelling that Kohske sensei uses so I'm going to stick with that. Oh and this is set before Nicolas and Warwick meet Alex. I hope you enjoy it!
.
.
"Hello, thank you for calling benriya!" Warwick answered the phone.
"Ah Warwick." Daniel Monroe said on the other end of the line, "Is Veronica around by any chance? I have a job for her if she's up for it."
"She's going to be gone for a few weeks. She's got some other job she left for this morning."
"I see. Well then, I wonder if you and Nick would be up for the job then. It's actually pretty boring. But the pay is good."
"Nico and I don't have any jobs right now what's up?"
"A good friend of mine pays me to provide security for his daughters high end beauty salon. Well, he pays me to provide security for her mostly. My guys that normally look out for her are going to be out of town for a while. I was going to see if Veronica would want to take it. But seeing as you two are available I guess you two would do just fine."
"Wonderful! How much does this job pay?"
"$5,000 a week each. That should be sufficient right?"
"Just what kind of establishment does this woman run?" Warwick asked. He thought, "She sounds more like a princess rather than a businesses woman."
"Like I said, her father pays me to look out for her. She hardly has any trouble where she is. Just running off the occasional shady character from her establishment. You may have heard of her salon. It's called "The House of Blue Leaves."
"Yikes! One of my clients gets her hair done there. She paid $500 to get her hair cut and it took six months to get in."
"She runs one of the few legitimate businesses that does well in the city. She wants to keep it that way too and I'm going to do all I can to keep it that way for her."
"I see, we'll make sure that the little princess is well taken care of. What might this little princesses name be?"
"She likes to be called L. Delico is with her now if you want to head on over to relieve him so he can get going. He normally watches over her."
Warwick and Nicolas walked into the House of Blue Leaves. No wonder it cost $500 for a hair cut there. The place looked like you walked into a high class department store. Marble flooring, a designer perfume station for guests to use as they left. Every chair was filled. Every stylist hard at work. Mirrors lined the walls, everything shined or sparkled. Nickolas squinted at just how bright everything looked. Every stylist groomed to the perfection of a movie star. Morphing their clients into idols. The two handy men looked over to the waiting area. Delico sat on the white leather couch reading a magazine. Marco sat on the other end of the couch looking over to the stylists area.
"Yo! Delico!" Warwick said to him.
Delico stood. Warwick and Nickolas walked up to him. "We're here to relieve you from guarding the hime-chan."
"Hai. Arigato."
"Otsukaresama deshita Delico san"
Delico bowed and left.
Warwick and Nicolas sat on the couch next to Marco. "Ah Marco san. Hisashiburi dana!"
"Hai, hisashiburi. Genki Desuka?"
"Genki desu! Marco san."
"How is Miss Loretta san doing?"
"She's going good. I brought her to get her hair done today. She loves this place."
Nicolas sat on the far left of the couch. This place was already making him feel uncomfortable. To endure a week of a place like this was going to be torture. But at least the pay was good. He stared off into the salon leaning on his katana already fighting the urge to take a nap.
Loretta walked to the front. A woman not much taller than the fourteen year old Loretta walked up next to her. She was indeed a princess. Her long blond curled hair reached at least her elbows. The left side of her head shaved just past her ear. Each curl placed into perfection. She wore a cute pink frilly skirt and sleeveless matching shirt. Her eye makeup accentuating her blue eyes perfectly. Her pink lips complimented her cheeks flawlessly.
Marco stood adjusting his suit.
"Arigato L-chan." Loretta said as she hugged the idol look alike. "You're coming to the club tonight right, since it's Friday?
L looked at her watch. "I'm suppose to have two new bodyguards show up sometime soon. I'll have to see how that goes. Uncle Danny called not to long ago and said they were on their way here."
Warwick stood pulling a sleeping Nicolas to his feet by his shirt. "Hai benriya at your service hime-chan."
L-chan stood there frozen for a moment.
"There are a few things you need to know about her." Daniel Monroe's voice echoed in his mind. "Her looks can be deceiving. This isn't some girl that your charm is going to work on."
"We'll see about that." Warwick thought to himself. "I have yet to meet a woman that hasn't fallen for me yet."
"Keep in mind benriya, that she is more precious to me than my own child. If she gets hurt because of your carelessness, that A/0 rank of Nicolas's won't be worth a damn.
"I understand. Hime-chan won't get so much as a scratch on her."
"Good luck." Daniel said and hung up.
"Yo Nico! We've got ourselves a dandy of a job!" Nicolas turned to Warwick his face expressionless.
As Nicolas stood he laid eyes on L-chan for the first time. "What sort of pampered princess have we signed up to protect?" He thought.
"Wow, so Danny hired benriya to look out for you while your bodyguards are away?" Loretta said.
L-chan took Loretta by the hand and lead her to the back of the salon. "L- L-chan?" She said as she was drug away.
"You know them?" L-chan looked out the corner of her eye up front to the men with worry.
"We do lots of business with them. Their methods are a little sloppy and they are rough around the edges. But, they are good guys. We've been doing businesses with them for years. If they are your bodyguards, then you shouldn't have any need for concern. They should be able to handle any problem you might have. Especially Nicolas. He's-."
"I hope they are as good as you say they are. Things have been getting worse around here lately. I didn't want Uncle Danny to worry so I paid the bodyguards off so they wouldn't tell him. My clients pay a lot of money to come here. I want to make sure this is a safe place."
L-chan watched out of the corner of her eye as the man with the katana signed their conversation to his friend. "That's cheating." She thought.
"I see." Loretta said.
The two walked back up to Marco and the handy men. Nickolas stared off into space while Warwick talked to Marco.
Marco reached for his wallet and handed several hundred dollars to L-chan. "Thank you, Lorettas hair looks eloquent as always. However, we must be on our way."
Marco and Loretta waked out of the salon, Loretta waving to L-chan as she walked out of the door.
"It's nice to finally meet you Hime-chan. We've been assigned to be your security detail for the next week." Warwick said.
"I see. Uncle Danny said he picked some of the most competent men he knew. However, we have a standard to uphold in this salon as far as dress goes.
Warwick thought to himself, "This shirt cost me $200 what is she thinking?"
Nicolas signed, "What the hell did we get signed up for?"
"I see Hime-chan. We'll come back dressed better tom-" Warwick started.
"Lisa, clear out my afternoon. Call Lysse in to handle my clients for the rest of the day. My temporary bodyguards are in need a serious new wardrobe, at least to get them through the week."
Warwick and Nicolas looked to L-chan confused. "Eh?" is all they could let out.
As the three walked back down the street returning from the clothing store. The handy men carried sacks full of designer clothes and boxes of shoes. Most of them were for them. Warwick was sure she had spent more than what they were making this week just on their new clothes. Who needed ten shirts and jackets for one week of work? Let alone fifteen pairs of pants and five pairs of shoes. She also bought socks, belts, undershirts,and underwear for them.
Instantly when she walked into the store the staff greeted her. She smiled at the manager who had come to greet her. "I have some guests of mine that will be needing to look presentable to work at my salon."
"Right away L-chan." The manager said motioning them towards the mens section.
L-chan sat in a chair in front of the mens changing room. The staff brought her a blue glass bottle of water. "Don't you think they might be thirsty as well?" She motioned to the handy men as they walked out of the changing room still buttoning up their shirts.
"Of course, I'll bring them something to drink right away." Two hours later after the handy men had tried on enough clothing to cloth their entire neighborhood, L-chan finally said. "Ok, I think we have enough for a weeks worth of work. They'll wear that home." She handed the store manager her credit card and drank her bottled water.
Warwick sat down next to her laying his jacket on the arm of the chair. "Hime-chan, I'm sure that all this cost you a fortune. I've received my fair share of gifts from clients, but this is over the top.
"Whatever Uncle Danny is paying you, I'm sure it isn't near enough for what you will have to deal with. Just look at it like a deposit on your services and to keep whatever you see to while you are working for me to yourself. There are a lot of things that Uncle Danny doesn't know about me, that I would like to keep that way at any and all costs. "
"that won't be a problem Hime-chan."
Nicolas walked out of the changing room buttoning up his sleeve cuffs. He sat across from Warwick, but left one seat between him and L-chan.
"So Hime-chan, Mr. Monroe indicated to us that you run a legitimate businesses, but from the way you talk. You are mixed up in something, not so, legitimate."
"Everything about my businesses is legitimate. However, there are things in my past, that-. Well, things my family is aware of and that's why my father pays for the protection he does. There are also several reasons why I'm even in this city to begin with."
The manager returned with L-chans card and receipt. Several other employee's followed her with their bags.
"Thank you as always L-chan." The manager said.
L-chan smiled and got up from the chair.
They walked down the road towards the salon. L-chan looked at her watch again. "It's already noon. Shopping always make me so hungry. What do you say we drop the clothes off at my apartment. Then grab some lunch? You'll be staying with me while the others are gone. You can use their rooms."
Nicolas shot Warwick a look. "Well hime-chan there might be a problem with-"
"You accepted the job right? That means you accepted the conditions of the job. This is one of those conditions."
"Very well." Warwick said reluctantly. Nicolas glared down to L-chan.
"This girl sure does know how to run a businesses." Warwick thought.
They walk into the apartment. The handy men drop their clothes at the sight of the enormous apartment. She had the entire floor to herself. "My room is the middle one at the top of the stairs. Your rooms are on either side of mine."
"I have one room with gym equipment that my bodyguards use. You both look like you work out. The bath you two will use is next to the work out room. The refrigerator is stocked with bottled water. So help yourself any time. I have the cook re stock it every day and there are more bottles in the pantry if you need more. But it's not like we'll be spending much time here anyway." L-chan sat her purse on the kitchen island and walked up the stairs with her pink lingerie bag and disappeared into her room.
"Am I dreaming?" Nicolas signed to Warwick.
"I'm wondering the same thing myself. This girl. She's sure got some secret."
Warwick grabbed two bottles of water out of the refrigerator and tossed one to Nicolas. Something long and black caught his eye inside the pink purse. Two pens twilights used, one upper one downer. Next to them upper and downer pills.
"Our little hime-chan may be a tagged Nico."
"But she doesn't wear any tags. I don't know of any tags that live like this." Nicolas signed back.
"Who knows, maybe she carries them for the tagged bodyguard that was with her in case of an emergency. Delico was with her before after all. You lived like this too once Nico."
"Shut up." Nico signed.
They carried their clothes up to their rooms. They could keep the tags on most of it and return the clothes later on. Or sell them and still make a good profit.
L-chan came down the stairs. Her eyes were red as she wiped them.
"Something wrong L-chan?" Warwick asked.
"Just allergies. I couldn't get us in any place worth eating, but I managed to call in a to go order for us. It will be delivered to the salon."
"Oh." She said while digging through her purse. "Here are the spare keys for you two." She slid them across the island to the handy men.
"Looking good handy men." Lisa the receptionist said as the three of them walked back into the salon.
"Has our order arrived yet?"
"Nothing yet."
"Good, that will give us a chance to get started. Follow me handy men."
"Hey, wait a minuet hime-chan!" Warwick said to L-chan as she sat him down in her chair and wrapped a cape around him. She took his half ponytail down and began to run her fingers through his hair. "Do I need to remind you, that you singed up for this?" She looked at him in the mirror and smiled. Nicolas sat behind him at the dryer chairs, grinning at Warwicks tantrum.
"Don't think you are off the hook there. You're next." She turned to Nicolas and smiled.
"Relax handy man. You won't regret this one bit. Just think of this as part of your pay. I'm not cheap you know." She continued to run her fingers through his hair, inspecting the length, cut, color, and texture. With each pass of her fingers through his hair, his anxiety lessened. He would pay $500 for her to do this to his hair alone.
"No wonder people pay so much to have them do their hair. This is the most relaxed I've felt since I can remember when." He thought.
"Be right back."
Nicolas just sat in the chair still grinning at Warwick. "What's wrong? Your normal charm not working on her?" Nicolas signed to him.
"Geeze, this woman."
L-chan came back with a bowl full of hair color and foils.
"Oh no, absolutely not. This is not happening."
"Relax, benriya san. All the girls are going to love your hair after I'm done with it. I'm sure your other clients will be jealous to know that I cut and colored your hair. Besides, I'm sure Uncle Danny wouldn't be very happy with you if I had to tell him that I had to let you go on the first day of the job, now would he?"
"Ah, fine do what you will with it."
Just as she laid the last foil in his hair the food arrived. Nicolas held onto the arm of the chair trying not to bust out laughing.
"you two go ahead and eat in the break room. I'm going to do some paperwork in my office while you two eat." L-chan said as she set a timer for Warwicks hair.
The two sat in the break room enjoying their meal that L-chan has prepared. Nicolas signed to Warwick. "To think that you allowed her to do this to your hair."
"The things we do to make a buck."
L-chan walked into the break room and lifted one of the foils. "It's hardly processed at all. This make take a while." She mumbled to herself. "Lets get you under a dryer since you are done eating. Nicolas, you're next."
"Your turn buddy!" Warwick smacked his shoulder. Nicolas stood and followed L-chan to her chair. She slid a cape over him and fastened it around his neck. His katana leaning against the wall in front of him. At first she hesitated to touch him.