A/N: So I've kinda been having writer's block lately, but I'm really into Shiraishi right now after re-watching the Another Story OVA, so let's do this. This is a Shiraishi x OC story, disclaimers on profile.
Summary: Shiraishi loses his job as a lawyer, and out of desperation, ends up working as a bodyguard for a bratty, arrogant, mysterious enigma named Kaneko Yuki. He learns that first impressions are often superficial and that there's more to everything than what meets the eye. And to think that it all began with spilling a cup of coffee.
For the fourth time in the past 72 hours, Shiraishi Kuranosuke sighed. Loudly. First, his coffee had spilled over his pants in his favourite morning café, leading to him being late for his job. Where he was due to settle an important case in court
. Of course, the shame and embarrassment of arriving half an hour late with his pants awkwardly stained wasn't enough, because then his car decided that it had lived a long, fulfilling life, and was now ready to retire. He called a tow truck to take the sleek silver automobile in for repair, suspecting minor battery issues. Of course, he was devastated when the dealer informed him that no, his car was not experiencing battery issues, and no, jump-starting it would not help: in fact, he would need to replace both the engine and the transmission.
The cost was not particularly of immediate concern- being a lawyer meant that you had a decent lump of money- but Shiraishi couldn't help but cringe when the man replied it would take at least a few weeks for all the necessary parts to be shipped in from Germany.
The third, and perhaps most unfortunate, event happened the next day, when he was late again (in his defence, the subway was ridiculously busy during rush hour, and missing your stop was perfectly normal for someone who was used to driving their own sports car). This was the second case he was late for, and unfortunately, the client happened to be a rich, influential man who had promptly demanded he be fired on the sport. Of course, Shiraishi didn't actually expect his boss to go through with the ludicrous request, until he found all of his stuff in boxes when he returned to his office.
Ok, so maybe his day had been horrible, leaving him unemployed, irritated, and depressed. Shiraishi needed money. He had just forked over a rather large sum to pay for his car repairs, but he definitely wouldn't have if he had known of his impending career misfortunes.
And that brought them back to now, where Shiraishi was on the phone with his friend Kenya and had just finished summing up his misfortunes.
"…So basically you're unemployed and about to be homeless if you don't find a job to pay the rent for next month. Man, that's gotta be tough."
"I realized." It wasn't normally like him to be so grouchy and irritated, but then again, he also didn't make a habit of losing his perfectly well-managed job.
"Ok ok I know you're mad, but it's not the end of the world. Look on the bright side. You can like… branch out? Ya know, explore more career options and… stuff…?" Kenya trailed off, being able to feel his friend's bad attitude through the phone line.
"I need a job or I'll have to leave my apartment. You and I both know why I can't do that."
"Right right, your sister. Um.. oh crap I'm late for my shift, but I'll call you up if I find any job opportunities. Right now just keep your head up, yeah?"
"Wait-" Before Shiraishi could even get more than a word out, Kenya was gone. He clearly wasn't known "Naniwa's Speed Star" for nothing. Shiraishi groaned and rubbed his eyes, pulling at his silver-brown hair in frustration.
And then his phone rang again. "Moshi moshi (1)- Yukari? What are you calling for, aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Nii-chan (2), what are you talking about? It's already 5 pm, school was out like an hour ago!"
Shiraishi mentally kicked himself for not keeping better track of time. "Oh haha right right. Sorry. So why aren't you home yet, then?"
"That's actually why I called. I'm going to stay at a friend's house for around a week, is that alright?"
"A week? Absolutely not, you know that-"
"But Ku-chan, her parent's are going to be away, and all my other friend's are going to. She lives right next to the campus, I swear. Please?"
Shiraishi took a moment to think about it. Technically, if his younger sister wasn't home, he would have an easier time sorting out his situation. He couldn't just tell her he was unemployed now. But would she really be ok staying at a friend's house for a week? "Ok, who is this friend?"
"You've met her-"
"Don't pull that one."
"Argh fine, I'll bring her home with me when I get my stuff, that way you can grill her while I'm packing."
"..Fine," Shiraishi grudgingly agreed, still uneasy at the idea of his sister not being around him. "Be safe, don't come home too late, and-"
"I know, I know, I have to go, alright? I'll be home around 6, and I'll call you later, bye." He frowned when he saw that his sister had just hung up on him. Then he realized that he had only an hour to clean everything up, hid the job flyers he had collected, unpack the stuff from his office, and put on his "happy" mask.
Just as Shiraishi stuffed the last packet of papers from his office boxes into a drawer in the living room, the sound of a key opening the door was heard. Immediately, he forced himself to brighten.
"Yukari, you're back. So who's the lucky friend you brought to meet your very own brother?" He teased lightly, trying to act normal.
His sister rolled her eyes as she set her stuff down. "This is Merui, she's in the journalism club at school. She's also a straight A student, who has a part-time job as a news editor. I'm in college now, I really don't think we still have to go through this."
Shiraishi ignored the latter remark, focusing instead on the other blue haired girl who seemed pretty shy. "So this is your friend. Ok, well why don't you go pack your stuff while I just have a little conversation with her about-"
"No, nii-san, it's fine. I'm grown up, you can stop treating me like a child." With that, Yukari ducked into her bedroom and appeared later with two large duffle bags and a can of soda.
"Ok ok, gosh, but don't come back in trouble, or else you know that I'll call mom. And don't touch alcohol, no drugs, no boys, no-"
"Yeah I got it, I'm ready to go. I'll be back next Thursday."
Shiraishi nodded and waved, feeling slightly relieved but still worried as his sister walked with her friend around the corner and out of sight.
Now he had to sort out this job situation. Maybe he should call Chitose, and-
Brrringggg, Brrrrringggg! His landline rang loudly, interrupting his thoughts.
Grabbing the phone, he waited for the voice on the other side to talk.
"Hey, it's me, Zaizen. Kenya told me about your… er… situation. There's a job at the place I work, do you want me to send you the details?"
Immediately Shiraishi felt a glimmer of hope. "Alright, thanks. I owe you one. So… what's the position?"
"Well don't expect anything much, I'm still studying for my PHD so I don't have that much time to job hunt and all.."
"It's fine, I'll take anything, give me whatever you've got." Shiraishi himself had just finished law school, despite having already been faster than most (he took the bar exam for Japan and managed to pass with flying colours). At the ripe young age of 23, he was unemployed. Brilliant. But of course, that was about to change. Zaizen had a job opportunity. He would take anything.
…Which was what he'd thought, until he'd shown up for his job application at 8 PM.
"A bodyguard? Zaizen, you can't have been serious-"
"I am serious. And good job for taking my advice on dressing well, you look dashing in that suit."
"Zaizen, I don't have any qualifications as a-"
"Look, you took martial arts and self defence for more than 10 years, you even continued it in college. You have enough credentials-"
"But I'm not-"
"It pays well. Really really well. Just go in and try out, I gotta go, my shift is still on. We'll talk later."
Shiraishi grumbled to himself as he watched Zaizen leave the room. This was ridiculous, he was a lawyer, not a bodyguard. Those two professions were polar opposites, he wasn't into things as… as…. Barbaric as being a bodyguard. But something possessed him to enter the interview room anyway, on high alert.
"Welcome, Mr. Shiraishi, sit down. Zaizen-kun has told us much about you. I heard about your recent… misfortunes, and I offer my condolences." A sharp blonde man sat in a tall red-velvet chair, as he gestured gracefully to the seat across from him. His other hand rested casually on the dark mahogany desk. Everything about the place screamed wealth and riches. Velvet drapes, plush carpets, and polished furniture all contributed to the overall atmosphere.
"Thank you, Sakaki-san," Shiraishi replied, noting the man's name plaque on the desk.
"Excellent, you are observant and not particularly inadept in terms of your intelligence. This will make my job a lot easier. I hope you understand we are looking for a body guard, and your previous job was a lawyer. These two professions do not necessarily display any signs of direct correlation. Please enlighten me on why, exactly, you chose to apply for this career."
Of course Shiriashi could give the real story, which was definitely a tear-jerker. He could talk about his sister, his financial situation, and his family. But somehow, he didn't want the man to pity him, and he didn't think that was what he was looking for. "Well, I acknowledge that lawyers and bodyguards are seemingly unrelated. However, I'd like to remind you that bodyguards are directly related to the police, and many, if not most, police choose specific courses in the law department in college. Furthermore, despite being a lawyer, I minored in criminology. Clearly becoming a successful bodyguard cannot be done through strength and technique alone." Screw it, he would try to get the job first for now, and then maybe he could negotiate pay later.
"Alright you're hired."
"Wait what?" He was confused.
"I said, you're hired."
"I heard you the first time, but why-"
"Excellent. If you wouldn't mind signing this contract here, and then gathering your stuff. I hope you don't mind blindfolds, we are taking you to a rather important location."
"Wait but-"
And then everything faded into black as Shiraishi found a thick black cloth wrapping around his head, covering his eyes. Seconds later, he caught a whiff of something sweet, and he eventually passed out.
A/N: Yeah pretty short chapter to begin with, but the next few should be longer. This is one of my main fanfiction that I'll be updating when I'm not working on Devils and Demons, which is my other Fem!Ryoma x Kirihara Akaya fanfiction (featuring Rikkai!Ryoma). Yup I'm self promoting.
Favourite, review, follow, or none of those, whatever you want :)
I accept constructive criticism, as long as it is overall positive and productive. This story is set for around 20 chapters, but that may vary in the future.
Please feel free to ask questions or try to guess what will happen next :D
Also, I just realized that my profile is more than 3k words long. If you're really really bored with nothing to do, feel free to read it.
Ciao!
~Vieux
Next Up on Snowy Enigma:
"The organization? What the hell is that?"
" 'm rather surprised you ain't never heard of it. Pretty well known aroun' 'ere."
"Really? What's it called?"
"I ain't sure. You gotta ask the young miss' for this one, I hear she's quite interested in it. I ain't know how much information you'll get out of her though, she ain't like discussin' the topic or anything of its like."
"Hm. Interesting. When will I be meeting her?"
"The young miss will arrive soon. I ain't advise you bring up anything about the organization on your first meeting. Most of the stuff ain't true, s'all just rumours that be floatin' aroun' the mansion, after all. If anyone asks, I ain't tell ya nothin'."