Chapter Two
The clock read exactly eleven as Mimiko booted up her computer. For once, she was on time. Her fingers skimmed across the keyboard as she typed in her password, then waited for the machine to log her into the system. Last night had been rather uneventful, once everything had settled down. She didn't remember dreaming. But at least she'd had breakfast, even if it was only a little granola. Jiro hadn't been awake to protest and make her eat more.
The voices of her fellow compromisers fell all around her as they came and left the office for their various assignments. She was diligently typing in a report when Hibari suddenly put her hands over her eyes. "Guess who!"
Mimiko tried to pry the hands from her face. "Hibari! Stop it," she complained.
Her junior finally let go, sticking out her tongue. "You're such a sour grape," she complained. "Can't you lighten up for once? Honestly!"
Mimiko did her best to try and ignore the energetic girl, continuing to type around her attempts to get her attention.
"Where did you go last night," Hibari asked, finally managing to get her attention. "I mean, really! You just up and disappeared! And there was a really cute Black Blood who came asking for you, not that he's better looking than the Silver Blade, but you could always have used him to make him jealous."
Mimiko looked up in surprise. "What vampire?"
Hibari flipped an errant strand of her hair. "That's what I was trying to tell you," she replied impatiently. "He was incredibly handsome! Almost as handsome as the Silver Blade! I almost fainted, wondering if he was going to ask me if he could suck my blood!" She pretended to swoon. "Can you imagine if something like that were to happen!"
The older girl growled. If she didn't intercede now, Hibari would go off on this tangent forever. "What did he want?" she tried again, pushing Hibari away from the keyboard where she'd been idly taping keys, messing up the report Mimiko was trying to put in.
The girl stood straight. "He wanted to see you," she said, "obviously."
Mimiko tapped an impatient finger. "Did he leave a name?"
Hibari thought for a moment. "No, not really. He just asked if you were here and left when we couldn't find you."
"He just left. Uh huh, right." She gave her junior a disbelieving look, sure that she'd made the whole thing up.
Hibari took a step back. "Honest, Mimiko! That's all he said! He didn't leave a name or anything. He just wanted to know if you were there. He did seem a bit weird though," she admitted after some more thought.
Mimiko glanced quickly at her face. "What do you mean? How?"
Hibari cocked her head to one side. "Well, he seemed a little nervous, anxious about something. Maybe he was in a hurry." She glanced at her watch, as if speaking about time had reminded her of something. "Oh no! I've got to go! Later Mimiko!" And she quickly ran out of the room.
Mimiko rubbed at one temple. That girl! But why would a strange vampire be asking about her? And why would he act nervous about it?
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Jiro inspected the welding around the door. He even used the Hide Hand against it, just enough to know that it had not been tampered with since the crew had sealed it the evening before. Finally satisfied, he stood from his crouch and headed back to the front of the building. He could already hear Kotaro's voice from out front, bubbly as usual as Rinsuke brought him home from Sei's house. Likely, the purple haired human would want to talk. He sighed, knowing it was inevitable. When didn't the investigator want to talk?
"Welcome back, Kotaro," he smiled as he opened the door.
The young vampire launched himself at his older brother, a giant smile plastered across his face. The giant teddy bear he'd nicknamed Lord Bowwow was strapped to his back like a school bag. "Brother! You wouldn't believe how much fun I had!" And he proceeded to go into detail about the various goodies and games they'd had.
Rinsuke waved lightly as he watched the slightly surprised Silver Blade detach his younger brother so that they could go inside. "Long time, Jiro, darling" he called as he walked behind them, entering without real permission given. "Kain asked me to give you his regards." It was hard to get Rinsuke down, especially when he was always teasing his friends. But his usually jovial personality also made it hard to determine when he had something more serious on his mind.
Jiro didn't turn around but used the Hide Hand to close the door behind everyone, with perhaps a bit more force than was necessary. "Is that so," he said without breaking stride. He kept his face neutral, even though part of him really enjoyed the fact that Rinsuke had jumped when the door closed.
Rinsuke trotted to keep up with the young Black Blood and his brother. He slowed his steps while Kotaro zoomed ahead and out of sight. "Jiro," he stopped halfway up the stairs, his tone more serious. "Can we talk for a moment?"
Jiro stopped and looked back, noting that his friend wasn't smiling now. In fact, his face was uncharacteristically serious. He took a step down and raised his eyebrows in question.
Rinsuke fidgeted a little. Kotaro's happy chirping could be heard in the silence as he zoomed around the upper level of the apartment. "There's something you should know but I don't think Kotaro should hear this."
Jiro folded his arms. "I'm listening."
Rinsuke tugged uncomfortably at his collar. "Well, you see, it has to do with Mimiko."
Jiro clenched his fists tightly as he went down a step or two, trying to control himself. He'd noticed something was off with the compromiser, though he hadn't had a real chance to ask about it, aside from what they'd discussed the night before. And with the attempted break in the other night… "What about Mimiko?"
The purple-haired man tried to take a step back but couldn't. "Uh, Jiro, darling, you're standing on my foot. Could you…?" Jiro's expression instantly went contrite as he took a step back, Rinsuke wincing slightly as he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you!"
"Now, what about Mimiko?"
He tried to clear his throat as he stared into the vampire's eyes. He blinked quickly, in case Jiro tried to Eye Raid him. "It's just that… Well…."
"Out with it, Rinsuke," Jiro almost snapped. "I'm losing my patience."
He leaned against the railing. "Well, Jinnai asked me to pass on that some strange Black Blood was asking about her at the office. I guess she'd already left for the day when he showed up, but he was acting very nervous, for some reason. At least that's what I'm told!" He put his hands up in defense as Jiro's expression darkened.
"No one seems to know anything about him," he continued quickly. "At least no one was able to accurately describe him. The testimonies are all mixed up, but Jinnai thought that you should know. He's not sure what to make of it himself, and as he did ask you to look after her…. Well, you know how it goes." He tried to shrug casually.
Jiro ground his teeth, fangs protruding. "Does Mimiko know about this?"
Rinsuke blinked a few times. "I… don't think so? At least they were all asked not to mention it," he added quickly. "Though some of them do have rather big mouths," he muttered to himself.
"BROTHER!"
Both vampire and human turned to look up to the top of the stairs where Kotaro was now calling down at them.
"I'm hungry! When's Mimi coming home?" The young vampire's eyes were large as he took in how close the two men were to each other, not to mention his brother's stance.
Jiro immediately made himself relax and smile. "I'm sure she'll be around fairly soon," he assured. "But, remember, she does work later now."
Kotaro blinked a few times. "Oh right. I forgot." He thought for a second. "Do you think she'd mind if I helped myself to something?"
Jiro looked back towards Rinsuke who shrugged. "I don't think that's a good idea," he replied. "You should wait."
Kotaro's face fell. "Aw! But I'm really, really hungry!"
Jiro sighed, rubbing near the bridge of his nose. "Can't you be just a little bit patient?"
Rinsuke put his hands up. "Don't look at me," he said as Jiro turned to him once more. "I've done all I came to do. I really should be getting back." He started to edge down the stairs. "Just don't do anything stupid! We don't know what he wants," he reminded. "And I don't think Jinnai wants her to know, at least not for now. Bye!"
"Brother!" Kotaro called again, distracting the older vampire long enough for Rinsuke to slip out the door.
Jiro's shoulders sagged. "Fine," he said in defeat. "I'll order something, but you'd better be extra nice to Mimiko when she gets home because she'll have had a long day."
"Kay!" And with that, Kotaro zoomed out of sight.
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Mimiko let out sigh of relief as she finally reached home and got out of the cab. As if the day hadn't been long enough, one of her superiors, thankfully not Jinnai, had called her in on some errors she'd made in one of her reports. Though it was entirely possible that it was Hibari's fault, it had taken what seemed like for forever to fix it.
She slumped into the apartment, wondering what she could possibly make quickly for dinner. No doubt, everyone would be hungry. But there really wasn't much food in the house. She'd forgotten to go grocery shopping earlier. She paused as she took off her shoes at the top of the stairs and sniffed at the air. Was that teriyaki?
She let her tired senses drift with the aroma for about five seconds, then stopped abruptly. She could hear Kotaro's voice from the kitchen. Wait a minute! Was Kotaro trying to cook something? She dashed for the room. He couldn't be!
"Ah, Mimiko," Jiro's cheerful voice greeted her and she relaxed. Kotaro wasn't alone.
Kotaro jumped up from the table and threw himself at her, wrapping around her in a huge hug. "Mimi's home!"
The girl froze in surprise at the sudden attack, looking up at Jiro who merely shrugged.
"Kotaro complained of hunger earlier," he explained. "I didn't believe you would be too appreciative if he tore the kitchen apart to satisfy himself."
Mimiko shuddered at the thought, taking a quick look around to make sure everything was still in order. It was.
"We actually had them deliver twice," Jiro continued apologetically.
Her shoulders sagged as she noticed the takeout containers, not sure if she felt relieved or defeated. I'm such a terrible housekeeper, she scolded herself.
Kotaro pulled away and returned to his seat, brandishing his chopsticks. "It's really good," he smiled. "You should try some!"
The compromiser smiled weakly. "Thanks," she finally responded as she sat down, avoiding the table legs as best she could, still groaning a bit as her bruise complained.
"How's your knee tonight," Jiro asked cautiously as he passed a pair of chopsticks. It was obvious that she was stressed, and though he worried, he didn't want to add to that.
She put on a feigned smile. "Oh, you know. As good as new, unless I bang into something."
Jiro leaned forward slightly from his place across from her. "Would you like me to look at it again," he offered.
She clenched a fist under the table, marginally upset. "No, that won't be necessary. It'll go away in a few days anyway. Nothing to worry about."
He let it drop and they ate in silence for several minutes. Well, almost silence. Kotaro started chattering about his day happily. The sound of his voice fell into the background of both the Silver Blade and the compromiser's thoughts.
Mimiko began picking at her food, moving it around in the carton with her chopsticks. Jiro tried to watch her without seeming to, wondering if she'd been eating well lately but not bringing it up in front of his brother.
Kotaro stuck his chopsticks in his empty container and sighed happily. "That was good!" He looked around at the two adults still picking at their noodles. "Can I be excused," he asked.
Mimiko turned to him with a smile. "Of course. Why don't you go play with your bear for a while?"
"Yeah!" The boy jumped up again and zoomed towards the room he shared with Jiro, arms spread out like he was an airplane.
Mimiko dropped her chopsticks on the table. "Where does he get all that energy," she asked. "And so late in the day!" She sighed as she ran one hand through her hair. "Oh well. At least I have a chance to catch up on sleep tomorrow."
Jiro stood and began clearing the table while she fidgeted. "Another long day," he asked, picking up her discarded container.
She rubbed at her temples. "You could say that. I got called in on a mistake I'd made in my paperwork. Of course, it could have really been Hibari. She always likes to hover, making my work more difficult. It took forever to fix! But only because the supervisor wouldn't listen. I think I need a vacation."
Jiro swept the last few crumbs into his gloved hands. "I can always ask Jinnai for you," he offered.
"No," Mimiko replied as she got up with some difficulty. "It's fine. Tomorrow's a day off anyway, unless I get called in on something, which isn't likely." She smoothed her skirt. "Besides, with the potential of being called in to mediate, I doubt I'd get the time, not until they figure out what's going on, that is."
Jiro watched her as she headed to her room, probably to change out of her work uniform. He wondered if she knew about that vampire Rinsuke had mentioned. He frowned. Well, he couldn't bring it up unless he went against Jinnai's wishes. Jinnai was, after all, very protective about the girl, almost as protective as he was.
The sound of the shower brought him out of his reverie. She would probably take her time now. And he couldn't blame her. No one liked to be bawled out by a superior, no matter for what reason. He just hoped that was all the reason she felt the need to de-stress tonight. She hadn't eaten much, he realized. He'd have to talk to her about that after she was done with her shower.
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Mimiko let the water run down her body as she closed her eyes and turned her face into the warm stream. She'd come so close to telling him what Hibari had told her earlier that day. She wasn't entirely sure why she hadn't, or why she didn't feel like doing so either. Maybe she just didn't want Jiro to worry needlessly. After all, no one knew why the strange Black Blood wanted to see her. For all she knew, he was someone she'd helped settle a dispute with and he wanted to merely thank her, not as likely, but possible.
She put one hand against the wall. At least she would have the opportunity to sleep in as long as she wanted, to forget that she'd ever heard anything about it. She'd just pretend nothing had happened and go on as usual.
She opened her eyes, looking down at her purple knee. It didn't hurt as much today, well, not in the usual way, but it did ache. And it hurt whenever she knocked it or something brushed too close. She wasn't sure if the hot water was making it ache more or if it was helping. But it was obvious that the purple had spread and it now had hints of yellow around the edges. She wouldn't be able to hide it with her skirt if it spread any further, something she knew would make Jiro worry. But it was just a bruise, albeit a good one. Oh well, there were worse things he could worry about, she decided.
She turned the water off and reached for her robe, wrapping it around her slight frame. The warm water had made her drowsy, but she had to make it back to her room before she let herself drift off, preferably changing into pajamas before then. She hated it when the robe twisted.
Not sure where Jiro was, mainly because he was usually just so quiet, she made a quick dash to her room, trusting that he was trying to keep Kotaro occupied while she de-stressed. She was in luck and made it safely to her room where she quickly dried off and put on a comfortable pair of sweats, forgoing a comb through her hair. In minutes, she was fast asleep under the covers.
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Jiro listened to the sound of Mimiko's breathing as he stared out into the night. It was well past midnight now. Supposedly, in a few weeks, their schedules would sync and he would officially become her "closer", the one who made sure everything went well during mediation, which generally meant keeping the compromiser safe and out of trouble. And from what he could tell, Mimiko really needed one. He had a lot of words for her about taking better care of herself.
It was true that since the battle with Cassa, Jinnai had tried to keep Mimiko out of the thick of things, something Jiro felt he owed him for. But he knew it wouldn't last forever. And, now with this strange vampire looking for her, he didn't know what to think. He'd have to keep a closer eye, he decided, and match his sleep schedule more to hers until hers became more like his usual one, something both he and Jinnai hoped for. Perhaps, though, Mimiko's human-ness would win in the end and Jiro would simply sync with her for however long he had left with her.