Author's Note: OMG I am SOOO sorry for not updating in like forever. I think it's been like almost 2 months, wow I'm behind. Thank you all of you who reviewed. I hope you all keep reading my story and reviewing, it just makes me so happy. Cry's.

But I promise, you'll be getting a whole lot more chapters now, why you ask? BECAUSE I HAVE NO MORE SCHOOL!! I'm on Christmas vacation now! YIPPY!! No more homework, no presentations, no more projects. I'm so happy. lol. Well here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Ultimate Muscle.

Chapter Three: Checkmate's and Mr. Kuroki's Secret

Highway 36 was always busy at this time of day. Cars of all sizes, speeding in between the white lines along the freeway. Sometimes you would hear the drowning sounds of horns from idiots who think that they owned the road. It all just made my work even harder and my life even more troublesome. I hate stupid drivers.

It was the middle of summer and we were having a freak heat wave that didn't seem to have an ending. It felt like I was living in the Arabian Desert, were the nights were just as hot as the days and the only freedom I ever got was when I was in my car with the air-conditioning at full power. Another thing was that it hadn't rained it at least three weeks, so all the grass was a yellowish color that crunched when you walked on it. The air was thick and heavy, getting a breath of fresh air was hard to find. Breezes seemed to be something of the past and the heat was still going strong, with no clouds in sight to even cover up the sun. At this point I was just waiting to burst up into flames.

Sitting at the wheel I continued to drive along the hot pavement, taking it slow as so the engine wouldn't heat up too much. I wish I could go faster, because every minute that passed seemed more uncomfortable. The silence was thick as the heat outside the windows. Long silences were always painful for me; I always felt that I should say something. But right now I wasn't sure what to say or ask. I glance over at the man sitting beside me. He was staring out the window, with no expression what so ever. He hadn't said a word since he got into the car. I wonder if I should talk to him?

I kept staring at him, pondering if I should say something. I glance at the road for a moment to gather my bearings. Just as I turned away I heard him moving around for the first time. I looked back and saw him shift around to face the front window. He took one look at me for a second and smiled.

"Your client lives far away doesn't he?" he said stating the obvious.

"Oh…um…Yah he does. It's even worse with this afternoon traffic." I said staring at the road, tapping the wheel with my nails. Yes; just avoid eye contact and I might be able to avoid those awkward looks. Wait why was I worrying about awkwardness? Must be the heat, yup that's it.

"This heat can make you crazy too." I said, throwing in a small laugh. At this point he must think I'm crazy. Then again I'm not the one wearing spandex in the middle of summer.

"I don't really care about the heat, it doesn't bother me." He said.

"What!? This heat is almost record breaking. How do you not feel it?" I said trying to figure out the mystery that was this guy.

"Well I can't feel anything, pain wise. I do feel the heat, but I'm not effected by it the way you are." He said looking at me.

Is this guy for real? Is he really telling the truth that he doesn't feel any pain? That couldn't be possible, could it? Now a flood of questions entered my mind.

"What do you mean by you can't feel any pain?" I said trying to concentrate on the road. Yet still listening intently, not wanting to miss what else he had to say.

"Exactly the way I mean it. If I'm hit or injured I will not feel anything."

If it could I'm sure my jaw would have dropped into my lap. I turned around completely and stared at him, forgetting the road entirely. It wasn't very hard to believe, just by looking at him. He was muscled enough that he could probably get hit by a truck and wouldn't even feel it. Then another thought hit me, what if he's not human? If he's telling the truth, there's no possible way for a human to train their body to ignore pain. No matter how strong you were, pain is a part of human feelings. Maybe he was an alien? The only time I ever remember strange insanely strong aliens, was when the giant fist fell from space. Could he have some relation to them? But then again those fighters could feel pain. Then who was this guy? Maybe he was lying? Because without pain, one wouldn't know when to give up in a fight or battle. They would keep going until…well…they died. It just couldn't be possible. I wonder if he can't feel other things as well. Like the old saying, you can't have pain without…pleasure. Looking at him, with that thought I couldn't help but blush. Does he feel pleasure?

"WATCH THE ROAD!" I heard him scream out of nowhere. He grabbed the wheel and spun us back onto the right side of the road. "What were you thinking?"

"I…um…sorry." I looked in all the mirrors watching cars pass me by along with the sounds of people honking me from behind. I can't believe I just lost it like that. I never do that.

"Are you alright?" I heard him ask.

"Oh, yes I'm fine thank you. I'm so sorry that I lost it back there. I have no idea what came over me." I kept staring ahead and noticed our turn was coming up.

"That's fine just be careful from now on. You don't want to be doing such things when you're alone." He said keeping his hand on the back of my seat. He was pushing a little and I could feel my seat move forward slightly. I guess he didn't want me to lose it again, especially while he was in the car with me.

"It's just that last statement about the 'not feeling any pain', was kind of hard for me to comprehend that's all." I turned the wheel, turning off onto the exit.

"Oh I see. Then I'm sorry, I guess I should keep those things to myself."

"No it's alright, you can talk. It's just things like that…I mean, well. Do you really feel no pain what so ever?" I said, while pushing my foot on the brake as we came up to the stop sign.

"Yes. My trainer trained me since I was a little boy; he taught me that pain would be my weakness in fights. So I had to train and force my body to forget and ignore pain. The one thing that he would always say to help me along was 'Feel the burn and burn the feeling'." He said staring out the window. "…he was almost like a father to me."

"Was?"

"Yes he's not alive anymore. He was killed in a fight." He said with a bit of sadness.

"Oh I'm sorry." I said turning down a long street. Maybe I should say something else to change the subject? It's obvious that this was a sensitive subject to him.

"It's quite alright; it's been a few years now. So…um…are we almost there?" he said looking at me, trying to change to subject himself. It was definitely a hard subject for him.

"Yes. He lives in an apartment in a more suburban area. I believe the address is 1546 Shinshiro blvd. could you get the envelope that's in my purse. I think it has his apartment address in it. I can't seem to remember it." I said, grabbing my purse from the seat behind me and handing it to him.

"Um…sure." He took the leather bag in his hands. It was kind of tiny for his medium-large sized hands, so he held onto it uncomfortably. He took the small zipper and managed to pull it open. There laid the white envelope. As he pulled out the envelope my lip gloss fell out and landed onto his lap.

"Oh I'm sorry." He said quickly stuffing it back in. He seemed almost nervous, though I don't have a clue as to why. I had to admit it was kind of cute.

"That's alright. So what's the address?" I asked.

"You were right, its 1546 Shinshiro blvd. and his apartment number is 46." He looked around to see if he could help find it.

"Well we're on Shinshiro…wait did you say 46?" I asked.

"Yes why?"

I stopped the car in front of an apartment building that had the number 1546 written on the front in gold lettering. I leaned over to the passenger side and look out the window as did my companion. We both look upwards at the skinny and very tall building. The one and only thing I hated was the type of architecture they used in Japanese apartments. Everything is squished together and all piled up on top of one another. And the one thing I feared most, no elevators.

"Why is it that the Japanese live in such small spaces?" I heard him ask. Was he reading my mind or something? This was twice now.

I laughed which confused him. "Even as an Interior Designer I can't ever find an answer to that question. I just don't get it. Makes my life easier though." I said grabbing my purse from behind once more. "Come on let's get this over with."

We both got out of the car and stood on the front steps of the apartment. I walked over to the intercom and pushed the little gold button that read 46 from the long list of numbers. We stood waiting for the other person to answer us, but nothing came.

"Maybe he's not home." He said from behind me.

"No he has to be, I talked to him only an hour ago. He said he'd be here. I hope it's not because I'm late." I looked though the glass of the small window on the double doors, but no one was around. Then I heard a beep and a muffled voice from the intercom.

"Hai." Said the voice from the speaker on the wall.

"Moshi-Moshi, Kuroki-san its Holly LeLand. I'm the Interior Designer that called before; I'm here for our appointment." I spoke into the microphone.

"Ah, yes. Welcome, please come in. I'll open the door for you, just give me one minute and I'll be right down." The accent of the voice changed instantly from Japanese to a more English tone, it was almost perfect. Yet it was hard to tell, the connection of the speaker wasn't the best in the world.

We heard a long drowning beep and a click as the large oak doors unlocked. I was about to grab the handle, but my companion opened the door from behind me first.

"Ladies first." He exclaimed, opening the door all the way to let me pass.

"Why, thank you." I glanced for a second at him and walked into the main hall. Closely followed by him as we walked into the main hall.

We stood in the main hall for a few minutes awaiting my client to come down; it was a fairly nice hall, decorated slightly, along with a polished oak hardwood floor. I walked over to the two large overstuffed chairs that were along the side of one wall. Placed between them was a small coffee table that had a little flower arrangement sitting on top, it consisted of lilies and bleeding hearts. I brushed my hand along the fabric of the chair to feel the texture. I better start getting ideas if this goes well. I looked behind to see the red knight looking up at the ceiling, taking in the interior as well.

"It's a very pleasant arrangement." He said looking up at the overhanging gold chandelier. The ceiling was strangely high considering we were in an apartment, but it was nice all the same.

"Yah it's very well done." Looking up at the light, I didn't realize that the chair behind me was softer than I expected, sitting in one I let out a little squeak as I sunk instantly.

"Be careful those chairs have seen better days." Said a voice from up the stairs. Coming down the steps, was a middle age Japanese man with grey hairs popping out along the sides. I looked at him more carefully and saw him leaning on a cane; he must have injured himself because he wasn't old enough to have a cane from brittle bones.

"Oh Good-day Mr. Kuroki, if I would have known we could…" I started; I came over to his side to help him down the rest of the stairs.

"Ah, there's no need. I need to move around once and a while; it's good for my knee." He interrupted slapping his left leg. When he was settled on the flat ground, we shook hands.

"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. LeLand, when I heard of your famous stature as an Interior Designer at Hitomi Designs, I imagine someone much older." He said laughing to himself. "…I would have never pictured someone so young and beautiful. You must be very good to be this well known already."

I couldn't help but blush. "Thank you very much. I get the same reaction from a lot of people. Though it took a lot of work to get this far. And it's Miss by the way." Out of the corner of my eye I could see my companion looking at me, with a bit a shock. I completely forgot, I haven't really told him who I was yet. Then again he hasn't either.

I looked back at Mr. Kuroki and saw him staring at my companion as well.

"Oh where are my manners…this is…um…" I turned around to introduce my friend, then I realized. I didn't even know his name either!

"Checkmate!" I heard Mr. Kuroki say.

"Um, you know him?" I asked, confused.

"Yes of course, who doesn't?" He said looking at me as if I were dumb. Then he hobbled over to my now name friend, Checkmate. Taking his hand into his own and began to shake it violently.

"This is such an honor. I'm a big fan!" He said with a large smile plastered on his face. He looked just as happy as a kid at Christmas. There was definitely something I was missing. Who was this 'Checkmate'? And was that really his name?

"Thank you very much; it's always nice to meet a devoted fan…" He said shaking my client's hand. "…one who doesn't chase you down the street…" He finished in a whisper.

"What? Oh it doesn't matter. I can't believe that you're here in my apartment, oh this is so exciting. Would you give me an autograph?..." He continued to ramble on with comments and questions. He was talking so fast, I couldn't understand half of what he was saying. I was surprised that Checkmate could understand any of the words coming out of his mouth.

"Excuse me I…" I said trying to make myself known.

"Um, I guess I could give you one." Checkmate said smiling. Apparently he had forgotten about me as well.

"Oh thank you so much. You don't know how great that would be." He said clapping his hands together in approval.

"Excuse me!" I yelled. They both looked at me, Mr. Kuroki looked partly angry and confused for my interruption with his supposed idol and Checkmate looked like…well Checkmate. There was a long pause, until I knew that I had they attention.

"I would really appreciate to know what you both are talking about, because I'm so beyond confusion that my head is spinning." I said.

"Wait, you two aren't together?" Mr. Kuroki spoke up, looking between me and Checkmate. "…I thought you two knew each other."

"Well, you see… Wait, what do you mean together?" I asked.

"Well there's no reason for a famous female Interior Designer and a famous male Chojin Wrestler to walk around together unless their dating or something." He said matter-or-fact-ly.

"DATING!?" Both I and Checkmate shouted, blushes sweaping across our faces.

"No you got this all wrong. That's not why he's here." I said waving my hands frantically to hide my blush. I looked over at Checkmate hoping for some help but he was looking at the floor, gazing at something very interesting all of a sudden.

"Then I believe that I'm the confused one here." My Kuroki said looking at us.

O-O-O-O-O

Ten minutes later, we both explained what had happened with the paint and the ruin presentations. Checkmate explained that it was his fault for jumping into the back of my car, and that he was the one to blame. I must have been the luckiest person on the planet, because Mr. Kuroki let everything slide and told me I would have another week to finish and fix up anything that needed to be done. And that I could come back and present later.

We both thanked him greatly for his kindness, but the only way that he would let us go was if Checkmate would give him an autograph and take a picture with him. Checkmate agreed naturally wanting to leave as much as I.

"Well, I guess I'll see you next week Mr. Kuroki." I said walking towards the front doors with Checkmate close behind me.

"Yes, I'll be waiting. Oh and Checkmate?" He said hobbling close to Checkmate.

"Yes?" Checkmate stopped and turned around. Mr. Kuroki walked up with his cane close to Checkmate and gestured for him to bend down, probably on account of the tall to short ratio. Mr. Kuroki wasn't the tallest man around; he was even shorter than me. Following his orders Checkmate bent down to see what he wanted.

With one hand on the door knob on the other holding the strap of my purse, I saw Mr. Kuroki whisper something into his ear. I couldn't hear a word obviously, but the expression on Checkmates face made me even more curious as to what he was telling him. He went from listening intently to blushing madly which quickly ended with a very puzzled look. After I believe they were finished, Checkmate stood up at full height, this time the look on his face was that of one I didn't like. If what Mr. Kuroki had said before were to be true, that Checkmate was a renowned wrestler that I believed was part of the Muscle League, given his status. Then I'm sure I would have seen the same look on his face every time he would step into the ring and prepare to fight an evil opponent. Serious determination, but at this time I wasn't sure for what.

"Come let's go Holly." He said, turning back to me. Grabbing the other door knob he swung open the heavy door with no trouble. He then placed his other hand on my back and pushed me out the door quite brusquely.

"Good-bye now, you two take care." I heard Mr. Kuroki shout just before Checkmate pushed me though the other set of doors.

I tried to turn around as much as I could, to see if I could get one last look at my client. Even with Checkmate pushing behind me I managed to get one peek to see him smiling and waving to us. If I wasn't mistaken, Mr. Kuroki's smile wasn't that of either kind or charming like it had been before. If I guessed right, it looked almost conniving.

Before I knew it, Checkmate had pushed me all the way to my car.

"What was that all about?" I asked as Checkmate let me go and stood on the passenger side of the car, waiting for me to let him in. "Checkmate?" I called to him again.

"Get in." Was all he said. His voice had changed from before and it now seemed more serious like his facial expression. What did Mr. Kuroki say to him, for him to get this serious?

Without further questions I unlocked the doors and went around to the drivers' side and got in. I sat for a second and looked at Checkmate; all was quiet but not like before. This silence was much more tense. I guess it's not any of my business, if I'm lucky maybe he'll tell me later. Forgetting everything I took out my keys and slid them into the ignition, starting my car we began to head back to the highway.

Author's Note: Well that's another chapter done. It came out to be a lot longer than I expected. Oh well, I'll just expect more reviews that's all.

That Mr. Kuroki character has something up his sleeve I know it! If you want to know what he whispered into Checkmate's ear, continue to read and you'll find out.

And what will become of our two main characters? Well, you'll just have to wait and find out. (Evil smile) I'm so bad!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!