"Suspicions"
CHAPTER FOUR: Mixing Pleasure and Business
Tokyo was a city that never really slept—businessmen held meetings late into the night, college students partied until all hours, prowlers stalked through peaceful streets, and deep in the heart of the city, one man sat in his car, sipping at coffee that had long since gone cold. The man drank it anyway, wondering how in the hell Malachite had talked him into playing watchdog for a teenage girl who had probably gone to sleep hours ago. "This is pointless," the man muttered under his breath, knowing his friend would owe him big time for this. Gods, he thought, disgusted with the entire situation, I'm so bloody bored, and I'm not even getting paid…
His cell phone suddenly began to vibrate, snapping him out of his reverie, and he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled it out. He flipped it open, glad he'd put the thing on silent mode. He might have had a heart attack, otherwise, because after sitting silently in the dark for so long, even the muted ringing of his phone would have startled him. "Yeah?"
"Has anything happened yet?"
Nephrite rolled his eyes. There could be no mistaking Malachite's cold, imperious voice, and while he knew it wasn't personal, he still wondered why he didn't at least deserve a simple hello. "No," he snapped back. "She hasn't made a peep all night." He grunted. "Are you sure this is even necessary? She's just a schoolgirl, Mal, not a criminal."
It was Malachite's turn to grunt, then. "Don't let her appearance fool you, Neph. Her parents aren't quite all there, but that doesn't mean they're wrong about her."
"You think she's in trouble?"
"Unless she's giving herself concussions, it's impossible not to." The other man sighed. "I can't imagine what it is she's gotten involved in, but you shouldn't underestimate her, Nephrite. She's more than just a schoolgirl."
Nephrite arched an eyebrow, though of course not even Malachite could have seen it. "Are you just saying that because you don't want her to be? You can't tell me that her being absolutely gorgeous didn't play a factor in your decision to take the job, Mal." He snickered, not even trying to keep the laughter from his voice. "After all, it's not every day that a beautiful, rich, and impressionable young girl gets thrown your way. I know you're more than human, my friend, but even you can't pass up an opportunity like this."
Even over the phone, Malachite's disgust was palpable. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Nephrite. She's seventeen."
Nephrite shrugged. "Almost eighteen, though, right? She's hardly a child, Mal. Besides, the gods only know how often we've told you to get yourself a girl. You could use the distraction."
Mal snorted, though Nephrite could tell he was still irritated. "You forget who you're talking to," he snapped. "I don't mix pleasure with business."
Nephrite simply couldn't pass that up. "So you admit that she's…pleasurable?"
"Grow up, Nephrite."
"Is he still there?"
Artemis turned from his position at Mina's bedroom window, glancing at the slender, golden figure lying on the bed, and only he knew how much his cat's eyes could see in the dark. "Yes."
Mina sighed, shifting around until she was lying on her back. The bed squeaked slightly beneath her, but she didn't seem to care. "This sucks."
The cat didn't bother to answer that, though his tail swished once in quiet sympathy. He knew how much Mina hated the position she was in, knew how much she chafed with her own helplessness. Her place was with the other senshi, fighting to save the world rather than lying around, a prisoner in her own home. After all she had done for this planet, didn't she deserve better than to be trapped like this, her every move scrutinized as though she was no better than a bug in a jar? He grimaced, wishing he could do more than simply sit with her, hoping Malachite's friend or partner or whatever he was would leave so they could get back to more important things.
Mina sighed again, staring up at her darkened ceiling with unhappy eyes. "What am I going to tell the senshi?" she muttered to herself. "They think I'll still be able to help them now and again, but I obviously can't, not when Malachite will be following me around like some rabid dog." She bit her lip, groaning faintly. "This is so much worse than I'd thought it could be."
Artemis sighed, lifting himself with the peculiar, impossible grace only a feline can possess, slipping down from his window and over to Mina's bed. He climbed up next to her, settling himself against her side and offering what comfort he could. "We'll think of something," he told her softly, pasting a wan smile on his face for her sake alone. "You've spent the last five years battling the minions of evil, Mina. Compared to that, how hard can it be to ditch one man?"
She nodded and made a quick sound of agreement, but as she curled her body around Artemis', as she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, the unhappiness reflected in her perfect features didn't ease in the slightest.
After a lifetime of fighting, Mina had gotten rather used to adapting herself to her surroundings and to new situations. Still, as she trailed through the hallways of her school the next morning, she was hardly at ease. Her fellows students kept sending some rather odd looks her way, and she didn't know if the astonishment on their faces came from the fact that she had a tall and rather imposing man following at her heels everywhere she went, or from the fact that, for perhaps the first time in her life, she'd actually gotten to school on time. As impressive as Malachite was, though, she thought it was probably the latter. She had something of a reputation at this school…
Mina sighed as she stomped over to her locker, wondering if she should be grateful to Malachite for breaking her run of tardies. Her new guardian had arrived at her home a full hour before school—and thus a full hour before she usually woke up at all—and then waited with a little too much patience for her mother to drag her from her bed. He'd ignored her sleepy, half-incoherent protests, simply watching emotionlessly as she readied herself for class. Then, just as she was finally realizing that for once she didn't have to run to school and maybe this wasn't such a bad thing, he'd insisted on driving her over in his silver sports car. The result, of course, was that she'd arrived at school at least twenty minutes before she actually needed to be there, and she didn't quite know what to do with herself. She didn't want to simply lounge around in the hallways, but she also didn't feel up to dealing with her classmates, with their questions or with their curiosity.
And there would be questions. Mina wasn't the sort to concern herself with appearances, but she was hardly blind to the strangeness of this. What would her friends think when they saw Malachite? He was obviously too old to be a student, and most of her classmates had no idea that she was an heiress and might need safeguarding. She couldn't imagine the rumors that would be flying around by the end of the day, though with the exception of his presence, Malachite wasn't being as…blatant in his protective role as she'd expected. He wasn't checking every room before she entered, wasn't insisting that he tag along when she used the restroom. He wasn't even talking to her, really, and she hoped that would at least keep people from thinking their relationship was a romantic one. She doubted that it would be enough to curb the rumors, but she knew it would be far worse if they believed he was a lover rather than…well, rather than whatever they thought he was.
The blonde senshi eventually turned her feet towards her first class, waving briefly to the friends she passed and trying not to look as annoyed as she felt. She tried to ignore the silver eyes unerringly trained on the back of her head, tried to ignore the intense presence of her watchdog. She tried pretending he wasn't there, though it wasn't easy. Mina hadn't spent much time with him, but he'd already made so much of an impression that forgetting he was with her wasn't quite possible. The man radiated strength and power, and even she wasn't immune to that. He was also beautiful, though it wasn't a word she would normally apply to a man. He was beautiful in the way that statues of Greek gods were beautiful—his body flawlessly muscled even through his clothing, his features sculpted and perfect, masculine but also refined, his silver eyes intense and his face so lacking in emotion that she wondered if he was even human. Even his hair was stunning, if only because she'd never seen anyone so young with hair that color. He was every girl's fantasy, and as little as she liked herself for it, she was perfectly aware that if the situation had been even slightly different—and if he'd had a personality or at least more than one expression—she might even have been attracted to him.
Mina grimaced as she entered her first class. The room was still mostly empty, and she slipped quietly to her seat in the back, watching almost glumly as Malachite took an empty chair behind her. She sighed once more, putting her head down on her desk and closing her eyes, trying to block out her awareness of his presence.
It's going to be a looong day…
Malachite settled back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, never taking his eyes from the golden girl sitting just a foot or so away. She was slouching in her chair, chin now propped in her hand, eyes fastened on the glimpse of sky visible through the nearest window. She wasn't paying even the slightest bit of attention to the world around her, and he wondered, absently, what she might be thinking about.
The class had quickly filled with students, most of them casting curious glances towards Malachite and then to Mina, but she still hadn't seemed to notice. She'd simply continued staring out the window, beautiful face pensive. He sighed, tearing his eyes away and forcing himself to examine her fellow students. They were still watching her, though he couldn't see anything but speculation in their faces. Were any of them responsible for the injuries Mina had sustained over the past few months? He didn't think so, though he wasn't about to take any chances with her safety by letting his guard down.
He found himself staring at the girl again, still not knowing what to make of her. Mina's parents had told him to watch for anything unusual, but so far there hadn't been the slightest indication that she wasn't a typical teenager. He'd watched her all morning, had noted that while she was keeping to herself, she seemed quite popular. Their obvious curiosity aside, her classmates seemed genuinely glad to see her, many of them braving Malachite's presence long enough to call out greetings. He'd watched as she dredged up brief smiles for them in return, but each time she'd returned to her silent contemplation of the sky. Is she always like this, or is it just because I'm here?
An elderly man shuffled slowly into the room, and while he didn't seem any more aware of the world than was Mina herself, the students instantly quieted. The man smiled briefly at them, the smile fading only slightly as he glanced at Malachite. The silver-eyed man took that in stride, only inclined his head in an overly polite greeting. Mina's father had already made the proper arrangements with the school authorities, and while Malachite knew they hadn't exactly been happy with this kind of intrusion, the silver-eyed man hadn't expected any real objections to his presence. Nor did this particular teacher seemed inclined to give one. The man only sighed, reached into his desk for a sheet of paper, began calling names for the roll.
Malachite tuned out by the end of the second name, unconsciously turning his attention back to Mina. He couldn't seem to stop looking at her, though his sudden need to stare had nothing to do with physical attraction. He simply couldn't help himself, though he also didn't know what it was that drew him. She was beautiful, certainly, was possibly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, in fact, but that wasn't it. He hadn't been turned by a pretty face since he was a teenager, and he wasn't about to let himself be swayed by his charge. Still, what could it be, if it wasn't her looks? Perhaps, he slowly decided, he was only fascinated by the emotions constantly dancing over her features, there and gone before he could make sense of them. Jaded as his colleagues and employers usually were, it was rare to find someone capable of expressing any emotion at all. Was he only staring at Mina because she was so different from that?
Then again, just because she wasn't completely emotionless didn't mean she was particularly open, either. She was still too much in control of herself—if she hadn't been, he'd have been able to read the emotions flitting over her face. She was also doing her best to ignore him, but on the few occasions when their eyes did meet, her gaze was always shuttered, careful. He knew he hadn't yet given her reason to trust him, but she was too wary for someone who didn't have anything to hide. What was she keeping from him?
The hours dragged on for what seemed like days, and Mina had long since stopped even pretending to pay attention to the lectures. She could never bring herself to pay a great deal of attention to her schooling even on her best days, but the knowledge that she was being watched completely killed her ability to focus. Malachite's eyes were boring a hole into the back of her head, and she wondered, yet again, what he could possibly find so interesting. He was hardly going to pry her secrets out of her simply by staring at her face, though maybe this was just a passive-aggressive way of breaking her spirit? Yes, Mina thought tiredly, amused by the idea in spite of herself, this is definitely his version of the Chinese water torture—only he's trying to stare me into confessing instead. And the sad thing is, it's almost working. He's going to make me paranoid, with all that staring.
Mina's sarcastic sense of humor aside, Malachite's constant attention was…unnerving. She didn't think he'd so much as blinked in the last hour, though she wasn't so convinced of her own charms as to believe he was attracted to her or anything like that. Her father had all but sung Malachite's praises the night before, saying he was the best there was—though the best at what, she didn't quite know—and Mina didn't think he could have earned such accolades if he could be so easily distracted as all that. Besides, what kind of man would he have been if he'd shown that kind of interest in a girl at least ten years his junior? True, she wasn't exactly innocent, but he couldn't have known that she was young only on the outside. To him, she could only be another teenager, never an object of desire even if she'd wanted to be.
Mina sighed, slumping further into her chair, head dropping onto her desk and eyelids drooping in spite of her determination to stay alert as long as this man was around her. Gods, she thought, mind already becoming clouded with sleep though she could still feel her bodyguard's eyes glued to her face, if this lasts more than a few days, I'm going to go insane…
She didn't even make it through a single day, before the next crisis came. Mina had slept through most of her morning classes, stubbornly tried to ignore Malachite while she was awake. It still wasn't really possible, but as she led him out to the courtyard for her lunch hour, she'd almost stopped chastising herself for getting stuck in this position in the first place.
Almost.
Malachite was still walking two steps behind her as Mina led the way to the shady tree where she and the other senshi usually ate their lunches, and once again, Mina was painfully aware of the eyes following the two of them. Any fear her classmates had experienced when they'd first seen Malachite was wearing thin under their own curiosity, and Mina knew her reprieve from their questions was almost over. Maybe, if I hustle Malachite out of here the moment school is over, I can avoid everyone, put off the inquisition until tomorrow. I don't think I'm up to it just yet.
Lunch was a stilted, uneasy affair. Normally the five girls spent their lunch hour laughing and eating and teasing each other, not trying to keep their voices down in any way. Malachite's presence, unsurprisingly, changed that. The senshi were even more awkward around him than Mina was, though of course she'd sent Artemis earlier that morning to warn her team, and they'd known that Malachite would be glued to her side for an indefinite amount of time. Still, whatever Art had told the others, she knew the description of Malachite would fall far short of the reality. The man was so much more intimidating in person…
Lunch had barely begun when the call came. Five communicators began beeping insistently, the other four senshi jumping slightly though the sound was hardly unfamiliar. They'd tensed, hands flying into their pockets for the tiny devices, then freezing as they realized how close they'd come to betraying themselves. They turned, almost as one, to face Mina, belatedly realizing that the slender blonde hadn't reacted at all. She'd only continued picking moodily at her food, knowing her warriors were being called to fight, knowing she wouldn't be going with them. I hadn't thought it would hurt this much.
Raye was the first to move, stepping just out of hearing range, subtly consulting the calculator-like object the senshi used to speak to each other. She frowned into the screen, and Mina, watching her, wondered what Malachite was thinking about all of this. He hadn't really been looking their way when the call had gone off, but he was now, and he couldn't have missed the almost stricken look the other four were giving his charge. Mina's lips thinned as she wondered if he would now start investigating her friends, as well. Had they been compromised?
Raye returned, mulberry-eyes carrying a poorly hidden urgency. She nodded once to Mina, sympathy briefly overshadowing the urgency, and then excused herself. Serena and Amy followed suit, each muttering some sort of apology under their breathes, and then they, too, stood and walked away. Only Lita hesitated, torn between her duty to their cause and her duty to her friend.
Mina finally sighed, knowing the other senshi would need Lita's help. "They're waiting for you," she said softly, her voice so flat that not even the ever-observant Malachite would have guessed at the turmoil she was feeling. "Go on, Leets. I'll catch up with you later."
Lita nodded, green eyes heavy with an apology she knew better than to voice, and then she was also gone, leaving Mina alone with her tall, intense guardian.
