Chapter Four
Staring back at her appearance in the mirror, Cheyenne sighed. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered around and she fought the urge to throw up. It was almost like her first day of high school all over again. If she factored out the complete differences between her old high school in Wyoming and her new one, then in a way it was like starting high school for the first time. Andy had been nice enough to register her in the same school as Teru, even though it had been such short notice. Her father figured it would be easier to keep an eye on the both of them if they were attending the same school. He had also made a note to explain to her about the Jack Frost program and why it was so important that she was cautious at all times. At the moment she was probably safe, considering the fact she had little ties with the Jack Frost Program but it was still not safe for her. He had informed her that because of her ties with Teru that she could become a target, so to keep on her toes at all times. It all seemed very tiresome and Cheyenne couldn't help but wonder as to how she was supposed to act at school. This was a whole new situation for her. In her entire life, she had never had to switch schools and the friends she made in preschool were still her friends. To go to a brand new school, knowing only one person was almost a scary situation within itself. To have to add sketchy people who could possibly be targeting her for something she knew next to nothing about; was bringing it to a whole new level. How was she supposed to be cautious on her first day of school, anyways? The first day was always the day that determined whether you were going to fit in or not and even at her old school she always been popular. This was going to be a challenge.
"Cheyenne, hurry up!" Teru called from down the hall, "We're going to be late for school!"
Sighing, Cheyenne picked up her book bag off the floor of the bathroom and slung it over her shoulder. Taking one last glance in the mirror, she adjusted a strand of her black wavy hair before rushing out of the bathroom. The last thing she needed was to be late on her first day. Teru was standing at the door, her shoes already on and her book bag also slung over her shoulder. Kurosaki stood impatiently, with his hand on the door handle.
"It's about time," he muttered loudly but Cheyenne chose to ignore him, "I was getting ready to leave your ass behind."
Rolling her eyes, Cheyenne quickly pulled her black combat style boots on. It wasn't like he was doing her a complete favor by driving both Teru and her to school. In fact she was sure it was easy enough to just take the bus and walk to school. But she humoured him a little, since he was being nice enough as to drive the both of them when he could have just said no. That was the strange thing about him. She had noticed that it wasn't that he was an evil ignorant prick but it had been all a show. Why he acted that way, she didn't know but all that mattered was that she knew deep down that he wasn't truly a jerk.
Standing up, she adjusted her school uniform. This was another thing she would have to adjust to. Her school back home didn't have school uniforms and it had been nice to have a bit of individuality. Not that it mattered what she was wearing, Cheyenne felt a little uncomfortable with the school girl look. It just wasn't something she would normally find herself wearing. School uniforms were for those who were stuffy and for the perverted old men.
Kurosaki had yanked the door open impatiently and Cheyenne found herself trailing behind him with Teru walking next to her.
"Are you still nervous?" Teru asked as they entered the elevator.
Pressing the main floor button, Cheyenne leaned back against the elevator wall. Was she nervous? She was petrified of what her first day was going to be like! She knew she could have a wild imagination but what if she became the outcast at school? This was probably just her over-thinking the matter but it was a possibility. What if instead of making a good impression on everyone, she completely embarrassed herself?
"Not really," she lied, trying to hide the waver in her voice.
"That's a lie," Kurosaki piped in and Cheyenne couldn't help but throw a dirty glance towards him.
He was standing there with his hands in his jean pockets, watching the numbers change above the doors. He didn't have to say that out loud, "So next to being an undercover janitor/computer hacker, you can read people?"
"Nope," he answered not even looking at either her or Teru as he spoke, "You're not a very good liar."
Rolling her eyes, Cheyenne shoved her hands into her pockets of her uniform's jacket. Kurosaki had his good sides but she wasn't sure if his bad sides out-weighed his good sides because there were times she could easily say she wasn't fond of him. She knew that wasn't true but his tough guy persona seemed to outshine his good qualities at times. The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened.
"Seriously, why do you act like that?" she found herself casually asking, as they all exited the elevator and began to walk towards his vehicle.
"Act like what?" Kurosaki asked a little taken back by the question. Just as she had guessed, no one had ever asked him.
"I dunno," Cheyenne answered, kicking at a pebble as they walked, "Like a jerk, I guess."
As they approached his vehicle he opened the driver's side door, apparently unfazed by their conversation. Teru had given her the "drop it" look as she opened the passenger front seat door.
"Do you want a ride to school, or would you rather walk?" Kurosaki asked in a casual but slightly threatening tone.
That wasn't a tricky question. With the given time they had to get to school before the bell rang, she would have preferred a ride. But that was the only reason! If she had more time, she would have just walked.
"I'd like a ride," she mumbled, knowing that she had lost the conversation due to the fact that he had a faster means of transportation.
Grinning in a menacing way, he hopped into the driver's seat, "Good! So shut up and get in!"
Scowling, Cheyenne yanked her door open before tossing her book bag in and hopping onto the seat. At this moment, she couldn't see what it was that Teru saw in him. He was an ignorant jerk and couldn't even pass off as a gentleman! Sure he was not a bad looking guy and he had taken the time to talk to her even if he didn't have to, when her father was being difficult. But right now he was being a jerk and it clouded all his good qualities. In fact Teru didn't know that Cheyenne knew about her love for Kurosaki. It was more of a slip of the tongue on Riko's behalf but she didn't dare let on that she knew. Especially since she had promised Riko that she wouldn't say anything, unless Teru brought it up. To be truthful, she had no right to know anyways. Cheyenne hadn't known Teru or Kurosaki for more than a week and she would have felt like she was meddling if she mentioned something. It wasn't her place to say anything.
The drive to school seemed to be long, even though it hadn't been. The entire way, Cheyenne couldn't help but feel her heart throbbing in her throat and her palms becoming sweaty. What if she was right? What if fitting in was going to be more difficult than she could possibly imagine? It wasn't like she was going to be completely friendless, because she still had Teru. But what if Teru's friends didn't like her. No matter how hard she had fought off those thoughts, they kept coming back to haunt her. She didn't think Teru's friends would be so cold as to not like her for no, apparent reason. Teru wasn't the kind of person to befriend that type of people.
When they had pulled up to the school, Cheyenne was surprised to find that it didn't look too much different from the schools back in America. It wasn't like she had expected something completely extravagant but she had expected it to look much different from her old school. Instead, the only difference was the gigantic clock mounted above the entrance of the school.
Hopping out of the vehicle, Cheyenne flung her book bag over her shoulder. Teru had already opened her door and was already collecting her belongings off of the floor of Kurosaki's vehicle. Cheyenne didn't want to seem clingy but her nerves were preventing her from walking into her new school all by herself. She remembered her first day of high school and she could recall entering the school with a group of friends. The worst case scenarios that played through her mind that day were playing through her mind now and she gripped the strap of her book bag. It didn't quite comfort her but it was a start.
"So we'll meet you here after school," Teru called after Kurosaki as he casually began to walk away. His hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. "If plans change, I'll message you."
He answered by slightly waving back at her. There wasn't so much as a glance back at her as he strolled out of sight and Cheyenne could tell that something was nipping at the back of Teru's mind. She wondered what it could be that was bothering both of them. Teru was quick to turn to face Cheyenne. The expression that she had once worn was now replaced with a smile and Cheyenne couldn't help but wonder what it was that she was thinking.
"We still have some time before class starts," she informed motioning Cheyenne to follow as she started for the entrance to the school, "I'll introduce you to my friends."
Before following her, Cheyenne glanced up at the school. Her stomach felt as if it was filled with butterflies and they were trying to escape. She could feel her knees growing weak and she fought to keep herself from falling. Last thing she needed was to fall on her face just as she was entering the school. Gulping down the lump that had gathered in her throat, she raced to catch up with Teru. Things couldn't be too bad. What was the worst that could happen? She had to remind herself that all the negative thoughts that kept popping up were all just a part of her large imagination. Nothing terrible was going to happen. It all depended on her ability to shake the negativity.
The smoke from his cigarette drifted through the air as he sat in the back seat of the boss' Lexus. Katsuo leaned back in his seat, soaking in the silence. It was rare that he received phone calls from Mr. Otaka this early in the morning. It had been rarer that he had requested to meet up with him in broad daylight. Most of their dealings were done late at night, where most people didn't see. The strangest part about this meeting was the fact that the man had requested to meet him outside a high school all the way across town. It wasn't normally done this way but Mr. Otaka was a man that he didn't dare reckon with. Taking a puff from his cigarette, Katsuo could feel the burning sensation enter his lungs.
"Those things are going to kill you," Mr. Otaka replied, as he snapped his cell phone closed.
Katsuo glanced at the man through his shades and slowly exhaled, letting the smoke fill the inside of his car. He didn't mind the man, in fact he paid well but if there was one thing he hated, it had to be people who told him that his smoking habits were bad for him. If he had cared about his health, he probably would have stopped a long time ago and picked up a few more positive life-altering habits.
"Let's get to the point here," he answered, leaving little to discuss on the cigarette matter, "You asked me to meet you here so why the hell are we sitting outside some fucking high school."
"Tsk. Tsk. The language isn't needed!" the man exclaimed as if surprised by Katsuo's swearing, "I have a job for you."
The window closest to Katsuo opened and he glanced at Mr. Otaka, questioningly. He worked under the man as what most considered as a contracted man of many skills. There weren't a lot of people in Japan alone that would dare to stand in Mr. Otaka's way but there were a few people who had been stupid enough to go against him. That was where Katsuo stepped in. He wasn't technically a bodyguard but if the man told him to be, he'd do it. If Katsuo had been told to kill someone on this man's behalf he would do it. He belonged to this man and anything he was told to do, he had to because it meant his own life if he didn't. Lowering his shades to get a better look, he made sure not to be too conspicuous as he tried to see what Mr. Otaka had wanted him to see. His open window faced the entrance of the high school and he took note of his surroundings, trying to figure out on his own as to what his next job was.
"What am I looking at?" he asked finally giving up.
Mr. Otaka leaned in to take a glance out the window. His lips curled into a smile, "See the girl getting out of the front passenger door over there? She has something that I want and that's where you come in. I need you to get close enough to her as you possibly can."
Katsuo found himself watching a young girl hop out of the vehicle, parked in the school parking lot. She had to be about seventeen years old with shoulder length brown hair. She had a naturally pretty face but she hadn't quite filled out. He wondered what it was that this girl could possibly have that a very successful businessman wanted so much. Not that it was any of his business but she definitely didn't look like any of the other jobs that he had been assigned to. Just as he was about to ask the reasoning behind this, a second passenger door opened and a girl hopped out. Squinting to get a better look, he couldn't help but fight back a grin. Just his luck, he had thought to himself. The girl who had hopped out had coincidentally been the girl he had saved a couple nights back.
Taking a puff from his cigarette, he let the smoke linger in his lungs a little longer than usual, "What exactly do you expect me to do?"
"You seem very good at handling yourself when it comes to the ladies," Mr. Otaka answered, casually leaning back in his seat, "I've seen the way you handle my daughter. I'm sure you can figure something out."
Katsuo glanced back at the two girls but instead of focusing in on the girl who he had been assigned to, he couldn't help but watch the other one. He watched as she flipped her long, wavy black hair as she reached into the vehicle and pulled out her book bag. She was about the same height as the other girl but she had definitely filled out a little more than the other one. Even though she wore a school uniform that wasn't very good at showing much of anything, he could tell there were a bit more curves underneath all of that. Before he could watch her any further, the window closed itself and Katsuo found himself being brought back to reality.
"Be very cautious though," Mr. Otaka warned, "That girl is highly guarded."
Katsuo leaned back in his seat and snuffed his cigarette out in the ashtray, "I'll take care of it."
Before another word could be spoken, he opened the door and jumped out. The faster he started his job, the quicker he could get in and get out. He didn't quite understand what was so important about this girl and he wasn't going to pry into the matter. The boss didn't like it when his hired help asked questions. It just meant there was more traces that lead back to him, which meant the possibility of Katsuo showing up dead could be high. Questions were as dangerous as the answers that went with them. Anyways, it didn't matter. He was already constructing a plan in his mind at this moment.
Shutting the door behind him, he watched as the brand new Lexus drove off. Mr. Otaka had been considerably good to him. The man had almost treated him like a son in some ways but deep down inside, Katsuo found himself despising him. He was as evil as he was kind and one slip up could very well be Katsuo's life! Sighing, he took one last glance towards the two girls as they started for the entrance of the school. Had it been coincidence that the girl he had saved the other night was connected to his next job? He had set this up perfectly without even knowing it. If the other girl was highly guarded, the best way to get to her was through her friend. It seemed simple enough.
