The next day, Ruki was standing hear her office building last night's events kept playing in her mind. But still, she was not satisfied with what happened so she decided to resort to another.
Her thoughts were destroyed when she heard a voice. When she looked up, she saw that two thugs were coming towards her. Both wore all-black outfits and looked taller and more wiry than her.
"Oh look!" a thug remarked sarcastically. "Looks like we're lucky today, Makoto."
The thug smirked evilly and laughed. "Yeah, Akano… We got ourselves a bitch to lay!"
Ruki shook her head and thought of something. She realized that her gun was not with her and she was in between a fine line between life and death.
Shit… Ruki thought. What am I going to do now?
Seeing that he got Ruki off-guard, he decided to challenge her once and for all.
"Come on, bitch!" the black-haired thug remarked. "Want a piece of me?"
"Yeah! You're better off in a brothel!" his brown-haired companion added and began to grab her.
Adroitly, Ruki avoided the brown-haired thug's attempt of getting her. With this, she jumped up and kicked the man in the chest.
"You want a piece of me?" Ruki echoed the black-haired man's question. "Seriously, jackass, do you want a piece of me?!"
Since the man was planning of something to dodge her attacks, Ruki decided to kill them with her signature glare.
"Or, you want a piece of this?!" she asked violently, referring to her fist.
"You'll never win, bitch!" the black-haired man exclaimed sharply. His mind was on his companion because Ruki kicked him in the chest.
"Are you saying that because you don't know what it feels to be beaten by a bitch?" Ruki asked malevolently. "Do you?!"
At that very moment, the blue-haired Jenrya Lee was walking on the street were Ruki was in when he heard some shouting. He was witnessing the tussle and he recognized the figures as two men and a woman.
They're going to corner that woman! Jenrya thought and began to run towards the scene. I must help her.
Jenrya had arrived when he saw that Ruki gave a roundhouse kick to the black-haired man.
"Had enough?!" Ruki yelled. "Or do you want some more?!"
But apparently, the black-haired man did not show signs of giving up. With this, Jenrya decided to step up for Ruki, causing Ruki to be surprised since a man had come to her aid.
Wow… Ruki could only think. No man had ever done this before. Especially for me!
Seeing that the man was charging at Ruki with his fists, he immediately took the aim and blocked it with his right fist. As his right fist held the charging fist firmly, he gripped the arm with his left hand and forcibly twisted the arm. At that point, the man gave a shrill cry of pain as Jenrya twisted the arm with the objective of placing the arm on the person's back.
"This is what you get for fighting with a woman," Jenrya said calmly as he held the arm firmly and strongly. "You should know better than that."
Ruki's eyes widened as plates as he saw how the blue-haired man held the thugs. This was the man she bumped two days ago and met again in the Chinese restaurant yesterday! And from the looks of him, the young man had skills of martial arts to the point that he could turn the man into a living pretzel. She gazed in admiration at the young man.
He looked strong to suit me, Ruki thought but she got distracted by the sight of the man twisted in front of her.
"Please! We're not going to hurt her anymore!" the black-haired man replied.
"I'll take care of this one!" Ruki answered and took the brown-haired man who was still weak with what Ruki just gave him.
"We give up!" the thugs cried out. "We surrender!"
"You motherfuckers better surrender or I'll have my men butcher you!" Ruki threatened harshly "You don't want blood pouring all over your places, do you?"
"N-No!" the men said in unison because of terror.
"Good." Ruki smirked evilly. "At least we do understand each other."
The two skilled persons let the thugs free. Seconds later, they were running in panic. When they were gone, Ruki dusted her fingers. Jenrya as well did the same. Since he found the opportunity to get to know the violet-eyed woman, he decided to ask her if she was alright.
"Are you okay, Miss?" Jenrya asked politely.
"Hell yeah…" Ruki answered rashly. "Anyway… thank you so much for saving my ass…"
"You're welcome," Jenrya spoke up. "Anyway, I'm Lee. Jenrya Lee…"
With this, the young man extended his hand to Ruki. Ruki felt her heart beating as the young man politely offered his hand to her. Since she owed her life to Jenrya, she decided to shake his hand as well.
"And I'm Makino. Ruki Makino…" Ruki replied as she shook the young man's hand as well.
Jenrya smiled because he finally knew the woman's name. But Ruki remembered that she had forgotten to check the names of the men that Hirokazu gave her. Maybe being with this Jenrya could do the trick. However, her thoughts were broken when she heard Jenrya clear his throat.
"Anyway, if you're not busy… maybe we can go out sometime…" Jenrya offered. "Just want to get to know you better. I first thought that you're going to kill me with the gun that you had when we first met."
Ruki turned crimson at that point and began to laugh devilishly. She had the penchant of aiming guns at certain persons when she met them and dared to mess with her.
"I thought you're going to attack me at that time," Ruki explained and decided to accept the man's request so that she could know if he could be another nephew of Satan or a guardian of Hades. "But I guess I'll accept your offer. I just don't trust anyone here in the block. Anyway, you're strong."
Jenrya smiled humbly. "Thank you. It's only martial arts and Tai Chi. Glad that I could help you with my skills."
This caused Ruki to be inclined to learn more about the young man. He seemed to be speaking sincerely and honestly. But she remembered that men had ulterior motives. She had to investigate by accepting his offer of going out with him. The only thing holding her back was Ryo Akiyama, who seemed to not get over her as of now but she only saw him as a friend and acquaintance.
"Anyway… I have to run," Jenrya replied with courtesy. "I'll see you around."
Ruki realized that if she was going out with Jenrya, she needed a place where that would happen.
"Where should I see you?" Ruki asked curiously.
"Maybe right here," Jenrya answered. "Since I always see you here in this street every day, so I'll see you here tomorrow at day. Or, lunch as you'd say."
"Fine by me," Ruki answered plainly.
When the young man went away, Ruki could not help but feel amused.
I don't know why I'm doubting him but he seemed to be reliable, Ruki thought. Goddamn it! I can't feel anything other than hate towards men but why do I seemed to be amused by him!
Eventually, Ruki decided to go back to her office so she could start her job once again. When she was back at the office, she found Takato, Hirokazu and Kenta chattering.
"What are you excited about, you asses?" Ruki asked. She noticed that the trio was damn excited about something.
"Madame! We found prospective women from the brothel! All thanks to Juri!" Hirokazu answered with a laugh. "Anyway, Madame, have you used the notebook that we gave you?"
Ruki suddenly forgot the notebook that Hirokazu gave her. But she proved that it was useless since she found another pawn to satisfy her pursuit of ultimate happiness. But because of her search for a future husband, she realized that she had no time to be with her mother who needed her care and attention.
"Uh… Not yet," Ruki lied. But the truth was, she chose not to use it for marriage purposes.
Mom… Ruki thought. If you didn't give me this ultimatum, I would have been at home taking care of you!
Speaking of her mother, Ruki had always seen Rumiko sleeping. Those must be the side effects of the cancer treatment. That required most of her energy so she compensated it through sleeping. Ruki wished that it was her who got sick. After all, hell must be waiting for her already because of her cussing, vulgar behavior and the people she had shot before.
Just you wait, Mother, Ruki thought. You'll see me get married. I'm in a wild goose chase with these assholes around here.
Meanwhile, Jenrya was at his home and massaging his temples. Finally, he met the mystery woman with the gun! But he tried to remember her facial features: her violet eyes, her auburn hair, her fair complexion and face. It seemed like she was an angel dropped from the heaven but with a bad attitude.
I'm really amused by her! Jenrya thought. But she strikes like an expert in tae kwondo… seriously!
He got badly disturbed when he heard Hideki speak up.
"Say, Jenrya! You look like you're in cloud nine!" his black-haired friend spoke up. Hideki had been staying at the Lee home because his girlfriend kicked him out for the time being.
"Says the guy who got kicked out by his girlfriend because he slept with someone else," Jenrya countered.
"I don't know what happened! I JUST GOT DRUNK!" Hideki emphasized. "But at least, the woman's not a whore!"
"Whore or not, you still slept with her," Jenrya reminded. "Yumiko's really mad at you for doing that!"
"I know," Hideki answered and breathed hopelessly. "Do you even know how to talk to her?"
"Nope, I'm not the one who's engaged," Jenrya replied casually. "I'm not going to deal with a fiery woman for now. It's your call, Hideki."
"Right," Hideki ended. "Thanks for being a friend, Jenrya."
"No problem." Jenrya grinned.
The next day, Ruki went to the street in front of her loan shark building just like what Jenrya told her. However, when she told her subordinates about what would transpire tomorrow, she felt relieved of their reactions. But the conversation was entirely hilarious.
"I found a man to play as pawn," Ruki said to her subordinates.
Hirokazu, Takato, Kenta and the other men had their eyes becoming wide as plates.
"Are you sure, Madame?" Kenta asked.
"Who the fuck am I kidding?" Ruki asked.
"Who is he?" Takato asked. Being the right hand man, he had a damn to what would happen to Ruki.
"What is he?" Hirokazu asked as well.
Ruki decided to tell how he met the man. Besides, she would hit any of them who would laugh at what would she say.
"Actually, he saved me from two thugs earlier," Ruki replied nonchalantly. "He looked like a tough guy to me."
"Maybe he was a part-time detective, don't you think, Madame?" Kenta stated his theory.
"What was the name, Madame?" Hirokazu asked.
"His name is Lee. Jenrya Lee," Ruki replied.
"He sounded like a rich man," Takato remarked.
"He was the one who offered to get to know me," Ruki added.
"That's rich! He seemed to have a lot of courage to ask you that!" Kenta added.
"True. Basically because he twisted the arm of the one who attacked me supposedly," Ruki answered. "But enough about me, alright? I came to tell you that Phase Two of my plan would resume tomorrow."
"Who was the Phase One?" Takato asked.
"Ryo," Ruki droned.
The three looked at each other. They thought that Ryo was the one who was hitting on Ruki.
"Ryo? You went on a date with our club owner and Kobayashi's fan Ryo?" Hirokazu pointed out.
"I tried, Hirokazu. But we don't seem to mix," Ruki answered nonchalantly. "We're like oil and water. And besides, he's just a level higher than a pig."
"So you're considering this Phase Two?" Takato concluded.
"Probably. I don't have much time, Takato," Ruki answered. "If this works out too well, might as well that I'll personally pick him. I hope I won't regret this, men."
All three bowed in front of Ruki. That signified that they trusted her too much to decide.
"That went well…" Ruki said to herself. "Of course it went well. They're robots, for fuck's sake."
Suddenly, she was interrupted with a voice.
"Penny for your thoughts?" it asked.
She looked up to see that it was Jenrya. Ruki found herself glued to the eyes of the young man.
"N-No," Ruki stuttered. What was happening with me?! I don't normally stutter in front of everyone!
"Then let's go," Jenrya answered. "Not far away from here, I know a Chinese café."
They walked towards the café. Like what Jenrya said, it was not that far. They went inside the café and sat down on the table nearest to the door. The café provided a nice Chinese ambiance and it seemed cozy for the patrons.
"So, aside from being a professional ass kicker, what do you do for a living?" Ruki started.
"I work at a corporate firm," Jenrya explained. "Corporate beasts try to skin us alive. What about you? Are you a mixed martial arts expert?"
Ruki became silent at that point. She did not know how to explain this to a man. Besides, she was running out of time. She needed to marry someone so that her mother would see it.
"I operate a loan shark business," Ruki answered casually. "And no, I don't expertise myself in MMA. Karate is what I always do."
Jenrya stroked his chin. "I only see few women handle that kind of field. Do you enjoy it?"
"Hmm… Yes," Ruki answered. At least, he didn't laugh at me or something! I wonder how far this will go!
"And I am the boss of fifty men," Ruki continued. "I have them because men are aggressive towards collecting loans."
"That's good," Jenrya answered. "At least, you won't have trouble with the people you're collecting with."
"What about you?" Ruki asked, curious of the young man's quiet demeanor. He looked too kind for her.
"Aside from being an employee in a firm, I'm a mixed breed," Jenrya stated.
Ruki found this astounding. "What are you? A dog or something to have two bloods?"
Jenrya laughed. This surprised the loan shark queen because he was amused by her.
"Nope. I'm not a dog," Jenrya answered, trying to compose himself. "I'm Chinese-Japanese."
So that's why he looked like another nationality, Ruki thought. He has a Chinese blood! But how did he end up here in Japan?
"But how did you get here?" Ruki asked. "If you don't mind my asking…"
"Well, my father used to be live in China and migrated here to start a new life. It was because he avoided an arranged marriage just because he disliked the woman," Jenrya answered.
Shit… The plan was about an arranged marriage, Ruki thought. How am I gonna find a husband now if this fails? I don't have much time.
"Then eventually, he found my mother and married her. They had four children including me," Jenrya replied.
"Where are they now?" Ruki asked.
"They're gone," Jenrya answered. "They died in an accident. Only my younger sister and I survived. But eventually, my younger sister died due to asthma."
Ruki felt sorry for the young man. He reminded so much of herself: orphaned by their loved ones. But still, she was lucky that Jenrya did not ask for her relatives.
"That's why I tried to master Tai Chi… the one I demonstrated yesterday," Jenrya answered. "Because it would help me if someone threatens my life."
"That's Tai Chi?" Ruki asked, amazed. This guy's really powerful more than I thought!
"Yes," Jenrya answered. "If you're interested, I can teach you how to do it."
"So that's why you liked Chinese things," Ruki remarked. "Because you are one."
"Yes," Jenrya answered.
Ruki only nodded. He's quiet and placid… and insanely amusing. Guys like him are so rare nowadays!
"Anyway, I haven't noticed this until today," Jenrya added. "You're beautiful and strong. I wish I could have a woman just like you."
Ruki became startled with the request. The statement was more like a wish rather than a tone of aggression.
"Are you single?" Ruki asked. I hope he is. Damn. He really got me with his kind charms. Kind? Well… He's not just like any other guys out there! He really seemed like a gentleman to boot!
"Yes. Why?" Jenrya answered. "I think I'm going to ask you that."
"No," Ruki corrected. "I'm still single."
Jenrya's eyes became wide with confusion. He thought that he could not stand a chance because of what he saw in the Chinese restaurant yesterday.
"I'm not surprised that I'm single," Ruki answered deviously. "My suitors are somehow afraid to get in touch with my fist and my gun."
"I guess I should make my move then," Jenrya replied with a grin.
"Don't press your luck, Lee. I may find you amusing but I'm still going to be treating you like shit." Ruki smirked.
"Then I guess I'm the luckiest shit in Tokyo," Jenrya countered back with a laugh.
This caused Ruki to laugh humorously. This was the first time this thing happened. None of her subordinates or any other guy could make her laugh. Jenrya definitely crossed her limits today.
He really seemed to pass my personality, Ruki thought as she looked at the young man. I think he's the one I'm looking for.
They had forgotten the time because of their amusement. Ruki could swear that she had found the one not because what her goal dictated but it was because of the pleasant company Jenrya was giving , what distracted her was the unusual race of her heart because of the young man.
"So, Miss Makino, can I see you sometime once again?" Jenrya asked formally. "If no, I'll respect your decisions."
"Just Ruki and not my goddamn surname. I must say that I'm thankful since you're not indifferent to my job," Ruki answered. "And I really liked your company. We should do that damn dating again."
"Thank you, Ruki." Jenrya smiled. "And if you liked my company, I liked you already."
Ruki realized that Jenrya and Ryo had differences when she went with them for the first time.
"Just to remind you, Lee… I'm not a whore to simply go out and have fun." Ruki snorted as she emphasized what she wanted to mean. "I'm not a whore that is born to fuck and party all night."
"Don't worry about that because I'm not into them," Jenrya answered with a laugh. "I've dated women but they only liked me because of external appearances."
That was what Ruki wanted to tell Jenrya earlier. And for the first time, she found Jenrya handsome and his tan skin complimented his masculine stature.
"Nice ego, pal." Ruki snorted.
"Thank you." Jenrya chuckled. "Glad you appreciated them though."
Ruki studied the difference between Jenrya and Ryo. Ryo wanted her because she was hot, beautiful and strong. Meanwhile, Jenrya was a man of few words but he was appreciative of her beauty and strength. Jenrya did not even mind if she was a loan shark after all. Besides, she made it clear to Ryo that they would be only friends and nothing more than that.
Another date could help me find out if I'm eligible to get this Chinese man as my spouse, Ruki thought.
When they got out of the café, Jenrya and Ruki started walking again.
"It's nice getting to know you, Ruki," Jenrya answered honestly. "Because I really wanted to know you during the time you aimed the gun at me."
Ruki stifled a laugh. "You seemed unable to live that gun incident down, are you?"
"Well. It's really remarkable for me," Jenrya replied with a chuckle. "Because that's how I met you. It's a kind of a stick-up!"
"Well, I'm honored, Lee." Ruki answered with a devilish grin.
"Just Jenrya and not Lee." Jenrya answered. "You're my friend already."
"Okay," Ruki said. "I'll see you if you want to see me."
Eventually, Ruki walked away with her usual kick-ass mode.
This is making me nuts, Ruki thought. I should hate men but this man tried to bring me closer to him!
Jenrya smiled for he was going to have a second date with her.
Round One complete! Jenrya thought. Now for Round Two!