Chapter 10: Doubt

"Welcome back." Demando called out as soon as Michiru stepped into the kitchen. He bit into a piece of pineapple and held out a bowl towards her. "Would like some?" he questioned.

Michiru stormed over to him and slapped the bowl out of his hands. He didn't bat an eyelash when it shattered on the ground. The other people in the room flinched and looked to see where the sound was coming from. When they noticed the storm raging on the petite woman's face they quickly grabbed their food and left. "Why?"

"Why what?" he raised an eyebrow but continued to chew.

"Why did you assign me to her?" Michiru demanded.

"We already went through this." Demando rolled his eyes. He pulled out a stool and took a seat on it. "I think that she might have something to do with…" he explained while pouring himself a glass of wine.

"Magic; I know." Michiru spat. "But this one is way too difficult." She explained

"I thought nothing was difficult for you." He lifted his glass as if to toast her before taking a quick sip.

"It's pretty much impossible." Michiru insisted.

"Maybe you're slipping." Demando shifted his gaze towards her and took another sip of wine. He licked the top of his lip before sending her a smile.

"And maybe you're just a murder." She retaliated.

"I'm a murder?" he snickered. Demando slowly rose off of the stool and turned to face her with his violet eyes. He made sure that he held her gaze. "Have you looked at your bulletin board recently? I'm not the one with innocent blood on my hands." He rasped out.

"Demando-" Michiru started.

"If you decide to walk out I will make sure you're dead." Demando interrupted. "Not now." He barked when he heard a loud knock,

"Excuse me, Demando-" Makoto said slowly as she took small steps into the room. She was tugging another woman by her elbow behind her.

"Not now." He said deathly slow.

"She's the new recruit." Makoto introduced as she pulled the other woman fully into the room. Michiru raised an eyebrow as she studied the girl from head to toe.

"I'm Hino Rei." The woman introduced herself. She smiled brightly as she took a step towards with Michiru with an extended hand.

"I don't care." Michiru spat.

"I do." Demando sent her a warning glance before shaking the woman's hand. "Welcome to our organization." He bent down and kissed the back of her hand.

"It's great to be here." Rei nodded.

"She was the best out of the ten applicants." Makoto explained.

"Did you say something about blood earlier?" Rei questioned as she cocked her head to the side.

"Yes, Michiru here spilled some beef blood earlier on the counter." Demando said slowly as she turned his head to face the bluenette. "Why don't you show her to her new office?" he suggested.

"This isn't over." Michiru glared before storming out of the room. Rei followed quickly. Makoto grabbed an orange out of the fruit bowl on the center of the table before taking a seat on the stool. It wasn't until she was halfway through peeling the fruit that she noticed Demando staring at her.

"What is it Demando?" she questioned.

"Did you take care of the job?" Demando whispered.

"I know where she is." Makoto reported slowly. "I won't strike until it's absolutely the best conditions." She added.

"Makoto, could you come here for a second?" Michiru's voice rang out.

Makoto paused mid-chew and waited for his reaction. He shrugged and nodded. She quickly hopped off of the stool and exited the room.

"Here you go Ms. Hino;" Makoto followed Michiru's voice down the hallway. "I hope everything is to your liking." She added sweetly.

"What do you need?" Makoto stuffed a piece of orange into her mouth. She quickly held her hand to her mouth when Michiru pushed against the girl's chest until she was standing in another room. "What's wrong Michiru?" she swallowed the orange.

"Please don't do it." Michiru begged. Makoto's eyes widened a bit when she heard the desperation in her colleague's voice. "Usagi is one of my good friends." She added.

"Don't worry." Makoto reassured her with a soft smile. "I don't care what Demando says. I'm not going to kill Usagi."

"Where is she?" she questioned.

"She's safe. She's attending Azabu Juban Middle School." Makoto was silent for a couple of seconds. "She seems really happy." She added quietly.

"And Demando doesn't know where she is?"

"No;" she shook her head. "Hey I overheard you fighting with him." Makoto changed subjects. Michiru rolled her eyes and sighed softly. "Why do you want to switch targets? Haruka can't be that hard."

"She is." Michiru admitted. "Something sort of happened last night."

"She didn't find out about you did she?"

"No, everything is still under wraps." Michiru wrung her hands together. "We just ki-" she trailed off. She slowly bit her bottom lip as she had a silent debate with herself. 'There is no way I can admit that I let a small kiss get in the way of my job. I'll be the laughing stock of this company.' Michiru thought.

"Ki-" Makoto repeated slowly.

"Kind of got close." Michiru blurted out. "We're starting to become friends. And if things do get better-" she trailed off and waved her arms in the air; cuing the brunette to finish the sentence.

"That would make it harder." Makoto nodded in understanding. "But you've done this before."

"For what reason?" Michiru wondered. She crossed the room and stood in front of a window. She pulled the shades up to reveal a brick wall. "To make an income? To serve a murder?" she wondered; tracing the outline or a brick.

"What makes you think that?"

"He's so obsessed with his magic theory." Michiru punched the brick wall in furry. Her anger numbed the pain in her fist. "How do we really know that he's not just trying to get rid of people who aren't like him?" she added.

"So what are you saying? He's the next Hi-" Makoto started.

"I'm not going that far." Michiru interrupted. "I just think there's more to it than we thought." She suggested.

"Well there's no way we'll be able to know for sure." The brunette said sadly. "He's too tricky. I don't think there are any documents here."

"We just have to wait for him to leave the base." Michiru said slowly. "Then we can search. This place isn't too big. I'll find a way to bring him down." She vowed.

Makoto jumped when a loud scream pierced her ears. A few loud sobs followed immediately.

"What was that?" she wondered.

"Rei's initiation." Michiru answered softly.