Here is chapter 12 for all your reading pleasure! The mysterious suitor is revealed!
Minako blinked and stared at the guy sitting on the bed in shock. She rubbed her eyes and stared at him. What? How was this possible? "W..Why?" asked Minako in shock. She took a step towards the room. "I…I trusted you! I mean, sure you didn't know about this mess but still! I thought you liked me enough to not do something like this!"
"Calm down Minako," said Akihiko, his attention not wavering from the suitor sitting on the bed. "Focus now."
"I know," said Minako as she shifted into position so the tip was pointed at the suitor. "Explain yourself! Why are you doing this Bebe!"
Bebe sighed and closed the fan in his hand with a snap. He uncrossed his legs and got to his feet. He didn't take any step closer to Minako or Akihiko but he was watching them out of the corner of his eyes. "I zought I told you to come by yourself Minako. Remember my warning?"
"Of course I do," snapped Minako. She gestured to Akihiko with her thumb. "It isn't my fault if he follows me around. He's getting paid to do that!"
"Enough about that," replied Akihiko with a sigh. He focused back on Bebe. "So, why did you do that? Why did you…" He trailed off and a blush crept up his cheeks again. "Do something like that?"
A blush rose up Minako's cheeks as she thought about it. Ugh! Why did he have to bring it up when she was trying to remove it from existence? She swung her naganita through the air in hopes of cutting the memory from her mind before aiming the tip at Bebe again. "Yeah. Explain yourself. What was that all about?"
Bebe opened his fan again and lightly fanned himself with it and had a slight smile on his face as he watched Akihiko and Minako carefully. "Well, when I saw you were coming here wiz company," he eyed Akihiko before continuing, "I zought, might as well use it to my advantage."
"You were going to blackmail me with pictures!" cried Minako, deciding it would best to just jump to the chase instead of having him spell the whole thing out. Plus the faster they cut to the chase the faster she would be able to deal with this problem and get out of here.
Bebe snapped the fan closed. "Why yes. However it did not work the way I planned it too." He shook his head and frowned. "And here I thought I set it up enough for a romantic occasion." He shrugged. "Oh well."
Minako just stared at Bebe in shock. She still couldn't believe what was going on. She had thought Bebe was a friend. A close friend. Heck, Bebe was one of the guys she actually really talked to and knew. "Why?" she asked him carefully. "Why are you doing this? It can't be because of the fortune right?" Personally that's what she was hoping for. Maybe someone else was blackmailing him? However deep down she knew it wasn't true. It was look in Bebe's eyes. It was the same look Hidetoshi and that ninja guy had.
Bebe opened his fan and slowly began fanning himself as he carefully watched Akihiko and Minako. "Why should zat matter?" he asked.
Minako gritted her teeth. The way he was taking this…it was really bothering her! "I'll teach you to not mess with me," she snapped angrily. Without really thinking she charged towards Bebe and swung the naginata. She wasn't really sure how it happened but Bebe used the fan to catch the tip of the naginata.
"Minako!"
Bebe jumped back as Akihiko tried to punch him. He fanned himself as he watched Minako and Akihiko with his blue eyes. "I wished it didn't have to come to this Minako-sama, but I guess force is ze only way."
"At least tell us why you're doing this at first," said Minako. She wasn't too worried about Bebe using force, after all he was outnumbered. Well hopefully he didn't have ninjas hiding in the vents or something weird like that.
"Why should I tell you somezing like that?" Bebe pulled another fan out of a pocket.
"Cause you should," replied Minako.
"Minako," said Akihiko, he glanced over at Bebe before sending her a quick glance, "Do we really want to hear something like that right now? I say we take care of him and get out of here."
Jeez. Minako didn't know the whole incident shook him up this much. Wait a minute, what was she thinking? Of course it shook him up, heck it shook her up! If Bebe wasn't her friend she would have probably already kicked him into next week. It was just because he was her friend that she was hesitating. Damn it. She should be already kicking Bebe to the ground but no, she had to sit here and wonder why he was doing this.
She shook her head and focused back on the matter at hand. "You're right Akihiko. This should be like all the other times with the suitors." Yup, she was back and ready to fight again. No more being friends and trying to understand the enemy.
"Are you done yet?" asked Bebe lightly. "Being polite and waiting for you to finish your conversation can be quite boring for ze other party, you know?"
Minako gritted her teeth again and charged at Bebe. She swung her naginata downwards but Bebe blocked it with a fan. Akihiko tried to hit Bebe with an uppercut but Bebe used the other fan to block the punch.
"The reason I am doing zis is my uncle," said Bebe before he jumped back and slashed forward with the fans.
Minako wasn't sure what the fans were made out of so she brought her naginata up and blocked the fan with the staff part. "What do you mean by that?" asked Minako.
Akihiko swung his fist again but Bebe ducked under it and retreated back a bit. "Well you see," began Bebe. "My aunt was taken away by the angels and my uncle won't let me stay here in Japan."
"So by marrying me and inheriting the Arisato fortune, it will let you stay here in Japan?"
Bebe nodded. "Oui. I will be unable to leave Japan then because I will have a home here. I am sorry Minako-sama but I must marry you for that to happen."
"If you need money then I would have just given it to you," cried Minako as Bebe attacked them again. Seriously, why was he so strong? They should have been able to take him on and wipe the floor with him no trouble. Instead Bebe seemed to have no trouble fighting both of them.
"Zat would not have stopped my uncle," replied Bebe as Minako blocked his strike. When Akihiko punched this time he was smarter about it. He feinted a punch to Bebe's head and when Bebe went to block it, Akihiko instead punched Bebe in the abdomen. Minako used the distraction to pull her naginata back and swept it against Bebe's legs to knock him to the ground. She pointed the tip of the weapon at Bebe to signal that Bebe should not try any funny business.
"You know me Bebe," said Minako. "If you asked for help I would have given it to you." She thought of the one day when Bebe was distracted in the clubroom. He must have been thinking about this! She tightened her grip on her naginata. If only she had pushed for information back then. If she did that then they could have avoided this whole mess.
"Minako. I'm going to call for backup. Can you keep him there?"
Minako shook her head. "Don't do that Akihiko. I think…I think I might be able to talk some sense into him." She hoped so. She remembered what happened with Hidetoshi. She didn't want something like that to happen to Bebe. Even if they were enemies right now they had been friends before.
"Minako," began Akihiko. "He…" He trailed off and Minako saw a blush rise up his face. "Well he did you know."
Minako blushed and looked away. Yeah. That mental picture was not going to go away anytime soon was it? She focused on Bebe. "Just give me a couple minutes? Please Akihiko?"
Akihiko sighed and nodded. "Fine, just a few minutes though."
"That's all I need," replied Minako. "Bebe listen. Since you are my friend I really don't want to hand you over to the cops and such. I know you're a good guy and you're only doing this because you want to stay here in Japan. Well, maybe we can think of another-a better solution to solve the problem? One that doesn't involve you marrying me." Ugh. That was so weird to say.
Bebe looked away from Minako. "Minako-sama. I can't zink of any other way. Ze reason I could come here was because of my aunt. Now that she is gone…"
"Don't worry Bebe, we can think of another way!" said Minako. Jeez, who knew she would end up spouting off a corny friendship speech to a suitor? "I know! Why don't you show your uncle how great Japan is. Uh…by making a kimono!" That was the first thing that popped in her head and for some strange reason it felt like the right thing to say.
"Zat is a good idea Minako-sama!" exclaimed Bebe. "Why didn't I zink of it? If I make a kimono and show my uncle then he will have to let me stay here in Japan."
Minako nodded as well. "Yeah! And I'll help!" She moved her naginata away so Bebe could get up. Akihiko stared in disbelief as Bebe and Minako hugged and started planning out how the kimono would be made.
After a minute he coughed and said, "You two do know where we are right?"
"Oh right," said Minako, suddenly remembering they were in a gaudy love hotel. "I guess we'll plan it out during the next club meeting then?"
"Of course," said Bebe. "I'm terribly sorry about what happened Minako-sama. I should have just told you what was going on instead of resorting to somezing like zis."
"Don't worry," said Minako. "Nothing bad happened." Well except for the whole seeing Akihiko with barely any clothes on and-argh! Why was she thinking about this? She needed to get some brain bleach and get it out of her brain. "Anyway, Akihiko and I should get going. Everyone back at the house is probably wondering where we went." Suddenly remembering something she added, "Please don't tell anyone about Akihiko being my bodyguard? And this whole fortune marry-thing too."
"Of course Minako-sama," replied Bebe as he put away his fans.
"Thanks Bebe," replied Minako. She turned to Akihiko. "Well, let's get going." She walked out of the room and headed for the stairs.
"Are you sure this is okay?" asked Akihiko. "You're just going to let him go?"
"Don't worry," replied Minako. "The power of friendship should stop him from trying anything again." Wait. That answer made no sense whatsoever. "Well I just know he won't. Plus if he does try it again I'm not holding back at all. He'll get the same beating as Hidetoshi, friend or no friend."
As they passed by the front counter Minako saw the lady behind it give them a knowing grin. "It's not like that at all!" Minako yelled at the lady before they walked out of the gaudy place. She turned to Akihiko and saw he was blushing.
"So, umm, are we not going to tell anyone about this?" he asked nervously.
"Of course we aren't," replied Minako. She would never live it down. "It'll be our little secret." And Bebe's. She was about to say something else when she suddenly turned her head to look at the roof of the nearby building.
"What is it Minako?"
"I sense a guy with glasses, a Lolita girl and a guy with no shirt watching us."
"That's oddly specific."
Minako shrugged. "It's probably nothing. Anyway, shall we get going before someone we know spots us?"
"R..Right," replied Akihiko as the two headed in the direction of the train station.
