A/N: …..what do you think, dear readers? pls. review..

Disclaimer: Nobuhiro Watsuki gets all the credit for creating such awesome characters for me to use. and (gulp) Megumi has drinking problem..heheh...


Chapter XII

The first assignment


Pant..pant…."Ooy, Jou-chan…you walk quite fast for a girl, you know"

And then "..and wasn't that a bad way to treat your good ol' friend?", he added, smirking now.

"Shut-up Rooster, you just ruined my first appointment with Tsukioka Tsunan!", she glared at him.

"Oh, is that why you got so worked up?", he grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to slow her pace.

"Of course not!", she half shouted in exasperation. She'd lovetomeet her old friend, but not at the expense of sacrificing her newly found job, that's for sure. She took three deep breaths, calming her jumbled up nerves.

"You practically had to embarrass me in front of my first client, didn't you! ", she lashed out.

"Wha…no way, I was just so surprised at seeing you there, that was all…haven't seen you for a long while coz'…", he smiled goofily, a bit taken aback by her outburst,

"Well…just letting you know, that was my first important interview with my first important client, so I don't wanna stuff it up!", she said in half-murmur, lacking in her initial fiery reaction.

"Well…I'm sure you did well, Jou-chan..and Katsu's my best friend, he'd know that I wasn't trying to make a fool out of you!", he said, while putting his right arm around her shoulder in a brotherly way. She smiled. Sano is always like that.

"…Still..I don't appreciate having to punch you in front of him..", she pouted cutely.

Sano let out a hearty laugh and ruffled her hair once again.

"Hey…I'm not Yahiko, Rooster!", she pretended to be upset, but her wide smile says otherwise.

"Oo yeah…where is that brat? Has he grown up too? Just like you? I was so surprised seeing you there looking all pretty, Jou-chan…to think you went through all that trouble just to meet up with Katsu….Sigh.." He snickered.

Kaoru threw another punch, just as powerful as the previous one….she blushed and smiled at the same time.


Sano sent her to the entrance of her office building, and she bid him good bye, but only after she promised to hang out with him sometime later that week. Kaoru's face lit up as she bounced her way back to her little desk. In truth, she was quite happy to see Sano, one of her best buddies in high school. She can't wait to see Shiro and Kuro, too! She was excited about Tsunan's acceptance of her proposal albeit it wasn't done as perfectly as she could've, due to Sano's interruption, and was excited about the prospect of meeting up with her old friends, when, she turned to get some drinking water, wasn't aware of the dark-haired man approaching closely.

"Oof.." she bumped into a wall..oh, how embarassing! As if the embarassment of the day wasn't enough, the wall that she thought was no other than her boss! Kami…will I get fired now? I've bumped to him one time too many.. and she wasn't aware yet that his hands were holding her about her waist, steadying her, and her own hands sprawled against his broad chest.

Her sweet smelling hair and skin surrounded him, and he suddenly felt dizzy.

Kaoru recovered not as quickly as she hoped, but she felt strangely warm when she finally felt the pair of his hands holding her waist to prevent her from falling completely. She wasn't sure of what to do when she finally was able to stand up right. Her knees were a little shaky, hands were a little sweaty and her face was undoubtedly blushing again, goodness' sake,I can't seem to stop blushing in front of this guy!

Their surrounding suddenly turned quiet as the two of them met eye to eye…

"…You should be careful, Kamiya-san", he said finally.

"…A..anou…gomenasai, Shinomori-san….and thank you", she replied timidly.

He nodded and proceeded to walk to his office, and Kaoru was left alone. She steadied her trembling hands They have touched Shinomori's chest…Aargh….She pinched her own arms towake herself out of her most recent stupor.
She quietly took a peek of her surrounding. She was lucky that no one seemed to be around, for it was already around 3.30 in the afternoon…

Oh, Kami, I just hoped Misao has gone home….before she could exhale a relieved breath, however, she heard something. She whipped her head around, only to see Takani Megumi looked straight at her with an intent to kill. She shuddered... If only eyes could kill…

"Why, our little Tanuki here obviously have the hots for Shinomori-san…I should've guessed, considering how intimately you threw yourself to him just then", her voice dripped with venom.

Kaoru was taken aback. How could she…this woman is…is…is evil! She fumed internally, but a bigger, sane part ofher didn't want to cause commotion, so she forced herself to calm down.

"There was no such intention whatsoever, Takani-san, only if you've arrived a little earlier you'd have seen that it was a mere accident, but then again, I doubt that you could take it either way" As soon as she said it, she regretted it. Darn, I said too much...

Megumi gasped. This little tanuki! "Oh, you dare oppose your supervisor now, Kamiya-san?" she retorted mockingly.

"I assure you I don't, Takani-san, but I think it wouldn't have mattered…", she backed down carefully and was soon out of her reach. She counted from one to ten to help calm her nerves.

Realization was quick to hit her.

My goodness...what did I just say to my supervisor?


Megumi felt so angry at the little Tanuki's comeback. She didn't think that the little Tanuki would gain that much insight…well…granted she might not be very discreet in her quest to win Shinomori-san, but still, she didn't expect HER, of all people, to have said something like that! The nerve of that girl!

'I think I need some sake to calm myself down', she took a glance to her wrist watch. It was almost 4.00 p.m.

I'm off now, she turned on her set of classy high-heels out of the building.


Imperial Tokyo Hotel

Friday, 9.00 pm

Yukishiro Enishi sat in his hotel room's spacious office area. He stayed in a suite after all, so that facility wasreadily accessibleto him. Katsu was sitting across him, his face serious.

"..What do you think, Tsunan-san? I just need a simple yes or no answer from you", he said flatly.

Katsu was weighing his options. If Yukishiro was really the successful, ruthless businessman that he's heard from a few trusted sources, then he should be flattered that this guy 'asked for his help'. Well, not exactly pleading, from someone like Yukishiro Enishi, is absolutely a no-no, but he was actually offering a relationship beneficial for them both. His gallery and artworks expansion to the greater parts of China? That sounded too good to be true.

But, the condition….? He was deep in thought.

"Aa, if you would, Yukishiro-san, I'd have to think over it before I can give you a definite answer", he honestly said.

"…Very well…Let's decide then, two days from now, I will see you again to get your decision. I will be meeting you at Murasaki Lounge at 7 pm", he answered fluidly.

Damn, this guy seemed to outdo me all the time. It's like he has answers for everything… Katsu grimaced inwardly.

"…That is a sound idea, Yukishiro-san. I will see you then", he stood up and nodded curtly.

Yukishiro was looking out of the window of his hotel suite when his guest has departed.."Soon, Onee-san…"

He was feeling a bitrestricted inside his suite, so he decided to come out and be amidst the night life of Tokyo. Perhaps this would help him forget about everything for a little while…He quickly changed into his black shirt and a pair of jeans, a black coat draped around his broad shoulders. He pulled his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and he slipped out of his suite soundlessly.

Meanwhile, in front the gate of Kamiya Dojo...

"Oy Jou-chan, quick! We're waiting for you to get ready, why take so long? We'll just see the same tanuki anyway"…he said jokingly.

Kaoru opened the sturdy wooden gate of her house with murderous intent in her sparkling blue eyes. She punched Sano fast and hard, on his arm, again. He winced, yet his grin was unrepentant.

"Man, I think it's pretty much dead by now!", he said, looking down at the poor battered arm of his.

"Don't you dare call me that, Rooster!" then she noticed two other figures standing just behind Sano. She yelped joyfully, "Shiro! Kuro!" and embraced them both tightly, How dearly she missed them all.

"Kaoru-chan! How have you been!", they smiled despite her tight hug. Their little Kaoru has grown up beautifully. They stopped to admire her long raven hair that flow down her slender waist, her translucent complexion, her intense blue orbs that shine like two pieces of fine sapphires, and her cute little smile. She was wearing a white tank top with black cardigan and a white knee-length skirt. Simple, but she absolutely looked stunning in it.

"Ja, we're all here….let's go", Sano smirked seeing his Jou-chan hugged Shiro and Kuro until they almost expire through suffocation.

"Eh, where is Yahiko?", they all said in unison, looking around, expecting a little boy prancing around like what he used to be doing before.

Kaoru smiled, "He's working part-time at Akabeko.He insisted on night shifts, so naturallyI figure that he must've a crush on one of the waitresses... you know, looking for an opportunity to walk her home at night..."

They all laughed. "Yahiko? Our little Yahiko-chan? Unbelieveable!"

The four of them walked down the streets of Tokyo, happily reminiscing about the old times.


Yukishiro Enishi was entering the new lounge in the heart of Tokyo, Equatorial, in his usual calm demeanor. Girls around the place were whispering and even there were some who tried to get his attention, to no avail."Hnn..foolish girls…" he mused inwardly. He went to the bar and grabbed some drinks for himself. Vodka sounded tempting enough. He ordered just that. He was there, brooding at one corner, getting some flirty glances from some of the girls, but he ignored them completely, his mind already wandered far off elsewhere.

At the same time...

Sano was suggesting them to go to the new, hip club, and they all agreed. Apparently Kaoru didn't care so much on their destination, all she cared about was the fact that she meets up with her friends and they're going to have fun tonight. They all made their way to Sano's choice of place.

"What do you wanna have Shiro, Kuro?"

"I'll have some Gin n' tonic", Kuro answered.

"I'll settle withthe same thingfor now thanks" Shiro added.

Kaoru was eyeing the various shapes and sizes of the liqueur and spirits bottles on display and weighing her decision... Hmm..what to drink..?

"Jou-chan? Wait…you can't have too heavy stuff here, we all know your weakness"

"Mou, Sano….I thought we're going to have fun!', she pouted, making them all grin widely.

"Nope, knowing your tolerance level to alcohol…get something light." Was all Sano said.

"Uh..huh…I'll just have some lemon lime bitters then…" she answered in defeat.

"Right-o!" he ordered for all of them, and Shiro motioned the rest of them to a cosy corner complete with a plush-looking sofa.

Kaoru's eyes grew wide in excitement. She loves sofas to sit on and her low-tolerance-alcohol-issue was quickly forgotten. Shiro, Kuro, and Sanojust looked atone another and chuckled.

"So, Kaoru, what do you do at your workplace? Shiro asked as soon as they settled down on the sofa comfortably. "We heard you're working in advertising company…what position exactly?"

Sano couldn't resist to butt-in "We can safely assume that whatever position she's at, she'll be a constant pain to her boss.." Kaoru gasped before she punched Sano's shoulder.

'Do I? Do I annoy Shinomori-san?', She thought briefly.

Shiro and Kuro were grinning from ear to ear now. "Is he right, Kao-chan?"

"No way! I'm in marketing division..", she shook her head vigorously.

They converse relaxedly and joke around, until Sano said to them, "Oh, by the way, I asked Katsu to come along, but he seemed to be late, probably busy chatting up some girls"

Thwack!

"Eeyow…what was it for, Jou-chan? I didn't even insult you"

"Eh, it wasn't me", Kaoru said innocently, and for once, she was innocent, for Katsu stood there, looking casual in his dark blue shirt and jeans.

"Well, Sano…you practically asked for it, talking about me behind my back"…he let out a sly smile grace his lips.