As promised: the next chapter of StarCrossed. This chapter was the most fun to write so far, I had a very good time, and I hope that it's good. Also, it's the longest chapter yet!
Some special thanks, as always...
... PK Phoenix - No, Yori wasn't invited to the party, but if you read closely, you'll see that Mokuba asked her to be his date. So she'll be attending after all. Thanks for the review :)
... Eragonfan - Yeah, I'm sorry I took so long *insert sheepish smile/grin here* Thank you very much for the congratulations, answering my poll and also for reviewing. I can't guarantee Mika's participation in Operation Free Emiko, but I can promise you one thing: this story won't be finished before the Jerkwad is behind bars! Of course, if you think about it, I couldn't possibly end the story at that point, there are some other things that still need to happen as well (tournament, business trip, dates, LOTS of making out of course). Tee-hee ^_^ And ranting is FINE! I get lots of good ideas from ranting, and I also find it alot of fun to see my readers getting all worked up about my stories, it makes me feel like I did a good job on it and that always makes me happy.
... HopelessRomantic183 - Aw, thank you! I always like to read that my readers love my stories so much :D No, I didn't set the dinner for Friday 13th on purpose, although it sure is foreboding (Hasako at the end of this chapter, for example). I was afraid that Yisuba being Emiko's grandfather would be overly cliché, but nothing wrong with clichés, as long as they work out nicely, if you ask me! I actually think that I gave away Yisuba being Emiko's grandpa, but whatever.
IN THIS CHAPTER
Dinner at Fujiwaka's - Part 1
What's Nori's plan?
Fujiwaka's interest in Kisara is showing. Needless to say that Seto doesn't like that.
Hasako doesn't like Mika. Is that feeling mutual? Well, what do YOU think?
Mokuba and Emiko have a moment alone. Which means...
Seto and Kisara also have a private moment. And THAT means... (well, me being a bitch, basically, but whatever)
And there we have Pegasus!
Raiku and Risa make some unexpected discoveries, including photos...
I've dedicated this story to HopelessRomantic183.
I've dedicated the pairing Mokuba/Emiko to Eragonfan.
I apologize for any errors in advance.
Disclaimer: I own the plot and the OC's, but nothing more.
Thank you all very much for reading!
ENJOY!
Friday, May 13, 17.00 PM
Original POV
There was a knock on the door. When Kiyomi opened it, her eyes widened a little with surprise. Before her, there were three people: one man and two teenage girls. The man didn't seem to be much older than 30, maybe 35 at the very most. His hair was short, black and unruly, although one could see that he'd tried to make it look somewhat decent. Sadly, he'd failed. The girls were obviously twins, and they had really weird hair colors. The three visitors wore regular jeans and black sweaters. Kiyomi also saw three pairs of identical white sneakers.
"Can I help you?" Kiyomi asked, while inwardly raising an eyebrow at the weird sight in front of her. The man bowed a little.
"We're sorry to bother you, miss, we know that you must be busy, but allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kenji Tori, and I'm here to help with the catering, along with these two lovely ladies here,"
Kiyomi gave him a strange look.
"I didn't know of this," she said. The man scratched the back of his head.
"I was afraid of that. If it makes you feel any better, you could always ask your master about us, then…,"
"No, it's alright, I'm busy enough as it is," Kiyomi grumbled while letting the three of them in. "But one thing," she said. Nori (of course it was him) and the twins turned around.
"Yes?" Nori asked. Kiyomi pointed at the girls.
"Make sure to either hide your hair or stay away from the guests. Milord wouldn't like the sight of you and then I would get in a lot of trouble. Alright?"
The girls nodded.
"Yes, miss!" they said cheerfully. Kiyomi sighed.
"Well, I'm busy, like I said, so I'll just tell you where to go and then you're on your own," she said, and led them away from the door and down the hallway. After a minute or two, the four of them halted in front of a white door. More door could be seen further down the hall. Kiyomi pointed at the white door.
"Here you can prepare yourselves for tonight," she said. Then she pointed at a light blue door that was about 20 feet away.
"Over there, you'll find the room where all the plates with drinks and snacks and so are. There's another door in there, which leads to the rooms in which you'll be working tonight before and after dinner. Just ask the other catering people about that, most of them have been here before. Ask anything that I forgot to tell you,"
Then Kiyomi's face turned very serious.
"Now listen well, you three, since you've obviously never been here before. Do not, not matter what, talk to the guests, except if it is to ask them if they'd like something to eat or drink. Milord doesn't want the personnel to talk to him and his guests if it isn't necessary. Also, don't make eye contact, and make sure to bow often. That is very important! Do you understand?"
The other three nodded. Kiyomi wished them luck and was gone in a matter of seconds. The twins grinned wickedly. Nori smirked, opened the door, and closed it when the three of them were inside. There was no one else in the room. The three of them opened the bags they had with them and changed into their uniforms. In the end, Nori looked just like a waiter in a classy restaurant. The twins had changed into black skirts that ended just above their knees, white shirts and black jackets. They also wore black shoes that didn't have heels but were of very high quality. Very classy.
"I feel like a stewardess in this outfit," Raiku giggled. Risa was busy hiding her hair underneath a hairnet.
"Hurry up, the first guests will arrive in a matter of minutes now," Nori said, while trying to tame his hair with the help of a comb and a lot of hair gel. The girls quickly put on their identical wigs. Now they suddenly had black hair that was put in identical tight buns.
"Okay, team!" Nori said, while giving up on his hair completely and turning around to his accomplices. They both raised their right hand to their heads, imitating two soldiers, only with more chaotic grins. Some Cheshire Cats they were. Nori ignored all of this and just went on.
"Our mission for tonight is this: act like we are with the catering, while trying to explore the mansion. Do you have the map?" he then asked. Raiku and Risa both held up a piece of paper that had the mansion mapped out on it. They also showed their red ball pens. Then they put both away in the inner pockets of their jackets.
"Good!" Nori said, "Then we'll do it like this: I stay downstairs at all times, while the two of you will explore the other floors. There's got to be some guests there, too, so it won't be too suspicious if you show up there. We'll keep contact with the intercoms, make sure no one notices,"
At this, the three of them, hid their intercoms and tested them for a moment.
"Okay," Nori continued, "Then this is what you'll have to find out: where Saeko-san is, where Fujiwaka and Hasako's room is (it's bound to be the same room), where Emiko's room is, how far apart those rooms are, and every possible escape route! Also, hide the cell phone in Emiko's room and make sure there are no bugs hidden there, otherwise this might end very bad. We'll leave at midnight. Any questions?"
Raiku raised her hand.
"What if we're found out?" she asked.
"Then we make a run for it and hope for the best," Nori answered. "Anything else?"
Now it was Risa who raised her hand.
"What if we find Saeko? Are we allowed to talk to her?" she asked. Nori thought about it for a moment.
"You'll have to make sure that the room isn't bugged," he answered eventually, "If you enter a room and Saeko is there, make sure to tell here everything while sounding like one of the servants. That'll be less suspicious. But you'll have to improvise. Anything else?"
The girls shook their heads. Nori nodded.
"Alright, that's it, then. Now we'll go to the other room and prepare ourselves. Good luck!"
"Sir!"
}:{
17.52 PM
The black limo halted in front of the mansion and a young man opened the door and welcomed the guests. A man in his late fifties came out of the car, after which the young man helped a woman of about the same age as her husband out of the vehicle. The man was wearing a dark grey suit with a lighter grey bow tie. He was holding a black wooden walking stick with a golden knob on top of it. His wife wore a light brown dress and a darker brown shawl. Her shoes had low heels and were also brown, about the same color as the shawl. The necklace around her neck was made of gold and the large topaz that was caught in it was clearly visible. Lady Atsuko Yisuba had all the sense of style that her husband didn't have. Guess who'd chosen his outfit for the night.
The pair hadn't moved yet when another limousine stopped right behind them. They stepped aside so that the passengers could come out. The first passenger was no other than Mika Koriachi, wearing a long black dress with long sleeves. When looking at her back, however, one could see a lot of skin, since the dress was cut out so low there. Mika wasn't wearing any jewelry (she really didn't want to outshine Kisara in front of Seto, the clever minx), but she did wear a black ribbon in her hair. All in all, she looked very pretty.
Next was Yori (Mokuba had asked her to be his date, remember?). Her dress was dark red, sleeveless and ended a little above her knees. Her shoes had low heels and the same color as the dress. Her necklace was a modest duplicate of the one Nicole Kidman wears in Moulin Rouge (you know, the one with the ridiculously large amount of diamonds), the gems included. Her bracelet and earrings matched the necklace. Try and imagine Mokuba's face when he saw Yori like that. Yeah, that made Mika laugh, too.
Seto and Mokuba looked much the same. They weren't the types to wear ties or bow ties, but they were both wearing a black suit, although they had their jackets draped over one arm. The big difference was that Seto's shirt was dark blue and Mokuba's was black. Also, Mokuba had tied his long hair back in a ponytail, thereby making it look a little less unruly.
Out of the six people standing there in front of the Fujiwaka mansion, Mokuba was the only one who was nervous (for various reasons). The others had gone to more than one party like this one before.
"Good evening," lady Atsuko greeted them politely. They greeted her back, after which they slowly started to walk towards the enormous house. Mokuba couldn't keep his eyes off of it. He'd be willing to bet that Seto was much and much richer than Fujiwaka, yet their house was a penthouse and certainly not the size of this building! Yori saw his face and giggled.
"So, Seto," Mika said with a knowing smirk, "Would you like to go inside or wait for Kisara to arrive?"
Seto blushed a little. Okay, he'd been all cool when he and Kisara had come out of the bloody closet the other day, but to bring that up in front of Yisuba and Seto's little brother…
"Going inside should be fine," he grumbled. He doubted that Kisara was already there, but if he went inside, then at least he could take a good look at both the house and the other guests. Yisuba sent him an interested look.
"Don't look at me like that!" Seto hissed. At that exact moment, he saw a young woman walk through the gate, looking very nervous. His heart skipped quite a few beats.
"Kisara!" Mika called out, while waving her friend over. Kisara had put her light hair in a tight high ponytail, much like she had on her first day at work, and she was wearing a long midnight blue dress that had a slit that started just below her left hip and went all the way down from there. Kisara's pantyhose had a very light color, but her skin was so pale that it could easily be seen. Her black shoes with medium high heels seemed to be made of straps and straps only. The dress was sleeveless, but it had several small straps that went over her shoulders to rejoin the dress on her back, thereby keeping it from falling to the ground. The dress was cut out low, but not too low, so that it looked sexy and not slutty. Kisara's only jewelry consisted of a small silver bracelet. All in all, she looked breathtaking. Literally, I might add, since Seto had trouble remembering how to breathe again. Kisara looked even more nervous when she saw him. He was the only one out of all of them who didn't say a word to her as they walked into the house. Little did she know that he didn't dare to, afraid of what might come out of his mouth.
They weren't the first guests to arrive. When they entered one of the large and richly decorated rooms, they saw Fujiwaka standing there talking to a man known as Hibiki Matsuhita, his son Hideki standing less than two feet away. Father and son were both known as the lowest of the low. They were both wearing expensive suits, the father wearing a dark green one, while his son wore a yellow one (yellow? Yes, yellow). They looked awful.
A pretty woman (known as Hasako) was talking to two women, clearly mother and daughter. The older woman, Matsuhita's wife lady Kotone, was a good friend of Hasako's. her daughter, Junko, was known as a kind young woman, not like her family at all. She looked very unhappy, until she saw Yisuba and his wife. She excused herself to her mother and Hasako and walked over to the newly arrived group.
"Yisuba-san!" she exclaimed happily, all but hugging the older man, "It's so good to see you again! And Atsuko-san, too!"
Next she hugged Mika, whom she knew well (they went to the same barber, enough said), then she bowed to Seto and the others. She knew Seto, of course, but not the other three.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," she said politely, "My name is Junko Matsuhita,"
Kisara and the teens bowed as well, introducing themselves. Junko's face lit up.
"You're Mokuba?" she asked the boy in question. "I've heard so much about you from your brother and Mika! You're even more handsome than Mika said you were!"
Mokuba felt a major blush coming up and Yisuba laughed. Yori giggled. Fujiwaka chose that exact moment to welcome the new guests. With Hasako on one arm and a glass of white wine in the other one, he suddenly appeared before them. His smile was creepy, to put it mildly.
"Aaah, Yisuba-san, it's always a pleasure to see you. And milady Atsuko, it's been too long, hasn't it? You look as lovely as ever. Allow me to introduce you to miss Hasako Kurosawa,"
At this, Hasako bowed flawlessly and with a polite smile. Yisuba and his wife bowed as well, although it was very visible that lady Atsuko would rather scratch the woman's eyes out. After all, it was the mistress of her son-in-law.
"Won't my daughter be attending?" she asked while still shooting venom at Hasako with her eyes. Fujiwaka sighed.
"I'm afraid not, milady, she's not feeling well. She sends her love and she is terribly sorry that she can't be here to greet you tonight," he said like he really cared. Of course, everyone knew he didn't. Then Fujiwaka turned to Seto.
"I'm glad you're here, Seto," he greeted the younger man (everyone quickly learned to call Seto by his first name. His last name reminded him too much of his adoptive father, whom he despised). Seto merely nodded, his eyes seemingly made of ice. This man wants Kisara. Fujiwaka ignored the glare.
"And I see you brought miss Koriachi along. Lovely." The last word was spoken with disdain. Hasako smiled sweetly at Mika, and Mika smiled back. In fact, this was how their silent conversation went (insert sarcasm where necessary):
H.- Well, hello, Mika! Quite the secretary you are!
M.- Why, thank you, Hasako! Although I'm afraid no one ever told me about your profession.
H.- Oh, I'm a dancer. Ballet.
M.- If that's the same thing as exotic…
H.- Ouch.
M.- My pleasure.
H.- …
M.- *smile*
H.- So, whoring yourself out to your boss? Nice move.
M.- Why, thank you, I was just about to give you the same compliment.
H.- How sweet.
M.- No problem.
While their mental catfight was going on, Fujiwaka's attention turned to the younger Kaiba brother. Mokuba bowed, but only slightly.
"Pleased to meet you, sir. My name is Mokuba Kaiba," he said. Fujiwaka's eyes turned malicious. Seto moved a little closer to his little brother, just in case.
"Well, well, well, so you are Mokuba. My daughter has always been full of praise when talking about you," Fujiwaka said. Mokuba's eyes became slits for a second. Emiko! Then Yori spoke up.
"Good evening, Fujiwaka-san. I'm most honored to meet you," she spoke, while bowing deeply. Then she bowed again, this time for Hasako (although not nearly as deep).
"And you, too, Hasako-san. My name is Yori Marimochi. Pleased to meet you,"
Hasako instantly stopped the mental conversation with Mika and sent Yori her brightest smile.
"Welcome, Yori! Yes, you are very welcome, indeed!" she exclaimed, causing some of them to grimace. Then Fujiwaka's attention suddenly switched to Kisara. The malice in his eyes turned into something else. Desire. While Seto watched the man like a hawk, Fujiwaka slowly bowed.
"And miss Ishinagi. I can't tell you how immensely glad I am that you're here," he said. Then, to both Kisara and Seto's horror, Fujiwaka raised Kisara's hand to his lips (note that Mika hooked the fingers of her right hand behind Seto's belt to keep him where he was. You never knew). When Fujiwaka stood up straight again, Hasako bowed to Kisara. It was, once again, flawless. However, Kisara had perfected the art of flawless bowing. She smiled sweetly, and bowed. Hasako's smile fell a little. That's when two completely unexpected girls appeared before the group, offering them some wine. It was a good thing that both Fujiwaka and Hasako turned around, because Kisara couldn't hide her surprise for the life of her. Before her were standing two girls that she knew very well. Even with the wigs and uniforms, these two were, without a doubt, Raiku and Risa. Seto and Mika had recognized them as well, just like Yisuba. However, Yisuba was the only one who wasn't surprised.
At that exact moment, a man's voice could be heard behind them.
"My, my, my, if it isn't Seto Kaiba,"
Seto turned around, only to see a man he hated.
"Pegasus," he greeted the man. Maximilian Pegasus hadn't changed one bit. He was even wearing a red suit! And his smirk was as challenging as ever. He introduced himself to everyone, kissing the ladies' hands (Kisara didn't mind it nearly as much this time), and then turned to Mokuba.
"Mokuba, my boy, haven't you grown quite a bit. And such a lovely young lady you're with. Quite the lucky guy you are," he said with the same old smirk, sipping his wine. Other guests were also coming in now, but the group paid them little attention (except Fujiwaka, who excused himself and went to welcome everyone, Hasako still hanging on his arm).
There was some conversation, but it was forced, and more something between Seto and Pegasus than anyone else. Yisuba ultimately guided the small group away from the two to introduce him to Izumi Akiyama, who happened to be a daughter-in-law of his (Saeko had two brothers). Now Seto and Pegasus were standing alone in a corner (Seto trusted both Yisuba and Mika to make sure Fujiwaka would stay away from Kisara). And that damned Pegasus was still smirking!
"Well, Kaiba-boy, I have to admit I'm impressed. Never, not for the life of me, would I have thought that little Mokuba would stand his ground so well against Fujiwaka. Nor would I ever have thought that you yourself could look so malicious because of a woman. In love, Kaiba-boy?" Seto felt himself become more and more angry by the second, and not just by hearing that stupid nickname!
"And never would I have thought that I could hate your ugly face even more than I already do," he answered. Pegasus was about to say something, but then a man suddenly spoke up. Loudly, I might add.
"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome lady Emiko Fujiwaka!"
Both men turned around, just like everyone else in the room, only to see a somewhat shy girl standing in the doorway. Seto instantly recognized her as the girl he'd seen in his office not too long ago when Mokuba had come to visit him.
Emiko wore her hair down, keeping it in place with a silver hair band. She was wearing a short black dress that had no sleeves, but straps to keep it in place (much like Kisara's dress). She was also wearing a pair of black leather boots with medium high heels. Her necklace was made of silver, diamonds and onyx, as were her earrings and bracelet. Hasako walked up to her with a beautiful white rose in her hand and put it behind Emiko's left ear. Everyone could see how unhappy the girl was. But truth be told, she was very beautiful. Mokuba caught himself downright staring at his friend. Yori quickly yanked his hair to snap him out of it before anyone (read: Fujiwaka) noticed. The small room applauded politely, many guests complimenting Fujiwaka for having such a beautiful daughter. Emiko walked over to her father, feeling pretty much like a cow being shown off at a cattle market, surrounded by eager eyes and she just couldn't make out which pair of eyes wanted to take the largest bite out of her. She felt like crying. One pair of eyes was standing out, however, and Emiko quickly looked to the side, only to freeze. Mokuba.
}:{
18.42 PM
Location: Fujiwaka mansion.
Floor: Second floor.
When: after having succeeded in sneaking out of one of the many living rooms and sneaking up the stairs.
Above normal street level: almost 20 feet.
Who: Raiku and Risa
The twins had started their mission without making a single mistake. No one had seen them go up the stairs or into the hallway on their left. Now they were standing at the first door. It was a wooden door, quite basic actually. Risa kneeled down in front of the keyhole, shook her head and stood up.
"It's a study," she whispered. Raiku nodded and wrote it down on her map. The next room turned out to be a library, the third was a salon and the fourth only had a huge vase in it. The fifth door led them into a quite tiny room that had three other doors. The girls closed the door to the hallway and opened a white door on their left. Their jaws dropped. Inside the closet were about ten shelves full of shoes! Underneath the shelves were smile piles of boxes, and there was yet another pair of shoes in every single box! Dumbfounded, the girls closed the door and opened the second one. This was full of dresses. A lot of them, more then 50, although there didn't seem to be much more than a hundred. The girls closed door number two as well. The third door led them into room full of hats and handbags. Ten seconds later, the twins were out in the hallway again. They walked on, rounded the corner, and saw only one door, all the way on the other end of the hallway. They looked through the keyhole.
"Bingo!" Raiku beamed. They had found Emiko's bedroom.
}:{
Meanwhile, Nori had made it his personal mission to keep Mokuba from approaching Emiko. Fujiwaka watched his daughter like a hawk, but Mokuba was doing exactly the same thing. It was getting harder and harder for Nori, to keep the boy away from Emiko without having to say something to him. So ultimately, Nori hoped that Fujiwaka had a low tolerance of alcohol and made sure that the man's glass of wine was filled at all times.
It was a good thing that Fujiwaka was keeping such a close eye on his daughter, since it gave Seto a chance to get close to Kisara without having to worry too much. Right now, they were in a small salon two rooms away from the one Fujiwaka was in, and they were alone (Mika had gone to the bathroom, saying that she was going to reapply her make-up. Of course, it was only after that that Seto realized that the woman wasn't wearing any make-up in the first place). They were standing at the window, Kisara at one side and Seto at the other one, both without holding a drink (they'd put those on a small table). Silence.
"You look beautiful," Seto couldn't help but say. He'd been wanting to tell her that ever since she'd walked through that gate, but he hadn't wanted to say it with other people around. Kisara blushed.
"Thank you," she said, before looking him over.
"You don't look bad yourself," she smiled, still with a bit of a blush on her cheeks. Seto smirked.
"'Not bad'?" he asked in a slightly teasing manner, causing Kisara to sigh and roll her eyes.
"Alright, alright, you look gorgeous," she admitted, looking away. She didn't have to look at him to know that his smirk grew wider.
"Thank you," he said. He'd noticed that he wasn't nearly as shy around her when there was no one else around. Just the two of them. And he thought it was the same for her. He noticed that she was a little nervous. Well, he couldn't really blame her. Fujiwaka was quite scary if you were inexperienced in this world of money and power. And Kisara was obviously inexperienced.
"Relax," Seto told her, causing Kisara to look at him.
"Excuse me?" she asked confused.
"I told you to relax. Everything's fine, so you don't need to be so nervous," he said. She looked slightly insulted.
"Well, excuse me, but this is my first time doing something like this and I have no clue as to what I'm supposed to do! I'm a simple agent, for your information, not a company president!" With that, she looked out of the window again. Some spirit she had. Seto stared at her for what had to be the millionth time that evening. He moved closer without either of them noticing it.
"Kisara," he whispered. She looked up, and he kissed her, making all of her nervousness go away.
}:{
While Raiku hid the cell phone in a place where Emiko was sure to find it, but no one else, Risa found a bug. It was hidden on the underside of Emiko's bed, right under her pillow. She signaled for her sister to give her Raiku's pocket knife, and destroyed the bug. The best thing was that the person at the receiving end couldn't hear the bug being destroyed. Win!
After they'd accomplished their mission in Emiko's room, they looked around. It looked for all of the world like the room of a teenage girl, although it was a rich girl. Emiko had a wooden four-poster bed with red satin sheets. Lucky girl…
Opposite to the bed was a dressing table with a huge mirror. The frame was made of gold. There was also a walk-in closet and a large desk with a computer. Risa couldn't resist and opened the top drawer. Or at least she tried, since it was locked. She looked at her sister. They frowned, grinned and giggled.
"Find the key!" Raiku whispered before starting to search the dressing table. Risa tried the closet. After a few minutes, it was Risa who emerged victorious, as she found a small key in the pocket of a black skirt. She opened the drawer.
"Oh, Raiku, look!" she said excitedly. Inside the top drawer of Emiko's desk were photos. Lots and lots of photos. Photos of Emiko, photos of her mom, from her birth all the way to the present. Emiko's first day at school, her birthdays, Emiko on the beach, in a swimming pool, with a bundle of flowers, on various school trips, holding a doll, even one of Emiko as a young child sitting on her father's lap. Raiku took out a small white envelope that was a bit heavy and obviously full of other photos. She took them out, and her jaw dropped. Every photo in the envelope, every single one of them, was of Mokuba. Epic win!
}:{
20.51 PM
Mokuba silently cursed. He'd been trying all night, but still hadn't talked to Emiko! Yori had noticed both his mood and Nori's actions and tried to get Fujiwaka drunk or at least so tipsy that he would take his eyes off of Emiko. So far, the effect was rather minimal.
The food was very good, as was to be expected, and the company wasn't all that bad (most of the time), but Mokuba's mood didn't improve one bit. Of course, walking in on his brother kissing Kisara like their lives depended on it hadn't helped matters much.
Kisara was in the middle of a heated discussion with Mika and Junko about the pros and cons of growing up as the child of a rich family. Seto was having a conversation with Yisuba and ignoring Pegasus, who was sitting on the other side of him. Pegasus himself wasn't walking to anyone, nor was he being talked to. Instead, he was just smirking a knowing smirk and sipping his wine. Yori told lady Atsuko wall about Osaka, Hasako cackled with Kotone Matsuhita about something or other and Fujiwaka was listening to Hibiki Matsuhita's bragging, while Matsuhita's son Hideki was listening intently.
By ten thirty, dinner was over and done with and everyone went back to what they'd been doing before dinner: conversation and alcohol. To both Nori and Yori's great relief, Fujiwaka was a little drunk at last and not paying much attention to Emiko anymore. The girl sneaked into a nearby study and closed the door. Yori made sure both Fujiwaka and Hasako weren't paying attention when Mokuba silently followed Emiko. But he did more than just close the door: he locked it.
}:{
After fulfilling their mission in Fujiwaka and Hasako's bedroom (on the same floor as Emiko's), the twins Raiku and Risa had made their way upstairs again. But no matter where they looked, the only other bedroom they found were those of the personnel. As it was, all that was left to explore was the attic. One could only get up there by going up some small wooden stairs that were quite wobbly. After getting at the top of the stairs safely, Risa opened the ragged wooden door. Sadly, it was locked. But when Raiku reached for her pocket knife, there was some stumbling to be heard inside. The girls froze, looked at each other, and about ten seconds later, Raiku had opened the door. The room they were in was smaller than Emiko's bedroom. It was rather dark and a bit chilly. The light came from four small windows in the roof, an old table-lamp and some candles. The room was poorly furnished. There was a wooden single bed, a wooden table with a wooden chair, a small closet, an armchair and an old and quite worn carpet. The last thing the girls noticed was a woman. She appeared to be somewhere in her late forties, although she actually was in her late thirties. Her black hair was dull and had some grey in it, and her eyes didn't look much better. Saeko looked very frail. She wore a brown dress that looked like it was taken from a garbage can and a pair of sandals. She looked very scared.
"Are you lady Saeko?" Risa managed to ask (she was rather shocked by what she saw, as was her sister). The woman slowly nodded. Raiku straightened her back.
"Milady, don't worry: help is on its way. We are Raiku and Risa, as Yisuba-san asked us to find you so that he can get you out of here," she said. Saeko sniffed. The girls walked up to her and told her everything.
}:{
Emiko was standing in front of the window, staring at the garden. She didn't notice when Mokuba came in and locked the door, nor did she notice it when he walked up behind her. What she did notice, however, were the arms wrapped around her from behind and a heated and whispered 'I missed you' next to her ear. Emiko turned around at pretty much the speed of light, wrapped her arms around her friend (boyfriend?) and hid her face against his shoulder. She cried. Mokuba just held her close. He couldn't help but notice that Emiko smelled good. Like roses.
Emiko eventually calmed down, her eyes now a bit red from crying.
"You shouldn't be here," she whispered, "If father finds out…"
"Did you miss me?" Mokuba interrupted her. She looked up at him like he'd just said that the earth was flat after all. Then her face turned angry and tears came back to her eyes. Before Mokuba could stop her, she'd slapped him in his face. Ouch, that hurt. Mokuba didn't move, he just kept holding Emiko, who was debating with herself whether or not to raise her hand again. She decided not to, but she didn't lower her hand.
"Are you seriously asking me…" she whispered, "… if I missed you? After all that I've been through in the past few days, after Monday, after what happened in the bloody KaibaCorp men's room, you ask me if I missed you? Mokuba, you are pretty much my only friend at the moment! Of course I missed you, you idiot!"
She spoke rather softly (she had to with all those people standing on the other side of the door), but Mokuba heard every word as clearly as if she'd screamed them. She'd missed him. She'd missed him. She'd missed him!
Emiko was crying again. Mokuba did nothing. She calmed down again. He still wasn't doing anything. Just holding her.
"Mokuba, you have to go," Emiko said urgently, wiping away her tears, "If my father finds out the two of us are in here alone, he'll ruin you! And not only you. He said that if I ever saw you again, he'd ruin both you and your brother, and then… then you'd hate me forever!"
"I'm not going anywhere," Mokuba said, "Not until you tell me why your father hates me as much as he does. I never did anything to you,"
"That's not how he sees it!" Emiko said, "He hired someone to follow me. That man saw us sneak off the school grounds and kept following us after that. He reported everything to my father. Now father thinks… he thinks you're my boyfriend!"
Mokuba raised Emiko's chin with his hand to make her look at him. He was looking at her very serious. He seemed to be thinking about something. Then he asked her the one question she didn't really want to answer.
"Am I not?" he asked. His heart was beating about a mile a minute. This was it. His heart would either break or burst now. Emiko just looked at him, the conflict visible in her eyes. Then she took a deep breath.
"Mokuba," she whispered, "There's nothing I'd want more than that… but I'm locked up in here. We can't be together,"
"We can," Mokuba said, bringing his face closer to hers, "And we will."
With that, he kissed her.
}:{
Hasako had been looking for Emiko for almost fifteen minutes now and was about to call out for her when she suddenly tripped, fell, and got very, very wet.
"Oops, my bad," she heard a man say in a tone that said that he wasn't sorry at all. Looking up, Hasako saw Maximilian Pegasus looking down at her. His glass of wine was empty. The wine that had been in the glass was soaking Hasako's dress and ruining her hairdo. And since her make-up wasn't waterproof… well, you can imagine that, I think.
Roaring with rage and humiliation, Hasako got up and run up the stair towards the bedroom. Little did she know that the up-to-no-good Pegasus had been exploring the mansion earlier and locked the door.
Okay, so now we have a bunch of cliffhangers (gna-gna-gna) and a VERY pissed off Hasako.
YET TO HAPPEN IN "STARCROSSED"
Dinner at Fujiwaka's - Part 2
Mokuba + Emiko +Locked Room = ?
Nori and the twins are found out! How to escape?
Kisara gets home very early in the morning. The twins demand an explanation!
Seto decides to not give a damn about the audience. After all, it's all about keeping Fujiwaka away from Kisara, right?
And I'll FINALLY announce the destination of the business trip (but do feel free to come up with ideas, 'cause maybe yours is better than mine).
Whose date am I planning?
The tournament is about to begin, and Seto is participating, leaving Kisara in Domino. My prediction: not good!
Soooo, curious yet? Next update will be before the weekend (Dutch time). And the chapter after that will most likely be up by then as well, knowing me...
My poll is still open, so please vote!
Also, please be so kind to review. I'm really curious what you all think of this story. Suuggenstions, idfeas, and the like are more than welcome.
See you next chapter!
~Lenneko-chan