Thank you for all your lovely reviews! Yaaay! Hehe...
To RainyDayz, you said that you are a "Signer"... Does that mean you know sign language? Oh wow that's greaaat! Maybe you can help me more on this, hehe.
A shout out to all those who know sign language as well! Drop some suggestions or comments please! Thanks!
Chapter 14 : Silent Portrait
This is a cruel joke, thought Kurama as he hurriedly helped Shizuru close the store. Whoever heard of such a thing ... especially in the morning? How is Hiei feeling right now? He does love his sister so dearly...
He glanced over at Shizuru, trying to read her expression. Shizuru kept biting her lower lip, her face showing worry and concern.
"We have to go to Hiei's office now," said Shizuru, closing the door of the shop and locking it. She paused when she saw that Kurama's things were packed, but sitting neatly at his corner. She turned to question him.
"You're not going to take your stuff along?"
Kurama shook his head. There were other important things to do now ... lugging along his painting things would only be a burden.
"Alright then, let's go."
They headed up the street toward the tall, almost menacing-looking building. Kurama had never step foot inside such a high-ranking place; nor did he ever imagine he would. It hadn't really occurred to him that his friend was actually the Jaganshi Hiei.An important businessman who owns one of the biggest companies in Japan ... how did such a man come into contact with a shabby artist like him?
They walked in through the automatic glass doors, and Kurama looked around him, taking in the shiny marble floor and windows and business executives in suits buzz around like bees in a hive. The atmosphere was quiet... but it was a weird kind of "quiet", as though talking too loudly might disrupt the silence and cause everyone to look at you weirdly. Everything about the place screamed "Be professional, dammit!"
He didn't know why he felt so nervous, perhaps it was the feeling that he was not supposed to be there. Not that he was supposed to be ...
Kurama mentally slapped himself for thinking too much.
"Yes, may I help you?" inquired the receptionist at the front desk, shooting an appreciative look at Kurama. He shrank a little behind Shizuru, who took charge.
"We're here to see Hiei."
The girl raised an eyebrow at this blunt greeting, and also wondered how this lady was connected to her boss. Seldom did anyone address him by his given name ...
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Just call your boss and hurry it up. He'll definitely let us through."
The girl looked highly suspicious, and also slightly afraid, probably worried that she would be scolded if she disturbed the ever-busy Jaganshi-san just to shoo two strangers away. Even though if one of the strangers had pretty long hair and bright emerald eyes.
"Do it," said Shizuru sternly, glaring at the female opposite her.
"Please give me your names," said the girl pointedly.
"Shizuru. And Kurama."
"Alright, please wait a moment," she said, maintaining her professional, cool composure. She dialed the extension straight to Hiei's office, and the line was connected after a few moments.
"What is it?" said a male voice, but the girl recognized it as Jaganshi's assistant, Urameshi.
"Urameshi-san, there're two people here to see Jaganshi-san ... A Shizuru-san and Kurama-san."
"Yeah okay, let them through."
"Are you sure? Maybe you should ask Jaganshi --- "
"I'm damn sure, woman! Now hurry up and give them directions!"
"O-okay!" said the girl and hurriedly hung up. Turning to Shizuru and Kurama with a smile, she proceeded to give them directions.
"Take the lift straight up to the fifteenth floor. You'll see it once you come out of the lift. Good day."
"Thank you," said Shizuru curtly and walked to the lift, Kurama hurrying along beside her. He didn't like the way the girl had batted her eyelashes at him. In the lift, Shizuru smirked at him, even though it seemed completely out of place with the events that were happening.
"Girls just love you, don't they, Kurama?" she said, sniggering.
Kurama sighed and tossed his hair back in annoyance.
"You could have saved me the trouble of glaring at her, and just flirt with her ... she'll probably let us in sooner."
Kurama had no desire to point out that he was unable to do anything but gesture. After all, this was not the time.
They soon arrived at the fifteenth floor, and rang the bell outside the glass doors. Kurama peered inside, wondering if these people ever had time to rest with the amount of work they had to do. He also wondered how much they were getting paid.
There was a 'beep' sound, and Shizuru pushed the glass door. They walked through, and straight ahead they could see another room, and could barely glimpse the boss of the company through the glass window. Keiko opened the door and gestured for them to come in. When they did, she closed the door and locked it.
"Yukina has been kidnapped," began Hiei, who was sitting at his desk clearing up his stuff. Apparently he wasn't so keen in staying in the office anymore. Yusuke was on his desk, something Hiei would never have let him off on normal days. Keiko and Botan were sitting at their desks, their work completely forgotten. Botan, however, was scribbling something on a piece of paper. Shizuru opted to lean against the wall, denying the chair proffered to her by Kurama.
"Jaganshi-san ... " said Botan, biting her lip. Hiei casted his ever-piercing gaze upon her. She handed the paper to him, placing a finger on her lips and shaking her head. Hiei read the note silently.
Talk normally. There might be hidden bugs around ... remember that day our office was intruded? (1) They could have planted some recording chips in our phones or something.
"The man called just now, asking for ten million yen in exchange," said Hiei calmly, his blood boiling. He also wondered how Botan knew about these kinds of things.
Kurama and Shizuru gasped; ten million yen was an outrageous sum. Hiei wrote on the note and passed it to Botan.
We need to discuss this someplace else.
"He warned me not to call the police, as he has contacts there. Therefore he would know if I did, and Yukina may be harmed. I'm not even considering that option."
"But..."
"I'm hungry," said Botan suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her with bemused expressions on their faces.
"This isn't the time," said Yusuke, making her blush.
"I'm hungry," said Hiei, glaring at everyone in the room.
This time no one said a thing. One would, however, be able to imagine the number of question marks popping out of everyone's heads. Jaganshi Hiei rarely announced to the world that he was hungry.
"I can't think on an empty stomach," said Hiei again, then rising from his seat. He walked out the door. Botan quickly followed, leaving the rest of them stunned. Once out of the room, she mouthed "Hurry up, follow us!"
They quickly followed suit, Keiko taking care to lock the door properly.
None of them spoke a word in the lift. Hiei was pondering... where was the best place to discuss this without risking anyone overhearing? My apartment? No, I'm not letting anyone in there... They could be tracking us even now as we speak.
"Where do we go, Jaganshi-san?" inquired Keiko.
"I'm thinking."
There's no choice. I have to bring them to a casual place where only I am allowed access... a private room, perhaps, thought Hiei as he walked down the street. He pushed past the daily crowd in annoyance. The motley crew following along behind him only served to irritate him more.
Kurama, however, being the brave and somewhat ignorant soul, had fallen into step beside him, glancing around at the rather new surroundings.
For some reason, though, Hiei didn't mind his company.
They came to a very famous five-star hotel. At first Kurama thought they were merely passing by, but Hiei turned and walked in, all too familiar with the place. Soon they arrived at a very posh-looking restaurant.
"Good afternoon, Jaganshi-san," greeted the waiter. Hiei was a regular customer; he often brought clients or customers from overseas here to stay and dine at the hotel. Naturally, it was a high-profile restaurant, the kind of restaurants Kurama or any of the others rarely dined in.
Kurama felt even worse than before. Everyone else just felt underdressed. But Hiei did not care.
"Private room. Six people. Ensure that we are not disturbed."
"Yes, sir. This way, please."
The waiter led the way.
"What's he doing?" mouthed Keiko to Botan, who was the only one not bothered by the strange behaviours her boss was exhibiting.
"Don't worry. You'll know later."
"Sit," he ordered, and they sat; expressions wide-eyed and waiting.
"Order whatever you want."
Yusuke looked as though he might whoop and jump for joy. He merely twitched in his seat and began looking through the menu. The rest of them followed suit.
The food was so expensive Kurama didn't even feel like eating anymore. All he could picture was the amount of yen going into his mouth and down his throat.
Finally they placed their orders, and the door slid shut.
"Are we safe to talk here, Botan?" asked Hiei quietly. She nodded, slightly taken aback that he had addressed her by her given name.
"Botan believes that our office has been bugged," said Hiei, sipping his tea.
"Bugged?" repeated Shizuru sceptically.
"Isn't that in like, the movies...?"
"It explains why our office was raided but nothing was taken."
"So now we can discuss our plans here."
Botan spoke first.
"My boyfriend ... Koenma (2), he's a police ... he's the head officer ... perhaps he could help...?"
Hiei raised his eyebrow.
"And how would we know that he is not the contact these bastards speak of?"
"He would never do such a thing," said Botan boldly, staring back into Hiei's eyes.
"Deploying his officers would also cause the news to be spread," said Hiei after some thought.
"I know, but I'm saying, maybe he can help like, track down the caller's location and stuff like that ... or record conversations to be used against them in future ... basically all those police stuff. He doesn't need his officers for that, he can do it by himself," explained Botan eagerly.
The room fell silent as everyone considered that. Kurama thought it didn't help much, even though they needed all the help they can get. Tracking down the base of those men was one thing, but surely Hiei wasn't going to storm in and rescue Yukina all by herself.
"The ransom must be given in exchange for Yukina," said Hiei. He didn't care how much money it took to get her back, but he still didn't like being toyed with. No, he wouldn't be controlled by these men so easily...
"You willing to pay that amount, Hiei?" asked Yusuke.
"I don't have ten million," said Hiei fervently. A lie, but they don't need to know that.
"Really?"
Hiei shot him a killer glare.
"No, I don't," he repeated.
"Maybe Koenma can provide us with some fake money. They do that sometimes in ransom cases."
"He'll have to be discreet, though," said Hiei to Botan. She nodded.
I have to stop here. Anti-climactic, right? Lol. There's still stuff to be discussed among these people...
(1) - Happened in Chapter 1. Lol.
(2) - Enma is basically God. Lol. Ko-Enma means Little God. Enma is a "real" god, the chinese counterpart is King Yama. So actually, no one in their right minds would name their son after a god. Lol. As this is an AU fic, Koenma isn't Prince of the Underworld.
Word Count - 1865
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