Dark Kingdom 52
The tea tasted delicious.
That girl, was she a real priestess? She might kill as cold as ice, but her tea was incredibly good. The aroma of the jasmine increased from sip to sip and the delicate smell spread throughout the room.
All four of them were seated around the small table in the center, with most of the pairs of eyes fixed on Jedite. Rei's seemed rather relaxed, if not indifferent. As always, Mamoru wanted to capture as many details as possible from his counterpart.
Like a predator, peering at its prey to find the exact moment to attack.
There were months when he'd looked at her that way too. Was she just prey for him too? A victim that you could play with and then finally tear it to shreds?
Usagi stared into her half-full cup. Mamoru had ignored her almost completely since the thing in the bathroom. Had she hurt him so bad with her offer? Did he hate her now?
Her stomach tightened at the thought. Perhaps she had ruined everything with what she said.
"So you are hoping to find evidence to bring Diamond down." Mamoru stated and sipped at his cup.
Jedite nodded silently, avoiding looking anyone in the eye.
"Good luck then.", Mamoru smiled smugly.
"What do you mean?", The blonde policeman glared at his counterpart, energetically pushed his lower jaw forward as Mamoru continued.
"Diamond is one of the most important men in Tokyo. He has contacts up to the highest circles. Even if you find something, there will never be an indictment. "
"Where do you want to get that from? Are you a member of his clan? "
Mamoru imperceptibly shook his head. It was less of a negative than it was, more amused by Jedite's question.
"No. Nobody here belongs to Black Moon. "
"But you know him well." Jedite leaned slightly over the table.
"Is this going to be an interrogation?"
"I could turn it into one."
Usagi quietly watched the two men. Was that still a conversation or was it already a power struggle?
"How long have you been with the police?", Mamoru suddenly asked after a long silence.
"What's that got to do with you?" The blonde snapped at him.
"A rookie", Rei snorted, but didn't notice how Jedite's complexion turned a delicate red when he put his ID on the table in front of him.
Mamoru grabbed it without asking, turned it between his fingers and studied it carefully. After a while he looked up, frowning.
"You're twenty-one," he stated. "I'll give you two years. Then you either know how the yakuza works or ... "
He stopped.
"Or?" , Jedite asked challengingly.
"You're dead. More tea?", Rei lifted the richly decorated porcelain pot with a friendly smile.
Jedite looked at her wide-eyed. When she didn't respond, however, he shook his head in confusion. Started to stutter.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"If you sniff around longer, you will find out much earlier.", Mamoru allowed himself to be refilled.
"And you?", The policeman pointed to Usagi, who was involved for the first time and for this reason looked up more than surprised.
"What about her?" , Mamoru asked calmly, sipping his cup again.
"What connection does she have with Diamond?"
"None."
Hi? Could she perhaps answer herself? Mamoru wasn't their press officer.
"Then why is she around so often?", Jedite became increasingly intrusive. Couldn't he just leave it at that and have his tea in peace?
"It's because of my connection to him." Mamoru explained calmly. Didn't this curiosity bother him?
"And what is your relationship to one another?", Jedite pointed alternately at Mamoru and Usagi.
"I fuck her."
Usagi choked on her tea, startled. She turned dark red, but probably only because she had to suppress a coughing fit and forced herself to breathe normally.
Mamoru ignored her incredulous look and turned back to his counterpart.
"I don't know if you understand what kind of situation you are in. If you're lucky, I'll be the first to spot your really crappy observation. You haven't been around long. Leave the heavy stuff to the real cops and keep dealing with shoplifting. "
Jedite gasps.
"Where do you get the right ..."
"I'll take it, because I know how Diamond reacts when he notices that someone is in his way." Mamoru interrupted him harshly. After a short pause he added with a smug smile.
"Incidentally, I don't like it when men chase after my girlfriend."
Okay, the language took some getting used to, but he always called her his girlfriend.
"Are you Diamond's puppy?" Jedite narrowed his eyes.
"We are business partners.", Mamoru didn't change a face.
"And what exactly does that mean?"
The blonde didn't get his question answered. With a shiny forehead and glassy eyes, he simply tipped over.
"What about him?" , Usagi shrieked in alarm and was robbed towards him.
"You put him to sleep, didn't you?", Mamoru asked to Rei.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"I got bored of his questions."
"Did you kill him?" , Usagi stared at her in shock. She already knew what made this girl tick.
"No. Just stunned. ", The young priestess held up a small bag with a light blue powder in it.
"But you want to kill him."
Rei ignored the fearful look, also crouched down next to Jedite and almost tenderly brushed a strand from his forehead.
"I will think about it. He's kind of cute. "
Usagi looked for help at Mamoru, who was sitting at the table with his arms crossed and watching the situation from a distance, like a play.
"Rei, you know the rule. No cops. ", He finally spoke with hardened features.
"Don't hurt him.", Usagi pleaded too.
Rei cocked her head.
"Do you trust me to do that?"
Usagi didn't want to answer, she was far too afraid to say something wrong or even provocative.
"She saw you." , Mamoru explained in her place.
"Oh yes? When? ", Rei asked, genuinely amazed.
"In the subway station." , stuttered the blonde.
The black-haired woman thought aloud.
"Right, I remember you. The schoolgirl with the strange hairstyle."
A smile crept onto her fine, curved lips.
"You are afraid of me."
Usagi froze, she could really feel the color draining from her face.
"Save your fear. In contrast to Mamoru, I don't care about people. "
"Rei!" , Mamoru admonished her. Was she mistaken, or did that sound more amused than serious rebuke?
"Your things should be dry by now.", Rei continued, got up and pushed the curtains on one of the small windows aside. "And it's not raining any more."
"Is that an expulsion?", Mamoru smiled amused.
He seemed far more relaxed around her. Who was this girl and, above all, what kind of past did they have together?
From the outside, they would make the perfect couple. Usagi had noticed that back then at Mamoru's uncle's garden party. She felt that stab of jealousy in her heart again.
"I have to get ready." , said Rei. "And I have to take care of him after all."
She pointed to Jedite, who was still soundly asleep.
Fear rose again in Usagi.
"I'm just getting him out of here." Rei added with a sideways glance at her.
Mamoru had meanwhile got up slowly with the intention of fetching the aforementioned dry clothes.
Now she was alone with this strange and really scary girl who started to gradually clear the table. Usagi eyed her closely as she picked up the cups.
"Don't worry. There was nothing in your tea. ",
the black-haired answered unasked. She must have noticed her look.
"Okay." Usagi whispered, hiding her blushing face by taking one of the seat cushions and placing it under Jedite's head.
"Do you think this is an exciting, romantic story?"
"What?", Usagi looked up confused. Rei stood right in front of her and looked down at her with folded arms.
Now it really scared her. So much so that her stomach contracted and she looked nervously at the bathroom door. Where did Mamoru stay for so long?
'I think about it the whole time, whether you are really aware of what you have gotten yourself into. It may be that Mamoru will find you interesting at some point and you will surely be madly in love with him. No one would blame you. But there's blood on his hands. We all surround ourselves with the smell of death."
Okay, now Usagi was definitely scared! And the vague feeling that this girl didn't like her.
"I know that.", Usagi stuttered, which only brought a tired smile from Rei, before she turned back to cleaning up and left Usagi alone with her strange and difficult to interpret feelings.